“Put me down!” Lannister yelled, shocked at how rude this girl was.
Lannister knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, and he wasn’t a law breaker either. Perhaps she was protecting this world?
It was immediately obvious he was in another world, but sadly, it seemed this one had been claimed already. As for sentient floating weapons, he dismissed that idea. The girl didn’t answer, but she was close enough to analyze, and using her name he spoke slowly, but sternly.
“Lara, I’ll leave peacefully. Just put me down, and I’ll go.” Lannister said, his frown turning into anger. The warning in his voice was clear.
In response the side of Lara’s lip curled, mocking him as she looked down. She wasn’t concerned with the danger he posed, in fact, she wanted him to try something. She welcomed it. It would hone her skills further.
Lannister sighed, his face softened, seemingly giving up. While he floated under her, he held one hand behind his body, forming a tiny portal.
“I’m sorry.” He said, shrugging. Twisting his body he shot his fist into the hidden portal.
*Crack!*
The other end of the portal led to the side of Lara’s head.
She rocked her head and her body flipped. Both of them lost concentration and fell, the gravity magic giving up without her.
Lannister landed on the roots, bruising his shoulder. Lara fell from much higher though, but before she collided with him, a large portal appeared, right above Lannister. She slipped right into it, then nearby another portal spat her out, sending her upwards.
It was a small act of mercy to shoot her upwards from the second portal, diminishing some of her speed before she would hit the ground. Lannister preferred to slip away rather than to fight, and the latter was more likely if she came looking for retribution. Besides, he felt bad for sneak-attacking her.
Lara flew out of the portal, but before she even touched the ground she regained her senses, floating again and looking for her target. Lannister still had his arms up, closing the portals he’d just opened.
They locked eyes.
Lara huffed and sped towards him, but before her gravity magic could take effect he already bolted away.
The gravity magic took effect but all too slowly. A portal swirled into existence and Lannister began to glide through, already weightless as he entered it, but having enough momentum to make it.
Yet Lara was faster, she kicked off tree trunks and pulled herself forward with her own gravity.
Lara had never lost a fair one vs one, and she wasn’t going to let a stranger without an academy uniform beat her, especially since she just became the number one duelist among the first years.
Sure, this wasn’t a typical duel, but seeing a student prowling around without an academy uniform meant they were up to no good. She darted towards him.
Only Lannister’s legs stuck out of the portal, but Lara was still 30 feet away. She wouldn’t make it in time.
“Gh!” she kicked off another tree, 15 feet.
His knees were already gone, only his boots stuck out. She was losing him.
Lara grit her teeth. Her pride fueled her. She wasn’t going to let him escape. Instead of slowing down in the face of an unknown portal which could lead anywhere, she did the unthinkable and pushed herself forward, speeding towards it faster.
Lannister’s boot disappeared just as her hand grasped toward it. Her speed created a violent ripple as she shot into the portal—she felt his boot on the other side and grasped it, refusing to let go.
“Oh come on!” Lannister looked back, shocked that she followed him through. Lannister couldn’t close his portal, not with someone inside, and Lara came crashing into him.
The two of them tumbled in each others embrace, both rolling down the edge of a grassy hill, trampling flowers as they went.
“Ugh just let me go!” Lannister grunted, pushing her away.
“No. Why should I? You attacked me. We have order here you know.”
“I was just defending myself. Get off!” Lannister yelled and with a grunt pushed her away as they rolled.
Lara went further down hill. He hastily formed another portal behind her and pushed her in, but Lara flicked her wrist right back. A jolt of gravity pulled him down, into the portal with her.
“F-faa!” Lannister screamed.
Then, weightlessness. Blue surrounded them.
The portal opened in the sky, spitting them both out above the clouds, both of them dropping like stones.
Lara scoffed, “Do you think this would kill me?! You know I can fly!”
The wind roared past their ears, forcing them both to yell.
“I wasn’t trying to kill you! I was just trying to go home!” Lannister yelled.
Lara’s expression softened. “Home?” Her angered brows gave way to a gleam of sadness in her eyes as she began to float, stopping her fall while she watched Lannister plummet below.
“Home...” She whispered, feeling as empty as the skies she was in.
Lara looked down, watching him fall. His clothes slapped and flapped through the whistling air. She waited for him to make another portal, intent on letting him escape.
It was not a surprise to her that someone would want to leave the mirror reality to go home, to rekindle with their own families and loved ones—if the mage hunters hadn’t dashed them to pieces already anyway. Thinking that he was going to see his family, Lara rolled her tongue in her cheek with a pang of jealousy.
“Idiot.” She murmured, watching him enter the clouds, letting herself descend after him at a more controlled speed.
Lannister’s body cut through the cloud, beginning to turn to a darkened blob, fading. But seeing his arms begin to flail around, Lara raised a brow.
Go on, just escape already. Portal away. She thought, tilting her head—he hadn’t disappeared yet.
Her eyes widened and she took a breath.
*Whoosh!*
She reversed gravity, instantly falling faster than she even had. Combining the natural gravity with her own, she became a speeding bolt of lightning. The air roared against her, threatening to tear her skin and blind her, feeling like it was burning.
Lannister had already disappeared into the forest of clouds.
Lara rushed through right after him, streaking through the mist and out the other side in an instant, land below.
She saw Lannister, in his hands he held an old coat which he barely gripped, using it like a parachute. But at this speed it wouldn’t be enough.
The ground seemed so far away but so close as it quickly filled her vision. Lara sped down and the horizon rose around her.
The green sea of forest canopy became clearer and each tree began to stand out from the rest.
He didn’t even see her coming.
“Lannister!” She screamed, but doubted her voice would reach him. It was impossible to push air out at these speeds. She reached down, grasping at him like he were about to escape through another portal.
She pushed into his stupid parachute. He was in her reach again.
*Fwoosh!*
“Gah!” She crashed onto his stupid old coat and hit his shoulder. They tumbled as she forced them together and grappled with his body.
A few spins of their bodies and flailing hands, Lara found herself grabbing him by the leg again, and hugged his knee tightly.
The ground was spreading out as they sped towards it.
Lara released all the gravity magic she could, forcing herself upwards, bear-hugging Lannister’s leg, who was upside down. When seconds mattered it was easier to use her own magic on herself, instinctive.
But he began to slide out of her grip, his clothes tearing. The wind still whistled dangerously past.
“Gh! Come on!” Lara grit her teeth, fighting gravity and her own muscles, trying to keep her grip on his leg.
He slipped down to the foot and her muscles screamed at her to release, her shoulders feeling like they would rip from the joints. But she held on, even as her fingernails dug into his leg and ripped away.
*Crack!*
A branch snapped into them, Lannister taking the brunt.
Lara ignored the leaves rushing past and heaved, squeezing him tighty and using one last desparate burst of gravity to slow them.
The branches snapped against them, flicking past like whips but in the next moment, they stopped. Without warning they hit the ground.
*Thud!*
Both of them impacted. A kick of dust and leaves flushed away from the gust.
The pain was numbing. She felt nothing, but didn’t dare to move. At least not until her body forced her to, which it did.
Lara coughed, spitting blood.
“Urrahh..” She weakly moaned, chest filled with broken bones but alive. She leaned her head back and breathed for a moment, trying to get a breath in, followed by another, then the next.
Each breath was a challenge, a struggle.
The pain would last a while until her health drained and their adventurer bodies healed themselves.
A little while passed. She could do nothing but endure the pain and watch the wind shifting the leaves above, and she began to count up all the branches and twigs they snapped away on the way down. About thirty in total.
It was a miracle they didn’t hit any of the thicker log-like arms jutting out from these giant trees, each enormous like primordial giants standing against time itself. Even thought they were copies in the mirror reality, they were just as proud as their real-life counterparts.
The pain began to leave but her bones still ached, but Lara felt something else. Lannister had been holding onto her foot as much as she held onto his, her own boot already slipped off.
Finally, she heard something. A teacher was coming. Lara closed her eyes, relaxing and letting them handle the rest, fading as she heard the junior headmistress.
“Lara?! Get them to the infirmary now -- Head wound, help him first.”
