Information

Mistral has a minion!

Tuisku the Della

Mistral

The

Glacier Popoko
Owner: Rakumel

Age: 1 year, 9 months, 3 weeks

Born: May 23rd, 2024

Adopted: 1 year, 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Adopted: May 23rd, 2024

Statistics

Level: 1
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 0
Books Read: 0
Food Eaten: 12
Job: Unemployed

Cleria quickly rubbed her eyes with her paws and addressed Erelin as cheerfully as she could. "What can I help you with today, miss?"

Erelin gave her a small smile. "I had heard antiques and rare items were sold here. So I came to look over your wares and see if anything caught my fancy. Particularly...well, do you have any old weapons or magical items here?"

"Well...um..." Cleria thought for a moment, then turned and carefully wove around a table with lots of glass bottles on it. Erelin followed her down an aisle to a dresser with a simple green desk lamp on it. Cleria pulled out a drawer with an assortment of stones and jewelry. "There's some things in here that might be magical. I think." She briefly rose on her hind legs and gestured over to a free-standing clothes rack. "And over there are a few cloaks and capes that might have a little magic left in them." Cleria then trotted further down the aisle to a glass display case. "Here's a few wands and daggers, and a couple of old bows on the wall."

Erelin glanced inside the case and saw a very beautiful dagger made from twisted metal and pearls. But, she noted with disappointment, it was more ornamental than functional.

"Umm..." Cleria looked nervously around her, as if sensing that Erelin wasn't satisfied. "I think there's also some minor spell scrolls over where the old books are." She sat carefully, placing her paws together and curling her tail around them. "I'm very sorry," she said, looking towards the floor. "There's really not many weapons here. Mostly fancy stuff like porcelain figures and old furniture that has to be carefully kept. I'm afraid I won't be much help to you."

"On the contrary," Erelin said, trying to cheer her up. "I believe you've been very helpful."

Cleria looked up, slightly shocked. "Even if I couldn't find something you wanted?"

"Yes, even so," Erelin said with a nod. "My old logic professor taught me that even a wrong answer was a step towards the right one."

"Oh. I see..."

Erelin glanced around to see if anyone aside from them was within earshot. Then she motioned for Cleria to lean closer. In a low voice, she asked, "May I ask you a question?"

"I...I guess so?" Cleria whispered, not sure where this was going.

"Has your employer always been so...abrasive?"

"Mr. Mistral? Well...I wouldn't say...he's just very particular about things, that's all."

"That's a bit of an understatement, Cleria."

The Celinox shook her head. "He and Ms. Mertensia have really had a rough time of it ever since their mother passed away. He still misses her, even though it's been a few years. And his sister-"

Just then, the little bell at the entrance rang, before being cut off by the loud bang of the door against the wall, startling them both.

"That could be just a strong wind. I'll check," said Cleria, darting off.

Erelin continued to examine the weapons in the case and on the wall. While some of them were well made with quality materials, they weren't Legendaries. Though if Erelin were honest with herself, she'd only come out here on a whim, not really knowing what to expect. Maybe just something, anything, to give her an idea of-

A piercing scream from Cleria shattered her musings. Immediately, but moving quietly from years of practice, Erelin hurried toward the front of the store and peeked around an old bureau, ready to draw her sword if necessary. In the entryway, she found Cleria backing away from several small, solid black creatures with glinting white eyes and fangs. Some looked like spiders or spindly cats, others didn't seem to be any recognizable animal at all. Erelin also noticed that Cobalt had rushed out from the office, and had placed herself between Cleria and the creatures. Mistral, in a huff, was scrambling to the top of the sales counter.

"Close that door, you stupid girl!" screeched Mistral. "You're letting all the-" He stopped mid-rant when he caught sight of the creatures, and froze in place. A couple of the shadowy beings turned his way, slowly slinking closer.

One of the beings swept his gaze across the room, then focused on Cobalt. "There is a key here," it told her in a harsh, grating whisper. "Give them to us."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Cobalt said, projecting her voice to make herself sound big and powerful. "Leave here at once!"

Key?! Erelin thought. Followed by, 'Give them to us'? What do they mean by 'them'?

"LIES!" hissed the creature. "Key is here. Who is it? Her...?"

The creatures snarled and snapped in Cleria's direction. She screamed and covered her eyes with one paw, while pulling the other back to strike, though even in her terror she peeked to make sure she wasn't backing into anything breakable. Cobalt braced herself, growling at the creatures and puffing herself up. Mistral shook uncontrollably, his expression unreadable, his puffy tail three times its usual size. Erelin drew her sword, deciding stealth wouldn't help much in this situation. She needed to draw the creatures away from the door, so that everyone else could escape.

"Leave them alone!" Erelin shouted, coming out from her hiding place and pointing her sword at the shadowy beings. "If it's a key you're seeking, you'll find none here. But if it's a fight you want, I'll gladly oblige you!"

"NO!!" Mistral screamed. There was madness in his eyes, and Erelin realized he hadn't been quaking in fear, but shaking with barely contained rage. "These are my dear mother's invaluable treasures!! And I'd rather perish than let the likes of you wretched, vile, detestable beings anywhere NEAR THEM!!"

In a blink, he was gone, too fast for the eyes of Cobalt, Cleria, or the creatures to follow. Erelin could barely make out the blur of Mistral's form as it swept across three of the shadowy beings at once, then as he swiped at two more. Their bodies collapsed, spurting out an oil-like substance that splattered all over the door, walls, and counter. As the remaining creatures staggered back, Erelin noticed that one of Mistral's claws was significantly larger than the others. She looked again, more closely. No, it wasn't a claw, not exactly. Now she recognized it. Frostbite. A Legendary!

"KEY!!" one of the remaining shadow beings rasped. Others took up the cry, adding, "SIEZE HIM!!"

With a feral shriek, Mistral descended upon them, taking the creatures out with astonishing speed and efficiency. But still more crowded against the door. Quickly, Erelin edged over to Cobalt and Cleria. "You two, listen! I'll stay here and help Mistral fight those things. Cleria, is there another way out of this building?"

Cleria nodded, but was practically hyperventilating. "The, the, the...the back, in back...but Mer, Merten, she's-"

"Fast asleep?" Cobalt finished for her. "In her bedroom?"

"Yes!" Cleria exclaimed. "We, we can't-"

"Where's her room?" Erelin asked.

"Over on that side," Cobalt indicated with her head. "Beyond the tea room."

Erelin nodded once decisively. "I won't let them get that far. You two need to escape, now!"

"Agreed," said Cobalt. "Come on, Cleria, let's go!"

But Cleria, wide-eyed and gasping with terror, couldn't make herself move.

"Cleria! Darling, come on!" Cobalt urged, softly headbutting her.

A creature that had escaped Mistral's rampage bared its fangs and leaped towards them, shrieking. Erelin easily intercepted it with a swing of her sword, but Cleria still screamed and jumped onto Cobalt's back, digging into her cloak with her claws. Without hesitation, Cobalt turned and bolted down an aisle, knocking over a stack of old books and leaping over a pile of vintage costumes that hadn't been sorted. With Cleria still clinging desperately to her back, Cobalt somehow found the back door and raced out of the building, picking up speed in the wide open snow fields.

Meanwhile, Erelin leaped into the fray, determined not to lose Mistral. The handful of creatures at the door had only been the tip of the iceberg; countless more swarmed the area immediately in front of the shop, like a living, breathing plague. But if their plan had been to overwhelm Mistral in numbers, it wasn't working. To Erelin's astonishment, Mistral was still slaying the creatures as fast as before, leaving trails of opaque black fluid in his wake, without them so much as landing a single scratch on him.

"Execrable imps!! Loathsome devils!! Repugnant WASTES OF SPACE!!" Mistral ranted in between frantic slices, his eyes now glowing, radiating insanity. Erelin expertly swung her sword and chanted her magic spells, and between the two of them, the entire field of shadowy beings was cleared within minutes.

As the last of their dark essence evaporated into the cold, cloudy sky, Erelin turned to search for Mistral. The snow field was relatively level; he should have been easy to spot. But the only thing Erelin could find was a human form, hunched over and panting, eyes glowing in an eerily similar way to Mistral's. She edged closer, keeping her sword drawn. The hair on the human's head was the same color as Mistral's fur, and even though it was obviously in disarray, she could tell that it was parted almost exactly the way Mistral's tuft of fur on his head had been.

"Mistral?" she shouted, not coming any closer. "Is that y-"

It all happened as fast as a thought. The human vanishing from sight. Erelin blocking an attack with her forelimb on the left, almost completely by instinct. Frostbite, its point just barely scratching the side of her throat. Her sword, just a hairbreadth away from cutting her attacker across the middle - and likely would have, had it been the human. Mistral's eyes, wide, horrified, before he fell limp but unharmed into the thick snow - on Erelin's left side. As he did, his Legendary weapon vanished from his paw in a little flash of light.

"Oh," he mumbled softly. "You...aren't them."

It took a second for Erelin to find her breath. "No, sir. I am not them," she said shakily. She then took another moment to make sure that no more hostile creatures lingered in the distance, and that Mistral himself was no longer a threat. He lay in the snow, looking skyward, motionless except for his rapid breathing, which slowed as he calmed down. Erelin kept an eye on him for a few moments more, then sheathed her sword and exhaled deeply.

"Mistral...if you're not hurt, we should return to your shop and ascertain if your sister needs-"

"Frostbite's mine, you know," Mistral blurted out. "I couldn't surrender it to those little bastards even if I wanted to."

Erelin shook her head in confusion. Did he not care about his sister? Or was this possibly a side effect of...whatever had happened to him? "...I'm aware sir, yes," she said slowly.

"No. No, you don't understand," he said, his body still shaking as he sat up. "It chose me. It knows. It feels me, it understands. We are of a like mind, identical psyche. That's why."

Erelin hesitated to say anything else, knowing she couldn't reason with Mistral right now. He jumped up and grabbed her by her cloak.

"Do you not comprehend it?!" he shouted. "I'm telling you! Frostbite! Chose! Me!!"

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