Witch of the Gate (Part I): Empyrean Crystal Soul

A lot of pair of yellow eyes are looking at us with their snake like irises. We got into their village with the help of Sloan, the lizard boy but it doesn’t mean that they will welcome us.

From the spot we stopped, I can see the clan's houses which are wooden huts or little ground holes in the size of their inhabitants. The village is next to a big swamp, one of the many we had passed so we can come here.

The crowd surrounds us and is looking at us with hostility. The lizard men point their spears to us. Sloan tries to explain the situation but he receives their angry and disappointed stares.

-“We came peacefully to ask a little favor from the Serpent clan.” Tarragon initiates.

-“Prince Tarragon of the Higher Elves of Green Valley, what brings you here?” A tall and muscular lizard asks.

-’We need a little favor.” Tarragon repeats.

-“I am the leader of this settlement, Baron. We are now in a war with the demons so I can’t possibly help you.” He rejects his request.

-“We don’t need something that will burden you. We only need a couple of scales from a Bone-Reforming Chameleon.” Tarragon negotiates again.

-“So, you want our skin.” The lizard says with a provocative attitude. This is not going well and the tips of their spears are still pointing at us.

-“Cut the crap, Baron.” Gina shouts and I am really worried.

-“What is a Feline doing here?” Baron sneers. Gina shows her teeth but Tarragon restrains her.

-“You want our scales without anything in return.” The lizard says and he now starts to show his true intentions.

-“What do you want?” Gina asks.

-“We must win this battle with the demons.” He only says and I furrow my eyebrows. So, he wants us to help him with this war.

-“Okay!” Tarragon agrees.

-“What? I don’t want to fight anyone.” I complain. I see Baron’s curious gaze on me.

-“A Human. I didn’t see any Human for years.” He says cunningly.

-“This boy was defeated by me so, he owns me a favor. Instead of becoming a servant, I just asked for a few scales.” I explain.

I won’t take part in a war!

-“We can settle this with a duel, after all it is a matter of honor of my son.”

-“Your son? Sloan is your son?”

-“Yes, he is.”

-“This is also doable.” Tarragon finds it a better idea to spar with Baron.

-“You defeated my son, so I will fight with you.” He says to me. I bite my lips but I don’t have another choice.

He is really sly as he chose the weaker among us. Well, he didn’t choose wisely. I can beat him easily, or that is what I thought.

The next moment, I get to the ground as his strong and sturdy tail hits me. That is hurt. I couldn’t use magic spells as he is really fast to his attacks. This was only a hit but my whole body aches.

I stand up with difficulty and his eyes shine dangerously. I get it. I can’t win over his speed but I have another way. He approaches me again and he is ready to hit me at my stomach. Then, I throw at him one of my elixirs.

The glass bottle breaks on his scales and the liquid is all over him.

-“What is this?” He asks surprised.

The next moment, I see him being groggy. I threw at him a sleeping potion. Now that he is sleepy, he can’t focus on me and I can attack him with my spells.

As he is a cold-blooded creature, fire must be his nemesis. So, I use fire spells against him. As I thought, the fire spells have an effect on him so I continue to attack with them.

I notice him taking a deep breath and then his eyes clear. I can’t believe it. The sleeping potion made him a little unstable for a moment. Then, he attacks again and this time his fist lands on my stomach. I kneel before him as I am holding my stomach.

-“Miss!!!” I hear Lucida screaming with worry. Even Tarragon and Gina don’t look good.

-“Swamps have a lot of plants and most of them are poisonous. So, Serpents Clans have grown immunity to most of them. Your simple potions won’t make a difference.” Cielo informs me in my mind. I have already confirmed it. Even fire spells were not enough to win.

-“Baron seems to be a dragonoid serpent. This type of beast is really strong as it approaches the glory of dragons. After all, dragons are big flying lizards.” She also says. So this explains his confidence and strength.

-“Tarragon can’t stop the duel as it will be disrespectful for the clan and things will become worse.”

I sigh inside me. So, is it a helpless situation? I wonder and lower my face. Then, I notice the wet ground. A little more away is the swamp.

I thought of something.

I throw at him one more elixir. This is a more powerful elixir like those that grandma used against monsters. The elixir hurt him as it possessed some fire attribute. I could see and hear his scales charring. This made him angry and with his tail, hit me again and I flew to the swamp.

Before I could react, he approaches me and hit me again. I can’t move anymore. My whole body is aching. He grabs me from my lapel and he sneers with pride and satisfaction.

Then I grab the hand that is holding me and I cast a lightning spell. Electric power goes through his body and because of water is more powerful. His body shaking strongly and I can also see the pain on his face as he is gritting his teeth.

When I stop, smoke is flowing out of his body and some of his scales turned black. His body weakened and he falls in his knees numbed.

-“I win.” I say breathless as I am holding my aching body.

Everyone stays still and surprised as they never expected for their leader to lose to a little Human girl.

My companions run toward me and before I can hear their compliments, I fall unconscious.