First Demonic Dragon

Courtney stepped up to the rocky wall with a slightly nervous eye.

She was glad that her sister insisted on this little lesson, but now that she was actually in the driver's seat, she realized that she didn't actually know where she was supposed to begin.

Her back gradually tensed up until she finally couldn't take it.

There was a necessary adjustment she absolutely had to make.

"...Can you guys turn around please?"

Yemaja: "Are you seriou-"

"Yes I'm serious, turn around or I won't be able to do shit!"

The girls grumbled to themselves in protest, but eventually turned their backs to give their youngest some peace of mind.

Once she was alone (Not really) Courtney went towards the rocky wall to investigate, though she wasn't really sure what she was looking for.

"Might help if you take off your glasses first, short stuff." Thrudd chided.

"I-I knew that! Don't turn around!"

"Yes, yes.."

Moderately embarrassed, Courtney pulled off her dark sunglasses. Her stormy-blue eyes became red and slanted.

She was immediately wondering why she didn't do this before.

Her vision wasn't just better, it was unnatural. She felt as if she were seeing through the very fabric of the world.

In all honesty, Courtney didn't use her special eyes a whole lot on earth. Given the whole going to school among humans thing, she just couldn't really take the chance.

But this was like the perfect setting. Your journey continues with m v|l-e'm,p y r

She could see the flow of magic running through this entire side of the mountain.

It was almost like circuitry that one might see on a computer's motherboard.

Courtney was pretty smart, as Lailah had always done her best to make sure her children wouldn't be dumb, but just looking at this spell called into question every bit of knowledge she thought she had.

Because what the hell was she looking at??

"Look at what you have and what you already know if you need help in making a decision." Mira comforted without looking back. "And most importantly,

calm down

."

"W-What makes you think I'm not calm..?"

""""We can smell it.""""

"..." Courtney lifted her arm and sniffed her pits.

"Just try to relax and focus. Think carefully before you take every action."

"Okay... I got it." Courtney nodded to herself. From that point on, she played back all of her sister's hints in her mind.

She took a moment to think about what exactly her sister meant when she encouraged her to look at what she already had.

Like that, a lightbulb seemed to go off in her mind.

She pulled out her sword from within her shadow and removed the blade from it's scabbard.

The very sword that was made from her father and mothers' own bodies.

Her father, who could tear apart all boundaries and barriers, and her mothers, who could sew it all back together.

Maybe this would be the key to getting inside..?

Courtney lifted her sword above her head and prepared to execute a perfect downwards slash.

And yet, her sister's words came back to remind her of something very important.

Think before you take every action.

Courtney froze just shy of cutting up the barrier.

She slowly lowered her weapon and took a second look at the barrier erected.

It went on for farther than her vision could naturally perceive.

Two thoughts occurred to her in that moment.

One was, W

hat if this place collapses as a failsafe?

Lailah had always taught her to back up any magic she used on precious objects with some sort of insurance. If someone tried to steal her car, they would literally burn to death.

If she were paranoid enough to put something like that on a simple automobile, then she knew that whoever had casted it on this stretch of land must have thought to do the same.

The second thought she had was actually of a conversation she had with her father when she was only twelve years old.

She became old enough to perceive the world around her and she finally asked him why.

Why despite his power, and his ability to help sand guide humans, did he instead do nothing and continue to let the world burn?

He didn't tell her that it was against the rules, which would have been a justifiable reason.

Instead, he told her the heartbreaking story of how he accidentally ended the lives of hundreds of worlds when he ventured from the abyss for the first time.

It was the first time she ever saw him so emotional.

But that day, she learned a very simple lesson that left a deep impression on her.

Just because I can do everything, doesn't always mean that I should.

Courtney found herself lowering her sword.

She gave the rocky wall a second look, and then a third, and then a fourth.

There had to be a better way here. She was sure of it.

Finally, Courtney noticed the answer right in front of her face.

There was a small gap in the circuitry- no larger than two fingers pressed together.

The significance behind this particular opening was that it was just a bit too far apart for such widely spread magic to cover this small area.

Courtney tested her theory by placing her finger in the exact same spot as where the circuit opening would have been.

She smiled when she felt no shock or discomfort of any kind. Her mind was made up.

She lifted her sword again and shifted her grip into a thrusting stance.

Saying her prayers, she pushed her sword into the opening.

Despite the fact that it was solid rock, Courtney was able to cut into the wall like it was barely even there. For a moment, she felt such little resistance that she almost thought she had missed the wall somehow.

She continued to feed her sword through the gap until she finally felt it 'pop' out of the other side.

Trying to suppress her smile, she removed her blade and sheathed it before uttering a single spell.

Mira and Thrudd finally looked back at the same time.

They grinned in unison when they saw a faint whisp of mist traveling through a new hole in the wall that most certainly wasn't there before.

A moment later, they saw a familiar red eye staring back at them from the other side of the wall.

"Are you guys coming or what??"