The Job

Umbra’s blade cut through a thick wad of foliage, sweat dripping down his face as he took another step forward. The humidity had went straight to his hair, causing it to spill across his shoulders.

“Is this the place?” Aunora muttered, panting as she wiped her arm across her forehead. She had long abandoned her shirt, settling for her sports bra.

The building before them was in ruins, the walls made from crumbling stone and slowly losing a battle against an advancing sea of kudzu.

Umbra let his blade drag the ground, “That's what the letter says. Apparently there's some sort of infestation at this shrine, and our objective is to replenish the spell that protects it. Esper, does that sound particularly hard?”

Esper stood close by Aunora, clutching the hem of his pastel skirt. Hesitantly, he nodded. “It shouldn't be complicated magic. Victor, do you mind assisting me?”

Victor’s eyes grew wide. “I, uh, I'm not sure if could be any help. You're really talented, Esper.”

“As are you,” Seraph said with a gentle smile, patting him on the shoulder, “You should not worry.”

“This place doesn't look infested to me,” Aunora said, crossing her arms.

“It is very infested, Aunora,” Esper replied, taking a cautionary step back, “I can sense the heat signatures inside. We need to be very careful.”

Umbra cracked his knuckles, exposing his teeth with a grin. “We've dealt with worse. Aunora, you're with me. Seraph, you stick with Esper and Victor and protect them.” He twisted the sword in his palm, light catching the waves in the blade in irregular pattern, “Silver Moon, move out!”

Inside, the shrine was shrouded in darkness, rocks crunching under Umbra’s shoes. He held his sword close to his person, knuckles white against the hilt as he advanced forward.

“Esper, where are you seeing the enemy?”

“Uh, Mr. Umbra, everywhere.”

“Everywhere?”

Slowly, Seraph raised his hand, an orb of light shedding visibility.

Hundreds of tiny eyes illuminated on the wall. They were sprites, beasts that resembled horned cockroaches but where the size of small dogs.

Umbra narrowed his eyes. “We're not getting paid enough for this.”

The swarm descended upon them in a mass of snapping jaws and twitching legs, the team splitting and darting to opposite sides of the room.

Aunora cackled as she dove into the brawl, her body flashing as she became cloaked in armor, spikes protruding from her gauntlet. A gruesome squish ensured her fists met more than the floor. Rolling his eyes, Umbra darted after her, the hilt of his blade expanding as it seamlessly shifted into a war scythe, broadening his reach.

“I hate bugs,” Umbra hissed, slicing through an incoming sprite. Viscous green fluid splattered onto his shirt. He and Aunora were back to back, Aunora fighting with fists and Umbra fighting with a blade.

“I know,” Aunora said, smirking, “I had to kill that spider this morning.”

Umbra stopped furiously, the hard shell of a sprite cracking. “It was a big spider! And I had just gotten out of the shower! You can't expect me to kill a spider while naked!”

Aunora howled with laughter as she punched into the floor, shattering the stone and several sprites. “I can't believe you're still alive, you priss.”

“By the way,” Umbra murmured, his pride sounding hurt, “Do you think we should pick Matthew up some food before we go home? He hasn't been eating much.”

“If he's brave,” Aunora said snatching a sprite off her shoulder and crushing it in her palm, “We can bring him a sprite.”

“I'm serious, Aunora. I'm worried about him. He needs something to cheer him up. I think we should bring him some cake.”

Aunora wiped sprite blood off her hand, slapping Umbra’s shoulder. “You worry too much. I'm sure he'll bounce back in a couple days.”

Author's Note- actually surprised myself with how vague my notes were for this chapter and went off the rails a little. had to split this up into two chapters lol

i get a little carried away with aunora and umbra banter

remember to vote and comment♡♡