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I immediately sprang into action. Dashing forwards towards the moon elf with the lightning blade, I asked the Wind telepathically why these elves were immune to my magic. The Wind replied that they weren’t, and that I should try some different incantations. Before I could ask which to try, the crackling blade had already spun around to meet me. I looked at the leaden faces before me. The one with the lightning blade was obviously the leader, but they were overconfident and cocky. The arcanists the Wind had fought had seemed skilled from what little I saw, though from their garments they seemed poorer than I was. Clearly, they wouldn’t have been able to afford the kind of tuition I had. I was certain I could outclass them. Finally, the last two, who had long, silver spears that glistened in the moonlight seemed the weakest of them. They had only light armour, and seemed the youngest of the five. My plan was ready. I set it in motion.
The leader swung at me wildly with their sword and I slid underneath its hot fulminations. The two arcanists ignored me and once again approached the Wind. The two with spears, however, did exactly as I had hoped, and both thrusted downwards at me as I slid across the ground. As the points neared me, I used my mind to pull down upon them with considerable force, causing the two elves to lose balance and stumble forwards. While they were off balance, I extended thin, golden tendrils of light from my fingers which reached out towards the one on the left. The tendrils pierced through the elf’s ankles and further wrapped around their shins, causing them to fall to the ground, screaming in agony. As I turned around to face the other elf, I found they had recovered faster than I had anticipated, and they managed to deliver me a glancing blow with their spear before I was able to roll out of the way. As I stood up again, the moon elf with the lightning blade threw more motes of lightning towards me. With my tendrils, I lifted their fallen ally and used their body to intercept the bolts before tossing it to one side.
Everything stood still in that moment. I was out of breath, not particularly from exertion, but from shock. Shock at how I immediately seemed to know what to do. That my momentary plan had worked and I was still alive. That I had… It was my first time. And in that moment, the moon elves realised that they had severely underestimated my capabilities.
My breathing slowly stabilised and I stared directly at the leader again, their eyes filled with rage. They motioned for the last spear wielding elf to approach me from the left, while they flung another barrage of lightning towards me. I retracted the tendrils of light back inside myself and focused on the arcs of death zipping towards me. With my mind, I slowed their trajectory, and they began to curve away from me, eventually fizzling out. The leader raised the sword again, but this time did not throw the lightning towards me. It ripped across the steppe with immense force. Great columns of fire rose up around me. I moved cautiously within the inferno, trying to see through the flickering flames. The moon elves hid well in the shadow of the smoke. I made another circle within the flames, searching for them. For a moment, the blaze parted just enough for me to see the other moon elf again. Lying face down in the dirt. Motionless. Had I really-
My thoughts were cut short as a silver spear stabbed through the blaze, slicing my thigh. I turned around but before I could see the elf they were gone again. I forced my tendrils forth through the fire where I thought they must have been but there was nothing. And then the spear broke through again on the opposite side, its blade once again gashing my flesh. “Reveal yourself!” I yelled, hoping to provoke a reaction. For a while, there was silence. And nothing. But I waited. And then, the spear, this time accompanied by the leader’s lightning blade, thrust towards me. I jumped through the flames towards where the leader must have been standing, and tackled them to the ground, dodging both strikes. They were more muscled than me. Bigger and stronger. But I had knocked the lightning blade from their grip. There was a chance. They hit me in the face and I fell back, my ears ringing and my vision blurry. They were crawling towards me and at the last second before they hit me again I kneed them in the chest as hard as I could. Something gave way and cracked, and they began sputtering and gasping for air. I focused as best I could despite the pain in my head and extended my tendrils again. They burrowed their way through the moon elf’s thick biceps and then dug firmly into the ground. The elf struggled but the tendrils made several loops through their arms, essentially stitching them into the dirt. I forced myself over top of them, and they were helpless underneath me. Suddenly, however, the one with the spear came back out of the flames, this time also holding the lightning blade. I focused and commanded the growing firestorm. It lashed out towards them and engulfed them before they could harm me, and they burned alive. I had stopped focusing on the leader, however, and in that moment my tendrils were weakened, and they managed to raise their arms enough to hit me again. This time I was able to withstand the blow better. I grabbed their thick neck and began to choke them. They pounded against my arms, desperate to make me let go. I was so frustrated in that moment. Everything had been so unnecessary. All the violence. I focused my mind one last time and forced lightning through my hands and into their body. My palms glowed white hot as I scorched their flesh, permanently burning an outline of my hands into their neck. Their body went limp from the energy, but I did not kill them. I simply left them weak, with a reminder of their foolishness. I picked up the lightning blade as I walked over to the Wind, and turned my back on the ordeal.
To my surprise, the Wind had captured both of the spellcasting moon elves. Both were uninjured, kneeling in the grass, with chains of unbreakable air around their wrists. The Wind stood there next to them, patiently waiting.
“Shall we continue?” the Wind asked.
I spat out a thick wad of blood and looked to the shadowy mountains, and then back across the steppe. I began to laugh, and then just shook my head. “I suppose so.”