Chapter Text
Even just the two of them, just Barry and Lup, they would have been able to handle the gnolls easily. The locals warned them about that, and Barry and Lup had known what to expect there. Barry and Lup had not, however, been prepared for a manticore. Or a Minotaur. Or a Banshee. And yet they’re faced with all three, and a band of gnolls besides, all drawn in by the Light of Creation to this foggy, cold clearing in a dark and gloomy forest that looks like the sort of place a lich would have their creepy keep.
Creepy, even if, after the fight, assuming they survive, Barry would love to investigate the bioluminescent moss, glowing like the Light of Creation Lup has tucked under one arm, growing on some of the trees and the creepy little flying squirrels peeping around it with bright white eyes like the moon. He is a scientist after all.
Barry is slammed back into the fight, literally, as the tail of the manticore slams into him (jeans don’t really do much for his armor class, but even his actual armor could only blunt the worst of that). The breath thoroughly knocked from his chest, Barry seems to fly backward through the air, peculiarly weightless for the moment, before crashing and barely missing the Banshee.
As it is, Barry is barely able to scramble up to standing, wand at the ready as the horrifying figure drifts toward him, white hair eerily floating in her wake as if she moves through water. Barry’s wand shakes in his hand, which starts to lower.
There’s an awful rattling sound as the Banshee begins to inhale, preparing to unleash that bone-chilling wail, and Barry prepares to next see Lup, seemingly moments later, not staring across the clearing with a horrified look on her face, but on board the Starblaster once more. Maybe they’ll get it right next time, maybe next time he’ll tell her…
“Barry!” Lup yells, voice filled with desperate rage and… and?
And then fire. Flicker becomes inferno, which spirals outward from Lup like a flower in bloom, petals of flame rushing across the space. And then the fire parts around Barry, dancing by him in whorls of blinding orange and red, as graceful as the wizard herself. The Banshee’s cry is stifled as it inhales ash and flame instead of air. And for a moment, there is only fire, surrounding and protecting him.
The light dims, and the fire recedes. Barry blinks in astonishment, automatically reaching up to adjust his glasses as he looks around. The powerful, so incredibly powerful, burst of fire took out not just the Banshee, but Banshee, manticore, Minotaur, and gnolls alike. Barry is the only thing untouched, the small circle of purplish green grass he stands on the only oasis in the massive scorched circle. It’s silent for a moment, before the flying squirrels in their more distant glowing trees, start up their squeaks and trills again.
Barry turns back slowly, to see Lup’s face, struck with fear and brilliantly lit by the Light of Creation she still holds, the Light of Creation they’ve won. He starts to speak. “Lu-“
“Barry!” And Lup is running, at the last moment dropping the Light of Creation, so close that it rolls from ashy ground to the dark grass. And then she throws her arms around Barry, so tight that it’s nearly painful after the manticore’s strike. He cautiously winds his own arms around her anyway. She’s practically vibrating, and, this close, Barry can feel her heart beating a frantic rhythm.
“Lup, that was… that was amazing. Thank you.” He marvels.
Lup laughs, a little shakily at first, before drawing back. “Hell yeah, it was, Barold. And you’re welcome. Never been so glad to say nerd alert before, nerd.”
“You got me there.” Barry says, and then hesitates. And then he extends his hand out to her.
“Yeah, I do. Let’s go home,” Lup says, and if there’s a watery note to her voice, well, Barry certainly isn’t going to say anything as she scoops up the Light of Creation and drops it into her bag before taking Barry’s offered hand.