Leviathan Slayer - Astire

Astire soared through the sky, climbing higher.

The chaos of battle was all around – adventurers battling with the Leviathan's 'defenders,' the hail of artillery from the ground, and the cluster of individuals attacking the hulking Leviathan itself.

Somewhere far below were the engines of destruction she had helped forge, the crystalline patterns of light woven into them.

She flew higher.

Once upon a time she would have been terrified to even come close to something like this – and would've been cut down in a heartbeat if she had.

But not any more. She flew higher.

An arrow soared towards her, guided by magic, aimed at her heart.  She spiralled in midair and unleashed Balr's radiance, and the arrow twisted aside and spiralled away rather than strike her.  Light coalesced in her free hand into a golden lightning-bolt crystal, and the crystal became lightning itself that blasted back at the archer who'd tried to shoot her out of the sky, and she was already gone before the bolt had landed.

She flew higher.

Higher than the archers could fire, higher than the Leviathan, higher than even the artillery fire could reach.

It was a moment's respite, far enough away that the sound of the battle was muted.  From up here there was even a certain beauty to it, to the patterns the other adventurers traced as they and their attacks crashed against the Leviathan, again and again.

In the spaces between wingbeats she drew a thin paintbrush from her robe, tracing crystal patterns in midair that she flew through as they settled onto her like jewellery, chronal energy shimmering around her, accelerating what would have been almost a minute's worth of spellcasting into the space of a few seconds.

She drew her sword, letting the knowledge of her ancestors guide her, and traced a path up the blade with the paintbrush, and the dark adamantine became blazing radiance. Dama's perfection molded her form and the light became brighter still, the mechanisms installed into the hilt of the blade beginning to whir into life.

And then she dived, plummeting like a meteor towards the Leviathan, towards a spot that an arcing ballista bolt had carved into the top of its back.

She didn't hold back, slamming into the Leviathan at full speed, blade-first, and she couldn't spare the power to properly protect herself against the impact, but her shield of light took the worst of it, and her natural healing swiftly restored what little wounds she'd suffered.

Her blade was slick with dark blood when she withdrew it from the wound.  Had the Leviathan even noticed the blow?  She spread her wings again with a quiet groan and took off, arcing back up into the air, ready to strike again…