Charlene’s next shout caught Scott’s attention since his current opponent had stopped moving. He looked up just in time to see another one of her burning spheres of energy racing toward him through the air. He did not have the time or energy to dodge, and Cerene was not close enough to the witch to help him again.

Scott threw his arms in front of his face then cried out in both shock and extreme pain as the sphere burst against his chest. He was thrown back with incredible force and the energy of the attack began to slide liquidly along the contours of battered his flesh even as it set him ablaze.

Flames erupted upward as he burned. Scott feebly tried to roll around to extinguish the fire, but that merely spread the blaze.

Charlene laughed cruelly for a moment then frowned. "Why isn't he dead? He should be dead."

An enraged shout caught her attention and she turned in time to see something she had not expected. The angel that she had beaten into submission had begun to glow with the light of an awesome power.

Cerene gasped loudly, her chest heaved up and down. Her one good wing flared outward and she leveled a deadly glare upon her tormentor.

Charlene took an involuntary step back but recovered her composure. "Glare all you want, you pathetic slut. Your savior is dead, and you can't fight me."

A beautiful smirk arose upon the angel's soft pink lips. Blood trickled down from where they had been split earlier. She stretched out her hand and motes of light began to form before her palm.

Desperate laughter split the air as Charlene followed suit and began to form her Burst Sphere spell once more. However, the angel was faster and far more desperate. Cerene cried out in a strong voice, "Celestial Strike!"

The motes of light became a brilliantly shining blade that raced outward from the palm of her hand. Charlene's eyes went wide, but then they narrowed, and she laughed once more. "You missed you stupid, slut!"

"Did I?" asked Cerene. A loud cracking noise echoed through the area.

Charlene gasped then looked upward just in time to see a massive tree limb fall to the earth. She managed to avoid it for the most part, but an errant branch tore a large gash down her chest and ripped open her shirt. Her breasts bled heavily even as they were exposed to the night air.

Motes of light began to form before Cerene's hand once more. They were weaker, less luminous, this time but the curse was still in effect. Cerene had managed to overwhelm the lesser power of her witchy foe through sheer willpower, but even that had its limits.

Charlene did not realize it. She had become shocked and even more desperate. From her perspective, the curse had run its course. Without its aid, and with her master down for the count, she was at a stark disadvantage against someone like Cerene despite her higher level and skill.

The witch leapt backward then raced over to her master's fallen body. She gripped him tight with one hand then raised the other and shouted two words, "Emergency Teleport!"

Bright blue light flared from the sapphire ring that she wore upon her hand. That light engulfed the witch and her master. Both Charlene and her fallen master shimmered brightly then faded from sight a moment later. They had left the battle, and the forest, behind.

Hot tears poured from Cerene's eyes as she realized what had happened. She had somehow survived, remained free. The weak cries of her savior caught her attention and she moved as quickly as she could to reach his side.

The flames had long since burnt out, somehow. What was left behind was badly charred meat that struggled feebly to live.

Light shimmered in Cerene's eyes as she gazed down at the ruination that had befallen the one who had come for her. "This... You have been hurt so badly, and solely for my sake."

His breath labored, the terribly injured man barely managed to croak out the words, "You... Ok."

A heart-breaking sob escaped her beautiful lips, and a painful ache arose within her chest. Despite his terrible wounds he still thought of her. Yet, she had no idea who he was, or why he would go to such lengths for her.

"Yes, I am well." She gingerly reached down and clasped his left hand, the only unburned spot she could readily find above the waist. "Thank you!"

Tears welled along the rims of his eyes. "G-good," he croaked.

She reached up and touched her lips. They trembled softly and she acquired an expression fraught with both anguish and growing despair. Her eyebrows pressed toward each other and her nostrils flared slightly. Timidly, she reached out and lightly stroked his hair. She did not know what to do to comfort him.

It was then that an idea occurred to her. She placed her hand to the ringed collar that had been forced upon her. "With this..."

Cerene bit her lip a little and tasted her blood in her mouth. She did not know him, but she knew of no man like him. People like the dying man before her did not exist.

“It’s like something out of a fairytale,” she whispered.

In her adrenaline-soaked mind, she viewed him as an almost mythological creature. He was like a knight who had come to save the princess from a dragon. Her thoughts shifted briefly, almost with her expression. She recalled how savagely he had fought, and his surprising level of resilience. In her heart she amended that it was more like a dragon had come to defend the princess against a wicked knight. Either way, she was a princess.

She took his hand and pressed his fingers to the ring that dangled from her collar. Softly, the angel with a broken wing leaned forward and kissed her charred dragon protector upon the burnt ruin that was his lips. "In love, and in trust, I freely give myself to you. Please, my chosen master. Do you accept me?"

Scott said nothing. He was only barely conscious at best, at this point. That strange resilience of his proved to be fleeting and might have been nothing more than desperate rage fueled by adrenaline. They might never know.

“Please. Do you accept me?” she asked him again.

He said nothing, so she prompted him once more. Despite his lack of an answer, she stroked his burnt hair and continued to prompt him but changed tactics. “Say, yes.”

Scott was barely conscious, but at her prompting he croaked out. "Yes..."

The ring flared brilliantly with a warm and soothing light. Both Scott and Cerene began to glow brightly as well. Their wounds faded slightly as they shared a profound mystical connection that bridged the gap between their natures. Where once there had been two desperate people bereft of any sense of human companionship and adrift in an uncaring sea known as fate, there was now a new and fragile union formed.

Cerene slipped down beside her new master, her chosen one, and wrapped her arms around his badly burnt body. She kissed him gently upon the cheek and a soft blue energy radiated outward from where the sweet blow had struck his ruined flesh. The flesh upon his face, so sweetly stricken, shimmered and slowly began to heal.

She smiled gently then kissed him upon the brow, and then once more sweetly upon his nose. Wherever she kissed him his wounds lessened slightly. His vitality slowly returned, and he halted his descent toward a slow painful death.

The angel gently traced her fingers through Scott's hair and watched as her newly awakened power, one that only worked once she formed a bond of trust with a worthy master, worked its magic. That power was a direct manifestation of the love that she held within her heart. The stronger their bond became, and the more he supported her, the more powerful her [Angel's Sweet Blessing] would become.

“For you who have heard my prayers and come to my aid, I will do my best," said Cerene gently before she cuddled closely with her badly injured master. Simply being close to him had a healing effect upon her own body as well. This closeness, this tender embrace, it was capable of soothing even the most embattled of hearts and battered of limbs.

The long night passed in stillness, and a quiet intimacy. Her split lip became whole. Her bruises and cuts faded away as though they had never existed. After several hours had passed, even her broken wing had been restored to the point that it could be flexed.

Whenever her mana reached a point that she could properly utilize her power, she gently kissed her master upon the worst of his wounds. The terrible burns faded over time. His intake of breath became steady, and his heartbeat became strong. Scott slept in Cerene's arms throughout the night and through her sweet and tender mercy, and though his wounds remained terrible he survived till the coming of the dawn.