Raynauld moved forwards, his eyes locked on the giant orb in front of him as Haureulman’s armour disappeared into it. This wasn’t good, especially since Sirius also went in there along with whoever those other people were. Kashire walked up beside him, his hand to his forehead. “It’s… What the hell is this thing?”

“What do you see?”

“A void, pure emptiness.”

Raynauld gripped onto his glaive and shook his head. They were running out of time; a decision had to be made. “... We’re following them.”

Kashire said nothing and stood still, his hand remaining on his temple. Aldrich walked forwards, his strides even and steadied. Floyd grabbed onto his arm and tried in vain to pull him back. “Woah, hold on, we have no idea what this thing will do.”

Raynauld looked to the cold swirling mass of darkness in front of them. “Tylocke and Haureulman did, and I doubt that they went in there for no reason. We need to stop them, whatever it is they’re doing.”

“That doesn’t mean we rush in there blindly-”

“We aren’t, we’re prepared.”

“Are we? We don’t even know what that thing is, much less where it leads.”

“One way to find out.” Raynauld started to move forwards as he felt a hand reach up to his shoulder. He turned to see Felicia, her face in a mixture of confusion and sadness. “Ray, there’s still people in this town.”

“... We have a mission.”

Her eyes flashed with a dull agony as her hand slipped off of him, her voice quiet. “Who are we saving by going into there?”

Raynauld paused and shook his head, taking her hand as he slowly stepped towards it. “We’ll save more people by stopping them, trust me.”

She nodded and held onto his hand tightly, not letting go as he moved towards the orb which Aldrich was already stepping into. The air around it was cold and the surface of it was even colder to the touch. The warmth of Felicia’s hand faded as he was pulled inwards, his grip closing in around nothing. It was dark and the only sensation was the bitter cold and the stones underfoot. “Felicia?” There was no response as his voice echoed into nothingness. “Felicia!?” His mind raced, she had to be here, he was just holding onto her. What happened-

Don’t worry about her, she’s fine.

“Who are you? Show yourself.”

I cannot do that, even if I wanted to right now. You should know she’s thinking the same things as you right about now.

“Where is she, what did you do?”

Nothing as of yet, I’m currently speaking with her.

“What? But… What exactly are you?”

That’s hard to say, I’m not completely sure myself. Anyways, I’d rather learn more about you.

“What’s going on? Is everyone safe?”

Yes, yes, they are. You have quite the interesting past, don’t you? The city, it’s so… driven in your world.

“Our world?”

Aside from that, your devotion is admirable in a way, but it’s a different kind from everyone else.

“I… don’t get it, you’re reading my mind? What do you gain from this?”

Hm? Oh, just a curiosity, when you’ve been alone for how long I have, you tend to grab any information you can.

“Alone where?”

You and Felicia, she’s quite attached to you, isn’t she? From what I’m getting from her, well, you’ve been a large… influence on her.

“You still haven’t told me where she is.”

She’ll be with you in a moment, forgive me, but I want to satiate myself... Well, that would explain the men who came in here a few seconds ago, now, this ‘Maria’, you all seem to know her, even everyone you’re chasing.

“Do you understand what I want?”

Partially, yes.

“Will you help us?”

I cannot answer that yet, there’s still so much to learn and comprehend. Your world is morbidly fascinating, each of you seem to live in a different one. Forgive me for taking your time, I can see your primary concern, I’ll put you with them.

The darkness started to meld into light as Raynauld felt wooden floorboards creak under his feet. He heard a gasp come out next to him as Felicia collapsed down onto the ground beside him. Quickly kneeling down, he supported her as she got up. “Are you alright?”

“I- yeah- but what just- that voice- I-”

“I don’t know, but it’s safe for now, you’re not hurt, are you?”

She checked herself, sitting on her knees. “No, I’m alright.”

He stood up straight as she took a deep breath and walked towards the end of the room. Her hand pushed open a door before Raynauld could stop her. Dim light poured in as she shielded her eyes and looked outside. “Ray, this is-”

“Felicia, hold on, it might be…” He stopped speaking as the view from outside the door became recognizable. The buildings around him were a debased perversion of the home which he knew, and the streets unevenly led towards an all too familiar floating palace in the middle. This wasn’t right, none of this was right. Felicia marveled at the scenery before slowly stepping out onto the cobbled road. “I don’t understand…” She looked back, her eyes a mix of confusion and wonder. Her words were quiet as she spoke. “Ray, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but we need to find everyone else.”

She nodded and took a look above them, gazing at the vines from the island directly overhead, the green dulled and deafened. Her eyes flicked around to every detail with her hands hesitantly grabbing onto her sides. Raynauld moved out onto the street, keeping his glaive ready. This place may look like the city, but it was far from safe. Motioning for Felicia to stay close, they cautiously stepped down the broken road, moving in between the decrepit buildings lining their sides. It felt wrong to look around at the surroundings, as if it would leak back to the real city. Raynauld shook his head, continuing onwards; they could worry about whatever this place was once they finished with their targets, no matter how big of a distraction it may be.

A rock tumbled down from above and shattered on the ground, causing Raynauld to ignite his glaive. Kashire jumped down, stumbling as he landed on the stones. He held onto his head and staggered upwards, his faceplate looking towards Felicia. “That’s you two, right?”

Raynauld extinguished his weapon and walked forwards, addressing him slowly. “Yes, it’s us, are you alright?”

Kashire caught himself and stood up straight, slurring his words together. “... I think, but something’s up with this place. I can’t feel everything around me, and the range I have is more limited. Fortunately, you two were easy to find.”

Felicia stepped towards him, examining him as he caught himself swaying side to side. “I get what you mean, this place feels… off. Do you need help? I’m not sure if I would be able to do something, but maybe-”

“I’m alright, we should get to Aldrich and Floyd, I think they’re close by.”

Raynauld nodded and looked upwards to the dull skies above, feeling the weight of the clouds bear down on him. Kahire put a hand onto his shoulder and pointed forwards with his other hand towards a large building in the middle. “I think that’s them.”

“You think?”

“Listen.”

Raynauld paused, trying to discern what he was saying. A faint ping echoed through the air followed by a clash of metal. He broke into a run, pulling his glaive upwards, checking back to see if Felicia and Kashire were following. The sounds of reverberating metal clanging against stone flew from the interior of the decrepit stones in a sharp pang, pushing Raynauld to move even faster. He entered the building’s giant broken doorway and entered a cavernous church-like interior. A muscular and hairy arm smashed to the floor in front of him, blood spurting out the end of it. Floyd wiped the blood off of his short sword and shot him a glance. “Was wondering when you’d show up, there’s onis in here.”

He cursed and moved forwards, feeling the heat from Floyd’s flames sift through the air. Onis were tough creatures to kill, and usually they congregated around places which were potent in ether. The longer an oni lived, the stronger it got, and there didn’t seem to be a limit to that power which often led to them draining as much ether as possible. Judging by the corpses on the ground in front of him, these ones had absorbed a bit of ether, but thankfully not too much. One charged at him, it’s stretched grey skin bearing the resemblance of a skull as it’s beady red eyes burned brightly. Raynauld avoided it’s grab towards him and stabbed his glaive into its chest, trying not to fall over from its charge due to the sheer amount of weight it had.

Focusing and grimacing, Raynauld pushed his blade in further, feeling the energy well up in his hands. The monster roared as flames burst from within it and out its mouth. It slumped over, smoke billowing from its throat. A smash echoed from the centre of the room as Aldrich slammed the throat of a small oni into the stones, breaking its head open. His armour was already covered in blood and gore, the white cloth standards barely visible under the red. His sword flew upwards and into the shoulder of another monster, cracking open the collarbone as he threw an armoured fist into its face, smashing it inwards. He didn’t utter a word as he ripped his knuckles from the bone.

Another oni rushed at Raynauld, the floor shaking as it stepped. His glaive cut its arm as it swung a fist at him and into the ground, breaking it. He dodged another blow and cut its throat open, causing it to collapse to the ground with a wisp of fire. Floyd grunted as he stabbed his sword into the chest of one, causing it to stumble for a second. It kept going, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him closer. Raynauld dashed towards it, stabbing at its head. It dodged, attempting to backhand him just to get its arm to be sliced off. It howled before Floyd shoved the barrel of the device on his arm into its mouth and pulled the trigger. A burst of flame jet upwards, leaving a smoldering lump of what used to be a head on its neck. Floyd let out an exhausted breath as he watched the corpse topple backwards. “Shit, thanks for that.”

A thoom echoed from the end of the room as Aldrich slowly stepped back from the circle of corpses around him. A second thoom pulsed outwards, louder this time. Rocks and debris flew out from the middle of the room, smashing into the ground and the pillars beside them. A hulking mass stepped out of the newly made hole in the ground, looming over the group. It was an elder oni, it’s greyed and white skin littered with messy pitch black hair and dust as its eyes stared at the group. It had to be at least 3 meters tall, probably more, but Raynauld didn’t bother to check for sure as he prepared himself. Aldrich buried his sword into its arm only to be smashed away. Raynauld watched him tumble to the ground as the beast let out a deep guttural roar.

Floyd sent a jet of flame towards it and ran to Aldrich who tried to get up from the floor, his armour weighing him down. The monster waved the flames away and the hairs on its arms glowed like embers as the fire dissipated. It started to move towards Floyd as he hurriedly struggled. Raynauld rushed forwards, delivering multiple cuts to the oni’s ankles to try and topple it. A swift movement from its arm sent him to the floor as it shrugged off the blows. Raynauld gasped as pain shot through his back and chest, the wind knocked out of his now broken ribs. The monster reached down only to be stopped by an arrow in its eye, causing it to reel back and roar again. Bleariness came in a wave as Raynauld tried to push himself up to no avail.

~

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Felicia tried to run towards Ray, her heart beating fast in her chest. This was bad, really bad. Aldrich and Floyd were retreating, but Ray was still on the ground, struggling to move properly. The arrows would only stop it for so long, and she needed to take that moment to do what she could. She reached his side, hyperventilating as she placed her hands on his chest. A surge of ether pulsed through her arms, sending a shock up to her head. She gasped and kept pushing through the pain, feeling it start to work. A roar hit her ears like a canon, breaking her focus and taking her attention away. The monster moved towards her, the remaining eye it had burning a bright crimson. She shrank away, holding onto Ray’s body as she kept pouring ether into him. It felt safer this way, even though she knew it wasn’t; her body wouldn’t be enough to protect him from also being crushed.

Another arrow shot by and into the monster’s roaring mouth, causing it to sputter. Felicia took the opportunity to move Ray out of the way, but struggled in getting him far. She looked down at him as he groaned and tried to sit up, his chest now more or less healed. The monster roared again, moving closer to her. She pushed herself up, turning around and facing it. Her eyes met its chest as she slowly looked upwards towards its snarling face. A hand wrapped around her torso as she tried to back away and draw her sword. She felt her body be pulled upwards as it squeezed her in its grip, causing her to scream out in pain as her body crunched underneath its fingers.

Felicia struggled as her feet left the floor and reached her hand outwards, trying to stop the oni from getting closer. Ether surged through her body, trying to repair the wounds. She pushed her hand forwards, screaming out as energy built up in her. Her vision went black and her mind went blank as a sudden pain shot from her arm and into her head. Everything fell silent as a distant ringing echoed in her ears as all sensation left her. It was peaceful, calming even. She tried to remember what was going on, what was happening. She felt herself not breathing, but felt no urge to try and start again.

Her mind wandered as she felt the darkness calm her. What if she just woke up from this all, back in the city and in her bed. It felt like a dream, or a nightmare rather; none of this should have happened otherwise. Maybe Maria was right, maybe she should’ve told Ray she couldn’t do this. Then again, she needed to do this, not because she was needed here, but because she needed to be here for her own sake. Even so, she wasn’t sure if she could handle what was going on; she was still processing what happened, not to mention the current situation. At the same time though, she didn’t want to process it, accept any of it.

“Felicia!” “Ray’s voice snapped her out of her trance, pulling her back to the real world. She took a choking inhale as she opened her eyes, the light blazing into her vision. The stone ceiling above slowly came into view as Ray’s face appeared over hers. “Felicia, thank god.”

A sense of comfort washed over her as she realized he was alright. She sat up, staring at him and trying to keep an expression of wonder off of her face; she had never seen him look so relieved before, and the fact that relief was aimed at her gave her a guilty sense of happiness. Her senses cleared and the excruciating pain in her arm became noticeable. She suppressed a scream and clutched onto her wrist, seeing the pulsing black veins and arteries protruding from her skin, their capillaries wrapping around like a dark spider web. Her breath quickened as she almost fell back down again. Ray caught her and firmly gripped onto her shoulder, keeping her sitting upright. She tried to grasp onto him with a trembling hand as the pain seemed to worsen; it felt like her whole arm was being cut open, like acid was burning her from the inside out. Looking up, she tried to get a word out, but only managed a stifled cry. Her tears blurred her vision as she attempted to stabilize her breaths.

She curled up in his arms, holding herself as she waited for the pain to stop. Blinking the tears away, she looked around, seeing the oni slumped over on its knees, its head torn into pieces. Behind it the wall was blown open, and so was the one after that, and the after that one as well. She took a moment to process that the destruction was her doing. Her agony quieted to piercing needles as she looked from the annihilation up to Ray and spoke to him quietly. “Is… is everyone alright?”

“Yes, you did well, just rest for a moment, okay?”

She slowly nodded and let herself fall back into his arms as he set her down to the floor. The stones pressed into her, but the discomfort was overridden by the still lingering pain. Her head floated in a sea of nausea as the light from above strained her vision. Attempting to clear her head, she pushed her body upwards. This wasn’t right, she couldn’t just sit here and drag everyone down. She gasped as she tried to push herself up with her right hand, the pain burning through her limb. Ray’s arm reached under her shoulder and helped her stand as he gave a look of concern. She shook her head as she got to her feet, putting on as reassuring of a smile as she could. “I’m okay now, sorry.”

He nodded and turned to Floyd who sat back against a pillar as Aldrich rested his hands on his greatswords crossguard. Ray wiped the blood off of his glaive and walked forwards, looking over to Kashire. “Can you sense them?”

“... I think so, the signature isn’t too far away.”

Ray nodded and checked back on Felicia before quickly moving forwards. He and Kashire pushed their way past the rubble from the broken down walls, the stones laying shattered on the floor. Felicia gingerly made her way around the giant oni corpse and past the crumbling bricks. Floyd gave her a look of affirmation before moving along with Aldrich after Ray, who was already moving out of the building.

Kashire moved quickly down the open streets, the dark sky from above telling Felicia it was getting closer to nighttime. Judging off what day it was back at home, how the night would look here might be interesting. She shook her head and refocused herself; it was no time to reminisce. Their pace was a light run as Kashire tested his bowstring while dashing through the empty roads in front of him. It seemed like his head was clearer judging off of his movement, or at least Felicia hoped it was. Their footsteps echoed through the air as the dilapidated buildings surrounding them loomed over the stones below. Kashire suddenly whipped around, cursing and drawing his bow. Felicia ducked out of his aim and turned around as well, scanning the empty street behind her. Ray looked between Kashire and the empty stones, speaking quickly. “Behind us?”

“Sorry, something’s screwing with my senses still, there’s too many corrupted signatures.”

Aldrich suddenly turned to the side and planted his sword into the ground. A moment later, the wall blasted open, the stones being redirected to the side by Aldrich. Haureulman dashed outwards, his poleaxe stabbing forward. The spear was blocked by a greatsword and swung to the side as he roared, trying to push through. After a brief moment, Haureulman jumped back, seething through his visor. “You couldn’t have just stayed back there, could you? Not that I expected you to.”

He scanned everyone as his poleaxe paused and lowered slowly. “... Where is she?”

Felicia quickly looked away and caught her breath as Ray grit his teeth. Haureulman shook his head and growled. “No...”

He roared and swung his poleaxe forwards, missing Aldrich and breaking apart the stones on the floor. He pointed his finger at the group, hissing at them. “Which one of you was it? Who did she try to save?”

Floyd stepped forwards, his voice low and steady. “Haureulman-”

“YOU were supposed to stop her. You knew, and you still fucking let this happen.”

Felicia shrank back as his eyes blazed underneath his helmet, burning into her. He stared at her fragile frame for a moment before lifting his poleaxe out of the ground, shaking his head. “She was the best of us all. All of us. You corrupted her.”

His weapon swung faster than Felicia could see and almost took Floyd’s head off as Aldrich blocked the blow. Kashire fired an arrow which Haureulman sidestepped, stabbing as he did so. Ray rushed forwards, his glaive now ablaze with fire as Floyd jumped back and primed his device. Felicia fumbled to draw her sword as she watched Hauruelman bolt between his opponents. It was a dance of blades as Ray flanked to the side and Aldrich approached head on. They moved in unison, as if they had done this a hundred times before. It was mesmerizing, amazing even.

A slash from Ray’s glaive bounced off of Haureulman’s back as he raised a hand outwards, firing a concussive blast out. The force of the wave made Felicia falter as Floyd was blown off of his feet and to the floor. She quickly got up, rushing to his side as he slowly pushed himself upwards with a groan. He let out a hoarse chuckle as Felicia helped him off the ground and Aldrich slammed his greatsword down. Ray jumped away from a swipe and glanced over to them, his eyes flickering between them and the background. Felicia looked over her shoulder, seeing a flash of dirtied blue cloth and dented armour. Her eyes widened as Ray quickly darted towards it, hastily talking to Floyd. “I’ll be back.”

“Yeah, sure, just don’t get killed.”

Ray bolted past Felicia before she could tell him to stop. She quickly followed him, not being able to fully keep up with his pace. Kashire called out after her but she couldn’t hear what he was saying over her breaths and the metal clashing behind. Ray’s flames burned brightly as he ran, brighter than it was before. He slowed his pace as Felicia caught up to him. In front of them was Sirius, breathing heavily with his sword still in the sheath on his back. They stared at each other for a moment, their gazes holding a blur of emotion within them. Felicia moved to Ray’s side, snapping his attention away. “Ray-”

“Felicia, stay back.”

“No, we need to-”

She stuttered as he moved forwards and spun his glaive around. Sirius shook his head after quickly glancing behind him and spoke through grit teeth. “I’m not fighting you Raynauld.”

“I’m making you pay nonetheless.”

Felicia grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back. “Ray, stop.” She looked into his eyes as he spun around with a face of annoyed anger. He stared at her for a moment, looking between her hand and her face. “Felicia-”

“This isn’t what she would have wanted.”

He paused for a moment and then pulled his arm away from her, trying to return his attention back to Sirius. Without wasting another second, he launched at him with his glaive. Sirius drew his sword out and dodged the blow, blocking the followup strike without making a counterattack. Felicia ran forwards, watching Ray swing his fiery blade again. Sirius jumped back as she stepped in between the two of them. Her breath caught in her throat as Ray’s glaive stopped short of her chest as the flames flickered before her eyes. Sirius stepped forwards and she reached her hand out to stop him from moving closer. Ray grimaced as she slowly moved her hand to his blade, forcing him to extinguish the flames. He spoke harshly, his words a command. “Stay away-”

“No, you need to stop this.” She looked from him to Sirius who stood still with his sword pointed to the floor. Ray shook his head and moved his glaive around her side and forwards, only to be stopped by her moving with it. “Ray, please-”

“He’s a traitor, he murdered Maria-”

“She wouldn’t want this.”

“Then what would she have wanted?” Ray hissed through grit teeth as his gaze flickered between her and Sirius. The sound of distant clashing metal echoed behind them as Felicia pleaded with him. “I don’t know, but not more bloodshed.” She turned around, looking at Sirius. “Right?”

“.... She would have wanted you to be safe, all of you.” His words quietly trailed off as he sheathed his blade, staring up at Ray sadly. “I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

“It didn’t have to, what do you know? You-” He was interrupted by Felicia grabbing onto his glaive and pushing it back towards him. “There doesn’t need to be any more deaths, now please, the others need our help.”

Ray stood silent for a moment as she moved closer to him, her hands still holding onto his weapon. With a frustrated sigh, he started to walk backwards, maintaining his gaze on Sirius. “This doesn’t mean you’re forgiven.”

“I know.”

Felicia slowly let go of his glaive as he turned around without looking at her. It was the first time she had gone directly against him, and in all honesty, it was terrifying. Her heart pounded in her head as she ran after him and back to the fight. Even as scared as she was, there was no regret. She just hoped that he would forgive her, because if he didn’t, then… Felicia calmed her breathing as they approached a jet of flame emerging from the street. Haureulman’s roar was audible over the clashing of metal. Kashire tumbled to the floor in front of them as stones hit the ground beside him. Felicia knelt down, letting a bit of ether flow from her hands as she helped him to his feet. He got up and fired an arrow as Ray ran past with his glaive ready.

Felicia grunted as a shock of pain shot up her arm while she grabbed her still sheathed sword. The veins in her arm pulsed softly as she released her hand and looked towards Haureulman who was still dueling with Aldrich. Floyd stumbled upwards and started to ready his device as Aldrich was thrown away by a blast. Haureulman quickly spun around, hitting the end of his weapon into Floyd’s shoulder. He recoiled and raised his arm to block the followup swing. The overhead slash smashed through his device with a crunch and buried its blade in his arm. Crying out in pain, Floyd tore away from the axe, holding onto his bleeding wound. Ray cursed and jumped forwards, stopping Haureulman from advancing.

Felicia ran towards Floyd, quickly putting her hand to his wound. He was lucky that the device took the brunt of the blow, otherwise the axe probably would have gone through his arm and into him. Her hands burned as she poured ether out. The blue glow shimmered brightly as the pain started to worsen with her veins feeling like they were boiling. Her knees felt weak and she stumbled forward as Floyd took his arm away, a red trench still visible through his cut clothing. “Don’t burn yourself out here.” He stated as he turned back to the fight. “Stay back, it’ll be over soon.”

“I-I can help”

“Sorry kid, not against him.”

He held onto his sword and ran back towards Haureulman who was now taking the offensive against Ray while also dealing with Aldrich. Floyd carefully circled as Aldrich smashed his greatsword downwards, hitting blackened armour. As Haureulman swung backwards, Floyd stabbed his sword into his elbow. Ray thrust his glaive towards his visor, barely missing as Haureulman dodged the blow. Another swing from the poleaxe pushed everyone backwards as it sliced through the air. Ray lunged forwards quickly, launching a flurry of stabs. Haureulman dodged the first couple with ease, trying to get his attacks in but was stopped by a glancing blow to his gauntlet. Sparks flew as the fire flickered under the dreary sky above. It burned brightly as Ray swung in a wide arc, aiming for the neck.

Haureulman blocked the blow and jumped backwards only to be met by Aldrich charging into him with a punch. His fist landed squarely and slammed straight into Haureulman’s helmet, causing him to stumble as his head snapped back from the blow. A second punch was blocked as he jumped away, growling in frustration. He quickly raised his hand and let loose a blast, pushing everybody close to him onto the ground. His breathing was audible from a distance as he stood to full height. A whistle sang through the air beside Felicia as she tried to grab her sword. Haureulman’s hand shot up and quickly caught Kashire’s arrow midair with a growl. “I’m tired of this.”

Floyd chuckled to himself as he shook his arm. “Same here.”

Aldrich paused as Haureulman started to walk away, his poleaxe resting on his shoulder. His voice echoed through the destroyed streets as he backed off. “I’ll be seeing you again soon.”

Ray stepped forwards with his glaive ready. “You’re not going anywhere-” A blast interrupted him and sent him reeling backwards as Haureulman pulled out a small chain. A bright blue glow emitted from his hand and in a flash, he vanished. The streets rested in a mellow silence as everyone stood looking at the spot where their target once stood. Ray growled in frustration, turning and walking away. Felicia shrank out of his way as he avoided eye contact, his teeth grit. Kashire followed him and Floyd patted her on the back. “That wasn’t directed at you, don’t worry.”

She slowly nodded and shook her wrist out, wincing from the still present pain. It was taking longer for it to subside, probably because she had never spent this much ether in such a short span of time. Whatever the case, she needed to recover quickly, otherwise that would cause even more problems. Kashire moved forwards, muttering to Ray. “There’s a large signature up ahead, I don’t know whose it is, but it’s worth checking out.”

They moved forwards and a loud clatter of metal rang out as Floyd threw his now broken mechanism off his arm and into the rubble. Felicia took a second to gaze at it before following Ray through the uncomfortably familiar streets.