Zolzaya’s heart raced in her chest, and her mind flashed through her options. How had they snuck up on her? What could she do? Whatever the crystal had been doing to the pup had drained Zolzaya of most of her spirit energy when she’d touched it, while physically, she was still exhausted from carrying the child. Her hand inched toward the dagger at her waist as whoever, or whatever, had caught her spun her around.
She pulled the dagger free and raised it high, only for the figure to pull her into an embrace. Zolzaya froze, her eyes wide. It took a moment for things to click into her stressed brain, but the young woman soon buried her face in her father’s chest. Juatan was a mess himself, his ruined plate armor ditched long ago, and the gambeson underneath stained in various places with unidentifiable fluids.
Neither figure cared, though, as father and daughter held each other for a long moment, the sleeping pup between them. When Juatan pulled away, he gave his daughter a heavy look, then gently pulled the heavy Akh’lut pup from her arms. With her burden removed, Zolzaya suddenly felt exhausted and nearly collapsed. Ganbaatar appeared beside her, looking worse for wear, and caught her as she fell. It was then she noticed the other Slatewalkers gathered around.
Ulagan, Yutu, and Munkh formed a defensive perimeter around her, while Kallik knelt beside Ganbaatar, holding Zolzaya’s wrist. The older Grassreader sighed in relief. “She’d be fine. Just some mild Spirit exhaustion and adrenaline crash,” she said, looking up at Juatan.
Juatan visibly eased, then turned his attention to the child in his arms. That was one goal accomplished. How his daughter had managed such a thing would have to be a story for another time. He looked toward the center of the chamber, where Alpha and Artemis were fighting a small army of shadow-clad zombies and a large Akh’lut woman in human form, respectively.
A sudden war cry cut through the sound of battle, and Juatan turned toward it, fearing the cultists had finally rallied. Instead, dozens of Guardians poured into the chamber from various entryways. Most showed signs of intense battle, with broken armor or bloodied weapons, but no one hesitated to charge forward and meet the shadowy zombies surrounding the Lord Protector.
Seeing the sight, Juatan ginned. He placed the child on the floor, leaned down, and hugged his daughter. He then stood and glanced at both Ulagan and Munkh. Both Guardians nodded, with Munkh stepping closer to the younger Slatewalkers. Ulagan raised his spear and turned toward the conflict. Then, with their own yell, both he and Juatan charged into the fray.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
Alpha batted away another of the shadowy zombies. These things were getting annoying. They weren’t difficult to kill, but another would pop out of Hera’s shadow every time he did so, ready for a fight. It didn’t seem to take much effort on the woman’s part either, as she was still summoning the creatures, even as Artemis chased her around the chamber.
He contemplated just putting a bullet in her and ending it, but decided against it in the end. The look on Artemis’ face was scary; it reminded him of the general’s secretary, Si’dia. Literal star systems had been turned to dust when that woman was out for blood.
Instead, he focused on keeping Hera’s “pets” out of the fight. He was missing his bone clubs already, though. Sure, he could replicate the effect with a bit of metal from storage (it was even more effective), but it wasn’t the same. Two more zombies burst into flames as a group of armored humans surged into the room. Alpha nearly shot the first until his ‘Freind or Foe’ protocols marked the figure as being one of the humans he’d come with. Soon, Alpha found most of the zombies engaged with other targets and little left for him to do.
He decided to garner some free goodwill and turned to a support role. Though the TAWP stood still in the middle of the chamber, its turrets were a hive of activity, as each independently tracked various targets. A quick shot at the right time was often enough to give a Guardian the opening they needed or deflect a killing blow when one messed up. With Alpha’s help, it didn’t take long for the Guardians to overwhelm the shadowy zombies, and soon, the creatures were being killed faster than Hera could spawn.
If her gritted teeth and bloodshot eyes were any sign, the large woman had also noticed this.
“ENOUGH!” Hera yelled. A visible shockwave emanated from her alongside her voice. The dark wave swept through the chamber with enough force to rock the TAWP. Most of the considerably less steady humans were sent flying several meters. Some rolled across the floor and moaned, while others recovered more gracefully. A select few, mostly Artemis’ elites and the stronger humans, were only pushed back a few steps.
Hera scanned the room with wild, bloodshot eyes. The woman breathed heavily, her black and white hair coming undone, spilling over her shoulders. She bled from several large gashes in her side, the stone-colored robes stained dark. Finally, her eyes locked onto Alpha, and she screamed something primal and unintelligible.
She pointed at him and yelled, “You! Dog of the Prima! This is your fault! Do you have any idea how long I have been planning this?! What I have sacrificed?! How dare you interfere!”
Alpha looked around and pointed to himself. Who, him? Was there someone else behind him? Why did everyone always blame Alpha when things went wrong?! Well, they were right most of the time; even so, that was stereotyping!
Hera laughed. It was a low thing at first, but slowly, it grew louder and more unstable. She grinned at him with bloodied teeth and spoke. “What was it you said? ‘The hard way’? Yes, let’s do things the ‘hard way.’”
Everyone but Alpha was forced to their knees the next moment as a heavy weight filled the room.
All eyes turned to Hera, and Jīshí pushed herself out of the TAWP.
“Hmmm, [Elemental Dominance]? In this place? It seems her ‘Mistress’ isn’t all talk if she could accomplish that. This might be a problem,” the Prima said, frowning.
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“Why’s that?” Alpha asked, still unfamiliar with some of these terms. He really should have asked someone by now, but it had never been an issue before.
Jīshí looked down at Alpha, then back to Hera, before continuing. “The people of this world strengthen themselves by absorbing and refining the special energy you’ve noticed. This ‘Cultivation’ is broken into three major ‘Realms’ with seven ‘Steps’ in between. On this planet, at least. Most people gathered here are [Silver Spirit] or [Gold Spirit] Cultivators, the fifth and sixth steps of the first realm, respectively. A few are in the early to mid [Shackle Breaking], the seventh step, with Artemis being near its peak.”
Alpha nodded, following along so far. The Federation had a similar ranking system for Espers, though their powers could be far more arbitrary and fluid. A B-Rank Esper could be just as dangerous as an S-rank under the right conditions.
Jīshí narrowed her eyes at Hera and continued. “[Elemental Dominance], on the other hand, is the second step of the second realm. That shouldn’t be possible in the Radiant Sea. The Heart should have drained her dry long ago.”
“So she’s stronger than the rest of them?” Alpha asked.
Jīshí nodded, “Exponentially so. The difference between steps is multiplicatively. Between realms? It’s an entire magnitude. Worse, this step’s primary distinction is [Spiritual Domain]. Anyone without a domain themselves will be unable to resist.”
Alpha thought that over, then came to a question. “Why am I fine then?”
Jīshí laughed before answering. “Because the energy seeping out of the TAWP is on a qualitatively different level. Even in its own realm, it has the potential to shoot far above its weight class. Something like this, impressive as it is, can’t even hope to compare.”
“Huh, Neat,” Alpha said. “So that means I can go beat her up, right?”
Jīshí smiled. “I don’t see anyone else stepping up.”
Alpha rolled his shoulders and stood. “That’s all I needed to hear!”
The heavy pressure in the air eased slightly, and Hera took several heavy breaths. She straightened her posture and then smoothed back her hair, leaving it slick with her own blood. The crazed look fled, replaced by the demeanor of a queen looking down her nose at something vile. She sneered at Alpha as she spoke. “Still able to move? I’m impressed. Though maybe that was to be expected from the ‘Lord Protector.’ Or is it simply the Prima? No matter. If my [Spiritual Domain] can’t make you knee, I’ll force you myself. But first, I have a small… family matter to resolve.”
Hera flickered, then vanished, appearing a moment later in front of the crystal, Artemis dangling by her neck in her hand. Hera grinned from ear to ear, then raised her free hand. Shadows swirled around it before solidifying into a dark blade. Hera swung the blade a few times and laughed. “I have a confession to make, my cute little niece. I never really liked you.”
Artemis struggled in her grasp, barely croaking out a few words. “The feels… mutual... bitch…”
Hera’s grin widened. “Then that makes this so much easier,” she said.
Hera pulled the shadow blade back, aiming for Artemis’ heart. Alpha’s turrets turned and fired, but the bullets were blocked by a wave of solid shadows.
Hera’s blade plunged forward and struck… nothing.
In the blink of an eye, a torrent of wind swept through the room and snatched Artemis from Hera’s grasp, cutting the woman’s hand off at the wrist.
Hera stared at her bleeding stump, then turned and stared at the living cyclone in the shape of a man, floating in the air some distance away, Artemis dangling in their arms. Hera frowned and asked as her hand rapidly regrew. “A Greater Wind Elemental? Here? Should I take that as Herald of Storms sticking his nose into my business as well? What next? Is the Sleeping Child going to flood my Priaires and march her armies to my doorstep?!”
The living cyclone touched down and materialized into the form of a familiar face… well, a white mask.
No. 7 set Artemis down on wobbling feet before answering. “Na. I’ve not nothing to do with the old man. I’m here on Camp business.”
Alpha shook his hand at No. 7 and yelled, “There you are, you bastard! Where have you been?!”
No. 7 turned to Alpha and laughed. “Finishing up said business. Glad I could join the party before things got spicy, though,” he said.
He then turned to Hera. “By the way, I left you a present… from your son,” he said, pointing down.
Hera furrowed her brow, then looked down. A small black orb lay at her feet, freshly splattered with her own blood.
“Fuc — ” Before she could respond, the orb erupted into dozens of black, smoky chains. Hera roared and tried to escape, but the chains quickly wrapped around her, binding her tightly. They then lifted the struggling woman into the air before the crystal and stopped. A thin beam of light flickered into existence between Hera and the crystal, and she screamed, her struggling redoubled.
A few pulses of power caused the chains to loosen, but they would snap back together every time before she could escape. Finally, the struggling stopped, and she turned back to No. 7, the crazed look bubbling to the surface once more.
“My son, you say…Hahaha,” she spoke in a hysterical voice. “I see. So that was his plan all along! I must say, I didn’t think that fool Tuguslar had it in him.”
She turned away and stared at the crystal, wide-eyed, and continued. “I won’t let it end this way. I won’t give up what I’m owed, not even to that basted of a son!”
As she spoke, her body swelled in size, straining the chains.
“I… WILL…” The smoky chains groaned in protest,
“…NOT!…” Hera’s form took on a more bestial and monstrous as she returned to her true Akh’lut form,
“…BE…” the giant wolf-like orca creature, twice the size of the TAWP, pushed two massive claws through the widening gaps in the chains,
“… DENIED!” the massive clawed hands shot forward and plunged into the cracks of the large crystal and pulled.
“ALPHA STOP HER!” Jīshí screamed, the first tinge of genuine fear Alpha had ever heard from the Prima snapping him into action. All of his turrets turned and fired at the bestial Hera.
Fountains of blood exploded from the creature’s back as dozens of rounds peppered her form. But Hera was undeterred. She strained against the chains and the crystal, her voice more a roar than a yell.
Until finally, with the sound of breaking glass, a fracture formed along the lengths of the Heart, and it split open.
Everything stopped as the world froze in place.
Not even the dust in the air seemed to fall.
Then, there was a dark pulse, and time resumed.
At the center of the crystal floated a small, black… seed?
It was an unassuming thing, reminding Alpha of the pit from a stone fruit like a peach or plum. The only thing of actual note were the dozens of pitch-black, writhing roots extending from a crack in its side and burrowing into the crystal.
Hera laughed, staring at the seed with tears in her eyes. She reached out, the black roots gently reaching to meet her touch.
Before they suddenly shot forward, burrowing into Hera’s outstretched hand.
Her look of awe turned into horror as the roots squirmed through her flesh and raced up her arm.
“W-wait, no! What are you — AAAAAAHAHHHHH!!” Hera’s words became a primal scream as the roots spread over her body.
Alpha stared in horror and asked, “What the hell is that thing?!”
Jīshí answered, her voice soft and her face blank. “That.. is the seed of the Deadwood Tree. A Celestial Treasure me and my siblings made unimaginable sacrifices to seal away after it had already destroyed two mortal worlds.”
She turned, looked at Alpha and whispered. “Alpha… that thing is a World Eater.”