Crimson lightning crashed from the sky, scattering sparks over the Malaki’s foul frame. For a brief moment, Kaara could see its true form. It looked like a xiozian with elongated limbs walking on all fours. No tail or scales, just flesh, and bone attached to a bloated midsection littered with holes. Another bolt and another form revealed, a sickening screech pierces through the despairing cry of the wind, as though it was right over her shoulder. "Stop! Please, help me!" It screamed. And yet the screams did not come from its mouth, but from the faces it wore upon its neck.

Kaara felt her heart drop, "Wait, what if it's not-"

Deka grabbed the collar of her shirt, and pulled her up to her feet, “You honestly cannot be that stupid can you? Or are you unable to see how it’s trying to kill your friend while it begs for mercy with a stolen voice?”

“But how does it know what to say?”

“You should already know the answer to that,” Deka said, “Malaki know what sounds can make our hearts waver. So stand up and fight. Do not let it take advantage of your good nature!”

Kaara nodded and took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she needed to do. She knew Deka was right, and she could not afford to hesitate any longer. This monster had said the correct words, but only to make her think twice while it killed them.

She clapped her hands together, focusing on where the black blood was already pouring out. With a snap, the snow reassembled to hundreds of piercing spikes. They enclosed the creature like a jaw as it screamed out with the voice it had stolen from a child.

“We need to regroup with everyone else,” Kaara said.

“These things are blocking the way.” Corvio said, “They’ve surrounded us.”

“Then we carve a path through them,” Deka said, resting his hand on the handle of his sword, “Kaara, I will make the path. If you cannot see them, then use your summon-”

“Not a good idea.” Kaara said.

“What are you talking about?”

“‘Twas the cold of the monsters that did steal the warmth of our souls’” She recited, “These are Oskuutor. They steal magic and use it to make themselves stronger.”

“Then we can kill them before they use it.”

Kaara shook her head, “Oskuutor do not die easily. Even the one I trapped still lives.”

Deka clicked his tongue, “Then how do we kill them?”

“If we can find Tulos or Vilka, we can get a bronze bell, and a silvered sword. That might work!”

“It ‘might’ work?” Deka said, his eyes tracking onto movement in the distance, “Then how do you suggest we get through them?”

“Just tell me where to aim!” Kaara said, signing with her hands and spreading her arms out. Enough water to fill a pond now hovered where the snow used to be.

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“Whoa,” Corvio said behind her.

“Which way?” she asked, feeling the strain it was taking on her to maintain this much water.

Two pillars of crimson lightning appeared, “Make that gap wider, and run as fast as you can. If we cannot kill them, then restrain them.”

“Got it!” Kaara pushed her hands forward and locked her fingers. The water rushed forward, crashing into the unseen monsters and sweeping them away. She bawled her hands, freezing the water and running forward.

She could hear them screaming on either side of her, the ice popping and cracking as they tried to struggle free. “It hurts! Help!”

“Please don’t kill me!”

Kaara hated to think about where those voices actually came from. Deka slid in the snow in front of her, unsheathing his sword and cutting through an invisible body. An otherworldly screech sounded off. It did not just ring in Kaara’s ears, it was inside her head.

She looked at the black blade Deka brandished. What was it made of? Corvio rushed forward, ramming his spear through the gushing wound.

Kaara felt the presence of two more flanking them, but Deka was too quick. With a brutal crash of lightning, Deka cleaved through their bodies until Kaara could see their forms flicker in and out of vision. The monsters stumbled back, swiping their razor-edged arms about as if they were trying to smack a fly out of the air, “Keep running!” He shouted as he narrowly avoided getting grabbed.

Corvio grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, “This way!”

Kaara stumbled forward. Just how many of them were there? Where could they even run? Deka slid next to them, pivoting and dashing with them. His clothes were smouldering, “Of course I’d be left with a blind bodyguard and a coward.” He muttered, “Listen up! We’re going to find a place to defend ourselves. I can hear the sounds of a fight nearby. We rescue them and regroup our numbers so we can put up a resistance.”

“Sounds good to me. Lead the way!” Corvio said.

A blizzard cut through the trees in a groaning chorus. Kaara willed the snow sway from them, but she could feel how it was fighting her. Kaara could feel her soul straining to overpower the influence of the Oskuutor. The sounds of battle grew louder, and Kaara could hear the clash of magic, and the screams of the wounded.

Which side the screams came from, however, was impossible to tell at this distance. As they emerged from the storm, a small group of children stood clutching their spears, desperately jabbing at the air around them. They were outnumbered, outmatched, and quickly being picked apart by the unseen horrors surrounding them.

Kaara rushed forward, but Deka pulled her tail, “Those fools are missing all of their attacks. They clearly cannot see them. They will only weigh us down.”

“I can’t see them either. We have to help them!”

“This ceremony is about the survival of the fittest. The strong only die when they waste their energy on the weak.”

Kaara slipped her tail from his grasp, “I’m not going to let them die!” She clapped her hands together, summoning a dome of ice around the group to protect them. She could hear those vile creatures chipping away at her ice with uproarious laughter.

Thunk! Thunk! CRACK!

She rehardened the ice.

“You’re being a fool Kaara! Now they’re coming this way!”

“Then handle them!” She shouted, “You’re a warrior aren’t you?” a strand of hair fell from her braid, a cold sweat on the back of her neck as she summoned more magic. These monsters would not overpower her. She spread her arms, willing the ice dome to fight back and skewer the monsters that still surrounded them, “This way!” She called out making an opening in the ice.

Deka clicked his tongue, “You’re the worst body guard in the world,” he said as the scales along his neck and jaw became more pronounced. His horns, once dulled and cut, now grew sharpened points from their stumps. Red lightning dashed and danced around him, an air of power pouring from the prince, “Siirkos.”