Wings of light fluttered in the wind and, even though they didn’t need to move to provide lift, Sadeen’s battlewings reacted and moved to her emotional state. At the moment, they moved in quick, jerky fits and starts.

Annise Delovine.

Sadeen knew only stories about her, but of those she’d heard, none of them ever indicated that she was weak. Quite unlike the other Pia’Vasi, Annise had never been content with fulfilling her role in the Empire. Strength and power were what she sought to push away the chains, and that she received. War and strife followed her for the remainder of her days, at least until her death several centuries ago.

And then, her subsequent transformation into a Chaos Lord. There had only been rumours and no definitive proof, except for the fact that the Empress knew as did the Progenitor. Neither of the two ever did anything about it though.

So what was this woman doing here now? In a plane where Sadeen’s husband and his team had been stranded for years?

Annise simply stood in mid-air, staring at Sadeen with a slight smirk. The grey pallor of her skin was one of the changes that occurred upon her transformation and her eyes had turned red. The ambient Chaos around her stirred and Sadeen could see it trying to siphon from the other woman’s reserves, though it failed.

“Annise Delovine…” Sadeen began.

“That is not I,” the other woman cut in. “My sobriquet is She Who Whispers in the Light. I answer to no other.” The woman’s grin widened. “Though I do not deny that I once held such a name.”

Sadeen swallowed. “What do you want?”

“Such words for one who invades my domain.”

“Domain? You claim this plane as yours?”

“Indeed. My people have bled for the chance.”

“Your people?” Sadeen scoffed. “Chaos Lords will not hold the planes.”

“Oh, then are you prepared to back your words in battle?”

“Gladly,” Sadeen sneered, and as soon as her words were spat out, Animus gushed out of her palms.

“You offer battle? Very well.” The Whisperer laughed as she jumped back. Ambient Chaos concentrated on her hands and formed into a longbow. Before the woman could nock and loose an arrow, Sadeen’s Animus had already formed into several balls of purple lightning.

Her battlewings propelled her back and up as she sought the clouds. Several lightning balls shot towards the Whisperer while the rest careened towards the nearby cloud.

An arrow of green flame shot out, only to be countered by the tendrils of Sadeen’s robes. That ate up a lot of the Animus reserves though, and Sadeen winced at the cost. The lightning dispersed among the clouds, and not a second later, lightning and thunder answered.

More arrows were shot at her and Sadeen ducked and rolled, dodging the projectiles. She focused on her Mien, seeking to touch the other’s Anima.

“Yield,” she murmured.

For a moment, the Whisperer’s face turned blank, but the next instant, emotion returned behind her eyes and anger painted her face. “Your tricks will not work against me, Mishala.”

‘Oh, but they do. Drop down a couple of paces please.”

Sadeen relished the surprise on the Whisperer’s face as her body followed Sadeen’s command, and she was subsequently struck by a bolt of lightning from the clouds. The electricity arced away and headed straight towards the ground even as smoke rose from Annise’s hair and shoulders.

“You dare!”

“Yes, I do,” Sadeen smirked as she commanded the clouds to spit out more bolts of lightning. Her Animus and her Domain covered her immediate area, making sure that the bolts didn’t come near her body.

Sadeen dodged away from Whisperer’s return fire. The lightning didn’t seem to bother the woman much. She sent more anyway since it slowed the Chaos Lord down. Every time she tried to dodge, Sadeen would infuse her Mien into her voice and force the other to either stay still or head directly into danger.

She couldn’t keep this up though. Already, she could feel the mental fatigue as her Mien struggled to control a being that was equal to her in might. The pain and exhaustion weren’t comparable to what she felt after she forced the Primordial projection back in the Pure Lands, however.

“Enough!” Whisperer roared.

Her surroundings were engulfed in white light and Sadeen’s infused voice failed to find purchase. The lightning bolts danced across the light sphere’s surface and didn’t penetrate inside though.

Oh well, no more easy strikes.

Still, she hadn’t been idle. Her green Animus coalesced around her fingertips and twisted the ambient Chaos in her surroundings as she called upon her Blade of Conviction. One of her Sorcerous Implements shone with invested Animus as it guided the energies around her into a spellform. In the blink of an eye, a raptor of crimson flames formed around Sadeen, and with a casual flick, she sent it flying.

A high-pitched shriek drowned out the winds and thunder as the raptor crossed the distance between the two women. Sadeen saw the Whisperer’s lips twist in distaste as she reached out with grasping hands and twisted them.

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A wave of distortion, visible through both Chaos Sight and regular vision, spread out and caught Sadeen’s fiery raptor. The flame-shaped being, screeched and twisted as though alive, and struggled against the force trying to hold it. Whisperer’s hands trembled and rotated slowly, as though the force of the raptor’s struggles pushed against her fingers.

The Whisperer held out her other hand, curled her fingers into a grasp and then twisted the other way. The raptor’s wings slowly unravelled and were torn apart. “Heh.”

She looked up towards Sadeen, only to be greeted by another fiery raptor.

“Oh rotte–!” she yelped as the second raptor shrieked in triumph as it collided with the light sphere. A whirlwind of flames erupted, then, instead of the explosion spreading out, it turned on itself and compressed. Ripples of kinetic force propelled her toward the ground.

In the meantime, Sadeen took the chance to fly toward the mountains. She only managed a couple of longstrides before her intuition had her glance back. Her eyes widened at the arrows going faster than the wind, and it took all of her prowess to twist the wind into a shield. The arrow pierced through her barrier though she managed to drop below the line of attack.

Her heart rose up to her throat as she fell nearly a dozen paces in a trice. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the second arrow flying under the first’s shadow and this one was headed directly into her eye.

A blast of wind erupted from her palm and pushed her aside, but a line of fire struck her side as the arrow sliced through her battle robe and cut a gash along her waist. Hissing in pain, she twisted around and flew backwards, even if that resulted in a slower flight speed, and once again activated her Blade of Conviction.

A fiery raptor materialised before her palms and shot off towards the Whisperer’s arrows, engulfing the projectiles and burning them to ashes. The raptor’s energies were consumed in the process, but that was fine. Sorcery used mainly ambient Chaos to power its effects, requiring only a force of Will and a seed of Animus on Sadeen’s part. She was sure the Whisperer would run out of Chaos long before her own Animus reserves ran out. And, if this degenerated further, she could simply the full might of her Domain.

Come to think of it…

Sadeen swooped down towards the tundra. Hundreds of Wyldlings reached up towards her, but of course, she pulled up short.

“Obey me,” she intoned as her Mien spread its influence. “Distract her!”

The Wanderers took hold of the swarmlings and Hunters, then flung them towards the pursuing Whisperer. The Chaos Lord’s eyes widened in outrage and Sadeen felt the expansion of her Will as she wrested control of her minions back.

Sadeen spread her Domain and took control of the surrounding Wyldlings, ignoring the oily stains they left on her Anima.

A Hunter jumped in front of her and intercepted a fiery arrow, which pierced through scale and bone, but lost momentum in the process. More of them jumped to act as her shields even as she dove into their midst.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she retracted her battlewings, which transformed back into their inert cloak form. She ducked behind her controlled Wanderers and swarmlings, all the while telling them to pile on the Whisperer.

The second recorded spell within her Blade of Conviction activated. Ambient Chaos around her swirled and transformed into golden essence as they merged with her skin and flesh. She felt strength suffuse her body and muscles even as her weight quadrupled.

A whistling arrow fired from the Whisperer’s bow, but this time, with her Animus shroud and her defensive spell, the projectile skittered off her skin and she used the momentum to propel herself away. In the meantime, her stolen Wyldlings pounced and drained away the Chaos Lord’s Well.

It didn’t take long for the woman to fly out of reach, her clothes somewhat disshevled. She glared down at Sadeen, who smirked back.

“Had enough yet?”

Whisperer snorted. “You and your Mishala tricks. It will not hold me for long.”

“Really now? Why don’t you come back to the ground and strip your clothes off?” Sadeen asked with an amused tone.

“And what do you hope to accomplish with that?” Whisperer growled even as her feet touched the ground and her hands flew towards the laces of her dress. Her eyes widened while Sadeen snickered, and a couple of Hunters bit down on the Chaos Lord’s legs. “Gerrof!” She kicked the offending Wyldlings away.

“Shoot your foot!”

Twang!

“Ow! Burn you!” Whisperer howled as the arrow pierced her instep. “Shut up!” The light around her flared out and solidified.

Sadeen frowned as she felt her Mien struggle to pierce the barrier. Arrows burst out of the sphere, though they were aimed poorly and flew wide. She hastened back, eyes narrowed as she plotted her next move. The barrier seemed to block sight and sound, and without being able to communicate, Sadeen’s Mishala Mien wasn’t quite as effective. But… since she couldn’t be perceived, then this was the right time to either prepare a more powerful and thorough attack or to simply leave.

Volleys of fire arrows spread out in an arc. Sadeen pulled back, timing her retreat to go between the projectiles. It seemed she couldn’t simply leave. She’d either have to lock down the Chaos Lord or defeat her. That was a near impossibility though, she judged. She Who Whispers in the Light was at the same Anima strength as Sadeen was, and if she let up on her control of the Wyldlings, the other could siphon their Chaos to augment her dwindling reserves. If she kept control, her Mien would eventually fade.

Unlike other humans or sentient races, a Wyldling was simply too strange for her Heritage to grasp properly. Already, she could feel herself lose hold and if she didn’t constantly press, her control would slip.

How close was the mountain and was there even safety there? Her husband was only a Knight-Captain and his group consisted of Knights. They would simply be fodder for the Whisperer. How they lasted this long against her was already miraculous…

Unless the Chaos Lord was only toying with them? For a year and a half? Granted, their sense of time wasn’t the same as humans. Unlike Knights, Chaos Lords were inherently ageless and they would persist until their Animas were consumed or destroyed utterly.

She had no choice; she’d have to bring out her stronger spells.

The Scales of Balance. Her second Sorcerous Implement when she reached the Luminescent Circle of Sorcery. She drew her combat knife from her belt and carefully cut her arm. Blood dripped out of the wound and burned with sacrificial fervour. The Scales required it to power the spell, otherwise it would take her precious minutes in order to create her Sorcerous Working. Animus and ambient Chaos sank into the ground with turned into molten rock, then runescript lines formed circles around her.

Large and thick tentacles out of the molten rock. They moved towards the spherical light barrier and wrapped themselves around it. Then they squeezed. Sadeen poured every drop of her Will into the spell, needing it to hold, to crush…

The barrier shattered, but…

The Whisperer wasn’t there.

Sadeen’s eyes widened. From behind, the Chaos Lord materialised out of the light and slammed a fist into Sadeen’s back.

“Ah!” she screamed.

Only her defensive spell had saved her from a broken back, but even as she reeled from the pain, she commanded the tentacles to whip at the Whisperer. The woman dodged, but more erupted from the ground.

As she dodged to the left, Sadeen screamed, “Stay still!”

Now it was the Chaos Lord’s turn to scream as the magma tentacle wrapped around her leg, then her torso. But almost as soon as it touched her, the woman began to disincorporate into motes of light.

Sadeen activated her battlewings and flew off, seeking distance away from her foe. She’d lost control of the Wyldlings, but that was fine. Her eyes danced as she sought out where the Chaos Lord would appear, but minutes passed and nothing happened.

Wary, but somewhat relieved, she continued her journey towards the mountain, and every once in a while she looked back.

“Show yourself!” She hissed, but nothing appeared. It seemed she was alone.