"He's still there?" I ask Vadei as I come back with some more supplies.

"Keeping a promise to the top bitch is serious business." she comments with a smirk as she scratches at a small stick that she has.

"We need to go, whatever he's doing, it can end now," I say as I start to float upwards, " You two should start moving what you can carry onto your backs."

Flying away from them, I watch as the aelenvari flower gradually grows its vibrancy of colour. Ever the plant-minded people as well, they've made an effort to set themselves up in the way they call their caravans. Spotting the core of the flower's power base, I descend to the ground and look around. Initially, I glance back at one of the sort-of shops the petals have access to.

An inhuman roar fills the air and magic flares up.

Snapping my gaze towards the Ivy-Mother's tent, a womanly, pain-filled scream escapes it. A bloodied body shoots towards me and I carefully catch it as the details become clear. Widening my eyes at the mauled, rose-haired aelenvari, I quickly hand her off to the responding thorns. The Gilded-Bark leaps into action before I do and he tears his way into the tent.

He roars back at whatever got in there and it snarls its bloodthirst back. Red splatters out into the open and the first of the thorns to go in scream. Metal and bone crunches as the marble floor of the flower warps. My heart beats like a drum as I wonder where Nin is.

A figure comes into view as another hole appears, Nin chitters as his turned arm twitches about. Yellow eyes spot me and he comes for me. Unreactive, he grabs onto and slams me into the ground. Smashing his fists harmlessly against me, my mind catches up properly.

No, this is a bug...

Grabbing onto his head, Nin's hexagonal-patterned eyes widen as needle-teeth force their way through his gums. Clotted blood sprinkles onto my skin and his attempts to kill me remain constant. I slap away his turned arm and kick him away so I can get back up. What's going on!?

I launch for and catch him just as he leaps into the air again. Slamming them back first into a nearby mountain, his claw latches onto my face and I start to panic mentally. Gritting my teeth, shards of stone break away from the mountain as his skin continues to darken black. A glare hardens as this monster possessing Nin becomes increasingly blatant with its takeover.

"Nin!? NIN!? CALM DOWN!" I try to call out to him in the event this may be something better than what I am seeing. Nothing comes of it, he continues to snap his jaw and thrash away for my face.

A firm smack catches me unaware and I fight him back against the mountain.

"NIN!" I scream tearfully at my friend as my grip seems to loosen, strangely. Tearing like thin fabric, the black carapace is revealed as I unintentionally help shed the monster. Chunks of now-pointless human flesh pop off and the beast roars. The creature exploits my relaxing grip by rearing back a haymaker punch.

I regain control of myself in the open air and the mountain follows after me, this beast at the head. Taking the mountainous blow head-on, I crash against the other side of the valley. One after another, his stony blows tear apart my clothes and bounce off what little armour I have. A cry of emotional pain leaves me as it starts to become clear what I need to do.

My friend is vanishing and what he is being replaced with is viciously attacking me. I can't do anything to bring him back. Tender memories are coming back in force and I can't calm myself. I try to stop him from attempting to hurt me, but I can't muster the strength.

I curl in on myself as something breaks open and bursts to life.

An osibindah's jaw staples itself to the very bottom of my neck, bracing itself on my collarbone. More and more of what was once Nin vanishes and the monstrosity his body has somehow been harbouring asserts its truthful nature. The realisation snaps inside my mind as it becomes clear that Nin is gone. He's gone...

Maybe there was never even a Nin, these yellow eyes are not new to me.

My magic explodes from me and its rocky weapon shatters like thin ice across the sky. The monster flies off with it and the sky erupts as I chase after it. Delivering my first punch, I clear the immediate clouds from view and follow it up. A flurry of further blows sends it crashing to the ground but it still gets back up.

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Corrupted magic guides two pillars of rock to crush me. Catching one in either palm, I keep my bent limbs steady as grim laughter fills my head. This thing is no earth shaman, even with its magic. With a screaming heart and mind, I throw the earthen weapons away and dive.

My right-hand latches onto its neck and I squeeze, drawing out the yellowish blood of the bug. Dragging it up a nearby mountain face, I smash it through whatever outcrops are along our path. Each step shatters and deforms the ancient stone and we break into the air again, far away from the flower. The mountain feeding the lake comes into view.

Screaming with all the anguish I have, I empty my system as I throw the creature into the mountain's peak. Driving after it, I force it to the open air again as boulders and shards of ice follow through after us. Just as quickly as the mountain lost its head, I aim one of my armoured high heels for this creature's head.

I will crush it.

I will see it smeared into the bloody mud!

This osibindah dares to wear the skin of my dear friend, even with tatters of him remaining, I will see it through. The ground explodes as the beast twists itself to absorb the impact. Blood bursts through the torn skin and its legs snap into their proper, disgusting bug shape. Feeling queasy, I back away off into the distance and watch as it gathers up magic.

The creature's continued roars fill the gaps in my ears where all this moving rock does not. My growing desire to see this thing die leads to me flexing my marked palm. I no longer want my memories of Nin soured by this creature. He saved me from things like this twice, but I could not do the same for him...

"DO YOU HEAR ME, BUG!? GIVE ME BACK MY FRIEND! GIVE ME BACK NIN!" I demand furiously as I knock aside some of its magic-infused stone and charge. My shin smashes against the still bandaged right arm and it bends inwards as it caves slightly. Shoving its back up against another mountain, I follow through with as many punches as I can. Each explosive blow digs into and deeply wounds the blameless mountain.

More screams of rage leave me as I halt my attack in the midst of razor-pebble rain. Screaming once again, I tear off the most human-looking part that remains and I explode backwards. Scraping into the soil and stopping, I glance down at what I took off. A portion of what was once his face is now nothing more than a sheet of crimson-stained skin.

A mask with nothing to hold it together...

"Nin..." I cry quietly I let what little remains of him fall to the shredded grass. My dear friend, the man who saved me when I was at my weakest is gone. I don't know if he ever really was real, but, I want to believe. There was a man there, even with this insidious problem growing within him.

My marked palm flexes and I call for something I had hoped to abandon.

"Do not worry anymore, Nin, I will not let you suffer anymore." I explain with a wavering smile as I mentally nod at what needs to be done. No more pulling my blows as my mind loses focus. I need to put an end to this. The magic in my marked palm comes to life and I feel my sword tremble in the distance.

This thing, this 'it' far ahead perceives weakness.

Its magic floods the opposing side of the open field and the mountains contort as a tidal wave of rock starts to form. Initially, I believe that the osibindah's magic will reach me first. But, as I bend into the arriving force of my sword, I reverse it outwards in a great, hurricanous swing. Decimating its attack and sending it cascading its way, the bug resorts to charging me head-on as I recognise my blade.

My heart cannot take it...

Somehow, losing my precious friend seems to hurt me more than anything else. I never felt like this when the news about my parents' death came more than sixty grand-cycles ago. All the brothers and sisters-in-arms I have seen come and go have never left me feeling this way. It's Nin that makes me feel this way, a wonderful man who's tried his best to look out for me.

Shaking my head clear of thoughts, I weigh the edged steel in my hand. I could stab myself, disembowel myself and it wouldn't hurt even the slightest compared to what has happened today. That sword from that man with the glowing, emerald hair never hurt like this. But watching my friend fall apart and become this hurts so much.

Swinging my blade down to my side, I look down the length of its core, eyeing either lethal side of the weapon. I sigh and blink slowly.

"I know... I know I said I had abandoned my role as a Valkinvar... And I know I told myself I would never hold this sword again no matter the issue. But I don't want to see you like this anymore, N-Nin... If this is really what became of you." I tearfully explain as the osibindah continues to close the gap.

It's foolish to charge anyone with a sword barehanded. This thing is even more so the fool for approaching a Valkinvar with their blade. A sword like this is designed to protect me until I am ready to go and meet my former husband-to-be, was... Something like this beast is not going to get past such a steel-engraved promise.

"Undwote, if you are listening, please do not take my friend to what lies beyond as if what is happening now is truly him." I beg of His Holiness as tears continue to quietly roll down my cheek. My magic comes out in force and whisks them away into the swirling vortex around me. Dressed in the stained glass colour of my wind magic, I take up a traditional pose of the Ordoar Imdvarce.

Both hands on the handle, blade facing away, raised above my head and shoulders. Legs spread apart with a back leaning ever so slightly forward. The moment I want to move, the blade will adjust. Be it to swing or impale, I will see this thing die.

A single, steady breath leaves me.

Rupturing the air around me, everything else blurs except the suddenly slow monster. An apology forms on my lips as I swing my sword down, from the top right to its opposite, lower left. Coming to an explosive stop only a few halfmans away from the falling apart body, my senses dull.

Raising my blade high, I shield myself from the disturbed debris as my magic washes over the area. I drop it and look back at the two pieces of the black carapaced corpse. My knees wobble and I fall to the messy ground. Eyes lock onto the few remaining pieces of human flesh and blood.

"I-I'm sorry... Nin..." I let out as I cover my mouth weakly.