Meera stared at the main Aksha before her and the clones surrounding them—if they were clones. She looked at Onyx, and at that moment, she wished she could talk to the ghostly horse without speaking out loud.

Aksha had no doubt heard her conversation with the witch but was waiting for them to make the first move. Aksha crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side while raising an eyebrow in a gesture that said, 'Well?'

Meera looked at the witch through her mirrors, and she, too, was looking to Meera to make the first move. She did so by flashing a smile and patting Onyx's neck.

"Have I introduced my friend, Onyx?" Meera said.

Aksha frowned. "I know of your beast. You don't exactly keep him hidden."

"Beast?" Onyx neighed.

"See, he doesn't like being called beast. Onyx, why don't you illuminate her on what you are?"

"I-I what?" Onyx half turned his head towards her.

"You do know what illuminate means, right?"

He shook his head lightly.

Meera sighed, leaned down, and whispered in his ear. "Use Light of the Dead."

"Oh…" Horses couldn't smile, but Meera was sure Onyx was smiling. "My name is Onyx, and I am not a beast. Maybe I once was, but not anymore. Here, let me illuminate you."

Meera shut her eyes, but the sorceresses didn't. Onyx's form burst with light, blinding the sorceresses. There were more than a dozen cries as hands went to their eyes. Meera dug her heels in Onyx's side, and he took off.

"Run, witch!" Meera snapped.

Thankfully, the witch got the message, and her mirror horse blasted off. She purposefully swerved into Aksha and trampled her into the ground.

"Oh, I shouldn't have done that," Kalrina said. "But it sure was fun."

Meera pulled on Onyx's hair, slowing him down to match up with Kalrina's horse. "Why shouldn't you have done that?"

Still rubbing her eyes with one hand, Kalrina pointed behind her. "Just watch."

Meera focused on the broken sorceress. It was a gruesome sight. Half of Aksha's head had been caved in by the mirror horse's hoof. Based on the bend in her chest, Kalrina must've broken her ribcage as well and crushed her lung.

One of Aksha's daughters bent down and gripped the twitching Aksha's hand. She placed her other hand on Aksha's head and chanted a spell in a language Meera did not understand. Aksha's head returned to normal. Then, the daughter moved her hand to Aksha's chest and repeated the chant, healing her ribcage. But the chant wasn't complete. The daughter stood and pulled Aksha up with the hand she held, making Meera's jaw drop.

Another Aksha was lying on the ground.

Aksha extended a hand to her new duplicate lying on the ground. "Rise, my daughter, and unleash your fury upon the worlds."

Meera looked at Kalrina. "So, they're all clones of each other?"

"I don't know what this clone means, but they are imitations of each other or, rather, the original. When one dies, two more can take its place. As long there is at least one of them alive to raise the dead. Aksha is Immortal."

"So, she's like the Hydra?"

Kalrina frowned again. "Huh? What is this Hydra? Are you making up words to sound smart?"

"Never mind. They're coming."

"Thanks for that astute observation," Kalrina said.

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"Next time, I'll just leave you to die," Meera grumbled.

The daughters, or rather clones of Aksha, mobilized the moment the original was up on her feet. It wouldn't be farfetched to say they could run like the wind. Unlike Meera and Kalrina, the trees were no hindrance to them.

It was unreal the way they moved. Their movements were so smooth, as if every move was calculated. It was like parkour, but even better. They jumped off tree trunks and reached for branches to swing on them, jumping forward by several meters. Meera would've loved to learn to move like that. She wondered if that was a skill because if it were, it would make things a lot easier. She almost reached for a chakram when the witch interrupted her thought process.

"Why do you look like you want to fight them?" Kalrina asked.

"Even I know we can't fight a small army of a more powerful sorceress that can come back to life and multiply herself," Meera retorted. "And you say there are more powerful witches at the dragon keep."

"Much more powerful sorceresses. Not all will be happy about being called a witch, unlike humble old me."

Meera ducked a low branch and dug her heels in, and Onyx picked up the pace. Despite being on foot, the clones were fast and would be upon them soon.

"We need to get out of the forest," Kalrina said. "We can't beat their speed here. On the road, we'll have a chance."

"Lead the way. Why have I just been running from everything ever since I stepped out of that mirror in Drurith? That safe haven better be real, witch."

Kalrina's eyes widened. "We don't have to outrun her. We just need to stay ahead of her until we get to the Saint."

She took a hard right, and Meera followed. Aksha's clones had gained up on them. One threw a chain at Meera but missed her by an inch, and the chain ended up tangled around a tree trunk. Another threw throwing daggers that glowed a sickly yellow. Meera raised a small Tower shield to block those.

A clone reached Kalrina just as she broke through the forest and onto the road that went by the forest. She unleashed a Mirror Shard Barrage into the woman's chest, blasting her into the tree. Two daughters stopped to heal and create another clone.

"They have shit defenses, but by Midiea, they can fight," Kalrina commented.

The road was empty, which was good for them as they picked up speed. Meera bade Onyx to run like the wind, and run like the wind, he did. He left Kalrina's horse in the dust, forcing the sorceress to ditch it and fly beside them on a mirror disk.

"Show off," the witch commented.

"Eat my shit," Onyx barked.

They were making good headway and had effectively left Aksha and her clones far behind. They were still chasing them, but they were nowhere close to being a threat. Meera sighed in relief and took in her surroundings.

It was rather beautiful now that the threat of death was nowhere in sight. There was a massive lake to her right, or maybe it was the sea, as Meera couldn't see land on the other side. To Meera's left lay the Wiryar forest. There was a slight mist on the water at this early hour of the morning. She would've stopped to enjoy this view if she weren't running for her life. They traveled at max speed for a while and were so far ahead now that she didn't even see Aksha's group chasing them.

"We're close now," Kalrina said. "I haven't seen them in a while, so we should be okay for now."

"Onyx, pull off the speed a little," Meera said.

The horse did as she asked, and the best part was that he wasn't even huffing. If she wanted to, he could've kept going until her Mana was fully drained. They clopped down the road in silence. Meera didn't need to watch where she was going. Most pebbles, rocks, or even stray animals were not obstacles for Onyx, save for rats or mice. He was deathly afraid of them and they of him. With Onyx watching where they were going, she kept her vision focused behind her for Aksha. She regularly scanned the trees for any movement. All she saw was the odd animal, most of whom cleared out when they saw Onyx.

Kalrina hooked a thumb to the forest, and they entered the treeline. Maybe it was just Meera, but the forest was strangely quiet. Hardly any birds cooed, no chittering monkeys or even any critters. They had only traveled for a little bit when Meera had to pull on Onyx's hair.

Aksha leaned against a tree trunk.

She uncrossed her arms. "Welcome. I've been waiting for you for a while."

"How did you know we would be coming this way?" Kalrina asked. Gone was her ever-present jovial demeanor.

"How did you get here so fast?" Meera asked. She hadn't even seen a shadow move in the tree line, yet this woman was here long before the others.

"Where else would a traitor go? Aksha replied. "You've broken all other rules of the sisterhood, so why not the final one? If you think the Saint will save you, you're sorely mistaken. He cares for nothing and no one save for himself."

"So, he's really there?" Meera asked.

Aksha looked to Meera, then back to Kalrina. "This doesn't need to turn into a bloodbath. Come quietly and face the judgment of the Conclave."

Kalrina barked a laugh. "The Conclave of Five…" She spat on the ground. "I do not answer to them or your bitch mother." She turned to Meera. "This is when she'll entice you with information about your brother. It's all a ploy to get you to come to them so they can lure your brother in. Then, they'll run their vile experiments on you both to figure out what makes you special. You hate me for what I did in the Cave of Wraiths. Well, I learned it all from them." She glared at Aksha with eyes full of hate. "We have no option but to fight."

Meera pulled off two level 2 chakrams. "Go ahead, Aksha. Bring out your daughters. I know they are hiding here somewhere."

Aksha smiled. "They're on their way, but I am enough for the both of you." A sickly green liquid dripped from her hands, which sizzled when it dripped to the ground. "Come, let me show you the folly of your ways."