"-!?!?!" It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! I tried to scream but couldn't because of the arrow piercing my lung so all that came out was a gargled wail. Blood started leaking into my now collapsed lung, forcing me to cough up blood as I desperately tried to gasp for air.
"Lucina, hold on!" Elise rushed over to me and forced me to lie on my side. "Agh, damn it! I need to break the arrow, just hold on!" I watched her snap the feathered end off the arrow and she pulled the rest of it out of my back. Now that the arrow was out, blood freely started to flood into my lung and it felt like I was drowning! I frantically grasped Elise's arm as it got harder and harder to breathe. I didn't want to die! "It's okay! It's okay, Lucina!" Elise was doing her best to comfort me as I felt the warmth of her healing magic close my wounds.
"!?!" But even if the wounds were now closed with only a scar remaining my collapsed lung was still filled with blood that I had to keep coughing up if I didn't want to die.
"Elise, how's the kid!?" Peter called over as he impaled a Heavenly Crane knight on his great sword before slicing upward to partially slice the man in half. I saw his body fall and his internal organs gushed out onto the snow. Including myself, only ten Hellhound knights remained standing.
"She'll make it!" Elise called back as she smacked my back to help me cough up the rest of the blood. My vision was blurry from the tears that froze in my eyes, but I was starting to be able to breathe again. "We-AAGH!" I watched a spear fall from above and impale Elise through her stomach; pinning her to the ground.
"Enough stalling!" A Heavenly Crane knight managed to climb the stone wall Elise had made at the start of the battle and his shadow now loomed over us.
"Eli- Damn it!" Carl tried to disengage and rush to Elise's side but he was stopped by two more enemy knights. "Outta my way!"
"Hmph, you only delay your deaths," the knight who climbed the wall chastised as he jumped down and landed a few feet away from me. I desperately started to crawl away. My gloved fingers dug through the snow and into the dirt as I dragged my body along the ground.
"You monst-!" a Hellhound knight charged the Heavenly Crane knight that was approaching me, but his sword was easily batted aside and the enemy knight ripped the head off the Hellhound. A miasma of red swirled around the enemy knight's hands; this man was an Aurister!
"Do not blame the strong for your own inadequacies, Urldrusk dog."
"That's enough games, Zhao," I heard Ming Fatecaller address the enemy knight who was still holding the severed Hellhound knight's head. "I wish to return to bed and allow our warriors a night's rest before tomorrow's battle."
"At once, Grand Master!" Zhao tossed the head aside and started approaching me once again. I couldn't crawl fast enough and his shadow soon engulfed me.
"L-Lucina!?" Elise managed to rip the spear out of the ground and slide it out of her gut to begin using her healing magic, but there were clear signs of magic exhaustion on her face.
"Damn it!" Carl and the others were also suffering from fatigue as they continued to fight off the seemingly endless wave of Heavenly Crane knights. The other Hellhound knights were now all dead leaving only myself, Peter, Elise, Carl, and Jeremy. I tried to keep crawling, but Zhao used his foot to flip me over onto my back and he pressed his foot down on my chest.
"AGH!" He was going to crush me!?
"The Grand Master gave you a chance for a clean death," Zhao taunted as he put more pressure on my chest. "You suffer what you sow."
"…!?!" Pain shot through my body as one of my ribs cracked. Stop! Please stop! I started bashing my fist against his leg to try and get him off but there was no way I could move this man with my strength alone. Peltairan Auristers were powerful, but maybe he hasn't mastered the technique that nullifies magic? I had to try! Another rib broke! I want to live! I have to stop him! I have to get away from him! I don't want to die here! I won't-!
***
Sailest hung above The Crimson Forest without a cloud in the sky to block its light from gracing the battle that ground to a halt below. The air sparkled and shimmered with reflected light not from falling snowflakes, but from the droplets of blood that rained down upon the combatants. All fighting stopped as the most disgusting sound anyone had ever heard echoed through the forest; the sound of screaming metal and the liquefying of flesh.
"…" Lucina was lying in a daze as the blood rained down on her face. The Aurister Zhao was, luckily for Lucina, not immune to magic attacks which allowed her to bear witness to Zulm's final gift in all its glory. Her desperate contradicting thoughts activated the gift that was laying dormant all these years waiting to be unleashed. She wanted to get away from him, so Lucina's gravity magic changed the point of gravity of Zhao's breastplate to a distant tree and intensified it to send him flying backward. However, she also wanted to stop him, so her gravity magic changed the point of gravity of Zhao's backplate to itself and intensified it to the point it wouldn't move. The backplate held firm while the breastplate crushed and flattened Zhao's torso into a fleshy soup that exploded out of the gaps in the crumbling cuirass. Zhao's head soared into the air before hitting and splattering against the ground next to Lucina, his severed arms fell onto the snow, and his lower body fell over to free Lucina from being crushed.
"?!?" Ming was rendered speechless as he witnessed his captain get liquidated by impossible magic. Gravity magic, as was well documented in both Urldrusk and Peltaira, wasn't potent enough to affect worn items in a meaningful way as the magic seemingly lost most of its strength when doing so. And even if it didn't, Magisters weren't taught to target worn items since it had a chance of not working if the opponent was an Aurister who could nullify magic attacks. So if that was the case, then what had he just witnessed?
"…?" Lucina slowly sat up while ignoring the pain of her broken ribs. Her robe felt heavy and wet as it absorbed the blood that washed over her turning its color into a rich crimson. She was covered in blood, bile, and liquefied organs, and the air around her was rich with the stench of iron that put Lucina into a trance-like state as her mind recoiled at the horror. Her green eyes dulled and a trembling hand rubbed against her face, but that only succeeded in smearing Zhao's blood onto her glove. Every breath she took was laborious and strained. All eyes, both friend and foe, watched the ten-year-old girl stumble to her feet.
"…" One of the Heavenly Crane knights found his courage, or his foolishness, and stepped toward Lucina while readying his spear. The crunch of the knight's boot in the snow drew Lucina's gaze and, recognizing an enemy, she reached out her hand toward him.
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"!!!" With a flick of her fingers, she changed the point of gravity on just the man's breastplate to a distant tree behind him and the intensity of the shift ripped his torso out of his body. The other Heavenly Crane knights, as well as the surrounding tree trunks, were blasted with blood as their comrade was butchered before them. They stumbled back as their brains struggled to register what happened.
"…" Ming dropped his bow, drew his sword, and started to slowly approach Lucina. His subordinates followed suit as all the Heavenly Crane knights began to creep toward Lucina. Their first steps were hesitant due to fear, then they started going faster as that fear infected their hearts with anxiety until, finally, they started sprinting. This was unnatural. She was unnatural. Hers was a power that shouldn't exist. Every Heavenly Crane knight felt it in their very souls: this girl couldn't be allowed to live.
"…!" Lucina reached out her arms to the charging knights and, within her fugue-like trance, Lucina lost her inhibition and freely began killing her enemy. A man's arms were torn off as his pauldrons crashed onto the ground. Another man's head flew from his shoulders as his helmet rocketed into the sky. More and more men were ripped apart until Lucina felt herself start to lose focus as her magic reserves were drained and she was hit with magic exhaustion. No, this wouldn't do. If she stopped then she would die. If she died then she couldn't go home. If she couldn't go home she would never be able to see Olivia again!
"I miss you, Lucina~." Lucina reached down to the small bag on her belt and took out a magic potion that would restore her reserves. Seeing what she was doing, the Heavenly Crane knights rushed her to stop her from regaining her magic.
"…!" However, the closest knight was vertically bisected as Peter's great sword came crashing down upon him. But, no one cared. Not a single enemy knight paid any attention to Peter or their fallen comrade as all eyes were fixated on Lucina; on the monster they had to stop. So, Peter and the surviving Hellhounds began killing. Peter swung his flaming great sword in wide arcs to cleave multiple enemies with every swing, but for every knight he cut down another would take their place in the horde. The blade of his sword was caked in blood and bits of flesh that started to weigh him down, but he refused to falter and focused his aura into his sword. Blue flames, once heatless, now burned the grime off his sword and scorched the flesh of the enemies that continued to assail them. Peter stood his ground as an immovable wall that rended all who dared approach so that Lucina would have enough time to replenish her magic reserves.
"!!!" Carl embedded his heater shield into the neck of an enemy knight before ripping the shield's straps off his arm to free himself from the corpse that crumpled around his shield. The blood and panic in the air whipped every combatant into a bloodlust frenzy, and Carl reached down to pick up a fallen enemy's sword and began dual-wielding weapons. His axe chopped through Heavenly Crane knights like tree logs, and his new sword slashed and pierced the rest. Mad swings and desperate thrusts turned Carl into a whirlwind of blade and blood as he began tearing his way through the enemy's lines.
"…" Jeremy thrust his rapier into the visor of an enemy knight's helmet and almost fell over when it became stuck in the enemy's head. Throwing elegance and caution to the wind, he released his rapier, drew a backup dagger, and followed both Peter and Carl's example. No one was paying them any mind as they all seemed hypnotized on killing Lucina, so Jeremy began stabbing and slicing any who approached him like Carl while assisting Peter in keeping a perimeter around Lucina. Even if he didn't understand what was happening, he knew that Lucina's strange magic could turn the tide of this hopeless battle.
"…!" Elise felt something within her soul soar when she witnessed Lucina use her gravity magic to compress a man within his suit of armor, it was as if she were looking upon a holy being. She could not fall here, or allow such divine might to be quelled by these Peltairans! After she finished closing the hole in her gut from the spear she ripped out, Elise slammed her hands onto the ground and poured all her remaining magic into the earth. Like sharpened spears emerging from the depths of the five hells, spikes of stone erupted from beneath the snow and impaled the charging enemy knights. She focused her stone spikes in the north and south which created a makeshift wall that funneled the Heavenly Crane knights into the meat grinder that was Peter, Carl, and Jeremy. Some of the enemy, despite the obvious danger, still charged into the spikes to allow their fellow knights to safely climb over their impaled corpses. The first of these knights made it over the corpse wall and leaped into the air with his spear trained on Lucina.
"…" But he was unceremoniously splattered against the ground as Lucina finished drinking the magic potion and with a surge of strength flattened the knight into a bloody smear on the ground. Blood flowed like water across the forest floor as this pattern repeated over and over again until the mangled enemy bodies began to completely cover even the snow on the ground. "!?!" After downing her fourth magic potion, Lucina felt like she was going to throw up from the overindulgence of potions and her body jerked unnaturally as the vomit forced its way up her throat.
"!!!" Elise, seeing Lucina's condition, rushed over and covered Lucina's mouth with her hands to stop her from throwing up. If Lucina threw up the potion then she would be hit with the full brunt of built-up magic exhaustion and be knocked out which in this situation would mean death. Lucina knew this too, but that didn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes as the vomit burned her throat and cheeks. The taste was disgusting and she couldn't breathe. Another Heavenly Crane knight climbed over his fallen comrade's corpse and made it past the meat grinder. Elise was out of magic and wasn't able to drink a potion before stopping Lucina from throwing up, so the only one left to stop him was Lucina. Using all her willpower, Lucina swallowed the vomit and forced it back down into her stomach. When it hit, she felt her magic surge back to life and she tore the charging enemy in half by changing the point of gravity of his cuirass to Elise's spikes. His upper torso was impaled onto the spikes with one piercing his head, drenching the spike in blood and brain matter. Elise remained by Lucina's side to help her take potions and keep her vomit down. Every sword swing found a body to slice. Every magic attack found an enemy to butcher. Every drop of blood flooded their world and drowned the Hellhounds. It was a slog of blood and guts that seemed to be without end.
"…" Yet end it did. Peter was blindly swinging his great sword only to eventually find that he didn't hit anyone anymore. His chest was burning as his exhausted muscles ached and his lungs gasped for air with hollow breaths. The visor on his helmet was clogged with too much blood, so Peter quickly ripped the helmet off his head and threw it aside to get ready to keep swinging but paused when he saw what was before him. Carl was aimlessly stumbling around without focus while his right arm was at the ready with his axe despite his other arm being broken and hanging limply at his side; though his left hand still clutched his sword. Jeremy was beside Peter and was barely standing because his legs desperately wanted to give out and collapse. The three men were coated in blood and stood in a sea of mangled corpses whose red waters rivaled even the crimson leaves of the surrounding trees in color. Peter had no idea how much time had passed since he was only now regaining his reason and composure from his battle trance. The sky was still dark, Sailest still hung overhead watching them, and he couldn't see any signs of sunrise so it couldn't have been too long. "…?" As his mind returned to him, Peter recalled there were enemies who managed to slip past them and he turned around to check on the others. Another sea of corpses met his eyes, but this one parted as it went further back leaving an almost perfect circle of clearing around the two women at the center. Bodies hung from the stone spikes that reached to the treetops like slabs of meat on hooks in a butchery with their organs and limbs swaying like chimes in the wind and their blood slowly dripped down to the ground. On legs that held no strength, Peter hobbled through the corpses as he made his way toward Lucina and Elise. His feet no longer crunched in snow, but splashed in the shallow pool of blood that had become trapped from all the raised earth and stone. Lucina was still standing while Elise was on her knees and hugging Lucina from behind as her head rested on Lucina's shoulder; both had their heads hung low but he saw puffs of air exhaling out of their mouths which told him they were still alive. Peter practically collapsed as he tried to take a knee and inspect the women and his hand flinched back when it drew close to Lucina's face.
"…" From beneath her long brown hair that was caked in blood, Lucina's eyes anxiously watched Peter's hand with a killing edge when it drew close. Upon seeing who it was that was in front of her, however, all hostility drained from her gaze and she looked up at Peter through her blood-stained locks of hair. She jostled the shoulder Elise was resting on to wake her up, and the Magister slowly came to despite how much she wanted to slip into unconsciousness. Elise slowly lifted her head to survey the area and eventually turned her gaze to Peter. Using his great sword as a crutch, Peter rose to his feet and offered a hand to Elise who begrudgingly took it. She almost fell over, but Elise eventually got to her feet while she fought off the daze she was still in.
"…?" Sensing movement, Peter turned his head and saw Carl and Jeremy had hobbled over to them. Jeremy looked the most together and gave Peter a nod, while Carl was still stumbling and barely coherent. Peter breathed in a deep breath but started coughing from how heavy the air was with the taint of death. Words were impossible with how dry his throat was and how exhausted everyone was, so Peter motioned with his hands for them to return to camp. Everyone gave a nod of agreement and Peter extended his hand to Lucina as an offer to carry her since Carl's arm was broken, Elise was out of magic so she couldn't heal it, and they had no more potions.
"…" But Lucina shook her head and, through great effort, unplanted her feet from the ground to start walking. Even if she wanted to rest, that would come at the expense of someone having to carry her and no one was in any condition to do that, so she marched alongside them. The others fell in line and began trudging through the forest back the way they came; thankfully, they marked their journey here by notching tree trunks with their swords so they wouldn't get lost on the return trip, since none of them had the map which was lost in the sea of bodies. One of them would occasionally stumble, or fall to the ground, but the other four would always stop and help them back onto their feet. The massacre in The Crimson Forest ended with only five survivors out of the forty Hellhound knights, and three survivors out of the one hundred and fifty Heavenly Crane knights. Said surviving Heavenly Crane knights had managed to fight off the bloodlust and fled the carnage to retreat and spread the word of what happened and of the monster that was born this night who would soon come to haunt Peltaira.