Narrita thrusted her hand forward as if she were shoving air. Pierce leapt through the air with his mouth opened wide. The Ghenkan fighting Miwah took a step back from his skirmish to face the giant snake that hovered his head over him. Narrita opened her hand and pushed it forward, closing her fingers like a chomp.

Pierce did the same as Narrita moved her hand, snapping his mouth over the shoulder of the barbarian. His fangs sank into the back and chest of the warrior. With his face still visible, the Ghenkan closed his eyes and let out a weak grunt as he weakly flailed his weapon in a vain attempt to hurt the cobra.

Narrita then pulled her hand back with her fingers spread apart. At her command, Pierce ended his bite and let the Ghenkan fall to the ground, limp and lifeless as acid bore through where his teeth punctured flesh.

“I never thought I would be thanking you, Narrita,” Miwah said as she stood behind the bandit. In that very moment, her Ensemble faded, leaving her in her robes.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Narrita said she moved Pierce into position with another wave of her hand. The snake placed himself in the middle of the hallway, blocking the Ghenkans from reaching the trio of women.

One Ghenkan threw his sword at the snake, only for Narrita move her hand to the side. Pierce effortlessly moved his upper body in the same direction, avoiding the soaring blade. From behind the cover of the enormous reptile, Tamma took her regular bow and fired an arrow at the now-disarmed Ghenkan and ended his life with a direct shot to the heart.

“Nice shot, lass,” Narrita said as she turned her head over her shoulder, giving the hunter wink.

“Stay focused, Narrita!” Miwah shouted as picked up the thrown sword with one hand while pointing at the battle with the other. Two more Ghenkans got closer to Pierce, swinging their axes as they tried to cut at the snake’s body.

“Hey Yalch!” Narrita said as she pulled her hand back to make the snake retreat. “Can Pierce… die?” she asked with some hesitation as she moved her hand to make Pierce dodge the oncoming slashes and lunges.

“In a way, yes,” the ghost said as he hovered over Narrita’s shoulder. The bandit clutched her fingers again, making him bite down on a Ghenkan that got too close. She lifted her hand, making Pierce lift his head up. Narrita then flicked her hand as if she were throwing away an imaginary piece of trash, sending the Ghenkan soaring into the crowd in front of Pierce. “He can still get killed, so he won’t be able to help you anymore at this moment. But he’ll be back the next time you become a Purifier.”

“I’m fine with that!” Narrita said as an almost sinister smile formed on her face. “It means I can be just a little bit reckless.”

“Try not to get too reckless,” Miwah said as she stood by the bandit’s side. “We need both of your help for as long as possible.”

“Don’t worry, Miwah. Pierce and I know each other. I understand his limits and he knows mine.” Narrita thrust her hand forward like a shove and Pierce darted forward, tackling one of his foes to the ground. With a twirl of her pointer finger, Pierce coiled around the downed enemy.

As he grasped for air, Pierce drug him closer to the Narrita. The Ghenkan’s gasps for air soon turned to a drawn-out moan as the snake tightened his grip.

“Damn,” Narrita said as she looked at the near-lifeless man trapped in Pierce’s hold. “I was hoping to use him as a hostage.” She waved her other hand in front of his open eyes, only for them stay staring up into the ceiling as his face turned a bright crimson.

“I doubt they would have tried to save him,” Miwah said as she readied her sword a swing. “They look more concerned with taking out Pierce than saving their own.”

The remaining Ghenkans ran forward with a charge. One lunged in the air towards Pierce’s tail, crazing it with the edge of his axe. With his weapon down, Miwah managed to land a lethal blow to the back of his head.

“Yalch!” Narrita called out again as she spun one finger in the opposite direction so that Pierce would release the body it had entangled. “You mentioned something about a spell earlier?”

“I did. Just try to focus. That’s the only advice I have. It’s hard to know what your spell is without casting Insight. But you might be able to figure it out if you think hard enough.”

“Right,” Narrita said as she took in a deep breath. First, she looked at Pierce as he hovered over the surrounding warriors. Then her eyes glossed over the remaining Ghenkans. With their numbers diminished, the path behind them became clearer.

The band thrust both hands in front with a shove. Pierce tilted his head back and opened his mouth wide before leaning forward at a tremendous speed. A green substance spewed across the room, covering the Ghenkans in a viridescent mist.

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As the substance covered the men, the air was filled with the sound of sizzling. The Ghenkans all squirmed and screamed as the acid slowly tore away at their flesh. Both Miwah and Tamma turned their heads from the ghastly sight, with the hunter covering her mouth with one hand to stop herself from gagging.

“Gross,” Narrita said quietly. Her head turned away from the gore, but her eyes remained staring.

Yalch’s cheeks bulged as if he were ready to puke as he too covered his mouth with his hand. “Please…” the ghost said with disgust. “Never use that on people… ever again…”

“I just did what you told me!” Narrita protested.

“If anyone deserves such a fate, it would be Ghenkans,” Miwah said solemnly.

Soon, the sounds of the Ghenkan’s went Soon, the sounds of the Ghenkans went silent along with the crackle of burning acid. Tamma took one of her arrows and dropped it on a small bit of acid that pooled on the ground. She removed it from the corrosive substance, only to be surprised to see the tip still intact. "Looks we're good to keep going," the hunter said as she shook of the bit of acid on the arrow.

Narrita took lead down the hall with Pierce slithering by her side. As they continued down the hall, Tamma stayed in the back, tuning in to the sounds of the environment. "I don't hear anymore fighting," she said quietly.

"You think that was the last of the Ghenkans?" Miwah asked from the middle of the pack.

"No," Narrita said with disdain. "Eijnar left a few men back on his ship. And they still have an entire nation of bloodthirsty warriors they could get for reinforcements."

"You think Eijnar would come back with more Ghenkans after what happened here?" Miwah said as she glanced over her shoulder towards the partially dissolved bodies left behind.

"Of course!" Narrita said. "He's the petty, vengeful type. People with egos like that don't know how to handle a loss. I would understand. I'm one of them!"

Both Miwah and Tamma let a small giggle escape.

"That wasn't meant to be funny," Narrita replied coldly as she continued to lead down the long corridor.

"I think that's where the Governor is hiding!" Tamma exclaimed as she pointed ahead. The bodies of Ghenkans lay on the ground along with even more of the Farrowport Guard and a few unarmed Farrowporters. At the very end was a large wooden door blocked off by metal bars. In front of it were a few men dressed in light armor, visibly hurt as they stayed in front of the barred off room.

"H-Halt!" one of the men at the very end said as he struggled to his feet. He tried to raise one hand, only stagger forward while clutching his gut. The guard beside him stay on the ground, holding his sword in one hand as he used the wall to slide up to his feet.

"Don't even bother you two," Narrita said once she was close enough to the two guards. Both of the men looked at the snake with fear in their exhausted eyes. "You're not going to be able to kill Pierce."

"It's our sworn duty to make sure..." the first guard groaned. "To make sure... the Governor survives!"

"We are not here to hurt the Governor," Miwah proclaimed as she walked past Pierce. As the first guard started to topple over, Miwah grabbed him by the arm and set him upright. "I apologize for my teammate. She is not used to doing honest work."

Narrita rolled her eyes as Tamma went to aid the other injured guard. "How are you feeling?" the hunter asked the wounded man.

He pointed to his leg. "Those damn Ghenkans. One of them hit me. Now I can't walk."

"How do you expect to protect the Governor if you can't even stand, sir?" Tamma asked.

"Because... it's what I was sworn to do," the older man said with the little breath he had. With teary eyes, he looked at the fallen bodies of his fellow men. "If I don't... then what were their lives for?"

"We took out all of the Ghenkans in here," Miwah said. "So their deaths were not in vain."

The man Miwah held looked at her with awe. "What? Is this some kind of sick joke? Are you girls working with the Ghenkans to lure us into a false sense of safety?"

"Not at all," Narrita said as she pointed towards the other side of the hall with her thumb. "If you want to see, you can go check for yourself. But I'd suggest only taking a look if you've got an empty stomach. It's not a pretty sight."

“If I go… then there would be no one to stop Ghenkans from breaking into the Governor’s bunker.”

Narrita put her hands on her hips and gave the standing man an annoyed glare. “Let’s be serious for a second. If we wanted to get in there, do you really think you three would be able to stop us?” The bandit pointed to Pierce. He looked at the guard while hissing.

“Narrita!” Tamma bemoaned. “Let us handle this!” The hunter looked back towards the older guard. “Do you know Alson?”

The wounded man nodded his head. “Of course. I trained that lout.”

“He’s… a good friend of mine. Do you know where he is?”

He looked at the gated-off door. “Inside the bunker. He’s with the governor and a few other civilians.”

“He’s alive?” Tamma said with a gasp.

“Yeah. For once in his career, he wanted to do his job properly. Made his way through some of the fighting to make sure the Governor was safe. The boy doesn’t have what it takes to be on the frontlines, so I thought I’d leave him in there in case the wall gets breached. If the Ghenkans make it through here, the Governor is a goner anyway.”

“I see,” Tamma said with some embarrassment. “Well, we managed to take out the Ghenkans you were fighting. It should be safe now.”

“There’s still fighting going on outside. More Ghenkans could come through any moment. That’s why we sent out a scout party through the bunker’s escape route.”

Tamma looked at the man in confusion. “There’s an escape route inside the bunker?”

“Yes,” the man replied with a nod. “Goes through a natural cave and outside the mountains on the far side of the island.”

Tamma turned to Miwah who bore the same look of horror. “We need to get in there. Now!” she said to the guard.

“What’s the matter?”

“There could be something very dangerous in that tunnel. We need to make sure that the Governor doesn’t go through there!”

“That’s what the men we sent ahead were assigned to do.”

“What if they don’t come back?”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” the man said with a grunt. “It’s not like Alson and the other have to fight anything. If they see a Ghenkan or a Cutthroat, they can turn around report back to us.”

Tamma stood up, her hand covering her heart. “You sent Alson? Who else went along with him?”

“Some civilian. Said he was willing to help too.”

“Long black hair?” Miwah said. “Wears a leather vest.”

“Yeah. That’s him. How’d you know?”

Tamma got down on her knees and put both hands together. “Please, sir. You need to let us get inside. Everyone’s life is at stake if we don’t get in that bunker.”