The willow lions continued their chase. Their panting and growling intensified as they continued their hunt. The group kept their attention focused on the oncoming trees, weaving in and out of the branches and trunks in a mad dash back towards civilization. Tamma shot one more arrow behind her, not aiming at anything in particular, with the hopes that the rogue shot would deter their attackers.
The arrow soared into the darkness and the pursuit continued. All three began panting as Miwah started to trail behind. A stray stone caught her foot, sending her tumbling to the ground face first. Alson came to a halt, his feet skidding across the dirt as he turned around to pick up the fallen seamstress. One of the chasing lions fell from a tree above, only to meet the end of Alson's blade. It landed with a hiss, curling up to its side as a small swarm of Insectus crawled out of its gaping wound.
The seamstress shrieked as Alson pulled her up to her feet. She reached for her sword that had fallen a few feet away from her, only to have the guard pull her further away. "Forget it, Miwah!" he declared. "Unless you want to end up with maggots crawling inside your body!"
Miwah straightened herself and continued to run, leaving the sword behind on the ground. Yalch flew next to Miwah's side, hovering next to her head. "Miwah!" he shouted. "Did you spend all of your Experience Fragments the last time you increased in Rank?"
"Yes!" She shouted back with the limited breath she had. "Why?"
"There's something else I meant to tell you about them, but I forgot about in all of the commotion. Tamma should have some, right?"
"Ask her!"
"Oh. Yeah."
Yalch flew through Alson's running body. The guard looked behind him to give Miwah a worried gaze. "You all right back there? Trying to tell me something?"
"I'm fine," the seamstress replied.
As they continued forward, Yalch floated backwards in front of Tamma's head, keeping at a steady pace in front of her. "I forgot to tell you something important!"
"Again?" Tamma said with a deep breath.
"Not quite forget. More like… it slipped my mind. I'll just tell you. You can spend an Experience Fragment to activate your Purifier form early!"
"That's an important detail!" Tamma cried. She took one look behind her to see if Alson noticed what she had said, but he was too focused on the pursuing willow lions to have noticed her outburst. She then looked back towards an embarrassed Yalch. “You should have told us that sooner!” the hunter said lowly. “I know Miwah would have saved at least one!”
"I know, I know. There are a lot of aspects and elements to Purifying, and it's not like I have a guidebook that I can carry around to make sure that I don't forget all of the important details. And even if I did, it’s not like I’d even be able to hold and carry it around! Anyway at the cost of one Experience Fragment, you can transform early."
"You’re saying I should use one of mine now?" Tamma looked behind her and saw that swarm of willow lions getting closer. One jumped out of a bush, breaking up the procession by landing in front of Alson. The hunter stood on one side of the cat while Alson and Miwah were on the other. As they stopped, the remaining willow lions caught up, soon encircling the other two. Alson kept his sword steady, performing short feints to keep the attacking animals at bay.
"Normally I'd say hold onto the Experience Fragments so you can become stronger, but since this is an emergency, I'd make an exception."
“How do I do it?”
“Just focus. Think about it and it should happen.”
"Say no more." Tamma dropped her bow to the ground and using her now-empty hand, pressed her Beacon to her heart. A bright light engulfed her, drawing the attention of all living entities. The cats stared at the blinding light with half-closed eyes while Alson put his hands over his forehead to shield his vision from the sudden illumination.
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"T-Tamma?" he stammered as she looked at the hunter in her Purifier Ensemble. "W-What’s going on? Are you all right?"
"We can explain it later," Miwah said. "Just try not to get in her way."
Tamma lifted Solstice. She placed one hand where a string would be on the bow. A glowing arrow formed from her fingertips. She drew the magic projectile back and let it go. Like a beam of light, the arrow flew the shadows of the forest and struck the closet willow lion in the center of the head. The projectile protruded from between the eyes as the cat fell to the side.
The willow lions that surrounded Miwah and Alson quickly turned their focus on the Purifier. They darted towards her, soaring through the air with brandished claws and razor-sharp teeth. They approached in rapid succession, one after the other. Tamma narrowly avoided a fierce slash from the first one by executing a sideways leap. Moving out of the way of the first willow lion put her within attacking range of another. The second cat hissed before swiping low, cutting Tamma in the ankles.
Name: Tamma Lezmala Vitality: 70/100
The hunter buckled sideways from the sharp pain, her face wincing as she lowered one hand to touch the wound. A quick press of her hand relieved some of the pain momentarily. Tamma took a glance at her gloved hand, relieved when she saw that the wound wasn't bleeding. The hunter then took her eyes off her fingers to watch the attacking animal as it prepared for another swipe of its claw.
"Not this time!" she cried as she summoned another golden arrow. The shot flew straight, connecting with the willow cat's spine. The animal's legs crumpled from the impact, making it collapse into the dirt.
"She's incredible..." Alson said with awe.
"Try not to let your jaw hit the ground," Miwah said.
The guard momentarily broke free from watching Tamma blast away ravenous felines to look at Miwah. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I do not want your infatuation to get the best of you."
"Is it... that obvious?"
"Yes." Miwah nodded.
An embarrassed Alson turned his head away from the battle. He kicked a rock down the dirt trail. "Shucks."
The remaining two willow lions stood side by side, a few yards away from the hunter. They both stared at her with pure anger as their faces snarled. Tamma lifted her bow, arrow primed on the string as she aimed between them.
"Now might be a good time try out Deadly Line," Yalch whispered into her ear.
"That's what I had planned." She closed one eye and the illuminous arrow grew bigger and brighter. Once it tripled in size, Tamma released her hold. The arrow became engulfed in a horizontal beam of light that spanned the height of Tamma herself.
Name: Tamma Lezmala Vigor: 6/10
A small wind engulfed her, scattering fallen leaves across the forest floor. With Tamma’s targets standing motionless, captivated by the illumination of the spell, she released the arrow. It travelled in a straight line, obscuring both targets in a torrent of golden energy. Leaves and dirt went flying as the spell coursed through the forest, stopping once the arrow in the center of the spell hit a tree. Once the light dissipated, the two willow lions lay in motionless heaps on the ground.
There was a moment of silence as the group waited for any further sounds of willow lions. Once it became evident that no more animals were going to attack, they convened away from the defeated animals.
Alson ran to Tamma's side, unable to take his eyes off from her new Ensemble. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but no words came out. Tamma flicked back some stray hair that had been blown out of place from the rush of air that came from Deadly Line and smiled at the guard.
"Sorry I didn't tell you," she said nervously. "But to be fair, I didn't get the full details about... all this... either. I would have let you know eventually."
"Yeah. Seems like this would have been something that could have been handy to know about." His frustrated expression transformed into one of relief. "But I'm glad you did whatever you call… this. You saved both of our lives back there."
"I know you have a lot of questions, Alson. But it is best that we get back to Farrowport," Miwah said. "I too have some questions to ask." The seamstress turned away from the guard to give Yalch a pair of narrow eyes and pursed lips. "Seems like there are a few details that I was not informed about either!"
The ghost shied away, avoiding all eye contact.
Alson nudged Tamma in the side with his elbow. He leaned in to whisper towards her ear while pointing at Miwah. “Is she all right in the head?” As he spoke, Miwah maintained an irked look as she scolded the floating ghost that lingered inches above her head.
“Oh. She’s fine. Let’s just say it’s a side effect of our new powers,” Tamma said.