"Demon's Thrust!"

Sayed charged forward with his remaining sword, cutting through the vines with the heat and impact of his blade as he charged at the strange plant woman. He cleared the path, and Alex rushed in behind him, holding his metal arms low as he jumped at the strange creature's center.

"Acceleration Piston!"

Crunch. Boom.

Alex punched the strange creature's head, landing a solid hit and sending her form flying back into the wall. Sayed immediately surged forward, raising his blade as he took a deep breath. There was no room for doubt, no room for second guesses. They acted as one, throwing one hit after another as they fought the monster.

"Pop Wrap!"

Rustle.

"Sayed!" Alex yelled.

A sudden sound came from Sayed's right, followed by a solid tug on his ankle. He was thrown in the air with a rip, flying with the wind rushing past his ears. A vine had grabbed him and taken him into the air, but Sayed wasn't worried. He closed his eyes and focused.

The vine would either let him go or attempt to slam him into the ground. He knew the tactic well enough. He would either need to catch himself at the last moment or be prepared to find a safe way to land. Due to the speed at which the vine twirled him, there was nothing else he could do.

"I place myself in your hands," Sayed whispered his prayer as he focused on maintaining his sense of direction.

"Steel Scythe!"

Rip.

From below, the tension on his ankle suddenly freed, sending Sayed tumbling through the air up and away from the fight. He threw out his arms to steady himself, balancing his body in the stream of wind as he reached the apex of his flight. He opened his eyes as he slowed, looking down at the temple complex below.

"A friend indeed, brother," Sayed whispered, clutching his sword tight.

He began to fall back toward the ground, but Sayed focused on the plant below. Alex swung at it with a sharpened piece of metal, cutting away at the vines by twirling the weapon around him using his magnetic power. Sayed focused on the center of the plant as he fell back toward the ground below.

There was an opportunity here. He brought his blade up to his side as he curled in his body. Heat blazed through his heart and down into his blade, causing the edge to glow orange-hot. Sayed had the momentum. He just needed to make sure that his aim was true.

He rocketed down with his blade, going faster and faster as he plummeted. Fire raced up around his sword as the very air around him burned. Sayed clenched his teeth as he came down. He knew that the hit would be brutal. He knew that it would hurt, but the speed he had obtained would be transformed into power.

"Demon's Divide."

He slashed down across the woman's body, cutting her form in twain with his glowing blade. He rushed full at high speed, but something slowed him from slamming into the ground. A sudden force pushed against him as he fell toward the ground, pushing back against the metal buckles of his armor as well as his blade. He still felt a hard weight slam across his chest, but it wasn't the hard fall he had expected. Alex had jumped between him and the ground, holding up both hands as he sent out a wave of his power. It had been enough to cushion Sayed's fall.

"Thank you, brother," Sayed smiled as Alex let him go, allowing him to stand on his own.

"Do you think we got her?" Alex asked, looking at the mass of now burning vines where Sayed had cut his path.

Sayed squinted, but he wasn't certain. However, he could see that the vines were still wriggling around in front of them. That was more than enough to confirm it. If the vines were still active, the strange plant woman was still alive.

"You monsters!" a vine swung down on both of them as the plant woman reformed around her burning vines. "Pop Tempest!"

Green vines wrapped tightly around where Sayed had nearly cut her entirely in half, matting out the blackened vines and putting out any flames. Sayed stood, holding his sword ready as Alex stepped in beside him, a metal bar floating around him with sharpened edges.

Crack.

Explosions of vines shot up around them, rising up from the ground in trunks as thick as trees. The ruins around them disappeared as a new jungle rose where the old one had been cut away. Shadows fell over Sayed and Alex as the vines covered the moon.

Stolen novel; please report.

Sayed and Alex stood in a dome of vines, Sayed's burning blade the only light. Sayed held up the sword, allowing light to illuminate the dome. Vines continued to grow thicker around them, and even now, several began to drape down from the ceiling.

"She's trying to lock us down while she recovers," Alex said, holding up one hand and grabbing the sharpened metal to stop it spinning. "Your hit did some damage, even if she can regenerate her vines."

"Then, we must charge through the barrier to defeat her," Sayed said.

Alex nodded but stopped for a moment as if in thought. He reached out with one arm, squinting as he pointed toward one part of the dome. Sayed knew that Alex could have some sense of the area around him due to his blessing. He was trying to locate the woman before they charged through the barrier.

"There she is," Alex smiled, rushing forward with his whirring metal bar. "Let's whack this weed, Sayed."

Sayed joined him in his charge, taking a deep breath to fuel his gate with aether. His blade burned bright as they crossed against the plant woman. Sayed cut down the vines as Alex sent a whirring metal bar through them. Time and time again, more vines grew in their place.

Together, they cleaved a path through the vines. However, more and more green tendrils grew around them. When they broke through the dome, more vines just grew in place of the hole. They needed a solid defining hit if they wanted to break through.

"She has to have a weakness," Alex whispered as they came back to back, vines rising up around them. "If I had to bet, it's that bulbous head."

"Do you want me to slice it off, brother?" Sayed asked, cutting through a vines as it slammed down toward them.

"That would be one way to deal with it," Alex said, his eyes darting around the dome. "Do you think you can do it in one hit?"

"By the glory of God, I can," Sayed said, holding up his plain. "You have my word, brother."

"I'll clear the path," Alex ran forward, his metal bar rotating around him as he cut through the rising walls of vines.

Sayed spread his legs wide, leaning back with his blade held above his head as he lined up the path in front of him with the palm of his hand. He trusted in Alex to fight the way forward. He would make sure that his attack did not miss.

"Come to me, Abed, guide my blade," Sayed whispered as he gathered the strength in his legs and forced more heat into his blade. "Give this blade the very fire of God that will burn through my enemy. This fight must end, right here and right now."

Aether rushed through him, and his blessing shone bright along Abed's blade. Sayed may have lost his sword that night, and he may not have been able to wreak vengeance on the cause of his pain, but he would ensure that this strange plant creature would no longer harm his brothers.

"Now, Sayed!"

Ahead of him, Alex had cleared the path, the rotating metal hacking through the vine woman behind the wall of vines. Sayed leaned forward, his sword blazing bright by his face. He released the tension in his body, slamming forward in his final attack.

"Demon's Thrust!"

Sayed shot forward through the clear path, throwing his sword ahead as he charged at the plant's large bulbous head. The strange plant monster's eyes widened as he approached, and for a moment, Sayed was sure he had her right where he wanted her.

"Seed Shot!"

Rustle. Boom.

The petals closed around the creature's bulbous head before the black pod shot away and through the sky. Sayed's sword hit the petals but found no solid purchase. He had to stop himself with one hand to keep his sword from crashing through the wall.

"It has escaped us!" Sayed grunted, slamming his fist into the hard wall.

"Yeah," Alex said, pulling back his rotating sharpened metal and flicking it into a burst of blue flashing light. "We need to go check on the others. Benbeck's crew got tossed, but I didn't see one of them when she had them all wrapped up."

"Slow down, brother," Sayed raised one hand as he closed his gate and sheathed his blade. "Many things have happened very quickly. What happened to Benbeck?"

"That woman grabbed him and most of his crew and threw them out," Alex said, shaking his head as he looked over the ruins around them. "I think they weren't as strong as they let on. Benbeck folded quickly once Ikal wasn't a hostage."

"I am not sure about that," Sayed whispered. "I lost one sword to the swordsman."

"Abed—"

"No, but my own," Sayed raised one hand, his heart dropping at the thought. "But it was close. He had a blade that could rust any metal it touched. He said that the sword itself was cursed."

"A cursed object," Alex's eyes widened. "Did you grab it?"

"I used it on itself," Sayed shook his head. "I broke the blade and used its properties to reduce it all to rust."

"Ah," Alex sighed. "Well, it'll be something to look into. Maybe James knows something about it."

"What about Wen? You said she was hurt when we arrived."

"That woman, Miss Glory, was under the impression Li Wen lost," Alex said. "One of Benbeck's crew was encased in ice, so I kind of just put two and two together."

"And what did you find when you put twos together?"

Alex paused for a moment, blinking as he looked at Sayed. Sayed waited patiently for him to respond, genuinely curious as to what he was saying. Sometimes, Alex would use phrases that didn't make sense to Sayed, but the meaning would become clear after he continued.

"I mean, I figured out that Li Wen was the one she thought was lost," Alex said, looking out over the temple again. "Look, I think I can sense where Erin and Artur are. Jean should come over there once he finds Li Wen. Let's check on them, and we'll figure everything out."

Sayed nodded, and they headed off together through the dwindling vines. With the holder of a blessing gone and the power released, their powers' effects would also disappear. Depending on the type of power the person had, it might take longer for the effects to disappear.

Sayed's own blades would cool rapidly on their own without his blessing powering them. The blades themselves would not retain the heat. That was why the vines were withering away to dust, albeit slowly. The same wasn't true for the blade wielded by Siegfried.

Sayed's sword would not return to him. The effects of the rust were permanent. He did his best not to think about it as he followed Alex, but the thoughts returned to his mind in the silence. He had lost his blade and would not forget the lesson he learned from that lightly.

He gripped his right fist around nothing, already missing the feel of his old blade. How long would it take to find a new one, one that was similar to his old blade? Could he find a smith who could forge him a new khopesh?

Sayed did not know.