‘Those tenebrous arms prove that her creatures aren’t all the same.’ Syllis smiled awkwardly as she tried to step backwards.

Instantaneously, the drake screeched, its mouth whirring with an undeservingly terrifying sound. The void that enveloped its dozens of teeth began to heat up.

A ball of orange formed, it rolled softly as it was infused with red liquid. Then, it seared, smoke radiated from it and rose high into the air. It began to rage. This orange, swirling with red, began to rage violently as though it was a sun being formed and refined.

This ball shot towards Syllis at ungodly speeds. Her pupils dilated. ‘I-I can’t.’ She wasn’t fast enough to move out of the way. In a split second, she needed to raise several crags. The first was to try and deflect the blast, and the latter to slow it down for an eventual diffusion if it didn’t manage to be deflected.

It quickly shattered the first couple crags, roaring as Syllis’ work rapidly fell before her own eyes.

‘Crap.’ Even her, who had remained skeptical at Aura’s bond despite its menacing appearance, was stunned. All she could think to do before the ball of blazing flame reached her was to form a large, solid box of ice.

‘Let’s see if your mutt can melt through this…’ Syllis watched with intent as she fled from her own conjuration. She was certain that her ice would stop that blazing ball. Still, it was a bad idea to be too full of oneself.

A couple of walls rose, blocking Syllis from her opponent's sight. It was crucial for Syllis to remain out of sight.

Throughout the fight, Syllis noticed that Aura needed to heavily focus to effectively utilize her abominations. It made sense, they weren’t autonomous. ‘Aura had to pull them through the rifts and they didn’t seem the most thrilled. Those abhorrent screams were proof of that…’

So, she made a plan. The next time this broken dragon would use its ball attack, Syllis would gun for Aura. This would throw her concentration off, disallowing her to continue forming the attack and also serve as an opening to hopefully finish off the fight.

The drake crashed through her ice. It seemed that her ice did indeed manage to stop its assault. Though, the drake didn’t seem too happy about it.

Its eyes locked in Syllis, they rolled slightly as if preparing the body to attack the secare nymph. It lunged, throwing itself barreling towards her.

Syllis evaded, slightly. One of its dark claws grazed her arm causing her to groan in pain, she dropped her needle-point spear and fell backwards.

After hurriedly cooling her wounded arm, she caused waves of ice to throw her away from the beast. Syllis needed to figure something out, and fast. This beast seemed above her in every way.

Syllis ran, conjuring wall after wall to hide from the fiery beast. She could feel her sweat seeping through her noble clothes as she panted.

More importantly than her own breathing though… ‘That bastard is talking to me again.’ Coryzan’s whispers grew louder, beckoning Syllis to give herself to him. For a ‘god’, gaining control over an envoy in a world that wasn’t their own was a very enticing prospect. Thus, Syllis needed to deal with these whispers every time she overused her bond.

When it was overused, her bond spread like an infection within. Once it got to the brain whispers could be heard. This was problematic in of itself but the true struggle began once the ‘infection’ reached certain parts of the brain.

This infection could take over control over the pleasure center to make the kindred surrender themselves. It could instill fear of the ‘god.’ It could even cause the kindred to dream of their ‘god.’ In such a dream, this ‘god’ could directly communicate through the infection and entice the kindred with blessings and greater Anathema.

Luckily, Syllis’ bond seemed to be rather lenient, its infection spreading slowly. She couldn’t imagine what Aura was dealing with but she doubted her mind was in better shape than her own at the moment.

‘Still, this pain isn’t great. I’d better do something drastic.’ While she was running from her enemy. Syllis had been coming up with plan after plan. After that, her time was put into determining which of her countless plans would be most effective.

Eventually, she’d found the one. The broken dragon could be heard growing closer. The shattering of ice behind her pained Syllis. She had equated her ice, directly with the limit of her mind. So, this drake breaking her ice was equivalent to it directly giving the infection space in her mind.

‘Lords, I hate the both of you.’ Syllis conjured two javelins. She made sure to make the both of them as dense as possible. The weight wouldn’t be a problem unless she really tried. Most Anathemic bonds gave the kindred direct increases in their physical abilities.

In a second, all of the ice on the battlefield shattered. Syllis needed a direct line of sight on both the ephemeral mutt and Aura herself.

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Next, she shouted. “Come get me Aura!” Her voice was like a beacon in the vast, misty field. Through the faint mist, four beaming eyes could be seen. They radiated heat and held an anger that wasn’t held within before.

Syllis pulled back her body, reeling her arm back and placing her feet wide apart. One was far forward and the other, even further back. She whipped the dense javelin of ice hurling towards the infernal drake.

Then, She spun on her feet. Syllis threw her second javelin, hurling it towards the owner of the ephemeral mutt.

Aura had a decision to make, she could either hold still and throw her summon out of the way, saving it from a terrible fate. Though, she would be pierced by a cold javelin, if Syllis was accurate enough of course.

The other option, she moved. Her prized beast would be killed by the dense projectile.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine which option she chose. As Syllis dashed towards Aura, she couldn’t help but feel thankful for being ambidextrous. There was hardly a chance she would have been able to pull off her last stunt without it.

Aura tried summoning another rift but Syllis wouldn’t let her. She kicked the woman’s side, sending her several feet back. Of course, Aura still had an advantage over the secare nymph. She still had a weapon.

Aura leapt to her feet and brandished her longsword. No words were exchanged as she charged towards the nymph.

Syllis turned her body, evading a devastating thrust. They engaged in a series of blows. The secare nymph made sure to raise crags and throw small shades wherever possible.

She was undoubtedly superior to this human in close combat. Not in direct weapon mastery, that was a tossup. But her ice allowed her to always keep Aura on edge and move her exactly how she wanted.

Aura accepted several ice shards digging into her shoulder as she swept Syllis’ legs with her own.. She then threw a vertical slash that threatened to cleave her in half.

Syllis rolled her body to the left and kicked backwards, knocking Aura over. She immediately spun, wrapping her arm around the human’s neck, she slammed her into the ground a couple of times. Aura coughed blood as Syllis realized something. ‘She…’

Aura wasn’t evading Syllis, or moving at all for the fact of the matter. She had steeled her body and began using her bond again.

A smaller rift appeared this time, it needed to be. There wasn’t much time and every second was critical. Two dark eyes, ephemeral flames, black bone jutted out of its hide.

It was a vicious wolf which Syllis swatted away as it jumped for her. Aura then kicked the distracted nymph backwards.

Aura stood tall next to her blood craven wolf. “That’s right Syllis, it’s autonomous!” She laughed crazily, wavering as she held her mouth. Drool fell as her grin reached uncannily towards her ears.

‘This jerk’s infection must have reached her pleasure sector. Just how much room did she give up in her head for that wolf? All to win a battle against a poor nymph.’ Syllis laughed in a self-deprecating manner as she opened her mouth. “Fine Aura, let’s see who loses control of their mind first. You seem to have a leg up there. I will shatter your expectations and tear you of your pride.”

Syllis manifested a crude pair of brass knuckles, a name which was slightly redundant when formed of ice instead of brass.

The wolf leapt forward to her left as Aura to the right. Syllis chased the wolf down, kicking it before she crouched a thrust from behind. She elbowed the human woman before turning to dodge a jump from the hellborn wolf. It turned back and latched onto her back, tearing a large chunk of flesh from her. She cried out in pain before throwing the wolf away.

Syllis knew that it was a waste of her sanity to try and restrain the wolf in a battle that dragged out for so long when it would just melt the ice shortly thereafter. So, she instead focused on Aura.

A large wall rose, then a few more, and then a roof. They were both trapped within a large, dense box of ice, where that annoying wolf wouldn’t be able to intervene.

Syllis dropped her ice knuckles and manifested a crude ice shard to serve as a dagger. The box didn’t allow much room to maneuver. This was purposeful, to give Aura as little room as possible to swing her word.

Unfortunately, it didn’t come without a cost. Syllis felt the infection fester within. She kicked Aura in her abdomen, sending her crashing into the wall.

Aura gasped, coughing up blood onto the secare nymph before latching onto her hand. Her palm was torn open by the dagger. To the unsuspecting person, this would be a terrible move. But for Aura, it was the only viable move to do.

Now, Syllis could no longer use her dagger. They grappled, punching and kicking each other several times before they fell over.

Syllis tore her knife out of Aura and pushed the human, face first against the cold wall. She tore into the backs of her legs with her shard of ice causing the human to moan in pain before erupting into laughter.

Aura opened a rift and sent through a skeletal snake. It hastily wrapped around the nymph.

Her breathing grew uneven and taxing. The snake constricted around her as Syllis thought to herself. ‘I guess, it’s time to end it.’

The section of the roof above Aura fell, collapsing on her body. The snake that was constricting around the secare nymph, hissed as it fell apart into a mushy mess.

Syllis laughed hysterically as blood streamed from her back. She didn’t bother to cool it, instead letting the liquid seep from her. She didn’t want to be cold.

A few minutes later, a figure emerged from the box of ice. Dragging a battered human girl by the back of her shirt. The girl's calves were slashed, leaving large streams of blood to drain onto the battlefield which was hardly starved for blood. Syllis, who had been humbled by Clyde, just viciously tore at the only name she had heard him speak with fear.

Syllis laughed as she approached the spectator seats.

The entirety of the spectators, who were unable to speak, suddenly screamed.

Edward kept his calm as everyone else panicked. He beckoned to Korman who rushed towards Aura. “Grab her and come with me.”

Syllis suddenly fell over, dropping the human girl and closing her tired eyes.

“Clyde, better bring her too.” Edward once again called out, snapping the boy out of his trance.

“Right!” He hurried to the side of the collapsed nymph.

The last thing Syllis remembered before her world went black was the subtle shifting of her body in the arms of Clyde.