Ander didn't feel so good about leaving Flyte with that eye. It didn't seem like a fight Flyte could handle, which said a lot.

'Or has he simply outgrown our help completely?'

Still, the army was in position, and the strategy wasn't wholly ruined. So long as there weren't too many more surprises, they would still be able to kill Will.

"Hey Elliot," Ander said. "If you'd be willing, I've come up with an idea for our trap."

Ander whispered his plan to Elliot, and he could see the gears turning in the younger knight's head.

"Let's do it."

----------------------------------------

As Ander's army and the seekers fought off the front of Will's horde, which was every bit as massive as Ander had expected, he and his commanders waited on the hill. Elliot was nowhere to be seen, just as they had planned.

In other words, they were bait.

Ander figured Thalreion would take it. He was giving the mage the opportunity to take away the army's leaders all in one fell swoop. Better yet, neither Flyte not Elliot was visibly close enough to stop him again.

It only took a few minutes for Thalreion to show up, and when he did start walking toward Ander, the sand swirled, twisting up into the air before falling down and resting on the desert floor.

"Tell me, Palenus," the dark circle mage said. "How does it feel to face me without your mage bodyguards around?"

"Like a dream," Ander responded. "I can't wait to unwind."

Thalreion burst forward, not focusing on Ander's allies as they pretended to lung towards him.

Then, like an uncoiling spring, Ander sent his first spike down to the ground.

It really was a huge thing. Ander and Elliot had shaped the sandstone spikes to be little more than tree-sized arrows, ready to be fired down from hundreds of feet in the air. It struck the ground with colossal force, making the sand shoot away as Riftgard seemed to shake beneath Ander's feet.

He had not been lying when he said he wanted to unwind. These spikes were very heavy.

Thalreion had barely recovered from just the shockwaves when another spike crashed to the ground.

Although neither made a direct hit, Ander kept firing these stones. He had more than enough to bombard Thalreion for well over a minute at his current pace, and there was no point in saving extras.

Thalreion scrambled to avoid the projectiles, dashing just out of their reach or blasting them away with his own magic when he couldn't dodge them.

Somehow, Thalreion's floundering was more than fruitless. In his evasion, he quickly approached Ander.

When the mage slayer was withing ten feet of Aner, a gauntleted hand shot out of the sand, aided by the forces of the wind, and grabbed his ankle with a grip of iron.

Throughout the fight, Ander had made sure to keep his spikes as far away from Elliot as possible, but now he made sure to send as many as he could on a horizontal flight for Thalreion.

The mage tried to wrench free, but Elliot's grip was too much for him. Seeing his failure, he fired off spell after spell, breaking as many spikes as he could, but there were too many.

Elliot let go right before the collision, and Ander pulled him far away before the stones could get close to crushing him.

Alongside the crashing of the stones, Ander heard cracking bones and metallic grating.

Elliot popped out of the sand and looked at Thalreion just as Ander did.

The mage slayer had apparently jumped as Elliot let go of him, because only his lower half was injured. Still, the injuries were bad enough that Thalreion's legs no longer resembled legs, and his armor had certainly not helped.

He crawled out of the rubble and faintly rasped out some cacophonous, unrecognizable word. Smoke poured around him, covering the man in an instant.

Elliot just stood still for a moment. "Well, that can't be good."

Thalreion's body, just like Henrick's, underwent a series of grotesque changes in quick succession.

Extra arms burst from Thalreion's left side as his right leg twisted itself around twice. Thalreion's muscle mass increased drastically, increasing the mage slayer's body's size by a factor of two.

Long, sharp claws grew out from under Thalreion's fingernails, weaponizing his spindly, gangly arms.

Chitin covered the majority of his body, and where it didn't, Thalreion's flesh decayed and withered until it was stringy and pale grey.

When Ander looked up to see his foe's face, he could hardly recognize it. For one thing, half of his scarred helmet was converted to become a piece of chitin, connected with several infinitesimal pieces to his torso. For the other, his slate grey face was now half mouth, with hungry lips licked over a full side of his visage.

Half bling, Thalreion cast his eye about, scanning his opponents for any sign of movement.

Ander locked his eyes on the monster, looking for the very same thing.

The ash-colored sand began to swirl around Thalreion, hiding him from sight almost entirely, save for his glowing purple eye.

The one-eyed monster dashed at Ander, and he ran toward it. Seeing the threat, Elliot and Ander's generals readied their weapons.

Ander's blade crossed with the fiend's, and he could instantly tell that the monster was physically much stronger than him. The difference in their strength was so very vast that Ander couldn't choose to risk using his stone arm in the fight.

'It's been a while since I've seriously fought someone more capable than me in a sword fight. Looks like I've got to relearn how to fight like a cornered rat.'

When Thalreion swung, Ander pulled him back using his control over the sands. The maneuver wasn't enough to make Thalreion fall, but it did leave him exposed, so Ander lunged forward, earning a light blow against his armored opponent before retreating from a counter thrust.

Ander's allies joined the fray, taking advantage of the chinks in Thalreion's defense introduced by their outnumbering.

Still, he was hard to hit, even with the seven of them trying at once. Garrick's arrows would fly in, only to be grabbed midair. Ander, Henry, and Elliot would strike, only for their blades to be deflected or ineffective overall. Eris and Yuri struck out with their polearms, only to be avoided.

Really, the most effective part of their tussle was Than. Whenever Thalreion was about to hit one of their group, Than was able to block the strike with his shield or push the fiend off balance.

Even then, he couldn't last long. Each interception took its toll on the large man's shield, and it was bent near to breaking.

Ander slid through the sand like it was water, and if need be, he pulled his allies through as well, trying to avoid the loss of Than's defense for as long as possible.

'This isn't working. Maybe if I pull Thalreion under the sand? He wouldn't be able to breathe while submerged, and even if he is so resilient as to not need air, I'd bet he wouldn't fight nearly as well while half full of sand.'

Ander created a funnel beneath Thalreion's feet. Like in an antlion's pit, Thalreion began to be pulled under slowly, but surely.

The monster went wild, lashing out with blade and claw mindlessly as Ander's group danced away from his reach.

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The funnel grew wider, though steeper, swirling as it dragged its quarry deeper into the dark pit.

Soon, only Thalreion's head was visible, and a moment later, even that was buried.

Ander hardened the sand, very intent to keep Thalreion under for as long as possible.

A minute passed, and Ander could no longer feel the fiend struggling to wrench free.

"Okay," he started. "Let's get back to the army. They could surely use our guidance right about now."

Ander turned and began to walk away.

*Crack!*

The compressed sand shattered as one of Thalreion's claws burst through it. The savage nippers cut into Ander's ankle.

It was only a scratch, but Ander could feel its effect immediately. His magic quickly drained from his body, and while he tried to wrestle control of it, it was as though it were a fistful of sand held aloft in the wind.

'Kuoros!'

Seeing the problem, Ander poured water from his canteen onto his hurt ankle, but he was already too late to contain his foe.

Thalreion crawled out of the sand on all six limbs, his eyes full of rage.

He charged forward, and in this rush, he pushed Ander, who was already weakened, back. In his anger, Thalreion didn't defend himself, instead striking out wildly and quickly enough that Ander's allies couldn't get in close.

The monster was imposing; the force of his thrashing kept Ander on his back foot. Every swing of the fiend's quick-moving arms was enough to force him back a step.

With the awareness Ander had of his surroundings, he knew that there was a hill behind him somewhere. He had to take control of the exchange before he reached it, or he wouldn't make it through.

Ander thrust his open hand out to the side, grabbing a sword thrown for him be Eris.

Ander flung sand and Thalreion's eye while striking for his deadened flesh. The fiend twisted out of the way to avoid the blinding sand but chose to grab Ander's blazing sword.

Thalreion didn't find Ander's grip lacking, and Dancing Flames was far too tough a sword to shatter, so Thalreion's hold cut into the monstrous man's chitin, eking out a few drops of blood as Ander warded off his foe's monstrous sword with Eris's.

Dancing Flames, upon tasting Thalreion's blackened blood, glowed a dull gold hue.

In one hand, Ander twisted the sword's grip with Thalreion's hand serving to steady it. Before the once-man could react, the contraption clicked.

Golden rays of light peeled off of the sword's length, making the bright orange flames beside them seem dim in comparison.

Looking back at Thalreion, Ander no longer felt that the foe was quite impressive, rather, he saw the frailties that came with Thalreion's transformation.

He also saw that he was no longer truly human, or even anything similar. He was part of the scourge, or at least he was scourge touched, as even Thalreion's newfound power could hardly compare to a true scourge fiend.

The once-man's mutilated leg bled black blood too, the substance oozing out as he walked; his two new arms were short and hardly of assistance; there would be no losing to this thing. It had traded its last vestiges of humanity shoddily.

Ander's glowing sword sliced straight through the scourge's hand with no more resistance than through water.

Thalreion took the wound without reaction. If anything, it just looked hungrier. Still, it knew how cautious it needed to be. It gripped its sword with all three hands, making sure that Ander's strengthened sword could not reach any of them.

Ander's attention was suddenly and forcibly dragged to something behind him.

'The Scion? I hope Flyte's okay.'

Thalreion kicked Ander to the ground and readied its sword for the plunge.

Like lightning in a desert storm, Elliot came out of nowhere, swinging a halberd into Thalreion with full force. The masked knight had left his armor behind, likely due to the restrictions of weight and flexibility alongside its uselessness considering his foe's strength.

The one piece of armor Elliot had left on was his gauntlet, which was currently glowing light green through Honorious's power.

Ander didn't know for sure why Elliot could still move, but a couple ideas. He hoped it was the mask, because that would mean that Flyte could act too, but it was more likely that the scourge blood in his veins.

In his defense of Ander, Elliot swapped the weapons he used so frequently that it looked like he was juggling them, a feat Honorious helped him with, no doubt.

Based on how Elliot dodged Thalreion's blows, he was probably the most flexible between him, Flyte, and Ander. He seemed to crease out of the way of his foe's blade, avoiding it just enough while countering with whatever weapon he had on hand that could reach the scourge-touched man.

The fighting style was familiar to Ander, yet different enough from what he'd seen before that he could tell that it was partially based on muscle memory. Elliot was fighting just like the scourge fiend inside.

'I guess it's better that he's learned something to that thing's detriment.'

Now Thalreion was the one forced on its back foot, defending itself from blows aimed by a duo just a ted bit quicker than itself.

Still, Elliot's weapons wearied on contact with his foe's defenses, dulling quicker than he could ever kill Thalreion. The fiend might have been slower than the man and spirit pair, but the scourge's weaponized defense carried more force than any man could hope to bear.

Ander Elliot, no matter how much scourge blood he had in him, was still just a man. He might have pushed Thalreion into the defensive, but it was growing past its initial shock, turning the tides of the fight before Ander's very eyes.

As he watched Elliot escape a cut from Thalreion by sheerly bending out of the way, Ander felt the force holding his attention captive dissipate.

Ander's brush with the strange magic in his sword earlier left him slow on the ground for lack of power.

Seeing no other options to help his friend, Ander pulled an arrow out from his quiver and brought it up close to his arm.

'Now, what to choose? Healing, slowing, or lightening.'

Trusting his experiences, Ander cared a quick rune into his stone arm. It was one he had seen many times before, as Flyte relied on its usage frequently.

The rune was Glow's.

Ander scraped the triangular symbol onto his arm, the process making light streaks on his arm on the dark stone while Ander felt an unreachable itch seize up in his arm.

The soldier had none of his normal energy left to sink into the rune, but he did remember his experience giving energy to Lyllian as he helped lock her demon out.

No amount of kuoros or magic sword could force that out of him. Only he could.

And so, Ander began to push his very consciousness into the rune. His eyes and nose dripped with blood, but the pain didn't bother him too much. He'd been tortured by Ralthus's mages only months before, and this little blood couldn't compare.

Not to mention his friend's danger grew every moment he fought alone, and Ander wouldn't allow more harm to come to him.

So, Ander bled, clenching his teeth until Glow's rune finally activated.

"Glow!"

The little spirit woman burst from Ander's arm.

"Well," she quickly whistled. "It's not often that I hear you calling out for me, but if it could get you over to Flyte sooner-"

She looked Ander up and down. "What happened to you?"

"Enough about that," Ander said. "I know we're not as close as you and Flyte, but do you think you could help me help Elliot?"

"Sure," Glow whistled. "But I need to know how much more you can push yourself."

"Not a lot," Ander grunted as more blood spilled from the side of his mouth. It seems there had been some lasting damage. "I got stabbed with kuoros again, and Dancing Flames took some of my power."

"So, you did use mannah to summon me!" Glow's whistling was furious. "I'll bet you don't even know how dangerous that was! why-"

"Glow, I don't even know what mannah is," Ander said, not interesting in being chewed out while Elliot was fighting for him. "Please, just help Elliot for now, there's not much time."

"Right," Glow's miniature woman form scowled at Ander. "But we're going to talk about this when Elliot and Flyte are safe."

Glow dove into Ander's chest, puppeteering the man clumsily.

"Shades, it's been a long time since I used a pair of these," Glow wiggled Anders legs around.

"Glow," Ander thought to the spirit, almost instinctively knowing how to. "What was that about Flyte being in danger."

"Well-"

A long, dark spear elongated, quickly piercing through the skies above Ander's head before shrinking back down.

"Why is everything interrupting me today! Give me one moment." Glow disappeared, seeming to forget that she was piloting Ander. Unprepared, the poor man began to fall with buckled knees, nearly planting his face into the ground before Glow returned.

"Okay," she whistled, oblivious to Ander's near intimate encounter with the sand below. "Flyte is no longer in physical danger, but you really should talk to him after this fight."

"What happened?" Ander asked, even more concerned than before.

'Eh," Glow whistled lowly. "It's probably better for him that you don't know until you see it. Flyte's going to need your genuine response."

"What are you waiting for then?" Ander asked. "Let's make this quick!"

"Alrighty!" Glow whistled with much bravado.

Glow grabbed Dancing Flames, which once again burnt mundanely. Running to Elliot's aid, she swung Ander's arm around, getting used to the feeling once more as she adapted his flesh to her preferences.

Ander and Glow swung their sword at Thalreion, perfectly in sync with Elliot and Honorious. Thier one blade made the difference in a battle with five, bringing the battle back to their favor.

Thalreion could defend itself from two of Elliot's attacks at once, or one of Elliot's and Ander's, but it was not quick enough to escape the third blade's plunging now that the wind guided them. Slowly and surely, the four scratched Thalreion's defenses, bringing the hardy chitin closer and closer to shattering.

With the Scion gone, the rest of Ander's generals were free to move, though they recognized that jumping into the dance of blades would be folly. Still, Garrick's arrows were extremely helpful as a distractor, and he knew better than to doubt his aim with his allies so close to his target.

Though Thalreion seemed unfazed; its eyes stared blankly while its hungry drooling was relentless, Ander and Glow were beginning to see its grey skin flew under its marred chitin as it moved.

It was time.

Glow and Elliot punched swords through Thalreion's chest, and the chitin once defending it exploded under the pressure. She pushed Dancing Flames, cleaving upwards while Elliot sliced downwards, the two making a messy, uneven cut from the Scourge fiend's gut to its mouth.

Glow seemed to pant from the exhaustion in Ander's head. "Ander," she whistled, strained. "Don't forget to talk with Flyte."

She left, leaving Ander to drop to his knees, also exhausted, but his body returned to normal.

But Thalreion still hadn't fallen to the ground. Its flesh rippled, revealing sharp teeth in the wound made by Ander and Elliot's blades.

Arrows bounced uselessly off its skull as it fell down on Ander, preparing to bite through him.

It paused when a seed gently bounced off its skull, an odd occurrence for such a barren land.

Like a lizard, Thalreion's tongue shot out and grabbed the seed, nearly swallowing it before the fiend's head exploded, the event so fast that the noggin seemed to have been replaced with a spiky plant, were it not for the gore that splattered across Ander's own face.

"Good afternoon, Ander!" Caedric called out. "Sorry I'm late!"

Ander's second in command was here.