Katrina shook her head in disappointment. “We aren’t turning back.” She said, angrily. The action causing the wound on her stomach to ache.

“Why not? There are rules that prevent the Rexunii from slaughtering soldiers. We haven’t heard any reports of this. We are being surrounded as we speak, by raiding parties. We must turn back and surrender.” A Lokkadonian lieutenant said, several civilians and warriors behind him, nodding in agreeance.

“You can leave if you want.” Delmos said, lounging against a tree behind Katrina. “We don’t need cowards to fight with us anyway. Lokkadonia expects more from its warriors.”

The lieutenant clenched his fists and raged within at the insult. Katrina took in a deep breath. “I know it’s been a while since we last were able to rest, but we can’t stop now. As soon as we make it to Vul De Mar, we can mount a counterattack against Alektor. And as for those rules you mentioned. Those were made by the council of Eleutheros, and enforced by its subjects. You think Alektor cares about the rules anymore? He will probably ask you to swear allegiance to him, and if not, burn you alive.”

“You are a pillar of support my dear.” Delmos chimed in. “Just let them go.”

“Please, Delmos.” She hissed.

“We are being guided to the West, further and further away from any real support.” The lieutenant said. “We are going to be killed anyway…”

Delmos grunted and stood to confront the man, walking within several inches of his face. “You can leave.” He said slowly. “But as you do, you will leave your cloak. The cloak of a warrior has no place on the back of such a sniveling fool.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Delmos wrapping his hands around his neck. “My sister and friend died fighting that monster. I don’t want to hear your feeble excuses. You are relieved of your command.” He looked to the warriors behind him. “All of you are if you decide to follow this man.”

Katrina was taken aback by the sudden change in Delmos’ demeanor, he had been somewhat calm for most of the conversation. Something had finally snapped in him.

The lieutenant stared daggers into Delmos’ eyes, but raised his hands defensively. “Very well…” He said lowly, as he unclasped the pin that held his cloak around his neck. With a shrug, the crimson cloth slipped from his shoulders and into the mud below. “I will be leaving here. My Lord.” He said the last two words with as much venom as he could muster.

Delmos narrowed his eyes, but released his neck. “Go then.”

They watched as the man turned and began walking through uneven and muddy ground, out of the small encampment they had created. As he walked beyond earshot, Delmos turned to the remaining party. “Any more deserters?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest. There was silence from the rest of them, and several looked down to their feet, avoiding his gaze.

“That’s right.” He said, turning to Katrina. “My father would have killed him here. Avria too. I find it difficult to chop someone's head off for something like this… probably why I’m not cut out for this kind of thing.” He waved his hand dismissively. “The rest of you get the hell out of my sight. I expect this camp packed up, and ready for travel within the hour. Pass the word.”

He shook his head and walked to rest on a small bench of stone, grown by one of the surviving Dae-Voh from the battle. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Katrina walked behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder.

“I know it's hard…” She said, trying to be as gentle as she possibly could. She knew he was still reeling from the loss of Avria and Daniel. He acted like he didn’t care much for his sister, but it was evident now that she was one of the most important people in his life. “We have to be strong Delmos. For them…”

Moisture formed around the edge of his eye, and she could tell there was a torrent of emotion behind his features. He blinked it away in a moment, and turned to her. “How’s your wound?”

Katrina looked down to her abdomen and smiled. “It’s doing alright I guess. Doesn’t hurt as much anymore. Whatever those healers did, it worked.”

“And?” He raised his eyebrow. “How are you with everything else? Have your nightmares continued?”

Katrina blinked uncomfortably. “My… uh…”

“I know you’re having nightmares Kat.” He met her gaze. “War can do that to a person, and when I wake up in the middle of the night to a woman screaming I get concerned. Especially if she isn’t in my bed.”

Katrina shook her head, half chuckling and half reeling. “I uh… can’t stop seeing his face…” She licked her lips and looked away from him. “The man I killed. The way his eyes bulged when I sliced into his stomach… and the look on his face when my sword lodged into his head… There was so much chaos and death around me… I didn’t know what to do. I froze… and almost died.”

“Do not be ashamed of regret, Kat.” Delmos stood and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Taking a life comes as no small burden to those of us who are tasked with the defense of our people. You chose to fight, made a concerted effort in fact, to become my sister’s squire and learn. You have, and you fought well, considering it was your first battle. You also learned a valuable lesson.” He lifted his index finger up. “You hesitate, you die.”

~

The small camp gathered their belongings and continued to make their way North-West, attempting to avoid the raiding parties of Rexunii warriors that scoured the Lokkadonian countryside for any group of resistors.

“My Lord!” a rear guard shouted to Delmos, who turned to see a young warrior sprinting to him. “Volsung warriors to the East! They’re coming this way!” He screamed.

“Damnit!” Delmos cursed. “How many? Did you see?” He asked, drawing his weapon.

The warrior skid to a halt before him, gasping for air, he said. “Maybe, a dozen or so… my Lord.”

As the information was processed in his mind, he looked over the shoulder of the horizon to the East, and saw a small group of mounted warriors dashing toward them. He turned to Katrina who was just approaching from further ahead of him.

“What’s going on Delmos?” She asked, jogging toward him.

“We’re under attack.” He said, shouting at several warriors around to move the civilians faster. “Get them out of here! Those who can stand and fight, stay behind with me.” He then looked to Katrina. “You better go with the civilians. You’re injured still, and I don’t want you to get killed.”

Katrina narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here and we are going to kill these bastards.” Her voice trembled with hatred, and Delmos looked at her for a long moment.

“Very well.” He said, gesturing to move past the civilian Dae; most of which were now running in terror away from the approaching riders. Eight Lokkadonian warriors stood with Delmos, all on foot, and two were still badly injured from the battle of Vul De Rah. Energy began to crackle around Delmos, and his eyes turned cold with determination.

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Katrina’s abdomen ached still, but as the adrenaline pumped through her body, any pain she felt faded to the background. Fear took its place, and staring at the twelve mounted warriors who approached rapidly, she struggled to maintain her composure. The ground shook as the Cro’kan they road got closer, and the yells and snarls of the riders got louder.

“When they get close enough Kat, I need you to create a lot of spikes around us. As many as you can. The Cro’kan will try to jump over them, when they do, make them longer. Skewer the bastards. We can’t fight them while they’re mounted.

Katrina nodded, and readied her trembling hands.

“Everyone else.” He said to the remaining warriors. “I need you to use your Dunamis as much as possible, keep them from getting over Katrina’s spikes. Leave the melee combat to me.” He looked at the battered group of men and sighed. “A noble should die nobly I suppose.”

They could see the dark orange cloaks of the Volsung warriors clearly now as they were only fifty yards away. Katrina closed her eyes and pushed her hands out. As she did, hundreds of razor-sharp spikes shot from the ground around them in a circle. Delmos reeled in response to the sudden and precise display of power. The warriors reacted by accelerating their charge, to overshoot it. One of the lead riders lifted his hands and a large ramp shot from the ground in front of them, creating a sturdy bridge over the deadly spikes.

“Kat!” Delmos yelled, his body roiling with electricity now.

Katrina grunted and yelled as she focused now on the ramp itself. The Dae-Voh who created it was strong. She could feel his own spiritual energy within it, bending the earth to his will. With a push, she bled her own energy into it, and easily hijacked it. The raiding party of mounted Volsung warriors charged up the ramp, but just as they were about to leap into the center of the spikes, to slaughter the Lokkadonian defenders, the ramp bucked, and launched them over the sides into the deadly spikes below. Katrina stomped her foot on the ground, and the spikes launched toward the falling warriors.

The party whooped and cheered, as more than half fell to an agonizing death below. Blood poured and screams could be heard as the Dae enemies were impaled by spikes. Six of them managed to use their own Dunamis to evade the surprise, and leapt into the center of the spikes. Delmos extended his left hand, and released a blast of electricity that looked as though it could kill any who stood before it. The unfortunate Dae who found himself the target of the blast, screamed in scorched terror as he died instantly. The others landed within, and unleashed powers of their own on the defenders.

Katrina lifted her hand, and a wall of stone shot from the ground to protect her from a blast of fire. The orange flame licked around the edges of her defense, but she smiled at the lack of bite in the attack. Daniel’s fire was way more deadly than this, she thought to herself. She pushed her hand forward, and the wall exploded into deadly shards of stone that were pushed outward. The warrior lifted his hands to protect his face, and was skewered by half a dozen blades. Katrina was surprised to hear a female scream as the warrior fell to writhe on the ground.

Delmos lunged forward at the four remaining foes. They were outnumbered now, and only one of them was mounted. With a flick of his blade, the throat of the Cro’kan was slashed. The creature gurgled as it choked on its own blood, and the warrior atop slashed in retaliation. Delmos spun to the left of the warrior, and stabbed upward. The blade lodged between his bone plate, and his ribs. The rider gasped at the sudden invasion of a deadly blade into his body, and crumpled over to slide off the dying Cro’kan.

Delmos looked up to find his next opponent, but saw none left standing as the Lokkadonian warriors obliterated them with their Dunamis. He sighed in relief, looking at the battlefield. “By the Spirits.” He said with a smile curling across his face. He turned to look for Katrina, but she was no longer standing in the formation. His eyes focused on her kneeling above a still living Volsung warrior.

“Hold on!” Katrina said, placing her hands on the dying warrior. She lifted her helmet from her head, to reveal a young Dae girl. Her eyes were wide with surprise and fear, as she gurgled blood at an alarming rate.

“Please…” She gasped. “Don’t let m.. me die…” She blinked tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry… I’m s… s… sorry.”

Katrina’s mind raced at the purpose of saving the girl's life. “Delmos! Get over here and help me!”

Delmos approached, his face uncharacteristically serious. “Why are you trying to save her life? Kat, she’s our enemy, she tried to kill us.”

“I don’t care, help me heal her.” She snapped.

Delmos lifted his eyebrow, and looked to the girl. She had half a dozen shards of stone sticking out of different parts of her body. The wounds on her legs and arms were not particularly life threatening, but the three in her torso were. Two stuck out of her stomach, and one right above her armor in her clavicle.

Katrina placed her hands on her chest, not knowing quite what to do. She turned to Delmos, her eyes pleading. “Help me!”

Delmos shook his head and sneered. “No.” He said, venom in his tone. “These bastards killed my sister and best friend. They can all bleed out like animals.”

Katrina cursed and closed her eyes. Trying to focus on her power. With little effort, she found her way back into the trance like state of Dunem Dae Espa. Time seemed to slow to a near standstill, and the muffled sounds of those around her faded away. She opened her eyes to see a beautiful meadow, with brightly colored wildflowers, and a clear refreshing looking stream that rushed near her. Standing before her in sheer bewilderment and terror, was a young Dae woman wearing the dark orange colors of the Volsung clan. She spun around, absorbing the world around her in moments. Then her gaze fell on Katrina, and tears welled in her eyes.

“Am… am I dead?” She asked, holding back further tears.

“No.” Katrina said, more calm and collected than she thought she was capable of. “I’ve brought you here, to my Dunem.”

“Your… what?” The girl was still confused, but relaxed slightly at the pleasant tone of Katrina’s voice. “I was dying. A warrior…” She focused on Katrina. “It was you, you’re the one who attacked me.”

Katrina nodded. “I was defending myself and my friends. You’re the one who attacked us. Right now though I’m trying to save your life.”

“Save me?” She asked again.

“The Dunem Dae Espa is a spiritual plane of existence. Everyone has a unique interpretation of it, but all are part of the spiritual realm. Kind of like different rooms all in the same palace.” Katrina slowly started to step toward her. “I don’t know how to heal you. All I do know, is that it can be done by coming here. A place where spiritual energy is more malleable.”

“Y… you’re a spirit-sent aren’t you?” She stuttered. Tears flowed from her eyes and she fell to her knees. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

Katrina smiled awkwardly, and knelt down to embrace the girl. “I’m nothing special, trust me. The only reason I know any of this is because I had a good teacher.”

The girl sobbed heavily in her shoulder, and Katrina felt her spiritual energy within. It was weaker than she thought it would be. The pulse of power inside her was more like the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings than the beating of a great drum. She had only her own to compare it to, Avria had masked hers very well. Are we this much stronger than the Dae? She thought.

“What’s your name?” Katrina asked, bringing her face up to look at her.

“Malla…” She said, wiping tears from her face. “Of house Yu.”

“Well Malla. I’m not going to let you die. I just need time to figure out how to heal you properly. Will you help me?” Katrina put on her most convincing and confident smile.

Malla nodded, and Katrina put her hands on the girls face. Reaching her spiritual energy inside her, she could feel the many wounds on her body. Jagged stone tore at her muscles and broke her bones, her blood was pouring from them, and Katrina knew she didn’t have much time. Gritting her teeth she plunged deeper, looking for any sign that Malla’s body would react to her energy; it didn’t. It felt like pouring water onto soil that was too hard to absorb it. Her power was within Malla’s body, but it needed to be in her core. Her soul? at the source of her Dunamis. She tried to force it deeper, but Malla gasped in pain. Katrina pulled back on her efforts, and thought of some way she could attempt it without hurting or killing Malla in the process. Suddenly she felt a small bit go through. Some of her energy leaked into her core, and almost immediately she found that she could still control it. How? she thought, attempting to repeat the anomaly. Flooding her spiritual energy over the protected surface of the core. It fluttered under the pressure, and again, some seeped in. Katrina then realized, that with her own spiritual energy in Malla’s very soul, she had uncontested power over her. The thought of how she could accidently kill her, or do irreparable damage was terrifying. She swallowed hard, and willed the energy within her to heal her damaged body. Her core blazed with light, and a refreshing torrent of power poured from it. It coursed through her veins, but was halted by the lodged shards of stone. Katrina noticed the stone still hummed with her own spiritual energy. With a mental snap of the finger, the shards of stone evaporated into spiritual energy, and joined the torrent that went on to heal Malla’s wounds.

Katrina gasped as she opened her eyes, back in the battlefield and looked down to see Malla’s body. Her eyes were closed, but the stone shards that had impaled her before, were now gone. The holes in her clothes showed nothing but smooth tan skin beneath. Her chest rose and fell calmly, and Katrina knew she was soundly asleep.

“What… in all the Great Spirits?” Delmos gaped at the display of power. “Kat… where did you learn to do that?”

Katrina’s eyes suddenly felt heavy, and she looked to Delmos, struggling. “Don’t… kill her… Del… mos…”

With those words, she fell to the bloodied grass below, unconscious.