Chapter II

The sight of Lassen’s head being violently torn from his shoulders and swallowed down a throat half its size left the changeling, Leiolai Sartella, in shock. She hadn’t known the man that well, but she knew that he was willing and ready to dedicate his life to the ideals of the Kosah-Rei—to dismantle the corrupt Ijirian nobility and make the world a better place for the common people. Before joining them, he had been a poor man who used his magic to make money as a sellsword, barely scraping by to support the wife and sons he left behind in the village of Pillaruun an hour north of Hiriech by carriage. The Kosah-Rei had reached out to him, promising him that they could change the Empire and he had been perfectly willing to join them for the sake of his family. As he had been instructed, he had joined the city guard by recommendation of Rotana Vesh, preparing for the reckoning that would take place on the night of Aeyir Malloway’s ball. But right before her eyes, his life had been brutally and abruptly snuffed out, and Leiolai felt her chest tighten at the fact that he had pulled her out of the way of Nyx Rana’s attack.

Lassen just died to save me…? Leiolai clenched her teeth, watching as his headless body fell to the ground, the Master of Water atop him and using her long, pointed tongue to lap up the blood pooling from the stump of his neck. I will not forget your sacrifice! You have my word… I’ll apologize to your family…and they will be well cared for in our new world!

“I don’t know what the hell you are…” Leiolai breathed, her feline eyes giving her a clear view of the creature who devoured Lassen even in the pitch black corridor of the Riverside Hall inn. “But regardless, you’re going to die here, you abomination! Exalaant!”

Snarling out that water incantation, searing steam burst from her hands, filling the hallway and blinding them all, but as she cast the incantation, she concurrently sent biological magic into her ears, feeling as they changed appearance, becoming more pointed and curved, resembling those of a bat’s. With that spell cast, the chewing sounds of the monstrous Master bounced off the walls, allowing her to pinpoint where her target was despite being blind. Frantically reaching down to the gun she had holstered, Leiolai yanked it out, turned it towards where she knew Nyx to be, and pulled the trigger three times.

Yet, having only fired a magicless weapon for the first time a mere five minutes ago, she had forgotten to account for the ear-shattering noise of the shots, and whether she managed to strike Nyx or not, she didn’t get the chance to check before her head felt like it exploded, her ears ringing so violently that she couldn’t keep herself upright. Inwardly cursing herself, Leiolai fell to her knees, the gun slipping from her grasp as she wondered how the hell she could possibly survive this situation. But her answer swiftly came to her.

Just as a bloody claw emerged from the steam, it’s nails swiping straight for Leiolai’s head, she felt the surrounding air morph into ropes that wrapped around her torso and yanked her backwards, sending her soaring away from the Master of Water where she was caught by the burly arms of the other city guard, Cedrick, who spun on his heel and began darting away as he cradled her small body.

Wait… No… We can’t leave Lassen with that thing...

But Leiolai was too weak to speak her protests as Cedrick uttered healing incantations, the nature magic surging into her finally saving her from the horrific head pain and allowing her to just barely speak.

“Ced…rick…” she rasped. “That…creature… I don't…”

“It’s fine, Mistress!” the man assured her, rounding a corner and bounding down the stairs to the inn’s first floor. “You can explain it later! In that brief moment when Lassen cast his fire, I got a glimpse of whatever that thing was…and based on your scream, I can guess what happened to him. He sacrificed himself, so we must get away and tell the others what happened!”

“Right…” Leiolai felt her strength returning as she sent more of her changeling magic through her body, focusing enough to turn her ears back to a human’s.

At the same time, since she had been disguised as Abigail in an effort to trick the Master of Water, she also began the process of turning back into herself, feeling her long braided hair pulling back up into her head, becoming short and boyish the way she often liked. She also felt her body get slightly taller as her facial features matured by a few years and returned to their original state. By the time she was herself again, Cedrick had finished healing her and she felt at full strength, so she quickly whispered,

“You can set me down now. We can run faster if you aren’t carrying me.”

Cedrick nodded. “Understood, Mistre—”

Having left her eyes that of a cat’s in order to continue seeing in the dark, Leiolai witnessed every detail of the top half of Cedrick’s head being sliced clean off by long dark claws as if it were a mere onion and not solid bone. Her eyes went wide as his body fell forward, all strength leaving it, and when she hit the ground, she only barely managed to throw magic into her hand, propelling herself upwards and allowing her to roll back to her feet.

What the hell?! I only just sensed it half a second before it attacked! Was she concealing herself that easily, or did she follow us that fast?!

She suspected it was the latter option, for this time, Nyx didn’t even stop to chew upon her prey as she landed on the ground roughly ten yards from Leiolai and pushed off of it, crossing the distance in a jump that was inhuman despite not having any magic put into it.

“Vino!” Leiolai snarled, grateful that she was on the first floor and could now use her more familiar nature magic.

Vines burst upwards from the ground, shattering the wooden floor of the inn, with one of them piercing straight through the Master’s stomach, wrenching her further into the air as the tips of the four vines stuck themselves into the ceiling. Nyx shrieked from the pain, her jaw falling open and revealing her three rows of blood-bathed teeth as the sound ripped through the air. To Leiolai’s horror, the shriek wasn’t a mere cry of agony. As the sound echoed through the corridor, everything around Nyx seemed to freeze over as ice rapidly spread across the vines, reaching both the ceiling and the ground before expanding in both directions.

Shit! she shouted internally, darting backwards to avoid the oncoming rush that just barely stopped a few inches over where she had been standing. What in the living hell am I fighting?! Is this still Nyx Rana, or did something else take over her body after I killed her?! I mean, I’ve researched the Masters more than the average Ijirian, but I’ve never even heard a rumor of something like this!

In her years studying the flora and fauna of the continent of Kalkorai, Leiolai had learned of numerous types of parasites that took control of their victims, and she knew of a particular kind that was common down in Norania known as the Eating Death, which crawled into the brains of corpses and took over, reanimating them into beings that were neither alive nor dead, and existed only to devour.

So is that what happened here? Did Nyx Rana have one of those things on her before she died? But why? That wouldn’t make sense…and I’ve never heard of one that can use magic as powerful as this!

Shouting out her frustration, Leiolai tapped into the only fire spell she knew, Infernus, lighting a ball of flame in her palm and hurling it at the trapped monster. To her, it wouldn’t matter what Nyx had become so long as she could kill her and wipe her hands of the mess. The changeling grinned as the flames soared towards it, but just as it reached roughly a yard in front of her, it extinguished in an instant, returning them to the pitch black corridor.

W-what…? But…?

It was just like what happened to Lassen’s spell. Without even an incantation cast, Nyx seemed to cause the flame to die before it could strike, as if she had some sort of protective barrier between her body and fire.

And then, something terrifying happened again.

For a split second, the Master of Water seemed to become translucent, and right before Leiolai’s eyes, she fell forward, the vine moving through her as if she weren’t solid anymore, but once she hit the ground, her body returned to its normal state, her empty eye sockets turning to gaze at the changeling as if mocking her. The wide smile that followed only further that impression.

Leiolai brought more mana to her fingers as Nyx’s back legs bent in preparation of jumping towards her again, but before either could act, one of the room doors on the right wall was pushed open, the dim torchlight from inside illuminating part of the hall as a woman who looked to be somewhere in her thirties stepped out, dressed in loose bedclothes.

“Hello?” she called out, squinting into the dark hallway, probably unable to see either Nyx or Leiolai before her eyes adjusted. “What’s all the noise out here? Is everything oka—?”

The Master of Water had been momentarily distracted by the newcomer, and since she hadn’t thought an Ijirian Master would harm civilians, Leiolai was prepared to take advantage of that brief second to cast another nature spell.

But as if forgetting Leiolai was even there, Nyx Rana’s smile turned towards the woman, and in the blink of an eye, her claw shot outwards and tore open her stomach, her other hand quickly plunging into the cut to yank out what must have been her intestines. The woman grunted, her brow furrowing as if unsure what had happened, but as Nyx was slurping up the innards like noodles, she waved her free hand and a spike of ice shot from the already frozen ground, piercing her neck and killing her before she even knew what was going on.

She just killed an innocent!? But… I mean, I knew the Masters were corrupt, but I at least thought they wouldn’t ever hurt civilians… Why?

As Nyx gulped down the last of the guts, she then crawled towards the spike and began licking up the blood that was dripping down the side so rapidly, it was as if she hadn’t drank in weeks.

No… This can’t possibly be the Master… This is something controlling her… It’s just eating, and if it’s going to eat people, then I have to kill it, no matter what, before it hurts anybody else!

Taking advantage of Nyx’s focus being on the corpse, Leiolai reached out with her senses and tried to feel for anybody else nearby, only to be satisfied by the fact that all of the rooms between her and the bar were empty.

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That means if I can evacuate the bar, I can lure Master Rana out into the street! From there, the city guard can give me backup and we can hopefully kill this thing properly…assuming that’s possible. Fleeing is no longer a choice! For the sake of the Hiriech people, this thing must die!

Spinning around, Leiolai sent wind magic into her feet and bolted down the hallway, grateful when she rounded another corner to see the light of the bar just up ahead. She could hear the patrons enjoying the night of festivities, completely oblivious to the fact that the House of Malloway and the other nobles of the region were almost certainly dead. Keeping her senses fully attuned to her back, knowing from experience how quickly Nyx could get the jump on her, Leiolai pressed forward, rushing into the bar only to find every table filled with customers eating food and drinking beer. A few eyes turned toward her momentarily, probably yet to process the blood covering her front, but before anybody could question her, she inhaled deeply and shouted,

“Everybody! You need to get the hell out of here right now! Evacuate this building immediately!”

Her voice just barely made it over the overwhelming chatter, and as each patron gradually fell silent and glanced back at her, she saw a mix of concerned expressions, as well as annoyed ones from the more drunken individuals present.

“The hell are you talking about?” growled the barkeeper. “Who are you?”

Leiolai grimaced, terrified of the tragedy that might be about to occur and desperate to convince them to listen. Shit! I should have transformed into somebody they might recognize like one of the guards…

“Listen to me!” she begged. “I don’t have time to explain everything, but I’m with the city guard! There’s a creature back there and it’s already killed two of my men! If you don’t run, it will kill you, too, so please just—”

In the middle of her pleading, the lights in the bar extinguished all at once, bathing them all in blackness as a bone-chilling cold crept in from the corridor behind her. In the dark, she could see the patrons all getting to their feet, shouting out various exclamations of anger and confusion, but her attention was on them only for a moment before her eyes shifted to her visible breath rising up before her.

Damn it…

Feeling the presence just before it reached her, Leiolai obeyed her instincts and dropped to the ground, allowing the creature to soar over her head as it hungrily tore at the air in its desperation to get more food. Once again, she witnessed the monster puppeting Nyx Rana hit one of the nearby tables with a loud thump before its jaw unhinged and it tore off the head of an older man like his skin was made of the weakest parchment. Cries erupted through the room, for the patrons couldn’t see Nyx, but they certainly heard her landing, followed by the very audible slurping and chewing as she grasped the body of her victim and tore off the skin around his neck.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, DAMN IT!” Leiolai snarled, feeling her vocal cords hurting from the effort before she extended her hands and chanted, “Perkari!”

A blade of wind burst forth, slamming into Nyx’s back and sending her flying from the table, hitting the ground in a heap as blood gushed from her newly opened wound. Leiolai wasn’t terribly strong in any affinity aside from nature, but she had at least picked up a few basic attacks from her allies. The problem was that they were weak compared to a mage who studied them, so she cursed herself that the blade hadn’t dealt a wound deeper than it did. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any time to berate herself before Nyx had hopped back onto all fours, and as if forgetting that somebody had attacked her, she launched onto the back of the closet customer, violently tearing at him in an effort to reach his insides.

His horrific shrieking was what finally broke the confusion.

All at once, the patrons frantically bolted for the exit, but with so many people trying to file through a single doorway, they began pushing and shoving in a desperate attempt to get away, and since Leiolai was on the opposite side of the bar, she knew she had no chance of getting out before they did.

But it doesn't matter. I know that I won’t die tonight, so no matter what happens, I will survive my battle with this abomination. It’s better to prioritize their safety.

That being said, as much as Tali had never led her astray before, being in the presence of such a horrific monstrosity left her unable to simply accept that she was safe. She knew that until Nyx Rana was properly dead, or until she was forced to flee, she wouldn’t feel comfortable.

“Vino!” she chanted a second time, sending more vines out of the ground as she tried to shepherd Nyx away from the fleeing citizens.

The attempt was successful, for Nyx reacted just barely before they emerged through the floorboards, launching herself off of the now dead man and hopping across the tables before landing in the opposite corner of the room. However, instead of charging Leiolai or trying to eat the others, she instead did something the changeling hadn’t been prepared for: She turned, crouched down, and jumped straight through the cobblestone wall, escaping the Riverside Hall and bolting into the alleyway between it and the neighboring establishment.

“No!” she cried out, sprinting after Nyx despite every instinct in her body telling her to run away.

Casting some basic wind magic, Leiolai was barely able to push the debris out of her way as she hopped through the hole the Master of Water had made before glancing in both directions in the hopes of getting her target in her sights. Unfortunately, locating Nyx Rana wasn’t a hard accomplishment, for the screaming off towards the road out front of the bar made it painfully clear which way she had gone.

Rushing through the alleyway, Leiolai skidded to a halt just at the exit, gaping at the scene before her. Roughly ten of the Hiriech city guards, dressed in their armor with their swords in their hands, were standing their ground against Nyx, launching a variety of spells, but always missing due to the intense speed the monster displayed. She was skittering along the ground and the walls like some sort of humanoid spider, always quick enough to dodge the attacks as she hopped up onto the buildings. It was clear that she wasn’t trying to escape, and given what Leiolai had already seen, she could only guess that Nyx intended to eat the guards now before her. The only silver lining was that her attention was so focused on avoiding the attacks that the patrons of the bar were able to flee north, and from what Leiolai could see, the citizens that had been out enjoying the fireworks had been evacuated as well. Up above, booming in the sky and casting multicolored lights over the bloody struggle, were the fireworks celebrating Aeyir Malloway’s coming of age.

Having taken in the situation, Leiolai recognized one of the guards, a fellow Kosah-Rei named Cira Kalda, and without hesitating, she shouted out, “Cira! Fire magic won’t work on her! Prioritize the other affinities!”

Cira, who was on the other side of the street, briefly glanced her way, a look of relief coming over him as he recognized her. All at once, the guards wordlessly took in her warning, and the handful of them that had been using fire magic shifted to wind or water. As for Leiolai, now that she was in the open, she felt she had more of an advantage.

Swiftly undoing the buttons of her jerkin, Leiolai slid out of it, stripping into just her underwear from the waist up, then sent powerful surges of biological magic into her back. It was a challenging, and somewhat painful, procedure, but she had succeeded at it enough times to have faith it would work again. From out of her back sprouted massive, black wings that resembled the dragons of Western Dunnovia, growing large enough to support her weight. The moment they were done, Leiolai sent wind magic into her feet to Proto up above the buildings, and only once she had cleared them did she beat her wings and move further upwards so that she could get a clear picture of the battlefield from the sky.

The cobblestone street was covered in patches of ice, and as Leiolai glanced around, she could already see the corpses of four guards laying around the road, mangled and bloody, their limbs torn off and their insides spilling out from tears that ripped through both their armor and their stomachs. The sharpness of Nyx’s claws was horrifying, magically-reinforced armor being destroyed as if made of paper. On top of that, her speed was hard to follow even from her safe point in the sky, her eyes only barely able to follow the rapid hops onto the walls of the surrounding buildings and across the street as she dodged, and in some cases blocked, the oncoming spells that were fired at her one after another.

Slicing a blade of wind out of the air, Nyx slid along a strip of ice and pounced onto the closest guard, shoving her claws into his chest before opening her mouth wide and sinking her rows of teeth into his face, tearing off pieces of skin before ripping open his neck and dodging away from the Condite ropes that appeared around her.

Do we even stand a chance against her? Leiolai thought with dread. These men are trained, hand-picked by Captain Vesh, yet she’s handling them on her own without issue! Not to mention…

The changeling had noticed it back in the inn, but the few attacks that did land weren’t actually damaging her. At some point, the wounds Nyx had received from Leiolai’s vine attack had closed up, and just before her eyes, she watched as the wind-infused sword of another guard sliced cleanly through the Master of Water’s stomach. It was as if Nyx didn’t even feel it as she continued charging towards the man, opening up his bowels before hopping onto the stone wall of the inn, the wound already healed.

She’s invincible! I’m a nature mage and even I can’t sense any healing mana being used, so how is she doing this?! I don’t understand! Furious with her inability to come to a decision as the city guards were wiped out to a mere three left, Leiolai clenched her fists. All of my allies—people who share my ideals and who simply wanted to fight the unfairness of this world…are being slaughtered while I watch safely from the sky! I have to do something now, but…

“Seeing as you’re able to perfectly replicate another’s mana signature, so long as you use the gun I've lent you, you should be able to eliminate Master Rana with ease,” Uma had told her before she departed the castle that evening. “That being said, you’re not a warrior, Leio, so if the plan fails and it comes to a fight, run like hell. I don’t care what Firrik says. Losing you would be a pain in our ass.”

But if I run…I’d be abandoning my allies and the people of Hiriech that I swore to protect to this creature inhabiting Master Rana… Tali assures me that I’m not going to die, so that means that I must be able to win, right?! So what right do I have to flee?! Not while they’re all being butchered!

Rejuvenating herself and seething with hatred, Leiolai sent a burst of biological magic into her right hand, altering its very nature as her fingers fused together, her skin turning into metal as her limb became a blade. As she did so, she went into a nosedive, soaring towards the ground where Nyx Rana was gleefully charging Cira.

“Vino,” she cast again, creating a wall of vines that erupted from the ground between the monster and her ally, forcing Nyx to dart backwards to avoid it.

The Master of Water only had a second to turn her empty eye sockets towards the descending Leiolai before the woman was upon her, swinging her blade and opening Nyx’s body from her chest to her stomach in a clean downwards strike. A soft exhale exited the Master’s mouth, the only indication of pain that she had shown thus far, and wanting to take advantage of that monetary surprise, Leiolai jammed the blade into Nyx’s body three more times in quick succession, the first strike piercing where her heart should be, the second going through her neck, and third severing her head completely.

Gotcha! Leiolai internally exclaimed, bolting backwards as she watched the monster’s head topple to the icy ground beneath her. Did that work? I mean, it almost felt too easy after all she’s done so far, but…

Yet, to Leiolai’s horror, the headless torso of the Master of Water remained upright, as if it still had feeling in its body. Wanting to ensure that it would die, she prepared to close the distance once more and cut it into as many pieces as she possibly could, but before she could take even a single step, that hauntingly familiar scream erupted across the street, the same one Nyx had let out back in the Riverside Hall. The changeling only had a second to gaze at the screaming severed head before she was yanked into the sky by ropes of wind just before ice violently exploded outwards from right where she had been standing, freezing everything in sight in the blink of an eye.

“NO!” she shrieked, but despite her powerful desire to stay and fight, she knew that the ropes of wind were cast in an effort to save her.

Leiolai gazed down at the frozen body of Cira Kalda and the other two guards that had still been alive, knowing that she would never see them again. Just like Lassen and Cedrick, Cira sacrificed himself, using magic to save her instead.

Damn it… I really can’t beat her, can I? No matter what I did…it wasn’t enough…

Feeling her body flying over the top of the Riverside Hall, Leiolai used her wings to stay airborne, making for the Siptic River that was just a few dozen yards behind the inn. Swiftly throwing biological magic through her body, she deformed the wings and reformed her hand, then created gills on the side of her neck moments before she was submerged in the water and wrenched downstream.