The blade-like wings vanished from behind me. Appearing directly above the recovering panther, one of the pink blades dropped.

As if warned by a sixth sense, the beast rushed forward, avoiding the blade. Then the other appeared beside it, slashing at its flanks. The agile beast somehow dodged enough to avoid a serious wound, though the blade still grazed his flesh, burning and searing it with a pop.

The first blade disappeared and reappeared again, this time sprouting up from the ground in front of the creature as it ran.

Again and again, the twin swords blinked here and there, slicing through everything in their way. The panther used wind magic to consistently increase his speed and avoid mortal injuries.

After a series of failed slashes, X raised a hand to summon seven blades in a circle around him. He closed the hand and the seven blades flew one after the other, each following strange and complex paths before turning and zooming toward the panther.

The first two blades were easily dodged, but unlike before, they simply rotated and flew back toward the beast.

If I could’ve, I might’ve squeezed my eyes shut, but I couldn’t and I didn’t look away.

The first of the blades pierced the panther through its stomach, then vanished into the air.

As the other blades approached, the grizzle claw flung himself over the panther. Six glowing blades buried themselves deep in the beast’s flesh with enough force to send tremors through his body.

The blades vanished, then the two wing blades appeared back behind my body.

“Xander” I mentally shouted as the strain on my body grew. “We can’t keep this up.”

As Xander was fighting, I noticed that he slowly lost hovering altitude. The closer my feet came to the ground, the closer my vantage point came to my body; I was being drawn back in. If my body was reaching a limit, I didn’t want to think what might happen when that moment finally came.

“I know,” X finally answered. “This won’t take long.”

He let go of Mai, but some invisible force kept her suspended in the air. It was something I couldn’t sense, but I knew it was there.

X moved my hands, drawing in and directing spirit energy. As it rotated in a large circle in front of me, the energy separated into twelve orbs, each solidifying with a different element.

Fire, water, earth and air formed first. Then their variants lightning, ice, metal, and fog solidified in the rotation. Finally an orb of vines and flowers bloomed into existence, followed by one of pure darkness and another of pure light, last to form was a clear orb of vibrating space that seemed to constantly expand and constrict all at once.

The two spirit reapers, no longer in beast form, clutched each other, trembling at the sight.

I was starting to lose track of my thoughts.

The next few moments became a series of flashes, hollers and pain, then nothing but darkness.

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Everything ached. The pain was a dull throbbing, but it was worse than when I awoke after trying to absorb the mist ghost.

I opened my eyes only to shut them again for the sharp pain light caused. I waited a few minutes for the sting to subside then tried again, gradually this time.

At first, all I could see, between my barely split lids, was bright white light. I opened my eyes a bit more as the light separated into individual items and colors. I was in a room with no windows. There was a door, but it was closed.

Runic letters lined the white walls and I was laying on the floor—there was no bed.

I tried to push myself up from the floor, but my muscles screamed in pain at the slightest bit of pressure.

Weakly I said, “X where are we? What happened?”

There was no answer. He was there, but he felt weaker somehow. Whatever happened, must’ve affected him as well.

I was worried about Mai, but she was probably better off than I was. Unable to do anything else, I closed my eyes and let myself rest.

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(Audrey’s point of view)

I awoke to find myself in a small stone room, some sort of cave, with only a single exit. I was lying on a bed with crisp white sheets.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

A woman with short white hair and fox ears sat in a chair next to the bed. She had kind eyes and a gentle smile. Spirit energy filled form like those I’d seen possessed by spirits, this was different though. It was calm and circulating through her like blood flowing in her veins. It was her own energy, and she was clearly not hostile.

“You’re finally awake,” she said.

I sat up and looked around. There wasn’t much to see, but outside the cave, I could see the energy of two people on either side of the entrance.

Were they guarding me?

This wasn’t a prison, otherwise why would the woman be here? “What happened? Where am I?”

“You used too much power, now you need to rest.”

Memories of the mist ghost and burning forest came rushing back. “No,” I shook my head and stood up from the bed, “I need to find Emilia. The others…” feeling winded and exhausted, I fell back onto the soft mattress.

“They’re all safe.” The woman assured me. She pulled the sheet back over me and touched between my horns. “You need to rest now.” As a warm energy radiant out from her touch, my mind started to calm.

I tried to resist. “But—”

“Rest.” She said firmly.

The calming sensation intensified and my eyes, heavy and tired, closed. I felt myself being pulled into a deep sleep.

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When I awoke again, the woman was gone and there were no guards at the door. I got out of bed and walked out into a long, spindly passage.

Why did they have to bring me underground?

I had no idea where I was, but I knew I had to find Emilia and get out of this place. I started up the spiral path, past several stone chambers similar to the one I had been in, only each of them was empty.

“Where do you think you’re going?” A woman called from behind. As I was turning to see who spoke, someone grabbed my wrist.

The woman was wrapped tightly in black cloth with a hood that shrouded her face in darkness. Glowing purple runes on her mask proved just enough light to make out contours of the doe mask she wore.

Seeing the mask, I yanked my arm free then darted up the path.

“Hey, wait!” The woman shouted. I heard her running behind me, her steps a beat faster than mine.

With a quick glance over my shoulder, I saw that she was closing in on me, then I slammed into someone and fell on my ass.

It was the fox woman. Her two guards beside her pointed spears at my throat. Each of them also wore a reaper mask, and I realized this must have been the spirit reapers’ stronghold.

The fox woman stepped forward, pushing the spears away from me. Extending a hand, she helped me to my feet.

“What’s going on?” She asked, looking past me.

The woman behind me, who was now basically at my side, dropped to a knee and bowed her face. “I’m sorry, lady Kissana.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “The girl was walking around and when I approached her, she ran.”

The Kisanna glanced over me, then returned her attention to the woman in the doe mask. “Go back to your duties.”

“Yes my lady.” The woman stood, still not looking directly at the fox, then hurried back down the path.

“Honestly, these children are like imps. Always making trouble instead of following directions.” Three fluffy tails whipped wildly behind her as she spoke.

Unlike the beastkin of the ruined city, Kisanna wasn’t completely covered in fur. Her only animalistic features were her sharp black claws, the three tails, her ears, and she had pink eyes with narrow pupils. She wore white cloth, wrapped around her torso, that draped down to form a short skirt. She had a hood as well, though she didn’t wear it.

“Come on, Audrey, Emilia is waiting.”

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At the top of the spiral, there was a lake, or some sort of reservoir, fed by a steady trickle from an opening above. Moonlight, pouring through the same large opening, reflected off the lake and filled the chamber with a mystifying white glow.

The chamber itself was immense, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the strange light. I could see that the walls were lined with all sorts of strange symbols and carvings, glowing like the runes on the reapers masks.

All around the lake they gathered. Hundreds of reapers looked curiously in my direction, but none met my eye.

“Emilia is probably in her private chamber. Being around so many of the children seems to bother the young knight.”

“Children?” I asked.

“Yes… well I suppose they don’t seem like children to you, but at my age, even the oldest humans are like children.”

She didn’t look old, maybe twenty. I hesitated to ask, but my curiosity couldn’t be squashed. “How old are you?”

“I’m not sure exactly. After a while you just stop counting, but I’m at least two thousand years old.”

She must’ve been amused by my surprise, because she laughed.

Regaining her composure she said, “Emilia’s chamber is just down that way.”

I followed her finger down a long tunnel on the right. At the end of the tunnel, I came to a room with an actual door. I knocked and a moment later Emilia cracked it open.

She stared at me a moment before speaking. “So… you’re some creature of legend.” She said as her eyes drifted over my horns.

I didn’t know what to say, so I just stood there, wondering if I should’ve come at all. I didn’t really know what to say to her, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to face the others either. If I hadn’t been hiding my power then I could’ve saved Byron and Sydney.

Once they found out what I was, it would be natural for them to reject me. I wouldn’t blame them.

Emilia threw open the door and wrapped her arms around me. My guilt and anxiety melted in her embrace. Before long, tears were rolling down my cheeks, one after another. The walls I’d built came crumbling down and, for the first time in a long time, I felt free.