The mask, which Oscar carefully crafted for her, had many cracks from the crushing rapids from earlier. Pieces chipped off and rested softly on the sand under her feet. More and more pieces fell until the entire mask lost its hold and landed below, revealing her scarred face.
Ignoring the broken mask buried by the sand, Avril gripped her staff tightly. Her gloves were torn to shreds, showing her maimed hands. She had no time to consider her revealed scars and burns, glancing at Oscar and Erden on the boulder behind her. Without trembling or faltering, she pointed her staff at the beasts, a gathering of wolves, lions, and lizards of varying species, melding her scroll into it. Nothing mattered more than protecting the two by her side.
A black wolf at the front snarled, baring its fangs. Drops of saliva drooled from its tongue, and the ground hissed and smoked from where those drops fell. It let out a loud howl, Ein rising from the ends of its dark fur. The other beasts all reacted in response, a ravenous chorus of roars and hostility. Many different Eins mingled and infused the area, a mix of Apprentice to Knight Exalts.
'None of them are Greater Knight Exalts….Can I take Oscar and Erden and run away?' Her thoughts of escape ended as fast as a dying ember. Loud caws and cries reached her from above; large aerial Exalt Beasts flew and flooded the skies. Retreating now would only expose her back to them and limit her means to fight. Steeling herself, Avril assessed her current status. All three Ein sections and three spell sections showed only darkness, lacking anything substantial.
Armed with three remaining spell sections and half of her Ein used up, Avril lowered her stance as Oscar and Sevon always recommended, not allowing a single opening for her enemies. At least her body wasn't severely injured, only shallow cuts and bruises, all thanks to Oscar and Demon, who covered her. Breathing in, Avril shouted back against the beasts' roaring and shrill hostile cries.
Taking up her challenge, the beasts charged, stampeding across the beach, diving through the air, and burrowing under the ground. Avril's purple Ein spread across her body, combined with her Reis, into Vis, or Eirin, as Oscar stubbornly called it. She cast a spell, and large flowers grew around her, littering the beach. All the flowers bloomed and opened their delicate petals, releasing a cloud of pollen everywhere.
'Grade Three Flowery Trance'
All the beasts in the ground, on the ground, and in the air inhaled the pollen, some entering through other orifices and staggered, uneasy like a drunk Oscar. They howled and roared, knocking into each other, seemingly losing control of themselves. Most dropped flat on the beach, and some fell from the skies, all unresponsive and deep asleep.
"That worked. But she stares out into the pollen, seeing the shadows approaching." Avril narrated. The stronger Exalt Beasts in her realm did not succumb to her sleep-inducing spell, stomping over the sleeping beasts, crushing their bones and organs. They resumed their assault.
Feathers fell from above, not at the light floating descend like normal feathers, but at breakneck speeds as daggers being thrown. Concerned about Oscar and Erden, Avril called her roots to cover them in a dense envelopment, shielding them from the sharp, heavy feathers. She summoned her wooden hands, thinner than before but condensed, coiling them around her staff, along the sheets of her scroll.
Avril swung her staff, and the wooden hands flailed around erratically, slapping away the falling feathers. She dug her feet into the sand, raised her staff again, and swung it down with all her might. The coiled wooden hands whipped out, extending to the skies, and grabbed the flying Exalt Beasts. Swiveling around, she dragged the beasts down to the beach, hitting them against the stampede.
They tore each other apart by accident. The flying Exalt Beasts screeched and fended off the rushing mob of others, too close to fly away and held in place by Avril's roots. The desperation in their talons and scattering feathers to hold onto their lives turned lifeless as their bodies were torn apart.
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Taking advantage of the infighting of her making, Avril entered Adamasreis. So far, she had only achieved ten percent, encompassing her feet. Still, the bonus of Adamasreis allowed her to maneuver through the sands. Rotating around to generate more Reis, Avril channeled it to the coiling wooden hands around her fluttering scroll, whipping it around with incredible physical power.
The fourth spell section shone, and a wave of entangling roots burst forth from the sands, halting the stampede. Her whip of wood and paper lashed out against the injured beasts in the front, and their bodies nearly tore in half as the roots clung them in place against her momentum. As the beasts reeled from the loss of their footing and severed limbs distracting them, Avril changed her stance, lashing out with a second whip of a wooden hand extending from the other end of her staff.
The beasts were caught unprepared against her quick second attack, tripped over, and scattered. Her wooden whip drank in the blood spewing from their torn bodies, dyed red to the tip. Clutching her chest, Avril gasped like she was struggling to keep her head above water and knelt. Her heart burned and felt like a million needles stabbed into it.
Her feet bled through the shoes, torn apart by her reckless use of Reis. Avril strained her body to stand and stared at the bloody massacre of beasts before her. The sands were set aflame, deep gashes in the earth filled with rising water from below, and the forest was blown apart. If she had been slow in her movements, all that damage from the beast's misfired abilities would have wrecked her.
'Is Oscar awake yet?' Avril felt the soft breathing and heartbeat within her protective shell of roots and vines. Oscar was out of danger for now but was still not awake. Raising her head, Avril heard more sounds from the forest, the air thick with bloodlust.
"More?" Her staff plunged into the sand and began to shine. The last two spell sections activated and spread double waves of roots and vines. Avril lifted and spun her staff around, the two wooden arms twirling in all directions like snakes. The next wave of beasts exited the forest and rushed to her, beating their chests and brandishing their claws.
Avril fought. She fended them off with all her body and core could muster. The beasts' relentless charge suffered many casualties at her wild lashing but drew closer. She split some in two, kicked heads cleanly off their bodies, and flexibly moved between their attacks. Some attacks did reach her, and she dispersed as much of the damage by going limp, but the wounds grew. In a short time, wounds covered her entire body, cuts running across her legs, chest, face, and back.
Her back was torn, revealing even more old gruesome wounds. Avril sprinted around, being nothing but a bloody mess. Nothing remained in her mind except for the goal of protecting Oscar and Erden. She would not allow a single one through.
Her eyes dazed and flickered as she forced herself awake. Wrapping the wooden arms around two Exalt Beasts, blood burst from the veins in her arms from how tensely she clenched. She used the beasts as ends of a mace and bashed them against their fellows. Losing all feeling in her arms and legs, Avril tripped over her feet and fell back, leaning on the roots protecting Oscar and Erden.
Hearing more sounds from the forest, Avril chuckled helplessly to herself. More beasts emerged from the forest, growling at the sight of their companions' bodies. Each emanated the power of a Greater Knight Exalt and surrounded her everywhere, including the air above.
Out of Ein, unable to use Adamasreis, and barely able to hold her staff, Avril despaired as the roots behind her withered from the lack of Ein, exposing Oscar and Erden. Avril let out a heavy sigh and saw no way out. She limped over to Oscar and sat next to him, patting his head with her bloody palm.
"Sorry. It seems our adventure ends here." Avril retrieved a fruit from her space pocket and bit into it, not tasting the sweetness. She only tasted a foul bitterness and spat out the bite she took. Her last meal wasn't enjoyable at all. As she waited for death from the encroaching beasts, she stared down at Oscar and smiled, his face seeming as lovable as ever. She decided if she was going to die, then she'd make one good last memory.
Leaning down, she overlapped her lips onto his, her heart beating so fast and her mind feeling like it was floating away. It was incredible, the most pleasant sensation tingling down her spine, washing away all the pain from her wounds. She lifted his head to kiss him more properly, wanting to remain in this euphoria until death claimed her. However, minutes later, she realized she was still alive and kissing Oscar. Lifting her lips off of him, Avril glanced around, her eyes widening from the beasts all staying in place, staring at her.
"What? Why are you all not attacking?" Avril wheezed out her words.
"Hmmm." The air trembled, and a voice came out of the forest, all the other beasts bowing their heads to the sand. The power behind this presence surpassed her master, Sevon, which only meant one thing…a King Exalt!