Gerald couldn’t believe his eyes. Neither could any of the other kin. They watched as one of their own decimated mage after mage. Azura made it look… easy. Spells flew at her and she slapped them away. How!? Gerald knew she was powerful but this… She told him and the others she wasn’t a mage but something else. Something new. The mages were running, actually running. The powerful oppressors. The unstoppable wielders of magic. They fled from a single kin.

“Azura the bane of mages!” Gerald shouted with all his might. Soon the chant was taken up, but misspoken.

“Azure!” The chant began and then morphed as more mage killer terminology was mixed in. Soon Gerald’s original chant was lost and all that could be heard was…

“AZURE MAGEBANE!”

Thus, the legend of the Azure Magebane was born. The boogieman of mages. The next group of mages found this out the hard way.

Dontu trembled as he charged the blue cat-kin. He’d had been asleep when the klaxon went off and for what. For a single cat-kin. What were the higher ups thinking? He had wondered that until the group of mages ahead of him were decimated. He slowed. He would have fled but Calvore was watching the mages under his command. If he fled before he even fought he would be ruined. Dontu wasn’t a powerful mage. His combat casting was pathetic and he knew it. However his real talent was with enchanting. He pulled a short sword from his belt.

“SHARPNESS.”

“IGNORE DEFENSE.”

“BLEED.”

He cast the three spells in rapid succession on the blade. Looking up from his work he saw the cat-kin frozen in place. Spells were deflected as some type of barrier protecting her. She was looking right at him. No… right as his lucky trophy. Before he could wonder why, she was before him.

Fuck! She moved so quickly! How was that… The cat-kin’s speed was faster than even his thoughts as she seized his lower jaw and squeezed. Teeth and bits of flesh flew out from the pressure as the cat-kin’s hand closed. There was nothing substantial left in her grip or his low jaw. All that remained were tendrils of meat dangling from his ruined face. Dontu would have screamed if he could. The cat-kin next grabbed his crotch and pulled. It was sensual for the briefest moment possible, then agony as an unseen force held his body in place. The cat-kin didn’t squeeze but pulled slowly as surroundings mages attacked. Dontu frantically swung his blade at the kin. Strangely his arms were allowed to be free. One futile tried to protect his jewels which were right now farther from him than what nature would normally allow. The other held his empowered blade. He swung. The girl caught his blade with her free hand. Her arm flexed as the enchanted steel shattered.

Meanwhile mage continued to launch a volley of lesser spells at the girl while trying to avoid her hostage. They were as effective as a mosquito trying to penetrate plate mail. All the while she kept pulling. Skin bled stretched to its limits. Then it gave way tearing free. White filaments dangled from his ruined crotch to fleshy glob that the cat-kin held. She dropped with mangled jewels to the sully the ground.

Dontu was only peripherally aware of any of this. His agony was all consuming. When he was finally allowed to fall he collapsed soundlessly. He curled up on himself as the girl stalked forward slapping more spells out of her way. Surely his hell could get no worse. He was wrong. The cat-kin seized his feet and swung him at his fellow mages. The first blow was sufficient to end his life as his head splattered against a mage’s barrier.

Azura calm fighting was reduced to pure rage. She had found him. It had to be the mage that killed Toren. She had noticed his missing foot but her grief prevented her from wondering why. Now his killer was dead. She only wished she had more time to punish him more. As it was she spent too much ki shrugging off the mages assaults. Foolish. She quickly remedied that by breaking more barriers and beating the mages to death with the corpse she held. The body only last for three more hits before it fell apart. Discarding the remains she returned to the slaughter after tucking Toren’s foot into her robe. She would not let these dead mages have anything from him.

Hamal was only briefly distracted by the Azura’s display. He was a professional. He knew his duty. He focused on the kin below looking for his target. He found it, or rather he heard it. He would recognize Gerald’s mighty roar anywhere. He ran to the edge of the bowl waving furiously at the bear-kin who was fixated on Azura fighting. Frustrated, he picked up a stone and threw it at the oblivious bear-kin. He hit the kin right in the chest. Furious Gerald looked around before spotting Hamal waving him over. Instantly Gerald’s expression changed to pure relief. He quickly gathered Toren’s family and escorted them to the edge. He shove any kin out of his way. Most of them were either fixated on the battle above or rushing to the ladders on the far side of the bowl.

Hamal withdrew a large spike with a wide head from his cloak along with a hammer. Quickly he pounded it into the ground. Taking a knotted rope from a small pack he looped it around the now secure anchor tossing the other end down.

“Hurry up! We have to leave soon.” Hamal shouted down as the kin began to climb. Hamal set two more anchors as the first kin reached the lip of the bow. It was Mio. She starred in awe at Azura as Hamal rushed to help the next kin over the edge. He was just glad the mages were too preoccupied with Azura to notice his activities. A shattering explosion shook the night followed by a massive conflagration that illuminated a wide area. That did draw his attention.

“Azura…” Hamal muttered his eyes wide. Was she… His fears were laid to rest as Azura burst out of the flame. She appeared unharmed. The offending mages who casted the spell were reduced to meat paste moments later. That was when the elves appeared.

Ulvandia was stupefied. As this ‘Azure Magebane’ slaughtered another group of human mages. Sure human mages weren’t very skilled compared to elves but it was still impressive. What was most daunting, was that during the entire battle she had not once felt any magic at all from the girl. She didn’t understand how such a thing was possible. That didn’t even include the spells she used which were completely unfamiliar to her. She came to the only possible conclusion, which to her knowledge was itself, impossible. This girl wasn’t using mana. She had some other power.

“Sylvar get your team up here now!” Ulvandia spoke into another contact spell. She wasn’t going close to that girl. Who knew what she could do. You didn’t live as long as Ulvandia by taking pointless risks. That was what the pawns were for.

Calvore stood next to her grinding his teeth as another group of his mages died. He had casted a few spells at the cat-kin if she got too close but other than that he stayed by her side. They were doing a delicate dance. The kin girl would attack any mages sent out to stop the fleeing kin. Otherwise she seemed content to back off staying out of range of their spells. At least she stayed far enough way that she could dodge with little effort. All the while more kin fled.

“Damn it!” Calvore shouted. No doubt he would make excuses in his report why he didn’t rush forward with his charges. She knew why. He was afraid. Just as she couldn’t detect any mana neither could he. It seemed no matter how many lesser mages they sent she just slaughtered them all. They needed more firepower.

“My lady,” Sylvar said kneeling before her. She didn’t bother turning to face them. She didn’t want to miss one second of the scene below. Besides she knew them. They were a group of four elite close combat specialists. They had high level spells and enough mana to use them. They could rip mana beasts apart with their bare hands.

“Your team is ready?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Good here’s the plan. You are to engage that cat-kin. Use your most powerful spells hold nothing back. While you fight we will gather our mana. Get her off balance and we will do the rest.”

“It shall be,” Sylvar said as his team buffed themselves. She tuned them out.

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“Calvore, get your mages up here. I want all of us to channel all of our mana into a single attack. When Sylvar knocks her down unleash everything.”

Calvore nodded as he began barking orders.

Just as this Azure Magebane finished the last group of mages Sylvar attacked timing it so the target was most distracted. Ulvandia smiled. That quickly changed to horror. She had thought this Magebane had been going all out. It ended up, she hadn’t seen anything yet.

Azura killed the last human mage when the elves arrived. She didn’t recognize them as elves at first, but from their power they couldn’t be anything else. They reminded her of that elf she encountered earlier. Luckily she had an idea what to expect now. They were fast. But she was faster. Several powerful spells blasted by her as she dodged and weaved. Azura gritted her teeth. It was time. Azura stopped conserving her ki. She no longer had that luxury.

Azura blurred as she pushed her ki enhanced speed to the limit. The ground exploded beneath her as wind tore in her passage. Before they could react she was among them. Azura lashed out with her ki ensnaring the nearest elf. Her ki compacted around him like a vice. The elf was incredibly tough. Some type of full body enhancement spell must have been in use. Azura however refused to relent. As she continued to dodge the others her ki worked on the elf like he was a particularly stubborn knot. She twisted and pulled, press and expanded. Yet the elf was frustratingly still in one piece. Blood however did flow from his joints as a torrent of mana reinforced his body. She brought the floating elf to her but before she could strike a slim elf with light blue hair swung a blade coated in a sickly black aura at her. She raised her arm and caught the blow. Azura winced as a small cut opened from the strike. She could feel the death mana entering her. The mana tried to decay her from the inside out. The magic lasted less than a second before her ki broke it apart.

The surprised elf wasn’t able to dodge her counter strike. Azura put the full force of her unused ki behind it. The blow had the weight of mountain behind it. The elf’s defensive magic was impressive. It wasn’t enough. Not even close. The elf’s chest crumbled inward as his lifeless body was hurled toward the mages waiting by their camp. She had felt their gathering mana as they waited safely beyond her reach. This was bad. Her ki was quickly being exhausted.

Azura’s distraction cost her as the largest elf mutter some type of spell his fist glowing with magic. He rushed at her as the remaining elf casted some type of geomancy spell. Suddenly the ground beneath became slippery. The effect was so large that the ground to which her ki was attached also moved. Her balance gone she saw the blow close in. Reinforcing her hand with more ki she caught the blow.

Sylvar was the best of the best. The elite of the elites. He’d been chosen for this assignment to fight the mists and evaluate their threat level. He wasn’t supposed to be challenged by a kin. Nor was his most powerful attack supposed to be stopped by a girl a head shorter than him. She didn’t even move. No… that wasn’t true. She didn’t move but the ground below her did. It was subtle, barely noticeable, but he did see. Was she somehow attached to the ground? This situation was already out of control. Sigmar was dead and Jamal was somehow held suspended in the air his body slowly being crushed. It was only his vast magical reserved pumped into his body spell that prevented him from dying instantly.

Sylvar lashed out with a kick while trying to pull his hand away. The cat-kin blocked his kick with her free arm. Then she squeezed. No this was no simple squeeze one might expect from a lonely child. This was weight of tons of stone all being direct to his trapped hand. Pain. He felt actual pain with a Mithril level body spell! His bones held for several seconds before breaking. His skin parted as her fingers slowly dug in blood gushing out.

Sylvar screamed as the kin’s hand continued to close. His magic flooded out of him like it sprung a leak to reinforce his hand. All it did was slow the process.

“Sylvar!” His last companion shouted.

“Change the ground to mud!” Sylvar shouted in elvish. The cat-kin blinked as she slowly began to sink. Sylvar did the only thing left for him. He deactivate his body magic. Instantly the kin’s hand closed taking his with it. With the last of his mana he cast one final spell with his remaining hand.

“FORCE PUNCH!” The blow landed directly on her chest. The spell affected a large area in front of him hurling anything there backwards. The kin went flying along with a sizable piece of muddy earth attached to her feet. He’d been right.

She landed twenty feet away the mud falling to earth as she rolled. Somehow Jamal went flying with her. It was like he was caught in a net that centered on her body.

The waiting mages unleashed their spells. Massive beams of concentrated magic of all types lashed out striking at the kin. Sylvar grinned. It was over. That was when Jamal suddenly floated in front of her.

“NO!!!” Sylvar shouted as his friend was vaporized. Yet the magic was not fully stopped. The kin vanished under a wave of magical fury, as did a significant radius of earth around her. Sylvar was thrown back from the explosion. Landing hard he could barely move, his body exhausted, his mana gone. He turned to look at the devastation. For a moment he saw only dust and falling debris. Then the girl stood up from the crater. Her clothes were rags barely held together. Blood leaked from multiple cuts on her body.

Monster, Sylvar thought before he passed out.

“Monster…” Calvore said as he watched the half cat-kin get up. How could anything survive that blast?!

“Quickly finish her!” Ulvandia shouted. As if she understood her intent the girl turned and ran. Several mages pursued but they were quickly left behind.

Ulvandia slammed her fist into the railing. What the hell had the Deepmere council gotten them into?

Azura hurt. She hurt everywhere. Tears of pain flowed like the blood from her wounds. That had been close. Way to fucking close. Between using the elf as a shield and creating a ki barrier she had still taken a lot of damage. Her supply of ki was close to being exhausted. As she ran the ambient mana worked on refreshing her ki, but it was slow. It didn’t help that her ki was busy healing her body. She might have to spend some time in the mana forest to recover quicker. Fortunately, she had been given the signal several minutes ago. The rat-kin were already gone by the time she left. All the extra delay she bought was to allow for more kin to escape. She only wished she could do more. As long as she lived there was hope. She would be back.

Now she just had to get to the meeting spot. They all agreed not to go directly to the cave. The mages might follow, but she rather doubted it. If they did, well, she still had some non-exhausted ki left. They wouldn’t find her an easy target. After several minutes of running and no signs of pursuit she arrived at the destination.

There she felt a burden she was unaware of lift. Gerald and the rest of Toren’s family was there. So were Hamal and the rat-kin. They were safe. They were all safe. She didn’t fail them.

“Azura!” Gerald roared as he ran to her giving her a bear hug. He wasn’t alone as the rabbit-kin all gather around her hugging as best they could.

“You were amazing!” Gerald cheered. “I only wished I could have stayed for the whole thing.”

“You wouldn’t want to. It got dangerous at the end.”

Gerald pulled back only now noticing the blood.

“You’re hurt!” Many of the rabbit-kin gasped as they pulled back.

“It’s not that bad,” Azura said panting a little. As if to demonstrate she bounced up and down in place. Instantly she regretted it as fresh pained stabbed into her. But she didn’t let it show. She had to be strong for them. “I’m already healing. It’s just a bit painful.”

“Amazing,” Alenina said closing in on her. Her eyes became sad. “I have to tell you about…”

“I know,” Azura said her voice breaking a bit. “I found his body. I brought it back to the cave.”

Alenina teared up along with the others as they embraced once more.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Azura said her voice thick with emotion.

“It’s not your fault,” Alenina said.

“Did you get him?” Tabatha asked. Alenina looked down at the white rabbit-kin in surprise. It was the first time she had spoken since Toren died. “He had orange hair and had a… paw.”

“I got him,” Azura said her voice vicious. She pulled out Toren’s foot which somehow made it intact. She handed to Alenina who took it, fresh tears flowing. “I made him suffer.”

“Good,” Tabatha said before crying some more.

“The way looks clear,” Hamal said. “Some of my family will hide our path and lay false trails. It shouldn’t be hard. The kin scattered in all directions.”

“Okay,” Azura sniffed. “Let’s go.”

They got back with little difficulties. The kin were too overwhelmed to talk much. Too much had happened today. By the time they returned Azura was completely healed but utterly exhausted like most of her ki. As her mother ran up to her embracing her in a hug she just wanted to sleep. But she couldn’t. There was one last duty to fulfill.

The grave was deep. The rescued mole-kin had done an excellent job. As one would expect from their kind. Azura gently lowered Toren’s wrapped body, reunited with his missing foot, down into the hole that was as deep as the one inside her.

Toren… she wasn’t there for him when he needed her.

The gathered kin wept or remained silent until the body sat still on the earth. Then Alenina stepped forward as her right as Toren’s mother.

“It is every mother’s nightmare to outlive their children. Yet this year I was forced to do so twice already. Once for Marvel and now for Toren. Marvel death while tragic was at least understandable. The mists are a threat to all. It makes the loss no less painful, but it was understandable. Toren's death was not. Toren died because mages saw nothing when they looked upon us. They saw nulls, not people. They saw lesser beings not thinking feeling individuals. They saw a group they could abuse and take whatever they wanted. For that I shall not forgive. Nor will I ever forget.”

Alenina stepped back furious tears in her eyes. More stepped forward. Gerald and then Hamal as his closest friends. Several of his sisters did so but most of them just wept clutching each other. Then it was Azura’s turn. She went last. A place of honor to have the final words. Alenina had insisted.

“Toren was my best friend. His loss pains me more than I thought possible,” her voice started breaking. “Toren, I promise I’ll keep your family safe… Rest well my friend.” She wanted to say more. About the time they spent together. How as children they would embark on glorious adventures. How the world would be less without him, but her voice failed. She stepped back into her mother’s embrace. As dirt began filling the hole, the tears she been holding back fell.

Goodbye Toren, Azura thought as her mother led her away.