Beads of sweat run down Tilly's face, as she cauterizes the wound on her arm. Her natural resistance to fire makes her use the hottest flames to seal the wound. She stares down this Paladin. She can't believe he would actually give her the chance to heal her wound. Was he being chivalrous like the warriors in the old books that Hu likes so much? Or was it something else?

"What are you waiting for, you Dweeb? Let's get this over with." She gives the ring of Sourcers a wicked grin as she ignites in a giant blaze. Many shield their eyes from the sudden blast of light.

"My schedule is full… lots of white cloaked scumbags to roast!"

Paladin grins at her.

"You are my first true test as a warrior in service to my lord. I was hand picked by our leader to fight you. You might say my talents are well suited to fight a foe such as you."

He moves into a defensive stance.

"Come, show me what Tilly the Pyromancer is capable of!"

Tilly is shocked, she knows she is well known around these parts of the world but there was no way this Sourcer prick could know who she was.

A loud explosion interrupts their standoff, Tilly looks back, the tower is gone, replaced with a plum of fire and smoke. The lights die out.

"Ahh, the glorious Titan reached his goal. Your town is finished." His grin turns into a proud smile.

"And so are you. I will make my lord proud."

Tilly erupts, her flames swirl around her. Sourcers close enough are engulfed in her flames. She lets out a wild howl, as Paladin pulls her flames into his shield. His blade roars to life, he goes to slash but she's gone, the massive wave of energy destroying everything in its path.

Before he can react, she slides in behind him, her flame propelled sweep, violently knocks him off his feet. She grabs at his exposed skin with a flaming claw. He howls in pain, letting a pulse of energy out of his sword. Tilly is blasted off him, she flips through the air until she re orientates herself. Waves of energy slice through the air, each one seemingly reducing in power.

Tilly smiles. She lets loose a massive jet of fire down onto him, She giggles as he absorbs the flames. She flies down to the ground, Paladin swings his blade with reckless abandon. The slashes hitting his own people, they scream and scatter as green energy ripped them apart.

"Ouch! Yall better watch out down there!" She yells at the scrambling Sourcers, laughing as she flies circles around the frantic Paladin.

"I figured out your little trick Palidumb!… You need my fire in your shield to power up your stupid little sword!" She speeds towards him as he throws a few weak slashes at her. She spins in the air like a dancer and gets right up to his face.

"Hi" She says cutely, before breathing a jet of fire in his face.

He staggers back, seemingly reeling in pain.

"Ha…ha ha haaaa ha haaaaa!" Paladin laughs manically.

"The shield is just for show, you demon!" He says.

A ring of energy shoots out from his body, she throws a wall of flames in front of her. It absorbs some of the blow but it still hits her like a runaway cruiser. She slams into the ground tumbling into a street lamp. A group of green eyed Sourcers rush her, ready to spread Rahms curse to Tilly. She lets out a frustrated scream as they are blown back by raging flames.

Paladin slowly walked towards her.

"Lend me your power, my brothers and sisters! Let me end this witch so she may join us as one of the Chosen!" All sorts of energy started flying into him and his body gained a flowing, green aura. His sword raged with energy, with each step it grew larger.

Tilly got to her feet, she winced in pain, definitely a broken rib or two.

"This damn nerd…" she says, clenching her teeth. She was beat up pretty badly and his only wound was the scratches on his face.

She cracks a sly smile, the answer was right in front of her.

"Tilly Winters, The Pyromancer of New Eidolon, Harshland Hero will not lose to a religious nut job playing dress up.. I'm about to kick your fucking ass!"

Vandresh tried to keep morale high when the lights went out. He tried to bolster their courage when Sourcers poured over the walls like scavengers converging to feast on a corpse. Fighters broke rank, they fled their posts along the walls fleeing deeper into the town. He knew there was a chance they would all perish, his older self would have fled, left everyone behind. He understood them…. Self preservation kicks in during impossible situations. Most chose to flee but others, they rise up, look death in the face and become legend.

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Vandresh will choose the latter, he lived a long time. Lived a life of adventure, had whoever and whatever he wanted. None of that mattered anymore, he had found a happiness here that he could have never imagined.

"Fall back to the first wall! We will make our stand there!" He shouts to his people, hopefully those not close enough heard it in their comms.

New Eidolon was built like a spider web. Over the last ten years they had expanded greatly, it evolved from a tiny grouping of houses into a large town. Each iteration had its own defensive wall. When the town grew, the old wall would be turned into new structures, all roads and streets heading towards the center, creating the pattern. All but the original wall, that one remained standing, encircling the heart of New Eidolon, as a monument of what they had built.

He runs through the streets, dodging and striking, as twisted Chosen and mindless Cursed lunge at him from the shadows. More and more of his people fell to Rahms sinister power, quickly turning on their allies, spreading it even more.

He screams at the battered and exhausted fighters, telling them to push forward to keep moving. The Sourcers closed in on them from every direction, flanking them and nipping at their heels. It was like wading through waist high water, every few feet another Chosen, another Sourcer attacking them like a vicious animal. The Chosen were getting stronger, he could see them shifting, growing. Their bodies growing monstrous appendages as they liked their blood covered mouths. It was too much for some of them, he could see them give up… freeze in the face of things too horrible to be real.

The homes and buildings disappear as they enter one of the agricultural parks peppered throughout the town. He fought off the despair as he could see the plume of smoke and fire where his tower once stood. His grief and despair turned to rage.

"Keep fighting! They should thin out the closer we get to the center of town. I'll buy us some time and keep them off our backs." He yells, his eyes burning with conviction.

It was enough to stir hope in a few of the New Eidolions. They ran into the tall stalks of corn and wheat, heading towards the center of town.

He turns towards the encroaching hoard, and reaches deep into himself. With his people out of the way he can cut loose, his organi-steel flows like strands of wire, as he weaves it through the air. They reach out and pierce anything moving, whipping around, slicing through flesh, and removing limbs. Blood burst from his nose, as he focused on his web of metallic death. He could feel a surge of energy rush through his body, it was like an awakening. He could feel every molecule of his steel as it grew, the web of metal moving to his will, grabbing any foe that dared to enter his range.

Like a spider he is alerted to a new intrusion, this one was different. It jumps from place to place at incredible speeds, it's gone before his steel could react.

"Enough!" He thought as the intruder pinged impossibly around.

SNNNNNINNNNNKKKKKT!

Thousands of blades erupt from the web, slicing anything in it to ribbons and the web became still.

Blood rained down onto the crops, the soil turning into black mud. He walks through the muck, the metal branches shift creating a corridor for him to walk through, sealing itself behind him.

He barely had time to react as he felt the sharp sting slowly radiate on his arm. He grimaces as his limb dangles from strings of un severed flesh just above the elbow. If he hadn't moved slightly it would have surely been a killing blow. A few yards ahead of him a blur reveals its hideous form to Vandresh. It licks the blood from its blade-like arm. Its bent legs pulse with power. He watched as hundreds of wounds bubbled over with tumorous flesh.

His arm splashes in the muck as he severs it, his organi-steel sutures the trauma, the metal swirls around sealing off the wound.

The Chosen snarls at Vandresh.

"You must be Victor. " He chuckles as he forms a vicious sword where his arm once was.

Patchman walks through the second convoy tunnel as his underlings plant Sern's seeds into the fallen evacuees. His disgusting grin stretches his face as he watches the newly Chosen convulse in the tunnel's red light.

They may have figured out his plan in two of the tunnels, but he still made his master thousands of Chosen. Once the assault on the town was over they would have more and much better stock to boot. He almost admired the people of New Eidolon… they were tough and organized. They rivaled some of the cities they had converted but alas…. Nothing compared to their righteous might and divine power granted by Sern. He gathered a small force and sank them into the inky shadows.

Hu's convoy pushes forward as they fight off the invaders. They wisened up and started targeting light sources creating shadows for more Sourcers to creep through the darkness.

They fought tooth and nail. Hu kept the lights on, he did his best to flood the tunnel with as much light as possible, but the Sourcers were a tenacious bunch.

He focused the lights towards the front of the convoy, where the brunt of civilians were located. They were the priority, if they made it out none of this would be in vain. He pushed himself, he stayed on the offensive while creating as many light sources as possible.

Convoy fours leader would come in over the comms from time to time, they lucked out as one of their people could generate light. They had actually made it through a few gates and the attacks had diminished.

They must be focusing on us, Hu thought as another one of his light orbs went out. He mumbled profanities as he tried to keep the portals at bay. The vehicles come to a halt as they reach the next checkpoint, the massive gate screeches, as it slowly opens.

The people wait anxiously, hoping that it would lead them to safety, praying that the fighting would stop as they passed through the gate sealing off their attackers.

When the gate reached its apex, their collective hearts shattered, a massive group of Sourcers waits for them on the other side. Eagerly waiting to convert them to Serns army.

Hu hears the screams before he sees the wave of evacuees running towards him.

He grits his teeth as the desperate plees crowd his comms.

He reaches into his coat and pulls out more of Chase’s crystals, lifting them into the air with his mind. Schematics swirl through the air, random materials around him begin to glow.

"They want to play rough?? I'll show them rough!"