Isabel swallowed the bile and forced herself to not panic. She held Mila’s limp, unmoving body in one hand while, with the other, she continued to send a stream of fire at the horrendous thing of nightmares.

“There is… nothing… to worry… about.” The words came slowly. Isabel frowned, pulling back her scattering thoughts into order. She felt her anger switch into rage, then worry and then desperation.

Each switch was sudden and threatened Isabel with losing control over her thoughts. The bracelet helped, but not as much as she wished. The pearls contracted around her wrist, sucking away the excess of emotions.

The pearls wouldn’t last forever, either. The old healer who had helped wasn’t clear on just how long the thing would work. He hadn’t seen anything like this injury before, either.

“...shit…” Isabel almost lost control of the spell. Her emotions were spinning faster and faster. “...common…”

Mila should be waking up any moment. Isabel pulled her girl’s body closer. Well, not Mila, per se.

It would likely be whoever was inside Mila. Isabel wasn’t clear on the details. Mila never explained it to her, citing one reason or another.

Isabel guessed that it had something to do with the Gods. Or whatever was in front of her.

Luckily, Isabel didn’t have to stop her thought process. Mila always warned her of the danger of thinking about these topics and what they entailed. Now, all she needed to do to avoid the danger was to wait, and her emotions erased any coherent idea.

Still, Isabel felt the corrosive influence press against her barriers. It wasn’t something she could forget or not think about for long. She was losing.

More emotions bubbled and simmered. Isabel relied on the bracelet to calm her mind. As long as she didn’t need to speak, she could manage.

When Isabel was Mila, she was also mostly fine. She believed it was their love that shackled her stormy feelings.

“What is this?”

Isabel shuddered. The thing had no business of sounding so normal. Mila always told her not to listen. It was impossible now. Her hands were busy. She didn’t dare to stop spewing fire, and loudly singing was not an option.

The whole room was now filled with fire, but it didn’t appear to do anything to the enemy. But at least the rising smoke hid what was happening. “...Mila…”

“Curious.”

Whatever had gotten the thing's attention was godsent. Isabel felt the sticky corruption clung to her body. But it wasn’t controlled and more of an afterthought. Her barriers still stood, and her shield seemed to clean away the persistent plague.

Isabel thanked her trusty shield - a gift given to her by Mila. She glanced down at the beautiful eye on the shield. A wave of embarrassment washed over her before desperation returned with a new assault.

“Inconceivable, don’t you agree?”

Isabel didn’t. She had no idea what the thing was talking about, nor did she want to.

“A remanent of sorts.” The thing spoke. “Of someone I have not seen before. Why? What secrets do you hold?”

These questions were not addressed to Isabel. Not until-

“It is within her, isn't it?” The Thing’s attention was now focused on Isabel. “Give me the girl, and you will live, Child.”

Isabel didn’t answer. She buckled down, pushed her ability to its limits and waited. It had to happen any moment now.

From the way Mila talked, she prepared her heart for the worst. Whoever was inside her girl was something that could ruin her just by knowing who it was.

“Give,” The Horror spoke again. “Her,” It walked closer and scraped Its branches against Isabel’s barrier. “To me.”

It felt like Isabel’s teeth were being pulled. Her defences held, but not for much longer. She decreased the area she covered, then jumped back, moving through the sea of fire.

The unnamed Horror didn’t follow. It released more branches, ignoring the flames surrounding it. “Give.”

“...fuck…” Isabel tried to reply, but, “...you.” Her impairment made the curse lose its bite. She doubted the ‘thing’ even heard her.

‘It’ was currently looking towards the sky, doing… Something. Isabel couldn’t tell, but from the shadows, she guessed it involved a lot of branches branching out.

“Good.” Its attention came back like a cold water washing over Isabel. “That will hold them.”

While Isabel was happy about more obstacles between her and the forces above, she also suddenly felt very isolated. Without Mila’s support, she was…

The emotions began raging again. Depression, anger, cold defeatism and more tried to gain sway over Isabel’s thoughts. But the pearl bracelet sapped them away shortly after.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Only…

Isabel shrank her barriers once more, coating Mila and her skin with them. It wasn’t an optimal method. But dire times called for extreme methods. Her emotions didn’t impact the instinctual control over her ability much, but it did cut much of its power output.

When the attack came, Isabel didn’t try to stop it with her barriers. They were there to keep the flames and heat away, not the corrupting touch of the enemy.

Isabel raised her shield and smashed it against the incoming sway of a branch, breaking it into pieces.

The short contact left a trace of the otherworldly energy on Isabel’s shield, but it was quickly eliminated by the defensive artefact.

“How?”

How could Isabel know? She smashed her improvised weapon through another incoming branch, then pulled Mila further away from the slowly moving horror.

“Why is my voice not breaking you? Why is your shield not conducting my presence?” It questioned. “This is why your kind is most annoying.”

Isabel huffed. She didn’t want to imagine what would happen if she had to hear the voice without her barrier covering her ears. Even now, she felt like each word was stirring her guts with a rusty spoon.

Suddenly, the broken figure moved with unexpected speed, sliding towards Isabel. She planted her feet, turned her side towards the enemy to protect Mila from any stray attacks and received the punishing punch.

The heavy strike hit Isabel’s shield squarely, throwing her back against the wall. She twisted herself to get Mila’s body out of the impact zone and crashed into the stone.

Isabel hurried to check on Mila, but her girl was fine. The same couldn’t be said about her shoulder. The kinetic impacts still were the best way to get through to her.

Or at least if Isabel ignored whatever the hell Oscar did. Only her shield worked against his tentacles.

After letting out an unladylike grunt, Isabel got up. It had been held up by something happening above, giving her time to prepare again.

It didn’t help much. Isabel jumped to the side, avoiding the direct impact, but earned a sideswipe for her efforts, flinging her and Mila along the wall.

Once more, Isabel twisted and turned, using the wall as a platform to jump away from the creature’s follow-up.

Behind Isabel, the attack crashed into the wall, sending splinters in every direction, pelting her with them. She had to redistribute her barrier. “...common…”

What was the issue? Isabel grabbed Mila and cradled her in front of her, taking a better look at her girl and…

Mila looked terrible. Deathly pale skin with dark patches beneath here and there. Some places even seemed to rot. Even her girl’s hair seemed to become charred despite the heat not getting to them.

Before Isabel could panic, some of the strands fell out and were replaced by new, glossier ones. She forced herself to remain calm. Under her scrutinising stare, a few more places began to mend and heal.

Maybe Mila’s condition was worse than she had thought. Perhaps, before whoever was inside could come out had to heal the body for that to happen.

Which left Isabel with the unenviable task of holding the horror back. She wanted to scream, but it wasn’t an option.

Instead, Isabel took a shaky, deep breath and faced the incoming abomination again. “...Ah…” She struck out with the edge of her shield, using it to parry a fat, arm-like thing that whipped at her torso.

It was a close call. Isabel winced as the attack brushed against her side, pushing her barrier to the limits. She felt the spot corrode and had to drop that part of her defences for a moment to get rid of the spreading influence.

The heat scalded her flank, making Isabel regret the choice of using the magic. But it had worked on Silinth - at least on what he became after this alien influence had left him.

How was she to know it wouldn’t work on this hellspawn? It looked like a mix of tree and flesh! Wood burned! Why did this nightmare fuel not?

Isabel gritted her teeth and stomped her foot on the sneaky root, trying to push through the debris. She wished she hadn’t left the hammer with that suspicious group. Not that she could use it with Mila in one hand and defend against attacks with her shield-bearing one.

“Guh-” Isabel failed to notice a thrust behind a chopping trunk coming down. Air was pushed out of her lungs as she was pummeled back by several following attacks.

Isabel couldn’t take it. Tears welled up in her eyes as she endured the onslaught. It was painful. It was tiring. She couldn’t go on. But the light girl in her arm kept her moving.

Another attack hit Isabel’s stomach, then shoulder, then arm and the side of her head. The attacks never stopped. Isabel weathered one storm after another.

For the first time, Isabel felt her mana not being able to keep up with the situation. She was running out, and it left her feeling helpless.

The constant pressure of surrounding hazards, physical attacks and sapping corrosion all took a toll on Isabel’s mana tank. She struggled to keep up with it all while the alien influence tried to get inside her mind.

“The girl. Give her.” The Horror demanded.

Isabel hugged Mila. She couldn’t dodge anymore. Her body was heavy and bruised. She had been thrown around the fire-filled room one too many times, leaving her exhausted.

“...Please…” Isabel patted Mila’s head while using all she had to defend. All around her was a cocoon of twisting roots and vines and branches - grinding away at her barrier.

There was no way she could hold on. Isabel pulled Mila closer, yearning for her girl’s warmth.

“That’s enough.”

The sudden, familiar, dear - yet detached voice entered Isabel’s ears. She looks at her girl’s face, finding two eyes of a stranger peering back.

“You have done enough. I don’t need your protection.”

“Ah, ah, Aaers, was it?” The Horrific figure recognised the change. “We meat again.”

Mila’s body didn’t respond to ‘It’. She still looked at Isabel. “You can rest now. I will handle the rest.”

Isabel nodded, feeling profoundly confused. It was the face and voice and everything else of the girl who she loved.

Yet… Instinctively, Isabel knew it was a different person. She would never confuse Mila with whoever this was…

But she listened. Isabel opened her arms, letting Aaers go and collapsed on the ground, wrapping herself in her barriers.

Isabel felt… Cold.