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Hundreds of miles away from Avarice's lab in the Chihuahuan Desert, 3:24 pm EST

I threw her pretty far, Za'Fia thought as she flew across the desert surface in pursuit. The winter afternoon sky made the air cold and dry, but this didn't bother her. She eventually caught up as Verin skidded to a stop, finally mustering the strength to oppose the force behind Za'Fia's throw.

She stood hunched over, heaving in frustration with a death stare directed at Za'Fia. Her purple half-jacket had dust smeared on it now. Some of the knee-long skirt opened in the front by design had been ripped from her being thrown through a metal wall. But her weird buckle collar, black t-shirt, dark leggings, and boots were all still intact.

Za'Fia was just then taking in Verin's appearance. Before, she'd looked more like a secretary, but Za'Fia assumed this was her true nature: one of a dark gothic type.

"What the hell..." Verin rubbed her throat. "So, it wasn't just him. You all have gotten more powerful. Don't tell me you've all been feeding off humans."

"We may not hold much love for the humans, but we also wouldn't stoop so low as to kill them for our own strength," Za'Fia replied as a crisp breeze blew past them. Verin looked at her, her eyes heavy with judgment.

"Then you're all fools," Verin retorted. "I don't know how you've gained this newfound power, but the fact that you all haven't fed insinuates you could've been even more powerful had you done so. Your power now doesn't surpass my own; it simply closed the gap. That soft stupidity is what's about to get you killed."

The ground began to rumble and crack under the pressure Verin began to release.

Za'Fia eyed her cautiously. She understood that Verin was faster and more powerful than herself, but Za'Fia was stronger and had Conversion, making her more powerful the angrier she got.

If I go at this right, I could defeat her without transforming again...

"Where's the human?" Verin inquired as she strolled a little closer. Her proximity crushed each rock she passed, but Za'Fia knew it was just a display of her power since she hadn't been too affected by that level of gravity. "I hoped to run into her again since our fun was interrupted last time. Is she still at Michael's manor? Hiding perhaps? I know he couldn't heal her with so much of my energy still inside the brand I left her with."

Verin laughed in a way that sent shivers down Za'Fia's body.

"She chose not to be here. For whatever reason, I guess she's deemed you unworthy of her attention," Za'Fia shrugged nonchalantly. "Instead, she sent me to handle you."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Verin scoffed.

"You say that as if she rules over you..."

"I wouldn't say rule, but we've acknowledged her as our leader."

Za'Fia saw a blood vessel bulge in Verin's forehead as she grew livid.

"So you all would rather submit to a human than to Avarice, someone superior to us all?!" Verin practically growled as Za'Fia felt the pressure around them increase.

"Things have changed," Za'Fia smirked. "Using your logic, why would we follow the inferior option?"

"Are you insinuating..."

This set Verin off completely. She charged at Za'Fia with murder in her eye. Za'Fia shot off a blast of flames, but she hadn't had enough time to focus enough energy into it, so Verin practically ran through the fire without much difficulty.

Verin reached Za'Fia, who blocked the spirit-enhanced blow and attempted to counter with her own, but Verin wasn't incompetent either. She moved just slightly enough to shrug off Za'Fia's jab without taking it on fully and countered with a left sweep. Za'Fia countered this too. The two continued this dance of blows and counters at super speeds until they finally managed to draw blood.

Za'Fia clipped Verin squarely in the jaw just as Verin connected a solid right leg swing to Za'Fia's ribcage. Both blows flung each other dozens of feet away.

Za'Fia heard Verin start to laugh.

"To think I actually fell for that..." she rose from the dirt and wiped the rushing blood that dripped from her mouth. "Lying to me about the human being superior to Avarice to get me to lose my composure. It was unexpected, I'll give you that, but I won't fall for such an obvious lie again."

"Believe what you want," Za'Fia stood and rubbed her bruised ribs. The pain flared something inside her. Every sharp breath irritated her to a small degree.

Verin must've been able to see this on her face.

"Wow, you're nothing like your past selves. A kick like that would've sent you into an uncontrollable rage by now. That day really did change you, didn't it..."

Za'Fia fixed her stare on Verin.

Verin grinned tauntingly.

"You may be able to control it now, but it's still there. Just beneath the surface, begging to be let out. Let's see just how much control you have over that temper of yours."

"You do that, and you'll be signing your own death warrant," Za'Fia said sharply.

"As if I'd lose to a mindless beast," Verin stated confidently as she released more power.

Za'Fia sensed Verin clad her body in a gravitational aura that projected off her. When Verin suddenly attacked, Za'Fia guarded, expecting to withstand the blow, but Verin's punch was much heavier than before. It sent her flying backward.

Za'Fia caught herself but didn't have time to question things as Verin rushed toward her again. This time, Za'Fia intercepted her, attacking her first with a powerful blow aimed at Verin's gut. She felt herself speed up unnaturally. Her punch still connected, yet just as it did, it lost some of the power behind it as Za'Fia felt an opposite force push back.

She can change the pull of gravity?

Verin grinned demonically as she punched Za'Fia in the face. The force behind it was unreal. Za'Fia had been close to the bottom of the ocean a few times. The pressure then had been uncomfortable but non-life-threatening. This was much worse. Za'Fia felt the inside of her mouth split, and she nearly lost consciousness as the punch connected and sent her rocketing across the earth. After carving her way across miles, she eventually came to a stop.

Za'Fia laid there for a moment as she recovered from her splitting headache. She couldn't afford to take a hit like that again. She'd have to keep reinforced spirit energy applied to her head constantly.

Za'Fia felt Verin rush after her. Za'Fia considered shooting a blast of flames at her but knew the dense gravitational pull around Verin would just redirect the fire. Instead, she focused on the only thing she knew for sure would work—what she felt may have been gravity, but unlike natural gravity, Verin's was based on spirit energy. Meaning it could be defended against with strong enough spirit energy.