Ayanna was shaken by strange noises coming from behind her.

She turned to find Jean’s already strange body enlarging and morphing.

Jean opened his now purple eyes and looked at Ayanna as the skin on his head hardened, four or so other muscular limbs tore out from his chest as he continued to grow, but during the entire process, his eyes did not stray.

[Ayanna, when they come, I will do my best to clear a path and from there, all you have to do is run back home.]

Jean said, his voice came not from her mind, but it echoed in her heart.

“What about you-“

[I will follow from close behind.]

Jean said as he reached his maximum size, which was about ten meters tall.

Ayanna nodded slowly before closing her eyes to awake.

.

..

She opened her eyes to find Jean towering above her, but she couldn’t waste any time and so she stood up and ran to Àlainn, who had her hands clasped tightly together as she knelt before Gi, who was still writhing in pain.

“Come,” Ayanna said.

Àlainn slowly stood up as Jean lumbered about.

Gi continued weeping, but Ayanna had no plans on taking him with her.

The large wooden door slowly started opening and in that moment, an ear-piercing screech filled the air as Jean charged towards the door before breaking through it, crushing several armed guards.

Ayanna and Àlainn ran closely behind him.

The Awnings swarmed around Jean as they used their curved swords to cut deep into his dark flesh, but Jean had six large muscular limbs and he used them to fend off the Awnings as best as he could.

He cleared the path out of the mountain, which was paved with the bodies of countless dead.

Jean and company eventually arrived at the exit and Ayanna looked down to see the path home. Well, the path led into the northern forest.

More Awnings poured out from within the mountain and they fearlessly charged towards Jean, who stood menacingly on the mountainside.

[Go!]

Jean yelled as a loud shriek pierced the air.

Ayanna nodded before running down the path, she mercilessly slaughtered any Awnings who dared get in her way.

“Ah!” Her heart sank as she turned around to find that some Awnings had managed to grab Àlainn.

She watched helplessly as they raised their weapons to stab her, but suddenly they dropped their weapons and held their heads.

Àlainn shook herself free from their clutches before catching up to Ayanna.

The two then continued running until they reached the forest where they saw a dark figure in the darkness.

“Let’s go!” Fea said as Àlainn picked him up.

The group continued running but a pained howl in the air filled their hearts with incredible amounts of pain.

Regardless, they continued running.

They ran and ran as the air filled with screams, howls and snarls.

Ayanna’s eyes opened to their widest and her ears picked up on every sound.

She then realized that Àlainn was out of breath.

“Let’s stop here,” Ayanna said as she walked over to a rather large tree.

“No… it’s fine. I… can still…” Àlainn tried saying, but she quickly fell to her knees, dirtying her dress in the cold mud.

Ayanna dropped her claymore before helping Àlainn find a comfortable spot.

She then handed Ayden to her as Fea hopped down.

Ayanna picked up her claymore before patrolling the surrounding area she looked up to find that the moon had become unreasonably bright.

So much so that night was as bright and as clear as day.

[Brother!]

A voice said from deep within Ayanna’s mind.

Ayanna ignored it because strange sounds came from deep within the forest and just as she peered into the darkness.

Several creatures emerged from the bush, baring their bloodshot eyes and gnarly teeth.

Ayanna took several deep breaths before raising her claymore.

.

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..

Fea kept a watchful eye on the forest.

Àlainn made sure to regain as much energy as she could while taking care not to cause Ayden more pain.

Fea jerked his head north as he heard what sounded like footsteps.

“You… this is all your fault!” A blood-drenched Awning said.

His left arm looked completely broken and his face was covered in fresh scars.

“Maintain the natural order and vanquish all who dare tread beyond the veil.” The man muttered.

“Àlainn, take Ayden and run!” Fea said as he hopped towards the man, but the man simply kicked Fea’s little body, sending it flying backwards.

Àlainn let out a horrified shriek as she stood up.

The awning reached out to grab her, but Ayanna promptly chopped off his arms before stabbing him in the face as he loudly fell backwards.

Àlainn turned around to find a completely blood-soaked Ayanna running to Fea’s side.

“Fea, are you alright?” Ayanna asked.

“Tis… only a scratch. We must… move.” Fea wheezed.

Ayanna bit her teeth before looking at the bag on Àlainn’s back.

“Give me your bag!” Ayanna barked.

Àlainn did as she was instructed and Ayanna shoved her claymore through the leather bag before carrying it.

“Here, hold him as well,” Ayanna instructed as the sounds of movement could be heard in the distance.

Àlainn did as she was told, but just as she held both Ayden and Fea, Ayanna carried both of them before dashing into the woods at a speed Àlainn thought not possible.

[I will not lose him as well.]

The voice from before said, but Ayanna ignored it as she ran through the forest.

A large, lizard-like beast charged towards her, but she quickly weaved between trees causing the lizard to crash into many of them.

The beast maintained its chase and it was eventually joined by another.

Another then added to the growing number of beasts and eventually, about seven large creatures joined the chase.

Ayanna made sure to take the route with the densest foliage and she used the terrain to her advantage, but just as she jumped over a log, her leg got caught in some vines, causing her to fall, but she made sure that she absorbed most of the impact with her own body.

“Leave me and go!” Àlainn cried, but just as the lizard creature from before launched itself at Ayanna, she forcibly grabbed her claymore from her back, cut through the leather bag and decapitated the beast.

Not a moment passed before another beast launched itself at Ayanna and it managed to claw away at her calf, but she promptly stabbed it in the head.

Àlainn held Fea and Ayden tightly as chunks of flesh and blood bathed her.

The sounds of death quickly came to an end and Àlainn felt something land on her shoulder.

“Let’s….” Ayanna wheezed painfully as she picked Àlainn and everyone else up.

“No! Put me down. I’ll distract-“ Àlainn stopped as Ayanna pressed their foreheads together.

In this moment, Àlainn felt a painful sensation enveloping her, but she wholeheartedly accepted it.

The world then suddenly shook and it seemed as though the light from the moon had grown even brighter.

Ayanna took several deep breaths before running southward.

This time, she moved faster and further than before.

A familiar swampland then came into view as she exited the northern forest and to the east Dachaigh Gual could be seen.

Ayanna ran into the swampland to find a person standing waist-deep in mud.

Ayanna wanted to ignore and run past her, but-

“Hey!” Ayanna tried saying, but her voice was gone.

“Hey!” Àlainn yelled, but the person did not move.

Ayanna’s claymore was sheathed in a separate hole in her backpack and she still had everyone in her hands, but just as she thought to carefully drop everyone, the woman in the distance disappeared only to abruptly reappear in front of Ayanna who looked at the woman’s most face to find that her eyes had countless pupils.

Ayanna dashed backwards before placing everyone down and grabbing her claymore.

“Return the prince to his brother at once!” The woman yelled. Her voice a watery gurgle.

Ayanna ignored her as she raised her claymore to attack, but the woman simply raised her hand and in that instant, Ayanna’s mind trembled.

She fell to her knees as an intense amount of pain in her head.

Ayanna held in her screams as the woman walked towards Àlainn, Ayden and Fea.

She then took several deep breaths before shutting her eyes.

.

..

Ayanna awoke in the garden to find it slowly crumbling away and so she quickly stood up kicked the door beneath the Dia rune and jumped into the light.

.

..

Ayanna squeezed her claymore before standing up and running towards the woman, who turned around as Ayanna swung her sword downwards.

The claymore lodged itself in the woman’s head, but her body did not fall.

“Why do you cling to that which you did not birth?” The woman asked, even as she profusely bled.

Ayanna simply let out a grunt before kicking the woman’s body.

More howls and barks filled the air and in that moment, as Ayanna walked over toward where Àlainn and the others were, she saw an extremely wounded man emerging from the forest deep.

His skin was dark grey and his hair was a mass of tendrils that reached his neck.

His eyes were a deep purple and in his hands were two daggers.

“Ayanna!” Jean cried as he ran to her side.

Jean leapt into Ayanna’s arms.

She hesitated to hold him as he was covered in deep cuts and gashes, but no matter how hard she tried holding back, she gave in and fell to her knees as she held him.

Dozens of beasts then emerged from the forest and Jean looked at Ayden to find that his condition had bettered.

In his current form, he could see all of Ayden without accessing the garden of the mind.

Not that his was still there.

Jean and Ayanna eventually stood up before touching foreheads.

They then turned to face the forest as more and more beasts of various shapes and sizes emerged and soon, half the swampland was covered with beasts.

Jean raised his daggers as Ayanna raised her claymore and without warning, like a crushing wave of violence, the beasts moved in towards them.

Ayanna mercilessly decapitated the front-most beast while Jean made sure she had the time to withdraw her claymore by attacking anything near her.

The two attacked in almost perfect synchrony as Ayanna dealt with the larger, stronger ones.

Jean made sure that her back was covered and even as rivers of blood ran across the swamp, their attacks did not falter.

Ayanna ran towards an apelike beast as it charged towards her.

Jean made sure that her path was clear as she ran and with a violent swing, she lodged her claymore in the beast's skull.

.

..

Ayanna took deep and painful breaths as she looked around.

She then found Jean standing atop a pile of corpses as the moon illuminated his bloody figure.

“Jean!” Ayanna painfully screamed as she ran to his side.

She then caught him just as he fell.

“Ayanna…” Jean whispered.

His voice clear in the newfound silence of the night.

“I reached out to the stars,” Jean said as he looked out into the night sky.

“And for all their grandeur and wonder, none were as beautiful as you.”

Ayanna couldn’t tell whether his body was getting colder because he was already cold and so all she could do was hold him as he bled.

She just held him as his eyes met hers.

“You, Ayden, Fea and Àlainn were my beacons in the dark. When you sink into It, hold onto our time together.” Jean said as tears welled up in his eyes.

“I know how to end this night. Kill Gi. It is his sense of loss that prolongs this night. Find help and return to that mountain. Only then, will all this come to an end.” Jean said as Ayanna gently rubbed his hair.

Àlainn slowly approached with Ayden and Fea in hand.

Ayanna’s heart sank as Jean’s eyes lost their light.

An excruciating amount of pain assaulted her chest as tears rolled down her face.

She reached out to Àlainn and held her tightly as a cruel and cold wind blew by.

Ayanna’s cries echoed out into the night and Àlainn joined in mourning.

"Jean!" Ayanna cried.

“Please don’t leave,” She begged, even as her throat tightened.

“Promise you’ll be here when I open my eyes.” Ayanna cried and in that moment, Ayden wept as well.