In the present, while Felkin and Grisham stood off against each other, Iris ran towards Ellyn and the fatigued Yuria lying on the ground. “Are you-“ Iris asked but was cut off by Ellyn. “I’m fine! I think she’s tired… It’s been a long night, and I think she used up too much of her magic.” “Magic…” Iris remarked, studying Yuria intently. Felkin had briefly described his other companions earlier, and a witch was one of them. At first Iris was in disbelief, but her experiences and the strange events she had recently witnessed made it all seem plausible. Iris stared at a peculiarity, she sensed an ominous purple energy emanating from Yuria’s pack and quickly crouched to determine and remove it from her person.
“Hmm… I questioned if it was fate’s intention for you to escape death from my hands earlier, it appears I was right.” Grisham taunted. Felkin ran towards him and slashed, Grisham stepped to the right and jumped backwards as Felkin slashed again, he extended his sword to make up for Grisham’s dodge, but the latter effortlessly blocked it with his left hand. The twisted flesh that had covered Grisham’s arm up to past his shoulder had hardened and became a form of armor tougher than his regular increased vitality. “You seem weaker than before even as I can evidently see you have immersed yourself in more slaughter.” Said Grisham.
Felkin coiled his sword and thrusted it towards Grisham, releasing the stored energy towards him. Grisham’s arm glowed bright blue and then struck Felkin’s sword, driving the both of them back. “The brilliance of your soul I mean.” Said Grisham. Felkin focused his eyes for a split second and when he blinked, he saw that the glow within Grisham was ever brighter, more than before. Iris took the chalice from Yuria’s pack, quickly pulled the purple gem from its slot and prepared to throw it away. “Hey wait, we need that gem to use the chalice’s magic.” Ellyn remarked, reaching towards it. “This jewel is producing a dangerous form of energy, further exposure to it can endanger her, maybe it has already contributed to her fatigue already.” Said Iris. ‘I should’ve known! What it did to that bandit that was carrying it, was she carrying that burden all this time?’ Ellyn said to herself.
“No… I need it, to protect the others…” feebly said Yuria. “Don’t worry, protecting others is my designated directive.” She tossed it aside before running towards Metas. “Take her somewhere safe.” Iris said to Ellyn. Grisham sent out a blast of energy from his hand, and Felkin blocked it with his sword. He retaliated by swinging his extended sword downward towards Grisham who dodged to the side as the blade struck the ground. But Felkin followed up by doing a horizontal slash aiming at Grisham’s torso and moving the sword diagonally upwards, the swift motion reacted to by Grisham who caught the blade with his left hand.
He clenched his fist and intended to drag Felkin forward but before he could, Felkin quickly recalled the sword back, slicing Grisham’s palm open. Grisham gritted his teeth and sucked in air, but then smiled as the wound quickly healed. “You would fare better against me if you took every advantage available to you. Not using those red eyes of yours can lead to your downfall once again.” Said Grisham. Felkin took a glance at the corruption climbing up Grisham. It had already risen past his shoulder, and it was slowly crawling up his neck and nape. ‘I know why I shouldn’t’ Felkin said to himself. ‘And yet that choice has led you to more struggle, why not the simpler path?’ He could hear the girl’s voice in his head taunting him. He then rushed in back towards Grisham, with his sword raised high.
Iris reached Metas and before she could say a word, he spoke. “I’m fine… Help him.” He said as he rested against the broken stone rubble which he collided with earlier. Cinders floated from him, embers emerged and cauterized the cuts on his face, and wounds unseen. As Iris ran off, Metas focused inwardly towards himself. ‘It matters not the size of your flame, but its strength. A flame might roar and rise high, but yours does not waver even when it is being extinguished.’ That was what Siegmund reassured him back when he was training to be a knight. As he was struggling to stand he envisioned a small flame in his mind, though unwavering as it settled on a body of water.
“Hmph. Siegmund, I can’t believe I still hear his words to this day. And that they’re the things that are going to get me back to my feet.” Metas said to himself as he snapped his fingers creating a spark of flame in his hand, and as he closed his palm to extinguish it, he stood up and held his spear readied. Iris ran swiftly towards Felkin and Grisham, removed and pocketed her gloves and clacked her fingertips together to awaken flames which began to sputter through the gaps in her fingers.
Grisham struck the ground below with his fist, creating a small shockwave which cracked the road. Felkin coiled his sword and struck the road, propelling him into the air and raised his sword and intended to bear it down upon Grisham. He used his left arm and raised it to block the oncoming attack. Grisham thought that Felkin would aim for the neck, and prepared his hands to block such an attack, but Felkin dropped down and struck his sword down onto Grisham's bicep, slashing into his flesh. He then coiled his sword around Grisham’s arm, digging even deeper into his muscles, but then the arm glowed with a blinding blue light. Grisham then flexed his arm, trapping the blade of the sword between his forearm and bicep and then swiftly reached for Felkin’s sword with his right hand.
As Grisham gripped harder and touched the hilt of Felkin’s sword, he felt a sudden discomfort as Grisham tried to wrest control of his weapon. Felkin jumped back and his sword retracted and escaped from Grisham’s clutches, the span of the sword became shorter than its regular form, like a dagger’s length. Grisham’s arm was still injured, Felkin’s slash embedded through his flesh and cut to the bone. As Felkin moved out of the way, Iris put her hands together and shot a short burst of fire from her fingertips towards Grisham. In Grisham’s view, there was Felkin, and as he moved away, a stream of fire. He instinctively blocked it with his arms, and as the burst of fire stopped, he swiftly threw a blast of blue energy towards Iris, who was struck by the fast-moving projectile on the shoulder.
She was thrown backwards but used her hands and plunged them into the ground to anchor herself. A part of her clothes was burnt away, revealing the doll-like joints in her shoulder, and placing a burn mark on her white “skin”. She reeled from the blast and thought quickly about the situation. ‘Condition: Stable. Slight damage to the outer shell, no compromise detected on internal components. Hmm… This individual is certainly dangerous, so why does he want him to be spared?’ As she asked the question to herself, she recalled Felkin’s words to her before they approached the bandit leader. ‘When we reach him, we’re going to sever his arm, but not kill him. The times I fought him I saw that he was gripped tightly by some otherworldly force. I wish to release him from that force before anything else.’ ‘By your accounts he seems like an immense threat to any populace he comes in contact to, even I have no wish to eliminate others, but he is too big of a problem to let live given the chance.’ Isha had responded. ‘A chance… I just want to give him a chance. I… don’t know a lot about the world. But I know that there’s a lot behind the actions of people, and that all of us have something we like and don’t like, and that so many things lead up to what we all are today. Besides… I’ve made a promise that I’d try to unshackle others.’ Felkin had responded.
Iris stood slowly, and clacked her fingers together once more. Grisham looked down on his left arm and noticed that although he was mostly unharmed by the flames, he saw that the slash made by Felkin was charred and did not heal at all as intended. When he looked back up, he reacted quickly as Metas’ spear sliced through the air, like a whip striking in a horizontal motion, the metal spear attached on the chains Metas carried barely missed Grisham as he bent backwards, the slash only cutting him above the eyebrow. Felkin slashed once more, Grisham striking the blade away with his fist, leaving a small wound on his hand. Metas snapped his fingers and blasted three small sparks of flame towards Grisham. He blocked the shots of fire with his right hand, burning off some of his skin but his minor wounds immediately healed. Grisham then slammed his fist on the ground creating a blast that drove back the two of them who escaped out of the attack’s range.
“His arm’s the source of his power, if we cut it off and burn it, he won’t heal.” Said Felkin to Metas. “If that’s what we’re doing then, let’s do it well.” Metas replied. “ He wondered why Felkin did not just say to go for the kill instead, but being in the heat of battle he assumed that there was a reason that Felkin knew and he didn't. Suddenly, four arrows shot out from the gap between the two of them and flew towards Grisham, who waved his left hand rapidly and unleashed a swathe of blue energy striking three of them out of the air with the fourth arrow embedding itself slightly into his hand. He simply smiled and ripped it off from his knuckle and threw it away. Grisham grimaced and put a hand on his head as he felt slightly dizzy, Ellyn ran forward from the distance away she had placed Yuria down and remarked to herself: ‘If my foe can’t be taken down by brute force, the application of poison could do the trick.’ She had taken some from Serafion’s den as a precaution for highly dangerous enemies. ‘I was saving this for one of the shadow knights, or if someone as dangerous as you showed up.’ Ellyn smiled confidently.
As Grisham showed vulnerability, Felkin, Metas and Iris charged straight at him. Iris clacked her fingers together to prepare for another blast of flame when she suddenly looked to the side and noticed something. “Incoming.” She remarked as she looked to behind Grisham, where the fanatic husks emerged like insects from woodwork, from houses that had collapsed had given way to paths between roads where they took advantage of and made their way undetected through the chaos and noise. Iris clapped her hands together and sent out a burst of flame, and Grisham jumped backwards to retreat. The flames coated his arms for a moment and slightly singed his hair but did not affect him much at all, though he was still weakened by the poison.
The three ran forward to pursue him, Felkin sent his sword out but struck a fanatic who jumped in the way, and Metas threw his spear forward but it was deflected by the sword of one of the burned, he was confused as he stared at the fanatic who glared back with an intense look, but did not scream like the other ones as their mouth was fused shut. Grisham traveled backwards, and he gleefully threw one of the burned ones nearby him towards Felkin and the others. Iris ducked as the body traveled over her and landed behind her. But as she turned around to confirm if the fanatic was still living, she noticed they had landed on a fiery ruined building, and she noticed a sudden spike in energy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Felkin noticed where the fanatic husk had landed as well and as its body glowed brightly, he yelled: “Get down!” The blast erupted loudly and made a shockwave that blasted away the nearby falling-apart houses, creating a large open space nearby. The smoke cloud it created covered a large area, and stretched upwards above the roofs of the buildings, making the blast apparent to onlookers. On different areas of the town, there were those who looked up at the rising cloud.
Sethan used his ability to manipulate the flame to part the flames of a church’s entryway. It’s entrance was wide open but was covered in flames, but as he created a pathway, a crowd of people who were trapped inside made their way out one by one as the few knights he had with him stood as sentries looking around wordlessly. Sethan stood near the entrance but looked up at the smoke cloud as the blast of the explosion resounded. ‘Wherever you are… I hope you’re safe, brother. And Asralyn… I hope you forgive me for leaving you behind.’ He thought to himself.
Emerging from some trees near the town’s edge, Asralyn sneaked past a group of knights who guarded and tried to surround the town’s perimeter, she ducked and rolled from the cover of bushes and then used the bright orange flames to hide herself behind a burning building. “I hope Sethan wouldn’t be mad at me for running into a dangerous situation again…” But right as she said that to herself, the blast occurred, and she looked up in concern. “But I feel that me even going near here is going to make him mad.” She remarked.
At another end of the town, Helia stood alone and cackled loudly. This attracted a group of the husks who mindlessly ran towards her. She grinned and waited and had her arms stretched out holding her sword in one hand. As they screamed and barreled down the road, the shadows who were lying in wait swiftly emerged and rushed behind the husks. They used their short swords and short spears to quickly stab and slash at the head and necks of the fanatics, quickly dispatching most of them. The last one that remained still ran forward undeterred and then Helia simply slashed horizontally to decapitate the remaining foe. Out of the cover of a ruined storehouse, Alfred’s large frame came into view, as he walked out of cover holding his shield and mace. “Lady Helia, it was an effective plan, but a high risk one. Using you as bait to lure these enemies is an exceedingly dangerous action.” He stated.
“It worked, didn’t it? Eliminated the danger of direct confrontation and killed them all without a skirmish.” Helia responded. “We still should not underestimate them. Remember earlier when you recklessly blanketed one of them in flame and then I was forced to throw a stone tower over the bandit to partially cover the blast.” Alfred spoke in a polite and cordial tone, but his voice was deep and almost booming. “It’s not like anyone was hurt or killed by the blast, and besides… We now know that method will be ineffective against these invaders.” She replied unconcerned. It was then that the blast erupted nearby the town’s innermost layer, and the shockwave was audible to them after a few seconds. “Looks like somebody is finding out the same fact as well.” Alfred said as he looked up at the cloud of smoke.
“Someone else is fighting with these things.” Helia remarked to herself. ‘Before we lured this group they appeared to be heading in that direction, like something was calling them. That flame… That energy I felt from far away, Metas. I’m sure his brother felt it too. This invasion, why was it directed and concentrated on this town, and not an attack on the castle? It could still be, but… Metas and his companions, those invaders, and that herald of flame. Something strange and vast is occurring.’ “Lady Helia? You appear to be in contemplation of some matter, is there something you have pieced together?” Alfred asked. “It’s nothing. Let’s proceed.” She said, staring at the direction of the smoke.
From a different vantage point, N looked down from above, and got a bird’s eye view of the large town. His physical body was leaning unconsciously against one of the unburnt stone houses and hidden away from view behind some rubble. ‘Hmm… Most of the knights are still gathered outside the town, they’re trying to extinguish the flames, but it looks like it’ll take too long…’ He turned to another direction. ‘Is that… Metas’ brother? They feel… Somehow similar. Looks like, they’re going to be able to meet after all…’ He turned to the next direction. ‘A girl running down the road… She looks like a fighter, but she isn’t Ellyn or Yuria… She isn’t with that group as well… I just hope she’s safe!’ The next view. ‘Ugh… I feel uncomfortable looking at her, and those ominous looking black knights. If I lead people to them, I don’t think it would be safe at all…’
As he turned to the last unchecked viewpoint, the blast of explosion shocked him out of his trance and awoke his physical body. N quickly ran to the road and looked at the nearby cloud of smoke. “Guys, please be safe.” He uttered to the winds, hoping his will could carry it into fruition.
In the smoke’s epicenter, the entire street was covered in a fog-like cloud of dust and debris. “Is… Everyone alright?” Metas asked. “I’m fine… Thanks.” Answered Ellyn, whom Metas shielded from the debris from the explosion. As he stood over her, he was scratched by some of the fragments that flew because of the blast. Metas pulled her up by the prosthetic hand and as they stood, they looked around at the slowly dissipating smoke, nothing except their immediate surroundings was visible. “Negative.” Iris answered Metas. She stood up and slowly walked to the two, with a crack forming near one of her temples, and a piece of her outer shell crumbling and falling to the ground. It was like porcelain which when it was removed revealed that it was covering a smooth steel sheen. “Are you?” Ellyn concernedly asked but was cut off by Iris. “By alright I take it you mean unaffected. But if you mean still able, I can still fight.” She answered.
“Felkin?” Metas asked Felkin who was seated nearby them. He picked off a few wood and stone fragments from his arms, leaving wounds as he took the debris out. “I’m fine.” He spoke as he breathed deeply with every shard he took out of himself. He stood up holding his sword tightly and appeared to be unaffected. As the smoke cleared, the group looked around to see the fanatic husks surrounding them and were standing all around them. “You have your friends… And I have mine too.” Grisham walked around their radius, and using his right hand he ripped off flesh from his bicep and shoulder, removing the charred part of himself, and allowing his now-injured arm to heal back to its regular state.
“Hmph.” Metas remarked as the wound they had given Grisham had disappeared. He also looked around to see a few of the fanatics were watching them back as intently as they did them, they appeared not to be mindless, but carrying weapons with purpose and though their faces were burned partially, some of them retained partial or full vision. “This wound you gave me, and the poison you injected into my blood, now all gone.” Grisham boasted. “Tch.” Ellyn remarked as she put one hand in the bag she carried full of the useful items she had gathered. Felkin was silent, he stared closely at the growth that was now creeping up Grisham’s neck, he noticed that it had been growing from the start of the fight.
Iris who had her palms opened closed them, she decided that using fire would be a dangerous idea and clenched her fists closed instead. Ellyn looked beyond the line of fanatics, fearing for Yuria who she placed beyond them. “That curse, influence, whatever it is. Every time he uses his ability it grows and spreads. So, if all his abilities come from that arm, maybe it grows when he heals. And if it grows all the way…”. Felkin whispered to the rest of the group nearby him. “I don’t think it would be good if it reached his head.” Ellyn answered. “So, if we keep applying damage to him, he will inevitably succumb to the infection.” Iris continued. Felkin grimaced at the suggestion. He had hoped to find a solution that involved removing Grisham’s arm, the source of the tainting, but if it’s the only available option, he’ll have no choice but to go with it.
“Getting to him now is a problem with all these madmen he has with him.” Said Metas. “Now that I’ve set up the fated conditions, I suppose I should not delay any longer in killing all of you.” Grisham said proudly. The fanatics and he charged at Felkin and the others. Metas threw his spear directly towards Grisham but was blocked and deflected away with the same bandit who did it earlier, a boy whose mouth was permanently sealed but whose eyes showed a wrathful expression. Iris rushed forward and quickly punched and struck at the raging husks, striking, and launching two of them into the air. As she turned to strike another one of them, her fist collided with a wooden shield which shattered on impact. The wielder of the shield then slashed back using a sword, she too, was partially burned and had half of her mouth and one eye left intact. Iris blocked with her arm, the strike barely chipping against her shell. ‘This one’s sanity isn’t lost!’ She thought as she contested with the burned one before her.
Ellyn shot one of the howling husks in the face, and because the ammo she had remaining was limited, she picked up the arrow with her prosthetic and stabbed it into another. She used her arm to shoot at another one of them, but this one dodged, evading Ellyn’s shot swiftly. The bandit’s eyes were shut like the others, but her mouth was closed, and she was silent on their own volition. Even though the husk was rendered blind, she was able to dodge Ellyn’s attack perfectly, she jumped over Ellyn and slashed at her with a sickle. The attack was blocked using her wooden arm, but the slash cut and dug in through it. ‘My arm!’ Ellyn remarked to herself.
Felkin and Grisham clashed once more, Felkin’s slash was countered by a backhand strike from Grisham. “Do you like them?” Said Grisham. “Hmm?” Felkin asked, confused. “My friends.” Grisham continued. Felkin slashed at Grisham with his sword extended, Grisham ducked as the blade slashed horizontally through a few of the mindless husks behind him. Grisham then lunged trying to grab the extended blade of Felkin’s sword which quickly retracted, Grisham followed up with a punch which Felkin blocked. “Most of them are useless, but I’d like to introduce you to my best friends.” Grisham said proudly. “Rennon, Isha, and then Kieron.” He then smiled and continued with: “They’re the strongest warriors I have!” With these words, Felkin’s expression darkened.
He then charged at Grisham with a swiftness he had not yet had before, and then did a thrust attack using his sword. He sliced into Grisham’s forearm, the blade became stuck as Grisham blocked it with his left arm, but suddenly Felkin extended his sword cutting Grisham’s face and looping back around his head. The blade formed a loop and intended to close in on Grisham’s neck, but he blocked the sword with his right arm, the start of the blade embedded in his left forearm and its point was cutting into his right. As they struggled against each other, Felkin’s brown eyes were filled with rancor, and he spoke in a quiet but serious tone: “Don’t… Mention her name. Don’t compare any of these things with her.”
Grisham appeared to be numb to the pain and was rather enjoying the challenge. He then kicked Felkin away, right upside in the chin causing him to fall backwards and his blade to shorten once more. Felkin fell to one knee but, spitting a bloody tooth out from his mouth. He paused to see that as the wounds he inflicted on him healed, the mark on Grisham’s body was starting to extend towards his occiput, and towards beneath his chin. “All of them left me, you know. A long time ago. Kieron came back, but you took her away, so I made her again.” Felkin then stood up, defiant.
Yuria was placed down in an empty unburnt house near the road, she was in a stupor and was barely conscious. ‘That’s what I get for pushing myself…’ She said to herself. ‘I… Just wanted to protect them. I… Don’t want to lose anybody ever again…’ She could barely open her eyes at this point. ‘That girl, she said it was the rock in the chalice… I’m so stupid, I should’ve realized…’ She tried harder and harder to move and tried her hardest to squeeze her eyes open. ‘I… Can’t… Fall asleep…’ She said slipped deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. She then found herself in an unfamiliar dark place, she realized immediately that she was unconscious, but did not recognize where she was.
“So… I did fall asleep then.” She said wistfully. “What is this place? It doesn’t feel like the abyss… But if I’m not in a place where I can help them, then it might as well be.” She looked down, saddened. “Please don’t fret little Yuria.” She heard a familiar voice of a woman behind her. ‘Is that the scholar woman we met earlier? No, who…’ Yuria quickly turned around and asked: “Who are you?” She was surprised to see a stranger who was slightly familiar to her. “Don’t be too hard on yourself about that crystal, you’ve protected your friends several times with it.” The voice was calm and serene and was reassuring to her. Her eyes widened as she looked upon the woman, she was of a tall stature and had long blonde hair and blue eyes, with pale white skin which made her look very similar to Yuria. She wore a black dress as well, though it appeared to be more elegant than hers, its cloth appeared to be akin to velvet, and she wore black shoes compared to Yuria’s boots.
“Um… Excuse me, who are you?” Yuria asked louder towards the figure. “Well… I suppose am I a witch.” She answered with a smile. Her words were confirmed by the woman’s pointed black hat, it was velvet and slightly crooked. “Can you please help me? I think I’m asleep right now, and my friends need my help!” She pleaded to the witch. The witch walked up to Yuria and put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, time passes slowly here. So don’t worry about getting to your friends as soon as possible.” Yuria felt strangely calm as she looked up at the witch. She appeared to be much older than Yuria, but had a youthful aura to herself.
“They… Need my help. I don’t really know about using magic and being a witch, I just tried to use magic as best I can and…” Yuria whimpered worriedly. “Good thing I’m here to help you.” The witch said with a smile and patted her head. As she lowered her hand, she then asked Yuria: “What kind of magic do you use? If you don’t know what it’s called, feel free to describe it.” “Um… I can use parts from animals, and people… When I hold them, I concentrate, and then it disappears.” She held out her hands and opened her palms into a “poof” gesture. “And?” The witch crossed her arms. “Well, after it disappears, something happens. Something… Appears in the air.” “Like what?” The witch asked, confused.
“Something else, something different. Like blood, or bones… Of the thing that I held. And… I can use it to attack people, enemies. To protect my friends!” She was mumbling at first, but then she spoke with conviction. “Changing something… It disappears, and something else, reappears. Ah! From that description, it sounds like transmutation.” She raised one of her fingers up in enthusiasm, surprising Yuria. “Transmutation?” The witch then separated her crossed arms and opened both of her palms facing upward. She had long silk gloves reaching up to her forearm, she closed her right hand which appeared to swirl a vortex of wind before she closed her palm, and then a shining light blue crystal appeared above her left hand. She then leaned in and asked: “Is it like this?” The witch smiled proudly. Slightly overwhelmed, Yuria took half a step back and said: “Yes… But I’ve only used it on parts of things that are dead, and the things that come out of the air are usually parts of the things when they were alive.” She stated.
The witch leaned back and closed her hands making the crystal disappear. “No? Hmm… Can you animate… Make their skeletons or forms of what they were like alive, and make them move?” She wondered. “Yes, although I’ve done that only recently, and it took a lot of energy out of me…” Yuria answered. The witch then reached behind her back and then pulled a rat’s clean skeleton out of thin air which startled Yuria. She then closed her palm swiftly and as dust trickled through her fingertips towards the “ground” and then opened her other hand showing the same skeleton which was partially held together with strands of muscle and flesh, and the thing chittered and moved eerily. “Was it like this?” She asked Yuria excitedly. “Yes!” She responded eagerly. The witch then turned the creature in her hand to dust without a second thought and put a hand to her chin in contemplation.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Necromancy, huh. Pretty hard for a beginner… How did you end up learning it anyway?” The witch queried. “I don’t-“ “You don’t need to answer that right now if you want to, right now we have to focus.” She impatiently interrupted Yuria’s words. “Focus on what?” Yuria asked slightly flustered. “Focus on learning some new magic. Well, you’re going to learn, not me, I’ve already learned pretty much everything…” The witch boasted to herself. “Learn something new? Right now?” Yuria asked, concerned. “You’re right, it would be too hard to learn something completely new…” She replied. “How about something easier, but not completely different… How about this.” The witch again reached behind her back with her right hand and brought out a small plank of wood.
“Plants are living creatures as well, so necromancy works surprisingly well with their deceased forms.” “Plants?” Yuria asked. “They’re not exactly as potent or as powerful as flesh and bone creatures, but they could be effective in use for an adept mage.” The small piece of wood in the witch’s hand disappeared and dissolved into nothingness, which resulted in a tangled green growth of vines springing up from the top of her other hand. She tapped the floating green plant with her fingers and then the clump formed into a ball of constricted spiked vines. “Now this, is for a higher level. But… We can start with just turning some wood into plants.” The clump disappeared and then another piece of wood appeared in its place. Yuria shyly extended her hands towards it.
“Go on…” The witch eagerly awaited as Yuria reached out and right before she touched it, something shocked her awake. As she slowly opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that her entire field of vision was covered with the dust from the nearby explosion. ‘An… explosion?’ She tried to stand up and feebly sat up. “Still… Weak.” ‘Was all that a dream? I wish I could have finished it.’ She said as she crawled and stumbled out of the house she was placed in. ‘Smoke… Something must have happened when I was asleep, I should-‘ She fell to the ground as she tried to make her way down the road. ‘Hey, psst! You worried me for a second there when you woke up.’ A disembodied voice said towards Yuria.
‘The witch! So, it wasn’t a dream…’ Yuria sat up from the ground. ‘Yes, its not a dream, but you still remembered what we talked about, right?’ The witch asked. “Right. I need a piece of wood.” She slowly inched forward towards one of the houses’ wooden debris. “Come on… You can do it… Just a little further…” The witch cheered on, with more of an excited tone rather than a concerned one. Yuria neared a piece of wood, a broken off piece of furniture. “I… Can’t.” She stopped moving, exhausted. She appeared paler than usual and had cold sweat dripping off her, she breathed heavily as she struggled to no avail. She raised her head and looked forward, seeing the slowly dissipating smoke and the fanatic husks that surrounded the area where Metas and the others were.
‘Felkin… When he disappeared, I thought he would be gone forever just like them… I don’t want them to die, to disappear. Even if they’ll come back later, I don’t want to lose them now…’ She fell over forward and struggled to stand up, but she was surprised when she suddenly looked around and saw strange shapes and creatures in the area before her. She looked around as misty shapes with faded colors appeared all throughout her view, from faraway and nearby, low to the ground and stretching upwards towards the sky. The small piece of wood near her produced a mirage, a smoky form that resembled a tree, possibly its original form. It was smoky and wavered in and out of form, it appeared transparent and then to its original brown color. It changed from a smoky apparition to a view of its past splendor, tall and mighty, with its branches outstretched and its numerous green leaves forming a vast canopy.
Though this form too was fleeting and faded quickly. Other misty shapes were visible nearby, some resembling human or animal forms. “What… Am I seeing?” Yuria asked. “Oh no… If you’re seeing this, then that old crystal must have done worse to you than I’ve realized…,” said the witch. “What… do you mean by that?” Yuria asked. “When close to death, people can sometimes see the memories of the spirits which once resided in living things. What remains if the soul and the spirit leave, are fractured memories that cling onto the objects they once possessed. Basic necromancy involves the usage of these fragments and incorporating their forms onto the parts that they still clung on to create something with the semblance of the original being, doesn’t last long however…” “I… don’t understand. But if you’re saying that people can only see them when they’re close to dying, then how can you see it?” Yuria asked, looking up to where she thought the voice was coming from but saw no one speaking.
‘This must be just like with that boy, speaking to the mind…’ Thought Yuria. “To answer your question, that’s because certain powerful beings can perceive more and more about the world as they advance.” The witch answered. “If I’m dying, then… I just wish I could help them one more time…” Yuria said as she looked at her friends locked in combat with Grisham and the fanatics. Suddenly, Yuria noticed a bright glow coming from the bag she carried. She looked down and opened it and saw that the light was coming from a pristine white feather she had kept within. She picked it up and marveled at it. “This… I thought I'd lost it already... It was just recently but it feels so long ago…” Yuria closed her eyes and recalled their encounter in Jura’s Forest, with Pharros the mysterious being of light, and their first encounter with the dreadful blue demon.
A mist abruptly sprang upwards from the feather, a large fog that glowed brightly. A shape formed from the fog, an outline of a being with bird-like features and a radiance exuding from them. “This is!” Yuria remarked. “A pretty powerful presence… It’s still regained much of its memory, even now.” The witch exclaimed. “If this thing is powerful… Then can I, use it for necromancy?” Yuria asked. “That’s dangerous, I’m not even sure you can handle it.” “It’s fine… If I can use every bit of strength, I have left for something good, something to save them all… Then I’ll do it!” She said bravely, amidst her feeble state. She clutched the feather tightly in her palm, and then it slowly began to disappear. Though unseen, the witch had a tremendously wide grin on her face.
Back with Felkin and the others, they still struggled against Grisham’s group, as the husks he somehow called to their location kept arriving. The eyeless sickle wielder clashed with Ellyn, who could barely keep her distance and retaliate with their agility and relentless attacks. They slashed at her, and Ellyn caught the blade with her sturdy wooden hand, but the sickle’s blade was still sharp enough to dig into her palm. She had her other hand in her pack trying to search for a useful item. ‘I can’t set any of these guys on fire, Metas can’t as well, so this flammable bottle is useless to me…’ One of the other mindless husks rushed in waving a sword and howling wildly. ‘Another one!’ Ellyn exclaimed to herself as she grasped one of her arrows to defend herself against the madman.
As she was still struggling with the sickle wielder, she turned to face the wild fanatic and readied the arrow in her hand. As the husk neared, the sickle wielder stepped backwards freeing their weapon from Ellyn’s hand, before rushing back in. Unsure and unready, Ellyn looked at both of her attackers, panicked. Metas noticed from the corner of his eye and threw his chain bound spear and skewered through the howling husk, but the sickle wielder rolled and dodged out of the way. But before Metas could pull his spear back, the mouthless sword wielding bandit struck at him. He saw the attack coming and raised his arm to protect his face, the sword struck him in the side and bounced off his armor, but the impact of the attack pushed him backwards.
He swiftly pulled his chain back towards him while he clutched his side with his other hand. ‘Damn. When that blue demon threw me earlier, I think I broke a rib or two, even though it hit the armor it still hurts.’ The mouthless bandit ran towards him once again, with their eyes glaring fiercely and their sword raised. But before the husk could attack once more, Metas swung his spear like a whip at them, but the attack was blocked. Three other fanatics ran up to Metas, and he swung and stabbed each of them and put them down with ease. ‘I think I’m going to burn myself out when I use that wing, and I can’t use my fire either… My spear is the only thing I can rely on!’ He said to himself as he crossed weapons with the silent husk once again.
Felkin was still locked in combat with Grisham, with most of the mindless husks being ordered in to assist in fighting him. Grisham lunged at Felkin with his fist glowing brightly with blue energy, his speed far exceeded Felkin’s capacity to dodge. Felkin extended his sword to the ground to the right of him and pulled himself away by shortening his sword towards the point of the blade. As he avoided Grisham’s attack, Felkin raised his sword and coiled it, before swinging it horizontally towards Grisham with a large amount of force. Grisham stepped backward to avoid the weighty swing, but Felkin uncoiled and extended his slash and swung once again, slashing through a few of the mindless husks as Grisham dove to the ground to avoid it.
From behind Felkin, three fanatics ran in to take advantage of his blind spot, and he quickly turned around to slash each one of them individually with his extended sword. Iris struck down husk after husk, but not without receiving strikes and slashes from them, unable to dodge as well as she could attack. ‘These attacks are overwhelming! My designation was for defense, and not offense… These things they’re like animals, they’re dreadful!’ The half-faced bandit ran in and slashed at her with her sword, Iris caught her sword using her hand. ‘Though this one seems to be conscious and in control, is she a commander among them?’ Iris shattered her sword with a swift strike of her fist, knocking her to the ground. And as she stood over the half-faced bandit, she struck once more but was surprised as her attack was impeded by Grisham's left arm. From the ground, he quickly jumped in front of the bandit and blocked the blow. His arm bent in response to Iris' strike, but it quickly snapped back in place.
The bandit was silent, but their one eye was tearing up, what remained of their face expressing joy. Before Iris could attack once again, Grisham quickly grabbed the bandit and ran away swiftly. As he hid behind the cover of a few husks that got in Iris' way, he then made an announcement to the others. "I've had my fun, but this going on too long. I’m going to kill you all now…" He said as he prepared to make some distance between them. Felkin extended his sword towards him, but he quickly evaded. "Too slow." Grisham remarked. “Don’t let him get away, he can do more damage to us from far away!” Felkin said to Metas nearby as he recalled his blade and defended himself against two more of the husks.
“I need to take care of this guy!” Metas responded, evading, and counterattacking against the mouthless bandit. He kept up with the bandit, as well as the husks who threw themselves at him, he was starting to struggle but still wanted to save using his wing for later. The three sentient bandits appeared to be able at attacking and dodging, but unresponsive or otherwise uncaring towards the cuts and grazes done to their partially burnt bodies. “Here!” Ellyn remarked as she threw a bolas at the mouthless bandit with her wooden arm, trapping his legs and tying them together, knocking him down.
The blind sickle wielder rushed towards her, and Ellyn reached in her bag and threw a handful of pebbles with her prosthetic hand. ‘If I can’t use up all my ammunition, throwing a few rocks with half the same speed should be effective!’ With that, she repelled the sickle wielding bandit. She aimed at Grisham but as he looked at Ellyn, a husk jumped in front of Grisham to take the blow. “We’re going! We’ll run back and leave them, and then we’ll blow them all up using the husks!” Grisham yelled to the three other “sentient” bandits. “Stop him!” Felkin yelled as the husk after husk tried to pile themselves onto him, with each slash he could not break through and reach Grisham.
‘This could all be over if you use your power, the power that was given to you that you should rightly choose.’ The girl’s voice echoed in his head. ‘It’s not much of a choice if I can’t choose! It’s a… Shackle!’ He answered back. Iris heard Grisham’s remark along with Felkin’s command, she wondered if she could do anything to stop Grisham from the faraway position she was standing. As she punched another husk into the ground, she had a sudden thought. ‘Even if I can’t use my fire to attack them directly, maybe I can use it another way! If I use the burst of energy from the flames, I could get all the way there!’ As a few more husks rushed towards her, Iris quickly kicked her boots off and focused her flames in her hands and her feet. With a strong but brief burst of energy, she produced a momentary flame that didn’t last long enough to burn the nearby husks. Iris flew upwards.
Metas threw his spear towards Grisham who was a step into rushing away from the scene. The chained spear flew forward and as it neared Grisham’s back, the half-faced bandit near him jumped in front of him. As soon as it impacted her flesh with a sickening squelch, Grisham immediately realized. He turned around furious, desolate and an innumerable number of emotions on his face. “Why did you- If it had hit me then I would have been-“ He bent over her body. Iris landed on the ground near him she started to walk forward but was stopped by one look from Grisham. As Metas tried to pull his spear back, it was caught by Grisham. Metas tried to tug and pull it back as hard as he could, but Grisham only had an unbroken stare towards the corpse of “Isha”.
Metas struggled, and the bandit who was tied up by the legs struggled as well. The rope the fanatic was tied in began to loosen and break, Metas gritted his teeth as he could only take one glance at the bandit, all the while trying to pull his weapon back in vain. With one quick motion, Grisham tightened his fist which oozed blue light, and a crackle of energy quickly flowed through Metas’ spear and the chain he carried. The blast quickly shattered the metal spear and Metas’ chains like lightning through a tree, knocking Metas back because of the force.
Grisham’s presence alone was filled with fury and malice, and every process and system within Iris detected a threat too large for her to handle, so she unconsciously stepped backwards. Iris looked behind as she sensed a large amount of energy congregating from far behind her, even with the threat before her. A distance behind where Felkin, Metas and Ellyn were, a brilliant light emerged, different from the orange lights of the fires that were slowly waning, but a pure white radiance, like a second sun in the night sky.
“What is that?” She stared at the unusual energy source. “Is that… Magic?” Iris asked to herself. “Yuria!” Ellyn exclaimed as she looked upon the light, and saw that Yuria was slowly floating upwards below the bird-shaped light. Ellyn picked up a net from the bag and swiftly launched it at the sickle wielder who tried to take advantage of her distracted state. The bandit quickly sliced through it with her sickle however, rendering it useless. But as the net blocked the blind bandit’s view, Ellyn used her crossbow to shoot, striking her in the shoulder with an arrow. Undeterred, the bandit charged forward once again even as Ellyn worried about Yuria.
“Is that… Pharros?” Felkin asked, as he was low to the ground having little chance to look at the figure basked in light as the last of the husks arrived at the scene and crowded towards him. Metas slowly stood up, and saw the silent bandit break free from his restraints, but instead of attacking they fled towards Grisham. He looked at the large figure of light and remarked to himself. “That being we fought in the forest!” Suddenly the apparition of light raised its wings, and a hail of bright arrows rained down across a wide area, starting from the light and rapidly covering the area towards them. Metas heard movement behind him, and he looked as the silent bandit husk broke free from his restraints, but instead of attacking Metas he swiftly ran away towards Grisham. Metas quickly looked down and saw that he only had the rolled-up chains wrapped around him and a large length of it had been shattered along with his spear.
“Guys, I think that thing’s magic won’t discriminate if it’s us or the enemy!” Ellyn yelled, as the sickle wielder ran from her as well. The rain of arrows neared, and Metas yelled to the others while he grimaced as he grew out his wing. “Come here! I’ll block the arrows with my wing!” As Felkin slashed and cut through more of the husks, he rushed towards Metas and said: “I don’t think you can take it!” “If only Yuria and her chalice were here, maybe we’d withstand!” Ellyn said as she ran towards Metas. She quickly threw a stone towards a husk that tried to attack her, but as she turned the other way, she blocked the sword of a fanatic with her damaged wooden hand. It was cut and broke at a few places, and one of her fingers broke off as the sword struck her hand. Metas then whipped the husk down with his chain.
“Thanks again.” Said Ellyn converging on his position. “Chalice?” Felkin asked. “You mean the one that held that purple gem, that Iris threw earlier?” He continued. “It must be over… Iris, come over here, it isn’t safe there!” Felkin called out to her. She was standing over Grisham who clutched the bandit’s body. “No, not again!” He said. She was transfixed at the sight. ‘To protect others… Was my goal. Even a creature as vile and dangerous as he… No. He must be stopped. But if I continue to kill… Will I end up just like them?’ She was snapped away by Felkin’s yell. “Iris, the purple gem!” The rain of arrows grew ever closer, and she noticed the purple glow of the cracked gem on the ground and as she ran towards it, something stopped her.
“No.” As she turned, she felt an immense feeling, fear, as if her body was screaming at her to leave immediately. Grisham had one of her hands in his grasp, his face looked dry, cold, and dead. Iris quickly detached that arm off from herself much to the surprise of Grisham who simply threw it aside and did not pursue. Iris ran, and struck down a few of the husks that were in her way and picked the crystal up with her remaining left arm. She noticed as two bandits ran past her, too quick for her to notice without stopping running. The hail of arrows blasted and slashed through the nearby remaining structures and houses and razed through what remained of the road. Each arrow was sturdy and gleamed brightly, with a brightly gleaming silver tip and a white feather attached to each end.
As Iris approached, Metas held his wing high and used it to cover the other two. Husks remained and charged the three, Ellyn threw stones and Felkin slashed with his extended sword, putting them down. “Catch!” Iris yelled, as she threw the stone to Felkin and caught up with them. “What happened to your arm?” Ellyn asked. “Doesn’t matter, what are you planning to do with that?” Iris asked. “I felt right away what this was for, and how dangerous it is…” Said Felkin as he coiled his sword around the gem. “Whatever you guys have planned, do it now! It’s coming!” Metas yelled to the three behind him. As the torrential arrows came close, Felkin slammed and embedded his sword to the ground. As he did so, his sword momentarily glowed bright purple, as if the symbols and creases on it all glowed to adhere to the energy. And as his blade hit the ground, the purple gem shattered but not before enveloping the group with a mound of dirt springing up from the ground.
The rain of arrows showered them, and Grisham stared at the dirt encasing, the corpse of the half-faced bandit at his feet and the two sentient husks at his side. The last husk ran up to him and looked down at the body below Grisham as well as at what remained of the other husks being mowed down by the rain of arrows. “What happened?” The last husk asked, he was tall and had a burn on his face, but it seemed like it was from long ago. Grisham looked at the carnage and destruction as well. “It doesn’t matter. I… Can always start over, as long as fate is on my side. I… can have all of them again.” And as the rain of arrows neared, he raised his left arm and produced a continuous stream of energy and acted as a shield, deflecting away the arrows that came over them and he was slightly surprised that they did not vaporize altogether.
With Metas’ group, the dirt from the ground formed an domed barrier around them just before the rain of arrows came. “It’s dark!” Iris cried out. “It’s fine, I made a barrier from the ground!” Felkin yelled back. “Hold on!” Metas yelled as the arrows began to impact them. “I can’t move!” Ellyn remarked as the four of them were in a rather cramped space. The noise was deafening, like being pelted with hail or stones and only having a wall as cover. It was clear that the dirt barrier was getting broken away, the sound was getting louder as their cover was thinning. Felkin was at Metas’ right and Iris was at his left, they both readied themselves as they could see light from the outside peeking in as the barrier was giving way. A cracking sound could be heard, and the noise spiked as the barrier broke. Metas shielded the arrows which dug and tore through his wing as the rain passed, Felkin used his sword’s extended blade to spin and deflect some of them away, and Iris used her arm to block some of the arrows off. The rain of arrows passed them, Ellyn who was looking down was in disbelief as one by one they all disappeared with brief flashes of light.
"Everyone alive?" Felkin asked. "Barely." Metas muttered as his wing was torn to shreds by the volley. "In pieces, but still functioning." Iris said, as her remaining arm was cracked due to the impacts she sustained. Ellyn was sat on the ground below the three of them and looking behind them. "I wish... I could have been more help to you guys." She remarked. "It's alright you've done enough already." Said Metas. "Look out!" Ellyn yelled as she rolled out of the way as Grisham lunged forward towards them. As she moved out of the way, the others swiftly turned around to react to his movement. He went straight for Felkin, who blocked Grisham's strike with his sword. The force swiftly slammed him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
The three fanatics with Grisham leapt over Metas and Iris and headed straight for Yuria. "They're heading for Yuria!" Ellyn yelled as she looked at the three bandit husks left. Iris and Metas quickly ran after them, but Metas’ wing was grabbed by Grisham who said: “I’ll be killing the two of you now.” He pulled Metas in to strike him with a punch, Metas ripped his own wing off and forced himself to heal it as quickly as possible. Grisham swung with his arm, and Metas flapped his wing to push himself back out of the range of his deadly strike. ‘If he hits me with that and I don’t block it with my wing, he’ll punch right through me, armor or no!’ Metas whipped him swiftly using his chain, which was blocked by Grisham’s right arm. It left a cut that healed quickly, and Grisham responded with the seemingly futile attack with: “Without your spear, your attacks are meaningle-“ He was interrupted by Metas whipping him once again across the face, temporarily wounding one of his eyes.
Blinded, he sent out a blast of energy towards Metas who dodged it with the speed he acquired with his wing. From behind, Felkin extended his sword and slashed at the back of the fanatic leader's left shoulder. Grisham turned around and tried to grab his sword but failed as it retracted. He ran forward but was whipped in the back by Metas, who had wrapped his chains around his wing so he could increase the power of its strike. Felkin extended his sword towards Grisham once again, who struck it away with a powerful energy-boosted punch. And he swiftly turned around and shot a blast of energy at Metas who blocked it with his wing and drove Metas backwards.
The three bandit husks ran towards Yuria who was lying on the road unconscious. Ellyn threw a small stone at them, but they heard her wooden arm priming before launching it and observed and dodged accordingly. ‘Yuria. She wasn’t feeling good earlier, and a spell of that level is probably going to leave her in a worse state…’ “I have a bottle of flammable liquid, but it needs to hit them and be lit on fire by its cloth end for it to work!” She said to Iris. “I can shoot out flames from my arm, but if I’m too close I could be caught up with the blast!” Said Iris. “Anyways, we need to stop them!” Said Ellyn. Iris used bursts of flame to blast up through the air and landed in front of the three fanatics.
The sickle-wielder quickly slipped past her, but as the silent husk tried to run forward Iris rushed and tried to strike him with her last remaining arm. The husk dodged and struck back with their sword which Iris blocked. The other two bandits moved onwards, with the sickle wielder being closer to Yuria. The blind sickle wielder was suddenly stopped as small fragments of burning wooden debris rained down and were thrown upon her. She quickly tried to avoid them all, but Ellyn threw handfuls of them, even the tiniest specks of aflame wood and by sheer chance one of these small pieces fell onto the blind sickle wielder’s clothes which they desperately patted down for the fire not to grow.
Ellyn was suddenly interrupted by the tall husk, who was burned on his body, and had an old burn on his face. The bandit husk slashed at Ellyn with his sword, and remarked: “Don’t interfere.” Ellyn was surprised that another one of them could talk except Grisham. “Why are you doing this?” She had to ask. “You don’t have to know; you don’t have to understand.” The tall husk said slashing at Ellyn who dodged the attack, she looked at her wooden arm which was now set alight by a few sparks of flame from the debris she had touched. She swung at the husk with her arm, and he stepped back to avoid it.
“The will of fate controls us all, governs all! To be its enemy is to against the current of the world.” He cried out as he charged back towards Ellyn. Using her right hand, she threw some powder at him which burst into a flash of flame, blocking his vision, and deterring him from moving further. He was blinded, and Ellyn set the flammable bottle aflame, putting her burning wooden hand onto the rag and threw it at the distracted bandit. The tall bandit saw it coming and dodged backwards as it smashed and roared into flame on the road. But as he looked down upon the embers on the ground, Ellyn used the flames as distraction, and he was struck on the shoulder by one of her arrows. He looked at his shoulder, the arrowhead was coated in flame that slowly began to spread across his torso.
“Fate is… Something we humans can’t know… Can’t perceive… Something that controls the world itself… Only he can. ” The husk exclaimed. Ellyn looked through the flames cautiously, as the fire spread to his chest and stomach, and he stumbled forward. “He is with fate, anything he wills… Anything, it will be done.” He paused for a moment, and then yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran through the flames on the road and was set ablaze. “Ahhh!” He screamed as he charged straight at Ellyn. In response she quickly dove out of the way and ran a short distance, as he was completely enveloped in flames and ran straight until he exploded violently. She gasped and breathed heavily as she tried to catch her breath.
Iris was still fighting the mouthless bandit while the blind sickle wielder had patted off the flames and came closer and closer to Yuria’s unconscious body. The silent bandit was cunning and observant, dodging instead of blocking Iris’ strikes and took advantage of her missing arm and striking high or low to prevent her from catching his sword. Iris saw the sickle wielder getting close to Yuria and devised a quick plan. The silent husk ran towards her, and she struck high with her fist and the bandit husk ducked in response, intending to hit Iris in the torso. Suddenly, she kicked and shattered the bandit’s sword into pieces and knocked them back.
The blind sickle wielder neared Yuria, and an invisible presence looked on, they were not physically present but were observing the scene from far away. ‘Oh. Looks like one got past all those arrows and your friends… It’s not like me to interfere in something like this… But. Ah whatever, I’d love to see what happens next anyhow.’ The witch said to herself. The sickle wielder ran up to Yuria and raised her weapon to strike her, but suddenly a wall of flame divided them, causing the husk to pause in her movements. The wall of flame disappeared as Iris’ fist struck her from behind, she had detached it and used her flame to launch it like a projectile.
Nearby Iris, the silent bandit retrieved a knife from his person and lunged at Iris who reacted by kicking him to a nearby burning wreckage of a house. She turned to the bandit, and for a moment, she saw not rage nor hate in his eyes, but loneliness and despair. The ruins of the house exploded in a fiery blast almost at the same moment as the tall husk did, creating more strong explosions which covered the area in a smokescreen. Ellyn coughed as she stepped through the smoke and caught up with Iris. “Is she fine?” Ellyn asked, her wooden arm was no longer on fire but was charred, cut, and splintered. Only a few fingers were intact and functioning.
“Most likely.” Said Iris. They walked until they got to Yuria and stepped over the body of the sickle-wielding blind husk. Iris picked her arm up and attached it seamlessly and then gently picked up Yuria’s body. “The others.” Ellyn said before the two of them turned around and ran through the smoke, all the while hearing sounds of Grisham’s explosive blasts, slashes in the air and impacts on the ground. As they neared the end of smoke and could see before them faintly, the sounds stopped.
The two broke through the smoke, and they were stopped by a shocking sight. On the ground was Metas, he breathed heavily as he used his arm to support himself from falling to the ground. His wing had been reduced to only a tuft of flesh compared to what it once was. Felkin was breathing heavily as well, seated on the ground, and looked defeated. He clutched his left arm which appeared to be bloodied and broken, crushed to the forearm, and looked unusable. Standing proudly before the two was Grisham, raising Felkin’s sword with his left hand. His right arm covered in Felkin’s blood. He had a grin so wide that it touched the corruption that had spread all the way to his left cheek and up to his left ear and temple. Iris and Ellyn could only stare in fear as Grisham stood victoriously. “At long last! Fate has granted me victory…”