Valerie’s perspective in the backroom…

And yet again, the Fox’s journal shows up. That thing’s been chasing me it feels like.

I look at Nyxie who is currently sleeping on a spare bed we have at the Inn. She reminds me of myself when I was actually her age, lost, useless. Never truly reaching her full potential because of what was expected of her.

Aaah, just thinking of that thing makes me remember everything. Almost four thousand years and I’m still dwelling on what happened, like it has any bearing on my current status in any way…

Roughly four thousand years ago…

The morning’s cold around these parts. As I make my way through the fort, puffs of vapor exit my mouth with every breath. Small groups of soldiers holding guard are positioned at crucial entrances and windows, making sure the location is safe from any infiltration by the enemy.

I receive the occasional salute from the soldiers walking by but most of them are preoccupied with other things to bother with that. I’m about to meet with my second in command, Rixen.

After climbing a flight of circular stairs I enter a small stuffy room that’s been functioning as our “command center” during our station here.

- “Have you heard the news Valerie?” - Rixen without looking up at me slides a small unsealed scroll to me. - “The Volcanics are about to assault. Scouts say they have a detachment of boats going up the coast towards us and a large mounted force between 50 and 100 thousand strong riding at us as we speak.”

I pick up the scroll and sit down opposite of Rixen. After opening it a few things catch my eyes. There are several days for us to prepare, the boats will be here roughly at the same time as the cavalry. The predicted time of arrival is just before sunrise. They’re trying to get us just as we wake up.

- “Alright, so we have some time to prepare for this. I’m open to suggestions, Rixen.”

- “Honestly? I don’t think we’re getting out of this, the troops have already been informed of the situation and morale is as low as it can get.” - No wonder, you told them this information before I had the chance to even look at it. It’s like you want to lose here.

- “Fine. Get off your chair and gather the troops. At the gates” - Rixen continues sitting, writing whatever it is he’s writing. - “NOW!”

He looks at me with some confusion but complies with my order and gets up. I leave the room after him and close the door behind us. After that I make my way over to the Gateways overhang. Time to give a speech…

Standing atop the overhang I watch as 400 of my troops walk out and position themselves in a neat envelope. A nearly perfect square, they’ve been trained well. Even under the stress of impending doom, discipline takes over.

Once I’m sure everyone is there and I see Rixen position himself in front of the troops facing me we nod to each other, the signal to talk is given but the troops are a little rowdy…

- “SILENCE!” - The court goes quiet - “In 10 days time a large army will attempt to take this fort, the exact number of them is unknown but we’re positive it is above 70 thousand troops overall with most of them being Cavalry coming from the west.”

At that moment the crowd starts rumbling again, disgruntled noises and whispers of impending doom fill the immediate area. I have to find a way to calm them down.

- “We have been protecting this fort for the past two years, pushing back assault after assault leaving the enemy scared and unsure of what to do.” - I spread my arms out to the sides. - “And now they think they found a solution to us. They think that a few tens of thousands of untrained farmers is enough to make us walk away, that we’d shit our pants and cower in fear...”

Up the intensity Valerie. They know who you are and what you’re capable of. The entire force in front of me is standing quietly listening.

- “...But not me! I will make them eat their own feces. I will display the heads of their leaders in my office as ornaments! We will rain terror on them like they’ve never seen before! After they meet us, they will rather run back and face the death penalty than attack us again!”

And a nice one liner at the end to get them riled up.

- “And when they beg the gods for mercy, we’ll show them none. Because we are not Merciful, we are not Weak” - And to finish it all off..

- “We will leave nobody alive! Let’s soak this fort's walls in our enemies' blood!” - The force beneath me roars, people are slamming their spears into the ground, bashing their shields with swords, roaring wildly.

While Rixen himself is not a fan of my methods, my troops are brutal and ruthless. I have nothing but complete confidence in our victory. Though, Rixen might need to have a chat with me later. But first I need a plan.

- “I want unit leaders in the war room… NOW!” - I quickly get off the overhand and head to my room to change into my battle gear. We’re not going to do any fighting, but my immediate readiness will boost morale. Being in gear also makes me more imposing considering I’m substantially shorter than everyone in here.

My trip is quick. I’ve trained myself to shift into gear as quickly as possible in case we get attacked at night. Not even 10 minutes pass and I’m standing in front of the war room door. It’s a large, double door with carved images of victories from days past.

I slam the doors open putting my game face on. The 4 unit leaders and Rixen are inside looking at a massive map laid out in the middle of the room on a massive round table.

The war room compared to where me and Rixen operate from is massive. It can have a dozen people in it with ample space to stand, benches lining the walls. Shields of different crests representing everyone involved in building the fort hang on the walls.

- “So! We have 10 days, they arrive before sunrise, how do we get them all killed? Ideas.” - Let's see if they have something in their minds.

- “Considering our fort's location we could technically lead the horseback riders into marshes. We’d have to find a way for them to believe that is the easiest way to approach which will be hard without using most of our troops” - He’s right, the horseback assault will hit like a truck. They don’t plan on laying siege considering who it is we’re talking about.

It’s highly likely that they will try and breach the gates the moment they make it here… What to do…

- “What about the sea?”

- “Well, the sea is another problem entirely ma'am. Since we’re located on a delta with a lot of branching rivers we can’t predict where they will come from exactly. We know it’s the east but where exactly is another story entirely” - One of the unit leaders explains the water situation… They’re looking at it all wrong.

- “Do you think this will be a siege?” - Everyone in the room looks at me bewildered.

- “Why would it not be?” - Idiot Rixen, you know better than anyone that this will not be a siege. They’ll turn this place to rubble if it means flushing us out.

- “Idiots. All of you! Get your heads out of your asses and think. We need to stop them before they reach the fort. If they reach us, that’s it, we’re dead.” - I take a look at the map, noting the surrounding area in my mind and where the fort is located.

The river is a natural border between the marshes and swamps to the north and the forest area to its south. That means they will choose one route over the other and not split their forces.

- “Valerie, we should consider holding a siege against them from our fort. We have 400 men and enough rations to feed them for several months. If we send a runner…” - Wasting my time again Rixen…

- “We will not be holding off their siege because there will be no Siege. None of you had the chance to fight a Volcanic but I did. They don’t see walls, or forests like we do. They do not stop for a fort if they send a force like this. Their logic is simple: destroy everything they can rebuild. That includes this place!” - I’m trying to be as calm as possible but he needs to understand that this passiveness will not do us any good here.

Rixen gets quiet again and stands back from the table.He’s a gifted kid and will definitely do well in standard warfare. However this is anything BUT standard.

I look at the map once again and note some locations I want to visit myself. I have to see them to know what to do with them. I’m sorry I didn’t let any of you plan anything but I can’t let your incompetence interfere. We have to survive this.

After slamming my hands on the table to get everyone's attention I look through the room. Their faces are determined, Rixen is the only one who looks dejected a little bit. He’ll be fine.

- “I need to go and see the shallows of the delta and then the southern forest south of the river. Rixen, you prepare 200 Men for manual labor and wait for my instructions. Do it now.”

Without any more words I exit the war room and head straight for the gate. Normally I’d call for a horse but it’s quicker on foot considering I have to cross shallow waters and then make it through a forest.

Once out of the fort I focus all the Wave I can into my legs and blast off the ground towards the shallow delta. The boats they are using have to be built with a flat bottom, allowing them to travel up the river, but they also have to be big enough to withstand the sea for prolonged periods of time. Whoever was able to build a ship like that is a genius. It’s sending jolts down my spine just thinking about this.

It doesn’t take me too long, even though traveling in this cold is not exactly fun. After about 15 minutes I make it to the point I wanted to see. A particularly shallow river. I have to check how deep is it… I take off most of my gear and lay it on the coast. Entering the water I immediately feel my heart pumping. It’s fucking FREEZING! But I have to see how deep it is, so I clench up and move forward.

I’m just about in the middle now… I’m standing and my shoulders are out of the water here. It’s very shallow and also very wide. There are few trees here and the sun will come from the east as usual… it will cover up how shallow the water is if we lead them down this way just right.

If we lead them here through sections where we slow them down and then move them around the rivers, we could beach their leading boats, assault from the rear while the sun blinds them.

The area around me is mostly without trees but there are some islands that have a small forest on them which would allow me to hide a hundred or so troops.

As quickly as I can, I get out of the water. I’m now cold AND wet. But it’s fine, after putting on my gear I make my way towards the forest on the other side of the fort. I’ll be alone so I can do something about the area to make it impassable without a substantial detour, making the marshes seem more enticing. The enemy forces most likely don’t know about the marshes as well considering they usually tried to hit the fort from the sea before. And anyone who tried a ground assault didn’t have anyone left behind to tell the tale.

After about 30 minutes of travel I make it to my next point of interest. The area is a thin forest. Horses would have no trouble getting through here. It’s massive though, which gives me the pleasure of hiding a surprise…

I put on my gauntlets and slam them together with a clang. Time to close my eyes and focus… I put as much force into them as they can hole, over the next few seconds my gauntlets begin to vibrate with how much Wave I’ve put into them.

I don’t have to tell anyone about this, which reduces the risk of a leak… I put the gauntlets over my head and without yelling to not give away myself doing this I slam them into the ground. If anyone sees this… Better not think about this, nobody should see this from the fort.

The ground shakes violently and splits in front of me. A massive gash spears away from my location as the soil parts under the force of my gauntlets. A massive cloud of dirt and dust blows out from where I am, birds fly away from the trees screaming bloody murder, as if a calamity just came. It’s a fitting reaction.

- “That should do the trick” - A massive hole in the ground, it reaches the river and several tens of kilometers down south, creating a “natural” barrier that horses can’t cross so easily. They’d rather cross the river with their horses than deal with this shit. I’m sure of it.

Without further dilly dallying I make my way back to the fort. The troops are on standby and the gates are closed. I’m pretty sure the shockwave from my landscaping put them on immediate alert.

- “Good reactions! Now let me in!” - Without hesitation they open the gates and let me in, the guards salute me as I enter. The rush of adrenaline from benign put on alert put them all in “work” mode it seems.

Once I’m at the court I grab one of the soldiers standing around idly by the collar of his plate armor.

- “Get the unit leaders and Rixen into the war room. Pronto.” - The soldier stands at attention for a second before walking off to get the people I need.

I quickly make my way to the war room to prepare everything for them. Gotta be ready to bark orders at them the moment they enter, show them some problem solving and up their morale.

After slamming open the war room doors I leave them open and immediately grab some ink and a quill pen. I start drawing up the plan on the map and put some placeholder statues used for unit marking around some places. It needs to be flawless. Can’t make a mistake in my plan.

We’ll need weighted ropes and chains, floating platforms to move troops onto the boats. I’ll need to dig hidden trenches in the marshes to hide with moss and brushes to trip the horses and get the riders on the ground. Other than that I’ll need 5 Fire related wave users and 5 water related wave users.

It’s check mate you Volcanica fucks. I win!

I keep scribbling around and building the entire plan in my head for the next 15 minutes. And just as I’m done with it, Rixen shows up in the war room.

- “You’re late.” - He’s not, but I have to keep my subordinates on their toes, they could always be faster.

- “Apologies Valerie. I was preoccupied with gathering the 200 men you wanted on standby.”

- “Good. We’ll need all of them. Rixen, do you know why classic warfare will not work against this specific enemy?” - I look him in the eyes, I want to see how he thinks.

- “Because they are Volcanics? They just go through forts instead of taking them?” - Close but no cigar buddy. He’s not even really thinking just regurgitating what I said.

- “Rixen, think. You are a smart kid. What do you know about Volcanica as a nation?” - He steps forward and stands next to me looking at the map. He’s already evaluating my plan.

- “They are trained warriors from birth, basically walking killing machines. They are ancient and even simple farmers are merciless killers. Letting them siege the fort is like climbing a tree and hoping the Ludocanis doesn’t get to you. But it’s only a matter of time” - Now you’re using your brain kiddo.

- “Exactly, we’re taking them outside of the fort not because we’re stupid but because we understand and overestimate them. Whatever you think they are capable of, they are capable of more.”

Just as I finish my sentence the unit leaders enter and circle around the table. Rixen is carefully looking over my plan and nodding to himself. I don’t need to explain anything to him.

- “Alright boys. I have this for you. First, the naval assault. It’s easy enough to combat.” - The leaders raise their eyebrows a little at my remark. - “Don’t flirt with me yet. Wait till you hear the idea.”

The guys in the room chuckle a bit, that should get their focus in check when I explain everything.

- “Rixen prepared 200 men for building. Why building? Well, during scouting I’ve found an extremely shallow river in the delta that will be a perfect trap. It’s open but has enough tree cover to hide 100 troops.” - I point at the spot for the trap. - “We’d hit them there… BUT how do we get them there?” - I point at the rightmost leader - “Good question! You’ll see I placed unit markers around the delta, we’ll build rope blocks and place a few people at them for protection. Weighted rope, chains, anything we can use to stop boats. We don’t need all of those to have the ropes, only the first few.”

- “Why only the first few Valerie? I thought we wanted to trap the enemy?” - Did I say Rixen is smart? I retract that statement.

- “Well, think about it. You lead your boats into one trap, boat down a bit more and spring the same small trap, you lose two boats and a few hundred people because of that since our few soldiers will be enough to pick off whatever soldier’s now floating. What do you do?”

- “You avoid those traps and continue down the clear path…”

- “Bingo Rixen! We don’t even need to man most of those blocks. Just the first 3 or 4.” - One of the leaders lifts his hand and starts speaking.

- “What if they try to go through one of the later blocks? How do we deal with that?” - Ding ding my friend. Hit the nail on the head here.

- “We have some powerful Water based Wave users. They will shift the river flow to put it in reverse, slowing the boats down. The psychological effect of their boat being picked off they will surely turn around and follow our intended route” - The group nods. Even if this isn’t how it is going to go exactly, the Lead of the unit dealing with this will know what to do at the time. - “Fox, you’re up. Make sure you have at least 5 Water-based Wave users on hand. Rixen, you will join him, take 100 Men from the group I told you to round up and have them build everything we need. How it works and the specifics don’t concern me so it’s your call.”

Rixen and one of the Leads stand at attention for a second before walking off.

- “Now that we have the water side dealt with… “ - I look at the map to get the ball rolling. I point to a few locations around the marshes - “I’ve made sure through various means that the enemy will push their forces through these marshes as marked. I’ll want your input when we’re on location after this but for now listen”

The Leads nod and attentively watch as I explain the plan to them.

- “I want hidden trenches here, here, here and here. I want their front to be the weakest part by collapsing the leading pack of horses. Before the following horses stop, those trenches should trip a good amount of them, though definitely not most of them.” - I show them four locations that together mark an arrow shape towards the fort - “That’s where the Wave unit comes in. The marshes are wet, but do you know what those specific marshes are known for?” - The Leads look at me with raised eyebrows, they’re thinking hard on what it is I’m pointing at when suddenly one of them seems to get it.

- “Marsh Gas… There is a fungus that grows in these marshes that produces excessive amounts of methane. It’s enough to make any human walking through there meet their death but a short rush through on horses… You want to burn it Ma’am?” - Oh how smart you are!

- “Yes! We crash the front. Burn the rear, take as many out as we can while slowly retreating to the fort. And the next part is the fun part. The boat folks will learn about this later, especially since Rixen is with them.” - He’s not going to be happy about it, hence I have to make it seem like it wasn’t planned.

I look at them and take a deep breath in, they won’t like this either considering their loyalty to this place. All four of the Leads have served in this fort for nearly two decades each.

- “We’re going to clear this place out, everything. Food, Water, Break the Windmill, break every door that can be closed other than the Gate. We leave NOTHING behind and take it down south a few kilometers to build an encampment. We’ll hold there and lay siege to our own fort.” - I smirk at the thought of what’s coming out of my mouth next. - “But before we leave, I take 100 dead bodies of the highest ranking people from their naval assault and hang them off the walls, aha~! Literally bathing the fort in their blood!”

I blush a little at the thought. Just thinking of their faces as they get to their fort, only to see a simple warning of the cold embrace of death that awaits them. Just the thought excites me~! giggle.

- “EKHM! Apologies. Once we lay siege to the fort, Me and 10 of the most skilled fighters overall will take the sewer entrance that’s been built into the fort and drops our shit into the river. We’ll get inside through there and open the gates as soon as we wipe out the court force.” - The look on the Lead's faces tells me everything. - “And then it’s all out slaughterhouse time! This fort can hold around 20 Thousand troops if you include the outside barracks. Do you think we can chip their force down to that number? I don’t want to leave anyone alive.”

- “We can easily take it down to 15, maybe even 10 thousand if we do the marsh hit right. I’ll ask if we have wave users that know how to work with plants. Maybe we can up the Marsh Gas density and cause an explosion, not just a fire.” - The leftmost and also the oldest Lead speaks up. He’s a grizzled old bastard. He’s got no fear in his eyes.

- “Good, you’re in charge of the Marsh units Darius. Everything I say you do, everything you say is done by the units. Got it?” - Darius, the old Lead bows lightly in appreciation and the other two Leads nod in agreement.

I swing my arms to indicate we’re done and we make it out of the war room. The Leads immediately start barking orders at the soldiers who start scrambling. I take my leave and head to the 100 left over, to build the trenches… I got an Idea with it as well.

- “Attention Boots!” - After yelling at the disorganized group of soldiers, within 20 seconds I have a standing force of 100 men ready to fight at a moment's notice.

- “Darius will explain everything in detail later but you’ll be diggin me some trenches today. I want them to have Spikes to make sure the enemy gets stuck on them. Other than said trenches, some of you will build me smaller traps all over the marshes where we expect the troops to be on foot.” - I just came up with this, but I love it!

- “You, you, you and You! Go to the kitchen and get all the rotten meat and food we can get our hands on. The more it stinks the better. Once you have it, get it on a cart and drag it to the marshes. We’ll put the rotten food in the smaller pits with spikes for the foot soldiers…”

The group of 100 men in front of me is a group of battle hardened soldiers that have been fighting in this fort for a long time. I’ve only been attached here with Rixen as help once rumors of an impending attack have come around.

Those 100 Men saw dead bodies piling up and then burning them to prevent disease. They executed prisoners and have been in grand battles. But they never took part in one of my battles, it’s clear so.

The horror drawing on their faces is filling the area, they’re thinking about the pits for the enemy foot soldiers… It’s clear your trap is good if it makes your own troops feel empathy for the enemy.

I wave the troops away and they all begin to scramble, some of the higher ranked individuals direct the foot soldiers on what to take, shovels, pickaxes, etc. They all basically manage themselves once you give them an order. It’s very neat, most of the troops I worked with needed to be micromanaged. We might just do it with this group.

I head out with the building team just as the Leads going to the marshes join up with the rest of the troops. Darius approaches me just as we’re moving out.

- “I’m having a few of my men prepare everything inside to be carried out. The day before the assault they will sabotage the beds and doors as you said. They will also clean out the fire ducts.” - What are you on about Darius?

- “Fire ducts? What are you talking about?”

- “Well the Fort was actually prepared for the eventuality of it being taken over at some point. It was built with ducts that when fire is put into them, it’ll pull the air like a chimney and send a raging inferno into sleeping quarters, quite literally burning everyone in them alive in seconds.” - My eyes widen with his proposal. He’s like me, victory at any cost.

- “You don’t have a problem with that? Are you really fine with this kind of warfare Darius?”

- “Of course, victory, especially the decisive kind, tastes the sweetest.”

- “Good. Get this done by the end of the day. There’s one more thing we need to do once we have the field set up. We’ll talk about it once we have everyone back at the Fort.”

Darius nods and storms off to join his unit. Not everyone can use Wave so we walk into the marshes with all our gear and carts filled with tools for everyone to work with. Everything needs to be perfect and without flaw. Anything less and we lost this battle.

Volcanics are not known for their proficiency with the Wave and mostly rely on physical strength to get things done, we have the upper hand with that. While 400 Men against tens of thousands are still insanely overwhelming odds in their favor, we have several fighters capable of taking on large chunks of their force on their own.

Hell, Rixen could probably hold the river ambush on his own. But we can’t rely on just the powerhouses to do the heavy lifting, everyone needs to contribute.

It takes us roughly 45 minutes to get to the place where we expect the horses to go through. There is another path a little up north that technically is traversable but they’d have to get off the horses and walk them through, which will be impossible due to the Marsh Gas intensity.

We have wind based Wave users working full time already making sure the Marsh Gas doesn’t poison us as we work and walk through the marshes, without them we’d be dead in 45 minutes.

Several hours later…

The work is going smoothly, in fact the troops seem to enjoy the distraction of working and have asked to be allowed to work for a few more hours, which me and the Leads allowed after assessing the risks.

I joined a bit myself, overlooking the setup of smaller traps for the soldiers that’ll be on foot once the chaos breaks out. Each trap was marked in a way that made it easy for us to spot it but, some signature branch with a piece of cloth or something like that was placed on top of each pit after it was covered. Once we make our way back to the fort the flags will be removed from the outside to the inside and the stage will be set.

The fire Wave users along with some remaining Water wave users did controlled Marsh Gas burns to test the volatility of the gas and how effective it will be. The results were very promising. Some of the wind Wave users have volunteered to help push the marsh gas a specific way to up the concentration of it behind the enemy line which I allowed.

I let Darius and the other leaders know that I’ll be making my leave and that they are to finish up the set up before night time and begin making my way to the Rixen group. I blast off the ground and head over there as quickly as possible to check on their progress.

Within the next hour I’m there, it’s very foggy, more so than at the marshes which keeps the visibility low. As I approach closer the clatter of hammers slamming down nails, yells with orders and instructions on what’s next reverberates across the river's surface.

Rixen’s currently in the middle of scolding someone. I’m actually curious what got his ass riled up.

As I arrive where Rixen’s at, the soldier he’s scolding and Rixen himself stand at attention when they notice me.

- “What in the world got your ass on fire, Rixen?” - He looks at me confused, he’s probably wondering why I’m interfering with his scolding.

- “Ma’am, this soldier has caused an issue where we have to rebuild one of the traps.” - It’s rare to see Rixen so displeased, but he follows in my steps and thinks that just blunt roughness with the troops is the way to do it.

- “We’ll talk about this later, Rixen. You!” - I look at the soldier who jumped at my note of his presence - “Stop fucking it up, if you don’t know what to do, get someone who does. Admitting your incompetence in a field is not going to make you seem less of a warrior, got it?”

- “Yes ma’am!” - The soldier salutes and walks away to continue his work.

- “Rixen, you get your troops respect by letting them do things and teaching them what to do. You lose it by just yelling at them with the purpose being to just yell at them.” - Rixen looks down a little but nods in acknowledgement.

After slapping him on the back once I begin doing rounds throughout the whole area, checking on every single trap we set, making sure we’re good on all fronts. I have nothing but confidence in this group though. Rixen will be more than enough to lead these guys to victory. I might talk to him like that but, he’s been in battles. He’s won tactically before, he’s just not experienced in fights where he’s outnumbered 100 to 1.

Anyways. I accompany this team until they are done with their work and then take the boats with them up the river to the fort. Once we make it to the fort I gather all of the troops once again and tell them that they cannot sleep. Considering the early hours of the attack I’ll have them shift their sleep schedule so that they are awake two or even three hours before the planned time.

This way they’ll be hot and ready for the assaults. Days pass and we make sure the traps are in check every day for the next ten days. We do get our hands on a few scouts, some of them did end up spilling the beans under my “methods” of persuasion.

Seems that the ground force is taking it slower than expected as they enter the marshes, delaying their arrival by a little bit. We’re unsure how much but a generous estimate is a Day late.

Three days before the assault, everything from the Fort had been removed. Food, resources, weapons, armor, even the damn pets we kept were taken. We left the beds and cushions for them behind, they’ve been sabotaged… How? We put animal fat into the cushions for obvious reasons.

We also sent scouts that came out two days before the expected assault. The riding ground troops have slowed down significantly, the expected time for them is now two days late which gives us plenty of time to vacate the fort after prepping the bodies and painting the walls in blood from the naval assault.

In light of this revelation we change the plan a little. We put 200 men at the naval assault and man all the traps, even the ones that do not have the trap itself set. This way we have even more leverage to funnel the enemy into the shallows. The leads have requested from me specifically that I participate in the battle myself. What a stupid suggestion, how could I miss being part of my own plan.

Two days left… I decide that my troops need a mental buff for what’s about to come. I have the cooks and some of the troops help and prepare a feast. I join in the preparation, making food for the soldiers. It surprisingly put my mind at ease, more than I thought it would.

We all feast through the night, drinking and sharing war stories from other battles we took part in. Some of the guys push me to share some of my stories, even Rixen seems interested. I tell them a story where I was left alone behind enemy lines years ago and had to make it back to my detachment by fighting through a camp of Volcanics barehanded. It’s a violent story but the troops seem to think I’m boasting. It’s not a pleasant story as well, but it does the job of showing that I know how to rip someone's head off if I have to.

Before the feast ends and I head out to the trap at the delta with the troops I decide to give the men the last pep talk before the battle. I round up everyone and position myself on top of one of the makeshift tables.

- “Listen up!” - The crowd stands at attention - “You’re all hardy fuckers. I don’t need to give you anything more than what you heard when the news came” - I stretch out my arms to the sides - “People will write about this for thousands of years, our journals will be a promise to any enemy in the future that they can send as many troops as they can and we’d still win this battle. Who wants to soak this soil with the Volcanica scum blood!?”

The soldiers roar and slam their feet into the ground creating a miniature earthquake.

- “To add fun to this fucked up situation. I challenge each unit to a contest of force… Any unit that can match my amount of carnage on the battlefield or straight up win us the battle, each person from that unit will receive a plot of land with the ability to leave their service as a soldier behind and be paid by the crown.”

That gets me whistles and cheers from everyone. It also gets me even more motivated. Let's get to work!

I take Rixen and the rest of the Delta team. We head over there using boats which takes us roughly an hour. It’s a quiet trip, they know, everyone knows what’s coming.

Everyone positions themselves as planned, Me and Rixen along with Fox take the front, we’re going to manage the travel of the boats, retreating at specific times to make sure the sun is at the right spot when we hit them from behind.

We turn in for the night and on the next day we finish anything that had to be done just before the battle, ropes were hung, chains were set up. Wave users prepared themselves. The primary ambushing force finished up building flat rafts to assault the enemy force with, archers set themselves up on higher areas with the javelin throwers.

There’s not much more left to do. Tomorrow’s the day of days!

The morning of the naval assault…

It’s cold as fuck, but everyone seems have their game faces on. Nobody looks distraught or like they don’t belong. It doesn’t take a long time for the boats to show themselves. One boat… Ten Boats… Fifty boats, they’re not enormous, clearly built for river travel, but they could easily hold between 70 and 100 people. That means that this force was supposed to be the surprise flank, not a big force but big enough.

Unlucky for them… We’re all hidden, the ropes for our traps are underwater and will be pulled by wave users to stop the boats. 100 Meters… 50… 30… 10.

- “RAISE THE ROPE!” - Rixen commands the troops to spring the trap, the rope tightens just before the boat swims into it, pulling the men a little but they are able to stop it in its tracks. The enemy forces immediately scramble and work to cut the thick rope with their archers shooting at random into the bushes.

Blind fire could be a good idea but they don’t have a clue where we are. Especially not me…

I bounce myself off the river's bottom and fly out from the water, landing on the front boat slamming it in half. I then quickly dive back under water and begin my retreat. We took the first boat out. Rixen knows to back up as well. I swim with some help from the wave back to the next point.

I arrive ahead of schedule and warn the troops to get ready. A few minutes later, Rixen and a group of 5 men he had with him show up, reinforcing the next roadblock.

It doesn’t take long for the remaining 49 boats to make it here. No losses, lets keep it that way.

We hide the same way as before. This time the plan is a bit different. We let two boats swim behind the trap and then spring the rope. While the trap team deals with the stopped boat. I do my disappearing act. I jump out of the water again and slam into the first ship, this time however I don’t stop. I begin swimming around as fast as I can, pulling people underwater and breaking their necks, sometimes just straight up letting them drown.

Once I clear out that boat I jump out again and land on the second one. This time without breaking it. I push as much Wave through my gloves as possible and pull out my party trick. The area around me shifts and twists as I increase the gravitational pull on everything around me. The water level drops and the people on the boat get squashed to pulp by the force put on them.

Once everyone on the boat is dead and a mush of blood and flesh begins soaking through every tiny gap there is in the boat's structure, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. I turn around and wave at the boats that are already through the block. Rixen and the rest of the team are already on their way back as well. I jump into the water and continue back.

We continue this process two or three more times before these idiots finally realize to dodge the traps. They lost 5 boats at this point. One of the traps didn’t end up destroying a boat but it’s barely holding together so we’re good there.

Now it’s time for the fake traps. They still have people in them thanks to the adjustment but I doubt those simpletons will push into them. And just as I planned. They are indeed following the intended road… Mostly, some boats split and intended to push through the traps themselves but the water wave users in conjunction with archers made sure to push them back into the flock.

The rest of the road is shockingly smooth. They probably expect there to be more roadblocks down the road but they’re guessing they can take any and just push further.

Little do they know… The sun is rising in the sky and we continue our retreat, we’re at the shallow point now.

- “Get ready!” - I hear Rixen yell out from a hill, without any delay the enemy boats make it into the shallow channel just as planned. Not all boats will fit in here obviously but the front ones will beach themselves and that’s where I step in.

One boat stops, another, then another. The boats begin to slow down to a crawl and ultimately beach themselves on the river floor. I pop out of the shallow waters again and slam between the front boats. I put all of my focus into my ability and begin increasing gravity to insane levels. Yells for mercy, sound of broken bones and ripping flesh reverberates throughout the water's surface, echoing against the small islands sprinkled about.

The surface of the water colors itself crimson red with the blood of my enemies. My heart’s slamming against my ribcage and my cheeks flush from the excitement involved.

The rear boats get assaulted by our ambush, 200 men on large flat rafts make their way on the river towards the now disoriented enemies.

They yell at eachother, some of their boats try to turn around only to be met with the sun’s glare, some of them try to run by jumping into the water and hoping to get to the nearest plot of land available, before they have the chance to know what happened they get picked off by our archers and javelin throwers. One by one, their numbers decrease. Screams, blood and sweat pour down into the river as the battle ensues.

I play the supportive role with Rixen at this point. We assess who needs help and join in, beat the shit out of the enemy and move on to the next place. One after another we thin out our enemies, 500… 250. 100 left. We push for the last time and crush the remaining forces, leaving nobody alive.

For the next few hours we scrub the bodies for any useful gear and items we can find. I call over Rixen and Fox while the soldiers go through the bodies.

- “Listen, I spoke to Darius before about this but we’re abandoning the fort and hanging bodies off the walks. We’re also going to pour their blood down the walls as much as possible.” - The two look at me with raised eyebrows. Due to the battle's intensity there are no objections right away. - “Get to it then. I need 20 Bodies to hang, now!”

Without any further resistance the two move away from me and begin instructing the soldiers to get me what I want. I want a pound of flesh and a bucket of blood!

After a couple more hours we begin making our way back to the Fort using our own boats. The casualties? What casualties, we have some hurt, very few in critical condition. But generally speaking, the Volcanica assault was in shambles and they were more preoccupied with getting on solid ground than actually fighting us.

Once we arrive at the fort, I inform the troops to hang the bodies and splash some of the collected blood onto the outside walls of the fort. At the same time, roars of victory and praise erupt from the 200 left behind. Medics immediately attend to the wounded and cooks provide us with food and water to get ourselves in order.

Most of the soldiers that took part in the assault are washing themselves off in the river, I don’t join them. The blood of my enemies dripping down my body and armor makes me focused and anxious for the next battle.

While me and the delta defense group rest, the rested soldiers take the time to set up the fort and then leave it evacuated as per my instructions. Once they finished the set up we rested for the day. We have 24 hours to make it to the marshes and set up tomorrow.

After waking up we gathered the troops and revised our plan to include the higher number of soldiers. The general Idea stays the same but we can have a safer retreat once shit hits the fan and that’s important. Taking no losses would make this victory sweeter than honey.

I’m not going to lie, tomorrow’s the real test. One misstep and we’re all wiped out, it has to be perfect. My Leads need to be perfect, Rixen needs to step up and I have to kill as many as possible. No reservation, whatever that might bring later.

Tomorrow morning…

The sun is still hiding itself under the horizon, that’s when we make our move. The enemy surely sent out scouts ahead of time. It takes us 40-45 minutes to get to the battlefield. We don’t fuck around this time. Everyone knows their jobs, we all camouflage ourselves in specific points of the battlefield. I position myself inside one of the trenches we’ll use to capture horses that’s directly at the spearhead.

I’m the wall they cannot penetrate. The moment they hit I have to take out as many as possible…

Not just because it’s fun, not just because that’s who I am. I have to make sure my troops see me. The day passes with soldiers scrambling with preparation, most of the fighting will be done by Wave users and me while the non-Wave users provide support, both logistical and taking care of any stragglers that try to attack the wave users.

While I wait inside the trench I use my focus to listen and feel out the rumbling of the ground. Several tens of thousands of horses and foot soldiers will make a lot of noise during a charge. Considering that they don’t position themselves before battles and just send it gives us an edge of information.

And it doesn’t take long… They’re coming, they're a kilometer away I’d say. The subtle shake of the ground and the instant silence of my troops is more than enough to tell me what I need to know. The rumbling gets louder and louder, the force of the horses hitting the ground as they run makes my body shake inside the trench.

A minute passes, two more go by. Suddenly the yells of the horse riders and cracks of whips they use reverberates through the marshes.

Not yet… Not yet… Hold!

BANG! The trench over next to me cracks and the body of a horse writhing in pain shows up next to me out of nowhere, with a Volcanic trying to get out from under it. The horse's leg is broken with the bone pushing out of the muscle through an open wound.

NOW!

I focus all of my power, everything I can and then some into my gauntlets. I jump out of the trench and move a bit back, the horses are still riding towards the front but the big traps have been tripped. Easily 40 thousand horses are moving towards us right now, less than anticipated.

I lift up my gauntlets and slam into the trench I was just in. Nothing is left behind other than a hole and me in it. A red mist floats around me as I roar at the enemy and launch myself at them.

My job is not just to kill them, I herd them into the trenches. Left flank, hit them like lightning, they shift directions and hit the trenches, basically stopping the flank from moving forward.

Back to the right, in a split second, a line of horses explodes as I run through them with my gauntlet.Once the Right flank gets their own share of the traps, I yell out.

- “FIRE! NOW!” - Without hesitation the rest of the wave users show up out of bushes, pits and holes they found for themselves.

An inferno breaks out behind the enemy blocking their only escape route, but that’s not all! The wind Wave users push the fire slowly towards me. Pushing it over people, burning bodies and horses as they do.

It’s chaos! The Volcanic soldiers are trying to run from the fire and get stuck inside the pits with rotten food in them.

Most of the horse riders are at this point trying to mount another charge and jump over the trenches. Don’t worry my friends, I have a plan for that too…

Once again, pooling all of my power into the gloves I jump in the middle of the path they intend to take a bit further down. I watch as they rush at me, they think they can just go through me? What a joke!

They jump over the trenches, the inferno chases behind them. I can already see my troops begin to fall back. It’s time to hit the next bullet point.

I wait for them to come, the horse riders are rushing at us. At this stage there are only a fraction of them remaining. Ten thousand? Fifteen? No, Less than that.

Once the riders are 25 meters in front of me. I slam both of my fists into the ground, causing another cavity to form. They don’t have enough time to stop and another batch of riders finds themselves de-horsed. At this point, nearly my entire force is gone and going to the secondary encampment. I follow suit, jumping back and rushing to reach them.

We rush as fast as possible back to the encampment. The enemy forces seem to have ceased the assault to gather their troops for another hit. Makes sense, they just got made a fool by 400 troops.

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We are able to settle down and take a short breather. The soldiers around me are celebrating silently. The sound of the horses is audible, they’re already making their way to the fort. Let’s give them the time to explore the place and celebrate.

There is a lingering smell of burnt moss, brushes and bodies in the air. I’m drenched in blood and gore from the battle, most soldiers keep their distance but it’s not because of fear… It’s just gross to hug someone who’s literally dripping blood on the ground right now.

- “Now we wait, once night hits we get to work” - I gather 10 of the best men and get them up to speed. We’re going to hit the fort from a sewer pipe and open the main gate while the Fire Wave users push a blaze of glory down throughout the fort. They estimate that it should easily take out two or even three thousand soldiers if they are in the right rooms at the right time.

The Leads rapidly instruct troops that there is no sleep yet and that we’re waiting for the night to come. Unlike most forts, the forest from the south, where we are, extends nearly all the way to the fort so our approach will be well obstructed to the sentries on the towers. I’m guessing most if not all their troops will be in the fort itself, considering the casualties.

Time passes, we rest and eat. The night comes quickly when you’re full of adrenaline. Some soldiers had to be scolded for being too hyper from all this.

It’s now dark outside. Time to move! Without further shenanigans I let the Leads know it’s time and head out with my 10 men the long way around to hit the sewer pipe.

10 minutes later we are there. The travel was a blur, we’re all excited and scared of what’s next. Once we make noise, everything will be on fire.

We make it inside the sewage pipe. It smells like the devil's anus in here but we push forward. My job? slam a hole right in the middle of the courtyard with my gauntlet.

We position ourselves and sit there silently, gathering ourselves up for the next step.

I power up as much as possible and with a loud roar slam open a hole big enough for the 10 men to get through right in the middle of the courtyard. We immediately position ourselves by the gate and begin fighting. We’re intentionally cornering ourselves to place the enemies where the blaze will hit as good as we can.

WHACK BANG We clash weapons, I keep my output low for now. The Volcanics are shouting orders around and archers begin to take aim at us.

The next minutes are pure chaos, the whole building is ablaze, fire rolls down the archer positions and explodes out of windows. Burning bodies fall down from the sky like it’s a human volcano. Two of my men open the gate from the inside and our forces pour in.

After that it’s all a blur. We fight through the fort, using the uneven stairs and dight hallways to our advantage. I go on a rampage, slamming through bodies like there’s no tomorrow. When I notice anyone in need of help I do my best to jump in. We fight and fight. Swords and screams sound through the halls of the fort.

The battle is short, but it’s violent. Puddles of blood and human remains litter the floors.

After a few minutes of constant fighting the enemy began to surrender… But there are no prisoners we’re willing to take, my troops slit their throats and take their heads as soon as they begin to break spirit.

It’s our Victory.

The next morning…

Through the night, I’ve spent most of the time with my soldiers, gathering bodies and moving them outside of the fort. Shockingly, in all of this there was only one casualty. It was a cat that was forgotten about when we left the fort.

As an act of kindness I used my power to make someone the rank below me. I called the cat Guardian, for standing watch for us. It wasn’t a vigil or anything. Just a gesture from me. I don’t enjoy unnecessary deaths and this one could’ve been easily avoided.

The Leads are in the middle of writing reports of injuries, corpse amount estimates. They also distribute war trophies to the soldiers as is tradition after battle.

The following days got only quieter, the tale of our victory rang through the military ranks and songs of celebration were written about it… Is what I thought would happen….

In the end, my brutal methods were looked down upon by higher ups, someone from the fort reported everything that was done to hold the fort and my methods were thought of as savage and unbecoming of a general.

I was stripped of my rank and titles, my efforts erased from history and Rixen was given all the credit… He became a high ranking politician later in his life and established the country of Gallahan, where the capital was named after him.

Present day…

What a mess. At least we were able to get Nyxie out of her troubles for now. There’s still stuff to do.

While I sit here and watch Nyxie sleep there’s a light knock on the door. Right after it creaks open with Sarah, one of my Aide’s peeking inside, waving me over.

- “What’s up?” - After walking over I whisper, trying to not wake Nyxie up.

- “We have a problem. Come, please”

I follow Sarah out. Is there a universe where this day just chills the fuck out and lets everyone rest? Unfortunately upon seeing what’s going on, the illusion of that happening quickly dissolves.

In the middle of the Inn Leshy and Xerra are loudly arguing with an older looking couple. They’re dressed in ragged clothes and look dirty in general. They’re swinging their arms while yelling at Leshy and Xerra.

- “We want our daughter back, right this moment!” - Nyxie’s parents are here much faster than I expected. I thought we could have a few hours before needing to meet them. I need Nyxie on her feet for the negotiation.

- “She’s resting right now, please leave and once she’s ready to come back to you we’ll be sure to bring her.” - Leshy’s being surprisingly level headed right now. He’s trying to calmly explain that Nyxie’s in no shape to go anywhere.

- “Moving her right now will put her life in danger. I’m sure you don’t want that and neither do we.” - Xerra’s also working some diplomacy, but it seems the parents are too focused on the fact that they can get their money mule back.

The parents continue arguing with Xerra and Leshy as I stand and watch. All this yapping about how she’s their kid and belongs with them…

- “Leshy, Xerra, take a seat.” - The two look around and focus on me. I’m walking towards the parents, I’m getting a headache from this shit.

- “But Valerie…” - All this talking and yelling from these people. Thinking they are somehow entitled to her presence in their lives after the shit they made this kid do. Stealing for their own needs, absolutely ridiculous.

- “SIT DOWN.” - I let loose a little bit… The entire building shakes under its higher weight. It’s in my domain and I up the gravity a couple of times. Everything inside weighs double right now. The only place where gravity is normal is Nyxie’s room. Both Leshy and Xerra look at each other with shock but they both step aside.

All the mugs and dishes clatter around a little, a couple of paintings fall off the wall from the sudden increase in weight.

- “Nyxie stays here, until I say otherwise.” - At my words the father gasps, shocked. Both of them are trying to hold themselves up, - “You are not parents. You are rats, vermin. We exterminate those for the farmers sometimes.” - This is not a warning, I’d kill them both on the spot if we were alone…

- “She’s our daughter Valerie. You have no right to hold her away from us!” - The mother stumbles a little, trying to keep herself on her feet.

- “I had a really… REALLY long day. Get, out.” - I point them towards the entrance.

They’re thinking. I’m just not sure how much thought can that pea brain of theirs handle. After a minute of contemplating their choices, the father snorts and turns around, pulling Nyxie’s mother by the hand and they both begin to walk out.

Don’t think I’m not making you two into an example… With each step they make I increase their weight more and more. They’re struggling to walk. About halfway towards the door, the weight on them is so big that they both buckle and land on all fours.

They’re sweating and gasping for air, continuing to try and get out of my Inn. Right as they are about to reach for the door handles and get out, I increase their weight in a burst, planting both of them on the floor. The floorboards creak from the weight put on them as they both gasp, struggling for air that’s being forced out of their lungs.

Step by step, slowly and making sure they hear me coming, I walk over to them and crouch down between them.

- “I am showing you mercy, but it’s the gods you will have to beg for it, as they are not so merciful.” - I grab the pair by the hair and kick the door open. I drop the weight increase and just as they start grasping for oxygen I throw them out by their own hair. Making sure they land at the muddiest spots nearby.

Now, that’s been dealt with. I make my way back to the center of my Inn.

- “If they step foot in here again, you’re good to get physical with them to throw them out, just don’t kill them.” - I see nods and thumbs up from the folks around my Inn. After that they promptly return back to doing whatever they were doing.

I walk over to Xerra and Leshy, giving them both a pat on the back.

- “That throws the negotiation of buying Nyxie out the window. I have no idea how we are going to deal with this now.” - Leshy is now actively thinking about what’s next. Xerra on the other hand lifts up her index finger and goes.

- “Sign her up to the Association the moment she wakes up. That’ll give us some leeway on how to act in case these arseholes show up again.” - Right, we can have priority in action if one of our own has something bad going on with them.

- “Alright, let's do that.” - I wave over Sarah, once she’s over here I lean in. - “The moment Nyxie wakes up I want to know. Have someone watching her at all times.”

Sarah walks away to do as she’s told. It’s time to have a moment of rest, so I take a seat at a nearby table. Leshy and Xerra both join me with a slight concern on their face.

- “I need a drink, do you have the strong stuff Xerra?” - She nods and pulls out her signature water skin, passing it over to me. I take it and undo the cork, taking a sip of the wine.

I’m generally not a drinker but my body is screaming at me to get inebriated. The sweet taste coats my throat as I take a couple of swigs from the waterskin

- “Gaaah, what a fucking day. Are you two doing fine?” - I ask the confused but relaxed duo in front of me.

- “All good! I was about to pull out my sword on them if they kept pushing.”

- “You kept shockingly cool this time. What happened there?” - I ask Leshy as he slides his index up and down the hilt of his sword.

- “It just didn’t seem productive to let emotions handle this. The last time I let go and yelled at someone, I ended up making you two feel like shit.” - Fair enough, he kept himself in check more after what happened.

- “Make no mistake, you were right to get angry. Even if you acted emotionally back then.” - I pat his knee. - “I’m glad you were able to keep your cool.”

- “Didn’t seem like you kept yours though Valerie” - Xerra interjects. I think she misunderstands how I handled all of this…

- “Don’t misunderstand. Getting angry at Nyxie’s parents would be a waste of my psyche, there was a problem so I dealt with it.” - I sip the wine some more.

- “Leshy, I know you bought the journal but you mentioned something else? Do you care to share what it is that you bought?” - Leshy smirks and opens his bag. He’s rummaging through it and after a minute he pulls out a brooch.

He hands it over to me by placing it in front of me on the table. I pick it up and look at it from up close. This thing is ancient, even compared to me. I can’t understand the enchantment on it though.

Holding it, I feel it emanates some sort of aura, an energy. It’s an extremely powerful enchantment. The Wave connected to it is primal, this isn’t the work of a craftsman, this gem’s been like that since it formed.

- “Where’d you get this Leshy?” - I hand the brooch back to him. How’d he get his hands on something like this?

- “There was a lady selling it. I asked for rare jewelry to find something for you or Xerra and this just popped into my eye. I had to get it. It was quite cheap as well, only a few Ri.” - He just stumbled upon something like this? And paid a few Ri?

I tap the tip of my index finger on my chin and think for a little bit. Ancient artifacts don’t just land on people’s lap like that. There’s no way someone in here randomly got it and sold it as well. Things of this age are worth as much as some towns have budgets for a month.

- “You sure it was just some random lady selling trinkets on the market?” - Something like this showing up isn’t a coincidence, it never is.

- “Yep, sold it to me without any questions asked.” - Leshy’s nodding to himself, I guess there’s not much more to it from his side.

I continue looking at the brooch, after a few more seconds of just staring at it blankly I hand it back to Leshy. He takes it away and attaches it to his belt. It actually fits him quite well considering how feminine the item is.

- “Alrighty then. Why don’t you two call it a night, it’s been a long day. I’m going to go check on Nyxie and head to bed myself soon.” - Leshy and Xerra both nod.

We exchange “Good night’s” and split. I make my way to the room where Nyxie’s sleeping, gently opening the door I poke my head inside.

Nyxie’s sitting on the bed, eating the food we’ve left behind for her. Color came back to her skin and she looks already significantly better

I walk inside and Nyxie jolts from my presence. I lift my hands up to show it’s all okay right now.

- “How are you feeling Nyxie?” - I sit down next to her bed and stroke her hair.

- “I’m alright, thank you for the meal Valerie.” - Nyxie’s voice is quite low pitched for someone her age, it’s also very soft.

She’s an adorable thing, she went from mowing down the meal to lightly munching a piece now and then.

- “No need to hold back, we’re Spotters, we eat like Pigs most of the time!” - I bump her shoulder with my own to push her. She smiles a little but keeps her feelings close to the chest. - “Just so you know, your parents came by. Thought you should know”

I stand up and look at Nyxie. Her reserved demeanor is showing cracks now. She’s looking at me, mid bite into her meal. She’s looking at me with her big round eyes, begging me to not let them. Let them what? I can’t say, but the eyes don’t lie.

- “I made sure they won’t come back.” - I give her a big grin, flexing my absolute lack of muscles at her, posing like I just beat a titanothar. - “Ah! I forgot!”

I quickly run out of Nyxie’s room and head to the front desk. I grab a new spotter form and the metal plate for her ID. I quickly trot back into the room.

Nyxie’s sitting there just as I left, but now there’s just pure confusion on her face. Still mid bite though, it’s a little funny.

- “So! If you want to be under the protection of the Gallahan Spotter Association, and by proxy, my protection, fill out this paper.” - I hand her the paper with some ink and a fountain pen. - “By filling this form out, you’ll become a Trainee Spotter. You’d be under Leshy’s wing as a Trainee until you reach adulthood. Since Leshy’s working directly with Xerra, that means you’ll have a badass Volcanic protecting you.”

She’s VERY confused now.

- “Take a moment, but you need to decide fast.” - I crouch in front of Nyxie.

- “But… I don’t know. I don’t understand.” - I sprung too much on her.. I take a deep breath.

- “If you don’t sign this. We can’t protect you from your parents. If you DO sign this, you’re under our wing and they can’t do anything against your will anymore.” - Nyxie’s looking at me, then the paper, then the pen.

She’s likely conflicted, they treated her like a dog but they’re still her parents. She doesn’t fully understand what they think about her and what it means for them if she doesn’t go back to them.

I’m sorry Nyxie but I’ll make sure you sign this piece of paper. Even if it means I paint your own parents in a horrible light.

- “I’m gonna go out for a little while and talk to my Aides. You think as long as you need. Ok?” - Nyxie nods without looking at me anymore. She’s enthralled by the piece of paper.

I exit her room and leave the door wide open.

- “Sarah! Did Leshy figure out what to do with his Revertium? It’s clogging up my warehouse and I need space for other ores.” - Sarah walks over. That’s it, close to the door…

- “I did poke him about it before he headed to his room. He wants to keep it for Nyxie and get her some gear once she’s under him as a Trainee.” - I nod at Sarah and sign to her with my hands to continue talking. - “Oh! What about the parents? Do you think the guards are going to be on your ass for assault or something?”

- “Not a chance. I made sure of that when we paid for Nyxie’s release.” - I answer Sarah and give her another sign to continue the topic.

She’s a smart girl, she knows what I’m doing.

- “But shouldn’t the girl go with her parents? We shouldn’t really interfere like that. You kinda went above and beyond to make sure they don’t get their hands on her, why?” - Nice Sarah!

- “She’s as much her kid as the dog we sometimes feed is our pet. They’re deep in debt and they were making Nyxie steal for them just to get the loan sharks off their ass. If we give her back now, after two weeks of her not stealing… The loan sharks are not going to be happy.” - I nod over to Sarah and give her a thumbs up.

- “What a mess, huh?” - That’s that. Thank you Sarah!

- “Yep, alright. You can get back to work. I’ll check on Nyxie if she needs anything”

After turning around I slowly walk to the door, making every step have a deliberate sound to it so that Nyxie hears it. knock knock I knock on the door frame and head into the room.

Nyxie’s sitting and finishing her meal. Next to her is a filled out and signed form. It brings a soft smile to my face, she’s a smart kid. I walk over and pick up the metal plate, placing my hand over it.

- “You can’t forget this piece of metal. This is proof that you’re a spotter now, it will allow you to go places most people can’t. But it’ll also mean that you are under mine and by extension everyone in the association’s protection.” - I focus on the plate and use my gravity to press out her name, age and some other information.

I then hand her the metal plate and poke her forehead.

- “That’s it, you’re under Leshy’s wing now. His responsibility is to prepare you for Spotting Titanothars. That means that wherever he goes, so do you. Got it?”

Nyxie looks at the metal plate and then at me with a wide smile, nodding in agreement.

- “Now keep resting, we’ll get you into training once you get your strength back.” - After patting her bed and fluffing up her pillows, Nyxie lies down. She’s still holding the piece of metal, looking at it like it’s the best gift she’s ever gotten.

I leave the room and close the door behind me. Once I’m outside I quickly head over to my quarters. My Inn’s rowdy tonight and it’ll only get rowdier. I don't want to get dragged into some drinking game or something along those lines right now.

Here it is, my cozy room. Since this marks basically the end of my day, let's do something brainless for a little bit.I walk over to my desk and light the candles.

The room’s windowless and large. There’s a bed that’s centered along the wall with a small table next to it. The bed basically doubles as a chair for me. No paintings, no mirrors. It provides me what I need, a bed and a place to sit and chill.

There’s also a chest full of my things, clothes, jewelry, etc. Everything’s just slammed in that one chest, things that should be together are tied in cloth. It might seem like a very Volcanic way of living.

But when you’ve spent a couple thousand years just hopping between wars like me, then living in that kind of sparsity turns to a homey feel.

I look at the candles after lighting them. The flame flickers and jumps from left to right. It’s light reflecting off my bracelet that Leshy gave me. Speaking of. The fact he found this out about Efi is impressive, he’s not as stupid as he sometimes seems.

Leshy’s like a cute puppy most of the time. He has a way to make people do the right thing in one way or another.

And since we’re all doing the right thing here, I should probably make one of those bracelets myself for Nyxie. No harm in being a little sentimental for her sake.

I should have some gems pre-drilled by a jeweler. I walk over to the chest and start digging around. It’s filled with my clothes, underwear and all sorts of books. Ah! here they are, and they’re with my sewing kit. Perfect!

…? Underneath the cloth bag with the gems and sewing kit lies a lone journal. Its pages are bound to a skin binding with its pages bound by a simple piece of rope, held closed by a twisted string made of leather, neatly tied in front.

I pick the journal up, it’s compelling me to read it. It wants me to open it… All of my focus moves to the journal. It’s stuck in my eyes, digging its way into my head. I slowly begin undoing the leather string holding it closed.

No! Stop. I put the book down. This isn’t the time, let's make the bracelet for Nyxie. I quickly walk over to the bed and set up the kit. Luckily this is enough to relax me and let me focus.

Over at Leshy’s room…

A solemn silence fills my ears as my eyes flutter open. The gentle wind caresses my cheeks like the whiskers of a cat, affectionately bringing its head close.

I breathe in deep, filling my lungs with nature's sweet nectar. The crimson red sky gently illuminates the broken flat ground beneath my feet. The dead, barren landscape feels nostalgic.

While making my way through the bloodshot world around me I ponder where it all went wrong. Throughout my entire life I’ve done nothing but try to match something, someone unattainable.

When I was young this place was filled with all sorts of flora and fauna, but the wildfires, infernos burned it all down. The longer I lived, the more I tried, my garden was picked apart.

The mountains I used to climb with joy were dug up and flattened. And now what’s left?

Nothing.

As I push on, searching, thinking and talking to myself. Hoping to find something, someone, anything to fill this void. There are sprouting flowers and patches of grass here and there, trying to make this place their new home.

I step on them, pull them out of the ground. Uprooting them to make sure nothing other than myself has to live in this hell. I’m slowly becoming the device of my own destruction.

I wish I had something left to die for, to know what people see before it’s over. But I’ve already reached hell, there’s no need for me to go further than this.

This is fine, I like where I am and wherever I’m going. This complete solitude suits me well, there’s nothing left in this world to fill this void.

Or so I would think, but as I’m making my way deeper and deeper into this hell the breeze becomes stronger and stronger. The further I push, the more the wind pushes back on my body.

I struggle to hold myself on my feet as I push through the violent wind, doing everything in my power to make it through. I drop on all fours and begin crawling. Each step forward takes weeks, each meter ahead months.

It takes years, centuries, millenia. By the time I see it my body grew old, only to die and be born again and grow up.

There it is. Shrouded behind a wall of dust, the glimpse of a small piece of myself, still holding strong. The defiant nature of that place, refusing everything that’s been thrown at it.

Thriving in an environment trying to kill it, wipe it out of existence. The last glimmer of hope, a glimpse of cathartic, unadulterated joy.

I gasp for air, reaching my arm out, trying to reach it. It’s mere inches away, but miles from my fingers as they graze its edge.

- “Leshy! Wake up! Come on!” - I get pulled out of my slumber by a violent tug on my shoulder. Xerra’s yelling at me to get up as I turn around in bed confused. - “Nyxie! She’s been kidnapped!” - Huh? This a bad out of season April Fools joke? - “Come on, you need to find her. Get up!”

Xerra pulls me up forcefully and waves her hands for me to get up. I slap my cheeks and gather my things, gearing myself up. The moment I’m ready Xerra pulls me out of the room by the arm and leads me to Nyxie’s temporary room.

- “Leshy, can you figure anything out?” - Valerie asks me, her face filled with concern. She’s more of a mother to that kid than her actual parents.

- “It’s likely that after our little falling out with the parents they somehow got inside and took her. “ - I note to Valerie and Xerra as I look around the room

- “Can’t you use your power to find her?” - Xerra makes a good point. I completely forgot about that, so much shit happened.

I nod to Xerra and begin focusing. The sensory overload is very familiar at this point. I let the world around me overwhelm me for a little bit before squashing it down, focusing on specific things around me to tune my focus where I want it to be.

I keep squashing it, crushing it down and flattening it as much as possible. Trying to feel out Valerie, Xerra and the people inside of the Inn as an anchor. It’s not working though. The screeching noise takes front and center as I try to hold my balance. I can feel my ears start to bleed a little, my nose begins to bleed as well.

- “Hey! Sit down. What happened?” - Valerie quickly grabs me under the armpit and leads me to Nyxie’s bed. I pull off from her.

- “I’m fine, just…” - Nyxie needs us to get this shit sorted out fast… There’s no time to dwell on whatever just happened. - “What’s next? I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.”

I Grab the bottom of my shirt and stick it to my nose, stopping the bleeding for now. I stand off the bed and take a look around. It’s hard to hold my balance, the vertigo slowly starts seeping in and the world around me starts to rotate like a blender.

- “You should definitely rest. Me and Xerra will figure this out” - Valerie, the mother of the group. Always trying to protect everyone around her.

All of this makes no sense. Stealing a kid from some of the most dangerous people I know. The parents either hired someone or somehow managed this themselves. Regardless, we need to find Nyxie and get her back here before anything more dangerous happens to her.

I shake myself awake a little bit, trying to get the feeling of vertigo out of my head like a dog shaking water out of their fur, finishing the action of with a slap to both of my cheeks

- “Just tell me what you think we should do next.” - I bark at Valerie and Xerra. No reason to stand around and do nothing. - “Anything? Anyone got any ideas?”

- “Let’s start with the guards. The closest exit from town is the east one and likely the only exit they’d take.” - Xerra steps in. The east exit… That’s the one I entered through when we got back from the training trip.

As far as I remember there were no guards when I came back from the training. That’d make it a perfect exit. But no guards? The town’s swarming with law enforcement, yet one of the gates would be unguarded?

I have an inkling that Nyxie’s disappearance is only the tip of the iceberg here. Just, something about all of this is too fishy. We get ourselves sorted and make our way out of the Inn. By the time we get to the gate and approach the guards I am able to stop my nosebleed and my ears are no longer ringing. Guards? Huh.

We walk up to one of the guards on duty and Valerie begins talking to them.

- “We’re searching for the Devrant family. Specifically the daughter, Nyxie Devrant and her parents. Have you seen them or know of their whereabouts right now?” - The guard looks at Valerie with a raised eyebrow, then looks over at the other guard who shrugs at him.

- “No, we have not seen them. Last I heard you bought out the kid and had her over. Did something happen with them?” - The guard sounds… confused? Dishonest maybe?

- “Nyxie has been taken from my Inn while recovering, she’s too weak to be moved around. We suspect her parents had something to do with it.” - Valerie explains the issue without overtly stating what might’ve gone down, smart.

- “Well, they did not walk through here, the gate is always guarded…” - Always guarded, he says. They’re making shit up as they go.

- “Always guarded? Cut the shit, unlike these two I recently made my way into town through this gate. I can still see the holes in the ground from where I landed” - I point to the two dips in soil where I slammed into the ground no more than 3 days ago. - “So, if you didn’t see the parents, that means the gate was unguarded!?”

- “Get out of my face boy. I don’t need to explain myself to you.” - This piece of garbage. - “Leave, we have duties to attend to.”

- “Well then, as this investigation falls under the Gallahan’s Spotter Association. Or to be more precise, under my supervision, you will tell me why the gates were unguarded.” - I didn’t know Valerie could pull rank on law enforcement. Guess there weeks isn’t enough to figure shit out.

- “Look here Valerie. We’ve known each other a long time. You know I can’t tell you a lot, we have a schedule set for guard duty and we stick to it. We don’t question it. You were a soldier, you know how it goes.” - Valerie puts her hands on her hips and contemplates the situation. Xerra on the other hand seems to be carefully watching the other guard as this is all going down.

- “Fair enough. Xerra, get your unit and set up a search party. Any sensory wave users that can track are recalled from any Spotter duty until this is solved.” - Xerra without hesitation nods and begins walking away without saying anything. - “We’ll meet by this gate in an hour!”

Xerra raises her hand to indicate she heard Valerie’s last remark.

- “Leshy, we’re leaving.” - I nod while looking down at the guard. We quickly walk away and head over to the guard post. On the way Valerie pokes my arm and asks.

- “Can you handle trying to get into the chief’s head? I feel like there’s something stopping you from…” - I put up my arm and stopped Valerie there.

- “It’s fine. Just do your thing and I’ll see if he’s lying or not.” - She nods without further elaboration. I know what to expect now. I’ll handle the pain just fine.

When we get reasonably close to the guard post I begin the process of focusing. The noise is terrible, all that screeching from before is even more intense, my nose starts to bleed again and I clamp my nose shut with my fingers.

I continue to match Valerie’s pace, but at this point I can basically see double. The world around me is spinning but I hold on tight to my focus. I squash it, force it down. I effectively have to beat it into submission before the noise subsides and the vertigo calms down a little.

Not a moment later, the familiar aura gently floats around me, I can feel the people of Nova Vertex go about their day. Next step is to tune out everything I don’t need…

The people around me, myself, Valerie and Xerra, the smaller residents of the town like dogs, cats, mice and other animals. Gone, they’re not required here. Only the chief officer, only he is important.

It doesn’t take me long to find the tired old man. There’s something else though, something I can’t tune out and it’s right next to me and Valerie. I look around to see it but when I turn right to look at it, it shows up on my left, when I look there, it’s back to my right.

Almost like it’s always behind me, wherever I’m looking. This is unimportant though. I’ll figure what the fuck is going on with my abilities later. I can sense the chief officer, the head honcho of the local guards.

- “Wait outside Leshy, just listen in and feel out the situation for me.” - I nod back at Valerie and rest my back on the guard posts wall while Valerie comes inside.

I can’t make out a lot of the conversation while outside, this shack’s actually well insulated. But I can make out some of it. Valerie and the guard are talking about the situation with Nyxie and why there are holes on the east gate in guard duties.

Throughout the whole conversation I keep feeling out the guard’s thoughts. He’s stressed, very pressured and most importantly there’s guilt. Then the bombshell comes.

Valerie mentions that because Nyxie is a Spotter in training since yesterday afternoon, the guard's thoughts went from pressure and guilt to existential dread and fear. I remember Valerie mentioning that the investigation falls under the Association now since Nyxie’s a Spotter, I’m not entirely sure what that entails though.

But one thing’s clear, the head guard over here didn’t know or expect this to be the case. He knows something. I’m sure of it. Not soon after Valerie comes out and we begin walking back to the east gate to meet with Xerra and the rest of the Spotters.

- “So, anything interesting?” - Valerie asks me while we walk.

- “Guilt, pressure and stress…” - I scratch my chin - “The moment you mentioned that Nyxie’s a Spotter now he turned to fear and existential dread. He definitely knows something”

- “Alright, well. We’ll figure it out. How’s the bleeding?” - She asks me with a concerned look on her face.

I didn’t drop my focus, not sure if I can have it working again in the future, so I decided against it. The nosebleed is gone but my head is ringing. This is a good moment to get used to a prolonged use of my skills.

- “All good. I’m keeping the eye of Sauron open…” - After blurting this out, Valerie gives me a weird look but doesn’t question it further. I need to watch my language. Though I do feel like an AWACS, searching for targets.

Not soon after, we’re by the east gate. Xerra’s already standing by with a group of twenty other Spotters. Within that group I see Jax and his crew standing by. Everyone’s armed to the teeth.

- “Already gave them the rundown. It’s all on you to give the orders.” - Xerra explains to Valerie, presenting the group with her hands.

I watch along as they start planning possible escape routes, who to talk to, etc. We have a second. I should try to search for Nyxie using my power. I focus up, I don’t have a clear image of her since I’ve not yet interacted with her too much other than just looking at her from a distance.

But what would a kid that’s been kidnapped feel? Struggle? Scared? Though, what if she doesn’t think she’s being kidnapped? Or maybe she’s been drugged or passed out? What then?

I keep thinking about those things until the screeching noise shows up again… I’m losing my focus. I’ve spent too much time in this state… I feel overwhelmed by the noise but I don’t let loose, I can’t let loose.

What would a girl taken by parents that don’t love her think? Think Jan… THINK!!! I search and search, tune out feelings one after another while navigating the people around me with my ability.

I search the town for young people, kids of any kind. I then look for adults and check how many there are around them. She’d be accompanied by at least two adults who would feel some sort of stress or nervousness…

That’s it, search for the parents!

When they came to pick Nyxie up, they were desperate. Even if she’s not with them yet, they’d know something! I grab onto my head as the screeching fills my brain.

Hold on! THERE! They’re close, just a few kilometers from here. I grab onto Valerie’s shoulder who’s standing next to me. Only now I notice that she is intently looking at me, both curious and worried at the same time.

She’s not reacting in any specific way, just carefully looking at me. The screeching grows stronger still. Not like this motherfucker, I will hold onto this ability if it fucking kills me. That kid’s coming back to us and getting a normal life, I’m making sure of that.

- “I found them! I don’t know if Nyxie’s with them but I found them!” - I blurt it out and point in the direction they’re at. - “6 Kilometers, this way…”

- “Let's get going, people! Pronto!” - The entire Spotter group, including me Valerie and Xera, starts moving to where I pointed.

I wonder, what draws me to that girl? She’s in this situation because of me, that obviously plays a big part… But nobody is asking me to push myself this much. Maybe I’m just punishing myself, not just for this but for everything else as well.

It doesn’t doesn’t take us long to get there, it’s only a 30 minute run and since we’re all high on adrenaline and enhanced through the Wave’s influence we make the trip in no time at all.

Throughout the way I continuously let Valerie and Xerra know the direction we are supposed to move towards, making sure we’re on track. It takes us a few minutes once we’re around the area where they should be at to find it…

But it turned out the parents, and a lot more people are underground. One of the teams finds an entrance into the cave they’re hiding out in, it seems man made or at the very least a natural cave that’s been altered.

And it’s not like in a cliff or a hill or something. It’s literally a hole in the ground that just goes downwards.

- “Leshy, how many do you sense inside?” - Valerie asks me as we crouch by the entrance.

I focus on the cave, tuning out everything else. The screeching noise has substantially subsided. I’m getting used to this feeling it seems. There are 16 people that seem rough-ish? They feel pressured, I think they know we’re here… I mean it’s not like we were hiding the presence of a couple dozen people approaching.

Other than those 16, there are 4 others: The parents, a young girl who I presume to be Nyxie, and someone else. That person worries me, they’re extremely calm considering we’re about to assault them.

Xerra swings open the mesh with leaves on it that’s been covering the entrance so far. A gaping hole presents itself, perfectly sized to accept two people in a row one after another, there are stairs made of simple wooden planks, simply placed on dug out dirt to resemble a staircase.

- “Evius, Nort, you two up in front. Valerie, Leshy after me and then the rest.” - Xerra hands out the order to enter and without further ado, we begin making our way down.

One of the guys in front pulls out an arrow and holds it up, after a couple of seconds it begins illuminating the area without giving out any light itself. It’s strange. Like looking at a building being illuminated with a backdrop of dense rain clouds.

Most folks behind us have their weapons sheathed. Me, Xerra and Valerie each arm ourselves, holding ready for any attack and the two leading people prepare their weapons as well.

We’re descending slowly, looking at our feet, the ceiling and walls for any traps, anything that could trip us up. We are however not hiding our entrance, everyone is making noise, talking, their armor and weapons clatter around.

I hear some of the people behind me silently beg for something to jump at us. These psychopaths are looking for a fight, it’s both unnerving and relaxing at the same time.

We continue down, the staircase is quite long, it takes a couple of minutes to get all the way down at our current, slow pace…! There’s two people ahead.

Not ours, they’re at the base of the stairs. I immediately poke Xerra and show her two fingers and point down with them. She’s quick to understand and lets the guy with the arrow know to turn it off.

The two below are aware of our descent, but it seems they don’t completely know how many of us are there. They feel confident? There’s some fear but it’s closer to anticipation I guess.

I try to peer deeper into them, maybe I could dig something up but the strain I have on my body right now prevents me from going further. Especially considering I have to keep the physical enhancement up as well.

We stop just shy of the two fuckers in front. Xerra points her glaive down the stairs and tenses up. With a quiet woosh and a puff of dust she disappears. At the same time the sounds of a blade cutting into flesh can be heard from below us.

There’s a moment of silence, some grunts from the two guys that are followed with a cracking sound. Not soon after we hear Xerra yell…

- “Let’s go people, clear this place out, get any intel you can and find me the damn girl!” - At her command, before I can even react some of the people behind me dash ahead, running along walls and pulling out their weapons, whistling and yelling.

These are Titanothar Spotters in this world? Fuck it, I’m a slav, I’m not going to shy away from a fight!

I blast off, passing Valerie who’s in front of me with a blast wave, leaving a pulse of air behind me as I dive head first as deep into the cave as I can. I push forward to the nearest guy I can sense.

SLAM…!

A loud bang is heard as I introduce my two feet to his chest, crushing him down into the ground, buckling the rocky floor underneath him. A spray of blood comes out of his mouth as he struggles with the pressure of my hit.

Where’s the next…! THERE!

I blast off again, pushing the guy further into the ground as I continue forward towards my next target. The sounds of yells and chants, metallic clangs and wet noises of blood splattering around are heard all the way throughout the cave.

I take a left, then a right. The cave suddenly opens up into a bigger chamber, inside there are 4 people…

They don’t matter…

All of them ready their weapons, but before they can react I slide my humongous sword in the closest enemy's sternum. Without a second thought I open the blade up just as Xerra taught me.

I land on top of this guy, he’s screaming and yelling bloody murder, holding onto his chest and my blade, trying to get it out.

The three others stand there, the impact of my attack seems to have left them a bit confused? I don’t feel much other than fear and confusion from them right now.

I look at my open blade and I remember Xerra, how she used this… Right, I can push Wave through it!

I focus up just a little bit more, the gap in my blade which is still firmly seated in a man’s chest begins to flow with the Wave. The gentle teal glow emanates from my sword, a sense of power fills my arms as I stand up and pull the blade out of the guy below me.

The screeching noise is entirely gone, the vertigo subsides entirely… My mind is laser focused on the three things in front of me. Sacks of meat, obstacles on my way to Nyxie…

- “You…” - Point to the next thing in line. He flinches, at the same moment I dash forward and slash.

SHHHHT!

He tries to block with his sword, I readjust my strike and my blade cleanly disconnects his hands from the rest of his body. His blade drops on the floor with his hands still attached to it.

I focus more Wave into my sword, it glows more and more intensely as I do. For some reason, it feels natural to know this but I look towards the man on my right and swing my blade while still being some ways away.

In a fraction of a second he splits in half, unable to react. Without a second thought I turn to the fourth man who’s now dropped to his knees.

I dash towards him and grab him by the face, continuing my dash with him in tow. I finish the action off by putting him in the wall, he’s still alive…

- “WHERE IS SHE?!” - The voice that comes out of my mouth is brutal, like a wild lion’s roar that just caught its prey and is looking for more.

- “Ack! cough… She’s deeper in! Who the fuck are you peopl…” - Before he can finish I clench my hand down on his face like a vice with a cracking sound.

I drop him on the ground and begin searching for the calm presence I felt before… It doesn’t take me long, it’s still here, just as calm and moving.

He’s moving towards some of the other spotters that entered. No time to waste!

POOF! I dash towards him as fast as possible. I follow the cave, it’s a straight road so far… Suddenly, there’s a T section in front of me… He’s right behind it!

Fuck the wall! I push my fist into the stone that’s in my way, pushing through with everything I’ve got!

- “Got you BITCH!” - The two Spotters on the left look at me, their mouths agape as I send the figure in front of me flying with my fist.

The force of this encounter shakes the entire room around us, some rocks fall to the ground and dust fills the room from my entrance.

A rancid smell enters the hell we’re in. The two random spotters to the side start coughing in reaction, it’s a horrible smell. The man I just slammed in the face stands up, the wall behind him crumbled.

WHAT…!

There are bodies behind him… Small, dressed in rags and dirty, some covered in blood, some still resembling their old selves.

A pile of missed opportunities, lost futures… Loved daughters and sons.

The world around me turns white, there’s only him in front of me… I’ll fucking kill him, he’s not walking out of here alive…

- “Aaaah~. Now I smell like shit and piss… Look at what you did, young boy!” - His tone is like a snakes, nonchalant and melodic, sarcastic even.

Like a Typhoon hitting landfall, our next clash collapses the entire room around us. My fist sinks deep into his stomach, bulging his back out from the impact.

My eyes turn pure white as I show him where the fucking stratosphere is. Without an ounce of doubt in my mind I chase through the falling rubble.

While I chase, he regains his composure, high up above the treeline. He pulls out two daggers from his belt and crosses them together, soon after the entire area is covered in fog. It seeps in like a flash flood, the visibility is low…

I keep moving, no stopping! LEFT! Clang! I block his hit with my sword, sparks illuminate the immediate fog around us. I use the force of our clash to propel myself into a roundhouse kick.

He dodges! That sly fuck! The force of my kick creates a gash in the fog, revealing the immediate area for a short while. I didn’t sense anything since I’m focused entirely on this piece of shit but there are people below us getting out of the cave.

No matter… I’m justice’s hammer right now, about to dispense divine judgment on this inhuman trash.

Above me…!

WHACK! I get kicked from above, he’s fast! The force is enough to send me back down into the ground.

My body sinks into the soil beneath us as a small crater forms around me from the force of the contact.

He’s chasing now! Closing in. Unlike anyone else… I see you!

I reach out my hand just as he’s about to hit, sliding it between his arms and grabbing him by the throat.

We send it off the ground, he’s struggling to get out but I don’t let go. When we’re just above the cloud of fog that now encompasses the forest I throw him with all my might.

My muscles bulge as I roar, unable to contain my fury. My shirt rips from the increase in muscle mass and his body ragdolls his way back down into the ground, landing a little ways away from where I did.

The impact is like that of the Mother of all Bombs. The ground underneath him spreads out to form a large crater, the trees in the immediate area crack and break from the pressure wave.

The skin and bones that only look like a human try to stand up, coughing and pulling themselves up slowly. I float down towards him…

My eyes white with anger, arcs of energy crackle around me as I approach the scumbag. I land just a little away from him, that’s right… I am the inevitable end that he must meet.

I take every step towards him slowly, purposefully as the area around us lights up occasionally with the energy shooting off my body.

STEP

- “Look, look! I was not a part of this, you hear me?!”

STEP

- “I didn’t know they were killing these kids, I was just trying to help them find a better life!”

STEP

- “THAT’S RIGHT! I was helping, see? That girl we just got in, she would’ve been sold to…!”

no more…

I step in front of him and press my index finger on his lips with a “Shhhhh…”.

- “P-please don’t kill me…!” - A whimper escaped his lips, his last words were begging me to let him continue his pitiful existence.

The fog around us disperses, the tree’s around us slowly turn a coal black and crumble under their own weight. The grass around the crater shifts and withers, leaving nothing but dead flora like a red carpet inviting Death herself.

Small critters whimper, squeal and try running away, only to be met with the inevitable. Birds wither mid flight, falling down one by one with a dull thud as they hit the ground.

And he… I drain his life slowly, taking year after year, watching him age more and more. His already broken body is unable to hold himself back as his hair turns gray and skin shrivels from the decay.

Drip, drip, years pass by for him, decades… And only a few minutes later, he gives his last breath.

I stand up from the scumbags body… I didn’t even know his name now that I think about it. The area around me is dead, like a withered landscape where a lush garden once stood.

I look around the devastation I caused, fallen trees and broken ground. I make my way out of the crater and head over to where we originally started this battle.

There’s a gaping hole, far bigger than just the room we were in. It’s enormous, the whole cave collapsed… There’s rubble all over the place, some walls are still crumbling and you can make out rooms here and there… The whole cave collapsed?

Valerie’s perspective…

We move as fast as possible while making sure that Nyxie’s safe. Xerra cradles Nyxie as we run out of the collapsing cave.

Someone took it a step too far it seems or sprung a trap, but that wasn’t the idea I had in mind when taking on this place. I look over the immediate area just as a thick fog rolls in.

Someone’s using a very powerful Wave, something like this requires a lot of skill. I pat down my dusty dress after buckling my bloody gauntlets back onto my belt.

Nyxie looks fine, but exhausted, Xerra on the other hand has her signature look in her eyes. She could throw down a little bit more if not for the collapse. What a crazy woman.

- “Gather round everyone! I need a headcount!” - I yell out, the fog is still thin enough to make out most of the team. By eye I can see that we’re missing two… three people, Leshy included.

POW! A large shockwave goes through the area and the fog gaps away for a moment. In the air is a cloaked man holding two daggers in the middle of a dodge.

Next to him, Leshy. He’s in the middle of a battle with whoever that is.

I look through the troops, checking for wounds, providing some basic aid for those with cuts and bruises on them. Luckily though nobody’s badly hurt, just minor scrapes and cuts.

- “Valerie, any Idea what’s going on?” - One of the Spotters yells out just as another shockwave hits us, I look over and see Jax approach.

- “Leshy’s gone and collapsed the cave, probably because of whoever he’s fighting…” - I explain to Jax. He looks at me with a smirk and goes back to his team. - “Jax! Get the rest and head as far away as you can from here and take Nyxie with you!”

I point him to Nyxie in Xerra’s arms, he nods and runs over, picking her up from Xerra.

After that he starts barking commands at people, quite a resourceful guy. The rest of the spotters head out and away.

- “Let's go Xerra, time to help out here.” - Just as I say this another shockwave, this time it’s much more powerful.

The two of us have to brace to not be blown away from its force. Just as the shockwave subsides, so does the fog. It gently disperses, revealing Leshy, slowly descending downwards to where a large cloud of dust is currently settling.

Arcs of pure Wave blast off him. This is the first time I’m seeing something like this.

We start running towards the fight, they moved pretty far from the cave itself. After a minute or two of moving through the now ruined forest, Xerra stops and grabs me by the arm.

- “Hold, something’s coming!” - I nod to her and we stand there, in silence… The wind and sounds of rocks falling around us from the impacts fill the empty space.

Soon after, not even 50 meters in front of us the tree’s, grass and anything living that’s running away begins to wither and die. The stench of death fills the area, rotten flora and fauna quickly begin to fill the area in front of us.

What is going on…?

I start moving towards where Leshy went after all life was drained from the landscape in front of me, an enormous patch of the forest is dead.

It doesn’t take us long to get to where he is… As we arrive we look at him walk back out of an enormous crater. He’s moving away from us which lets us get close to the old, cloaked man down there.

Xerra crouches down by the withered old man and checks his vitals, shaking her head and indicating that he’s gone. Such an old fart couldn’t possibly have caused such a destruction.

- “Let's go Xerra.” - I poke her while she’s still investigating the body. We begin moving towards Leshy. Only a few hundred meters behind him, he’s moving back to the cave…

“Aaaaaah!” …!

We hear Leshy’s scream right in front of us as it reverberates throughout the remnants of a once living forest.

The scream is followed by another, beastly roar and a shockwave. This is bad. Xerra seems to agree as she forgot any sense of stealth and dashes towards the roar, I follow suit.

We move between the trees at an incredible speed, leaving a gust of wind and dust behind us.

There! Leshy is grabbing onto his head, hitting it repeatedly as the violent bursts of Wave around him become more and more intense. He looks significantly bigger than when he entered the cave, his eyes are pure white.

- “He’s lost it Valerie!” - Xerra’s remark seems to be on point here.

The ground begins to shake violently as Leshy roars more, his muscles pulse from pain. He’s ripping his body to shreds, we need to stop this!

…!

In the blink of an eye, our gazes meet. One moment he’s there, another I’m sent flying by his fist. Fuck, what’d I do to you?! I regain my composure and after landing on the ground I pull out my gauntlets.

I slam my body to max and send it towards Leshy. A shockwave forms around me as I move past the trees.

Xerra is holding her own quite well, their hands are clasped together in a tug of war, both of them grunting at each other.

Sorry Xerra, but I gotta interrupt this! BANG My gauntlet sinks in Leshy’s side, I make sure to angle it just right and he with a loud bang from the sudden change of velocity gets ejected from Xerra’s grip and into the hole where a cave once was.

Xerra immediately follows after, same as me. She’s not fucking around though, while not using her glaive as to not hurt him. She’s now on top of Leshy, roaring back at him as she holds him down.

That’s right Xerra, keep this guy down for a bit… I focus up as much as I can, given the circumstances. Ten or even Fifteen times will not be enough here, I have to make sure he’s out for the count!

- “HAAA!” - He’s like a wild dog about to be put down, ripping his vocal cords out.

The area turns from haphazardly fallen rocks and boulders to a flat compressed surface as I crank up the gravity in the area. Xerra nearly buckles under her significant weight increase as she’s holding Leshy down.

- “Calm down motherfucker!” - Xerra’s body bursts into flames as she’s pushing her power to keep him down, her eyes begin to glow a bright red. The entire area around us is shaking.

There’s no time to spare… I move in front of Xerra and Leshy as he’s being pinned down, raise my gauntlets over my head and strike down into his face.

I make sure to not go all out, that’d kill the two of them. I drop the gravity increase just before hitting him, allowing for Xerra to back off. But the explosion following my hit is massive, the crater from my hit envelops the one caused by Leshy before.

If this doesn’t end right here, we’re not going to have a forest…

The dust slowly settles, Xerra’s glow is faintly visible through the thick cloud of dust and rocks falling around us. Between us the flashes of pure Wave slowly subside along with the dust settling.

Between me and Xerra lies Leshy, out cold. His nose and ears are bleeding from my hit and the muscle mass he’s gained when going berserk slowly reverts. That’s also when it became apparent just how out of control he was.

Xerra falls back onto her ass, exhaling loudly and wiping the sweat of her forehead. And Leshy? Still alive, breathing.