Asimina scowled into the dark. Keeping track of time within a fold was nearly impossible. The smaller ones followed the outside rhythm. Bigger ones, like the Orykto fold, followed their own esoteric measures.

According to Phineus, it had only been little more than three days, which was frankly absurd. How could one man strike at them so strongly in such a short amount of time? This Sentinel had to be a prodigy of monstrous caliber. He’d looked young too, Asimina doubted he was even thirty yet.

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders, trying to make her waterlogged armor fit better. There was no help for it, however, not without having all the straps re-tightened. She hadn’t even been into the water yet. The rain had just picked up and then continued.

She peered out at the rest of the group she was traveling with. A rarity, especially in a mercenary company, an all women’s group. Katia, with her bow and arrow, Natassa with her multitude of spears, and Marina with her orbs of light, were as hard-bitten warriors as any Asimina had ever met.

Soldier work attracted a few specific kinds of people. Out of those people, a less savory subset tended to drop out and join mercenary companies. The certain individuals were only rarely savory. Thankfully, most of the time they were just greedy, but occasionally they had worse things on their mind and simply hadn’t given in or been caught yet.

Before her promotion to Squad leader and head of a fifth of the company’s people, she’d thought this was a failing purely of men. Ironically, it was the very scenario that broke her of this idea that also enabled her to rise in rank.

She shook her head. Natassa and Marina were good people, a little down on their luck, as most gamblers were, but overall, good. Katia was young, new to mercenary work. Freshly recruited from the army, with her sight on earning a bit of money before retiring and picking up a more normal profession.

They wouldn’t force their unwanted attention on another, especially not with their commander joining the group.

“How are you holding up?” Asimina asked, having to shout a little to be heard over the wind.

“I’m good,” Katia replied with a thumb raised. “Maybe you could put in a word to get some freshwater added to the rain?”

“Doesn’t work like that, unfortunately,” Asimina grinned at the diminutive woman. They were of alike. Both didn’t quite have the intimidating glare most people earned after doing this kind of work. They shared a mana element, and they were both rural girls who thought they’d earn a few quick keys before moving on to smarter, safer work.

She shifted her shoulders again, trying and failing to sort out the displaced sensation of something being off. She rubbed her fingers together. Even though she was pressing with all her strength, she barely felt it. It wasn’t the glove’s thick material, but perhaps the four rings underneath that were the cause. A stray breeze blew through the helm, causing the earrings to pull oddly as well. Or maybe it was just a slight movement of her head that did it.

Asimina had only recently learned about the greater picture regarding soul-sight and the nature of spirits. She’d glimpsed her Fundament once before the job started, but hadn’t managed access it since. Now, she was too busy.

If she wasn’t out with a group, making sure they had a proper defensive header, she would be back at camp working with the other squad leaders, Phineus, and Stelios to make sure they were covering the fold properly.

Phineus had suggested that the Sentinel’s last appearance was related to his changing hideout. The logistics officer still didn’t have a clear image. Without a sensitive like Alexis, they were forced to rely on other measures. Mihail was supposed to be great at his job.

Asimina had seen how it killed him. He couldn’t find where the Sentinel disappeared to. The tracker had barely even glimpsed the scout, despite his best attempts.

“Sir,” Natassa called, pointing outward. “Do you see that?”

Asimina gave Katia an affectionate pat on the shoulder before moving up. A slight light in the distance cast into the backdrop of clouds. Soul-sight rushed forwards, leaving her almost breathless as it dove into the mana-rich environment, plowing through so many sensations she could barely parse any of them.

“There’s a chance it might be one of the light sources within the fold,” Natassa said.

Asimina reached the limits of her soul-sight, when an all-consuming wall of dread, fear, and anger consumed her. Darkness encroached as her sight narrowed to the slowly growing light. The yellow tint seemed almost golden in the dark.

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With an effort of will, Asimina steadied herself, calling her tools to her side. Absolute lifted the iron tower shield from her back. She slipped her arm into the shield as the sword rose into her hand.

“Steady yourselves!” She called. The light was definitely growing. As was the oppression. “We are warriors!” her voice was feeble compared to the horror, the monster descending on them like the judgement of the gods.

“Sir,” Marina called.

“Go to Katia, make sure she’s able to fully set up.”

“Yes, sir.” Marina said, fortified by having a job.

Asimina nodded to herself. Get them moving. Acting, “Natassa behind me, spears out!”

Flickers of something seemed to rush by the light as it descended. How high did he have to be to still be falling towards them? Like as not, it didn’t matter. He had to be closing on the velocity limit, where no fall would ever hurt him.

“That’s a hammer!” Natassa screamed from behind her.

Asimina caught the hint of metal with her senses, the pressure of the Sentinel’s mana nearly drowning it out. Asimina called her power forth. Fortress of the Heart and Unbroken Wall flourished, barely tickling on the edge of synergy, her mana pool dropping quickly.

Veins of metallic mana traced through her skin originating from her chest, her boots groaning and leather stretching as her weight tripled, then doubled again. Meanwhile, her tower shield grew both in size in all three dimensions, becoming a twice its original dimensions and many times thicker.

Flies suddenly swarmed them, smacking into Asimina’s face, biting at her grimaced expression. The insects failed to penetrate her reinforced skin, but clearly were more effective on the ones behind her.

Natassa growled and launched one spear, wind mana propelling to speeds that would outpace arrows.

Then the Sentinel struck.

For a moment, Asimina struggled to figure out what had happened. The shriek of metal, the force of the blow. He’d struck her like a lightning bolt. The blow had sundered the platform. The air filled with the rushing sound of water. Boulders big enough that a team of mercenaries could stand shoulder-to-shoulder were falling into the waves.

Asimina straightened, retrieving her true tower shield from the remains of her Unbroken Wall. A spike of pain rushed up her shoulder, sending bile up her throat with its intensity as she hefted the heavy tool. The Sentinel stood before her, shattered rock and torn metal littering at his bare feet. His hammer, a maul, had broken and ripped, the remnants of the metal handle twisted into uselessness in his hands.

The sand that had surrounded him was falling to the ground, no longer carried or created by whatever Ability he’d been fueling. The surrounding glow had changed as well, dimmer seeming to come from inside him.

“He’s using the enforcement Ability!” Marina cried out, her senses locked onto him. Her job was to read him, to understand and predict his next moves. Natassa shrieked, sending another spear flying towards him. She was the fly in the ointment, annoying enough to catch his immediate attention.

A high-strength, high-defensive fighter always struggled with projectile weapons. They only ever really had one answer for it: endure and close the distance. If that failed, then throw stuff back at them.

Sentinel caught the spear with a dismissive move and lunged forward, his bare feet slapping the stone with popping cracks. Asimina growled and raised her shield again, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. This was her job. She was the meat, the tank, the get-in-the-enemy’s-way person. She got hit, and she was good at it. And she’d been hopped up on six power items, further enhancing her defense.

She slammed into the Sentinel. Their clash sounded akin to two anvils smashing together. His skin was tough as steel. And it felt like she’d been hit with an anvil as well. She screamed in echo of her shoulder as she pushed back against him.

Fortress of the Heart made her tougher and heavier, yet she felt herself briefly rear back onto one foot. He was taller than her and crucially had the reach advantage. After a brief hesitation, which earned him a spear to his side, he slipped around the shield and grab Asimina’s arm.

The world lurched, her shoulder popped so loudly it momentarily overwhelmed the wind, then stone cracked so loudly it momentarily overwhelmed her thoughts. Fire consumed her arm. Her fingers felt dull and distant, barely twitching to her responses. Her breastplate dug into her back, deformed from her impact.

Purple eyes appeared above her, rain dripping from his wild and uncontrolled hair. He wore no armor, carried no items. Another spear howled towards him. The Sentinel caught it one-handed. The wind fueling the projectile’s speed blew both rain and hair away from his face. His fingers slipped down the haft and his arm reared back.

Asimina came to a moment later, a new pain silvery and lightning inflaming her face. She hadn’t been out for long. The Sentinel had only staggered a few steps away, spears and bars of light attacking him at speeds Asimina had rarely seen. Natassa and Marina had to be burning their mana up in seconds to continue at this speed.

Then another presence blossomed, heavy and metallic. The mana was as strong as the Sentinel’s own. Katia had finally finished her first Ability. Asimina grinned and barked a rough laughter. “You didn’t prepare for this?”

The last member of their team, the only other member also fully loaded on power-items, unleashed her Ability. Katia, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, had been bought out by Mercy’s Redoubt for one simply discovery. Metal and Truth was a powerful and complicated Ability that enhanced a targeted arrow, but Skymetal Shot was a simple enhanced shot any archer would have.

Not even Sabas knew how Katia had stumbled on their synergy, but they knew it worked. And the girl was hopped up on six power-items enhancing her power as well.

Asimina grinned, as the shot cracked the air like actual thunder. To Asimina’s addled senses, the Sentinel simply disappeared. She caught the barest flash of purple lines and then he was gone.