No one paid me any attention as I stood there. Alessia was desperately fighting for her life. Each swing of her polearm was as fast as quicksilver and struck with unerring accuracy, inflicting severe damage upon the man she was fighting. But with each attack she landed, two more struck her from behind. She was dancing around everyone, yet she couldn't keep up with the sheer number of strikes that were coming her way.

My blood boiled, and rage coursed through my veins. How dare they? A low growl escaped my lips as I felt my claws quickly come into existence. Without thinking, I lunged forward, covering the distance between us with ease, and struck the man just behind Alessia, who was raising his blade. My claws easily parted through armor and flesh, and with a quick twist, I pulled them across the width of his body.

Blood splattered the ground, followed by the pungent scent of iron, as the man collapsed. All the fighting ceased, and Alessia spun around to meet me. Her golden eyes were wide in shock. "Empress." Her words were airy and seemed forced.

I flicked my wrist, and I flung the life force that had adorned my fingertips off and onto the fallen man. I suppose I should feel empty and sad at killing, but I couldn't find it. All that I felt now was anger and vindication. They did this to themselves. "You come into my home. You slaughter my people. You threaten my daughter, and you attack my Chosen." The words that left my lips were harsh and angry, punctuated by a low growl. "You are all fools if you think I would tolerate it." The smell of iron stifled everything else and fanned the flames of wrath in my chest.

"Ah, so the necromancer makes her appearance." The leader stepped forward and bore his blade towards me. Like the others, his armor was pitted and formed more of metal than wood. It was polished to a painfully golden radiance and had vines chiseled into its surface, interlaced in strange patterns that stretched the entirety of his gear.

"I am no necromancer." As I spoke, Alessia vanished from sight before reappearing right next to me. Up close, I could see that her clothing was broken and tattered. She was covered in countless cuts and gashes, and a strange blue substance ebbed from her in a steady flow.

"A domain filled with the undead is but a disease upon nature. You can be nothing but a necromancer." He pointed his blade towards me and gritted his teeth. His face twisted into a sneer as he regarded me with amber eyes. The other two quickly formed up around him, bearing their own weapons. The remaining tree-like creatures rallied around them, which wasn't a lot. Two smaller ones, no larger than myself, and one that stood two heads taller than the group across from me.

"These are my people. You have no right to decide if they get to live or die. But if you are so sure of it, you are welcome to try." A familiar sense of my dream self came to the surface and settled in. But I didn't fight it. No, I welcomed it. It was who I am. It was who they needed.

"Then you will die with them." He lunged forward to strike me with a straight jab. Time seemed to slow down as my mind worked in overdrive. I stepped forward and deflected the tip of the blade with my claws, and Alessia quickly followed through with a counter strike with her own weapon. Chaos followed suit as the others joined the fray, and Alessia and I quickly went on the defensive.

Thankfully, before I even moved to get to Nyx, I bit into the exp bank I had and ballooned my overall stats. I jumped to level thirty-two, from where I stood prior, and dumped stats into all my vital traits, not to mention a few points into dexterity, simply to help my mind catch up to my body's movement.

It was sudden, but I needed everything that I could get to get to Nyx, and now I was using it to its full potential to rescue Alessia. I lamented the loss of time, since I still wanted to stack my proficiencies, but luckily I didn't hit my milestone yet. All that mattered was that Nyx and Alessia were safe.

My body twisted and turned with liquid grace as I dodged the various swords swung at me, with my claws deflecting what couldn't be dodged. The feeling of power that pumped through me, matched the fire that roared in my chest as I settled in the new emotion that had come. I was confident. I was sure of myself. Within me sat a power that very few could match.

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I cycled Ki through my body as I pushed back against the onslaught. I stepped forward, deflected the next strike of the sword, filled my fist full of Ki, and delivered a straight jab to the man's face, My arrival thankfully made things easier on Alessia, and she made quick work of the others. Already the remaining monsters were cut down, and she was fighting the last two warriors from Velcrest.

I wasn't the same woman I was a few months ago when I faced those assassins. I wasn't weak, and I was tired of pretending to be so. This was my home, and they violated it. With the space I created, I picked up a sword from a fallen man and pointed it toward the person I was fighting. "Surrender, or you will die here."

Blood trailed from his nose, and his amber eyes were filled with uncertainty. "No, I can't die here." He straightened himself out and charged once more. This time, he used more magic. Vines broke from the ground and rushed toward me like bullets. Months of constant training kicked in as my feet took their own path. I danced through the onslaught of plants and neatly cut through them, yet even with all my speed, a few still hit their mark. But they hardly drew blood through the scales of my dragon flesh. Wave after wave of vines rushed towards me like hounds, yet I pushed on. Nothing would sway me from my path.

Three more vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped around each other, forming a drill-like head that honed in on my location. A laugh escaped from my lips as it tore through dirt and stone alike in its path to reach me. I quickly stepped forward, dodging its strike, and came face to face with the man I assumed to be the leader. The one who caused this all. He swung his sword out towards me, and I parried it. My body reacted on its own as I blocked another strike of his sword and reached out with my claw, enshrining it with soul fire. He tried to bring his sword to bear, but I dropped my own and caught his hand.

The tips of my fingers wrapped around his face and hoisted him into the air. His weight was little more than a mere annoyance to me. "You had a chance to live. But you threw it away. I would have forgiven the attack on my soldiers. But you laid your filthy hands on my Chosen, and I can't forgive that."

He scratched at my hands, trying to free himself. Vines slithered up my legs, and I heard more coming from behind me. Without hesitation, I let my soul flame rage at full force. A scream of inhuman pain filled the air as the man panicked. The vines that tried to contain me fell limp. He beat his fist into my hands, and whatever was in his reach, yet I stood there impassively. His cries fell on a heart of stone as he struggled.

But he did this to himself. They all did, and I couldn't bring myself to pity them any longer. He screamed and screamed until after what I felt like an eternity had passed, his struggles grew weaker and weaker until, at last, he fell limp. I scowled as I released my grasp on his head and watched his body fall in a heap. His face locked in a rictus of frozen terror, yet not a single mark of what caused his death laid upon his body.

"Empress." Alessia's voice tore me from my thoughts as I spun around to her. The last two laid in broken heaps across from her.

"Alessia." whatever I felt at that moment was overshadowed by the relief that I felt. I rushed over to her and threw my arms around her. "You fucking idiot. I was so scared." I wrapped my arms around her and held her close for dear life. The thought of losing her terrified me.

"I had to ensure that Nyx got to safety, but they kept coming." Her arms laced around my waist, and I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears. This all was my family. Alessia, Nyx, Kharon. If anything happened to them, I wasn't sure what I would do.

"You are not allowed to die on me, Alessia. I forbid it." I stepped back and quickly looked over all her wounds. There were so many. I didn't even realize that spirits could bleed.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Empress." She shot me a slight smirk, and I could only shake my head.

"Let's get you back to the stronghold. I want to patch you up before Nyx sees this." I reached out and tried to fix her clothing the best. For a few seconds, she was quiet, which was odd. Until I heard her pole ax slam into the ground. I glanced up to her face and saw that her once brilliant golden eyes had faded into a pale luster, and she seemed to stare off into the distance.

"Alessia?" I reached out towards her face, cupping it in between my hands. Panic sparked in my chest as I called her name once more and didn't receive a response. "Alessia, please say something." I gave her face a soft slap, trying to get her to react. But she remained motionless and unawares. "Answer me, please." For the first time in a long time, I felt tears stream down my face as I pleaded with her unmoving form. Why wasn't she replying to me?