The mayor rode into town with frenzied hoofsteps, his horse trotting fast as his subordinates followed. People darted out of the way as he stormed through the streets wantonly. They wanted to curse, but seeing it was the mayor, they repressed it under their breaths.

"Sir, aren't we riding a bit too aggressively?" Calvin asked from behind the mayor's horse.

"Silence." The mayor muttered, "We don't have time to waste, you fool."

They arrived in front of the Eckhart home with thundering speed, a cloud of dust rising behind them as they dismounted.

"Eckhart's, present yourselves!" The mayor hollered as he tidied up his overcoat and stepped toward the fencing.

Hallie opened the door, confused, "Mayor, what brings you here?"

"All Eckhart's, present yourselves!" The mayor emphasized as he gazed coldly at Hallie.

Jensen, Jared, and Hallie's parents, carrying little Bianca, stepped out moments after.

"Mayor, what's the matter with you?" Jensen asked with his hand ruffling through his hair.

"Where's the woman, Eckhart?" The mayor questioned bluntly, his eyes narrowing toward Jensen.

"Are you still thinking about her? I told you she had nothing to do with the count's men," Jensen retorted, his face painted with discontent. "I don't know where she went, regardless. Why are you here instead of figuring out how to stop Count Blackthorn's depravity?"

The mayor huffed, "Still playing games, Eckhart? I know that you're close to the wench."

"The girls revealed reluctantly that the woman was a part of the abduction. Are you going to claim that the victims are lying?"

"What?" Jensen paled. "That's not possible! She was with us the entire time when the abduction unfolded!"

"That makes no sense, mayor!" Hallie added with furrowed brows. "They must've mistaken her for an accomplice when she was rescuing them."

"Semantics and hyperbole, Eckhart's. You're spinning a wondrous tale of mockery in my town."

"Capture them!" The mayor ordered, waving to the men behind him. "The Eckharts are presumed traitors and rebels; we'll find out the truth once we interrogate them."

Calvin stepped back subtly, unwilling to participate. His action remained unnoticed by the mayor as several other men moved toward Jensen's family. They did not care about the details; they merely obeyed the orders.

The men moved to outstretch their arms to grab the Eckharts, but Jensen and Jared pushed back, grappling with the men. "Cease this foolery, mayor. We have nothing to do with this— neither does the girl!"

"Save your excuses!" The mayor snarled, "Hurry up! Capture them!"

"Damned bastard," Jensen grunted as he twisted his arm, punching one of the men in the face. The other lunged at him, and they wrestled for a moment before Jensen lifted him and threw him back, "This is madness! Will you all calm down!"

The noise began to attract a crowd as people slowly squirmed toward the confrontation. Despite the glaring noise, their curiosity overtook any semblance of rationality. The mayor's impatience reached a tumultuous peak as he watched the Eckharts struggle. Winds began to blow with tempestuous speeds as the town shook. People's gazes scanned the scene as they witnessed the mayor's men and the Eckharts struggling. To them, it seemed completely unreasonable, as the Eckharts had lived in the town for generations.

"Mayor, what's the meaning of what's happening here?" One man questioned from the crowd.

"Yeah, mayor. Explain this!" Another woman added in sternly.

The mayor's head slammed internally, the droning intensifying with the people's incessant nagging that weighed on his fragile rationality. His eyes were constricting and dilating while harsh breaths burst from his lips. He turned toward Calvin and the remaining guards, "Will you capture the Eckharts already; how useless can you lot be."

Seeing the mayor's unfeeling gaze, the men gulped; they ran toward Jensen and the rest to avoid the mayor's outburst. Suddenly, their confrontation turned into a brawl as Jensen and Jared refused to accept capture for such unfair reasoning, and the guards didn't have it in them to forfeit the command.

Agitation coursed through the crowd as they also felt unfairness in the mayor's actions. They raised their voices and fists, compelling him to reconsider and relax. Which only served to further fragment the man's impulse control, dulling the strands that remained.

"What's the meaning of this?" Priscilla's voice churned through the tempestuous winds as she leaped down from atop a rooftop with a forward flip. She sent her palm forward with a gust that pushed back on the guard, separating them from the Eckharts as she stood to the side of them.

"Priscilla— you came back," Hallie muttered as she looked at the young woman.

"IT'S YOU!" The mayor's voice cracked, "Capture her! Capture her now! She's the one responsible for everything!" Thunder roared in the background as his voice slammed into the townspeople's ears.

"Madman, why are you so obsessed with me?" Priscilla questioned as her gaze narrowed in on the mayor's form. "I had nothing to do with Count Blackthorn, yet you keep hammering on that narrative. Are you the one in bed with the count?"

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The mayor squealed, "How dare you! How dare you make such a claim! Sycophant! Audacious and inexplicable sycophant behavior!"

"Your guilt is a glaring display with such audaciousness, wench!"

"Is your outburst now not the same, mayor?" Priscilla asked with calm enunciation.

"Mayor, how about we relax and look into this matter rationally; this could simply be one of the count's ploys to divide us!" One of the townspeople in the crowd spoke up.

"SILENCE!" The mayor howled, his voice crackling in unison with the thunder.

'She's the one— isn't it delectable? Can you feel it?'

"SILENCE! SILENCE!" His voice echoed as he grasped at his head. "You're all aiding traitors. Do you not understand?"

'They'll never understand you. Only power speaks in this world.'

The mayor squirmed as his face turned an unhealthy crimson. His eyes bulged, and his back arched forward.

Witnessing his strange state, the crowd gasped and talked between themselves. Priscilla stood ahead of the Eckharts, feeling an uncertain thud in her chest that gave her a bad feeling. "Get away from here," Priscilla whispered to them.

"What's wrong?" Hallie asked.

"Something's happening with the mayor; you're all in danger if you stay. That's what my intuition is telling me right now." Priscilla retorted as a faint glow covered her eyes.

The mayor chuckled as the Eckharts stepped away, his face writhing with wretched rancor. "You people will never understand me," He uttered in a hollow droll. "Only power speaks in this world."

Lightning struck nearby as smoke and flames billowed; the mayor's laughter crescendoed into a cricketing cackle. His flesh ballooned, eyes bleeding green, and bony growths jutting from his face and back. His disfigured monstrous form brought panicked shrieks from the crowd as they fled with hastened steps. "Ah— hungry. I'm ever so hungry." His voice clicked in a strange tonality that was beyond anything human.

Priscilla did not wait for him to finish transforming as she rushed in with swiftness, striking the man with an ice-spike outstretched from her leg as she kicked him. Since the mayor was going to reveal a monstrous side— she would not waste time with pity or mercy.

The mayor's head twisted with a snap as pincered growths clasped onto Priscilla's leg, dampening her approach with ease. "You've come to us, you too— wish to be one with us. We shall feast for the glory of the dominion. You cannot stop us— witch."

Priscilla's eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth, the seething frustration bubbling, "I hate that damn label," Priscilla huffed, thrashing out in retaliation as her other leg pushed out, sending a thickened needle of flame at the mayor's bulging carapace. "Especially coming from an ugly demon like yourself."

Her attack, however, fizzled into nothingness as it struck the durable carapace. The inhuman mayor chirped as the frontal pincers clacked against each other. "Too weak— your weakness is a crime. This is the reason why you must become nourishment for us."

Priscilla was shocked that it did not work. Could it be possible that he was more durable than so many of the creatures she faced in the past? It seemed incomprehensible to her. Her body glowed as she collectively mustered the force in her body for a striking push, as the earth spiked out from underneath the beast, tossing it upward and releasing its grip on Priscilla.

Priscilla landed on a rooftop with heavy breaths. Her mind raced for ideas as she watched the creature climb to its feet. 'Must I use that?' She thought. There was a method in mind that seemed plausible, but if she used it, she would weaken immensely. Before she could decide, Jensen and Jared returned wielding a waraxe and warhammer, respectively.

"You don't need to fight alone, Priscilla!" Jensen uttered as he slammed his waraxe onto the mayor's bony backside.

"That's right, girl. We're not cowards who'll run and let a kid face the big bad." Jared echoed with a grunt, his warhammer striking the the creature's head.

Their attacks barely tickled as the creature squirmed. Its carapace creaked as the plating adjusted and strengthened, doubling in size as the demon grew and stood up once more.

Seeing Jensen and Jared's determination and desire to help her, Priscilla's heart quivered. She felt a softness that was unexpected from someone she had just met. Her eyes shone as she steeled her will, "You two, stall him for a bit, please! I'll handle this!"

Priscilla's body rose as a pillar of earth lifted her toward the sky. Wind, fire, and water swirled around her in cyclones of power. Her body shone with an unearthly luster that dazzled countless eyes. Even the townspeople could not help but turn their vision toward the woman in the sky. Priscilla's majesty was on full display as markings stretched across her body, delicate and regal— gilded in shimmering brightness.

'Stop her, you fool. Don't let her awaken; act now. ACT NOW.'

The demonic mayor's eyes flickered side to side as his bony growths spread out, pushing against Jensen and Jared. He thrashed violently, his vision focused on the woman overhead. "I must stop her. She cannot awaken. She cannot be in this world. FOOLS, LET ME BE!" He howled.

Jensen and Jared were sweating profusely; the weight of countless mountains bore down on their shoulders as the beast thrashed. But they had to stand firm for Priscilla's sake and the town's sake, too.

Priscilla felt the elements bind her body to the dominion, a force that wrapped around with an unprecedented will. 'Duality— a culmination of two. Balance that strikes an accord with the world.' Darkness blanketed the sky, leaving only the cyclones of power illuminating like stars.

'I'm going to use it finally, Rin. I trust them.' Priscilla smiled as the elements sped rapidly in a whirlpool that shrouded her form from the people below.

'Fall back.' Priscilla's voice seemed to stretch, worming its way into Jensen's ear.

The man's eyes blinked as he grabbed Jared's arm and pulled away. "Let's go, she's about to strike!"

As the two men pulled back, Priscilla's body shone with such brightness that the sky and earth seemed to flip. The darkness that shrouded the sky became a searing white that blinded all color in the world. The only speck of vibrancy was the azure glow that dominated the space where the woman stood, wrapped in powers beyond comprehension.

The demon propelled itself off the ground. One final, futile attempt at stopping the woman's awakening. But it was too late for him. The droning buzz in his ear clicked and faded; a semblance of clarity shone through his gaze as a pulsing heat caressed his flesh. There was no sound or force. It was serene and peaceful. But there was a finality to the duality.

The winds blew, and the sky returned to its former calm. Everything remained— except the mayor. Rains poured down, a torrential cascade that washed away the signs of battle and brought forth a peaceful fragrance of life into the town.

Jared stuttered as he looked around, "It's over? Just like that?"

Jensen was about to retort when a soft cough sounded out; his gaze turned up as he saw blood trickling down Priscilla's mouth. Her body floated down toward the ground with a gentle breeze that cradled her in its embrace. Priscilla's eyes were blurring as she curled up in pain and exhaustion. She had won but at a cost.