Jared ran desperately, a trail of blood accentuating his footsteps. Behind him, the gnats followed like a hungry storm that soaked up everything in its path. There was little Jared could do against their numbers and minute size. If he stopped, he would be swarmed by the bugs before he could turn around.

The pain of the wound was cumbersome to run with, but Jared pushed through the tunnels. After a few twists and turns, he ran into one of the men, exploring through a different path. "Quick, run!" Jared yelled as he reached out and grabbed the man's hand, tugging him along.

"What's going on, Eckhart?" The man blurted out in shock, but he did not need an answer from Jared as the droning buzz erupted into a flurry behind the two men as the gnats approached.

"Damn if I know! It's the bastards that messed the town up! They're controlling these things!" Jared grunted, "Run faster, we can't let them touch us or we're screwed."

"Seriously!" The man groaned as he picked up speed and followed along.

With every turn, they approached closer to the town, but the gnats approached closer to the men's backs. Sweat ran down their necks as they felt the biting sting of death nearing them.

"DUCK!" Priscilla's voice echoed through the tunnel with force as it burst into the two men's ears.

Reflexively, they ducked down and forward, sliding through the tunnel as a wave of heat blew past them, consuming the gnats in its path. They sizzled and trilled as the flames took their lives.

In the central room, the blood jade cracked, violently shaking the entire tunnel system. The cowled men roared, revealing emotion for the first time as they rushed down the tunnel. "Go get the count, " One of the men commanded as another split off toward the count's residence.

Priscilla and Jensen met up with Jared, who slumped into a corner, still feeling the pain of his open wound. "Nice timing," He grunted as he tore off cloth from his shirt to wrap around himself.

"Are you all right, Jare?" Jensen asked as he kneeled beside Jared.

"Couldn't be better," Jared chuckled while pressed against the tunnel's wall. "How'd you get here so quick? Did you leave the kids?"

"No, the kids are fine," Priscilla replied from afar, standing at the front of the tunnel awaiting the enemy. "It was the insects that caused their condition. It's why we'll have to prevent them from coming again. You should head back and get the others out. You won't be of much help against these creatures."

"She's right, Jare. You two go; we'll block the way, " Jensen told Jared and the other man.

"Fine," Jared groaned. "Help me up, Wilson. Let's get out of here. We can warn the town at least to watch out for more of those little critters."

The two men went off, with Jared limping in Wilson's embrace. Jared wanted to help, but he knew he would only be a hindrance with the gaping wound in his back. Wilson, on the other hand, only wanted to return and see his child again.

Once the two men left, like clockwork, the cowled men from the Church of Zenith arrived with scowls painted across their pale faces. "It's you, the Heretic of the Fallen Star. Why must you tempt destiny and bring ruin upon yourself?" The leading man hissed, his icy eyes directed at Priscilla.

"I should be the one saying that," Priscilla scoffed. "Why is it you freaks again causing distress to people?"

"Are you trying to ruin the empire and bring forth the monstrosities of the old world?" The woman asked as swirls of magic unfurled around her fingertips.

The man spat, his grimaced expression twisting at her words, "Monstrosities? You dare, Heretic! The only monstrosity is you and the fallen star that you serve."

"Get her!" He ordered as his group spread out and pulled hook-tipped chains from their cloaks. They moved forward, twirling the chains aggressively as they shifted through the tunnel to surround Priscilla.

"Fallen star this, fallen star that, I have no idea what you're talking about. But if you think you can stop me with just some chains, you're grossly overestimating yourselves." Priscilla condensed the moisture into her hands as it congealed into blades of ice that she twirled beside her. "Come then, let's fight."

The man laughed. "That's impossible. You don't know of your own deity? Laughable knave, you throw yourself into the flame for that which you do not even comprehend? Are you a fool or what?"

"The Fallen Star betrayed its people and broke its promise to the Risen Star. Together, they were destined to rule over the world; Starfall and Risenstar, the Deities of Duality, the two were dubbed, yet it was all for naught. Now, its descendant once again tries to ruin our rise. Laughable. Pitiful. Lunacy!"

As he spoke, his voice peaked into a shout, the fury quivering through the tunnel uncontrollably. The men that followed him felt the fury the same as they lashed out with their chained hooks, sending them lunging forward toward Priscilla's extremities.

Priscilla dodged and kicked the hooks, rebounding them against the tunnel walls. "Your story sounds like make-believe. Aren't you just the rejects who sided with the traitors? Why else would you be aligned with the Skriythe?"

The man's eyes narrowed, and he pulled an object from his cloak. "You know nothing, Heretic. Your filthy mouth isn't worth the trouble."

"Hold her down and let the Brood Mother feast upon the Heretic." He commanded before blowing on a bony flute that screeched through the tunnel.

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The men responded like frenzied as they thrashed through the tunnel with the chain hooks. They attacked relentlessly, trying to force Priscilla down. But she was too agile for their mindless attacks. The Zenith believers were so blinded by their pursuit of Priscilla that they did not notice Jensen in the tunnel shuffling quietly toward the leading man.

Jensen lunged from behind the man with a fist, sending him flying into the wall and his bony flute sliding down the tunnel away from his grasp.

"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" The man shrieked as an audible quake rushed through the tunnel. He tried to leap after the flute, but Jensen pinned him down with a grunt.

From the ground, a large creature emerged, enveloped in scaly ridges and enormous pincers that cut through the tunnel. Its beady eyes shone with a dull bloodthirst that scanned through everything moving in the tunnel. The creature's mandibles emitted a buzzing screech that slammed against everyone, even the Zenith believers, whose bodies reacted the strongest to the noise.

The men's bodies began to bulge and transform as they began to turn into Skriythe themselves. Priscilla moved quickly, cutting at their throats before they could fully turn, but there were too many of them. A few managed to transform, including the leading man, whose form was twice the size of the rest. His transformation tossed Jensen back several dozen steps since it was impossible to overpower such a large monstrosity.

"Dammit," Priscilla cursed as she flung her ice blade through one of the Skriythe-men's heads with full force. Impaling him against the wall. "So, that's the Brood Mother, I take it."

The large creature thrashed around with visible control over the transformed men who seemed to exist only to do the Brood Mother's bidding.

"Stay back, Jens," Priscilla commanded as she swirled through the tunnel, decapitating the weakest Skriythe before two more lunged toward her. Their attack caused Priscilla's advance to halt as the insect's pincers collided, pushing her back.

"I can help you, Priscilla!" Jensen uttered with firmness in his voice.

"No, Jens. Go to the town and protect everyone from the count. Don't trust that all of their forces are here!" Priscilla repeated with a grunt as she pushed through the Skriythe and went for the Brood Mother.

Jensen scowled. Was he so useless that he couldn't even help a young woman fight against these wretched creatures invading their land? "Dammit. Stay safe, then. Don't worry about the town!"

He had to leave. He could not afford to be a distraction, and Priscilla was right. If the count attacked the town while they were underground, the others would be doomed. Jared was already injured, and if they had these monsters among their ranks, Jensen dreaded to think of it.

Priscilla smiled as Jensen went off and collided with the Brood Mother immediately after. The Brood Mother's size made it an easy target in the narrow tunnel, but its hardened carapace was a challenge nonetheless.

"Are you still planning on hiding?" Priscilla asked in a throwaway manner as she seared the Brood Mother's scaled flesh with a surge of flames.

"Hoh? How did you know I was here, little witch?" A man's voice spoke out as a short, rotundous man walked out from the space behind the Brood Mother.

"Skriythe Brood Mothers are just incubators for the Brood Father. The amount of trouble you've caused in town was a sign of it. You've achieved symbiosis with the beast, haven't you— Count Blackthorn?"

"You're one clever girl, aren't you? Even if you know that— so what?" Blackthorn chuckled. "Don't be stupid, girl. Even if you have some feeble magic inside you— against our dominion, you're nothing but an insignificant plaything."

Priscilla scoffed at the confidence, "You're blindly confident in meager vermin from the old world, count. If they were such a mighty force, they wouldn't have lost. Admit it— you're nothing but an overconfident, pompous, depraved little man."

Blackthorn laughed, unbothered by the insult. "So you know about that?" He rubbed his chin greedily, eying Priscilla with lust-filled eyes. "Where did you come from, little witch? Why don't you come serve me, and we can get to know each other properly?"

"I've already gotten to know you, Count Blackthorn. You don't remember me?" Priscilla's smile shone brightly in the darkened tunnel, but her eyes radiated a chilling depth that stared into the depths of Blackthorn's soul. "But, count— I remember you— very well."

"What?" Blackthorn reactively frowned as he looked again at the woman standing before him. Upon closer inspection, she did seem familiar, but he could not recall where he had seen her. "Who are you?"

Priscilla laughed as the memories swelled within her. The day they dragged her to the pyre as the crowd watched and jeered. "Oh, count—my little balding boulder of a depraved noble. It was only three years ago. You were laughing quite hard that day. I remember it quite vividly."

"You—" Blackthorn paled, his eyes widened as he stared at the woman's face, his retina burning her image into his mind. "Y-You, no, it can't be!" His words stuttered out as he took a step back.

"Valentine! It can't be!" The shock quivered in his voice as his previous lust faded. "You're dead! You burned to the tiniest particle of ash possible! We made sure you had no ma—" He choked down the words and turned to run.

"What?" It was Priscilla's turn to be shocked now. 'So they knew that I was innocent? Was it all truly father's treachery?' The tunnel shook as flames surged from Priscilla's body. "BLACKTHORN, STOP!"

Priscilla moved after him, but the Brood Mother jumped at her and blocked the path as Count Blackthorn turned into the tunnel, heading away. "Dammit," Priscilla muttered through clenched teeth.

Debris flew around the cramped space as the walls continued quaking. The earth resonated with Priscilla and responded to her fiery emotions with the same level of intensity. It became challenging for the Brood Mother's instinctive functions to respond to the woman's onslaught as the creature's legs wobbled with every shake of the land.

"Get out of my way, you filthy bug."

The flames burst like an all-encompassing inferno that slammed into the Brood Mother from all sides. "You all love to play with fire, don't you? Let's see if you still love it after I'm done with you." Priscilla's words came out calm, but the malice laced them like a venom-tipped barb.

Stones rolled as clumps of mud fell off the tunnel's walls. The shaking intensified such that the whole town felt its aftershocks above. It was one thing after another where the people could not relax. First, their youngest kin were plagued with ailment, and now the entire town shakes like the end of days.

But their feelings were not something Priscilla could care for. Her fury swelled not unlike the flames that warped the tunnel with its blaze. The Brood Mother could not cope as it trilled audibly through the tunnel. Its frontal pincers dug into the ground in an attempt to flee, but the intense heat inflicted immediate pain upon it.

"Foolish." Priscilla chided as she grabbed the Brood Mother by the pincer and glared at the creature's panicked expression. "You should've gotten out of my way. Though, I guess you can't refuse the command given to you. Pitiful, just another victim. Rest now."

With the final words spoken, the flames peaked to an unheard-of degree and consumed the creature in a split second, offering it the final release. As the Brood Mother melted into nothingness, Priscilla turned toward where Count Blackthorn ran off and raced off in pursuit.