Bloom into yourself

Stress

The rulebook states that no matter the weather, a proper Uvica serveperson must wear each piece of their issued uniform.

But the rulebook in her breast pocket didn't make it Ariel feel better about having to pant constantly from all the heat. Summer was at its hottest, and she was taking it the worst out of the three.

"Wait up!!" Ariel yelled to the two further ahead. She couldn't keep up with her teammates who were deep in conversation, while she was adjusting her shirt after she undid most of her coat.

They didn't bat an ear.

"It's not that I don't want to take this one, even if it was optional this time." Catarina was prodding.

"Then what might be the problem? I need to know before we're out of the city." The captain responded.

Their group had just gotten assigned a certain mission that had been making the rounds before ending up with them.

"You know damn well, captain. I'm the only one at risk of infection." Cat pointed out.

"The most I can ease your worries is that the two of us non-humans can take the brunt of of our interactions with the tainted soil." Liinei looked back at Ariel.

That was real cryptic as usual, and really not to my liking.

Their group ended up in the outpost that they had approached in the outskirts section of New Aun-Lixa, the man in charge walking right up.

He was way taller than the captain. Once they exchanged short introductions and the reason for the stop he called yonder two of his workers to tell them exactly what was needed.

Liinei followed the man over to the stall, motioning the subordinates to follow. It looked like they were expected as a decent amount of provisions were packed and waiting for them.

No worries about bringing it all by themselves once they were out on the road, as the man from before was leading out a horse behind them.

The massive gray beast of burden was certainly not for riding, it was just as tall as the man who now handed over the lead to the Luna Vis captain.

"Go ahead, load everything on." Came a direct command.

"You look awfully lazy, Cat! Do it quicker!" Ariel said.

Catarina was left unamused and unbothered and packed everything on normally.

The captain joined and set everything atop the animal save for a long object wrapped in expensive textile slung over their shoulder. Ari wanted to ask about it right then, but that was put on hold when she noticed the horse eyeing her with suspicion.

"So, Ariel. Are you ready for such a long outing after the city life?" Catarina bumped the girl's back with her elbow like something undeserving the touch of her hand.

"I didn't have time to get very used to New Aun-Lixa, but it still made me miss the wilderness. Are you finally opening up and just wanted to get me started?"

"Don't humor me."

With that she went back to fiddle with the recovered letter from the assassination accident.

...

After just a few hours of walking at standard pace they diverged from the paved road at a signpost. The more they went the more the city was out of view until the moment they stood at the enterance of a shaded forest caressed by the subtle wind blowing cool humid air from within at them.

As the hours went by and noon passed by a little, the two subordinates who kept silent until then broke it.

"Say, isn't it lunchtime?" Cat broke the long silence.

"I'm hungry... Are we stopping soon? The path has only gotten more narrow."

"We could, if you insist." Captain Liinei chimed in.

Cat sighed. "We won't run into anyone here, not this close to the capital. I was just mentioning it's the time we would usually have lunch."

"And mess up my diet? I want to pay attention to when and what I eat!"

"Well then get used to not eating for a bit. You need to."

"Oh so you want to have me fast, clergywoman?" Teased Ariel.

"Don't you go there, cannibal. I still have the scars from your teeth." Cat gave a sharp look.

"You're pushing it--" Her eyes caught something. Or perhaps, the lack of something: Liinei.

"What am I pushing exactly? Another bite from you?"

"Hey, quit it! The captain!"

"Huh?" She also realized.

Sure enough their captain who was leading them in the front was now missing. They immediately halted and began to converse seriously.

"Listen. I will try to go and find Captain Liinei, just stay with the horse." Catarina took charge of the situation.

"Yeah, but will you find me here?"

"If i'm not back in fifteen minutes, start heading to the village. We meet there by sundown."

"Fine. No time for breaks either, in that case." Ari said in a disappointed but understanding tone.

"One more thing." A familiar white object sat in Catarina's gloved palm. "The mind message device. Use it, should you fall headfirst into emergency."

With that she was left alone with the horse. It calmly lumbered over to a grassy patch and grazed for a little.

Of course we get into something right away. Are we just an unlucky team, or is this normal?

"Well, it's just us two now. And about time we stepped up."

She grabbed the lead and walked further down the path they separated on through the forest.

They truly were alone save for the few deer she would see a few hours on in a field. She did have a runaway thought to hunt one of them, but it was short lived since she could not carry it nor would have time to properly butcher it.

"Hah, my hunger is getting the better of me."

"..." The horse clopped along.

"Not that kind of hunger. Not for a long while."

"But what worries me is it wasn't from Harae."

The clear path became more muddled and steep, rocky, and harsh.

//---

All the while Catarina tried to devise where the captain could have went.

The foliage was brushed aside in this direction, but it doesn't make any sense to run off without a word.

So she went, no real way but the guidance of her heart and intuition. Leading to faint footsteps, even a marking on a rock undoubdtedly by the one she's following surely just ahead. Grassy undergrowth made way to rocky bluff with mosses of green and dark brown covering most of it.

Soon she realized she had no real idea where she was truly going.

---//

"You and I will make it just fine, Theo." She gave the horse a name while in the middle of her trek. They were now up on a ridge that stooped down into a river and suddenly jutted back up. She noticed small specks on the trees and bushes on the other side.

Ariel knew exactly what they were. She could only stand the urge for a minute, then she took the reign and tied it haphazardly to a tree and took the 20-foot jump to the other side and landed in a pile of dust. She emerged from this and went directly to the nearest bush and started picking handfuls of the blueberries that were glistening in the bright summer sun.

She got a good fill of them and even pocketed some, but she realized she lost track of time. A safe spot let her jump back across not in exactly the same spot, but she only wandered a little distance.

The path was easily located again, but the horse was not.

"Theo?"

Hoofed tracks went the opposite way from the ridge. She could not lose something so important because of something so trivial.

Damn it damn in damn it damn it this is so bad

//---

Heavy breaths contrasted the unbreathing lunar who stood on top of the hill.

"Great vantage point, isn't it?"

"I.... would have preferred..... huff ...to know.... what was happening...." Catarina finally made it to the top as well.

A vast expanse was in front of them. It seemed to be downhill all the way to a distant settlement, with the surrounding area seemingly dead of life.

"See it? Discoloration consistent with the seventh layer's flora." Indeed what few plants were alive were of a pale yellow color.

"I suppose it was worth it." Cat sat on a rock and contemplated pushing the captain right down the cliff. "How about that other town on the way? Smoke so black taints the heavens."

"Telken, mining town. Burn pits are used to remove tailing from the ore."

"..."

"..."

"Why not head down to the village? And speaking of, which way is it? I can't see it from the outcrops all the way up here." Catarina grew impatient.

"I know the way, just follow."

And so, Liinei sought out a corner of the tiny flat part that cradled them, braced themselves against the overhang and descended.

Cat walked over skeptically and looked over to see how this descent was even possible. There were a set of indents within the cliff face that allowed movement like a ladder.

I would quite like to know how this came to be. She descended as well.

At the bottom Liinei pointed out a small white triangle symbol on the rocks leading up to the climbable face, a valuable lesson for later traversal.

They picked up the pace to get to the village before the sun had set.

---//

When Ari heard Theo she tore up her face a bit by running through the thicket at the sound.

She came out the other end, but there was no animal in sight. She looked around and found nothing, so she scanned further with her ears. Between the labored breaths and rapid heartbeat she could only hear the thoughts in her head.

I was so alone...

"You are here again? The level of gallantry... Leave her at once."

"Shelter her all you desire, her wishes influence even you. Let me pass."

That's him... my......

And that other voice.......

Pure despair filled her psyche as the unfiltered remainders of the strange memories came flooding in once again.

I thought those were only dreams. Why? Why can I see faint pictures in my mind?

She broke down crying in the dead leaves, the filtered light between the umbrage above reflected off her tears into her vision.

My..... My........

"My head......."

Something even deeper stirred. Esoteric visages of unfathomable architecture of such brightness flashed in her vision that the sunlight itself was less bright in her eyes.

"And we enact it upon this hour. Lest we allow their sins to go on. Bring her."

Warmth enveloped one of her hands, then the sense of wetness hit her too. Still shaking she took her hands which were tearing her hair and relinquished. Instead she reached up to feel Theo, who was nibbling her hand.

"Ha... You're here....."

She stood up weakly and leaned against him. They wandered down an off direction until they happened on a gravel path that seemed more travelled.

Just on the cusp of the sun breaking the line of the trees she arrived in the same village. Ariel, pockets stained red by the berry juices after all the struggle, but otherwise not in too bad shape was greeted by her two teammates.

Stalk

The subsequent days of travel were only different by the sleeping being done under the wild sky, not the guardhouse ceiling.

Their usual half-hearted bickering quieted down and eventually hushed giving way to the solitary sound of crickets.

If I'm lucky my head won't scream at me tonight. Or ever again, but that is a foolish hope.

Soft sleep awaited her for the first time in a month. But what also awaited her was an impasse: "I'm moving ahead. The letter points to the mining town, Telken."

"You actually got something from that thing? I couldn't read it at all... Say, first the captain, now you, Catarina? Why do we always have to split?" Ari's groggy morning voice carried the right amount of unenthusiasm for the proposal.

"I've got my reasons."

"Really? Why not fill us in, then?" Even Liinei was curious now.

She tensed up a little, but still turned back to face the two.

"It is a clerical matter..... No. It is more of an inquisitoral duty."

Now that's foreboding.

"Oh dear me, an angel is not worthy of knowing what holy duties you are bestowed?"

"..."

A bitter expression took her face, she turned away in shame. "Can I go now?" Cat had everything ready, the crisp early morning beckoning her departure.

Liinei's approval set her free from the minimalistic camp. They then went and sat down by Ariel still in her tent.

"Why do you trust her so much with this?" Ari asked.

"I know of her type, I am much the same." They replied.

"You two as far apart as I can imagine." She said with certainty and some ear flicks.

"Then take Lassimer's word? He's the one who found her, and quite a few of us. Quite a man with an eye for talent." The lunar pointed out. Their small group within Uvica is centered around him and the people he finds.

Their chatter continued even after packing up and leaving.

"So you're telling me instructor Massette was his wife all along?"

"They met in Aun-Lixa, in fact."

"The one on the moon?????"

"Yes. That one."

Their further conversation was halted when they detected someone coming right their way up the road. The pair exchanged a glance and approached.

The solitary person heading directly towards the two Luna Vis wore a blindfold and some really heavy looking and beat up plate armor, hands readied on the hilts of swords on both sides of their hips.

"Hello? Good morning!" Ari took initiative and greeted the red haired woman, who yelped in surprise.

"Oh! Terribly sorry, I could only sense your presence. I am Myrtle, beast hunter. Your strange presence drew me near, do not be offended."

"Who, me? I seem quite beastly but I am no animal."

She lifted up the eye covering on one side, peeking out a bright green eye. "Well I'll be! What luck to run into two at once! And a demon with a lunar!" Her excitement peaked and she offered a handshake to both. She lent forward an offer to walk together for the day, which they took.

//---

Not being set back by travel in formation, Cat had made it to the mining town before noon. By then it had been quiet from all the men being down under and women tending to their households.

The letter stated the name Cedric in a complicated cipher. The only other lead than this name was a vague mention of a foundry and a tiny scribble resembling a foreign symbol.

Her first target was the church of the town right in the center. A busier part was in the way with a more mixed crowd making her ponder if she can find the man behind the name in the letter in time.

The clergy was present even in a place like this, her two knocks rung on the church door.

"Bless you on this day, who might you be?" The head of a bald and wrinkled old man poked out of the doorway. He was surely the priest of the town, the robes told everything Catarina needed to know about the man.

"Greetings, Father. I come on behalf of the Inquisition. I seek Parley with a far away Apostle." While being polite her point was clear and punctual, just as she was hoping to seem with everything.

"You are from the Holy nation?"

"Yes, Father. Here's my badg---" She reached for the badge usually hung on her neck surely expecting to grasp it in her hand. Yet there was no badge where it was supposed to be causing her heart to nigh jump out of her chest.

"Pranks like this are not welcome, young lady."

He's so dense and I'm such a huge idiot. AM I NOT WEARING THE GARB OF THE CLERGY????

"I will be back. This is not a prank I simply lost the badge and I will get it you will see I am not a simple joker."

She simply turned around on her heel and chose which way to go.

---//

"What took you this close to the capital? We are but a few days travel away." The captain inquired to the seemingly seasoned hunter.

"Ah, I was just about to meet an old friend, but a detour is acceptable as I am late for the transference." Myrtle was removing each piece of her blackened steel plates and hung them on her back, easily carrying her own weight in heavy metal armor on her back.

"And how come you wear crazy armor like that? Just what are you hunting? I'm concerned you were led to me." The serval was impressed just as she was intimidated.

"My prey is special. The ones Chosen by Patrons make the greatest hunts!"

Holy hell and heaven at once. I was a word away from facing THIS monstrous human.

Until lunchtime they passed the time with more lighthearted conversation. But when the time came to eat Myrtle took charge. She had been accustomed to outland living and had been looking out for wild ingredients the entire time and casually picking ferns and berries to add to the meal she began to cook for midday.

"Hey, big cat girl, whatever your name was. Go catch us a rabbit, would you? They are more than common here..."

"What? How????" She was flabbergasted. The most she had done was forage, not having caught or hunted an animal of any kind.

"You'll see how it's done, Ari-girl~" Liinei added with a little smarm, then went back to peeling a carrot.

//---

Well at least they had some sense.

With her uniform she was easily recognized as a soldier, she walked away from the guardhouse with proper directions in mind.

This kid...

Spotted covering himself in the recent months.

Colluding with a foreign group of unknown directives.

The kid in question lived in the meager dwelling Catarina found herself seeking entry to.

"Is anybody home?" Cat yelled out and banged on the door.

Steps from inside approached the door. It unlocked and a woman peered out.

"Oh Heavens, you are here for Cedric!"

"Good day, Ma'am. I've come on behalf of Uvica and the clergy."

"Dear almighty God above... My dear son, he has strayed...."

"Is he home at the moment?" Cat inquired.

"I... I can't tell you. He's afflicted, I cannot let you...." The woman trailed off.

"Ma'am! You need to let me know if-"

Another door was shut right in her face. At least now, however, she knew that the young man was afflicted and is now to be dealt with with the imposition of the church.

---//

Just a few minutes after she left camp ahead of her in the dirt were markings that to her looked like weird pairs of exclamation marks going in a line in an off direction. Rabbit tracks.

All of the sudden one runs right past her and crosses a small clearing before jumping into a a wall of shrubbage. Ariel chased it, and in her momentum she unsheathed her sword to hack away at the bush housing the animal. The blade sliced away, getting snagged then yanked out just to be swung again without regard for the bare iron of the standard sword.

When she was winding up another hit she had heard a sudden loud rustle not from her own actions. A taupe colored mass entered her vision and she was blown backward by it almost as hard as when she got pummeled in the exam. It ran away to the other end of the cleairing and promptly disappeared.

"The hell?" She picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off, tried to rub the grass smears off her already dirty pants. "That thing was no normal hare. The thing was as tall as me!"

The next step was clear: set up a trap. The thickage from before had some vines to use as makeshift rope, thus her trusty sword had more work to do. She got a good couple handfuls.

She set up near two close trees and began tying and wrapping a line between them, then began to set up a snare right in the middle. But one of the trees she picked to wire up the trap to was too young, too dry, and too weak to hold the torque of the rope. It snapped right in half. This loud crack undoubtedly alerted the sensitive ears of the hare.

If only Cat had been here, her string is just what I needed here. Going off like that...

Ari readied for the approach and held the sword up, listening to any direction she might get attacked from. Even with this much attention and nervous anticipation she was caught off guard and jabbed in the arm by the oversized claws of the overtly large hare as it ran past.

"OH DON'T YOU DARE RUN OFF!!!!" She screamed and hissed.

Its ears perked up, and its head housed its harrowing eyes, which themselves housed malicious intent. Then its stance lowered, the lunge was instant.

They were both hunting each other now, but the serval had a trick up her sleeve. She threw aside her sword and swung her cape into her hand. In the blink of an eye the beast was caught up with the girl, unleashing its two orange-enameled front teeth more akin to fangs than anything that belongs on a rodent.

But right before the sharp incisors could dig into her the trick was done. The cape swung around its head, arms wrestling the thing by its neck to immobilize, and maintaining her position above it by any means. The struggle only came to an end minutes after she emptied all of its blood with a quickly made crude knife by her grace.

...

"There she is! What a bounty!!!" The hunter woman was clearly exhilirated by the sight of Ari and the massive animal she dragged by the hind feet over her shoulders.

"We're not even done, Ariel. However did you catch that thing?" Even the captain was jolted, not playing up the expression by any means.

She slumped right over next to the carcass she let go of, seemingly spent for the hour, or perhaps next several.

"Damn handy girl she is, Dear Captain, Much Honoured!" Myrtle was already looking the prize over. A clean kill with only the neck being cut left her in amazement.

By second nature of the hunter the animal was skinned and butchered and by the time Ari finished her well deserved nap on a treebranch, her nose was filled by the recompense for her labor.

Even Liinei could not resist the temptation of a meal such as this. All of them had their fill. The two ladies for the whole day and the lunar for the whole month.

A silly feeling washed over her for the rest of the day.

Ones within

"How did you come to hunt them anyways? I can see why, but what's your drive?"

"Well, Dear Captain. That there is a good story. Care to hear?"

As they walked along the path to Telken there really was no better time to hear a story of such caliber.

"I'd listen!" Ariel's intrigue and thirst for world knowledge was flaring up.

"Then allow me to paint the full picture for you."

==Hunt of the Basilisk==

I'd only been a girl of fifteen, even if I was forced to mature when I had to run away. Trofea's northern wilderness was unforgiving, but not as much as the emergent army in the nation.

As for myself, I'd been hiking rugged paths and making my own living off of pelts whenever I found a settlement that had anything to offer.

But deep within the encircled parts, surrounded by jags forming a crown around the dreamlike basin high up in the ridgeline, I found myself with an irresistible urge.

The tracks in front of me had been nothing like I've seen before, even as a youngin I knew it was something special.

After I checked over the lakeside pine forest I just so noticed the glint of what was exactly what I've been trailing.

Upon a slate of massive stone it sunbathed: a giant green basilisk. Don't look at me like that, Ariel. The thing was the size of a barn! I still have the scar, let me get to the part where I got the scar!

Now. I took sight of its massive crested head. At the time I only had an old bow and the arrows I fletched myself with the plumes of the fowl I hunted and the rich metallic stone I came across ever so often up there.

So at the time my best idea was to climb up a pine tree, stabilize myself and take a shot with the best arrow in the bunch I've made.

Thinking back I should've known it knew I was there, the incessant flaring of its tongue smelling right where I was. That wasn't even the worst part!

I took the first shot, hit a bit short of its head so it got stuck in its back, the thing jumped up and charged. I took another shot, my bow SNAPPED IN HALF!

The basilisk rammed into my tree and it ripped clean out, roots and all. I damn near broke my hip, if it wasn't for my youthful vigor and the tail of the beast swiping me off to the side.

That was another great stroke of luck, the tip of its tail had a long spike, the size of me, save for the head.

After that I've been left alone to think about what to do. But what does a young me do? Exactly that, not think!

With my bow broken I tossed the arrows, my only chance was to use my hatchet. The damn thing was only good for woodcutting, and I was using it in the wrong hand.

Now you might be wondering, how did I actually hunt this damn thing?

Repeated! Effort!

I lost count how many times I tried to bludgeon the thing with rocks, tie a rope around its feet as it slept, or just straight up cut it open.

In my later years I learned that a basilisk has such strong venom a drop of it could kill three horses. What I can deduce that this giant one's venom had been diluted from its size, for as much as it bit me I've built up a tolerance by the end.

So the one time, the final time, I've had enough. There was barely a thing to eat from this massive predator around and I was getting desparate.

My hunger drove me to face it straight up. No tricks, no ambush, no traps or anything the like.

It bound for me right as I came in its view, the animosity was mutual. What I did not expect was to land a strike in its jaw before it could taste my hide again.

For what came after was nothing short of a miracle, but I swear on my life it happened as I say. When it tried to stomp on me, I stepped aside. When it lunged to bite, I evaded. It was a burst of mucle memory for whatever way it tried to end my sorry ass, I just slipped out of the way.

The only time I was caught was when I knocked its movement aside and its claw slashed right down my forearm. You can still see it on there, see?

With a motion to knock me over it butted its crested head at me, but I stepped on its nose and was flung over its back, and I brought down my axe on its sharpened tail with enough force to cut it right off.

Even though the nerves inside still forced it to wriggle, I took hold of it and jabbed through its thick bony skull.

"You mean you slayed it just like that? What happened after?"

I'm getting to it.

Yes. The basilisk was dead and I had a feast ahead of me.

But after I cooked part of its flesh and ate it, the strangest thing happened.

In my mind something spoke, something I now know to be a Patron. The beast I hunted and now consumed was its chosen, and now I had bested it.

Now mind you, I was scared out of my mind, to have someone speak in my head. Silly me, I was being offered his favor by the Patron Saint Seeker.

And since then I'd been able to sense beasts chosen by Patrons, and cover my eyes as a kindness to mine.

So that's why I felt so funny after that meal...

The present hunt

Just as the captain thought to, I'll use a vantage point to find the bastard.

Without proper authority Catarina climbed to the top of the town hall, right by the clock tower.

She peered around but nothing caught her eye. But then she looked down under herself. A suspicious figure took her notice walking right by the hall.

With no time to waste Cat found a pointed adornment on the roof and tied her grace string around it, easing her fall and landing before rushing off after the person she saw.

He peeked back at Catarina as he rounded a corner, and his terrified eyes disappearing were followed by quick and hard footsteps down the next street.

He thinks he can outrun me?

The heavy swooping of her cape inched closer to the scared young man. He chose to play dirty and yanked a pile of planks in the way from an unfinished building.

"Stop him! He's a wanted criminal! Stop that man at once!"

People just looked at each other in the heat of the moment. Nobody stepped up, so Catarina had one choice left.

You made me do this...

As their eyes have already locked once before, she could activate her ability.

Cedric stumbled and fell over as a surge of pain shot through his legs.

"Stay down." She now stood over the scared boy and picked out the badge poking out of his pocket.

"You... Who are you? What do you want from me?"

"Zip it. You'll talk when I need you to." She easily slung him over her shoulder and waltzed over to the guardhouse.

...

"Yes. That is correct, my investigation showed quite clearly he is connected to a foreign terror group."

"Alright, that's that then. Should we interrogate him?" Asked the chief guard.

"No need for now. The rest of my team arrives tomorrow, we'll handle it."

"He's afflicted too, just look at him." He gestured at the boy, and it really was clear. Some of his skin had gradually turned to reddish fur, and he was sporting a tail. His face retained the human shape, however.

"Like I said, I'll be back tomorrow with backup to handle the case."

With that done it was really only waiting around. Her choice of place to spend the time was of course the church.

...

The last thing I want to happen is to have Ariel see a hellwalker be put to death. I'll have to bear that burden alone.

Then she shut her eyes and focused on a prayer.

O child of men, hasten not the pains of others by the duty you swore.

For that is the pain that crawls back in your time of need.

"Miss, someone was looking for you." The priest from before quietly informed her.

She knew it must have been the mother. The sight of her was still ever bitter.

"I-... I know what will happen to my Cedric.... I heard you took him." She wasn't as distraught as expected. There was a sense of understanding behind her statement.

"Will you cry after him?" Plain question.

"Huh?" Flabbergasted.

"Will you cry after your son? Will you or not?"

"How can you..... Of course I will!" She raised her voice drawing a few looks.

"Then say a prayer tonight. You ought to keep the memory of one so close lost. But that is all."

"Actually... There was one thing."

"?"

"He kept speaking of someone... He called them D... But that is all I know. Blessings on you."

"Blessings upon you as well."

Outside of the church flowed a vast amount of water, as the rainclouds that formed about the time she went in had now erupted in a downpour.

She was as discreet as possible, keeping a low profile having swung her cape over her head to shield from the rain.

Catarina was always intricate about her memory of places. This time especially the layout of the guardhouse and he location of the cell the hellwalker was housed.

She had been damn near ready to bust in the window by the time she climbed on top of the crates she brought over, but what she saw once she peered in was nothing short of terrifying.

As Cat went to the actual door of the place, which was off its hinges, she looked in horror at the grizzly scene inside.

Five dead bodies. All of the guards. Shit.

Liinei's still out by several miles at least, my mind message won't reach. Not that I have the time for even that.

A correct assertion, for the two pairs of footsteps in the mud leading away from the building were quickly fading in the rain.

She made a crucial and unsafe decision to notify the entire town.

"People of Telken, I am a Uvica soldier. I advise everyone to stay in their homes for the night, it is unsafe outside."

That was a huge protocol breach.... Nobody's allowed to do that. Ever. And the enemy knows I'm on their hind.

What had been ever so worrying is where the footsteps were leading her. They traced directly back to Cedric's house, where his mother surely would be in the direct path of what happened to the guards.

It was when she was just a street away when the percussion of something large, wooden thing being broken penetrated the rushing of the downfall of rain. She followed the bend in the road and got into clear view of the abode.

The door cracked in pieces and half-hanging off the hinges. The mother, wailing and mustering a prayer, the son sheepishly in the shadow of a third figure. A scene such as this left the clergywoman stunned in place and lost for breath.

Extravagant fabrics, no doubt silk of a deep red color contrasted by silver armor just as elengant adorned them, their face hidden by a mask of the same metal.

"She knows now, does she not? Or did she always know about me? No matter. You have not a choice from now on. Kill her." The harsh command was spat in a thick rolling accent from a low feminine voice from beneath the covering.

"..." Cedric was shaking.

"You.... Monsters....." Catarina had been stirred up like never before in her life, eyes welling with tears she could only speak the truth of her heart.

To the clad figure, D, she was just like a fly buzzing in her ear, even less maybe. Cedric was frightened by Catarina's appearance, but seemingly even more frightened by his apparent superior.

He wearily stood over his sole parent, rain beating down on the both of them.

"....hour of need cometh, You shall ask and He shall deliver, a saviour ultimately holy...." Muttered the woman, still holding onto hope, in the face of her certain demise.

He did not want it, he refused it in his mind but he had to act it out no matter what. Catarina's words to even make a slight effort to stop what would happen were stuck in her throat, she could only reach with her hands in complete terror as the mother's blood erupted from her neck.

Only the tip of the sword in D's hand was dripping with blood, which appeared within an instant, just as fast as the murder took place.

"Look how useless you are. If you have any worth in you, tie up the other loose end." D looked over vaguely in Cat's direction.

Cedric was now completely breaking down, began to wail and lose his senses. Despite lunging at Catarina, he did so not out of subservience but of a savage wildness preceded by his eyes taking on a yellow tint.

It's how Ari turned on the church roof! He will not back down! I have to get away from here!

To her utter surprise, the other person, D, took to Cedric and restrained him.

"You dare fail me twice? So be it, then." With that a glow of red grace and an ornate sigil appeared over the hand she placed over Cedric's head.

As a response his body began to shift, with horrific sounds the hellwalker turned to wear more demonic features than human, his face turning vulpine, fur covering more of his parts. A jolt of sensibility hit him after this was done, still the crazed eyes remained making him a much deadlier foe.

Such horrors I could have never imagined to see for myself.

With the guards dead, her team away she had to find a way to at the least hold out and hide, thus she began to run as hard as she could. Making it onto a more clustered part of the town center she laid out her string in a narrow part and tripped over the pursuing hellwalker. She looked back and saw D still steadily following her as well.

The next thing she sensed was intense pain in her forearm. Somehow Cedric caught up and let his young teeth taste the human blood they were already thirsting for. Still the bite was weak, and her thick gloves were almost certainly designed to withstand exactly this.

Catarina realized she was truly doing her service upon making this connection, to be a crusader against the unholy, demons and hellwalkers. A forceful shake sent the head latched onto her hand away, and she thrusted a dagger right into the neck under it.

The wound began to heal as soon as she took the blade away from it, but it did give her enough time to plan out her next move and dash away.

She followed the smoke, almost blending into the dark clouds above yet still being darker, until she ended up at the foundries and tailing dams by the mines. Although her plan was a good one, if reckless, she still needed one thing to set it up.

Making her way onto a walkway she braced the inevitable attack by the hellwalker. With her cape she misdirected the clawing and biting, then she knocked him over the ledge to fall into a pile of rubble underneath.

True fear was gripping her heart but her only chance was right ahead of her, walking up the stairs to finish what was started. Facing each other one on one was still not in her favor but the fact that there was nothing to disrupt her strategy was crucial.

"Whoever you are, know that I, Catarina will bring an end to your blasphemy." She said with utmost conviction.

"You struggled against a mere pawn, a newborn. What more can you expect to be than a drop of blood our Circle will spill?" Replied the demon.

"Circle? Then the letter is half solved... Ha...."

Cat took initiative and sent out loops of grace string from her fingers and got in close proximity. Perhaps out of curiousity for what this worm could possibly do, D stood idle watching what would happen.

The green strings encircled her target and seemigly tied her in place. She tightened the string even further and pushed close to drive her dagger into the demon.

Slash.

The sword dripped with red liquid, D's arm was in a completely different position. Yet it had been weakly restrained by string. Most of the web was broken, a solitary wound going clean sideways in Catarina's face appeared and spurted blood. But the clergywoman was not done, the string latched on the back of the hood-mask and slipped it off to reveal the face of the demon.

An unimpressed, deadpan stare from a dark haired, tan desert cat was all she received. Alongside the identity of the criminal, their eyes locking allowed Catarina to activate her ability.

Before D could carve her to pieces she lept over the railing and threw herself into the purging fires the ore waste and tailing were being burned in.

With their senses linked and Catarina transmititng the feeling of being burnt alive , both D and Cedric erupted in shrieks of pain. D chose to take the hellwalker and leave while she could, as anyone would collapse from such torturous pain.

In her effort to survive Catarina ran into the foundry where the terrified workers put out the fire engulfing her.

She was still heavily injured, but at least she was alive.

A victory with considerable loss, but a victory nonetheless.

Catch-up

Ari was leading the group with Theo since they got along so well.

As soon as they were seen on the edge of town several people ran over to frantically tell them about rumors or accounts of what had happened the night before.

The church awaited them, for they have heard the priest was the one tending to Catarina's injuries.

"Don't let that one go in!" Said an onlooker who followed them.

"It'll kill the inquisitor!!!" Said another.

"She's a serveswoman just like any other. If you've got a problem, take it up with me." Captain Liinei turned around and stood firm against the hecklers.

"Yeah, piss off! No-good idiots." Myrtle added in her own way.

They just looked each other before deciding to not provoke further.

All that was left was to enter the place of worship.

"Greetings, good Father! I see you've taken to care for my junior!" Liinei took charge once again, and indeed seeing Catarina being tended to.

"About time! Hey, Father, quit putting the sponge on that spot, it's already good!" Catarina still showed fight in her, despite the various burns and cuts on her bandaged body. A scar now ran across her face under her left eye and to her nose.

"You have got to be kidding me. Are you in the army just to collect scars?" Ari could only express her worry in this way, deep down was relieved she was relatively okay.

"You'll get your own, sooner or later. Lucky bastards like you always have it worse in the end."

"What happened to the gal anyways?" Myrtle asked the priest on the side.

He changed the cloth that dampened Catarina's facial scar while he collected all of his thoughts.

"She'd been cut up, but the burns she did herself. In her bravery she plunged into the flames to repel a dark force." The priest explained.

Ari poked at Cat's cheek and eyed the scar from all angles possible.

"My, you're eager to prove yourself, aren't you? Still, you won't be this lucky every time you act so rash." The captain rightfully lectured their underling.

"Ahh, whatever, I'll fill you in later." With that Catarina began to tear off the coverings and bandages that soothed her burns and slip into her clothes that were draped around the makeshift cleanroom.

Not all the burns on her skin are recent...

Cat wrestled herself into her clothing while the priest still tried to treat her.

"I am sorry I cannot attend, Father. Might you say a prayer for her in my name?" Catarina stood in the door ready to leave.

"Do not worry, I will. Your prayer was enough, I understand you have more to do." The priest assured.

Catarina kept up with them with no issue out on the streets and then on the road towards their objective.

"Mind telling me who our new companion is?" She questioned.

"An esteemed hunter whose introduction I'd rather not steal. She volunteered to help in keeping the countryside alive and safe." Liinei then let Myrtle speak.

"My name's Myrtle, I'm a beast hunter from Trofea. Pleased to meet you, honored inquisitor!" Even this late after their initial meeting Myrtle extended a handshake which Cat awkwardly took.

"You took care of the two neer-do-wells didn't you? How many times did they get you lost?" Poked Catarina.

"Now, don't discredit the good captain here, and the serval girl's a hunter after my own heart!" Myrtle took her rightful stance as she was not let down by the two.

The new temporary companion made the long road ahead a little bit less tiresome.

...

Out of all of them it had been Catarina to call it quits for the day and suggest they set up camp for the evening. As such they pitched their tents, made a small fire, Myrtle hung her hammock.

It was only a short while before a mass of noise preceded a small group of strangers wandering directly towards their campsite.

"Who goes there?" The captain initiated.

"Hello? Who might there be?" A shout returned from the man in front, mostly shrouded by shadow in the past-sunset evening.

"We're but a glow in the night!" Responded Liinei in a strange nomer, confusing Ariel but seemingly showing a friendly gesture to the approaching people making them come right up into the firelight.

"Well I'll be! The last thing we'd expect out here is fellow Uvica!" The man up front stepped closer, it was clear he was a fellow serviceman leading his group away from the nearby blighted settlement.

How did he know?

While the captain helped them over to an unoccupied part to settle in, Catarina jabbed slightly at her peer.

"What's with that look? Don't tell me you didn't pay attention to basic passphrases in training?"

"Hey, you're not the one who was in a coma for two weeks in the middle of bootcamp." Ari returned fire.

"Did you fall off a cliff or something? Or just knocked out while sparring?" Myrtle wanted to know if there was any interesting story to be heard.

"I died. My best guess to how I'm still here is some sort of intervention, divine or otherwise." Ariel's statement shocked the both of them.

Catarina thought it to be a miracle, Myrtle thought it was a favor of whatever patron she could sense from the serval. There was a somber silence for a moment still.

"Well what about you, dear Catarina? What about your brush with mortality?" Myrtle shifted the direction to her recent experience they still didn't know about.

"What is there to say? I've been cut up a little and burnt a little more." She scratched at the still painful scar on her face.

"Sword cuts for sure, but you're not one to plunge into fire from anything short of terror." Ari rationalized. She was onto her, she walked over to loom close and look at the bandages on her arm.

"Keep to yourself. You're asking to be burnt too if you don't back off." Cat got on the defensive.

That sells it. She had to have fought one of my kind.

"Have it your way then. But we three are all beast hunters amongst each other tonight." Sat down Ari facing the fire at her original spot.

...

"Look who we ran into!" A familiar voice spoke in their direction, the first of the other group waltzing over the three women.

Is that?????

"Of all people! Ariel!!!" His freckled face and wavy brown hair displayed a familiar and friendly sight in the firelight to Ari.

"Ris! It's been so long!!" She jumped up and smiled, tail standing to no end.

"Damn nice team you've matched! What are you lot doing out here anyways?" He questioned.

"We're only nice on the surface, trust me..."

"Anyone can say that, but that Instructor.... Captain? She's really something else, picked up our whole loadage effortlessly! We needed four people to lift it onto the wagon!"

She? I mean... why not...?

"We're here on purging duty. How come you're this close to the blight?" Catarina posed her own inquiry.

"We've been trying to leave, but two of us were taken by mercenaries. We weren't even sure we'd survive." He revealed a more dire situation than expected.

"Enough gloom! Unlikely encounters like this are just perfect to fraternize out in the wild!" Liinei strolled in with the rest of the infantry following.

They all shared a little toast from ale Myrtle had been keeping around.

"Y'know, I've never got to talk to any of you Lunar folk... You lot are rare in the common infantry. So are the... ones from he-" Their officer got poked in his scruffy cheek by Liinei before the sentence could get out.

"Hows that?" They were smearing their hands all over the man's face.

"What in the.... It's so strangely soft, and its not warm or cold.... But quit it, really." He responded to the strange sensation.

That sounds weird, not even I have felt that......

"My turn!" Ris reached his hand to feel it as well.

It seemed like the other group was very interested in the lunar.

Until the moment Cat reached over at Ari and pet her head.

"You feel weird." She moved onto her ear and then her face.

To this Ris looked over and became intrigued as well. Ari gave a welcoming beckon, he felt her fur a little and then retreated.

The night eventually died down and with the fire put out the stars took the sky above once more.

"Goodnight, sweet sister."

It hurts. My head hurts and I'm crying, but it's the sweetest thing to hear.

Purge

On their march toward the settlement they foresaw from the mountain a week ago they noticed a gradual dying of the nature around them.

The leaves all lay on the ground under blackened dead trees, the grass not even wilted but gray and lifeless.

"Bit grim here, I would have walked right in the opposite direction if I were to follow my gut." The silence among the group was broken by Myrtle.

"Do you sense that too? Or are you peeking from the blindfold?" Ari teased.

"My bet is on peeking..." Liinei played into it.

"Aren't you two just always getting cheeky? It's neither, by the way. I can tell from the feel of the ground and the sound of dead leaves." She clarified.

"I might truly go insane soon. See why I would rather burn than face this?" Cat wasn't welcome to idiocy in such circumstances.

The settlement had not even come into view yet, but out of the sudden the path gleamed with a weak yellow glow ahead of them. Ari looked closer at it as they walked right by the threshold in the forest, behind which there were lashes of the discoloration covering most of the ground.

What she saw was strange, small translucent yellow growths that enveloped the gray grass and dirt, even some trees were covered. By this visage Ari strangely remembered the rock-like snack Liinei got her that one time.

They still moved on, but a little more carefully. The two humans avoided the hell-flora with caution.

I do not want to see what would happen if they touched this stu--

"What's your problem?" Called out Catarina.

About a dozen hollow snaps clamored at once. Ari's looked down to see her boot that had just barged through a line of the strange plants. The boot was fine save for a few fragments of them being stuck in it, but what was more worth complaining about was the aftermath of the same fragments barely falling short of Cat.

"I really wasn't paying attention..."

"Well change that."

Easy to say.

...

It came into view all of the sudden. A heap of white rock emerging out of the surrounding plain flat land within the blighted forest. Within the rock were darkened lines and holes, indentations made by man to dwell within. Stairs led up to these from the roads that sprawled out from the town, just as the one the Luna Vis group had travelled.

No sight of any mercenary, they neared the closest part of the town's edge. However a strange, sick, sense of familiarity filled Ariel. Her fur was standing to no end, she knew it was Déjà Vu. This time was different however.

"Everyone... I think we should take cover..." She said in a wavering tone.

With just a look at her state they could tell it was not a fluke. The group split in two: Ari with Myrtle hiding behind a large tree, Cat and Liinei behind a brick wall.

Her instincts were proven once the tree was struck and ruptured through by a bolt of grace shot with immense power. Understanding it was made of a large concentration of grace, they all knew to go towards the source of the attack that they just survived.

Someone was seen retreating in an upper floor, the one who must have been responsible. The scattered team formed closer together once they knew the ambusher had to reposition.

The closest part to get up there was only made up of boulders and rock face which they had to jump and climb. Leading them was Liinei, making it up to the level and leaping into the open hall.

Ari had only gotten her upper body over the ledge when she was able to see where sudden noise of conflict erupted from. Liinei was facing D, whose blade was pinging off of the lunar's solidified form.

Liinei retaliated with a wide, circular hand motion that repelled the very next strike that attemped to pass through the plane it created. Ari then joined the confrontation as well, attempting to land an unexpected strike from the clad demon's side.

They're out of reach! Is Liinei alright?

D ended the flurry she was enacting when a bright red creature made of grace flew through the air and lashed at them forcing them both back. D took dizzy steps backwards out of the reach of the now fully ensembled opposing team. She now had free way to a bridge leading away to a different spire with more demons who were seemingly expecting them.

The being made of grace lashed and swiped, halting the Luna Vis' ability to chase after D.

Once the red and silver clad antagonist had just enough space to safely stand still on the middle of the bridge she let a bargain be heard.

"Your blood doesn't need be spilled here. Would you chase the ludicrous folly of killing all of us? What I've come here for is already done..."

Just whatever did this person come here for? Ariel pondered.

"Say, what if we leave? Would you abandon this place for us to reclaim from this plague?" To everyone's surprise the captain was engaging with it.

"You can't be serious, Liinei!" Ari cried out in disbelief.

"Consider this no declaration but we are here to stay and will enact war to keep it that way." D responded, but her next notion singled out the serval on the other side. "And you, demon? What makes you side with the ones who would stomp on your neck, were you not under the same pathetic flag? I'm sure you could find ample peace in Trofea."

She can't really mean that... A life without killing, I would ironically kill for.

A heavy hand covered in plate hit her shoulder in assurance.

"You say that like the Torn Empire isn't a shell for warmongering rule. Pay this one no mind, Ariel, I know the kind of mouth that spouts praise of my homeland." The one giving words of encouragement was Myrtle, stepping forward to take the lead.

The initiative by her was cut short however. The grace creature withdrew in no time and a familiar bolt came down onto the bridge and collapsed it between them. Having been quick enough to react, Myrtle moved away just in time and took Ariel to safety as well. The same could not be said about Catarina.

From the aftermath they noticed her absence and yelled out for her together.

"I'm down here! I'm fine, I caught myself, but I need time to get back!" She yelled back. Being down one member was cause for concern in this scenario and she had to make her way back up as soon as possible.

While Cat was on her way to a set of stairs leading to a different spire the rest up top was advancing on a roundabout path towards the leader of the enemy group.

With Ariel going in front the three were fired up and ready for a fight. It didn't matter that the whole town was no more than a ruin covered in barricades overgrown with the same yellow plants.

Weaving between these obstacles was only trivial until the serval came face to face with the most torn-up looking demon she could imagine. To her it seemed harder to find parts that were left intact than the blackened and blemished surrounding body, with even some parts of its internal grace showing.

Is this one even alive? I've never seen someone this messed up, their grace is visible, and almost black... That looks so rough....

She really could not tell, had it not gave her a smirk as it closed the distance between them. Ari's drawn sword was pointed at them in clear intent to keep away and subdue, but the demon simply grabbed the blade which made the whole weapon and even her hand light on fire.

She only had a quick moment to throw it aside and shake her and until it went out, made possible by Myrtle getting between them.

With the armored fighter and Ari in the back throwing needles of grace the only option was to slip away, which the burnt one did. Ari took charge once more in finding him, but being more careful to not be set ablaze this time.

The distinct sound of someone stumbling into the clutter that was all around the place came from the side, and as such Ari turned and ran at the source of it.

She did make it to the spot where the sound originated from, but there was only an empty, wide open space....

Just a single distant snap preceded a speeding object that she would see to be a crossbow bolt had skimmed her side.

"There's another ranger! Keep your heads down!" The warning was shouted aloud.

It was only useful for Liinei, however, as Myrtle was already on her way to the presumed shooter. The hunter need not hear or see, just the sense of her enemy is enough to locate the target.

By the time Ariel caught up there was only the aftermath was there to see.

The demon in front of her laid on the ground leaking a considerable amount of blood.

Myrtle was already off running towards the next one but turned back to tell Ariel what to do.

"Tie that one up! Restrain him then back us up!" She said.

As Ari began to tie the concussed enemy up she couldn't help but also stop his bleeding. He would have surely died if left alone like that.

Poor bastard, why end up with this crowd?

//---

Liinei wasn't hindered by the weight of heavy armor and was thus leading Myrtle. With her direction they wound up on another bridge, leading to the place where the leader had retreated to.

Facing them on the bridge this time was the burnt demon, standing quite confident contrasting his previous running away.

I'm no fool. Their marksman has us pinned down. Liinei thought then strategized.

Since sets pillars laid at the side of the bridge, the two could move forward once Liinei relaid the method to Myrtle. But past the midpoint any time they decided to make their move the slightest bit of shuffling behind their cover resulted in a bolt strking down right where their next step would take them.

Oh? Am I seen? Even behind solid stone? Quite reminiscent of our fight at Heleda Mäe...

Lassimer's old trick better work.

The lunar waited until the hunter tried another move, which once again resulted in a bolt almost skewering her on the spot, they stepped out in the open with their dark blue grace enveolping them and began to advance.

The contrasting red bolt was inevitably headed right for them. The burnt demon cackled but only until seeing the projectile pass right through the captain. Another bolt, then another, going right through the seemingly intangible approaching lunar.

The confusion rhat was stirred up let Myrtle move forward as well. The burnt demon could not let this go without reaction, and thus approached.

Once up close Liinei tore away a thin sheet of air to reveal the illusion: a rescattering of the light to mislead anyone trying to attack past the barrier it created.

"Vexed by a simple trick of the light? Try not to hit your mate then!" Liinei called out to the one shooting the grace bolts.

With their hands raised they invited the burnt one to engage in combat. An instigating swift jab left the demon reeling, but it was returned knocking aside but not deterring Liinei.

"Come here, you!" The lunar rushed in close. They pummeled away at the demon, knocking the wind out of his lungs and making him cough blood but even still Liinei was grabbed and engulfed in a dark colored fire.

One of moon clay could simply disregard the rising temperature and keep fighting. And that is exactly what the captain had done, beating in the demon's face until he was a collapsed pile on the ground.

With their clothing razed and face marked by burnt residue they continued on after Myrtle who was already seeking the next enemy.

---///

"You done with him?" A voice came.

Ari jumped when she was confronted.

"What do you expect of me to be doing when I am leaned over a body, Catarina?" She said without even turning back.

"I wish for you to be praying but the sod doesn't seem dead. Let's just leave the matter and the place." Catarina wished to move on.

"So you say." She got up to go with her.

Along the way Ari realized it has been a while since they actually fought together. The mere thought of this was the cause for a miriad of feelings, wanting to make up for her past faults, a sense of being back together, a sense that they will someday go home to the capital and lay back for a few years.

It was time. Ahead of them were their team captain and newfound companion fighting against the demon with scars and blemishes. Something was wrong, though.

The demon was being utterly defeated and grievously wounded by Liinei's bare fists and Myrtle's two swords. The thing was, the demon, once injured to a certainly fatal level began to glow with a grace not of his own color and became uninjured in plain view. The expression of sheer dread spread across Ariel's face. She did not make sure the one she left behind did not have anything to cut himself free with.

In the midst of the realization came the bolt of the crossbow impaling her left shoulder.

Not a good look, not good at all...

"Cat! Go back the rest up! I'll take the bastard..." She chose to fight alone once her image was in the dirt.

It was pretty clear her left arm was useless. Knowing better than to rip out the bolt she solely focused on rushing the ranger in close combat.

A whistle came past and she ducked down, but she had not seen another bolt fly at her at all.

Am I losing that much blood? I really did hear that, it surely flew past!

The next bolt landing in her left arm proved that conclusion wrong right away.

"Shit! I'll rip you apart!!!" She was now enraged.

She got beneath the vantage point and jumped right up the entire height of a building to face her enemy directly. He was standing ready with a curved dagger in hand.

"Left me to die here, did you? Now look who is halfway in the grave!" He yelled.

"I see that my mercy was misplaced, I should've just let you bleed out."

With that their close up fight ensued.

Ari lagged slightly from being hit several times but still wanted to attack first, and was outsped in the first strike. Her blood splattered once more as her lifted arms were sliced at.

She stepped back and out of her grace she formed a scythe to outreach the enemy's short armament. He backed away from the first swing, but she extended her reach of the second one by holding it lower down the handle and opened up the demon's stomach. His blood spilled but he was still in for the fight. Ari knew he would do it at some point, and it was then that she had to dodge the upcoming shot from the crossbow her enemy was still holding within his offhand.

A few more swings at the out of reach opponent revealed to her that her strength was giving out and she needed to finish up quickly. At the sight of her weakened state the demon rushed in close, so close her weapon was unwieldy and unable to attack, then held his blade to the serval's throat.

"Don't you dare move! Give up! Now let go of your weapon!" The command came, she did not want to end up like the blighted corpses strewn around them...

Her hand let the scythe go, having it dissipate into golden specks then those to nothingness. She then held up her hand, only the right one because the left wouldn't budge no matter the effort.

"Now, you'll come along. You are my hostage now-" He was cut short.

Outside his vision was the backside of her hand with the sigil of Yandra now glowing bright, ready to unleash her hidden trumpcard.

With the hand pointed right in his face the wave of the scouring whiteish-gold grace enveloping him completely. The ability was yet still tainted by Harae, so he ended up with the grace within him bursting out in the form of snakes and binding him in place.

"Did I not say I'd rip you apart?" Ariel hysterically savaged the helpless demon.

Her terror led her to go overboard andshe ended up hurting him way more than she truly intended to.

She left without truly knowing if he was alive or not.

Ages old keepsake

"You damn idiot!" Cat excalimed upon seeing Ari with so many injuries.

The clergywoman couldn't help but stay at the rear and await her teammate's return.

"How are things looking?" Ari wanted only to keep up the fight.

"How are YOU looking? Come here, right now!" She dragged her behind a small wall and slumped her on the ground.

Catarina removed her gloves for what she would do next. "This will hurt." She said, taking her grace string she began stitching Ari's wounds shut.

"It's not... that bad." Ariel winced mid sentence.

The young woman just gave her a look. She was finished up, ready to rejoin the combat.

So they did.

Ahead of them, way further ahead than the first time were their two other allies.

At this point it was a full blown chase after one mouselike demon that they had not seen before. He was pathetically screaming for the others to keep the soldiers away and for their leader to save him.

"That is the one we must capture!" Myrtle rallied them both as they joined up.

By this point the burnt demon was exerted to the point that he could not fight on, even after being healed by the mouse. As such their concerns were the grace creature and its wielder, the marksman, and D herself. Before they could be fought off the healer being taken out was their utmost priority.

They were finally at the rock in which the enemy's leader was. The path within which led deeper, intot he center of it.

The Luna Vis ended up staring down into a deep darkness. It was a cavity, wide as one could imagine a cave to be, lined on the sides by glowing hellblight. Even the faint yellow was drowned out by the lower ends by the sheer depth of this abyss.

Could this be a chasm to......

Ariel pondered if it could be a way to the underworld.

There was still some distance before their enemy could descend. For the first time the one shooting bolts came into view. It was a crow, with a couple white feathers in its 'hair'. It was taking its rigid grace that looked like a two piece sharp rod, which shot off as soon as they were snapped in alignment.

The rapid projectile hit Liinei square in the chest and blew them back into a wall. Everyone on their side was looking on in horror but were instantly relieved as the hard form lunar emerged from the dust cloud with only the clothing destroyed in the spot the attack had hit.

Armed with the knowledge that such an ability would take time to fire off again Ariel used her athleticism and descended to the increasingly narrow path below and gave no chance to the crow before clawing it right across the eyes. She then kicked the crow down and made sure it didn't get back up for the time being.

In the meantime Catarina made use of the utter fear of the healer. With being so scared he peered back and this gave ample opportunity for her to catch his glance with hers.

She did the same thing to her legs as she did to treat Ariel: run string through and inside the muscles. It didn't even phase her, but the pain crippled the mouse and let the others catch him as well.

"May we slit throats and drink what is spilled until the end of days. That is what was said to us on the Sixth Layer." The leader turned back to face them in front of a sheer cliff that surely went all the way down to the layer below.

"And you intend to slit mine? No blood will erupt from within, you know." Retorted Liinei.

"I did not want to follow in the ways of those crazed tyrants, but I will be forced to do some slitting right after I shatter you." She pointed her blade right at the Lunar. The gesture still had a point, even though the lunar was in their hard form.

The whole group was about descend upon the elegantly armored demon. But this effort was turned against them, as all of them were focused on a single target the grace creature from before separated Liinei from them.

It was much larger, its summoner made herself known:

"Not on my watch. Lady D will have her wishes." There were a pair of feline eyes shining down at them from a crevice in the chasm wall. There was Cedric with her, and a set of rope ladders leading down could be noticed.

While the two leaders were getting ready to get their duel on, Ari formed a javelin and hurled it as hard as her wounded form let her but it fell short of the summoner.

Damn it! Shit! We need to help the captain somehow!

"I apologize for being so imprudently dressed. The fighters you laid out were quite feverish you see." Liinei began with laying out formalies.

D undid a single clip, grabbed her cape and threw it at them.

"Put it on. I'll be taking it back from your remains, so let us take care not to tatter it." The courtesy D showed was out of her sense of being above fighting in such an uncouth manner.

Catarina told me this one attacks incredibly fast. I must get close only when safe, or only decisively.

Liinei intently put the borrowed cape over themselves as they ran through their selection of strategies for such an engagement.

The initial swipe was just to test how Liinei would respond, but it was far too close to ignore so the lunar did the previous move of circling their hand and creating a repulsive layer.

D's weapon was out of its covered area and as such it was left to simply dissipate. She walked with her arm streched forward and her sword pointed down in the style of a fencer.

Liinei drew their own sword, one much more suited for fencing than the one the demon wielded. They circled around in a lethal deadlock while the rest of the Luna Vis team was either spectating or trying to wake the mouse who went unconcious from the stress and pain. They needed a way to heal themselves.

The instant D's red grace flashed Liinei was ready. The jab came at a speed everyone that saw it could not have reacted to. It was faster than anyone there could imagine the peak of swordfighting to be.

There had been a secret ploy the whole time, however. A trumpcard up Liinei's sleeve, or lack thereof. The only thing the demon saw was her near instant attack had been parried and the lunar was too close to land a single swing on.

The light trick worked again!

With deep blue sparkles the armor on D's torso was infused with grace and blew right off in a localized explosion, maiming her in the process.

"The captain did it! She's staggered!" Catarina was overjoyed to see the one who gave her such scars was being defeated.

D stumbled forth and unexpectedly grabbed the lunar close by the back of the head.

"You shall now know why they fear the Deprived One." She spun a dagger in her hand, which she somehow took out without Liinei seeing it, then unleashed hundreds of stabs into the lunar's side, sustaining the barrage for several seconds.

The vast amount attempted incisions broke off and dented more and more of the blade, sparking as the unbreakable material withstood all. But in the middle of it, when one well placed stab hit where a human would have their kidney a sound of something breaking rung out.

Liinei kicked the demon away as they grabbed at the wound in their side. Their grace poured out from it, instilling fear in the lunar like they have never felt before.

OH NO OH NO OH NO NO NO NO NO NO The horror was instant.

"I'm.. my... my... I.. my mark.... Broken...." They stuttered.

"First one, huh? I have only met a few with marks in the place you have them." D was surely familiar with the weakspots of every kind of lunar's hard state. A truly horrific opponent must be dealt with, and dealt with right away.

The bleeding of grace stopped as the rest of their body was enveloped in it instead. They stood solid and strong, ready to enact a finishing move.

"It was. And I do not intend to let any more ever break. Die." The captain's despair turned to sheer fury.

"Fired up for nothing. Your useless efforts will fade into obscurity." The Deprived One was ready to strike at the rest of the lunar's weakpoints.

With the appearance of a sigil in the shape of the New Moon above Liinei meant that they would go all out.

The demon braced this time, up for any sort of attack to be deflected by a quick flurry of her sword. It was not the proper reponse to stand still for what came next.

Masses of congealed grace formed and rained down at the demon from all around Liinei, who was throwing fist after fist, kicks and even more punches all infused with Massette's volatile grace.

As the masses landed they set on fire whatever they touched and the punches surely broke a multitude of her bones as well as burn her severely. They were both covered in the dark blue flames as they went at each other looking to quickly end the fight.

Revealing her sigil once again, the Deprived One fully swung her sword dozens of times, even hundreds in a flash, but she noticed Liinei was not in their solidified state anymore. Still they were withstanding her slashes by tempering themselves with heat.

"Worthless doll, I will have your head." She focused even more, increasing her speed to unthinkable levels.

Her reactions along her swings kept speeding up and Liinei's attacks seemingly could not hit her anymore.

The clay could only resist so much before giving way and being gradually cut into more and more. It seemed extremely dire as they could no longer fight back.

That's when the javelin came and impaled the demon from the back.

"TAKE THAT YOU SHIT!!!!!!" Ariel screamed, her state no better than before but still on the offense.

With the demon now out of the motion, exhausted and wounded Liinei could finish the duel.

The lunar sent a single uppercut with the burnt demon's fire to set her ablaze, then a mundane strong kick to send her down the endless chasm below.

Out of the panic of seeing D fall, the summoner cat demon took the falling leader with the grace creature. It descended to the darkness and was followed by its user.

Captain Liinei was devastated. Each of a lunar's mark being destroyed is a step closer to death. They were rocked to their core by it happening to them for the first time.

They slung the object they carried the whole time on their back and began to unwrap it.

Long and cylindrical, wrapped in fine textiles that they just unwrapped revealed an antique looking implement. The housing was wooden but complicated metal contraption and a tube of pink light, presumably grace was poking out from within.

"Catarina. You must activate this. Only you can." Liinei was out of things to say or even think.

She did not protest. A simple instruction on how to use the object was enough.

"Would we die? Us two? And Myrtle? What about the demons here?" Ariel was worried for the lives that could still be saved.

"Ariel. What we came for is already done." They could not have sounded more uncaring about the deaths it would cause.

"That's the same thing that woman said! How are you two different then? What is wrong with you????" Ari cried out.

"Just go. I'll do what I can." Catarina said somberly.

Yeah, like you would.

They could not stop Ariel from picking up the mouse with her one working arm. The crow was unresponsive and she could not move it at all.

"We need to go. Really." Said Myrtle with a bit of assurance, picking the crow up to bring it to safety.

It took the exertion of walking a half mile from the town. It really did look like a mass of bones jutting from the earth.

As Ariel expected the pink grace housed in the object was the catalyst of something devastating. The entire settlement went up in an outburst of blinding pink radiance, collapsing the whole of it.

The path to hell was sealed, and so were the remains of those who lived their lives in this place under heaps of rubble.

And once the brightness of it subsided the faint silhouette of Catarina was the only living thing emerging from the ruin, the blight was completely removed.

Why am I even doing what I'm doing?

I am so, so sick. In so many ways.