Ether broke free from his chamber, causing the walls to split open. He breathed heavily, still weeping. The display took the butler and Hitirus by surprise.
Shame and guilt for killing Hylo motivated Ether to lung at the chamber he saw her enter into. He pounded the walls repeatedly, crushing his knuckles with each hit.
"Hylo! Hylo! Please! I'm so sorry!" desperation rung clear in his voice.
Yet she didn't listen to him. Her mind was somewhere else, drifting across fields of dead warriors and uneven odds.
She looked all around herself - gore, blood, torched armor. Arrows piercing her plates. Like she had always imagined warfare to be like for her - a desolate world.
Battalions atop battalions atop battalions emerged over the horizon. Arrows took flight, darkening the earth below. The smell of death reeked beneath the scorching sun.
Hylo felt surreal. Everything that was happening around her could barely be set apart from realistic.
An uncertainty crept into her mind, she wasn't sure what to do. But when her eyes caught the sun's rays, she understood her father was somewhere looking over her.
The thought gave her the courage to lift her sword and embrace for the incoming storm of arrows. Each one pierced a body, whistling down to make a path.
Like Ether taught her, Hylo turned her sword so the flat side looked towards the incoming barrage. Then she dug her head beneath her shoulders.
When the arrows came down on her, they pierced mostly armor and non-threatening portions of her body. Yet the recoil and pain still rung throughout her body.
Screams of incoming warriors brought Hylo out of her defensive stance. Like Decka taught her, speed beats strength, no matter the situation.
Hylo charged right up to them. Her sword swiftly and keenly danced through foes. They stepped back, trying to regain their footing or recover from a stab wound.
The sound of beating drums, signifying the approach of heavier combatants, rung throughout the battlefield. Hylo opened a clearing, with the ground made of dozens of corpses.
Warriors stopped attacking, they retreated slightly. Making way for the bigger elites and stronger combatants.
"Vashtas, as-gota un'uk? Kikgabril hastos e'coppus? Nir st-katzi ninkos oh'v," a Thawed spoke in Philious.
Despite being half-Thawed, Hylo couldn't understand what the Thawed was saying. But she didn't have the time to think. It unleashed a frost-wave out of its exposed chest.
Warriors froze down to an atomic level. Effectively killing them on the spot. Yet Hylo was different. Even if her body stiffened, her mutation wouldn't allow her to be completely frozen over.
The Thawed came charging at her, spinning around last second to build up momentum to strike her with their mace. It clashed perfectly with her stomach.
Armor dented, sinking into her clothes. Like Fruzzy taught her, show no pain. Even if it felt like getting ran over by a truck going at full speed.
Hylo collapsed onto her knees, sword fell beside her hand. She feebly looked up at the elite, realizing one critical detail.
"Kenteska oba vh'eratire. Con-coski ves," the Thawed taunted.
As they looked at Hylo closer, she pieced together who this Thawed was. Their name was Gotzer, one of Senestis' multiple personalities.
Gotzar raised his mace over his head, then brought it down onto her back. The crushing pain destroyed Hylo's armor and spine.
Hylo still stood firm against the pain, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. Yet she couldn't help it. Everything below the impact zone went numb, leaving only her neck and head.
She wanted to cry, let the pain control her. But she had more self-control. So instead, she mustered all her strength to make use of what little tools she had now.
The sun baked her armor, agonizing Hylo. It was like Ether was ordering her to push on. Which she obeyed without question.
Gotzar watched Hylo drag herself closer to him. She moved corpses, gripped blooded grass. Even reeked of the same smell of the dead.
"Ah! Kotra it'is kas-nos venvo. Nis-kis ni'cubra," Gotzar marveled.
He lifted his mace once again, preparing to grant Hylo mercy. Then he brought it down for the last time.
The entire weapon crushed Hylo's skull, killing her instantly. After the world went dark, Hylo found herself within the chamber again.
The wall opened again, letting her out. Ether was the first face she saw, and together, the duo embraced each other.
For Hylo, this meant the start of a new kind of mindset. Even if she had always believed her future was to be a capable warrior, the harsh truth was the opposite.
Despite her intense training from different teachers, Hylo wasn't as skillful in survival as Ether. Nor was she as much of a leader and defender as Decka. Even Fruzzy's pain tolerance was beyond her's.
"I - I don't think... a warrior's life is - is mine..." Hylo whispered
Ether nodded. "Partly true. You already are a warrior. Now you just have to find out what kind of warrior will you stay as."
Hylo broke free from her father's arms. "Wh - what? There is more than one type of warrior?"
"Yeah," Ether smiled. "Mercenaries, assassins, strategists, archers. And of course, soldiers. You might not want to be a soldier, so be a mercenary or strategist."
"Mercenaries are what we need more of," Befehlnadir interrupted. He emerged from his chamber, relatively unfazed. "If we can get you a Third Rule and better equipment, you'll rival any pre-Noble. Especially with a link."
The Iron Butler stepped towards the middle of the room. "Looks like everyone's ready. Great Hitirus, please come over."
Despite the many questions he had, Hitirus obeyed. This was the time he had been waiting for. His palms began to glitter in a powerful white.
"With just the touch of your palm to their foreheads, they'll become your pre-Nobles. Death defying, God-killers, born to walk the line between normal and paranormal," the Iron Butler finished.
So Hitirus got to work on making Ether, Hylo, and Befehlnadir his pre-Nobles. With his mind already set on the future.