Julian hovered amidst the burning wreckage of a building set ablaze with sickly orange fire. The smoke and flames swirled above him filling the air with toxic black fumes. Julian simply ignored the choking environment as it wouldn't affect him while wrapped in a spatial barrier. Biting his lip, he focus solely on the far wall in the dank basement.
There were the distinctive ripples of a dimensional tear echoing on the world river, congregating on a single point in front of him.
It was where Zee vanished about a minute ago. Julian had been right in the middle of a conversation with the patriarch and the Terlashar envoy but this was more important. He scowled, Julian supposed this was his own fault.
He should have been faster and caught her before she could leap through the dimensional tear. How could he let himself get so distracted that he lost her again? If this took another two years to find her he was going to lose his shit.
Julian took a deep calming breath, studying the fraying ends of space where the dimensional tear opened more carefully.
At least this time it wasn't a chaotic portal. Dimensional tears were much more manageable. He tuned out the ongoing conflict above, ignoring the shaking of the building threatening to collapse on him.
His attention was solely on the decaying focal point of the dimensional tear. He was looking for a resonance, a signal to copy, and use to follow her.
Dimensional tears were not his strength, but he should be able to follow if he was fast enough. Behind him, the door burst open behind him in a shower of fire and sand as four people burst in.
"Ahh, right on time." He said, half turning and facing them.
"Julian," Allison asked, wisps of white-hot fire dancing in the air around her.
"No time to chat, you four need to go through this portal," Julian said, gesturing as a dimensional rift wreathed in sickly orange flame formed in the air. It swirled and crackled unsteadily, threatening to collapse as he forced the tear to reopen.
The portal was unstable, and probably wouldn't take them to the exact place Zee was, but it should be close enough.
"What! Why do you want us to go through that portal?" Allison asked, her longsword held in a whit knuckled grip.
Julian scowled," Because, if you don't, the rift will collapse, and we won't be able to find Zee or your fiancé again," Julian said, he grit his teeth. "Now, stop arguing and go, I can't keep it open for long,"
Bastion was the first, blurring forward, leaping into the portal. He was followed closely by Greg and then Malden, who both leaped inside the portal seconds later.
"Are you coming?" Allison asked, hesitating right in front of the swirling disc of fire.
Julian snatched a medallion from around his neck and tossed it to the white-haired woman.
"No, I can't. Keep this on you, we will come get you once the ship is repaired. Ohh, and for the sake of all that is holy don't let Zee break it," Julian said.
Allison slipped the mat black chain over her head and stepped into the rift. Julian let out a sigh of relief, allowing the dimensional rift to collapse behind them.
Sendredie appeared beside him a moment later, the clawing smoke filling the room swirling around her.
"Them leaving It's probably for the best. I don't think your old friend will hold back the invasion much longer," Sendredie said.
Julian sighed. "I'm aware... Discussions with the envoy have not been going well. From what I can tell, the patriarch is cutting his losses, he has already planned his escape aboard a smuggler ship," Julian replied.
She nodded in agreement. "Should we get out early?" Sendredie asked:
"Maybe.. How long until you are finished repairs on the ship's main reactor?" Julian asked.
"A day, maybe two. But don't expect it to be in prime condition. The best you can expect with only two more days is that I might be able to keep it from blowing us all up," Sendredie replied.
"That will have to be good enough. I will try to buy us two more days by talking to the envoy. Continue on the repairs, but be ready to depart at any minute," Julian said.
*****
Crouching low behind a rocky crag, Zee watched the four Aintar below argue, wondering how to approach this mess. Unlike the last two she killed, these four looked tough.
Their tightly controlled auras were nothing to scoff at, and the numbers couldn't be discounted either.
Her eyes fell on the one who was supposedly a high priest. Zee was no expert on the purgatory church, but that had to mean that this guy was very proficient at throwing fire at people.
Or, his powers could have nothing to do with fire at all. At this point, all she was doing was guessing. The armored priest carried an oddly glowing lantern at his hip, which probably meant he was a caster then.
Considering how potent the flames of the Aintar back in the real world were, she would need to get rid of the priest as soon as possible.
If she got bogged down in melee combat with the other three while the priest attacked from a distance she would be screwed.
Seemed fed up with his subordinates, the armored priest made a cutting gesture.
"Enough talking! Lead the way," the priest snapped.
With only the barebones of a plan, Zee readied herself for combat. She conjured a long, sleek javelin made with the dark blue mist of spirit echo. Hopefully, she could deal a fatal blow to the most dangerous enemy with a surprise attack from a distance.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped from the cover and hurled the conjured spear.
Zee wasn't the most accurate thrower, but her strength was nothing to scoff at.
The mist-like spear crossed the fifty-metre gap in a second, hitting the priest square in his metal breastplate.
The breastplate rang like a gong, the priest staggering backward. Her javelin shattered into motes of blue fire, leaving a small rent in the armor. Zee didn't have time to berate herself for the poorly thrown javelin, as the Aintar reacted surprisingly quickly.
She swore, lurching to one side as a throwing axe whipped by her head, creating a shockwave in the air. It was followed closely by a bellowing war cry that sent chills up her spine.
"Up there, on that rocky crag, "one of the three Aintar shouted.
Zee swore again as another of these bearded axes cracked the rock beside her head.
Keeping her head down, Zee was surprised yet again as one of the Aintar leaped straight up, arching above her.
With a savage gleam in its eyes, the Aintar high priest hurled its freaking lantern down at her hiding spot.
Her vision turned monochrome as her body turned to mist.
Zee reappeared a hundred meters away, just in time to watch the rock she had been on turn to melted slag amidst an inferno of sickly orange fire.
Even from a hundred meters away, the heat made her face sting.
"We might have made a slight miscalculation," Dern said, his mental voice nervous.
"No kidding, what now?" Zee asked, licking her suddenly dry lips. Her heart beat like a drum in her ears, her palms suddenly sweaty.
Before Dern could reply, one of the Aintar spotted her and hurtled another axe at her.
The air whooshed around her as she ducked, cursing the ranged axe wielder.
She kept her head down, ducking for cover as another axe sprayed chunks of rock around her. The rapid scuff of hooves on rock filled her ears, approaching much too quickly. She peeked over the rock just in time to see two of the Aintar rushing in at brake-neck speed.
She was forced to quickly duck for cover as another axe flew in from the third.
Shit! They were on her before she could retreat, with the one in the lead swinging a huge club at her head. Parrying the giant weapon was not an option, so she ducked and rolled, her hair gusting in the wind of the attack.
Rolling to her feet she frantically twisted, deflecting a blow from a morning star aimed at her chest.
The force of deflecting the blow made her hands scream in pain, but she pushed through. Caught off balance between a two-pronged attack, she frantically infused her aura with a spark of compression, flaring it outward.
Hoping to catch her opponent's off guard with the sudden burst of aura, she lunged forward. Her sword arched upward in a ruthless swing aimed to disembowel the Aintar with the Morningstar.
The immense weight of her compressed aura hardly baught her a second as her opponents responded by unleashing their own auras. It wasn't much time, but still enough to land the first hit of the fight.
Her blade caught only a glancing blow, carving a superficial cut in the Aintar's fur. The creature's face turned up into a rictus of pain, as blue flames clung to the wound, burning with the sickly turquoise hue of miasma.
Taking a minor victory, she activated the second step of her wayward walk skill getting some distance.
Using the brief respite, she shook out her hands, scanning the rocky crags, realizing the high priest was missing. For someone clad in silver armor, the priest sure was being sneaky. Without any warning, crimson fire exploded around her, forming a fiery cage to block her in.
In a bid to escape the trap, she tried to activate her movement skill, but failed, staggering forward with a splitting headache. A deep rumbling laugh echoed off the rocks as the Aintar high priest appeared just outside the cage, holding his brightly glowing lantern.
"What a foolish little human, you should know better than to attack your betters," the priest said.
Despite her predicament, his high and mighty attitude really irked her.
"Just because you are in a cult doesn't make you better than me," Zee retorted, frantically searching the flaming cage for any weakness.
The high priest gave her a bemused snort, the beads wrapped around its wide, curving horns clacking together as it cocked its giant head.
"A feisty one, that's good. It will make breaking you all the more enjoyable," the priest said with a sadistic smile.
"Are you always this nice to strangers," Zee asked, sarcastically.
The priest smiled," Oh, right, where are my manners? I am Parkin, a priest of the church of Suffering, and these three behind me are my subordinates. Who might you be?" The priest asked.
"I am Zee, of clan Viotti," Zee said.
"Viotti?" he glanced back at his subordinate," Why is that name familiar, isn't there a human we are supposed to avoid with that clan name," Parkin asked.
One of his lackeys, the one who had thrown axes at her replied," Yes sir, we are ordered to avoid Julian Viotti at all costs. However, we also have orders to capture or kill his granddaughter."
"You don't say? Didn't we already kill her?" Parkin asked.
"No sir, the assassins have not reported back, we suspect they failed," The axe thrower replied.
Parkin hummed thoughtfully, "It seems we are in luck, the grand deacon will be pleased when we hand her over. Who knows, we might even get an accommodation," Parkin said excitedly.
Zee's anxiety grew as she listened to the conversation. Meeting this grand deacon did not sound like something she wanted any part of.
This priest was full of himself, clearly underestimating her if he thought this flaming cage could keep her captive. Given what they were saying, she doubted there was any possibility of talking it out.
The world river trembled, the ethereal waves of ebb and flow crashing around her as she raised her sword in a two-hand grip.
If she couldn't get out using her movement skill, then she would just cut her way out. The flaming cage was ripped asunder as she unleashed a full-powered reality slash.
The horizontal attack was compressed to a fine edge and cut right through the domain of fire with an incredibly thin guillotine of force.
Wide-eyed, Parkin scrambled to raise his lantern and erect a defense, but her attack was already upon them. Blood showered the stone as Parkin's thick muscular arm fell to the ground with a wet splat, his lantern rolling across the rock.
Mouth agape, Parkin stared down at his burning stump of an arm that was missing at the elbow. His breastplate was shattered, blood leaking through the cracks, as he swayed on his feet.
Azure flames burned away at the grievous wounds, turning the already savage wounds into a gruesome sight. Her finisher skill hadn't cut the large Aintar in half but it had nearly killed him.
The fiery cage collapsed around her releasing her from the restrictive domain. Fleeing while the Aintar were stunned might have been the right choice, but she couldn't exactly flee without Yukna.
A fist-sized ball of silver and blue arched through the air, rapidly swelling in size. Dern crashed amidst the back three Aintar line he was rock shot from a catapult, swinging his glaive towards the surprised axe thrower.
Reacting with impressive speed, the Aintar raised a bearded axe, his muscles bulging as he caught Dern's attack on the blade of his axe. Metal clashed with metal, as Dern attacked with surprising ferocity, trying to overwhelm the equally large Aintar.
She didn't wait to see what happened, appearing in front of the high priest, intent on finishing him off.
Charging like a bull, the Aintar with the huge mace threw its weapon which slammed into her from the side. Bone crunched as she was thrown away before she could deal the killing blow.
Gasping at the shocking pain in her side, Zee rolled as she hit the ground, scrambling back to her feet.
Several ribs were cracked definitely cracked or broken, even after her shroud absorbed most of the blunt force.
The two melee fighters didn't wait for her to catch her baring. The one with the Morningstar swung its ball and chain in a wide arch, the spikes on the weapon radiating immense pressure.
Her side screamed in pain as she leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding having her head turned to a pulp. The rock exploded behind her, the ball and chain sending up shards of rock and dirt.
Her stomach leaped in her throat as she was forced to tuck and roll again as a head-sized rock narrowly missed her head.
With the pain in her side addling her mind, every movement was a struggle. Ignoring it was not easy, but she couldn't lose focus now.
Weaving and dodging, she retreated, trying to find a gap in their coordinated assault. Dodging rocks while also trying not to be pulped by an Aintar with a flail was no easy task.
She bit her lip. The one throwing rocks was staying near the heavily wounded high priest, harassing her with rocks.
At least Dern was keeping the axe thrower busy. Damn, she needed to go on the offensive. Weaving and dodging, she repeatedly deflected the spiked ball of the morning star, the ring of metal echoing across the rocky scree.
Her second opponent threw head-sized rocks at her with enough force to shatter bone.
Dodging the projectiles, and avoiding the morning star was a delicate balance. It forced her to stay on the defensive which was not usually a winning strategy when outnumbered.
She used her melee opponent as a shield, making it hard for the one throwing rocks to get a good line of sight.
Backing along the rough scree slope, she tried to ignore the grinding pain in her ribs. Getting hit by that thrown mace earlier felt like getting kicked by a pissed-off lizard, her cracked ribs sending jolts of pain up her side with each movement.
She needed to take a healing pill, but her enemy wouldn't give her the chance. Deftly avoiding another swing of that flail, she swung her blade at what she thought was an opening.
Her opponent caught the blade on the haft of his weapon and tried to kick her in the chest with a giant hoof. She turned to avoid the blow but was forced to activate Wayward Walk again as a rock flew toward her face.
She scowled, reforming next to the rock thrower, trying to stab that one in the back.
The Aintar's fur turned to vibrant grey scales, her sword gouging a thin bloody line as he whirled. With a speed that belied his towering size, he pivoted, countering with a fist shrouded in roiling wind.
Spirit echo enveloped her blade as she blocked, the heavy blow sending pain through her arms and back. Her opponent grinned, pressing her down, turning the block into a test of strength. Zee was no slouch in terms of potency to her body, but she simply couldn't match the much larger Aintar in raw physical strength.
Her hair whipped around her face in the unnatural wind, as she strained to not be crushed.
To make things worse, her spatial ripple skill pulsed, warning her just as the second opponent barreled in behind her, his morning star arcing toward her back.
Her body turned to mist at the last second as she was forced to use her movement skill yet again.
Her vision turned monochrome, her perception slowing as the attack passed harmlessly through her misty body.
Unfortunately, her opponents didn't hit each other as she hoped. Zee took the slight reprieve to reassess the fight.
Dern was about a hundred meters away, running after the axe thrower, with long spiraling cracks across his breastplate. His opponent was missing a horn, and bleeding from a gash on his chest, but Dern looked to be losing.
Zee was worse off. Her opponents were hardly injured at all, with a few superficial cuts at best. The only win condition she could see right now was the fact that the wounds she gave them were all burning with the sickly hue of spirit echo and miasma. If the fight dragged on long enough, she could wear them down until their limbs rotted off.
The only problem was that they could wear her down too.
In fact, they didn't seem in any hurry. They were likely trying to run her energy reserves dry. The worst part was, it was working.
Having Dern summoned in his full form, combined with that extra powerful reality slash earlier was a huge drain on her energy reserves. Her movement skill was nowhere near as costly to use as it once was, but it was still draining.
At this rate, she would be forced to dismiss Dern soon, which would turn it into a three-on-one battle.
With Yukna in the cave nearby, fleeing was not an option, so she needed to find a way to turn the tides of battle. Her mist form ended much too quickly, not giving her nearly enough time to properly plan an attack.
Her opponents were back on her in a heartbeat, forcing her back on the defensive. Zee cursed and retreated, deflecting a spiked metal ball from turning her head to mush. These two Aintar were much too skilled for her liking, their teamwork impeccable.
Her side throbbed something fierce, but she pushed herself to make a decisive blow. Instead of attacking the two melee fighters, she used the third step of her wayward walk skill to appear right next to the Aintar Dern was harassing.