Seth shifted his stance, gripping the hilt of the resisting blade with both hands. The Captain glanced over his shoulder as Astral's Hunter's Pulse washed over him. Fascinating. He could feel her call. She wondered what effect it might have on him.

The demons reaction to the pulse varied. Some hunters described driving the demons into a state of frenzy that was both terrifying and advantageous, often turning demons onto one another. Astral had always regarded her Hunter’s Pulse as a promise. If she pulsed hard her dark aura would wash over the area like a tidal wave, its reach extending for miles with decreasing intensity. The demons closest to her succumbed to a madness driven by a deep hunger that she attributed as extreme hate. It was the level of deep hatred that is all-consuming, where the subject is willing to harm themselves so completely for a chance to destroy the object of their scorn.

She couldn't say that the thought of Seth hating her so completely didn't bother her. But it wasn't a worry that was set in the present, but rather a vague memory of things that had been and would come. These vague recollections made her think of stepping sideways. It was a strange idea; how the act of taking one step to the left could alter her world in such a way that she may have stepped into a new life, a new series of circumstances, with new consequences and new endings.

"Go away," Astral hissed at her core. Her core always made her think of strange parallel existences.

The past was never the past.

The future was never the future.

Time was linear, yet was not.

Everything happened at exactly the same time.

Time was an illusion.

These snippets of vague concepts echoed in the recesses of her deep subconscious, bubbling to the surface every so often.

Her core shifted from watching Seth driving his bloodied blade into the new wave of husks. He used his sword as the vehicle through which he delivered the real weapon, his blood, to the open wounds infecting his prey. Blow-by-blow, Seth's fear was replaced with adrenaline. He was catching on. The next step was to replace his adrenaline with confidence powered by skill. Skill he should already have, according to her core.

Time to take it up a notch.

At the risk of calling the demon army to them, Astral pulsed harder, her unspoken promise sincere. Stronger husks lumbered toward them, clustering in pairs. When they reached the Captain and saw the littered rotting remains of the husks that had come before they opted for a new strategy. Exactly what the Hunter was hoping for. Husks were not the mindless undead bent on consumption. She often wondered if the intelligence of the host affected the spawn’s perceptions of the world. A shared world view between spawn and host, where the spawn had to chip away at the human condition to achieve optimal growth.

The prize that was Seth was too tantalizing to ignore. His vibrant soul strong enough to feed a legion of demons, enhancing their strength a hundred times over. Reaching the conclusion faster than their companions, the husk turned on their partners driving broken bones and severed limbs into their partners forcing them into the ground where they began devouring muscle and flesh and forcing bones into wounds to create the structural blueprint for the construction of new limbs. The monstrous machinations formed at a distance, safe from Seth's infectious blade.

Seth fought on, striking down weaker husks barely buying time for Astral's next pulse. He panted as he tackled three husks severing a head while using the hilt to strike the demon next to him so hard it's brittle bones gave way with a loud crack, its face sunken in with the blow while hanging at an awkward angle. Seth spun around using the second blow to guide the direction of his next strike, driving his sword at a downward angle removing the legs of a third husk. He plunged the sword through its skull and charged toward the next wave of husks.

He was pushing forward. Good. He was doing well. But he won't last forever. The adrenaline could only take him so far before his body gave out on him. The barrier spell no longer required, Astral dropped it. She wanted to see how well he dealt with the constructs. The husks merged two-by-two doubling their strength while using the extra materials to add a new level horror to their self-image.

Remnants of particle souls drifted in the air like soft snowflakes slowly dancing toward Astral. Was it enough? Did she have enough energy to finish off the massive construct threatening to climb the arena wall? She couldn’t wait too much longer. It lifted itself testing its weight against its hundred of arms. It hadn't designed its head, opting to finish its masterpiece once the ideal height had been achieved.

Seth fell into the rhythm of combat like a dance of blood and mayhem. He gave no indication that he saw the threat he was hacking his way toward. The corpses he left behind, treated like the human dead, twitched into life. The dismantled husks reached for the spare parts strewn about the battlefield, reattaching limbs while chewing the flesh, muscle and nerves from unusable parts reprocessing the materials to form new attachments. Husks rose jerking forward on mismatched legs, adjusting to their new bodies.

The Captain's grace with his blade became fluid. When one husk fell, he slashed at a new assailant, severing limbs. Out of time, the newly formed constructs sprung into action. A multi-armed creature, a nightmare made real, grabbed at Seth swiping him by the legs and pulling him into the air. The Captain severed the hand that held him only to be grabbed by another. He hacked away at the constructs multiple arms until it lost its grip on him. He severed it's legs, perhaps in a misguided attempt to immobilize the creature.

He leaped backwards as a second construct collided with the first, forcing him into the hands of lingering husks. A shadow leaped over the field landing between Astral and the Captain. It consumed the remains left behind by the newly risen. Astral fought the urge to catch the frugal construct by surprise. She needed to preserve her strength. She needed a little more time to harness the battle’s spiritual energy to have enough strength to take on the construct threatening to climb the arena wall. It had grown massive, she could handle it. Just.

It was a fool's errand to run through an army of husks to confront their appointed leader. It was beneficial to allow the bulk of the husks sacrifice themselves to a greater goal. The threat of the husks pounding against the arena perimeter had been reduced to a third. Seth was handling the dregs, the spawns whose hosts had grown too weak to be of any significant use, whose purpose had fallen to the role of buying time for their leader.

Formed of skulls and small bones, the gluttonous husk let out a shrill scream. Its intricate bones formed wings of patches rotting flesh. Long fingers attached to long hands attached to three jointed arms pointed to the Captain. It called for second time, wrapping its elongated fingers into a fist and pulling its fist to its many faces. It spines slithered in the air behind it like parasites trying to burrow their way into its back. It could glide, but not fly. A minor but important distinction. It’s legs allowed it to spring several feet above the battle, but not so high it could scale the walls.

It dove toward the squad Captain. The numbers were against him. The remnants of Astral's last call held the Captain down, restricting the use of his blade as he struggled against their inhuman grip. They bit into him. Yelling out in agony, he pulsed.

A wash of brilliant white and gold flooded the arena, rising to Astral's knees. His soul was warm, comforting, not unlike a relaxed summer evening spent with friends. The ocean of the spirit sparkled with flecks of gold, each an exposed memory for the person who knew how to tap into them. Astral cupped his soul in her hands and brought it to her lips. She caught herself before she drunk in his essence.

His soul rushed back into him, leaving Astral feeling cold and vulnerable. The gentle aura of his essence remained trapped in her cupped hands. "I'm tired of fighting," an older Seth spoke. "What do you say we leave them behind and disappear somewhere in the wilds. They'll think were dead. It's not like they can send a search party."

Astral spoke to the pool in her hands, "You can go, but I can go with you. Without you I'm the only one standing in the way of Ascension. Someone has to." Was training him pointless? The constant fight, one battle after another would wear him down. He’d begin to question the purpose of it all, and eventually, abandon the world to a mess that was not theirs to end. She released his soul, allowing it to melt into the earth at her feet.

The newly revived husks pulled at the older husks, thrashing and biting, tearing each other apart in a desperation to feed. Seth pulled free and carried on with his need for survival. The remnants of the army of undead pulled from the wall charging the squad Captain. The constructs turned on the fresher morsels consuming their bulk and assimilating the husks into their bodies.

Seth escaped in the confusion while gripping his wounded shoulder. Astral stepped out from the darkness of the forest that hid her. She pointed to the husks than to him. She couldn't shout, not without drawing the attention of the ravenous horde. She activated the sigils at the toes of her boots and dashed across the battlefield to the threat she could no longer ignore.