Lindyss shivered as the hole in her chest squirmed shut. She frowned as she stared at the white robed demon chanting with her eyes closed. “Why are you helping me?”

The demon’s eyes opened. She glanced at Lindyss’ face and stopped chanting. “Tina’s orders,” she said as she scanned the ground around Lindyss. She frowned. “Where’s your arm?”

Lindyss sat up and grimaced. She turned towards the area where her arm had fallen. “It must’ve been blown away by one of the aftershocks,” Lindyss said as her head turned towards the five demons fighting Vur. The five demons launched spells against the translucent golden dragon and raised earthen shields to hamper its movements. Every time the dragon was hit by a spell, the region of impact distorted and the dragon shrank. Vur’s figure floated in the heart of the dragon with his eyes closed. Lindyss cupped her good hand around her mouth and yelled, “Vur! Stop! I’m alright.”

The dragon’s movements stopped for a brief moment before continuing to assault the demons. Its tail swept through the air and crashed against a wall of earth, shattering it. Lindyss bit her lower lip and tried to stand, but the demon next to her put a hand on her shoulder. The demon shook her head. “Let them handle it,” she said. “We need to find your arm.”

“Vur’s more important than my arm,” Lindyss said with a hiss as she knocked the demon’s hand off her shoulder. “I need to stop him before the imprint consumes him. You don’t understand how dangerous it is to awaken a bloodline without guidance.”

The demon frowned and nodded. “You’re right,” she said, “I don’t understand the danger. However, I do know that you’re out of mana after fighting against twenty infected by yourself. I also know that one of them is still alive in your arm and we have no idea where it is.”

“Its head was cut off,” Lindyss said with knit eyebrows, “and then impaled by an ice spear.”

“The only way to kill one of those parasites is to pulverize its whole body or disintegrate it,” the demon replied. “Cutting off its head will only create two new parasites. You’re in no shape to fight right now. Trust me, my team can stop him. Although, we will expect some payment for this.” The demon smiled as she cocked her head to the side. “Shouldn’t be a problem for a dungeon owner, right?”

“Delphina!” A voice shouted from behind the two women.

The white robed demon turned around and a smile broke out. “Dustin!” Delphina said. “You always show up at the right times.”

Dustin and Mina approached the two with an assortment of armored demons behind them. Their bodies tensed when they recognized Lindyss. “What’s the situation?” Dustin asked as he tightened his grip on his staff and stared at Lindyss’ arm stump.

“A parasite from Fuselage is missing along with her arm,” Dephina said, indicating towards Lindyss. “Have the guards search for it and let me know when they find it. Under no circumstances are they to approach the arm by themselves.”

Dustin nodded and faced the armed demons behind him. “You heard the woman.” The guards looked towards the golden dragon and nodded. A few let out sighs of relief as they dispersed.

A small figure appeared next to Lindyss and tugged her good arm. “Auntie, what’s happening to Vur?”

“Tafel!” Mina shouted. “Why are you here? I told you to stay at the shelter!”

Tafel hid behind Lindyss and peered at Mina. “I followed you,” she mumbled.

“You- I- wh-.” Mina inhaled deeply and held out her hand. “Come with me, we’ll go somewhere safe.”

Tafel flinched and held onto Lindyss’ leg. Her lip quivered and her eyes grew wet as she shook her head. [1]

Lindyss placed her hand on Tafel’s head. “Vur’s awakening right now,” Lindyss said.

“That means?” Dustin asked.

“The bloodline in his imprint is activating. Bloodlines usually awaken at a certain age. It takes longer depending on the strength of the beast behind the imprint, at least for elves,” Lindyss said with a frown. “I thought he had more time.”

“Isn’t awakening normal then?”

“Yes, but elves are guided by their elders. A little bit of power is released at a time,” Lindyss said as she gestured towards Vur, “not all at once. His mind could break if we don’t suppress the dragon aura in time. He’s already unconscious, we have to weaken it to get close enough to wake him.”

“I can wake him up,” Tafel said with a trembling voice. “He’ll listen to me.”

“Absolutely not,” Mina said as she stepped towards Tafel.

Tafel stepped backwards as tears leaked from her eyes. “Why? Why do you pretend to care!?” Tafel screamed. “You never cared before! Never listened to me! I hate you so much!” Her horns flashed green as she swung her arm outwards. A wall of wind roared into life in front of her and knocked the four adults over before they could react. She dashed towards Vur, leaving behind a blurred trail of green as she ran.

A black tendril flew towards Tafel from Lindyss’ shadow, but fell short before reaching her. “Not enough mana,” Lindyss said as she ground her teeth together.

“Tafel!” Mina yelled as she scrambled to her feet. “Tina! Stop her!”

A thick sheet of ice smashed against the golden claw swiping towards Tina. She looked behind her and frowned as she saw a green blur running in their direction. Another crash resounded and flecks of ice sprinkled down from the sheet.

“Catch her, I’ll stall him,” one of the demons behind her said. Her face was pale and sweat soaked through her robe blue. A wall of light sprung up in place behind the sheet of ice and Tina nodded as she dashed to intercept Tafel.

Tafel tried to maneuver around Tina, but Tina stuck out her arm and knocked her to the ground with a tackle. “Vur!” Tafel yelled as she squirmed in Tina’s grasp. The translucent dragon shuddered and stopped. Tina opened her mouth in surprise and looked down at Tafel while relaxing her grip.

Another crash resounded and the wall of light shattered as a tail slammed against it. The blue robed demon shuddered and fell to her knees while vomiting. A golden shadow covered her figure as Vur’s claw descended from above. A white fireball flew towards it and exploded, causing the claw to disperse. The golden aura around Vur’s body shrank as a new claw began to form in the air above the demon.

Tafel slipped out of Tina’s grasp and ran in front of the kneeling demon. She spread her arms open and stared at the dragon. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt me,” Tafel said, her voice shaky as her body trembled.

Tina dashed towards Tafel.

Mina screamed.

The claw descended.

A yellow blur charged out of thin air and pushed Tafel away. Her eyes widened as she flew to the side, watching the claw slash downwards at the fairy.

Yella smiled as she looked into Tafel’s eyes.

“Sorry.”

Blood splattered.

__________________________________________

[1] Tafel’s still under Yella’s curse.

Chapter 0-52 recap: http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=71254&pid=659133#pid659133