Argent’s unconscious form was shuttled through the forest at breakneck speeds, gliding over the underbrush with each of Izadura’s powerful strides. The effects of Kotomi’s arts kept the trio of classmates all but weightless and enabled them to cover ground through the forest rapidly, propelled forward on enchanted air currents with every step. Izadura’s eyes set forward with singular focus as he wove through the trees, maneuvering with such precision that even without any enchantments he would have been making impressive time. [Aerodynamics] was simply the determining factor spanning the difference between impressive and inhuman.

“So, what of these two?”

He asked, speaking to Kotomi but keeping his eyes fixed dead ahead. The sheer speed of their travel meant he had to raise his voice to be heard above the wind despite his partner being no more than three feet away.

“What of them?”

“You like them?”

“Mhm! I think they’re great~”

She paused, looking over at the swordsman as he did not offer a reply.

“..Don’t you?”

“I had not considered it in full.”

“Iza, they’re your classmates.”

“By consequence alone. Socialization has not been a requirement.”

Kotomi let out a breath but managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes. She was used to her companion by now… Still, that didn’t mean she approved of it, indicated clearly by her next words as she took a mild shot at Izadura.

“What else did I expect? Even if it was required, you’d have found some way to avoid it.”

The corners of the swordsman’s mouth tugged downwards as his eyes jerked towards Kotomi for the briefest moment, quickly refocusing on the forest in front of them.

“..Would I?”

“Yes, you would.”

“I see…”

There was a long pause as silence resumed between the two, broken as Kotomi moved the conversation away from the topic.

“Setting that aside, I think you overlooked something earlier.”

“Such as?”

“This town didn’t have a church, or any kind of religious institution for blessings and worship. Where are we going to get him treated?”

“Ah.. An inconvenience, yes, but we can seek treatment in Tenebris.”

Kotomi blanched, giving Izadura a sidelong look.

“You want to teleport him in this condition? Even if he survived the jump, we’d have to run him all the way across districts to a temple!”

“I see no other choice. Thrylld has an apothecary. We can procure medicine enough to stabilize him.”

“Spirits have mercy on us..”

Kotomi’s exasperation gave way to the dead of night, fading in the winds as it was not long before the torches around the village perimeter flickered into view, cutting the conversation short. It was still dark, the shadowy edge of the morning just before daybreak. Most of the villagers would be in their beds, clinging to the last few hours of rest before having to abandon their warm covers for the day. Unfortunately for some, they were about to be shaken from their slumber a touch earlier than normal.

Izadura slowed to a halt as they rounded the edge of the apothecary, gradually stopping in front of the doors. He looked pensively at his companion once his attention was free from running at blinding speeds.

“Kotomi. Would you prefer me to.. Interact more? With others?”

She stared at him.

“Is that a real question? Do you have to ask me that?”

“..I–”

“Stop. Just stop, table that for now. We don’t have time for you to give me a stroke.”

Kotomi waved her hands as though swatting the topic away, gesturing for Izadura to be quiet as she stepped forward and knocked three times hard on the apothecary door. There were a few shuffling sounds from inside, and the appearance of a dim candle light followed by more muffled noise. After a few minutes the door creaked partially open as the taller of the two sisters peeked warily through the gap. Without hesitation Izadura immediately reached out and grabbed the door, Kotomi slapping herself in dismay as she failed to stop him pulling it completely open, much to Eophi’s alarm.

“Forgive the intrusion, but–”

He swung his shoulder inwards, letting Argent’s limp body all but roll onto the ground in front of Eophi.

“-Our friend is dying.”

It took more than a few calming words and profuse apologies from Kotomi before Eophi settled down enough to consider Argent, and even after she began examining him she avoided looking at Izadura as the swordsman stood by them like a sentinel, arms folded acrost his chest.

It wasn’t long before Julie came peering out from her bedroom, drawn by the commotion and wondering what was going on. She seemed frightened at first, eyeing their visitors' odd clothing and weapons, but calmed down much more quickly than her older sister had once she realized it was an emergency medical visit. Cautiously making her way over, she watched her sister work with a frown.

“What happened to him?”

“Not now, Julie.”

The younger sister pouted at the response. Izadura glanced at Eophi and Kotomi, before slowly coming to the decision to speak for the group. Clearing his throat a little, he made a concerted effort to keep his voice at a ‘child friendly’ tone.

“He was injured while in the forest.”

“Obviously, I can see that. I mean what happened to him?”

Izadura blinked, and Kotomi snickered; Though she quickly pretended to cough as the swordsman glanced at her, covering her mouth with her sleeves. The little girl’s sass had caught him off guard, but generally speaking her response was fair.

“He was afflicted with a hex, a kai-devouring curse, while clearing a Faewitch lair.”

It was Julie’s turn to blink. Izadura wondered if the news of a witch in the woods would frighten her, but instead of drawing back, she stepped around him to take a closer look at Argent for the first time. Recognition flashed in her eyes once she looked up at his face instead of at his wounds, noting in particular the ruffles of his stark white hair.

“Oh! He’s that alchemist boy!”

Izadura nodded in response. Julie quickly turned her head from side to side, looking around the room for something as she began bouncing excitedly on her feet.

“Oh, oooh! I know what to do! Eophi. Did you give him the resistance tincture? The one his friend sold us?”

“Yes, Julie. I’ve administered it.”

The older sister sighed, though beneath her exasperation there was a clear fondness in her voice. Kotomi couldn’t help but smile at the sisters. Julie was ambitiously cute. It was clear the smaller girl only wanted to help, to prove she was learning to do the things her sister could do.

“I’m giving him restoratives now, which should help him stabilize for as long as the tincture is in effect.”

She stood, wiping her hands on her apron and looking down at Argent.

“I wish I could take more credit, but truthfully he’s benefiting from his own work here more than anything. That chaos resistance is the only thing keeping his energy decay in check enough for any medicines to physically take hold.”

She had wanted to ask about that, specifically. It was true that the alchemist on her floor had purchased some very interesting supplies from her, some of which were rare enough that she had very little to sell, but to create something like that in the field? It just wasn’t possible. It would have taken some sort of prodigy. She glanced at Izadura and Kotomi, then back at Argent, frowning. Was she overthinking it? If they had come here expecting to kill a witch, then perhaps they had brought the tincture with them.

With a bit of a huff, Eophi moved across the room to wash her hands in a small basin of water. It was difficult to tell whether she delegated the next tasks to Julie in order to let the younger girl feel like she was helping, or because she herself genuinely didn’t want to do them.

“Julie, get some cool water and bandages and clean him up a bit. Put a compress on him. He’s going to break into a fever once his body begins allowing kai back into it.”

“Right!”

“If he starts to shake, roll him onto his side-”

“In case he vomits, I know!”

Kotomi smiled after Julie, watching as she ran to do as she was bidden. Izadura turned towards the door, tensing, as there was another unexpected knock. Eophi muttered something under her breath, holding the bridge of her nose with her fingers for a moment or two and shaking her head before moving towards the sound.

“What is it now?”

She pulled the door open to reveal a mess of green hair and a timid smile, Teo’s pointed ears appearing to droop slightly as he almost cowered beneath Eophi’s gaze. He looked like he had rolled out of bed and ran the entire way here, his heavy breathing breaking up his quiet voice.

“Eophi- I’m.. sorry to disturb you at this hour- but..”

He glanced over her shoulder, noticing the extra sets of eyes upon him. Kotomi’s right eye gleamed with a multicoloured shift as the cross within it rotated, and he shrunk away from the doorway a little more, taking a full step back as he clasped his hands together in apology and supplication.

“Ah.. I see I am not the only emergency on your hands, but.. Eohpi, it’s the Elder.”

Eophi’s eyes widened and she seemed to adopt a portion of Teo’s nerves. Rushing around into a far room, she collected several things while shouting back through the house.

“Was he taking his medications? What’s his condition? How bad is it?”

“I’ve been administering his medicines daily, in the amounts you prescribed. I don’t know what’s wrong, he’s collapsed and isn’t responding to anything I do or say.”

Eophi cursed very softly beneath her breath, picking up a basket and beginning to pack it full of items from her store shelves. As she hurriedly selected the herbs and bottles, Kotomi and Izadura did not move a muscle from their spots, exchanging only a brief glance towards one another.

As the herbalist made to leave, the two moved into step beside her. She looked at them in confusion, still a little wary of Izadura despite the swordsman’s clearly protective intention towards her in that moment; An intention made obvious with Kotomi giving off the exact same feeling as the pair flanked her on either side like a guard detail.

“We shall accompany you.”

“Is.. Something wrong?”

She questioned tentatively, eyes drifting back and forth from everyone present. Izadura straightened his shoulders, turning his head to look upwards at the fading moon.

“..I wonder.”

The words were laced with an accusatory sarcasm, not truly a question of any type. An inference which made Eophi noticeably flinch.

“Lead. We shall follow.”

“A-ah.. Alright.”

More than a little confused by the escort, but too flustered by the totality of circumstances to give it an overwhelming amount of thought, Eophi did as she was bidden and took off for the Elder’s home. Kotomi and Izadura whisked after her like spiritual guardians, keeping pace with her every step. As they vanished from sight into the depths of the town, the half-elf moved to the doorway and leaned against it with a heavy breath.

“Shouldn’t you go with them, Master Teo?”

From inside Julie spoke over her shoulder as she tended carefully to Argent, preparing a cool compress for his head. The half-elf turned to look at her slowly, the haggard expression on his face gradually shifting back towards its usual smile.

“I will attend to those matters in due time, but first.. I need you to do something for me.”

“Oh? Of course, I’ll help.”

Teo’s expression hardened, his bloodshot eyes catching the candlelight as he accessed the aether plane.

“Sleep.”

“Wha–?”

Julie began to turn at the last moment, the word half on her lips, but it was too late. The arts enveloped her senses and rendered her dormant, locked in a deep slumber as she slumped to the ground. The half-elf clicked his tongue, frustration and malice clear on his face, his usually sleepy demeanor completely changed. There was nothing docile or kind about the man as he stared down at Julie and Argent, rolling the alchemist over with a kick of his boot.

“Thank you for obliging so easily, you can act as my insurance.”

Teo raised a hand into the air, snapping his fingers. There was a shift in energy, a pulse that echoed throughout the village, and soon a pair of orchard workers came into the room. Dressed still in sleepwear, their movements were rigid, a deep blood-violet discolouration overtaking their eyes as they came to a halt on either side of Teo.

“Lock these two away.”

He ordered the two figures directly next to him, before raising his head sharply and speaking into the air.

“And deal with those unwelcome guests.”

The words were a growl, laced with killing intent. The half-elf’s face strained with discomfort and anger as he watched the two enthralled villagers begin to lift Julie and Argent. Bringing a hand up to cover one of his throbbing eyes and baring his teeth, as a small trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his vision.

“...All of you will do as I say.. Witch or no Witch.”

Following quickly alongside the Herbalist, the group of three reached the Elder's home in a matter of minutes, finding the windows lit and the door still partially ajar. Presumably from when Teo rushed out to retrieve Eophi.

Before the girl could reach the threshold, Izadura held out an arm and entered first, wasting no time as he pressed past the door and scanned the front room with narrowed eyes. The Elder was visible in the next room, sprawled on the floor adjacent to his bed in a way which suggested he had attempted to leave the room before collapsing... or that he had been moved.

Once the swordsman allowed her in, Eophi immediately rushed to the Elder's side, whilst Kotomi and Izadura swept through the remainder of the house. They found nothing explicitly ominous, but it was not enough to quell the swordsman's suspicions. Something still didn't feel right. The timing of it all.. It made his blood itch. A Kyotan premonition, you could call it. The sensation tingled through his body like a flurry of mountain snow inside his veins.

"How did that man know the Elder had collapsed?"

Izadura directed the question towards his partner, but since he made no effort to conceal his voice it was Eophi who answered.

"Elder Brandubh has been falling increasingly ill over the last several months.. Teo volunteers as his aide, and regularly checks up on him, or sometimes even sleeps here."

"...Convenient."

The swordsman kept his voice low that time.

"What manner of illness?"

"Respiratory. His breathing has shallowed and he coughs non-stop, never seeming to get enough air.. Best I can tell, it's because of the jellycap spores."

"You trust him? Teo?"

Kotomi tossed in, frowning as the colours in her eye churned and sparkled.

"I know what you're implying, and I'd ask you to stop. Teo loves this town. Loves this whole forest. Nobody cares more about this village than him."

"...Not even the Elder?"

Izadura questioned. Eophi remained silent.

"Does that not strike you as problematic?"

The girl turned her head to look at Izadura in full for the first time since he had dropped Argent at her feet. She hesitated, opening her mouth for a moment before closing it again, focusing back on her patient.

"Look, I don't have time to argue with strangers about how our village works. I have a very sick man here, so either help me or kindly take your leave."

There was a silent pause which hung upon the air before Izadura stepped forward to assist Eophi with the task of lifting the Elder back into bed. As he moved to do so, Kotomi turned her attention back to their surroundings, specifically the windows and doors which led outside. She chewed her bottom lip slightly as she scanned the place, diamond eye shifting while the cross inside it rotated by quarter turns in a slow, rhythmic fashion. Changing from '+' to 'x' and back again, one after the other.

After several long moments she allowed the energy in her gaze to idle. Izadura had since left the Herbalist to her work, returning to Kotomi's side and placing a hand on her shoulder as she exhaled a heavy breath. She smiled at him as he patted her, and then– Just as the swordsman was shaking his head, she caught it.

A stream of power out of the corner of her vision. It moved quickly, like a dull pinkish-purple wisp of dust in the air, but before she could turn her head to follow Eophi let out a scream.

The Herbalist fell to the ground, shuffling out of the doorway in a terrified backwards crawl as the body of the Elder shuddered and grew. His skin blackened and veins pulsated visibly around his muscles as he began to enlarge, filled with a strange colour matching the energy Kotomi had seen.

Without hesitation, Izadura shot forward immediately with offensive intent, closing the gap between himself and the transforming Elder to engage him hand to hand. His first strike aimed to catch the Elder's neck in a blow meant to follow up with a breaking technique, but the attack was stopped dead before it could fully connect.

Not as helpless in its transformation as it may have appeared, whatever the Elder was becoming reached up and caught Izadura’s strike at the wrist, grabbing hold of the swordsman and swinging him away like a doll.

"Izadura!!"

Kotomi shouted as her partner was flung out the bedroom window in a mess of shattering glass. Eophi screamed in the background, backing herself into a corner of the front room. The hulking creature turned back to look at them, and Kotomi stepped between it and Eophi.

"Shevra, balii'sa kalas~"

Ice filled the air as she spoke the cardinal tongue, forming into an array of needles which launched themselves at the transforming Elder. The monstrosity leapt straight up, breaking through the roof as the icicles shattered and pierced the bedroom wall behind where their target had been.

"Damnit..! Eophi, you stay. Stay and do not move until someone comes for you."

Eophi could only stare in terrified silence, nodding her head frantically as she shrank further into the corner. Kotomi rushed outside, more concerned with finding Izadura than the Elder. She found both, though whether this was fortunate or unfortunate remained to be seen. Izadura maneuvered defensively around the threat, the Elder’s hulking form having grown to the size of a golem. The creature reared, and Izadura swiftly sidestepped a crushing jump attack to counter from a distance, unleashing a handful of shuriken from within his haori.

The Elder let out a roar as the bladed stars stuck deeply into the forearm used to defend its face, but it was only a moment before its regeneration pushed them out. Izadura did not seem at all deterred, staring the Elder dead in the face as he once again dipped his hands softly into the folds of his haori, emerging this time holding two intricately carved knuckle weapons.

The creature, unamused by the challenge, stooped down and forced its hands into the earth. Bellowing with violent effort as it began to pull the ground away in a single giant chunk.

Before it could straighten itself, whips of water lashed out and coiled around the monster's wrists, cinching tight and forcing its hands down to the earth like shackles. Izadura was there to capitalize, stepping in with a blow that crossed the Elder's jaw in a sickening crunch. The creature wailed as a broken tooth flew out of its maw, but its regenerative powers were so rapid that by the time it turned to bite at Izadura it possessed a full new set.

Leaning neatly back to avoid the Elder's fangs, Izadura dipped below the bite and retaliated with a kick aimed upwards for the throat. The blow connected, but the creature did not so much as flinch. Before Izadura could pull away the Elder tucked its chin downwards against its own chest, pinning Izadura by his ankle and shin. The sound of breaking bones could be heard before Kotomi had any chance to react.

“Shaal! Jou’sa koveis!”

The tendrils of liquid unwound from the creature's wrists and reeled back to bludgeon it across the face, slapping against the bridge of its nose and forehead to push it back. Released from the pin, Izadura caught himself on his good leg, pushing away in a backwards hop to avoid the double-hammerfisted blow which crushed the earth where he had been standing no sooner than the Elder's hands were released.

Looking down at his leg, he found it was not his femur which had been shattered, but the bones and tendons in his ankle and foot. The joint hung limply at the base of his leg in a way that made it very clear no weight would be supported upon it.

Now freed, the Elder resumed its previous effort, this time lifting the artificial boulder high above its head and hurling it towards Izadura. In a blur of movement Kotomi dropped down in front of the wounded swordsman, a crash of water in her wake, she reached out to freeze the wave solid just before it was struck by stone. The ice shattered as the boulder smashed through, but dampened the force enough so that Kotomi could whisk her partner out of its path.

She dropped a healing potion in Izadura’s lap as they landed several meters away from the boulder's impact point, panting heavily. Manipulating water from an existing source was one thing, creating it from pure kai was a whole different demand on her arts capacity. The pacing of the battle itself was putting a strain on her, forcing her to rapidly mix a combination of signed and spoken casting in order to keep up.

"Awfully tough, for an old sick man…"

She joked, pulling Izadura up onto his feet as the potion did its work. The swordsman tested his weight on the regenerated ankle, his expression blank.

"..It is quite resilient."

He agreed simply, though he noted that harming the Elder had not been terribly difficult. It was not that the creature was unaffected by their attacks, rather, it took most of the damage upfront but recovered too quickly for it to matter.

"I may be more useful to you as a swo-"

Kotomi started to speak, but was cut off in a yelp as a pair of hands grabbed her from behind.