“Wai-” Coughing up a mix of saliva, dirt and blood Kresley could feel it.

On the ground the roots were slowly coming towards her as Kelt kept his distance.

Trying to look anywhere but her approaching death Kresley looked at the Forlorn figure.

Kelt was battered.

His face was morphed into a cruel snarl but looking at his legs, they were shaking.

His chest, it was heaving.

His arms, almost limp.

Kresley put her left arm to her torso and felt broken ribs and also… her knife.

Her body screamed at her for it to end, the sky was bloodied-

The world was getting destroyed-

Her friends were gone.

When did it end?

Grabbing the blade out of sight she could hear Kelt coughing up something.

Looking up, she could see the roots still slowly coming her way and saw the Forlorn grab a potion from his belt.

Time seemed to slow down as Kresley saw the two handles.

But both doors led to the same place.

Gripping her blade, her breathing caught in her throat but only for a moment.

The potion was slowly uncorked, even his chest that was previously huffing and puffing was now in slow motion.

To stab and destroy the bottle.

To stab and kill Kelt.

Would her knife even kill him?

Maybe the bottl-

Bringing it to his lips the blade was thrown-

And missed his neck.

Instead crashing into the glass cylinder filled with the red substance and fell to the floor like water in a desert.

Gone.

Kresley’s forearm shook as the roots stopped and Kelt who’s face couldn’t seem to have gotten worse, morphed into one of pure anger.

This wasn’t the only time a woman had fooled him this week, but it would be the last.

Raising his hand, the roots behind him began coming out of the ground, the rocks sticking to them peeling off like old skin as a massive circular portal began gaining power.

Coughing again Kelt finally spoke.

“**t worth being even a sacrifice.” With it he turned and began hobbling away as the portal gained power, a long stream of black energy generated behind it.

All the mana in the air was sucked into it, Kresley could feel everything but her being pulled in.

It was aimed directly at her.

Her eyes already misted led tears down her cheeks, she could feel herself already losing consciousness but now that certain death was infront of her she knew she wouldn’t be going peacefully.

The portal gave a low pitched whine that grew in fervor-

Kelt turned back one last time but not before feeling something.

No, not feeling something, seeing something off about the portal-

About to burst like a dam filled with water and dead shrubs, the roots holding the portal in place collapsed.

Then the red landscape turned dark-

The low whine turned to thousands of high pitched screams as the portal released it’s power towards Kresley.

Merely feet away, Kresley still shaking could feel the wind shoving her eyes closed and a bright light that she knew was the end-

Kelt watching a few feet away grew still as he saw the roots breakdown earlier than usual-

He wouldn’t be able to control it.

Hobbling further away towards the trio of trees he heard the whines and was thankful his hastily made magic didn’t explode for a split second.

Until he turned his head and saw the familiar yellow light-

Forming not a barrier around Kresley but a concave shield.

Redirecting the blast directly at him.

His hands instinctively came out along with his own scream-

But neither were heard as everyone in the area was almost deafened by the dominating energy.

Blasting through Kelt directly into the place where the ritual would be held.

Everything in its path was destroyed, the ground was crusted and where the trees once lay was a large crater made by the conflicting energies.

Of this Kresley could only see a slither.

Her vision failing, the world spun.

She could smelt burning, especially of tree sap and burned meat in the air.

She blinked and the world around her changed again.

Next to her was him.

Not Kelt, the captain.

His arm had what looked like a broken off branch stuck inside it while his body was coloured brown from crusted mud and blood.

“Not used to one on one fights, but it w*rk** **t h**?” His voice cracked as he spat out thin glass, his body already healing from the potion.

“**t ** ***.” His mouth moved but she just stared as the potion met her lips.

Then she passed out-

“NO-” Sitting up, Kresley looked around frantically.

Destroyed landscape was all around her.

Except for where she was.

Which was a boulder.

Peering at her body, scared of what to see Kresley was surprised to see no burns, no scars and not even-

Patting herself down she confirmed it, no broken bones or injuries whatsoever.

To her left was a small note with her pack, which was inside a pack.

When she finished reading Kresley was already on her feet, the pack equipped and leaping off the rock with a sense of purpose, she was running out of time.

‘Run. Potion takes one hour to heal. You will wake for thirty minutes before your body will sleep for two days. Find Waynev.’

Running through the battlefield she saw a small patch of green before going North West, it was where the captain die-fell in battle.

Trees.

Stumps.

Everything was still dyed red.

How could so much happen in so little ti-

Her foot crunched into metal and Kresley barely caught the ground before it met her jaw.

Flipping herself around she saw a skeleton.

It’s arm torn off and body almost ripped to shreds, she could see it’s cannon was still smoking, but it's eyes.

“Empty.”

Pulling herself off it’s corpse Kresley was about to leave before she saw something wrapped around one of the protruding metal disks.

“Isn’t that-”

A coin pouch.

Not on it's hips or in it’s hand but on it’s back, accidently taken and left behind.

Grabbing it Kresley knew she recognised it.

It was Waynev’s coin pouch.

Looking back at the skeleton she knew it died recently but maybe-

Looking closer at it’s back she could see it.

The core.

Barely perceivable Kresley tried to grab it but her fingers slipped over the core, unable to find purchase.

Looking nearby she could see it hand, rigid, and broken off it's body.

Strapped for time Kresley quickly grabbed it and tried using the rigid mechanical hand as a lever.

“Come on-After Aestern is taken back I’ll use this to find where Waynev went.” Kresley ignored the red sky, almost mocking her attempt.

She heard the metal screech as she finally got a finger in and then it popped out.

The core.

Grabbing it Kresley pushed against her feet and went into action, she only had fifteen minutes left to find people-

Before she fainted and was demon’s gruel or worse.