We emerged from the dark to a scene of subdued celebration. Lord Yueryurn and his men stood around the mound of inert earth, tangled among broken branches, looking triumphant. They’d even brought out a few skins of what I assumed was some sort of liquor and were sharing them amongst themselves. When Yueryurn spotted us, he raised his drink to us in a toast and sauntered over.

“Good to see that you’re both still with us. I thought you were dead. What kept you away so long?”

“It’s a long story. What happened here?”

Yueryurn gestured toward the fallen construct. “It took some doing, but we tore the bastard down.”

“Well don’t get too comfortable, there’s more of them on their way. Can you help me with Elmidath? She’s hurt.”

He signalled one of his soldiers over and they helped me move Elmidath to a recess amongst Yurielius’s twisted branches. I thanked them for their help and they were about to leave when I stopped them. “Tell Lord Yueryurn that there’s more Tertium on the way.”

The solider nodded, and hurried over to their commander. With nothing else demanding my attention, I sat down beside Elmidath. Just to be sure, I knelt over and checked her breathing. To my relief, it was strong and steady.

I looked down at her peaceful resting face, rather unlike her usual expressions. “I guess you should rest while you can. The Ortisfel will be back soon enough.”

Resting beside her, I found my eyelids drooping. A nap couldn’t hurt, I certainly deserved one after everything I’d been through. Muttering something about waking me when the Tertium arrived, I drifted off. The comforting oblivion of sleep enveloped me, soothing my mind and body.

I’d been asleep for what felt like no time at all when the veil of sleep was torn asunder by terrified screams. Seizing my sword, I surged to my feet and bolted out of Yurielius’s protective clutches. Taking in the scene before me, I realized there were no new Tertium to be found nor any other obvious threats. And yet the soldiers were screaming and clutching at their heads.

Seeing no one that seemed unafflicted, I called for Yuriel. She floated down, staring at the spectacle before us. “What’s happening?”

“I was going to ask you the same question. Can you go over there and get a closer look? I don’t want to get any closer if I can avoid it.”

I wasn’t sure if maintaining my current distance would be enough to keep me safe, but it seemed to have spared me so far from whatever malady was afflicting the others. While I waited for Yuriel, I went back to the hollow to rouse Elmidath. A few gentle shakes, followed by ones that were less than gentle, produced no change and I decided to leave her be. She’d be as safe here as anywhere.

I went back out and watched Yuriel flit amongst the soldiers, before flying back to me. “I can’t tell what’s wrong. Most of them don’t seem hurt or anything.”

“Okay, well, is there anything strange about them? Other than all the screaming.”

The noise seemed to be lessening, though I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. They might be recovering, or they might be dying.

“Not really.”

“Nothing at all you can think of that’s out of the ordinary?”

I really did not want to go over there myself.

“Well, they were pretty dirty. Is that anything?”

“No, that’s just from the…”

From the corrupted dirt that had, until very recently, been doing the Ortisfel’s bidding. Oh crap, this might be very bad indeed. Looking at the soldiers again, I saw that some of them had stopped thrashing and were now just standing out there.

“Is there anything you or Yurielius can do to immobilise them?”

“What? Aren’t they meant to be protecting us?”

“They were, but now I’m not so sure they’re on our side anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

“Look, can it do it or not? If you can do it without killing or maiming them, then we can work this out later if I’m wrong.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

With that rather non-committal answer, Yuriel left me to deal with the gathered soldiers on my own. Unwilling to just stand and wait, I tentatively went over toward them. If the corruption were really spreading from their contact with the dirt, then it should be fine so long as I didn’t touch them or the construct’s remains. I called out to them as I approached, but none of them paid me any attention.

Those that were screaming seemed too preoccupied with whatever was happening to notice me, while those who’d stopped seemed oblivious to my presence. While the former was tragic, it was the latter that concerned me most. If they turned on us, then I wouldn’t be able to do much against them on my own. Especially if more of the Ortisfel’s forces arrived.

I examined the soldiers as best I could while remaining well out of arm’s length. Yuriel was correct, they all had plenty of dirt on their body. Was that really all it had taken? I shuddered at the thought of losing myself so easily. Frightful as the idea was, this was precisely why we needed to stop the Ortisfel from expanding their reach. Not that I really needed further convincing by this point.

I paced around the soldiers, pondering what I could possibly do to help. Removing the dirt might do the trick, but there was no way for me to do that without putting myself at great risk of exposure. Which left what exactly? Wait for them to turn or die? Gnashing my teeth in frustration at my helplessness, I hoped Yurielius could offer some sort of aid. It might the only way we could at this point.

I was lamenting how little I could do under my breath, when Shotensho’s voice sounded in my head. “There is one more option. You must seek out Lord Yueryurn and slay him.”

“What? How will that help?”

“I will claim his strength for us. Then you may be able to save some of his soldiers. At the very least it will help us protect Lady Sarinknell and Yurielius.”

It was an appealing solution in some regards; the only problem was that it required me to murder Yueryurn. A man who had up until this point, been our erstwhile ally. He and his men had already bled to save Yurielius, without them the Ortisfel would have destroyed it. And now I would repay him with death?

Normally I would have wished Elmidath was here to give me advice, but I already knew what she’d say in a situation like this; kill him. After all, it was the only way. And, much as I disliked it, she was right. This was the best choice.

Deciding to act before I could talk myself out of it, I wove my way through the demons as best I could in search of their leader. He was near their centre, still holding a wineskin while he stared vacantly ahead. His helmet was off, exposing his head and neck. That would make things easier, I didn’t want to waste time taking off his armour.

Placing my blade almost against his neck, I drew it back and swung with all my might. He shifted slightly at the crucial moment and the strike went high, grazing his head instead of removing it. Covering his head, he fell to the ground. I was moving to strike again when he rolled over and met my gaze. His eyes spoke of great sorrow and rage.

A small part of me desperately wanted to spare him, especially now, but I couldn’t afford to listen to it. Shotensho rose and fell, putting an end to our former ally. It wasn’t a clean cut, and his eyes stared up accusingly at me from a mangled stump that was once his neck. Disgusted with myself and what I’d done, I turned away.

“Is it done?”

“I’ve claimed his power for my own. Behold.” An aura of blue energy appeared around me, just like the one Yueryurn had summoned. “You need only direct it and it will carry out your will.”

I tried a few motions and found it responded easily to my movements. Pushing what I’d done to get it from my mind for the moment, I set out to put Yueryurn’s pilfered power to some good. The delicate gestures necessary to clean the dirt from the soldiers were a little harder than I expected and the first few I tried got rather rough treatment. Not that they were in any position to complain.

With my will to guide it, the blue energy scrubbed the dirt from their skin. I could only do one at a time and it was slow going, but not long after I cleansed the first, a glimmer of intelligence return to their eyes. They still seemed too stunned to do much beyond stand there, but it was a definite improvement on their previous vegetative state. I’d gotten through maybe half a dozen before one of them finally moved again.

At first, I was elated, only to realize it wasn’t one of the ones I’d freed from the corrupt earth and my elation turned to horror. Their movements were initially stiff and uncoordinated, but they quickly regained full use of their body as they drew their sword.

Rather than raise my own weapon, I tried to look non-threatening. “Wait! We can talk about this.”

Despite my plea, the demon didn’t so much as hesitate in its advance. In fact, there was no sign my words had even registered. Whatever the Ortisfel did to the poor soldier had sapped it of all will. Perhaps death was a mercy compared to such a fate. I stepped forward to meet them. With a small burst of what was once Yueryurn’s power, I knocked their weapon aside and cut into their arm.

Their sword fell to the ground, but that didn’t even slow them down. They simply hurled themselves at me, much as the Tertium had tried to. My weapon was too far out to do much good, so I released my hold on it and met them head on. Their mindless nature made them predictable and with my superior strength, I cast them down.

Before they could get back up, I stomped down on their head. They weren’t wearing their helmet, likely due to the earlier festivities, and they went limp from my blow. I didn’t know if they were dead or merely unconscious, but I moved on. All the soldiers around me might end up this way if I didn’t act quickly. I promptly went right back to cleaning them off as best I could. A grim smile spread across my lips as I pondered how the battle against the Ortisfel now took the form of a fight against grime rather than mortal combat.

Ridiculous a situation as I found myself in, I could hardly complain. Cleaning them was far preferable to slaughtering them, and that was assuming I was up to such a feat. While I was confident I could handle some of them now, I doubted Shotensho’s new power could last forever.

I was so focused on my task that it took me a while to notice that Yuriel had joined me amidst the assembled soldiery. Floating from one to another, she paused only to place something within their mouths.

Suspicious as to what she might be doing, I called out to her and she flew over to me. “What’s up?”

“What are you doing?”

“What you asked.”

I grit my teeth in annoyance, we really didn’t have time for this. “Be more specific.”

“You told me to stop them turning to the Ortisfel side or something, right? So, I had Yurielius make me a few of these.”

She showed me a handful of bright purple berries.

“And what exactly will these do to them?”

“Kill them.” She shrugged “Well, That’s the idea at least, I’m not certain how well it will work. I thought it was a pretty good idea anyway though, if I do say so myself.”

I ran over to the last soldier she’d given one too and tried to pull the berry from their mouth, but it was already gone. “How many of them did you give these to?”

“I don’t know, most of them? Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course you did! I didn’t want you to kill them, I wanted you to save them.”

“Oh. I don’t think I can do that. This seemed like the easiest way to stop them.”

“Leave. Now.”

Hunching over, she drifted off and I set her aside in my mind for later. How could I fix this? Making them throw up might work, assuming they weren’t already poisoned, but it would take time and expose me to corruption. I could try using Yueryurn’s aura, but I doubted I could handle a maneuver as delicate triggering their gag reflex without seriously injuring or killing them. Who was to say they’d even vomit given their current state?

I was still trying to think of a solution when the first of the demons dropped to the ground convulsing. Before I could even reach them, they went still and I stopped in my tracks. I had a rough idea of the ones Yuriel had gotten to and I focused on doing what I could for those she hadn’t poisoned.

Even knowing there was little to nothing I could to prevent their deaths, every demon that fell felt like a personal failure. I may not have killed them, but Elmidath and I were responsible for bringing them here. Knowing that they’d been fighting for a good cause was nice and all, though it did little to soften the blow in the moment. These men and women deserved better than this.

By the time I was done tending to those I might be able to save, including triple checking to make sure there was none of the dirt left on them, most of Yueryurn’s soldiers were dead. Thoroughly drained, I wanted nothing more to curl up on the ground, but I forced myself to move those that I’d helped a safe distance from the earthen construct. Only then did I collapse beside them. Yet despite my exhaustion, both metal and physical, sleep was nowhere to be found.

I sat there, numb to the world, for I don’t know how long. Eventually I became aware of someone standing in front of me, and titled my head up to see Elmidath. She took one look at my face and sat down beside me. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“What happened?”

Her voice was calm and soothing, and I related everything that occurred since we got back to Yurielius. Towards the end, as I told her about the fate of Yueryurn and his men, I choked up and it took me a while to get the words out. But she said nothing, instead just patiently listening until I was done.

“You did the right thing.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

“Does it make it feel any better?”

“Not really.”

She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me side-on. My first impulse was to shrug her off, but her gesture brought me some small degree of comfort. We stayed like that for a while. Describing everything I’d been through recently had only deepened my exhaustion and the lure of slumber pulled at me. Without the willpower to resist even if I wanted to, sleep overtook me once more.