Enneya Devini stood to height the moment the dust cloud raised. From above, she heard Seks give the four whistles signal that marked for them to retreat. At the next tree beside her was Shimona, confused by the sudden turn of events.

“What's going on?” Shimona whispered harshly to her. “Enny! Anything?”

She asked that because Enneya specialised in sand and dust based earth magic. She could 'see' through the dust cloud by sensing disturbance in the formation of the particles. What she felt was movement from their side of the treeline, crossing the open area and rushing towards the tower. In her mind's eye, it looked like an object barrelling through a snowfield, cutting out a path.

“One of us is heading for the entrance.” The figure engaged in combat, and she watched the familiar stringwork take out the guard that stood watch at the smaller entrance. “I think it's Joachim.”

“What? Why would he run off without us?”

Enneya could think of plenty of reasons why he would do so. After the trauma of witnessing the deaths of his friend, she too would want to prevent further harm from befalling everyone else. It was suicidal, but it was logical in its own selfishly selfless way.

Enneya stated, “I'm going after him.”

“Absolutely not!” Shimona hissed. “I can't see anything!”

“That's why I said I'm going. You need to tell everyone else what's happening.”

“That's too dangerous! If you die, I'm next!” Shimona exclaimed without malice, referencing her number Eight as being the next to fall.

Enneya appreciated the deprecation. It was Shimona's own way of dealing with the insanity of the situation that had befallen them. The girl was the youngest of the class, though by their date of birth, that was not saying much. Still she acted her maturity, cracking jokes and giving everyone nicknames. Even in tense situations like those, her attitude shone through.

But Enneya doubled down. “I'm not leaving Joachim alone.”

Her mind's eyes saw Joachim move back and forth between the tower door. She needed to move quickly if she did not want to lose track of him, and do so with the stealth required to not alert more enemies to their total presence.

“Let everyone know!” she reinforced.

Before Shimona could reply, Enneya rushed out into the dust. She could sense her enemies around her. The one closest to the door was on the floor, unconscious. The other two guards were closing in quickly. Joachim had just slipped in through the door. A disturbance from above stopped her in her tracks. The dust parted above and an arrow swiped through the air, piercing the ground she would have stepped on. The smokescreen must have been thinning and allowed the archers on the walls to be able to see through the fog.

She pulled her staff back and quickly charged a spell through it. With an overhead swing, she slammed the staff into the ground and the earth around her trembled as another layer of dirt dried and dispersed into the atmosphere, thickening and expanding the cloud. She sensed a barrage of four arrows cutting through the thickness and she dodged aside, the projectiles stabbing into the ground around her. From her flank, the two guards on foot were pushing towards her.

The combat staff had a plain swamp green banner, held in place by two bearing connectors. She pushed the bottom connector up, furling the banner into a sling. Swiping the sling through the air, it collected the dust and balled it magically into a solid. She twirled the weapon around and overhead, collecting more and more dirt to make her earthen bullet larger before lifting the load across her shoulder like a pack. With a foot forward, she heaved with control, directing the sling with practised proficiency across her side and throwing the sling bullet straight through the air and towards the furthest of the two approaching guards.

Unable to see the oncoming shot, the guard did not even try at an attempt to dodge. The projectile smashed straight into his face, breaking apart upon the impact that was loud enough to sound like a hammer smashing into an anvil.

“What in Titans?” the second guard exclaimed. “Ash! What happened? Ash!”

Enneya quickly drew her staff back. This time, she pulled down the connector halfway between the banner and sling mode. As the second guard turned his attention towards the relative direction of Enneya, he began frantically sweeping his sword forward, Enneya twirled her staff in the air again, gathering up another ball of dirt, this time within the pouch that had formed. The collection solidified, but was now locked between the staff and the pouch. The guard wandered within reach before finally realizing Enneya was there.

She brought the weapon overhead and slammed it straight down, the weight of the magically contracted dirt adding to the weight of the swing, basically smashing a back of rocks over the man's head. The weapon cracked into the guard's skull, dropping him to his knees. She released the magical holding on the dirt and it blasted outwards with additional force, dropping the fully armoured solider onto his knees before falling face first onto the ground, as unconscious as his partner.

Hastily, she located where the guard Joachim took out was and retraced his steps through the dust. While she could see general shapes and figures within the cloud, she had trouble discerning embedded details, such as a door. She managed to find her way to the wall and traced her hand along the structure. It was not long before she found the handle.

Immediately, her mind pulled at the door instead of push. It was how siege structures were built. Doors always swung outwards to give defenders an edge in combat as it helped funnel enemies inside. Luckily for her, there was no one else immediately visible within and she quickly slipped in. The first thing she saw was Joachim, a couple of steps up the stairwell, looking back down on her in anger and confusion, weapon drawn and ready to attack.

“Did you forget about me?” she asked, referencing her abilities. He slapped himself in the forehead, clearly having neglected her in his calculated plan. “Come on. This is too dangerous. I'm taking you back.”

Joachim protested, hands waving vehemently against the idea.

“This is not up for discussion!”

Voices and clanks came from the door opposite her. Quickly, she pulled the door behind her shut and Joachim took her hand and dragged her up the stairs just before soldiers poured through the other entrance. The pair hugged the inner wall of the stairwell, hoping none of the guards were even slightly more curious than normal and poke their head around the corner. The squad crossed the floor and exited out into the forest line, reinforcing the front. After a minute of rush, the gate door finally closed behind them and they were once again alone in the tower, their path of retreat blocked. It was likely the other exit where the soldiers came from was also filled with enemies.

Sighing, Joachim gestured for them to proceed up the stairs as they were out of option sideways or back. It seemed he had planned to take on The Janus on his own. Now though, the duo were in an unlikely pairing to face down the boss. Though reluctant to go along in such a small party, Enneya nevertheless nodded to the only plan available. Together, they proceeded up the clockwise steps.

Her mind wandered to the design of stairwells for defences. Defenders at the top always had the advantage, with wider walls on their right, allowing for more fluid weapon swings as compared to the stuck corners of those going up. These were the things that went through her mind in moments of intensity. She felt it helped her focus and find the weaknesses in things. It was a mindset developed due to how her fighting style often relied on her not dependent on her vision. She needed to know, to feel, and to understand. Anything less and it might cost the lives of the people around her.

But thankfully, nothing happened even as they reached the top of the landing. But upon opening the door and turning the corner into the corridor, they were faced with The Janus, smiling and waiting patiently for their arrival.