It was as if The Janus knew every single move they were going to make before they made them. She stepped to the side, they attacked, then missed. Added to that, the avatar called Moira had seemingly boosted her physical capabilities something beyond human. The Janus did not have the strength proportionate to more than two men, but she was strong enough that her attacks snapped like gunfire. She was not faster than a wolf, but she was fast enough for each of their blinks to miss crucial movements. Enneya swung her staff at The Janus's head. Instead of backing away – which would have been the most efficient thing to do – the woman took the effort to duck down, almost insultingly in the playful and unhurried movement, before slashing her whip blade towards Enneya's stomach.

Enneya's heart stopped. It was to be a fatal blow cutting across her abdomen. The softest part of her body was to face the sharpest part of a blade. Enneya had never faced an enemy with conscious intent to kill her before. Especially not one possessed by a being of otherworldly power. Beasts were fighting on survival instincts and the strength of evolution. Monsters like the unspawns attacked based on unknowable aggression and physics of the outside. The feeling of the fight with The Janus was different. More was at stake and less mistakes could be made. And boosted power meant that even in a 2-on-1 scenario, they were individually outskilled. Enneya only wished she had realised their predicament sooner as she breathed in and readied herself for death.

Joachim stepped in between her and The Janus's attack and the latter immediately pulled her weapon back, whipping the air with a loud snap as she did so.

“Clever boy,” the woman smirked uneasily.

But she was right. Joachim needed to be the last to fall. She would not risk fatally injuring him. And it seemed he knew that. With that in mind, Enneya grabbed him from behind, wrapping her staff over her friend's neck and twisted it as gently as she could.

“Stay back!” she exclaimed to The Janus. “If you don't let us leave, I'll snap his neck!”

Joachim quickly caught on to the plan and played along with a surprised but weak struggle.

They were obviously out powered and out stationed. Unlike Enneya's staff or Joachim's yo-yo, The Janus's whip-blades were fluid and acted more like a rope. Instead of getting deflected and bouncing off the walls and ceiling of the cramp space, it slid over them like a snake and snapped like a cobra. Joachim required the space to build up momentum for his yo-yo, and Enneya required amounts of earthen minerals to properly fight. With neither resources available to them, they had to run.

The Janus stood stunned for a moment before breaking out into a laugh. “Yes! That will stop me, won't it? Definitely put me in my tracks.” She took a single step forward anyway.

“What are you doing?”

“The problem with being good is that it's not a great survival strategy. It requires sacrifice, and a willingness to protect other people's best interests over your own.” The Janus took another step confidently. “That's why you won't kill him. That's why it's good to be bad.”

Enneya twisted her staff suddenly which let out a loud crack and Joachim's body slumped in her arms. She let him go and his motionless body dropped onto its knees before gravity finally pulled the rag doll face down into the ground.

The Janus's eyes turned bloodshot and wide. “W-What?”

Enneya pounced, pushing forward with the sharp point of her staff aimed straight at The Janus's throat. The teen released the magic she had been holding back and four stone spikes pulled out from the walls behind her, launching at the same target like spears. The Janus leaned back against the first thrust. As the spikes shot at her, she stepped to the side, though the fourth spike nicked her forearm and tore a piece off her clothe.

The woman readied to counter, twirling her whip-blade around her body before lashing out. But Enneya was ready for the strike. She pulled her staff up and the whip caught around it instead. They battled for the weapons, yanking and pulling. It was then Enneya truly realised how unnaturally strong her opponent was. While she was using both hands and all her body weight, The Janus merely tugged single-handedly and Enneya could feel herself being pulled across the ground, her feet sliding with each second.

“Give up!” The Janus yelled. “Accept your fate!”

Enneya answered, “Our fate is our own! You're not part of it!”

Behind, Enneya heard Joachim shuffling to his feet and took the cue. She let go of her staff and The Janus stumbled back. Enneya stepped aside to let the now risen Joachim have a clear line of sight. A ball of wind twirling in his hand, he pushed his palms out and released a blast of wind that roared across the room, knocking over the table, chair, and lifting every single knick-knack not bolted down and throwing them to the walls. The gust hit The Janus square in the chest, knocking her off her feet and blowing her out the opening to the ramparts. But before she was fully pushed outside, the woman grabbed the edge of the archway and webbed herself to the doorway with her limps, refusing to budge.

Enneya rushed her, catching the wind on her back as she launched her body at The Janus with the force of both jump and magic. The gale died down and The Janus released a hand, opening the way out to the ramparts which Enneya flew out onto, completely missing her target. Before she could regain her footing, a hand wrapped around her throat and she felt the ground leaving her feet. Choking, Enneya was dangled over the edge of the wall.

Behind them, Joahcim ran to the exit, ready to continue the fight.

“Ah. Ah. Ah.” The Janus mocked, threatening to drop Enneya. “One more step and I drop her.”

Enneya coughed out, “Don't... listen... to her! She's... dropping me... either... way!”

“True,” the villain admitted. “It'll be much easier to immobilize Mister Kerr alone, now that you mentioned it.”

They heard the sound of clanking metal and looked back to see Joachim holding a kitchen knife against his throat. Having picked up on the value of his own life, Joachim was now wagering it for hers, a move Enneya did not fully support, but appreciated greatly in the moment.

“Very brave of you, Mister Kerr.” The woman smirked. “But I know the look of a coward when I see one.”

Enneya could see Joachim's hands trembling and the glisten of tears welling up in the corner of his eyes through burning stares of anger. He was not going to go through with it. She knew that, and she knew she was going to die there and then. She gave a final smile at Joachim who looked back surprised. She wanted to tell him not to worry, and that it wasn't his fault. She wanted him to know that they tried their best, and she had no regrets for it.

But gravity was faster.

The Janus released her grip on Enneya before the latter could get a word out and she plummeted to the ground below. She quickly sent a wave of earth magic down, hoping to soften the ground for her landing and perhaps survive the fall. But she knew that from that heigh, it was impossible. With nothing below to break her fall, she would surely die.

It was then she glimpsed down and saw what was below her. Had she not hit the ground, she would have surely cried.

*****

It was cold, so Enneya pulled her blanket closer, only for her feet to poke out from below. She rolled around the uncomfortable shifting floor in futility before finally surrendering to the excitement and insomnia and waking up in darkness. Slowly, she rolled out of her mother's arms and got up and out of the cramp tent and into the desert air.

Towards the distant north, she could see the glimmering peaks of Mount Riveria, where at its base, the city of Aleynonlia resided. The mountain was backdropped by stars and constellations of old.

The cold was not the only reason she could not sleep. The previous year, she had placed an application for the Spellblade Academy, and the trip they made that season was partially to receive her seating after receiving the letter of her acceptance.

She had hoped the school would open up her world further than it already was, being the daughter of merchants. She wanted to do more, to see more. She had gained a undying wish of wanting to play her part in the world ever since the war. It was a wish many kids her age held. The war brought devastation, with many small towns levelled and damages to major cities severe. But it also pulled people together to try and do better. She wondered if she would meet more of those people in the academy. Like-minded individuals, ready to serve at the pleasure of all who lived and the goodness of the mortal race.

Outwardly, she could not hold back a happy smile as she thought of her new life. “I'm going to make the world a better place,” she whispered, gripping her fist tight. “You'll see.”

Her bare feet dug into the sand and with her toes, she slowly dug her way deeper into the earth, point by point. Cold above and warm below, it was like sinking into mud.