The moment the Hunter struck Braden, Orrin felt it. He staggered and fell to his knees, face pale and eyes bloodshot. He could feel his Animus draining out of him into a conduit to his brother’s Anima.

“Braden!” someone screamed.

He didn’t know who it was though he guessed it was probably Yuriko. He’d seen her running towards the battlefield, carrying the artefact with her. He couldn’t quite wrap his mind how such a slender slip of a girl could swing that huge thing so easily.

He could feel his brother’s heart beat erratically. Thankfully, Leader Yoran had killed the attacker, otherwise there would have been no way to save Braden. Still, if nothing else happened, it was likely that both of them would die soon.

“What do we do?” Krystal asked, hesitating. They would not be able to meaningfully contribute to the fight and would more likely become deadly distractions. The fact that Orrin could see one of the elite squad members attending to his twin brother instead of fighting while the other elites were gradually being overwhelmed, attested to that fact.

They were useless here. If not for the artefact, they should have just run back home. His Animus had drained below the halfway point before he felt it stabilize. The person attending to Braden stood up and started fighting again though they kept a wary eye at the tree tops.

“Ancestors! Heron, come back!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Orrin could see the larger boy run after their leader. They were in the clear for now, none of the swarmlings and Wanderers was nearby but he wasn’t sure that would last. For that matter, how many of them were here and how many had been massacred? He wondered why they were so suicidal in the first place. How ironic that the Wyldling spirits that came from the Primordial Chaos Sea spent so much effort to materialise in the planes only to get themselves killed by their reckless and suicidal behavior. What, they had to spend too much of their willpower controlling bodies they’ve never had before to put much stock in critical thinking?

His mind was rambling he realised suddenly. He staggered to his feet, finding Krystal and Mikel staring at him worriedly.

“We have to help.” Orrin found himself saying. The other two nodded after a moment. The three of them followed Heron, readying themselves for the battle of their lives.

*-*-*

Heron cursed in his head as he ran after Yuriko. She ran full sprint around the lake’s banks after shedding her backpack and leaving behind anything that could potentially hold her back.

Yuriko was incredibly fleet of foot, pulling farther and farther away from Heron every second that she ran. He’d dropped his own pack too, keeping only his spear and shield on him. Even carrying the gigantic sword, which she somehow kept balanced over her shoulder, didn’t slow her down.

The first swarmlings jumped at her when she came near them and with an almost casual swing belied by the intensity of her Animus, she cut them down. Heron wasn’t spared from the assault either and because he was more than a dozen paces behind her, enemies she cleared off her path blocked him as they filled in the gaps.

He constructed a hexagonal hardened air shield, anchored it to his actual physical shield, and used it to bash a swarmling lunging at him. He followed up with a spear thrust at another, sinking the blade into its shoulder. The attacks stopped him cold.

“Yuri, wait!” he yelled while a swarmling careened into his air shield, nearly knocking him off his feet. He finally covered his spear with his Animus, pushing Empowered Strike’s intent on the weapon. Almost immediately, his strikes grew more lethal, shearing through carapace with ease.

Swish!

The artefact cut a swath through the massing horde. Yuriko slashed again, killing even more of the creatures.

“Come on!”

With her in the lead and keeping a slower pace, Heron had her back. Though he slowed her down when, alone, she could have easily escaped the horde before they had the chance to encircle her, she would eventually be overwhelmed. She seemed to have realised it and allowed Heron to catch up with her. Better to slow down than let haste ruin any chance they had of making a difference. She would be vulnerable without him to watch her back.

He wasn’t that worried about the other Foster twin. As far as he was concerned, Braden was in a better position than they were and the elite squad would do their best to keep him alive. No, he was far more worried about this desperate girl carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

He didn’t trust the artefact. It was allowing Yuriko to fight above her natural capabilities but at what cost? She had already collapsed with Chaos poisoning once and though she insisted she was alright, he only had to see her bloodstained face to know otherwise.

But what could he do? He couldn’t take the burden from her no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn’t even lift the weapon completely off the ground.

‘What made her so special that the artefact allowed itself to be wielded by her anyway,’ he thought with some frustration, ‘other than the fact that her parents were at least both Knight-Captains?’

Well, according to his dad, Yuriko didn’t inherit either of her parents’ Heritages but something further back on her lineage. Admittedly, something did change with her when she finally inlaid her Facet but by her own admission, it wasn’t combat based. So what was it?

He knew he had an unhealthy obsession with her, though of course he kept it very well hidden from his family. Even now, he knew he should have stayed with the others for his own safety. But instead, chose to go after her.

He slammed his shield against a swarmling about to blindside her and stabbed another one behind it. Yuriko twisted and slashed behind her, clearing the area around him before they continued.

Heron glanced at the fight between Shillogu, Armsmaster Byrne, Leader Yoran, and what was presumably the Will of the Wave.

“Armsmaster lost an arm,” he muttered disbelievingly.

“Eh?” Yuriko gasped. She whirled around to stare at their direction though she continued to swing the great sword around her absently. The fact that she managed to kill a couple more swarmlings while she was distracted was annoying him. “You’re right.”

The foursome was brawling on the shores about a couple of hundred paces away from them. Their enemy was quite agile and Heron could barely see a blur when it moved. Leader Yoran was surrounded in a halo of darkness and she shot beams of silver light at the enemy but, more often than not, it just wasn’t where she was shooting. The same was true for Armsmaster Byrne's furious assault. Neither of their instructors’ attacks could find purchase and it was obvious that Shillogu’s attacks were the one the Chaos Lord was most wary of. None of the four paid them more than a passing glance.

Heron’s mind raced. They only had one chance to make a difference. They only had to wait for it. He could protect her from any stray blow and when an opening gradually presented itself, Yuriko could bury the artifact into the Chaos Lord’s body.

“Yuri!” he hissed, “I’ve got an idea.”

“What is it?” Her graceful movements continued to flow. Her swings were wide, and normally that would leave her open to a counterattack, except her movements and reverse swings were too fast.

“Wait for a chance. I’ll try to block the monster’s movement and you cut it down.”

Yuriko looked at the battle before she shook her head. “You’re not fast enough to do that.”

They continued to carve a path to the village.

“We have to try anyway.”

“You two! Get to the village!” Leader Yoran had somehow made her way towards the two of them while constantly firing light beams. “Where are the other three?”

“I have the artefact that can end this!” Yuriko yelled. “Please let us help!”

“Too dangerous,” she said. “Can you transfer control?”

“I--I don’t know,” Yuriko stuttered. Leader Yoran killed all of the swarmlings and the odd Wanderer as they talked. She was even faster than Yuriko but their Instructor had probably spent as much time honing her Facet and techniques as Heron had lived.

Heron finally had time to catch his breath. “The artefact bound itself to Yuriko, none of us could even lift it off the ground.”

“Huh,” Yoran grunted though she was clearly preoccupied.

Yuriko looked back at where they came from. She heaved a sigh of relief. “The horde’s headed here. Krys, Miki, and Orrin are safe.” She wasn’t even breathing hard.

Leader Yoran took a longer look at both of them, raising her eyebrows when she saw fresh bloodstains on Yuriko. “What happened?”

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Yuriko answered quickly. “We should go soon.”

As they watched, Armsmaster managed to swat the Chaos Lord with his weapon but he jumped back at the last minute taking almost no damage. Shillogu missed a charge but he managed to stop in time to remain within reach. His brown tentacles were lashing wildly.

“Come. Wait for an opening.” Leader Yoran led the two of them. Soon enough, they were in a cleared area around the combatants. The swarmlings, Wanderers, and presumably Hunters were giving Shillogu a wide berth.

Up close, the Chaos Lord wasn’t as physically frightening as the Hunters. If not for the obviously male Chaos Lord’s dusky grey skin and small horns, Heron would have thought the man could easily blend into any crowd. Well, if he wasn’t so strikingly handsome anyway.

Heron couldn’t help but stare at the Chaos Lord’s perfectly symmetrical features. The golden pupils and black sclera were a bit disturbing but even that seemed appealingly exotic. It was a disturbing feeling, Heron realised. The Chaos Lord was clearly hostile and obviously male, so why was he feeling attraction?

He tore his eyes away and looked at Yuriko. Her features were also perfectly symmetrical and she was also incredibly beautiful. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be distracted by the Chaos Lord’s looks. Leader Yoran on the other hand looked decidedly distracted though she didn’t hesitate in shooting light beams.

The Chaos Lord locked eyes at them before revealing a smirk. “Well, well, well. What do we have here? I didn’t realize Fri’Avgi had found a new owner.”

A chill ran down Heron’s spine. The Chaos Lord knows.

“Fu fu fu, come girl-child. Show me what you’re capable of.”

With those words he ignored Shillogu and Armsmaster Bryne and dashed at them, rapier flickering with multiple thrusts. Yuriko anticipated and danced away, twirling in circles, while her golden Animus took the brunt of the attacks.

Ting, ting ting!

Whoosh!

A wide horizontal slash was avoided by leaping above the blade and he somehow landed on it, standing on the raised weapon as if it were flat ground. He smirked and leaped over, stabbing at her face. Leader Yoran fired a light beam while the Chaos Lord twisted in midair, avoiding it. Yuriko leapt back, twisting the weapon and thrusting.

Ptang!

The rapier, against all logic, deflected the great sword and sent Yuriko staggering.

“Seeker! Fight me!” Armsmaster yelled as he waved his weapon and sent a green flash shaped like a blade at the Chaos Lord. Seeker dodged it and attacked Yuriko again.

While the great sword she wielded was powerful, it was useless if it couldn’t touch her opponent. Instead, her defence was clumsier than when she wielded dual blades. All he had to do was wait for the blade to pass and he would lunge at her.

Heron yelled, struggling to conjure an air shield to interject between Yuriko and the Seeker’s rapier, but he was too far away. He could only watch in horror as the point came closer and closer to Yuriko’s body.

Her right hand let go of the hilt and darted to her waist, at the side-blade strapped there. With a smooth motion, she drew the smaller weapon and smacked the rapier away. She spun full circle, bringing the great sword to bear. But her swing was far too clumsy now that she held Fri’Avgi in only one hand. Seeker danced around her, sending green darts out from his sword tip.

It sheared through her forceweave jacket, though thankfully, she twisted out of the way and it only caught the fabric. Heron couldn't come close enough to use his shields to protect her. The great sword’s length was the distance he needed to be so he could cover her but then if he tried to come that close, he would only get in her way.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to shield bash the Seeker instead, only for the other to easily dance out of the way, sending a dart that cracked his air shield at him.

“Hmmm, disappointing. You don’t even know how to use Fri’Avgi properly. No matter, I will claim her after I get rid of the rest of you. Now, Avos, it is time to return to the fold. I’ve filled myself with your despair and fury. Now, surrender yourself to the Telurian Court.”

The Seeker had only been playing. He disappeared from view and the next thing they knew, he had plunged the rapier all the way to the hilt in Shillogu’s flank. The great boar roared in pain and anger, his tentacles whipping at the Seeker, but to no avail.

“This Great One will never join the Telurian, wretch!”

“Come now, is that how you greet a cousin. You’ve languished in the material planes for too long that you’ve lost your instincts. Come, it is time to return. Your Demesne will become a suitable Chaos Spring. We will dissolve this plane back into the Chaos Sea soon enough.”

“NOO--” Shillogu’s enraged roar was cut off as the Seeker pulled back and plunged his blade into the opposite flank. Shillogu’s forelegs crumpled bonelessly.

Heron tore his eyes from the horrifying sight. Beside him, he could see Yuriko gritting her teeth. Her blue eyes had turned gold and it looked like the bloodstains on her body were flaking away as a sunlike glow radiated from her exposed skin.

Fri’Avgi’s red gem glowed with a sinister light.