“Natalia no!”

Tail fluttering in the wind, the forgotten Demi-cat descends with terrifying speed towards the throne. The Stranger looks up at my cry. He sees me first, but by then Natalia is almost upon him. She pulls the knife from in-between her jaws and brings it hurtling down towards the back of his head-

*Whoosh*

The Stranger throws himself forwards, dodging out of the way at the last second. Natalia’s dagger slams into the seat of the golden throne as he lands beneath the stairs and rolls.

“Echo!” he growls, looking back over his shoulder, “You just made a grave mistake!”

“Die!” Natalia hisses in response. She yanks her dagger out of the throne and charges again. Whiskers sprout from her cheeks and fur grows on her hands, as she transforms in midair-

“Damnit, Myrr!” The Stranger looks at me before dodging away again as the enraged Demi-Cat lunges at him. “Control your pet or she’ll end up like the last one!”

What. Did you just say?

The Stranger’s eyes widen as he sees my face. But then Natalia forces him to roll sideways again as she chases him around the throne room-

“She’ll…end up…like who exactly?” I whisper. For some reason, there’s a giant ice shard floating in front of me. When did I cast that? Rage courses through my veins, and my voice swells, “Go on, say her name! I dare you! Do you even remember it!”

*Whoosh*

The frozen shard vibrates, and I catch sight of my reflection in the jagged ice. A haunted face with tears streaming from both eyes glares back at me. It looks unhinged.

Guess I’m angrier than I thought.

I blink and then my spell shoots away. The Stranger barely has time to bring up a dagger to block. He parries successfully, but my magic missile is stronger than he expects. One of his twin daggers is sent spinning away. Natalia dashes after him while he’s off-balance. But he dodges her again.

“Say her name, coward!” I join the fray. Now it is two on one. My magic offers support to Natalia from a distance. Our target is pressed back, and I see blood seeping through the hole in his back. Selena’s wound is bothering him. But the Stranger is slippery like an eel. Pinning him down will not be easy-

[Frozen Water of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

…

…

Again and again I fire. The magic comes to me naturally in my rage. It’s like I don’t even need to say the words, but still the spells come out full force. Natalia presses the attack as the Stranger doubles back. He flips over my ice shards and runs to Selena’s body. Her sword is scooped up to replace his missing dagger. The Stranger wheels around, now that he has two weapons again. Leveling Selena’s long blade, along with his own sinister dagger, he faces us and pants.

“My boy…” His mask is slightly off-center. “I understand you’re angry. But we don’t have to fight. Let’s talk-”

“No talking! I hunt…you DIE!” Natalia interrupts him, dashing in and sweeping low, “Grrrr-!”

*Clank*

It’s like he knows her every move. He uses Selena’s sword and blocks her sweeping dagger. Meanwhile, his own dagger comes in from the side, aiming for her throat. Natalia hisses and jerks out of the way. But he nicks her. It’s just a flesh wound, but I feel my heart stop as blood beads on her neck.

“Natalia!” I run closer as she dances back to regain herself. Throwing shards of ice to keep the Stranger at bay, I yell, “Are you okay?”

She doesn’t respond. I can see her tail lashing from side to side. Natalia growls, low and deep before advancing on the Stranger once more. Her gait is hypnotic, as if she’s stalking prey. My sister is using her feral side to hold on. But I’m worried. Though I want to kill the Stranger…the truth is becoming obvious-

We’re not his match.

Even wounded, he’s a monster!

I try to circle around behind the Stranger. However, he simply moves sideways, always keeping both of us in front of him. Natalia inevitably tries to close again. But he expects that. When she dashes in, he laughs. Parrying my ice shards with Selena’s sword, he uses his dagger to exchange a round of stabs and parries with Natalia.

*Clank Clank Clank*

“Pathetic. Is that the best you can do?” He taunts as Natalia is forced back again. I catch sight of a new bloody cut on her free arm. Immediately, I cast multiple spells in a row to cover her retreat. “Myrr, enough! Do not make me your enemy!”

“Too late!” I chant faster, always out loud. There’s a chance he doesn’t know about my silent casting. If I wait for an opening, I might be able to surprise him-

[Frozen Water of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

“Natalia get back!” Switching positions with Natalia, I stand in front, hands up and firing. The Stranger twirls his blades before a veritable blizzard of ice crystals, but he’s actually moving closer through the barrage. It makes no sense. He’s tiring, I can tell. But nowhere near as fast as we are. Is he even human? Looking behind me, I don’t like what I see. We’re losing. Even though Selena stabbed him, we’re freaking losing!

“I’m…okay.” Natalia staggers, trying to stay upright. It doesn’t look good. Her eyes are dilated, and she sways oddly, while panting over and over. Seeing me looking, she hunches over ferally, and licks her arm. One of her hands has transformed into a paw, and the other is just barely managing to stay human enough to hold onto Blink’s dagger. Hissing at me, she tries to go in front again, “Get out of my way.”

“You’re not okay. Stop pretending you are!” I shout, but quickly regret using precious words on something other than magic. The Stranger seizes the gap in my spells to close the distance. Backing up, I keep myself in front of Natalia. Come on! Just back up! However, she refuses to go. I end up pushing against her as she strains to get around me.

“Move!” She screams.

“No!” I shake my head but keep casting.

The Stranger advances on us like the grim reaper. He uses Selena’s sword to deflect all my ice shards, while his dagger stays at his side, as a last resort. I need to do something. Burn isn’t strong enough to get through his defenses. He’ll just walk through Gust. And Meld has never been my strong point. Ugh, but Chill is only slowing him down. I need to think of something else. Looking down, I glance at Mephis’s dagger on my hip. In a moment, I might be forced into close combat, the worst case scenario. Even if it comes to that, I need to keep Natalia away from him. She’s too out of it. Damnit, if she would just listen to me-

*Flicker*

The moment my mind is distracted again, our enemy strikes.

“Crap-!” I screw up my chant as the Stranger blurs, eating up half the distance between us. Ten paces left. The same amount Selena covered in an instant. And he beat her easily. Without Foresight, I know that it’s suicide to fight him at this range. A silent spell won’t be enough to penetrate his Qi. Then I only have one choice. Bluff time! Stopping all offensive casting, I rapidly chant and gather heavy amounts of mana in-between my palms. I’m purposely sloppy so that some of the dense energy spills out and alerts the Stranger to what I’m doing-

[Muddy Stone of My Endurance, Move Forth-Meld]

[Frozen Water of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

“Stay back!” Holding up my growing Icebomb like a shield, I place it between me and the Stranger.

“This again?” He freezes. But shakes his head. “We all know how this ends, Myrr! You won’t do it-!”

*Thunk*

H-Huh?

My connection with the half-finished Icebomb is suddenly disrupted. Natalia’s transformed paw snatches the incomplete orb out of my hand. She snarls before hurling it towards the Stranger-

“Dodge this-!”

“Madwoman!” The Stranger’s eyes widen behind his mask. He dives sideways. I try to hold the spell together, but my Icebomb wasn’t ready to be moved. Chaotic failures cascade through the magical structure and I gulp as it soars through the air at him.

Can’t hold it!

Halfway between us, it detonates!

*Booooom*