Chapter 10:

Beyond Her Garden

People came running out of their houses at the sounds of the battle at the top of the hill. By the time they armed themselves, they caught sight of a tall shape weaving between their buildings.

“There she is!”

With the soldiers put out of commission and Novarac and his dogs nowhere to be found, they chased after the person themselves until they came within stone-throwing distance of it.

“Where are they?” The person in the darkness asked in a low growl.

The crowd’s aggression disappeared. They recognized that voice well.

“Larish’s kid?”

The crowd approached only to stop in their tracks the moment the light of their torches turned blue. They felt a pair of striking, vicious eyes stare holes through them. Even though they knew him all his life, at that moment every single one of them feared for their lives.

Confirming that neither his targets were among the crowd, Marvin dashed into the darkness.

---

Alaya limped through a decrepit road. The shape of the land and of the abandoned, ruined buildings standing perched upon it was foreign to her. Unlike every other village which she knew like the back of her hand, here she truly felt alien.

In the barren darkness, the pain was abhorrent, the silence maddening.

The arrows embedded in her flesh were like mosquitoes, sucking the life out of her through their stone tongues. Every step viciously reminded her of the hole punctured into her foot.

But even worse was having to hold it all down, and not allow a single scream or yell to escape her lips.

She was grateful for Aidan’s presence. The two leaned into each other heavily, both unable to walk on their own anymore. If it wasn’t for the sound of his breathing she’d have forgotten that she wasn’t there alone.

In the brief moments that fact slipped her mind, she felt her scarf try to strangle her to keep the void within at bay. Whenever her consciousness returned, she’d look around to see the ground more twisted and cracked than before.

And every time, Aidan didn’t say a single word about it. This bothered her even more than her wounds. Why didn’t he react?

“…Don’t ya ever think I might be a demon too? You’ve seen it, what happens around me sometimes.” Alaya asked out of irritation.

“No…but even if you were, it wouldn’t matter to me.”

Alaya let out a single, pained laugh.

“But isn’t that your job? What are the big wigs paying ya for then?”

“Wha-oh.” It took Aidan quite a bit to remember the lie he told her about working for the empire. “I’m only interested in demons that hurt others. Not gonna hurt innocents, demon or not.”

“But they hurt others just by bein’ around them. What about that?”

“That is-”

Before Aidan could answer, a horn sounded through the village. Aidan and Alaya’s attention was drawn back toward the populated part of Kulum where the sound originated from. Shortly after the horn finished blowing, long lines of torches flowed out, converging upon the palisade.

With the severity of Alaya’s wounds, the two were forced to hide and watch as the lights reached the palisade and spread out, blocking the gates and most of the walls. Even from so far away, the air above Alaya was filled with bloodlust born from the yells of the people guarding the exits.

Instinctively, the pain in Alaya’s skewered leg flared up. She wouldn’t be able to push through them and break open the gates like last time.

“Don’t fear. I’ll play as many songs as we need to get us out of here.” Aidan reassured.

A quick glance at Aidan revealed a thick flow of blood flowing down his right hand originating from a deep cut at the base of his fingers.

“Pfeh. I’m not letting you touch that guitar. You’ve bled enough.”

“And you haven’t?” Aidan asked harshly.

The look of surprise on Alaya’s face confirmed his suspicions.

“Alaya, if you think of sacrificing yourself so that I can escape, then you might as well let go. I’ll crawl right back to Marvin.”

“No! I don’t want others to die for my sake!” Alaya yelled at him.

“Then you ought to understand how I feel!” Aidan yelled back.

A silence set in, the kind that followed a fight between siblings.

“Neither are acceptable choices, so let’s try to think of something else,” Aidan reasoned. “You’ve been here before. Do you know of any places we could hide, any weaknesses in the walls?”

Alaya thought Aidan’s suggestion over. Aidan felt her grip him tighter as uncertainty gripped her.

“I don’t.” Alaya kept her gaze turned away from Aidan so that her scarf and hair was the only thing he could see. “I know my way around most villages. Been thieving my whole life through ‘em, but not here, not for a long time.”

Despite her answer, Alaya made a sharp turn and headed deeper into the village. Aidan didn’t ask further, choosing to trust her decision.

By the time Alaya arrived at her destination, she was dragging her left foot like an anchor. Her breathing was ragged from all of the blood she lost. All the moving and shifting around had only driven the arrows ever deeper into her body. Any normal, non-enhanced human would have long since succumbed to these wounds.

In spite of the pain, Alaya looked hopeful.

Before them stood a small desolate area, devoid of grass in which only two large trees stood. The color and strength of their bark had been eroded over the years as dark veins took over their trunks. All but one of their branches had fallen off.

From that single branch dangled an old swing. Its age was exaggerated by unnaturally formed rust born from the demon’s corruption.

Alaya stepped up carefully to the swing and then stopped right in front of it. Her breathing quickened the more she observed its damaged state.

She could see the little girl who used to be her friend swing her, trying as hard as she could to make her reach the top of the trees. Just a little beyond the swing she saw the brother shyly watching them play while keeping a look out for anyone so that none may find out the plague child was in the village.

Her laughter, and the brother’s cheering, all sounded so vividly in her mind.

Alaya ran her left hand over the chains of the swing. She remembered carrying materials to the siblings and then building it together, how they made it strong enough to hold all three of them. Now it looked so fragile it could not even hold one.

Aidan’s heart stung as he watched the pain in Alaya’s expression grow increasingly more intense. He could see in her eyes the horrid realization of how time was sweeping away everything she had ever held dear.

“Alaya…we have to go. If we let your wounds fester anymore, there’s no telling-I’m sorry, but we can’t stay!”

Alaya didn’t respond. Aidan slowly pulled on her.

“We really have to go, now!” Aidan was at a loss for words - he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t have the words to make her move.

“I think,” a voice behind the tree spoke. “She’s waiting for me.” The voice was shy and apprehensive, every word punctuated by a nervous shifting.

Alaya heard the person step out from behind the tree, but didn’t dare turn around. Alaya’s eyes were fluttering, trying to fight back tears. She wasn’t ready to see her.

The person stopped in her tracks all of a sudden, startled by the sight of Alaya’s wounds.

“What-What have they done to you?!”

Aidan wanted to condemn Marvin for what he’s done, but it wasn’t his moment to speak.

Alaya sighed. She turned around slightly, trying to hide the arrows stuck in her from the girl’s sight.

“No big deal,” Alaya puffed her chest as she spoke. The blood flowing through the fabric of her shirt said otherwise.

With that topic laid aside, Alaya found herself at a loss for words once more. She had imagined this meeting over and over in her head over the years, and come up with a million topics for conversation. Not one of them entered her mind now.

“…H-how’s things? You-you still remember this place?” Alaya barely managed to ask.

Alaya wanted to sink into the ground from embarrassment. All these years and that was the best she had?

Aidan nodded at her briefly in approval.

Do your best, Alaya!

“I come here every day,” She answered immediately.

“Oh…well…did you manage to learn how to move stuff? You wanted that r-right?”

To answer her, the chains in Alaya’s hand rattled without her hand moving. Right after, a small circle of fire rose from the ground in front of Alaya, followed by a crystal tower of her height. With the flame lighting it up, Alaya could see the reflection of the girl on the crystal. Alaya had to fight back her tears from the sight so that she could finish watching all the spells the girl had in her arsenal.

“Hah! Bet you’re better than that old man now.”

“Not that good but, I’ve tried, tried so hard to learn everything. Alaya, I-”

The facade of calmness the girl held cracked.

“I thought that if I did, maybe one day I’d find out how to break the course that haunts you! And then, then nobody would ever try to hurt you ever again!” It sounded like the girl was on the verge of breaking into tears.

Alaya mustered all of her courage and turned around at last. Her eyes watered up as they met with Nova. The ruby-red trails flowing through Nova’s black hair, the way she brought her hands together when she was nervous or emotional, it was all the same, even her eye-

Alaya stared horrified at the massive wound covering almost half of Nova’s face. What Alaya was most fixated on was Nova’s missing eye.

“What’s happened to you? What-” Alaya stopped abruptly, remembering a small part of the night of the attack. “Did you lose all of this…because of me?”

“No! No, no, no! I’m fine!” Nova spoke fast, hurrying to quell Alaya’s thoughts. “Really, I mean it. If it wasn’t for you, I would have never been alive here in the first place.”

Alaya and Nova stared at each other, unsure of what to say.. Both of them looked so different from what they remembered. Wounds, exhaustion, scars, and nightmares all marred the vibrant visages both used to have.

So much had transpired in each other’s absence, and at the same time, nothing at all happened in their lives. Nothing to talk about but the crushing emptiness they left in each other’s lives.

Aidan glanced at the tree Nova hide behind. He saw his blade resting up against it. She brought it to him, just like he asked.

“Go to her. I’ll be fine,” said Aidan.

Alaya gave Aidan a worried look. Aidan nodded at her with a smile.

Alaya gently placed Aidan on the ground and then slowly stepped up to Nova. Nova was smiling. It looked like it hurt, but she was smiling anyway.

“A-Are your wounds ok? Should I look at the arrows-”

Before Nova could finish her sentence, Alaya reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. The two held each other silently, tears flowing from both as they let the wasted years finally pass them by.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Asked Nova.

“For the first time in my life, it doesn’t.” Alaya smiled and wrapped her arms around Nova even more. “I thought about you every day! I was so afraid that after all these years I’d come here only to find out that I’m too late, that you’re gone.”

Nova smiled.

“Dummy. I would have held on for the rest of my life waiting for you to come back.”

At that moment nothing mattered. Nothing but the knowledge that the other was alive and alive. The question tormenting their every nightmare was finally cleared.

While Alaya and Nova reconciled, Aidan crawled to his blade. To his surprise, once it was in his hands, strength flowed into him, invigorating him. The runes shimmered faintly.

She’s nearby.

The energy the sword provided Aidan was enough to push the pain and nausea to the back of his mind. The cut flesh in Aidan’s hand forcibly pulled itself together. It wasn’t enough to allow him to play his mandolin, but it halted the blood flow at least. For as long as Aidan’s connection to his blade remained, his wound would remain in this state.

Aidan climbed to his feet, propped up by his blade. He glanced at Alaya and Nova. He reveled in their happiness. It reinforced what he had come to believe of Alaya. And, one more thing.

She has someone to return to now. She doesn’t need me anymore.

Aidan wanted to do nothing more than to let them be, but he couldn’t. Marvin was searching for them, Vaska was close, and, perhaps most worrying, Novarac had yet to make a move.

“Nova, we need to escape as fast as possible and tend to Alaya’s wounds,” said Aidan.

Alaya and Nova at last let go of each other. Both looked surprised by Aidan’s miraculous recovery but knew they had little time to question it.

Nova nodded, fiercely determined to help her friend at long last.

“Don’t fret. I’ve long prepared for this. I and Alie used old spots that nobody knew about to sneak in and out of Kulum, but the palisade covered them all. So, over the years I’ve ripped open holes and hid them with my crystals.” Nova glanced up at Alaya. “Though we’ll have to see which one we can fit Alie through!”

Alaya playfully tapped Nova on the shoulder.

“Hah, and you called me a scoundrel! Look at you, the vandalizing star child!” Alaya teased.

With Aidan rejuvenated, he stepped up to Alaya to carry her.

“Woah, buddy, I don’t think you can-”

Before she could say anymore, Aidan grabbed her and lifted her on his back.

“Wow, Aidan! I had no idea you were so strong!” Said Nova.

“Are you calling Alaya heavy?” Teased Aidan.

“No, Novie, he’s-haha!” Alaya tried to speak only to burst into a fit of laughter.

“I did not mean that!” Nova complained.

Aidan deflected her remark with a joke. He didn’t want to admit that it was her mother’s strength he was borrowing.

They continued onwards to a section of the walls that Nova weakened. There were a few people there, but their patrol route was long and easy to exploit.

The whole time, Aidan felt Vaska’s presence tailing them from a safe distance.

Is she looking over Nova?

Before they could reach their destination, the air around them suddenly became uncomfortably warm. Nova looked around confused, only for Aidan to grab her by the arm and break into a sprint.

“Run! Now!” Aidan ordered.

Aidan felt his legs complain. Thanks to Marvin, he had almost forgotten the horrid state they were in. It was time to remember.

“What’s going on?” Asked Nova.

“The demon’s coming after us!” Explained Alaya. Seeing horror wash over Nova’s face, Alaya quickly reassured her. “Don’t worry. I won’t let it hurt you ever again!”

Aidan had doubts about that. The flames in the distance were still red. A demon would have turned them blue. The being coming after them was not complete, not yet.

Aidan was a scant fifty meters away from the walls when a wave of heat slammed into his back.

It’s too fast!

Aidan stopped in his tracks. Still holding on to Nova’s arm, he pulled her forward and pushed her towards the walls. In a swift move, he grabbed Alaya and threw her at Nova.

“Get her out of here, now!” Aidan yelled and drew his sword.

“Aidan, get back here!” Alaya yelled.

In a moment, a dark shape dashed forth from the darkness. Aidan barely had time to lift his sword above his head as an axe came swinging down upon him. The two weapons clashed, destroying the ground beneath Aidan and sending large amounts of dust outward.

Alaya rushed to her feet to help Aidan, only for her leg to immediately give in and cause her to fall down.

“Argh, move damn it! Let me move!”

Nova grabbed Alaya but did little else. She was in shock.

“Dark Star!” A familiar voice boomed as the dark shape leaped at Alaya with his axes drawn.

The figure flashed for only a second in Alaya’s eyes before Aidan tackled it from behind, slamming it to the ground.

Nova looked at the person Aidan was holding down. To her horror, she recognized him immediately.

“Marvin? B-But how?” Nova was frozen.

She had never seen him like this before. Dark protrusions of errant flesh were sticking out of his face where the corrupted veins spread the most, taking the form of imperfect spirals.

His eyes had a feral ferocity to them she had never seen from him before.

“Get Alaya to safety!” That was all Aidan managed to say before Marvin elbowed him in the mouth and then slammed him aside.

Marvin snapped his head back to Alaya, only to be met with a wall of crystals blocking his path.

He broke it in a single strike, giving Aidan just enough time to come charging in with a swing. His slash connected cleanly. His sword struck Marvin’s back with all of his strength, narrowly missing the short spear tied to his back.

Why is he not reacting?

The muscular man was unfazed by the blunted edge of the blade. The sword’s magic did not activate either.

He’s not turned fully yet?

Marvin retaliated with a swing directed at Aidan’s head. Aidan blocked the attack, only for the force of the strike to send him flying off his feet and crashing into a nearby hillside.

---

“Nova! Let me go! I need to go help him!”

Nova was running as fast as she could, levitating Alaya by her side with her telekinesis. She didn’t respond to any of Alaya’s words, panic having taken away her thoughts.

Alaya understood there was no getting through to her. She strained her wounded muscles and fought against Nova’s hold.

But she did not need to.

In an instant, the dark figure dashed past Nova and Alaya through the gap between them. A second later, the wind from his movements passed by them, blowing them away from each other.

Marvin slammed his right foot forward into the ground, digging deep through the earth with it until at last, he came to a stop.

He turned around to find Alaya standing up on one foot, ready to face him.

Alaya shifted her glance to Nova for a brief moment. The young girl was struggling to get up. The impact surely knocked the air out of her, but Alaya guessed the delay was more due to the emotional impact left on her by seeing her brother in such a state.

Marvin drew his axes once more, his prey finally in his sights.

“What did you do to Aidan?” Alaya asked in a low growl.

Marvin cracked his neck and twirled one of his axes around a couple of times, sending blood splatters flying across the air.

Alaya’s eyes widened with shock. Alaya grasped her head and struggled to control herself as her mind was overwhelmed with emotion.

“You…no…no!”

The awful realization strongarmed itself into her mind. She let Aidan die.

Marvin smirked. It was time to collect on his revenge and put the wounded tigress out of her misery. He clutched his axes tight and charged at Alaya.

Like a drop of blood tainting a body of water red, rage replaced shock. Alaya slammed her right foot down, cracking the ground beneath.

Marvin swung one of his axes at Alaya, only for her to greet it with her right fist. They met in the middle, Alaya’s fist smashing Marvin’s axe to pieces.

Marvin reeled - letting Alaya grab his mouth with her right hand and squeezed down on it. Marvin felt his skull give in.

He grabbed her arm to free himself, but her grip was unmovable. His resistance faltered the moment his eyes met with hers. His darkened eyes froze in fear. Marvin’s vision was already distorted from the moment his eyes broke the black water, but now he could barely see at all. The more he stared into Alaya’s auburn eyes, the more of his sight it stole.

Beneath Alaya, dark tendrils slithered outward from her feet, twisting and coiling through the earth like a living painting. Around her, her skin poisoned the air where they met. Marvin’s lungs were screaming in pain with every panicked breath he took.

For a fleeting moment, Marvin grasped his own insignificance. Propelled by power born from an unholy combination of magic and demonic corruption, he thought himself worthy of slaying the creature that stole away his life.

The same monster who tried to kill his sister.

Marvin squeezed down on Alaya’s arm with renewed vigor. Magic exploded out of Marvin’s foot like a torrent. He kicked Alaya’s damaged leg as hard as he could. The pain forced her to drop Marvin.

The moment his feet touched the ground, white magic exploded from his right fist. The overwhelming flow tore the sleeve of his shirt apart as it burned the air. Still blind, Marvin let loose the strongest punch he’s ever had at the darkness in front of him.

A powerful flash of light blinded the entire village for a split second. The sound was like a thousand lightning strikes hitting the same spot at once. The ground beneath shook for dozens of kilometers, the shockwave of the strike shaking every tree and building in the village, ripping some out of their foundations.

The skin around Marvin’s fist was torn apart, exposing bone on his fingers, palm, and arm, almost as if he had dunked his arm into a pool full of lava.

His fist was shaking out of control, glued to her scarf-covered cheek.

The pain was indescribable.

And still, not as large as the fear that rocked Marvin’s heart when Alaya’s gaze fell upon him.

His strike had not budged Alaya from the spot - not even turned her head.

Marvin felt the world shift around him as Alaya drew back her first. Marvin took a step back. He didn’t understand what was happening, but he felt something indescribably massive coming for him. White magic blew outwards, channeling around his body to strengthen it to its utmost limits.

Alaya’s eyes were not focused on anything. Beneath her scarf, she was absent-mindedly smiling. There was no point in holding back anymore. Nothing would make up for what she had done.

Do you understand? You are innocent!

Aidan’s words sounded through Alaya’s clouded mind, pulling her consciousness back. Her eyes regained their light just as her fist struck Marvin in the stomach.

The magic Marvin used to strengthen his muscles shattered like glass. For a moment the man felt like he’d be ripped in two, only for her strike to end prematurely.

Overwhelmed by pain, Marvin pushed himself off Alaya and ran as far away as he could from her.

Alaya did not give chase. She stared at her fist.

“What was I…about to do?”

The realization and regret rushed through Alaya’s mind, plugging up the power emanating from her. The air returned to normal and the dark tendrils ceased moving. Her body weakened back to normal, and the wounds became too much for her once more.

Alaya dropped to one knee. A powerful headache rocked her mind.

Marvin continued to back off until his legs failed him. He kneeled over and clutched his stomach. With Alaya’s demonic aura disappearing, it spat out Marvin’s vision that it had devoured.

Marvin looked at Alaya. The overwhelming presence she had was completely gone.

Despite Alaya’s awful condition, Marvin took no risks.

Rising to his feet, Marvin sheathed his axe and unwrapped the spear from his back.

The spear was quite short, half the length of a normal one. At its blunt end was a hole through which a long rope was tied in a knot.

Marvin swung the rope until it wrapped around his right arm twice. Now fastened securely, he swung the spear around by the rope at increasing speeds until it completely disappeared from sight. The speed of the swings kicked up dust around Marvin like a small tornado.

Alaya looked up to see the whirlwind before her. Her tired eyes dropped, burdened by the endless hunt.

“If you kill me,” She spoke. “Will you let Aidan live?”

Marvin kept swinging his spear, but his face betrayed a moment of uncertainty. He looked around, taking his eyes off of his target.

After a short while, turned his gaze back to her, and shook his head.

“I see.”

Marvin swung the rope horizontally at her. Alaya ducked beneath it, avoiding the iron spear tip flying overhead. Several loud crashes sounded around her as the severed upper half of trees fell to the ground.

The spear came flying back in Marvin’s direction, only for a quick movement of the arm to send it Alaya’s way once more.

“Enough!”

Nova yelled from the side. She clasped her hands and then placed them on the ground. A crystal wall sprouted in front of her and shot forth towards Alaya, guarding her against the incoming strike.

The spear destroyed the wall but lost all of the power it had in return.

Nova continued her spells. She reached out her closed fists outward and then opened her palms. From below her fingers, ten dark lines were drawn across the ground, flowing towards Marvin.

Marvin pulled his spear back and then jumped away, easily avoiding the torrent of flames sprouting from the lines, the wall of fire turning blue in his presence.

Alaya was nowhere near as knowledgeable as Aidan, but even she was starting to understand what was happening to Marvin.

“Nova.”

Much to her and Alaya’s shock, Marvin spoke.

“You should leave. It won’t do you good to watch.” Marvin’s voice came out slightly distorted.

Nova hesitated to respond at first, so frightened by the monstrous mutation in her brother.

“Do it, Novie. It’s fine.”

When Alaya’s words reached Nova, her eye went wide with realization. Her friend was truly about to die. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists as tight as she could.

“How dare you utter such gibberish, Marvin! You are the source of all of our suffering! Just leave us alone! I don’t want to see you ever, ever again!”

Marvin lowered his gaze. He gripped his spear tight and raised it to his neck, at which point he did a quick cutting motion with it right below his skin.

“Don’t worry. Tonight, not a single person responsible for your suffering is going to live to see the dawn.”

Nova couldn’t believe it. He was completely delusional.

“You’ll kill yourself to make her feel better?” Spoke out Alaya. “You’ve got all these years with her, and that’s the only thing you could come up with? You’re a joke of a brother!”

Marvin glanced at Alaya before returning his attention to Nova.

“I’m sorry for Alaya too,” Marvin said. “I think, I understand what happened to her that night. My mind is in a fog, and I keep slipping in and out of insanity. This is her condition too. She didn’t attack you out of malice. She had no choice.”

Marvin ran his fingers over the gradually worsening corruption on his face.

“Maybe if I befriended her sooner the two of us could have stopped her from losing herself.”

Alaya grit her teeth. Hearing him make up all these reasons for her so-called attack served to make her blood boil a thousand times hotter than any insult or accusation that had ever been thrown her way.

“I didn’t ask for your half-assed pity! Don’t act like this is a god damn mercy kill you’re handing me! If you kill me and yourself, you’ll take away the only ones who can defend Nova from the true demon! Get it through your thick skull, you moron!”

Marvin didn’t react to her words whatsoever.

Nova took a quick, sharp breath, but she couldn’t calm herself. Her hands were shaking out of control.

She had to fight her brother.

Nova’s eye was filled with regret when she cast her fire toward Marvin once more. The blaze kept him occupied for a moment, allowing her time to run to Alaya’s side.

Nova rose a crystal wall between them and Marvin. It wouldn’t hold, but it didn’t need to. Nova grasped the air in front of her mouth and then blew into it. The air she spewed forth turned into a mist as it left her hand.

Synapses fired and switched on a dime through her mind as she moved on from one spell to another.

When Marvin shattered the wall, he found the entire area in front of him covered in a thick fog. He drew his spear back to him. He couldn’t afford to swing blindly into it, lest he hit Nova.

Marvin ran into the fog, only to be slammed in the stomach by a jagged crystal pillar. Marvin quickly destroyed it, only for a torrent of flames to singe him from the side.

The attacks were weak, unable to even scratch the defense Marvin’s magic provided. Still, with the rapid pace she was casting at, she was certain to hurt herself eventually. He couldn’t allow that.

Marvin threw his spear high into the air and then spun the rope attached to it as fast as he could. Though the spear was spinning at speeds that would shred Nova to pieces, it was far too high up to hit her. The winds this generated quickly cleared the mist.

Marvin quickly turned his head to look for Alaya, only to be hit by the tree halves he had severed. The impact knocked Marvin to the ground - levitating above him for but a moment before falling upon him.

Marvin found himself momentarily immobilized under the weight of the trees. Before he could free himself, Nova leaped upon them and pointed her arms downwards at him. Her magic wrapped around Marvin, binding him with her telekinesis.

Marvin was frozen.

Above him, Nova was breathing heavily. This was the first time she’d ever used so many spells in a row.

No, this was the first time she ever had to hurt someone.

“The one condition for using telekinesis is your target must not be moving. One can only move an arrow that is not in flight and halt a sword that is not slashing. Stop a barbaric brother that is standing still,” Nova explained like reading directly from a book

“You really are the pride of our village,” Marvin spoke despite the magic pressing down on him.

Marvin’s words only served to infuriate Nova. She pushed down upon him with every last bit of her power.

“Alaya, get out of here! I won’t be able to hold him for long!”

Nova’s brain was flaring up, and a small migraine was beginning to form.

With Nova’s telekinesis still fighting to keep him still, Marvin pushed the tree logs sitting on top of him with ease. Nova was forced to jump off as Marvin knocked the last one aside.

“You’re nothing compared to the boss. You can’t stop me.”

“Yeah? Watch me!”

Nova raised both her hands towards Marvin and clamped down her fingers. She was no longer fighting to stop him. She was fighting to crush him.

Marvin just walked up to Nova and then past her all while her magic was still in full effect.

“Go to sleep, sister. Tonight will be your final nightmare.”

As Marvin’s footsteps behind her grew more distant, tears rolled down Nova’s eyes.

“No…No! Stay away from her!”

In a single instant, all the pathways in Nova’s brain lit up at once. Waves of purple magic flowed out her eyes and head, painting the dark landscape lavender.

Purple electricity stormed through the air and earth around her.

Marvin turned around in a panic.

“Nova, stop! You’ll break-”

Marvin’s mouth froze mid-sentence. He was still under the effect of her telekinesis, and it had just grown a thousand times stronger.

Nova’s stretched-out arms were shaking violently.

“Shut…up!”

Marvin watched powerlessly as Nova lifted him off the ground. She kept him suspended mid-air for a few moments before slamming him back down into the earth.

“You built a monument to my friend’s death! Drew paintings for her demise! Made everyone chase her!”

Every single sentence was punctuated by the deafening sound of lightning strike as mounds of earth flew through the air.

Marvin’s white, lit-up body flew through the air, illuminated by his own magic guarding him against the onslaught of strikes.

“I-I did it to protect you!” Marvin yelled before being slammed and dragged around through the earth for dozens of meters.

“I don’t want your protection! I’m my own being! This is my choice! And I want you out of my life, forever!”

Alaya watched stunned as Nova razed the landscape to the ground. Nova demolished a hill, blasted apart all the trees in the area, and dug a gigantic grave with Marvin’s helpless body.

“Every time I find something beautiful, you destroy it! You chased off Rana! You murdered Aidan! You’ll murder Alaya too! No more! I’ll bury you so you can never hurt my loved ones again!”

Nova’s assault only grew in brutality. Dark, corrupted blood ran from her empty eye socket as she let out all of her hatred on Marvin.

Alaya was immediately reminded of the dark liquid running from Marvin’s eye during their fight on the hill.

“No! Nova, stop!”

Nova was not listening, too lost in her rage.

Alaya limped over to Nova as fast as she could.

“Please, stop!” Alaya reached out and grabbed Nova’s arms.

Marvin stopped flying, remaining levitated dozens of meters above the ground.

Nova slowly turned her gaze to Alaya.

“Nova, you have to stop! This is what turned him! You can’t give in to it too!”

As she stared into Alaya’s eyes, Nova’s rage subsided.

“...Thank you….”

Nova gave herself a quick look over. She still felt the immense surge of power flowing through her. She could also feel it eat away at her nerves, overheating her brain. Her corruption-fueled rage had pushed the pain back. With it gone, the strain was burning away at her senses.

That was fine. She just needed one more spell.

Nova looked up at Marvin. Her older brother had curled up into a ball, battered into submission by Nova’s assault.

“...I meant every word I said to you. I never want to see you again.”

Nova raised her hand. She motioned to Marvin as if she grabbed him in her palm. She wound back her arm as far as she could.

“Fly to the moon!”

Using all of her remaining strength, Nova threw Marvin as hard as she could. To all the villagers, Marvin’s bright body looked like a shooting star as it flew upward into the skies, far past the village boundaries.

“He…he’s gone. At last.” Nova said, letting go of the torrent of power flowing through her mind.

Nova’s head was booming. Due to the sensory overload from using her magic, her sight was becoming blurry, and she couldn’t feel her hands anymore.

Alaya watched Nova with great concern.

“Nova, are you sure you’re alright with this?”

Nova breathed in and nodded.

“I had no choice, he wouldn’t listen-”

*Crash*

Nova and Alaya turned around to see a short spear strike the ground a couple of meters away from them. The rope attached to it extended at insane speeds.

“Isn’t that his spear? What the hell, is he gonna come back from that?” Asked Alaya.

Nova shook her head and dropped to her knees from exhaustion.

“Don’t fear. It’s just a last-ditch attempt, the rope will snap!”

At that moment, the rope lit up with white magic. Nova’s jaw dropped. His brother was enhancing it.

“R-Run!”

Nova tried to levitate Alaya, only for a sharp pain to curse through her brain like a jagged piece of metal forced through one’s skin.

Nova’s body went limp, the side effects of her magic finally hitting in full.

Alaya grabbed the immobilized girl. The walls were close now, they could still escape.

But she couldn’t do it. She had to go to Aidan.

Alaya limped back into the village as fast as she could.

Behind them, the rope stretched and stretched, far beyond the limits of the material. Behaving like rubber, the tension in the rope grew until it was stretched over dozens of times its original length.

And then, it reached its limit.

In the blink of an eye, the rope snapped back. The rope slammed the man attached to it into the village. The impact was devastating, destroying the walls and annihilating the part of the forest for several dozen meters. Trees flew through the air and were blasted to pieces. Nothing was left behind but a giant crater.

The dust that was kicked up from the impact looked like smoke born from a massive forest fire to everyone.

But Alaya knew better.

At this point, Nova was unconscious in her arms. Alone, Alaya could barely direct herself in the dark. The only directions she could ascertain were from finding her own old blood trail on the ground.

“Almost there…almost there.”

At last, Alaya reached the place where she and Aidan got separated. She looked around everywhere, but she didn’t find a single trace of him.

“Where are you? Come on, where did you go?”

Alaya had no more time to search. She heard the familiar sounds of a spear spinning through the air.

Alaya turned around to see Marvin approach. He was battered and bleeding all over. The worst was his left leg. The pants there were drenched in blood. This was where Marvin had tied the rope, and where it had applied the most amount of pressure.

“I saw it from above. You burned down Talbareth,” Marvin said.

Alaya closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do.

Alaya awaited Marvin’s spear to lob her head off, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes, only to find the darkness of the world had disappeared.

Marvin and the entire village were drenched in azure, a blue moon reigning above them.