People were screaming and running passed us as we made our way to the source of the chaos. Rudy was leading us, his gaze scanning the surrounding area with a particular intensity. Frantic and terrified looking, the residents of the village and the surrounding area ran with a reckless abandon. Doors from the various buildings were left hanging open, haphazardly, stalls left empty in the ensuing chaos, a cacophony of racing footstep We walked against the tide effortlessly, our weapons not yet drawn, but ready. It didn't take long, but we finally reached the cause.

A woman dressed in a pale brown cloak with a raised hood the shrouded the upper half of her face, revealing the sallow pallor of her feminine and gently-sloped chin. Her thin lips curved into a dark and harsh smirk. From the shadow of her hood, a pair of glowing golden eyes with snake-like pupils stared unblinkingly. The sleeves of her cloak fell passed her hands, though her bony fingers seemed to peek out from the end, black claw-like nails extending from them.

At her feet were a pair of bleeding corpses, still partially alive if the occasional twitch was accurately indicative. Behind her, standing almost unnaturally stiff, were five terrified looking men. I furrowed my brow as I couldn't help but notice something familiar about them…

The woman seemed to meet Luke's challenging glare with her mocking smirk, a hand resting almost derisively upon her hip. He stood ready for combat, his sword drawn and held in both hands, stance set with his feet shoulder-width apart. His emerald gaze was intense and angry as he grit his jaw stubbornly.

On either side of him were Deandria and Kacee, each brandishing their weapons.

Deandria had her dagger in a reverse grip and held in front of her, with the point angled towards the woman.

Kacee held her staff in both hands, her body angled so that her side was pointed forward, making herself a smaller target.

The others were nowhere in sight, but I'm going to assume that they had either started helping people escape or were lying in wait.

"What's going on?" I whispered as we approached.

When we came to a stop, the woman spoke, her tone mysteriously melodic and gravelly concurrently. "You do not need to worry, Young Hero. Your fellows have arrived to support you." Her golden gaze rolled over to us, lazily flowing from person to person, before ending on me. "And such a wondrous arrival it is." Her smirk shifted into a mocking approximation of a sincere smile.

I grimaced as Luke glanced over to me, his expression turning triumphant. "You're here. Good. We need to free the hostages." I looked over to the hostages and felt a chill race down my spine as I finally recognized them. They were the men from before that we had nearly fought.

With a hiss of steel, I drew my sword and strode forward. As I did, my next words flowed freely. "Rudy, get to high ground and act as long-range support and scout. She may have reinforcements nearby." He grunted and raced to the side. "Luke, where are the others?"

"They can hear you." He growled out, not taking his eyes off the woman, who seemed more amused than anything else.

That let me know that they were lying in wait. "Okay. Amber, Tadashi, the two of you don't have your proper weapons, so we need you to focus on evacuating and protecting the civilians. Tadashi, go to the tavern we just left, people are waiting for an answer. Amber, cover the people who have left." I didn't hear a verbal answer, but I did manage to catch the sound of feet scraping the dirt.

"Guang, stay hidden and keep watch for anything that'll try to slip past us. She'll probably have something for us, and we'll miss a few details in the ensuing brawl." The woman seemed to find my words amusing if her widening smile was any indication.

"Deandria, Baasima, Kacee. Your abilities lend more towards restraining and nonlethal unless using an unorthodox manner. Focus on getting the hostages out, preferably unharmed." That caused the men who were standing to whimper audibly, their expressions' mutual grimaces of dread.

I glanced over the shoulder to Baasima, who nodded firmly to my request.

"Colette, head to the chapel and keep everyone as calm as you can. I'll feel more comfortable with three people there, both for the civilians' peace of mind and to support Amber and Tadashi in protecting them." Plus, hers and Tadashi's Affinities had a great synergy when used together in certain ways.

Colette hummed in assent and raced off; in my periphery, I saw that she had drawn her shield as she turned around. Good.

"Nailah, Luke, Mitsuki. The four of us are going to focus on our friend here." I lifted my sword and pointed it towards her. The woman seemed amused with my entire battle plan, having not done a single thing interrupt me. Hell, I had spoken aloud purposefully, if only to surprise her on the off chance I had a moment to save one of the still living hostages even as people began to move around us, getting into position.

In my periphery, I noticed Rudy had taken up a post on the wooden roof of a nearby house, his bow drawn and ready.

Mitsuki had fallen into a crouch, her arms felling freely at her sides. They had changed as she casually strafed to the side, organic plates having already grown along the length her arms, decorated with sharp, curved claws growing from her fingertips. Faint popping and cracking sound reverberated from her body as her stance shifted ever so lightly. Her eyes changed as well if the faint glow meant anything.

Luke had begun to strafe along the woman's opposite side, his sword at the ready. Deandria and Kacee were also stepping away from him, their stances low and waiting.

I noticed a shift in the shadows of a nearby alleyway between buildings. Baasima lowered her center of gravity with a crouch, a small glow encompassing her legs.

Holding my sword low, but ready, I casually strode forward.

Even among all this, the cloaked woman never turned her glowing golden eyes from me. Her expression never shifted from a happy smile.

"Who are you and why are you here?" I demanded of her, forcefully making my posture appear casual.

"I wanted to see Veritas' new and famous Heroes. They’ve kept you hidden away for so long." Her voice caused the earth at our feet to shake from the casual exertion of power. "I sought to test all of you." A shiver went down my spine as her smile widened even more, revealing her inhumanly perfect white teeth. As she lifted her hand and pointed it towards the bleeding men, I felt my terror spike.

"Stop her! Now!" I cried out as I crouched and rocketed forward, cratering the ground around my feet. I sprinted ahead, watching in horror as a faint, ghostly red aura exuded from her hand and descended onto the freshly bleeding corpses.

The ground beneath Baasima's own feet buckled from the force of her charge.

A twang sounded behind me, and an arrow soared towards her.

Luke was practically skipping along the ground; he was moving so fast.

A flash of energy surged from the darkness, temporarily illuminated a terrified Nailah.

But we were all left in the dust by Mitsuki, whose legs had shifted into something resembling a cheetah's hind legs. She had reached the woman almost seconds before Rudy's arrow, her claws descending onto the cloaked woman.

Almost contemptuously, the woman threw her right hand to the side, slapping away the claws as if they were no more than casual annoyances. With Mitsuki's arms pushed aside, the woman casually moved her hand and delicately touched my classmate on the collarbone. An explosion of force and an echoing crack preceded Mitsuki being thrown backward, crashing into a single-story wooden home. It crumbled like a house of cards, falling atop her with an explosion of debris.

Simultaneously, when the red aura reached the two corpses, twin blood-curdling screams deafened me, forcing me to drop to a single knee in agony. Through squinted eyes, I watched as the bodies bloated and expanded, expanding until their very skin sounded audibly strained. Fingers twitched and spasmed, clenching and stretching. Their stomachs distended, swelling and bubbling. Eyes bulged, and blood poured uncontrollably from all open orifices. The bodies shook and vibrated, hitting the ground with enough force to cause echoing impacts. Audible gags and hacks greeted us as we all froze, whether it be in horror, disgust, or even fear. Then, with concussive force, the bodies finally burst.

Bile rose, and I nearly vomited at the veritable rain of gore as blood and organs practically fell from the sky, painting the earth in viscera. The entire open field, where the festival once took place, in the merchant square of the village, was drenched in blood, far more than what I thought could be in a human body, let alone two. The formerly bright blue sky had dimmed and darkened to a primal pale red. The very air felt heavy and stifling as my body shook and trembled, not from fear, but disgust. A pale red fog settled in the area, but it did nothing to affect my vision, save for a dark pink tinge in the air. Amidst the shower, the woman's smile fell until her lips were a stern line, a hand aloft and open, palm to the ground. "Now, come to me, my thralls." Once again, it was as if the earth itself shook from the rumbling of her voice.

The blood-soaked earth rumbled and cracked, debris bouncing and breaking as the very foundation beneath us began to reach a violent crescendo. A cracking sound beneath me, between my feet, pulled my attention. Looking down, I watched a crack begin to form, widening and breaking apart below me. The wind expelled from it, and I grimaced at the horrid stench, like rotten eggs and curdled milk. I pushed aside the bile in my throat.

My only warning was a quickened cracking of the earth. I leaped back just in time to avoid an emaciated, grey-skinned arm with pronounced nails spearing upwards where my groin once was. A shoulder swiftly followed the limb, then a skull with sunken, sickly-yellow eyes. It wasn't long until its whole body was free and glaring at me with mindless hate and hunger that sent chills up my spine. It was hunched over with elongated arms that dragged along the ground, long, bent legs and an emaciated torso that showed off its ribcage and sunken stomach. Its jaw seemed to hang open, as if half hinged, revealing row upon row of black needle-like teeth. It had no nose, only a pair of closed slits that seemed to flicker open and closed intermittently. It looked like its skin was too small for its body stretched over its skeletal frame like moldy saranwrap.

My hand tightened on the hilt of my sword as I pushed aside whatever fear I held and narrowed my eyes. I wondered what it was for a split second, before brushing that thought aside. I could figure it out later; there was no more time for deliberation, only action. I leaned forward and slashed with my sword, aiming for the neck. The thing blurred as it evaded my slash with a frightening fluidity, already countering with a slash of its claws at my chest. My sword pulled back and met its claws, steel biting into its fleshy palm and cleanly severing two of its fingers before it could retreat. Brownish red blood dripped freely out of its burning and sizzling wound. A faint golden aura flickered along the blade of my sword, a sheen of light glistening, before dimming once more.

It didn't regenerate. Dark elation surged within me. Whether that meant Tadashi’s Affinity, unofficially named ‘Cleansing’ harmed it or if it couldn’t heal, I could hurt it. Something that it too realized as its screeched at me, rage and pain filling its cry. Despite that, I couldn't help but grin. I wasn't afraid anymore, what little fear that had gripped my heart at its appearance disappeared. It could bleed, as evidenced by the fluid dripping off my blade and from its wound. If it could bleed, it could die.

And die, it will.

As it lunged towards me, I met its charge with my own, a challenging grin stretching across my face. Sidestepping an errant claw, I evaded its attack and countered with a slash along its chest. It struck the side of my sword with its other hand and lunged once more, but with an open mouth. It snapped at my throat, sending an instinctual thrill of fear to pulse through me. I leaned back as its jaws snapped closed, but it screeched as the edge of my sword dug into its chest, a hissing sound audible as its flesh burned from the enchantment on my blade.

Unfortunately, it was nothing more than a shallow cut as it twisted around and ducked beneath my sword. A fierce intelligence sparkled in its eyes as it stepped backward, widening the space between us. We remained still for a few seconds longer before it blurred forward and I met it once more in the middle.

What happened next was nothing more than a chaotic melee in which we traded blows and wounds. My steel tore into its strained flesh, and its claws bit into my armor and drew blood. Small scratches marred my cheek, blood dripping from several incisions along my arms, while my leathers weathered the worst of it. Wide, sweeping lacerations began to decorate the sides of the creature, as well as piercing, stabs perforated its stomach, causing it to stagger in rage. It screeched in mind-numbing fury as it threw its claws out at me.

For every little impact upon my armor, burns and sores appeared on its claws, no doubt due to Tadashi’s augmentations. He had done the same to all of our weapons and armor. He wasn’t entirely sure of the lengths of his Affinity, but I had described it as an ‘Anti-Evil’ enchantment. Thus, every time the creature touched my armor, or my sword, it would be wounding itself.

Pushing my body harder, I ducked beneath the swipe of its left arm. I stood and grabbed its bony and slimy wrist with my left hand, augmenting my strength. Baasima's copied ability allowed me to hold on despite it already bucking against me. However, before it could counter, I hefted my sword upwards and swung downwards with everything I had. As if on an executioner's block, I removed its arm with a triumphant smirk. An unearthly cry of soul-churning agony echoed throughout the bloodied merchant quarter.

I released the arm and jumped back as it began to whip around, blood spewing out of the wound as if it was a high-pressure hose. With my own open wounds, I made sure to keep my face clear of the arc, watching it with a wary eye. The creature whipped around, glaring at me with putrid hatred that felt like it was drilling into my consciousness. I grinned despite that and said, "Not so big, now are you?" I felt myself stiffen at my breathlessness, holding back a grimace as I realized that I was doing something I shouldn't have.

I played with my opponent.

The slight tightening of my lungs; the shortness of my breath; the faint quiver of my clenched fists. All were tell-tale signs of an impending asthma episode. With that in mind, I pushed all other thoughts of my mind and focused on a singular goal: finish the fight.

The creature recognized my growing weakness as only a predator could: with great relish. Its expression shifted, eyes becoming cruelly amused. It hefted its only other arm and charged after me once more. I blitzed forward until I was right in its guard, the point of my sword tearing into its chest. Blood erupted from its chest, but I ducked to the side to avoid the arterial spray, though it did drench my right shoulder. The sword pushed further and further back until it was buried all the way up to the hilt and sticking out of its back. It screamed in agony and attacked me with its last remained claw. I ducked beneath it and moved around the creature. Still holding firm, I wrenched my sword to the side and pushed it like a lever. It was stiff and almost impossible to move, but the honed edge of my steel sword began to carve through the side of the creature's chest cavity. Pivoting my stance, I flipped my grip on the sword's hilt so that it was reversed and pushed with everything I had.

With a cry, I cut the damn creature in half at the chest, sending the top of its body, from the chest upwards, falling to the ground with an echoing cry.

Blood erupted from the still standing lower half, rising into the sky, before raining downwards. As it did, I strode forward and took in my surroundings. Luke was fighting what looked like a minotaur, with a human-like lower body and an upper half with body-builder-like arms and chest. Its head was horned and resembled a bull. The two were mutually wounded, but the minotaur was missing swaths of flesh along its still-muscled arms, revealing chunks of bleeding, pink muscle. It was carrying a sizeable two-bladed ax in one hand. Luke himself looked winded, bruised and bloody, but nowhere near done. Every so often, amongst the constant battle between, Luke would manage to react almost precognitively, parrying and retaliating in sequence. He grimaced but managed to stay capable.

Baasima was facing a snake-haired woman with a snake-like lower body, covered in rags and torn leather. The woman had a set of steel claw-gloves over her hands and attacked with a violent ferocity just as her hair lashed out as well. Baasima lashed out with what looked like a choreographed assault. She closed the distance with a punch, sidestepped a crazed slash and countered with a grab of its wrist and crashed an elbow into its chin. She was forced to retreat when its snakes tried to snap at her, a corrosive liquid dripping from their many fangs.

In the distance, I saw that Nailah was fighting off a nine-foot-tall blue-skinned man in a black loincloth. A single horn stuck out the center of his forehead and it carried a wooden club that resembled a tree more than it did a branch. She was sending out various surges of energy from her hands that forced it to stagger back from every blow. Fire, ice, water, lightning, anything, and everything erupted her outstretched hands as she kept a distance from it. Guang had jumped in to support her, peppering its flanks with a volley of slashes and stabs of his twin daggers. When it tried to attack him, he slipped backward and sunk into his shadow, almost instantaneously jumping out of one behind it and slashing at its back.

In the direction of the fallen house, Mitsuki had climbed out of the wreckage, her left arm hanging limply and blood covering the left side of her face. In front of her was an upright bear with several spikes poking out of its back and arms. It roared at her as it attempted to maul her. Mitsuki was a flow of motion, continually shifting from animal to animal too fast to see with the naked eye. She was able to fight with only her right arm, but she was holding it back with little more than a look of exertion.

"My, you already defeated my thrall." I looked to the cloaked woman, who had cocked her head to the side. "Such skill with the blade… Was that the reason you were summoned, Hero?" Her tone took on a rumbling purr as she stated my unwanted title.

"Let them go." I ignored her question, but a deep snarl behind me forced me to shift my attention. I leaped to the side, just in time to see Rudy bounced along the ground passed me, his armor broken and faintly wounded. He rolled along the ground and swiftly drew an arrow, firing it at his opponent. Blood poured freely from a wound on his cheek. In my periphery, I saw a black blur and pure white fangs roar in rage.

Twisting around, I was about to charge the woman in the cloak, but she pointedly looked at her remaining hostages, and I witnessed the sight of several glowing red cords wrapped around their throats, wrists, ankles, and waist. From as far from them as I was, I could make out a pulsating aura, spikes slowly roiling around them…

Wait? Four cords? She called my opponent a shade… Could they be linked?

"Kill them, and we'll free the hostages!" I yelled, my voice hoarse. "They're linked!" Not waiting for a response, I twisted around and flicked the wrist holding my sword. The brown-red blood on my blade was thrown off and sent towards the beast that had thrown Rudy. The blood hit it on the face, blinding it. It was a wolf, the size of an SUV, with fur as dark as the night sky that drank in the light of the dimmed sun.

With it blinded, I lunged towards it and drew my sword along its snout. It roared in rage and pain, more brown-red blood joining my blade and painting the dirt at my feet. Yellow eyes glaring hatefully, it lifted a clawed paw and swiped at me, but I stepped back to avoid it by the skin of my teeth. A twang followed by an arrow drilling into its shoulder brought forth another roar of anger.

"Joseph!" Rudy's call led me to step back and to drop to a crouch. Turning to the side, I stabbed my sword in the ground and crossed my arms, vambrace over vambrace. Footsteps fast approaching caused me to brace as I saw Rudy racing towards me. He jumped up and planted his feet on my arms. In that instant, I pushed my strength further and pushed him up as hard as I could. Rudy rocketed into the air up and over the beast. He aimed his bow toward it and fired several arrows at it throughout his parabolic arc.

Arrows impacted it on the back several times over, causing it to twist around to try and stop him from firing more arrows. I swiftly forced it to reconsider its actions by ripping my sword from the earth and tear into its hide with my sword. It snarled once more and lashed out at me with a claw. Before it could focus down on me, another arrow forced it to turn and attack Rudy once more as he had finally landed back on the ground. I interrupted it with a loping slash, forcing it to focus on me again.

Back and forth, again and again, Rudy and I forced the wolf to change direction continually and to attack the source of its pain before it could maul either one of us. Well, at least until it got fed up with us and let out an echoing howl, causing the air itself to ripple. A sonic boom threw Rudy off his feet and drop his bow; the wolf turned and leaped upon me as I staggered back from going temporarily deaf. I fell onto the ground and stopped it from tearing out my throat with my sword. It stood above me, its teeth biting and gnawing on the blade of my sword, drool and spittle was falling onto my face as I held it back.

A shadow above us caused my eyes to widen as I saw Rudy clamber onto the wolf's back and lift his dagger above his head. With the aid of gravity and his entire body weight, he sheathed the knife into the wolf's skull before it could buck him off. A primitive whimper/snarl came from the beast as it shook and shivered, still fighting to maul me even with a dagger in its brain.

Narrowing my eyes, I gritted my teeth and reinforced my legs and moved one directly between the wolf and me. Using all the strength I could muster, I let out a roar of exertion and forced the wolf to lift off my sword and higher still I reared back my sword and thrust it forward, sheathing it into its chest. A squelching sound greeted me, followed by another whimper from the beast. It kicked and bucked for a little while longer, before falling limp. Above us, Rudy ripped his dagger free and leaped off the beast's back, allowing me to move the massive corpse to the side. It slammed onto the ground bodily, an echoing thud upon impact mirroring my racing heart.

For a few seconds, seconds that felt like hours, I just laid there to catch my breath. My pounding heart and the arrhythmic breathing both allowing my body to rest and keeping me from falling unconscious. The borders of my vision blurred as I stared at the sky, my periphery barely legible as I gasped for breath.

A hand entered my sight, and I turned my head to the source. Rudy, covered in dirt and scratches with his hair disheveled and armor cut and torn, was giving me a concerned look. "You're not looking so good." I didn't answer as I reached up and grasped his hand with mine, pulling myself up as he helped me to my feet. As soon as I planted my feet on solid ground, I closed my eyes to fight off the sensation of vertigo, rampant dizziness causing my whole world to spin. A hand clasped my shoulder, straightening me in support. "You going to be okay?" His tone weary, but there was a worry.

"I have to be." My voice rasped, much to my frustration. Nodding to him, I opened my eyes and leaned down to retrieve my sword. It came out of the wolf's corpse with a squelching sound but slid out relatively easily. I turned and looked around to see that my friends were still fighting, though they had gained ground. "Rudy, go support Baasima. After that, if they haven't finished, then help finish off Nailah and Guang's enemy."

Rudy nodded and began to walk towards them, but spoke up, "What about Mitsuki and Luke?"

I glanced over to Mitsuki just in time to see her smash a tree trunk into the bear's midsection, sending it stumbling back, her clawed hand dug into the thick wooden end. She then reared again and sung low, taking its legs out from under it. "I think she's got it handled for now. We’d only get in the way." Rudy snorted, amusement filling us both. "Anyway, I'll back up Luke." I looked over to him, trying not to gasp as my lungs refused to cooperate. "Keep safe. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep going."

Rudy frowned but nodded. "Be careful. I'll probably have Kacee or Deandria come by to back you up." With that, he raced ahead, his steps almost silent, save for the light pats hitting the ground.

Before I could do anything else, there was an echoing scream, followed by a flash of light. I threw my gaze to the source to see that there were still villagers nearby, though Deandria, Kacee, Tadashi, Amber, and Colette protected them.

Tadashi was in front of the group having slid his foot along the ground hard enough to leave an indent. He clasped his left fist in his right palm, and a faint light erupted from the line he had drawn. A barrier of light emitted from the ground, encompassing the civilians in a transparent wall. “Stay inside the line. You’ll stay safe.” He told them sternly; his expression focused as he stared forward.

In front of him, a brightly glowing Colette had pushed by an armored and armed walking, dried corpse. It wielded a bent and broken steel shield and a sword that resembled a slab of steel, more than a sword. Its stomach and numerous shallow cuts were hissing and burning. Colette’s Affinity made her a walking undead bane. When she had demonstrated it after it awakened, I had jokingly called it ‘Holy,’ and she had decided to run with it.

A crash to the side pulled my attention, and I saw that Deandria was standing above a prone gorilla, her left foot resting almost lazily atop its head. It snarled and roared, but could not move. Faint twitches were all that it managed to give. Deandria isn’t slight or built strong, at least nowhere near enough to smack around something like a gorilla, but when your Affinity lets you negate all kinetic energy from a single target at a touch, it makes it nearly impossible to fight effectively.

Across from her, Amber and Kacee were working together to fight demented panther/sabretooth tiger hybrid that had spines along its back. It fired needles, but Kacee’s barrier blocked them as Amber leaned down and touched the ground. There was a flicker of energy, before the earth in front of her began to shift and change. Ice grew out from where her fingers touched the ground before it shot forward and beneath the monster’s feet. It snarled in surprise and anger, losing its footing for a moment. The two were on it almost immediately. Kacee twisted around and spun her standard, catching the monster under its chin and off its feet. With its footing almost negligible, the monster flipped backward until it’s back was parallel to the ground. An opportunity in front of her, Amber lifted her hammer and slammed it down on its head, just like hitting an anvil.

I couldn’t help but grin as I took in my friend’s ability to act despite this danger. Taking a fortifying breath, I looked towards Luke to see him parrying one of the minotaur's heavy blow, his sword redirecting the large ax off to the side. A few more shallow wounds peppered the beast, but Luke himself also had a few scratches and bruises.

Seeing that and feeling my aches and pains, I couldn't help but grimace as I forced my body to move. This fight wasn't something that could've predicted, but I couldn't help but consider that maybe…I wasn’t ready for this type of conflict. Sucking in a breath, I cleared my throat and scowled at my straining lungs. Breathing in again, I gathered my strength and tried to speak up, but my breath hitched. Gritting my teeth, I sucked in air one more time and managed to bellow without my voice cracking. "Behind you!"

Luke threw a look over his shoulder at me, green eyes smoldering with excitement as his faint grin turned into an excited beam. He sidestepped another slash and countered with a slam of his shoulder into the minotaur's side, forcing it to stagger from the impact. I reached him within moments, and he crouched down. A sliver of anticipation surged through my spine as I pushed myself to go faster. Reaching him, I jumped up and planted a foot on my friend's shoulder. Luke forced himself to straighten as he pushed his body upright. I springboarded off of him and hefted my sword above my head, both hands grasping the hand-and-a-half hilt. The minotaur sneered at me through yellow eyes filled with bloodlust and lifted its ax. It was either going to attack Luke or me, but I didn't give it a chance. Using both gravity and my body weight, I brought my sword down with everything I could muster.

Sparks flew as bloodied steel scraped along the rounded edge of the minotaur's ax. It staggered back from the blow as I continued to the downward arc of my attack. My sword sparked along the border of the shaft, went off the side and lopped off its left horn. I gently nudged the downward arc of my slash and carved into the outer tendon of the inside of his left arm.

My feet landed heavily on the ground as I slid a few inches before I spun around and ducked a retaliatory ax swing. The minotaur exhaled a huff of rage out of its nose and shook its head at me. But before it could attack again, Luke aimed a swing at its neck. It ducked to the side, grunting in pain as Luke's sword carved another swath of skin off its shoulder.

I slid into step next to my oldest friend, and we began to attack the minotaur in earnest. We lashed out in almost perfect synchronicity, attacking, defending and evading as one. Where Luke was the wall, I was the wind. He stood steadfast, attacking, blocking and parrying with a consistent rhythm, always making sure that he knew where his sword was moving. I maneuvered around the both of them, letting Luke hold aggro while I peppered the minotaur with strikes from the sides and behind it when I could afford the movements. Our swords sang as we cut through the air, slicing both ax and flesh.

Still, even though we were making progress, it was still slow-going, considering the minotaur's bulk and seemingly unending endurance. Even with my blade added to the equation, we were still unable to make any meaningful progress with stopping this beast. We would be there the whole day if this kept up. So, with that in mind, in the midst of one of my attacks, I threw Luke a narrowed eye look and grinned playfully, despite my rising fatigue. His gaze turned confused for a moment before they widened and he returned a grin with one of his own.

With not so much as a by-your-leave, I slid my body between Luke and the minotaur and slammed my sword into the haft of the ax, putting all of my strength into forcing it aside. Surprised by sudden action, the minotaur was unable to use its no doubt superior strength to stop me. I pushed the ax to the side and down far enough that I was able to pivot to the side, out from between them.

Luke crouched and followed up with a thrust of his sword, drilling into the minotaur's stomach. The beast roared in enraged agony and wrenched its ax from my sword. It lifted its ax high above its head and prepared to aim at a now trapped Luke. He didn't look afraid at all, as I kicked forward and jumped off of Luke's bended knee and stabbed my sword into the minotaur's throat, putting my entire body weight behind the attack. The sound of squelching flesh echoed in the empty air as my sword tore through his neck and Luke wrenched his sword free.

Gagging audibly, the minotaur staggered back a few paces and collapsed backward. A thud to my left sounded as its ax hit the earth first and I released my sword, my arms numb and springy as my body refused to ignore its fatigue any longer. I nearly fell to the ground, but Luke caught me by the shoulder. Neither of us said anything as we waited for the beast to quiet, merely listening to its wet gasps and gags. After what felt like an eternity, it finally fell quiet, and I allowed myself to relax, if only minutely.

"Well, well, it seems I must offer you all my congratulations." The woman spoke up as her gaze rolled over all of us. Trusting Luke to watch her, I looked to the others to see that they too had defeated their enemies, though they did seem a little worse for wear.

Mitsuki stood in front of the broken and bloody corpse of the bear; her expression masked as she stared at the woman warily. Her arm still hung uselessly, though see the faint flicker of pain in her stoic expression.

Baasima seemed to be nursing a wound on her arm that bled freely, but she was still capable if the intense glare was any indication. At her side, Rudy was still and focused on the woman.

Guang was standing firm, though he was bleeding from the side of his head and his right eye was swelled over from a bruise.

Nailah was looking the best among us, having no visible wounds, but she seemed to be breathing as slowly as I was, and sweat covered her face, no doubt from her exertions.

Each of them was bloodied and injured, but still strong capable enough to keep moving. If only I could say the same about myself.

The woman shook her head. "Inexperienced and weak, the Heroes that you are. But…" Her intense gaze washed over us, even as we did not respond to her words. "You are learning." She then smiled, but it was not a kind one. "After all, what Hero harms the people he's meant to protect?" She glanced to the side, where not five men stood, but one. My eyes widened as the man stayed in place, horror and rage dominating his expression. She then snapped her fingers, causing the red haze to vanish from the surrounding area.

No longer were we alone. The air seemed to clear, and I could finally see what was missing from before… Kacee and Deandria had disabled a pair of armed men and were staring down a third, who was holding someone hostage, a dagger to their throat. Beyond them was a larger crowd of people that were held back by Tadashi and Colette. The villagers stared on in horror at what was going on, and I tried to figure out what was happening.

"No! Please, not my little girl!" A familiar woman's voice caught my attention — the woman from the card game stall.

The girl…soft blue eyes watered, fearful — shoulder-length black hair, covered in dirt and heavily disheveled. Her round innocent face covered in mud. I couldn't help the fear and horror that settled deep in my bones. I saw Maggie in the girl's place. The horror that was quickly subsumed by an all-consuming rage. "You son of a bitch, let her go!" I didn't care about the breathless snarl that I let out, my hands clenching and unclenching as they sought out a weapon.

The man's gaze shot to me and I recognized him as the one from earlier, that Baasima nearly slugged. Crazed red-brown eyes, one bruised and already swelling, honed in on me as he bared his bloody teeth in anger. "I'll let the brat go just as soon you and yours let me go." He glared at me as if daring me to act.

I huffed and gasped as I bared my teeth in rage, ready and willing to kick his ass. Luke held a hand in front of me, causing me to turn a heated glare to him. "Breathe, Joey." He said softly, but firmly. Without waiting for my answer, he turned a stern gaze to the man. "You don't need to hold her hostage. Just let her go."

"Why?! So you and your freak friends can kill me too? I saw what you did to my comrades!" He squeezed Livvi's shoulder and pressed his blade closer. The girl whimpered, tears flowing freely.

"What are you talking about?"

"Look behind you. That woman played a trick on all of us." His glare flickered from us to the cloaked woman behind us.

In the midst of my anger, I forced myself to calm and look towards the bodies. Horror returned with a force as I found myself looking at the human corpses lying around us.

The formerly tall man cut in half at the chest, still twitching as red blood pooled around the newly dead body.

A burly older man with a full beard staring lifelessly to the sky with a sword still lodged in his throat and torn hole in his stomach.

All around me, I heard the gasps and gags from my friends as they too looked upon their former opponents.

"How disappointing." The woman pulled my attention and the faint downturn of her lips. "I was expecting more." Her frown deepened as she looked to each of us, golden eyes searching. "They were your opponents, and you defeated them. Their appearance should mean little."

"They were human. People." Guang said softly, gritting his teeth as he glared at her.

For the first time during this entire encounter, the woman very clearly reacted with something other than amusement and indifference. Rage entered her eyes, and the very air shifted. A weight settled in the air itself as I felt a primal need to esca-get the fuck away!

At my side, Luke trembled as he fell to a knee, looking to the woman with a reluctant fear. His sword fell from his hands as he clenched them tight enough for me to hear his knuckles strain.

Rudy's legs buckled beneath him as he was unable to look away from her, his mien turning a deathly pale.

Mitsuki staggered back as she began to breathe audibly, eyes wide and dilated, arms and legs tensing as if she were going to run.

Guang had collapsed, his body lying haphazardly on the ground and eyes staring in horror.

Nailah was leaning against the wall of a nearby building, pushing herself to go back farther.

Baasima was frozen stiff, like a deer in the headlights, unable to move.

I wanted to turn and run as far as I could, to get the hell away from her. But straining lungs, sore legs and a heart full of fury helped me stand firm. Still, it didn't feel like it was enough. I wanted to run, to leave everyone here behind as bait so that I could get out of this alive.

And I hated that feeling, that unrelenting instinct that continued to beat against the walls of my psyche. So…I grit my teeth, stared forward and focused on the one thing I knew would give me strength.

If I ran, my sister would be disappointed.

It wasn't a miracle cure. I was still afraid; I wanted to run, to get away from this primal terror. But…it allowed me to stare into this abyss…

Her lips curled, revealing her elongated canines and sharpening incisors. "So, only humans are people then?" She let out an angry laugh, her eyes roving over us. "Is this your mettle, Heroes? A little intimidation and you fall beneath to your knees or flee like cowards? Pitiful." Her eyes finally came to a stop on me, turning curious. "Well, at least one of you has grit enough to stand proudly against me." Her smile turned amused, but still hard. Then she disappeared.

No one moved. No one breathed. My hindbrain, the nascent instinct that every human had since we were cavemen, screamed that the woman was still near, still waiting. I looked around with only my eyes until yellow dominated the entirety of my view. A chillingly warm hand cupped my cheek as her scalding breath caressed my lips. "Could it be…that you are the one she is…no, that we are waiting for?" The woman's voice came out in a whisper, sending chills down my spine and tremors through my heart. "Well, I suppose I can what do she asked of me…"

Ah…I see.

The abyss had stared back.

The woman pressed her lips against mine.

As my entire world darkened, the last thing I heard was an ear-splitting scream.