Legate Iola Brygos’ following actions were brutal. Yuriko couldn’t help but gape as the crystal spears and axes wielded by the crystal warriors hacked down at the Steam tank’s armour plates, weapons points, and wheels. There was no visible hatch to enter or exit, but they were already chopping open one of their own.

The mini-Steam cannons attempted to open fire at the crystalline warriors, but they simply absorbed the attack, deflected the bullets, and then hacked at the exposed turrets. A few moments later, several of them piled on top of the main turret and yanked it out of alignment. Then, they hacked underneath the swivel point.

Clang! Clang! Thunk! Crunk!

Armour panels were pried off even as hostile Bound Spirits tried to fight back. The Grandmaster’s desperate attempt to escape devolved into a struggle to finish off as many of the crystal warriors as he could, but even then, Iola Brygos simply brought more into existence.

The woman’s expression was set in a grim line, and she watched the tank get dismantled with obvious satisfaction. After a long minute, when she was sure that the slaughter was well in hand, she turned to Yuriko and Eli’Theria.

The Colossus was down on one knee and Yuriko debated leaving the piloting core to talk to the Legate in person. They were still in a battlefield though, and good sense meant not removing her weapon and armour, even if she believed that none of the enemy warriors would have been able to hurt her. None of the swarm fodder could, but the elites…well, the previous battle demonstrated how well she would fare against a Knight Commander in battle without any help.

Her thoughts returned to her canister of Ambrosia, and the desire to surpass Actualisation and achieve Transformation.

“...safe to talk now. Who are you?” Legate Brygos asked while knocking on Eli’Theria’s leg.

“Ah, pardon me,” Yuriko muttered. “Yuriko Mishala Davar of Faron’s Crossing.”

‘Mishala Davar…” Legate Brygos mused. “Ah, I understand. Who is there at Faron’s Crossing?”

“My Mum, Sorceress Sadeen,” Yuriko answered quickly. “We came through the Tidelands, though we left Legion Vagaris behind, tied up with the Chaos navy…”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Iola tapped the metal knee. “That’s a lot to digest. And its not that comfortable talking to you through that Colossus. What is that anyway, an Evgenis? There shouldn’t be any of that level here…” She clicked her tongue then shook her head. “Give me the gist, then we’ll talk details back in Agminis’ temporary camp next to Misttyre. Well?”

“Ah, yes. Mum asks that you head over to the Watchtower. She’s working on a ritual to allow Vagaris’ fleet to enter the plane while bypassing the Chaos forces blockade. She needs both of the Legates to fight against the Chaos Duke…”

“Three Knights Domini,” Iola said slowly, “Yes, we might have a chance. We’re several leagues behind in that race, but the Ancestors willing, and with the Empress’ blessing, we will triumph yet. Well, go rest and recover in Misttyre. I’ll meet you there at dawn’s first light.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Yuriko answered politely even though she was not a legionnaire or a member of the militia. She respected power, however, so she subconsciously slipped into formal speech that had been drilled into her during her Reserve Officer Training.

Legate Brygos returned her focus to the Steam tank that was slowly being dismantled. Deshelled like a crab? It certainly looked like it. In a few minutes, the war machine was completely wrecked and the Grandmaster Binder was revealed. It was a mousy looking man, with wild hair and a scraggly afternoon beard. His face was pale and blood seeped out of the corner of his eyes.

“Well, well. An Ekelian Guardian, I assume?”

“Yes,” the man spat back. “Your reign of terror will end, Imperial scum!” the man yelled while Iola tilted her head.

“So… you don’t even have the guts to end your life upon capture. There is no chance of that now,” Iola said grimly. “Well, we’ll learn many things from your foolishness.”

The man roared and struggled as his body was slowly encased in yellow crystal. Yuriko couldn’t help but shudder at the man’s fate. Iola Brygos looked back at Eli’Theria and tilted her head sideways. “You’ll get better rest in town, you know.”

Nodding, Yuriko and Eli’Theria got up off their knees and strode away from the battlefield. The hillside where the Legate had fought the other Grandmasters was covered with inert crystal warriors. There were no signs of those two, however, so she assumed they escaped. Still, capturing one of the four was already impressive, and she once again couldn’t help but admire how much wider the gap between the different levels of Anima strength was at the higher end.

She remembered being able to fight Apprentices as a Novice, and as an Apprentice she still stood a chance against Journeymen. Once she embarked fully in the Ancient’s Way, it was far too easy to fight those supposedly above her level. But only against those of a different lineage. She had never fought against other Ancients…well, she supposed Gwendith and Heron were Ancients now too, but the gap between them remained large. She wondered if the Mishala Mien and her Radiant energy was the reason for that gap…

Probably the Radiant…

She was vaguely aware of a hierarchy of sorts between Ennoias, though she only got glimpses of it through Damien’s partial memories. She didn’t know how many tiers there were to it, nor how high Radiant was compared to everything else. She also had the sense that in upper levels of understanding, the difference in tiers wasn’t that insurmountable.

Once she reached the hilltop, she considered where she should go. Although the Legate said she would meet with her at dawn in Misttyre, the village of Milford could use her help. But she wasn’t sure what she could do to help. The barbarian amalgams that turned back to attack the town were either chunks of broken flesh or not there. Did they separate back to their original human bodies? She couldn’t imagine that was possible as the amalgamation process certainly felt permanent. Either that or they’re all dead.

Not really caring which one happened, Yuriko noted that the Milfordians were now busy with…resting. The fight had probably lasted the entire day, or maybe longer. Most of the militia and guards were taking the chance to rest, while a few essential personnel were clearing the dead from the streets, though they were only pushing them out of the way. There were token attempts at fixing the wall, but it was really the Protective Dome that was more important. She could see through the gaps in the wall, but unless she was mistaken, the only help she could provide was in helping rebuild. And there were better ways to spend her time than that.

Like looking for Kato.

She turned towards Misttyre, the village at the foot of the Zarek Mountains. It had changed greatly from its twin village of Horswick, having grown threefold with the addition of a legionnaire camp. She attracted quite a bit of attention coming in with Eli’Theria. She spotted the Colossi hangars near the Agminis quarter and she made her way through it.

Before she got close to the wall, she was flagged down by a legionnaire, a Centurion if she read the rank insignia correctly. The woman waved at her and shouted, “Please identify yourself!”

Yuriko had Eli’Theria kneel down, “Yuriko Mishala Davar, of Faron’s Crossing. Attached to the Mishala Clan’s Silver Tiger, currently berthed in the Watchtower.”

“Alright! What do you seek?”

“A place to rest and wait for a meeting with Legate Brygos tomorrow,” Yuriko said, then added, “and I’m looking for someone who was posted in Rumiga City.”

“Legionnaire?”

“Militia.”

“Oh. Well berth your Colossus in Hangar 3 over there. There’s a vacant berth there, though…” the legionnaire gazed at Eli’Theria, “We don’t have the facilities to service an Evgenis Colossi.”

“That’s not a problem. Eli’Theria…” Yuriko paused, thinking things through. She was about to say that Eli’Theria would be fine, but her Anima perception showed the Colossus was heavily wounded, even if all of the damage was on the surface armour.

There were quite a few gaps that revealed the internal musculature as well as the runescript weaving. The problem was that Eli’Theria was a Vasi, not an Evgenis. The latter was made out of metal. Normal, mundane metals like steel, iron, or bronze. Vasi Colossi were made out of special metals such as orichalcum. Why they were made of that, she didn’t know, and to repair her armour, either she powered Eli’Theria with an incredible amount of distilled Chaos or Animus, or she let the Chaos converter work. How long that would take, she didn’t know. Also, she could feed ingots of orichalcum to accelerate the process. She had exactly zero ingots on hand.

Shaking her head, Yuriko continued, “It doesn’t matter. We’ll need a lot of Animus or Chaos, but I know the village cannot spare any. Rest is all we need, for now.”

“Very well, please do not enter the village on your Colossus.”

“I won’t,” Yuriko answered curtly. She had better sense than that.

They moved towards the Agminis area, and counted out which hangar they were to go to. The practically newly made buildings all looked alike, and if not for a small stenciled sign next to the gate, she would have had to look inside. There were four hangars that looked like warehouses, and she heard Eli’Theria complaining as soon as they entered. The other Colossi were down on one knee inside their berths, with their torsos and heads bent downwards.

‘There’s no throne,’ Eli’Theria said in tones of pure displeasure.

Yuriko resisted the urge to giggle, but the animating spirit noticed it anyway and sniffed derisively.

‘I’m not going to rest like that!’

‘Well, what can I do?’ Yuriko muttered back. She could go look for an Earthmelder, but asking for one to do something so…menial…while in the midst of a warzone simply felt wrong. Even if it was for the comfort of one of the combatants. She could make do, herself, right? Perhaps an Animus construct?

‘If you were already at the next Realm I would have been able to rest in your Anima.’ Eli’Theria said sourly.

‘Hmmm, maybe. I think I’m close and if I use Ambrosia, I can probably reach it within a few days.’

‘That doesn’t help me now.’

‘Hang on, I’ll try something.’

Yuriko and Eli’Theria were directed to a space near the back. Eli’Theria towered over the other Colossi, who were mostly Koinos class, with a single Certus near the front. The lingering pilots openly admired the downgraded Vasi, who preened at the attention.

At the moment, Yuriko used her Anima to weave Animus into a throne. She wasn’t sure how long the thing would last though, as her sunshards and sunblades lasted only a few minutes. But that was probably because the Radiant energy eventually devoured it. With just Animus, they should last longer, right?

She could copy the structure of the stone around her and make a large enough throne…well, a three pace high stool was the most she could manage unless she wanted to forgo sleep for something that would probably last only a few hours. She remembered Spellweaver Merill telling her about how to make lasting Animus constructs, but truthfully, she never bothered to hone that skill. She just didn’t have the time for it, and it wasn’t going to be useful in a fight.

Anyway, it took her half an hour to conjure a respectable stool that would hold Eli’Theria’s weight, and by that time, she was practically yawning every couple of minutes. She popped out of the back hatch and trod out of the hangar after waving good night to the Colossus, all while ignoring the stares from the guards and a couple of pilots or Runeers working on their Colossi.

She spread her Anima perception and looked for an inn she could stay at, but there were no vacancies after she wandered around for an hour. In the end, she returned to the hangar and decided to sleep next to Eli’Theria, who was now seated cross legged on the floor, and with no sign of the stool. She felt the animating spirit’s glare, but she only mumbled an apology and pulled out her bedroll from her backpack. She curled up next to Eli’Theria’s knee and was fast asleep a moment later.