The Unchained

Nayra switched her attention from the Exiled Shell as his attack was intercepted by Selia, and turned her full attention to Kaeliss preparing to dive above her. She beat her wings and launched herself up at him, the death still remaining around her fueling her indestructibility.

She sensed another source of Death following behind her—Eratemus—and made an adjustment in her flight to allow him room to maneuver at her side.

The leader of the Unchained above her glowed and grew, his antlers changed as fissures filled with red flames appeared in them. His armor glowed, his gauntlets were suddenly surrounded in a thick, almost liquid like substance that was bright red and white in color.

As they charged at each other, Nayra made the first move.

Her techniques burned within her, {Mantle of the Rising Mist} raising her dexterity to incredible heights, coupled with the power that the Death around her fueled her with. She layered her perks, Brawler’s Strike, Goddess of Speed, and Death Blast, then stabbed forward with Er’Ishi Resav, activating God-Killing Spear in an instant.

Her golden spear extended at near instantaneous speed with her perks boosting her and Goddess of Speed doubling it for two strikes. A black fire clinging to its tip as it slammed into the descending Kaeliss. His armor blazed with power, but it wasn’t enough. Nayra was surrounded by death that Eratemus had brought, by death that Selia had wrought on the wall. She wasn’t anywhere near to the peak that she once had on a battlefield, but there wasn’t anyone near who was her equal even now.

The armor parted before her blow, hitting Kaeliss in the center of his chest. The Deathfire on the tip of her spear splashed across his armor, its defenses activating and purging it away.

Still, she smiled, recognizing a crippling blow. Except, her spear didn’t punch through scale and flesh, but rather pushed and blasted Kaeliss back into the sky.

She frowned, her smile slipping, her strike had been powerful enough to pierce his armor, but not his skin? She realized that he had more protections, and reacted immediately, retracting her spear. She triggered Battle Trance, increasing her stats further and getting an awareness of the battle around her.

She used Deathfire Blink to appear high in the sky, behind Kaeliss, then she executed the same attack again. Her spear blasted downward in a thrust as it expanded and stabbed through her foe’s back. The tip pierced the armor again, and this time she felt the scale beneath it part slightly. But again she didn’t pierce through his body as she expected to.

It had to be a power that reduced the effectiveness of physical attacks, it was the only thing that made sense. But her second attack had done damage.

She let Resav keep expanding, pushing Kaeliss far beneath her until he hit the earth. The undead on the field reacted immediately, swarming him as she kept him pinned against the ground.

As they jumped on him, a pulse blasted out of him and the world rippled. Suddenly shapes jumped from all around him, attacking the undead.

It took Nayra only a moment to recognize them as spirits, large drake-like and deer-like beings that jumped at Eratemu’s creations, tearing them apart.

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A rune on Kaeliss’ armor grew brighter and he disappeared, blinking away and appearing high in the air

She watched as his armor flowed and repaired itself, then he raised his hand and drew a shape in front of himself.

The symbol flashed, and Nayra felt something grip her tightly, preventing her from moving.

Kaeliss blurred across the sky, then smashed into her, his fists raining down on her as she was unable to move. His last attack struck her with enough strength that her armor caved in, pressing on her chest. She felt the Death Essence around her lessen and more undead perish as her Aegis of Death perk used it up for her personal shield to protect her from damage.

The strike might not have damaged her, but it still sent her flying to the ground. She smashed into it and blasted a crater around her. The force holding her broke, and she jumped up immediately as she saw Kaeliss drawing another symbol in the air.

Before he was able to finish it, Eratemus arrived. The world shimmered and changed. Despite the two of them being in the air, suddenly Eratemus walked on solid ground, charging across a dirt path in a hazy forest that wasn’t quite real. Almost as if it was an echo superimposed on the sky around them.

With every footstep, Eratemus left thorns behind his path. He attacked with speed too high for even Nayra to see properly. His clawed hand swiped, rending through a shield that appeared around Kaeliss’ armor as if it wasn’t even there.

Kaeliss beat his wings, trying to get away, but he wasn’t fast enough to fully evade. Eratemus’ claws touched the metal of the armor and sunk through at his shoulder, opening up a gash all the way down to the center of his chest.

Blood spilled through the air, and Nayra followed her quarry as he dove, trying to get away. She stabbed with her spear and Kaeliss raised a forearm to block. With Slithering Strike, Er’ishi Resav bent and avoided the block.

She hit him in the chest, where a red disk appeared and stopped her attack. He retaliated, an aura exploded out of him, filling the world with a red haze that made Nayra feel angry.

Her body moved on its own, her strikes becoming more and more wild. Kaeliss took advantage, and his fists slammed on either side of her head, caving in her helmet.

She felt her Death shield break, and the bone of her skull crack. For a moment she lost her bearing, her vision got blurry and something struck her in the stomach. Then she was falling.

She had enough presence of mind to grab her helmet and dismiss it, lessening the pressure from the damage. Her wings beat wildly, attempting to give her some control of her fall, but her mind was filled with a fog of wrath and confusion, she couldn’t control them properly.

She hit the ground roughly, but somehow managed to stick the landing. Quickly, she pulled out healing potions and downed two in quick succession.

As her head cleared, she noticed Eratemus in the air, fighting against Kaeliss. On the ground, the spirits were now charging her, the undead were gone, her perk had drained them to protect her.

As the spirits pounced on her, she unleashed a Dawn Stun. Black flame turned golden in an instant, and blasted out from her in all directions, hitting the spirits straight on.

With a beat of her wings, she took to the air again. Her Qi flowed through her body as she charged another technique. As she got close to the two fighters in the air, she realized that Eratemus was pushing Kaeliss back, the world around him constantly changed, faint echoes of different vistas appeared and disappeared with every movement he made.

Nayra blinked close to Kaeliss, a blast of Deathfire left her arrival point and washed over his back, just as she unleashed her technique and attack.

Her spear flashed forward, and a wall of petals shaped out of mist manifested all around her.

Kaeliss folded in place, and he vanished. Nayra felt something tug at her, and suddenly she was in front of Eratemus, she saw his eyes widen as he was in the middle of an attack, just like she was.

She tried to move out of the way, to abort her attack, but she was already committed, the same as he was.

They smashed into each other, and she felt a glancing blow rip her shoulder out of its socket. Her spear punched through the side of Eratemus’s hip, delivering a glancing blow that cut straight through his armor and drew blood from beneath it.

They recovered as they moved past each other, then both turned to the sky. Kaeliss stood above them next to the minotaur—Berion. A series of symbols was drawn in the air in front of him. They flashed, and his attack was unleashed down on them. A mass of bright red bolts rushed through the air, streaking like falling stars. Their passage filling the world with the sound of thunder.

Nayra and Eratemus braced.