Another spasm of pain coursed through Kyoko. She doubled over, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her meditation wasn't working. Sure, it lessened the pain, but it saved her only seconds of time so far as she was able to tell. The three champions were still fighting Miroku. She watched through blurry vision, trying to figure out if there was something she could do.
"He's stalling," said Izumi. Her focus was split between supporting Kyoko with one arm and worrying about her brother. "Why? You said he's the last Accursed. Is he waiting for more support?"
"No." Kyoko could no longer see any black in her hair, but it must still be there. "He probably knows I have a time limit."
"What?" Itsumi's eyes flickered from her hair to her face. "Time limit? Before what happens?"
Kyoko ignored the question. "Do we have any magical artifacts? Anything that could take massive amounts of light energy from me?" As Itsumi continued to stare, Kyoko grew impatient. Her teeth clacked together against the pain shooting daggers though her chest. "Rosa's bond. It's too much. I'm not strong enough to be her tether without it eventually killing me so I need something to help siphon away the pressure her magic puts on my soul."
"Oh, uh…maybe-no. Not here. It's back at my house in the city." Itsumi rubbed at her forehead, visibly shaken. "The inhibitor could have helped, but it was destroyed. I don't know if the palace brought anything with them that's not already in the field. I could go–oh!" Her face brightened, and she pulled something from a pocket under her cloak.
It looked like a clump of root, twisted together in a ball as if there was something inside. It would have been at home in Lory's study among his collection of other strange roots and flowers. Now that it was further away from Itsumi's essence, Kyoko could detect a faint hint of light from inside.
"It's the heart of the fig tree," said Itsumi. "…I think. Kanae gave it to me to before she left."
The heart seed of a magical plant. Normally there was a limit to how much magical power a plant could absorb without dying from overexposure, but as this was the heart of the fig tree, maybe it was different.
Her fingers barely brushed the warm wood when a warning cry caught her attention. A spell shattered the magic shields their guards had put up. Another slipped through immediately and Kyoko didn't have time to move. The magic missed her, thankfully, but the blast threw her into the air.
Kyoko fell, hard, head banging into the ground. Her vision went black, then she arched her back as more pain tore through her, the light magic killing her. Gods, it hurt more than the throw had. She knew nothing but the pain that wracked her insides.
It could have been hours. Eventually, it abated.
Panting, she rolled to her side and was violently sick. She wiped her mouth, her mind and ears muffled.
I had to get something. What was it?
It came back to her in a snap. She scrambled to her feet, wobbled, then looked up just in time to see Miroku swing his sword. He was still twenty feet from her, but the killing spell flew from his blade like a sling.
An arm wrapped around her, and Kyoko squawked as she was pulled away. She clung to her savior, who turned out to be Duchess Woods. More blasts followed. The Duchess's body hummed with power, her feet skimming the ground as she sped out of the reach of the trailing spells.
"Hold on!"
That was all the warning Kyoko had before the world flipped upside down. Her grip on the Duchess slipped and she flew. Kyoko barely cast a general protection charm before her head hit the ground, again. The spell likely saved her life. The impact sent a numbing shock down her spine and to her toes, shutting off all vision and sense in a blinding second of pain.
She clutched the back of her head with a groan. No. This was not the time. The pain wasn't important. She had to beat it.
She rolled to her side, body too weak to do anything else. She saw Duchess Woods on the ground, face turned away. Blood spilled from her, the precious life force coloring the ground into brown mud.
No.
Kyoko staggered to her feet, took a step toward the duchess, then stopped.
She wanted to help. Had to. But she couldn't. It would be like trying to water a garden with a river, and the magic would burn through her even faster. Kyoko would be swallowed up before she could finish a single suture.
She knew some physicians that savored the decisions that came with triage. They imagined themselves gods, holding the balance of life and death in their talented hands. Not Kyoko. She didn't feel powerful. It always made her feel small and fallible.
Kyoko swallowed back the bile in her throat and turned back toward the battle.
The clang of metal rang loud, the aura of fear infesting the air like poisonous smoke. She cast her eyes over the battlefield and the world spun. She nearly went with it. Then everything cleared as she saw it.
The fig tree's soul seed was barely fifty feet away, right in the middle of the battle. Someone shuffled past it, struggling blade against blade with their opponent, kicking the seed across the dusty ground in their fight to stay alive.
She walked first, then ran as her balance returned. Air stung in her throat, rocks, and metal tore through her bare feet but still, she kept moving. Pushed through every new shudder of pain to get to the precious seed. They were both completely vulnerable. Left without protection.
A skeletal undead took notice of her. The monster charged, its distorted bones clattering above the din. She kept running, pushing faster as she spotted a soldier. The creature was on her too fast.
It swung and she ducked, the sword missing her by inches. She took a step to roll away, but a spasm of pain jolted through her. She let out a low groan and collapsed. Her tactical roll turned more into a lazy slump as she blinked, trying to figure out what had happened.
The soldier had saved her. He was fighting the monster, yelling at her to run.
She pushed herself up, sweat pouring from her brow. The seed was so close now. She limped toward it again.
"Concubine!"
Kyoko risked a glance back. Miroku was almost on her. Blood and rage twisted his face, the black pendant flying wildly over his shoulder as he sped toward her with magically assisted steps. Murasame and Tsuyoshi were in pursuit, but one glance told her their spells wouldn't be fast enough. The Accursed would get her first.
She had to risk it. The seed was only ten feet away.
Kyoko channeled the smallest drop of magic she could muster. It pooled at her feet, and she flew, the fabric tails of her dress whipping violently at the sudden push. She stretched out her hand as the drop of magic turned into a fire that was ready to consume and destroy her. It was too late. She was already burning.
Then her fingers closed around the soul seed.
The fire fled from her, sucked into the seed with the strength of a dust devil. She dropped the seed, but it didn't fall. It wound around her arm, exploding out in a burst of leaves and branches. She had only a moment to gasp before a spell struck the newly grown wood.
She felt the life inside the seed shriek as bark burst into sparks. But it kept growing. Another spell hit the green, and another, but it was growing too fast, enveloping her in a cocoon of safety. The Accursed was on her now. Murderous rage in his eyes. Dark magic coated his every move.
Kyoko poured more magic into the seed. She wondered for a horrifying second if it was too much, but the seed drank it like a dying man. A thick branch shot out and slapped the Accursed away. He tumbled into a heap, coughing blood and bile.
"I'm no longer a concubine, Accursed!" she yelled, her feet lifted from the ground as the sprouting tree scooped her up and carried her away. "I'm his wife!"
Her vision became obscured by foliage as the tree grew in earnest, but not before she saw Tsuyoshi and Murasame descend on the Accursed.
Itsumi didn't flinch at the fighting, too busy staring at the monstrous tree that was shooting up higher and higher. It carried Kyoko away, the trails of her dress flapping below the branch she sat on.
I guess that worked, thank the gods.
She did flinch at the next boom of magic. A nearby soldier threw up a shield to protect her. She would have been skewered by the debris had he not.
"Duchess, you need to get to safety," he yelled above the noise.
She agreed, one hundred percent, and was just about to do that when she spotted Jelly Woods. The Duchess was being carried by two men, her arms over their shoulders as they scuffled away. She was banged up and covered in wounds. Most distinctly was the blood that seeped from her shredded eyes, the tender skin torn and swollen.
Itsumi changed trajectory and made a beeline for Woods, who argued vehemently with the soldiers.
"—just fine, I can still offer reinforcement."
"Duchess, your eyes!" Itsumi gasped, covering her mouth. The damage looked so much worse up close. Some of the tissue looked so thin and tender that blood threatened to seep through at any second. Other portions were charred, sand mixed with blood clinging to jagged edges.
Woods paused, cocking her head at Itsumi's voice. "Is that you, Duchess Momose?"
She nodded, then remembered Woods couldn't see. "Yes!"
"I can at least protect you," said Jelly. "Let's get further from the field. I'll set up—"
A sand colossus suddenly sprung up from the ground, spraying them with dirt and sand. It took out one of the men before he could scream. The other soldier got a sword up before it could crush them, but only just. Jelly threw up a protective shield, which Itsumi ducked behind. Jelly cursed, her other hand full of magic as her head jerked side to side.
"Where is it?" she yelled.
"There!" Itsumi grabbed Jelly's hand, pointing it toward the monster. "Fire!"
Jelly complied, shooting off a spell. It bore through the chest of the sand colossus, showering them with dirt as the monster's insides exploded. The soldier stumbled back, shooting them a grateful look. "Nearly blew my head off," he said.
They didn't have time to respond as more creatures were coming. They may have been clear from the battle with the Accursed, but in doing so they'd ended up amid the monsters.
Still holding Jelly's hand, Itsumi pointed it to another target.
"I'll be your eyes," said Itsumi. "Just be ready to fire when I say so."
Shin had no idea what was going on above him. He'd felt the inhibitor die, then the other one, then two different bursts of light magic and a bunch of dark magic that honestly felt like swirling death. None of it was his concern right now. He had stumbled through the half-collapsed cave, muttering to himself with every tremble that brought down more rock on top of him.
It didn't help that he was currently dangling over a completely dark abyss with nothing but an enchanted rope to stop him from falling into what looked like hell itself. The fact that in his haste he'd not stopped to check the rope's anchor wasn't helping his nerves either. He gripped the rope in his sweaty hands, already feeling the burn of chafing skin.
"If you're not wooed by my heroic feats, Kanae, I'm going to be very upset! I promise, I will! I might just cry, it would hurt my feelings that much."
He yelped as the cavern shook again, rope swinging him violently to the side.
"...or you can be mad. Sure. That's fine. Just don't be dead from all the falling rock."
The magic talisman pointed straight below him. He threw a handful of light spells below him. Their soft glow traveled way too far before becoming small pricks of light. But they didn't vanish. Okay, that meant there was an end. Good to know. He slid down as quickly as possible, praying the endless black would stop being quite so endless. His heartbeat marked every loud second. The scatter lights were close now. He could almost jump–
—The rope let out a snap.
Ah hell.
He didn't fall, which was nice, but he had seconds before the rest of the frayed thread fully broke. So of course, he made a stupid decision and let go.
Dank cave air roared past him, and he just managed to cast a body strengthening spell right before he collided with a rock, feet first. Pain traveled up his legs through his whole body. He rolled through the fall to disperse the impact, his spell dissolving sharp rocks that would have otherwise sliced up his skin.
It did not, however, prevent him from rolling off the side and tumbling down again.
His arms flailed helplessly, trying to grab at anything, but meeting only sand as his world pitched sideways. He fell. His back hit a rock, then another as he ping-ponged down into darkness. Pain blossomed in every inch of his body until he finally, blissfully bounced to a stop.
He lay still, his body twisted at an odd angle, but he didn't trust himself to move until he was sure he wouldn't roll off something again. And he couldn't quite summon the strength to spell lights yet.
Yup, definitely the dumbest thing I've done to date.
A rumble made him groan, opening his eyes against the pain. Not that that did much, the cave was completely dark.
Wait.
No, there was light. Right in front of him. It was a faint glow, so weak that if he'd spelled lights, he would have missed it. And a quick glance at his amulet pointed toward the light.
Untwisting himself sent stabbing pain that brought spots to his vision, but it didn't seem like he'd done any severe damage. He quickly spelled some lights, limping through the treacherous landscape of rocks still shifting to find their proper resting place to the opening where the light was coming from. Every few steps he'd turn off his lights, to check he was still going in the direction of the light. Eventually, he made it. It was just a sliver of light, smashed between a particularly large rock and the wall.
"Hello?" he said through the opening. "Is that you Kanae?"
The voice that answered him was not what he expected.
"Is someone there?"
His whole body turned cold. He recognized that voice. Hirotaka Ogata, the archmage that had turned into an Accursed. Shin took a step back, wondering which spell would be best to collapse the whole rock. Then the realization hit him with a surge of fury.
"What did you do to her?" he said. "Where's Kanae?"
"She's here," said Hirotaka, but he didn't sound evil. That is, if a person could sound evil. He sounded breathless and strained. "She's hurt and so is my son. I can't do more than hold this but… I can't hold it much longer."
Something didn't sound right. Shin pushed his face against the opening, trying to see inside. Useless. The opening showed nothing but rock.
"Accursed," growled Shin. "I swear if you—"
"—I'm no longer bound to the djinn."
Shin paused, considering. Kuon had returned to his senses after destroying his relic. "How can I be sure you're not lying?"
"Do you feel any dark magic from me?"
He didn't, but that didn't mean Hirotaka couldn't be covering it up somehow. That had been the fake Setsuko's ability. However, he also knew Kanae was in there with the man, which meant he was going to get in there.
"What can I do?" said Shin.
"Blast this rock."
Shin blinked in surprise. "You're joking."
"The spell I created will time out soon. I can't both blast my way out and protect us all. If it was just myself, I could manage it but… I can't leave my son." The man's voice cracked, sounding frail.
Shin gritted his teeth in frustration. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't trust this maybe-Accursed, but he couldn't leave Kanae in there with him either; and the bone-deep aching through his whole body only made formulating a plan even harder as the world continued to rumble.
"Fine," he said. This is a mistake…but I don't know what else to do. "Stand back. I'm going to create a hole to you guys."
"Not a hole. You need to take down the whole thing."
"Don't have the strength. I'm going to improvise."
He channeled that wonderfully useful spell Kanae had lifted from the sand colossus. It melted the rock before him into a hole about his height.
But melting that area had shifted the gravity of the rocks above it. They groaned, scraping against one another as smaller rocks tumbled down to fill in the void. And then bigger rocks above those started to come down as well. Rocks large enough to crush Shin.
He cursed, diving through the void he'd created. He melted even more rock, racing against the certain death that wanted to crush him from above.
After the fifth spell, he finally broke into open air. He rushed forward-
-only to bounce back against some invisible wall of magic. He flailed for a second before something grabbed him by the jacket and yanked him through the shield. He fell onto smooth ground, finally safe from the crumbling rock.
Or so he thought.
Blinking in the low light, he could see just how precarious the space was. It wasn't some safe void that Hirotaka had managed to find. A white lattice work of crisscrossing magic surrounded them in a small dome. Rocks pressed them on all sides, poised to fall the second the magic died. And the magic was struggling, that much was certain. The barrier flickered to gray then back to white, its strength waning with each pulse. This cavern was poised to fall at any second.
And underneath it all this lay two people, Kanae and Hiroaki. The latter looked alive but unconscious. The former was covered in blood and sand, skin so ashen she looked dead.
"Kanae!"
Shin scrambled to her side and placed trembling fingers to find her pulse. He couldn't find it! His heart thudded against the reality of what his senses told him.
"You're not dead." His voice trembled, frantically searching for some sign he was wrong. "You're the most stubborn, fierce woman I've ever met. Nothing could take you down."
"She's not dead," said Hirotaka. "Do you hear me? She's not dead."
He wanted to believe it, but everything he saw spoke to the contrary.
"Shin!"
That was when he finally looked at Hirotaka. Looked at the man who was supposedly no longer an Accursed. The ex-archmage was covered in dried blood and sand, robes so battered they hung ragged on his back. One hand was pressed to the protective spell, trembling as he held the entire weight of the rocks above them. The weary face of Hirotaka was one without the twisted malice of the Accursed. It was the same strange old man that had headed the arcane syndicate all Shin's teenage years.
Hirotaka jerked his head to the wall. "Hurry. Use that same spell. Create a space in the wall and take them with you. Go! We don't have time."
Shin moved before Hirotaka finished talking. He melted a hole in the wall, first taking Kanae inside. He laid her down carefully, wincing with every hasty jumble that necessity required. He took Hiroaki in as well, the young man mumbling as if asleep.
As Shin turned to get Hirotaka, he stopped short. The magic barrier holding the rock up flashed once more, and then vanished.
"Sir!"
Hirotaka held up a halting hand. He was at the other end and though the space was small, Shin wouldn't make it. There was only time for a fleeting, twinkling of the old man's blue eyes before the rocks crashed down.
Kyoko watched the world grow smaller as the tree grew. The whole battlefield was now visible, the sands laid out before her. She could even see the city, the enormous crater where the tree had been, and the imprint of buildings that had been crushed under its fall. Most importantly, she could see the dark djinn.
It was difficult to make out details, but the red fire of the phoenix was obvious even from this distance. It battled and twirled around the smog of the djinn, flashing orange and white. She thought she could see other flashes. Other pricks of magic meant Rosa wasn't fighting alone. Ren was with her.
For a moment, she allowed that knowledge to fill her. He had come back. Ren was alive. Thank the gods. Thank Rosa! Her hand curled over the broken aquamarine on her neck, the location spell inside strong now that she'd fixed it. He'd be able to find her once this was over. All she had to do was not die again.
The tree shuddered and she slipped, just barely managing to grab the thick branch beneath. Kyoko rolled to her stomach, clinging the branch with both arms and legs. The tails of her clothes swayed below her in the high wind, and it suddenly hit her just how high she had gotten.
"Son-of-a—!"
This was officially too high. While the tree wasn't nearly as tall as the fig tree of the shaded city had been, it was still higher than any building. Hell, it was taller than some mountain ranges. It seemed to have stopped growing up, thank the gods, but the canopy was still stretching out, further darkening the already dim fields. Despite the lack of light, leaves and figs popped into life, creating a lush vibrant contrast to the drab world below.
Kyoko let her forehead thunk onto the branch, the impact of what had happened hitting her. The tree had saved her. Was still as it continued to drain away at her magic.
I was lucky, she thought. I should have looked for something the second I landed. Ren would have scolded me for it.
Very carefully, she shifted to a seated position, her back against the tree trunk. A peak over the edge showed the continued battle below her. Her heart jumped at what she saw. Woods was up and standing, fighting together with Itsumi. Her joy was short-lived though. Hundreds of monsters were hurtling toward them, drawn by the magic of the accursed and at the command of their master. The two women and what soldiers they had left would be quickly overrun.
She cast her eyes to the champions. Murasame and Tsuyoshi were the only ones fighting the Accursed, and they weren't doing well. Miroku unleashed a barrage of attacks, splintering the ground under Tsuyoshi's feet. The champion went down and didn't get back up.
I have to get back out there.
She readied herself at the edge of the tree limb.
"Don't do that, you'll die."
Kyoko froze. The voice had come from the tree. Something shone from inside it and the light condensed and shrunk to a single point. Wood in the shape of a human grew out and twisted into pale flesh with striations of green. Leaves became a short crop of peculiarly shaped hair and a pair of shorts. A pair of eyes formed the usually white irises a midnight black around bright green that narrowed as they fixed on her. An inhumanly handsome and fully grown young man hovered in front of her.
Kyoko's mouth fell open. "You're a dryad!" She'd heard the rumors but never thought they were true.
The Dryad gave a loud sniff and then leaned so close to Kyoko they would have touched noses if she hadn't leaned back as far as she could go. His mouth twisted, arms folded over his bare chest.
"Where are you getting all that magic from?" He cut her off with a wave before she could even speak. "Doesn't matter. Don't care. Just don't jump."
"I won't die from the fall. I know how to float down."
The Dryad leaned back, giving an extremely rude sigh.
"The tree, idiot," he said. "If you lose physical contact with the tree, the magic inside you kills you. End of story."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do. See?" The Dryad's crown of leaves suddenly changed shape and color. It became a shoulder-length flutter of hair, every inch a bright orange. Kyoko's hair.
Realization seeped into her like a stream of water, coating her slowly from the top of her head all the way to her toes. It left her cold and shaken.
She'd almost burned up.
The dryad changed its hair back with raised eyebrows, flaunting the point he had given. It was like he knew just how close Kyoko had been to annihilation.
Kyoko licked her lips, looking over the edge again. Murasame was alone now, fighting the clearly still full-powered Accursed. They had to take him down.
"Wait."
She put a hand to the tree, listening to the power churning through it. She couldn't quite understand it, but she knew someone that could.
"I need your help," said Kyoko. "Can you control the tree?"
The Dryad frowned. "No. We have a beautiful relationship. Symbiotic, you humans would call it, but that doesn't encapsulate the unique and majestic—"
"—really interesting at another time. Can you tell the tree what to do with the power I'm providing?"
He gave a huff, obviously considering arguing before giving a sullen nod. "Yeah. But it won't do just anything you want, no matter how much juice you pump into it."
"Don't worry. I think you'll both be happy with what I'm planning."
Now there's a glowing million-meter-high tree. Sure. Why not?
The absurd distraction was not helping. Murasame parried the Accursed's next attack, his arms trembling at the weight of the spell. Each blow felt like the power of ten men. Not for the first time he cursed Kyoko and the Phoenix for thinking he was champion material. He could feel the power of the light magic inside him, but he couldn't use it. Not consciously. It would flare up at random times, saving him from a wound here, increasing his speed–
A spike of magic shot through his calf. An exit so clean it didn't splatter blood. The shock took his leg out from under him, and he nearly lost his head from another shot of magic.
Shi—!
It was by the grace of the phoenix he dodged the next attack. Magic rained in pointed darts that broke through his shields and remained planted in the ground after impact. He tore up his arms and legs scrambling through them, bloody and ragged but able to stagger upright, ready for the next attack.
It didn't come.
The Accursed spread out his arms wide, a lazy grin directed at no one in particular. "Is this the best Ashuron has?" Contempt dripped from his snide drawl. "A pair of nobles in need of a referee and an incompetent nobody?"
Murasame's injured leg gave out and he fell to his knees. It jarred every bone in his body, teeth clattering from landing harder than he'd meant to. Not good. The Accursed looked a tad fuzzy.
"How dull," said Miroku. "And I still have all this magic."
He turned toward the tree, a hand raising to where Kyoko sat.
Panic made Murasame scramble to his feet. He drew a spell around his leg, giving it the strength to push forward and run. Instinctively, he knew that losing Kyoko again would mean their doom.
His spells weren't enough. His desperation was not enough. The Accursed's spell blasted the tree well before Murasame got to him.
He roared in frustration, not caring he was telegraphing his attack. Better to distract from Kyoko. Please let her have lived through that.
His sword came crashing down, Miroku's rising to meet it. They pressed against each other, the Accursed yawning through their crossed blades. Over the Accursed's shoulder, he saw a body falling from the tree.
"Still so boring." Miroku gave an eyeroll. "I think I've done my part."
Murasame didn't have the strength to keep fighting. The Accursed pushed him back then swept his sword across Murasame's chest in a swift motion.
Pain blossomed through Murasame's entire body. It sucked at the last of his energy, dropping him to the ground like a dead weight. He sputtered and gasped as blood filled his lungs and throat.
He couldn't hear the Accursed, but he could still see the man as he raised his blade over Murasame's heart.
Yeah, she should have picked a different person as her champion.
He nearly closed his eyes, just to save himself the pain of watching death come.
Something bright shot through Miroku's shoulder.
The Accursed dropped his blade—mercifully next to and not on Murasame. Then the ground wobbled. He thought it may have been in his head but the next second roots shot up like vines from the ground. They twisted around the Accursed, catching his arms and legs.
Murasame watched, the entire battle silent to his ringing ears as the Accursed struggled against the roots. His spells of fire tried to tear through the roots, but they fought like snakes, twisting and constricting.
Another shot of magic fired from afar crashed into the chain holding Miroku's relic, metal and sparks flying. The pendant fell, rolled, and stopped right next to Murasame's hand.
Ha.
Murasame wrapped his fingers around the smooth stone, magic building in his palm. Guess it was his turn to be the hero.
The Accursed lunged for the pendant but it was too late. Murasame let loose his spell.
The blast that broke the relic rammed Murasame back into the ground. His vision darkened to black.
Soft wisps of magic puffed off the end of Duchess' Woods fingers. The woman grinned, finally lowering her hand. That shot had done it. She could no longer feel the power of the relic.
"Good shot," said Woods to Itsumi. "We'll make a battle mage out of you yet."
Kuon rushed through the deserted streets of Mosall. His white magic left a soft afterimage of his form as he cut through the thick miasma. The point was to be a distraction, and so far, the djinn had taken the bait.
The building in front of Kuon exploded. He channeled into his legs and jumped, soaring above even the flying debris. For a moment he marveled at the power pumping through him. Never had he been this powerful. The contract with Rosa had increased his power at least tenfold, maybe more. It felt like he could do anything.
While in the air, he saw Rosa descend on the djinn, doing her part in the distraction. Her claws tore through one of the djinn's arms before diving away to evade the other three. The tornado that had concealed his legs was long gone; the magic slowly whittled away by Rosa's constant attacks.
As Kuon's feet hit the ground he felt it. Something dark was whisked from the world and returned to the djinn. Instinctively he knew what hits meant.
The last relic had been broken.
He didn't have to shout the command; the men were already ready. They had felt it too. Half a dozen thick ropes of gold magic darted out from the city ruins. They grasped the djinn's arms, pinning him in place with even stronger spells than before.
Rosa dove her enormous beak into the junction where neck and shoulder connected. Blood and black ichor flew as she pulled free. The djinn roared as Kuon sped toward the fight, cursing the distance. Vaith's constant attacks had forced him far away.
This was the moment they had been waiting for. The moment when the djinn could be killed once and for all. With no relics to keep him tethered, the djinn could be destroyed.
But Vaith suddenly stilled. Its mouth spread into a dark grin. He extended a finger on each hand, pointing at the base of each rope that kept them tied.
It clicked a second later and Kuon's stomach plummeted. Vaith meant to attack the men instead of the rope. Magic gathered before each finger and Kuon had only a moment to move. He sprinted for the closest target.
He didn't make it.
The spells shot off in an instant, thin and straight before the impact exploded with enough force to level a palace. Kuon lost his footing, stumbling from the upheaval before scrambling on. His mind screamed in panic as his heart threatened to outpace his desperation.
But the djinn wasn't done. He wrenched free of the ropes, then raised four more fingers. Four more points of attack.
Rosa dove in before the djinn could attack. Her claws dug into the monster's chest and his magic fizzled and went out.
Kuon skidded into the nearest impact of the spell, small pieces of debris still smattering the ground like pelts of rain.
"Anyone there?" he called. "Anyone still alive?"
He heard nothing human. Only the sounds of shifting rock and the dry scratch of fire. He searched the area, scraping his arm on a beam with his careless scramble. After a few seconds, he found someone. Dyrus lay pinned, unmoving, his arm crushed beneath a broken pillar.
Kuon had only a second to catch his breath. A shriek split his ears. His attention snapped back to the fight.
Vaith held Rosa, his four arms gripping her by her wings. The demi-goddess was wreathed in fire, but the djinn didn't seem to notice the melting of his body or the burning metal from his ornaments. He held on tighter, then began to pull.
Several things hit Kuon at once. He had assumed that Rosa's strength was equal to the dark djinn's. That had been an enormous mistake. The djinn got stronger with each wish he granted and when the relics were destroyed, the last of his borrowed power returned to him. Kuon had supposed the djinn weaker than ever in physical form. Instead, Vaith was as he had originally been—stronger than anything and anyone.
Stronger than Rosa.
If Kuon didn't do something to save Rosa, they were going to lose.
I know I know. Her necklace was a sapphire in one chapter, and now it is an aquamarine. Well, I happened on the chapter where she first gets it and it was an aquamarine, so I fixed it here. Yikes. Consistency with tiny details is not my forte.
-Blushweaver
Blushy, what are you doing rereading your story? Write more! MOOOOORE. JK, you're doing great.
-Im0ut0
This chapter put at least three more white hairs in my beard. I hope you all know the stress I suffer through. Why she does this to me, or you all, is beyond me. I can only assume she has her own personal relic and has become an Accursed specifically to torture us all.
-Mr. Blushweaver.