Chapter 8 - Heat of the Moment

[[The deserts of the Earth are considered to be the most dangerous environments in the known world, second only to the sub-freezing temperatures of the arctic. The extreme heat of the sun bearing down on something or someone unprotected by clouds or trees can wear down anything or anyone in a matter of hours, alongside its natural lack of rivers and lakes for nourishment. For all residing amongst the encompassing sands of the desert, the struggle against death was a part of everyday life.

Death was not far behind those traveling unprepared through the barren fields of sand and rock.

As such, the harsh environment of the Augrian Desert had pushed Subaru's body to its near absolute limits. Each breath would allow the scorching heat of the desert sun to invade his throat and spread into his fragile lungs. The paracausal firepower of the Vex left his skin scarred and burned, letting the sun sink its searing fangs into his muscles.

-...-

Exhausted, dehydrated and starving, his legs gave way and he slumped his deflated body against the wall of concentrated mana energy. His exhaustion from carrying Emilia to safety inside the dragon carriage, alongside the rushed movements of trying to avoid an onslaught of fire pushed his muscles to a limit he never knew he had.

...-

Catching his breath, his arm instinctively went to grab his canteen. His lips pressed against the opening, his tongue swirled inside as he tilted his head back to swallow any nourishing hydration that he could. His tongue went from side to side, but any wet precipitation had evaporated, leaving nothing but dry leather for his taste.

-Fuckin' idiot.-

He yanked the canteen away from his mouth and threw it across the desert. It landed beside the half buried body of a Vex Goblin, the bullet hole filled with grains of sand. Its eye stared blankly towards Subaru, its unfeeling gaze snuffed away by a few lucky shots into its stomach.

As Subaru stared blankly at the Vex's eye, he could feel his chest grow heavy, as the reality of his group's situation settled.

"Shit." Subaru went to wipe the sweat from his forehead, pulling it abrasively back in front of his face to see the thick liquid he felt across his forehead.

Emilia's blood stains still dotted across his clothes and hands, unable to find the strength to clean the blood off himself. As he sat staring empty at his bloodied hand, he felt a familiar chill shiver across his body.

-…Why…Why can't you just…leave me alone for even a few minutes…Im not even dead yet…-

Feeling a spark of anger ignite within himself, he lifted himself off the sand, gazing across the stretch of desert, the soil filled with the seeds of broken machines. His hair stood on end as the unnatural freezing touch of the witch inside him yearned for his attention. Her dark fingers coiled around his heart, kneading in unison with his heartbeat. She spewed her cold breath across the veins in his skin, as if blowing away the warmth of life.

I love you

He couldn't stand to feel her sharp fingers across his mind, her hollow words whispering directly into his subconscious. He hated all of it. All of her.

"Fuck!"

Exhausted and agitated at everything around him, Subaru slammed his fist into the sand. He felt the sand resist his kinetic energy, pushing back as if it were all a large and sprawling solid. He winced in pain, but in anger continued to punch the sand, each slam creating a small dent until his hand was buried underneath a pile of sand.

I love you—I love you!

-Shut up-

I love you I love youIloveyouIloveIloveyouIlove You

-SHUT UP, SHUT THE FUCK UP-

IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouSubIloveyouSubarIloveyou SUBARU

"SUBARU!"

A voice.

A voice from within the wave of declarations of affection and obsession, a voice as tangible as steel called to him.

"SUBARU! ARE YOU ALIVE?"

It was a shaky, metallic yell, one who's accent sounded familiar, perhaps from his own world. It had been so long since he'd heard a foreigner's voice.

"SUBARU WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? DO YOU COPY?!" The voice grew deafening, a fog horn warning the coasting conscious of the young man.

"Grain! Is that you?!" The jump from that yell pulled Subaru away from his confused stupor, finally gathering the words to reply. His voice was raspy as he spoke, pushing the communication device further into his ear.

…..

His cries of desperation were met with silence, only the continuation of gunfire gave him any indication of activity beyond the walls.

"Tha-t-valler-Liste-o-me!" With a loud crackle, Grain's transmission erupted from the communication device.

"You're breaking up! What did you say?!" Subaru's voice was filled with a previously void feeling of hopefulness. At the very least, the little machine was alive, he thought.

"-simu-is-brok-wn-But we don't hav-ime-Vex-ca-fi–" Grain's voice came through once again, although even more disjointed than before.

"Grain! Grain you broke the simulation?!" Subaru could barely understand what Grain had transmitted, however the few words he could string together would prove monumental in their journey across the dunes.

"OH SHIT!"

The sky above Subaru began to fracture, loud crackling thundered across the clouds. Splinters of electronic glass began to fall around him, piercing the sand beneath them. Through the opening that the broken code created, the real sun of the desert illuminated Subaru and the surrounding area.

"Crap, the sand winds!" The openings through the simulation had also created openings for the Augrian sand winds to invade the crumbling simulation. The winds came bearing down on the ice maze, breaking and melting the mana walls and silencing the surrounding booms of gunfire.

Subaru covered his ears and ducked his head down, trying any way to avoid the sand assaulting his eyes. He stumbled and felt his way towards the handle of the carriage door, pushing down on it with all his strength to open.

"C'mon, open damnit!" Despite his best efforts the door wouldn't open. The handle had gotten stuck. He surmised it was either by the sand getting stuck in the mechanism, or someone inside had barred it shut. He thought to scream at the occupants inside to open, but now with the sand winds drowning out any outside noise there would be little chance to hear them.

Left with few options Subaru stumbled away from the carriage, before charging towards the door. His body slammed against the wood of the carriage and with a loud bang the door swung open. His body was flung inside by the built momentum and he hit the floorboard hard. The sudden thud carried with it a gust of sand wind covering the walls of the carriage. His sudden and loud entrance was met with louds gasps from those inside the carriage, although they were rendered inaudible by the sand winds rushing inside the carriage. Subaru wrestled his body upwards, keeping his ears covered and shoving the door closed with his shoulder blocking out the overbearing sand wind.

"Thank god." Gathering himself, he wiped the sand off his face and immersed himself in the damp warmth of the carriage's interior. Looking around, the first thing he saw was the entrance of the drivers box. Near its entrance, the small figure of Meili was clearly visible to him. She was cradled in the corner of the room, her eyes blinking at Subaru randomly, seemingly trying to get his attention.

Her innocent eyes made Subaru think back towards the main reason as to why they had even brought the young girl with them. Her bonds with the wild witch beasts proved fruitful in the first few days of the expedition. Seeing her abilities run uncontested in the battle for the Mathers manor, he knew her value on the battlefield. If the description of the Vex were to be believed however, they probably saw the fallacies in Meilis power, hence why there were no more witch beasts left inside the simulation. The Vex's power and coordination was far superior compared to that of uncontrolled violence from Meili's witch beasts. Packs of witchbeast dogs and death worms were torn apart so quickly by the larger Vex that it felt pointless to even send them to fight. It was as if they were carelessly thrown into a blender of unimaginable making.

Subaru's opinion on Meili and the witch was still wavering, but through this situation they'd all found themselves in; he couldn't help but sympathize with the young girl. Watching her "followers" be crushed into chunks of shattered bone and pulverized meat whittled her boisterous confidence. All he could do now is look at her with fleeting hope. If the message from Grain was correct, it could maybe rejuvenate her dying spirit.

"..." Meili sheepishly looked up towards Subaru. Not saying anything but rather just staring into his eyes.

Feeling guilt for bringing her to the desert, he turned away from Meili. He looked towards the wall of the carriage, causing the young girl to let out a disappointed sigh. He wanted to say something akin to an apology but he couldn't think of anything that would comfort her.

Rather, his attention was drawn towards the center of the dragon's carriage. Kneeling, steady as a statue was the contract-spirit, Beatrice. Her head turned in acknowledgment to his gaze, but her focus was clearly hyper focused on the dying body of Emilia. The half-elfs torso had been covered crudely stitched together with scraps of thick rags and blankets. The pristine white of the sheets painted with darkened and thick blood.

"Beako, is she…are you both doing ok?" Subaru approached Beatrice, trying to keep a calm face as he spoke.

Beatrice held onto Emilia's head, from her fingers visible strands of mana steadily flowed into Emilia's body. Both of their breathings were steady, with occasional flickers of heavy breathing with each shake of the dragon carriage. Silently, Beatrice continued to peel away chunks of filthy rags covered in blood. Delicately folding them before tossing them aside, whilst preparing cleaner rags to be applied.

"I succeeded in repairing most of her organs, at least the most damaged ones. It's her veins that worry me…I don't have enough mana leftover to fully clot them. At the current rate I don't know how long I can…keep her from…"

Beatrice spoke softly, no real emotion evident in her honest words. She tried to finish her examination of Emilia's condition but her words came out choked, with tears streaming down her cheek.

"I see…" Subarus voice was low. His emotions had calmed, settling on one state of mind. He crouched closer towards Emilia's face, placing his bruised hand against her temple. He could see Emilia's chest slowly rising and descending, her body still fighting to keep her alive.

"Emilia hasn't given up, and neither will I." Subaru stood, his voice shaky yet also steeled with resolve.

"I spoke with Grain. The Vex's simulation is broken, but I have a feeling that it's temporary. I'll bring everyone back, and when we escape I'll let you absorb me of all my mana to save Emilia. Until then, do the best you can."

He pulled his contract spirit into a tight embrace, giving her comforting words.

"We've gone through worse, this is just another step to strengthen ourselves."

Subaru looked at Beatrice reassuringly, pulling her head close to his chest while gently stroking her hair. His outward appearance conveyed a warm confidence, hot enough that it could ignite Beatrice's spirits. However deep inside, he couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that death was looming over them like a cloak. a stark contrast to his true emotions.

The blonde girl let out a short sigh, before raising her head to look into his eyes.

"I will…" Beatrice nodded her head, her words quick and quiet.

Subaru gave another reassuring smile, not knowing, or caring if she'd seen through his mask. He let Beatrice go, before turning to face Emilia again. His heart ached with each thought of her unending pain, but he couldn't sit idle, he had to venture outside again. Not for his own ego, but to save everyone.

He pushed himself off the floor with urgency and walked hastily towards the door, stumbling as the carriage rocked back and forth. His hand slammed against the wood of the carriage, narrowly missing Rem's face. Her breathing was quiet, a soft smile still formed across her face as she slept soundly through the chaos surrounding her dark world.

He placed his hand on her soft cheek, its warmth resonating across his fingers. His fingers ran up and down her strands of hair for a few moments, before pulling away gently.

"I'll save you all, I swear." Subaru whispered under his breath. With a loud huff he pushed himself upright, taking careful strides to avoid the bloodied rags across the floor.

As Subaru reached the door, he turned one last time to look at the three girls inside the carriage. As he closed the door, he caught a glimpse at Beatrice's teary eyes, watching him leave the darkness of the carriage.]]


[["..."

A tear trickled down the little girl's face, falling quietly on the pale cheeks of Emilia. Beatrice's emotions and thoughts were smeared with her guilt.

Emilias wounds began to reopen, leaking blood across the wooden floor.

Beatrice noticed the pooling blood, whipping the tears from her cheeks and reaching towards a stack of towels laying next to her. She tore the neatly folded pieces of cloth before wrapping them around Emilia's open wounds.

"You're really ter~ribble, lying to him so cas~ually. I thought you two were close, no?"

A taunting voice came from the driver's seat. Its source was the young assassin Meili, sat cross legged, twirling her pigtails whilst looking at the grieving Beatrice.

Emilia's chest had ceased nearly all its movement. One couldn't tell if she was breathing unless they were close enough to feel her cold breath.

Her condition had worsened more than what she had shown her contractor. As Subaru first entered the carriage she'd given the last few ounces of expendable mana into Emilia's body. The most it had done was fully repair her lungs, allowing her to breathe the harsh desert air unfiltered.

"You'd do best to learn to keep yourself silent in such situations, in fact. I don't need more needless noise clouding my…!"

Beatrice responded sternly, mixed with a quiet growl. Her patience was wearing thin with the dark-haired girl, her comments and jabs towards her ineptitude was reaching its boiling point. She would've erupted at the young girl, but her attention was caught when a vibrating hum came from beneath Emilia.

"O~ooh!"

Meili turned her head inquisitively, staring starry eyed towards Emilia's blanketed legs. Beneath, a dim light began to manifest between the half-elfs calves.

Beatrice took notice of the orb and in a panic, pulled the blanket off Emilia's legs with a wet, squelching noise as crimson strings stuck to the cloth.

"Impossible…"

Floating idly above Emilia's legs was a flickering sphere, no larger than Beatrice's palm. Its brightness waned, shining the room in its golden glow during its brightest phase.

"Touch it…."

"Silence…"

The lights flickering state halted seemingly in response, leaving the room in a perpetual shine of bright gold. It began to hum, calmly floating up Emilia's body, stopping above her most egregious wounds before it made its way to the base of her neck. Its constant glow stopped, leaving the room in its previous darkened brown color. The sphere lowered itself onto the pendant surrounding Emilia's neck, above the resting place of her parental guide.

"Are you...Is it you...P-Puck?!" Tears began to flow freely from Beatrice's eyes, believing the orb to be her long lost friend, returning in their time of need.

...

The sphere did not respond to Beatrice's call. It continued its dim glow, gently swaying around the green crystal.

"...Please…Say something…"

Beatrice's voice began to crack, a mixture of uncertainty and worry taking over her reason.

Watching her master swirl in despair, her inability to completely heal Emilia, to watching this unknown sphere, the probable spirit of her close friend brought her closer to her breaking point.

Her self loathing was interrupted, when the sphere began to pulsate.

"Ƨtɒnb, ɔʜilb oʇ bυƨʞ ɒnb bɒwn. Yoυ ƨʜɒll not ʇɒbɘ into tʜɘ ɘnblɘƨƨ ɒdγƨƨ."

The sphere shot up, expelling shining particles around its form. Disjointed and indiscernible words shook the ears and spirits of the girls inside the carriage, which was followed by a deafening hum. Its orb burst into its golden glow, hundred fold brighter than before.

"Gah!"

The girls winced and covered their eyes, delegating their ears to describe the situation inside the carriage.

"W-what!"

The vibrating hum and golden lights vanished in an instant, leaving the dark interior with residual sounds and particles. The girl's eyes adjusted back into normality, absorbing the shadows of the darkened wood. The sphere had completely vanished, in its place was a small, and rather bright, transparent slime. It bounced calmly with the rocking of the carriage, before moving downwards across Emilia's chest. It sloshed towards Emilia gaping wound across her abdomen, leaving behind glowing residue of glowing light.

"WAIT STOP!"

Beatrice reached out to try and grab the goo, yelling in futility towards the slime. She sat up and ran towards Emilia's wound, watching as the slime pushed its way inside the wound, leaving the slashed, reddened skin moist in its glimmering residue. Inside, the sound of broken bone splintering against one another made the spirit's heart jump. To her, the translucent slime was beginning to tear apart her friend from the inside.

Beatrice pulled back her sleeves, ready to stick her arm inside to capture the residue, when the dark-haired girl beside her gasped in amazement.

"Wa~oh! Look…!"

Meili reached her hand out towards Beatrice's, grabbing it by the wrist and halting her movement. In preparation, she opened her mouth to curse at the young girl, when the wet sound of skin stopped her from speaking. The torn skin began to move, inching towards the center of the opened wound.

The sight alone made Beatrice gasp in astonishments. The wounds she'd struggled to heal were now being repaired with little effort. She leaned downwards towards Emilia's chest, wrapping her hands around her and letting forth a torrent of tears and sobs. Her head moved closer towards the emerald crystal, hoping that maybe there would be some reaction from her long gone friend. However, rather than hearing anything from the crystal, she could hear Emilia's lips parting, mumbling incomprehensible words under her breath.]]


[[- Bullshit...Goddamn bullshit…-

Slumping against the cracked walls of Emilia's ice, Subaru threw his head back against the wall in anger. In one hand, holding the final cylindrical magazine of his hand cannon, and in the other the hand cannon itself. His fingers fiddled with the cylinder, almost dropping it several times before taking a few short breaths.

-Alright…Calm down, Subaru...Calm down…Surely, a dozen bullets are enough to get everyone through this shit show…–

He held the handcannon firm, while preparing the cylindrical magazine in the other.

-Okay…Need to find grain-

Digging his feet into the sand, he pushed himself off the ground and set course towards the Vex conflux, where hopefully, the Ghost would still be functioning. Walking away from the dragon carriage, the wind picked up in a whirlwind which surrounded him. The sand wind had picked up in intensity, nearly engulfing the entirety of the surrounding area, though he foresaw this obstacle.

-I really pray that there isn't some flesh eating disease crawling inside the lenses.-

Wrapping his hand around a pair of old and rusted goggles, he slid them down over his eyes, cutting into his skin with its rusted edges whilst doing so. His skin would most likely flare with blemishes and scars afterwards, but it would be preferable over the potential ruining of his eyesight.

Subaru placed his hand against his earpiece trying to contact Grain, though he was met with shifting static. He tried yelling into it, but there was no reaction from the other end.

"...Julius!."

Rather than through the earpiece, he heard Grain's electronic voice crackling through the howling winds. Having a comprehensible noise to follow now, he began to trudge through the rising sands towards its source.

-Grain?-

Subaru's feet laboriously trudged through the rising sands, slowly reaching the conflux at the peak of the dune. A bright blue light was barely visible over the sand wind, one Subaru could easily identify as Grain.

With a few gaunt steps, Subaru stood beside the floating machine, reaching out and touching him to grab his attention.

"Ah! Subaru! Thank the traveler you're still alive. Are you hurt?" Grain jumped in surprise, caught off guard by Subaru's sudden appearance.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Subaru spoke excitedly, finally getting the chance to reunite with one of his group's mysterious companions.

"Good, now listen to me, I shut down their simulation but only temporarily. We need to get everyone back to the carriage now. I surmise we only have a dozen or so minutes before they rebuild it." The Ghost hovered closer to Subaru, hurriedly explaining the situation they'd all found themselves in.

"Okay, we should be able to get far enough in time. Do you know where Ram, Julius and Anastasia are? I haven't heard any transmissions from them. Has Erin found them? Is she okay?" Subaru threw a barrage of questions towards the Ghost.

At the mention of Erin's name, Grain's shell drooped, before quickly regaining its original position.

"She's…Looking for them, yes! What we need to do right now is find the rest of your group and get them to the carriage as fast as possible."

"Okay, I can do that! Do you have a map or any sort of navigation device? I'm going to lose myself in this damn storm!"

"No, but I can try and track their ear pieces and map their locations." Grain lifted himself high into the air and opened his shell. His inner eye darted around the area, electronic noises emanating from his shell.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" As Grain scanned the area, a booming explosion shook the earth beneath Subaru, knocking him down with a painful thud.

Subaru kept a firm clasp over his ears, despite his ears already ringing from the explosion's thunderous roar. He shook off the vibrations of the explosion from his legs and pushed himself back upright, looking around to try and find the source of the explosion. His eyes wandered towards the direction of the carriage, but there was no fire to signal the aftermath of an attack.

"Wait…Where are the Vex?"

The Vex which had been bombarding both the carriage and the conflux had ceased completely. Rather, their assault seemed to have shifted locations away from the center, rather towards the outskirts of the maze.

"-"

Subaru looked towards Grain. His shell was open, still scanning the area seemingly unfazed by the blast.

"Grain! What are you doing?" Subaru yelled towards Grain, but received no answers.

"The maid-" Grain's voice was quiet, drowned out by the winds around him.

"The maid?-Ram! Where?"

Subaru turned to face the same direction as him. Through the sandstorm, he saw the petite maids figure hobble away from a large pillon of green fire. Her clothes seemed torn, as if a wild beast had torn away its rags. In her hands, a large gun was faintly visible, pointed squarely at something beyond the flames glow.

"How are they here?!" Grain spoke hastily, his voice clearly shaken by something he'd witnessed.

"They?! Who are they?!" Subaru screams while cupping his hands together.

The Ghost continued to stare shakenly towards the outlined figure of Ram, humming one word towards Subaru.

"The Hive."

Subaru watched as Ram's body recoiled with each pull of the trigger, followed by the blinding blasts of the grenades.

"Screw it! I'm coming for you, Ram!"

Subaru reached into his coat and pulled his weapon out, before charging down the hill towards Ram.

"NO! NO! SUBARU STOP! GET BACK TO THE CARRIAGE NOW!"

Grain's voice echoed through the wind, catching Subarus attention as he ran towards the maid. He turned to look at Ram, seeing a figure inching its way towards her. Its lanky figure was illuminated by the green fire. It's approach was gaingly, seeming to catch the maid by surprise before she quickly struck it down with her magic. Its body disintegrated into dust as its head was severed from its body, only unrecognizable chunks falling to the ground.

"Step back!"

Ram's voice came through muffled, but loud enough for Subaru to jump back at her command.

The fire leftover from the craters of the launcher's explosions allowed Subaru to gaze at the outlines of their attackers. Their limbs were long and gangly, with each movement looking forced and painful. Their heads bobbed wildly side to side as they stumbled and crawled towards him and Ram. They growled and screamed like banshees as they ran towards Ram.

"!...!"

One of the creatures grabbed the shoulders of another, violently throwing it aside as it charged head-on towards them.

Ram reached down to her loaded weapon and began firing into the horde. Smoke plumed from the muzzle of the grenade launcher as the bombs flew with a loud thumb, striking against the brittle bodies of the monsters with the force of hundreds of newton's. The explosions eviscerated their bodies, leaving behind nothing but dust and crimson armor shells.

"Ram, what the hell are those things?

"I don't know! They emerged from something large beneath the sand. I don't know what it was, a building, a tomb? I don't know." Ram caught her breath, before giving her own recollection of her side of the defense.

"Those things are vicious, and this isn't the worst of them…" Ram slung the launcher across her shoulder, approaching Subaru with a stumble. If it weren't for a crudely made gauze around her thigh giving away her injuries, her hobbled walk definitely did.

"I do hope you know where Emilia-sama is, Barusu. She has been radio silent for an uncomfortable amount of time." Ram gave Subaru a demanding look, all the while holding her leg tightly with both her hands. A long gash ran down her leg, leaving behind a stream of dried blood. The cut was crude, as if something old and ridgid cut through it with extreme barbarisy.

"Sh-she's in the carriage. One of those bastards caught her off guard and cut into her stomach. Beatrice is keeping her alive, but…" Subaru spoke through gritted teeth, as he cursed the unidentified Vex who hurt his Emilia. As he was finishing his sentence, the feeling of his cheek moistening halted his speech, before wiping away the tear trickling down his face.

"I-I tried to call through with Erin, but I only got static. Julius is missing, and so is Anastasia!" Panic begins to swell, as a sudden realization sets in.

We've been cut off from everyone Ram! Erin, Anastasia, and Julius haven't said shit for nearly an hour, for all we knew they're probably dead or eaten by whatever the fuck these "Hive" things are! We're fucked, we are so fucked!" Subaru fell onto his knees, crying out towards Ram who had been taken aback by the information being expelled from Subaru.

Her eyes had widened as she took in the information fed to her, her mind contemplating the information given to her. She shook her head and nodded, throwing her grenade launcher down onto the sand. She knelt down and slapped Subaru across the face.

"Ah-What the fuck?!" Subaru cursed out towards Ram.

Her slap was followed by her clasping her hands against his cheeks, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Hold it together, fool. You said the simulation was down, correct? If that's the case then we should take control of the carriage, and use it to rescue Miss Anastasia and Sir Julius." Ram's words are quick and stern. She tried to hide her frustration, but it was clear that everything happening culminated into her losing her composure.

"We can still survive this yet, Barusu…"

Her hands squeezed his face tightly, tears continuing to flow down his bloodied cheeks. Ram's eyes were fierce, not from hatred or disgust, but of determination.

"Get up! Let's go now!"

Ram pried her hands away from Subaru's cheeks, her bloodied hand left a wet handprint on his cheek.

"Yeah…Sure."

Wiping away tears from his eyes, he took a few steps forward towards Ram. Wiping the tears from his eyes, his vision cleared and he could spot Ram's bleeding leg; the image of Emilia's bloodied abdomen flashed in his head upon seeing the ugly scar.

"Here." Subaru grabbed Ram's attention, pointing out his shoulder with his left hand.

"You better not drag me down with you if you fall." Ram pulled Subaru up with one of her hands, grabbing on his shoulder with the other. Her grip was firm, her nails digging into Subarus ragged clothes.

"Oweowe-Do you really have to dig into my shoulder." Yelping in response to her dagger like nails, Subaru grabbed onto her hand tighter.

"I'd rather not fall, fool."

After several painful seconds of trekking through shifting sands, stumbling over the weight of one another, they reached the peak of the sand dune. Around them, the area had been completely covered by violent sand winds. The base of the Vex conflux had vanished, leaving only a burnt outline of a square.

"Which way. " Rams voice was quick and shaky. The blood loss from her wound had begun to take its toll on her body.

"I..dont know!" The sand beneath Subaru's feet shifted and spurted away as his body spun around, his eyes scanning for any signs of the direction he'd come from.

"Gargah!"

The deafening winds were silenced, as the bellowing roar of an unseen beast reverberated across the sandy ground.

"What the fuck was that?!" Subaru began panicking, unsure of which direction the roar had come from.

"MOVE!" Ram shoved Subaru forward, not waiting for him to find a path to follow.

They both slid down the tall dune, the sudden shove caused Subaru to roll wildly for a few seconds before his feet met the solid sand. Luckily, he'd angled himself in a straight line moments before.

"What the hell is that…!"

"Forget about it, we need to run!" Ram picked herself up, quickly limping over to Subaru and clamping her hand on his shoulder.

"Hire Kha!"

Whispers of unknown sounds, something resembling the bare minimum to count as a language crawled through the deafening winds and into Subaru's ear.

Subaru instinctively swung his head behind him, his eyes landing on the faint outline of a large number of creatures hidden within the veil of sand. They stood intertwined with sand, almost molding it within their body. If it weren't for the faint glow of their eyes, he would've never known they were there.

"Hrugh Kha!" Another string of unrecognizable words came from the group of monsters, but this time it wasnt a whisper, it was a roar.

A figure, twice the size of the others, manifested around a pit of green fire. It stood tall, the wind whistling past open holes across its body. It began to walk, without any real stride, as if its legs were dragging with it the dead weight of something once alive.

Subaru's knees began to buckle under the creature's pressure. Its eyes pierced into his, stinging them as if they were being burned by the heat of the sun. It grew closer, stopping a few meters away from the pair. Subaru watched its hands reach down into the sand, before pulling out a gargantuan sword. Just from gazing at it, it wasn't made of anything he'd recognized. It looked almost akin to a sword shaped from jagged rocks.

"Hruhh!" The creature held the sword tightly in one hand, before twisting his body into a dueling stance. No longer did its body seem to be dragged down by its own weight. It stood straight, its fiery eyes boring into Subaru's soul as it lifted its blade, the jagged edges glimmered like teeth, salivating for its next victim.

"RUN!" Subaru's body jerked as the suddenly unnatural strength from Ram pulled him away from the swing of the beast's sword. The creature in the span of a few milliseconds swung its blade towards Subaru's throat.

"Thi..ef..!" The creature's jaws unhinged, before a raspy voice escaped its jagged teeth. Its eye's flared, the green flames now burning as bright as the sun.

"HAH!"

As the beast began to hoist its sword off the ground, a sudden blast of void energy disintegrated its body into ashes. The familiar string of a Hunters void bow hummed as a slim figure landed onto the ashes of the creature.

"Erin!"

"Gotcha just in time, ey?" The Hunter waved towards the pair, throwing towards them a bandolier of ammunition.

"The carriage is straight ahead! Start running, she'll hold them off!" The mysterious Ghost manifested in front of the confused pair, expanding its shell and sending forth a thin beam of blue light towards the carriage's direction.

"Grain! Where the hell did you go?!" Subaru shook his arms confusingly towards Grain. Huffing and puffing as exhaustion waned across his body.

"I did say I'd find their location, didn't I? I wasn't going to send you off alone!"

"Right, I should've thought of that!" Subaru sighed breathlely, mentally hitting himself at his lack of foresight.

"Barusu now's our chance, let's make haste!" Ram tugged Subaru's body towards the carriage's direction.

It didn't take long for the Hive to begin firing back with their own wave of maroon fire. The shrill screams of the faceless monsters followed closely behind the figure's fire. Tearing through one another just to be the first to die at the hands of their prey. Subaru couldn't help but stare at the acrobatic movements of the Hunter. Rolling and jumping away weightlessly yet striking through her enemies with unparalleled strength.

"Snap out of it! Let's go!" Subaru felt a tug on his arm. Ram had picked up the bandolier of ammo and had begun dragging Subaru away from the battlefield.

"Y-yes!" Subaru snapped out of his daze. He grabbed onto Ram's side and they began their retreat towards the dragon carriage. As he hobbled away with Ram at his side, he turned his head to look back at the Guardian, standing defiant with a gun of pure fire aimed squarely towards the colossal shadow of a beast hiding in the winds. ]]


AN: Hello , I did die once again. I don't have any excuse to give, besides just writer's block and stuff related to college. I'll continue to write semi-regularly, mainly because I enjoy the process of writing and I do want to see my interpretation of "possible" events as far as possible. I said this as well in my last post perhaps it has lost its meaning but I do appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you to those who have stayed and waited for my dumbass to update this story.

I can't say when I'll post the next chapter, but I'll try my best.

Thank you all.

Sincerely, Suez.