"You won't get away from me!" Skylar shouted, raising her palm. Violent crackles of electricity shot from her hand, lighting the area blue as they soared straight into the bikes of one of the Raiders. The bike violently sparked and burst, sending its pilot into the sky. When the Raider landed, it immediately scrambled to start running away.
"Oh no you don't!" Skylar went to race after him, but the sound of more Raiders rushing at her stayed her pursuit. She let out a 'tssk' and then leapt backwards through the air. When she landed, she thrust both of her hands forwards and then pulled them back, causing the earth underneath them to jerk upwards and toss two Raiders towards her. They both met her fists to their faces, crumpling them to the ground.
The errant driver quickly rushed towards another bike that had been abandoned in the battle. Skylar's patrol had intercepted them in the middle of a raid on a small outpost in the middle of Wind Tribe territory. Of the fifty or so Raiders in the initial group, all but ten of them were downed. The pilot, seeing that this was going to meet the fate of the other groups, rapidly moved to the bike to retreat.
"You're finished!" Alacr shouted, closing his eyes and bending forward into a running stance, "Speed of Steel…!"
Alacr activated his speed elemental power, causing his body to go soaring straight towards through the air. When he reached the fleeing driver, he drew his blade. The next time that anyone could see him, he had his blade fully drawn and out behind him. He stood up, reaching to slide the sword back down into its holster. When he finished, the Raider burst apart at the middle, causing half chopped up snakes to go flying.
"...Flash." Alacr finished.
"You can't just do that, Alacr!" Ray shouted, "Charged Sword, Skyward Strike!"
Ray was standing nearly ten feet away. He raised his sword up to the sky, the jagged length sparkling with electricity that caused the blade's steel to look almost like it was made of crystal. He shouted and thrust the sword towards the ground. From the sky above the fallen snakes, lightning shot straight down to cut into the ground, shocking the remaining snakes. Those that weren't killed immediately on impact rapidly retreated, too broken to fight back.
"Haaaauuhhh!" Nubit, her arms made of metal, launched forward and grabbed the helmet and shoulder of one of the raiders. The snakes inside attempted to hold themselves together, but Nubit forced her arms apart by sheer strength. The helmet ripped in half, and the few snakes inside began to bundle up and launch towards Nubit's face.
"Slow!" A woman, dressed in glistening pauldrons over black leather armor with a blue mark on the back of her hand, thrust said hand forward. The snakes inside the armor were caught in the slowed time field. The woman thrust her long locks of blue hair backwards, letting out a grunt as she looked to Nubit. Nubit, understanding quickly, brought her hands forward and rapidly smashed the snakes in the air with metal fists.
As the snakes fell, there was a moment of silence. Skylar, standing over her two defeated Raiders, looked across the battlefield. The bikes were either empty or broken; it seemed lightning had a way of making them not want to go anymore. There were no more Raiders standing, and those on the ground were beaten so badly it would be impossible for them to do anything more to them. She let out a long huff and looked across to the field.
"Is that all of them?" Alacr asked, turning about while his white, knightly robes flared out behind him.
"Heh… if there are, I vote we let Ray deal with them," Nubit panted, removing the metal from her body and tightening her cloth straps around her chest.
"Hey!" Ray protested, "I did just as much as you did, Nubit!"
"You sure?" Nubit blinked, "I'm pretty sure that Dorian did even more work than you did."
"Eh?" Dorian, the woman in the Time Tribe colors, quickly stood up and waved her hands in front of her, "Nonononono, I just helped! Ray did even more work than I did!"
"You all did fine," Skylar called out, "Come on, let's make sure that the outpost is okay and then we'll see about setting up camp for the night."
The four quickly nodded, moving about to quickly clean up all of the armor in the area to send to the Metal Tribe to discreetly melt down. While they did, Skylar reached out with her mind power, scanning the battlefield for the number of thoughts. There were twenty, including her friends and excluding herself. That was the amount of people she had in her squad, so it checked out. She also immediately felt Dorian ping in fear as her mind touched her, so she pulled back quickly.
Skylar made her way up the hill. The group were in the middle of the large, windswept savanna-like plains that the Wind Tribe called their own. In the distance, she could see the large cliffs that led to the plateau that the majority of people lived in. The massive distance up to the top meant that Wind Tribe members were taught how to use wind to propel themselves through the air to 'jump' up to the top. She could confirm many of them actually did.
"T-Thank you so much!" The three Wind Tribe guards stationed at a small structure looking like a shack all bowed at once, "If you hadn't showed up, those Raiders… they'd have…"
"Don't mention it," Skylar waved her hand, "But keep a watch on these open spaces. The tall grasses make it easy for them to sneak up on you."
"W-We were!" The older one of the group stepped forward, Skylar guessing he was a captain, "We would have died if it wasn't for your help. Thank you, again!"
"Like I just said, don't worry about it," Skylar sighed, "Do you know why they were targeting this area?"
"Uh, uhm, this is the closest outpost to the actual tribe itself," The younger male of the trio of guards spoke up, "If they took this out, they'd have the last line of defense gone."
"I see, you should probably go and fix that then," Skylar crossed her arms, "Trust me, you don't want them to get that close again. We won't always be able to help you in time."
"We are very grateful!" The last guard, a younger girl, shouted, "Is there anything we can give you, for your help? Let us repay you!"
"Indeed," The captain grunted, "We would have been goners if you weren't here."
"You guys really lay it on thick…" Skylar groaned, reaching up to rub her temple, "Just take more care of this place. That's all you really need to do. We'll get these guys cleaned up, then it'll be up to you guys to handle yourselves."
"Yes, ma'am!" The three drew a symbol of a blowing breeze in front of them together, then hit their left shoulder in the Wind Tribe salute.
"Yeah, yeah," Skylar weakly and sloppily traced the same motion and began back away, "Stay safe here."
Skylar didn't want to partake in that anymore than she already had. She left the three and hopped her way down the slope towards her allies. In the short time that it'd taken her to have that conversation, Alacr had already filled up one of the carriages with the claimed armor while the two earth users in the squad buried the snakes under the dirt. Nubit made her way over to one of the bikes and focused. Her hands shot out and made grips in the metal exterior. She let out a loud heave and slung the bike into a pile of them. Once she finished, two fire users came over and lit the ground under them with flames. Soon, the bikes caught ablaze and a roaring flame was licking up at the sky.
"Manage that fire!" Skylar shouted to the three guards, leaping her way through the group to one of the carriages. Once she sat down, Alacr stood up behind her already in the carriage, along with Ray.
"Finish that cleanup and lets get going," Skylar ordered, "We gotta get out of this area and move onto some other territory so we don't make habits. What are you all thinking?"
"The Shadow Tribe territory is nearby," Alacr suggested, "But we're almost out of water. We need to head towards the river in Metal Tribe territory. We can drop off the armor that we have collected while we're doing that."
"Did I hear we're heading back home?" Nubit swung herself up into the back of the carriage, "I know a small mining settlement there, if we need supplies. We can easily find a good night's rest there."
"Hrrm…. Sure, why not?" Skylar shrugged, "We need to make sure we vary up where we are anyways. Let's do that, if we can help out around there we can. I haven't gotten anything from my scouts anyways."
With their destination agreed, it didn't take very long for the rest of the group to finish up their own jobs of cleaning up the Raiders. Skylar took hold of the reins to their horse and gave a crack with them. Soon, the four carriages that comprised her squad were rapidly running through the yellow fields of grass that the Wind Tribe called home. The winds swept over the plains as they went, causing the ripples to appear over them like things out of a painting. The carriages were on the main trading road, but soon Skylar took them into the grasses themselves. The paths they cut through the fields were blown away by the winds that seemed to never end in this part of the world.
"Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering just how many of these Raiders there really are?" Ray complained, having crawled in after Alacr and Nubit.
"I-I'm sure they'll stop coming!" Dorian smiled meekly, "We'll turn them around soon!"
"Glad you guys are optimistic," Skylar groaned, stretching herself out, "I for one wanna go back to the Summit and take a few days to just lay back and relax. We've been running ourselves crazy for a month now. Feels like it won't ever end, will it?"
"That's life for you," Alacr sighed with a smile, "When you finish one trade, you move onto another. Right now, we've exchanged trading for fighting, that's all."
"That's rich coming from us," Nubit waved her hand, "We decided to keep going and delivering supplies even in the middle of all of this. We made our own fights doing that."
"Well, we can't avoid fighting, now can we?" Alacr ran his hand over his sword, "Better that we pick our own battles, rather than have them picked for us, right?"
"Still," Ray groaned, rubbing his stiff shoulder, "I'd like it if we could fight a little less."
"A… bath would be nice, given how much running around we've been doing," Dorian admitted with a blush, "It's, a little awkward to have to be racing around all the time without rest…"
Skylar threw her hands up, "Alright, alright. When we get to that settlement, if they got a place for us to stay, then we can stay! But if the scouts find someone we leave immediately, so don't get all too comfy there, right?"
"When have we ever?" Alacr grinned.
The carriage shared a long laugh together. Skylar took ahold of the reins again as the grasses around them began to dwindle off. Soon, they were in the middle of a land of rivers and rocks (LORAR, as Skylar liked calling it). The Metal Tribe territory was one that bordered the edge of the World, though Skylar knew now that if one kept going northwest they'd enter the large and impossibly steep mountains that Mage lived in. The Metal Tribe was known for their mining operations, similar to how the Earth Tribe lived underground in massive caverns. The Metal Tribe was built on stilts over a massive hole in the ground that spanned almost a half mile in diameter, with massive cables that would carry them up and down from the mines underneath. Large slides that had been built up over generations extended all the way over the hole and out to the surrounding areas, where mined ores were melted and turned into usable materials. The tribe was the main supplier of building materials, making them perhaps one of the wealthiest tribes ever since the ability to turn metal into buildings had been discovered.
Stemming out from the main town were massive rivers that wove in and out of small underground caverns. Small patches of trees and forests were scattered around the region, which was where Skylar had come to understand the majority of their food came from before the Nature Tribe had taken over the main source of food production. Even before the Summit, all the tribes depended on one another in some fashion, primarily in their ability to produce materials.
The main trading road passed through the eastern part of their territory, with long paths that carried them up and over the gravel hills and greenergy patches towards the actual massive tribal center. Given that the Metal Tribe was difficult to reach from the mainland, as the only way in and out of the tribe relied upon carts that metal users physically pulled along rails back and forth from their settlement, the majority of Raider attacks here had been on the main path itself to stop metal supplies from getting out of the tribe. Skylar had been in the area a few times thwarting the attacks, but with their need to keep moving to intercept as many as possible, she hadn't spent much time there.
Being in the Metal Tribe itself, watching the hills roll by and the strange way that life peeked up through the region, it was almost nostalgic to Skylar. This had been one of the first tribes that she visited and, consequently, one of the first elements she'd actually learned. Metal was useful in some cases, mainly for defense, but it was difficult to manipulate the small patches of metal that were often used in armor. It was funny, then, given that the people that metal users would fight would be likely wearing metal armor supplied from their tribe. The World was an interesting place.
Skylar looked back to the people in the carriage. After she'd first met Mage, her father had ordered they split up. The next morning, she'd been abandoned, with her only note saying to follow Mage. She'd wandered into the abnormally dark region the Shadow Tribe resided in, where she'd been found by Alacr and the others. They'd taken her in without any question or payment, and told her they'd help her find her father as they traveled. She'd been with them for months, specifically months in which she constantly left or made excuses to go and try to stop Mage from doing… anything, really.
Her grip on the reins tightened a bit. Her father. The shadow of him still hung over her. She knew that what he did was wrong now, and what she had been talked into doing was wrong. She knew that what he had wanted from the beginning wasn't all about her. Yes, he claimed it was revenge for what happened to her mother's tribe, but… but that didn't make the idea of wiping them all out right. It wasn't like she didn't know at the time that she was going to be committing geoncide on everyone at the time. She'd just… ignored it.
Thinking back, when Alacr had first found her, she hadn't been anywhere near like she was now. Without her mother and a home to go to, all that kept her moving back then was her anger. She could only focus on how utterly enraged she was at what happened to her mother, her people, and what she was going to do about it. She hadn't told any of them about that at the time. They didn't know anything about her back then. And she only knew what her father had told her.
"I still don't know why you talked to me after finding out about Chen," Skylar sighed to herself, "Still not sure why you even liked me to begin with."
"Because you weren't evil, just misguided," Alacr responded, "That was easy to see."
"Huh? Alacr?" Skylar blushed in embarrassment, having not intended for him to actually have heard her. Alacr urged her to scoot over so he could sit down beside her. As she did, he looked up towards the sky and then towards her.
"It was easy to tell you were just a kid that didn't know any better," Alacr looked back to the group, "To be honest, not all of us are that beyond kids ourselves. We could see that you were hurting for something. We took you in because of that."
"Yeah, but then you found out about Chen when he finally caught up to us and I just, left," Skylar's fist trembled, "I mean, I just left. I didn't even let you all know anything. Months of getting close to all of you and then I just… left you all."
"We won't lie and say that didn't sting," Dorian smiled sadly, "But, none of us thought you were an evil person. I mean, you were kinda, rude and, didn't really talk much. But you were opening up!"
"You also would steer us all over the place," Nubit rolled her eyes, "We caught on pretty fast you had something to do with the Dragon Lord."
"You don't get to be where you are without doing a few questionable things," Ray stated as he cleaned his sword, "But the four of us are a family. You're just as much apart of that family as any of us, Skylar."
"Then you should have said five," Skylar rolled her eyes, "You can't even count right with you rubbing your head all the time."
"The amount that I rub myself doesn't change how smart I am!" Ray protested. It was approximately ten seconds of the rest of them staring at him that he quickly sputtered and muttered, "T-That came out wrong."
The rest of the carriage let out a loud laugh. Skylar remembered laughing with them like that. When Chen had come to pick her back up, he'd told her she couldn't see them again. She'd fully readied herself for that at the time. It'd only taken a reminder that her mother had been murdered by tribes refusing her entry during that storm and… and she'd almost been made to forget about them. It'd taken Mage to come in and fix her anger by… well, punching it out of her with elements combined, she supposed.
"Let's leave the fancy speaking to Alacr, hmm?" Skylar nudged the knightly man, "He's the face of all of us, after all."
"I'd argue now that you are so widely known, you have even more clout than I do," Alacr smiled, "Most people would recognize the one that stood toe to toe with the Dragon Lord over a former candidate to the Speed Tribe leadership."
"Yeah, but only one of us can do half the stuff you do," Skylar chuckled.
"Huh?" Dorian blinked, "Did you, mimic him, Skylar..?"
"I was saying that he's the only one that can do like, all of the stuff that he does," Skylar groaned, "I'm not mimicking any of you!"
"What, are not good enough for you to mimic, Skylar?" Nubit joked, cleaning her own spear that had gotten damaged in the last battle.
"If I could mimic anything about you, it'd be that big set of 'em you got hanging off you," Skylar made a bouncing motion on the seat. Nubit looked down, realizing what she was talking about, and then grinned.
"It's not my fault I grew into a beautiful woman," Nubit drew a hand up her body, "You'll get there one day, Skylar."
"A beautiful woman with a heart made of metal," Ray grumbled.
"Excuse me, what was that?" Nubit grinned, "Which one of us has had a date in the last few months, hmm?"
"That girl from the Poison Tribe was into me!" Ray protested, "You all said we had to make it to the Mind Tribe the next day! I would totally have had her if you hadn't stopped me…"
"Uhm, are you sure you want someone from the Poison Tribe?" Dorian asked meekly, "I mean, I'd be scared, being around someone that can cover their body in acid at anytime…"
"Hey, don't go talking bad about the Poison Tribe, you know we have some in those carriages behind us!" Skylar smirked, "Maybe I should let you both go train with some of them."
"N-N-No I'm good!" Dorian raised her hands, "Y-you know my, my element isn't, really that strong!"
"And we've told you time and time again, Dorian," Alacr sighed, "You're far stronger than you know. Controlling time takes effort. Even if it isn't a fight ender, any support is invaluable to our group."
"But, I don't even have any cool names for my attacks, other than Slow…" Dorian mumbled.
"That's just something guys trying way too hard to look flashy and Ray do," Nubit shook her head, "A real fighter doesn't need to scream the name of what they're about to do to their opponent, or tell them when they're coming at them."
"If you feel there is something wrong with the way that we fight, you are free to fight in your own way, Nubit," Alacr raised an eyebrow, "And there are many benefits to fighting like that. You will see them in time."
"Oh, I'm sorry mister 'Speed of STeel, Flash!'" Nubit mimicked drawing a sword with her hand, "What am I supposed to shout? Metal Arms? Metal spear?"
"Spear of Metal!" Dorian offered. When Nubit gave her a confused glance, Dorian went red in the face, "I-I just, I mean that, you could turn your spear into metal and then yell, 'Spear of Metal!' and then, attack that way."
"Isn't that just me using a metal spear?" Nubit asked out of confusion.
"Y-Yeah, but it's still a move you're using!" Dorian protested, "Naming your attacks makes them more personal! And, if you get famous for a certain attack then, it's easier to say that name then 'that attack they used!' and that stuff!"
"Yeah, yeah," Nubit waved her hand, "Sure thing, time girl."
As Dorian and Nubit began to argue, both Skylar and Alacr smiled and listened in. One day, Skylar would have to ask all of them to settle down in the Amber Tribe when she got around to it. Having some traders in town would attract some people. In a sense, they were her people. It'd been so long since she'd gotten to just sit down with them and talk. The last time was after the war when she'd needed a place to stay, if she remembered…
"Skylar," Alacr snapped her out of her thoughts with a firm command, "Look over there."
It didn't take Skylar very long to see what Alacr was referring to. A massive plume of smoke was billowing up towards the sky, and one that was coming form the direction they were heading. The scouts from the Speed Tribe that Skylar had sent from the squad were in the opposite direction. Just from the size of the smoke and the distance they needed to go to get there, it had to be some sort of attack.
"Tell the rest of the squad to get ready," Skylar ordered Alacr, "We're going to be heading there, fast! It has to be a Raider attack!"
"Understood," Alacr nodded his head, leaping up to his feet and making his way back through the carriage. Skylar stopped the group so Alacr could spread the message. Her eyes analyzed the smoke, confirming in her mind that it was indeed coming from the mining settlement that she knew it had to be coming from. When Alacr returned to her, the two shared a nod while Nubit, Ray and Dorian all readied their weapons.
"Let's go!" Skylar slapped the reins, causing them to lurch forward. The squad rapidly descended across the landscape, flying towards the plume. As they got closer, Skylar could begin to smell the flames that had to be coming from the settlement. Alacr stood up, drawing his sword and holding it out in both hands. Ray rubbed his head to charge up his blade, while Nubit placed one hand on her spear. Dorian fitted what looked like blunted claws on gauntlets over her hands, charging them with blue energy.
"Get ready!" Skylar ordered, seeing the gap in the rocks they would squeeze through. The smell of the burning settlement only grew more and more as finally Skylar and the rest of the carriages burst out into the open. As soon as she saw what was happening, her breath felt as charred as the flames in front of her.
What was once a small settlement of maybe four buildings centered around a mine entrance was now completely ablaze. The flames were bright enough that it blotted out the light of the sun. All across the area, however, Raiders were walking out in the open with large, red jagged blades. People from the Metal Tribe were strewn all across the ground… most of them run through with swords. All of the people of the settlement were either dead, dying, or were being dragged out by Raiders towards the flames. In the middle of the path was a massive, triangular shaped device that looked almost like a massive bike, with two large protrusions on the top that wound back and hurled rocks into the buildings to collapse them further.
"M-My… my people…" Nubit's eyes began to brim with tears, then she violently shook her head and looked up with eyes filled with rage, "What have they done to my people?!"
"It… hold on!" Skylar gulped, pulling down the bile that rose in her throat, "We… we'll take them out! Hold on!"
Skylar raised her hand, letting out a flash of light. The carriages behind her immediately fanned out to her left and right, forming a row of four. The carriages stopped, and from the back the users poured out from the back. Skylar leapt from her carriage along with her four friends. As her squad formed up, many of them gave similar gasps and gags to the sight of carnage in front of them.
"Fire, water, ice!" Skylar ordered them based on their elements, "Get in there and, and work on those flames! The rest of you, work on defeating those, those Raiders!"
Skylar couldn't keep her voice from breaking while she spoke. She could see the people in front of her, the death that was directly in front of her eyes. From the settlement, the Raiders began to stalk towards them. The fire, water and ice users broke off from the main group, working to sneak their way around to control the flames. Skylar summoned water in her hands, preparing to attack the disorganized group of murders.
Suddenly, all of the Raiders stopped. Skylar, having just put a foot forward to charge, stopped. The Raiders all paused, then they moved and formed into organized rows for four each. They each held their red blades towards themselves and then marched forward. The massive bike turned towards Skylar and the group, with several Raiders moving to load rocks into the lobing devices. The sudden show of such precisions and discipline was enough that it made Skylar pause.
From the group, a Raider stepped forward. Just from the curve of her armor, Skylar could tell it was a she. She reached up to touch her helmet, then lifted it from her head. Her glistening red eyes shone hard as her head, filled with writhing snakes that rapidly spat and flailed about as they were freed from the helmet. She took several steps forward, holding a massive battle axe that was even taller than she was. She stopped just in front of the Raiders, raising her hand up in the air. The Raiders froze in place as she put a hand to her chest.
"Forgive them… they can be rather rowdy when they aren't given proper direction," The female Raider hissed out, "It is such a pleasure to meet you, Skylar. You've been causing my warriors a rather large amount of trouble lately."
"They talk?" Alacr asked, still holding her sword out in front of her.
"That one looks like a woman… I didn't even know they had genders," Ray growled, "I thought they were just snakes."
"W-What's with them forming up like that?" Dorian asked nervously, "We've, never fought ones that did that before…"
Nubit didn't say anything. Her breathing was harsh and unsteady, and metal was creeping up her body like fire through her veins. Alacr, seeing this, made sure to stand in front of her to prevent her from just blindly charging right in. Skylar could sense and share in her anger, but at the moment, both her disgust and confusion were enough to make her stop.
"Hmmph," Skylar forced her normal persona back into place, "I didn't know you Raiders could talk like this, or be this organized. Have we finally driven you back enough you're trying to take us in force?"
"Oh, it would be so easy for you to think that, wouldn't it?" The female Raider hissed, "I suppose that now that you've seen me, you already know the truth about our nature. Let us drop this silly word of 'Raider.' We are the Vermillion. You will address us as such."
"So you have a name now?!" Nubit shouted, her enraged word making her breath come through clenched teeth. Skylar had heard those guys at the Summit using that name before. Hearing it from the mouth of the female, however, somehow made her feel sick.
"We have always had a name, you simply did not have the right to know it," The female planted her axe in the ground, then gave a long bow, "You may refer to me as Commander Machia. You should know the name of the one that is about to destroy you, after all."
"Machia, then?" Skylar confirmed, "What makes you so sure that you'll win? We've been taking you Raid… Vermillion out left and right."
"Unlike you, I have a reason not to fail," Machia gestured to her body, "It is only by their good graces that I am allowed to be whole once again. I have to ensure that I produce results, lest I wish to return back to that horde."
"She looks like the others…" Alacr stated, changing his sword to be raised up by his head, "She must be from his world."
"Don't say anything!" Skylar hissed, "We can't let them know that the others are here!"
"Is there something interesting, girl of Amber?" Machia asked with a cock of her head, "I have heard so many stories about you from the people that my warriors have devoured. It is such a wonderful thing, being able to read the memories before they fully break apart."
"You…!" Nubit looked ready to shatter apart just standing there. Skylar raised her arm, doing her best to keep her stayed, even if she wanted to rush in just as badly as her friend.
"You're pretty bold to give yourselves away like this!" Skylar shouted back, "You realize now we know more about you than ever before, right?"
"A commander never does anything without planning ahead," Machia drew her battle axe again, "Right now, I believe that your other group should be getting the same greeting from those two incompetent fools. The boy isn't active right now, it seems," Her eyes glowed, framed against the flames, "The foolish copy is, though."
"What?" Skylar growled, "You mean you're attacking Acronix right now?!"
"That and… far more than you know," Machia's snakes undulated, as though they were silently laughing at her, "But I believe we've exchanged enough pre-battle banter. Come and meet your demise, soldiers of this strange world!" She lifted the massive axe up with one hand, pointing it towards Skylar, "We will show you the true might of the Vermillion!"
"What do we do?" Ray asked, his hands trembling, "If they're attacking the other squad right now, then-"
"We can't worry about them right now!" Skylar shook her head, "We have to focus on them. We'll take down this Machia chick and, and then we'll go worry about them!"
"If you are too cowardly to attack.." Machia's eyes glowed, and suddenly the massive bike began to turn, "Then I will inform you that one of these buildings has survivors inside. If you wish to save them, you should act fast. My tank is very accurate, and very quick to fire."
To prove her point, Machia closed her open fist. The 'tank,' as she called it, suddenly launched a massive boulder into the building roaring the most with flames. The stone crashed through the wood and metal structure, causing its already weakened form to cave in on itself and send a massive cloud of ash into the sky. Already, more Vermillion moved to load up another stone to fire. As the wreckage of the building died to the flames, the tank turned to another.
"Time is wasting, daughter of Chen!" Machia laughed, "Come, and face your doom at my hands."
"Skylar?" Alacr asked nervously, the situation getting worse. Skylar gritted her teeth and lowered her face, sweat pouring down it from the heat of the flames and the fear inside of her. When she raised them, her eyes were filled with anger mirroring that of Nubit's gnashing of teeth.
"ATTACK!" Skylar shouted, "SHOW THESE VERMILLION WHAT WE TRIBES ARE MADE OUT OF!"
Skylar shot one hand out, forming a large sword made of stone. She flashed forward with speed, racing across the battlefield to bring the sword down against Machia. The commander calmly raised her battle axe with one hand to meet her strike. Skylar sent lightning up her hands and through the blade, directing it down into Machia's metal armor. Machia let out a hiss, but when the current stopped, she remained standing with a calm smile.
Alacr and the others let out a loud battle cry, racing forward towards the Vermillion. Without even moving, Machia ordered the formation to march straight towards the oncoming squad. Alacr sliced a Vermillion up the torso, but as it began to fall, the one behind him pushed him back upright. Alacr leapt backwards as it slashed at him in retaliation. Two gravity users caused one Vermillion to soar up into the sky, only for one Vermillion holding a crossbow to fire and strike one of them in the shoulder. An acid user attempted to burn through one of their armor, but when it didn't stop, the Vermillion ran them through. The acid user clutched at their chest, gagging out before collapsing to the floor.
In the settlement, two fire users, a water user and ice user were attempting to quell the raging flames. Seeing the destroyed building was a lost cause, the four moved to the next building. The ice user kicked the door open. A second later, he fell over, gurgling as a crossbow bolt was now sticking out of his neck. Several Vermillion exited the door, brandishing their blades towards the remaining three users. One of the fire users shouted in anger, forming a fiery shield and racing forward to try to avenge the fallen comrade. While he blocked one of them, the other Vermillion weren't as willing to let his two remaining allies come in time to help him. By the time the two reached him, he was already cut down.
Dorian slashed with her claw gauntlets down into one of the oncoming Vermillion, causing one to be slowed in time for a brief few seconds. She leapt out of the way as Alacr moved and struck the Vermillion through the head. Both of them backed away as a light user flashed the entire formation to stun them, letting the gravity user that was still standing attempt to pick them up again. Another rain of crossbow fire was blocked by Dorian slowing them in time with a massive whimper just long enough for everyone to scatter out of the way.
"I should mention," Machia added her other hand to her battle axe, suddenly doubling the pressure she put on Skylar's sword, "These Vermillion are from my personal selection. They're top notch warriors and won't stop for anything. They're nothing like the ones you've fought so far. I believe my scouts told me you had a total of twenty, yes? You're down to seventeen…" She paused, feeling from the other Vermillion the other fire user and his ally were gone, "Make that fifteen."
"Y-You!" Skylar threw her sword away and ducked under Machia's attack. Machia responded by bringing her metal armored foot up to kick her straight in the chest, sending her onto her back. As Skylar coughed from the impact, she summoned ice in her hands and shot it out to try to freeze Machia solid. Machia held her axe out in front of her to let it solidify, then smashed it onto the ground. The shattered crystals only reflected the orange light of the burning settlement.
"We've done our research on you," Machia calmly explained as Skylar got up, "It is impressive to see so many elements from one person. Yet it seems you lack the ability to go beyond a threshold when you're fighting. You're down to fourteen."
"Shut it!" Skylar focused, pouring mind energy into Machia. Machia blinked for a few moments, then swung her battle axe towards Skylar. Skylar, unprepared, threw her body to the side. With a clang, Skylar saw Nubit's spear above her, and a very enraged Nubit holding it up.
"SPEAR OF METAL!" Nubit shouted, turning her spear into solid metal and swinging it straight towards Machia. Machia readied her battle axe, the arc of the spear pushing her across the ground. She remained standing even as Nubit swung it all the way around and over her head down towards her with a scream. Machia reached up with her free hand, catching the spear in it. Nubit bent forward over the spear, coughing as it she attempted to wrench it free.
"Spear of metal? Such an unoriginal name…" Machia sighed, "But I suppose it is fitting, to an extent."
"Y-You!" Nubit screeched, "You murdered them! You murdered my people!"
Machia nodded, "I see. Do you wish to avenge them, then?"
Nubit didn't respond. Instead, she reached out with her metal power, trying to constrict Machia's armor casing from within. As soon as Machia felt this, she took her axe in her hand and swung it around. Nubit, her spear being held in what felt like a death grip by Machia, wasn't able to pull it away in time. The blunt edge of the axe struck her side, causing her to cough blood as she felt her bones cracking. She was flung hard off across the rocks until she came to a stop with a small crash.
"I suppose that means you're now at thirteen," Machia nodded, "But she isn't dead yet, so I suppose that I can say thirteen and a half."
"NUBIT!" Skylar quickly began to race towards her friend. As soon as she did, Machia's battle axe came down in front of her, smashing the ground and preventing her escape. Machia, now weaponless, gestured to the state of the battle.
Skylar shot her gaze there. The formation of Vermillion hadn't yet broken, and it looked like Alacr was leading the remaining members of her squad to retreat closer and closer to the carriages. If they got there, they could easily cut off their means of escape. Skylar shot her gaze back towards Machia. The Vermillion was outlined by the roar of the flames behind her and the corpses that littered the settlement. She placed her hands behind her back, and began walking forward towards Skylar.
"One that can't win their battles shouldn't be ready to interfere with others…" Machia raised her head, "Your opponent is me, Skylar."
Skylar gave a long growl of anger, then thrust one hand forward, unleashing a massive burst of wind. Snakes suddenly shot out of Machia's feet, biting down into the rocks underneath to steady her. Seeing this, Skylar ran forward, letting out a cry as she rushed Machia with a metal fist. Machia readied herself to defend. As soon as Skylar reached her, Skylar suddenly turned into smoke, soaring up and reforming behind her. She filled her fist with fire, bringing it straight towards the back of Machia's head.
Her fist was caught by Machia's own. Skylar felt the grip on her first increase to crushing levels. She let out a cry of pain, turning her foot metal and kicking Machia hard in the back to force her to let go. Machia held on, the snakes in the ground retreated to let her turn to face Skylar. Skylar responded by blasting first lightning, then fire, then sound waves and finally filling her fist with acid. Machia twisted Skylar's arm out, nearly breaking it to stop her.
"Your overwhelming force may work on a warrior, but I am their leader," Machia applied more pressure just to make Skylar scream, "You'll never be able to match up to me."
"L-Let go… Let go of me!" Skylar screamed, trying to pull her arm back. Machia just held on, giving her an evil look. She raised her other hand, the metal fitting coming off to let snakes pour out. They pointed towards Skylar, looking very hungry. Skylar attempted to turn into smoke, but as soon as she did, Machia just turned her arm until she heard a pop. The pain made Skylar loose her concentration to do so.
"You're down to ten," Machia grinned, "You should remember this night well, daughter of Chen. Remember the night that you were bested by Commander Machia! It will be your last memory!"
Suddenly, the pressure on Skylar's arm was gone. Alacr stopped just beyond where the two stood, his sword drawn. Machia's arm had been cut straight off, leaving the angry snakes hissing. Machia turned her face towards Alacr with a look of calm rage. Alacr reached out and grabbed Skylar's arm, flashing them both with speed and racing them away from her.
"We need to leave," Alacr demanded, "We have to get out of here. We're… we've lost too many."
"B-But… but the people…" Skylar gasped, "What about-"
There was a loud crash. The tank had fired again, taking out yet another building. As it collapsed, Skylar's eyes widened. The tank suddenly released a second volley to crush another. The only building left was what looked like a small trading post, and the flames had already begun the lick from its windows.
"If there was anyone… they're… they're gone now," Alacr grimaced, "We have to go… we can't stay. She'll slaughter us if we stay!"
"But… but the…" Skylar gasped, her mind flashing with regret, "...Nubit…"
"Ray got her," Alacr declared, "The others are ready to go. We have to leave before they destroy the carriages!"
Skylar looked around. Machia stood with that calm, unwavering smile, even as her arm began to stich itself back together by adding snakes to it. The large formation of Vermillion continued to go forward, pressing further and further onto her group. She could see the dead users everywhere, mingling with the corpses. As if knowing that there was no need to see if she was bluffing, Machia didn't even have the tank fire on the last building. Tears built up in Skylar's eyes as she dragged herself out of Alacr's embrace and nodded.
"Retreat... " Skylar whispered, then opened up her mind power, RETREAT!
Quickly, everyone began to load up the carriages, expecting this outcome. One of them was damaged from the fighting, but they didn't even need it now. Skylar climbed up onto one quickly, seeing that Nubit was in the back, Ray watching over her. Alacr swung Dorian up into the carriage and, with one last look of shame, the carriages fled the scene, leaving behind the flames, the death, and the smile of Machia that none that saw it would ever forget.
Acronix inhaled slowly as he looked across the battlefield. The Vermillion soldiers were long since broken apart, leaving only himself and the two soldiers from the group that had come with him. He hadn't expected to get into a fight, and upon seeing the overwhelming numbers, he'd been forced to pull his squad back. Several cuts on his body were bleeding, and he was panting from overuse of his elemental power. His breath was heaving, and he would have collapsed if there weren't others around to see him do it.
Of his squad of forty, he counted that twenty seven remained. It was a devastating loss. Almost a third of them were gone, and they'd barely managed to escape. They'd fled into the mountains of his tribe, taking refuge in a valley off the main path. He'd ordered them all to scatter once they were rested, each of them either fleeing to the Time Tribe, Summit, or some random direction in case the Vermillion were in pursuit.
"That… that one that called himself Blunck…" Acronix gasped, "He… he said that Skylar was under attack. We, we need to help them…" He stood up, coughing as he forced his hazy vision to come together.
"Sir," A female member of the Sound Tribe inhaled, "I'm detecting one more warrior is approaching from the south. They… don't seem like 'Vermillion,' however."
"I suppose… Harumi and Lloyd weren't lying saying they were called Vermillion... get ready then," Acronix raised his arm, summoning his Time Matrix and turning the clock hands to the left to summon slow-mo in his hands. He readied himself for battle as best he could.
The sound user and their partner, a member of the Nature Tribe, formed up around Acronix. The three looked towards the south, where the path they were on sloped down and to the right. As they watched, the air around them stilled. Acronix readied himself to throw a field to slow down the warrior so they could get a good look at who they were. He saw the faintest hint of a shadow starting to crest the corner, and he raised his arms up higher.
A flash of green in front of him caused the two soldiers to cry out and fall to the ground. Acronix stood, stunned, as he watched the two of them fall over, large gashes in their chests that bled onto the ground in front of them. Neither looked fatal, but certainly painful enough to keep them down. Acronix looked around quickly, his brain racing as to what he just saw.
"Show yourself!" Acronix shouted, "Face me like a true man!"
"Oh, brother… we both know you're the only benefiting from that."
Something struck Acronix directly in his lower back. Acronix shouted and collapsed onto his knees, his breath knocked from him. As he hit the ground, something struck him in the face, causing him to nearly fall backwards as he tried to get breath into his body. Once on the ground, a hand grabbed him by his chest plate and heaved him up. The world around him went green, and then he was suddenly against the rocky wall the figure had emerged from.
"All alone, you can't even put up a fight…" The voice sighed, "You truly are pathetic."
"N-No…" Acronix gasped, "Please… don't tell me you… you're…"
A face with black hair and a small mustache grinned down at the figure. He shared the same features of Acronix, right down to his eyes. The two looked nearly identical, their height, proportions, their noses, lips, cheeks, all of it. Yet painted around the eyes of the one holding Acronix were green flames that gave him a distinct image compared to his captive.
Krux grinned at his brother, "Oh, I am. Your little plan is about to become undone, brother…" He raised his hand up towards him. In the hand, he held a two pronged blade that crackled with green energy. Acronix stared at it in total confusion, "...Right after I have some fun."
Acronix focused. His Time Matrix appeared, and on it the hands started to turn. Almost immediately, Krux moved forward and jammed the two prongs around Acronix's arm. Acronix looked down, stunned, only for Krux to reach out and use the blade as a point of pressure as he savagely yanked the arm straight upwards.
The snapping of bone made Acronix cry out in utter pain. Krux grinned down at his brother as he feebly clutched at the broken limb. In his pain, the Time Matrix fizzled out. Krux gave one more laugh as he gripped Acronix's neck with his other hand and squeezed.
"Let's not go reliving our fun before we've had it now, shall we?" Krux raised his time blade, "After all, we have all the time in the world…"