Chapter Twenty-Two

Devona felt herself yanked from the nightmare world around her, and back to the reality of which she was considerably more familiar. The Seer in front of her reared back and howled, at its side, an assassin in Vanguard armor had driven her daggers deep into the floating monster's side, torrents of thick black ichor spurting from the wounds, momentarily forcing Yue back with a hiss as the acidic "blood" ate through her armor and clothing.

The Seer then became aware of its gross miscalculation. In focusing its efforts on Devona, it neglected its control on the Charr Shamans and their forces. And once the pressure to join and continue the fight was lost, they did what most beings did when suddenly faced with a fight or flight situation such as this one.

They ran.

And this allowed for further support to come to Devona's aid. A hail of meteorites crashed from the sky; the combined efforts of Cynn and Vekk, searing the Seer's flesh with its heat, and pounding the floating body with concussive shockwaves as the heaven borne chunks of rock struck the earth.

But even as Devona felt the Seer's gripping paralysis leave her, she couldn't stir the energy to move, or do anything more than collapse to her knees. Fortunately, a pair of arms caught her before she could completely fall over. She was only barely aware of the embrace, or of the calming, worried voice attempting to reach her ears.

The Seer writhed as more of her allies joined the assault, and in short order, the monster collapsed lifeless, one of its grotesque four arms reaching out in Devona's direction, and it uttered one last sinister threat.

"You merely delay the inevitable, livestock. Soon, my master shall rise and feast upon you as was intended from before the rise of your oldest kingdoms… human… Charr… Asura… Norn… all that live, all that die… are only destined to be food…"

Finally, with the Seer's death, did Devona find she could focus on something else. She was turned to face Coran, who had not surprisingly been the one to catch her as she fell… but even though he was staring her in the face, alive and well (save for a handful of scratches that were to be expected from combat), the image of his mutilated body transposed itself upon her eyes… whether it was a circumstance of her own treasonous mind or lingering effects of the Seer's psychological attack wasn't entirely clear.

"Devona, dearest… please… say something." Coran pleaded, the worry in his voice thick.

She blinked rapidly, trying to force the waking nightmare from her mind, and succeeding to the point where she could actually see the prince's face as it was. Her mouth opened, but her throat and cheeks felt sickeningly dry… unable to even force words.

Tentatively, the warrior's hand crept up to Coran's chin, and once satisfied that she felt living flesh under her fingers, broke down. Trembling violently, Devona crumpled into the paragon's embrace, her sobs shaking the prince's body and her crying shaking his soul.

Gwen herself was astonished, only able to imagine what only Devona saw to reduce the seemingly invincible warrior to tears.

"I… couldn't do anything…" Devona finally croaked. "I couldn't move… couldn't talk… and that thing… what it did to me and showed me…"

Coran didn't reply with words, only tightened his embrace and kissed her forehead, smacking his lips silently when he realized how profusely Devona was sweating. Then, with a voice barely above a whisper, began issuing orders. "Norrit, secure the perimeter."

Pyre offered, "My clan will assist with that." Even the unflappable Charr looked rattled. He knew Devona as well as a Charr could understand a human. He knew her unbreakable courage and iron determination. She was no damsel in distress. She was not your run of the mill, weak-minded female. Whatever shattered her composure to that degree was not something he ever wanted to encounter. No, whatever it was, he wanted to be as far away from this hole as possible.

"Good idea." Coran handed his communications box to the Charr chief. "You all know what the Charr Shaman and their forces look like now. If you see any, kill on sight. If you locate another Seer, inform all units, and then eliminate it will all predjudice."

He then turned his head towards the excavation site, and continued, "Vekk, once the perimeter is secure, call in research and scanning krewes to examine this dig. I want to know all we can about what this Seer was trying to find."

Vekk nodded, unsure of what he could say. The stories of the bookahs said that the monsters could make you face your greatest fears, steal the very hope from your soul, and leave you begging for death. Maybe it wasn't entirely accurate, but it was close enough for the Asura's tastes. He felt rather guilty that he didn't mention such before, deeming it "unreliable information." He grabbed his own communications unit and started walking away relaying the Headmaster's order.

Finally, Coran addressed Devona's guildmates. "Once everything else is secure, we will return to Atal Ra." To the warrior herself, who was still shuddering even though her eyes had gone dry, he said, "As for you, dear one, just rest for now. You're safe and among friends. We'll get you somewhere comfortable as soon as we can."

But how could honestly he promise that… when once again, he failed her when it truly mattered?