AN: *dusts hands and whistles as she saunters off*

Chapter 23

"You are just too vain," Marta admonished as she used her comb to get goo out of Ratatosk's fur.

He looked down at her with a flick of his ears. "I have to have pride in something."

Lips pressing together, Marta tried her hardest not to laugh and failed to keep it down, her giggle bubbling up against her will. "You're prideful enough for half the world, Ratatosk."

"That's just self respect," he retorted.

She grinned, recognizing amusement in the set of his ears. "Uh huh," she grunted and returned to combing him. "You're just so fluffy. You'd make a wonderful pillow."

"I would keep you up," Ratatosk said dismissively. "You already complain that Emil twitches in his sleep. I don't sleep."

"You'd lay still for me," Marta retorted and leaned against him, burying her face in his soft fur, digging her fingers in deep to reach his skin and scratch.

He twitched his tails and squirmed. "That's not..." Ratatosk's ears folded down.

"Oh ho! I discovered your weakness!" Marta crowed.

"Really?" Alvin asked as he approached. "Do share?"

"Don't," Ratatosk warned. "Please?"

"He's ticklish," Marta announced.

"I will have my revenge," the Summon Spirit promised, looking incredibly displeased as Alvin blinked in surprise, then laughed a little.

Shaking his head, the tall brunet flicked his hand through his bangs. "Well, I'll leave you to that then, Lady Marta. Wouldn't want him getting mad at me too." He strode off quickly to find something else to do.

Marta sighed, smiling up at Ratatosk.

Lowering to all fours, the Summon Spirit gently nuzzled her cheek, tickling her with his whiskers.

"I love you," she said and kissed his nose.

"I have something of a fondness for you," he said, trying to sound haughty even as he leaned in to her scratching behind his ears, putting his forehead against her chest. "I find I have been contaminated with human thinking."

"Oh?"

"I wish to breed with you." He sighed. "Although that is perhaps not entirely possible."

"After we're married..." Marta said, flushing.

"It is not quite the same..." Ratatosk said. "As that is Emil. I found that I missed you those five years..."

Deciding to not mention Richter's company, Marta gently stroked Ratatosk's neck and laid her cheek against the top of his head. "Do you like being in the same body with Emil?" she asked.

"If it meant that I would get to be with you, I would put up with it. But that too is not entirely possible."

She shook her head, rubbing her cheek against his fur. "You don't know what'll happen in the future. Maybe we'll figure all this out and make it so you don't have to sit and watch the Gate all the time?"

Ratatosk didn't respond, though his tails twitched and one ear swiveled briefly.

Bringing his attention back to her, she dug her fingers through his fur to scratch beneath his jaws and felt him relax against her with a sigh. "Jude is in love with Milla Maxwell," she said, deciding to change the subject slightly. "He was asking me how I captured the heart of a Summon Spirit."

"Brute force," Ratatosk said.

She giggled. "Persistence was what I told him."

"Is this place sufficiently cleaned yet?" his tails twitched again. "We are wasting time."

"Looks like Emil and Ivar have claimed nearly all the monsters that were here," she said. The towns people that had fled to the woods had come trickling in, carried by monsters in some cases. Jude had healed those he could and was walking towards them, though his steps slowed when he realized the position Marta and Ratatosk were in. "Hello Jude," she greeted.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." Jude said as he continued closer.

Ratatosk turned his head slightly to look. "You are not. Is your task here complete?"

"As much as I reasonably can do," Jude said.

"Then we should go." Ratatosk lifted his head away from her and looked towards Emil as his other form approached. Whiskers and ears twitching, his form dissolved and collected around Emil's.

Looking down, Marta cleaned her comb absently as Emil and Ivar called the wyverns. Once he was mounted, Emil pulled her up in front of him. The town elder bowed politely to them.

"We will send our mana to Lord Ratatosk. May your mission be fulfilled."

Emil nodded. "Thank you. That will help greatly..." He looked to Ivar.

Ivar nudged his wyvern and launched into the sky. Judith quickly overtook him and circled above until Alvin's mount joined them and they turned south to head back towards the mountain.

"How did it go with Ivar?" Marta asked softly.

"I taught him how to make pacts with monsters and absorb them like I do," Emil said. "He's got something of an army started now... I'm tempted to call him a Knight of Ratatosk."

Marta giggled. "Just to make it a legitimate thing so that Tenebrae will quit teasing you about it?"

"That too."

She turned to look at him. "You like him?" she realized.

"Apparently there's more to him than the obnoxious side," Emil admitted. "This is his village and the people here honestly look to him for protection and help. He's still a flake, but... you can't fake being genuinely concerned for a child."

Smiling at him, Marta kissed his cheek and then gripped his arm when the wind suddenly changed direction, buffeting Judith upwards. The wyvern compensated only to get pushed sideways by another gust.

"We're going to have to land there," Ivar called over the rising wind and pointed at a ledge some distance below the peak of the mountain.

Emil nodded and guided Judith towards it. She nearly got blown straight into the wall and tucked her wings, dropping like a stone to land awkwardly on the ledge. Sliding out of the saddle, Emil caught Marta and absorbed Judith to clear the way. Ivar gestured for Alvin to land next. His wyvern wasn't nearly as graceful and smashed into the side of the wall below the ledge. Even as he scrambled and beat his wings, another gust of wind pushed him from below and he tumbled onto the ledge. The humans unbelted and sprang free, narrowly avoiding getting rolled on by the wyvern. Righting himself, Alvin's wyvern tucked against the wall and sulked.

Ivar's wyvern dived towards them, then snapped his wings out at the last second, then dropped like a rock to land on the ledge. He dismounted quickly and held his hand out, absorbing his wyvern's mana as soon as Aster had climbed off.

"That's pretty amazing," Jude said.

Turning a haughty look on the medic, Ivar said, "It's only an extension of my natural abilities to communicate with monsters." Turning his nose up, he started up the path towards the top of the mountain.

Jude shook his head and waited a second for Aster and Alvin to follow before falling in line with Emil and Marta. "Can Lord Ratatosk open a portal to the spirit world from here?"

"Yes. Though the barrier will be easier to penetrate from up there," Emil pointed towards the summit. "Wish we could have flown closer."

"Last time I was up here, I had to climb from the base all the way to the top. Multiple times," Jude said and smiled fondly, though his gaze slid towards something and his smile faded.

Marta looked, finding only a broken ledge above and the remains of a rock slide. Once again she was glad to have her twenty-one year old body back, since she was fairly sure the hike she was currently on would have wiped her out otherwise. Emil frequently had to pull her up or boost her over a ledge she was simply too short to reach the top of. Jude helped as well, and even though it only took half an hour to reach the top, she was filthy.

Sighing as she wiped at a smear of mud on her sleeve, Marta looked around the flattened crest of the mountain summit.

"Be careful," Jude said. "Don't go near the edges."

"You might fall off," Alvin added, though his voice sounded hollow.

Biting her lower lip, she stuck close to Emil. Ratatosk walked with purpose towards the highest point and stopped, grabbing Marta's hand, he put it on his belt. Gripping it, she stood behind him as he lifted a hand out, an ethereal wind whipping up around them. She could feel the mana in the air growing thicker as he absorbed and redefined it. A bolt of dark power shot from his palm and struck the air like a rock hitting the surface of a still pond. The air rippled, then unfurled like a lotus. Bright light blinded her and she squinted, peeking past Ratatosk's shoulder at the green field beyond.

He took her hand again and started forward, stepping into the spirit world.

...

Monster blood and viscous fluids from demons had churned what used to be a field into poisoned mud. Still more of the same liquid rained from the sky as flying monsters fought off the invading force of demons that forced their way through the Centurion barrier. The battle had already been going on for a day now and the monsters were losing ground against the invading force that didn't care how many losses it suffered.

Raine swallowed where she stood beside Richter, her grip tightening on the staff she held.

"I'm guessing you couldn't come up with another solution?" Richter asked blandly. Not that he was particularly hoping for another solution.

She shot a glare at him. "I'm still looking," she said firmly.

Shrugging, Richter started forward. Delaying joining the battle was senseless. Yuan had returned late in the night with a Cruxis crystal and assisted Richter in attaching it and taught him how to harvest mana with it. Already just the massive amount of monster deaths in the area was charging the crystal and making it burn warm against the skin just over his collarbone. The rattling of armor behind him reminded Richter that he wasn't alone in this. Regal had been unable to convince the remainder of his people to leave and shortly after Yuan had returned, the Tethe'allan army had arrived. As dawn broke, Richter had spotted people he recognized from the military division of the Vanguard arriving to join ranks. They were ill-equipped compared to the standing army of the king.

"You should say something," Raine suggested.

"Why? I'm not their leader." He shook his head and broke into a sprint, sweeping his axe and sword from their sheathes. He cut the head off a demon as he passed one in mid-fight with a monster. He stabbed another as it was going for the kill on a Fillifolia. Every footstep squelched in the mud, splattering up his pant legs. Raine's Photon spell flew past him, obliterating a demon that was coming to flank him even as he dispatched two more with a single sweep of his blade.

The soldiers shouted and charged into battle. Shouts turned to screams of pain as men and women quickly realized this fight wouldn't be easy as they thought.

Richter had the opportunity to glance back as he turned to chop vertically into a demon as it attacked him from behind. A human went down a short distance from him, the mana released from his body causing the Cruxis crystal to burn hotter against Richter's chest.

Raine slapped a demon aside with her staff and cast a Healing Circle on a knot of Vanguard that had grouped into a quartet to help defend each other. The soldiers were attempting to remain disciplined and stay in ranks, but the demons came at them from all sides and chaos soon took over.

A tortoise knocked him to the ground as it was thrown by a larger demon.

Mud clinging to his clothes and hair, Richter rolled to his feet and sprinted for the serpentine abyssal creature, leaping over it's tail lash to plunge his sword into the demon's chest.

Long neck arching, fangs sank into Richter's shoulder four times before he succeeded in killing the demon. Landing hard in the mud, Richter staggered to his feet and sprang for his next target. Three fire-based monsters were fighting together a short distance away. He leapt over one of the monsters and slid under the demon as it lunged, shoving his sword upwards and bisecting it. Black ichor splattered his face, stinging his eyes.

"Oh good," the familiar voice of Alice said cheerfully. "I was worried you wouldn't come!"

Blinking his eyes clear, Richter turned and finally spotted Alice. She had reverted to her half-elf form and sat primly atop another demon, Decus's human head cradled in her lap. She gently stroked his bangs away from his face and smiled coldly.

"So I didn't manage to kill you," Richter said.

"Like you could," Alice sneered. "You caught Dexy by surprise. But I'll make you pay for that." She tapped her finger against her cheek, pressing it into her dimple as she smiled. "I just wanted to let you know about the man I met yesterday," she said. "He seemed incredibly interesting, so I thought I'd help him out, you know." She flicked her yellow eyes back towards Richter. "He promised to give me some assistance in return."

An island of calm had opened up between him and Alice - and the demon she was riding. Other demons had taken to forming a ring to protect their leader, preventing monsters from getting close enough to attack.

"Richter!" Raine called and staggered to a stop beside him, her staff ready.

"Oh goody. I get to tell someone else!" Alice giggled. "I do love giving bad news, after all."

"What are you even after?" Raine demanded.

"Me?" Alice placed a hand on her chest as she straightened. "Oh my, I think that's the first time anyone has bothered to ask!" She leaned forward, her hand caressing Decus's slack-jawed cheek. "Originally I was just out to collect some mana to make certain changes in this timeline permanent. Now... Now I've decided that there's nothing worth saving in this world. I'll bring my Dexy back and then laugh as my new friends consume everything!"

Richter shook his head. "You can't bring him back."

"Oh, yes I can." Alice burst out laughing and lifted her hand high. "I just have to collect a little more mana and I'll have more than enough to do it! I'll start with you." She dropped her hand to point at Richter.

The demon she was riding slithered down, jaws flowering open into three fanged petals as it breathed noxious fumes at the two half-elves standing before it.

Raine backed away several steps but still was hit by the attack. Richter chose to run straight through it, wincing as his skin, eyes, and lungs burned. He felt an immediate nausea that steadily drained his strength as he dodged a tail-whip by the demon.

"Hyrraa!"

Claws sliced into the demon's side as Hawk sprang down from atop a passing flying monster. Landing in the mud and rolling, Hawk barely dodged getting bitten by the large demon.

Twisting as if in agony, Alice's mount sprouted arms, terminating in three claws. It stabbed the ground between Richter's knees as he slipped in the mud and landed on his back. Rolling away before the other demon's hand could come around, the half-elf was back on his feet and moving.

"Photon!" Raine cast her spell past Hawk as the human sliced up and down the demon's chest. He pressed his advantage too long, remaining well within the demon's reach to open several gaping wounds in its flesh between where the skeletal arms had sprouted.

The demon's long neck swiveled and the three fang encrusted petals of its mouth closed over Hawk's torso. Blood soaked down Hawk's pants. It lifted, shook its head, and slung the human out across the battlefield, striking a monster from the air.

Richter didn't have the chance to even look to see if Hawk was all right. The demon was already attacking again. He jumped to dive-roll over the striking tail and turned to sink both blades into the appendage as it switched directions.

Alice lifted Decus's severed head and smiled at his dead expression. "Only a little more, Dexy! Then you'll be back to normal!" she crooned and cuddled it to her chest. "I won't let bad things happen to you again."

"You've got to stop this!" Raine objected.

"Alice!" Brute called.

Richter looked back to see the man beating demons aside with his staff and charged into the cleared area before Alice and her mount.

"Healing Circle," Raine cast, lighting up the ground under Richter. He found he could breathe a little easier but still, his breath rattled in his throat even as he rushed in to make a pincer attack with Brute.

The demon swept Brute aside with one claw and turned to face Richter, biting at him as he sprang backwards to dodge, barely keeping his footing in the slippery mud.

Brute executed a blinding series of attacks against the demon's exposed back. It winced, distracted from Richter long enough for him to catch his balance and sink both blades into the demon's lower jaw.

Raine cast another attack spell that completely missed as the demon twisted its entire body out of the way.

Three Tethe'allan soldiers forced their way into the ring, distracting Richter at just the wrong moment when the demon's tail whipped around and caught him in the chest, slamming him into the ground and knocking the air from his lungs. He only saw stars until he felt Raine's healing spell take effect. Rolling to his feet, he was caught in the face by a flying body. The soldier's corpse bore him to the ground again, headless and limp. He shoved the man off and collected his sword and axe from where they had fallen to the mud.

Tail-slamming another soldier into the mud with a sickening crunch of bone and armor, the demon twisted away from Brute's staff attack and skewered the bald man with a long sharp claw, piercing him from neck to groin. He hung on the demon's appendage, limply attempting to beat at the demon's wrist with his staff.

Shaking its hand, the demon flung Brute off, tossing him aside to land in the mud outside the cleared circle.

"Lord Richter!" Aqua called as she appeared nearby. "The barrier is weakening! Something is draining it!"

Claws darting out with lightning reflexes, the demon snatched Aqua from the air and lifted her up for Alice to look at. "Go away, stupid Centurion," the demon-girl hissed. Her mount squeezed.

Screaming, Aqua thrashed in the demon's grip.

Infuriated, Richter launched into an attack, leaping up to slice at the demon's elbow, severing it and releasing Aqua. "Get out of here," he shouted at her.

She immediately disappeared, a look of horror on her face.

The stump of the demon's arm shook and bubbled, suddenly bursting out into an elongated spike that shot past Richter as he dodged aside. Leaping up, he took aim for the demon's head, but his splitting slice missed as his foe dodged back. Raine rushed past as he landed.

Richter looked up to call to her to get back, only to find her hanging from the demon's new arm-spike, legs dangling limp as her hands clutched where it had pierced her stomach.

"This should do it," Alice lifted Decus's head from her lap and placed it against the demon's flesh. She flicked her yellow gaze towards Richter with a smile. "Maybe I'll let Dexy kill you himself. Seems only fair."

Writhing, the demon slung Raine around like a rag doll as Decus's head was absorbed into its body. Suddenly it lunged forward, clamping its jaws around Raine's torso, just missing catching her head. She screamed in horror and pain as it jerked sideways and shredded her arm from her body. Its second bite got a better hold and pulled her off its spike arm, throwing her into the mud and slithered over top of her to advance upon Richter.

"Dexy?" Alice crooned, petting the demon. "Can you hear me?"

"A-alicee? Mmy..."

"Yes, Dexy, it's me. How are you feeling?" Alice laid her cheek against the demon's flesh and stroked.

"Cold..."

"It's all right. You'll get over that soon. Look. There's Richter. Kill him for me?"

"Yes my love," Decus's voice came stronger, emitting from the unfurled, bloody maw of the demon's head. It shook itself, twisting forms again to exchange its spike-arm for something that looked more like a sword.

Richter fell into a stance just as the the barrier flickered, brightened, then died.

A blast of cold air leveled everything to the mud.