"They've definitely spotted us by now."

Cter looked over the quietly gliding feathers of the large, extended wing that was blocking her sight down towards the far-off ground. On the road towards Hjearta, about a few hours march away from Jarasevo, was the unmistakable silhouette of a military convoy. She could see that there were flags, but if they were flying the Hjearta or Xoff colors was impossible to discern from the distance. Which colors that were flown wasn't important though.

That they were flown to begin with was all that mattered.

"A thousand, I'd estimate," the Griffon Commander said after some difficult peering through the thin overcast. "Assuming that there are more in the forest that we can't see yet." His wing beats changed rhythm, becoming less smooth and lifting him and his Monster Mage passenger up with less finesse.

Cter could not see his face, but she could see how the wind carried around the feathers on his head with more turbulence, same with her hair. His magic was losing focus. "I know the scout reports were true when I heard them, but seeing them this close to Jarasevo..." A wing beat was stopped in the midst of its flap, jerking the Griffon Commander's body. "Whatever explanation they have I doubt it will explain anything, if not less. To go against the agreement between the two kings will only make things worse. Can't they understand that?"

Cter was at a loss of reason as well as to why the humans would attack Jarasevo. Same as how they managed to as well. They shouldn't have been able to move that quickly. There had not been any monster scouts that told of this smaller human force moving with such speed.

Even considering that it took them a few days to reach the convoy of the Monster Army, Aajja and his two highest subordinates could move much, much faster than even the smallest squad of armor-clad humans. Even on horses it would have been slower than what Aajja could manage. He had been flying faster than he had been when he was bringing Cter back to Jarasevo Castle too.

So how could a thousand humans reach the Monster Capital almost at the same time as the three Monster Mages did? Were they really a few hours of marching away from Jarasevo? How long did the Monster Mages have until they would have to protect the walls of the city?

"Focus, Cter," the Griffon Commander told her with his head turned to face her. The turbulence of her aura must have overcome the turbulence of the wind for him to have noticed it. "The enemy is soon at our gates. We need to prepare the Royal Guards for the attack." There was experience in his eyes and voice, something that Cter lacked completely.

She had enjoyed touring the walls and the garrisons, but to her it had been primarily to witness the commerce through the busy gates to try and guess which transport brought which type of goods, and if she could guess better by looking at the monster driving the carriage. She had stood on top of those walls looking at the landscape and the forest in the far distance with a further understanding about the ice transports not passing through Jarasevo due to the busyness of business, and not with thoughts about how to defend it should any human attack arrive.

Because never would one come! Never!

Yet there, one was, emerging more and more from the forest a few hours march away from the gates of the Monster Capital. More and more humans stepped into the overcast-dimmed light. Between each spot of thicker overcast which Aajja sailed over the formation of marching humans grew, with more and more flags of impossible-to-see colors.

"A siege..." Cter heard Aajja say under his breath. Before she could ask what he meant she saw her answer. Two trees had been felled from the edge of the forest, with two others being worked on.

"They're bringing down lumber for a siege! I've seen it before when they were planning on taking on some of the bigger monster villages with garrisons of their own. Taking on Jarasevo will require much, much more than they have ever had to do in this war though." The Griffon Commander threw a hard beat of his wings, dispersing a thin cloud just underneath him. "Are they going to bring down the entire forest if necessary?"

Cter could feel in Aajja's aura that he wanted for nothing more but to swoop down towards the humans. She couldn't have him do so. Not only due to her being on his back, with her presence there being the strongest of the few reasons he hadn't yet done so, but because if he did, Cter would not know what to do. She shouldn't be on Aajja's back.

It was something for Kry to lead on, not her. She needed to coordinate with her colleagues. "Land us at the gate garrison, Aajja," she asked the Griffon Commander with as much authority as she could manage. "We'll plan things from there!"

A few arrhythmical wing beats passed by before the Griffon Commander nodded. He turned around reluctantly, and began descending down towards the lonely Monster Capital standing without any Monster Royals to protect it. The Monster Mages would have to suffice.

They would have to protect monsterkind in Jarasevo while the Monster Royals did so in the Final Battle!

It must have been a mighty sight for the hurriedly armored Royal Guards that met the three griffons landing together on top of the gate rampart leading into Jarasevo. Three of the widest wingspans in the entire Royal Guard descending majestically to deliver the three Monster Mages from the heavens. Cter dismounted first with Aajja leaning down to help her.

The Griffon Commander then perched himself on top of the wall sitting down like a statue, waiting patiently for new orders. His subordinates followed soon after they had finished delivering their respective Monster Mage. Kurant managed her demount on her own with her left leg covered with dense stasis magic. There was still strain on her expression, but she could manage it.

She had to.

"Our first priority is the safety of the people!" began Kry with one arm gesturing toward the sparsely prepared Royal Guards and his other towards the Monster Mages and the griffons. "The enemy is closing in so time is of the essence." He pointed specifically towards one of the Royal Guards that hadn't managed to put on her armor onto her snake-like body. "Head across to the other side of the town and secure the gates over there."

Then he pointed towards the griffon that had carried him the last two days. "Evacuate the farmers and bring them inside the gates before they close. Carry those that don't make it over the walls." His griffon nodded and took off with a mighty jump, with the winds from the strong jump fanning Kry's robes violently. His steely eyes behind his glasses did not flinch though.

They were in complete focus, same as his soul. Seeing him take command so quickly and so direct gave Cter hope for the Final Battle. If Kry was channeling King Asgore then the monsters would have a chance.

Kurant's griffon was ordered to muster the castle, and to bring the remaining Royal Guards stationed there to the walls. "Queen Toriel will have gone into hiding already so do not look for her. Let the Royal Guards know that she is safe!" Kry was met with a deep bow before the second griffon leaped into the air, casting the First Monster Mage's robes into a deep gust once again, yet still he did not blink behind his golden glasses.

Aajja he addressed last, standing in front of the well-dressed Griffon Commander with a respect of the monster's accomplishments, but in need of his compliance. "Bring the monsters outside the gates within them, commander."

Aajja bent his head in acknowledgment. "Will do, Monster Mage."

As Cter opened her eyes after the gust from Aajja's winged leap settled she saw him speeding over to the village between Jarasevo and the forest in the distance. There were monsters starting to collect on the road, with some beginning to walk towards the capital.

"Sound the horns!"

A deep and loud roar filled the Monster Capital, leaving an eerie silence that was quieter than Cter had ever heard before. Looking into the Monster Capital there was an air of sickly gray within it. A fog of uncertainty and fear roamed the emptying streets, coming together in a frightened zeitgeist that was shared by all monsters in the large city. Cter wondered if the humans could feel it too.

If they could sense in their souls the fear that their sudden, hostile presence had invoked then the monsters at the small village would have been able to feel it once they got close enough, assuming they didn't already feel it all the way from their small village. Aajja had almost reached it, and seeing him and hearing his warning screech, those that hadn't already began hurrying back to Jarasevo began their journey to safety.

There was work to be done before they would be safe within the gates though.

"Cter, Kurant," said Kry with a rough gruff to his voice. He raised his sleeved arm in front of him. "We three will be the bulwark for the monsters here in Jarasevo. Us three will have to do home what the entire Monster Army will have to do away. We have an entire city to protect, and an entire people to save." His eyes blinked at Cter from behind the gold rim. "How much magic can you give us, Cter?"

Give magic? "How do you mean?" The Fourth Monster Mage reacted with a slight flinch, moving her left arm behind her back and inside of her robe. She did it without thought, but the motion looked to be full of it. "Why do you need mine? Can't you–"

"Barrier magic," Kurant chimed in with a hand on Cter's left shoulder but with her eyes facing Kry. "Barrier magic to reinforce the gates and walls, right?" Below the rampart there were Royal Guards gathering at the main gate. "The more you can give us and still be able to use it yourself the better we will be able to protect Jarasevo. Give it to us to use and we'll be able to shore up the other gates as well and not just this main one."

Cter understood that, but could she give her colleagues enough of it for their given barrier magic to be of the use that they wanted? She had always given magic to others for fun. It had always been temporary and for just the moment too, and if the humans were chopping down lumber to use as siege engines then what she had to give to her colleagues would have to be for much longer than just a fun moment.

It was a great deal of magic she would have to part ways with and give over to Kry and Kurant not only safely, but deeply as well since it was a complex type of magic that they needed to use immediately at full power.

"Could it help that this is a very specific scenario?" offered Kurant after seeing and feeling Cter's aura retract inwards in thought. "Same as the Conduits, but instead of the auras coming together as one it is your gifted magic instead? Kry and I use magic differently, but if you were to..."

Her words trailed off as she caught a glimpse of the stoic stance Kry stood in while surveying the landscape outside the city gates. He surveyed the enclosing humans closing in from the far away forest which treeline had begun changing noticeably. His eyes then wandered closer.

It only took a glance at the hurrying monster villages evacuating from the encroaching humans for his eyes to disappear within the reflection of the sun peeking out behind a thinning cloud. The reflection was then briefly shadowed by the wide wingspan of Aajja passing over the nearby monster village. There was anger within Kry's eyes. "Do to us what the First Fusion did to you, Cter."

Determined anger. "Impose your magic onto us so that we might be able to protect the monsters in this capital." He presented his left arm with a forceful tug of his purple sleeve to reveal the full length of the magical lines that he had been gifted from the Monster King.

Cter's flinch became a full startle, with her turning the left side of her body away from Kry's tense sleeve glowing with an anxious rhythm to it. Was that the only way? Was it the only way for her to give her colleagues enough magic to become powerful enough to save the Monster Capital? There had to be another way, surely, right?

Kry and Kurant had plenty of memories that Cter could utilize. They had plenty of magical reserves owing to their connection to the Monster Royals. Surely there was another way. Surely there was another way for her to give them what they needed without having to resort to...becoming a fusion herself!

S-She gav-ve Sarbor enough magic to protect himself from the First Fusion by linking it with his memories of Idyll which Cter also shared, so it was just a question of finding the strongest memory between Cter and Kry and Kurant for them two to be able to wield the barrier magic with enough skill to the humans' attacks, r-right?

She herself was able to block attacks almost absentmindedly when she dismounted from the carriage that took her from Soul's School to the glade with the two kings, so factoring in that Kry and Kurant were going to be focused when using it surely it would be more powerful, surely?

Surely, surely, surely!

No, Cter was not sure at all! She had on idea! She did not–

"Cter," said Kurant with a soft, but firm, voice with an accompanying squeeze on Cter's shoulder. "Do what you feel is the best." She made a poor job of hiding that she was just as afraid as Cter was about it all. Just as afraid as Kry was as well. His left arm he could not keep steady in the slightest.

There were plenty of memories flush within him, primarily from that of the Noitaidarr Trial where he burned his sleeve to speak as a human and not a monster. He was anticipating the same pain of being disconnected from King Asgore, yet he was willing to make that sacrifice if it meant that he would be able to save more monsters. He knew that monsterkind was the priority, and not him.

Nor Kurant.

Nor Cter.

"I do not know how it will be," sighed Cter to try and relax herself. With her quivering right hand she began to pull at the fingers on her sleeve, loosening it up enough for her to pull it off her arm. The white glow of her White Flesh swirled like dense, viscous smoke, with only the surrounding barrier magic keeping the shape of her left forearm and hand.

The pressure from her squeezing a fist was even more distant a feeling to her compared to with her sleeve, as without its leathery friction there was only the feeling of her barrier magic interacting with itself. She could have balled her fist into a formless clump for all she really knew. "And I would like to try and give you it normally before we have to resort to something more..." The swirls of Cter's White Flesh turned into each other. "Drastic."

Kry shook his head. "You know already that you have to resort to the drastic." He said it relatively calmly, considering. "It won't be enough for you to just give us your barrier magic. I know the limitations of you giving or gifting others magic, be they human or monster. More importantly is that you know those limitations as well. This is not a matter of us helping you to use your magic on a wider basis. This needs to be you forcing us to learn, Cter. Same as you did to Doctor Fech when–"

"Kry!"

Kurant's yell was met with a sideways glance and a slight fold to the dark forehead as her harsh, piercing look dug deep within him to chastise. It was too late though.

"I gave...Sarbor?"

Cter's aura had already turned into solid ice.

A small cloud followed with Kry's heaving exhale, and the reflecting shine of his glasses were replaced by a thin shimmer of frost. "Doctor Fech is capable of the magic that you gave him when the First Fusion was formed." He looked down to not meet the terror in Cter's forest-green eyes and the pale of her skin that became as white as the fur of the Monster Royals. The cold in her aura spread over to his as well, and while he still believed that it was necessary, he found it also necessary to tell her what he promised not to.

"Kry, we've gone over this," protested Kurant with a desperate wave of her hand. "We can't tell her. Even if she knows that there is something she can't know we still can't tell her. We promised–"

"We promised one who is the enemy right now, Kurant." Kry pointed over towards the humans in the distance with a whip of his arm, with his robe sleeves settling like tugged-back flags. "One that might be marching towards us right now as we speak!"

"We promised Frioke!" the Second Monster Mage corrected with a purple trail following her arcing slash before her. "She doesn't need to know, especially not now. You can't expect her to do what you want her to do if you tell her!"

A meek whisper found its way between the two arguing Monster Mages. "W...What did I give Sarbor?" They both turned to the fourth one who's soul had dropped like a rucksack of a back after a thousand mile march. "What...did I..." Somewhere within her soul she already knew, with the rest of it that tried its all to desperately keep it away from her. "I..."

"When you shielded Sarbor fro–"

"Kry!"

"That he still can u–"

"Stop!"

"Still to this da–"

"Shut it!"

"Barbeqa will fight the humans."

Kurant's confronting expression changed to that of a mix between sudden shock and growing realization. "W-W-What?" Hers was different from Kry's, who held his neutral expression together by pinching at the arm of his golden glasses.

"She will fight the humans should they break through into the castle," Kry explained further, taking no joy in it whatsoever.

"Because if they have reached the castle they have managed through us. They have managed through you, and you will not back down, for if they get through you they will get to Barbeqa. We can't trust the humans to accept surrender for clearly those that are here do not care for concessions made in war. They have gone against the King of Xoff by being here, so why would they accept our surrender?"

Daggers flashed through the lenses as Kry again checked on the progress outside Jarasevo's main gate. "And even if they did you would not be able to tell Barbeqa to surrender should the humans implore you to do so to spare her life. If you did, then she would not listen. She barely treats those that she serves with respect, so why would she anyone that dares threaten you?"

Kurant...couldn't say anything. She couldn't… "No, she would..." She… "Dammit..." The stasis magic around her knee brace faded, and she would have collapsed with all her weight onto it had Kry not managed to catch her with his long arm under her shoulder. "Goddammit," was pushed through gritted teeth. "Why did you have to bring her in, Kry? That's unfair!"

"Look." The First Monster Mage turned the Second Monster Mage to face fully what was happening outside the gates of the Monster Capital. "Monsters, fleeing. Humans, pursuing. This was has been all but fair, from its conception to this moment right now and right here. The only semblance of fair is far away in the Final Battle, and even that is probably tainted by the humans attacking us here as well." He lifted up Kurant so that she could stand at her full length.

"It is us three against the humans, and for that we need to work as one. We need to be as one. If they fear the power of the Fusion we will make that fear come true for them now that they have come looking for it. We were content with them being afraid of us as a proxy of the Fusion, but if they are here to force our hand then we will bring them the fear that they so much want. We will remind them
by force that the power of a Fusion is different from that of a Fusion."

Kry looked hard to his colleagues.

"We will show them that it can be harnessed. That it can be used, and that it is the monsters that can do so. We shall remind them that it is us monsters that know magic best. That it is us monsters that can wield it, even if it is the power of a Fusion."

Kurant did not push back when Kry turned her and himself back to face Cter. She did not stop him from looking into Cter's eyes with peering intent.

"Cter..."

And she did not stop him from speaking.

"Sarbor knows magic."

From telling Cter what she shouldn't know.

"The magic you gave him when the First Fusion came to be."