.: A little bit of a quick turnaround with this update. Can't say I'll do the same for the next. Things are getting messy (as they should) and I need a little bit of time to construct it accordingly. Here is the second phase of many. It's a little bit straightforward, but that's fine. I somehow managed to create the opposite of Luffy without that being the goal. I still hope it's enjoyable! I pulled some lore from Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it happen and I love the result for the sake of continuity. Also, sorry for the gore, but it's war. It's gonna happen one way or another. :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 56:

The Wolf Woman: Goddess

His Haki was overwhelmed by the number of people suffering injuries or dying. That applied to both sides of the conflict. There was a jumble of bodies at the epicenter, and they started crossing to the opposite side. Marines on horseback and on foot penetrated the vanguard, surrounding themselves but fighting and going for the kill the whole time. Lun'aecho warriors and minks did the same with the Marines; their Haki helped protect them and prepare for incoming attacks. The only ones abandoned were the slaves. They were dying quickly or begging to be spared as they refused to fight. Like a stream flowing past stones, the Lun'aecho and minks avoided them as much as possible.

As the rearguard moved forward to begin that second wave, their bows were raised for a second aerial strike. The only thing preventing them was the eagle devil fruit user dragging Cherokee over their heads. Her blood dripped onto them as she fought to be released. Despite Lakota's inability to direct his medical team in the moment, he focused on what was happening to her. Ravenna felt him stiffen. What could they possibly do to help? She reached around to rest a comforting hand on top of his. "We need to go to her," she advised.

He nodded in agreement and tried to guess what the bird man's plan was. He had not changed direction at all and was about to pass over their heads. Even with Cherokee possibly coating her club in Armament Haki as she repeatedly whacked him, it did not seem to bother him. It would have been awful to let a Marine fly into the forest when the battle just started. Lakota summoned his vulture demon to sprout wings from his arms. If he had to take to the sky and fight off the bird man himself, then he would not hesitate.

But that was when he noticed the slight veer in direction. It was toward the left. His white underbelly showed more for the briefest of seconds. Now Lakota had to figure out why. Her club did not strike with the timing of it, so it was not her doing. There was also no sign of her witchdoctor yet. He had to guess it was only the bird man's decision. As for why, Lakota simply turned his head to his right to see the mountain. Vegetation covered its foundation, but the rest was bare, jagged rock.

Lakota's pupils dilated and his breath stifled in his windpipe. His mind saw the eagle going for the mountain at full speed only to rear his feet to have Cherokee hit first. He was going to crush her!

He yanked his bison's reins suddenly to start galloping toward the mountain. "Keekee!" he called out, praying she still had her transpondance curse. "Coat your body in Armament Haki! He's going to kill you!" His turned back toward the battle going on. The tall creatures lined in front of the giants had orange light flicker sporadically, and then an explosion would go off a couple seconds later in the vanguard. It did not matter if anyone was injured from it because people were still blown off their feet.

Thankfully, the warriors and minks with bird demons were still midflight. No cannon fire had grounded them. "All aerial units, target the eagle!" Lakota ordered. "He's about to take out Cherokee."

They all circled their direction toward him. Satisfied, he glanced over his shoulder to see the entire medical team was following him. He ordered a quarter of them to help the injured in the vanguard by transporting them back to the forest, including any slaves they managed to find. Most of them were ordered to stay back and wait for more orders. Only four healers accompanied him. Together they all galloped for a rescue mission, shooting arrows to try bringing him down.

Taking heed to Lakota's warning, Cherokee tried to summon her witchdoctor. She noticed the mountain looming and knew she would rather fall and be hurt than get mangled. She felt a new hand grab the handle of her club and looked to see the old woman struggling to maintain her form. Being jostled around and fighting against the wind pressure was hindering her ability to curse the bird man. There was not enough time to succeed, though. The bird man suddenly hooked his flight, intensifying the pain in her shoulder. She yelped as her vision saw nothing but gray rock. The witchdoctor vanished.

"NO!" Lakota shrieked. It was worse than he anticipated.

While flying parallel to the mountain, the eagle dragged Cherokee across the width to tear her to shreds. Loose sediment dislodged and crumbled away. Little did he know that Haki was barely protecting her from it all. She still felt crushed from the force. Her tattered headdress plunged, and she purposely let go of the club. With her teeth grinding and eyes bulging, she screamed with rage and gripped his leg with a blackened fist. If she could not rely on her powers, then she had to take matters into her own hands.

The feeling of his ankle getting compressed by someone who was supposed to be dead by now startled the Marine. She made it worse by wrenching it in an unnatural direction to break the bone. He squawked and pulled away from the mountain. When his talons pulled apart, her body ripped more. His grip released. Blood poured as Cherokee fell.

Fear drove Lakota, leaving no room for relief. His Observation Haki told him exactly where she was as she lay motionless with an erratic heartbeat. Their bison burst onto the scene before a pool of blood had a chance to drown the grass underneath her. A couple nurses, a healer, and a doctor all hurried to her. When Ravenna helped Lakota off, they looked up in terror to see the eagle man had returned. But right when he was about to swoop down to pick off a new victim, the demon wielders swarmed him. The confusion left him flapping away as they refused to let him off the hook.

By the time Lakota was by Cherokee's side, he already knew her condition was bad. Her breath was ragged. Someone carefully moved her damaged right arm to straighten it, but it was obvious that it was irreparable. His stomach knotted from seeing the fragile ligaments hold it together through the torn sleeve that was soaked in blood. The white of her humerus was exposed. Her rotator cuff was speared through. "Cherokee's down," he communicated before pulling the mask from his face.

Everyone on the battlefield reacted with shock from the news. One of their leaders was gone in the blink of an eye. When the rearguard shot their arrows, they lowered their bows with downcast gazes. A whole storm cloud of arrows rained over the Marines, taking out a considerable amount, but they barely acknowledged the feat. Kiyaya squeezed her eyes shut to try maintaining her composure. She could hear the devastation in Lakota's voice when he said that. Although she was unsure of her condition, she was just glad he was there with her. It hurt too much to think they were losing her this early.

A hand rested on her shoulder for a moment until he passed by. Quintus did not have time to grieve. He brought his entire tribe here to lend aid to the Lun'aecho people. If they no longer had a leader to look up to, then he would take the mantle for her. "Keep going!" he urged everybody. "Remember the plan!"

When a Marine approached him head-on with a horse carrying him and a sword in hand, Quintus easily slug him off with a palm of electro and pancaked him to the ground. His horse was set free as it continued without him.

"Try to not kill the horses. Avoid and protect the slaves! Send them to the safety of the mountains. This isn't their war."

The platypus mink looked back up after neutralizing the Marine. They had planned for the giants, but those elephants needed to be dealt with just as bad. He counted twenty-five of them. Their backs had a small regiment stationed on them with more than one cannon being loaded at a time. They reached a far distance compared to the mortars that had been wheeled throughout the battlefield.

"Rodencia," he spoke calmly as he picked up the pace to go support the vanguard.

"Copy," she responded, out of breath as she fought deep in a pocket of the enemy.

"You-gara are in charge of the rearguard now. Deploy the Sulong Operation when you're ready. We need those elephants out of the way."

"Roger that," she confidently accepted. "There are eight giants and twelve of us cursed to deal with them. Whoever you-teia are with that mission, activate your curses when we deploy and do not fight fairly."

"Right!" the recipients answered.

"Please, Cherokee," she continued. "Wherever you-teia are – whatever it is you're dealing with – please, just hold on. We couldn't fight today without your powers. I know you! You wouldn't die on us that easily!"

The Chieftain listened as she remained unmoving. Blinking caused a pair of tears to roll down to her ears. She kept her eyes on Lakota as she was requested to try moving her fingers. When there was no physical movement in response, the mink doctor made a heart wrenching decision. "We have to amputate it."

Hearing that scared her. She saw tools unroll and the nurses cut her shirt away. Lakota's heart broke, but he kept his focus on her. She tried pulling away when the saw entered the picture. "Stay still," he nervously cautioned her.

"No!" she defied with desperation. "You can't take my arm! Please don't do it!"

He pulled her head into his lap and gently tried to keep her from looking. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

She felt people hold her arm still, unable to feel anything below the top fraction of it. Panic came out in the form of sobs as she begged for mercy. A Lun'aecho healer forced her jaws apart to insert a rolled cloth so she could bite down on it. And she fought all the way until the pain increased to the point where it paralyzed her.

Lakota shielded her eyes and looked away himself as the sound of her limb being sawed away scratched his ear canals. It made him sick to his stomach.

Her muffled screams were heard throughout their army, troubling them all. Some were tempted to deface their curses to be free of it altogether. But they tapered as she started to black out. Lakota watched her eyes want to roll back as she came in and out of consciousness. Her body was experiencing so much trauma that it fought to protect her against her will.

Finally, after a couple minutes, the sawing stopped. Ravenna helped secure a tourniquet around the new stump as the nurses wrapped the detached limb. Lakota pulled the cloth from her teeth and brushed through her loosely braided black hair to comfort her. The difficult part was over. Her hazy eyesight eventually cleared up as she regained consciousness. When she looked up at Lakota's face, all she saw was worry.

Once that injury was dressed, the nurses gently rolled her onto her side to start tending to her shoulder. Lakota held her still, even when she tried push off him. "Stay still, Keekee," he soothed.

More pain radiated from her shoulder as they worked to stop the bleeding. She had had enough. She started to get belligerent with legs kicking and her remaining arm pushing to free herself. Ravenna and the healer had to help hold her down. "Let me go," she demanded with frustration. "I need to go back. They need me."

Lakota stayed strong and tried to be sympathetic. "Shhh. You're going to worsen your injuries if you don't stop."

"They need me!" she repeated. Her witchdoctor materialized next to Lakota. It was like she had asked for help to be freed.

To keep her from making a rash decision, Lakota gently held the witchdoctor's hand out of pure instinct. She visibly reacted with her wrinkled face looking a little bit disgusted. Nobody had ever reached out to her before because she was merely an extension of someone else. But that was exactly why Lakota reached out to her; if Cherokee would not listen to him, then maybe the being who shared her psyche would.

"You've already done your part," he tried reasoning. "You did it the best you could. But didn't you hear Quintus and Rodencia? They can adjust to your absence. It's going to be fine, Keekee. You don't have to shoulder the burden all by yourself anymore. You can rely on them."

She slowly stopped struggling for once.

"He's right, Cherokee," Rodencia bolstered, having heard him in the background. "We're here for your people. They're in good hands. Just stay alive."

Her lip curled and she tried to sniff back her snotty nose, but all it did was make her gut jerk with more sobs. She started to cry again. She had never felt this defeated, stressed, or afflicted in her entire life. In fact, she had never lost complete control of her life before now. Now she was missing an entire limb and was too wounded to finish the battle. To bring her tribe to this crossroads between death and victory and not be suffering alongside them felt like she was betraying them. She had abandoned them all.

When her shoulder was patched up, she was carefully rolled onto her back again. Lakota held the sides of her painted face and dried her tears for her. He had never seen her hit any kind of rock bottom until now, so it was unusual for him to be consoling her. Regardless, he loved her enough to put his own feelings aside for her sake. As long as he got to be here with her, he was sure she would pull through. She could lead the Lun'aecho people into that era of peace they wanted. Thinking about it had him smile at her.

She observed his positive attitude, greeting it with a growing hollowness inside of her. This dynamic change was so humiliating. Their whole entire lives, Lakota had been the one breaking down and she had been the one trying to build him back up. When the pressure was high, she hardened like a diamond, but he broke like a fractured stone. Now it was the opposite. So much had changed in a short amount of time. She hardly recognized him as he currently was. Instead of being happy that he had found inner strength, she was jealous, bitter, and distraught about it.

This was the fruits of her labor? All she had been doing since she became Chieftain was shoulder burdens alone so nobody else had to. She thought that was what a good leader did. The only reward she received from it was heartbreak and failure. Lakota was happy because he found love. He did not want her still. Her face contorted at the rejection she encountered every time he was around her. At this point, she did not see the point in living. She had nothing. "I-I'm going to die a failure," she predicted.

Lakota was shaken by the statement. Cherokee never gave up this easily. The lack of response through the curse was a sign that nobody knew what to say to cheer her up.

Rodencia was the only one who knew what the next move was. She finished fighting away a Marine, grabbing the small horn around her neck to blow into it. The minks all paused at the sound of its high-pitched whistle that was almost imperceptible to humans. "All humans, guard any mink looking at the moon," she ordered.

Their eyes lifted toward its fullness. Lun'aecho warriors walled in their allies. They expected to do it for a few minutes, which would be difficult, but it needed to be done.

Kiyaya stood with many warriors around her as her stature posed as an easy target for gunfire. The moon's bluish light filled her corneas. There were no clouds blocking it. As it started to appear blurry, her pupils relinquished their round shape in exchange for something more elongated. Her silver fur started to turn white again, but with a glow. Internally, she could feel the electrical signals shoot around more rapidly between nervous cells and muscle cells. Her body felt like it was starting to go haywire.

But when the electro could no longer be contained, she forced herself to look away. Little blue lightning bolts shot out of every part of her uncontrollably. It was making it hard to think straight as her body continued to change and react to the new stimulus. Her tail suddenly sprouted insanely long fur that just conducted even more electro. The Marines cowered at the sight and sounds of monstrous growls.

She stumbled a little bit, finding her strength increase so much that it nearly hurt like cramps would. But she rode through that wave of pain to let it completely manifest. Her head reared back with a roar as the hair on her head flowed longer and more voluminous. And when her eyes finally opened, they were completely blood red with bright red irises to go with them. The Lun'aecho warriors finally dispersed, having refused to look behind them so to not disrupt the process.

The whole battlefield was littered with pure white entities that thundered with roars. Lakota flinched from how it startled him. But when he looked, he was captivated. "Take to the sky," Rodencia ordered, her voice throaty and glottal.

Every mink who could use Haki immediately jumped high into the air. The ground they stood on cracked from the sheer force they used to propel themselves. With quick steps, some managed to climb higher and higher by focusing their Armament Haki on the bottoms of their feet to push down on air pressure. Kiyaya joined Rodencia, Thalor, Vencent, Fish, Stew, Carlos, and Fangle, along with others up at the highest point. As she looked around with a fullness in her heart, she imagined those they lost being here with them. Gomer, Mogul, Monika, Spinach, Roxanne…They would complete this operation in their memory.

The spectacle was remarkable to watch. The night sky was so bright now. Lakota pulled Cherokee farther up his lap so she could watch, too. "Look at them!" he hailed, awestruck. The people around him shared in the delight. This battle was far from lost.

Cherokee watched, having grown quiet. So, this was Sulong form. Rodencia never described or explained it to her. She had no idea what to expect. Nevertheless, it was impressive to behold. And she hoped they did not hold back at all.

Lakota slipped his mask back over his face. He spotted Kiyaya at the top purely from her size and body shape. Her flowy white hair and fur razzled with electro so elegantly. Seeing her practically float while clothed with brilliance absolutely took his breath away. "Oh, Kiyaya…" he slipped. "You are simply amazing."

Hearing his voice so clearly again mixed her emotions. Anything she did, he almost had the same reaction. There was just one thing she was unsure about due to the circumstances, so she had been keeping to herself about it. But the way he was audibly gripped had her change her mind. She just could not stand it anymore.

"Lakota," she said with the same throaty and glottal tone, "you-teia said I looked like I wanted to tell you something. There's something else I need to tell you."

"Yeah?" he replied with open arms.

"I'm kinda pregnant."

The way everyone simultaneously reacted with turned heads was pretty comical. Ravenna whipped around so fast to look at him only to see he was frozen in place. And Cherokee was speechless.

But then there were so many cheers and yells from both the Lun'aecho and Mink Tribes that it drowned out any and all reservations about the news. Their kinds were officially connected by blood! That was nothing short of a celebration!

Ravenna moved closer to Lakota as he failed to react in any way. "Lakota?" she prodded, resting a hand on his shoulder.

His silence was mistaken for unhappiness. The truth was that he was simply astonished with himself. Didn't he just tell Kiyaya that they should have a baby?! He definitely meant it, but he said it thinking they still had work to do to make it happen. Sure, they had not been ones to take precautions, but that was more from the thrill of being as reckless as they wanted. There was no reason to be caught off guard because of that alone! But he had not noticed any changes in her menstrual cycle or any symptoms that something was different. So, he was still caught off guard anyway.

"I-I-Is this from this morning?! That was quick!" he exclaimed without thinking.

A whole bunch of laughter sounded in their ears. Nothing like letting the whole world know that stressful days like these still had room for sexual encounters. Luckily for him, Kiyaya was laughing with them. "No, you big dummy!" she played. "I was nervous I wouldn't get to fight if I said anything before. A-Are you-teia happy?"

"Of course I'm happy! I literally just told you we should have a baby!"

Suddenly it made sense why she reacted with so much shock. She must have thought he already knew. His Observation Haki was good, but not good enough to sense tiny lifeforms like an embryo.

All the Sulong minks began to go over the arch they formed to pass over the middle of the clash between the armies. They were set to attack the giants and elephants. Kiyaya just had one last thing to say before her focus was snatched. "Cherokee," she said, facing downward with her feet still stepping with Haki, "the next generation is coming. You-teia won't die a failure. Without you, there wouldn't be a next generation! Lead them to peace. If you can't fight for yourself, then fight for them! We believe in you, Cherokee!"

More ambitious uproar filled their ears, along with the order for the gigantism curses to deploy. The battlefield exploded in new giants just as the Sulong minks collided into their foes with Haki and electro at full power. Lakota cradled Cherokee tighter. Maybe now she felt better about the situation and could relax a little bit. They had a few minutes only to finish off what they could.

But Cherokee refused to share in his happiness. She was silently sorrowful in his arms. Her jealousy and bitterness deepened with the news, and she sank in it. She gave Kiyaya a chance when nobody else wanted to. She gave her a home, an opportunity to fight with them when trust had not been built yet. An entire new path in life was laid out for her! And this was how she thanked her? Taking more than what was given? That baby should have been Cherokee's. Her and Lakota were supposed to be together and starting a family. It was completely unfair.

This negativity festered so familiarly. She glanced next to her toward the witchdoctor as she stood quietly with her staff pressed into the ground. She had always wondered why her devil fruit power radiated such a malevolent aura. Her expression was the same as always: scowling and apathetic. There had never been a time when it changed or showed any hint at delight. It scared her as a child and was part of why she kept the secret of her powers from Lakota especially. But now, it started to all make sense to her.

It was impossible to be anything except miserable when your whole existence was a curse. When Cherokee gained this power, she swore that it was like the negative thoughts and hidden dark side became personified through the witchdoctor. Her complete opposite, yet they balanced each other and worked together effortlessly. It reminded her of a story she had only heard once a very long time ago.

When a baby is born in the Lun'aecho Tribe, they are always birthed at night when the moon phase is present. That same moon phase is painted on their foreheads for the entirety of their lives. Although the tradition remained important to the tribe, the war disrupted their way of life and took away from its significance. When Lakota and Cherokee were born, it was exactly a half cycle apart from each other. Their parents, along with many other adults and elders, lost their lives. The orphans were raised together by some tribeswomen who had been around since before the war ever started.

They were very young children when one of those tribeswomen taught a lesson about why they painted the moons on their foreheads every morning. Cherokee remembered sitting next to Lakota as he was two knuckles deep in his nose, listening about a tale of a moon goddess.

This moon goddess was very unique, for she was one being with two faces. Ix Chel was a young woman who represented life and healing through the full moon. Chak Chel was an old woman who represented death and sickness through the new moon. Together, they were symbols of duality as well as the cycle of life and death. It has and always will be impossible to have one without the other.

As far as Cherokee knew, the ones born after them grew unfamiliar with the moon goddess. And as herself and Lakota grew into adolescents, nobody ever spoke of Ix Chel or Chak Chel. A part of their culture had disappeared. Even she forgot about that lesson as time passed.

It was not long after that when Cherokee ate a strange looking fruit. She was picking apples when she noticed it in her basket, swearing it was not there a minute prior. It was black with little flimsy spirals, giving it a rotten appearance. But she poked and smelled it to find the looks were deceiving. She took a bite and quickly decided she was wrong. It had to be rotten. It tasted so bad! She tossed the rest of it over her shoulder for birds to eat it and picked up the basket of apples to leave.

When she turned around, a decrepit old woman with murky, wrinkled skin was standing there. Cherokee screamed and ran away crying until she found an adult. Warriors searched for the old woman with a hunchback and bony staff throughout the mountains, but nothing was ever found. But Cherokee knew what she saw and swore she was not lying.

It haunted her a little bit. She would be playing or venturing off by herself just to see something dark peer around a tree from her peripheral. She would sleep in a teepee with the other orphans but lay wide awake as she felt the old woman ominously standing right next to her. There was even one time she was drinking water from the river and saw a second reflection for a split second. Needless to say, Cherokee was timid during that period.

But things eventually came to a head when her and Lakota were jumping off a rocky ledge into the river. It was all fun and games until she accidentally jumped too close to a submerged stone and hurt herself. In the midst of her crying in pain, Lakota left to get help, leaving her completely alone and scared.

That was when the old woman reappeared. Cherokee firmly held the bleeding gash on her leg when she looked up to see her standing in the shallows. As usual, she cowered in fear and yelled for her to go away, but she just treaded through the water to come closer. Cherokee was terrified.

The old woman hardly inspected the injury, let alone said anything to calm her. She simply walked around her to sit against her back, offering her company and nothing more. Cherokee noticed the way her shadow connected to her as she passed. When they finally touched, no warmth was shared. And she stayed until Lakota returned with a healer and one of their caretakers. One moment she was there, the next, she was gone.

Something else was going on. She was sure of it. The next time she found herself alone, she called for the old woman. And she responded by manifesting right from her shadow. That was the first time Cherokee did not exhibit fear toward her. She gave her a chance to figure out who she was.

Without consulting anybody else, she connected the dots that she had eaten a devil fruit that gave her the gift of the old woman. She never viewed her as a mother or grandmother, but she did learn to accept her presence as simply another part of her. How could she be lonely or sad when she always had someone with her? The witchdoctor shared power and life with her. As Cherokee became a young woman, the witchdoctor lost her hunchback and appeared a little bit more youthful, although still elderly. She could not say she knew her like she knew Lakota, but she still felt a bond.

They were opposites, yet there could be no witchdoctor without Cherokee. She was that personified half of the personality she hid from the world. The one that was not happy, wished misfortunes on others, and wanted to see the world burn.

Just like how she felt right now.

For the first time, she sympathized with her witchdoctor. The malevolent aura made sense. It was wretched and draining. Losing the love of her life to another woman made Cherokee feel it so harshly. Now that they were on the same page, Cherokee felt that she could understand all the pain she must have been suppressing all these moons.

You're my Chak Chel, she thought endearingly.

The witchdoctor stared down at her. Cherokee had always wondered if she could read her thoughts since she was her devil fruit power. When she moved her hand to her chest and growled "Chak Chel," she almost wanted to smile. So she could after all, as well as speak clearly. That was a relief.

Cherokee touched her own chest with her remaining hand. "Ix Chel," she mirrored. Then she reached out to her, yearning for her power.

The witchdoctor complied by reaching her own hand out. Their fingertips made contact.

And suddenly, there was darkness.

Lakota opened his eyes after an unknown amount of time. It could have been only a few seconds. It could have been an hour. All he knew was that he woke up to the sight of a shadowy figure standing before him. The ragged garments hanging over her legs swayed from the movement of black water. Looking at it closer made him realize it was not water at all. It was a miasma.

The figure stood on bare feet with bones covering them, making her toes appear clawed. A belt of human skulls hung from her waist. A black arm held a staff twisted with thorns and decaying wood while a fleshy arm dangled by her side. What looked like dirty raven feathers was actually long, frayed black hair. Curved, branching antlers budded from a creepy deer skull. The figure barely turned toward him to reveal the upper jaw of the skull had fangs. And what scared him the most was that he recognized the facial profile.

Cherokee.

Her sclera was black, bleeding down her cheeks like dried tears. Her piercings were visible through the bridge of her nose and nostrils. Her upper lip was sliced off to reveal golden teeth. As she currently was, she was unrecognizable from a distance. The Curse Curse Fruit was awakened.

The ground where she stood began breaking up after the grass had withered. She left Lakota and the others to spare them of the same fate. The miasma followed her down the hill, continuing to curse everything she touched.

Lakota shifted to his stomach and crawled until he could see her again. His breathing was heavy. He had no clue what was happening, but she was heading for the battle. Soon the ground started to shift in her wake. Foreign objects erupted, grabbing at the soil and pulling until Lakota realized they were skeletons that had been reanimated. Human or animal, it did not matter.

"Quintus!" he called urgently. "Quintus, you got company!"

The platypus mink slammed a Marine away from him and paused. "What kind of company?"

"I-It's Cherokee!"

He looked behind him but could not see anything except for the lively battle. By then, a new enemy challenged him when he seemed distracted.

But others had heard the warning. Cherokee approached closer and closer with a growing legion of the undead coming for them. Marines, Lun'aecho, and minks all stopped fighting just from the evil sensation that polluted the air. The Lun'aecho warriors instinctively fell to their knees to bow, so the minks did the same. But the Marines did not. They decided to target her instead, only to not get far at all.

The miasma swallowed them in curse. Every victim came out with something different. One screamed as his flesh boiled on its own. Another aged so rapidly that he shrunk into a bony corpse with thin white hair clinging to his bald head. Nobody stood a chance. The ones smart enough to bow were left alone.

More and more skeletons charged past her to fling themselves into the battle. She halted to watch a little bit. Then she let out a raspy screech that sounded anything but human. It transponded to her allies, terrifying and confusing them. And that was when the full moon turned bloody red above the landscape of the battlefield. The moon goddess had returned.