Elen’s body jerks upright. It’s so sudden that I find myself stepping away from her, an Aetheric Needle forming in my hand just behind my back. I don’t think it’ll do much if she decides to attack, but it can't hurt to be prepared in an instance like this.

  She brings her hands up, and clenches them into trembling fists. She flexes each finger as if reacquainting herself with how it feels to be alive again.

  Elen stares overhead, her eyes flickering to where Terra is fighting, and then they land on me. "My body is my own again... I think I understand, this was his plan all along. You are Terra's master, correct?"

  I almost laugh at her poor choice of words, but I manage to hold it in.

  "I’m not so sure about that anymore. I mean, he didn’t technically stab me in the back, but…"

  "He did stab you in the front though. It was quite the convincing display he put on. None of us thought you would survive that!" She pauses, then dips her head low. "If you are Terra’s master, then I must accept you as my master too. Please, what is your command, master?"

  "Just call me Clara. And you can start by helping Terra with the other Saints so we can get this dungeon over with. I won’t make you deal the killing blow since they’re your siblings, but... at least distract them."

  "Of course," Elen says, and pushes herself off the ground. She takes a step forward, planting her foot against the stone wall. She takes a second, more confident step as if she plans to run straight up the tower. Then her knees buckle and she falls flat on her back with a slightly undignified grunt.

  "Everything okay?..." I ask.

  She stares up at the sky as explosions of holy magic go off in rapid succession high above, painting her face with flickering gold. "It seems that my connection to my deity was severed with my death. I can’t use any of my magic, oh goodness… How will I ever face him now?"

  "Seriously? What good are you then?" I whisper, and pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to come up with another plan.

  Surprisingly, Elen shrugs.

  I barely breathed the words out, but she seems to have heard them.

  "I don’t need my magic to land a decisive blow. I have another idea. Come, master!" And then she’s off, jogging into the distance.

  "You don’t have to call me-" I start, but Elen is already gone. I limp after her, clutching my stomach, which still aches despite how much it had been healed. Despite everything, I had received a near-fatal wound and it would likely hurt for quite some time.

  We must have run for at least half a mile. Somewhere along the way, I hear voices. One is high and energetic, whereas the other is low and uncertain. There’s a distinct chirp I recognize all too well that cuts through the dialogue from time to time.

  "I’m telling you, we wait until the other adventurers have dwindled the sinners numbers, and then we swoop in with a powerful super amazing spell and take all the glory for ourselves!" says the first voice. It belongs to a girl I don’t recognize, but there’s a crackle of energy behind every word.

  This is followed by a low chirp which is unmistakably Sen.

  "If you help out you’ll get a Divine Aspect too! So what’s it gonna be?!" The girl shouts this time.

  "I don’t know, I think we should try and deal with the Saints instead. I know the guy who’s fighting them..." Uncertainty laces every syllable of the boy's words. There's no doubt in my mind that it's Clarence.

  "No chance! As great as the rewards may be, you and I have no chance of taking those things out! It would basically be suicide if we were to try and go against even one Saint."

  Elen stops at the top of a small hill and looks at the three of them, and I come up behind her, peering out from behind her imposing figure.

  This girl has no specific hairstyle. Her hair is past her shoulders, but more than anything, it’s a frizzy, unkempt mess. Her face is short, and she is too. The features of her face, although filled with dirt and grime, are soft, and topped off with a slightly bulbous nose.

  A moment of silence passes. Then a collective gasp can be heard as they take notice of the Saint standing before them.

  "You kids want to kill the Saints?" Elen asks.

  "No! We wouldn’t dream of it, your holiness! We were merely lying in wait for the sinners to approach so we could ambush them!" The girl shouts, dropping to her knees right away.

  "Is that so? That’s not what I heard the boy saying a moment ago." Elen steps forward, slamming her foot down. The ground cracks underneath her, and the effect sends a chill down my spine. With how lax she is, I had almost forgotten she's a Saint herself.

  A long silence stretches between the three of them before the girl speaks, decisively this time. "Change of plans, I’m going to keep this one at bay while you two run!"

  "Isalithe!" Clarence shouts.

  "I’m fast, remember? I’ll be right behind you, now run!" Isalithe snaps, and then a thunderclap splits the air as she shouts, "Lightning Fugue!"

  In an instant, she’s turned into a blue blur, flashing in and out of Elen’s blind spots. Isalithe unleashes a torrent of spells, dozens of them per second, each one more electrifying than the last. I have to throw my arm in front of my face to shield my eyes from the blinding flashes of light. It looks as if Elen is simply standing still and taking the attacks head-on, but I know better. She’s redirecting each one at the last possible moment, letting them go wide. Each one fizzles out into the empty air, but this Isalithe doesn't relent in her attack.

  I watch the muscles on Elen's shoulder bunch up as she reels her arm back, and just as she lets her fist fly, I shout out a command. "Don’t hurt her!"

  Elen's fist turns into an open palm and she grabs hold of Isalithe's face, snatching the girl right out of the air. Isalithe kicks at Elen's arm and thrashes, sparks still flying out of her fingertips that she digs into Elen’s arm.

  "Dragon’s Breath!" Clarence shouts, and a roar of flames erupts from his mouth, engulfing Elen in a deep, searing inferno. The heat is strong, stronger than anything Clarence should be capable of. I have to take a step back, and shield myself from the excess of flames that roll around Elen's form. Just what had Clarence gone through in order to have undergone such explosive improvement?

  Flames roar around Elen, but I know better than to worry about her. She stomps her foot down once more. The force is great enough to extinguish both the flames on her body and its source as Clarence is knocked back.

  "I told you to run… Now we’re both gonna die…" Isalithe barely manages to grunt, her voice muffled by Elen’s hand.

  I stagger forward a few feet.

  "L-Let go of her," I command, and Elen obeys, dropping Isalithe to the ground.

  "Clara?…" Clarence calls out, his eyes lighting up as he sees me.

  I turn to face him, and I can’t hide the look of disappointment on my face.

  "Hey, what’s with that face? You look just like Ethel when she's getting ready to lecture us…"

  "Clarence, you’re too young to be dating."

  Clarence’s face turns the brightest shade of red one could imagine. He tries to hide behind his hands, but Isalithe is already back at his side, hands on her hips as she glares over at Elen and I. At some point, Sen finds himself perched on my shoulder once more.

  "Traitor!" Isalithe shouts, pointing a finger at Sen who hisses at her in return.

  "W-We’re not even dating! Even if we were, I’m not too young! We were just-" Clarence begins, but Isalithe cuts him off.

  "What do you mean we’re not dating? What are we then?"

  "I don’t know! I didn’t think we had to put labels on stuff like this."

  "‘Stuff like this’? I told you that you could take me! What do you think that means, stupid?" Isalithe shouts, and steps closer to Clarence as she continues to berate him.

  It’s actually surprised by just how many words Isalithe comes up to insult Clarence.

  I catch Clarence’s desperate gaze, as if asking me for help, but I just shake my head.

  "Sorry, karma’s a bitch." No sooner do I get the words out and I feel a sharp swat on the back of my head. It’s enough to cause me to stagger forward. I turn back, and only see a message in my vision.

  Clara!

  "It’s just a saying…" I mutter under my breath.

  ...

  "Alright, I’m sorry," I whisper under my breath once more, and it seems that Clarence overheard this.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "Alright, alright, I’m sorry! We are da-" Clarence begins, but I cut him off.

  "Enough!" I say, holding up both hands. "It’s apparent you both care for each other very deeply. Now, let’s kill some Saints!"

  The two of them stare at me, confused by my words, but Isalithe appears a little bit happier now. After a long bit of dialogue, both sides are all caught up on what the other has gone through. I keep the part about The Gut to myself, though. It would do no good to talk about that right now, and I’m not sure anyone here would be able to help anyways. Maybe Aetheria knows something though? I’ll have to ask her next time I see her.

  "So how are we supposed to kill a Saint, then?" Isalithe asks. "This one doesn't even use magic and she stopped my strongest spell like it was nothing."

  "On the contrary, I think it was very impressive," Elen says. "You reminded me of a mosquito with all those little attacks of yours and how fast you were moving around."

  "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

  Elen shrugs.

  "Elen has no magic of her own." I add.

  "Bullshit! We all saw her make that barrier earlier, and she just used wind magic to get rid of those flames!"

  Sen is already shaking his head in agreement of Isalithe before I have the chance to contest this. So instead I cross my arms before letting out a sigh.

  "Elen is likely someone who spent her life on the battlefield. A life of war changes you, physically and mentally. Even without her magic, she's still strong. It's a gradual change, but after 10, 15, 20, 30 years on the battlefield? Your body begins to adapt. Your reflexes become inhuman, if you're not careful then you can easily kill common folk with a flick of your wrist. That gust of wind you saw was due to Elen's strength, that's all."

  Isalithe's eyes widen at my words, as she looks down at the ground. Where Elen had stomped, there is now a crater carved out of the earth. A moment later she turns to face Clarence, and steps closer to him. "Listen Clarence, I know I said we should stick around, and deal with those Saints, but I think it’s time to cut our losses. We can take off, find another dungeon, a more beginner friendly dungeon, and-" Isalithe continues on, but I turn to Elen now.

  "So what’s your plan? You led me all the way out here, and Terra’s still up there on his own," I say, and turn back to see another torrent of holy light fly off the tower and into the air overhead. Across the bridge, the remaining adventurers are mowing through the sinners’ ranks by the handful with each spell that’s cast.

  It won't be long until all ten thousand of them are dead.

  "Terra is stronger than any of my siblings in a one-on-one, but they grow stronger themselves when they’re together. Now that they see him as a threat, they won’t allow him a moment of breathing room. Their aim will be to wear him down, and then strike when he’s weak. We ran for two reasons, to separate myself from them, and so that we can grant Terra that breathing room he so desperately needs."

  "What the fuck does that mean?" Isalithe asks.

  "We’re going to take out their support. If Evelyn perishes, then my brothers will no longer receive buffs from her," Elen says, and plucks a single arrow from her quiver. "I’ve got my bow, and my arrow. I can shoot her, right through her rotten heart."

  "Are you sure you’ll be able to do that?" I ask.

  "It’s an easy enough shot, and the wind resistance is low so I’ll definitely be able to land it."

  "Fratricide. I mean are you okay committing fratricide?" I say again, and for a moment Elen’s features soften. But that moment passes rather quickly.

  "Yes, I can do it," Elen says, voice steady. "The only problem is I’m lacking in magical power. It may not look like it with her carefree demeanor, but my sister is actually quite the cunning one. You can’t see it, but she has an array of barriers around her at all times that only a select few can cross. Of course, a barrier to resist projectiles is built into this. I’ll need one of you to infuse my arrow with a spell powerful enough to break through all of her barriers."

  "Will a fireball be strong enough? A flaming arrow could burn through, right?" Clarence asks.

  The group falls silent, and Elen turns away from him, ignoring the question. "Master, you showed some impressive magic back there. What have you got for me?"

  "Hey, fireball is a great spell! What’s your problem?" Clarence shouts, and Isalithe crosses her arms, nodding several times in solidarity with him.

  "My lackey is very proud of his fireballs. I’ll have you know they’re of the highest caliber!"

  Elen rolls her eyes. "I’m sure your fireball is great and all, but if I can extinguish your flames just by putting my foot down, then they’ll never be enough to reach Evelyn."

  "We can fuse spells together until we get something good!" Isalithe shouts.

  "A simple spell fusion will not suffice. If such a tactic worked, then any second-rate necromancer would have been able to take my sister down back in our day."

  "Yes, but what if those two were to fuse their fused spells together?" I ask.

  "That’s impossible, they’d need to be-" Elen stops, and I step forward as I lock eyes with Isalithe.

  "Hey, Clarence’s girlfriend, get the strongest spell going that you can."

  Isalithe’s face turns a bright shade of red, and blue sparks of electricity begin to flicker out of her cheeks. For once she doesn’t have a quick quip or curse for me, so she turns away and a bolt of electricity appears in her hand. A second one begins to form in her other hand as she strains herself.

  "Don’t call her that, you’re embarrassing her!" Clarence shouts, turning on me.

  "Shut it, stupid! Make a fireball, it’s the only spell you know, isn’t it? It can’t be that hard to fuse two of them together," I shout, as harsh as I can.

  "I know a couple more spells…" Clarence mutters, and looks away, a ball of fire appearing in each hand.

  "Clarence is not stupid," Isalithe says, staring me down. Her face still red, but it’s with anger this time. She’s gripping a large bolt of blue lightning in her hand. It looks as if it’s going to fly free from her hand at any moment. Clarence on the other hand is holding a fireball that glows a much deeper red than usual. It’s the same shade as the sun, and he’s giving me the same glare that Isalithe is.

  "What are you morons looking at!?" I demand, and the two of them give each other one quick look before stepping towards me.

  Elen is faster than the both of them though. She lunges forward and slams their hands together. All that can be seen is a blinding flash of light. I blink several times, and Elen still has her hands over theirs. She slowly releases their hands, and a bolt of fiery lightning is crackling wildly in their hands. Barely contained mana lashes out in red arcs of electricity.

  The two spells had fused together flawlessly.

  "What the fu-" Isalithe begins, but Clarence screams over her, "What is this thing?!"

  I have to use Eyes of Clarity just to find out just what exactly it is I’m looking at.

  Hellcurrent: A fusion of four unique spells, and six spells in total.

  This is more powerful than anything I could have created alone.

  "It is called Hellcurrent. To fuse spells with someone else, your mental state needs to be aligned. This spell was formed from hate for a loved one. For a moment, you two were pretty pissed with me, weren’t you?" I ask, and both of them look away sheepishly.

  "It’s stronger than I could have ever imagined. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to control it with this arrow, though… It would probably disintegrate." Elen says, and even her eyes are a little wider than usual as she looks at her measly arrow.

  "I think I can help with that. How big of an arrow can you shoot?"

  Elen draws her bow, holds it out, and it begins to extend. The bottom presses into the ground, and the top is taller than she is. She lets it rest on her shoulder as she holds her hands out, giving me an estimate.

  I create an Aetheric Needle in the palm of my hand, shaping it into the form of an arrow nearly three foot long. I pour as much mana into it as I can, giving the sharpened point weight, but keeping the inside hollow for ease of flight.

  I remember the image of my son being swallowed whole by that sun that hurtled towards the war-room, and I clench my fist tight. The First King, Astralaith. I would be the one to kill him in this life. With fury fueling my steps, I make my way to Isalithe and Clarence, and add the Aetheric Needle to the spell. The two fuse, and what appears in our hands is a glowing purple arrow, alive with arcs of plasma. It pulses erratically, as if it has its own heartbeat. This spell is unstable, and is barely contained by the three of us holding onto it.

  A spell strong enough to claw its way out of Hell, and pierce the Heavens above.

  Heaven. There's that word again. It comes to mind, but it still feels foreign to me. I know it all the same though, just as a newborn knows how to draw breath.

  Gently, I pry the spell from Isalithe and Clarence’s hands. Turning to Elen, I offer it to her with open palms.

  "Its name is Starmartyr."

  Elen grabs hold, and the spell instantly begins devouring her arm. It starts at her hand, charring it black; by the time she nocks it on the bowstring, plasma lashes across her elbow.

  "I-I can’t bend my arm, this might be too much…" Elen struggles to pull the spell back as it weighs heavily on her bow.

  Divine Aspect, Fragment of the Slumbering Tree

  Active Effect, Lucid Dreaming: Control a target with the power of the Grand Tree. Their perception fractures for five seconds. Awake yet asleep, the user can suggest one rule that will be enforced on the target

  Current target Elen will believe Clara Crowsong for five seconds

  Accepted

  "It’s not too much, you can control this spell," I say, and I will it to be true.

  Sen hops off my shoulder and onto Elen’s, forming a gust of wind around her arm. He pushes as much of the energy back into the arrow in an attempt to save Elen’s arm. With one swift motion, Elen pulls the bowstring back all the way, and then takes aim at her sister.

  "Farewell, Evelyn," Elen whispers.

  Then she lets go.

  At the last possible moment, the wind that Sen had been using to contain the spell fuses with it, a spiral of air spinning around the Starmartyr as it flies through the air.

  I see Terra up on the platform. He's still locked in combat with the Saints. He turns to the source of the spell as it burns through the very air itself, and straight for Evelyn's putrid heart.

  Evelyn, who is busy healing her brothers, is floating high in the air as the spell comes for her. She reacts right away, pointing her staff at it. She erects an array of barriers between herself and it. The Starmartyr slams through the first barrier with ease, and after piercing a dozen more, it shows no signs of slowing.

  The next line of defense is Cirelian, who throws himself in the way of the attack, but Terra gives chase. They're too far away for me to make out all the details, but I swear I see a streak of blood fly through the air right before Caedis pulls Terra away from his brother.

  Then the Starmartyr hits.

  It collides with Cirelian’s shield, but there is no sign he is injured. A second later, a cataclysmic explosion of purple plasma detonates behind him, destroying the entire top half of the tower. Cirelian plummets to the ground along with Evelyn, who is little more than a charred torso now. It’s only as Cirelian’s body spins in the air that the wound on his back can be seen. It’s missing in its entirety. The Starmartyr went cleanly through him, and then tore his back out upon exiting his body.

  Elen falls to her knees, a hand over her mouth. "Cirelian… Not again, I'm so, so sorry," she sobs, and hangs her head low.

  I place a hand on Elen's shoulder, and watch as the the sky grows a deep shade of purple from the aftermath of the spell.

  It's not very active, but it's there if anyone wants to join!