Vondaire was surprised when Basolia had allowed him access early in the morning. The specter had directed Vondaire, Kuri, and Zetyrth to quarters without any questions.

That was why it was no surprise when Althowin knocked on his door. It was an unnecessary courtesy. He already knew she was there, and she was well aware of his attention.

"Who are they?" Althowin asked as the door slid open.

Vondaire stood beside his bed, adjusting the sleeves of a plain longsleeve shirt. He hated it, and based on Althowin's expression, so did she. "Former Izylia Special Division."

"You trust them?"

"I trust Kuri entirely. The berserker is new to me. They fought their general together in Oriathria."

Althowin pointed. "You're dressed down."

Vondaire wanted to give her a look, but expressions were no longer his specialty.

"Head looks good."

"Thank you."

Althowin winked. "Give me a few hours, or maybe a day or two. I'll get you a new suit. Gloves too?"

"Yes."

"Simple. I'll see what I have. It won't be perfect. Figure out how those two fit in with everything going on. If either thinks the goblin is a monster, I'll kill them."

"Understood."

Althowin gave him a thumbs up with her metal hand and walked away. The door slid closed.

Vondaire had no intention of sitting around and growing complacent. He also wasn't one to sprint into a fight without proper attire. The next tower would come soon enough. A brief period of respite wouldn't hurt anyone.

Besides, he needed to figure out what Kuri and Zetyrth wanted.

***

Lightning erupted out of Veph. Blue bolts snapped through the air. Owin shielded himself with his burning sword and still felt his feet sliding over the dusty stone road.

Energy thrummed from the five shards floating over Veph's shoulders. She whipped the crystal sword to the side and sent drips of Chorsay's blood splattering to the ground. His palm oozed crimson blood, but he didn't flinch in the slightest as he clenched his fist. Her blast of lightning had barely pushed the giant man back.

He took a lumbering step forward and swung the Winged Sword vertically, chopping down at Veph. It forced her to move aside, and despite Chorsay's speed, Veph easily dodged.

The old man caught her shoulder with his open hand, clearly expecting the dodge. "Stop!"

Owin hunkered behind the burning sword as crab legs sprouted and formed a protective barrier. Veph, even while held, pointed her sword and unleashed another blast of lightning. Owin crashed through a full pile of rubble before bouncing and skidding over stones.

He couldn't let Chorsay fight on his own. Not now. Not against Veph.

With their history, Chorsay would hold back.

Owin had only seen a brief fight between Sofia and Veph. There was no holding back against her.

Fire rushed through the air around Owin as the rubble superheated and exploded. He ducked his head and pushed through. The crab legs that remained shoved burning stones aside until his vision was clear enough to see her standing alone in her golden suit. Her eyes locked on him while her crystal headband glowed brightly.

"Where is he?" Owin shouted.

Chorsay pushed himself out of an indent in the city wall and rolled his shoulders. "Stay back, Owin." His steps were unlike before. They weren't just heavy. They were thunderous. Each small step cracked the ground. "He's family."

Veph twirled her wand around her metal right hand. She didn't even bother looking at Chorsay. "You're the only family I have. A goblin is nothing to me."

"Why are you doing this?" Owin shouted. If he was fighting anyone else, the distance between them would give Owin the advantage. He would be able to close it extremely fast and bring the fight to them. But if he did that now, he felt like he would get a lightning bolt through the face. She moved too quickly.

Veph's index opened. She never stopped pointing the sword in his direction. "Deficient wizard? A joke. I'll kill you so you can respawn peacefully in the Great Forest. Stop thinking of it as some execution."

"You know it is," Chorsay said. He continued stalking forward with thunderous steps.

Electricity raced through Veph until her eyes glowed blue. The air crackled and hissed, zapping even the dust kicked into the air.

"I'll just have to be faster than you," she said.

As soon as Chorsay moved, the ground he had been standing on and the entire section of the wall he had collided with exploded into dust. Using purely strength to move, Chorsay disappeared.

Veph, with whatever wizard spell enhancement she had used, turned into a blue and gold blur.

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade immediately sent Isotelus into Shuriken mode and stood like a protective shield in front of Owin. The skeleton's index snapped open, then back closed.

"I don't know what to do," Owin said.

Veph appeared and sliced at Shade's neck. Chorsay barreled into her, smashing his shoulder directly into her face. Veph was launched away. Ruins collapsed down the street.

"Run," Chorsay said. "Just run."

"What about you?"

"She won't kill me. She's only here for you. I'll do what I can to slow her down."

"I've heard this before."

Chorsay looked down. His eyes had lost their warmth. Sweat beaded his face and as he wiped it off, he smeared some blood from his cut palm. "Do you trust me?"

"Entirely."

"Then run." Chorsay took a step, cracked the ground beneath him, and brought both arms up. Lightning hit his forearms and sizzled. The shockwave of the attack almost pushed Owin over, even when he was protected.

Stolen novel; please report.

"She'll just chase me," Owin said.

"Not me." Shade ran to the side. "We'll swap. I'll go for the stairs while you stay safe."

"No," Chorsay said. "Start moving and don't stop. Run together. Use your abilities to stay safe, not to trick her. There is no grand plan here, Owin. Just run."

Gold appeared in front of Owin. Blue lightning cascaded off her dirtied clothes. As the crystal sword stabbed with insane speed, Owin instinctively backed away. It was unnecessary as the Winged Sword appeared between them. Crystal grated on metal, and neither gave way.

Owin dashed in and chopped with the Incandescent Blade.

Veph pulled away, but failed to fully dodge as the burning sword cut into her trousers and through the edge of her thigh.

They were fast, but so was Owin. He skidded, leapt, and took a crystal blade to the neck.

Chrosay pushed in, swinging to force Veph into moving and dodging. His swings were tight and quick, but still threatened to shatter the ground each time.

Owin put his hand against the cut on his neck. Torban pushed out a health potion, so Owin drank it. He had to trust the specter bag would only give him what he actually needed.

Veph ducked, dodged, and parried attack after attack from Chorsay, but never attacked him back. Maybe he was right.

Owin was stronger and faster than the old man, but his lack of experience was proving to be a weakness. He didn't actually know many wizard spells and he didn't have the slightest idea how Veph fought. Sometimes close, sometimes ranged.

For now, he was three shards down and just had to get out.

"Let's go." Owin sprinted with all his might. He vanished down the street, skidded at a corner, and turned along the northern wall. Light flashed behind him, and despite his worry and curiosity, he didn't turn.

Lightning raked the ground in front of him, tearing furrows in the ground and burning rubble to ash. Owin stopped and stared at the bird-headed creature before him. It was about the same height as Owin, but with a raven's head, furred hands and feet, and a suit of golden fabric. The staff it held was too tall for the squat figure.

A familiar.

Before meeting Suta, Owin had fought alongside Vrod, the magus familiar in the Great Forest. Without Vrod, Owin would've died to the Malignant Spirit. Without Suta, Owin would've died to much more.

Familiars were as dangerous as their masters.

"Just let me pass."

"Disgusting," the familiar said. Bolts of lightning arced off the sphere atop its staff and traced lines in the ground.

He could try to simply run past, but the familiar would have 5 Shard speed.

Killing it was the best option.

Another ruined building exploded in the direction of Chorsay and Veph.

Shade appeared behind the familiar in a poof of spectral smoke. Isotelus, still spinning as shurikens all around him, launched forward. The familiar pivoted, blocked a shuriken with the staff, and squealed as most of the others tore into its body. Lightning flared out, shocking some sections of the bone sword away.

Owin sprinted in and stabbed.

Lightning erupted from the familiar's furred hand and sent Owin tumbling backward. His muscles twitched and his skin stank of burned flesh. The same thing, again and again. He needed an answer. If he kept just getting launched away, he was going to die.

Shade pulled Isotelus back into a limp sword and cowered as the familiar used more spells. Lightning enhanced the staff and Bolts shot rapidly to force Shade into running away.

Owin was barely on his feet when a crab claw appeared in his vision. It barely clamped around the crystal sword before Veph drove it through Owin's cheek. It still stabbed and tore into his scarred skin.

Gray dust appeared.

As soon as Shade appeared in Owin's place, the skeleton headbutted Veph.

Owin leapt aside to avoid another blast of lightning from the familiar. With Withered Swap, he was now on the opposite side of the fight. Even if it was only a small advantage, he had to try to run.

Smoke Cloud.

Owin stopped letting his mana flow into the sword, which caused the flames to vanish. He turned and sprinted for the exit.

***

Siora hurried through the streets of Atrevaar. It felt like it had been ages since she'd last been back, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. Even now, she was rushing after one of her only friends into what could be a dangerous situation, and she didn't even have armor or a shield.

"Stupid, fucking stupid," she muttered as she ran. Atrevaar wasn't a busy city at night, though there were people out. Some Security Regime, some heroes, some people doing who knows what. None of them really mattered. Not at the moment.

Siora ran down familiar streets that looked twisted and horrible. Much of the city had been rebuilt since the Power 7 spell had ruined so much of it, but there was still evidence everywhere. Buildings looked melted or deformed, and streets were wavy with uneven stones.

It didn't affect her navigation, but seeing old restaurants she liked and the homes she had walked past every day in such shape was disheartening.

Siora pushed the thoughts from her mind and ran down the street. She activated her shard and let the bump in dexterity carry her through the early morning. Closer to the edge of the city, she finally skidded to a stop.

"Po!"

Potilia stood outside the doors to Void Nexus. Her hair was tied back and she held the kanabo in a tight grip. She looked over her shoulder and shook her head. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you?" Siora let the shard drop back into her shoulder as she walked closer. "You don't want to go in there."

"I want answers."

Void Nexus looked like one of the seven towers of Verdantallis. It was a skyscraper built to look like much of the Fortress Dungeon. It had large stained glass windows and layered flying buttresses. The design made it look far older than anything else in the city, despite it being one of the newer major constructions.

Void Nexus looked intimidating.

Siora still felt that despite all of her time spent in that tower. She couldn't dream of walking back through those doors. Not after everything that had happened.

"You're not going to get answers," she said.

Potilia fully turned to face her. Tears welled in her eyes. "They killed Sylmare."

"We can't know who did." Siora approached slowly. "Let's go home. We can talk about it in Vraxridge."

Potilia helplessly gestured back toward the portal circle. "My home is over there. Destroyed. My Nimble Hogs. Gone." The tears fell onto her cheeks. "I don't want to do this. I don't want to—" She huffed. "I have to know."

Siora stepped forward, lifted her arms, and hesitated. Potilia looked right at her, then closed the distance and embraced Siora in a tight, almost painful hug. She buried her face in Siora's shoulder, which quickly grew wet with tears.

"I have to know," she said. Her voice was muffled.

Siora patted Potilia's back and waited for the berserker to finally pull away.

"I have to."

"Then let me stay with you." Siora looked at the ominous tower. "I know my way around."

"Right." Potilia sniffled. "I . . . I don't know what I'm doing."

"We can ask some questions." Siora walked right up to the door and walked inside. The lobby was well illuminated and had the same distinct echo as always. A receptionist stood behind the desk at the other side of the lobby. Her index was visible as she clearly looked over their information.

"Can I assist you?" the receptionist asked.

"I used to be part of Void Nexus before I joined the 7 Shard Hero," Siora said. "Can I speak with whoever is in charge currently?"

"It's very early." The receptionist looked at something on her desk and flipped a page. "I can see . . ." She frowned and held up a finger.

Potilia stood just behind Siora silently. She looked about the big lobby and muttered something under her breath.

"She will be here momentarily," the receptionist said.

Siora walked further inside. "Who?" If Sylmare was dead, the person in charge had to be Veph or a new number two.

"The second in command."

A door opened. Armored footsteps clunked on the tile.

"No," Siora whispered.

"Nikoletta Olah," the receptionist said, as if presenting a grand prize.

The creature that walked around the corner made Siora's heart sink. The likeness of Nikoletta was obviously there, but her skin was silvery, her fingers were bulbous like a frog, and her eyes were enlarged and horrifying.

Potilia stood beside Siora with her kanabo resting on her shoulder. Nikoletta clearly took a moment to take in the scene. Her feathered wings were tucked in and she held a mace at her side.

"What happened to Sylmare?" Potilia asked.

"I replaced her," Nikoletta said in a calm voice. "If Veph hadn't killed her, I would have. Vermin, like the rest of you."

Red rippled off Potilia.

"Fuck." Siora grabbed Potilia's shoulder, but heat poured off the raging berserker.

Wings extended from Nikoletta's back. "For the glory of Elysium, I will wipe you goblin filth away."

Potilia launched forward with Bull Rush.

"No, no, no." Siora drew her sword and ran after Potilia.

Shards hummed in the quiet lobby.

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