Illnyea's head was pounding in time to her heartbeat as she ran as fast as her sore feet could carry her. Her arm ached fiercely from where the man in the wolf-pelt had grabbed her, but Illnyea couldn't let the pain distract her. She couldn't let Sulaiman's situation distract her either – Illnyea had to trust that the man named Kavil would give Sulaiman an opportunity to free himself or maybe Kavil would use the magic that had taken down their attacker. Either way, Illnyea trusted Sulaiman would find a way out of his predicament if given some backup. Priscilla on the other hand...

Priscilla was laying on the ground, breathing shallowly as she watched the monster in human skin called The Starving One draw steadily closer. The monster had sent Priscilla rolling across the ground as easily as some kicked dandelion fluff and that amount of raw power terrified Illnyea.

Priscilla wasn't a fighter, didn't have any sort of magic or combat training to protect herself, hadn't ever gotten into fights that weren't verbal. Illnyea didn't know why Priscilla was in the Heinlein Fens or how she had gotten involved with the cannibals, but a sinking feeling in Illnyea's stomach said it was all because of her.

(focus, you fool, whispered the part of Illnyea carved from broken glass, or Priscilla's going to die while you dither about.)

She couldn't rely on the rolling tide of magic that itched like ants crawling beneath her skin, not when Illnyea was afraid of it spiraling out of control and the ground opening up to swallow the entire camp.

A weapon – Illnyea needed a weapon because her strength couldn't rival the monster's and she had never mastered augmenting herself with magic, not that she'd dare to do so now when it'd likely just blow her arm off. A metal club was discarded on the ground and Illnyea scooped it when she passed. It was unfamiliar and heavy in her hand but better than nothing.

Blood ran out the side of the monster's ruined cheek as she came to a stop, standing above Priscilla's prone form.

"A little rat has snuck in," the monster began, her voice raspy and bitter as she tried to sneer, "so–"

But Illnyea didn't find out what else the monster had in store as she swung the club right at the monster's back.

"Behind," rasped Raven from the ground, who Illnyea had ignored in favor of the larger threat.

The monster turned towards Raven, so the club hit her right in the ribs with a sharp crack. The monster stumbled a few steps away from Priscilla, bent over and wheezing as she clutched at her side.

Illnyea darted forward, putting herself between Priscilla and the monster.

"Illnyea," Priscilla said from behind her, sounding like she was struggling to move, "don't–"

"Shh," Illnyea whispered, keeping her gaze on the monster in front of her. She didn't have the capacity to argue with Priscilla right now, not when her vision was swimming and every part of Illnyea was complaining about being pushed past its limits.

Beyond the monster, Raven was struggling to sit up, her hands encased in what looked like stone, but Illnyea didn't think she'd be much of a threat based on how the woman couldn't stop crying and the way Raven's arm was bent unnaturally. The monster turned towards Illnyea, a new raspy quality to her breathing, like something wet was rattling inside her lungs. Each breath made the tendrils of flesh from what remained of her cheek quiver like a bow's string.

Illnyea's stomach turned over at the sight and she was glad she had eaten so little today or else she would have thrown it all up right then and there.

The monster coughed as she looked between Priscilla and Illnyea before finally settling on Illnyea as a new trail of blood ran down the monster's chin and neck from the freshly torn skin.

"I was going to enjoy your screams as I carved your flesh," the monster said in a soft voice, "but I find I'd much rather take a bite straight from your beating heart."

Illnyea tightened her grip on the club. She didn't know she was going to defeat the monster, but she had to try – she wouldn't just roll over and let herself be killed because Priscilla needed her.

Illnyea shifted her weight and readied herself to fight.

"Touch a single hair on her head, you cannibal bitch," Priscilla said, her brash voice cutting through the momentary silence that hung between enemies before combat, "and I'll fuck up the other half of your face too – betcha that your beloved apostle won't love you so much when you look like someone took a cheese grinder to your nose."

Illnyea went pale at the provocation, risking a glance back to see that Priscilla had forced herself onto her knees, fixing a venomous glare at the monster. Illnyea was baffled by her sister's actions and wondered what Priscilla thought she was going to accomplish by making the monster focus her lethal intent on her.

The monster had gone utterly still at Priscilla's words, her single eye wide with outrage. Through her ruined cheek, Illnyea saw that the monster was gritting her teeth so hard it made her jaw shake.

"You…" the monster whispered dangerously.

"My Glory," Raven said in between tears as she struggled to sit up, "we should, we should leave – cut, cut our losses and regroup."

"I can deal with a few disgusting vermin," the monster said, never looking away from Priscilla, "especially those that deserve to be exterminated."

Priscilla had pushed herself to her feet, standing unsteadily next to Illnyea and gave the monster a wide smile like she was amused by the threat instead of cowed.

"You ought to listen to your lackey," Priscilla said, projecting confidence despite being at a clear disadvantage, "and run back to your damn cult leader – maybe he'd take pity on you and get you a new dress to match your scars."

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Illnyea had been struck dumb by her sister's rashness, her throat going dry. Priscilla was way too confident for someone who seemed like she could barely stand up, and each time Priscilla spoke, it just made the monster even madder! This was not how Illnyea had thought this was going to go and things were rapidly spiraling out of control, moving too fast for her brain to keep up with.

Her magic pulsed within her, like it was trying to coo that it could help Illnyea wrench back control of the situation.

For a moment, Illnyea was between risking the magic or using the club and nearly ended up doing the stupidest thing – which was absolutely nothing as the monster darted forward, clawed hands reaching for Priscilla with a malice gleaming in her eye.

There was no more time to worry about the consequences.

Illnyea stamped a foot on the ground, unleashing an overflowing tide of magic she infused with one simple command.

Obey me.

The earth responded to her call, to the protective instinct that was rising within Illnyea because she refused to allow her sister to be taken from her, not now, not ever.

(n̷̲̩͔̺͇̪̗̗͒̈́͜͜ę̵̟̼̣̍̃̿̄̇̀͠ṿ̶̺̹̩̣̀̆͊͘ẻ̵̯̫͇̳̜̤̰̭̞͆̂̄͂̈́̐ͅr̸̡̫̬͇̦̱̜͉̰͇͑̌̈́̀͝ ä̴̙̩̫͎̼̥̫͔́̉͘͜ͅg̸̳̹͍͕͉̗̙͎̩̅̂̋̈́ä̵̧̛̤̯̰̗͚̯̻̥̍͒̌̍i̸̛̘̱̠͚̻̭͔̼͈̒̑̃̾̒͋̿ñ̵̩̔̏͘)

An earthen spike shot up, piercing the monster's outstretched hand moments before it made contact and made the monster come to an abrupt stop as another spike came from the earth and stabbed through the monster's thigh.

Magic roared in Illnyea's ears, drowning out everything else as the monster yanked her hand back and pulled her leg free, baring bloody teeth at Illnyea. The monster stood with far less confidence now, favoring her left leg greatly as she watched Illnyea warily, pain cutting through rage enough to recognize the true threat in this battle.

Illnyea let the metal club drag against the ground as she stepped forward and earth swarmed up the end to encase it before she swung it at the monster.

The monster blocked it with her forearm, stopping the momentum entirely, but the earth erupted into spikes that sank deep into her flesh upon contact.

The monster hissed, a single, glaring purple eye staring out from behind the curtain of black hair. She gripped the part of the club not encased in earth to get leverage to yank out the spikes and jumped out of Illnyea's reach.

With each beat of her heart, Illnyea felt the magic within her pulse with anticipation, flooding more and more into the earth around them without feeling like her reserves wavered. It was like every inch of Illnyea buzzed with energy – energy that begged to be released, to have purpose, to consume.

As the monster regained her footing, Illnyea's magic itched to turn the monster into a pincushion to skewer her until she was just tattered flesh.

But Illnyea denied her magic its way because Priscilla was behind her, so close that Illnyea feared Priscilla may be caught in the crossfire if she allowed her magic to do as it pleased. Even if letting her magic act according to its whims would end the battle now, it was a far more effective and safe weapon when she could direct its violent intent. Illnyea wrestled with her magic for a moment to bring it fully back under control, though it was like wrestling an unhappy alligator – doable but left Illnyea feeling like her magic had snapped a few figurative fingers off in the process.

But before either side of the battle attacked again, the monster's head suddenly snapped to the side, her single eye going wide.

"No," whispered the monster, clutching at her face as it looked like she cried tears of blood, "no, that can't be possible…!"

Illnyea risked a glance, following the monster's gaze, and saw that the man who had been attacking Sulaiman had slumped over and that Kavil fellow was pushing him off Sulaiman. That was good, great even, because Sulaiman could come help them in their fight now, and Kavil seemed to be useful too, though Illnyea wasn't quite sure what Kavil did.

The monster scratched at her belt as she let out a long, sobbing moan that could have been a name or an oath and pulled out a small, round pellet and swallowed it.

Behind the monster, Raven's eyes widened, mouth dropping open in shock.

"Oh fuck me sideways," Priscilla whispered, staggering forward as if she meant to try and stop the monster.

Illnyea didn't have any time to ask what was happening before a wave of pure magic burst from the monster and knocked both Illnyea and Priscilla off their feet.

The foreign magic slammed into Illnyea, worming its way into her overflowing magical reserves in a way that felt wrong, like leeches trying to burrow into her flesh.

Illnyea's tenuous control over her own magic

s n a p p e d.

…

Priscilla wished she could have helped Illnyea fight against The Starving One, but it was taking most of Priscilla's energy to even remain standing and out of the way with how much pain she was in from all the magic that was being swung around, like her entire body was being pelted with small tasers from every side constantly.

Even if Priscilla had dared to toss a dagger into the mix, one of her hands was numb and the other was clutching something much more valuable than a mere weapon.

The small bag of quartz was held so tightly that Priscilla could feel the sharp edge of the gems through both the bag and Asha. The yellow scars on Illnyea's arm were steadily stretching upwards despite Priscilla praying they wouldn't – it was only a matter of time before her nightmares came to life.

The quartz may end up being useless, but Priscilla kept them close because they were her only true plan. It was the only plan where they might both make it out alive.

Priscilla knew what was happening the moment that The Starving One pulled out the freaky snack and her stomach dropped. The cannibal always had a small piece of the cult leader tucked away in case of emergencies so she could call upon his divine power.

It was a double edged sword, one that Priscilla hadn't realized they pushed The Starving One into using. Maybe it was Priscilla's taunting or the injuries Illnyea had given her or the Wolf's sudden death, or maybe it was everything at once, but The Starving One was pulling out a card that could end up killing her as surely as the cannibal would kill her enemies.

Surprisingly, as Priscilla was knocked off her feet, the divine power blasting into them wasn't painful as thought it would be, though she could feel Asha's emotions going utterly still in their bond as the magic passed through them.

Priscilla landed on her back again with a groan because that was the second time she had been tossed through the air in less than five minutes and it was just as shitty as it was the first time.

But a surge of magic happened to Priscilla's left immediately after landing, the pain from it cutting through the numbness in her arm and demanding Priscilla's attention.

Frantically, Priscilla looked towards Illnyea, who had landed near her.

The golden cracks were crawling faster up Illnyea's arm, and one had stretched up the edge of Illnyea's collar threatening to curl around her throat like a viper. Illnyea's eyes were wide, facing Priscilla but were unseeing, hints of sickly golden light pierced through her irises as the cracks on her arm gained a similar glow. In the time it took Priscilla to blink in horror, magic pulsed from Illnyea and made the ground ripple ominously below them.

Priscilla didn't care The Starving One was coming closer with power that could rip off their heads, didn't care about the pain in her ribs or the fact the ground could open up in a sinkhole below her, Priscilla didn't care about anything other than the fact that Illnyea was suffering.

Priscilla lurched forward to grab Illnyea's hand, pressing the bag of gems flush between their palms and prayed to the god of cowards this worked.

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