Vampires made pretty good trackers. 'Born hunters, ' Nikki had called them, and Mia could see it. She had experienced it during her spars with her redheaded girlfriend, but only now could she see the girl truly in her element.

In a dark, shadowy forest, tracking down prey. There was a glint in Carmilla's ruby eyes that Mia found … extremely attractive, a dangerous, predatory glint that promised a painful death to her enemies.

Mia was pretty sure the girl wasn't even aware of just how absorbed in her task of hunting down the runaway Wendigo she had become. Vampiric instincts taking over, and all that. She considered snapping her out of it, but thought better of it.

For better or for worse, neither of them was human anymore, and it was best they both got used to it; and this instinct-driven 'vampiric episode' didn't seem harmful.

Mia felt that learning to control their instincts was better than trying to deny and stifle them. The dam would break sooner or later if they went with the latter. Though she was glad her own instincts were nowhere near as problematic as a vampire's.

Sure, she got some strange, murderous thoughts whenever someone trampled on nature, but that seemed to be the extent of it so far. Which was basically nothing compared to the stuff Camie had to deal with.

"It's close," the vampiress practically purred, her head swinging left and right as she took in a deep breath. "Get ready, it knows we are here. I bet it'll try to ambush us."

"Formation," Brent said, his voice a steady whisper as his grim gaze roamed over the forest's thick undergrowth. "As discussed."

With the third of their group gone, their formation had tightened up considerably, but also felt less volatile. The Unionists had left, which left the mages associated with the military and the Beastkin behind. There was still tension there, but more a simmering heat beneath the surface instead of the open flame that existed between the Unionists and everyone else.

Mia found herself at the center of the group, closer to the front than the other mages on account of her mother and girlfriend being there too, while Lina and Nikki stayed further back as pure ranged support.

The Wendigo was cunning, though Mia wasn't sure just how smart it was. The site of its ambush, the place it escaped to, was rife with bushes and ferns the size of trees. It was hard to see even just a few metres into the thicket, especially with the high canopy above letting only a dim light seep through, casting a near-permanent shadow over the forest below.

It didn't help that the damned ferns were not normal, but made of metal like everything else. Swaying leaves the size of kite-shields and tables moved about with the breeze, their sharp edges like swords threatening to cut whoever dared to move without caution near them.

It looked alien, unnatural … though perhaps it was just not meant for them, or to Mia specifically, with her supernatural hearing. The breeze whistled by, flowing through the undergrowth and between the monolithic trunks, making the thousands of metal leaves sway and clash.

The sound was all-pervasive, like a million chimes sounding all at once, nails on a blackboard, metal screaming and screeching. The abominable noise put a permanent grimace on the young Halvyr's face, while also making one of her best senses near useless, leaving only her Spirit Sense to keep a lookout for monsters.

Was it luck on the Wendigo's part, or a calculated move? Underestimating your foes was never a good move in a life and death situation, so Mia decided to bet on it being the latter.

The forest was eerie, so loud and obnoxious and yet so empty of life. Her Spirit Sense caught not a single insect crawling around in the underbrush, not a single burrowed taking shelter under the thick roots of the trees. The noise made it not immediately apparent, but the forest was dead.

Which made sense, considering Rifts were artificial creations of the System. Basically just vents and filters for chaotic mana.

"Remember what we discussed," Brent said in a whisper, referring to Nikki's earlier words. "Focus. If it screams again, throw your mana into a frenzy if you can. It might hurt you, but it might also save your life."

According to Nikki, others could achieve similar effects to what Mia's mana found naturally if they knew what they were doing. Much less effectively though, since only Arcane was especially suited for disrupting magic among the base seven elements.

Hers made her impervious to alien magical effects of the same rank as her, while others could only hope to take the edge off. Tip the scales in their own favour, as it were, and give themselves an easier time. Will was the attribute most helpful for warding off fear and terror effects, but it could use the help when it came to a monster a rank above everyone here.

Which was plain unfair, a childish part of Mia felt, because that was the only body enhancement her element was good for, but everyone else got a knock-off version of it?

She ruthlessly quashed that part, feeling guilty for even just having had that thought run through her head.

The rational part of her was just glad they had a better shot at defeating the monster, and that she wouldn't wake up again alone while the rest of her group writhed around her like salted slugs from the magic-induced nightmares.

The back of her neck itched faintly, the hairs suddenly standing on end, her body reacting to the signs her conscious mind took another second to catch. The ambient miasma was diluting and changing, thickening in places while in others it grew dim.

But not in one spot, where a van-sized blob of thicker miasma was staying still and resisting the stormy currents. It just so happened that the said spot was right above her head, up in the high canopy of the towering metallic redwoods.

"Above," Mia said, whispering as her head snapped up and eyes scanned for their target. She found nothing, but her call drew the attention of someone who did.

"Found it," Sparkle chirped in her mind, the small sprite sounding inordinately gleeful. Mia blinked. The cat-like Mana Familiar still sat still in her pocket, but when she focused on her new Bond, she felt it extend upwards into the canopy instead. "Look."

An image overlaid itself with her vision, translucent and still, showing the wiry, rotting form of the Wendigo hiding above a thick branch high above the Raiders.

"Attack!" Sparkle said. "Your 'Arcane Blasts' are primitive but more powerful than any single spell I could cast, for now, and with you casting it, this ugly thing won't feel me gathering mana and weaving the spell. Quick. Before your stupid friends give away the surprise."

Mia swallowed, already seeing many of her fellow mages eyeing the canopy at her words. Mother's sprite was slowly drifting upwards, while Lina conjured tendrils of translucent air that she sent high up. The latter couldn't reach the far-off canopy, but the sprite would, and some beastkin were already eyeing the thick tree trunks speculatively, claws lengthening as if they weighed their chances at climbing the monolithic giants of nature.

She might have hesitated once, before all this, before the weeks she'd spent using her magic to purge the city of the monsters tainting it. Now, she did not. Arcane Blast's runes fleshed within her core, their power pulsing across her runic model as her mana gathered and gave them life.

Rather than direct the mana to her fingertips, she let her instincts guide her, sending the spell into her Bond instead. With the speed of thought, the spell raced across the ephemeral thread, and she heard Sparkle cackle in her mind, then heard the sound of an explosion far above.

It was quickly followed by an inhuman scratch of rage and pain that grated on her ears, and her eyes widened as she saw the Wendigo fall from its hidden perch. The monster was twitching, careering through the air as a large patch of withered skin at the side of its torso had been all but evaporated by the explosion, leaving behind lean flesh dripping oily black blood. It wasn't a deep wound, but it was a wound, but the fact she'd blown the bastard out of its hiding place was more important.

Mia felt the distance between herself and her Bond rapidly shrinking, the sprite practically yanking himself back into her Core by using the thread connecting the two of them. A moment later, he retook his place within the slumbering Mana Familiar, bursting forth from her pocket and making the vessel resume its original size.

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The others weren't just staring up at the falling monster in awe and horror, though. It wasn't even a third of the way down when Helene's Sprite let loose a mighty blast of lightning, yellow and blue bolts curling around each other like a pair of serpents in an embrace, racing towards the monster faster than the human eye could see.

The creature screeched, its voice almost getting lost beneath the deafening boom of the lightning, finally connecting. Its flight changed course, the force of the strike sending it flying sideways, and in a moment it crashed into a trunk. Even down on the ground, dozens of metres away, Mia's ears caught the sound of bones cracking with a sickening crunch.

Still, this was a peak Rank 1 monster. Not Guardian level … but almost like a mini-boss from fictional dungeons often depicted in RPGs. So Mia wasn't all that surprised when one of its lanky arms snapped out, its wicked claws digging into the greaves of the metallic bark its body broke upon to halt its fall.

Its body smoked, withered muscles twitching as lingering electricity arced across its form. It was far from dead yet, though; its empty gaze glared down at them with malice and hate, its black eyes deep as the abyss, seeking to draw them in and drown them in fear.

It was still far too high up for most of the ranged combatants to reach, but not all. Arrows whistled through the air, and the two archers remaining let loose on the monster.

The Wendigo hissed angrily but managed to dodge, scuttling across the rugged bark like some macabre spider. The arrows clinked off the metallic bark harmlessly, seconds too late to strike their target.

Carmilla eyed the monster, her gaze holding a predatory glint as her ruby eyes went back and forth between the base of the towering tree and the Wendigo. Before she could act though, Helene unleashed another attack.

Not the concentrated bolt of lightning off before, but a storm snapping forth from her fingers. They crashed against the tree, hissing as they met conductive metal, then rushed up its surface like a horde of ravenous beasts.

Helene gritted her teeth, the attack clearly taxing her Spirit and control, but the unleashed storm flowed under her command for long enough.

The Wendigo had nowhere to go, its chosen perch suddenly becoming hostile ground as the storm of lightning consumed the extremely conductive monolith.

It leapt mere moments before the first arcs reached it, its jump carrying it far from the trunk. Limbs spread to slow its fall, the Wendigo opened its jaw wide and released a screech.

Mia flinched, the corners of her vision going dark as nausea slammed into her like a speeding train, but the violent Chaos Aspected mana she'd kept in her veins flared. The darkness receded, and the nausea left, leaving behind a pulsing ache in her skull.

She shook her head and snapped her gaze back up, eyes flying wide open as she saw the Wendigo now a mere fifty metres away , falling right towards her with its dark gaze locked on her.

Sparkle reacted before her, leaping up like a pink missile. The Mana Familiar's form unravelled under the Sprite's expert touch. He took control of the mana within and bent the spell weave to his will.

It drew on Mia's reserves heavily, mana flowing freely through their Bond. She could have stopped it, but she didn't. Despite the little Sprite's words not long ago, the Bond let her feel his true emotions.

Sparkle had felt guilty, ashamed that he hadn't proposed to Bond sooner out of pride. He knew he had put her in danger with his actions, but couldn't bring himself to apologise. Not really.

He could have hidden his emotions though, and Mia would have never known. But he didn't, and Mia speculated that he wanted her to feel his guilt and shame, and hear the apology that he couldn't bear to speak aloud.

That was why she trusted him to do what he thought best, and that he would use the mana she gave him to protect her to the best of his ability.

She wasn't disappointed when the feline form turned into something else, something more dangerous. First, like a jagged spike. It slammed into the Wendigo, arresting some of its momentum as its tip dug into the monster's wiry muscles.

It didn't go deep, but it didn't need to. The Mana Familiar changed form again, breaking apart into a dozen chains, each link holding a jagged spike that dug into the monster's skin as the shackles wrapped around its writhing body.

"It won't hold for long," Sparkle spoke into her mind. "This thing is weak as far as peak Rank 1 monsters go, but we are weaker still. But I should be able to hold it in place for long enough for your friends to gather their wits."

Mia felt him draw on her mana again. She let him, a brief grimace flickering across her face as her mana channels burned from the strain. Sparkle moulded the mana, and that took her mind off of the ache. There was something ever so faintly familiar in the way he twisted the arcane energy.

From one moment to the next, the Wendigo changed course. A mere dozen metres above Mia's head, instead of continuing to obey the call of gravity, the monster flew to the side as if an invisible force slammed into it from the side.

Mia gasped, recognition finally flashing across her face. She had done something similar once while experimenting with her Arcane Mana Manipulation Skill.

Sparkle turned the arcane mana into kinetic energy and unleashed it on the monster. Mia had only managed to make some blades of grass sway, her control too weak, her understanding too shallow. But her new Bond slammed the hammer of kinetic energy into the monster with practised ease.

It was almost comical, seeing the vicious monster get slapped aside by an invisible hand like a pesky fly.

The Wendigo slammed into the ground, a scant handful of metres away from the Delvers, its writhing form swallowed up by the thick undergrowth.

'You're teaching me how to do that.' Mia thought, awe and something darker stirring within her. The world was dangerous, and she needed to be dangerous too if she wanted to thrive in it. She needed power, and Sparkle apparently had it. Though … that was not how she should talk to her Bond. They were partners. 'Please?'

"But … busy." Sparkle's voice was strained, and Mia grimaced, shaking off her distraction.

The draw on her mana remained, and she could feel the Sprite struggling to maintain the cohesion of his vessel. The mana he drew on was used to reinforce cracks and fractures the moment they formed, reinforcing the shackles that should have shattered by now against a powerful Wendigo.

She couldn't use magic, or she risked running out of mana before they could finish the monster off. Luckily, she wasn't alone.

"Kill it while it's down!" Brent shouted, but Rex was faster; the Lizardman was already charging through the metallic bushes towards the downed monster, with the other Beastkin following close behind. Brent and Sebastian followed behind them, showing more care and patience as they cut through the ferns and bushes with enhanced swings of their blades. "Don't give it time to breathe!"

Mia didn't see much of the fight, only flashes and small glimpses between the bodies. She stayed back, her use relegated to feeding her Bond the mana he needed to keep the Wendigo tied up while the melee fighters hacked away at it until it died.

It didn't go down easily, or without claiming some blood as the price. Mia didn't know how exactly, but the monster managed to send one of Rex's squad mates flying with a deep claw marks across his scaled chest.

Screams and shouts of rage rang out, some from familiar throats, in voices she could put names to, others she couldn't.

Carmilla's voice was among them, the vampire's growling scream of anger joining the chaos. It sent a jolt of dread down her spine, almost making her rush forward to make sure she was fine.

"She's fine," Helene said, her hand closing in a gentle grip around Mia's shoulders. Mia glanced up at her mother, finding her eyes glazed over, distant. "You have a Bond too now, don't you? My zappy friend said so, at least. Why don't you watch through the Sprite's eyes? It's … quite the sight."

"I can do that?" Mia blinked, then frowned.

***

You have a permanent telepathic Bond with your Bonded Spirit, allowing you to communicate with them freely through subvocalization, thought and feelings.

***

It didn't say anywhere that she could share her Bonds sight, or any other senses… although, he did send a still image through the Bond before, didn't he?

"He's busy," Mia said, shaking her head and dismissing the suggestion. As much as she wanted to have eyes on the fight, make sure Camie was alright … or see whatever her mother was implying, she didn't want to distract Sparkle with her experimenting. "I don't want to fiddle with the Bond while he's fighting tooth and nail to keep that thing tied up."

Helene blinked in apparent surprise, as if she had somehow failed to consider that, then gave an understanding nod.

The Wendigo's cries grew weaker as the seconds flew by, and Mia's mana dipped below half, then it was down to a third and then took a sizable hit a few seconds later, falling to an all-time low of 10%.

Which was when the cheers went up, and Mia realised she couldn't hear or feel the monster any longer. Wanting to check to make sure in the only way she knew how to with absolute certainty, she pulled up the Rift Quest.

***

[Rift Quest: 'Dark Effigies']

Objectives:

Destroy the three dark effigies guarded by the Guardian's three Lieutenants. ( 1 / 3 )

Bonus Objective:

Kill all three Lieutenants before challenging the Guardian of the Rift. ( 2 / 3 )

Rewards: The loss of the three effigies will weaken the Guardian, robbing it of its dark magic.

Bonus Reward: The Rift will remain stabilised at Rank 1 as a Raid for an additional 12 hours.

***

"Eh?" Mia mumbled, blinking owlishly at the numbers. One effigy destroyed, two lieutenants dead? Her brain connected the dots a moment later. "I guess Jeff's squad has been busy too. Look at the Rift Quest."

Helene, who had been looking at Mia with a raised eyebrow at her mumblings, did just that. She went cross-eyed as she read the invisible panel floating before her eyes.

"Huh," she said. "Progress is progress. Once we destroy that effigy-thing, only one will remain, and we will have more than a full day to find and kill the weakened Guardian."

"Right," Mia said, a bit absently as she continued staring at the window. How the hell did a group of six make better progress than us, when we had five or six times as many fighters?

That was worrying. Though Mia shelved it for the future. For now, they were all working together, however ineffectually, with a single goal uniting them all.

Once the Raid was gone though, and the sword of Damocles hanging over their collective heads was gone …

Focus on the now, idiot. It won't matter if a monster bites your head off while you are distracted by brooding.

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