Brenda's state was… horrible. She was bleeding heavily, and her limbs were twisted unnaturally.

  Yet she was alive. Vernisha had no idea how she held onto life, but was happy. Vernisha walked over, uncorked one of her healing elixirs, and carefully gave her a few drops.

  She hoped the dose wasn't too potent.

  Brenda's shirt was torn, exposing part of her back, where a deep blue tattoo of an ocean filled with dead stars lay.

  Brenda was truly unlucky. Out of all the people she could have ended up around, it had to be Vernisha. And now she was paying for it.

  Vernisha had no choice but to head to Abella's estate with the child. Beneath her, the ground vibrated intensely. Above, lightning flashed—bolts of light streaking toward Sundawn or striking at random spots in the forest.

  More adventurers were being summoned to the task, she assumed. She hoped Jim and Jer-Kal would be safe.

  As that thought crossed her mind, the trees around her trembled as a Darsean cultist the size of a giant wrestled a red six-limbed monster.

  She sent out Crushbull and pushed toward Abella's estate. Her hand throbbed constantly, pointing in so many directions it might as well have been screaming that she was surrounded.

  The ground split ahead of her, and a Darsean cultist with a single C at the base of his neck lunged, fingers reaching for her throat.

  She was calmer this time and formed a gauntlet of death, but when his fingers touched her throat, they broke it effortlessly. She still grabbed his face and forced as much healing into him as she could.

  Crushbull bellowed and staggered to the ground. Vernisha rolled off the beast, clutching her throat in sheer panic.

  The cultist advanced again, but before he reached her, he jerked upward, raising an arm to block a crashing wave of liquid metal that flew above Vernisha.

  Vernisha didn't care about secrets anymore. Hesitation would get her killed. She grabbed her throat and began healing it.

  What sucked was that the healing wasn't instant. Fast, but not instant.

  She didn't know how the adventurers were detecting the Darseans, but she was grateful they were all fired up to kill them.

  She thought, had there always been this many powerful adventurers near Sundawn?

  It didn't matter. A woman in blue armor with two crisscrossing swords strode past Vernisha, glancing down at her with pity.

  Between heavy pants, the woman muttered, "We're sorry… If we just had more time…"

  Half her skull was crushed, yet she kept moving. Walking beside her was a snake with massive arms and horns that curved toward its tail. The creature was so massive that it had to weigh over 200 tons.

  Its level also couldn't be detected.

  The woman paused, looking at the two injured girls, then suddenly stiffened as if someone were shouting in her ear. She grimaced and yelled, "I'm coming! I'm coming!"

  With a swap of monsters, her body broke into burning embers and scattered into the air.

  She was gone just that fast.

  Vernisha coughed up blood and quickly checked on Brenda.

  She picked her up and mounted Crushbull again. The journey wasn't clean—six out of ten encounters with Darseans left Vernisha taking lethal damage.

  It got so bad that she was forced fully onto the defensive, abandoning the gauntlet that gave her extended claw range and higher healing output.

  As a matter of fact, Vernisha's jaw was broken, and she had been slowly healing it for the past two minutes to conserve ether.

  She had no intention of fully restoring it in case she needed the energy for something worse.

  Under normal conditions, maintaining that state would've been impossible.

  Iron Will made it manageable.

  When she reached a reasonable distance from Abella's estate, she summoned Forwing. She was about to use Feather Dance but quickly realized how pointless it would be against enemies that didn't rely on sight.

  She clicked her tongue, absorbed Forwing, and pressed forward.

  When she reached the gates, the guard saw her—and went pale.

  She was bloodied, filthy. Her armor was broken, and she only had pieces of it.

  "What… is the enemy coming after you?"

  Vernisha didn't answer—not that she wanted to with a barely functional jaw. She just stared back, confused.

  She had been told Tarnisha was about to be killed. Her twin, technically, but who else fit that description better than Tarnisha?

  The guard finally noticed her swollen jaw and hurriedly opened the gate. "I'll call the doctor."

  Then his eyes fell on Brenda, and whatever calm he had vanished. He ran off.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Vernisha scanned the estate.

  What if the enemy had already infiltrated the mansion?

  Her heart went cold, and she urged Crushbull forward. Dirt and stone crunched beneath the beast's weight.

  But the moment they passed the gate, Crushbull came to an abrupt stop—as if it had hit an invisible wall.

  Vernisha went flying forward. She grabbed Brenda mid-fall and landed on her feet.

  Crushbull was absorbed as she broke into a sprint toward the mansion, shouting, "Tarnisha! Abella!"

  Then Katie flashed through her mind.

  Would they have gone after her, too?

  Why not?

  What would stop bastards like them?

  Vernisha's heart pounded violently. The mansion came fully into view—clean, pristine, almost offensively normal.

  It did nothing to calm her.

  The pair of Punchios at the door looked at Vernisha in confusion.

  She pointed inside, breathing hard. When Vernisha opened her mouth, the pain hit her like a jackhammer, "Inside. Is Tarnisha safe? No—move. I need to go inside."

  One shook his head. "You're more than welcome, young Vernisha. But… with how you're acting, I don't think that would be wise. Calm dow—"

  "Move." She advanced toward the door, Brenda in her arms.

  The other hurried to add, "We'll take you straight to the medical room so—"

  She drew her axe and unsheathed it, the flash briefly blinding the two guards. Then she shoved the door open.

  "Tarnisha!" she screamed at the top of her voice as she bolted up the stairs. "Katie!"

  As she ran, a door slowly creaked open.

  Her stomach knotted and she braced for the worst.

  Her axe slipped from her hand as she mustered a healing gauntlet.

  "What is it?" someone said.

  Vernisha froze and turned toward the voice, raising a guard and preparing to leap back downstairs if this was a trick.

  But the figure at the edge of the stairs wasn't a trick.

  It was Katie.

  Katie's hair was a mess, and she stared at Vernisha and Brenda in shock. "What the—what happened to you?!"

  Vernisha didn't answer. "Where's Tarnisha? Did no one attack? Where's Tarnisha?"

  "Tarnisha for what? You and your friend need medical attention now."

  Vernisha hesitated, then handed Brenda over. If Katie was safe and this calm, then maybe the enemy had been careful. Brenda would be safe with her.

  "And you?" Katie asked.

  Vernisha stepped forward, voice croaky. "Where. Is. Tarnisha."

  Katie looked at her with fear in her eyes—like she didn't recognize the person standing in front of her.

  It didn't matter.

  Katie answered, "Behind you."

  Vernisha turned.

  The door that had opened earlier was now fully open.

  Tarnisha stood there, perfectly fine.

  Vernisha was at a loss for words. "You're… you're not being attacked?"

  Tarnisha's hands clenched. "Why the hell would I be getting attacked?"

  Vernisha realized they weren't aware of the situation. Was Abella keeping it quiet? That didn't make much sense.

  Vernisha slid down the wall and collapsed to the floor. "Darseans are attacking en masse. Big-shot adventurers are fighting them too."

  Tarnisha went still for a moment, then pulled her into an empty room, shut the door, and said, "I can sense them. Gods… there's a lot of them."

  She paused, eyes scanning Vernisha's battered state. "Why did they attack you?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "They must think you're one of them. So… why attack you? And why did you think I was in danger?"

  Vernisha hadn't thought of that, but it didn't matter.

  "He called me a Princess of Darkness," Vernisha said. "Said they were going to stop me. Stop the Great Father. Save the world. All that."

  "What?" Tarnisha surged forward. "What are you talking about? That makes no sense! They're the evil ones. They want society to collapse—not be saved."

  "I know that. They also called you my twin. Said I had two more siblings they're hunting."

  Tarnisha went quiet, thinking hard. "You came here because they said they were after me…?"

  "Is none of what I'm saying making you question what they meant? What siblings? Princess of Darkness? Why me—why us?"

  "Use your common sense. It's my first time hearing this, too. But we don't have time to dwell on it."

  Vernisha wanted to argue, but Tarnisha was right.

  "Okay. And I came here because I was told they were about to kill you. But with how long it took me to get here… I think they—"

  "Tricked you. And it worked." Tarnisha bit her lip.

  Vernisha had, indeed, fucked up. She had run here to protect Tarnisha, but instead, she might have led the enemy straight to her.

  "Sorry… I… didn't mean to." Vernisha began to apologize.

  "Nothing can be changed. Besides, you surviving is more important than trying to be heroic."

  Vernisha forced herself upright and leaned against the wall. She glanced out the window.

  Everything looked so peaceful.

  Vernisha asked quietly, "They're scared of heroes? That's why they're not attacking?"

  Tarnisha shook her head. "Abella isn't here. She went to Sundawn to handle something important. I guess now we know what."

  "So… why aren't they attacking?" Vernisha pressed.

  "Safety Zones are probably slowing them down. It doesn't matter. You have to leave. Far from here. Because they'll keep coming after you."

  Vernisha stared at her. "What about you?"

  Tarnisha raised her hand. The faint outline of a black spider appeared on her palm.

  Ignoring the question, she said, "I'm teleporting you away from here."

  The door suddenly slammed open.

  Katie stood there, breathing hard. "Vernisha. I'm not seeing Xiler. She went to Sundawn a couple days ago, but I thought she'd be back by now."

  Vernisha's heart went cold.

  Tarnisha immediately tried to redirect. "We're discussing something important—"

  She kept talking, but Vernisha couldn't hear a word. Someone else was going to die because of her.

  The world just kept punishing anyone who got close to her.

  Tarnisha grabbed Vernisha by the shoulders and shook her. "Pay attention! This is important. Or do you want to die? Because you will."

  "And you? And Katie? They're coming after us, you know."

  "What's going on? Is it the Sundawn Crisis?" Katie asked, but was ignored.

  "I will not die here," Tarnisha said flatly. "I'm destined for something greater. And you probably are too. So ignore your friend and focus."

  "I can't." Vernisha shook her head.

  "What the hell do you—" Tarnisha bared her teeth, angrier than Vernisha had ever seen. "—mean? People die. It happens all the time."

  Vernisha suddenly felt a strong throb.

  Something was coming, and fast.

  Tarnisha grunted, then snapped toward Katie. "Get to the bunkers. We're about to be attacked. And this girl—where is she?"

  Katie blinked. "You mean for us to get to the bunker? Yeah, let's go."

  Tarnisha hesitated a fraction too long. "…yeah."

  Katie wasn't a fool. She knew Tarnisha was attempting to trick her, but it didn't matter.

  Vernisha stepped closer. "This is beyond you, Katie. And we don't have the time or energy to explain."

  Vernisha tapped her shoulder, then glanced down the staircase, and spotted Brenda.

  Vernisha jumped down, landing in a crouch, and scooped Brenda up.

  Behind her, Tarnisha slammed her palm into the wall. A hidden tile mechanism triggered, opening a pit beneath Katie, but Tarnisha stepped clear before it could take her too.

  Loud bells began to ring.

  Tarnisha hurried downstairs toward Vernisha.

  Blue aura wrapped around her hands, and she touched Brenda.

  Vernisha's eyes widened. She immediately yanked Brenda away. "What the hell are you doing?!"

  "Healing her, dumbass. I heal people. Once she's stable, you'll stop acting like a child—hopefully."

  Her hand settled on Brenda again. "I don't even know how she's still alive. You have a talent for finding weird people."

  Vernisha stared at the blue aura, thoughts spiraling.

  "You… heal people," Vernisha muttered.

  "Yes. I know. Shocking. I'm special, remember?"

  "Yeah…" Vernisha slowly raised her own hand. A red coat of energy wrapped around it. "We're special."

  Tarnisha's eyes widened. "What—"

  The house shook violently.

  The walls held.

  The windows didn't crack.

  Then they felt something new. Someone powerful was standing on the roof.

  "Come out, young princesses. Come so we may play. Come so we may kill you. Come so we may save the world. Come, come, come!" The guttural scream slithered through the mansion.