The edge of the cliffs were easy to follow. The massive gun that sat farther up was beginning to hum ominously. SarthDarah felt the static in the air around her building. Several blasts of artillery shells went off, leaving the beach and whizzing loudly through the air towards targets out in the bay. The darkness was being replaced by flashes of red and orange.

  Several streaks of blue raced from the incoming ships, water froze underneath them. The spots that the beams hit became encrusted with massive walls of ice. Yelling from the beach was incomprehensible from where SarthDarah and her group waited. They had made it up to the top of the cliffs without incident, the guards on the road had instantly ran for cover when the explosions started.

  “Wait for the next round of ice missiles to hit, then we’re moving up as close as we can to the pinch point. I have three clones left, two are ready to assassinate the troops guarding the small barricade.” Lyria was hovering silently between SarthDarah and Duerlin.

  “Will Duerlin’s Fire Gate work?”

  “As long as he doesn’t miss and cuts a straight line.”

  The girls looked at Duerlin, he just shook his head and kept looking straight ahead. He wouldn’t fall for the bait, his skill would answer their question soon enough.

  “Are we ready yet?” Jorn complained from behind them.

  He and Ironfiddle came second in line, with Kuru and Anunt following them. Lavia brought up the rear and made sure no one came up from behind. The sounds of firearms and explosions rang out loud enough they could barely hear each other. Several ships had filled the bay, and now that so much ice magic had been thrown around, the bay was frozen solid.

  Minotaurs raced across the solidified water en masse. The sight of thousands of raiders had made them pause for a moment. Wondering if it was still smart to move on. It had come down to the simple fact of not going before the Minotaurs reached the beach meant they wouldn’t go at all. SarthDarah had insisted they all move as quickly as they could, no one argued.

  When they reached the spot where the cliff walls closed into a small pinch point, they had seen the massive machine mounted just around the other side. It had four massive metal coils on either side of a massive round aiming apparatus. The large turret jutting out from it moved up and down, left and right. The strange hum that was getting louder by the second had made them stop. Lyria had wanted to observe from up close. One of her remaining clones had snuck up to the machine and was working on figuring out how to open it and get inside.

  SarthDarah had wanted to just rush through, and Duerlin had reminded her that they all needed to get through. He could cut that machine in half with his ability, he would be on the other side, and anyone quick enough to follow could probably get by without notice. Most people would be looking at the huge explosion and suddenly broken machine.

  If Lyria took out the two guards at the barricade, they had a clear shot to the machine and then to the road behind it. Jorn would have to handle any outside interference, with Lavia escorting Ironfiddle, Anunt, and Kuru, across the destruction zone. It would have to be fast, and it would most likely put targets on all of them as they fled up the road. It was their only choice at this point.

  Duerlin stepped forward, drawing his sword in a silent pull. Lyria nodded at him, she had done her part. He readied himself, the fire in his sword starting to manifest. The bay below had erupted into a massive melee battle. Voices could be heard screaming in victory and in death. The noise had been enough to keep their approach covered, once they attacked that would be gone.

  “Wait!” SarthDarah called out.

  Duerlin hesitated just before releasing his ability.

  “What?!”

  “We can’t wait!” Lyria was starting to fly back and forth between them quicker and quicker.

  With three loud, echoing hums, the machine fired three blasts of white light out over the bay. Steam rose from the ice that melted and boiled. The ships that the beams hit didn’t explode, they simply ceased to exist. The ash floated on the wind as the air pressure from the blast pushed outward and away.

  “That’s why…” SarthDarah had felt the tingle at the last second.

  A buzz that had told her whole body to freeze and get away from the source. Duerlin was standing rigid and staring directly at the machine, his sword had gone blank again. He felt the terror of what was almost the end of him slowly wash over him. SarthDarah couldn’t blame him for taking a few moments to collect himself. She turned to the others behind her while Duerlin continued to stare at the machine.

  “New plan?”

  Jorn was staring dumbly at her, the rest of the group was looking out over the bay. It hadn’t taken long for it to go from a peaceful evening, to a war field. The steam that rose up from the rapidly thawed water was thickening into a heavy mist. While they all watched, the battle slowly disappeared from their sight.

  “I don’t think there’s time for a new plan.” Jorn finally answered her after a few moments of silence.

  “Well, I don’t think it’s safe for Duerlin to go through that thing.”

  “I don’t either, but what else can we do? The blaster machine thing is just gonna evaporate everything, what if it can hit the ship we need to take off world?

  SarthDarah looked at him with extreme anxiety. The sudden thought of feeling free and flying away, only to be shot out of the sky, made her stomach feel empty.

  “What if I hit it with my napalm first?”

  “Duerlin, hey!” Jorn called out to the swordsman.

  “Uh? Yeah?” Duerlin seemed out of it, like his brain was only half on.

  “We need you to take that thing out. Can you?”

  “Uhh…” Duerlin went back to looking at the machine. “I… I don’t know.”

  “What if I hit it with my napalm first? Could you cut through it if it was already damaged?”

  “Lassie, let me get a thunderbolt in on it. That might do it.” Ironfiddle was already looking fiercer than she had ever seen him.

  “If both of you hit it, then maybe…” Duerlin still sounded like he was lost in a haze and not sure of anything at the moment. “That was a lot of energy guys. The feedback from trying to cut through all of it could blow up the entire cliff side.”

  SarthDarah looked back and forth between her group and the machine of death in front of them. She could feel the static in the air, her entire body felt the tingle of energy dancing about. That machine was pulling in the natural energy of the area and condensing it, all in order to release it in focused beams of destruction. This was unexpected, but they still needed to get through.

  Before she could make a decision, the machine began to hum loudly again. SarthDarah knew that it was about to fire again, if they wanted to get through it was a short window. It hadn’t even been a full minute since it had fired off.

  “What if you let it continue to fire? Let it cut the minotaur invasion force down.” Kuru had come up to stand with them.

  “How do we get past it then?”

  “You wait for it to cut the front lines down, then we go through it. If it’s pooling that much energy at a time, it can only fire maybe three or four times before it needs a cooldown period.”

  “Can we really afford to wait though?”

  “No, but there are some things that can not be rushed.”

  Kuru had a good point. The machine fired off again, three blasts aimed nearly straight downward at the beach. The Minotaurs must have been making headway through the defenses. It wouldn’t take long before they were moving into the main road areas if they had already breached the beach.

  SarthDarah was already feeling the pressure of the situation. Not only were they now stuck here, but she was feeling the static of that cannon more and more with each blast. Her body seemed to be humming and vibrating along with it. She watched as it began to hum again. The air tingled with electricity and as she watched, she focused. SarthDarah felt the electricity in the air flowing, it seemed to be pooling from all around directly into the machine.

  As the machine fed and collected the charge, the hum grew louder, the pull in the air grew harder. SarthDarah felt herself growing more excited along with it. She let her body synchronize with the pull of the electrons in the air, she felt the wind vibrate with sharp intense energy. Even with her eyes closed, SarthDarah could see the colors of the wind being sucked into the machine.

  Just as the rainbows of energy were brightening into a white and intense ball, SarthDarah felt the moment it all went still. It was like the heartbeat after she had leapt from the mountaintop. It was as serene as a starset over a clear lake on a warm summer night. The sudden clairvoyant sense of seeing this whole world overtook her. She remembered when she logged into the world for the first time, she had spun down from above and seen it as a whole. This was similar, but instead of coming down, SarthDarah simply was the air of this world.

  Then it was over, and SarthDarah’s eyes flashed wide open as she came back into herself. They had less than the time it took for her to start screaming, it was about to fire again. This time it was different though, she didn’t know why, but she felt the collection of the energy unable to release from the housing capacitors in the machine. It was going to self-destruct.

  “Get!...” Was all she said before it went boom.

  There was a wave of heat, then pressure, then nothingness. SarthDarah lay flat on the ground, or what used to be the ground. Debris rained down and she wasn’t sure if she was still on the cliff or blown back down to the beach. Maybe they had been blown straight up and over the mountain peak that used to shadow over them. Her ears didn’t register any noise, just a soft ringing that seemed to come from the concussion she must have.

  SarthDarah put a hand to her head, she couldn’t feel anything. Either her arm was numb, or broken. She put it out in front of her and wiggled her fingers. Each responded, then she did the other hand. Nothing seemed wrong with her hands, it didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel like anything else either.

  “Sarth!” A distant voice broke the ringing in her ears.

  “Heeaahh..” Her voice came out strangled and broken and caused her to start coughing.

  SarthDarah looked around, she saw a dark open sky with dense smoke rising away from where she was lying. Rocks and parts of a canvas canopy lay on her right in a heap. Something was oozing out of the cracks in the rubble, SarthDarah didn’t want to look too much closer into what that was. On her left was a smooth patch where rubble seemed to have completely missed.

  It was flat and smooth, just like the spot she had been standing on when the machine blew. There were even a few people kneeling there just beyond the spot she had been looking at. Her brain was still rattled, but she recognized the large hand that reached down to her.

  “Jorn…?” She croaked out.

  “Yea Sarth, I’m here. We’re all still here.” The big man let his hand brush softly against her face. “You, you saved us again. What happened?”

  It took a moment, but the words finally all registered with her. Her eyes went wild looking around for a moment, searching each face of her companions. Only when SarthDarah had accounted for each of them did she calm again. Her breathing became long and even, trying to slow her panic. They were all still alive, still here, not gone, not dead.

  “I felt it, I felt the machine building, then it got stopped up at the last moment. It was like a dam that had taken on too much pressure and couldn’t open the gates to release it. I… I had to warn you all, but…” Her head swam like a drunkard in a pool of jello trying to remember what had happened. “I never got out the warning, there wasn’t time. I reacted, I know I did, but it was too late.”

  “To me it looked like you split the explosion as the wave of it crashed over us. One moment the machine was lighting up to fire, the next I was watching you shimmer as the fireball tore apart the rest of the cliff side.” Jorn was still poking his hand carefully about SarthDarah, checking to make sure nothing was broken.

  “Lass, if we make it outta here, I will dedicate an entire medley of songs for ya. Maybe some artwork if you manage to do more of that stunning savior-esqe hero stunting.” Ironfiddle was standing, his eyes sharply focused on the field of destruction where the encampment had been. “I feel though, ye might not have time to rest as much as you like. We are not alone here.”

  A lone figure came running at them through the smoke and dust still settling from the blast. The movements were wild, as if they were stumbling as they ran. As if they were running from something.

  “It’s just one guy.” Lavia stepped up and in front of where Jorn kneeled next to SarthDarah. “You stay down, I got this one.”

  “It’s not him.” Ironfiddle was strumming something.

  With his playing, a gust of wind began to circle around him. With a few twists of his hips, the dwarf played a few key notes and sent the gust outward. It went straight towards the running figure, who didn’t even flinch at the sudden blast of wind. As it traveled, it grew, and it dispersed the dust and smoke in its path.

  “It’s them.” Ironfiddle said as his wind revealed the two dozen Minotaurs rushing the remaining scraps of camp.

  The screaming soldier barely even noticed they were there as he neared. His eyes were unfocused and he kept looking back over his shoulder. The rocks in his way caused him to trip and fall right in front of Lavia. She took the opportunity to level her axe with the man's neck.

  “Stop. Don’t move.” Her voice boomed in a commanding tone.

  The man froze. His eyes became laser focused on the steel in front of him. SarthDarah was still lying on the ground and was able to see how his legs trembled.

  “Wha… who are you?” The soldier was scared and his voice shook and broke.

  “Doesn’t matter now, does it?” Lavia sank down onto her haunches so she was a little closer to eye level with the man. “What does matter, is if you want to live or not.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  There was silence for a moment, but the man made a small nod.

  “Then tell us what happened over there? How many, is there a way around?”

  “Uh… it’s war. That’s what happens in war. We are losing apparently…” The man trailed off, his eyes finally taking in the rest of the group. “Oh, who are you all? How did you get here?”

  “We are the ones deciding if you keep running away, or go splat with the rest of your friends. How many Minotaurs?” Lavia pressed her axe into the man’s neck until he fell backwards.

  “Ahh!! Sorry, sorry! Too many, I couldn’t count. My friend owns a fishing boat and told me to join him, not the army. Please! Oh god, why!? Why didn’t I listen to him? I could be out at sea, fishing! Instead I’m here, getting paid in gold to die! What good is the gold if I’m dead? I don’t have a family!” The man’s eyes went unfocused again and his rambling went on into more and more irrational territory.

  “Put him out of his misery. It would not be a mercy to let him live. His mind is broken, and only ending this life to let him start anew will let him be able to be happy again.” Kuru spoke softly but with an obvious command.

  Lavia looked over at SarthDarah, her eyes spoke of understanding. She had known this pain, seen it before. They both had, in different ways. In a short glance they shared the understanding, it wasn’t right to kill, but this was a mercy for someone who had been broken. Their life would be one of destruction and self hatred, if they managed to live at all. As broken as this man was, SarthDarah knew he would more likely fall off the cliff than manage to find a way to his friend.

  “Will his soul be free?” SarthDarah asked as Kuru knelt down next to her.

  “This one is not mine to take. He is not a corrupt soul that needs imprisoning. My Father will take it, and return it to the cycle. Eventually it will be reborn, somewhere out there in the universe.”

  They paused as the wet shlop of Lavia ending the soldier interrupted Kuru. It was war.

  “We need to push through, now. While we have the chance.” Jorn reached out a hand to take SarthDarah’s. “Before we get overrun and completely outnumbered.”

  “Can you stand?” Duerlin came up next to them.

  “We have about a minute before they start heading this way, only a few of the Empire’s forces are still standing.” Lyria said as she appeared floating above SarthDarah.

  SarthDarah coughed a couple of times as she sat up. Oddly it wasn’t from pain, but she could feel her power generator running at maximum. This was the same as it had been before she lost to the Minotaur Captain. The exhaustion factor of using multiple large skills back to back, that’s what this was.

  “I’m ok.” SarthDarah waved away the hands trying to help her up. “If we don’t take care of the small group ahead, we won’t make it.”

  “I’ll lead the charge then.” Jorn pulled out his weapons, one in each hand.

  “Just don’t break the cliff away from the rest of the mountain.” Lavia smiled as she joked with him.

  The two large warriors bellowed out a war cry as they ran towards the dwindling Empire camp. Ironfiddle chuckled as he began to clap his hand on a drum that was hanging from his belt. The small brown hand drum was louder than SarthDarah expected. He beat out a rhythmic pattern that almost sounded like thundering footsteps. Within moments it looked like there were twenty Ironfiddles all running headlong towards the Minotaurs.

  Duerlin stood beside SarthDarah as she took a moment to gain her balance. Her generator was still humming at max, the heat was starting to become a tangible thing in her. How much had she overdone it? Could it be considered overdoing it if it saved all of her friends? Duerlin put a hand on her shoulder, then removed it just as fast.

  “Thanks, again. For more than what you’ve done here too.” Duerlin looked at her pointedly. “You sure you will be alright? You are burning up.”

  “I’m fine. Exhausted and rebuilding energy. The heat is just a byproduct of the generator being overworked.”

  “Taxing yourself like that will lead to a blow out.” Anunt was right behind SarthDarah, who jumped at her sudden beratement.

  “Yea, well.” SarthDarah looked over to where Jorn and Lavia were about to begin fighting. “I saved you all again and I let them take the lead this time. I’d call that even.”

  Anunt chuckled, her face was pale, but the humor still rose to the surface. SarthDarah smiled back at the strict healer. She hadn’t had time to get to know Anunt very well yet, but SarthDarah was absolutely sure she could trust the healer.

  “I’m going to join. Give us thirty seconds before you blast everything this time, how about?” Duerlin, with his own attempt at a joke, started to trot away towards the battle.

  “Twenty is the best I can do!” SarthDarah yelled after him.

  Lyria was hovering at Kuru’s side, level with her shoulders. They were having their own whispered conversation. SarthDarah tried not to let that bother her, though for some reason it made her feel uneasy. When her eyes met Kuru’s, there was a moment of silence that seemed unnatural. Then Kuru smiled at her and flicked her eyes towards the battle that was slowly turning in their favor.

  “Not wanting to rush in?” Kuru raised her voice.

  “I promised twenty seconds, I got about ten left.”

  Kuru’s smile broadened and her eyes danced with mirth. Lyria had a look of impatience. The small woman was hovering by Kuru’s side, when she noticed SarthDarah looking at her, Lyria winked and went invisible.

  “Where is she going?”

  “Hmm?” Kuru looked around as if not noticing that Lyria had left. “Well, that girl is always up to something. She likes to sneak around and get into all sorts of things. Turns out, one of my associates is down on the beach. Not exactly where I thought she would be, and it raises a little concern for our chances to get through here.”

  “Who’s on the beach?” SarthDarah’s mind was racing, trying to think of who else they would have to contend with now.

  “For now, concern yourself with what’s in front of you.” Kuru pointed to the small force of Minotaurs that were left. “Your time is up, and your friends are about done. I think we should get moving while we can.”

  SarthDarah teetered on whether or not she wanted to ask more, but Kuru was right. The fight up ahead was almost over, and they still needed to push through to the road beyond. With a quick look back at Anunt, SarthDarah took off.

  Jorn swung both of his weapons around him like a top. Three Minotaurs had surrounded him, but none could get close enough to land a blow. Lavia held the line next to them, forcing four more Minotaurs to risk getting caught in Jorn’s attack area or face her rapid fire spear thrusts. The two had the main group of remaining Minotaurs occupied, Duerlin had just finished slicing the heads off of a few that had been standing over the fallen human soldiers.

  “Where’s Ironfiddle?” SarthDarah yelled out as she joined Lavia’s melee.

  “He’s pushing ahead. Created a stampede illusion and forced a bunch of the Minotaurs to go running off the edge of the cliff as they tried to attack it.”

  “You took too long!” The burst of flame knocked one of Jorn’s opponents to the ground as Duerlin flashed by them.

  “I got distracted, besides, you needed the extra experience!”

  “Says the noob!” Jorn laughed as his swinging top routine stopped suddenly and he leapt upward.

  “Hey! We agreed to let that go!” SarthDarah yelled after him, then she felt herself ready to jump away as she realized what the big man was about to do. “Countdown!”

  “Oh shit, two… one!” Lavia yelled as she too leapt away at the last second.

  “Eruption!” Jorn’s bellowing attack cry came as both of his weapons swung downward.

  “We told you Not to break the cliff!” Duerlin was using Flame Gate to rush away and through one of the few remaining Minotaurs.

  Jorn’s heavy blow caused the whole ground to shake, the crater he left behind was large enough to swallow up most of the Empire’s destroyed camp. Luckily he didn’t carve the cliff side away from the rest of the mountain. The loud echoing bang that it let off threatened to draw the attention of both armies to them. SarthDarah was levitating high enough to see out over the bay.

  Beyond the beach was a steaming mess of icebergs and flaming ships, all floating in a mist shrouded and blood soaked bay. The Minotaurs were running towards the beach in any direction they could. They looked like rats fleeing drowning ships.

  “It would be nice not to know the horror of it all. Too bad those of us with power don’t have the luxury of ignorance.” Lyria was suddenly beside her, appearing out of nowhere. “I know what it’s like to lose those close to you. To have your mind not know what was real or fake in a memory of them.”

  “Oh?” SarthDarah looked towards the small woman. “And you have some sagely advice to pass on then?”

  “No…” Lyria flitted. “I just wanted you to know you're not alone. I created ShadowGlimmer trying to escape my own mental issues. It seems it just led me full circle again. We can’t run from what we must face and overcome. No matter how far you go, the wall will always be there.”

  SarthDarah thought on this for a little bit. The ground below was clear, and she could see her group standing below them. She couldn’t take long on her thoughts here, they still had a time limit and a long way to go. SarthDarah let her Levitate ability lapse and began her plummet down.

  Jorn had held back, but it was fun to see all the reactions to his overpowered ability. Having one weapon was worth an extra three hundred percent damage. Any surface that he struck was shattered instantly, and he could dial up and down on the force applied, which let him adjust the amount of surface he affected. With two weapons, he had dialed all the way down to minimum on the area effect, but the damage was nearly a hundredfold what one weapon could do. It was tough not to smash things and not go all out on it.

  By the time everyone had gathered back together, the smoke had cleared and no Minotaurs were left standing. If some were hiding or lying down bleeding out, that was up to debate, but they didn’t have the time to search through the bodies. Standing on the edge of the newly formed crater, the group looked up to see SarthDarah floating above them.

  “Well, rather showy, but effective nonetheless.” Kuru was smiling as she greeted them.

  “Ha!” Jorn laughed.

  “At least I don’t have to reattach any body pieces this time.” Anunt came up with a grumpy tone.

  “Some of us are just glad we didn’t have to go through a giant death machine.” Duerlin was kneeling at the edge of the crater, running a hand through the loose soil.

  After a few moments, they looked up, hoping to see SarthDarah coming down and ready to move on. They just saw a small Fairy pop up next to her. Jorn looked around, nudging Lavia as he saw a small figure walking up from the direction of the road. Curious to see a small humanoid instead of a large Minotaur shape, the two took a few steps to be in between the newcomer and their group.

  “Well well, you did manage to hang on to some impressive units.” A silky smooth female voice called clearly across to them. “You got lucky not to get caught in the blast, I didn’t realize you were there until after it happened. Forgive me, Kuru.”

  “Not at all, but remind me, wasn’t your goal to seize this world through diplomatic means? Why the rush of force?” Kuru’s answer was calm and showed that she knew this person.

  “Our Mistress decided to push her own will upon the ambassadors, changing the parameters of my mission. Glad to see yours is going well yet.”

  “Mine? You were the one who decided this test of military functionality was necessary.”

  As the two argued, SarthDarah finally began her descent. When SarthDarah saw a new figure arguing with Kuru, she skipped the introduction and went right for the fire. The target in front of her was slender, not small like the Pirate girl had been, but lithe and dexterous like herself. The platinum white hair was flowing down past her shoulders and blowing casually in the wind, and it painted a perfect target as SarthDarah came down in a kamikaze strike.

  SarthDarah had to reduce the fire from the strike and lead with a piercing spear of wind in order not to hit Jorn and Lavia who stood protecting Kuru. The sudden shock of hitting a static field of electricity was unexpected. It froze her midair and directly above the platinum bullseye she had been aiming at.

  “Your lead prospect?” The female looked up at SarthDarah, her eyes stunned SarthDarah as they locked gazes. “She is quite the hothead, but has amazing control.”

  “What? Who are you? Let me go!” SarthDarah began thrashing against the field that was slowly making her whole body go numb.

  “Hahahaha!” The stranger was laughing her head off at her struggles. “Kuru didn’t tell you everything, that’s good. You might get to know me, but only if you can learn about someone through fists.”

  The laughter died off and turned into a manic smile. SarthDarah met it with one of her own, then was suddenly reminded of how Kuru had looked on occasion. This was what intense power brought, madness to a degree. You had to ride the razor's edge of it to gain more of it.

  “Bring it!” SarthDarah didn’t even hesitate.

  She stopped struggling and turned all of her energy inward. The buildup grew and the power was going to blast a hole larger than Jorn had just made. This was the lesson SarthDarah would teach to anyone that went against her and Kuru.

  “Dragon’s Fury!”

  The gout of flame was pure white with a fringe of blue. It pierced the static field and blasted straight down into the purple eyed female and into the ground. SarthDarah was sure that was as much as she was going to get to know the newcomer.

  “Cute.” The silky smooth voice rang out as the flames died away. “Try this.”

  A jolt of lightning shot out, racing into SarthDarah’s body. It overclocked all of her insides and forced her generator to ring out in agony as it went beyond its maximum capacity.

  “AHH!” SarthDarah’s cry was short, but loud.

  “Stop!” Kuru was standing next to the purple eyed woman.

  “Why?” Was the response.

  Kuru pulled out a small hand cannon from a purple void. The movement was fast enough to make the lightning user blink. Kuru was pointing the barrel of it straight at her head. The lightning stopped, SarthDarah fell to the ground. Her body twitched a few times before it stopped moving all together.

  “Huh, didn’t expect you to make such a clear cut line. Fine.” The silky smooth voice was covered with an angry tone. “I hope you know this is the end of the test, and our partnership. You can keep your toys, consider them spoils. Admiral Griffon is here and if you want off this planet with them, you better hurry to the refugee ships leaving the capital. This world is mine now, the Minotaurs follow my command. Attack me, and I will end you.”

  “Valkerrah, you have to know that I would never be brought to an end by you. You would have done that instead of agreeing to work with me had it been possible. My Father knows the vessels are gone, and he told Mistress Nyx. You better be careful your true self doesn’t get found out.” Kuru was still calm, but her hand was shaking ever so slightly, this wasn’t someone to fight. “Leave my collection of playthings alone. Hurt any of them, and this will be the world that gets you burned. Not even the Heiress to the Mistress’ power can escape her judgment.”

  While the two talked, Jorn and Lavia ran up to check on SarthDarah. She was still alive, but her body was once again overheated and past her point of exhaustion.

  “I…” SarthDarah said weakly. “I can defend…”

  Valkerrah and Kuru both turned to look down at her. Molten eyes met those of Ice, and of Chaos. It was something SarthDarah couldn’t expect anyone else to recognize. It was the eyes of those who had true power and were hungry for more. If Valkerrah was the one who was pulling the strings and now threatened Kuru, that made her an enemy. Since she had admitted to leading the Minotaur horde, SarthDarah felt no inkling of regret as she set herself on ending the lightning user.

  “I can defend myself.” SarthDarah stood. “Thanks, for the energy boost. I needed it.”

  “Girl…” Valkerrah sneered.

  “Sarth, don’t.” Jorn tried to hold back her arm, but SarthDarah turned to him and smiled.

  “It’s fine. Just a little tingly now, but my power was restored thanks to that blast. Actually gave me a little too much…” SarthDarah trailed off as she leapt forward.

  Her fist connected with a hard pocket of air and static again, this time she was ready for it and blasted wind straight into the path of her fist. The static wasn’t nearly as thick this time, and her blow found home. Kuru was jumping back just as SarthDarah landed her Napalm Strike against Valkerrah. The blast sent fire bellowing out in all directions.

  “You insolent brat!” Valkerrah screamed.

  Her face went from beautiful to enraged and covered in war paint and scarring. The flames hadn’t burnt her, but from the looks of it, Valkerrah was a veteran of many battles that had left their marks. With a sweep of Valkerrah’s arms, the sky flashed and became as bright as day. Three bolts of lightning flashed down around her, encircling Valkerrah in a circle of energy. The static field she had been producing before went from invisible, to a bright glowing purple orb around her.

  SarthDarah felt the energy build between them. The wind was rushing around in circles, the heat was rising with every flash that the three beams sparked off. It was reminiscent of the storm that had begun to rage on the sea. SarthDarah didn’t wait for the energy to build, she had seen what a machine could do with stored energy.

  She flashed in, throwing punches and kicks at Valkerrah from left and right. Valkerrah danced around her, not allowing one blow to land. The frightful face that Valkerrah made was offset by the smile and laughter she emitted each time SarthDarah came close to landing a blow. It was like the purple eyes were three steps ahead and could see where SarthDarah was going to punch or kick. Valkerrah was essentially toying with her.

  “Enough!” SarthDarah erupted in anger, not being able to land a blow fueled her rage.

  SarthDarah let her entire body explode with heat and pressure. It had been building, as she tried to replicate what the machine and now Valkerrah had done. It wasn’t the same, but a blast wave of heat rushed away from her. It scorched the ground and pushed her entire group backward as it hit them.

  SarthDarah hadn’t noticed that her friends were in the blast radius, she was too focused on the fight. On the dancing target that seemed to have slipped into a paper thin flash of light as her attack blasted out. Valkerrah snapped her fingers and the three beams of lightning all swirled and began to circle SarthDarah instead.

  “What?” SarthDarah wasn’t sure what had happened at first.

  Her attack had completely missed, even though it clearly hit everything else. There wasn’t even a spot on the ground that wasn’t scorched, meaning Valkerrah had dodged away completely.

  “How!?” She screamed as she kept attacking.

  Punching and kicking out, trying desperately to hit. Valkerrah just laughed.

  “Like this.” Her voice was silky smooth and calm. “Watch.”

  With a flick of her wrist, one of the beams sparked out and erupted. The blast went sideways and directed right at the small group of SarthDarah’s friends. They were still laying on the ground, prone and disoriented from the friendly fire SarthDarah had hit them with.

  “NO!!!”