"That's not good," Rava muttered, her brows piogether as she stared ahead from the top of a hill.

  "Why? 't we just go around?" Vivienne asked, shifting slightly at her side, her inky form blending with the shadows.

  Rava turo her with a quirked eyebrow. "Do you not knoatchtowers work?"

  "I assume people sit up in them and, you know, watch the area… from their tower." Vivienured vaguely toward the distant structure, her tone dripping with exaggerated innoce.

  Rava sighed, ping the bridge of her nose. "I fet sometimes that you're not from this world." She straightened aured toward the distant tower, its silhouette stark against the darkening horizon. "These watchtowers aren’t just manned by bored sentries with nterns and horns. They usually station someoh a Tempest affinity there—or worse, someoh Celestial aether, if we’re really unlucky."

  "Celestial?" Vivieilted her head slightly, the faint shimmer of her eyes catg the waning light.

  "Fht and prophecy," Rava muttered. "Means they see you ing before you know you’re there."

  "Ah." Vivienne's expression darkened in uanding.

  "Yeah." Rava’s tail flicked sharply, betraying her irritation. She poioward the jagged silhouette of the horizon, trag it with a cwed finger. "Several leagues that way and that way, that's the Greyreach Mountain Range. Looks like they’ve been busy fortifying since my st... visit." Her tone was sharp, the edge of frustration unmistakable.

  "So, what now? Shrough?" Vivienne’s uneven gaze shifted toward the tlowing faintly in the distance.

  Rava snorted, her ears twitg with agitation. "Sure, if you’re feeling suicidal. Those towers aren’t just for show. They’ll have Tempest exomancers stationed in most of them—sharp eyes, sharper senses. And if we’re really unlucky, they’ll have someoh Celestial affinity. Those bastards don’t eveo see you to know you’re ing."

  Vivieilted her head, her amorphous form rippling slightly. "So, we find a gap iowers?"

  "That’d be ideal," Rava muttered, crossing her arms, "but unlikely. They’ll have overpping lines of sight, patrols, maybe even traps. This isn’t just about keeping people out; it’s about trol." She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "We’d o get really lucky—or e up with something clever."

  Vivienne hummed thoughtfully, her form shifting subtly as she sidered their options. "What about a distra? Something big enough to draw their attention away from us?"

  Rava’s ears flicked, and she gave Vivienne a sidelong gnce. "You’re awfully fond of 'big distras,' aren’t you?"

  "Big distras work." Vivienne’s lips curled into a faint smirk, her tone ced with quiet fidence. "Especially when you’re up against people who think they’re invincible."

  "Perhaps," Rava said cautiously, her tail flig as she studied Vivienne. "Do you have something in mind?"

  Vivienne’s grin widened, dark and predatory, her body shifting subtly as if the aether itself trembled within her. "I haven’t been idle while you slept."

  Rava raised a brow, stepping back slightly. "What does that mealy?"

  "It means," Vivienne began, her voice low and measured, "I’ve beeing my limits. Learning what this body do." Her amorphous form rippled, tendrils of inky bess sliding outward like the roots of a spreading tree. "And I think I’ve found a way to make quite the impression."

  Rava crossed her arms, her scepticism palpable. "I’m guessing this isn’t going to be subtle."

  "No," Vivienne admitted, the qui of her uneven eyes gleaming faintly. "But it’ll work. They’ll see me and think I’m the only threat. All eyes will be on me, and that’s when you make your move."

  "You want to py the decoy?" Rava’s ears twitched. "That’s... bold. And reckless."

  "Bold and reckless is what I do best." Vivienne’s smirk softened slightly, the predatory edge tempered by something almost human. "Besides, you’ll be safer this way."

  Rava scoffed, her tail snapping irritably. "Don’t ftter yourself. I don’t need proteg. But if you’re set on this... distra, we’d better make it t."

  Vivieilted her head, her amorphous form bristling with anticipation. "Oh, it’ll t. Trust me."

  She turned her gaze toward the watchtower, its faintly glowing outlianding resolute against the night sky. Her body began to shift, mass pooling ints as she took on a t, humanoid form. The inky bess of her skin shimmered faintly, as if starlight had bee trapped within her.

  Rava watched, her expression unreadable, as Vivienne’s monstrous new form took shape. Her amorphous body densed and expanded in pulses, the transformation both fluid and jarring, as though the shadows themselves were being sculpted into something tangible. Her new form loomed impossibly tall, twice the height of her hydra form, her broad shoulders and angur limbs givihe appearance of a nightmare e to life.

  Her ashen grey skin was no longer smooth but covered in dense, interlog scales that shimmered faintly like polished stohe scales flowed seamlessly over her arms, whided in long, cwed fingers, each digit tipped with obsidian-like bdes that gleamed even in the dim light. Spiked protrusions jutted outward from her shoulders and elbows, jagged and uneven, as if her body had been fed in the crucible of chaos.

  Her face was angur and strikingly beautiful in a way that was almost painful to look at, a perfect harmony of symmetry and distortion. Five asymmetrical eyes glowed faintly with spectral light, their arra alie deliberate. Two rested in the usual position, sharp and pierg; o below her left eye, smaller but no less intense, while another hovered above her right eye like a predatory third. The st rested below her right cheekbone, each pupil darting indepely, sing the horizon with a predatory hunger.

  When she opened her mouth, it was far too wide, stretg unnaturally to reveal rows of razor-sharp, needle-like teeth that gleamed with a wet sheen. Her jaw moved with an unnatural precision, the sound of her sharp inhale like a low, guttural growl.

  Even more ulihe smaller eyes that had appeared across her body, tucked into crevices between her scales or resting within the jagged spines along her back. These eyes, smaller but just as alive, blinked in eerie unison, eae surveying the world around her with an almost instinctive vigince.

  Vivieransformation ended as her limbs solidified, her frame radiating a terrifying, oppressive presence. Her movements were fluid, almost graceful, but carried an undeniable weight, as though the ground itself struggled to bear her. She flexed her cws experimentally, her scaled fingers clig together with a sound like stone against stone.

  Rava’s ears flicked back, her tail swishing low as she took an instinctive step away. "Well," she muttered under her breath, "that’s ly subtle."

  Vivieurned her gaze down toward her panion, her mismatched eyes narrowing slightly. The faint glimmer of amusement passed over her jagged features as her voice rumbled out, low and deliberate. "Subtlety’s overrated."

  Without waiting for a reply, Vivieuroward the tower in the distance, her massive form melting into the shadows with surprising guile. Rava hesitated for a moment, then crouched low, steeling herself. If Vivienne was capable of drawing all that attention, she had to be ready to make the most of the opportunity.

  “Don’t waste the opportunity.” Vivienne’s voice resohrough the stillness of the night, low and guttural, carrying an eerie, otherworldly weight. It wasn’t loud, but it didn’t o be. The words were a and, not a suggestion, as she turned her mismatched eyes toward Rava o time before stepping forward into the shadows.

  Her massive form moved with a quiet grace that belied its size, each step calcuted, the ashen scales of her body blending seamlessly with the darkness. The faint glow of her spectral eyes was the only trace of her presence, and even that seemed to dim as she advanced, melting into the night. The oppressive hum of her aether-den aura subsided, leaving Rava standing alone, her fur bristling as the stillness enveloped her.

  For a moment, Rava hesitated. Her sharp eyes darted to the tower silhouetted against the starlit sky. She didn’t kly what Vivienne pnned, but the sheer force of her transformatio no room for doubt—this was no ordinary distra. Whatever was ing would be devastating.

  Vivienne crouched at the edge of the flickering torchlight, her cws digging deeper into the soil as her many eyes sed the se before her. The guards moved in zy patterns, their boots scuffing against the stoheir versations low and uned. She tilted her head slightly, listening to the ce of their voices. There were nent cries, no sudden bursts of activity.

  Good. Nht. Or none good enough to see her.

  She straightened slightly, her spectral eyes narrowing as her lips pulled bato a sharp grin. The thought struck her, though: she really should have asked Rava for more details about tempest magid how that was used for dete. Her grin faltered, just for a moment.

  Ah, well. In for a penny...

  Vivienne’s form shifted ever so slightly, the ashen grey of her skin deepening into the inky bck of her base form as she melted further into the shadows. She moved in a low, serpentine glide, her amorphous body stretg and trag, blending seamlessly with the night. The guards, oblivious, tiheir idle patrols, their focus more on staving off boredom than on watg for threats.

  She crept closer, her body low to the ground, her movement silent as a wisp of smoke. One guard broke from the others, muttering something about needing a break. He stepped into the shadows, away from the torchlight, his silhouette faint against the darkness.

  Perfect.

  Before he could react, Vivienne surged forward, her amorphous form solidifying into a massive cwed hand that ed around his torso, muffling his startled cry. She dragged him into the shadows, her inky body enveloping him as she absorbed the faint traces of aether ging to his form. It wasn’t much—certainly nothing pared to the feast she’d had from the wolf—but it was a satisfying morsel heless. A tasty little snack.

  His struggles ceased almost immediately, his body going limp. Vivienne allowed him to crumple to the ground, her cws loosening as she regarded him with faint disi. He wasn’t dead—she hadn’t taken enough for that—but he would be unscious for a while. What struck her more was the absence of the usual echoes that came with iher.

  No memories. ions. Just pure energy, uhered by burdens of thought or feeling. It was... . Useful.

  A gri across her monstrous features. This could work.

  She stepped deeper into the shadows, her form melting into the darkness as her many eyes swept the perimeter. Anuard strayed too close to the edge of the patrol route, his haing zily on the pommel of his sword. He didn’t even see her ing.

  Vivieruck fast and silent, her form rippling forward like a wave of shadow. Her cws closed around his throat, cutting off any ce of a cry for help. This time, she didn’t bother dragging him far, letting his limp body slide into the underbrush. The faint taste of his aether was just as satisfying as the first, and just as empty of meaning.

  She moved quickly now, cirg the patrol like a predator pig off the weakest of a herd. Anuard vanished into the dark, then another. She moved with terrifying precision, her monstrous shape shifting fluidly between solid and formless. Her spiked silhouette loomed iorchlight one moment, then disappeared ehe .

  It wasn’t long before the guards began to notice. Their versation faltered, growing more teh eaanswered call.

  “Alric? You there?”

  No response.

  “Alric! Report!”

  The only response was the silence of the night and the faint rustle of leaves in the wind.

  “Damn it! Raise the arm” Shouted one of the guards.

  They waited in teicipation, but instead of the toll of a bell, another scream pierced the night, followed by the sharp crack of splintering wood. Looking up, his heart sank— the top of the tower was gone, with her bell nuard in sight.

  “Everyoay close!” one of the guards barked, his voice ced with fear.

  The remaining men huddled together, their torches shaking in trembling hands. “What is out there?” one whispered, his voice crag.

  Vivienne didn’t answer. Instead, she let her cws scrape across the stone foundation of the tower, the sound grating and unnatural. Another scream followed, this o off abruptly, leaving only the echo to linger in the night.

  The remaining guards froze, their breath ing in short, terrified gasps. The only sound now was the wind rustling through the trees, carrying with it the fai whispers of a presence just beyond their sight. Their torches flickered erratically, casting long, jagged shadows that danced like spectres across the stone walls.

  “Who’s there?!” one of the guards shouted, his voice trembling as he raised his sword, eyes frantically sing the darkened perimeter. But his shaky hands betrayed his fear, the sword’s edge glinting iorchlight with none of the fidence a soldier should have.

  From the darkness, a low rumbling growl answered him—something primal, guttural, that seemed to echo from all dires at o made their skin crawl, their instincts screaming at them to run.

  “Get ready!” the leader barked, but there was no real and behind his voice, just desperation. “Stay in formation, cover the perimeter!”

  The ground shifted beh their feet, and one guard stumbled backward, tripping over his ow. His panicked moveme off a rea. The group scattered, each man pulling in close to aorches held high, backs to the tower. They had no idea which way to look.

  Vivieched it all from the shadows, her many eyes trained on them, her mouth curling into a wicked grin. She could feel the fear seeping into their bohe energy of their terror singing in the air. But she atient. She wahem to feel the dread before it struck.

  Anuard broke away from the group, moving toward a shadowed alcove he tower. A mistake.

  She struck before he even saw her, her body lunging forward with the speed of a predator. One of her cws shot out, pierg through his chest in a single fluid motion. He didn’t have time to scream. His body slumped against her, and she absorbed the faint trickle of his aether, a quiack before she let him fall lifelessly to the ground.

  The ander’s orders came harsh and fast, his voice crag with desperation. “We need light. Solenne!”

  The st and hung heavy in the air, and moments ter, the sharp edge of aether cut through the darkness.

  From the tower emerged a figure, tall and imposing, the brilliant gold and white robes befitting a high-ranking priestess. The grouh the caster’s feet seemed to shimmer with light as they raised both hands to the heavens, murmuring an intation uheir breath.

  "Solehe ander muttered under his breath, his voice taut with a mixture of fear and respect. “I didn’t want to call for her, but this is too much. Light our way.”

  The air began to vibrate, the tension palpable as Solenne’s magic swirled arouhe orb of light she summoned was blinding, pulsing with the power of the sun itself. As the orb expahe darkness of the night seemed to flee from it, chased away by the sheer iy of her radiant energy.

  Vivienne’s monstrous form—once hidden in the shadows—was now fully exposed uhe oppressive light. She froze, her cws gripping the ground as the light struck her directly, a searing burn c through her body. The pain was immediate, sharp, and intense. She hadn’t anticipated such a force.

  Her ashen skin flickered with the force of the light, burning bright as though her very essence was being scorched. Her many eyes blinked rapidly, discordantly, adjusting to the unnatural brightness as she hissed in pain. The glow was unbearable; it wasn’t just the physical heat, but something about the way it invaded her form, disassembling the darkness she had woven around herself.

  “AETHER BEAST!” The ander’s voice rang out, his spear pointed directly toward Vivienne's hulking form. “Form up! We have her ered!” His voice carried a mix of fear aermination, though the tter sounded more like bravado.

  Vivienne’s cws scraped against the stone, finding purchase in the gravel beh her feet as she recoiled. The light hurt, but it didn’t stop her. It couldn’t.

  With a snarl, her gaze locked onto the ander, and her body trembled with the effort of staying focused. She was overwhelmed by the radiant energy, but her hunger for the aether—already tinged with the burnt taste of her earlier snag—fueled her to fight on.

  She lunged, her immense form smming into the ground with ah-shaking force as she rushed at the ander. Her cws cleaved through the air, but the guards surrounding him moved with swift precision. A barrier of shimmering golden light rose between her and her prey.

  “Solehe ander barked. “Focus on her! Keep her at bay!”

  From the edge of the tower’s light, Solenne raised both arms high, her eyes flickering with celestial energy as her voice vibrated with power. The orb of light around her intensified, expanding into a blinding sphere that forced Vivieo shield her eyes, though it did little to stop the onsught.

  The air around her crackled with the heat of the light magic, searing through her skin. Vivienne screamed—a harsh, guttural sound—as the light burned away her ashen scales in pces, leaving raw, tender flesh exposed. Her cws, sharp as obsidian, raked the air, trying to strike out, but the overwhelming power of the light knocked her back with each failed attempt.

  “You think you fight it, monster?” Solenne’s voice rang out with s, her eyes filled with cold, unyielding light. “You will burn just like the rest.”

  Vivienne roared, her mouth widening to reveal her needle-like teeth, as she lunged forward, pushing through the intense heat with a primal rage. But Solenne's magic wasn’t the only force opposihe guards moved with practised precision, their spears thrusting toward her, and their shields raised to block her advances.

  One of the soldiers came too close, and Vivienne’s cw shot out, catg his shield. She threw him aside effortlessly, but it cost her preoments.

  The ander was shouting, and Solenne’s golden light shimmered like the sun at midday, casting long shadows across Vivienne’s form. Her muscles screamed, her body threateo colpse uhe weight of it all, but her eyes—those five alien, horrific eyes—burned with defiance.

  She was so close.

  She shed out again, this time eg with one of the soldiers in the front. The impact sent him flying backward, but it also left her vulnerable. Soleook advantage of the opening, sending a blinding beam of light directly at Vivienne’s exposed side. The beam hit her with such force that she was thrown off her feet, her massive body crashing into the ground with ah-shattering impact.

  Viviehere for a moment, stunned. Her breathing was ragged, the light singeing her skin, the pain almost overwhelming. But she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t fail. She o give Rava as much time as she could.

  Her cws dug into the earth, dragging herself back to her feet as she gred toward the source of the light. The pain c through her was unbearable, but she fought it down, willing herself to tinue.

  “ander,” Solenne said coolly, “it is futile. We ot allow this creature to tio desecrate our nd.”

  “No.” The ander’s voice hardened. “We fight until the end.”

  Vivienne’s vision blurred, but she could still hear them. She could feel the magic, the aether that radiated off the Dawn exomancer.

  She had to get closer. She had to find a way to disrupt the light.

  With an enraged snarl, Vivienne forced herself into motion again. Her body ached, her movements slower now, but she didn’t care. She had made a promise, and she wasn’t going to let this magic stop her.

  She charged toward Solenne once more, but the priestess was ready. A shimmering wave of light shot from her hands, crashing into Vivieh even more force than before. The sheer brilliance of it forced Vivieo her khe ground shuddering under her colpse, the searing light tearing into her very soul.

  Vivienne’s mind screamed in agony as the light tore through her, her skin blistering and bed in the wake of the divine magic. Her muscles vulsed uhe iy, and for a moment, she thought she might be ed entirely by the radiant force. The air smelled of burning flesh, and her heart hammered erratically in her chest.

  The pain was unbearable.

  She stumbled backward, struggling to stay on her feet, her cws scrabbling for purchase oone ground. Her vision swam with spots of light and dark, and her five eyes darted erratically, uo focus on anything clearly. She couldn’t keep this up. She was weakening, and quickly.

  I o retreat.

  For all the strength she had left, for all the fire ihe Dawn exomancer’s magic was simply too much. Solenne’s light—pale and unyielding—was a force of nature that devoured her strength with every moment she lingered in it. The longer she fought, the more her aether was leeched away, ed by the light, leaving her vulnerable.

  Vivienne unched herself backward with a feral, haggard motion, her massive form stumbling but never breaking her focus on the group. She kept her cws poised forward, ready to strike if they came any closer, but she wasn’t about to make the mistake of fag them down directly. Her retreat was jagged, clumsy, but swift enough.

  “It’s trying to escape! Men! This is our ce to kill it!” The ander's voied, his spear raised high as he rallied his troops, a wave of affirmation rippling through the soldiers.

  Vivienne grinned, her lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth, bck ichor spilling from her mouth in thick rivulets. She slowed her retreat for just a moment, catg her breath despite the agony she felt c through her body. “Calling me an ‘it’ is very rude,” she purred, her voice dripping with venom. “I’m a high-css dy, thank you very much.”

  For a moment, there was silehe entire group—soldiers, ander, and even Soleilled, caught off guard by the audacity of the words. The ander’s mouth hung open, his face a picture of disbelief, while the soldiers exged fused gnces.

  The priestess was the first to recover, her hands glowing with light as she prepared another spell, but even she hesitated for a moment, seemingly thrown off by Vivienne’s ued bravado. The tension in the air alpable as Vivieood her ground for just a beat lohen surged bato the shadows, her form disappearing into the night.

  "Get ba formation!" The ander barked, snapping them from their stupor. "We ’t let it escape! Get those torches back up and keep your eyes peeled!"

  But Vivienne was already gone, slipping into the dense underbrush, her cws scraping against bark and stone as she made her retreat. The pale light from Solenne’s magic barely peed the thiess of the forest, and Vivienne relished iemporary reprieve, her heart hammering in her chest. She was battered, her body bruised and scorched from the onsught of light, but she wasn’t dead.

  As she moved deeper into the trees, the world around her seemed to quiet, the oppressive hum of the aether fading to a soft thrum in her mind. The agony of her burns was still there, raw aless, but it was nothing pared to the gnawing hunger inside her, the relentless craving for more power, more strength. She o recover. She roup.

  She sprihrough the forest, urgency driving her every step, praying desperately that Rava had made it through.

  SupernovaSymphony