- Sébire -

Sébire and Yvain were getting some much-needed sleep when both their staves lit up, and the crackling sound of Master Mélissa's magic surged through the crystals.

Sébire was on her feet before she even fully woke. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders as she reached for the azurite shakujou next to the door.

"Master Mélissa, what's happening?" she asked, trying to keep the edge of sleep from her voice.

"Apologies, Mage Second Sébire, Master Yvain. We've detected the daemon we believe has been rampaging and destroying Déchu cathedrals. The time delay is only a few minutes. Ione's activating the Mastery and all Battlemages Expert level and higher."

"Understood," Yvain said from over Sébire's shoulder. He was already pulling on his red-embroidered white robe over his Battlemage tunic and leggings.

Sébire confirmed as well, quickly dressing herself. Any remnants of sleepiness had already disappeared. "Roland will be fine with Amélie," she told Yvain. "I'll leave her a note."

Yvain nodded, tucking his staff into his sash. Sébire held hers out in front of her, horizontal to the ground. With her free hand, she took hold of Yvain.

"Master Mélissa, we are ready."

"Good. Standby. Communication: Téléportation."

Yvain and Sébire felt a shock run through their limbs, all the way to their chest, and they disappeared from their room, reappearing in the span of four heartbeats near the Pont Rayyan. Several Battlemages were there, including Thérèse Chevalière, Yvain's new Mage Second. Ione and Mélissa, as always, had clearly been here a while, but Emyr appeared out of a gust of wind about the same time Yvain and Sébire arrived.

"Adept Kassandra Élysées was on a short mission to search for survivors of the last cathedral attack. They were already in the vicinity when my Sensors registered the arrival of a new daemon."

"Adepts on the field?" Sébire scoffed. "With Günay's threat looming over us still?"

"Didn't expect a daemon to appear so close to a city that was already razed," Mélissa countered.

The air next to Emyr shimmered and warped, and Dai Lang stepped out. Then, to Sébire's shock, Casimir Élysées followed.

"Expert Élysées," Mélissa said, "I did not call you."

"Kassie's there," protested Casimir. "You can't expect me to sit idly by while my sister is in trouble."

Sébire frowned and started to reprimand him, but Yvain put a hand on her shoulder.

"If he wants to come, it's his right as Adept Élysées' older brother."

"Actually," Emyr cut in, "I requested the three of them specifically. They're the only ones who have, as of now, encountered a daemon and survived."

Sébire understood that logic, but she still did not agree.

"Very well," she acquiesced.

"Thank you, Grand Master," Casimir said.

"Right," called Emyr, clapping for attention. "Although our main focus is to gather insight on this daemon and possibly rescue the Healers' team in the human realm, we are prepared for a fight. Master Yvain and Mage Second Sébire will be the captains of the team, so to speak. Mage Second Chevalière and Experts Élysées and Lang will make up the reserve. Once there, you will meet with Mage Second Shashi Kumarpati and his team, who will be maintaining the Bridge Gate from the Old World. The remainder of the Battlemages will be waiting here for word."

"Any questions?" Mélissa asked, but no one spoke. "Good. Best of luck!"

Sébire and Yvain turned and faced the opening Bridge Gate, with the rest of the team behind them. Sébire took a deep breath and let it out. Crossing the bridge was always an exhilarating feeling; the complete absence of sound made her feel comforted but oddly lost. Eru's chiming voice soothed her, as did Yvain's touch at her elbow.

"Head out!" Ione shouted, and Sébire led the way through the Gate, her Communications magic steadying the bridge in front of them.

When their team stepped into the human realm, they felt as if they had fallen into a rapidly rushing river. It took them several moments to adjust to the surge of magic, more chaotic than was normal for the human realm.

"It wasn't even this bad when we were here before," Casimir called to her.

Sébire did not like the sound of that. When they finally oriented themselves, Shashi explained the reading their team had been following. Casimir shouted, and ran forward where his sister was waiting. Then they moved towards the point Shashi's Gift was leading them. They heard a scream.

"That's Kassie!" Casimir cried.

Kassandra screamed. Sébire even let out a sharp gasp and felt bile rising in her throat, but she quickly composed herself. They had stepped into a bloodbath! The bloody, broken bodies of Ungifted and Déchu alike surrounded them. There seemed to be no one left alive.

"It was like this when we got here," Kassandra stammered. "You came not far behind us."

Sébire scanned the area with her eyes, then tapped her staff on the ground. "Communication: Écholocalisation," she whispered. A series of light chimes rang out, bouncing and reflecting off any traces of magic. Because of the chaos of the Stream, there was too much to decipher, but eventually she sorted it out. Sébire spun around.

"It's still here," she said in a low tone. "There!"

The others turned in time to see a bluish monster appear, dragging a body by one limp arm. The creature's face was twisted with bloodthirsty glee, and when it saw them, it flung the body aside. Sébire looked at it. It was taller than anything she had ever seen. It had claws for hands, but it wore black armor on its torso, legs, and feet. It was almost human, just as Siena Charis had said, except of course for the bright, glowing blue skin and eyes.

"She's still alive," gasped Kassandra.

"Distract it," Yvain commanded, already having transformed his staff into a longsword. "Thérèse, with me!"

"Adept Élysées, follow me," Sébire said, taking hold of Kassandra's hand. "Expert Lang, with us!" They rushed to the fallen woman as the rest of their team went on the offensive. Sébire was not a fighter, not really, but she could provide cover for the Healers to do their job.

Kassandra and Sébire reached the woman, and Sébire covered her nose in disgust. One of the woman's arms had been torn off at the shoulder, and a chunk of her side was also missing. Most of her clothing had been burned or torn away. Sébire could not understand how she was even alive, or if she was even worth Adept Élysées' efforts. The woman stared with her wide, unseeing eyes as her body jerked uncontrollably.

Beside her, Dai gasped.

"Expert Lang, what is it?" Master Sébire demanded.

"It's Batel," he told her. "One of the Déchu who sheltered us when we were here during our exam."

"She's in shock," Kassandra said as she lay the woman flat on her back. "Lie still. Guérison: Suturer."

The woman could not speak, and Sébire did not know enough of Kassandra's Gift to know if she could reverse the damage. As Kassandra moved her carnelian agate staff over the woman, a bright orange prism encased the bloody woman. She stopped convulsing.

Sounds came from Sébire's left. She spun, raising her staff out of habit. It was a Déchu man crawling towards them, one arm pressed to his stomach.

"Will she be alright?" he asked, his voice weak.

"Eremiel!" Dai rushed to the man's side and knelt beside him, helping the injured Déchu into a sitting position. He looked at Dai.

"I would say it's good to see you again," he said softly, "but these are not good circumstances."

Dai grimaced. "Master Sébire, this is Eremiel. He's the one who gave us sanctuary."

"I see."

"Please, my wife-" the Déchu coughed.

Sébire looked down at the woman in Kassandra's prism. She doubted it, but she felt that was not what he needed to hear. Kassandra's focus was entirely on her patient.

"I'll do everything I can," Kassandra promised. "You need healing, too."

The man shook his head weakly. "I'll live. I'm already healing myself. Please, just help her."

Sébire turned her gaze to Dai. "We should get them out of here, they clearly will be of no help, and are more a hindrance now."

Dai agreed. To Eremiel, he said, "I can carry you and Batel back to Laon."

"You can't yet," Kassandra warned. "Her body isn't stable. A few more minutes!"

Dai nodded, looking over his shoulder. Sébire followed his gaze. Yvain was still fighting, along with Casimir and Thérèse. She glanced at Dai.

"Trust they will be fine. They have a job to do, and so do we," she told him. He was not her student nor she his Mage Second, but she was his captain in this moment.
A chill ran up Sébire's spine as her bells chimed brightly, and Eru's warning slipped through her thoughts. Sébire shouted and spun around, her staff glowing.

"There's another one!" she cried. "There!"

Dai, Kassandra, and Sébire all looked up to see another daemon, brighter and smaller than the one fighting nearby, staring at them.

"Communication: Clochette!" Sébire called. The daemon froze and twitched. Sébire turned to Dai. "Get them out of here, now!" she commanded.

Dai stood up. "Eremiel, let's go. Kassandra, I have to take Batel, now."

Kassandra's face was shiny with sweat, and she looked fearful, but nodded. Dai helped Eremiel closer to Batel, and spun his jade guandao.

"Conjuration: Sphère d'influence."

An orb of silvery-greenencased the three of them. Sébire stood at the ready, hoping her bells wouldbuy them enough time to get out of the area. She looked over her shoulder, justas a burst of burning hot magic engulfed her.

- Inanis -

Inanis floated midair, riding comfortably in the Stream of magic flowing from Crystallos. Below him, Orexis tore apart the landscape like an animal on a rampage. Inanis felt no pleasure in such destruction, but then Inanis took no pleasure from anything, not even hunting. Such was the fate of He Who Is Empty. Orexis enjoyed it far too much, in his opinion, but he let her have her fun. After all, that was the only reason why she came with him. Inanis burned brightly, and now that Lacerta was no longer, he burned the brightest of the Equites, but his magic was a quiet sort. Alone, he could have wandered the human realm all night without drawing attention to himself.

The two of them had orders. Orexis was only there as bait to lure out the Soul-Carriers. While they waited, a different kind of prey appeared. Blood-Carriers as the daemonis called them, were not nearly so delicious as the Élu, but made fine meals all the same. Orexis had spent much of her energy, so the arriving host of archers was welcome. The Blood-Carriers glowed brightly compared to the monotone colors of most humans, and they fired arrows of golden light which stung Inanis' being where it hit. The black armor crafted from the calx of Crystallos held off some of the barrage, but not all.

"Orexis," Inanis called in a bored tone. "Be more careful."

All but two of the archers had been devoured, and what remained of their bodies were flung carelessly to the side. Inanis watched the two remaining Blood-Carriers clasp hands, and when they did, their Gifts burned brighter. Before they could fire another holy arrow, Orexis ripped them apart, tearing the female archer's arm away from her body.

Then, as if the female's screams summoned them, a Bridge Gate appeared. Soul-Carriers filed out, their crystal staves glowing. Inanis shuddered, not from fear, but something else entirely that he did not understand. He watched the Soul-Carriers, trying to find the ones Grand Master Günay had mentioned. His eyes glossed over the mage with yellow magic and a greenish-yellow staff who stayed behind at the Gate. He turned away from the fighters with red magic whose staves became weapons. Both of them went after Orexis, but Inanis waited.

Then came a bright flash of white light that, for an instant, made Inanis' entire being blink out and become dull as a dying sanscoeur. Inanis' pupils dilated and he gasped. There! The light-mage went to the two weapons mages to hold off Orexis. The last one, a mage with indigo magic that made ringing sounds in the air ran to the other, and then Inanis saw her. The little one with green magic and a bright orange staff. Her magic resonated in his being as if it belonged there. He watched, distant, as a bright orange prism encased the body of the archer. Quietly, Inanis came closer, riding the current of the Stream.

"She does not merely heal the injury," Inanis noted as he watched. "She erases the wound as if it were not sustained. How intriguing."

Suddenly, echoing bells sounded around him, and he was no longer unseen. The female mage with a deep blue staff had detected him, and now the girl below him was staring up at him with the brightest eyes he had ever seen. Green, a color he had never seen in Crystallos before. It was a different shade of green than her magic. His eyes stared into hers, and she glared at him, as if daring him to come closer.

Orexis let out a shrieking howl, and Inanis looked her way, distracted. When he did, a bright orange prism of light closed around him. His pupils contracted, and he reached out a single claw, tapping the prism. With only the smallest exertion, the prism shattered. Was this really the girl Günay wanted?

"But where is her brother?" Inanis wondered.

"Communication: Clochette!" shouted the woman.

A strange sound filled Inanis' ears. The magic around him and throughout his being shivered and his vision blurred. Everything he saw multiplied by five, and the colors of magic winked out of existence for several moments. He heard nothing but the sound of chimes, and then he felt pain such as he had never experienced in this existence of his.

"Enough," he said.

The markings along his body brightened, and magic seeped from his being. Gathering it, he let it burst from him. The sound of bells ceased and his vision began to clear. Inanis realized Orexis was not faring so well, and the archers had disappeared. He had not finished what he came here to do; he needed Orexis to stay alive. Inanis went to her, where he grabbed the weapons-mage by the throat and dragged him away from Orexis just as he was about to impale her from behind. Inanis' marks pulsed as he smelled the man's magic.

"Guérison: Parer!" called a voice behind him.

A flash of orange light, and a glass-like shield appeared, cutting cleanly through Inanis' wrist, releasing the weapons-mage from his grasp. Inanis jumped backwards, inspecting the stump of his wrist with a frown. There was no blood or even pain. His hand simply no longer existed, as if it never had, cut and healed simultaneously. Below, where he had dropped the Soul-Carrier, an orange prism encased him as it had the female Blood-Carrier.

Ah, Inanis realized. Her magic is so much more than healing. And she can maintain several wards even from a distance.

He felt Orexis' light dying. He had to move quickly. Inanis slipped into the Stream, which allowed him to reappear quickly and quietly behind the girl. He hit her on the head, not enough to kill her, but enough to knock her out and break her concentration. Her prisms shattered and she slumped forward. Inanis grabbed the girl's arm with his remaining claw and retreated to the air.

Someone shouted nearby, and Inanis could feel the anger resonating from the man. A flash of bright white light, not unlike the girl's orange prismatic magic, erupted in front of him. Inanis was blinded for a moment, then two Soul-Carriers appeared hovering in front of him. One was tall and thin, with silvery-green magic. The other was the one Inanis was waiting for; tall and broad, with magic of the purest white. Not even the white daemonis had such a pure color. Casimir Élysées, the one Günay wanted.

How are they at my level? Inanis wondered. Soul-Carriers cannot ride the Stream.

His eyes darted down to their feet, where they stood on a translucent, silvery-green platform.

Ah, he observed.

Inanis jerked backwards, out of reach of the thinner mage's staff. With one claw missing and the other holding tight to the female, Inanis could do little but dodge their attacks. The air around him shifted and changed. Inanis felt a pull not unlike that of a rift, and he was dragged into it. When the pull finally released him, a prism encased him, this time of white. It was blinding, and he clenched his fist.

He was alone! Light filtered around him, reflecting his own image onto every facet of the prism. He frowned. Then the prism shattered and Inanis was falling, eyes wide from the shock of the magic. His marks glowed and he righted himself, finding a foothold in the Stream. The silver-eyed man stood protectively in front of the girl, who had regained consciousness now.

"We are done playing," Inanis said. "We have our orders."

Inanis raised his remaining hand and the tips of his long claws began to glow. Nearby, Orexis' dying screams resonated through the air. We no longer need to win. We only need to succeed.

To do this, he needed to get close to the light-mage. He moved forward, but the space between him and the others stretched, so that each step he took, they moved further away. Then I shall go around, he said, and let the Stream move him up and to the side. He swept around behind them. Kassandra Élysées spun and brought up her staff instinctively, but it hit against Inanis' black plate armor.

The crystal cracked, but did not shatter. Casimir turned too, an expression on his face that matched his sister's. Inanis took the Soul-Carriers' moment of distraction to grab her again, careful not to scratch her with his glowing claws. She shouted and struggled, but it made no difference. Inanis smelled the rage in Casimir. Yes. Rage, that was the emotion he needed. Casimir lunged for Inanis.

"Casimir, stop!" his thin companion shouted.

Casimir was close. Inanis dropped the girl and raised his claws. "Inficio," he whispered.

The light-mage could not stop his momentum. The space between Inanis and his target stretched, but Inanis had already learned from this. He summoned the Stream and it pushed him through the silvery-green tunnel of space. The girl screamed as all four of Inanis' claws pierced the Soul-Carrier's chest right over his heart. Inanis let his bright blue magic flow into Casimir.

The silvery-green space warped and folded on itself. The gravity it summoned pushed against Inanis even harder, until Inanis, spent, could no longer compensate. He let the magic throw him backwards. Then pain ripped through his stomach. He looked down, glowing blood dripping from his mouth and the wound where a three-pronged weapon protruded from his cracked and broken armor.

He looked over his shoulder, and saw a red-haired woman, eyes wide and filled with tears, holding the other end of the chain weapon. She pulled on the chain and ripped the weapon back through him.

"It is done," Inanischoked, struggling to rise higher in the air. With his last reserve of energy,he ripped open the sky and climbed through the rift back into Crystallos.