Crows laid scattered all over the floor, stunned after our clash, along the Hulking beasts. But the other monsters kept going on, as portals kept opening around us. The newcomer monsters weren’t as much of a threat as the others, so Arlott was able to slow them down by herself and give me enough time to catch my breath.

After getting rid of everything that could be dangerous that was near us, Arlott and I could see how Huitaca was. She didn’t look too well. It looked like the knife had something in it that was meant specifically to harm her. Even worse, we didn’t know how to treat her.

We went into the city, searching for a way to help Huitaca. But then again, as soon as we arrived in a plaza, portals began opening and a new wave of creatures came out of them.

Arlott had her magic powers -even if they weren’t too strong without enough plants to control- and I had my feral form to kill as many of the creatures as I could. It was rather easy at first, as long as the hulking creatures were nowhere to be seen and most of the crows had died. But then we realized that there were people other than us here. I had forgotten we weren’t fighting alone in the Sea of Wills, but in the living world, surrounded by people, Living people.

After seeing that, we fought even fiercer. Arlott used her magic as well as she could, but her lack of experience began to show, as she had no real power against this number of foes. So instead, she supported my attacks instead of fighting on her own.

I slashed every creature that got close to Arlott. My body became so animalistic, I was looking more like a panther than a person, so was my power. My claws cut through the creatures without a problem, making them fall one after the other. But then I saw how tired Arlott was getting from giving me most of her will to support me.

Knowing we needed help, I looked back at the people, hoping we could get some assistance. But most of them had fled. The few ones who stayed looked at us with fear all over their faces.  

Despite it all, we managed to keep the monsters at bay. They still surrounded us, and definitely weren’t backing away, but they weren’t coming at us either. At least not yet. 

“Mom, what is that, a cat lady?” I heard a kid say behind me, making me look back at them. There were a bunch of people with fear on their faces as they looked at the monsters. But there was also something else entirely in the ones looking at me.

I felt a coldness washing over me as I finally caught on; they were able to see the monsters. To see Arlott using magic, and me as a cat instead of a human. They could see everything.

“Arlott,” I said, looking at the monsters still surrounding us. “They can see me.” I said in shock. “I mean, not only me, but everything.” First the monsters began appearing outside the Sea of Wills, now this.

“Yeah, I realized too.” Before she could say anything else, the monsters resumed the attack.

This time, a far bigger portal opened behind them. From it came a red right hand, holding a sword of sorts. Brand had arrived, looking like a full demon and grinning widely.

I was about to shout something to him, when I saw Breena standing behind him as if everything was fine. The sight gave me a sharp pain inside. Brand needed to pay, but I also had to take care of the people around us, or this could end in a bloodbath.

We kept the monsters from reaching the people behind us, but it was clear they would eventually overwhelm us. My mind raced, trying to find a way out of this.

“Arlott!” I called for her as I sliced a mannequin’s head off. “We need to think of something!”

“I know!” She made some roots grow rapidly, trapping some of the monsters. “I was thinking about it too,” she came closer to me, standing behind my back so we could cover each other’s. “We need more will before we run out.”

“That may help us protect the people,” I answered Arlott, trying not to freak out. I glanced back at Huitaca, who was still bleeding. “But it won't help Huitaca.” With each new monster I had to fight off, it became harder to even think.

“If only Huitaca could help us--” A ghoul managed to grab my forearm as I glanced at Huitaca laying between us and the people. “This wouldn’t be a problem!” I quickly pulled arm with the ghoul holding onto it, slamming its body against another nearby monster.

“Wait!” Arlott focused for a moment and made a wave of moss and leaves rise and push back as many monsters as she could. “What if we got the people to pray in Huitaca’s name?”

“That…” I honestly didn’t know if it would work. I took the moment Arlott brought us with her wave of plants to look back at the people. Most of them were sheltered inside the houses or stores. After Brand appeared, they got even more scared now. They looked too terrified to help.

Arlott and I exchanged an unsure glance. Hoping for the best, we gambled every second we had to walk back to a small church where a rather large group of people took shelter. Arlott stood her ground behind me with a wall of plants. I banged on the locked door, with Huitaca in my arms. But there was no answer.

“Open the doors!” I heard branches cracking behind me, the monsters clearly making their way through Arlott’s defense. “Please…” I left my arm against the wood, slowly sliding it down. I was about to leave Huitaca at the door to join Arlott, but she held me back with a hand.

“Istas,” she said between giving worried glances towards the monsters. “Try to talk to them.” That made me forget everything that was happening. If I took any more time to talk to the people, it would mean Arlott would have to keep the horde at bay by herself.

“I can’t leave you alone in danger, Arlott” I was about to join her, but she simply smiled back at me.

“So now you know how I feel,” she snickered, slowly walking towards the monster and getting into the fight.

As I tried to convince the people I started to hear Arlott’s screams, every one making me look and noticing how the wounds on her body began piling up.  Tears began falling from my eyes as I could feel my body transforming back to a human form, giving all the will I could to Arlott.

“I don’t know if you can hear me,” I called at the door, hoping anyone would listen. “But we need help to make the monsters go away.” I heard Arlott screaming. I looked at her, watching in horror how a wraith slashed at her back.

“At least let us in!” I pleaded, tears running down my cheeks. I gave up almost all my will back to Arlott, slowly becoming smaller and more human. “Please…” My voice cracked as I fell to my knees, holding my hand against the wood. I couldn’t even hear if Arlott was screaming anymore.

I was about to give up and join Arlott. If this was the end, I’d at least be by her side. But just as I lifted my hand from the door, it opened and someone pulled me and Huitaca inside.

“A-are you okay?” A woman asked me, holding me by my shoulders. I nodded. 

“Can you really drive those… things away?” A younger guy next to her asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “But we need help.” I whipped my tears away, starting to smile.

“How can we help,” the lady holding me asked. I got away from her so I could show them Huitaca, still wounded in my arms.

“This is Huitaca, an old goddess.” As I said that, I realized how strange it must have sounded to them. “She can help us, but the demon outside wounded her.” Slowly, the people in the church approached us. The lady who let me in reached for Huitaca but didn’t touch her.

“What can we do,” she asked, visibly concerned for the half-dead owl in my arms.

“Pray,” I replied as calmly as I could. “Pray to her, for her, in her name. Either way it’s fine, as long as you mean it.” I could see the doubt in everyone’s faces. It must be hard to be asked to pray to an entirely new god out of the blue.

A girl that looked like my age closed her eyes and put her hands together, whispering something I couldn’t hear. But nothing seemed to happen.

That’s when I heard Arlott screaming outside. I quickly handed Huitaca to the lady and rushed outside, hoping the prayers would be enough. I didn’t know what I could do, exhausted as I was, but I couldn’t leave Arlott alone.

As I walked outside the church, I tried to transform in my panther form but I only had enough will to get some claws out. I started running to where Arlott was. But as soon as I got there, some monsters began attacking me. There wasn’t much I could do against them, but I wasn’t going to leave my girlfriend alone again. So I kept pushing through with what little power had left

Then, a surge of strength suddenly got me, as I felt a warmth inside my body.

I didn’t understand what was happening at first. I looked at Arlott for answers, but she was focused on the fight. Then I looked back at the church. There, I saw Huitaca shining with a heavenly glow and not bleeding anymore. As the people there saw what was happening to Huitaca, more and more began to pray. As part of that will was passed to me, I slowly turned back into my panther form.

I was about to stop worrying when I looked back at Arlott, right as a reaper left a huge gush on her side. It didn’t look lethal, but that didn’t matter. I could only see red. I pounced at the monster closest to her, turning completely into a feral feline, tearing apart everything on my path.

 

As I mauled every monster with my claws. My sight turned entirely red as I kept slashing everything at my reach. I heard something, but my own rage muffled any sound. The monsters began piling up over me.

Suddenly, I began to shrink until I got back into a mostly human form. That brought me back to my senses. I ran away from the monsters before they could attack me back. Then, I saw Arlott, but she looked different. She had cat ears on top of her head, slit pupils, claws and a tail. 

“Istas,” she said with a visible effort. “Free your will please.” Each word sounded harder and harder to say. “I can’t keep it coming to me if you don’t let me.” 

I realized what happened. She took my will forcefully so I would come back from that feral form. But that also made turn into a feral cat herself.

I let go of my will, and Arlott’s expression immediately relaxed as her feline features vanished. As we caught our breaths, we heard Huitaca’s voice calling for us. She had recovered enough to talk, but not much more.

“I think I have an idea,” Arlott said between pants. “I think I can fight like you, if we share our wills.”

I nodded, giving her my will again. She recovered her cat form, also growing a bit, though not enough to reach my height. Her body also got buffed, but looked more agile than strong. She looked at me with her yellow eyes and I swear I could hear her purr. We both became cat girls at the same time.

We went back to fight the monsters. At first, Arlott was a mess. She retracted her claw when attacking, she stepped on her tail. Overall, she didn’t know what to do.

“Listen to your instincts!“ I shouted as she was far away trying to fight. I pounced, mauled and bit, making my way to where Arlott was. “Try thinking like a cat,” I said in a calmer tone.

She looked at me and seemed to relax. After that, Arlott stopped stepping on her tail, and kept her claws out. She was far away from fighting properly, but it was enough for now.

With the power our animal forms gave us, we bulldozed the monsters. After a while, Huitaca had recovered enough to return to her human form and stand on her own feet.

She stepped out of the church and looked at us. Then, she moved her hand in front of her, making it disappear in the air. That took me by surprise, but then I saw her struggling, as if she was making a lot of effort to grab something. She slowly took her hand out of wherever it was, but it didn’t come alone.

Huitaca’s hand was grabbing another. As she pulled, another person started to come out from a fracture in the air. When the person was fully out, I almost ran crying to her embrace.

Grabbing Huitaca’s hand, Kiandra looked around with a confused look.

“Arlott? Istas?” Kiandra asked, still confused. “Where are we--” She stopped mid sentence as she noticed us fighting, and Brand in the back surrounded by all his monsters. “Give me a second.”

Kiandra took out a bracelet similar to the one Cailleach gave me, only it was colored like molten steel.

“Istas, Arlott, hide for cover.” As she said so, we went back to Huitaca and into the church. Kiandra broke the bracelet, and a wave of flames came from it, burning everything it touched. After just a few seconds, most of the monster disappeared and we had a respite at last.

It it didn’t last long, as a laugh that turned to a cackle sounded in front of us.

Brand was calm and laughing in the same spot he had been through our entire fight, with Breena still standing right behind him.

“We are not done.” With a movement of his hand, more portals start appearing and disappearing in the city. Screams could be heard everywhere, as monsters poured out from the portals. Ghouls, and wraiths, the giant ones, crows and even something like little devils came out, and they attacked everything in sight.

When the fight started, it was complete chaos. But with this new wave of monsters, the destruction got to another level.