With a deep grunt, the large man performed a fierce horizontal swing at Miwah's head with the edge of his axe. A quick duck from Miwah allowed her to avoid the attack completely. As the axe travelled over her head, it slashed through the remaining rope that kept the escape boat suspended. The craft plummeted to the sea, crashing into a high wave. Water filled the base of the boat as it twirled from a fierce gust of wind. 

Miwah held onto the edge of the boat with her free hand as rain pounded against her flesh. She turned towards the other side and saw the other man dart upwards from a laying position with the palm of his hand pressed against his forehead. He then lunged forward, keeping his weapon raised over his head with a two-handed grip. A stream of red coursed down his forehead and over his cheek as he flew across the short distance that separated him from Miwah. He plunged his axe down, only to have Miwah roll to the side. The attack missed, with the axe shattering the small crate that rested at the end of the of the boat. As the wood crumbled apart, a small and bulbous creature scurried out of the wreckage. Roughly the size of a hand, the organism looked soft by the way its flesh bulged and shook as it used its countless pairs of legs to climb down the shattered wood.

Like a maggot, the brown blob of a being flopped around the floor of the boat. Both Miwah and the other man took their eyes off their skirmish to look at the creature between them. The man's face shifted from anger to fear as he watched the creature crawl towards him at a brisk pace. He took his axe and plunged it at the maggot-like being.

There was a sickening crunch as the weapon split its victim in two, sending brown sludge across the floor of the boat. He then looked at the crate that the creature crawled out of, staggering back in horror as a swarm of its kin flooded out of the remains of the crate in every direction. Some travelled across the small boat while others dove into the turbulent sea.

The plunderer took his axe by both hands and with a rising swing, knocked what remained of the crate into the water. The crate bobbed up and down with the waves as the remainder of the mysterious entities drifted into the raging sea. Despite the man's swift reaction, creatures still jittered about the inside of the boat. He lifted his feet; his eyes darting across the ground to try and keep tabs of the numerous other bugs that had escaped. 

With his attention averted, Miwah attacked with a sideways slash from Liberator. The man angled the hilt of his axe, intercepting the swing and stopping it short of his chest. With the pair of weapons interlocked, the plunderer kicked Miwah in the side of her shin. She crumpled to the floor of the boat, wincing from the sharp pain that shot up the length of her leg. Despite the sting, she kept her eyes focused on her attacker. He lifted his axe above his head once more, splitting the rain with the blade. A twisted smile grew on his face as Miwah raised the blade of Liberator in front of her head. She held onto the back of the tonfa with both hands as she turned her face away to brace from the inevitable attack. 

The man's face turned to fear immediately. His head darted down to look at his chest. He let out a scream when he saw one of the maggots resting on his exposed skin. He let his weapon dangle to his side in one hand as the other grabbed onto the creature. "Get off!" he shouted as his entire hand encompassed the size of the bug. He yanked away at the maggot, but it didn't budge. The man pulled again, letting out a groan as he tugged again but with more force. The bug remained stuck on his flesh, evident by the way his skin tugged forward as he tried to pry the creature off his body. 

Gritting through the pain, Miwah shot up to her feet with Liberator pulled behind her. She struck the plunderer with an uppercut from her weapon's blade. A long red streak flew across the boat, painting the wood with a thin splotch of blood. The man began to gurgle as his hand shifted from the creature embedded on his chest to clutching his throat. He let out a faint rattle, his eyes devoid of color as they stared at Miwah. 

She panted as she watched her opponent take a step back, the rear of his thigh bumping into the edge of the boat. His hand dropped his axe onto the floor and went to cover the gaping wound across his throat. His attention shifted from Miwah to nothing in particular; the man stared straight towards the sky as his body wobbled back and forth in tune with the waves.

Balancing on one foot, Miwah bent her other knee. With her body angled to the side, she extended her leg for a swift kick. Like a blur, her foot struck the man in the stomach, sending him toppling over the edge of the boat and into the waves below. There was a loud splash, sending water across the boat's surface. Miwah and Yalch both moved to the edge of the vessel, peering into the sea.

The man's arms were spread apart as he faced the sky, his body floating up and down with the rhythm of the waves. The eyes remained wide open and the creature stuck to his chest continued to move, its body contracting and expanding slowly as they both drifted out further away from the craft.

Miwah slumped against the wall of the boat, her arms limp at her side. She took in a deep breath with eyes closed. 

"Look out Miwah!" Yalch shouted. Her eyes shot open. One of the creatures scurried towards her side. Instinctively, she took Liberator and skewered it with the weapon's tip. The maggot ceased all movement as a putrid brown substance leaked out of the puncture point. 

"Have you seen any more of those things?" Miwah asked. Yalch flew around the boat, checking underneath all protrusions and crevices the small boat had. 

"No. That's the only one," Yalch reported.

"Do you know... what it is?" Miwah asked. She leaned forward to get a closer look at the body. As she did, Liberator was engulfed in the same glowing light that it had appeared in before vanishing out of her hand completely. She looked at her empty palm and the long glove that accompanied vanished in the same ominous glow that her weapon did. She looked at the rest of her body, raising an eyebrow up noticing that she was dressed in the same outfit she had prior to activating her Beacon.

"No, I haven't seen anything like it," Yalch said. He hovered over the slain creature, tilting his head to get a view of it from an assortment of angles. "It's a nasty thing though, that's for sure."

"That man was terrified of them," Miwah said as she leaned back against the wall of the boat again. "And the way... it latched onto his chest."

"Maybe they've all drowned by now."

"Hopefully." Miwah took the back of her arm and wiped away the soaked strands of her hair that covered the front of her face. The rain had turned into a light drizzle. She then remained motionless in her seat, basking in the warm spring air as the waves calmed.

"Miwah," Yalch asked, hovering next to the resting woman.

"Yes?" she asked softly. 

"How... do you feel?"

"Tired," she replied. There was a pause. "And angry."

"That's understandable. You've been through a lot." Yalch looked at Miwah. Her eyes remained shut and her breathing slow yet steady. He then looked in the direction of the ship they had escaped from. It continued into the horizon, shrinking further with each passing moment. The ghost then finally turned towards where the man had plunged into the water. Placing one hand over its eyes, it gazed towards the waves in the distance, unable to see the body.

The ghost returned its attention back to Miwah. "What are your thoughts on..." Yalch paused. Miwah didn't respond. "What are your thoughts on what you just did?"

The woman opened one eye. "What do you mean?" 

"That man you just fought. You know he's..."

"Dead?"

Yalch bobbed up and down. "Yes."

"What about it?"

"Do you feel... I don't know... maybe guilty... about what happened?"

Miwah shook her head. "No. He was going to do the same to me."

"True, true."

"Did I do something wrong?" Miwah asked with a tone of confusion.

"Not at all! It's just that whenever a Purifier first takes the life of another human... they're usually more disturbed by it."

"You know what they did to my village," Miwah said as she sat up straight. Her eyes narrowed in on Yalch's, making him shrink from her fierce gaze. "I have no sympathy for him or anyone else that is part of that crew. I would do the same to the everyone on board if given the opportunity."

"I see!" Yalch made an awkward smile. "I guess we can skip the morality discussion I had planned. I never really like that part anyway. Usually, Purifiers get upset when they find out that they might have to take other human lives."

"Skipping that talk sounds wise." Miwah laid down lengthwise in the boat, curling herself up as she faced the boat's wall. "Perhaps we can discuss more later?" She then yawned and shut her eyes again. "After I get a bit of sleep?"

Yalch hovered over one of the seats in the boat. "Of course. Get some rest. I'll be here. Then we can go into more detail about being a Purifier. How does that sound?" He looked at Miwah, only to see her eyes shut tight as she lay underneath the seat of the boat. Yalch then sighed and looked back towards where the man's body had drifted off.

"I have a feeling this one is going to be a bit different," he muttered to himself, looking at Miwah with a somber gaze. 

Art Spotlight: Yalch