A sudden tremor shocked Teyva back to consciousness. Her whole body hurt. She checked her health and noted that it was sitting at thirty-two. A muffled sound caught her attention and she turned her head to see Nephral at her left. The Sphinx was saying something but she couldn’t make it out. Another tremor drove her to a sitting position and she felt something creak in her chest. Nephral pawed at her arm, what was he saying? She focused on him, her vision swimming a little as sensation and sound returned. More pain wracked her abdomen and she coughed, spitting blood onto her palm.

“Mother!” Nephral’s voice came through, “The Lydan is still alive!”

The words processed in an instant and she looked up in time to see the titan lumbering toward her, its arms hanging limply at its sides. Fresh, icy hate rushed through her veins and she forced herself to stand, her whole body protesting the effort. She wiped her lips, scowling at the enormous thing and offering it a near-universal hand gesture before grinning at it. She checked its health and held out her hand, casting [Pale Bolt] over and over as it approached. The white bolts splashed against its skin helplessly, each tiny amount of damage a small step towards that last percentage point. It still wasn’t enough, though. It drew closer and closer, its eyes filled with an equal hatred to her own.

“Why won’t you die you bastard?” She rumbled, lowering her arm. She watched her health tick up for a few seconds when one of the bolts triggered [Hungering Cold] but it was nothing in the face of relentless death. The Lydan staggered and limped but remained standing. As its shadow came over her, she let out a sigh.

“Mother!” Nephral shouted behind her, “You need to move!”

“And go where?” She laughed, peering up into its face.

That was when another sound caught her attention. A gurgling cry made her turn in time to see a solid block of black marble hurtling in her direction. Teyva’s eyes went wide and she dove to the side, her injuries creaking beneath her as The Marble let out a horrific growl and whipped out its flagella-like tongue, slamming into one of the Lydan’s legs and grappling with all its might. Teyva rolled and sat up, watching the Lydan stumble backward, startled by the sudden attack. Teyva, thinking fast, switched her arm back to the razorchain and flung her body forward. The chain wrapped around the Lydan’s other leg and she dug her feet in, pulling with every ounce of strength she had. She willed the chain to hold tight, pouring her mana into a [Chill Touch] and praying to whoever would listen, “Fall!”

With a resounding boom, the Lydan fell onto its back, its chest heaved and fell still.

Teyva dropped to her knees, the sound of prompts badgering the back of her mind as she caught her breath. Nearby, The Marble crawled off of the Lydan’s corpse and stumbled toward her, one of its legs bent awkwardly. It came to a stop at her side, retracting its legs and opening a few of its many eyes. She looked up at the mighty monolith and patted its side. “Good boy, good boy,” She crooned, stroking the cold stone.

“Are you alright mother?” Nephral asked.

“I’m fine, or at least I will be,” She said, forcing herself to stand.

“Don’t push yourself!” Nephral fretted, dancing around her legs with worry in his feline eyes.

“I’ll rest when there’s nothing left of this bastard,” Teyva growled, forcing herself to take one step after another towards the still form of the Lydan. When she was close enough she placed her hand on the still flesh of its orc-sized foot.

“Yes,” Teyva said aloud and stepped back to watch as its body slowly turned to nothing more than a mound of dust on the ground.

“Not done,” Teyva grunted, marching past the pile towards the corpse of the Rilk queen. She came to a stop before it, its foul smelling body twisted in the agony of those last moments. Green ooze pooled around it as she reached out and touched it. “Sorry momma, I had no choice.”

“Yes.”

Teyva stood there among the dirt, dust, blood, and carnage. The bodies of rilks littered the ground around her. Two tremendous mounds of post-looting sand slowly shrank as a wind picked up. She could barely feel the world around her, barely sense her own pulse. She just savored the sudden silence, closing her eyes and turning her face up to the sky. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to cry. She wanted to feel something. Yet the only sensation in her chest was an almost eerie sense of peace. She sank down to her knees and let her arms fall to her sides, exhaustion taking hold. Nephral crawled forward and curled up on her lap while The Marble stood at her back, watching over her.

She started to numbly go through her prompts.

Teyva didn’t have even a moment to process it all. As she sat there, dumbstruck and spent the sound of hoofbeats drew her gaze to the west. She watched as a trio of individuals on horseback approached from a far hill. She could make out a large series of shapes behind them. She sighed, rubbed her face and got to her feet. Nephral leaping up to her shoulders. She was about to draw out her whip when one of them waved at her. She squinted and felt the last bit of tension in her body fade as Azrael threw a fist into the air. On the other side, she recognized Elat, though she didn’t recognize the woman in the middle.

Teyva broke into a wide smile only to have the wind knocked out of her when Azrael came soaring off of her horse and crashed into her friend. Teyva fell onto her back with a grunt and groaned.

“Easy there! I think I broke a rib earlier. Or six,” Teyva groaned.

Azrael scrambled to get off and stared down at Teyva wide-eyed, “You are the stupidest, craziest, bravest person I have ever met in my entire life. You know that? Complete idiot! Maniac!”

Teyva offered her friend a smile, “I’ve been called worse.”

“Give me a moment and I’ll think of something!” Azrael barked, running her fingers through her hair and revealing the bandage wrapped around her head, “A Rilk Queen? Are you insane?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Teyva countered, pulling herself back up to a sitting position.

“That it did, Lady Akura,” Said the woman on the horse beside Elat, who quickly dismounted and rushed to Teyva’s side. Teyva looked her way and gaped. The woman was tall, broad-shouldered and powerful. Her muscled arms were clearly visible beneath a tight-fitting tunic. She had a square jaw, grey-green skin, and dark, cold eyes that twinkled with the thought of a hidden joke. Her hair was jet black and pulled back into a severe ponytail that only added to her overall ferocious look. “I quite enjoyed catching the tail end of your performance.”

Teyva blinked at her and then glanced at Azrael. Azrael chuckled and shook her head, “Teyva, I’d like to introduce Yaga Yftha, one of the Four and leader of the Eastern Azar. She’ll be escorting us to Osan.”