Avril inhaled deeply and calmed herself. Her shoulders and hands shook to the beating of her strained heart, so fast she could barely hear it drumming in her ears. Bit by bit, it slowed and dragged, recovering to its norm. She gripped her numb fingers on her staff and eyed Sirsi and Maia, who stared coldly at each other. Her eyes wandered to the high sky where the two King Exalts fought, hidden above the churning storm of time and black flames. Her gratitude to Remulus rose, his prudence saving her and the children. Escape seemed very unlikely from the start, but Maia's appearance sparked a glimmer of hope.
"I can't beat her." Maia frowned, holding her melded whip, prepared to attack. The flames on her body waned, the winds cold and harsh, spraying the waters of Sirsi's broken spell. Maia left a blazing trail as she went to Avril's side and said, "That exchange said as much. We need to focus on escaping."
Avril was not shocked to hear that since Oscar had defeated scores of enemies, mostly thanks to his Reis. Sirsi held the same power, but she knew they were different. Unlike Oscar, Sirsi didn't have the perfect Reis body her master, Sevon, praised endlessly in the Burning Valley. That meant there existed a weakness, the endurance of the heart. Avril checked her arsenal: five sealed spells and three Ein empowerments. Erden was in no condition to fight, Demon was not awake, and the children could not match up.
"There's no other option. I'll hold her off. Run fast and run far. Don't look back." Maia brushed past Avril, standing in front in a protective stance.
"Geez. Why is it always so complicated whenever it comes to Oscar? Fighting the two of you right now is quite bothersome." Sirsi ran her armored fingers over her hair, her chest heaving in a great exasperated huff. A wide, charming smile stretched from her lips as her violet eyes curled in playful teasing, an unsettling look sending shivers down Avril's spine. "Well, it's good that I planned ahead. Give me Oscar, or else this one dies." She pointed her thumb back at the airship. A bubble bounced off the edge and floated to Sirsi's side, a fainted young man trapped inside, his hair brown like Renn's with a more immature look.
"Who is that?" Avril bit her lip as her self-narration sought to escape. She was unwilling to show her quirk for an enemy to ridicule.
"Huh? You don't know him?" Sirsi tapped her knuckles on the bubble, ripples distorting the blob of water. "Geez, did Oscar tell you nothing? This young man is one of his men. It took some effort to snatch him away."
"Who?" Avril sought the answer from Erden, who cursed and answered truthfully. The young man was Auren, one of the prisoners they had freed from a New Dawn facility and a loyal follower who had served Oscar for almost thirty years. Avril grew frustrated at the complicated situation. While she considered running away with Maia and the others after taking advantage of Reis's weakness, she couldn't let Auren be. No more deaths. No more deaths should burden her husband. Standing by Maia's side, she simply smiled at her friend's widened gaze. "We can't leave him. Lend me your strength."
"Crazy. Crazy and outlandishly stupid." Maia scolded, but a faint grin cut across her face. The windy breeze forced her white hair back as a few beats of sunlight poured over her face, accenting the small upturn of her lips. "But that's you." She blazed ahead, lashing her whip, an arc of flame trailing behind. Her whip moved so fast it blurred into dozens of patterns, coiling to entrap Sirsi. Wisps of flames spread, then converged onto Sirsi, who punched once, a single expanding tide crashing against her whip and drowning the wisps.
"Be careful! She's a master of Reis and wields two gauntlets! The left one makes any water it touches into a slippery substance that can hold its form. Careful of her speed!" Erden shouted out his intel.
Sirsi crouched, tapping her left hand on her wet shoes. Avril found her Prinstyct useful in seeing the flow of Ein to the legs but useless in detecting her next motion. Maia's spells had burned away her pollen, letting Sirsi move freely; they were the worst pair to team up due to their conflicting elements. As Sirsi's figure vanished, a few globs of water floating where she had been, Avril pulled on a vine she had attached to Maia's feet and reeled her back in. A drilling maelstrom passed by, nearly skewering her friend.
Maia reacted quickly, her snake whip acting on its own to entangle Sirsi's maelstrom. Steam hissed and rose from the whip, the fires dimming. Avril summoned a large tree; its branches pointed sharply toward the screeching maelstrom in the coiling whip. In a single command, the tree unleashed a barrage of branches sharp enough to pierce through human flesh. She turned to Auren, noticing the bubble was slowly diminishing, squeezing his body to curl further.
'We need to finish this fast.' Her staff grew a long vine, and she swung it onto the maelstrom. Maia synced with her movements and sent a great fiery serpent, large enough to swallow a ship. Avril dashed toward Auren. The young man was short on time. A fearsome roar came from the maelstrom, catching her attention. It burst into a crashing wave, a single boom echoing out, a sound Avril recognized well, the Ripple Shroud. A water serpent roared and hissed, biting into Maia's fire serpent, the Eirin empowerment allowing it to destroy its counterpart easily. Needles of water easily broke apart her branches, and Sirsi laughed from within, a single punch undoing the long vine.
Small bubbles dispersed, filling up hundreds of feet in every direction. Maia seemed to catch onto Sirsi's idea and spread her flames out to evaporate all she could get. But somehow, while boiling, these bubbles retained their shape, seemingly far more compact than the norm. Sirsi jumped off a bubble, her delicate steps landing on the next, then to the other, blurring into a zipping frenzy as she flew around like a fly, erratic and with abrupt turns. Avril cursed inwardly. She was close, so close to Auren. But Sirsi was faster, and Maia could not keep up.
"The final concept of Vis is quite nice, isn't it? Don't worry, Oscar won't miss you. His memory will start over with me." Sirsi appeared before her, already punching to eviscerate her with a piercing maelstrom. Beads of sweat poured down her chin, but Avril increased her speed, unafraid of the vile woman. She cast two spells and ducked below, Sirsi's punch continuing onward, destroying what she left behind: an image of herself. Remulus's spells worked well. The visage was fake, a mere layer of Ein that replicated her looks, and her other spell camouflaged her figure to the outside.
Invisible, Avril slammed her staff onto Sirsi's chin, a great concentration of Ein on its tip. The scroll shone, activating another instant spell, encasing Sirsi in a wooden ball, often used for defense but now a prison to buy time. She reached Auren. Her vines tried to tear apart the bubble, but they slipped off. Unwilling to give up, she used an Ein empowerment and assaulted the prison. Again, she failed. After everything she did, she still could not free the young man.
"Are you kidding me?!" Avril shouted, bashing her staff on the bubble.
"Geez, you do have some good points. But in the end, you lack the means to fight against us. How will you stand beside him when you're so weak?" Sirsi emerged, the wooden prison breaking into splinters. She kicked a sharp arc of water, forcing Maia to retreat, and punched a spray of water at Avril, clearly the Shattering Wave. Avril stacked a triplet of wooden barriers using three more sealed spells. The shockwave still reached her, the sound of her bones breaking very audible to her ears. The difference was that great? Avril didn't want to believe it.
Avril led the charge, turning invisible and leaving visages to trick Sirsi. They didn't last long since Sirsi sped past them as a frightening maelstrom. Maia's flames concentrated further, evaporating the bubbles, but the paling face worried Avril. The amount of Ein Maia had to waste to match Sirsi's Eirin bubbles certainly was taxing. They were two against one, yet Sirsi's prowess overwhelmed them. Even at the moments when Sirsi twitched in pain, she masterfully dodged their counterattacks. Once she regained her use of Reis, they regressed to be on the back foot.
Ten minutes later, Avril used her final sealed spell, deflecting another one of Sirsi's Shattering Waves. Her clothes were in tatters, and parts of her skin had been shredded off her flesh in bloody messes. Maia managed to catch her battered body, not faring well herself as deep cuts bled from her limbs. Avril gathered her Ein for another retaliation. Sirsi didn't give her a chance and dove in fast, approaching before her cast would finish. Maia burned her flames, but the long battle and wounds had caught up to her. She gathered mere embers. Suddenly, a beam of darkness shot between their heads and landed on Sirsi, who stopped and brushed off the attack.
"Renn?" Avril gasped for air, a rib piercing her lung. A soft light engulfed her and Maia, slowly tending to their wounds, the feeling quite familiar. "Gloria?" Why had they intervened? Gloria's healing wouldn't do well on wounds incurred by Marshal Exalts, and Renn's attacks would be akin to raindrops to Sirsi.
"We're not leaving you!" Renn supported her shoulder, wielding a long sword. "You can scold us later like you always do at home. For now, lean on us. There's a foul wench trying to break apart our home and family, and I want a say in that!"
"I won't give Dad to her!" Gloria placed a screen of light between them. "Who is she to barge in and make demands?" She stuck her tongue out, still always the little miscreant whom Avril cared for. "Our Mom has a lot to say and time to spend with Dad. So, scram."
At this moment, she never felt more proud of her children, the sweetness of their bravery and love numbing the pain in her body. However, they merely offered themselves like lambs to the butcher. Was there a way to win? She wished for no harm to come to her and the others, for Oscar to be safe.
"What good kids….it makes me want my own soon." Sirsi smiled widely again.
Avril hated that smile. Her mind raced through countless options, all as unlikely as the one before. What could she do?
…….
For the first time in decades, Maia smiled deeply, ever so proud of Renn and Gloria. The immature children who used to cry and beg now protected her, an odd yet wondrous feeling welling up into faint tears trickling down her cheeks. Gnashing her teeth, she willed all the Ein she could muster, squeezing every drop in her core for a final gambit, unwilling to let them perish. However, she heard something or someone.
'Girl. Let me help you.' A voice called out to her, cackling.
'Who are you?' Maia asked, wondering where this voice came from.
'I am Ignyres, the Ancient of Fire. I can help you, but it will be costly.' Ignyres warned, the voice oddly carrying a warmth that soothed the pain from her wounds.
'Will it save them?' Maia wanted to know.
'Your flames are bright and brilliant. Stoked by your will to protect. It can work to help you all escape.' Ignyres said.
'Then, yes. Use me.' Maia answered. No matter the price, as long as the children and Avril were safe, she would pay it.
