Jori could only stare as Erik ripped his dagger from the Mage’s chest, letting her fall to the ground with a sickening thud. Shock spread across the woman’s face as she stared up at the sky, her one unbroken hand reaching out to Aria.

To say shock was on her sister’s face would not be enough to describe the expression Jori saw. Aria’s eyes were wide, the light behind them smothered by a steadily encroaching despair as they glistened with tears. Her lips parted, but she was unable to say a single word as she reached out to the fallen woman, her body trembling.

Erik pulled her away and marched towards the woods, and all Jori could do was watch. Fear filled her body with lead, and she could not even call out to her sister as they met the edge of the forest, a breath away from being swallowed by the shadows of the trees that waited beyond. The air grew thick and Jori could feel her breaths quicken, but still she could not move, still did her panic keep her and Jon in place.

A streak of red flashed by her vision, the trail of an arrow that collided with the invisible barrier orbiting Erik and Cora. She heard the shattering of stone followed by a curse spat from Erik’s lips as the arrow still managed to slice into his free shoulder. The air around her grew thin then, drawn towards the direction that the arrow came from and drawing everyone’s eyes. There she saw them.

The rest of the adventurers.

As soon as Jori lay eyes on them she saw the other Mage - Elly, from what she overheard before - slam her hands into the back of a large, muscled man. She recognized him as Helbram, though he was absent of his usual armor and instead only had his helmet, a sword that was still in its sheath, and shield. His shield was the focus of her attention, for he held it in front of him as a burst of air surged from Elly’s palms, sending him soaring through the air. Helbram tucked himself as much as he could behind his shield as he barrelled forward, right towards Cora. He struck the barrier in front of her first, but the momentum behind his large frame was enough for him to crash through the shield and into her.

Cora had her hands up by the time Helbram struck her, bracing herself so that the impact of the blow only slid her back instead of knocking her off of her feet. It created enough of an opening to allow Helbram to lunge at Erik, or rather at Aria, who was still in too much shock to do anything on her own. As Erik tried to slip away from Helbram, Elly intercepted him. She collided with the man by riding another burst of wind, this time focused at the center of her back. Instead of using a shield to absorb the impact of their collision, her arms were covered in bits of stone and she held her arms crossed in front of her face while she charged forward.

Helbram and Elly moved in sync, with the warrior grabbing hold of Aria right as the mage speared Erik right in his stomach. While he was shielded by unseen stone, the shock of the blow sent him staggering back and weakened his grip over Aria. Helbram pulled the girl from Erik’s shoulders and cradled her in his arms as he turned back around, keeping most of her covered by his body and he retreated.

Cora already had her hands held up, flicking her hand back in what Jori could only assume would be a type of spell. Before the veiled attack could be unleashed, however, three arrows flew at her, each enshrouded by red light. Cora waved her hand at them, and beyond the arrows deflecting on nothing, nothing else could be seen.

So entranced was Jori by this brief exchange that she did not hear the half-elven man, Leaf, approach her.

“Run!” he shouted as he stood in front of her and her brother.

Words rose to Jori’s lips, but still she could say nothing. Even so, the man’s ears twitched and he looked back at them with a glare.

“That wasn’t a suggestion.”

There was fire in Leaf’s voice, but she could only feel ice in her veins as he spoke. Jon tugged at her arm, nodding towards the trees, fear still clear on her face but not suffering from the same stupor she’d allowed herself to fall into. She looked back to Aria; the girl was still in shock as Helbram ran with her.

Jori knew that there was nothing that she could do for her. She was powerless to help.

Yet she still felt guilt stab at her heart when she ran away.

---

Jahora felt cold as she lay on the floor, the chill of Winter’s air seeping through her from the hole in her chest. A distant throb echoed from her broken arm, but as the light faded from her vision she kept her eyes fixed upon the battle that raged around her. Helbram ran towards her, Aria in his hands while fire danced around Elly as the Weaver spun, sending a wave of fire crashing against the invisible stones of Erik and Cora. As the fire left Elly’s hands she stomped the ground, yellow Aether surging through her leg and the Ring around her ankle. The Aether flowed from her foot and into the ground, reemerging as a spike of stone that jut from the Earth, right towards Erik.

Despite having his vision blocked by the flames, the man planted his feet and slammed the heel of his palm into the spike just as it was about to pierce him. The stone shattered, but at the same time vanished from Jahora’s sight entirely. Still, she could see that the man held something in his hands, and, from the way that the Weaver retreated, could tell Elly noticed the same. Before she could put enough distance between them, however, Cora placed her hands on the ground. No aura was seen around her, but tension spiked through the air.

A swell of power.

The earth shattered at Cora’s fingers, its cracks spreading in an instant, right under Elly’s feet. The Weaver crossed her arms and leapt up, summoning a barrier around her. One that shattered as an unseen force struck it, the stones carried by its power slicing into Elly’s skin as she tumbled through the air. The Weaver was unable to recover and struck the ground on her back, and the following wheezes told Jahora that the air was knocked from her friend’s lungs. Erik leapt from his position towards the Weaver, the grasp of his hand similar to how Jahora had seen Helbram hold a spear. He closed the gap between them in an instant, but before he could land a blow another arrow flew at him. Erik’s body was a blur as his hands flicked towards the arrow, triggering another sound of shattering stone as the Ether infused projectile struck whatever was in the man’s hands. Leaf followed after the shot, red Ether flaring from his leg as he kicked towards Erik’s chest. The blow was again blocked by what were likely invisible stones, but it created enough of an opening for Leaf to stand between the man and Elly. The archer pulled the short sword from his waist and flicked it towards Erik’s throat, but the tavernkeep caught the blade with his dagger. The man twisted his wrist, binding the sword’s blade with the hilt of the dagger and proving him with enough of and angle to thrust its tip down. Though Leaf resisted with the strength of an Awoken, Erik proved to be too strong and Jahora could only watch as the dagger was driven into the archer’s shoulder.

Leaf groaned as the blade bit into him, and, unable to resist Erik’s strength, faltered as the man continued to push down. When the archer’s knee touched the ground, Erik pulled the dagger back and flicked it to the side, right at his opponent’s throat. Leaf fell back just in time to avoid the blow, but could not dodge the follow up kick that struck him in the chest. The archer flew back from the force of the blow, skipping on the ground before he finally landed, unmoving.

The tavernkeep’s attention turned to Elly, his dagger flashing towards her chest. The Weaver had managed to recover during Leaf’s interference, but even then only managed to form a barrier of blue Aether around her arm. She caught the blade with it, angling it so the thrust would be deflected away rather than lock them in a contest of strength. Her leg flared with green Aether as she fended off the attack, triggering another burst of air that pushed Elly away from Erik. She slid across the ground and turned the evasion to a roll, eventually getting back to her feet. Aether surged around the Weaver as she readied herself, but Jahora could see the uncertainty in her friend’s eyes.

This was a fight they were not going to win.

In the midst of this chaos the Mage did not see Cora approach her. The woman looked down at Jahora with a cold expression, any remnants of her previous smile abandoned, revealed as the mask that it always was. She held her palm towards the Mage, the beginning of a spell.

The beginning of her end.

Before it could be delivered, Helbram crashed into Cora with his shield. As he shoved her back he pulled his sword from its sheath and stabbed at the woman’s chest. The blade was knocked to the side before it could land, the source of the deflection still hidden from view.

“Do you truly believe that you can stand against us?” Cora motioned to the battle around them, “As you can plainly see, such deeds are not in your favor.”

Helbram said nothing and kept his shield up. His feet shifted, and Jahora could see that he was slowly falling back towards her, but there was only one thing the Mage had on her mind as this was happening.

Where was Aria?

Despite the chill that suffused through her, Jahora turned her head, seeing the girl off to the side, crawling towards her. A bottle was in her hands, one that shimmered with a bright red liquid.

A potion.

Helbram maintained his guard over Jahora, but even as he stood above her she could do nothing but curse him.

He was supposed to run, to take Aria away from here. That was the only way that they could keep her safe.

Why would he waste the opportunity on her?

Cora appeared to be of the same mind, and only shook her head when she looked at the Warrior.

“A pity,” she said, “you might have succeeded if you chose to run instead,”

She stomped the ground, sending forth a wave of force that crashed into Helbram’s shield. The warrior weathered the attack by kneeling down to better brace himself, but even then the attack pushed him back, right in front of Jahora. Before another attack could land he charged forwards, keeping his sword held in a low position. Though he closed the gap between them, he was kept at bay as blows continuously struck at him from unseen angles, battering both shield and flesh as he tried to weather the continued attacks.

As he did so, Aria arrived at Jahora’s side. Her hands shook as she took hold of the potion’s cord, but with a deep breath she pulled it from the bottle with one tug. She poured half the contents of the bottle directly onto Jahora’s wound and the rest into the Mage’s mouth. Despite her desire for the girl to flee, Jahora drank the liquid greedily.

Its effects were immediate.

Fire lanced through her, burning forth from the wound on her chest. A searing sensation that made her vision flash white as she felt the flesh start to mend, followed by the feeling of the knife stabbing her a hundred times over. She screamed as the pain continued, unable to contain the agony that coursed through her, one that showed no signs of ending.

Aria recoiled away from the scream, but soon placed her hands on Jahora to try and keep her steady.

An effort that did not last long, for soon after Helbram fell to the ground next to her. This was followed by the sight of Elly flying through the air, striking the ground next to Leaf. Erik held his dagger firm as he walked towards the two. Helbram made an attempt to push himself up, but was pressed back down to the ground by an invisible force. Cora stepped past him and towards Aria, who stood between her and Jahora. As the woman stared down at the girl, a look of pity came over her.

“You cherish them, don’t you?”

Aria nodded.

Cora knelt down in front of the girl, “They will never understand you. Not like we do.”

“Is this how you show your understanding?” Helbram spat, “By dragging her away against her will?”

Cora did not look at him.

“It’s for her own good.”

“Spare me,” Helbram struggled against his unseen bonds, “All you seek to do is take away her ability to choose.”

“What do you know of our plans?!” Cora glared at Helbram.

Helbram met her gaze, “I know kidnapping does not lend itself to agency.”

Cora snorted, “She will have plenty of choice, starting now,” She held a hand up to Erik, who loomed over Elly and Leaf, “Wait.”

The tavernkeep stayed his hand.

She looked to Aria, “Come with us, and we will spare them,” her gaze was cold, “If you do not, their lives are forfeit.”

The girl stood steady as she looked up at Cora, and even without seeing her expression Jahora knew what she was about to say.

“Ar…ia, don’t,” she said, groaning as the pain overtook her senses again.

The girl looked back, a gentle smile on her face. She knelt down next to Jahora and put a hand on her forehead.

“I’ll be ok.”

A lie, one that Jahora might have believed were it not for the slight crack in her voice.

Fire lanced through her again, and all Jahora could do was groan.

Aria stood up, walked to Cora’s side, and took her hand. As she did, Cora’s eye’s widened.

“The Puppet’s are destroyed, we need to leave,” She said.

Erik nodded and picked up Aria, who did not resist as he cradled her in his arms.

Helbram struggled against his bonds, but couldn’t even push himself from the ground.

Jahora tried to push herself up, but her pain flared once more, and all she could do was scream as she looked at Aria.

Watching her disappear into the shadows.

---

Author's Note: Very action heavy chapter here, not necessarily because I wanted a huge action set piece but since I wanted to illustrate the group being desperate to not only save Aria, but Jahora as well. In addition to this I also wanted to display the power discrepancy in play here. While Helbram and the party are definitely strong, when it comes to something like Shades, I wanted to showcase just how powerful they are to have survived a reincarnation cycle. At the same time I wanted the party to have some kind of effect and measure of "success" against them to not keep it totally onesided, even if it turned into that in the end.

Let me know what you all think! Did the party get too much of a beatdown here? Or do you think the power scaling should have been shown further? Till next time, have yourselves a wonderful week :)