Lacey tried calling out to his friends.

Guys? I need help over here.

One beat came, then the other, until she was sure no responses were forthcoming. Their mental link gave her some idea though: Rayse and Brandon were winning on one side but had yet to finish the job, while his master was facing an enemy so great that he had completely withdrawn.

“Tsk”. Lacey clicked her tongue. His master had a nasty habit of doing that. She felt his power erupt later, a shining blue beacon like a star in the late afternoon. She looked up at the light briefly, imagining herself filling up with his strength, before gazing back at the field in front of her.

“Hoooh… Okay.” She said, expelling some nervous energy.

It was a mess. She came to help Iona and Brig, who she found trying to fend off an army of emissaries. They did well enough, and were even pushing them back when Atrophy made his move. Sure, the herald himself did little more than direct even more of his troops at them, but the sheer numbers were enough to confine them in the protection of the walls. They had been poking their heads out occasionally, slinging magic at opportune times to slowly cut through the deluge of demons. Their new strategy was well underway until the attacks suddenly halted. The sudden silence surprised them all, but the tension remained. They carefully went out, standing atop the wall on the lookout for what had caused the sudden shift in the enemy tactics. The reason was clear a second later.

Roaaaaar!

Lacey almost jumped out of her skin as an ear splitting roar erupted as if from nowhere. A shadow dropped upon their position as if from nowhere, causing her to jump. A loud crash followed, sending her flying even though she thought had evaded the brunt of it. Miraculously, she didn’t suffer from much pain aside from the wind getting knocked out of her lungs.

“Ugh!” She groaned as she tried to right herself in mid air, leaning onto an air step for support as she witnessed what was left of this section of the wall. A massive hole was gouged from the section they were standing on, and in its place perched a massive black dragon. It looked bigger than usual, a bulging mass of scale and muscle, as it treated the fortress wall like its lair. It clawed disinterested at the ground, snuffing out a few lives that somehow lived through its dive.

“Dammit, it’s Betrayal!” Iona shouted from somewhere behind. Her visor gleamed in the afternoon light, giving the captain a divine visage. Orbs floated about her, the panic she must have felt clearly communicated by their erratic movements. She dove back down like a red comet, assaulting the dragon with the height of her powers.

Lacey herself was in disarray at the casual way the dragon treated what must have been at least a few dozen deaths, leaving her paralyzed. Should I help those at the walls? Oh, but the emissaries are about to breach. Then I should…

She tried to go over her options one by one, but tragedy did not wait for her decision.

She instantly felt smothered as numerous unseen hands grabbed a hold of her. She tried to struggle, but her strength was failing to take purchase. Already disoriented, her head spun wildly, looking for the source of the attack. A shape in the distance was her answer. It was a small demon, floating towards her. It had a big bulbous head, topped with little nubs of horns, and a body far too small to support it. It flew unassisted, with the dust in the air somehow unable to even touch it. It stopped right in front of her, so close she could feel the stench of decay that emanated from him.

“I smell the Godling on you. Are you his kin?” The herald asked. Its very presence seemed to dim the lights surrounding them, as if the sun had begun to set hours earlier than usual. Lacey wasn’t cowed, though. She simply glared at the herald, challenging him to do his worst.

Its smile faltered at this. Then, without another word, it returned with doubled intensity, following a sickening crack.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Lacey’s pained screams filled the air.

__________________________________

Brandon’s head was empty. He expended most of his mana in a massive attack, which left him in this state. Now he stood on the corpse of a herald with steam shooting out of his blade. He wondered if he looked as cool as he felt right now.

He saw gems on the ground rolling towards him, along with some words from his friend. He vaguely felt the floating sentinels that surrounded him, no doubt . Rayse had always been too careful. Still, if those floating discs of metal improved the scene, he supposed it was fine.

He was in the middle of siphoning the mana within, when he felt something was wrong. 

Rrrrrrrr…

The ground beneath him shook, accompanied by a groan, like somebody stretching. It sounded like a creature within was stirring. Brandon focused up, draining the gems in one go. If the surging mana was any indication, he needed to get out of here quickly.

“Jump!”

Once again in fighting shape, he leapt straight upwards. Once there, he took quick stock of the battlefield. Part of it was to admire his handiwork; The remains of the massive tree had destroyed much of the ‘forest’ surrounding them, effectively stopping the stream of monsters that were coming through.

“Rayse!” He shouted out loud, on the lookout for his friend.

But this was his main aim, to find his friend and get out of dodge.

“Hee hee hee hee!”

A deep guttural guffaw answered his calls. He sharply turned to that direction, where he found his friend clashing with Agony. The ground pulsed below the two, casting them in an amber glow.

“Jump!” A burst of mana blew at his back, propelling him towards the battle. Shooting forward at speeds he wasn’t used to, Brandon pulled back his blade, infusing it with energy once more.

He was there in an instant, a red bullet in the sky as he prepared to strike the enemy. Agony continued to wail with glee, its many limbs striking his friend from every direction. The pair was too caught up in the battle to even take notice of the crazy guy dropping in out of nowhere.

“Hyaat! Fortress breaker!” Brandon shouted, fully wrapping his blade with enough energy to level a city wall. It was only then that Agony turned, it’s massive eyes still having a hint of glee as it swiveled in his direction. Brandon could almost taste the blood from the creature’s neck. It’s too late, he thought, eat this, you sick sonuva–

His body made a full turn, swinging at empty air. Next thing he knew, he was surrounded by a sea of white.

“??”

Brandon looked around, confused. He was at a slightly different spot than he was a second ago, mere paces from where he aimed his blade. He looked back to where he knew Agony and Rayse were fighting, but they too had vanished. The only thing that remained was the steady pulses of amber light, flickering in increasingly faster intervals like a quickening heartbeat. He knew the light was a horrible omen, but he stayed rooted in place.

It turned out that he was right. It was too late. Too late for him to make a difference.

A figure emerged from the wood, like a plant sprouting in real time. A woman emerged, an otherworldly beauty literally carved from nature. A massive amber jewel covered most of her torso, and she clutched it like a newborn. The jewel pulsed with the same amber colored light he saw earlier, emitting the same unnerving mana that he had been feeling since earlier.

“...” The woman’s mouth opened to speak. It looked down at the gem in her arms, then back at him, gesturing and pointing.

“...W-what?” Brandon stammered, when a figure walked up from beside him, making him jump. This time it was a man, equally beautiful, going past him to take the gem from the woman’s arms. The man laughed, or at least seemed to, twirling around with the gem in his hands as if playing with it.

Brandon stared at the strange scene, baffled by it all. There were more of them now, random moving statues, each acting out their random plays all around him. In the chaos, he soon lost track of the gem, although he felt it somewhere in the throng. He turned, following the pulses of energy, only to stop in his tracks once more. Another woman stood before him, this one not as young, not as flawless, but more beautiful than any he had ever seen.

“Mom…” Brandon choked, as tears welled up in his eyes. 

“...” She opened her mouth in response, but again, he couldn’t hear her, so instead, Brandon walked up and held her.

She seemed surprised and taken aback, but finally took him in her embrace. In his mind, Brandon knew this was some sort of trick, but from her gestures, to the way she moved, he knew this was her mom. No illusion would be so perfect.

And so he held her with all his might, this puppet that somehow had his mother’s soul. She had been talking all this time, face contorted and tearful, but without the tears. Brandon thought he understood, though, and he nodded along regardless.

“I missed you too, mom.”

The reunion hung in the air all around them, pulling Brandon away from the fortress, the war, and even his friends. All that was important was that his mother was here. He felt her grip on him tighten as white tendrils began to wrap  around him starting from his feet. His mother grew shocked, and even tried to pull away from him, but he didn’t let her. And so, mother and son shared a hug from beyond the grave, until eventually, the A white tree trunk itself had  enveloped them both.