PASTEL: AETHONIX'S UNIT
The warrior sliced left to right with deadly precision, but Jaxonix was quick with his defense. His breathing quickened with each strike, desperately dodging slashes aimed at his sides.
"Grr, I can't keep this up. He's too fast for a counter..." he thought, eyes locked on the dark fighter. "Shit. He's gonna hit me the second I lose focus. I can barely read his steps. Who is this guy?"
Suddenly, the warrior leapt back—and a spear came flying past, slamming into the wall with a thud that left a crater. The warrior looked right, spotting Lyrikka, her arm twitching from the sheer force of the throw.
"Now's my chance!"
Jaxonix lunged. Murky water splashed as he moved. The opponent heard it—too late. A clean cross connected with the warrior's jaw.
"Never take your eyes off the fight," Jaxonix growled.
The warrior hit the ground with a heavy thud. It got up again—but Jaxonix wasn't done. He dashed in with a flurry: cross, jab, hook—all connecting with the ribs and face. He grabbed the opponent's arm, kneed it in the stomach, then body-slammed it into the ground. Hard.
A groan escaped from the warrior. Feminine.
"You actually made a sound this time," he muttered, smirking. "Guess I hit you hard enough this time."
Breathing heavy, he stumbled back, landing next to the downed opponent. "I'm guessing you're a she. Couldn't tell under all that armor."
Lyrikka ran over, yanking her spear from the wall. "Are you okay?"
He staggered, gripping his left arm. "Yeah. That lady almost killed me."
"It's a woman?" Lyrikka peered down. "Hmm. I don't see it."
Before they could say more, Vynesia crashed nearby, landing in a skid. Groaning, she forced herself up, an arrow already notched.
"Lyrikka, throw your spear!"
"At what?"
Vynesia looked around. Nothing. The enemy was hidden. "The torches aren't enough. That shape-shifting witch had us bring only two for a reason."
"The only light here's from those dim vines," Lyrikka noted, pointing to the bioluminescent threads on the cave walls.
"Oh, nice observation, Lyrikka. My eyes totally missed those," Vynesia replied sarcastically.
Lyrikka folded her arms. "Sorry. Forgot you need extra eyes to see things."
Vynesia narrowed her eyes. "You're not slick. My extra eyes are the reason you didn't get mauled by that wild beast earlier."
"I could handle myself. You just got knocked out by darkness. Are you blind and chaotic?"
"Whoa, whoa—" Jaxonix stepped in, arms between them. "Ladies, we're on the same side. Vynesia didn't get knocked out."
"Thank you!" she huffed.
"And Lyrikka wasn't trying to start anything. She was just being helpful." He placed a hand on both shoulders. "I'm beat, stressed, and bleeding. Let's not fight each other—it just gives the enemy more cards to play."
"Huh?" they both said.
"Never mind. Just focus."
"Fine," Vynesia muttered. "But we can barely see—"
Shk! The sound of metal cut through the air—Jaxonix coughed up blood. A sword pierced through his back and out his stomach.
The girls gasped.
The attacker—a second shadow warrior—vanished again into the dark.
"Oh shit—are you okay?" Lyrikka cried.
"Of course he's not okay!" Vynesia shouted. She scanned the area. "We need dry ground. Hypothermia's coming."
A figure materialized behind her, but Lyrikka caught it. She blocked the strike, snarling, "Cheap shot, coward!" and kicked the warrior back. She chased after it, buying time.
"Shouldn't you apply pressure to the wound first?" Jaxonix asked, staggering.
"I've got a better idea," Vynesia replied, guiding him up a rocky slab. He lay flat, pale and trembling. "But we both aren't gonna like it."
"What are you—"
"Shush. Don't talk."
She took off his armor and tore his shirt to expose the wound. It was bad. Real bad. She grabbed ashes from her pouch, sprinkling them over the injury.
"Deep breaths," she whispered—to him or herself, even she didn't know. Her own breath was shaky.
She drew a glyph into the ashes on his skin.
A forbidden technique.
She whispered the chant—but the glyph pulsed once and fizzled into ash.
"No—c'mon, you bastard," she said.
She tried again, harder. Focused. Blood kept spilling. Her fingers burned with each failed glyph. Her palm was scorching.
She took off her armor. Shirt too. Just her bra and adrenaline now.
"You're not dying on me, Jax. Please."
---
Two months earlier
"No, child. Throw that book away," the archivist warned. "Glyph-binding takes more than ink and good intentions."
Candlelight danced over Vynesia's face. She turned the page anyway.
Sael'ruhn Veyrr.
A note beneath it: This glyph binds life to the body. Temporary. Dangerous. Only use in direst need.
---
She dipped her fingers into Jaxonix's blood.
"If I mess this up... this could kill him."
Her hands shook.
She drew: A jagged spiral, three crossing lines, and a final crescent ending with a dot.
The Glyph of Sael'ruhn Veyrr.
"If you die on me, I'll kill you again." She whispered.
She placed her hand on the wound.
"Vrazir sael'ruhn veyrr, dhemsh tal vaq."
The glyph pulsed—faintly. Like a flickering heartbeat.
Bind the thread of life. Hold him to this world.
"Come on, come on," she muttered, her skin burning, nerves screaming. "Stay with me, Jax."
He coughed.
Relief poured out of her like sweat. The glyph faded into his skin, scarring him and sealing the opening.
"You saved me," he whispered. "I thought I was dead for sure."
"Don't thank me yet," she said, looking at her scorched forearm. "It only holds for an hour. Seals the bleeding. Keeps you warm. And apparently... scars like hell."
"Just one hour, huh?"
She handed him a stopwatch. "Fifty-eight minutes. That's what you've got."
He slipped it into his pouch. "That's... encouraging."
"I'm going after Jaraelia. Find a way out. Don't die. Please."
"I won't. I promise."
She ran toward the tunnel. He went to help Lyrikka.
---
The battle raged again. Jaxonix punched the lunakhrai mid-leap. It morphed, kicked, struck back. Lyrikka joined—spear spinning, attacks precise.
Until the warrior kicked Jaxonix in the groin.
"Cheap shot!" he groaned. "You bastard."
Lyrikka countered with her fists, but the warrior caught her leg and slammed her into the ground—again and again.
Jaxonix rose, barely, bloodied and wheezing. He swung—missed—got hit again in the nose with a spin kick. Harder.
He tumbled backwards with a bloody nose.
The shadow warrior raised its sword over Lyrikka.
A voice echoed:
"Finish her!"
Jaxonix froze. Looking into the distance, he saw a figure lurking in the shadows. "What the fuck is that?"
The warrior unable to do it. Groaning and unstable like it had gone insane. That voice... too familiar.
"Calanthia?"
The warrior vibrated—like something held it back. Screaming, it dropped the sword.
Jaxonix seized the opportunity to land a hit. He struck, knocking it unconscious.
The figure in the dark vanished. "Worthless, dog."
He rushed to Lyrikka. "You'll be okay."
"I heard you... Calanthia..."
"Yeah. I think it was her."
They peeled off the warrior's armor—it was human. Familiar. "Could it be...?"
"What about Thaliah," Jaxonix whispered, running to the first warrior he fought. "I heard a female voice. Explains the long ponytail."
They laid both bodies on the slab.
"Could be a spell," Lyrikka guessed.
"Or that creature. It was yelling at her... maybe it controlled her."
Meanwhile, Aethonix had warrior III pinned.
"Talk—or you'll be visiting your maker without a head."
No reply.
"Loyal, huh. Sucks for you."
"Wait!"
Jaxonix grabbed the enemy, slamming its head into the wall. Knocked out. "It's that guy... What's his name again?"
Lyrikka folded her arms unamused by his question. "You mean Lyrix."
"Yeah! That guy. Damn. Girls were stronger than him? That's disgracful."
Lyrikka raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Not saying men are stronger, I just—" Her glare pierced through his eyes like daggers. "Nevermind."
"Thought so."
Aethonix smirked. "He wasn't weak. I was just stronger."
They both looked at each other and laughed.
"Yeah. Sure bro. Your opponent used swords. Ours used nut kicks," Jaxonix said.
Lyrikka laughed. "They turned into beasts!"
"Um... Mine did too?"
"Yeah. A weak puppy. Maybe that's why you don't wear armor. It's too heavy for you." They both laughed again.
Aethonix walked past them, annoyed.
Jaxonix pulled out the stopwatch. His face dropped.
"Twenty-three minutes?!"
"What's wrong?" Aethonix asked.
"Long story. I'm gonna bleed to death once this thing stops ticking. Let's move."
They dragged the bodies through the tunnel.
"Oh yeah, you got hurt. How did you fix that?" Lyrikka asked.
"That's what I'm trying to say. Vynesia used some magic or something to heal me and it gave me a scar and almost roasted her arm completely."
"Vy can use magic?"
"That's what I was just about to ask too," Aethonix said.
A masked figure watched from the shadows, grinning.
"Outwitting the dogs again..." it rasped, laughing.
---