Chapter Text
The villagers of Kilima Valley had listened to the reports with increasing unrest; despite being located right next to the source of this new and strange plague, only the other side of the large sealed woodland had been breached, and they were seemingly safe. Until one day, they weren’t. By the time that first purple muujin was sighted, many had already fled, driven away by the increasingly frantic news on the radio. But while Sifuu had sent her son to safety, she herself could not go with him. Those blasted woods still held Taylin, she would not leave her behind. A few others also stayed, tethered by memories, held back by lost loved ones as if wanting to join them. The Pavels were too stubborn to leave, Ashura could not let go of his late wife’s inn. Chayne would have remained, but the head temple called him in to help with relief efforts. Einar, well, the galdur was determined to keep fishing until the very end. A pathetic village of five, living on fish, garden vegetables, forage, and hope.
Then, the fish turned strange. Only one at first, Einar brought it to the town square and they’d all had a look. Purple, oozing a black fluid. A few days later, he’d caught another, and the next day he got two. When there were more bad fish than good ones in a day, they truly started to worry, and the galdur moved to fish at a pond. Seeing him abandon the lake felt oddly final, Sifuu could see the hope dwindle in the way Hodari hugged his girl tight to his side, the way Ashura pulled his old gear out of storage. This was no longer a village; it was a final stand. The radio was eerily silent these days, the few channels still sending used old recordings over and over. ‘Take only belongings you can easily carry. Stay away from wildlife. Avoid anything purple or black’ and so on, but the Pavels occasionally caught messages. Hodari always carried a radio these days. Most times, it was lone survivors pleading for help, caught in pockets of the spreading ooze or desperately fleeing monsters and other infected creatures. A few messages were simply goodbyes, final words of those who’d given up. By the lack of official government announcements, no help was coming.
A tiny puddle was forming, black with that telling purple sheen, in a former chapaa den on the plains. They’d tried burying it, to no avail. Day by day, more seeped through, so for now Ashura had built a sturdy fence around it to stop more animals from falling victim. Going to have a look in silence was something of a daily ritual by now, the blacksmith mused, looking over their sorry group. The Pavels were living at the inn now, having reluctantly given up on the bay as the echo had spread to the lantern bugs. Infected creatures did not flee; they gave chase, and touching them burned you. No injuries so far, using tools to bat them away seemed to work just fine. Najuma was wearing forearm braces now, as a precaution, and even Hodari had actually put on a long-sleeved jacket for once. Ashura looked worried, and yeah, the flooded den looked just about ready to overflow. They’d dug a moat around it, properly deep, but even that was a stopgap measure. Panicked reports had painted a horrifying picture; elsewhere the goo already covered the landscape, an unstoppable tide of it sweeping the cities.
A strange blackened butterfly came flapping, and Sifuu sliced it in half without comment. Her monster hunting gear was coming in handy, the daggers no longer delegated to kitchen duty, but the thought did not bring much joy. She had enjoyed being a huntress; this was not it. Ashura had seen a sernuk while foraging this morning, so she had an actual hunting trip planned. Hopefully it was a healthy animal, any more fish meals and Hodari would get grumpy. Well, grump ier . She could definitely go for a nice sernuk steak with mushrooms, alright, motivation! “Gonna go look for that sernuk, no need to wish me luck!” She grinned, showing off with her flashiest dagger trick, hoping to set their minds at ease.
The bay was silent, the air was still. Not a wave to be seen on the dead, purple ocean surface. Coming out here, seeing just how rapidly the world was declining, Sifuu had to admit it to herself; there was no hope, this was the apocalypse. The formerly bright orange trees, so cheerfully sunny, had turned pale with a tinge of the purple contamination no doubt poisoning their roots. A few had stems streaked with cracks, showing the pulsing magenta flow forming within. No forage to be seen, the former blacksmith noted. Ashura had been thorough. Searching for tracks where he’d spotted the animal, the un-retired huntress instead found something disturbing; Claw marks on a stem, from something large. Monster. Following the broken twigs and disturbed shrubbery to a patch of soft ground near a river confirmed her worry. That footprint was familiar. So, it had finally escaped the broken seal then, Taylin’s murderer. The elderwood beast was on the loose .
While he relayed some of the radio messages he caught to the others when they asked, Hodari kept most of them to himself. No need to let the others (Najuma in particular) know just how bad it had gotten out there. Not a single shelter from the last war responded, no government channels had updated their warnings for at least a month. He’d kept a list of frequencies in case of emergency, and cross-referenced it with Ashura’s, yet all they got was static. Radio silence. The transmissions he did catch, on amateur channels, painted a very bleak picture. Cities collapsing, swallowed by black-and-purple ooze. Contaminated, dangerous livestock. It was the end of civilization as they knew it, that was for sure. Searching the channels had become something he really should stop doing, but it was like Juma’s nail biting; a nervous habit.
A hard to understand, crackly voice had given him the first message in a long while that wasn’t a panicked or despairing last plea; a scientist deep in an archive had dug out all they had on the first apocalypse, and the theoretical way to solve it. As the static returned for another message on the same frequency, Hodari called his daughter in to listen. “... *crrsh* - echoes of *tzz* dimension, like a mirror *chhh* sides of a coin, but the humans *scrrr* hole in the veil, *crshh* the elderwood, a dimensional rift. Theoretically *brzzz* able to close it by reversing the flow, sending *screee* might save us all. It should be located at the ancient human capital of Ang Glod, now known as Kilima Valley, hidden *kshhh* fountain. If anyone who hears this is able to, go *bzzztzttzt* The interference made the transmission useless for a while, and Juma adjusted the antenna. - it through the rift. Stop the apocalypse . The signal disappeared completely, and the Pavels sat in silence for a bit. A quest to save the world, no, a quest to get yourself killed was more fitting. Entering the elderwood, now? “Should we… check the fountain?” Hodari sighed, great, he’d thought it would be harmless academic information sharing but it just had to give his daughter dangerous ideas. “Juma, th’mayor had that built in your lifetime, doubt it’s hidin’ anythin’.” She looked deep in thought, oh no, time for distractions. “Ashura found sweetleaf, wanna go make us all tea? He’d b’ chuffed. I can make us a snack”. She sighed, but got to it. Thanks to the Daiya farm’s peki they kept caged and safe indoors, they still got a few eggs every day, but no milk. Boiled egg sandwiches, then. Cooking together in the tavern kitchen was relaxing, and as they both waited for the water to heat, the Pavels had a poke through the spices available. An apocalypse was no reason to skimp on flavour.
“Sifuu! Just in time, Juma made tea” Ashura beamed, enjoying the domesticity of their little snack time. He couldn’t deny it; having the Pavels living with him was wonderful. Sure, it was out of necessity, but the loneliness after Reth had left with his sister had made the monotonous days tough to bear. Having friends around, seeing them appreciate the things he foraged, it made a huge difference. The huntress had returned empty-handed, but that was alright, the Daiya farmland they kept caring for was still going strong. A vegetable soup tonight, then, Hodari could work his magic on it with the stuff he’d found in Reth’s kitchen supplies. “Sifuu?” she still hadn’t responded or pounced on the food, something was off. Worried, the innkeeper left the table. “Outside” she mumbled, so not for Najuma’s sharp ears then. Following her to her forge, Ashura gave the huntress a concerned glance, but saw no injuries at least. Just bad news, then? Were the sernuk infected? She drew a deep breath, and sighed. “The beast that took- the beast of the elderwood is nearby, I found prints. Hiding will not be an option for long. Can you still fight?” So this was it then, according to the tales he’d heard the beast was not an enemy one could simply slay or drive away. Ashura gave her a firm nod, he’d been prepared for a final battle. “We’ll lure it to the pass, that’s our best chance. I will start setting up traps today, but I don’t know how long we’ll have.” Left unsaid was what the two of them had already agreed upon; if they were going down, they would do their utmost to keep Najuma safe. The kid was the last one with hope, the last spark of light. No need for the Pavels to know.
A fountain, but obviously not the new one. Hmm, what ruin piece around here could look like, wait, how old was that weird planter-statue-thing in the plaza? Najuma decided to inspect it after lunch, if her dad got worried she could pick a bouquet for the table they usually used. She wasn’t sure what, exactly, she would be looking for. Something that could be thrown through the rift somewhere in elderwood, which would somehow reverse all the bad things happening? The frequency must have barely reached them here, the message had been hard to understand. It had mentioned reversing, two sides of a coin, like a mirror… Hadn’t Zeki had a few flow tools laying around? He had left in a hurry after trying to get her to come along, but Najuma did NOT want to leave her home and dad had said the outside world didn’t seem any safer anyway so they had stayed. Sneaking out to check on a very significant possibility, she coincidentally also snuck out of dish washing duty. Collateral damage, clearly just a mistake, unavoidable really .
Watching Juma slink off without gathering the dishes for her turn at the sink, Hodari huffed a small laugh. Sure, he should go get her for the lesson’s sake, but with the situation being what it was he’d decided to just let his kid play around. Raising her right felt pointless when there was no future. She wouldn’t leave the safety of the village, hopefully she would find some way to have a fun evening. Sifuu and Ashura had gotten busy, probably having to do with the sernuk that got away. Hopefully it was a healthy one, drying meat for storage would give them a safety margin if the crops failed. The farmland was well maintained, but they were no farmers. Drying the last cup after considering how to best preserve vegetables, Hodari wondered if any of their friends who had left were still alive. With what he caught on the radio, probably not.
Depressing stuff, better keep thinking about pickling potatoes and whatnot. There were glass jars in the storage room, he went to fetch a few, but was that door always there? Silly thought, doors didn’t just appear, he must have forgotten. Possibly private, really should ask Ashura if he wanted to know, but just a quick peek might jog his memory. A broom closet, maybe, or- oh. A large cavernous room, market stalls? Had Ashura planned to expand into hosting merchants, before war broke out? But it didn’t smell new, and the stalls looked worn. An old market, then, historic maybe? No, there was a bar counter, and an abandoned drink covered in mold. Was this maybe the foraging guild’s headquarters? It put the mining guild’s rented basement in the city to shame. Right, Ashura could probably explain all of this, even if the logo on that crate looked suspiciously like- no, better get back upstairs in case Juma needed him for something. No need to poke around, knowing they could shelter in a sturdy-looking basement like this was enough. Even if his friend was involved in, yeah no, let’s not consider that possibility. The crate must have been randomly brought there, Ashura might not know what the snake symbol stood for. No way the innkeeper worked for the cartel, even if Reth’s tattoos had looked- stop. The cartel was gone, this was a lawless world with neither government nor consequence. All bringing this up would do was possibly drive a wedge between him and his best friend, when all they had left was their unity as a group. Not as if he himself was blameless; a Pavel had invented the first flow missile, after all, possibly the root cause of the world ending anew. Passing through the storage room, Hodari barely remembered to bring the jars he’d come there for. This world wouldn’t last, but they could at least die with full stomachs, whenever it decided to end.
After the discovery he would not be bringing up, the days passed at a snail’s pace for Hodari. Ashura and Sifuu spent most of their days in the bay, probably hunting down infected critters to delay the inevitable, and Najuma had found some of Zeki’s things to play with. Surely, their family friend would allow it, if he was still around somewhere. That left Hodari in charge of farming, he had a bit of experience from his own kitchen garden but his back wasn’t appreciating it. Einar had attempted to help out, but his eyes could not distinguish between crops and weeds, so the former miner had to tell him it’s the thought that counts and to leave it at that. Straightening his back with a crack, he took the large basket of apples to their home, the former inn. They’d enjoy some fresh, sure, but most of these would become jam and relish for winter dishes, he’d also try slicing and pickling a few… was that a flowstone, in Juma’s hand? Ah whatever, so long as she had fun. No Order to stop her here.
And by reversing the direction of the circuit… there! Now, time to test the theory! Najuma hopped from her favourite working stool at the bar, and gave her dad a wave (and stole an apple) before hurrying over the little hill to the echo-filled hole. Mmm, tasty fruit, good thing the Daiyas had a whole orchard. Now, to turn the flow thingamajig on, she just needed to insert the flowstone- it gave a loud pop, some smoke hissed out, but maybe that was how flowtech should act? Whatever, it didn’t explode, all was good! Pointing it at the puddle (pond? It was kinda a lot for a puddle) did not seem to do anything at first, but then the stuff started congealing into balls. Kinda like rockhopper eggs looked in the fauna book, neat, but why? Wasn’t it supposed to disappear? Maybe the pop and smoke were bad, okay, tested. Next, maybe the other doodad without a label would do something when reversed? Not right now though, if she went back inside she’d get stuck cutting and peeling for her dad. Time to search that statue in the town square, hopefully there really was something that could fix things. They had not heard from that scholar again, but dad had said the relay tower might have broken. An infected bug of some sort saw her and came crawling, but Juma was an old hand at bug squishing by now, it didn’t stand a chance. Auni would have hated to do that, hopefully he was okay somewhere? Hm, was that an access panel, under the moss? It had buckled, pulling at it did nothing, but Juma could see Ashura returning to town. His hands could rip open anything! “Shuri!” she yelled, and as always he accepted the nickname with a smile. A-shu-ra was too long! It wasn’t cute at all! Now they were Juma, Dari, and Shuri, but Sifuu refused to get a cute nickname. Fine, hers was short enough, but still! “Juma” he rumbled happily, and ruffled her hair. “How can I help you?” Hey! She didn’t ONLY call out to him when she needed something… right? Wait, okay, maybe she did. Anyways! “Can you get this loose?” And he did! There was a panel of solid dirt underneath, but knocking it off revealed a key! Cool! There really had been something hidden here, all along! But somehow, throwing a plain metal key through the rift did not feel like the right answer. “Anything else?” Oh right, he was still there. “No, this is good. Thank you!” Maybe the key would fit in a door as old as the ‘fountain’? Only one way to find out!
Smiling, Ashura watched their youngest ‘villager’ (if you could call what was now a single mismatched household a village) hurry off to whatever was next on her agenda. Her energy really was the last thing holding them together, he thought, but upon entering the tavern room and smelling sweet apples, he amended that statement. Hodari stubbornly clinging to his dedication to good food also kept them going, the Pavels were making these dark days have bright moments. “So, chef, what are we having?” “Backache” “At least it’ll be backache with a side of chapaa” Ashura said, proudly holding the prize of today’s accidental hunt; they had been digging a pitfall trap when the little fellow popped out of a den. Healthy animals, and thus meat, was rare. “I’ll take over, no protests, go lie down. You can come spice it when I’m done butchering, I can stir jam, come on”. Getting Hodari to take a break could be tough, but this time he didn’t protest it, and the ex-assassin noted there was a strange rhythm to his footfalls. Limping, not good. He was unlikely to accept a day of rest, and there was not a single bit of medical skill in their group. Keeping the apple jam from burning (and doing taste tests, always an important duty), dividing the small animal into portions of meat, following the instructions for pickling… he had so many unusual tasks going on, he somehow missed Sifuu coming home. “What happened to ‘Dari?” made him jump, and he almost dropped a jar. “Gah! Scared me. Made him go rest, by the look of this he’s been at it all day”. There were rows of neatly labeled preserves, meaning a big harvest. Hodari never harvested without replanting, probably why his back was acting up. Sifuu gave a low whistle at the amount. “Enough to last the winter?” “That would depend on the number of mouths to feed.” She nodded, understanding the implications. The Pavels would be fine, if the echo stopped spreading they might live through this. For the two of them, though, time was almost up. The ambling path of the beast had shifted, it might have smelled civilization and was drawing nearer every day. Tomorrow, they would camp out there on the cliff near the pass, to lure it in. The probability of them both returning was low.
By evening mealtime, Hodari was regretting his thorough re-ordering of the crop field. Sure, things would probably grow easier now that he’d followed the guide on companion planting, but the price to pay had been steep; everything hurt, he could barely make it down the stairs. He hadn’t even managed to keep his pain hidden from Najuma. What was he doing, worrying his daughter like this? “Drop it, Juma, I’ll sleep it off. Gotta prune th’orchard t’morrow, after that Einar needs maint’nance” because touching the contaminated fish was definitely taking its toll, the galdur’s fingers had corroded to a point where hydraulic fluid had started to leak. That wasn’t something he could just ‘put off’! The trees, too, because if they were still kicking around by next autumn then those damaged parts had to go now or the next harvest would be reduced. Sifuu and Ashura would both be busy all day again, no help to be had there, and he wasn’t about to let Juma climb a ladder with a saw. “You can help wit’ th’maint’nance?” “Dad! I can do that myself, the trees can wait! Take a break for a few days” she insisted, and she’d even gotten the others on her side! Hodari felt ganged up on, and finally had to relent. One day of light work, he’d inspect the trees for now and sit at the forge while Juma mended Einar. They still shook their heads as if he was the one being stubborn here, but at least they left it at that.
Getting back up the stairs wasn’t gonna be easy or comfortable, so Hodari hung out in the tavern for a bit, hoping the others would go first so they wouldn’t see him struggle. Ashura, as always, saw right through him. “Need a hand?” “Just takin’ a moment ta think, ya should go, big hunt t’morrow right? Sifuu agreed and excused herself with a yawn, but their biggest friend wasn’t budging. “C’mon, now…” “Ashura, I’ll ‘b right up, good night ” Hodari stated sternly, and that should have been the end of that, but he just wouldn’t let it go. “No shame in accepting an offered hand” the barn wall of a man reasoned, hands up in a placating gesture. Gah, seriously, the three of them claiming he was the stubborn one was ridiculous. “ Drop it! ” he snapped, more harshly than he wanted to, frustrated and tired and in pain. Ashura’s concerned face hardened, uh oh, he wouldn’t actually, no, he was reaching out with both arms-
Getting up the stairs was a bit awkward with his struggling, protesting best friend over his shoulder, but Ashura managed to get the group’s ‘chef’ to bed. The room was still bare, he hadn’t taken much more than essentials for himself while he’d packed very nearly every item Najuma could possibly want or need. Her room was a cluttered jumble, his was a minimalistic workshop. “Gah! That hurt, dammit!” Hodari complained as he got dumped on the mattress. “Didn’t give me much choice. You’re gonna wake Juma”. The reminder limited his friend to silent cussing, rare for him. It really was bad, this time. “Should I try to, I dunno, elbow it or something?” “D’ya know how to?” “Figure it can’t get worse, at this point?” “Yeah, fair. Near th’middle, an’th’hip? No elbow tho, hands?” “Sure. I’ll try”. Finding the worst spots made Dari groan, hopefully rubbing made it better not worse. “Further, FUCK, up, agh, further up” “here?” a thumbs up, Hodari had pressed his face into a pillow to muffle himself. Something cracked, oops, had he pushed too hard? “Uh, you okay?” “hah, uh, yeah actually” he was gasping, but experimentally moved a bit, tried to sit up- “Agh, okay no, but better. Thanks”. “Move your legs? Just, uh, to go sure?” he wiggled just fine, and Ashura breathed a sigh of relief.
“Don’t think I can sleep. You?” “Same. Cards?” “If you don’t use th’tricks Zeki taught ya”. Not like Ashura needed to cheat to beat Hodari, the whole man was one big tell. His ears even rose up when he got good cards, and fell at bad ones! His playstyle was honest to a fault, he never hid cards, never pulled or put down two hidden as one. How come his daughter was such a menace to play against? Right, no, he knew the answer was probably Zeki. They used to be close after all, he probably hadn’t taught Ashura all the tricks needed to beat her. The girl could seemingly pull cards out of thin air, then have them vanish without a trace. Her father, though… “I’m done, what’s your hand -ah, you do know how the points-” “I know. Bad luck’s all”. Uh. It was a skills issue, Ashura was pretty sure of that, but sure. “Best of three?” became ‘best of ten’, at which point it was tempting to lose on purpose. They’d been playing on the mattress, and the lingering warmth from the day made the room cozy, so Ashura was starting to get sleepy. “Think we can catch a few hours after this round?” “All right, but b’ prepared, I’mma practice for th’next time”. That ached, because Ashura knew there would probably be no ‘next time’. Tomorrow felt final, but he would not be telling his best friend that. He had left a proper letter in his room, they would find it at some point. Losing by a smaller margin seemed to be enough for Hodari, his ears had lifted with his mouth in a small smile, turning into a yawn that Ashura joined. Creaking his way to his room at this hour might wake the ‘ladies’, so he just flopped onto the unused side of the double bed. His friend carefully got himself into a lying position, stiff movements, still in pain. “Night, Shuri” he still smiled, humor at the girly nickname Juma had given his friend clear in his voice. Ashura huffed a small laugh, but honestly, the name had grown on him. He’d had many nicknames throughout his career as an assassin, but never before had he had one so harmless. “‘Night, Dari”
Despite going to sleep at an ungodly hour, Ashura felt more rested than he had in probably years. Not a single nightmare had haunted his sleep, a mercy on his probably final night. Hodari was still (loudly) asleep, no need to wake him. Looking at the ex-miner, relaxed, unsuspecting of what was about to happen, hurt. He knew Dari wouldn’t accept this, the man acted all gruff but cared deeply about his friends. But if they could incapacitate the beast, or even -hopefully- finally slay the terror, the Pavels would stand a chance. They might even live through the apocalypse itself, with how determined Hodari was to keep the pantry filled, and that thought filled his friend with determination. Right, they weren’t going there to die, but rather to give their friends a future. Sifuu was already waiting outside, monster hunting halberd in hand, and they left in silence. Ashura considered looking back as they crested the hill, for a final look at his wife’s inn, but no. There would be no looking back, no stopping, no hesitating.
When she’d gone to fetch him in the morning, Ashura hadn’t been in his own room. Well, they were adults, she wasn’t judging him for having a last night of passion. Hopefully he’d explained things properly, he had asked her to leave it to him which suited her just fine. Sifuu had never been good at goodbyes. So he and Hodari, huh? She hadn’t noticed at all, they’d probably kept it secret for Juma’s sake. Hopefully he could make it back, NO, they both would! Definitely! She was the best monster hunter around, after all, and he was a reliable backup. She’d say they made a pretty good team, and maybe the traps would catch the beast by surprise? She had to admit, she doubted that would happen. The beast of the elderwood was clever, eerily so. Something about those bright eyes- no, no thinking about that. Monsters were not sentient, not truly. It did not respond to human speech. Just a beast, to be hunted. Yeah. She would finally be able to avenge Taylin. This was a good thing! Entering the bay, she could smell it on the breeze; decay, and the cloying sweet scent of lilies. It was near, barely north of them, already too close to the gates for comfort. Sneaking to the trapped area, she spread a trail of used clothing. Majiri were the only prey that thing cared for, the scent trail should lure it.
On Sifuu’s signal, Ashura equipped his trusty twin blades, they would be swords to some but in his hands they could at most be called short swords and he wielded them like daggers. Sifuu kept her other blades sheathed; the halberd was her specialty, and required both hands. At first, he couldn’t sense the beast. Then, something rumbled, a dark shape moved and he got to see their opponent for the first time. Sure, he had read the reports, seen the drawings. They did not do it justice. A maned ape, horned, terrifying. Ashura thought himself large for a majiri, yet this beast would still tower over two of him stacked. “Incoming” was all the warning he got, and only battle instinct and experience let him lift his blades in time to block the strike. It still threw him off balance. When had the monster even kicked off? Could it fly, no, seeing it lunge for Sifuu made it clear the creature was just intensely speedy. “Again” she yelled, he hadn’t seen it change targets but he didn’t doubt her call. Managing a counter took his full strength and concentration, and his blade slid off its fur, but it was enough to cause the monster to pause? It twisted, lightning fast, and for the briefest moment they locked eyes. Oh. So that was the difference between monster and animal, Ashura felt like he finally understood. Because no animal had ever met his eyes like that, and it truly creeped him out. It was almost intelli- no, none of that. Sifuu had briefed him, this was a clever one, but not to be reasoned with. A ruthless killer.
Ashura was doing well enough at distracting it, hopefully he remembered not to step into the traps they’d hidden. Sifuu expertly loaded her crossbow bracer, and fired a dispel arrow from an angle it shouldn’t be able to- crap! Spinning the halberd into place in the nick of time, she avoided getting skewered on its claws, and even managed to nick it at the throat! Nice! A deep growl rumbled, rattling her ribcage as she swatted away an attacking arm with a graceful half-circle of the halberd. A weapon she’d reforged just for this beast, moves tailor-made to counter its long limbs and speed. She was still outmatched, but preparation and a partner might weigh up for it- jumping aside in a low, sharp move (airtime was fatally slow in front of this monster) she bounced herself right back under its outstretched limb, thrusting up and using the ground itself to steady it. Finally, after all these years, a solid hit. Tearing the halberd back out with grim satisfaction, Sifuu ran ‘away’, hoping the monster might follow her in a rage. This trap wouldn’t trigger at her own weight, but the beast’s… shit, it realised, “Ashura, heads up!” and it was on him, snarling, swinging its deadly arms. Snaring the elderwood beast would be no easy feat. Again, Ashura proved the worth of his daily training, not matching the monstrous strength of his opponent but still staying upright as he was pushed back, giving her time to reload and try again.
Ashura was struggling. His arms hurt. Almost pushed backwards into a buried trap, he sidestepped- oh. Its eyes flickered to the unnatural choice of direction, and narrowed. Shit, it noticed. He was showing it where the traps were! He wasn’t ‘guarding successfully’, it was just pushing him around like a trap detector, mapping out the area. They were outmatched. Sifuu was about to fire again, oh, he looked! That’s how it had known, last time! Ashura pointedly put on his card game face, keeping the direction and stare steady even as the arrow came flying, and it hit! A roar, but it sounded strange, like a majiri screamed with it. The beast shrank a bit from the dispel, so it had used flow to appear larger? No, the hits had been solid. It had BEEN larger, Ashura did not really understand flow but that felt like it should be impossible. Well, it was a monster, best leave the thinking to the expert. Its feet twisted; “Sifuu!” it realised, and turned to spin a kick at the former assassin. He’d given away their system, but it would have found out either way. They were still doing better than expected. The huntress prepared her crossbow again, he noticed from the corner of his eye. More than one dispel, on the same beast? Well, he trusted her judgement. Distracting and confusing it as best he could was Ashura’s job, so he quickly threw a blade into the air. While its eyes involuntarily followed the weapon’s flashy spin, he drew a pouch from his belt and launched it. Auni had called them bug bombs, but Ashura had added a special ingredient; powdered heat root. Hopefully Hodari wouldn’t spend too much time searching for it in the kitchen, because he’d used the whole jar of it for this one shot. Hopefully it did something- the claws missed by a hair’s breadth as he spun away, catching his weapon mid-air and attempting to slice once more. It glanced off again, the fur must be hiding armored bone plates or a carapace of some sort. Its face looked a bit red, but its eyes were clear, no effect from the spice then. Was worth a shot. Sifuu had wounded it twice, she truly was spectacular at this.
Not looking to his partner on purpose, Ashura did not notice the arrow, so neither did the beast until it hit. That was definitely a scream under the growling noise, and it was Ashura’s size now, limbs more proportional. So this was its true form, then? It did move more naturally now, scarily fast but fighting it became manageable. He could use moves he’d learned for countering rogue-style soldiers and enemy assassins, and it no longer felt like it was controlling the flow of battle. They could win this!- lightning fast, claws changed direction on illogical joints, and grabbed not his blades but both his hands. Searing pain, the echo coating the monster’s claws burning his flesh. Ashura roared in pain, expecting the next hit to be to his head or chest, but a third dispel arrow hit and the beast shrunk once mor- oh. A majiri-shaped monster, coated in echo? It let go of his hands, but the pain persisted, like they were actively on fire. Too late, he realised it had shifted targets again, and as he looked up, Sifuu froze? No, it would get her if she didn’t guard, what was she doing? She spread her arms wide, as if to embrace the beast, and it charged right at her! “NO!!” he yelled ineffectually, knowing he wouldn’t get there in time but doing his best to dash faster as the monster’s arm went straight through Sifuu’s chest. She still embraced it, raised her fourth dispel arrow, and plunged it into the beast’s back. The echo slouched off, like it always did with the contaminated fish and wildlife as they died, the black sludge revealing a majiri woman. Now was not the time to question things. “Sifuu!” he cried, but she too was gone, tears falling from eyes that would no longer open. For some reason, her final face in death was a smile.