“What? But –”

“Leave. Damien would be annoyed if you die,” Henry said. Dark purple runes drew themselves in the air around him. “I can’t waste any attention keeping you alive.”

Sylph gave once last glance at the stone mantis before giving a jerky nod. She turned and sprinted away, fading into her camouflage and disappearing from sight as she went. Henry focused his full attention on the Corruption Seed before him.

The runes floating around him doubled in intensity. A brilliant orb of purple energy formed before Damien. The air seemed to shatter as a massive beam burst free from the orb and slammed into the mantis, sending it tumbling across the ground.

Stone chips cascaded off the creature’s body as it spun and dug its pointed feet into the ground, catching itself. It let out a hiss and blurred out of view, crossing the distance between them in an instant and bringing both of its claws down on Damien’s head.

Damien distorted, his body tearing and fading away like mist as the claws passed through it. Wisps of smoke spiraled out from where he’d been standing, landing a short distance behind the Corruption Seed and reforming into his body.

The eyes covering the field lit up with dull grey light and a barrage of needlelike attacks shot out from them, peppering against the mantis’ stone hide. It let out a hiss and spun back towards Damien.

Stone rippled across its body, filling the cracks and chips that the attacks had left in it. The Corruption Seed let out a chittering laugh. It dashed towards Damien again, lunging forward and turning into a blur of blades.

Damien’s face knitted in concentration as Henry desperately dodged and blocked the attacks with small disks of dark energy.

“Damn squishy mortal body,” Henry cursed. He dragged a hand down through the air, pulling it apart like taffy and leaving a trail of twinkling runes in his wake. A blade launched out from them, warping and twisting the air around it.

The monster darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. A large shudder shook the clearing as the blade hit the ground and detonated, pulling clumps of soil and grass free in a large area around it before shredding everything into a fine mist.

Darkness curled up from Damien’s feet and enveloped him in a cocoon moments before the mantis was upon him. It raked its great claws across the cocoon, but they sparked off and failed to penetrate it.

The mantis hissed and thrust its claws forward, putting all of its body weight behind the attack. Its blades punctured the cocoon and burst out of the back. The magic fell to ribbons, but there was nothing within it.

Damien rematerialized behind the mantis, wisps of smoke curling off his body. He thrust his hand into the air, runes crackling around him. A spike of darkness erupted from the ground beneath the mantis, but it shattered against the creature’s armor.

“Annoying bastard,” Henry cursed through Damien’s mouth. “If I had my full strength, you’d be dead already.”

The mantis let out a chitter that might have been a laugh, although it was hard to tell if the creature even understood Henry’s words. Acid bubbled across its skin, melting through the ground beneath it.

Green liquid trickled down its blades. It slashed out with one, sending a line of the acid flying at Damien. Henry flicked his hand and a wide Devour spell snapped open in front of him, blocking the attack.

Another dark portal opened behind the mantis. Its own attack sailed back out of the portal and hit it in the side, sizzling against the stone. The creature hissed and lunged towards Damien. Its claw seemed to segment and extend midair, growing to almost twice its original size.

One of the eyes littering the air around them imploded, transforming into a Gravity Sphere and detonating. The spell yanked the creature’s arm to the side, causing it to go wide. The shadows beneath the mantis surged up into its stomach, punching a short distance into the creature before it twisted and broke away from the spell.

Damien and the mantis circled each other. Henry detonated another one of the eyes, then thrust one of Damien’s hands forward. The mantis was pulled off its feet as a barrage of miniature Gravity Spheres hurled through the air and pattered into the creature.

They detonated with a series of sharp cracks, tearing stone apart and sending acid flying. The mantis hissed and thrust a claw into the ground. Henry wrapped Damien in a cloak of darkness mere instants before a blade erupted from the ground beneath them.

It deflected off the spell and vanished back below him. Henry ripped Ether from the environment around him with enough strength for the grass surrounding them to wilt. He had Damien’s body raise its hand and draw a complicated sigil in the air. At the same time, he detonated another one of the eyes between him and the mantis, forcing the creature to keep its distance.

A blade punched out of the ground behind Damien, but the shadows coiling around him deflected the strike. Damien finished the rune and Henry thrust his mental energy into it. The air shuddered and ripped apart, leaving a blank space in the air before him.

Wisps of dark energy curled out from the hole as a black handle slowly slid out from the hole. Henry had Damien grab it and pull it free, revealing a pitted axe. He hefted the weapon with a single hand and pointed it at the mantis.

The monster hissed, eyeing the axe warily. Tendrils emerged from the weapons hilt, twisting and curling in the air as if they were looking for something. Shadows wrapped around Damien and he charged forward, swinging the axe at the mantis’ side.

Metal rang on stone as the mantis raised a claw to block the attack. A tremor ran down Damien’s arm. The tendrils shot out and latched onto the monster’s arm, draining the color from it.

Henry was forced to make Damien’s body jump back as the mantis chopped at his head with its other claw. The tendrils lost their grip and released the mantis. Henry cursed. “I don’t know if I can beat this thing with Damien’s body.”

The mantis let out a chitter, as if it were realizing the exact same thing. Stone cascaded down from where the tendrils had latched onto it and new flesh surged up to take its place. Rock clinked as the monster rose up onto its back legs.

Dark lines formed across its body, splitting everything into segments. It slowly split apart, ropes of acid floating inbetween its floating body parts to keep them connected. Both of its arms had nearly doubled in length. The monster’s mouth came apart and it let out a screech.

It swung a claw at Damien. The segmented parts of the sharp weapon curled around behind him. He turned to smoke and the weapon passed through him. The boy rematerialized several feet away, but the blade twisted midair like a snake and thrust towards him.

The dirt beneath Damien’s feet surged upwards, forming a pillar before him. The mantis’ blade scraped against it, then shot around the side and continued towards him. Shadows surged up and knocked the strike to the side. It flicked back and retracted, returning to the Mantis as the segments reconnected with each other.

“Didn’t know that damn thing was so flexible,” Henry snarled. “Let’s see how you like this, then.”

The remaining floating eyes on the field lit up with dull purple light. Lines of energy shot out from them, attaching to the mantis and yanking it downwards. The creature hissed and lashed against the bindings.

Several of them snapped and tore, but Henry already had Damien moving. An eye detonated beside the monster, yanking the mantis’ head to the side. Damien dashed forward and leapt into the air, bringing the pitted axe down on the creature’s chest.

The blade bit deep into the stone. Damien tore it free and raised the weapon again, but Henry abandoned the attack and turned the boy into smoke moments before a claw pierced through his chest.

He relocated a short distance away and rematerialized. Henry pulled more Ether from the world around them, but he could feel Damien’s body growing less responsive. Even with Henry using the Ether, the boy’s body wasn’t strong enough to withstand the energy flow going through it.

Two blades rocketed through the air towards Damien, clicking as the segments extended to give the attack more reach. Henry quickly ran through the spells he could use without tearing Damien’s mortal body apart.

“Can’t risk void magic here,” Henry muttered. He traced a rune in the air with Damien’s finger. The boy’s body moved so fast that it was practically a blur. A burst of bright white light filled the plains as a shimmering wall appeared around him.

The blades slammed into the wall, sending cracks racing up it. The mantis retracted its arms, seeing that the strike had failed. Henry let the walls drop and thrust his hand forward.

Dark lines spiderwebbed through the air between them. Two tendrils rose out of the ground and wrapped around Damien’s feet. A loud crack split the air as the lines snapped taut, distorting the air.

The mantis was lifted off its feet as gravity suddenly turned sideways. Damien’s body lifted as well, but the tendrils kept him on the ground. The monster sailed towards him, spinning uncontrollably.

Henry raised the weapon and brought it down hard into the creature’s back, carving through its abdomen and taking a large chunk out of it. He immediately wreathed Damien in shadows and had the boy dash to the side.

A blade slammed into Damien’s side, carving deep into his armor. The boy’s mage armor turned dense at the last second before the strike hit his flesh. It sizzled against the blue cloth and rattled through the air, returning to the mantis.

“Come on,” Henry urged. “Just a little more. You can do it.”

The sweat pouring down Damien’s face and back spoke otherwise. If Damien had been in control of his body, he would have fainted long ago. The strain was starting to overcome even Henry’s control.

“Looks like there isn’t any time left,” Henry said. “If you ruin my first bit of fun in millennia, I swear on the void that I’ll purge you from this plane and piss on your grave.”

The Corruption Seed chattered and dashed forward, its legs clicking across the dirt. Floating eyes detonated as it charged, but the creature forced past them, ignoring the damage they did to its body.

Acid leaked from the large wound that Henry had carved into its side. Even with the Seed’s regenerative abilities, it couldn’t repair wounds of that caliber. Henry had Damien adjust his grip on the axe.

There would only be one more strike in this fight. Henry’s concentration doubled. The plains faded until the only thing in his sight was the charging mantis. Time slowed down as Henry’s senses kicked into overdrive, analyzing the situation faster than light could transmit into Damien’s eyes.

The creature raised both of its arms inch by ponderous inch. Henry had Damien rear back, hoisting the axe to take the mantis’ head off. The arms started to extend and Damien dashed forward. He narrowly dodged the closest arm as it extended, the stone passing inches away from his back as he twisted midair.

Damien swung the axe down at the mantis’ head. At the same time, the monster’s other arm shot up towards him. With Henry’s sped up perception of time, he could already see the outcome of his gamble. A scream of helpless rage tore out of Damien’s mouth.

Time slowed even further as Henry desperately tried to make Damien move faster. The monster’s segmented claw crept closer to the boy’s chest. It was to no avail. The mantis was faster than him, and Damien’s body couldn’t handle any more stress without breaking.

The air between Damien’s body and the blade rippled. Sylph slipped out of her camouflage, a churning blade of dark energy burning in her hands. She held it before her defensively and braced for the attack.

Time resumed. Damien’s axe swung down and crunched into the mantis’ head, carving deep into the rock. At the same time, Sylph’s sword shattered and the claw continued forwards, punching deep into her stomach and bursting out of her back.

A red flower bloomed on Sylph’s back. She crumpled to her knees, the claw still lodged within her. Acid dripped from the blade and sizzled against the ground as silence enveloped the clearing.

Henry stared at Sylph, for once at a complete loss for words. She looked over her shoulder at him, trying to form something on her lips. No sound came out.

“What were you thinking?” Henry asked her in a mix of anger, relief, and horror. He ripped the blade free of the mantis, which twitched slightly. The monster still wasn’t dead. The wound on its head leaked acid freely, and the fact that it wasn’t patching told Henry that it wasn’t long for this world.

A faint smile flickered across Sylph’s lips and she managed to slightly raise one shoulder in a shrug. The light in her eyes dimmed further as the life rushed out of her back and pooled on the ground beneath the girl.

Damien’s hands clenched. He grabbed Sylph and tried to teleport, but the magic sputtered and failed. Whisp’s block was stronger than the magic that Damien’s body could channel.

“Do you realize that Damien is going to kill me if you die?” Henry asked angrily, shaking Sylph slightly. She didn’t respond. Henry’s attention shifted to the dying Corruption Seed beside them.

Damien’s lips pressed thin. He reared back, a gauntlet of destructive energy forming around his hand, and plunged his arm into the mantis’ chest. The creature jerked weakly but didn’t have the strength to respond.

Henry had Damien trace a complex series of runes through the air with his other hand. Sylph was fading faster than he could have imagined.

“Why are humans so damn fragile?” Henry asked, his voice tense. Damien finished drawing the runes and Henry sent his Ether flooding into them, lighting the circle in the air with dark purple energy.

Predictably, Sylph didn’t respond. Her head fell forward and she slumped forwards, falling over Damien’s shoulder as the last of her energy faded. Henry quickly scanned the runes to ensure there wasn’t a single mistake within them. The runes moved down to form a spinning ring around Damien’s free hand.

Then, with a powerful strike, Damien drove his hand into the hole in Sylph’s chest. Her body spasmed as energy crackled, traveling up from the mantis and down Damien’s body before flooding into hers.