“Hm.”

“Hm? Hm?” Alyssa hissed, snatching the binoculars back from Irulon to find out the extent of the damage removing that mask might have caused.

So far, it didn’t look like too much had gone wrong. Both the demon’s hands were still clamped around the tip of the Justice’s sword. But every scrap of leather that had once bound her body had fallen away, turned to dust and ash that coated the molten ground surrounding her without actually being consumed. But the ash only entered into Alyssa’s subconscious as a side note.

The demon herself was far more shocking.

With her clothes and mask obscuring all skin save for a small patch around one eye, Alyssa had expected something roughly human beneath. In fact, when she had removed her mask at Owlcroft to give her bullshit speech about how much she loved life and wanted to save it all, Alyssa had seen a human mouth and chin and neck. It had hardly been notable.

But now, things were changing. A rippling motion moved underneath the demon’s skin. Muscles bulged and tightened, twisting her body into a far more bulky form. Horns grew from the sides of her head, jutting downward before curving straight up. Her smile melded into her face. The line between her lips and her teeth blurred until she had no lips… or maybe no skin at all, just sharp teeth that were part of the rest of her face. Where once her skin had been average for a human of an unclear ethnicity, an obsidian black gleam spread over her body, starting from her eyes. Red glow, deeper yet somehow brighter than the lava around her form, followed after the obsidian, making her look like a sculpture carved from fresh volcanic rock.

Her hands lengthened and sharpened in the same way that her grin had shifted into part of her face, twisting into sharp claws.

Claws sharp and strong enough to bite into the metal of the Justice’s sword.

“Sever Reality.”

Alyssa shot the princess a glare as a mirrored dome of fractal magic wrapped around the entire crater. A huge mirrored dome, several times larger than any Alyssa had seen so far. She hadn’t even thought a dome of this size was possible. It might have covered the entirety of Illuna. It was a theoretically impenetrable wall. At least Irulon claimed it to be so. The Astral Authority were beholden to most rules of reality as far as Alyssa could tell, so they might not be able to get inside or outside… without using their portals. The demon could teleport as well, but so long as neither side used their portals, the mirrored dome would contain damage such as that which had caused the crater…

But…

“We’ve screwed up.”

“Perhaps,” Irulon said, voice with a heavy tension in it. Fear. Fear that Alyssa hadn’t heard from her since she found out that her combining with the dragon might have had repercussions. Though it wasn’t quite the same kind of fear, it was around the same level. “The dome should buy us some time to figure out an alternate course of action. But… hm. I feel like I’ve seen this before.”

“You’ve seen the Justice?”

“Not the Justice. The dome with a bright light fighting against an obsidian black.” Black and white eyes tore away from the crater to meet Alyssa’s stare. Slowly, Irulon broke her gaze and shook her head. “Do you recall me saying that there was something I didn’t understand in the revelation that Tenebrael offered me? The pieces have fallen into place. This scene, something about this scene jolted my mind in just the right way. I believe Tenebrael foresaw this. Foresaw us here.”

“I’ll kill her,” Alyssa hissed through grit teeth. “I swear I’ll kill her. She could have said something to me.”

“Perhaps she knew that you would have avoided the situation.”

“Did she at least give you some hints that we can follow? Some clue to resolve the situation?”

Irulon puffed up her chest, smiling. “I don’t think so. She must have faith that we can deal with this on our own.”

Alyssa turned a harsh glare to the faith-struck princess. Irulon might believe such nonsense, but Alyssa knew better. Tenebrael was messing with them again. Maybe this was some experiment with the book. Maybe she did foresee the demon being freed and wanted to give Irulon hope so that they wouldn’t give up.

But Alyssa was keen to the angel’s tricks. Tenebrael didn’t know anything. She wasn’t omniscient.

“Alyssa…”

“Just sit still and… don’t do anything, please.” With this new information, Irulon might be compromised into acting strangely. She might think she was doing something to help Tenebrael, such as freeing the demon. That… hadn’t been intentional, right? Irulon had been trying to weaken or kill it. Nothing more. Irulon…

Would the princess betray her and throw her to the wolves—or demons—if Tenebrael asked it?

“The plan still holds true,” Irulon said, looking back down into the crater. “We just have to give the demon a fighting chance for a short time before we turn the tables.”

“Turn the tables? Turn the tables!” Alyssa thrust a finger toward where the formerly pinned demon was visibly lifting the sword off her. “I would have thought weakening her would have been tough before. What are we supposed to do about that!”

Irulon, without a hint of nervousness, simply looked back down to the crater. “I’m sure a solution will present itself. Tenebrael would not have put us… or perhaps just you in a hopeless situation.”

“The hell she wouldn’t!”

“Have faith.”

“Faith? You— Ugh.” Alyssa eyed the faith-blind princess, wondering how she might get Irulon back to her senses… or if she should just Fractal Lock her now and leave her in the corner of the dome to sit until she could do something to fix the situation.

Alyssa didn’t want to believe that her friend would betray her for a stupid angel, but it didn’t necessarily take betraying her to do something stupid.

A small earthquake took Alyssa’s attention off the princess.

The true demon managed to lift the blade up enough to roll out from under it. The sword was partially embedded in the lava and the demon was back on her feet.

Even with the Justice’s hand reaching for her, she still took a moment to look directly at Alyssa. As with almost every other time they had come into contact, the demon waved a jaunty little flick of her wrist. The Justice’s hand moved fast enough that Alyssa could feel the air pressure change, first increasing with a bit of wind before thinning out as it all rushed back down into the arm’s wake.

But the demon’s wave turned into a backflip, sending her right over the top of the hand. She brought her scythe around in that same movement, angling the chipped tip perfectly to drag a deep wound from the Justice’s wrist clear to its elbow.

“How long?” Alyssa asked without taking her eyes off the fight below, ready to Fractal Lock everyone at the first sign of the Justice’s sword swinging around. “How long can we even survive in this dome with these two?”

“Hard to say. If it swings that sword…”

Catal had hardly moved—his former bravado apparently forgotten, or perhaps he hadn’t actually believed Alyssa about the size of the Justice in the first place—not even reacting to Alyssa fighting with Irulon.

Fela was down on all fours, tail whipping back and fourth. A low growl had been coming from her throat for a while now. Every so often, she looked back over her shoulder, looking directly to Alyssa as if wondering if there was some direction coming.

Unfortunately, she would be waiting a while longer. Barring a swarm of infected appearing inside the dome, Alyssa did not want Fela engaging in combat. Not with the true demon or the Justice.

The same went for Izsha and Musca—the latter of whom as growling almost as loud as Fela.

Of everyone present, Izsha was the most steady. Not frozen in fear as Catal appeared to be. No, Izsha was still moving, but the movements weren’t those of a frightened person cowed by what was in front of them. Izsha was fluid and ready to move as soon as it became necessary.

The air pressure changed again, pulling half a breath straight out of Alyssa’s lungs.

“Split Reality.”

A shard of fractal glass struck the trunk of a tree as it careened through the air. The wood quickly began disintegrating until nothing more than a snowfall of sawdust fell to the ground. It piled up a few feet out, well away from any of their group, but the trunk probably would have kept going had it remained intact.

Irulon didn’t say anything, though she did glance toward Alyssa with one eyebrow slightly arched.

“Can we leave this bubble? They can fight it out without us here as long as they want if it isn’t going to affect the outside world.”

Irulon shook her head. “Not as far as I know. Even Message spells don’t tend to penetrate the barrier. The spell was designed to use the casting point as its epicenter. The size and shape can be changed, but we can only retreat as far as the mirrored wall. It should be some distance behind us, given how large this particular instance of the spell is. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure it would work, but that thing is large enough that I had to try.”

“Izsha, Musca, Fela, we’re moving,” Alyssa said before Irulon had even finished speaking. “Fall back as far as we are able.” Instant action was what was required at the moment, not hesitation and gaping at the monstrous fight before them. Instant action required goals. Her first goal was to keep all of them alive. They were in the most immediate danger and needed to act quickly to protect themselves. If the Justice swung that sword while they were this close, they might as well shoot themselves now and get it over with.

Thankfully, none of the mentioned individuals argued. Musca seemed perfectly happy to turn around and start running. Izsha put on a burst of speed, just about flinging Catal from the saddle. Only a quick arm around Alyssa’s waist kept him in place.

Beyond their own personal safety, they needed to protect the people outside the bubble. Illuna was still a ways away, but that could change in an instant if the demon and Justice were allowed to move freely. Alyssa was tempted to tell Irulon to take the spell down and put it back up with only her in the center, but…

Alyssa wouldn’t abandon her friend to the Justice and the demon. Regardless of whether or not the normally intelligent princess was acting in a less intelligent manner because of her faith.

As long as the demon and the Justice were going to stay in their own section of the bubble, the situation wouldn’t get all that bad.

“Behind us,” Kasita whispered, forming herself into existence between Alyssa and Izsha’s neck, clinging to Alyssa’s shoulders.

Alyssa threw her head back to find the Justice’s sword up in the air. Not high overhead like it was going to unleash an overhead strike, but more like it was going to slash horizontally. Standing at its full height, the trees did little to hide it.

“Down!” Alyssa shouted. “Everyone, flat against the ground!” Fractal Locks were on the edge of her mind, but…

The Justice wasn’t targeting them.

It was waiting, posed with its sword ready to attack as the true demon launched herself at its face.

Izsha slid in the loose dirt, skidding to a stop. Musca wasn’t quite as fast in stopping, continuing ahead for several feet. Alyssa sprung from Izsha’s back, hitting the ground with one foot, managing to hop and keep her balance.

Catal wasn’t so lucky. The man let out a shout as he slid through the mud and brush.

Some kind of training must have kicked in for Irulon. Perhaps she had practiced emergency draken dismounts before, perhaps the dragon was helping her decide exactly how to move. Either way, she didn’t waste any time in dismounting from Musca. She landed with far more grace than Alyssa or Catal had. As she dove for cover, Izsha, Musca, and Fela all slid up against the ground. It was an awkward move for the draken given that their bodies weren’t really designed for duck and cover exercises. They wound up mostly lying on their sides.

Alyssa moved to crouch between them and the Justice. Projectile Reflection would keep debris away…

The sword flashed with blinding white light. In an instant, far faster than should have been possible, it was on the opposite side of the bubble.

For an instant, everything under the dome went utterly silent.

Dirt, trees, and rock exploded into the air, blotting out the view of the battle. They hung in the air, reaching the apex of their arc. All at once, with a rush of wind and thunder, the sky started falling.

The Projectile Reflection, Alyssa quickly realized, would not cover everyone behind her from that.

“Irulon,” she shouted. “Have you got something for that?” Alyssa had an Annihilator, but with the dome in place, she might just cook them all alive. Assuming it didn’t reflect off the mirrored surface.

Despite the tricky slight of hand that she used to pull cards out, Irulon did need to pull out the cards from her tome.

Irulon brushed off her dragon hide armor as she stood up. A motion that transitioned seamlessly into pulling up the book.

The first bits of debris started pelting the ground in the distance, the dirt and pieces of wood that hadn’t gone quite so high in the dome. Alyssa saw more than a few bounce away from her. Izsha and Musca wouldn’t be bothered by such small pieces and Fela and Catal were in nearly identical poses with their arms over their heads and necks, but the larger debris was rapidly approaching.

“I wonder…” Irulon said softly. “Reality Sliver.”

A dome, much smaller than the one overhead, formed up, wrapping around their small group.

Darkness fell around them. Not complete darkness. The ten foot area they had was lit as if the moon was high overhead. But the bright golden light emanating from the Justice completely vanished. Along with the light, the falling bits of earth, rock, and tree had disappeared as well.

Even with them out of sight, Alyssa kept tense. Something might still break through.

But Irulon didn’t seem concerned in the slightest. Letting the tome dangle at her hip, she continued brushing herself off. “Nested slivers,” she said in apparent amusement, seemingly to herself. “Huh. Wouldn’t have thought… I think we should be safe in here for a time… unless doing this has released the outer sliver. We should probably check that sooner rather than later.”

Alyssa felt a flash of irritation well up. It was just something about the princess’ tone. The mild amusement mixed with discovery at discovering some new thing bothered her. Or perhaps it was her earlier thoughts about Irulon’s possible betrayal—a complete fantasy generated in her own mind with no real evidence in reality—that made her clench her fists. “How are we going to contain, kill, or otherwise injure the true demon now?” she asked, trying not to grit her teeth as she spoke.

“I know you’re upset.”

“A little,” Alyssa said after taking a deep breath. It wasn’t actually Irulon that Alyssa was upset with. It was a certain angel. Tenebrael knew of Irulon’s devotion toward her. If she planted ideas in Irulon’s mind, toyed with her, or otherwise tried to get her to act in a way that Irulon wouldn’t normally act in…

Irulon pressed her lips together, closing her eyes.

“Tenebrael is…” Alyssa had mostly ignored Irulon’s idolization of Tenebrael. It had been mildly annoying, but ultimately harmless. But now… Alyssa really felt like the princess needed some disillusionment. Now probably wasn’t the time.

But something had to be done. The biggest question was just what. Just saying that Tenebrael wasn’t what Irulon thought she was wouldn’t likely do anything. Irulon already knew that Alyssa was less than thrilled with the stupid angel.

If only she had a recording of Tenebrael from the festival in Teneville. Her comments about her own high priest, her dismissive reaction immediately after taking the souls, practically any moment she had been there except for the actual soul collection part would surely have been damning. In fact, most any conversation with Tenebrael eventually revealed something unpleasant. The real question was whether or not Irulon would agree with that unpleasantness. Alyssa could easily see her making excuses or outright ignoring some things.

But… Alyssa didn’t have any proof or evidence of Tenebrael’s lack of worthiness at the moment. Just her own word.

“We’re going to take the demon down,” Alyssa said, no conviction in her voice despite her best attempt. “Somehow, some way, we’re going to take it down.”

Irulon, still with her eyes closed, simply sighed. Reaching down to her hip, she grasped the chain of her tome. Alyssa just about Fractal Locked her then and there, but hesitated just long enough to watch her unhook the chains and pull the tome free. With both hands, Irulon held it out, offering it to Alyssa.

“What am I supposed to do with that?”

“All my spells. All save for a dozen Fractal Locks and two more Reality Slivers. Just in case. I was thinking about it, considering how your use of magic might trump my own. What if you had cast the Split Reality spell at the demon? Would it have done more damage? Could it have hurt the demon itself? So I thought you might best be the one to put these spells to use.”

“I don’t even know what spells you’ve got in there.”

“You mentioned accidentally turning an older woman into fine red mist the last time you got your hands on it. You didn’t know what was inside then, did you?”

“That was an incredibly different situation. She was an old woman. Not a true demon in its true form.”

“Point still stands.”

Alyssa grabbed the tome, perhaps a bit rougher than she should have, and stared down at the unadorned leather cover without opening the book. Could she just point it at the demon and end this immediately? It could be worth a shot.

But she felt like they needed a backup plan, just in case.