Edusa and her people have set foot to the ground and are climbing the hill on foot, which gives us some time but not much. I wasn’t wrong to gamble the first time but I can’t rely on her as she obviously has her own issues to deal with.

Just as I approach Cetyz, who slid a third of the way down from the top, I catch sight of a mass of flow moving towards her back from the east. I swear and accelerate, throwing most of my energy into my internal constructs while using the rest to make dozens of lion’s steps.

I experience a burst of energy that washes away some of my exhaustion as my nourishing, healing, and strengthening construct quadruple in power. I lion’s step in Cetyz’ hearing range, taking advantage of a lull in her flow battle with the titled Nobles to call out to her.

“Behind you!” I yell.

“Know, human prepare long.” She replies in a shaky voice, slapping away a volley of arrows with her shield of ice. “I wait you, now go.”

“You seem a bit stuck.” I respond automatically, throwing a glance at her legs which are buried up to the ankle into the ground.

“Fact no opportunity run, not mean I not wait.” She quips in her resounding voice.

I chuckle, reassured that she’s in a mood to joke. My good mood doesn’t last very long as the massive mass of flow looks too much like the shredding clouds Duke Meria made use of.

The Nobles uphill are spread out all over the hilltop, which was plowed by Cetyz’ quake constructs. There are still thousands of soldiers around but they’re scattered, helping the hundreds of injured keep their distances with the Princess.

No, they’re evacuating the area, abandoning the shattered fortifications. That doesn’t bode well. The Nobles are further back than I remember as well. Cetyz’ lightning sphere strikes down a series of explosive fireballs that peters out in the sky.

“Plan?” She asks me tensely.

“Do you feel like you could block that mass of flow?” I ask.

“N, no.” She replies, moving her thick ice shield to block a dozen air-needles. “Not know what, no time.”

All these attacks are easy to block but there are so many that it doesn’t seem like she can focus on much else. I bend my knees and lean down, preparing to sprint to the Nobles, aiming to distract them long enough for Cetyz and I to break through. I depart in a burst of speed.

“You mad, they…” Cetyz exclaims but the rest of her sentence is lost in a loud froosh as three fireballs impact her ice shield, melting a few centimeters off.

I kick the ground, leaping over a large fissure. An air-blade flies at me but I swing my double-bladed staff at its flat side while twisting my trunk, using it as a stepping stone in mid-air.

A bright white flash close-by informs me that Cetyz blocked another construct aimed at me. The Nobles are starting to realize that they can’t handle the two of us and that the soldiers near them aren’t exactly in shape to intervene, the ones closest to me leap back, a hint of fear on their faces.

I throw a glance downhill, finding archers trying to aim at me but most have trouble getting a clear shot with Edusa’s group in-between. The Nobles start edging north and south in their retreat.

I can hear waves crashing not very far in the distance so it’s likely they’re trying not to end up pinned between me and the shore while also evading whatever construct is headed this way.

A dozen air-blades, five fireballs, and a good forty air-needles flash out at me. I grind to a stop, boots scraping on the ground just as Cetyz’ lightning sphere releases an equivalent number of lightning bolts at the attacks.

Most are shattered but many of the air-needles make it through, too small and fast to be struck down. I hurriedly leap backward, avoiding the majority but not all. My symbiont flashes out, striking two more down. I shift my head aside, dodging another.

I bend my left knee at the last second, destroying my balance but making sure it doesn’t stab into it. I feel a vivid explosion of pain instead of the sharp but minor scratch I expected. I detect that the needle burst as soon as it touched skin, scraping some of my flesh off.

I redirect my healing construct to make that a priority along with my heart and start running uphill along a rift in the ground that tore the fortification apart. Cetyz bursts out in a parallel course to mine.

A moment after she does, her lightning construct discharges all its remaining energy towards the Nobles, forcing them to defend themselves while her ice shield breaks up into shards which fly out at them as well.

I hear yells to my right and throw a look. There is large wave of water rolling towards the hill coming from the sea. It must be truly huge to rise as high as we are, yet there is no sign of flow being used to control it.

It must have only been initiated with a construct which means it’s out of control now. The wave rolls makes it seem like it’s moving deceptively slowly but I can tell that it’ll land on top of us if we don’t hurry. This is going to be disastrous.

Not that the danger from the west is more of an issue than the huge construct coming from the east. Hopefully, Celyz has a plan. I lion’s step over the rift in the ground, pass through the breach in the fortification, and land on the other side.

In the large valley bellow, there are a couple thousand Templars fighting half that number in harvesters. Both sides are easily recognizable by the glow of flow surrounding each fighter, making it seem like a golden diamond is piercing through a black wave.

The harvesters are trying to collapse onto the Templars and surround them while moving in our direction but the Order is being supported by the ballistas on top of every hill, constantly bombarding the edge of Rykz’ lines.

There is no sign of any other Rykz in sight, no warriors or scouts. I can tell that there are Princesses present from the way every construct targeting the core of the harvester’s ranks is shot down or smothered by a diffuse cloud of flow which seems to be what the Rykz used to counter the Due that the Duke controlled in Meria.

For all I know, there could be a Princess within the harvesters’ ranks. A small construct suddenly rises up towards the large construct coming from the east. It merges with the large mass of energy which suddenly changes direction, accelerating towards the Templars to the south-west of the construct.

The Order suddenly turns to the north-west, pushing through the thick harvesters’ ranks to head to the coast, to the wave which is about to crash down on the hill, and also us.

Rumble. I stumble downhill as the ground starts shaking, angling closer to Cetyz while worrying about what more could be happening. The Templars who lost their mounts and were left behind when the rest changed direction are retreating north, running in full plate.

“Cetyz, we go to the harvesters! Slip through the cavalry and those on foot!” I yell out.

“That make us pass under construct!” She replies.

“I think the Templars are disengaging to deal with the damn tsunami, the flow is following them!” I tell her.

The ground suddenly stops shaking and collapses on either side of the harvesters, forcing the Templars to angle their course further north towards us. Shit, not a choice anymore.

“It’s either that or running into two thousand Templars!” I tell her, heading south-east.

A tide of warriors rushes out of the ground on either side of the harvesters, forming ranks on their flanks. The Rykz army grows so numerous that they encompass my entire field of vision, and I can see up to two hills to the east.

A thousand warriors pursue the Templar cavalry, a token number that seems to be aimed at preventing them from turning around more than anything else. I throw a glance over my shoulder, just to make sure there isn’t any other threat.

I find that there are thousands of peasants holding the valley to the north of us, their lines are disorganized and their morale seems low, likely shaken by the quake and the battles occurring in front of them and to the west.

I also spot Edusa who apparently stopped screwing around and is now sprinting in our direction with her hundred companions, they actually gained ground because the Nobles slowed us down and we changed course.

“Smell cavalry, east, north.” Cetyz warns.

I look past the peasants, finding that there is indeed a regiment of cavalry engaging inside the valley, they came from the north. To the east is another one who already emerged from between two other hills, they were likely sent to reinforce or take over for the Templars.

Cetyz expels a large amount black unstructured flow and spreads it around us just as the mass of golden energy flies over us without stopping or slowing down as it heads straight for the Order. I breathe a sigh of relief as Cetyz pulls her flow back.

I notice a flicker from the corner of my eye. The energy covering the harvesters rose by a small amount just as the mass of human flow approached us, it receded when it flew past us. There are definitely Princesses hidden in their ranks.

Cetyz and I slow down to let pass the mounted Templars to our left and those on foot to our right. The Order seems to have no time to spare for us are they all stare at the gigantic wave, working together to create a water shaping construct with the energy they just received.

The fact that what they’re doing is aimed mostly at protecting the peasantry in the valley and the mercenaries makes me feel so much guiltier about what occurred in Meiridin with Vikiana.

Although that amount of water would undoubtedly put them at risk as well since it would have crashed into them long before reaching the Rykz who, I only now realize, won’t be too affected by a flood since the water will fall into the two large tunnels they dug at the bottom of the valley.

The ballistas, which are firing at an ever increasing number of warriors, are now entirely insufficient to replace the Templars and block the Rykz’ advance who have already sent a few thousand warriors east to counter the wing of cavalry before it can move onto clear ground.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

The breathing cry echoes throughout they valleys as tens of thousands of scouts appear atop the southern hills, their black shapes clearly visible under the sun from east to west as far as I can see, they likely extend much further.

“Rhhyyy!” Cetyz replies joyfully.

My symbiont grows a bit higher in spirits, or rather less bloodthirsty, but neither it nor I forget to keep a watchful eye on our surroundings. A good thing, as the Little one detects an attack and forces Cetyz to abruptly slow down by extending the staff in front of her.

A ballista bolt hits the ground a few meters in front of her, entirely disappearing into the soil. The two of us assemble lightning construct and prepare to defend ourselves.

“We’ve ventured into the range of the siege weapons, we need to hold and wait for the harvesters!” I tell Cetyz, slowing down and looking for cover.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

Unfortunately, the quake construct didn’t reach all the way here so there aren’t any rifts in the terrain, and we’re likely too far east even if it did. I throw a glance over my shoulder and swear, remembering that Edusa might be the closest but she isn’t alone in chasing us, there are also few hundred riders headed straight for us from the valley.

“Scratch that! Can you make an ice shield?” I ask.

“Not much sunlight, need use much heal, run!” Cetyz replies.

“Well, now’s the time to use what you have to spare!” I exclaim as another ballista fires at us.

The projectile skewers the Princess’ through the left side of her waist, to then disappear into the ground as well. I swear as Cetyz stumbles and almost falls down but she recovers her balance as I hurry to her side.

She waves me away with a tendril, already shaping a construct and ignoring the viscous brown blood flowing out of her wound. I dismantle all my constructs to assemble an air-shield around her, unable to trust myself to have the reflexes to strike the ballista bolts down with a lightning construct even though it would be more efficient.

A single projectile impacts it and almost shatters it, the second finishes the job but is thankfully deviated enough that it doesn’t hit the Princess. I hear the sound of crashing water to the west as the Templars likely intercept the huge wave.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

The Princess manages to pull water out of the ground and freeze it in a half-sphere around our backs before another ballista fires at us. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Four thin but very intense lightning bolts flash out from the harvesters’ ranks, striking different points on the closest eastern hilltop.

“We’re clear, let’s go!” I yell.

As Celyz shatters her ice shield in several pieces to cover our backs as we make our escape, I notice that the footed Templars are moving to intercept the group of warriors that moved to intercept the regiment of cavalry trying to intercept us from the east.

“This is a clusterfuck.” I groan, slowing down to match Cetyz’ pace.

The harvesters are trotting towards us as fast as these massive creatures can but they still have some ground to cover to reach us even though we’re almost downhill. Her ice shields are quite useful but thankfully, the majority of the constructs and projectiles aimed at us are being intercepted by lightning bolts.

I throw another glance over my shoulder, finding that Edusa’ people have cut the path of the regiment of cavalry to the south but that she’s literally on our tail and will catch up before we reach the Rykz.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

The good news is that her presence is apparently protecting us as fewer and fewer constructs fly in our direction while more are directed towards the advancing harvesters.

I bring my double-bladed staff around and slow down once more, deciding it’ll be easier for Cetyz to protect only herself and that it would be best to slow Edusa down in case she has ulterior motives. I slip past the ice shields.

“You, injured?” Cetyz calls out, stopping.

“No, keep going, I’ll be right there!” I exclaim.

“I not leave you.” Cetyz denies, turning around to face Edusa. Fuck.

“Don’t attack, she might be helping.” I whisper urgently.

“Madness?” She asks.

“No, she could have stopped us several times, she has helped, I’m just not sure if she will openly.” I reply.

I move in front of the Princess while she arranges her ice shields to cover us. Edusa stops a handful of meters away. Flanking her are two faces I recognize as part of Leomi’s faction, Henry and Margaret. They have spiked maces in hand but aren’t holding them in a threatening manner… yet.

“Glad, you, stopped, Elizabeth.” Henry comments, out of breath but with a smile.

“I thought it was a good time to have a picnic.” I reply humorously, glancing to the west.

The Order managed to stop the wave and sent it back at sea, likely costing them much more energy than the Rykz expended setting that tsunami motion since there isn’t anything left of the massive cloud of flow.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

“Where did you find a liangi?” Henry asks. I sense that he’s looking at my double-bladed staff.

“Picked it up in the institute.” I shrug. “Might’ve been the weapon of a Lisilese I fought.”

“Must’ve been one heck of a battle, only their elites use these.” He comments.

“It was a bit too cold for him.” I shake my head.

To the east, the hundred or two Templars on foot have arrested the warrior’s advance but aren’t numerous enough to prevent their lines from spilling over and blocking the regiment of cavalry from closing in on us.

There are also squads of warriors to either side of us that have overtaken the harvesters in speed and are converging on our position. We can wait here, safe from ranged attacks for the minutes it’ll take the Rykz to reach us.

“Is this the one that killed Aline?” Edusa asks, breaking the mood with an ice-cold tone.

“I…” I hesitate, realizing that she’s talking about a sister of hers, likely the one who died when Cetyz sank the barnacled ship. “I’m sorry.”

“We weren’t close, and she wasn’t a good person, but she didn’t deserve to die.” Edusa utters, voice breaking slightly.

“I, kill, Suxkhen.” Cetyz replies with difficulty.

“The Director? She died in the institute.” Edusa frowns.

“I’m sorry but that’s not true.” I deny. “Some Shades got her out of the building, I couldn’t stop them.”

“Shades, mother spoke of them.” Edusa utters with steel in her voice.

“Are you going to let us…” I start.

“No.” Margaret interrupts. “The Duchess aims to end the war, here and now.”

“Duchess?” I ask, surprised.

Edusa doesn’t respond, she closes her eyes. I think for a moment that she’s grieving but a small construct float out of her palm. Cetyz follows it with her ovaloid head as it rises up in the air to burst in sparks.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

I would have definitely missed this from a distance but one of the Princesses definitely noticed as the harvesters slow down. I glance over my shoulder, using my sense to make sure that Edusa’s soldiers aren’t moving any closer or assembling constructs.

The harvesters split to allow Celyz and Fenyz to walk out, both of them wearing Vuskyt breastplates but only the latter has armed her tendrils with spearheads. My eyes glaze over them, finding a silhouette I could never forget.

Trailing a single step behind her is my Lady. She looks in good health, her straight black hair are combed to perfection and her light gray eyes as full of strength as ever. I barely feel myself turning around to face her, it’s like a reflex.

She is wearing a white and blue uniform, has a long sword at her waist and a poleaxe attached to her back except it also has a very short sword attached to it, allowing both slashing and stabbing. She looks ravaging. She looks like she’s about to ravage me, and not in the nice way.

Rh-hyyyyy, kszz.

The breathing cry breaks the moment as they almost all speak at once. I barely even notice the veil of black flow that closes over our heads. I only realize that the harvesters are splitting into squads to quickly form a safety perimeter because my symbiont urges me to join them to protect our loved ones.

“Where is Jessica?!” Leomi demands, stomping towards me with fury taking over her sharp traits.

“Cetyz!” Celyz exclaims, running to her sister.

“Call back your troops, Fenyz!” Edusa commands.

“Sister!” Cetyz exclaims, turning around.