The Warrior did nothing.

Han warily studied the hammer. Now that he got another second to observe it, he could appreciate the beautiful craftsmanship. The handle was a few meters long with the huge metal slab that was its head on one side and a small dense elidium counterweight on the other side, all expertly bound.

The Warrior was wearing full armor and leisurely studied him from under her helmet. Why was she taking her time? More reinforcements? Recovering energy?

Han had reason to delay- their attack team would have been on alert because they had been gone so long, and Seklei'tre would definitely have sensed such a powerful Omega. The Warrior would have been told the obvious when called- that he was just a scout. She, and the soldiers who were uncomfortable milling around, would not win against the attacking team, Han thought as he eyed his calm opponent.

Han knew that one blow from that hammer, and he was dead. He hadn't worn armor because he was scouting. Of course, he had armor along with a few weapons inside his dimension. But the Warrior wouldn't give time for him to wear his armor- she wouldn't be that stupid. She shouldn't be. But there she was, standing and doing nothing else. Besides, doing that would give away the biggest surprise he could use. Han eyed the hammer again, maybe armor would be useless anyway.

The Gazaarian soldiers seemed just as confused as he was, and Han felt something he never knew he could feel seconds away from possible death- awkwardness.

How could he win a fight against her? No, that was the wrong way to think of this- he could not win. His goal had to be more realistic. How could he survive a fight? That hammer looked expensive and unique, Han thought, and an idea formed in his mind. In any case, giving space for her to swing would be suicide.

His aunt's voice whispered in his mind- Undecisive warriors die quickly.

He pointed to somewhere behind the Warrior and the soldiers behind her and shouted, "What's that?"

All of them, including the Warrior, stupidly turned around to see what he had pointed at. Gods, Han hadn't thought that would work. He turned around too and ran back inside. He dimly heard shouting from the Gazaarians when he realized he hadn't seen Captain Asa anywhere. The man had probably already sneaked away using Han's distraction.

Han quickly revised his knowledge about the Warrior. She was very skilled in strengthening her arms and legs, which allowed her to be strong and quick. Very strong and very quick. Han had one strike in his sword to defend against a blow from the Warrior. Then he could only try and avoid the blows, and he wouldn't be able to keep that up.

Han heard a sound and turned around another corner, just in time. He ducked and felt the hammer move above him. The Warrior's feet smashed into the wall just behind him. Her body was parallel to the ground, skillfully compressing against the bricks. Unfortunately for her, the wall was old, and she collapsed into a pile of rubble.

Han didn't run, though. She could push herself against the wall and fly through the long corridor in a few seconds, he would be hit in the back and dead before he knew it. So he pivoted and attacked the Warrior, who had just gotten up.

The Warrior didn't even seem hurt from a wall falling on her. He lunged towards her to test her defenses. She didn't bother trying to block his attack and used the moment to change her footing. So she was confident about her armor. Unfortunately, Han couldn't take the risk of using his one powerful strike against her armor.

The key would be to not give her enough room to attack him. He ignored his instincts telling him to move as far away from the Warrior as possible. She was already at a disadvantage in these narrow corridors, only able to use her hammer at full length by also destroying a bit of the wall on either side with the blow.

The Warrior suddenly pushed forward, moving at blinding speed. Her hammer was longer than the distance between them, but she used her arms instead. Her punch could kill her, and Han instinctively summoned his shield. The force of the impact threw Han in the air. He landed shoddily but didn't fall by holding himself using a groove in the wall. He straightened himself and adjusted his footing while his subconscious noticed two things.

His shield had a big dent. He put it back in the dimension because mobility and maneuverability would be his biggest strength here. The other thing was the Warrior's wary face as she started her blow- the hammer inexorably came towards him. He had given up his biggest surprise- his pocket dimension away, and now his opponent was being more careful. He was also now far from her, and she had space to swing her hammer.

Han had started moving towards her, but he wouldn't be quick enough to avoid the hammer. He had only one way to stop it, and his arms moved automatically. Left foot ahead and right arm holding the sword to the right. The thin sword met the hammer, and the hammer stopped cold in its path even as the last bit of blue vanished from Omegabane.

The Warrior looked surprised, and Han's momentum carried him forward. His left foot was stable, and his right foot lifted and kicked the Warrior as hard as he could. She was surprisingly light. She fell back, and even as she did, she pushed against the ground to get away from a follow-up attack from Han. She had, however, let go of the hammer, which fell on the ground with a thud. Han didn't press his advantage. Instead, he sent his now powerless sword back in, and then kneeled and touched the hammer. It passed into his dimension with some difficulty- that was close to the largest object he could fit.

Han stood and turned to his opponent who had also just stood up.

"Shit, that was close," the Warrior said, studying him. "You have a few surprises in you. Let's end this."

Han didn't like the sound of that.

"If I die, your hammer will disappear forever."

The Warrior grinned with malice from under her helmet and said, "Many ways to hurt someone without killing, and I know most of them."

Han didn't like the sound of that, either. Before he could invent a good lie to make her stop completely- he could tell her that he could destroy the hammer on will- she blurred into motion.

She pushed herself against the wall and came on him with lightning speed. He summoned the last weapon he hadn't used today- a spear. He pointed it towards her, knowing she would have to stop to avoid getting impaled. Instead, she just opened her palm towards the tip of the spear.

The tip didn't wound her. Instead, she crushed the spear as if it were straw and kicked Han. Han flew through the air, pain soaring from his stomach where he had been kicked. His eyes barely noticed the Warrior following through immediately, moving towards him even as fell. But he had known that he would lose- she was an Omega, and he only had tricks. He would lose. But he had her hammer, and so she wouldn't kill her. Or so was his reasoning- he could only hope.

Han realized only after a moment that he should have fallen on the ground by now. Wait, he was falling too slowly, he met the ground with a soft thud a moment later.

"Han, get up and run," Amaar said behind him.

Han was still in too much pain to argue against that. He tried to get up but couldn't find the energy. "Not able to.." he stuttered.

There was screaming from outside.

"Shit," the Warrior said, "Let's finish this quick, warlock"

She pushed towards Amaar and flew in the air blindingly quick, but a second later, she was pushed toward the wall as if an invisible force struck her.

A moment later, Han's pain subsided. Seklei'tre walked in through a hole in the wall. The Strian was an arcane druid. She was gray-skinned, tall and slim, with sharp features, and could manipulate the Flow like all druids. Druids didn't use their power, so they had many limitations, but they were good at what they could do- like healing, sensing Omegas, and moving the wind.

"Run, Han," Amaar said. "You'll be a liability."

Han nodded and got up, while Amaar increased gravity near the Warrior, who fell but got back up with a little effort.

Han noticed Seklei'tre moving her hand around as he exited the fort through the same hole she had used to enter. There were around twenty Amonian soldiers outside moving towards him.

They raised their weapons before recognizing him.

"We are to ambush them from behind," one of the soldiers told him.

"Don't enter through there," Han told them, "Omegas are-"

A movement in the air caught his attention.

"Shields," Han shouted as he summoned his own.

Most of them were too late. Blue bolts scythed through them from the back. One of the bolts hit Han’s already dented shield and Han fell, and the shield fell out of his hand. A dark-skinned short woman gently landed in the middle of the dead soldiers. She was dressed in yellow and red and radiated power that even Han could feel.

The Omega looked at Han and raised her hand.

"No," Han shouted. "I have the hammer. If I die, it will be destroyed.”

She raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean-” She paused and suddenly erected a few blue shields around her.

Dozens of red vines appeared and hit the shields with such ferocity that the mage had to make several new shields as the old ones were broken, continually stepping back. The chaos stopped as quickly as it had started.

Arthur Stone landed next to Han a moment later and offered him a grin. Gods, Han thought, what was with all these people and making dramatic entrances?

"Naija," the Red Terror said, turning to the other woman.

"Arthur," the woman acknowledged. "You're not bad, but my husband honestly does entrances better."

Arthur groaned, "Of course he does. He does everything better, the Black Hand, how dare I suggest otherwise?"

Han's blood stopped cold. The Black Hand was a Pupil of Reundethor, and his wife would be...

"Is that jealousy I detect?" the Green Witch teased.

"Sarcasm, Naija, that's sarcasm," Arthur replied. "I am confident in the superiority of my entrances. In any case, it seems you have killed many of my men."

The Green Witch's face hardened, "And your Omega in the front is still killing mine. I'll offer you a truce, Arthur. Stop it now, and I will too. If my men die, I will kill each and every one of you, and I don't want to."

Could she do that? Han thought. It would explain why the Warrior had not cared for any reinforcements.

Arthur paused for a moment before saying, "There is another Omega of yours in there. He or she is facing two of mine, so it's a good bet yours is currently losing."

"The Warrior of Nais," the Green Witch said with a smile, "You know of the endurance of her line. I cast the Chisel of Morthaw with all my power, and she just got up after a second."

"Right. And if she had been smashed to pieces?" he asked.

"I would not have minded," the Witch said, "She is superbly irritating."

Arthur fell silent.

The Witch continued, "Time is running-"

"Why?" the Red Terror interrupted quietly, "Why are you doing this?"

"I don’t want to hurt you. I know I can gain more if I push now, and so I am warning-"

"You know that's not what I am talking about," Arthur interrupted again.

The other woman fell silent before answering, "I am not accountable-"

"I know," Arthur interrupted once more, looking very angry, "I am asking as a friend."

"Is that what we are?"

Han had already understood they knew each other, but it seemed like there was a more complicated history between them.

"And there you avoid the question once more," Arthur snapped.

Han couldn't believe the angry face he was looking at right now was the same one that was always calm in Council meetings, no matter how tense the news.

The Witch looked at him for a moment before saying, "I am fighting the same war we fought in Mesmir."

Han remembered that the Pupils of Reundethor were heavily involved in the formation of the Alliance of Mesmir. Had Arthur been involved there too? It made sense, given that he was from Mesmir. Han had not that heard much of the Red Terror's history, though. He was not as famous as the woman standing in front of him.

"Is that the excuse you are going to use?" Arthur asked angrily, "There's a difference between uniting a pack of squabbling kingdoms that killed thousands in wars every other year and stupid conquest out of greed."

"It felt that way in Mesmir because one of the wars had just ended. Or are you going to pretend this realm is somehow more peaceful?" the Witch asked.

"Amonis is more peaceful," the Red Terror flatly said, "It has been part of three wars in the last hundred years."

"That's going to change, and you know it," the Witch said, "How many more lives can be saved in the long run if they don't get divisions to exploit? Amonis' ties to the giants are getting too strong to be ignored anymore. This absence of war so far was only because your city is in some barren corner no one wanted to bother with."

Han tried to understand the implications of what they were talking about. Had Amonis been free from war because it was too unimportant for the gods that Sev had talked about to intervene?

"Gods, I am disappointed," Arthur tiredly said. "I thought you would have something, some good reason that made sense, but no. Just covering up some personal agenda with a pretty ideology. Here you are, being tools for the very same beings you whine about."

The Green Witch rocked back as if being slapped. Her face then turned to anger for the first time in the conversation.

"Alright, enough of this," she said, "I don't need to justify my actions to you. You have just hidden from danger here and have forgotten how war is. All this conversation is doing is allowing your Omega in the courtyard to kill more of my soldiers. Call the retreat, or I kill all of you. Now."

Han shivered in terror. She didn't seem to doubt that she could do it, and Arthur didn't either. Instead of calling the retreat, Arthur spoke again, and Han had to control the urge to kick him hard.

Arthur scathingly said, "And would you really be fighting for the Gazaarians if your husband didn't want his stupid revenge? Talk about being tools for gods- how convenient do you-"

"Fine," The Witch interrupted, looking infuriated, "I wanted to give you mercy, but this looks like you want to die for some reason."

Her hands extended out, and wrists moved, and a second later, green magic formed around them.

"Arthur," Han shouted as quickly as he could, "Call the retreat, please."

The other two looked at him with surprise, as if they had forgotten he existed. The Red Terror's face changed from fury to something calmer.

"Right," he murmured and raised his hand to the sky. A red streak of power came out from near his hand that promptly vanished after a moment. This was followed by such a loud sound that Han's ears started paining.

"Your turn," Arthur coldly said.

The Green Witch collapsed her previous spell with a wave of her hand and moved her wrists once more. There was a much softer, yet more distinctive, sound.

"We'll meet again," she told Arthur and moved her gaze to Han. Han felt... exposed.

The Green Witch cocked her head to the side, "Pocket dimension, huh? You are not even a mage, though. This is fascinating."

Han's face blanked. Shit. Did their plan now become useless? Would she consider the possibility? Han calmed himself, there would be time to think about this later. He had, against all odds, survived today. He would have to do the same for quite a few more days.

The Green Witch suddenly turned around, rotated her wrists, and started levitating. A moment later, she shot into the air and disappeared.