“Stay still,” Adler says, her hands hovering just above my skin. Her warmth radiates down over my twisted, warped flesh. She blinks away tears, her eyes shimmering with emotions barely disguised.

I catch every twitch in her expression and every anxious tear that drops from her eyes. The warm liquid drips from her chin landing on… on the mass of writhing flesh that tries to imitate the shape of a head.

My head.

Me.

I gasp, choking down the horror clawing its way from my throat. No matter how much I’ve twisted myself in the past, it still hurts the same.

I’m not right.

I’m not me.

I’m a mass of twisted, corrupted flesh.

“Your body is trying to fix itself,” Adler says. “Just… I’ll just nudge it all into place… and this potion…”

She pauses to take a deep breath and refresh her focus before casting magic on me while pouring a healing potion over the twisted mashed flesh and bone.

Writhing lengths of muscles slowly relax under her healing hands finding a new shape with her guidance. Her magic glows inside of me, and I do not resist it, the oozing gaps where my flesh was destroyed quickly heals back to what it was.

Loose flesh and bone puddled underneath me is drawn upon as resources, to make up for the mass that’s missing. Gradually, bit by bit, starting with my head and ending with my toes, I become me again.

Vii carefully adjusts my clothes to cover me as my body stretches out to its full height.

“Are you better?” Red asks, “We don’t have much time.”

I don’t reply.

I can’t.

I still feel what it was like to be that creature built of broken parts. The quilted human stuck together with threads of mana. The pain was intense, but it doesn’t matter so much as the complete violation of the basic shape and form of my body.

My hands and legs start twitching and I can’t stop them.

“Give her a moment,” Adler says, her tail worked up in a quiet, seething rage. She leans down over me, where I lie twitching on the deck.

Vii is hovering nearby, pacing back and forth uncertainly.

“Kyra,” Adler says, and I focus my eyes on her. The shape of her face, the curve of her lips, the shine in her eyes. I put the pieces together bit by bit. They flow from one feature to the next unhindered by any scars or injuries.

“I… it hurts. I know it hurts,” she starts. “It hurts just watching… first Eshya, now this…” she doesn’t wipe the tears dripping from her eyes. “People are dying down there. Our people are worried, there’re more fights ahead and… and… we need you.

“You brought us here, Kyra. I don’t want to rush you through this, but we need you.”

I shudder, but she touches my cheek and presses her forehead against mine. I nod, squeaking out a small noise before lifting my head up against hers.

My unreal eyes see the world around us in full.

The corpses; our soldiers, theirs, and the innocent people who were victims in this slaughter. I see no villains, no heroes, only people doing what they think is right, and slaves without a choice.

I’m not a slave, I have a choice.

I can’t just lie down.

“Sorry,” I say, rolling myself up and taking Adler’s hand as she lifts me up. “I lost myself for a moment there.”

“You shouldn’t be sorry,” Adler says. “You should be allowed to recover for a while, but…”

“No, I brought us to this fight,” I say. “I don’t get to sit it out.”

It’s possible that this whole thing was instigated by my actions, though I can’t be sure how much was instead from others like Gale and Sedena. What I do know for sure is that I’m the poison in the well, the bad apple that the welfare officers are trying to cleanse out of existence.

If I didn’t exist, if I didn’t come here, then there’s a chance that this wouldn’t be happening.

If the world were a kinder place…

If our dictators weren’t such fuck ups…

If mother nature actually cared for her infinite children…

There is no point in wishing our suffering away. I’ll do what I can to change this universe and protect the people that I most care for. That’s all life is in the end.

“Where’s our enemy?” I ask, standing over the unconscious body of the fallen elf officer. I drain a little mana from him to top up my own depleted reserves and focus on the world beyond our ship.

“They weren’t expecting us to be this successful,” Red says. “These assholes will take a little while before they figure out how to deal with us, but they won’t leave us alone forever.”

She doesn’t say it, but she’s already got her own team separated and ready for the flight up to the glass egg. Ria, our singer-enchanter, hums an anxious tune as her sparkling eyes drift over to me.

There is a queasy atmosphere in the air, a tainted mixture of fear and strained hope. They aren’t confident in a happy ending, some have already lost friends.

“Stand tall,” I say, straightening my own posture. “We’ll win the day, and return in time for supper, our friends and our families with us by a warm fireside. We’ll finish this battle, protect our people, and protect our home.”

There’s a dull cheer, but it’s not because my words are particularly beautiful or touching. These soldiers shout together, stand together, fight together. They shout not for me but for each other.

They shout to quiet their fears.

“Don’t let Red push you into too much danger,” I say to Vii and Adler as they prepare to take flight towards the egg. Adler’s going to be carried up, like a few others on their team.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Vii says. “We’ll steal their ship, load it up with our own crew and fly it into the sunset.”

“Yes, well that’s the plan,” I say.

“The pilot here will follow your orders,” Adler says, adjusting her stance as she cycles mana through her talisman. It seems to be working alright, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to check your gear.

“You can’t die,” I say, gritting my teeth, unable to find some excuse to keep them here with me.

“I assure you, I can,” Adler replies, her ears standing tall on her head.

“Not without my permission,” I grunt.

“You’re quite the overbearing spouse.”

“Well, she is the leader of a grand empire,” Vii says, her bright smile twitching with uncertainty. “We can’t expect her to be anything but a merciless monster, that commands us as she wills.”

“I feel that you’re intentionally misrepresenting our relationship,” I chuckle, easing a little as I see the enemy still scattered behind us. The wounded are being recovered and treated by those who are still moving.

“Nothing will go wrong…” I say.

Eshya is on the ground, her head pressed into the earth as a spell forms beneath her.

I shake the image away, but the doubts remain.

She should be dead.

I couldn’t save her in time.

I… I could have done more.

I could have prevented it.

Will I make the same mistake again?

Vii’s wings wrap around me, hiding me from the light, the grand tree above and the massive army still outside. Scattered but recovering, numbering in the thousands and rising by the minute.

The forces I saw when they landed were surprisingly small in number, but they were spread through the whole world. Now they’re coming together to deal with us.

“Kyra,” Vii whispers, nervous energy bubbling up inside. “If I’m saying something stupid, ignore it. I can be stupid sometimes or overthink things, or read people wrong.”

“It’s fine, what is it?” I ask.

“I… It’s okay to be weak sometimes,” she says. “No one is looking, and…

“You can’t take everything on your shoulders. We all make mistakes, none of us are strong enough to stop all the bad things from happening.

“It’s not your fault.”

“She was right there…” I say, seeing Eshya on the ground again. “I should have used my magic quicker, and harder. I just… I thought she… I don’t know why I didn’t.”

“You didn’t hesitate,” Vii whispers. “I was watching. You reacted faster than anyone, and she’s still alive.”

“I know,” I say, squeezing her tight. “I know.”

It doesn’t do anything for the fear stirring inside me. How much is she hurt? Will we all make it?

I try to find something more to say but it isn’t there. I don’t know what to do if things go wrong again if this war takes more from me than I’m willing to give.

Red smiles ruthlessly, her eyes cold as ice as she takes in the state of the world. She leaps into the sky and leads her scout team down into the city. I don’t know the exact process, but they’re hoping to slip under the radar before flying up into the glass egg.

I have other issues to focus on.

A few familiar faces stand with me, people who have stayed behind for my more recent adventures, instead making their homes in the city I stole.

Rare, the dark-scaled, pet-sized dragon at my side looks up at me with confidence. Shy, our animal-eared scout, and yet others still. I can’t put a name to every face, but I know them. I’ve trained with them, we’ve feasted together.

“Any one of us could have been down there, corralled into their slave ships, or murdered outright. Any of us could be where they are now,” I say, staring down at the people rounded up and collared.

“Let’s go save some idiots!” I shout. My warriors respond with a shout of their own. I’m glad to have them with me, but I wish it wasn’t needed.

The unconscious body of the elvish officer remains where he fell, coated in the liquid silver of his ruined chains. With his collar pulled, he’s not the threat he was before, but that doesn’t guarantee that he’ll turn to our side.

I’d rather not kill more people than I must, this conflict has been bloody enough already. He’s a slave newly released, and a dangerous one we can’t keep on board through this coming fight.

After a moment’s thought, I toss him from the side of the ship. He flops wildly on the gentle winds before crashing into a rooftop, leaving a hole in the stone. There’s a good chance he’ll live, and down there he’s less likely to start fights with us.

“Saving an idiot?” Shy asks, leaning on the edge of the ship and looking at the hole.

“Giving him a chance to stir trouble,” I say. “Another distraction to keep the soldiers from burying us in numbers.”

There are quite a few ships lined up on the surface near to us.

“A few other fighters are caught down there,” I say. “Combat course students who might be willing to join the fight.”

“Can they help?” Shy asks, looking doubtfully down at the planks below us, clearly thinking of those who are packed into our own ship.

“They can cause a stir, and they deserve a chance,” I say, gritting my teeth. Red said that there were going to be casualties. That this distraction and rescue effort will end in slaughter.

Can I do anything to change that?

Do I have the power to save them all, or is this distraction going to end in still more death?

“We’ll hover over their ships to keep them from escaping, seize their vessels, hopefully intact, and bring our lovely little beasts on board,” I say. “Gather weapons, and make more from scrap. Hammer nails in sticks if it’s all you can do.”

They look doubtfully toward me, but follow my instructions, gathering the weapons nearby. Some are even so industrious as to start taking bones, claws, and other such parts from the fallen officers. Useful to make basic weapons.

“Pilot, take us over that ship. I have a few friends down there, and they need a ride.” Even below the deck he hears my order and sets the ship on the right path.

At the edges of my sight, hiding in the shadows, I see the soldiers moving. Small groups run together through the streets, gazing up at us, spears and swords at the ready. We’re not through the battle yet.

When our ship hovers by the deck of the grounded enemy vessel the first group of soldiers pour out onto our ship.

I blast them into nothingness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats and Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 3,110 / 60,892 units

Current mana volume: 1,546 / 30,271 shards

Mana volume at crystallisation density (Max. mana volume):

Kyra: 30,271 shards

Kyra’s armour: 20,777 shards

Kyra’s throne: 1,109,298 shards

~Forms

Mana Canon

-Annihilation Heart (Adapted)

-Blood Fuel (Adapted)

-Bone Magic Storage (Adapted)

-Nail Shifters (Adapted)

Dancer

-Flash Nerves (Adapted)

-Quick Perception Mind (Adapted)

-Burst Reflex Muscles (Adapted)

-Layered Space Muscles (Adapted)

Turtle

-Rebinding Tissue (Adapted)

-Catalyst Sweat Glands (Adapted)

-Repulsive Skin (Adapted)

-Prehensile hair (Adapted)

-Fatty Tissue Blood Storage (Adapted)

Investigator

-Wide eyes (Adapted)

-Wide ears (Adapted)

-Sharp nose (Adapted)

Misc.

-Clean bowels (Adapted)

-Mana Drive (Adapted)

~Favourited Skills:

Magic:

-Annihilation Magic (Customised)

-Fire Magic (Functional)

-Space magic (Broken)

-Force magic (Functional)

-Ice magic (Broken)

-Wind magic (Broken)

Movement:

-Hand-to-hand casting (Functional)

-Mana surge movement (Functional)

-Stealth (Functional)

Senses:

-Eyes of an Empire (Customised)

-Combat Awareness (Functional)

-Watchmen (Functional)

-Hidden bug (Mastered)

-De-tagging (Mastered)

-Anti-stealth sight (Mastered)

Special:

-Spirit Transformation (Broken)

-Conformity (Broken)

-Training mana form (Functional)