Chapter 33: Threads of Betrayal

With the dagger firmly pressed against my back, I inquired, "What is going on? I thought you needed our help, Rena?" Rena chuckled, but it wasn't the sound of a little girl's laugh; it was more like a mature lady's laugh. My vision grew cloudy, and when I blinked a few times, the lady directly in front of me, who looked like Rena's mom, shifted. I recognized her transformation into Avaris. Her smile remained as confident and filled with malice as before.

Rena, behind me and out of the corner of my eye, also seemed to change, but I couldn't make out her new appearance. Quinn jumped back, ready to strike, and he exclaimed, "How did I not notice you? I can read minds; I should have been able to detect this!"

The girl behind me cryptically responded, "I am a powerful illusionist. I can change anything about your perception of me, foolish boy."

Trying to calm my nerves, I stated, "What do you want, revenge or something? Why are you so fixated on us?" Avaris chuckled, "Ah, but I did tell you yesterday that you would have another performance on my stage, didn't I? The sooner, the better, right? Plus, we still need to kill you since you know about the king's condition. We have been following you for a while. Since I first saw you talk to the king, I knew you'd be nothing but trouble."

The big man next to her, the one we had seen in the market earlier, sighed, "I hate to kill such a young group of adventurers, but you know how it is, business is business." Avaris nodded, "That's right, Cyrus, we need to take care of a rat infestation before it festers. Alright, Yuna, kill the boy."

I sensed movement behind me as the person holding the blade got closer to my skin with it. The blade slightly grazed the tips of my skin before a hand shot out from Quinn, who dexterously stopped the attack.

In that split second, with Quinn grappling her arm, I dashed to the side, signaling the rest of our group, "Fall back; this cave isn't a great location for us." Quinn threw the girl's arm forward, momentarily catching her off guard, as we rushed out of the cave entrance. Once we were outside, the three of our enemies began chasing after us, albeit without any rush.

Finally, I got a good look at the girl who had posed as a little girl named Rena. The woman standing before us was far from a little girl. Her eyes glowed a pale purple, even in the daylight. She had short, pale pink hair and a sadistic smile. She looked as pale as the moon, similar to Cyrus, and her short bob cut seemed to wave almost ethereally in the light. Interestingly, she wore a tiara with purple gemstones and a necklace with the same gemstones engraved. Had I not been fighting for my life, I might have been captivated by her surreal beauty.

Yuna taunted us, "Rats that run away from traps are such a hassle to hunt down; just die quietly, little lambs." She and Avaris approached us menacingly. Avaris sighed, "Out in the open, I am at a disadvantage with my abilities, but these two should be more than enough for you." The big man cracked his knuckles as he brought out a large black crescent blade. It looked heavy, but the weight seemed to not even faze him.

We all took battle stances, with me stepping back, to my right, Luna was ready to go, and Quinn prepared to change his from at a moments notice. Lysandra stepped in front of us with a proud smile on her lips, "I think I have some payback for you covenant guys. One of you shattered my skull the other day. Mind if I do the same?" Her leg heated up, and before I could warn her not to charge in recklessly, she had already lunged at Yuna, her leg ready to strike down on Yuna's skull. But almost like she was never there, Lysandra hit nothing. Yuna laughed, "Was that your attempt to hit me? I almost pity you."

Yuna unsheathed a katana from a white scabbard adorned with pink flowers. The sword had a pink hilt and seemed to glow with a purple aura. She sighed, "Suppose I should dirty my hands since Avaris is useless." Avaris wore an annoyed expression as Yuna struck a pose, ready to counter-attack. She closed her eyes, seemingly in a trance, and whispered, "Illusion style: Eyeless Slash." Her blade split into three images in front of Lysandra. Sensing the immediate danger, Quinn ran over to Lysandra, his arm shooting out unnaturally. He pulled her over to himself just in time, as the slash came down right after. The slash appeared as three flashes, and before we knew it, a deep dent in the ground had formed.

If not for Quinn's quick thinking, Lysandra might have been killed on the spot. Her eyes filled with surprise, she muttered to Quinn, "Wow, thanks, shrimp." Quinn replied, "Please don't rush ahead. This group isn't the type to play fair; they're full of tricks." The near-death experience had put Lysandra on edge about our formidable opponents. I suggested, "It would be wise to see what they can do first, and then we counterattack." My group seemed to share this sentiment as we all waited on edge while Cyrus prepared his attack.

Cyrus laughed, "Letting your opponent attack first might be a smart strategy, but sadly for you pigeons you are not our equals"

Cyrus bolted forward, his body blurring as he closed in on Quinn. Spotting a slight opening, he brought his sickle down, and Quinn dodged out of the way. However, a projectile fired in front of Quinn from Cyrus' sickle, blasting him in the chest. Quinn was bathed in light from the sickle, and his body seemed to freeze in place. Cyrus announced, "Hex: Bind." Quinn appeared immobilized, and the next strike from Cyrus threatened to cleave him in two. Luna, from Era, stepped in just in time, blocking the blade with her claws, though her daggers went flying in all directions. I finally activated my runes and readied my gauntlet toward Cyrus, but Yuna charged at me with her blade ready. Lysandra thankfully stepped in front and kicked Yuna with her red-hot foot.

I cast my spell, combining my earth and wind runes again, creating "Earthwhirl Pike." The torrent of wind rushed out, carrying with it a sharp piece of stone that connected with Cyrus. It didn't do much damage, but managed to knock him off balance as he jumped back. Avaris took her chance as her strings quickly wrapped around my body from a distance away, just as they did last time. Just before they could squeeze me like a grape, a flash of light cut all the strings at once. I saw a very familiar face fly out towards Avaris as she kicked her square in the jaw, knocking her back. The figure was Lulith, her black robes cascading off her in the wind, her now pale snow-white hair flowing down her back. Lulith mocked, "That's for last time."

I was dumbfounded. The last time we saw her, she was with Altaria. I was worried, but a hand came to my shoulder, and I noticed it was Altaria. She laughed, "Seems you got yourself in a pickle here, boy. Should we lend a hand?" It was then that I noticed the massive group forming behind me. I couldn't believe I had missed it, but it was likely due to all the fighting. A large portion of the king's forces had gathered. Altaria explained, "I managed to undo the brand placed on King Whiteford, thankfully in time to help you." I said, "How did you know we were here?" Altaria laughed, "I have eyes all over this city, boy. I know everything about Everglint. I am not a grandmage for no reason." A chill ran down my spine. She was truly something else. I guessed that personal privacy was a luxury one couldn't afford in this city.

King Corwin Whiteford approached the front, his eyes now sparkling with a new intensity. He commanded, "Men, get ready to charge. Take these Covenant scum alive; I want them to atone for what they did!" There were about 20-30 personal knights gathered together for this event, and it appeared that King Whiteford was serious about this. Yuna, stubbornly unwilling to concede that the fight was over, struck forward with her sword at Altaria. However, her attack was stopped short of cleaving Altaria in half as a barrier appeared in front of her. Altaria mocked, "Oho, interesting move." Altaria brought down a barrier directly on top of Yuna, crushing her into the earth. She said, "You are a hundred years too early to try to fight me, though."

Avaris clicked her tongue, "Dammit Cyrus, let's bail! Rats are crawling out from everywhere!" Cyrus paused for a moment, "No, not yet." He glanced at Era in front of him, "Let's take back a trophy at least." Before anyone could react, he dexterously used his speed to close in on Era and pulled out a blade from his pocket – the same one he had bought earlier from me. The sleep dagger connected with Era's neck, and she instantly passed out on contact. Cyrus caught her as she dropped to the floor, picking her up with one arm. Avaris sighed, "Well, that was a failure." As they backed away, I tried to rush forward to get Era, but it was seemingly too late. Cyrus chuckled, "Not completely; we have a new plaything, don't we? This girl will replace that fool Yuna." Just as I was reaching forward, they both vanished into threads, and I grabbed at red threads, but Era was nowhere to be found. I slammed the ground in frustration. Even after all the improvement, I was still useless. My jaw clenched as I realized that we were nowhere near their level. But I vowed that we would find Era. I would turn over every stone on this planet if I had to I couldn't lose my first real friend so soon.