Reunion

*************

Wyatt Graves

I barely make it in time to stop the thing ambushing Earl. Without Arbalest, Earl would have been fatally wounded if not instantly killed, for only with that skill could I traverse fifty feet in a flash. Though not without a price. Overdoing the power of the skill like that left a deep-seated pain in my right foot. So, I'll have to use my left foot for it until I recover. At least I know I can handle the rapid use for short distances.

The demon or Outlaw, I'm not honestly sure which, billows with indistinct shadows that cover its form. My arm stings with pain from the creature's strike, but I'll be fine.

The Bloody Palm can take a hit, and from pinky to my elbow, the artifact reigns.

The one thing that truly confused me as Virgil and I came upon this scene was not the strange conflagration from Earl; instead, it was the fact that he wasn't wearing glasses. All I've ever known him has been with the frames helping him see, as he always had extra.

I reach down to help Earl, and he instantly takes my hand, the frail and light man thrown to his feet. In the corner of my eye, a dozen tendrils of night ambush the other demon; Virgil slaughters the shadowy creature with greater darkness. Greenish blood seeps as the demon tries to fight back, only to die to a swift dagger into the neck as Virgil deflects a strike and grapples the creature. It then succinctly dies and, as it falls, transforms into falling ash that settles without movement. How bizarre.

Earl yells to me as Primrose combats the giant four-legged creatures with flaming tusks. I have no clue what they're called, but they are decently powerful. Most are 3rd Sigils, but a few are 2nd. One even possesses a 4th Sigil.

"Help her! She's wounded! I'll find another round!"

I nod, not entirely understanding the second part but listening anyway. Earl's never made a faulty plan, after all. Then, still with the swiftness from my journey here, I flutter over toward Primrose as she spews fumes from her arms, hands, and mouth toward the horde of massive beasts. She can only dodge them because of her Colt, the thing transposing her to wherever she shoots it, but I can see the redness in her face that exposes her exhaustion.

And as I land in front of them from my rapid movement, I reach for Reckless, retrieving the heavy steel with a smile. Amid the raging chaos, I stand alone, facing the colossal fury of half a dozen furred behemoths. On the other side of them is Primrose, her smoke distracting and assailing them. Their massive forms loom over me, their eyes burning with an otherworldly fire, and their flaming tusks illuminate the darkness surrounding us, putting some light on the moonless night.

As I approach, gaining momentum the whole way as I remove the coin from Reckless, the first mammoth charges toward me. And so, I tighten my grip on the hilt of Reckless, feeling its weight and power coursing through my veins. Vigor from the Claymore fills me with confidence and vitality as I take a deep breath, a Strugglers Gasp. My fetters weaken, and my body grows slightly to accommodate the strength as I lift Reckless over my head, its weight considerable even for me.

Then, with a silent Daydream of unmatched power filling my arm and Release removing their limits entirely, I meet the mammoth head-on, my sword slashing through the air with a howl. The blade moves with such a shriek I could confuse it for that of a Banshee, calling the death of the living.

The ground trembles beneath the weight of its massive form, but I stand firm, unyielding. The clash of metal and the beast's powerful momentum send shockwaves through my body as we collide. I strain against its immense strength, channeling every ounce of my own, but I am quickly rebuffed. Both of us are sent back from the contest of strength. I matched the 4th Sigiled in strength despite its size, but that's not enough. I always knew I'd be weaker than a beast in a direct contest. I just wanted to see how much.

And so, I sway with the rebound, backstepping as I bring Reckless around my head into a second strike, this one screaming for the beast's side. My wrist burns as it contains the momentum as I shift it forward once more, yet the Bloody Palm bears it with a slight groan.

With a mighty swing, I bring Reckless crashing down upon the mammoth's side as it roars into flame, but I ignore the fire and continue onward. Heath has gotten quite good at treating burns, after all. Plus, I've gotten used to Bonfire's flames. It's not that bad for short periods. Sparks erupt as steel meets fire, and the resounding impact echoes through the air. The force threatens to overwhelm me as a plume of blaze comes from the impact point, the beast attempting to push me off again, but I ground myself with my feet and flow Ether into my left foot, forming a kind of bow and arrow.

Arbalest manifests in my left foot as I'm flung forward at the beast, my force multiplied. And so, the steel of Reckless sinks deeply into the beast's flesh. It roars with pain as it swings toward me, the fiery tusks seeking to melt and maim.

I try to pull Reckless out of the hide, but I don't have the time. So, I drop it and throw myself to the ground with all the swiftness I can muster.

Dirt flies up as heat glides over my head. And the moment I feel the blaze fade, I jump up and run for my Claymore. But as I do, the beast turns back toward me, an open mouth facing me.

Not feeling much threat as at most, it can roar at me, I charge at it for Reckless, but I only make it about halfway before a spark appears in the mouth of the animal. My heart thumps with alarm as I force as much Ether as I can in a split-second into my foot, the Arbalest hurtling me to the side as a flume of fire fills the dark forest. Trees, grass, and even parts of the wrecked wagon are set ablaze as the heat burns my side just from being close. I glance at my torso, almost releasing my gasp in relief. It only burned my clothes and the hair off my skin. Phew. That could've been way worse. I think it can make as much fire as Bonfire!

Mentally cursing as I can't speak aloud with Strugglers Gasp active, I burst forward toward the bulkiest beast, the one that scorched me. Yet, it also charges at me, swinging its tusks to gore and burn me. And with both feet throbbing with pangs of warning, I drop to threes, the return of Bloodhound's Step, using my arm to Arbalest myself up and over the creature's tusks as I grasp outward and catch myself onto its burning fur.

The fire hurts extraordinarily severely, the pain sinking deep into my flesh after just a second, but I hold on as I slide down its body. The thing literally burns with rage as I reach my Claymore, but I will be fine. The Bloody Palm is what's getting burnt after all, and as usual, it can handle it. I place my feet against its fur to hold myself there as it rages, my burned hand wrenching the blade from its coat. And when Reckless leaves its side, I reach into the flesh, a brimming Explosion on the tip of my fingers.

Ether swirls from my chains and out of my lungs down my arm as I grit my teeth, holding steadfast against the heat as the Bloody Palm explodes with Ether. The detonation sends me flying back in an eruption of blood, flesh, viscera, and lingering flames as the greatest threat immediately slumps to its side, a quarter of its frame gone.

Falling to my knees, I gasp for air, my lungs demanding and unwilling to wait any longer. I land next to Reckless and immediately reach for it, glimpsing the severe burns on my hand and arm. But they are rapidly fading, the artifact fused with me doing its part for our survival. Taking another gasp of air, this one normal, I push myself to my feet using the hefty steel of my Claymore. The boots melted and burned are doing their jobs in slowing heat transfer. So my toes are burned, but not to the point I can't feel them nor to the point that they hurt excessively.

Yet, as I move my eyes before me, the horde turns to me, the killer of their leader. An ear-stinging roar shakes my body as I force myself to take another Strugglers Gasp. I still got another in the bank at the worst. Thankfully, my saturation limit has massively increased between my Absolution and my newest Sigil.

With burning determination and a flicker of heated pain coursing through my body, I lift Reckless and charge into the heart of the mammoth horde. With the fire-breather gone, I can play this safe, taking my time to slay the beasts. The ground shakes beneath the weight of their colossal forms, flames dancing upon their menacing tusks, and fury emanating from their primal gazes. In response to their rage, my grip tightens around the hilt of my massive sword, a weapon forged by another race, yet feeling as if it was born only for me. The scars on my side throb as a reminder of the battle already waged as I bear down on the creatures, but I press forward, undeterred.

The first one in the charges reaches me much slower than the first. I slide underneath its fiery tusks as I twist and stand upright again. Then, in one swift motion, I unleash a devastating strike, the weight of my sword cleaving through the air with unstoppable force. The first mammoth, its flaming tusks poised to strike as they missed, falls to my relentless assault. Reckless enters its skull, and the length of the blade compensates for the height gap. Its lifeblood spills onto the scorched earth, its massive form crashing to the ground.

Without waiting a moment, I move on to the next as I rip out the sword from the overside beast, the hide much easier to tear out of. But as I rear my blade up, poising to strike the next one, a crack of a high-pitched whine pierces the nightly air like that of a Banshee. And without my eyes scarcely catching a glimpse of it, a projectile crackling with lightning shatters into the head of the second in the horde.

The beast dies without a second between the impact and subsequent death. The skull almost vaporized as the thing is indented so deeply it'd be hard to recognize. I twist my head and look behind me to see Earl once more scavenging among the rubble.

Is that the strength of his Colt? What. The. Fuck? Where did he get that!?

While I stare at him, the horde gets closer, and I just barely turn around to find a shadow sliding underneath the nearest figure in the herd, gutting it from the bottom, then disappearing into the ground with a Flicker. Forcing myself into action, I join Virgil, swiftly ending the rest of the flock as Primrose joins. The remaining Yakwawiak, as Earl calls out, crash without much fanfare between the three of us, Elizabeth helping here or there with callouts that fill us with purpose.

And after all the beasts lie dead, the remaining demon-like creature skittering off, we all meet around the remnants of the scarred wagon, a reunion of friends after many months. They're alive. They're alive! Johnny was wrong!

I hug Elizabeth and Earl, so extremely relieved to see they are all right. The embrace is tight, but I'm careful not to crush the two of them after releasing my skills. I also notice they both have grown stronger, yet Primrose hasn't. I suppose she is still waiting on that Ether saturation. I hear at the higher Sigils, like 5th and 6th, it takes a year at the minimum to prepare for another ascent. The Philosopher is truly a unique Sigil. It may not bring any ludicrous abilities on its own, but just the trait to move at my own pace is astounding.

We push away from the hug with smiles even despite their exhaustion and my weariness after rapidly using so much Ether. Earl immediately starts to treat my burns, ordering me to aid him in doing so.

"Drag out that panel from the wreckage. It has all my ingredients. I should have some stuff for burns."

I nod and crawl into the overturned wagon, clasping my hand around the wooden panel he pointed to as I drag it out. He then takes it and pulls out hidden compartments as he starts to mix powders and liquids. As he does so, Virgil, standing beside us watching for danger, asks Earl a question.

"What the hell is that Colt you got? I don't sense any Sigils or Ether from it at all. The damn thing blew apart those flaming beasts."

Earl nods as he mixes elements, but Elizabeth answers for him, the girl excited for the man.

"He made it! Without a Sigil at all! Well, without one in the gun. Though, it is nauseatingly expensive to fire. Each bullet is about a hundred dollars, and the gun's materials lean toward ten thousand."

Ten-thousand? A hundred dollars per bullet!? Most bullets are worth a fraction of a cent! You could buy a mansion with that much money! The most money I've ever had in at once was a hundred! Not that I buy much, but still!

My mouth hangs open as I ask the only question possible. Earl applies some gray cream onto my arm to help it heal as I do so.

"What the hell did you guys get up to? We thought you all were dead after so long without any news."

Earl nods as he explains a little before Elizabeth takes over.

"Yeah... things were hectic. We initially went for Icarus, the Coltsmith we wanted to find. But when we found her..."

"She was insane. Absolutely batshit insane. Primrose killed her and decided that we would come back immediately. But on our way out, we came across Edward Dudley in a fight with Myriad, the psycho he is. We saw Edward leap to Angelhood during the battle before he killed Ashley, the Wild Fire. From there, shit only got crazier."

Primrose nods as she slumps backward onto the wreck of the wagon and finishes the story, clearly skipping many parts from a journey lasting months.

"We joined Edward for a while, helping him and the revolution. While we did so, I negotiated some training for Earl and Elizabeth, the genius to learn Coltsmithing from a renowned Craftsman and the girl to fight and lead from Edward. I wanted to stay longer to get Earl a Craftsman Sigil, but news of Darkstep leaving for you guys forced my hand. And on the way here, Earl made a breakthrough, creating the world's greatest threat attractor."

The genius in question bites back with spittle as she dismisses his work. That's one thing he hates. Oh, that and spiders.

"Shut up! You know it's more than that!"

Primrose laughs, slapping her knee as she tries to push herself to her feet before falling on her ass.

"Haha-- fuck!"

Virgil maneuvers over and lends a hand.

"You injured?"

Primrose nods as she takes his hand.

"Yup. Took a glancing blow from the Scalding Iron over a week ago while Gaseous, and I'm still recovering. I don't even think the bastard meant to hit me. Thankfully, Earl's Shaman helps him create healing balms and whatnot. But we should really get going. We've been constantly attacked the past day, Earl's Coil starting all the harassment. And we couldn't fight them off without it, so the loop continued."

Virgil sweeps his eyes across the dark forest as he pulls Earl and me to our feet, agreeing with Primrose.

"Yes. We need to be moving. I can sense gazes. We'll let you in on it all while we move, but there have been many changes since you three left. But these are the most important: Currently, we are heading for Bent, Johnny is an Angel, and Sacate is dead."

Gasps come from all three of Earl, Primrose, and Elizabeth, each, I would assume, for a different reason. Earl has always talked about wanting to go to the greatest fortress in the world and ride the Steam Train that connects it to the rest of the Territories. Primrose follows Johnny's orders and no one else, so I'm sure she's impressed.

And Elizabeth was close to Sacate. They only knew each other briefly, but he inspired her. Greatly. Without the Woodsman, the young woman would likely have never gotten a single Sigil, let alone twice that number. Tears fill her eyes as I pull her into a hug, whispering into her ear, past experience with losing a mentor coming to mind.

"It'll be fine. He died for us. For all of us. We can't let him down."

Elizabeth looks up at me and nods while wiping the tears away.

"Mhmm..."

I can't tell she doesn't really take my words to heart, but I'll be here for her. Yet, for now, we need to go. Unfortunately, this wreckage and burning beasts will soon attract many more new friends to slow us down.

Virgil turns to me, divvying up responsibility. He holds a hand out to Primrose as he moves closer to Earl.

"You can take Elizabeth; I'll get Earl. Primrose? Can you run?"

The poisonous woman scoffs as she bats away his hand.

"Of course. Just lead the way."

I dryly chuckle as I bend down a bit, kneeling for Elizabeth to climb on my back. She and Earl are far slower than the rest of us, slow enough to potentially get us caught.

"Hop on my back. I'll carry you."

She obeys but questions me nonetheless.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Earl also climbs onto Virgil's back before setting off into a run, heading back from where we came and maintaining an eye out for the flaming spire that Bonfire is supposed to relay. Ether flows through my frame as I speed up, the ground disappearing under my boot. Another gasp from Elizabeth rings from the quick movement as I hear her silently sob.

I feel bad, but I need to wait to console her. I can't believe Virgil just broke it to her like that. Is he inconsiderate? Or is that more kind? She was probably excited to see him, and spoiling the hope earlier is better than waiting to see him not there.

And so, I move with the swiftness of the wind, Virgil keeping a pace ahead of me as I can't use Arbalest, both in fear of hurting Elizabeth with the whiplash and the fact that my feet are damaged.

The run lasts much longer than the first time because of our slowness, but after a while, a plume of fire rises into the sky not far from where we are. Immediately, we move to reach it, a shifting shadow, noxious gas, and Intrepid Strife zipping through the dark.