Katrina scanned the horizon from their observation position, her eyes scrutinizing every single detail over the vast desert before her. Their party had passed from Baa’Yega territory several days ago, and through the defenses of the Visothian border protectors without incident. Something that would have been completely impossible had she not been a part of the mission. She created a tunnel underground, far beneath the detection range of the enemy; she was quite proud of her accomplishment too. However, now that they were in Visoth itself, they had to tread very carefully. Katrina had assumed the identity of a migrating noble from the Western provinces, changing her likeness to match. She modeled herself after Nasha’s likeness at first, but that was quickly shut down by Turak, who seemed very uncomfortable with it.

  Instead, she opted to more resemble Illya of house Ignos, but with grey skin instead of the brick-red skin of her house. Lauren had to also change her appearance, but that took a great deal of time to ensure. She was far less talented with the more elaborate Dunamis abilities. Then again, she didn’t have quite the same caliber of teacher as Katrina, who trained her harshly and without mercy. In the end, Lauren made herself as inconspicuous as possible; red skin, and yellow eyes. It was easy enough to maintain, because she did nothing to change the actual structure of her face, other than the elongated canines.

  Katrina wiped the sweat from her forehead, before slinking back behind the berm she was hiding behind. It’s so damn hot, she thought. Pulling her waterskin canteen out and drinking the refreshing liquid from it. It had been a long time since she had to tough it out in the field. Since just after the first battle of Vul De Rah, when she and Delmos were on the run from Rexun and their allies. The subsequent memories were quickly suppressed, as they brought back feelings that had long been dealt with.

  “Kat~” a whisper came from just below her, and Katrina raised an eyebrow at Lauren, who had crawled her way to her from the rest of the party. “Did you see anything? Can we move?”

  “There’s nothing out there.” Katrina shrugged, putting the cork back into the waterskin. “Tell Turak we can move when they’re ready.”

  It had been the same for the last several days. She would scout, utilizing her Dae-Voh abilities to mask her movements in the sand. She wasn’t used to it at first, but caught on quickly. Her first experience using her power was in sand, at the spirit temple in Vul De Rah. All it took was a bit of practice, and before she knew it, she was using her abilities like nothing had changed. Part of her liked using sand more than the rocky soil she was used to. It was far more malleable and took a lot less spiritual energy to manipulate. Once you got past how fluid it was, everything got a lot easier.

  They moved at a decent pace, riding their Cro’kan until Katrina sensed a potential presence over the vast deserts. When that happened, they concealed themselves for a time, usually by Katrina and the rest of the Dae-Voh warriors creating spacious tunnels they could hide in, until the danger had passed. Eventually, they made it far enough that a group of their size didn’t look too suspicious to any potential observers.

  Katrina’s identity was that of a Visoth noble retainer; Lady Yuna of house Durzo to be more specific. And Turak, the noble head of house Gomma; the rest, his loyal followers. They were allegedly on a diplomatic trade mission to bring much needed supplies back to his Western territory. The story wasn’t completely fabricated, as there was indeed a house Gomma, but it had been extinguished months ago by raiding parties of wandering Visoth bandits. The rest of them were commoners, and thus, safe from most scrutiny.

  After nearly two weeks since setting off, they arrived at their first intentional destination. A large settlement called Par’vakka, several hundred miles North-West of their capitol city.

  Turak grumbled as he dawned his noble attire, removing his armor in favor of the foreign materials. “I never thought I’d wear something as ridiculous as this.” He cursed, eyeing everyone else in his party. “I want only a handful of you wearing your Visoth armor. Everyone else should be in civilian attire as well.”

  Katrina shrugged, looking down at herself. “I think it looks… alright?”

  Lauren chuckled, pressing out as many wrinkles as she could. “We might need to make a stop at one of their shops~”

  Katrina winked at her, pressing her index finger to her lips. “We’ll discuss that once we get inside.” She whispered.

  The city Par’vakka had a wall around it, but it looked mostly ignored. There were no patrols atop it, and even the gate guards seemed to be completely ignoring any smaller groups that entered or left. Turak adjusted his clothing one last time and was about to stride forward when Katrina grabbed him by his arm.

  “You’re just gonna walk in, looking like that?” She asked, eyeing his scar on his face.

  Turak narrowed his eyes at her, looking almost offended, but quickly rolled his eyes in mere annoyance. “There isn’t much I can do about it, Katrina. I can’t wear a mask in there, it would be far too conspicuous.”

  Katrina smiled coyly, pressing her hands against his cheeks. “Actually, you can wear a mask. Just not an obvious one.” She closed her eyes, and poured her power over him. Turak nearly backed away, clearly reacting to the invasive use of her power, but she held him firmly in place. With a few seconds she opened her eyes, and was pleased with her work. Turak’s scar was completely gone, and his face, now unblemished, looked very handsome. “There you go. Good as new!”

  Turak blinked, reaching his hand up to his face and pawing at it for several seconds before using his Dunamis to create a very reflective disk of water. He was speechless for a time as he looked it over.

  “So? What do you think?” Katrina asked, leaning in to look at his reflection.

  “I uh…” He cleared his throat, then dismissed the disk of water. “I appreciate this temporary mask, for what it is. Now let’s get back to it, we need to resupply. Remember everyone, food and essential supplies ONLY.”

  Lauren let out a disappointed sigh, which earned her a glare from Turak. After, they approached the gate, and the four guards who were lazing about, drinking wine and joking with one another paid them no attention at all. They easily slipped into the city, and were making their way through the streets as though they were all citizens of the empire. Turak paused when they got to a sort of crossroad and started looking around, most likely for a heading of some kind.

  “Where to?” Katrina asked, following Turak’s gaze at some of the corner shops.

  Turak grumbled but ultimately answered. “These Visothian cities are all backward and strange. Let’s split up and meet back here in ten minutes.” He eyed them all, particularly Katrina. “You know what we need. Don’t cause a scene, and keep your heads low; understood?”

  Katrina smiled broadly, nodding, while reaching and grasping Lauren’s hand. “Got it, we’ll see you back here in ten.”

  Lauren seemed about to protest, but was quickly pulled with Katrina away from Turak. Katrina made her way down one of the streets, looking at the various shops and structures on either side. Everyone seemed to be tradesmen of some kind. Builders or peddlers of strange and unfamiliar goods. Finally, Katrina saw something they could use, and a grin appeared on her face.

  “Walla!” Katrina lifted her hands toward the supply shop. “Food, packs, tools. What else could you ask for?”

  “You want to go back and get Turak?” Lauren asked, giving Katrina an amused look.”

  “I guess we could—” she was suddenly overcome with a horrible, and yet very, very, familiar feeling. Her skin began to crawl, and her nose flared at the invasive stench that wafted through the air. Her eyes went wide and they met with Laurens. She too had sensed it, and they both began scanning their surroundings. “A demon is here…” Katrina whispered, more to herself than Lauren.

  “I- I thought it felt… familiar.” The blonde girl replied, doing her best to remain inconspicuous.

  “Yeah, but where the hell is it? It’s gotta be close.” Katrina spat, her eyes darting from person to person. She caught the sight of a Dae, walking down the street, wearing fine clothing, and was surrounded by guards. Unclean energy practically gushed from the man, and the moment she focused on him, he stopped abruptly and went rigid. The man began turning his head toward them, and Katrina looked away quickly. She cursed, glancing toward Lauren, who was staring directly at it. Damn, she thought. Steeling herself for a fight. “Here we go.”

  She fixed her gaze upon it, and squared her shoulders. The Dae’s face melted into a smile of sorts, but it looked wrong.

  “This thing doesn’t leave here alive.” Katrina declared, her voice steady and calm.

  “Agreed.” Lauren seconded

  “How interesting to meet you here… human.” The monster said, causing his guards to also turn their attention to them.

  People in the passing crowd heard the word, and suddenly there was far mor attention than they would have liked.

  “So deep in a foreign land… and away from… your friends.”

  Katrina realized then, that the creature was looking only at Lauren, and not even giving her the time of day. She suddenly remembered what Daniel and Robert had said about a certain level of awakening, and the light they wielded from their Dunem Dae Espea. It rendered them both essentially invisible to even Dio’Mar. This thing doesn’t even know I’m human, she concluded.

  “Kat… what the hell do I do?” Lauren was starting to panic, her eyes glancing at the growing crowd of onlookers.

  “Did he say, ‘human’?” A man asked, garnering a cascade of murmurs and retorts.

  “We can’t fight it here.” Lauren continued, “there are too many people who could get hurt!”

  Katrina let out a frustrated breath, then turned, grabbing Lauren’s hand and starting to run. “We gotta move to a more secluded spot!”

  “We’re in the middle of a city, Kat! Where the hell are we going to find a place like that!?”

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  There was a boom behind them, and screams of terror began ripping through the unseen crowd.

  Lauren slowed slightly, to turn and see what had happened.

  “Don’t look!” Katrina shouted, yanking on her arm. “Just keep moving!”

  Another explosion, this time right behind them. There are still too many people! She fumed. Her eyes scanned the terrified faces they passed, from the looks on them, the demon was right behind them. A massive hand slammed down in front of them, blocking their way. Katrina skid to a halt, ramming into its rancid palm. She bounced back, just as the fingers clasped together into a fist, narrowly escaping being crushed to death. They leapt back, and finally turned to face the creature.

  It had several horns that jutted out of its face and head, that looked more like a thumb than an actual head. The eyes on its face were mismatched milky white. The left was where it should be, and the right sagged down to just below a drooling maw, filled with broken teeth. The demon stood to its full height, Katrina guessed around a hundred feet or so. The body was grotesque and covered in sores and pus-filled boils that undulated and expanded on their own. The sight was jarring to be sure, but Katrina had seen worse, actually. And killed worse.

  “There… you are…” The creature spoke, its vision focused on Lauren. “Lauren… Davidson… your oaths aren’t so easily broken as you might think… You have learned to conceal yourself well…”

  “Hey!” Katrina shouted, lifting her middle finger up toward the monster. “You think she can’t burn your nasty ass to a crisp, huh!? She’s done it before, and she’ll do it again!”

  Lauren seemed to get her composure, and looked at the horrid thing with rage in her eyes. “You want me? Come and get me!”

  The creature let out a wet chuckle, just as the ground started to shake. Then the distinct smell of ozone, followed by the ripple of time and space all around them. Tears in the very fabric of reality began to erupt around them, and just like before, the clawed hands of monsters began to reach out toward freedom.

  “Shit! Turak! We could use some help right now!” Katrina lifted her hands and two blades of pristine make, rose from the ground in front of her. She grasped one, and tossed the other to Lauren. “Take this!”

  “I don’t know how to use this very well!”

  “It doesn’t matter, just swing it at them with the sharp side. Focus on your fire! Burn their asses as they are coming out of those portals!”

  Lauren didn’t hesitate; she lifted her free hand and started blasting the opening portals with her flame. The creatures hissed and wailed as they burned, while Katrina prepared her Dunamis for an area attack.

  Katrina pressed her hands against the pavement of the street, letting her power and consciousness expand into the surrounding area. She had used a similar ability in the battle against the demon hordes. Essentially consecrating the earth beneath them, weakening them with her human abilities. There was an immediate effect, when the massive demon lurched forward, grasping onto a building for support.

  “What… power is this?” The creature’s voice boomed as its unsettling eyes shifted to Katrina. It narrowed them, confusion plastered on its grotesque face. “You are… a Dae? Impossible…”

  Katrina raised her hands, and with them, blades of stone shot from the ground, stabbing into the creature and causing it to scream in pain. The wail echoed throughout the city, but it was music to Katrina’s ears. “You like that!?” She taunted, stomping her foot on the ground, causing a pillar to shoot up, through the thing’s leg and into its abdomen.

  “You are no Dae!” it bellowed, crumpling to one knee.

  “Lauren!” Katrina shouted, and the blonde girl was lifted by a stone platform to a higher vantage point. She held her hands out and let out a defiant roar as orange flames poured from them onto the wounded demon. It writhed in agony screaming in some foreign language.

  “We got you, you piece of shit!” Katrina yelled, the exhilaration of the battle filling her body with power. She felt a jolt of pain in her abdomen, and heard a sickening pop over the roar of the flames. She looked down, and saw a large spike jutting out of her stomach. She stared at it, the shock of the sight not yet processing in her mind. That doesn’t… what the hell? She thought, before she was yanked backwards and thrown through a wall and into the side of one of the buildings. She let out a scream as pain exploded throughout her body.

  “Kat!” She heard Lauren’s muffled voice call after her, followed by a muffled scream.

  “Fuck!” Katrina opened her eyes and glimpsed the wound in her stomach. It was a hole the size of a baseball, and entrails and blood seeped out at an alarming rate. She breathed, closing her eyes, attempting to remember what she learned about self-healing. Dan was really good at it, and at healing others, but the best she had been able to do to herself was stitch a few cuts and heal some bruises. Her specialty was healing others, like Alektor when he was mortally wounded, or even that Vulsung warrior all that time ago. She went into her Dunem Dae Espea, seeing the spiritual and physical damage manifested on a clone of her own body before her. She pressed her hands against herself, willing the flesh to mend, and for the blood to be replaced by her spiritual energy.

  Another scream brought her to her senses, and she opened her eyes only to freeze upon seeing a strange being in front of her. The creature, looked almost like a person, standing just over six feet tall, and with two arms and legs. That’s about where the similarities ended. It had an almost insect like carapace covering its body, and a face that was nearly featureless. It looked like it had a mask of skin, pulled over a skull with no actual orifices.

  “Interesting…” The creature spoke, its voice everywhere at once. It was then that Katrina noticed what it was looking at. It held its clawed index finger and thumb together, rubbing at the red blood that seeped between them. It was her blood; she realized to her horror. “So, you are a human as well… only in disguise. Very clever that you are able to conceal yourself so effectively against us.”

  Katrina gritted her teeth and stood. “You got a lucky hit off, attacking me with my back turned. But you’re gonna pay for that.”

  “So sure of victory are we?” The creature stepped forward, six tentacles stretching from the small of its back. Each one had a vicious claw at the end of it, and Katrina noted the danger and pulled another two swords from the ground.

  “Come on then, asshole. I’ve killed a hundred demons just like you.”

  “I doubt it.” It said, before lunging at her with blinding speed.

  She slashed her swords together, causing a shell of earth to form around her. The claws of the demon bounced off it, and sizzled as they made contact with her power. Another series of strikes launched at her, and each one was deflected by shields she created. She pressed her hands forward, and the shields exploded into thousands of shards of glowing projectiles. The demon growled in pain as each one that struck it, burned with white flame against its body.

  “Foul strength!” It screamed, letting out a guttural roar of defiance.

  Katrina’s eyes widened as hundreds of tentacles burst from its body, flying toward her so fast, she could barely see them. She barely had enough time to protect herself again, but the attack had been too fast. She felt her feet get pierced by several spikes, then her legs, and all the way up her body. She tried to scream, but the pain was too much. Her voice was caught in her throat as she was again, thrashed up and down. She felt another stab, this time through her arm, then her chest, and her neck. Everything was going black, as the blinking image of a claw heading straight for her face was the last thing she saw.

  She closed her eyes, waiting for the strike, but it never came. Instead, she was flung to the ground, and heard muffled screams and shouts. The tentacles were still in her body, but somehow not attached to the demon any longer. She opened her eyes, and saw the creature roar at something else. Lauren? She thought, then saw a jet of water bounce off its chest. Her vision began to clear, and she caught a glimpse of a Dae man fighting the demon, wielding two blades… HER blades. She must have dropped them after getting hit. He was extremely fast, dodging every attack the demon launched at him. He flowed like water, his movements precise and perfect. Using her stone blades to cut and slash every tentacle that was within its range.

  “I’ll get Katrina! Help Lauren!” The man bellowed, and several more people responded with a shout.

  Suddenly, the shock of the entire ordeal came to a halt, and clarity hit her like a bucket of ice-water. Turak was fighting the thing, using her weapons against it. She looked down at her mangled body, every limb and vital part seemingly butchered by the blades and claws. How the fuck am I still alive? She thought, before closing her eyes and falling into her Dunem Dae Espea. She saw the wounds of her body and was nauseated. Is that me? She shook her head, unsure if anything could bring her back or heal her from such horrific wounds. She focused on the foreign objects still lodged within her. The demon tentacles were not spiritual energy, but a foul mockery of her own energy it felt like.

  She pressed her hands against them, feeling how she could remove them or even convert them. She could still faintly hear the fight just outside of her consciousness. She knew that was impossible, as time essentially stopped for the outside world, or sped up in some cases while she was in here. She wasn’t sure how to control that yet. She forced her will into the objects, trying to force them out of her. They nudged a bit, then with a sickening pop, all exited her at once. She quickly used as much power as she could to heal herself. Calling upon every bit of reserve she could muster. Her chest and neck stitched together, but she could tell they weren’t completely back to normal.

  A roar pulled her from her concentration, as black blood sprayed all over her face. She blinked seeing Turak slash again and again at the beast, cleaving limbs and tentacles from it like he was a reaper on harvest day.

  The demon slumped against the wall of the ruined building, gasping for air as the final swing sliced its head from its shoulders.

  Turak didn’t waste any time; he was by her side in a second. “Kat, can you hear me!?” He asked, his face a mask of fear.

  Katrina coughed, blood bubbling up and out of her mouth. She was trying to say something cool and witty, but she must have looked like she was dying even faster. Fail… she thought, again trying to signal that she would live.

  “By the spirits…” He shook his head in horror. “Kat, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t get here in time. Look what that monster did to you. Alektor was right, I never should have brought either of you along.”

  She managed to lift her hand and place it on his. She gave it a squeeze and tried to say. “I’m alright. Don’t worry, I’ll survive. Help Lauren, she needs you.” But~ She just heaved more blood and gagged on it.

  Eslan ran from around the corner of the wall, skidding to a halt when he saw her. “By the spirits…” he eeked, before giving his report. “The other demon is dead. Spirit-Sent Lauren was able to kill it while we assisted her. There are warriors coming, and there is blood everywhere—”

  “We must get out of here.” Turak cut him off, then reached down to pick Katrina up in his arms. “Tell Lauren to burn any residue she can find of Katrina’s or her blood. We can’t let the Visothians know there are humans in their territory. They will do everything they can to find them.”

  Katrina felt her body get lifted, and she was suddenly a bit uncomfortable being carried in such a way. She felt like a little kid, being carried off to bed. Oh well, she thought, cursing her own arrogance when fighting the creature. If only she had been a little faster.

  ~

  Katrina opened her eyes again, a small firelight blinding her momentarily. She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep exactly, or if it was her exhaustion or just sheer blood loss. Either way, human durability and grit persevered again; go humans. She tried to sit up, but was immediately halted by the agonizing pain that shot through her body.

  “Don’t move.” She heard the gruff voice of Turak call, just outside of her vision. “You creatures… are so hard to kill. It’s actually comical how much punishment you people can take before you actually die.”

  “You should see the other guy…” Katrina croaked, her chest seizing as she let out a weak laugh at her own dumb joke.

  Turak was silent as he processed her first words to him besides blood-filled gurgles and burps. And then he laughed, “you mean the guy who ‘I’ killed?”

  “Yup… thanks for that by the way.” She winced. “So, where are we?”

  “We managed to get back to the cave we used this morning, just outside the city.” He poured a bowl of stew from the fire and came to sit next to her. “We’re hiding here, until you’re well enough to move.” He looked at her body again, and she tilted her head to inspect the damage after her healing session.

  It was still pretty bad, but she didn’t feel much pain, and at least her limbs were all facing the right directions, so that was a plus. He held out a spoon, filled with meat and broth and brought it to her mouth. She smirked, then opened her mouth up for him, tasting the delicious meal as it soothed her wrecked body.

  “Great…” She started with a smile. “First, you carry me out of there like a baby, now you’re feeding me like one. I’ll never live this down.”

  “You’ll survive.” He chuckled, “after all, you did save Alektor’s life, and didn’t gloat. I might or might not follow your example.”

  “Someone’s got jokes.” She laughed, wincing again. “Here I thought you and Alektor were both incapable of something so… human? Dae?”

  Turak smirked, feeding her another couple bites before placing the bowl down. “Get some rest. You need to heal yourself as fast as you can, so we can get back on track. I don’t know how long Cato’s son will wait for us at the meeting place, but it won’t be forever.”

  “Will you feed me again?” She chuckled.

  “I hope you were able to archive that in your memory.” He said as he stood, “because it will never happen again.”