The Narmittari lunged at him with terrifying speed, her claws wreathed in flickering flames.

  “üvma Javlura!” Lucius shouted sharply. A rippling wall of ice-infused force manifested between them, catching her mid-swipe. Sparks flew as flame collided with frost, releasing a hiss of steam that billowed outward.

  ‘Such power,’ he thought grimly. ‘Even wounded, she is formidable.’

  “Wait! She’s Sorcha’s mom!” Elysha shouted from above, desperately hoping her words would reach him. But her voice was drowned out by the chaos of the moment. She felt a wave of fear wash over her. ‘They’re fighting…!’

  “Hah—!” the Narmittari snarled, driving her claws deeper into the barrier. With another burst of power, she shattered it. Lucius darted sideways, wand flicking in a swift motion to hurl a concentrated beam of theonum at her exposed flank.

  She yelped, stumbling under the impact, but still refused to fall. Lucius took the opportunity to launch a second, more direct attack. Without uttering his incantation, he fired a direct attack at her—aimed squarely at her chest.

  “Ghhh—!” the Narmittari choked out, twisting her body. At the last instant, she vanished into the veil of the swirling fog, leaving only a faint trail of black fluid behind.

  Lucius skidded to a halt, wand at the ready, every sense alert. “… Shit,” he cursed under his breath, eyes flicking to every shadow. ‘This situation has gone from bad to worse.’

  Without wasting any more time on his thoughts, he forced himself to focus and scan the foggy ruins. The oppressive whiteness pressed in from all sides, every nearby tree, pillar, and shattered archway casting mocking silhouettes. The air felt electric, charged with theonum and the raw fury of the Narmittari.

  He could sense her presence moving around him—a flash of movement in the corner of his eye, the faint scraping of claws on stone. The swirling white continued to obscure any flicker of movement.

  Lucius raised his wand to cast more spells without an incantation, but despite his aim, the blasts cut harmlessly through the thick fog.

  From within the opaque whiteness, mocking voices echoed all around him—each overlapping, distorted by the swirl of theonum-laced air:

  “—I hate you.”

  “—how dare you do this to me?”

  “—I thought we were friends?!”

  They seemed to come from all directions at once, amplified by the thick fog. Lucius gritted his teeth and spun to avoid being caught off guard.

  Suddenly, a figure lunged at him from behind, claws outstretched in an arc. He barely dodged, feeling the rush of air and heat as he jerked away.

  “Tch—!” he hissed, forced to back away.

  “üvma Boraija!” he uttered swiftly, encasing himself in a shimmering field of protective theonum. The air around him crackled with icy sparks as the barrier took shape. Almost at the same moment, the Narmittari burst from the fog again, her jaws snapping inches from his wand arm.

  “—!”

  Lucius leaped back at the last moment, sharp fangs slicing through the empty air. Heart pounding, he struck back—an explosive, ice-infused beam erupted from his wand like a roaring torrent of frost, driving the Narmittari back in a burst of freezing shards and steam.

  He seized the opportunity to turn and run, his boots crunching over the broken stones. Even a short distance could buy him precious seconds to reassess or maneuver.

  From behind him, the Narmittari let out a grating laugh that reverberated through the ruins.

  “HA HAHA HAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU CANNOT RUN FROM ME!!! I WILL HUNT YOU AND THAT BASTARD DEMON DOWN AND KILL YOU LIKE TWO RUNAWAY RATS!!”

  Lucius’s breath came in ragged gasps. Every instinct told him that facing her head-on in this foggy maze would be a death wish. Despite her injuries, her speed and strength were immense—and her mind, clouded by pain and madness, made her unpredictable.

  ‘I cannot continue to expend my energy like this,’ he thought. ‘I need a strategy to end this as soon as possible.’

  He looked up to catch a glimpse of Elysha and Fjorja, to make sure they were out of harm’s way. The swirling white left only the faintest outline of the sky. He couldn’t see them. ‘At least they’re not here to get caught in the crossfire.’

  A vicious growl sounded to his left, snapping his focus back. Lucius turned to the right, wand at the ready. Another wave of scorching heat billowed as the Narmittari slashed her claws across a mossy pillar, smashing it with shocking ease and sending fragments flying in a spray of stone.

  The Narmittari prowled within the haze, red eyes gleaming. “Don’t run,” she snarled, “Face me! Or are you a coward, like that demon you’re protecting?”

  “I am not protecting any demon,” Lucius shot back. “But I cannot let an unstable anomaly roam in this forest.”

  She let out a ragged laugh. “Yes, you are—haha! Stop wasting my time looking for him, HAHA! My mind is so full of rage, my wrath, and my WILL to tear down anyone who gets in my way!”

  Lucius glanced around his surroundings. For a split second, he questioned whether if he would make it out of this fog alive. The swirling whiteness cloaked everything, making it almost impossible to see more than a few steps ahead—an advantage for the Narmittari, whose reflexes and strength still exceeded his, despite her wounds.

  But before he could formulate a plan, the Narmittari let out a guttural roar and charged straight at him.

  Acting on instinct, Lucius unleashed a concentrated blast directly at her. The force exploded between them, hurling shards of icy wind. But she pressed on, braving the biting cold, slamming into him with ferocious force.

  He stumbled back, theonum sparks dancing across his coat. His feet nearly slipped on the damp debris. He turned his eyes and saw her claws—flaming and razor-sharp—slashing straight for his face.

  “—!”

  A split-second flash of white filled his vision. The next thing he saw was Fjorja swooping in, her talons extended, shoving the Narmittari’s attack off course.

  Snarling, the Narmittari responded by twisting her head and opening her fangs to bite the talons that clawed at her, but Fjorja responded by opening her beak and unleashing a concentrated jet of water. The swirling haze sizzled upon contact with theonum-laced flames. At that opening, Lucius hurled an ice-infused explosion at the Narmittari’s flank.

  *boom*

  She reeled back, wreathed in flames—but clearly still enraged. Fjorja let go and spun around, giving Lucius a sharp look before crouching low and inviting him to climb onto her back.

  In one swift motion, he leapt onto Fjorja’s back, and she took flight, carrying him out of the Narmittari’s reach. As they ascended, Lucius noticed that the thick fog above them was not thinning, almost as if it would go on endlessly.

  “Fjorja—where is Elysha?” he asked, his breath catching with the effort.

  “... She’s safe on one of the treetops near the neshev?d.”

  Lucius’s shoulders sagged. “Good,” he managed, eyes still on the swirling mist.

  “... Should we pick her up and leave, maybe call Cecil for backup?”

  “I can’t let that anomaly run free unwatched,” he said. “And I don’t need her help. If that’s an option, it’s—” he paused before continuing. “I’ll handle her.”

  She growled low in her throat, “... It is in your mental weakness to take on work alone and refuse to cooperate with another.”

  Lucius simply furrowed his brow. “I know it’s a flaw, but I have no choice—she’s my responsibility or else the disturbances spreads further. Not only that, your help is enough for—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, the imbalance in the environment spiked. The swirling mist churned violently, making both Lucius and Fjorja recoil in with sudden dizziness. Their surroundings blurred; the air itself seemed to twist.

  “Tch—what now?” Lucius spat, fighting the vertigo.

  A savage roar store through the night. The Narmittari appeared in mid-jump, her massive form sailing from the trees below. She opened her jaws and unleashed a searing fireball into the sky with unholy precision.

  “Fjorja! Dodge!” he shouted, but the warning came too late. The fiery projectile struck Fjorja in the side of her body.

  “Kreeaaah!” she screamed in pain, her wingbeats faltering under the sudden burst of heat and force. Her control was lost. She tried to level herself, but the shock and pain of the blow sent her spiraling downward. A second wave of dizziness hit Lucius. He lost his grip and they both tumbled through the canopy, breaking branches and scattering leaves. The descent ended in a crash on the forest floor, dust and debris swirling around them.

  Lucius coughed, choking on the swirling dirt as he forced himself to sit up. His entire body ached from the impact, and Fjorja’s distressed groan reached his ears.

  “Fjorja…” he coughed again, pushing himself up to check on her. He pressed a gentle hand to her wounded flank. The scalding burn of the flames left charred feathers and body.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She let out a weak croon. She was alive, but definitely too injured to fly again anytime soon. The dizziness and disorientation from the increased imbalance hindered his mental clarity. He looked around and saw a neshev?d statue, realizing that they had fallen into the same area he had been in before.

  “That was quite a fall,” a mocking voice echoed through the clearing.

  Lucius turned himself around, wand raised. The Narmittari stepped forward, her blazing eyes fixed on the pair. Though she limped, blood and black ooze dripping from her own wounds, her spirit remained unbroken.

  “Hmph,” she snarled, baring gleaming fangs. “You can’t run from me, rat.” The madness flared in her eyes. “This game of hunting will end here…”

  Lucius straightened his stance, ignoring the throbbing pain in his ribs. “Fjorja’s in no shape to escape from here.”

  ‘And neither am I, to be honest…’

  Still, the Narmittari advanced—one slow, deliberate step at a time—like a predator cornering a wounded prey.

  “You’re out of time,” she growled. “I will make you taste my pain before you die.”

  Lucius steadied himself, the tip of his wand beginning to glow faintly. His heart thundered in his chest. He quickly scanned the area, desperate for any advantage. His eyes fell again on the nearby neshev?d statue, the revered image of Asnoiji, half-hidden by vines.

  The Asnoiji…

  A sudden idea flashed through Lucius’s mind. ‘Perhaps if…’

  Before Lucius could move, the Narmittari seized the initiative and lunged at him.

  He raised his wand and shouted, “Il tersem-ra!”

  The unleashed force created a multitude of ice walls that tried to give him distance and time to stagger his way to the neshev?d statue.

  “Rrgh…!”

  “Haaarrr…!!!”

  With an explosive burst of flame, the ice wall quickly melted, and she lunged at Lucius once more.

  “—!”

  He jumped back to avoid her slashing talons. However, the tip of her claws sliced across his arm.

  “Agh—!” Lucius grunted, pain erupting as her claws pierced the barrier of conjured theonum. Blood stained his sleeve, the barrier shattering under the sheer force of her attack.

  He gritted his teeth, biting back a cry. ‘I must endure…’ he told himself. There was no time to dwell on the wound—her next blow could be fatal.

  “Lucius!”

  The Narmittari stopped and jerked her head around, ears pricked at the sound.

  “Oh? Did I hear something?” she wondered, her voice dripping with suspicion. Her gaze swept the debris-strewn area.

  Lucius’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘Elysha?’

  He used the brief distraction to catch his breath and clamped a hand over the bleeding gash in his arm. Blood stained his sleeve, and every throbbing of pain, as well as the growing disorientation in his head, reminded him how close he was to collapsing.

  At the same time, Fjorja’s eyes opened and she regained consciousness. She took in the sight of the Narmittari and Lucius next to each other, and her nose caught the familiar smell of blood. Despite her injuries and disorientation, she forced herself to stand and let out a loud trill.

  “Gaaajjjaaaakkk!!!”

  The Narmittari paused and turned her attention to Fjorja.

  Fjorja managed to speak, her voice shaking, “... Why… Why are you spreading torment to the forest?!”

  The Narmittari made a bitter laugh. “Torment? It’s the demon’s doing—the distortion fissure, the instability! Haha! I tried to seal it, but he attacked me first. He left me with these wounds!”

  Fjorja could tell from the unknown theonum type that her body and black ooze were dripping from her flank.

  The Narmittari continued, “Look at me… no ‘allies’ would hunt me down like you do if they truly wanted to help.”

  “We… are not allied with any demon,” she insisted, fighting the dizziness. “We were only trying to stop the instability from growing. You are fueling the forest’s imbalance.”

  “Lies!” the Narmittari roared, flame crackling around her claws. “Friends do not strike me and question my loyalty. This is my forest, my people—my children—whom I serve. I was created by the love of the Asnoiji to protect them. Now, get out of my way before I tear you to pieces!”

  Her devotion ran so deep that it twisted into a bitter edge of madness. But her words were enough to buy Lucius precious seconds. Step by painful step he staggered towards the neshev?d statue and hid himself behind it, hoping the Narmittari wouldn’t discover his position.

  The Narmittari, however, grew impatient. “I’ve wasted enough time.”

  She glanced around and noticed that Lucius was no longer in sight, prompting a new wave of anger. “Enough stalling,” she snapped, her red eyes locked on Fjorja. “How about I’ll kill you first instead.”

  Behind the neshev?d statue, Lucius struggled with the loss of blood and the disorienting nature of his mental state. Still, he pressed one hand against the base of the statue and raised his wand with the other.

  He closed his eyes.

  ‘This must work…’

  He began to chant.

  “Ijaht ven’ll frh?rlys ot ji-Asnoiji, ijavleu ji-Almi di Toirija-ka ot latkra anranj ji andeja ni asven ‘naasulvém‘jita-ka!” (“With thy faith to the Asnoiji, allow the Will of Creation to bring about the end of this instability!”)

  The spell reverberated through his body, channeling a surge of power into the statue. Its ancient carvings glowed faintly under his touch, as if awakening from a long slumber. Then, all at once, a beam of intense energy erupted from the statue itself, cutting through the white mist.

  The Narmittari lurched forward, claws ready to tear into Fjorja. But the beam hit her square in the back, sending her staggering several feet.

  “Aah—?!”

  She let out a pained shriek, her claws digging into the ground for balance.

  Lucius watched as the statue crumbled, cracks spreading across its surface. The Narmittari’s eyes widened in alarm.

  “NO!!!” she howled, her voice cracking with desperation. Abandoning her attack on Fjorja, she rushed towards the teetering monument, trying in vain to keep it from collapsing completely.

  “No… not yet! Please wait a little longer. Don’t disappear yet. I beg you!” the Narmittari pleaded, pressing against the stone in a futile effort. Lucius could only stare, his heart pounding at her desperate cries. But the statue continued to crumble, slabs of rock falling away until a crystal within was exposed, shimmering with a hint of the Asnoiji’s power.

  Lucius grabbed it, clutching its faceted form.

  A venomous aura exploded from the Narmittari, a wave of malice and despair enveloping the clearing. Her eyes locked onto Lucius, seething with hate. “The Asnoiji—! The Asnoiji will save me! He will save this sacred forest! But you—” She pointed a quivering claw at him. “You destroyed it! It’s too late now! You’ve done irreparable damage! We will never see the light of divine peace again—NEVER AGAIN!!!”

  With that last cry of rage, she charged at him in a frenzy.

  Lucius kept his composure. He felt the power of the fragment seep into his body, a surge of Asnoiji’s energy that made his blood sing and his wounded arm burn with pain. But it also gave him a feeling of near weightlessness, as if he were being guided by something far greater than himself.

  He steadied his wand. “There is no way to cure the curse you bear,” he said, pointing it directly at her. “However, the power of the Lord will allow me to put you to rest.”

  “Impossible!” she roared, shaking her head violently, refusing to accept the reality of the situation. Her breath grew ragged, her form convulsing with wild, pulsing energy. “It can’t end like this! The Asnoiji… He— He must…”

  The color drained from her body, the curse raging within her consuming what strength she had left. A sickly pallor washed over her once fierce appearance. “Asnoiji, help me… I need your help…”

  Lucius gritted his teeth. He felt the divine power surging upward from the ground, fueling one final spell. Pain flared white-hot in his wounded arm, but he forced the wave of magic forward, releasing it in a flood of shimmering light.

  he unleashed force slammed into the Narmittari, knocking her off her feet. She soared backward, crashing into the surrounding trees with a deafening thud. The white fog that had choked the clearing swirled into disarray, mixing with a dark, colorless liquid that spewed outward from her body.

  For an instant, her flaming aura flickered—then died. The chaotic swirl of mist dissipated, revealing her limp figure half-buried in shattered bark and scorched earth.

  ~ ??? ~

  The clearing was silent.

  Pieces of the crumbled statue lay scattered around Lucius, who had fallen to his knees, gasping for air. The crystal fragment that had once glowed with the Asnoiji’s power faded in his hand, its energy depleted. A streak of blood smeared his cheek, and his coat was tattered and stained from the fierce battle.

  For a long moment, he stared at the spot where the Narmittari had crashed, wondering if her violent rampage had truly ended. Gradually, the white fog began to recede, drifting away like a receding tide.

  Lucius turned his attention to Fjorja, who stood shakily, each breath struggling from her wounds. Pushing himself upright, though his entire body ached, he staggered over to her.

  “Fjorja,” he managed, voice rasping from exhaustion, “how bad is it?”

  A weak trill escaped Fjorja’s beak before she spoke, “... My wounds are not life-threatening, but I need time and proper treatment to recover.”

  “Will you still be able to fly?”

  Fjorja shook her head slowly. “... I am not certain if I could fly again so soon, but it is my responsibility to bring Elysha back from the treetops as soon as the forest is safe again.” Then, she added, “Lucius… we must leave this place as soon as we can. Even though the fog is lifting, the imbalance will corrupt our minds if we stay here for too long.”

  She looked at him with concern. His arm was bleeding where the Narmittari’s claws had raked it, and the dullness in his eyes suggested that he was no better off than she was. “... More importantly… are you okay?”

  Lucius waved off her concern with a grimace. “I can ignore it as long as the adrenaline keeps me upright.” He forced a humorless smile, even though the dizziness swirling in his mind hadn’t improved.

  Fjorja let out a worried croak, “But you were touched by her claws—the aura and infection she carried was unknown. If that corruption seeps into your wound—”

  “I’ll manage until we arrived back at the medical tents,” he cut in. “Let me see if there’s any healing salve left in your saddlebags.”

  He moved to Fjorja’s side and with trembling fingers searched through the pouches strapped behind her. Meanwhile, she swayed, fighting her own disorientation—

  “—!”

  Her head whipped up at a faint sound from where the Narmittari had fallen. “Lucius—!” Fjorja hissed, her voice dripping with alarm.

  Lucius snapped his gaze toward the battered spot amidst the broken trees. Incredibly, the Narmittari was stirring within the thinning fog. Her figure loomed, battered and bloodied, but impossibly still standing albeit without her flames.

  “Damn it,” Lucius cursed under his breath, a pulse of anxiety stabbing through his gut. “Even with the borrowed power of that neshev?d, the chosen leader of the Narttis still stands.”

  He tried to sense if any shred of Asnoiji’s power from the crystal remained in him. However the energy was gone, leaving him in no better shape than before.

  Fjorja hissed softly in dismay. “Lucius, give me the salve, and I’ll try to escape upwards.”

  Her voice quavered; they both knew she might not make it far in her condition. Before Lucius could uncap the bottle, a voice suddenly cried out from behind the shattered undergrowth.

  “—momma!”

  Lucius and Fjorja tensed, hardly believing what they heard. Even the Narmittari, ready to attack again, stopped at the unexpected sound. Her red eyes darted toward the bushes.

  But the call rang out again— this time accompanied by more voices, more desperate:

  “Mother! Please stop!”

  “We’re here for you!”

  “Come back to us!”

  On the other side of the clearing, figures emerged from the undergrowth. They were all her adult children, along with the youngest, who wore a pink dress and ribbons. Tears glistened in her amber eyes. She took in the sight of the monstrous, battered, wolf-like figure with trembling disbelief.

  “M-Momma…?”

  All of her children were stunned and shocked at the state of her appearance.

  For a long moment, the Narmittari stood transfixed. Her once fiery appearance had faded, leaving only tattered fur and oozing wounds. But at the sight of her children, her seething hatred flickered with something else—remorse, sorrow…

  “I’m sorry… my children…” she managed, her voice cracking and weak.

  Then, with the last of her strength, she disappeared into the depths of the forest.