Unease settled across Ashen rock and still waters. The cold sun gave no comfort as the inhabitants of the Ashen Canyon began to make their first moves.


    While the crypt keepers honed in on their targets and Maria''s crew set up their defenses, two lone women stepped onto the stage of confrontation. Avery Opazyr was dripping with murderous intent, ready to avenge the perceived fall of her clansman Lucy, while Crypt Keeper Nulara stood bolstered by hatred, staring down the embodiment of what she despised.


    "You''re saying you''ve done something to my little Lucy? Why don''t you tell me all about it over your dying breath!" hissed Avery. Power radiated from her form, mana leaked from every pore of her skin.


    Nulara could feel the difference in their power. Avery was far stronger than Lucy, but that did not bother the Crypt Keeper in the slightest. She made easy work of the lesser Opazyr, so this should have been nothing more than a marginal challenge.


    "I''ll be sure to tell you all the details on your way out, you pale freak!" Nulara bared her wolfish grin, egging the knight into action with an impatient sway.


    "Are you jealous? Pale skin marks a superior lady, after all, free of imperfections." The stark outline of a smile pierced through Avery''s obscured form.


    With each step the knight took, the air became more intolerable for Nulara. Avery''s presence was suffocating, but the Crypt Keeper was far too annoyed with Avery''s comment on skin tone. "Just come at me!"


    The next step brought Avery right in front of Nulara''s face. It surprised her,  but she didn''t try to make sense of it. She focused on adjusting her guard. The force of the blow embedded her feet into the rock, causing the land to cry out in pain. Nulara struggled to push the knight off of her, using all her might to practically throw Avery back.


    Avery was quick to attack again, this time appearing at her side with a horizontal swipe aimed at her neck. Nulara parried it to the side, backing up to create distance.  Avery''s speed was astounding, but as long as Nulara didn''t overthink the situation, she could respond just in the nick of time.


    Avery approached again, appearing at Nulara''s left-hand side in an instant, but Nulara predicted her movements and swung her scythe to catch the knight in mid-motion, only to hit an afterimage, but she didn''t falter. Nulara continued the arc of her attack, shuffling her handle between hands in a fluid motion for a clean three hundred-and-sixty-degree cleave, or at least it would have done so if it hadn''t been stopped by a Shield directly behind her.


    Nulara didn''t think about the fact that her opponent was behind her back. She merely twisted herself into a twirl, spinning into Avery''s shield hand as a powerful thrust barely missed her torso. She grabbed the knight''s hand, pouring her mana into a strong grip to keep her locked down.


    "Impressive girl. You''ve got good instincts." Avery growled.


    "And you''re pretty fast. But speed won''t be enough!" Barked Nulara. She began to overload the mana in her hand, creating a physical outpour of volatile energy. She was making a bomb that could potentially blow them both into unrecognizable chunks.


    Avery looked surprised by the play, but she was not afraid. She pumped her mana directly into her muscles and lifted the crypt keeper off the ground with ease. With a snappy, whip-like motion, she shook the redhead''s grip loose and bashed her face in with her shield while she was still airborne. The resulting force sent her flying into the rocky cliffs that lined the pathways. Ash and spirits poured out in a wretched, screaming mass that obscured the scene.


    Avery didn''t wait for the dust to settle; she charged forth, her sword full of mana as she thrust it exactly where she saw Nulara hit the wall. Her blade failed to penetrate any flesh, and a large rush of weeping souls flooded over her.


    "What the hell are these?" She cried.


    Avery was distracted for only a moment, and Nulara was keen to take advantage of any perceived weakness. She appeared behind the knight with her feet planted firm and her scythe cocked as far back as good form would allow. "Like wheat~" she sang, she drove her scythe into her side, intending to cleave her right in half.


    Avery ripped her sword out of the wall and flipped it into reverse grip just in time. The blade of the scythe met her sword with a violent clash of steel. She had saved herself from getting cut in two, but Avery''s form was compromised.


    Nulara pressed her advantage, she pushed to knock Avery off her feet. The knight resisted as best as she could, but her position was just too poor, and Nulara was applying so much pressure that any attempt to move would have compromised her entirely. So she stood her ground and forced the crypt keeper to use more and more strength.


    Avery focused her mana on her blade, torso area, and legs, ensuring her safety for the inevitable moment when she lost the struggle, but she was not completely without a plan.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    When Avery felt like Nulara had applied just the right amount of force, she gave up on her footing entirely. Within an instant, the knight was snatched off her feet and sent flying as Nulara''s strength catapulted her down the trail. Nulara stumbled and struggled to keep herself upright, not expecting Avery to simply give in to her strength.


    Avery was able to come to a rolling stop, landing on her hands and knees in a perfect position to launch herself back into action. The sound that came from her launch was nothing short of thunderous. She barreled towards Nulara with her shield raised, crashing into a stalwart guard.  She pushed Nulara back to the stream''s bank, kicking up dust and haze as her feet dragged the entire time.


    The Crypt Keeper was losing ground, but she wasn''t ready to give up yet.  A scythe was hooked by its very nature, and most people weren''t aware of the strange benefits that it could bring. Even as Nulara was being forced to hold her guard, her blade had a free path to her opponent.


    With one swift action, she put her boot to the shield and ripped her scythe away from the deadlock. Avery recognized the dire situation she was in and threw out her blade to catch the incoming attack. Once again, she was in a compromising position.


    Nulara put pressure on her shield with her boot and continued to try and rake in her scythe with Avery caught in the middle. The large power gap was the only reason Avery was not already cut in half.


    Avery roared with all the might of a wild tiger. She used brute strength to lift the scythe up just enough to duck underneath it. Without resistance to anchor her, Nulara stumbled once more. Scrambling, she picked herself up as fast as her wits would allow.


    It was not fast enough.


    First, she saw the impish, twisted smile carved from ear to ear, and then the sting of cold metal shocked her senses as Avery slammed her shield across her jaw.


    Her head spun, and her body followed. Nulara couldn''t even muster up a thought. She was helpless as she fell to the ground, limbs splayed out with no ability to catch herself. She found herself on the floor, dazed and confused. She couldn''t even catch her breath as Avery sat on her chest and drove her blade into her stomach.


    Nulara let out a weak groan of pain. Everything was fuzzy, and it showed no signs of improvement. She could hardly hear the Opazyr knight speak over the overwhelming feeling of creeping death.


    "So, what did you do to my clansman? You might as well fess up since you''re going to die anyway~" sang Avery. She leaned in close, her smile widening with genuine amusement as she listened to her struggle to breathe.


    Nulara coughed up blood, a silent fury building her eyes like a distant flame. Avery was content to watch this struggle until she passed away, even if it took all day.


    Nulara balled her fist in defiance. She gathered up her strength for one final act, as well as some final words. "Lucy was pitiful! The Opazyr are a failure of a noble family!" She rasped, slamming her fist into the ground and driving her mana deep into the earth. The resulting explosion flooded a massive wave of lost souls, forming a raging tide. They raced towards the heavens, with no care for what stood between them and the sky.


    Avery was forced to back off or be swept up in the current. Meanwhile, Nulara had no such luck. Her body was flung towards the clouds at rapid speed. She felt the wind kiss her skin for what she was sure would be her final moments.


    But at the apex of her airborne journey, a pair of sharp claws grabbed her like helpless prey. A large bird, mutated by Descension, had grabbed hold of her body and flew off with it.


    Avery chuckled to herself, shielding her eyes from the rising sun as she watched the girl get carried off by a wild beast. "What an ironic ending for such a crude woman. Live like an animal, die like one."


    She put her bloodied sword back in her holster with one elegant motion. She stretched lazily as if she had just finished some menial task. "Alright, that was a good warm-up. Back to looking for little Lucy. Hopefully, she''s not too banged up... That woman wore a different set of robes from those mages. I wonder if any of her kind are around. I can interrogate them for more information." She let out a heavy sigh, She had to have faith that Lucy was still around, even if it was starting to seem like self-delusion.


    Nulara drifted in and out of consciousness. She watched her blood drip into the blurry gray expanse beneath her, the wind filling her ears and thoughts, soothing her frantic mind into acceptance. "This is it... Huh..."


    A deep voice resonated from the bird. "Don''t die on me yet, Nulara of Gohalé."


    The way the voice touched Nulara''s soul was unmistakable. "Azylith?" Groaned the fading warrior.


    "Yes, it''s me. If you can cling to life for just a little longer, I might have a deal for you."


    "A deal with a Descended? I guess I have nothing to lose," huffed Nulara. She knew that her time was ticking to an end, but she figured she could cling to her mortal shell for about an hour. "I''ll hang on for just a little longer. Don''t let me fall asleep."


    "Noted. I''ll fly a little rough if I have to."


    Azylith''s bird flew with reckless abandon, creating a rough flight that wouldn''t allow Nulara to slip into her final rest. Her blood dripped over the Ashen Canyon, where the stones sucked it up like a dehydrated dog.


    Below, the Purlikin duo of Naesha and Katelyn sat posted outside of their cave, masked by a spell of invisibility. Naesha had drifted asleep from the hours of inactivity, and Katelyn was faring no better. She was fighting a losing battle, constantly drifting into slumber for minutes at a time before finding the fortitude to wake herself up.


    If it wasn''t for the splash of blood hitting her forehead, she would have missed the sight of blue robes silently creeping up on their entrance. She jolted awake, shaking Naesha harshly but silently. The hot-headed mage shot awake in a frenzy. She was going to cry out in confusion, but her eyes managed to find the reason for her slumber being disturbed.


    Katelyn quickly charged up her mana, planning to use her current invisibility to her advantage. She took aim at one of the crypt keepers and shot out a magical bolt of sickly green energy.


    Even with the element of surprise against them, the Crypt Keepers were too sharp for such a simple surprise attack. They dispersed as the bolt crashed into the cliffside, looking at the source of the shot only to find no one.


    "Who''s there!" Barked Hiri.


    She was met with no response.


    The Purlikin duo knew that attacking from behind their invisibility was their only way of securing victory. Their colleagues were trusting them to keep enemies at bay, and they would pull every slime dog tactic to make sure that trust was upheld.