I hadn't had any time to mentally prepare myself before Cassius lunged from the thick wall of roots. His six spindly, bone-white limbs were all needle-sharp edges and nightmarish grace as the spider-like bandit leader used them, along with his full weight, to bear down on the nearest victim. Mauri, being the closest to the edge of the pit, had no choice but to dive to one side in a frantic roll. It almost wasn't enough to save her, despite her lightning-quick reaction.

The moment Cassius landed, he flicked one of the limbs out toward Mauri just as she came out of her rolling dodge. Caught off guard, Mauri only just managed to bring her blade up in time to knock aside a stab aimed directly at her throat. She would've had to fend off another strike if not for Burkin deciding to jump in at that moment on Cassius' other side. Somehow the burly man had been able to get his buckler hefted onto the arm not already wielding the shortsword despite his pulverized hand.

Bringing his buckler up to block a surprise jab at his face from another of the spidery legs, Burkin pressed forward and swung at the offending limb with a bellowing battle cry. The man was shockingly fast for his size, but Cassius was faster still, jerking the leg back before it could be lopped off. More limbs struck out as Havik joined the fray. The blonde warrior rushed in with a vicious snarl, batting aside two more limbs with her targe shield before deftly slipping under the stabbing appendages and thrusting forward with her pale white blade.

The attack was meant to take Cassius in the chest, but the monstrous bandit leader leveraged his remaining two arachnoid limbs to yank himself out of range of Havik's assault. In a blur of motion, he pulled all his legs back and crouched low before leaping away and back onto the wall, where he eyed each of us in turn with what felt like an assessing gaze on his cracked and oozing mask of a face.

The entire exchange only took a handful of seconds, during which I realized then that I didn't belong here—not in a fight like this. I had magic, sure. I had powerful telekinesis and another spell I hadn't even used yet, both facts I'd completely forgotten when my mind went blank in the brief chaos, but I was no warrior. Not really. Every time I was consumed by madness, I just let my bloodlust take over and my body did the rest.

Now? Now my violent insanity was nowhere to be seen, and I was thankful for that, but without it, I'd locked up. Despite my magic. despite my unnatural strength and recovery. Despite the fact that I was one of these so-called legendary Spellblade wielders. Despite all of that, I was no warrior. Not only was I not a fighter, I was the literal Princess of Friendship in a past life. Someone like that didn't belong on a battlefield, and that became horrifyingly clear to me as I watched the brief but violent exchange.

I can't do this...

The thought came unbidden, my fear and doubt so suddenly overwhelming that I didn't even notice as the magic enveloping my hands winked out.

I can't do this... I can't...

I looked from the other three, whose intense gazes were all locked on the abomination Cassius had become, to Cassius himself. My heart skipped a beat and I flinched as my eyes met Cassius' own. He watched me, pulling his attention away from the others to stare directly at me. I couldn't read the expression on his porcelain mask-like features at first, and for a long second, we just stared at each other.

And then something in his face shifted. His stiff, dispassionate features didn't change, but his face suddenly moved, as if something beneath it were squirming about. More of that dark grey pus bubbled out of the cracks in his ceramic veneer and just for an instant, I could've sworn the man smiled.

And suddenly I was back in the cabin, the stench of blood and some horrid eldritch foulness permeating the air as I stood helpless, terrified, horrified, body numb and staring death in the face even as it grinned back at me. Bile threatened to rise from my stomach as terror and confusion and a cold and bitter rage I couldn't explain or comprehend all warred within me, vying for my attention.

It's happening again, isn't it?

I can feel myself falling away again, down into that bubbling madness.

I don't want to... I don't want to... but I can't do this... I can't—

"Amethyst!"

The world snapped back into focus and I cried out as I was violently shoved off my feet. The last thing I saw before I was sent sprawling near Cassius' office was a brief flash of steel and a spray of dark ooze. A loud hiss of what might've been pain and irritation resounded from somewhere nearby, the noise quickly followed by a cacophony of clinking and clanging metal, the shifting and shuffling of boots and cloth, and the grunts and cries of expended effort.

As I hurriedly scrambled back to my feet, I took in the sight of a battle renewed and already well underway. It only took me a few seconds to realize I'd been pushed out of the way of an incoming attack, and given how close Alius was, I could only assume he'd been the one to save me. Focusing on him, I couldn't help but stare in awe. The man was a machine when it came to combat.

His face was set and his expression one of calm focus, even as he parried and weaved around Cassius' many extra limbs—one of which had been severed at the farthest joint from Cassius' body. Dark grey ichor sprayed continuously out of the wound, but Cassius paid it no mind or rather had no time to as he was assaulted on all sides by Mauri, Havik, Burkin, and Alius. The bandit leader had been unnaturally fast and agile in his human form, and that was doubly so in his eerie arachnoid form.

Cassius avoided far more hits than he took considering he was up against four skilled combatants at once. Even then, for as well as he was doing for himself, he was still up against four opponents, and what's more, not a one of those opponents was a pushover. Mauri, much like Cassius himself, was all deadly grace and impossible speed, her exotic emerald blade little more than a blur as she struck, evaded, countered, and more or less danced around the cultist-turned-bandit-leader.

Burkin wasn't nearly as fast, but with his sheer strength, solid sword and shield technique, and seemingly inexhaustible endurance he didn't need to be. From what I could tell, the hulking bandit took the most hits from Cassius out of the four, but none of his admittedly superficial wounds bothered him. He just kept pressing the attack without so much as a single flinch at the damage he accrued. It made me wonder; if he was this good with a sword and shield, what kind of skill did he have with that massive single-edged axe on his back?

And then there was Havik, whose strikes looked somehow both vicious and effortless all at once. Out of the four, Havik seemed the most relentless—lashing out like a wild, snarling animal even as she displayed superb technique in her jabs, thrusts, and counters. There were years of practice behind her blade, but there was just as much talent to go along with it. But where Havik's skills had a sort of primal beauty to them, Alius was the epitome of efficiency.

He looked like he prioritized economy of motion above all else, barely moving an inch from where he stood. To put it simply, the man was water. He was a constantly shifting river flowing through and around each and every thrusting limb Cassius sent his way, and yet his foundation was as sturdy as a mountain. Each dodge transitioned smoothly into a counterstrike, which flowed into another evasive maneuver that shifted into a blindingly fast swing at an exposed limb or vital organ.

Not a single movement was wasted, and watching Alius, I couldn't help but think even Mauri would be hard-pressed in every way to take him on. In short, they were all monsters in their own right, but that didn't mean they were infallible. Despite their high levels of skill, minor wounds were piling up on all sides and fatigue was beginning to weigh the four down. Alius, alarmingly, looked like he was growing especially winded as he fought. Even among all the frenetic motion, I could clearly see his determined face shining with sweat.

It was only then that I realized I'd been little other than standing there just outside the doorway to Cassius' office, watching open-mouthed as the others put their lives on the line to kill the twisted thing that was the bandit leader and cultist. I had no idea how long I'd been standing in a stupor, but the sight of each of their strained faces jolted me out of my shock.

They're all so powerful, but... if this goes on...

If this went on, Cassius was going to overpower them. Yes, he was taking plenty of damage, but despite the ichor spilling freely from his many wounds, the creature showed no signs of exhaustion. Meanwhile, Mauri and the others looked like it was taking everything they had to keep going. If this went on, one or more of them was bound to make a fatal mistake, and someone would likely die as a result.

No...

No... not if I can help it...

I wasn't a warrior.

I couldn't move like they could. I couldn't wield my own sword with such grace or finesse or precision or ferocity. Maybe, in time, I could learn to fight as well as they did—in fact, I resolved then and there to do just that if we all made it out of this—but for now, I was no swordswoman. No, I was a Spellblade wielder, and while I could do little with the blade, the spells were an entirely different matter.

I can do this... I can do this... just need to concentrate on my own strengths for now...

I wanted desperately to take a deep, calming breath, but I didn't have time for that. It was quite literally time to do or die, and so I drew on the remnants of that strange rage I'd felt earlier and raised one hand. Then, with a mental and instinctual flex of my magic, I called on the spells I'd been too stunned and terrified to use until now. I watched Cassius, focusing on the perfect moment to intervene, but started when the cultist snapped his gaze in my direction.

The moment my hands lit up with my unreleased magic, Cassius had picked up on it, and even as he struggled against the other four combatants, his blank expression never left me. If anything, it was as if his struggles were growing more desperate, and that, more than anything, fueled both the rage and confidence in my actions.

Is that... fear?

I frowned thoughtfully, my own fear giving way to realization. A moment later, I let an uncharacteristically vicious grin cross my face as I looked the so-called fiend dead in the eye.

It is fear...

He's scared... Terrified even...

...Good.

And with that, I took a chance during a split-second lull in the fight and snatched Cassius up in a telekinetic hold... or I tried to. The cultist seized up, his body wrapped in a bright magenta glow, but to my immediate shock and horror, the grip I had on the fiend was oddly slippery—like if I wasn't careful, he'd slide right out of my magical grasp. The distraction was enough for the others to get in their own free strikes, none of them missing a beat.

But still, that wasn't enough.

Why?! I never had any trouble with this before, so why?! Why can't I... hold him?!

Cassius continued to struggle, the bandit leader letting out an unnatural echoing hiss of outrage as he thrashed against his thaumic restraints. The attacks he suffered didn't bother him, as though the only thing that mattered was escape. If things went on like this, he may very well have gotten his wish. Keeping hold of him was getting harder and harder by the second, and as I fought to hold him down, an idea struck me.

My other spell!

With a cry of effort, I willed more of my magic into my hands and yanked both arms up, wrenching Cassius into the air at the same time. A horrible draining exhaustion I'd never felt before washed over me suddenly, but I ignored it. I also chose to ignore the others wearily stumbling to a stop mid-attack as they tried not to hit one another. Instead, I concentrated on the bandit leader above me.

With both arms raised, I shifted my outstretched hands into a grasping motion, as if grabbing hold of something between them. Above, the magenta glow around Cassius' body vanished and a large semi-translucent bubble of radiant magenta energy snapped into place, trapping the man-spider inside. Cassius' reaction was instant. Now free of his telekinetic bonds, he lashed out, attacking his new prison with renewed fervor.

No... No! Cassius hissed, his defiant voice resonating across the entirety of the ruined antechamber, Something like this...! I won't fall to something like this! Too much to do! So much work yet unfinished! This wretched magic will not hold me! It cannot!

I winced in pain, each blow from one of his limbs like a small but insistent hammer to my mind. But I held on nonetheless, not losing focus for a moment as I held him aloft. The fury in his voice was plain for all to hear, but I could also hear the cold fear in his words, and that was enough to push me forward. Through narrowed eyes, grit teeth, and a feral growl of effort, I began to squeeze and compress. Both my arms shook as I tried to push my grasping hands together against an invisible force.

Above, the barrier I'd conjured started to gradually shrink. The idea had been a hasty thing, but given my instinctual knowledge of how the spell worked, I was certain I could pull it off with some exertion on my part. Seeing the results, I'd been right, but the process was so much more draining than I could've imagined. It took almost everything I had just to keep Cassius in the barrier, let alone compress the bubble with him in it.

It only became that much harder when he noticed what I was doing because his struggles grew more frantic. Still, I kept pushing, kept pressing inward against the strain. I wasn't sure how long I'd been at it, but eventually, the world fell away, and the only things I could see were my hands slowly closing in and the radiant bubble of magic growing smaller and smaller. My muscles ached, my nose bled, and my teeth were gnashing together so hard I was afraid they might crack, but I ignored all of that.

Almost... Almost...

Cassius was screaming something else, but I was too far gone to hear whatever it was. As the strain increased, the rage grew to match it, and as the rage increased the strain grew easier to bear. It was a cycle that was probably taking a nightmarish toll on my body, but at that moment, I couldn't care less. The only thing that mattered to me was that I had Cassius right where I wanted him, and if I could just push myself a little harder, push the spell just a little farther...

Die... Die... Die. Die. Die. DiediediedieDIEDIEDIE—

"Just... DIE ALREADY!!!"

With a roar that tore itself from my throat, I forced everything I had left into one last push and slammed my hands together with a loud crack. Overhead, a horrible wailing hiss of agony rang out, the sound quickly followed by a grotesque series of cracks, crunches, and squelches as the barrier fell in on itself and crushed the fiendish cultist within. I watched what was left of the barrier snap out of existence and the compressed viscera of what was once Cassius fall to the floor, hitting the edge of the ruined stone floor with a wet plop before falling into the pit below.

A deep sense of satisfaction and relief washed over me as I saw the small orb of meat, bone, ichor, and cloth disappear over the edge. I wanted to smile, but I found I no longer had the strength to. It was around that time that I realized I'd fallen over at some point and had been watching the aftermath from a prone position on the cold stone floor. Given the thousands of painful pins and needles stabbing into every inch of my body, it was hardly a wonder that I didn't feel my legs finally give out.

As if that wasn't enough, those small hammers tapping at my head had turned into full-blown mallets smashing into my skull. Everything hurt, but the pain paled in comparison to the sense of accomplishment welling up inside of me. I'd done it. Cassius was dead by my hand, my sanity was kept in check, and we all survived. Wanting to confirm that last part, I looked over to the others to see most of them looking back at me with an interesting mix of expressions.

Like me, Alius had fallen to the floor, though he lay on his back as he panted with exhaustion, his chest heaving and most of his features covered by his now sweaty mop of dark brown hair. He looked like he wanted to be awestruck, but didn't quite have the energy to fully commit to the expression. Both Havik and Burkin were also panting heavily as they sat back against the wall. Burkin's gaze as he took me in was steady but wary. Havik was flat-out glaring at me but didn't say anything as she continued to catch her breath.

Mauri was the only one who looked like she had it together for the most part. She sat cross-legged at the center of what was left of the antechamber floor, her eyes closed and her breathing deep and controlled. She'd already sheathed her sword and the scabbard sat across her lap as she... meditated? Havik had also returned her sword to its sheath, but Burkin still held onto his shortsword and shield and Alius opted to let the naked blade of his longsword rest by his side.

For a few long moments, the only sound that could be heard throughout the ruined antechamber was the heavy panting of the battle-weary and my own pained groans. I wanted nothing more than to pass out right then, but not only would the muscle pain not let me, but I wouldn't have allowed myself to anyway. I'd done enough of that already and now that I had a moment to reflect, I knew we were far from out of the woods yet—both literally and figuratively.

If I passed out now, I'd just drag the others down. Again.

Granted, I was in no shape to carry my own weight as it was, but still. I wasn't sure passing out would help matters if we ran into more trouble. Moreover, I couldn't help ruminating on why I ended up in such a state to begin with. My magic had never pushed my body this hard before—or at all from what I could remember since it awakened back in the cabin... but then again, was that really true?

I'd been a mess after dealing with the Headhunter, sure, but now that I thought back on it, was that mostly because of my injuries or the magic I'd exerted to crush the Headhunter? I couldn't quite remember, but I knew my body had grown weaker after using so much magic. What's more, as I recalled that night, I started to realize just how similar this situation was to back then. The fear, the rage, and above all, the way I used that rage to fuel my magic.

Is there some kind of connection?

Back then, my fury was justifiable; the Headhunter had killed Jack and the real Jessie and it had been trying to kill me. The rage I felt when I caught Cassius' eye felt more irrational, but when I looked deeper, I saw that it came from a familiar place. Beyond that, I wasn't sure just yet, but I had some ideas. Getting back to how strenuous my magic had been to cast and the heavy toll pushing it so far had taken, I tried to remember when I'd used it like that before.

Aside from killing the Headhunter, I couldn't think of a single time I'd used my magic to attack someone directly—not while I was sane. Even then, didn't I always end up in a terrible state regardless? I just... never felt the strain until now. Not this strongly. There was something there, I was certain, but thinking about it through a pounding migraine wasn't doing me any favors. The pain was distracting enough, but I was further derailed when Alius finally spoke up.

"Well..." he panted before letting out an exhausted half-sigh, half-groan from where he lay, "I'm all for a little exercise after being cooped up in that cell for Goddesses know how long, but this... was more of a workout than I feel was warranted, I think."

"Oh?" came Mauri's teasing voice from where she still sat, one eye open and watching the weary man, "You seem to have weathered the storm fairly well for a man so out of practice."

"Yes well," Alius gave a weak chuckle before lifting a hand to pat his chest, "Years of training and all that. My old instructor all but beat his teachings into me long before I joined the Order. Even if my mind forgets, my body never will," his wry smile fell into a bitter grimace as he stared up at the open night sky past the broken ceiling and he continued in a low mutter, "A right bastard he was, but a damn good teacher in the end, I suppose..."

"No kidding," Mauri agreed with a nod, "Your skills are something to be admired, given your age."

"I'm sorry, my... age?" Alius raised his head enough to give Mauri a quizzical look, "I'm no fogey, but I'd hardly call myself young, Miss Bandal," he paused, then looked the smaller woman up and down and a light seemed to flicker to life in his head, "Ah, I see... you wouldn't happen to be of the Djävago, would you?"

Mauri just smirked back at the man in response.

"Of course," Alius grumbled before letting his head flop back down with a sigh, "What's thirty-six years to one of your kind?"

"Little more than a child, Mister Tempus," Mauri replied with a little too much enthusiasm. The enthusiasm died quickly as the woman finally turned her attention to me, "Now if we could stop avoiding the phantalo in the room for a moment, are you okay, Amethyst? I have seen you use magic before, and it has never left you in such a state."

"I wonder about that," I mumbled, barely able to get my mouth to work, "but I think... I'll be fine. Just need some time... to rest," I tried to raise my head, winced at the pain, and gave up and dropped it back to the ground, "Sorry, but I don't think... I'll be much help for a while."

"Well that's fucking fantastic," Havik growled, finally speaking up as she pulled a waterskin from... somewhere and took a large swig from it before pressing on, her tone bitter, "As if snatching my vengeance out from under me wasn't enough, you went and turned yourself into a useless sack of shit for us to lug around."

"Havik—" Burkin began in a warning tone, but Havik cut him off as she jabbed an accusatory finger in my direction.

"No, Burk, we had him. We had him, and this bitch—"

"Saved our lives," Mauri cut in, rounding on the other woman, "We 'had him'?" she scoffed, "We had nothing! We were all on our last legs by the time Amethyst stepped in and you know it! Had she not intervened, we would have all died like dogs!"

"Ladies, please," Alius tried as he finally propped himself on his arms to look between Havik and Mauri, his voice full of consternation, "I hardly think this is the time to—"

"Speak for yourself, half-pint!" Havik snapped back, completely ignoring Alius as she rose to her feet, "Maybe you were flagging, but I had the bastard right where I wanted him!"

"Bullshit!" Mauri replied with a derisive laugh, "I saw you! You did not make so much as a dent in his defenses!"

I wanted to interject, but I just didn't have it in me to do anything about the escalating argument. All I could do was watch with increasing worry as the two sniped at each other, both women now on their feet and getting in each other's faces. Alius was still looking for a chance to intervene and Burkin, who still sat against the wall, just looked at the squabbling pair with a long-suffering scowl.

"Alius is right," I tried, "I don't... think we should be arguing like this... while we're still surrounded by bandits... we need to get out of here..."

To my surprise, the two paused and glanced in my direction before looking around the room. Everyone had sustained at least some kind of damage, but none of their wounds, aside from maybe Burkin's were bad enough that they couldn't function. Burkin, for his part, had a particularly nasty puncture wound in the bicep of his sword arm but didn't seem bothered by that or any of his wounds.

Perhaps seeing the state they were all in and realizing where they still were, Havik and Mauri let the matter drop, though they continued to glare at each other. Alius gave a not-so-subtle sigh of relief and Burkin grunted in satisfaction before sheathing his sword and standing up from where he sat. Without another word, the massive bandit walked over to where I lay, bent down, and yanked me off the ground with his good hand as if I weighed little more than a pillow.

He ignored my surprised squawk and following groan of pain at having been moved so suddenly as he hoisted me over one shoulder and turned to the others. He paused a moment to look each one of the other warriors in the eye, his own flinty grey eyes boring into theirs before he finally nodded toward the spiral staircase leading down and spoke again.

"Let's go."

"W-Wait!" I called out. I struggled in Burkin's grip a bit, but it was a half-hearted attempt at best and ultimately I just gave up and accepted my role as a sack of potatoes. Too tired and in pain to do much more, I raised a hand to point back toward Cassius' office, "My bag. All my stuff is still in that room."

Burkin grunted again and made for the staircase. I thought he'd ignored me and was about to say something when he turned his head to look back at the others from over his shoulder.

"Tempus," he called back, "Make yourself useful and grab the woman's bag."

With the way I was being carried, I could see behind Burkin to where Alius was only just now starting to rise. He looked bemused for a second, looking from Burkin to the doorway, then to me, but quickly got his bearings and nodded.

"Of course," he finally replied, but was stopped just as he was turning to do just as asked by a hand yanking him back by his belt.

"Go help the big man protect my little Amethyst," Mauri said as she walked past Alius and toward the room, "I will take care of her belongings."

For a moment, Alius looked like he wanted to protest, but decided it wasn't worth it and just shook his head before following after me and Burkin. Havik watched us go for a second and I couldn't read the look on her face. Realizing the blonde warrior wasn't following after him, Burkin stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to give her a questioning frown. Havik... hesitated, then looked back toward where Mauri had entered the office.

Just for an instant, the woman looked uncertain, but the expression passed by in a flash and she scowled before making for the office as she called back to Burkin, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up in a minute."

Burkin blinked in surprise, but the frown returned quickly and he only gave a thoughtful grunt before continuing down the stairs with me in tow. Alius had already gone ahead, likely to check if the coast was clear. With nothing more to do, I was left to wonder just what it was Havik had wanted to talk with Mauri about. At least, I assumed she'd wanted to talk about something. Considering they'd been at each other's throats only a moment ago, I couldn't so much as guess what she had to say with that kind of hesitation.

Maybe she wants to apologize?

The thought brought a weary smile to my face as I was carried down the dilapidated spiral steps.

Well, one could hope...