Fateful day

Blurry visions of a battle: seven humanoid creatures were fighting a "King" in front of a throne.

The sky was an unnatural pink colour, and there was no other life form present except for a human child in the distance.

These alien creatures, known as the Elementals, were able to use the magical powers of nature's elements: fire, water, lightning, wind, plants, earth, and ice. The King alone was also able to use all of these powers.

The human was watching them, commanding every move of those creatures.

The creatures were struggling against the opponent. He was able to counter every move of theirs.

The King fired a stream of golden beams of light onto the Elementals, wounding them severely. All seven of them were down, unable to recover.

The human was distressed. With all seven of his troops defeated, he had lost the battle. He stood there in horror, immobilized by the sight of defeat. The King used this opportunity to fire one more beam: one targeted towards the defenceless human.

The human was not like those creatures. He possessed no armour: just a dual-bladed weapon for combat. He could not have avoided in time, nor could he have endured the hit.

The beam struck the human, bringing him to his knees. He dropped his blade, and a shield-shaped crest, which was related to the alien creatures. The chances of regaining consciousness were bleak.

A golden-robed alien figure was witnessing this scene from a portal far away. He whispered, "This shall not end like this", and fired a ray on the battlefield to stop the flow of time. He summoned the human's body to himself and desired a second chance.

The inanimate body was in front of him. He decided to grant the child a new life. He conceived a silver orb from the palm of his hand and declared, "This is the last piece of hope we have." He fused the orb with the human's soul so that when the human rose again in battle, he would not be powerless.

For a moment, the skin of the human flickered silver, and his hands turned into claws.

The robed figure could sense his time running out. The Lord would inevitably detect the treachery and would waste no time in ridding him. He grabbed the crest and absorbed the Elementals inside seven of its gems. He removed a piece of the human's mind through his forehead and converted it into a blue orb. The blue orb flickered with projections of tentacles for a moment before being secured in the crest.

He raised the crest and drew an inscription of a giant clock face on the battlefield. A massive pillar of blinding light emerged from the inscription, and the clock began rapidly ticking backwards, reversing the flow of time.

Once the light receded, nothing remained on the battlefield. Everyone had disappeared, including the robed figure.

A mere human had never survived a Matlien's attack. But truth betold, the child was no longer just human. On the fateful day of their death, the human bore the soul of a Matlien too: Siouka.

• Ib OST - "Memory" by kouri

Resurrection

It felt like an eternal period of silence until I heard the chirps of birds fading into my ears. I opened my eyes and observed the blue sky spotted with clouds. I woke up and lifted my body. Furthermore, I was trying to recollect what had happened, but the best I could recall was my name: "RRG".

Looking around, I was in the middle of a grassy plain. I observed my body, and I adorned a long tattered grey coat. I saw that there were a few objects dropped near me. One was a crest shaped like a little shield. It had seven different gems affixed to it. The other was a dual-bladed weapon that had a black handle with intricate carvings. I picked the weapon up, and it felt familiar, almost as if I had used it in combat at some point in the past. The crest was remaining.

I walked towards the crest and picked it up. As soon as I did that though, something resonated with the crest and me. I felt that my forehead had a similar shield-like carving. The topmost circular red gem started glowing. It glowed brightly, so bright that fiery sparks came out of it and a red fiery creature jumped out from it.

Déjà vu struck again. The humanoid orange-red fiery creature in front of me bore a similar shield-like badge on his forehead too. We both awkwardly stared at each other, until I remembered who he was. It was Firem! Firem, the fire elemental Matlien, was the first Matlien I ever encountered and my best friend. We both were immensely happy being reunited. I naturally could not even shake his hand, for his entire body was on fire, but I could see the joy through his flame head.

However, I am afraid I still not have addressed the elephant in the room. How had I ended up here, and where even was I? I did remember being with Firem and at least some more Matliens in some sort of battle, but neither did I remember the Matliens nor did I have any memory of any specific battle. My memory was very fuzzy.

After the happy reunion, I planned some exploration. I noticed some trees in the distance and the faint sound of the tides, implying that a shore might be nearby. Since the plain was as empty as my memory, I and Firem decided to move along.

We entered the woods. The dense trees made the atmosphere cooler and darker, but having a being made of literal fire beside me opposed both of those changes. There were varied sounds of different critters, signalling that we might need to defend ourselves for survival.

After a short walk, we found a cave entrance. Seeing no other original ideas, we went in. The cave was not too deep; the light from the exit was faintly visible.

It was dark, but Firem helped as a torch. There was still nothing amusing until I saw a glimpse of something from the corner of my eye. Looking around, however, there was nothing visible in the shadows.

The walls of the cave were shelved with irregular cracked rocks. One of those rocks stood out, literally. It was loose and did not feel like a part of the wall. I pulled it out and saw that it had a carving of a large butterfly creature with its wings spread out. It felt like a fossil of some kind. I also noticed that the crest was resonating this whole time, but this time the creature was inanimate, so no further changes were observed. I decided that the relic would be important, so I carried it with me.

We trekked to the cave exit and discovered the shore. At first glance, it felt like the sea extended forever, but perhaps a closer inspection might reveal something.

We were by the waters, but we could not find any land up to the horizon. We did not find any rafts or boats either. I could not swim in the ocean, and Firem would preferably avoid the water.

We did see a different forest in the distance, though. Since it seemed difficult to find anything beyond the sea, we might as well explore the island itself. Thus, we began moving towards the other woods.

As we were moving though, I heard a sound. We both stopped and looked left, towards the shore. Out of nowhere, a huge explosion occurred from the water! A man in a black robe appeared from the falling water. The robe had purple curved markings near the bottom and a strange square symbol near the chest.

Suddenly a gust of wind appeared from nowhere as well! We looked up and saw another slightly pale man, and wearing a similar robe floating above us. Turn around, and opposite to the water was another in the same robe with red hair. We looked back to the woods, and there was one more with an axe.

We had been ambushed. Firem was ready in his battle stance, and I equipped the dual-bladed weapon as well. "Who are you four?" I cried.

The pale one descended, but was still levitating above the ground. He responded, "We are known as the Grawze, and we wish to make this exchange quick." The water guy answered next, "That being of fire you have right there, he is an Elemental." The red-haired man then added, "Surrender him to us, and we will cause you no harm." At last, the axe guy muttered, "If you do not cooperate, you will regret what will happen next," with a grin.

Not only did I not understand why these four liked talking in turns, but of course there was no way I would have given Firem up abruptly to four random people. I felt ready to fight, but I was nervous taking four on two, especially right after my entire memory had been wiped.

"Of course, I will not give him up", said I to the axe guy. "So this is it, then." responded the axe guy, "Nemora, Sgror, Trucer? You know what to do, right?"

All four of them were ready in their battle stances. Seeing no way out, we commenced the battle.

I took on the red-haired guy and the axe guy. The red-haired person apparently could summon flames from his hand, similar to Firem. He attacked me by summoning pillars of flames, that I dodged. Things were not simple, though. The axe guy swung his axe, which I reflexively parried with my blade. The axe guy quickly retreated and swung his axe on the ground, which summoned stone stalagmites that projected towards me. I rolled away, only to be hit by a fireball thrown by the other one.

Firem was probably in an even worse situation. The two that he was fighting seemed to have control over wind and water, which are not ideal for fire. The water guy summoned a beam of water, that Firem blocked for a while before taking damage. He quickly rose and summoned a fire beam, but he whiffed since the pale one was swift at dodging in the sky.

I parried the axe again. However, I noticed from the corner of my eye that the red-haired person was preparing a fire attack. I could not deal with both moves at the same time.

In an act of desperation, I pulled out the crest again. Once again, it was glowing. I rolled away and quickly held it in my hand. It was glowing very rapidly, and there was an effect. Both of my hands turned black and somewhat metallic. My nails grew to an absurd length, almost turning them into claws.

I could not be bothered to digest what happened amid a battle and immediately used the nails to slash the axe guy. He regrouped with the red-haired guy. Despite that he was startled, it was worth noting that I and Firem had already taken hits, and this was the only bit of damage that we had done to them so far.

I and Firem regrouped, and so did the four of them. All four of them were preparing to attack together, and I was ready to defend. However, Firem immediately stepped forward and summoned a bright blaze from his body, blinding all five of us. When the dust settled, the four were left alone on the shore. I and Firem had disappeared.

• Leshy (2024) - Cult of the Lamb Metal Remix by BKM
• Cult of the Lamb [Official] - Leshy by River Boy

A pond in the swamp

It felt like an eternal period of silence until I realized that I should not use the same sentence at the start of two consecutive episodes. I woke up and saw Firem in front of me. I instantly looked around, and found that I was nowhere near the shore; a different portion of the plains rather.

Immediately, I drew my weapon, rose, and looked after those four creeps. I asked Firem what happened after that blaze attack, and then it hit me. Firem blinded everyone with a bright blaze to allow the two of us to flee from the battlefield. I did feel disappointed and annoyed after this realization, since I wanted to continue the fight. However, that would be foolish, as it would just not be feasible to defeat all four of them. "You made the right decision," said I to Firem.

As I was trying to recollect what had happened, I remembered that my hands had changed form during the fight. When I looked at my hand again, it had retained that sharper form.

I could not remember why I had that form, but I did feel a sense of familiarity, similar to that dual-bladed weapon. As a test, I attempted and was successful at extending and retracting my nails like ropes. I was even able to shoot them as projectiles and then instantly regrow them, although using them causes a faint pain in my wrists. I called the first move "Long Nails" and the second "Nail Attack".

Firem was also testing out his innate powers. He of course had "Fire Beam", the move he was using against those wind and water "Grawze" goons, but he was also able to use "Fireballs" as projectiles and his special explosive, the "Flame Burst".

Despite having these moves for combat, we were still not in the right conditions to challenge the four of them again. Moreover, since they claimed they were after Firem, there was no way we would not run into them again. We were thus on our way to explore more of the island in search of some safety for the time being.

It seemed that we were near a swamp. We walked towards a pond some distance away.

I believed that I could rest near the cool pond for some time before moving forward. I was about to lie down until I sensed that the crest was resonating yet again. As I was pulling it out, I heard a croak and found a strange creature in the middle of the pond!

It was a blue humanoid frog being, that smelled very foul. It also had a shield badge on its forehead, which meant that it was also a Matlien.

I believed the Elementals were the only kind of Matliens, but it seemed that I was incorrect, especially now considering my weird nails and this frog creature. I tried holding the crest in multiple ways in an attempt to get any more information out of it. Some kind of low sound was emanating from it, so I held it closer.

"Six… more…" I heard the voice say from the crest. "Six more of what?" questioned I. "Six more… Matliens…" the voice responded, "This one is Poisim, the venomous frog… Convince him…" The voice did not continue any further.

I remembered that the shield crest had seven gems out of which the red one was glowing bright because of Firem. It seemed that I would require six more to get this voice whatever it needed.

Even if I did not want to pacify that voice, having another Matlien by our side would certainly not hurt, especially when four mages were on a hunt for us.

"Poisim! We want you to join us; four Grawze creeps are trying to capture the Elementals," announced I to Poisim from across the pond.

He seemed to have listened, but was very unamused. He, however, croaked something in return that neither of us could understand. I pulled out the crest and the voice said, "He wants to test you. He will join you if you are strong enough."

Firem decided to go first. He stepped into the shallow pond, which was somewhat difficult for him. Poisim readied his battle stance. Firem went first with a Fire Beam, that Poisim jumped over. Firem then used Fireballs that also whiffed due to Poisim's agility. Poisim responded with a large explosive orb made of water that he summoned from his webbed hand. He shot the orb towards Firem, who rolled away. However, the orb exploded at the surface, causing literal splash damage to Firem.

"It is known as an Aqua Bomb," commented the voice, "He should be vulnerable to attack now."

Poisim was indeed recovering. I immediately signalled Firem to use his explosive, the Flame Burst. Firem deployed the attack, which was about to hit Poisim until occurred another explosion from the middle of the pond!

Both Firem and Poisim were knocked away from the impact. From the falling water, emerged the same robed man again. As soon as I saw him, I equipped my blade. Apparently, the only way he knew how to make an entrance so far was to explode fountains of water.

"It seems we meet again." said he, "Hopefully I did not interrupt you. Now, hand over the Elemental." "Who even ARE you?" I questioned. "Why do you want Firem?" I added.

"Brad was not great at introductions, was he?" he responded, "My name is Sgror, the water elemental mage from the Grawze."

I braced myself. Firem was too wounded to keep going due to the elemental water he endured. However, we could not flee either as this guy would be on our tail again.

"So, our previous interaction was.. not so fruitful, was it?" said Sgror. Looking toward Firem, he added, "Well, it seems the little fire Elemental is unable to burn like last time." Turning back to me, he said, "Human. Leave the Elemental alone. You are not needed here. I wonder why the Elemental is loyal to even a mere human."

"Leaving Firem?" I responded, "The same could be said to you, water guy. Firem respects me because he is my friend. We may be tired from battle, but none of this is going down WITHOUT a fight."

"Stubborn kid," Sgror grumbled. He readied his wand, and I readied my battle stance. We were ready to strike, before our concentration was broken by a loud croak. Our attention moved toward the pond.

Poisim had recovered from the explosion and stepped back in to the battlefield. He looked pissed, probably because of the interruption in the earlier battle. The crest began resonating, and Poisim immediately jumped right in front of me, shielding me from Sgror.

Poisim looked down, towards the crest and croaked something, supposedly attempting to communicate. The voice from the crest resounded again, and I held it close to listen. "Poisim says he wishes to take this battle on himself. It is his habitat being trespassed here." said the voice.

I let the battle commence then. I leapt away from the battlefield, toward wounded Firem. Both Sgror and Poisim were ready in their stances.

"Afraid to take me on? You think this frog is going to accomplish anything? I suppose I shall humor you a bit, human, before your hope is lost," announced Sgror, looking at me afar from the pond. Looking at the frog, he added, "Prepare yourself. Let this be the last time you live in this pond."

Sgror moved his wand in an arc, summoning walls of fountains, that rushed towards Poisim. Poisim charged with his agility and leapt over the walls that approached him.

While he was in the air, Sgror pointed his wand toward Poisim, causing Poisim to be hit by a stream of water from the pond.

Poisim crashed into the pond, but immediately stood back up, neglecting his wounds. He responded with his own incantation, the Aqua Bomb. He summoned a large orb of water and shot it toward the mage.

Sgror stepped back to avoid the bomb, but got splashed by its explosion at the surface. While Sgror was blinded by the residual mist, Poisim used the opportunity to close in the distance for a melee strike. Sgror sensed his presence and parried the frog's punch with his wand.

Poisim chained a second punch with his other arm, also swiftly countered by Sgror. While in the physical attrition, Sgror mumbled, "This thing is really a nuisance."

Poisim chained in another strike, but was knocked back by a sneaky fountain summoned by Sgror. Poisim was severely wounded, but he kept going. He clenched his fists, which started glowing violet soon after. I and Firem were confused, but the voice of the crest filled us in: "That is one of Poisim's moves: the Venom Stab. He plans to strike the mage with the venom stored in his sac."

Sgror raised his wand, and raised himself up atop an incredibly tall fountain, taller than even the forest surrounding the region. Poisim's glowing fists grew deep violet spiky protrusions, indicating the level of venom readied.

Looking down upon Poisim, Sgror screamed: "This is it for you, Matlien! This pond shall become your grave!"

Jets of water began rising, surrounding the battlefield. It was no longer possible for me, Firem or the crest to observe the battle.

The jets soon turned into tidal waves, and leaned toward the battlefield, crashing down toward Poisim. Poisim used his agility to leap high up, avoiding being in the range of the waves. Sgror, annoyed, snapped his arm toward the frog, redirecting all waves to home in.

Since Poisim was up in the air, the waves rushed back upward toward him. Using this opportunity, Poisim swam up the founts to climb atop the highest stream, in front of Sgror. He pulled back his arm and prepared for another stab. Sgror readied his wand for a parry expecting the punch, but Poisim interrupted his move and kicked the wand away, leaving the mage defenceless. Instantly, he struck him with his final move: the Venom Stab, right in his gut, injecting all the venom stored in his sac.

Sgror opened his eyes wide on impact, and started losing consciousness. Consequently his spells expired, causing all summoned fountains to evaporate. Poisim was victorious.

As the fountains disappeared, both adversaries started falling. Sgror, unconscious, crashed into the pond. Poisim, about to meet the same fate, used his amphibious body to soften his fall and safely land atop the water.

I and Firem sprinted toward Poisim, to regroup. All of us were trying to comprehend the outcome of the battle, but we were diverted to the splish of the water.

A figure, stood back up from underneath the pond, staggering towards us. The figure wore a black robe, tattered with a sharp hole below his chest, dripping with venom. It was Sgror, who had survived. Looking at me, he grunted, "If you thought... you had gotten rid of me... then you are gravely mistaken. The Grawze... cannot be destroye- Urgh."

"*Cough*, you may have won this battle human, but make sure you remember that your life is just as forfeit as these Matliens. You will not be shown any mercy either."

Staggering, he walked towards and grabbed his wand tossed away earlier, and performed one final incantation to disappear in the mist, fleeing the battlefield.

That was a lot to take in, but one thing was clear: It was not going to be an easy journey. After this battle, it would only get more complicated for us to press on. However, we knew this was not going to be a one-sided fight anymore, even if three more mages remained.

With this new hope, I put forth my proposal once again, "Poisim. We understand how much this swamp means to you. But as long as the Grawze is around, it is not feasible for us to stay divided. We all have the strength to take the fight on, but we need to stick together." I raised the crest toward him, saying, "Let us join our forces, Poisim. If we all fight together, we may have a chance of overcoming the real evil."

Poisim closed his eyes, and gave my words a thought. After a short period of silence, he opened his eyes, croaking something in return. The crest resonated, telling, "The frog is ready to join alliances, but he still requires to test your strength. Prove your prowess, and overcome his demands."

"So be it," I responded. I lowered the crest, and Poisim readied for battle once more. Firem readied himself too, but I let him stay back, for I was inspired myself. I flourished my blade, and raised it towards Poisim, for I was ready, to take on the frog.

I stood before Poisim, with my blade pointed at him. Poisim, ready with his venomous fists, prepared his stance. The test of might shall begin.

Poisim charged at me with his toxic bladed fists, which I parried with my own blade. The frog bounced back and leapt high up, summoning an Aqua Bomb. Since the bomb had an area of effect, simply rolling away would not avoid damage. Hence, I lengthened my nails, and whipped at the bomb to destroy it midair, causing an explosion. It did destroy my Long Nails, but I could immediately grow them back.

Poisim was confused; developing a new strategy to counter the nails. He landed and charged again, and I caught up some damage to him by shooting my nails; in other words, the Nail Attack.

The projectiles hit Poisim and knocked him back. He stood back up and prepared another charge, but staggered and fell into the water. End the fight!

I and Firem immediately rushed toward him to check on his state. After all, the battle with Sgror had drained him, so it was not a fair fight to begin with.

Poisim was fortunately fine, but weary. He tried to stand, but could only muster enough strength to kneel. I kneeled down myself, to support him. I suggested to postpone the battle, but before I could say anything Poisim reached out to the crest and croaked, causing the crest to resonate. The voice from the crest replied, "Poisim has found you worthy. He says that even if the battle could not be completed, you have proven your strength, and now he can join you."

The crest started glowing; it glowed bright until another one of the gems on it was lit. We recruited another member to our team!

Five gems remained, and three mages too. Our journey had really just begun.

• Leshy (2024) - Cult of the Lamb Metal Remix by BKM
• Cult of the Lamb [Official] - Leshy by River Boy
• [2-14] Seal Chamber - Cave Story Remastered Soundtrack arranged by Danny Baranowsky
• Cave Story OST: Seal Chamber by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
• Dead Cells - Heart of the swamp by Valmont
• Cult of the Lamb [Official] - Amdusias by River Boy

Finally a squad

The sun was setting. Having no other place to rest at, we decided to spend the night near the pond.

Poisim decided to spend the night underneath the pond, so he went for the dip. Having no other resting spots, I decided to rest myself near the bank of the pond.

Dusk had fallen. Firem set a bonfire up before he was withdrawn to the crest, where he spent the remainder of the night.

I was trying to sleep, but did not feel too tired yet.

I looked at my hand again. It felt odd that not only I possessed these non-human powers, but I was proficient in them too, as if they were innate.

I next observed the dual bladed weapon, which I had taken to call as the "Twin Blader". Once again, I could not recall why I had the blade, or why I could faintly recall myself using it.

I had also obtained that butterfly fossil earlier, which once again gives no further clues.

Finally, the crest, which was the oddest device I had. It not only channeled my Matlien abilities, but also has its own quest of lighting seven gems.

Every Matlien has a "shield badge" on their body, similar to the shield-shaped crest. So far, I, Firem, Poisim and even the fossil bore some inscription of the crest. However, it seemed the Grawze had no connections with the crest, or even the Matliens to be honest.

I felt I heard something rustle in the distance and instinctively shot one of my nails at its source. However, it seemed there was nothing in the shadows.

That did feel weird though. I shot the nail by pure instinct, as if my own reflexes had become alien.

That would be too much to think about at the moment, thus I decided to close my eyes, falling asleep.

The sun rose, and we were all fresh and awake. I stretched my body, but did feel a kind of bodyache originating from my nails. It was bearable though; not much of a big deal. Anyways, time to press on!

I summoned Firem from the crest, and Poisim leapt from the pond to the surface, full of energy.

Despite having magical abilities, none of us had any plans of sustainance. Since we were in a forest, perhaps we could gather some fruit or herbs. We decided to explore the forest.

The jungle was dense, and I had to use my nails and Blader to create a clearing. Firem also helped in burning some forest debris that blocked our path. Poisim was on the lookout for any trees that produced anything edible.

After some walking, we stumbled upon a tree with a bunch of juicy fruits, something we could plunder for ourselves. I could not recollect the name of the fruit, probably because I could not recollect anything in general; I felt like I had come into existence just one day ago.

The fruits were hanging high. It was time for our abilities to shine. I extended my nails and guided them to reach the treasure. However, a creature leapt out of the bushes and immediately kicked my nails away!

The creature destroyed my nails. I could grow them back, but I was more interested in who this new intruder was.

It looked like a monkey, with a long tail and tough muscles. Its stances made him look skilled in combat, as if it were ready to scuffle in some kung fu. More importantly, I spotted the shield badge on his forehead.

I knew how this went. I pulled out the crest and it predictably responded: "This is Linchey, the monkey. He is particularly strong in close combat and swift strikes."

Linchey could be a great addition to our party. However, I wondered what caused him to expose himself to us.

The monkey was standing close to the tree, seemingly protecting it from us. While it was correct for him to defend his fruit, we were starving ourselves and needed something for survival too.

Poisim stepped in and spoke something to Linchey, which he responded to as well in monkey speak. While I could grasp neither side of the exchange, the crest was quick enough:

"Poisim informed Linchey about your motivations for sustainance, and Linchey responded saying that the fruit belongs to the monkeys, and one has to be strong enough to earn this reward."

That was convenient then. Linchey was ready in his stance, and I let Poisim take on the fight to show our skill. Let us begin.

Linchey dashed and closed in the distance. He then responded with a flurry of close strikes, which were dodged by Poisim's flexible body. Poisim responded with a Venom Stab but Linchey was quick to boot the fist away.

Linchey then spun around in the air and punished with a kick straight to Poisim's head, knocking him away. Poisim, ticked off, prepared incantations. He summoned the Aqua Bomb and directed it toward the monkey.

The monkey concentrated on the approaching bullet, and his tail began glowing. He immediately jumped and turned around, whipping the bomb in its path and destroying it. We were no longer in a pond, so no more splash damage shenanigans either.

The crest explained, "That was Linchey's special move, the Tail Slap. He can concentrate on any entity and whip at it with his tail with no chance of missing."

That was not ideal. Poisim was not done either though. He charged toward Linchey, who responded with a dash toward the frog as well.

While they were approaching each other, I observed something from the corner of my eye and immediately sprinted to the battlefield, interrupting the fight. I quickly summoned Firem and two fireball projectiles, directed at Poisim and Linchey, got absorbed by him.

The combatants were confused, but I was not. I drew the Twin Blader and announced, "There is no point in hiding. If you wish to battle, show yourself!"

"Hmph. You are quick." replied a voice, "Brad, let us fulfill their demands then."

A figure adorning a black robe emerged from the shadows of the dense trees. It was the red-haired fire mage we had fought the day before. Not only that, looking behind, the axe guy, presumably Brad, also stepped in, effectively surrounding us from all sides.

It was the Grawze. "Kid, we heard what you did to the water mage," told the red-haired guy, "It could have been much easier for you, for your retaliation will only make things more exciting for us."

Brad, from behind, added smugly: "Sorry to disturb your scuffle, but now we must take the Elemental away."

I was swift to respond too, "It is good you are informed about the water mage. It is a sign that you must avoid messing with us."

"A human, a frog, a monkey and one Elemental?" replied Brad, laughing, "Who are you trying to humor, human?" Pulling his axe out, he added, "Trucer, let us show them our wrath."

The red-haired guy, Trucer, looked unamused unlike his partner though. He conjured fireballs from his palms and readied himself, saying: "Your life is forfeit, human. Hand over the Elemental, and we may grant you a swift end."

This was an unavoidable fight. I, Firem and Poisim readied our stances, but Linchey joined in too. It would be not honorable for him to flee leaving his opponents in danger. Everyone was ready.

Trucer shot his fireball projectiles, which were countered by Firem and Poisim's elemental moves. This allowed me and Linchey to rush toward Brad and take him on.

Brad swung his axe in a diagonal arc, avoided by me in time. Linchey jumped and attempted to land a kick, which got parried by the axe. I used this opportunity to swing at him with my blade, which he was quick to dodge with a backstep.

Meanwhile, Firem let out a continuous Fire Beam, directed toward Trucer. The fire mage stepped away to avoid, but his battle space was limited due to the stream of fire fauceted by Firem. Exploiting the limited mobility Poisim jumped in for a Venom Stab, which Trucer avoided in time.

Brad stepped back and raised his axe high up, and swung it hard on the floor, inciting an earthquake. The quake disrupted Firem's balance and his Fire Beam ended, allowing Trucer to rush toward him.

Linchey dashed in close and let out another flurry of swift strikes. Before Brad could shield him using his axe, I pulled it back by tying my Long Nails to it, allowing Linchey's hits to land.

Firem and Poisim summoned the Flame Burst and Aqua Bomb, and shot them at Trucer. Trucer's eyes glowed red and he summoned a sphere of flames engulfing him, protecting him from the explosives.

Brad swung his axe with all his strength, throwing me as well because of my nails tied to it. Linchey used his Tail Slap to destroy the nails, freeing me from the inertia of the axe.

Brad summoned a flurry of stalagmites and discharged them toward us. Meanwhile, Trucer expanded his flame shield and let out a huge wave of fire, igniting the forest. The stalagmites destroyed the trees one-by-one, causing them to collapse.

The entire battlefield was being destroyed. The forest burned so bright the sky almost felt red with heat. I and Linchey regrouped with Firem and Poisim, surrounded by the mages. We had to decide our next move quick.

Before they could close in the distance though, vines erupted from the ground and bound them both!

The vines increased in density, completely immobilizing them. They struggled physically, but were unable to speak or use incantations, and got dragged away from the battlefield.

I observed the crest was probably going insane considering how much it was resonating. The crest pointed upward, and we looked at the silhouette of a creature at the cliffs commanding the vines.

"Could it be?" I whispered. Firem was in awe, and the crest was resonating rapidly. It was the grass Elemental.

The Elemental spotted us, and summoned vines without a thought, intending to capture us as well. We immediately sprinted for our lives. The vines were on our tail.

We intended to rush to a cave far away, hoping the vines would not reach in there. We created a formation: Firem leading us, Poisim and Linchey to the sides, and I behind. We had to sprint toward safety while avoiding everything summoned to trap us.

As we ran, the creepers tried to tie us, while new plants were repeatedly summoned to block our path. I commanded Firem to incinerate anything in front of us, while Poisim's Venom Stab, Linchey's Tail Slap and my blade would take care of anything intruding from the sides.

A vine tried encaging Poisim, but Linchey slashed it away using his tail. Some creepers tripped Linchey, but I pulled him back up using my nails. We could not afford to get slowed down.

We could see the cave opening. The grass grew much longer to obstruct the entrance. The plants from earlier were also catching up, and situation was dire.

I raised my blade, and the other three their fists. We all charged at the cave entrance and struck simultaneously, breaking the grass and burst into the cave, ridding us of the vines.

We could finally have some rest. Two days in and I was already sprinting for my life. The cave was dark, and we could not return the way we came from as it was completely covered in vines. We had to keep moving forward.

The darkness was blinding us. Thankfully, Firem provided a source of light in himself, allowing us to see a few steps ahead of us.

I stopped us in our tracks and took the time to speak with Linchey. I sat down, and Linchey looked at me.

"I am sorry for getting you in this mess. These Grawze freaks would stop at nothing to obtain Firem, and if I had not been insistent, your forest would not have been destroyed."

The monkey raised his arm, presumably about to strike, but instead patted my head, to console me. I pulled the crest out and realized that the third gem had already been lit. The crest spoke, "Linchey had already found you worthy when you all protected each other. He will stick around as well, for he wishes to have his revenge against the Grawze too."

A tear dripped from my eye. The monkey opened his arms for a hug, which was welcomed. Firem and Poisim were also cheered up, with the consolation. Having another party member, no: another friend, reinforced my hope, knowing that we would fight to the end and never surrender.

Our emotional moment was perhaps a tad too loud. A series of repeated high-pitched squeaks were echoed.

I told Firem to summon a weak fireball to observe the landscape, and what was revealed left us speechless. We were surrounded by hundreds of unnaturally large bats, who had awoken because of our barging in, and they certainly did not feel grateful toward us.

The first bat swooped in. One last battle for the road.

It was too dark to see, which was a handicap to only us since the bats could use echolocation.

I used my Nail Attack; quite literally throwing darts in the dark. Some of them hit a few bats. Linchey used his instincts to sense any bats that closed in on him and strike them using his unmissable Tail Slap. Poisim went for Aqua Bombs to hit as many bats as possible.

The bats screeched in unison, echoing up to a loud scream, deafening us.

Firem went with a stream of Fire Beam and traced along the entire cave, hitting most bats.

Despite the damage done, plenty of bats still remained. We could not afford to endure another loud screech. Plus Firem's light was still not bright enough for us to observe the entire battlefield.

"Concentrate." said the crest. I held it close, and it whispered, "You have one more ability you are yet to awaken. Channel your energy and you shall be able to conjure light up yourself."

I was unable to process what the crest meant, but chose to follow it. Firem, Poisim and Linchey guarded me from the bats, while I concentrated.

I closed my eyes, and focused my instincts, like Linchey does. I opened my palm and presented it forward, like when Poisim prepares his Aqua Bomb. Finally, I externalized my energy, as if it were innate, like Firem.

Soon, a little luminuous purple orb was conjured in my palm. I focused my pulse more; it increased in size. Once I felt it was ready, I shot the projectile towards the bats and took down a bunch of them.

Now all four of us ready, we prepared the final barrage. I tossed up another purple pulse in the air, brightening the battlefield. I tied Linchey using my Long Nails and Linchey prepared his Tail Slap; meanwhile Firem and Poisim protected us. I swung the monkey like a mace, letting his tail hit every bat in the air without missing. All bats were defeated! Our squad was victorious.

• 13am (DELTARUNE Chapter 3+4 Soundtrack) by Toby Fox
• Super Mario RPG: Beware the Forest's Mushrooms Arrangement by The Noble Demon
• Super Mario RPG: Beware the Forest's Mushrooms by Yoko Shimomura
• Cult of the Lamb [Official] - Amdusias by River Boy
• [2-14] Seal Chamber - Cave Story Remastered Soundtrack arranged by Danny Baranowsky
• Cave Story OST: Seal Chamber by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
• Leshy (2024) - Cult of the Lamb Metal Remix by BKM
• Cult of the Lamb [Official] - Leshy by River Boy
• Art Through Adversity - Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows by Jake Kaufman
• Ib OST - "Memory" by kouri
• Undertale Yellow OST: 011 - Fever Pitch by MasterSwordRemix

Four wings

After subduing the bat swarm, we rejoiced. Since nothing was chasing us, we decided to rest in the depths of the cave.

Poisim and Linchey pursued some well-deserved rest. I withdrew Firem back in the crest.

I was still curious of the new power awakened though, and questioned the voice about it.

"What is this ability that I bear? The metallic nails, and now this pulse. Why do you know about it and I do not?"

"It is a power innate to you. Its existence can be sensed by me, like any other Matlien," responded the voice.

"Well, that would imply I am a Matlien too," I deduced. "What am I?" I inquired.

"That is something I cannot recollect," answered the crest, "which is why seven gems are needed to be lit. Once the crest is filled with energy, I can be freed."

"So are you stuck in there?" I asked, "Why can you not be released and withdrawn similar to Firem?"

"I am not an Elemental. The crest was designed to only hold Elementals, who can enter and exit it at will. I am sealed inside, and my only hope is to have all seven gems lit. Once this quest is fulfilled, I can regain my memories."

I did notice that the crest had gotten more vocal with increasing number of lit gems. It seemed recruiting four more Matliens was the only way forward. Well, that and not dying to the Grawze.

I laid down and rested, deciding to continue the next day.

Twilight fell on my eyes, through a small aperture near the exit of the cave. Poisim and Linchey were up, and I called Firem to join in too. The other three marched towards the other end of the cave, with me tagging behind.

I felt my body was more stiff than yesterday: very odd. I reckoned it to be just fatigue from the earlier battle, and sprinted to my friends.

It seemed we had gained elevation during our journey through the cave. We could see the forests down below, spread like grass. The temperature had also gotten cold, for we had trekked high up the mountain. There seemed to be another patch of trees in the distance, so we pressed on.

While we were walking through the mountainous clearing, I heard something rustle in the bushes and instinctively shot a nail toward it. Unlike last time though, I did hit something.

"OUCH!" cried a voice from the bushes. I went closer to inspect, and found a creature hiding in there. The distraction was a little red parrot, one with a disproportionally large beak.

"What are you staring me at?" said the bird, "Name's Parry: the parrot. You should not just shoot random crap onto others ya know? Anyhoo, what is it with you and your squad trespassing and destroying the island? By the way, I really like that Fire guy those mages are after-"

The speech of this critter was so fast it was hard to keep up. He rambled and made little gestures with his wings, but as he turned around, I noticed something significant: The shield badge.

I pulled the crest out and it replied, "Parry, the parrot. A Matlien who can mimic human speech, but oddly I do not recall what else this thing is good at."

I acknowledged the crest, and apparently the parrot was still rambling this whole time. I picked him up by the head and questioned him, "So you have been observing us."

"Umm... Yeah. DO not mistake me for those Grawze thingies though- I am unlike any of them. I am just interested in your group, especially the fire dude, that's all- You can put me down, ya know."

I did put him down. I pondered about adding another member to a team, but failed to see any way a rambling parrot could contribute, who by the way, was still on his rant gloating Firem while I was pondering. Not to mention his unstopping chatter might actually attract danger toward us than let us fight it.

I picked the parrot back up. "Hey, what you thinking?" said the parrot.

"Well, it is dangerous to be around here, especially us," I informed. "Since you are aware of the Grawze and the damage they have done, it is better to avoid being alongside us."

Putting him back down, we went on our way. "HEY! Do not underestimate me you fools! I am just as competent as y'all, ya know?" ranted he, while making the most amount of gestures one could make in one minute.

We ignored his chatter and moved ahead.

As we trekked upward, we encountered a little snowy den. There was nothing but a huge boulder having an emblem of a giant snowflake blocking rest of the cave.

I suggested Linchey to try break the boulder. When he tried a melee strike though, the boulder repulsed him! It seemed that the rest of the cavern was magically sealed, and inaccessible at the moment. I tucked this dead end at the back of my mind and chose to move ahead.

We were pretty high up, and it seemed a set of cliffs was nearing. We walked the edge, and witnessed the beautiful sea.

I looked closely at the horizon, but failed to spot any landmass or civilization again. It seemed there was no way to leave the island.

Although I was disappointed, the scenery was still quiet and peaceful. Just the sounds of the waves, rustling of the leaves and of course the sizzling of Firem's body. It was really something we should have appreciated, if we were not on the run for survival.

Well, if that felt too silent the crest started resonating again. Before I picked it up however, we witnessed a big majestic purple bird with a long tail propelled high up from the ocean with its wings spread out, before lunging back into the waters.

All of us were mesmerized at the beauty of the bird, and the fact that it could swim underwater.

I drew the crest. It stated, "This is Traquill, the majestic fisher queen. She prefers cold climates and can inhabit both air and water."

This was certainly a bird worth appreciating. It would be awesome to have a Matlien like that on the team, but it felt wrong to disturb her. She was too far away from the cliff's edge anyway, and neither of us four could fly, so we chose to pass her up. We moved on-

"HELLO THERE! Don't you know it is rude to leave someone while they are speaking?!?!" said the parrot, waddling towards us from the forest, despite having wings.

He looked towards the flying Traquill behind us and got mad. "So you ignored ME for THIS creature? Who cares if she looks beautiful?! What matters to you is strength, right? I will show you some!"

Before any of us could even react, the angry parrot flew past us beyond the edge toward the purple queen. Without a thought, he pecked the purple bird's tail midflight, plucking a feather off!

Traquill halted her flight and looked toward the miscreant. She did not seem any satisfied with the uncalled attack, and prepared an incantation in return.

"Oh crap, did I mess up" screamed the parrot, from across the cliff.

Traquill opened her beak and conjured a sphere of ice, that spilled into a beam of white light into the sky. Parry frantically flew up to avoid the move.

"Ice Ray. Similar to the Fire Beam, it is a ray of cold energy that freezes anything it hits upon impact," said the crest.

Parry frantically flapped his wings towards Traquill. At first we were confused, but soon the wings accumulated an unnatural gust of wind blown straight to the bird. The wind knocked her way back in the air.

I asked the crest if that was an incantation, and the response was affirmative. "Windwave, a move of Parry that can summon a huge gust of air by flapping his wings."

Traquill steadied herself and closed her wings, and summoned a sheath of spiraling water encasing herself, shooting herself straight to Parry like a bullet.

"It is the Aqua Shot," said the crest. We were all amazed at the variety of moves in the sky battle, and Poisim especially was in awe witnessing such mastery over water.

Parry tried flying away, but his speed of flight was nowhere near that of Traquill's Aqua Shot. The shot hit Parry, and he was thrown straight back to us, at the cliff.

Before we could comprehend that battle, the bird looked at the cliff and fired and Ice Ray towards us as well!

Traquill probably believed we were also associated with the parrot. She glided straight to us, preparing another attack.

Linchey could not use his close-ranged moves to a bird in the sky, and somebody had to tend to the parrot. Therefore, I sent out Firem and Poisim to deal with the enemy.

Firem defended us with a Fire Beam to counter the Ice Rays. Both the beams clashed, and nullified each other.

Poisim prepared an Aqua Bomb and shot it straight to Traquill. The bird was swift in the air and avoided the move altogether.

"So, why are you so stubborn on following us?! Not only did you get us into trouble, you are hurt yourself," scolded I, to the parrot. "I want to be a part of you!" cried he, "I dislike the Grawze too, for they destroyed my nest in that forest as well... I wish to fight too, in any way I can! I want to prove myself!"

"We fight out of necessity Parry, not choice," stated I to Parry. "Our ultimate goal is to survive the onslaught of the Grawze and escape the island. At least right now, our current objective is to light the seven gems on this crest I have."

"You don't... fight by choice? But you... chose to not surrender Firem, you chose... to not... surrender..."

Parry was correct. I chose to keep moving ahead despite the first battle with the Grawze. Even if it felt hopeless, I and Firem kept fighting despite surrendering being the easier option. If we could keep fighting, why could Parry not?

I was in deep thought, but still concerned about the ongoing battle. Firem and Poisim were struggling against the bird, and Linchey was trying his best to contribute.

Firem studied Traquill's curved flight patterns and strategically summoned a Flame Burst to hit her. The burst hit the bird at her wing, leaving a singe mark. However, Traquill closed her wings again and glowed green, healing that mark.

Traquill knew Regeneration. This fight felt hopeless.

Traquill encased herself in water, preparing another Aqua Shot. Before she deployed herself though, she sensed a presence and cancelled her move.

Everyone's attention drifted to the side. A figure in a black robe descended from the clouds, levitating in the sky. The figure had a pale skin and empty eyes; his mouth hidden by his collar. It was the wind mage.

"We meet again," announced the mage. Looking toward Firem, he added: "Seems the Elemental is here too. This shall be simple."

I rushed to the edge of the cliff and screamed toward him, "It is foolish for you to come here, Grawze. We battled and disarmed all three of the other mages!"

The mage, with no visible reaction on his face, said: "Sgror, Trucer, and Brad; you mean? You must be mistaken. They have successfully recovered."

All four of us were in shock; Parry too for some reason. "But... weren't they captured by those vines?" startled I.

"They broke free. Those vines could not contain them for long." answered the mage.

"And what about Sgror? Was he not lethally poisoned?" cried I.

"Poisoned: Yes. Lethal? Nope. All that poison achieved was disabling him for mere hours. He has recuperated."

I clenched my teeth. "WHAT are you?" I screamed.

"Well, we are known as the Grawze. But as for me, you may call me Nemora."

He presented his palms forward, and let out a huge gale, knocking all of us back, including Traquill; knocking her back into the sea.

It was too much to bear. Firem and Poisim were exhausted from the earlier battle; Linchey and I did not have the range to battle the mage from beyond the cliff.

My head felt too heavy. However, I felt a presence on my shoulder. It was Parry. "Why not let me handle this one?" said he. "I am the only one here with wings, so why not sit this battle out?"

Without any confirmation, Parry waddled toward the edge of the cliff, and looked straight towards Nemora. "If you wanna hurt them, you better go through me, freak!"

"A clown. If you wish to fly, then dance with me in the sky. You would be certain to reach heaven." replied Nemora.

Nemora raised his palm, and summoned another gust directed at Parry, knocking him back.

Parry was heavily wounded. However, his determination did not fade. He struggled to get back up. Before Nemora could launch another attack though, Parry glowed green!

All his wounds faded. We were confused on how Parry used Regeneration. Parry too was confused.

Instantly, a majestic bird shot up from the sea: It was Traquill. She had healed Parry.

"Two birds, then? I suppose this dance would certainly be entertaining. Brace yourselves!"

Parry leapt off the cliff, and was ready to confront the wind mage. Traquill too, was prepared to take the fight on. The sky battle commenced.

Traquill prepared the Aqua Shot and charged, intending to complete her previously interrupted move.

She was fast, but not fast enough for Nemora, who hovered to the side and avoided the move. Parry flew toward the mage, but was promptly pushed away as Nemora summoned yet another breeze from his palm.

"This is not even a warm up," commented Nemora. Both birds, pissed off, prepared incantations. Parry flapped his wings, summoning a Windwave toward Nemora. Meanwhile Traquill opened her beak to conjure a different looking ice orb. I consulted the crest, who described, "This is the Frost Burst, the ice equivalent to the Flame Burst. It hits hard with an incredibly cold explosion."

"The Aqua Bomb, and then the Frost Burst?" I wondered. I was intrigued with the finesse of these Elemental powers by non-Elemental Matliens.

Traquill casted the Frost Burst, and it hurled toward Nemora. However, Parry's already-deployed Windwave worked against the burst and slowed it down, allowing Nemora to dodge the move yet again.

"I reckon this little play shall end soon. This is not even worth my time." stated Nemora.

"Sorry! I should have looked at your move as well..." cried Parry from across the sky to Traquill.

Nemora raised his arm, and dark clouds appeared in the sky. The speed of the wind escalated unnaturally. Parry and Traquill were struggling in their flight, but Nemora was still levitating stably.

I instinctively withdrew Firem in the crest and commanded Poisim and Linchey to grab onto the trees.

Nemora turned toward us and looked down. "If you want to hide the Elemental in that shield, then I shall snatch your artifact itself."

Before he could descend though, he felt a presence behind him. It was Parry, who had bitten his robe, and gripped it hard with his beak. Nemora, annoyed, pointed his palm towards the parrot and summoned a gale toward him. However, Parry held on, clenching his beak and not letting go. Soon, his beak started glowing.

Nemora was startled seeing the bird holding on. Parry pulled hard and let go, thrwing Nemora across the sky. "It is the Vice Peck," stated the crest, "It has a grip that is unslippable."

Parry was exhausted from the attrition, but got rewarded by Traquill's Regeneration. However, Traquill now looked tired, implying this was the final Regeneration for the battle.

Nemora, still persisting, hovered toward the birds. Angered, he presented both his palms forward and summoned a very strong gale, which was impossible to fly through. Traquill and Parry were struggling immensely, but that is when Parry got an idea.

"Use that Aqua Shot of yours! Now! Do not think about the gale, just trust me!"

Traquill complied, and was predictably pushed back with the combined speeds of the shot and the wind. Parry let Traquill get knocked behind him, allowing him to turn around and flap a Windwave towards her, accelerating her further back. None of us had any knowledge of Parry's plan, and presumably neither did Nemora.

Traquill's Aqua Shot sped up considerably with the wind. She curved her path near the precipice and charged back toward Nemora, allowing her to overcome the gale. Nemora, startled by the outcome, cancelled his gale. It was too late though: Traquill had gained enough acceleration with his own storm. Furthermore, Nemora's mistake nullified all resistant wind, causing the speed of the Aqua Shot to increase a hundredfold and impale right through his face!

He reflexively pushed the bird back, but another surprise awaited him. Traquill spun and launched Parry in the sky, who had gripped her tail during the accelerated shot. She cast Ice Ray on the falling parrot, turning him to a hailstone. Parry accelerated using gravity and crashed right onto Nemora, shattering the ice on his head!

Parry flew towards and regrouped with Traquill. Nemora covered his face with his hand, and levitated backwards. His face was bleeding, with an unnatural black blood. With only his eye visible, he threatened, "This is not the end, Matliens. We Grawze always come back. We never die. Fighting is futile: eventually you will fall to us."

With his remaining hand, he blew one final gale towards the birds, knocking them down onto the cliff toward us. Poisim and Linchey promptly caught Traquill, and I grabbed Parry. We looked back up but the mage was gone. We had defeated the wind mage!

The sun was setting. I summoned Firem and we four tended to the birds.

"This was... too much... was it not? I guess you really were right, RRG: this fight is pretty difficult," whispered Parry.

"It is indeed just the beginning, but we have shown the mages our retaliation too. They have no chance against our combined strength," stated I.

I flourished the crest, and taking a deep breath, I proposed: "So Traquill and Parry, you showed immense bravery in today's assault by the Grawze. Your strength is commendable, and we would love to have you both on the squad."

"Me too?" stumbled Parry, startled. Traquill was startled too, but they both looked to see Firem, Poisim and Linchey smiling at them. They then looked toward each other, and nodded. The bird and the parrot placed their wings onto the crest, lighting two more gems. They had joined the squad!

Only two more gems remained, and the mystery of the crest almost cracked.

• 13am (DELTARUNE Chapter 3+4 Soundtrack) by Toby Fox
• Super Mario RPG: Beware the Forest's Mushrooms Arrangement by The Noble Demon
• Super Mario RPG: Beware the Forest's Mushrooms by Yoko Shimomura
• Owlboy OST - The Troublemaker Jonathan Geer
• Cult of the Lamb [Official] - Amdusias by River Boy
• [2-14] Seal Chamber - Cave Story Remastered Soundtrack arranged by Danny Baranowsky
• Cave Story OST: Seal Chamber by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
• Crucible of Confirmation - Sea of Stars by Eric W. Brown

Silent hell

Five gems lit. Two remained. Dusk fell yet again. I laid on the rocky floor near the cliff, alongside the snoozing Poisim and Parry. Linchey was resting on a tree branch, and Traquill chose to spend the night in the ocean. Firem was in the crest, as always.

I closed my eyes, but had difficulties in achieving sleep. I switched sides, but to no avail. I did feel something odd though: my metallic wrists felt ever so slightly more stiff than before. It was barely noticeable, so I chose to neglect it.

After some time, I finally obtained some slumber.

I opened my eyes, and found myself in an abstract greyscale world. I could not spot the crest, my blade or any of the Matliens. I looked at my hands, and was confused to discover my human fingers; not see the metallic claws. In fact, it felt oddly pleasant to have no bodyache or stiffness in my wrists. I walked in the empty world for hours, but there was nothing but void.

After a long period of unproductivity, I chose to settle down. However, the moment I seated myself I felt a presence on my shoulder. Looking back, I witnessed long black nails resting on them. Immediately, a flurry of nails coiled around my neck! They tightened and strangulated my throat. I was about to lose consciousness-

I opened my eyes. The sun was rising. Apparently all that was a dream. Looking down, I still held the crest and the blade, and my hands were black, projecting the long claws. The ache persisted, and my body felt less flexible.

I chose to forget about it. There was too much going on anyway, I supposed it was better to not pollute my mind with nightmares too.

Everyone had awoken. Linchey and Parry were already scavenging food. Traquill shot up from the sea and landed at the precipice. I and Poisim went to investigate.

Poisim croaked something to Traquill enthusiasically, which the crest translated unprompted: "Poisim has been inspired by Traquill's Aqua Shot, and wishes to learn it too."

Traquill chirped a response, which the crest converted, "The move can only work at very fast aerial speeds. Poisim is a frog, so summoning the move is a lot more difficult."

Poisim looked disappointed, but I got an idea to cheer him up. "Hey Poisim! Care to join me for a training session?"

Poisim nodded, and we both walked toward the cave to practise our abilities. Traquill hopped back down to the ocean.

"So I have this pulse thingy, that works very similar to your Aqua Bomb. I wanted to train with you to enhance my skills."

Poisim agreed, and showed me how to externalize my energy to conjure a projectile. I failed multiple times at the start, probably because I was not surrounded by hundreds of bats about to swoop on me, but I kept following his instructions.

Soon, I presented my palm forward and I successfully summoned a blue orb- Wait.

A large bubble of water was summoned from my palm which exploded on impact. I followed Poisim's instructions so closely; I ended up learning the Aqua Bomb!

Meanwhile, Poisim following my instructions summoned a violet pulse orb: not the luminous one I summoned, but his Venom Stab extended to produce what was the Poison Pulse.

Well, that was awkwardly a productive training session. With our new skillset mastered, we rushed back to the others.

I was thinking of the way forward. We were clueless on where to explore next; we were pretty high up. We required two more Matliens, but we had already explored all the way from the grassy plains to the swamps to the forests to the cliffs.

Well, I recalled that one thing I never inquired the crest about was the butterfly fossil I had obtained a while back. Now that the crest has more gems lit, perhaps we could achieve some insight.

I pulled the fossil out, and asked the crest to provide any information it had.

"This butterfly... It seems to be an ancient Matlien. It seems it has stayed fossilized for centuries, but it does not seem fully lifeless. Perhaps some kind of mystical ability could regenerate life into it."

The most mystical member of our team was certainly Traquill. I carried the relic to the precipice and whistled to summon her. She shot up from the sea and landed in front of me and Poisim. I requested her to use Regeneration on the fossil, to perhaps revive it. Traquill focused her energy, and the fossil glowed green. It glowed brighter and brighter, until we heard a crack!

The wings started flapping and the butterfly creature escaped the rock holding it.

The creature shook itself and cleared all the dust off it, flourishing a butterfly with large wings of white scales. The scales looked sharp, and the wings had a pattern of eyes colored on them. An aura of the shield badge was faintly visible around it.

The crest vibrated, and the sixth gem glowed instantly.

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. I did not expect a new recruit to be so simple. That would imply only one gem would remain.

Linchey and Parry returned with some fruit they gathered from the nearby trees. They were surprised to see the new member.

"Hey there, little buddy! Welcome to our squad! I hope we give a good time!" exclaimed Parry.

The butterfly showed no response, which was awkward for Parry, but he brushed it off.

The crest buzzed and it spoke: "This is Scialgaar, the ancient butterfly. It has sharp scales for combat, but also carries an arsenal of magical incantations. While it cannot speak, revival added it to the party."

With six members on the team, we had to find another one. I summoned the entire squad, and demanded suggestions. Parry raised his wing.

"Have you heard of the Wyverns' Den?" questioned Parry.

"Nope, not really," responded I.

"Ya see, it is a scorching hellish tunnel near the Lava Hillocks. We are near the mountains anyway, so it is not that far off," said he.

"Where are you going with this?"

"Well, it is filled with these demonic wyerns called 'Dragiwyres'. They are pretty angry beasts, but I have heard they are pretty strong too. They even swim in lava! Why not get one?"

"Tempting, but I am not sure if we should just barge in a den of wyverns and expect to peacefully recruit one."

"Don't fret, buddy! Just battle the first one you see and immediately bail out the den! Simple as that."

Not the best plan that came to mind, but not a bad one either. "Perhaps we could give it a try," affirmed I.

I polled everyone if they agreed to join the trek, and everyone but Traquill agreed. Traquill, being an aquatic bird, would preferably avoid traversing inside a literal volcano. I observed Scialgaar's flight patterns were sluggish—It just woke up—so I let Traquill take care of it while the rest of us harassed the dragons. Parry rejoiced already, for being a part of an actual adventure.

I, Firem, Poisim, Linchey and Parry trekked onward, and noticed the path to the Lava Hillocks being separated by a large chasm, with only a lone wooden bridge connecting the two sides.

Parry easily flew across the abyss, leaving us to traverse the bridge. I withdrew Firem in the crest. Poisim, Linchey and I tiptoed across the bridge, maintaining our balance. One slip and any of us could have been toast.

Thankfully though, we all made it across. However, just a few moments later the bridge spontaneously collapsed! Nobody had any clue how it occurred, but so happening separated us from Traquill and Scialgaar for a while.

After some more walking, we finally discovered it: The mouth of the Wyverns' Den. The temperature was already rising, and we could already hear the slushing of the magma beneath. I summoned Firem, and we all stepped in.

The rock tiling the cavern was some kind of cinnabar, which made sense considering the Lava Hillocks. Just as always, the tunnel was dark, but nothing Firem could not handle. Additionally, I could use my own pulse of light, if the need be.

When our sight brightened up, we were overwhelmed witnessing them: the sleeping wyverns.

They were very large, even bigger than Traquill. They were these black draconic creatures with sharp-looking talons, long tails and batlike wings with clawed fingers at the joints. One was laying on the floor in front of us, while some others were hanging from the ceiling. It seemed every one of them was sleeping though, snoring with their short snouts, albeit sharp fangs. The shield badge was clearly engraved on its tail.

I reckoned we should have built a strategy before making any noise: waking any of them up could wake all of them up, which could put us in jeopardy.

I turned back and attempted to leave, but was repelled by the entrance! There was an emblem of a strange square symbol sealing the exit. The same square symbol... present on the cloaks of the Grawze.

We had been trapped. Everyone was silently in panic, but Parry whispered, "I think we are better off passing on these things... If I am not wrong there is an exit on the other end of the tunnel. Maybe we can try that-"

Our mission turned into one of stealth now. The only means to stay safe was to traverse the den as silently as possible, awakening none of the Dragiwyres.

A Dragiwyre was lying on the floor, in front of us. Would have loved a new recruit, but we silently tiptoed—Parry too for some reason, despite having wings—and sidestepped the hassle.

After covering some distance, we witnessed a giant pool of lava in our way: falling into which would spell doom. Thankfully there was no wyvern nearby, allowing us the platforming at ease.

There were three tall columns of brown rock dotting the chasm, which we could exploit as stepping stones.

Parry finally used his birdbrain and flew to the other side. Poisim followed next, jumping on the platforms one by one and successfully landing the plateau. Linchey followed similarly: jumping on each platform using his agility.

However, it seemed the last platform was unstable and got dislocated due to Poisim and Linchey's lands. It started drifting with the lava, which spelt bad news.

I pondered about the conundrum and a brilliant idea struck me: since Firem was pretty much just elemental fire, he could withstand the lava! I told Firem the plan and he jumped in the hot pool. He dashed to the floating pillar and held it in place, allowing me to platform my way to the others and withdraw him in the crest.

All of us had successfully crossed. Walking forward, we witnessed a not-so-pleasant sight: three Dragiwyres snoring— two on the floor, one hanging from the ceiling.

There was a narrow opening between the sleeping demons. Parry, being small, was once again able to fly across easily without disturbing them. I slid the crest through and Parry caught it as well. That's three points to the parrot.

The aperture was still not big enough for the remainder of us to walk through. I observed Parry yawning and immediately got a plan! I tossed my Long Nails through the gap and landed them straight in his beak. Startled, he immediately closed it, pecking my nails.

I silently signalled the bird to use Vice Peck and pull me while I retract my nails, allowing me to streamline my body through the air to squeeze through the wyverns.

Once I had gotten past, I used my nails to pull Linchey and Poisim through the gap in a similar fashion.

After tackling the second puzzle, we walked a bit to find a slightly narrower corridor with a low ceiling. Our path was blocked by a large asleep Dragiwyre.

Even Parry was confused on getting past this one. Thankfully, there was a large cinnabar stone nearby, behind which we could hide and strategize.

All four of us ducked down and hid behind the rock.

"I have no idea about this one," whispered Parry, "I think we might need to wait until it wakes up-"

A large fireball hurled and exploded straight to the Dragiwyre's body! All four of us stood up and immediately looked behind.

"Missed us?" shouted a red-haired man adorning a black robe, decorated with the same square symbol sealing the den. His palm smoked, revealing the source of the attack. Trucer.

From behind him stepped in the wand-wielding Sgror and the axe-wielding Brad, with a mocking smile.

"You guys put Nemora out of commission, so we gotta do the dirty work for now," announced Brad. "If only you had cooperated earlier, you would not have been trapped with us," grumbled Sgror.

I was pissed, but in truth we were less concerned about these freaks and more about the noise they caused.

The wyvern woke up, and let out a loud angry roar. Immediately, one-by-one, every Dragiwyre in the den opened its eyes, and did not look grateful toward us.

"Have you lost it?!" screamed I. "The dragons are now flying toward us from the entire cavern! Are you not afraid of the consequences!"

"Hmph," grunted Trucer, "The sooner you die, the better for us. We will tear down whatever comes in our path." "Fear is what we Grawze spread, kid; we do not feel it," added Sgror.

These things were subhuman. While I was concerned about our own safety, I did not want the Grawze to hurt the Matliens. Therefore, I summoned Firem and let him and Parry distract the Dragiwyres. Parry was excited to be paired with Firem, but I told him to contain himself given the situation. The remainder of us readied our stances, and prepared for battle.

I, Poisim and Linchey charged to the three mages, while Firem and Parry and rushed to another lava pool in the distance.

I grew my nails out on one hand and wielded the Twin Blader on the other. I slashed Trucer with my blade, which he blocked with his fists. Poisim attempted a stab to Brad, while Linchey kicked Sgror, both of which were parried likewise.

Sgror summoned an arc of water, which Linchey sidestepped. He leapt and attempted to land a Tail Slap. Sgror readied his wand for a parry, but could not block the unmissable whip.

Firem jumped into the pool of lava, and was surrounded by flying Dragiwyres swooping toward him. He hurled Fireballs and Flame Bursts toward the wyverns to weaken them and take them down.

Over on our side, Brad swung his axe toward Poisim, while Poisim flung his Venom Stab fists, which clashed in an attrition. Poisim interrupted the clash though to avoid a purple pulse launched at them!

A Dragiwyre was flying overhead, launching pulses at us from its maw, not dissimilar to the ones I produced. I booted Trucer and stepped back, to ask the crest about the move.

"It is the Lizard Pulse, the signature move of demonic Matliens," stated the crest, "It is a concentrated light of draconic energy shot at the target."

While I was intrigued by the new information, it felt creepy realizing one of my innate abilities was literally labelled 'demonic'. I could not give any time to process that though; there was a battle to deal with.

A Fire Beam hit the hovering Dragiwyre, luring it to Firem.

Meanwhile, Parry was gliding throughout the tunnel through narrow gaps with a flight of Dragiwyres chasing him. His motive was to tire the wyverns out. "You can never catch me freaks!" teased the bird.

I extended my Long Nails and swung them like a whip to the fire mage. He launched an explosive fireball and destroyed them, but I immediately grew them back. I was noticing my bodyache getting more prominent with every use of my nails.

Sgror summoned a jet of water from his wand, pushing the frog and the monkey back. Brad summoned two stalagmites and hurled them straight to the injured Matliens, but Linchey reflexively leapt and struck them both with his tail before hitting him and Poisim.

I leapt toward Trucer and swung my blader successively. He was quick on his feet: backstepping each of my slices, and exploited the point-black range to summon his flame shield, knocking me back. However, I was not done. I summoned the Aqua Bomb and created an opening in his shield, and lauched a flurry of nails straight to him.

Trucer was injured and knocked back. Black blood started dripping, revealing his vulnerability. Sgror and Brad immediately covered him though and charged toward us, and I joined Poisim and Linchey in a counter-rush.

Firem jumped on the drifting rock pillars atop the lava, and challenged the Dragiwyres to an aerial fight. As the Dragiwyres swooped toward him, he leapt and punished successively with a flame kick and flame punch, knocking them down to the hot sea. Parry glided to the Elemental and regrouped, bringing his party of Dragiwyres.

Parry soared vertically up, with the Dragiwyres madly chasing him. As he reached the ceiling, he snapped back around and launched a downward gale of Windwave, pushing the wyverns down with intensity, tossing them down into the lava. Firem braced himself to not fall from the wind too.

A group of Dragiwyres opened their mouths and roared Lizard Pulses directed toward Parry. Parry, cornered at the ceiling had no means of escape. However, Firem leapt up in the air and summoned Flame Bursts to destroy every single one of the launched pulses. Parry was grateful to Firem on saving him.

My blade and Linchey's tail parried Sgror's wand, while Poisim scuffled with Brad. "You done yet?" Sgror mumbled toward Trucer, who staggered back up. "Yeah, I have recovered," responded the fire mage, stepping back into the arena.

This was not good news. Trucer regenerated mid-battle, and we were back at square one. However, I noticed the only reason he recuperated was because we let him get away.

Firem and Parry hopped to us, letting us all regroup. They had dealt with the current set of Dragiwyres, but we could sense a few more were on their way.

We had no option but to keep battling, even if the fight were to drag on. We readied our stances once again, but the Dragiwyres arrived too.

Annoyed; Trucer, Sgor and Brad hurled fireballs, water jets and stalagmites straight to the flying beasts, making them even more mad.

I had to intervene. Before they released the second wave of their attacks, I whipped my Long Nails and struck all of their moves down, protecting the Dragiwyres.

Sgror, with a mocking smile, remarked: "If you want to die with these puny creatures, then be my guest!"

He launched a jet of water directed at me, hurling me straight to the lava pit!

Before I landed to the pit though, I launched my Long Nails, which were caught by Poisim and Linchey. However, I was still brushing the lava, and my friends were trying their best pulling me back up before my nails broke due to tension.

"There could not have been a better day!" exclaimed Brad. "The human dead, and the Elemental ours. This will be the end of the Matliens!"

I felt I was done for. Before I gave myself to fate, I felt talons gripping my shoulder. Looking up, it was one of the Dragiwyres. It flew up at great speed and placed me back onto the battlefield.

I was confused on why I was saved. The wyvern looked at me and roared something, which the crest resonated with. I pulled it out, and it said, "The wyvern may be mad at you for disturbing them, but she will not tolerate any calumny to the Matliens race. Fight alongside her, defeat the Grawze."

I acknowledged the crest and looked to the wyvern again. She was waiting, expecting a response. The seventh gem on the crest was faintly glowing but slowly dulling down. This needed to be finished quick.

Firem, Linchey, Parry and Poisim stepped back. I presented my palm forward, and channeled my energy produced a little purple pulse. It was not too strong yet, but before I launched it, the Dragiwyre ducked down and opened her maw near my hand. She added her Lizard Pulse energy to mine, augmenting our powers.

The mages braced themselves for the move. I channeled more of my energy, and so did the wyvern. We focused so hard that we both let out a demonic roar and bursted the seventh gem with light, forming a Massive Lizard Pulse. We launched the attack toward the mages, who launched their elemental attacks too.

We were all in the war of attrition, but there was no way I would let us lose. I released all my energy, screaming unnaturally loud, and for a moment— my skin flickered silver in the silhouette of the purple luminance.

"Arrghh... Why is this human impossible to defeat?!!" panicked Brad, while countering the massive orb of light. "This is not worth our time," commanded Trucer, "Retreat!"

The pulse caused a massive explosion, blinding all of us. When the dust settled, the mages had escaped. Cowards.

Our squad regrouped outside the other end of the den, alongside the Dragiwyres. We looked up on them, and they wanted to thank us for protecting them from the Grawze. As a reward, the mother Dragiwyre—the one I teamed up with—would like to join us.

I consulted the crest and all seven gems were lit. We had the final member of our team! The mystery of the crest awaited us. It was time for the seven to be united.

• Tin Coffee Maker by Hirokazu Akiyama
• Super Mario RPG: Beware the Forest's Mushrooms Arrangement by The Noble Demon
• Super Mario RPG: Beware the Forest's Mushrooms by Yoko Shimomura
• Ib OST - "Memory" by kouri
• Owlboy OST - The Troublemaker Jonathan Geer
• Goliath - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night OST by Ryusuke Fujioka
• N/A - No More Deals Remix V1 by N/A Music
• Undertale No More Deals by Avranik

Fateless night

Mother Dragiwyre, alongside us, waved goodbye to her kin and we moved onward. The crest glowed bright from the seven colorful gems affixed onto it. I knew we had to regroup with Traquill and Scialgaar, but doing so was difficult considering the wooden bridge that got us to the Lava Hillocks had collapsed, presumably the Grawze's doing as well.

After some pondering, I devised the plan: Dragiwyre could carry me, Linchey and Poisim across the chasm, while Parry could simply fly over! Firem could reside in the crest during the transport.

I withdrew Firem, and communicated the plan to Dragiwyre. She nodded, and immediately gripped all four of us using her talons—yes, Parry too—and zoomed at high speed toward the precipice!

She tossed us right at the cliff, where Traquill and Scialgaar were sharing a meal. Well, that landing was a literal pain in the butt, but at least we had safely reunited.

I summoned Firem, and all eight of us stood in a ring. I flourished the crest, and held it out. A little luminous blue orb was emerging from the center of the shield, but it felt as if it were stuck. It was emnating a low sound though, so I held the crest close. It was still unintelligible, so I pulled it even closer. Immediately, a blue creature jumped from the crest right into my head, through my forehead's shield badge!

"Hey! What- What are you upto?!" cried I. Everyone was startled and confused. I tried scratching my head, literally, but the entity was unreachable. I tried consulting the crest, but it was unresponsive.

Soon, a sleek blue tentacle emerged from my forehead! It sensed its surroundings, and then waved at everyone else! "What is happening!?" shouted I.

"Hey there, sorry for the jumpscare," said a voice, originating from my forehead, "I was the Matlien sealed inside that little crest. So, great job at lighting the seven gems, eh-"

"I think we have more important matters to discuss here," interrupted I, "First of all- what are you doing inside my head?"

"Ah, alright," responded the voice, "I am the bearer of knowledge, the Matlien of the mind. I was created to hold intel on all Matliens, which is how I was able to provide all that info on all of you guys. However, I am really unstable in my physical form, so I need another stable mind to hold me, or at least anything better than that prison of a crest! Hopefully you do not 'mind'!"

"So you are the creature that I had been speaking to over the past few days," deduced I. "What was all this about; why did we have to go through this entire quest just for you?"

"You see, I had been sealed inside the crest. Being just a Matlien of the mind, I could not break the seal myself, although I could sense the environment around me. The crest, by design, holds only the Elementals, which is what the seven gems represent. However, the seven gems respond to any Matlien energy, not just Elementals, so I figured I could release myself by simply letting someone gather seven Matliens."

"So you were sealed inside... Why were you imprisoned, and who did it?"

"Well... the only creature who knows the intricacies of the crest would be the King's general. As for why he did it... that seems to be a mystery even to me. It is almost like I cannot even recall when it had occurred."

"So much for being the 'bearer of knowledge'," grumbled I. "I can hear you, you know that! I am literally in your head."

"Do you need to stay in there?" inquired I, "My head is already feeling weird since the past few days and now I have a chattering ghost staying rent-free in my brain. What even is your name?"

"Good question. I do not really have one," answered the creature, with its tentacle drooping down from my forehead. "You see, I am only a reservoir of knowledge, so I never really needed a name."

"I suppose you do need one now," declared I. After some pondering, I proclaimed, "Since you are a Matlien and you stay within my mind, we shall call you: Mindlien."

"You are terrible at names."

"That is what you get for the tomfoolery you made us go through."

"Fair then," responded Mindlien, with his tentacle returning inside my head. I remembered something though, and instantly spoke: "So what about the crest? Since you were the entity I was communicating with all this time, what is its use now?"

"All I was providing you with was information. The resonating, the recruitment: Every time a gem was lit, that was the crest following its purpose. In fact, after undoing the seal, its gems must have used up their energy now."

I pulled the crest out and correctly, all gems except Firem's had dulled down and were no longer lit. Everyone else was in awe too.

"You do not know the full capability of the crest," added Mindlien, "However, lighting all gems now would require power at the scale of the Elementals, of which only Firem is among us."

That was intriguing. I wondered if there were any further use for lighting the seven gems again, but even if there were one I would require the Elementals.

"You would be correct." spoke Mindlien, unprompted. "I can hear your thoughts too, you know. Benefits of being in there."

"Is there anything that I can keep to myself now?!" shouted I, annoyed.

"Alright, alright. Apologies. I was just kidding. I will make sure not to annoy you more. You can continue with what you were doing. If you need anything though, do invoke me."

That was certainly an annoyance. "I can still hear-" whispered Mindlien, but I shut him up. I could not even have thoughts, seemingly.

It struck to me that we did not really have a place of residence, for we had been simply wandering across the island. I reckoned the bat cave was nearby the cliff, so it could become our personal hideout. It was not like those bats would return anyway.

I ordered everyone to gather firewood, fruits, fish and other resources for inaugurating our new home. Everyone got to work: Firem, Linchey and Poisim travelled to the woods to harvest wood and food, while Traquill, Parry and Dragiwyre swooped down to gather some fish.

Scialgaar showed no visible response though, still fluttering in the same spot.

I approached Scialgaar, and asked Mindlien, "So what are the incantations the butterfly can use? It is pretty mysterious."

"The origins of Scialgaar are pretty ancient. Its scales can be used to chip at opponents, and its unique eye patterns also define its magical abilities."

"Interesting." responded I to the knowledge. While annoying, Mindlien's intelligence can come to good use.

I felt it was time to ask about the elephant in the room. Since everyone else was busy, I took the chance to inquire: "So... what am I?"

"Oh- umm... I was afraid you would ask that." stuttered Mindlien. "So be it, then."

"Your nails, your metallic body, your demonic Lizard Pulse: It is all a part of the Matlien side of you. The Matlien inside of you... If I am correct who it is... It can only be put inside by the King's general."

"Who is this 'King' you speak of anyway?" questioned I. "And who is this general who is seemingly so important?"

"The general is the one who crafted the Matlien imbued within you. He was the tinkerer: He always experimented with Matlien powers, until he developed something extremely uncontrollable, something so destructive it could destroy worlds."

"If the creature inside me is allegedly so violent, why was it put inside me in the first place? And what does it mean for me?"

"That is actually a puzzle for me too. Whenever this process of sealing was performed, it must have occurred outside of this timeline, for me to remember none of it. And secondly, it is really odd for you to still hold your own, despite your worsening body."

"Wait, wha-"

"It only takes moments before I can analyse your health, RRG. I am literally residing in your head. You have been neglecting the ache in your body, but deep down you know it is the Matlien that is breaking free. It must not take over you completely, else calamity shall occur."

"I understand." I acknowledged, "But it seems the stiffness, the ache- It is becoming unbearable. The same powers that have helped me survive against those Grawze are breaking me down."

"Which is precisely why I am here," consoled Mindlien. "I did not arbitrarily invade your mind. It almost felt... compatible. As if I were destined to be a part of it. I can use my tentacles to envelop the Matlien side of you and restrain if you wish, allowing you to live as a human."

"That sounds like a compromise I would be willing to take. As long as I can eliminate this part of me, I can stay in control."

Before the conversation could continue, Dragiwyre roared and landed near on the cliff, bringing a school of fresh fish in her snout.

I brushed the topic off and sprinted toward the cliff to regroup with the dragon. Scialgaar fluttered too.

The quality was immeasurable. Having the literal "fisher queen" on the squad has its benefits, I suppose. We would have a good meal tonight.

I stared at the pile of fish, until a breeze knocked one off. I was confused, until I swiftly deduced the threat.

"Watch out!" I shouted at Dragiwyre and Scialgaar before another gale hit us, knocking the entire pile down the cliff.

Thankfully we avoided the hit, but our dinner was down the drain. "Reveal yourself!" cried I to the sky.

Soon, the black-robed mage emerged from the sky, with a stitched face. Nemora.

"Your instincts are really good, I must say," announced the wind mage, "Since your life is forfeit anyway, I think it only makes sense we eradicate our issue at its root."

"So in nutshell you want to kill 'me'? As if that would ever happen." replied I. "You shall be the one meeting your demise!"

I pointed my nails toward the mage, and attempted to launch a Nail Attack. However, the pain in my wrists bunched up so much that I tripped and fell on my knees. Dragiwyre and Scialgaar rushed and covered me.

"Hey, you alright there?" cried Mindlien, "Do NOT push yourself, the creature has hurt you too much!"

I fell unconscious under the pain of my body. Scialgaar and Dragiwyre remained on the cliff.

"Hmph. It is like the meal being served on a silver platter. This shall not take long," muttered Nemora.

"HEY!" screamed Mindlien, from my head, "You two! Protect RRG at all costs! Destroy this guy!"

The butterfly and the wyvern nodded and leapt off the cliff, facing the wind mage. To protect me.

Dragiwyre opened her maw and summoned a Lizard Pulse, hurling it straight to the mage. However, Nemora zipped around and avoided the projectile. Pissed, Dragiwyre focused her instincts and her tail began glowing. She launched herself straight to the mage and hit him with her own unmissable whip. That's right: Dragiwyres also possess the Tail Slap. Nemora swiftly caught the tail with his hands and swung the wyvern across the sky.

Dragiwyre was knocked far behind, but she stabilized her flight and rushed back to the battlefield.

Nemora pointed his palm toward Scialgaar and launched a gale, knocking it back as well. In response though, Scialgaar's scales began glowing, and it zoomed straight to Nemora, slicing his left wrist. For the second time, Nemora bled black.

"Ghk.. This will only slow me down." grumbled Nemora, detetching his left hand and tossing it into the sea. Soon, little flickers of skin began materializing near his left wrist. While the regeneration progressed, he continued the fight with only one hand.

Two more Lizard Pulses were thrown at the wind mage, both of which were swiftly dodged. Dragiwyre returned to the battlefield, repeatedly launching her draconic projectiles toward the mage.

The mage danced in the air, strategically avoiding every pulse directed. Dragiwyre clenched her talons, observing the futility of her attacks.

Scialgaar flew forward. The eyes on its wings began glowing pink, and launched a psychic beam at Nemora, freezing him in place!

Dragiwyre lunged forward and spun around, landing a point-blank Tail Slap on the mage, rolling him backward. Nemora stabilized himself, and launched a sharp gust of wind at the butterfly. When the gust hit it though, the butterfly split in two! The eye pattern on the butterfly's wings was divided among the two clones, one on each wing.

The right-winged Scialgaar launched another Eye Beam, immobilizing Nemora. In the meantime, the left-winged Scialgaar zipped forward and slashed repeatedly at the mage using its Scale Swords. The mage's left hand was about to be recovered, before Scialgaar cut off his right!

With the recovered wrist, Nemora immediately summoned a gale to push the butterfly away, who fused with its other half, undoing the Fission.

The mage's body was bathed black in blood. With his only arm, he summoned a very strong gale, not dissimilar to the one used against Parry and Traquill.

Scialgaar was unable to withstand the strong wind. Dragiwyre attempted to hold her flight steady, but was struggling. She was slightly pushed back, and glanced down: at my fainted body on the cliff. Remembering the purpose of the fight, she was determined to persevere the wind. Determined to endure, she flapped her wings to fight against the storm. She channeled her draconic energy inside her, and her body glowed gold!

Dragiwyre's internal energy heated her up and unlocked the Comet Crash. She rushed straight through, like an asteroid, defying the wind. She crashed straight onto Nemora, pushing him way back.

Nemora observed his body and assessed the excessive bleeding. "Master would not approve of this," he whispered, before disappearing in the sky, fleeing the battle.

Though the battle was won, nobody rejoiced. The combatants landed down, alongside the remainder of the squad who returned. Firem, Traquill, Linchey, Scialgaar, Parry, Poisim, Dragiwyre— everyone rushed toward my body and tended to me.

I regained consciousness, and opened my eyes. I noticed I was inside a den, with the dark night sky visible at its mouth. A bonfire was lit in front of me, providing light and warmth. The rocky walls were faintly lit yellow by the flame, indicating a feeling of safety. My grey coat was folded, and the Twin Blader was kept beside me. I figured I was in the bat cave, like I had suggested earlier.

"Hey there buddy!" exclaimed Parry, "You have been doing too much lately, so we thought we should provide you some well-deserved rest!"

Linchey, Poisim and Dragiwyre carried some crisp, arguably burnt, fish. Serving the meal to me, Parry announced: "Enjoy the meal! Sorry if it is a bit burnt, Firem put too much passion in the pot for you haha!"

I put a piece of the fillet in the mouth. It tasted bitter, but not too bad. Seeing my friends around me, it truly relieved the ache inside. I ate a few pieces, until I was out of appetite.

Dusk fell and everybody prepared to rest. The cave was spacious enough for all of us, but Traquill still decided to rest under the sea, while Firem rested inside the crest.

Linchey, Scialgaar, Parry, Poisim and Dragiwyre laid down in a grid-like fashion, providing me sufficient space. Everyone else fell asleep, and I closed my eyes too.

"I think... You should do it." monologued I in my head.

"You mean the restraining?" replied Mindlien in my head.

"Yes. I think I am better off without this demon... The longer I spend with it, the worse it gets."

"I suppose I shall do it then. I cannot guarantee success, but if I am able to imprison this creature, then your hands must return to human form, and you shall lose your Matlien powers."

"I am willing to take the risk." declared I.

Mindlien acknowledged the request, and began the procedure. I could feel blue tentacles wrapping inside me, wrapping around to suppress a certain energy. My nails started shrinking, and for a moment: the stiffness in my wrists was fading. I finally felt comfortable, and fell asleep.

I opened my eyes, and observed myself back at the same greyscale world. I could see nothing but emptiness for miles. I observed my hands, and they were devoid of the black nails. I walked around, but could not find anything. I figured this must have been another dream, and chose to just live through it for the night.

I chose to seat myself on the grey blocky floor, but noticed a lone black nail dropped on it. Knowing I was free of the demon, I tossed the nail away, into the void.

Before I could lie down though, I observed two more nails scattered around me. I neglected those and looked away... only to find three more nails dropped. I panicked and frantically threw all of them away. However, when I looked back, they were back again. No matter how much I avoided the nails, I could not get rid of them.

Soon, my own hands turned black, and metallic. The ache started building up yet again. Every nail I discarded approached me, slowly gathering around me. I could not escape them.

They started crawling my skin. I could not escape them.

They started fusing with my own hands. I could not escape them.

I tried running away, but my body grew stiff. I could not escape them.

I could not escape them.

I Could Not Escape Them.

The headache was out of control. I sprung from sleep, and noticed my hands were not human: they were the black metallic claws. My nails were extending with no end. I noticed my friends sleeping. The bonfire was out.

I grabbed my stuff and sprinted out the cave, running as far away as I could.

I rushed to the woods. The longer I ran, the more severe the pain got. I noticed the absence of the moon in the sky. I could not bear the pain anymore. My hands rose up, stabbed my forehead, and threw the blue tentacle Matlien away. I Could Not Bear The Pain Anymore. I Could Not-

In the cave, everyone was asleep. Poisim heard some noise, which woke him up. He looked around, but could not find RRG. He subtly croaked to Linchey, waking him up. The two communicated, and noticed some dust markings left by someone, presumably RRG.

While following the dust, they noticed the Twin Blader dropped on the ground. Their heartbeats skyrocketed, as they feared RRG might have been in danger. Linchey grabbed the blade and held onto it.

The two went on to follow the markings until they led to the woods. Both were confused as for why RRG would go to the woods at midnight. They were led to the woods, where the markings ended. It was very dark, considering the no moon. With no obvious way forward, the two split up, attempting to find the human.

Poisim walked in the dense jungle, but it was filled with crossroads.

Linchey was in a similar scenario, moving traversing the maze of the forest but not reaching anywhere.

Eventually, Poisim found yet another fork in the road, but noticed something weird. The corpse of a critter was on the floor, with a long black spike skewered through it.

Studying the sharp object, Poisim figured what it was. He sprinted in the direction of the trees.

He noticed another worm crawling on a tree, until another black needle was shot right through it!

A creature emerged from the shadows. It looked humanoid, adnorning what appeared as a long tattered coat, but with incredibly long claws, so long that they scattered and spooled on the floor. The head of the creature was oddly tilted. However, the dusk made it too dark to clarify the face behind the silhouette. The creature shot another one of its claws at a critter, disabling it.

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