Chapter Text
Cassie peeked out from behind a tree as she squinted her eyes in examining the camp before them. As Jenos remained concealed behind cover due to his glowing aura, she took the liberty to try and scout out the area. She whispered details and findings out loud to herself as she soaked up the enemy movements like a dry sponge. And when Zigs finally returned with the geography report, the two headed back to their newfound ascended friend awaiting not far in from the tree line.
“It's pretty tight in there.” She recalled with her thumb pointing back at the encampment. “Soldiers are patrolling the place like fruit flies. I don't think we'll be able to sneak our way in.”
A hand was brought to his chin as he hummed in thought, “We may if we can create a diversion.” Jenos replied. “I can distract them for you without raising alarm to my whereabouts but you may still need to take care of a few whilst looking for your friend.”
“I can take care of a few.” She responded in confidence with Zigs squawking in agreement. “Can you sense where she is?”
Behind the mask, his eyes narrowed, “She's in a tent northwest of us. I can't pinpoint which one specifically though, but it seems to be near the center of their camp.” He informed before proceeding to move back.
“If all goes awry, call out to me in your head.” He said while tapping his own temple in example. With Cassie's confused look, he continued, “I'll hear you and return to aid.” His distance grew greater before his final farewell, “Be careful and good luck.”
She took in a deep breath before shifting her attention to the white tents behind the green leaves.
A few soldiers trampled back to their tents with sore feet before plopping down upon a log to take a rest. A few words were exchanged between them, followed by chuckles of laughter as they chattered nonchalantly under the security of their perimeter.
Jenos floated by behind the tree line, keeping his distance to evade detection. His eyes locked onto the soldiers as he made his way around them, coming to the back end of their tents before deciding the spot was good enough.
With a few motions of his fingers, the visible light of his body faded and his corporeal form began to vanish into the invisible spectrum. With himself confidently concealed in plain sight, he floated out from the cover of the jungle and into the enemy encampment.
Settling behind the tents, Jenos paused in view of the resting soldiers. Looking down at their feet, he noticed some loose rocks lying about next to some canteens and idle guns.
As a smile appeared in timing of an idea, he lifted a hand and began to work his magic.
As the soldiers gossiped, a small pebble was lifted from the ground; levitating by will alone into their sights. One of the men stood in attention and pointed his finger to the rock, raising alarm to his comrades just as they retreated from the moving inanimate object.
Retrieving their weapons, they pointed the guns at the approaching stone. Calling out threats of action, as if that’d stop the seemingly sentient rock, they backed up further before one pulled his trigger.
The echo of the gunfire rang across the trees, surprising the rest of the troops to a possible threat. The men responsible looked at each other in confusion as the stone, having been shot, fell back to earth and rolled away—carried by its momentum.
The men took a couple of strides forward, wary like alarmed cats ready to jump at the slightest movement, as their eyes were glued to the rock. After approaching the logs of which they had been sitting on earlier, the canteens resting against them sprang to life and flew at the otherwise unsuspecting soldiers. They screamed in shock and retreated to safety as the drinking containers rolled to a stop on the ground a bit away.
Jenos let out a soft chuckle.
“Tyra!” Cassie called out in a whisper as she peeked inside a tent. Having found it empty, she tiptoed to another. “Tyra?” Again, her findings came up empty.
Suddenly, she heard male voices and quickly tucked herself away inside the tent she was checking. Zigs fluttered his wings to keep balance on her shoulder as her quick movements were at near-random.
The soldiers passed by unaware as the last few ran off to what she could only assume was Jenos' distraction. When the coast was clear, she left to continue her search.
As Lian was making her way back to her tent, the gunshot rang through the sky. With the only plausible response to such an action, she turned and ran in the direction of its source.
Sharing the same mindset, most of the soldiers arrived in the area next to their disturbed comrades. Lian pushed her way through the crowd with spouts of disdain before she happened upon the men responsible for the scene.
“What is going on here?” She asked, “Why did you fire your gun?”
“T-the rock, and the canteens—! They were alive! They came at us!” one of the men explained with a quivering voice he so tried to hide.
Lian narrowed her eyes and placed her hands to her hips, “What?”
“There was a ghost!” another exclaimed, braver than the others to admit what they witnessed.
But Lian wasn't having it, “Are you serious?! I ought to tie you to a pole and let the panthers eat you!”
“Those things were moving by themselves! They were floating in the air!”
“You three are the sorriest excuses for soldiers I have ever met!”
Taking this as enough, Jenos backed away from the tents and floated off to find Cassie.
Two guards stood watch in front of the tent with weapons poised by their sides. With the commotion on the far side of the encampment, the men kept their wits about them and scanned the area in turns.
Cassie ducked back behind cover right before one of them looked her way. She brought a finger to her lips to indicate to Zigs to keep quiet as she removed him from her shoulder. And after analyzing her targets one last time, she took a deep breath and jumped out.
The guards were ready, seeing her almost immediately, but Cassie's reaction time was faster for as soon as she finished her roll, a bolt had already sprung from her crossbow.
Having been hit in the neck, the man was instantly silenced before he fell. His comrade hurried to take his shot, but Cassie had closed the distance and pushed the barrel up right before it fired—sending the crystal bullet into the sky along with a loud bang.
The gunfire stopped Jenos right in his tracks and he veered his sights to the sky in the direction it sounded. Almost as quickly, he then turned around and rushed back to where he had left the soldiers and their female captain.
With another unexpected shot, they would run straight toward its’ source. He needed to keep them away from Cassie, and quickly so as suspicion would surely arise.
Still invisible, he intercepted them halfway. The white-haired female was running toward Cassie's location with her soldiers at her heels. His mind worked quickly and in a moment’s notice a nearby tent shot out from its pegs in the ground. The sudden burst of white fabric captured the enemy’s attention as the tent fell like a heavy leaf. He performed the act again, now with the assurance that his antics were paying off as the soldiers began screaming insanities.
He watched as their leader yelled at them once more before heading off to find Cassie before anyone else did.
The second guard fell next to his comrade and Cassie sighed in relief that the hard part was over. She glanced around, sure that someone had heard their scuffle, but despite no soldiers arriving to the scene, she knew she’d have little time to escape and entered the tent to get Tyra out quickly. Upon entering, however, she gasped.
There in the center, tied up against a pole, was her friend. With blonde hair covering her face, she was bent over in what could obviously be pain from a large bloody wound on her left knee. Her focus so crucial to her consciousness that it wasn't until Cassie called out her name that she was aware of the other’s presence.
Her head lifted up, surprise written all over, “Cassie?” Her redheaded comrade sprinted over beside her.
“I finally found you! Come on, we have to get out of here.” She said as she hastened to undo the knots.
“How did you know where I was?” Cassie could tell by the sound of her voice that she was tired and weak.
“Zigs saw you.”
Tyra sighed with a smile, “Of course. I'm sorry I ever joked about eating him.” The restraints around her wrists were loosened and dropped to the floor. With help, she stood on shaky legs with a hiss from the pain. Cassie noticed her distress and tried to ease her of the weight.
“Here, wrap your arms around,” she directed as she twisted so that they were back to front. Tyra was then hauled up unto her back and Cassie tested her weight to see if she could still walk. Though heavy was her friend, it wasn't impossible as she managed to take slow steady strides.
“Not to be a pessimist, but we're not getting out of here going this pace,” Tyra said, trying hard to hide her exhaustion in battling the pain.
“It's ok. I found a friend that can help. And you’ll never guess who he is.”
“Is he a healer? Please tell me he's a healer.” She breathed out.
Cassie couldn't help but smile, “Yes, among other things.”
As they made their way outside, Cassie navigated around the two guards she had previously dispatched just as Zigs greeted them the moment they emerged.
Tyra was glancing to and fro, completely flabbergasted by the lack of enemies within sight. Though she was thankful for their luck, her instincts kept her alert and ready.
“Why aren't there any soldiers around?”
“He's distracting them…” she answered before glancing up, unsure of it all herself, “I hope.”
“You hope?” Tyra retorted, knowing full well that her friend was known for being faithful. “Who exactly is this guy anyway?”
“Cassie—”
The disembodied voice sent both of them jumping out of their skins and Cassie twisted around, as quickly as she could whilst carrying Tyra, to find no one in sight.
“It’s me,” Jenos revealed himself; shifting back into the visible light as he floated over to the two.
Cassie sighed in relief while Tyra glanced back and forth between them, surprised by Cassie’s new friend. “Oh, you scared me.”
“Sorry, but we must hurry; the enemy is suspicious of our presence.” He informed them with urgency. He looked over at Tyra, “You are injured.”
“Tyra got shot in the knee,” Cassie told him, ready to put her down for him to perform his good work, but Jenos stopped her.
“No, keep her up,” A lotus constellation was drawn out and Tyra instantly felt the pain diminish as her wound began to heal. “Give it a moment to heal completely. But we need to move now. Carry her until—"
“Paladins!” The shout from the foreign voice behind him made them all freeze. Both Tyra and Cassie’s eyes widened at the sight of the soldier’s gun lifting from its rest. But before they could blink, Jenos whipped around to face him with arms out wide to shield.
The moment his gun fired, they both ducked for cover; Cassie nearly tripping over before Tyra hopped off of her back as the two fell behind a couple of crates. Zigs flew up to avoid dying on impact.
Cassie managed to peek out just in time to see Jenos fall limp onto his back. With multiple wounds in his chest and stomach, the glow he once had faded away as did the light from his eyes as it was now replaced with darkness. And just like her, the soldier responsible stood there staring in disbelief.
Tyra only offered a glance before she took hold of Cassie's arm and tugged her away, “We have to go!”
“No Tyra, wait—!” but her words fell upon deaf hears as Tyra only had her mindset on getting out of the camp alive. Now with her knee nearly healed, she was the one pulling her friend along and with much effort as Cassie fought back, “We have to go back!”
Zigs squawked frantically behind them, warning Cassie of all the soldiers he could see in the near distance, but she ignored him for the sole purpose of trying to convince Tyra to stop.
“Cassie, he’s dead!” Tyra half-yelled at her, adrenaline coursing through her and making her grip on Cassie’s arm vice-like.
“No, you don’t understand—” she continued to protest as the two rushed out of the camp with Zigs flying closely behind them. Once they had cleared the camp and found coverage within the jungle, she ripped her arm free and stopped in her tracks causing Tyra to do the same.
“We have to go back!”
“We can’t go back—” Tyra argued.
“He’s not dead—”
“Cassie, I’m sorry—”
“I’m sure of it!”
“Cassie—"
“He’s alive—”
“He got shot six times right in front of us! How would he be alive?!”
“He's not like us, Tyra, he's—"
Just then, a ballista fire exploded into one of the nearby trees and caused the two to scream in attention. They ducked and covered, stumbling to get out of view as shouts of orders rang out from the soldiers gunning for them.
They both took off without hesitation and ran for the gulley nearby, jumping and sliding down a few good feet before taking off again. The mud at the bottom absorbed their steps, increasing the effort to exert themselves forward.
Jenos please, I know you're not dead. Cassie prayed in her head. Please help us, we still need you!
Three shadows were cast upon Jenos’ body as the soldiers scanned him for any signs of life. They glanced between each other before one nudged his side with his rifle. He did not move.
“I think you killed him.” The soldier surmised as he knelt down to check his body closer.
He placed two fingers to his neck and waited for a pulse. With too many seconds having gone by, he shook his head and removed his hand.
“Damn.”
Upon a quick examination, he noticed a certain lack of bullet holes in his clothes or bloodstains upon the fabric. As it would appear, his clothes looked untouched and as clean as could be. The man’s eyebrows furrowed in question.
“You did shoot him, right?”
Breath was escaping them as they pushed themselves across the gulley. The open expanse not sitting well with Tyra as she knew they were now without cover. Daring a look back, her gut was proven right as coming over the horizon was Lian and her troops.
Standing at the front was the noblewoman herself with a battalion already lined up behind her. A trebuchet rolled up, loaded and nearly ready as Lian raised her arm in preparation to give the signal.
“I'm not running after you a second time.” She growled to herself as the trebuchet’s arm was pulled down.
Unexpectantly, the glow about him began to return and all three men gasped in fear as the light behind his mask grew. They stumbled backwards just as soon as Jenos’ head turned in their direction, and without warning, his hand shot out. Thrown back to land in a pile together, their short cries of shock gave way to moans and groans as they resolved to remain down than to oppose the Ascended.
Cassie’s voice rang loud in his head, her cries and pleas alerting him to their imminent death. He scouted away from the soldiers and, without a moment to spare, shot up into the sky—leaving behind a streak of light and a cloud of stardust in his wake.
As Lian's hand came down, the trebuchet fired. Tyra's breath caught in her throat and she grabbed Cassie, wanting nothing more than to throw her to safety rather than become a victim of her own mistakes. But instead, the two fell into the mud with Tyra's arm over top of her friend in a last-ditch attempt at shielding her from what they both knew would be their end.
And as the soaring ball of rock came upon its climax, suddenly another light intervened and stopped in its’ path. With a powerful force, the trebuchet fire was redirected; ricocheting a hundred and eighty degrees and heading back toward that which cast it.
Lian could barely manage a scream before she was forced to jump out of the way of the incoming projectile; the large boulder crashing into the very trebuchet that threw it and sending plumes of smoke into the sky as soldiers scattered from the immediate area.
Shielding her face from any flying debris, her eyes turned to the blue figure in the sky. Jenos… it was all true. She could feel the power in the atmosphere, his mere presence sending a chill down her spine as goosebumps appeared on her arms. She hastened to follow him as he shot down to the ground, landing next to Tyra and Cassie.
Light began to emit off of him, visibly growing as smaller orbs of starlight orbited his form. The light quickly encompassed his companions and as soon as all three were concealed within, the atmosphere broke and crackled. A deep resonating echo pierced the sky and the blinding light forced Lian to look away. And as quickly as he appeared, he was gone. When she looked back, nothing remained of the three. The gulley was empty.
The Scion stood there speechless; the sounds of her soldiers recuperating from the attack falling on deaf ears. Her hands curled into fists. Her eyes ever staring at the spot where the paladins once lay. And with a hard swallow, she turned and left; her mind organizing the words for the letter she was prepared to send.
Above the gulley, hiding behind the tree line, glowing green eyes peered out at the spot where the three paladins had disappeared. His right hand tensed, the curse growing hungry, but he willed it away with strained effort. If he was to be successful, he needed to keep his power in check.
He too turned and left, prepared to track down the Ascended at all costs. For now, it would be the only chance he'd have.