Keiser never had to think much in battle--instinct handled it. If something came at his back, his sword would be there. If his sword was busy at the front, defensive sigils on his armor would catch the blow.
With Muzio's mana and knack for runes, he could almost recreate that. Almost. The problem was this body. It understood how to write runes, how to push magic into reality---but it couldn't keep up. Now he had to think about his weapon first, make sure it could survive his plans.
This time, the plan was simple. The stick--yes, the stick--layered with three sigils. 'Reinforcement' to keep it from snapping under the Corvus's weight, 'strength' to shove back once it hit, and 'haul' to stop him from being shoved back in turn. The bird had wings, talons, and a beak, so letting it stay in reach was madness.
In his real body, he wouldn't have bothered. Even with the same stick, he'd find a way to plant his feet, hold firm, and hit back. But in Muzio's body? The bird would blow him halfway across the clearing before he could even swing.
The plan worked beautifully. For about three seconds.
The stick didn't break because of the Corvus--it combusted from the inside, burned clean in half by the magic. The half in his grip was more charcoal than wood, leaving black splinters in his palm. The sigil-burns running up his hand looked nothing like the neat 'stop-running' on his right hand. These were an ugly tangle where the three runes had overlapped and fused into something grotesque.
Before he could curse, Lenko yanked him down. Hard. His tailbone hit rock just as a blur of black sliced the air where his head had been. The wind was ripped out of his lungs, and somewhere above, branches cracked under the force of the second Corvus.
Keiser knew it was there--hadn't forgotten--but thinking about it and reacting to it were apparently two different skill sets in Muzio's sluggish body. His reflexes simply couldn't keep up with his head.
Lenko's grip on his cloak was white-knuckled and shaking. "Holy-- You almost got killed!"
From the ground, Yona kicked him in the leg. "Hey!"
Both men snapped their eyes to her. She was still bound by invisible restraints, head tilted in a sharp glare, teeth bared. Even tied down, she radiated the sort of confidence that suggested she'd stab them if she could just stand. "You burned it out! I can fight the Corvus--just release me!"
Lenko scowled through the tremor in his voice. "W-why would we do that? You stole--"
Keiser cut him off without speaking. He pressed his ash-coated fingers to Yona's arm and traced a single word--'Release'. The rune came out thick, crude, and smudged with blood, but it flared all the same.
Her body jolted as the restraints vanished. She stared up at him, eyes wide. She stared at Muzio--no, at Keiser--with wide, stunned eyes.
It was as if she were seeing his face for the first time. Maybe she was. Until now, the sun's glare and the deep shadow of his hood had hidden it from her. That very hood had been blown back when he shoved away the first Corvus, leaving his face bare at last.
"You… you're…" Recognition flashed in her gaze.
Keiser didn't answer. He could feel the air pressure shift--above, another Corvus dove. The one that had swept past before was already circling back.
Her voice dropped, almost reverent. "You didn't just undo one… you released all of them."
Before Keiser could ask what she meant, the sharp swoosh of a third Corvus diving cut through the air.
Yona's eyes snapped up. One heartbeat she was on the ground--next, she was airborne, cloak billowing away to reveal crisscrossed belts at her waist and twin short blades strapped side by side. In one fluid motion, she drew them and slashed skyward.
Steel met feathers. The blade carved into the diving beast's wings. It's scream tore through the clearing as it tumbled past them and hit the ground with a bone-shaking boom. Lenko's shrieked is almost as loud.
Keiser's gaze stayed locked on those blades, and the memory hit like a bruise. He'd fought them before. They were just as irritating then. He watched the wingless Corvus thrash, its pain cut short as violet fire roared over it.
The Moonlight Twin Short Blades---another pair of beast-core weapons, like his own dragonbone hilt blade. Designed for those without an affinity for magic. These particular cores came from a fox beast with multiple tails found only in the Hinode Matriarchy, each tail harvested for a single blade.
Traditionally, such weapons were bound to one wielder--regulations forbade owning two, since beast cores were alive, and pairing them often weakened their power… or drove them to destroy each other. And yet here she was, holding two.
Keiser narrowed his eyes. So why, exactly, were there two?
His answer came fast. Yona hurled her other blade straight through the flames, the weapon vanishing into smoke. A strangled cry followed--another Corvus, the one that had circled back, now flailing midair with the blade buried in its chest.
She lifted her hand. The sword shimmered violet and tore itself free, arcing neatly back to her palm. The bird crashed down, a long, ugly gash splitting its belly. Lenko yanked both of them back just before its body hit with a wet, bone-snapping thud.
Her blades spun once before stilling, the faint glow fading. Keiser's eyes caught a rune-charm dangling from one hilt. Muzio's instincts read it at once, 'become-one'.
Ah.
The 'twins' were once a single blade.
Lenko clung to their shoulders, still shaking. "What was that? What was that? How did you--" His gaze hardened, suspicion flickering. A pickpocket shouldn't own steel worth more than his entire flock combined.
"Shut it. It's not over," Yona snapped, already scanning the sky.
Keiser found himself studying her differently now. The First Prince's choice suddenly made sense--she wasn't just a decoy or a flashy fighter. She was sharp, decisive, efficient. A real contender. She must have been really his most trusted companion during the trial, not just because she's his fiancée.
Another screech split the air. They looked up--two Corvus remained, diving in unison.
Princess Yona had already let both short blades fly, the twin blades cutting through the air like streaks of light. One struck true, burying itself into the wing joint of a beast. The other slashed past its mark as the second Corvus twisted away.
Without missing a beat, Yona lifted her hands. The missed blade curved back toward her, angling for the evasive bird. But in the chaos, it instead swept past and struck the already-wounded Corvus--the one still hovering and clawing at the weapon lodged in its wing joint. The blade drove in deeper, this time into its neck.
The creature let out a ragged, dying shriek before dropping from the sky.
Now only one remained, gliding low and fast, closing in on them.
Keiser stooped, fingers closing around a rock half-buried in the dirt. His split, bleeding hand screamed in protest--the sting doubled as splinters, welts, and the rock's rough edges dug in. He muttered a rune under his breath, not sure if it would stick. Another sigil flared and clumsily etched over the messy runes already scarring his skin.
No time to focus. No time to think.
His body still wasn't obeying his mind, so he decided to brute-force the magic into reality the way Muzio's body sometimes could.
"Touch–Blow–Up," he hissed. Mana swirled, the rock in his hand growing warm--then his palm burst with fresh blood.
Lenko gasped. "Muzio!" His grip tightened on Keiser's shoulder.
Yona glanced over mid-battle. "What are you--"
He hurled the rock with every ounce of strength he had left. It traveled… an impressively short distance.
"Oh."
It exploded. So did the Corvus that had been banking toward them, the blast knocking them all back.
"What are you doing?!" Yona snapped, catching her returning blades and nearly slicing him in the process. Smoke, dust, and bits of monster rained down.
Lenko hacked and wheezed beside him.
Keiser just stared through the haze, unmoved. Blood and gore had long ago stopped registering--he'd been drenched in worse and kept his eyes open for the kill. But now warmth was leeching from his body.
His hand was just… red. His eyelids fluttered as Yona sheathed her swords, grabbed his arm, and hauled it over her shoulder.
"Oi, you." She shot Lenko a sharp glare while brushing ash and feathers from her hair.
Lenko scrambled upright. "Your Highness!"
A shrill ringing drilled through Keiser's ears. Another hand--Lenko's--took his other arm, propping him between them.
Great.
He was the tall centerpiece in a very short, very mismatched sandwich. And the smaller of the two was somehow doing a better job holding him up than the stable boy.
He hadn't realized how far past this body's limits he'd gone. His legs shook. The ringing grew louder.
"Mana overuse?" Lenko whispered.
"No. Stupidity," Yona said flatly. "Who uses magic like that? He's not a toddler."
"What--how dare you! I'm only letting you touch His Highness because you helped us with the beast--one we wouldn't have fought if you hadn't stolen from us!"
"Didn't I say not to flaunt it?" She flicked her chin at Lenko's pants, where his pouch was now conspicuously missing. It sat in her hand.
"Wha--?" Keiser's blurred vision caught a satchel arcing past his face, Lenko's voice climbing several octaves as he squawked and jostled him in outrage.
Keiser blinked through the dark smudges clouding his sight.
"Ha! Fine, next time I won't give it back--hey, why are you getting heavier--wait, are you passing out?!"
Her voice followed him into the black. "You may look skinny, but you're still taller and heavier, damn it!"
And then, nothing.