Keiser pushed himself off the tree with a grunt, his body trembling from the force of the earlier kick. He clutched the back of his arm, teeth grinding as the sigil burned hotter, burrowing deeper, as if it were searing itself straight into his marrow. The pain wasn't just surface-level---it clawed through flesh and bone, scorching him from within.
The back of his hand still bled, but the wound refused to close. Every drop that hit the earth hissed, flaring briefly before sinking into the soil. And from each drop---another mark.
Another sigil. A trail of them, glowing faintly red, tethering one to the next.
Each sigil pulsed alive, latching onto the dirt, knitting into the ground. The markings linked together like veins of fire, a chain of living wards. The beast that tried to slip past were forced back violently, their snarls cut short as the sigils sparked and shoved them away. The lane Lenko had taken was sealed by blood and magic alike.
But only that direction.
Keiser's lips tightened. The beasts had already begun to prowl along the edges, testing the sides, seeking weakness.
The princess, still cutting her way through the shrieking cervus, paused just long enough to glance toward that direction. Her eyes narrowed at the faint shimmer of blood-sigils half-hidden on the ground.
The marks weren't obvious at first---their glow muted as the blood seeped into the ground---but the mana flowing through them betrayed their presence. Tiny runes sprouted from each droplet, stretching toward the next, forming larger circles that pulsed with terrible intent.
Her gaze cut back to Keiser.
He stood there, chest heaving, sweat dampening his hair, the burning sigil on his hand pulsing like a second heart. "It's just in that direction," he said, voice raw, jerking his chin toward the wards. "If those beasts turn to the sides, we're done. You better get to killing them, princess."
His lips curled faintly, somewhere between a sneer and a grim smile. "I'll keep them in this barn for your killing spree, your highness."
The princess's expression sharpened. Her mouth curved into a grin. A wolf's grin.
Without hesitation, she hurled one of her short blades, the weapon cutting through the air with a whistling hum. The steel struck a hound-beast clean in the chest, the impact sounding like wet wood splitting. A heartbeat later, purple fire erupted from the wound, engulfing the beast in a halo of unnatural flame.
It shrieked, a wild, bone-rattling sound that carried through the trees. The others recoiled, wary now, but the princess was already moving---charging straight into their hesitation, her grin widening as if the frenzy was exactly what she had been waiting for.
Keiser staggered into motion, forcing his legs into a run that was more grit than strength. He cut a wide circle around the clearing, lungs scraping for air.
'Yeah, this body… it can't possibly fight back against those beasts. Not yet.' His mind sneered at its weakness. 'He hasn't trained it, hasn't hardened it to keep up with his mind. For now, it's all he can do to use what he have---mana, and flesh willing to bleed for it.'
Every step shook another drop from his hand. The blood splattered onto the ground, sizzled, and crawled outward into jagged symbols. He gritted his teeth against the sting that wasn't just skin-deep.
The runes weren't content with the surface---they burned their way down, searing into the veins and gnawing against bone. He'd felt it before, when betrayal had carved him apart at the hands of people he had once trusted. This pain was familiar.
At least now, it was his choice. His accord.
The sigils linked as he ran, forming a living barrier that hissed with every drop. He paced himself carefully, making sure the ward's coverage wasn't too tight---if it shrank, the beasts could leap over. But it also couldn't stretch too wide, or he'd never finish circling before they broke through the gaps.
The runes etched themselves smaller now, thin cracks of light scrawling along the back of his skin, marking him as if he were a scroll unraveling. Each fresh rune flared briefly before dulling, echoing the way blood drops struck the ground and flared into glowing sigils, each one pulling on the tether of his life.
His blood was the ink, his bones the pen, every drop needed to count.
He risked a glance over his shoulder. The princess had driven her prey away from his side, carving a path that kept them from intercepting him.
Without her---the beast were quick to notice. Their black, hollow eyes turned toward him, toward the weak one bleeding freely in the open.
Muzio's body wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough. His gait was uneven, breath ragged, and with every sigil carved into his backhand the blood spilled heavier.
He could hear and feel the constant shrieks of the beasts, their cries piercing through the clearing, mingled with the acrid stench of burnt flesh and the heat of smoldering mana fires close behind him.
His lungs burned as much as his skin did, every breath ragged, every gulp of air coarse as he pushed forward. He kept running, aiming for the space he judged would be enough---enough to bind the beasts within the ward and hold them there.
He forced himself onward, tracing his path with blood that hissed as it struck soil, warding sigils sparking alive in glowing threads that linked drop to drop.
He never closed the circle… never a full cage. One side he left open, a deliberate funnel, guiding the beasts straight to their executioner, where the princess was wreaking havoc.
The wards distorted their instincts, keeping them from scattering and forcing them along that path… away from where Lenko had gone.
Otherwise, the boy would have had no chance to lead those trapped in the underground settlement safely toward the village.
This way, the monsters would stay here, drawn to the frenzy, penned by his blood.
But of course, it wasn't that easy.
Keiser skidded hard, his boots cutting grooves into the dirt, when his peripheral vision caught a blur---the princess, flung violently across the clearing. She twisted in the air, using her sword to anchor her fall and turn momentum into something survivable, yet even so, she slammed against the trees with a force that rattled the ground.
He forced himself to glance her way just once. In that instant, he saw the carnage she had done, dozens of beast already lay broken and smoldering, warped into glowing purple embers where her blades had been.
But with her gone, the last defense at the edge of the unwarded clearing… the beasts slipped through.
Larger, leaner shapes moved among the dead. Hounds, slick black forms that looked stitched from smoke, their ribs jutting out like spears. They stalked low, teeth glistening, their bodies phasing in and out of sight with every step.
From the treeline lumbered hulking shapes... skinless boars, their muscle-bound bodies steaming with heat, eyes glowing like smoldering coal.
The ground itself seemed to shift as tunneling maulers---a kind of scaled mole with jagged stone plating for skin---broke through the earth, their gnashing jaws grinding pebbles into dust. Their shrieks mingled with the others, a chorus of torment and hunger.
But what had struck the princess down wasn't any of those lesser beasts.
Keiser already knew. He could feel its presence through the earth itself. It wasn't something he could hope to face unprepared.
So if he lost focus now, if his blood spilled too freely, the wards would collapse unfinished. He had no choice but to gamble---run forward, cut through the clearing instead of veering to the sides, and let the runes already inscribed into his body bear the burden.
The strain was immediate. He felt the sigils branded into his skin stir like embers rekindling to flame, shifting against him.
The runes burned and crept, climbing from his back to his neck, spreading across his shoulders with writhing fire. Sweat hissed as it touched those glowing marks, steam curling from his body.
He couldn't keep the cloak any longer---its weight clung damp against him, choking him---so he ripped it free and hurled it aside.
His calves ignited with fire, the sensation of searing lines being carved into the back of his legs. It raced upward, crawling into the tendons behind his knees, spilling fire into his thighs until every step felt like he was running on blades.
But the pain brought speed. His body lurched forward, faster, sharper, like the runes were dragging him into a pace beyond his body's own strength.
His eyes snapped toward the battlefield, catching the glint of steel lodged in the carcass of a charred beast. He didn't hesitate. Keiser threw himself forward, arm snapping out. His hand closed around the hilt of a short blade still buried in the beast's ruin.
A shudder tore through him. This weapon wasn't the dragonbone blade he had once held---no, it lacked that eerie familiarity. Instead, the hilt wrapped in crude cloth pressed scorching heat into his palm, a harsh reminder of his uncalloused hands, hands unused to a fighter's grip.
His fingers faltered, clumsy, raw, but he gritted his teeth and forced them tighter, forcing his grip into steadiness even as the burning cloth seemed to brand itself into his flesh.
The beast that had struck the princess was still close---its shadow cast over him in broken glimpses between flame and smoke. And now, armed with pain in his veins and fire beneath his skin, Keiser knew he had no choice but to meet it.
He could feel it now---his shoulder screaming as the sigils burned hotter, reinforcing joints and tendons that should have already given out. Every muscle was aflame, but that fire was the only reason he hadn't been hurled into the dark like a rag. The beast was immense---twice the size of the other monsters he'd seen thrashing in the clearing.
An Arbores.