An acute awareness flooded her system as she opened her eyes. The immediate assault of reality did not erase away the memory of her younger, scolding self. The infinite field of green drenched in red sky was temporarily burned into her retinas. The overlay did not fully dissipate either, as she came to the realization that she was struggling beneath the mimic. The field clung to the fabric of the world as her hands slashed out, entirely on their own, tearing through the mirage and solid flesh. Her nails had grown long, the tips blackened thick points.
A string of panic, hot and fast, shot up her spine at the sight of her own hands. They were changed. Morphed into weapons that her body seemed to be wielding without her conscious consent. The observation pushed her into her own body just a bit, and the confidence of her blocks was staggering as she felt more and more of her own actions. The little moment left an opening for the mimic to swipe down. A tube of solid flesh smashed into her chest, knocking the wind from her lungs. It also smashed away her conscious control, her arm was automatically shooting to the side, fingers punching into dirt and stones. Grabbing into the mountain itself she ripped herself out from under the mimic. A flash and she was on her feet, spinning to face the creature head on.
Too floored to think outside of observation, Korin sat a voyeur in her own body as she engaged in a violent dance with the mimic.
It was lethal and beautiful, the way she moved without her own knowing. So confident and graceful, filled with power and malice. A growl tunneled from deep inside her chest, sound waves shaking the walls of the silent ward. The hairs on her arms and back stood at the harrowing sound.
It even had the mimic momentarily stunned.
She advanced. Pinning a tube in one hand and using the other to tear it apart.
The mimic screamed, flopping backwards. And there was a moment to breath, her body taking in deep breaths, repositioning-
"KORIN! BEHIND YOU!"
Caught in the rays of the setting sun, doe eyed and breathless, Korin found Talis. With cheeks flushed wine and beads of sweat glistening across her brow, her fists pounded against the invisible barrier. Korin could see that exhaustion weathered the other woman. The way she repeatedly smacked against the barriers, arms floppy and stance untidy. Talis appeared to have fought her way here.
Her warning was followed by immediate movement, as her body swung to reposition itself. The tallest man of the trio came into view, metal syringe in hand.
In her peripherals the other two exchanged drawling words in a strange mix of the global dialect she was familiar with and perhaps what was a native language of the eastern provinces. "Eshtenar e Aasai ikh etder." Said one "Uhn. She's local, though. Iver sera ohd a market." The first, squatest of them, nodded. "Iunta val. Get the witch."
An odd sensation, trickled up her throat, spewing out hot words that roared impossibly loud in the bubble of soundlessness. "RUN, TALIS!"
Talis flinched, fear carved in her eyes.
A horrible realization dawned on Korin.
The fear. The paranoia. The anxiety and unease everyone had felt in her presence was amplified and reflected in those rounded brown eyes. Talis was terrified and that terror radiated back at Korin in full force.
She was someone, something, to fear. Those around her had always been mirrors telling her of her own true nature. The truth came down and buried the fabricated guise of her moral integrity.
In the moment, as the second man began to step forward, that reality was all she had. For the first time ever, she used it. Like the head of a massive cannon she aimed it at Talis, a deer frozen in her sights. "LEAVE NOOOWWW!" The horrible commanding energy blasted at her fellow villager. It shook Talis, who flinched into her flee. Hurriedly retreating, she wildly propelled herself away, down the path and straight into the treeline.
The power released crashed around the inside of the ward full strength and so thick it whipped around in gales of wind that ripped at everything. The mimic thrashed about at first, let off screeches before becoming still. Its limbs curled around its body. The man with the syringe had tumbled back, knocked from his feet, and the syringe flung aside.
"Get her you damn fool!" Screamed the leader, who was bracing himself on one knee. "You weak coward!" He threw more insults at the mimic, stabbing his cane into the dirt, struggling to rise.
The man who was running after Talis had somehow managed to stay on his feet and was trudging toward the edge of the ward. It was him that Korin turned to, for the first time aware of the power within her. A growing confidence in her mysterious co-pilot emboldened her. More capable of moving freely in her own energy she ran at the man full speed. The unknowing force that had puppeteered her worked in line with her own will.
"Benjamin!" The leader called his name, tried to warn him but she reached him much faster than she thought she would, barreling into him and gripping onto his arm. There was a sickening pop as she spun into him, flinging him across her shoulders. Then with the momentum she had she tossed him away from the end of the ward, easier than a sack of flour. He hit the ground and rolled a couple times before coming to a stop. He gripped his arm in pain, yet recovered fairly fast. Already straining to operate in the trapped energy once more.
A thomping pressure hit Korin directly in the chest. Her balance shifted automatically, absorbing the force of the impact as she skittered back.
The leader stood now, risen with his staff pointed at her. She could see a steady hum of energy rolling off the weapon like heat waves on a hot stone. With a small thrust, a dense ball shot from its tip, zipping at Korin.
Her shoulder caught the attack as she tried to dodge. But the force was too fast and her reaction too slow. It ripped into her shoulder, spinning her in a circle. The strange presence caught her balance once more, moving as best as it could to mitigate the damage.
She could feel a warm wetness accompanying the new thrum of pain. But her eyes remained trained on her attackers. From the corner of her eye she could see the one priest making his way for the syringe that had been tossed aside. The other she had thrown back, Benjamin, was clearly struggling-his cane biting the mountain as he held himself up, one shoulder hanging lower, arm loose at his side. In her direct line of sight the mimic was unfurling, a nasty snarl frozen into his wormish head. A brief second to take in its surroundings, zero in on Korin, and it was advancing. As was another ball of pressure from the head priest's cane. This time she was prepared, spun to dodge the priest attack then charged the mimic head on. Somewhere along the way she had lost a shoe-probably when the mimic had slammed her into the dirt. Cut and dusty toes curled into dirt and rock as she powered towards him. Then the mimic hit her with a renewed sense of vigour.
When her energy had first filled the silent ward the mimic had curled into himself. The rancid energy licking like cool fire at his skin. It was vile, disturbing and so incredibly foreign that there was no solid categorization he could think of to describe the woman's magic. Once in the prison he had met an Aasai capable of emotional manipulation. She could make one feel joyous or sad, manic or enraged. But even that seemed like a dim spark compared to the absolute need to recoil, to grind one's teeth, roll their eyes in their sockets and flee as the energy chased them from its source.
It was horrid. Disgusting. And most of all infuriating that he could not mimic its nature to use against her. There was no choice but to use physical force. He'd have to rely on combat to subdue the woman. The pain that seared his severed limb was a reminder of her strength. He didn't think she'd be strong or fast or even a capable fighter. He'd watched her on the mountain when he could. When her demonic little watchdog wasn't trailing after her. With her tired eyes and unassuming and weak looking disposition he had assumed that she would be captured easily. He'd underestimated her at every turn and it was costing him appendages. And with the way the priest was screaming at him, he knew that if he did not make progress soon it would probably cost him more than an arm or leg. The threat of being sent back to the lower levels of the prison hung over his head fat and heavy.
So when he hit her he accepted the shredding cuts of her nails ripping into his skin. The mimic encircled her with both his legs and his remaining good arm all while she attempted to rip him apart. His limbs would regrow. Any more time spent in the lower levels and his psyche would not. Fueled by fear and desperation he wrapped them around and around- encasing her in a fleshy restraint. With her arms and legs cinched tight she began to thrash. Bowing and bending, whipping back and forth, grunting and growling like an enraged animal.
The priest with the syringe, who the mimic knew as Joseph, finally had the sedative in hand. He was rushing as quickly as he could toward the two.
"GET OFF ME!" She commanded-the same eerie and violent lash of power in her words.
The mimic flinched as it cut into him. Seeped into all the little wounds he already had, hot and snake-ish. It was impossible to escape, impossible to block out. As soon as it touched his blood, it was everywhere. The command fused with his being. He winced, shook his head and bit his tongue. Squished his eyes closed, begged his grip to stay strong in the wave of what only could be described as infiltration of the will.
The woman thrashed some more, desperation leaking into the horrible energy that emanated from her. "I-I-I SA-SAID-" A crying wail, hollow and hair raising, entered her voice, "I SAID GET OFF!!!"
"Please! Please! No!" The mimic cried out. Begged for his mind to be his own and his body to remain in his control, begged in fear of imprisonment, but his grip weakened and one of her arms broke free.
It cocked back and her clawed hand curled, knotted into a fist. So far she had mostly clawed at him. She'd even bitten him a couple times, leaving behind jagged holes where serrated teeth ripped away flesh and muscle. Her fighting technique had been something honed in wilderness and wild. Refined in its erratic nature. She'd danced within limbs, parried and attacked as if her claws were knives themselves.
The closed fist was the most human her moves had been so far. And it came down like a hammer- heavy, fast, full of rage and desperation. It landed between his eyes, pushed into his skull and his head was snapping back. His neck let out a sick crack and blood spurted from the seams of her fist and his face. The briefest flash of blinding pain heated up behind his eyes and then he was falling limp. His limbs regressed back to a somewhat normal length as he slumped over. Korin jumped free with a crazed roar.
There was an unconscious melding of will when she and the mysterious power chose the offensive. Her focus tunneled in as she shot past the priest with the silver needle, zoned in on the priest ordered to retrieve Talis.
"Benjamin!" His name was called once more. A warning scream too late. Korin was already next to him, a wild and vicious beast, nails slashing into soft and pliable flesh, warm cadmium flowing over skin and cloth.
"NOOOOO! BENJAMIN!" A holler rang out from behind her as Benjamin fell to stone and dirt, hands grabbing at his throat, blood oozing from between fingers. His eyes bulged, rolling in their sockets as he looked up to the skys. Chokes sputtered between red lips, incomprehensible prayers to his god.
"TO HELL WITH YOU, YOU DEMON BITCH!" A blast of blunt energy crashed into her, followed by two then three. Korin skittered back, lost her footing and rolled as she was hit by one shot after the other. He was cursing her now in his odd language. Huffing between breaths and strain as he rapidly fired his energy from his cane.
The unknown entity took charge. Using her legs to evade she jumped from one side to the next, her movements and bolts of energy kicking up clouds of debris. There was the faint awareness that warmth was spreading at a rapid pace down her chest. Thrums of pain just barely heard existed beneath skin, hidden in muscle and torn ligaments. But her body moved through it, ignored it and pushed ahead.
As Benjamin lay in a still heap on the mountain floor, she advanced past him, circled in an arch. Trailed by blasts she bore down on the priest with the syringe.
He'd been momentarily stalled as he had watched his fellow priest sustain a mortal wound. Abraham screaming in the background. The three had been together since their days at the monastery, just boys with grandiose dreams of becoming a part of Eenos divine army. There was not a class that had prepared him for the pit that fell in his stomach as he watched his brother in arms fall.
It drowned out his focus as the she-devil turned, targeting him next. Her claws were ripping through air as he barely escaped in time.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Abraham, still firing away. He cursed the woman with vehemence, face red and sweaty with the beginning of a nose bleed trickling over his lip. The energetical load bared down on him as the space between his shots was becoming slower. They'd faced many monsters and practitioners alike and it was the first time he had seen Abrahams usually stoic composure broken. His eyes kept going to Benjamin on the grown, desperate to see his brethren move.
"Joseph NOW!"
There was an opening in the womans wild attack as she spun.
Joseph coated his arm in energy, it crackled across his skin bubbling and boiling like fire. It was dangerous to wield physically manifested energy on the surface of the skin. But he did so, clenched his jaw as raw energy charred his arm and fashioned it into a shield. Then he dove in, shielded arm raised as his only defense as he entered within her reach.
She slammed into it, dangerous claws only held back by the energy emitted from his arm. He pushed forward, energy bowing out, skin sizzling as he used the shield to pin her into the dirt. The other hand readied the sedative. With a deep breath he cut the energy to the shield. His arm fell to her throat, claws pierced his skin, and the needle slammed into flesh.
Joseph's objective complete, he attempted to retreat. Tried to jump back but a stray swing caught the side of his head and fingers raked across his cheek and sliced into his nose.
A blast of energy flew past him, kicking up his robes as it hit Korin. She skittered back, becoming more unbalanced on her feet, blood becoming warm and limbs becoming heavy. She let out a nasty snarl at the men as her face began to tingle and numb. Her eyes briefly traveled down to the syringe sticking from her leg. The heaviness creeped in. She took one step forward, then tried for another and stumbled.
"You should have ran when you had the opportunity." Came a young and cynical voice, "You could have broken the ward once you took down the mimic. It was foolish to try and fight them." Korins eyes drifted to the side as the ground sucked her down. Her younger self was glaring at her harshly. Scorn and anger set in tiny features. "We could have fled and had freedom. But you didn't think about that did you? You didn't think at all," she spat angry words with a voice cracking at the edges, "because shells don't think."
"I wasn't thinking about us." Korin explained in heavy baritone mumbles, paralysis beginning to affect her face as drool leaked from mouth.
Whatever her little self replied with she did not hear. The dark wave of sedation swept her under.