"GLADIUS!"
CLANK!
Sous got into the center, between them, both Faye and Tany. Faye jumped back, sliding as she did so.
"GET OUT THE WAY, SOUS!"
"NO! WHAT YALL DOING?!"
"SHE BROKE APART STRAINS, NOW MOVE!" With her long threading needles in hand, she flipped over Sous, attacking Tany. But this time, Faye wasn't alone. Her comrades joined in on the fight.
Sous stood in front of Tany who moved away from the Alpha, ready to partake in battle.
The air crackled with tension as Faye's comrades moved in unison, a blur of leather-clad limbs converging on Tany. Needles flew like pistons, a jab to the ribs, a sweeping kick aimed at the knees, each strike precise and economical.
Tany twisted, her own movements fluid yet defensive, parrying a knuckle-duster swipe with her forearm.
THUD!
Tany raised her hand, blocked an attack with a swift wind of her magae, knocking many of the priestesses and priests back. The dozens of them landing hard onto the ground.
The battle escalated into an instense storm. Faye darted forward, her needles slicing through air with whisper-thin trails.
Sous threw herself between them, arms wide like a shield bearer facing cavalry, with her sword in her right arm, ready to strike and block.
A needle grazed her shoulder, hot pain bloomed, fabric tearing to reveal a thin line of crimson. She didn't flinch, planting her feet squarely, forcing Faye to twist awkwardly to avoid colliding with her.
Her eyes, narrowed slits of fury, flickered past Sous, locking onto Tany who was already pivoting low, sweeping a leg towards the regrouping attackers.
"Aqua senere," Sous said, her left arm allowing water to heal the wound that Faye just gave her.
Sous planted herself like a stone in a river current, her sword Gladius buzzing as she intercepted Faye's next thrust.
ZING!
The needle scraped steel with a screech that set teeth on edge. Tany flowed around Sous' defensive stance like smoke, her magae on the defensive toward Faye.
Tany spun, her heel connecting solidly with a priestess' jaw.
CRACK!
The wet crack echoed through the foliage. Blood misted the air, coppery and thick. Her eyes tracked Faye's next assault: a feint high followed by a vicious low sweep meant to cripple.
Tany blurred sideways onto her knee, the heel slicing air where her leg had been. Dust kicked up in gritty clouds, stinging Sous' eyes as she pivoted.
Sous leaped high into the air and came back down wjth a force, stabbing the sword into the earth.
"STOP THIS!"
Both Tany and Faye flew back from the force, flying backwards as they did. Faye landed within the arms of her cohorts while Tany landed on the ground.
Sous went to Tany and helped her up. "Who are these people?" Sous asked to Faye.
"Cohorts from Nadia but these ones," she said waving to the priest and priestess from Canas. "They're from Canas"
"I didn't know we had priestess and priest in Canas," Sous said.
"That's because we live in the south at the tip of Canas," the priestess said stepping forward. "That witch caused these broken strains with her magae."
Sous turned to look at Tany who shook her head. "It wasn't me," she said while Faye just gritted her teeth.
Sous didn't know who to believe so she remained quiet as she looked at the tree. This tree, this tree is the tree that caused all of this.
"Why did you give your daughter to Zhiliary, Sous?" Sous quickly turned to Tany.
"You saw her?" Tany nodded her head.
The priests and priestesses stepped forward. The main priestess from Canas spoke. "We need to close these holes. We need to stitch them."
Faye looked at the woman and nodded her head in agreement. "Tany, I'm sorry...even though I don't believe a word out of your mouth, we need to close these holes and prevent them from turning into portals."
Faye's eyes got wide as she remembered Abigal. Abigal had wanted her to go into the portals but Makala was pregnant.
"I'm being honest when I say, I didn't know the tree was going to release that many holes," the witch said. She was following their leader, Hacate. What the thousand year old witch truly had planned, she didn't know.
Sous turned to Tany, seeing how turn about the woman was. There was just so much going on: War and now holes that could potentially turn into portals.
"This is too unorganize," she said. "We need to regroup. Listen, come with me to Dimona so we can go over things with Alana."
"Alana..." both Faye and Tany said in unison. "Let priests and priestesses from Canas deal with the threads."
Faye turned to her comrades, they were waiting for her command. She nodded her head. She turned to Sous.
"I need to help them with this but when I'm done, Ill meet you in Dimona," Faye told the Alpha.
Sous sighed. "Then, I'm tagging along then."
The Alpha shifted her stance, Gladius disappearing from her hand faintly as she scanned the broken strains, rift-like tears shimmering above the tree's roots.
Faye nodded, her jaw tight but eyes resigned.
The witch walked stiffly beside Sous, her cloak whispering against dried leaves, tension radiating from her hunched shoulders.
Sous kept her gaze forward, "Map out the coordinates, Tany, and give them to us using telepathy." The witch nodded her head.
Tany stopped walking and senses out all the holes that had sense appeared as a result of the covenant's actions. She closed her eyes, making sure to give them to each and everyone present.
"SPLIT UP!" Faye yelled to her team, the other group did the same with their leader. She pointed to one of her comrades. "You, with me."
Once the comrad ran up to her, Tany, and Sous, Faye took her needles and stabbed them into the ground. They were gone.
OOF!
Sous landed head first in the sand of the dunes. She got up and shook the sand from her hair. She looked up to see Faye, Tany, and comrad standing before another Groken tree.
"Whoa!" Was all Sous said.