Dozens of them rushed into the Sannarian holy place. Liron left Emma's illusion, engaging them. There was no point in hiding, as they could dance their flesh to strengthen their noses to sniff them out.
Heads turned towards Liron, yelling at the top of their lungs. Liron grimaced as they ran towards them, more than a dozen. The most common unit in each Qyoral army. Their backbone and fundament, on which the stronger unit fought. Zruns. Qilesh soldiers.
Unlike an Xrron, a Zrun resembled Zonis more closely. But they were smaller, reaching up to the Whisperer's chest. Their short legs, their enlarged foreheads, and the swollen backs of their heads reminded Liron of the monkeys he had seen on Janloo. They used their four muscular arms to move faster. Their spins had a forward curve, forcing them to never stand straight. A constant reminder of their servitude. They possessed some intellect, though the Qyoral kept them from achieving a higher intelligence. Despite their limited horizon, any reasoning mind could rebel, so the Cyoons and Xiars had broken their backs. How could they attempt to resist if they failed to look up at their oppressors?
Though no Qilesh body was meant to remain static.
Their black stripes covered their bodies in similar patterns, mimicking war paint and clothes. As all Qilesh, they wore no clothes, as they had nothing to hide and no source of shame. The membranes on their back were kept short and rigid, as well as their gills. Only a Qilesh of higher standing was allowed to develop either further. After all, they could give a Fleshdancer the opportunity to express themselves through their appearance. And an expressing mind is a thinking one.
Plates adorned with spikes lurked out of their skin, grown armor to protect them from their enemies. Their hands carried knives at the end of their fingers. But as Liron sprinted towards them, they fused into one blade, their four arms ending in swords.
The Zruns screeched their battlecries, a horrid sound to endure. Without any concern for their safety, they leaped at Liron. Even a starved wolf would show more restraint or caution. Liron cast smaller explosions around his feet, dodging their jump. As with the Xrrons before, he sent out a smoke sickle. The spell split a Zrun's head into two, but it failed to cut past the shoulder armor of the second one.
With one of their own dead, the Qilesh mourned not. They pushed its corpse aside before it could collapse, trampling over their dead brethren to reach Liron. He dashed backwards, keeping distance as he showered them in smoke sickles.
His haue slashed apart four more Zruns until a Soulsmith sent a signal to them, responding to Liron's attack. They took formation next to one another, enlarging their arms into shields. They fused them with one another, forming a wall. The lack of individuality helped to suppress them, but it also strengthened their willingness to become living weapons and fuse with one another. Their deaths meant nothing, as they regarded themselves as a small part of the Qyoral. And if their master called for them, they would abandon their bodies' autonomy and merge.
The shield wall hunted after Liron. His sickles failed to cut through them. Liron could not waste too much time on them. He blasted himself into the air, casting sickles downward. The Zrund adapted immediately, dancing their bodies to turn their backs into shields, attaching them to one another. The black rain descended and found no new blood to taste.
Liron clicked his tongues, blasting himself to the ground. The battle was still young, and they already forced him to try. He encircled them, using his explosion to accelerate his speed. His black blade never remained still, shooting out sickle after sickle. The Zruns took a defensive position, building a shield circle to block Liron's spells. But the smoke stopped before clashing into them. After one round, black clouds hovered around their formation.
One final slash, and a sickle covered in embers flung towards them. Fire came alive, ripping through their shields as the smoke ignited, stunning the Qilesh soldiers. Liron allowed them no moment to rest, extending his blade. He had tried this new spell with Shae, but he had never performed it in battle.
The stress that had gnawed at Liron's mind had lessened, the thrill of Magic bringing his focus to an unseen height. He blasted himself towards the Zruns, covering his sword in another layer of smoke. As with his steps, he cast controlled explosions at the backside of his blade, boosting the momentum of his hau. Crimson colored in his trusted weapon, the force behind the slash nearly knocking it out of his hands.
His sword cleaved a Zrun apart, splitting it into two from its head down to its hip, where it came to a halt. The armored plates split apart upon meeting Liron's enhanced hau. The sudden and violent death stunned the soldiers further, bashing through their dogmatic rage. But it would not last for long. Liron had to make quick work of them.
As his sword stuck into the gored remnants of his enemy, he despawned and resummoned it. Liron glimpsed at the strange grey organs that spilled out of the dead Zrun before reverting his attention to his next attack. Fire pressed his blade forward again, tearing through a Qilesh's head, sending it flying. Its momentum pulled Liron unbalanced, costing him precious moments. Moments the Zrun took to regain their footing.
Another command to adapt loomed at the horizon. Liron had no time to experiment with his new strike. He extended his black blade further, turning it into a behemoth. His mind strained under the effort, a muscle groaning upon being tested in an unused way. Embers ignited the smoke arising from the sword, shoving it forward. In one hau, Liron cut the remaining Zruns apart. His blade slammed into the ground, biting into it. The slashed limbs and heads of a dozen Qilesh fell as Liron dismissed his Conduit.
He panted, but his body brimmed with energy. Shae had taken the other Zruns. She had summoned her Conduit in full. Her lion slaughtered two dozen of Zruns with ease. Similar to the wild beasts painting the dunes in Qilesh blood, she fought with a primal fury. No traces remained of the beautiful dance that had defeated Liron. Her lion thrashed around itself, its fangs and claws of wind punching through all defenses. A storm gathered around her, whipping at anyone foolish enough to come near her. Several Zruns died from it, their necks and bellies opened wide.
Seeing her Magic on full display, Liron understood her saddened expression concerning her Conduit. A thing of elegance and grace, requiring the performer's complete mastery of their dances, turned into a beast of war.
Liron blasted himself towards her. They had to stay close to Al Pakris. Shae had edged further away from it. As she ended the last strugglers, Liron signaled her to step back from the dunes.
But as he did, the sand shifted underneath him. Clawed hands emerged from it, reaching out towards Liron. He cut them with his blade, slicing them apart as he dashed away. While the beasts kept any larger Zrun force at bay, it caused quite the mess. Fighting with Drom's rage, they struggled against the endless surge of Qilesh. The shattered remnants of their fallen had no effect on their morale. They threw themselves into certain death without a second thought.
The sounds of the slaughter drowned out everything, allowing smaller units of Zron to sneak around. Four Zruns dragged themselves out of the sand. As the Xrrons before, they had turned their heads into a drill and their hands into shovels. Floating higher, the Qa'an watched his troops engaging Liron and Shae, giving them their command.
The Zruns shrunk down, pressing their Mass closer together, losing half their height. Their fingers became knives, and they rushed their enemies. Liron dashed aside, giving Shae the space to summon her lion. But she surprised him. She aimed at the Qilesh with her hands, the lion's head appearing above them. Wind surrounded them all, so she could summon her Conduit from wherever she wanted.
The jaw snapped shut down on the four, fangs of storm biting down hard on them. Shae grimaced, the Zrun still alive in her Conduit's maw. Shrinking made them a harder target, but it also increased their defenses. The focused mass meant more to pierce through. The lion failed to snap its mouth shut, the Qilesh keeping it from closing. Dozens of heads popped out of the surrounding sand. The rearguard had arrived.
Liron coated his black blade in embers, exploding himself towards Shae's lion. He stabbed into the gap of the Conduit's mouth, using another blast to enhance his attack. His blade penetrated the four Zruns, piercing through their heads and necks. But the Qilesh soldier endured, hissing as thye struggled against the lion. Liron cursed, sending more embers alongside his blade, preparing to blow apart his opponents.
As his embers swarmed into the lion's mouth, the storm raging outside breathed new strength into them, turning them into flames. Through their sparring, Liron had noticed that Shae's wind boosted his flames and explosion, letting them burn brighter. He glanced at her, telling all with one look. She increased the storm inside her lion as Liron flushed it with embers and smoke.
The three came into contact with one another, birthing a fierce explosion, burning the Zruns to ash. Liron cursed as it hurled him backwards. Before he could regain his footing, Shae flew after him, catching him inside her newly spawned lion, carrying them both back to the ground.
"That was…" Liron said, coughing up smoke. "Fuck, that was larger than it should have been."
"Agreed," Shae said. "We should have worked on this."
Dozens of Zruns emerged from the sand, dancing their bodies from diggers into warriors. They didn't come alone, though. The ground shook, as a huge figure broke through the sand.
"Well, I think we can do so now," Liron said.