Chapter 6

"What? But —" "Leave. Damien would be annoyed if you die," Henry said. Dark purple runes drew themselves in the air around him. "I can't waste any attention keeping you alive."

Sylph gave one last glance at the stone mantis before giving a jerky nod.

She turned and sprinted away, fading into her camouflage and disappearing from sight as she went. Henry focused his full attention on the Corruption Seed before him.

The runes floating around him doubled in intensity. A brilliant orb of purple energy formed before Damien. The air seemed to shatter as a massive beam burst free from the orb and slammed into the mantis, sending it tumbling across the ground.

Stone chips cascaded off the creature's body as it spun and dug its pointed feet into the ground, catching itself. It let out a hiss and blurred out of view, crossing the distance between them in an instant and bringing both of its claws down on Damien's head.

Henry distorted, Damien's body tearing and fading away like mist as the claws passed through it. Wisps of smoke spiraled out from where he'd been standing, landing a short distance behind the Corruption Seed and reforming into his body.

The eyes covering the field lit up with dull gray light and a barrage of needlelike attacks shot out from them, peppering against the mantis' stone hide. It let out a hiss and spun back toward Damien.

Stone rippled across its body, filling the cracks and chips that the attacks had left in it. The Corruption Seed let out a chittering laugh. It dashed toward Damien again, lunging forward and turning into a blur of blades.

Damien's face knitted in concentration as Henry desperately dodged and blocked the attacks with small disks of dark energy.

"Damn squishy mortal body," Henry cursed. He dragged a hand through the air, pulling it apart like taffy and leaving a trail of twinkling runes in his wake. A blade launched out from them, warping and twisting the air around it.

The monster darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. A large shudder shook the clearing as the blade hit the ground and detonated, pulling clumps of soil and grass free in a large area around it before shredding everything into a fine mist.

Darkness curled up from Damien's feet and enveloped him in a cocoon moments before the mantis was upon him. It raked its great claws across the cocoon, but they sparked off and failed to penetrate it.

The mantis hissed and thrust its claws forward, putting all of its body weight behind the attack. Its blades punctured the cocoon and burst out of the back. The magic fell to ribbons, but there was nothing within it.

Damien rematerialized behind the mantis, wisps of smoke curling off his body. He thrust his hand into the air, runes crackling around him. A spike of darkness erupted from the ground beneath the mantis, but it shattered against the creature's armor.

"Annoying bastard," Henry cursed through Damien's mouth. "If I had my full strength, you'd be dead already."

The mantis let out a chitter that might have been a laugh, although it was hard to tell if the creature even understood Henry's words. Acid bubbled across its skin, melting through the ground beneath it.

Green liquid trickled down its blades. It slashed out with one, sending a line of the acid flying at Damien. Henry flicked his hand, and a wide Devour spell snapped open in front of him, blocking the attack.

Another dark portal opened behind the mantis. Its own attack sailed back out of the portal and hit it in the side, sizzling against the stone. The creature hissed and lunged toward Damien. Its claw seemed to segment and extend midair, growing to almost twice its original size.

One of the eyes littering the air around them imploded, transforming into a gravity sphere and detonating. The spell yanked the creature's arm to the side, causing it to go wide. The shadows beneath the mantis surged up into its stomach, punching a short distance into the creature before it twisted and broke away from the spell.

They mantis circled each other. Henry detonated another one of the eyes, then thrust one of Damien's hands forward. The mantis was pulled off its feet as a barrage of miniature gravity spheres hurled through the air and pattered into the creature.

They detonated with a series of sharp cracks, tearing stone apart and sending acid flying. The mantis hissed and thrust a claw into the ground.

Henry wrapped Damien in a cloak of darkness mere instants before a blade erupted from the ground beneath them.

It deflected off the spell and vanished back below him. Henry ripped Ether from the environment around him with enough strength for the grass surrounding them to wilt. He had Damien's body raise its hand and draw a complicated sigil in the air. At the same time, he detonated another one of the eyes between him and the mantis, forcing the creature to keep its distance.

A blade punched out of the ground behind Henry, but the shadows coiling around him deflected the strike. He finished the rune and thrust his mental energy into it. The air shuddered and ripped apart, leaving a blank space in the air before him.

Wisps of dark energy curled out from the hole as a black handle slowly slid out from the hole. Henry had Damien grab it and pull it free, revealing a pitted axe. He hefted the weapon with a single hand and pointed it at the mantis.

The monster hissed, eyeing the axe warily. Tendrils emerged from the weapons hilt, twisting and curling in the air as if they were looking for something. Shadows wrapped around Henry, and he charged forward, swinging the axe at the mantis' side.

Metal rang on stone as the mantis raised a claw to block the attack. A tremor ran down Damien's arm. The tendrils shot out and latched onto the monster's arm, draining the color from it.

Henry was forced to make Damien's body jump back as the mantis chopped at his head with its other claw. The tendrils lost their grip and released the mantis. Henry cursed. "I don't know if I can beat this thing with your little fleshbag."

The mantis let out a chitter, as if it were realizing the exact same thing.

Stone cascaded down from where the tendrils had latched onto it and new flesh surged up to take its place. Rock clinked as the monster rose onto its back legs.

Dark lines formed across its body, splitting everything into segments. It slowly split apart, ropes of acid floating in between its floating body parts to keep them connected. Both of its arms had nearly doubled in length. The monster's mouth came apart, and it let out a screech.

It swung a claw at Damien. The segmented parts of the sharp weapon curled around behind him. He turned to smoke, and the weapon passed through him. He rematerialized several feet away, but the blade twisted midair like a snake and thrust toward him.

The dirt beneath Damien's feet surged upward, forming a pillar before him. The mantis' blade scraped against it, then shot around the side and continued toward him. Shadows surged up and knocked the strike to the side. It flicked back and retracted, returning to the mantis as the segments reconnected with each other.

"Didn't know that damn thing was so flexible," Henry snarled. "Let's see how you like this, then."

The remaining floating eyes on the field lit up with dull purple light.

Lines of energy shot out from them, attaching to the mantis and yanking it downwards. The creature hissed and lashed against the bindings.

Several snapped and tore, but Henry already had Damien moving. An eye detonated beside the monster, yanking the mantis' head to the side.

Damien dashed forward and leapt into the air, bringing the pitted axe down on the creature's chest.

The blade bit deep into the stone. Damien tore it free and raised the weapon again, but Henry abandoned the attack and turned the boy into smoke moments before a claw pierced through his chest.

He relocated a short distance away and rematerialized. Henry pulled more Ether from the world around them, but he could feel Damien's body growing less responsive. Even with Henry using the Ether, the boy's body wasn't strong enough to withstand the energy flow going through it.

Two blades rocketed through the air toward Damien, clicking as the segments extended to give the attack more reach. Henry quickly ran through the spells he could use without tearing Damien's mortal body apart.

"Can't risk Void magic here," Henry muttered. He traced a rune in the air with Damien's finger. The boy's body moved so fast that it was practically a blur. A burst of bright white light filled the plains as a shimmering wall appeared around him.

The blades slammed into the wall, sending cracks racing up it. The mantis retracted its arms, seeing that the strike had failed. Henry let the walls drop and thrust his hand forward.

Dark lines spiderwebbed through the air between them. Two tendrils rose out of the ground and wrapped around Damien's feet. A loud crack split the air as the lines snapped taut, distorting the air.

The mantis was lifted off its feet as gravity suddenly turned sideways.

Damien's body rose as well, but the tendrils kept him on the ground. The monster sailed toward him, spinning uncontrollably.

Henry raised the weapon and brought it down hard into the creature's back, carving through its abdomen and taking a large chunk out of it. He immediately wreathed Damien in shadows and had the boy dash to the side.

A blade slammed into Damien's side, carving deep into his armor. His mage armor turned dense at the last second before the strike hit his flesh. It sizzled against the blue cloth and rattled through the air, returning to the mantis.

"Come on," Henry urged. "Just a little more. You can do it."

The sweat pouring down Damien's face and back spoke otherwise. If Damien had been in control of his body, he would have fainted long ago.

The strain was starting to overcome even Henry's control.

"Looks like there isn't any time left," Henry said. "If you ruin my first bit of fun in millennia, I swear on the Void that I'll purge you from this plane and piss on your grave."

The Corruption Seed chattered and dashed forward, its legs clicking across the dirt. Floating eyes detonated as it charged past them, but the creature forced past them, ignoring the damage they did to its body.

Acid leaked from the large wound Henry had carved into its side. Even with the Seed's regenerative abilities, it couldn't repair wounds of that caliber. Henry had Damien adjust his grip on the axe.

There would only be one more strike in this fight. Henry's concentration doubled. The plains faded until the only thing in his sight was the charging mantis. Time slowed down as Henry's senses kicked into overdrive, analyzing the situation faster than light could transmit into Damien's eyes.

The creature raised both of its arms inch by ponderous inch. Henry had Damien rear back, hoisting the axe to take the mantis' head off. The arms started to extend, and Damien dashed forward. He narrowly dodged the closest arm as it extended, the stone passing inches away from his back as he twisted midair.

Damien swung the axe down at the mantis' head. At the same time, the monster's other arm shot up toward him. With Henry's sped-up perception of time, he could already see the outcome of his gamble. A scream of helpless rage tore out of Damien's mouth.

Time slowed even further as Henry desperately tried to make Damien move faster. The monster's segmented claw crept closer to the boy's chest.

It was to no avail. The mantis was faster than him, and Damien's body couldn't handle any more stress without breaking.

The air between Damien's body and the blade rippled. Sylph slipped out of her camouflage, a churning blade of dark energy burning in her hands.

She held it before her defensively and braced for the attack.

Time resumed. Damien's axe crunched into the mantis' head, carving deep into the rock. At the same time, Sylph's sword shattered, and the claw continued forward, punching deep into her stomach and bursting out of her back.

A red flower bloomed on Sylph's back. She crumpled to her knees, the claw still lodged within her. Acid dripped from the blade and sizzled against the ground as silence enveloped the clearing.

Henry stared at Sylph, for once at a complete loss for words. She looked over her shoulder at Damien, trying to form something on her lips. Her eyes grew hazy, and no sound came out.

"What were you thinking?" Henry asked her in a mix of anger, relief, and horror. He ripped the blade free of the mantis, which twitched slightly.

The monster still wasn't dead. The wound on its head leaked acid freely, but the fact that it wasn't patching told Henry it wasn't long for this world.

A faint smile flickered across Sylph's lips, and she managed to slightly raise one shoulder in a shrug. The light in her eyes dimmed further as the life rushed out of her back and pooled on the ground beneath her.

Damien's hands clenched. Henry grabbed Sylph and tried to teleport, but the magic sputtered and failed. Whisp's block was stronger than the magic Damien's body could channel.

"Do you realize that Damien is going to kill me if you die?" he asked angrily, shaking Sylph slightly. She didn't respond. Henry's attention shifted to the dying Corruption Seed beside them.

Damien's lips pressed thin. He reared back, a gauntlet of destructive energy forming around his hand, and plunged his arm into the mantis' chest.

The creature jerked weakly but didn't have the strength to respond.

Henry had Damien trace a complex series of runes through the air with his other hand. Sylph was fading faster than he could have imagined.

"Why are humans so damn fragile?" Henry asked, his voice tense.

Damien finished drawing the runes, and Henry sent his Ether flooding into them, lighting the circle in the air with dark purple energy.

Predictably, Sylph didn't respond. Her head fell forward, and she slumped forward, falling over Damien's shoulder as the last of her energy faded. Henry quickly scanned the runes to ensure there wasn't a single mistake within them. The runes moved down to form a spinning ring around Damien's free hand.

Then, with a powerful strike, Damien drove his hand into the hole in Sylph's chest. Her body spasmed as energy crackled, traveling up from the mantis and down Damien's body before flooding into hers.

Damien's hands trembled as Henry forced the boy's body to remain in place. Ropes of dark energy whipped around the fallen Corruption Seed, binding it tightly and forcibly sealing the gaping wounds covering it.

Henry dug through the creature's corpse, ignoring its hisses and clicks.

He ripped seemingly random portions of its body free. Shadows enveloped it, shredding the parts to sickly green motes of light before sending them flooding into Sylph's chest.

The mantis screeched as Henry ripped its body apart, thrashing desperately against the bindings. They didn't budge. The Seed was too weakened to do anything but watch. Cracks started to spread through its body.

Stone faded and started to crumble. The acid covering the creature receded as well as it ran out of Ether to fuel it. Henry reached deeper and deeper into the monster, taking every last bit of energy it had left to offer.

With one last screech, the mantis slumped to the ground. Its limbs went slack, and it crumbled into a pile of powder. Henry shoved the last bit of Ether into Sylph's body, then enveloped her with his energy.

Magic crackled around her like a miniature bonfire. The faint traces of Ether within her body were desperately fighting back against the foreign energy Henry had introduced. Ironically enough, her core hadn't been damaged in this fight. The Void creature reached out, corralling all the Ether remaining in her core and body before absorbing it into himself.

Once Sylph's body had been completely purged, he pressed the mantis' ether into her core. Even without her consciousness there, Sylph's body resisted him. If her core hadn't been filled with cracks from when she'd accidentally broken it a few weeks ago, it would have been impossible.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case. The gaps in her core widened as Henry's mental energy wormed into them, pulling them apart and forcing the green Ether inside. Once it was completely full, Henry pressed the cracks back together.

He sent the remaining Ether throughout her body, infusing it into her muscles and skin. It resisted him again, but Henry was not one to be disobeyed. Slowly, more and more of the energy merged with Sylph.

When only a single mote of the energy remained, Henry cast one last glance over his work. At his firm insistence, Sylph's body had already started to adapt to the new energy. The wound on her chest still dripped blood, but the flesh around it had started to turn gray.

It slowly knitted itself back together, strands of green ether forming within the wound like a web. Henry refocused himself and wrapped his energy around the last mote of green Ether. In a single clean strike, he thrust it into Sylph's heart.

The artifact companion she had within her finally took offense to the abuse Henry was putting her body through. A wave of energy rose to repel Henry. He ignored it and enveloped the artifact with his own Ether, crushing its defenses and shattering it.

Her body jerked. Lines of green light shot out across her skin, running down through her limbs before bouncing back up and returning. Her core pulsated, and the wound on her chest pulled itself shut.

The gray flesh started to seal back over, returning to its normal, slightly tanned color. Sylph convulsed and drew in a ragged gasp, one last flash of green energy lighting up her eyes before it faded. She doubled over Damien's shoulder, retching up vile black liquid.

Henry gently pushed her back and held her by the shoulders in front of him. Aside from the blood covering her and the black sludge on her mouth, she looked normal.

"Who are you?" Henry asked, shaking her gently. "Answer quickly."

"S-sylph. I'm Sylph."

"And who am I?" Henry asked, watching her expression closely for any signs of the Corruption's presence.

"Damie— No, you're Henry," Sylph said, her eyes widening. "What happened? How am I alive? I was bleeding out, and then there was nothing.

I should be dead. Did a healer get here?"

"Something like that," Henry said. "Do you feel any different?"

"In more ways than I can describe," Sylph said, her eyes unfocused.

Henry shook her gently.

"Nope. No digging around until everything settles down. Trust me, you don't want to see what I did yet."

Sylph swallowed, then nodded once. She glanced at the crumbled remains of the mantis beside them, then down at the blood covering both her and Damien.

"Any strong desires to kill children?" Henry asked. "Or cravings to destroy the world?"

"I wouldn't mind destroying some food, but I think that's it," Sylph said. Her stomach rumbled. "I've never been this hungry in my entire life."

"Side effects. The least of them, I think," Henry said. "Look, my time here is up. I can't explain everything, nor can I allow anyone to learn of my presence. Damien's body is an inch from giving out. Get him out of here and get the blood off both of you before those mages find you. Don't tell them about the mantis. Got it?"

"Understood," Sylph said. "And thank you for saving my life. Again."

"You saved Damien's first," Henry replied. "And it goes without saying, not a word about my existence. And, if you can avoid it, don't use your Ether. There might be some…significant differences."

Before Sylph could ask what Henry meant, Damien's body slumped forward. Sylph caught him. The field fell silent. She sat there for nearly a minute before finally urging her aching body into motion.

Sylph slung Damien over her shoulders like a bag of bloody potatoes and trudged toward a stream in the distance, leaving the pile of rocks and the pool of blood behind them.

When she reached the river nearly thirty minutes later, Sylph eased Damien's body into it and slipped in after him, holding him against the bank to make sure it didn't wash him away. Luckily, the runes on his mage armor made it incredibly easy to clean.

Sylph dragged Damien back onto dry ground once the last of the blood left his clothing. Her own clothes were completely ruined. Without the cleaning runes that Damien's armor had, there was no way to get the blood out of them just using water.

She reached into her travel pack, pulling out a change of clothes. She stripped, bundling her bloody clothes into a ball by her side. The wrappings that covered her torso had a huge hole in the center where the mantis' claw had gone through her.

Sylph ran a hand across the wound, frowning slightly before pulling her new set of clothes back on. She grabbed her toothbrush and scooped some water from the river, scrubbing her mouth vigorously and spitting it out in the grass.

The water came out a disturbing gray tint. Sylph grimaced and repeated the process several times until her saliva was clear again. With a shudder, she wiped the toothbrush off and put it away.

Then she laid back on the ground beside Damien, staring up into the sky. The sun had already risen behind them, and its warming rays slowly worked the water out of their clothes.

Two hours had passed by the time Damien stirred again. He groaned, blinking the sun out of his eyes. Every single part of his body felt like Delph had been beating on it, and the grass pressing against his hands and the back of his neck tickled him.

He turned over, grimacing. Sylph laid to his side, her hair spread out around her head in an attempt to get it to dry faster.

"Are you okay?" Sylph asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Damien replied, too tired to bring any tone but exhaustion into his words. "What in the seven planes just happened?

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Sylph repeated, a small grin flickering across her face. "But it looks like we both survived. Somehow."

"Not through any lack of trying on your end," Damien said, craning his neck to look at her. "You could have killed yourself! If Henry hadn't done…well, whatever he did, you were dead."

"And you would have died if I hadn't done it," Sylph said. "That makes us even."

"I… Honestly, I'm too tired to argue it right now. Do you know where the mages are?"

"No," Sylph said, pushing herself into a seated position. "I've been trying to figure out what to tell them. We've been missing for several hours now. We need an explanation as to where we went, and I can't really say what happened."

"What a pain in the ass," Damien muttered, letting his head fall back onto the grass. "Can't we just walk back home and pretend this didn't happen?"

"I'm not sure that's the best idea. I think you might have gotten rattled a bit too hard. Maybe just rest for a little longer. I'll figure something out."

"Okay," Damien muttered sleepily. His focus drifted as he watched the clouds drift through the sky above him.

Time twisted and slipped by. A headache came and went with the clouds above Damien, making it impossible for him to concentrate for more than a few moments at a time. The sweet release of sleep soon rose back up to meet him, and he lapsed into unconsciousness once more.

No sooner than he'd fallen asleep, Damien felt someone gently nudge him. He scrunched his nose up. "What?"

"I've got a plan. Are you coherent enough for me to explain it?" Sylph asked.

Damien blinked up at the sky. Her words were fuzzy and seemed to slip right through his head. "I…don't know."

"Right," Sylph said. "Just go along with what I say, then. Okay?"

Damien managed a nod. Sylph gave him a worried frown. She scooted closer to him and gently lifted his head, looping her other arm under his shoulders and helping him to his feet. Damien leaned heavily on Sylph as they rose, darkness tickling the edges of his vision.

"Are you okay?" Sylph asked.

"A bit dizzy. Should be fine."

"Just hold on, then. And don't speak."

"I can do that."

Sylph cleared her throat. "Pickles."

A few moments passed in silence. Then the air crackled. Volt and the other mages appeared, their weapons drawn and Ether hissing around them.

They were all covered in blood and bandages, and their eyes were wild.

Simon surged forward, taking up position behind Sylph and scanning the area. He blinked when no enemies showed themselves.

"What happened? Why did it take so long for you to respond?" Volt demanded.

"And are you injured?" Tenbi added, giving them a worried glance.

"Damien got hit in the head, but he's recovering," Sylph said. "After we ran away, another one of those stone creatures appeared. It looked like a smaller one of the monster that you were fighting. We tried to fight it for a little, but it was too strong. We just ran as fast as we could. However, after about an hour, it just crumbled to dust and died."

"How come you didn't summon us?" Volt asked, frowning.

"A big rock clipped me as I went down," Sylph replied, pushing her hair back to reveal a painful looking lump on her head. "Knocked me out.

Damien went down at about the same time as well, and I only just woke up.

I panicked a little and tried to wake him up as well before calling you guys."

Tenbi knelt in front of Damien and held a finger up. She moved it back and forth, watching him carefully.

"He does look like he might have a concussion," Tenbi said. "We need to get them to a healer."

"They're not in bad shape for fighting one of those monsters, even if all they did was run," Yaga observed. "Impressive."

"It sounds like the monster had the ability to duplicate itself," Simon said. "Maybe clones of some sort. I didn't think it would be that strong."

"There were a lot of surprises today," Tenbi said darkly. "Two students nearly died for this, and we were grossly unprepared for how dangerous that thing was."

"Someone will answer," Volt agreed. "However, it appears we've gotten the best-case scenario. Our wayward students have survived, and the monster is dead. Come. We need to get the two of you to a healer."

Volt reached out and grabbed both of them. The other mages huddled around him, and they all disappeared in a flash of light.

They popped out inside a large wooden room full of beds. The walls were painted white, and an older woman with graying hair and a hunchback stood beside one of the beds, feeding a patient in it something. She glanced up, not even slightly surprised at the party's sudden arrival.

"What did you do this time, boy?" the old woman asked, snatching a cane from the wall beside her and hobbling toward them.

"Not me," Volt said. "Students on the quest with us. They need a quick examination. One might have a concussion."

The woman's eyes widened as the mages stepped aside, revealing Damien and Sylph. She hobbled over to them, her eyes tightening in anger.

Energy gathered at the tip of her staff, and she held it next to Damien.

Her gaze grew unfocused for a few moments. Then she moved the staff to point at Sylph. A small amount of energy flowed out of the staff and into Sylph, easing the bump on her head. The old woman lowered the staff and sighed.

"They're both fine. What are you doing, involving students in dangerous matters?"

"They could have just gotten injured in a normal quest," Volt said defensively. "How do you know that it was dangerous?"

"You wouldn't have come to your old mother's house if it wasn't urgent," the woman snapped. "You never visit, you ingrate. Besides, when was the last time your group worked on a normal quest? Students have no business working with you."

"We were under orders, and they made their own decision," Volt said, pressing his lips together.

"Well, I'm going to make the decision to fit my cane up your ass if you keep that attitude," the woman said. "Now, stop being a brat and go set the dinner table."

"Mom, we're on a tight schedule—" The woman raised her staff and gave the pointed end a pointed glance.

Volt snapped his mouth shut and mechanically strode out of the room through a small door behind them. The other mages chuckled at his expense, but they shut up when the woman's glare shot to them.

"You best go help him before I redecorate all of your faces," she said.

"Bah, involving students in dangerous quests. Whose idea was that?

Whisp?"

Simon cleared his throat and nodded before he and the others beat a hasty retreat after Volt. Sylph hid a laugh as the trained mages fled from an old woman who barely stood past their knees.