My eyes open with a shudder, and for a brief moment, I am confused and disoriented.
What… happened?
My question is instantly answered by a rush of my most recent memories; we were trailing through the tunnel, seeking to reunite with Ike and Vyswe'eyaga, but we were soon captured by a mass of shadowy hands. It dragged us into the central cave, and straight into the inverted shrine, where we found Ewa and N'jobu already there, unconscious.
I shudder as the memory returns: that grotesque half-man, half-beast creature with a woman's voice that greeted us in the aftermath. The last thing I remember being its unnerving smile and the primal terror that seized my body, leaving me paralysed until everything faded into darkness.
Around me, everyone else is starting to regain their senses.
Then a spine-chilling scream tears through the air, snapping me to attention. My eyes fall on Vyswe'eyaga's limp body, believing for a moment that the scream came from her, but then they shift to the creature from earlier—it's that thing… it's that thing who is screaming. I watch in utter shock as the creature reels away from her, its wings covering its face, as a womanly scream of agony erupts from its lipless mouth.
Vyswe'eyaga stirs on the floor, and it sends a chill through me. She wobbles on her feet, but her movements are unnatural. Her hair billows around her as if she were submerged beneath invisible currents, and it seems less like she is standing than floating, hovering uncertainly in an upright position.
"Vyvy…"
"W-what the hell is happening to her?" Azikiwe mutters beside me.
Vyswe'eyaga's eyes flutter open, transformed beyond recognition; it's like the golden light of her pupils has consumed everything, turning them into radiant orbs. The pendant resting on her chest gleams like a burning star. A brilliant seal now gleams upon her forehead, a symbol unlike anything I have ever seen. Something about her has changed, and it is not because her eyes have become pools of incandescent light, nor the symbol of an unknown dialect between her brow, nor even the way she hovers in suspension as the air ripples and boils around her… I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something else.
"That… I don't know," I say. "Let's hope it's a good thing, though."
We watch with bated breath. Only now do I realize the entire room has fallen into an eerie pause, every gaze locked on Vyswe'eyaga's every move. There is something ethereal in the way she moves, holding the attention of both our group and the flock of cloaked men. Even the creature's screams of pain seem distant and scarcely worthy of notice. She advances forward, her movements slow and almost hesitant as she walks just a few centimetres off the ground. We watch as her clothes change. I bristle when her tattered outfit begins to burn away, and almost instantly it is replaced. Elegant, immaculate robes manifest out of thin air, reminiscent of the Nchāren garments she wore when I first met her, wrapping themselves around her body as she walks... I mean, drifts.
Four cloaked men stand on her path, rooted in place, supporting a bloodied and battered body stretched across their shoulders in a makeshift carry. That's Ike. And without a word having been said, they lower him carefully to the ground and retreat with measured steps. Vyswe'eyaga flounders in the air before stumbling to her feet and dropping to her knees beside him. She leans in, cradling his face between her fingers.
"Y-you! You tramp!" The creature bellows furiously, its wings flaring wide in some attempt at intimidation. The upper half of its face is a grotesque ruin; the flesh melted into a single scarred mass. Where eyes, brows, and features once were, only seared ridges remain — a blind mask of charred skin. "You will pay for this!" Even blinded, it seems to know exactly where she is and charges straight toward her.
Vyswe'eyaga does not deign the assault with any form of a reaction, she stays focused on Ike, who has his head now resting on her lap. And before it can cross the full distance to her, an unseen force unceremoniously flings it to the other side of the room and through the wall.
We all stare in shock. None of us had been prepared for the suddenness of it, nor the merciless force with which the creature was torn away. Even Vyswe'eyaga stares stupefied, the undiluted shock of her doing being betrayed in the boundless expanse of her luminous eyes. She turns in our direction as if to check if the scene had been real. She swallows hard when she sees our expressions.
Her attention shifts back abruptly as Ike stirs beneath her. She leans closer when he reaches out, their voices mingling in words too soft for my ears to catch from this distance.
"Those two have gotten awfully close… just when did they even get the time for that?" N'jobu remarks with a scoff. He rubs his head and groans.
"I know, right?" Ewa grumbles, "Ugh, I swear this headache… does anyone know what happened?"
"It was the monstrosity from earlier." I glance over at Sazayi, and now that I take a long look at him, he appears perfectly well, unlike the rest of us.
"It went through your minds," he says, "and right now you all must be experiencing its aftereffects, I think."
Azikiwe eyes him sceptically and frowns. "And you are seemingly unaffected because?" Sazayi shrugs.
"Let him be," I interject. "It's not like he could have done anything." I look at him. "Could you?"
He shakes his head, then looks down. "I-it… it said that it would obliterate your minds if I tried anything."
"…ah." Chills run down my spine—I would have preferred to have never known that.
"Anyway, what are we to do now?" Gamba says, glancing wearily around the hall. And I am reminded that we are not alone here, although the situation has somewhat settled down with all the attention being solely on her.
"Nothing changes. We find that portal and we leave this place—"
The words choke in my throat as the air thickens in an instant, turning heavy enough to make my knees buckle. detonation tears through the silence, so violent my ears nearly split, and this time, I collapse.
When my vision steadies, dread sinks like a boulder into my gut. Vyswe'eyaga is hunched protectively over Ike, the blade of a massive axe frozen mere centimetres from her skull, held back only by the shimmering sphere encasing them. The barrier quivers—pierced but unbroken—while its wielder, a giant taller and broader than the first we had the misfortune to face, heaves on the weapon's haft, muscles bulging, yet the axe refuses to bite deeper into the shield.
Vyswe'eyaga turns to him, fix at him with unadulterated loathing in her eyes. It speaks to her in the Nchāren Tongue. Its voice is dark and thunderous, and somehow, the shadows around seem to move in tandem with his words, but I only manage to catch bits words… something about a pebble becoming a challenge. Vyswe'eyaga's brow tightens as she rises to her feet, the shield ascending with her despite the giant straining to hold it back. She speaks, her voice low and resolute. The end? No. "This ends now." Besides her, Ike tries to rise as well, but she puts her hand on his shoulder and pushes him away. Under normal circumstances, she should not have been able to make him budge the slightest, but due to the strange state she is in, she does so with unbecoming ease. Ike glides back like a feather caught in a breeze only to land amongst us, and a hive-like shield manifests around us.
My gaze drifts back to Vyswe'eyaga in time to see her raise a hand against the giant. He is knocked off his feet, but twists midair before landing effortlessly several metres away. He studies her from head to toe, his expression hardening faintly. He says something, but I don't catch the meaning of his words.
Then the whipping sound of rattling chains splits the air. Vyswe'eyaga pivots, raising her right hand, and the blade hurled at her freezes in space. Ike, Ewa, Azikiwe and Gamba all shout at her to look out. She whirls back and raises her other hand in time to stop the vertical slash of the axe. In the flash of a moment, the shadows everywhere spring to life; they coil into pikes and launch themselves at her. She reacts barely in time to wave her hand in their direction, so they dissipate like smoke.
Using his frozen weapon for leverage, the giant with the sickle lunges at her. He delivers a powerful kick which sends her flying, but then she comes to a halt mid-air. Unscathed. The giant with the axe seizes the moment, bringing his weapon down in a crushing arc. Vyswe'eyaga pivots, a fraction too late—the blade's shadow grazes her before she wrenches the weapon sideways with telekinetic force. It crashes into the earth, sending debris exploding everywhere.
"Uh, should we really stay here and do nothing?" Someone—N'jobu asks. I note the gobsmacked expression he has as he observes the fight unfolding.
"Not that I don't want to, but we can't really go anywhere." The shield clangs heavily when Gamba knocks his knuckles against it. "I don't think we'll be able to get out of this."
Azikiwe grunts, his brow creased with focus. "We're better off here anyway. No one would be able to match that."
"Yet, somehow she does it," I say.
We stare, with subdued awe, as Vyswe'eyaga faces the giants.
The clash is merciless. The giants move with startling speed, their strikes heavy and relentless, and charged with a terrifying deadliness. So much so that the entirety of the cloaked individuals has scampered to our side. They could not get access through Vyswe'eyaga's protective barrier, so settled with huddling behind us. The battle rages with such ferocity that the very ground seems ready to fall apart; this whole building is on the verge of collapse. And yet it does not, only because Vyswe'eyaga somehow prevents it from doing so… and I may have a feeling as to why; it is because of us. To protect us. Not only our group, but the cloaked people too.
I don't know whether to marvel at her awareness of the vulnerable ones despite her situation or be concerned that she is not focusing completely on her foes, especially as she can hardly keep up with them.
I am seized by my collar and yanked back—just as a massive figure loom over us. In an instant, the giant from the cave is upon us, driving a jagged dagger into the shield. Out at the corner, I spot Vyswe'eyaga darting forward and reaches her hand out at him. But the other giant steps in, swinging his axe with brutal force, his shadows swirling in support. She parries blow after blow, trying to brush him aside to reach us, yet he blocks her path again and again, relentless in his assault.
I watch with mounting trepidation as he unleashes a relentless onslaught, each strike making the shield quiver more violently. Our protection feels moments away from collapse—and if it fails, I choke back the thought. They're clearly trying to split her focus, as she cares more about our safety than her own. Yet in hindsight, nothing her opponent does seems to harm her. She may be slow to react to his movements, yes, but she effortlessly dispels every archaic spell he casts at her while her body remains impervious to any attack. The barrier shudders again, and I turn back to the giant barreling against it; his wounds look severe, but his fury is undiminished. My eyes flick to Ike, Ewa, and the others, even with all of us here, could we stand a chance?
Vyswe'eyaga lets out a frustrated cry, and the giant before us is sent flying. What feels like a pulsation washes over us; all sound is swallowed, and the space is consumed by power. The experience reminds me of all the times I had been within Vyswe'eyaga's wards, yet this is far stronger—raw, unrestrained energy courses freely. I can feel it pressing against my skin, goosebumps rising, the hair all over my body standing on end as though the very air bristles with force.
It feels as though the world itself has slowed. I am pushed off my feet, suspended in weightlessness—and I am not alone in this strange state.
And at the epicentre of it all is Vyswe'eyaga. She is still, as if in a trance.
As we settle back on our feet, I squint my eyes when I watch her; her eyes blaze like torches, and now her entire body radiates with such searing brilliance that it is almost unbearable to look upon her. Yet, among us, only one recovers faster than the rest.
The giant with the axe… he transforms, his body, as well as his clothes and weapon, turn ink-black, then formless before vanishing from sight. A heartbeat later, he rematerializes behind Vyswe'eyaga. However, whatever he had planned failed because this time she manages to outpace him and stop his attack mid swing, the massive blade locked within her grasp. Then, in one fluid motion, lifts her other arm along a vertical line. Deep red blood spurt out in sprays. The giant crashes down with a loud bang, writhing. His bloodshot eyes gape in disbelief, the severed arm still attached to the axe's pole as Vyswe'eyaga flings it aside.
Without warning, the room is shaking violently. No, the entire building is. Heavy thuds reverberate through the walls, each one followed by a harsh scraping that echoes as something massive hauls itself up along the structure. Then the junjus burst in from all openings. They have vaguely humanoid shapes, their slender bodies are hairless, greyish, and they tower over everyone, even the giants. Two sets of arms ending in four curved claws drag behind them on the ground. Their egg-shaped heads are featureless—no eyes, no mouths, no apparent ears—only two narrow slits for a nose.
A snide cackle erupts, and the half-human, half-animal creature from earlier flies atop the herd of monsters but stops short when it takes in the room.
"You… Don't think this is the end," it says with alarm.
Vyswe'eyaga doesn't answer, her eyes are locked on the junjus. I think at first that she is seized by fear at the sight of them, but the longer I look, I recognise the expression as disbelief. She stares at them as though unable to believe what she's seeing.
"What have you done to them?" Her voice is filled with horror.
The giant unleashes a sharp, guttural roar. Shadows swirl across the room, spiralling into a violent vortex as the junjus charge at her with unnatural shrieks.
Vyswe'eyaga's eyes ignite, she slowly raises both of her hands, and a strange tingling feeling runs through me. A sudden pop breaks the air, silence hangs for a single heartbeat before the world detonates. Everything is shaking, and I am thrown face first against the shimmering barrier before slamming to the ground. And I black out.
My ears are ringing as I come to my senses. Clouds of dust are starting to settle outside the barrier. I look around—everyone is unharmed—and I note with a little surprise that there is a second barrier now, protecting the cloaked individuals. I raise my eyes to the ceiling only to see the bare foundations of the temple. The area has turned into a complete wreckage; heavy fragments of debris continue to fall at uneven intervals. Such a fall would have been fatal for many of us under normal circumstances.
The junjus are gone and so are the moving shadows. When I find Vyswe'eyaga, she is soaring above all. My eyes go wide at what she's staring at; it's a giant black hole in the air that makes my stomach twist. She turns away from the eldritch abyss, focusing on the giant and the creature which are nailed to the ground by an invisible force.
"Y-You!!" the giant growls.
"Me."
She lifts her hand in their direction, and the creature lets out a bloodcurdling scream as they go up in a pillar of incandescent white flames. But despite the engulfing noise, Vyswe'eyaga's voice resounds clear and firm, holding an otherworldly tone to it.
"What you have done to my people… this is not nearly enough retribution."
"I don't believe it… you are merely a… child." What was that word… shy? No, did he mean cowardly? Wait, how can he talk while consumed by fire?
"You. Are. Nothing!"
A colossal wall of shadows bursts from the earth, its violent force hurling me across the ground. I tumble helplessly until Ike seizes me, steadying my fall.
Blinking through dust and stinging tears, I lift my gaze to see the shadows have vanished, and the giant taking off in the direction of the abyssal crack. Vyswe'eyaga is upon him, and in a single touch, sets him ablaze.
Flames devour him in an instant, reducing his body to cinders before he could get a sound out. And for a long, breathless moment, there is nothing but silence.