Vivian
Vivian drew her sword.
Almost exactly twenty-four hours had passed since they had taken refuge in the haven. A full day of preparing to run north—because every other option had collapsed around them.
Things had only gotten worse.
The scouts confirmed that the southern army of Red Orcs had finally stopped moving, settling in a large haven just beyond the undercut trail below the Cliffs of Moher. If they tried to push south without returning to the barges, they would run straight into that force. Another Red Orc regiment. More than they could possibly handle.
And now, even more Red Orcs were arriving from the south.
Their only real choice—the only one with even a sliver of hope—was to go north.
Nightfall brought them to the base of the haven. The air had grown so cold that Vivian’s breath turned white as she exhaled. She wrapped and unwrapped her sword, cycled her mana, and prepared several contingencies. The Moonsteel shard beneath her cloak pulsed faintly, though she did her best to ignore it.
The haven thrummed with power. Mana saturated everything—the branches, the roots, even the soil beneath her boots. Mortals usually thought of mana as ambient and unshaped, but this place held something else. Something older. Something woven directly into the wood and air. She felt it at the edge of her senses, but she didn’t have the time to unravel its mystery.
Sophie approached quietly. “Are we ready?”
Vivian nodded, staring at the worn map spread across the root-twisted surface in front of her. “This is unbelievably stupid. I wish we had another option.”
Sophie sighed. “Sometimes I’m too clever for my own good. I’ve been so worried about the invisible threat my Insight warned me about that I didn’t think through what would happen when the threat stopped being invisible.”
Vivian gave her a sideways glance. “Ironic for someone who prides herself on foresight.”
Sophie’s mouth twitched. “I know. I missed something obvious. But we can at least learn from it.”
“If we survive,” Vivian said dryly.
“Assuming we do,” Sophie replied. They shared a grim smile.
“Do you have the twins’ little care package ready?” Vivian asked.
Sophie nodded. “Yes. Things will get… interesting in about an hour.”
“Then let’s not keep fate waiting.”
Captain Chiron appeared at their side, armor sealed tight and expression grim. “Lady Li. We’re ready to move.”
“How long until your runners reach their positions?” Vivian asked.
Chiron closed his eyes, estimating. “If we move now, maybe two hours. We need to get as far up the trail as we can before we collide with a patrol.”
“Then we begin,” Vivian said.
Anmei, Elizabeth, Emily, and Elise joined them at the front. Behind them, the surviving Zhao retainers—battered, bloodied, but unbroken—formed a tight formation. Moonlight spilled in pale ribbons through the canopy.
They were fortunate the moon was bright tonight. Without it, they would be walking blind.
Vivian felt the faint warmth of the Moonsteel through her cloak. That wasn’t your doing, was it? she thought inwardly.
The voice did not answer. She wasn’t sure why she expected it to.
Maybe it had been exhaustion. Maybe a hallucination.
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They set out.
Quiet steps carried them along the old merchant path. Twice they ducked behind thickets as orc patrols crossed the trail ahead. Once, they witnessed a distant skirmish—Red Orcs and black-bladed Sword Demons locked in brutal combat against Green Orcs. The clash was savage. Bone snapped. Metal shrieked. Fog turned to steam under bursts of flame.
Vivian held her breath as the scouts signaled through short-range messaging spells—simple battlefield arrays, the kind often used by officers and elite sect fighters. Not quite military code, but efficient enough.
When the battle drifted away, they pressed forward.
The path forked. The northern trail—narrow, steep, twisting—led toward the ridge that eventually connected to Crescent Hyr. The vegetation grew thicker the farther they went; bushes and dense young trees provided cover.
The ease of travel made Vivian nervous. Too easy. Too quiet.
They had barely cleared the fork when the path ahead darkened.
Shadows shifted between the trunks. At first it was subtle. Then the growl of metal dragging against stone broke the silence.
Chiron lifted a hand—halt.
Vivian didn’t need the signal. She already felt it: intent, sharp and burning, pressing through the mist like heat through cloth.
Figures emerged.
Two dozen Red Orcs, tusks gleaming under moonlight, weapons raised. Behind them came black silhouettes—Sword Demons, their masks glinting like polished bone, blades humming with corrupted mana.
And leading them was one carrying a curved blade nearly as long as a man, wrapped in threads of cold, unnatural light. A weapon from the southeastern isles—a naginata.
He stepped forward. “You should have stayed in your tree. Did you truly think we wouldn’t know you’d come this way? How foolish you mortals are.”
Vivian moved in front of the twins and Marissa. Sophie stepped beside her. Chiron and Leiden shifted formation, blades drawn.
Vivian kept her voice steady. “We’re not your goal. So why block our path?”
The naginata wielder chuckled, the sound sharp and metallic.
“Oh, you misunderstand.”
He reached up and removed his mask.
Beneath it was a human face—or something that had once resembled one. Features warped by demonic corruption, skin too pale and too smooth, eyes sunken and ringed by black veins. His smile stretched wider than any living expression should.
“We don’t care who you are,” he said. “Only what you represent.”
Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“You are pieces. Threads. Variables.” His grin sharpened. “Our masters prefer their variables predictable. Unfortunately… you are not.”
Cold crept into Vivian’s fingers. “Then you’ll have to predict something else.”
The demon’s eyes flared. “Gladly.”
He slammed the butt of his naginata into the ground.
A flare of black-red mana erupted outward, scorching the earth and shattering the quiet. The orcs roared. The Sword Demons drew their blades in a single synchronized motion.
The woods exploded into motion.
Orcs charged from the front. Sword Demons slipped between trees like living shadows. The naginata wielder came straight for Vivian, his weapon carving a crescent of raw mana through the fog.
Vivian raised her sword as the first strike descended.
Steel met demon-forged iron. The impact rattled her bones. Frost erupted from her blade, pushing back the corrupted heat.
Anmei appeared beside her in a burst of fire-aspected mana. “Vivian—left!”
Vivian pivoted as a Sword Demon lunged from the side. Her blade snapped forward, severing its mask in half. Black ichor splattered the ground.
The Zhao retainers smashed into the orc flank with shields raised and spears leveled. The grove filled with roars, steel, and the thunder of boots pounding earth.
And then—
A sound split the night.
A deep, concussive boom shook the ridge behind them. Mana rippled violently, distorting the air.
Vivian gawked. What the hell was that?
It was obvious this was what Emily and Elise had put together. But what was it doing to the surrounding mana?
Vivian had no time to think.
“Now!” she shouted. “Break through!”
She dove into the fray, her sword carving frost-white arcs. Anmei hurled a wave of flame that lit the treeline. Chiron rallied the retainers, driving into the orc formation.
The Sword Demons faltered, distracted by the explosion and whatever that mana wave was. Good, whatever Emily and Elise had done it was working and that meant the window was open.
Vivian cut down another demon, breath ragged, mana burning through her veins. “Chiron—push them back! We only need a gap!”
Chiron snarled as he parried an orc’s hammer. “We’ll make one!”
The naginata wielder recovered quickly. His eyes flicked toward the dying fireball on the ridge. “Ah. Clever little mice. Playing with forbidden craft.”
He raised his weapon again.
Vivian braced.
Before he could swing, three Zhou retainers slammed into him from the side, shields first. The impact sent all four crashing into the underbrush.
“MOVE!” Vivian roared.
The group surged toward the northern trail.
Sophie grabbed Emily. Anmei pulled Elise by the wrist. Elizabeth warded them with a shimmering barrier of light. Marissa dragged an injured retainer over her shoulder and ran.
Behind them, the red orcs seemed to disintegrate into confusion most were not even paying attention at this point let alone attacking them. The Sword Demons regrouped in the shadows.
The explosion’s smoke rolled across the grove, covering their retreat.
Vivian spared one last glance over her shoulder as she sprinted taking the lead in front of the princess and Elizabeth.
She watched as the naginata wielder stood and though it was dark she thought saw his face.
He smiled