I perched on top of a branch, keeping my hands against the trunk's rough bark. Despite the gnawing pit in my stomach, I forced myself to hold my gaze straight and unwavering. Don't look down. Don't look down. God, how did Ahrian manage even though she's bird-like in every manner except having wings?

"Eyes on the battle, kid," Ahrian chided, pointing a human-like finger towards the line of canopies two prinks beyond. "Blink and you'll miss something."

I mean, what was I supposed to be watching except trees groaning and toppling down like they're being felled from the ground?

This morning, before we headed out, Cavya ran us through the plan. "We wouldn't be able to win against the danburki with just force alone," he had said, his tone reflecting the grim atmosphere everyone had woken up to in the camp. "We need to finish them in one blow, and for that I need Kora and Ahrian."

That's how we ended up away from all the action, away from an actual display of what the Dragnasand Knights were capable of. I glanced at Ahrian who had her head turned to one side, watching the commotion up front. "What spell did you use against that beast yesterday?" I asked.

Ahrian didn't budge from her stance, but her beak clicked as she answered. "It's called Bird Shot," she said. "It lets you concentrate all your magical and physical attributes into one, strong blast. You are also able to direct the trajectory and where it's going to fall. If you have my most basic skills, you can even aim properly."

I brought my hands to my face. Once upon a time, I was the rookie in this team, and now any chances of success we have in completing this mission rested solely on me. If it's not pressure, I don't know what was.

A huge explosion followed by a plume of smoke burst in the distance. Then, a streak of white light punched through the canopies and the carpet of snow-white clouds, creating a noticeable hole into both layers. The signal.

Ahrian and I exchanged looks. She extended an arm and I closed my fingers around it. "Borrow!" I chanted. A surge of warmth flooded my veins as my skill took effect and Ahrian's attributes began flowing into me. As if on cue, a faint target scope flitted in my vision, too erratic to even follow with my own eyes.

We've got no time for that either. One hand went to my elbow, supporting the weight as I extended that arm. Ahrian's voice played from front to back in my head. Take a deep breath. Focus on your target and the scope will follow. Fire.

I exhaled through my mouth, flaying my fingers to the sky as if I was grasping for the sun. I dug my willpower into the spot where the white streak of light came from. The scope whizzed past the target several times before slowing down to fix onto the spot I told it to.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered. "Bird Shot."

All of my strength left my body, bleeding from my veins and congealing into a magical mass of energy growing in my palm. Then, without warning, it launched itself forward, whistling like a firework about to go off. I was about to cheer when my muscles seized up. My feet slipped from the branch and I toppled backwards.

I should be flailing, screaming my lungs off. I was falling to my death and this tree wasn't short. My tongue stuck to the floor of my mouth, too tired to even manage a squeak. My eyes started closing on their own, blocking off my last view of the blue sky. The wind roared in my ears, followed by the same static ringing I heard yesterday. I was going to die—

My body was thrown forward by a sudden grip against my collar. Slowly, my feet found solid ground again. "Kid, if you decide to fall to your death, at least, give me a heads up," Ahrian's voice bled past the veil of static. I wrenched my eyes open to find a blurry world waiting for me. The blobs of brown must be her. I felt my arm being thrown over a shoulder followed by a disgruntled squawk. "Divine stars, you're heavy."

I must have mumbled something incorrigible because Ahrian chuckled, albeit a bit strained. "Don't bother, genius," she said. "I got you."

Like slugs on a dry desert, we picked our way through the forest floor. Only the tip of my boots touched the most ambitious blade of grass because langkoors, by principle, were a tall race. That's why I was heavy on her. She was being forced to haul my sorry ass all the way to the rendezvous point. Wherever that was.

After what felt like an eternity, we came up into the only clearing in at least a mile's—sorry, prink's—radius. "Where are the others?" I wondered. My vocal cords had recently regained their function. My limbs still felt like they're turning into puddles of goo, but I'd take what I could get. "They should be here soon, right?"

Ahrian bobbed her head. Despite the calmness in her arms as she lowered me to the ground, the feathers at the back of her head had started rising up. Something's wrong. Something's really wrong.

"What's Cavya's take in situations like this?" I forced myself to sit up so I wasn't at least staring up Ahrian's beak.

The falcon-headed langkoor clicked her beak, her stiff tongue knocking against the top one. "We run," she said. "Our goal was always to make sure the bigger number would make it home."

"That's bull," I groaned, forcing my legs to move. "We're all going home."

Ahrian watched me wriggle and slither up. "What are you doing?"

I summoned my sword and stuck it to the ground to give me some kind of pole to help me haul my dead weight off a body upright. "I'm going back," I answered. "Something happened. It's either my spell failed or we're up against something where my help is needed."

If birds could frown, she definitely would have. "You'll be nothing but another person to protect if you show up there," she said. "And I'm certainly not disobeying Cavya's orders and follow you in your suicide plan. Come on. We're heading back to the city."

"Warthos?" I argued. "No thanks."

Grunting, I unearthed the sword only to stick it into another spot a few steps forward. "Buy me a cup of terribean ale if you succeed in being a coward when your party needs you."

I proceeded with my plan on using my sword like a cane, hobbling along like an old man. With this pace, everything would have been resolved by the time I got there. I needed to hurry.

"What am I going to do with you, kid?" Ahrian sighed. Before I could process what's going on, she gripped me in the back of my collar, hauling me back. She lowered herself into a stance, her eyes narrowing with anticipation. Then, with a click of her beak, she said, "Flight."

Without warning, we shot off from the ground. I was sure I left my stomach on the forest floor as the cavern in my gut widened with each second Ahrian spent zipping an incline towards the thick canopies. By some miracle, without being hit by a branch or being tangled in the vines and bird nests, we punched through the last line of leaves. The sky burst in its blue glory—a vast and endless expanse blanketing the world below.

Ahrian angled her body to the left, her eyes already searching for any sign of disturbance from afar. A beak-click later, she found her target. The wind slammed into my gut only to be stolen by the sudden dives and rises Ahrian made at random intervals. If we're not in a hurry now, I'd have been sure she was just toying with me and my fear.

From my periphery, I saw a column of smoke rising from the ground. One of Nazran's nether beasts curled in on itself in the sky like a dragon I saw too much in the fantasy movies back home. Then, with a sickening roar, it dove down. More explosions. Even from this distance, I could hear Mirani's screams of defiance and Cavya's regal incantations. How was he able to go through all that, and how was he able to differentiate between each chant? I'd ask him one day.

"Now, let's see if you can land on your feet," I heard Ahrian say.

I gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm not Cavya."

A dangerous glint shone in Ahrian's eye, intensified only by the afternoon sun. "Trust me," she said. "He doesn't either."

Then, I was hurtling down. I would have screamed, but if I was coming to rescue my teammates, I'd rather not. Instead, I gritted my teeth and summoned my sword. I brought my menu back to my vision. My MP and HP had been next to zero but I was able to recharge a bit during my trek and flight with Ahrian. This should be enough.

The menu disappeared as I called it back when I noticed I was nearing the ground. The gravity of the situation was apparent now. East, Nazran and Yaora were back to back, torching their way past a horde of danburki, the former with a flamethrower-like netherbeast while the latter merely unhinging his jaws and letting all his pent-up anger out.

Mirani and Valren were due west, lunging and slashing wildly with their swords and occasional spouts of fire from the veteran dragonkin's palms and throat. They appeared to be winning, based on the growing pile of black and white lumps of fur littering the forest floor. I poised my sword forward, pouring a small amount of magic in its blade. It should be able to pierce the skin of an average jjangkai. Should work.

The tip of my blade slammed against the hide of one of the danburki right under me like how a spoon tinkles against a rock. The impact threw me out of my trajectory, making me slide down the beast's flank. My fingers grasped for a handhold, but if I gripped a tuft of fur, it would hurt the creature enough to start wiggling around to get the pest off its back. That pest just happened to be me.

I let myself fall. Land on your feet, I told my body. It followed, twirling easily in the air before tucking myself into a roll to lessen the impact. I skidded to a stop. My sword, which had slid off the other side of the beast's flank, reached the ground with a loud clatter.

"Kora, what are you doing here?" Cavya demanded as he flipped out of the way of a charging danburki before throwing his rapier mid-air. A wet eruption resounded in the forest air, followed by a small grunt. A pair of boots tapped next to where I stood.

"I thought I told you to go on after you've cast your spell," the cat-headed langkoor extended his hand and his rapier quivered from the carcass it was stuck on before zipping back to his waiting grip. "Did you just disobey my order?"

"Yes, sir," I said. "What happened here?"

"Second life," was Cavya's only answer before parrying a danburki's tusk from impaling me. Then, he was off, felling his opponent with unrelenting blows with his rapier. But even his attacks, as compared to the sheer power of the one he used yesterday, was beginning to pale. It's through some miracle they're able to last this long.

Second life, huh? It seemed like the danburki—elephant-like creatures with striped, black-and-white fur which was as hard as a stone wall and curved, long ivory tusks—were able to resurrect themselves after dying once. Judging from the pile of carcasses on the forest floor, it seemed like second life was as far as they go. It gave me a bit of hope. We could still do this.

Or not. At the sight of a danburki charging straight towards me, its octopus-like noses flaring and rearing about, I realized I had no idea how to contain a creature like this. Not when my usual sword attacks wouldn't work. Not when I have next to zero MP and HP to be able to pull off another sneak skill.

No. I was wrong. We're not going to survive this.

"Cavya!" I yelled. The leader didn't give me any acknowledgment he heard me as he scythed off four of his opponent's noses. "Order a retreat!"

The word echoed dully into the forest. It's a word that should never be found in an adventurer's vocabulary, but at this point, it's a necessary addition. A stringent curse rang from Cavya. "Knights!" he yelled. "Retreat! Ahrian and Kora, secure a way out!"

"Yes, sir!" came all of our agreement. Shots fired from the sky, raining down on the danburki, throwing them in disarray. We found each other through the chaos of stomping feet and frantic noses curling and swinging. I found Mirani and Valren and began leading them to the thicker part of the forest. Yaora carried Nazran by the armpit, the latter too spent to bother summoning more netherbeast as a ride.

Cavya swung from tree to tree, throwing his rapier on occasion, eliminating the fastest of the danburki which began to chase after them. I cursed. They're going to follow us into the city. We needed to stall them, to at least buy us some time to recover before trying again.

I let Mirani and Valren pass me by before running back to the chaos. "Kora, what are you doing?!" Mirani called after me.

Without turning back, I yelled, "Buying you time!"

Then, I swung my sword into the nearest trunk. And another. Tree after tree, I felled. The logs with their crowns of leaves still bright and full of glory, groaning as they toppled one after the other, forming some kind of barricade between us and the beasts.

Soon, with Cavya and Ahrian seeing through my plan and helping, we managed to contain the danburki behind. "Yes!" I said. "We should be able to—"

That's when a flash of purple burst from my belt, slapping my eyeballs. A scream ripped out my throat, as I swatted at it in futility. "What the fu—"

"Kora! What in the Divines' asses is that?" Cavya was yelling. "What—"

A deep and wild roaring replaced the leader's voice. I finally found the culprit when I closed my fingers around the block of bark I stuck in my belt yesterday. It was the symbol. And it was...

"We've got a different kind of beast in here!" Valren yelled somewhere from my east. I whirled to find the same beast that attacked our camp yesterday followed by a slew of earth-like animals twisted and crossbred with other creatures in the most twisted way possible. "What's going on?"

It didn't take long for Cavya to realize it. "That thing you're holding," he yelled to me. "Throw it over the barrier. Destroy it. Do whatever! It's summoning these beasts!"

As if suddenly finding out I was touching a newly-cooked potato, I fumbled with the glowing symbol. "I'm sorry, I—"

It flew out of my hands and into the ground. Before I could save it, a blade slammed into it, making it explode into lifeless splinters. The rapier flew back to Cavya's hands, giving me a good look on his face. He was far from pleased. He looked like he might just stick his blade into me and watch me explode into a shower of flesh and blood.

A shadow fell over me. "Kora, watch out!" Mirani shouted. I was thrown to the side, landing hard on my cheek. Something pierced flesh with an appalling squelch complemented with the sound of bones breaking. Bright red blood sprayed in the air, dousing my hair, my clothes, and my skin.

The world froze despite the various growls, roars, and howls echoing around me. A danburki has managed to slip past the barrier and now—

Mirani. She's...

"No," I stepped forward but a hand gripped my arm and began hauling me back. "No."

A little louder. "NO!" I squirmed, tears blurring what was left of my tunneling surroundings. "Mirani!"

But there was no one to answer me.

Not anymore.

Because she's gone. Just like that.