“Bianca!  Take Seth back to the skiffs!  Annashi, Sammy, Michael!  Take the Myrmidon!” Donivan yelled, both blades extending from his unsheathed hilts.  A flurry of wings moved and were gone, and Seth could only yell as his brother stepped out in front of those who remained, soon after to disappear entirely from his sights as he was carried away.


    “Ren, take Gabriel out of here!” Furion ordered, his own blades flashing into being as he looked back at her over a shoulder, “Go!”


    She grit her teeth, “Sir!” She acknowledged, and did as bid, the red light of her wings trailing into the barely-lit hall they’d all arrived in.


    “What the Hell is Xanarken doing!?” Rylen yelled in confusion, gaping at the Fourth where he still had yet to move


    Those eyes finally widened though, brow furrowed as hair whipped around, “…It’s…are those…?” Xanarken uttered, “…All this time…?”


    Rylen fluttered his mantle to reform by his brother, “Have you been daydreaming!?  I know this is boring to you but you can’t just AFK in the middle like tha-“


    The twisted Magi-twins had moved forward with alarming speed, one of their disfigured hands stabbing through the First with a singular rage.  It moaned despairingly, and yanked its arm back again just in time to lift all four up in defense against Furion’s onslaught.


    Xanarken grabbed his brother’s shattered mantle and pulled away with it, looking on at the fused entity in horror, “…What the Hell did it do!?  Rylen!?” He turned to gape in confusion at that dark face, seeing alarms from the Eidolon System flashing on his overlay, “RYLEN!!”


    Orange eyes fluttered slightly, “…What…?”


    “You got hit!” The Fourth answered as he continued to drag the man away.


    Rylen flailed to get free and stand on his own, looking at himself, “…It…it went right through me.  I felt it.  I felt it.”


    “Now’s not the time!” Xanarken shoved the First away, narrowly avoiding the onslaught from the fused Magi as it ignored the Fafnir.  Coordinated as their moves were, the entity seemed not to care what the Knights did, using two of its four arms to shove them away with its disturbing reach; the other two reached for Rylen again, “Drop out of here!  We’re nothing but a distraction!”


    That got through to the First, and with a snarl, he dissipated before the next stabbing thrust could pierce his mantle a second time.


    Furion swung his right arm out towards the corridor, “Wing Team Two, retreat!  Wing Team One, with me!”


    Ravan hesitated, but when the other four flashed by her, she turned on a heel and took off after them.  That left only Donivan, Jense, and Corbin to support their Captain.  Ravan twisted over backwards to catch the last glimpse of her teammates before they disappeared beyond her line of sight, “Damnit…!”


    Rylen was the first to reform, catching up to where Ren and the others had brought their charges, and in annoyance, shut off the alarm from the Eidolon System.  Gabriel was still unconscious, eyes wide open with their wisps of light, “What the Hell happened?”


    “Your guess is as good as mine, sir.” She answered, “He just reeled backward like he’d been kicked in the forehead, and dropped. That pulse…it was like an EMP for afflicted…”  She looked over at the Myrmidon, “…They haven’t moved either.”


    Seth was all-but in tears, on the edge of a panic attack, “Where’s Furion!?  Why wasn’t he right behind us!?”


    “Everyone needs to get on board and back to the Aegis.” Rylen ordered, “Ren!  Where’s Xanarken!?  He vanished before I even thought to!”


    “Seth, just get on the skiff!  Lord Rylen, he hasn’t reformed here.” She answered, and hefted Gabriel’s prone body in her arms, “Maybe he went back to the Aegis right away?”


    The First grumbled with an exasperated sigh, “Unbelievable…but not entirely without reason.”


    Seth was already half-through the side-door when the Fafnir brought all three Inquisitors in after him, and Annashi called back, “Commander, lifting off in 15 seconds!”


    Ren looked back into the hazily-lit corridor.  She quickly hover-jumped to drop Gabriel off with the others, “Get going.  I’m going back!”


    “Commander!”


    “Just go!” Rylen ordered, and went to join the passengers; he had to stick an arm out to catch Seth so he wouldn’t run by in turn.


    “Miss Ren!”


    “Focus on the task at hand, cadet.  We need to secure the casualties!”


    Red wings vanished into the dark, and the others could do nothing for her.  It was as if everything went into slow motion then; four Fafnir came into her sights, easy to spot in the dark by the glow of their wings.  The Magi-twins spotted her in the midst of them all.  In what probably took three total seconds, Ren lifted her right arm, and volleyed four pulses from her vambrace-cannon; they all hit their mark.  In response, explosive gluts of smoke filled the room on impact – like dropping bread-dough into a pile of loose black flour – and enshrouded the entire atrium in imperceptible smog.  Somewhere within that cloud, the twins split apart, ripping the seams of resin armor that linked them together, and one leapt forward.  It emerged from the fumes like a wraith, its guttural scream the only thing that told Ren it was coming before she saw claws within inches of her visor.  That, she was able to dodge; she rolled in mid-air, her armor leaving scratches and sparks in her wake where she slid along the metallic wall.  The entire door to the warp core, however, struck her directly, knocking her backward with a clang that made every Fafnir nearby shiver.  She, and the heavy iron-clad panel, crashed into the floor, until Ren skidded to a stop against a wall, and the door hit her a second time as it came down on top of her, pinning her into the wedge.


    In those same three seconds, Annashi had taken the controls and closed the skiff’s doors, as the other Fafnir of Wing Team Two filtered outside to fly alongside.  It barely had enough time to turn around in the hangar before a blur of purple and red flung itself into the open space, and a massive tendril of oily ferocity grabbed one curved wing and dragged the whole skiff down.  Lights on those wings brightened in resistance, and struggled to get free, but was trapped against its strength.  Anchoring it to the ground was the split-off twin, wailing in a fury; one tendril grasped the skiff, and another forced itself between the metal panels of the floor, ignoring the existence of the rivets and solders that once held them together.


    Ravan had her daggers out and ready, and she flung herself at the source of the tether, slicing at it madly, but found her blades too short to penetrate far enough to reach the Magi embedded within – she noticed quickly that said Magi was only one of the two, and worried for what had happened to the second.  She could see it, like a shadow under the water, but anywhere her plasma-knives struck, the miasma fizzled and boiled, but nothing more.  With nothing else, she turned her forearms in, and without hesitation, lobbed a volley of blasts into it from her vambraces at point-blank range, not yet knowing the polluted reaction the energy-pulses would have on contact with that miasma.


    She quickly learned, and for her efforts, Ravan took a battering-ram straight to the chest, and it thundered against her with such force that the impact sent her flying.  The last thing she saw before a big cut to black, was the sight of the rest of Wing Team Two closing-in to try their own hand at fighting the creature.


    In the corridor, Ren regained her bearings and grabbed the edge of the warp core’s dislodged door.  With a heave, she pushed the panel off, and it rattled heavily against the floor as it came to rest.  She quickly got back up to her feet with a boost from her wings.  In one direction – the one she’d meant to go – the remaining Magi was keeping four veteran Fafnir Knights occupied.  Down the other, was the entire rest of the team, the fleeing skiff they were meant to protect, and its weakened passengers.  Her ears were ringing, but as soon as she found balance enough to stand without the hover to assist, she heard – and felt – a terrible crash.  The entire warp core had been sent flying towards her; ripped from its pedestal, it hit the mouth of the corridor so hard that it became entwined with it, and was stuck in place, simultaneously sparing her from a likely doom, and blocking her way forward.  She ran up to the twisted sphere of metal anyway, and banged against its impossibly heavy exterior, “FURION!”


    “Protect the others!” He immediately ordered, “You have noncombatants and novices on your side!  They’re your first priority!”If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    There was sense in that, and by the sound of him, he wasn’t (yet) hurt for that latest turn of events.  She buckled-down and took off, retreating back the way she’d come, “Yessir!”


    Within the core’s atrium, the four Fafnir were at an impasse; the split twin was untouchable, even by those longer, heavier blade-types.  Worse still, there was a tentacle of miasma had had spawned – one for each of them – to defend against them.  All they could do for a moment was encircle it, weapons drawn and pointed at it, with the smoke Ren’s earlier blaster-shot billowing around them, only-then beginning to clear.


    “This thing appears to be fighting with a strategy…” Donivan commented on their private comms, “It’s doing just like Ianori did in Kitez.”


    “But these Magi weren’t fighters in life.” Furion countered, “How is it able to push even one of us back, never mind all four?  And how is it so bloody strong?”


    “Have we even landed a single hit against it yet?” Jense wondered, double-scythes pointed towards the floor on either side.


    Corbin huffed to catch his breath, his katanas poised, “Don’t think so, brother.”


    “Shit…”


    Furion focused his sights on each of those twitching, beastly extensions; as long as none of them moved towards it, the creature seemed content to keep its defensive posture.  That gave the Captain a moment to really look at it, and to see the golden orbs – barely visible beneath the oily, murky surface of that translucent skin – moving like trapped air-bubbles within.


    Ren got back to the hangar in time to see the least-experienced member of the team – Bianca - driven into retreat.  Michael, Sammy, Gareth, and Michelle had all been veteran Fafnir even when Ren first joined, but now they all had 15 years or more under their belts.  Such seasoned skill shouldn’t be so easily knocked away…and yet, those four met the same resistance that their Captain and his support-team had.  Xandra – a 4^th year – had been sent into the same heap as Ravan before her, and that only left Alexander – a 12^th year - to put himself between the fight, and the struggling ship, in defense of the latter.  Annashi was desperately trying to get the skiff out of harm’s way, but all she could do was throttle it and go nowhere.


    Then…the creature spoke.


    In all three locations.


    .


    “They’re trying to take him from me…” Scyrexianori muttered to itself, “I can’t…reach…”


    Latheroux stepped closer to the glass, “Who are you talking about?  Who’s trying to take who from you?”


    Scyrexianori’s eyes narrowed, struggling, “So many…all at once…  I can’t…focus…”


    .


    “Hold!” Furion called, and fortified where he stood, both massive swords up in a defensive stance.  The others around him fell-back as well, huffing for breath behind their visors.


    “Captain?” Donivan asked.


    “Did it just…speak?”


    “What do you want, Magi?” Furion dared, taking a step closer, though with his blades pointed down and away in an effort to appear slightly-less threatening.


    Donivan turned his visor away, “Ren, this thing is talking to us in here.  See if you can-“


    “The one out here is talking, too.” She interrupted; she’d landed with the veterans, but stayed a short distance back, and out of their way, “But…not to us, I don’t think.”


    “What’d it say?”


    “I think it’s complained to itself that we’re trying to take someone away from it.”


    Donivan looked to the Captain, “Did you hear that?”


    “…It’s linked somehow.” Furion acknowledged, “Did their physical fusion go deeper than that…?”


    The Magi before him seemed to writhe in frustration, “Need…the seer…  Need…to end this quickly…”


    .


    “End what quickly!?” Latheroux asked adamantly, “Who are you dealing with!?  Where!?”


    “Them…” Scyrexianori said in frustration, “He’s…fighting me with everything he has…  He won’t…let me hurt them…”


    That one eye widened in shock, “…You mean Sir Ianori.  You’re fighting the Fafnir, aren’t you?  Right this second…”


    Kourin was flummoxed, “How is that possible?”


    .


    “…The…Faf…nir…” The Magi in front of Ren croaked.  Each of those four Knights encircling the creature looked at one another, then glanced back at Ren herself…and all Hell broke loose all over again.


    Each of the twins launched a Hail Mary; four more tails of oily liquid burst forth from the beneath each of their feet.  They sprung with such speed and ferocity that each one struck its intended target before they had a chance to dodge.  The only one who’d been spared…was the only nearby Knight who hadn’t gotten close enough to stand within the soupy haze of smoke.


    Ren quickly launched into the air to avoid whatever corrective action might’ve been taken once the creature realized she hadn’t been snatched; she hovered, eyes darting left and right, trying to read the situation.  The only thing she could see was the singular appendage that was still exposed, and which yet grappled with the wing of the skiff.  The cracks in that wing were making its continued failure to flee dangerous; Annashi had gunned the thrusters so hard that the vessel could crash just from being let go.  That’s when Ren spotted the golden orb – barely visible in the dark and smog – as a bit of it glinted within that oily length.  Several things came to a head at once then, and Ren looked at the skiff, “Annashi!  Get ready for some defensive driving!  Alexander!  Get Xandra and Ravan out of here!”


    “Ma’am!”


    “Wha!?” Annashi balked, “CommandEWAHHH!!”  The skiff lurched violently, banging into the ceiling before she got hold of the controls and managed to steady it.  Only by virtue of Rylen’s focus did the unconscious cargo not go flying; with effort, he and Seth had managed to get all three Myrmidon and their canary – and Seth himself after - into a seat and bolted them down.  That didn’t stop Rylen from being flung though; who needs a seatbelt when you don’t have any breath to get knocked out of you.


    Ren had simply broken the wing off; the skiff would have to limp away, and she gave it a slap on the back end to send it on its way, “Go!”


    .


    Scyrexianori’s eyes widened in shock, “…No…”


    .


    There was an opening.  Ren spotted it.  She could only-just-barely see the Magi, gaping up at the fleeing skiff with a look of anguish on its twisted face.  It tried to launch another fibrous ribbon while the skiff stumbled in-air, but Ren was quicker that time.  She put all her energy into the thrust of her wings, and threw herself at the entity with every ounce of strength in her body.  Plasma-blades were held together like a thick spear, and she thrust it forward.


    It was hard to see at first, but she could feel it.  Her blades had found purchase…and penetrated.  Wings rose high, and flapped down hard to clear the smoke; she could finally – properly – see her target.  Her charge had impaled both swords through the Magi’s chest, and it gasped a wet grunt.  Black ichor dripped from the corners of its mouth, and it looked at her.  All five exposed protuberances writhed and released, quivering as they withered all around it until resorbing into themselves.


    .


    A queer smile curled at the edges of Scyrexianori’s lips, “…That one…is feisty…”


    .


    Ren took issue with the assessment, and with a vocal swing, both of those plasma-edged blades rose vertically.  With a wet shlep, they split through the neck and skull, and that possessed creature fell back dead.  Permanently dead.  Ren wasted no time, “All of you, go help Annashi!  Make sure that skiff gets to the Aegis!  Carry it if you have to!”


    Grunts of acknowledgment answered, as the four Fafnir picked themselves up from the pits their armor had pressed into the metal panels they’d been pinned to a moment before.  They watched their prodigious junior fly up and vanish into a third-floor corridor, but steeled themselves and left the other way.


    Ren bounced through those upper halls like a pinball, trying to find an alternate route into the warp core chamber.  It was almost a surprise when she actually did, and she kicked off that last wall to vault over the railings.  Not having the core in the way, she could see everything immediately, and what she saw was…unsettling.


    Flashes of that field in Kitez shot through her mind like thundercracks, when she bore witness to Ianori being smothered by those groping fingers from the void scar.  They were there again, smothering four more Knights – her family, her friends.  With a determined rage, she yelled out, and barreled towards the epicenter of the horror.  From that vantage, both blades came together - tips pointing down - and she came down through the top of the second Magi’s cranium with a singular fury.  The impact was so heavy, the Magi couldn’t even bounce before Ren drove those blades through, right to the hilt.


    As before, those appendages withered, and their captives were released.  They’d been pinned to the surrounding walls of that circular chamber, nearly suffocated, and they collapsed.  Ren caught her breath, heart racing, and she refused to let go until the ringing echo of the clang settled and went quiet.  She lifted her head, expecting the four to get up on their own…and was confused when none of them did, “…Guys?”


    They were silent.  Ren’s breath caught in her throat, and heart skipped a beat.  She let go of those blade-grips, leaving the Magi pinned through its skull, and she flung herself to her partner’s side.


    “Furion!?  Furion!” She yelled, still getting no response.  The visor of his helmet had been cracked, and she pawed shaking hands around the sides of it and under the jaw, until she found the release to pull it off.  Seeing the man’s blue-tinted face made her seize, “No…no no…!” She quickly moved to pry her own helmet off, though by the time it banged on the metal floor, Furion had started to cough and draw breath on his own again, much to her relief.  She bent down and pressed her brow to his, “…Thank the Eidolon, you’re okay…”


    “Th-the others…” He gasped, and managed to lift his hand before dropping it again, “The…a-air intake…plugged…”


    Ren set the man down gently but quickly, and left to go release the helms on the other three felled Knights.  When she got to Donivan at the last, she pulled him over towards their Captain, and went back to grab the other two as well.  Altogether, Ren watched them all regain themselves, and with a shuddered breath, collapsed to her knees before them, “…I…I thought I lost you…”


    Furion had regained enough strength to lift his arm, and beckoned the woman closer.  She shuffled closer quickly, and got under that arm, hugging him tightly.  Another quick breath, and Furion pressed his cheek to the top of her head, “What…happened?  How did you…?”


    It was all she could do to not burst into tears from the relief.


    “Will anyone answer their damn comms!?” Rylen’s voice faintly echoed from Ren’s helmet, “I need a status update!  The Aegis’ forward cannon is trained on that ship and I’ll have to pull the trigger if no one responds!”


    Ren frantically pulled back and scrambled for her helmet, sticking it on roughly, “Don’t fire!  Do not fire!”


    On that bridge, the entire crew let out a tense breath.  Even the Eidolon went through the motions, “…Dame Ren…  What the Hell is going on?  Five of you are still in there and you’re the only one to answer!”


    She could feel those tears hot on her face, and she bent her head down, “…It’s…it’s over…  The Magi are down.  We need recovery…”