When Odran asked them if two acolytes could match up to a chalice, Reece didn't really consider that question then. For an empath, he’d allowed himself to be filled with excitement and a profound sense of purpose that he’d actually forgotten to study his opponent.

  Reality however didn't share his optimism. He realized the importance of that simple question a few heartbeats after they started to fight. Shalliah was obviously the better combatant. Her abilities to affect plant and animal life as well as elements made her a versatile thaumaturge.

  Reece was the one playing support, amplifying her emotional threads and trying to disrupt the opponent's. So it came as a shock to him that he was currently spitting blades of dried grass from his mouth and his chest was bruised after he had been tossed like a folded parchment into the uneven ground.

  Shalliah on the other hand was hung upside down against the branch of a tree somewhere. The only reason he was sure she survived was due to the pain he was sensing from her, an agonizing one.

  Odran stood at a distance, watching with a crooked, almost playful smile. His abilities were unnatural. Even as an acolyte, Reece doubted any of them could bring him down.

  Every vine Shalliah hurled toward him withered to rot before it could reach his feet, and still he wielded explosive force enough to tear the battlefield apart. It felt like he ruled over destruction.

  Reece got up spitting out cold sand that had lodged itself in the corner of teeth. He glanced at their opponent who seemed to be enjoying the time of his life.

  “You want some more?” he demanded.

  The noble thing was to attack and do something brave but Reece decided to stall. “Give me a second,” he muttered. “My friend is in a tree,” he breathed.

  Odran glanced up at a tree and swung his hand forward as if to strike the wind, instead a shimmering crescent wave formed from pure symphonic energy cleaved through the air and sliced off an unseen branch of the tree.

  Shalliah and a tree branch landed in a loud thud. Reece glanced in her direction. “Are you alright?” he asked but only two wheezing coughs answered him.

  The calm man chuckled. “Children, so amusing. Maybe after this, I would adopt a few kids and watch them,”

  “Yeah. I don't think you will survive long enough for that,” Reece said with a cheeky grin.

  Odran frowned and ducked on instinct. A blade swept through the space his head had occupied a flicker earlier. He shifted back as another strike followed, then barely leapt clear. Almost in the same breath, he answered with a concussive burst, an explosive force meant to hurl everything within several meters away.

  The obsidian blade cleaved through the blast as if it weren’t there at all. Odran recoiled, abandoning the attack, and detonated the air in front of himself. The explosion hurled him backward, tearing distance between him and the sword.

  Reece relaxed upon seeing Marius. He glanced sideways and although the fog was a bit thick, he could still see the headless bodies of the two cutthroats.

  The Marshal gave Odran a tired look and then swung his sword in the air twice, getting into the iron stance — a traditional stance that focused on being a bulwark.

  Reece stepped up beside the man and Shalliah had also dusted herself up. “Let me ask you a question now,” Reece chuckled. “Can a chalice win against these odds?”

  “I will admit, we didn't fit the Marshal into our calculations. Why he is here is still a mystery to me but the best plan is the one that adapts.”

  “Pray tell me, how are you adapting to this?” the empath asked.

  “Simple, I will kill the old man, here and now!” He dashed forward with a blinding speed, tossing arcing waves in quick succession. Marius met the attacks head on, cutting them before the two clashed in a violent wave.

  Reece’s importance in the battle would be minimal as everything had gone pretty violent. He decided to scout for their other teammates instead. He let his tentacles dance into the fog while the rhythm of the symphony played in his ear.

  Being an acolyte meant his understanding of himself in relation to the symphony was at a basic stage and this limited the use of his abilities. His tentacles couldn't cross more than a hundred meters, if he tried extending it past that distance, he would begin to hear deeper into the symphony.

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  This would put a strain on his spirit being and then his body and soul will collapse after a while. Leaving him dead, insane or twisted into a malignant horror that someone else would have to expunge from the surface of reality.

  At first he didn't feel any emotional feedback, however after a while, he suddenly felt the emotions of someone in the deeper part of the woods, away from all the fog, just at the edge of his range limit.

  The person seemed to be moving in their direction, he frowned then another feedback hit him and he sensed hunger — predatory hunger.

  “Gods!” Reece cursed, then turned back to the battle at hand. The topography of the area had already gone through wondrous change. Small craters filled the entire area, broken tree branches and the smaller shrubs have all been bent.

  Odran had been forced to be defensive due to Marius’s ability to silence the symphony with his blade. The fight was still in his favor due to his sheer destructive capabilities but Reece just realized he could change the entire situation.

  There was one thing Reece loved when he was fighting a losing battle and it was to cause such chaos that no one won. He tapped into the hunger he felt earlier and then amplified it with anger and rage.

  Ten heartbeats.

  Reece dashed forward, dragging Shalliah away from the area.

  Six heartbeats.

  Reece gathered all the fear from Shalliah and Marius, although it was very minuscule in the elderly man, it was like he felt no fear at all but it was enough considering he’d already felt enough fear himself for the day. The sound of bat-like wings filled the entire area at this moment.

  Three heartbeats.

  He gathered all his fear and flung it at Odran all of a sudden. The calm man stopped short mid combat as Marius leapt back to give him some distance because he was about to blast the Marshal’s head clean off at that point.

  One heartbeat.

  A red haired girl broke through the fog, running with every fiber of her muscle. She glanced at Reece with glowing eyes and for a moment time seemed to slow down as she lunged past him.

  Then the Ghars burst from the fog and they all veered away from their initial prey, all turning to face the man who was paralyzed with fear.

  Ghars were vicious creatures, one of the deadliest that lives within the Harrowing. They were a colony of mutated bats that are blind, deaf and nose-dead. They hunt through several receptors of energy and emotions scattered on their mangled bodies.

  Reece darted into the fog, half dragging Shalliah with him. His eyes darted around in search of Marius but soon discovered the man was a few paces ahead of them. He bulged his eyes in surprise as they galloped through the woods behind the red haired girl.

  They arrived at the edge of a certain valley before they all halted to a stop. “This should be impossible,” Marius muttered, his brow furrowing.

  Reece shared the frown. He saw it too. At the valley’s heart stood a massive tree, its branches nearly bare, yet stretching some fifty meters in eerie symmetry with the exposed roots spreading beneath it.

  Several tombstones encircled the tree, most of them shattered and defiled. From its branches hung skeletons, swaying like obscene fruits. No life stirred anywhere in the valley, only scattered puddles of stagnant water reflecting the dead sky.

  “We shouldn't be here,” Reece muttered, glancing up to the sky to see the two moons reflecting back at him.

  Darkness was already closing in, and being this deep within the Harrowing at night was a grim prospect. Worse still was standing beside the Harrowing Tree itself. The place was steeped in misfortune, shunned by all who knew its history. Yet this part of the forest was unpredictable, its shifting trees capable of and trapping people within its borders.

  “Where are we?” the strange girl asked, holding her backpack tightly.

  Everyone turned towards the girl at this point and they seemed to realize she was a stranger. Her eyes had stopped glowing and she was staring at the valley intently.

  Reece’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you, and why are you alone in the middle of the woods?”

  She turned away from the valley and gazed at him with one of the most condescending looks he’d ever seen. “Who died and made you king of the woods?” she replied succinctly. “I could ask you all the same question but right now, I am just happy to see humans.”

  He exhaled. The reason he remained guarded, despite her emotional aura checking out, was her unsettling resemblance to the girl he had seen in the cellar, when the naked woman tried to lure him with visions of his deepest desires.

  “Young girl, you will have to tell us who you are,” Marius spoke, his black blade held tightly in his hand. “We have been through a lot today and trust me I don't want to have to kill you!” his voice was stern.

  The girl glanced at the Marshal’s blade and then at him and then at Shalliah whose hands were already outstretched ready to attack. “First of all, put that sword away, I hate being threatened. Secondly, I am obviously not going to give you my name or anything, only the gods know what kind of abomination you guys are doing out here in the woods. All I need is to know the directions that lead out of this damn woods before I get attacked by something worse than murderous bats.”

  Marius was taken aback. “I cannot decide…”

  Reece however spoke. “She is human. That much I know, and she is afraid, very afraid. The Ghars must have scared the bugs out of her, she is just trying to put on a brave face.”

  The girl frowned. “You are a thaumaturge?” she asked.

  “Yes.” he replied simply.

  “Then you should use your abilities in ways that respect people's privacy. Dragons, everyone lacks courtesy in these parts of the kingdom.”

  Reece didn't even reply. “What is your name? We would have to call you something.”

  She glanced at him. “I don't want to tell you my name. I currently don't think I can trust complete strangers.”

  “Well, it would be good if we had code names then.” Marius said. “I am Black,” he said with an amusing smile, as if cracking a joke no one could understand.

  “I guess I will be red then?” the girl said.

  “No. You are Glory.” Reece smiled. “He didn't know why, but when he looked at her, those words felt perfect.”

  She shrugged. “ I am Gold, and the lady here will be Honor.” Reece smiled at Shalliah who replied with a hurried nod.

  “Those were lovely code names,” a voice rang out and from the mild darkness of the night Odran stepped out. He was bleeding from a cut on his face, his clothes were a bit torn. “Did you really think a couple of bats would be able to kill me?” he chuckled.

  Three different men followed him and they dragged three people with them. These three were bound with tight ropes. They were Al Sahim, Jalin and Patelon respectively.

  Patelon was out cold, so he was dragged onto the clearing. “Look I will make this simple,” Odran said. “Exchange the Gold blooded for these three and we will take our leave, you will never hear from us again. Resist and I will kill them all right now and then kill you all!”

  Odran’s face was stern now, like a chiseled rock.

  Marius stepped forward and sighed. “I really am too old for this,” he muttered. “Let me ask you a question,” he swung his sword twice in the air, the Still blade cutting the blowing wind. “Where are the others? Dale, Hansel, Isha?” he demanded.

  “All dead.” Odran replied simply.

  Marius smiled and then took his stance. “If you see a chance, Reece, make a break for it. Take the others with you!”

  Reece shook his head. “No.” He said, walking slowly as he marched forward. “This… this is all my fault and this game has gone on long enough.”

  He ripped his shirt off to reveal his bare chest. The body was crystal clear at first but after a while black ink rose from his body and a series of tattooed equations came to life.

  “You want me?” He asked. “Why don't you come and get me!”