Die. Respawn. Repeat.

This time, I head for Tarin's house immediately. Triplestep lets me reach the crows in record time — I reach the Cliffside Crows in just under an hour, leaving eleven on the clock until the raid begins.

Tarin, I know, is still asleep. But there isn't any time to waste, and so I barge into his home uninvited, and then copy Mari's trick. Firmament flows into my lungs, courtesy of Firmament Manipulation.

"Tarin?" I ask.

...Okay. Maybe using Firmament isn't quite as simple as just shoving energy into my lungs and hoping for the best.

Still, the crow seems to recognize that I'm in his home. He bursts out of the pile of hay, ready to fight, and then looks utterly baffled when he sees me standing there.

"Who you?" he asks.

"I'm a Trialgoer," I respond, figuring that's the best way to introduce myself. "I know this is sudden, but your village is about to be attacked."

"Trialgoer!" Tarin says, suddenly excited, before his expression switches to a frown. As best as I can read it, anyway. Beaks aren't particularly good for frowning. "What you talking about? How you know my name?"

I should probably start from the beginning. I'm not actually used to this, for all that I've met them twice now.

"My Trial is temporal," I explain quickly. "Every time I die, I'm sent back in time. I've done all this before — been here, spoken to you and your wife, everything. We get attacked by harpies in about eleven hours in a raid as a part of the Trial. I need your help to get the villagers ready."

This time, Tarin is notably more suspicious of me. It's probably related to the fact that I barged into his home without knocking — though in my defense, the door to his hut isn't particularly... a surface I can knock on. It's a strip of cloth, and there's no bell attached to the front that I've seen.

"Prove it," Tarin says, and fortunately, I remember what he told me in the last iteration.

"You told me to tell you how you met Mari," I say.

"And how did we meet?" Tarin asks. He somehow manages to look excited and skeptical all at once, his wings folded in front of him but his entire body standing on tiptoes. He wants to believe me... and there's a certain sharpness in his eyes, now that I've spoken to him a little more. I can read him a little better.

"You said Mari threw a courting rock at you," I tell him, and he trills with delight.

"Yes!" Tarin claps his wings together. "It was very good courting rock. You know where Mari? Best if she help!"

"I think she was around the edge of the village," I say, because that's where she approached me last loop. But that's something that happens about an hour from now. "I don't know where she is now, though."

"Bah!" Tarin says. "I find. You wait!"

He takes three steps, and then immediately trips over a chair. I stare for a moment.

"Tarin," I say, remembering another thing from that last loop. "Your eyes...?"

"Ah!" Tarin doesn't move from his position, half-planted into the floor — but there's a sudden sense of power, and he's much steadier when he does get up. He flaps his wings once, then darts out of the door.

A second later, I hear a sense of power, and cover my ears in preparation for the thundering "Mari!" that echoes across the village. It's almost a wonder that nothing breaks, but I've seen the strength of their Firmament enchantments by now.

What's a bit more surprising to me is how everyone outside looks entirely unperturbed. Is this just something they're used to?

Mari returns in short order, and — to my surprise — starts fussing over me. She seems almost grateful for some reason, though I can't imagine why. Tarin stands behind her, looking inexplicably proud of himself.

...I don't ask any questions.

Mari's insistent on getting all of us food and a drink, and I don't protest. The last several loops have just about wiped all memory of how pleasant it is to sit down and have a warm meal, and while the stakes are dire, the meal is also an opportunity to talk

.

And so I do. I tell them about the specifics of the raid — the number of harpies, where each of them land, and the specifics of how the raid appears to suppress their Firmament capabilities. That knowledge makes Tarin and Mari both darken a bit.

"Of course they cheat," Tarin mutters. I stare at him for a moment, seeing that spark of sharpness in his eyes again — but he notices me looking at him, and he points a wing at me.

"Your Firmament unstable," he tells me. "You know already? I tell you?"

I note, with some relief, that this time he doesn't outright call my Firmament weak. "You did," I confirm. "You told me to keep it. I can sense what other people are doing with their Firmament better that way."

"Yes," Tarin nods. "Your Firmament is your strength. Unstable Firmament rare! Your thing? Or... what you call yourself?"

"Human," I say, this time catching on to the question.

"Or human thing," he continues. "But! Not important. Yet. Maybe later in Trial, yes?"

I don't know what might happen later in the Trial, but I nod, taking him seriously. His world has already encountered the Integrators and their Trials, after all. That information seems prudent.

"More importantly," I say, catching both their attentions. "There's the two harpies that attack the center of the village."

Both crows listen attentively as I describe the two Laments and what they're capable of. They seem equally agitated when I describe the trouble they had fighting off the Laments, declaring it a cheap trick to fight them with their Firmament suppressed so heavily — and I don't disagree. It's clear that this is a cheap trick on the part of the Integrators, making the Trial artificially difficult for me.

They're trying to force me to make a mistake.

"Need to kill them at the same time," Mari squawks, and I agree.

I'm still not confident I can do it alone. I'm stronger now by a full order of magnitude, but it remains to be seen if that will mean anything against the harpies.

It should. I'm hopeful.

We will see.

It's almost time for the raid.

I've practiced as much as I dared to with Tarin. He's still more than able to keep up with me, despite how much I've grown. It makes me wonder exactly how much the Integrators suppress him and his wife during the raid. I can defeat any one of their guards fairly handily, now, but Mari and Tarin themselves?

They're forces to be reckoned with.

We've got a plan mostly set up for the upcoming battle. Now that Tarin and Mari each know what to expect and what the harpies can do, they assure me that they'll be able to hold on long enough for me to take care of the other ten harpies. Firestep and Triplestep in combination both give me tremendous speed — but the longer I take, the harder it will be for Mari and Tarin to help me out in the fight itself.

I have to pace myself. I can't wear my Firmament out entirely — Tarin's warned me that the strength of my Firmament doesn't yet match up to the variety of skills I have available, and if I push it too hard I might find it more difficult to use Firmament right when I need it.

So I resolve not to do that. Speed is the priority, and most likely more than enough to deal with the base Elegies, along with my scythe. I'll save Crystallized Strength and the like for the Laments.

I've asked the Interface if any crow deaths will persist past the raid, but it hasn't given me an answer. I don't want to make any assumptions about it. There's no reason that would happen — nothing in the phrasing of the raid that indicated that would be a possibility — and yet I find myself still paranoid about it nonetheless. The Integrators strike me as the type to be petty.

I'm distracting myself with thoughts.

We haven't bothered hiding halfway up the cliff this time, since we know where all the harpies will land. Instead, we're hiding. I'm enclosed within the hut that's closest to the first landing spot, near the northern edge of the village.

[ Warning: You are in range of a Raid! ]

There we go. It's time. I don't need to give a signal — Tarin's made sure everyone knows what the small earthquake that accompanies the start of the raids means. He's made sure they're aware that their weapons will be useless and their Firmament suppressed.

So many of them are fighting anyway. So many fighting to protect their homes, their children. More than before, even, because now they know their warriors won't be enough, and even the non-combatants have taken up arms.

[ Rank E Raid Lost Harpies proceeding! You have one more chance to beat this raid. If you fail, Cliffside Crows will be removed from your map. ]

One more chance.

Firestep. Triplestep.

I dart out of the house, flames burning around me, just as the first harpies land. My scythe rests comfortably in my right hand, and a small push with Firmament Manipulation sends a trickle of Firestep down into the scythe, too. It imbues it with a little more speed, a little more offensive power...

I cut clean through the neck of the first harpy before she realizes what's happened.

[ You have defeated an Elegy of the Lost (Rank E)! +5 Strength credits. +1 Reflex credit. +5 Speed credits. +1 Firmament credit. ]

Diminishing returns suck, but all that sparring with Tarin's paid off a bit. I just need a single quick roll to test an idea.

[ 1 Firmament credit spent! Rolling for results... ]

[ Select between:

Temporal Echo (Rank D)

Tree Punching (Rank F)

Sparring (Rank F) ]

I was right. I select Temporal Echo without a second thought. I'm already fighting the second harpy as I do this, sidestepping past her scream and cleaving my scythe through the center of her skull.

I grimace at the sight. I'm not doing that one again.

[ Temporal Echo obtained! ]

[ Temporal Echo (Rank D) has evolved to Temporal Fragment (Rank C)! ]

I doubt banking any of my other credits will help me now, but this will have to be enough.

Now I'm ready.