Isher Notra

Captain Tash:

What she saw was... apocalyptical.

A massive orb, enough to swallow most of the city with its sheer size, roared with the raging winds that gave it form. Its turquoise core loudly throbbed like a living heart, and bathed them all in its light. The temperature dropped to levels never before experienced by the captain throughout her 35 years of living. And perhaps, even beyond what Sayama suffered through since the dawn of time...

It slowly descended to devour them, a cruel countdown to their demise. The air grew heavier, almost as if the Moon itself were trying to crush her against the tileless floor.

Hope was but a foregone luxury.

"BASAN! CONCENTRATE ALL YOU'VE GOT AGAINST THAT SPELL!" Her cousin's screech sent electric currents through her spine, and her fur bristled as she realized he stood proudly right next to her.

Somehow, his cries broke through the chaotic sea of whirlwinds, as shown by the tens of orange, red, yellow, and green fiery geysers that erupted all over the distance, joining against the orb of wintery destruction. Tash recognized a few of the Saniya of the ones brave enough to heed the general's call - even the civilian yet able-bodied Basan had stepped up to protect their home, including the females.

Desperate times call for progressive measures, I see...

While the pressure had subsided considerably, Tash could already tell it wasn't meant to last. The Basan's valiant fire quickly lost its potency. Unfortunately, Yuki-onna's spell, almost halfway through on its way to turning Chikukei into a cold crater, barely shrank. Droplets of water mixed with snow, bringing the merciless bite of frost to the captain's damp fur, softened by her proximity to the general.

Suddenly, Venghaan stopped his fiery breath against the orb, panting heavily. "MY FELLOW BASAN!!!" he cried, his voice ragged between breaths. "WE FIGHT OUR PEOPLE'S GREATEST ENEMY FOR CENTURIES! WE MAY BE FEW AS OF NOW, BUT OUR HEARTS BURN ALL THE BRIGHTER, FUELED BY OUR RADIANCE'S HOPE IN US!" An orange halo erupted from the gaps between his feathers as his composure was rapidly regained. The general's inspiring Saniya shaped and coalesced onto his wings, which he opened dramatically, puffing his chest as they absorbed his own energy. His feathers expanded to unnatural lengths, adopting a blinding hue.

"CHIKUKEI'S SPIRIT LIVES ON!!!" His radiant wings flapped, sending a wave of heat that negated all the cold the Wolf felt, drenching her fur. Above what any Basan could accomplish with their basic anatomy alone, Venghaan's talons abandoned the ground, following him as he soared towards the sphere with speed that could rival even Tash's. The wings' light rivaled even the threatening turquoise, acting as a last ember of hope against the unconquerable threat.

"DON'T DO IT SO CLOSE, YOU MORON!!!" Tash pleaded as loud as her sore throat allowed, knowing well it would fall on deaf ears. A strange surge of urgency crashed upon her with the might of Tizohi himself. Why was she getting so worked up about Venghaan's safety, of all Monoke, so fucking much?

The flying Basan flapped his shimmering wings over and over again, defiantly challenging Yuki-onna's demonic spell with a hurricane of flames! Still, the orb raged as potently as ever, worsened when the other Basan's fire spells finally dissipated.

"He's gonna kill himself..." She gritted her teeth and narrowed her paws, gathering all her strength to howl, hoping her squad kept a close distance. "THE BASAN WON'T BE ENOUGH! I NEED YOU ALL RIGHT HERE AND NOW!!!"

Her seasoned instincts were put to action, sharp as ever, by an admittedly welcome voice under these circumstances, ringing from beyond what her eyes could witness.

"TAKING THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH?!" The Silver Knight flashed beside her, carrying two visibly nauseated mages on his shoulders. "We're ready for duty, Captain!" He saluted her with a hand on his forehead.

"AYE, AYE!" Tarb's rough voice caught her ear, making her turn around to witness him, followed by the two mountains of muscle called Locci and Hanaken.

"We're here to shatter that snow globe!" Hanaken professed with a cocky smirk as she cracked her knuckles.

After taking one more look at her cousin, whose wings had lost too much of their glow trying to slow the orb down, Captain Tash steeled her mind and then conjured the full extent of her Saniya pool, manifesting as a powerful whiteish geyser of pure energy.

"Let's do this straightforward! Charge your strongest attacks! It's do or die!"

Everyone followed her lead, conjuring their full might to light the atmosphere with more white and a few undertones of red and gold.

Euraidd and Hufen brought the sikpha crystal-encrusted tips of their mage staffs together, bursting with arcane light as orange and blue flames burst and slithered through the air. The two colors chased one another but never mixed, like oil and water, escalating to the point where their game of cat and mouse was compressed into a single point, forming a small orb of spiraling wisps.

Locci and Hanaken stood before each other, tensing and flexing their outstanding muscles without moving an inch. Meanwhile, the ground shook as gigantic blocks of rock and broken tiles clumped above their heads, growing in size exponentially until they started casting a shadow over everyone else.

The twins' spell's final stage was unraveled as the two fire colors gave up on the chase, now circling their own caster as they grew tenfold and took on the shape of wolves from the waist up, their bottoms nothing more than a storm of shapeless wisps propelling them. Their eyes, however, adopted the hue of their counterpart, indicating some success on their hunt.

"TWIN BURNING WOLVES!" The mages cried in unison, their enthusiasm contagious.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"And for the pièce of resistánce!" Hanaken shouted as she and Locci extended their arms at the rocky cluster, their Saniya pressing all over it until it adopted an orange tone. Then, all that mass abruptly lost its shape as it boiled into a blob of magma, repelling the wintry cold yet again!

Perfect. And now it was time for Tash to pull her weight.

Captain Tash's entire body shook violently as her Saniya aura was gradually converted into electricity. Nevertheless, her mind was too stubborn to allow this to deter her, anchoring her limbs to keep strong and reliable.

And then... her focus was shattered as her eyes were blinded, and a massive Saniya entered her natural radar. The Knight's cape fluttered chaotically as pure light enveloped him, the radiation so overwhelming yet somehow condensing into tangible matter, a nearly divine sight that threatened to turn her vision to cinders.

"EVERYONE, CLOSE YOUR EYES!!!" Although she had just ordered them, Tash knew everyone must've already done that. Call it a force of habit.

"I'M SORRY, COMRADES!" The Human apologized without breaking from his flamboyant tone.

"Don't be! There's no way we can miss a target so colossal!" Tash assured him. "I can't believe this, but I think we have a shot!"

The Wolf captain returned to charging her mightiest spell, no longer relying on her eyes. For reasons unknown to even her, she felt a powerful urge to raise her energy even beyond her physical limits, drawing from deep within the raging well of her Saniya. But no matter how much surprising progress she made, she felt unsatisfied!

She howled with frustration as she couldn't reach higher heights! How could she be satisfied with this level when HE could surpass her by himself-

...

So, that was what this was about... She felt one-upped by the Knight.

By Tizohi's antlers, was her age regressed to a pup!? Her priorities should be stopping Yuki-

And that realization was rudely interrupted by a sudden rise of Saniya inside her, a rhythm so rapid and frenetic it threatened to burst her like a balloon!

No... No, it didn't come from HER. Even as her mind was occupied with keeping the extra energy at bay and using it to strengthen her spell, her instincts were astute enough to identify its source.

"Tarb?!" She tilted her head slightly to her back. "What are you-"

"I know crap 'bout fire magic and can't turn rocks to lava!" her older brother explained succinctly. "You need this more than me!"

Tash had no idea of how to respond to this gesture. The mere thought of thanking him was beyond her comfort. So, she only nodded and resumed the spell's charge.

Lightning strengthened the bonds between every atom that served as the building blocks of her being. Her muscles swelled to a painful degree as her mind was flooded with a storm of intrusive, random thoughts, working as a canvas of surrealism that invoked primal, violent urges - the desire to see something broken down to a bloody pulp.

And then, euphoria flooded her system as her natural radar indicated she now matched the Knight's level. Selfish as that was, she couldn't bring herself to care in this state.

"TOGETHER!!! LET'S FUCK HER UP!!!"

With an expression contorted by animalistic energy, Tash jumped high toward the turquoise sphere of destruction, ignoring the sizzling glow of the Knight as he followed her speed flawlessly. Glimpses of her allies' spells clashing with it were caught before she could plunge and collide against the biggest prey in her lifetime!

"SOLAR COLLISION!" were the last words heard before her ears were shattered by the thick layer of indomitable winds torn apart by lightning, producing a booming, thunderous noise that only fueled the flame within her to keep pushing, to force that wench to swallow her own heart!

The pressure was indescribable. It felt as if Tash had fallen into the core of a supernova, her material shell kept together by nothing more than her determination. As she burned through her and her brother's Saniya rapidly, her mind was gradually freed from the chaotic storm of primal urges, rationalizing her situation more and more.

Heh. What good was rationality now? Only to remind herself that she must apply wind magic to propel her while gravity attempted to pull her back to the ground. There was no other way if she wanted to protect all those civilians from the insane whims of a delusional Yūrei who thought she was above the law.

"CAPTAIN!"

What was the Human's damage!? That was the worst time for a pep talk!

"Think of your daughter as we defy our fate! Picture the first thing you want to do with her when you return to Pantsti!"

"What is WRONG with you?!" Tash snarled, more distracted than ever. "What does that have to do-"

"DO IT!!!" For a moment, the Knight had broken character, yelling with a serious, guttural, unfamiliar tone, sending an odd feeling of trustworthiness from him.

Rather than disputing his words, the captain returned to her own headspace, taking them into consideration. What would she do with Lien once this was over? If she ended up alive from this, of course...

...

Honestly, she would love to take Lien on a trip throughout Sayama. When was the last time she took a step out of Pantsti without being work-related? Her daughter was a bundle of chaos and thrill, her blinded eyes wide for all the smells, sounds, and sensations that existed beyond her home.

But before that, she would plead with the elders to grant her the eira title. She had to concede that her concerns for Lien were exaggerated. Hell, she was one of the most skilled pups in Pantsti, if not THE mightiest.

......

Tash would do anything to make her daughter look at her with the same bright smile she conjured at the likes of Stella and the Knight. Lien was on better terms with freaking Humans than with her own mother. How pathetic for the captain, eh?

.........

Shit. Her thoughts shielded her from the excruciating agony of the cold core of Yuki-onna's orb, assaulting every inch of her down to the bone. She now understood the Knight's advice, though it wasn't enough to push her through to the end.

"KNIGHT?!" she yelled, clinging to a flimsy sense of company. "YOU STILL THERE?!"

"ALWAYS, CAPTAIN!" His over-the-top voice was beaten to an unrecognizable state by the pain. "I WOULDN'T DARE TO LEAVE YOU!"

Strange sentiment aside, Tash was grateful in a twisted sense, born from desperation. That wouldn't aid them in negating all this massive energy, however...

"WE'VE CUT THROUGH MUCH OF THE SPELL! I HAVE AN IDEA!" the Knight shouted. "IT IS A RECKLESS ONE!"

"I'LL TAKE ANYTHING I CAN GET!" Captain Tash's limbs grew stiff as her lightning cloak thinned too quickly.

"LET'S COMBINE THE LAST REMNANTS OF OUR SANIYA AND BURN IT ALL IN A GRAND EXPLOSION! BUT WE MUST MATCH OUR FREQUENCIES PERFECTLY!"

"ARE YOU SURE IT'LL BE ENOUGH?!"

"TRUST ME, PLEASE!"

Tash remained silent, her mind busy with a pulsating fear fed by torture. Fuck all of this. She was in no position to question further.

"ON MY MARK, KNIGHT!" The electric layer, serving as her last line of attack and defense, became unstable as per her own order. The Human's Saniya quickly followed suit.

"READY, CAPTAIN!"

The two guards' Saniya, while vastly different, resonated with an identical hum, brought together towards a common goal. Their discrepancies were slowly blurred, replaced by an intensity she would've never expected but welcomed, regardless.

"3!"

Her eyes opened slightly, peeking through the vast turquoise sea that almost tore her apart, slowly replaced by whiteness and blueish sparks.

"2!"

Her arms and legs spasmed wildly, quickly brought back to position by her vicious resolve. She allowed the last drop of her energy to serve as fuel for their combined might, forming a shapeless blob of untamed energy around them.

"1!"

A brief burst of Saniya was felt through every single atom, making her feel as if she had abandoned her body, becoming one with the radiation, unbound by ego.

But then...

Darkness.