Lightning cracked overhead River and Cerys, the thunder’s roar deafeningly loud. A cluster of storm clouds swirled thickly in the morning sky directly above them, bright blue now grey and black. As sudden as the storm’s arrival, the ground shook with another Earth shattering blast, the impact felt through River’s core.

“Ceryyys,” he nervously sang, fear hammering away in his chest. He turned to his sister, her magic flooding around them as she faced the sky with a nervous scowl. His skin itched but River’s panic took the whole of his focus.

“Fuck,” Cerys loudly hissed and then snatched up River’s arm, tugging him behind her harshly. “We gotta go, now!”

Cerys quicked her fast pace into a jog, River forced to keep up despite lugging a heavy bag and tripping over his own feet. He swallowed back the guilt and anxiety from leaving his mother, looking back towards her window and helplessly left to trust in Cerys’ and her magical wards to keep his mother safe.

Lightning struck Earth again, and again, and again, multiple bolts hitting the ground in random succession, near and far beyond their sights. It chased them through the large, open and barren lawn behind the manor, where they had first traversed through on their way to Rhea’s room.

River’s lungs burned to stop their sprint, but Cerys showed no signs of slowing down, only tugging River to move faster with her. He heaved, pushed his muscles, the cracking blasts enough to urge him on, but suddenly, his stomach wrought itself into knots, his gut in demand for them to turn away and stop. Before he could voice what his intuition had sensed, lightning struck right before them.

It would have hit them if Cerys hadn’t acted so quick, her arm up with a shield of invisible magic. The ground was scorched black around them, a small crater left in the lightning’s wake, except for where Cerys and River stood, the protective shield enough to save the grass at their feet too. From the dissipating smoke, a cloaked Mythic rose a short distance in front of them, his arms outstretched towards the sky, thunder at his command; it rumbled with his manic laughter.

Black smokey tendrils formed from Cerys shoulders and stretched over to wrap around River, confusion building with his panicked breaths. From its sharp touch, agony seared through his insides, its caress acidic against his flesh, blisters forming and bursting instantaneously. A vicious scream hollowed out his lungs and he fell to his knees, breaking Cerys’ tight grasp on him.

The feeling of his nerves being set ablaze faded to a dull warmth. He panted heavily on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold grass, and his gut in an ache to throw up but nothing could come out.

“River!” Cerys grabbed hold of him and pulled him up into a tight embrace, absolute terror in her voice and glossy eyes. She wiped the sweat off his face, pushing his blond bangs away as her bottom lip trembled. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, I thought you could handle a Jump, I thought it wouldn’t—I’m sorry!”

River’s intuition flared in warning, danger ever present. With a weak breath, he coughed and pushed himself up, though Cerys never let go of him. “We have to go, Cerys, we have to go!”

“Aw, just when the fun is getting started?” The Mythic before them said and then snapped into a crazed cackle, his eyes spread wide and unblinking, as if his eyelids had been removed.

Cerys leaped in front of River, forcing him to stand behind her. Despite the thick taste of metal in the air, static electricity building around them, and the growing pool of cumulonimbus clouds above, what River’s intuition feared the most was the sole man before them.

“Long time, no see, Traitor,” the man uttered bitterly, spittle flying from his mouth at the end of his words. His smile dropped but still, he did not blink. With arms outstretched to his side, he levitated off the ground, his large billowing cloak disappearing off his body like dust in the wind. “What do you think?” he asked. “I’ve finally Ascended past you.”

With his cloak gone, he unveiled his bald, naked body and the bloodied, gruesome cracks across his flesh. Much like Cerys, black charred splits began from his crooked, beaten hands and spread up around his arms, only to continue across his shoulders and further down his chest towards his heart. Blood seeped from the wounds, fresh and deep, as if recently carved.

“Shit,” Cerys cursed without breaking her eye contact with the man. “River, take this and get ready to run.” She pressed the rose quartz into River’s chest behind her. Fear strangled him, his movements slow and shaky, but he took the quartz and held it tight in his fist. He didn’t want to have to run, he didn’t want Cerys to have to fight the naked, floating psychopath either, but his intuition spoiled the part for him; they had no other choice.

“Congratulations on the Ascension,” Cerys said without a hint of fear, her tone somewhat cocky and sarcastic. As much as her behaviour should've frightened River more, it was somewhat assuring, as if Cerys remained confident in her skill and prowess to take on the naked madman. Unless, like River himself, she used sarcasm to hide her terror. “Looks fresh,” she continued, the naked Mythic still unblinking but jaw tightly clenched. “Are you sure you can handle that much power?”

“Her Excellency chose me!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cerys cracked her knuckles and then swung her cropped, leather jacket off, leaving behind her black tank top. “She chose me once too.”

She held her arms out, her strong muscles flexed, and her own scarred cracks on show. They reached further than River had assumed, stretched over her shoulders and just barely caressing her collarbones.

It reminded him of a porcelain doll, poor arms cracked and shattered, pieces missing and chipped but glued back together.

With a hard clap, a gale of wind flew from her hands and knocked the Mythic down. Thunder rolled above, lightning flashing across the gloomy sky with a cracked whip.

“Now, River!” Cerys called out. “Run!”

River didn’t have to be told twice. He spun on one foot before he kicked off the ground and bolted as fast as he could, away from Cerys and the Mythic flying back up into the sky. Lightning struck right in front of River, and he jolted back, falling over and dropping the quartz.

Another cloaked Mythic stood before him from where the light hit but his mouth dropped open, fear choking back his own scream. Several Mythics approached from every which way of the property, and River realised each lightning strike was an arrival of a Mythic.

He scrambled backwards in a panicked rush, glancing over his shoulder at Cerys for help when his eyes widened at her struggle beneath an onslaught of rapid punches. Sprawled on her back, she held up her hands as the Mythic she fought moved his fists inhumanely fast, each impact sparking against Cerys’ invisible shield.

“CERYS!” River cried out, terrified and desperate to reach his sister. Fear imploded in his chest for her, replacing what he felt in his own situation.

He had to get to Cerys.

Hands latched onto him and suddenly tore him up from the ground. Mythics gathered to surround him, scarred and gruesome hands digging into his flesh. He screamed a roar and kicked out his legs, slamming a foot into the stomach of one before he pulled an arm free from a loosened grip. He shot his fist into the face of another Mythic and tried to land a hit on another, but more of the horde swarmed him and took hold of each limb. Hands grabbed at his ankles, his wrists, his arms and thighs, some pairs even found themselves around his neck, back and waist. He squirmed and wiggled with as much force as he could, hopeless as he cried out for his sister’s sake again. “Cerys!”

Drowned in the onslaught and weakened by his futile efforts, his body urged for rest, but rest meant giving up and he couldn’t do that—not yet, not ever. If Cerys couldn’t help him, he had to help her. But how? How could help her, save her, when couldn’t even save himself?

“I got you!” A sweet voice rang out, and fire engulfed one Mythic after the other. They screamed and cried, dropping River as the flames shifted through a swirl of colours, relentless and unforgiving. Flaming Mythics spread apart and shook off their cloaks, some rolling while others desperately used magic to smother the unending blaze, but it seemed nothing would cease the rainbow fire.

River panted heavily, completely untouched and unharmed by the flames. He carefully crawled back, the burning mass reflected in his hazel stare. Another set of hands came down on him and he jolted, knocking his arm back to smack the assault away. He rolled over to stand, bloodied and blistered fists up in a boxer’s formation to defend himself against his attacker. Instead, he faced a young woman and her bright lilac box braids, tied back into a high ponytail.

She smiled sympathetically, her hands held up in a show of innocence, meaning no harm. Unlike the cloaked Mythics River had encountered throughout his morning, this woman wore short, denim overalls and a bright yellow sweater. Her dark brown hands remained unblemished, nor scarred by charred cracks.

“Clementine!” Cerys called out and both River and the woman snapped their sights to Cerys.

She had uprooted the ground, kneeling over a mound of dirt hardening instantly beneath her hands. It cracked and shook, threatening to burst with whatever she had attempted to bury. “Take River and Gate out of here! He can’t Aether Jump!”

“No!” River scrambled to rush over to her when another blast shook the ground. He lost his footing but Clementine came up to his side, bracing him with a gentle touch. Behind them, the burning Mythics had extinguished most of their fires. Clementine faced them, her back against River’s. “I’m not leaving without you!”

“I’ll be fine!” Cerys growled and smacked another punch into the mound of dirt, sending it flat into the ground. “I made you a promise!”

She jumped up, black smoke lifting from her shoulders. She disappeared, before a black swirl shot her out above the horde of burnt Mythics. They had clamoured around one another, conjoined hands and limbs merged together, their bodies all becoming one.

“Go!” Cerys yelled, throwing a punch down upon the mass amalgamation of flesh, a shockwave rippling through the joined-Mythics.

Clementine shot her hand up, a shimmer of light erecting around her and River in a dome. Blood splattered from Cerys’ hit, but it wasn’t enough.

A demonic screech tore out from the merged bodies, flesh bubbling and growing, forming a large three-fingered hand. It smacked hard against Cerys and flung her into the dirt, but she recovered quickly and rolled back onto her feet, sliding to a stop. She wiped her hand across her mouth, blood splattered and smeared across her face and body.

River stared in awe, both amazed and horrified by his sister’s might and strength. Light ignited from the cracks in her flesh, the sun brightly burning within her. She shot her arm out, her fingers crookedly flexed as the abomination of flesh flung up into the air and began to be squashed by an invisible force, bones crunching and blood spilling.

The ground erupted beneath her and out emerged the bald, naked Mythic from before. His fist was hot iron red and collided with Cerys’ jaw.

“Cerys!” River’s broken voice tore out from his throat in a desperate will to save her from the Mythic’s impact. He lunged forward, an arm outstretched towards his sister, but instead of closing the distance, the burning sting of magic closed around him and flung him back. Cerys grew further from his reach and sight, seizing pain forcing his eyes to clench shut as he loudly groaned through gritted teeth.

The echoes of thunder suddenly ceased, sound no more except for the heaving breaths River shuddered out, the sharp burn leaving him once more. When he opened his eyes, Cerys and the Mythics were gone and all that remained was a vast, empty road.