Emily glanced swiftly around the forest, taking soft, even strides down the narrow path ahead. Many negative emotions stirred within her. She was alone, without a clue as to where she was, and she'd often hear a twig crack somewhere around her that would startle her every couple of minutes. After she'd seen that it was just from a deer or the occasional fox, however, she had stopped being so jumpy.

She halted when she heard faint shouting up ahead. A man. Attempting to focus, she could roughly make out what he was saying. "Take the Lady, get out of here!"

Realizing that there were people in trouble, she decided to throw most of her caution to the wind and ran toward the sound of his voice, ripping through leaves and branches until she made it to a clearing.

The man who she believed to have been shouting was out of breath and bloody, and was flanked by two others in a similar state. Fifty feet away, a monster of  scale made its way toward them. In the opposite direction, ten men who appeared to be mercenaries crowded at their carriage, scrambling to equip their gear to engage the monster.

Emily did all that she could to suppress her fear and advanced, running around the carriage and clumsily placing a hand on one man's back, the adrenaline fueling her actions. The burly man turned his head, confused as to why he was suddenly engulfed in a warm green aura. Emily cut him off before he could say anything. "Y-you just focus on that thing! I'll help you!"

The man chuckled, returning his gaze to the front. "A'right, kid, you got it." He turned to the rest of the mercenaries moving into their formations. "Team Bruiser, focus on its legs! Hans, put some arrows into it's pelvic region, disable its movement! Gren, use yer Terra Magic to slow its advance!"

They acknowledged his orders and rushed into battle, their attacks complementing and playing off of each other with a precision indicative of a team who've had years of teamwork behind them. The man turned his head to Emily once more, resting a battleaxe over his shoulder. "What's the name, girl?"

"Emily"

"Nice to meet'cha, then, Emmy! Name's Axel. Now, step back!" He grinned as he knelt down and bursted forward. He brought his axe around, embedding it into the massive monster's leg as the gush of blood coated his graying hair red. The beast went to swipe at him, however Axel dashed backwards, narrowly avoiding the monster's claws. This continued for a bit longer while Emily went around from mercenary to mercenary, healing whatever wounds they may have earned from the encounter. It was going well. Up until...

The mercenary named Hans brought up his bow, taking aim and sending an arrow into the monster's stomach. The monster let out a roar, but it wasn't one of pain. It was a haunting, deafening roar that seemed to paralyze everybody, even if for a moment. Emily doubled over. When she looked up, her face contorted into an expression of pure terror. Before her, the monster began to retaliate. Spines grew on its arm which shot out, impaling three mercenaries.

Axel moved in with remarkable speed, unbefitting his build, and wound his axe back. "HIGHLAND TECHNIQUE: WHIRLWIND-!"

Emily watched as the monster's hand, moving far faster than many would deem feasible for its size, slammed into Axel's side. He shot backwards and as he landed, he reached over weakly to apply pressure onto an arm that no longer existed. Emily began to hyperventilate. The scene before her was too much to bear, she wasn't prepared for something so awful, something so gruesomely grotesque. She keeled over, vomiting and sobbing. The only thing that stopped her was another faint set of sobs behind her.

Realizing that the sobs were coming from the carriage, Emily got up, sniffling and wiping her eyes as she stepped closer. A white cloth was draped over the middle of the cart, where something underneath began shifting. She reached out slowly and raised the cloth. Beneath, a small girl trembled. She had ginger hair that draped over her once clean dress, and a fresh cut on her leg. Emily placed her hand above it and started sealing the wound with her magic. The girl opened her deep green eyes, sniffling and hiccupping while she studied Emily's face. Destitute, clammy.

Emily jolted as the little girl placed a hand on hers, before giving her a small, shy smile. "Tanks," she said softly. Emily's heart skipped a beat. This little girl in such a hopeless situation was able to smile. Was able to smile at her, no less. She smiled back, giving the girl a soft giggle. And then another roar.

Emily looked back and forth between the monster and the child in the carriage before her, then closed her eyes for a brief moment.

She placed a finger over her lips and ran. She conjured a small wave of water, moving the injured out of the monster's path, then ran over to Axel, who had wrapped his stump with a dirty torn-off sleeve. He grunted. "What the hell're you still doin' 'ere, Emmy?"

"S-stop talking, okay? Breathe." She placed her hands over the missing arm and concentrated.

"Kid, yer wastin' yer time... Get out of 'ere."

"Absolutely not!"

"Listen to me, girl!" He grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to look into his eyes. She hadn't realized it before, but they were very satisfying to look at, the burgundy hue reminding her of the wine her mother bought, which she'd secretly partake in whenever stress got the best of her. "My time's up," Axel continued. "Now, that monster's gonna kill ev'rybody 'ere. Back in the wag'n, there's a lil' girl. Take 'er, run. Make sure she ain't 'urt. She's very-" His speech was interrupted by another fit of coughs and gags as more blood pooled out from his lips. Emily yanked her wrist from his grip and focused harder, trying to heal as much as she could with what little experience she had.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she kept focusing. Fighting past doubts and fears that would usually make her turn tail and run, ignoring the monster's agonizing roar that echoed and reverberated throughout her skull. Come on! Heal him already!

The ground beneath her knees shook and quaked as the monster made its advance, everybody who had been keeping it in place either dead or broken. Emily slammed her eyes shut. FOCUS, DAMN IT!

Her concentration was interrupted when a hand gently grabbed her arm. Axel didn't utter a word, but his eyes said it for him. Please.

Emily clamped her eyes shut once more, before she gave one desperate grunt and ran over to the wagon from before. However as she made it to the back, the little girl was nowhere to be found. The sheet was bundled up and Emily looked around desperately, searching for a hint of the girl. Her heart dropped as she noticed that just a few trees away, the young girl was dashing over to Axel, planting her face into his chest. "Go!" She heard him shout. The child didn't budge. Emily's heart nearly stopped, as she watched the monster advancing on the two.

No! Emily stumbled over herself as she began to sprint, trying desperately to close the distance between her and the others. She slid next to the girl and raised a hand at the beast. "DON'T YOU DARE!!"

In that one desperate, seemingly hopeless moment, Emily's eyes slammed shut as she braced for death and conjured a small ball of water. In her desperation, along with the boost from her adrenaline coursing throughout her veins, the ball shot off at a speed that was almost untraceable. A couple of moments later, Emily's eyes opened slowly, flooded still with tears, as she looked up.

The monster had stopped moving. Rather, it couldn't move. Emily's vision traced the monster's body until her gaze fell upon its face. Its right eye had become a gorey crater and fresh blood oozed down its hairy chest. The beast's eyes rolled over white as it began to fall forward. Emily used whatever strength she had left to conjure one last wave, however smaller than before, and push the three out of the way. The ground softened as it landed, dyeing the grass crimson.

Emily looked on in shock, and yet a feeling of awe began to rush over her as she gazed at her hand. She did that? How? Before she could think on it any longer, she snapped to her senses and turned to the others. Attempting to regain a steady breath, she uttered. "A-Are you guys okay?"

Axel attempted to use his good arm to prop himself and the girl up. "All a'right over 'ere," he said, examining the girl for any wounds. He grumbled to himself as he noticed a small scrape on her arm. "Damn it, Argus' gonna kill me..."

The girl continued to cling to his torso, still sobbing. Emily remembered how she'd smiled at her in the carriage and realized now more than in that moment that it was only to calm her down. Emily limped over to them, her leg stinging from the slide, proving to her that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. She slumped down beside them and begin healing the girl's wound. It was only when Axel put his brawny arm around her that she'd realized that she had started crying.

"Hold yer head high, Emmy," he said. "If it weren't fer you, who knows if we'd have survived." Emily's nerves calmed, if only slightly. The girl shifted from Axel's chest to hers, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Emily bowed her head and placed a hand onto the girl's soft yet ragged hair, letting out a sigh of relief as a tear dropped down onto the girl's face.

They could have sat there for a few moments longer, had it not been for the orb that left the beast's body, drifting slowly over toward Emily. It glowed with a soft yellow light, a faint yet noticable warmth radiating from it. A warmth that soothed Emily to her core, to the point that she could almost forget all the trauma of the experience. A warmth that felt like Azerael himself.

She gently pried the girl's arms off of her, stroked her hair and stood up. Axel stopped her. "Thanks 'gain, Emmy. Stay safe out there, yeah?" 

"What about you?"

"Don'cha worry 'bout me, kid. I've lived through worse. Amelia 'ere's my responsibility."

Emily flashed him a soft smile and nodded. Just before placing her hand on the floating orb, she looked back one last time to see Amelia waving bashfully, subtly hiding part of her face behind Axel. Emily's expression softened once more as she gave a cheerful wave. And with that smile, she turned around once more, placing her hand on the orb as the scene around her evaporated in a flash.

In that next instant, Emily was back in her original position in the dining room, along with Alexander, Taber and Kieran. Almost as if they'd never even started to step through the portal. Azerael stood stoically in the corner, just as before. "Welcome back, everybody. I'm proud to say that you all exhibited an exemplary performance in each of your trials."

Alexander's expression shifted to a look of confusion. "You were watching?" Azerael nodded. "How? I didn't see you anywhere."

"Because, young Alexander, each test was created specifically for each of you. To play to your weaknesses so that you'd face certain things that hold you back, and find a way to work around them. All of that was no more than Illusion Magic."

Taber cracked a slight smile. "Pretty interesting, Master."

Emily stood in moderate disbelief. All of the things that happened before her, the death, the carnage and destruction. All of it was nothing more than an illusion? Did that go for Axel and Amelia as well? "All of it felt so real," she whispered.

"It's supposed to, Emily," Azerael soothed. "If it wasn't, then you wouldn't be able to break past your limits, and thus would never be able to show what you're truly capable of."

Emily nodded, a slight smile growing on her expression. Azerael patted her on the shoulder, congratulating her for her victory. However, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that she never entered an illusion.

Given how she was just barely taking most of it all, he didn't have the heart to admit that everything that she had experienced was real.