I looked at the punishers spread out on all sides of me. They had taken cover behind statues and walls. I, on the other hand, was a fourteen-foot giant compared to these normal-sized people. Nothing in sight could grant me cover. Also, the way they moved, the way they coordinated at a glance, and the way they spoke told me of the long-practiced ease of working together. I was a hunter. A solo fighter. Not used to fighting alongside anyone.

  I pushed all those thoughts away when Grek started to count down from three.

  I looked at Ilya’s back and turned my gaze to track the specters rushing at her from the right. My fingers squeezed the spikes I had created with ice, and I brought my hand up to launch one. Mana hummed throughout my body. My muscles tightened. I took aim at the specter reaching towards Ilya with its bony hand.

  “Begin!” Grek shouted.

  I shot the lance-like spike with a loud grunt.

  My spike was joined by a red crossbow bolt and a screeching arrow. My spike hit first, making the specter stagger. On the other side of Ilya, the arrow made impact and crackled as forks of electricity made the specters convulse. Finally, the crossbow bolt arrived with a loud bang, and red flames washed over the enemy.

  Ilya used the distraction to disengage and flew down, shooting towards us. I tossed the spike in my left hand to my right. With a scream, I shot it over her head. The spike made contact with a specter, stopping it momentarily. It collided with the others chasing Ilya, and they all tumbled down. Another arrow followed, shocking the enemy. Once again, an incendiary bolt released its payload, spreading fire all over the specters.

  Ilya reached me, skidded to a stop, and whirled to face the enemy. Her hand came up defensively. “We need to retreat.”

  I ignored Ilya and looked at the specters. We had injured them. But as expected, none of them had gone down.

  I turned my gaze to the punisher captain who was spinning his sling. It made a whirring sound. And he kept spinning it. The specters straightened and looked at us with burning sockets.

  “Mouth?” I asked.

  “A second, Your Highness.”

  Grek gritted his teeth and with a hoo-like sound from his chest, released the stones. They were tied together with a string. One of the stones hit a specter. The elastic string pulled the other stone towards the first one, and they clanked together. The stones erupted on impact. A bright light flashed, blinding me momentarily. I blinked rapidly to clear my vision.

  “Blight Grisslow. Light magic in a closed space?” Ilya asked.

  I couldn’t see properly, but I could feel the essence seeping out of the specters. They were injured and disoriented. I created a dagger in my hand and rushed them. My new armor made my steps silent as death. My plates didn’t creak or clank. Even the rustle of the torn leather kilt stopped.

  I felt a source of essence on the right. I slashed. My dagger made contact with something. A brief resistance, and then my dagger ripped through. Essence erupted out of the specter. I brought my dagger back and thrust ahead at another source of essence. A swipe downwards and another pool of essence erupted. I created a dagger in my left hand and jabbed at flickering rags and burning eyes, impaling a third specter on the tip of my blade.

  Rustle rustled to the right. I followed his guidance and swiped upwards to the right. My dagger bit into something and shattered inside a foe. I pressed forward while creating a new essence dagger.

  My eyes cleared. Two—no, three—specters were reaching for me with burning fingers. Another was moving behind me. I narrowed my eyes.

  “Hold on to me, Rustle,” I muttered to my new pet.

  I felt the armor tighten on me and I used my other Reaper ability. Meld.

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  In the waters, at the apex of my power, before the Emperor had pulled me out of my world, I had used this ability to meld with the darkness. It hid me. It let me swim with the currents and reach my enemies in the blink of an eye. The waters became me and I was their keeper. On Gaia, I did not know what I could do with it. But I knew I could do something.

  The ability cried out for me to use it. My essence churned inside me. I called on it. I let go and followed my instinct.

  Dark death erupted out of me in a large wave. Everything it washed over, everything it touched, became my domain. Every single being inside the darkness was suddenly as clear as day to me. And in my domain, I didn’t need to walk. I didn’t need to run, jump, or move. I did not have feet, a body, or fingers. I was death approaching. I floated towards one specter after another.

  My dagger flashed out.

  Left. Right. Left. Back. And thrust.

  Specters fell. One after another. More came, stepping into the darkness of death. Trying to overpower the darkness with soul fire. Mindless minions who did not understand what they were facing.

  I was the silent hunter. A reaper reborn.

  Up. Forward. Right. Left.

  Specters crumbled, leaving me floating without a body. Just two silver eyes looking at his enemies. The specters were filled with malice and they needed to be reaped.

  Back. Left. Step and thrust.

  Darkness faded and the specters floated out of it, leaving me standing among the dissipating bodies covered by black rags. I took in a breath and fell to a knee. All of my death mana was gone. My head spun and my fingers and toes went cold.

  An arrow shot past me followed by a crossbow bolt. A specter staggered and fell. Ilya appeared next to me. Her hand slashed out, cutting a specter in two. Grek appeared on my left. He threw a stone at the retreating enemies. It made impact and with a loud crack of thunder, the specter fell.

  Rustle’s flaps rustled. One of the flaps came up holding a mana crystal.

  I took the thin, long, clear crystal in my mouth. I didn’t have time to consume it normally. I bit down. The crystal crunched between my molars like brittle rock. I ground it to dust and swallowed the raw mana.

  Ilya followed the specter, shooting one wind blade after another. There were only a handful of enemies left. The other two specters followed my sister, assisting her in taking down our enemies. They targeted one enemy after another, felling one before moving onto another.

  Rustle’s flaps rustled again. I took another crystal from Rustle and at the same time Grek handed me a deep blue potion. I drank the mana potion and started sucking down mana from the crystal.

  Grek looked at me. “Your Highness?”

  “Yes?”

  “You became a cloud of darkness again,” Grek stated.

  “Uh… Okay,” I replied while crunching on the second mana crystal.

  “How do you keep your clothes on when you do that?” Grek asked.

  I just looked at Grek.

  Grek smiled and looked at the others returning. “Ah… I think it's time for me to step back.”

  I followed Grek’s gaze and saw Ilya looking at me with a thunderous expression. She marched up to me, chest heaving.

  Ilya panted, “I told you! You are not... ready to... fight... alone!”

  I closed my eyes and with a loud exhalation stood back up. “Sister, look under me.”

  Ilya ignored me, her eyes blazing. "You could have died! You don't engage a horde without—"

  "Ilya. Look down."

  Ilya stopped. She looked at me with critical eyes, then finally followed my gaze. Her eyes moved up and down, and then settled on the rags leaking wisps that drifted into me. She opened her mouth and closed it. The anger drained out of her face, replaced by pure confusion. After a long moment of silence, she finally asked, “What in the stars are you wearing?”

  “The armor you gave me.”

  Ilya frowned. “That is not the armor I gave you.”

  “Yes, it is. And thank you. It is a nice pet.” I smiled at Ilya. “It helped me in the fight.”

  Ilya looked from me to Grek. Grek kept looking at the ceiling. She looked at the others who were mimicking Grek in one way or another.

  Ilya threw her hands up in the air. “What happened?”

  “The armor woke up and changed.” I patted the plate on my chest. “It is a ferret. I call him Rustle.”

  “It’s bonded?” Ilya’s eyes widened. Her voice rose. “It is death bonded?”

  “Don’t scream. You are scaring Rustle.” I stroked the flaps.

  “Blight and bloody curses. You bonded with a death bonded armor and call it Rustle?” Ilya asked in exasperation.

  “It is a nice name.”

  Ilya closed her eyes and muttered, “I guess this is my fault?”

  “Hmm…” I thought for a second and shook my head. “It’s not a fault. It is good.”

  Ilya shook her head and exhaled. “Well, I should thank you for saving me. I wanted to kill a handful of specters but new ones came out of nowhere.”

  I nodded and asked, “May I check on your soul?”

  Ilya raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to make me sick again?”

  “That was never my intention.”

  Ilya gave me a suspicious look and slowly nodded. “Are you going to give me essence?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, just don’t make me vomit again.”

  I touched Ilya’s shoulder. “No. We don’t have time for that.”

  Ilya looked at me. “Time? Why?”

  “Because those specters weren't hunting us. They were holding the line,” I stated flatly to everyone.

  Ilya looked at me in disbelief. “What?”

  “They were holding the Damned and the Thorgs back,” I warned, looking down the dark corridor. “And now, with the specters gone... the Damned are heading straight for us.”

  Ilya groaned and muttered, “We need to get you some training.”