Aura exploded against pale golden barriers, lighting up the night and the pouring rain.

  Nar scanned the palisade of the Atlatl fortification, paying close attention to the two towers that covered their side.

  He still heard the meaningless grumbling of the Atlatl around the base of those towers, which meant that the force defending that side of the small settlement hadn’t taken their bait yet. Plus, it sounded like there were more fighters being held in reserve around the base of the great, green and white glowing Monarch Tree that was their target.

  All told, there had to be around four to five hundred fighters plus another hundred or so non-combatants in that fortified sap extraction operation, and this would be their biggest fight in the Jungle of Divide yet. The enemy outnumbered them ten to one, so they had to be smart about this.

  “Why aren’t they moving?” Viy whispered.

  “Probably got word of our previous ambushes and got smarter,” Len muttered.

  “Oh, makes sense,” Viy said, nodding at the air auramancer.

  Jasphaer was crouched behind Nar with Pir and Len, and Mul stood to his right, while Viy was to his left. Mul had been predictably right, and Kur had indeed created a small, mobile squad under Nar’s leadership.

  To Mul and Pir, the party leader had added Len next, the air-aspected auramancer who was capable of knockback gusts of wind and of asphyxiating their enemies. As Kur had put it, Len needed space to work with, and so it didn’t make much sense to have him in the middle of the circle formation with the other casters, nor at the frontline with the melee. Plus, Pir and Len actually worked very well together, as Len was an effective carrier and disperser of her viral skills.

  But Nar suspected that there was one more reason.

  “I could just blow them off those towers… Imagine their surprise!” Len said.

  “That would call the whole camp down on us,” Pir said, patiently.

  “Oh, right…”

  Nar smothered a half grimace and half burst of laughter. Len was like a mix between Tuk and Jaz. Like Jaz, he was prone to say and do whatever came to his mind, and he loved pranking his party mates. And like Tuk and his joy affinity, Len seemed to be a bit like the air. At times, he stared out at nothing for hours, sitting quietly beside Mach. At others he talked non-stop, and even Jaz felt berated during those periods. But more often than not, Len seemed to embody the everchanging, ever blowing wind. Today it blew this way, tomorrow that way, and so was Len. Happy. Irritated. Sad. Angry. And so many more.

  “My aspect is storms and stormy winds, so I’m a lot more focused than him. Plus, I’m an aethermancer, of course. We aren’t as affected by aspects as you guys,” Mach had told him, a smile twinkling on his features. “So keep an eye on that one. He’ll be unpredictable.”

  And Pile, on their last mission Len somehow decided to go off script and fan Mul’s flames into a blaze that while indeed dispersed the armed force protecting the Jungle Blood convey, it had also torched one of the massive sap carrying carts and nearly taken out the other two as well. Luckily for them, the rain decided to show up and save their sorry, smoking asses.

  Hope he’ll behave today, Nar thought. For the auramancer was actually quite strong, and he made a deadly combination with Pir.

  Kur had also sent Jasphaer over when on a previous mission Nar hadn’t been able to keep Len from nearly getting smushed to bloody bits by a giant dinosaur tail. Of all the healers they had in their raid platoon, Jasphaer was the one you wanted with you when it came to quick and heavy burst healing. And since they were all dispersed and Jasphaer was still trying to earn his distance healing skill, he had been assigned to the troublemaker party as well.

  Lastly, as Nar had always been expecting to happen, came Viy. It was a waste to keep her in the circle formation, limiting the growing reach of her [Weight of Guilt] AOE which these days packed quite the punch to anything that fell within its dark blue-purple confines. Plus, after their battle against Silver Fists, her [Aura Finesse 5] had upgraded to [You Did Nothing Wrong]... The skill’s name was bit, yeah. But it greatly boosted her [Agility] and [Reflex], so it built on top of her [Reckless Abandon] to sort of make her wild, beautiful battle dance even crazier and make her harder to hit.

  Her [You Did Nothing Wrong] worked under the self-justification and convincing herself that she had done nothing wrong, and thus had nothing to be guilty of. Of course, whatever it was that she had done back in the cubeplant, there was no way that was true, given how it had marred her very soul with bottomless guilt… And, it was also yet another stark contrast to Rel, who had gained [Sins Laid Bare]. Through confessing her sins and true repentance, the skill made her aim even surer and truer, allowing her to better predict the enemies’ movements at a distance and in the crazy [Speed]s they now often encountered.

  Nar had tried to bring up the subject of her guilt path and the Master of Emotion’s plans for her during one of those nights where the two of them were on watch, but Viy had shut him down. It was her path, her life, her decision, and she wanted the party’s support and trust that she was going to make it all work. And it all looked as though it was coming together nicely, as Viy was growing into an even more phenomenal fighter. She was able to single-handedly block off an entire side of every fight while Nar covered the rest.

  Together, they had formed quite the formidable little party, and away from friendly-fire, they could go wild with their powerful and dangerous skills. Sometimes Nar almost pitied the Atlatl. Almost.

  Nar couldn’t deny their budding and growing sense of camaraderie to what they loved calling Nar’s party, knowing that it annoyed him to no end… And maybe there was something to Gad’s idea after all. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to adjust his path a little to be more of a leader, rather than just a pure loner. Well, something to keep mulling on.

  “Nar?” Kur called into their mini-party’s private chat.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’ve got some potential bad news.”

  “Always do,” Mul muttered. “What is it this time?”

  “Jul and the others have picked up on some disturbing signs… We think that there are delver captives in the settlement.”

  “What?” Nar said. “Wait! But there was no report of anyone going missing near our area?”

  The Atlatl had been busy with their kidnappings and taking of prisoners to further speed up their ritual of summoning and of the [Brightnight], and everyone was on high alert to dispatch at the first sign or report of anyone going missing. So this didn’t make any sense.

  “We’re confirming now with Dak and Juf’s side, but it does sound like people. They’re shouting for help. And monsters don’t speak,” Kur said.

  Well, not these ones at least, Nar thought, grimacing at the memory of the illatrian.

  “You want us to get in there now?” he asked.

  “Please. I know you were supposed to come in from behind to cause chaos and help us breakthrough, but we’re changing our plans. We need those people out before the Atlatl decide to sacrifice them. And… they’re still being tortured as we speak.”

  Nar’s blood turned to ice. “What’s the plan?”

  “There’s another platoon on the way to join us. They’re running over, but it will still be a while… We need you guys to get in there and destroy your way to the prisoners,” Kur said. “It’s okay if they’re a little battered, burned, sick or whatever. Just do whatever you can do to get them out of there alive. The rest we can heal.”

  “Will do. Where are they?” Nar asked. “Actually, now that I know what to look for, I can hear them.”

  “Good. Should be somewhere by the Monarch, probably close to where they’re filling the barrels. It will likely be a temple. That’s the way they like to do their rituals.”

  “Leave it to us,” Nar assured him. “Right, you heard him.”

  “What’s the plan?” Len asked.

  “Same as before. You and Pir are going to spread airborne death across those two towers, and the area immediately around and behind that wall,” Nar said. “Then, while they’re busy choking on their blood, I’ll get in there and bust through the wall to kill whatever’s still standing. That will be our way in, and with them dead, there should be no infections spreading to us.”

  “Okay!” Pir said, nodding with a dark seriousness to her eyes.

  “Once inside, we’re going to have to take a few more risks, however,” Nar said. “Mul, you’re going to set fire to everything as planned.”

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  “Good,” the brawler muttered. His suppressor must already be slightly off, for his tone was full with the promise of bloody slaughter and rampaging flames.

  “Viy, you’re going to cover Mul. Pir and Len are with me, as I don’t know what we’ll find inside whatever that building is or if the Atlatl will try to take the delvers hostage. Having invisible attacks on our side will definitely come in handy,” Nar said. “And Jasphaer will also come with us. I don’t know how those delvers are, but they’ll likely need healing.”

  “Sounds good,” Jasphaer said. “And I’ll make sure to prioritize whatever’s needed to get them moving.”

  Nar nodded at him then glanced back at the palisade, and the Monarch three with his white glowing trunk and shining silver leaves. His [Hearing] burned from the cries of pain and the begging for mercy he was not attuned to. There was no point in delaying these peoples’ suffering.

  “Kur, we’re starting,” Nar said,

  “Good luck. And get them back, please.”

  Nar glanced back at Len and Pir, and nodded.

  The two had become quite adept at working together. Pir pointed at an area a few dozen feet from where they were hiding in the bushes, and Len cast a breeze that picked up the viral load from her [Virulent Field]. They hadn’t gotten too close to remain hidden from the powerful senses of the Atlatl scouts, even with the others causing such a chaotic racket against the Atlatl barriers on the other side of the settlement. The last thing they needed was to find themselves under a hailstorm of neurotoxin darts.

  Nar tensed, ready to spring as Len guided the invisible air current over to the defenders with its deadly payload. Viy and Mul shifted quietly to give him space to charge in.

  He inhaled and exhaled deeply, steadying his heart, cycling hard to get the most out of his [Aura Quickening] right from the beginning.

  In and out. Energy flooding every fiber of his being…

  And then, he heard the panicked coughing, and he was gone.

  The bushes exploded as he ripped through them in an explosion of leaves and mud, mighty steps carrying him across the over 1600-feet of jungle to the palisade in what felt like the blink of an eye.

  A drum beat, half-panicked and stumbling, likely due to the drummer having to fight for air at the same time, but Nar was already there and he unleashed a searing line of aura at the wood blocking his path.

  The palisade and the two towers erupted in a rage of explosive aura, devoured by Nar’s [Aura Blade]. He plunged into the burning aura, trusting his [Indomitable] to keep him going no matter what he endured.

  Between the viral breeze and Nar’s [Aura Blade] the Atlatl by the palisade didn’t even learn of what had hit them before they died, and the wood shattered at the touch of his aura. Even the two towers crumbled to burning pieces. However, beyond them, Nar found a shield wall of gold and green formed and ready to halt his advance.

  Nar sent another [Aura Blade] their way, more meant as a distraction to slow the enemy down while the others arrived, and focused on his [Hearing].

  There, by that building. It looks like a temple, I guess? Nar thought. He clenched his jaw at the screams still echoing from the direction of the triple layered tower of wood and stone that the Atlatl had erected against the Monarch’s trunk. And if the sap collection is in the same place we’ll need to be careful not to destroy it.

  They still had a titan to summon, and with five days already down since they’d invaded the Jungle of Divide, the clock was ticking ever down to the [Brightnight] ritual.

  “They’re in the large building there, with the three-tiered tower,” Nar told the others as they came through the broken palisade. “Mul, Viy, you know what to do. Be careful, and watch over each other.”

  “We will,” she promised. “You guys be careful too.”

  What a duo to leave behind. Guilt and rage. But Nar trusted the two of them to handle themselves and their powerful emotion driven paths, and as Viy’s deep purple-blue AOE went up, accompanied by the sounds of roaring, blazing flames hissing in the rain, Nar led the others deeper into the settlement.

  “Bring down that shield wall!” Nar shouted.

  Len and Pir were already on it, and soon, the gold and green clad warriors were on their knees sputtering blood. It was bosses, and enemies with huge HP pools and [Toughness] plus [Endurance] that Pir struggled against, not the rank and file.

  Kur’s battalion hadn’t suffered any casualties in their five days in the Jungle of Divide, unlike the rest of the auramancers. It wasn’t for lack of fighting and dangerous situations. They continued to push ever deeper into enemy territory, leaving the frontline further and further behind them. They were either that much stronger than the other units or it was Kur’s expert leadership that kept disaster at bay. Likely it was both.

  Well, we haven’t suffered any casualties yet, he reminded himself as he leapt into the broken formation, glowing sword slaughtering with impunity. But he shoved the thought away. It was tempting fate to even entertain such a possibility.

  “Come on!” he called to the trio, leaving some of the warriors on the mud to die by themselves.

  He didn’t need to warn Len and Jasphaer of the potential risk of contracting [Viral Hemorrhagic Fever]. Jasphaer knew what he was doing, and would clean himself and Len if necessary.

  Leading a party, as much as he was loath to think of them as such, was less about telling everyone what to do, and more about coordinating everyone’s efforts towards a shared goal. Each member was capable of taking action and making decisions as necessary as long as they knew what they were working towards and how they fit in with everyone else. His dad had led like this, and so did Kur, which had exposed Nar to two great examples to learn from.

  Now, as he ran towards the temple, sending [Aura Blade]s around himself and diving into clusters of armored warriors with his destructive [Aura Edge]. He trusted Len and Pir to leave the close to short range to him, while they devastated through the ranks of ranged and casters. And by the Radiants, between deadly viruses and [Asphyxiation Bubble]s, the two of them were terrifying.

  “Up ahead! Barrier blocking the entrance!” Nar said.

  A single, barrier caster was taking a stand in between the two wood and stone columns leading to the stairs going up into the temple, and Nar and everyone knew this was a job for him.

  [Sword Aura], he called, setting his alright bright [Aura Edge] to nearly blinding.

  The barrier caster saw him blurring forward with wide eyes set deeply within an intelligent forehead, her scales glimmering emerald and golden under the light of her barrier. One moment Nar was twenty steps away, the next he was right on top of the barrier, and the caster screamed, pouring her aether out into the skill to hold it in place.

  It was for naught.

  That barrier was perfect to withstand intermittent barrages from projectiles, or maybe repeated blows, not Nar’s continuous HP melting and armor shredding damage. When the cracks appeared, Nar pushed even more aura into it and soon the resistance was gone, and the Atlatl lay in two smoking halves at his feet.

  He jumped back in a mad hurry, and as expected the stray aether from the barrier exploded in angry sparks and fizzes around the dead monster.

  The others came up behind him, and Len blew away the popping explosions with a gale, clearing the way to the temple.

  There was no door barring their advance into the building at the top of the stairs. After a cautious scan revealed no traps to Nar, they entered. Just as the rain began falling.

  “Kur, we’re inside the temple,” Nar said. Even the other three, with much less [Hearing] than him, could hear the distant screaming now.

  “Good. The other platoon should be here within ten minutes,” Kur said. “Meanwhile, we’re going to throw everything we have from our side to try to distract them from you.”

  They ran through the wood and stone corridors of the temple. Long beds of dirt grew all kinds of jungle flora from across all the regions of the Brightnight, and there was even a full tree growing from a large, square base, its trunk and branches climbing besides the staircase to the higher levels of the temple.

  “Looks like four levels,” Nar told the others, as he followed the sound of torture.

  There were pedestals at regular intervals on the second floor, each filled to bursting with fruits, vegetables and bleeding cuts of meat. There were no flies or insects to be seen, and the air within the temple grew heavier and sweater, with a lulling whispering of rain drops echoing from all around them.

  “There,” Len said, pointing up to a narrow beam.

  Rain water must be leaking into the building, running alongside wood and stone channels set high on the walls. The water traversed floors by means of interlinked chains of green metal. Several, thin, flower shaped bowls dotted each of those chains, and it was from those that the murmuring water sound came the loudest from.

  “Must be leading to some water reservoir,” Len said. “Probably underground.”

  “It’s so beautiful here,” Pir said, her tone dreamy. “It’s a shame what they use the place for.”

  They rushed up to the third floor, and the air grew even denser and sweeter.

  Why does it smell familiar? Nar wondered, as they approached the end of the corridor.

  “W-Wait…” Jasphaer said, as if pushing the words with difficulty. “Th-the flowers!”

  “The flowers?” Nar asked.

  He glanced over his shoulder, coming to a stop, and the other three collapsed against him with startled grunts.

  “W-What happened?” Pir asked, blinking as if to wake up from a dream.

  “The flowers… Look!” Jasphaer said, his tone more awake now. “Nar, it’s the dream flowers!”

  Nar blinked at the white flowers, noticing how the petals were tipped with shimmering blue, pink and purple…

  “Oh, shit! “

  “What’s a dream flower?” Len asked.

  Blood curdling screaming erupted from the floor above, and they all snapped their heads towards the stairs leading up to the final floor.

  “It’s a long story for another day, but you can guess what they do,” Nar said, urged by that hair raising screaming. “Jasphaer!”

  “On it!”

  The healer flooded himself with aura and then slapped the backs of the two casters. They inhaled deeply.

  “What in the Pile was that?” Len asked, his eyes wide.

  “Dream flowers from the Dream,” Jasphaer explained. “Don’t worry, now that I know what’s going on, I’ll counter them as needed. Hurry! Let’s go!”

  They leaped up the last flight of stairs, nearly smothered by the pitter-pattering rain on dozens of chains, and at last made it to the top floor.

  There were no more dream flowers up here, and that air was fresher, with several open slits letting in the petrichor of the jungle, as well as the screams and explosions of the battle outside.

  At the end of the corridor, before the open door leading into the torture and sacrifice chamber, stood an Atlatl that was at least a head taller than Nar. Built like a breacher dinosaur, his face was hidden behind a golden helmet with the face of a dinosaur carved upon its face plate. There were small slits for the eyes and a few holes for breathing, but there was nothing Nar could make of the enemy’s face beneath.

  The monster was covered from head to toe in thick golden and green armor, and on his hands, he held a long club with a head of green metal and golden flat studs. The club was taller than Mul.

  “I don’t like that guy,” Len whispered.

  “Me neither,” Nar said, disguising a sigh. “I think we might have just found our first rare.”

  “Really?” Pir asked. “How do you—”

  The Atlatl warrior moved, startling her and Len, but instead of charging forward it took calm, measured steps backwards, walking into the room and down a short flight of stairs. It hissed and snarled at what Nar assumed was a contingent of temple guards, hopefully not all at the same rank as that armored monstrosity.

  “Ah, damned it…” he muttered to the party. “Temples mean priests, and priests are always a pain in the ass.”

  “Healing and buffing,” Jasphaer said. “And given what they’re doing to those delvers, likely debuffing as well. Probably curses.”

  “This is not going to be an easy fight,” Nar said. He regretted not having brought Mul and Viy with him, but given the chaos outside, the two of them were probably the reason why the temple hadn’t been stormed yet. “Right, those people need us. So, here’s what we’re going to do.”