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An uproar of war cries drove the army forward. If they could hold the enemy at the beach, keep too many of them from landing, they could stop themselves from getting overwhelmed.

That's what Arc hoped, anyway.

She was pushed along with the crowd, jostled with those eager to get this over with. She never realized how hectic the initial charge would be.

Holding her broadsword close to her body, Arc kept her eyes forward, gaze narrowed in on the approaching enemy.

The two armies collided, and Arc could feel the force of it vibrate through the ground as bodies started to drop.

She wasn't fighting yet, there were still a few beastmen in front of her holding the line, which offered her an odd reprieve she hadn't expected to analyze the battle.

The Dravern army were wearing shawls over their faces, and their armor was a patchwork of leather and steel with dusty tan robes underneath. Each one carried a strange blade, sort of like a sickle, but with a less pronounced curve.

The armies started to bleed together, and Arc was confronted by her first opponent. They ran at her wildly, weapon swinging before they had reached her.

With limited room for movement, Arc ducked under the attack and brought her sword up in a two handed slash. The swing took the attackers arm clean off, and they let out a yelp before Arc brought her swords pommel down on their head.

They collapsed silently, and another enemy took their place. She dispatched this one just as easily, a simple parry and thrust that pierced through the attacker's abdomen.

She took this moment to glance to her side to see how Nyx was doing, but the hybrid was nowhere to be seen among the beastmen locked in battle.

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When the initial charge happened, Nyx had gotten separated from Arc because of how many beastmen pushed between them to get ahead. Despite how nervous everyone initially was, they were real eager to get to the front.

Nyx grit her teeth but there wasn't much that could be done.

Gripping her blades, Nyx pushed herself to the front to face the first of those stepping onto shore.

Rushing forward, blades gripped tightly up near her face, she slit the throat of the first Dravern enemy she saw before they saw her coming from the side. They fell, gurgling, blood leaking out of the wound.

Another opponent rushed her, anger behind their gaze. They made a wild uppercut with their strange sword, which Nyx dodged by twisting to the side.

As she spun, she knocked the Dravern off their feet with her tail. They fell to the ground with a thud next to their dying companion, and Nyx embedded one of her blades in their chest before they could get back up.

The rest of the first wave of the enemies around her were being dispatched by the soldiers and Bounty Hunters, but more Dravern ships were coming up to shore.

The armies had thinned out as the opposing forces merged together, one side trying to gain ground and the other trying to hold it. Nyx took this opportunity to sheath her curved blades back on her ankles and take the scythe off her back.

As soon as it was drawn, a black ethereal blade formed and the runes on the hilt glowed faintly.

A new wave of enemies landed, and Nyx ran forward to meet them.

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Alchemical abilities whizzed past her and the sound of metal clashing rang in her ears. She was glad for the noise because it helped drown out the sounds of those dying around her.

Arc was thankful that they were fighting during the day, because it allowed her to use her own Alchemical ability whenever she was feeling pinned.

Raising a hand, Arc reflected Lestit's light off the back of her palm, condensing it to a beam of energy that pierced through the chest of the enemy trying to flank her.

It was becoming more apparent the more she fought that these Dravern soldiers were trained in only the bare minimum of fighting. They made sloppy mistakes that cost them their lives, such as bad footwork or holding their weapon wrong.

Arc used these mistakes to her advantage. As she kicked an enemy coming at her to her right, causing them to trip backwards into another Bounty Hunter, she also knocked the weapon out of the hands of another with a quick flick of her broadsword.

Both enemies were quickly run through, their blood adding to the muddying soil under paw.

But they kept coming.

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A wicked grin was slowly forming on Nyx's face the more she fought. The adrenaline in her body was making her battle-high. She knew Arc wouldn't approve of her acting like this, but it was exhilarating.

She swung her scythe around her in a storm of deadly precision, a rising pile of bodies forming at her feet.

Someone thrust their blade at her from behind, and she used her Alchemical ability to vaporize into a plume of black smoke, reappearing behind her surprised attacker to cut their head off.

As they dropped, another enemy came at her, hooking their strange sword under her scythe's blade and grabbing the other end of the scythes hilt, trying to wrench the weapon out of her hand.

Nyx yanked on her weapon, causing the enemy to stumble forward, and giving her enough time to clamp her jaws around their neck, ripping out their throat with her razor sharp teeth.

Crimson blood dripped from her maw as she spat on the ground, trying to get the foreign metallic taste out.

The only things she could hear were her own heartbeat thudding in her skull, and the sound of her breathing.

There was a lull in the battle, and Nyx took a quick breather, eyes darting across the battlefield. She had cuts and scrapes on her armor from glancing blows and a large gash across her tail from a lucky hit.

Other than that, she was feeling great.

That was, until something stabbed her through the chest

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Something struck Arc in the side of the head with an audible crack. Her vision darkened for a moment and she stumbled back, only to find herself slipping on the blood soaked ground and ending up on her back.

A Dravern soldier took this opportunity to pounce on her, sword careening toward her face.

Dazed, Arc had just enough time to bring her sword up and block the blow, holding the weapon back with as much strength as she could muster. The Dravern soldier pushed his whole weight on her blade, and it took everything she had to hold him back.

A fellow Bounty Hunter saw her struggling, and thrust their sword into the Dravern's side, causing them to pull back in pain.

Arc reached down and unsheathed her dagger from her thigh, jabbing it into the enemy's neck.

The attacker fell lifeless on top of her, their blade nicking her ear when they dropped it. She pushed the beastman's body off of her, struggling to her feet.

Her head ached, blood running from a wound on her forehead and into her eye.

Dizzily, she looked around, trying to see where the sudden attack had come from. Down near the shoreline, off to Arcs right, a Dravern beastmen was walking up the shore, hands raised as a whirlwind of small stones spun around him, flying in all directions.

The enemy Alchemicals were arriving.

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Nyx dropped her scythe in pain, glancing down to see a glowing, crystalline shard protruding from her chest. It had embedded itself right near her shoulder, luckily not hitting anything vital.

It hurt like none other, and Nyx grabbed it, ripping it out with a grunt. As blood flowed down her arm and dropped from her fingertips, Nyx looked around to see an enemy Alchemical throwing those same crystal spikes at any soldier they saw.

Their eyes narrowed at Nyx upon seeing that she hadn't gone down. Another spike formed in the palm of their hand and Nyx pivoted on one paw to avoid it when it was thrown.

The crystal shard grazed her leather breastplate, and Nyx scowled at the Alchemical

Reaching into a pouch behind her back, Nyx pulled out three throwing daggers.

"I can do that, too, you abysmal spawn." She spat, throwing the three daggers in rapid succession.

The enemy beastman's eyes widened, and it twisted to the side to avoid one, but catching the other two in the arm.

Nyx used her own ability to dissipate into smoke, weaving her way over bodies and between legs. She appeared next to the enemy Alchemical, one of her curved daggers drawn.

Surprised, they swiped at her with one of their glowing spikes, but Nyx caught their arm with her free hand, twisting their wrist to force them to drop the shard. She jabbed her dagger into their back, and they dropped silently.

Nyx drew her second dagger, ignoring the pain near her shoulder. She'd have to leave her scythe behind, the wound would make it too difficult to wield correctly.

Using her shading ability to turn into black smoke again, Nyx moved on to the next Dravern Alchemical.

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The battle for Lake Vilus had turned into a power struggle between the Bounty Hunters and the enemy Alchemicals.

The normal ground troops were getting decimated by the overwhelming force the enemy exhibited, and had to fall back, leaving the Bounty Hunters on the front lines to deal with the oncoming onslaught.

Arc ran across the battlefield, jumping over the deceased, wielding only her dagger. Her usually brilliantly white fur was now dull and caked with blood and mud.

Palms forward, she shot beams of condensed light, narrowly dodging the enemies attacks through sheer luck and skill.

Seeing that the royal army had fallen back, leaving only the Bounty Hunters, the enemy pressed their advantage, trying to gain as much ground as possible.

The Bounty Hunters were barely holding on, each wave pushing them back even more towards the second wall.

They wouldn't stop coming.

The bird beastman from earlier was facing off against a group of Dravern soldiers alone ahead of her. His wings had a metallic sheen, and their weapons glanced off them. Taking a step back, he flapped his wings, some of his feathers detaching and cutting down the beastmen he faced.

Arc slid to a stop as a couple dozen Dravern soldiers pushed forward, running at her and the few Bounty Hunters that stood

She raised her hands, condensing the light. With a quick sweep, Arc cut through multiple of the enemies, the Bounty Hunters near her finishing off the rest as best they could.

The sickly sweet smell of burning flesh and fur filled the air, and searing pain in Arc's palms caused her to gasp.

The fur on her hands was curled and black, and her palm pads were raw and smoking. She had been using her Alchemical ability too much, and was facing the consequences of it.

But the battle wasn't over, she needed to continue fighting.

Tearing off her leather bracers to expose the fur on her arms, Arc dropped her dagger, her hands were too hurt to hold it anymore.

She could reflect the light off of any part of her exposed fur, she'd just have to pray she didn't end up burning her arms away in the process.

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Nyx's body was screaming at her, the pain making her lightheaded.

She was using her shading ability to navigate the battlefield, dispatching the more dangerous enemy Alchemicals.

But she was facing the retaliation of tearing her body apart and putting it back together repetitively.

Clenching her teeth, she materialized in front of another enemy and thrust her daggers into their gut. The enemy cried out in pain, placing a hand on Nyx's chest. She was thrown back by a sudden gust of wind that originated from the enemies hand.

She tumbled through the air, the ground and sky blending together until she hit the ground and skidded to a stop.

The blow sucked the air from her lungs and she heard something break. She wasn't sure what, her body hurt too much to figure it out.

Gasping for breath, her mouth opened and closed silently, lungs desiring air but too shocked to receive it. Finally her body caved, and she inhaled deeply, savoring the relief that filled her.

Through sheer willpower, she forced herself to sit up. Her daggers had been lost somewhere, which was unfortunate seeing how a fresh wave of enemy soldiers was advancing, cutting down the exhausted Bounty Hunters with ease.

She tried to get to her feet. This was probably the end for her, but she wanted to go down fighting, even if all she had left were tooth and claw.

But her body wasn't having it, she had officially reached her limit.

Collapsing back to the ground, Nyx closed her eyes. If this was her fate, so be it, but she refused to allow the enemy the pleasure of seeing the fear in her gaze.

Taking a shuddering breath in, Nyx held it, listening to the thundering sound of the advancing army.

Sorry, Arc.

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This was it, they were finished.

While the Bounty Hunters could put up a good fight against the Dravern forces, they couldn't do it forever, and the Dravern had plenty of fresh troops. Bounty Hunters we're dropping around her in droves, falling under the unending onslaught.

It was a massacre.

Arc dropped her smoking arms, the smell of her own burning skin making her eyes water.

She watched in horror as the bird beastmen was run through from behind, his wings now bare of feathers.

Knowing she had no choice, she started to strip off her armor, exposing fresh fur underneath she could use to stand her ground one last time.

It would probably kill her.

Standing triumphantly and taking deep breaths to steel her nerves, Arc faced the approaching enemy.

They drew closer, and when Arc felt they were close enough, she opened her maw and shouted with everything she had, releasing her Alchemical ability.

Sorry, Nyx.

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A roar of voices caused Nyx to snap her eyes open.

Paws, hooves, and talons rushed by her in a blur, and at first she thought the enemy was rushing by her, until she realized they were heading in the opposite direction.

The king's army had rejoined the battle.

Nyx felt furious that they had abandoned the Bounty Hunters to fend for themselves, but knew that the ground troops could do nothing against the Dravern Alchemicals.

Maybe they did have a chance of winning, but Nyx wouldn't have the opportunity to see it as her vision faded, her body too exhausted and in pain to stay conscious.