The Custodis Veritas's Story

"Trouble in the city." A voice echoed through the heads of Arya Bones and her team of elite soldiers as they relaxed in their barracks at the Invictus headquarters. "Move to assist the authorities as quickly as possible." The voice continued.

Arya sighed quietly, closing the laptop computer she was using and getting to her feet. "Let's go, kids." The woman ordered, leading her team out of the barracks and into the rest of the Invictus HQ beneath the surface of Terra.

They expertly turned corner after corner until they arrived at the complex's armory. The team donning their dark orange uniforms and black armor. "What are we dealing with?" Sugar Bear, a bleach blonde member of the team, asked.

"Their seems to be airships opening fire and the main source of the disturbance seems to be a demon or vampire." The voice from before answered as the team continued grabbing weapons and strapping on their armor.

"Demon or vampire?" Arya asked, "You aren't sure?" She asked, "We're limited in our capabilities at the moment with how much we have to do due to Stryfe's goal of protecting Terra." The voice told Arya, "Understood."

"Banner!" Arya shouted, turning her attention to a hulking African-American man on the team, "Yes, sir?" Banner responded, "Get that bird ready, we're moving out." Arya informed the man, "Double time it, shorty." Arya said, clapping her hands to motivate the man to start going.

As Banner left the armory to get a helicopter, Arya and her team continued grabbing gear until they could barely anything else. "Let's move." With those words Arya and her team were on their way to the helicopter and in seconds of arriving at it they were ascending up out of a concealed entrance into the underground facility.

Moments later they were descending on the scene of the violence in the city. "Turn that megaphone thing and give it to me." Arya ordered as the helicopter hovered over the Terrans on the ground and their enemies.

"This is Arya Sloane of the Invictus' Elite Custodis Caeleste, we've got your back." She said to the Terrans, "That's bad for the rest of you not on our side." She added, her words meant for Alucard and the unknowns in the airship.

"Custodis Veritas to Terran Navy. We've contacted the NPA and the Invictus are sending teams to assist, as well as a few ships from the ground. They should be arriving within a few minutes, but The Ripper is already en route. Expect arrival within seconds." A voice said, broadcasting to Terran military and law enforcement channels.

Like clockwork something shot through the air towards the fighting, closer inspection would reveal it to be a person. A black military wingsuit covering much of their form, but allowing them, and their gear, to withstand travelling at such high speeds. The person was moving too fast,and possibly too small a target, for most SAMs and AA guns to accurately bring down.

The flying person would slam into one of the Cybran factories, the impact forming a crater and likely buckling the factory. The person shot out through one of the factory walls, coming to slam into as many SAMs and AA guns as possible before they could do any damage to the frinedlies.. The force and speed that they harnessed was clearly inhuman, but it was focused. Destruction with rhyme and reason.

It was clear that this person was trying to disorient or delay the attackers until backup arrived to put up a proper fight while civilians were moved to safer places.

The set of Starships that had came from the ocean fired a number of shots at the newcomers before they headed off towards the battle with the Cybran Anti-Nazism forces in orbit. The vast ships created a boom breaking glass in the settlements, their ion thrusters pushing the great bulks out into space, going away from the fleets so they could get behind the Cybran warfleet hopefully and cause losses. The weapons were fully armed and ready.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the forces went on a full out attack on everything, bringing wave upon wave of robotic tanks and soldiers into the island, going on a full out assault on the settlements. The factories were already rolling out vehicles to go to war with, millions on them.

A few more ships came from the sea, starting to give a full scale firing bombardment attack on the Terran Ships. The vast bulk of them armour, but as their shells and lasers headed down range, the entire assault stopped to see the damage, the bombardment was designed to clear shields and attack anything that was there. A mass of small robots was then launched with a number of interceptors also, going straight towards any new threat.

On fast approach, four contacts moved as one towards the Cybran beachead. They skimmed over the ground, two breaking off to continue their inbound vector, kicking up spray as they circled into the waters. In their wake, a distant contact was deploying, readying for its part in the assault. Dark Rain was with the Avorian response, and they had decided to send top of the line units as their response.

Armored Intelligent Mechs (A.I.M.s), all, the two approaching on direct vectors were Wildcat and Dragon Furor. Wildcat, a Rifle-class A.I.M., carried a long, menacing rifle in its hands, slit optics glowering as it began to paint targets, readying to fire. Dragon, Claymore-class, was its larger cohort, a quad mech, thus far relying on its thrusters to move the heavy, intimidating bulk of the mech, stylized after its namesake. Wildcat began to lag behind Dragon, the latter beginning to extend the heavy barrels of its cannons. The Rifle turned its head slightly, catching sight of the other pair. With both, munitions prepared to cut the air downrange.

Sparrow was a mass of blades, sharp edges gleaming the light reflected off the spray in its wake. Wakizashi design, it was almost skeletal in size, weaving circles around its partner, Fisher Hawk. Moderately armored, the aptly named Saber A.I.M. held in one fist a gunblade, keeping focused on the target. Missiles slid to ready position, almost as if eager to begin the killing.

And in the distance behind them all, hydraulic rams slammed into the earth to anchor the bulky, boxy form of Wizel. From its blocky body, very long barrels extended in mass, like a small stand of tree rising to nearly 40ft in the air. Smaller, hovering nodes detached, floating off on counter-grav drives to move to locations around the target zone with startling speed. These fed data right back to the Lancer, its multitude of very long range howitzers adjusting for windage, range, and targets. Siloes began to open.

All five seemed to be waiting for something, holding their fire and their fury.

And then eight beams lanced the air like a second sun, throwing a blinding glare into the sky. At their origin in the Astral Sea, steam plumed hundreds of feet in the air, vacuums caused by the passing of the titanic bolts were rapidly filled by water, hiding once more the lurking behemoth of the Apophis. The octad of shots pierced the air and the distance between the surface of Terra and the ships in orbit in all but a second, delivering crushing blows of 50 gigatons/second into the vessels launched from the Cybran base. Designed to simply shatter shields and pummel through armor like paper, the mighty bolt of the Abyss cannon was a force to be reckoned with.

And as one, the thunder began. Wizel began its long range bombardment, slamming shell after shell of hyperkinetic fury downrange to deliver heavy, 50mm tungsten slugs slamming into the larger structures and vehicles of the Cybrans. In their wake, dozens of missiles began to rise, splitting into smaller and smaller micromissiles until dozens became hundreds, all targeting points of congestion of troops and materials. Wildcat, Dragon, and Saber began to fire off, the former pairs heavy rounds simply aimed at concentrations of targets, screaming sonic booms as they hurtled from railcannons at Mach 8 speeds, each adding more to the payload of missiles as they launched splitter torpedoes from their internal magazines. Sparrow rammed its thrusters up several notches, sprinting inwards and weaving a dextrous dance of evasion, sparks flying from its bladed form as is sought to enter the fray with flashing blades, roaring short range guns, and sprays of blood and bodies.

However, the rounds fired missed the lone figure by substantial margins, striking for vital targets with uncanny precision. For each of the pilots were engaged in a simultaneous neural link with each A.I.M.s onboard AI, forming a union of man and machine that communicated instantly between each unit, and possessed the reaction times of the AIs involved in the attack. The only limiting factor was each A.I.M.s own functional capabilities, and they were designed to be the most mobile, agile, and armed mechanized strike unit in deployment.

On one of the gonthar highways an SEC convoy was suppose to be delivering standard security droids when the attack came. The lead truck was destroyed and the soldiers providing security fanned out. "We are under attack!" One of the men frantically shouted as the soldiers formed up. These men weren't trained for this type of combat and only fired back modestly.

A few minutes into the fight though something changed when the radio officer chirped up to the squad commander. "Sir your'e not going to believe this but I have general Williams on the line for you." He said as the squad leader opened his comm.

"General what a surprise."

"Cut the pleasantries, I have good news you're getting support the TNG has authorized full support procedures on the ground. I have an orbital drop company that's going to come down right on your position to set up an LZ, but I need coordinates of the nearest base that you can see so we can get some suppressive bombardment onto that thing." He said.

The talk continued for a moment and a few minutes later 4 large ships could be seen high in orbit. Two Ori Class Destroyers came a bit lower than the transports to unleash 6 missiles aimed toward the ground and a salvo of smaller guided missiles ahead of the six.
The larger missiles were short range emp burst effective up to a few 200 Meters they were aimed right for the base they would cover an area up of 1.2km. The smaller missiles that were ahead were unarmed but they wouldn't read that way on scanners these missiles would provide an AA screen for the larger missiles increasing the chances for more successive EMP hits on the cybran base.

As missiles rained down on the base many drop pods from the main transport ships launched. Over all 30 drop pods were launched toward the ground in groups of five. They came in fast each drop pod carried 10 man squad giving a total of 300 SEC Marines imbound. The numbers might have sounded small compared to that of the cybrans but it was all that could be spared at this point. The SEC couldn't risk a large landing nor did they want to the AA was still too strong.

Hopefully they would make it down alive given the EMP and Anodyne's efforts against the SAM's and AA.

The Cybran warships on the flat ocean started to open fire on the new targets while the smaller starships that were rising from the ocean engaged the Armored Intelligent Mechs. Their lasers hitting at them as hard as they could, aimed to destroy the Mechs, while a vast number of the Cybrans on the land were already getting ready to back into the seas. Godheart and the Old Order members had decided there had been enough killing.

With the arrival of the two Ori Class Destroyers, most of the Cybrans were away, but with the EMP blasts, the robots that were left had stopped working; their circuits totally destroyed. The warships in the ocean started firing at the Destroyers, sending new waves of missiles and lasers towards their targets.

Shields flared around the A.I.M.s as laser impacts hit, and instantly their responses were known, powerful boosters thrusting them in complex evasive maneuvers. Their returning fire was witheringly accurate, attention shifting from the inert drones to active firing units, hammering hyperkinetic slug after hyperkinetic slug to their targets, trailing thundering sonic booms the whole way. Sparrow quickly readjusted its inbound vector, darting back and forth over the waves, advancing ahead of its squad on thrusters tuned for speed.

Fisher Hawk followed in its wake, trading the headlong blitz of Sparrow for a angled route to flank its partner. With the Cybran force having cleared out of civilian threatened areas, drew forth a second gun-blade, unleashing searing balls of plasma bolts from the plasma cannon built into its twinned blade. These secondary weapons traded speed for power, erupting in gouts of solar-hot plasma on contact, while an overhead rail extended and settled into place, hurling rapid fire penetrating shells, each shell containing air-ignition fuel-bombs to scatter, should they penetrate the armored hulls of the Cybran Vessels.

Wildcat and Dragon veered course, the bulky Claymore unit accelerating massively with twin tails of prolonged boosters, kicking up a wall of water to either side as it raced after its support pair, side mounted tomahawk launchers opening and loosing torrents of fast, "lock and blitz" rockets, even as it changed ammunitions from impact to HVAP DU rounds, the thunder of its cannons growing ever louder. The Rifle wafted airborne, bringing to bear multiple long rifle barrels to add more weight to its precision firepower from hull mounted heavy rifles and cannons. Additionally, it opened its more basic artillery ports, launching on skybound trajectories lighter explosive shells to rain down on the Cybran vessels.

Wizel, for its part, was mainly just adjusting its long range bombardment, but was also extending from its frame inner box-like protrusions, each one opening at least half a dozen silo ports. The only unit cleared to carry heavy missile armament, the Wizel carried several hundred Jericho reaction-warhead missiles, which it now loaded en masse, carefully targeted with imaging and signature guides, and let loose.

Each missile raced across the ground for nearly a kilometer before curving towards the heavens, reaching a height of 6kms before pausing to turn, holding position on the counter-grav drive that had brought them thus far. Carefully, they aligned to their targets, the primary Cybran warships firing on the A.I.M.s and cruisers, before unfurling racks of smaller missiles, the prow of each missile extending as the inner warhead prepped for launch. Seven to each launch, each targeting its own point on the enemy fleet. What was initially hundreds became thousands, as powerful thrusters ignited and sent them racing across the sky, brilliant stars with a deadly mission.

Each warhead created a reaction, splitting apart the atomic structure of the target by generating a specific magnetic field that drew away the molecular bonds. Their explosive power was nonexistent, and individually, the damage they wrought was minimal, opening fair sized holes in a target. But stacked in the numbers they were, and with the precision of the targeting queue delivered into their computers from the Wizel, there was a margin of surviving impacts to allow for advanced degradation of the enemy hulls to initiate complete structural collapse, and a secondary margin to generate substantial enough collapse to generate casualties in the Cybran fleet's numbers.

The courses of the four assaulting A.I.M.s adjusted accordingly, not overtly holding back from close range engagment, but there was the hint of a stall in their attack. The timing between events was superb, however, the wide-band, instantaneously communication between the mechs operating on the lower frequencies, the bursts of binary communication virtually ghosts amidst the static.

At the entrances NPA Enforcers were keeping people in and not allowing anyone out. The heavily armed and armored peacekeepers were clearly on a mission. Ships were forced to remain grounded, others weren't allowed to land.

"All security personnel, detain or arrest all men and women openly carrying weapons who are not carrying the proper licenses, ID, who are not part of the defense forces, Terran law enforcement, or any recognized government or non-government entity." A voice said over an intercom, "All civilians, please remain where you are and have a nice day. We apologize for the inconvenience."

It was then that the black clad Invictus elites known as the Custodis Benevolentia entered the spaceport, NPA Enforcers and Anodyne right along with them. Each of the Invictus mercenaries carrying assault rifles, Anodyne herself clad in dark orange armor over a form-fitting black jumpsuit.

The woman carried a multitude of handguns ranging from Glocks, to Desert Eagles, to revolvers. Armed to the teeth was an understatement if there ever was one.

The man at the forefront of the large group headed straight for Weilacca, "Hello." He said to Weilacca, "My name is Preston Emile and you are to be detained for questioning. You and your people. You'll have to lay down your arms, weapons, and come peacefully." Preston told Weilacca.

"I'm trying to resolve this in a way that the NPA doesn't have to get involved. They tend not to take many people in alive and I came with the intention of people living through this thing."

"Why do you need to question us? What did we do?" Weilacca asked in confusion. He had heard that Wing City had poor law enforcement and many people walked around with weaponry. Is it due to the Shadonian race being here? Can't be. They aren't known as much in this part of the galaxy.
"What happened for things like this to happen?" Weilacca asked, he wanted to know what happened and will not stand having some idiots attempt to arrest him on his first day on Terra.

Weilacca noticed the people carried a large variety of weaponry. He obviously didn't anticipate this. He had to get more firepower soon if things got more crazy. Good thing he left a battleship full of soldiers nearby the planet, outside of its orbit and cloaked to remain hidden.

"You, personally, didn't do much." Preston told Weilacca, "But, we have to question you about the men you're asking about." Preston continued, "Now, will let us do our jobs and question you? If you have nothing to hide you'll be free to go about your business in a matter of hours. Maybe even minutes." The Invictus soldier said.

"The alternative is a firefight, a firefight you can only lose. We outnumber you, we outgun you. These men alone with me in the big armor can crush you. There's a lot more of them around the port." Preston warned Weilacca, "The Ripper here," He began, gesturing to Anodyne

"She's punched a spaceship. I think it was a little nuts to try that, but she did it and she's not dead. I really doubt you want to throw your men at people like that. Especially if you're a smart man."

"Are you a smart man?"

"It isn't about strength, numbers or firepower when it comes to war. As long as you know your enemy and you know what to do. You could win against a whole army on your own. Simple as that." Weilacca smiled as he let the threat slide over him.
"You know, threatening a Shadonian is basically asking to have your planet invaded. Especially if the Shadonian is royalty. You guys should know about the violent and warmongering nature of my race. But that doesn't matter, if you are going to question me about the guys I'm asking about then that is fine." Weilacca laughed after he explained the nature of his race, he seemed happy that the people knew the guys he wants. It can help him find them.

"So, question away."

"Who said anything about war?" Preston asked, "Usually I have more tolerance with your types, but I've been dealing with you for four years. Here, at least." Preston told Weilacca, "So, I'm going to tell you this right now. You don't know the Invictus. You don't know our history. You don't know who we are, who we have." Preston began.

"We've fought whole armies, and we've won. But, this is not a threat or a boast. It's me letting you know that we don't give a fuck who you are, or the nature of your people. Threaten to invade this planet again and I will make sure that you're locked away in some cold, dark, hole somewhere in this universe being used as a whipping post by some nasty alien with a fetish, my friend."

"Drop your weapons. Have your men drop your weapons. If everything works out, and you don't continue being an arrogant prick, you'll be given your weapons and you'll be sent on your way, sir." Preston said.

"Now now, there is no need to bring profanity into our conversation. Plus, I wasn't threatening. Just showing off, y'know you're a leader, I'm a leader. It's like an arms race." Weilacca was calm while he spoke, he gave up his giddy side and chose to become more professional.
"Now, I thought we were being questioned. What has our weapons got to do with it? Oh well, we won't drop out weapons, but we will hand them all to one of my guards. It's disrespectful to have your weapon thrown on the ground. In our culture that is." Weilacca turned to his guards and spoke in Shadonian.
"Gaeeevae ooayock waeaypaenaeocknae taeock eemae" He pointed at one of the guards. Instantly, the guards placed their rifles into his arms and Weilacca unclipped his sword and placed it on top of the rifles.

"Now, shall we?"

"I only lead my team." Preston informed Weilacca, "I'm a professional soldier. I have no time to show off with you when I could be out there making a difference for these people. You holding me up from that only makes me angry." Preston said, some of the bystanders beginning to clap for the man.

Preston and his team, Team Ripper, had a bit of a reputation as heroes on Terra. It was beginning to show once people recognized the man speaking to Weilacca.

Preston made a face at the applause, never being a fan of the limelight when he had a job to do. "We just need you to give up your weapons. Doesn't matter where you put them, you just can't bring them with you." He informed Weilacca.

"And, again, I've dealt with this before. If you have any men, or ships, waiting somewhere. Tell them to reveal themselves, if someone else finds them and they're unidentified it could be... bloody. I don't do bloody." The Invictus soldier said.

"Towards the exit. Now."

"I apologize, i thought you were a bit higher up. But, if we can't bring our weapons then I'll leave him here." Weilacca spoke and turned to the guard holding the weapons, he told him to go back to the ships and stay there with the weapons.

"You seem to be well known, makes me miss being back home. I can tell you that I have a battleship that has been cloaked nearby this planet, but that is because the people I'm looking for are very dangerous, so it will act as backup. I would reveal the ship, but not many people take to kindly to Shadonian battleships hanging around. I hope I have permission to keep it cloaked." Weilacca began making a conversation, this guy seemed to uptight. It annoyed him.

Weilacca gave Preston a glare and walked past him towards the exit.
"Why to the exit? I was going there anyway, don't see why we can't carry our weapons. Isn't Wing City full of people bearing weapons?"

"I advise you to relay the order to uncloak. Again, I may know you're here, but there's people hanging around who don't know and are more prone to violence. The Taiyou especially." Preston told Weilacca, following behind him towards the exit. "We're going to the exit because only idiots would question someone in the open."

"As you said, the people you're looking for are dangerous. Who knows who they may be paying for information?" Preston asked, "In regards to your weapons, you can't take them where we're going. Simple as that." He said, shrugging a shoulder.

"As far as Wing City being full of people bearing weapons, half of them are illegal. Kind of like in most cities. The other half are legal. And a weapon can be anything, so I guess it depends on if we're talking guns or supernatural abilities." Preston told Weilacca.

"What I'm trying to say is that you're sadly mistaken, sir."

"Then I shall." Weilacca turned to one of his guards which caused them to hold their hand to their ear and begin speaking in Shadonian. "The ship is uncloaked. If it is attacked, I will hold you as responsible."

"As for the people I'm looking for, they are idiots. Especially the leader. But i respect your security. As for weapons in Wing City, i was told that they are allowed. I guess I should shoot my foreign relations adviser." Weilacca seemed more annoyed about false information than anything else.

"I highly disapprove this welcome to a foreign planet though. Not that it matters." Weilacca was being himself, cocky. He was used to arriving at foreign planets and having guns held towards him, that's what made the Shadonian race seem violent. People just threatened and wanted to 'fight back' because they were scared.

"I don't really care." Preston said, leading Weilacca out to an armored transport positioned on the street near the exit. "You yourself said you're warmongers, this is probably the warmest reception you've ever gotten, right?" Preston asked.

"You'll ride in there. They'll take you where you need to go. Someone will be there to question you soon enough, and they'll decide what to do with you. I can only assure you that there's an equal chance they'll let you go as there is that they'll lock you up." Preston informed the man.

"I simply warned you, if we were that bad then we would have invaded now. And I have to say, this is the nicest my race has been treated. I like you guys." Weilacca steps to the armored vehicle.

"Will we be dropped back here once we're done? So we can get our weapons and continue our business." Weilacca asked before stepping into the vehicle.

"That's not up to me to decide. My orders are to send you to the fort." Preston informed Weilacca, "And, you would have tried to invade, for the record. Between our ships around the planet, forces on the ground and allies you'd be in a bad position. Ask the last people who tried to invade."

With those words Preston closed the door to the transport, he wasn't really interested in hearing with Weilacca had to say in response. The French-Canadian soldier didn't have much patience for people like him anymore. The years had taken their toll.

"Move out." He said, the transport moving to head for Fort Veritas.

Weilacca groans in annoyance. "We are just looking for two people, why must we be dragged around everywhere. I wish I did just send the army down, not for war, but just to get everyone to leave us to our business... I wonder how long it will take for the Seikham to get here." Weilacca ordered one of the guards again, causing them to speak with their hand to their ear again. The guard then talks to Weilacca in Shadonian.

"I see..." Weilacca looked very annoyed. He rested his head on his hand and looked around the vehicle while it was driving.

"Hey, you guys. How long will this take?" He spoke out to the drivers.

The group of Invictus were capable of holding their own, using the burning light to fend off the darkness with clear expertise. But, it was obvious that they weren't fighting in their usual numbers. The rest of their comrades hadn't made it out yet, the amount of people fleeing for safety was likely slowing them down.

"We need help. How long until we actually get it?" One of the female arcanists asked, speaking into some sort of communication device on her person. "The others are coming up now. Standby for assistance and information your attackers." A woman responded.

The woman on the other end of the comm was with the Invictus' Custodis Veritas, their unusually knowledgeable intelligence division. If there was ever a time they would come in handy, it would be now with any information they could dig up on the dark creatures attempting to make The Courtyard their new home.

"Put up the barrier, let's buy us and them some time." One of the defenders said, he and the group locking hands together.

"Et nos aliquando!" The yelled in unision, a wave of powerful energy shooting out in all directions from where the group stood. It was stronger than their light was individually, through contact with eachother it seemed they strengthend their abilities tenfold.

The wave of energy would push back the dark creatures, sending them back out to the front gates while also keeping The Courtyard protected. It was fall all intents and purposes a wall.

"How long will it hold up?" One of the defenders asked. "Long enough. I hope." Their de facto leader answered.

Arrows and shadow bolts continued to fly towards the arcanists - the primary threat to the Erebari. Living surges of darkness writhed and churned as they absorbed the light like sponges. While the Erebari cultists engaged the arcanists in a battle of wills - a war of darkness and light - the other Erebari continued to assault various guests that had become lost in the smokescreen. They beat them over the heads with clubs, knocking them unconscious, and dragged them back into the darkness.

A shape flew through the shadows and smoke like a phantom. The dust churned at its passing. Its silhouette shot across the wall, revealed by the arcanists' light, as a metallic glint flashed in the darkness. Several throwing knives spun through the air towards the torsos and throats of the arcanists with deadly accuracy as a cloaked figure landed in their midst.

The Muhari landed in a three-point stance. Sandy brown wrappings spiraled up his arms and legs while a tattered cloak, hood, and cowl shrouded his face and body. His hands gripped two ornate sickles adorned with sinister blood red runes. He launched from his crouch with explosive agility - blades flashing. Al'myaz charged at the arcanists with incredible, almost unnatural, speed.

The Courtyard's defenders kept the wall up as best they could, the barrier keeping the attackers from getting to them. "We have to push them back and try to get the people they're taking." One of them said, having noted that their enemy was snatching people who were attempting to flee.

They could only imagine what was going to happen to the people taken.

As Al'myaz charged the Lamia and their barrier he'd find himself hit with an extremely powerful blast of electricity. The culprit being Arya Bones, a woman donning dark orange fatigues and a black tanktop. Her fingers outstretched towards the demon.

Moments later more and more Invictus began to approach the fighting. Their numbers swelling to the point where it seemed they would be packing up a good portion of The Courtyard. They had an army ready to fight, it made sense that they'd have so many people in their compoud.

The Courtyard was the mothership, so to speak.

Overhead several Seraphim carriers flashed spotlights on the darkness, NPA Sanctifiers and Enforcers waiting for their orders to join the fray. One could only hope they'd stop the violence and not increase the destrctuion as was the case most of the time in Wing City.

The Erebari gradually vanished into the darkness with their prizes as Al'myaz distracted the Lamia. His runed sickle flashed, aimed directly for the throat of one of the arcanists, when the bolt of lightning caught his eye. He twisted his body mid-flight to meet the incoming threat while sending his wrapped foot into a bone-shattering roundhouse kick to the Lamia's jaw. Al'myaz shot out his hand and extended his middle and forefingers as the lightning made contact with him. The electricity spiraled up his arm and burned through his body like a hot flood.

Time slowed to a crawl for the Muhari. The lightning screamed through his body like a stampede of wild game. He could feel the energy flow down his arm and into his torso - towards his heart. Al'myaz inhaled and harnessed the channels of his life energy as the electricity bypassed his heart, funneled into his abdomen, and swung back up his other arm. He likewise extended the fingers of his other hand into the sky.

He exhaled.

The lightning erupted from his fingers with a booming white flash that screeched into the sky. It passed the Seraphim like a volley of Zeus's javelins before fading into the clouds.

Al'myaz landed in a three-point stance. His wrapped hands smoked from the intense energy of the electricity. The Muhari lifted his head and stared into Arya's eyes through the concealing darkness of his hood and cowl. Then, with a blur of movement, the Muhari snatched several throwing knives and shuriken from his robes and launched them into the crowd. He immediately reached into a pouch in his cloak and threw a small pellet onto the ground. It erupted in a thick cloud of smoke.

The smoke cleared. The shadows receded. The strange creatures, the Muhari, and their captives were gone.