Blood flows and the Chalice drinks.

Through the tall grass they ran with haste.

“Get back here!” Mayumi ordered, but the hare-like person continued on running like the wind.

Mayumi loosed an arrow, just missing to the left of their leg. Another arrow nocked and ready to fire but it felt as if the tree beside her moved ever so slightly - just tapping her enough to push her shot off course.

They were closing in on the heart of the forest, and Mayumi had fired several shots, not one hit. She had grown up with the feel of tense string against her fingers. Held close a bow while others her age instead held blankets. She was born in the woods, and no arrow she fired missed… yet already she had missed so many. Each shot was perfectly aimed and yet something would ruin it. A vine low enough to trip on, a tree closer than it looked, even a falling leaf just catching in her sight before she could properly line up the shot. It was as if the forest itself was against her.

The next turn was coming up and Mayumi took extra care with her shot, taking much longer than normal to check her surroundings and to breathe steadily. “This one, surely!” She muttered.

The arrow launched, and she noticed something. The target held a staff, small and mysterious - engraved with strange, intricate designs on its pale white wood. The staff tiled ever so slightly - and Mayumi had the strange feeling that she had noticed the movement before each miss, only now seeing the staff itself. As it moved, the arrow strayed, a strange wind picked up and misaligned her shot - sending it against the nearby tree.

“What the hell is going on?!” Mayumi growled, grabbing the arrow as she ran.

The heart was in sight, this staff user would reach the portal well before Mayumi could stop her. Another shot fired, another small, strange movement of the staff - another miss.

“Is this… magic? She’s affecting my shots?” She wondered, but the movements affected most were that of the forest, not her arrows. “No, they’re controlling the trees? Or, something like luck?” With the thought in her head she decided to try a counter, the last shot before the staff would reach their goal.

Mayumi leapt from a tree root, spinning in the air to the point that she was upside down. “Right on the money!”

The arrow launched, and sure enough her target used their magic… a mistake. Instead of falling just short, or missing by a fraction - this arrow hit the target. Shallow as it was, the body was not the target. It had been fired low, catching the staff’s clothing and digging into the ground - pinning the target in place.

They tried urgently to remove the arrow but by that point, Mayumi had caught up.

Her target was a lot smaller up close. A young girl, no more than twelve or thirteen with braided blonde hair, large blue eyes and a rounded face that was covered in small scratches. Her clothes were that of a mage, but tattered and stained with the mud of the forests.

“St- Stay back!” She commanded, holding her staff out like a sword, but visibly quivering and barely able to keep her intimidation face steady. She looked like she belonged in a quiet village, happily playing around - not controlling the elements in a death game.

They had reached the heart, no portal in sight - but upon the throne… a jeweled, golden goblet awaited their arrival.

*-*-*

The battlefield between Arata, Elara and Martel seemed to continue much like it did before Mayumi’s exit. Arata controlled his ink army, now armed with Wisteria poison, injecting the formula into the flesh of Martel by sword or arrow.

Elara took to the frontlines. Martel was still struggling with the poison's disorientating effects however he had started to figure out what movements affected different body parts. He was right to focus his defence on Elara, but each time he moved a leg away, or a hand to block the blade, a barrage of arrows would catch him like a porcupine’s pin missiles.

Angered by the latest volley, and seeing Elara a little too close than she wanted to be, he tried to take his chance and crush her with his hammer. But as his brain told him to move his right arm with the hammer ready, instead his left leg moved and threw off his balance.

Elara punished the mistake, cutting deeply behind the knee. The flesh was already coated in red and peppered with missing skin from the pitfall trap earlier. The beast crashed into the ground, clutching its leg and groaning. The blood pouring from the wounds was seeping into the ground. Still, as she tried to follow up, Martel was quick to recover - and Elara was once again forced to find space.

Both she and Arata were deep into their reserves of strength. Elara had been tense since the pyre caught alight, and every moment she had an opening she was quick to pounce. Arata had summoned more units than he had realised, with most of them being turned to black mist soon after their creation. He hadn’t used such force as Reinhardt, it took him for surprise - the toll of the magic in his pen.

Both wiped the sweat from their brow and continued the assault, seeing that Martel was even more exhausted than they were. His movements were calculated, tepid as to be able to adjust should the wrong appendage move against his will. But, it was also a sign of the damage inflicted.

He saw Elara approach, and the rain of arrows above. They would land first, Elara would not risk taking an arrow to the back. His hand wrapped around a tree and he uprooted it, flinging it in the air to block the volley.

Elara was quick to adjust her timing, but Martel also shifted well. This time he moved correctly and his hammer smashed the ground just behind her, worryingly it seemed like he was learning how to properly operate his body again. Her blinding pace managed to take her past a death however, and now she was too close for Martel to deal with.

Her spear raised high, aiming for vitals, and she saw only victory…

*-*-*

Mayumi was still unable to make a move, unwilling to kill the staff wielder but not stupid enough to lower her bow.

“I- I’m warning you!” The young girl growled. “Stay back!”

She was fooling no one. Knees shaking so much Mayumi could swear she could hear them knocking. The signs of someone not able to bite as well as they barked. Out of nothing more than courteousness, Mayumi lowered her bow, still ready to fire given the reason to do so. “Calm… I won’t hurt you unless you make me, okay?”

The girl’s guard was still on high alert.

“Listen, my friends are going to be here soon. The bow and the spear.” The girl stared at the bow in Mayumi’s hand. “If you are friendly with us, we will be friendly with you. When the time comes to go through the portal, we’ll all go through… peacefully.” Mayumi paused, examining the chalice a little too long and the girl saw.

She stepped back and Mayumi hesitated. When her bow picked up again the girl had hold of the chalice. “You’re lying.” Her eyes were like spirals, the fear had built up since the beginning of this trial until her young mind failed her. “You want this. You and your friends are going to take it and… kill me.” The image of it made her voice tremble, scared to speak it into existence. “I can get out of here. I can get out of here… and no more pain, no more bad people trying to hurt me…” Her eyes became glossy with the tears lightly watering them. “I Won’t let you have it!” She screamed.

…

The chalice was held over her shoulder, at an angle. Neither of them gave the cup a close look, and just assumed it was empty. Until a drop of red slipped over the lip and down onto the girl’s shirt.

When she saw it, she flung the chalice away… and red poured out. This was no coloured water, it was thick - seemingly holding a sort of skin atop it. It was…

“Blood…” Mayumi realised, trembling once she realised. The girl dropped the strong foundation and tears dripped down her cheek as she screamed. “What’s going on?! What is that?!”

“Skotta, and Agnar, I would assume.” The voice was distant yet, oddly close. Unseen in the darkness, sounding friendly with a tinge of venom. The girl’s head whipped around, searching for the voice and panicking as she saw nothing but the wind…

But, he revealed himself for a mere moment and Mayumi saw. Directly behind the girl, blood thirsty as the knife in his hands. She couldn’t hit a shot without hitting the girl, so she pounced forward - knowing she couldn’t reach. “WAIT!” escaped her mouth…

The girl felt the flow of water, and found the knife poking out through her chest. Mayumi was horrified, eyes wide and screaming. Blood flowed from the girl’s mouth, and as the knife retreated, she dropped to the ground.

Then, he revealed himself…

“Blood flows… and the Chalice drinks.”