Chapter 25: Tireyien

The Grim Diubh snarled, clearly eager to jump into battle. But the creature who rode on its back was more than amicable to dialogue.

“I’ve overheard your plans.” The creature started. “If you want to leave, I won’t bother you. So long as It —” A clawed paw raised, pointing at Magus. “Stays. It can not leave.”

“Who are you supposed to be?” Roselwyn asked. “If you wish to ask favors, you’d best first introduce yourself first.”

“I am a nameless construct, though you’d know my companion as the Grim Diubh. We have since fused into one greater being, for one sole purpose. It wouldn’t be wrong for us to pick a name.” They were silent for a moment. “A great wolf, blessed with divine purpose… Tireyien.” They repeated the name, perhaps sounding it on their non-existent lips. The Grim Diubh gave a pleasant yip. “Yes, Tireyien. That is us.”

Theodore slipped out a poster from his cloak, glancing up at the duo. He showed the poster to Roselwyn.

“Captain, that’s our target. The wolf, at least.” He whispered. Roselwyn nodded.

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe negotiations are possible. The creature you call your companion, it’s been designated a target for extermination.”

“For what reason?” Tireyien retorted. “We doubt you have any personal grievances against us. If merely for the fact we are dangerous, we do not mind compromise. Give the creature with you to us, and we will more than happily oblige a retreat deeper into the forest, where a mortal soul shall never again witness us.”

“And why should we? What business do you have with Magus?” Theodore asked.

Tireyien snarled and roared. Their silver eye flashed with hatred, the tendrils of light writhing with barely contained anger. “For my companion, it has gouged out their eye, a wound that can no longer heal. For me, it is simply the purpose of which I was born. I am merely the first line of defense against preventing a great evil from rising.”

“I can understand wanting revenge for your eye, but you’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.” The Wings all unsheathed any weapons, preparing for battle. Feregus’s axe slammed into the ground, pumping his fists against his chest plate.

“We devote our lives to battle, our blood to bloodshed! Vigor Rage!” Feregus chanted.

A wave of red haze washed over the Wings, and they felt their muscles tense, wound with a blessing of great strength. Tireyien let out a disappointed sigh.

Tireyien leapt into the air, tendrils of silver light spreading from under its cape of feathers, forming a dome atop the crater.

“In this cage, your lives will end, and peace will return to the land.”

Feregus leapt into the air, axe braced. His swing was interrupted by the twin beaks opening, a ratcheting screech echoing under the dome.

“Be careful!” Wyn shouted, barely heard over the cacophony. “A deadly poison attack is coming!”

Right on cue, purple haze begins to flow from the twin beaks, the dense fog settling onto the bottom of the crater.

“Soaring Wings!” With a blast of air, Roselwyn dispersed the fog completely, scattering it atop the dome. The tendrils were stained purple, and she shot forward. Feregus, and Lyza join her, riding atop two rapidly ascending stone pillars. Lu Lulach dug through the ground, surfacing outside the dome.

“Iomprior Domhain Colossus!” Lu Lulach hardly had the mana to cast a second colossus. But all she needed was a single arm. One single punch to wind up, and connect.

Tireyien was struck on both sides, the pincer attack crushing their body. From below, Lyza and Feregus tore through the tendrils while Lyza’s sword pierced the wolf’s body. From above, a massive fist of stone crushed them downward, impaling them deeper onto the blade. With a slash, Roselwyn disemboweled the wolf, nearly bisecting Tireyien. Their body fell to the ground, and the three descended on Roselywn’s winds.

They landed next to the fallen body.

“Is… is that it?” Theodore asked, poking the body with his staff.

The tendrils pulsed weakly along the ground. Everyone sheathed their weapons.

“Alright, let’s head back then.” Roselwyn said.

“Wait.” Lu Lulach pointed. “Where’s the prisoner?”

Everyone searched around them, only to find that Magus was missing. Turning back to Tireyien’s corpse, it too had vanished. At the top of the crater, they watched as the two halves of the wolves conjoined. The tendrils of silver remade sundered flesh, sewing it together until not even a scratch remained. From its jaws, dangled a man, still wrapped in vines.

“Soaring Wings!” Wyn was the first to move. She launched from the crater, flying after the fleeing figure. Tendrils of light slashed apart trees as Tireyien made their retreat, but Wyn ducked past them all.

“Drop him!” She shouted. She surged forward, kicking off the ground for a boost of speed. She watched the silver light fade more and more into the forest, burning more energy to twist past another falling tree. Her limbs burned, but she couldn’t stop. If she stopped, Magus would get too far. She couldn’t abandon him. Not again.

She skidded to the ground. With a swipe of her sword, a massive ramp of stone emerged before Tireyien. It tried to leap over, only to be met with Feregus’ axe to its head. Magus was knocked from their mouth, rolling forward into Lu Lulach’s vines. Tireyien lunged for him, but Magus was pulled under his torso back into Wyn’s arms.

“Why do you give chase?” Tireyien asked. “That was the easy way out. I even gave you a sense of victory. And yet, you still pursue.”

“What a hollow victory that’d be, if you managed to escape with him.” Feregus replied.

Soon after, the other Wings arrived, surrounding Tireyien.

“You should’ve been satisfied with what victory we allowed you. You’d have been allowed to keep your lives, at the very least.”

Tireyien howled into the sky. The Wings charged forward. They tore apart tendril after tendril, but they couldn’t land any serious damage, the cloak of feathers repelling any strikes that managed to slip through the never-ending swarm. From its cloak, feathers flew out like invisible daggers, the black blending into the night air.

“Indefatigable Form!” With his iron body, Feregus managed to repel most of the feathers, only for the tendrils to retract them, ready to launch again.

“In this world, I become one.” Wyn whispered. White light washed over the battlefield as the trees and ground vanished, replaced by a white void. Wyn stumbled to the ground, exhausted.

“What’re you thinking, princess?” Theodore shouted. Before each of the Wings could toss in their own objections, Wyn held out a hand.

“They heal by absorbing the ambient mana around them, but now…”

Silver tendrils plunge into the ground, smashing apart the white void. Wyn collapsed to the ground, coughing blood. The Plangensoul disappeared without a trace.

“Did you really think that trick would work twice?” They roared.

“Lu!” Roselwyn shouted, parrying a feather.

Lu Lulach wrapped vines around both Magus and Wyn, fleeing from the fight. Tireyien howled and attempted to give chase, only for the other Wings to intercept.

“Wait, Lu Lulach, we can’t!”

“None of us are in any state to fight right now! Leave the rest to them!”

Wyn watched as their battling figures faded. She wanted to struggle, to rejoin the fight, but her limbs wouldn’t respond to her mind.