Chapter 269: Reyla and Nayra

Chapter 269: Reyla and Nayra

The Difference Between Us, Sister

Reyla

The battle on the Wall seemed to slow as everyone became aware of the General walking toward them. The taken were still trying to take the Wall, but the soldiers on top were holding them off. With one of the stronger taken dead, the others werent that much of a threat. Most of them were the low tiered soldiers that had been captured. If it was only them, they wouldve been able to hold the wall. The General changed everything. It wasnt the same as the one that had broken the Wall days ago, this one was larger. Towering over the Wall and walking on four legs. Its body was spindly, its limbs gangling and overly long. Its front legs were longer than its back and looked like long tentacular appendages without any joints, which made it move in a slow and awkward gait.

Its skin was gray and smooth. Its neck was long and ended in a wide toothless maw that was open to show nothing but darkness within. Like a head of a worm, it had no eyes. A low wail left its maw that brought a chill to Reylas bones. It walked slowly, a titan dwarfing everything else, coming in from behind the army attacking the Wall.

Emrys climbed back on top of the wall, a couple of house soldiers following behind him. He walked over and looked at the General in the distance. She saw the fear in his eyes, the realization of what the Generals arrival meant. Reyla had seen one fight with a General before, it had taken Erik and Vanessa working together with an army of thousands to kill it. She knew that the Generals had vastly different levels of powers, that not all were suited for combat, but they were all powerful. After that one General had died, the enemy had stopped sending their Generals against them freely. They struck when they were certain that they couldnt be defeated. Just looking at it made Reylas spirits fall. They couldnt fight that, not without someone stronger on their side, like Erik or Vanessa. Even with their new power, they just werent strong enough. The only reason they managed to fight off the last General that arrived was because it was weaker and because the head of House Ornn Guard gave his life to deal a blow that turned it away. Still, they hadnt been fully successful. The Wall was damaged, and now a weak point in their defense. The soldiers on top of the Wall were tired, and the enemies seemingly without end.

There was nothing that they could do now. Fighting against such odds was futile. They would lose, and every soldier taken prisoner would join the enemy side. Everyone that fell would be one less soul ready to fight. She couldnt let that happen. Yet having the Wall fall was no matter what she chose the result was going to be terrible. She turned to the side where her brother and sister stood, looking at the General with two different expressions.

She opened her mouth to speak when Nayra moved.

She climbed on top of the parapet, her shield in one hand and her over-sized golden spear in the other.

We should hit it before it reaches the Wall, Nayra said as she reached up with her shield hand and adjusted the helmet on top of her head. Emrys and the rest of the soldiers on the Wall can provide support from the distance.

She turned around and looked at Reyla who was so shocked that she forgot to close her mouth.

Cmon, hurry, the closer it gets the more damage it will be able to do to the Wall.

Reyla glanced at Emrys who had a dumbfounded look on his face that was a mirror of how Reyla herself felt.

Nayra, Reyla started. We cant fight that.

Nayra frowned. What? There is no choice, we must.

Reyla shook her head. That is a General Nayra, we dont have anyone powerful enough to stop it.

Emrys stepped forward, looking at Nayra. And with it here, the Far-link Orb isnt going to work, Emrys said. We cant call for help. Even if we could hold it off for a while, it isnt going to matter in the end.

Emrys is right, Reyla said as she joined him to stand in front of Nayra, looking up at her. We need to retreat to the Fort, it is small enough that we should be able to defend it. The enemy will take this part of the Wall, it is unavoidable, but we might be able to force them to turn away from the Fort. If we call for a full retreat and get everyone behind the Fort walls, we might have a chance.

Emrys nodded, and Nayra lowered her hands as she sagged. Reyla was glad that her sister saw some sense, they couldnt afford to act foolishly now. Their orders were to keep the Wall for as long as possible, but there was no holding it against a General. She glanced to the side, in the distance where the Wall stretched without ending. Other Houses were holding the other parts of the Wall. Some of them might even be engaged with this army at their edge, but they couldnt help them. If they weakened their part of the Wall the enemy would sense it and strike, opening another avenue for them to cross.

If they saw that this part of the Wall had fallen, they would at least relay a message, though it would be too late by then, they could at least try to keep the broken line as small as possible. Give the rest of the Empire time to gather a force strong enough to plug the hole. There were fortresses beyond the Wall, checkpoints that will slow the enemys advance. Reyla nodded to herself, there was no reason for them to die pointlessly, without being able to accomplish anything. She was given this responsibility by her mother, she had to make decisions that would influence their entire House, everyone working for it. She couldnt afford to lose.

Emrys, Reyla started. You stay and hold the Wall, me and Nayra will fly around and relay the orders for the retreat. We can also support their retreat.

Yesterday, I was reminded of who we used to be, Nayra said softly. Reyla turned her eyes to look at her sister. Before she could even open her mouth, Nayra continued. We grew up together, we fought together, but along the way I we drifted apart. Because you excelled at what the family asked of you. You fit in this place, you are one piece of the whole, you live to serve. And that is not who I am anymore.

Reyla frowned. Nayra, we dont have the time for this, what are you

Nayra cut the air in front of her with her golden spear as the sounds of battle surrounded them, and the heavy footsteps of the General shook the ground. No Reyla. You need to hear this; you need to understand. I left the Empire because I dont want what it offers, because here you are only valued for what you can contribute to the Empire as a whole. I joined a sect because they care only about power, about climbing one step above those around them. They are backstabbing in a way; they care more about pride and face than they do anything else. In a sect you climb based on what you yourself can accomplish; the sect might support you, but the amount of support that you gain is based on what you reach for. They are brutal, and end conflicts with overwhelming might. At least my Sect Head does.

She glanced to the side, in the direction of the enemy General. Do you know what my Sect Head would see if he looked at that monster? What I see now when I look at it? Nayra didnt give Reyla enough time to answer, not that she even had an answer for her questions. She was still confused and taken off-guard.

Nayra pointed her spear in the Generals direction. Power to be taken. That is what we see, what the greatest in the Core Sects would see. What real Rankers see, those who survived and climbed high. How powerful that monster right there is doesnt matter, what matters is crawling, scraping, clinging to life as you climb that mountain of power. I dont want to be like you two, I dont want to follow someone elses path for me. I want to grab for power on my own, to advance on my own terms, and make my own choices.

Nayra that is suicide, Reyla argued. That General might be as strong as Erik or mother, as strong as High Rankers in the Core. You just barely reach immortality; you cant do anything against that.

Nayra gave her a sad smile. Tiers of power are not absolute; power is not absolute. Even the mighty can fall. I dont need to be stronger than a monster to kill it. Do you think that the first Rankers that arrived here survived by only fighting things weaker than them? Do you think that Ryun Nacht advanced so far in such a short time by doing things as you are now? I do not disparage our familys methods Reyla, our siblings are powerful, but aside from the oldestthose like Erik and Vanessathose who had lived through the struggle and war, none can even come close to our parents. And that is who I want to reach. You have a choice to make sister, Nayras eyes bored into hers. Who do you want to be?n0ve(l)bi(n.)co/m

Nayra dismissed her spear and then pulled out a potion that Reyla recognized. It was one of the boosting potions crafted by their family, she had given it to Nayra yesterday when theyve come to an agreement. It would boost her stats by 40% for a short duration. She downed it quickly, then turned to look at the General stumbling in their direction.

Nayra, dont be reckless, please, Reyla took a step forward, but then immediately had to take two back as Nayra burst into fire and grew. The avatar made out of golden fire turned its head as the golden spear appeared back in her arms and then was immediately consumed by the flames.

This is the difference between us, Nayra told her. Make your choice sister.

Nayra used her Great Lunge, lurching forward through the massive mouth and down the throat. She reset her [Dawn Dash] and used it immediately to get farther down. She could feel the monster preparing its attack and knew that she had to pass the point where it was being generated before it was fired, or she was dead.

She triggered [Dawnfire Immolation], her already fiery avatar form burst with more intense fire, burning the flesh inside the Generals throat. Then she activated Dawnfire Blink. She blinked deeper down and released a burst of dawnfire at her arrival point, burning even more of the monsters flesh.

She wasnt fast enough; the sound reached a crescendo and it fired its attack. The howling sound and shaking air came from deeper inside the monster and she knew that she had nowhere to dodge. Except one place.

Quickly she used her [Ethereal Cross]. The world around her turned and twisted, for a moment making her feel as if she was falling, and then she was someplace elsethe Ethereal Realm. A part of the attack somehow followed her through, and she was thrown back as she raised her shield to defend. Her mind nearly split in two and her shield shattered, her hand with it. It took a moment for her |Enhanced Toughness| to help her get through the pain, and she glanced down to see that her left hand was a mangled mess with nothing below the elbow. She activated Rapid Recovery to close the wound and prevent more blood loss, and then she beat her wings forward. She reached the place where she crossed over quickly, not wanting to allow the difference between the two realms to take hold. The more she stayed in the Ethereal Realm the more time went haywire, and she couldnt allow the General to move too much from the spot where she crossed. She reached the entrance and returned to the Real Realm, straight into the depths of the monsters body.

She moved immediately, getting deeper. Her |Enhanced Thermoception| telling her that there were things around her that mightve been the organs that generated the sound attack. Finally, she reached what looked like a wide cavern in the light cast by her fire. The General was a strange monster, it didnt have anything really resembling normal anatomy inside, but it did have an open space resembling a stomach inside. Perhaps it had more abilities that it didnt use, or perhaps this place was used for something else, it didnt matter. Nayra used her Valkyries Stamina, recovering it to its full state in a single moment. Then she burned the rest of her boosting perks and activated her aura.

Nayra landed on the floor with Valkyries Descent, burrowing her spear deep into the Generals flesh, the heat of it sizzled the wound immediately and her immolation and avatar burned the flesh all around her further. Then, she released the technique that had been charging since she started the dive.

The fully charged {Mist of the Scorching End} billowed out of her, in less than a second it filled the area completely. The sound and the stench of burning flesh filled her senses. She heard a roar of agony coming down from the opening above her. Then, her entire world went sideways, and she clung to Erishi Resav to stay upright. Everything was rolling, and she realized that the General was thrashing about, and heaving, trying to get her and the mist out. She could see that her attack was working, it was burning it from the inside, but not fast enough. She wasnt strong enough to finish it in an instant, this was going to take time.

She felt strong, stronger than she had ever been. She knew that Reyla, Emrys, and the soldiers on the outside were fighting the General too. They had to be doing damage on it from the outside, and together she knew that they could take it down.

Then, the wall of the monsters stomach parted beneath her and three tendrils burst in through, sizzling as they were burned by the mist filling the stomach. Nayra was so taken aback that she failed to act fast enough. One of the tendrils grabbed her and pulled her down, smashing her against the side of the stomach. Her head was ringing as it pulled her toward the gash where it had come from, and she realized that the General had punched through its own body from the outside to get to her. The realization that she was hurting her emboldened her and she summoned her spear back and stabbed the tendril, pinning it to the wall of the stomach. She pulled her storage ring off her finger with her mouth as she stored everything in it and then slid the ring on a small hook at the end of her spear. Then the other two tendrils went after her and she turned into her Scorching Mist Form. The tendrils passed through her, hurting her some but not enough. She moved, as the heat around them increased with her perk. The mist was leaking upward through the opening as the technique reached its end, but it couldnt dissipate that fast with the fact that it was mostly in a closed area.

The thrashing returned, and even in her mist form she could sense everything rolling around. More tendrils punched through the stomach walls, opening more holes for the steam to escape through and she knew that it wasnt going to be enough. Despite the realization, she still felt inspired, strong, as if something was pushing her to do more, to be better. She couldnt explain it, as she had never felt anything like it before.

Then, the tendrils started lashing at everything inside the mist, hitting her on accident. Her mist form gave her resistance to physical attacks, but there were limits to everything. She felt her form being dissipated, she felt it slipping as the monster thrashed in a panic, trying to kill her before she could kill it.

And then something changed. She felt it inside of her, something had happened. She didnt know what it was, but she could sense something new inside of her. And so, she reached for it, and a moment later it answered and she knew.

Fragment of Dawn

The mist changed color, and the monsters inside caught on fire. It burst into flames that devoured the tendrils in seconds, turning them to ash. The stomach walls burned away, twisting and churning as they were evaporated, leaving only bones that quickly turned to darkened and cracked pieces of crumbling dust. The monster thrashed, it stabbed more tendrils inside, trying to catch her, to stop her. All in vain. It was burning from the inside, its life blood evaporating. She felt the monster fall and still, and then the mist escaped through the holes in the monsters body, and Nayra could see outside of it.

Her mist form condensed into her body, and she looked around and then limped over to Erishi Resav. She grabbed her ring and pulled her armor back on.

We did it, he told her.

Yes, Nayra said slowly. Feeling more tired than she had ever felt before. She removed the filters on her HUD that she kept on in battles and looked at two notifications that she had.

The Daughter of Dawn

Reach at least a combined power level of nine tiers. And embody an ideal.

+1200 to intelligence and wisdom stats, +5% to all stats, Fragment of Dawn, 100 000 Greater Essence

Bane of Hastur

Kill a General of Hastur.

+100 to all stats, +1% to all stats, Hastur's Bane (Perk), 500 Celestial Essence

Fragment of Dawn (Title Perk)

Once per three months, for one minute, all your heat and light related powers have their effectiveness increased by 30x, burning all in your way.

Hasturs Bane (Unique Perk)

Youve proven yourself against the hordes of Hastur, all your powers are now 10% more effective against any 11th Dome monsters.

She had gained an Ideal, something that Ryun had told her about. But she hadnt done anything that he had. Quickly she realized that this was not her own ideal, and while a part of her was excited, another was disappointed. This ideal came from the people watching her fight a General of the Dome monsters from the Wall. The soldiers and her siblings, all loyal to her family. They had believed so much, had been inspired by what they had seen, and they had given her this gift. But even its name told her what it was that they believed. The Daughter of Dawn, that was how they saw her, the daughter of Karya Ornn.

She pushed that out of her mind, nothing that she did could change things now. She made her way through the gaping wounds burned in the Generals side and climbed out of the corpse. Once outside, she looked around and saw the taken and the rest of the Dome monsters retreating.

She glanced back toward the Wall and saw people standing on top of them in the distance, a flying shape heading her way.

Reyla dropped down on the corpse next to her, looking at her as if she had seen her for the first time in her life. Nayra opened her mouth to say something, but her mind betrayed her, and everything turned sideways. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was her sister grabbing her in her arms.