Emory announced, "My name is Emory Reiss, and you two will not be allowed to pollute this land any further."
"Quite the plucky one, isn't she?" Murdock laughed, "My name is Murdock, and this is Jahn. We have to thank you for coming to us and saving us the trouble of finding you. For some reason, Lady Petrine has requested that we take you in alive if possible."
"Consider yourself lucky. Once we deal with you, we will decimate the rest of your people," Jahn jeered as he pulled a battleaxe and a long sword from his waist.
"Many of you have tried and failed to defeat me," Emory smirked, "You two may be a cut above the rest, but you're still not strong enough to take me."
Murdock switched his hands to blades and smiled a toothy grin, "Don't be so sure, little girl. We're a bit stronger than we look." Green magik began to cover their wrists and weapons, stunning Emory slightly because she had yet to see a Uthid use magik on their weapons and had never even heard of a Mantoan use magik before. To match their weapons, she fashioned blades of pure magik that extended out from her hands like plasma short swords.
Murdock bent his legs and sprung towards Emory like a grasshopper before slashing down with his twin blades. She effortlessly parried away the swords with one hand and used a spear hand with her free hand towards his stomach. He twisted his body just enough to avoid the strike as his wings popped out and carried him back a few feet. Once he was out of the way, a giant barbed tail swung down on Emory which she caught with magik-covered hand. Jahn tried to pull it back, but she had a firm grasp on it. She yanked hard and threw Jahn into Murdock, causing them both to go skidding back several feet.
Instead of getting back in close range, Emory pointed her palm towards the pair and fired a few bolts of magik towards them. Two of the bolts ripped through Murdock's wings, but the others smashed into Jahn's chest, tearing through the armor and leaving deep impacts in his exoskeleton. However, Emory grimaced when she saw the holes and fractures healing before her eyes, another trait she hadn't seen on the Apleem before. Recovering first, Murdock charged forward with his blades extended towards her. Like before, Emory parried them slightly off course and kicked her foot into his incoming charge. It sounded like glass breaking when her foot connected until he flew backwards twenty feet. Jahn, having recovered at this point, swung both of his weapons at her midsection, only to swipe at the air as Emory dashed back to avoid the slashes. Then, off her back foot, she surged forward and slammed both of the weapons into the ground which caused a pop to come from Jahn's wrists. He was forced to grab his weapons with his second set of hands as he pulled them back.
Murdock snorted, "You're quite a good fighter despite being so young. I can see why Petrine wants to bring you back alive."
"A good fighter?" Emory laughed, "You two haven't even touched me, and I'm not even breaking a sweat. If you don't start pushing me, I'm going to get bored and finish this."
"Big talk for someone who has yet to wound us either. Let's see how you handle this," Jahn gritted his teeth as he fired three green bolts out of his tail like a cannon. A single wing unfurled from Emory's cloak and swatted the bolts away without Emory moving a step. Then the other wing swung out while Jahn and Murdock were distracted and slashed deep across Murdock's chest. He stumbled back a few steps, but it was too late as the wing flicked back and released a pressure wave that knocked him completely over. Jahn charged in, yet Emory hadn't forgotten about him. She raised her hand and fired out bolts which crashed into Jahn while she approached the prone Murdock. Murdock's chest was already starting to heal by the time Emory reached him, and he was starting to stand back up until the wing came out again and knocked him back down. It looked like a lion moving in to devour a wounded gazelle as she stood over him. His whole body trembled the same way it did when Petrine scared him.
Jahn tried to attack while her attention was focused on Murdock, but her other wing kept knocking him back. Emory jumped onto Murdock's chest, leaving deep cracks in his exoskeleton as she pinned him to the ground. She pressed her foot on his throat while he tried in vain to squirm away. With a firm push, she stomped hard and beheaded him in a single strike. Jahn's eyes grew wide as he froze and stared at the scene before him. It seemed like she killed him with minimal effort, and for the first time in a long time, a cold shiver ran down his back in utter terror.
"I hope you have something more to show me," Emory's cold stare pierced his psyche, "Because if you don't, you'll quickly end up just like him."
Rage burned in Jahn's chest, and the green glow covering his body started to warble. He let out a powerful roar that shook the area around them but only blew Emory's hair back. Suddenly, his body changed from a pitch-black color to a bright red while his tail split into two. He charged forward with both weapons in a scissor motion, but they collided with each other. Emory had already teleported behind him with her hands like blades at her sides. Then two thuds were heard as his tails hit the ground and green blood spurted out from his backside. He groaned as he spun his head around to see the tails laying on the ground. Before he had a chance to react, Emory was already in front of him. A squelching sound echoed as her knife hand strike pierced deep into his torso.
Jahn coughed up a bit of blood and stuttered, "Were you holding back this whole time?"
"I needed to see how you compare to a fight with a Laxtros," Emory said solemnly as she twisted her hand inside his guts, "Overall, I'm less than impressed. You two are supposed to be generals, but there's not much difference between you and the regular troops."
"Petrine and her brood are much stronger than us, but I had no idea that there would be another as strong as her," Jahn wheezed as more blood spewed from his mouth.
"Do you have any final words?" Emory asked as she began to form an orb of magik inside Jahn's gut, "Say them now if you do."
Jahn gasped as blood filled his mouth, "You still won't stop Petrine. She has too many contingencies." When he finished, a beam of Arcane magik scorched out of the top of his head, and his body slumped off her arm onto the ground. The Apleem in the back turned around to see a red-haired woman covered in blood while the bodies of their leaders lay still on the ground. They froze as Emory cracked her neck and stared them down with a cold, determined gaze.
Without even cleaning the blood off her, Emory charged forward into the fray and began attacking the stunned Apleem. She moved like a seasoned warrior, cutting down swaths of enemies in seconds. When the bodies began to pile up in one area, she teleported to another spot with the Apleem army and began tearing them apart as well. Such ferocity was atypical of Emory's fighting style which was normally calm and restrained.
By midafternoon, the army was just finishing off the last of the Apleem force, mostly due to Emory's ruthless attacks from behind enemy lines. As the last Uthid fell, everyone sighed a collective breath of relief. Emory herself dropped to her knees as blood trickled from her nose, a clear sign she had pushed herself too far. Shepherd was the first to find her in such a state and helped her to her feet.
"Good work, Emory," he congratulated her, "You and your power saved countless lives today. We couldn't have survived without all the work you and your commanders did."
Emory's face remained tense, "I'm not done yet. I need to go to the other battlefield as soon as possible."
"Are you sure?" Shepherd winced, "We haven't heard any bad news from them yet."
"That's exactly why I need to go. They're most likely in combat with a Laxtros. Let everyone here know where I've gone," Emory stated firmly.
Before Shepherd could try to convince her any more, she faded away in a flash of particles. When she appeared at the outpost in Vostea, she wobbled and fell to one knee. With a forceful grunt, she created her magik wings and soared into the skies towards the sound of fighting in the distance. From the air, she could see three distinct zones where the army had fought the Apleem, but only one had large black scars in the ground extending away from it. Quickly she flew towards it until a message buzzed in her mind.
"Emory! Come quick! Perceval's losing the fight against the Laxtros!"