Varyn, the Chief of the Shadow Wolfkin village and Elyra's father, knew he had only one way to get his daughter back from that accursed Diamondhart brat. He had to find a way to kill Bastion without arousing the slightest suspicion.
He could certainly pull off an assassination without much trouble given his strength and experience. However, doing it without alerting his daughter was impossible now that she had reached Rank 1 and become a Shadow Guardian.
This forced him to rely on a third party rather than handling it himself, which also meant killing Bastion inside the kingdom was impossible. There was simply no conceivable way to eliminate a duke within its borders. Even if he sent a hundred Rank 2 bandits, Bastion would still find a way to escape with Elyra's help. His only real opportunity would come once they left the kingdom.
Fortunately, Bastion had shown interest in the Great Forest's swamp, and Varyn built his plan around that. He would lure the basilisks into attacking Bastion, then keep Elyra safe while observing from the shadows. She might grow suspicious, but surely she would see reason and return to the village under his care. And if she didn't… well, a few centuries of isolation should be enough to bring her back to her senses.
Once he received the report that Bastion and his women had entered the Great Forest, he rushed out and followed their trail. With his experience as a tracker, it was easy enough to tail them without alerting his daughter. He shadowed their movements all the way to the Wraithwood where they began hunting the area.
He observed from a distance atop a tree when he suddenly noticed his daughter looking in his direction. He quickly hid himself as subtly as possible.
"Her senses are exceptional… like father, like daughter," he said with a proud smile that slowly softened into pity. "If only her taste in men were as good as the rest of her."
Deciding the moment was right, Varyn crept to each of the basilisk nests surrounding the Wraithwood and fired explosive arrows at the heads of the Rank 3 basilisks. Each arrow was infused with Bastion's scent and a potent Rank 2 irritant.
The basilisks jerked awake with a roar and began to follow the scent that disturbed their slumber. They slithered toward their target and soon discovered that one of their own had been slain. It was clear to them that these intruders were hunting them, which meant they could not be allowed to live, especially after already killing one of their own.
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"What did Bastion say?" Seraphina asked as she watched the basilisks charging toward them like speeding trains.
"Master says Ariel should stall them from the air with the autocannons while he takes them down one at a time. He has already moved to intercept one of them," Elyra replied.
Their telepathy granted by the masks was short-ranged, so Elyra had to maintain communication over long distances.
"What!?" Ariel yelped, panic edging into her voice. "How am I supposed to keep four basilisks from killing me?"
"Just fly high enough, pay attention to your surroundings, and you'll be fine. The worst they can do is throw rocks at you," Seraphina said, already piecing together Bastion's plan. It was simply a matter of divide and conquer.
"What about us?" Lilia asked.
"Seraphina can fly too, so she will support Ariel. You, Lilia, will create a fog laced with your magic to hinder their senses from the ground. That way he can pick them off one at a time instead of getting swarmed," Elyra said. "He also wants it about 3 meters tall, enough to hide his presence while still letting the basilisks keep eyes on Ariel and vice versa."
Seraphina clapped her hands, finalizing the decision and drawing the girl's attention.
"All right, let's get to it then," she said as wings of fire erupted from her back through Scorching Wings, darting off into the sky.
Ariel sighed heavily at the looming danger but couldn't hide her excitement at the chance to wield both autocannons. She lifted them from their stands, strapping one to each shoulder with the barrels resting at her hips, and flew after Seraphina toward the incoming basilisks.
Lilia, meanwhile, summoned her familiar Misty the Mist Lynx and knelt to meet her at eye level. Misty was a sleek, pale-furred feline a bit bigger than a lynx, her shoulders reaching Lilia's knees, and her body seemed to blur at the edges like drifting fog.
"All right, girl, just like we practiced. You spread your mist while I mix my mana with it and create more fog from the swamp."
"Meow!" the feline responded, nodding before blurring into fog that began to spread.
Lilia aided the effort by feeding her healing-attuned water magic into it, helping it expand across the area. In no time, the fog had already covered the hundred-meter diameter of their platform and continued spreading even farther.
Elyra, meanwhile, blended into the shadows, disappearing from sight. Her responsibility was the same as it had always been, to keep everyone safe and alive.
Once Seraphina was high in the air, she spotted Bastion in the distance, already engaging one of the basilisks. That left four for her and Ariel to distract. She wasn't confident she could hold the attention of two at once, but fortunately, she had a little help.
She waved her hand and summoned Akari, her phoenix. Letting out a piercing cry, Akari circled Seraphina, attentive to her instructions.
"Distract one of the basilisks. Try to poke out its eyes, but make sure you stay safe."
Akari nodded and with a fierce screech flew off to intercept one of the basilisks.
"This reminds me of a certain wizard novel," Seraphina said with a chuckle. "Except we're fighting five at the same time in their territory. What a world."
Ariel flew up beside her and asked, "What do we do?"
"We each take two, aim for their eyes and mouth, and always watch below you. We can't fly too high, or we'll lose their attention. Basically, we're playing with fire," Seraphina said, preparing Deathflare in her hand.
"I don't think I can handle two at once," Ariel admitted.
"Just keep a gun trained on each basilisk's head and you'll be fine," Seraphina said, then took off, firing Deathflare at a basilisk's head, earning both its attention and its rage.
"Welp, here goes nothing," Ariel muttered as she aimed at the last two approaching basilisks.
With trepidation, she opened fire.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!
She missed, horribly, the recoil sending her spiraling higher into the sky and forcing her wings to beat frantically to maintain control.
Gritting her teeth, she adjusted her aim and finally managed to land some hits, sparks flying as the bullets pinged off the basilisks' scales with sharp metallic twangs.
The creatures were annoyed more than hurt, but it couldn't be helped. They were scale-armored Rank 3 basilisks, each shot striking like a harsh poke. At some point, the impacts would feel almost like a massage against their tough hides.
Rather than mind the annoying bird that tickled their skin, the basilisks refocused on their quarry, Bastion, who was busy fighting one of them. They ignored the distraction and continued slithering in his direction.
"Oh no you don't!" Ariel shouted, diving after them.
She passed both heads heading for Bastion, then flicked her left wing to flip around and fired both autocannons less than 10 meters away.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!
The impacts were as ineffective as before, but a few shots struck near their eyes, forcing them to turn away to avoid the projectiles. After all, a harsh poke to the eye would still blind them.
Annoyed, the basilisks refocused just as Lilia and Misty's fog rolled past, concealing Bastion's battle. With little choice, they turned their attention to the annoying bird, chasing it as the recoil sent it tumbling backward, struggling to maintain its aim.
One of them lunged, missing by just a meter as Ariel readjusted her aim, forcing her to change the angle of her flight to evade. At this point, she was less flying and more shooting.
"Ha… haha… hahaha!" Ariel laughed, delighting in the chaos of teasing a pair of Rank 3 basilisks. It was an exhilarating experience she could never have on her own as she was usually too careful. With Bastion and the others, however, she could push herself to do the impossible while still keeping herself alive. It was the best time of her life.
"Ariel! Watch out!" Seraphina shouted through telepathy.
"Huh? What?" Ariel stammered, looking around, completely missing the basilisk's gaping maw lunging from behind her.
Seraphina dived, firing Deathflare in rapid bursts behind her, forcing her speed to the very peak. Then, with a brutal tackle to Ariel's flank, she slammed her sideways, shoving her out of the line of sight of all three basilisks.
A thunderous snap echoed through the air as Seraphina was swallowed whole.
Ariel, still reeling from the tackle, finally registered the horror of what had just happened. Seraphina had sacrificed herself to save her.
"SERAPHINA!!!" Ariel screamed, the world shrinking to the void left by her friend and savior, drowned out by the thunderous gulp of the monstrous creature.
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