Yrix squinted, uncertain of what to feel.
From what she last saw, Sonera had leaped towards her foe with the Arch-Flayer's blessing, blades in tow. What followed was an explosion of energy, resulting in the complete obscurance of the battlefield. Still, she could feel her student's mind, its moddled surface still beating like a heart.
The Arch-Flayer approached carefully, her spindly fingers prepared for anything.
Relief.
She wasn't proud of that revelation - how she really felt. The concept of pride and dissapointment was familiar to Yrix when dealing with students. But to feel sheer respite upon confirming Sonera's success was, in many ways, quite alarming to her.
"Well done." Yrix would have smiled if she could.
There Sonera was, lying on the ground like a shriveled up weed, surrounded and caked in the ash of what was once her enemy. In no universe could she have accomplished such a feat alone; her shattered ambience held together only by Yrix's blessing. But for all her flaws, she did it.
Sonera had won.
Yrix scraped her off the floor with a Psionic grasp, making sure to brush aside any fleshy remainders of the Infestare. There was no trace of the white seed within the ash, its power having seemingly dissapeared upon the defeat of its host. The Arch-Flayer had little time to worry about the details, however.
She still had a battle to win.
Using the slim pad on her wrist, she typed a simple command.
"Calling all nearby ground units, converge on my beacon."
Holding Sonera in a suspended state, Yrix began to calmly walk back towards the Aerie, seemingly undisturbed by the sheer damage caused to its grounds. In no time at all, a few Daragen appeared from beyond the rubble, their armor blackened by their efforts. Despite their state of survival, however, they seemed none too happy to find Yrix.
"Their leader is dead. Re-establish a perimeter around the Aerie. My students need safety." Yrix ordered.
One brave Daregen stood tall, pointing a finger towards the flaming streak across the horizon. "But our losses-. Surely this installation is not worth the entire-."
Yrix clenched her fist, squishing the Daregen's skull like a grape. She didn't particularly care about his rank or the validity of his words. Under no circumstances would a warrior put under her command talk back to the Arch-Flayer in any way.
"Status." Yrix leisurely turned towards the sky above, reaching out to her Executor.
"Tenable," Premus replied. "We have lost two-thirds of the fleet. Their's is in tatters."
"Quite so." The Arch-Flayer nodded to herself. "A cleanup game, then. Send what you can to the Aerie."
"It will be done."
The remaining ground troops put aside their grievances, staring at their massacred comrades for only a moment. Yrix, on the other hand, wandered about like a hyena, unwilling to put Sonera down. She was more worried than she had anticipated.
A lot more.
The Cosnortium dug in just as she had commanded, keeping the traces of Infestare presenced from entering the Aerie. Yet still there was a risk that her exhausted students could encounter the enemy, and perhaps be slain by a single Incipent. Without their Psionic Ambience, they were just girls, afterall.
"Where are you?" Yrix reached out with her Psionic gaze.
Something was interfering.
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