I stood before the three of them. Aurelia, Dominio, and Rela. All ready for a fight. My body was already a mess.
Am I even able to beat them?
And if Orion is one of the survivors, he'd immediately come to get me. I'd told him that if I didn't come back within twenty minutes, he'd come with at least ten fighters to back me up.
I breathed in. Breathed out.
I blinked, and Dominio was gone. My vision shifted to different colors at blinding speed. I felt numerous stabs all over my body.
I manifested ten more arms, trying to grasp any movement, any scent of his Lumin. Anything. But there was nothing.
My arm grasped something solid. Sharpened. A blade? No. An axe. Rela's weapon.
Another stab hit my shoulder. My hands immediately grasped Dominio's arm.
There it is.
I stabbed his side, feeling my arm go through his body.
My vision returned to normal. I turned to see Rela pushing her axe down, but three of my arms held it in place.
I looked to my right and saw a blur of white.
Wait.
I turned back to Dominio.
It was a clone.
The copy began to yell.
"Get him now!"
Hands sprouted from the Lumin walls, trying to grasp him, but he kept dodging. Bobbing. Weaving. Not even letting the hands touch his skin.
I felt more pressure from Rela's axe. I went for a punch, but Aurelia summoned water tendrils that grabbed my other arms.
I jumped up and kicked Rela's jaw, making her step back. I pulled the water tendrils, yanking Aurelia toward me, then jumped up and stomped her into the floor, leaving a crater.
The tendrils released my arms.
I spread my arms wider.
The walls formed a gigantic hand that caught Dominio, gripping him tight.
Other arms from the walls held Aurelia down.
Where is Orion?
Rela dashed forward, throwing a barrage of slashes and punches. I dodged each attack. Jumped up. Twisted my body. Kicked her jaw again. Landed on the floor and clapped my hands, sending a shockwave that pushed her back.
I dashed toward her, all ten of my arms launching a missile barrage of punches.
Four of her arms caught four of mine. I jumped up and dropkicked her, forcing her back.
Where is Orion?
I looked back. Aurelia was getting up. A massive ball of water floated above her.
Shit.
Arrows of ice launched at me. I expanded my arms, creating a wall that blocked each one.
I turned back and saw a black Lumin rhino.
Shit. I'm too late.
The rhino launched itself, slamming into me. It broke my shield. Its horn stabbed my chest but didn't penetrate my organs.
A barrage of arrows hit my back repeatedly. Aurelia stepped back and threw a water snake that constricted me.
Dominio broke through the giant hand with his dagger. Moving at nearly invisible speed, he dashed forward and slashed my ankles, dropping me to my knees.
He placed his dagger at my neck. Rela pressed her axe to the back of my neck. Aurelia stood behind them with a massive ball of water.
"It's over, Rowan," Aurelia said coldly.
"It's over?" I looked up at her. "How is it over?"
I laughed.
"You think this is over, Aurelia? All of this? Over? How insightful."
The Lumin walls began to move, tearing through the wooden floor, closing in.
"You think this is over? Who decides that?"
A giant hand sprouted from the wall, pulling the snake off me. It grew arms from its fingers, pushing Rela and Dominio away.
"ARROWS OF GLORY!"
More arrows launched toward me. The giant hand surrounded my body, forming a sphere that deflected them all.
I raised an eyebrow and stretched my shoulders.
"I told you, Aurelia. I'm the one who'll decide when this fight is ov—"
A sharp sting shot through my wounds. The injuries were catching up.
I knelt, holding my shoulder.
I'm saying it's not over, but my body says it is.
How funny.
Then I'll have to leave quickly.
I saw a gap between Dominio and Aurelia. A path to escape.
I still had plenty of Lumin from the Solorus crystal.
I dashed forward, running with the shield. Aurelia kept casting ice arrows. Dominio caught up to me.
"Where do you think you're going?" he mused.
Dozens of hands sprouted from the walls, holding Dominio down as he tried to catch up.
The walls opened, giving me a chance to escape.
I'm so close.
Come on.
Then—
Crack.
My ankle strained. My legs cramped.
No. No. No. I am NOT dying on this ship.
I planted my foot, ignoring the pain. The injury. The abuse my body had endured.
I jumped up toward the opening. I looked back and saw more water snakes chasing me.
I launched myself through the gap. The walls closed quickly, decapitating the snakes before they evaporated.
I dragged myself up, using every ounce of strength to pull myself through the exit and into the hallway. I leaned against the wall.
Come on. I'm so close to the Eighty.
I heard cheering and conversation from rookies near the cafeteria.
I'm... so... close...
I stopped.
A figure stood in the hallway.
Tall. Muscular. Holding an axe. Bandages covered his body from mouth to feet. His hair was in dreadlocks. His eyes were locked on me.
No... it can't be... that Lumin... that aura... it can't be...
It's Zain.