Tutsoi backed away from Nevarii on the rooftop. Was this it? Had he failed? His sword was gone; it disappeared into the snow below. Now, nothing stood between his life and Nevarii’s unmerciful eyes. Nevarii flicked his wrist, and a blade shot out a few inches from below his wrist. It seemed to pair perfectly with the tough material he had wrapped on his palm. A material that could take attacks like they were nothing, and throw them away.

  “Goodbye, Tutsoi Ika.”

  Nevarii lunged forward; Tutsoi couldn’t move. Emotions whirled through Tutsoi again. It was as though a switch had been flicked. In those moments, he saw many things. He saw lights appearing in and out of his vision. An ocean as far as the eye could see. A girl his age with crystal white hair. All of the shards of the Cornimax are swirling above and around. And an inescapably tall mountain, one that, although the ache in his feet begged him not to, he knew he had to climb.

  His life had flashed before his eyes, yet now he was back to the present. Nevarii’s blade inched closer. That was it; Tutsoi was going to die.

  Light erupted from the left, Nevarii’s blade shattered in two as a spinning wheel of light shot through. The light outstretched its arm, and Tutsoi grabbed it instinctively. It pulled Tutsoi forward and away from Nevarii to another, much flatter rooftop. The light gently set down Tutsoi and turned to face Nevarii. Tutsoi looked towards his savior: Corrin.

  “You get your slimy hands off of him!! Don’t ever tell anybody such things!”

  Corrin brought his katana up, pointing it at Nevarii with a vigor Tutsoi had never seen before.

  “Nobody deserves such ridicule for being forced to attack their own friend! Even if what he did was wrong, the reason for which he did it was beautiful, wholesome, and something only a loving brother would have done!”

  Corrin brought his katana back and brought it into a fighting stance.

  All of the memories seemed to flood back. It was as though he had been living in a daze for months. All of his guilt and grief came back and hit him like a boulder. How could he have been so horrible to Lukas when they met after a year apart? What had caused such things? He looked up at Corrin.

  “If you come closer, I’ll cut you in half.”

  Nevarii laughs only slightly and snaps his fingers. Waves of creatures; their arms long past their waist with short legs, stubby heads, and short torsos: they were designed for climbing quickly. They jumped towards Corrin, and he did not hesitate.

  Corrin knew he couldn’t let another comrade die. His blade moved like a river, cutting through creatures one by one easily. It was as though his blade guided him to the next perfect cut. But he couldn’t take on so many of them surrounding him at once.

  “Tutsoi!”

  Corrin began to fall back as the creatures overwhelmed him. In a quick flash of light, Tutsoi appeared from the left, bringing his sword along with him and screaming out. Light danced from one side to the next as the two of them brought down creature after creature. Corrin thanked Tutsoi silently as they fought beside each other. A voice rang out from near Nevarii.

  “Now!”

  Lightning erupted from under Nevarii’s feet as Falcia dashed up and around him, landing perfectly on the rooftop behind him. He turned instinctively and held out his hand to stop an attack, but it never came. Instead, a blade shot up and behind him; Ivas. The blade inched closer to his neck; the attack aimed to halt him rather than kill him. They would still like to have him alive.

  Another sword came ringing through the sky as Corrin only assuming it could only be Hylda, shot up and spun forward with her sword near Nevarii’s outstretched hand; she was going to cut it off. Nevarii was now in check. His face told all they needed to know: he was shocked. But in the chaos, he snapped one single time. From the sky, birds rained down upon them. Their bodies were a mix of blood, flesh, and feathers, and were 5 feet in length.

  Falcia was not expecting a creature from that angle above her. The bird opened its mouth to reveal rows of sharp teeth as it dove. She looked up once, the fear in her eyes telling all she was thinking at that moment. Without thinking, she raised her sword towards the bird, which had no time to move as it skewered its mouth down with Falcia’s sword. Its sharp teeth, however, still cut her head and arms as it flew down.

  Ivas and Hylda were not as lucky. Hylda’s head was already separated from her body, blood spewing out of it after it was torn off. Ivas managed to move aside, but not before the bird got hold of his arm, grabbing and throwing him off the four-story building. Corrin watched his arm fall separately. The creatures fighting Tutsoi and Corrin looked back to see what had happened, as though they were defying orders.

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  Corrin and Tutsoi used the opportunity to cut the last ones apart.

  “Falcia!!”

  Tutsoi teleported to one side of Nevarii, Corrin charged the other. Nevarii was in control of the battlefield again. Both of them pushed past the ice that covered their bodies and pushed to stop Nevarii.

  “Light Katana Style…”

  “Broadsword Style…”

  Both of them geared their attacks before they both spoke simultaneously:

  “Power!!”

  Nevarii raised his hand, and just before the attacks landed, he grabbed one of the flesh birds’ legs, which carried him away to another rooftop.

  “I’ll have to take my leave now. It was quite the pleasure murdering your friends.”

  Tutsoi tried to charge towards him, but Corrin stopped him.

  “We need to tend to whoever is hurt; we can get him next time.”

  Tutsoi, for the first time, listened to what Corrin said and understood it.

  “Alright…”

  Tutsoi says, running to Falcia as she pulls the bird off of her head and arms, taking her sword back from its mouth. Punctures, cuts, and scrapes line her arms and face, making themselves known to whoever lays eyes on them. Falcia looks at them all over her arm and stands up. Tutsoi lends a hand.

  “Falcia, we need to take you back to Avitou, especially alongside Lukas-”

  At the mention of his name, Tutsoi stops talking. Corrin was sure that memories must have been flooding back. He didn’t understand why, but when he saved Tutsoi, something seemed to awaken within him. Like he was waking up after being hypnotized, as though his entire personality had changed.

  Tutsoi looked down with guilt; Corrin could see it written on his face, though he didn’t know what to say. Falcia seemed to notice it as well. Just then, a soldier Corrin didn’t recognize popped their head through the hole in the roof.

  “Falcia! We have the chained boy contained. Corrin dealt a blow that immobilized him!”

  “Good work, Arkai. And Corrin-”

  Just as she turned to Corrin, her face tensed up in shock.

  “What?”

  Just as he spoke, he felt a whirl of pain swirling through his stomach. He looked down and saw blood dripping out of his coat with a large slash in it. Corrin grabbed it instantly and knelt. The pain exploded from his stomach the moment he saw it. Blood dripped from his mouth. The cold air stung the wound more as his vision blurred.

  “Get him back to our safe base. Bring the chained boy, too. We need to question him.”

  Corrin’s eyes become far too heavy for him to keep up as he slides into unconsciousness. Visions passed through Corrin’s mind, flowing in and out in a steady pulse. He raised his head, reviewing the landscape he found himself in. He stood at the foot of a mountain. It reached high into the clouds, its mass overwhelming for Corrin, who surely seemed like nothing more than a speck compared to the mountain’s great height.

  Corrin reviewed the mountain; he tried to walk around, yet reality seemed to shift and alter in a way that was far too confusing for Corrin to move. So he didn’t. All he did was look. He stood at an arch that led to stairs up the mountainside. The stairs were ragged, uneven, and sharp. The incline was unbearable, even to think of climbing. Yet Corrin knew that, for some unknown reason, he had to climb it.

  “Corrin?”

  Corrin opened his eyes, looking to whoever had called his name. Tutsoi stood over him.

  “You’re awake. I’m glad.”

  Tutsoi still spoke with a mystery in his voice, as though he wasn’t quite sure of what he was saying. Corrin sat up and winced at his stomach.

  “Don’t. The wound is healing. We only just got it stitched up.”

  Corrin’s face then drained of all color as a horrifying sound echoed from beyond the door: screams.