Mouse darted ahead of him, calling to the Guardian. Taiga pulled up on his magic, gritting as the grasses around the demons snapped and broke. He yanked the magic back to himself, laying it beneath him like whips. The magic sunk beneath the road, melting between the gravel and stone.

  It awoke the dormant roots, traveling across and running underneath them. He breathed into it, sharing his magic through the air. It dripped from him in a gentle smoke, sinking and mixing with any life it could find.

  The rain followed the Guardian. His boots splashed through the standing water already disturbed by Mouse. Corruption buzzed his fingers and toes the most. They’d gone numb before his elbows and knees felt the static.

  Instead, he focused on the magic through his palms, funneling through fingertips. The roots danced for him. They grew, swayed, and dug deeper at his request. He begged them, and they raised their stems.

  The grass and ivy stretched through the gravel, bending and twisting around any stone too heavy to lift. A wild strawberry bloomed its outshoots, like arms, and criss-crossed ahead of him. The ivy wrapped around the strong runners, contracting and compressing into strong rope.

  Taiga reached down in his stride, gripping the woven cord and snapping it forward. As the rope grew in a wave of force, the roots drew up, stripping from the ground and lurching forward.

  The rope slid through his fingers, stretching further behind him and tightening. “Reach,” he whispered in bated breath.

  The Guardian ran, and the tether latched onto its legs and arms. When impact hit, Taiga stomped his boots into a halt and yanked back, drawing any slack in the rope into the earth. The Guardian cried out as it swaddled them.

  They sobbed through a roar, tripping over the cord and stumbling to the ground. The impact shook the earth. The rain pounded, drowning the howl the Guardian made as every pull and yank made the rope tighten further.

  “Stop!” Mouse ran to the Guardian, his voice breaking.

  Taiga let him go, sliding himself to a halt. Lingering magic whispered to him before he released it back into the ground. Ripping through gravel and cobblestone drained him, and his numbing legs cracked in pain with every step.

  Mouse pressed his hands into the Guardian’s fur, running around their great body and stroking them gently. His eyes were soft with the Guardian, rare in his love for them. Taiga hung back. If Mouse could break through to them, it was worth patience.

  Sobs shook the Guardian’s great body. Orange corruption flooded from beneath the fur and feathers. The rain slapped the orange back, forcing it up over the surface of the flooded road.

  A light flashed, and Mouse was thrown back a dozen meters. His body ragdolled, and Taiga sprinted to him, yanking the grasses up. The knuckles in his fingers snapped back, and he gritted at the pain, pulling at the roots and forcing ivy to puff. It raised and caught Mouse, rolling him to a gentle landing.

  Despite the numbing of his fingers, his hands seized up and split. The strength in his legs folded. Taiga held his split fingers close to himself, cradling them until the pain calmed. When he dared a look, broken fragments of bark rose over his fingertips.

  “Bear it,” he groaned as he flexed them. He focused ahead, towards Mouse pulling himself up and pressing fingers gingerly to his head.

  The Guardian roared, wriggling on the ground. The ropes snapped, and it struggled free. It howled, squirming to their feet. The mask swiveled towards Mouse, opening its great mouth and screaming again with such force even buried roots trembled.

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  Pink blood spilled from their mask, sobbing and hiccuping. Mouse rose, took a few steps towards it before stumbling. The Guardian flinched, but upon seeing Mouse fall, their demeanor shifted.

  The mask rose up, looking over Mouse. Before Taiga could react, the beast struck towards him. It dashed towards Mouse, tripping over its own limbs, faster and faster to him.

  Taiga sprinted, “Mouse!”

  But he could not outpace a beast. It reached him in moments and pounced over him, talons drawn. The fog dispersed around the movement, and Mouse rolled to the side, just out of immediate reach of the beast.

  It swatted its tail at him, catching Mouse on its quills and flinging him further into the fog. Taiga yelled out at full volume, catching its attention. The beast’s mask swiveled around, and it paused to look him over.

  When it began towards him, Taiga gripped the magics in his hands, slammed it down, and rolled it towards the beast. The road rippled as the roots shot ahead of him.

  “Help me,” he yanked the magic up, and vines ripped from the gravel, joining with the broken rope, “just once more.”

  The vines wrapped around the beast, stopping it dead in its tracks a few meters from him. His magic split down his wrists, breaking skin apart as the bark pierced through. Trembling, thankful for once for the numbing corruption, Taiga stumbled forward.

  “Don’t!” Mouse darted between he and the beast. “They’re not lost.”

  “It would have killed you.” Taiga pulled back, resting a shaky hand to his sword hilt.

  “I can save them.”

  “How??” Taiga bit his lip, forcing calm over him. “Look around, Mouse. The corruption is spreading. It’s in agony.”

  The tremor in Mouse’s chin silenced Taiga. Behind him, pink dripped from empty eyeholes, soft cries melting into the fog. Neither of them said anything, only the drum of the rain whimpered between them.

  Pain dulled beneath the numbness. The bright green glow of split magic dripped from his wooden fingertips, thick and sparkling. It dripped to the ground, soaking back into the earth he borrowed it from.

  Mouse’s eyes lingered on the glow. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’ll heal.” Taiga tried curling his lips into a smile, but from the look Mouse showed, he failed. “What do you want to do?”

  Mouse turned back to the Guardian, taking several quick steps to them. He kneeled over the mask, caressing the top of it. His mouth moved, but Taiga couldn’t make out the words over the pounding rain.

  Maybe it was because of the chaos their approach went unnoticed. By the time the clicking was audible, their glowing blue eyes showed through the fog. Taiga’s chest deflated at the sight of them.

  “Mouse, we gotta go.”

  “What?” Mouse turned, freezing at the line of blue eyes in the fog.

  “I couldn’t hold them for long after stretching the roots to the Guardian.” He used his bark to find the handle of his sword, pulling it from his belt.

  A thunderous roar boomed behind him. It shook the rain and earth, sending Taiga and Mouse, as well as the demons, to the water. Taiga dropped his sword in the stumble, and he fished for it in the rain, feeling nothing unless his bark panged. Something caught on his thumb, and he clasped around the pommel.

  “No, stop!” Mouse’s voice made Taiga whirl around. The beast broke free of its restraints, twisting around and swiping at Mouse, who dodged.

  The demons remained in the fog, and cursing, Taiga ran back to Mouse, pulling him back as the beast regained its footing. It roared into the sky, growling and shying away from them.

  The clicks came up behind them, watching. Taiga turned back to them, swinging his sword in front of them. Wading a few paces towards them.

  “Stay back!” Taiga snapped at them. A demon stepped a pace away. They wouldn’t move on them with the husk of a Guardian there.

  Thuds and splashes made him spin back around to the beast. Mouse climbed its leg, and it thrashed. The mask elongated, nipping at him as if he were a flea. Taiga raced forward, sloshing enough for the beast to notice, but it took no heed of him this time.

  Mouse lost his hold, slipping. The mouth of the beast grabbed hold of him, and he cried out as he was yanked back. Taiga called out, yelling at the beast, but he held no interest anymore.

  Gripping his sword, he drove the remnants of magic into his sword. When he drew close, he spun around, propelling a thorned blade at the leg of the beast. It pierced, and the creature yelped. Mouse dropped from his mouth, landing roughly into the water.

  Taiga ran to him, pulling his head from the water as he blinked his eyes open. The beast sobbed, flinching away from them. It’s head jerked around, something beyond the mist drawing its attention. Without another look, it sprinted away, and towards the mercenaries.