Hope's body screamed in protest, but he ignored it.
"Fuck!" he spat, limping forward as blood seeped from under his cracked armor. His ribs throbbed, and every breath was jagged—but there was no time to stop. Not when the scavengers were circling like vultures.
Another one rushed him—this one smaller, faster.
Hope barely lifted his sword in time to parry the slash, the blades clanging with enough force to jar his elbow. He twisted his wrist and slashed horizontally. The tip of his blade scraped across the scavenger's face, drawing black blood, but the thing hissed and came again.
"Crap…!" Hope muttered, stepping back. But he slipped.
Too slow.
The scavenger lunged again.
Hope dropped to one knee and, in a desperate move, shoved his blade upward with both hands. The scavenger landed on it—deep. The steel pierced through its lower jaw and out the top of its skull with a crack! and wet squelch. It twitched violently before falling limp on top of him.
He shoved the body aside, panting, coughing blood.
One down.
He barely had time to breathe when two more came.
One leapt. Hope rolled aside just in time. The second was already behind him.
Damnit—
He whirled around, catching a glancing claw across his arm. Blood sprayed from the wound as his blade clattered to the ground. Pain surged through his bicep.
He snarled. "Fucking bastards!"
He dropped low, grabbing a jagged rock from the cracked earth, and smashed it into the scavenger's eye as it lunged. It reeled back, shrieking.
Hope snatched his sword again, forced himself upright, and with one hard step, drove the blade straight into the beast's side—where the carapace was thinner.
It shrieked and collapsed, dead.
Two down.
But the last one was already mid-air.
Hope twisted, using the corpse as a shield. Claws tore through dead flesh and scraped against his back armor. He staggered, spun, and without thinking, slashed upward—
Shhhhk!
The blade cut through the underside of the beast's chin, into its skull.
It gurgled, dropped limp.
Hope dropped with it.
He was on his knees now, panting, blood dribbling from his mouth. His arm was slick with his own blood, his knees scraped raw, his body battered.
Still alive.
But barely.
Across the field—
Nefer was still standing.
Still dancing.
Her blade flickered through the air like silver lightning. One scavenger leapt for her throat—she sidestepped, twisted mid-turn, and drove her blade up through its gut and out its back. She yanked it free in one smooth motion.
Another came. She ducked low and swept her blade horizontally. It connected—cutting through the creature's legs. It shrieked as it fell. Nefer didn't hesitate—her boot came down hard on its head with a sickening crack.
She turned again, but the third came at her shoulder. This time, it struck. Its claw sliced through her shoulder guard, cutting into skin.
She grunted, stumbling—but didn't fall.
She roared and answered with a violent upward slash, severing the beast's jaw in a burst of black blood. It twitched. Died.
Her breath came in short, ragged bursts now. Her white tunic was slashed, stained with her own blood. But her eyes were still sharp—fierce.
Then—
BOOM!
A blinding light exploded to Hope's right.
Massa.
She had finally finished her chant, her fingers glowing with bright runes, her hair flowing wildly as raw energy pulsed from her core.
Four scavengers had been closing in on her—now they were flying backward, torn apart in a hail of glowing shards and energy. Their corpses hit the ground smoldering, legs twitching violently, black blood sizzling in the light.
Massa fell to her knees, gasping, her body shuddering.
Hope blinked at the carnage. "Damn..." he muttered, trying to laugh, but it came out as a cough.
She'd done it.
They'd all survived—barely.
Their group stood in the field of corpses, the air heavy with the smell of blood, smoke, and cracked carapace. The sun still blazed overhead, uncaring of their pain. Around them, the cracked earth soaked up the carnage.
Hope finally dropped to one knee, sword dragging against the dirt. He was bleeding from three places, armor barely holding, his hands shaking.
"Shit," he hissed. "If this is a warm-up... I don't wanna see the main event."