Yarin raised her hand, her fingers quickly grabbing the golden scythe.
The Corrupted Aether advanced toward her, the tendrils swirling around her like it had its own life.
The tendrils shot forward.
Yarin leapt from side to side, the pavement shattering every time the tendrils hit the ground.
She spun her scythe, she sliced through a tendril. The violet mass twitched as the severed piece dissolved into smoke, but another replaced it, writhing violently.
The tendrils lashed again, faster this time.
Yarin slammed the end of her scythe on the ground, using it to vault high. The tendrils collided with each other below, a violent sound of crashing stones from where she stood a second ago.
In mid-air she spun, and slashed downward against another tendril. The scythe cut clean through, dispersing another wave of violet mass.
The remaining tendrils gathered, twisting together, forming into one massive tendril.
"Yarin!" Rilian called out to the far side, glowing with aether.
Yarin quickly pulled a stream of aether from him, her hand weaving in the air forming a shield, her eyes fixed on the massive shape rising before her.
Just as the shield fully formed, the tendril crashed down. She lifted the barrier with one hand, bracing as the impact shook the air with a thunderclap, her feet skidding across the ground.
Yarin gritted her teeth. She slid the blade of her scythe beneath the shield, planting its tip into the pavement to hold the weight.
The tendril pressed harder. Her feet skid, the blade shrieked against the shield and the tip of the scythe sparked against the pavement.
She glanced at the pole—hearing it crack under the weight. A tiny fracture formed from the middle and slowly spread.
With a sudden motion, Yarin vaulted back. The huge tendril crashed, both weapons shattered into pieces, scattered across a large crater on the ground.
The mass rose again. Hanging in the air like a huge serpent ready to devour its prey.
But instead of striking as one, it suddenly split into countless thin fibers and shot toward Yarin.
She leapt, dove, and rolled, trying to stir clear of the lunging tendrils. Until one snagged her foot, she fell forward, dust flying around her.
Immediately she rolled onto her back, hands reaching her foot to untangle it, when tendrils came clutching both of her hands too. More and more wrapped around her, binding her tight.
The tendrils dragged her across the ground. Yarin struggled as she slid on the ground, eyes fixed on the now possessed Aya who seemed eager for blood.
When she was barely a few feet away from the Corrupted Aether, the tendrils lifted her up, and yanked her limbs wide apart.
Rilian winced at the shrill crackle from the earpiece as Yarin screamed in pain. He ripped it out, hurled it to the ground, and bolted toward her.
"Aya, stop that!" Rilian shouted, when suddenly a tendril lashed out and coiled around his neck.
He halted, both hands grabbing the tendril on his neck, trying to stop it from tightening.
Rilian gasped for air. The tendrils were too strong for him. And his feet slowly leave off the ground.
Aya's menacing head turned toward him. "If you won't be mine, then you'll die—both of you."
Rilian's sight darkened, his hands lost strength, fell and dangled to his side.
Suddenly he fell to the ground. His hands immediately grabbed his neck, while he gasped for air.
Rolling onto his side, he blinked against the blur clouding his vision. Through it, he caught the shape of Aya's possessed body—kneeling, trembling, weakening.
He turned his head. His vision cleared just enough to see Yarin bound inside a glowing net of light.
Then movement caught his eye. Another figure stood behind Aya.
A man.
One eye was covered by some kind of device, its faint glow catching in the dark. A long black lab coat draped from his shoulders. Strapped to his forearm was another strange device—its chambers pulsing as it sucked the Corrupted Aether straight out of Aya.
"What are you doing?" Yarin shouted, straining against her bindings.
"I'm helping you," the man said flatly. "I'm taking her Corrupted Aether."
Moments later, Aya collapsed. Her skin and hair slowly returned to normal.
The man gave one glance back, then turned and bolted away.
Rilian staggered to his feet, pressing a hand to his head, still reeling. "What's going on? What is binding you? What happened to Aya? And who was that man?"
The net of light around Yarin began to fade, threads unraveling until they vanished.
Yarin exhaled. "An Alchemist… An Aether Alchemist."
Aya coughed. Rilian and Yarin immediately turned to her as she slowly sat up.
"She's still alive," Rilian said, and they rushed over.
Aya blinked. "What happened—"
Her head shifted toward Yarin, and her eyes widened. "You… you wi—"
She couldn't finish what she wanted to say, her hands quickly grabbed her neck, and she gasped for air.
"What's happening to her?" Rilian asked.
"The Corrupted Aether," Yarin said. "Perhaps it wasn't completely absorbed from her, and so she's now partially human. But the Corrupted Aether is fused into her being. Its energy is too low—she can't breathe."
"What do we do?" Rilian asked in panic.
"Aether—I need your aether," Yarin said sharply. "Hurry."
Rilian concentrated, his body glowing faintly as his aether stirred. Yarin drew a thin stream of it and directed it into Aya's chest.
Aya inhaled sharply. The flush of panic on her cheeks drained, her skin returning to its normal color.
"I don't like this," Yarin groaned, pressing a palm to her face.
"Why?" Rilian asked.
"It seems…" she sighed, "…the three of us are stuck together."