Ocular to the Dying Sun

Voices of Hurting; part 2

Yphemu looked at Epiro who felt his face was pale and confused, but she knew that he was creating problems in his head. Not from sheer lack of experience, but consideration.

His eyes looked at her and she made sure that her gaze was firm but comforting. Yphemu is not only the bastion holder of a title passed down with the strongest light magic, she stands with the people she cares for at close consideration.

He whispered, “I knew it…”

Sacr looked at him and prompted him to speak. The way she usually does, by nudging him with the butt end of her gun. He looks at her with a not-annoying frown but started to speak.

“We’ve noticed that a part of the barrier is losing its hold. All of my men managed to evacuate all possible human casualties away, back to a part of the barracks that could hold guard, and we’ve made an effort to stop the youngling Dire-eaters from entering there. But…” Epiro, his grip strong on his gun. “I was right to think that the creatures were targeting the portion of the barracks residence.”

His words triggered Sacr and her thoughts ran in cadence to Yphemu, but even then, Sacr looked to her men and organize them. She sensed Yphemu and watched as she only looked pensive.

Before she could do anything, Yphemu waved her wand and a magical wisp appeared from its tip. There was a fine line of light that voluntarily waved outwards to its end, and it traveled into the sky as if the winds helped it travel to its destination.

On the other end, it stopped dead in front of Verbasi. His collective stance while nursing an exhausted left arm suddenly broke, a smidgen, when he saw the wisp of light.

He knew it was Yphemu’s spell for communicating with those she has magical connections with as a form of bond through training with her. He instinctively stated, “ayon,” a word that they use to agree or start a spell with.

The images that started crossing between them flooded his mind, but Yphemu zoned out a particular thought towards him. Clear as day, he heard her say, “to my residence,” before it cut off.

Finishing her message with a prompt scream, the urgency of this message trumped him and mentally managed to look in the direction of the sudden round of screams and destruction. He didn't bother looking around though he did rely on his assistant magicians to monitor the remaining people in the field. He couldn't see that the partial section behind the barracks, the impromptu office, and the residence for the administrative guests, have been obliterated.

He felt his blood drain as he saw that some of the soldiers and remaining Sari-riders subjugate the Dire-eater younglings that managed to attack the place but what was done is done. Like clockwork, he ordered several of his magicians to prioritize monitoring the ruined section. Back at Yphemu, Sacr and her riders rode through the lands and guiding their Sari-manok steeds to glide in the air with their strong legs, earnestly chasing after their general in pursuit of a group of Dire-eaters that is managing to penetrate the magic wind wall.

Epiro and his team have now been equipped with a complete replenishment of shield shards that they could use to block all kinds of detection and physical attacks from other Dire-eaters when Yphemu ordered him and his team to go back to the barracks and assist Verbasi. She sensed their urgency on the front line end of the docks and it was becoming more stressful to bother with youngling Dire-eaters that have gone mad by heave knows.

Yphemu and Sacr directly entered the section of the wind wall that protects the other side of the barracks docks, holding a few remaining airships still unable to fly outside, and saw the now egged-on medium-sized Dire-eaters still eager and rearing. Several officials and people have panicked enough to use their ship's weapons against the creatures, at least to avail until the numbers have overwhelmed them.

Sacr used her crystal ammunition gun, adjusting its casing to connect metal bearings that were connected by the handle of the gun and form what looked like an adjustable flintlock with a medium snout rifle. With ease, her team followed suit to assist their leader, even without mouthing or the men hearing any command.

On ground and midflight, the Sari-manok riders are good and strong, using their legs and beaks as leverage. Adding strength from the spell Yphemu cast so that they can adjust their swiftness to a speedier motion. Using this meant they are better at distracting and attacking the medium size Dire-eater in a calculated manner even if they can only handle one creature at a time.

Though this may be the case, their technique always comes down to the main hitters of their team, each of them who are equipped with a gun and shoot at an aimed distance. Directly holding the creature's attention and then attaching immobilizing them with their guns is often their strategy.

Continuing to do this has given several of the civilians to successfully hold their ground, and the magician time to strengthen their barrier magic that they have remiss to do so they could help stop the approach of the Dire-eater, both younglings, and the medium-sized ones.

Sheer numbers had always been the detrimental reason why the Dire-eaters are hard to handle, both as simple creatures to observe and when they become a nuisance to society on rare occasions. Defense Militia handles these circumstances by utilizing weapons with an area effect like the guns the Sari-riders carry. Shards infused with specific spells are a thing that holds value for their team to be effective, even if they use the "pack" strategy when they attack as a group.

Two medium-sized Dire-eaters have now felled from the efforts of the Sari-riders, uplifting the spirits of the magicians who are rebuilding the entire building of its magical defenses enough to push back the Dire-eaters from their vicinity.

The presence of the Prime Magician, Yphemu, greatly boosted the spirits of all within the barracks docks, enough to push their muscles into tighter desires to protect everyone and the shards. Added to this was Yphemu’s magic, in a snap, blasting all the youngling Dire-eaters to a distance far from there.

Ordering them to use some of the shards from their stock, despite the intention of preserving them to deliver to all locations, their survival was necessary so they could maintain their security. She used a few and infused a strong barrier spell that could replace the five currently within the barracks.

“Lady Yphemu, we’ve cleared most of the Fathers and several more Sprouts will be dispersed from the last open door.” Sacr reported as she watched Yphemu strengthen a shard barrier on one of the closed doors of the docks. “We might be over-estimating this situation for now, but I'm not going to say it's different for the other parts of the field. I and my riders will handle the rest here in the docks.”

“Only smaller carrier vessels are left after those from Pulchell and Docas airships successfully took flight, right?” Yphemu said, without looking around, and only tending to the other shard beside the barrier. "Delaying them isn't exactly an issue, although I presume reserves are always depleted in some regions at the last minute, I'd rather not risk the supply missing their deadline.

“Sacr, I will send flight magicians your way, so place all your strength in strong-arming the defenses until we can have people that could protect them in flight," suggesting this while standing Yphemu unsheathed her wand and tapped Sacr’s gun. “Your shard’s last remaining ammo is depleting. I’ll replenish this with enough magic so you could refill others from your team. In the meantime, I'll cross over to Verbasi and see how they’re holding up.”

Tending over the gun’s shard holder while sparks filled the core of the shard, Yphemu noticed that it would soon be overused. Cracks do not appear in a mere shard, but dust throughout its use deliberately clogs the magic within the nodes of its crystal rendering magical flow to either stop or contain in one passage. The pressure of the battle has taken a toll on the alchemy-infused gun, but she has no choice.

Infusing a secondary spell was all Yphemu can do for the magic she intended to pass, applying it a layer opaque in presence as it would be enough to hide traces of disobeying a rule the Academy wants for Alchemy-shards. Lightly holding her hand over her mouth, she whispers a silent prayer to bless the gun.

“Your shards are about to break," Yphemu said as she waved her wand back to its holster. “I’ve cast a spell that would prevent it for a few minutes, but make sure to distribute the ammunition enough to your team. Re-enforcing the last of the barrier will be my last act. I’m off to the front, may you be guided by the heavens.”

Sacr nodded before touching Yphemu’s shoulder, more like a light tap, and firmly saying, “be strong Lady Yphemu. We need you, but we do not want you to be harmed and exhausted.”

Smiling softly, she nodded back and said, “it comes with the occupation Sacr.”

Bending over to leave from the half-opened door, not by a hindered opening but due to a blunt force pushing it upward, where the last barrier was reinfused with magic, Yphemu left the premise with a flourish of wind from the magic-coated blade of her rapier, sending the cautiously approaching small-sized Dire-eaters.

Through avoiding certain areas, more so creating pathways where she could divert Dire-eaters away, she sensed Verbasi’s magic calling to her by the same kind of wispy light. However, his version is less lasting with a simple message.

The memory trapped within the wisp of light showed the ruins of the residential area of the premise. This supposed sacred place now had a portion of it laid in destruction. Seeping dread could not have gotten thicker and deeper in her bloodstream of anxiety when another roar sent the largest Dire-eater past the razing wind-like tornado wall and breaking with a magical shattering.

With no time to think of anything anymore, she rushed to the halfway point of the creature with as much finesse and cast a strong psychic barrier that forces everything to halt midway. Her magic was strong enough to halt the creature, but it continued to push and persevere, making its large snout look squished from the sheer effort.

Because of this large Dire-eater insisting on such pressure, it began to injure itself enough to reroute the way it moved its thick slender body and wave the base of its tail towards Yphemu. Getting hit by a muscle mass larger than her body was not the first time she encountered the equivalent of falling towards gravity with gusto from ten meters high.

Shuddering reverberation of shock rang in her ears as in the last minutes she managed to soften her body's flight by being jerked in the opposite direction. She felt like a rag doll if it wasn't for the feeling of having her, own hand grabbing her torso, at least that was only the feeling.

Floating to a halt and softly hitting a tree trunk, her consciousness stayed straight and focused, but blood trickled down her ear and nostril, a slight indication that she overused her mental prowess to control her magic recklessly. Without taking a breather, she flew in haste to the large Dire-eater.

Every movement it made looked like a wild worm wriggling mid-air in slow motion, though its body had not hit the distance near the front of the building, its inevitably reached reality every minute. That's when another wall of rushing winds swirled and turned every single element on the ground to gush upward.

The velocity of the wind struck the large Dire-eater with no consideration of the casualties in the middle of that distance between the creature and the ends of the front wall. Though not effective, it did its work to halt the descent of the Dire-eater, giving Yphemu time to catch its tail.

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