When the Starborne peered up, the other two had to jump back. "You..." That hissed voice returned, along with the rapid progression of her markings. "I destroyed you..."

Only a few yards away, almost the length of prone Manticore, Mink and Nix saw the one who caused most of their recent problems. "My gem is intact. Therefore I am." A heavily scarred face, showing none of the handsome features it once had. That mentioned gem sat in the bridge of his skull.

"Demon." Uttered Algorath, for the bandaged one, it was clear as the sky to him. A thin, pointed tail lashed out at their back. A set of cloven hoofs for feet. The scarring however did not stop at the face most of its armored body remained forever charred.

Nix felt anger and that translated into her darkening fire once again. The reason why the demon across from them could not heal.

What Algorath felt was returned in a cycle for their sudden guest. "You're one of us. Why are you with them?" But the scarred demon cracked a fanged smile. "Unless you wished to deliver this one to me."  

Mink's dagger glare returned with one of her regular guises. The supposedly impossible mesh of scale and human flesh. He would not. He dared not!

"You aren't my concern." Algorath rumbled. "Begone."

"It's going to be different this go around winged one. For what you done to me, you'll beg for the suffering to end!" His body erupted in a pillar of black and blue flames, flames identical to those lashing out from the tips of the Starborne's wings.

Algorath nearly charged but paused when his legs crossed that of the manticore's rear ones. If a fight broke out here and given the condition of Fio and Sana... So focused on that grim prospect he didn't notice the claw lashing out from the shadow of a tree. Skidding to a rest almost on the motionless siblings, he felt the side of his head, finding the bandages gone.

Mink and Nix looked from the corner of their eyes the gaseous state of their visitor demon, an endless swirling ebon smoke in erratic patterns. However, they clearly could see the beginnings of a line of sharp teeth.

Their foe' blistering form rushed forth, the darkened flames around answering his inner call. A claw exactly shaped as what impacted Algorath went for Mink. The metamorph's body folded back in a way the humanoid body should not bend. But it still kept on moving, with the way of a lizard more correctly those of Mink's lower half.  

"Not good enough!" Mink snarled, completing the delayed flip backwards. She along with Algorath struck at the scarred one once her equilibrium was established. Almost oblivious to the frantic pace all three wreaked on each other was the Starborne...

Nix sat with her comatose friend. Sana's nose bristled showing she still lived but her brother did not.
"Fire... terrible..." The lion head mewed lowly. The same fire swirled around Nix at the moment. Her hatred rose the more she watched the others and in turn, flared the darker flames higher. Her nails were talon sharp without reaching those curved lengths. Their friend Sil called her other guise, Nightmare. Not due to the city they were just outside of, but because how destructive and unforgiving Nix became.

She could not change... but how could she not be furious! Her best friends lied here, the two souls that made up this huge manticore. Even the frustration on how inadequate she felt right now further compounded the fury bubbling in her.
"What can I do?" Her voice was changing! No no no! Those eyes resembled bottomless pits; she excitedly swung her vision about. Her mind desperate to push the dominant aspect to herself away. Her half-clawed digits brushed by the three stars across her neck in the form of a pendant.
Maxima, what did she say?

Algorath's wrappings were steadily consumed by the torrent of fire thrown about. It showed that same insubstantial part of his torso. Not only the armored demon sported it but the divini did as well.

"You'll not stop me from taking..." The demon snarled in sudden agony, crashing against a tree. Mink saw fire streak by her shoulder and weaponry and with the computer's assistance traced it back to the source.

The visitor's clawed hand was lit in Shadowfire, different than the flames those still conscious sported on this sudden battlefield. His fire acted like his body, immaterial, but by all indications of the struggling demon feet away, heavily potent. In his free hand the power solidified into a ball and it pointed directly at their adversary. He sought out that life giving gem.

A collision of three flames rocked the trees. Mink's power forced her advanced GIC to work harder, overriding the very volatile DNA and keeping her stable. Thin metal cords the size of strings erupted from her neck, reestablishing themselves in helix patterns in the bridge of her shapely jaw. These smaller nodes connected around the sudden emergence of a larger cable line. If not for an added ingredient, the metamorph's exotic form would turn savagely monstrous. The black and blue flames rushed off her left hand and in vastly smaller amounts from her mouth.  

Her fire pierced the armor of the scarred one yet he still pressed his attack, engulfing the legs of Mink. At the same time Shadowfire delved into his back with surgical accuracy. Algorath's temper finally reached its zenith and he used the fire to close the gap. Once close the Claymore found a new sheath inside the chestplate and softer pigmented skin underneath. The demon's agony however was not eased as claws and teeth followed suit.

Their battle however did little to help the forest around them. Ignited branches fell to the ground with frightening ease, setting the ground ablaze once again. It only added to the trees that lost their own war of survival.

Nix searched and searched deep within. Her heart poisoned by the events unfolding. The lithe body littered with darkened feathers, slowing then speeding like a disease. The Starborne was many things and one facet to the sapphire that was this particular Ki'Na is Empathy. The burning soul drowned in the tidal waves of emotions in the area and her heart tuned her body to the most prominent. Anger and pain. It tried its best to draw out her own torment in the form of the Nightmare.

Something held stalwart, keeping her mind sane enough. But what? Her eyes fell onto the manticore again. Sana could not function without her brother.

I want to help. I want to hurt!
Nix shook her head fiercely. The darkened aspects slipped into forefront again. Even as the cries of pain and fury reverberated like a bell inside her heart. She felt something shift on her head and saw the tiny Mal leap onto Sana's head.
"What are you doing?"

The changed voice made the panther beast wince but he made soothing noises. She watched him, one talon nuzzling the top of his head.  It helped a bit, allowing the furor to drop. The blood cooling and rushing away from her head.
Wait! She paused in midstroke. She always saw Mal like this but the beast was just a bit smaller than Manticore he sat on only days prior.

"You smart little thing!" She smiled then frowned. There was a way but...

The clash hit a brief lull. Out of the three, Algorath suffered the least. But so far him and Mink did their job. Nix was irate but it appeared suffering more over the loss of her friends. He did not want to draw her into this. Far too emotional meant mistakes, fatal mistakes. A protected boot to his midsection should not hurt, but with the flames billowing about, it washed over his true being. He dashed away when a ravaged branch broke up both demons from their close encounter.

Mink's body was like that of the scarred one; Far more susceptible to the burning element their battle caused, unlike the once defeated demon though her body possessed the technology to repair the damage. The nanobots in her bloodstream reached numbers of planetary proportions. Even her cuts and bruises could let out an army battalion easily. The GIC in her brain oversaw the situation. Her health, the surroundings, those dubbed allies and their lone foe. As one evolved, the other did. Now in this clash, the machine's priority helped the Divini in every conceivable method to help in her desire, releasing extra heavy dosages of natural chemicals to combat the fatigue setting in.

That divini peered over her shaking shoulders. Nix did not lose it yet. As much she wouldn't mind a complete eradication, Mink was certain she would not have the ability to bring her back from insanity only become another target of it. They clashed often and it was one fight she did not want. Her quad set of weapons glistened with tainted blood. Viable options ran on the inside of her iris, and when her mind settled on one she leapt high up into the air.

The beast named Mal watched Nix intently, antennae flicking in random directions. The others saw him as an oddity or ignorant creature. But that was not  the case. He ignored the machine tied to his body. A GIC like Mink's, it physically told him with fluctuating graphs how much trouble. But when her lifeforce entered his bloodstream, something changed. He knew as long Nix was safe, he would. After protecting her from so many attacks boldly and for so long, including the one who gave him actual life. Mal's engineered body finally gave out. But she lived, therefore he did. She brought him back. That's why he reminded her as best he could now. There was little she could not do.

Nix's eyes glistened the more she studied the little thing then her friends. One of the stars around her neck shone when a single tear fell onto them. Her flames wavering between dark and light turned one sided. A backwash of white and blue flames engulfed the area including that of Mal and Nix.

"What is that!" Hissed the scarred one, using one arm to shield his vision but not the incoming sickle-like blade. The darkened flames around Mink's weapon and the demon wavered under the illuminating source at their backs.

It was the other visitor who had the best possible view. The remaining bandages have enough cover to see. The manticore growled and roared but rose. The other heads awakening. A heavy scar on Fio's side, worked in reverse right out of existence. But the healing did not stop there. Every arboreal creation consumed or in the process of being consumed by chaotic fire no longer suffered, every speck of dark fire was devoured by that of the light. Blue yellow leaves sprouted as if time advanced exponentially.

Youth never ceases to amaze me. Algorath saw everything repairing before his eyes. The sheer energy generated easily brought the Unseen Bard to the forefront of his mind. Yet, amazement did not stop there. That energy shot past what he associated to the Guardian dragon.

Mal, tiny Mal on the ground grew, Evolution forced anew for a lost number of times unlike the other times was willingly. To help the one who gave him a new life. The panther reached the same height the motionless demons, showing the brimming power in his legs and now feet long pincers in his center cavity. Those antennae now rose straight up, showing his determination. Where as the cute creature showed more panther than dragon, the adult form showed the reverse, patchwork scales protected the major sections. Leaving the sleekness in those strong legs. Every flap of the six dragonfly wings generate a decent gale, giving a creature never meant to leave the ground the gift of flight. The tail on its back leaned towards that of a scorpion. The barbs around it did not conceal the major one on the tip of Mal's tail. A cross of a shudder and convulse placed a deep glare into the bug-eyes.

The scarred one realized the word outnumbered was an understatement of gross levels and he still did not see the winged woman. Mink did a better job of concealing the events at her back, her grafted device recorded it all. But the metamorph's fought on, keeping the demon's eyes on her. She knew what was occurring at her back was still fragile despite the flaunting power. The difference between Mink, the scarred one and her...

Nix's eyes opened, deep as black holes but her blue flesh was replaced with feathers like her inferno intense wings. The light blue down ran the length of her body, fluffing up the maintained dress. Her small nose and mouth fused,  cogitating that of a bird's beak. The only place her markings remained was on that altered face.
A gem. You said. Before I was so infuriated I did not realize it... you did not keep it on you when we last met demon. It clearly resonated as Nix's voice, but that beak moved not an inch. Her head slowly turned, examining the environs with extreme focus. One hand, talons to a certain level, pointed to the left. Mal rushed off in understanding. The manticore, the biggest of them all, went right with bullet speed.
It should be nearby. I bet on that fact.

The scarred one reeled, the light nearly blinded him and sapped his functions. He wondered why Algorath suffered no such effects. But the truth was simply the one behind the flames. Nix trusted one demon but not the other. Algorath almost missed it between the extended wings of Nix and the light she generated but that gem was situated in a revived tree. The feral grin on his face was not missed by his counterpart.
"No. You wouldn't we are the same!"

But Algorath took off with the speed of a raptor directly at Nix.. Then over her into the tree with one good leap, his Claymore out in the open again.
"NOOOO!"

Steel pierced gemstone and each bit that fractured ignited, bursting into fading flames. The Scarred one erupted into a newer fire but this time agony did a job worse than what Nix's relative passiveness wreaked. Mink backed up when the flaming body lashed at her in a last ditch effort but the body dropped to the ground degrading into ash.

Algorath's expression remained hollow as the large sword returned to whence it came. "We are not the same."

Scribe paced the docking bay's corridor. The Virtou Lord saw the Royal Cruiser ship breaking its gravity locks to dock and the rest of them did not appear yet.
"You'll take out a few centuries with that kind of pacing." Sil spoke, a decanter swishing its contents in his free hand.

"Silence." Hissed Scribe, "Tell me you did not feel that?" His dull eyes saw the overwhelming guard approaching.
"Felt and got a good play by play too." The other white replied with a grin. A free talon brushed his shoulder. When in truth he brushed the underside of a dragon's spirit. Sil the Dragis had the talents of a Soul Keeper. "Our dear little Starborne is growing up." When he saw the Virtou Warrior's cold gaze, the dragis shook his head. "Alright. I'll keep quiet now."

"Lord Rose!" The leader spoke up, saluting Scribe. "We were surprised the council said they received a message from you." Their collective eyes examined the relatively empty hallway. "Where is the prince?"

Scribe was examining every single aura not Sil's, satisfied then and only then did he speak. "Ever direct... Xion come out." A door slid opened beside him, and their crown prince stepped out. The moment the small boy was clear in view, every Virtou dropped to one knee.

"By Reis' Wings I do not believe it...!" Was among the numerous whispers of shock.
"Alright up!" Roared the Virtou Lord, shaking his head in disbelief. He held his good arm on his nephew. "Are we ready to depart?"

'Yes Sir! Where is the rest of your..." Before the answer was given, all of them felt a vast shift in the air. A pentagram forming at their backs toward the entrance to the Kingdom. Intense air washed over them as one by one souls walked out.
The last one however, drew the ire of several soldiers. Algorath gave an extended sigh before Therony's gaze fell on him.

"Stand down!"
"But my lord...!"

"I said stand down!" Those silver eyes looked like they would kill if there was a mere squeak. Algorath shot a gaze of thanks which only prompted the lord to snort. "We leave for Fortuna. Make sure our guests are taken care of." Just as fast as they approached they left for the cruiser, leaving the group alone. But some went with them, namely the manticore, Sil and Scribe.

The human prince nodded in respect to the demon. "Thank you for your assistance. There is room for you on board." Xion was thankful for reasons Algorath had no idea about.
"I had enough adventure for today... I must respectfully decline. Take care."

The prince hurried after his waiting Uncle, who gave one last look from the ship's entrance before boarding.
"Looks like it is just us again..." Mink cooed playfully. Her body repairing itself before their eyes. "I can't believe I’m saying this but I'm glad to have met you... Another set of hands helped." She strolled off without a wasted motion.

Nix shook her head, The unusual blend of down and hair jumped from side to side. She for the mean time was locked in this form.
That is probably the best thank you will get from her.

"It is just as well. She isn't trying to destroy me."
Mal yipped while tumbling off the demon's head, he unlike the Starborne was back to normal. The tiny creature ran about like a lost puppy at the their feet.
We should depart. Are you certain you do not wish to follow?

Again the demon declined, his pentagram reforming. "No Nix. It is alright. You should go..."

The Starborne's eyes looked into that red and yellow slit she could see. If we shall meet again, I look forward to it. Instead of walking, her wings vaulted her forward just as Algorath turned and reentered his portal. He saw Mal's more frantic pace to keep up with the speedy woman, forcing a shake of his head.

Home sounded good right now...