Many years before Catripple and Orechin were born, there were two people among the rebels called Murphius and Niarya. Both were Alterids, like the other rebels at the time, and they fell in love. These two people had two beautiful children: the first was a male and, to everyone's surprise, he was an Alterid like his parents; their second child, a girl, was an Alterid as well. Both the parents and the rebels were extremely happy and surprised, as it was very difficult to have an Alterid child, yet both children were Alterids and their powers promised to be equally strong.
While their parents were on missions, the children usually spent their time inside the base alone, as most of the rebels were called away to help fight for the city. As the children grew, they learned how to use their powers more effectively. It was clear that once they were older, both would join the rebels. They had been listening to the rebels' ideas since they were small and, also thanks to the guidance of their parents, they eventually chose the path for themselves: to join the rebellion.
When the boy was eight years old and the girl was only six, and their power had become stronger, the rebels returned to the base one day. Even children that small understood the air was heavy, the rebels were silent and looking down, for they knew that someone was missing. The children, as they always did when the rebels returned, stood in front of the door waiting for their parents to pick them up, but today that did not happen. The children watched the rebels return to the base without their parents.
Someone positioned his hands on their shoulders and kneeled next to them. It was Uxar. "Orechin, Catripple… let's go to sleep, it's late," said Uxar as he tried to hold back his tears. Behind him, the other rebels could not do the same; they remained silent, though some looked at the children and could not hold back their tears.
"But mo-mommy…" said Catripple as tears slowly fell down her cheeks. Uxar looked at Orechin, who was trying to hold back his own tears but could not resist either. Uxar remained silent and hugged both small children as they both cried uncontrollably in his arms.
As the years passed, both Catripple and Orechin became stronger, and their presence in the rebellion became increasingly important.
"So Catripple… are you really sure about this?" asked Orechin. This was the night before Catripple was to escape from the city; before she entered her room, Orechin had stopped her.
"What do you mean, Orechin? I'm ready and I don't have any problem," said Catripple with a warm smile and a face sure of her own strength.
"I'm sure you will escape… but my concern is… why do you need to return to this hell? Catripple, the moment you are out of this city, don't turn back anymore. Just go away with Eilwarin and live the happy life you've been dreaming of. Returning here will only be dangerous," said Orechin, his voice slowly getting weaker as he started to look at the floor.
Catripple, on the other hand, looked at him with an angry face. "What do you mean, never return? And what about you? What about Syrmax and Tyel? Should I just leave them alone?" asked Catripple as she stepped toward Orechin angrily.
"Yes…" said Orechin as he slowly raised his voice. "We will be alright, we've always been alright. We can take care of things here without any problem," said Orechin. Suddenly, the moment he fully raised his head and his eyes met Catripple's, she slapped Orechin's cheek.
"Are you even listening to what you're saying? I can't turn my back on everyone…" she said, lowering her voice. When she noticed that Orechin had started to look away with tears flowing from his eyes, she gently positioned her hand over his shoulder.
"Hey… I could never leave the people of this city like this. I'm sure this isn't what our parents would have wanted, and it is not what I want. I can live my perfect, calm life with all of you… no, I need to live that life with all of you together. The moment I am out, as we have all chosen, I will go and search for some warriors to help us, and Eilwarin and I will return with them… and then that Ashikunz fucker will perish by our combined strength!" said Catripple in a reassuring tone. When she noticed that Orechin had calmed himself, she raised her voice and spoke with a serious tone.
'But why didn't you listen to me…' These were Orechin's first thoughts as he noticed Catripple's head rolling toward him. 'You should have just run away…' Orechin slowly clenched his fists together and, without any fear, looked directly at Ashikunz.
"I'll fucking end you," he said angrily as he summoned a huge green crystal into his hands.
"Hmph, I'd like to see you try," said Ashikunz as he grabbed the spear near his throne. The moment the spear was in his arms, the others reached Orechin, and he immediately threw the green crystal toward the enemy.
Even though the crystal was moving toward him extremely fast, Ashikunz was able to cut it in half without any problem. Behind that crystal was another, a blue one, which made Ashikunz's senses regarding everything around him slower.
"Now, everyone!" shouted Orechin with an angry look.
"I'll do it!" shouted Lily as she created multiple roots that appeared next to Ashikunz and rushed at him at full speed.
"Snowy, let's go; we can't afford to waste time," ordered Darian. The small fox nodded and immediately fused with Darian, whose body changed once again.
'One on the left… two on the right… one in the front… and exactly four behind,' thought Ashikunz as all the roots rushed toward him. 'I don't need to destroy the crystal first… better to take care of the roots,' thought Ashikunz as, with a single swing of his spear, he was able to cut down all the roots on the sides and in front of him. 'Now the crystal… and then those behind.' In less than a second, Ashikunz moved and destroyed the blue crystal and, with bare effort, was able to cut the remaining roots in half as well.
"Ice Shard!" shouted Darian. A powerful shard was shot at extreme speed toward Ashikunz who, not expecting it, was hit in the back. 'Has it been able to do anything?' thought Darian, but what he saw made him fearful: the back of Ashikunz was still unharmed; he hadn't been able to deal even the slightest damage.
"Now, Liro!" shouted Vane. Liro nodded and created an illusion of another buffalo attached to the other. Both buffalo rushed at extreme speed toward Ashikunz and, once they were down the stairs, both moved in perfect sync.
'Is it the illusion guy's magic?' thought Ashikunz. 'I don't know which one is real… but they are both attached, I can easily cut them down.' Forming this thought, Ashikunz threw himself down the stairs and immediately swung his spear to cut the buffalo in half. The spear passed right through the first buffalo, but Ashikunz's belief was wrong: both buffalo were an illusion. That is why they were attached… he thought.
"Now, Vane!" shouted Orechin as he started to rush toward Ashikunz, creating a huge blue crystal next to him.
Vane remained silent; he had never turned into a buffalo. The one Ashikunz had been seeing since the start of the fight was an illusion created by Liro. Vane was actually flying near the dark roof of the room in his eagle form and, once he noticed that Ashikunz was baited by the illusion, he started to dive toward the Krukin.
'I might not be able to dodge him because of the crystal…' thought Ashikunz. It was not his first time fighting against Orechin's crystals and, the few times he had fought against him, he had understood how they worked and, based on how large they were, the timing required to block the attack. 'Now I just need to block it with my spea—' Ashikunz slowly moved his spear to block Vane's dive, but he was surprised, both by the fact that Vane turned into a polar bear and, more importantly, because he got the timing completely wrong and moved the spear slightly early.
"Now, Lily!" shouted Vane as he positioned himself behind Ashikunz's body and started to block him. Lily was running around placing seeds for her attack while Liro and Tyel were next to Darian, who was charging up a powerful shard.
"Poisoned Crown!" shouted Lily the moment she had finished creating a perfect circle around Ashikunz. Roots grew from the multiple seeds extremely fast and all rushed toward Ashikunz.
'I can parry all of them… I just need to…' But Ashikunz's thought was slow. The moment he was about to swing his spear, the roots had already arrived and grabbed his arms. "I'll leave it to you, Darian," said Vane as he turned into an eagle to fly away. Ashikunz, surprised, could not help but get stuck in the multiple roots, both his legs and arms were pinned by at least three poisoned roots each.
'It shouldn't be possible; with only one crystal this large, the timing should be this… unless!' thought Ashikunz as he felt he finally understood Orechin's plan, but he could not dwell on it now.
"Ice Shard!" shouted Darian with all his strength. Having remained still for quite a few seconds charging the spell, the shard that emerged from his arm was extremely powerful and rushed toward Ashikunz, who could not defend himself in any way.
'I must destroy the… crystals…' thought Ashikunz as he realized the crystal was not just one; inside it was another crystal making time move slower. Ashikunz, even with his arms pinned by roots, was able to launch his spear with such impressive strength that it completely shattered the blue crystals into multiple pieces. 'Just in time,' thought Ashikunz as he realized the shard had started to move at normal speed again. "ARGHHH!" With all his strength, Ashikunz positioned his hand over his face so that the shard would hit the roots and not his eyes.
"Did I damage him?" asked Darian. Orechin, next to him, shook his head. "He understood the trick; he was able to destroy the crystals just in time," said Orechin as he created another green crystal and threw it toward Ashikunz, who simply smashed it with the claws of his hands.
"What do you even expect to do with that stupid crystal?" said Ashikunz as he started to walk slowly toward the spear he had just thrown away.
"This!" shouted Tyel and Liro together as Orechin had already created multiple green crystals and the two of them started to throw them toward Ashikunz. Even though neither of them was physically strong, all the crystals were able to reach Ashikunz.
"They're too slow," commented Ashikunz as, without even looking, he simply smashed each of the green crystals using only three fingers.
"I'll help you too!" shouted Vane as he landed next to Liro and Tyel and started to throw crystals as well.
"Ice Shard!" The moment Darian noticed Ashikunz grabbing the spear from the ground, he threw a powerful shard toward him without hesitation. The Krukin glanced at the shard and, without any problem, gripped his spear and sliced the shard in half. Darian and Liro exchanged a look and nodded to each other.
"Ice Shard!" shouted Darian again, but this time the spell was not created by him; it was an illusion made by Liro. Ashikunz looked at it and simply remained still, letting the shard pass through his body without any hesitation.
"What? He didn't fall for it?" asked Darian, confused, as he had hoped the enemy would be distracted so Lily could block him.
"What? You really expect me to fall for that? That shard was moving too fast, since you have only been charging them for longer until now, and none of them was enough fast like this, it was easy to tell that it is an illusion," said Ashikunz. Hearing these words, everyone felt surprised.
"It will not be easy… get ready," said Orechin. The others nodded and prepared themselves. "We already knew," said all of them together as they got ready to launch another attack.