As the last remnants of the fog dissipated, Jade pondered the situation, her thoughts racing. "I suppose that was his doing?" she mused, questioning the sudden clarity. "Does this mean he was here before I put up the barrier? It’s hard to say.
That fog could be some type of barrier, and he seemed wary of this crow. Perhaps it’s linked to Ty in some way?"
Turning her attention to the crow perched on her shoulder, Jade observed its focus on the wolf-like creature.
The black sludge that clung to the creature was melting away its skin, rendering it even more grotesque, its growl sounding both dead and eerily alive.
"Hey, Red Crow," Jade ventured, seeking some connection to her past. "Do you know someone named Ty Hockenson?"
The crow stared back.
Then it nodded.
That was enough to steady Jade as the monstrous creature launched itself at them once more.
As Jade refocused on the battle, she felt the full brunt of her exhaustion, noticing that her energy had dwindled to 15. Despite its increased speed, the creature’s movements were sluggish and more predictable, a side effect, she deduced, of the black sludge.
"It’s like the black sludge destroyed its mind," she observed aloud, sidestepping a clumsy paw strike and plunging her blade into the wolf creature. Its body immediately went limp, then collapsed to the side.
Taking a deep breath to gather her strength, Jade turned her attention to the last of the wolf creatures. It sat back, half its face grotesquely melted by the black sludge, which also oozed from a neck wound she had inflicted earlier.
With her white eyes blazing, Jade hurled her dagger at the creature. It made a feeble attempt to swipe the weapon away, but Jade was already in motion. She leaped, seizing the blade mid-air and landing squarely on the creature’s head.
Channeling her dwindling energy into the dagger, she extended its length before driving it down into the creature’s skull, delivering a fatal blow.
Jade cautiously scanned the surroundings, her senses raised for any further threats as V landed heavily on her shoulder. His exhaustion was obvious.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked, worry roughening her voice.
"Yeah, just wasn’t expecting a simple attack to drain me like that," V admitted, his voice betraying his fatigue. "Part of me was still worried you would have gotten hit by that. But I also knew you had a plan."
"Did you hit him, though? I saw you slash, but then you got sent to the ground instead of him?" V’s question was filled with curiosity and concern.
Jade nodded and lifted her shirt enough to reveal the bruise across her side.
"I for sure hit something when I sliced, and I think just for a short moment he used his real power or something along those lines, and hit me faster than I could possibly perceive."
Saying it aloud made the gap in power feel worse.
She had cut something, but he had answered whenever he wanted.
"But we are on the right direction,"
Jade stated.
Jade, feeling the weight of her reliance on the extraordinary vision her eyes provided, contemplated a gradual return to trusting her instincts. V, understanding the complexity of her situation, suggested, "That is probably for the best, Ms.
Jade, but you can still use those visions to train yourself on what to look for without them."
Curious, V inquired, "Does it drain your energy any faster when you use those eyes, though?"
"Not intrinsically," Jade explained, "but when I use it in conjunction with an attack, my emotions usually flare more than normal, and I burn through energy faster."
Their conversation took a brief pause as Jade wondered about the helpful crow. Almost on cue, it appeared overhead, dropping a sparkling object into her hand.
"What is that?" V asked, peering at the object with interest.
Jade examined the crystal with curiosity and confusion. "I’m not really sure, it’s a crystal?"
Pondering the crow’s mysterious gift, she mused, "Any idea why a crow would drop me one of these?"
V shared, "I have heard about strong figures who could communicate through crystals or help others communicate through crystals in my time assisting the King of Nothing, but it was nothing more than hearsay, I suppose."
As Jade held the crystal towards the light of the dawning sun, its pink glow seemed to illuminate the moment with a sense of wonder. "It has a pretty pink glow to it, ya know?" she remarked, admiring its beauty.
V observed, "It does have a unique pink tint to it, almost glowing even."
Their attention briefly shifted back to the crow, now gone. "Did you know that crow by chance?" V inquired, curiosity evident in its voice.
"No, it’s the first time I--no, that’s not true," Jade corrected herself, a sudden realization dawning upon her. "Now that I think about it, when Ty died in my arms, I remember seeing a red-eyed crow in the distance watching me.
At the time, I assumed my mind was playing tricks on me."
The pieces of a puzzle she hadn’t realized were scattered began to click together.
"But with everything that’s been going on, I wonder who it could be... but without a doubt, it’s someone who knows Ty, and that’s enough for me to care about them," she concluded, determination and curiosity sharing her voice.
The crow had not answered much.
Somehow, that made its few answers feel even heavier.
Jade filed the question away.
If the crow knew Ty, then the battlefield had become something larger than a random rescue.
Turning her concern to her companion, she asked, "How are you doing, though? You took some pretty nasty hits from those coins, didn’t you?" as she pulled out the cross, signaling their preparation to return.
V assured her, "Thankfully, those hits were meant to distract more than kill. I’m glad I survived. It seemed he was testing us, though."
Jade nodded in agreement, her mind already racing ahead. "Yeah, I need to process these events and try to figure out what he’s planning. They might be linked to these dreams I’ve been having."