The battlefield was the dirt road that cut an odd angle through the settlement center. On that dirt, Erin was among the hostages that writhed and screamed as they lost their minds.

Shadow 5.12

Against a backdrop of screaming and writhing, with clouds rolling across the overcast sky, and both dust clouds and smoke rolling over the ground, the three assembled groups were very still and careful.

“Stop it,” Rain called out. “Leave them alone.”

“Can’t,” Valefor said. “She isn’t here. But if she sees you stand down, this might end.”

There were kids in that group of writhing individuals. There was an old man with the lines in his neck standing out taut, teeth bared and clenched together.

“I can’t stand down,” Rain said. “Reversing the protection takes time and effort to undo.”

“Then this is your righteous punishment,” Valefor said. As he started talking, I brought my hands up near my ears.

My powers were still wonky. I could tell. My flight and aura didn’t feel readily available.

Beside me, Capricorn had morphed. From Tristan to Byron.

The Fallen guy I’d just been fighting said something low and under his breath, to Valefor.

“No. The immunity isn’t him,” Valefor said. “Not if the rest of them are the same. Someone helped.”

Capricorn had changed again. Back to Tristan. He walked a little, moving away from me. What were they doing?

The woman with the bunny mask walked, almost strutted around the periphery of things, her rapier in hand. The capes with Valefor kept their attention on her, while Valefor was oblivous or uncaring.

“We’ve got other capes showing up, Valefor,” a Fallen soldier said. Young, and possibly powered. I wasn’t sure if I could read too much into costumes or outfits when unpowered and powered were so diverse, but if I was going to, I’d assume powers for the ones who had more identity to their costumes, with confidence rather than conformity in the designs. This guy had bright colors and a hard mask that wrapped around the top and sides of his head. It was made such that it looked like it had been nailed on, with blood, old and fresh, seeping out from the points the nails went in.

“The ones we fought earlier,” the one with the round mask said. The round plate of a mask with four eyeholes cut into the hard was an identity of its own. It stood out. I knew there were powers there, already. He supported the woman with the four-horned mask and red wrappings.

Those two aside, there were six other Fallen that kept Valefor company. Nine in total.