Sophia knew exactly what this creature was. It was the thing that had broken her soul. Her past hovered at the forefront of her mind as everything she went through, the person she was, was all part of this creature and what it had done to her. It was the weapon, sure, but that didn’t ease the ache for revenge that burned in her gut, twisting and knotting her insides as the magic threatened to overtake her again.

She worried she would turn into that once helpless little girl again. The one that couldn’t fight for herself, let alone know how. The feeling started to overwhelm her, and she shifted her gaze to her men. They stood by her side, fighting even though they were injured and weakened by the mountain magic. Her worry shifted into resolve.

Rather than running from her past or suppressing it further, she continued to replay those memories. And the more she replayed them, the more her magic wanted to burst from her. But she remained in control. She wasn’t that little girl, frightened and hunted. She was stronger than that.

The creature leapt to the side, trying to swipe at a little girl hiding between the carts. Sophia rushed to the vexsnare and thumped it on its head, shoving the tip of her sword into the shoulder belonging to the arm that reached for the girl. The mother rushed to the crying child and held her close as she darted back away from the fighting.

“You took my snack,” the creature said and swiped at the carts. It tried to climb the wall to get away, but Ezekiel shot a bolt of lightning at the creature, making it fall back to the ground. Its body weight reduced the carts and tables used for selling goods to mere splinters and firewood.

The damage to the town center was getting out of hand. Sophia needed to do something to get this creature to stop. It seemed nearly indestructible, and though everything she had learned about the creatures saying they were hard to kill, that didn’t make it impossible.

But she and her men needed so much more than just the sword and Ezekiel’s magic to take this creature out. She needed to do something she hoped she would never have to do again… let her uncontrollable magic free.

She searched around her and quickly realized how impossible it would be for her to let her magic out without killing too many innocents. She didn’t want to lose even just one. She had managed to gain control over herself and her magic to take out that creature they had first bumped into in the mountain. She almost lost herself then. She couldn’t risk almost losing herself now.

There had to be a way. And with her magic boiling dangerously close to the surface and pushing her to the edge of her control, she didn’t know what else to do.

The creature snapped at another citizen and swiped its claw at yet another.

That’s it.

She screamed as loud as she could and pulled everything she could within her center. Tingling sensations prickled her skin all along her body. She vaguely heard Ezekiel shout something about taking cover. She held her magic in as long as she could. Then, she released it.

Instead of blacking out and waking up naked, with everything around her incinerated and reduced to ashes, the buildings shook, and the ground cracked open. The beast in front of her took the brunt of the magic, becoming consumed in white light.

Once the light faded, her vision returned to normal. Sophia stared at the remains in the middle of the road, where a large, charred lump of bone and horn lay in place of the vexsnare.

The men left their cover and joined her, each of them taking in the sight of what was left of the vexsnare, and each looked at Sophia with an expression of shock and awe. She met their gazes, panting to catch her breath. Their eyes roamed the entire length of her body, searching for injuries. But Sophia stood unscathed.

Ezekiel shook his head as a grin pulled on his lips. “Sophia, you never cease to amaze me.”

Sophia smiled. She felt powerful, and more importantly, in control.

Andreas floated closer and shifted back to his human form. Haris emerged from the tunnel and quickly leaned into him, helping to hold him up.

Sophia gasped at the sight of his blood-soaked clothes. Haris’s form glowed and encompassed Andreas. She stared in awe as she watched Haris lend some of his magic to Andreas. It helped to heal him enough so he could stand on his own, but not enough to stave off the injury.

Ezekiel and Edric lent a hand to Andreas, each wrapping an arm around him to help steady him.

Sophia watched citizens coming out from around the corners and quickly uttered the word to have Haris return to her forearm. Haris dissolved into bright, glowing, green mist and floated to her arm, returning as the vibrant reflection of himself. She patted the spot with a smile and whispered a word of thanks for his help. She would have to release him later, when they were alone, to thank him in person. For now, she was comforted that he was safe and out of sight from people who enjoyed the idea of kill first and ask questions later.

Exhaustion started to run its course through her as she approached the monster and knelt before it.

More citizens appeared, and they stood around, gawking at the creature, Sophia, and her men. She slowly stood, hoping there wouldn’t be another fight. Afterall, she was exposed as an anima contritum—a thing that shouldn’t exist—and her men were convicted as being her accomplices.

A fight, she could expect and deal with. But what happened next shocked her most of all.

One by one, the citizens of Nighthelm gathered around her, cheering and applauding her and her men. They all approached and kicked the beast, then shook her hand. She looked to her men as they beamed, shaking hands with the citizens as well.

The people lifted them into the air, bouncing them up and down.

Sophia had never expected fame or recognition for protecting the people of the only home she ever really knew. But having their acceptance and praise—their thanks—she found the sensation to her liking. She enjoyed it, for she knew that it wouldn’t last forever.