Jesse swung his right arm to strike at the Archon as the sword extended from his exosuit forearm. His left hand gripped the Archons fist tightly, attempting to end the fight before it really began. The Archon, moving faster than Jesse’s exosuit could match, kneed Jesse square in the gut before his strike could land. Jesse grunted as the metal plating covering his stomach dented inward painfully while also sending him staggering a few paces backwards.

  In the same instant, Lord Valrith sprang forward with his sword lashing out towards the Archon’s throat. The tyrant stepped to the side smoothly and planted a fist into the older man’s chest. He let out a grunt and Jesse could hear bones crack. A bolt of lightning sent by Tormund shot towards the Archon's back, but he had already raised his left hand in a strange gesture. A stone rose from the floor and interposed itself between the Archon and the bolt of lightning an instant before it struck. The stone shattered but expended all of the bolts energy.

  “Impossible.” Jesse said in disbelief. The man was a virescent and an arcanescent?

  Jesse pushed Rebecca away from the fight as the resistance soldiers closed in around the Archon. The man smoothly dodged each blow and blocked a few from Lord Valrith. It was all nearly too fast for Jesse to follow. “Stay here. We have to end this quickly.” He told her.

  “Please don’t kill him.” Rebecca said to him as he pulled away. He briefly looked at her, shocked by her response, but he didn’t have time to contemplate her request. He moved towards the fight with speed that could match Lord Valrith, but apparently not the Archon. In the instant that Jesse was gone, the fight had already gone poorly for his allies. The Archon had killed two of the soldiers nearly instantly and the stone floor beneath a third had fallen away. Through the hole Jesse could see the artifact room that they had entered from. Lord Valrith sported a number of cuts from a sword the Archon had finally drawn and Tormund was having difficulty timing any strikes at their enemy given how quickly the man was moving.

  Jesse moved up to the battle with his sword extended on his right arm and his shield on his left. As Jesse neared, the Archon avoided hitting his shield. How had the man known about the rebounding effect? Jesse swung his sword but was deftly avoided. The archon brought rocks falling from the ceiling towards Tormund, who leapt out of the way with a yell. Their foe stabbed out with his sword and impaled another soldier through the neck. Lord Valrith struck out with his sword to take advantage of the extension but the Archon instantly disappeared while making a gesture with his left hand. One moment he was there and the next he stood behind the older nobleman. His sword pierced through their friend's chest a moment later. Jesse screamed as he watched the man collapse to the floor, blood pooling around the body. Jesse could not tell if he still lived but didn’t ask Golem. He didn’t need it weighing on him while he tried to fight this monsterously powerful man.

  The Archon tore through the soldiers, despite Jesse’s best attempts to defend them. He would catch blows with his sword only to have the Archon teleport away before Jesse could take advantage of any openings. One after another fell. Cleb staggered backwards, a deep cut through his abdomen. He collapsed with a look of shock in his eyes. The Archon turned his eyes toward Tormund. Before he could strike, Jesse intercepted him. He slammed into the man as he blurred towards his friend. His shield reverberated and sent the Archon flying towards the wall. Moments before he struck it he disappeared and reappeared in an empty space behind them, rolling along the floor to a stop. Fury flashed in the man’s eyes and he raised his hand. The nearby sitting chair exploded into a mess of metal and wood debris that flew towards Jesse. The debris struck a wall of air and was thrown in random directions, a barrier that Tormund had managed to raise. He then sent a bolt of fire toward the Archon who shifted the stone floor up to block the blast.

  Aegis barked and shattered the barrier a moment later before pouncing towards the man. Jesse yelled as the archon slapped his pet out of the way with a force that could shatter bones. She yelped and tumbled through the hole in the floor left by the archon raising his barrier. Jesse could feel her impact the floor below him with his mental connection with her. A sharp spike of pain radiated in his side as he could feel her rips breaking on contact. Essence streamed from him to heal her. Jesse mentally thanked Mordrak for bonding them in this way. The mysterious woman had certainly saved his beloved dog many times over by that act of kindness.

  The Archon suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Jesse, swinging his sword towards him in a lightning fast attack. He was thrown to the side as Rebecca appeared nearby and planted a kick into the Archon’s side. He once again sailed through the air. He gestured and vanished once more. He did not appear nearby. Jesse had learned from Nira that his daughter was a virescent, but seeing it in person was still surreal.

  “We can’t beat him.” Jesse said, looking over the battlefield. “He’s too strong.”

  “Yeah.” Tormund agreed, looking down at the corpse of their nobleman colleague and around at the slaughtered soldiers.

  Jesse noticed out of the corner of his eye Echo hiding behind some furniture down the long sitting room. Her eyes were wide with terror and she visibly shook. “You should run.” He yelled to her. “We aren’t winning this.”

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  A thought occurred to Jesse. He ran to one of the holes in the floor and peered down. He could see the archway they had entered through. He looked back at his allies and daughter and then back in the hole before deciding. “Follow me!” He yelled to them and jumped in the hole. He landed near Aegis, who slowly climbed to her feet and limped after him. He moved to the back of the archway control panel and tapped it with his mechanical hand. “Get us out of here.” He told Golem.

  The Archon reappeared near him in the artifact room with a handful of soldiers. It looked like he was done toying with them. Tormund, who had been carried down by Rebecca, raised a wall of fire between their allies and the Archon and his men. This proved fruitless however as the Archon simply teleported with his men directly into Jesse’s group. The portal flared to life behind Jesse.

  “Ah, you won’t escape into the waystation Jesse. That one belongs to me, not the corrupted. Fleeing there will only make things harder for you.” The Archon said. Tormund launched a bolt of lightning that struck a nearby soldier and Rebecca threw another one into his companions, knocking several more over. Aegis growled at the Archon but made no further moves. Jesse stood and faced the Archon. The man had a dead look to his eyes and simply stared at Jesse, allowing his soldiers to fight Jesse’s companions.

  Golem, combat strategies? He asked his AI mentally.

  “He has magical abilities and a superior strength and durability as well as his training exceeds your own. You have no advantage in this scenario. My analysis suggests you will never defeat him in a fight barring pure luck or nonstandard methods. My suggestion is to flee.” Golem rang back.

  “Well shit.” Jesse said.

  The archon started to charge Jesse but at the last moment vanished and appeared behind Tormund. The arcanescent whirled but a fist connected with his face with a crunch of bone and he fell to the ground.

  “You are a disappointment just like your master. These are the best your time has to offer in the arcane arts? Simple elemental spells? Pathetic.” He said down at him, raising his sword.

  Tormund looked up at the man and a grin crossed his face. “Well it has its uses.” He said. He snapped his fingers and the area exploded into a blazing inferno. The soldiers around were quickly consumed by the fire and Rebecca had to quickly leap away. Jesse couldn’t make out what happened to the Archon until he appeared at the other side of the room.

  “No!” Jesse yelled looking at Tormund. The man was still there but his clothes were blackened and his skin was badly burnt. He didn’t move. Jesse felt bile rising in his throat and his heart thundered. They were all going to die.

  He looked over to where the Archon had reappeared. He too looked rough, his once fine clothing was burned and his skin was bright red in places and severely burned in others. He had appeared near Echo who was hiding behind some old Tekessara equipment, apparently having jumped down as well. The Archon appeared to be unaware of her. Her eyes bore holes in his back as she trembled.

  “This is your last chance Jesse. I will kill you and Rebecca or you can work for me. We can save this world together. I know you would do anything for her.” The Archon said.

  Maybe I should. Jesse thought. He opened his mouth to speak but Rebecca did first.

  “We will never join you! You are a tyrant! You want to kill my friends! Capture my people! You caused all of this from the sound of it! You opened the portal and dragged us here. You are a monster!” She yelled at him. The archon turned towards her and tensed to move.

  Behind him in a flash of motion Echo struck. Her monstrous hand stabbed into his back with her razor sharp claws. He let out a pained scream and fell to one knee. They sat locked in that position.

  “She is absorbing his essence.” Golem said into his mind. “He is draining quickly.”

  The Archon screamed but seemed frozen in place, much like they were when being drained by a necrescent. Sweat began pouring down Echo’s face and a frantic look entered her eye. A moment later she suddenly fell backwards, just as Jesse had neared to plant his sword into the Archon’s chest. The moment her claws left his body the Archon disappeared, causing Jesse’s strike to slash the air.

  “It seems there is a limit to how much essence one of the creatures can absorb. Her’s is likely less than a fully transformed one. He is severely weakened and injured though.” Golem reported.

  The Archon looked up with rage filled eyes from in front of the open portal archway where he had teleported. “Fine. I am going to kill you both. Then I will kill every person that comes from your wretched planet before I finally close that rift.” The Archon growled. Jesse’s thoughts sped up as Golem used essence to increase his perception. He looked over to his daughter, who stood over the body of Tormund. The man was thankfully breathing for now but if they didn’t win this that would not last. He looked at Echo’s unconscious form. Finally he looked back at the Archon’s hate filled eyes. He knew what he had to do. Jesse pushed forward at speeds that he would have thought defied physics before coming here. He could vaguely hear his daughter shouting at him as he approached their enemy.

  The Archon slashed at his raised sword arm, shattering the blade and grievously wounding the arm beneath, even through the armor. Jesse’s strike was merely meant to distract the Archon though as the two collided and were sent tumbling through the open portal archway together.