A day had already passed. The sun blazing down onto them from above—at least that is what they thought it was. They did not even dare to tilt their heads towards the heavenly skies.
A single movement could spell their doom, and none of them were willing to risk that.
They had neither heard nor seen the beast at all that day, yet something screamed at them to remain idle.
But could they, was the true question?
Ira had lent her mist to the other dormants on occasion, enhancing their bodies to lighten the burden on their undisciplined bodies—and now, it was her turn to bask in its augmentation.
Their muscles had soon grown stiff, sweat beading down their filthy faces from the exertion of staying upright.
The young girl licked her dried lips. The solution of water had eluded them for the past few days, even so they had persevered and continued their journey towards Cammie and Kaine.
But now, they regretted that decision not to search more thoroughly. They had to reap the consequences of their ignorance. They were on a battlefield—yet that only became apparent to them under the stress of combat. Had they seriously underestimated the situation at hand? A Fallen Terror was right above their heads!
'We have to do something… or we die here!'
Ira was right. Of course she was! The Aberrant Tyrant had washed away their blissful ignorance with crystal clarity.
Even so, she had no hope of overcoming such a beast. No Dormant could ever dare to hope to slay such an unimaginably powerful abomination.
And if they did dream, they were mad! Delusionally so!
So, what could she do? The hope that had previously glimmered inside her scarlet red eyes was already dead, her Dormant body was only slightly more powerful than a Strayed Demon, and the lack of sustenance was doing her no favor.
The odds were completely stacked against her—against them.
Perhaps Bell had some sort of Echo ability that could save them from that situation. Had she really forgotten it already?
Only when Ellendore had made her echo ability useful did it engrave itself into Ira's mind. She could not even ask Bell what it was!
'Is this where I die..? A death not of my own choice, but of another's Will?'
The world wanted her dead—Fate wanted her dead.
Her promise to escape its clutches would end in failure. That is what it demanded.
'To hell with it!' She gritted her teeth. The stiffness in her muscles began to dissolve as she took a reluctant step.
The eyes of the other Dormants looked on in fear. Were they about to see Ira be ripped apart and mauled to death?
It did not matter if they were. If she was going to die, she wanted it to be because of her response to a situation, and not her hesitation to act.
A moment passed, and then another.
She was alive.
By some miracle, she had not been caught by the Profane beast.
Another step, and then another, until she was dozens of meters away from the rest of them.
Soon, they too began their silent march.
Her instincts were screaming at her to stop—yet she pressed on. 'Only a fool would wait patiently for their demise! Either I die of my own choices, or I live.'
She was going to live. She was going to make good on her promise to escape Fate.
She was going to destroy the Frenzied Flame.
◇
Finally, she found what she was looking for.
Before her very eyes, the sight of an Awakened Beast lay. Of course, she did not give a damn about what had killed them. She was more concerned with what lay buckled to the corpse's belt.
A pouch of water, not a sip missing from it. Quickly, she bent down and frustratedly began to unbuckle it from its host. 'The dead do not need this, anyway.'
Bringing the bottle to her lips, she contemplated whether or not she should greedily drink from the pouch until nothing remained.
'No… I cannot survive alone in this hell-hole.'
Three mouthfuls of water she drank, and then tossed the remaining to Bariealla who was only a meter away.
They all took turns greedily drinking until nothing remained.
The problem of water had been temporarily solved. Naturally, they would need to find a more permanent solution; however, that did not seem very possible while they were on the move.
Another issue remained. 'What are we supposed to eat?'
The past few days, they had entertained the idea of eating the Purge Beasts they had slain, and even at one point delved into it; doing so had exposed them to the risk of corruption, which had made them quite hesitant to repeatedly do it.
Even so, they were out of options. They were all lethargic, malnourished, and only a few moments ago on the brink of terminal dehydration.
Ira began her march forward once more. She would not die like this. She would not die today.
◇
Soon, the young girl hungrily devoured seared meat from a Strayed Beast. Soon. The rest had quickly joined in, their bodies in desperate need of nourishment—even if it came from the likes of a Purge Beast.
The taste was horrendous. The meat was rough and tough, its flavor akin to rotting meat—yet it was better than nothing.
Perhaps the thought of risking her life by devouring the flesh made it bearable, in some way.
The thrill of corruption brought flavor to the meat. Her eyes began to shimmer with the hope she had once lost.
Of course, they were still in danger of being mauled by the Aberrant Tyrant, but at least their bellies were satisfied, and their bodies no longer had to strain themselves to keep upright.
Ira wondered, 'How would the world turn out if Fort Bravo fell today?'
There were plenty of possibilities, most particularly unfavorable.
One of which is that this would be the breaking point in the war, and humanity would soon be overwhelmed and annihilated.
Another could be that Luminious would escape, giving humanity at least a minuscule amount of hope to survive.
Whatever the case was, she would undoubtedly die if it fell.
Wind hit her eardrums like a thundering boom, simply because the silence was deafening. It was ironic, Ira had always preferred isolation and silence over socializing and obnoxious chattering.
Yet here she was, wishing that a voice would end the silence. Perhaps it would be her own, or maybe even the snarling of a Purge Beast.
All creatures possessed a voice, and that made Ira jealous. To be unrestrained in speech was something she desperately wanted.
Maybe her attribute Doomed was the solution. Or perhaps it was her continued, and quite forceful social interactions.
Whatever the case was, the young girl was completely and utterly exhausted.
And so, she began to dream of blissful words and empty promises that brought her comfort.