Ugh, she was sweating! Well, not really, but she felt like she should be sweating, and that was just as bad! How many more of these bird things were there?! Well, actually, looking around, there weren’t really that many, maybe over a dozen? Wait, that was a lot, right? Or not really? They didn’t seem that tough now that she thought about it, raising her sword out of a cloud of smoke that used to be one of them. Maybe she was just really strong? Wasn’t she kind of awesome? Like, she [i]had[/i] knocked that one crow guy out with her backpack. He’d gotten up after, but still. Wasn’t she just a total badass?

“Don’t get complacent,” the knight woman rebuked, knocking Mina out of her own head. Turning her head to look at the woman was weird. It was like she was there, but not. Was she a ghost? [i]Was she possessed?[/i] “Focus, girl!”

Oh. Right. Mina turned her eyes back to the front, bringing her zweihander up just in time to block a downward swipe from one of the birdmen. She stepped forward, turning her block into a sideways slash and carving a line across the monster’s chest, turning it into yet another dissipating cloud of smoke. What were these things even made out of? Were they toxic? She wasn’t gonna get mesothelioma from breathing this stuff in, right? She wasn’t sure how she’d collect financial compensation from this if she did. She put one armored hand over her nose and mouth, just in case. 

Mina looked around the street, taking stock of the situation. There were fewer bird people around now, and most of those that were left seemed to have split their focus between the fleeing civilians and… wait, were those [i]other fighters?[/i] She wasn’t the only one? [i]She didn’t even have to be doing this?![/i] Ugh! Mina wished she’d noticed them before getting herself drafted into this mess. She saw some guy with a giant viking axe bring down one of the pigeon dudes that had snatched some of that weird purple stuff. What even was that? Mina watched it snake along the ground after its courier turned to smoke, like some kind of will o’ wisp. It moved kind of sluggishly, coming to hover over the body of some guy before slowly sinking into him. 

“I see…” the knight lady mused quietly. Mina didn’t think she saw anything, and was just trying to sound smart. A lot of people did that, in her experience. “New plan, girl,” the woman spoke again, the feel of her hand pressing against Mina’s shoulder. “Focus on the ones carrying the violet energy. Perhaps if it is returned to its origin, these people will recover.” 

“Really?” Mina asked skeptically. “How do you know that?”

“I don’t,” The knight replied simply. “ But that's all we can hope for for now.”

“What about the ones that are already gone, then?” Mina pressed, planting the tip of her sword in the street and crossing her arms. 

The knight was silent for a moment, apparently in thought. “If these creatures are collecting this energy, they are likely bringing it somewhere,” she answered finally. “If we find where they’re holding it, we can retrieve what’s been taken.” 

“Well then, how do we do that?” 

“Must you question everything?” the knight snapped at her. “Just act. It must be nearby, else you would have spotted the creatures flying afield, yes? Start your search where they’re densest, or perhaps follow those you see bearing the energy in their arms. This is not a difficult conundrum to solve, girl.”

Mina bristled at the reprimand, but pulled her sword free from the ground anyway. She lifted it up onto her shoulder, glancing around for where the monsters were most concentrated. She began to step forward, then hesitated and turned to look for the other two fighter’s she’d seen. “Hey!” she called out, before she’d found either of them again. Oh, there they were. Actually, would they even be able to hear her? Oh well.

“Hey! Try and see if you can find something they’re bringing that purple stuff to!” she pointed her sword at the monsters, as if they could be confused about who she was possibly referring to.