Dahlia sat in the cockpit seat, hunched over the tablet, clutching it like a life raft in a storm. When the axe dug into [i]Ablaze[/i]’s leg, she gasped loud enough to echo in the cramped, dark chamber. She had been ready to throw the screen aside and connect, wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but something stopped her. Not something she saw, not something she [i]heard[/i], but rather, something she [i]didn’t[/i] hear. 

She didn’t hear Quinn scream. 

She heard her gasp, or grunt, maybe. She heard [i]something[/i] but it wasn’t the cry of agony she’d expected. And when that absence gave her pause, she saw [i]Ablaze[/i] right herself, almost immediately. 

In a daze, Dahlia watched as Quinn dipped, ducked and deflected enough of [i]Blotklau[/i]’s assault to keep herself alive. Then, in a sweeping arc, [i]Ablaze[/i]’s leg came up, extended straight over her head like a clock struck noon. She might have been frozen there in that moment forever. 

The leg came down. Hard. The toughened shin and modium scutes slammed down onto [i]Blotklau[/i]’s shoulder with such speed and force it sent the Savior down to a knee, and the ground beneath her [i]caved[/i] and the air [i]cracked[/i]. Ichor sprayed the air, sprayed [i]Ablaze[/i], and [i]Blotklau[/i]’s outstretched arm went limp. 

Roaki screamed raggedly in the comms. There was unabashed pain in her voice, but it was quickly and violently overtaken by fury. As [i]Ablaze[/i] backed away, [i]Blotklau[/i] stumbled after her, tumbling down a hill and slamming into the next one as she dragged herself up it. Her left shoulder was crushed, caved in like the ground behind her. Bones black by nature or simply drenched in ichor splintered up through the flesh, and she could hardly so much as lift her forearm. 

It didn’t stop her. 

“[color=ec008c][i]Fuck[/i] you! [i]Fuck you[/i]![/color]” She clawed after her, hunched, her sprint fast and loping. “[color=ec008c]You think you can hurt [i]me[/i]? No one hurts [i]me[/i]! [i]No one hurts me[/i]! I’ll show you—I’ll fucking show you! I’m gonna gut you like a fish! [i]C'mere[/i]![/color]”

Ferocious though her threats were, it took a long time for her to get her speed back, and by then Quinn had gained enough distance and momentum that, when she [i]did[/i] catch up, [i]did[/i] swipe at her, it was never quite close enough. Her claws skinned flesh, scraped modium, but couldn’t find purchase. 

“[color=gray]Quinn,[/color]” Besca said, and while the worry wasn’t entirely gone, there was something equaling it now: confusion. “[color=gray]You have a shot. You have lots of shots, here. You gotta take one before she gets close again![/color]”

A breath in Quinn’s chest, not from Quinn’s lungs. [color=black]TAKE THE SHOT.[/color]

Roaki reached out her hand, and the axes tore into being. One she kept in her grip, the other she bit down on, held so firmly her jaw locked and her teeth cracked and shifted. 

Besca’s warning was too late, she was already close again, and closer every second. 

But the seconds were up. 

A blackness crept in on Quinn’s vision, enshrouded her. The voice within her took a deep, bracing breath, and together they passed a dark threshold. On the tips of her ears, just soft enough to be ignored, but too loud to deny, came whispers from somewhere [i]else[/i]. Somewhere that felt like home. Somewhere she wanted instantly and desperately, so desperately to return to, to be again, to be [i]whole[/i] again and—

“[color=black]No.[/color]”

“[color=black]We are here.[/color]”

[color=black]We. Are. Here.[/color]

She was here. Here, on Illun, in Casoban. Right here, in [i]Ablaze[/i]. It was like something had anchored her by the [i]soul[/i], and refused to let her go, refused to let anything take her away. 

Her eye burned, not with pain but with power. That red orb burst with white light, her cannon hummed and then [i]roared[/i] with unbridled potential. 

Quinnlash phased.