The fist came too fast for Gwyn to dodge, and he spun his Needaimus arm to intercept. The blow twisted his shoulder and body in an odd way. He managed to duck before another swipe came from the other arm.

  “Ach!” the Nopareil yelped as she shoved a bonded palm on the sand. The grains liquefied in an instant, and the cautious Bentalousian leapt back before a wash of gooey sand sprung up to grab her.

  “I’ve told you a hundred times, I hate fighting Needaimus users,” the warrior, Daisy, snapped to her lizard friend. The scaly woman looked as if she smirked, but Gwyn wasn’t sure, given the different facial structures.

  “Just a little longer. Collin almost has the diving gear ready.”

  The Hobusian shouted from a couple of paces behind them, “Almost my behind! Keep fighting, you wench. I’ll be a while longer!”

  The white Bentalousian made a heavy breath and tightened her fists. She glared at Gwyn, who shuddered.

  “We don’t need to fight!” he stammered.

  As if to contradict him, Daisy snatched a freshly fired arrow from the air before it hit her face. Gwyn snapped his head to Mina, who bit her lower lip and drew another back after it appeared from thin air. The giantess squeezed her hand so that the arrow snapped and dissolved, and she burst across the sand before Mina let the next one loose. The elf girl yelped as the warrior sidestepped the attack without slowing down, and the next instant, she was suspended in the air by her makeshift umbrella dress.

  “Let me go! Let me go! You’re tearing it!”

  Gwyn charged across the field, but he knew his options were limited. He didn’t have a projectile, and the sand slowed his pace. Daisy pulled back a fist in position to cave the elf’s face in. Just as it was about to land, she disappeared into a bright flash.

  Gwyn stopped, and Mina dropped from a burst of light in front of him. Fiona zapped in next to the nonpareil and held two blue fists up.

  “Come on, let’s beat up this bad guy!” she chipperly shouted.

  “Oh, my stomach didn’t like that,” Mina groaned from the sand in front of them.

  Gwyn shook his head.

  “Where did you come from!”

  “Hey, focus on the bad guys! Plus, I saved this one even after she almost shot me with an arrow!”

  Gwyn wanted to shout some more, but the fighter in front of them was likely not to take the interruption lying down. She groaned and shook her fluffy head.

  “Amaris, this is getting out of hand. Now, there are two of them!”

  The lizard woman had shuffled to mess with the equipment in place of focusing on the fight. She turned and flicked her tongue at them.

  “Take care of the teleporter. We are almost done.”

  Fionna made a hearty laugh. “Don’t think I’ll let you keep that!” she aimed her attention at Collin and Amaris, and Gwyn figured she was going to zap their equipment away, but she failed to guess how fast the giantess was even in the sandy terrain. He jerked her back just in time to prevent a skull fracture. The white-furred woman switched from a punch to an arm sweep to blow the two of them onto their backs.

  The princess and nonpareil pushed away in opposite rolls as a strike pulverized the sand where they landed.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “She’s really scary!” Fiona muttered before pushing up and zapping behind the Bentalousian. The warrior, seemingly expecting it, spun around and swatted the princess from the air. She rolled a few times before going still.

  Daisy flashed a look at Gwyn, but he remained still and on the ground as he stared back. She laughed and began to march to Fiona.

  “Stop,” Gwyn muttered. He tried to push himself up, but his legs were weak, and he applied too much pressure on his bad arm. Sand covered his face. “Stop, please.”

  If Daisy could hear him, she showed no interest in listening to his plea. Gwyn tried to push himself up again. Mina was still grounded; whether she was awake or not was unclear, and Fiona lay out cold on the ground. Daisy raised a foot over the princess's head.

  “Stop!” a new cry came from the distance. Haliegh had emerged from the bushes with her hand held close to her chest. “What are you all doing?” Gwyn wasn’t sure if she just got there or had followed as Fiona had seemed to do, but the green-haired girl had no Needaimus and looked beyond vulnerable. Her cry managed to stop the giantess from delivering a killing blow, though. A killing blow Gwyn had been powerless to do anything about. The warrior settled her foot on the sand instead and turned to the new opponent. Gwyn clenched the sand in between his Needaimus-bonded fingers.

  “Amaris!” Daisy shouted. “The amount of witnesses is growing.”

  “We are done!” the lizard girl replied. “Come on!” While the rest brawled, the Hobusian and Zenotote equipped mechanical suits, something akin to light armor. A large tank like a turtle shell clung to their backs, and tubes coming from the sides connected to full, black face masks. The giantess didn’t wait any longer. She backed up to the last piece of equipment and began to put on the suit.

  “You lot stay there if you know what’s good for you,” Amaris replied.

  “We should finish them instead,” the Bentalousian said before her face disappeared behind a mask. She bent down so the Hobusian could plug the tube into her mask.

  “And follow us to the bottom of the sea? We’ll be fine!” Amaris replied. Gwyn shook his head and focused on the two in front of him. Mina was closer, but Fiona had taken the most damage. He started to crawl slowly to the blue princess. A burst of laser fire in front of his face stopped him cold.

  Amaris slid the gun back into a hidden compartment on the suit’s leg and shouted, “Stay still if you know what’s good for you!”

  Gwyn smashed a fist to the ground, which seemed not to upset the gun-toting woman. Was he powerless in the end? Nothing was accomplished but defeat. The nonpareil felt a rage in him that began to burn his core. He didn’t want to fight because this would be the outcome, and low and behold, it was the outcome. As his heart stormed, he felt a hardness form on the left of his neck. The disease perhaps, or him imagining it, but it was enough to snap him back to reality a moment. He reached for his pocket, only to find the pill case was left somewhere behind.

  Dread washed the Nonpareil instead, quickly drowning the rage with the realization he might snap and harm the unconscious people left on this beach.

  If his agony was clear to the viewer, the opponents didn’t care. They disappeared under the waves, leaving Gwyn to curl up and clench the spot where he felt his heart thunder. He shut his eyes tight. One moment, he could feel his chest boom; the next, the pulse through his whole body seemed to try to shake the blood vessels loose before turning back to his chest, continuing in a loop. His breathing became heavy as where he ought to focus on seemed to cycle.

  Was he about to lose control again? He had no idea, and that seemed to make the condition worse. He wished it would just end. He wondered if he needed to end it. The heavy beating of his heart and pulse continued to drum through his body until a hand rested on his shoulder.

  The sensation didn’t stop, but for an instant, it dulled. Gwyn’s eyes flashed open, and he saw a green-haired girl kneeling in front of him. Her eyes were kind, but her expression showed she didn’t know what to say. Gwyn felt pathetic, and for the moment, he was content with that being the result.

  “I’m okay, just a little beat up from the fight.” He pushed himself up, doing his best to ignore shaky legs and still fluttering chest. “We need to check on the others.” He trudged across the sand to Fiona, who groaned when he tapped her shoulder. A few moments later, her purple eyes weakly flicked open.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see that last attack… I think… is that what got me? It wasn’t your vehakul trying to hit me again, was it?” She made a weak smile.

  “You’re still as talkative as ever, I see. That means you’re okay… at least.”

  The blue princess chuckled and accepted Gwyn’s hand. He pulled her to her feet. Before he approached Mina, she sat up and crossed her legs under her. Long ears drooped down, and she stared at her feet.

  “I’m sorry,” was all Gwyn heard before another voice came from the forest path.

  “What do we have here!”

  Kako emerged with a sly smile. Gwyn was sure he saw a glimmer across her body, much in the way he would see someone pass through a barrier in a film. She had cast some spell.

  The writer knelt next to Mina and smacked her in the back of the head. Then she looked up to Gwyn and met his eyes with her deep pink ones. “Well, you got trounced.”