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Chapter Text

The fangs of the Jagras sank into her teammates’ flesh. Wounded and battered, they did their best to repel them, as they crawled on the foliage to recover their weapons. The skin of those small iguana-like fanged wyverns was covered in green scales, with blue and red stripes on the sides. Those were the kind of monsters that traveled and attacked as a pack. They were considered very weak by everyone, but theirs was a team of total beginners: they’d still managed to get ambushed by Jagras.

Erika and many other young hunters at the start of their career had come to the New World of their own free will, aboard the argosy, and the local veterans jokingly called them “the Sixers”, although they were an unofficial group that wasn’t there at the Guild’s request: no more fleets were needed, since the mystery of the Elders’ Crossing had been solved. There was one thing all the Sixers had in common: they were all young and very inexperienced.

They counted at least fifteen specimens, while there were just three of them. With their long and slim bodies, the Jagras were able to agilely dodge the shots of their bowguns. Erika’s leg was bitten and her teammates had to drag and hide her in the vegetation to give her time to medicate herself. Her two companions killed ten Jagras, but they ended up disarmed and wounded. The killing blow was nigh. Erika lay prone among the bushes, scared to death by what she was witnessing. It was terrible: she felt useless. Her companions were about to die and it would be her fault. She shed a couple of tears, as she prepared for the worst. Then she saw her switch axe: it lay three feet from her, just outside the bushes.

Erika snapped. She felt mad at those creatures, mad at herself for being so powerless. She gritted her teeth and began crawling towards her weapon, but she stopped moaning: although she’d bandaged it, her leg hurt like crazy; the bite wound was deep. But luckily for her, those monsters didn’t hear her, as focused as they were on approaching their prey. They walked towards the wounded hunters with caution, although they’d overwhelmed her, while making low intimidating sounds. With a huge effort, Erika was able to crawl to her switch axe. She managed to stand up by using the tip of her weapon as a crutch.

She tried to keep her balance and her sudden confidence began waning: after all, she didn’t have so many chances to kill the remaining Jagras. She’d kill at least one, had it dared come at her. Then the others would notice her, leave the other two hunters alone and kill her first. She honestly didn’t care: they were doomed to an embarrassing death anyway, killed by the weakest monsters in the continent, but she would at least try. Had she been lucid, she would’ve fired her SOS flare. But instead she acted impulsively, driven by her anger and frustration, not to mention the pain in her leg. She let out a moan and all the monsters turned to her.

“What are you doing? Have you lost it?!” shouted the others.

The five fanged wyverns roared and approached her. The girl’s heart skipped a beat, as she collapsed again. One of those monsters was already in front of her. She stared into its tiny yellow eyes with slitted pupils, surrounded by black circles. Time seemed to stop. Then, all of a sudden, Erika heard a woman’s voice shout:

“Get down!”

Erika instinctively obeyed. She rolled sideways and lay on her back. She heard a mechanical sound, like a triggered being pulled. A piercing pod flew into the Jagras’ mouth, now open and ready to bite the girl. The sharp projectile broke through the monster’s skull, came out of the back of its head and killed it instantly. The four remaining Jagras stepped back, growling and hissing. Erika heard the sound of metal armor and footsteps in the foliage. Then the woman’s voice asked:

“Are you hurt?”

Erika nodded and looked behind her. She saw a woman in alloy armor. She carried a Barroth hammer on her shoulders. When she walked past Erika, the girl noticed a ponytail dyed in purple coming out from behind the helmet. At that point, while Erika’s teammates joined her, the woman drew her weapon and attacked. The Jagras roared at her, but they could do nothing. The woman’s hammer blows were well-aimed and precise. With a couple of hits, she snapped the neck of two of them, while the other two stepped back in terror.

The huntress tightened her grip on the handle of her hammer and dashed at them. She began spinning and repeatedly smashing their bones. The two beasts couldn’t resist that series of hits: they died in seconds. The woman put down her hammer and sighed. She turned around and stared at the three unfortunate newbies. She looked at them silently for a few moments. Erika had watched the huntress’ quick fight. Her expression had shifted from astonishment to awe, after seeing the stranger’s talent.

“Are you a team?” the woman asked.

When the three of them nodded, she went to recover their satchels, which had fallen in the attack. She gave them back and fired an SOS flare.

“You may leave everything at the resource center, when the rescuers take you back to Astera,” she said.

Then she picked up her hammer and added:

“I’ll stick around and be on the lookout. I wouldn’t like more Jagras or some other monster to come back and cause trouble.”

She was about to walk away, waving at them dismissively. Erika gulped, before calling her:

“Wait!”

The huntress stopped and turned around again. Erika exclaimed:

“Let us thank you for what you’ve done!”

She reached for her pocket and pulled out her zenny. She checked how much coin they’d brought and clenched her teeth in frustration. The woman approached them and Erika whispered:

“We have only two-hundred zenny: the boys didn’t bring any. But I can get more as soon as I recover! Just pick a fee and we’ll pay you as soon as we can!”

Her friends nodded in agreement. They spent a minute in silence, during which the only sounds were the calls echoing through the jungle. Eventually, the woman chuckled, which confused Erika. The stranger raised her hand and refused:

“It’s all right, relax. You needn’t pay me. Just be careful, next time. You were lucky I was passing by.”

At that point, she rummaged through her satchel and pulled out a bag of coins. She tossed it to Erika, which was speechless when she saw the huntress war carrying around two-thousand zenny. The woman explained:

“These are for your medical expenses, so you won’t have to spend your own money. I can recover this amount of zenny quite easily with an investigation or two, anyway: it’s no problem.”

Erika felt her eyes getting watery: she was moved. One of her two partners rolled up his eyes, the other one giggled. Erika replied with a faint voice:

“Thank you so much! Can you at least tell us your name?”

The woman was quiet for a few seconds, then brought her hands to her head. She took off her helmet and revealed a kind smile. Erika could now see her hair dyed in dark purple, with a shade of blue. She had amber eyes. Her skin was furrowed by a couple of slight wrinkles. She had a small mouth with thin lips and a tiny nose. Erika noticed two scars on her face. The first one were three deep claw marks on her right temple; the second one was a vertical cut on her left eye: it began under her eyebrow and went down to her cheekbone. If it was a more severe wound, maybe that eye would be an empty orbit. The woman introduced herself:

“My name’s Xavia. Now I must go, though.”

“Thanks again, Xavia!” Erika exclaimed.

Xavia rapidly walked away and found a vantage point. She began keeping an eye on the surroundings from above, holding her hammer.

A fifteen-year-old girl with long black hair and blue eyes exhorted:

“Come on, Ratha, let’s hurry: it’s getting dark.”

The monster next to her croaked and gave her its side to let her saddle up. They had to find shelter for the night. They found it after about an hour spent flying: a cave covered in moss. The girl got off her monster’s back and petted its head. The creature let her pet it, pleased. The girl sat down on a rock and looked outside the cave: it had just begun raining. Ratha put his head on the girl’s lap to ask for more stroking. His young mistress mumbled:

“So this is the New World. We’ll be staying here for a while: we’ll have to get used to it. I just hope Narga and Nami were able to come ashore.”

The young girl had been escorted from the Old World by three of her monsters. She’d been called back from her village by the Guild, which had requested one of the inhabitants to leave for an urgent mission in the New World without prior notice. She and her pack had paid a ferryman and had traversed the ocean on a boat of modest size. But during their journey, they’d been attacked by a bunch of Plesioth. Despite the girl and the three monsters’ efforts, the boat had sunk. She’d managed to mount Ratha and he’d taken off. However, she’d lost sight of Narga and Nami.

“Come on, we’d better get some sleep. Goodnight, Ratha!”

She beheld the jungle outside the cave for another while, watching the rain ticking on the rocks and the fronds of the trees. When she got tired, she leaned her head on the monster’s neck and fell asleep. Her first few hours in the New World hadn’t been so pleasant.

Chapter Text

It had been a peaceful night. Ratha had watched over the girl since the crack of dawn to keep any hostile monster from attacking them. She woke up after a few hours, with a loud yawn. She got scared for a moment, when she no longer saw the monster at her side, but calmed down as soon as she found it at the entrance of the cave. She beheld her Rathalos for a moment: noble and proud, always and in any case. She stood up calmly, approached her tame and smiled at it:

“Good morning, Ratha!”

The monster turned around and uttered a happy roar, when she sat down beside him and began to caress his pointed head gently. She watched the flying wyvern staring at her with his right eye, the only one he had: his left eye had been poked out and a long claw mark cut through it so deeply that he was forced to keep his eyelid closed. That scar differentiated him from all other Rathalos and, in the girl’s opinion, it made him look like a “veteran”. Nevertheless, Ratha was still young: his scales were still orange, not dark red like a fully grown specimen’s. The girl began to observe the landscape: the rain of last night was over and had given way to the faint light of the morning sun, filtered by the plants of the forest. The grass and fronds were covered with a small layer of dew, creating charming plays of light. The girl smiled at that sight; she thought she could stay there all day, alone with Ratha and the silence, to observe that little wonder of nature. However, that beautiful moment was ruined by a soft groan from Ratha. The girl looked at him worriedly, but chuckled when she felt the monster lick her hand. She smiled and stood up:

“I get it, I get it. You’re hungry,” she sighed.

The Rathalos responded by wagging his tail. Suddenly, the girl gasped: she recalled that she’d left her bag on the ship and hadn’t had time to retrieve it, before mounting Ratha. She looked at him with a guilty and embarrassed expression.

“We’re out of food. Sorry, Ratha,” she whispered.

The Rathalos stared at her, opened his mouth wide and uttered a disappointed cry which caused the girl to look away.

“Well, all we can do now is hunt,” she sighed, turning around.

She had no idea what she’d find in the New World. She’d only spotted a few iguana-like monsters the day before. The Rathalos gave her a little push with his head, as if sensing that something was upsetting the girl: that was how he’d try to cheer her up. She smiled, thinking that as long as Ratha stayed with her, she’d have nothing to fear. He was her mount, she was his Rider. She brought her hands to the nape of her neck and smiled:

“Do you want to stretch your wings before hunting?” she asked.

The Rathalos made a jubilant roar and walked out of the cave. He squinted because of the sunlight, then spread his wings as a gentle breeze rose. Suddenly, he gained momentum and took flight. The girl smiled, as she watched him disappear over the branches of the trees above.

“Don’t go too far!” she shouted.

She got a familiar roar in response. She smiled, took her hands off the nape of her neck and stretched. She looked around, looking for her helmet, and found it where she’d left it the night before. She picked it up and looked at it; she stared at her own reflection in the metal. She looked quietly at the mark of her native village, a small red claw painted on her cheek. She ran her finger over the effigy and caressed it. She’d been in the New World for less than a day and already missed her village and friends. She shook her head to drive away those thoughts: she was getting too distracted. She put the helmet back on, picked up her sword and shield and walked out of the cave. Entering the jungle, she looked around: no sign of Ratha or threats. Trying to call back her monster, she called him a couple of times:

“Ratha! Ratha!”

She got no answer, so she brought two fingers to her mouth and whistled. She worried when she didn’t see him arrive, which he usually did every time.

“Where’s he gone?” she wondered.

She hoped her Rathalos hadn’t gotten into trouble already.

Meanwhile, in Astera, the Commander was checking and leafing through several reports of monster sightings at the assembly table, as he did most of the time. The current situation was alarming: for several weeks, monsters affected by a strange disease never encountered until then in the New World had begun to sporadically appear almost everywhere, in every corner of the continent. Based on the descriptions, the symptoms were always the same: a layer of black smoke enveloping the creatures’ whole bodies, eyes glowing red and extreme aggression. The most experienced hunters had significant trouble killing them. Furthermore, infected carcasses seemed to be an excellent vector.

They’d warned the Guild right away; they’d been told that their descriptions matched the Black Blight, one of the most mysterious diseases in the Old World. There had been a brief but cataclysmic epidemic a few years earlier, come to an end all of a sudden. The Guild personnel had announced they’d summoned a Rider to fight the disease while it was in its infancy. Riders lived in isolated communities in remote regions and had a unique trait: thanks to Kinship Stones, special ores common in their areas, they could tame monsters at birth and turn them into faithful mounts for life. Moreover, that mineral was the only thing that could eradicate the Black Blight. However, a week and a half had passed and there was still no trace of the Rider. Should a complaint be sent? While reflecting on these things, the Commander was joined by his grandson, the Field Team Leader:

“I bring interesting news, grandpa,” he warned.

“What is it?”

“A Rathalos was spotted near the base. However, the Tailraiders said it’s behaving strangely: they told me it acts like it’s never been in the Ancient Forest before. So is it a specimen from the Old World? If so, why migrate here? That wouldn’t make sense!”

“It’s too early to tell. Are there any other clues?”

“That’s all they reported.”

“Perhaps we’d better have it studied closely by the scholars. Get an investigation notice posted, request some hunter catch it and bring it here,” ordered the Commander.

“Consider it done!”

As the young man walked away, his grandfather asked him:

“By the way, any news from the caverns of El Dorado?”

“Nothing unusual: the Admiral and Blood Eyes’ team haven’t seen the Kulve Taroth for half a month now.”

That said, he took his leave.

As she’d told Erika, Xavia could regain the two thousand zenny she’d given her with any investigation. Therefore, that morning she went to her handler Hana to ask her what the investigations of the day were. Hana took her register and let her leaf through it. Xavia absentmindedly scrolled through the pages, looking for bounties with a reward closest to the sum she wanted to earn. Eventually, she noticed the request to capture a Rathalos “behaving ambiguously”, as the description put it. Those quest data aroused her curiosity, ignoring the fact that the reward was nine thousand five hundred zenny. So she picked that one. After saying goodbye to Hana, she went to get her gear, called a pterowyvern, and headed to the Ancient Forest.

“Ratha! Ratha!”

The girl kept calling and looking for her Rathalos. That was all she could do now. Several hours had passed since she’d last seen him and, after wandering through that jungle for a while, she realized she’d gotten lost.

“Where the hell did he go?” she wondered, irritated.

She was also beginning to feel exhausted. She hadn’t eaten yet, but she’d been drinking from a small lake. However, she’d seen some shepherd hares grooming themselves there. She’d tried to get closer to kill one and roast it, but one of those lizard-like monsters she’d spotted the night before had been quicker than her. The girl brought a hand to her stomach: it had been gurgling for hours now.

“I won’t get far at this rate. Where the heck is Ratha?” she thought.

She sat on the ground among the ferns to rest, when she heard a familiar roar: her Rathalos’. It sounded like a call for help, though. In a hurry, she stood up and followed the sound of roars, making her way through the foliage and vines with her sword drawn.

The investigation description told the truth: that Rathalos was very close to Astera. Indeed, Xavia spotted it after just ten minutes of exploration. But she immediately noticed there was something unusual with it: it was definitely smaller than the ones she was used to hunting. In addition, its scales were a much brighter red than normal, almost orange. It also had a scar on its left eye. When she found it, it was eating a dead Aptonoth, soaked in blood. The wyvern looked overall healthy and strong.

“Did they really post an investigation for a mere juvenile?” Xavia wondered, as she grabbed her hammer.

At least it was just a capture request: she would’ve felt too sorry to take the life of such a young specimen, which may have just been weaned.

Chapter Text

The huntress lurked among the ferns, holding her hammer: it was better to observe the juvenile Rathalos, in order to figure out when she’d get a good opening to attack. But the Rathalos, after eating its prey, moved to a flatter area, full of small pools of water surrounded by stones, palm trees and vitalilies. With a snort, Xavia ran after her target and caught up with it, hiding in a bush. All around them, a herd of Aptonoth was drinking and grazing. Now they were even closer to the gates of Astera. However, what truly came as a surprise was the fact that the Rathalos looked disoriented. Furthermore, it was constantly looking around, as if looking for something.

Xavia simply thought it was trying to find its way back to its nest, but she didn’t understand why it stayed on the ground for so long. It didn’t matter, though: it was time to confront it. Trying not to be spotted, the huntress picked up some stones from the ground, charging her slingshot. She’d devised a simple strategy the moment she’d seen the monster move out into the open. She had the upper hand there: if one of the Rathalos’ fireballs hit her, she could dive into one of the pools to put out the flames right away. On the other hand, despite its young age, that was still a Rathalos. It surely wouldn’t be easy to catch the monster without wearing it down first.

With her slingshot, she aimed at a strategic point near a pond, not too far from the wyvern, so it could catch its attention. She pulled the trigger and shot the stone into the water. But it didn’t go as she hoped: while the Rathalos did hear the noise, it didn’t go to check on its source. It just stood there, observing the spot where the stone had landed, sniffing the air. Xavia gritted her teeth, preparing a few throwing knives soaked in a paralyzing toxin: she’d incapacitate it and smashed her hammer onto its head; she’d work out the rest when the effects of paralysis would wear out. On the other hand, observing her target’s behavior and understanding its temperament was also important to know how to predict its moves.

Xavia aimed at the neck and threw the first knife, before coming out of her hideout. At that point, however, she froze: something had gone wrong again. The Rathalos had been hit by the tainted knife, but that was still the first one she’d thrown. The paralysis wasn’t supposed to kick in already, yet the monster was groaning in convulsions. So Xavia dared to get closer. She raised the hammer and smashed it on the Rathalos’ head, but it didn’t seem to hurt much: the creature just flinched. Clearly, its hide was already tough, although it was a young specimen. The monster roared at her, but the paralysis was still affecting it and it couldn’t move. Xavia had to take advantage of it.

She grabbed the handle of the hammer firmly with both hands, moving sideways and crushing the right wing with several heavy blows. She was about to end her assault with one last smash more powerful than the others, which probably would’ve severely damaged the membrane, if not even broken the phalanges. But then came a sudden stroke of bad luck. The effect of paralysis vanished. The Rathalos was free to move again and did so immediately. It moved its wing away, dodging the hammer blow that would’ve broken it. Fear crept into the huntress’s mind as the hammer hit the ground. Fear that a fireball would come straight to her face, fear of a tail sweep that would slap her.

Nothing happened, however. The Rathalos stood in front of her, a furious look in its right eye. However, that gaze showed another feeling that she couldn’t quite identify. Was it pain? Fear? Curiosity? Xavia couldn’t tell. The human and the monster ended up staring at each other for a bunch of seconds, as if trying to understand each other. Then the monster snapped. It suddenly flapped its wings and a gust of wind forced the huntress to cover her face with both arms to shelter from the airflow. After that, she saw the wyvern a few meters above the ground, still glaring at her.

The monster’s insistent staring made the huntress feel insecure. However, as she kept looking at the monster, her insecurity turned into anger: she felt like that monster was mocking her, with that look. She held the hammer firmly for a second, gritting her teeth. She sheathed her weapon and loaded some piercing pods into her slingshot. She tried to aim at the monster’s wings to perforate the membranes. She shot one, but the wyvern dodged it. Another shot. Another one. And a fourth one. The Rathalos kept dodging her pods with ease, occasionally roaring and making the nearby Aptonoth run away in fear. It didn’t fight back, which fueled the woman’s confusion and anger. Xavia stamped, completely overwhelmed by irritation. She waved at the flying Rathalos and shouted at it:

“Will you stop that?! You’re getting on my nerves! Come down and face me!”

That Rathalos had managed to make her lose her temper, which hadn’t happened to her for a long time during a hunt. However, the flying monster stayed airborne, and it didn’t look like it wanted to land. Xavia grunted, clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white; she grabbed her hammer again. If the Rathalos wouldn’t come down, she’d make it. In a snap, she pulled a screamer pod out of her bag. Xavia held the small berry, loaded it into the slingshot, then pointed it at the Rathalos. It wasn’t actually so cautious to use something so noisy so close to Astera, but she was too angry to think about it. Capturing that Rathalos was now a personal matter. She fired the pod. The Rathalos dodged it. The huntress smirked: everything was going according to plan. After flying past the monster, the pod exploded. Then a shrill noise was heard. A low, nearly inaudible hiss broke the silence of the plain.

At that point, a nearly deafening whistle echoed everywhere. It almost sounded like a desperate, shrill, gruesome scream. Animals found it unbearable; indeed, all the remaining Aptonoth fled in panic. That sound stunned the Rathalos, which began to lose height while roaring desperately, as if calling for help. Xavia grinned, wielding her hammer. The whistle of screamer pods was just a buzz to human ears. For monsters, however, it was a noise so sharp it totally destabilized them, deafening them for several minutes. The Rathalos fell to the ground and crash-landed. Xavia attacked right away: she could now strike the monster trouble-free. She started by hitting the same wing as before; with a single blow, a large tear opened in the membrane. She went for the other wing, so as to limit the monster’s chances of escape. After that, she’d stun it with a smash to the head.

Just then, her impulsive decision backfired. Before delivering the final blow to the monster’s wing, she stopped as she heard a familiar roar. A roar which echoed across the plain. Xavia froze, dumbfounded. She turned around: a Tobi-Kadachi had shown up, drawn to the bustle. She absolutely had to fight that monster off: it was too close to Astera. As soon as it saw the Rathalos, the Tobi-Kadachi charged its fur with static electricity, making it curl to look more threatening. Xavia was about to grab a dung pod to chase it away with, but the Tobi-Kadachi attacked her first, quick as lightning. She narrowly dodged it, rolling to the side. Now she had to strike back to give herself time to grab the dung pod. She cursed herself for having lost her temper like that:

“Let this be a lesson for me,” she thought.

She shrugged and got in an attack stance, wielding her hammer:

“You and me, then!” she defied it.

Chapter Text

The girl was hiding from the huntress and the fanged wyvern among the bushes. She’d just gotten there and hadn’t been able to see much of what was going on. She’d seen the huntress and the Rathalos dodge the attacks of that unknown monster. She’d never seen such a creature in the Old World, with that slender body and silvery fur. Now she was watching the huntress in alloy armor fight that medium-sized monster with a Barroth hammer. She looked experienced in handling that type of weapon, hitting the monster in the forelegs and the snout with ease, despite her opponent’s speed.

Meanwhile, Ratha stood aside; one of his wings was injured. That huntress had most likely attacked him, or maybe some other monster in the area; she didn’t want to think about it. She furiously drew her sword and came foreward. Neither the electric monster nor the huntress seemed to notice her, so she immediately rushed to her friend. As he saw her, Ratha croaked in pain and joined her. In a hurry, the girl bent down and took his muzzle in her hands, relieved to see him again. Then she looked up, caressing his forehead; in response, he closed his good eye, appreciating the gesture.

There was a couple of scratches on his head, while the membrane of his right wing had been torn near the center. He probably wouldn’t be able to fly for a while – trying to make him take off would only hurt him more. After examining the Rathalos’ wounds, the girl got back to observing the clash taking place just a few meters from them. Apparently, the huntress was managing, but she still felt compelled to contribute:

“I have to help her! But Ratha’s hurt, what do I do?” she wondered.

Xavia had been hammering and dodging for several minutes now, yet the Tobi-Kadachi wouldn’t retreat: it was more stubborn than expected. But she didn’t have all day, nor could she waste time with a monster that wasn’t her target. She loaded a knife soaked in narcotics into her slingshot, attempting to hit the monster in the abdomen. The chances it would fall asleep were high, it would take very little. She threw a couple of knives, but the Tobi-Kadachi was always able to dodge them, twirling gracefully.

“Damn it!” she cursed softly.

Xavia looked away for a moment, reaching for a dung pod. She looked up just in time to see the Tobi-Kadachi dashing forward to overwhelm her, with its tail and back wrapped in electric sparks. Instinct told her to roll away, dive sideways, anything, but her legs wouldn’t respond: sometimes, even experts failed. However, she wasn’t hit. The Tobi-Kadachi was struck by a fireball and fell to the ground. Xavia gasped: the Rathalos! She’d completely forgotten about it in the heat of battle, but that Rathalos was still there. Sure, it was battered, but apparently there was still some fight in it, since it could spit a fireball hard enough to overthrow the other monster.

Perhaps, if she lured the Tobi-kadachi to the flying wyvern, she’d gain a huge advantage. However, as soon as she looked where the fireball came from, she was dumbfounded: there was someone on the Rathalos’ back. They wore white armor leaving their arms and neck uncovered, while their helmet revealed their face, and they were short. Xavia couldn’t see their facial features, but judging from the light armor with feminine proportions, she guessed that was a teenage girl. When she came close enough to the huntress, the girl asked her in a sweet voice:

“Are you all right?”

The Rathalos placed itself next to the huntress and the girl turned to her, allowing Xavia to take a better look at her. Though confused by what was happening, Xavia nodded. She was about to ask her who she was, when the flying wyvern’s roar brought their attention back to the Tobi-Kadachi: it was back on its feet. The electric discharges became even more intense. The girl came down from her monster’s back and urged it:

“Come on, Ratha!”

The Rathalos nodded. With great difficulty and in pain, given how it moaned, the Rathalos managed to take flight, gliding towards its opponent. Meanwhile, the girl drew her sword and was about to follow her companion, but Xavia grabbed her arm.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” she asked, confused.

The girl didn’t turn to her and looked at the two monsters fighting. The Rathalos hit the Tobi-Kadachi with its talons. She shook her head, moving her arm and breaking free from Xavia’s grip.

“I’ll answer all of your questions when we’re done!” she said, hurriedly.

She beat her sword on her shield to make noise. Then she sprinted towards the fanged wyvern, leaving the huntress behind. Xavia was still confused by what she was seeing: a monster rider. As the Rathalos and the girl fought the Tobi-Kadachi, she figured it out:

“Ah, of course! It must be the Rider we’ve been waiting for from the Old World,” she thought.

At that point, she suddenly felt sad for a moment: she knew all about Riders very well. And she had no happy memories of them.

Chapter Text

When the girl caught up with the two monsters, her Rathalos struck the Tobi-Kadachi with its tail, bringing it down. He was panting and visibly tired. The other monster wasn’t faring much better, but the Rider knew she should never underestimate weak-looking monsters.

“Ratha!”

The girl ran to her flying wyvern, stood by his side and watched the Tobi-Kadachi try to get up, waving its paws in bulk. Although the Rathalos was tired, he managed to inflict serious damage on his opponent, burning the fur on its back and injuring its tail. Moreover, by scratching it several times with his claws, he’d poisoned it.

“Well done, Ratha! Now go recover,” she said, stroking his head.

The Rathalos seemed hesitant, but obeyed and stepped aside, trying not to fold his injured wing and ignore the pain. The girl held her sword firmly in her left hand, dashing towards the now standing Tobi-Kadachi. She sank her blade into its side, which made it let out a cry of pain. The Tobi-Kadachi stared at her, enraged. In response, she grinned and pulled out her sword. Then, rolling to the side, she struck its snout with the shield to stun it, and then began a sequence of light but rapid slashes all over its body. After all those attacks, the Tobi-Kadachi lost its patience and roared louder than the previous times. With very fast acrobatics, it knocked down the girl with a lash of its tail. While she was on the ground, it jumped on her and pinned her down with its paws.

She saw its dripping pink mouth inches from her face and shivered. Hissing, the Tobi-Kadachi grabbed her and threw her away. The girl landed on her back with a thud that took her breath away. An excruciating pain from the blow ran through her body, forcing her to lie on the ground for a few seconds. However, before the monster could jump on her and eat her face, the purple-haired huntress suddenly showed up and struck the fanged wyvern on the jaw with a rising blow, causing it to fall on its side.

“I’ve had enough!” she exclaimed.

Without wasting a second, she pounced on the vulnerable Tobi-Kadachi. She raised her hammer over its head, charged the blow and delivered a final, devastating strike on the beast’s skull, pulping its brain. The huntress breathed a sigh of relief, took off her helmet and looked at the girl. The Rathalos had gone to her and the girl stroked its head while it was sitting: she seemed to be fine. Soon after, three hunters of the Fourth Fleet came out of the jungle. One carried a light bowgun and the other two wielded charge blades.

As soon as they saw the Rathalos near the girl, they became alarmed and the two with charge blades came running with their weapons drawn, scaring the wyvern and making it take a few steps back. The light bowgunner caught up with Xavia and asked her if she was injured. When she shook her head, he quickly explained that the Tobi-Kadachi was their target, which was why they were there. Then he joined his partners and prepared to attack the one-eyed Rathalos.

“No! Stop!” the girl shouted, waving her arms and running towards them.

The three hunters ignored her and walked past her, telling her to get as far away as she could. Xavia ran over and stood between them and the Rathalos, spreading her arms to tell them to stop. The hunters stared at her in confusion, and so did the girl.

“That Rathalos is my quarry. And I have to capture it, not slay it. So if you harm it, I swear I don’t know what I might do to you: I’m quite on edge today.”

The hunters were hesitant and gave each other a questioning look. But then, seeing that the Rathalos wasn’t acting aggressive, they shrugged and decided to sheathe their weapons, after which they began to skin the Tobi-Kadachi. The girl ran to her Rathalos, hugging his head.

“Ratha!” she whispered.

She rested her forehead on the monster’s beak, and he closed his good eye. A minute of silence passed, as the Aptonoth began returning to the plain after the battle. The girl turned to the huntress. She looked at her with a smile of gratitude:

“Thank you! Thank you so much! You saved him!” she exclaimed.

Then, without giving her time to speak, she brought a hand to her chest.

“I’m Yuri Aros, high rank Rider from Hakum village, affiliated with the Guild in Gildegaran,” she introduced herself.

As soon as she heard that name and surname, however, the purple-haired woman opened her eyes wide, astonished:

“Yuri Aros?”

She couldn’t believe that was truly the young Rider’s name. In fact, she was immediately convinced that it was a coincidence: after all, homonyms could always happen. She shook her head and turned around:

“Come with me, I’ll take you to Astera: we’ve been expecting you for more than a week,” she urged her, with ill-concealed nervousness.

Finally, that bad day was coming to an end. Yuri was relieved, but didn’t know what the future held. Neither for her, nor for all the hunters of Astera.

Chapter Text

Knowing full well that the scholars would panic if they saw her deliver the Rathalos from the investigation awake and watchful, instead of narcotized like any other specimen, she made Yuri wait outside the base and warned the leaders of the First Fleet that the Rider had arrived, also explaining all the misunderstandings which there had been with her Rathalos. So, while the Commander gathered the entire community of Astera to make the announcement, the huntress returned to Yuri and gave her the go-ahead. The scholars suggested taking the flying wyvern to the platform where captured monsters were normally studied, so it could get some rest. The girl agreed, but refused to go to the assembly when the Commander came asking after her.

“Ratha’s injured, I can’t leave him,” she protested.

On the other hand, she feared that Ratha, if left alone for too long, would decide to take a look around and make a mess. Eventually, however, she remembered that the entire Research Commission needed her expertise with the Black Blight, a threat not to be taken lightly, and she persuaded herself.

Once the Rathalos was taken care of, Yuri officially introduced herself to all the hunters of Astera, who welcomed her. At the end of the meeting, the scholars met privately with the Commander, around the assembly table. Xavia was also requested to attend, since she’d been the first to meet their guest. After giving her report, the huntress stood aside, saying she was interested in listening to the questions they’d ask the girl and her explanations. But the truth was that she couldn’t help but think about that young Rider since she learnt what her name was.

In the following hour, the scholars described the current situation in detail: when the sightings of monsters affected by the Black Blight began, how frequently they were spotted, how they interacted with unaffected creatures, the impact they were having on the ecosystem of the New World biomes. Yuri listened attentively, and when asked questions about the disease, she described how Riders fought it in the Old World, how they tried to stem the rise of infected monsters, and other information. Finally, when the Commander dismissed her and told her to wait for new directives, the girl went to see her Rathalos. Before leaving, she solemnly promised the Commander that she’d do her best to help the Commission.

Yuri thanked Xavia once more for the help she’d given her that afternoon. Meanwhile, Ratha had fallen asleep on the monster platform and the scholars were taking advantage of it to take a look at the wounds on his right wing.

“Your fire-breathing friend looks sociable,” Xavia commented, arms crossed.

Yuri smiled and giggled:

“Ratha doesn’t usually attack people,” she replied, sitting next to the sleeping monster.

A few moments of silence passed, before the scholars left her alone with Ratha.

“So, this is the New World, eh?” asked Yuri, thinking back to the fascinating jungle she’d explored until recently.

She sighed, leaning her back against one of the wooden poles to which the chain serving as the perimeter of the platform was attached. She looked up at the sky, where the first stars began to appear.

“I’ll start looking for Narga and Nami tomorrow, if no infected monsters are reported right away,” thought the girl, worried.

The Felyne attendants found free private housing for Yuri. Having never been occupied by anyone, it was bare and dusty, but they promised they’d refurbish it as soon as possible. When the Rider and the huntress took their leave, Xavia didn’t go to her lodging. Instead, she went up to the Celestial Pursuit to enjoy the night view and take a breath of fresh air, as well as to reflect.

“Hey there, Xavia!”

The huntress heard Hana call her, but she didn’t answer her and didn’t even turn to look at her. Her handler then approached her and stared at her with a radiant smile:

“Lost in thought, are we?” she said, trying to get her to talk.

The huntress nodded, but uttered no word.

“You know, I looked at you from afar during the meeting, and you looked distracted. That’s not like you! You haven’t spoken once, while you usually make at least one comment. Is something wrong?” she asked.

Xavia kept silent, so Hana stared at the horizon as well. After a few moments of silence, she sighed and broke away from the parapet:

“It’s because of that girl, I assume. You’ve acted weird ever since she showed up. But if you won’t talk about it, that’s fine. You know I’m stubborn, anyway! I’ll make you spill the beans, sooner or later!” she taunted her, jokingly.

She turned around and was about to leave, but the huntress spoke:

“Yes, you’re right. I might as well tell you,” she said with a sigh, moving away from the parapet and looking at the sky.

Lying on the ground, the hunter groaned through gritted teeth, while an electric burn hurt his back. The monster he was fighting had knocked him down with a lash of its webbed tail, and then had hit his back by spitting a ball of electrified mucus. His two partners and their Felyne companion were ready to protect him, covering his back. Their gathering expedition to the beach in front of the Ancient Forest, which was usually very quiet, had been interrupted by the assault of a monster known only in the Old World. A herd of Kestodon escaped into the thick of the jungle, as the creature had just killed some specimens. The hunters noticed, however, that the herbivores’ carcasses emanated a pestilential black smoke, a sign that they carried the strange disease which had been spreading on the continent for some time: the monster had killed and eaten them, but then had noticed them and attacked them.

The monster was about to attack again, but a huntress with a longword, who had been wounded in the side, anticipated it: she dodged a bite attack, placing herself next to the long neck of the beast, and cut it with a powerful slash. Their opponent fell back and roared, furious. It spat another electric ball, but the hunters shot a dung pod each: they weren’t equipped to fight as well as they could, so it was much safer to repel the monster. Disgusted by the stench, the sea creature stared at them for a few more seconds, before diving into the sea as fast as it had emerged. Once left alone, the hunters and the Felyne looked gave each other astounded looks, unable to believe they’d just encountered that species in the New World: a Lagiacrus.

Chapter Text

The three hunters and the Felyne returned to Astera at dawn. The injured man and woman were immediately taken to the infirmary, where they were medicated. Their injuries were severe, but not to the point of getting them hospitalized. When they were bandaged and released, they immediately went to tell the leaders of the First Fleet what had happened. As soon as the news about the Lagiacrus spread, a large crowd of incredulous hunters gathered at the assembly table. Xavia wasn’t among them, but she learnt about it from Hana, who joined her breathlessly at her lodging:

“Xavia, you have no idea what happened tonight!” she exclaimed.

“What happened?” she asked indifferently, as she sharpened her hammer.

The night before, they’d taken their leave after Xavia had revealed what was upsetting her, but she’d made Hana promise not to tell anyone, least of all the Rider girl.

“A Lagiacrus was spotted! It’s in the Ancient Forest!” exclaimed Hana.

“What?”

“Yes! A Lagiacrus! Here, in the New World! Three hunters who were on an expedition to the beach saw it, two were injured. They’ve just told everyone.”

Xavia opened her eyes wide:

“Are you serious?”

Hana nodded, equally surprised.

“An assignment to slay it has already been posted. Are you interested?”

The huntress thought about it for a few seconds, then shook her head:

“No, I’d rather not: I have other things to deal with today. Let someone else take care of it.”

“Fine. Well, you’re right: if what you told me last night is true, you definitely have something big on your hands! Hunting would just distract you.”

“Indeed.”

Xavia sighed as Hana left the lodging. She wouldn’t have taken on that mission anyway: she hated Lagiacrus – fighting them was a huge pain in her ass, especially underwater.

She found Yuri next to the Rathalos, which was still resting on the monster platform.

“Hey, little girl!” she called her.

Yuri turned around and greeted her cordially. Hiding her anxiety, Xavia joined her and asked:

“Would you like to come and eat something with me? I can show you around Astera in the meantime, if you like.”

Before the girl could reply, a gurgling of her stomach made her blush with embarrassment. She chuckled, scratching her neck, and nodded:

“Yes, very gladly!” she replied.

Before leaving, however, Yuri checked her Rathalos. It was sleeping, so she gave it one last pat on the head. Xavia looked at her, then turned around:

“I didn’t get to introduce myself yesterday. My name’s Xavia Rudria, it was very nice to meet you,” she said gently, signaling to follow her to the third floor of the base.

“It sure is strange, huh? A Lagiacrus in the New World!” Nina told her brother Nick.

He nodded silently, scanning the area where the Lagiacrus had last been spotted with binoculars. Both hunters wore Kirin armor, obtained from their earnings. In the end, it was the two of them who accepted the investigation to hunt the leviathan, mainly out of curiosity. They were used to amphibious monsters in the Old World, and Lagiacrus were their favorite species. Nina’s main weapon was the bow, Nick’s was the longsword. They’d been lurking on the beach for hours, waiting for the monster to show up. It was already afternoon, when they finally spotted it.

“There it is,” Nick warned, pointing at it.

He passed his binoculars to Nina, so she could take a look herself: she saw the Lagiarus crawling out of the sea, ambushing a herd of unsuspecting Kestodon, which were eating dates from a palm tree at the edge of the beach. However, Nina noticed an abnormal detail:

“Wait, see that? Right there, on its sides,” she whispered.

Nick took a closer look at the monster and noticed ruby red scales arranged in a row on its sides, contrasting with the blue of the rest of its body.

“There are more on its back and hind legs. What do you think it is? A skin disease?” he asked his sister.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Come on, let’s go!”

Nina stood up in a snap, pulling her bow off her shoulder. Nick nodded, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

“Same old strategy?”

“Same old strategy.”

“Alright, then, let’s go!”

They bumped fists and set off. However, before the fight began, a Great Jagras came out of the forest to feast on the Kestodon. When it was confronted by the Lagiacrus, it gasped and gave it an intimidating hiss, getting into a defense stance. The leviathan reacted immediately: with a ravenous roar, it rushed to the Great Jagras and grabbed it by the neck, lifting it off the ground. An electric shock enveloped its mouth and spread through the big iguana’s body, causing it to scream. In a desperate attempt to break free, it began to writhe and kick, scratching the face and neck of the Lagiacrus. The leviathan threw it to the ground violently with a rapid snap of its head. The Gran Jagras rolled in the sand, leaving a furrow in it.

“It’s screwed now. Was it so hard to run away immediately?” commented Nina, with a hint of sympathy.

“What did you expect? It’s a Great Jagras! If they don’t get scrambled like eggs by some bigger monster, they’re not happy,” Nick joked.

The Great Jagras got up, panting. It tried to escape, limping, hoping that the leviathan would leave it alone. Instead, the Lagiacrus kept staring at it. But no one could ever predict what happened next: the Lagiacrus breathed in, tilting its head. Then the area around its jaws turned red, as if flames had begun to swirl around the leviathan’s snout. In the blink of an eye, a blaze was generated between its jaws. After a second breath, a fireball was shot at the fleeing Great Jagras, setting it on fire. Tipping over, the Great Jagras writhed and cried out desperately as its skin charred, then died. The Lagiacrus approached it, drooling. The two hunters were speechless.

“A fire-breathing Lagiacrus?! What the fuck?” Nick gasped.

“That’s no Lagiacrus! It’s impossible! Lagiacrus only have electric organs!” Nina yelled, hysterical.

Nick shook his head and, though agitated, tried to keep calm:

“We still have to fight it: we took on this assignment,” he said.

She bit her lip with a sigh:

“Ugh... very well. Let the hunt begin.”

Chapter Text

Yuri and Xavia had lunch together at the canteen. The Rider took the opportunity to ask the huntress several things, and thus they chatted for quite a while, discussing monsters for most of the time.

“As a Rider, I must update my Monsterpedia whenever I discover a new detail about monster ecology, and I’m also quite curious myself, so could you let me see the species of the New World more closely, when you have some free time?” she asked her, with a dreamy look.

Xavia gave her a warm smile and accepted. Then, as promised, she showed her the various services available in Astera: the supply stash – whose attendant gave Yuri a whole package of herbal medicines as a welcome gift – the forge, and the area where the scholars usually gathered to discuss their new discoveries. It was there that they heard about the sighting of a Lagiacrus.

“A Lagiacrus?! You spotted a Lagiacrus?!” asked Yuri, interrupting their discussion.

The emotional tone she said that in left baffled Xavia. The wyverian scholars turned to Yuri and Xavia apologized for the Rider’s meddling, a little embarrassed. A hunter in pink Rathian armor passing by answered the girl’s question:

“Yes, my teammates and I saw it: there’s something strange about the scales of that one. We didn’t expect a Lagiacrus to pop up like this, out of nowhere. My partners got hurt, but they’ve already recovered: nothing serious. Still...”

Hearing that statement, Yuri looked rather surprised, but made a worried expression soon after.

“What was wrong with its scales?” asked Xavia, curious.

“At first, I thought it was a Lagiacrus like any other, but...”

His Felyne companion intruded:

“No, it was nothing like any other Lagiacrus, meow! It looked like any Lagiacrus, but had red scales all over its body! As red as a Teostra’s mane, meow!”

“Oh, damn! Red scales?” whispered the girl, frightened.

The hunter nodded:

“Exactly. It had the typical blue skin of Lagiacrus, but there was a row of red scales on its sides. Why, have you seen it before?” he asked the Rider.

Yuri looked away, clearly agitated:

“No, I know nothing about it.”

She turned around and tried to leave, but Xavia put her hand on her shoulder:

“Yuri, wait. What’s going on? Why are you upset?”

The girl clenched her fists and clenched her lips:

“I’m... I’m so sorry,” she muttered, bowing her head.

The huntress and the scholars exchanged confused glances, but before they could ask her anything else, the girl revealed in an anguished tone:

“Ratha isn’t the only monster I brought here.”

The hunter narrowed his eyes and shouted:

“That Lagiacrus is yours?!”

The girl nodded, mortified:

“Yes. She’s a female, her name’s Nami. This makes no sense, she never attacked people! I can’t explain how...”

Before she finished, the hunter pounced on her and grabbed her armor collar, forcing her to stare at him:

“Do you realize my friends almost died because of that thing?! It attacked us on sight! Nothing serious happened to us, but what if the two hunters who went to kill it were unlucky?” he yelled, enraged.

The Rider’s gaze was full of fear and guilt, as she looked at the hunter’s furious eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think she’d do that,” she whispered.

The man pushed her away and Yuri fell sitting on the wooden planks of the floor.

“Calm down, hunter!” exclaimed the biologists, while Xavia helped the girl to her feet.

“Two hunters are taking care of the Lagiacrus?” she asked after everyone settled down.

“Yes: two Fivers, Nick and Nina. They took the job almost immediately: they left hours ago. I do hope they killed it!” exclaimed the hunter.

Hearing those words, the Rider gnashed her teeth, turning around. This time Xavia couldn’t stop her, as she headed to the monster platform. The huntress immediately realized that she intended to take her Rathalos and search for the Lagiacrus; but it would be useless, since Ratha couldn’t fly yet. The huntress decided to help Yuri, so she caught up with her and grabbed her arms. The girl tried to break free, but in vain. Xavia tried to make her see reason:

“Yuri, your Rathalos has a broken wing. You can’t just...”

Yuri shouted, furious and frightened at the same time:

“I know that, alright?! But if that Lagiacrus really is my friend, I can’t let her die: I have to protect her!”

Then she looked away and whispered something else that Xavia couldn’t understand. The huntress sighed, letting her go:

“Let’s go, then, I’ll take you where it was spotted. There may be still time to stop them,” she said.

Yuri wasn’t convinced at all, but those words were enough to give her a little comfort.

The Lagiacrus was fighting fiercely, but the two siblings were standing up to it.

“Is that all?” Nina taunted it.

The archer grit her teeth and threw a flash pod. The flash blinded the leviathan, causing it to growl in rage. By now it was severely wounded: many of its scales had been torn off by their insistent blows; several arrows were stuck in the softest points of its armor, while its whole body was strewn with more or less deep cuts. Nick climbed a rock, jumped and struck the webbed tail of the Lagiacrus by performing a helm breaker, cutting it in half. In terrible pain, the monster stumbled as blood streamed out of the stump. It stared at them and growled, but it was no longer threatening: it was very weak and struggled to breathe, its limbs were shaking and couldn’t hold the weight of the body.

“I think we’re almost done,” Nina commented, shooting four arrows at once.

Nick shrugged to loosen up his muscles:

“So do I. Let’s get this over with!”

The monster collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted. Nina stared at it, nodding:

“Even if we let it go, it would bleed to death. So yes: let’s finish it.”

Nick approached the head of the Lagiacrus. The leviathan stared at him, remaining motionless. Nick raised his long sword, ready to pierce his brain, when a young girl’s cry interrupted him:

“Stop! I beg you! Leave her alone!”

At the edge of the jungle, a teenager had shown up and, judging by her voice, she sounded desperate.

Chapter Text

Nina and her brother were confused by the little girl showing up: why was she begging them not to slay that monster? Nick looked at Nina and she just shrugged in response. They watched the girl rush towards them; meanwhile, Xavia also showed up behind the girl and was calling her back, but to no avail. The girl carelessly approached the Lagiacrus, as if she was unaware of the danger. Sure, it was dying by now, but it was still a monster.

“Hey, wait…”

Nina’s complaint was interrupted by Xavia’s arrival.

“Nick, Nina, stop: let Yuri deal with it.”

The siblings gave each other an insecure look, but Nick eventually stepped away from the lying monster. However, he kept close enough to be able to react, should the leviathan try to attack her: he was ready to draw his longsword. Yuri looked at the Lagiacrus’ severed tail and the rivers of blood gushing out of its countless wounds, in shock. She knelt down in front of the monster’s snout and delicately lifted it up, staring into the creature’s tired eyes.

“Oh, Nami! I’ve found you!”

The Rider’s voice was trembling, as she stroked the monster’s head sweetly with her left hand.

“Please, resist! We can treat you, just hold on a little longer! Nami, look at me! Look at me! Stay with me!”

Her eyes were tearing up. The little girl’s sweet voice was desperate and pleading. But the Lagiacrus didn’t even seem to react. It stayed there, motionless, watching the crying Rider’s with its yellow eyes. It appeared to be recognizing a familiar face, little by little. The monster opened its maw, surprising the girl. However, without notice, it bit her left arm. The Rider screamed in pain, as Nami’s fangs sank into her flesh.

“Yuri!” Xavia gasped, terrified.

She was about to draw her hammer, but Nina held her arm.

“What are you doing?!” she exclaimed.

Nina didn’t reply, she just gestured her to look at what was going on. When the huntress complied, she was amazed: despite that bite, the girl hadn’t let go of her monster’s snout.

“I’m here now, Nami: you’ll be just fine,” she whispered.

Judging from her look, Nina could see very well that the Rider was in pain, yet she resisted. With a moan, she held the leviathan’s head even tighter, hugging it. She leaned her forehead on the monster’s snout, closing her eyes. Then something the huntress would never expect happened: the blue stone that the girl wore on her left wrist glowed, radiating a comforting green shine that blinded the hunters for a few seconds. The monster began loosening its grip, until it opened its maw and let go of Yuri’s arm. The girl opened her eyes and looked at her Lagiacrus. The monster’s gaze had changed: it was no longer feral and threatening, but friendly and sorry.

“Nami! You’re healed!” the Rider exclaimed, weeping with joy.

At first, the monster didn’t react, but then it started rubbing its temple against the girl’s head. It was very weak and barely breathing. Then, without notice, it let out a moan, lowering its head.

“Nami? What…”

With a great effort, the monster raised its head and the Rider stepped back, disoriented. The leviathan let out a pained roar that echoed across the Ancient Forest. A few seconds later, another roar replied to it; a familiar one, coming from far away: a Rathalos’ roar.

“Ratha,” the girl whispered, looking at the jungle.

At that point, the Lagiacrus lowered its head again. It collapsed on the sand and took its last breath. Everyone present remained silent for a few minutes: Nina just didn’t know what to say, and apparently, neither did Nick and Xavia. Still looking at her Lagiacrus, the girl burst into tears. None of the three hunters dared to disturb her. Eventually, Xavia approached her, knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder:

Yuri, we have to get back. There’s nothing more we can do here»

The girl slowly stood up alongside the huntress. Despite that, she kept looking down, wiping her tears away. Nina started feeling ashamed for what she and Nick had done and felt compelled to apologize:

“Hey, little girl, I’m…”

But the cold stare the Rider gave her shut her up immediately and made her feel even more guilty. So, without uttering another word, the three hunters and the girl headed back to Astera.

When they arrived, they were welcomed by the Commander and a bunch of hunters gathered there, including the man in pink Rathian armor. Seeing their looks, many of them made worried expressions. The Commander was the first to speak:

“What happened? Did…”

His question was interrupted by the girl, who walked past him without saying anything. However, the hunter who was mad at her stood in her way:

“Where do you think you’re going, Rider? I think you owe us an apology.”

She gritted her teeth, staring at him:

“Your wish was fulfilled: Nami is dead. She bled to death because of the two of them.”

Before the hunter could reply, Xavia put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him:

“Better leave her be, Mike: she’s grieving.”

The hunter moved her hand off, furious:

“No way. We can’t let this slide! That Lagiacrus hurt people. If we hadn’t been ready to chase it away, it would’ve killed them. And who knows what could’ve happened, if that Rathalos had been just as aggressive!”

At that point, Yuri turned around and made an expression that caused him to step back.

“This isn’t my fault or Nami’s! And don’t bring Ratha into this for no reason! Nami attacked them because she wasn’t herself: she’d caught the Black Blight! If only you’d been a little more patient, I would’ve rushed over to purify her and none of this would’ve happened!”

The crowd began chattering intensely, and the hunter got even madder:

“Ah, is that so? The Guild sent you here to get rid of that disease and the first thing your monsters do is catch it? You’re so ridiculous!”

Yuri clenched her fists, looking down. A few seconds later, when she looked up, her eyes were tearing up. She threw her hands in her hair and yelled:

“I never should’ve come to this damned continent! I should’ve ignored that notice from the Guild and let another Rider take the job!”

The girl suddenly turned around and ran to her lodging. Xavia knew very well that Yuri needed to be alone for a while: she had to cope with her grief. She understood her, because she too had been through the pain of losing someone.

Chapter Text

Yuri spent the weeks following Nami’s loss consumed by anger, grief and shame. She spent every free minute she got with Ratha not to think about it, and when infected monsters where reported to her - currently just small or docile monsters like Jagras, Kestodon, Apceros and Kelbi - she immediately went to purify them with her Kinship Stone to refute the impression of incompetence haunting her since the accident with her Lagiacrus. That was enough for most hunters to see that she knew what she was doing, while the most skeptical ones like the man in pink Rathian armor kept doubting her – or pretending to, out of pride. One day, during one of her breaks with her Rathalos, she was writing a letter to her childhood friends back in Hakum, whom she’d promised to contact as soon as possible:

Hey guys!

How are you all? Fine? As for me, I don’t know, to be honest. I’ve been in the New World for just a few days and only disasters have happened so far: the boat was attacked by some Plesioth, I lost Narga and Nami is dead. Unfortunately, two hunters killed her. Somehow, she caught the Black Blight and attacked a few people, so they slayed her before I learnt what had happened to her. You have no idea of the pain I’m in. Despite that, I’ll have you know that I’ll do my best to focus on my duty to the end: I’ll heal every single monster that was corrupted by that plague, I promise!

Anyway, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I’m not sure I can remember everything right now, but I can try.

You were right, Irene: the species of the New World are amazing and I haven’t even seen a tenth of them yet! The Hakum Monsterpedia will have plenty of new chapters when I’m back! I’ve visited only two biomes so far: the Ancient Forest and the Wildspire Waste. I’m told the other ecosystems are just as spectacular – I can’t wait to explore them. I’ll keep you up to date.

Lucille, I know you must be shocked by what you’ve just read, but don’t worry. I lost Narga, but I swear I’ll find him! Emma can rest assured: her future partner will be back and you’ll finally be able to have them mate.

Ross, there are landscapes here that would take your breath away! Apart from that, I know what you’re wondering: relax, I can do this, even though I’m grieving for Nami. Don’t jump onto the first ship to the New World just yet!

That’s all for now. Remember to send my regards to Lilia, Cheval, Dan and chief Omna! Yes, Navirou too.

Yours truly,

Yuri

While she was proofreading her letter, she was joined by Xavia’s handler. She waved at her and greeted her:

“Hi! Tell me, are you free right now? I have a small favor to ask you.”

Yuri snorted:

“Can this wait? If it can, no thanks: I’d rather be alone with Ratha.”

Hearing that, Hana was a little embarrassed:

“Oh, never mind, then; I wanted to ask you if I could give a piece of meat to your Rathalos, but if you want to be alone…”

“He’s already eaten,” Yuri said dryly.

“I see. Anyway, if you need to talk with someone and vent, Xavia and I are willing to listen to you. Opening up to others is more helpful than people think, you know?”

That said, Hana left. Yuri sighed, sitting down next to her Rathalos, who gave her a sad look. He started rubbing his beak against his mistress’ cheek, while the girl petted him gently.

“Nami managed to say goodbye at the last second, eh?” she whispered.

The Rathalos nodded empathetically. Yuri leaned her head on his temple and closed her eyes. Thinking about Nami made her nostalgic – indeed, tears began flowing copiously from her eyes, as the girl sobbed lowly, and she hugged Ratha more tightly.

Two days passed, during which some monsters infected by the Black Blight were spotted. Yuri purified a Rathian in the Ancient Forest and a herd of Apceros in the Wildspire Waste, discovering the Anjanath and the Jyuratodus in the meantime. Meanwhile, she looked around between missions to search for Narga, but there was still no sign of him. Therefore, after a while, she decided to make an announcement at the assembly table to warn the Research Commission, before they slayed her third monster as well:

“I know I might sound brazen, asking you a favor after what happened, but one of my monsters is still out there, and I’d like to rescue him without anyone getting hurt. If you sight a Nargacuga with white spots, please let me know right away! Meanwhile, I’ll carry on my work purifying monsters: I’ll make sure no infected specimen is left in the end. Thanks again, and apologies.”

The crowd of hunters thanked her for notifying them, before dismissing her. At that point, Yuri headed to the gateway of Astera to go on an expedition, but she was joined by a pair of hunters: Nick and Nina. The sister spoke up first:

“Look, I know you’ll probably hate us forever for killing your Lagiacrus, and we don’t blame you. But there’s something you should see on the Celestial Pursuit.”

Yuri had to admit that Nina wasn’t wrong: it wasn’t like she hated them, but she’d rather avoid approaching the two of them.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Follow us and find out,” Nick urged her.

The girl sighed, before nodding begrudgingly. She followed the two siblings to the lift and up to the Celestial Pursuit. Once aboard the First Fleet’s shipwreck, Yuri saw that there wasn’t the usual, cheerful bustle on the stranded ship turned into a partying deck: the two maids handling the arena quests of Astera were nowhere to be seen, and neither were the Felyne janitors taking care of carrying dishes up there from the canteen and giving hay to the Mernos perched on the parapet. The only people present were the two hunters and her.

“Where’s everyone? What’s there for you to show me?” she asked, impatient.

Nick looked at Nina, and she nodded. He approached the counter behind which the quest maids usually worked, pulling a sack out of a cupboard door. Nine joined her hands and told her:

“We’re terribly sorry for what we did. We killed your pet monster and… well…”

Nick cut it short:

“Xavia asked us to go to the Coral Highlands today and get this, as a present for you.”

That said, he shrugged and mumbled something else the Rider couldn’t get, but whatever it was, his sister nudged him for saying it. Then the longswordsman gave Yuri the sack. It was quite heavy, and she struggled to hold it. As curiosity kicked in, she untied the strap keeping it shut. She was amazed, when she saw its contents: it was a white egg with a slight cream-colored shade. The Rider laid it on the wooden floor, before looking at the two siblings:

“Xavia told you to give me an egg?” she asked, surprised.

Nina nodded:

“She said eggs are the most precious gift for any Rider, so we thought we’d give you one to make amends. If you’re willing to forgive us, of course.”

The huntress’ words surprised the little girl even more. Although everyone knew who Riders were, very few people knew their activities and traditions in detail. The only town that was an exception was Gildegaran, with which Hakum village and other communities in the Riders’ continent had regular contacts.

“Come on, stop it! You don’t need to apologize: after all, you were just doing your job. I gave you that look that day because I was upset, that’s all.”

Nina gave her a smile, patting her shoulder:

“If that’s true, then I guess we’re good!”

Yuri smiled back and nodded. She was very glad to have talked it out.

“Anyway, while you’re at it, could you show us what you’re going to do with this egg?”

Yuri looked at Nick, then at the egg, she examined it and nodded:

“Yeah, sure.”

She put her right hand on it and the bracelet containing her stone opened with a click, uncovering the Kinship Ore shard. Taking a deep breath, Yuri focused and the stone began glowing with a green shine, forcing Nick and Nina to squint. Yuri was very excited: she was about to tame her first monster native of the New World.

Chapter Text

The green shine radiating from the Kinship Stone encompassed the egg. A couple of cracks formed on its shell, and they started to expand, creaking. Nina and Nick watched in awe, as Yuri stared at the egg with a wide smile. She was really excited, and couldn’t wait to find out what monster it was. After a few seconds, the egg started to get bigger, until it was her size: not only did that ore forge a bond between a Rider and a monster, but it also expedited greatly the fetus’ growth, thanks to all the energy it was given. The shine turned light blue and blinded the two hunters, forcing them to close their eyes. Yuri, on the other hand, was used to it and didn’t need to. In the gleam, she caught a glimpse of a creature not so larger than her. Finally, the egg hatched and the baby monster was born, soaked in amniotic fluid. When the gleam was gone, Yuri observed the monster: it was a lean flying wyvern with large, leaf-shaped wings, which were azure with black patterns on their upper side and white with small brown spots on their underside. It had a triangular head with two antenna-like appendages on top of it, a long, slender tail and legs with thin, hooked talons. The hatchling shook its head and opened its eyes; it flapped its wings to stretch, breathed in and squealed.

“Wow, it almost looked like magic!” Nina exclaimed in amazement.

“It’s no magic, though I’ll admit it does look like it. It’s quite difficult to explain,” Yuri chuckled, prideful.

The unknown monster stared at her for a few seconds and chirped, tilting its head.

“Do you have any meat?” Yuri asked.

Nina nodded and gave her a piece of meat from her pouch.

“What kind of monster is this?” the Rider asked, intrigued.

“It’s a Legiana, the apex predator of the Coral Highlands,” Nick replied.

“Legiana,” Yuri repeated, reaching out to the hatchling.

The monster looked her in the eye, curious; when the Rider’s fingers were close to its beak, it sniffed them. At that point, Yuri began caressing its head. The hatchling let her, relaxing and closing its eyes. Enjoying the petting, it started to make cheerful peeping sounds. Nick and Nina watched in silence, with tender looks. The longswordsman folded his arms and commented:

“You look like a true expert.”

Yuri giggled and nodded:

“I am: I’ve been a Rider since I was ten. I’ve been taking care of Ratha and my other monsters back in Hakum for five years. I learnt a few tricks to prevent a monster just hatched from causing trouble. After all, the important thing is to avoid making it nervous and give it some space,” she explained.

She stopped petting the Legiana, and it let out a sad moan, getting next to the Rider and rubbing its beak against her right arm. The little girl laughed, before crouching and putting the piece of meat Nina had given her in front of the Legiana, which voraciously ate it.

“We must go now: we took a job for a Lavasioth hunt,” Nick announced.

Before they left, Nina said one last thing:

“Oh, right: Xavia wanted us to ask you to come back here tonight, if you don’t mind.”

Yuri gave her a curious look, then nodded:

“All right. Thanks a lot for the egg! Sorry about the trouble it must’ve cost you.”

“Don’t you dare say that! I told you: it was a present to get even,” the archer replied.

Yuri stared at the two siblings for a few seconds, then she was persuaded and nodded:

“Fine, fine.”

“If you need help, don’t hesitate to call us, Yuri,” Nina said kindly.

The two siblings went back to the lift and left the girl alone. Meanwhile, the Legiana finished eating and returned to rubbing its snout against the Rider’s arm. Though pensive, she stroked its head. She wasn’t even mad at the two hunter siblings anymore, she just kept wondering what Xavia could possibly want from her.

The rest of the day went on serenely. Yuri introduced the Legiana to Ratha, who welcomed his new packmate by croaking warily. When the girl took a closer look and found out it was a female, she decided to name her Legi. She knew it was a banal choice, but creativity with names had never been her strong suit. At first, the two monsters were quite unsettled in each other’s presence: Yuri’s company was the only thing keeping the Rathalos from attacking the newcomer. Legi seemed to be pretty curious, but she quickly gave up sniffing Ratha to get to know him, intimidated by his irritated growling.

Later, after dinner, the girl went back to the Celestial Pursuit to meet with Xavia. She found the huntress leaning on the bow of the old ship, watching the ocean. That evening, it was a full house on the Celestial Pursuit: the braziers were burning, the maids were endlessly taking mugs of beer and booze back and forth, and the Felyne waiters were serving plentiful dishes to the hunters sitting at the tables. A cheerful music covered almost all noises and, at the center of the deck, there were people dancing alone or in pairs; some were dancing for the fun of it, others because they were drunk. The Mernos, resting on their perches, were either sleeping or eating piles of hay, squawking. Yuri supposed Xavia wanted a very intimate conversation, because all that bustle would certainly grant them privacy: there was too much noise for anyone to overhear them. Xavia didn’t notice the girl until she joined her and called her loudly. The huntress turned around and smiled:

“Hello, Yuri! Thanks for coming here.”

“Hi, Xavia,” the Rider greeted hesitantly.

Noticing the girl’s insecurity, the purple-haired huntress quipped:

“Come on, I don’t bite! Come closer.”

Then the Rider took a seat next to her, at the parapet.

“Nick and Nina told me you asked them to bring me that egg,” she claimed.

“I did. I was hoping it could help you forgive them, as well as easing your melancholy for…”

“It worked. Thanks a lot for what you did: I needed it. But how did you know…”

“I have a present for you as well,” Xavia interrupted her.

She pulled out something wrapped in a rag from her bag and tossed it to Yuri. The girl unwrapped the cloth and found a small, white object looking like a stone, but made of a hard, organic material with irregular edges. Two abbreviations were written on it with black, indelible ink: Zin. Gen.

“This is a…” she whispered, surprised.

“A Zinogre gene. You could use it to help that Legiana: they use ice to fight, but they’re very weak against electricity. Infuse it with this, and you’ll fix that issue.”

“How do you know about the Rite of Channeling? Hunters hardly know about the imprinting process, let alone that! You just know too much about Riders, it can’t be a coincidence. Who are you, really?”

Xavia looked at the confused girl and sighed, with a wistful smile.

“I can tell you, but it might shock you. Do you think you’re ready?”

Staring at her, Yuri didn’t feel sure at all, but she eventually nodded.

“Very well.”

Xavia looked away and was quiet for a few seconds. She was evidently nervous. Yuri wondered whether she had to be worried, as she tried to imagine what she was about to learn, but she preferred to know the truth.

Chapter Text

Xavia tried to stay strong: it was always painful to dig up those memories, after so many years spent struggling to move on. Watching the sea and the starry sky, she began telling her story, while Yuri listened carefully:

“I became a huntress at the age of eighteen, after my father died. That was about twenty years ago. I was very insecure, terrified at the thought of facing any monster, though I just took on low-rank hunts and was used to their relative ease.”

She detached from the parapet and sat down under the bow mast of the ship, while the party went on behind them. Yuri took a seat on one of the haystacks for the Mernos, without getting her eyes off Xavia even for a moment. The huntress kept recounting:

“I spent two years hunting small, annoying monsters with my team, my best friends. We lived and worked in Pokke village. Everything was fine and peaceful, but then came the day where we pushed our luck too far. The boys decided to take on our first high-rank mission, even though I didn’t agree at all. Eventually, they convinced me to follow them to the Arctic Ridge, in search of a Blangonga that was causing trouble to the Popo breeders. I was the only one to come back. You see, it didn’t go as expected,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO…

Xavia thought she was finished. All of her companions had been killed, now it was her turn. They hadn’t found the Blangonga on that glacier, but a much more formidable pelagus: a Rajang. They weren’t ready at all to face that big, horned ape, a mighty creature of devastating fury, one of the monsters second only to Elder Dragons. Alicia, the team’s heavy bowgunner, couldn’t hit it even once: it was too quick and agile. She was killed first, when the Rajang got angry: its fur stood up and turned golden, then the big ape breathed in and burnt Alicia with an electric beam. Rex, the lancer and team leader, ordered a retreat. He tried to buy the others some time by parrying a few hits, but the Rajang grabbed him and smashed him on the ground, then snatched his shield and used it to crush him, beating him to a pulp: Rex became a red stain on the snow. Only Xavia and Zeke were left. He wielded a hammer and she used the Tigrex dual blades inherited from her father back then. They knew they were powerless. Zeke shot his SOS flare, but no one would make it there in time: the Rajang would kill them in seconds. Zeke decided to make an attempt, while Xavia watched, frozen with fear. She thought at him:

“Run, you idiot! Run with me, if you’re scared, just do it!”

Zeke dodged the pelagus’ punches and struck as hard as he could, but the Rajang had hardened its arms, making them rock solid: it just needed to put them in front of its snout to parry the hammer blows. Xavia’s legs felt numb and she couldn’t move. She fell on her knees, as she watched in horror the Rajang grab Zeke by the sides, squeeze his head between two fingers and rip it off. The big ape roared in triumph, then threw away the corpse and turned to her. Xavia couldn’t move a muscle: she was too scared. She should’ve listened to herself and let her friends leave without her, or persuaded them to pick another hunt. She closed her eyes, when she saw the Rajang get a running start and dash towards her. She accepted that she’d be dead in a few seconds. However, she suddenly heard a gurgling roar, followed by an explosion and a pained groan.

“We finally got you, big bastard!” a male voice exclaimed.

Xavia found the courage to open her eyes. What she saw was jaw-dropping: there was a man in Barioth armor riding a saddled Brachydios. Xavia was amazed and shocked at the same time. Wounded and stunned, the Rajang got up and shrugged off the snow. Its arms turned soft and its fur was black again. The stranger turned to Xavia for a moment. The young huntress was filled with a mix of emotions constantly shifting: dismay, terror, appreciation and grief for losing her companions. While the Rajang let out a warning roar and ran away, her savior got off the Brachydios and approached her, helping her stand up.

“Are you hurt?” he asked her.

His tone of voice was cold, but not in a threatening way: instead, he sounded very confident. Xavia shook her head, disoriented:

“No, I’m fine,” she mumbled.

“Could you please pick up their bags? I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for a reply, he returned to his Brachydios and got into the saddle. As she obseved the tamed monster, Xavia noticed that its sadde was decorated with a symbol: an orange cross.

“Come on, Bam! Let’s get that ape!”

In response, the Brachydios licked its arms and roared, before chasing after the Rajang. Xavia was left alone with her friends’ corpses, confused, scared and grieving, but thankful to the man who’d saved her.

“That was my first contact with a Rider,” Xavia concluded.

Yuri could swear she’d heard her voice tremble, while she was speaking of her companions’ death. She wanted to comfort her somehow, but Xavia went on before she figured out a way to do it:

“He came back a few minutes later and took me back to Pokke. We said goodbye, but that wasn’t the last time I saw him. Every time I took on a rather difficult mission, he’d join me, ready to protect me with his Brachydios. His name was Xander.”

She paused, with a melancholic half smile:

“Over time, we became best friends. He showed me a lot of Rider stuff, like the imprinting process when monsters hatch and the Rite of Channeling. I was amazed by that world, since I’d only heard rumors about it before. With him, I felt happy again.”

Yuri couldn’t resist the temptation to ask for a clarification and stopped her:

“Sorry for interrupting you, Xavia, but what’s the part that might shock me? You know, apart from the details on how the Rajang… well, you get it. Anyway, I had a terrible episode with a Rajang myself: I faced one that was able to separate me from Ratha and broke my leg. If it hadn’t been for my friend Ross, things would’ve gotten pretty bad for me,” she recalled, with a shiver.

Xavia looked at the girl for a few seconds. Then she giggled and shook her head:

“Yes, you’re right. I got carried away by memories, sorry. Details aside, it was Xander who gave me the Zinogre gene I’ve just given you. He became my boyfriend, and after living together for two years, he proposed to me. I was happy like never before: I said yes without hesitating. A year later, our daughter was born. I’ll never forget the times where I held her in my arms: her beautiful eyes, her little laugh…”

She was smiling, but her smile soon faded, replaced by a grim expression.

“In that same year, however, I lost everything.”

Chapter Text

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO…

After their baby was born, Xander and Xavia moved to Bherna: he claimed that Pokke wasn’t the most suitable place to raise their daughter. Xavia didn’t care much where they lived, so she didn’t object. The huntress took care of the baby when she wasn’t busy with harvesting quests or assignments to cull small monsters, while Xander took care of their daughter and his Brachydios. The village chief assigned hunts to him and Bam only when considerable threats emerged. Two months after they moved to Bherna, tragedy struck. One day, Xavia accepted a quite simple request: a pair of Bulldrome was preventing merchants from safely getting to the village, since they’d established their new turf in the middle of the caravans’ trail. All she had to do was get rid of them. The next day, the huntress – who’d switched from the dual blades to the heavy bowgun in the meantime – said goodbye to her husband, left the village and headed to the Primal Forest. She got to the clearing where those Bulldrome were spotted most often. However, they were already dead.

“Some predator beat me to it,” she mused, observing the wounds on the carcasses.

Xavia knelt down and examined the claw and bite marks on the Bulldrome and was perplexed: no species of the Primal Forest had talons and fangs that could leave such marks. What could it be? Then she noticed a detail: in some points of the clearing, the grass was covered in frost.

“An ice monster?” she thought, confused.

She began to feel unsettled: none of that made sense. Suddenly, as soon as she stood up, a gust of freezing wind hit her and sent her lying with her face to the ground. Instinctively, Xavia rolled sideways to reposition and stood up quickly, drawing her bowgun. She looked around, but saw no monster; then she heard wings flapping and looked up: a Barioth was flying above. A glacier-dwelling wyvern in the jungle? She’d expect anything but that.

“Oh, fuck!” she exclaimed.

Without hesitating, she fired her SOS flare. The Barioth landed in front of her with a thud and roared, blowing another gust of cold, dry wind contrasting the sultry moisture of the Primal Forest. Xavia hadn’t prepared for hunting a Barioth, but she’d already faced a few. One way or another, she thought she could resist until backup arrived. The Barioth planted its claws in the grass and crouched, ready to pounce on her. Xavia quickly loaded spread ammo into her bowgun and took aim, ready to riddle its snout, but the Barioth had tricked her: instead of dashing forward, it breathed in and spat a fireball like a Rathalos’. While she was caught off guard, Xavia was able to dive sideways at the last second; however, she didn’t jump well and ended up lying on the ground, dropping her bowgun.

“A fire-spitting Barioth?!” she thought, shocked.

The monster spat another fireball and the huntress dodged it by rolling sideways. At that point, however, the Barioth leapt and got right in front of her. Xavia cursed and tried to run away, but the monster bit her right leg, piercing right through her thigh with one of its saber teeth. She let out a loud scream. She was afraid the Barioth would finish her right after that, but instead it let go of her and struck her with its claws, throwing her away and leaving three deep cuts in her right temple. Xavia hit a tree with her back, losing her breath. She struggled not to faint, pressing her hand on the wound on her head. She tried to stand up, but an intense twinge of pain in her leg kept her sitting. She saw the Barioth approach her, baring its fangs. She clenched her fists and teeth: she didn’t want to die like that.

Xavia moved her ponytail behind her back and admitted:

“My memories of what happened next are foggy. I remember hearing someone yell and the Barioth turning around to face them. I wish I hadn’t seen what was on its back,” she hissed, with her eyes closed.

Yuri noticed that her eyes were getting moister and moister and felt sorry for her. She stood up from the haystack and put a hand on her shoulder, like Xavia had done with her multiple times since she’d arrived in Astera.

“It’s fine, you can stop if it’s all too much,” she reassured her.

Xavia shook her head:

“No, you have a right to know. Besides, you must be dying to hear the ending, right?” she chuckled nervously.

Yuri hesitated a little, but eventually nodded:

“You’re right: I want to know.”

“Fine. There was a saddle on that Barioth’s back, decorated with orange crosses. It was Xander’s family brand. Yet he’d never told me he had a Barioth. As far as I knew, Bam was his only mount.”

Xavia eventually gave in and passed out. She woke up two hours later and learnt that her rescuers had taken her back to Bherna, treating the wound in her leg and bandaging her head. But the bad news wasn’t over. She could see it for herself, when she was given a crutch and was able to limp home. She was confused and scared, and Xander owed her an explanation. Maybe that was just a misunderstanding – maybe that Barioth belonged to another Rider and the orange crosses were a symbol used by other families as well. When she got to her house, the Brachydios, her husband and her daughter were gone. She rummaged through the house, looking for clues, then she asked the villagers: no one had seen Xander or the baby, after she’d left the village. In the end, broken in and out, she went back to her garden and fell on her knees. She stared at nothing with an empty expression for hours, then she could no longer hold it and burst into tears, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Xavia shed a couple of tears, but she wiped them right away and took a deep breath to calm down.

“Your husband took your daughter away?” Yuri asked, incredulous.

“Yes. No one saw them again since that day. I returned to my mother’s place, in Pokke. She helped me a great deal to go through those terrible days, all that pain. Eventually, after two years of rest, I resumed hunting. I came to the New World with the Fifth Fleet to leave everything behind, as well as to seek the motivation that the other continent couldn’t give me anymore.”

They kept quiet for five minutes. The girl didn’t know what to tell the huntress, and judging from her look, she understood that Xavia must be unable to find words as well. After a while, Yuri couldn’t hold the questions that sad story had stirred within her:

“I still don’t understand. What does all this have to do with me? Why did you tell me that? Why did you do me all these favors today?”

The huntress smiled, then looked up at the starry sky.

“I thought you’d be connecting the dots by now. You told me your surname is Aros. And from what I heard, you’re fifteen.”

“Yes, but…”

“You told me you’re from Hakum. Who are your parents?”

“I never met them, I was raised by chief Omna. He told me my father arrived in Hakum with me, but a Seregios tore him apart a few days later, while he was hunting. He knows nothing about my mother: he says my father told him she’d been killed by a monster. Although…”

“Xander’s last name was Aros. What I told you about happened fifteen years ago,” Xavia revealed.

Yuri’s heart froze. Xavia looked her in the eye and whispered:

“And it was I who chose our baby’s name. I think you’ve figured it out.”

“Yuri,” the girl murmured.

She was shocked, incredulous, flabbergasted. All understatements to describe the way she felt, as she saw the huntress nod and tell her:

“Exactly. Yuri Aros. My daughter,” Xavia stated.

Chapter Text

Yuri was so shocked that she was left speechless for several minutes. The two of them were the only quiet people in the fuss and revelry of the Celestial Pursuit. Xavia knew that such a revelation would upset the Rider, but she expected to be flooded with questions, not that the girl would remain silent and apathetic, staring at nothing. She couldn’t blame her: even she didn’t know how she’d react to such news, and broken by a stranger, to boot. In the end, tired of that silence, she stood up and cleared her throat:

“It’s getting late. We can resume this tomorrow, if you want. You know, so you’ll have all the time you need to let it sink in,” she said as kindly as she could.

Yuri didn’t react. Her gaze was still empty. Then she gave Xavia a shocked look and whispered:

“You’re my mother.”

The huntress nodded and approached her:

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

She moved a haystack next to Yuri’s, ignoring a Mernos’ protesting croaking, and sat down next to the girl.

“Of course I believe you! Who would make up such a story? What kind of person would dig up their worst memories just for a stranger?”

Xavia smiled a bit and shook her head:

“No one would be capable of that here: many hunters bear scars, some deeper than mine, others less deep. But they’d never reveal it, if not to someone they really care about.”

“But I don’t understand: if you’re my mother and everything you’ve told me is true, why would my father do what he did?”

Xavia put a hand on her shoulder:

“Don’t think about it. I spent every single minute of my darkest years wondering that, and it only made me feel worse.”

But Yuri wasn’t listening to her: she folded her arms and started staring into nothing with a disoriented look, covering her mouth with her hand. Xavia supposed she was dealing with discovering her origins, and putting herself in her shoes, she didn’t blame her: if she’d grown up believing she was an orphan and had learnt of such a past all of a sudden, maybe she wouldn’t have been able to cope with it. She just hoped that – at the very least – the daughter she hadn’t gotten to raise had still had the happy life she wanted to grant her, before Xander tried to kill her and took their baby away.

When she stopped reflecting, the huntress noticed that Yuri was still thinking, with a confused expression. She wanted to reassure her: she didn’t want her to obsess over a matter that had tormented her for years. Especially now that she’d learnt that Xander was dead, according to what the village chief of Hakum had told Yuri. Seeing her empty expression, however, she paused with a sigh. It was the Rider who broke the silence:

“What do I do now?” she whispered.

It sounded like she was asking that to herself, rather than to Xavia. However, the huntress decided to answer. She placed two fingers under her long-lost daughter’s chin and moved her face delicately, so that she could look at her. The little girl’s blue, vacant eyes met Xavia’s yellow, lively eyes. She gave her a heartfelt smile:

“Yuri, don’t turn my story into a big deal: forget about it. What’s done is done. I don’t expect you to accept this discovery like it’s nothing. I don’t expect you to answer a question I’ve been asking myself for fifteen years. I don’t even expect you to start calling me “mom” or to see me as family. I’m just asking you to trust me and stand by my side. I know your first few days in the New World weren’t all sunshine and rainbows, but I guarantee you that you’ll have my full support in the task the Guild gave you sending you here. Mine and others’ as well: you’ll see that they’ll learn to respect you. It only takes time. Everything’s going to be fine.”

At the end of her speech, she caressed Yuri’s cheeks and moved a lock of her hair gently behind her ear, then moved her ponytail off her shoulder and let it fall behind her back. The girl suddenly hugged her as tight as ever. The huntress was caught off guard by such a strong grip. Yuri began to sob, smiling. For the first time in fifteen years, Xavia felt the same joy and love she’d feel every time she lulled her newborn child. She couldn’t help but get emotional. So, with no hesitation, she hugged back the girl and stroked the back of her head, ruffling her hair a little. Shortly thereafter, between sobs, Yuri exclaimed:

“You’re a wonderful person, mom!”

When she heard the girl call her that, the huntress wept with joy. She wished that moment would never end. Xavia smiled, hugging the girl even tighter:

“Thank you, Yuri. I mean it: thank you.”

Another failure. Ben growled and kicked the sand. Frustrated and raging, he threw on the ground the bracelet which used to contain his Kinship Stone. In front of him, a broken-scalped Barroth was lying on the sand, convulsing in pain. Its eyes were glowing red, while a wisp of dark smoke rose from its whole body: the symptoms of the Black Blight. After infecting it, Ben had tried to take control of it, but to no avail.

“If I can’t control a fucking Barroth, how can I hope to command that monster?!” he yelled, throwing his hands in his hair.

Behind him, Mikayla slapped him on the back of his head and provoked him, laughing:

“Chill out, dumbass! You wouldn’t be the one controlling it either way. It would be a big deal if my brother gave you a Mosswine!”

Before Ben replied, the Barroth’s angry roar caught their attention. The monster had stood up, roaring at the two humans at the top of its lungs. It was furious, but dead tired.

“Wow! This is a tough one, isn’t it?” Ben commented.

Mikayla folded her arms and nodded, before shrugging:

“Yes. Too bad for it. Xander asked us to let his friend stretch a little, anyway.”

She turned around, brought two fingers to her mouth and whistled. Far away, a roar replied to her and echoed across the Wildspire Waste. A few seconds later, a Brachydios came out of the dark of night; there was a saddle decorated with orange crosses on its back. It was infected as well. It caught up with Ben and Mikayla and stopped behind them, watching the Barroth. The two of them stepped aside and she giggled:

“It’s all yours, Bam. Have fun!”

The Brachydios licked its arms and roared at the Barroth, which got scared and turned around to flee. But it was caught almost right away.

Chapter Text

Xavia and Yuri went to their lodgings in the middle of the night. The Rider had finally let off steam after her terrible arrival in the New World: now she almost felt at peace. She kept many of her questions to herself, simply asking the huntress to meet with her again the next day to talk. With a smile, Xavia nodded and guaranteed her she’d be there. That night was quiet, although Yuri hardly slept: she kept dwelling on everything that had happened that day and that week, watching the ocean through her window, next to her bed. She ended up falling asleep just before dawn – she was woken up two hours later by the first noises of morning activity. When she got out, the Field Team Leader came to her and notified her that the Commander wanted to talk to her. With a confused expression, the still sleepy girl went to the assembly table, waiting for her orders.

“A Barroth infected by that disease was spotted in the Wildspire Waste last night. Apparently, it’s causing a great deal of havoc in the area.”

“All right, I’ll go purify it right away,” Yuri replied.

She unwittingly let out a yawn. She covered her mouth and apologized, then she got going. She decided to take Legi along; the biologists were rather perplexed by her choice, and they tried to tell her that taking a monster adapted to cool winds and foggy highlands to a desert wasn’t exactly a good idea. However, she claimed to have already tried making such “contrasts” in the Old World and that it had never caused her much trouble.

“I tried taking a Zamtrios and a Lagombi to a desert, would you look at that! I never had any problems,” she recounted.

“What? But that’s not…”

“Besides, deserts are full of monsters weak against ice: do you have any idea how convenient it is? Trust me! It’s not like I want to belittle your studies, of course.”

So, while the scholars exchanged astonished looks, the girl took Legi, who constantly looked around, intrigued by everything. Yuri invited Xavia to join her, since she couldn’t wait to carry out her first mission with her mother. Besides, by taking Xavia along, she’d get to resume their conversation from the night before, at the end of the quest. The huntress agreed immediately. Much to their surprise, Nick and Nina joined them as well: the two siblings claimed to have offered their help because they were curious to witness a monster being cleansed from the Black Blight once more. The girl decided to ride Legi, so she’d finally fly for the first time and gain confidence with her mistress.

They explored the Wildspire Waste quietly for several hours: there weren’t many monsters around, except for some Kelbi and small flocks of Noios. However, things changed abruptly when they entered a gorge, following the scout flies. Flying over the area on Legi’s back, Yuri noticed that Nina had picked up a fight with a Diablos.

“Dodge, you idiot!” Nick yelled at his sister.

Nina was busy applying poison coating to her arrows and didn’t notice the flying wyvern charging at her. Her brother and Xavia were too far away to rescue her, but lucky for her, Yuri and the Legiana intervened right away. The Rider ordered Legi to swoop down onto the enemy monster. The sky dancer shrieked, gliding quickly towards the ground. She was able to hit the horned monster’s side with her talons, right before it could run over the huntress. They managed to make it change direction, sending it crashing against the rocky wall of the gorge. Yuri breathed a sigh of relief, making Legi land, while the others quickly caught up to them. The Diablos was stuck in the wall: its charge had been so mighty that its long horns had sunk into the rock and now it couldn’t break free. Meanwhile, Nick gave Nina an angry look:

“Mind to tell me why you provoked a Diablos?”

“It was about to attack the Barroth we’re looking for, I saw it from afar! What if it caught that disease?”

“The Rider’s here, she’d purify the Diablos as well!” Nick replied, aggravated.

Watching them argue, Xavia sighed and scratched her neck, while the girl giggled, amused by the two siblings bickering: they just reminded her of Ross and Lucille whenever they saved each other. Then they heard the Diablos’ roar – it was still stuck. It was pulling with such strength that cracks were opening in the rock: it would break free soon. Yuri stroked the Legiana’s head and suggested:

“Let’s leave while it’s stuck.”

Xavia nodded and sheathed her hammer.

“We’re here for the Barroth, not to make a Diablos mad,” she stated.

Nick and Nina looked at each other, before nodding. However, before they sheathed their weapons, they heard the monster roar again: it had managed to break free, losing its right horn in the process: it was still skewered on the rock wall. The Diablos watched the hunters, furious, especially the Legiana and her Rider. Nina cursed through gritted teeth, taking an arrow from her quiver. Her brother drew his longsword and said:

“It won’t let us go.”

Yuri looked at the hunters, then gave a quick look at the monster, which stared at her puffing and squinting its purple, little eyes.

“Get to the Barroth, I’ll come and purify it later. Legi and I will chase this big guy away now,” she confidently claimed.

Before Xavia objected, Yuri tapped the Legiana’s sides with her heels; her mount shrieked and took flight after extending all of her membranes. They flew over the Diablos, which tried to leap and hit them, but failed and fell to the ground on its side, raising a dust cloud. It shook its head, roaring in fury. In response, Yuri smiled: they’d managed to antagonize it, so it would follow them anywhere.

“Let’s move away, Legi!” she commanded.

The Legiana croaked, flapped her wings a couple of times, and turned around to fly away. While the three hunters ran away, the Diablos shook its head puffing and pursued the Legiana, never losing sight of her.

Yuri beat her sword against her shield to make noise and exclaimed:

“Come on out!”

Legi and she had moved to a more open area, full of dunes and devoid of rocks and plants. Yuri thought that area would be more suitable to fight a Diablos. She was actually right: when the monster caught up to them, she instantly jumped off the Legiana and landed on the Diablos’ back, then she started hitting it and filling its back and neck with cuts. The wounds caused by her sword and shield were shallow, but were quickly increasing in number and could be very annoying for the monster, if inflicted in the trickiest spots.

However, after a few seconds, the Diablos was able to shrug her off. The girl fell on the sand, but the Legiana attacked before it could hit her. Her tail was covered in frost and the temperature dropped all of a sudden. Legi dashed towards the Diablos, swooping down and hitting it between its eyes. Small icicles formed on the Diablos’ snout, but although it took that hit, it roared and struck the Legiana with its left horn by suddenly moving its head.

Legi roared back, recovered quickly and took flight again. Distracted by the airborne enemy, the Diablos was caught off guard by Yuri, who climbed on its back once more. She sank her blade into the membrane of the Diablos’ left wing. In response, it let out an annoyed moan, trying to shrug her off.

“Now, Legi!” she shouted.

Her mount shrieked, attacking the Diablos in flight and hitting its side with a claw attack that tipped it over. Yuri took advantage of that opening to firmly grasp her sword, still stuck in the wing membrane, and severed it by sliding down the phalanx of one of its fingers. A huge cut opened in the membrane, then Yuri quickly got off the Diablos’ body, getting next to her Legiana. The silence of the desert was broken by the pained moans and cries of the hurt Diablos, as it agitated its wings.

Moreover, its roars annoyed a flock of Noios passing by: they got scared and started giving out their deafening, high-pitched shrieks. Yuri had to cover her years, while Legi stood in front of her, ready to protect her if necessary. The fight with the Diablos wasn’t over yet: when the dust settled and the desert wingdrakes flew away, the monster stood up. As upset and hurt as it was, it started digging to go back underground.

“They’re worse than a sonic bomb!” the girl thought.

She mounted Legi and waited for the Diablos to come out from beneath the sand. However, she was actually hoping for it to be leaving.

Chapter Text

Xavia, Nina and Nick caught up to the Barroth, which Nina had spotted with her spyglass before defying the Diablos. They let the scout flies lead them to the specimen to make sure they didn’t get lost along the way. However, upon reaching a muddy area, the bugs flew back into their lanterns, as if they didn’t want to approach the monster they’d smelled. But that was the right spot, so the three hunters split up to look for the brute wyvern. Shortly thereafter, Nina called the others:

“I found it! It’s dead, though: not a pretty sight.”

The Barroth was lying on its side, in the mud. Its scalp was completely broken and full of cracks. Its hide was covered in holes full of burns, as if it had exploded. The carcass was surrounded by a puddle of its blood, which the Black Blight made dark and as thick as tar, and the usual wisp of smoke was slowly rising from the body, stinking up the air with an insufferable stench of spoiled meat. Nick covered his nose:

“What happened to it? Gosh, that stench! That disease is just disgusting.”

No monster from the Wildspire Waste could leave such marks.

“Maybe a Rathian spat bigger, hotter fireballs than usual? Or maybe a Bazelgeuse: they’ll attack and blow anything up.”

None of them could figure out how that Barroth was killed that way. Xavia approached the carcass and tapped the burnt spots, rubbing her fingers on them.

“I have a hunch, but I wouldn’t like to jump to conclusions. It surely wasn’t a Rathian: the wounds wouldn’t be so deep. Besides, their edges are too precise.”

She approached the Barroth’s head, ignoring the smoke and the stench of the Black Blight, while Nick observed the burns from close up. Xavia stuck her fingers into the hollow where the scalp used to be and mused:

“Bazelgeuse have fun tearing monsters apart with their explosive scales, but they couldn’t do something like this.”

They discussed it for a few minutes, but they didn’t get to any certain conclusion. Xavia was in a hurry to return to Yuri, but Nina and Nick managed to persuade her to stay there a bit longer, trying to shed light on the infected Barroth’s death. It was mostly the longswordsman who convinced her, since his sister agreed to join Yuri: she claimed that it was the best option, because she knew that they risked wasting the whole day, when her brother started looking for clues. Xavia sat down on a rock while the siblings scoured the area, and she sighed:

“I’d rather help Yuri chase the Diablos away and have her come here to cleanse the carcass.”

They’d been searching for several minutes and she was done. Moreover, she had a bad feeling about it, and most times, her hunches turned out to be correct. She stood up and stretched, when she heard Nina shout from afar:

“Hey, over here!”

Nick rushed to her, then waved at Xavia and called her:

“Xavia, come take a look!”

Intrigued, the huntress approached her partners. When she joined them, she saw. There was something green and sticky on the rocks, in the mud, on the scattered bushes. A substance that every hunter knew very well. Nina exclaimed, incredulous:

“Brachydios slime!”

Xavia gasped and warned them:

“Damn, you’re right: it’s not fresh, but be careful anyway.”

Knowing the scholars would want a sample to examine, she grabbed one of the small containers used for harvesting traces from her bag. She carefully scraped off a little slime with her knife, letting it slide into the container.

“A Brachydios strolling around the New World? How can this be?” Nick asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Xavia replied, tenser and tenser.

“How about we get rid of it?” Nina suggested.

Xavia nodded and said she’d do it. She grabbed a pebble from the ground after they stepped back, loaded it into her slingshot and shot it at the substance on the rocks. When the slime was stimulated, there was a large explosion which charred a shrub and left a small hole that was quickly filled with mud.

“Done,” Xavia said.

She was just shocked. A Brachydios in the New World? She didn’t want to believe it. Since Xander almost killed her and abandoned her, she’d never taken on Brachydios hunts. Thinking about them reminded her of Bam, which in turn reminded her of her past, and she absolutely didn’t want that. She snapped back to reality:

“We must bring Yuri here.”

This time, Nick and Nina had nothing to object, so they hastily left to join the Rider.

Yuri and Legi were getting tired. Since that Diablos had come out from beneath the sand, it had kept on ignoring the dung pods. Legi had managed to hit it with a couple of freezing tail strikes, but Yuri hadn’t managed to land another blow even once. It had gotten quicker and more violent, as enraged as it was. The Rider had to step aside, mounting the Legiana and having her take flight, out of the monster’s reach. It insisted on trying to hit them by leaping, even though it kept missing them.

“Resist a little longer, Legi. It will grow tired and we’ll be able to land.”

She stroked the baby Legiana’s head – she was tired from the fight. Yuri couldn’t blame her: she was barely a day old and she already had to face a raging Diablos. At that point. Yuri could see the three hunters approaching from the horizon. But they were all interrupted all of a sudden by a roar. A thunderous, deep cry amongst the dunes behind Yuri. Its echo made the Noios nervous again, so they flew away. The Diablos opened its eyes wide and froze. The three hunters gasped, when they suddenly saw what was coming. Yuri barely had time to turn around, before seeing a sheet of flame looming over them.

“Legi!” she shouted.

The Legiana looked and saw the flames. She dashed sideways just before the blaze reached them. The fire hit the Diablos – still scared by that roar – and brought it down, charring its hide. The wyvern let out several pained roars and cries, trying to dig to go back under the sand, but it was too tired from the fight and didn’t make it in time. The flames encompassed the Diablos, and it collapsed in agony.

Yuri had no time to breathe a sigh of relief, because something sharp tore her back. The Rider screamed and was hurled forward. The Legiana suddenly dove to evade the next attack, but she did so too hastily; she crash-landed on the sand and her Rider fell off her back. Yuri ended up lying prone on the sand, far from both her monster and the hunters. She tried to get up by putting weight on her arms, but to no avail. The sudden hit, the exhaustion and the crash were too much to take. She felt faint, as she noticed her mother run towards her. She saw nothing else, before passing out.

“Yuri!” Xavia shouted, running to her.

However, the newly arrived monster stood between her, the Rider and the Legiana. The temperature rose abruptly and a terrible sultriness formed, to the point that Legi began panting with her mouth wide open. That wasn’t just any fire monster, that was a lion-like Elder Dragon. The Emperor of Flames: a Teostra.

Chapter Text

“A Teostra!” Nina gasped.

Xavia stood still, watching the monster. She wanted to run to Yuri and take her to safety, but her legs wouldn’t move. A few seconds passed, during which the only sounds where the Noios’ screeches and the fire still charring the dead Diablos’ hide. Then the Teostra turned its back on the three hunters and started walking: it was after the girl, who was still unconscius on the sand.

“What?” Xavia whispered, confused.

Her heart froze, when the Teostra grabbed Yuri with its maw. It held her carefully between its teeth, so as to neither drop her nor hurt her. The Emperor of Flames watched the confused humans for a bit. It spread its wings, let out a guttural growl and took flight.

“Wait! No!” Xavia shouted, raising her arm.

The Teostra headed eastwards and disappeared in the horizon. The woman clenched her teeth, bringing two fingers to her mouth to call the Mernos. She wouldn’t let that monster take her daughter away, she’d chase it anywhere. But Nick grabbed her arm before she whistled; the huntress turned to him, terrified and furious.

“Get off me!” she yelled.

She looked up at the sky and saw that the Teostra was gone by now. She no longer knew where to instruct her Mernos to go. That was when Nick let go of her arm, and Xavia felt on her knees. Nina rushed to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Yuri’s Legiana, on the other hand, kept watching the sky and giving out her shrill shrieks, as if calling her Rider. Legi was still very shocked due to the extreme temperature swing caused by the Teostra’s presence, so much so that she couldn’t even spread her wings. A few minutes of silence passed. Nick watchd the sky, while his stister remained kneeling on the sand next to Xavia. The huntress clenched her fists, resting them on her knees.

“Why did it take her? What’s the meaning of this?” she murmured.

After a few seconds of confusion, she was blinded by rage again and she gave her partner an angry look:

“Why did you stop me?! I lost sight of the Teostra because of you!” she yelled.

She made Nina gasp, but Nick wasn’t shaken by her tone:

“Indeed, a Teostra.”

“So what? We’ve all faced one before! I can fight it!”

The two siblings, however, were surprised – Xavia was shedding a couple of tears, which she hastened to wipe. Nina mumbled:

“Xavia…”

But she was interrupted by her brother before she could go ahead:

“Xavia, stop being an idiot!” he snapped.

“Me? An idiot?”

“Everyone in Astera has killed monsters even worse than a Teostra, but if you face that thing while you’re so upset, you won’t get anywhere! In fact, you’d be burnt to a crisp right away. Besides, we’re not equipped for it: we have no cool drinks, we have nothing that may help us treat burns, we don’t even have fireproof mantles. This requires proper planning.”

He wasn’t wrong. Xavia sighed to calm down, stood up and stated:

“Then I’ll go back to Astera, gear up, and be right back.”

Nick replied:

“Do it, but first, I demand explanations. Since Yuri arrived, you’ve been acting strange. You asked us to get a Legiana egg for her, you rushed us for the entirety of this mission, and a few minutes ago you were about to defy a Teostra without organizing first! What’s the matter with you?”

Nina added:

“I’m also worried about that girl, but I’m sure she’ll be fine: she’s cool. Besides, it didn’t look like that Teostra wanted to kill her: did you see how gentle it was?”

“Tell us why you worry so much about that Rider and we’ll help you save her,” Nick urged her.

Xavia looked at the two siblings, before looking down:

“Fine,” she sighed.

She sat down on a rock and, trying to be as brief as she could, she told them everything she’d revealed to Yuri the evening before.

As soon as Yuri regained consciousness, her first thought was:

“Where am I?”

She’d woken up lying on her back on a hard, rocky floor. All around her, she saw nothing but rocks. She didn’t even see any potential way out. She got scared and wondered:

“Is this a cave?”

She looked up: the cavern had no ceiling – indeed, she could see the faint sunlight coming in through a wide rift in the rock. She tried looking around, but the shade didn’t allow her to distinguish shapes well and the sunlight filtering through the rift wasn’t enough. Then she saw another light: a feeble, red, warm gleam shining in the dark. It shifted from dim to bright, as if it was expanding, and its warmth lapped her body, which she found quite pleasant: the cave was cold and moist, so that warm breeze drying it was perfect. She heard a lion’s roar, then the light came even closer. When it was close enough, Yuri could tell what it was. She saw the Teostra’s snout, standing before her.

Yuri acted on impulse and brought her arms in front of her head to shield herself from any attack. The Teostra roared again, echoing through the cave, and its body released a burst of small flames that ignited the rocks and the sand. The Elder Dragon’s light went out, but now the cavern was illuminated by the flames. Yuri couldn’t take her eyes off the monster, which had just moved: now it no longer stood a few inches away from her – it lay down in the middle of the tunnel leading to the exit. Yuri connected the dots and figured out she must’ve been kidnapped by the Teostra after fainting. She was shocked, her eyes and mouth wide open.

In the culture of Riders, Elder Dragons were sacred – it wasn’t uncommon for Riders to interrupt their quests just because one of those mighty monsters suddenly showed up. It was still possible and normal for a Rider to tame an Elder Dragon. However, because of how difficult it was to find their eggs, just a few of them had one in their contingents. Now there was a wild one right in front of Yuri. It took her breath away to see it right there, like that.

She immediately stood up, taking slow steps back as the monster watched her with its blue eyes. She backed off until she felt her back bump into something hard and slick, but before she could turn around, the Teostra let out an aggressive roar. It stood up and approached her. Intimidated, Yuri turned around and saw a reddish-brown egg as large as her. The Teostra approached its egg, lowered its head and sniffed it. Yuri could sense some concern in that act.

Anyway, when it saw that the egg was still completely intact, the monster gave the Rider a threatening look, and she immediately looked away and closed her eyes. The Teostra growled, then it turned around and lay down in front of the tunnel again. Yuri opened her eyes only a few seconds later, before sighing faintly. She was confused and afraid. Xavia wasn’t there for her. Thinking of her mother, Yuri clenched her fists. She’d get out of that cave somehow. She looked up at the sky and nodded resolutely.

Chapter Text

Xavia told her partners all the truth, and now they were staring at her in amazement.

“All right, I wasn’t expecting that. So Yuri’s your daughter, huh?” Nina said.

“Now I see why you were in such a hurry,” Nick mused.

He apologized for forcing her to dig up bad memories, but Xavia raised her hand and reassured him:

“No, don’t be sorry. You were right: I was about to attack a Teostra without proper equipment, so you saved me. Thanks.”

Nick raised an eyebrow and pouted. He still felt guilty for unwittingly contributing to letting his partner’s daughter vanish. Nina intruded:

“Shall we go now?”

Xavia looked at her and Yuri’s Legiana. The monster kept its head low, panting slightly. The heat and the dry weather of the desert didn’t exactly suit a Legiana, although Yuri believed otherwise.

“Yes, I’ll head back to Astera. I’ll gear up better and be back as soon as possible,” Xavia said, approaching Legi.

She put a hand on her neck, stroking it gently. Legi looked at the huntress, appreciating that and closing her eyes. Nina asked her:

“What about us?”

Nick understood what Xavia was up to and stated:

“We’ll take care of tracking the Teostra.”

Xavia nodded:

“But I want you two to wait before engaging: I wouldn’t like Yuri to get hurt. Attack only if it gets bad, otherwise wait for me: we’ll go together when I’m ready.”

“Don’t take too long, we might have to fight without you,” Nick urged her.

Xavia nodded and tapped the Legiana’s neck:

“Come on, you! Follow me, I’m taking you back!”

That said, the huntress got going, followed on foot by the wyvern.

Yuri sighed, sitting leaning her back on the wall of the cavern. She’d tried to climb the wall multiple times, but to no avail: the rocks were too slick and lacked handholds to get to the rift above. Moreover, that looked like the only exit from that cave, apart from the tunnel watched by the Teostra. The Rider shook her head and folded her arms, irritated. She didn’t like that situation at all: if she looked for other exits, she was discouraged and fended off by the dragon’s roar every time she got too close to it or its egg. The Teostra’s roar was so loud it shook some pebbles on the ground, and she’d cowered in a corner of the cave out of fear.

The Teostra lay and seemed to be sleeping, but Yuri wouldn’t risk waking it up trying to sneak past it. So the Rider resumed watching the Teostra’s egg and reflecting. Could that Elder Dragon have sensed her Kinship Stone from afar and taken her there to make the egg hatch? It didn’t even let her approach, so she ruled out that theory. She spent the next ten minutes wondering why she was in that cave, before something happened: the Teostra roared in pain, standing up in a snap. It kept its eyes closed, shaking its head while roaring and letting out suffering groans. Yuri got nervous and stood up as well. What she saw next left her speechless, nearly paralyzed.

Black smoke started rising from the Teostra’s hide, as if it was piercing it, and caused the dragon to roar even louder than before. The echo was so intense that Yuri had to cover her ears. When the Elder Dragon lowered its gaze, Yuri could see the monster’s eyes – they were normally cobalt blue, but they’d turned blood red. A few seconds passed, then the Teostra started clawing at the surrounding rocks, as if externalizing its pain. It went down the tunnel and left. The girl took a step back, surprised.

“That’s not possible!”

The Teostra had caught the Black Blight. But how could that be? All Riders knew that Elder Dragons were genetically immune to that disease, it was even written in the Guild’s archives. There was no way an infected monster could pass it to the Teostra – the only explanation was an artificially transmitted infection. That would mean… Yuri dispelled the thought of Hakum’s old enemies.

“That’s ludicrous! They’re no threat anymore!”

Either way, it didn’t matter: the Teostra and its egg were infected and she absolutely had to purify them. Her duty as a Rider and the mission from the Guild demanded it. The Emperor of Flames came back: it seemed to have come to its senses, although its eyes were still red and it was clearly in pain. Yuri slowly grabbed her sword and shield and laid them down on the rocks. She brought her hands above her head, as she walked towards the Teostra. Seeing it growl, she murmured:

“I don’t want to fight, I want to help you.”

She spoke softly, and was now very close to the Elder Dragon. In response, the monster lowered its head and roared in her face. As scared as she was, she girl didn’t fall back. In fact, she took a step forward and rested her hand on the monster’s snout. She strived not to panick and claimed:

“I want to cure you. I’m going to cure both you and your egg.”

When it saw the young human look at the egg, the Teostra seemed to understand. So it slowly raised its head, approached the egg and sat down: it was like it was giving her permission to come closer. Yuri looked at the Teostra, sighed and smiled:

“I got this!” she exclaimed, ready.

She opened the bracelet on her right wrist, uncovering the Kinship Stone. When she touched it, a warm green shine illuminated the cave. For a moment, the Teostra blinked and growled. Yuri turned to the monster just for a moment, then focused on the egg. That reaction was totally normal: the purification from the Black Blight was painful for infected specimens. The girl approached the egg, while the light from the stone kept shining and got brighter, as if being near the Black Blight enhanced it. However, before she could complete the job, a roar from the rift in the ceiling made her look up. The Teostra, on the other hand, recognized that cry and roared at the sky in response.

At that point, Yuri saw her: her blue scales and mane, as well as the type of flames surrounding her body, differentiated her from the Teostra, but the two monsters looked alike apart from that. Another roar followed the monster’s landing. Her mane shone like a brazier and the temperature in the cave rose to crazy levels. Yuri had just turned around to follow the monster’s movements, when she saw a wave of blue, hot dust blazing towards her.

The girl covered her face with her arms not to get burnt, then looked at the egg, worried: the blue dust had encompassed it; maybe it risked catching fire. Luckily, however, it didn’t char. She looked at that creature: it was the Empress of Flames – a Lunastra. She knew very well that the imperial couple was very protective of their offspring, but the fact that the female had risked burning her own egg shocked her.

“Don’t you care about your cub?! I want to help you!” she exclaimed.

The Lunastra stared at her with her yellow eyes, furious. She was about to pounce on her, but the Teostra suddenly struck his mate with his paw, standing between her and the Rider. The Lunastra roared and took a defense stance. The male did the same thing, ready to attack. Yuri watched with surprise, but she focused on the egg again. She reactivated her Kinship Stone, starting to cleanse it from the Black Blight.

Chapter Text

A FEW MINUTES AGO…

“We’ve found them!” Nick told his sister.

The two siblings had spent many hours exploring the Wildspire Waste, tracking the Teostra. Lucky for them, the Diablos’ carcass had made it easy for the scout flies to find a trail. Now they stood on the edge of a chasm tens of meters deep. When they leaned out to see what was inside, they spotted Yuri and the Teostra: the monster lay at the center of the cavern and watched Yuri, who never dared take her eyes off the lion-like dragon. Nina drew her bow and urged her brother:

“Go to Xavia, I’ll stay here. If things get bad down there, I’ll protect Yuri from above.”

“Can’t we intervene right now? While I distract the Teostra, you get the girl and sneak out with her,” he proposed.

Nina shook her head:

“No way: I won’t let you face an Elder Dragon alone. Let’s wait for Xavia and save Yuri together, don’t argue. She also wanted us to do so, remember?”

Nick reflected quietly for a few seconds, with an uncertain look. He eventually didn’t object, simply nodding. Before turning around and leaving, he told her:

“Don’t fuck this up.”

Once alone, Nina lay in wait on a rocky spur extending from the edge of the chasm. She nocked an arrow and began aiming at the Teostra, ready to act should anything happen. At some point, the situation seemed to change. The archer strung her bow, nervous: the Teostra became agitated and got out of her field of vision, while Yuri stood near the wall of the cave, frozen. Shotly thereafter, Nina heard another roar, this time above her. The huntress immediately hid behind a boulder, caught off guard by a Lunastra’s arrival.

“Oh, shit! They’re a couple!” she cursed.

She clenched her teeth, striving to breathe softly, so as not to be heard by the Empress of Flames; the Lunastra approached the edge of the rift and looked into the cave. Nina couldn’t face the Teostra alone, but now his mate was also there. The huntress wondered whether she could hope to face both at the same time, with Nick and Xavia’s help. While she mused, another roar from the Lunastra caught her attention. She saw her peer into the chasm with a furious expression, while a green shine came out of the cave. Nina recognized it:

“Yuri’s stone!” she thought, surprised.

She wondered what the girl was doing down there, when the Lunastra jumped and glided into the pit, getting out of sight. Wasting no time, Nina left her hideout and resumed watching the cave. She heard the Teostra’s roar, intimidating and almost pleading, as the dragon attacked his mate. The female moaned for the claw attack, then forced the Teostra to fall back by flapping her wings and covering him with her scorching dust. Then the huntress began to nervously tighten her grip on the bow, until her knuckles paled. However, she noticed the start of a tunnel at the end of the cave.

“Maybe there’s an entrance nearby,” she thought, looking around.

Yuri was down there with two Elder Dragons fighting each other. She absolutely had to hurry.

Yuri was forced to keep her hands in front of her face to protect herself from the constant, violent surges of heat. She stood before th egg, watching the fight between the two mates. Taking advantage of the female’s surprise, the Teostra had managed to catch her off guard at first. But after a few minutes, the Lunastra turned the tide and started to overwhelm him. The imperial couple exchanged bite and claw attacks, as well as several fire attacks. Every time she fended off her mate, the Lunastra tried to char Yuri, and the Teostra immediately intervened to stop her.

The Rider had spent the last few minutes dodging the Empress’ blazes and trying to keep the egg from being damaged. She had no time and no way to activate her stone and purify it: it was too risky. The Teostra was bitten at the throat and cried in pain, then he fell to the ground after the Lunastra struck his snout with her paw. The female looked at Yuri and bared her fangs, and the girl froze. Keeping her head low and her wings spread, the Lunastra began to approach. The girl looked around for a moment. She couldn’t grab her sword and shield where she’d left them, and her armor was damaged and partly melt down by the heat.

“I just want to help you!” she exclaimed, terrified.

Staring at her, the Lunastra stiffened and stretched her wings; her blue sparks started swirling around her body, her mane shone with blue light from the inside: she was charging up with fire and dust to enhance her attacks. Yuri was more tempted than ever to flee, but she didn’t: she couldn’t leave the Teostra and that egg to the Black Blight. The girl clenched her fists, staring back at the Lunastra. She spread her arms, planting her feet on the rocky floor, and stood between the female and the egg, with a determined look.

“I’m not leaving!” she exclaimed.

The Lunastra’s mane and horns became even brighter, her front paws started glowing as well. The heat became unbearable, it felt worse than a furnace: Yuri felt like her face was melting. The Lunastra finished charging up and roared in her face, ordering her to leave the egg alone. But Yuri shook her head and kept staring at her:

“I said I’m not leaving.”

The Lunastra growled and raised a paw to strike her. The girl was about to close her eyes, but she saw things as if time had slowed down: before she was hit, a large, quick bolt was shot from above – it had small firecrackers tied to its tip to gain a boost. A dragon piercer arrow. It pierced through the Lunastra’s front paw and got stuck in the ground. Confused by the sudden twinge of pain, the Lunastra stumbled and fell, looking at her bleeding paw. The girl heard someone call her name:

“Yuri!”

The Rider looked up and saw an archer gliding into the cavern with the glider mantle. The hood and bib hid her face, but she regognized her voice.

“Nina!”

The huntress landed and took off her mantle. The Lunastra stood up, but was immediately hit in the side by her mate, who had recovered from her previous strike. She lost her balance and stumbled sideways, hitting the wall; she growled at the male, squinting her eyes. The Teostra began assaulting the Lunastra with bites, claw attacks and horn attacks, never giving her a break to stop her from reacting. Meanwhile, Nina rushed to the girl.

“Yuri, are you all right?”

“Yes. Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but we can’t run away: I must…”

“Say no more: I saw your green light. I guess you have a cleansing to do, but explanations later. Just tell me what I can do and I’ll lend you a hand!”

“All right, then try to keep the Lunastra busy: I need time, she mustn’t interrupt me.”

Nina looked at the girl, then at the two Elder Dragons clashing. She drew her bow and asked:

“How long?”

“A few minutes.”

“Then I can make it!”

She nocked four arrows at the same time and joined the Teostra in the fight. With a dash, she got in front of the Lunastra’s snout and shot the arrows, aiming for the neck. The hit distracted her, allowing the Teostra to land a claw attack on her chest, making her flinch. As the Lunastra gave her a furious look, Nina exclaimed:

“Now you deal with me, too!”

Yuri watched the start of the fight, scared by that scene, but focused on the egg again right after. She laid her right hand on its shell and activated the Kinship Stone: she’d make it this time.

Nina had always tried to avoid hunting the Emperors of Flames with a bow, at least on her own. Since bows were ranged weapons, they forced her to keep a distance from the monster, which made her very vulnerable to the blazes and fire they constantly emanated, whereas a swordsman just had to get behind the target or in other blind spots to solve the problem. But now the Teostra was keeping the Lunastra at bay, so she had plenty of chances to come close, aim well and shoot four arrows at once with as many mighty shots as possible. The two fire dragons fought more or less as equals: the Teostra was at a slight disadvantage due to exhaustion and the pain caused by the Black Blight, but fortunately Nina was good enough at distracting the female.

The huntress tried to follow a precise pattern as she fought: she shot, then moved, waited for the Teostra to strike, then shot again and so on. However, after a few minutes, the male was no longer able to keep up and the Lunastra realized it. She was about to overwhelm him with a gust of blue fire, but Nina blinded her with a flash pod. Before she could shoot more arrows, the Lunastra hit her with a sudden tail swipe, throwing her away. The archer stood up right away, but the Lunastra regained her sight and stood in front of her. At that point, the female took flight with a graceful spin and her whole body became so bright that it blinded everyone. The blue sparks began swirling around her like a tornado, almost hiding her. Nina paled, recognizing that attack.

“Yuri, take cover! Supernova!”

But it was pointless: the cavern was too small for them to get far enough, they had no way to avoid the fire explosion that would erupt in a few seconds. However, the green shine suddenly got brighter and outshone the gleam of the Lunastra’s dust, interrupting her in midair. The Teostra roared and lay down, devastated by the pain, breaking the silence that had fallen all of a sudden. Nina covered her eyes, keeping her free hand on her quiver.

The Lunastra, on the other hand, turned to her mate and gave him a perplexed look, landing. Shortly thereafter, they all heard a high-pitched meow. The green shine disappeared after a few seconds; the Lunastra turned to the Rider and opened her eyes wide, when she saw what had happened. Nina looked and reacted the same way. The egg had broken and a cub had appeared next to Yuri, squirming on the ground and whimpering. It was a baby Lunastra, with a curious look infinitely sweeter than her mother’s. Panting for the effort of the cleansing, Yuri thought:

“Ah, at last!”

Chapter Text

Yuri had made it: she’d purified both the Teostra and the cub, which had turned out to be a female. The baby Lunastra watched her parents with lively eyes, purring for the first time. Yuri took a long, deep breath: she was exhausted. Any use of the Kinship Stone consumed the Rider’s energies and the cleansing was one of the most draining actions. Additionally, since she’d been interrupted multiple times before she could pull it off, she’d burnt much more energy than she should. She was dead tired, but satisfied. The adult Lunastra looked at her for a few seconds, then decided to calm down: all of her blue sparks vanished. The now healed Teostra rubbed his cheeks against his mate’s snout, and she licked his mane in response. Together, they approached their cub and replied to her purring, letting her smell them both.

Hypnotized by all that cuteness, Nina had stood motionless like a statue the whole time, keeping a hand on her quiver with a dopey expression without realizing it. But when the imperial couple looked Yuri in the eye, she nocked a dragon piercer arrow, aiming at the Lunastra: if she dared attack the Rider again, she’d stop her. The Empress of Flames ignored her; she slowly approchaed Yuri, observed her and sniffed her hair, acting rather curious. Then she growled at her, but not in a threatening way: that growl conveyed solace and confidence, almost appreciation. The Teostra also approached the girl and gave out the same sound, but then he felt ticklish and turned around in a snap: the cub had noticed the tuft of fur on her father’s tail and had started playing with it, like a Felyne just weaned. Then the male lay down in a corner and started wagging his tail to make it more fun for her. Yuri interpreted that gentle growl as thanks and gave the Lunastra a wide smile, before telling her:

“Don’t mention it! I’m glad I could help you!”

At that point, the cub noticed that her mother’s tail had a tuft of fur even thicker and prettier than her dad’s and went to play with it. So the Lunastra lay down next to her mate and joined the fun. Yuri brought a hand on her mouth and coughed. Nina sheathed her bow and asked her:

“Hey, are you all right?”

“I’m just worn out: a good night’s sleep and I’ll be as good as new,” Yuri reassured her.

“Got it.”

“Where are Xavia and Nick?” the girl asked.

She hesitated a little when she mentioned her mother, fearing something had happened to her.

“Xavia headed to Astera with your Legiana: we thought we’d have to face the Teostra, but it wasn’t safe enough without the right tools. Nick went back to escort her, they must be close by now.”

At that point, they decided it was about time they left: Nina had found Yuri and the two fire dragons had gotten rid of the Black Blight and become parents – their job there was definitely done. The exit tunnel was now clear: they were let take it without problems. The tunnel spiraled upwards, before Yuri and Nina finally found themselves outside and both breathed a sigh of relief. The sun was setting and the whole desert was colored orange by the twilight. While they were walking towards the base, Yuri chuckled:

“I should try getting close to that baby Lunastra someday: even though she’ll grow up with her parents, I still imprinted halfway on her, I might be able to convince her to follow me! She’d be the second Elder Dragon I ride in my life.”

“Why, have you done that before?”

“I did once, with a Kushala Daora.”

Nina opened her eyes wide:

“You have a Kushala Daora?!”

“It wasn’t mine, it belonged to… uh… a frenemy, so to speak. It’s a long story, I’ll tell you another time.”

When they got far enough, they called the Mernos and had them carry them in flight.

When they flew over the spot where the Teostra had kidnapped Yuri, Nina suggested they land there and wait for Xavia and Nick. When they landed, the girl asked:

“Are you sure they can find us here?”

“Of course! You must pass through here to get to the cave where the Teostra took you. There are no other paths, if you start from Astera. Your mother and my brother will find us, and we can always shoot an SOS flare to make it easier for them.”

Yuri gasped in surprise, when she heard Nina refer to Xavia as her mother:

“What?! You knew?”

Nina giggled:

“Xavia told us before she went back to Astera. I didn’t have any idea: Xavia isn’t a talkative person, imagine if she started chatting about her life in the Old World! We may be companions and friends, but your mother was always a mystery for everyone.”

Yuri sat down on a rock and yawned, fatigued. All of a sudden, she heard her mother’s voice calling her:

“Yuri!”

She stood up in a snap, looking around. She saw Nick and Xavia from afar, running towards them. In Astera, Xavia had taken up a fireproof mantle, a bag of jars of cool drinks, sacks of hardshell powder and plenty of puddle pods to shoot with her slingshot and put out the flames with, but none of that was needed anymore. They were both overjoyed to see each other and gave a wide, moved smile. Nina laughed, waved at her and exclaimed in a lively tone:

“Mission accomplished, Xavia! Yuri’s safe and sound!”

Yuri rushed to Xavia and hugged her tightly, and the huntress hugged her back. She caressed the girl’s back and whispered with a trembling voice:

“I was so worried!”

The two siblings, for their part, bumped fists and Nick congratulated his sister for not getting melted down like a block of butter, getting a slap on his neck in response.

A woman in Zinogre armor, with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, watched the three hunters and the Rider go away from the top of a hill, spying on them with her binoculars. When they disappeared behind a dune, she shook her head and clenched her fists, before calling her Astalos infected by the Black Blight and flying away, towards the Elder’s Recess. Once there, she let her Astalos go and approached her brother, who stood on a rocky ledge to observe the massive crystal towering at the center of the volcanic region from afar.

“Xander, we have a setback,” she told him.

“What kind of setback, Mikayla?” he asked in a detached tone, without turning to her.

“Remember the Teostra you had Felix infect to see if we can control Elder Dragons, too?”

“Of course I do.”

“Him and his egg were purified: there’s no trace of Black Blight left in their bodies.”

Xander suddenly turned around, not expecting such news.

“Purified? Who did it?”

“I’ve been eavesdropping some conversations in Astera these last few days. The Guild sent a Rider from Hakum village to contain the epidemic. She’s just a teenage girl.”

Her brother was surprised and intrigued at the same time:

“And what does that girl look like? Did you hear her name?”

“I did. You’ll never believe this.”

“Well, surprise me.”

Mikayla felt dumb telling him, but she was too afraid that Xander would punish her harshly for her silence, if she kept it a secret and he found out himself later. She hesitated, but eventually made the reveal:

“It’s her, Xander. It’s Yuri.”

Her brother kept quiet, caught off guard, and started musing looking at his feet.

“Xander?”

“You must bring her to me, Mikayla. As soon as possible.”

Her look changed completely after a couple of seconds: she was now worried.

“What are you going to do to her?”

“You already know, Mikayla. This is an unmissable opportunity! And even if it wasn’t her, we’d still need a pure Kinship Stone,” he sneered.

He paused for a bit, then approached her with his arms folded:

“Whatever happens, our plan must proceed: the big moment is coming! Now go.”

“Fine.”

When he dismissed her, Mikayla looked up at the starry sky, feeling guilty like few times before.

“Please, Sapphire Star, help me figure out how I can get out of this mess! Let nothing happen to Yuri,” she thought, disheartened.

Chapter Text

What Yuri had found out thanks to that Teostra was too important to keep a secret. As soon as she was taken back to Astera, she went to the leaders of the First Fleet and asked them to call a meeting with all members of the Research Commission, because she’d made a discovery that changed everything. Interested and concerned at the same time, the Commander did so right away and had someone blow the horn announcing the start of an assembly. In minutes, all the hunters, scholars and technicians of Astera huddled up before the assembly table, ready to listen. Yuri cleared her throat and began her speech with a question:

“When you recruited me, you told me the Black Blight was never found in this continent until now, right?”

“Exactly. We neither saw nor documented it for forty years. Infected monsters showed up literally out of nowhere,” the Commander’s grandson replied.

“Good. When I read the Guild’s notice on the Black Blight outbreak here, I had a vague suspicion on where it might come from, but I ruled it out almost right away. But now an infected Elder Dragon showed up and I have no more doubts: there are corrupt Riders behind this epidemic. Only a person with an infected Kinship Stone can transmit that disease to Elder Dragons, otherwise they’d be immune by nature.”

A hunter of the Fourth Fleet raised a hand to ask a question:

“Who are corrupt Riders?”

“The name says it all: they’re criminal sects of Riders who fell into madness, whose Kinship Stone was tainted by the Black Blight. They worship it, depend on it and live completely detached from society. They can infect monsters and even control them, if they want to. It’s like when a normal Rider like me imprints on a monster just hatched, except they don’t need eggs or hatchlings: the whole process is forced and unnatural.”

“That’s definitely unexpected. They clearly settled here who knows how long ago, without any of us noticing. What kind of criminals are they? Please, tell us how we should behave, in case we deal with one of them,” the Commander asked.

“Riders with corrupted stones despise humans and monsters alike. In their eyes, people are inferior creatures to subjugate and monsters are tools to achieve their goals. They might’ve embarked on one of the fleets with you, or undercover on your argosy. It goes without saying that trying to reason with them is useless: if you meet them, stay away from them or try to defeat them – there are no other options. After all, you’ll have to get rid of them sooner or later: I may purify as many monsters as you wish, but it’s going to be a wasted effort, as long as they keep infecting more.”

Then the Commander asked her to give him the floor and announced:

“Have you all understood, hunters? From now on, I want each of you to keep an eye out more than ever! Explore the continent as thoroughly as you can, look for signs of people who look suspicious to you and warn us immediately, if you believe you have a lead! Am I clear?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good. And of course, don’t stop reporting every single monster infected by that disease and pointing out their locations. After all, the Rider’s just said that they’re responsible for the contagion, so the monsters may help us get to them. Never lower your guard, obviously! Anything else?”

Yuri shook her head:

“No.”

Actually, there was one more detail on that disease, which was the greatest, most terrible threat that plague could bring forth; but she’d personally taken care of that forever, two years ago, so she decided to omit it.

“Very well. Hunters, this assembly is over. You’re all dismissed!”

The crowd dispersed and Yuri went to the monsters’ platform to pay Ratha and Legi a visit. The two monsters were happy to see her and she stroked both for a while, smiling. After that, however, she finally went to her lodging to rest: she had a feeling those would be very tough days for her. She was right, but it turned out to be even harder than expected.

A nightmare. For the Rider, that was surely the best word to describe the following month.

After the assembly, she asked the blacksmith of Astera to forge a new armor for her, and she also commissioned two saddles: Ratha’s had been left on the boat she’d used and Legi needed a customized model. But eventually, only Legi’s was needed: the Rathalos’ saddle had been retrieved by the piscine researcher of the Commission, during one of his fishing expeditions along the shoreline.

The blacksmith just had to measure and observe well the Legiana’s physique to craft a model fitting the shape of her back. Yuri had to wait longer for the armor: the Second Fleet Master and his apprentices had spent thirty years forging equipment for adults, so there were only molds and measures of that size, and they needed to adapt everything to Yuri’s small frame. There were no issues with the materials, since Xavia gave away hers, so it was all a matter of retrofitting. In the end, after a couple of days, Yuri finally got an armor which suited her perfectly.

The blacksmith made an Odogaron armor for her, a species she hadn’t encountered yet, but she was looking forward to sighting one. When Yuri began to get around wearing that armor, she started to overhear some people cracking jokes about her being a minor and the body areas which the women’s model generously left bare. The girl didn’t get those jokes and Xavia refused to explain them to her, when she asked her what they meant.

The nightmare started in the following days for Yuri: with an abrupt change of pace, the sightings of infected monsters tripled, and maybe there were even more than that. The corrupt Riders had likely figured out they’d been discovered, and had subsequently begun to act more insistently. Yuri never stopped receiving reports, she was busier than ever. She spent her days soaring in the sky with Legi, and after a while, she even had to write down a list of the sightings, so as not to lose count and remember which ones had been taken care of and which ones hadn’t.

That was how she spent her days during that long month: seeking out monsters and cleansing them. She didn’t even have time to take zoology classes from the scholars on the magnificent species native of the New World, from the Ancient Forest to the Elder’s Recess. But she couldn’t bear such a strain forever. One evening, as she landed in front of the market in Astera with Legi, she mumbled:

“I can’t take any more.”

She threw her hands in her hair, while getting off the Legiana. She’d lost count of how many infected monsters she’d healed by now. Legi turned to her mistress. She let out a concerned trill, gently rubbing her head against the girl’s sides. Yuri wished she could tell her:

“Relax, I’m fine.”

But she clearly wasn’t: she felt so drained that she staggered on the wooden planks and almost fell. Legi had to hold her with her head not to let her collapse. Yuri’s head span like a top. She forced a smile and whispered:

“I’ll be better tomorrow, you’ll see.”

Shuffling her feet, she took Legi to Ratha and returned to Xavia’s private lodging. Since Yuri started to sleep in her room, the huntress had added a sleeping bag for herself, leaving the bed to her daughter. On Yuri’s request, she’d added a small desk and a stool for the girl to write down her discoveries – which she seldom did, because of all the assignments she had to take care of. As she stepped in, Yuri whispered:

“I’m back.”

She looked around, hoping to see her mother, but her gaze fell upon the small table near her bed. A few stripes of jerky and a jug of water lay on it, as well as a folded piece of paper. Yuri took it, sat down on the bed and unfolded it. She recognized her mother’s handwriting, since she’d already seen it a couple of times, when Xavia wrote reports for the Resource Center.

Sorry, I’ll come back later than usual tonight: I took on a Kushala Daora hunt in the Elder’s Recess, I’m going to catch it off guard while it’s sleeping. Enjoy your dinner!

Love, mom

“Oof… fine.” Yuri sighed, saddened.

She sat down at the table and quietly munched the jerky, trying to relax as much as she could.

Xander stared at his sister and complained:

“Are you still empty-handed, Mikayla?”

She nodded hesitantly, with her arms folded and looking down at her feet:

“Sorry, Xander, I just can’t keep up with her. Ben and Felix are infecting too many monsters at once: I have no time to get close to her after a cleansing, before she goes away!”

“Then why don’t you attack her while she’s fighting? Don’t you think it would be easier that way?”

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t like to wound her or the monsters to hurt her,” she justified herself.

Xander got irritated:

“Don’t be ridiculous, sis! You’re skilled enough to take down a Deviljho on your own, it would be child’s play for you. I’ll tell those two to stop for a few days, but I want to know why you’re hesitating. Right now.”

She couldn’t reply: she kept staring at the ground, knowing she didn’t have the guts to look him in the eye. So he gave her a sarcastic smile:

“Actually, I already know: you’re scared!”

Mikayla finally had the courage to look up and confront him:

“Why would I be scared of my own niece?”

Xander made a smug expression and kept provoking her:

“You’re scared of me, not her. You don’t want me to do to her what I did to you and the others, because you can’t stand it may happen to the only Aros with no tragedy in her past.”

“I… yes. Yes, you’re right: that’s why I can’t do it,” she murmured, distressed.

“It makes no sense for you to empathize with Yuri so much. I mean, you’ve not seen her for fifteen years! Am I to believe that you have compassion for her or her mother now? After you did nothing to stop Fang from attacking Xavia? Sure, he failed to kill her, but that’s not the point.”

Mikayla shed a couple of tears, as she stared at her older brother and was blinded by fury:

“No! Don’t you dare! Don’t even try! I couldn’t know! You told me about it only after everything had already happened and it’s your fault if I couldn’t return to Xavia and help her! Don’t you dare put a guilt trip on me!”

In response, he burst out laughing:

“Hahahahaha! You know, it’s always funny, Mikayla.”

He approached his sister, laid a hand on her head and stroked her hair, disturbing the swarm of fulgur bugs nested in it. The bugs buzzed around the cave for a few seconds, while she wiped her tears, before hiding in her reddish-brown hair again. At that point, Xander claimed:

“Anyway, I’m tired of your hesitation. It’s time for you to get serious.”

His sister barely had time to look up and see him open his Rider bracelet, uncovering a glowing red stone.

“No, please, not her!”

“You had it coming.”

Mikayla felt a stabbing twinge of pain in her chest, followed by an even worse one in her head. She screamed and bent over, pressing her temples with one hand and her heart with the other. She fell on her knees, and the tips of her hair tapped the rocky floor. She kept screaming and panting for a few seconds – then, all of a sudden, silence fell in that cave in the Elder’s Recess.

Chapter Text

“Yuri’s burnt out.”

The Commander could sense genuine concern in Xavia’s words. That morning, the huntress had asked him if they could talk in private, but since him and his grandson had a lot of paperwork to take care of, he’d scheduled an appointment with her at noon, when he’d be free from his commitments. In that moment, they were at the canteen: Xavia was sitting at her favorite table, from which she could enjoy the view of the ocean, while the Commander listened to her standing with his arms folded. Fully aware of what she meant, he replied:

“She’s full of work, I realize that.”

“Last night, when I came back from that Kushala Daora hunt, I found her sleeping, sitting on the bed. She hadn’t even taken off her armor and she could barely stand this morning.”

“And she still went on a mission?” the Commander asked, surprised.

“Yes. I tried to stop her, but she’s really stubborn.”

Xavia let out a nervous sigh, resting her elbows on the table. Before the Commander replied, Nina suddenly showed up behind Xavia and slapped her softly on the neck:

“Right, said the huntress who once insisted on facing a pink Rathian even though she had a flu, then even got poisoned!” she laughed.

Xavia quickly turned to her and snorted:

“Nina! This is a private conversation!”

Nick arrived shortly after his sister and intervened:

“Forgive her, we’ve just come back from a gathering expedition and she saw you. She heard you talk about Yuri and…”

“Yuri is like a friend to me, by now! If there’s something wrong with her, I feel compelled to help her somehow,” Nina replied, offended.

The Commander cleared his throat to call their attention:

“You really are a nice group, do you know that? Anyway, luckily only one infected specimen was sighted today: a Deviljho in the Wildspire Waste. Since it’s clear that the Rider is getting more and more tired, I insisted someone escort her: three hunters of the Sixth Fleet volunteered.”

Xavia didn’t look so convinced to him, but she didn’t protest. The Commander understood her: many people would find sending young beginners after a Deviljho a bad idea, but the Commander had learnt not to underestimate new talents. In the end, he didn’t need to justify his decision: Xavia made a thankful expression, smiled at him and nodded:

“Thank you, sir. Either way…”

The Commander interrupted her:

“Last week, I had the captain of the argosy set sail for emergency restocking. Beside the usual supplies, I asked the Guild to send more Riders here, so the girl can have some actual support. A couple more weeks, and Yuri won’t have to work alone anymore.”

Xavia, Nina and Nick were all rather glad. The purple-haired huntress stood up, slightly bowing her head to thank the Commander.

“Thanks a lot, sir! That’s wonderful news!” she exclaimed.

The leader of the First Fleet dismissed them. At that point, with a sigh of relief, Xavia stood up and gave a check to the notice board to see if there was a bounty that interested her.

MEANWHILE…

Alex, a young hunter with short black hair, brown eyes and a Diablos armor, finished recounting:

“And then he chopped off its head with his greatsword!”

Next to him was Yuri, on her Legiana’s back, and on the other side was Erika, a girl of the Sixth Fleet with red hair, green eyes and a bone switchaxe. In front of them walked a very quiet huntress with reddish-brown hair, wearing simple leather clothes. However, she wore the mask of an Odogaron armor set, hiding her face. It was Erika who had convinced her partner Alex to volunteer to help Xavia’s daughter; before they left, the redhead had told Yuri that she was looking for a way to repay Xavia, since she’d saved them from a pack of Jagras a month ago. For his part, Alex claimed that it was important for them to face a Deviljho, because in this way they could show the rest of the Research Commission that they weren’t so weak as the Jagras had made them look.

The lancer admitted that they were newbies who’d recently moved up from the low rank, but he guaranteed the Rider that they could get the job done: they just needed to adapt to the New World, so as to get back on track in full swing. Yuri wasn’t expecting to be given an escort, so she was a bit embarrassed. Besides, the fact that Alex kept talking to break the ice only made her more uncomfortable: she didn’t utter a word for the whole journey to the Wildspire Waste. Once they arrived at the campsite with the Mernos, they started searching. In order to break the silence, Alex began telling her about an old hunt of his, back in the Old World.

“That was one of the best hunts in my life, although we all nearly died! We really taught that damned Zinogre a lesson!”

As he spoke, he raised an arm and smiled pridefully behind the face plate of his helmet. Hearing him, Erika giggled:

“Yeah, I remember. But I’ll confess that I did almost nothing. In fact, I think I would’ve died, had I joined the fray.”

Yuri smiled at them, from Legi’s back. Given her conditions that morning, she preferred to spare her energies and travel on the saddle as much as possible, in anticipation of the fight against the Deviljho. Erika also told an anecdote, giving Yuri the chills:

“My first high-rank monster was a Yian Garuga. It wasn’t pleasant at all: it broke my arm and five of my ribs with its kicks and beak!”

The conversation was interrupted by the icy voice of the huntress ahead of them:

“Hey, we’re getting there.”

Yuri looked around. They’d gotten to a fresh and shady oasis, full of palm trees, ferns and springs. They could see several Apceros drinking, but the Deviljho was nowhere to be seen.

“I doubt it will be easy for that monster to hide or move without leaving traces. This oasis is rather vast. Let’s split up and search for it!” Alex exorted.

His companions nodded, taking different directions for the search.

“Alex, did you find anything?” Erika asked from afar.

They’d spent the last twenty minutes scouring the area, but had failed to find anything. The two of them weren’t so far from each other, so she’d thought to check whether her partner had found any clues.

“No, nothing at all. Though… no, wait! There’s something here,” he said right afterwards.

As Erika caught up to him, Alex gave it a closer look, before suddenly gasping:

“Ugh! Disgusting!” he esclaimed, covering his nose.

Perplexed, Erika checked as well: among the weeds, covered in blood and dung, lay a piece of the Deviljho’s tail, almost completely rotten. It had been sliced off with a clean cut, but it also seemed to have been charred by lightning.

“Do you think it belongs to the specimen we’re looking for?” Erika asked.

Alex nodded:

“It’s been here for a long time, but there’s no doubt: this is it. There were no other Deviljho sightings in this desert, in the last few days.”

“What could do this to it?” she asked, disgusted by the stench.

Alex plugged his nose and mused:

“The cut is very clean, so only a weapon could’ve chopped it off. But I don’t understand what could burn it like…”

Before he finished his sentence, they heard a scared roar from far away.Erika immediately grabbed her binoculars and watched their surroundings:

“That cry was…” Alex murmured, worried.

“Yuri’s Legiana! Something must’ve happened to them!”

“Then let’s move!”

They drew their weapons and began to run.

“Tell me, little girl, don’t you hate hunters?”

The woman’s icy voice was so scary that Yuri instinctively drew her sword. The huntress wearing leather clothes had come with Yuri, but as soon as they arrived in the thickest part of the oasis, she’d stood in front of Yuri and Legi and had started to act threatening, for no apparent reason. Yuri kept a defensive stance and asked her:

“What the hell are you doing? We’re supposed to find that infected Deviljho.”

The stranger gave her a cynical laugh and folded her arms:

“What should I care about a scorched carcass?”

Her words confused Yuri, and as she saw the girl’s perplexed expression, the woman went on:

“Oh, right: you can’t know. I already killed that Deviljho three days ago. This quest was just a farce to lure you here, darling.”

She laughed again; this time, her sadistic laugh made her sound downright crazy. Yuri stepped back and raised her shield, in a cold sweat. She murmured, scared:

“You have issues, you’re not fine.”

As young as she was, Legi was able to sense the danger. So she spread her wings, stood between the two humans and gave the stranger an intimidating roar. The woman giggled:

“Oh, how cute: a tamed Legiana.”

She pulled out a dung pod from her bag and threw it at Legi. Disoriented and disgusted by the stench, the Legiana shrieked and fled. Before Yuri could react, Legi was already flying away.

“Legi!”

The Rider tried to call her back, but to no avail. Another crazy laugh from the stranger made her raise her guard again. As the woman approached, she asked:

“What do you want from me?”

“Everything will be explained to you in due time. Now answer my question: don’t you hate hunters?”

“Why would I?”

Yuri was ready for a fight, but for now, buying some time felt like the best option to her: that would allow Alex and Erika to catch up to her.

“They took so many monsters from you. Last month it was your Lagiacrus’ turn, but I know it already happened to you. Your Rathian, your Khezu, your jade Barroth… all those poor monsters, slain unjustly by hunters.”

Yuri was speechles. How did she know so much about her? Among the monsters mentioned, she’d brought only Nami to the New World. The surprise was immediately replaced by anger, when she decided to remark:

“Except for Nami, all the monsters I lost were killed by corrupt Riders, not hunters.”

The crazy woman chuckled, before replying:

“Rider, hunter, what difference does it make? They’re all greedy egotists who kill every creature they see and who justify themselves with pathetic excuses.”

Yuri hissed through gritted teeth:

“Humans and monsters are equally part of the ecosystem by now. If monsters become too numerous or cause damage, hunters help maintain the natural order. Riders are just hunters who try to coexist with monsters as much as they can.”

All of a sudden, the woman dashed forward at superhuman speed. Yuri couldn’t even see her and she effortlessly put the girl down and disarmed her. The woman pressed her hands on the Rider’s shoulders, pinning her to the moist ground.

“How sweet: a girl so loyal to old Omna’s teachings!” she giggled, terrifying Yuri.

The Rider knew she was the weaker one, but she could manage a hand-to-hand fight with someone. She’d had to learnt it because of the increase of corrupt Riders. However, there was nothing normal about that masked woman: she was faster and stronger than anyone. And how did she knew all those details, such as the name of Hakum’s village chief?

“Now you’d better take a nap, little girl.”

The woman grabbed Yuri by the throat and began to choke her. But suddenly, someone threw a scatternut at her; she was hit on the chest and the impact pushed her to the ground, which allowed Yuri to get up and get away from her. She stared in terror at the lying woman.

“Yuri! There you are!”

Erika knelt down in front of the scared girl. Almost instinctively, Yuri hugged her and the redhead gently hugged her back, stroking the back of her head. Meanwhile, Alex drew his lance and raised his shield, standing in front of them:

“What the fuck’s going on here?” he asked, astonished.

Yuri couldn’t answer. The stranger’s unsettling laugh caught their attention, as she stood up. Alex turned to her, taking a defensive stance.

“Is she still standing? Damn it, I was hoping a scatternut would be enough to knock her out!” he exclaimed.

Yuri and Erika took a few steps back. The woman pointed at them and spoke in a different tone: a more serious and determined one, even more disturbing:

“Ah, probies of the Sixth Fleet. I’m sorry, but I was ordered to seize the Rider. I’m going keep only one of you alive; shall we draw straws?”

“I say we’ll both live, instead! And this girl is going nowhere! Now come at me!” Alex defied her.

At that point, the woman brought her hands to her face and took off her mask. When they saw her face, they were left speechless: her right eye was discolored, as if it were blind, while her left eye was blood red. She had creepy, yellow eye sockets, from which stripy patterns of the same color stretched, flowing down her cheeks. The crazy woman looked at Alex and raised her left arm, stiffening her fingers:

“Tell me: are you afraid of Zinogres?”

Before the lancer replied, electric discharges formed on her hand and arm, which immediately struck Alex. The hunter screamed in pain, as the lightning went through his body. He dropped his lance and shield and fell on his knees. That single hit had been enough to char the chestpiece of his armor. Yuri witnessed all that in shock and terror, while Erika covered her mouth, horrified. Holding a hand on his chest, Alex exclaimed:

“You’re not human!”

“No. I’m much worse. I’ll give you a taste of true terror, for what little time you have left!” the woman said, amused.

Chapter Text

“Come on, face me! Don’t tell me that little zap scared you!”

The crazy woman provoked Alex, while more electric discharges formed along her arm. The hunter turned to Erika and Yuri, who gave him afraid looks; then he stood up and narrowly dodged a bolt of lightning with a roll. He picked up his lance and shield right after, determined not to give up. When his enemy tried to shock him again, he parried the hit. He shouted at the girls:

“Go away! I can’t hold her much longer, run!”

“But…”

“Now!” he cut short.

Then Erika decided to comply. But she shot an SOS flare into the sky, before fleeing with Yuri.

“Try to resist until someone arrives!” she exclaimed.

The redhead grabbed Yuri’s arm and ran away, dragging her forcefully. The girls delved in the thick of the oasis and disappeared in the vegetation. Alex breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and focused on the fight:

“All right, now it’s just me and…”

He stopped, as he saw that the crazy woman was gone. He started looking around, trying to figure out where she was hiding. Shortly thereaftr, he heard her voice again:

“I’m up here!”

Alex looked up and paled: without him noticing, an Astalos had shown up above him and the woman had clutched its talons with her grappling hook. She gave him her cynical smile and stretched out her right arm, starting to electrify her fingers:

“How noble of you, Sixer! Too bad you’re throwing your life away for nothing.”

Alex didn’t raise his shield in time and the electricity went through his whole body; his muscles burnt and stiffened, his heart stopped beating. The lancer dropped his weapon, brought his hands to his chest and coughed out blood, gasping for air. He fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the pain in his chest. He felt powerless, thinking that he was leaving Erika and Yuri defenseless. Before dying, he apologized to his companions for being unable to protect them and defend himself.

“We’re almost there, hurry!”

Erika held Yuri’s hand tightly, while holding her up and encouraging her to run faster. They’d retraced their steps in great haste: they’d almost gotten to the campsite from which they’d left, by now. They were slowed down by Yuri, who ended up breathless pretty soon. Her conditions hadn’t improved since that morning, so she struggled a lot to stand, after that crazy rush. She was as pale as a corpse and was gasping like a fish out of water.

“Can we… slow down? I… can’t… please…” she begged, panting.

“We’re close now, try to resist! Alex can make it!”

Erika tried to calm down and reassure the girl in vain, but she herself wasn’t sure of what she’d just said at all, and that psychopath scared her like hell. Suddenly, as they traversed a patch of scrubs and cacti, a non-descript object crash-landed in front of them, falling from the sky. Erika gasped with her eyes wide open, while Yuri looked at it in confusion, since she hadn’t understood what it was yet. The redhead paled; striving not to puke or scream in horror, she drew her switchaxe and told Yuri to stay behind her.

“That’s…” she stuttered, incredulous.

That was Alex’s severed head. It was schorched, blackened and smoking, but she could still recognize his facial features. At that point, they heard a roar and the sound of lightning, then Yuri screamed in pain. Erika immediately turned around and saw the Rider lying on the ground – she was holding her right arm, which was smoking. The stranger had shown up in front of them, accompanied by a saddled Astalos infected by that disease. Yuri stared at Erika, barely keeping her eyes open.

“She hit me from behind, my… my arm’s numb!” she moaned.

The crazy woman chuckled:

“We’re all so fragile when we’re dead. Come on, darling, it’s time to go!”

She reached out to Yuri, but she stood up and hid behind Erika. The Astalos growled and flapped its horn and wings, emitting small green discharges to intimidate them. The stranger threatened Erika, pointing at the charred head on the ground:

“Hey, redhead, do you want to end up like your partner, perhaps? Let me take the Rider and you won’t become my friend’s lunch.”

As if to confirm that its mistress meant it, the Astalos licked its maw, drooling. Erika felt conflicted on what to do and that monster scared her like crazy: first of all, she’d never expect to find one in the New World; besides, she didn’t have the experience or the skills to face it. In a cold sweat, Erika squeezed the handle of her switchaxe and tried to buy herself some time, waiting for backup:

“What will you do to her?” she asked.

“I can’t tell you. But we won’t kill her, that’s for sure: she’s too valuable. Now bring her here!”

The psychopath squinted, never losing her malicious grin. The huntress was panicking and was more and more certain of being willing to yield. To convince her, the stranger gave her Astalos a nod. The flying wyvern roared, covered its body in electric discharges and started to approach slowly. At that point, Yuri hurried to stand between Erika and the Astalos and shouted, in a pleading tone:

“Wait!”

“Yuri, don’t even think about it!” Erika exclaimed.

Eventually, the will to protect Xavia’s daughter gave her the courage to act. She knew she needed an opening, so she grabbed a flash pod and shot it with her slingshot, blinding the Astalos and making it flinch backwards. The crazy woman covered her face, but that still gave Erika enough time to attack her with her switchaxe. The stranger was forced to hop backwards to dodge the huntress’ draw attack, which cut her left shoulder.

“I won’t let you take this girl!” Erika claimed, determined.

She turned to Yuri and told her:

“Try to escape, while I keep her busy!”

Yuri, who was rubbing her eyes due to the flash, nodded and made a weak attempt to get away. However, her fatigue and the pain immediately prevailed: the Rider fell to her knees with a moan and laid her hand on the shoulder struck by the lightning bolt. Erika cursed through gritted teeth, but decided to risk it. After all, she had no choice. So she defied her enemy:

“I’m not going down without a fight!”

The psychopath rubbed her wound, before folding her arms and provoking her, with an amused expression:

“I must admit you hurt me: this is a nice cut! Had I been slower, you could’ve severed my collar bone! So not all Sixers are the incompetents they seem to be. Do you perhaps pretend to suck, so everyone feels sorry for you?”

The Astalos recovered its eyesight and got back next to her, furious; it was about to spit an electric ball on Erika to roast her. However, its mistress stopped it with a wave:

“No no no, leave her to me! This Sixer’s made me feel like playing. Come on, gingerhead, show me a good time!”

So the Astalos let out a displeased growl and stepped aside. The woman electrified her arms and pounced on Erika. The huntress moved at the last second and countered her right away with a kick, pushing her to the ground. She raised her blade to impale her, but the psychopath rolled sideways and the switchaxe sank into the sand.

“Come here, you filthy murderer!” Erika shouted.

She launched a rising slash, but the woman stood up, leapt backwards and dodged her. Erika switched from axe to sword and began a frantic series of quick, smooth slashes, forcing her adversary to dodge with agile hops sideways and backwards.

“You’re so much fun!” she exclaimed.

At some point, Erika got a running start and attempted a thrust attack. The crazy woman dodged it with a pirouette, then she immediately repositioned herself and grabbed the blade with both hands, blocking its movements. The tip was a few inches away from her chest. Erika grit her teeth, staring at the stranger’s red and white eyes.

“What now, Sixer?” she laughed.

“Now you go down!” Erika replied.

Erika activated the elemental discharge; the phial heated up the blade and exploded, throwing the crazy woman away and making her scream in pain. The Astalos gasped and croaked, alerted. Erika knew she had no time to waste: she turned to Yuri, who was still on her knees. Panting for the frenzy of the fight, the huntress rushed to her, but the Astalos roared and swooped down on her with a leap. It sank the spurs on its right wing into the sand, a few inches away from Erika, and it generated an electric explosion that hurled her away.

“Erika!” Yuri yelled.

Hurt and stunned, the redhead rolled on her back and raised her head, seeking the stranger with her eyes. She saw the crazy woman stand up, clenching her teeth. She had a deep wound in her left side and was panting. Her leather clothes were battered and unstitched, exposing some portions of her body: Erika saw several scars and horrible burns on her skin. Now the crazy woman was embarrassedly keeping a hand on her chest to cover her breasts.

“Ouch. Well done, Asta! I have to say I had fun, if just a little. But this is taking way too long.”

She approached Erika and stopped next to her. The young huntress tried to get up with a huge effort, but a stabbing twinge of pain in all her muscles paralyzed her. When Erika moaned, the woman gave her a pleased smile and told her:

“I’ll kill you in honor of our duel. But after this, I really must get that girl. And also find some spare clothes.”

She raised her right arm and charged up a bolt of lightning. Erika closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, preparing for the shock. Suddenly, though, she heard Yuri plead with a broken voice:

“Stop! I beg you, that’s enough! You win: I’m coming with you. Just don’t kill her!”

Erika opened her eyes and quickly turned to her. She tried to protest, but the stranger stomped on her forehead, stunning her.

“Thank her, gingerhead!” she ordered, angry.

Then she smiled at the Rider, approached her and patted her shoulder:

“Good choice, darling. Let’s go now: auntie Mikayla must take you to your new home,” she giggled.

The Astalos stood next to them to allow them to mount it. Yuri gave Erika one last look. As stunned as she was, the huntress saw the girl’s eyes moisten, before she closed them and whispered something. Before passing ou, the huntress whispered softly:

“Forgive me.”

Erika woke up in the evening, in the infirmary of Astera. After a quick check, she was taken to the assembly table, where the leaders of the First Fleet had gathered. With their consent, Xavia, Nick and Nina were also there. The Commander’s grandson was busy arguing with Xavia, trying to keep her as calm as possible, although she was upset: she was accusing them that they should’ve known from the beginning that the Sixers were a terrible choice as security detail.

“She’s here,” the Huntsman noted.

Everyone’s attention fell on Erika, and the redhead was embarrassed. Xavia immediately rushed to her. Her amber eyes were moist and reddened, her eye sockets were darker than usual.

“What happened? Where’s my daughter?!”

Erika clenched her teeth and looked away. She answered, trying to recount everything as specifically as she could, although she struggled to think back to what had happened that day.

“Alex died. I couldn’t defend her, she was taken! That… there was a lightning-throwing woman, who had an Astalos. She must be one of the corrupt Riders Yuri told us about!”

After babbling for several minutes, she managed to calm down and told the whole story. She left no detail out, hoping she could suggest something to Xavia, who had sat down next to Nina after learning what had happened.

“She said she won’t kill her and that they need her for some reason. For the rest, I can’t remember what they told each other: I was stunned.” she finished.

Xavia stared at nothing, dumbfounded. Feeling like trash, Erika looked at her and at the First Fleet leaders:

“I failed my mission: I’m mortified,” she said, bowing her head.

Almost ignoring her, the Commander spoke up:

“Take some rest now, you two: you’re both in shock.”

“Yes, sir.”

Then he turned to his colleagues:

“Everyone, start organizing the search. The Rider’s kidnapping isn’t only a moral tragedy, it’s also a severe blow to our fight against the Black Blight: without her intervention, nothing can keep the infection from spreading. We can’t let infected monsters upset the ecosystem of the New World! I want every hunter of every fleet to do their best to bring Yuri Aros back to the base!”

Xavia walked towards her lodging almost unconsciously, as if her legs were moving on their own. She ignored any comforting word that her friends and companions tried to give her: she just wanted to be alone. Before locking herself in, she thought with a fleeting smile:

“She definitely takes that desire for solitude after me.”

She closed her eyes, sitting down on the bed and covering her face. Before bursting into tears, she thought:

“I’ll find you, Yuri. I promise.”

Chapter Text

During the flight on the Astalos’ back, Yuri gave in to her fatigue and fell asleep. She had no idea how long she’d slept, when she was woken up by an unknown male voice:

“Hey! Wake up, kiddo!”

Yuri slowly opened her eyes. She was about to sit up, when a twinge of pain in her right arm caused her to moan. She instinctively laid her left hand on it, and she saw that her burn had been bandaged. She wasn’t wearing her armor anymore, but simple clothes made of Aptonoth leather. She didn’t have her weapons, either.

“Ben treated your burn. Mikayla really knows no half measures,” the voice snorted.

Disoriented, the Rider asked the man in front of her:

“Where am I?”

She struggled to see, since it was rather dark in there.

“We’ll explain it all to you soon. In the meantime, all I ask is you keep calm for a while: it will make everything easier for you, too. You won’t suffer for nothing.”

His tone of voice sounded polite, but Yuri still sensed that she was in a hostile place. At that point, the man walked away and disappeared into thin air. In any other situation, the girl would’ve gasped in astonishment, seeing such a thing, but all she could feel right now was daunt and distress. Keeping quiet, she looked around: she wanted to figure out where she was, at least. Finally, after a few seconds, her eyes got accustomed to the faint light illuminating the room. She immediately realized that she was in a very wide cave. The ceiling was roughly three meters high, while the rocky walls around her were scattered with shiny blue crystals almost forming decorations.

“It almost looks like Kinship Ore,” she mused.

Instinctively, she looked at her right wrist to compare her stone with the crystals. However, the bracelet containing her stone was gone. She slapped her knee and hissed:

“Shit!”

She shook her head, resigned, and resumed observing the room. She noticed that she was being kept in a sort of cage made with a raw mineral, which looked like carbalite to her at a first glance. Besides, in the rocky walls had been carved more cells identical to the one she was in, except their bars were wooden. After a few minutes spent reflecting, she thought she knew what corner of the New World she’d been taken to:

“This must be the Elder’s Recess,” she mused out loud, scratching her forehead.

She was still pretty confused by everything that was going on and the tension of the last few days had given her quite the headache. A familiar female voice sighed:

“Correct. Welcome to our humble hideout!”

Hearing her, Yuri gasped and panicked. Then, one of the carbalite bars of her cage was hit by a pebble and she shuddered, scared by the sudden clatter. Looking where the stone had been thrown from, Yuri saw Mikayla, the woman with reddish-brown hair. She’d changed her clothes and was now wearing a new leather outfit. She was being kept in a cage as well; one identical to the girl’s cag, but smaller, narrow and made with a different material: the bars were made of Barroth hide, covered in fresh mud. Mikayla spoke, seeing the girl’s confused expression:

“The mud is meant to keep me at bay: it serves as an insulator against my lightning. Don’t be afraid, I won’t attack you. Besides, if it’s any consolation, you got a better treatment than me.”

That said, she raised her arms and showed Yuri that her wrists were chained to the wall. Yuri understood right away that Mikayla was completely different, compared to a few hours ago. Not only because her personality was basically the opposite of what she’d been acting like, but also because her eyes had turned blue; moreover, her yellow eye sockets were gone. Instead, she had “actual” eye sockets, certainly due to crying. After a few seconds of awkward silence, not knowing what else to say, Mikayla greeted her tentatively:

“Hello, Yuri.”

But she was interrupted when the guy from before came back. Now that she’d gotten more used to the scarce light, Yuri could take a better look at him: he had short, straight, brown hair, which was starting to turn grey here and there. His eyes were dark green and he had a short beard. He was wearing leather clothes, like Mikayla, but his looked many years older and gave him a “worn” look.

“Are the others back, Felix?” Mikayla asked him.

He nodded:

“Yes, but sadly you’ll have to stay in there until further notice,” he notified her, with a sorry look.

Hearing that, Mikayla looked down:

“Won’t I get even a compliment for accomplishing my mission? What a bummer, I ended up hurt and with my jugs showing for nothing!” she quipped, with a bitter smile.

“I know, Mikayla, that sucks,” he sighed.

Then he approached Yuri and opened her cell. The Rider stayed in and asked:

“Do you want to shackle me like her?”

“There’s no need for that with you: we know you won’t escape. You don’t know this place, it would be child’s play to track you down.”

He spoke with unsettling calm, while keeping a polite smile which was starting to get on Yuri’s nerves, just like Mikayla grinning after each sentence, during their first encounter. Unable to reply, the girl came out and he locked the cell. He pointed at a rift in the rock, next to Mikayla’s cell, and ordered:

“Come on, go that way.”

Yuri nodded and complied. Felix followed her quietly, while the Rider looked around in the tunnel. The pathway was illuminated by the same crystals as before, except for a few torches placed where there was no ore.

“If I wasn’t here as a hostage, I’d just love this place,” she commented.

She noticed another rift in the rock from far away. They walked past it and entered a room similar to the one with the cells, but with a lower ceiling and a large table surrounded by chairs and stools at the center of it. There was a guy younger than Felix slouched on a chair, with his hands behind his head and with a leg hanging from one of the armrests. He wore a Deviljho armor; his helmet lay on the table, in front of him. He had short, blond hair, shaved on the temples and combed in a mohawk. Scarily enough, his eyes were scarlet and he had a long scar on his cheek, likely a claw mark. Seeing them arrive, he adjusted himself on his chair and folded his arms:

“About time, Felix! The boss decided to go and check on the huge crystal, because it was taking you too long! What, did you spy on Mikayla while she was getting changed and went into hiding out of shame? Eeeeeeeh, you invisible perv! Just tell her you’re in love already: you’ll have to, sooner or later!” he laughed.

Felix opened his eyes wide and blushed, but he completely ignored him and took a seat on a stool next to the head of the table, while Yuri strived not to let out a giggle. The chair at the head of the table was bigger and made of obsidian. An orange cross was painted on it, and ornamental spikes lay on top of it, mimicking the tip of some sort of crown. The blond guy pointed at the other end of the table and told her:

“Take a seat, little girl.”

Yuri quietly complied, sitting down. She felt the blond’s eyes on her, whereas Felix looked absent-minded, resting his elbows on the table. They spent a few minutes in silence, before the stranger spoke up:

“While we wait for the boss, I’m Ben, the gang’s medic. I had to treat your arm, after that moron electrocuted you. How is it now? Does it burn? Does it feel numb?” he asked her.

Yuri didn’t understand why they were all so polite to her. Those were definitely corrupt Riders; they’d kidnapped her, taken her away from the Research Commission and her mother, but they didn’t act like criminals or wrongdoers at all. She shook her head for a moment and answered:

“It’s bruised. It doesn’t hurt anymore, but I can’t move it as I’d like to.”

A third male voice answered her, cold and deep, which gave her a shiver down her spine:

“That’s too bad! This will slow us down for a while. I’ll have a word with Mikayla, after this.”

Yuri heard footsteps behind her and was about to turn around, but the newcomer showed up right away, sitting down at the head of the table. He was wearing a Gore Magala armor and the helmet hid his face entirely. Yuri had never heard that voice, yet it felt terribly familiar to her. She got a weird feeling, which she didn’t like at all. Ben greeted him:

“You’re finally back, boss! What took you so long? Has that crystal become more important than…”

“Shut up, Ben,” Felix stopped him.

No one said anything else, at that point. The only noise left was the fire crackling in a brazier at the center of the table. Felix looked at Yuri, who was now as confused as ever. She didn’t know what to do there. Could she begin to ask for explanations? Did she have to wait for the gang’s boss to say something? He was the one to break the silence, eventually:

“I’m glad you’re fine: when Mikayla brought you here, fainted and with a burnt arm, I was worried, you know? And we all got very embarrassed for her ripped clothes,” he recounted.

Ben chuckled and Felix blushed. At that point, Yuri noticed a detail that made her heart freeze: that man wore a bracelet identical to hers on his right wrist, containing a blood red stone with a pitch black spiral painted on it. Incredulous and nervous, she exclaimed:

“An infected Kinship Stone!”

“Relax, it’s not yours: your stone is safe. We can’t let it become like mine, we need it at its purest.”

His words reassured the girl a little, though she would’ve liked to have her weapons back and at least one of her monsters by her side. She didn’t like being among corrupt Riders at all, especially after all that had happened with the army who had persecuted Hakum and Gildegaran. She ragefully asked:

“Are you part of Anvis’ gang? Because if you are, I have bad news for you: your leader’s dead.”

Anvis had led the most powerful sect of corrupt Riders in the Old World. His legions were known among all Riders for their cruelty towards monsters and humans alike. He was feared by everyone, but he’d been killed by his own subordinates two years ago, during a rebellion led by Gust, one of his former loyalists. After the leader’s death, Gust had taken over and put an end to the corrupt Rider menace, and now they were on very good terms with the communities near their domain. However, the stranger’s answer shocked Yuri:

“Anvis? Who’s that? I’ve never heard of him. I’m the one in charge here.”

Hearing that, Yuri stood up in a fit of rage:

“Then what do you want from me? Why am I here? Things were finally starting to get better! The hunters respected me, I was doing the job the Guild sent me here for, I met my mother… and you ruined everything! Why?”

The boss didn’t falter:

“How about we introduce ourselves?”

Yuri raised an eyebrow, perplexed, but she complied:

“Yuri Aros, high rank Rider from Hakum village, affiliated with the Guild in Gildegaran,” she said pridefully.

Then he took off his helmet. He had short, black hair and piercing, green eyes. He looked serious, yet he kept a smug grin. Yuri couldn’t tell what mood he was in. He approached and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a more cheerful smile:

“My name’s Xander Aros.”

Yuri felt like she’d been punched in the stomach, her heart skipped a beat. She wished she hadn’t heard that name. What came next made her feel like throwing up:

“It’s good to see you, my daughter!”

Chapter Text

“It’s good to see you, my daughter!”

Those words. Those damned words kept echoing in Yuri’s head. She was in shock. Her father was standing before her? The way Xavia had described him to her perfectly matched the looks of the man she was looking at. But she couldn’t believe it – she didn’t want to. Upset and nauseated by that discovery, she exclaimed:

“You? No! My father… my father’s dead! He was killed by a Seregios! Chief Omna told me!”

Xander shook his head:

“Omna also told you that your mother was killed. And yet, every day, the hunters of Astera see her, talk to her and work with her. After all, who said your father couldn’t stage his own death?”

Still smiling, he shook Yuri’s shoulder with sympathy, before getting his hand off and taking a step back. Yuri ragefully clenched her fists and hissed:

“My mother also told me he was a total asshole, though.”

“Oh, really? Why would I be a total asshole?” he taunted her.

“You tried to kill her! You took me from her when I was still a baby! You denied me the right to grow up with her!”

“True, I did those things.”

The casual and relaxed way he told her that disgusted her. Yuri narrowed her eyes and seethed:

“What’s the meaning of this? Did you bring me here for a stupid family reunion? Do you want to take me from my mother once more? What do you want from me?! Tell me!” she yelled, turning red.

Xander looked somewhat perplexed:

“Seriously? You’ve barely known her for a month and you’re already so attached to her as to consider her your mother figure, as if you’d spent fifteen years with her? I hardly believe it.”

“Shouldn’t I? After everything she revealed to me, even though it pained her to remember her past? After all the love she gave me? Even if she wasn’t my mother, she’d deserve all my respect. That woman, Xavia, waited for the most opportune moment before telling me who she was. She looked after me for this long, hellish month. But you, on the other hand? You have me kidnapped, tell me you’re my father and expect me to love you?!”

Xander got even more perplexed:

“I can give you all you need, Yuri! Power? Monsters? Tell me what you need and you can rest assured you’ll have it from me.”

That was it. The Rider approached him and stared into his eyes, bringing her face so close to his that Xander had to tilt his head. Spelling out her words, the girl whispered with a coldness even more chilling than his:

“You’re revolting. I hate you. You tried to kill the woman who loved you and almost succeeded. You took me from her, far from home, and entrusted me to others, then you didn’t give a damn about me for fifteen years. You might as well give me a Versa Pietru egg, but my opinion of you wouldn’t change.”

Xander sighed and turned his back on her. Unmoved by her vent, he ordered:

“Felix, take her back to her cell.”

The Rider didn’t even protest, this time. She headed to the rift they’d come from, without waiting for Felix.

Once alone with his boss, Ben cleared his throat:

“That was cold, wasn’t it, boss?”

Xander smashed his fist on the table, frustrated:

“Xavia’s already ruined everything, as usual. That bitch does nothing but mess up! I have to pick a gene for Yuri as soon as possible: at this point, the Black Blight is the only thing that can make her cooperate. Our plan won’t stop because of her.”

“Don’t overdo it, boss: she’s still your daughter! Do you really think she needs to suffer like us, just because you’re in a hurry to proceed?” Ben asked, vexed.

“We’ve gotten too far to hesitate now: we sacrificed too many people, in the last fifteen years. Those lives will have gone to waste, if we don’t put into practice the results of those experiments. In fact, her very presence here is a huge risk: all the hunters will surely get to work to find her, the chances that someone finds our hideout will only increase. One more reason for us to make haste!” Xander exclaimed, determined.

After taking the Rider back to her cage, Felix left her alone with Mikayla. The girl sat cross-legged, watching her fellow prisoner with an indecipherable expression. She waited for Felix to leave, before speaking:

“So my father was behind this whole Black Blight mess all along, huh?” she asked her.

“I’m so sorry, Yuri: I didn’t want to take you to him.”

“But you did. I want to know everything about you. Who you are, why you came here, what you hope to accomplish. Don’t you dare lie to me,” Yuri ordered her.

With a melancholic look, Mikayla sighed and started to explain:

“Ben’s our medic, but he’s also a bowgunner: he’s extremely skilled with heavy bowguns. Felix has… how shall I put it? He has multiple tasks. He often reconnoiters to make sure no one comes too close to our hideout, but he’s also the one who plans out what monsters we’ll infect next, when we’ll do it and where. Xander, your father, is the boss: he always stays in the shadows, intervening only on special occasions. I’ve never seen him wield a weapon since we got here, but as you know, he’s a Rider: he has several monsters here. And I… well, I’m the one who gets her hands dirty.”

“I see. What else?”

“I’m his sister, Yuri: I’m an Aros, too. I wasn’t being sarcastic when I called myself auntie Mikayla, before I took you here.”

Yuri laughed it off:

“Who will I meet next time? My grandparents?”

“Well, Xavia’s mother lives in Pokke. Our parents, on the other hand, died in a house fire when we were little: you’ll never meet your paternal grandparents. And if she already told you her story, you already know her father’s gone.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Anyway, I want to clarify that… that thing you met in the Wildspire Waste wasn’t me: there’s a corrupted version of me. I’m infected with the Black Blight and my brother can bring out my other self whenever he wants. He assigned the job to her, because he knew I’d never feel like it.”

“What? You have the Black Blight?”

Yuri was amazed. It didn’t surprise her that Xander could control the disease, since that was common among corrupt Riders. But that was new, and she pointed it out:

“Humans can’t catch the Black Blight: it can only infect monsters.”

“In the wild, yes. But the answer’s simple: it’s all thanks to the Rite of Channeling. You surely know of it. Xander was the first person to ever find a way to infuse a human body with a monster’s genes. A lot of peole died, before he got results. We all carry a monster’s gene, except for him.”

“Really? Which ones?” Yuri asked, curious.

“Ben has a Qurupeco gene: he can scream very loud to repel monsters or lure them. Felix has a lucent Nargacuga gene, so he can camouflage so well that he looks invisible. You saw it. Finally, I have a Zinogre gene.”

“So you can generate electricity,” Yuri concluded.

“Well, not exactly. Zinogres don’t make electricity on their own. However, just like them, I can do this.”

She brought her hands to her head and ruffled her hair; before Yuri’s marveled – and a bit disgusted – eyes, a thick swarm of fulgur bugs came out of Mikayla’s hair. The blue fireflies spread out across the cave, buzzing and illuminating the walls much more than the crystals did. They buzzed around for a few minutes, before going back to Mikayla, hiding between locks of her hair. With a half smile, Yuri commented:

“Wow! So cool!”

“Yes, I can exude a pheromone that draws them to me, then I rake their electricity in my body and release it. Please, don’t tell anyone about the little fellas: it’s embarrassing for me.”

“Fine, I won’t.”

“Thanks.”

Yuri was more confused than ever now. She was learning too many things at the same time. She grit her teeth, looking at the rocky walls. So she noticed another rift, four or five times bigger than the other one.

“What’s in there?” she asked.

“Xander keeps his monsters there. Oh, that reminds me! Did you happen to bring a Nargacuga to the New World?”

“A Nargacuga?! Yes! Yes! Did you find him?”

“We did, three weeks ago, on the Coral Highlands. It attacked my brother’s Odogaron because it sensed it was an infected monster. It was wounded in the fight, but it’s still alive: Xander didn’t understand why it was immune to the Black Blight, and he decided to study it. It’s still here, resting.”

“Finally, some good news! If I could retrieve Narga, I may escape from this place!” Yuri thought.

“I know what you’re thinking: if you’re planning on escaping, never tell me about it. I want to help you, but there’s a problem: my other self is very loyal to Xander. The next time I’ll change, I could blow the whistle on your plan, should I be aware of it.”

Yuri gave her a warm smile:

“All right, thanks for the advice.”

That smiled warmed Mikayla’s heart, and she smiled back. She whispered:

“Anyway, I think I’ll have a lie down now. I barely slept last night: I kept seeing myself kill that hunter of the Sixth Fleet and beat up that girl – I’m truly sorry for what I did to them and you. I’ll answer all of your questions, when I wake up. I’ll do anything for your forgiveness.”

“Thanks, Mikayla. I mean it!”

THREE DAYS LATER…

Xavia’s hammer shattered the Uragaan’s chin, and the brute wyvern fell to the ground with a thud and a disoriented roar. It fell right into a pit spitting lava; the eruption poured on its side, melting the plates on its hide and burning it. The huntress jumped off the monster at the last second, using the grappling hook of her slingshot to clutch a stalactite on the ceiling of the volcanic cavern. She detached and landed onher feet, then she sheathed her Vaal Hazak hammer. She gave a scolding look to her three expedition companions:

“You’re a research team! You seek, I defend you! That’s the deal! What were you thinking, attacking a random Uragaan?! Stop wasting your time and make yourselves useful to find my daughter!”

“Sorry!” they replied, as they moved on.

Xavia sighed, face-palming. Hana, who had insisted on coming with her, put a hand on her shoulder:

“Hey, calm down! All this stress will get you nowhere,” she stated, calm but assertive.

The huntress took a moment to breathe, then nodded:

“I’m just worried. No one’s found anything yet: not even a trace or a clue. Anxiety’s killing me!”

“I’m sure we’ll find her soon.”

Xavia was about to say something, when the Uragaan’s roar interrupted their conversation: it was still alive.

“We’ll discuss this in Astera, now get to cover and make sure those three idiots don’t lure anything worse!”

“Be careful!”

That said, Xavia’s handler turned around and left, following the other hunters’ footsteps. Xavia told the Uragaan:

“Listen, big guy, I’m still willing to ignore you, as long as you don’t follow me.”

The monster curled up and rolled towards her, trying to crush her. Xavia dodged it by rolling sideways, and the Uragaan smashed its rocky chin on the ground, generating a shockwave. Then she shot her grappling hook into the monster’s blue eye, and it roared in pain as it bled. Xavia was about to retract the grappling hook’s rope, but the other end of it was stuck in the Uragaan’s orbit, so the huntress was pulled towards the monster.

Although she was caught off guard, Xavia kept it together and held her hammer with her right hand, while clinging to the Uragaan’s horns with the left. It shook its head, but she held on. When the monster stopped to catch its breath, Xavia retracted the grappling up, pushing with her legs and holding her hammer with both hands, smashing it onto the Uragaan’s forehead. With that direct impact, the brute wyvern was stunned, and it collapsed on the ground; its rocky chin even bumped into the tuff. Xavia took advantage of it to escape. She thought:

“That was close, this hook almost got me killed. At this point, I’d rather by a clutch-claw myself. After all, there must be a reason if everyone speaks well of it, since the blacksmith invented it out of the blue! I’ll ask for Blood Eyes’ opinion.”

When she realized she’d gotten distracted, she shook her head, focusing on the goal of that expedition: find clues, look for anything that could help them find Yuri.

Chapter Text

When they returned to the airship of the Third Fleet, Hana said:

“Let me know as soon as possible when you find Yuri, all right? Unfortunately, I can no longer follow you in expeditions.”

“That’s fine. Something wrong?” Xavia asked, heading to her lodging.

“No, I’m fine, relax. The thing is, I know that finding your daughter is our current priority, but it’s also true that without her, infected monsters are increasing in leaps and bounds. Every time I check the infirmary, there are more hospitalized hunters. I couldn’t resist: I decided to put into practice the nurse training I did before coming to the New World, so I can lend the doctors a hand! Additional help’s always good, in times of crisis.”

Xavia gave her a smile:

“I’m happy for you. Besides, no one forces you to come along in my search! You’re free to do what you think it’s best, Hana.”

Her handler giggled:

“You don’t often call me by name, do you? It’s clear that you’re very nervous, you wouldn’t do it otherwise.”

“Am I really that easy to figure out?”

“Oh, you are!”

They both laughed.

“I wish you good luck, partner, you’ll surely find Yuri! I bet my Commission uniform on it!”

Hana smiled, before dismissing Xavia.

“Losing that uniform would be a shock for you, so I’ll find her, no doubt!”

After Hana left, Xavia sighed and went to the supply stash of the airship to stock on whetfish fins.

“May I see Narga?”

The girl’s more and more insistent request finally caused Ben to lose his patience; he’d been tasked with guarding her after Felix left. Since Mikayla told her about the Nargacuga, Yuri did nothing but ask to see it, and on the third day, the poor guy could no longer resist:

“Fine! I’ll take you to that fucking Nargacuga, just stop busting my balls!” he snapped.

Yuri made a triumphant smile. Meanwhile, Mikayla laughed amusedly watching them. Neither of them had had permission to leave her cell over the last three days, so they’d chatted a lot about various topics. They were interrupted only when Xander would show up to talk with Yuri, trying to convince her to reveal why her Kinship Stone was so powerful compared to all the others – even than his corrupted one – or to side with them. There were also the times where Ben came to check on Yuri’s arm and disinfect her electric burn. She never spoke, apart from some sore moans when her injury got exposed and bandaged again.

Mikayla had told her they’d been in the New World since the arrival of the Fifth Fleet. Before they started spreading the Black Blight, they’d been exterminating dozens of Elder Dragons, and they were still doing that. By now, Mikayla had lost count of all the Kirins and Kushala Daoras she’d killed. On the other hand, Felix and Ben took care of Teostras and Vaal Hazaks. Xander had always refused to reveal the purpose of that slaughter; the only clue he’d let leak was that the massive crystal towering in the middle of the Elder’s Recess was involved. Ben opened Yuri’s cell, then grabbed her left arm and dragged her out:

“Please, make it quick. If your father sees you out here, he’ll kill me!”

Without having him tell her twice, the girl rushed to the rocky hallways where the monsters’ cells were.

“Wait! Ugh, for fuck’s sake, that stupid girl’s driving me nuts!” Ben exclaimed to Mikayla.

Once in the other cavern, Yuri saw several caged monsters. Many of them were sleeping, and the awake ones turned to her for a second, before lying down in a corner. There were her father’s Brachydios, her aunt’s Astalos, a Deviljho, an Odogaron and a Tzitzi-Ya-Ku. They all had the Black Blight. But right now, she was focusing on a specific monster, the only healthy one. Its black fur had white spots, due to the Barioth gene she’d given it with the Rite of Channeling.

“Narga!” Yuri exclaimed.

She ran to the cage and grabbed the bars. As soon as he heard her voice, the Nargacuga opened his eyes, stood up and tried to stick out his beak between the bars, greeting his mistress with joyful purring. She reached out into the cage and stroked his head. She shed a couple of tears, and the Nargacuga wagged his tail.

“Oh, Narga, I’m so glad to see you!”

Their reunion was ruined by Ben:

“Aaaaaaw, this is so touching. All right, you’ve seen it, now go back to your cell!”

He grabbed her right shoulder, forgetting it was bruised. Yuri felt a sharp pang of pain and moaned through gritted teeth, stopping petting Narga and bringing her left hand to her injury. Ben gasped and paled, so he knelt down next to her to hastily apologize and check on the burn. But the Nargacuga got alerted and started hitting the bars of his cage with his side, roaring to scare him. All that fuss caused Felix – who’d just returned from the expedition of the day – to rush in.

“What are you doing? Why is she out of her cage?” he asked, confused.

Ben stood up and babbled:

“Sorry, my bad! Hey, girl, tell your Nargacuga to cut it right now: he’s going to anger the other monsters! If the Deviljho wakes up, we’re fucked!” he pleaded her.

Luckily, seeing him get off the Rider was enough for the Nargacuga to stop hissing and roaring. He whimpered to ask Yuri if she was hurt and she strived to reply:

“I’m fine, Narga, don’t worry. We’ll get out of here sooner or later,” she said, with one last pat.

Meanwhile, Felix took Ben aside and whispered in his ear not to let her hear him:

“The boss told me it’s time. We must move.”

Ben sighed and went back to Yuri. More gently than before, he squatted and put a hand on her left shoulder:

“I’m really sorry, Yuri, but you must come with us.”

The nearly scared tone both of them had started to speak in concerned her.

“Can’t I stay here even one more minute?”

“Believe us, we’d let you stay for as long as you wish, if it depended on us. But Xander has spoken. When I told you he’d kill me if he saw me disobey, I wasn’t joking: that madman could slit our throats for much less.”

Then the Rider said goodbye to Narga, promising him she’d come back. She followed Ben beyond the room she’d been caged in for those three, long das. Felix had probably said something to Mikayla as well, because she whispered to Yuri that she was sorry as they passed her by. They followed the tunnel leading to the table room, then they walked past another rift that the girl hadn’t noticed the first time.

“What is it? Where are you taking me?” she asked, scared.

“I’m taking you to the room we use as an infirmary, I treated you there when you arrived. But Xander will take care of everything, this time.”

Even more scared, the girl took a long, deep breath to calm down. The room they stepped into looked like the other ones, with rocky walls full of shiny minerals. There was a dozen rudimentary beds made with wood, straw and woven leaves. There were also a few crates across the room; documents and scribbled sheets were piled on them. Ben gestured her to sit down on a bed:

“Pick one. Relax, what your father is about to do to you isn’t deadly.”

He rammaged through some of the crates, while the girl sat down on one of the beds. Making her worry for real, he added:

“But there are some precautions to take, or you won’t be able to endure the pain.”

He pulled out a rope and a white cloth, as well as a flask full of a thick, greenish fluid.

“What’s that?”

“It’s supposed to be a painkiller, but it actually doesn’t work almost at all.”

“Oh.”

“There used to be a professional doctor in our gang, but he’s dead. It was he who made this mixture. Between you and me, he was an incompetent. Anyway, the rope is for holding you still.”

“Why do I have to be tied?”

“Because if you move too much, you’ll have to start over, so you’ll suffer for nothing. You have to keep the cloth in your mouth, so you have something to bite while screaming.”

“Care to explain what the hell that psycho wants to do to me?” Yuri snapped, terrified.

All those precautions and hints were scaring her like never before. As he tied her wrists and ankles to the ends of the bed, Ben replied:

“The Rite of Channeling.”

Hearing that, Yuri gasped:

“He wants me to become like you?!” she exclaimed.

Xander’s cold and firm voice suddenly replied to her:

“No, not like them. You’ll be much better!”

Yuri turned to him, furious:

“Even if you give me a monster’s powers, I’ll never side with you. In fact, the first thing I’ll do will be using them to smash your face and get out of here!”

“You won’t be thinking that in a few minutes, you’ll see.”

Xander chuckled, got next to Yuri and caressed her hair.

“Don’t touch me!” she growled.

“Drink the painkiller, Yuri.”

Ben brought the flask near the girl’s lips, and as her eyes began to moisten, she sighed:

“Not like I have a choice. Listen well, fucker: Xavia’s going to kill you, when she learns about this, but first I’ll make you pay for all the harm you did to her!”

She confronted her father, trying to sound threatening, then she drank the green fluid. It had a pungent, bitter flavor, so much so that she coughed.

“Good. Now you may leave us, Ben.”

“All right, boss. The gene’s on the bed next to hers,” he replied, before walking away.

Xander smiled and picked up the gene, on which something was written in capital letters:

THE ULTIMATE SUPER GENE

“What monster does it belong to?” Yuri asked, intimidated by that writing.

“Well, surely not to the first Jaggi you’d bump into.”

“Very funny. Seriously, what is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” Xander taunted her.

He picked up Ben’s white cloth and gagged Yuri.

“Don’t forget to bite it, when you feel pain. Believe me, you’ll need it. When it was Mikayla’s turn, she tortured me with her screams: you’re lucky to have that mixture.”

She tried to speak, but she was gagged by now and she could only mumble. Her expression, however, spoke a thousand words: she was furious, confused and scared all at once. Xander unlaced her Aptonoth leather shirt, exposing her skin, and rubbed his hands:

“Now we can start. Are you ready?”

Xander took the gene and squeezed it. His infected stone glowed, then he laid the gene on Yuri’s chest. The gene started glowing as well, and seeped into her skin as if melting. At that point, she opened her eyes wide and started squirming, her moans got very loud and she shed tears: she was feeling unfathomable pain. She felt as if some hot irons were stabbing her muscles and a monster were chewing through her heart at the same time. Remembering Ben’s words, she realized he was right: that painkiller was useless. The pain became so intense that her eyesight got blurry. Eventually, wishing with all her heart that Xavia and her friends were there with her, she passed out.

Chapter Text

“Anything yet?” Erika asked.

Nina and Nick had just come back with a team from a patrol to search for Yuri, and the Sixer had gone asking around if someone had found anything out. Nina sighed:

“Nothing at all. No group was able to find any clue or trace left by those two. We’ve been searching for a week now: it’s like they were never there!”

“What about that team that disappared after leaving for the Elder’s Recess? Are they also gone?”

“Yes, it won’t be long before the Commander decides to officially declare them dead,” Nick replied.

“I see. What about Xavia? How is she?”

“She’s completely burnt out, so the First Fleet forced her to take a break: she may not hunt or explore.”

During that week, Xavia hadn’t rested even for a moment and she’d joined every single search she could sign up for: of course she’d give in, sooner or later. Erika moved a few locks of her hair behind her ear:

“Fair enough. Where’s she now?”

Nina pointed at the viewpoint overlooking the ocean, where people could go from the back of the forge. Erika went to the parapet by the sea at ground level to look over the chimneys of the kiln, and she saw Xavia. She couldn’t see her face well due to the distance, but she guessed she must be looking lifeless.

“When her mind’s full of thoughts, that’s where you can be sure to find her,” Nina explained.

Erika nodded, then she noticed that someone else was there with the huntress: a ripped, big man with thick, blond hair.

“Hey, isn’t that the Admiral?” she asked.

“Thoughtful, are we?” the Admiral asked.

“My daughter…”

“I was told everything. I’m sorry, Xavia. If I’d come back from the caverns of Eldorado sooner, instead of wasting my time with the Seeker and his hunches…”

“It’s fine. Is something the matter, sir? Did I do something wrong?”

“Ugh, please! You’re always so formal! If Blood Eyes’ team can speak to me as if they were family, why couldn’t their best friend? Loosen up!” the Admiral laughed.

Xavia gave him an exaggerated, dramatic apology to joke, then she let out a laugh as well. During the investigation on the Elders’ Crossing, she’d partaken in some of the most important missions by the team who’d solved the mystery, so she’d gotten acquainted with the leader of the Research Commission and had had a chance to know him better over time.

“I assume you still have something to tell me,” she said then, serious again.

“You know how it is, news arrives late in the Kulve Taroth’s lair: I learnt of the Black Blight, the Rider and all the rest only yesterday, so I decided to join the search. I got to work right away with a solo expedition and…”

“What happened?”

“I met the woman with electric powers the reports talk about.”

Xavia’s eyes lit up:

“You met her?! Where?!”

She got tense, ready to rush to her lodging, get her equipment and go to one of the gates of Astera to take off with a Mernos. However, he shook his head, putting his hand on Xavia’s shoulder:

“Hold it! Don’t get ahead of yourself: she’s dangerous! I confronted her, you know? Look what she did to me.”

He lifted the edge of his uniform and showed that his abdomen was bandaged. Then he turned around and showed another bandage on his shoulder.

“This is her doing! If only I’d had my hammer, I would’ve taught her a lesson! But instead, I only had my bare hands and tried to strangle her. I was so close, mind you. But she broke free and electrocuted me. The point is, if she was able to beat me up, you can’t hope to win alone and unprepared!”

“I don’t care. She took my daughter and I’ll do anything to bring her back.”

“However, before she escaped me, she talked to me. She gave me instructions to bring here, in Astera: she wants to meet you alone, at dusk, in the Ancient Forest.”

“Really? Where, exactly?”

“In a Jagras den by a pond, beyond the Ancient Tree.”

“I know the spot. Did she say anything else?”

“Yes. She gave me this, it’s for you. Sorry for prying, but I read it. It rings no bell to me, though. It’s surely something only you can understand.”

He gave her a folded piece of paper, with a burnt corner. Xavia took it and read it, confused. The message read:

How’s your leg, misfortune huntress?

That was all it said, but those few words were enough to anger Xavia. She squeezed the note, gritting her teeth, and crumpled it: there was only one person who’d ever called her that. She threw the piece of paper to the ground and growled:

“That filthy harlot! Mikayla’s in the New World?! She took Yuri?!”

“Who is she?” the Admiral asked.

But Xavia turned her back on him and started to run down the stairs.

“Warn the Commander, please. This must end as soon as possible!” she exclaimed, cold and furious.

At the end of the explanation, the Commander asked:

“So, if I got this straight, your daughter’s kidnapper is your sister-in-law?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what she wants from her? Or from you?” the Huntsman asked.

“I have no idea. That note only says what I reported.”

The Commander’s grandson looked skeptical:

“How can you be so sure it’s her?”

Xavia sighed:

“She gave me that lousy nickname. When Xander introduced her to me, she called me that for a while. Besides, now that I think about it, the physical description in the reports matches her looks. Well, she had blue eyes and no “yellow eye sockets” when I met her, but for the rest, it must be Mikayla.”

The field team leader turned to the Commander:

“So, what do we do, grandpa? She wants Xavia to go alone, but if we comply, we’ll be back to square with our search.”

At that point, the Commander and the Admiral gave each other a knowing look and smiled, confusing everyone. Sounding pleased, the Admiral reassured them:

“Don’t worry about that: we have a plan!”

“Come on out, Mikayla! I know you’re here.”

At dusk, Xavia was standing in the Jagras den, as requested. She was wearing her usual alloy armor and she’d picked up her Vaal Hazak hammer. She’d slayed the Jagras napping in the undergrowth and now she was waiting for her sister-in-law to show up. At some point, she heard her voice, which she remembered well:

“Hey there! Right on time, Xavia!”

She turned to the entrance of the den and saw her: she’d come straight out of nowhere. Since fifteen years had passed since they’d last met, her face was marked by the first, slight wrinkles. But for the rest, she was just like Xavia remembered her. Seeing those monstruous eyes crept her out, but she strived to hide it. Xavia tried to resist the urge to lounge on her and smash her skull with her hammer.

“You wanted to see me, so here I am. What do you want, Mikayla?”

Mikayla sneered, moving her hair behind her ears:

“You’re always so serious, misfortune huntress! You just can’t relax, can you?”

“Relax? As I speak to the bitch who ignored all my letters and cries for help, after her niece and brother disappeared? I’d rather die than talk to you. But sadly you know where Yuri is, so I have to see your ugly face.”

Mikayla burst out laughing like a psychopath. Xavia had been perplexed, reading the descriptions of her behavior: she wasn’t like she remembered her at all. Back in the Old World, although they didn’t know each other so well, Mikayla seemed to be a kind, helpful person, and also honest. But now she appeared to be out of her mind; it was like someone else was wearing her body.

“Oh, you’re so much fun, Xavia! I’m sorry, but due to causes of force majeure, I must take a look at your equipment before we leave. And I want you to drop that hammer. You won’t need it, where we’re going.”

“You could’ve written it in that note, so I’d leave it in Astera. I worked harder than a cart Popo to have it forged. I swear, if I lose it after all this, I’ll feed you to a Vaal Hazak!”

As she laid her hammer on a tree stump, Mikayla quipped:

“Oooooh, I’m shitting my pants!”

She had Xavia toss her her bag and started inspecting it:

“Potions, jerky, demondrug…”

She tossed away some flash pods and dung pods, then pulled out a strange, polished pebble, with a rune carved on it.

“What’s this?” she asked, wary.

Xavia got nervous, seeing her hold it:

“It’s nothing, just a family heirloom. Please, don’t touch it: it was my father’s, I have no other memories of him. It sickens me to see it soiled by those filthy hands of yours.”

“Hey, chill out! I do wash my hands, you know? Very often, in fact! Who do you think I am?”

Mikayla slipped the pebble back into the bag:

“There, I’m not holding it anymore! Happy now?”

“Pretty much.”

“Anyway, the other stuff I see here isn’t dangerous: you may keep it.”

Mikayla returned the bag and Xavia secured it to her belt.

“They must’ve told you about my powers. You should’ve seen that newbie with red hair: she was wetting herself!” she laughed.

“I was told the newbie with red hair left you with no dress to cover your jugs with. Speaking of which, how’s your side? I bet you were scared, if only for a second,” Xavia provoked her.

Mikayla narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists:

“I fear nothing, Xavia. I let my guard down for a second, that’s all. But, as you can see, I’m still kicking!”

She said that like a child coming up with an excuse not to admit something embarrassing. Xavia shrugged:

“I won’t run away, if that’s where you’re going. Can we move now? You know, I’m in a hurry to save Yuri. My handler bet her uniform on it, she’ll have to hand it over to me if I don’t find her; I don’t feel like humiliating her like that.”

“Now you feel like joking, huh?”

Mikayla left the Jagras den and gestured Xavia to follow her. She came after her until they reached a spot where the vegetation got thicker, then Mikayla told her to stop there and wait for her. Xavia snorted, leaning against a dead tree. She was completely defenseless there, right now. A Tobi-Kadachi, an Anjanath, a Rathian or something more dangerous might show up; however, just a couple of minutes later, a roar never before heard in the New World drowned out the noises filling the Ancient Forest at night. The huntress looked around, nervous.

“I’m above you!” Mikayla called her.

So Xavia looked up and, as the reports told, she saw her riding an Astalos. The dragonfly-like wyvern glided and landed in front of her. Its saddle was decorated with two orange crosses, the symbol of the Aros family. Mikayla smiled, petting its neck:

“Say hello to Asta, my only monster since the rite of passage to become a Rider!”

“If you’ve had him for so long, why did I never see him?”

Mikayla shrugged:

“I was tired of the dumb moral code of those cavemen, so I chose to live as a huntress. Because of that, I had to keep him hidden.”

“Anyway, ‘Asta’? You, Xander and Yuri sure have a lot of imagination, when it comes to monster names. I guess it runs in the family.”

Xavia was joking to hide the anxiety that Astalos was filling her with. Only then did she notice the symptoms of the Black Blight: the monster’s eyes, which were already red by default, were glowing; and that putrid black mist leaked from between its scales.

“Don’t mock my friend, or we’ll both electrocute you! Anyway, hop on: we must go, before someone sees me. They know me as a murderer in Astera by now, but I don’t have to kill anyone today. I don’t even feel like it.”

That said, she moved forward a little and left room behind her. Xavia sighed, then got into the Astalos’ saddle and gripped the leather straps. Before she could say anything, Mikayla spurred the Astalos with her ankles and the wyvern took off. A few seconds later, they flew over the tall trees of the Acient Forest, soaring in the starry sky.

“Next stop, the Elder’s Recess!” Mikayla exclaimed.

Xavia took a nervous breath, hoping the Admiral’s plan would work as expected.

“I’m coming, Yuri.”

Chapter Text

The two women got to the Elder’s Recess in the middle of the night. Apart from a few sarcastic jokes from Mikayla, they flew in complete silence. Finally, they landed somewhere near the massive crystal in the heart of the region. Mikayla got off her Astalos and pointed at a spot in front of them, uphill.

“Our hideout’s not far. You were really unlucky not fo find us: we saw several teams get close, but none ever noticed it.”

“Can we hurry?” Xavia asked.

Feeling ignored, Mikayla got irritated: she hated it when people didn’t listen to what she had to say. She growled grumpily:

“This way.”

That said, she started leading the huntress to a cliff face. The Astalos watched Xavia for a moment, then it started following its mistress.

“So you’ve been using these tunnels all this time?”

The fact that such an extensive and intricate maze had never been located or charted by the Research Commission amazed Xavia.

“Yes. We found them ready-made, so why not? No one was using them, anyway. They’re too small for the monsters, they can’t make them their lair. There was just a Gajalaka tribe, but they were easy to scare off.”

Mikayla let Xavia lead the way to watch her. Asta, on the other hand, stayed behind her, keeping his head low not to hit the ceiling with his horn. From afar, Xavia saw that the rift in the rock got wider, which was likely due to the fact that a larger room lay ahead. However, before they got there, Mikayla had a sudden gasp. She brought her hands to her temples, squeezed them and began to pant. Asta looked indifferent, while Xavia was concerned: as much as she’d like to enjoy that woman’s suffering, she still felt compelled to worry for her just a little. She crouched next to her sister-in-law and asked:

“What’s wrong?”

Then, much to her perplexity, Mikayla began talking to herself. Between moans, she exclaimed:

“No! Go back to your place! It’s too soon! My brother… I want… I want my reward! I accomplished my mission! Go back to your place!”

She was getting hysterical and it sounded like two people were struggling inside her. Xavia didn’t know what to do, so she just stared at her with a stupefied expression. They were still far from the rift, so her “companions”, as she’d called them during the flight, probably hadn’t heard her moans. Should she warn them? Right now, Mikayla was her enemy, but Xavia felt sorry to let her suffer; at that point, her sister-in-law looked up at her, with a distressed look:

“Xavia, stay here, please! I must tell you something.”

Her eyes had turned blue and her tone of voice was very different: sweeter and pleading. But right after that, her left eye turned red, her right eye turned white, and she resumed talking to herself like a lunatic:

“Shut up! Xander said I could stay until the end of the mission, this is unfair! I’ll let you take over in the cage, I promise. Now be gone!”

Xavia was more confused than ever. Had Mikayla really gone insane to such an extent? Mikayla’s eyes turned blue once more and she whispered:

“Xavia, I’m so sorry: I didn’t help you when you needed me. Now I took Yuri from you, even though I didn’t want to.”

The huntress noticed that she was crying, which surprised her. Mikayla kept murmuring:

“I know you hate me, but please listen to me: it’s for your own good and Yuri’s!”

“Then tell me everything. Just don’t think that will be enough for me to forgive you.”

“I know, I’m not asking you to forgive me: I don’t deserve it. Xander’s here, in these caves!”

Xavia hatefully clenched her fists and growled:

“I figured as much.”

“I have no time to explain it all, just don’t believe a word of what he’ll tell you about your daughter! And don’t believe Yuri, either: she’s not herself!”

“What does that mean? What did he do to her?”

“I can explain later, I don’t have enough time now,” Mikayla replied, in agony.

At that point, she reverted back to crazy for good. She stood up and ordered her to move on, as if nothing had happened. Xavia sighed, before following Mikayla to the room connected to that tunnel. They were welcomed by a blond guy; Mikayla had talked about her companions along the way, and that must be Ben.

“Oh, you’re finally back, Mikayla!”

The cavern they stepped into was quite large and somehow resembled a meeting room, considering the long table at the center and all the stools and chairs around it. She also saw a man in leather clothes, sitting on one of the stools; he must be Felix. Then there was Xander. Xavia felt mixed emotions: awe, pain, anger, hatred. He hadn’t changed even a bit, especially his piercing gaze. Xavia believed she’d finally gotten closure, after Yuri told her about his alleged death. Yet there he was, just a dozen steps away from her. Mikayla hastily greeted the blond guy and massaged her temples, irritated:

“Hi, Ben. If you want to quip, forget it: I have a headache. Xander, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Asta to his cage.”

“Sure, have at it, sis. Well done!”

Xander’s voice echoed in Xavia’s head, angering her even more. He stood up and looked at his other goon:

“Felix, bring Yuri here. We have to talk with our guest.”

When Felix left the room, he looked at Xavia and smiled, as if to mock her:

“We meet again at last, my love! That scar on your temple is new, isn’t it?”

“Fuck you, Xander!”

“Come on, take a seat! You can’t just stand all the time.”

“I’m here for my daughter. Where’s she?”

“I think you mean our daughter.”

“No. My daughter. You have no right to call yourself her father, asshole.”

They were both silent for a few seconds, staring at each other. Then she couldn’t hold it anymore and burst:

“Why?! Why did you try to kill me?! Why did you leave with her?!”

All the resentment, all the anger she felt for that man, whom she thought she’d finally removed from her life after finding Yuri, were coming back to the surface. But Xander, with his usual grin, didn’t answer. They heard footsteps and both turned to look:

“Let’s hear our daughter’s opinion, shall we?”

That “our” made Xavia furious again, and she was about to lash out on him, before she saw Yuri. The Rider’s hair, previously long and tied in a ponytail flowing down her back, had been cut and was now shoulder-length. Yuri came out of a side tunnel, followed by Felix. She looked around in slight confusion. Before Xavia rushed to hug her, the girl stood next to Xander with a loving smile, which shocked her:

“Hey, dad! Did you call for me?” she asked, cheerful.

Xavia was about to faint: Yuri had called him “dad”. After all she’d told her, had the girl forgiven that wretched man in just a week? Had she forgotten how disgusted she was by his actions, when her mother had revealed the truth? If Mikayla hadn’t warned her a few minutes ago, the huntress would likely feel broken. That was still an excruciating sight for her.

“Yuri?” she whispered.

“Oh! Hey, mom!”

Her voice was sweet and cheery as usual, except now it almost sounded fake; even her beautiful blue eyes looked lifeless.

“I haven’t seen you for a while! I’m sorry, I would’ve come back to Astera and warned you, but dad said it would be dangerous, so I stayed here.”

“Xander, what the hell did you do to her?”

Her rageful tone confused Yuri. Xander replied with a satisfied expression:

“That’s exactly what I wanted to discuss. Sit down, Yuri.”

“All right.”

Yuri took a stool. She walked past Xavia, but didn’t even look at her. The huntress grit her teeth, sighing and staring at her husband. Ben and Felix took a seat at the table as well. Only Xavia was standing now.

“Won’t you sit down?”

“Just talk, son of a bitch. If you’re going to keep me here by force, then I just want to know what you did to my daughter. I want to stay away from a monster like you as much as I can. In fact, comparing you to monsters is like offending them.”

Yuri gave her a confused look:

“Mom! Stop insulting dad, he did nothing wrong!”

Xander waved at her dismissively:

“Don’t worry, Yuri. Your mother’s just a bit touchy: it’ll pass. Anyway, since Mikayla isn’t back yet and it’s getting late, I’ll answer your question, my love. Remember the Rite of Channeling?”

“Your wedding gift was that Zinogre gene: of course I remember. What does that have to do with what you did to my daughter?”

“Like my underlings, our daughter has now evolved: she’s no regular human anymore. Now all of them, including her, wield the power of various monsters! I learnt how to apply the Rite of Channeling to people after dozens of attempts, making the four of them stronger than any hunter!”

He spoke in a mad, dreamy tone. Xavia was shocked:

“What?! You’re an animal, Xander! That’s inhumane, do you realize it? How many lives did you sacrifice for this discovery?!”

He replied nonchalantly:

“Many. But that’s water under the bridge, my love! Do you realize how revolutionary this is for mankind? Any hunter can be given the explosive might of a Brachydios, or the resilience and ferocity of a Tigrex!”

Then Xavia smashed her fist on the table, making everyone gasp:

“I don’t care! What gene did you give my daughter, you bastard?”

“A rare one, which very few Riders can claim to have found. I didn’t get it myself, but I have my connections: they retrieved it for me, waiting for me to find a good candidate to infuse with it.”

He pointed at Yuri, who gloated pridefully. Irritated, Xavia asked:

“And what monster does that gene belong to?”

“A Fatalis!”

The girl looked excited and brought her hands to her cheeks. She stood up and bowed to Xander:

“I have the power of the Dark Demise itself? Thanks, dad! I’ll never know how to repay you!”

Xander gave her a kind smile:

“You haven’t been able to display its divine powers yet, but I trust you soon will, Yuri.”

Xavia couldn’t believe it.

“You gave her the power of the Black Dragon? Xander, the Fatalis is a world-ending being that hates mankind! Have you never heard the legends? Of those who lost their sanity for wearing its armor? I know someone possessed by Fatalis personally, and that person is cursed with fury and bloodlust: I saw it myself! And what do you do? You put a gene of its into Yuri?! And you’re proud of it, without the slightest fear of what she might do?! You’re crazy!”

“Our daughter looks fine to me. Do you feel funny, Yuri?”

“Absolutely not, dad! Mom, I understand your fear, but I mean it: I’ve never been better! Now I feel more powerful than ever!”

Xavia closed her eyes, sighing and thinking:

“If Mikayla hadn’t told me not to believe her… it’s awful to see her like this! I’ll help you, Yuri, I promise. But I need more time and information.”

Her thoughts were interrupted by Xander’s next order:

“Felix, our guest looks tired. How about you take her to her cell?”

Chapter Text

“Basically, what you guys do is infect monsters and slay Elder Dragons relentlessly, for a reason you don’t even know?”

After that night, Mikayla had a chance to explain it all to Xavia as well, like she’d already done with Yuri. Xavia had been locked in a cell with wooden bars, because Xander was sure there was no need for the carbalite bars with her. Mikayla, on the other hand, was free to stay out, as a reward for fulfilling her task without accidents.

“Yes, precisely. Only Xander knows the purpose of this operation; the three of us have no way to disobey or mutiny, because of the genes we carry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Xander can control the Black Blight with his infected stone. Except for Bam and the fire-spitting Barioth, none of his monsters bonded with him by imprinting: they’re all manipulated by that plague. The same goes for us, because the Rite of Channeling gave us the Black Blight as a side effect. Why do you think Yuri is acting like that? When she arrived, she told Xander she hated him and that her opinion will never change.”

“Is he controlling her?” Xavia asked, incredulous.

Mikayla nodded. The huntress sighed and smiled, relieved by the fact that, at least, her daughter hadn’t actually forgiven what Xander had done.

“He controls each of us. You saw my other self, last night: it’s his doing. That murderous version of me is the Black Blight I carry, which gains sentience and takes over my body every time it awakens. I was the first test subject the experiment worked on; Xander even did it to me twice, because the first time, he infused me with an Aptonoth gene: totally useless.”

“That’s awful. What about the others?”

“Felix was a common hunter. He lost the use of his legs, after a Hellblade Glavenus broke his pelvis. Xander convinced him to undergo the Rite of Channeling and join him simply because he’d do anything to walk again. Ben, on the other hand, had more selfish reasons: he just wanted to take revenge on a colleague who wronged him. With his Qurupeco gene, he lured three Deviljhoes into his village: all the villagers were massacred and eaten. Now, years later, he’s ashamed of it.”

“So they were all tricked in a moment of weakness.”

“Yes. That’s what Xander does to get what he wants: he’s just a selfish manipulator.”

“So did he do the same with me, to grant himself an heir?” Xavia asked, disheartened.

“I’m so sorry, Xavia. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it in time. He looked happy to be with you, you know? He didn’t seem to be pretending to love you. I was sure he was genuine; or perhaps I loved him too much to see it. Maybe he’s just a very good actor, I don’t know.”

Xavia grabbed the bars and stated:

“What’s done is done. Mikayla, I have an idea. Can I trust you?”

“Only if you don’t let me in on any secrets, or else my other self will blow the whistle. Just tell me what you want me to do, without explaining why.”

“Then give me Yuri’s Kinship Stone and set her Nargacuga free.”

“What?”

“Trust me!”

“What the hell was she thinking? It’s easier said than done,” Mikayla thought, looking around.

She was in the monsters’ cavern. Retrieving Yuri’s stone hadn’t been difficult: she had no trouble taking it from where Xander had put it and giving it to Xavia. But the Nargacuga was another matter: it was likely to attack her, once free. She approached Narga’s cage and whispered:

“Hey, big kitty!”

The panther-like wyvern stared at her and hissed, baring his fangs, and the quills on his tail stood up. Mikayla was about to open the cage, when the monster was hit by four throwing knives drenched in narcotics. Mikayla gasped: who had thrown those? Caught off guard, the Nargacuga hit the bars. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and eventually fell on his side, with his tongue out. Mikayla had no time to react, before she felt something press on her lips, although no one was there. Instinctively, she tried to moan and get her mouth free, but she heard a familiar voice reassure her:

“Mikayla, it’s me.”

It was Felix, who appeared out of nowhere. He was covering her mouth with his hand. He waited for her to calm down, before letting her go. She immediately turned to him, panting.

“You scared the hell out of me!”

“We’ve been working together for ten years, how are you still not used to my stealth?”

“How can I get used to it, if you keep doing that?”

Felix put away his throwing knives and leaned against the Odogaron’s cage; right now, the fanged wyvern wasn’t there, because Ben had brought it along on a quest to infect a Dodogama.

“What are you doing? What did you want from the girl’s Nargacuga?”

Mikayla hesitated before answering, looking around cautiously. It terrified her to get her friend involved in a plot against Xander, but she didn’t have much of a choice anymore: Felix was a difficult man to lie to, at least for her. So, with an anxious snort, she decided to confess:

“I’m helping Xavia. I don’t know why she asked me to release the Nargacuga, but if she needs that to help Yuri, it’s fine by me!”

As he listened to her, Felix looked worried and impressed at the same time:

“Are you turning against your brother? You know he’s going to kill you, right?” he asked.

“I don’t care. Felix, this isn’t living! We risk dying every day, only to serve a purpose we know nothing about! We depend on a selfish, scheming madman who treats us like beasts… no, like objects! We can’t even protest, because of that fucking stone and the genes he gave us!”

For the first time in ten years, Mikayla let out all the frustration she harbored. Felix was speechless, since he’d never seen her like that.

“Felix, you and I could start over together, if we’re able to help Xavia and Yuri! And even if we don’t survive this, I’m going to help them: I have to make things right.”

Felix approached her and laid a hand on Mikayla’s head, making a couple of fulgur bugs buzz away:

“I doubt we could afford normal lives, after all the crimes we committed back in the Old World. But you’d already convinced me when you said you wanted to help Yuri. You’re a good aunt, Mikayla.”

He smiled, caressing her cheek.

“You mean…”

“I won’t tell Xander. I was there with you before, I heard Xavia give you instructions. I just wanted to make sure you were determined enough to go all the way.”

“Really?”

Felix opened Narga’s cage, which creaked.

“The effects of the narcotic will last a couple of hours: he’s going to escape before we come back.”

“Thank you so much, Felix! Wait, before we come back? What does that mean?”

“Yuri’s going on her first and only mission today. Xander discussed it with me and Ben last night. Now he’s about to fill you, her and Xavia in. Come with me.”

When she was taken back to her husband, Xavia asked ironically:

“To what do I owe this rec time?”

Ben had come to let her out of her cage. After returning her bag, he’d escorted her to the table room. Everyone was there, and this time, Xander forced his wife to sit down next to him; Yuri was on the other side. Xander began in a malicious tone:

“I have to inform you all about our daughter’s mission. Xavia, you’ll play your part as well: you’ll be essential, should something go wrong.”

“What do I have to do? Throw rocks at passing Barnos?”

Everyone giggled softly at that joke, but their boss immediately shut them up with a grim look.

“No, you’ll be our target’s sacrificial victim, so we can escape.”

“I didn’t know you guys made sacrifices to the Barnos!”

“Stop it! This is our daughter’s first mission. By my reckoning, it will also be the last hunt, before the final phase of our plan.”

Ben and Felix didn’t comment, as if they already knew. Mikayla, on the other hand, looked at her brother with her eyes wide open:

“You mean… you can’t be serious! You want to give Yuri that task?!”

Both Xavia and Yuri looked at her; the former was confused, the latter was curious. Xander got irritated:

“Mikayla, you know what happens when you interrupt me, don’t you?”

“Oh, damn it!” she complained.

Her brother raised his arm and activated his infected stone, bringing out her twisted personality.

“To answer your question: yes, it’s that task. Yuri can handle it, now that she has a Fatalis gene. Satisfied? Good, then shut up.”

“Of course. Sorry.” said the corrupted Mikayla.

“As I was saying, Yuri will carry out this mission.”

“What must I do?” the Rider asked.

“You just have to slay a monster. You decide how to do it, just kill it. You can leave it to us, if you don’t feel like it.”

“Of course not, dad! I can do this!”

“Xander, what monster does she have to hunt?” Xavia asked, alerted. 

“You know it very well. I watched you from afar, when you fought it on the Zorah Magdaros’ back. You didn’t fare so badly! Too bad it was other four hunters who slayed it, eventually: I would’ve liked to see it maul you. Damn, they really butchered it!”

“What are you talking about, dad?”

Xavia immediately figured out what Xander was hinting at, so she gasped and stood up:

“You can’t send Yuri after a Nergigante!” she yelled.

“What’s the big deal? It didn’t seem to me that they struggled so much to put it down. Besides, if things go south, the four of us will be there. If it gets even worse, you’ll go there and protect Yuri. Will you, my love?”

Xavia hated to agree with him, but she nodded.

“Then it’s decided. We’re leaving now. Hey, Yuri, this is your first kill in the New World, isn’t it?”

“Yup! The first creature I slay, apart from the three hunters from two days ago.”

“What?” Xavia gasped.

Xander chuckled:

“You know, your search parties are pathetic. Those three hunters got spotted by our daughter right away, as they passed by our hideout!”

Xavia was shocked and disgusted:

“The team who went missing? Yuri, you killed them?!”

“Obviously: they kept telling me to follow them and saying I had to go back to Astera! They were even about to attack dad!”

“Oh, no! No, you didn’t!”

“Yes, I did! In fact, it was actually fun to slit their throats. You should’ve seen how terrified they were!”

The cheerfulness and pride with which the girl said that was appalling. Xavia clenched her fists and thought:

“Xander, I swear on my life I’ll make you pay!”

Chapter Text

Xavia winked at Xander and asked:

“Are you sure it’s safe to give me weapons? For you, I mean.”

They stood on the edge of a high ravine, in the northernmost part of the Elder’s Recess. Ben stood guard, ready to shoot her with his heavy bowgun should she try to escape. Felix, on the other hand, was giving her a set of Lunastra dual blades. Xander replied just as ironically:

“Back in there, you yelled at me because I want to send Yuri against a Nergigante, and now you’re telling me you’d face it unarmed?”

“You do have a point there.”

“I recall that you used Tigrex dual blades, when we first met. I hope you didn’t get rusty, after so many years.”

“Would you like a taste of my blade dance? I’m sure I’m deadly enough, even if I prefer hammers. Though I can’t guarantee you a quick death: I might miss your organs and bleed you.”

Mikayla sneered and pointed at her:

“I dare you to try! I’ll electrocute you before you take one step.”

Ben interjected:

“Shut up, you two! Focus on the operation. The Nergigante is no joke, we must be ready to intervene, should Yuri ask for help.”

He watched the wide valley beyond the ravine. Yuri was in the middle of the valley, alone and waiting: according to Xander, the Nergigante would fly over there soon.

“How long before our target arrives?” Felix asked.

Xander scanned the sky with his binoculars:

“I spotted it a few minutes ago, it’s almost here.”

“I think we should’ve given her some tips on how to hunt it. What if she’s caught off guard by its dive bomb?” Xavia commented.

Xander patted her shoulder and she had to resist the urge to twist his wrist:

“Relax, she has the power of Fatalis now: nothing can stop her! Ben, load the explosive ammo. Mikayla, be ready to cast lightning. Felix, take up position. We have to strike it and force it to land, so Yuri can start fighting. Move!”

“Got it!” they replied.

Felix turned invisible and got down the ravine by sliding down the dry vines covering the rocky ridge. Mikayla squinted her eyes and stiffened her fingers, while bright electric discharges formed on her arms.

“What about us? Won’t we do anything?” Xavia asked, anxious.

Xander nodded:

“Enjoy the show, my love. You know, I’m doing this for our daughter: such a high risk should give her the right boost to summon her dormant powers.”

“It took her Legiana weeks to learn how to cast lightning, after she gave her the Zinogre gene. Don’t you think you’re rushing it?”

“The feeling of being in danger is an excellent catalyst for genes, you know?” Xander said, in his usual mocking tone.

Yuri was more excited than ever: she was about to slay an Elder Dragon, without anyone’s help! For too long, the ridiculous moral code of Riders had kept her from proving her mettle, since slaying that type of monsters was seen as a sacrilege and a dishonor in Hakum and the other Rider villages. But now, at last, she had a worthy opponent that would help her test out her new powers.

“Where’s that Elder Dragon?! I can’t wait! I want to fight!” she thought, impatient.

Her father had told her that, by defying it, they’d stop the Nergigante from leaving. So Yuri would have the chance to get all the credit for the death of an Elder Dragon devourer. They’d described it to her and they’d warned her about its regenerating abilities, but Yuri was pretty curious to see it herself. Eventually, her moment came: she heard explosions, followed by a hoarse, thundering roar. The sky was crossed by blue lightning cast by Mikayla, which struck a dragon that had appeared suddenly.

That mighty figure fell into the valley, crash-landing onto the volcanic soil and raising a cloud of dust. The creature got up quickly, looking at the humans standing at the edge of the cliff. It would take more than a shock to stun such a monster. Yuri observed the dragon, admired: with those horns, that furious gaze, those spikes and those muscles, it was much more threatening than she’d figured. Each part of its body made it clear that it was born to fight. Yuri was simply marveled. Finding a Nergigante egg would be awesome: her friend Irene would envy her forever! She smiled joyfully, then closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. She drew her sword and beat it against her shield to make noise.

The Nergigante heard the clatter and noticed her. It hesitated a little and she took advantage of it: she ran towards it and stabbed its right foreleg, causing it to moan in surprise. Instinctively, the dragon hopped backwards to distance itself. Yuri was expecting that, so she let go of the hilt not to be dragged along with the sword. She gave it a defiant smile, while the Nergigante roared, making her smell a breath stinking of blood and death. The dragon pushed off the ground with a wing flap and leapt on her, smashing its paw on the ground.

Yuri rolled away at the last second and the Nergigante’s fist dug a hole in the tuff. It was faster than expected, but nothing she couldn’t handle. The Nergigante pulled its paw out of the hole and cut through the air with its claws, forcing her to crouch not to get sliced. Immediately afterwards, the monster smashed its fist on the ground once more and missed her. However, the impact was so strong that the spikes on its limb were hurled in all directions. Yuri raised her shield and one of the spikes pierced it, getting stuck in it before impaling her face. Yuri looked at its bony tip and broke a cold sweat: that was close.

“I have to wear it down; I don’t like those spikes!” she thought.

What happened next surprised her: the Nergigante’s broken spikes grew back right away and were now twice as long and white. Some of the other spikes had grown back as well, but they’d blackened. Not knowing what to do, Yuri kept dodging the monster’s relentless claw, tail and horn attacks; every now and then, she slammed her shield on its jaw to stun it. After some time, all of the Nergigante’s spikes became very long, black and hard as stone.

Yuri decided to counterattack: after another claw attack, she approached quickly and climbed on the monster’s side, making it to its back. Once there, she gripped the spikes not to get thrown of, as the Nergigante squirmed furiously. When the dragon stopped briefly to catch its breath, Yuri jumped off, went for the tail and chopped it off in one shot, with a strength that surprised even her. In pain, the Nergigante roared and flinched. Yuri sneered, proud of herself: the dragon’s tail lay at her feet and was spilling blood.

“I expected more from you!” she exclaimed, with a cocky smile.

The Nergigante went on a rampage. With a sudden dash, it pounced on Yuri and pinned her down; it crushed her under the weight of its foreleg. The Rider’s smile was gone, replaced by panick. The Nergigante grabbed her with its claws and threw her across the valley. Yuri tumbled on the tuff, covering herself in scratches and bruises, but she got up as soon as she managed to stop. She tried to respond to the assault by charging at the dragon, but it leapt forward and crashed to the ground, slamming its paws on the rocks and causing a huge rain of spikes: once again, Yuri parried just in time, except this time the impact was such that she went belly-up.

As soon as the Nergigante brought Yuri down, Xavia panicked and decided that she couldn’t sit back anymore. She begged Ben and Mikayla:

“That’s enough! Help her!”

But Xander shook his head:

“No, wait a bit longer: I want to see what Yuri comes up with.”

“You’re crazy! She’s going to die!”

“Don’t be so dramatic! The gene tempered her: if she suffers damage, it won’t be so bad.”

Xavia was about to reply, but he pridefully pointed at the valley: Yuri had been able to open a long, deep cut in the Nergigante’s chest, after stunning it with a shield strike. But that was nothing for that dragon: all that did was anger it even more.

The Nergigante slapped Yuri away by flapping its right wing. As she stood up, it roared and took flight, moving away.

“Where are you going? Get back here, you coward!” she shouted.

But suddenly, the monster swooped down on her. A deafening rumbled echoed through the Elder’s Recess; the whole valley was covered in broken spikes, and a deep groove splitting the landscape in two was left where it crash-landed. Yuri lay in that cut, squashed like a trampled leaf, mauled and covered in injuries. Much to her own surprise, she was able to sit up, but it was painful. She coughed up blood and her head was spinning, her ears were ringing. Yuri took a few seconds to recover; a few moments later, her wounds healed and she was good as new. Still stunned, she looked at her unscathed body with amazement. Unable to get up, she saw the Nergigante pounce on her and she closed her eyes, waiting to be hit. But nothing happened.

“What?” she thought, surprised.

She heard an unmistakable panther roar, and she opened her eyes, incredulous: a Nargacuga had come straight out of nowhere and had hurled itself at the Nergigante before it could hit her. Now it stood between her and the dragon. The white spots on its black fur left no doubt on its identity:

“Narga?!” she gasped.

The Nargacuga rubbed his beak on her cheeks lovingly. Yuri knew that was how her monsters asked her whether she was fine, but right now it only made her mad, so she grit her teeth:

“I’m fine, Narga! Stop it!” she exclaimed angrily.

She stood up too fast, so her legs couldn’t take that sudden struggle and she fell on her knees. Confused by her reaction, the Nargacuga let out a concerned whimper. The Rider was furious: once on her feet, she started to scold her monster:

“Have you come to steal my kill, Narga? The Nergigante is my quarry! Don’t you dare get close! Get out of my sight!”

The coldness in his mistress’ voice intimidated the Nargacuga. Narga stood in front of the Nergigante, but Yuri walked past him. The panther wyvern roared at the girl, nervous and confused. Yuri grit her teeth and stared at him, furious. That was when it happened: the girl dashed forward and slammed her shield on the Nargacuga’s snout, tripping him up and breaking the tip of his beak: she broke it in half.

“I told you not to get in my way. Be gone!”

That distraction was a mistake: the Nergigante resumed fighting all of a sudden and struck her from behind with its horns. With a moan, Yuri went flying for five meters and crashed on the tuff, stunned. She turned around to see it standing on its hindlegs, two steps away from her, ready to squish her skull with one last punch. But Narga roared and saved his mistress again: he tackled the dragon with his wings outstretched, overthrowing it on its back, and bit its neck.

Enraged, the Nergigante grabbed him and pushed him off, sending him to tumble in the dust. It tried to hit him, but the Nargacuga dodged it with an agile, graceful leap and threw quills at it, poking one of its eyes out. Now half blind, the Nergigante stumbled and cried in pain, while Narga tried to intimidate it by hissing and agitating his tail like a rattle. His eyes lit up like embers and he attempted an assault: he leapt towards the Nergigante, going for the throat. But the dragon was faster and slammed him on the ground with a claw attack, before he could reach it.

Narga was about to stand up and dash away, but the Nergigante crushed his left wing with all its might. Narga whined in agony: that slam had shattered his phalanges and torn his membrane. At that point, the Nergigante grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up and smashed him to the ground, making his vertebrae creak. Then it blocked each limb with its paws and stunned him with a headbutt. Once Narga was powerless, the dragon bit his throat and started choking him. It squeezed so hard that its jaw was shaking.

Narga was left without air all of a sudden; he tried to struggle, but he was exhausted by now. A trickle of blood poured down his windpipe, staining his fur. It was then that his gaze met Yuri’s, who was numbly watching them fight. The girl was hypnotized by her monster’s eyes – her friend’s eyes. They always looked lovely and reassuring, despite the situation. And then, out of the blue, a peaceful, kind male voice echoed in her head, as Narga’s eyes began slowly rolling over in his head.

I love you, Yuri.

Chapter Text

Yuri had no control over her own body. She felt like her mind was trapped in a meat sack moving on its own, like an automaton. Her thoughts were twisted and shattered, glued together only by memories from her entire life: everything that happened after the Rite of Channeling was like a fog. Now she knew what Mikayla felt like when her other self took over: her conscience was stuck in a sort of glass dome; she could tell what was going on, but her body acted by itself. That glass, however, was opaque: she saw nothing but hazy figures. But then, all of a sudden, a clear picture appeared to her: Narga. She wanted to get up, hug him and thank him for saving her from the Nergigante; but she couldn’t control herself, since Xander had infected her.

That was why she spoke in a furious, irritated tone, at the thought of her monster coming there to interfere with her hunt. Instead of showing her appreciation, she slappped his beak with her shield. She’d never been so ashamed of herself. Now Narga was dying, strangled by the Nergigante, and she was doing nothing to stop it. That was too much: she couldn’t let it happen, she’d never forgive herself. With all her might, she tried to stand up and rush to help him. Her head was splitting from the effort. The feeling of being powerless was awful and quickly turned into frustration – which gave way to anger. Eventually, the final boost came:

I love you, Yuri.

Thus, she suddenly found herself free from her twisted self. The world around her became vivid and, when she tried to move, she was able to. It felt wonderful to be in charge of herself again; but she didn’t think about it too much, because right now it was like a wildfire was burning her soul. In an instant, her mind was filled with overwhelming rage. She looked at the Nergigante, which was about to finish Narga, and really felt like murdering it.

“Let him go!” she shouted.

The four witnesses at the top of the ravine didn’t notice what was happening to the Rider: they were too busy arguing.

“Anyone care to explain why the hell that Nargacuga is there?!” Xander snapped.

“It’s all Xavia’s fault,” Mikayla replied calmly.

“What?!”

“She asked me to release it before. I don’t know why.”

“And you complied?! You stupid idiot! We’ll talk later, sis.”

Then he turned to Xavia and narrowed his eyes:

“You! How dare you sabotage me?”

Xavia held back a pleased smile:

“What’s wrong? Does it bother you when things don’t go as planned?”

“You’re just…”

“Actually, it’s your fault: if I’m really so useless, it was pointless to take me here! Oh, right: you need someone to poke, otherwise it’s no fun acting crazy. I pity you, Xander. I really do.”

“Shut up, you lousy…”

But Ben, who was watching the battle with his binoculars, gasped and told everyone to look. They all turned around and were left speechless: Yuri had dropped sword and shield and had thrown herself at the Nergigante. She punched it and made it fall to the ground, lying on its side. The Nargacuga was set free just before dying and breathed in, coughing. It shook its head numbly and licked its mauled wing, keeping its ears low. While the Nergigante lay stunned, Yuri ran to her monster and hugged it. Then, after giving it an encouraging pat, she gestured it to flee. The Nargacuga hesitated, but eventually complied: it limped away, before climbing the opposite cliffside with difficulty and disappearing beyond a crevasse.

None of them could believe it: how could Yuri stun the Nergigante with a mere punch? Xavia reflected for a second, then she got a suspicion and gasped. She asked Ben to give her the binoculars. He was confused, so she snorted and took them from him, zooming in to take a good look at her daughter: her hunch was immediately proven right.

“I can’t believe it,” she whispered.

“What’s going on?” Xander asked testily.

Xavia slapped the binoculars into his hands, urging him to look:

“Well, congratulations, you psycho: your gene worked,” she growled, furious.

Xander looked and was astonished: Yuri’s blue eyes were glowing, shining with an intense, nearly blinding azure light. Additionally, the veins under her skin had swollen and were now in relief, forming creepy webs on her cheeks. Her skin had turned bright red, and her whole body was emitting thick steam, as if she was boiling inside.

“What? I didn’t think the Fatalis’ powers were like that!” he exclaimed.

“But they are. Damn it, you turned her into another Blood Eyes! You cursed her!” Xavia snapped, desperate.

“Blood Eyes? Who’s that?” he asked, confused.

“Xander, you know the four hunters who solved the Elders’ Crossing mystery?” Mikayla hinted.

But she was interrupted by a moan: Yuri had grabbed the Nergigante’s head with both hands and had set it on fire. Everyone gasped, incredulous and caught off guard; Mikayla, on the other hand, stepped back and opened her eyes wide. She looked nervous, and as she noticed it, Xavia breathed a sigh of relief: it meant that her plan would work. So, was that Yuri’s new power? Absolute control over fire, even superior to a Teostra’s? While she mused, she heard Yuri scream and turned to the valley. The Nergigante, with its snout scorched, took a few steps back, suddenly intimidated. Then it spread its wings and took flight, soaring in the sky.

“No! Damn it, no! She let it get away!” Xander yelled.

However, much to his frustration, he realized that he was the only one caring: all the others were looking at the girl in awe and fear.

Yuri stood idly, but then she fell to her knees, panting. She was drenched in sweat, as her body kept emitting hot steam. At that point, Felix thought it was time to join her. He turned visible and approached her:

“Yuri?” he said timidly.

The girl gave him a look so menacing as to make him gasp and asked him:

“Where’s my mother?”

Felix pointed at the others, who were coming down the rocky wall, and replied:

“They’re on their way.”

“Did you see what I did to the Nergigante?”

“Yes.”

“Tell that piece of garbage to stay away from me, or I’ll burn him alive. I want to talk to Xavia alone. Am I clear?”

He babbled a soft “yes”, terrified by that gaze full of blind rage. A few minutes later, she was joined by her mother. She was still overwhelmed by Fatalis’ fury, but Xavia didn’t look afraid of her at all. She put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, smiled and asked her:

“Are you all right, Yuri?”

“Oh, mom!”

They hugged. The protruding veins flattened, but some were still visible.

As they headed to the hideout, Xander was angrier than ever and demanded an explanation. He wanted to know why she’d let the Nergigante escape, ruining the operation. He didn’t look afraid to confront her, although she was still rampaging and super strong.

“One of my monsters almost died. I was about to slay an Elder Dragon, the most sacrilegious thing for a Rider to do. I killed three people and enjoyed it! It’s all your fault! Shut up, you monster!” she replied.

“My fault? You’re the one who killed them! You could’ve left them to me, but instead you insisted on slitting their throats yourself,” he provoked her.

“No, it’s your fault! Yours and the stupid gene you put into me!”

Mikayla meddled:

“Well, it’s actually your mother’s fault if the Nargacuga became that dragon’s punching bag, you know?”

Yuri gave her mother a surprised look:

“What do you mean?”

“She asked me to release the Nargacuga. If he’d stayed in his cage, now he wouldn’t be lost and injured.”

Then Xavia sighed and looked away:

“It’s true. I thought I’d escape with you and Narga; I didn’t expect him to fight the Nergigante.”

She took a moment to bite her lip. Yuri shook her head and gave her aunt a disgusted look:

“You’re all so conniving and selfish! Do you want to blame the only one among you who didn’t use me? Who looked after me? Who was trying to help me?”

Xander lost his patience:

“Listen well, I…”

But he was interrupted by a strong hot flush that invested him. The gust was so strong that it pushed him against the wall and the temperature rose so much that everyone felt like they were in a kiln. Mikayla immediately hid behind Felix, when Yuri’s body was surrounded by an aura of golden flames resembling a Teostra’s. Her eyes shone like two blue beacons and her veins swelled up again.

“Shut up! Don’t you dare say anything to me.”

With his pride hurt, her father raised his right arm. His infected Kinship Stone activated and a wisp of Black Blight smoke started rising from Yuri’s skin. She brought her hands to her temples, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth:

“Stop it!” she shouted.

She suddenly dashed forward and grabbed Xander’s wrists, setting them on fire.

“Aaaaaaaah! Fuck! Fuck!” he screamed.

When the girl let go, his vambraces had melted. Xander hastily took them off and stared at his forearms, weeping with pain: they were smoking and covered in black burns smelling like grilled meat.

“Aaaaaah! You little tramp! My arms!”

“I was generous. Try that again, and I swear I’ll melt your face!” she threatened him.

Little by little, her flames went out. Xavia put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down: the girl saw her mother’s concerned expression and gave her a reassuring smile:

“I’m fine, mom. Relax, this wretch won’t get in my head again.”

Striving to ignore those excruciating burns, Xander picked up his bracelet and the stone.

“Let’s move! No point in staying here any longer. Ben, you must do something about these arms!”

“You bet!” he commented, with a whistle.

“This mission was a disaster. I doubt the Nergigante will feel like coming back to this area anytime soon, so only the alternative remains.0

Honestly, Yuri didn’t care to know what that “alternative” was. When they got back to the hideout, she calmed down for good and the signs of the Fatalis gene disappeared. Ben and Mikayla locked her up in a cage opposite Xavia’s, with obsidian bars. Then Xander and his subordinates left them alone and went to another cavern to discuss their plan. However, in their hurry, they forgot to take back Xavia’s dual blades and bag. The cage room was silent. Yuri was upset because of what the Fatalis gene had enabled her to do, and she was also tormented by guilt for killing those hunters. All she did was stare at nothing, with a blank expression. Eventually, Xavia broke the silence:

“I’m glad that you snapped out of it, Yuri.”

“So am I.”

“I’m sorry about your Nargacuga. I should’ve come up with something safer.”

“Mom, enough with the guilt. I’m not mad at you. You just wanted to help me, while I was a slave of this disgusting disease and that loathsome man. At least Narga didn’t get hurt for nothing: I came to my senses thanks to him.”

“We’ll get out of here soon. I promise you.”

Xavia smiled and reached out through the bars of her cell, trying to tap Yuri’s fingertips, as her daughter was doing the same.

Mikayla came back half an hour later; she clapped and stated:

“All right, ladies, the others are out there, preparing for the alternative. They left me here to guard you. Not like you can get out of there, of course.”

She was still being controlled by the Black Blight. It was finally time to set the plan in motion. Xavia wanted to give her a chance, so she tried talking to her:

“Mikayla, listen to me. I know you care about Yuri: you agreed to help me because you wanted her to be well, to return to normal. We can help you as well, if you let us go now.”

“Hey, just because Yuri got rid of her other self thanks to her Nargacuga, it doesn’t mean that’s going to work on me, violet,” Mikayla giggled maliciously.

“I’m asking you this for your own good, Mikayla.”

“Don’t make me laugh! Why’s that?”

“You won’t have much of a choice, in a few minutes. If you refuse to help us, I’ll have to do it the hard way.”

“Oh, so scary! How do you plan on doing that, huh? You’re sitting alone in a cage, with dual blades you won’t even grab in time before I char you.”

However, Xavia smiled and pointed at a greenish light behind Mikayla:

“You know, I think you’ll have to rephrase that very soon,” she said.

Confused, Mikayla turned around and saw dozens of green fireflies buzzing above her. They flew to Xavia, rested on her armor for a few moments, then flew away, going back where they came from. Mikayla gasped:

“Scout flies?!”

“Thanks for having me leave my hammer on that tree stump, back in the Ancient Forest. I use it so often that my smell is all over it: very easy for the swarm to memorize!” Xavia revealed, triumphant.

Her sister-in-law clenched her fists, rageful:

“I’ll kill anyone who comes here! You just sent them to die!” she exclaimed.

“No, I won’t let you.”

Xavia rummaged through her bag and pulled out the pebble with the carved rune. She’d said it was a family heriloom, but that was a lie.

Chapter Text

“You know, Xander once told me fire terrifies you, Mikayla.”

Xavia stood up in her cage; her calm voice got on Mikayla’s nerves:

“I fear nothing,” she replied.

She was getting angry, but Xavia didn’t lose her composure:

“He told me about your parents’ death. They died in a fire that destroyed your cabin, near Pokke. Only the two of you survived. He was outside, but you barely got out of there, full of burns. I bet that you were more ashamed of your scars than you were of being naked, when Erika tore your clothes.”

Touched on the raw, Mikayla turned bright red:

“How sweet! You still remember such bollocks after so many years. I’m flattered, but where are you going with this? I have to go incinerate whoever’s coming, so get to the point already!”

“Sorry, Mikayla,” Xavia sighed.

She’d hoped to persuade her sister-in-law by laying her fear bare. Apparently, that didn’t seem to work on her other self. But that didn’t change the fact that mere references to it upset her. Squeezing the pebble, Xavia stretched out her arm abruptly. In a second, a red triangle formed in front of the stone, the alchemical symbol of fire. At that point, a wide and intense wave of fire started from the stone and invested the bars; the wood burnt instantly and crumbled. In shock, Mikayla stumbled and fell backwards. She quickly crawled as far as the wall and brought her hands in front of her face to shield herself, pale and terrified.

“What’s that stone?!” Yuri asked, incredulous.

Xavia ignored her daughter for a moment. Gritting her teeth, she kicked what little remained of the bars and got out. At that point, ignoring the burning, she grabbed two blistering embers and threw them at Mikayla’s feet. Finding them a few inches from her, her sister-in-law broke a cold sweat:

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

She paled and her gaze dashed between the two embers, following the movements of every single spark.

“I’m defeating you without fighting. I don’t stand a chance against you: all I could do was play dirty,” the huntress claimed.

She didn’t like devious strategies, but that was for the best. Mikayla panicked and made a final attempt to strike back:

“I won’t let a few burnt pieces of wood scare me!”

She stood up and tried to pounce on Xavia, but her trembling legs yielded almost immediately and she fell on her knees. She cursed softly, as her breathing got more and more labored; she was gasping for air. Eventually, she had a breakdown: she started sobbing and gave Xavia a pleading look, with trembling lips:

“Fine, you win! Just put out these flames, I beg you!”

Xavia kept quiet, waiting for Mikayla to give in. Eventually, she passed out, collapsing on the rocky floor. Xavia breathed a sigh of relief and remembered Yuri; she put the pebble away and rushed to open the gate of her obsidian cage. She noticed her confused and shocked expression, but before Yuri could ask anything, the huntress hastened to explain briefly:

“It’s a long story. That was the Igni sign. I was given this pebble by Fulbert of Mag Turga, a guy from another universe, a place where magic is a thing. He was a witcher, whatever that means.”

“What? Another universe? Magic?” Yuri gasped, astonished.

“I know it sounds absurd, but it’s all true. I’ll tell you the details another time.”

“Are you really sure that guy, Fulbert, came from a different world?”

“Yes: I saw it. He came out of some sort of portal and dealt with a monster from his homeworld for us.”

Yuri conceded herself a few seconds to take that in: in the past, she’d heard some quack fantasize about the existence of infinite parallel worlds. She’d always believed that was mere fiction, but it was apparently the truth. After reflecting on it, she stepped out of her cage and gave Mikayla a compassionate look; she was still unconscious.

“Is she going to be fine?” she asked.

“Of course: she just passed out. In fact, I have a favor to ask you, Yuri. Since you familiarized with this place, do you know where we can find some rope? Just to make sure she doesn’t try and play some tricks on us, once awake.”

“Uh… yeah, sure! I’ll go get it! I’ll be right back.”

Yuri immediately went into the infirmary cave and grabbed a few straps.

Xavia watched her unconscious sister-in-law, who was now tied in the cage with Barroth carapace bars covered in mud. Yuri had been very quick to get the ropes. With her aid, Xavia had hog-tied Mikayla with tight knots. Moreover, the girl suggested they put her in that specific cage to keep her from using electricity. Xavia mused:

“As soon as she wakes up, we’ll have to do everything we can to make her tell us where Xander and his other goons went. I do hope she comes to her senses in her sleep.”

However, at that moment, they heard footsteps echoing through the tunnels. Xavia heard Nina’s voice:

“The scout flies were so slow! What if they already killed her?”

A male voice replied to her:

“Don’t be so downbeat, huntress!”

Xavia breathed a sigh of relief: that was the Admiral. Good thing they’d arrived before Xander came back.

“Come on, let’s split up and search for them!”

That was the Commander. Xavia was surprised: she’d never expect him to take action himself. She smiled at Yuri and told her:

“They’ve finally found us.”

However, before they headed to the rift in the rocks to join them, a young woman in her twenties and a middle-aged hunter showed up. She had short, jet-black hair, pale skin and blood-red eyes. She wore Anjanath armor, but no helmet. She had two large sapphire earrings and was gripping the handle of the metal switch-axe she carried on her back, ready to strike should any enemy show up.

The old man, on the other hand, had brown eyes, short grey hair, a thick moustache and a goatee; he wore Legiana armor and a straw hat decorated with a Malfestio feather. Two Zinogre horns hung from his belt. He wielded a Radobaan heavy bowgun. They were both surprised to find Xavia already free, as well as meeting Yuri. The purple-haired huntress looked surprised to see them as well. She greeted them with a smile:

“Oh! Look who’s back! You guys finally went back to Astera! Indeed, the Admiral was also back, so I should’ve known.”

As soon as she noticed Mikayla, the young woman commented:

“It’s good to see you, Xavia. I see you already took care of it yourself.”

When she greeted Yuri, the girl timidly looked away, awestruck by those red eyes. The old man scoffed:

“Puh! And here I thought I had to riddle some bad guys with bullets. I don’t like it when they spoil my fun!”

Xavia chuckled:

“Come now, consider it a way to repay me! After all, I helped you guys solve the Elders’ Crossing mystery: if you’re not an outlaw anymore, it’s also thanks to me!”

Then she looked at her daughter, noticing her confused expression:

“Oh, right! Yuri, this is Ayla Auel, though we often call her Blood Eyes.”

Ayla snorted with undisguised sorrow, when she heard that moniker, but she smiled and shook Yuri’s hand.

“Oh, so it’s you! Everyone kept mentioning your nickname in Astera, but they never told me what it meant,” the Rider said.

“Believe me, it was for the best,” Ayla replied, confusing her.

Xavia moved on to Blood Eyes’ partner:

“And this grumpy old chap is Carson.”

“Show some respect! I’m neither old nor grumpy,” he replied, making Yuri giggle.

“It’s nice to meet you!” she said.

Xavia went on:

“I assume Gionata and Yuna are also here. And you had Nick and Nina come here, too? Damn, you brought a lot of people to rescue me!”

Carson winked:

“You know, they told us about this woman with strange electric powers and I felt like seeking a challenge. The Commander asked for as many volunteers as possible. He wanted at least ten people, but instead there’s eight of us, including him. The so-called “Sixers” are a bunch of wimps.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a feeble, provoking laugh. Mikayla had woken up, and she hissed:

“You were lucky I was the only one here and that bitch remembered my weakness. You’d be all dead, if I weren’t in here!”

Xavia, Yuri and Ayla turned to her, while Carson approached curiously. Mikayla’s eyes were still red and white, meaning that making her faint hadn’t been enough to let out her sane self. Intrigued by the old man looking at her with such interest, she observed him and paled, as she saw his hat and the Zinogre horns hanging from his belt. She gave him an astonished, disgusted look. Gritting her teeth, she asked him:

“Wait a second, are you Carson Kitts, the Zinogre poacher?!”

The bowgunner stroked his goatee, pleased:

“In the flesh! I see my reputation precedes me even among failed criminals.”

“Damn, I didn’t expect you to be that old!”

“Xavia, is she the woman in question?” Carson asked, offended.

“Yes. Her powers are due to a Zinogre gene. I think that’s why she dislikes you.”

Both Ayla and the bowgunner turned to Xavia in confusion, but she sighed and simply said:

“It’s a long story.”

After that, she approached Mikayla’s cage. Her sister-in-law looked at her silently, narrowing her eyes. She giggled with her usual sarcastic grin:

“You may as well ask that dumb cock to torture me, but I’m never going to tell you where Xander and the others went. He’d kill me.”

“Dumb cock? Now I’ve heard everything,” Carson sneered.

“Yuri, do you think you can purify her?” Xavia asked.

“I don’t know if it works on people: I’ve never had to do it on humans. They took my Kinship Stone, anyway.”

Xavia rummaged through her bag and smiled at her:

“Now I have it. Here.”

And she returned the azure stone. Surprised at first, the Rider exhulted and took back her Kinship Stone; she inserted it into her bracelet, which closed again.

“Thanks, mom!”

Xavia caressed her cheeks, then turned to Carson and Ayla:

“While she tries to make Mikayla more cooperative, let’s go that way. I’ll explain to you all what happened and who we’re dealing with,” she proposed.

However, Carson refused:

“I’ll stay here; they already told us about the matter anyway. Honestly? I couldn’t care less about whatever happened between you and your husband. I’d rather see what this girl’s going to do to the Zinogre woman.”

“Do you hope to watch me suffer, old bastard?” Mikayla asked bitterly.

“I do. And if she fails, I already got permission to blow a hole in your head!”

Ayla looked at Xavia and chuckled:

“We’re going, then. I’ll make a quick recap for Carson when he feels like listening.”

Xavia nodded, then she knelt down in front of her daughter and stared at her with a warm smile to encourage her. But Mikayla shook her head:

“If you actually think you can purify me, don’t even bother, darling. Xander tried to do it countless times, when he learnt that the Rite of Channeling infected me: he never succeeded, even back when his stone was still pure. And you think you can pull it off? Don’t make me laugh!”

Carson stood next to Yuri and claimed:

“I want to blow her brains out more every second.”

The Rider sighed:

“I feel you, but she’s still my aunt. I have to try.”

“I told you: that’s impossible!” Mikayla insisted.

“I’ll let you in on a secret, Mikayla. I didn’t tell even my wretch of a father, because he was in such a hurry to turn me into his puppet that he forgot to ask me. My Kinship Stone is more powerful than any other: Redan’s ancient blood runs through my veins, which means I have much more potential than other Riders!”

Mikayla’s cocky expression turned surprised. She stood silent for a second, then burst out laughing:

“Yeah, sure! Tell me another joke! I don’t know, Diablos live at sea, Poogies fly, Bazelgeuses are nice and cute, Lynians don’t like felvine; they’d be all more believable than what you’ve just said! You? A descendant of the very first Rider? You’re hilarious, darling!”

Without listening to her, Yuri raised her right arm. The bracelet opened and uncovered her oval stone. The ore began to glow with a blue shine, not green like the other times. The Rider started feeling a burning pain within herself. But it was “good” pain, like the stinging felt upon disinfecting a wound. Then the Black Blight smoke began leaving Mikayla’s body, and her aunt stopped laughing: it came out of her skin and spread in the air, dissolving just before touching the ceiling.

The same happened to her, which drove her to consider stopping. But she held on and tried to bear that weird sensation. She resisted for a couple of minutes, then the light got brighter and brighter; the gleam went out when Yuri, panting and exhausted, decided to stop. She fell on her knees, resting her hands on the rocks and gasping for air. The Kinship Stone bracelet closed again and the light disappeared. Neither her nor Mikayla had been purified completely: she was too tired to finish. But there was very little Black Blight in their bodies by now: all she needed to do was wait to recover and pick up where she’d left.

“Hey, little girl, are you all right?” Carson asked her.

Yuri nodded, then she stood up and checked on Mikayla, hoping to have removed enough Black Blight to make her come to her senses.

Chapter Text

“And that’s it. I told you everything I learnt since they took me here. There are many things I’m still unaware of, unfortunately,” Xavia concluded.

She’d just finished telling the seven people present what had happened. There were Nick and Nina, the Commander, armed with Anjanath sword and shield, and the Admiral, equipped with a steel hammer. There were also Ayla and her other two partners: Gionata Uberti and Yuna Tahaso. He was Ayla’s age and her boyfriend: they’d grown up together in Cathar, near Heaven’s Mount. He had short, dark brown hair and green eyes; he wore Uragaan armor and carried a Deviljho gunlance.

Yuna, on the other hand, was a “young” five hundred and seven-year-old wyverian female, with long black hair gathered in a braid. She wore Kushala Daora armor and her weapon was a Bazelgeuse insect glaive. While Xavia was explaining, she never stopped petting the antennae of the kinsect resting on her left arm, a Whispervesp.

At the end of Xavia’s account, the Commander started to muse silently. Nick and Nina exchanged indecipherable looks, while Ayla and her companions started discussing the matter in a low voice. They were all surprised and incredulous due to Xavia’s intel, including the Admiral, who spoke first:

“So, if I got this straight: your husband leads the corrupt Riders who are making this whole mess and he’s been slaying Elder Dragons for months for an unknown purpose. He enhanced each of them by turning them into half monsters, like he did to your daughter, and now he’s gone out with two of them for a final attempt to complete his plan.”

Xavia nodded and sighed.

“A great deal of strange stuff happens, when you’re involved,” Nick commented.

Nina joked:

“Well, what can I say? Now that Yuri’s half Fatalis, you’ve finally met someone like you, Blood Eyes!”

However, she got a grim, offended look in response. She had no time to apologize, because the Commander spoke up right after, turning to Xavia:

“What do you suggest we do next? We don’t know what the enemy is up to or where he’s gone. Maybe we’d better return to Astera and organize an assault to capture him.”

Before the huntress replied, an intense blue shine glowed in the tunnel which Ayla and Xavia had just taken to get to the table cavern. It shone for a few seconds, before disappearing.

“What’s that?” gasped Gionata.

Nick reassured him:

“That’s Yuri. The stone she carries emanates that light whenever she purifies an infected monster. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I see. Guys, I told you it was a bad idea to stay in Eldorado to rot: look at the crazy stuff we missed!” Gionata quipped.

“I didn’t mind staying down there: it was interesting to see how the Kulve Taroth’s coat changed every time,” Yuna replied.

“Nick, that gleam is usually green, though,” Nina pointed out.

“Carson’s with her: I believe he’d come and warn us, if something went wrong,” Xavia said.

She was trying to resist the urge to go and check on Yuri. She cleared her throat and told the Commander:

“Sir, my plan was to wait for Mikayla to snap out of it and tell us where we can find Xander, but if you think we’d better head back, then I believe we should do so.”

Suddenly, in response, they heard her sister-in-law’s voice, as she came in:

“I can tell you, Xavia. But I doubt it’s a good idea to go after him.”

Yuri looked up at Mikayla. Her aunt kept her eyes shut and was breathing heavily, like her. After a few seconds, Yuri tried to stand up, but failed. Carson decided to help her up, seeing how weak she was right now. However, since it embarrassed him to show such altruism, he justified himself with an excuse:

“If you got hurt, I’m sure your mother would bust my balls for days.”

The Rider approached the cage and tried to look into Mikayla’s eyes. Finally, a few seconds later, she opened them. They were now both blue.

“I swear that asshole will pay for this,” she murmured.

Carson was confused:

“Hey, what happened? Oh, so you’re not half blind, Zinogre woman! I thought you were. I mean, one of your eyes was faded! And what happened to the gross yellow things on your face?”

Intimidated by him, Mikayla tried to get up, but she realized her ankles were tied. She looked at the bowgunner, staying curled up submissively, and mumbled:

“No, I’m not.”

He was even more confused now: she’d acted threatening before, with that irritating psycho tone, whereas now she was showing the opposite behavior.

“What, are you having an identity crisis?”

“It’s complicated. Your red-eyed companion or my mother can fill you in later,” Yuri replied.

Mikayla whispered, mortified:

“My apologies for disrespecting you, Mister Kitts.”

Carson was just disoriented by the prisoner’s radical change, but he didn’t mind at all the fact that she was even apologizing and calling him “Mister”. Without replying, he chuckled and stroked his goatee, pleased. At that point, Mikaya apologized to her niece as well:

“Yuri, once again: I’m so sorry. For everything.”

“No need to apologize: my mother told me you helped her. Thank you.”

“Listen close: we don’t have much time. I have to speak immediately to your mother, your leaders, anyone; just get out of here, all of you! Xander…”

Carson interrupted her.

“Hey hey hey, hold it, Zinogre woman! I’ll take you to the others now. If you have something to explain, say it to everyone, so you’ll have nothing to repeat.”

Then Yuri opened the cell and untied Mikayla’s ankles. Carson got alerted and opened his eyes wide, believing she wanted to untie her wrists as well:

“What are you doing? What if she attacks us?”

“Don’t worry, sir, I’m not releasing her completely. Besides, she’s not dangerous anymore.”

Mikayla clenched her fists and added:

“Please, trust me. I know I did unforgivable things, but I want to help you now. I promised it to someone who’s very dear to me.”

Everyone turned to the rift Mikayla’s voice came from; they saw her with her hands tied and escorted by Yuri. Carson followed them, never losing sight of Mikayla and holding tight the rope binding her wrists. He’d agreed to let her out, as long as he held the straps. Xavia exhulted:

“You did it, Yuri! Good job!”

Yuna asked with curiosity:

“So, she had the same disease as all those monsters, but now she’s healed? How does that work, exactly?”

Ayla was just as intrigued:

“It’s really strange: she threatened to kill us before, but look at her now! I guess the fact she now wants to cooperate is quite the progress.”

“You must be Mikayla Aros,” the Commander said.

Mikayla nodded, intimidated by so many eyes on her. Nina looked at Yuri with amazement and the girl waved at her. She focused on her aunt:

“What did you mean back there? Why shouldn’t we go after Xander?”

“My brother finally decided to reveal his goal to us, before they left.”

“Which is?” the Admiral asked.

“He wants to resurrect the Xeno’Jiiva.”

Silence fell in the cave. Confused, Yuri gave her mother a questioning look: she’d never heard anyone mention that monster before – which was bad, as a Rider tasked to keep the Monsterpedia of her village constantly up to date. She noticed everyone’s confused expressions, before Carson slightly pulled the rope, irritated:

“Yeah, sure! Is your brother dumb enough to plan on reviving a rotting carcass? Don’t make fun of us and tell us the truth!”

“I’m not lying! That’s exactly what Xander said! He needed all the Elder Dragons he had us slay to build up enough bioenergy to revive its body. Don’t ask me, he claimed his Kinship Stone is capable of that! I have no idea how that’s possible, but I really doubt he was joking.”

“Even if that’s true, I can still hardly imagine such a thing.”

Gionata winked at Ayla and chuckled:

“In any case, our team and Xavia already faced it once. If that guy actually brings it back, it will find us ready! Especially this fury here.”

His girlfriend blushed and complained:

“Don’t raise expectations, please.”

Mikayla insisted:

“Look, I don’t know what the hell my brother is up to, but I swear he sounded confident of what he said: I doubt that he was just blustering or that he was underestimating you,” Mikayla insisted.

Everyone nodded and was about to stand up, but the Commander stopped them:

“I’m still positive we should go back to Astera, get properly organized and come up with a good strategy to solve the matter.”

Yuna proposed:

“What if we split up? One group could go after Xavia’s husband, while the other group could go to Astera and report to your grandson and the Huntsman. Do you agree, sir?”

The Admiral nodded:

“I don’t mind the idea. I volunteer to search for the corrupt Riders’ leader. If he actually resurrects the Xeno’Jiiva, I’ll help in the fight this time. And I’m sure Xavia and the four of you are ready for a rematch, so there’s already six of us!”

Indeed, Ayla and her team volunteered right away. However, the Commander denied them:

“No, I’m coming with you, along with Xavia, Nick and Nina. I want Blodd Eyes’ team to escort the prisoner to Astera and report. You’re not allowed to question this order.”

“Oh, come on!” Carson complained.

Ayla stood up and asked him the reason for that choice. The Commander explained impassively:

“When you faced that monster, you went into a coma for two weeks. If Aros has a greater plan in mind, I want the best team in the Fifth Fleet to be ready to defend Astera. Also, as much as that might bother you, your ‘condition’ may be very helpful at the base.”

Ayla looked very annoyed by her superior’s words. The Commander added:

“Besides, no one knows how to fight the Xeno’Jiiva except for the four of you and Xavia. If the five of you died down there, none of our hunters would be prepared.”

“What about me?” Yuri asked.

Xavia was silent for a moment, before she approached her daughter:

“I must ask you to go to Astera, Yuri.”

“But I can help you! You saw my powers! I won’t be a hindrance, I promise!”

She tried to protest, but Xavia shook her head and caressed her cheek:

“Yuri, I don’t question your abilities, but you haven’t fully recovered from your fight against the Nergigante. Moreover, you look exhausted, since you purified Mikayla. I can’t let you come, not if you’re not at your peak.”

Yuri tried to talk back, opening her mouth to talk, but she held back. She couldn’t question her concerned mother’s truthful words. Then she shook her head and hugged Xavia:

“I don’t want to part with you a third time, we’ve just reunited!”

“And we will again, in Astera. I’ll be back, Yuri. Be sure of it!” Xavia encouraged her.

Chapter Text

After the five hunters left the hideout, the ones who remained began preparing to head back to the base. They picked up their weapons and scoured the place in search of useful stuff to take back to Astera, such as the several notes scribbled in the infirmary cave. Mikayla sat on a chair in the main chamber, with her wrists still tied. Yuri was tasked to watch her, while the four hunters searched the hideout.

“When this is all over, I doubt the Guild’s courthouse will be generous with me: at the very least, they’ll lock me up forever,” Mikayla sighed.

Yuri comforted her with a smile:

“If you wish, mom and I will put in a good word for you: they should know your true self helped us!”

The Rider was terribly worried about Xavia. Talking to her aunt distracted her from the anxiety at least partly. When the hunters gathered again, Yuri asked them to stay a little longer, remembering the monsters caged in the hideout:

“I must purify them: they’re all affected by the Black Blight. Relax, it won’t take long,” she said, as she took the tunnel.

Then the team engaged in some small talk while waiting for her. A few minutes later, several monsters came out of the tunnel, after Yuri healed them: an Odogaron, a Deviljho, a Tzitzi-Ya-Ku and Xander’s Brachydios passed by. Each of them lingered briefly to give them an indifferent look, before heading to the exit without attacking them. Even the Deviljho didn’t lash out at them. Finally, an Astalos arrived; it immediately rushed to Mikayla and started sniffing and licking her face. She smiled, moved:

“Asta! You’re free from that damned disease, at last! I thought this moment would never come!”

She would’ve liked to stroke her friend, but sadly she was tied. The girl also came out of the tunnel, sighing. Exhausted but satisfied, she exclaimed:

“All done!”

“Can we go, then?” Carson asked, impatiently.

Yuri took a second before nodding. Mikayla asked in a pleading tone:

“Excuse me, could you untie me? Or at least loosen the straps? Please, I don’t feel my wrists anymore.”

Gionata flipped her off:

“Sorry, but prisoners don’t get such luxuries.”

Mikayla’s response was a slight sigh, as she slowly stood up from her chair:

“If I’d wanted to attack you, I would’ve already done it, you know? These ropes don’t stop me from using electricity.”

She then headed towards the exit, followed by her Astalos, but Carson grabbed the rope again and stopped her with a yank. Gionata and Yuna followed them and Ayla was about to, but she noticed that Yuri had stayed at the entrance to the tunnel. She gave a quick look at her partners, then joined then Rider:

“Come on, Yuri, we have to go,” she told her.

Apparently, Yuri had gotten distracted, because she gasped slightly. Then she sighed, visibly tense, and pleaded her with a desperate look:

“Please, Blood Eyes…”

The huntress snarled:

“Ayla.”

“Sorry. Please, Ayla, let me go after my mother! I’m afraid for her! I don’t want to fight, I’m not going to meddle with their battle. I just want to keep an eye on them and make sure she’s fine.”

Carson realized they were missing and came back to call them, having also heard Yuri’s request:

“Hey, will you two move it? And little girl, your mother couldn’t be clearer: you’re not going there. It’s not so hard, you just have to look the other way, get out of here and come with us. Easy, isn’t it?”

Yuna came back as well and commented:

“Carson, I think talking to her that way is a bad idea. Look at her expression: what you told her seems to have upset her even more!”

As a wyverian, it was always spontaneous for Yuna to point out every detail she didn’t miss. Her issue was that, by being always literal, she said inappropriate things without realizing it. Ayla felt conflicted: she knew Carson was right, but for some reason, she chose to agree to the girl’s request, surprising even Yuri:

“Fine, but I’m coming with you. And at the first sign of trouble, I’ll get you out of there. Am I clear?”

“Of course! Thanks a lot!”

Yuri eagerly followed the team out of the tunnels. Once in the open, Blood Eyes reported her decision to Gionata. Not expecting such empathy from his girlfriend, he asked her:

“Are you sure, Ayla?”

She nodded:

“Relax, I won’t put myself or Yuri at risk. We’ll be posted somewhere hidden to watch them from afar. If things go south, we’ll rush to the base right away.”

“Take Asta with you,” Mikayla suggested.

Everyone gave her a perplexed look and the Astalos got alerted, hearing his name.

“He’ll defend you. And when you have to leave, you can just mount him. I think he’s more comfy than a Mernos.”

Her offer was followed by moments of silence. Then Ayla went behind her and untied her wrists, much to Mikayla’s surprise, then she took the slingshot off her right vambrace and gave it to her. Disgruntled, Carson asked:

“Why are you doing this?”

“Since she’s lending us her monster, I think she deserves at least a little trust,” Ayla claimed.

Mikayla thanked her wholeheartedly. Then she approached her Astalos and petted his snout:

“Asta, I’m entrusting my niece and that huntress to you. Don’t let me down! I want them safe and sound in Astera.”

The Astalos appreciated the petting and let out a cheerful croak.

“Be careful, Ayla,” Gionata said.

“Of course. I told you: I’m not going to fight. Remember, guys, be careful as you go to the base: you saw how aggressive monsters are, since we left the caverns of El Dorado.”

Meanwhile, the orange dusk sky had gotten cloudy. Huge, dark grey thunderclouds were gathering up there, with their edges brightened by the setting sun.

“What a shitty weather! Now I have to bear my rheumatism even among volcanoes,” Carson muttered.

After the hunters called the Mernos and flew away, Ayla tapped Yuri’s shoulder:

“Let’s go, then!”

Mikayla had told the Admiral more precisely where the rest of the gang was; their whereabouts were obvious enough, since the Xeno’Jiiva was involved. So him, the Commander, Xavia and the two siblings split up from the others and left. As the sun began to set, they finally caught sight of their destination:

“According to Mikayla, they’re over there,” Nina said, leading the group.

Mikayla’s directions had led them to a place which had been visited very few times, after the Elders’ Crossing mystery had been solved: the Confluence of Fates. Or rather, the wide ledge at the base of the massive crystal, made of the same material, being the natural ceiling of the cave where the Xeno’Jiiva had been confronted and slayed. They now stood on top of a rocky plateau behind the huge crystal, and from there, they could perfectly see the crystal ledge and the large rift at its edges leading to the cave, several meters below. The Xeno’Jiiva lay at the exact center of that magnificent crystal expanse, majestic even in death.

It lay on its side, exposing the long, deep cut in its chest. Since several months had passed since its death, it had begun to decay: its skin, which shone with its own light when it was alive, was now dry and grey. Its wings were basically reduced to the bones; its ribs showed in some points of its sides, and the fingers of each paw were withered like the peel of a rotten fruit. They observed it for several seconds: even though it was a carcass, it was still impressive. Everyone had gone to admire or study the remains of that creature at least once, after the triumph of the Fifth Fleet, but of course no one had ever seen it in action. Shortly thereafter, they noticed that their three targets stood a few feet from the rotting dragon. As he watched them with his binoculars, the Admiral said:

“There they are: the corrupt Riders. They seem to be arguing.”

Xavia took a look as well, then she pointed out who was who to her companions:

“Xander is the one in Gore Magala armor.”

“Why are his arms bandaged?” Nick asked.

“Yuri burnt him. He’s not dangerous: he carries no monster gene. And as you can see, there are no monsters with him. Ben is the blond one with a heavy bowgun, he can summon monsters: don’t underestimate him. I think the most dangerous one is Felix: he can turn invisible, so never let your guard down if you see him disappear.”

“Argh! What the fuck?!” Nick suddenly gasped.

Everyone looked and made the same horrified, shocked expression. Xavia didn’t understand why they were doing so, and since she’d lended her binoculars to Nina, she asked what was going on. Nina told her to look at it herself and returned the binoculars. When she looked, she witnessed a gruesome scene: Xander, who was now wielding a Lunastra longsword, rushed to an attack stance. Felix lay suffering at his feet, turned on his side and surrounded by a pool of blood. When he rolled on his back, Xavia struggled not to throw up: Xander had cut off his right arm.

“What? But why?” she muttered, incredulous.

“That’s enough, we must act!” Nina exclaimed, drawing her bow.

She nocked an arrow, took aim and shot. That wasn’t meant to hit them, but to disorient them. Xavia and the others drew their weapons as soon as the arrow crashed on a crystal, emitting a loud clincking sound that echoed everywhere. It was easy to get to the ceiling of the Confluence of Fates: a few meters below the plateau, there was a rocky outcrop leading directly to the crystal expanse. They jumped off its edge, cushioned their fall by rolling and started to run towards the enemy.

Nina was fastest and, as soon as she knew they were within her reach, she shot again. The arrow pierced Ben’s hand before he could get his bowgun. He screamed in pain, cursed and squeezed his hand to block the bleeding. Xander hesitated for a moment, but he immediately snapped out of it and dashed forward to slash Nina with his sword. He was about to strike her, but the Commander stood in front of him and parried the hit with his shield, then pushed him away with a kick in the stomach. Xander flinched backwards, trying not to fall, and gave Ben a furious look:

“Summon a monster, you idiot!” he ordered him.

With a moan, Ben brought his cupped hands to his mouth and looked up at the sky, screaming at the top of his lungs. A few seconds later, a Bazelgeuse came from behind the tip of the massive crystal, but Nick threw a flash pod. Blinded, the Bazelgeuse glided badly and crashed its snout onto the ground, opening a large crack in the crystal. It had no time to recover, before it was hit on the jaw by an upswing of the Admiral’s hammer. Its mouth was twisted sideways and a bunch of its teeth broke. Right after, Xavia smashed her hammer between its eyes, stunning it and making it stumble. When the Bazelgeuse fell, it lost all of its explosive scales, which blew up on it.

Nick took advantage of it to get a running start, pointing his longsword forward, stab its eye with a thrust attack and sink the blade into its brain. The Bazelgeuse’s good eye rolled back and the monster died. Meanwhile, the Commander and Xander were locking blades, exchanging slashes. Xander was bad at fighting: his hits were sloppy and hasty; it was evident that he’d unlearnt how to fight, after a long time spent leaving all the work to his monsters. The Commander had no trouble dodging and parrying those pitiful hits, but he’d still failed to wound his opponent so far. Ben was about to lure another monster, but the Admiral caught up to him in the blink of an eye and grabbed him by the throat:

“Quiet, you!” he exclaimed.

With his exorbitant strength, he lifted him up and headbutted him so hard that Ben’s skull cracked. The Admiral looked at him with a triumphant expression; Ben had fainted instantly and his forehead was purplish due to the bruise. The Admiral dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Xavia intervened to help the Commander.

“Move, sir!” she exclaimed.

The Commander obeyed and hopped sideways. Xander’s last slash missed and he flinched. As soon as he looked up, he found his wife in front of him. He saw her raging eyes, before she hit him with a ‘lazy’ hammer strike in the stomach that cracked his ribs and hurled him to the ground, a few feet from his goons. He fell on his back and hit his head. He was left stunned. If he hadn’t been wearing armor, perhaps that hit could’ve destroyed his organs.

“We got you, bastard!” Xavia exclaimed, furious.

Felix, soaked in blood and agonizing, raised his head weakly and wheezed:

“Go… you must… go away!”

Xavia growled in response:

“I’m not leaving until that asshole’s dead!”

“The boss…”

“He wants to revive the Xeno’Jiiva, we know. His sister explained it all to us. I’m sorry, Aros, but I’m afraid you’ll have to surrender instead,” the Commander said.

As he heard that, Xander was speechless. He was still on the ground, with his head spinning. He looked at them one by one, then started laughing like a psychopath and sat up. Without stopping laughing, he shook his head and stared at Xavia.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Mikayla betrayed me, huh? Is that how she thanks me for taking care of her our whole lives and making her stronger? That useless, petty, selfish freeloader!”

“That would be you, actually,” Xavia said.

“I’ve gone too far to fail!”

Before anyone could react, Xander pounced on Felix and pierced his chest, right at the heart. Felix coughed up blood for a few seconds, gasping for air, before closing his eyes and taking his last breath.

“Son of a bitch! What’s wrong with you?!” Nina yelled.

She nocked an arrow and shot him in the left shoulder. Xander was hurled backwards and moaned, but he stood up right away and pulled out the arrow, then resumed laughing like a madman:

“Felix didn’t have a lucent Nargacuga gene, he had a Chameleos one. How do you think he could camouflage so well? Hahahahaha! I gave him an Elder Dragon’s gene just for this!”

“Meaning?” the Admiral asked.

“So that I could harvest the last handful of bioenergy I needed, when he died! That was the alternative to the Nergigante. I win!”

He raised his arm, and at that moment, Xavia noticed that something was different: a strange device was attached to the Kinship Stone bracelet. It resembled a knuckleduster: there were two big orange spikes on its sides and it covered his wrist completely. A pitch black, hexagonal prism lay in its center. When the bracelet opened and exposed his infected stone, the prism shone with a creepy, blood red light and it became translucent. A flow of azure bioenergy came out of Felix’s body and was absorbed by the prism and then by the Kinship Ore.

“At last!” Xander shouted.

At that point, he pointed his arm to the carcass of the Xeno’Jiiva and an intense flow of bioenergy engulfed it, then entered it, spreading from its head to the tip of its tail.

“That can’t be good,” Nick commented.

Yuri and Ayla lurked on top of a volcano and were hiding behind a rock. That mountaintop was high enough to allow them to see the ceiling of the Confluence of Fates. Yuri was left speechless, seeing the carcass lying there:

“Is that the Xeno’Jiiva?”

“It is.”

“And my mother faced it alongside you and your partners?”

“She did.”

They watched the fight. Yuri almost panicked when the Bazelgeuse showed up, but she breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they slayed it. When she saw Felix with a severed arm, she felt nauseous; however, from the corner of her eye, she noticed that Blood Eyes kept a pleased smile, as she watched the poor guy. It was the same smile one would make while reading a compelling novel or eating their favorite dish. Yuri found that creepy, but she tried not to show it.

Then the twist came: the stream of bioenergy that got into the dead Xeno’Jiiva. They both opened their eyes wide, when they saw what happened next: all the wounds and traces of decay disappeared, healing instantly. Now the monster was as good as new. Its skin turned azure and fluorescent. Then a red light suddenly lit up at the center of its chest, and they could see its ribs through its skin: the heart had resumed beating. And the dragon opened its eyes.

“It’s resurrected,” Ayla whispered, astonished.

Chapter Text

“That’s insane!” Yuri commented, hypnotized by that scene.

Ayla said nothing. She remembered very well the battle against that monster, four months before. She hadn’t forgotten what it could do with bioenergy: it was a veritable fury. She grabbed the girl’s right arm, pulling her for a moment after standing up:

“It’s time to go, it’s too risky.”

Yuri didn’t listen. She kept staring at the blue dragon, as if bewitched.

“Ayla, let’s stay a bit longer: I don’t want anything to happen to my mother!”

“Look, Xavia was there with us four months ago, she saw how the Xeno’Jiiva fights: she can do it. Besides, there’s five of them facing it this time as well.”

“I insist.”

“Don’t.”

“Please!”

Ayla bit her lip, feeling conflicted like never before. Eventually, with a grumpy and vexed grunt, she agreed:

“Ugh, fine! As long as you don’t make me regret this.”

“Thanks.”

Blood Eyes was confused: she didn’t get why she couldn’t bring herself to make Yuri mount the Astalos and go back to the base with her. She took a quick look at Asta, seeing him sniff the air and looking around for any threats. Then she shook her head and resumed watching the Confluence of Fates, knowing full well that the battle was about to begin.

“It really came back to life! How can this be?” the Admiral exclaimed, astonished.

The Commander gave Xavia a worried look and urged her:

“You know how to fight it. Tell us what to do!”

Actually, its behavior and attacks had been already described in minute detail in the reports, but of course, it was always quite another matter to face a monster in the flesh. At first, Xavia didn’t pay him attention. She saw Xander look at the Xeno’Jiiva with an enraptured expression, like a child beholding his new toy. Xander looked at Ben, who was still unconscius and with his forehead bruised, but didn’t rescue him.

Visibly disoriented, the Xeno’Jiiva looked around with its eyes wide open. It shook its head, before trying to get up. It appeared to have forgotten how to move, because its fingers slipped and it fell back to the ground. Its second attempt went better, although its limbs were shaking: it looked like a paralyzed person who resumed walking after a long time. It spread its wings slowly and stretched them, causing a slight gust of wind.

When it noticed all those humans observing it, it narrowed its eyes and gave them an intimidating roar. Xavia cursed: if only Felix hadn’t delayed her with his final words, she would’ve smashed Xander’s head with her hammer before he could revive the Xeno’Jiiva. Much to their surprise, the monster didn’t attack Xander when he approached it and took shelter between its forelimbs; in fact, it looked at him as if it knew him and gave them more guttural cries. Seeing their faces, Xander scoffed:

“What’s wrong? Are you afraid of this critter? Mikayla told me how it went last time; are you all wetting your pants, now that the red-eyed harlot who slew it isn’t here?”

“Fuck you!” Nick exclaimed.

“In fact, I have to thank the whole Research Commission: thanks to you, my sect learnt that this dragon was behind the Elders’ Crossing: you delivered us one of the mightiest monsters ever seen on a silver platter!”

Each hunter tightened their grip on their weapons, as they stood ready to attack. Xavia turned to her companions, and while Xander fantasized about plans such as subjugating the Guild with the Xeno’Jiiva – although that was far-fetched to say the least – she gave them some tips:

“It looks quite sluggish, but don’t underestimate it. Be careful not to get crushed by its tail and paws, when it strikes. If you see it breathe in and flames come out of its mouth, it means it’s about to cast a bioenergy beam: don’t let it touch you, or it might scorch you!”

While speaking, she tried to think of a good strategy. When she and Ayla’s team had fought it in its “lair”, they’d taken advantage of some crystals hanging overhead to drop them onto it. Now, however, they stood on the ceiling of the cave, out in the open. Eventually, she suggested Nina always keep it distracted with arrows and try to wound its wings to make it hard for it to fly; she asked Nick and the Commaner to try and cut off its tail; then she volunteered with the Admiral to damage its limbs and head with their hammers to stun it. They all agreed with her idea.

The Admiral immediately charged, followed by Xavia. Nick and the Commander circumvented the monster and tried to get to its tail, while Nina began shooting arrows repeatedly. Infuriated, the Xeno’Jiiva roared and started fighting. Out of the corner of her eye, Xavia noticed Xander step aside with a pleased grin and drag Ben away. He was now watching the battle from behind a crystal formation, with his usual smug smile. She heard him say:

“You’re mine, bitch!”

She then heard the Xeno’Jiiva growl and focused on the fight. It was looking at her and was building up energy in its maw; it opened its mouth wide and spat a plasma ball, but Xavia rolled aside at the last second. The dragon was about to charge up another orb, but someone whistled behind it. It turned around and the Admiral slammed his hammer onto its right paw, crushing its fingers. The Xeno’Jiiva yelped and instinctively lifted its paw, hurling the Admiral backwards. Right after that, Xavia hit its left paw in the same way, but she moved out of the way immediately. The dragon tried to devour her, but she dodged and the creature’s maw bit crystal, getting stuck for a second.

The Admiral took advantage of it and struck the monster’s temple, making it flinch sideways. Meanwhile, Nick and the Commander were trying to slice off its tail, as well as attempting to sever its Achilles tendon to cripple it. That made the Xeno’Jiiva angry and it pushed them off with a kick. Nina applied the poison coating to her arrows, she approached a little, took aim and started shooting the monster in the chest and right side, posted on the tip of a crystal, while it was busy trying to crush the hunters. The Xeno’Jiiva got really mad and stood up on its hind legs, then sank its forelimbs into the ground with two mighty punches. The crystal all around it glowed blue.

“Get away!” Xavia shouted.

Though perplexed, everyone complied immediately and avoided the massive explosion that rose from the ground, smouldering and melting the crystal surface. The Admiral was a bit slower and was hurled forward by the shockwave, but he got up right away and waved at the others to signal that he was fine. Xavia breathed a sigh of relief, but when she turned around, she saw that the monster was after her. The dragon took a deep breath and cast an intense energy beam. Xavia dodged it, but the Xeno’Jiiva kept following her movements, never stopping the beam, so she ended up running back and forth and taking shelter behind the crystals not to get caught, until the attack was over.

Suddenly, however, something unexpected happen: the Xeno’Jiiva moaned in pain and his body was enveloped by an aura of blue flames, as if it had turned into a living bellow blowing azure fire from all sides. Everyone was pushed back by that hot flush and the heat became unbearable. Xavia remembered such a thing, but it had happened when the monster had given in to its wrath and its heart had become crimson and burning; this time it was different: it looked like it was doing it unwillingly. In fact, it seemed to be suffering.

“Xavia, what’s going on?! I can’t hit it anymore!” Nina exclaimed, scared.

Indeed, her arrows were repelled by the hot flush, as soon as they approached the monster. Everyone present, except for Xander, was very confused. Irritated by that archer who wouldn’t leave it alone, the Xeno’Jiiva leapt forward with a flap of its wings and tried to strike her with its paw. It missed her, but the shockwave sent her flying the second its claws touched the ground.

“Xander, what the hell’s happening?!” Xavia yelled, terrified.

“It was bound to happen. The Xeno’Jiiva is no longer used to storing and channelling bioenergy, so it’s dispersing it. But it will get the hang of it again; either way, I’ll be able to do whatever I want with it in a few minutes! I just need time to…”

His rant was interrupted by an abrupt, familiar roar. Xavia and Xander looked up, amazed. A lightning-fast black figure plunged onto the Xeno’Jiiva from above, hitting its head with a mighty punch. The impact was so violent that it opened cracks in the crystal, as the dragon’s snout hit the ground. The creature growled furiously for a moment, tilting its head, but it got a claw attack on its forehead in response, as its attacker landed a few meters away.

“The Nergigante!” Xavia exclaimed.

They were all surprised. Its tail was severed and its snout was covered in black, hand-shaped burns. Xavia immediately recognized that Nergigante: it was the same specimen Yuri had faced earlier that day. Shortly thereafter, more roars echoed through the Confluence of Fates. An Odogaron came out of a rift in the ground and jumped onto the Xeno’Jiiva’s back; ignoring the burning flames, it bit off chunks of flesh from it and made it moan.

At that point, however, it could no longer resist the fire and got off it. Right after that, a stream of dragon element hit the Xeno’Jiiva’s snout, and a Deviljho came from a tunnel in a rocky wall – red and swollen due to anger. The Xeno’Jiiva gave the monsters an angry look, shaking the dragon element off its head. It took flight and prepared to hit them from above, but a Tzitzi-Ya-Ku showed up and blinded it with a flash, causing it to crash-land with a bang. The Odogaron took advantage of it to bite its neck and rip off another piece of flesh, then it hastened to retreat.

Meanwhile, dozens of different, intimidating roars were echoing all across the Elder’s Recess: azure Rathalos, Uragaans, Bazelgeuses and other species. It was like the whole continent was turning against that bioenergy dragon. Xander was blinded by rage:

“What’s going on?! Those are my monsters, why are they here?! And why are they healed?!”

Nina asked Xavia:

“Is this Yuri’s doing?”

“Well, she must’ve purified those monsters. But I doubt she ordered them to come here and help us. Also, the Nergigante would never take orders.”

“Perhaps the ecosystem of the New World sensed something unnatural and reacted to get rid of it,” the Admiral speculated.

For the first time in a while, Xavia made a mischevous grin:

“Would you look at that, Xander! You antagonized an entire continent!” she said, satisfied.

“I just need more time!” he repeated through gritted teeth.

Chapter Text

The Xeno’Jiiva observed furiously the four monsters come to challenge it. Especially the Nergigante, which stood a few steps ahead of the other three. The spiky dragon growled, before spreading its wings and roaring. Its spikes were already long and blackened. And yet, neither looked totally confident, even though the Xeno’Jiiva was in control of its energy again and had stopped expelling it as flames. Growling and roaring, the two monsters started slowly walking in circles, staring at each other with their fangs bare.

“Neither of them ever saw the other; do you think they’re sizing each other up?” Yuri asked.

“They might be,” Ayla answered.

The Nergigante suddenly took a long leap and struck the Xeno’Jiiva’s forehead with all the might it could apply to its paw, smashing its skull onto the crystal floor and making it collapse. The blue dragon let out a moan, stunned by the impact. It got up right away and tried to hit its opponent with a claw attack, but the Nergigante dodged it, took flight and plunged onto its neck with a roar, sinking its claws and spikes deep into that smooth, glowing flesh. Then it bit one of the horns, tightened its grip, and pulled backward with a huge effort, until it made the Xeno’Jiiva lose its balance and tipped it over.

The Xeno’Jiiva groaned as if to protest, then it abruptly raised its head and forced the Nergigante to let go. The Nergigante leapt sideways to dodge a plasma orb and took flight again. It roared in mid-air, while the Xeno’Jiiva gurgled in anger. It cast a powerful energy beam, but it missed once more. It instantly made another attempt, and this time, the Nergigante was too slow. It crash-landed on the crystal floor, crying in pain. Meanwhile, the Deviljho and the Odogaron had approached Xander menacingly. The Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, on the other hand, had run off as quickly as it could.

“Why go there, only to flee right away?” Yuri asked.

“It’s not fleeing, it’s just looking for a good spot to blind the enemy without risking,” Ayla explained calmly.

With his hands trembling, Xander drew his longsword and gave a terrified look at the Deviljho and the Odogaron, which were staring at him drooling and looked hungry.

“Didn’t you feed your monsters, Xander? They seem to have an appetite,” Xavia mocked him.

“Shut up, bitch!” he yelled.

His left shoulder hurt like hell because of Nina’s arrow, he didn’t know how he’d fare with his sword, wounded like that. In a fit of rage, he lashed out on his wife with his blade raised, but the Odogaron stood in front of him and roared, spitting smelly saliva on his face. The fanged wyvern rattled its tail, kept its head lowered and its limbs spread and tense, ready to pounce on him at any moment. Xander grit his teeth, watching the black spiral which had formed at the center of the prism: it was still translucent and his infected stone was exposed.

“I need more time, even one minute would be enough,” he whispered.

“Sir, what shall we do with him? Shall we let his monsters eat him?” Nina asked.

The Commander reflected a little, then he sighed:

“As much as I lament it, I’m afraid we’d better take him alive: the Guild will surely be in favor of a trial.”

“I understand. Leave him to me,” Xavia sighed, disappointed.

While the Nergigante and the Xeno’Jiiva kept fighting, she loaded a dung pod into her slingshot and was about to throw it at the Deviljho. However, all of a sudden, they all heard an unmistakable, gurgling roar from the tunnel that the three monsters had used to access the Confluence of Fates. They turned around and opened their eyes wide:

“That’s a Brachydios!” Nick exclaimed.

A new brute wyvern entered the Confluence of Fates and ran behind the Deviljho, which turned around and was punched on the snout by a blue forelimb covered in green slime. The Deviljho responded with a tail swipe, but missed. The slime left on its snout turned yellow, then red and blew up, stunning and making it fall. Before getting up, the Deviljho raised its head and struck the Brachydios with its dragon element breath. The Brachydios stepped back, shielding its snout with its forelimbs, and resisted until the attack ended. It shook its head and looked at Xander, grunting. When she saw the saddle on its back, Xavia was filled with memories. Xander exulted:

“Bam! Yes! My daughter’s a genius!”

“Is that another monster of his? Then why is it helping him? Yuri purified it!” Nina exclaimed.

Xander laughed:

“Hey, Xavia, give Yuri my thanks, the next time you see her! Bam is much more than a mount, he’s my best friend! He’d never abandon me!”

Meanwhile, the battle between the two Elder Dragons went on, more intense than before. The Nergigante’s bone spikes had already regrown a couple of times, but the Xeno’Jiiva was always able to break them before they could harden. However, by now its neck and sides were covered in spikes and its wings were riddled: it was bleeding and was starting to look weak, also because of the huge waste of energy from shortly before.

Xander hastily ordered Bam to keep fighting. In response, Bam roared and lashed out on the Odogaron, but it was quick to jump and dodge his punch. The green slime exploded on the crystal floor, forming a puddle of melt ore. The Odogaron clutched Bam’s side and bit his neck, trying to strangle him, but the Brachydios punched its shoulder and the blast caused it to fall. In the meantime, the Deviljho had gotten up, still swollen and red with fury. It roared and charged; the Brachydios tried to hit the Odogaron with his horn, but the fanged wyvern dodged and responded with a claw attack that left two rows of furrows on his temple.

The Deviljho caught up to Bam and grabbed his neck with its jaws. With a suffering moan, the Brachydios began squirming and struggling to break free, while the Odogaron moved away. The Deviljho bit even harder, lifted up its opponent slowly and smashed him to the ground, then threw him away. After rolling, the Brachydios got up, but the Devijho rushed to him, bit his left forelimb and started pulling, trying to rip it off.

Bam tried to endure the pain. Eventually, he got mad: the slime on his body spread and turned yellow. He started to repeatedly hit the Deviljho on the jaw with his free forelimb, causing a series of instantant blasts. Finally, the Deviljho could take no more and let go, its head reduced to a bloody mess. It turned around, hopped sideways and pushed Bam with its shoulder. The Brachydios flinched, but immediately reacted with a punch that sent blood and broken teeth flying everywhere. Free at last, Bam looked at his forelimb: the Deviljho’s bite had left a crescent of jagged-edged holes in his tough blue armor. The Odogaron jumped at his throat, but Bam repelled him right away with a punch.

“We have to help those two,” Nick suggested.

Xander hid behind a crystal and encouraged his Brachydios:

“You’re doing great, Bam!”

“Focus on the Brachydios, I’ll take care of Xander,” Xavia said.

But they were distracted by a loud thud: the Xeno’Jiiva had tried to take off, but the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku had blinded it with a flash and the Nergigante had pounced on it with a violent dive, causing it to crash down. As it started to pant from exhaustion, the Xeno’Jiiva struggled to get up and growled at the Nergigante. When he saw that the blue dragon was tired, Xander’s eyes lit up. He ran towards his Brachydios, shouting:

“Bam, come here!”

Bam immediately quit the fight and hastened to join his master. Xander mounted him and ordered him to get to the Xeno’Jiiva. The Brachydios started running towards the two dragons, licking his forelimbs. As it recovered from the punch, the Odogaron approached Xavia, growling. She gasped and wielded her hammer, but at that point, the fanged wyvern gave her its side and crouched. That gesture was easy to interpret: it was offering her to ride it.

It appeared to be trained, somehow. Xavia was shocked, but she knew that she’d never catch the Brachydios on foot, so she just seized that opportunity without thinking twice. Meanwhile, Xander and Bam had gotten to the Xeno’Jiiva. Bam distracted the Nergigante by punching its right side, then Xander quickly got off his back. The Nergigante roared and hurled Bam with a shoulder strike, tipping him over. Xander approached the Xeno’Jiiva and stared at it eagerly. But the Odogaron, now ridden by Xavia, got between them.

“What? Are you a Rider all of a sudden?” he groaned, furious.

“Give up, Xander! You’ve lost. The Xeno’Jiiva is yielding, your monsters don’t obey you and the only one that does isn’t enough, Mikayla turned on you, Felix is dead and Ben is knocked out. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I don’t care! I’m going to kill all these nobodies! I’m going to tear you to shreds, then throw you into a pyre and take back Yuri!”

Before Xavia replied, the black spiral on the prism glowed, contrasting even more the crimson light from his infected stone. He raised his arm:

“At long last!”

The Odogaron was about to approach, but that was when the Nergigante threw Bam away. The Brachydios rolled on the crystal floor and trampled the Odogaron, hurling Xavia to the ground. As the Brachydios stood up shaking his head, Xander laughed:

“Thanks, Bam!”

At that point, the black spiral turned out not to be painted on the prism: it was an actual wisp of Black Blight smoke, which came out of the black bracelet and spread in the air. It rose up in the sky, several meters from the ground – and entered the Xeno’Jiiva’s body, penetrating its skin. The Xeno’Jiiva screamed in pain and looked up at the sky with a moan.

“What the hell’s he done to it?” Ayla asked, confused.

All of a sudden, Yuri screamed and shut her eyes. She brought her hands to her temples and fell on her knees with a soft thud, on the huntress’ disoriented watch. The girl began screaming in pain, squinting her eyelids and gritting her teeth; she went even as far as pulling her own hair. Ayla panicked:

“What’s wrong?”

A few seconds later, the Astalos seemed to lose his mind, too. He growled, rubbing his horn on a rock. Ayla didn’t know what to do, all she could do was watch the flying wyvern and the girl suffer. Then she looked at the Xeno’Jiiva, which was now enveloped in a thick cloud as black as the night.

Chapter Text

Hundreds of miles away from the Elder’s Recess, Blood Eyes’ team and Mikayla were busy traversing the Ancient Forest, the last stretch separating them from Astera. The Mernos had carried them as far as a pasture of Aptonoths, then they’d dropped them suddenly and had flown away. It was strange: they looked nervous, even scared by something. Carson threw a stone at the wingdrakes, irritated, but Gionata pointed out to him that Astera was close by now. So he and Yuna moved on keeping an eye on Mikayla, and Carson followed them. At some point, the old bowgunner called Mikayla:

“Listen up, Zinogre woman.”

They’d all been quiet for the entirety of the flight. Mikayla felt uncomfortable to say nothing, but the thought of talking to the three of them scared the hell out of her. What could she talk about, anyway? So she’d gone for silence, which was broken only occasionally by the Mernos’ cackling.

“Uh… yes?” she asked timidly.

Carson winked at her:

“We’re almost there by now, but would you mind showing us your powers?”

Mikayla blushed in embarrassment and gave him a perplexed look, before replying:

“I don’t think it’s necessary. Besides, I believe the scholars will ask me that either way. A human carrying a monster’s gene must be an amazing discovery for them.”

Before one of the three hunters said anything, Mikayla opened her eyes wide: an eerie roar echoed in her mind, shaking her soul to the core. She squeezed her temples, gritting her teeth due to that deafening roar. She squinted, as the pain became unbearable. She fell on her knees, arching her back to the point of touching the ground with her elbows, and let out a scream on the hunters’ confused watch. Yuna knelt down next to her and asked:

“You appear to be in pain. What’s happening to you?”

She laid a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, while Gionata loaded some shells into his gunlance, with a concerned expression.

“My head! My head!” Mikayla moaned.

A small amount of Black Blight smoke, what little Yuri had been unable to remove, slowly arose from her skin. Then she opened her eyes wide and stood up abruptly, with a shocked look. She took a few steps back, panting and waving her arms not to lose her balance. Yuna, Carson annd Gionata looked at each other, disoriented. Mikayla took a deep breath to calm down, then she called Carson without looking at him:

“Mister Kitts, did you want a demonstration of my powers?”

She turned round and observed a herd of Aptonoths running from a Great Jagras. As the pain faded, she murmured:

“I think I’ve found a good opportunity. Stay back, I wouldn’t like to accidentally hit one of you.”

She stiffened her fingers and made sparks, which soon turned into lightning wrapping her arms.

The biologists gasped in fear:

“Hey, what’s happening to those two monsters?”

For no apparent reason, the Rathalos and the Legiana had begun growling and moaning. In a few minutes, all the hunters gathered in front of the monsters’ platform, standing behind the Commander’s grandson. Ratha lay with his eyes closed; he growled and roared, rubbing his beak against the wooden planks. Legi, on the other hand, was looking around, as if something scared her. Trying to keep calm, the field team leader asked:

“What’s going on?”

“We don’t understand: they were calm until seconds ago, now they’re acting terrified!” the chief ecologist claimed.

Suddenly, the Rathalos stared at Legi and croaked. The Legiana chirped in response, then she gave a quick look to the curious crowd. She roared and ran towards them. All the onlookers had to dive sideways not to be run over by Legi, who was getting a running start to take off. The Legiana soared above the ocean, swirling in the air like a dancer. Shortly thereafter, Ratha took flight as well and joined her. The scholars pointed out that the scar furrowing his blind eye was enveloped in the mist of the Black Blight. When the two monsters were close to each other above the sea, they started drawing odd circles and spirals in the air, constantly exchanging cries.

“They seem to be communicating both through vocalizations and body language,” the chief ecologist mused.

“To tell each other what?” the Commander’s grandson asked.

“I don’t know, young man.”

At the Confluence of Fates, the Deviljho and the Odogaron collapsed, letting out agonizing roars and sore moans. The Commander and the others looked at them in shock, then they watched the Xeno’Jiiva. Xavia clenched her fists and stared at her husband:

“What did you do to it, Xander? Did you infect it?”

“Oh, no. I did much more than that,” he replied, flanked by his Brachydios.

The Nergigante growled and watched the blue dragon, which stopped moaning and let out a deafening roar that sounded like it came from beyond the grave. Suddenly, the Xeno’Jiiva lowered its head and gurgled. Its body, engulfed by the black mist, began to mutate. Its smooth and azure skin turned rough and dark purple. Black fur grew on its four limbs, covering them entirely. Its horns curled backwards: they now resembled a ram’s, and red stripes appeared on their surface, standing out on the black bone. The outer sides of its wings turned red, while the inner membranes turned grey. A thick, red mane grew on its long neck. Its eyes tuned scarlet and its slit pupils turned round. Its upper canine teeth elongated and became two saber fangs stretching down the jaw. The six orange plates on its head turned yellow.

The new monster growled and observed everybody one by one, with a threatening look. As it saw Xander, its yellow plates glowed. Bam whimpered and stepped back, keeping his head low, intimidated by that thing. The monster looked up at the sky and roared again, forcing everyone to cover their ears. The Odogaron yelped in terror and fled. At the end of that roar, the mutated Xeno’Jiiva approached Xander. He patted Bam to reassure him, then he raised his arm and showed off the black bracelet giving off the creepy light of his infected stone. The creature seemed to hesitate for a second, but then it bowed its head in submission. At that point, while his Brachydios dared look up, Xander laughed triumphantly:

“Yes! Yes! I did it! Welcome back, Makili Pietru!” he shouted, excited.

Yuri finally recovered from the excruciating pain that had overwhelmed her after the first roar. She sat up slowly, helped up by Ayla, while keeping her hand on her forehead.

“Are you all right, Yuri?” the huntress asked.

Her voice sounded distant and resounding to the Rider, like an echo. She nodded and took a deep breath:

“It hurts less now; my head’s throbbing.”

The Astalos croaked with fear, when he looked down at the cave.

“What happened to you?” Blood Eyes asked.

“I don’t know. I heard a scream in my head, I felt like it was about to burst.”

Then she looked at the ceiling of the Confluence of Fates and her heart skipped a beat, as she saw what was down there. It couldn’t be.

“Oh, no! No, no no no! I can’t believe it! What happened?”

“Your father did something to the Xeno’Jiiva. I don’t know what it was, it looked like a trail of smoke; it oozed into its body and turned it into that eyesore.”

Yuri was shocked: now there was no more doubt.

“I know that thing, it’s the Black Dread. Ratha and I killed it two years ago.”

“Did you kill a mutant monster? I never heard of it.”

“That’s no monster, it’s a parasite: it acts as a hive mind for the Black Blight by taking over the most powerful monster nearby. The first time, it was killed by a man called Redan and a monster we call the “White Miracle”. He founded the order of Riders, our communities, to keep it at bay.”

“What do you call it?”

Yuri swallowed:

“That’s the Makili Pietru.”

“Makili Pietru? Never heard of it.”

“Riders in the past erased all records of it, it’s only mentioned in our myths nowadays. It would be hard to find historical references to it either way: it’s more ancient than the First Wyverians.”

“And you killed that thing at the age of thirteen? Are you kidding me?”

“It’s a long story, I’ll spare you; but yes, Ratha and I were able to defeat it. As a result, the Black Blight got extinct in our homeland and the Old World.”

“But it’s here now.”

“My father’s dumb enough to think he can order around the Makili Pietru. It won’t work: my friend Cheval tried it as well, but it turned on him. It nearly killed him.”

Ayla reflected quietly, then she stood up and urged her to leave that place: she claimed that they’d definitely stayed there too long. It was now much more dangerous than before.

“It’s really time to go.”

She checked on the Astalos, who finally seemed to have recovered, as she saw him shake his head. Yuri stared at Blood Eyes for a few seconds. Deep down, she wanted to question that decision with all her heart: the Makili Pietru had reincarnated! As a Rider, it was her duty to defy it, or at least try. However, she forced herself to agree. She’d promised her mother to go back to Astera and she’d promised Ayla that they’d leave at the first sign of trouble. So the girl stood up. She took one last look at the Makili Pietru, before turning around and approaching the Astalos. She stroked his neck:

“Is everything all right, Asta?” she asked.

The dragonfly-like wyvern gave her a guttural sound. He stretched his wings, then crouched to let them mount him. Yuri got on first, still petting him. She whispered that he was definitely larger than her specimens, while Ayla took a seat behind her on the saddle.

“Hold on tight!” she warned.

Yuri beat her heels on the monster’s sides. Ayla gripped the straps just in time, before the Astalos took off with a mighty flap of his wings and headed south, towards Astera.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the Admiral asked, shocked.

Meanwhile, Xander climbed on the Makili Pietru’s back and his Brachydios hid behind it, keeping a rueful demeanor. After watching disoriented, the Nergigante decided to act and took flight, with its spikes long and black. It plunged onto its opponent and struck its chest. The impact was devastating and the Makili Pietru fell, with a deep cut in its chest and with its shoulders covered in spikes. However, once it took the hit, it got up as if nothing had happened. Xander was able to keep his balance by clinging to its mane.

The Nergigante hesitated briefly, and the Makili Pietru took advantage of it to strike it with a claw attack, hurling it away. The Nergigante got mad and its wounds healed instantly. It lashed out at its opponent and hit it with its horns, then it retreated with a leap. The Makili Pietru got irritated and inhaled calmly, like a dragon preparing to breathe fire. A very concentrated stream of Black Blight smoke came out of its mouth, and the Nergigante got the full blast of it: it was hidden entirely by that foul-smelling mist. When the smoke faded away, the spiky dragon had red eyes and leaked that black fog from its whole body: the immunity of Elder Dragons hadn’t helped it against the hive mind of the Black Blight.

“It infected it!” Xavia exclaimed.

Xander looked down at and on the hunters and smiled:

“Don’t be afraid, hunters: the Black Dread isn’t used to its new host’s body, so I won’t order it to destroy you for now, as much as I’d love to.”

Then he looked at the infected Nergigante and gave the Makili Pietru a nod. The parasite stared at the horned dragon and bared its fangs, growling. The Nergigante turned around and got to Ben with a leap; he was still unconscius. The Nergigante looked at him like a piece of garbage, then it grabbed him with its mouth and came back to the Makili Pietru.

“Come on, send it after that purple-haired bitch!” Xander exclaimed, amused.

The Makili Pietru gave the order and the Nergigante looked at Xavia; it was about to pounce on her, but before she was hit, she was pushed sideways. The huntress fell to the ground and the Nergigante grabbed someone else with its claws: there was a male moan, choked by the might of that grip. Lying on her side, Xavia looked up and was left speechless: the Commander had pushed her out of the way and he’d been caught in her stead.

“No!” the Admiral shouted.

“Leave! Go back to Astera, warn the Research Commission!” the Commander ordered, in pain.

The Nergigante realized it had caught the wrong prey and was about to throw him away. But all of a sudden, the Deviljho got back into action and bit its wing, drooling. But a simple wing flap was enough to make it let go. Holding the Commander in its paw, the Nergigante tipped over the Deviljho with a shoulder strike. Then it stood up on its hind legs, raised its free paw and smashed it onto its skull, squishing its brain and staining the crystal floor with blood and bits of grey matter. Xander mused briefly, then he ordered:

“Change of plans, Makili: tell it to keep the old man. He might be of some use.”

The Makili Pietru growled and the Nergigante stopped, before it smashed the leader of the First Fleet to the ground. At that point, Xander sneered and waved goodbye:

“See you soon, hunters!”

The Makili Pietru spread its wings and took flight, causing a strong gust of wing. Then it disappeared in the sky, followed closely by the Nergigante. Bam began following them on foot. Before it took the exit of the Confluence of Fates, he stopped and looked at Xavia in a strange way: she sensed a hint of sadness in his gaze. The Brachydios turned around and vanished in the dark tunnel. Nick, Nina and the Admiral were staring at the sky, utterly speechless. Xavia fell on her knees, desperate for not getting to kill Xander. Shortly thereafter, between lightning and thunder, the rain began pouring down from the storm clouds overhead, clinking the crystals. The huntress whispered:

“Xander got what he wanted. I failed.”

Chapter Text

The Rathalos and the Legiana chased each other in flight for several minutes. Legi twirled everywhere and span gracefully in the sky, while Ratha followed her with much simpler patterns. It almost looked like they were playing; the scholars and the Commander’s grandson observed them all the time, but the ecologists kept not understanding the reason for such a behavior. Their best guess was that they missed their mistress or that they were trying to get distracted from something that was upsetting them. Eventually, Ratha got tired and landed on the dock, panting. The scar on his blind eye was no longer leaking Black Blight mist. The Legiana looked down at him and chirped. The Rathalos responded with a weak, reassuring roar. Making his way through the hunters of the Commission, Ratha got back to the monsters’ platform by dragging his talons and lay down; shortly thereafter, Legi joined him with a dive.

Yuri hadn’t noticed it, but the Astalos wasn’t in such a good shape: his left wing was torn near the end of the membrane. The tear wasn’t very large and the wound was likely old, though that last bit hadn’t healed yet, which kept him from flying at full speed. She noticed it when Ayla asked her why, after flying for ten minutes, they were still at the border between the Elder’s Recess and the Coral Highlands. After checking, she apologized to the monster, stroking his neck. Asta responded by shaking his head and turned to the girl with a croak. Yuri also apologized to Ayla:

“Sorry, I should’ve checked earlier. Getting to Astera will take us a while.”

“Oh? No problem, really! Even the Mernos aren’t this fast, and besides, I’m more comfy sitting here than hanging from a rod,” the huntress replied.

Yuri paused to observe her face, almost curiously, before turning around and watching the landscape below. It was night by now and it was raining. The Rider kept quiet, looking ahead, careful to regulate Asta’s speed and prevent him from straining himself. Ayla was also silent. While they were flying over the Coral Highlands, Yuri decided to inquire on a doubt that was haunting her. Without turning to Ayla, she asked her:

“Ayla, may I ask you a favor and a question? No, wait: maybe I should call you Miss Auel, sorry. Do you want me to?”

“No, Yuri, let’s keep on a first name basis: that makes me more comfortable. And sure, ask away!”

“I’d like you to… well, not tell my mom that I broke my promise to go back to Astera immediately.”

“Your mother would never stop tormenting me if she knew. Telling her is the last thing I’d consider doing!” the huntress chuckled.

Yuri let out a little smile, before nodding:

“Thanks!”

“What about your question?”

“Only if you’re willing to answer, of course!”

“Let’s hear it.”

Yuri turned on the saddle to look at Ayla:

“I couldn’t help but notice your red eyes. Back in my homeland, I have a friend whose eyes are just like yours. She’s nothing like you, but you know: you reminded me of her, when I first saw you. Are they red for any particular reason?”

Yuri tried to hide it, but she was very homesick: she missed her village and her friends. Ayla looked surprised for a moment, given her expression. However, after a few seconds, she reassured Yuri that she could explain. She hesitated a little, then sighed:

“First of all, promise me you won’t laugh.”

“I won’t, relax!”

“Very well. The thing is, I’m cursed: a Fatalis’ spirit lives inside me.”

Yuri had a little gasp, as she heard the name of the dragon of destiny.

“Really?”

“It all began many years ago. My four grandparents, who are from Minegarde, were a team: they were the first and only hunters to ever slay a Fatalis. I guess they were more or less your mother’s age; anyway, its soul never left and wanted revenge. So, after my parents moved to Cathar, it possessed me when I was born. When they saw my eyes, all the villagers were afraid of me. They looked at me as they’d look at that damned dragon. For my whole childhood, I felt bitter and lonely: I don’t know where I’d be now, weren’t it for my family and Gionata. He was always my light in the dark, always there to cheer me up, to comfort me, to remind me that there were those who loved me despite everything.”

“How can you tell it’s true? Your eye color alone doesn’t seem like much to me.”

“I wish it were just my eyes! Instead, every time I sleep, I’m haunted by horrible nightmares where Fatalis torments me. Sometimes, it ‘speaks’ to me, sending me visions, but they’re always meant to show me terrifying things. Then comes the reason why I’m so famous: my overpowering rage. My bloodlust.”

Yuri gasped, hearing that detail. So was carrying a Fatalis gene like bearing that curse? She had a gene, Ayla was possessed, but the substance was the same, after all.

“So we can say we’re alike, eh? You know, I too was filled with anger before: I felt like killing.”

“I know, it’s horrible. Xavia told us what you did to that bastard; I’m sorry you must be like me. I hope it’ll happen to you as rarely as possible.”

Yuri was silent for a few more moments, before going on with the questions:

“Do you have any tips on how to avoid it? And what would I risk doing, if I gave in to that rage?”

There weren’t many hunters willing to tell their stories or details about themselves that intrigued her, like Ayla was. Only one, back in the Old World, had actually told her about his experiences, but only after a few months spent hunting and fulfilling quests together. And Yuri was very curious: she always had been, since her early childhood. Besides, the Astalos was travelling at a consistent pace, albeit slowly. It was the perfect time to chat and kill time.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I go mad during hunts, when I give in to fear or anger. If I lose control, all I can focus on is slaying my target. And I become very dangerous for the monster. I can’t think or hold back.”

“I see.”

“If you’re able to resist it for the first few seconds, try to give everyone time to leave you alone with the monster: it’s for the best. I horribly massacred the Black Arrow, the Nergigante which had been tormenting us during our investigation on the Zorah Magdaros.”

“Xander said that Nergigante was butchered.”

“It was me. When I rage, I get crazy strong: I sliced its belly open and ripped its guts out. Then I chopped off its forelimbs. Finally, I beheaded it. Now I must sound like a psycho to you, and I don’t blame you. I just couldn’t stop.”

Yuri opened her eyes wide, disgusted by that detailed account, but also impressed:

“And I thought I hurt the Nergigante I fought today! Did it happen to you any other times, since you came to the New World?”

Yuri had been educated not to deem such stories weird, but rather as something peculiar to be curious about, if those responsible for such things didn’t look malicious to her. And Ayla didn’t look malicious at all. Besides, she didn’t mind hearing of her deeds to “get distracted” from what she’d said befoe, about carrying a bit of Fatalis inside her and the fear of the possible consequences. Ayla looked surprised by Yuri’s reaction, then she gave her a happy smile and nodded:

“It happened when I faced the Xeno’Jiiva with my team and Xavia. Gionata had been injured and stunned by a bioenergy blast; I asked all of them to go away, before I lost control. Carson and Yuna did so, taking Gionata with them, but Xavia was still unaware of my rage and refused to leave me there. In the end, I tore its chest open, but it threw me to the ground before I could stab its heart. It was your mother who stunned it with her hammer to give me a chance to attack. If not for her, I never would’ve finished it.”

“But the Commander said you were in a coma, after fighting it. What happened?”

“After it died, its body released one last explosion. Xavia noticed that in time, but I’d lain to calm down and didn’t listen to her when she warned me. I hit my head on a crystal and passed out.”

Yuri still had plenty of questions about Fatalis and its powers, but she’d completely forgotten about it: she’d gotten distracted with the story of the partnership between Blood Eyes’ team and Xavia. She really wanted to know more.

“How did you meet my mother?”

“I first heard her name when we embarked: we were both in the Fifth Fleet. But I didn’t care about the others: I was with Gionata all the time, honestly. Every now and then, in Astera, I’d hear of a quiet, lone huntress with purple hair who was pretty talented. The first time I talked to her was when we sent the Zorah Magdaros back into the ocean: I was tasked with facing off the Nergigante, which would inevitably show up like it had in the Great Ravine; to be honest, I wasn’t handling it so well. The Black Arrow had already gutted many hunters supposed to repel it, like me. I would’ve ended up like them, if Xavia hadn’t come out of nowhere: we drove it away together. A month later, Gionata told me he’d become friends with her and that she was teaching him how to use a hammer, so I went to thank her. Thus, in a way, Xavia became a kind of fifth member of my team: after that siege, she joined some of our hunts, until the battle against the Xeno’Jiiva.”

“What kind of person do you think she is?”

“A bit cold and secretive, but I have to say she’s not bad to be around. Her look was different from how I remembered it, in the tunnels where we rescued you. I’m sure the reason for that is you.”

Yuri blushed and smiled:

“Indeed, I think she’s changed a lot, thinking back to the first few times we talked.”

The Astalos growled, calling for their attention. Yuri turned around and saw the Celestial Pursuit from afar. They were now flying over the Wildspire Waste. The Rider laid her hand on his throat and realized his breathing was labored. She warned Ayla:

“Asta is exhausted. I think we’d better walk from here…”

The huntress shrugged and said it was no problem for her. They landed in the desert, near one of the gates to the base, and proceeded.

Mikayla grunted and threw one last, electrified punch at the Great Jagras. The lightning went through the reptile’s body and gave it a heart attack. She’d spent the last ten minutes beating it up, giving it her all. Once the Great Jagras was dead, she fell on her knees, panting. The three hunters were all surprised, especially Carson: he’d watched the whole scene play out in amazement. He asked ironically:

“Hey, do you think the blacksmith still has some “piercexplosive” bullets in his safe? I might need them, in case she loses it again.”

Hearing that, Gionata gave him a mischievous grin, while Yuna looked at him with perplexity, unaware that he wasn’t serious. She began to protest:

“Don’t you think that’s extreme? The human body is smaller than the range of those explosions, she’d die from the mere perforation and...”

“Ugh, I’m just saying!” Carson snapped.

“Huh? It didn’t sound like it.”

“Relax, I’m not going to attack you,” Mikayla muttered, standing up.

But when she turned around, Carson saw something familiar in her gaze: the crazy, contemptuous expression he’d found when she was still in that cage. Her right eye was still blue, but her left one had turned red. Carson stepped forth, drew his heavy bowgun and pointed it at her, aiming for her forehead. Mikayla sneered and spread her arms:

“What are you waiting for, old man? Shoot me! Don’t you have the balls for it?”

“Call me an old man one more time and find out!” he replied.

But right then, Mikayla moaned and closed her eyes; she brought a hand to her forehead and spoke to herself:

“Ah! What do you want? Come on, can’t I even have fun now?!”

A moment later, her left eye was blue again and Mikayla gasped, as if she’d suddenly woken up from a light sleep. Gionata taunted her:

“Hey, did you forget whose side you’re on for a moment?”

“Oh, damn! I’m sorry, I don’t understand! I thought Yuri purified me, but I was about to give way to her!” Mikayla panicked.

Yuna, Carson and Gionata exchanged confused looks. Then Mikayla took a deep breath, before moving and walking past them.

“Uh… we’re very close to Astera now, aren’t we? Let’s hurry, I don’t want to lose control and attack you. Please.”

“Let’s move it, then,” Carson said, leading the way.

Once in Astera, the three hunters tied up Mikayla’s wrists again at her request, and they escorted her through the market, while everyone gave them perplexed glances. Unfortunately for them, they passed by Erika, who was buying some apples. As she saw Mikayla, the redhead opened her eyes wide and gripped the hilt of her switch-axe, but before she could draw it, Gionata stood in front of her:

“Hey! Chill out, newbie! We still haven’t figured out if she’s still on our side, but she helped us! She’s no threat anymore.”

“But I saw her! She killed Alex and threw his severed head in front of me!” Erika shouted.

Before Gionata replied, Mikayla did:

“I know, I did horrible things, but not of my own accord!”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me, but I can swear I’m no longer dangerous for you. I’m not going to attack you, I’ll answer all your questions: I’ll do anything I can to help you!”

Erika stared at her, still suspicious, but eventually sighed and warned her:

“Fine, but make no mistake: that doesn’t mean I trust you.”

“I know.”

That said, Mikayla was taken to the infirmary for the night and fell asleep on a hospital bed, exhausted from that day.

Ayla, Yuri and the Astalos arrived at the base a few minutes later and Gionata immediately welcomed his girlfriend with a hug, happy to find her well. Yuri rushed to Asta and Legi. Many hunters were shocked to see an adult Astalos there. Someone snorted:

“Of course, after leaving us at the mercy of the infected monsters, she brings one of the Fated Four here.”

Yuri looked towards that voice, which sounded familiar: it was Mike, the hunter in pink Rathian armor who still hated her for everything that had happened with Nami. Yuri had to admit that she wouldn’t mind running into him, if she were overwhelmed by the Fatalis’ rage. She forced herself not to tell him to fuck off, so she just gave him an angry look. The Rathalos and the Legiana basically jumped on her, and they began rubbing their heads on her and giving her cheerful squeaks. She smiled, petting them and hugging their heads:

“I missed you a lot, too!” she exclaimed, moved.

She introduced them to Asta, then she went to Xavia’s lodging. Once there, first of all, she took off the Odogaron armor, leaving it on one of the armor racks that her mother had lended her; she kept on only her leather vest and pants, before lying down on her bed. She felt drained, now that she was finally back in Astera. However, she wouldn’t sleep until her mother returned to the base, even at the cost of waiting for her all night. She sat up on the bed, crossing her legs and staring at the door.

Xavia’s group was the last to return to Astera, in the middle of the night, when most hunters were already sleeping. The only ones still awake, waiting for her return, were Ayla and her partners, as well as the Commander’s grandson and Erika. As they saw them, they immediately noticed their downbeat expressions. And that the Commander was missing. The field team leader was startled:

“Hey, where’s my grandfather?”

Before Xavia replied to him, the Admiral sighed with a sorry look:

“I’ll take it from here. If you want to rest, you may. It’s very late.”

In the end, Nick and Nina chose to stay and help the Admiral debrief, but Xavia had other priorities.

“If you’ll excuse me…” she said, as she walked away.

Once in her lodging, she found her daughter sitting on her bed. Yuri held her breath for a moment, before she got up. Xavia shut the door behind her, smiling at the girl and starting to take off her alloy armor. She approached Yuri and hugged her tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re all right, mom!”

The huntress nodded, as she stroked her back. Yuri didn’t see it, but Xavia’s eyes were moist: she couldn’t forgive herself for failing. But now she didn’t care that much. She was glad she could hold her daughter in her arms, in a friendly place, after all that had happened with Xander.

“I promised you, remember? I told you I’d see you back here, when all would be over. Now here I am!”

“Yeah,” Yuri whispered.

Chapter Text

It was a calm, quiet night in Astera; the morning came soon for everyone. Yuri and Xavia had fallen asleep some dozen of minutes after the huntress’ return. Xavia slept little and badly, because she felt guilty about her failure and the Commander’s kidnapping. She woke up first, at dawn. She put on her armor, took one last look at her sleeping daughter and got out. She headed to the assembly table and found a large, silent crowd there.

This time, the Admiral was presiding over the meeting and was telling the whole Commission what had happen the previous day. Xavia couldn’t help but blame herself; after all, Yuri must’ve taken the flaw of feeling sorry for any issue after someone. The hunters of the official Fleets of the Commission were astonished, while the Sixers were terrified. With a sad sigh, she joined the crowd and took a seat to listen. At that moment, the Admiral was saying:

“I know what you’re all thinking, but I can assure you this was no failure! We have their defector on our side.”

At that point, the Commander’s grandson and the Huntsman arrived. Mikayla stood before them, with her wrists still tied behind her back. The field team leader was holding tight the rope with which they were escorting the “prisoner”. The Admiral explained:

“Mikayla Aros, here, has already proven a valuable source of useful intel to understand our enemy and I’m sure she still is. In the meantime, although the Commander isn’t here to be your and our great leader, you mustn’t be discouraged! Keep protecting the New World, without losing hope, until we figure out how to get out of this impasse!”

After some more encouragements, the assemly ended and the crowd was dismissed; the hunters resumed their usual activities. Xavia approached the table when the only ones left were the Admiral, Mikayla and the field team leader. The latter greeted her with a nod and she responded quietly. The Admiral mused:

“We really have to find a solution. If we don’t bring back the Commander soon, the pace of our operations might be severely compromised.”

Xavia nodded and the Commander’s grandson took Mikayla away, pulling her laces a bit too violently. She complained:

“I said I’ll cooperate, can’t you loosen this stupid rope? I almost can’t feel my hands.”

Yuri was woken up early in the morning by her mother.

“The Admiral asked to talk to you at the assembly table. I’ll be waiting for you on the floor below, when you’re ready. All right?”

“All right,” Yuri mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

She got ready, both physically and mentally, put on her Odogaron armor and took up her sword and shield. Once outside, she got down to the ground floor with the freight elevator, walking among hunters queueing to stock up at the supply stash or to collect the rewards for their hunts by the resource center. She didn’t see him, but she was positive that the hunter in pink Rathian armor was glaring at her as usual.

At the assembly table, she met with the Admiral, Mikayla – who was now tied to a stool – the Huntsman, the Commander’s grandson and her mother, as well as Nick and Nina. She waved at them and the leaders of the First Fleet told her to wait for the other experts. They were joined by the chief ecologist, a few scholars and, at the Admiral’s request, Ayla’s team as well. At that point, the briefing could begin. The Admiral started:

“So, the corrupt Riders’ leader called the monster the Xeno’Jiiva turned into “Black Dread”. Can you tell us what exactly we’re dealing with, Rider?”

Yuri began explaining:

“That’s the Makili Pietru. It’s not an actual monster, it’s a parasite: it creeps into monsters and corrupts them to spread; the Black Blight is like a seed, which it plants into the bodies of monsters to sprout inside them. But the Makili Pietru itself only shows up once it finds a monster more powerful than all those it infected prior to that moment. In this case, that monster was the Xeno’Jiiva. Now that it’s taken over its host, it can use its hive mind to lead and control all the infected monsters in this continent.”

“Is there any way to remove the parasite from its host?” the chief ecologist asked.

“I know only one, which is killing the host.”

“I see.”

“You sound like an expert. Is that something all Riders know?” the Huntsman asked.

“Yes, but I also saw it myself two years ago: I fought it. My Rathalos and I were able to defeat it, with my friends’ help.”

“Is there any particular method, any specific strategy to face that parasite? If so, we could come up with an efficient plan to take it down,” the field team leader said.

“From what I know, only a creature called the White Miracle is a match for the Makili Pietru. Just like the parasite, it’s not an actual monster species, it’s the mount of a Rider worthy of being Redan’s successor, who gives their monster the bioenergy it requires to evolve into something higher and become powerful enough to slay the Black Dread. Luckily, two years ago, I managed to do just that with Ratha, so we killed it. The main reference for us Riders is a poem carved in the ruins of Redan’s citadel, the place where our founder lived.”

Yuri breathed in and recited the poem of the White Miracle, which she remembered by heart since she’d first discovered it among the ruins:

Awoken to a world cloaked in Black Blight,
From a great tree’s root, a white dragon comes.
And lo, two bonds as one unite,
And a hunter once, a Rider becomes.

A place of bonds fills with light,
A place devoid has nothing but blight.
Born of blight, the Black Dread spreads,
So heaven and earth in darkness treads.

To a world of dark blight, unbidden a savior descends.
Astride a white dragon, the heavens he rends.
The blight he repels, and the light he restores.
A True Rider of Monsters, he shall end all wars.

Carson cracked a joke:

“Uh… so the plan’s to make it die of embarrassment, by making it listen to a nursery rhyme?”

Yuri shook her head and rolled her eyes, but before she could reply to him, countless scared, confused, surprised voices were heard – coming from the dock of Astera.

All the hunters rushed to the parapet by the ocean, next to the market, to look at the sea in astonishment.

“What are those?” Nick asked.

Several scaly, glossy heads rose from the water. Those monsters’ eyes glowed with an unnatural red gleam. The creatures approached the harbor, swimming around the argosy and other ships, and surfaced with half their bodies. It was a shoal of Plesioths amounting to pretty much a dozen specimens, some normal, some of the green subspecies.

“All those Plesioths are infected!” the hunters shouted.

The Admiral grit his teeth and joined them in a hurry to give the order:

“Hunters, draw your weapons!”

But right then, a terryfing roar echoed throughout the base, giving everyone the shivers. Yuri ran to the Admiral:

“Sir, tell them to move away! They mustn’t stay near the Plesioths or attack them!” she exclaimed.

The Admiral gave her a confused look, but when the sky was clouded by a huge shadow, he was compelled to listen to her. That giant monster appeared above the sea, the same one seen by the Commander’s group, Ayla and Yuri the previous night. Yuri and Ayla exchanged looks from afar, before turning to the Makili Pietru. Xavia clenched her fists, as she joined the crowd alongside Ayla’s team.

The Huntsman and the field team leader followed them, while the scholars huddled behind Mikayla as if she could protect them, even though she was tied up. That horrifying monster flew idly above the water, above the shoal of Plesioths. It flapped its huge red and grey wings rhythmically, its scarlet eyes observed the onlookers one by one. Most of the hunters had obeyed the Admiral, moving away as the Makili Pietru arrived. The piscine wyverns stood still like statues. Their gazes were blank and stared at nothing.

As soon as the Black Dread saw Yuri, it began to growl furiously. All the Plesioths looked at her at once, opening their maws and grunting. Yuri was about to approach the parapet, but Xavia grabbed her arm and gestured her to look up: Xander stood on the Makili Pietru’s head, clinging to its mane, and the Commander was next to him. The leader of the First Fleet was on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back. His face was disfigured, with a shiner and dried blood on his temples. He squinted his good eye and his mouth twitched in a sore expression. Blood was seeping through gaps in his armor. Xander gave the crowd a contemptuous smile and began a speech, shouting to let everyone hear him:

“Hunters, technicians, scholars – and Rider,” he added, seeing Yuri.

Yuri looked at him with hatred, anger and disappointment, and he seemed to be amused by it. After a short pause, he pulled the Commander’s hair and went on:

“The New World has had the same Commander for forty years: I think it’s time to change management. I don’t mean to replace this old puppet of the Guild, I’m here today to tell you something else: from now on, the Research Commission is no more and this base isn’t yours! As of today, Astera belongs to me and my army of Riders, who are coming here from the Old World as I speak. This place is just perfect for us, the Servants of the Blight! Access to the sea and the hinterland, supplies and weapons for hundreds of people: how couldn’t I take advantage of it? So, since I’m generous, I’ll give you all one day to pack your things and be gone! Of course, I left entire shoals of Plesioths watching the shore, I’m not so naïve as to let you return to the Old World and warn the Guild: you’re on your own! And if you’re still here tomorrow, the Black Dread will show you insects no mercy.”

“How dare he come here and threaten us?” the Admiral growled, outraged.

“I’m afraid he’s in a position to do so, unfortunately,” the Huntsman whispered.

Scared by that abrupt, unexpected turn, the hunters stood still and silent.

“Well? Don’t you have anything to say? I expected at least one idiot brave enough to protest. Your hunters aren’t so bold after all, Commander!” Xander laughed.

“Oh, they are, much more than you’ll ever be, coward!” the Commander replied, in pain.

Xander drew a knife and pointed it at his throat.

“Your Commander will die right now, so you can get a sense of what happens to those who bother a Servant of the Blight! So, Commander, any last words?” he chuckled.

“Let him go, motherfucker!” the field team leader yelled.

He drew his greatsword, in a fit of rage, but everyone hastened to hold him, as they saw the Plesioths growling at him. The Makili Pietru was alerted. The Commander was visibly exhausted from torture. His breathing was labored, especially with a blade to his throat. However, he breathed in and shouted:

“Hunters, listen to me! You mustn’t be afraid of this madman, this deviant! He thinks he can scare you with pointless threats, monsters corrupted by a disease and a fiend controlling them, but you’re all capable of besting them! Together, you’ll always be unbeatable! Remember your values, remember your duties, remember everything that brought you here! May the Sapphire Star light your way!”

“I’ve heard enough,” Xander said.

When he raised his knife, the field team leader screamed:

“Grandpa!”

The blade glittered under the sun, ready to strike; but a Rathalos’ roar caught everyone’s attention. A fireball and a frost squall hit the Makili Pietru, making it flinch in midair. It let out a surprised roar, while Xander and the Commander staggered on its head. The Plesioths looked up, roaring at the two flying monsters in the sky.

“Legi, get the Commander! Hurry!” Yuri ordered.

The Legiana shrieked and swooped down on the Black Dread’s head. With a lightning-fast tail strike, she hit Xander and threw him off. He would’ve fallen into the sea, if there hadn’t been a green Plesioth beneath him. Legi grabbed the Commander with her right foot, careful not to squeeze too hard, and took him to safety on the dock.

“Good girl!” the Rider shouted.

Ratha called her attention with a whimper and the girl looked at the water: the roles had reversed. Now it was Xander who was staring at her with hatred and disappointment, as he looked up at her. She gave him the same look for a moment, before ordering Ratha to fly higher. The Rathalos growled and dodged the water jet that a Plesioth spat at the Makili Pietru’s behest. The other Plesioths joined their companion and began shooting pressurized water at Ratha, but he dodged all the jets masterfully, as he flew upwards.

That scene was almost awe-inspiring, watched from the market of Astera. The field team leader immediately ran to his grandfather. He rescued him right away, helping him up after untying his wrists. Yuri took a moment to watch them head towards the infirmary. The Black Dread ordered the Plesioths to stop attacking and the water jets ceased. Xander had gotten back onto its head by climbing its tail, which reached down enough to touch the water. He watched Yuri and her Rathalos, who was now flying in front of the purple monster. The two creatures studied each other, standing idle in midair, opposite each other. Yuri stared at Xander with all her hatred, while he gave her his typical sneer.

“We meet again, Yuri. Although as enemies.”

“We always have been.”

They kept looking at each other until the Black Dread growled again. Xander chuckled and stroked its head:

“The Makili Pietru recognized you last night, you know? It sensed you. It was wondering where your Rathalos and Redan were, as well as that yellow Felyne.”

He spoke as if that thing had told him what to say.

“Navirou stayed in the Old World, so keep him out of this.”

The Makili Pietru growled again, the yellow plates on its head glowed. Xander kept acting as an interpreter:

“It told me it would’ve liked to kill all three of you, but preferred to wait.”

“Do you also hear the voices of monsters?” Yuri asked him, perplexed.

She thought it happened only to her, and it almost never did.

“I can’t, unfortunately. But the Black Dread makes itself understood. I feel its thirst for vengeance, I feel how much it hates you for making it go extinct in the Old World, and I sense its lust for chaos!”

“You’re delusional, if you think you can control the Makili Pietru! It’s pretending to obey you, but it’s using you! It’ll kill you as soon as it has no more use for you. I saw it at the ruins of Zalam, it happened to one of my best friends: he nearly died! You can’t undo what you did in the past, but you can still stop this madness! I have no idea how you revived it and I don’t care to know: please, help me kill it! We still have time, before it gets used to its new body!”

“Kill it? Not a chance, Yuri!”

“You’re digging your own grave!”

“I don’t know who that friend of yours is, but if it almost got him killed, it means he wasn’t strong enough: the Makili Pietru saw me as its master from the beginning! It accepted me and granted me its control over all Black Blight carriers! I’m unstoppable!”

“You’re delirious!”

The Makili Nova let out a deafening roar, so loud as to push Ratha backwards with the shockwave.

“I’d like to continue this conversation, my daughter, but the Makili Pietru’s had enough: it craves a fight, after two years spent waiting, cooped up in that device.”

Xander got off the Makili Pietru’s back and jumped onto a green Plesioth’s. Yuri narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. She stood up on Ratha’s saddle and drew her sword. The Makili Pietru soared, clouding the sun, and looked down at the Rathalos. The roar it gave them next seemed to express some sort of perplexity. From the sea, Xander explained:

“It doesn’t want to fight a mere Rathalos, nor does it care about you, Yuri! It’s waiting for Redan and the White Miracle. They’re its enemies, not you.”

So Yuri and Ratha exchanged a knowing look:

“Oh, yeah? It seeks Redan and the White Miracle? We’ll give it just them!” she exclaimed.

The girl sheathed her sword, raised her right arm and opened her bracelet. Her Kinship Stone activated and glowed blue; the shine instantly got so intense that it blinded everyone. The Rathalos’ chest glowed white, then the light engulfed him entirely. It looked like Yuri was standing on a mass of solid light, with her eyes closed. That light expanded until it got three times as large. When it went out, amazed and shocked exclamations rose from the crowd. The Rathalos had become huge, as large as the Xeno’Jiiva. His saddle had broken and fallen off, since it had become too tight.

His scales had turned silvery and reflected the morning sunlight like metal. His left eye was still furrowed by a scar, while his right one now had an azure iris, much brighter than its usual blue. His tail had turned yellow and his wings had gotten darker. The black stripes decorating his membranes were now red. Yuri opened her eyes and closed her bracelet. Her eyes had turned golden. As it finally recognized its millenial archenemies, the Makili Pietru bared its fangs and gave them a defying roar. Ratha turned to his Rider and croaked to ask her if he may get started. Yuri nodded and the White Miracle accepted the challenge with a louder roar, so mighty that the Plesioth dived, intimidated. Xander sneered as usual and shouted:

“This is going to be a clash of titans!”

Chapter Text

Ratha and the Makili Pietru stared at each other for a few seconds, flying idly. Ratha’s silvery scales reflected the sunlight. On the other hand, the Makili Pietru’s purple hide emanated a shroud of Black Blight mist and the yellow plates on its head glowed intermittently. Apart from the two giant monsters hissing, an unsettling silence had fallen. Each was waiting for the other to strike first. Yuri breathed in, then she took a quick look at her Kinship Stone: it had turned white.

“I should be able to sustain Ratha’s change for at least an hour: no need to rush him,” she thought confidently.

That unnerving wait would end soon: both monsters were losing their patience. If there was something Yuri was sure of, it was that they didn’t have to underestimate their opponent only because they’d already beaten it before. Now the Makili Pietru possessed a different body, with capabilities they didn’t fully know: they had to tread carefully.

“Are you ready, my friend?” she asked.

Tired of waiting, Ratha began the fight. He opened his maw and roared at the sky, with small flames rising from his throat. The Makili Pietru replied instantly, but it didn’t react. After Yuri clung tightly to the spikes on his head, the Rathalos dashed forward at lightning speed and stretched out his talons, ready to tear his opponent’s flesh. The Makili Pietru was quick to build up bioenergy in his mouth and cast a plasma beam which exploded and made a huge cloud of smoke, as soon as it touched the Rathalos.

Ratha was unscathed; he rapidly came out of the cloud and soared, getting above the enemy in a second. Before the Black Dread had time to react, he swooped down on its back and sank his talons into its flesh, poisoning it and making it moan. The Makili Pietru turned to him instinctively and Ratha took advantage of it to breathe a concentrated stream of flames on its face, charring its mane. Burnt and poisoned, the Black Dread dashed forward to break free and Ratha let go of it: his talons left furrows on its back.

“Take me high up, Ratha!” Yuri ordered.

The White Miracle complied and positioned himself above his opponent again; she took a running jump, dived and sank her sword into the Makili Pietru’s right wing. Not expecting that, the parasite looked at her with its eyes wide open.

“Did you think you were the only one who got stronger in two years?” Yuri taunted it.

The Makili Pietru shook its wing to throw her off, but Ratha swooped down on it once more, ripping off bits of its flesh with his talons. The Black Dread roared, while purple drool poured from its mouth due to the poison. It began to struggle, flapping its wings frantically to force the Rathalos to get off. But Ratha held on and bit its neck, tearing off several scales and causing trickles of blood to drip from its wounds.

Yuri pulled her sword out of its wing, planted her feet and jumped on its head. She landed onto its right eye and saw her reflection in the pupil. If she hadn’t turned into Redan’s embodiment, she would’ve likely been terrified. But fortunately for her, she had. She raised her sword and stabbed that ruby red eye with all her might. A blood spatter stained her face and armor, and the Makili Nova let out a horrific cry. The Rathalos held on tight to keep its opponent from squirming too much. Meanwhile, his poison had started to make the Black Dread dizzy: it looked nauseous.

“Now, Ratha!” the girl exclaimed.

Still holding on the Makili Pietru, the Rathalos began to soar with strong wing flaps, and when he decided he’d risen high enough, he dived towards the ocean, dragging the parasite along. Yuri held his spikes so tight that her knuckled paled, squinting and gritting her teeth: she had to be careful not to fall off. When he was a dozen meters above the water, Ratha suddenly performed a loop to build up momentum; at the last second, he dropped the Makili Pietru and let it crash against one of the cliffs off the shore of Astera. Stunned by the poison, the parasite did nothing to resist it. The thud was thunderous; the monster hit the cliff so hard that it sank into it – huge pieces of stone fell from the pinnacle, fell into the sea and raised a wave which submerged the Plesioth.

“Awesome! You did great, Ratha!” Yuri cheered.

The hunters of Astera cheered the Rider and encouraged her, while the Black Dread fell from the wall of the cliff and sank into the sea. Even the wyverian scholars had begun watching the battle between the two monsters: they’d all left Mikayla, who kept her head bowed, still tied to the stool next to the assembly table. She tried to curl up, hoping her brother wouldn’t find her; instead, at some point, she heard a water spray, a Plesioth’s grunt behind her and Xander’s voice:

“Hello, sis.”

Mikayla turned around with a gasp, eyes wide open:

“Xander!”

She stared at his infected Kinship Stone with terror: she knew what was coming.

“You know, a little bird told me you snitched on me, telling these nobodies about my plans.”

He didn’t sound mad, just disappointed.

“I…”

“Until yesterday, I would’ve killed you for that. But unfortunately, you’re all I have left, since Felix died and Ben didn’t recover from that concussion.”

When she found out Felix’s fate, Mikayla felt dead inside. She bowed her head, with tears in her eyes.

“Xander, I don’t know you anymore! What happened to you? After you accepted that mission ten years ago, you became a mad lunatic, just like them!”

She was about to speak their name, but by now she was too afraid of them to do it. Her brother said nothing: he just chuckled. She looked up at him, staring at him angrily:

“You forsook the woman you claimed to love, scarred your daughter for life! This isn’t you! You’re not the Xander who promised me things would be okay whenever I cried, when I was a child! You used to dream of helping the world get better, but look at you now!”

“It’s simple: I wised up. As did you, after the Rite of Channeling. You killed monsters and people with a satisfied smile which I never thought you’d make.”

“That was all because of you and that bastard Raymond! That piece of shit gave me the Black Blight: I killed all those poor people because you two forced me to and I couldn’t choose!”

In response, Xander raised his arm and activated his infected stone. Once again, Black Blight smoke began to rise from Mikayla’s skin, and an excruciating pain made her ears ring. She let out a scream, bending over for the pain. Her eyes began to switch colors constantly: now they were blue, now her right eye was red and the other was white, now they were back to normal and so on.

“Would you look at that, Yuri purified you. No matter: I’ll just have to infect you again!” he sneered.

However, a shrill roar caught his attention. He turned around and saw Yuri’s Legiana giving him a death stare. Her yellow eyes studied him. Before he could react, Legi lashed out at him, hitting his chest with a tail swipe strong enough to make him tumble on the floor. Xander stood up and grabbed his longsword, but a blue bolt of lightning hit the wooden planks in front of him, making him gasp: Mikayla had broken free from her straps. Standing next to her stool, she kept her left hand on her temple, while stretching out her right arm. Her left eye was red, but the other one was still blue.

“I won’t miss next time,” she panted, exhausted from the pain.

She felt heavy, even simply standing drained her. Legi got next to her, keeping an attack stance. Xander reactivated his infected stone, but she cast a small electric shock that hit the ore, forming a crack.

“No!” he shouted, terrified.

He observed very carefully the damage on his stone, but breathed a sigh of relief. However, he decided to retreat. Before mounting the Plesioth and disappearing into the sea, he threatened:

“This isn’t over, Mikayla!”

Her breathing was labored; her left eye turned blue again. She felt very nauseous and weak. She passed out and collapsed on the wooden planks with a thud.

Yuri and the still transformed Rathalos had been keeping an eye on the cliff for minutes. The Makili Pietru was still underwater and didn’t seem to be going to come out. Yuri was getting more and more worried: she had a vague suspicion on what might happen next. The bubbles rising from where the Makili Nova had sunk increased in numbers suddenly.

“Ratha, look out,” she urged.

All of a sudden, a plasma beam sprouted from the sea. Ratha dodged it at the last second and the stream of energy hit a rocky wall beneath the Celestial Pursuit. The water was split in two by that beam. Right after that, sprinting out like a missile, the Makili Pietru emerged, soaked and dripping. All the wounds Yuri and the White Miracle had given it were healed. Even its poked eye had regenerated. It was like they hadn’t fought at all.

“I’m afraid we have to use our final move, Ratha: it’s stronger than it was last time,” Yuri whispered.

The Rathalos narrowed his good eye and gave her a guttural sound. The Makili Pietru’s healing ability was astounding: back in their homeland, they’d cut off its tail several times during their battle, only for it to grow back like a lizard’s. Although they’d broken its horns in every way possible, they’d get whole and pointy again at each attempt. The only way to hinder its healing was wear it down. Once exhausted, even inconsequential wounds took several minutes to be repaired. However, since the Xeno’Jiiva’s body was extremely strong, it would take them forever – and they didn’t have forever.

“Ready?” she asked kindly.

But the Makili Pietru didn’t give the Rathalos time to answer. The parasite attacked, grabbing Ratha’s wings with its forelimbs. Now they were face to face, but Ratha was quick to spit a fireball in its face. Annoyed, the Makili Pietru took the hit and headbutted Ratha. The impact was so strong that Ratha was stunned. The Black Dread bit his neck, stabbing his flesh with its saberteeth. Ratha was only able to break free thanks to Yuri, who jumped onto the Makili Pietru’s head and sank her blade into one of its yellow plates, destabilizing it and making it let go. Once free, the Rathalos span and whipped his opponent’s snout with a tail swipe. He was hoping to stun it and give Yuri an opening to get back on his back, but that wasn’t the case. The Makili Pietru bared its fangs and quickly raised its head, so Yuri lost her balance. Her sword was stuck in the plate on the parasite’s head and she tumbled on the Black Dread’s back.

Yuri had to stand up quickly, because she felt the Makili Pietru’s scales heating up; the ones beneath her and on its chest were turning red. She swore and dived sideways just before the Black Dread’s body released high bursts of hot steam. The Rathalos roared and charged at his opponent with his head lowered. At the last second, the Makili Pietru grabbed his wings again, roaring in his face before spitting a plasma ball right on Ratha’s beak.

Though stunned by the hit, the White Miracle endured, and responded with a fireball that his the Black Dread the same way. It was enough to make it let go of his wings. Ratha took advantage of it to approach its right side, so Yuri could hop on his back, before quickly moving away and soaring. Now the White Miracle and the Black Dread were staring at each other again. The Rathalos looked down with his blue eye, the Makili Pietru looked up with its red eyes.

“Ratha, we have to try! It’s our last resort,” the girl whispered.

The Rathalos roared at the sky, before swooping down with his maw open. The Makili Nova charged upwards. It overwhelmed Ratha like a dead weight, pushing him several meters back, and it took the Rathalos a few seconds to balance himself in flight. Yuri clung to his back and turned around, staring at the Black Dread, which was looking at them growling. The White Miracle quickly approached the enemy, but then he started circling around it, without doing anything else. Perplexed, the Makili Pietru struggled to follow his movements. It tried to hit him with a plasma ball twice, but Ratha was too fast. Then the Rathalos suddenly flew above it and dived again, clutching its neck with his talons. But the Makili Pietru broke free by pulling and grabbed his wings for the third time.

Yuri took advantage of it to reach for her sword, which was still stuck in the Black Dread’s head, but this time the Makili Pietru was ready for her: it made her fall off with a claw attack, then grabbed her in midair and began to crush her between its fingers. Ratha bit its paw to make it drop her; the Black Dread growled in pain, looking at its nemesis. It threw Yuri away, and she crash-landed on the third level of Astera, smashing one of the wooden tables of the canteen and hitting her back against the large stone used by the Felyne chef as a cooking top. After it got rid of the girl, the Makili Pietru began to pull Ratha’s wings to rip them off. Yuri wheezed after such an impact, with a couple of moans. Her armor had withstood and absorbed part of the hit, but now she had trouble getting up. She grit her teeth and looked at the two monsters fighting in the sky. She heard some quick footsteps and her mother’s terrified voice:

“Yuri! Are you alright?”

Xavia appeared next to her. The girl struggled to get up. She looked at her mother and nodded, smiling to reassure her:

“Yes, I’m fine. I can’t get up, though... ow, my back!”

Xavia helped her up, before the Rider heard Ratha’s deafening, pleading roar. She saw some sparkles swirl around her monster’s sides: it was time to use the Teostra gene she’d given him with the Rite of Channeling.

“Ratha, you’ve charged up enough! Get ready!” she shouted.

Ratha replied with another roar, before his whole body began to heat up. His silvery scales shone with blinding, reddish light similar to the sun’s, which was enough to stun the Makili Pietru, but not to make it let go of Ratha. Now several red flames covered the Rathalos’ body. His blue eye looked into the Makili Pietru’s, when the flames began to expand, until they formed an orb all around him: he was about to go supernova. Terrified, the Makili Pietru pushed him away and tried to flee, but Ratha chased it and clung to it, waiting for the explosion. A few seconds were left, but Yuri’s Kinship Stone started to lose its whiteness and turn blue again. With a curse, Yuri get off her mother and fell on her knees, coughing. She brought her cupped hands to her mouth and yelled:

“Fire!”

Ratha closed his eyes and flexed all his muscles, clinging even harder to the desperate Black Dread. He was finally ready. However, his silvery scales detached from his body one by one, falling on the Makili Pietru. Ratha moaned and began to shrink; the aura of sparks shrank with him. He shed all his grey scales like a molt, revealing his normal, red scales again; the Rathalos reverted to his usual size. The Kinship Stone was blue again, and so were Yuri’s eyes.

Her cough got worse. Despite all that, Ratha triggered the supernova. However, the Makili Pietru was unscathed. The explosion overwhelmed it anyway, scorching its mane and blackening its purple hide, as well as setting the fur on its limbs on fire. It fell into the ocean and sank again. But it stayed underwater just a few seconds, coming out furious and let down, as it saw that juvenile Rathalos again. Infuriated, it lashed out at Ratha and hit it with its paw, sending him crashing badly next to his young mistress. Yuri murmured:

“No! It hasn’t even been twenty minutes, this makes no sense! Why did he revert to normal so soon?”

She seemed to be on the brink of a panic attack. The Rathalos’ croaking, although weak and sore, calmed her down enough, as it gave her confirmation that he was still alive. At some point, Xander showed up in front of them. He’d sneaked past the crowd of hunters and had climbed the stairs of Astera up to the canteen. He looked at his wife and daughter with a pleased expression and his accursed, mischievous grin:

“Ah! It appears history has been rewritten. The White Miracle lost to the Black Dread! Amazing!”

He laughed, looking up at the Makili Pietru. The parasite still looked angry and disappointed, as it looked down at them. Yuri was on her kneels, protected by her mother, who watched Xander speak with an indecipherable look. The Makili Pietru growled at the sky, but not on Xander’s command. It stared at Ratha and began to charge up a plasma beam – the killing blow. The Rathalos tried to get up, but he was so weak that he stumbled after one step.

“Ratha, run!” Yuri ordered.

But the Rathalos was exhausted by now. She grit her teeth, trying to stand up, but she immediately fell as well. Xavia hurried to help her up. Seeing that, Xander laughed:

“Well, Yuri, it looks like your loyal Rathalos is about to die because of you! If the Makili Pietru were satisfied with this challenge, perhaps it would spare you!”

Yuri closed her eyes and didn’t reply to him. She was too desperate to talk back:

“I must help him,” she whispered.

But how could she? She was there, tired, on her knees; she felt somewhat like when she’d snapped out of the Black Blight’s control in the Elder’s Recess: powerless, unable to do anything, frustrated. Right then, she felt the same urge as the previous day, deep inside her.

Xavia saw a web of swollen veins on Yuri’s face and gasped: her daughter was about to be overwhelmed by Fatalis’ fury again, in a situation even more critical than the last. She could gain an edge, or it could be a disaster. Either way, she’d better not push her luck, so she knelt down next to her to comfort her. Yuri snapped and stood up, she raised an arm and cast a bright fireball upwards. The fiery orb seemed to be made of many sparks, which coalesced and solidified, until they formed an actual, blazing asteroid. The burning rock rose until it was a shiny dot in the sky, then it began to fall: it turned into a flaming comet, which was coming down straight towards the Makili Pietru, leaving a trail of smoke behind. The asteroid blew up as soon as it hit the parasite, stopping its attack and nearly bringing it down.

“Yuri, you summoned a meteor, like a crimson Fatalis!” Xavia exclaimed, incredulous.

The Rider trembled and collapsed, panting. Her swollen veins flattened. The girl looked at her mother and gasped, confused:

“Really? Was that me? I don’t get it, I just really wanted to kill and...”

She was interrupted by a moan from the Makili Pietru and they both turned to it. The parasite recovered and stared at Xander with its eyes wide open. Now the corrupt Rider seemed to be in a hurry, and he rushed to the edge of the third level to give another speech to the hunters, who stayed at the first level:

“Did you see? Consider this huge power proof of what the Black Dread is going to put you all through, should you disobey my request to leave before tomorrow!”

Now the Makili Pietru was rather irritated and called him with a sort of bark. With a worried look, he gestured it that he was coming. Then he turned to Xavia and Yuri:

“You two will be spared once more, now the Black Dread and I have a matter to discuss,” he said nervously.

He approached the parasite, mounted it and told it:

“Makili Pietru, I don’t think yours is such a good idea; but if you wish, you can try and convince me. I say we kill them all now, without further ado.”

Chapter Text

The Makili Pietru flew away with Xander and landed on a cliff, so they could “discuss” privately. One of the hunters took advantage of the parasite’s absence to try and suggest his colleagues they go and retrieve weapons to launch a counterattack. But he was silenced right away: before he could go anywhere, he was hit by one of the Plesioths’ pressurized water jet. The piscine wyverns had emerged from the water after the Rathalos had changed back. Like guardians, they watched everyone and made sure none of them left. That hunter was pushed against a fish counter and smashed it. The Plesioth that hit him got carried away, left its shoal and jumped on the dock, standing in front of the hunters.

They all drew their weapons and the piscine wyvern prepared to hit them all with a powerful spray; but the Huntsman slided beneath its throat, faster than lightning. When he stopped, he stood in the final stance of a longsword iai slash. The Plesioth stared at nothing, as trickles of blood dripped from its windpipe, and it collapsed lifelessly on the floor. The Huntsman had been so quick that no one had seen his blade move.

Some hunters applauded him quietly, others complimented him softly, without speaking too loud. The swordsman of the First Fleet said nothing, sheathed his weapon and went to watch the other Plesioth, making sure they didn’t approach. Xavia and Yuri got back to the market right then, after witnessing all that. The girl immediately ran to Ratha, who’d stood up moments after his crash. He made a mortified expression and kept his head low. Yuri hugged his snout and comforted him:

“It’s not your fault, Ratha.”

The Rathalos’ transformation had ended suddenly, catching them both off guard and disorienting them. That alone had given the Makili Pietru the openings it needed to win. She was crushed by guilt: she’d failed as a Rider by losing to the Black Dread. She’d been so ashamed of herself only a few times in her life. Xavia watched her daughter and the Rathalos, then sighed. They looked at the Makili Pietru like everyone else, concerned by what Xander might do, now that he’d won.

Several minutes passed, before the Makili Pietru returned to the hunters’ base. Xander stood on its head, with an indecipherable expression. He wasn’t grinning as usual, he looked serious. The Black Dread, on the other hand, looked almost wily, as its yellow plates glowed like lamps. It almost looked happy. Of course, its return stirred some panic among the hunters, before silence fell. Xavia wrapped an arm around Yuri’s shoulders to comfort her. Everyone watched the huge, purple beast, waiting for a verdict. At last, Xander spoke:

“First of all, hunters, let me point out that you should thank Yuri for what’s going to happen. The Makili Pietru accepted the White Miracle’s challenge today, and postponed your slaughter. It found this fight very stimulating, but it told me it’s missing something: in its opinion, it lasted too little. It wanted more, much more. But it must admit that its old rival’s new might impressed it.”

The Makili Pietru gave Ratha a scornful growl, as if to back up that statement. Xander had to crouch and cling to its mane not to fall off, because of that sudden movement. At that point, out of the blue, Xavia heard another voice. She looked around, and given the crowd’s terrified expressions, she understood that every hunter was hearing it. She shivered, because that wasn’t a real voice: it echoed in her head and sounded like an animal making a clumsy attempt to mimick a person: it was horrible.

I was very disappointed with that fight.

Someone screamed and a woman asked those around her if she was losing her mind, panicking.

“So what do you want, filthy parasite?” Yuri hissed.

The Makili Pietru stared at the girl for a few seconds, then its maw twitched in a sort of grin:

You fought well, Redan’s heir: your power amazed me!

“Care to get to the point? My little confrontation with my sister did damage,” Xander urged it.

The Black Dread growled and went on:

I want to fight you properly, before I go back to the other continent.

Xander added:

“If you refuse, it will destroy this place now, and you can all say goodbye to your chance to leave! Choose wisely, Yuri: will you die a martyr or be blown to smithereens with all these people?”

The Rider looked powerless. She commented:

“It’s not like I have much of a choice. I’ll destroy you next time, Makili Pietru! You’ll die a third time, and it’s going to be the last!”

The parasite looked content with that answer and roared to show it. Yuri screamed in pain, closed her eyes and brought her hands to her ears, flinching. For a moment, Black Blight smoke rose from her skin. Xander mocked her:

“I suggest you get medical attention first. You may have purified Mikayla, but you’re not healed yet. If you don’t get cured from the Black Blight, the Makili Pietru could possess you. Then it would be no fun killing you, would it?”

Xavia couldn’t stand seeing her daughter suffering like that; she got furious and yelled at him:

“Xander, you must tell it to leave her alone! Didn’t it want a satisfying fight?”

Yuri couldn’t take any more pain and fainted, collapsing on the floor; Xavia had to take her before she hit her head on the wooden planks.

“Good, now that she’s passed out, I can continue. You don’t mind, do you, Makili Pietru?” Xander asked.

The Black Dread shook its head.

“Then I’ll go on. Hunters, it’s very simple; take notes, because I’m going to say it only once. The Makili Pietru wants a battle worthy of that name, and it even decided where it’s taking place. There’s a rocky plain west to the Coral Highlands, surrounded by canyons. A deep, wide hollow where my fellow Servants of the Blight and their mounts can face you all.”

“What? A clash of two armies? That’s savagery!” the Admiral protested, outraged.

“I decide what it is, big guy! The main course will be the duel between the White Miracle and the Black Dread, like today. Me and my fellow Servants of the Blight will set camp there, since our mosters would feel cramped in this base, so don’t you dare go there early to set a trap! The battle will take place in a month. You have thirty days to prepare, stock up wherever you settle, whatever; just make sure you can entertain the Makili Pietru. If you don’t show up, it will tear every last one of you apart.”

He paused to enjoy the hunters’ expressions: scared, furious, confused. All different looks, but each displayed just what the Makili Pietru was a symbol of.

“I guess we’re done here. I’ll be back tomorrow at dawn, when my sect arrives in the New World. I expect to find no one here! Move it, Black Dread.”

He patted the Makili Pietru’s neck, and it nodded with a roar. Later, as if called back, the Plesioths disappeared underwater once the Black Dread was just a purple dot in the sky. Once alone, the hunters of Astera began to curse and swear, relieved and frustrated at the same time. In spite of himself, the Admiral had to give the Commission the order to begin preparations to leave the base which had been their home for decades, now taken from them with just a few threats and a declaration of war.

When Yuri woke up in the infirmary of Astera, Xavia hugged her very tight. The girl rubbed her eyes and looked at the rows of hospital beds. She saw the Commander, sitting at the end of the room and assisted by his grandson. Confused, she asked what had happened. As she caressed her cheeks, her mother explained:

“You passed out suddenly, after the Makili Pietru roared. You slept for a couple of hours.”

“Oh, fuck! Where’s it now?”

Yuri sat up so abruptly that her head span.

“Xander and it left. Relax, I’ll tell you everything later.”

Yuri looked into her mother’s reassuring eyes for a moment, before she sighed with resignation; she lied down and rubbed her temples, which were still aching. She felt like someone had hit her head with a club. She remembered only her father suggesting she cure herself from the Black Dread, before she fainted. Xavia kept quiet next to her daughter, and she closed her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, Yuri heard a familiar voice behind them: Ayla’s boyfriend.

“Hey, is she awake?”

Xavia turned to him and nodded:

“Yes, she’s just woken up. I haven’t told her yet.”

Gionata folded his arms and gave her an understanding look. Yuri looked at her mother with a confused expression, but Xavia spoke before she asked anything:

“What did they decide, in the end?”

“We’re all moving to the Third Fleet’s airship. We’re setting a public camp, then we’re starting to prepare for the fight as we can. Anyway, our current priority is leave Astera and take all our resources with us.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t tell me you listened to that bastard!” Yuri said.

“We did: that smart-ass declared war. Maybe he’s read too many novels,” Gionata quipped.

Xavia reported everything Xander had said while she was unconscious. At the end of her account, silence fell on the room. Yuri mused:

“Of course: the Makili Pietru wants to spread as much chaos as it can. That’s its reason for living. Maybe it knows that the Guild would be ready to stop it in the Old World, or it fears the mightiest Elder Dragons.”

While the Rider reflected, Gionata tapped Xavia’s shoulder and asked her with a grin:

“Let me guess: were you referring to all this, that day?”

“What’s he talking about?” Yuri asked, curious.

Xavia snorted and explained:

“He’s referring to a hunt where the two of us took down a Kirin on the Coral Highlands, months ago. He asked me why I’m registered as Xavia Aros in the records, though I introduce myself to everyone as Xavia Rudria. I refused to answer him that day, I just told him I had my reasons. Gionata, Xander ruined my life. I hate going by his last name. No offense, Yuri!”

“None taken, mom. In fact, I’d also hate it, knowing I’m related to him.”

“That makes two of us,” Mikayla’s voice replied.

Sitting cross-legged two beds away, her aunt waved at her.

“Why are you here?” Yuri asked.

“I passed out after Xander tried to infect me again. The scholars took me here, but after some checks, they told me I was fine; I guess Xander failed. Well, I hope so: I feel off, but overall well.”

Yuri reassured her and promised her she’d check it out herself with her Kinship Stone.

“Hey! Stop it, stupid Astalos!” an aggravated hunter shouted.

Mikayla’s Astalos growled and narrowed his eyes, while vibrating his horn. The yoke that was usually put on Aptonoths for pulling wagons had just been placed on Asta’s neck: they couldn’t secure it, because he kept opposing it. While Yuri was unconscius, the people of Astera had begun preparing to leave the base. They’d gathered all the equipment, supplies, food and materials they could carry. Everything that could be useful once they reached the Third Fleet’s airship.

Once she left the infirmary with her mother, Yuri offered to help transport the materials with her monsters and the hunters gladly accepted. Ratha was used to such things, because back in the Old World he’d carry heavy cargo on commission – like monster carcasses or some merchant’s goods. Legi, on the other hand, just wanted to help her mistress. Mikayla had also convinced Asta to do his part, but he didn’t seem to like that yoke and the hunter’s short temper. Mikayla had to intervene to reassure her Astalos and let the hunter secure it to the monster’s saddle, on her advice.

“He’ll carry the cargo on his saddle. That’s better than tying it to his neck,” she justified him.

But unfortunately, the Astalos was the only monster present capable of flying with such a burden. While the Rathalos had recovered and was able to bear his Rider’s weight, he couldn’t carry too many things at once. As for the Legiana, she was too puny. Because of that, Yuri simply suggested they load the cargo onto wagons and have the Aptonoths and her monsters pull them. It would take them a day longer, but they’d still catch up to the others quickly.

Actually, she’d offered to go alone with her Rathalos and Legiana, but the Admiral disagreed. They’d split in two groups: one would go straight to the Coral Highlands to build the new camp, the other would escort Yuri and her monsters. Of course, Xavia was the first to volunteer to join the latter. Ayla, Gionata, Carson and Yuna decided to come with them, and so did Nick, Nina and Erika. Mikayla asked if she could join their group, but she already had to take care of her Astalos, so she had to choose the first unit.

“Maybe some other time,” she sighed.

Yuri was joined by ten more hunters; unfortunately, Mike was one of them. His only aim was to speak ill of the Rider, he was obsessed by now. Before they left, she heard him spout bile, as usual:

“Have you guys noticed that everything’s been going to shit since she arrived? That disease wasn’t bad enough, no! First her fucking Lagiacrus, then she got caught by a Teostra, then she got kidnapped by those criminals and the disease got worse because she was missing. Now we’re doomed to a battle we can’t possibly win, just because a parasite’s mad at her? If I had my way, I’d bring it her head! At least this shitshow would end.”

That was the last straw. Yuri wanted to let it slide, but she just couldn’t put up with that guy anymore. She stopped prepping Ratha and Legi for transport, stood in front of him, stared at him narrowing her eyes, and hissed:

“Excuse me, I took this job to help you and toiled harder than ever for a month, then my father made me feel pain you couldn’t possibly imagine, and I risked dying to save you all from the Makili Pietru today. So the next time you consider saying I’m the cause of your trouble, keep you fucking mouth shut, or I’ll rip off your tongue and feed it to Ratha! Asshole!”

Her final rant caught everyone off guard: the hunters of her group turned to her, speechless, and Mike stepped back in shock. He broke a cold sweat and babbled an apology. Yuri accepted it, very irritated, but then she took a deep breath and calmed down, getting back to her task. She expected everyone to be afraid of her because of that rant, but instead they clapped. Erika whispered in her ear that everyone had always disliked Mike, but no one ever cared to say it to his face. But he’d been silenced at last. For the first time in a long while, Yuri felt pleased.

“Serves you right, Mike,” Erika stated, embarrassing him even more.

After giving the last intructions, Mikayla mounted her Astalos and beat her heels on his sides. Asta roared, flapped his wings and took off, lifting a large sack containing the blacksmith’s tools with the ropes tied to his yoke. Mikayla said:

“I’ll go first, then Asta and I will come back to carry the Commander and anyone left.”

After the Makili Pietru had shown up, only three Mernos were left in Astera: the others had flown away in fear, and it would take a while for them to have the courage to come back. The Admiral had taken the first wingdrake to go to the Third Fleet’s leader and tell her what was going on. The other two would carry other hunters. Mikayla was also tasked with making sure everyone made it to the camp safe and sound by giving a lift to the few people left in Astera. The Astalos and the Mernos disappeared in the horizon, while Yuri’s group left Astera after securing the Aptonoths harnesses and headed to the Ancient Forest.

The preparations and the assemblies had taken much of the day: Yuri’s group had gone only as far as a meadow deep in the Ancient Forest, when the sun set, so they had to set camp. In the middle of that clearing, among the ferns, they found a large piece of spoiled meat. The worst thing was that it emanated the same mist as infected monsters. A huntress with a greatsword called Yuri:

“Rider, come here! Quick!”

Yuri hastened to check it out and shook her head, worried:

“This is bad. Hey, Ratha!”

The Rathalos came and spat a fireball on the piece of meat, which turned into ash. Before the wind dispersed it, Yuri raised her right arm. Her Kinship Stone glowed with its usual warm, green shine and what was left of the infected meat vanished.

“What was that?” Erika asked.

Yuri bit her lower lip:

“We shouldn’t have left right away.”

“I assume it has something to do with that disease,” Yuna said.

The Rider nodded and looked around, searching for similar pieces of meat. Meanwhile, she explained:

“Long story short, when the Black Blight infects a monster, there are several stages. The ones you’ve seen so far were only monsters recently infected, therefore in the weakest stage, but this piece came from a monster in the final stage. There’s no curing it now.”

“So what?” Nick asked.

“When they get to the final stage, their hide begins to rot, their blood turns black and they drop these pieces everywhere, increasing the chances of contagion a lot.”

“And they freaking stink,” Gionata commented, covering his nose.

“What shall we do, Yuri?” Nina asked.

But before she could reply, Xavia interjected:

“To begin with, let’s set camp: it’s late, traveling at night with a caravan is a bad idea. Everyone, we’ll take turns to stand guard: if these infected monsters are nearby, we must be careful.”

“Ratha and Legi will help as they can. I got them used to sleeping only two hours a night, it won’t be an issue for them,” Yuri said.

“Good. Then let’s pitch the tents, come on!” Xavia urged.

When the camp was ready, it was late at night and the hunters lit a campfire in the middle of the clearing, before going to sleep in the tents. At that moment, Xavia was in hers with Yuri. It wasn’t very roomy, but it was enough for two people. There were enough tents to concede everyone a few hours of sleep by taking turns to watch over.

“I’ll guard the camp first, but I’ll be out here if you need me, Yuri,” Xavia said kindly.

The girl nodded, forcing a smile. They hugged and said good night, then Xavia got out. Once alone, Yuri got into her sleeping bag and lay down on her side. She felt exhausted, after that disastrous battle against the Black Dread. She closed her eyes, listening to the hunters chattering in the other tents and the fire crackling. It took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

Chapter Text

Yuri woke up suddenly in the dead of night, letting out a terrified scream. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, closed her eyes and strived to breathe calmly. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

“It was just a nightmare! Yes, a nightmare! Nothing more!” she thought, to calm down.

She managed to overcome the panic after a couple of minutes: her heartbeat slowed down. Yuri breathed a sigh of relief, letting her anxiety go as she exhaled. She couldn’t tell why, but she was sure she’d had the very same nightmare the night before. However, the only difference this time was that she remembered every minute detail of it: she was in Hakum, back home. The village where she’d spent her whole life had been burnt down.

The houses were mounds of rubble. Even the gardens and the flower field they’d grown in honor of Cheval’s mother, after she was killed by an infected Nargacuga, had turned to ashes. Still-burning asteroids had dug craters where they’d crashed. The pathway leading to the Hall of Rites, set in a cave on the Pondry Mountains, was now obstructed by a rockslide. There were also corpses everywhere. Children, women, men and ederly; all dead, none excluded. She’d recognized her teacher Dan and the village chief Omna. Soon after, she’d also seen Navirou, Cheval, Lilia, her friends, even some of their monsters, including Ratha. All dead.

But what unsettled her the most, to the point of giving her the shivers, was knowing she’d killed them. But instead of making her desperate, that felt immensely satisfying. She remembered perfectly smiling with pleasure, while observing her victims’ bodies. At some point, she’d felt watched. When she’d turned around, she’d found the blurred shape of a huge black dragon with its wings spread, with terrifying, piercing red eyes.

They’d stared at each other for a few, unending moments, then the dream had suddenly ended. Ayla had told her Fatalis’ curse included terrible nightmares where the Dragon of Destiny’s ghost tormented her; so was Yuri also forced to deal with that sight every night, because of the gene Xander had given her? Had she been cursed as well? She shook her head in horror, striving to chase away such haunting, yet truthful thoughts.

“Enough, it was just a dream,” she repeated out loud.

She decided to be quiet and listen to the night ambience to calm down, as she did when she was little and couldn’t fall asleep. However, after she held still and silent for a dozen of minutes, she hadn’t heard a single sound yet. She couldn’t hear the hunters’ voices she’d listened to before falling asleep, the vegetation rustling in the night breeze, or the campfire crackling. No sounds whatsoever. Confused, she slowly got up and took up sword and shield, before getting out of her tent. The fire was out and no one was there. The hunters who were escorting her were gone. She found that out when she checked the other tents, only to find no one inside. Even Ratha and Legi were gone.

“Mom!” she screamed.

She also called Nick, Nina and her monsters. She instinctively called Ayla as well. No response: she was alone. She took a moment to think, trying not to panic. She began to run away from the camp, determined to go back to Astera. But before she could leave the area, the campfire was kindled and started crackling again behind her. Yuri turned around immediately and gripping the hilt of her sword, agitated. It looked like the bonfire had lit itself. Yuri approached it, looking around carefully. Once she got close enough, she looked around to see if any footprints had been left on the soggy ground of the Ancient Forest, but there was nothing. Yuri got suspicious and turned around: she wans’t leaving footprints, either.

“What?”

She looked at her feet and established that her greaves were leaving no marks on the ground.

“What the hell’s going on here?” she wondered, scared.

At some point, she felt a presence above her. She looked up and saw it again: Fatalis. The Black Dragon looked down at her and bared its fangs; behind it, the night sky had turned blood red. It gurgled, breathed in and roared so loud that the earth trembled. Terrified, Yuri knelt down and covered her eyes, expecting the monster to swoop down on her and devour her; but nothing happened. In fact, the creepy silence from before had fallen again. She dared open her eyes and look around. Fatalis was gone. Yuri breathed a sigh of relief, squinting and looking down. She was confused by everything that was happening, scared by all those oddities. And then, out of the blue, another oddity occurred. She heard the thud of a log being thrown into the fire. She turned around and saw someone.

“Oh!” she gasped.

A man in white armor, difficult to recognize, sat down on a rock next to the campfire after putting a piece of raw meat onto a skewer and on top of the fire. He was giving Yuri his back and wasn’t wearing a helmet, just a white cloth hood hiding his face. Next to him, curled up near the fire, lay a white Fatalis. However, unlike the rest of its kind, it didn’t look hostile – in fact, it looked nice and friendly. Still, it was so imposing and its bearing was so godly as to be awe-inspiring and intimidating, although Yuri could feel that it wouldn’t hurt her. It was saddled. Before approaching the man, Yuri thought:

“I swear, if Navirou mentions the Fatalis trio again when this is all over, he’ll be afraid of me! Forget about Manelgar, the Makili Pietru or Anvis.”

Without facing her, the stranger spoke:

“Family reunions are really tiresome, aren’t they, Yuri?”

His kind, deep voice made her gasp with joy, as she recognized it.

“I still remember when I got home after my hunts: my mother rushed over to hug me as soon as I stepped in, asked me if I was fine or hurt. She was always worried about me, from my departure to my return.”

He paused to remove the meat from the fire and make sure it was well-cooked. He took a bite and put it aside, then went on:

“On the other hand, my father always insulted me. He told me I was a failure, because I never wanted to become a master rank hunter. No day would pass without us yelling at each other, but he was proud of my endeavours deep down, even though he’d never admit it.”

Yuri knew he was smiling, despite the hood.

“He proved that when Ejderi and I slayed the Makili Pietru, which was possessing a tar demon back then. What do people call it these days, again? Gogmazios?”

He reached out and petted Ejderi, his white Fatalis. The first White Miracle, as well as the only Dragon of Destiny who’d ever renounced his hatred for mankind, having known the good side of humans thanks to his Rider. The dragon happily licked him and lifted up the hood with his tongue, uncovering his face. The man looked at Yuri and smiled at her. He was pale and the right side of his head was furrowed by a long scar. The mark started from his forehead and went down to his chin. He had dirty blond hair, with a small comb on the front, and a thick beard giving him a veneer of wisdom. Yuri knew exactly who he was: that was her forefather.

“It’s you!” she exclaimed, overjoyed.

She rushed to him and hugged him tight, then went to the white Fatalis and petted him. Ejderi moaned cheerfully and breathed out, messing up her hair. The man smiled kindly and patted her shoulder:

“It’s good to see you after so long, Yuri.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Redan!”

Ejderi whimpered; with a knowing smile, the first Rider tossed a piece of meat at him, and the dragon ate it on the fly.

“I’m still dreaming, right?” Yuri asked.

“Of course, I wouldn’t be here otherwise. You know, it’s the downside of being a ghost inside a Kinship Stone.”

It had happened very rarely to Yuri to see that legendary figure, featured in the founding myths of Riders. And at that moment, seeing a friendly face made her happy. The girl took a moment, before moving away from Redan. He pointed at the rock he was sitting on, gesturing to take a seat next to him:

“I know the situation is critical and you have plenty of questions, but sit down: we must talk. I don’t know when you’re going to wake up, so I’d rather start at once.”

While her ancestor chewed a bite of his steak, Yuri asked:

“Just one question, Redan. Please, I need to know.”

“Tell me.”

“Why were you gone? You didn’t show up for two years, and now you sent me a vision out of the blue.”

“When you killed the second Makili Pietru, you were able to channel a peerless amount of energy, which enabled your Rathalos to turn into a White Miracle. I knew you were worthy of being my successor by then, you no longer needed me to carry on.”

“And now I’m not worthy anymore, because I failed? Are you here to strip me of the title?”

“No, it’s not that. My stone proves it: you couldn’t have transformed Ratha earlier today, if you hadn’t been worthy. I returned when the Makili Pietru rose again. Me, Ejderi and the Black Dread are linked by destiny: it dies, we disappear. It resurrects, we come back.”

Yuri just nodded and looked away, but Redan called back her attention:

“I was able to get a clear idea of what’s happening to you, by watching your memories. What can I say? The New World sure is a nice place! By the way, congrats on your armor and new haircut. Short hair suits you.”

“Thanks, Redan,” Yuri smiled.

The first Rider smiled as well, before getting serious again. He sighed and folded his arms:

“Let’s get to business. First of all, I must ask you to relax and vent your stress for a while.”

Yuri didn’t understand:

“What kind of request is that?”

“You’ve been feeling too many draining emotions over the last month. And this is how it affected me.”

He pointed at his scar, which wasn’t there last time she’d seen him.

“So is my Kinship Stone about to become corrupted?”

Yuri raised her right arm and checked her stone. Fortunately, it was azure as usual. A Rider’s mood affected their Kinship Stone. By going through dark times for too long, the stone ended up losing efficacy and, if nothing was done to fix that, the Black Blight ate into it and the ore became like Xander’s. Right then, Yuri figured out why Ratha’s transformation had lasted so little.

“If Ejderi and I caught the Black Blight, the Makili Pietru would be unstoppable. Two years ago, at the ruins of Zalam, you were lucky: even though it had broken, the Kinship Ore reacted to your blood – mine. Combined with the bond between you and Ratha, it triggered your transformation. But this time?”

“Hey, do you have any idea what I’ve been through, Redan? As soon as I arrived, Ratha was beaten up by my mother, Nami was killed, I risked dying to a Lunastra while trying to purify a Teostra and their egg; I spent a hellish month cleansing all the monsters I could, then I found my father and was controlled by him, to the point of murdering three people and facing an Elder Dragon alone. Now I couldn’t even slay the Makili Pietru while I had the chance! Also, in case you don’t know, I’m even half Fatalis now.”

Ejderi smelled her carefully and growled, as if to confirm her statement: clearly, he sensed his fellow dragon, even if it was just a gene inside her.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, Yuri. Maybe too much, given what awaits you next month. I’m not saying you have to drop everything, stop helping others or something like that, just because I can’t bear a scar: I’m dead, this is nothing! I’d like you to slow down just enough not to lose our strongest weapon against the Makili Pietru. I know it’s a huge responsibility, but…”

Yuri interrupted him:

“I will. If my stone gets infected, all will be lost. I’ll see what I can do. That’s a promise, Redan.”

“Thanks, Yuri. Thanks a lot,” Redan smiled.

“Don’t mention it,” she sighed.

“You already eradicated nearly all the Black Blight in the Old World, so this is going to be the last coming of the Makili Pietru for hundreds, if not thousands of years.”

“So I just have to risk my neck one last time, then I’ll finally get the rest I deserve,” Yuri muttered.

He chuckled:

“That was the only urgent matter we had to discuss, Yuri. However, before you wake up, there’s one more thing I’d like to tell you.”

“Is it about the Black Blight in my body?”

“Right. Two more things, then. Yes, you’re still infected. When you cleansed your aunt, you healed you both only partly. Kinship Stones have many limits on people, since they’re meant to cure monsters.”

“The regular ones don’t work. Mikayla told me my father tried to cure her with his, but he couldn’t.”

“And mine’s the only one which can heal infected humans as well. Yes, I figured that out while watching your memories.”

“Also, only your heirs can use it. I remember that Ross borrowed my stone to purify a molten Tigrex once, but nothing happened: he was afraid he’d broken it. When I took it back, it worked just fine,” she recounted.

“Which leads us to my second point. Listen carefully: your father is no descendant of mine. My name is Redan Rudria.”

“Wake up, girl!”

Yuri was suddenly woken up by a hunter in Anjanath armor. She took a few seconds to gain lucidity, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“What’s happening?” she asked, with a yawn.

“The Tailraiders we sent on ahead came back with worrying news. Xavia told us to gather everyone to hear what’s wrong, so you have to come, too,” he replied, before leaving the tent.

Yuri wasn’t paying much attention, she was still thinking about Redan’s words. She remembered them perfectly, as if her dream was real. She was used to that feeling, but her ancestor’s final revelation had shocked her. She wanted to discuss it with her mother upon waking up, but now she could do it after hearing what the Felynes had to report. She got out of the tent after a minute, when she was done stretching; she went to the campfire, which was out, because the sun had risen by now. She went to greet her monsters, who stood near the cart Aptonoths: Legi was sleeping, while Ratha stood guard. He relaxed only when Yuri approached: he rubbed his beak on the palm of her hand, and she stroked his head.

“You can take some rest now, Ratha: it’s late, you’ve done enough. I’ll watch the camp, after this meeting.”

The Rathalos croaked and nodded softly.

“Morning, Yuri! Rise and shine!” Xavia greeted her.

At that moment, everyone was there. As she joined them, Yuri heard Gionata complain because the Felynes brought nothing but bad news, and the three Tailraiders looked deeply uncomfortable due to that. No one commented, except for Xavia, who told the three Lynians not to worry and that they’d just done their job. The Tailraiders shrugged and reported: they’d spotted two brute wyverns in the Ancient Forest, not so far from that temporary camp. One was north to that clearing, the other was east. They’d had no time to identify them, but they’d established that both were infected, as proven by the black mist and the fact that plants seemed to wither instantly in their wake. Yuri scratched her neck:

“They’re both in the final stage, I can’t cleanse them anymore.”

“What do you guys think they are? Anjanaths? Deviljhoes? There are no other brute wyverns in the Ancient Forest,” Mike said.

Xavia declared:

“We’ll send two groups of three people. We have to make sure our path is clear by noon, when we leave.”

A huntress with a light bowgun suggested:

“I suggest we send the strongest of us. According to the Rider, these infected are worse than the regular ones. We shouldn’t risk it, should we?”

Xavia looked at Ayla and her teammates, as if to ask her what they thought, but they simply agreed. However, Ayla looked a bit unwilling to face a brute wyvern. Xavia said:

“Then Ayla, Gionata and I will go north to kill one, Yuna and Carson will go east. Who wants to join them?”

“Let’s take your daughter with us, shall we? If she knows the Black Blight so well, she’ll be helpful. Besides, she has two monsters.” Carson suggested.

Hearing that, Xavia looked at Yuri and asked her opinion. However, the girl shook her head timidly:

“I can’t fight today: turning Ratha into the White Miracle drained us both, I’d be nothing but a hindrance. I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t find a better excuse. After all, she couldn’t possibly tell them about Redan’s vision and expect them to believe her. Xavia gave her a confused look, but before she said anything, Nick offered to join them. Thanks to him, everyone glossed over Yuri’s words; still, she said that she’d stay to help defend the camp, should more monsters show up. Then Xavia kissed her goodbye, before joining Gionata and Ayla and venturing into the Ancient Forest. Nick, Carson and Yuna did the same a few minutes later, just in time for Nina to shower her brother with warnings and tips.

Yuri sat down by the campfire. Nina took a seat next to her to keep her company and chat a little to distract her. Simply to kill time, since nothing had happened so far. Regardless, Nina kept her bow and quiver at hand, just in case. Yuri answered the questions she had, happy to have someone to talk to and vent her stress, as Redan had requested. But shortly thereafter, some shrill roars interrupted the morning calm. Right then, two infected Legianas came down from the sky and surrounded the camp in the blink of an eye.

“To arms, quick!” Nina shouted.

Yuri headed to her tent to retrieve her sword and shield, but a third Legiana landed on it, destroying it and making the Rider fall back. Yuri looked into the sick monster’s blood red eyes; it bared its teeth and roared at her, forcing the girl to cover her ears. The Legiana was about to strike, but Ratha intervened immediately and hit its head with a tail swipe. The Legiana recovered right away and tried to respond with a wave of frost, but Ratha dodged it and stood next to his mistress. The other Legiana tried to freeze Nina and a huntress with a greatsword, missing both. Erika pointed out that Legianas in the Ancient Forest made no sense; indeed, Yuri figured out immediatey that they were there for a reason: the Makili Pietru had sent them – for her.

Nick led the way, holding the hilt of his azure Rathalos longsword with his right hand. Yuna looked around, walking between Nick and Carson, while her Whispervesp cleaned its fuzz with its tiny legs. On the other hand, although he acted tough by saying that it was just another pickle at worst, Carson was caught rubbing the Zinogre horns on his belt like lucky charms.

“What? Is it a crime to believe in luck?” he justified himself.

The scout flies, which had been flying in front of them following their target’s three-fingered footprints and fang shards, turned red and flew back into their lanterns. Suddenly, while they were looking around, a Deviljho came out of the jungle with its maw wide open, trying to bite the wyverian. Yuna was quick to react: she grabbed her insect glaive and leapt, and the brute wyvern bit air. She landed next to Nick. Carson grit his teeth, drew his heavy bowgun and loaded spread ammo.

Black mist came out of the corners of the Deviljho’s mouth. But before it could attack Carson, something stung its tail. It turned around and saw Yuna’s kinsect, which quickly flew back to her. Nick took advantage of the monster’s distraction to sink his longsword into its tail, then use it as a foothold, leap backwards and move away, after extracting the blade. When he landed, he looked at his sword for a moment: the blood was black, and the blade stank of spoiled meat.

“Don’t get distracted, you moron!” Carson yelled.

He shot an explosive bullet to distract the Deviljho. The blast made it moan. The hide of the monster’s upper neck glowed red, as it got mad.

“Ayla, may I ask you a question?” Xavia asked.

Gionata and she walked in front of Ayla, who stayed a few steps behind them, looking around to make sure nothing attacked them from the sides.

“Careful, Ayla: last time she started a conversation like that with me, she forced me to tell her why I despise Lynians!” Gionata quipped.

“You don’t have to answer, if it bothers you. I just wanted to make sure you were fine. Something about you felt off to me, when you agreed to hunt down this brute wyvern: you looked paler than usual.”

Blood Eyes sighed, scratching her nape:

“I have issues with brute wyverns – big issues, in fact. Long story short: years ago, in Pokke, Gionata convinced me to challenge one of the champions of the Training School’s arena, because the prize were seven hundred and fifty thousands zenny and we thought we’d use them to have our own house built on Heaven’s Mount. I had to fight Chomper, a savage Deviljho beloved by the audience. He grabbed me before I raged and broke nearly every bone in my body. I still can’t believe I survived that.”

“I’m sorry, Ayla. I had no idea. The thing is, I saw you fight Anjanaths, Uragaans and Radobaans, and I was told your team happened to hunt some Deviljhoes as well: I didn’t expect you to have a phobia.”

“I don’t mind Uragaans, Brachydios and others. It’s the ones similar to Deviljhoes that bring back bad memories. Don’t worry, though, no need to apologize.”

“Quiet now, ladies,” Gionata whispered.

He gestured them to crouch among the ferns. The two women complied, confused, before looking ahead. They were left speechless: they saw a Pukei-Pukei – a dead one, held by the neck by another monster’s maw. A brute wyvern covered in red scales. It had two lines of blue spikes on its back, starting from the eyes – where they looked like horns – and went down to the tail, which was shaped like a sword. It was carrying around the bird wyvern it had killed. The monster turned its back to them, showing that the Pukei-Pukei’s tail had been chopped off. They knew exactly what it was:

“A Glavenus?!” Xavia whispered, astonished.

Gionata and Ayla were just as surprised. Gionata turned to his girlfriend, who gave him an alarmed look.

“It saw us!” Xavia warned them, standing up.

The Glavenus noticed them and narrowed its glowing red eyes, growling and holding its prey in its mouth. Black Blight smoke rose from its chest and sides, shrouding its whole body.

Chapter Text

The Glavenus threw away the Pukei-Pukei’s carcass and its metallic-sounding roar echoed through the jungle. It came at Xavia, keeping its head low and scraping the ground with its open maw. The huntress rolled sideways to dodge and the monster ran past her. She hits its right ankle with her hammer, making it stagger, then slided under it and hits is chin with an upswing. It was less effective than she hoped, and the Glavenus instantly tried to grab her. However, unable to see well under its belly, it missed and she moved away.

It then turned to Gionata and Ayla and tried to attack them. It did a snappy spin and smashed its heavy tail on the ground. He dodged by hopping backwards, while she rolled to the left. At that point, the Glavenus vigorously scrabbed its tail on the ground. It suddenly lifted it up and the layer of organic metal covering it was set ablaze, making it red-hot and so bright that it could be seen beneath the mist of Black Blight. Part of the smoke stuck to the moss where the brute wyvern had scrubbed its tail.

Gionata gave Ayla a worried look: as he feared, his girlfriend was paralyzed by terror and couldn’t move. The Glavenus turned its tail horizontally and span like a top. Gionata cried out to get down; Blood Eyes snapped out of it and they both ducked. The monster missed them and cut a tree behind them in two. Xavia climbed on another tree and, once she got to a forked branch, she drew her hammer and jumped onto the brute wyvern’s back. Caught off guard, the Glavenus growled in protest and ran towards a rock to bump against it, trying to throw Xavia off its back. But she moved to its head at the last moment with her grappling hook. With all the strength in her arms, she raised her weapon and struck a mighty blow on the Glavenus’ skull, breaking its left horn. This time, the impact was strong enough to stun it.

“Come on, let’s go help her! You can do this, Ayla!” Gionata exhorted her.

Blood Eyes stared at him, afraid, but she nodded and attacked alongside him. When the monster got up, Ayla slided under its belly and opened a long wound with her axe. The Glavenus took a step forward and tried to crush her with its tail, but it was stopped by a double intervention by Xavia and Gionata: going for the right leg, she hit the tibia so hard that they could hear the sound of the bone cracking, while Gionata partly cut the Achilles tendon with a bayonet sweep. Ayla thanked them with a sigh of relief. The Glavenus moaned and limped away. For a moment, it seemed to be running away, but it turned out to be just repositioning itself. Gionata complained:

“Ugh, gross! I have blood full of that fetid smoke splattered all over me! Do those like Yuri really have to deal with this every time? Their sense of smell must be gone!”

“Don’t get distracted!” Xavia exclaimed.

The Glavenus roared louder than before and the plates on its back glowed red, and so did its throat: it meant it was furious. It attacked again and smashed its head on the ground once more, missing them. But it realized that it wasn’t red-hot anymore: it had cooled off and was covered in rust. It didn’t seem to care, and suddenly swayed it to hit them. Gionata parried the blow and immediately poked the tail with the wyrmstake cannon, whose burst left a dent in it.

Ayla switched to sword mode, stood in front of the monster and wounded its throat with a thrust attack. She hoped to slit it, but she failed to pierce its hide well. The Glavenus stared at her and small flames came out of its mouth. That looked familiar to her: it wasn’t unlike an Anjanath about to spit fire. Instinctively, she shielded herself with her axe, hoping it would be enough, but it didn’t go as expected: the Glavenus spat out some odd residue looking like a rock covered in lava, which stuck to the ground, and hopped backwards upon doing so.

“What?” she murmured.

“Get away!” Gionata and Xavia shouted.

Gionata rushed to her to push her, but as soon as he reached her, the fragment exploded like a grenade. They both felt an unbearable hot flush and were flung backwards, sliding on the moss for a few meters, before stopping.

“Are you alright?” Xavia asked them.

“More or less,” Gionata grunted, sitting up.

Ayla stood up right away and tightened her grip on her switch-axe: she almost hugged it like a plushie. Gionata could only imagine how she was feeling: what little confidence she was starting to gain must’ve vanished in an instant and fear had gotten the better of her again. He was baffled: Ayla’s skin was already pale, but now she was even paler – the contrast with her red eyes had become surreal. Her hair and forehead were drenched in cold sweat. He felt bad for her, seeing her like that. They were both brought back to Earth by the Glavenus’ roar. The brute wyven bit its own tail and, while blowing flames, it scrubbed it aganinst its fangs to sharpen it. When it was done, the hard layer was blue and shiny again.

With a defiant look, the infected Glavenus started limping around the hunters, keeping its tail pointed at them like a lance. Xavia ran at it and tried to hit its head, but the monster raised it at the last second and she missed. Gionata pointed his gunlance at the side of its neck and triggered the wyvern fire, but the Glavenus turned around and hurled him away with a tail swipe, so all the explosion did was incinerate the leaves on a tree. Ayla made another attempt and approached the monster, keeping her switch-axe low to prepare an upswing. But the Glavenus grabbed the blade with its mouth as soon as she tried to hit it. Ayla cursed through gritted teeth, trying to get it back in vain.

While the Glavenus and her played tug-of-war, Xavia tried hitting its other leg to distract it, but she was ignored, much to her concern. The Glavenus raised its head and Ayla ended up hanging from the handle of her weapon. Gionata witnessed that and paled: that was the exact same thing homper had done, before breaking every bone in her body. At that point, the Glavenus violently threw the switch-axe and the huntress towards the rock. Ayla hit the boulder with her back and bounced on the ground. She rolled a bit and stopped in a patch of bushes, and Gionata couldn’t see her anymore.

“Ayla!” he yelled.

But he had no time to rush to her, because the Glavenus went for him right afterwards. It tried to bite him, but Gionata parried the blow and readily shoved his lance into its open maw, then he shot all his shells at once. A fountain of blood tainted by the Black Blight splattered eveywhere, and the Glavenus stepped back with a high-pitched moan, spitting lots of that disgusting liquid. Xavia tried to hit it, but the monster saw her coming and deflected her blow with a tail strike, disarming her. The brute wyvern circled her for a bit and stopped in front of the bush patch, ready to charge. Gionata stood in front of Xavia with his shield raised, so as to cover her and repel the attack – but there was no attack. All of a sudden, the Glavenus let out an awful, pained cry and tipped over. With its eyes wide open, it looked at its own tail: it had been sliced in half. While it was cold.

“What?” gasped Xavia.

The Glavenus moved and looked at the bushes, and Gionata understood: Ayla stood there, her sword in one hand. She was panting, her face twitched in an expression of pure hate and bloodlust; nothing but wrath could be seen in her crimson eyes. Her irises were glowing, like two embers in the night. Swollen veins could be seen all over her skin and her body was letting out hot steam. Xavia exclaimed, concerned:

“She’s given in to Fatalis’ rage!”

“Damn right! The panic was her final boost. Maybe we should step back,” he suggested.

They both retreated to a corner. Furious about its tail, the Glavenus roared and its ridge turned even more red. Ayla stood still like a statue, waiting. The Glavenus lunged at her, but she dodged, prepared a thrust attack and pierced its right eye with terrific precision. She pulled the sword out of the monster’s orbit, and the Glavenus took a few sloppy steps back, overwhelmed by pain and confusion. She looked at the tip of her weapon, which was drenched in blackened blood.

“Disgusting,” she hissed.

With just one hand, she shook the switch-axe to remove it and resumed fighting: with amazing strength, she effortlessly leapt onto the brute wyvern’s shoulders, as if she were wielding an insect glaive. The Glavenus turned around to stare at her with its only eye just in time to see her stab the side of its neck. The blade sank in from the left, pierced the throat and stuck out from the opposite side. The Glavenus let out a low, gurgling roar. But she wasn’t done yet: standing next to her sword, she grabbed the handle with both hands and began wrenching it forcefully to the right, as if she were pulling a lever.

The more Ayla pushed the blade into its flesh, the more the Glavenus’ head rotated unnaturally, to the point that Xavia couldn’t bear the sight of it and looked away. Finally, with one last pull, Ayla extracted the blade and half of the Glavenus’ head detached from its neck: part of it hanged from the stump, with rivers of blood pouring from it, while the rest was still badly attached to the body. Ayla got off its back. The Glavenus’ corpse didn’t move for a couple of seconds, before collapsing. Its only movement was now the black mist rising from the carcass. They’d won.

“I’m not afraid of you, brute wyverns. None of you will ever scare me again,” Ayla whispered coldly.

Xavia looked up only when she heard the thud of the Glavenus’ body falling. The previous time, against the Xeno’Jiiva, she’d done her own thing and she hadn’t moved away like Ayla had told her to before raging. This time, however, she’d only witnessed the huntress’ brief fight against a monster which had terrified her until a few minutes before. Gionata approached his enraged girlfriend, and before he or Xavia could congratulate or say anything to her, a noise similar to a blade scraping a rock was heard, followed by a faint roar. An all too familiar noise, which made Xavia turn around in a snap.

“Another one?” Gionata gasped.

A second Glavenus had just emerged from the undergrowth. It was much smaller, though. Its gaze was different: its eyes weren’t that unnatural red, but a dull green, and it didn’t give off that black haze. It appeared to be scared of them, judging by its attitude. Ayla narrowed her eyes as soon as she saw it. Her body still bore the marks of Fatalis’ fury, madness and bloodlust: her eyes were redder and brighter than ever. Her swollen veins even began pulsating. She shook her sword again to remove the tainted blood of the other Glavenus and started to approach the healthy specimen. Xavia tried to stop her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Ayla, wait! It’s not infected, there’s no need to...”

In response, she got a violent push that knocked her to the ground, while Blood Eyes walked undaunted towards the Glavenus. The frightened monster backed away and let out a soft noise more similar to a scared croak than a roar. It felt its tail hit a tree behind it and, turning its head, it saw that it was cornered. The brush was too thick, it would’ve gotten tangled in the foliage. It stared at Ayla as she approached, sword raised. Terrified, it lowered its snout to the ground and made a whimper sounding like a plea. Gionata looked at Ayla and, almost feeling sorry for that poor Glavenus, which was nothing more than a scared juvenile, he rummaged in his bag looking for something. But he didn’t have time to pull it out, because an owl’s hooting came from the sky.

“That’s a Malfestio’s call!” Xavia exclaimed, astonished.

Ayla looked up at the sky and saw a dark blue bird of prey swooping down quickly. She took a step back, so as not to be hit by the new monster, which raised a small amount of dust upon landing. The large, blue and yellow owl spread its wings and waved them, releasing hundreds of tiny spores. Ayla’s face twitched with hatred and prepared to attack it, but she was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of ultrasound emitted by the Malfestio with a hypnotic song.

Completely entranced, Ayla narrowed her right eye and her grip on her weapon became weak, so much so that the switch-axe slipped from her hand after a few seconds. She placed her left hand on her forehead, starting to look sleepy, and her legs shook. She finally fell to her knees, no longer able to stand. She stood still for a few moments, trying to resist, before collapsing to the ground with her eyes closed. As she drifted off to sleep, her features relaxed and her veins flattened. Jonathan and Xavia were about to approach her, when they heard someone:

“Irene would never have forgiven me if she’d killed you, Glaze,” said a boy’s voice.

The Deviljho launched its challenge and stared at the three hunters, with that horrible black mist coming out of its mouth. Nick, who was usually calm and rational, didn’t wait to consult with his colleagues and attacked first. Approaching the brute wyvern, he tried a thrust attack with his longsword, straight into the Deviljho’s neck, but the monster raised its head and he missed. The Deviljho opened its maw and prepared to grab Nick, but Yuna’s Whispervesp came out of nowhere and stung its snout, covering it in powder. The wyverian leapt high with the compressed air of her glaive and landed on the Deviljho’s head, then she made the kinsect’s powder explode with a slash. The monster was stunned by the blast and fell to the ground with a moan, but it immediately got up.

Meanwhile, Carson had kept shooting spread ammo at its sides to soften it up as much as possible, but that beast was so enraged that it didn’t even notice it was losing so much blood from its riddled chest. Its hide glowed red and the Black Blight enveloped its body completely, to the point of making it look like a red lamp amidst the smoke. It let out a roar which echoed from there to the ocean.

“It’s mad!” Nick exclaimed.

The Deviljho charged at him, but the swordsman rolled sideways in time. However, he was hurled away by a tail swipe that followed right afterwards.

“You think so?” Carson snarled, irritated.

The Deviljho snorted and blowed its dragon breath at the bowgunner, narrowly missing him. Once it got rid of the two hunters, it focused on Yuna again. The wyverian ordered her kinsect to sting its chest, but before the bug could leave her arm, she was forced to dodge another charge. Once it approached her, the Deviljho turned around abruptly with a drift and slammed its maw to the ground, trying to crush her. Yuna dodged it at the very last second and sent her Whispervesp to distract the target, then tried to jump onto its back again.

But this time, the Deviljho was ready to strike back: as soon as Yuna landed on its back, it started to squirm. It eventried to bite her, when it felt her move to its tail. Holding on as much as she could, the wyverian started mowing the monster’s hide everywhere with her quick slashes. Blackened blood started dripping all over the place. At some point, however, she lost her balance and was thrown off: she fell on her back on the grass and landed next to Carson.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Nothing severe,” she whispered, gritting her teeth.

Nick attacked again and drived his longsword into a cut opened by Yuna, sinking the blade so deep into the wound that the Deviljho cried in pain. He dodged a counterattack and clung to the tail, stabbing it and using his weapon as a step to climb on it. Then he pulled his blade like a lever and expanded the wound. His attempt to cut off the tail failed, because the Deviljho rolled over and crushed him under its weight. Nick screamed in agony. He lay in a small hole dug by the brute wyvern’s body. The Deviljho stood before him, with its mouth dripping: it was ready to finish him off.

But Carson shot four slicing ammo at the base of the tail and the blades managed to finally chop it off, with a huge splatter of black blood. The Deviljho roared in pain and gave the old man with a furious, murderous glare. Its hide turned even redder and the Black Blight smoke got thicker: it looked more like a savage Deviljho by now. Carson was ready to roll and dodge another charge – but nothing happened, because the fight was suddenly interrupted. They all heard a loud, deep howl. It was unmistakable, especially for Carson. He watched what happened next play out as if time had slowed down:

“Sweet mother of… I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed, with his heart racing.

A mighty fanged wyvern, grey and furry, with a pair of dark horns and a swarm of dracophage bugs whirling around it, appeared next to the Deviljho and stabbed its chest with its horns. The brute wyven whimpered in agony and tried to break free by biting and kicking, but to no avail. Grunting for the effort, the new monster lifted it up and shocked it with dragon element discharges, charring it to death.

After a few seconds, the Deviljho stopped squirming and expired. Only then was it let go. The fanged wyvern made sure it was dead, before pulling its horns out of the corpse. It howled at the sky triumphantly, then calmed down and stared at the bowgunner. Carson was enraptured: he hadn’t seen one of those for so long! Yuna, who still lay near him, opened her eyes wide while massaging her sore back. Nick sat up and remained motionless. None of them could believe their eyes.

“A stygian Zinogre!” Carson exclaimed, excited.

His morbid obsession for Zinogres would’ve led him to shoot it in the head in a few seconds, if a girl’s voice hadn’t brought him back to Earth:

“Hey, are you people alright?”

Nina used her glider mantle to leap onto the Legiana she was fighting. She clung to its head, took an arrow from her quiver and stabbed its eye with it. Blinded and panicking, the Legiana shrieked and stumbled. The archer jumped off it and gave way to the hunter in Anjanath armor, who thanked her with a nod, before releasing the wyvern fire of his gunlance straight on the monster’s chest. The Legiana fell flat on the ground, with its chest blown out by the explosion, and stared at the hunters with hatred. Nina nocked four arrows at once and shot one of the other Legianas in the right wing, riddling it.

Yuri watched that for a while, before turning to Ratha again: him and the third Legiana were biting and scratching each other in mid-air, while twirling above the camp. Every now and then, Ratha pretended to retreat to distance himself and spit fireballs, but he rarely hit his opponent; on the other hand, he was getting overwhelmed by the Legiana’s gusts of frosty air and his wings were covered in ice by now. Yuri was tempted to try and generate the meteor she’d cast on the Makili Nova again, but she was afraid of hurting her allies. In great haste, she rushed to the remains of her tent, looking for her sword and shield. She also wondered why Legi hadn’t intervened yet: with all the mess the three infected Legianas were making, there was no way she was still sleeping.

“It’s never over!” she thought, vexed and scared.

Ratha did a sudden U-turn and spat a fireball point-blank. The Legiana was caught off guard by that abrupt counter and simply shielded itself with its wings, scorching the edges of its membrane. The moment it unfolded its wings, it could no longer see Ratha. Suddenly, the Rathalos came down from above and slammed his opponent on the ground, digging a hole in the meadow.

“Well done, Ratha!” Yuri exclaimed proudly.

She grabbed her sword and shield and went to check on Legi. The little Legiana was sleeping, despite the chaos and the fuss of the battle. She wanted to wake her up, but she decided not to risk endangering her, since they were busy fighting three of her own kind: some hunter may mistake her for an enemy. Ratha croaked at his Rider, happy for the praise. The Legiana he’d slammed got up and the two wyverns roared at each other.

Yuri gave herself a moment to observe the situation: Nina had shot so many arrows that her target had turned into a pincushion. The archer dodged a charge and nocked an arrow to shoot a few steps away from the Legiana. The bolt struck so hard that it dug through the layer of frost on the monster’s chest and pierced its heart. The Legiana gasped, collapsed and died after a few gurgling breaths. Meanwhile, Erika had just killed the second specimen with the elemental discharge of her switch-axe.

“Two down, one to go,” Yuri thought.

Ratha growled at the last Legiana, as if ordering it to leave, but the monster kept fighting. It came at Ratha all of a sudden, struck him with a tail swipe and hurled him into a pond. The Legiana took advantage of it to blow its freezing gale on the water, freezing it around the Rathalos’ ankles. Ratha immediately started breathing fire on the ice to break free, but the Legiana had all the time to grab Yuri with its talons and fly away.

“Oh, shit!” she yelled.

It took her a few seconds to realize what was going on, and when she did, she let out a terrified scream, as she saw how high up they were. She heard the Rathalos’ alarmed cry, as well as Nina calling her name in terror. Squirming in the Legiana’s fingers, she shouted:

“Let me go me, you bastard!”

The Legiana ignored her and headed for the Great Ravine, towards the Coral Highlands – towards the Makili Pietru. She’d never let the Black Dread and Xander kidnap her again. In a fit of rage, she felt Fatalis’ fury rise inside her. A few seconds later, Yuri felt her blood boil and lost it:

“I said, let me go!”

She grabbed the Legiana’s fingers, then countless crimson discharges crackled in her hands. With a sizzling sound, the shocks left her hands, moved to the Legiana’s legs and traversed its whole body, charring it in a second. Red lightning, like a white Fatalis’. Screaming in pain, the Legiana died almost instantly and let go of her. It began to fall hundreds of meters from the ground, alongside Yuri. Terror erased Fatalis’ fury in a second. Yuri screamed, as the wind whipped her face.

But all of a sudden, she landed on a solid surface. She opened her eyes wide, as she saw she was no longer falling, and probed the ground with her hands. That wasn’t soil, it was scaly hide. She sat up and brought a hand to her chest, almost relieved to feel it beat. She wasn’t imagining things: she wasn’t dead. She turned around and saw a familiar face. A pale girl with blonde hair so light as to be almost ashen, tied in a short braid resting on the bodice of her armor, was giving her a beaming smile.

Her skin was deathly pale, even though she was healthier than ever. Her red eyes constrasted a lot with her complexion. She was albino, and many people pointed that out to her, but she always denied it very stubbornly, refusing to admit it. Her smile was kind and she sat cross-legged on her gold Rathian’s saddle. Yuri had known that girl her entire life, but some things about her were new: on her right temple, the blonde had a long, deep scar starting from her ear. The albino girl joked:

“And you and Ross say I’m a show-off! I don’t know how you did that, but the red shocks you fried that monster with could probably be seen from that mountain over there! Even Raith was amazed! Am I right, girl?”

She giggled and petted her gold Rathian. Without replying, Yuri jumped on her and hugged her, happy to see her after so long.

“Thanks a lot, monster queen Iris!” she chuckled.

The girl blushed and rolled her eyes:

“Enough with that name! How long are you guys going to call me that? I never should’ve gone to Koapni!”

Then Yuri said:

“It’s so good to see you, Irene!”

“I know. It’s only been a month, but it felt like forever! Me and the others have plenty of stories to tell you!”

“Like that scar and that thing on your ear?” Yuri asked.

She pointed at a small, triangular metal item on Irene’s right temple, with a dotted circle of blue light in front of it and a blue line at the center.

“Is that another of Manelger’s inventions? You know how it went last time.”

Her fellow Rider looked embarrassed:

“This isn’t his doing, it’s a long story. For now, just know this is called a focus and I borrowed it from another world! A place where metal rules.”

Hearing that, Yuri remembered what her mother had told her in Xander’s hideout, when she’d mentioned the witcher. That was the second time in the span of a few days that she heard of other universes, which crept her out.

“Another world? You too, now?” she asked, astounded.

“What do you mean?”

Yuri pursed her lips:

“Forget it, this is no time for stories.”

“On that we agree. Raith, let’s get to the ground! We’ll talk there,” Irene instructed.

Then Yuri sat back and smiled, while giving her friend directions to fly back to their camp in the Ancient Forest.

Chapter Text

Carson was still staring at the stygian Zinogre in a trance-like state, when they all heard that unknown girl’s voice ask them if they were fine. A few seconds later, a Midogaron came out of the jungle; it wore an orange saddle, decorated with golden needlework on the back. The fanged beast from the Frontier got next to the Zinogre and looked at the hunters warily, baring its teeth. Taking a better look at it, Carson noticed that the stygian Zinogre was also saddled: its saddle was grey and mingled with its fur; that was why he hadn’t seen it before.

Yuna approached Carson holding one hand on her back, while her Whispervesp rested on her arm, cleaning its fuzz. Nick tried to get up, but a terrible twinge of pain in the spine forced him to lie down. Between raspy breaths, he muttered that he must’ve broken at least two ribs. The two monsters heard a call and turned to a third creature which had just shown up: a Qurupeco. The bird wyvern fluttered to its two contingent companions and its feathers got all ruffled up. It was ridden by a girl who appeared to be Yuri’s age. She had brown hair tied in two short pigtails, rosy skin, a round face and blue-green eyes. She was wearing Midogaron armor and a red and yellow headband; her weapon was an alloy hunting horn. Looking at the three hunters worriedly, she got off her Qurupeco and approached them:

“Are you alright?” she asked again.

She was most obviously a Rider. Indeed, they saw a bracelet identical to Yuri’s on her left wrist. Yuna was surprised, striving to elaborate what was going on. She mumbled an insecure “yes” and glanced at Carson. The old man didn’t care about the girl: he never took his gaze off the stygian Zinogre, as if he were ogling a treasure. The Zinogre felt uncomfortable being stared at for so long, and it took its eyes off him, yelping.

“Is this stygian Zinogre yours, little girl?” Carson asked.

The Rider was seemingly confused by his question.

“Huh? No, why?”

Carson took a leap of joy:

“Then I’ll kill it!”

He immediately drew his heavy bowgun and pointed it at the stygian Zinogre’s head, laughing like a madman. The Zinogre gasped in fear and bared its fangs, faking a threat, but clearly terrified. The girl paled and rushed to stand in Carson’s way; she grabbed the barrel of the bowgun and pushed it down:

“No, no! Don’t do this, please!”

“Why not? Stygian Zinogres are cheap knockoffs of the normal ones, I don’t respect them!”

“Tyr belongs to my brother! He’d kill me if anything happened to him!”

Carson reflected for a few seconds, then gave it up:

“Ah, what a bummer! Fine, I won’t kill it. Pity: it would’ve been a blast after all this time.”

He put his bowgun away, approached Nick and helped him up. Yuna apologized for him:

“Forgive him. He likes to joke: it is my understanding that his quips are funny to most humans, even though I didn’t get that one.”

“I wasn’t joking at all, Yuna!” Carson corrected her from afar.

“Really? Well, no matter,” the Rider sighed, relieved.

Carson and Yuna helped Nick to walk and stand.

“How bad is it? Anything broken?”

“My back has seen better days. What about you guys?”

“That rotten pickle didn’t even touch me, I’m fine,” Carson replied.

“I believe I pulled a muscle, but it’ll pass,” the wyverian said, massaging her back.

The girl listened to them and smiled. She brought a hand to her mouth and shouted:

“Quill! Come here!”

The Qurupeco stood to attention and strode to her. When it was close enough, the girl gave it a smile and caressed its bill:

“Those hunters need care. You know what to do,” she told it.

The Qurupeco cooed and approached them, as they stared at it with curiosity. Yuna guessed it was going to use the restorative enzyme it stored in its vocal sac to alleviate their aches. Meanwhile, the girl looked at the Deviljho’s carcass and said:

“I have to finish what Tyr started.”

As she approached the dead monster, the Qurupeco inhaled and inflated its chest sac. However, unlike when they fought one of its kind, the hunters didn’t have to put up with the deafening shriek which drew any nearby monster. Instead, it chirped tunefully, releasing the enzyme into the air like perfume. Shortly thereafter, Nick and Yuna’s pain was eased until they barely felt it. The wyverian stopped massaging her back and Nick was able to stand without her and Carson’s help.

“I wish I had a Qurupeco every other time!” he chuckled.

Yuna nodded in agreement and the Qurupeco tweeted, happy to help. Meanwhile, the Rider was checking on the Deviljho’s corpse, as if to make sure it was truly dead. She petted the stygian Zinogre and giggled:

“You sure didn’t hold back, Tyr! You didn’t want it to hurt that hunter, eh?”

She then clenched her fist and raised her arm. Her Kinship Stone shone green and the Black Blight smoke began to leave the carcass, until it vanished. In the end, the Deviljho’s body became just like any other specimen: its flesh had been cleansed. The girl smiled, while her Midogaron was rubbing its muzzle against her armor:

“Done!”

Quill joined her after some moments, followed by the three hunters.

“The Commander had requested three Riders come aid the one we already have here; I assume you’re one of them,” Yuna told her

“That’s right! Lucille Moore, high rank Rider from Hakum. Nice to meet you!”

“Hi, I’m Yuna. These are Carson and Nick.”

“Tell me, how’s Yuri?”

“Ah, so you’re friends with her?” Nick asked.

“Of course! Me and the others are her besties! Is she alright? She hasn’t sent us any letters for a month, did something bad happen to her?” Lucille asked, worried.

Nick, Carson and Yuna exchanged a knowing look, pondering on how to answer her.

Xavia and Gionata watched a boy come out of the undergrowth and get next to the Malfestio. He seemed to be Yuri’s age; he carried a black Diablos greatsword and was wearing stygian Zinogre armor, without the helmet. He had short, brown hair, rosy skin and a round face. He had a Rider bracelet on his left wrist. Seeing the two hunters, he blushed, pointed at Ayla and said:

“Hello. Sorry for putting your colleague to sleep. I didn’t want her to attack Glaze, that’s all: I saw what she did to the other Glavenus from above, and the way she was looking at him. I couldn’t let her.”

Gionata reassured him:

“Don’t be sorry: in fact, you did me a favor! I sometimes have to knock her out when she rages, and she might give me a shiner. Hunting gets troublesome afterwards, you know? So thanks for having your Malfestio do it!”

The Rider was at a loss for words, not expecting such an answer. Xavia didn’t know whether to laugh or not, because she couldn’t tell if Gionata was being serious or if he was just making up some bollocks on the spot to lighten the mood.

“Ah! In that case, you’re welcome, I guess.”

The juvenile Glavenus let out a croaky noise and approached the boy, but stood behind him as if to seek protection.

“You’re such a pansy, Glaze,” he commented.

Xavia folded her arms and pointed out:

“You’re a Rider.”

Meanwhile, Gionata crouched and picked up his unconscius girlfriend.

“I am. My name’s Ross Moore, I’m from Hakum. My friends and I were summoned by the Guild to help against the Black Blight in this continent. Speaking of which, I should purify that Glavenus now,” the boy said, pointing at the carcass.

“Are you familiar with Yuri Aros?”

“Oh, yes! She’s my best friend. Why do you ask? Did something happen to her? Or did Yuri talk about me and the others?”

Gionata interrupted them:

“Can we leave? We might be attacked at any moment here; I don’t doubt your monsters can defend us, of course! I just can’t hold my soulmate in my arms forever.”

Ross nodded, clearly eager to hear about Yuri:

“Sure, that’s fine.”

He looked at Gionata holding Ayla and suggested:

“Do you want me to lay her on Kuro? She’ll be easier to carry. I’d suggest we wake her up, but I think Glaze wouldn’t follow us then. Ah, Kuro is my Malfestio!” he specified.

Hearing his name, the Glavenus snorted and looked away, while the Malfestio rolled his eyes.

“Why not?” Gionata said.

Thinking back, he found it funny that a brute wyvern was terrified by Ayla, after Blood Eyes had been scared of those monsters for years because of Chomper.

After Raith landed, Irene grabbed her Lunastra insect glaive and got off the saddle, ordering the kinsect to rest on her shoulder. Yuri did the same, petting gently the gold Rathian’s neck, which shrugged with pleasure and gave her a cheerful croak. Yuri smiled when she heard Ratha’s roar from afar. The Rathalos ran to them as soon as he saw Raith. Now he was staring at her and Irene, wagging his tail to display happiness. Irene stroked him and giggled:

“Nice to see you, too, Ratha!”

Ratha and the gold Rathian rubbed each other’s beaks, constantly making gleeful noises. Then Yuri saw Nina coming. With her face bright red, the archer patted Yuri’s shoulder:

“Hey, I was already making a will! Xavia would’ve eaten me alive, had she known you’d been kidnapped again!” she panted.

“I’m fine, really! She won’t have to worry!”

Irene looked around: she saw the carcasses of two monsters she’d never seen in the Old World, but she recognized the black mist rising from their bodies. She shivered visibly, shook her head and narrowed her eyes, knowing what that meant.

“It’s true, then: the Black Blight did reappear in another continent.”

“The Guild spoke clearly.”

“I know, I just can’t believe it: I thought we’d made it go extinct! How can this be?”

“Things got crazier than ever here, Irene. I’ll explain everything in the coming days, alright?”

Her albino friend smiled:

“Wait for Lucille and Ross to join us, then: I don’t know where they are now. Our ship was attacked by a Plesioth, while we were preparing to dock: the captain had to moor in a cove at the edge of the jungle, since Astera was unapproachable. Then Glaze and Tyr ran away all of a sudden and we split up to find them. I don’t know if they caught them.”

“Then let’s hope they’ll meet our two teams: they mustn’t go to Astera!” Nina said.

“Why?” Irene asked.

“Told you: long story,” Yuri sighed.

“Alright.”

They didn’t have to wait long, after cleaning up the camp from the dead Legiana. A dozen of minutes later, Erika pointed at the jungle and announced:

“Hey, there they are! Look!”

However, the enthusiasm for their return instantly vanished when the monsters showed up. A stygian Zinogre, a Qurupeco and a Midogaron were escorting Nick, Carson and Yuna, as well as a girl of the same age as Yuri. The Rider waved at her and called her:

“Lucille!”

As soon as she saw her, Lucille opened her eyes wide, got off her Midogaron’s back and rushed to her, squeezing her in an affectionate hug. Meanwhile, Lucille’s monsters and the stygian Zinogre approached the Rathalos, happy to see him after so long. Nick was welcomed by Nina, who immediately started bickering with him after she heard his quick recap of what had happened, while Carson and Yuna sat down in front of the campfire, waiting for Ayla and Gionata.

“I missed you so much, Yuri!” Lucille exclaimed, moved.

“And I missed you guys.”

“You had us worried sick! You stopped writing to us so suddenly!”

Yuri felt guilty, as usual:

“I know, Lucille, sorry about that. So many things have happened since my last letter; I was too tired to sit down at a desk and write to you.”

“Well, you’ll get to tell us everything yourself soon,” Irene intruded, smiling.

They heard footsteps from the jungle and looked: the second group of hunters was also back. Much to her relief, Yuri saw her mother, then Gionata, and finally Ayla, lying on a Malfestio’s back. They were followed by a Glavenus ridden by Ross.

“Hey, you found Glaze, that’s great! We’re here!” Irene called him.

“And you found Tyr! Awesome!” he replied, as he dismounted.

Kuro waited for Gionata and Xavia to take Ayla off his back, before joining the other monsters with Glaze. Yuri heard an irritated comment from Mike:

“This camp’s turning into a zoo.”

Ross hastened to join his companions, but he stopped as soon as he saw Yuri. He looked bewitched, as he observed her shorter, loose hair and her very alluring red armor leaving many spots uncovered, and he blushed. He swallowed and looked at his feet, with a dumb smile:

“Uh… er… hey, Yuri! You… nice haircut. And… and… you know… nice armor! You wear it well!” he babbled, sweating profusely.

Yuri blushed as well and covered her mouth to hide her awkward smile. She closed her eyes and replied:

“Thanks, Ross! I’m glad!”

“You reacted just like this when you saw us girls in Kirin armor, little bro!” Lucille taunted him.

“Oh yeah, I remember! You couldn’t take your eyes off Yuri, when she tried it on!” Irene laughed.

He blushed even more, looking away and acting offended:

“Come on, stop it!”

They stood quiet for a few moments, then all four of them burst out laughing.

“I missed you guys. You had no idea how much has happened in the last month!” Yuri repeated.

“Oh, well, your new armor and haircut alone are a scandal!” Irene quipped.

“You’re not wrong.”

Yuri saw her mother approaching and waved at her. Before running to her, she told her friends:

“I’ll just tell you one of the news for now.”

They saw Yuri hug that huntress with purple hair and tell her something they couldn’t hear because they were too far away. The Rider pointed at them, whispering, and the huntress chuckled. At that point, their friend joined them alongside that stranger.

“Are you ready? Lilia would call this a real bombshell!”

“Don’t beat around the bush, just tell us!” said Irene.

“Right, don’t keep us on our toes!” the twins exclaimed.

Yuri cleared her throat, excited:

“Lucille, Ross, Irene, let me introduce you to… my mother.”

The huntress smiled and greeted them:

“Hello! My name’s Xavia. You look like some nice kids!”

Lucille opened her eyes wide, and so did Ross, whose gaze began to dash constantly between Xavia and Yuri, noticing how similar they looked. Irene, on the other hand, was so surprised that she couldn’t even react. Then she gasped:

“Your mother?! You’re not mocking us, are you? Not like that time with Redan, right?!”

“It’s the truth,” Yuri replied.

Lucille was touched:

“This is amazing, Yuri!”

“I must admit I didn’t see this coming. But damn, I’m so happy for you, Yuri!” Ross cheered.

Xavia kept smiling and took Yuri’s hand, before ruffling her hair:

“It was a nice surprise for them, wasn’t it?” she giggled.

“Totally!” Yuri laughed.

Chapter Text

After marching for a day, the hunters finally arrived in the Coral Highlands and reached the Third Fleet’s airship. They saw that much of the tent town had already been set up. The new camp around the research base wasn’t so comfortable as Astera, but at least there was room for everyone and they had all the services they needed, as basic as they might be. Ayla and her team were instantly welcomed with open arms by Eden, their handler. She was a peculiar girl, as Gionata put it not to offend her. Everyone knew her in the Commission: some smiled, others rolled their eyes as they saw her. She was always excited, rash, constantly hungry, and would very often becom irritating because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

By now, the team had lost count of how many times she’d insisted on following them in their hunts out of curiosity and they’d had to save her from the monster. However, once people got to know her, she wasn’t so bad, so much so that even Carson had gradually gone from dissing her to just telling a joke once in a while, and he’d apologized to her for his rudeness. When they got to their new tent, Eden showered them with questions, not realizing they were exhausted from the caravan journey.

“Oh, give us a break!” Carson complained.

“What are you doing here, Eden? The Admiral told you to stay in the caverns of El Dorado,” Gionata asked her.

“Yes, I know, but it was too boring down there. So I came back to assist you, partners! Though I never thought I’d have to move right away: I found Astera deserted and no one will explain anything to me!”

Carson rolled his eyes and joked:

“Oh, dear, how noble of you! You’ve always been so helpful, we’d be lost without you!”

When she saw Xavia, who was passing behind them right then, Eden told the team to excuse her for a moment and went to her to notify her about something, although they didn’t understand what she told her, due to all the chatter in the camp. Shortly after, the handler came back and explained that the Admiral wanted all the hunters to gather in the airship.

“And that’s the current situation,” the Admiral said, at the end of the debriefing for the research base scholars.

The Third Fleet Master stood next to him. She’d already received a private report a few days ago. The various leaders of the First Fleet were also there, as well as hunters who weren’t busy building the tent town. Xavia, Ayla and her team sat in the front row. Yuri was also there, but she stood aside with her fellow Riders, who were now exchanging looks, trying to process the crazy amount of information they’d just gotten on what had happened so far.

“So, the Makili Pietru is reborn because of a madman who’s even Yuri’s father and declared war on the Research Commission, because it wants to make sure Yuri and Ratha can’t stop it anymore?” Irene asked, incredulous.

“Yes,” Yuri replied, disheartened.

“What’s more, they have an entire cult of corrupt Riders on their side, each with their own contingent of monsters; they’re basically on par with Anvis’ army,” Ross added.

Meanwhile, the meeting went on heatedly. The captain of the argosy stated:

“One of the worst issues is that my crew and I can’t set sail for the Old World. We tried sailing near the shore yesterday, but the enemy has put Plesioths along the entire shore by now: they almost sank us. The high seas are inaccessible, so no supplies and no distress call for the Guild.”

“What if we tried to send an airship?” proposed one of the engineers.

“I dout the corrupt Riders are so naïve: they must’ve brought flying monsters for that,” the Huntsman objected.

“So what shall we do?” asked Eden, raising a hand.

The Admiral sighed and crossed his arms, thoughtful:

“It looks more than evident to me that we’re not ready for a war. We’re just people, whereas they have monsters by their side; furthermore, Aros knows more than we do: no one’s ever thought of mapping or exploring thoroughly that rocky area, since there’s nothing there. Also, we haven’t seen how many and which monsters the corrupt Riders have: the only ones we saw are the Makili Pietru, a Nergigante and a Brachydios.”

At that point, from the corner where the Riders sat, Irene raised her hand and spoke up:

“I can take care of that, if you want!” she offered.

“What’s on your mind?” Yuri asked her.

“You want more information on the enemy, right? That’s the point of your statements, isn’t it?”

“It is,” the Third Fleet Master.

“Well, that recently became my job. I can go to the battlefield and take a look! They won’t even notice me, I guarantee you.”

“That would be very helpful for sure. Do you all agree?” the Admiral asked the other leaders.

All his companions nodded.

“Good, then you have our permission to go on patrol. Try not to get spotted, Rider!”

“Yes, of course! I got this!” exclaimed Irene.

The Admiral went on:

“As for the rest of you, today you can all focus on setting up this temporary base. We’ll decide what to do once we get more intel on our enemies. There must be a reason why they gave us a month to prepare.”

Nina intervened:

“We must stay vigilant, though. Last night, the three Legianas that attacked our camp were after Yuri. The Makili Nova gave us more time, true, but apparently it’s still trying to take her, despite our agreements. Who’s stopping it from trying again with even worse monsters?”

“What? They wanted to kidnap Yuri?” Xavia gasped.

Yuri slapped her forehead: she’d forgotten to tell her about it.

“For now, the meeting’s over. We’ll hold another one as soon as we make some progress. You may go!” the Admiral dismissed them.

“Let me get this straight: you really volunteered for a stealth mission? Are you kidding me?”

Yuri was perplexed: that kind of task didn’t suit Irene at all, what was she thinking? At the moment, the albino girl was petting Hono, Lucille’s Midogaron, and was making sure his saddle was secured. Ross, on the other hand, stood next to Yuri and watched the girls get the Midogaron ready. Raith and Glaze were too loud – Irene’s cover would be blown immediately if she went with them, so Lucille lended Hono to her, so that she’d also be quicker to return.

“Yes, what’s so strange?” she asked, with a malicious smile.

“Did you forget what happened with that Nerscylla, two years ago? You got caught as soon as you took its egg. And what about that Gypceros in the Ancestral Steppe? Our first Arzuros? That one Kecha Wacha? Not to mention when we played hide and seek, back in Hakum. Shall I go on?” Yuri taunted her.

Irene acted offended and pointed at the device above her ear:

“I’ve improved a lot! Now I have this.”

She’d said it was called a focus and she’d taken it in an unspecified place, but she hadn’t explained what it was for yet.

“And most importantly, when you spend two months in a parallel universe filled with killer machines shaped like animals, you become even sneakier with living beings!”

“So you’ve really been in a different world?” asked Yuri, still baffled by that surreal concept.

“Yes! You should’ve seen those machines: they’d make the most powerful mechanical monsters Manelgar could ever design pale. Now I believe Ross is the clumsiest one!” Irene laughed.

Confused, Yuri asked him what she meant, but he snorted with embarrassment:

“Enough with the story of that Watcher!” he protested.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, nothing! Don’t ask! These two constantly reminding me of it are bad enough!”

“Fine, but you’ll have to tell me one day!”

“I will. Maybe,” he sighed.

“Hono’s ready,” Lucille smiled, petting the Midogaron’s side.

Irene smiled and mounted him.

“Thanks, Lucy!”

“Be careful, come back in one piece!” Lucille told her.

“Count on it.”

Lucille stroked her Midogaron’s mane:

“Hono, make sure she doesn’t get into trouble, eh? She’s relying on you.”

“Very funny,” Irene snorted.

“Later!”

Irene spurred the fanged beast and the Midogaron started walking, then it began to trot once he left the tent town, without galloping not to set the ground beneath his paws on fire. A few minutes later, the Midogaron was just a reddish dot runing along the mountain chains of the Coral Highlands.

“Yuri, can we discuss what you revealed to us now?” Lucille whispered to her.

Ross nodded in agreement. The twins looked worried, judging from their looks, and Yuri knew they weren’t wrong.

“Yes. I wanted to wait for Irene, but I’d better talk about it now.”

She moved a few locks of her hair behind her ears and sighed, melancholic. She’d told them about her conversation with Redan, and that she was currently affected by the Black Blight. Discussing it with her friends before telling her mother and the hunters might have helped her clear her mind without fearing the consequences.

Xavia was watching her daughter from afar. She couldn’t hear her conversation with the twins, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that something was deeply bothering her. She’d already noticed the night before, but Yuri had refused to talk about what she was constantly reflecting on for the entire journey to the research base. Xavia had already tried asking her, but Yuri simply wouldn’t talk to her.

“Mom, I’m fine! I mean it!” she’d said, in a forcibly cheerful tone.

Too bad that was the same kind of cheerfulness with which she talked while controlled by Xander: totally fake and not genuine at all. Xavia was concerned. Some heavy footsteps behind her caught her attention, but she didn’t turn around.

“Hey, Xavia! Have you got time?” Mikayla’s voice asked her.

With an annoyed sigh, the huntress turned to her sister-in-law with her arms crossed. She saw her accompanied by her Astalos, saddled and ready to fly.

“I guess so. Need anything?”

“I’d like to ask you a favor: I need you to come with me. No one here trusts me enough to let me go alone, they’re afraid I might betray you and leave.”

Xavia raised an eyebrow, intrigued:

“Where do you want to go?”

“You see, I feel uncomfortable with these leather rags, especially since we’re about to go to war. I want to go back to our old hideout and retrieve my Zinogre armor. Will you accompany me? Please, you’re the only one I can ask.”

Xavia would rather refuse, but her sister-in-law’s tone made her hesitate. Then she took a quick glance at the spot where Yuri and the twins were, but they’d left. She sighed and stared at Mikayla:

“Fine. I’ll come along, but I hope you don’t mind if I take my hammer.”

“Go right ahead! That’s fine! I don’t want to hurt you. I’d rather let you smash my skull than be Xander’s puppet again,” Mikayla replied.

Xavia gave her a pat on the shoulder, with a sarcastic look:

“If you say so… I’ll be right back, then. Just give me a few minutes, then we’re off.”

“Thanks! Thanks a lot, Xavia!”

Mikayla smiled, while stroking Asta’s horn. The purple-haired huntress was almost amused by the irony of that situation: the same woman she’d wanted to kill for fifteen years, believing that she’d turned her back on her when she needed her most, now needed her more than ever, due to her own circumstances.

Seeing his mistress sad and dejected, the Astalos whimpered and rubbed his horn against her side to comfort her.

“Thank you, Asta,” she whispered.

Now that she was finally back to normal, all the horrible murders she’d committed for ten years under Xander’s control were haunting her conscience; the guilt consumed her more and more with every passing moment.

“Are you alright, Mikayla?”

She suddenly heard Xavia’s gentle voice behind her, got scared and fell on her butt, much to her shame. Embarrassed, she commented:

“Hey, that was quick!”

“It doesn’t take long to go to a tent and back.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s right. Sorry.”

The huntress reached out to her and Mikayla took her hand, thanking her as Xavia helped her up. Saddling up, she urged her:

“Shall we go?”

Xavia smiled at her and let Mikayla help her get onto the Astalos’ back.

“Hold on tight, we’re taking off!” she warned.

Asta flapped his wings and took flight. He soared above the camp, then turned north and headed towards the Elder’s Recess.

Chapter Text

At the western edge of the Coral Highlands, Irene and Hono were approaching the rocky area where the battle would take place. She’d had a chance to behold the wonderful landscape of the coral forests and the lovely endemic critters living there, but she didn’t encounter a single monster. She’d met no one since she’d left the Third Fleet’s airship, which gave her an overwhelming anxiety.

After she rode for a few hours, the terrain composition changed and Irene held tightly the Midogaron’s reins, nervous: they’d arrived at a huge cliff full of sockets and bumps. Irene looked at the ground and noticed that there was a clear split between the types of soil, so much so that it looked like a turning point: the grey dirt of the Coral Highlands came to a sudden stop, giving way to a layer of brown clay. There wasn’t a single plant – what little grass grew from the clay was yellow and dry. Irene got off Hono to watch the grass closely; she grabbed a few blades of it, but they crumbled to dust as soon as she squeezed them.

“It must be the Black Blight,” she thought.

Indeed, she remembered well the plants withering in the wake of the infected Nargacuga that had attacked Hakum many years ago.

“We’re getting close. Try to be careful,” she whispered to Hono.

The dry vegetation almost seemed to guide her in the right direction: like an arrow, it pointed towards a huge cut in the cliff, the entrance to a tunnel. Hono crouched to invite her to mount him, but Irene shook her head.

“This feels too easy. We can’t go through the main door: it might be a trap. Let’s climb the wall! It’ll be safer. It must be thirty-something meters high, and it’s not too steep; come on, Hono, don’t give me that look!” she exclaimed, offended, when the Midogaron stared at her in shock.

He wasn’t the best choice for climbing. No monster in their contingent was faster than him, but he suffered from vertigo due to an old trauma from when he was a puppy: he’d fallen from a ravine on the mountains near Pokke, after a Blangonga and a Lagombi caused an avalanche by fighting. Irene snorted and stroke his mane:

“Fine, let’s pass through here. Just be ready to flee, got it? I trust in your Nargacuga gene, but better safe than sorry.”

Hono barked happily and licked her hands. She held back a giggle and dried them on his fur.

“Then let’s make it quick. Lucille doesn’t want us to take too long and I wouldn’t like to be captured.”

She mounted again and the Midogaron rushed into the tunnel. It was much shorter than expected and they saw the light again after just a few seconds. Suddenly, Irene gasped and pulled the reins. Hono opened his eyes wide and braked abruptly, sliding a bit. Irene struggled to believe that place was real: it literally looked like a natural arena. After the tunnel’s exit, a descending path began, with a series of hairpin turns. If they hadn’t stopped, they would’ve rolled down because of the steep slope. At the bottom, the terrain was once again flat and hard, dug between two cliffs like an immense, dry river. On the opposite side, the walls didn’t meet – they were even farther from each other.

“So this will be the battlefield,” Irene thought, getting off Hono.

She approached the ledge and knelt down on its edge. She took her binoculars and began to scan the whole area: she saw tents, the corrupt Riders’ secondary camp. Their base was Astera, that place was simply where they were gathering monsters for the battle. In the middle of the camp, a larger, flashier tent stood out: it was surely Xander’s. She saw three monsters next to it: a Brachydios, a Barioth, and a spiky dragon which she’d never seen back in the Old World, with its tail chopped off.

The Brachydios was curled up far from the other two monsters and was looking at them in discomfort and annoyance, whereas the two creatures stood together and were infected. Irene switched on her focus and began to scan the outpost. Every human down there was highlighted in yellow and she could see them even through the tents. Every monster in the base, except for the Brachydios, was detected in purple.

“Strange, this never happened,” she thought.

Before returning from her latest adventure, she’d asked an expert from the world of machines if he could enhance her focus, so that it could identify the monsters from the world of hunters as well. He’d succeeded after several attempts and a long time, both because of the trials and in order to insert the monsters’ data correctly. The latter, however, had been easy: she’d just had to scan the pages of her Monsterpedia to record the species from the Old World into her focus.

Come to think of it, she should ask the scholars of Astera if she could scan their encyclopedias on the New World as well; but she was getting too distracted, so she resumed spying on the enemy camp. She instantly identified the Barioth and the Brachydios, highlighting their weak points, but the spiky, horned dragon was completely unknown to her focus. Either way, monsters usually looked red, not purple.

“Perhaps it’s detecting the Black Blight,” she theorized.

Thanks to her focus’ scans, she could write down on her notebook how many corrupt Riders were there and what species of monsters they’d brought, though she still ate her heart out for being unable to recognize the monsters native to the New World. After a few seconds, Hono began to growl and looked at the top of the valley’s eastern wall. Irene paused, looked up and saw it.

The sight of it sent shivers down her spine, even though she couldn’t see it in detail, because her focus was still on. She saw a black mass shaped like a giant dragon atop that cliff. She switched off the device and took cover next to Hono, instinctively drawing her insect glaive. The dragon was lying like a sphinx, keeping its forelimbs crossed and its wings relaxed along its sides. It looked different than its incarnation at the ruins of Zalam: it was now much larger and several details had changed, such as its horns and yellow plates, but there were no doubts.

“The Makili Pietru,” Irene murmured.

She brought a hand to her mouth, as she spoke that name. The monster which was the cause of all that trouble, the parasite which had brought her and her friends the worst misfortunes of their lives: Cheval and his mother, Yuri and her narrowly escaped execution, Avinia and the destruction of her village, all the havoc wrought upon its rebirth and its countless victims, humans and monsters alike, and the pandemic in the land of Sifepoe. Deep down, Irene wanted to fight it. She wanted to blow everything up, attack it; but despite their distance, she could feel the Black Dread’s gaze on her. She felt like fainting: she sensed pride and hubris in those red eyes. It was taunting her. Irene sheathed her weapon and hissed:

“I won’t fall for it, you bastard. Not again. Hono, let’s go! We’ve done enough. We’ve been found out. It hasn’t raised the alarm yet, but I don’t want to be here when it does.”

The Midogaron growled, but it agreed. The Makili Pietru was watching them silently, like a revulture. The girl mounted Hono and he turned back, ready to leave. Irene prepared to ride, but before she spurred him, she turned around to take one last look at the Makili Pietru. She didn’t understand why it wasn’t alerting the monsters, but better not wait to find out.

Hono whined, terrified: he was born after the Makili Pietru’s second coming, so he had no idea how much that parasite had marked the Riders’ lives. He slowly turned around, then gained momentum and went back where they’d come from. The mission had been accomplished, although they’d been spotted by the Makili Pietru, so Irene wasn’t worried. She didn’t even know if that entitled, destructive monster remembered her.

The Makili Pietru growled, as it saw that fanged beast run away with the little girl. It remembered her very well: her Glavenus and she had sliced off its tail and mowed its wings dozens of times. She’d grown up, as had Redan’s heir. Xander claimed it had been two years since its second death, but its resentment, its fury and its desire to take revenge on those humans and their monsters were still strong. It would surely as soon as it saw her, if only it weren’t concerned about something else. The Riders were worthless and the hunters were even weaker, yet it sensed something among them, even more dangerous than the White Miracle.

Redan’s allies don’t scare me: I’m much stronger this time. Those little humans and their monsters will die, I’ll show them no mercy!

Asta had just landed in the Elder’s Recess, right in front of the entrance to the tunnels which had been Mikayla’s home for months. They both got off the Astalos and Xavia stretched, while her sister-in-law gently petted her monster’s head.

“Stay here and stand guard, alright?” she told him.

The Astalos cawed and vibrated his wings to show her he was ready to face any threat. Mikayla gave him a kind smile:

“Thanks, Asta. You’re always the best.”

She left him and joined Xavia, who was watching the entrance to the tunnels with her hands on her hips.

“Sorry about asking you to escort me. I shold’ve known that seeing this place again would…”

“No, it’s fine, really. I decided to come along. All I ask is that we hurry,” Xavia interrupted her.

“Agreed.”

Mikayla went in first. Xavia followed her after giving the Astalos a quick glance, and he looked at her with a seemingly mortified expression. Mikayla made a clumsy attempt to chat:

“You know, last night I slept much better than any night I spent here for the last nine months.”

Xavia raised an eyebrow, perplexed:

“Nine months? You came here together with the Fivers? I think I would’ve noticed, if I’d seen you before.”

“Me, Felix and Ben used fake documents to set sail, then we took advantage of the Zorah Magdaros’ attack to get away. Xander was taken here by his Plesioths, instead. Besides, you were too busy going on your hunts to notice me. Let me tell you, I’ve actually been to Astera plenty of times: I tried to take on as many investigations as I could to research Elder Dragons. We almost spoke once: I recall you were coming back from a Kirin hunt with that guy, Blood Eyes’ boyfriend.”

“Sorry, I don’t remember. Back on the ship, I hadn’t completely recovered from what happened with Xander yet. I recall spending a long time alone or with Hana and Watter.”

“Who’s Watter?”

“He’s my Felyne companion, I met him back in the Old World. He saw that I was always sad and chose to help me, so we became partners over time. However, he hasn’t hunted with me for a long time: he decided to join the Tailraiders, so he’s always at the Third Fleet’s airship.”

“I see. Anyway, I’m glad we never met. In fact, I dare not imagine what would’ve happened if you’d recognized me. Maybe I would’ve destroyed the ship, not the Zorah Magdaros.”

“You would’ve gone that far?”

“The mission was everything to my other self. She would’ve committed genocide, if Xander had told her to.”

All of a sudden, an unknown voice exclaimed:

“Oh! Hey, look who’s there!”

Without noticing, they’d arrived in the main chamber, where they met the Tracker of the First Fleet. She’d laid her backpack onto the table and was reading Xander’s notes and schemes. That was the last thing Xavia was expecting.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, smiling.

The Tracker chuckled and shrugged:

“I saw monsters coming and going near these tunnels for a long time, while doing some research. Now felt like a good time to inspect this place! I found a few documents, but nothing peculiar. Who’s she?” she asked, noticing Mikayla.

“This is Mikayla Aros.”

A little embarrassed, Mikayla paused a bit and stuttered:

“Hello, nice to meet you, er…”

“I’m the Tracker of the First Fleet. Relax! I don’t bite!”

“Pardon me. Well, I’ll go get my armor.”

Mikayla sighed and entered a tunnel, saying nothing else.

“Is she alright? She looks a bit tense,” the Tracker asked.

“We all have a situation: we lost Astera,” Xavia sighed.

“What?”

Xavia summarized as best she could everything that had happened since the Black Blight epidemic. The Tracker was traveling all the time, so it was normal for her to miss the latest news, no matter how crucial. She listened quietly, while Xavia told her everything. The purple-haired huntress left out just a few needless details, but the surprised expression the Tracker made when she heard that Xander had experimented on humans to give them monster powers was hard to describe. Her curious side was coming out, when Mikayla finally came back from that tunnel. She breathed a sigh of relief, now that she wore her Zinogre armor.

“Much better!” she smiled.

“Mikayla, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Could you show me your Zinogre powers? Xavia said…”

“Xavia! Must you really tell everyone?” she protested.

She didn’t like to be in the spotlight, and the Tracker’s intrigued look was making her nervous.

“Of course I must: the more people know of your abilities, the better. There will be no misunderstandings or whatnot, when they see you electrocute monsters with your bare hands,” Xavia justified herself.

“You’re right, sorry. You know, madam, I think you’d get along with that poacher: he asked me the same questions as soon as he got a chance to.”

“You mean Carson? I know him! Xavia, how’s that gentleman doing?” she passionately asked the huntress.

Xavia could hardly stop herself from laughing:

“He’s been very cheerful ever since your date.”

“I figured as much: so have I!”

“Oh, I didn’t expect that,” Mikayla muttered, blushing.

“You could also become friends with him, you know? That Zinogre armor’s sure to catch his attention. Will you show me your abilities now?”

“Fine,” Mikayla sighed.

She took a few steps away, walking backwards.

“Don’t stay too close to me, I don’t want to hit you accidentally with the lightning: I’m not as experienced as my other self.”

Before a confused Tracker could ask her what she meant, Mikayla squinted her eyes and raised her arms. After a few seconds, they could all hear crackling. The noise grew louder and louder; a few seconds later, blue electric shocks formed along Mikayla’s arms, running through her vambraces. The Tracker was very excited, they could tell from her look. At the end of that demonstration, when the Zinogre-woman dispersed the electricity, she brought her hands to her hips and gave her an admiring look:

“I won’t keep you here any longer, ladies. However, I’d really love to see you in action! Will you grant me that honor, someday?”

Mikayla blushed, before nodding with a wide smile:

“Of course! I’d be happy to show you! Just notify me a bit early, so that I can prepare and choose a fitting target.”

“I’m counting on it. Until next time!”

In the evening, Asta finally got back to the Third Fleet’s airship. Mikayla had been very happy for the entirety of the trip. Every time Xavia looked at her, she found that joyful smile on her face. For some reason, she also found it relieving that her sister-in-law was fine. In the past, she’d only wanted to see her suffer and die, but now she felt almost ready to forgive her, to reassure her that she no longer hated her. She was still reflecting on the best way to tell her, but she had no time for it: they were now flying above the new camps around the airship, so she thought she’d wait a few more days. When he landed, Asta waited for them to get off his back, then he stretched and shook, with a tired grumble. Mikayla smiled at him:

“I get it, I get it: I’ll take you to sleep. See you, Xavia!”

“Goodnight, Mikayla.”

She was about to go look for Yuri, when Lucille rushed to her.

“Missus Aros!” she called her, panting.

Lucille was out of breath, so much so that when she got to Xavia - who was cringing for being called that - she rested her hands on her kneels, trying to recover.

“I’ve been looking for you!”

“What happened?”

The Rider looked very worried. Xavia put a hand on Lucille’s shoulder, but the girl grabbed her arm and tugged her:

“It’s about Yuri! She told me to look for you because you’re the only one who can help her!” she yelled.

Xavia gasped in shock, but decided to ask no more.

“Let’s move it, then! Where’s she?!”

“Near the airship! That’s where they set up the infirmary. I’ll take you there!”

Xavia was quick to nod, before following Yuri’s friend. What had happened to her daughter, during the few hours she’d been away?

Chapter Text

“And that’s it. Redan told me to take some rest, because if I don’t, my stone will end up getting infected,” Yuri said, holding a hand on her bracelet.

She’d finally told the twins about her vision, now that they’d put their monsters to rest and were back in the airship. The only other people in there were the Admiral and the Third Fleet Master, who were talking upstairs. The Riders sat down at a table with some charts on it, on the lower level, careful not to touch or damage them. They began to discuss the implications of Yuri’s vision:

“That would be a disaster: your stone is our only weapon against the Makili Pietru. We can’t lose it like that!” Ross stated.

Yuri nodded and, as if she’d read her mind, Lucille spoke before she did:

“Are you afraid that, by seeing you relaxed, the hunters might think you’re taking this lightly, not caring about the danger we’re in?”

“Am I really that easy to figure out?” Yuri asked, embarrassed.

Ross comforted her:

“You worry too much! Everyone’s very busy right now, so I doubt they could even notice that. Besides, you should tell them as well. It won’t do you any good to keep your conversation with him a secret for too long.”

Yuri didn’t look convinced at all:

“I’m aware of that. But you guys know me, you trust me because you know I can get in touch with Redan; they don’t. To them, Redan is just an historical figure. They’d think I’m crazy, if I told them I spoke with his ghost!”

Unable to argue with that, the twins exchanged looks. They both seemed to be concerned. Yuri usually didn’t forgive herself for anything: as soon as she wronged someone or said something in the wrong tone, she apologized countless times and felt guilty, even if no one got offended.

“Did you at least tell your mother?” Lucille asked.

“I wanted to, but I haven’t found the right moment yet. Besides, I’m afraid to let her know the last detail Redan revealed to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Ross asked.

Yuri gasped and rubbed her neck, looking down. She looked very uncomfortable:

“Let’s just say it might explain why that madman Xander wanted to marry my mother and have a kid with her.”

Lucille laid a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye, even though Yuri had begun to stare at her stone.

“Can you tell us about it?”

“We want to help you, but we can do nothing, if you keep silent,” Ross added.

Yuri’s eyes watered up and she looked up. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t speak. No words came out of her, only an animal-like wheeze. She suddenly brought her hands to her mouth, dropped her bracelet onto the table and stepped back so fast that she hit a stool and tipped it over. Her eyes were wide open and her forehead was covered in sweat. The twins gave her a confused look and Ross stood up first, taking a step forward.

“Yuri? Are you okay?”

She gritted her teeth, squinted her eyes and shook her head vigorously. She bent on her knees, panting and holding a hand on her chest. While confused, the twins wasted no time: Ross walked up to her and helped her stand, whereas Lucille approached her and took her hand to comfort her.

“It hurts! It hurts!” Yuri whispered.

“Yuri, what’s happening?” Lucille asked, panicking.

Yuri looked at Ross with a very suffering expression and asked him in a pleading tone:

“Ross, don’t let me take my stone, no matter what I do or say. Please!”

He gave her a confused look, before turning his gaze to the wooden table in front of them. Yuri’s bracelet still lay on it. It seemed to glow with blue light for a second, when Ross glanced at it.

“If you promise to tell us everything afterwards, I will,” he murmured as he picked it up.

“I promise. Thanks,” Yuri smiled, relieved.

Suddenly, however, her smile faded. She bowed her head; now she could stand without their help. Her arms fell along her sides. However, something had changed within her and the twins could sense it: they felt gripe, terror and discomfort all of a sudden, and they both stepped back, because they felt too uncomfortable. Yuri raised her head and stretched. She looked around, before sighing:

“Sorry, guys. It’s been happening to me often lately. I think it’s that damned Fatalis: it wants to rebel against me, but its struggle is useless!”

Ross and Lucille exchanged a knowing look and he covertly nodded to his sister, who winked at him. Yuri looked at her bracelet in his hands with a bit too much interest for Ross’ liking. She smiled and held out her hand:

“Oh, right! My stone! You can give it back now, Ross.”

But he shook his head and stepped back.

“You made me promise not to give it to you, remember?”

“Did I? Sorry, that stupid dragon’s messing with my head. May I have it back?” she repeated, massaging her temples.

Ross gave her a disgusted look, which surprised her:

“You’re not even trying to act like her, you bastard!” he exclaimed.

“What?”

Ross lunged at her and shoved her with his shoulder, making her fall on her butt onto the wooden planks, and pointed an accusing finger at her:

“That stupid dragon? Seriously? Yuri would never say that, especially not about the Fatalis!”

“She respects even Velociprey, you know?” Lucille added, furious.

Yuri was quiet for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. Her laughter was maniacal, chilling the two Riders to the bone.

“What a bore! Did I really have to stand before such caring friends? I wanted to have fun with my orders, I wanted to see your shocked faces after I smashed that stupid stone! Ah, dear Lu-Lu, your stones are useless! You can’t cleanse me with those!” she laughed, standing up.

She stretched out her right arm, which was suddenly covered in flames. She gave them a creepy smile:

“I’m becoming more and more familiar with that stupid monster: soon, it will submit to me. Dad will be so happy when he sees me control these powers perfectly!”

Ross stood in a defensive stance, while Lucille activated her Kinship Stone. The green light blinded Yuri, but it didn’t seem to do anything more.

“Fools! I’ve just told you that won’t work! Now I’ll burn this flying tub, then I’ll smash the stone like I was commanded to! The Makili Pietru will be proud of me! Although I might as well destroy it, once I gain full control over my gene.”

She prepared to cast flames everywhere, but then she felt herself slow down: her movements got sluggish and she felt heavier than before all of a sudden. Her body didn’t respond to her commands anymore. She blinked, trying to understand what was going on, then she saw that Ross had activated his stone as well. She was losing control: the flames on her arm vanished just as quickly as they’d appeared and she fell on her knees, resting her hands on the wooden planks. She glared at them hatefully:

“You bastards! This isn’t over! I’ll fulfill my duty today, no matter what!” she threatened.

But then her eyes seemed to regain vibrancy and opened wide, as if she’d just woken up from a nightmare. Yuri took some deep breaths, gagging. With tears in her eyes, she stammered:

“Help! Guys, you must help me, please!”

Ross helped her up and she kept stuttering in a panic:

“I need my mother! I need to lie down: it’s not over, my chest still hurts! It burns!”

“I’ll go look for her! Take care of her, little bro! I’ll be as fast as I can!” Lucille exclaimed.

That said, she rushed out of the airship, screaming Xavia’s name. Ross nodded and kept holding up Yuri, helping her walk to the infirmary, while she struggled to resist the Black Blight.

Sitting on a stool next to the hospital bed on which the medics had laid her down, Ross asked:

“How are you doing, Yuri?”

Yuri hadn’t spoken since what had happened in the airship. She kept panting, her expression always pained: she kept her eyes closed, while holding her temples with both hands to fight against the disease. She felt as if her heart and brain might burst at any moment. Silence had become insufferable and Yuri was thankful to Ross for asking that question: she wanted to talk to get distracted, but she couldn’t think of anything.

“I can endure for now, but it hurts like hell,” she whispered.

Ross stared at her, serious and terrified at once, and held her hand:

“Everything will be fine. Your mother will be here soon, I’m sure of it,” he said gently, making her blush.

“Thank you, Ross.”

She was about to say something else, when another sudden twinge of pain filled her chest. She bit her lower lip not to scream again, since the one she’d let out before had caught the attention of some hunters passing by. The medics didn’t know what they could do to help her, because she’d refused to be anesthetized, but Ross told them not to worry, so they just shrugged and went to take care of the other patients. Yuri tried to resist, but she eventually gave in and let out an agonizing scream.

“Fuck! Wait, Yuri!”

Ross stood up and activated his Kinship Stone; he let its relaxing green glow shine around them from his bracelet. Just like before, the pain started to slowly subside. After a minute which felt like forever to Yuri, it became bearable again. When the light went out, she was exhausted.

“Yuri, what’s happening to you?!” Xavia’s voice barged in.

Ross, who had wrapped an arm around Yuri’s shoulders to comfort her, was quick to step back with embarrassment and blushed. Before she could even turn to look at her mother, she saw her face a few inches away from hers, while her mother held her hands with anguish. She’d surely heard her scream, so she wanted to make sure she was alright. Yuri looked at the entrance at saw that Lucille was also there, panting.

“Sorry it took so long, I couldn’t find her.”

“No worries. Thanks, Lu-Lu!” Yuri said, while Xavia helped her sit up.

“Yuri, what happened?” she asked.

“The Makili Pietru possessed me and it’s still trying to. I need you, mom! Please, you’re the only one who can help me get rid of it for good!”

Xavia opened her eyes wide, perplexed and incredulous:

“What do you mean, Yuri?”

She tried to explain, but she gasped, moaned and squeezed her temples, when she felt another twang of pain. That fetid black smoke began to rise from her skin. Lucille and Ross exchange a quick knowing look and activated their Kinship Stones at once. The smoke disappeared, but Yuri felt no better: the pain just increased, despite her friends’ attempt to contain the Makili Pietru’s influence.

“Mom, you must hurry! Take my Kinship Stone, you have to purify me! Please, I can’t take it anymore!”

“Me? I’m not a Rider, Yuri! I have no idea how…”

“Yes, you do! Being a Rider doesn’t matter! With an authentic, blessed stone in their hands, anyone can do it.”

Lucille raised an eyebrow, skeptical:

“But Yuri, your stone’s different! Only Redan’s heirs can use it and you’re the only one!”

“I did inherit his blood from someone, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but how can we tell it’s your mother’s bloodline? No offense, Missus Aros!”

“That damned surname…” Xavia sighed.

“Anyway, between a huntress and a Rider, I think your father’s the best candidate.”

“There’s no time! Mom, you have to trust me!” Yuri yelled, almost fainting.

“Always,” Xavia whispered with a nod.

She was still unsure and agreed with the twins. She’d never heard of Redan, before meeting Xander. How could she be a descendant of his? Despite those doubts, she had Ross give her Yuri’s bracelet and tied it to her right wrist.

“If this doesn’t work, I swear I’ll capture Xander myself. I’ll drag him here and make him heal you. That’s a promise, Yuri,” she said, partly joking to ease the tension.

“Thanks, mom. Do you know how the cleansing works?” Yuri asked, drenched in sweat.

Xavia pondered for a second, then nodded:

“I cleansed a monster once. Xander showed me, then he let me try. I still remember.”

Yuri looked surprised, but she was glad not to have to explain the process to her: neither she nor Ross would be capable of describing it, they did it naturally by now. Maybe Lucille could, but she’d certainly digress. Xavia took a deep breath and whispered:

“Let’s begin.”

Yuri nodded, giving her the green light while preparing mentally. The huntress rested her left hand at the center of the bracelet, on the shiny blue stone. She closed her eyes and tried to focus. She removed her left hand and raised her right arm: the bracelet opened and the Kinship Stone glowed blue. Yuri smiled and closed her eyes. She knew what came next. She’d already felt it, even though for a brief moment and with a dampened effect, back in her father’s hideout in the Elder’s Recess.

When the stone’s azure light touched her, she felt like she was burning. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned pale. The smoke of the Black Blight began to come out of her skin once more, which caused her great pain, as if it were piercing her flesh. But this time, she comforted herself, knowing she was finally about to heal. She had to endure the pain for what felt like eternity: she felt Ross and Lucille’s eyes on her, as they watched that huge amount of black smoke leave her body.

Eventually, the pain was gone and the disease was fully eradicated. Yuri felt much lighter and could finally relax. She was still panting, but her breathing was also stabilizing, as well as her heartbeat. She opened her eyes, smiled and looked at Xavia. She wanted to thank her, to show her all of her appreciation. But her joyful expression faded as soon as she saw her: her mother’s eyes were blank. It was impossible to figure out how she was feeling. Yuri looked at Lucille and Ross, looking for suggestions, but even the twins didn’t know what to say to aid her.

“Redan is my ancestor?” Xavia whispered, staring at nothing.

“Yes,” Yuri replied.

Xavia’s eyes watered up and she covered her mouth, disgusted and saddened:

“I guess Xander knew that all along. That’s why I mattered so much to him. He just wanted to get in touch with the Rudria bloodline, he cared about nothing else. He never cared about me.”

She was about to burst into tears.

“Based on how he treated me and the questions he asked me in his lair, it looked like he didn’t know, but I can’t exclude that he might’ve been pretending not to just to have me confirm it. Mom?”

Yuri knew that revelation would break her. She’d been sure of it since Redan had told her. Learning the answer to the question which had haunted her for fifteen years like that? It would’ve been hard on anyone, but it hit Xavia even harder due to her tragic past.

“I’m okay, Yuri,” she said, rubbing her eyes.

The purple-haired huntress sat down on her daughter’s bed and stroked her cheeks.

“I just need to reflect a bit. I wasn’t expecting to make such a discovery, that’s all. I’ll be fine, I just have to let that sink in. But remember: you’re not the one at fault. Got it, Yuri? Don’t feel responsible for this in any way. Sooner or later, I would’ve found out anyway, after this month. Alright?”

“Alright, mom.”

Of course, Yuri felt guilty for having her find it out that way, she was sorry to hear her speak in that tone. But Xavia had asked her not to feel that way, so she strived to ignore that thought. Xavia tried to smile and kissed her forehead:

“Rest now: I suppose you suffered a lot. We’ll talk later, alright? Just the two of us, privately, without distractions.”

Yuri nodded, understanding:

“Thanks, mom,” she whispered.

Xavia ruffled her hair, then she stood up and left the infirmary.

“Was that the mysterious detail Redan revealed to you?” Lucille sighed, disheartened.

Yuri nodded:

“I was keeping it a secret because I wanted to tell my mother about it myself. Guys, I’m sorry for making you worry so much.”

“No worries. At least we know your father doesn’t descend from our founder: that would’ve been shameful,” Ross stated.

Yuri smiled:

“Thanks again, guys! I would’ve made a mess without you, I could’ve destroyed the airship.”

“At least you won’t have to worry anymore. Everything’s fine,” Lucille smiled.

“Yeah. Later, then!”

“Later!”

Yuri fell asleep and woke up a couple of hours later, feeling much better. After putting her armor and bracelet back on, she left the infirmary. While stretching, she looked around and saw that the base camp was now complete: there were countless tents for the hunters all around the Third Fleet’s airship, as well as a makeshift canteen and forge.

It was evening and the sun was setting, so the light sources of the camp were mainly lanterns, bonfires and torches; therefore, Yuri assumed that she wouldn’t be likely to see Mikayla very often after sunset, with all that fire around. She didn’t want to disturb the Admiral or the Commander, so she simply decided to look for her mother by herself. She was a little nervous, now that they finally had a chance to talk about that hot topic. She didn’t know what to say, she had no idea what her mother wanted or didn’t want to know. With that in mind, she wandered among the tents, trying to find a clue on where to find Xavia.

She didn’t have to look for long: one particular tent caught her attention; she could hear people laugh inside. Among the voices, she recognized her mother’s. While hesitant, since she didn’t want to bother the others, Yuri approached the tent, moving the cloth just enough to peek in. She saw Ayla’s team, her mother and their handler: Gionata, Carson, Ayla, Xavia and Eden were laughing, while Yuna made a confused expression:

“Yet I thought I’d gotten this joke!” the wyverian sighed.

“I have to say, you’ve improved since we began. No doubt about that!” Gionata replied.

Ayla proposed another one:

“Let’s try this one; my grandfather always tells it. There are two doctors. One tells the other: ‘I have a patient with memory loss, what do you recommend?’, and the second doctor replies: ‘Get paid in advance.’”

Everyone burst out laughing, but Yuna took it very seriously and began to think with a focused look. Eventually, she timidly said:

“So, if I understand correctly the logic of human cynicism, the second doctor suggested he get paid right away because if he does, should the treatment fail, it won’t be an issue because he’ll already have the zenny and can ignore the patient’s criticisms?”

Everyone laughed even louder and Eden explained while shaking her head:

“No, Yuna! It’s because the patient has memory loss, so he’d better get paid before they forget!”

“Aaaaah! Now I know I still have to work on my cynical logic,” the wyverian sighed.

Xavia took a deep breath to hold in a hiccup, then she noticed Yuri by chance. The Rider blushed, shut the cloth quickly and stepped away from the tent. She heard her mother’s voice apologize, then she saw the cloth move and Xavia came out. Still bright red, Yuri apologized to her mother for interrupting them, but she shook her head and smiled:

“It’s fine. In fact, I should be apologizing: after I calmed down, I came to check on you at the infirmary and found you sleeping. Then they invited me to one of their humor lessons for Yuna and to dinner. It’s been a while since I last ate with them, so I agreed. Hey, would you like to join us?”

“Oh? I wouldn’t like to disturb.”

Yuri shook her head, but Xavia giggled:

“I don’t think they’ll find you annoying! Come on, it’ll be fun! Besides, after what you’ve been through today, you do need some distractions. Don’t you think?”

Yuri relfected on it a little, but then she was persuaded and nodded:

“Alright, mom.”

Xavia smiled, before turning around and raising the cloth of the tent:

“I’ve invited Yuri to eat with us, are you all good with that? I’ll pay for her,” she quipped.

“That’s fine by me,” Ayla nodded.

“No problem,” Gionata said.

Yuna and Eden just nodded. Carson, on the other hand, stared at Xavia’s daughter for a few seconds, then he slapped his knee:

“Damn it! I was hoping we could play ‘never have I everְ’ and have a few pints! Hey, little girl, how well do you think you can hold your liquor?” he winked.

Yuri blushed and scratched her neck:

“I tasted liquor only once, in Pokke.”

“Carson, don’t even think about it! She’s fifteen, she can’t take it: even I can’t, and I’m thirty-six!” Xavia protested.

“Meh, what a bummer! Fine, there’ll be another time.”

When they all left the tent and went to the canteen, Yuri overheard Carson chuckle and ask Xavia:

“Tell me the truth: you just wanted to stop me from forcing you to tell the others about your epic bender gone south because of that stepsister of yours, didn’t you? In front of your daughter, no less!”

“I swear, if you tell her about it, I don’t know what I’ll do to you!” Xavia hissed.

Yuri was intrigued and embarrassed at the same time, so she chose to pretend she hadn’t heard and just followed the group quietly.

The hunters, Eden and Yuri moved to the makeshift canteen run by the Meowscular Chef and his Felyne helpers. Yuri was quiet at first, though she ate the chef’s dishes with relish. She almost felt like an intruder right now, the only one who sat silently, while the hunters were cheerfully chatting around her. Because of her shyness, she only managed to talk when they asked her something, muttering the answers to their questions. When dinner was almost over, she found courage and took a deep breath, before calling the group’s attention:

“Excuse me? I… um… well, I wanted to repay you all for coming to rescue me, back in the Elder’s Recess. Is there anything I could do for you?”

Her will to repay them had arisen while she was flying astride Asta with Ayla, and after those two days, she was still thinking about it. Ayla, Gionata, Carson and Yuna exchanged looks.

“No need for that, don’t worry!” Ayla reassured her.

Carson shrugged:

“I’m good.”

Yuna, on the other hand, said:

“Well, I have a peculiar request. Nina told me you have a Kushala Daora, which is my favorite Elder Dragon species. Is there any chance you could let me ride it?”

Yuri gave the wyverian a surprised look, before clarifying the misunderstanding:

“Huh? I actually wasn’t clear with her that time: I don’t have a Kushala Daora, I only flew a tamed one! It belongs to a redeemed corrupt Rider called Gust; he started off as my enemy, but now he’s a friend. Now Hakum village is on good terms with him and his gang, since we gave him an opportunity to kill their leader, Anvis.”

“Oh, I see,” sighed Yuna.

Yuri looked at her and pondered a bit:

“Actually, I can go to him and ask if we can borrow it. I’ll let you know, but it can be arranged!” she suggested, with a cheerful smile.

“Oh, that would be amazing! Thanks a lot!” the wyverian rejoyced.

“I too have an unusual request, but I’d rather make it privately, back in our tent. May I?” Gionata intruded.

Blood Eyes immediately gave him a perplexed and frightened look. When Yuri agreed, he just chuckled:

“Good!”

After devouring everything on her plate, Eden asked:

“Hey! Xavia, may I ask you something?”

The purple-haired huntress raised an eyebrow, perplexed:

“What?”

“I don’t usually dig into rumors much, but the story of you, Yuri and your husband intrigued me, so I asked Nina and Nick. Is it true that it took you ten years to rise to master rank?”

Hearing that, Xavia blushed and scratched her neck awkwardly, feeling Gionata’s gaze on her.

“Really?” he asked, surprised.

Xavia nodded, crossing her arms:

“I’ll spare you all the details, but yes. I began hunting when I was eighteen, after my father died, because he’d forbidden me until that day, and I partook in low rank missions with my friends. I didn’t move up to high rank before I turned twenty-four, after everything that happened with Xander, and I rose to master rank five years later, only because I was motivated by my stepsister and the announcement of the Fifth Fleet being formed. It’s true, it took me so long,” she concluded with a sigh.

Surprised by that anecdote, Yuri crossed her arms and looked up at the starry sky, as she tried to imagine her mother’s career based on her tales. Shortly thereafter, Gionata cleared his voice and commented:

“Yeah, I think it’s a lot of time! As for me, I entered high rank when I was fifteen. At the age of eighteen, Ayla and I were already master rank hunters,” he proudly recounted.

Ayla glared at him, then justified herself:

“My parents forced me to hunt Gore Magalas very early: I faced one when I was just fourteen, damn it! I don’t think our ultra-fast way up is that surprising.”

“You’re extremely talented. Much more than me, can’t argue with that. Besides, this isn’t a contest: would you truly compare me to Blood Eyes? I wouldn’t stand a chance!” Xavia joked.

It was Carson’s turn:

“I got out of low rank with a Malfestio. In fact, between you and me, I’m still registered as a high rank hunter: I stopped reporting back the jobs I took on after I became a poacher. I’m totally qualified for master rank, though! Not officially, according to the Guild’s documents, but whatcha gonna do? Paperwork’s not for me.”

Yuna talked about herself as well:

“I changed team a couple of times in my career. I normally spent years alone, surrounded by nature: I didn’t hunt in a group much often, so I stopped at low rank with my first group. A few decades later, when my human companions retired, I joined a second team made only of wyverians, and for the next three-hundred years, I moved up to high rank and then master rank. All that led me to join the Research Commission, and now here I am.”

Xavia smiled:

“Well, I’m pleased to know I’m not the only one who took a bit longer to get to master rank. Come to think of it, it was only my depression after Xander’s betrayal that slowed me down like that: I was tired of fighting the weak, sluggish monsters of low rank. By now, I knew their behavior by heart. But I was too afraid to move up. I’m glad to have opened up a little, after all the time I’ve spent with the four of you!”

“I knew it! My snide comment that one time was good for you, eh? Admit it!” Gionata laughed.

He was about to go on, but a double glare from Xavia and Ayla stopped him. He raised a hand to apologize and made a gesture to say that his lips were sealed. Yuna, however, asked innocently:

“You mean that time you told her she was all gloom and doom all the time, as nice as a pregnant Melynx? I recall that she seemed to think about her words very carefully over the next few weeks, before talking to us.”

Xavia suddenly blushed; Ayla, Eden and Gionata looked at the wyverian with their eyes wide open, then Carson burst out laughing and murmurded a sarcastic “whoops”. Yuri didn’t understand anything of what they were saying, so she tilted her head, perplexed:

“What does the pregnant Melynx thing mean? I’ve never heard it before,” she asked her mother.

Xavia looked at her with embarrassment:

“Because it means nothing! It’s just a comparison Gionata made up, because female Melynx expecting kittens are surly and aggressive.”

Yuri slapped her own forehead:

“Oooooh! That’s a relief: for a moment, I thought that before my arrival you were… well, you know…”

Xavia turned bright red and stammered:

“Of course not! I’ve never been with anyone, after I lost you. Yuna, why did you say it?!” she then hissed.

She covered her face with both her hands, while the wyverian observed the others’ amused or awkward expressions with a disoriented look.

Once they returned to Ayla and Gionata’s tent, Yuri asked him what he wanted, now that they could talk about it.

“Well, I’d like a baby Rajang!” he admitted, all dreamy.

Yuri hoped she’s misheard, so she blinked a couple of times, before asking:

“You want to ride one? Irene has a Rajang, I can ask her to…”

“No, no! I mean exactly what I said: I want a baby Rajang for me to raise!” Gionata interrupted her.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?!” Carson snapped.

“Adopting a Rajang?! Are you crazy?” Ayla gasped.

Meanwhile, Yuri paled at the thought of having to look for a pregnant female Rajang, drug her and have her baby imprint on her with her Kinship Stone after it was born: her legs trembled, as she stared at nothing in shock. Could she perhaps wait for Irene’s Rajang to find a mate and take one of their babies? She didn’t know how long that would take. Xavia put a hand on her shoulders, making her snap back to reality.

“Yuri, are you okay? You look pale!”

“A Rajang. I have to find a Rajang,” the girl whispered, scared.

She thought that she’d owe Gust big time. She told Gionata that she’d try, but then she asked if she could sit down for a moment to calm down. She was terrified by Rajangs, having survived the only specimen she’d faced, near Pokke, only thanks to Ross. At some point, Xavia gasped as if she’d suddenly recalled something and asked the gunlancer:

“It’s because of your comic, isn’t it?”

Gionata cheerfully nodded:

“Of course it is! Can you imagine how awesome it would be to have a living, breathing Rajang as my mascot? Saitama would become real! Sure, he won’t start fighting ten master rank hunters a day or eating all those Kirin horns; but my greatest childhood dream would finally come true!”

Yuri recalled hearing that name somewhere before.

“Saitama?” she asked.

Gionata nodded, but before he could reply, they heard Lucille’s voice from outside the tent:

“No, Ross, wait! You can’t…”

She was cut off mid-sentence, when her twin brother suddenly raised the tent cloth. When everyone turned to him, Ross blushed:

“Ah! Pardon me! I just heard someone mention Saitama. Were you talking about One Punch Rajang? I love that comic!”

Gionata looked surprised, whereas Lucille apologized and gave her brother a slap for embarrassing them like that. Xavia, on the other hand, giggled:

“Looks like you’ve met a fan of yours, Gionata!”

Upon hearing those words, Ross’ eyes lit up and he gave a marveled smile.

“Wait, are you truly Gionata Uberti?! Are you the author?!”

Gionata nodded and the boy chuckled, amazed:

“Can I get your autograph on a copy I brought from home? I’m a big fan!”

Gionata was head over heels. He nodded and winked:

“Sure thing! I’ll be glad to sign!”

Then Ross eagerly rushed out, while Lucille and Yuri exchanged an embarrassed look. After less than two minutes, Ross came back with a volume of the comic – the fourteenth one: on the cover, there was an airborne Nargacuga and a Rajang with its fist raised towards its private parts; but a black blur censored what was in the middle. Ross handed it to Gionata, claiming that was his favorite issue, and he chuckled as he checked the cover:

“Ah, Speed-O’-Sound Nargasonic’s first appearance! It’s also Xavia’s favorite issue, you know?”

“Mom?! You read that sh… stuff?” Yuri gasped.

Her mother suddenly blushed, embarrassed:

“Well, yes. I mean, what’s wrong with it? It’s very funny! It’s perfect to flip through between hunts. I started reading it because Gionata offered me his new volumes, to thank me for teaching him how to use hammers. Whenever I can, I read the newest issues, that’s all.”

Ross exclaimed:

“Yeah, it’s one of the best comics I’ve ever read! All the others are about unbeatable hunters, but here, the main character is a super-strong Rajang who tries to convince the Guild to classify him as an Elder Dragon! He even mentors a Valstrax called Genos!”

“I used to read it, but I had to stop because I was too busy. Yeah, it was funny, but I still don’t understand how a Rajang can be strong enough to kill a Lao Shan Lung with one punch,” Lucille commented.

Her brother grinned:

“In fact, he explains it a few chapters after the one you stopped at, in the fight against Chomper, the bandit savage Deviljho! I know that speech by heart: ‘I did a thousand push-ups, I threw a thousand punches at rocks, I bench-pressed with a tree a thousand times, I ran for a hundred kilometers, and I beat ten master rank hunters every day over the last three years! All this while having plentiful meals to temper my spirits: in the morning, five Kirin horns were enough. For lunch and for dinner, I had twenty!’ I buckled over laughing, when he said that!”

As he recited those lines, Yuri facepalmed and Lucille looked away. The two girls exchanged an awkward look. Gionata stared at Ross with an amazed, almost moved expression. After signing the copy of the comic issue, he stood up and hugged him, making the boy blush.

“Can we leave, mom?” Yuri whispered, embarrassed.

“Fine. Until next time, guys! Goodnight!”

The hunters waved her goodnight, before she and her daughter left the tent. Lucille ran away as well, her face bright red because of the bad impression her brother was making.

“Night, Yuri!” she exclaimed.

“See you tomorrow, Lu-Lu!”

At that point, the girl followed her mother to their tent. Deep down, she was already mentally preparing to discuss the matter of Redan’s legacy with Xavia, as well as Xander’s interest in it.

Chapter Text

The morning came early, at the new basecamp around the Third Fleet’s airship: Xavia left her tent quietly, stretched and looked up at the clear sky. A very pleasant breeze was blowing that day: she took a moment to relax, then she moved the tent’s cloth and saw that her daughter was still sleeping. They’d spent over an hour discussing what was worrying Yuri, last night: she’d told her mother about the nightmare she’d had because of Fatalis, about Redan’s vision and that the first Rider had recommended she rest not to affect her stone, before revealing that he was Xavia’s forefather.

The purple-haired huntress had calmed her down quite easily, in fact: she’d talk to the Admiral and the Commander about the situation, naturally omitting the nightmare detail. In return, she had Yuri promise not to try and keep everything bottled in: if she needed to talk, to vent, Xavia was there for her, and she always would be. Yuri’s eyes had almost watered up upon hearing her mother say that, but of course, she’d agreed without fear, thanking her heartily. Xavia closed the tent, before turning around and heading to the airship. It was still early, but when she stepped in, she found the Admiral sitting at a table: the blond hunk was resting his elbows on it, flipping through the notebook which Irene had given him after her recon. Xavia approached him:

“Good morning, sir,” she greeted him.

The leader of the Research Commission was so focused on Irene’s notes that he gasped, before turning to her.

“Ah, good morning, huntress! An early bird, aren’t you? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you coming,” he said, massaging his neck.

Xavia nodded, understanding:

“It’s fine, I saw you were busy. What’s the situation?”

The Admiral sighed and shrugged, before turning his back on her:

“We’re still getting nowhere, but at least we have more intel: the battlefield is a pretty clear area, so the corrupt Riders won’t be able to ambush us. My biggest concern is that, according to the albino girl’s notes, it’s full of Old World monsters. See for yourself.”

Xavia leaned over the table and took a look at the notes. Ignoring the hasty handwriting, she could read clearly the names of many monsters found in the Old World: Agnaktors, Najaralas, Nerscyllas, even Blangongas and Gravios, just to mention a few.

“If I may ask, why do these monsters concern you, sir? I think most of us have faced species even more dangerous than these, apart from the beginners of the Sixth Fleet.”

Crossing his arms, the Admiral replied:

“They’re the ones who worry me, as well as the hunters who were born and raised in this continent, like the Commander’s grandson. Then I realized something else, reading these notes: the blonde Rider doesn’t seem to know the fauna of the New World at all. She told me she described the monsters she didn’t know, but she couldn’t even identify Anjanaths or the Nergigante. I don’t know if that’s also the case with the other two Riders, but I think we have to find a way to fix that.”

Xavia reflected a bit, then she came to a realization and suggested:

“I might have an idea: we could have them visit the biomes of the New World, even witht the purpose of checking on those regions. We don’t know how bad the situation is in the Elder’s Recess, in the Wildspire Waste and in the Rotten Vale; just assign some hunters as their guides and we could kill two birds with one stone!”

The Admiral thought about it, then he nodded, satisfied:

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea at all! I’ll have to discuss it with the others, but we could begin today,” he mused, rubbing his chin.

“I’m glad I could help, sir!” Xavia nodded, smiling.

Then the Admiral closed the notebook and asked her:

“Anyway, what did you need to tell me? I don’t suppose you came here to talk about this.”

Xavia looked around, making sure no one was listening, and explained:

“It’s about my daughter. I know it might sound absurd, but…”

The Admiral burst out laughing, shaking his head:

“I saw a parasite with a hive mind shift the Xeno’Jiiva’s body and a Rathalos turn into a silver Rathalos: nothing can surprise me by now! So go ahead, tell me.”

“She had a vision and spoke with Redan, the Rider who first defeated the Makili Pietru.”

Despite what he’d just said, the Admiral gave her a surprised and confused look. However, Xavia went on:

“He instructed her to rest, or else we won’t be able to defeat that parasite for good. Even if we killed the Xeno’Jiiva and stopped the army of corrupt Riders, it wouldn’t be a victory: it would find another host and we’d have to fight it again.”

The Admiral raised an eyebrow:

“Basically, our victory depends on your daughter relaxing?”

“That’s what she told me last night. Still, she won’t be doing nothing: she wants to help as much as she can, here at the camp.”

The Admiral took a moment to ponder, then he shrugged:

“I don’t quite understand this Rider stuff, but if that’s necessary to make that disease go away for good, then I don’t see why I should deny her. I just have to report that she can’t partake in any investigations for a while, right?” he concluded.

“Yes, that’s what it all comes down to,” Xavia nodded.

“Then it can be arranged! Tell her not to worry and that I’ll let the Commander and the other hunters now,” he declared.

Xavia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled:

“Thank you, sir! At least she’ll finally get to calm down: she told me she’s been thinking about how to tell you without sounding crazy.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle:

“Indeed, I might’ve thought she was, if this entire ordeal weren’t already so absurd! Anyway, I’m off to discuss your idea with the Commander, so at least we can get to work when everyone else wakes up.”

Xavia nodded and thanked him one last time, then she turned around and left the airship.

“And when I reached the end of the den together with Viola, I found the egg!”

With a hint of undisguised pride, Irene stroked her gold Rathian’s neck. She was telling the story of how she’d tamed her: she’d begun to talk about it to break the gloomy silence haunting the Elder’s Recess that day. They hadn’t encountered a single monster yet: the entire volcanic region appeared to be deserted, and the only creatures they’d found were some peaceful Gajalaka, small groups of moonlight geckos scurrying between rocks and a few blastoads. Right now, they were near the exit of the lava caves: they’d gone through them in order to reach the rocky cliffs and check their summit. As she listened to that anecdote, Ayla snorted softly and rolled her eyes:

“So you basically just got lucky,” she thought, aggravated.

The Admiral had pretty much compelled her to escort the young Rider: she needed a guide to that region she didn’t know; and who could accompany her and check on the Recess at the same time better than Blood Eyes? On the other hand, the huntress had agreed partly out of curiosity: she wanted to see if they had anything in common beside the red eyes and the pale complexion. But the longer she listened to her, the more she realized that Yuri was right: Irene was nothing like her. At that point, she noticed that Irene was staring at her, waiting for a reply before going on, so Ayla forced herself to say something:

“I see. I guess it was hard.”

“Yes, a little. Still not as difficult as getting Skull, my Gore Magala!”

Ayla opened her eyes wide, hearing that. She had no time to comment, for the albino girl kept talking:

“I’ve been the first Rider to fight and add the monster of the Frenzy virus to her contingent, at just fourteen years old! Normally, it would be sacrilege for us Riders to slay Elder Dragons, but Gore Magala become such only in their adulthood. They’re unclassified monsters as juveniles, so that was no issue!”

Irene gave a cheerful smile and moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. Ayla couldn’t believe it: that Rider spoke with boundless self-esteem, yet she didn’t seem to realize it. She strived to take a deep breath, before shaking her head:

“Good thing you didn’t decide to bring it here: I assume it’s not able to control the virus yet. Combined with the Black Blight, it would’ve been an even bigger mess.”

Irene glanced at her for a moment, then she nodded with slight embarrassment:

“Yeah, you’re right. Right now, he’s with an old friend of my mentor’s: he’s an ace at taming the most fidgety monsters. He wants to help him control himself better: he’s never had a chance to try it before, so he was eager to train a Gore Magala! However, I didn’t have much of a choice, when it came to which monsters to take to the New World. You know, I actually wasn’t even supposed to come here with Lucille and Ross: our friend Cheval was, but he had to refuse at the last minute for personal reasons. My only monsters ready to leave were Glaze and Raith and we were already late, so…”

“Hey, be quiet,” Ayla whispered, masking her annoyance.

She believed she’d heard a metal-like sound, coming from somewhere ahead. They now stood in front of a cave whose entrance was covered in claw marks and Elder Dragon remains, indicating that was a Nergigante den. Ayla brought a hand to the hilt of her switch axe, while Raith raised her head and looked around for any threats. Irene petted her kinsect, before bringing a hand to her temple and activating her focus. She looked around, then stated:

“False alarm. There’s nobody there,” she said.

Ayla, who had taken a couple of cautious steps towards the cave, turned to her, confused:

“How do you know?” she asked.

The Rider pointed at her right temple and Ayla noticed a circle of blue light next to it.

“I have this tiny device called a focus, I got it in another world. It allows me to… what was the word, again? Scan! That’s it! Scan my surroundings. Basically, I can also see through walls: if it detects living beings, monsters and humans alike, it highlights them for me. So no one can sneak up on us!” she proudly explained.

Ayla, however, wasn’t convinced:

“But I did hear something over there, I’m telling you. Are you sure that thing’s not broken?” she asked testily.

That Rider was definitely getting on her nerves now: she was too confident.

“Poor Yuri, I dare not imagine what spending fifteen years with her must be like,” she thought.

“Perhaps you simply misheard, Blood Eyes,” the girl replied.

The fact that she’d gone as far as to casually call her that was the last straw for Ayla: she stood in front of Irene, irritated, and the girl got a little scared. Exacerbated, Ayla snapped:

“Listen closely. There are three things I can’t suffer: that damned nickname, pointless vanity and idiocy. You’ve given me all three!”

Irene raised a hand and opened her mouth, but Ayla gave her no time to talk back:

“You’ve been bragging all this time: a gold Rathian is born every once in a blue moon, and from your story, it’s easy to understand that you just got lucky! You could’ve totally found a normal Rathian in that den! You faced a Gore Magala when you were fourteen? Well, so did I! There’s no reason to be proud of it, you’re not special! Why are you so proud of having a baby Gore Magala, anyway?! They can’t control the Frenzy virus; a terrible epidemic might break out because of you! I don’t see why you would be happy about it! And now will you please shut up for a while?! You’ve been droning on since we left camp! Learn to deflate that ego as big as a Duramboros, instead!”

Ayla ended her speech by exhaling all of her anger with a long, aggravated sigh. She turned around and quickly walked into the Nergigante’s den to check on the sound she’d heard. After taking a few steps, she turned back to Irene, urging her to follow her. The Rider stared at her with hey eyes wide open: she looked shocked. A few seconds later, she bowed her head, mortified. Raith raised her head and called her mistress with a soft caw, as if to ask her if she was okay. Irene narrowed her eyes, before shaking her head:

“Have I really spent all this time bragging, Raith?” she asked, feeling guilty.

Raith gave her a fond croak. Ayla turned around and moved on; Irene and the gold Rathian joined her when she stopped to inspect some strange purple spikes stuck in the ground. Surprised, Irene asked:

“What are these? They look like they belong to the spiky dragon I saw at the corrupt Riders’ camp! But its weren’t purple, they were white.”

“What you saw was a Nergigante,” Ayla replied.

Blood Eyes took her knife and tried to scrape off a fragment of those purple spikes, so as to obtain a sample for the scholars to examine. Meanwhile, she kept explaining:

“Their spikes can grow and harden until they turn black, but they’re nothing compared to these ones: they look like metal! Maybe the quake caused by that volcanic eruption made them fall.”

“Eruption?” Irene asked, surprised.

“You were so busy bragging that you didn’t notice it,” Ayla sighed, shaking her head.

Irene covered her mouth, embarrassed. She looked down, whispering an apology. Ayla rolled her eyes and told her not to worry. She observed the spikes, concerned.

“Maybe we should head back. I have a bad feeling about this,” she said.

Suddenly, the focus flashed and began beeping frantically: Irene had forgotten to switch it off. She looked up and around.

“What’s going on?” Ayla asked, confused.

Irene didn’t answer: she got off Raith’s saddle and ventured further into the Nergigante’s den. Ayla and the gold Rathian were quick to follow her.

“Hey, where are you going?”

When she finally joined her, Ayla saw her push and move away some large crystals.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to pull this out!”

Upon exclaiming that, the girl picked up a large grey egg and showed it to the huntress. Ayla gasped: when Irene lifted it up, she saw the fetid smoke of the Black Blight leaking through the shell for a moment.

“Is it an infected egg?” she asked, surprised.

Irene nodded, putting it down.

“The focus detected the Black Blight in it; the Makili Pietru is stirring for some reason. You’re right, we’d better go back.”

“Why aren’t you cleansing it?”

Irene spread her arms, then sighed and ran a hand through her hair:

“I’ve already tried, but my Kinship Stone isn’t powerful enough: only Yuri’s can purify infected eggs. Otherwise, we have to wait for the infected baby monster to hatch.”

Ayla understood that her vent from earlier, due to her aggravation, had had quite the impact on the Rider: her tone had changed completely, compared to minutes ago. She had to admit she’d been too wrathful and felt a bit guilty. So she gave Irene an encouraging smile and picked up the egg:

“Then let’s hurry and head back, come on!”

The Rider smiled back and nodded:

“You can mount Raith! You’ll surely be more comfy while carrying it” she proposed.

Ayla followed her and saddled up behind the girl, then the gold Rathian began to walk out of the cave.

“Yuri!”

Irene called for her friend loudly, while she and Ayla ran through the base camp. Yuri noticed the grey egg and asked them:

“What is this?”

She ran to them, while some of the closer hunters gave curious looks at Blood Eyes and the egg in her arms for a few moments, before going back to their tasks. Irene turned to the huntress and replied:

“We found this egg in the Elder’s Recess. It’s infected.”

Yuri gave it a closer look, then smiled:

“I see. I’ll take care of it. Ayla, I suggest you step back: the cleansing will cause the egg to hatch, and the newborn monster might hurt you.”

“Alright,” Ayla nodded.

She crouched and laid down the egg very carefully, almost scared by the thought of breaking it if she were too rough. Irene stood behind Yuri, while the huntress stepped back a couple of meters, staying in front of them. Yuri observed the egg a little longer, then she clenched her right fist and reached out. She squinted her eyes and took a deep breath, then the mechanism of her bracelet activated: the Kinship Stone was exposed and its usual warm, relaxing green light began to shine from the ore.

The light shrouded the egg, speeding up the embryo’s development, and it started to get bigger. In a few seconds, it became bigger then the two Riders, almost taller than Ayla. Irene was surprised by the size it was growing to, wondering what monster could be inside. Ayla, on the other hand, watched with extreme curiosity what was a mundane sight for those girls.

The stone began to shine more intensely, forcing the huntress to cover her eyes to avoid being blinded. Yuri and Irene did the same, but they were able to stare at that glow effortlessly after a couple of seconds. Ayla looked again only when the light was gone, and she heard an unmistakable roar, which caused her, Yuri and whoever else heard it to freeze. The only one who didn’t was Irene: she recognized that monster, it was the same spiky dragon she’d spotted at the battlefield, the so-called Nergigante Ayla had mentioned to her.

The newborn monster was facing Ayla, who stepped back, intimidated. The hatchling stretched and spread its wings, with its eyes still closed. The bone spikes on its body were as white as milk, in their softest, most fragile state. Wagging its tail, it opened its eyes after a few seconds. Ayla ended up staring at the hatchling’s yellow eyes. She instinctively reached behind her back for the hilt of her switch axe, but she didn’t find it.

Only then did she recall that she’d left it in her tent, upon arriving. The baby Nergigante stood still for a few moments more, trying to focus on what it saw. Then it blinked twice and looked around, curious. It took its very first steps towards the huntress, who stepped back in fear. A terrified wyverian scholar pointed at it and yelled:

“A Nergigante!”

His scream was followed by several surprised, frightened, incredulous, and panicking exclamations from everyone else, as if they’d all recovered from the initial shock at once. However, it was their panic that caught the Nergigante’s attention. It tilted its head, confused at the sight of a hunter who rushed over with his gunlance, upon hearing that fuss: it was Gionata. He opened his eyes wide, pointing the barrel at the hatchling, before gritting his teeth:

“Ayla, get away!” he shouted.

Seeing the armed hunter, the baby Nergigante looked even more scared than all those people. It took a couple of big leaps and got behind Ayla, who could barely close her eyes and brace for impact by raising her arms, seeing it approach so fast. She expected it to attack her, but it didn’t: with her eyes still closed, she could hear the hatchling whine in terror, rubbing its head on her back. She took courage, slowly turned around and looked at the newborn monster, which was “hiding” behind her for protection and comfort. It felt sheltered, even though its size didn’t hide it at all behind the huntress. Gionata approached, still pointing his bayonet at the monster.

“Ayla?” he called her.

But the huntress stood motionless, watching the hatchling. She slowly turned to it, then she gently laid her right hand on the Nergigante’s head, right between its horns. She began to caress it tenderly and it came even closer to her, still scared. Ayla understood that it was enjoying it: it had basically stopped shaking and all of its muscles were relaxed. It popped its jaw and let out a gleeful sound, before opening its lively eyes: it stared at the woman, tilting its head while she kept petting it. Trying to convince herself, she whispered:

“I don’t think it’s dangerous.”

The Nergigante started wagging its tail very fast and closed its eyes again. It looked very happy. Ayla turned to Gionata and repeated it louder:

“It’s not a threat!”

“How can you be so sure?!” he asked, incredulous.

Irene intervened:

“It has imprinted on her! Now it thinks Ayla’s its mother! If no one provokes it, it’ll stay calm!”

Gionata looked at her first, then at Yuri, seeking confirmation of what she’d just told him. Yuri then nodded:

“It’s true.”

So Gionata looked away: his expression was still doubtful, but he laid down his weapon. The Nergigante calmed down and relaxed its muscles, with a relieved growl. Irene nudged Yuri and smiled at her:

“Doesn’t this make you a little homesick?”

“Yes, a lot. It reminds me of Ratha’s birth,” she replied, with a wistful smile.

Ayla was still petting the baby Nergigante, when she heard its stomach gurgle: it sounded very hungry. The hatchilng, however, raised its head and began to sniff the air: it smelled a tantalizing scent coming from one of the nearby tents. It quickly rushed past Ayla and Gionata, lunging at Yuna and Carson’s tent: it barely crawled into it, as it didn’t fit in there. It tried to make room for itself by spreading its wings, tearing the cloth completely: it was torn to shreds, exposing the two hunters’ sleeping bags and weapons.

“What’s it doing?” asked a hunter passing by.

It all happened too fast: Ayla was still shocked by what the hungry hatchling had done. The baby monster didn’t care, though: following the scent, it found a box. It broke the lid with its claws, then it began to ravenously eat its contents. Ayla recognized that box: Yuna had shown it to the team a couple of times. It contained the gems of all the Elder Dragons she’d hunted over her centuries-long career.

Gionata seemed to recognize it as well, so they both rushed to the monster, trying to take it from its paws to stop it, but it was too late: it had eaten all the gems. It dropped the box, satisfied, then a scream scared it. It turned around after standing up on its hind legs, but the sight of two more armed hunters was the last straw: it took off flapping its wings and soared in the sky, higher than the clouds, heading to the highest peaks of the Coral Highlands. 

“My gems! No!”

Yuna was the one who’d screamed: she and Carson had just returned to their tent. They’d stopped by the canteen to bring the chef some ingredients he’d asked them to find, but neither would’ve ever expected anything like that. The wyverian quickly rushed to the tent, running past her companion. Carson took off his straw hat in surprise and asked:

“What the fuck happened here? Why was there a Nergigante?! Where the hell did it come from?!”

Yuna couldn’t care less, however: she grabbed the box the baby Nergigante had dropped and realized it was empty. Her world fell apart and she felt weak, at the thought that centuries of hard work had gone up in smoke: she dropped the box, then rested her hands on the ground and let out a desperate scream. She burst in tears: some of them dripped on the dirt, before she brought her hands to her face. Her teammates had never seen her sob like that. Ayla and Gionata exchanged looks, sorry and well aware that Blood Eyes had much to explain to her companions. Meanwhile, Yuna couldn’t stop sobbing, her face bright red, and muttered:

“My gems! I’ve been collecting them for two hundred ninety-one years! They were all so well-preserved! What did I do to deserve this?”

Irene and Yuri looked at each other as well: the albino girl shrugged, feeling a bit uncomfortable, and Yuri scratched her head, before looking at her mother’s friends. Not knowing what to do, they walked away.

LATER THAT NIGHT…

“Do you really think it’ll show up?” Gionata asked.

“I think it’s worth a shot,” Ayla replied, determined.

She’d had a feeling she couldn’t quite describe, in the few minutes during which that baby Nergigante had been with her at the base: she felt compelled to look after it. Of course, she had no idea what a parent felt like, and she thought there was no need to ask Xavia or anyone else she knew who had children, but she was ready to wager that it must feel similar.

Therefore, when the hatchling had fled to the Coral Highlands, a strong need to see it again soon had crept into her. It hadn’t been easy to convince her team to help her, especially Yuna, whose cheeks were still red after all that weeping a few hours ago, but they’d eventually agreed to join her in the search for the little Nergigante. Eden had come along: trying to change her mind had been pointless, for their handler was too eager to see a friendly Nergigante treating Ayla like a mom, and she wanted to record everything, as usual.

They’d been following its tracks across the coral peaks for two hours: they seemed to lead to the highest grounds, where Kirins often roamed. Eventually, they chose a good spot to try and lure it: one of the platforms on the coral pillars reaching up beyond the clouds, near the northern edge of the Great Ravine, the rocky wall separating the Coral Highlands from the Elder’s Recess. Ayla took her switch axe, gave it to Gionata and declared:

“This spot will do.”

“Are you sure you want to be unarmed? I mean, what if it feels like playing and hurts you, or worse?” he asked, nervous.

“We need to have faith, every now and then. You said it yourself, once!” Ayla winked at him.

Then the others moved away, as she’d requested, and hid in a bush of brown fiddleheads, with their weapons drawn in case of accidents. Ayla took a deep breath and laid down in front of her the Kirin horns and Kushala Daora scales they’d brought as bait, hoping for the Nergigante to be drawn to them. She sat down and the wait began. While her friends were alert in the bush, Eden was crouched among them with her notebook open and her goggles lowered, scanning the sky.

Nothing happened for half an hour. The tension and the fear that an infected monster would suddenly show up filled them all with unprecedented anxiety: Carson was squeezing his lucky Zinogre horns so hard that he was about to wear them out. But in the end, their patience paid off. From the platform in front of them, Ayla heard an unmistakable grunt.

Everyone looked up at its edge and, under the moonlight, the dark shape of a horned head appeared. Ayla stood up, very excited but also intimidated. The Nergigante got down with an agile glide and landed right in front of her. It stared at the food for a few seconds, then it made a funny growl: ravenous and joyful at the same time. It devoured everything in just a few bites, savoring every single piece. When it was done, it licked its teeth and turned to its ‘mother’. It regognized her and she recognized it.

Head over heels, the little Nergigante approached her and she resisted the urge to step back: she didn’t want to show any signs of fear – she didn’t need to. The hatchling rubbed its snout on her, just like before, then it licked her face. Disgusted, but very excited, Ayla gave it a wide, amazed smile and stroked its snout. She would’ve never thought she could do anything like that in her life: petting and actually loving one of the most violent and dangerous monsters in the New World.

The hatchling was so happy about the cuddling that it gently wrapped a paw around her and pulled her towards it, “hugging” her and holding her to its belly without pressing too hard. Then it sat down like a giant pet. It was imposing, compared to Ayla, yet it was still looking for her protection.

“Wonderful!” Eden exclaimed.

The Nergigante heard her and gave the bush a curious look, scaring them. Carson quietly slapped her in the neck and took aim, but Ayla got off the Nergigante and reassured them:

“It won’t harm us, I can feel it! Come!” she smiled.

They hesitated a little, but were eventually convinced, and they slowly came out, sheathing their weapons and staring at that unusually docile monster, fascinated. Eden stood behind them, scribbling on her notebook, her gaze darting between the Nergigante and the pages. Not afraid or bothered at all, the Nergigante observed them one by one, remembering their faces from the camp.

It brought its snout closer to them and smelled their armor to learn their scents: its ‘mother’ was covered in them, so from its point of view, they were related to her – which led it to believe they were family. Gionata and the others broke a cold sweat, but they slowly got used to it and started smiling as well, incredulous and excited. When it sniffed Eden, the feather of her quill tickled its nose and made it sneeze, covering her in mucus.

“Would you look at that: it learnt how to treat you right away!” Carson joked, chuckling.

“It’s… ah… wow!”

Eden was too awestruck to comment. Gionata took courage and stroked the dragon the same way Ayla did. It was an unique feeling for him as well.

“Hello, buddy! Am I supposed to be your dad?” he quipped.

“If you want to be,” Ayla laughed.

“Well then, these are uncle Carson and aunt Yuna! And there’s your cousin Eden right there. She’s a little quirky, so don’t mind her if she makes a scene!” Gionata joked, laughing it off.

“So, have you thought of a name for it?” the handler asked, still amazed.

Ayla actually had. She’d even come up with one:

“Yes. I’ll call him Ygren!”

As if it identified with it, the Nergigante let out a pleased moan, as the moon began to set and the first purple rays of dawn appeared beyond the Great Ravine. Unfortunately, it was time for them to go. Ygren, the first friendly Extinction Dragon ever, was sad to leave his ‘mom’ again: it stared at them with a rueful expression until they were gone in the coral undergrowth. Eventually, however, he decided to spread his wings and resume roaming the world he’d been born in, which would soon become his hunting grounds: he was still a Nergigante, after all.

“What’s the matter, Irene? Couldn’t you wait until tomorrow?” Ross asked, still sleepy.

The albino girl had woken him, Lucille and Yuri at dead of night. They’d gathered near the spot where their monsters slept, in the light of a lantern. Ross was exhausted: he’d scoured the Wildspire Waste together with the Commander’s grandson, even fighting an infected Diablos and black Diablos in the process. His twin sister had been luckier: she’d been to the Coral Highlands with Erika. They’d mostly made small talk with their guides while exploring all day, and Lucille had gotten a glimpse of almost all the endemic critters from that region.

“I’m sorry, but I had to ask you guys before I forgot,” the blonde admitted with a tense sigh.

She took a moment more, much to her friend’s confusion and curiosity, before speaking:

“Today, while I was exploring with Ayla, I pissed her off. I bragged all the time without realizing it and she responded in kind to me when she couldn’t take it anymore. She told me my ego is as big as a Duramboros. Now, answer me honestly: am I really so terrible?”

Lucille replied with no hesitation, surprising them all:

“Yes, you’re self-centered. A tad.”

It was Ross’ turn:

“I too have to admit it, unfortunately: when we tell you about our achievements, you often try to retort through your own deeds. It feels like you want to prove that you’re better than us at all costs.”

“What?! For real?” Irene jabbered.

But she was even more dumbfounded when Yuri, bowing her head and shrugging, confessed to her:

“I must tell you the truth: back when I was my father’s puppet, I learnt that I was extremely jealous of you and I wanted to surpass you no matter what. Forgive me.”

In utter shock, Irene was quiet for a few seconds. Then she put her hands behind her head and let out a soft giggle:

“Damn, I’m even worse than Ayla told me! Shit! Was I actually such a jerk to you all for over ten years?!”

Her voice got so loud that Glaze woke up for a second, not far from them.

“Why did you never tell me?” she asked.

“I think we were all used to it by now,” Lucille replied, mortified.

“I’m so sorry! I really am! I never realized how much of a shitty friend I was!”

Irene covered her eyes, shedding tears of shame and regret. The three young Riders exchanged a guilty look, feeling sorry for their friend. Yuri patted her shoulder and said:

“But after you trained with Silva, you improved a lot, you know?”

“Besides, you don’t compare our deeds to yours so often anymore,” Ross added.

“True, you show off a bit too much at times, but you’re not a shitty friend! Don’t even think that!” Lucille concluded.

Irene wiped her tears with her arm and sobbed; she stared at them, more moved than ever:

“Oh, you guys! I swear I’ll try to stop it! As soon as I happen to brag with you without noticing, please, point it out to me!”

“We promise!” they said.

Irene was filled with joy:

“Thanks! Thanks a thousand times over!” she exclaimed with a wide smile.

Chapter Text

With the sightings of infected monsters by the Tailraiders becoming more and more frequent, the Admiral and the Commander had decided that it would be safer for everyone to take care of the specimens found in problematic places for those tasked with gathering useful resources. They’d also asked the Riders what they thought was the wisest move, but they were told that by now it was too late to cleanse those monsters: the best thing to do was kill the infected specimens, once the Makili Pietru manifested itself.

All monsters affected by the Black Blight had been the targets of the hunters’ investigations since, and the objective was specifially to slay them. Right now, Mikayla was having an intense argument with the Provisions Manager at the resource center: she wanted to be helpful, taking on some investigation to slay infected monsters, but she’d been denied permission. Exasperated, she asked:

“What do you mean, I can’t leave?! I spoke to the Admiral: I too can partake in these hunts to help you all! There’s so much to do here, the least I can do is…”

The manager, however, gave her a sorry look and tried to explain herself:

“We know, darling, but the Commander’s grandson told us you may not leave on your own. You should ask at least one person to accompany you and…”

Clenching her fists, Mikayla cut her off:

“Yeah, I know, you’re afraid I might go back to Xander and betray you. But how am I supposed to prove that I’m no threat, if you won’t even give me a chance to do so? I hate my brother more than anyone else, after what he did! I’d rather be killed than join him again!”

She meant it: her tone was extremely serious, as she said it, so much so that even the Provisions Manager was baffled. However, she shook her head:

“You don’t understand. That’s not what I meant: we’d rather you take someone with you for safety! The Riders told us that infected monsters are getting even more dangerous, so…”

Mikayla interrupted her again, narrowing her eyes and folding her arms:

“I used to be a Rider. Yes, they’re more dangerous, but I can handle them. Can I seriously not leave by myself? Oh, please!”

In fact, Mikayla wouldn’t mind working with someone: she’d usually go with Felix and Ben, during their quests to slay Elder Dragons in the New World. However, she was afraid nobody would team up with her: she was still the sister of the madman who’d put them all into that absurd situation, so it was only natural that no one accepted to be with her. She wasn’t even sure she could ask Xavia.

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible, I’m sorry,” the Manager said, scratching her head.

Then Mikayla took a long sigh of resignation:

“Fine, I get it. I’ll try and ask someone to come with me, then.”

She turned around to leave. Only then did she notice that her argument with the Provisions Manager had caught someone’s eye: she found Carson standing right in front of her, with a pleased expression. She swallowed with embarrassment, looked away and tried to leave, but the former poacher surprised her with his offer:

“I’ll go with her. I’ll be the one to keep an eye on the Zinogre woman. No worries.”

Both Mikayla and the Provisions Manager were quite surprised, especially the latter: having learnt to know each hunter, she’d never expect a sworn enemy of impromptu decisions like Carson to offer for something like that.

“Really?” Mikayla asked him, puzzled.

Carson shrugged:

“I’m still allowed to shoot you in the head if you try to do something you shouldn’t. Come on, pick a hunt: I’d like to be back here by nightfall!”

Mikayla gave a slight smile, before nodding and turning back to the Manager, who opened the bounty register and showed it to her. She eventually picked a quest to slay a Tobi-Kadachi: its den was located in an area full of thunderbugs. It wouldn’t be hard to put it down, and she could take some of those bugs to replenish her swarm.

A FEW HOURS LATER…

Mikayla had never realized just how quiet the Ancient Forest was before that moment. Carson had been telling jokes since they’d left camp, pausing only when they found some traces or heard suspicious sounds. She listened to him silently, talking only when he asked her a question. In that silence, she began to reflect on their quest: in their report, the Tailraiders had written that they’d seen that infected Tobi-Kadachi attack an Anjanath that had stepped into its turf and even manage to kill it.

Normally, the exact opposite would happen; they were right to demand they be careful, although they’d clearly said it more for Carson, rather than her. Mikayla couldn’t help but think that she was nothing but an intruder, among all those hunters. However, she blamed no one for fearing her: she’d been feeling odd, since Xander’s failed attempt to infect her again in Astera. Even Yuri had had to reassure her that the Black Blight was no longer in her, after she’d tried to purify her with her Kinship Stone.

“Mikie, are you listening?” Carson asked.

Snapping back to reality, Mikayla looked up at him and saw that the poacher was five meters ahead of her. He stood before her, watching her. She must’ve slowed down while reflecting.

“Oh! Forgive me! I was lost in my thoughts. I’m sorry, I won’t get distracted again.”

“Relax. Just try to be focused when we find the Tobi-Kadachi, Mikie. I don’t know about you, but getting electrocuted isn’t in my plans for the day,” he replied, before moving on.

Mikayla nodded, but then she thought about what he’d just said, and was perplexed:

“Wait, what did you call me? Mikie? I thought my nickname was Zinogre woman.”

“Well, your name’s Mikayla, right? I’m tired of ‘Zinogre woman’: too long. Mikie’s more straightforward!”

He climbed a rocky wall covered in ivy on their way to the Tobi-Kadachi’s nest. He waited for Mikayla to climb after him, before hearing her puzzled reply.

“Of all names you can call me, why not just Mikayla?”

“Why, does it bother you?”

“Quite a lot, frankly.”

“Well, Mikie, then I know what I’ll be calling you from now on!”

Carson enjoyed her irritated expression with a smug chuckle. He started walking again with a sarcastic smile on his face. She waited a bit, before snorting and following him.

“You know, Mister Kitts, you’re not who I imagined you’d be at all.”

At that, Carson gave her a confused look and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“When I heard of the most infamous Zinogre poacher in the Old World, I pictured someone serious, cold, a man of few words. But now that we’ve actually met, I see you’re the exact opposite of what I imagined!”

Carson stroked his goatee, before replying:

“Well, back in the Old World, I had an image to preserve! I’d made an enviable reputation for myself! When you think about it, what you described was the perfect attitude to hook up chicks: my ticket for fun nights with star brandy and curvy-legged ladies!”

This time, his typical tongue-in-cheek tone made Mikayla giggle, but she covered her mouth not to show it, as he went on:

“When I got here, though, I knew it would be useless to keep up that act: I simply stopped making a scene. Nothing more, nothing less. I had more important things to think about, after my legal hassle with the Guild.”

Mikayla nodded again, so they remained quiet, while searching for their target’s traces. At that point, the scout flies came out of Carson’s lantern and rested on some fresh prints on the ground: the Tobi-Kadachi wasn’t close yet, but they were on the right track. Then Mikayla could no longer resist her curiosity: she timidly faked a cough, before speaking up again:

“May I ask you a personal question?”

“How personal?” he asked, without turning to her.

“Very personal. But if you don’t want to answer, then don’t! I’m just curious; I won’t get offended, if you flip me off because I overstepped! I mean it!”

Carson was surprised, for he didn’t expect Mikayla to be so interested in him at all. So he was quiet for a few seconds, long enough for Mikayla to blush and regret making that attempt. In the end, however, Carson chose to give her a chance:

“We shall see. Ask away, Mikie.”

He said that glancing at her, while she mentally told him off with her eyes narrowed. Even more embarrassed, she asked her question in one breath, looking down:

“So, I wonder: why are you obsessed with Zinogres? I mean, do you fight them so often just for the sake of the challenge, or because…”

Right then, Carson suddenly stopped walking. Mikayla noticed it when she looked up and right into his brown eyes. She stopped immediately, taking a step back. Carson’s face had darkened, after her question. Mortified, she exclaimed:

“Oh, I guess I struck a nerve! My apologies! If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine! Please for…”

He abruptly cut her off by beginning to tell a story, while adjusting his straw hat:

“Years ago, I had a hunting buddy. His name was Alcalá, and he was my best friend. I met him during a hunt: we’d picked the same quest, so we slew together the Malfestio that allowed us to rise to high rank. After that, we decided to become partners and kept traveling and hunting together.”

That said, he took off his hat and observed the Malfestio feather decorating it, with a wistful look:

“This feather belonged to that nasty bird, and this was Alcalá’s hat.”

He carefully put it back on, so that it wouldn’t block his view while he spoke to Mikayla.

“One day, we were in Yukumo, and we saw a request to slay a deviant monster on the quest board: a Thunderlord Zinogre. Unfortunately, I caught pneumonia, so hunting was out of the question for me. However, Alcalá was an impatient man. The day I finally left the loony bin that was Yukumo’s infirmary, he’d already gone take care of that deviant all by himself. I hoped I could join him after my last check-up, but it was too late: they brought him back to the village as soon as I walked out of the infirmary. I saw him with my own eyes, lying on a gurney. He was unrecognizable: that bastard’s lightning had burnt his face to a crisp. I knew it was him only thanks to his Tetsucabra armor.”

“That’s awful,” Mikayla mumbled.

Carson paused for a moment, with a sigh:

“After that, I got drunk and decided I’d kill that darn Zinogre. It wasn’t an illegal hunt – not yet, at least: the village chief had signed the special warrant for both of us, so it was valid for me as well. After a bloody hard fight, I was able to defeat that Thunderlord Zinogre on my own. I had its head stuffed, so I could always carry it. Once I returned to Yukumo, Alcalá’s funeral took place, and his family decided to give me this hat to honor our friendship. I accepted it, of course.”

“And you’ve been obsessed with the monster species that killed your best friend ever since,” Mikayla concluded.

She was mortified for making him tell that anecdote that clearly brought back bitter memories: she no longer knew what to say, at that point. Carson nodded, before grabbing the Zinogre horns hanging from his belt and showing them off to her.

“On my last day in Yukumo, before I moved to Kokoto, I saw a farmer pinning a bounty on a Zinogre that had eaten half of his Gargwas. I eventually found out that it was a female followed by a puppy. I slew them both; the baby was the first Zinogre I killed just for the fun of it. Its horns became this lucky charm.”

When he was done talking, an awkward silence fell between them. Carson adjusted his hat, turned around and began to walk. Mikayla made a decision: she wanted to reciprocate his transparency. So she sank her neck in her shoulders and took a nervous breath:

“When I was nine and Xander was eleven, my parents died in a fire that destroyed our cabin on the Arctic Ridge. My brother had gone to fetch wood with his Giadrome, because winter was coming and our father wanted us to be as prepared as we could for the freezing cold. Unfortunately, he was stuck in bed due to a severe injury, after his last hunt. My mother and I were cooking for lunch, waiting for Xander to come back, then mom sent me to the living room to get some bandages because she’d cut her hand while slicing raw meat. It all happened so fast…”

“Mikie, why are you telling me this?” Carson asked.

Mikayla stared at him. While thinking back to that tragedy, she’d brought her hands to her shoulders without noticing, gripping them as if she were cold. She was quick to answer:

“You shared a painful memory with me. For us to be even, I should do the same.”

“What are you saying? This isn’t…”

This time, it was she who cut him off:

“No. I must do this. I find it fair. If you don’t care, you can just forget it: I won’t be offended.”

Mikayla gathered all her courage, as she opened her old wounds, and her story continued:

“Before I could take the bandages from the cabinet in the living room, I heard an explosion, a deafening blast that almost broke my eardrums. To this day, I don’t know what caused it, but it came from upstairs: from my parents’ bedroom. The ceiling collapsed and my legs got stuck under the rubble, which was already burning. I heard my mother scream in the kitchen, but I stopped hearing her voice soon: my ears were ringing, the pain was excruciating and I couldn’t breathe. I called for my mother, my father, Xander, anyone. I felt my skin burn from my shoulders down to my feet. I only saw red: there was nothing but flames.”

Mikayla suddenly stopped, putting her hands on her face. Just thinking about the blazes that day, stuck in her mind never to be erased, took her breath away. She shook her head, taking a deep breath to finish her story:

“I was choking, I felt like I was melting. It was like being locked in a furnace; in the end, I gave in and passed out. I thought I was dead, but instead I woke up two days later, in Pokke’s infirmary. My body was covered in bandages. Xander told me our cabin was ash when he’d returned, and that he found me outside, wrapped in a blanket in the snow. He carried me to the village as fast as he could: I only survived thanks to him. From that day on, any kind of flames has terrified me. That’s why I moved to Yukumo as soon as I got the chance. Fire-breathing monsters are rare on the Misty Peaks, and most importantly, I didn’t need worry about the temperature. I’d rather chug hot drinks all day than stand near a bonfire. Even when I went to the sauna, I wore a blindfold not to see the brazier.”

“So you’re scared of fire.”

“Yes. That’s how Xavia defeated me in the cave. She set her cage on fire and surrounded me with flames: I passed out in terror.”

“Remind me never to smoke cigars near you, then!” Carson joked, patting her shoulder.

Mikayla gave him a surprised look, before smiling and giggling:

“Alright, I will!”

“Now let’s go kill that monster. We’ve stalled long enough.”

Carson turned his gaze to the monster’s nest, found atop a cliff and surrounded by the vegetation, before moving on.

“Agreed. Sorry, my bad!”

“What are you even apologizing for? Relax, this will be a quick fight, anyway! I want to show you the blacksmith’s latest invention. I’m the only one who has it for now!”

When she gave him a questioning look, Carson smiled with satisfaction. He drew his heavy bowgun and took a big bullet from his satchel; she’d never seen that type of ammunition before.

“Dear Mikie, allow me to show you some extra-powerful ammo, which was used only once, against a Deviljho in this very jungle: piercexplosive bullets! The blacksmith warned me that he’d never make any more after my test run, ‘cause they were so powerful that he’d risk going to jail if he ever patented them! But now, after what your brother did and those kids’ recommendations, he chose to forge more of these, while we prepare to face that parasite!”

“Piercexplosive?” she asked, amazed.

She’d already heard Carson say that name before, while they were going back to Astera from the Elder’s Recess.

“Are these the bullets you were going to shoot at me?!” she gasped in shock.

“No, that was just a joke! Chill out, Mikie, chill out! I’d never use them on you! You’re not a psycho anymore, so you’re not a threat! I only want to give you a demonstration of their might on the Tobi-Kadachi.”

Mikayla breathed a sigh of relief:

“Alright. Do I have to distract it or something?”

In fact, if those bullets really were so powerful, she’d rather he keep them aside for the final battle, but by now she was just too curious to see them in action.

“That would be nice of you! Watch out, here it comes!”

As he said it, Carson pushed Mikayla away and rolled sideways, dodging the huge tail wrapped in electricity that hit the ground between them. Mikayla was short of breath for a moment, due to that sudden attack, but she grit her teeth. She drew her Lunastra dual blades and used one to cut some hair off the monster’s tail.

The Tobi-Kadachi stared and growled at her. Its unnaturally red eyes seemed to be studying her for a second, before the monster opened its maw. Its hide began to leak Black Blight smoke, which appeared to mix with the blue electric shocks flowing through its hair. It tried to bite her, but she gracefully pirouetted to the side. Mikayla dodged a tail swipe as well, then she asked:

“Are you ready, Mister Kitts?!”

After loading the first bullet, Carson answered:

“Yes! It’s showtime! Get it in front of me, if you can! I must not miss: I brought only two!”

Mikayla nodded and tried to do as she’d been asked. She raised her right arm and reached out with an abrupt movement. A few small electric shocks hit the Tobi-Kadachi. They didn’t hurt it, but they were enough to make it flinch. She hurried up and got next to Carson, while the monster was shaking its head to recover.

It then gave them a threatening hiss and circled around them to study them. Carson waited for the fanged wyvern to get closer and take better aim, then he pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced the monster’s side, and it whimpered in pain, before growling at him. But apart from that, nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds.

“Is it normal?” Mikayla asked.

Carson chuckled and nodded:

“Yes! Give it a moment and… boom!”

When the cartridge exploded, the blast was probably heard for dozens of meters around them, as well as the Tobi-Kadachi’s painful scream. Mikayla covered her mouth, astonished and disgusted by what she saw. The explosion had left a gaping hole in the monster’s side: its guts spilled out, leaving the monster to twitch in agony on the ground, as a pool of blackened blood formed around its body.

“Fucking hell!” she thought, scared.

The Tobi-Kadachi closed its eyes; its breathing became frantic and inconsistent. Carson laughed in amusement:

“Now you see why the blacksmith was afraid of forging these, eh? He feared the Guild might get scared and throw him in jail! But given the shit creek we’re in, I think they’ll turn a blind eye to this.”

Carson approached the Tobi-Kadachi. Now only its hair was moving, as the breeze and the black mist leaving its body caressed it. However, Mikayla had a strange feeling. She felt weird; she saw Carson stand right next to the Tobi-Kadachi’s head, pointing the bowgun at it to finish the creature, when something snapped inside her.

“Danger,” she unthinkingly whispered.

“Did you say something, Mikie?”

Out of the blue, she pushed Carson away. He fell on his back, but before he could complain, he saw that the Tobi-Kadachi had stood up and tried to bite him all of a sudden. But instead, its maw was now gripping Mikayla’s right arm. She let out a pained moan and grit her teeth. The monster kept its head low, and its eyes expressed all of its agony, while its fangs sank deeper and deeper into her Zinogre vambrace. After suffering for a moment, Mikayla made an unusual expression. Her eyes changed: the right one turned red, whereas the left one discolored until it was white. She let out a sinister giggle, then she narrowed her eyes and laid her left hand on the monster’s snout:

“Is this puppy hungry? Let’s feed it, then!” she grinned.

She hit the monster with a mighty left hook, forcing it to let go of her with a moan. Without hesitation, Mikayla went for the hole in the Tobi-Kadachi’s side. Ignoring her disgust, she grabbed the exposed guts, then she focused and made all of her electricity flow into its body, using the guts as a cable. The lightning coursed through the monster, which screamed in pain once more. When it ended, silence fell on that part of the jungle. The Tobi-Kadachi collapsed with its mouth open; its heart stopped beating. Mikayla knelt down and ran her hands on the grass to wipe the monster’s fluids.

“Look what I had to do! I’m always the one who gets her hands dirty. Disgusting!” she hissed.

Carson scratched his head and confessed:

“I admit I should’ve aimed for the brain.”

He was about to help Mikayla up, but she refused to take his hand and stood up by herself.

“Yes, you should have. Also, care to explain why you got so close to it for the final blow, old man? Last I checked, bowguns can hit from afar, damn it!”

As soon as she turned around and Carson looked at her face, he opened his eyes wide, scared:

“Mikie?!” he gasped.

He immediately pointed his bowgun at her. However, he noticed that her expression was different, compared to when he’d seen her in Xander’s hideout. Caught off guard, she raised her arms in surrender:

“Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, old bastard, calm down! I’ve just saved you! Is this the thanks I get?”

“What the fuck’s happening to you, Mikie?” he asked, aiming for her head.

But Mikayla just looked around carelessly:

“May I be honest, old man? I have no idea! I’ve never awoken without Xander. Hey, how long are you gonna point that thing at me? Ugh, so annoying! I don’t know what to do, I was given no orders.”

She brought a hand to her temple, while mumbling to herself.

“You won’t attack me?”

“No, of course not! For starters, I have no orders; besides, she opened her heart to you. I must admit you’re not as bad as I thought. In fact, you’re kinda nice!” she laughed.

Disoriented, Carson slowly lowered his bowgun, still very suspicious.

“Let’s go back to the Third Fleet’s airship. Maybe your niece will figure this out,” he hesitantly suggested.

“Good idea! I’m tired and confused, so let’s hurry!”

“Damn, you agreed with me even as a psycho. Wow, that’s the strangest thing about this!”

AN HOUR LATER…

Anyone they came across while looking for Yuri was shocked, seeing Mikayla’s freaky eyes. No one spoke to them, simply walking away and trying to lay low. She sighed and rolled her eyes:

“Maybe you should look for the girl without me, old man: I wouldn’t like to draw too much attention.”

Carson shrugged, however:

“In case you don’t know, a Nergigante was born here yesterday. I doubt the colors of your eyes can be any stranger than that.”

Mikayla opened her eyes wide, baffled:

“What? I missed it! Did it kill anyone?”

“No: it wrecked my tent, ate Yuna’s gems and flew away.”

“No way!”

“What the hell’s going on? Mikayla?!”

She blinked twice, before looking ahead: she saw Xavia and Yuri. They both looked terrified because of her eyes. The huntress stood in front of her daughter, but Mikayla raised a hand:

“Calm down. Even I don’t know what the hell’s happening or why I awoke. The old man was about to get chomped by an infected Tobi-Kadachi; that’s when it happened.”

Carson glared at her:

“Will you stop calling me an old man?”

She gave him a smug grin:

“It bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“Mikayla, try to focus,” Xavia told her.

“We were hoping Yuri could help us figure this out,” she replied.

So the girl nodded and activated the mechanism of her bracelet, moving closer to her aunt.

“Let me try.”

Mikayla closed her eyes and stood ready, so Yuri raised her arm. However, her stone didn’t glow at all. All it did was reflect the sunlight.

“It’s not working!” she exclaimed.

“What does that mean? That we’re stuck with Mikie’s crazy half forever?” Carson asked.

Mikayla opened her eyes and moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. She suddenly heard her own voice in her head, begging her to give her back control; her pleas gave her an excruciating migraine. She massaged her forehead, annoyed. She cursed through gritted teeth, stared at nothing and spoke to her other self:

“Gotta say you’re a literal headache. We’re trying to work this out, too: you’re not the only one who cares about this!”

She ignored everyone else’s confused looks and gave herself a moment to wait out the pain, before letting go of her forehead and rolling her eyes. Sane Mikayla’s umpteenth plea made her give up:

“What a bummer! Fine, fine! Alright, everyone, unfortunately I must go. She’s afraid I might snap and hurt you. How dense can she be? She’s the first to know that I do nothing without orders!”

For a moment, she turned to Carson and gave him a smile, before closing her eyes and sighing. She stood motionless for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, they were blue again. She rubbed her forehead once more: it was throbbing. She took some deep breaths to calm down, then she raised a hand to anticipate her niece’s obvious question:

“No, I don’t know what happened. Please, don’t ask me anything.”

Xavia and Yuri exchanged a worried, uncertain look. Carson stroked his goatee while reflecting:

“Looks like you’re struggling with yourself, Mikie. That was weird.”

Mikayla folded her arms, disheartened:

“But this has never happened, it was always Xander who awoke her! Sometimes, I spent days locked in my own mind, waiting for her to carry out those horrible missions. This time, she took over all by herself! Without my brother’s command!”

Yuri mulled over it:

“Perhaps something drove your other self to come out. That’s what happened to me, when I broke free from that bastard’s control: I saw Narga on the verge of death, so I boiled with rage. I wanted to help him at all costs, so I regained control of my body.”

“Are you telling me that crazy bitch wanted to save me?” Carson asked, skeptical.

I didn’t do it for you, old man.

Mikayla gasped and instinctively shouted:

“Shut up!”

As soon as she realized she’d said it out loud, she covered her mouth, her eyes wide open. Concerned, Xavia put a hand on her shoulder:

“What’s wrong?”

“She spoke to me!” Mikayla exclaimed.

“What’s she saying?” Yuri inquired, curious.

“‘I didn’t do it for you, old man.’ I swear, this is the first time it happens!”

“Back in those tunnels, you swapped places for a moment, though,” Xavia reminded her.

However, Mikayla shook her head:

“That was different. I had to struggle very hard to take control and warn you. This was nothing like that! In fact, she let me replace her!”

“What kind of sensations did you feel, before she took over?” Yuri asked.

Mikayla pondered it for a moment, bringing her fingers to her cheeks.

“I got a hunch. I felt like something was about to go wrong, when Mister Kitts approached the Tobi-Kadachi. I remember lunging at him and pushing him, then the monster bit my arm.”

Carson remembered something:

“Right! You whispered something, before you pushed me. I think I heard ‘danger’. Could it be?”

“Maybe she didn’t want to save Carson, but Mikayla herself,” Xavia speculated.

That situation was just too absurd; that was the best explanation she could find based on their testimony.

Tell the violet that maybe, just maybe, she’s right.

Mikayla heard her twisted self’s voice echo in her mind. When she reported her words to Xavia, she scratched her head, both literally and metaphorically. Yuri spoke up:

“I don’t think we should expect to really understand this. Now that the two of you can communicate, maybe you should talk. You might figure something out.”

Mikayla wanted to agree with her niece, but she just shrugged, nervously looking around.

“I don’t know, Yuri. I still need to clear my mind,” she admitted, sighing.

She thanked the three of them for helping her find an explanation to all this, and she didn’t forget to thank Carson for accompanying her to the hunt. She then hastened to go to her tent and hide in it.

Mikayla sat down on her sleeping bag, closed her eyes and crossed her legs. She took a deep breath, thinking back to every time her brother had turned her into a ruthless, sadistic murderer. When she opened her eyes, she found the version of her made by the Black Blight, which Yuri had failed to completely eradicate, right in front of her. Seeing her made her shiver for a moment, but she tried not to think about it.

She stood up and looked around: she was in a sort of glass dome. She wasn’t in her tent, and the camp was no longer there. She’d been there countless times: she ended up there when her twisted persona took over her body. But it had never looked like that: the walls of dirty, opaque glass were now clean and transparent. She could see everything very clearly. Incredibly, her reflection spoke to her:

“There’s nothing about this I understand, you know? I mean, Xander surely got something wrong when he tried to infect you again. No doubting that, but does that mean that I’m free now? I can take over your body and do as I please? Sounds awesome!”

“I swear, if you hurt someone, I won’t…”

“Hey, hey! Chill out! How many times do I have to tell you for it to get into that thick skull of yours? I do nothing without orders. Xander’s not here, so he can’t make me do anything.”

“Then why did you intervene against the Tobi-Kadachi?”

Crazy Mikayla scratched her neck.

“I don’t know. Let’s just say I felt like I was needed. What do you care, anyway? If you lose this war, I’ll also disappear when you die. Or maybe you’ll be under Xander and the Servants of the Blight’s thumbs again. I wonder which is worse for you, poor thing,” she giggled.

“Shut up,” Mikayla hissed.

“Huh? I didn’t hear you well. Are you sorry because I didn’t get to kill the gingerhead Sixer that day?”

Mikayla looked down:

“Stop it.”

“You’re not clear. Come on, speak louder! Maybe, if you’d brought yourself to fight back sooner, Felix could’ve been saved! Too bad he’s gone: I really liked him.”

“Shut your damned trap!” Mikayla yelled, shocking her.

Her other half stood quiet, while she let out all her contempt:

“I hate you! I hurt so many people because of you and Xander! But how should you know? You only exist to obey a madman! You’re nothing but the proxy of a parasite exploiting monsters to live!”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” the other one snorted, faking indifference.

But she wasn’t indifferent: she couldn’t ignore Mikayla’s vent, for she wasn’t hiding anything anymore:

“You were born sadistic, that’s why you don’t understand the harm you do! How many people did you torture? How many people did you kill using my body, huh? At least I have a conscience. You’re just a slave to that fucking stone! Now shut up! Stop it!”

At that point, she turned around, clenching her fists. The other Mikayla was flabbergasted to say the least: she’d never expect her other half to respond in kind.

“Look, I don’t…”

She began to reply, but she paused. She blinked, before looking away and gritting her teeth:

“Bah! Again: those were just the orders I was given! What could I do? Rebel and get us both killed? Huh? How do you think you lived long enough to turn thirty-four? You would’ve died when you were twenty-three, if not for me doing all the dirty work!”

“Maybe it would’ve been better that way,” Mikayla whispered sadly.

Her other half couldn’t believe it:

“What did you say?”

“It would’ve been better if I’d died. Everyone hates me! The only people who loved me are dead! Xander doesn’t care about me, he only needs you! Xavia despises me, the entire Research Commission is mad at me for what you and my brother did… I’m starting to think even Yuri hates me, after everything she’s been through because of me!”

Mikayla burst into tears, kneeling down. Tears began to flow copiously down her cheeks. Her twisted self didn’t know what to say: she opened her mouth to speak, but she just couldn’t find the words. But all of a sudden, they heard a muffled voice in the distance:

“Are you there, Mikie? Can I come in?”

That was Carson’s voice, from the outside world: Mikayla opened her eyes wide, finding herself back in her tent. She wiped her tears with her knuckles, before answering:

“Wait, let me come out.”

That said, she opened the tent and found Carson waiting for her outside.

“What is it?” she asked him.

She could feel that her eyes were still moist and irritated from her crying, so she tried to hide it. However, judging from Carson’s empathetic expression, she figured out that he could clearly see how she was feeling right now. Mikayla expected him to taunt her, but instead he spoke in a serious tone:

“I didn’t get to tell you before, with all that mess with your psycho self.”

Stop calling me a psycho!

Mikayla ignored the voice and kept listening to him. Stroking his goatee, he said:

“Well, thanks for defending me from the Tobi-Kadachi. I wasn’t expecting your help, you know? In fact, I was going to accompany you just to show you how powerful the piercexplosive ammo was and impress you.”

Mikayla looked down, shook her head with a half smile and raised a hand:

“It’s alright. Thank you for telling me the story of the famous poacher and for listening to mine.”

“Also, it’s about time you quit calling me Mister Kitts! I’ll make you a deal: start calling me Carson, and I won’t be calling you ‘Flea-Ridden Mikie’, after what I saw today!”

Mikayla gasped and turned bright red:

“Huh?! What?!”

“I saw some fulgur bugs buzz around your hair, after you fried the Tobi-Kadachi. Come to think of it, it was more than obvious that you couldn’t make electricity from your own body, if your powers come from a Zinogre.”

Mikayla scratched the back of her head, still blushing:

“Right. Please, don’t tell anyone! It’s embarrassing!”

“Fine. Mikie it is, then!” Carson smiled with a friendly look.

She rolled her eyes, but nodded:

“Alright, Carson. Thanks,” she whispered, fiddling with her hair.

Then Carson walked away. Mikayla went back into her tent and took a deep breath. However, right afterwards, she heard Xavia’s voice calling for her:

“Mikayla, got a minute?”

Surprised by her sister-in-law’s visit, she stepped out again, with a dubious expression:

“Sure thing, Xavia. Is something the matter?”

“No, I just want to tell you something I’ve been thinking about for days,” the huntress admitted.

Hohoho, I wonder what that is!

“Will you shut the hell up?!” Mikayla snapped, before apologizing to Xavia.

“No worries. As I was saying…”

“Yeah?”

Xavia hesitated a bit, before stating:

“I forgive you.”

She then gave a warm smile: a genuine smile, which Mikayla didn’t think she’d ever seen on her face since they’d first met.

“What?”

“Now that I know the full story, all I can do is forgive you and apologize. For fifteen years, I accused you of being a disgusting person, because you never answered my letters when I asked for your help; then, when I found out you’d kidnapped Yuri, I couldn’t help but want you dead. I had no idea what you’ve been through. I’m sorry, Mikayla. Know that I’m more grateful than ever for everything you did for me and Yuri. Truly, we could never hate you!”

Mikayla’s eyes watered up again. She wiped them and tried not to cry, but she gave in. She began to shed tears of joy, and she started to sob. Xavia opened her eyes wide, moved closer to her and put her hands on her shoulders.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Between sobs, Mikayla sniffed and wiped her tears:

“Yes. Xavia, I don’t know how to thank you. Thanks. Thanks! Thank you so much! You have no idea how glad I am to finally reconcile with you!” she smiled.

So Xavia gently took her hand to comfort her and nodded:

“If you need help, don’t hesitate to call me or Yuri. Understood?”

“Alright. Thanks again, Xavia!”

So Yuri’s mother also left, and Mikayla could finally go back into her tent and sit down on her sleeping bag.

Looks like not everyone hates you. See?

“Maybe you’re right, other me,” Mikayla sighed, wiping her tears with a tissue.

They were quiet for a few moments, then the voice in her head told her something surprising:

Look, I’m sorry. True, I’m a parasite: my only concern is to survive in your body and execute orders, I can’t understand any of your feelings. I’ve never been free, I could never make my own choices. So how about we start over? I promise I’ll stop taunting you and hurt no one, unless they become a threat. In that case, I’ll show them no mercy!

Mikayla reflected in silence, rubbing her cheek with a finger, unsure. Eventually, however, she snorted and gave a little smile:

“Fine. We can try. But you’re gonna need a name.”

A name? Why?

“So I can call you and let others know I’m referring to you.”

I see.

“What about the nickname Carson came up with? Mikie?”

She had to wait a few moments, before she heard her answer. In the end, the voice in her head giggled:

Works for me! Sounds cute. Nice to meet you, then, Mikayla!

“It’s my pleasure, Mikie!”

Chapter Text

“What’s the Rotten Vale like?”

Lucille’s voice shook Xavia from her thoughts: she blinked a couple of times, before looking at Yuri’s friend as she fixed her Midogaron’s saddle. That day, Xavia had offered to accompany one of the Riders visiting the biomes of the New World: since she’d had that idea in the first place, it seemed only right to her to give her contribution. Xavia explained it to Lucille:

“In short, it’s unlike any other region of the New World. I wouldn’t know how to exactly describe it. It’s connected to the Coral Highlands by descending tunnels: some monsters from the vale use them to go hunt around here, where they find more prey. We usually fly down there with the Mernos, but since you have to bring your monsters, we’re going through the tunnels this time. At least you won’t be forced to climb down any rocky walls to get there.”

Hearing that, the Midogaron wagged his tail and barked happily, and Lucille stroked his neck. The girl smiled and said:

“Relax, I would’ve stopped you if you’d begun to describe it, anyway: I’m too curious to see it with my own eyes! Anyway, we’re ready now, Missus Aros!”

Xavia sighed shaking her head slightly, when Lucille called her that. She approached the girl, putting her hand gently on her shoulder.

“Lucille, I suppose you’re doing it unwittingly, but please: stop calling me Missus Aros. Xavia is fine.”

The Rider looked at her, confused, then she brought her hands to her mouth and gasped, mortified:

“Oh! Damn it, I’m so sorry! Apologies for not figuring that out myself! I’ll just call you Xavia from now on!”

Xavia smiled:

“Of course, please do. You’re a friend of Yuri’s and I’ve liked each of you from the start, so relax,” she chuckled.

The girl blushed for a moment, before she also giggled, scratching her head:

“I see! Alright, I’ll do so, if it doesn’t bother you!” she exclaimed with a smile.

“If you’re ready, then I think we can go. Will you bring only the Midogaron?”

“Yeah. Quill can be useful with his healing, but I admit he’s terrible at fighting. He often just runs into trouble.”

Lucille looked at her Qurupeco, who was scratching his bill with the membrane of his right wing.

“Besides, I can help, too: that’s why I use a hunting horn!”

Xavia nodded, but the girl’s words put a little smile on her face: that brought back memories from a day, many years ago, where her mother’s boyfriend had convinced her to try a hunting horn, instead of using a hammer as usual. The result had been a genuine mess: despite all her previous practice, she couldn’t help the team in any way, because she constantly forgot which melodies did what or she ended up playing at the wrongest times. She still remembered all the shit figures she’d made, against a pink Rathian.

“What’s on your mind?”

Lucille, who’d stayed silent until then, was watching her curiously. Xavia shook her head and smiled:

“If you want, I can tell you along the way. If we leave right now, maybe I can take you to a Vaal Hazak’s lair.”

“Oh, that mephitic Elder Dragon?! Awesome!”

Xavia thought she’d just seen the Rider’s eyes twinkle, before she mounted Hono; the Midogaron shrugged his body to show them he was prepared to go.

“We’re ready!”

“So you know the fauna of the New World!” Xavia said, surprised.

Lucille giggled:

“Oh? Why, of course! My brother and I studied some notes on the New World provided by the Guild. Besides, as Riders, I admit it’s easy to get our attention when it’s about monsters. Irene knows less about this continent than we do only because she wasn’t initially supposed to come here.”

“I see.”

Xavia nodded, then gestured her to follow her.

Xavia and Lucille spent several hours exploring the Rotten Vale: as soon as they’d arrived, Lucille had immediately begun to observe that unusual biome with her eyes wide open. Bones everywhere, putrid water and countless bugs crawling here and there between the animal remains. Even the ground felt strange to her, when she got off Hono’s back. Not to mention that sickening vapor. When Xavia asked her why she was spending so much time astride her mount, she exclaimed:

“We’re walking on a layer of carcasses! So nasty!”

Hono, on the other hand, looked around, intrigued by everything he saw. Xavia shrugged and pointed at her hammer:

“It’s not so bad, once you get used to it. A few months ago, I’ve been here plenty of times to gather the materials to forge this.”

“Does this stench really not bother you?”

Lucille coughed, while trying to fan away that odd vapor as much as possible with her hand. Xavia watched her for a moment, before looking around:

“You mean the effluvium? Give me a sec.”

That said, the huntress picked up a torch pod from the ground, then loaded it into her sling and shot it at the ground. Where the pod landed, a small fire lit up, and the vapor began to fade.

“Oh!” the girl gasped.

She made Hono speed up to approach the fire: as soon as she stopped smelling that mephitic stench, she took a deep breath. Xavia explained:

“Fire dissipates the effluvium. It’s useful to stock up on torch pods, but I forgot about it because I haven’t gone this deep into the vale for a while. Sorry about that, Lucille.”

The girl caressed the Midogaron and smiled:

“Ah! It’s okay, really! In fact, thanks for telling us that! It won’t be a problem anymore. Go, Hono!”

The Rider whistled, bringing two fingers to her mouth, then her monster barked with a low growl: Xavia saw the Midogaron sink his claws into the ground, as the fur on his limbs brightened little by little. Then Hono suddenly dashed forward: whenever his paws touched the ground, small flames lit and the vapor began to scatter. Shortly thereafter, a nearly effluvium-free path was made: the gas remained only near the rocky walls, but now the way was completely clear. While the Midogaron returned to his mistress, Xavia commented, surprised:

“Well, that was smart!”

Lucille giggled:

“Hono is a resourceful monster! Aren’t you, buddy?”

The fanged beast barked and shrugged happily, eyeing Lucille. Xavia smiled, then she decided to share a doubt of hers with the girl:

“Hey, Lucille, may I ask you a question? I don’t know much about monsters from the Frontier, so I was wondering: how did you get a Midogaron? I remember reading a bestiary from the Frontier, years ago, saying they are Kamu Orugaron which adapted to live alone after losing their mate, so I’m curious to know his story.”

The girl blushed and chuckled:

“Well, it might seem strange indeed. It’s nothing special, really: Hono was a gift, so to speak. We know a very skilled huntress who often goes to Mezeporta. Once, when she paid us a visit after one of her latest trips, she brought a two-month-old Kamu Orugaron pup she’d found in the Frontier’s marshlands. She decided to take him to Hakum to ask us to rear him, and I accepted right away! But you see, since he never paired off with a Nono Orugaron, Hono turned into a Midogaron as an adult!”

“Oh, I see,” Xavia nodded.

The huntress watched the girl stroke her monster’s fur with a wide smile.

“I want to go Mezeporta, too, some day. Who knows? I might even convince Abigail to come along,” Xavia thought.

Lucille eagerly urged her:

“So, can we go ahead? I’d love to see this Vaal Hazak lair! It’s safe to go there, right?”

“Sure, don’t worry: if a Vaal Hazak were there, the effluvium would be much denser and the small monsters would be driven crazy. The path is clear,” she replied.

“Excellent!” she girl exhulted.

Xavia smiled and was about to tell her to follow her, when an unmistakable roar echoed through the cavern they were crossing. They both opened their eyes wide, then Hono began to sniff the air: the stripes on his body began to glow yellow, before he started to growl and narrowed his eyes. The girls looked around, vigilant.

“A brute Tigrex,” Xavia said.

“Infected,” Lucille added.

“There it is! Look out!”

Lucille saw it first: behind Xavia, the brute Tigrex was charging at them. The huntress turned around, but Lucille got off her monster and gestured her to move out of the way: flames had appeared inside the Midogaron’s mouth, getting brighter by the second. His claws clutched the ground, his gaze focused on the infected monster in front of him.

Xavia followed the Rider towards a pile of bones, and Lucille seized the opportunity to play a strengthening melody with her hunting horn. The brute Tigrex roared once more, drooling and striding forward. It took a leap to bite Hono’s neck. However, the Midogaron seemed to vanish into thin air: the Tigrex bit nothing but air, before looking around in confusion. It was suddenly hit by a heat explosion, which made it stumble and fall to the ground with a scorched back: Hono had gone behind it before casting its attack, hitting it point-blank.

“Nicely done, Hono! Attaboy!” Lucille proudly said.

Meanwhile, Xavia was left speechless: she knew Midogaron were fast, but she never would’ve thought they were that fast.

“Xavia! Come on, let’s hurry while it’s down!” Lucille called her, and she nodded.

Hono anticipated them both: while his opponent tried to get up, he violently stomped his paws onto its neck, before hitting its face with a tail swipe. Though stunned, the brute Tigrex still tried to bite his neck, but missed him: the Midogaron leapt backwards. Before he could hit it again, Xavia appeared next to him and hit the Tigrex’s chin with a rising strike of her hammer, fracturing its jaw and causing it to scream in pain.

Then Hono decided to end the fight quickly: he bit the Tigrex’s neck, tearing off its scales and flesh. A long and dense trickle of blackened blood began to spurt out of the brute Tigrex’s neck. In pain, but furious, the monster gave the Midogaron a wrathful look, before the fanged beast scratched its snout, leaving a deep wound between its eyes. The Tigrex let out one last gurgling moan, before it exhaled for the last time and bled to death. Lucille immediately cleansed its carcass with her stone.

“Great job, Hono!” she praised him.

She petted the Midogaron’s head, while he licked his opponent’s rotting blood from his paws. Xavia looked around and wondered:

“Where did that brute Tigrex come from?”

No Tigrex had ever been found in the New World, so encountering even their subspecies was enough to alert her extremely. But all of a sudden, the earth began to quake under their feet: Xavia had to lay one hand on the ground not to fall, while Lucille instantly mounted Hono, who had began to sniff the air and growl after feeling those quakes.

At that moment, a Monoblos came out of the ground between Xavia and the Midogaron. Hono leapt backwards not to get hit, and Xavia had to dive sideways not to get impaled by its horn. Lying on her side, the huntress watched the monster staring at her with those creepy, crimson glowing eyes. The smoke of the Black Blight ceaselessly came out of its hide.

“Hono, hur…”

The girl was interrupted abruptly: two Girros covered in both the disease’s black smoke and the effluvium had sneaked up on them and bitten the Midogaron’s ankles. Their paralizing toxin soon took effect and the Midogaron ended up twitching on the ground, moaning for the pain in his muscles, and his Rider fell down without a clue of what was going on.

“No!”

Lucille grit her teeth, wielding her hunting horn, but she was thrown to the ground when the Monoblos hit her with its tail, sending her to crash against one of the bone piles covering the cavern’s floor. The girl coughed out all the air in her lungs when she hit the rotting remains, gasping to breathe and squinting her eyes; when she opened them, she managed to sit up, but immediately felt something cold and circular touch her skin.

“Tell your monster to stay put, or I’ll have to blow up your head.”

That voice was kind to some extent, but threatening at the same time. It was a woman’s voice, so calm and collected that Lucille’s blood froze.

“Believe me, I don’t like killing kids, but I can’t risk it, after what you did to my poor Csavu.”

Despite her terror, the girl was able to turn her head just enough to see who was behind her: a woman with short brown hair, slightly covered by her Great Girros hat. She had soft facial features, with piercing blue eyes. She wore a Tetsucabra armor set and she was pointing a Kecha Wacha light bowgun at her. An infected Great Girros stood behind her. What immediately stood out to Lucille, however, were three details: the woman’s feet were digitigrade, her hands had four fingers and her ears were pointy; however, her right ear had been bitten off. Lucille swallowed before gritting her teeth, but she quickly turned around when she heard Hono’s angry growl.

“Hono, stop! Don’t attack them!”

The Midogaron gave her a confused look, then he leapt backwards to prevent one of the two Girros from biting him again.

“Attagirl,” the wyverian chuckled, before raising her right arm.

Her infected Kinship Stone glowed red and the two Girros immediately retreated to stand next to their pack leader, while the Monoblos kept watching Xavia, ready to charge at her at the slightest sign of movement.

“What do you want from us, bitch?” Lucille hissed.

“Is this how you greet an old friend? Gust would be so displeased.”

Keeping quiet, Xavia kept an eye on the infected Monoblos while listening to them argue.

“Do you know her?” she asked, confused.

“Shut up, human! No one told you to speak,” the wyverian warned her haughtily.

With all her muscles tense and her fists clenched, Lucille began to explain:

“Did Yuri tell you about Gust, the corrupt Rider with whom we formed an alliance? Well, she’s a dirty double-crosser: she supported Gust to have him take over Anvis’ gang, then she tried to stir a second revolt against him! Isn’t that right, Ekya, csavve vsefovsodi?”

“Don’t speak to me in Wyverian, nuddoute. I believed things would change for the better, but Gust is even madder than Anvis! Teaming up with Hakum’s people? Hah! Never in my four hundred and four years did I witness anything so absurd.”

Lucille tried to turn to her, while keeping very cautious and never losing sight of her enemy’s light bowgun, and she replied:

“Is that why you serve that idiot Aros now?! You moved from the frying pan to the fire! If you call that absurd, what do you think of trying to control the Black Dread and declaring war on the hunters’ Guild?”

Ekya gave her a creepy smirk:

“Do you think I came here because he told me to? I don’t care about him! Not at all. I want the Makili Pietru to go back to the Old World victorious and show the only way of Riders to all those failures! We’re not meant to be friends with the likes of you, monsters or hunters. The Black Blight is the only thing worth respecting!”

Meanwhile, Xavia was simply shocked: she only knew a few wyverians, but thanks to all the time spent with Yuna and the scholars of the Research Commission, she believed she had a clear idea of their nature; she’d never expect to meet one like this.

“So what are you going to do?” Lucille asked her impatiently.

“What, don’t you remember? Yet I recall it was your beast from the Frontier that did this to me.”

The wyverian ran her hand over the scarred hole where her right ear used to be, before narrowing her eyes.

“I want payback from you two, wretches!”

“Don’t you think it’s banal to kill us like this, with a bullet?”

Lucille tried to act confident, although in fact she was in a cold sweat, seeing Ekya’s fingers slowly pulling the trigger.

“Who said I wanted to kill you, huh? My vengeance will be much fouler, darling.”

Thus the wyverian approached the girl, who began to back away, intimidated by her words. Eventually, Hono’s patience ran out: he roared and tried to jump towards his mistress to help her, but something suddenly grabbed him by the tail: when he turned around, he saw that an infected Basarios had bitten it. It had been camouflaging all along, thanks to the shreds of flesh and bones placed on its back. The Midogaron whimpered, struggling to break free from the Basarios’ grip, but in vain.

“Hono! No!”

Lucille was about to run to her monster, but that distraction cost her dearly: Ekya used the handle of her light bowgun to hit her on the back of her head, knocking her out.

“Hey! What are you going to do with her?!”

Xavia wanted to try and help the Rider, but as soon as she took one step, the Monoblos grunted and scratched the ground with its foot, ready to impale her. Ekya snorted:

“Right, you’re still here. May be honest with you, human? I don’t understand what you ever saw in that madman Aros when you became his soulmate. Seriously, have you any idea of the speeches he makes? I’ve never heard him say anything sane since I got here!”

Ignoring the fact that she agreed with the wyverian on that, Xavia tried to work out a way to get out of that situation. However, she couldn’t come up with anything, with that damned Monoblos never losing sight of her.

“A diversion; I just need a diversion. Anything, dammit!” she thought, frustrated.

Meanwhile, Ekya kept talking:

“In any case, Aros has been obsessed with killing you himself lately. So you know what? If I kill you right here, right now, perhaps he’ll finally stop thinking about useless things! It’s worth a shot.”

Having said that, she snapped her fingers. Her corrupted Kinship Stone glowed red again. Then her Monoblos narrowed its eyes and lowered its head, ready to charge. Xavia prepared to dodge it, but the two infected Girros moved to her sides to prevent her from escaping. Without other options, the huntress considered using her grappling hook to dodge the Monoblos. But she didn’t need to: an eerie roar echoed through the tunnel. Ekya raised an eyebrow, confused, while the infected Great Girros looked around, scared.

“What’s wrong, Ducse?” she asked it.

Right then, her monster was instantly killed by an Odogaron: it had lunged at the Great Girros’ throat after seemingly appearing out of nowhere. It bit off its carotid artery, then it took a leap; it almost ran over the wyverian. The Odogaron tried to swallow the morsel of flesh it had ripped off the Great Girros, but it immediately spat it out because of the revolting taste of the Black Blight. It whimpered woefully, drooling. Meanwhile, Ekya was despairing:

“No! No! Ducse!” she yelled, narrowing her eyes.

Her infected stone glowed a third time, as she turned to her other monsters to shout commands in Wyverian:

“Gevimu gauso! Tqapvupi! Giruosu! Addefivimu!”

The monsters got the order loud and clear: the Monoblos turned around, forgetting about Xavia, and the two Girros immediately attacked the Odogaron. While still confused and disgusted, the predator roared: it leapt backwards to dodge the two small monsters’ bite, then it quickly moved sideways to escape the Monoblos’ charge. However, the Monoblos stopped abruptly and hit the Odogaron with a tail swipe. The fanged wyvern moaned in pain and fell to the ground. The Girros tried to attack it, but they were suddenly hit by the Midogaron’s fiery charge: the impact caused one of them to crash into the other, and they both flew towards the bonepile the wyverian stood atop. The crash was so violent that they both ended up stunned and hurt. Ekya paled, her eyes wide open.

“What?! How did you do it?!”

She stared furiously at the Midogaron, before looking at her Basarios: it was lying on the ground and trying to get up, kicking in a panick. Xavia stood next to it, wielding her hammer and grinning at her.

“Not so tough now, are you?”

The Midogaron growled: his fur glowed orange. He was finally ready to get serious. Recovering from the sudden strike and still in a slight daze, the Odogaron sank its claws into the ground, preparing to jump the Monoblos and rend its flesh.

“Gepdamu!” Ekya cursed.

She realized she had to concede defeat and that it would make no sense to face them alone with her Moboblos and that useless Basarios. She quickly glanced at Lucille, who was still unconscius, grit her teeth and turned to Xavia:

“Listen carefully, huntress: this isn’t over! When next we meet, in the battle, you’ll pay for what you’ve done today! And tell this brat to warn her friends: the Makili Pietru knows everything! It saw clearly who came to the New World, that you broke the deal! It will show you no mercy!”

That said, she ran to her Monoblos and mounted it. The monster roared at the sky, then Ekya threw a flash bomb which blinded everyone. When they regained their sight, the wyverian had vanished into thin air. Xavia sheathed her hammer and rushed to Lucille. She breathed a sigh of relief, when she made sure she’d just passed out.

All of a sudden, she realized they’d just been saved by an Odogaron: in the heat of the moment, she hadn’t given it much thought, but that monster was even healthy! Xavia looked at the fanged wyvern, which was sniffing the air and drooling: it looked at both the huntress and the Midogaron with a seemingly fearful look, then it eyed the brute Tigrex’s carcass. It waited a few seconds, before lunging on it and ripping big shreds of flesh off it. It ate ravenously, as if it had fasted for days. Hono approached Xavia and whined; he sat down next to his Rider, watching her with a sad, concerned look. Xavia petted him and reassured him:

“She just fainted. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”

Lucille finally began to come to her senses: her ears were ringing and she felt even dizzier than the first time she’d had to hunt a Duramboros; she slowly sat up, massaging her temples, then she felt a tongue lick her face: Hono was fawning, happy to see her awake. She briefly chuckled and petted his snout.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright, Hono!” she rejoyced, hugging him tightly.

“You’re finally awake.”

Xavia’s voice caught her attention: she looked at the woman, who was giving a warm smile.

“Forgive me for what happened, Xavia. I’m really sorry: it was a matter that didn’t concern you at all, but you got involved anyway. I can never apologize enough!”

The huntress spoke to her in a calm, understanding tone, as she sat down next to her:

“Relax, Lucille, you’re fine. We were just caught off guard. We’ll both be more careful next time, alright?”

“Alright. Pity, though: we didn’t get to see the Vaal Hazak’s lair! I guess we’ll have to go back now.”

Xavia put a hand on her shoulder and said:

“We still have some time before nightfall. Come on, look around!”

The Rider gave her a confused look, before complying, and she was left speechless: that was a completely different area. From the looks of it, that had to be the bottom of the Rotten Vale: they were now in a huge cave which she found wonderful, despite the bonepiles and the ponds of blue, glowing acid. Everything was illumintated by them and giant bones hung from the ceiling like stalactites. Surprised and intrigued, Lucille asked:

“Where are we?”

Xavia stood up, helped her up and kindly explained:

“You wanted to see the Vaal Hazak’s lair so bad that I though I’d take you here and wait for you to regain consciusness. We’re near the place where it sleeps, but this cave has always been my favorite spot in the Rotten Vale. Just look out for the ponds: they burn.”

The girl was head over heels:

“Thanks! Thank you so much! I don’t know what to say, I was too curious to learn more about this Elder Dragon!”

“Then let’s go to its lair, come on. Then we’ll leave, alright?”

Xavia smiled at the Rider, who nodded and mounted her monster, before following the huntress to a nearby cavern.

“Ah! We’re finally here,” Lucille sighed.

She got off the Midogaron’s back as soon as they arrived at the camp by the airship. The sun had just set, but the base on the Coral Highlands was still teeming with life: it looked like everyone had become accustomed to their new temporary home by now, and they were trying to recreate a sense of normality. Hono shrugged, still saddled, and barked happily.

“So, what do you think of the Rotten Vale?” Xavia asked, watching her stretch.

Lucille laughed:

“Creepy as heck. The name couldn’t be more fitting! If it weren’t for that effluvium, it would be my favorite biome in the New World! The stench’s awful, though.”

“Even worse than the Black Blight?”

The girl nodded:

“Yeah, totally! Much worse! But maybe I just need to get used to it,” she admitted, embarrassed.

“Lucille! Finally!”

She heard her twin brother’s voice call after her. Ross rushed to them, hugging her.

“What happened? Even Irene came back before you! We were all so worried!” he told her, upset.

Lucille blushed, scratching her neck:

“I’m so sorry, Ross. There was some serious trouble. Can you go get Irene and Yuri? We must discuss it as soon as possible.”

Her brother gave her a confused look, then he nodded. However, before he left, he looked behind Xavia, surprised:

“Lucy, did you tame a new monster while you were away?”

“What?”

She and Xavia turned around and the huntress opened her eyes wide: an Odogaron stood behind them, and as soon as she saw it, it suddenly backed away and lowered its head with a low moan, as if intimidated. The Midogaron took a step, sniffing the other monster. Then it looked at Xavia, growling. Then she realized that it was most likely the same specimen that had helped them a few hours ago; she looked at Lucille and tried to explain:

“So, remember when I told you an Odogaron helped us get rid of Ekya? I think it followed us here for some reason.”

Ross gasped as soon as he heard that name, but he didn’t get the time to question Lucille about it, for his sister began to mull over it:

“You told me it tried to eat an infected monster’s flesh, but it couldn’t, and then it feasted on the Tigrex I’d cleansed; perhaps it figured out that it can find some decent meal if it sticks close to us?”

“It seemed to be starving, back there. Maybe you’re right,” the huntress agreed.

Meanwhile, the Odogaron watched everyone with a curious look. They suddenly heard Mikayla’s voice:

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

As soon as it head her, the Odogaron tensed and looked over the three humans. Xavia and the twins turned around to face Mikayla, who was approaching them. She kept her arms folded and pressed against her belly, as if she were cold, and she paced nervously.

“Are you alright, Mikayla?” Xavia asked her.

Her sister-in-law nodded:

“Yeah, don’t worry. It’s just that they’ve started to light the torches for the night. I was going to my tent to rest as soon as I saw them, but then I noticed you here with an Odogaron.”

She gasped, when she noticed that the monster was wagging and shaking its rattled tail while staring at her. She slowly walked past the others, approached the Odogaron and gave it a closer look; she saw that the right forelimb lacked the two central claws. It had eight, instead of ten. At that point, Mikayla was amazed:

“Oda! You were able to return to the Rotten Vale all by yourself! Good boy!” she exclaimed.

The Odogaron lowered its head and Mikayla began to stroke it; then the monster lay down and gleefully basked in her patting.

“Oda?” Lucille asked, confused but intrigued.

Smiling and scratching the Odogaron’s neck, Mikayla told its story:

“Yes, he was one of my brother’s monsters. He was just a puppy when we found him: Ben and I were trying to study Vaal Hazak territories to figure out a way to slay them quickly. He didn’t want to attack us. In fact, he looked terrified of us. Ben noticed he had a severe infection on his right paw. We took him to our hideout and managed to cure him. As you can see, now he lacks two claws, but he could’ve lost the whole paw, according to Ben. Our plan was to hide him from Xander and release him as soon as he’d heal, but we were found out and my brother decided to infect him: he wanted a fast, agile mount.”

“And in the end, Yuri cleansed him before you left the Elder’s Recess. After that, he even joined the fight against Xander and the Xeno’Jiiva,” Xavia concluded.

The Odogaron barked, got up and approached the huntress. Xavia was afraid for a second, but she tried to keep calm and began to pet his head.

“Did you recognize me, Oda?” she giggled.

The Odogaron licked her hands, grateful for the caresses. Mikayla sighed:

“I doubt he’d be able to survive on his own. He spent his whole life taking orders from Xander and his stone. He had to fight very often, I don’t deny that, but I’m still worried about all the infected monsters out there.”

Then Xavia instinctively said something none of them would ever expect:

“I can take care of him.”

Silence fell after that, as if even she couldn’t believe what had just come out of her mouth. She added:

“Sure, I’m not a Rider, but I still want to try. It’s hard to explain: I feel like I have to do it.”

Xavia had spent the entire previous day thinking back to Yuri’s words: she was a descendant of the very first Rider, despite the fact that she’d never heard of them before meeting Xander. Perhaps that feeling was simply due to the curiosity that the Riders’ world had always filled her with since she’d discovered it. She had no idea why she’d said that, but her tone had been so spontaneous as to be unsettling. As if he understood her, the Odogaron moved even closer to the huntress, starting to rub one side of his muzzle against her belly, as if to give her consent. Mikayla smiled, putting her hands behind her back:

“Very well. Thanks a lot, Xavia. I’m sure he’ll be in good hands with you!”

“And if you need help, there are experienced Riders here ready at any time!” laughed Lucille, while Ross nodded.

Xavia smiled, excited:

“Of course. Thank you very much.”

LATER THAT NIGHT…

“So, you encountered Ekya.”

Leaning against the wall of the makeshift pens they’d made for their monsters, Irene reflected on Lucille’s words. The twins had gone call the other two Riders as soon as they’d been left alone. Yuri sat on a stool next to Legi, gently caressing her back as she slept. She was pensive and quiet, after her friend’s account.

“Yes,” Lucille sighed.

She looked at her hands and rubbed them frantically: she did that every time she felt guilty.

“She knocked me out before I could do anything: it all happened so fast… I’m ashamed.”

“What matters is that you’re fine, Lu-Lu. I dare not imagine what that crazy bitch could’ve done to you,” Yuri reassured her.

Ross spoke up:

“Girls, don’t you find it odd? Since when does Ekya put herself in the service of another cult? Also, let me tell you: whoever Yuri’s father is working for, they must be some idiots, thinking they can trust her.”

“Do you think she’ll betray them, too?” Irene asked him.

“Knowing her, maybe. But it’s not her I’m worried about: what she told Xavia scares me more.”

“The Makili Pietru knows we broke the deal, because you came here to help,” Yuri pondered.

Ross nodded:

“We should be much more careful, from now on. Who knows? Maybe the corrupt Riders will begin to set ambushes; or worse, raid this place.”

Suddenly, Irene covered her mouth with both hands, scandalized:

“Oh, no! I fucked up! This is my fault!”

Lucille opened her eyes wide:

“What?”

The albino girl whispered in a mortified tone:

“I was so stupid! I let the Makili Pietru spot me, when I went to spy on their base! It didn’t raise the alarm, so I thought it didn’t care about me or that it was trying to trick me into attacking it, but it seems I was wrong.”

Ross interrupted her:

“Even so, Ekya couldn’t have known Lucy and I had come to the New World as well. I smell a rat.”

“That may be my fault, instead,” Yuri whispered, looking down.

When her friends gave her a puzzled look, she explained herself:

“You know the Makili Pietru tried to possess me, the other day. I’m sure it saw you through my eyes. That’s the only way to explain it.”

Irene gasped, outraged:

“Yuri, don’t you dare blame yourself for this! It was my fault! You were right: I never should’ve volunteered for a stealth mission.”

Lucille sprang to her feet, spreading her arms in a scolding manner:

“Enough! We don’t need to find a culprit! By now the damage is done.”

Ross nodded and sat down next to Yuri:

“Lucy’s right: this blame game’s pointless. We must warn the Admiral about what happened: we’ll help the hunters patrol the base with our monsters. We’ll defend this camp at all costs. Alright?”

“Fine,” Yuri nodded, looking away.

“You can count on me, Ross,” Irene smiled, crossing her arms.

Yuri snuck into the tent, lay down in her sleeping bag and stretched. She tried to be as quiet as possible, since she thought her mother was sleeping.

“Are you tired?”

Instead, she gasped, when Xavia turned to her and lit the oil lamp.

“I thought you were asleep; you scared me,” Yuri sighed.

Xavia asmiled and fondly ruffled the girl’s hair.

“Not yet. I was waiting for you: I have a favor to ask you, Yuri.”

“A favor?”

She gave her mother an intrigued look, prompting her to go ahead.

“Yes. I don’t know if you were told already, but I decided to look after a monster.”

“You mean the Odogaron? Yeah, Lucille told me! I never saw that coming.”

“I can hardly believe it myself, to be honest. I can’t tell why I made this choice: I just listened to my gut. I didn’t think at all.”

“It might as well be your inner Rider compelling you,” Yuri speculated.

She was trying to laugh it off, and she succeeded: her mother looked at her for a moment, then she chuckled.

“Maybe you’re right. But I’ve been a huntress all my life. I know the Riders’ practices, but nothing more. I think the only thing I can do is cling to running monsters. That’s why I was wondering if you could teach me.”

“Teach you?”

Yuri gave a pleased smile and her mother nodded:

“Yes. If I’m to take care of Oda, I want to do it properly, as you Riders would. Are you willing to help me, Yuri?”

Yuri was silent for a few seconds, then she smiled and blushed a little:

“Of course I’ll help you, mom! I was already looking for a way to repay you for everything you’ve done over the last few months, this is the least I can do!”

Xavia gave a wide smile, spreading her arms and hugging her daughter tightly:

“Thanks, Yuri! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!”

“You’ll become an honorary Rider, mom! You have my word!”

She hugged back, and Xavia chuckled again.

“Then I’m counting on you, Yuri!”

Chapter Text

Ayla’s nightmare was different, that night. Any changes to it were rare, and every time it happened, it meant that the Fatalis wanted to tell her something. Sometimes, it did that to announce a future event to her, other times just to torment her because it enjoyed it, especially during her childhood. But this time, it was truly strange.

The sky was even darker, but she wasn’t in the usual destroyed village, with all the inhabitants brutally murdered. In fact, she couldn’t tell where she was: rubble and broken hunting equipment was scattered all around her, in what resembled a battlefield. Looking around, Ayla noticed that she stood near a giant creature lying on the ground.

She gasped and flinched, when she realized what it was: that was the Fatalis, but something was weird about it, and it disgusted her. It was an abomination: its head and wings were covered in bright, white scales; there was white fuzz on the left side of its head and a huge horn on the right side, much longer than the others. Its tail, belly and forelimbs were clad in crimson scales, while its back and hind legs were black. Its entire body sported spots of all three colors, all disorderly and without precise patterns.

It was growling and twitching, overwhelmed by a seizure. Ayla noticed that it seemed to be in terrible pain: when it slowly got up, lifting its head and spreading its wings, it began to wheeze. It let out a roar that shook the earth: a powerful blaze came out of its mouth and flew upwards; flaming meteors and red lightning fell from the sky after a few seconds.

The huntress had to kneel down not to topple over due to the roar’s shockwave. She sensed all the pain of that unnatural aberration. Blood Eyes brought a hand to her mouth, disgusted by that horrible creature: she felt compelled to kill it. She grabbed her switch axe, setting it to sword mode right away, and ran at the monster, but it suddenly disappeared. Instead, sitting on the ground and holding her hands over her temples, there was Xavia’s daughter.

Ayla stopped just in time, with the tip of her blade a mere inch from Yuri’s head. The girl gasped and gave her a terrified, confused look, as she crawled backwards in terror. Before Blood Eyes could say anything, she heard another roar behind her and a giant shadow appeared overhead. Turning around, Ayla barely had the time to see the Fatalis, before she and Yuri were hit by a giant flame that incinerated them both.

Ayla awoke with a start, screaming. She quickly looked around, panting: she was in her tent, drenched in sweat and with her heart racing. It was dawn, judging from the light passing through the cloth.

“Ayla! Are you okay?”

Gionata, who was already up, gasped when he heard her scream and rushed over.

“I… the Fatalis… my nightmare… Yuri!”

“Calm down, you’re awake now! And what about Yuri? What does she have to do with it?” he asked, as confused as her.

“My nightmare was completely different, Gionata! I didn’t kill anyone! I wasn’t in the burning village! I saw a revolting being, then it turned into Yuri and… and… the Fatalis attacked us! Gionata, you must believe me: I still remember it perfectly!”

Gionata knelt down to look her in the eye and gently grabbed her shoulders, trying to reassure her:

“Ayla, breathe: you’re so tense!”

“Yeah, right. Damn.”

Gionata took her hand and encouraged her in a kind tone:

“Tell me more about what you saw in the dream, alright? We’ll figure it out together. I’m sure of it.”

Ayla then nodded, before describing in great detail her dream: the horrific hybrid of the three Fatalis, the disgust it made her feel and her urge to put it down, Yuri’s sudden appearance, and finally the Fatalis that had been haunting her dreams for over twenty years. As she recounted, Ayla remembered the musings of a wyverian scholar from Minegarde who had spent a few years in Cathar to “study” her up close, on the Guild’s behalf: he speculated that the curse may intensify should the Fatalis’ spirit get near another of its kind. Could these be the effects of that? Did Yuri count as one of its kind, now that she carried a Fatalis gene? Gionata rubbed his chin as he mused:

“Well, that’s a pretty drastic change, that’s for sure.”

Ayla nodded, scratching her temples.

“I don’t understand what Yuri has to do with all this. She replaced that abomination before I could kill it.”

“The Fatalis is trying to tell you something: it showed you a creepy chimera and Xavia’s daughter. There must be a link between the two.”

They were both quiet for a few minutes, before Gionata snorted:

“What links that girl to an aberration merging three different Fatalis together?”

Ayla had a sudden epiphany. She clapped her hands and stared at her boyfriend:

“That’s it! It’s her gene!”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about her powers: Xavia told us Yuri has full control over fire, like the black Fatalis! Then, in Astera, she hit the Makili Pietru with a meteor, like the crimson Fatalis! And then, a few days ago, she electrocuted a Legiana with red lightning, like the white Fatalis!”

Gionata opened his eyes wide:

“She has the powers of all three Fatalis? So do you think the chimera from your dream represents some sort of ‘mixed’ gene? Is that even possible?”

“How should I know? It’s the only sense I can make of my dream. I have to talk to her! The Fatalis hates humans, so maybe it considers Yuri and her powers an insult: that must be why it wanted me to kill her, in my dream.”

“Of course, but you need to relax before telling her, or else you’ll end up terrifying her! I wouldn’t like to see what mess it would be then,” Gionata stopped her, taking her hand again.

The Makili Pietru was worried: it had sensed a presence that night. It wasn’t the first time it happened since it had become incarnate for the third time: just when it was reborn, it had sensed it somewhere atop a cliff, next to Redan’s heir. Later, when it had shown up in Astera to challenge the White Miracle, it had sensed it among the crowd. It had suspicions on what it might be, but it was dormant, too well-hidden for it to identify it.

But now, that presence had stirred all of a sudden and the Black Dread could feel its anger: that was a Fatalis, the only monster it really had to fear. That fury was unmistakable, and that night, it had felt all of its might. Upon being reborn, it had no fear of being stopped by a Fatalis like the first time: it knew that none had ever been in the New World. And yet, there was one; clearly, it wasn’t alive.

That presence was too faint to be bodily: it was a ghost. The Makili Pietru knew that Fatalis sometimes influenced humans wearing armor made with pieces of them to take revenge on their slayers, but that was the first time it sensed one such Fatalis. If the Dark Demise was nearby, it needed to be very careful and take out the possessed one as soon as possible, before the Fatalis destroyed it.

The weather had turned cloudy by night and now it was raining. It was a calm, yet persisent rain. Some shrugged it off and took care of their assignments around the new base like it was nothing, whereas others paced in a hurry and cursed, trying not to get soaked and go to their tents as fast as they could. The fog was so thick that one could hardly see past their nose.

Not knowing where Yuri was, Ayla decided to ask Xavia, but she didn’t need to in the end: she found the girl not far from the outermost tents, under a crude wooden ceiling that was meant to become the weaponry. While her Rathalos sat, the girl tried to wipe his saddle with a cloth. Ayla sighed one last time, strived to make a warm smile and approached her:

“Hey, Yuri.”

“Oh, Ayla! Is there something you need to tell me?” the girl asked serenely.

“Yes, it’s very important.”

“Really?”

“It’s about your gene.”

Yuri instantly became alert:

“What?”

“It’s quite complicated, but I really have to explain this to you, for your own good.”

“Sure! In fact, thank you: some explanations would be much appreciated.”

“The Fatalis spirit inside me has become agitated because of that gene. Last night, it showed me the truth about your powers in a dream.”

Now very interested, Yuri asked her to go on.

“Alright.”

There were stools next to the wooden structure, so they each took one and sat down opposite each other. Ayla chose to begin from the nightmare sent to her by the Fatalis: Xavia had told her that Yuri had begun to feel restless and have nightmares every night, so she wanted to reassure her on those to begin with.

“So, did you start having a nightmare where you slaughter everyone you know and enjoy it?” she asked.

Yuri opened her eyes wide:

“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve been dreaming every night!”

“Then it’s like my curse.”

“Please, tell me it’s never actually going to happen!”

“No, don’t worry. I’m the one who has to fear that.”

“Oh, what a relief! Sorry to hear that, though,” Yuri added.

“Never mind that, relax. Also, I wanted to warn you that the nightmare won’t be always the same. Some nights, you might get two different versions of it.”

“Which are?” Yuri asked, concerned.

“Sometimes, it’s going to be visions of the future, twisted and disguised with cryptic images that you’ll only understand at the right time. When we Fivers were sailing here, I dreamt of the Elder’s Recess, even if no one knew it existed back then.”

“Interesting! Then I’d better pay attention to that from now on: I may be able to figure out some details in advance. What’s the alternative?”

“Other times, you’ll happen to go over certain days that stood out in your life. I often had to relive the worst insults my fellow villagers hurled at me as a child, back when they feared me. In the dream, you’ll feel like an invisible bystander: you’ll even see yourself from the outside. I’m warning you, it’s weird; so very weird.”

Yuri was surprised to say the least:

“I didn’t expect that at all! I wonder what days I’m going to relive; maybe some embarrassing mistakes I made in Hakum when I was little?”

Ayla couldn’t help but give a little, amused smile, but she decided to go ahead:

“Now, you know what gene it is, don’t you?”

Yuri looked perplexed for a moment, before answering:

“Honestly, I have some doubts. Xander said it’s a Fatalis gene, but my mom thinks that something’s off: the black Fatalis isn’t supposed to summon fiery rocks from the sky or cast lightning. But that’s just anyone’s guess: all we know about the Black Dragons are the legends passed on about them.”

Ayla put a hand on her shoulder and said:

“That brings us to my next point. I know it might sound crazy to you, but your gene doesn’t belong to an actual monster.”

“What?”

“In my dream, I saw a disgusting creature: a mishmash of the three Fatalis. Right after that…”

Ayla slightly gasped and blinked: maybe she’d better omit the part of the dream where she was about to kill Yuri. Then she was quick to rephrase what she was saying:

“Right after that, that thing vanished and you appeared in its stead.”

Yuri was shocked. She brought a hand to her chest, on the spot where Xander had infused her with the gene.

“There’s a blend of three monsters in my body? Genes are usually made with a Kinship Stone and some pieces of monster tissues. Whoever gave that gene to my father, they did something no one ever attempted: fusing together multiple parts of different monsters. Ah, the cruelty!”

“But that explains some of the differences between us. For one, the fact that you’re still yourself when the Fatalis’ fury overwhelms you: I lose it, when it happens to me. The gene simply gives you the Fatalis’ powers and allows you to use them.”

“I guess you’re right,” Yuri said.

She felt sorry for the huntress. The Fatalis’ curse had ruined Blood Eyes’ life and, for a bit, Yuri had thought that would also be the case for her, now that she was in a similar situation. Instead, they seemed to be were completely different.

“Beside what you already tried out, you have one more power: your injuries heal much faster than normal, even debilitating ones.”

“Well, I actually figured as much. I remember when the Makili Pietru smashed me against the stone table of the canteen, in Astera: it hurt so much I couldn’t even scream, I was sure my back was broken. And yet, a few minutes later, I no longer felt anything! So is that the Fatalis’ doing?”

Ayla nodded:

“Well, don’t be afraid anymore, should you suffer severe or deadly injuries: you’ll survive.”

“Really? How can you be so sure? I mean, even when I’m supposed to die instantly?”

Ayla winced, looking around.

“If you promise you’ll keep it a secret, I can tell you, Yuri.”

“Huh? Yes, fine. I promise,” the girl nodded reluctantly.

Now the huntress’ expression was gloomy. Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it, but Yuri was too curious. Then Blood Eyes sighed and found the courage:

“Once, years ago, I died.”

“What?!” Yuri jumped, incredulous.

“It’s true. Have I told you about Chomper?”

Yuri shook her head, but she said that savage Deviljho was so famous that rumors about what he did to all his challengers in the arena he was held in had spread even as far as Hakum.

“Then I’ll keep it short. I challenged him and he broke every bone in my body. Well, that killed me, but I came back: the Fatalis won’t let me die. It wants me to stay alive, so it can keep haunting me and I can’t stop suffering. That’s why I go berserk when I’m mad: it wants me to. It made me what I am because it wanted everyone to fear me and leave me alone with my sorrow. Fortunately, though, you’re not like me; I doubt a chunk of meat in your body has a will of its own.”

 When she heard the sadness in Ayla’s voice, Yuri instinctively told her that she was sorry.

“Don’t worry about me: I’m used to it, it’s not a problem anymore. In fact, I couldn’t even imagine how I’d be without curse: it’s part of what I am.”

“I see.”

Without further ado, Ayla moved on to the last thing she had to say, the most important one:

“Now you have a much better understanding of what’s happening to you. Now bear this in mind, because it’s fundamental: you must never, ever see this as a bad thing. Accept it without thinking it might ruin you, because if you can believe it, you’ll see that it will end up being an added benefit!”

Yuri raised an eyebrow, perplexed, so Ayla put a hand on her shoulder again and told her:

“Some things may look like the worst fate ever, just like they may look like the best: it all depends on how you look at them. You have the soul and the powers of three Fatalis? Think of the perks it can have! Don’t let the nightmare scare you: it’s just a little side effect, nothing more!”

Yuri seemed to be inspired by her words. She almost looked rejuvenated:

“That’s what you did, right?”

“Of course! In fact, it’s going to be easier for you, since you’re not cursed and able to control these powers. If you can live with them, I promise you’ll see only the bright side of it.”

Yuri stood up and gave her a radiant smile:

“Thanks, Ayla! Thank you dearly!”

“Don’t mention it, I did what I had to,” the huntress replied.

At that point, Yuri took the saddle off Ratha and left, thanking her once more for their chat. The Rathalos stayed where he was: he didn’t feel like getting his wing membranes wet again, since it made taking off three times harder. Once left alone, Ayla stood up and looked up at the cloudy sky for a moment:

“Now I just have to hope that old wyverian’s theory doesn’t apply to Yuri,” she nervously thought.

But after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and sighed. She put her hands on her hips and headed back to her tent.

“I’d better join the team. There are lots of ores to mine today,” she reminded herself.

“You, there! Can I ask you something?”

Gionata was going back to his tent after talking to the blacksmith to have him check his gunlance, when he heard someone call to him. When he turned around, he saw that it was the albino Rider. Ayla had told him about her after the outburst she’d had a few days ago, so he didn’t know what to expect from that girl.

“What is it?”

“Are you Blood… I mean, Ayla’s boyfriend?”

The blonde immediately corrected herself, before speaking that moniker.

“Yeah, it’s me. Why?” he asked her, weirded out.

“Great. Two days ago, I really pissed her off, so I’m looking for a way to apologize. It was so stupid of me to keep bragging like that: she was right. But I have no ideas on what to do.”

“So you came to me for suggestions,” he guessed.

Irene nodded and Gionata brought a hand to his chin, musing, before snapping his fingers:

“I got it! Ayla loves making bracelets: she made plenty of those with monster scales, but she wanted to make the latest one with gemstones from the Old World. She collected them all, except for one, and she asked the argosy captain to get her the last one. But all the goods were lost because of that madman’s Plesioths, so she couldn’t complete it.”

“I see. What piece is she missing?”

“Dundormarin. When this mess is over, you could bring her some to make amends: I guarantee you it would work!”

Gionata didn’t notice that Irene had suddenly frowned.

“Alright. Thanks a lot for the tip!”

That said, she ran towards her tent, leaving Gionata alone. He shrugged and walked away.

A FEW HOURS LATER…

Despite Ayla’s words, Yuri couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d discovered: a mixed gene of three Fatalis. She didn’t know what to do. Should she tell her friends? Her mother? The sky had cleared by now, so she was taking advantage of that moment of peace to take a walk just outside the camp.

Sure, she was following Redan’s orders, but she couldn’t just stay in her tent, doing nothing: Ross, Lucille and Irene had left that morning to visit the last biome of the New World they hadn’t visited yet. Her mother and Mikayla, for their part, were helping keeping the infected monsters at bay. With a sigh, Yuri sat down on a coral on the edge of the depths of the Rotten Vale, a little disheartened: she felt like the only useless person right now.

She suddenly saw an Astalos in the sky: Mikayla was returning to base. She got an idea: she quickly got up, heading to the makeshift pens where their monsters rested. She had to discuss it with her aunt as soon as possible. As expected, Asta landed near the stables: as soon as Mikayla got off him, Yuri took a deep breath, before approaching her.

“Mikayla?”

While she was patting Asta to praise him for the excellent job they’d done in their latest expedition to hunt infected monsters, the Zinogre-woman heard her niece’s voice and turned to her, surprised. She noticed that she looked pretty nervous, so she kindly asked:

“Oh, hello, Yuri! Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

After a brief hesitation, the girl spoke up:

“So, I wanted to ask you something, but please, don’t tell my mom! I’ll let her know later!”

Mikayla raised an eyebrow, shrugging.

“Fine. Alright, then, what is this about?”

“Ayla learnt something new about the gene that asshole infused me with.”

“Blood Eyes? What did she learn? But most importantly, how?”

“In a dream, but that doesn’t matter. The thing is, she found out that my gene is actually a mixed one, derived from all three known Fatalis. She told me about it earlier, and I just can’t get her words off my head.”

Yuri scratched her head, looking down. Her aunt opened her eyes wide:

“Hold on. My brother did what?! Is it possible to make a gene with multiple monsters?”

Mikayla massaged her temples. Back when she was part of the Servants of the Blight with Xander, she’d never heard of anything like it. Yuri told her she’d explain it more in detail later.

“Ayla told me to try and focus on the positives of my ‘condition’. I think that would be the powers the gene gives me!”

“Good for you, but what do I have to do with all this?” Mikayla asked, rubbing her neck.

“I wanted to ask: will you help me train with my powers?”

“Me? Train you?”

Her niece folded her arms and looked down with a sigh:

“Yes! So far, I’ve only used them unconsciously, when I got enraged. Now, even if I focus, I can’t make that aura of fire, summon a meteorite or cast lightning. I was hoping you could help me, since you’re much more experienced with your own powers and…”

Mikayla gently raised her hand, interrupting her:

“Yuri, I appreciate your sentiment, but I’m not so good at it, either.”

Now it was Yuri’s turn to be surprised:

“What?”

“It’s true: Mikie is the one who mastered the gene’s powers. All I can do is this.”

That said, Mikayla raised her arms and tensed her fingers: her forearms were covered in bright, blue electric shocks that disappeared in seconds.

“I can also cast weak lightning bolts, but that’s not even a fraction of what she can do.”

Are you done moping, Mikayla?

“Hey, I was speaking well of you!” she replied out loud, crossing her arms.

Yuri looked confused for a second, before figuring out that her aunt was talking to her other self.

Sure, I’m more skilled than you with our powers. So? I’ve been using them for ten years and lost count of my victims, while you never even tried to learn. If you commit to it and follow my advice, I’m sure you’ll catch up to me fast! I can teach both you and Yuri, if you want! I’m only referring to the electricity, of course: I have no idea how fire is controlled. Not to mention the meteors.

Mikayla fiddled with her hair and reported the words of the voice in her head:

“She says she could help us practice. But we can’t do much for your other powers: we can only help you with lightning. And please, don’t set anything on fire! I beg you.”

Yuri quickly shook her head:

“No, no! Relax, I didn’t forget about your phobia! I wouldn’t do that in any case!”

Mikayla took a deep breath to calm down, before smiling at her and putting her hands on her shoulders:

“Alright, then. Still, try not to overdo it, okay? Redan told you to rest, didn’t he?”

Yuri opened her eyes wide:

“What? How did you know?”

“Xavia told me.”

“And you believe it? I mean, doesn’t it sound odd to you?” Yuri asked, looking down.

Mikayla smiled:

“Yuri, I’m still your aunt! I trust you more than anyone else. The first Rider’s ghost lives in your Kinship Stone, spoke to you and ordered you to take some rest? It’s not that absurd.”

She giggled, and Yuri couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Right. Thanks, Mikayla.”

“Don’t mention it! So, shall we begin our training tomorrow? Do you agree, Mikie?”

Yes.

“Fine by me. See you tomorrow, Mikayla!”

That said, she left her aunt and the Astalos at the pens. Asta began to rub his horn on his mistress’ hip to ask her to take the saddle off him and let him rest at last.

“This place will do!”

Yuri got off her Legiana and reassured her mother, pointing at a clearing in front of them: the peaks of the Coral Highlands didn’t take too much room and the ground was flat enough for Xavia to practice her riding. Additionally, the soil was covered in a layer of white sand: it was perfect to cushion falls. As soon as she’d come back from her daily hunt, Xavia had asked Yuri to help her with Oda, as requested the night before. Yuri had agreed, of course, always happy to help. While the blacksmith and his assistants designed a custom saddle for the Odogaron, Lucille had agreed to lend them her Midogaron’s saddle, since the two monsters had quite similar body shapes.

“Yuri, are you sure this is necessary? I mean, I can already cling to a running monster.”

The first thing Yuri had decided to do was helping her mother become more familiar with the Odogaron: from what she’d seen during her expeditions to the Rotten Vale, those were extremely fast, agile monsters. They weren’t the best choice as a new Rider’s first mount, so that was the issue she wanted to address first. Stroking Legi, she answered:

“Clinging to a monster and riding one are two completely different things. In the first scenario, you’re fighting the monster and you act based on what it does. But in our case, you’re the one telling the monster what to do.”

To demonstrate what she’d just said, she tapped Legi’s sides with her heels. The Legiana then started walking towards the center of the clearing. Yuri suddenly pulled the reins and reclined her back: Legi quickly flapped her wings, taking off and rising a few meters from the ground.

“Of course, Oda can’t fly, but you get the idea!”

“Got it.”

Yuri had Legi land, before getting off her saddle and patting her neck.

“Remember: they’re still living beings. They too have limits that can’t be pushed.”

She then approached her mother, tapping Oda’s side.

“Can I ride him for a few minutes? So I can get a better idea of what to recommend you do.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Xavia nodded, smiling.

Yuri mounted the Odogaron and took the reins, after stroking him for a bit. The Legiana took advantage of it to approach Xavia, so Yuri squeezed the reins and beat her heels hard against Oda’s sides. The Odogaron growled and began to run: he moved fast, dashing past Xavia. Despite his speed, Yuri was able to keep the situation in check without losing her calm: she held the reins tightly, tilting her body just enough to keep up with the movements of the monster’s back.

Xavia had to admit that Yuri was right: she could never do it, if she were asked to. Yuri kept warming Oda up for several minutes, making him run across the entire clearing. When they were done, she smiled and caressed his neck, lending him a piece of jerky she’d brought. Oda whimpered happily, devouring it in a second. Having just eaten, his blood pressurized: he began to pant, the veins on his back glowed orange and a thick puff of steam came out of his mouth. Yuri got off his back and went back to Xavia with him, holding the reins.

“Alright! Are you ready, mom?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Xavia mumbled, a bit insecure.

“Mom, relax: as soon as you get the hang of the basics, you’ll see it’s not so complicated to adapt to other monsters, too! I hope I can teach you well enough: I’ve never done this before.”

She scratched her neck, embarrassed.

“I’m sure you’ll pull it off, Yuri! I’m in your hands,” Xavia smiled.

Yuri smiled back and nodded. She helped her mother mount the Odogaron, and since Xavia was well above her head, she called Legi and stood up on her saddle to reach Xavia’s height.

“Okay, mom, just remember: you must keep calm and hold the reins tightly, no matter what happens. Oda is already well trained: at least Xander is good at doing his job as a Rider.”

She sighed, upon realizing she’d just said something good about her father by accident. Xavia smiled, shaking her head, before Yuri went on:

“The most important thing is keeping your balance to stay on the saddle: the rest will come naturally. Tap his sides once with your heels to make him walk and follow us, okay?”

The said, Yuri sat down on Legi’s back and gave her a tap with her greaves; the Legiana then began to walk straight ahead, in front of the Odogaron.

“Alright.”

Xavia nodded and did as she’d been told: she tapped Oda’s sides with her heels, but very gently. The result was only a slight jolt from the Odogaron: he turned his head and gave her a confused look.

“Relax, they’re still monsters: do it harder, but not too hard, alright? Or else he’ll run at full speed.”

“Okay.”

Xavia tried again, and this time she succeeded: the Odogaron began to slowly walk forward, following the Legiana. The huntress found it almost funny, since normally those two monsters competed for the niche of apex predator of the Coral Highlands. Yuri exhulted:

“Very good! To make him stop, just pull the reins and move your weight backwards: keep holding them tightly until you feel confident enough. It takes a lot of practice to keep your hands free while riding a monster, so don’t give up!”

Xavia stayed quiet and nodded, so Yuri kept showing her the basics with some simple demonstrations: how to change the monster’s direction, how to regulate its speed and so on. She made Legi slow down and stand next to Oda, while they both kept walking:

“They’re still capable of adapting on their own, anyway. If he sees an obstacle on his way, for example, you won’t need to order him to dodge it: the trick is to keep calm and trust the monster, only intervening when necessary. ‘Trust your monster and it will trust you.’ When the bond is strongest, monsters can even feel their Rider’s emotional state.”

“Are you sure you’ve never taught anyone? I’m serious: you’re really good at this.”

Her mother’s words made Yuri blush, so she looked away with an embarrassed giggle. In a fit of nostalgia, she thought back to Dan’s training and replied:

“I had a good teacher. Come on, let’s try to speed up the pace now, shall we? Keep up with us!”

Yuri beat her heels twice against Legi’s sides, and she quickly ran past the Odogaron.

“Ah! Wait!” Xavia gasped.

She briefly stroked Oda’s neck, before imitating her daughter. But she beat too hard and unwittingly pulled the reins: the Odogaron suddenly stood up on his hind legs. Not expecting that, Xavia lost her balance and fell from the saddle, lying down in the sand.

“Oh gosh, mom! Sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Yuri got off Legi and rushed over to her mother and Oda, who was keeping his head low. Xavia sat up and chuckled, shrugging off the sand.

“Well, it’s normal to fall a few times, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I’m still sorry! It was my mistake, I caught you off guard!”

Xavia patted her shoulder and reassured her:

“I’m fine, really. Come on, let me try again! We’ll catch you this time, won’t we, Oda?”

The Odogaron barked, glad that Xavia wasn’t hurt, licking her hand and causing her to giggle.

Ayla and Gionata were relaxing by the campfire in front of their tent, after such a long day spent mining ores, when Blood Eyes heard someone call her from a distance. She recognized that voice and snorted, slightly nervous: it was Irene. In hindsight, her outburst a few days ago might have been too harsh. However, Yuri had told her it had done some good, claiming that her friend had promised the other Riders she’d try to work on her attitude.

“Hey! Hi, Ayla!”

An embarrassed Irene looked a bit intimidated, when the huntress turned to her. Ayla noticed that she was keeping her hands behind her back.

“Look, I wanted to apologize for what happened the other day. I bragged to you all the time, I deserved to hear what you told me.”

Ayla reassured her in a kind tone:

“No worries. That’s water under the bridge, alright? I admit I went a little too far myself.”

“Not at all: everything you said was true, it’s just that everyone had gotten used to my personality and nobody ever told me. I owe you a proper apology.”

The albino girl hesitated a little, as Ayla and Gionata stared at her, before finding the courage to reach out:

“I want you to have this!”

Ayla couldn’t believe it: the Rider was holding a big chunk of dundormarin. She glanced at Gionata, who was just as surprised, before turning back to Irene. The girl went on:

“I decided to apologize with a gift, but I was out of ideas, so I asked Gionata and he told me you needed some dundormarin to finish a bracelet.”

“Well, I didn’t expect you to have any!” he said, amazed.

“You know, this is actually my lucky charm: my mentor Silva is both a Rider and a seasoned sailor and merchant. One of my first tasks was to carry some goods from Tanzia to Dundorma. It was the most tiresome journey of my life; anyway, after I got the job done, my mentor gave me this stone for my efforts, and it’s been a souvenir of mine ever since! I always carry it when I travel. But I’m willing to give it to you, if it means I can make it up to you!”

“I don’t know…” Ayla mumbled.

“Please, accept this! I insist! It was one of my mentor’s first gifts and it was by my side in many adventures: take it, before I change my mind,” Irene joked.

After a few moments of hesitation, Ayla agreed and took the gem from the girl’s hands.

“Thanks a lot, Irene!”

“You’re welcome! I’m so glad we’re good. Because we are good, right?”

When Ayla nodded and smiled at her, Irene looked like she was about to take leaps of joy. Then she cleared her throat and said:

“Anyway, there’s something else I wanted to ask you, after what you told me in the Elder’s Recess. Only if you want to talk about it, of course! If you don’t, I’ll leave right now.”

“Sure, ask away,” the huntress said, a bit surprised.

“Alright. So, you said you fought a Gore Magala when you were fourteen, like I did. How did it happen? I mean, I know they’re quite rare: I had to search far and wide to find one.”

Ayla scratched her neck:

“Oh, that. I’ll spare you all the details, but my parents are the two hunters who defeated the Shagaru Magala on the peaks near Cathar. Given my ‘skills’, so to speak, they decided to give me a little push and forced me to fight a Gore Magala when I was just a teenager.”

“Really? That was reckless of them, if you ask me,” Irene commented.

This time, Gionata replied to her:

“Why, were your folks not reckless? I mean, for you to become so self-centered, they mustn’t be so good at parenting. I bet they have their fair share of issues.”

Irene suddenly made a grim expression and looked away, and Ayla nudged her boyfriend. He had no time to protest, because the Rider began to speak:

“You’re right, in a way. I never met my parents. I’m an orphan,” she said, embarrassed.

Gionata gave her a sorry look and apologized for his snide remark.

“It’s okay, you couldn’t know. I’m not even from Hakum. I know it might sound absurd to you, but what I’m about to say is the truth: an azure Rathalos took me to the village when I was just three months old.”

“An azure Rathalos?” Ayla asked, astonished.

“Yes, the village chief told me so: it also carried a piece of paper with my name, surname and age written on it, nothing else. Once it made sure I was safe, it flew away. Days later, Hakum’s scouts found a village on the other side of the Pondry Hills. They said it had been razed to the ground and the azure Rathalos was there, as if it were visiting a graveyard. Everyone’s best guess is that I was born there.”

Gionata apologized again:

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to bring back bad memories. But you know what? Sometimes, not knowing who your parents are is a blessing. I don’t know what I’d give to forget my father.”

Before Irene could say anything, Gionata shook his head and went on:

“For one, that asshole is also my agent, and he sold a nude of Ayla I painted one night where we both got drunk to my publisher. And he even paid his weight in gold for it!”

Ayla turned bright red when her boyfriend brought up that story, covering her face with both hands. Irene blushed as well, hearing that.

“What?!”

The girl couldn’t even form a sentence, both out of embarrassment and out of disgust for the man in question.

“Sorry to hear that! What a jerk!” she eventually said.

“And that’s not all: to save the publishing house from bankruptcy, he once came here from the Old World and made me draw a sexy calendar. Have you ever met Avhi Itvivi?”

“I don’t think so: it rings me no bell.”

“I’d like to make a joke about her gorgeous curves, but I’ll just let you know that she posed for that calendar.”

Irene was scandalized to say the least, and she apologized to Gionata for having him talk about it.

“I guess I’m lucky, in a way, not knowing anything about my parents. Yuri made a bad discovery with her father,” she whispered.

“Yeah. If nothing else, she has an awesome mother,” Gionata commented.

The three of them were quiet for some minutes, before Irene decided to dismiss them.

“Thanks again for the dundormarin!” said Ayla, smiling.

“Don’t mention it! Thanks for the chat and for opening my eyes, Ayla! And for forgiving me, too! See ya!”

Chapter Text

A Nergigante unlike any other was flying over the sea east of the New World: it was much older and more experienced, tempered by countless fights, as evidenced by its looks. Its horns were black and its entire body was darker than normal. Moreover, some harder, glossy spikes that looked like metal grew among the ones made of bone. That was the Ruiner Nergigante, the strongest and oldest of its kind, which had been helping keeping the balance in the ecosystem for decades, by hunting the more destructive Elder Dragons.

It was heading to the continent because the sudden increase of monsters carrying that new disease concerned it. Before then, it had only smelled their faint, but disgusting stench, carried to its island by the wind. But when some of those monsters got there through the tunnels dug by the Kulve Taroth, it realized that things were getting worse: it had to check on its offspring. It arrived in the Elder’s Recess after a night-long flight and got to its nest at dawn: it found nothing. Now afraid, it began to search everywhere around the crystal maze where it had nested. No dice: its egg had vanished and it could barely pick up on its scent, which meant it had been stolen recently. What could’ve happened?

The Ruiner Nergigante had left its egg in the Elder’s Recess for the hatchling to have plenty of food and a chance to gain experience fast, but it didn’t expect something or someone to find it ahead of time. In a fit of rage, it stood on its hind legs and let out a thundering roar at the sky, smashing two fists into the tuff; the metal spikes on its arms grew a few inches after the impact. It punched a wall of crystal, shattering it.

It took a few minutes to simmer down, and once it was calm, it carefully smelled the air: the smell of its offspring was feeble, but still there. It may still have some hope to find it. It took off and explored the area to follow the scent, but its nostrils picked up on another familiar smell: another Nergigante, a younger adult. Concerned by that, it decided to investigate, before moving on.

It followed the trail and got to a valley where it found the other Nergigante’s severed tail. There were also tracks of a very young human female and a Nargacuga; so there had been a fight, one the other Nergigante had retreated from. The trail then guided it as far as the Confluence of Fates. It was surprised by the fact that the dead Xeno’Jiiva was no longer there, but it didn’t care much. In that place, it sensed the smell of several humans and three monsters not from the Elder’s Recess. At that point, the other Nergigante’s smell changed and became identical to the revolting stench of the infected monsters.

From there, the trail headed somewhere very far away from which the smell of dozens of infected monsters came, distant but clear, as well as the scent of an unknown creature. The Ruiner Nergigante lowered its head and growled: the unknown being’s smell was so acrid and pungent that it made it feel sick. Its instinct told it that whatever it was, that thing had to be disposed of as soon as possible. But for now, the Ruiner Nergigante had a different priority: its offspring. It went back to the defiled nest and found the right scent again.

That new trail guided it as far as the Coral Highlands. Once there, the trail spread in all directions, among the coral platforms: it seemed that the egg had hatched and the baby had settled the region. Now hopeful, the Ruiner Nergigante began to scan every gorge, every depth and every hill. After a couple of hours, it landed at the top of a limestone canyon to rest. Then it saw it: its child was fighting a Kirin atop a ravine not far from there.

With a joyful roar, the Ruiner Nergigante took off and glided towards its offspring. The baby was trying to pin down the Kirin with its horns and shoulder-barges, but due to its lack of experience, it couldn’t predict the Kirin’s leapes and it kept getting hit by its lightning. As soon as it joined them, the Ruiner Nergigante dived down on the Kirin and threw a mighty punch. The impact was so strong that it tore the Kirin apart with its claws and metal spikes.

Scared and amazed, the baby whined and stepped back. It stared the Ruiner Nergigante with its eyes wide open and kept a defensive stance, paralyzed by fear. It was shocked and it clearly didn’t know what to do. It looked conflicted between fight and flight. Its spikes grew and blackened, though they looked like needles, compared to the adult’s steel spikes. The Ruiner Nergigante folded its wings and sat down to let it know that it didn’t want to attack. The baby was still wary, but it slowly relaxed. It observed the adult with a cautious look.

The Ruiner Nergigante stared at it for minutes, then it approached it and began to scrape off its black spikes, using its claws as a comb. That was the first time the baby experienced it, but its instinct told it that it was a sign of affection: it would’ve been already dead, if that adult had been any other Nergigante. In this way, the Ruiner made it clear that it was its parent. The two dragons started smelling each other and exchanging growls and jaw clicks to become acquainted. With every passing second, the baby’s fear was replaced more by enthusiasm. In the end, they rubbed their snouts against the other’s and began to eat the Kirin together.

“Yuri! Yuri, are you awake? You okay?”

Mikayla stirred Yuri from her doze by calling her loudly. The girl looked below her and gasped, when she saw the thick canopy of the Ancient Forest. Ratha let out a guttural noise to get her attention, while Asta flew next to them. They’d decided to go to the bog in the jungle for her first lesson on how to use her power, but she’d fallen asleep towards the end of the trip and Mikayla had worried when she noticed that Yuri had stopped answering when she called her. Yuri rubbed her eyes and mumbled:

“Oh, sorry. I hardly slept last night. Must’ve dozed off.”

“Are you sure you can do this? We can put it off until tomorrow, if you don’t feel like it. We still have time before…”

Yuri covered her mouth to hide a yawn and interrupted her:

“It’s been a week and a half already, we have no time: I’d like to at least learn to control my powers before I face the Makili Pietru.”

Mikayla was about to protest, but she noticed that her niece’s eyes weren’t only tired, but also determined. So she nodded, before ordering her Astalos to guide Ratha towards their landing spot. Mikie’s voice in her head reassured her:

Today we’re taking it easy, anyway: we have to figure out the difference between our powers and Yuri’s. You know, apart from the fire; and the meteors, of course.

Mikaya breathed a sigh of relief: at least they wouldn’t strain Yuri too much.

Once they landed, Yuri asked:

“Maybe you already told me, and I apologize if that’s the case, but why did we go to this bog, again? Couldn’t we stay on the Coral Highlands?”

Their wyverns went to rest under the canopy, ready to intervene should infected monsters show up. Mikayla paused before answering, and Yuri assumed that she was waiting for her twisted self’s reply:

“Mikie says this is how she started: water is an excellent conductor, so it can help you focus better on channeling and casting lightning because you know that you’ll hit your target no matter what, if only in part.”

Yuri was perplexed:

“I see, but I don’t even know where to start. So far, the Fatalis’ wrath and my instinct made me use my powers. I have no idea how to use them on command.”

“Don’t worry: that’s where Mikie and I come in.”

Mikayla gave her a warm smile. She raised her right arm, which was wrapped in feeble electric shocks after a moment.

“Sure, we channel the fulgur bugs’ electricity, while you’re supposed to generate it yourself, but I’m sure we’ll find a way!”

The girl smiled and nodded:

“Thanks, Mikayla. So, where do we start?”

Mikayla paused and stared at nothing, listening. She made an uncertain expression for a moment, but then she looked persuaded and turned to her niece:

“Mikie asked me to let her take over, so she can teach you and me both and I don’t have to keep telling you all the instructions she gives you. She’s right, actually: it’s faster that way.”

That said, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, her irises had changed: the right one was red, the left one was white. Mikie was now in control. Yuri had to admit that she wasn’t yet used to seeing those terrifying eyes. She wondered if her looks had changed in a similar way, while she was her madman father’s puppet or the Makili Pietru’s. Mikie stretched, then she smiled at Yuri:

“Here I am. Are you ready, newbie? When I’m done with you, even Kirins will envy you!”

“Alright.”

Yuri breathed out, trying to loosen up. Mikie laid a hand on her shoulder:

“Let’s start from this: can you tell me how you felt, when you fried that Legiana at the camp? Or when you used your powers in general?”

Yuri reflected resting her chin between her thumb and index finger, before replying:

“I was always enraged. The Nergigante, Xander, the Makili Pietru in Astera and that Legiana… I used my powers instinctively because I was really angry. I can’t tell if there was more to it. Ayla told me our situations are different, too: when she’s filled with the Fatalis’ fury, her only thought is to kill, then she has to calm down, whereas I manage to stay pretty much lucid.”

Mikie looked up while thinking, then she suggested:

“Here’s what we’re going to do: I’ll explain how it works for us, alright? Maybe it can help you somehow.”

Yuri smiled:

“Okay, let’s try it. I admit I’ve always been very curious about it! I would’ve liked to ask Felix, but sadly… oh, I’m so sorry!”

She stopped right away, mortified, when she realized what she was about to say. But Mikie shrugged:

“As much as I’m sorry about Felix, me and him were never that close. I just found him nice. You should apologize to Mikayla: she’s the one who’s depressed now!”

After that taunt, she paused and listened, then she waved dismissively and added:

“Sorry, Yuri, that was a joke: don’t worry. Mikayla says it’s fine, she knows you didn’t mean to offend, yadda yadda yadda.”

Yuri nodded and thanked her. Then the woman took a few steps back and started explaining:

“As Mikayla told you, we don’t generate our own electricity: our body makes a pheromone that lures fulgur bugs.”

She moved some of her hair and a dozen of tiny, glowing bugs came out of her mane and began to buzz around her head.

“We store it and, to cast lightning, we concentrate it in a part of our body before releasing it.”

That said, over a few seconds, both her arms were wrapped in electric shocks. With a quick movement of her arm, those shocks concentrated into a bolt, which darted towards the ground and charred a patch of grass. Yuri nodded patiently and inquired:

“All clear so far. But Mikayla already talked about this. What’s unclear to me is how. How do you release the stored electricity? How do you throw it at something? Could you also cover your whole body in it, like Zinogres do when they’re angry?”

“To answer your last question: honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never tried. It would take an insane charge for me to do that. Maybe twice or three times the size of our current swarm. But the issue is that we’re not entirely immune to the electricity: we feel its effect, though it’s very dampened.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t expect that!”

“Yes. When I cast lightning for a long time, my arms start to tingle. There was that one time, after a two hour long training, where I couldn’t move my right arm for an entire day. Good thing I’m a lefty!”

She approached her niece, went behind her and rested her hands on her shoulders:

“First, focus on the charge you feel inside your body, then picture it in a precise spot, such as your fingers, and finally, imagine yourself casting it. The rest follows. But it’s not immediate: back in the day, we knew nothing yet; neither us, nor Xander, nor those psychos of the cult I used to serve. It took me a week before I figured out how to control the charge without getting electrocuted, and over two months to perfect my technique.”

Yuri looked at her right hand, still doubtful:

“But I don’t even know how to charge up.”

Mikie sighed:

“Indeed, that’s the biggest obstacle I was thinking about, unfortunately. When training us, they used some weird machine that absorbed electricity from monsters’ electrodes and discharged it into us regularly. There were even fulgur bugs, but those were meant to speed things up.”

She stopped, listened quietly and raised an eyebrow:

“Mikayla suggested we do the same to you. I’m not sure it makes sense to try it the same way: you should be able to generate your own charge. If we give it to you and all you do is redirect it, you couldn’t use it properly.”

Mikie went quiet again, then she said:

“She says that it doesn’t hurt to try. What say you, Yuri? Shall we try it? Relax, I’m not going to fry you: Xavia would kill me! I’ll use weak lightning, just enough charge for your body to get used to it.”

Yuri sighed and nodded:

“I’d refuse, but we have no other ideas. Fine, let’s try that.”

“Alright, let’s get started, then. Close your eyes and focus: you’ll feel a tingle. Tell me if I must stop, alright?”

That said, Mikie tightened her grip on Yuri’s shoulders and the girl nodded. Yuri closed her eyes and took a deep breath, now very tense:

“I’m ready. Let’s begin.”

Mikie nodded and Yuri heard the electricity sparkling as it formed on her arms. She shrugged and frowned, trying to ignore that noise and focus on what she’d been told; when she felt a tingle, she realized they’d started. After some minutes, which felt endless to her, the tingle became a constant sting that extended as far as her fingertips. Yuri grit her teeth, trying to focus on the electricity traversing her body: she raised her right arm, which was now shaking, and strived to picture that energy on her fingers. Mikie encouraged her under her breath:

“Very good, Yuri. Come on, you can do this.”

But the girl moaned in pain, before snorting and opening one eye:

“It’s starting to burn, I don’t…”

“Come on, one last effort! You’re almost there, I’m sure of it!”

The confidence in Mikie’s voice as she encouraged her convinced Yuri to keep holding on. She closed her eye again, twisted her fingers and took quick, short breaths. That was when it happened: for a few seconds, the tingle in her arms stopped and concentrated in her right arm. Behind her, her aunt gasped in amazement: crimson shocks formed on Yuri’s arm, contrasting Mikie’s blue lightning.

“Attagirl, keep it up! Almost there!”

Yuri listened to her and strived to focus even harder on the electricity in her arm, which was getting more and more intense.

“When you’re ready, picture yourself casting the lightning from your right hand!” Mikie exclaimed.

After some more endless moments, Yuri opened her eyes wide and quickly stretched out her arm: she heard a thunderclap that made her aunt and the two monsters gasp, then the scarlet lightning bolt struck some reeds in the bog and incinerated them instantly. The electric discharge moved on and hit a tree ten meters away; it left a circle of scorched, blackened bark.

“Hey, I did it!” Yuri shouted, euphoric.

She was on cloud nine, but when she turned to her aunt to thank her, she found out that Mikie had stepped back a couple of meters, much to her confusion. Mikie waved at her. Disoriented and panting, Yuri asked:

“Why did you move away?”

Her arm was still tingly, but it was almost a pleasant sensation, compared to the burning from before. Mikie rushed to her and cheered:

“Yuri! You’re awesome! I was transmitting the electricity onto you, then you suddenly started to create it on your own!”

Yuri opened her eyes wide, astonished:

“Huh?!”

“Yeah! When that red lightning formed, we noticed it was much more energy than I was giving you! So I decided to step back and see what would happen. Damn, you’re something else!”

Yuri pinched her left arm, thinking that might be a dream, but it was real.

“I… I created electricity without even realizing it?! Oh, no! What now?! I don’t even know how I did it, how am I supposed to copy that?! Ugh!”

A thousand thoughts and questions were swirling in her mind: could she do that with fire as well, somehow? And the meteors, how could she control those? Mikie burst out laughing and ruffled her hair.

“Now, now, relax! You made some huge progress in just twenty minutes: we can try again as many times as you wish, until you figure out how to switch on your electricity without my aid!”

Yuri nodded in delight:

“Oh! Yes, yes! Thanks, Mikie! Can we try again right now, please?”

“Alright, let’s! This time, I’ll increase the charge a bit.”

While the two of them recovered, Ratha and Asta exchanged a knowing look; the Rathalos then took off and flew away to search for food and the Astalos curled up on the ground to rest, while staying watchful.

When they finished their meal, the Ruiner Nergigante took flight and urged the baby to follow it. At first, the little one gladly followed it, but when it figured out that they were leaving the Coral Highlands, it hesitated. Its parent noticed that it had landed and joined it, perplexed. In the shade of a big red coral, it sat down in front of the baby and tried to encourage it, but the baby wasn’t sure. Then the Ruiner realized, after a more careful sniff, that a female human’s scent lingered on the baby.

In fact, that scent was well defined, at least as much as its own would’ve been if it had been with the baby since it hatched. It appeared that it had seen that human upon being born and had stayed by her side, even though she belonged to another species. The Ruiner Nergigante didn’t quite like that, but at least it hadn’t lost its offspring. It could’ve been worse.

The silence was suddenly broken by a Bazelgeuse’s roar, followed by the stench of that disease. The infected monster zoomed above their heads without noticing them; it was headed towards the humans’ settlement. The baby got alarmed immediately, seeing a hostile creature going there, so it chased after it with a roar. The Ruiner Nergigante was about to follow it, when a stream of dragon element hit it from behind; it tickled its whole body and made it sneeze.

“No, you idiot! I didn’t bring you here for this!” a human voice yelled.

Enraged, the Ruiner Nergigante turned around and saw an infected Deviljho, ridden by a man. The human struggled to stay on the saddle and made a red stone on his wrist glow, in a useless attempt to keep the monster at bay; but his mount was too hungry and maddened by the disease to obey him. The Ruiner Nergigante growled and punched the ground as hard as it could to throw its arm spikes. The metal spikes stabbed the Deviljho all over its body, causing it to fall on its side upon impact; the man was hurled off the saddle and tumbled in the grey dust of the Coral Highlands.

Before the Deviljho stood up, the Ruiner Nergigante lunged at it and ripped off its jaw with a claw swipe. Left mouthless and with its tongue hanging out, the Deviljho collapsed and died. Its master didn’t even have the time to swear, before he was turned into a puddle of blood and gore. Once victorious, the Ruiner Nergigante wiped the blackened blood from its arms and looked up at the sky: it wondered what its baby might be doing.

“Hey, when we’re done, may I go take a closer look at your golden Rathian? I’ve always dreamt of seeing one, but I never have. Well, there’s a reason why it’s a rare species,” Eden asked, next to Irene.

“Oh, that’s fine! Raith is very sociable. It’s easy: just pet her on the chin and you’ll instantly cosy up to her!” the blonde replied.

“Don’t overwhelm these kids, you blabbermouth. If they’re not as patient as they’re trying to look with those cherubic little faces of theirs, forget the petting: they might as well feed you to their beasts!” Carson intruded mischievously.

Since Ayla’s team had no urgent assignments to cull infected monsters that day, the four hunters and Eden had elected to make themselves useful by sharpening dulled blades at the makeshift forge set up by the Second Fleet Master and his apprentices. After some time, their handler had asked if she could invite Yuri’s friends to get to know them better, and they’d agreed. From that moment on, Eden had been overwhelming all three Riders with her usual questions. Ross winked at his sister:

“No, don’t worry! We’re usually like this, too, especially Yuri and someone else in the room. Am I right, Lucy?”

“Oh, stop it! Says the one who harassed that guy with the two Zinogres for weeks, because he didn’t know how to handle the infestation of Tyr’s dracophage bugs and wanted some advice!” she taunted him.

Gionata and Ayla exchanged an amused look, without stopping working. Naïve as always, Yuna asked her teammates why humans sometimes argued over such small matters. Carson chuckled and told her the two kids weren’t really arguing, they were just poking each other, like all of their peers. They kept sharpening blades for a while, when all of a sudden, the entire camp was alerted by the sound of a horn. Everyone rushed to the center of the base and looked up at the elderly wyverian who’d blown it: waving frantically and shouting from the airship balcony, he yelled:

“Bazelgeuse! A Bazelgeuse is attacking from the north-east! Incoming!”

As everyone panicked, a rain of pinecone-shaped scales turned the northeastern part of the base into a mine field, before the invading monster dived down on the tents; it dug a deep rut into the ground and blew up tents, crates and tables. The Bazelgeuse shrugged off the dust, went to the center of the area and began to look around with a vigilant look, as all the hunters rushed to their tents to get their weapons. Followed by her team and by Yuri’s friends, Ayla grabbed her switch-axe from next to her hammock and cursed:

“Shit, that’s all we need!”

“What is that thing?!” Lucille asked, eyes wide open.

“A bomb with wings, that’s what it is! Waste no time!” Carson replied in a hurry.

“Let’s go get our weapons: we want to help!” Ross urged his friends.

“No! Leave it to us!” Yuna stopped them.

“What? But why?” Irene asked, irritated.

“You’ve never faced a Bazelgeuse before: you’re not ready! Help the scholars leave of the airship, instead! It could bring it down while flying and kill them.”

“That’s unfair!” the blonde complained.

“But you can still watch us, so you’ll be ready next time!” Gionata exclaimed.

Before long, as the three kids went rescue the researchers, everyone else huddled around the infected Bazelgeuse with their weapons drawn. Much to their surprise, the monster was doing nothing: after its destructive arrival, it stood still and let them surround it without reacting. It kept a defensive stance, its scales glowed eerily and so intensely that they could see them even beneath the Black Blight’s mist. Its fangs were bared and it gave everyone a menacing look, yet it wouldn’t attack. All it did was observe all the hunters one by one. The Commander’s grandson rushed up front with his greatsword drawn and ordered:

“Hunters, wait for its next move! Don’t let it blindside you!”

Every time the monster glared at a hunter, it gave them a threatening growl and shook the explosive scales still attached to its body as a challenge, yet it wouldn’t resume the assault. What did it want? Ayla saw Nick and Nina among the crowd and she heard him tell his sister:

“It looks like it’s looking for someone.”

“I knew it! They sent a monster even worse than the Legianas for Yuri!” she exclaimed.

“It’s always that fucking girl’s fault! It’s a curse!” Mike complained, next to them.

The standoff ended as soon as the Bazelgeuse gazed upon Ayla: it opened its eyes wide and roared; it charged, pushed away the closest hunters and forced the more distant ones to dive sideways. Shocked and disoriented, Ayla barely had the time to think:

“It’s after me! Why?”

After gaining momentum, the Bazelgeuse took flight, made a U-turn and began to fly above the camp multiple times while dropping its explosive scales.

“Someone blind it! Quick!” the Commander’s grandson ordered.

A hunter with sword and shield exclaimed a quick “yessir” and loaded a flash pod into his slinger. As soon as the Bazelgeuse glided towards him, he took the shot and the flash stunned the monster. The wyvern lost stability and crashed against a coral, which crumbled upon impact. Before it got up, Carson and another heavy bowgunner shot the wyvernheart and the wyvernsnipe respectively, wounding its sides and causing it to stumble; a flow of blackened blood stained the broken coral.

Being careful not to step on the unexploded scales dropped all around them, the hunters jumped the Bazelgeuse all at once: Yuna began to slash the stiff membranes of its wings with her aerial stunts to keep it on the ground. A woman with dual blades dashed under the monster and cut the lumps on its ankles with spinning slashes, trying to make it lose its balance. The Bazelgeuse kicked her away, but Ayla made her move right afterwards: she switched her axe to sword mode, clung to the wounded side and did an elemental discharge, which enlarged the cut. The monster moaned, then it swang its head and pushed her off.

While lying on the ground, Ayla saw the Bazelgeuse’s tail above her. The monster made the explosive scales under its tail glow and was about to smash her with it. Ayla covered her face with both arms, but she saw Nick rush over at the last second: he jumped from the coral stump and sliced off the tail with a helm breaker. Enraged, the Bazelgeuse breathed in and prepared to breathe fire at Nick. Gionata stood between them and blocked the blaze with his shield, then he fired all his shells at once in the Bazelgeuse’s face. The blast broke many of the smooth plates covering its head.

The wyvern hopped to stomp on them, but Nina shot a dragon-piercing arrow at it before it did, making it crash beyond them. The Commander’s grandson took advantage of it to throw it off balance with a shoulder-barge, then he hit its face with a devastating slash of his greatsword; he poked out its right eye. The Bazelgeuse flinched and moan, now hurt and furious. Ayla got back on her feet and used the opening the others had given to her to sharpen her switch-axe, but she paid dearly for that distraction: she was suddenly struck by the Bazelgeuse’s round head and hurled high up. Ayla landed onto the monster’s snout and instinctively clung to it not to fall off.

She didn’t get off in time, because the Bazelgeuse took off and rose as high as the clouds covering the peaks of the Coral Highlands. The wyvern flew above the clouds and began to shake and do frantic stunts in the sky to make her lose her grip. Ayla tried to clutch its scales as hard as she could, but she eventually gave in. However, as she fell down through the clouds and the adrenaline made her heart race, she got an idea at the last second and latched on to the Bazelgeuse’s foot with her grappling hook. Now she was hanging from it.

“Ah! Holy shit!” she screamed.

The Bazelgeuse growled and began to dive down. A wall of wind hit Ayla’s face and the cable tensed. She felt excruciating pain in her arm, as if it were about to be ripped off. They were getting closer to the camp below them at terrifying speed. But then Ayla heard a familiar roar and, all of a sudden, a Nergigante tackled the Bazelgeuse with its horns in mid-air. The grappling hook detatched with a snap. As she fell, Ayla turned to the sky and noticed that the Nergigante was smaller than the Bazelgeuse. That was how she recognized it.

“Ygren!”

As soon as he heard her voice, the hatchling forgot about the Bazelgeuse and dived down to grab her. When she was ten meters from the ground, he was able to get underneath her and make sure she’d land gently on his back. Hovering in the air, he turned his head to see if Ayla was okay, but the Bazelgeuse came back and tackled them, with its legs stretched out. Ayla fell again, and this time, she crashed headlong on a tent; the last thing she saw was the rough, yellow cloth wrapping her face before the impact. Then everything turned black.

Yuri fell on her back and panted to catch her breath:

“Time-out, please,” she mumbled, exhausted.

“Yeah, sure. Oof!”

Mikayla sat down next to her, covered in sweat. Her and Mikie had swapped places after a couple of hours of training: that way, at least, normal Mikayla could become more confident with her own powers, while they tried to help Yuri. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been so successful: although Yuri was able to focus the charge and generate electricity after her aunt began the process – by now she transferred it onto her only for a few seconds – they hadn’t managed to figure out how she could do it by herself yet. To have some fun, they’d begun a sparring match: Mikayla cast a lightning bolt at Yuri, she funneled it into her arms and cast it back, then they tried to keep it up as long as they could. Mikayla took a deep breath and smiled:

“Let me tell you, though: you truly are a marvel, Yuri. In less than one day, you’ve managed to become almost more experienced than me. Even Mikie is complimenting you sincerely: she was expecting it to take at least three or four days, before you could cast lightning!”

The girl looked at the sky, which had begun to darken as the sun set: it would be night soon, but despite Mikayla and Mikie’s comforting words, she didn’t feel satisfied yet. She slurred some feeble thanks, ran a trembling hand over her face and wiped her forehead.

“I still don’t get why I can’t make electricity on my own. It makes no sense!”

That said, she sat up and looked at their two monsters. Now Asta was standing guard, scanning the jungle and listening carefully, while Ratha was sleeping near the carcass of an Aptonoth he’d brought there from his last hunt, under the canopy.

“I just need you to send me electricity for a mere second to amp it up, but I can’t do anything alone,” she grunted.

“You’ve already made some huge progress today: relax, this stuff takes time. You didn’t learn to ride a Velocidrome in one day, did you? You trained a lot at your village, then you were ready to take good care of it when it hatched.”

“You’re right, but…”

Yuri stopped and gave her a confused look:

“Wait, how do you know my first monster was a Velocidrome?”

“I know it’s the most common mount for new Riders in Hakum. I was just guessing.”

“In fact, you know a lot about Hakum. You also mentioned chief Omna the first time we met, in the Wildspire Waste. How’s that, I wonder? Have you been there?”

Mikayla blushed and faked a cough:

“Oh, err… I must confess: Mikie just told you all that because Xander told her. She thought that would shake you up and allow her to catch you off guard. I know some of Hakum’s traditions and who its chief is, but I’ve never been there. Everything I know, my brother told me, after he lived there for a few months.”

Sounds like a nice village, though!

“Mikie says she thinks it’s a nice village,” Mikayla giggled, embarrassed.

Yuri nodded and gave a nostalgic smile:

“I see. Yes, it’s a wonderful place. All the villagers were always kind to me. I’m happy to have grown up there. Sure, I wish this whole mess had never happened, but maybe I wouldn’t even be a Rider today, if that piece of trash hadn’t done what he did.”

She slapped her forehead and shook her head:

“And now I’ve said something good about him. Sorry.”

“Hey, Yuri, there’s nothing wrong about it.”

Mikayla stroked her hair.

“Trust me: I hate him more than anyone for what he’s been doing for the last fifteen years. But I can’t pretend he’s not my brother and that he didn’t take care of me for over ten years, after we lost our parents.”

Yuri shrugged and brought her knees to her chest.

“The thing is, I don’t even know him. For years, I thought my mother was a Rider who passed away too soon and whom I didn’t meet in time. I thought my father was a just, honest Rider who was killed when he got reckless, as chief Omna told me. But now it’s all different: my father is a megalomaniac who’s threatening us all, but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to hate him completely.”

Mikayla caressed her cheek:

“Sadly, I’m not sure how to help you with that. But I can tell you this: I believe you always see the best in people. Sometimes, that’s a mistake, but other times, it works in your favor: take me and Mikie, for instance! Without you, perhaps we’d be both in chains right now, held hostage, powerless to do anything. Or worse, they could’ve chosen to execute us. But instead, thanks to your trust, we managed to redeem ourselves to a small extent, making ourselves useful in fighting my brother. Never change, Yuri. Mikie and I have faith in you, as do your friends, Xavia and even Redan! You should be more confident.”

Yuri’s eyes watered up and shed a few tears.

“Thank you, Mikayla. Thank you. Thank you!”

She sobbed and hugged her, but then she recoiled and bowed her head.

“Sorry.”

You should also tell her to apologize less. Seriously, she said sorry at least four or five times today, just to us!

“Mikie, don’t spoil this moment!” Mikayla thought.

As she held close her niece and stroked her back with a wide smile, Asta began to growl and sniff the air. He stood up and watched the edge of the jungle, vibrating his horn and wing membranes. Ratha, now alerted, was quick to stand up as well. However, when he sniffed the air, he calmed down and cawed at Yuri: it was a cheerful caw, which confused the Astalos and the two humans.

“Ratha?”

Yuri wiped her tears, before getting up and helping up Mikayla, then they started to look around. Asta located the source of the smell: there was a quick movement in the undergrowth and the Astalos let out an intimidating roar. The vibration of his membranes was getting rather noisy. But the Rathalos approached him and rubbed his beak against his side, as if to tell him to calm down.

“What’s wrong?” Mikayla asked.

Suddenly, a Nargacuga jumped out of the vegetation at lightning speed; with an agile leap, it pounced on Yuri and pinned her down, but it did so gently, as if it were playing. Mikayla watched in amazement, as it rubbed its chipped beak against the girl’s cheeks: it licked her happily, and she laughed with joy. She hugged its head and exclaimed:

“Ah! Narga, Narga! Stop! It tickles! I’m fine! I’m fine!”

The Nargacuga whined a bit, still a little sore after his encounter with the Nergigante, then he let his mistress sit up. Yuri began to pat his head and neck and the Nargacuga purred cheerfully: he enjoyed the cuddles, swinging his tail. A thrilled Ratha flew to them cawing and Narga started to hop back and forth, playing with the Rathalos.

“False alarm, Asta! Keep calm!” Mikayla smiled.

She whistled to calm her monster down. Then the Astalos stopped vibrating his horn and membranes, before approaching and sniffing the air. Yuri turned to her aunt and smiled to her:

“We might return to base a little late; is that a problem? I’d like to lead Narga to camp, so he can finally take some proper rest.”

Mikayla gave her a thumbs up and chuckled:

“No problem, really.”

What about the torches for the night?

Mikie’s voice taunted her and Mikayla blushed. She replied mentally:

“I’ll put up with them, just this once. Yuri’s so happy to have found Narga, I don’t want to ruin it all with my phobia.”

Ayla woke up little by little, in the complete quietness of her tent, under Ygren’s watchful, hopeful eyes. She smiled and patted him:

“Hey, Ygren! What are you doing here?”

“He wanted to stay by your side all the time. You slept together, at some point,” Yuna replied.

“The Admiral tried everything to make him leave, but all in vain: he loves you too much!” Eden added.

“Damn! Thanks for the affection, Ygren! I’ve always needed that so much in my life…”

All perky, Ygren licked her after some more patting. Ayla was still stunned, but she strived to think back to what was happening before she passed out and gasped with fear:

“The Bazelgeuse! Where is it?”

Yuna laid a hand on her shoulder and reassured her:

“Don’t worry, it’s dead: while Ygren distracted it, we seized the opportunity to put it down.”

“Oh, good. That’s a relief.”

The wyverian nodded with her eyes closed:

“We too are relieved for you, especially Gionata. Look at you: not even scratched! I can’t believe you’re unharmed after such a fall. Your resilience keeps astounding me, Ayla.”

“You all should be used to it by now: you saw what kind of injuries I can take. After all, if I recovered from Chomper shattering every bone in my body, how bad can a fall be? Not to mention when the Xeno’Jiiva blew up in my face.”

Right then, they heard two voices argue outside the tent:

“There you are, cursed Rider! Did you know a Bazelgeuse bombarded this camp because of you?! Where the hell have you been?”

That was Mike’s obnoxious voice, putting the blame on Yuri as usual.

“A Bazelgeuse?! But I didn’t… I’m sorry, what could I possibly do about it? Even if I’d been here, all I could’ve done was fight it alongside you all!” the girl’s voice replied.

Meanwhile, Mikayla’s voice tried and failed to stop their argument. Ygren looked at the tent’s entrance and Ayla considered getting up to talk to that hunter, but she still felt too stunned to move.

“Sorry, Yuri. I’ll give him a piece of my mind tomorrow,” she thought.

Yuri finally returned to her tent, exhausted from that long day. She’d taken Narga to the makeshift stable, let the monsters greet him and got Legi to make his acquaintance. She met her friends, but she promised them she’d tell them everything the next day, because she was tired but satisfied. Xavia was already sleeping, but when Yuri took off her armor and lay down next to her, she turned to her and hugged her tightly. The Rider giggled, relaxed and closed her eyes.

“Maybe, if I can talk to Redan, I can figure out what’s blocking me,” she whispered to herself before falling asleep.

Near the soon-to-be battlefield, the Makili Pietru was pondering, consumed by frustration and shock: not only had its attempt to take out Redan’s heir failed a few days ago, but the monster it had sent to deal with “a certain matter” gnawing at it since its rebirth had also been killed. Of course, the humans had slain it, but its perception didn’t lie: a presence which it could sense very well loomed among those hunters; something much more powerful than the other monsters, feared even by it: a Fatalis. Through its pawn’s eyes, it had seen a female human who hosted its essence.

That woman was a serious threat to it. Deep inside, it understood very well what it was dealing with, but it wouldn’t tell its human servants about it. It dared not. It had to be very careful: it had come into the world as its mightiest incarnation yet, an entire army was there to aid it and Redan’s heir was a prey within its reach at last. The wall between the Makili Pietru and absolute dominion was crumbling for the first time in millenia. It couldn’t allow a third wheel to meddle. It wasn’t over yet, and all of them could be certain of that.

Chapter Text

“We’re finally back!” Nina groaned, covered in sweat.

She, Xavia and Nick, along with Hana, had just returned from a hunt to slay three infected Uragaans – monsters she couldn’t stand at all.

“I still fell dizzy!” she complained.

“Maybe I should’ve picked a different investigation,” Xavia admitted.

But Nick shook his head:

“Nah, it was fine, don’t worry. Nina’s the only one pouting here.”

“It could’ve gone better, if only someone had managed to chase the other two away when they turned up, instead of having us run wildly to dodge three crazy rolling balls!”

Nina stared daggers at her brother, who shrugged with no comeback, which annoyed her. Nick turned to Xavia and Hana:

“Are you hungry, ladies? It’s been a while since we last had lunch together.”

The handler clapped her hands happily:

“Oh, sure! Totally fine by me. I just have to fill out the hunting report, but it shouldn’t take longer than ten minutes. I’ll be right with you.”

Nina raised her hand and said:

“Well, I have to lie down for a couple of minutes. When my head stops spinning, we can go.”

Xavia laughed and nodded:

“Can I invite Yuri over, if that’s okay?”

“Of course you can! In fact, that’s even better! Nick has been dying to ask her questions about Redan, isn’t that right?”

Nina winked at her brother, who folded his arms to hide his embarrassment:

“I just find it very interesting that she can speak with a dead man, that’s all.”

Nina shrugged and the four of them dismissed each other, agreeing to meet up at the canteen once they were done with their respective tasks. Xavia went to her tent with a smile on her lips, but a tune caught her attention: she could hear the gentle melody of a flute. She wondered where it came from; she lent an ear and listened, as she looked around. At times, the melody was slow but precise, while at other times, it was fast and pacy. Xavia recognized a few well-practiced changes in pitch, which made for a tune both as relaxing as a lullaby and as cheerful as a song for parties. Eventually, she figured out where it came from: the tent of the three Riders from Hakum, near hers and Yuri’s. Carried away by that magical-sounding melody, Xavia thought:

“I wouldn’t expect one of them to play music so well!”

So she approached the tent, intrigued. When she moved the cloth a little to peek in, she was amazed: she saw Ross, Irene and Lucille sit and listen with happy, relieved expression, and the one playing the flute was none other than her daughter. Sitting cross-legged on one of the sleeping bags, she held a white transverse flute decorated with gold, branch and leaf-shaped patterns. A small, blue carved stone surrounded by a grey circle was embedded in the flute’s foot joint. At a first glance, it reminded Xavia of the Riders’ bracelets and Kinship Stones.

Yuri kept her eyes closed and played very skillfully: her fingers moved fast and finely, making those charming notes as if she’d played them countless times before. Xavia almost felt bewitched by the scene she was witnessing. After a bit, the melody slowed down again and gradually ended: Yuri removed her lips from the flute’s lip plate and sighed with a smile. Irene hugged her from behind and complimented her:

“Awesome as always, Yuri!”

“I admit, we missed hearing you play the flute a little,” Ross smiled, and Lucille nodded.

Yuri blushed at her friends’ praise:

“Thank you, guys. I admit I missed it, too. Bringing it along was a great idea, Ross! I can’t thank you enough!”

The boy blushed and scratched the back of his head:

“Oh! No, it’s no big deal, really. After your last letter, I thought playing some music would help you relax, that’s all.”

As Irene sat back on her sleeping bag, Yuri smiled at him:

“I’m still very glad you brought it. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d need it, that’s why I came here without it.”

She fiddled with the flute, sighed and squeezed it. Xavia noticed that her expression had turned bleaker, pensive. She decided to congratulate her daughter, before eavesdropping on their conversation any longer: she wouldn’t like to cause misunderstandings. She moved the cloth aside and surprised the four kids: Yuri saw her and suddenly flushed. With her face bright red, she hid the flute behind her back.

“Mom! How long…”

Xavia gave her an awkward smile and confessed:

“Sorry, I was looking for you to ask if you wanted to have lunch with me and I just couldn’t ignore that tune. It was delightful, Yuri! I didn’t know you were so good at playing flute! It was almost mesmerizing.”

Her daughter turned even redder and covered her face with both hands. Then Irene giggled and nudged her:

“Yeah, that’s what we all tell her in Hakum! But she’s just too humble to admit it.”

Lucille gave a nostalgic smile:

“She’s been practicing every time she gets some free time since she was given this flute in Albarax. How long has it been? Three years? Four, perhaps?”

“Four, yes.”

Yuri nodded and fanned her face with her hand: her breathing was ragged, as if she was choking. Out of the blue, she apologized and said that she needed a breath of fresh air, then she quickly stood up and ran out of the tent, under everyone’s confused looks. Xavia was the most puzzled one: that looked like an overreaction to her – it couldn’t be mere shyness. She immediately suspected that Yuri was hiding something from her. With that in mind, she too apologized to Yuri’s friends and left the tent to follow her daughter. She looked for her throughout the camp, until she got to the makeshift stable for the Riders’ monsters. Once there, she saw Yuri saddle up her Legiana. Nearly shocked, she called her loudly:

“Yuri! Please, listen to me! I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you so much! I just heard your tune and wanted to give you some praise, that’s all.”

The girl came out of the stable holding Legi’s reins; the Legiana followed her mistress looking confused. Xavia grabbed Yuri by the shoulders and forced her to look at her, but she made an effort to speak softly, without conveying an ounce of anger:

“Please, can you stop for a second and tell me what’s going on? We promised each other that we wouldn’t keep any secrets, remember? I am and always will be here for you, Yuri!”

Those words were too much for the girl: she brought a hand to her face, as if trying to hide from her mother’s inquisitive gaze. In the end, she cried out:

“I’m getting everything wrong, mom!”

“What are you talking about? I don’t…”

“I can’t control my powers, no matter how hard Mikie and Mikayla try: I can do nothing without them! We’ve been camped here for two weeks and I’m doing nothing to helpful to fight the infected monsters or harvest resources! I lie up all day long, and that’s also useless, because Redan keeps getting worse by the day and it’s all my fault!”

Yuri covered her mouth with both hands as soon as she said that. She dropped the flute, which rolled at her feet. Xavia opened her eyes wide, shocked:

“Wait, what? What do you mean? What does Redan have to do with this?”

She bent down to look Yuri in the eye. In doing so, she also picked up the flute and blew on it to remove the earth and the dust on it. Yuri paled and broked a cold sweat, then she took a long, deep breath. She looked away, exhaled and turned back to her mother.

“Redan is getting weaker and it’s all my fault.”

Yuri woke up with a start, as she’d been doing more and more often at night: the Fatalis’ nightmare kept getting worse. She hated seeing those horrifying images: her friends, her home, everyone she knew died in agony. She knew she was the one who’d slaughtered them and she hated herself for it. However, when she turned around to check on her mother, she didn’t find her. Apart from her ragged breathing, the tent was totally quiet. In fact, she couldn’t hear a sound in the whole camp.

“Oh?”

She was confused for a few seconds, before opening her eyes wide and springing to her feet. That could only mean one thing: she was having a vision. She rushed out of the tent without even checking the others in search of people: she only needed to find one person and his monster. She looked around and shouted:

“Redan! Redan, where are you? Please, I want to talk to you!”

No one replied. She didn’t even see Ejderi’s silhouette anywhere. She couldn’t believe she was unable to notice a white Fatalis even from a distance. She then began to wander around, looking for her ancestor. After some time, she heard a long, eerie, ailing moan. Yuri blinked: that was a terrifying, beastly death rattle, which made her very uncomfortable. But at the same time, it filled her with sadness, making her feel compelled to look after whatever was in such pain.

She cautiously walked towards the sound, but what she saw anguished her: an immense, but weak creature lay on the ground. Its beautiful white scales were burnt, torn, broken, mangled, bloody; its horns had snapped; its wing membranes had been ripped apart. Its breathing was faint and its chest barely rose. Yuri gasped in terror, got closer and gagged.

“Ejderi!”

She got in front of his snout and stroked it, after falling to her knees.

“No, no, no! Ejderi, please, wake up! What happened!”

She was appalled and in a panic: how could the first White Miracle have ended up like that? Soon after, a feeble voice called to her:

“Yuri…”

Her forefather was leaning against the mighty white Fatalis’ side. Yuri almost passed out: he’d become even paler than Irene and Ayla, to the point of looking like a corpse. The scar on his face was now bigger and deeper. His armor was broken, hardly more than a chunk of scrap metal that couldn’t protect him even from a Velocidrome. He was reaching out to her, but even such a simple gesture looked painful for him.

“No, no!”

Yuri’s throat dried out and her stomach sank; she couldn’t even stand up, so she crawled to Redan. She burst into tears, when she got to him. She took his hand and found it freezing.

“This can’t be happening!”

She gave in to desperation, screaming and sobbing; she rested her head on her ancestor’s chest.

“Where did I go wrong? I’ve done everything you told me, Redan! Please, please! Forgive me!”

Her pleas and sobs echoed in the silence of her dream. After what felt like hours, she finally woke up for real and screamed in a panic, with her eyes swollen and bloodshot.

“Redan and Ejderi in that state… mom, I can never unsee it!” Yuri cried out desperately.

She shrugged and hugged her belly, panting. She burst into tears of anger and frustration, feeling powerless. Xavia embraced her as tightly as she could, but she said nothing. She waited for her to calm down, as she caressed her back and hair. They hugged for minutes, during which Yuri kept sobbing and venting.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Yuri? When did it happen?” Xavia asked her.

“Last night.”

The girl sniffled and looked down guiltily. Xavia lifted her chin with two fingers to make Yuri look at her:

“This morning, you said it was just the Fatalis’ nightmare. You lied to me, Yuri.”

The Rider couldn’t say anything to justify herself: she was more ashamed than ever. She confessed:

“I didn’t tell my friends, either. I only told them I was frustrated and tired of everything that’s going on. And that the Fatalis’ nightmare is keeping me on edge. Then they said they had a surprise for me, one thing led to another and I ended up playing Redan’s flute. They’re right: it always helps me calm down, but this time I was also hoping it could help Redan or… well, that it could help me fix this mess somehow.”

A long, suffocating silence fell after that. Xavia broke it:

“Yuri, please. Go back to our tent now: don’t run away with Legi, you wouldn’t solve anything. I’m not mad at you, just a bit disappointed.”

Yuri bowed her head with a sad expression, hearing that, but Xavia ruffled her hair affectionately and kissed her forehead.

“But I understand your reasons. You were terrified of what you saw in your vision. I just want to speak with you in peace. Alright? I’m begging you to trust me.”

The girl inhaled deeply, before nodding:

“Okay, mom. Let’s do it.”

Then she remembered their previous conversation and gave her a sorry look:

“You said you wanted to have lunch together, earlier. But I already ate with the others a few hours ago. Sorry about that. I’ll be waiting for you in our tent: if you want, you can go eat and then we can talk.”

Xavia chuckled and nodded:

“If you’re good with that, so am I. I do have an appetite, but I won’t be long. I’ll tell Nina, Nick and Hana that I can’t stay long and be right back.”

Yuri frowned for a moment: she wouldn’t mind having lunch with them, but right now she felt broken and not in the mood for hanging out at all. So she nodded, removed the saddle from Legi’s back to let her rest, and thanked her mother with her tightest hug, before they went their separate ways.

Yuri lay on her back and stared at the ceiling of the tent with a tired look. When she heard footsteps outside, she sat up; but much to her surprise, she didn’t hear her mother’s voice:

“Um… Yuri? Can I come in?”

That was Ross. He sounded worried and Yuri couldn’t blame him, after how she’d acted that morning and after she tried to run away. She was quiet for a few seconds, before slapping her cheeks to fully wake up:

“Come on in.”

The boy then moved the cloth aside, stepped inside and sat down in front of her.

“Sorry for disturbing, Yuri, but I need to know: are you sure you’re fine?”

She nodded and strived to give him a smile:

“Yes, I told you: I’m just tired, frustrated, and to be honest, as tense as a violin chord.”

“But it’s not only that. I mean, you even ran from your mother back there. Ever since we came to the New World, all you do is spend time with her whenever you can. I’m sorry, Yuri, but I don’t believe you: whatever upset you, it must be something really serious for you to be like that.”

Yuri gave him a quick, surprised glance. She moved a lock of hair behind her ear and tried to play it down:

“Come on, you know me too well. This is unfair.”

The boy, however, gently took her other hand:

“Yes, I know you too well, which is how I know you’re hurting yourself. You’re acting like you did the first time we found out your ancestry, taking all the burden without turning to anyone. Me, my sister and Irene helped you the first time, against the Makili Pietru, and we’re here because we’re ready to do it again. You just have to talk to us: we’ll be listening.”

He started to rub his thumb against the back of Yuri’s hand, before holding it reassuringly, which made her blush. He then added:

“I can’t force you to tell us what’s on your mind, of course. Do it when you feel ready, but remember that we’re all here for you, alright?”

“Alright, Ross.”

Yuri blushed even more, when she stared at him. Her friend’s inquisitive, but kind look made her eyes water up, but she wiped them and tried not to cry twice on the same day.

“Thank you, Ross. I mean it. I know you’re always there for me. As soon as I’m ready to discuss this, I’ll let you guys know. I promise.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

Ross nodded, satisfied with that reply, and held her hand one last time, before letting go of it and getting up.

“I’m off now: Irene and Lucille don’t know about this. We promised each other to leave you be for a while, but I couldn’t resist. I had to talk to you. Please, don’t tell them! You know those two!”

Yuri looked at him in confusion for a bit, not knowing what to say, but then she giggled. She stood up, hugged him and made him blush.

“Thanks, Ross. I really needed this.”

“Oh! Don’t mention it.”

He hugged her back, then he left the tent. Yuri felt a bit lighter after that conversation, so she closed the tent and waited for her mother; she picked up her flute and finished cleaning it.

“Chief Normo would kill me, if he knew I dropped his precious relic like that,” she thought.

Xavia joined her about fifteen minutes later. She closed the tent behind her, smiled at her daughter and sat down next to her, ruffling her hair. Yuri rested her head on Xavia’s shoulder and tried to relax: she had no idea where to start. The huntress took the initiative:

“Ready, Yuri?”

The girl nodded and Xavia asked her first question:

“May I ask you more about that flute? From the way you talked about it earlier, it sounded like you were expecting some strange effect that never came.”

Yuri stared at her for a second, then she lent her the flute and began to explain; Xavia fiddled with it and observed it from up close.

“This flute is a relic that was passed on for generations in Albarax village. The locals called it the Rider’s Flute and they were the first ones to tell us the story of the first Rider, the man who defeated the Black Dread alongside a white dragon. Lucille and I saved the village from an infected Diablos and helped them rebuild their houses, so they decided to give it to us as a token of friendship and respect.”

“I see.”

When Yuri stopped, Xavia gestured for her to go on.

“For months, I kept it in my quarters in Gildegaran because I didn’t want it to break or be damaged: it was pretty and looked really valuable. I’d never owned anything like it before.”

She gave a melancholic smile, carried away by nostalgia. She put her hands together and looked at them while narrating:

“One day, we were exploring the jungle outside the city with the Royal Paleontology Scriveners, and we found the ruins of the citadel where Redan, Ejderi and some of his trusted companions settled. The crumbled walls were covered in murals portraying Redan and the White Miracle’s story. Somehow, I could feel something or someone calling to me.”

She reached out, as if to touch something, and continued:

“What happened after that is still impressed in my memory. I approached the mural until I touched it. Right then, I heard the flute’s tune: my head started to hurt. It throbbed, as if a tide of someone else’s thoughts and feelings was flooding my mind all of a sudden. I eventually passed out and had my first vision of Redan. Unfortunately, it was very short and almost useless, because we couldn’t even speak. I only saw what he looked like, and he felt so familiar that I kept seeing him before me.”

“And that’s how you began to believe that might be a vision of your father,” Xavia giggled.

Yuri had let her in on that little secret the first time she’d told her about the vision of her ancestor. The girl blushed and chuckled with embarrassment:

“That’s right. It was my best guess back then. Now I’m a little ashamed of it.”

“From how you described him, he sounds like a good man. Besides, he’s our ancestor: you were right, in a way! We wouldn’t exist, if not for him.”

Yuri smiled, before resuming the story:

“After hearing the flute’s melody, I began to study the instrument. Of course, I sucked at it at first, but thanks to some contacts of ours among the Royal Paleontology Scriveners, I was able to improve over time: now I know that tune by heart.”

“And you play it extremely well.”

“Sorry if I ran away without thanking you. I appreciate it! I’m really glad you think that!”

Xavia kissed her forehead.

“Don’t worry. But when this is all over, would you like to play it again for me?” she hopefully asked.

“I was already considering it, mom. Rest assured! I promise you I will.”

Yuri smiled and her mother squeezed her with a hug.

“Thanks! Oh, sorry for interrupting. Go on!”

Yuri nodded and rubbed her cheeks:

“Actually, I don’t have much more to say. Playing flute helps me calm down, like my friends said. But that tune also has another effect which I only discovered when I managed to play it in its entirety without mistakes: when I went to sleep after playing it, it gave me a vision.”

Xavia opened her eyes wide, amazed:

“Really?”

“Yes: I saw Redan again the first night I played it flawlessly, and we managed to speak for a bit. It was he who approved of our plan to search for the Kinship Ore veins scattered across the Riders’ continent to purify them. I had a vision as soon as I fell asleep after playing the tune three more times after that.”

“So you were hoping to speak to him again today, after playing it,” the huntress concluded.

Yuri nodded.

“My friends knew it: I tried once, but I was so nervous that it didn’t work. When you heard me play, it was my second attempt. Of course, I had no more visions due to the flute for two years, after I defeated the Makili Pietru, but I thought the effect was guaranteed, now that the parasite is back. But after the vision I had last night, I’m terrified, mom.”

For a moment, she saw Redan’s cadaverous complexion again. Her hands felt cold and she felt chills running down her spine. She brought her hands to her face and squinted.

“I’m scared of finding out he disappeared forever, the next time I go to sleep. I’m scared of my stone becoming corrupted, of destroying everything we’ve achieved so far. I’m terrified, mom!”

But Xavia gently grabbed her right arm and brought it closer to her; under her daughter’s puzzled look, she took off her bracelet and opened it to show her the Kinship Stone. It was azure and crystal clear, as usual: no point of its surface looked faded or stained. In fact, it almost seemed to be emitting a faint, intermittent gleam.

“See? Your stone is still as pure as it can be.”

Xavia didn’t even give her time to talk back, before adding:

“Since you told me about your vision, I’ve had a strange feeling about this, like there’s something off about what you believe. I’m not quite sure how to put it: I know you wouldn’t lie to me and I believe in what you saw. But deep down, I can feel that you’re wrong.”

Yuri wanted to tell her mother that she hadn’t seen her nightmare: Redan’s agonized look, Ejderi’s excruciating moan, the wounds on both their bodies. But for some reason, shw couldn’t: Xavia was making a very serious expression, confident of what she was saying.

“But what does it mean, then? To be honest, I don’t know what to do anymore,” Yuri sighed.

“Try resting for a bit, Yuri,” Xavia suggested.

When the girl raised an eyebrow, she added:

“Just for today. The stress building up can play tricks on us, convincing us of things that are actually just figments of our imagination. Don’t think about anything and try to take it easy for a while: if that doesn’t work, we’ll discuss this with your friends and find a solution. That’s a promise.”

Yuri hesitated: in her head, many conflicting thoughts questioned her mother’s advice. What if tomorrow would be already too late to save Redan and Ejderi? But her stone was pure, and that was a fact. And how could Xavia be so sure that what she’d dreamt wasn’t true? Was her mother somehow able to sense Redan’s presence, now that she knew she was his descendant as well and had used his Kinship Stone? It felt impossible, but on the other hand, Yuri couldn’t rack her brain to find a solution to a problem that might not even exist. Despite her reluctance, Yuri nodded:

“Fine, mom. Let’s try it your way.”

Xavia smiled and hugged her. When Yuri hugged her back, it warmed her heart. Their embrace went on for several minutes, before the huntress gradually let go of her. She returned the Kinship Stone bracelet to her daughter, who immediately put it on.

“I’ll let you rest, then. I’ll see you later, alright?”

However, Yuri shook her head vigorously and exclaimed:

“No! Please, stay with me! I beg you.”

While surprised, Xavia smiled and nodded:

“Of course.”

So Yuri lay down on her sleeping bag and took a deep breath. Xavia sat next to her, holding her hand and caressing her head. The girl began to feel sleepy.

“Mom, forgive me for everything I’ve done today. I lied to you about my dream, I tried to run away, I wanted to fix this on my own,” she mumbled.

But Xavia laid a finger on her lips, still smiling:

“Shhhhh. No worries. You’ve apologized enough.”

Yuri giggled and whispered:

“If you want, we can resume your training with Oda tomorrow. I spent the last few days practicing my powers with Mikayla, but I didn’t forget about you. I could never.”

“That would be lovely. I tried those exercises you recommended: now I can stay on the saddle even at full gallop, after so many falls.”

As Xavia kept stroking her hair, Yuri yawned, closed her eyes and fell asleep a few minutes later.

Yuri stretched and yawned, before moaning and complaining about her backache. She’d fallen asleep with her armor on: she cursed herself for not taking it off before her mother arrived. Despite all, though, she had to admit that she felt much fresher than before.

“I didn’t even dream of the Fatalis. Thank goodness,” she whispered.

Only then did she notice that Xavia wasn’t in the tent with her: if she hadn’t noticed that unnatural silence, she would’ve been scared to death. She was very surprised.

“Another vision?” she wondered.

She peeked out, terrified of what she might find outside the tent. Instead, her heart was filled with joy: her forefather was out there, waiting for her. Redan’s complexion was rosy again and the scars on his face were gone: he appeared to be as fit as a fiddle. His white armor was in perfect conditions, as if it had just been forged, and it looked like it could protect him from any attack. She could see a welcoming smile underneath his beard:

“There you are, Yuri. I’m finally able to speak to you again.”

Yuri struggled not to burst into tears once more, but failed: when she tried to speak, her lips trembled and tears flowed down her cheeks like a river. She lunged at him and hugged him as hard as she could, between relieved sobs. Redan let her. He knelt down and patiently allowed her to cry. Soon after, Yuri heard heavy footsteps from behind the tent and turned around: Ejderi, who also looked perfectly fine, gave her a cheerful growl.

As soon as Yuri fell asleep, Xavia heard someone call her from outside:

“Xavia? Are you busy?”

Much to her surprise, she turned around to see Ayla peeking into the tent. Despite her confusion, she replied under her breath:

“Wait, I’ll come out: Yuri’s sleeping.”

Once outside, they walked away from the tent and Xavia asked:

“What’s wrong, Ayla?”

Blood Eyes folded her arms:

“Irene came to talk to me in secret, a few minutes ago. She told me Yuri has been acting strange today and that she told them the Fatalis’ nightmare is getting worse. She begged me to talk to her. Did she tell you this, too?”

“Yes. But before she did, she confessed that today she’s not like that because of the Fatalis’ nightmare: she had a new vision that shook her to the core. I managed to calm her down a little, but I’m not sure how helpful I can still be to her.”

“Did she see her ancestor again?”

Ayla was one of the few people who’d been let in on that secret. Xavia nodded, so the huntress began to mull over it:

“I suspect that, in fact, the cause of it all is still the Fatalis gene.”

“What do you mean?”

“I explained it to her a few days ago: normally, the Fatalis’ nightmare makes you dream of killing and destroying everything you care about. Sometimes, however, you might have twisted visions or relive some bad moments from your past.”

She hesitated for a moment, then she whispered:

“To tell you the truth, I thought it would never happen to her. The Fatalis torments me because I’m cursed: its damned spirit shows me those things on purpose. Yuri carries an unnatural mishmash, so I didn’t think it had a will of its own. Looks like I was wrong.”

Xavia scratched her head in confusion, trying to process what she’d just been told.

“Are you saying that her gene caused her to have a vision, which she mistook for a message from Redan?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Honestly, I have no idea what her visions are usually like, so I could be wrong.”

Xavia folded her arms.

“I wish I could find a way to help her, but this is something I know nothing about, unfortunately. Making her enjoy herself would be enough, but I’m not sure what I could do.”

Ayla reflected for a moment, then she smiled:

“I got it! You can take her someplace new, to see the rarest monster in the New World.”

Xavia joined the dots and her eyes brightened:

“The caverns of El Dorado! The Kulve Taroth! Of course! Ayla, you’re a genius! I bet she’ll love it!”

“You could also meet the Heroes of Kokoto down there: they stayed there to keep an eye on the Kulve Taroth in our stead, when we returned to the surface with the Admiral. Does Yuri know who they are?”

“I’m not sure, but it can be arranged. Thanks a lot, Ayla! I’ll also tell her about your doubts on her vision. Hopefully, that will help her rest assured.”

“Don’t mention it! Anytime.”

Blood Eyes gave Xavia a pat on the back, glad to have helped, and walked away.

Yuri finally managed to calm down, after venting for several minutes. She and Redan had then gone to the airship, at the center of the camp: the ancient Rider had never seen a ship that could fly and was curious to inspect it, as they discussed the situation. At the end of their respective explanations, Yuri sat down at the table with all the maps and concluded:

“So, what I saw last night was just the Fatalis messing with my mind? I swear, Redan: it looked more real than what I see when I’m awake!”

He nodded without looking at her, as he wandered around the airship.

“It’s the truth. That woman, Blood Eyes; she explained it to you, didn’t she? You’ve been doing great for the last two weeks, Yuri: I’ve never felt better. Dare I say I feel rejuvenated! Ejderi is much stronger than usual as well.”

His thunderous laugh echoed through the empty airship. Yuri’s face gloomed as she stated:

“But in the last few days, I’ve still had unpleasant feelings. I was terrified by nightmares, frustrated because I can’t control my powers better and I generally felt powerless. Isn’t that an issue?”

Redan stopped inspecting the mechanisms of the airship and joined her at the table. He sat down next to her and gave her an understanding smile:

“These are normal emotions, Yuri. It’s impossible to live without worries. I warned you two weeks ago because your feelings and thoughts had been spiralling out of control since your father kidnapped and corrupted you.”

With her hope restored, Yuri cheerfully asked him:

“Does that mean my stone doesn’t risk becoming infected anymore? Can I get back into action?”

“Of course you can: the greatest danger has passed. I only summoned you here to reassure you, after everything you’ve seen and been through today.”

Yuri sighed, happy and relieved:

“Good thing Ross brought the flute: at least we were able to speak right away!”

Redan, however, laughed and shook his head:

“Yuri, listen: that flute never had any purpose.”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s the truth: my brother composed that tune, with the help of some travelling bards. They sang about the heroic deeds I did with Ejderi as the first Rider, and they later crafted that flute for me. But music was never my strong suit. Every time we spoke, the flute and the tune had nothing to do with it: that was a mere coincidence.”

Yuri felt somewhat bummed out by his revelation: she brought a hand to her mouth and reflected a bit, before turning back to him with a half amused, half relieved expression:

“Golly gee, you could’ve told me!” she laughed awkwardly.

“And miss your talent with the flute? Never! Every time you played that melody, you brought back happy memories from when I was still alive.”

“You never even told me you had a brother! He’s never mentioned in the murals on the ruins of your citadel. At least in the parts Lilia and captain Simone could translate.”

Then Redan scratched his head with a grieving sigh:

“Well, we always had much more important matters to discuss at the time. It’s a long, complicated story; let’s just say that we weren’t on good terms, years after Ejderi and I defeated the tar demon possessed by the Makili Pietru. My friends believed that he simply envied me, but I was always wondering what wrong I ever did to him. I never understood why he decided to cut ties with me.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I couldn’t know…”

“No, don’t worry: the last time I heard of him, he and the Rathalos I’d helped him tame had gone to a continent of Riders very different from our land, and even that isn’t a certainty. Anyway, my brother’s name was Red.”

“Sorry, it rings no bell,” Yuri said.

They were quiet for a few minutes, then they heard Ejdery make a disheartened snort. Redan chuckled and stood up.

“You say we’re wasting time, Ejderi? He’s right: you must be about to wake up.”

Yuri stood up and bowed her head as a sign of respect:

“Redan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m much more at peace now. I’m sorry I got you worried and I’m very happy to see that you’re fine.”

Redan gave her a mischievous grin:

“I’m the one who should apologize: I should’ve reached you sooner, let you know you could stop worrying about this overly stubborn ghost. Just focus on making sure you’ll be in peak condition when you confront the Makili Pietru: I’m positive that bards will be singing about your heroics in the coming years, just like they sang about mine!”

He spread his arms and exclaimed with a dramatic flair:

“The heroic deeds of Yuri Aros and her Rathalos, whose skill and dexterity surpassed the White Miracle’s Rider to put an end to the foul plague of the Black Blight!”

Yuri instantly flushed and burst out laughing:

“I think I’d cringe to death if someone ever introduced me like that.”

“And who knows? Maybe, upon the next coming of the Makili Pietru, you and Ratha will be here to guide our successor in my stead!”

By now, Redan had decided to crack jokes about it, losing his aura of wisdom and mysticality. Yuri laughed so hard that she had to take a deep breath not to hiccup. She then smiled:

“Thanks for everything, Redan. I hope I can see you again, one day. How about we guide our successors together?” she winked.

The first Rider shook her hand respectfully:

“I couldn’t be more honored, Yuri.”

The girl calmly opened her eyes, a little annoyed: she would’ve loved to talk with Redan a bit longer. She laid a hand on her throbbing forehead, before sitting up. Xavia greeted her:

“Oh! Good morning, Yuri.”

The Rider saw that she was still sitting next to her, which made her blush. She smiled, happier than ever, and hugged her mother.

“Oh, mom! I have awesome news.”

The huntress gave her a surprised look and asked her to explain.

“The horrible vision from last night was just another nightmare caused by the Fatalis! I’ve just had a true vision, while sleeping: Redan was just fine! He even told me that the danger has passed: I don’t risk infecting my stone anymore. I can make myself useful again!”

Xavia took both her hands with enthusiasm:

“That’s great, Yuri! That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about: according to Ayla, the vision you had before might have been twisted and the Fatalis gene was showing it to you to make you despair.”

“Wait, how did Ayla know about it?”

“She came here asking to talk to me, after you fell asleep: she said that Irene begged her to help you, because you mentioned the Fatalis’ nightmare and had been acting strange all morning.”

Yuri let out an amused giggle: both Ross and Irene had secretly broken her three friends’ promise. However, her smile faded when she realized that the only reason why they’d done so was probably because she was getting them worried sick.

“I should go to them and explain why I acted like that. And tell them that everything’s fine now,” she said regretfully.

“If you feel like it, I can take you to them and help you. But only if you want me to.”

Yuri shook her head, but smiled:

“Thanks, mom, but I think I should do it myself. But if you want to come, I’ve learnt some detail on Redan’s private life for the first time.”

“Oh! Sure, why not. I admit, I’m intrigued.”

“And that’s pretty much it.”

Yuri exhaled, trying to let out all the stress from the speech she’d just given her friends. She dared not look at them: she imagined their disappointed expressions, especially Ross’. She’d done exactly what he’d asked her not to do: she’d wittheld her concerns and tried to solve that huge problem on her own.

“I’m ashamed for hiding the truth from you. I was too scared of your reactions, had I told you Redan was dying because of me. My throat still dries out if I so much as utter those words!”

Xavia laid a hand on her shoulder and stroked it to comfort her. The three Riders exchanged insecure looks. Irene spoke up first, surprising them:

“I can’t speak for all three of us, but I’m not mad at you, Yuri. I understand your reasons: maybe I would’ve reacted the same way, in your position. I mean, it took an ambush by Ekya for me to admit that the Makili Pietru had spotted me at the battlefield.”

“I don’t think it makes much sense to compare these two situations,” Yuri whispered.

Lucille sprang to her feet. Yuri noticed that she was rubbing her hands together, which confused her, but her friend gave her no time to say more:

“Yuri, the point is, Irene understands why you did it and she doesn’t blame you. Neither do I, to be clear. As for us, we should’ve been a bit more pressing. We know that, when you fixate on something, you want to work through it yourself and there’s no stopping you. Perhaps we should’ve made you talk sooner and spare us this whole mess.”

“Lucy, please, none of this is your fault. I’m the one who hid things from you.”

This time, it was Ross’ turn. He watched her with his arms folded:

“I only have one request, Yuri: promise us that, should anything like this happen again, you’ll tell us right away. Alright? No one’s mad at you, so let bygones be bygones and try not to make the same mistake again.”

The blunt way he said that surprised Yuri: she felt like she’d been stabbed in the chest, seeing Ross’ dejected expression. She already knew he’d been disappointed in learning what she’d hidden from them, but seeing him like that made her heart sink. She thought she deserved much worse for having them worry so much: a few harsh words were the least he was entitled to say to her. His twin sister grabbed him by the shoulders:

“Ross! Is this the way to talk to her? Look: you’ve ruined everything!”

Irene was about to say something as well, but this time, Yuri stood up and waved her arms:

“No, no! Leave him alone. He’s right: he was sincere. Thank you for not being furious with me. I promise you and my mother will be the first ones to know what’s on my mind, should I have more nightmares like that. I swear it on my Kinship Stone!”

She brought her hand to her heart, staring at Ross. He saw her determined look and listened to her firm voice, so he nodded and smiled at her.

“Alright, then. Apology accepted, Yuri.”

His tone was back to its usual kindness. Then Yuri hugged each of her friends and showered them with thanks. She finally felt lighter and let the memory of that awful, almost concluded day slip away. Xavia spoke up, too:

“Yuri, didn’t you say you learnt something new about Redan? Will you share it with us?”

The girl slapped her forehead:

“Oh, I almost forgot! Yes! Nothing important, though, just gossip.”

Irene joked in a comedic, accusing tone:

“Gossip is crucial, girl! Come on, come on! Fire away!”

“Two things: first, that melody and Redan’s flute are actually useless. They’re just a relic from the past: having a vision the nights after I played it was just a coincidence.”

“What? Seriously?” Ross asked, confused.

Lucille laughed:

“Oh, chief Normo will be so disappointed: he was sure the world would be doomed without this relic, but instead… serves him right! That pompous jerk didn’t even want us to help him.”

Yuri smiled:

“Redan never told me that because hearing me play this flute made him very nostalgic. His brother composed the tune and they used it as background music to sing about his deeds.”

Irene couldn’t believe it:

“Wait, hold on. Redan had a brother?”

“Yes. He told me his name was Red, and unfortunately, they grew apart over time and stopped talking. He left our continent with a Rathalos Redan had helped him tame, then he disappeared.”

“Did he envy Redan’s fame?” Lucille asked.

“But he did compose that tune, didn’t he? So I doubt it was due to that,” Ross argued.

Xavia intervened:

“Unfortunately, that sounds like a mystery lost to time. If even Redan doesn’t know, I doubt we’ll find an answer so many generations later. We don’t even know where Red went.”

The five of them kept speculating and discutting it for a while, until the huntress had to leave: she apologized to Yuri and her friends, saying she had something to take care of. After promising Yuri that they’d finally have dinner together that evening, she left the tent and went to the airship to speak to the Admiral.

Chapter Text

Ross found Yuri sitting at one of the tables at the canteen. She was watching the sun rise over the Coral Highlands while absent-mindedly rubbing the edge of a full teacup with her finger. He joined her and greeted her:

“Good morning, Yuri!”

She gave him a happy smile:

“Oh! Hey, Ross! Good morning! Why are you already up?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take a walk not to disturb Lucy and Irene.”

“Those two are worse than an Espinas when they sleep, aren’t they?” Yuri laughed.

Ross grinned at her joke, as he sat down in front of her.

“Totally: never wake them up, unless you want to start your day at death’s door, especially when they stay up all night to gossip. What about you?”

“I fell asleep early last night and I didn’t feel like staying in my tent until late in the morning.”

“Oh, I see. I’m only asking because I usually see you here with your mother. I thought you woke up earlier and came out alone, since she’s not here.”

She gave him a puzzled look, scratching her head:

“Ah! Yeah, true: we usually have breakfast together. She was already awake when I went out, but she told me she had to go speak to the blacksmith and that I could wait for her here.”

As she explained, a Felyne waiter passed by their table and asked the boy if he wanted to order something: Ross only asked for some milk, and when the Lynian left, Yuri went on:

“I’ve been waiting for a while, so I ordered some tea, but it’s gotten cold. I don’t know what’s taking her so long.”

She folded her arms with an intrigued expression, as she mumbled to herself. Unfortunately, Ross wasn’t sure what to say about it, so he thought he may help her get distracted by discussing something else:

“I was wondering: couldn’t you warm it up yourself with the Fatalis’ flames?”

Yuri gave him a dumbfounded look and frowned:

“Assuming that I can use my powers on cue, which I can’t yet: do you really want me to use the powers of the Black Dragon that destroyed Schrade to warm up a cup of tea?”

Ross scratched the back of his head sheepishly and chuckled:

“It doesn’t hurt to try, does it?”

“Come on, Ross, you know me! It feel like it’s wrong to use them for such small things.”

“The powers are yours. You should make the most of them, don’t you think? Besides, it could be helpful to you: perhaps using them outside of battles will help you control them better. After all, monsters don’t only use their abilities when hunting or fighting, right?”

While saying that, Ross thought back to whenever Fugu, Yuri’s Zamtrios, played in the frozen wilderness of Darj: he puffed up like a balloon, then he rolled down sheets of ice and he had a great time racing Lucille’s Lagombi to the bottom. He also thought of Irene’s Nerscylla, which had learnt to swing so well that Irene barely ever touched the ground in the right environments, thanks to the temnoceran and her insect glaive. Yuri pondered, then she smiled and nodded:

“Yes, you’re right. But I’m still not sure about this: even if I could summon fire, I’d be too scared of burning something. Or even worse, someone.”

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, a sign that countless doubts and concerns were haunting her. Right then, the Felyne waiter came back with Ross’ milk. The boy thanked him while scratching his chin and reflecting:

“May I ask you something, Yuri?”

“Sure.”

“The Fatalis’ fury has always let you use your powers and you told us that you and Ayla are alike when you go berserk. But when the Makili Pietru tried to make you destroy your Kinship Stone in the airship, you weren’t like her at all.”

Ross shivered: in his mind, he could still see Blood Eyes with those swollen veins on her reddened, steaming skin. Yuri blinked in surprise:

“Really?”

“Yes. I thought about it yesterday, when you came back. You told us that you’d failed again. When you got possessed, you covered your arm in flames and threatened us, but your eyes weren’t glowing and you weren’t steaming.”

Yuri shrugged:

“This doesn’t help much, Ross. I didn’t even realize that! How can I…”

Ross stood up, sat down next to her and encouraged her:

“Just try! If I recall correctly, that time you said you were subjugating the Fatalis within you. Maybe the problem is that, unconsciously, you keep thinking that these powers don’t belong to you and that you’re using them in spite of the Black Dragon.”

Knowing Yuri and her way of seeing things, Ross found it logical that she believed she was just borrowing the properties of her gene, which was why she could use them spontaneously only when giving in to her wrath. Her twisted self, on the other hand, was much more confident and willing to do anything to please Xander or the Makili Pietru.

“So I should ‘subjugate’ the Fatalis?” Yuri asked, insecure.

Ross folded his arms, before trying to give her some advice:

“I realize it’s easier said than done. I wouldn’t know where to start, either. What if you pictured yourself taming a newborn monster?”

Yuri looked up and around for a moment: she didn’t see her mother nearby and the canteen wasn’t crowded yet, so she nodded and agreed to make an attempt. She laid the teacup on the palm of her right hand, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Yuri tried to picture a baby Fatalis as friendly as Ejderi in front of her. It wasn’t hard: the image of the Black Dragon was impressed in her memory by now, due to her nightmares. She exhaled: the first step to tame a newborn monster was being as calm as possible. She reached out and caressed the dragon’s scaly neck: in response, the creature let out a furious roar. Yuri felt herself pale, when she sensed that blind rage. In a cold sweat, she slapped her cheeks to take courage and forced herself to display confidence. After several minutes, the dragon gave in and bowed its head. While still growling, it seemed to appreciate her affection.

It looked away, before opening its maw and breathing out a blaze that narrowly missed Yuri’s right side. Then it changed and suddenly turned into a white Fatalis; it did the same thing, but spitting out a flow of terrifying red lightning. Finally, it morphed into a crimson Fatalis and spat out a fiery ball in the sky which then rained down like a meteor. It crashed at impressive speed, after passing right over her head. The dragon then suddenly disappeared. The Rider gasped and her wrist began to burn.

Ross watched Yuri keep her eyes shut until, many minutes later, her right hand and wrist were enveloped in beautiful golden flames. Unlike that day in the airship, however, those were gentle and not scary at all: they were like the flame in a lantern or a campfire.

“Awesome!” he exclaimed.

Yuri gasped and opened her eyes: she shook her hand too hard and the cup wobbled for a bit, before she dropped it. Ross was able to catch it by reflex, but half of the tea was spilled on the table. A Felyne passing by rushed to grab a rag and meowled:

“Meow, what a mess!”

The two kids apologized when he came back to wipe the table, and when he left telling them to be more careful, they exchanged looks, before they burst out laughing. Yuri looked at her wrist, which was now cold again, and turned it.

“That was so weird: I saw the flames, but they didn’t burn!”

“Can you do it again?” Ross asked her.

Yuri focused for a few seconds, and with a quick movement of her fingers, the golden flames reappeared from her forearm down. She then decided to try it with electricity: she shook her right arm and the fire dissipated, so she looked at her left arm. She clenched her fist and stretched out her arm. When she relaxed her hand, the crimson lightning appeared with an almost eerie crackle. Yuri couldn’t hold it any longer; the shocks vanished, she gave a wide, satisfied smile and raised both arms.

“I did it! I did it!” she rejoiced.

She hugged Ross and squeezed him very hard, making him flush.

“Thank you, Ross! Thank you! I don’t know how to repay you!”

He smiled and hugged her back.

“I’m so glad I could help, Yuri! I couldn’t stand to see you anguish over your powers like that.”

Yuri giggled, recoiled and gave him a cheerful smile:

“Don’t sell yourself short. You always bend over backwards to help me: I’ll never be thankful enough for that.”

When she said that, they both blushed. They stood quiet for a few seconds that felt endless to them, as they looked each other in the eye. Then they suddenly heard Xavia call her daughter from afar. They both turned even redder and Ross let her go, then Yuri stood up and fanned her face with her hand, trying to make the blush pass before her mother saw her like that. Xavia joined them with a sorry look:

“Here I am. Sorry I’m late, Yuri. It took longer than I thought, unfortunately.”

“Oh! No problem, Ross came to keep me company.”

The boy greeted Xavia with a hint of embarrassment. Xavia smiled at him, greeted him back and thanked him. Before Yuri could tell her the good news about her progress with her powers, the huntress put a hand on her shoulder:

“Mind following me to our tent? There’s a surprise for you!”

Yuri gave her a surprised, curious look, but she nodded:

“Oh! A surprise? Yeah, alright!”

“Ross, do you want to come with?” Xavia asked.

Yuri thought she’d seen her wink, but when she looked at her friend, he too was looking confused.

“If that’s okay for you, sure thing!”

“Of course it’s okay! Come on, let’s go.”

When they got to the tent, they found Mikayla waiting for them. After greeting her aunt, Yuri couldn’t resist: she took some steps away from them just to make sure, before raising her arms with excitement:

“Mikayla! Mikie! Watch this!”

She focused and the crimson lightning covered her arms, before the two huntresses’ amazed looks.

“Oh! By the Sapphire Star!” Mikayla exclaimed.

When the electricity disappeared, she squeezed her niece in a tight embrace:

“You really are incredible, Yuri! I’m so proud of you!”

Yuri smiled and looked at her friend.

“It was all thanks to Ross. He remembered what I said when the Makili Pietru tried to control me and gave me a push in the right direction.”

Mikayla was quiet for a moment, before giggling and turning to the other Rider.

“Mikie and I thank you for helping her out of her block. We were just running out of ideas! We were already considering alternative ways to make her absorb electricity and use her powers, but it looks like there’s no more need for that!”

“Alternative ways?” Ross asked, confused.

“Yeah, such as using shock traps or something like that. But I admit, that could’ve been too rough an idea.”

Yuri chuckled, then she went to her mother and apologized for that sudden demonstration.

“No worries.”

Xavia kissed her forehead, smiling, before approaching the tent.

“Ready?”

When her daughter nodded, Xavia moved the cloth aside and Yuri saw the surprise: a beautiful set of white armor was on display on one of the blacksmith’s racks. It was so well-polished that she could see her own reflection on the metal. The helmet left only the face exposed and the whole set was decorated with Rathalos scales. It was her size. Yuri beheld it from up close, astonished:

“It looks like the armor I wore when I came to the New World!”

“Yes, this one’s design was based on it. Of course, the blacksmith wanted to make it better than the original, after he heard a Teostra’s claws destroyed its bust,” Xavia explained.

“Are those silver Rathalos scales?” Ross asked, amazed.

“They are! I asked around and was able to gather enough materials. I found it fitting, after I saw Ratha transform! I hope you like it, Yuri.”

The girl nodded and hugged her.

“It’s wonderful! Thanks a lot, mom!”

Her mother caressed her hair, gave her a sweet smile and squeezed her in her arms:

“Don’t mention it! Happy birthday, Yuri!”

Yuri looked up at her, confused and surprised. She awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“Mom, my birthday’s three months from now,” she pointed out.

Hearing that, Xavia and Mikayla exchanged a puzzled look. Her aunt said:

“Isn’t today the first of June?”

Just as confused, Ross spoke up:

“Yes, but we’ve always celebrated it on 10^th September.”

Yuri nodded and added:

“I’ve always been the youngest in our group, right after Lilia. Our teacher Dan always taunted me because I was his youngest trainee.”

Xavia took her hands and shook her head:

“No, Yuri, I guarantee you: you were born on the first of June, on a beautiful morning sixteen years ago. Every year, on this day, I sent you best wishes and hoped with all my soul that you were living in happiness, wherever you were.”

The girl was silent and thoughtful for a bit. After some minutes, though, she smiled:

“So, I turn sixteen today?”

“Apart from Cheval, you’re now the only sixteen-year-old among us,” Ross grinned, arms crossed.

Yuri laughed at his statement, then she hugged her mother even harder:

“Thanks, mom! Thank you so much. The armor is beautiful! It’s a great present.”

That warmed the huntress’ heart, and she kissed her daughter’s cheeks:

“This and more, for the birthday girl. And that’s not the only surprise: would you like to visit a biome of the New World you’ve never been?”

Yuri let go of her mother and made an intrigued expression:

“Oh, really? Yeah, I’d love that!”

Xavia nodded happily:

“But I hope you don’t mind if Ayla’s team comes along: when I talked about this with the Admiral, he demanded they go there, too, so they can get a report from the Heroes of Kokoto, who stayed down there.”

Yuri shook her head with a smile:

“No, no problem at all!”

She looked at Ross and saw his intrigued look, so she turned to her mother again:

“Can my friends join us, too?”

“Sure! If they want to come, it’s fine.”

The boy then shook with excitement: she thanked the huntress and his friend, before rushing to his tent to see if his twin sister and Irene had woken up. Mikayla hugged her niece and wished her a happy birthday, then she left. Yuri wasted no time and tried her new armor on.

The caverns of El Dorado were a very intricate maze of underground tunnels, canyons and slides that were constantly shifting because of the Kulve Taroth’s digging. Irene stood up on Raith’s saddle, as her golden Rathian walked slowly; she looked around and squealed:

“This place is breathtaking!”

The other two girls were just as astonished: Lucille observed the colonies of gold calappas picking up gold nuggets and gemstones to decorate their burrows; Yuri beheld the stunning obsidian walls lined with pure gold veins. Ross, for his part, stayed on the sidelines with Gionata, who was telling him that a few months ago, the hunters of Astera had faced the Kulve Taroth in a literal siege, as evidenced by the cannons and ballistae stationed on ledges and niches in the maze of caves. Xavia smiled, glad that her daughter and her friends were enjoying the surprise trip: she walked next to Yuri and her Rathalos. Yuna petted her Whispervesp while looking around:

“Don’t you all find it strange that we’ve hardly met any Gajalakas around? I’ve seen only two since we arrived.”

“No complaints from me. Those buggers are a pain in the ass!” Carson exclaimed.

Lucille tilted her head, curious:

“The Gajalakas are those tribal Lynians with red masks, right? I saw them in the Elder’s Recess, but I was told not to approach them.”

“You know Shakalakas?” Ayla asked her.

When the girl nodded, she explained:

“Well, Gajalakas are similar, except they throw knockout, poison or paralyzing knives as well. They know how to make you regret bothering them.”

“But they’re also more incline to cooperate, if you can talk to them. In fact, the Third Fleet recruited some as Tailraiders!” Yuna added.

“The Gajalakas from these caverns are different: they worship the Kulve Taroth as the ‘mother goddess of gold’. We made a deal with them while we were here: we give them some of the gold we detach from the Kulve Taroth’s coat, and in return, they help us redirect her, so she doesn’t rise to the surface,” Blood Eyes continued.

“Interesting!” Lucille commented.

“I hope I can avoid those furballs for as long as I can,” Gionata groaned.

Ross gave him a puzzled look and raised an eyebrow:

“Are they really so bad? Doesn’t sound like it, from how they talk about them.”

Before Gionata replied to him, Yuna intruded:

“He’s always had issues with Lynians. He once told us that, back when he and Ayla were little and lived in Cathar, there were some mean Felynes that bullied him and…”

“Yuna! Come on!” Gionata complained.

“Oh! Did I do that again? Forgive me, I didn’t mean to overshare,” the wyverian apologized.

Ross thought carefully about what to tell him next, as he stroked Kuro’s neck:

“Is that why Saitama completely destroys Koapni, in the issue where he fights that superstrong silver Rathalos? You know, when he comes back from the moon and punch-lands!”

In the corner of his eye, he noticed that his sister had opened her eyes wide and facepalmed; she was now shaking her head in shame. Gionata seemed to instantly cheer up, when Ross brought up his comic: he nodded and laughed.

“Yeah! That’s right! Man, the entire Boros arc was so much fun to draw!”

“And it came out super well! A silver Rathalos that creates an army of wyverns and slaughters Elder Dragons until he becomes the most powerful of his kind? I wasn’t expecting that!”

After that compliment, Ross saw Yuri approach her mother and ask her softly:

“Does that really happen?”

Xavia gasped, for she was trying to listen to the conversation without getting noticed. Ross chuckled and got carried away:

“Then, when he loses the wyverians’ armor and gets serious with all those flames… just insane!”

Gionata grinned:

“Damn straight! I might still have the original sketches somewhere: it took me a while to come up with a satisfying design for Boros’ armor.”

“But at the end of the day, no one has any chance against Saitama: one punch and it’s all over! Though that was the first time he used his ‘serious punch’ and not a simple, lazy hit!”

“And you’ve seen nothing yet! After everything that happened this month, I have plenty of ideas for when I can finally end this forced hiatus and resume drawing!”

“Oh, that’s great! Can’t wait!” Ross replied, all dreamy.

They suddenly heard Carson call to them:

“Hey, you two! Did you fall asleep?”

They noticed the others were quite far now: they’d been left behind while chatting. Even Kuro had stopped: the Malfestio hooted in annoyance.

“Oh, man! Sorry!”

Gionata hastened to join the others and Ross made his monster speed up as well.

“We’re almost at the golden tribe’s hideout, where the Heroes of Kokoto are camped,” Yuna explained.

“Which means we’re about to meet the Felyne man again,” Gionata cringed.

“Is he the reason why we had to cover ourselves in vinegar?” Irene asked, still bugged by the pungent smell.

“Yes, he is. Unfortunately,” Ayla nodded.

“They’re an impressive team, though: I’m surprised you’ve never heard of them,” Yuna said.

Carson smoothed his mustache and commented:

“That’s the downside of living isolated in the mountains. Seriously, what did you Riders do to have fun up there? Play tag with flying monsters?”

The four kids exchanged awkward looks. After a brief silence, Lucille replied:

“Well, we read. And we learnt to draw. We also helped with tasks in the village.”

“You learnt to draw? Really?” Gionata asked, surprised.

“Yes! But we’re certainly not as good as you,” Ross told him.

“It’s true, though. We started to enrich our Monsterpedias with personal doodles just because we got bored. Then the habit remained,” Yuri smiled.

Once they reached the village of El Dorado’s Gajalakas, the four Riders were welcomed by a crowd of Lynians wearing gold masks, who carefully sized them up. Yuri understood their reaction: they’d never seen them before and the fact that each of the kids was accompanied by a monster certaintly didn’t help make them comfortable. Luckily, the Gajalakas relaxed when a huge man with a childish face approached them meowing and crawling. It was so weird to see a man that size, wearing a battered Glavenus armor, move around like a toddler.

That was Raymeta, the Felyne man, “champion” and hero of the golden Gajalakas since he saved them from a Bazelgeuse which had gotten lost in the Kulve Taroth’s tunnels; or rather, that was what Yuna had told the Riders along the way. Raymeta communicated with those Lynians for minutes, then the Gajalakas began to make their usual noises and dance: they allowed the Riders to go ahead with the hunters. The Felyne man approached the Riders and looked at the girls with a creepy, lustful expression, but fortunately the smell of vinegar and the four monsters’ presence stopped him from doing anything other than introduce himself.

“Meow! Nice meet you, monster mounters! So odd see you! Me Raymeta!”

Irene stared at him with an expression full of embarrassment and discomfort, with a hint of fear. However, to be polite, the kids introduced themselves and shook his hand. Raymeta turned around and went back to the highest spot in the village, where he rested on a mound of cloth and pieces of tent.

“I didn’t expect him to be like that! I thought ‘Felyne man’ was just an expression, like the people who wear fake Gargwa heads at parties!” Lucille whispered to her friends.

Yuri nodded in shock, then she saw Xavia waving at her from the center of the village to call them and gesture them to come closer. She and her friends then approached the large group of hunters. Together with Xavia and Blood Eyes’ team, there were six more hunters: three men, two women and a wyverian. Based on the descriptions by Yuna, Yuri was able to recognize them.

The wyverian was the Heroes of Kokoto’s team leader: Kahlmuxon. He had black skin, a very thick mane of grey hair and a long beard. His gaze was serious, calm and piercing, and when they introduced themselves, he sized them all up one by one with an inquisitive expression.

Then they introduced themselves to two of the three men: the first one was Cecerinho, a man with a nicely trimmed beard and brown, shoulder-length hair. He looked as serious and composed as the team leader and wore a blue Guild Knight uniform. The other man was Sen Zoname, a young blond man with a stubble, wearing a green cloth garment. His demeanor was very cheerful; when he saw that Yuri’s Rathalos had a left scar on his left eye, he joked saying that they were alike. His own scar didn’t force his eye shut, but it split his eyebrow and it was purple, a sign that it was a Gore Magala’s doing.

The third man was wrapped in a dark cloak and his face was hidden by a black hood and scarf. He stood silent and still like a statue; all he did was glare at them so menacingly that, after a bit, Yuri couldn’t help but look away. Yuna had warned them about it, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating. No one knew anything about him, apart from the fact that everyone called him Nightmare and he never spoke.

Finally, they introduced themselves to the two women: they both had a short ponytail and wore the coronet which came with the Guild Palace armor set. One had blonde hair and blue eyes and she wore a brute Tigrex armor: that was Pitrilla. The other one, Velris, had dark hair, almond-shaped eyes and a pretty face. She wore a gold Rathian armor.

“Look, Velris: this girl has a gold Rathian! Think she’ll mistake you for her mother?” Sen joked.

She stared daggers at him and groaned:

“I doubt that’s how it works, Sen.”

“I’ve never met a Rider before. Goodness! You’re all so young!” Cecerinho exclaimed, intrigued.

Yuri and her friends were made a little uncomfortable by all the attention they were getting, but especially by the way Kahlmuxon and Nightmare were watching them. Yuri took courage and spoke up first:

“Nice to meet you all: we’re told you’re exceptional hunters, but sadly we never heard of you until today. We don’t keep ourselves up to date with Hunting Life Magazine or other periodicals.”

While Yuri took care of the introductions, Gionata pulled Ross aside and chuckled:

“Remember when Saitama did a screaming contest with that brute Tigrex? I got this and other ideas by drinking and chatting with Sen! He has plenty of stories to tell about his teammates and often plays along when I make jokes, so he’s a gold mine for my comic!”

“Woah! So cool!” Ross exclaimed.

“Hey, Gionata! Will you let him reply?”

Pitrilla’s deep voice got their attention. They noticed that everyone was watching them as if waiting for an answer. Ross gasped:

“Oh! Sorry, could you repeat your question?”

Pitrilla pointed at his three friends one by one:

“I asked what’s your most badass monster! The blonde said hers is a Gore Magala, your twin’s a Midogaron and the ever-depressed violet’s daughter’s is her Rathalos. What’s yours?”

Carson laughed so hard that he bent over, while Xavia covered her face with embarrassment and mumbled:

“I wasn’t always depressed.”

“Oh, I think it’s my stygian Zinogre,” Ross said, perplexed.

“Huh, so you two are on a par with each other!” the blonde told Lucille and Irene.

The albino girl folded her arms, looking offended:

“We’re still not letting you fight them! I don’t care how ‘tough’ you think it is to face them bare-handed! They’re not arena monsters. If you want, we can arrange something for you with the Riders of Albarax, but there’s no way you’re throwing punches with our mounts.”

Before Pitrilla could talk back, Velris put a hand on her shoulder, apologized on her behalf and tried to reason with her. Then Cecerinho stood in front of Lucille’s Qurupeco and gave them a stern look:

“Did I hear that right? You have a Midogaron?”

“Yes! His name’s Hono,” she nodded.

The Guild Knight scolded her in a grim tone:

“The law on the rigid isolation of exotic ecosystems dictates that monsters from the Frontier must remain beyond Mezeporta’s borders. Lucille Moore, you own an illegal specimen, which means you’re liable for smuggling alien species.”

The girl paled and panicked; she tried to say something, but ended up stuttering incoherently while wringing her hands.

“Hey! No! Lucy’s not a criminal!” Irene yelled, furious.

Raith got next to Quill and bared her fangs, growling. She always did that when her mistress got angry.

“She didn’t get the Midogaron herself, it was given to her! She didn’t know!”

At that point, Cecerinho burst out laughing, confusing them both:

“Oh, I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist! Relax, young lady, I wouldn’t arrest you for so little: that’s what I should do if I did everything by the book. However, since I joined this team, we’ve violated so many of the Guild’s norms that I’d lose my sanity if I counted all of our infringements.”

Lucille loosened up and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a sigh:

“My gosh, you scared me to death.”

“For the record, he was genuinely like that, back when he joined us!” Sen pointed out.

Although he’d said that was a joke, Irene kept staring at the Guild Knight with a bitter, angry look, but he paid it no mind.

“Still, I trust you’ll keep him in check and he won’t cause any environmental damage. Alright, Lucille?” he then asked.

She raised her hand as if to swear an oath:

“Of course! Of course. You have my word.”

Only then did Kahlmuxon speak up: he turned to Blood Eyes.

“I assume you’re here for our status report on El Dorado?”

Ayla nodded:

“Yes. Did you guys spot infected monsters down here?”

“You bet: they keep entering the tunnels! They sprout like mushrooms and stink worse than a Congalala and a Vaal Hazak’s effluvium combined,” Sen answered, half serious, half humorous.

The team leader went on:

“We put down as many as we can, but the Kulve Taroth is quite good at defending herself. She seems to be immune and often burns them to a crisp before we get to them, then leaves. The only problem is, the Gajalakas can catch the disease, so we had to teach them not to touch the remains or the monsters that smoke black under no circumstances, but that doesn’t always work.”

Lucille raised her hand:

“We can cleanse them! While it’s true that they get to the terminal stage faster with the Makili Pietru around, small monsters aren’t an issue: we can heal them, if you tell us where they are.”

One of the Gajalaka listening to them, who wore a red mask, began to dance cheerfully and yelled at the top of his lungs:

“Gaja! Laka laka!”

From the way he listened to their conversation, it was clear that he understood the humans’ language. After he yelled, all the gold-masked Lynians started to dance and approached Lucille’s Qurupeco, who chirped with fear.

“Gaja-ja! Healer, laka! Please, help us!” the Gajalaka in red exclaimed.

“Oh! Ah! Alright, alright!” she said, disoriented.

So the Lynians moved and led her where they’d set up a quarantine area for all their diseased brethren. Sen was surprised:

“They took a liking to her right away! Think they’ll start to praise her like they did ‘Raymeta the hero’?”

Ross took advantage of it to make a joke with a dramatic flourish:

“And thus, Iris the monster queen met her rival, worshipped by a tribe of gold Lynians.”

Yuri burst out laughing, whereas Irene turned bright red and rolled her eyes.

“Har-de-har-har. Nice. At least they won’t be getting her name wrong.”

Gionata decided he’d been among Lynians for long enough. With the excuse of wanting to check the area for infected monsters, he left the golden tribe’s village with an exasperated snort. He climbed one of the ledges where they’d installed the cannons for the siege on the Kulve Taroth, left his gunlance on the ground and began scanning the caverns with binoculars. But everything was as quiet as it could be: apart from the gold calappas and some gold Gajalaka, there was nothing in that tunnel.

Before leaving, he’d heard Kahlmuxon say that the Kulve Taroth had been holing up in the deepest caves, the ones crossed by rivers of lava, since the epidemic had begun and that she’d been gradually sealing off all the openings to keep infected monsters from prowling about her lair.

“At least I’m not surrounded by those damned furballs anymore,” he thought with a groan.

But then, all of a sudden, he spotted a Monoblos covered in the disgusting shroud of the Black Blight: it appeared from underground along with two Gravios, which were also infected. Zooming in with the binoculars, Gionata saw that the Monoblos was saddled and ridden by a wyverian woman with brown hair and one ear. A number of Girros and Shamos came out of the hole they’d dug, as well as two Lavasioth covered in hot, liquid magma.

“Fuck,” he mumbled.

He picked up his gunlance and headed back: he had to report to the others immediately.

When he returned to the golden tribe’s village, Gionata found out that the Heroes of Kokoto, the Riders and his teammates were picking up their weapons as well. He joined his girlfriend and asked her what was going on.

“The Gajalaka scouts said the Kulve Taroth’s on the move. Looks like some infected monsters showed up with corrupt Riders,” Ayla explained.

“The furballs beat me to it!” he thought, disappointed.

He chased away that thought and said:

“Yeah, I saw them, too! There’s a one-eared wyverian lady.”

Ross gasped, eyes wide open:

“You saw Ekya?!”

The other three Riders immediately became vigilant as well. Gionata confirmed:

“Yes, and she’s brought some big guns: she used a Monoblos and two Gravios to dig a tunnel, then a lot of small monsters came out of it. Maybe the corrupt Riders the Gajalakas spotted did something similar. What are they planning?”

“They want to infect the Kulve Taroth, that has to be it,” Irene claimed.

“A single corrupt Rider isn’t enough to even bypass the Elder Dragons’ natural immunity. If this ‘gold goddess’ is as large as the Xeno’Jiiva, she must require a huge effort,” Yuri added.

Cecerinho got concerned:

“That would be a disaster! The Kulve Taroth can literally mould the ground: they’d gain full control over these tunnels. It would be a severe loss for us.”

Kahlmuxon stepped forth, looking determined:

“What are we waiting for, then? Come on, let’s move! Let’s split up and foil their plans. Capturing them would be ideal, but if they leave you no choice, don’t hesitate to kill them.”

“Gionata, where did you see Ekya? We’ll go after her: we have unfinished business with that two-timing bitch,” Lucille hissed.

“You have a Qurupeco and a Malfestio. I doubt they’re capable of chipping away at a Gravios’ shell,” Carson pointed out, arms crossed.

“But…”

Yuri reassured her friend:

“Lu-Lu, it’s going to be fine. Let them come with us: we’ll leave Ekya to you and Ross, while we take care of the monsters. What do you think?”

“It’s been ages since I last fought a Gravios: totally fine by me,” Gionata said.

“We’ll manage, don’t worry,” Ayla smiled.

Yuna, Carson and Xavia looked confident as well. Kahlmuxon declared:

“As for us, we’ll split up to cull the infected monsters and keep them away from the Kulve Taroth. Raymeta, tell the Gajalakas to track the gold goddess’ movements and help her fight, should the need arise. We must always know where she is and be ready.”

“Meow, on it!” the Felyne man nodded while crawling away.

“Come on, let’s go!”

A fireball exploded on the rocks at their feet. The infected Monoblos hopped backwards and two Shamos were covered in flames. Ekya narrowed her eyes and saw the four Riders from Hakum: the gold Rathian was flying and some flames were still coming out of her mouth. She rolled her eyes, got off the Monoblos’ saddle and the two Gravios got next to her.

“Such a warm welcome,” she commented.

The pack of small fanged wyverns stood in front of them, but a cannonball blew up some of them. Ekya looked up at one of the rocky ledges and saw Carson Kitts, the famous former Zinogre poacher. The hunters turned up as well. Ekya opened her eyes wide, when she saw an unmistakable wyverian lady. So the rumors she’d heard among wyverians in the Old World were true: Yuna Tahaso, the legendary Fepbevsodi fim Zipvu, was part of the Research Commission! At first, Ekya was shocked, but quickly snapped out of it and raised her arm, ready to order her monsters to attack with her infected stone. She tried to fake diplomacy:

“Humans, I’m begging you: I’m not interested in fighting today. I’m only here for the Kulve Taroth. Let me do my job: we’ll find a mutually beneficial deal.”

The young woman with red irises, who had to be Blood Eyes, replied to her:

“We were told it’s pointless to negotiate with you. If you really want us to leave you be, turn around and be gone.”

“Dji qemmi! You asked for it.”

She mounted the Monoblos again, before activating her infected stone. The two Lavasioth charged, leaving behind a trail of lava. Xander’s daughter’s Rathalos took flight. The purple-haired woman and the young lady with a gunlance attacked one of the Gravios, while Blood Eyes and Yuna took on the other one. Carson began to reload the cannon. Ekya made her corrupted Kinship Stone glow; the Monoblos and the small fanged wyverns roared all at once.

The Lavasioth darted towards their enemies sliding on their bellies, but the two Raths hit them on the sides with their talons and flipped both over. After that, they breathed out an intense blaze to scorch the small monsters. The two Gravios began to charge up a fire beam, but the one on the right was hit by a cannonball and lost its balance, so Blood Eyes and Yuna got a chance to get to it. The wyverian’s Whispervesp began to pester it and sting its rocky carapace and Yuna leapt onto its back with her insect glaive, while Ayla switched her axe to sword mode and released an elemental discharge on the monster’s chest.

The second Gravios shot its fire beam, but the other two hunters dodged it by diving to the ground. Xavia quickly got up and reached the monster; she slammed her hammer on its snout with a rising swing, but the Gravios flinched for a mere second. It tried to headbutt her, but the gunlancer stood between them and parried the hit with his shield, before firing all his shells in one shot.

Ekya tried to take advantage of that chaos to leave and search for the Kulve Taroth, but the Malfestio landed in front of the Monoblos and spread its spores by flapping its wings: the Monoblos became confused as soon as it breathed them in and started to shake its head frantically. It charged in a random direction and slammed its horn against the rocky wall.

Ekya jumped off its back at the last second and rolled on her side, cursing. She drew her light bowgun and shot, but the Malfestio nimbly dodged the bullets. Then the Qurupeco lunged at her; the air was filled with sparks and ignited. Ekya crouched just in time to dodge the shot of flames, but Lucille got off the saddle and tried to hit her in the head with her hunting horn. Ekya rolled away at the last second.

“Where’s your beast from the Frontier, nuddoute?”

Ekya fired a shot, but the Rider dodged it.

“Quill is more than enough for you! You won’t escape me this time!”

The Qurupeco grabbed his mistress by the shoulders and took off. Ekya loaded some piercing bullets; she tried to take her shot, but the bird wyvern flew in such a clumsy, unpredictable way that it was very hard to aim at. Ekya grunted and turned around, hopeful that her Monoblos had ricovered. Indeed, it had finally gotten up, but Ross jumped on its back and clung to it as the monster flailed about to wear it down, then it wounded its neck with his greatsword and made it fall on its side.

While watching that scene, Ekya heard some hooting behind her and gasped. She turned around and found the Malfestio right before her. The owl wyvern raised its comb, spread its wings and released hundreds of spores, before emitting an ultrasonic wave to knock her out. But Ekya was prepared: she held her breath and was about to shoot it in the head, but Lucille came down from above, with her mouth and nose covered by a towel. She knocked Ekya down by hitting her legs with her hunting horn, then she pounced on her and pinned her down. She was fully exposed to the Malfestio’s ultrasound, and when she inhaled the spores, she began to pass out.

“Numifivve tvsupbe!”

She insulted the girl one last time, then she gave in and everything faded to black.

“Tuhpo fo usu.”

Lucille coughed and flipped Ekya off, before getting up. Quill landed next to her and grabbed the wyverian with his feet, then he took off and moved away a bit.

“I captured Ekya!” she shouted.

Then she and the Malfestio helped her brother take down the Monoblos. It didn’t take long, though: Carson showed up all of a sudden and fired a piercexplosive bullet. The shot blew up the Monoblos’ entire frill and turned its snout into an unrecognizable lump of rotten flesh. Instant death.

“So gross!” Lucille thought, gagging.

“I see you got the half-deaf wyverian. Well done.”

To their surprise, Carson congratulated them: he had to be in a really good mood.

“Come on, we can head back now: nothing left here but a bunch of useless critters. The Gajalakas or the Kulve Taroth will take them out.”

As soon as he mentioned her, they suddenly heard heavy footsteps and the sound of metal being dragged on the ground. The Riders turned around, and from around a corner at the end of the cave, a creature appeared. It had to be the mother goddess of gold the hunters had talked so much about. The Kulve Taroth was huge, as large as the Makili Pietru. She looked like a giant black iguana, with beautiful ram horns overlaid with gold and gemstones; her whole body was covered and protected by an immense coat made of pure gold, which she dragged along with an elengant, haughty gait, keeping her forelimbs stretched and holding her head high. She truly looked like a goddess in a luxurious, gorgeous dress. Lucille was raptured:

“She’s magnificent!” she exclaimed.

Her brother made the same expression as her and she was sure that Irene and Yuri were also reacting like that.

“Hey! Hurry up, kids! We have to go, everyone’s already left!” Carson warned them.

At that moment, Lucille realized that the Kulve Taroth looked furious: she walked slowly, observing the dead infected monsters around her while growling menacingly. Ross snapped out of his bewilderment and helped his sister mount Kuro with him.

“Kuro, quick!”

The Kulve Taroth’s chest glowed and she began to breathe in. The Malfestio landed next to Carson and Ross suddenly exclaimed:

“Sorry!”

He then ordered Kuro to grab Carson by the shoulders and fly away. Carson swore through gritted teeth, but that was the right choice: the Kulve Taroth breathed out a flush of hot hair throughout the cavern. The ground melted and turned into lava, and the infected carcasses were charred in a few seconds: it was as if the Kulve Taroth wanted to sanitize her lair.

“Hey, you’re giving me rheumatisms! Can we go?” Carson reproached.

“Yeah, right away! Let’s go!”

Once they returned to the golden tribe’s village, they hogtied Ekya with some ropes and blindfolded her, for good measure. They hoped she’d stay unconscious until they were back in the basecamp on the Coral Highlands, but just to be sure, Ross decided he’d have Kuro spread his spores one last time before leaving. The Riders came out of the hideout and waited for the hunters to tell the Heroes of Kokoto what had happened. Irene exclaimed:

“The Kulve Taroth was such a beauty! Can you imagine if we got an egg of hers?! It would be wonderful!”

Lucille scratched her chin and pondered:

“The leaders of the First Fleet said she’s the same specimen they discovered forty years ago, and she seems to be the only one in the continent. Who knows how long it takes for her to lay an egg.”

“Meh, I was just saying! We still saw an extremely rare monster, and that’s enough for me right now.”

“We even caught Ekya. This trip was more productive than expected,” Lucille giggled.

She was so glad to have gotten her revenge: she’d been waiting for that moment since Anvis’ defeat. Ross drank some water from his flask and said:

“All thanks to Yuri’s mom: this was her birthday present, after all!”

“Hey, with all the messes we’ve had to clean up, I haven’t gotten to tell you yet: happy birthday, Yuri!” the albino girl smiled.

Yuri ran a hand through her hair with a hint of embarrassment:

“It still sounds so weird to hear that so early.”

Still in a joking mood, Irene nudged her, winked and taunted her:

“Think about us: now you’re the second oldest one! Should we start calling you Miss Aros?”

The four Riders laughed together, then they were joined by Gionata and Xavia.

“Oh! Are you done?” Yuri asked.

But then, she noticed that the hunter was holding a sketchbook and a few pencils.

“No, Ayla and the others are still talking, but Gionata had a wonderful idea for your birthday!” Xavia said.

He made a cheerful grin:

“I thought about draw you and Xavia as a present. I already made a sketch of the background earlier, when I got out: you two are the only thing missing!”

Yuri’s eyes lit up and she nodded, excited:

“Oh, that would be amazing!”

“Good! Start posing, then.”

He led them to a boulder encrusted with gold, rubies and emeralds. He had Xavia sit down on it first, then Yuri sat down on her mother’s knees and they hugged, trying to stay as still as possible. Gionata began to draw with quick, precise strokes of his pencils, while Ross admired the artist at work from a distance: he was a little envious of his talent. Several minutes later, he showed them the finished portrait: a beautiful black and white drawing of mother and daughter, hugging and smiling.

“It’s great! Thank you so much!” Yuri squealed.

From her part, Xavia blushed, looking a bit embarrassed. Gionata winked:

“Don’t mention it. Happy birthday! When we go back to the camp, I’ll clean it up a bit, then it’s all yours. At least it won’t get ruined.”

“Thanks a lot, Gionata. Your drawing is excellent as always,” Xavia smiled, thankful.

That said, she embraced her daughter and rejoyced:

“Our first family portrait!”

Gionata chuckled, then he turned to the other Riders:

“Kids, how about I draw you with Yuri, too? That way, you’ll have a souvenir of your first trip to the caverns of El Dorado!”

Ross shook, incredulous and hyped:

“Oh, yes! Yes! A drawing of us by Gionata Uberti, heck yeah!”

Lucille and Irene laughed at his reaction, but they too gladly accepted his offer. So Xavia stood up and moved behind him to let him work. Gionata rubbed his hands: he announced that, once they were back at the base, he’d make three copies, so his young fan and the three Girls would each have their own. After teasing Ross with the promise he’d sign his, he began to draw the backgrounds.

Chapter Text

Lucille took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She was standing in front of the tent where they’d been holding Ekya prisoner for three days. She kept asking herself why she’d offered to bring her food that morning: she’d felt compelled to do so, but she couldn’t believe she had.

“Lu-Lu, are you okay?”

Yuri put a hand on her shoulder, making her gasp. Lucille pulled herself together before answering; she tightened her grip on the tray of jerky and bread. She tried to look confident, but failed:

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? If you don’t feel like it, I can bring it to her. I don’t expect her to tell us anything useful, anyway.”

“No, Yuri. Even if I don’t understand why I offered, I have to do this.”

Her friend grimaced when Lucille said that, but before she could say anything, she moved the cloth aside and entered the tent to stop herself from hesitating. Yuri followed her and closed the tent behind them.

The wyverian woman still had her arms and legs tied to a chair. They’d stripped her of the armor as soon as they’d arrived, while she was still unconscious, and they’d left her with a simple leather vest. Ekya’s hoarse giggle instantly got on her nerves:

“It’s the third day already, nuddoute. Back when I served Anvis, it was the prisoners’ last day of life. Are you giving me my last meal? Will your beast from the Frontier finish what it started two years ago?”

Despite the situation, Ekya didn’t miss her chance to taunt her by spewing poison.

“If you hadn’t tried to attack us from behind, Hono would’ve done nothing. You’re the only one you should blame."

“I’m sorry, could you repeat? You know, it’s hard for me to hear what you say, if you stand to my right.”

Lucille could feel her patience wane, but luckily Yuri intervened before things escalated: she took the tray from her, laid it down next to Ekya and cautiously untied her left arm. She scowled at her and said in a firm tone:

“We have plenty of tranq bombs and Kuro is nearby; don’t try anything funny.”

“Of course, I don’t want to piss off someone who might incinerate me, qoddume Miraboreasu. I value my life.”

Ekya shrugged, before grabbing a piece of bread and eating it like a starving animal: that was her first meal since the previous day, after all. The two girls waited for her to finish in silence, and when she was done, Yuri tied her left arm again. Lucille raised an eyebrow, surprised by how effortless that had been:

“You’re strangely cooperative today.”

“Do you think I’m a fool? I end up tied somewhere at least once a decade. I already know how this is going to end: your pretty army will manage to thwart that idiot Aros’ plans, unless you all fail and die. I’ll escape one way or another, as usual: either when you leave for the battle or as soon as we get back to the Old World.”

“You’ve got it all planned out, haven’t you?”

“One doesn’t live over four hundred years without figuring out how the world works. You too will understand, eventually: your precious bonds will be broken. You’ll be left alone, abandoned by all those who promised to forever stay with you.”

Yuri gave her a confused look, while Lucille folded her arms and asked her:

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m spitting facts: whoever lives as long as I do realizes how ephemeral people are and how easy it is to forget. Did you know I lived three other lives, over the last four centuries? I was a huntress, a scholar and a Rider. All three were forgotten. Now only the corrupt, two-timing Rider you know and love remains.”

She paused, then turned to Yuri and giggled:

“Who knows? In the future, I may even help the great heir of Redan save the world! I’m very fickle and open to new experiences. You should know that by now.”

“Cut the bullshit.”

Yuri replied to her with unprecedented coldness, sick of that song and dance, which surprised Lucille.

“If you want to help us, do it right now: it’s not too late. We may put in a good word for you: you’ll pay for the crimes you committed under Anvis, but as long as you don’t bother us or Gust, perhaps you could…”

Ekya burst out laughing, bowing and shaking her head:

“Insane: you’ll believe anything! You’re so much fun, nuddouti. Had I met you a hundred years ago, I really would’ve liked you!”

Yuri sighed, shook her head and shrugged:

“I tried, Lu-Lu. If you have more to tell her, do it yourself. I’m busy.”

“Oh, alright! No problem.”

Lucille snapped out of her thoughts and waved goodbye at her friend as she left the tent.

“She’s touchy today, isn’t she? You were usually the one I got a rise out of.”

“She made you a sincere offer and all you could do was mock her. I hope the Guild lets Gust choose your punishment when we take you in, after this mess is over.”

They stayed quiet for minutes, then Ekya sighed:

“Listen, nuddo… no, Lucille.”

The girl gasped, hearing the wyverian call her by name in a serious tone.

“What I told you is true: no bond lasts forever. The dearer you hold someone, the more it hurts when they’re gone. That’s why I’ve only ever lived as I liked for three hundred years, changing life once I got bored.”

Lucille frowned, never taking her eyes off Ekya.

“Care to explain why you’re telling me this now?”

“I’m warning you: you kids from Hakum have no idea what’s truly going on. The Research Commission and the hunters’ Guild are just as blind: something big’s brewing behind the scenes. Take it from someone who’s wanted you dead for years: quit everything and start living only for yourself. You’ll thank me.”

A creepy silence fell. It felt endless for both of them. Then Lucille sighed, raised her arm and made her Kinship Stone glow.

“I know nothing about your past lives. I don’t know what bonds broke for you to despise the world so much. I only know who you are now, Ekya. I’ll never be like you: since I left the village, five years ago, my purpose has been crystal clear to me.”

She sat down cross-legged in front of her, holding her head high like never before:

“I want to help people. I want to do everything I can to make the world a better place. Bonds will inevitably be born of it, and by extension, trouble and unpleasant situations: such is life. You can’t just throw everything away because you’re afraid.”

“Me? Afraid? You’re crazy. Do you seriously think you figured me out after a simple chat?”

“Think whatever you want. I’ll never stray off my path. I appreciate the warning, but whatever big threat is coming, me, my friends and anyone who shares our views will face it together, as always.”

That said, Lucille took the tray, got up and turned around to leave. She didn’t hear Ekya say anything, before she got out and closed the tent behind her. She couldn’t help but smile, pleased to have shut her up.

“Am I really doing this? No, no, I can’t. But I’m too curious and I’m already here… ugh, dammit!”

Irene whispered to herself, pacing back and forth before Ayla’s tent, unsure what to do. After a minute, she groaned and moved the cloth just enough to peek in. She saw Blood Eyes put on a different set of armor, not the Anjanath one she usually wore: that one was simpler, with metal greaves and shoulder straps and a scaly plates on the chest and waist. She wore no helmet, as if she wanted to keep her sapphire earrings exposed. The Rider stepped back from the tent and took a deep breath. She moved the cloth again and spoke up:

“Ayla! I’m sorry, am I bothering you?”

She waited a bit, but Blood Eyes answered kindly:

“Oh, Irene! No, it’s okay: tell me what you need.”

The blonde stepped into the tent, scratching her head:

“Well, I just wanted to ask you if you know where Yuna is: I want to ask her something and I’ve been looking for her, but I can’t find her anywhere in the camp.”

Ayla took a moment to reflect, with a hand on her chin, then replied:

“Unless I’m mistaken, she went on a hunt in the Elder’s Recess last night. Unfortunately, she may not come back before tonight.”

Irene nodded:

“Oh, I see. Alright, I can still wait: it’s nothing urgent.”

They were silent for a while. Irene couldn’t stop looking at Blood Eyes’ new armor and curiosity overcame her.

“Sorry, Ayla, may I ask you something else?”

“About my armor? You’ve been staring at it since you entered.”

Ayla smiled, arms folded. When Irene blushed and nodded again, she explained:

“You already know that my parents are the ones who defeated the Shagaru Magala on the peaks near Cathar, but my family’s history doesn’t begin from them: my grandparents were the first and only hunters to ever slay a Fatalis, when they were young.”

“A Fatalis?”

Irene was incredulous for a moment, but come to think of it, it made sense: surely Blood Eyes couldn’t have been cursed by a Fatalis out of sheer bad luck.

“Exactly. This armor used to belong to my grandmother. She gave it to me before I joined the Fifth Fleet. I only put it on for important occasions: it makes me feel safe. It’s the same armor she wore when they killed the Black Dragon.”

The Rider noticed a hint of sadness in Ayla’s eyes: she guessed she was now thinking about the curse, so she improvised an attempt to play it down:

“Did Yuri ever tell you how much she tormented herself, after she found out she was Redan’s descendant? She barely slept for weeks, as she searched for the tiniest bit of information on him and the history of the White Miracle. When the egg of the monster we believed to be the original White Miracle was stolen from under her nose, she wanted to literally disappear and look for it on her own.”

Irene couldn’t hold a giggle, remembering those days, then she noticed that the huntress was frowning at her, not knowing why she was telling her that. She folded her arms:

“Sorry, I got carried away. What I’m trying to say is… I truly find you amazing, Ayla: your family consists of legendary hunters, but despite that, you always manage to stay focused, without letting expectations hold you back or flattering yourself. You’re the most grounded huntress I’ve met! In a good way, of course! If I descended from a mythical hero like Yuri or had a family like yours, even my Duramboros-sized ego couldn’t take all that pressure!”

Ayla cracked one of her rare smiles and chuckled, scratching the back of her head:

“Why, thank you, Irene. But had it not been for Gionata and my family’s support, I have no idea how I would’ve ended up because of all the rumors about the curse and the people who feared me.”

“I can imagine: we found Yuri days after she ran away. We basically had to capture her and force her to calm down, before we could make any progress tracking down the ones who’d stolen the egg. It may not seem like it, but she can be the most stubborn person alive,” the blonde snorted.

Now it was the huntress’ turn to quip with a giggle:

“Knowing her mother, that doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Ayla and Irene were quiet for another while, before the Rider spoke again:

“Sorry for disturbing, I just wanted to ask you where I could find Yuna, but we ended up talking about something else entirely!”

Ayla gave her a pat on the back:

“No worries, you’re fine! I enjoyed our chat.”

Irene nodded with a smile. She thanked her again, turned around and got out, lowering the cloth behind her.

In a very good mood, Ross got off Kuro’s saddle once they were near the makeshift stables: he’d just come back alongside Nina from a patrol on the Coral Highlands he was particularly satisfied with. He couldn’t wait to take the saddle of his Malfestio and join the girls, when he suddenly heard Yuri scream, followed by a shrill cry and a thud.

He rushed over and what he saw left him dumbfounded: Legi was covered in red dots, clearly visible on her white hide. Some dracophage bugs were buzzing around the stable and the little Legiana was moaning, as Yuri tried to calm her down. All the stools and the racks they put their saddles and reins on were scattered on the ground, while the other monsters kept their distance from the bugs. The straw beddings were messed up as well. Maybe the Legiana’s squirming had thrashed the place.

“Yuri! What happened?”

Ross rushed to her and stared daggers at an irritated Tyr, who was devouring his meal. Yuri patted the Legiana to comfort her and mumbled:

“I’ll explain later! Please, help me out: I have to calm down Legi and apply some ointment on her burns.”

She looked almost as vexed as the stygian Zinogre. Ross decided not to ask questions and do as she said.

Yuri snorted, knelt down next to Legi and stroked her side: it had taken longer than expected, but she’d finally calmed down and they’d managed to treat her burns. The Legiana rested her head on the girl’s knees, chirping, so Yuri patted her and gave her some jerky, which she devoured right away. While trying to tidy up the stables, Ross asked her:

“What did Legi do to irritate Tyr so much that he sent the swarm to sting her like that?”

“Nothing, poor thing, it was my fault: I totally forgot that today it was my turn to feed them all, I came here as soon as I remembered. She had to be starving: she tried to eat Tyr’s ration while I was distracted feeding Oda and Glaze and you saw the result.”

Yuri slapped her forehead and shook her head:

“Today just isn’t my day. First I mixed up the deliveries, then I lost my temper with Ekya, and now this!”

Ross sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He tried to comfort her:

“Come on, bad days happen, especially given what awaits us in a few days. I dare not imagine how on edge you must be for having to fight the Makili Pietru.”

“That’s true, but forgetting to feed our monsters is unacceptable, dammit! Dan would chew me out like there’s no tomorrow, if he knew!”

“Then chief Omna would show up and tell him to calm down and put himself in your shoes. With one of his usual, absurd rhymes, no doubt: I’d try to make one, but nothing comes to mind!”

The two kids laughed and Yuri sighed, glad that her friend was trying to cheer her up.

“What about you? Was your day lighter than mine?”

“Yes. In fact, I wanted to tell you about it right away! I had a surprise for you guys, but…”

He paused, reflected for a bit and got up. He held out his hand and smiled at her, blushing a bit:

“Well, would you like to come and see with your own eyes what we found? Just you and me. We can go right now, if you want!”

Yuri instantly felt herself flush and brought a hand to her mouth out of surprise. But despite that sudden offer, she nodded and took his hand for him to help her up.

“Sure, let’s! If I can see this surprise first, I won’t turn it down!”

Ross seemed to be on cloud nine, from the way he smiled:

“Great! We should be back here before dark, if we leave now: it’s on the Coral Highlands, but we have to travel a bit. I’ll ask Lucy if she can make sure Legi and Tyr don’t bother each other again, then we can go!”

Yuri watched him rush out, so she began to fan her face with one hand, trying to make the blush go away, but to no avail.

Kuro and Ratha landed in the easternmost part of the Coral Highlands. The Malfestio hooted in annoyance, when he soaked his feet in a puddle; he ruffled his feathers and shrugged off the water droplets that a nearby waterfall was spraying on him. The Rathalos stretched his wings, enjoying the cool temperature. The Riders got off their monsters’ backs and the boy pointed at the waterfall.

“The cave I mentioned is over there!”

Yuri took a better look and saw a rift between the waterfall and the rocky wall, but the passage looked quite narrow: nothing larger than a Great Jaggi would fit through there.

“Why did you come all the way here? What monsters were you hunting in that investigation?” she asked with curiosity.

When they set out, their monsters stayed behind to drink from the ponds: they’s stay outside, while they entered the cave. Ross hesitated for a moment, before explaining:

“We were actually after an infected Paolumu, but once we put it down and cleansed it, we saw some infected Shamos enter the rift. We followed them to see if there was an infected nest to purify, but unfortunately we lost them.”

“Oh, I see.”

“There’s a bright side, though. You’ll see!”

That said, Ross began to guide her into the passage. Yuri was very careful where she stepped, because the ground was wet and slippery, being so close to the waterfall. After that day, taking a tumble was the last thing she wanted. After a dozen of meters, the passage widened: whereas before she had to stand behind Ross to move, now they had enough room to walk next to each other. They followed the tunnels for minutes, then he stood in front of her.

“Well, almost there. Are you ready?” he smiled.

“Yes, I am! Come on, don’t keep me in suspense!” she giggled.

Ross nodded, so he stepped aside and gestured her to go ahead. She complied and was entranced by the view: in the rocky wall before them, there was a right through which they could watch the sky and the beautiful shades of the sunset.

The cave was full of small streams, waterfalls and swimming holes; the colorful corals of the highlands made it look like they stood in a giant aquarium. To make the scenery even prettier, there was an entire swarm of flying medusos dancing in the air flows throughout the cave. Some of them even seemed to shine like tiny stars. Yuri took some steps forward, in awe.

“This is gorgeous!”

“I knew you’d like it! And the sunset makes it even more stunning!” Ross gleefully said.

Yuri approached the jellyfish floating closest to them, careful not to touch them. She sat down on a rock and took a deep breath; she enjoyed the tranquility of that place. Ross sat down near her.

They were quiet for a while. Ross seemed to be lost in his thoughts, while Yuri observed the flying medusos and listened to the relaxing sound of the waterfalls crashing on the rocky bottom. Now more relaxed, but tired of that silence, Yuri raised her arms and stretched, trying to figure out what to say to him. She turned to Ross and smiled:

“It’s so peaceful here, and the breeze is pleasant: if we come back here in the future, it would be the perfect spot for a picnic! It’s beautiful here.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Yuri saw Ross hesitate for a bit, before he said more:

“But the beauty of this cave can’t be compared to yours.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow:

“What are you talking about, Ross?”

“Yuri, I love you!”

Both Riders turned bright red: Yuri opened her eyes wide and gave him a shocked look, while Ross tried to overcome the embarrassment from those words to go on, before he lost what little confidence he’d managed to gain when they’d arrived. He took her right hand with both hands and held it gently:

“When I left Hakum, years ago, I realized how much you meant to me. You were what I missed more than anything else about the village, along with my family. I missed everything about you: your laugh, the determination in your eyes, your kind words. I was reminded of them every time we trained together for the kinship ritual. You can’t imagine the joy I felt, when we met in Gildegaran and spent the whole night chatting like we always did!”

Yuri brought her left hand to her mouth to hide her wide, excited grin, but her flushing face betrayed her emotions. She kept staring at Ross, as he let the words crash through like a flood:

“The idea of losing you terrifies me: my heart aches every time I think back to Anvis, that damned Rajang or the Makili Pietru and what could’ve happened if you weren’t so exceptional and stubborn. I wanted to confess my feelings for you once and for all, because I don’t want to have any regrets. So let me say it again: I love you, Yuri! Will you be my girlfriend?”

He spat out the final question all in one breath and flushed even more, as Yuri looked away in attempt to dissipate her embarrassment, if only a little. He waited for what felt like eternity to him, before she gave him an answer. Yuri’s eyes watered up. She turned to him again and held his hands, head over heels.

“Oh, Ross, you don’t know how happy that would make me! You always do so much to help me, always putting up with me when I get overwhelmed by my pointless worries. I feel the same way! I love you, too!”

Hearing that, all of a sudden, Ross let go of her hands and hugged her as tightly as he could, happier than ever. But now they both knew what to do: although they were still red-faced with embarrassment, they stared at each other for a fleeting moment, then they kissed for the very first time.

“Yuna! Sorry, can I take a moment of your time?”

The wyverian, who had just returned at the camp, petted her Whispervesp and turned around. She saw Irene with her hands behind her back. She politely nodded at her:

“Oh! Hello, Irene. I was going to my tent, but sure, ask away.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry, it’s nothing urgent. This can wait until tomorrow, if you want! You’ve just come back.”

Yuna raised her hand to reassure her and gestured her to ask her question.

“Alright, so… um… these days, while we were questioning Ekya, she mentioned you a few times: she called you Fepbevsodi fim Zipvu and talked about you as if you were some legend! That intrigued me a lot. I know it’s Wyverian for “Wind Dancer”, but I don’t quite understand what this is about.”

She brought her hand to her temple for a second, while speaking. Yuna was about to reply, when she noticed that the little ornament on the girl’s ear was now glowing blue. Her curiosity took over and she put Irene’s question aside, pointing at it:

“Why is the piece of metal you keep on your ear glowing?”

“Oh, damn, sorry! Old habit!”

Irene slapped her forehead and brought her hand to her temple again. This time, Yuna saw her touch that thing with her finger, and it stopped glowing.

“Long story short, this device is called a focus and I found it in another world. Some experts showed me what it can do and once in a while, when I talk with someone, I switch it on without much of a thought: it records conversations, so I can listen to them again should I need to. I liked doing that so much in the other world, for the two months I was there, that I still catch myself doing it here!”

“What an unusual contraption! Very interesting!”

Yuna rubbed her chin, nodding and observing it closely, which made the girl blush.

“Yeah, and… uh… apologies. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“No, it’s okay! Do you think I could try it? It might be a bit impractical to wear due to the shape of my ears, but I’m curious!”

“No problem for me, try it on whenever you want!”

The wyverian cheered, then she regained her poise and cleared her throat:

“Now, about your question: it’s actually rather simple. That was the name by which I was known among wyverians in Mezeporta, back when I hunted in the Frontier. They called me that because I was very skilled at fighting Kushala Daoras: they’ve always been my favorite Elder Dragons! They occasionally featured me in Hunting Life Magazine by that moniker.”

Irene stared at her, intrigued and marveled at the same time:

“I had no idea! Sounds awesome! I despise Kushala Daoras, instead: I always end up in a tornado, one way or another. I have bad memories of the few I hunted. Any chance you could teach me some of your tricks, when this is all over?”

“I have no reason to refuse,” Yuna nodded.

Irene hopped, happy and thankful. Yuna smiled and added:

“No problem: you wouldn’t be the first one, after all! I still remember when some hunters asked me the same favor, during my time in Kamura with my soulmate my son.”

Irene opened her eyes wide at that statement.

“Hold it, Yuna! Did you say ‘son’? I didn’t think you had a husband and a wife!”

“Well, I never talk much about them because there’s no need to, but I am five hundred years old, after all!”

“That’s also true. Sorry. May I ask you more about it, though?” Irene requested.

Yuna nodded with a smile. She suggested they go eat something at the canteen while talking, so that she could sit down for a bit. After taking a seat and orderind dinner, she began to tell her story:

“My soulmate’s name is Zemo. However, he’s not a hunter like me: he’s a wandering philosopher. He goes on long pilgrimages around the world, according to his family’s tradition. For centuries, he’s been busy writing a long essay documenting and reflecting on the relationships between communities and nature.”

“Interesting!”

Irene folded her arms and asked her to go on.

“Our relationship has always been like this: we’ve never spent long periods of time together; one or two years at most, then I don’t see him again for decades. But our feelings for each other have always stayed strong, so much so that we became parents. We have four children: Saroa, Zemak, Colwe and Hattla. Saroa is our eldest daughter, Zemak is our only son, Colwe is the third and Hattla is the little one.”

“Wow! I had no idea! Did they follow you to the New World?”

“No. They lead the same nomadic life as Zemo – with my approval and by their own choice, of course. I stayed with them only until they became autonomous, then they each started their journeys. We seldom reunite, and two of us meet mostly by chance. Despite that, I always feel close to them and I’m very proud of them all.”

Yuna gave a nostalgic smile, closing her eyes.

“So that’s one way to have a relationship with your parents…”

Irene whispered that to herself, holding her chin with her thumb and index finger. However, she shook her head as if to chase away that thought, then asked one more question:

“You mentioned Kamura. It’s that village in the mountains beyond Yukumo, right? I’ve never been there, but I heard some odd rumors about it. For example, that they use bugs to fight; not like our kinsects, though!”

She was quick to correct herself, as if she didn’t want to disrespect Yuna’s Whispervesp or her Foliacath.

“Yes, it’s that village. Indeed, the local hunters have a unique fighting style: they use the silk of Wirebugs in their hunts. It’s sturdy enough to support a grown man’s weight, and with the right momentum, it allows you to dash on the ground or in mid-air to reposition yourself or get away from monsters. Their technique is very interesting to watch, but not quite effective, if you ask me.”

When she saw the expression Irene was making, she understood she needed to explain herself:

“When I was there for several years, after Zemak was born, I got to see that Kamura’s hunters were rather… um… hopeless. I could count the truly talented ones on the fingers of one hand. They could count on their resolve and the Wirebugs filled in some gaps, but hunting wasn’t really that village’s strong suit. This…”

Yuna stopped when she heard a buzz of voices and laughter behind her. She turned around just in time to see Erika walk away sulkily and some of the people at the table she’d just left were having a good laugh.

“Oh, no, I believe I said too much again. And too loudly, to boot.”

The wyverian covered her mouth, sorry about causing annoyance. She was about to say that she didn’t know how things had changed since she’d left Kamura, but it felt pointless to her by now. Irene tried to get her attention by faking a cough:

“Er… I see. Still, sounds very interesting. Maybe I should go there: these Wirebugs sound really cool! Who knows what I could do if I learnt to use them!”

Her dreamy comment was followed by an awkward giggle.

“It would help you broaden your horizons, that’s for sure,” Yuna stated.

They kept chatting until they finished their meal, then Irene thanked the wyverian for giving her the chance to talk, before they went back to their respective tents.

Chapter Text

“Oh, jeez, it’s so late! It’s already dark!”

Those were Yuri’s first words when they came out of the tunnels: they’d completely lost track of time, carried away in the moment. When they woke up Ratha and flew off towards the camp, the moon shone high in the sky, surrounded by countless stars. It would’ve been a romantic view for a nighttime flight, had it not been for her hurry. She looked at her boyfriend, who was flying next to her on Kuro’s back, and groaned:

“What am I going to say to mom? She must be so worried! I didn’t even tell her I’d leave the camp.”

“You could tell her it was my idea and we got held up: I’m sure she’ll understand. Besides, I told Lucille we’d be away for a while, so I’m pretty sure she might’ve told her, if she was looking for you.”

Yuri rolled her eyes:

“Come on, I can’t pin this on you! Anyway, I won’t lie to her again. I made too many messes every time I…”

She suddenly stopped and gave him an insecure look, as she blushed:

“Speak of… you know, my mom and your sister. Should we, well… tell them and Irene about us?”

He blushed as well and scratched his temple, with an awkward chuckle.

“If you want to come clean with your mother about why we’re late, I see no other options. I considered it, too, when I got the idea to take you to the cave, but I wasn’t sure I’d manage to say I love you, so I didn’t think about what would happen next at all.”

Yuri shook her head and started to laugh:

“So we’re both clueless about what to say and we’re almost at the base. What can go wrong?”

Ross did a thumbs-up and smiled:

“If you want, I can come up with something: I put you in this mess, so I can try.”

She smiled back at him and nodded, thanking him. But the moment he looked away, she became pensive.

The Rathalos and the Malfestio landed without accidents along the way; their Riders got off their backs right away, and given the time, they took off their saddles and reins right away to let them go rest. They barely had the time to store the equipment away, before Irene showed up at the stable entrance.

“Well, good evening!”

Yuri gasped: she’d neither seen or heard her, in her hurry. She took a quick glance at Ross, before scratching her head.

“Uh… hey, Irene.”

They also saw Xavia and Lucille arrive: seeing her mother, Yuri flushed and felt butterflies in her stomach all of a sudden.

“Ross! You said you wouldn’t be long, what the heck! I stayed in the stable all evening!”

Lucille folded her arms and scowled at her twin brother, while the huntress approached her daughter and breathed a sigh of relief. Ross began to justify himself:

“Sorry, Lucy, my bad: Yuri told me she had a bad day and I wanted to show her a quiet cave I found on my latest hunt. One thing led to another and we didn’t realize how long we’d been there!”

“And you went alone?” Irene intruded, surprised.

“Well, you see, I would’ve loved to invite you, but we needed someone to keep an eye on Legi and Tyr. But if Lucille had been the only one left here to check on our monsters, she would’ve nagged me until we’re old.”

He looked away from his sister’s angry glare, but the other two girls let out a giggle.

“I’ll admit you were right, little bro. But I demand you take me to that cave as soon as you can! Now I want to see it, too!”

“Yes, fine, I promise!”

Yuri, who was now standing aside with her mother, lost in her thought, looked up at her:

“Sorry I didn’t warn you myself, mom. It was a snap decision.”

The huntress gave her a kind smile and shook her head:

“Don’t worry: I was just a little worried because you weren’t back yet, even though it was already dark.”

Irene smirked maliciously, then she glanced at Lucille:

“Ross was with her! Obviously, he’d never let anything happen to her, would he?”

As soon as their eyes met, Lucille grinned knowingly:

“Oh, sure thing! That’s why you set off without us: my little bro’s such a romantic!”

Both Yuri and Ross flushed, but the girls kept taunting them:

“Imagine: a scary, never-before-seen monster shows up in the cave. Their monsters aren’t there, because the tunnels were too narrow for them. Ross stands in front of our dear Yuri, greatsword drawn.”

Irene improvised a deeper voice, trying to imitate him:

“Careful, Yuri!”

Then Lucille brought the back of her hand to her forehead, acted scared and whined:

“Oh, Ross! Good thing you’re here!”

Seeing their friends’ embarrassed expressions, the two girls burst out laughing louder than ever. Even Xavia, who now stood behind Yuri and was holding her by the shoulders, couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing them have fun. Ross snorted, his face bright red, and shook his head:

“Ha-ha. Very funny, nice act.”

He turned to Yuri, seeing her just as red, but he smiled at her. She looked up at her mother and took her hands off her shoulders, then she approached Ross. She gently took his hands and grinned; she also spoke with a dramatic flourish, but unlike her friends, her smile was much more genuine.

“Thanks for saving me from that terrifying monster, my beloved.”

Before her friends or Xavia could process her words or before he could say something, Yuri leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, then she giggled at his confusion. The others’ reaction was quick to come: Irene opened her eyes wide and her voice became shrill with shock:

“What?!”

Lucille looked at her brother, then at Yuri, and her jaw dropped. Xavia was also astonished, holding a hand in front of her mouth. Ross hadn’t recovered yet: he was redder than a tomato and was trying to stutter something, but all that came out of his mouth were incoherent syllables. Yuri laughed, looking at her mother and her friends, and scratched the back of her head.

“I wanted to tell you at all costs and I thought it would be easier this way. Your little act gave me the perfect chance! Mom, Lu-Lu, Irene – Ross and I became a couple. That’s why we’re late.”

Still embarrassed, Ross took her hand and laughed:

“You could’ve told me you wanted to do something like that!”

“I know, I’m so sorry! I just couldn’t resist.”

Irene and Lucille hadn’t quite processed it yet, while Xavia smiled at them both:

“If this makes you happy, then I’m really glad for you. Ross, I don’t think I need to say it, but still: treat her well!”

Yuri looked at her and mouthed ‘thank you’ with relief, as the boy nodded confidently:

“Of course! Rest assured: I’d rather let my stone become infected than be mean to Yuri!”

Yuri rolled her eyes:

“Don’t overdo it.”

“No, I mean it!”

Lucille folded her arms, got next to her brother and mumbled:

“Damn, we can’t tease you about your obvious crush on Yuri anymore!”

“You can still mock me if you want to: you have plenty of options. Like that stupid Watcher.”

She gave him a pat on the back, grinning:

“Come on, I was just kidding: I’m very happy for you!”

“Thanks, Lucy,” Ross smiled.

Irene was still shocked: she forced herself to say something, trying to recover. She approached Yuri and rested a hand on her shoulder:

“Gee, I’m very happy for you, too, but damn: that was bold! You really left me speechless!”

“You inspired me with your superb acting,” Yuri winked, getting a laugh out of her.

“This New World sure changed a lot of things: you met a wonderful mother and completely changed your mind about your father. Your changed armor and haircut. You got awesome powers and now you even have a boyfriend! Defeating the Makili Pietru again will be the perfect cherry on top of your journey!”

Yuri’s smile faded, hearing that. She looked away. Ross nudged Irene, who then slapped her forehead and tried to apologize for talking too much:

“Oh gosh! Sorry, Yuri! I didn’t mean to…”

Yuri shook her head and cracked an awkward smile:

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. Can you please not talk about it, at least until tomorrow?”

After all, apart from that night, there had only two days left: the next day would be the last twenty-four hours of preparation. After that, the battle against the Makili Pietru and Xander would take place. Her friends and mother agreed: better concede her one last quiet, concern-free evening. Irene ran a hand through her hair and patted her on the back:

“Since I don’t want to screw up anymore with my loose tongue, I’ll wish you a good night and go to my tent. See you!”

“I’m coming with you!”

Lucille spoke instinctively, then winked at her brother, making him cringe. Yuri dared not imagine what they’d tell him, once alone in their tent.

“Then I’m coming, too,” he snorted.

“Fine. Goodnight, then,” Yuri giggled.

Her boyfriend hugged her one last time, before following the two girls. Xavia ruffled her hair affectionately and smiled:

“What a day you had, am I right?”

The Rider yawned and nodded.

“Yup: it started very badly, but ended super well. I’m still exhausted, though.”

Yuri slowly sat up; she rubbed her face, still sleepy. She yawned and stretched. She looked around for her mother to see if she was still sleeping: making sure Xavia was alright was of great solace to her, especially after the inevitable nightmare. That night, however, she hadn’t had it yet: she suspected that maybe even her gene realized she needed some peace.

She suppressed that thought when she didn’t see Xavia. The most unsettling thing, however, was the fact that Yuri wasn’t even in their tent. She was in a simple, little bedroom. The floor’s wooden planks looked pretty new. The walls were painted azure and the ceiling was dark blue like the night sky, decorated with drawings of yellow stars. She was facing the half-closed door, while a window kept open to circulate the air was behind her.

She got up from the bed and walked barefoot on a very soft carpet, before leaning out of the window. She was on the first floor of a house. The clear, starry sky and the full moon illuminated a quiet, sleeping village. She recognized the place when she squinted and saw the headquarters of the Wycademy: she was without a doubt in Bherna. She also saw some domesticated Moofah in a pen.

“What the hell’s going on?”

She began to mull over it, trying to figure it out. The visions of Redan had never taken her elsewhere, so she ruled out that possibility right away. Besides, everything was too peaceful for it to be the Fatalis’ nightmare. Either way, she had no connections to Bherna: she’d only been there for a few days with her friends, when they visited the hunters’ continent alongside Silva the sailor.

Yuri gasped, when a sudden noise scared her: a baby’s crying. She looked around and only then did she notice the cradle at the center of the room. Taking a better look around her, she saw a bunch of stuffed toy monsters scattered across the floor and a tent made of bedsheets in a corner, which contained more toys.

She knelt down, picked up a plush Poogie wearing a striped dress and fiddled with it: suddenly finding herself in a baby’s room had to be the strangest thing that had ever happened to her. She put down the plushie and approached the child’s cradle. It was a baby girl, squirming with her arms stretched out. She wore a purple sleepsuit and was crying desperately. The blue blanket that should’ve covered her was half at her feet, half on the floor, passing through the cradle’s wooden bars. The girl looked a few months old.

Before Yuri could come up with something to soothe her, the door behind her opened completely. A young woman in her twenties came in. She wore a cream nightgown. Her loose, shoulder-length hair was mostly black, but several locks were dyed purple, though a bit faded. The woman laid her amber eyes on the baby and made a gentle smile. Yuri noticed that a scar passed through her left eye, splitting her eyebrow and going down to her cheekbone. She shivered, even more confused than before.

“Mom? What’s going on?” she whispered.

Xavia seemed to ignore her and walked to the cradle. The girl stepped aside not to stand in her way, or else her mother would step on her feet. She saw her grab the blue blanket, pick up the crying baby and carefully wrap her in it. Xavia began to lovingly rock the child in her arms and kissed her forehead.

“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay, Yuri. Mommy’s here.”

Those words made the girl open her eyes wide. Her mother did look much younger, indeed. Come to think of it, she didn’t have the claw marks on her right temple left by Xander’s Barioth.

“Have I gone back in time?” she wondered.

But then she slapped her forehead: she remembered Ayla’s words about the Fatalis’ dream, and everything made sense all of a sudden. Right now, she was reliving a memory: it had to be from the short time during which she’d lived in Bherna with her parents; before Xander turned out to be a madman. She turned her gaze to her mother and baby Yuri again. It appeared that they couldn’t see or hear her, judging from how Xavia had ignored her while passing right past her.

“Ayla was right: this is super weird!”

Meanwhile, the child had stopped crying and calmed down. So Xavia walked to the door, holding her in her arms, and left the bedroom. Yuri hastened to follow her, now curious and eager to witness that memory. The house in Bherna was small, but cozy: outside her room, there was a little corridor. There was another room opposite hers, which Yuri assumed to be her parents’.

Various paintings hung on the walls down the staircase. She saw a portrait of her parents side by side, both in armor. She recognized another one where Mikayla was with them. In a third one, a teenage Xavia was portrayed next to a man and a woman with black hair. A fourth one showed only Yuri in her cradle. She blushed seeing that, but still smiled and giggled at it.

Finally, at the bottom of the stairs, there was an empty frame; she saw no portrait of herself as a baby with her parents, so she guessed they didn’t have one yet and were saving that frame for it. She followed her mother to the kitchen, which was between the staircase and the front door; unfortunately, she was unable to enter the other rooms. It felt like an invisible force stopped her from moving too far from her baby self.

“Must be because it’s a memory. Too bad,” she whispered, arms crossed.

The kitchen was simple as well: a cupboard, a little stove with a crate of wood, a rectangular table with four chairs at the center and a washbasin. As she entered, she saw her mother push a chair from under the table to the open window with her bare foot. She sat down, still holding the baby, and breathed a satisfied sigh. When the child grabbed her finger, she laughed:

“This is a pretty nice evening, isn’t it, Yuri?”

“You have no idea, mom,” Yuri whispered, almost moved.

She knew Xavia couldn’t hear her, but she’d give anything for that moment to last forever. She began to fear that the Fatalis might appear at any moment to twist that sweet memory. She ended up begging her gene for it not to happen: she didn’t want that lost memory to be ruined.

But a few minutes later, she heard the front door open with a soft creak. It was easy for her due to the calm of the night, but her mother didn’t seem to notice, busy as she was trying to lull the baby into sleep. Yuri listened closely: she heard footsteps, plus the metallic sound of armor. The kitchen door opened slowly, as if the one opening it wanted to be as quiet as possible. A young man about the same age as Xavia came in; he wore Barioth armor and held his helmet under one arm. He had short, black hair and his piercing green eyes made Yuri freeze when he seemed to look at her, though she knew it was impossible.

“Dammit, no! Go away!” she yelled in frustration.

She wanted to stand between her mother and that bastard, but she resisted and let out an annoyed groan. After all, if that was a memory, she doubted she could do anything to change it. Xander sighed and stepped into the kitchen with a smile. Xavia turned around, repositioned the baby in her arms and got more comfortable on the chair.

“Welcome back.”

“Thanks. Care to tell me why you two are still awake? It’s late.”

Xander crouched down next to his wife. Under their daughter’s embarrassed gaze, they exchanged a passionate kiss. Yuri never expected to see her parents kiss, after everything Xavia told her in the New World. She looked away, flushing, but she had to admit that they looked cute together. Her mother recoiled first, laughing:

“Yuri woke up. I was trying to get her to sleep, but she won’t. Were you waiting for daddy, little one?”

The child moaned and laid her blue, tired eyes on the man. But she seemed to smile. Xander was about to reach out and take her from Xavia, but she backed out and gave him a playful nudge.

“Come on, you’ve just come back. Eat, before dinner gets cold.”

Yuri then noticed that a well-garnished dish was on the table: it looked like Larinoth stew with cooked vegetables and melted cheese. The mere sight of it made her hungry. Xander snorted and nodded:

“Fine.”

She walked past the girl, sat down and the table and started to eat.

“It’s still hot! Please, don’t tell me you’ve just made it.”

“You were out late: this is the least I can do, when I stay home!”

Xander played it down:

“You know that’s also why I love you, Xavia, but come on: I realize everything I cook sucks, but even I can warm up a meal myself!”

“Sure, honey, but let me remind you that you promised never to touch a kitchen tool again since you made that fondue, years ago. That stuff didn’t even look like cheese! And don’t get me started on the herbed brisket!”

Xander almost choked on his food, so he drank some water and sighed, before replying:

“Oh, yeah, you’re so right. I just wasted some quality ingredients that time, I’m still ashamed of it.”

Xavia came over and sat down on another chair, close to him; she kissed his cheek, smiling.

“Come on, you know I’m joking. Mikayla had warned me about your cooking skills, but I still decided to risk it. We had fun that night, anyway. Admit it!”

Xander scratched his neck, chuckling and nodding. He resumed eating, while Xavia told him how her day had gone. Meanwhile, Yuri watched her parents in awe: they looked really happy together. Her mother had told her that Xander had never acted the way he did in the New World with her, but maybe she couldn’t see it back then because she loved him too much. But now, she could see with her own eyes that that wasn’t the case: the man before her truly seemed to be a great soulmate; a normal, kind, loving person. She rubbed her chin and pondered aloud:

“Maybe he’s faking it. No, who am I kidding? He can barely talk sense in the New World, let alone keep up such an act for years! He’d never be capable of it!”

She turned to her mother again, but she saw that Xavia looked more insecure now, even concerned; she called Xander’s attention by tapping his arm with two fingers.

“So, how was your day? Any interesting hunts?”

“Sadly, no: I just escorted a couple of merchants to the village and chased away some pesky Maccao packs. Nothing much, but at least they paid well.”

However, Xander looked distracted, like he was thinking about something else. An odd tension had suddenly filled the room. Yuri was puzzled: they both looked unsure what to tell the other. Her mother bit her lower lip, while her father stood up to wash the plate and the cutlery. That awkward silence was finally broken by Xavia:

“Xander, sorry to ask this out of the blue, but would it be a problem if you stayed home to take care of Yuri tomorrow?”

He turned around, surprised by her request:

“Oh, not at all! No problem for me. Why? Do you have to run some errands?”

She exhaled, before answering:

“The Guild receptionist asked me if I can deal with two Bulldromes. They’re blocking the merchants’ routes in the Primal Forest. You know how much that girl cares for Bherna’s reputation, right?”

She tried to joke, but Xander was looking at her with an indecipherable expression. Xavia didn’t see it, because she was turning her back on him. She stared at their child, as if it somehow gave her the courage to speak. Yuri finally realized when that memory was set: it was the night before her kidnapping. The day that would spell the end of that family.

“It’s horrible! No, that’s enough, please! I don’t want to see anymore!” she thought, with a lump in her throat.

Meanwhile, her parents kept talking: Xander offered to do it in her stead, but Xavia politely refused, turning to him.

“I have to do this, Xander: I have to hunt large monsters again. I’ve been just harvesting materials or fighting small monsters for years, but I’m still a huntress. I’ve been fighting Bulldromes since I began: I can do this, you’ll see!”

Here’s another strange thing: Yuri saw Xander clench his fists and look away. He looked very conflicted. He seemed to swear under his breath, before turning to his wife again. He approached her, sat down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I trust you, Xavia, but I heard alarming news: high-rank monsters inexplicably moving to different areas and interrupting low-rank quests. I’d rather you take no chances, please: I have no idea what I’d do if something happened to you, honey.”

He didn’t sound totally sincere, but Yuri had to admit that it was odd: he was trying to stop her from leaving. Her mother had decided to go on that hunt of her own free will, and if he wanted to kill her, all he had to do was release his Barioth the next day, just as Yuri had figured based on Xavia’s story.

“What if I tried calling Mikayla? I know it’s the Jaggi’s breeding season in Yukumo, they could…”

“Xander, I’m begging you.”

She interrupted him in a soft voice and took his hand with watery eyes. It pained Yuri’s heart to see her mother’s remorseful look.

“I must do this. I’m going soft: I can’t bring myself to do anything ever since I encountered that Rajang. I passed from the dual blades to the heavy bowgun because I’m terrified. I only accept easy missions, I fight large monsters only with a group or if you’re there and all I do is stand on the sidelines and shoot like crazy.”

Xander rolled his eyes, which told Yuri that wasn’t the first time Xavia said something like that. But he didn’t get a chance to talk back, because Xavia anticipated him:

“Yes, I know! It’s my role as a bowgunner! I must keep a distance and watch the monster’s moves. But Xander, I can’t keep this up. I don’t want to be so weak anymore.”

Yuri saw her mother’s cheeks turn red, as Xavia began to shed tears. She held the tired baby tightly.

“Zeke was my best friend, he was always by my side since my father died. Alicia wanted to become a Royal Paleontology Scrivener or a biologist in the future, once she’d grow tired of hunting. Rex wanted to start a family. Xander, I’ve been thinking about them and that damned Rajang come out of knowhere every single day for the last three years. My blades spilled no blood that day: that fucking monster blew their hopes and dreams away in one hit, tearing them apart! And I just watched, paralyzed by terror!”

Xavia let out a scream and scared both versions of her daughter: the baby started crying, while the Rider felt awful for being unable to comfort her mother. When she heard the baby cry, Xavia gave Yuri to Xander, overwhelmed by shame. Xander took the child and rocked her gently, while his wife tried to calm down hugging her shoulders as if she were cold. She really looked broken.

They waited for her to settle down. Meanwhile, Xander had managed to soothe the baby, who looked exhausted. After wiping her tears with a handkerchief, Xavia gave her husband a sorry looked and apologized for her outburst. He shook his head and took her hand.

“Don’t you dare apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m the one who should apologize: I had no idea you’ve been holding all that in for so long.”

Xavia’s bloodshot eyes watered up again, but she shook her head and forced herself to talk:

“I also wanted to tell you that, after they died, I thought I had nothing to go back to. I would’ve been fine with dying, back then. I’d given up.”

“Xavia, please, I know you don’t mean that!”

“Let me finish. Since we began dating, I don’t think that anymore. I do have something to go back to now: I have Yuri. And you, of course. I want to become stronger for her: I don’t want her to grow up with the constant fear that my next hunt might be my last. I could never forgive myself, if I couldn’t even give her this certainty.”

Staring at her mother, Yuri whispered:

“Instead, I grew up believing that you died before I could get to know you.”

She would’ve loved to hug her, hold her hand, anything: it broke her heart to see her mother so insecure, so anxious, so scared. She saw Xander stare at the floor, like he wasn’t sure what to say. In the end, he tried to crack a smile after looking up at Xavia:

“I coulnd’t keep you here even if I made you, could I?”

Xavia smiled and shook her head.

“Be careful, then, alright? And bring some SOS flares: you never know.”

Moved by his support, Xavia hugged him and kissed him, paying attention to the child still in his arms.

“Thanks, Xander. Thank you so much! I love you!”

“I love you, too, Xavia. More than you imagine.”

He was smiling, but Yuri noticed that his eyes were watery: it looked like he was about to cry. He shook his head and looked the other way.

“It’s late. You should rest for your great day, don’t you think? I’ll put Yuri to bed, take off my armor and be right with you. Alright?”

The huntress nodded. She kissed his cheek and stood up.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be waiting for you upstairs, don’t take too long.”

That said, Xavia left the kitchen; they heard her walk up the stairs, then a door shut. Silence fell in the kitchen. Yuri glared at her father with all her hatred, arms crossed. Despite what she’d seen, despite the remorse he was feeling, that didn’t change the horrible thing he’d do the next day. He was now sitting at the table, lost in his thoughts.

The baby in Xander’s arms moaned; she reached out and rested her tiny hand on her father’s face, as if to call him. He grit his teeth; he held her close to him after kissing her head. Right then, Yuri saw the Kinship Stone in Xander’s bracelet and was horrified. It was still azure, like hers, but the center had turned crimson: it was starting to become infected. Her father couldn’t hold back his tears any longer and whispered:

“Forgive me, Yuri. Forgive me.”

The girl listened closely, paying even more attention.

“I have no choice. I have to do it, or else we’re all doomed. Me, you, Xavia, Mikayla… and Redan. One day… one day we’ll make them pay. I’ll return to you in Hakum and explain everything. I won’t let them lay a finger on you, but I can’t keep you with me. You’ll be safe in Sifepoe, the Riders’ homeland: no one will be suspicious of you there. We’ll avenge your mother together, then you’ll be free to hate me for what I did. I promise.”

Yuri was speechless to say the least, but she suddenly felt like she was passing out: the world began to swirl around her. She clung to the table not to fall, disoriented. She heard the baby yawn, as well as Xander’s last words:

“Let’s go to sleep, little one. It’s really late.”

Yuri sat up with a start, panting: her heart was racing. Her sight was foggy and her eyes felt moist.

“Yuri?! You okay?”

Xavia, who’d just woken up, opened her eyes wide and knelt down before her. She hugged her, kissed her head and stroked her back, trying to calm her down.

“Don’t worry. Everyone’s alright: the Fatalis’ nightmare…” she began to whisper.

The girl shook her head, mumbling multiple ‘no’s and interrupting her, but she failed to utter a full sentence. She hugged her mother back, and Xavia chose to stay silent and wait for Yuri to calm down and explain herself. Their embrace lasted for minutes: Yuri rested her forehead on her mother’s chest and breathed a long sigh.

“I… I had a vision, mom,” she whispered.

“Redan again?”

“No: it was like Ayla said. It wasn’t a twisted vision, it was a memory from when I was little.”

She looked up to meet her mother’s intrigued, understanding gaze. She was uncertain, but she didn’t want to hide it from her; they had to discuss it. She took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to do it:

“I saw you and Xander. In Bherna. The night before you were attacked by the fire-spitting Barioth and he kidnapped me.”

Xavia opened her eyes wide, somewhat skeptical:

“You saw a memory from when you were just two months old? Are you sure?”

“I could see the Wycademy from my bedroom. Stars were painted on the ceiling. Your hair was loose, half black and half dyed. You and Xander talked a lot, you told him he couldn’t cook and mentioned a fondue and a brisket…”

Yuri started to list every detail she remembered from her dream to convince Xavia. Her mother shook her head and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her:

“Fine, fine, I get it. I believe you. You got everything right. It’s very weird, though.”

“Tell me about it. I was like an invisible bystander: I even saw myself as a baby!”

She tried to laugh it off, but her mother’s expression got grim. She let go of her and sat down next to her, thoughtful.

“Would you like to tell me more about what you saw?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Yes, mom. Gladly,” Yuri nodded.

She began to recount the dream in great detail: from the stuffed toys to the portraits on the stairs, leaving out no details. She was describing the part where Xavia vented her frustrations when she stopped, seeing that her mother had shrugged, as if trying to make herself smaller out of shame.

“I’m so sorry you had to witness such a pitiful moment. I remember every word of what I said: I was a mess. If Watter and my stepsister hadn’t spurred me after that asshole took you from me, I would’ve never come to the New World.”

“Mom, don’t be like that: I understand you perfectly. You wanted to improve at all costs, so that I’d be certain you’d come back from every hunt. You didn’t want me to live in fear of never seeing you again. You have no idea how much I admire you.”

She rested her head on her shoulder, smiling at her. Xavia gave her a confused look:

“You admire me?”

“Of course! You were still mourning your friends, although it had been three years. Despite how you felt, you worried for both me and Xander. Then, when that horrible thing happened, you worked hard and got back on your feet. You’re one of the strongest people I know, mom: I’m not telling you this just because of what I saw, I already thought that!”

She heard her mother breathe in, and when she looked at her, she saw her eyes water up; but she also gave her a thankful smile. She hugged her again, squeezed her harder than ever and laughed happily. She ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead.

“How did I even live without my little girl for sixteen years? Oh, Yuri, you don’t know how happy your words make me!”

Yuri cheered up for managing to make her mother smile again.

“It’s true, mom! In these two months alone, I made so many memories of you I hold dear. You don’t know what I’d give to recover all the time we lost and spend it together. I’ll never forgive Xander for that.”

“We’ll keep making new memories, after this is over. I’ve been considering requesting some time off for a while. Maybe I could visit some pretty village in the hills, what do you think?” Xavia winked.

Yuri got excited:

“You’d really like to come to Hakum?! I’m sure you’d love it, mom!”

“I want to personally thank those who raised you: it’s the least I can do. Besides, mountain villages are always so peaceful, I’m sure it would be a relaxing experience.”

“That’s just great! I can’t wait! Do you think we can go to Pokke, too? I’ve been there once, but I’d love to go there with you!”

“Why not,” Xavia nodded.

Out of the blue, someone moved the tent’s cloth and caught them both off guard.

“Sorry, Xavia, am I disturbing?”

It was Mikayla, who was leaning into the tent.

“Oh, Mikayla! No, no problem. What’s up?”

Only then did she remember that she hadn’t put her armor on yet: she blushed for being seen in her nightgown, so she got up in a hurry and rushed to her armor rack. Yuri kept sitting on her sleeping bag.

“I went to the resource center and found the Admiral there: he wants to talk to you and Blood Eyes’ team. I met them along the way, then I came here to call you.”

“I’ll put my armor on and be right there.”

The purple-haired huntress nodded while putting on her bust, then she turned to her daughter.

“It’s alright, mom. I can finish telling you about my vision later. We were almost done, anyway,” Yuri nodded, understanding.

“Alright. I’ll be right back.”

Xavia sat down on a stool and quickly put on her greaves and vambraces.

“Did you have another vision of Redan?” Mikayla asked her.

As Xavia left the tent, Yuri shook her head at her aunt’s question and said she could explain what she’d seen to her as well. She supposed that maybe she could’ve talked about Xander’s last words with her first. Mikayla agreed, so she entered to tent to listen to her.

“Let me get this straight: you dreamt of a memory from sixteen years ago, when you were still a baby, because of your mixed Fatalis gene. You saw Xavia and my brother before he kidnapped you and he made a promise to you?”

Mikayla massaged her temples, sitting cross-legged in front of Yuri. The girl nodded:

“I know it may sound absurd, but it’s the truth: he promised me he’d take me to safety in Sifepoe; that one day, he’d come back for me and reveal the whole truth. We’d take revenge on whoever made him do what he did, then he’d even let me hate him.”

“Does Xavia know?”

“She knows all of it, except the promise part: I was about to tell her when you came and called her on the Admiral’s behalf.”

Mikayla looked troubled, as she listened in silence. Yuri supposed she was talking to her other half, but she wondered what about. At some point, looking exasperated, her aunt shook her head and sighed:

“Xander, you fucking idiot!”

“Mikayla, I’ve been wondering for a while: how did you react when Xander told you what he’d done? And what did he tell you exactly, if you remember?”

Mikayla moved a lock of her hair behind her ear and answered dryly:

“I felt like shit. I thought he’d lost his mind: he joined me in Yukumo without warning and confessed everything. He’d killed Xavia and taken you away, but he didn’t tell me where exactly. He only said you were in a continent of Riders.”

She put her hands together, sighing, as she dug in her memory:

“I asked him why he’d killed the woman he loved. The things he said… I get chills if I so much as think about it. I’m not sure I should…”

“Mikayla, please,” Yuri begged her.

Her aunt hesitated a bit longer, but then she nodded and took a deep breath.

“He said: ‘I can’t let Yuri become a huntress. She must become a Rider at all costs. Xavia was in the way’.”

That made Yuri feel sick: she brought her hands to her mouth, in shock.

“If he knew Xavia was Redan’s descendant all along, maybe he thought you were the only hope to defeat the Makili Pietru.”

“But it still makes no sense: the Makili Pietru would reincarnate either way, whether I’d become a Rider or a huntress! He had to know that. And it makes no sense if we consider the promise he made me, either.”

Yuri began to massage her chest and took a long, deep breath. Mikayla started stroking her back delicately, unsure what to tell her, but she took courage after a bit:

“After revealing that, he said I could no longer stay in Yukumo: I had no choice but to follow him. Xander already mentioned it when he attacked Astera, but you have to know that he and everyone he brought here, including me, are members of a cult. Or rather, Mikie and I are no longer part of it since you cleansed us, although she was ‘born’ because of them.”

She blinked, as she listened to her other self, while her niece started at her with a half surprised, half disturbed expression.

“I don’t care, Mikie: she has a right to know. We already discussed this: I’d tell her about it after this was over. I’m simply doing it a few days early.”

Dozens of questions were swirling in Yuri’s mind, but she couldn’t find the words to ask them. Mikayla had to interpret her silence as a request to explain herself:

“They call themselves the Servants of the Blight. Most of them are Riders, hunters and people rotten to the core. Not all of them, sure, but many of those who joined the cult or asked it for help were bad people. Black market traders, murderers, mercenaries, poachers… a couple even sold out their youngest daughter, knowing she’d be used in cruel experiments, just to pay off their debts.”

“In other words, the perfect company for a madman like my father,” Yuri whispered, horrified.

“Well, I can’t prove that, but I suspect he was tricked into joining them. And as you can figure, that’s not something you can get out of whenever you want.”

“They tricked him? What makes you say that?”

“Yuri, Xander was a normal person, before he began to spend all his time with them: he joined them before you were born. The day he saved Xavia? The Servants of the Blight sent him to slay that Rajang because it was an annoyance to them. Of course, I didn’t know it back then: he only told me after I joined the cult, too.”

“Why did you do it?”

“He forced me to: he said it was the only way I could be safe. So he could protect me.”

Yuri mulled over it. Mikayla barely hid her sadness and rubbed her neck.

“With the same excuse, he infused me with that accursed Aptonoth gene to use me as a test subject in his experiments to apply the Rite of Channeling to humans. After causing me excruciating pain and observing my conditions for a week, he removed it from my body and infused me with the Zinogre gene, before I was infected by accident and Mikie was created.”

Yuri held her chin with her thumb and index finger, reflecting:

“I guess they also made him carry out those inhumane experiments.”

“After the experiment worked, it was like something broke in him: he began to act like a psycho, neglecting everything to obey the orders they gave him. He relied on any means, monster or person to carry out his missions. He even infected Bam.”

“And that’s why he didn’t keep his promise to come find me,” Yuri mumbled, with a headache.

All Mikayla could do was nod. Yuri asked her:

“But I don’t understand: he wanted to take revenge on them, but what does that have to do with me? What did these Servants of the Blight want from me?”

“My rank in the cult was too low. Forgive me, Yuri: I have no clue. I didn’t even know you descended from Redan, before you told me,” her aunt replied bitterly.

Yuri massaged her temples and groaned:

“I have to lie down for a bit. My head’s throbbing.”

“Sorry I gave you too much information all at once. But you had to know the truth: it was your right.”

“Don’t be sorry. In fact, thank you, Mikayla: I just have to process everything you said. And I still have to talk about the last part of the vision with mom; I want to ask her what she thinks.”

Yuri tried to crack a smile, before lying down on her side on the sleeping bag, so that she could keep looking at her aunt. Mikayla cautiously asked her:

“And what do you think?”

The girl paused: she hadn’t thought about it yet. What did she think about that whole absurd situation with her father? She believed Mikayla: in the vision, she’d seen with her own eyes how different Xander was from how he acted when she met him. They looked like two different people. She considered a possible explanation, but since there were still some unanswered questions, hers was just baseless speculation.

“To be honest, I don’t know. He must pay for what he did: even assuming he’s acting like that because of the Servants of the Blight, nothing can justify the fact he resurrected the Makili Pietru, used you and Mikie as weapons for years and ruined his own family for whatever reason.”

“On that, I agree,” Mikayla nodded.

“I want to get to the bottom of this. If I get some time alone with him and I get the chance to, I’ll try to speak with him. But I can guarantee you this: I want to take him alive. I’m sure mom would rather see him dead; so did I, until not long ago. But if he died, we’d never get the answers we seek.”

She saw her aunt smile and breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you said that. I must confess: I meant to ask you to spare Xander, if possible. I want him to answer all the questions I’ve had since that day, but I didn’t know how to ask you without giving you the impression I was defending him.”

Yuri nodded understandingly. They were quiet for minutes, then Mikayla had to take her leave: she said goodbye and Yuri waved at her. She then proceeded to put on her armor while waiting for her mother.

The meeting with the Admiral was lasting longer than expected: it had already been over an hour and Yuri was tired of waiting in the tent. She got out and went looking for Ross and the girls; she wasn’t surprised to find them near their monsters’ stable. After greeting them, she went check on Legi and found her in a better mood than the previous day: she chirped, enjoying the petting, which made Yuri giggle. Irene folded her arms:

“We should get a monster from the New World ourselves, after this is over. Only Yuri has one.”

“Her mother has one, too,” Lucille corrected her.

“Fine, let’s count in Ayla and her Nergigante as well, then. These hunters have more New World monsters than us Riders, jeez!”

Irene’s last joke got a laugh out of all four of them. Suddenly, the albino girl clapped her hands:

“Guys, I got an idea for tomorrow!”

Before they could ask her what that was about, the blonde ran off towards the camp. She was back a few minutes later, holding a box of makeup. Yuri raised an eyebrow:

“What’s on your mind, Irene?”

Her friend approached her and poked her cheek with her finger.

“Tomorrow, we’re confronting our founder’s centuries-old enemy: what better moment to flaunt the symbol of Hakum?”

“Oh, what a cool idea!”

The twins nodded and Lucille gave her an approving pat on the back. Yuri made a wide, homesick smile, cackling and massaging her cheek:

“Lilia drew it on my face before I left. Golly gee, it feels like it’s been ages since last time!”

Irene looked super happy that her friends liked her idea, so she offered to draw the red claw representing their village. She grabbed Yuri by the arm and forcefully dragged her to the stable, under Ross and Lucille’s amused gazes.

“Get a stool, I’ll start right away!”

“Alright, alright! Keep calm, though! You’re going to rip my arm off!”

As Ross put the final touches to the claw painted on Irene’s cheek, Yuri and Lucille stood aside to check on their monsters. They worked in silence, as they made sure the saddles were clean and ready for the next day: it would be a disaster, if they fell off while fighting due to some overlooked damage.

Yuri finished checking her saddles and turned to her fellow Riders. She would’ve liked to discuss the vision of her parents with them, but she considered it too personal to get her friends involved. Maybe she’d do it once it was all over. She took a long, deep breath:

“Excuse me, guys: we need to talk. About tomorrow.”

“You’re still thinking about my comment on the Makili Pietru, aren’t you?”

Irene instantly felt guilty and shrugged.

“I am, but it’s not just that: I can’t get it off my mind. I hate what Xander did: if I could limit the fighting to him and that parasite, I’d be much more at peace. I’d like to ask you to leave it to me and Ratha, even if you wouldn’t be pleased at all.”

“We’d help you either way, like we did two years ago.”

Ross returned the box to Irene, who looked at the mirror with satisfaction for a moment, then laid it down. Yuri and Lucille got out of the stable, so that she could speak to all three of them face to face. She sighed with a smirk:

“Of course, I know. I’m only saying it because I’d feel guilty, asking you to fight a battle that concerns only Redan and me, as his descendant. I know you won’t listen and come to help me, anyway.”

Lucille figured out where she was going with those statements:

“But things are different this time, right? This time, the Makili Pietru has a whole army of corrupt Riders and infected monsters.”

“Exactly. That’s why I have a request for you: let me and Ratha deal with Xander and the Makili Pietru. You try to help the hunters as much as you can: I don’t want too many people to die because of this insane idea of a battle between two armies. We’ll try to defeat the Makili Pietru as fast as we can to shorten the battle.”

Irene nudged her:

“Come on, did you think you needed to ask? I’m a bit disappointed.”

Lucille shook her head:

“Haste makes waste, Yuri. Focus on your battle: we’ll help with our monsters as much as we can.”

Ross, on the other hand, came close to her and gently took her hand:

“Lucy’s right: don’t be rash. I don’t know what we’d do if we lost you, especially me.”

Perhaps they expected his words to make Yuri lose her temper, but instead she smiled and shook her back, looking at them one by one with a determined expression:

“It won’t happen: I’ll kill that bloody parasite and return to you. I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday, when you mentioned it, Irene: I don’t want the people I love to suffer because of me. You, my mother, Mikayla, our friends back in Hakum… there are so many things I want to see, so many experiences I want to have with you all.”

She let go of Ross’ hand, after holding it affectionately. She clenched her fists until her knuckles paled, with a confident smile.

“I’ll fulfill my duty as Redan’s heir. Ratha and I will destroy the Makili Pietru, so that it can’t be reborn for thousands of years. I’ll return to you without a doubt. That’s my promise.”

“Don’t you dare break it, or else I don’t know what I’m going to do to you!”

Irene hugged her from behind and caught her off guard: she was squeezing very hard. Though she couldn’t see her, her tone of voice betrayed her emotions: she was scared for her. Lucille hugged her as well:

“I agree with her: you promised me that one day, we’d go to the Frontier to observe all the species Sophia told us about. No way I’m going there alone with her, got it?”

It was Ross’ turn. He just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him:

“I trust you more than I trust myself, Yuri, but please: be careful. You already know my feelings: even now, I’m terrified by what may happen to you, but seeing you so determined helps me cope with it a little.”

“Oh, you guys! Yes, you have my word.”

Yuri narrowed her eyes, kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and hugged them all back. At last, she felt ready for what awaited her the next day: she would defeat the Makili Pietru. She would capture her father and learn the whole truth, no matter what.