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Five shards now? Gio had one, and so does the ... Angeal? Rigo's anger diverted his attention quickly though. Cursed shard. Imbecile yourself, monster. Unfortunately, the attack of his and Jolyre's hadn't taken the creature out.

And then, suddenly, there was a voice from behind them. Rigo looked back in surprise, as well as noticing the red aura that had appeared around the mantis. The Nero Angeal's eyes narrowed at the sight of Gio's body, which had altered key features. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Gio's body from the wounds, but it wasn't the Gio he knew. Neither one of them actually. The one before that event nor the meek shelled off Gio. Who was this? Was this the same one that had appeared at that event? Still, this one seemed different and ...less chaotic. But did this mean that Gio wasn't dead? Was this shard the cause of that strange glow where Gio's heart should be?

While the one in Gio's body was saying things perfectly reasonable, Rigo just had to ask before agreeing to help despite Jolyre's determination to kill the creature. "Who are you?" Rigo still wanted to kill the mantis, but he wanted an answer.

The entity's response to Rigo's question wasn't satisfying, but there was no time to quip about it. The mantis had struck for Gio's body. However, Rigo couldn't help but wonder if the entity knew of the Gio from two years ago since it had denied being "not the one born of malice and hatred." Not even a name to call this thing that was in Gio's body. Rigo wasn't going to call it "Gio" even if it was in Gio's body. It was giving off an aura, and some annoying wind had come up. Luckily, Rigo didn't have his wings out.

He looked toward Jolyre. At least she seemed fine. He'd be grateful to her for working with him later if he didn't unreasonably be blinded by the fact that if she wasn't there, Gio wouldn't have died. He was more reasonable than that though, due to his training, and he didn't quite have a mental breakdown yet.

Rigo blinked as the mantis's exoskeleton was blown apart. It was completely made of crystal, and that was just odd. This time, upon hearing the "Attack" from that one in Gio's body, Rigo obliged. He could hear the chanting, and had an idea of what was going on. Guess he'd have to trust this.. entity for now. More questions later.

"Where are you looking, mantis?" He nodded at Jolyre and once again launched some darkness to confuse the mantis and charged in sword in hand to hack at the mantis and run around him to distract it.

The Entity of Gio's form continued his chant as he watched the next generation fight. They were truly impressive, fighting without hesitation and with considerable strength and talent, However, there was an obvious difference between that and the full potential of these Crystals. It was going to be a long road, but they were going to be an unrivaled force once they had gathered together all of the Warriors of Light.

"Mighty energy, the bonds that hold all together. Gather. Erupt. Release your might and turn mine enemies to dust," he completed the incantation, shouting the words out precisely and with a only slightly slowed tempo so as not to mess up the incantation. Finally, he shouted, "Mega Flare!"

Come out now, seek out the awakened, and Destroy. No matter who it may be.

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There was no way that its attack could be blocked, but it was blocked nonetheless. And on top of that, it's entire body was attacked in an instant as its exoskeleton was splintered and it was thrown back violently. It heard the order to attack, but didn't manage to ready itself before the first strike came at it.

The mantis creature was knocked back still further as the darkness magic struck it, gathering in its eyes and blinding it. Then, in the next instant, light fell on it and splashed across it's translucent body, breaking through the darkness and causing it's eyes to sear with pain from the immediate contrast. Before it could realize what was happening next, it's underside felt like it was exploding as dozens of quick bashes were struck underneath it. It hissed and screeched at the sky with such intensity that is seemed to shake the very canyon around them and vibrate the air itself. With each attack, bits of its crystalline surface chipped off, a sign that damage was in fact being inflicted on the monster.

Then, an intense aura flared in front of it as the sounds of magic and blades died out for a moment and two words rang out."Mega Flare!"

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The entity thrust the palm of his one good hand forward, the ball of energy he had summoned hovering in front of it. The orb strobed with blue aura and erupted into a enormous stream of raw energy that lashed out at the creature. The stream of power enveloped the creature, and it's screeching grew to an earsplitting peak. When the spell died out, the figure collapsed on one knee, gasping for breath and spitting out some blood as the injuries inflicted on its body caught up with it.

When the mantis creature was revealed, it was a shamble of its former might, with only one side of its four legs remaining, it had fallen over to one side and now was held up at an angle on its only remaining arm, the other having been blown away along with the legs. Its body also seemed the worse for wear, cracks spider-webbed across the entirety of its being, and huge chunks of it were completely vaporized, half if its head, and enough of its torso to expose part of the pulsing green mass that was its soul.

"Damn, that didn't kill it," he swore under his breath. He looked to the other warriors and shouted, "Listen, the power you used that almost killed me.... add that on top of one of my spells! This is a power that is special to the Crystal Bearers, called Simulcast, and is many times more powerful than the combined spells individually. Now, help me blow away its chest and free its soul! Without it, it is nothing more than an empty husk!"

Jolyre had barely heard the shout of "Mega Flare" when her eyes widened. She hurdled out from under the mantis, rolling skillfully away just the aura ball exploded into the creature.
It lay writhing on the ground in pain and feral anger missing a fair share of limbs. The man was right...it wasn't dead...
but isn't it at least dying!? Nothing could've survived that
She felt the pureness of energy released as it rocked through ravines, bouncing and echoing off the steep rock cliffs. It pulsed through her stronger than any crystal attack she'd ever produced.
Even worse than the creature not being dead after an obviously lethal does of some unknown (at least to Jolyre) energy, was that the Gio Entity didn't look like he could keep this up much longer. Down on one knee, he didn't command the same awe and respect from maybe five minutes ago.
"The power that almost killed me!"...it was all she heard. She'd had a hand in Gio's unfortunate and untimely death. She shook it from her mind; weakness didn't belong on a battlefield.
"....Simulcast!...Now, help me!"...most of his words were lost to the wind, but Jolyre understood the gist of it.
She took a stance, throwing her arms wide, as if heading in for an embrace, and stood, feet shoulder-width apart. Ramping up all the crystal energy she could rally, forgoing her shields. Concentrating, never blinking, on the mantis's glowing heart/soul. Slowly, she moved her arms back together. As soon as her palms touched, a tempestuous pinnacle of light would lance the creature....
She gave herself a countdown for as long as she could hold all the energy. She hoped the others could hear her.
"five...
four......
three..
two......"
Then her voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"...one"
She slammed her hands together and from them rushed forth an immense lance of gold glowing energy, impaling through the the crature's chest.

Rigo's darkness based attack was less showy than the other two attacks. His had been a small orb, but its size didn't necessarily mean that it was weak. He had focused the energy into that orb, making it compact and brimming with energy.

The collision and combination of the three "elements" were deadly indeed, and when all was gone, there was almost no sign that the crystalline mantis had existed. Rigo stared at the spot where the mantis had lain before for a moment. The power in their combined attack was stronger than he thought, and he hadn't encountered anything like that in his life until this day. How ironic. The day Gio ...almost died?

"It's dead now, isn't it?" Rigo said to no one in particular. He turned to Jolyre. "Thank you." The Nero Angeal than looked at Gio's body and the entity. "You still haven't answered my question. A name." He approached the entity, concerned for Gio's body yet also seeking answers from the entity that was currently in possession of Gio's body. "And what have you done to my brother?"

Complete annihilation. That creature was the single deadest thing that had ever existed. The power from the massive attack was unlike Jolyre had ever heard of or felt, and she was a crystal bearer.
But the creature was dead. He didn't matter anymore. She gave a nod to the Nero Angeal in response to his thanks and watched his conflict with the entity.
It wouldn't give its name nor why it had the younger boy's body. Why the extreme mystery?
He came to her talking about the crystal shards and before she could stop him, her own shard was gone. She opened her mouth for an angry protest, but decided against it. Who did he think he was? Some big shot ghost...
The crystal flew into his heart. "Didn't you just say not to embed that in your skin?" she muttered flatly to herself.
"This body will need healing soon, I would request that you do so, Bearer of Light"
Jolyre stepped forth to heal the boy's body. She told herself this of her own will and not the pull she felt towards this strange manifestation. She also knew she was lying to herself so what was the point?
"Rodrigo Dragoni, you're brother, Giovanni Dragoni, shall yet live. I have fulfilled his wish and shall now return to whence I came. I simply ask that you protect him. Protect him at all costs, short of your life, and gather all of the Crystal Bearers."
The spell died on her lips and fingertips, stopped short by the shock.
Dragoni.
Dragoni?
Her eyes narrowed as realization dawned on her.
Yeah. She'd heard it right.
She'd just saved...the men that killed her father.
With an angry growl, Jolyre shoved Gio's body and glared at Rigo.
"That was the plan? Lure me here? Use my power to help kill this...this monstrosity? Was it someone's father too?" she yelled, glades out offensively ready to tear some limbs.

Enter- Harrier A'Cal

On the outskirts of Cecil, a dark figure watched over the town and the surrounding area. Bow on back, swords at his side; Harrier was ready for any kind of action. Even the type he knew would come from his friend since child days, Alane. His feet were like trees in the ground, keeping him stable through the high winds of summer in Tylem. He brought his hand to his eyes, dimming the harsh sun light that rained down on the Canyons, Harrier looked across to the other side of the ravine. He was at the area of shortest passage; down below there were dozens of bridges stretching down the miles until the bottom were a river raged, people coming and going from every one of them.

Harrier took a whistle from around his neck and blew three short times, creating a high pitch noise that ranged until the next sentry blew his own; indicating that he had heard his call and that Harrier could patrol the high lands. He picked up his pack and slung it over the shoulder that didn't have his arrow case and swords strapped onto, starting off his early morning patrol by walking parallel to the canyon.

The yellow sun didn't match the yellow and browns of the dry rock, sand and shrubs of the Canyon high lands. The colors combined into strays of green from the other side of the ravine, one of the many forests leading into Renara, the nation of Earth. Luck was on his side, the wind blew with him; which it rarely did. The track along the borders was made easier by this, but also brought his scent ahead to potential monsters.

A few hours later and many more miles, having so far no commotion other than a few lost hyenas scavenging around, Harrier made his way to a small outpost to stop, rest and eat lunch. It was one of the few times that he did, because he mostly took his meals with him.
The sun high in the sky by the time he opened the wooden door, leading into the cool but sweaty room of the Rangers.

“Hail! Master A'Cal is here for a humble meal at the servant's table,” yelled one of the middle aged men; bringing up his tankard of watered down ale. Harrier grinned at the man and replied his own greeting, before taking a seat at the table across from him and matching 'hello's with faces.

Soon a friendly chatter began between him and a group of acquaintances, only pausing for Harrier to get his own meal and then continuing into the next hour.

“So how are the plains so far this fine morning?” Cadar, the man who first greeted Harrier asked.

“Very well, only a few hyenas needed a little coaxing to make their way in the other direction,” he replied, making a nudging motion with his elbow while holding a mug of cider to his lips.

One of the elder rangers who had been talking with him poked him in the side with his own elbow, “Coaxing, my dear boy? I'd be afraid if you hadn't run them out of the country. 'Haven't been around since your guardianship of the Crystal, how's it going for ya?”

“Good, good. I've learned to live with it well enough. Not that hard. The blasted thing even helps me out,” Harrier said distractedly, eying the outside world through a window.

I've got a feeling, he thought to himself.

He quickly stood up and made his way out the door, putting on his weapons and leaving his pack in his hurry. Harrier turned the opposite direction from the city and made his way down into the ravine; in that general direction there was a land slab called Ezera that held deadly caverns. And he had a bad feeling.

Exit- Harrier A'Cal