Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game

The rain felt cold against Sarissa’s skin, washing away the blood and ash that clung to her like a second skin. Her grip on her sword tightened as she looked down at Miles, his bruised, broken body kneeling before her. The firelight flickered in his exhausted eyes, reflecting something she couldn’t quite place. Resignation, maybe. Or relief. And as suddenly as the storm began, it stopped, leaving the world around Sarissa and Miles drowning in deafening silence.

"Do it." The words echoed between them, heavy, final. Sarissa’s breath came in ragged gasps, her entire body screaming in exhaustion and agonizing pain, her mind reeling from the fight that had nearly ended her life.

Her blade was still burning, embers dancing along the edge, waiting to finish what she had started. But she couldn’t move.

"You..." Her voice cracked, breaking the overwhelming silence that devastated the battlefield. "You were helping me, weren’t you?"

"Observant, as always." Miles chuckled, making a hollow sound, before tilting his head up to look at her.

Sarissa’s fingers twitched. She had felt it.

Not only in the small shifts in battle, in the way her flames had bent, not just in response to her power, but to something else. To him. He had been resisting the Hatter’s influence, just enough to give her an opening, just enough to let her push him back.

And yet, he had also been helping her even before the Mad Hatter appeared, by pushing her beyond her limits, forcing her to use everything she had, and then some more.

"How strong are you, really?" Her voice barely above a whisper.

Miles exhaled slowly, the shadow of a smile splitting his lips as he was about to speak, but then he froze.

His body twitched violently, his shoulders jerking backward, as though an invisible force had yanked him from the inside. His fingers clenched into claws, his breath came out in sharp gasps, and his pupils dilated.