The camp awoke, like every single morning since she arrived, to the call of the single trumpet. The soldiers lining up by the tent that housed the dining area inside the camp, already fully dressed in armor. Knowing that after breakfast there would be a brutal training session. It has being seven days, since the last rift opened, and normally the compound she once called home would be buzzing. Rumors of a possible location for a new rift, the preparations, her brother that would be bowed over some maps. The hairs on her neck were standing on end, live inside the camp might seem normal. But also here was some kind of tension in the air, the forges were already being prepared to move. The breakfast and dinner the day before were simpler than usual, as if the cooks had less time to prepare. Kiara walked towards the stables, she had mocking duty after training. She always loved horses, but her father had never deemed her worthy enough to have her own. She always needed to borrow one, and she hated that fact. When she entered, she was surprised to see Arion already busy. The training has stopped just a few minutes ago.

"Be careful, they are a bit on edge." he warned her. She nodded, just like the horses back home. They, too, were able to feel that something was going on.

"Normally, I would be inside a war room. Listening to a lot of plans, theories about how to close the rifts for good. Never allowed to speak a word." she said. "Sometimes I even wondered why I was in there. My opinion didn't count, I was only in the way."

"I do not believe that for one second," Arion said. "You needed to know the plans in advance, so that you were able to plan out your own strategy." She frowned, did he know something she didn't. "Your job was to have your brother's back. So you needed to know what his plan was to be able to do your job. Not that it mattered, from what you told me." She nodded, this was indeed something she hadn't even considered. Her brother's plans were not widely known by the other warriors, so if that was the only reason why she was needed inside those councils, well it could have been a good one. Still, at the time, she wasn't able to see it that way. And Arion was right, it didn't matter in the end. Her brother changed the plans last minute, and didn't bother to inform her. "Are you alright?" she nodded. It was not the first time that this type of conversation took place between the two of them. She didn't know why, but he was just easy to talk too. She closed her eyes, and some kind of feeling washed over her. It was a feeling she never had before all of this. No, that was not true. She has felt this feeling before, but only when she was near a rift.

"I do not know how to describe this, but I am able to feel that a rift is about to open." she whispered. "Close by, and soon." 

"How close and how soon?" he didn't ask her to explain things further. He just wanted to know what she just shared with him. She walked to the entrance of the tent, dark thunderclouds started to gather.

"Hours, if we are lucky." she said. "I need to go there, warn the people nearby." he nodded and ran out of the tent. She began to get all the horses ready, together with some other soldiers who overheard their conversation. No one questioned her, when she pointed towards a direction, and the whole army left the camp behind them. Leaving only the doctor and the three blacksmiths behind in the camp.

*******

The wind picked up, purple lighting shot from the sky towards the ground. The smell of burned flesh penetrated the air, they were not too late. That was all Kiara could pray for, they would be on time. They would be able to get as many people out of the area as possible. Arion road on a horse besides her, his sword already in hand.

"Stay close!" she screamed, that was the only way to be able to get over the wind. Then there it was a loud cracking sound. Purple flames marked the edges of the rift that slowly split open, forming some kind of sick bridge between the two realities. Luckily, the village was at least ten minutes removed from the rift. So if the army would split up now, they would be able to safe everyone. Arion motioned to the men behind them, and a group indeed rushed towards the village. Kiara drove her horse towards the rift, stopped a couple of meters, and then jumped off. Horses wouldn't be of no use during this fight, they are just too scared of the Riftwalkers and not without reason. Those creatures didn't belong here. The first member of the creatures jumped out, the purple flames. She already had her sword inside her hand, ready to strike first. How long before her brother and the warriors of the Core would be here? The compound was half a day on horse back away, but surely they would come. But will they come in time, she was not sure about that. She luckily didn't need to worry about the villagers, she only needed to worry about herself and the rest of the Snemåne army that was backing her up. The Riftwalker stomped towards her, its three razor sharp claws ready to attack. She often compared the creatures with very large woodlice, but with horns. Their ability to put boiling heat into their claws made them more dangerous, and she was trained to fight them. She duck away from its claws and pushed her sword into its stinking flesh.

"Alright man, you have seen first hand how to defeat them. Stay away from their claws, hit them right under the arm pit." Arion said loudly, which was indeed the gist of this all. Kill as many Riftwalkers as they can, until her brother is here to close the rift. The men behind her started to shout, and rushed towards their targets. The sound of their shouts didn't fade into an empty silent void, their voices changed to the clashing of metal. Screams of them getting hurt and maybe even dying as they fight off the creatures. Kiara lost count of how many Riftwalkers she has slain, but she could feel her muscles starting to burn. Meaning that they have fought for a very long time, and to her horror her brother and his men were nowhere to be seen. She quickly looked around, the soldiers that were assigned to assist the villagers had joined the fight, so they were at least safe. Another Riftwalker died due to her sword, as quickly as it came into view. "Kiara, we can't go on like this!" Arion screamed, from behind her. He was having her back all this time, which was a comforting. She glanced over her shoulder and nodded, he was right. She was trained to fight these creatures, his men weren't. Something she was going to address in the future, if they have any. Where in the name of the Gods was her brother? He should have being here by now, there was no excuse.

"Arion, I am going to try something." the words have left her mouth, before she realized what she was saying. She never closed a rift before, she didn't have enough magic, according to her father. But what other option did she have? Her brother wasn't here, and Arion's army was not holding these creatures back for much longer. She needed to do her best, she almost knew how to do it. She had seen Benjamin do it countless times, she put away her sword. "Cover me!" 

"Always!" he shouted back. She raised her hands and called upon ever bit of magic that was inside her body. The magic that always was there to heal her injuries. It came to her slowly, wrapping around her as a warm and cozy blanket. The soft purple and gold light escaped her hands, traveling towards the raging purple flames that marked the edges of the rift. As it was a small thread of cloth, it started to stitch up the rift. Only it was way too slow, but that was probably the result of never doing this before. Pearls of sweat covered her brow, black spots started to cloud her vision. She couldn't stop, she needed to go on. Until the rift was closed, or her brother finally showed up to finish the job she started. "Almost there, Kiara." Arion said. "You are almost there." His words were comforting too, it warmed her heart to know that he was supporting her efforts. The black spots grew, until they covered her vision fully.

"She is going to collapse after this," Tom screamed towards Arion. "Be ready to catch her, I will cover the both of you!" Tom has seen her struggles. But she wasn't able to hear Arion's response, nor did she see any. But she could feel strong arms wrapping around her waist. Arms that kept her up, while her knees started to buckle.

"Don't worry, I am here. I got you." Arion's voice whispered in her ear. "Are you sure you are doing this for the first time." She wanted to smile, but was too tired to do so. "Just a bit further." Breathing became difficult, to the point that the air barely reached her lungs. Still she kept on pouring out her magic.

"Kiara, stop!" That was Benjamin, he was finally here.

"You are late," she said. Before she slipped fully away into the darkness.