The Sworn Defender

by The Ranger

  Both forms shifted their shape and took on Edmund's youthful appearance. They smiled innocently as they watched her.

  "Come on now," they pleaded. "We need to hurry! We need to hinder the work of our betters!"

  It was unsettling, hearing her friend's voice while knowing a madman sat behind it. The young boys shed their skin and emerged as Donnar once again.

  "I knew you couldn't do it. See, the greatest weakness held by people like you—" he started. "—is that you lack true convictio-"

  Sharpened steel broke across the air and swept through both men's throats. However, only one of them began to bleed.

  The magic that had gripped the air dissolved as Donnar collapsed onto the floor, holding his wound tightly while he spat out blood. Edmund stood next to him, unharmed and seemingly afraid when he looked upon Khora.

  She took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts and glanced at her friend.

  "You're not hurt, are you?"

  "N-no, I'm not. I don't think I am," the young boy squeaked, touching his own face carefully. "But, I really thought I'd be. How did you not… kill me?"

  "I realized that if I struck his throat, I would miss you entirely," she explained. "He's nearly a foot taller than you, Ed."

  "D-Donnar."

  There was a thump at their left, and they looked to find Jacob had fallen back on his rear and was staring at the older man's twitching and dying form. Khora wondered if he would try to intervene, but she received an answer when he lowered his head and kept his eyes on the floor.

  "Go," he whispered. "I… I do hope you stop him…"

  She nodded and turned to Edmund.

  "It's time we ended this madness," she told him as she dashed back towards the door.

  He ran after her, leaving Jacob alone in the archives with the dead wizard.

  They burst through the door and into the open chamber. Ahead rested the Fate-Maker's fire, and between them stood High Priest Kota. Khora could see the rune parchment he had fastened to the brazier. It shone in a pale blue and pulsated along with the twisting fire. It had not been invoked yet, however, as Kota stood before it with a dagger hovering near his hand. He turned in time to see them appear but swiftly pivoted back to the brazier.

  "Stay away!" he cried. "There is always a price in salvation!"

  "Stop!" she yelled, racing forward. "You can't do this!"

  The High Priest seemed nervous as he pressed the dagger to his hand but did not hesitate to break his flesh.

  "Don't!" Edmund shouted, dashing alongside his friend.

  Khora scowled as she ran and realized that she could never reach the High Priest before he activated the rune parchment. She stopped abruptly, raising her spear and leveling it in line with the old man's torso as she cocked back her arm.

  "If there is something greater that stands witness here," she whispered. "Please… forgive what I do now."

  The spear shot forward out of her hand and bit through the old man, sending him crashing into the overlook's railing. He wailed as his headdress left him and flew towards the people assembled below. The High Priest gripped the railing with all his might, but by the time Khora and Edmund approached him, he had released his hold and slunk to the floor.

  "We stopped-" she started to say.

  "Kota!" Charles yelled from below. "What have you done!"

  "It's not what it-" Edmund tried to explain.

  "Paladins!" the man called out, sprinting towards the steps.

  Khora glanced at her spear, which was still embedded in the High Priest; however, a pang of guilt rang through her mind when she thought of battling Charles. She left her weapon behind as she stepped forward.

  'Please, wait!" she shouted, slowly descending the stairs to meet the charging guards. "Allow me to explain what has happened! We are not your enemies!"

  Charles had already drawn his sword, as had half of his men, but he hesitated to attack. He raised the point of his blade, aligning its tip with Khora's throat, and took a slow breath.

  "Explain, then!" he barked. "Quickly!"

  "H-he— the High Priest was attempting to use the dragonfire," she explained. "With rune parchment… it would have doomed everyone here! I-I had to stop him!"

  Confusion grew along the Palantine's face, and the tip of his longsword slowly receded.

  "N-no," he muttered. "That… that can't be… using the dragonfire as a defense against dark creatures… it is an antiquated proposal— unacceptable until the direst circumstances. Y-you must be lying!"

  There was a renewed vigor in his angry words as he raised his blade and held it closer to her than he had been before.

  "She's not lying!" Edmund joined in, moving in front of her. "How could we know that using the dragonfire was possible if we were lying?"

  The Palantine furrowed his brow as Edmund's words reached him. He was quiet as he stared at them.

  "I…I-" he choked, his face wrinkling in astonishment.

  "He would have killed everyone here," Khora murmured. "Because he thought it was for the best of the kingdom. He held no reluctance."

  The Palantine watched her silently as his sword slowly fell away from them.

  "I… I've known Kota for many years, but I…" he hesitated as he began. "He had always seemed more concerned with the spiritual than the material, but I never thought that he might try to-"

  A sickening blast sounded out across the temple, and Khora reached for her ears as the ground began to shake. She had closed her eyes instinctually but opened them now and turned back to look upon Izkar's fire. It had nearly tripled in size, and its tendrils raced across every nearby surface, splitting and burrowing its way through Azra's temple. The structure trembled as the flames traveled, and debris began to fall away from the walls. She squinted and could see the High Priest's bloodied hand resting on the edge of the brazier— his crimson-stained fingers just barely meeting the rune parchment.

  "It's begun," Charles muttered. "W-we have to leave…"

  "The See— the creatures will be coming for the temple," Khora revealed to him. "I-is there another way? An underground passage or something of the sort?"

  Terror pulsed through her as a massive statue of some bygone king came crashing down onto the steps, narrowly missing Edmund. She could see panic in Charles' eyes too, but he did not openly share his fear with them.

  "The-there is," he grumbled. "Catacombs… for the dead kings and the high priests… one of those tunnels should lead to the edge of the city…"

  He nodded along to his own words as he explained them to Khora before quickly turning to the peasants and the paladins gathered behind him.

  "Abandon the temple!" he declared. "Guide these people to the catacombs! Hurry!"

  Khora watched as the crowd packed against the temple guards and ran over each other in an attempt to follow Charles' paladins to the passageways. The Palantine seemed absorbed by the frantic horde for a moment as well, but he broke away from the thought and turned to face her.

  "Come now, we have to leave," he urged. "There's no telling the damage that will be done here."

  He was right, and she knew it. There was no way to know how much of the temple would collapse, nor how far the fire would spread before the day was done. No telling just how uncontrollable this new disaster might be.

  "Go," Khora told him. "I will see if I can pry the rune parchment from the brazier— it may work towards stopping the dragonfire's spread."

  "Have you lost your mind?" the man questioned. "It's dragonfire— Izkar's fire! There is no stopping it. Not anymore."

  "I have to attempt it. I could never forgive myself if I retreated now."

  She set her hand on Edmund's shoulder and pushed him forward slightly.

  "Take him," she requested. "Make sure he leaves here safely."

  Charles extended his hand towards him, but the young boy shook his head and faced his friend.

  "No," he refused. "We do this together."

  She felt her face twitch for a bri
ef second, but she remained silent as she looked back to the Palantine and allowed a short nod.

  "I wish you… luck, then," he told them, backing away towards the rest of his forces. "I hope you'll grant me the opportunity to thank you both when this is done."

  He ran back to his paladins and helped them escort the remaining faithful beneath the temple. Khora thought of watching them to assure herself that they had escaped, but there was no longer time to do so— Azra's temple was crumbling, and fire was roaring all across it.

  They ran back up the stairs to find Kota lying in a scarlet puddle, his eyes wide as he watched the fire spread around him. He recoiled as much as his injured form would allow when the fire finally bit him.

  "The call… has been made," he gurgled, pain streaking across his aged face. "I've saved us."

  Khora looked upon him in disgust and peered into his fluttering eyes. They carried the same zealotry they held before, even as they grew absent and far away.

  "Your axe," she said, stretching her hand towards Edmund.

  He passed it over to her, and she approached the brazier cautiously as fire splashed all around it. The rune parchment was visible, even through the cloak of rabid flames, and it still shined in a brilliant blue. Khora gritted her teeth and inched forward, feeling the skin of her arms begin to singe as she held them in front of her face. Edmund was crouched behind her, advancing each time she did and straying closer to the dragonfire than she found comfortable. She tried to ignore her quiet fears, though, as she came within reach of the rune parchment.

  Flaws and malformations in Edmund's old axe came to light as the fire played across every inch of its surface. Khora saw none of them, however, as she raised the weapon high above her head and swiftly brought it down. It cut the rune parchment down the middle, and the center edges of the mystic material lost their light. The flames seemed to respond as they quieted slightly when the parchment was damaged. Yet, what had been done to the Temple of Azra was not something so easily reversed.

  The destruction had spread to the ceiling, and large sections of it came crashing down around them. Statues and shrines and ancient artifacts crumbled as they collided with whatever laid beneath them. The entire structure shivered more intensely in every passing moment.

  "It didn't do enough!" Edmund shouted. "I don't think… I don't think there's anything we can do anymore!"

  She clenched her fists as the damage grew on all sides, but she stood still, instead turning her eyes back to the rune parchment… to the still glowing symbols that graced its surface.

  "I have one last thought," she murmured, shoving the axe through the back of her belt. "Stay where you are. Do not… do not follow me forward!"

  "Wait, what are you trying to— Khora!" he cried out as she lunged ahead.

  Her hands ripped through the fire as they reached for the broken parchment that laid on the brazier. She shrieked, her tears evaporating before they could touch her cheeks. However, the pain was an afterthought as she gripped the two pieces of parchment and pulled them away. She fell back and crumbled her trophies between her seared fingers, and as she did so, the dragonfire calmed, returning to its previous state. It continued to spread across the temple, but it seemed, at least to Khora's eyes, that the rest of the area might be saved from its touch.

  She was pulled from her victory when a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed in front of them, blocking the staircases and ripping the brazier from its tethers. It slid forward, off the overlook, and rolled through the pews that laid below.

  "E-Ed," she muttered, clutching her burned hands close to her chest. "Wh-where do we go?"

  "Come on, we'll look for a way out. I just need you to get up…"

  She nodded and forced herself to her feet with his help. She glanced around, scanning the area in front of them. The stairs were obstructed by debris, but the rubble was not stacked too high.

  "Look," the young boy pointed out, a calm look forced across his face. "I think we can climb over the stone… I can help… I can help pull you if… if your hands can't— we just need to get over it, and maybe run for the doors…"

  Khora followed his finger as he pointed it all out for her, but fate was disagreeable with their plan. The temple's doors cracked open, and dozens of Soul Seekers poured through it. Almost all of them were destroyed the moment they were touched by the dragonfire, but those piled outside the entrance would still make an escape in that direction impossible.

  "Damn it," he swore, turning to look behind them. "Ma-maybe there's a way through the archives? There might be another way out?"

  "I-I don't know, Edmund," Khora whispered, shaking her head slightly. "Any of these doors could lead to an exit, but we… we are unfamiliar with this place. We risk trapping ourselves deeper inside it…"

  "We can't just…" he trailed. "We can't just stay here… luck won't save us… not both of us."

  She turned to look at him and saw he was staring at her intently.

  "What option do we have?" she questioned, looking forward again as the temple tore itself apart. "I… you should have gone with the guards. I should have urged you to leave with Charles… then, only one of us would have… remained here."

  He stared at her solemnly, quietly steadfast as the world trembled all around them.

  "I could never have," he finally whispered, his words barely audible over the falling stones.

  The threat of tears forced Khora to look away from him and towards the encroaching horde that continued to burst through the temple's doors. She wanted to think of something, some new solution or some incredible escape, but nothing occurred to her. Edmund was right— luck would not sweep through the Soul Seekers to find them here. They were alone.

  An odd figure caught her attention as she scanned the dark mass in front of them. She narrowed her focus and stepped as close to the edge of the overlook as she dared. A young boy was standing among the monsters, but they did not notice his presence. She managed to glimpse his eyes from afar. They carried within them a million colors.

  "Is that Jon-" she started to say.

  The floor beneath their feet began to creak and crack as more debris fell all around them. The shock of the crashing rubble pulsed through her feet, and she wavered, losing her balance. She buckled forward and realized far too late that the overlook's edge was giving way. She closed her eyes in fear, knowing that there was no escape, when Edmund grabbed her. He helped steady her and pulled her away from the crumbling overlook before she could slip.

  "Thank you, Ed," Khora muttered as she regained her footing. "I-I thought I had seen…"

  She stopped talking when she noticed him staring up at her; sorrow splashed across his face as he peered into her eyes. She quickly grew confused when she realized he was still holding her sides tightly.

  "You have always been a good friend to me, Khora," he whispered, tears beginning to swell in his eyes. "And I know you blame yourself for everything, but please don't blame yourself for this. Promise me."

  "Ed, what are you say-"

  Empty air greeted her as Edmund pushed her away from him and off the overlook. The passage of time almost seemed to slow as her head whipped around to find him standing on the edge, with exhaustion clear on his face. She looked up in time to see the rest of the ceiling begin to collapse, and in time to see it plummeting towards him. She closed her eyes as the rubble crashed across the overlook and opened them just a moment before pain arced across her body. She had found the ground.

  Darkness clouded Khora's mind, but she fought through it long enough to open her eyes. She felt numb and scanned her surroundings.

  She was lying on the ground within Azra's destroyed temple and discovered that the Fate-Maker's fire had all but died out. It was impossible to determine how long she had been there, and the smoke that clouded her sight refused to grant her a clue. The sound of erratic footsteps crept into her ears as they approached, and she heard an excited squeal.

  "I found you!"

  Khora tur
ned and squinted her eyes. It was Eren, with Ranger quietly trudging behind him.

  "Don't worry don't worry don't worry don't worry don't worry," he urged her, gently touching her shoulder. "I'll get you out of here, I'll-"

  He looked away from her face and towards her lower body. His expression cracked the moment he did so.

  "I… I…" he struggled to say. "I'll go get help. I— Finn's right behind me, he can hel— no, I'll find someone wi-with two arms!"

  He sprung to his feet and ran away from her, yelling. "I'll come right back!" as he left her sight. Khora could hear his footsteps recede as the seconds passed and turned her head to look at the dog that began to bay as it lay beside her. She tried to calm him but returned her focus to the matter at hand when she realized she could not.

  She tried to sit up but quickly remembered her injured hands. Instead, she raised her head forward to look at what had caused such a reaction from Eren. She began to breathe heavily once she managed, and it deepened when she saw her left leg. It was pinned beneath a large boulder and almost certainly crushed. That, however, was not what forced tears from her eyes.

  Looped through the front of Khora's belt was a golden flower. It slowly dimmed and wilted before her eyes— growing gray and crumbling across her abdomen until only its withered stem was left behind.

  Khora closed her eyes as agony shot through every inch of her body, and her wails pierced the forsaken temple.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Richard

  Richard groaned as he stumbled slightly, his hand darting to the wall in an effort to steady himself. The entire castle had wavered an instant earlier after the sound of an immense blast rocked the earth. He turned to face the direction in which it had seemed to come, but there was no point in stretching his senses. The moment he entered Castle Azra, his perception was overwhelmed by darkness. There was no way for him to discern what was occurring beyond the castle gates.