by Alexis Rojas
“Come on!” I yelled.
The halberd wielder and the swordsman attacked at the same time. I blocked the halberd with my shield and stopped the slash with the hilt of my sword. Having used both my arms, the bearded man stepped forward to cut me down the middle. But, I wasn’t going to let them kill me so easily. I strode forward and tackled him. He fell on the sludge and I hurried to the left to get on the clear. Now the closest to me was the halberd wielder, followed by the bearded one on the ground and the swordsman. Since they were one after the other, this was my chance to take them out one by one. I first charged the halberd soldier. He swung his weapon, but he was not strong enough to keep me at bay. I blocked his strike and drove my sword through his chest.
The swordsman went at me, running around the bearded soldier who was struggling to get up on the mud. My sword got stuck on the halberd wielder’s chest. I yanked the halberd off his hands, spun around and swung the long weapon to the swordsman’s head. The halberd’s crescent blade split his helmet open with a spew of blood. He dropped to the ground and I retrieved my sword. When I turned, the bearded man was on his feet, charging at me.
He advanced swinging and slashing away without rest; a plummet from above, a cut from the side, a slice from the bottom-up. For a big guy, he moved quite swiftly. I only blocked, dodged and deflected his attempts, for I could not find an opening to strike. That is, until he had his first bite on fatigue. He wanted to kill me too quickly, and his movements became lazy and weak. He realized he wasn’t going to hit me and stepped back to breath. Now it was my turn to take the offensive.
I attacked relentlessly. He kept his sword close to his body, repelling every blow of my blade. But, the exhaustion of handling such a heavy weapon fell upon him. When his stamina finally dropped, I swung my sword to his left arm and cut him. The steel sank into his skin. As he flinched, I raised a kick to his stomach. He bent his body with a scoff. I then forced an upward slash that caught him on the top of his helmet. He fell back to the mud; the greatsword escaping his hands and the helmet flying off his head. He wanted to keep fighting, but once he felt the tip of my blade on his throat, he stopped. He looked at me with pale fear in his eyes, the muscles of his face strained. As I prepared to give the final blow, the man lowered his head on a pillow of sludge and closed his eyes, ready to embrace his death.
At that moment, I froze. The soldiers surrounding the convoy broke formation and headed toward me. But, it was not because of them that I remained still. It was what I saw beyond them that gave me a shudder from top to bottom. I saw fingers emerging from the bottom of the cage’s bars, slightly lifting the black tarp. It was Auria.
I slowly lowered my head, the bearded man still at my mercy. I removed my blade from his throat and he rolled away.
“I don’t want you,” I said. “I don’t want any of you! I want Auriaaa!”
Suddenly, the heavy rain slowly came to a stop. The sound of the water against the trees halted as dark clouds hovered still in the sky. All was in silence, until I heard someone clapping. It was a muffled clap, and I realized it was coming from within the carriage. Its side door opened and out came a knight. He wore silver armor; breastplate, gardbraces, vambraces, cuisses and greaves. He also wore pauldrons wrapped with a red cape that draped to his back. But, holding between his hand and hip was his helmet. It had two rows of back-curved horns; two sprouting from the temples, two over the ears, and two above the nape. As he walked by the carriage, he passed his left hand over his short blonde hair and said, “Bravo, warrior, bravo.”
My eyes did not look at him, but at the helmet itself. It was as I remembered it from Somber Petalia, and as Bri described.
“You’re Vallias,” I stated.
“You know me? Well, I am flattered. But, let me introduce myself properly,” he bowed like a gentleman, “My name is Angelus Vallias of Horne. Now tell me, who are you?”
I didn’t feel like replying with the formalities. I just said my name, “Erik Belrose.”
“Belrose, eh?” he put his hand on his chin in though, “I don’t recognize your name, but your face seems familiar. Have we met before?”
He didn’t recognize me, which was a good thing. If he remembered who I was and what I did at the village of Tally, a burst of anger might make things difficult for me. I quickly changed the subject to the matter at hand.
“Give me Auria!”
“Auria? What the hell is that?”
“She’s in the cage!” I pointed with my sword. He looked back and realized what I was talking about.
“Oh, the fairy? It has a name? That’s an interesting fact to know; none that I care for.”
“You bastard,” I scowled, “What do you want with her? Why did you take her?”
“Well, frankly, that’s none of your putrid business,” he smirked as he gave me a stern glare. “But, since you know it by a first name basis, I assume you two are friends. Maybe even more… haha!”
The skin on my face started to tighten with irritation. I wanted to break him in two.
“A fairy and a man; a foolish man! What a combination. Oh, I know why you’re here; you missed her, like a cub misses her mommy. Bwahaha!”
My muscles were filled with fire. How dare he talk to me like that? To us? In that instant, just before I exploded, Vallias stopped his laughter and took a pensive gaze at me. Then, his eyes widened as he finally recognized me.
“Wait, I do know you. Right now you have the same angered face you had on that day; the day you took down Sebastien and crippled our advancement at Somber Petalia. Men, before you stands a miaflorian!”
All the soldiers raised their weapons against me and formed a protective line in front of Vallias. I then heard some noise coming from behind. It became louder as I realized it was the stomping of horses and men on the soaked earth. From around the curve of the road, five horsemen and twenty foot soldiers appeared. They were the soldiers from Ambros. They quickly reached us and surrounded me. How would I get out of this one? I readied my shield and positioned my sword beside me.
“Belrose,” Vallias pointed at me as he walked through the rows of soldiers, “that day when you stopped our advancement, you gave me a grand headache I could not get rid of. It was an itch that revolted the depths of my mind. But, conquering your land of Somber Petalia was not my first priority; my main objective was The Forest of Agony.”
“The forest?” I questioned.
“Yes. You see, earlier that day there was a man that requested an audience with me. He was neither balorian nor miaflorian. He was a northern fellow. And he made me an offer I could not refuse.”
When Vallias said northern fellow, I remembered the other man Bri told me about. The day Auria was taken, he saw a man different from the rest, with a staff and blue robes, using special powers. That northern fellow had to be him.
“The man proposed,” Vallias said, “that if I helped him acquire a certain creature, he would provide me with a very valuable item. And just before the Dandy Overpass was reclaimed by the miaflorians, he discovered a path from the cliffs down to the river. And from there we marched to the forest.”
“You were after her from the very beginning?”
“Not her in specific,” he clarified, “any fairy would suffice. We engaged the path, and I was secretly hoping to find your corpse by the bank. With your death by drowning or whatever, I would’ve felt better as I laughed over your pale carcass. However, what we found was miaflorian armor lying dry and rusted against the sun. I assumed it was yours."
He was right. After emerging from the river, I took off my armor and left it by the bank before entering the Forest of Agony.
"On that very spot we made camp for the night,” Vallias continued, “but we were in for a surprise the following day. After picking up ourselves and continuing down the bank, we saw a shining light ahead. We hid ourselves in the trees of the forest and slowly made our way. And there, sitting by the bank was this woman with wings of light. They were feeding off the ra
ys of the sun. I immediately knew it was our creature.”
“I don’t get it. What does the man want with her?” I demanded.
“Well, my northern friend has remained quiet about his motives. I would’ve let you ask him that yourself, but he’s not here now. He went on ahead with the other half of the cargo.”
“Other half? What have you done to Auria!”
Vallias smiled at my anxiousness, “If you want to know the whole truth, then you’ll have to beat it out of me.”
I stepped forward to do just that, but he strode back and hopped onto the platform.
“Belrose,” he said with a smirk as he stood at the side of the cage, “I think it’s time you took sight of it, your precious fairy.”
He clutched the black tarp and pulled it, revealing the iron cage and its content. Sitting on the floor with her legs on her sides, Auria knelt head down. She was the complete opposite of how she used to be. The lack of sunlight had made her skin whitish, just like Bri. Her once fine-looking leaf blouse and skirt were now filthy and damp. Her wings were limp on the floor like dead limbs. But worst of all was her face; the sharpness of her eyes was gone and her cheeks were muggy of all the tears and helpless cries. A wide, stone collar with strange glyph carvings choked her, and iron shackles bound her hands and feet. Seeing her in such state of decay brewed a mix of sorrow and odium within me.
She then raised her eyes to me. Realizing who I was, she gave a bleak smile uttering something under her breath. I did not need to hear her to understand. It was a plea; it was my name.
My soul craved for blood like never before. I erupted.
“YOU BASTARDS!”
I lost all sense. I lost control. For the next moments I did not know what I was doing, like if my mind and body had parted. My sword was swinging around as balorian soldiers fell. I knew they were striking my body, for I felt aches and stings, but I refused myself to feel them. I simply had Auria’s image burned into my retinas. My blade cut through everything it landed upon; spears, swords, shields, arms and legs. The only thing that brought me back to my senses was seeing a demon jumping from the platform. It was Vallias, wearing his horned helmet. He wielded a cinquedea, a sword wide on the hilt that ended with a sharp, rounded tip. I blocked his plunge with my shield and pushed him back.
“Step away,” he ordered his men, “I’ll deal with him.”
The soldiers obeyed and formed a circle around us.
“You know, I’ve sent word to my king about my mission,” he said. “He thinks I will bring the item to him. But, what he doesn’t know is that I’ll keep it for myself. What I’m about to receive for that stupid fairy will grant me total dominion over Balora. I will be the king, and Miaflore shall become the dust under my heel!”
He came at me with a thrust. I deflected, but when I countered, he dodged my blade with ease. I swung again, and he evaded me once more. He was agile; faster than anyone I had fought against. And not only did I had to be wary of his skill, I also had to be careful not to trip with the dead bodies on the ground. Fortunately, Vallias wasn’t as careful. As he strode to his right, he clipped the shoulder of a fallen soldier and slipped. I immediately plunged my sword to him, but he simply raised his arm and bounced my blade off his forearm vambrace.
I had made a solid, downward strike. It should have broken his arm, at least bent the metal and feel some pain. But, none of it.
“My armor is different,” Vallias smiled, “The metal is plied again and again and again and again. It is so strong it acts like an actual shield, unlike the garbage you miaflorians make.”
Now my chances of winning were really thin. I needed a single strike to finish him, or at least cripple him. All I could think of was his neck. All other places were well protected.
I blocked his attacks, stepping back and bidding my time. Eventually, I thought of a plan, but I needed him to do a specific movement in order for it to work. If he would just swing his cinquedea to my left, I would bounce it out with the shield and thrust my sword to his throat. I needed to be accurate and faster than him.
It was then that he made the move. He swung to my left to hack at my shoulder. I stretched my shield outward and bounced the cinquedea right off his hands. Instantly, I lunged for the neck. The blade went all the way.
It was the end. After all my troubles and pains, it had ended. I slowly stepped back as I saw a dagger nailed beneath my sternum. I heard a loud cry. It was Auria as she saw the blood churning out of my chest. I dropped my sword and fell on my knees. So much for my plan; I missed. Vallias bent under my blade as he reached behind his back with his free hand. He then revealed the dagger and raised it to my chest. I was wide open with the shield stretched out. I could do nothing.
My strength dissipated fast as my chest began to feel cold. I could hear noises around me; Auria crying, the soldiers laughing, and what Vallias said to me:
“Out of the five hundred soldiers camping on the drawbridge camp, twenty had lived most of their lives beside a body of water; out of those, ten were good at fishing; three of them were awesome swimmers; but only one of them was a great diver. And guess what he brought from the hand of a troll at the bottom of the river?”
I looked down and opened my eyes in disbelief. The dagger in my chest was my own! The one I left encrusted on the troll’s thumb.
I was shaking now. I didn’t know if it was because of fear or lack of strength. I coughed blood as Vallias knelt in front of me. He put one hand on my shoulder and the other on the dagger.
“You will suffer the most humiliating of deaths.” he whispered, “Defeated by the man you hated, and killed in front of the woman you loved. Your body will rest here without ceremony, without glory, without triumph. Your weapons will rust, your skin shall scorch from the sun, and your innards will rot with the worms. You will only be remembered for one thing, as the man who failed. It is over. Your journey, your story, ends here.”
He twisted the blade and I felt no more pain. I fell backwards on the mud with my right arm pointing at the carriage. I could not move my body anymore, nor hear anything. The colors of the world were gone. I saw the carriage in black and white, but could not see Auria. The edge of the platform blocked her. She had to be crying, seeing me die right before her eyes. I wanted to yell, I wanted to scream, “Auria, I didn’t save you… I’m sorry…”
But my mouth was sealed and motionless. My sight clouded with water. Did it start to rain again, or was it my own tears? Nevertheless, my life had finished. All was dark. All was light. All was nothing.
22- Change of Heart
This is not right. I can feel it in my bones. I cannot continue at it. My soul will forever burn as punishment. My colleagues and Master seem to be praising this just fine, but not me. A special mission of capturing a fairy is one thing, but to overthrow the king is another. I just cannot go through with it!
"Angus, come here."
Lord Vallias wanted my presence. I walked through the bushes towards the pond, and there he was, bathing and relaxing in the green waters. I had to admit, I've always admired Vallias’ short, blonde hair, since the only hair I had on my head was around my mouth and jaw. My other colleague soldiers stood close around the pond as guard. I approached him and he said, "Angus, you're the best hunter here. Kill me a boar. I'll be hungry soon."
"Yes, my Lord."
I headed back through the bushes to a narrow trail in the forest. This led me to the carriage beside the road. Henry and Bernard guarded it. They watched me as I climbed the back platform, where the creature was in its covered cage. I walked around it and knelt in front a wooden chest. I opened it and took out a bow and a quiver of arrows.
"Henry, Bernard, our Lord wants you to hunt for boars. I'll stay here and guard the carriage."
"But you are the 'best hunter'," Bernard mocked, "Why don't you do it?"
"Don't question our Lord," I remarked. "If he wants you to do something, you do it. Now, obey his orders and hunt. Go already, both of you!"
I handed them the bow and arrows and they left into the woods with grim faces. After they were out of sight and I assured I was alone, I went back to the chest and took out a hacksaw I had hidden there. I walked to the front of the cage and lifted the tarp. The fairy laid there, shrouded in darkness with dry tears under her eyes. The bulky stone collar with glyphs and shackles held her to the floor. She looked so different, comparing her to when we captured her. At that time, the lines that ran by her arms and legs blared in red. Before Vallias killed the miaflorian, they were blue. But now, those lines only showed black. Such pitiful creature. I waved my hand in front of her, but she seemed to be in a numbing trance.
I was only going to desert my lord, but I felt an obligation to free her. That's what the man wanted to do. Before he died, he spared my life. I could only show my gratitude by freeing this fairy.
I started to saw away at the lock, trying to be as quiet as possible, but the hacksaw was of bad quality. It only filed one thin line before it lost its serrated edge. I resorted to my knife and tried to pick the lock. I heard some clicks and it seemed my efforts were being successful, when suddenly:
"Angus!"
"What are you doing?"
I stood and turned. Henry and Bernard were below, holding a young pig between them. Seeing the knife, the lock and the uncovered cage, they quickly caught onto my plan.
"You traitor!"
Bernard dropped the pig and readied the bow and arrow, but I shot first. Before he could aim, my knife had already reached his throat. Henry panicked and ran to the pond. Now I had to be fast. I unsheathed my greatsword and hacked at the lock. The first swing bent it; the second, broke it.
The fairy looked at me when I opened the cage. I noticed the lines and wings reviving with a somber green. I grabbed her chains, but the moment I touched them I felt hundreds of needles piercing my hands. When I released them, it stopped. I tried again, but the same thing happened. Was it the warlock's sorcery? The stone collar with glyphs he put around her neck?