Iron Clash (Legend of the Iron Flower Book 7)

by Billy Wong

  "Most thrilling. Who else would have stood a chance of beating me, let alone done it? But not this time."

  "It's not over yet."

  "No, you're still alive. The conclusion's a given though, don't you agree?"

  Rose spat. "Are you still underestimating me?"

  "You can't beat Clearsky."

  She almost believed him, but tried not to show her fear. He rushed, and running to meet him she seemed to move in slow motion towards her doom. Rose chanted another spell, forcing him to raise Clearsky in defense against a lightning bolt, and dashed after it while he slowed. Her sword smashed into his axe, batting it aside enough to give her an opening at his body. She rammed her butchered left shoulder into him, her eyes tearing with the agony.

  At such close range, he couldn't attack well with his long weapons, and after a few steps she tripped him and bore him to the ground. On top, she bashed her hilt into his face repeatedly, mentally pleading for his eyes to roll back. He punched her with his gauntleted fist, pitching her off him. Rose rolled to her knees, saw him struggle to his feet. "Not enough, girl," Wilner growled, wiping blood from badly split lips.

  Girl? She was twenty-five now, and had growing kids. Rose stood, thinking what she had to do to win. No way she was going to overcome him with her nearly matchless skills alone. Nearly wasn't good enough. "It's Rose," she snapped defiantly, "not 'girl'."

  "What kind of retort is that? Can't think of anything better to say?"

  "It doesn't matter what I say to you, when you'll be dead after today." She charged, staggering with the damage she'd endured, and Wilner readied his weapons eagerly. He knew there was no way she could get past his defense.

  But she did, trapping Clearsky's tines in the place no sane fighter would expect to consider—her own body. Throwing herself onto the trident with a scream, she let it pierce her chest, ripping through her armor like paper. His axe chopped at her neck, but she forced her weak shield arm up to deflect the blade. Simultaneously, her sword stabbed forward into Wilner's body.

  They stood impaled on one another's weapons for a moment, then Rose stepped back, tearing Clearsky from her breast and Thorn from his. Blood sprouted into the air from both warriors, and Wilner tottered on his feet. "No regrets," he whispered. "You were great." Rose's sword slashed high. Wilner's axe came up, only to fail and break before her strength. Her blade cut through the haft and then the prince's neck, and he finally fell, dead.

  Rose dropped to one knee, struggling to keep breathing with her punctured and burnt lungs. Blood formed a puddle, dripping from her mouth, on the ground at which she dazedly stared. She pushed herself up and looked around, her body wanting to sleep but mind unable to rest without knowing her husband and friend's fate. The sight of Finn's body resting facedown in a red pool brought her fully back to wakefulness.

  #

  "Get out of my way!" Victor growled. "I've no time for your selfish pride!"

  Alicia continued to press him, driving him back with blow after blow of her great axe. "What are you talking about? I'm fighting you to end the civil war. It's just an added perk that I get to prove myself your better along the way."

  "Stupid woman, you waste your strength fighting me. I meant to help you rid yourselves of our mutual enemy!"

  This got her to pause in her assault, looking at him dubiously. "And who would that be? Don't tell me there's another great evil waiting in the wings. Sounds too convenient to fool me."

  "Wilner, you idiot."

  "When would you have done that? After you won the battle here?"

  He glared at her. "I was going to kill him when we attacked you. Then I would have taken back Clearsky, and you could surrender to me. But you ruined that by attacking first."

  "Yeah, and what would you do if we didn't surrender, kill us?" She resumed slashing at him, forcing him again to back away. One of her swings laid open his arm, and she smiled. "You'd never. You're not that good."

  "Get away from him!" a female voice cried, and hearing somebody rapidly approach Alicia tried to dodge out of the way. Nonetheless, a terrible pain shot through her side which quickly expanded to fill her whole torso with liquid fire. She looked to see a longsword stuck into her left flank, the point protruding from her back just right of her spine. The strength began to drain out of her legs, and she almost collapsed from the unbearable pain. But she lashed out with her elbow, hammering it into her attacker's face. The lean one-armed woman fell away, and Alicia realized it to be Rose's Coblander friend Loreen.

  "Traitor," she snarled through coppery blood welling up her throat. On her back, the stunned Loreen's face began swelling up immediately, and Alicia figured with satisfaction that she had probably broken a cheekbone. She looked back at Victor, and stepped towards him even as the agony grew further and blurred her eyes.

  "Why don't you die?" he asked incredulously. He lunged, stabbing at her face.

  Alicia leaned to the side so the thrust missed and clove into Victor's ribcage. The prince spat blood, staggered a few steps to fall on his face. She limped to stand over him as he turned onto his back. "I'm cut from much the same cloth as my flowery friend," she explained lightly. "Why else do you think she and I get along so well, when our personalities are scarcely alike?"

  "Hate... you invincible bitches. I hope a special hell awaits your ilk."

  Before she could finish him off, Loreen threw herself over the fallen prince, shielding him from choppity death. "No! He's not so bad."

  Alicia sneered. "And I'm supposed to listen to you, after what you did to me." She tilted her chin towards the sword jutting from her side.

  "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to kill him. Please, he isn't that evil. He tried to save an innocent prisoner."

  "Tried, huh. And did he save him?"

  "Her," Loreen corrected annoyingly. "Well, we couldn't rescue her, but she's alive."

  The wounded duchess swayed on her feet as she considered sparing Victor's life. Then she raised her axe and said, "Get out of the way."

  "Why? I told you, he's a decent man."

  "Yeah, well, Rose told me she and Finn spared him once before, for his brother's sake. Then he murdered that brother and started this war, in which thousands have died. Maybe he isn't the worst person in the world, but he's too dangerous to let go a second time. I don't want to go through all this again. Personally, I like a good fight, but not to see good people die. And others like Rose have suffered a lot worse than me."

  Loreen shook her head. "No, I won't let you do this! He made trouble after being given one second chance, and now he can't have another? That's so arbitrary."

  Alicia licked her bloody lips. She supposed it could be hard to even let a villain die if you knew him. But she didn't know Victor, and didn't particularly care to. "Maybe Rose would listen and give him yet another chance. Fortunately, I'm not so weak."

  Grabbing Loreen by the foot, she peeled her off the wounded prince's body and flung her many feet away. The one-armed woman hit a parked cart and flipped over it. "No!" she cried dragging herself up, but by then Alicia's axe had already filled Victor's chest. She watched his eyes fix in their sockets, then fell, clutching at the blade through her body. She pulled, lacerating her fingers on the edge like a klutz, and whistled herself a soothing tavern melody.

  A shadow fell over her. Alicia gazed up and scowled at Loreen, who was looking down at her with an expression she couldn't read. "Don't you even think about it. I've got more than enough left to end your fragile life." The woman stared a bit longer, then turned and ran away. Alicia went back to whistling, her tune merrier as the pain faded to numbness.

  #

  "Finn!" Rose begged. "Wake up, you can't be dead!" But as she lurched hastily closer, she realized the huge corpse facedown in still-gushing blood wasn't her husband after all. The man might be close in size to Finn with similar hair, but his face was unfamiliar. After a brief feeling of vast relief, Rose returned to being worried. She turned, still searching for her love—right into a
gutting slash of a thin curved blade.

  The Dream Killer swung himself around a sword stuck into the ground, his other blade stabbing deep into her stomach. As he continued his spin, it tore out through her side. Rose hugged the immense wound while she fell to her knees, blood gushing over her forearm from the chasm in her abdominal cavity. Even she felt surprise she didn't die instantly from shock, though her eyelids fluttered in her efforts to fight back death. Watching her try to hold her guts from spilling out the horrendous wound, the Dream Killer laughed mercilessly.

  "That is easy. I'm glad I waited for your fight with Wilner to end—two ended legends for the price of one, heh."

  The Dream Killer stalked forward, slashed nonchalantly at Rose's head. Somehow, she raised her sword and parried, bringing an irritated look to his face. He struck again, and she offered another desperate defense. He yelled loudly and made a punching motion at her with one hand. As before, the force of his strike reached her though his fist didn't, and her head snapped back as blood flew into the air. Her arms fell to her sides, and through her haze she saw triumph in the Dream Killer's eyes.

  He leapt into the air and flipped over her head, going for the blow which would split her skull and assure her demise. Rose brought her sword up behind her head, blocking the slice. He tried to power his blade down against her strength, her awkward position doing her no favors. She mumbled a spell beneath her breath, making her sword glow brightly for an instant with flame. It did him no harm, but distracted him for a moment—a moment in which she pushed her blade upwards and back, then turned it and yanked it forward so that it slid across his neck. Blood sprayed over her, and she heard his swords drop to the ground as he no doubt tried to hold in his lifeblood.

  He choked out words. "No, how could you—you cannot—it isn't... fair..."

  Rose stabbed backwards, driving the sword through his heart. "You think you deserve 'fair?' You don't deserve anything, not even to have been born—scum."

  She jerked Thorn out and didn't even look as he fell, making a dull thump in her ears. He should have been more than skilled enough to finish her in her state, but overconfidently thinking she could offer no resistance at all had proven his demise. With unsteady hands, she tried to push the portion of intestine that poked out back into her body. Then she heard a most unwelcome laugh. She looked to find a tall young man towering over her.

  "Now it's finally time," Prince Max said, putting his hands down at his sides. "Time for the invincible to die. You were truly a magnificent champion, Rose. That's what makes this all the sweeter for me, the scion of this new age." He seemed to realize she'd missed his ludicrously pompous trademark pose, and raised his arms back up to spread them wide. He tilted his head back, an arrogant smirk across his face.

  She stared for a moment, then looked past him to the huge figure approaching him from behind. He noticed her wandering gaze and turned. Finn's fist caved in his visage, and he fell without a sound.

  Her husband limped towards her, himself covered in wounds. His eyes bulged at her ruined body, and he knelt at her side. He dropped his mace, covered in various substances normally found inside a person, and held her face in shaking hands. "Gods, Rose, are you...?"

  "Where the hell were you? No, don't answer—I know you were busy killing other people. As for my wounds"—she winked—"I'll survive. Help me replace my guts, okay?"

  He accepted her intestine and began to work it back into the enormous gash in her side. "Geez, you can be a handful to take care of sometimes."

  "At least I don't die."

  "No, you never do. Your blood's getting all over me. Don't worry, I don't mind."

  She lay back in his arms, allowing him to wrap up her hurts. Then, she remembered, "Clearsky!"

  "What about it?"

  "Bring it here. I don't want anyone else to get a hold of it."

  He walked the few steps to pick up the weapon and returned to her side. "Are we going to destroy it?"

  "No, not yet. I haven't decided what to do. But I'm sure we can resist it for a while, right?"

  In her head, she heard Clearsky whine, I'll give you your wildest dreams, okay? Just don't hurt me anymore! I'm amazed you survived—you're great! You'll be the best masters I've ever had—don't waste your chance to have me. Please!

  Rose looked at Finn and smiled. Hearing what passed for its "charm," she certainly didn't expect to be wooed anytime soon. Of course, she was unusually resistant to magical coercion, along with pretty much anything else. "I think I'll be okay, at least," she said to Finn. "You feel like you want to use this thing?"

  "A little, actually. Its voice is like bad music you just can't stop listening to. But I've got you to set me straight."

  She nodded, then asked curiously, "I'm hurt about as bad as last time. Why don't you seem as afraid I'm going to die?"

  "You sound too happy to die."

  "I'm not really happy, you know... just glad the war's probably done and we're both still alive. When you finish patching us up, let's go look for Alicia, okay?"

  Finn frowned. "What if Victor killed her, and is still alive?"

  "I'll cry..." she whispered.

  "And I'll fight."

  "By the way, what about Conrad? Did you kill him?"

  He clenched his teeth. "He managed to get away. Guy seems to have learned not to wait too long to flee after his encounter with you."

  A while later, they found Alicia alive though in a sorry state, a sword through her trunk from side to back. Kayland soldiers had gathered around, but she'd apparently warned them not to disturb her. She had gotten halfway through removing the blade, working it out of her body very carefully. Her twisted face was an ugly mask of pain. "I killed Victor," she said upon spotting Rose, "but your friend Loreen stuck me. Then she ran away. Guess she didn't have the guts to face me in a fair fight."

  Finn stepped forward and pulled the blade none too gently from Alicia's side. Rose fell to the ground without his support, and lying there hoped she and Loreen would be able to make amends. They weren't meant to be enemies. "You going to be okay?" she asked Alicia when she was done screaming.

  "Probably. This isn't much worse than the spear I took in Weith. Same side too, actually. You?"

  "Fine."

  Finn gamely hefted both wounded women onto his shoulders, only to find himself too weak from his own injuries to carry their weight any distance. They were big girls, and even heavier in their armor. So Alicia got down and merely leaned on him while they walked, and he held only Rose snugly in his arms. "For once I'm up and you're the one who's down," Alicia remarked proudly.

  Rose smiled. "True... but I took a lot more than you, lady. And since Finn's my husband, I get priority."

  They rested while the army wrapped things up on the field and Sierra accepted the surrender of what remained of the Western Alliance. The war was over, but a day later the northern Ulir arrived looking for a fight. Luckily, Thraga had been released from her captivity and filled the latecomers in on what had really been going on. There were too few of their race left, but Rose felt glad at least some survived—including the orphaned younglings from the other tribes, who Thraga adopted into her care as the new queen before they headed back north. But Rose still had no idea what to do with Clearsky.

  Rose was staring at the trident in the corner of her tent, mulling over its future, when she heard a familiar voice in her mind. Kayla's voice. I've decided, the dead heroine said.

  "What?" Rose asked, confused.

  Grasp Clearsky. Just as he was created from my mind, I'll take him back into me.

  So it would not be death that claimed the consciousness which resided in the trident, but more of an un-birthing when it rejoined with its mother's spirit. Rose saw no issue with that, and hefted Clearsky. It grew hot, as if fighting whatever Kayla had in mind, but Rose held on despite some pain. But instead of losing its magic as she expected, the trident spoke again once the heat died away. Only it had changed. Instead of the whiny young male voice it
had possessed, Clearsky spoke with a confident, feminine strength.

  Thank you, Rose.

  "Kayla?" she asked incredulously. "You've become Clearsky?"

  Yes... I've transferred my spirit into the weapon, via the bridge of your body. Now he's part of me—the part I should never have set free. I think I'll stick around for a while, as a guardian of the land named after me.

  Rose fell silent, her mind needing to come to terms with this strange event. Then she said, "I guess the question now is, who's going to wield you for the nation's sake."

  Why not you, Rose? Haven't you done more for this land than anyone alive today?

  She chuckled. "Maybe, but I don't want to wield a trident. I'm too used to sword-and-shield-play. How about Sierra?"

  She seems like a good woman. But considering how busy she'll be as regent, I'd rather rest in the hands of someone who would actually use me to fight.

  "How about you let Alicia wield you?"

  Kayla's voice took on an air of outrage. What?! No!

  "I was kidding! But really, I don't know who would be suited to you. Maybe we could have a contest or something."

  Sounds like something out of the stories.

  Rose smiled. "Yeah—and so do we. What do you say, old girl?"

  Old? I'm not that far past my eight hundredth year. But fine, I'll give your contest a try.

  Of course, she had no idea what kind of contest should be held to determine who got to wield a magical trident housing the spirit of a legendary heroine in defense of the nation. But they had time to think about it... and consult smarter people who knew about things other than food and fighting.

  #

  Rose wanted to go home with Finn soon and see their much-missed children again, but before leaving visited the dead prince of Coblan's tent. There she found her old friend Loreen, who had taken the lead in negotiating terms of surrender for her people. The one-armed woman looked up with nervous eyes, hesitant to meet her gaze. Finally, Rose said, "I forgive you, okay? Let's be friends again."