Iron Champion (Legend of the Iron Flower Book 5)

by Billy Wong

  "And just who are you?" Finn asked.

  "Isn't that obvious?"

  Rose nodded. "You're Deathend." Or at least, that was what he wanted her to believe. He gave a single nod in response. "What do want from us?"

  "My empire."

  She remembered the tales of how Deathend's dominion had grown to cover the entire continent on which Terlon and Fanteia were located, and then some. "Where's the rest of your army?"

  "I do not need it for this."

  "Wrong."

  The one calling himself Deathend laughed. "How dare a woman like you challenge me?"

  "Is every Fanteian warrior... or god of war... a sexist?" Rose snapped. "Heck, I don't have this problem back home. Most people there would be terrified of fighting me."

  "I was teasing you. I know how strong a woman can be... Iron Flower. You are from Kayland, no? ...ironic, that you come from a land bearing that name. Yet, humanity has grown weak in the time I've been away!" And the armored titan charged.

  One instant, he stood a good ten feet away. The next, he was right in Rose's face. She just barely parried his first slice at her chest, which jarred her arms like a human's never did. The series of slashes which followed were faster and harder still, and inevitably his blade penetrated her guard to cut deep into her thigh. She fell grimacing to one knee. Only now did Finn reach them, hammering his mace into Deathend's chest. The impact would have easily crushed a normal good quality breastplate and the bone beneath, but Deathend barely even moved, and his armor remained smooth. With his free hand—for he only used one to wield his giant sword—he backhanded Finn, and effortlessly sent the near four hundred pound man flying off his feet.

  Hardly missing a beat, the metal-clad monster—he could hardly be a human being—chopped down at Rose. This time, she tried to block with her shield. Though the blow numbed her entire arm, the metal held, and she struck back with a stab at Deathend's belly. He turned at the last second so the point glanced off the curve of his armor, and laughing gripped his hilt two-handed. Unable to retract her sword to parry in time, she intercepted his next blow too with her shield. And something occurred which had never happened before. The blade tore through both layers of her heavy reinforced steel shield to cut deep into Rose's forearm, and she cried out in pain.

  Finn ran to her aid, and with a combined flurry they managed to drive their implacable foe back a step. But Deathend retaliated with the fury of a raging wildfire, chopping at Rose's head while also punching at Finn with his other gauntleted hand. She blocked the blow and stumbled back from its tremendous force, while her husband slipped the punch and grabbed hold of Deathend's arm to try and slow him down. Again he demonstrated his unbelievable strength as he twisted and hurled Finn into the air to land on top of Rose, knocking her down.

  With a shout, Finn pushed off her to strike with an overhead blow from his mace. Deathend parried easily. He laughed and rammed his fist into Finn's face, knocking him down. Rose chopped at his neck. He ducked and stabbed at her gut. She turned to allow his sword past, tried to kick him in the groin. The glancing hit she landed on his thigh had no observable effect. He rushed her from short range to headbutt her with his thick helmet, smashing her to her back.

  Rose's mind reeled at the unrealness of the situation. She and Finn had been troubled together by single foes before, but one that fought in melee with a humanlike form? It was almost unbelievable, seeing as Rose and Finn stood leagues above most warriors in strength and skill, but he flat out dominated them.

  As they'd had no luck fighting him standing, Rose grabbed Deathend's helm antlers in an effort to throw him to the ground. He blocked the attempt and tossed her over his head with a flex of his neck. Finn swung his mace again. Deathend swatted it off course, grabbed him by the throat, and threw him through a nearby wall. She hadn't believed it at first, but now Rose had to wonder if this was indeed the power of a god.

  The battle dragged on, Deathend wounding the couple again and again without respite. But even against a stronger, faster foe with superior gear, consummate warriors Rose and Finn began to adjust. Finally, they mounted an offense with visible effect; a simultaneous strike with both their weapons to his face staggered him and he was backing away, retreating under a heavy rain of blows. Deathend regained his composure and beat them back, their blood dripping over the cobblestones they stepped over. Suddenly he found an opening in Rose's defenses, and stabbed up through her solar plexus into her chest cavity.

  She screamed, blood gouting from her mouth. But as he ran her through, she clenched her jaw against the pain and smashed her hilt into his wrist, breaking his grip on the sword to leave it impaled through her body. She slashed at his head, resisting the desire of her quivering knees to buckle. Yet her resolve availed her little. Deathend ducked and went right back on the attack, wrapping one hand around her throat to lift her into the air. Grabbing the hilt of his sword with his other hand, he slammed her against the nearest wall. The impact drove the blade jutting from her back into the stone, pinning her there.

  Seeing her predicament, a bellowing Finn swung two-handed at Deathend's head. The supposed war god caught the heavy mace in his palm and hit him with a thunderous punch which stunned him, felling him to the ground with his scalp ripped open. Seeing her beloved lying in a puddle of blood, Rose grabbed the blade of Deathend's sword and tried to pull it loose. But it was stuck fast, and she could not free herself despite sending eruptions of agony through her body with her attempts to.

  Deathend looked up at her suffering face, and his eyes gleamed with triumph. "You were admirable fighters. It's good I'll be able to continue to enjoy your company as my servants."

  Rose had seen what his servants were like. "Never," she spat, and chanted a quick spell through the blood filling her mouth, one of the few times she'd done so. Deathend realized what she meant to do and tried to block, but Rose kicked his arm out of the way, opening her target to attack. Her magical ability wasn't high, but if she could make the most of what she had.... She shaped a tiny fireball, as small as a fingernail, and shot it directly into the visor slit of the giant before her. Entering the thin opening, it exploded within the confines of the metal, and screams of anguish filled her ears.

  Smoke billowed from every opening in Deathend's helm. Staggering away he tore it off, revealing the mess that remained of his face. It had been burnt to the point of near unrecognizability and yet, somehow seemed familiar... He lurched back towards Rose, attempting to do something. Though she felt close to fainting from the exertion of her spell combined with her wounds, she kicked him in the jaw, still nailed to the wall by his sword.

  Off balance, Deathend stumbled away right into Finn's mace to the back of his head. The monster fell to his knees, and Finn raised his weapon for a final crushing blow. For a moment Deathend's entire body glowed red to match his eyes, then a crimson blast of flame expanded outwards from him. A wave of heat and force smashed into the couple, knocking Finn through the air like a ball to crash through a storefront window and driving Rose through the wall to which she was impaled.

  #

  Groaning, Finn shook his head as clear as he could and crawled out of the butcher's shop he had landed in. He figured he probably looked butchered himself. Deathend stood where he'd been, a little smoke still issuing from the helm he had put back on. "You put up a good fight, but now your woman is dead. What do you have to say?"

  Through the hole Rose's body had made in the wall, Finn saw her sword stick up into the air. "Not done yet," her wet voice said.

  The noise of many loud footfalls, more than likely belonging to a squad of soldiers, could also be heard approaching rapidly. Though concerned for Rose, Finn forced a grin. "Looks like you're dead."

  "Maybe this isn't the day I finish you," Deathend said, sounding almost... pleased? "But I sense powerful magic ability within you that you fail to use—why? Perhaps the next time we meet, you can show me your full strength." With that Deathend darted quick as an arrow into the nearest
alley, and was gone.

  Finn didn't bother to check his own wounds or wait for the soldiers before limping hurriedly to the hole through which his love had fallen. Though she hadn't been dead as Deathend thought, the wound she'd taken was no laughing matter even for her. The fact she had not gotten up or apparently even tried to made his heart pound with fear.

  He entered to find that Rose lay on her back in some hapless family's dining room, still pinned to a piece of their wall that had fallen on the floor. A grisly scene, but Finn took comfort in seeing his amazing love still lived, and struggled to free herself. Now that she had better leverage, she was making progress on extracting the huge blade buried in her body, though she obviously put herself through excruciating pain to do so.

  "Let me do it," Finn offered. Her features pale and twisted with agony, she nodded. He put a foot on her stomach, bent, and used his whole body to pull the sword out in one motion. When it came free, he stumbled back—it'd been stuck very firmly in that wall—and a crimson geyser fountained into the air. Rose gasped. Her body shuddered violently while thick blood pooled around her and poured out of her mouth, and for terrifying moments she couldn't find the strength to speak. No, she had to hold on! He couldn't lose her, not like this... he held her tightly, as if he could clutch her spirit and hold it from departing her body.

  Finally, she spoke, and her words gave him some relief. "Ow, that really hurt! I'm going to kill that b-bastard."

  He nodded as he lifted her upper body slightly off the ground to put pressure on the back side of her wound, while she clutched her chest where the blade had entered. It wouldn't do much good considering the internal bleeding, and she'd live or die by her own strength. But he did it anyway; it made him feel better, less powerless to help his love. He'd failed to keep her safe, again.

  "Where is he, anyway?" she asked, and gurgled.

  Finn realized Rose was having trouble catching her breath, and raised her gently into a sitting position to help her clear her throat and keep from choking on her own vital fluids. "He just left, saying he wanted me to use my magic the next time we met. Kind of surprised he left his sword." He smiled. "You used attack magic well, I might add."

  She coughed, spitting blood all over him, then replied with a shrug, "It was the best option at the time. I can't see, Finn."

  For a moment, terror froze him. Then he noticed the hair which had fallen over her eyes, obstructing her sight. He brushed it aside and asked fearfully, "That better?"

  Just then, a small girl walked out from behind a drawer. She must have hiding there since Deathend blasted Rose into her home. "Lady, are you dying?"

  Hating the thought, Finn snarled, "No, she's going to be fine. Go away, kid." The girl shrank back in fear. He realized Rose wouldn't approve, and with an apologetic glance at her said to the child, "Sorry about that."

  The girl brushed off Finn's outburst and touched Rose's hand with her own small one. "You're bleeding so much. Should I get a doctor?"

  She blinked, trying to focus her vision. "No, you just... stay here and wait for your parents. The last thing I want is for you to get... lost outside, and besides, like he just told you, I'll be okay." She turned to Finn. "Time to get me patched up, though."

  "Both of us." Still holding onto the back side of her wound, he helped her slowly to her feet. "See, kid? She's fine."

  Seeing Rose get up, the little girl remarked, "Wow, people can survive swords through their chests? You're one awesome lady!"

  "Don't try it yourself," she warned with a grin. "I'm special." Finn kissed her as she said it, and scooping her up to save her the trouble of walking in her state, brought her to the nearest surgeon.

  #

  After watching Rose get her injuries treated, the doctor closing her wounds as best he could while marveling that she still lived, Finn went back for a look at the leftovers of Deathend's attack. He felt reluctant to leave his horribly injured wife's bedside so soon, but marshaled his faith in her enormous vitality and trusted she'd make it through all right. When he returned to the scene of the fight, he found that Queen Danica, still bearing a limp from her fight with Rose, was already there along with her soldiers.

  "Finn!" she yelled. "I heard you were seen carrying Rose mortally wounded from here. Is she..?"

  He smiled proudly. "She didn't die. It just looked like she would to the uninitiated."

  "I see. That's her blood in the house, isn't it? Must have hurt like hell. Best wishes to her."

  "Thanks."

  Danica looked to his belt. "Is that his sword?"

  He had to look himself before he remembered that after pulling the sword from Rose's chest, he'd tucked it into his belt and left it there since. He shuddered to see her drying blood still covered it and pulled it out. "Yeah, it is. Nasty piece of work."

  The queen took the sword and examined it. "Beautiful," she breathed.

  He supposed he'd think so too, if it hadn't punched a big hole through his wife's chest earlier in the day. "It isn't magical, though, just plain steel. That's kind of surprising, given we're pretty sure his armor was enchanted what with it being so hard to get through."

  "It seems unlikely a warrior mage, or god, has a magical armor but not weapon." Danica's brow furrowed in thought. "Maybe this isn't his true trademark, but a replica?"

  "That would explain him leaving it behind so easily. I wish we could have gotten a look at his face before Rose cooked it. She said he seemed familiar."

  "Did she say who he reminded her of?"

  Finn shook his head. "No, and I forgot to ask. Let's go talk to her now, if she's awake."

  They went together to Rose's room, and Finn was unsurprised to find her chatting despite her condition, proclaiming wistfully to a nurse how great her husband was and how much she loved him. Her words brought joy to his heart, but also worried him. Did her injuries made her delirious? The thought scared him because no matter how badly she'd been hurt in the past, she had tended to retain her good judgment, and recover. If she failed in one now, would she too in the other? He couldn't bear that...

  "Rose," he said anxiously, "the queen wants to speak to you. Are you up to it?"

  To his relief, her voice was steady if weak, and seemed to reflect clarity of mind. "Of course. Hi, Danica. What do you need?"

  Danica's first question was a small surprise. "Are you all right?"

  "Of course not. I got hung up with a sword stabbed through my chest and then blown through a stone wall. But I've fought with worse injuries before." She grinned. "I wager you're not visiting just to check on me, though? Spill it."

  As she looked at Rose, the corners of Danica's mouth turned up in seeming admiration of her cheer in the face of hardship. "Finn told me Deathend's face reminded you of someone. Who?"

  She thought about it for a while. "I really don't know. It's weird—I'm usually better at recalling who I'm thinking of."

  Again Finn grew uneasy. He touched her shoulder and said for himself as much as for her, "Don't worry. You're hurt, of course you're not at your best."

  "It's not that. My chest feels terrible, but my mind's working just fine except for this little memory problem. I didn't take any hard hits to the head."

  "Some stories say the Fanteian nobility is descended from Deathend," Danica said. "I always thought it was propaganda to make people look up to them, but maybe he looked like someone you saw among the enemy months ago?"

  Rose tried again, but still couldn't put her finger on who Deathend reminded her of. After a time, she hesitantly suggested, "Well, I'm not sure about the face, but that warrior we saw on the island... kind of resembled Deathend in height? Trevor the Tree, I mean."

  Danica frowned. "But I've fought and beaten Trevor. He's nowhere near as strong as what you described."

  "Yes, I heard he claimed to be the third best warrior in Fanteia before I arrived, so I suppose he put himself beneath Regis and Julian at least, and the 'Deathend' we fought was much tougher than them. And he had some kind of energ
y attack—like a spell, but he didn't have to chant any words."

  Though she must've had a good idea of what he might say, Finn's reply visibly frightened her nonetheless. "His mastery must be incredible if he no longer has to speak out loud to command the elements. If he created those undead, he also knows how to manipulate souls in addition to the basic elements." Which meant that his ability had to be far above the couple's own. Spiritual magic was far more difficult than the elemental kind which was all Finn and Rose could use. And to be willing to perversely force the souls of the dead back into their rotting bodies and bind them to his servitude spoke to the giant's ruthless nature.

  Rose shivered. "How did he get so powerful?"

  Hearing the fear in her voice, Finn held her hand. "Assuming he isn't really a god like he claims, something could have happened to him. Don't know what, though."

  "He seemed to be wearing Deathend's armor, yes?" Danica asked. "Maybe it somehow increases his abilities and gives him this spellcasting ability?"

  "Or he enhances himself physically with magic," Rose said. "Whoever or whatever he is, he's extremely dangerous. Hopefully, our final attacks did him some lasting damage."

  Though he doubted that would be the case, Finn kissed her with pride. The fight she'd continued to put up while nailed to the wall had certainly been impressive. "Yeah. Hopefully."

  #

  "So what exactly do we do when we see him?" Sean asked Julian as they headed out of Belar, to seek the terrible foe destiny demanded he face.

  Julian shrugged. "Whatever we have to to put him down."

  "How the hell am I supposed to do that with a sword hilt?!"

  "Maybe the blade will appear when Deathend is near. That's what the prophecy implied."

  The idea of being a hero of prophecy appealed less and less to Sean. "Are you sure it's me? I really don't think I can do anything against this thing." If it was real, anyway. He still couldn't be sure if Julian's claims were true. A single man had easily slaughtered Ohere's formidable guard, raised its members as undead servants, and stifled any potential resistance through sheer fear? Of course, an actual god could easily possess such power. But why would a divine being want an earthly empire?