Rook could almost feel the rage pouring off the King as he turned around to face him. Rook backed a few steps away as the ogre spread wide his arms and pounded his chest, his outcry so dreadful that his army all ducked and cowered where they stood. The King stomped forward, shaking the ground, and Rook was forced to dive out of the way.
Thinking the monster was now occupied with Rook, Cabiel leapt into the air, trying to sink his sword through its soft belly. Before he could land the blow, however, the ogre’s club hit him right across the chest, thunking on his star-metal breastplate. As Cabiel was knocked away, Loganiel’s body exploded with Caliber light as he leapt into the air, whipping his blade around at the beast’s face. The ogre flinched away but Loganiel landed on his cheek and whipped his sword out, opening a small cut in the thick skin beneath the right eye, but not enough to make it bleed. He leapt away but the ogre caught him in mid-air.
“Traitor! Fool!” boomed the Ogre-King. Loganiel struggled in the consuming grasp. “I squash you!”
“Attack! Attack! Knights of Narbereth, attack!” Rook spun to see Sir Rivenal on his horse, waving his sword in the air as if to stir the King’s army. “Attack! Attack now!” Sir Rivenal threw down his sword and hoisted his bolt-thrower. He looked at Rook as the golden barrel of his gun glistened in the evening sun. Rook was certain the man was going to shoot him, but Rivenal turned on his horse and then fired into the air. JINK-JINK-JINK!
There were popping sounds as the bolts exploded on the ogre’s knuckles and hand. The ogre howled as he dropped Saint Loganiel, flapping his leathery paw in the air. He turned to Rivenal, his ugly face twisting ever further into anger. Rivenal’s horse became a donkey beneath him, his golden bolt-thrower turning to tin as his armor became dull iron. The Ogre-King boomed an angry sound and raised his club.
And then the army charged. Knights screamed as swords were raised. They rushed their former King and he was engulfed by a wave of armor whose gleam faded to the pocked patina of iron. Swords hacked. Bolt-throwers fired. But Rook couldn’t see any blood. Their attacks could not penetrate the Ogre-King’s skin.
With a roar the ogre threw twenty or more men from him. He swung his club back and forth, his booming laughter echoing throughout the valley as knights by the dozen were cast to the wind. More came at him from the back, but the King turned, stomping four into bloody pulp and then smashing another two beneath his club.
Rook knew there was but one chance. He looked around for Saint Ertrael and found him near the King’s left leg. “Ertrael! Saint Ertrael!”
The Saint turned his ruby eyes to him.
“Throw me!” cried Rook. “Toss me to his head!”
Rook saw understanding light up Ertrael’s eyes. The Saint crouched, locking his fingers together. Nearby stood Loganiel and Cabiel and Rook could see Ertrael telling them the plan.
With a deep breath, Rook ran at them with all the speed he could muster. The King began to turn their direction, his club swinging back and forth, sweeping away the swarming knights. Starbreaker hummed in Rook’s grasp as he jumped into Ertrael’s hands. The Saint tossed him into the air. Rook’s legs kicked as he was hurled up past the monster’s waist. Loganiel leapt onto the ogre’s chest and grabbed Rook’s feet, tossing him higher.
The Ogre-King turned and Rook found himself looking him in the eyes as his ascent came to a stall. “You are not our King. The people take back your crown!”
Rook whirled his sword. Starbreaker thrummed as it melted its way through the Ogre’s neck. Blood sprayed like a geyser as the head slid from the stump. Rook landed on the ground hard, his legs nearly giving out beneath him. Blood rained down as the head came crashing to the earth, just feet from him.
Rook looked up. The towering body leaned his direction and then began to topple. He and a handful of knights ran as the body fell toward them, blood still spraying from the neck, wetting the field. One of the knights slipped and fell, and then another. Rook dove to the side. The King’s body trembled the ground, smashing the hapless knights beneath it. It bounced once, and then all was silent.
Ertrael helped Rook to his feet. Down the field he saw Callad and Blake limping toward him. To his side, the Narberian army stood in disarray, surprised by their own actions. Behind him, Cabiel and Loganiel looked around as if suddenly lost. Rook turned to see Sir Rivenal on his horse, his face pale, confused.
Rook looked upon the lost masses before him and shouted, “Knights and Saints of Narbereth, you have freed yourselves!”
All eyes turned to him.
“On this day, in this valley, you have spoken in one voice!” cried Rook, turning as he addressed as many men as he could. “You have said that your sons and daughters deserve better! You have said that no justice comes from unjust laws! You have said that in Narbereth we shall not suffer another night of darkness! And you have all done this on your own! Look around and see that there are no kings and no gods among you! You’ve done this by your own will! With your own hands, you have set yourselves free!
“Now I ask that you all might continue to stand with me here! Bring your wives and your children to this valley! Bring all who would come with you!” Here Rook held high his sword. “Together we are the light of a new dawn! Tell all of Narbereth that here shines the sun!”
Sir Rivenal turned on his horse. He looked at the army and fired his bolt-thrower into the sky. “Here shines the sun!”
Cheers erupted through the ranks of knights. Thousands of voices shook the atmosphere. Swords were raised. “Here shines the sun!”
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Nuriel leapt down from the steps of Diotus’s shop, her golden eyes fixed on Hadraniel and Karinael. Kierza backed away as Saint Rael came down the steps toward her. Karinael could see Rael fix Kierza with eyes of milky iridescence as she strode past her. Then Kierza’s gaze fell to the Saint’s bloody sword and she screamed out to her Ma and dashed up the steps into the shop.
“Karin,” warned Hadraniel, his sword out defensively as Nuriel stormed forward, flourishing her large claymore. He grabbed Karinael’s arm and took a step back. “We have to run.”
Karinael’s heart thumped in her chest. I can do this, she thought as Nuriel’s hateful eyes burned into hers. We’re friends, and she’ll listen to me. All I have to do is talk to her. Karinael stepped forward, pulling her arm from Hadraniel’s grip. “Nuriel!” she cried.
Rael came around Nuriel’s side, pointing her sword at Hadraniel. Karinael could feel the fear building in Hadraniel. Rael and Nuriel were coming in fast.
“We have to run!” barked Hadraniel.
“Let me handle Nuriel.” said Karinael. “I can handle her.” Hadraniel began to protest but she took a step forward. “Nuriel, I need to—” Karinael flinched as Nuriel shot forward, her claymore spinning.
“I warned you!” growled Nuriel ferociously as her sword knocked Hadraniel’s aside. “I warned you not to betray Holy Father!” Karinael screamed as Nuriel’s boot caught her right in the stomach, kicking her down to the ground.
Karinael sat up on the road, clenching her stomach. Dazed, she looked up just in time to see Hadraniel bringing his sword up in a sweeping arc. Without even looking at him Nuriel whirled her sword, casting his aside as she spun and kicked him, landing her boot solidly in the center of his breastplate. Hadraniel flew back, crashing into the side of a building. He peeled himself from the brick wall and shook his head as he got his bearings back. But now Rael was upon him.
“Hadi!” cried Karinael as she struggled up to her knees. A shadow fell over her. She looked up.
“You make me do this! It’s your fault!” growled Nuriel. Karinael screamed as Nuriel grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her up to her feet. Blood flew from Karinael’s mouth as the back of Nuriel’s hand smacked across her cheek, toppling her back to the ground.
Stunned and laying on the brick road, Karinael
grabbed her mouth. She could taste blood and there was a ringing in her ears. Everything was happening so quickly. Why wouldn’t Nuriel let her say anything? Why would Nuriel strike her so hard? Was Nuriel really meaning to fight?
“How could you!?” Nuriel picked Karinael back up by her hair, her voice sounding tinny and distant in Karinael’s buzzing head. Karinael felt unsteady on her feet and her eyes rolled to the side. She saw Hadraniel call out to her, his eyes alternating between his own fight with Rael and her. She heard their swords cracking together. But then Karinael felt Nuriel’s grip wrap around her neck. Nuriel held her by the throat and brought her face to her’s, and all Karinael could see were those fierce, molten, golden eyes. “How could you do this to me!?” Nuriel shook Karinael by the throat.
Karinael gasped for breath as she felt herself thrown onto the brick road. She reached for her sword as she rolled, but before she could get back to her feet Nuriel’s boot landed squarely in her chest and she tumbled down the road, her breastplate tearing up the bricks.
“Get up!” roared Nuriel. “Get up and face me!” Blackness and stars filled Karinael’s vision as she felt the cold, unforgiving star-metal of Nuriel’s boot catch her under the chin.
“Karin!” Karinael heard Hadraniel’s voice somewhere down the road as she struggled up to her knees, holding her sword out. She shook her dazed head, then noticed droplets of blood on the bricks beneath her. Her mouth was bleeding. She looked up just as Nuriel’s claymore came at her, knocking the blade from her hand. It flew across the road and broke through the wall of a house. Then Nuriel’s fist impacted her left eye.
White sparks fired in Karinael’s vision. She didn’t even register the pain before she felt Nuriel’s grip tangle in her hair and drag her up to her feet. Something in her mind urged her to say something to Nuriel—to say anything—but all she could muster was a weak yelp.
Another backhand across her cheek. Karinael stumbled backward, clutching her face. Something rattled around in her mouth. She opened her jaw and blood and teeth poured out. She coughed, nearly choking on all the blood. She looked up and her eyes loosely focused on Hadraniel. His face seemed paler than usual, his eyes wide and frantic as he desperately pressed his attacks on Rael.
“You betrayed me!” roared Nuriel.
Karinael turned her head, holding her mouth with one hand. Nuriel stormed forward. Karinael raised her other hand to her. “Nuriel, stop!”
“I apprenticed you!” Nuriel’s sword flicked outward and Karinael’s wrist erupted with searing pain as her hand flew across the road. She screamed and recoiled her arm, blood spilling from the stump.
Karinael looked at Nuriel as she held her bleeding wrist against her chest. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t react. Her mind raced but all she could focus on were the thoughts of, this can’t be really happening.
“You embarrass me!” Nuriel swept her sword up, lopping Karinael’s right leg off at the knee. She screamed out as she toppled hard upon the road.
Karinael clutched her bleeding arm to her chest as she rolled onto her belly. She turned her head to find Hadraniel. She watched as he spun in quickly at Rael. She moved her sword up, knocking Hadraniel’s aside. Then she spun in at him with a sweeping kick, knocking Hadraniel’s feet out from under him. He fell and for a moment Karinael’s eyes met his. “H-Hadi…” she managed.
Hadraniel rolled just as Rael’s sword plunged into the road. He kicked himself up to his feet. “Karin!” he cried as Rael tore her sword free. Hadraniel’s face twisted in anger and hatred. His sword flashed as he met Rael’s. She spun, whipping her sword around at him but he rolled beneath it, coming up behind her as he brought his sword up, over and spun it around, taking off her head. As Rael’s body fell, Hadraniel’s head snapped in Karinael’s direction. His eyes went wide. “No!” he screamed.
Karinael looked up. Nuriel turned her over onto her back and got on top of her. “You betrayed Holy Father!” she screamed, her eyes wild, disconnected. She was high on Ev. Karinael knew it. “You made me do this! You made me do this! I hate you!”
Karinael felt a sting in her armpit so powerful that it completely sucked all breath from her. Coldness penetrated her body, filling her lungs. She choked and gasped as Nuriel slowly pressed her sword deeper until Karinael felt its icy touch pierce her heart.
Nuriel stood up and Karinael felt the blade slip from her body. Breath tore its way back into her, but it was painful, like she was trying to breathe underwater, and it was full of the metallic essence of blood. Karinael glanced down at her left shoulder. Blood was pouring out from between her arm and breastplate. She tried to call out for Hadraniel but only a fountain of crimson escaped her lips. She looked up at the sky. It was so blue. Such a bright day. She knew it was warm out, but she felt so cold. She could hear Hadraniel’s boots clanging on the brick road as he raced toward her. A moment later he came skidding upon his knees, scooping her into his arms.
“Karin! Karin!”
She looked to him. Blood sprayed from her mouth as she coughed. She reached up to his face. Her wrist stung as the severed stump stroked down his cheek. “H-Hadi…”
“I’m here. I’m here.” Hadraniel hugged her to his breast and shined his Caliber as brightly as he could. She could feel its warmth embrace her, but it was like it was moving away from her, or maybe she from it. “Stay with me! Karin, stay with me!”
She smiled softly at him, then her eyes turned toward Nuriel. Hadraniel looked up. Nuriel stood before them, her chest heaving, white spit at the edges of her mouth like a rabid dog. She stared down at them. She gripped her sword. She looked like she might strike at Hadraniel.
“Nuriel…” Karinael’s voice was hardly a whisper.
Nuriel hesitated.
“What have you done!” cried Hadraniel, tears streaming from his eyes as he looked up at her. “What have you done!”
“N-Nuriel,” croaked Karinael from Hadraniel’s arms. She coughed, spraying more blood. “I loved you, Nuriel. You were my friend, and that was more real than anything else in my childhood. I don’t know what happened to you. You shut me out. But I will always remember who you were, and that’s more important than who you are now. If you ever loved me, I-I-”
“Stay with me,” said Hadraniel frantically. He cradled her head to his. “Stay with me. Be quiet. Focus on my Caliber. Let me heal you.”
“Hadi,” whispered Karinael. She couldn’t feel his Caliber anymore. She couldn’t feel her own either. It was as if her Caliber was above her; as if it had become a part of something vast and beyond the reach of this world. She felt drawn to it, but she urged herself to stay a moment longer. “Hadi, I love you.” She coughed, spattering Hadraniel’s cheek with blood. “Please go to Duroton. You have to. Promise me—” She gasped a painful, wheezing gasp.
“Don’t you die, Karin!” cried Hadraniel. “Don’t you die! Karin!”
Karinael felt the fingers of her good hand brush through his silver hair and stroke his cheek. It was warm and wet. Soft. She closed her eyes and smiled. He was kind and gentle and good. she thought. A good Saint. A Saint of Aeoria. And I got to know him. She felt herself pulled toward that great vastness where her Caliber lay. And then her hand fell hard upon the ground.
“No! Karin, no!” Hadraniel clutched her body close and tight. He shined his Caliber as brightly as he could, a globe of intense white surrounding him. “Karin, you can’t die! Karinael!”
Bones popped and cracked in a sickening way. Her body spasmed in his arms.
“Karin no!” Hadraniel looked to the heavens, tears falling from his cheeks as her empty armor fell into pieces in his arms.
Kierza came out of Diotus’s shop, her mother at her side. She turned to see Hadraniel kneeling in the road, crying out to the heavens as Nuriel stood beside him. Hadraniel’s red, wet eyes turned to Nuriel. “How could you! How could you! You killed her! This world needed her, and you
took her away! You killed your own friend! All she ever wanted was to be with you again! How could you! How could you!”
Nuriel looked around at all the blood, as if suddenly confused. She grabbed her hair up in her hands. “Holy Father, what have I done.” she panted.
“Kill me! Just kill me!” roared Hadraniel as he grabbed up Karinael’s empty bodysuit, shaking it at Nuriel.
Kierza and Sierla ran up to Hadraniel as he collapsed upon Karinael’s armor, weeping.
“Oh Karinael, my sweet Karinael.” cried Hadraniel, clutching her bodysuit to his chest. Sierla and Kierza wrapped their arms around him as he wept into her armor.
A sudden fierceness entered Kierza as she hugged Hadraniel in her arms, his body wracked by sobs. She looked up at Nuriel with venomous eyes. “Is this what you do? Is this what you enjoy? You’re no Saint, you’re a monster!”
Nuriel looked down at the spot Karinael once lay. Just blood and armor there now. “What have I done? What did I do? Oh, Holy Father, what have I done?” She snatched one of Karinael’s pauldrons and then bounded up onto a roof and leapt down, disappearing into the streets.
— 24 —
Retribution
“Ursula.” whispered the strong man with brown eyes and beard as he trained his bolt-thrower on Agana. “I… I’m sorry. You… you’re all my fault.”
Tears rained from Agana’s eyes as she ran and fell beside Ophelia on the floor, hugging her. “Don’t hurt Saint Ophelia! Please don’t hurt her!”
The man pointed his barrel down at them. It trembled in his hands.
Ophelia held her sword in one hand and put her other around Agana, tucking the girl’s face into the crook of her neck. She turned her obsidian eyes up to the man as her mangled leg bled out onto the floor. Outside the cottage there was shouting. Ophelia could hear the neighboring building’s having their doors kicked in as knights and townspeople searched for her and Agana.
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