Squire

by Payton Cavallo

  They wanted to settle for the one with the most delicious magic to devour after all, and as he was the closest source of it, Craeft knew that he’d look like a delectable meal towards the vile creatures.

  “Miion help me.” Craeft said, a bit of panic in his tone, though he desperately tried not to show it. Craeft’s heart pounded in his chest as he looked at the slowly approaching forms of the Shades, the beasts seeming to size up their prey before deciding how to strike. “Sasha, you see that bit of rubble over there?”

  The girl nodded.

  “I need you to go and hide. Now.”

  “But-“

  “Now!” The little girl seemed to grow even smaller as she did as he said, hiding behind a few bits of rubble. He looked towards his encroaching opponents, nothing but dread and adrenaline coursing through his veins.

  Sweat dripped down his brow. “You can do this Craeft. You’ve got to do your duty as a squire, and protect Sasha. Just got to focus on that. You’ve just got to protect one little girl, that’s it. If you can’t do that, then you’ve got no reason to even don your armor.” He mumbled to himself, trying to fortify himself for the battle to come. But he couldn’t, all he could think of was the corpses that he saw along the way, and the expressions of horror on their face.

  He imagined that same expression on his face and on Sasha’s.

  Craeft’s hands shook as he held them out in front of his body, his left hand atop his right in a grip. He felt his magical core stir as some of the aetheric energy left it, the magic gathering in his hands and taking the form of a blade.

  His very own swerdan.

  It was a large thing, a thick great sword around four feet in length, from the crystal pommel that denoted its status as a swerdan, to the end of the blade. The pommel and grip were a very dark blue, nearly black, color, while the blade was a silver color that glinted under the light that shone through the clouds, a bit of frost growing alongside the edges of it.

  He gripped it tightly, his hands locked on his weapon as the Lusus grew closer and closer. “You’ve trained for this Craeft,” He whispered to himself as one of the creatures readied itself to lunge at him, “Combat Class was the one thing you were good at. Time to show what you’re made of.”

  The Lusus crouched, its leg muscles bulging before it lunged.

  Craeft spun, using the weight of the sword to add some momentum to his swing as he carved the creature in half. The Shade shrieked as it’s body began to fall apart, the fiend turning to nothingness as it’s body rapidly disintegrated, leaving nothing behind.

  This lent its comrades a pause. Craeft may not have studied any mental magics, but he knew what they must have been thinking. They had grown used to having easy prey, ones that couldn’t kill them, civilians who weren’t strong enough to force them to teleport away, back to the Abyss they called their home.

  Now that they found one who could, they would have to be cautious, lest the same fate befall them. Their advance, slowed. The hunger was still in their eyes, still wanting to feast on his body and soul, but it was tempered by an alertness that wasn’t there before, even if it was barely visible over their overwhelming hunger.

  Two more ran forward, deciding not to lunge this time. Rather, they dashed forward, attempting to cut him down with their claws. Craeft slammed his foot down on the ground, creating a slight bit of ice near him, just enough to make their footing uneasy.

  It worked, one of them skidding and meeting it’s end as he cleaved it in half vertically. The other one met it’s end in much the same way, raging against its end as it died.

  The ice on the ground dissipated back into magic, but it seemed to have made little impact on the Lusus. Driven by the ravenous lust for flesh, both spiritual and physical, it hadn’t managed to dissuade them from continuing their assault, the remaining five deciding to overwhelm him with numbers. If one and two, hadn’t worked, then surely more would be enough to finally cut him down.

  They circled him, their mouth emitting snarls as drool leaked down their chins. Craeft eyed them warily, trying not to let himself get surrounded. He heard noise behind him and swung his sword, cleaving that one in two, its surprise attack failing, but another leaped out of the circle. It moved quick, quicker than he knew he could swing, so with a brief flash of light, his swerdan disappeared as he de-summoned it.

  His hand lanced out and the Shade lurched, snarling as he grabbed it by the throat. Its claws reached out, trying to grab him by the neck and tear out his jugular. Ice quickly built up along his arms and creature writhed for just a moment before frost covered its entire body. Its movement slowed, a few croaks leaving its mouth as its body froze completely.

  Craeft cried out in pain as a claw lanced into his side, the Shade cutting through his armor. He had been too distracted by the one threat, that another Shade had decided to attack while his attention was drawn. He snarled, a mixture of adrenaline and rage flowing through him as he threw the frostbitten Lusus at its comrade and summoned his swerdan once more. The creature growled as the other Shade landed on top of it, the swerdan piercing the both of them as Craeft thrusted it downwards. Their bodies fell apart as they died, leaving only three left.

  The tallest stood still as its companions lurched forward. Craeft swung his swerdan once again, but they both ducked under the blade. He felt their claws cut lines across his chest, but the adrenaline coursing through him allowed him to ignore the pain. He de-summoned his swerdan, realizing that it would be useless so close and pushed his magic out of his core, Ice forming along his arms into gauntlets of sort, an additional layer of protection on top of his armor.

  He blocked a strike with his right arm, before sharpening the ice on his left, forming a blade at his wrist. Craeft jabbed, creating a large wound on the Shade’s chest, the creature screeching as it leapt back. Its partner attacked, and Craeft backhanded it with the bladed limb, leaving a long gash across its cheek.

  The two snarled at each other, seeming to come up with some plan in those infernal minds of theirs, attacking at once. Craeft grabbed one by the arm and pushed it in front of himself, letting it take the blow that its partner tried to dish out on him. The Shade screamed in surprise as it felt the claws of its brethren, one that had stricken many humans, strike its own flesh. Black ooze bubbled out of the wound, but not for long as Craeft stabbed it in the back multiple times before pushing it forward.

  It crumpled to the ground, its partner leaping back so as to avoid the same fate that had befell its brethren.

  Craeft held his hands out, and with a brief flash of light, tinted with a bit of frost, his swerdan appeared in his hands once again. He slashed diagonally, the Shade too slow to avoid the blow. It was bisected from shoulder to hip, the top half disintegrating before it could even reach the ground. The other Shade writhed on the ground, the creature trying to get away and heal itself so it could return and engorge itself on more people.

  Craeft would not allow that to happen.

  He planted the swerdan in its back, the Shade letting out a pitiful croak as it died. Craeft felt his muscles loose tension for a moment, thinking the battle was over…but he remembered there was one left. That was when he heard the footsteps close behind him.

  Very close.

  Craeft’s eyes widened slightly as he quickly pulled his sword in front of himself like a shield and turned. The Shade’s claws scraped against the swerdan, and the magical weapon blocked the blow. That didn’t stop the Lusus though, as it quickly leaned lower towards the ground and moved under the blade. It made to pierce his neck, but Craeft moved to the right, and its claws, held together like a spear, pierced into his right shoulder.

  Craeft let out a cry of pain as he felt the sharp nails of the Lusus dig into his flesh. Ice coated his forehead as he headbutted the creature, causing it to stumble back. Agony emanated from Craeft’s new wound, the squire gritting his teeth in fury as the Shade quickly righted itself, and rushed once more. The wound in his shoulder made using his swerdan an impo
ssible task, so he quickly abandoned it, the magical blade dissipating back into the aetheric energy it was made of.

  Ice coated his arms once more as he blocked a kick from the creature that had been aimed at his head, before he grabbed its leg and pulled forward, planting an ice-covered fist in its face. The jagged tips of his knuckles grazed its face, leaving small cuts as the force knocked a tooth out of the abomination’s mouth. It bit his hand, the teeth just sharp enough to tear into his knuckles through the ice and the armor, the sudden jolt of pain causing Craeft to release the leg.

  The Shade jumped back, trying to reassess its prey and gain an advantage over it, before its eyes moved towards the rubble.

  “You will not hurt her.” Craeft growled out as he slammed his hands onto the ground, large pillars of ice forming as he pushed his magic into it, the ends of them sharp and ready to impale the creature. They lanced forward, slamming into the building behind the Shade, but it was too fast. It ducked down beneath the pillars and quickly moved around them, leaving Craeft with little option but to roll down the rubble strewn street to avoid it. His armor clanked against the ground, bits of sharp rubble having pricked and stabbed at his uncovered head. A slight numbness began in his face as he stopped rolling and stood up, the blood loss causing him to shake slightly.

  He rubbed his numb cheek, the skin starting to redden as a bruise began to form. The creature slowly approached him with caution, but with a look of certainty in its eyes. As if it knew he would die and be its next meal.

  He clenched his fists at the thought.

  Ice began to build up along his arms, but it didn’t stop there. It began to cover his whole body, forming a jagged and chunky layer of armor over his squire armor as it covered every inch of him outside of his mouth and eyes. It was a gamble, as he had been practicing this armored technique for years. It offered great protection, but unfortunately, drained his magical core greatly.

  If he wasn’t careful, it could lead to him to exhausting his magical core. Slight exhaustion would lead to a dull ache as the toxins, much like lactic acid, would spread throughout his core, ready to break it down and build it up stronger than before. But without the chance to vent it out, whether through simply resting, relaxing, or other activities, the toxin would buildup.

  Moderate exhaustion would cause nausea and headaches, while Acute exhaustion could cause those and worse, leading up to death as the core couldn’t remove the toxins fast enough. A core meltdown it was called, when the core was unable to even vent the magic as the toxins burned through it, granting the person a horrid death as their soul melted down inside the body.

  He would have to make this quick.

  Craeft ran forward, the pavement crunching underneath his feet as he got closer and closer to the shade. It growled, ducking under a punch from his fist and swiping at his chest. Its red eyes widened as it didn’t penetrate the armor, the icy exterior taking most of the blow.

  That would be the last time it saw anything as Craeft grabbed it by the head. It dangled off the ground in his grasp, the creature writhing as its eyes were crushed like jelly as the squire penetrated them with his thumbs. It grabbed his wrist, but the ice spread across them too, causing its howls of agony to increase.

  It was tossed on the ground, blinded and crippled as its frostbitten hands were too damaged to move. The Shade was damaged further as Craeft stomped on its knees, stopping it from being able to run away. Without the ability to move, whether to run or even crawl, it simply snarled at the boy, surely cursing his name in whatever vile language of growls and roars the beasts spoke…only to be stopped as the magical sword penetrated its chest.

  Craeft stood over the rapidly disintegrating remains of the creature, his chest heaving with every breath, the air visible due to the cold around him. As soon as the creature was gone, he ended the constant drain on his magical core that was his ice armor, the ice instantly evaporating back into the aetheric energy it was formed out of.

  He kneeled next to his sword, sweat dripping down his forehead in heavy rivulets. His core ached, like a muscle that had been worked too far for too long, and he grit his teeth in pain from the wounds in his side, in his chest, and in his shoulder.

  But despite the pain, he couldn’t stop the small smile that spread across his face.

  He had done it. He had taken out some Lusus, and stopped a bit of the invasion.

  His eyes glanced over to the body of the fallen enforcer.

  ‘Though, not fast enough.’ Craeft thought, pushing down the ideas of failure that rose up in his mind.

  “You did it!” Sasha exploded out of the rubble, a small smile on her face. “You beat up those monsters!”

  “T-thanks.” He had a grin on his face as he tried to stand, his form hunched over as leaned on his sword. He took a few steps forward, the blade dragging along the ground, before he kneeled. Craeft wiped his forehead with the back of his gauntlet, taking a bit of the sweat off. ‘Really took a lot out of me though. I’ll have a hard time if anymore come by.’

  “Hey, are you alright?” He heard a voice above him and looked up. Atop one of the buildings was Veliane, a few dents and slices in her armor, but the girl herself didn’t look too beat up beside a few bruises. She hopped down, muttering a spell as bright red circular barriers appeared underneath her feet as she traversed the magical platforms. It was only as he got closer did he hear her mutter “plat barrius”, wisps of magic leaving the hot pink jewel on her right hand to form said barriers. In her left hand was her swerdan, a beautiful cutlass with a hot pink blade and a golden hilt, a crystal the same color as the blade making up the pommel.

  She landed next to him with a clap as her boots hit the ground, and she dismissed her swerdan in a bright flash of light and pink petals as she lifted him up. “You look like you’ve got some nasty cuts on you.”

  “Yeah, a few Shades got me.” Craeft winced as she helped him stand. She placed his right arm over her shoulder, and Craeft hissed as the wound in his shoulder tinging with pain. “Did you get hurt?”

  It felt like a foolish question to ask, judging by the bruises, but he did want to make sure his teammate was alright. Even if they had only been together for a day or two, she was the friendliest person he’d been with since coming to the academy, and he really didn’t want to lose her.

  “Y-yeah,” She tried to hold back her stutter, but the fear in her eyes gave it away. “I was helping keep a few Skitters off of Sir Finguine, while the other knights and squires dealt with the minor Lusus. Sir Finguine took on a huge one that was terrorizing District Three and…” She shivered. “It was the biggest one I’d ever seen. Bigger than some of the buildings here.”

  “Really?” Craeft asked.

  “Yeah, which is why we need to get back to a safe zone as soon as possible.” She said. “Now, I’ll help you and…” She trailed off. “Who is this?”

  “My name is Sasha.”

  “Well, I’ll take you and…Sasha back to the safer parts so you can get patched up and I can get away-“

  The sound of heavy stomping reached their ears, and the ground underneath them shook, a few pieces of rubble bouncing from their spots.

  “What was that?” Craeft asked.

  “Oh no.” Veliane croaked out. “Nononono-“

  The roar was enormous, the duo not having much time to react as an absolutely massive Lusus bowled through several buildings. It was around three stories tall and humanoid, tightly corded muscle wrapped around every limb with the same pulsating purple veins and claws as the minor Lusus. Horns sprouted up from its head like a twisted halo, and its mouth was open in a grimace, massive teeth gnashing as black vapor spewed from its mouth.

  Yet it didn’t seem to be focused on them.

  Craeft was confused for a moment, before he saw the form of Sir Finguine, his black armor blending into the mass of the creature. The man swung around it like a skilled artisan, his swerdan, a long scythe with a pitch-black hilt and a dark purple blade, being his brush.<
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  The Lusus, a Titan, reached for the knight, but he was too quick. He used a spell that looked eerily familiar to Craeft, sending a pulsing wave of magic out of his feet which allowed him to quickly maneuver around the creature till he was on the backside of its neck.

  With his scythe around the side.

  Another burst of magic came, but not from the knight’s feet, but from the side of the blade, digging it into the beast’s neck. It roared in pain, but did not have much time to continue that as the blade was forced back by another wave.

  Black ooze poured out of the opening, its neck cut nearly half way through. It fell to its knees, the magic from the human souls it consumed poured out of the wound at a rapid pace as its body started to fall apart. It crashed into a few buildings as it collapsed completely, before its entire body disintegrated, leaving nothing behind.

  Sir Finguine’s scythe fell to the ground, the man picking it up as he strode towards the squires. There were a few cuts here and there, but overall, he seemed fine.

  “You both seem to have sustained some injuries. Especially you.” He looked at Craeft, his voice a bit strained. He took a moment to look at the young girl with them, before returning his attention towards the two squires. “Both of you can still walk right?” Both the squires nodded. “Good. District Three has been cleared out, and with the Titan gone, it’ll be easy pickings to wipe out the rest of them.” He eyed Craeft and Veliane. “Why don’t you head back to the medical triage they’ve got set up in District Two? Me and the other knights will clean up the rest of the Lusus.”

  “Yes sir.” Veliane replied quickly.

  “Excellent, now,” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “run along. I’ll meet back up with you both there.”

  He sped away, the waves of magic propelling him forward as he ran towards the remnants of the Lusus invasion. Craeft looked down at Sasha before extending a hand towards her.

  “C’mon. We’ll get you to someplace safe.”

  Her small hand fit into his as Craeft leaned heavily on Veliane. They walked towards the triage in District Two, leaving the fight behind them.