Tomoe rotated her sword and swung it upwards to deflect Archil’s wide-arched swing. Archil’s sword slid down from the back of her sword. She had to arch her body and head back when Archil’s sword trailed back up her sword.
His swings became wilder and quicker, forcing her to deflect the next blow and then another, then another and another swing. Archil was turning, circling and changing directions with every swing he directed at her. A dust cloud formed around them and disturbed their surroundings.
Archil forced Tomoe completely into the defensive.
Archil’s sword glided down Tomoe’s sword, right past her. She barely avoided the hit against her head, but could not block the next one.
Pivoting on his heel, Archil bent his body until his bones cracked and tendons tore. His kick, strengthened by the wind, cracked Tomoe’s ribcage and sent her packing. She crashed into the dune, which toppled over and buried her. The Reiszer gaped in shock.
“Archil!” Kiur couldn’t believe his eyes as his brother stood before him. He had already given up on his hopes of seeing him again.
Standing proudly on his pawed feet, with various wounds marked all over his body and one large gash running up his whole back up to his left shoulder, was Archil—and he was livid.
A chilling spark shot through Tomoe’s spine, cracking each bone as she levelled the dune she was stuck in. Her lamellar armour pieces all broke. Her hands shook.
“How?” Tomoe gripped her mask. “I’ve stabbed his heart.” She had felt his heart giving out and his lungs collapsing. He was dead; she killed him, or rather, she had believed she left him for dead. “How, how, HOW!?”
“How much longer do you plan to sit?” Archil looked down at Kiur, who was crying his eyes out at the sight of his brother. Archil picked him up by the shawl; his feet dangled in the air. “Cry when you get home! Until then, I want you to keep your f#ck%ng act together!”
Archil’s face contorted from yelling. He put him down and hit his brother’s face with his bloody hand. “I have enough of your whining,” Archil then pulled his younger brother closer, hugging him tightly as his broken nails painfully dug into Kiur’s back. “I don’t want to see you like that. It will be alright, I mean it. I’ll save you all.”
His instincts kicked in; Archil pulled Kiur behind him, shielding him from the killer that came their way. “So you lived, huh? Quite tenacious, aren’t we?” Tomoe carefully adjusted her mask but couldn’t help herself but feel resentful.
So much so that her hand cracked her mask. Infuriated, Tomoe let out a howling screech, making anyone nearby bleed from the ears.
“Reiszer,” Tomoe huffed, sharply inhaling the air through her gritted teeth and readying herself with both hands firmly on her sword. Her hands were itching to draw it. “Guess we have another one to catch. Good for us, isn’t it? ISN’T IT!?” Tomoe exhaled lengthy. “Kill them.”
Obeying their commander, the soldiers leapt forward, surrounding and not giving them any chance to escape or fight back. They expected no resistance since Archil and the rest were beaten up and beyond exhausted while they remained still fresh and kicking.
The Reiszer soldiers had the upper hand. Surely they would win?
But they gravely underestimated the tenacity of the therianthrope named Archil, who was in command of a whole scout contingent back in Idaris, served in the Northern War effort and came from a tribe of the fiercest warriors in the world.
Archil vanished from the spot. A sudden gale of wind knocked out the first dozen assailants, not noticing how Archil, with Kiur under his arm, reappeared behind Xander and Cylia.
“Hold on tight,” said Archil with a sly, bloody grin. Kiur already had his arms around him. “That is if you want to escape.”
“No need to tell us twice.” Xander and Cylia clung to Archil, who had to hunch from the additional weight but still had the guts sticking his tongue out at Tomoe.
“Ciao, see you never, cur!” Archil vanished in the winds, leaving behind a heavy gust against the dumbfounded Tomoe and her Reiszer.
“Change of plans. That bastard is mine.” Tomoe's eye twitched. “I’ll make sure to stab his heart twice.”
“This is too fast; I’m gonna throw up.” Xander flailed under Archil’s grasp, barely able to hold it in.
“Oh hell no, you’ll not. Hold it in!” Archil moved so fast that his very motions were a blur to register as he zigzagged along the crevice. He needed to gain as much distance from Tomoe as he could. He couldn’t underestimate her one more time. “Take an example of the others. At least they have their act together.”
With one glance at Cylia, they could tell she was barely holding it in either; her face was turning green and blue. “Or not… just try not to fall off.”
Accelerating his speed, Archil tried to cover more ground but found it incredibly hard in his state. The baggage and danger of getting hit tired him out too much. Jumping over the cliff could work, but it was far too dangerous with Tomoe's capability to unleash long-range strikes to lacerate them in the air.
“That woman is a monster.” Archil really couldn’t underestimate her. She was by far one of the most dangerous people he had ever faced before, and he knew he couldn’t protect anyone when fighting her.
He needed to find a method to protect them—even after his death.
“This is leading nowhere.” Archil stopped right before Tomoe cut another chasm into the desert. Speed was to his advantage. He hoped to outrun them by running to the other end of the chasm. However, there was no end to it in sight.
“How long is this supposed to go?” wondered Archil as he avoided three consecutive strikes from different angles. There was a pattern, he thought. He could abuse it and-
“Watch out!” warned Kiur, and Archil instinctively altered his trajectory midair to avoid losing his leg.
“Tch,” Archil clicked with his tongue. He threw his passengers off with a thud. “She changed her pattern. There’s no use outrunning her,” panted Archil with his tongue out and ears dropping low. He was reaching his limit.
He had to push on, but not like this. He needed to fight like the cornered animal he was and push his body to the breaking point.
“What else should we do then!?” Xander complained, brushing his hair back. “There’s no way to run. If they catch us, we are as good as dead anyway- Are you even listening?”
Xander rumbled, but Archil ignored his whining. Instead, he dusted off Kiur’s now worn-out shawl. “Mother will be sad if she sees how little you cared for it.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Kiur reached out for his brother’s arm. “Brother, I have to tell you something-”
“Kiur, at first, I disliked you with everything in my blood,” confessed Archil, startling Kiur with his words and firm grip. “You had so little worry despite how much you had to endure. Your face reminded me of my long-deceased sister.”
Sister? Kiur couldn’t remember anything about a sister. Kiur had to realise how little he knew about Archil’s past since he didn’t talk about it to anyone. Did he know him at all? Did Kiur ever bother to ask?
“Letha was carefree, loveable and free-spirited with the greatest heart I knew,” Archil’s hands jittered from. All the buried memories bubbled back. The touch of his parents, the games of hide and seek with his sister, and the colour of their blood when they died. “She reminds me a little of you. I saw her in you. She taught me to like you for who you were.” The wind picked up around Archil, surrounding the four of them as the gales grew stronger and more untamed than the storm that changed his life. “I love you, brother. It pains me to see you carry so much weight in your heart. Please try to be better, be happy. Promise me that.”
Tears rolled down Archil’s face. Tears Kiur never saw coming down like that. He was in pain just as much as Kiur was in pain.
“I promise I’ll do better. I won’t disappoint you, brother!” shouted Kiur, meaning every word.
“Good, that’s good to hear,” Archil smiled, tears disappearing as the winds carried them away into the open sky. “See you later, little brother. May Shamash, the God of the Sun, guide your way and protect you from harm.”
“And may Enlil, God of Storms and Winds, bless me,” the last part was but a whisper.
“Something is wrong, the wind-”
“It’s picking us up!”
Xander and Cylia cried out as they suddenly flew away. Archil was forming a literal typhoon that reached the heavens and clouded the desert with the four of them in its epicentre. Enlil smiled upon him. The God of Storms descended.
“Archil, don’t stay here. There’s a way for all of us to escape-” Kiur couldn’t finish his sentence. His arms could barely reach out to his brother as the winds carried him and his friends higher and higher into the sky as Archil stayed behind.
“Goodbye, little brother. Let your older brother pick up the slack. Learn to love yourself and live a life that makes you happy.” Archil let the tears roll. “Greet our mother for me.”
—☼—
Drawing his short blade, Archil inspected it one more time. He grinned at its reflection, with his brother disappearing from sight. Then he spotted the picture of the Reiszer behind his back. Tomoe drew her sword, and wizards readied their spells.
Crouching down, Archil leapt to the sky, soaring past his brother one last time and deflecting every blow they shot their way.
One. Ten. Hundreds of swings came, but he didn’t let even one of them get past. Increasing the output, Archil exhausted his magic core to the brink of collapse until the typhoon imploded to send its passengers flying above the chasm.
Far away. A place far safer than here. Archil’s duty served.
“You’re really getting on my nerves here.” Tomoe tightly gripped the mask on her face, not caring about the pressure she released with her magic. “Once is happenstance. Twice is a coincidence, but,” her hand shook to not draw her sword prematurely from its scabbard. “Three times is an enemy action. You’ll pay for it with your brother’s blood-”
Tomoe instinctively drew her sword to block Archil’s incoming attack, only that he didn’t attack her but went past her forces. In his hands, he had several sets of potions snatched away right from the belts of her soldiers and wizards.
“Quite the sleight of hand you have there,” complimented Tomoe, leisurely approaching him herself. “None of these potions will be enough to-” Tomoe gawked. Everyone held their breath witnessing Archil dumping half of the potions for himself, drinking three at once before replacing them with another set and then another… drinking all the potions before their very eyes.
“Oi, stop that- Do you have any idea what you are doing!?” Tomoe held her hand before Archil, unable to process his actions. “You’ll kill yourself!”
“Oh, you care? That’s a pleasant surprise, but no matter.” Archil exhaled a green fog coming out of his mouth. Every mana channel and vein in his body glowed in a toxic, verdant light. His pupils dilated. The whites disappeared into an unhealthy shade of lime green. “I cannot and will not half-ass this. Health be damned, haha.”
Wiping away the potion residue from his cracked smile, Archil gave one last glance back at where he had sent Kiur flying, reassuring himself. He was grateful that he wasn’t here to witness Archil’s state.
Or what he was about to do.
“It doesn’t matter how much you drug yourself. You won’t prevail-” Tomoe did another instinctive long step, drawing her feet wide backwards. She pulled her scabbard closer to her chest. She unsheathed her Katana to defend herself from one of many blows she would fail to protect herself from.
Her hair stood up from the shock. She was cut several times over and bleeding profoundly. Tomoe just barely managed to protect her vital parts and was now at risk of bleeding out.
Her eyes shifted. “I can’t see his next step!” Archil’s speed increased almost tenfold. Half of the soldiers already succumbed to his merciless blade.
Their bodies were riddled with wounds worse than any Reiszer ever inflicted. Mortal wounds so great no one could hope to recover from. Archil sprayed the desert in their thick blood, bathing the therianthrope in crimson.
The wind howled alongside him in a horrifying song.
“Haaaa-” Archil tumbled, feeling light-headed and numb in his extremities. He wiped his now red hair back. Drawing out all of the noise of his surroundings, Archil could only perceive his increased heart rate and focused all his attention on Tomoe.
She was the most dangerous beast here. His heart beat like a war drum at how much focus he gave her. It made him dizzy. “If you want to stop me, you’ll need to take my head.” Vanishing from his spot, Archil aimed with his Akinakai at Tomoe’s heart.
Tomoe’s grip tightened and aimed at Archil’s centre. She deflected the stab and swung horizontally, noticing too late that Archil’s second weapon he had retrieved from a corpse, and cut Tomoe across her chest and underneath her mask.
“Graaaaaah!” Tomoe screamed in pain, holding the gash wound on her chin where the mask cracked. She had no time to dwell on it. Archil made a follow-up attack. Holding his sword high in one hand, he gathered a squall around his blade. Shattering the cold steel, Archil unleashed a violent torrent.
Sent flying over the edge, Tomoe could barely see the bottom she was falling into. “NO!” This wouldn’t be her end. She refused to die like that. Driving her Katana into the hard surface of the crevice, Tomoe used the leverage to spin her way back and propelled herself out.
Tomoe cut into Archil’s side deeply.
“Too shallow,” responded Archil with no regard for his wound. He only thought about ending his enemy. He abandoned any basic instinct of self-preservation and stabbed her through her chest, right between the ribs. “I’ll not allow you to put my family in any more danger.” He wrapped his free hand around her throat and increased the pressure with his sword inside her chest to push her to the edge.
Coughing up blood and air, Tomoe let go of her sword and wrapped her own hands around Archil’s throat and pushed back. They were at a standstill, their strength matching each other. “This is what you call pain!? So far, I’d call it cute,” she taunted Archil with a laugh.
Blood dripped from underneath Tomoe’s mask, colouring her black gi jacket red when Archil pulled out his sword with a grunt. They both stared at each other. Veins and hearts pumped with excitement—they felt elation arising. They laughed.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Are they… are they laughing?”
“Did they go insane?”
Sanity was a loose line for seasoned fighters. Hessian and his friends knew about it so they could tell what they were doing.
For those two, it was pure ecstasy. Adrenaline rushed through their bodies and released a coping mechanism to outdo the other. They both had lost their minds and were at the same time the sanest.
Hessian had once felt the same thing and knew how dangerous they were right now.
“You are not bad for a bastard,” chuckled Tomoe underneath her mask.
“Not so bad either for a cur,” Archil returned the compliment, his grin widening and animalistic features manifesting even further.
In one moment, they would smile at each other before they went to each other's throats again. Both picked up their swords again and cut even more wounds into one another—disregarding any protection and only inflicting as many wounds as they could.
Archil delivered quick decisive stabs and slashes while Tomoe’s were heavier and wider. Tomoe’s magic made Archil’s numbed nerves scream in pain while Archil choked the very air out of her.
Sparks, flashes, storms, gales and cuts filled the desert. Their steps and movements were caught in a moment to outrun the other and bring down anyone unfortunate enough to get into their mess.
No one was safe. No one would be safe. No one could escape.
The desert descended into a carnival of chaos.