The armory was a long rectangular room that extended out before Eliza. Weapon racks adorned the walls, holding a variety of weapons from several different Nations. Many racks were nearly empty, their occupants presently held by those who hunted her.
Eliza picked up the nearest sword and examined it. Eliza could tell that it was an old sword, but the sheen of it and its sharpness suggested that it was well taken care of.
Putting the sword back, she walked down the length of the room. All the other weapons she saw seemed to be in a similar state. It was nothing compared to the quality of her family's armory back home, but it was far better than she expected from demons. It didn’t take long for her to find a section holding weapons from the Empire.
Eliza felt conflicting emotions as she approached the section. The sheer number of weapons caused sorrow and anguish to fill her chest. The dishonor done to her fellow soldiers was appalling to her.
Fighting with the sorrow was a brief flickering hope, a hope that if weapons from the Empire were here, then there was a chance she would find one of her preferred weapons here. Then she felt guilty for even thinking about it.
Her eyes scanned over the various familiar weapons, from the long ornate curved swords which served as both weapon and status symbol, preferred by roaming magistrates and officers in the army alike, to the more common curved swords and spears used by the usual footman. At the end of the section, when she had all but given up hope, she found what she was looking for.
Slowly and respectfully, she picked up the weapon by its shaft and inspected the long curved blade connected at the top. The blade was long and sharp, as well taken care of as the other weapons in the armory. Immediately she could tell that the naginata was well-balanced and had seen plenty of use in its lifetime.
Gently she lifted the naginata and held it in her hands. Then, bowing her head over it, she gently mumbled., “whoever you were, I’m sorry that you were buried without your weapon if even that. Further, I am sorry that I must use your weapon without your permission. Forgive me this trespass. I’ll return it to you when I am able.” Slowly she lowered the weapon. “If I am able.” she silently added regretfully, not knowing if there was even a chance for her to return to her country and, even if she could, she had little chance of finding the body.
No sooner had she finished paying respect to the fallen warrior than she was interrupted.
“There she is! I told you! Man-thing running around is not female-thing,” A high-pitched squeaky voice called out from behind her.
Slowly Eliza turned around, raising the naginata into a basic defensive position. In the doorway stood a small imp accompanied by three beast-man demons.
“Good job Xalefore; ill be sure to put in a good word for you and give you a split of the reward,” Bullhead said as his two lackeys spread to either side of the room while he stepped through the door.
“Thanky Thank! Beatru. ” Xalefore replied with glee in its high-pitched voice, but Beatru was already too focused on her to pay attention to the Imp anymore.
“Well, well, well, little human, I supposed I have you to thank for my dead guards outside?” Beatru said in a gravelly voice as he and his goons started to walk toward her. Each of the goons held swords out in front of them defensively. Beatru had no such weapon, but he had a confident sneer on his face, the look of someone who thinks they’ve already won.
Not in the mood for talk Eliza silently waited, watching for her first opportunity to strike. Looking at the narrowness of the room, she wouldn’t be able to make any wide-cutting swings with the naginata.
Beatru seemed to be aware of this.“Give it up; this farce of a game is over. I already know how this will play out. It was a mistake to choose a weapon like that here. ”He said confidently as he and his two goons arrived before her. Eliza raised an eyebrow.
Both of the goons came to a stop, but Beatru took a step forward and passed his guards. Both his hands were down at his side.
“Boss, wait!” One of the guards began to say, but he was too late; Eliza struck.
She rotated the Naginata until the blade was facing away from her to her left, and immediately she thrust the blade toward Beatru’s left shoulder. Beatru sneered as he slid to Eliza’s right out of the blade's path. “Utterly predictable,” he said as he turned his head, his eyes following the blade as it passed by his head. However, his eyes opened wide in shock as Eliza quickly pulled back, and the pointed part of the blade hooked towards his neck.
Beatru tried to step back out of the blade's path, but Eliza followed him, and a moment later, the tip of the curved blade slit his throat. He staggered backward, his body crashing into one of his guards. The other guard immediately stepped forward, gripping his sword by the blade and raising his arms, he started swinging the pommel toward her in an attempt to knock her out, but Eliza was already moving.
She followed the momentum of her previous attack and spun to the right, bringing the naginata around and slamming the butt of the shaft into the guard's mid-chest. The air was knocked out of him; he stumbled backward before falling to one knee, gasping for breath. But Eliza wasn’t done yet. In a quick movement, she took a step forward, following the guard, and continued rotating to the right, swinging simultaneously.
The blade met with the guard's exposed neck, cutting deep into it. The guard slumped backward, gargling in his blood.
Eliza stepped back and turned towards the last remaining guard, who had barely managed to get Beatru’s dead body off of him. He looked at Eliza and then at his two dead companions before looking back at Eliza with a deep unbridled rage in his eyes. In a mad fury and desperation, he charged at Eliza and began wildly swinging his sword at her. Making sure she stayed alive was seemingly the last thing on his mind.
Easily, Eliza stepped out of the way of the first, second, and third swings. After Eliza saw the second attack, Eliza moved the naginata until the blade was positioned near the floor. The fifth attack was when the guard made the mistake that would spell his doom.
He swung his sword up, leaving the middle of his body exposed, and when Eliza saw, she immediately swung the naginata up. The blade sunk into flesh and cut into the guard's stomach, going under the rib cage and cutting up toward the heart. It sunk deep and true. With a swift movement, Eliza pulled the blade out and stepped out of the guard's counter-swing range. The guard managed to swing twice, which Eliza easily dodged before he crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Threats taken care of, Eliza turned and started walking to the door. To her surprise, Xalefore was still standing there staring dumbly at her with his mouth agape. Now that she was closer, she could see Xalefore much better. He barely came up to Eliza’s knee in height and was dressed rather uniquely.
He was wearing what appeared to be a mismatched suit made up of a variety of different scavenged materials. His pants were a mixture of sewn-together leather and black cloth, his shirt a tattered white cloth, and his overcoat a tattered cloak with the fur of several different animals sewn on the inside. Combined with the cracked monocle that he was wearing, his outfit screamed ‘poor attempt at sophistication.’
It didn’t take long for Eliza to come up to him, but he still didn’t react. Sighing, she raised the naginata; she couldn’t leave any witnesses who’d warn the others. She swung the blade down at his neck.
“Awesome,” he mumbled in an awestruck voice, and Eliza paused, the blade stopping a mere centimeter from Xalefore’s neck.
“...What?” Eliza asked, a little confounded.
A gleam of excitement came to Xalefore’s dark beady eyes, and he began to sway back and forth on the balls of his feet, his neck coming dangerously close to the blade. “Human awesome, Cool, Amazing, yes! Killed Beatru and lackeys easy!”
“...Aren’t you forgetting about something?” Eliza asked, pointedly looking down at the blade she held to his neck.
“What…?” Confused, he turned his head to look at the blade, and his eyes lit up with realization.
With the realization came panic. “Human! No kill Xalefore!, Xalefore weak, yes! Human strong, Kill Beatru, yes! Let Xalefore go, yes?” He begged his final ‘yes’ conveyed both desperation and uncertainty.
“I’m afraid not; I’m in a hurry and can’t leave anybody to go warn the others,” Eliza said, lifting the blade again.
Xalefore looked back and forth as he backed up, desperately trying to think of something. Eliza was about to swing again, but then Xalefore’s eyes lit up as he got an idea and said desperately, “Stop! Xalefore, help human yes! Show Human where elf girl is yes! Save Xalefore life yes?”
Eliza paused, “why would I trust you?” She was in a hurry, but she could save a lot of time if she went straight to where Leah was.
“Two minutes!” he said, holding up three pointed fingers. “Xalefore take you to elf girl in two minutes; if Human not in elf girl room in two minutes, Human kill Xalefore. If at room, Spare Xalefore life then. Deal yes?” He promised desperately.
Eliza looked at the three fingers he was holding up, and he looked as well. A bit of confusion came to his eyes, and he tilted his head. Eliza felt like she could see the gears turning in his head. Then his eyes lit up with understanding. He closed his fist and opened it up again,” Two!” He triumphantly said, now proudly displaying four fingers.
Coming to a decision and finding the Imp amusing, Eliza slowly lowered her weapon. It couldn’t be worse than blindly checking every room on this side of the castle. And if he did intend to betray her, she would at least know that Leah wasn’t in the direction they were going. “Alright, you have two minutes.”
“Thanky Thanks! Human, strong Human no regret! yes!” Xalefore said, excitement and relief coming back to his eyes.
Eliza raised an eyebrow, ” You're time is ticking.”
He paused, coming back to his senses, “ Ah! yes! Human come this way. Elf girl this way, yes!” Xalefore exclaimed before starting to rush down the hallway.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Eliza began following him, her longer legs easily allowing her to keep up with Xalefore, who was urgently leading her down the hallway turning every few seconds and beckoning to her.
Everything was going fine until she took a step with her right leg, which buckled underneath her, causing her to fall to the right. She managed to keep herself upright by letting her body hit the wall. Bright searing pain lanced up her leg as the words of Isradine came back to her.
‘Your leg isn’t healed; the mana is holding the bone together. You can use it normally, but it will still be broken once you run out.’
Closing her eyes, Eliza reached in to feel Isradine’s power to see that it was indeed running out.
“Human okay? Xalefore’s two minutes almost up. Xalefore no want die, hurry yes?” Xalefore’s concerned voice cut through her thoughts.
Eliza clenched her teeth and pulled together as much of the power that was left as she could and pushed it towards her leg. The pain subsided, and testing her weight on it, she found she could walk again.
Opening her eyes, she looked at Xalefore,” I’m fine; let's hurry.” She said, hiding the fear that started to crawl around her gut. She was running out of time.
Eliza followed behind Xalefore, not encountering any demons along the way. In the distance, she heard demons' roars as they encountered Demitrus across the keep. So far, so good.
As Xalefore said, it took about two minutes for them to stop at a heavy-set wooden double door. Even from where she stood, Eliza could feel the heat emanating out of the room, and her nose was assaulted by the stench of various spices that Eliza didn’t recognize. Was this a kitchen?
“Here, Elf girl in room here, Yes! ” The Imp said, excitement dancing in his gray eyes, sweat running down his purple skin.
“Is that so?” Eliza said, eyeing the door skeptically.
“Yes!, Xalefore go now. Yes!” he said quickly, beginning to edge away.
However, Eliza was already expecting him to try something like this and swooped down to grab the Imp by the back of his collar, lifting him high up into the air. It was precarious, but his patchwork clothes miraculously managed not to rip from the rough movement.
“-ack.” He choked out before protesting, “No! Human promise spare Xalefore life if Xalefore show human where elf things are. Human Liar!” anger lighting up his eyes.
“Relax.” Eliza said, “I’ll keep my word so long as Leah is in that room. You said you would show me where they were, but I haven’t seen them yet. For you to keep your word, we have to go in together. Once I see them, you’ll be free to go.” Xalefore went quiet for a moment and then protested weakly, “...but, No…Xalefore can’t….” she felt him begin to tense up as she moved towards the door.
He became so tense that he began to shake when Eliza reached the door; she looked at him to see deep dread and fear in his eyes. Even so, he didn’t resist as Eliza pushed through the doors.
The doors swung open to reveal a sizeable tiled square room. Near the back end of the room was a large cauldron sitting atop a blazing fire built into a pit dug on the tiled floor. In a semicircular fashion, starting from around the Cauldron, tables spread out around the room, extending back to Eliza. There was a clear central path through the tables; the tables flipped and seemingly placed in a way to form a barricade on either side of said path. A couple of guards were leaning against the tables nearest to the Cauldron. Pillars rimmed the room adorned with softly glowing reddish-orange crystals giving light to the room. Above the pathway formed by the tunnels hung a brightly glittering chandelier that matched the colors of the crystal light fixtures around the room.
Leah was tied up and sitting on an elevated platform constructed around the Cauldron. To either side of her stood two guards who kept watch over her. The area was swarming with little imps that were preparing a bunch of foreign seasonings and throwing them in the Cauldron. Among them were several beastmen who lifted the heavier objects and filled the Cauldron with a dark brown broth.
They had a mechanical efficiency about them that Eliza would have admired if they weren’t seemingly preparing to cook Leah. She took a couple of steps into the room before Xalefore started struggling.
“Human see elf things, Yes? I go now now now!” He said urgently and quietly.
However, before she could do anything, a deep rumbling voice echoed through the room that caused Xalefore to freeze immediately, “There she is. Along with the rat who has turned traitor, it seems.”
Tracing the voice back to its origin, Eliza saw a giant bull-headed Demon sitting on the platform's edge, his hoofed legs dangling over the side. Laying on the platform beside him was a huge double-sided ax fashioned in black steel with red lines running through it, reminiscent of the armor that Abernach wore, and resting on his shoulder was a large wooden club.
Eliza wasn’t the only one to hear the bull-headed demon. Leah turned to look, and upon seeing Eliza, her eye’s opened up wide with shock. She started to move, but a nearby guard threateningly slammed his wooden club onto the wooden ground right next to her, causing her to freeze and sit back.
“The Human is here, yes. Earlier than expected, yes. And with a pest she is.” Eliza’s attention was drawn to a well-clothed imp who wore a long fur cloak around his small frame; he wore a mask made of the same material as the axe and, standing atop a ladder stool, was stirring whatever was in the Cauldron with a long wooden ladle. A short bow with a quiver of arrows was strung around his shoulders, and tied to his belt was a series of pouches and potions.
“I win the bet, then?” Bull-head said. Eliza felt Xalefore begin to quiver once again.
The Imp clicked his tongue, “Yes, Minotaur wins.” it said and then turned to look at Xalefore, “ Why did the rat have to be here? I said I would cook you if I saw you again. Yes?” It said far more eloquently than Xalefore could, but then anger seeped into its voice and its voice, causing its language to slip a little.” And then you lead human here? You force me to lose bet, yes? You will suffer and die, Yes!”
Xalefore shrunk under the barrage of threats from the other Imp. His voice bordering on tears, he said, “ No no no no," Xalefore stammered out, "Xalefore no die, Xalefore no want die. But overmaster angry now, no life for xalefore.” he wailed, bringing up his clawed hands to cover his face.
Eliza gently put him down, feeling a twinge of guilt. Once his feet hit the ground, he scurried under a nearby table and disappeared into the shadows. She didn’t have long to wonder where he was going before Minotaur spoke up.
“I will go first, then. You, You, and You bring her to me.” Minotaur said, pointing to three of the Beast-headed guards who were situated below.
Immediately, the three demons leaped to do his bidding and charged down the path that had been cleared through the tables. For some reason unknown to Eliza, they were weaponless and altogether seemed too careless. They seemed to be competing to see who could get to her first, and soon they began to spread apart. Triumph filled the eyes of the one in first place.
But that triumph was short-lived, as were the guard and his other two friends.
Eliza spurred into action as the guards neared, her naginata spinning through the air as she stepped to the side, bringing the pointed end of the blade up and impaling the first guard through the heart. Then, moving quickly, she pulled the blade down and out as she stepped past the falling body. She began to rotate to the left, bringing the blade down and then up into the air before cutting down the next guard. The blade cut horizontally from the guard's right shoulder to his left thigh, and he went down to Eliza’s right side as she stepped past.
Seeing both of his compatriots cut down in what was probably a second, The final guard who had fallen behind tried to stop his charge and somewhat succeeded, only for his hooven feet to slide out from beneath him on the tiled floor. He landed hard on the ground, his momentum carrying him towards Eliza on the slippery ground. Eliza quickly let go of the naginata and switched her grip. Then rotating the blade, she dashed forward and slashed with it, beheading the guard as he slid past. It didn’t take long for his headless body to come to a stop and slump onto the ground.
The room broke out in commotion when the demons instantly saw three of their own cut-down.
Eliza looked back to ensure all three were dead before turning her gaze to the two, presumably, bosses here. Minotaur’s expression hadn’t changed; if anything, he had a bemused expression on his face. The Imp, or overmaster as Xalefore had called him, was also eyeing her as he continued stirring whatever was in the pot.
It didn’t take Eliza long to realize what they were doing; they studied her, looking for any weaknesses to exploit. She felt a chill go down her spine. They were much more dangerous than she had given them credit for. A faint pain began to prick at her right leg, and she suppressed the anxiety in her heart. She could tell time was quickly running out; she couldn’t afford to let them ‘test’ her.
If she could take them out, the other demons would be so struck by fear that she could quickly free Leah and leave to end this mess of a game.
Her gaze slid over to Leah’s, who had a concerned expression, but in the concern, Eliza could see a flicker of hope. Seeing that hope, Eliza took a deep breath and steeled herself.
Eliza gave Leah her best reassuring nod and returned her gaze to Minotaur. Then lifting the naginata, she drove the bottom of the weapon into the tile three times. Each impact echoed around the room. The sound caused the commotion to die down as the room fell silent other than the sound of whatever was in the cauldron boiling.
She pointed the tip of her blade at Minotaur.
“Minotaur, was it? As you just saw, I could cut down your minions all day long. Rather than waste both of our time, how about you stop using your minions as shields and get down here? That is unless you're afraid of a little human girl.” Eliza sneered.
Minotaur started chuckling before soon outright laughing. His throaty laugh echoed around the room. And then he stopped and slid forward, letting himself fall and landing on the tile beneath. The shattering of tiles accompanied his landing as a spider-like web of cracks tore through the tiles in about a 3 ft radius around him. He slowly stood up, a broad grin on his face. Eliza lowered the Naginata into a ready stance and met his gaze.
A gasp of horror filled the air.
“My floor!” Overmaster screeched, “Why jump? I told Minotaur no jump, Yes! Then why jump? Minotaur always jumps and breaks floor! Minotaur is a thick-headed idiot!”
“Shut it overmaster; I’m having a moment,” Minotaur said with a sneer. He casually swung his wooden club at a nearby table, sending it flying.
Overmaster’s only response was to screech,” Minotaur breaks floor and table, Yes! Minotaur no get food or potions, Yes!”
Minotaur ignored the screeching Imp and came to stand several feet away from her.
“You’re a very precocious child; you know that? It's not every day that I see a human capable of cutting down three guards in a moment. But, considering that you’re from the Silverian empire, it's not surprising. The fanaticism for fighting they instill in their soldiers always made them good sport.” He said, lifting the club and resting it upon his shoulder again.
Eliza’s grip tightened around her weapon, and she narrowed her eyes. “ I didn’t know your kind was prone to running their mouths. I had taken you for a fighter; it seems I was mistaken.
He chuckled, and then in a flash of a moment, he attacked. Eliza barely had enough time to jump back before the club smashed into the tile shattering the ground where it hit. Another screech rang out in the background, but Eliza didn’t have time to pay it any attention because Minotaur was already moving.
He dashed forward, bringing the club up in an upward swing which Eliza dodged backward, but at the same time, she slashed her naginata and, due to the longer reach, scored a shallow cut along his right flank.
Unfazed, he continued his assault, most of his attacks directed towards her head, she realized. She continued to dodge, observing his movements. It didn’t take long for her to spot an opportunity.
He swung his club at her from her left side in a horizontal swing directed at her head.
Instead of retreating backward as she had done up until this point, she stepped into the blow. Rotating her body to the right, she ducked under the blow. Then continuing her rotation, she spun around, bringing her naginata up for a cut along his right flank where she had stuck before.
Only a moment before her hit landed, a flicker of light in her peripheral vision caught her eye, and she switched her target at the last moment, striking the arrow out of the air before it could hit her.
Unknown to Eliza, there was a small sack tied to the tip of the arrow that, upon being hit, burst open into a yellow cloud that immediately hit Eliza directly in the face.
Eliza’s eyes watered uncontrollably almost instantly, severely impeding her vision. She staggered backward out of the yellow cloud; her body racked with coughs as her lungs tried to expunge to foreign gas. Leah tried to yell something through her gag but Eliza, unable to see, was unable to react as a few imps, who had been hiding in the shadows of the tables, came at her from her blind spots. Using smaller clubs, struck at her hands while another struck at the naginata, successfully knocking it from her hands.
Their job done, the imps scurried away into the safety of the table's shadows.
She heard it clatter on the tile floor and roll a few feet away. Immediately she tried to go after it, but in her blurry vision, she saw Minotaur move and expecting him to swing at her head, she moved her arms to protect her head.
A moment later, the club impacted her stomach with the force of the blow, forcing her back a few feet and causing her to double over in pain. The blow was strong but not strong enough to cause Eliza to fall down. It was evident to Eliza that the Minotaur had held back. Abernach’s prohibition against killing her was still in effect after all.
“Why did you interfere, Overmaster? We agreed that I would have the first go at her if I won the bet.” Minotaur growled
“I did; you got first swing, and second swing, up to seventh swing yes! If Minotaur kept swinging, Minotaur would break more of Overmaster’s floor.” Overmaster said, his voice calmer than it was a few moments ago.
“Well, I still get credit for taking her down; I was the one to strike the last blow,” Minotaur declared.
Eliza’s vision cleared up a little, and she could see that Minotaur was turned to look at Overmaster, who stood on the platform with his bow drawn. They continued their argument about who got the credit.
Eliza clenched her teeth. They were acting as if the fight was already over, and it pissed her off, but she could use that to her advantage. She started staggering towards the naginata a few feet away while they were distracted.
At this moment, however, the magic holding her right leg together ran out.
A bright searing pain ran up her leg as it gave out, sending her sprawling to the ground. Seeing her fall, a couple of the nearby Imps gained enough courage to jump onto her, using their body weight to hold her to the ground. Her vision cleared up a little more, and she saw the Naginata just a little away.
She managed to keep one arm free which she used to reach out for the naginata, her fingers barely touching it. If she could get a hold of it, she could still fight. A broken leg or not, she would figure it out; she just needed that weapon.
It was then that a large shadow overshadowed Eliza. A large hoven foot came down onto the shaft of the naginata, causing the wood to bend and snap in several different places along with whatever hope Eliza had left.
“Well, now, I can’t let you have that again now, can I?” Abernach said, a gloating grin on his face.