Chapter 11
The Lady
Terrill’s sword met the usual pocket of wind, Winifred pushing him backwards into the room as her fist soared out, coated with a cyclone. He took one hand off his blade, covering it with stone and matching her fist with his. The expulsion of air from their fists clashing wafted over the room, sending the struggling advisors back down. Terrill snapped his leg out, kicking Winifred’s side and sending her flying into the pile of rubble. She balanced herself and shot off, five lances appearing around her head that she shot out.
“Stone Shield!” Terrill shouted, rending the earth and bringing up a slab of stone that the lances crashed into. “Spire!”
His hands pressed to the surface, and a giant spike emerged for where Winifred was on the other end. He knew it had missed, as soon the shield was broken into rubble that was sent flying into the room. The stones ripped through the remains of the table, popping upon hitting the fire, and Winifred was noticed by the unengaged soldiers in the courtyard. She couldn’t care about them, flying through the rubble to bring a wind-laced kick down upon Terrill’s sword. He held her off, gritting his teeth. His hand flew back and when he yanked it forward, the loose debris of stone flew outwards.
Winifred was hit in her stomach, flying off towards the courtyard. Terrill raced after her before she could stand.
“Terrill!” Lumen called out. He didn’t ignore him, but wasted none of his attention in looking back.
“Protect the king and advisors, Lumen! I’ll take care of her!” His foot tapped to the ground, creating pillars that stretched upwards like a set of stairs. He jumped up them quick as he could until he got above the Fiend and came spinning down. She met him with her wind pockets, a nasty glare settling in her eyes. Her hands began to whirl about, and Terrill felt the winds churning around his body.
“Black Cyclone!” Terrill’s eyes widened, knowing what was coming next and dreading it all the same. Seeing the only way out of it, Terrill outstretched his hand, creating a dagger of stone in his hold that he stabbed forward. She ceased her attack to avoid the hit, leaving herself open for another stone fist to strike her across the face and send her stumbling back. “Fine. Airwalk!”
Winifred vanished into a wisp on the wind, and Terrill wrenched his gaze upwards to find the woman stepping across the sky, creating a vortex of wind around him and all of the soldiers that were approaching. He spun his sword and plunged the blade into the ground.
“Circle Spike!” The earth obeyed his command, and before Winifred’s winds could encapsulate him, spikes rose from the ground in a ring that she was forced to avoid until she kicked at him. This one, he couldn’t avoid, the wind colliding with his stomach and sending him flying. Terrill landed, breaking up the stones of the courtyard as another flaming projectile crash-landed near them. As Winifred stood, her eyes glowing red with the despair of the shadow, she looked demonic.
“Enemy in the fort! Take her down!”
“Stay out of this!” Winifred snapped angrily, one hand creating a gust that lifted all of the soldiers behind her to their feet and slammed them into the walls. Each dropped their weapons to the ground, leaving Terrill the opportunity to approach at speed.
“Fang of Earth!” His blade slammed on the ground, the earth eaten up as its jaws snapped upon Winifred. He didn’t expect it to work. Sure enough, the stone maw was blown apart by her furious winds. Terrill had crossed the distance in the meantime, his sword screaming down upon the woman.
He hadn’t expected it to meet another blade.
“What the-?” The sword in front of him was levitating, held in place by wind. Winifred whirled around, and Terrill was forced to back off. The blade whirled in midair, jabbing for him as he blocked first one blow and then another. A second blade was soon added to the mix, slicing over his head before he sidestepped the first. Both sang through the air to slash at him, but Terrill blocked them with his sword, sparks spitting onto the ground from their grating together. Winifred remained unmoving, her pitiless eyes boring into him, showing how dead she was underneath her veneer of taunts.
Terrill strained against the whirling blades, choosing to duck beneath them and bring his sword soaring up to knock them aside. The Fiend pulled them back to float around her figure while her wind acted as thrusters beneath her feet. He could see the kick coming, and moved to block it, only for a sword to shoot off and aim at him from behind. There was no time to block both, and Terrill was forced to change the angle of his body and allow the sword to rip at the side of his abdomen. He grimaced, but the pain allowed him the clarity of seeing the other sword and Winifred’s other leg aiming for him.
He let go of his sword, crossing both arms and taking Winifred’s kick upon them. It burned, the black winds creating cuts along his arms, but nothing like he had experienced before. It was…weaker. Or perhaps just ineffective. He wasn’t sure, and even though the cuts began to bleed within seconds of opening up, he found he could still move. Winifred found that surprising.
“What’s with this, Winifred? Are you even trying?!” he shouted, throwing his arms up and tossing her away. The other sword came soaring at him, but he caught it by the hilt before it could impale him. As Winifred recovered, his fist soared out in a haymaker that brought her crashing into the ground, her sword coming down with it before she had a chance to block.
Terrill hesitated. His words about wanting to save her echoing throughout his brain, knowing that killing her so callously wasn’t the way to do so. It would make him just like them, tossing their own comrade into a crucible of despair and pain to draw from her own.
His hesitation cost him.
Terrill’s own sword flipped around with the wind and went sailing for him, jabbing deep into the other side of his abdomen as Winifred’s hand sent a roaring gale his way. He was blown back, all the way through the dilapidated wall and into the room with the king and advisors. Lumen had gathered them all into a corner, attempting to usher them out of the room, but he yelped as Terrill was slammed against the fireplace, the tip of his sword heated by the embers.
It was a dangerous play, especially with Winifred racing for him, but Terrill gripped his hilt and tore the sword right out of him, blood dripping to the floor before the burning tip cauterized his wound. Just as he finished, Winifred struck, both of her own blades coming back for him.
Not wanting to deal with them, Terrill struck, energy sparking from where his newest shield rose. A thwock from the other side told him that the attacking swords had embedded themselves in the surface. Fighting his newest wound, Terrill jumped what height he could, grabbing ahold of the top of his shield and swinging over to bring his stone-laced leg into Winifred’s face, knocking her to the ground. “Ha. Looks like I can knock you out of the sky, after all.”
“It’ll take more than that, Terrill Jacobs!” Her call of his name was matched by her own leg snapping into his chin and driving him towards the ceiling. His back hit it, spit flying from his mouth as he coughed, but he still managed to clasp his blade tight enough that as he fell, he screamed right for Winifred. Gravity took over and brought his sword cutting along her shoulder, wind expelling from the wound. His fist came outward in an arc, matched only by hers as she gasped from the pain. They were driven apart.
“So…it truly is you,” Phillip said, his shock over the fight between the two of them leaving him as the only one in the room. The other advisors had left, guided by Lumen, who appeared unsure as to what he should do in the battle. “That fighting style, mixing swords with kicks and punches… That was practiced by House North. Anyone in Valorda would know it. You have to be Winifred Lyten. Your houses were to be married, after all. I recall it causing quite a stir amongst the noble quarters for two noble houses to actually marry of their own volition, rather than as a suitorship.”
“Shut up, you annoying king!” Winifred’s windy blade was summoned and slashed along the ground, sending a shockwave that ate up the stone on its way to Phillip. Lumen jumped in, his shield held out and pressed forward. The shield glowed with light, and like Krysta’s own magic, a honeycomb barrier erupted, blocking the attack, but pushing both Lumen and the king back. “Don’t you dare speak his name. I don’t want to hear it ever again! Agh!”
Terrill had taken advantage of her anger and misplaced priorities, striking her in the face and carrying her through the air into the fireplace. The logs and cinders scattered on the breeze. “Lumen, get him out of here!”
Lumen complied, but chose not to say anything as Terrill’s blade met another cyclonic fist of Winifred’s, pushing him into the splinters of the table. She straightened, the shadows drawing around her as Atrum exerted his influence over her pain and despair.
It was a fight, yet Terrill was beginning to understand her. Just a little.
“And you…always playing the Guardian, never really knowing it was built on a lie… You’re all fools,” she growled, now a feral beast ready to strike upon any who dared cross her path. “You throw away your lives like it means something.”
“No, I’m done with that,” Terrill said, drawing his sword back, held in the air and ready to counter any move she’d make. “I’m done sacrificing myself. Done sacrificing others. You helped teach me that lesson. It’s why I can fight you here and now. I’ll trust in Lumen to do what I can’t, and in return, I’ll beat you, just like I promised. I’ll end this war.”
“One person alone can’t stop a war. One person can’t save a king!” She sprung forward, her hands becoming claws of endless black wind. He dodged his head to the side, the attack slicing into his shoulder, right along the wound that Blaise had given him over a month before. It didn’t burn, and Winifred’s eyes widened at the newest development.
“I’m not just one person, though! I’m not alone!” His sword spun, the hilt driving itself into Winifred’s stomach and sending her skyward. Her own winds propelled her though the roof, breaking to the second floor and raining it down upon him. She halted in midair, the hurricane of her magic calling all of the stones to whirl around her figure. “But you’re still alone, aren’t you, Winifred? You gave up hoping. Is that it? Is that what made you a Fiend?”
“Don’t talk about pain you could never understand!” The gale sharpened, becoming a singular, pressurized tunnel of wind mixed with the rocks. There was no time to create a shield, and Terrill didn’t try, allowing the stones to batter against his body. He still walked against it, attempting to hold to his defiance before the windspeed became too great, and he was lifted off of his feet. The air carried him upwards, right into Winifred’s hold. “You, who get to be so Blessed. You’d never understand the pain of losing everything. Of turning into a monster!”
Her words were becoming as unpredictable as her attacks, driven by the memory she never wanted dredged up. Terrill didn’t know what that memory was, but it haunted her, sharing things there was no doubt Atrum never wanted uttered, no matter how many of his strings lay upon her body. Up close, he could swear he saw them, wrapping around her figure and tied to every particle in the area. Pieces were joining together, creating a shape, and the sun continued to sink. Terrill reached out for it, but he couldn’t grasp a single string before Winifred whipped around, her leg touching his chest and sending him flying with a twister.
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He spiraled outward, crashing through the walls of the second floor until he landed in the courtyard, rolling across its broken floor and coughing wildly. Winifred touched down, her wind untamed and whipping around her as she looked down at him. He looked straight back, and she didn’t like what she saw.
“Don’t you look at me that way. Don’t look at me with pity or scorn. Don’t remind me of him!” Her claw tore at the air, and to this, Terrill grabbed it, the attack drawing blood along his palm. He stood with shaking legs, glaring right back at her.
“I don’t know who ‘he’ is, or why I seem to remind you of him,” Terrill breathed, heaving his sword just a little higher. “I don’t know what made you this, Winifred. But I do know, you might have had no choice to become a monster. So, let me free you from his bondage!”
With a cry, Terrill jabbed his blade forward, running through her abdomen. Winifred screamed, the strings surrounding her beginning to snap, her eyes of rage flickering back and forth between red and the crystal blue he was familiar with.
She hated that, and sunk her fist into his stomach.
Terrill flew up high, spinning in the air, his body having lost control of itself as he fell back down towards the ramparts on the western side of the fort. The soldiers manning the catapults there, along with the archers, ran for cover at his falling body and the woman that chased after him. Before he could blink, Winifred had caught him, slamming him into the stone surface and forcing him to look over the top of the fort to the battlefield below. It was an unpleasantly familiar sight.
“There is no freedom from this, Terrill. The only way I’m free is if I’m dead, and even then, it’s just a momentary respite!” She ground his head into the stone, forcing his mouth to churn at the gravel fed into it. “You still think you can help me with that? You still think you can stop a war when you’re so alone?! You got lucky on Sagitta, but look at this! Look at your hopelessness and despair!”
Terrill wasn’t given much of a choice, but he still didn’t like what he saw before his eyes.
Much of Gladius had been torn apart by the shadow, its ethereal nature exposed by those coalescing pieces tied together by the Soul String. Footsoldiers from Valorda were engaged with those from Invaria, holding the line as they attempted to enter the fort, while artillery on the shore, if it could be called that, continued to lob stones and flaming projectiles into Tierial. In the new bay, three Invarian ships sat, contributing to the barrage with cannons, their country’s flag proudly displayed on the masts. It was, as she put it, a hopeless sight.
Yet more hopeless was the sight on the western horizon, framed by the sinking sun: three ships coming over the waves and flying the flag of Invaria. Or that was what he thought at first glance.
“It looks like Invaria will win this war,” Winifred said with a sigh. The clanking of armor told Terrill that they were about to be surrounded by soldiers, unsure of these new additions to the battlefield, but she didn’t care. “It’s a bit of a shame for Valorda, but at least Warren won’t get his petty revenge. That’s a win for me. The cavalry will clean the fort up.”
“Ha!” Terrill laughed, unable to stop himself from doing so. He ignored her taunts as the flags on the ships came into focus, two figures standing aboard the flagship, mere silhouettes in the dusk. “Ha ha ha ha! You really don’t get it, do you, Winifred?”
“What?” she questioned. He turned his head, grinning at her. The battle raged all around them, but he could only focus on her, glad to have proved her wrong at last.
“You’ve spent so much time playing the monster in the darkness, you’ve forgotten what it feels like outside it. You’re so alone, bitter and angry and hating everything and everyone, you can never see when people manage to work together. You’re underestimating humanity!” Terrill’s elbow flew up into the wound upon her abdomen, driving her off just enough for him to slap his hand down. The stone pillar walloped her in the stomach and flung her down off the ramparts to a set of stairs where she crashed into some soldiers. Terrill came to stand. “I already told you. I’m not alone!”
His declaration was met by a volley of the cannons from the Invarian ships, and the disappearance of those standing on the arriving ones. He grinned, looking back as the flags came into prominence, but they weren’t just Invarian flags. Instead, the ship flew those of both countries high upon what was once General Warren’s ship, leading the way. As the cannonballs arched through the air, lightning cracked and shivered, and they exploded without harming anyone. At the same time, a wildfire appeared on the plains below, soldiers pushed back by sudden movement as each side was separated by the blaze. It didn’t cease the fighting, but Terrill’s statement rang true.
Floyd and Torry had joined the battle.
In the courtyard below, so had Lumen, the royal emerging from what was left of the tower to approach Winifred. The Fiend looked displeased.
“So, that’s it?” Winifred asked, dusting herself off and then brushing away the soldiers with a single gust. Any of those remaining in her vicinity backed off, giving her a wide berth. Terrill stood his ground, dropping down to be at her level. “Your friends arrived here and you think that’s that? Look around. They’re still fighting a war like nothing happened. All you bought was a little bit of time.”
“Time’s all I need for a miracle,” Terrill said, drawing his blade back with a crouch. He was ready for another round, and Winifred knew it, her face twitching with displeasure at the fact he could still keep going. “I can use that, cut your strings. I’ll free you, Winifred. I’ll save you.”
“And what if I don’t want to be saved?”
“Heh. Then I’ll do it all the same!” His blade flashed forth, and so did Lumen’s, both shining with fire in the setting sun. On the other side of the wall, Terrill could sense the confusion that erupted from Floyd and Torry’s arrival, but he did not hesitate now. Their blades converged upon Winifred.
She kneeled, and from her body the black wind blew. Lumen managed to raise his shield in time, while Terrill took his chance. The winds buffeted his body, slicing at it but leaving him intact as his sword cut through the murk and shadow to pierce her shoulder. The woman screamed and the intensity of her wind increased. This time, Terrill’s sword was dislodged and he was pushed backwards. As the wind cleared, it looked like Winifred’s body was smoking, her breath heaving with winded rage.
“Save me? Even if I don’t want it?” Her eyes flashed red again, the shadows drawing near, their strings wrapping all too tightly. Terrill locked eyes with Lumen, both nodding as they knew what they had to do, and how fast they had to do it. “You can’t save my soul, Terrill. You can’t save any of our souls! Stop being a hero and thinking this will end with some glorious sunset marking the end of a chapter in this world. That sunset will only spell death and shadow! There are no happy endings!”
“Then I’ll carve one out myself!”
“You’ll die first, HERO!”
The three ran for each other, the two swords bearing down on Winifred’s wind. Terrill swung his foot around, bringing with it a spire of earth that punctured Winifred’s side, the wound spewing wind like blood. She barely avoided Lumen’s strike, creating cyclones in her hands that blew both back. Terrill grabbed Lumen, holding him tight, and as soon as the gale ended, they struck forward. Lumen took hold of the spire and spun around to bash his shield into the Fiend’s chin, while Terrill jumped up to the stairs and came sailing back down.
With a feral yell, Winifred created an orb of air in her hands and thrust it forward. The attack missed him, sending him further skyward, but collided with the stairs, destroying it in one fell blow. Terrill swung downward, finding that another sword blocked his path and Winifred’s leg was sailing for him.
“Lumen, go!” Terrill’s hand let go of his sword, grabbing hers and spinning in midair. Their kicks clashed, and Terrill brought both swords down to strike her with impunity. His effort caused Winifred to put her focus on blocking him with both hands, leaving her open for Lumen, who came in, blade shining with light.
“Shining Saber!” the royal called, his sword drawing all light to it before he plunged it straight through the woman’s stomach, cutting through the shadows that surrounded her.
Winifred screamed, and Lumen fell back as the darkness exploded in a torrent of wailing. It funneled up into the air, the strings pulling away from Winifred’s figure and drawing the shadows upwards, joining to the larger figure, which grew ever more ominous in the night sky. The darkness removed, Winifred’s eyes turned blue and she stumbled back, clutching to the wound in her stomach.
Terrill hoped it was enough to free the Lifeblood, but Winifred looked at him with contempt.
“You only…bought yourself time…” she gasped out. Her entire body quivered with each minute movement, but still she stood. Lumen got defensive, but Terrill pushed him back. Her quarrel never rested with him, and they both knew it. “We’re…always bound to him. His shadow is still…on the Lifeblood.”
“True, because he’s using the Lifeblood of Darkness,” Terrill confirmed. More debris scattered into the courtyard, the war continuing to rage around them, but all he could see was the woman desperately reaching for a lifeline, but denying herself. “Even so, I’d imagine we still tore some of the shadow away. They can take care of the rest.”
“Hah, ‘cause you’re not alone, right?” Her breeze flared up, her hair becoming like tendrils, and Terrill knew she was a foe far greater still. “But even with that, you haven’t stopped anything yet. If you want to be certain, you’ll have to kill me!”
“Lumen, keep everyone back, and be ready for anything.”
“Terrill…”
“Just do it!” Terrill created stone at his feet, sending himself flying for the woman who lunged at him. They met in midair, sword and wind meeting in harmonious battle. The wind that resulted knocked over a number of soldiers, but Lumen stayed upright. He nodded back at Terrill and ran from the site of the battle, back to the tower. Terrill landed back on the ground, his fangs of the earth traveling out with more speed than before, snapping upon Winifred and biting into her. She broke out, wind surrounding her entire figure with a grim grin upon her face. Her claw struck down and Terrill’s sword came up, the two meeting and breaking apart before their fists met one another on their faces.
Winifred’s fist sent wind that cut across Terrill’s face and sent him backwards to the ramparts. He slammed against the wall, but she was on him immediately, her kick aiming for his chest. He ducked under it, pivoting on his feet to get behind her and send his sword slashing up her back. She screamed as he jumped back and stomped the ground. The pillar flew up, but she saw this coming and tore it apart with her claw. She wasn’t leaving room, even with the wound upon her chest.
It was kill her or be killed in kind.
Terrill swung his sword, uncertain of the path to take, but knowing which one would save more. He thrust forward, his sword meeting the shield of wind. They strained, their magics growing between them. Wind blew, a hurricane blowing all of the debris and soldiers who happened to get in their way far from the site of their battle, while the ground cracked. Fissures formed along the fortress walls, weakening their integrity with every moment they remained locked. A piece of the wall fell off, and the Valordan soldiers began to panic, some having their eyes glued to the battle taking place below.
Nothing else mattered to Terrill in that moment. It was just him and Winifred, their magics battling with one another until one side could break. Their convictions in a duel for which side would win out, and whether the shadow would be formed.
Sound fell away.
People fell away.
All that remained was them and the crackling energy that threatened to break Fort Tierial in two.
Terrill moved first, his foot moving up with a groan as he pushed his body past its limits.
“Stone…Wrecker!” Spit flew from his mouth as he screamed the spell’s name. His fist clenched, and all of the stone and debris surrounding them began to coagulate and compress until it became a ball of pure rock that he sent hurtling through Winifred’s gale. She couldn’t stop it, her eyes wide, and the attack struck against her, carrying her into the wall that formed the western side of Fort Tierial. It sent a major crack up its side, splitting the wall in two.
“Azure Cyclone!” The compressed wind of Winifred’s attack ripped apart where she stood, becoming a blue twister that caused the wall to explode in the air, all of it torn to pieces. The soldiers were tossed about, Valordan and Invarian alike, while the twister sought Terrill out. He ran headlong into it, turning his hand to stone as he punched its surface, breaking through to the other side. Welts erupted on his arm, and his abdomen cried out in pain, but he refused to stop moving, his sword shrieking as it cut through Winifred’s air. Just as they were about to clash, he dashed to the side and slashed upward, blocked by Winifred’s pockets.
They disengaged, each one attempting to overtake the other in speed and accuracy, but every time Terrill would move in, Winifred would block, and every time she created a lance of wind to strike, he would slash on through it. The hole in the fort’s wall grew bigger, exposing the battlefield on the other side, but none dared approach, especially as both leapt back, their hands flung backwards.
Their spells gathered steam, Terrill’s as the stone wrecking ball he had formed earlier, and Winifred’s into a large sphere of compressed air that caused the earth and walls to rise.
“All right, Winifred, let’s end this! I’ll carve out the end of this war! I’ll etch it! Stone Wrecker!”
“You can only try! Air Thrust!”
They fired simultaneously, the eyes of those nearby drawn to the titanic fight as both of the spherical spells were flung at each other. They met in the center between the duelists, and Terrill felt his hair rise up as they clashed, cracked and exploded, breaking what was left of the wall and sending Terrill flying backwards. Winifred was just as affected, sailing towards the battlefield. The setting sun made her body look like it was on fire. Dust covered the sky, but was quickly contained, the earth shaking as Terrill found himself landing in someone’s hold.
He blinked, his body’s exhaustion growing, but he looked up at the radiant figure that had appeared. “Alexander…”
The older man smiled down at him, but said nothing, his eyes soon drawn to the dust as it faded away past the shield he had made. It was for good reason, as Terrill soon saw monolithic shields of earth sinking into the ground, and on the other side, holding fast to a ragged Winifred, was Clay.
“It’s been a while, old man. Come here to stop us changing the flow, have you?”
“Only for what I must, Clay. I shall expel your Shadow. Come, Bane of the Earth.”