Chaos erupted around them. CJ could hear shouting, orders being barked, the grind of stone against stone. There was another explosion, followed close by a wave of heat. CJ could hear the tower next to the wall groan as it started to tilt.
“We have to-“ CJ started to yell, but a scream nearby on the wall made him pause. It was a civilian up on the wall, who was now down on her stomach and terrified. He opened his mouth to speak again, but had no clue what he actually wanted to say. What could he even do? What was the plan here?
He crawled closer to the back edge of the wall. It had a low stone barrier, something easy for defenders to leap off of, or attack from. He pulled himself up to his knees, looked out over the fighting. It confirmed what his map told him. Four enemy bonds were inside, men with work axes and sturdy helmets. They were in pairs.
There were two Scaleback bonds still in the walls, and one Akahi guard bond. The Akahi were a trio, in fact CJ recognized them. It was Welma and Fen, the soldiers who fought alongside Byr when CJ was first found. They had a new third.
|Welma’s Bond 15% Bond Affinity
|3 Unit Bond OK
|Members: Welma, Fen, Land
|M. Spd Avg
|>Facets
But the Scaleback bonds were pairs. If the rules were as they were described to CJ, then it was a nearly even fight. But the numbers were only part of the story.
The scaleback guards were confused. The chaos erupting around them had one bond shouting into the chaos, and the other bond was trying to pull their other member out of rubble. Flames were spread by the explosions, but the mercenaries didn’t seem phased. They picked targets, let out a guttural cry in unison, and then charged. Two of the bonds went to work attacking individual guards, staying close to each other. One bond fought the shouting Scaleback guards, but one bond found Welma’s group and squared up against them.
Something was different about that bond. CJ focused on them.
|Redscar’s Bond 10% Bond Affinity
|2 Unit Bond OK
|Members: Redscar, Karltun
|M. Spd B. Avg
|>Facets
|Redscar Unk% to next Milestone Unk of 10 Milestones
|Burdens Attunement Soulstone Tier 2 Human - Hillman
|Allegiance: Unknown Enemy
|
|Strength 10 | Control 3
|Stamina 9 | Resilience 5
|Command Avg | Health A.Avg | Mov. Spd B. Avg
|
|>Facets
|>Artifacts & Relics
|>Bond - 1
The man, Redscar, was tall. His shoulders were massive, enveloping his neck. His name was appropriate, as he had a red scar down the right side of his face that started so wide that his eye was surrounded by scar tissue. Compared to the others, his axe truly looked like a weapon of war. The dual edges caught the red flames in blinding glimmers. Despite being massive, with one edge longer than the other, he held it easily with one hand. His armor was still leathers, strapped to his body and weighed down by what looked like smaller weapons and tools.
CJ suddenly wasn’t so sure the fight was even. He went to pull himself up to standing, and the whole wall around him trembled. Something was collapsing, the whole wall seemed to shift slightly, and CJ went back to his knees.
“CJ!” Mae yelled.
He looked over to see Mae, coughing into her hand as Larl kneeled next to her and tried to help her up. For a moment, CJ forgot the chaos around him. There was a battle happening outside the walls, they were trying to end this.
“What do we do?!” Mae yelled. She was wearing light armor, and had an empty sword sheath at her side.
He made slow steady steps in her direction, but yelled out. “I don’t know! They’re fighting below!”
Another thunderous crack, and everything shook. Their eyes turned as one toward the sound. The tower next to them was collapsing. It tilted in their direction, heavy stones falling out of place and falling to the ground in waves of dirt and debris. They were in the way, it was coming right for them.
He needed a way to stop it. A wall, a shield! Larl had his shield ability. Since he was part of their bond, CJ should have it as well. Back then, when they were fully connected, he manifested it with a mere thought.
CJ tried now, throwing a hand up in front of his face as falling rocks threw strange shadows across his body.
Nothing happened. He could feel the pull, some kind of connection between him and Larl. But this wasn’t a true bond anymore. Unlike whatever the soldiers had with their rings, his ‘oath’ bond seemed more like a passive connection that held the space in their souls for a bond. It was more of a bookmark to show where the true power was.
Over the days since Alyss joined the bond that fact became more and more obvious. It was the only reason she let him reopen the bond with Mae. That and the Duchess insisted, as part of her training.
But now he needed the real deal, the true power, and it was too late.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. Mae was pushed down, falling toward her butt. Larl was rushing toward him, a look of steeled determination on his face. Just before the stones landed, CJ was tackled out of the way. Him and Larl hit the hard wood surface of the wall with a thump before the stone went crashing through.
CJ kept his eyes closed for a moment and took deep breaths. The wind was knocked out of him, but he also didn’t know how much would land and where. A few bits of debris smacked him, on the head and arms. But when the crashing sounds stopped, he opened his eyes to Larl straddling him, a glowing shield above the older man’s head as he leaned forward to protect the back of his head.
They both took deep breaths, and Larl looked around before grinning.
“That… worked then huh?”
“You bet it did, that was insane Larl! Thank you.” CJ said. He let out a few nervous chuckles as Larl got off of him.
“Mae, CJ, Larl!” A raspy voice yelled at them through smoke and debris. It was Alyss. She repeated the yell, the call going in different directions each time. CJ couldn’t see her, and could barely hear her over the rising chaos.
“Over here Alyss!” CJ shouted. “Over here!”
A Scaleback soldier ran past, then Alyss appeared a moment after. She looked from Cj to Larl, then her eyes darted around the nearby area.
“Where is she?” Alyss asked.
Cj thought for a minute, oriented himself, and pointed toward where the large stone fell. “Over there… behind the rubble.”
Alyss’s eyes went wide. “You.. She…agh!” She rushed off into the smoke without another word.
“We should all be together,” Larl said. He stood and held a hand out for CJ. “The battle has found us, this is the exact situation Alyss was afraid of.”
Her reaction made sense to CJ. Alyss was now in danger, even after everything they planned. The fight should have stayed out in the field. Even if they did have to retreat from the walls, there should have been more time to get Mae to safety. Instead they were in the thick of it, and their commander was elsewhere on the battlefield.
CJ joined Larl, and the two of them rushed to follow Alyss. But CJ could still see the battle playing out around him. He saw that the bonds just inside the wall were not doing well. One scaleback bond was down, and Welma’s bond was…how were they already so hurt?
|Welma’s Bond 15% Bond Affinity
|3 Unit Bond Hurt
|Members: Welma, Fen, Land
|M. Spd Avg(Hindered)
|>Facets
The orb’s next to them to show their status was red for Welma and Fen. Land’s was black, CJ didn’t want to think of that. He couldn’t focus on it right now.
When they caught up with Alyss she kneeling next to Mae who was on all fours and coughing. CJ got there in time to hear Alyss say, “worry not, he will be here soon.” He didn’t know what she thought he was going to do, the chaos must have driven her mad.
“We have to go,” Alyss said as she forced Mae to her feet. “You aren’t safe here.” They turned as if to take the stairs that lead them up, but CJ moved over and grabbed Alyss at the shoulder.
“That way is no good.” He could see it, one of the mercenary bonds was fighting near the base.
But he the other direction wasn’t better. Debris and military moving around. He didn’t know the area enough to understand where parts of the map lead.
“You swore to protect her, Eastman,” Alyss said, shaking his hand off. “We have to go, now. Understand?”
“That ain’t what I swore,” CJ said. He was distracted by his eye, so he didn’t immediately catch the glare Alyss gave him. Her fist was clenched tight, and he was sure she would throw a punch if Mae didn’t speak up.
“We stay,” Mae said, “we fight. We are so close to victory.” She was panting, and covered with a nice layer of dust, but otherwise she looked okay.
“You aren’t fighting!” Alyss shouted, her voice sounding hoarse immediately.
“Unless you plan to restrain me or knock me out yourself, good luck stopping me!” Mae said, pulling herself away from her bodyguard. “We should reignite the bond, we can help protect the rear here until Byr’s work is done and he returns.”
Alyss shook her head while stepping in, “I told you…”
Mae raised her hand. “We are done discussing it. I understand your orders, and your instinct, but we don’t have room to treat me like a fragile egg here and now. I have trained with you Alyss, I trust in your strength. Please… trust in mine for just a moment.”
CJ watched waves of emotions go over Alyss’s face. He could feel them, both of them. Mae’s frustration and fear, Alyss’s boiling anger and matching fear. He didn’t know if he could do anything to help them, but he could at least give them the strength to survive.
A soldier near the stairs shouted. “They are on the wall!”
They would have to fight. He already had his connection, but the bond was still the weak imitation. He needed to bring it back to full strength, he needed the strength from the battle by the river.
Alyss pulled her sword, Larl stood beside CJ, and Mae took up position behind him after realizing she still lacked a weapon.
The two individual Scaleback soldiers were forced up the steps by blow after blow from the mercenary axes. One soldier was knocked off the steps, the other was knocked out. The other soldiers scattered along the wall were either busy preparing another volley of arrows for the fight against the Ashwalkers, or were scattered individuals who could tell they were outmatched.
“I can take them unbonded,” Alyss said, “let me try.”
The mercenaries noticed them among the chaos of the fighting, zeroed in on them. It was now or never. They would have to fight.
“Sorry Alyss. We gotta do this together.” CJ focused, and he could feel the power somewhere at his center. That nebulous point, not his heart but not just in the center of his body. It existed nowhere, and maybe throughout him. It could come out, he just needed to give it a pathway.
He clenched his hand around his sword, pulled it free, and shouted at the top of his lungs. “For Akahi!”
The white bands of energy arced out, striking the other three. They gasped as the energy connected to them dead center to their bodies, and immediately CJ could feel them. Alyss’s impatience, Mae’s pride, Larl’s focus. They were together, they were one.
Alyss knew how to fight. CJ could always feel the hint of that since she became a bondmate, but now that they were truly connected he actually knew it. She was assessing the situation, the people nearby, their readiness to fight, the flames and obstacles. It all fed into him, and in turn he was sure some of it went back out. Her experience became his in a way.
So when the mercenaries raised their weapons and made their move, CJ knew they were experienced fighters but impatient. Alyss wanted to pick them apart, controlled strikes. It would be fast, but not hasty.
“So much…” Alyss grunted. It was the power, this was her first experience with it. She spent so long denying it could be different from the types of bonds she experienced before, she was resisting it. CJ wanted to move forward, He and Larl moved without hesitation. But Alyss stuttered in place, her foot stamping down on the hard stone when she should have been the front of their attack.
CJ moved past her. He wanted to say something, to make a remark, but it felt pointless in this state. She would feel what he felt, right?
While he didn’t have Alyss’s actual skill with a sword, he got to the first mercenary and brought his sword across for a swing. The mercenary wasn’t shocked, in fact the attack was blocked by the man’s axe. He didn’t even seem surprised that CJ was effortlessly pushing him back. Like Alyss thought, experienced fighters.
The second mercenary came forward. Despite Larl being at CJ’s side, Larl wasn’t there to attack. CJ couldn’t screw this up. Another axe came down, CJ didn’t have to see it to know it was there. He took one hand off his sword to motion toward the incoming swing, and a shield made of glowing light manifested there.
The mercenary was shocked at the sudden defense. CJ broke free from the first mercenary with a kick, then swept through both of them with harsh swings he practiced so many times with Alyss.
The moment ticked something within Alyss. There was a moment where she was feeling something like astonishment. Maybe it was just a second of awe.
It was the opposite for CJ, dread swept through him. Sure he was under attack, but he expected to be fighting ash walkers, not living people. The mercenaries both let out groans of pain, but they lived. CJ tried to think of his next move, but all he could think about was if he could finish the fight. If he kept swinging, would they surrender, or would he have to finish the job?
He froze for a moment, but the power sweeping through him didn’t. Was he still moving? A part of him was. The mercenaries recovered, one stepped in to attack, the second was trying to get around them.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Move!” Alyss gasped. CJ was shoved to the side at the shoulder. He saw a flash of her helmet moving past him, shaved horns and all. She moved fast, the first mercenary was cut down before he could finish a swing. The second tried to back up, lost his step, and his life.
There was a moment where all CJ could do is watch her back, standing over the two men she just ended. Her shoulders heaved, and the white line of power coming from her sparkled with energy. Then she turned toward him.
“This is intense,” Alyss said.
Larl was already answering her as she began. “Yes, but it might not last long.”
Right, the last time he did this. CJ could feel the surges of power, could feel it straining something within him. His soulstone, what did they call it? Cracking. The last time he recovered he learned a little about what it meant. When a pillar in a bond worked at capacity for too long, it tended to cause immediate exhaustion, as if they were at the end of the Beat. What that meant exactly he was still figuring out, but it related to a daily cycle of Soulflame.
“We can find a way out,” CJ said. The thought was floating between them. They needed to get Mae somewhere else if there were enemies inside the walls.
Meanwhile, Lady Mae was eying the dropped weapons of the mercenaries. She tentatively picked up an axe.
“No,” Alyss said. “We stay here, help will arrive soon.”
CJ raised an eyebrow, then checked his map. While in this state, the words and data were finicky. Like last time, he couldn’t see objectives, or his field guide. The map was still present, but even that seemed glitchy. He focused, and symbols for individual bonds started to click back into place. The battle outside was still raging, the marks for individual ash walkers were everywhere. But while CJ expected Sir Byr to be engaging with the central bond of the ash walkers, he was instead moving back toward them.
“Why is Byr on his way here?” CJ asked.
Confusion, and guilt.
CJ looked to Alyss, who turned away from him and faced the stairs.
“We can hold here until he arrives,” Alyss said.
“Wait…” CJ was feeling warm, his fingertips were starting to feel fuzzy. He was running out of time. “Why is he on the way here?”
“We need him!” Alyss snapped. “Protecting the Lady is the most important task.”
Mae’s eyes widened. “You called him?”
“We can talk about it later.” Alyss said.
“He was going to end this!” CJ shouted. His heart thumped a little too hard, and he winced.
“We don’t know that!” Alyss replied. “I’m going to watch the stairs.”
She ran ahead to the stairs that the mercenaries took to ascend to the wall. But as she reached the curve to head down, a man’s head peaked up from beneath. It was their leader, Redscar, the tier 2.
Alyss attacked without a thought. It was direct, taking advantage of the brief moment of imbalance as the man reached the top. She gripped her sword in both hands and came with a strong diagonal swing.
There was a thud, Alyss yelped. Redscar’s hand was big enough to catch her wrists. He lifted her up into the air while finishing his calm ascent. He had a snide grin, and surveyed the area as he got level with them.
“Bastard!” Alyss shouted, “Un-“
He tossed her like a heavy bag of potatoes. Larl moved forward and they collided, sending both sliding across the wall.
The second part of his bond, Karltun, came up right behind him.
“Well look at that,” Redscar said. “I knew we would get to light this place up, but I think that is the Duchess too.” He let his large axe drop to his side, thudding against the floor.
“Could be,” Karltun said. His axe was the standard fare.
CJ could feel his thoughts getting cluttered. There was the panic and indecision of the group, yes. But something else, the limit of his ability as the pillar.
“You stay back!” Mae shouted. “You can’t win here. You can’t break Akahi, or Barune!” She brandished the axe, and CJ wasn’t sure she didn’t know how to use it.
“Larl, Alyss,” CJ said without looking over at them. “This guy is second tier, watch yourselves.”
Larl was still laid out on his back, but Alyss was pulling herself to her feet. They were hurt, but not out. They could still fight, there was a chance if they were quick. They had the advantage after all, the four of them against two had to be in their favor.
Redscar grinned, and started a slow walk toward them. “I’ll make this quick for you, milady.”
CJ could still hear the fighting all around him. The archers were firing now, launching waves of arrows off the wall. Orders were being barked, and screams of agony were coming from below. The whole time the city still smelled of burning wood. Some of that was their fault, but of course the extra explosives meant some of the chaos was genuine. CJ didn’t have a plan for this, his ideas were now up in smoke. The enemy was in the walls, he had no line of communication to others around the city, and Byr was no longer cutting off the head of the hydra, so to speak.
He couldn’t control the others around him, he was just one bond. He had to focus on the fight ahead of him, win this, and then he could formulate more.
CJ’s eyes went to Redscar’s bondmate, Karltun. The man was smaller, though still muscular. CJ’s eye was still glitching, but he had the feeling the man wasn’t also tier 2. Mercenaries were Burden attunement for the stamina and sturdiness. If he tried to focus down Redscar, there were two threats while they whittled down a tough guy. Instead, they could remove the weaker threat.
Before CJ took his first step forward, Mae charged in. He had the thought, he knew he wanted to use her presence, but she moved before he could second guess himself. She went right for Redscar, her axe pulling back to her side to swing it horizontally.
She rushed forward, and Redscar let out a bellowing laugh as he prepared to meet her blow for blow. Then she skidded to a halt.
Karltun tried to blindside her, come from her side before she even reached Redscar. An ephemeral shield appeared to block the blow, and CJ came up just behind her. As Karltun’s axe clashed with the mystical defense, CJ took the chance to bring his sword across the mercenary’s weapon arm.
A splash of red, not much blood at all. But enough to get Karltun to back off, just barely holding his weapon. Mae backed off in time to escape Redscar’s reply. The man smashed his massive axe down where she was, then swept it over and pulled CJ’s legs out from under him. As he fell to the wood floor, he knew they had to keep up the pressure, he knew they had to rush them.
Alyss moved over him, like a shadow breaking up the red glow from all the flames. She ducked beneath an attack from Redscar, his axe just missing her horns, then she checked Karltun off his feet.
Redscar went to attack yet again, and CJ’s head was still ringing from being knocked to the ground. His axe came down as Alyss got into position, and CJ felt a pull from another part of the bond. Larl was nearby, his arms stretched out in front of him. The shield appeared, and Redscar’s axe cracked against it, literally. The blow seemed to dig into the shield, and divisions spider-webbed out from the blow, glowing dark.
Alyss hesitated. In the moment, CJ was lost on what to do next, afraid the shield might shatter and Alyss could be hit. Then he knew what Alyss wanted, and it aligned with his thought as well. Alyss plunged her sword down on Karltun, through his stomach. CJ wasn’t sure it would eventually be lethal, but the man let out a very alive scream of agony. It was unlikely he was going to be any help to Redscar for now.
“That’s it!” Redscar growled as he grabbed his axe in both hands.
As CJ got to his knees, Mae charged past him with her axe. Alyss turned her sword on Redscar.
The massive mercenary stomped a foot down, and then swept his axe around his head. Then CJ saw something that defied any normal explanation. The axe swept forward, and sideways, and overhead, and every which way. Like a whirlwind, slashes erupted all around Redscar. They were thrown backwards, Mae swept up and thrown, Alyss tossed toward the edge of the wall, and even CJ was nearly thrown back to the ground. Larl was far enough back that he wasn’t effected.
It had to be a facet, something powerful. CJ could see the energy flow off of Redscar, power erupting from his soulstone. HIs eye tried to elaborate, but it came up mostly scrambled.
Mae was wiped out on the floor, and CJ felt the pinch of alarm. Her armor had deep gashes through it, he didn’t know if she was okay. But the feeling… she thought she could still fight, she wanted to get back up. Something protected her, lessened the damage.
He remembered that Alyss had a facet. Hold Fast, that’s what it was called. He could lower the damage of weapons, but it had a downside…
CJ fought to stand up. Mae rolled over as Larl rushed up to her side. Alyss was awake, but couldn’t stand.
“You’re done,” Redscar said, “kind of pathetic honestly.” He kept approaching, his eyes on Mae the whole time. “We were told there was an award for you, but I kind of like the idea of splitting you all in two.”
He could attack, if he found the right moment. Redscar didn’t see him as the threat, which was smart if CJ was honest. He just needed to find the right chance.
Mae got to one knee, and Larl stood in front of her.
“Stay back!” Larl said. “I won’t let you harm her.”
“Little priest, you won’t have much of a choice in the matter.”
CJ’s heart was pounding. His arms felt numb. He was blinking back tears. The clock was running low. He had to go now, while he could still move.
Something was telling him no. The others, they could feel his intent. It wasn’t in words, but someone among them didn’t want him to…
Redscar stood over Mae, axe in both hands. He brought it up over his head as Larl and Mae watched. CJ moved, charging forward with the hope of sticking the sword into Redscar’s gut while his guard was down.
He caught a backhand to the face, and everything blacked out for a moment. He opened his eyes again, and everything was jittering like an old TV with a bad signal, wavering back and forth. His chest was heaving up and down, his breathing was irregular, and his thoughts felt heavy.
Someone was yelling. Alyss wasn’t in the same spot, she was moving. Mae was on her feet now, standing defiant. But they were dead. He lost, and there was nothing else he could do about it. He was going to crack, he could feel himself at the edge of passing out like before.
Redscar reached out for Mae with a massive hand. Then froze in place and let out a loud gasp. CJ shook his head in confusion, trying to stay awake long enough to figure out why Redscar stopped moving.
Redscar fell forward. Mae and Larl scrambled out of the way as his body slammed to the ground with a thud. Behind him stood Sir Byr, commander of the Magmaguard. His sword was blazing red, and his armor was scratched and dented. He was alone, but he stood strong while Redscar was dead.
“Sir Byr!” Mae shouted. She scrambled around the dead mercenary to get to the commander. He grabbed her as she embraced him, and he held her at his side as he looked over the scene.
“Byr’s here now,” Alyss said.
CJ would have jumped at her voice, if he wasn’t so exhausted. She was right next to him. Her armor was cut up, she was bleeding from the arm. But she still had more vigor in her than him.
“You can drop it now, Eastman. You can die if you don’t. Just drop the bond.”
He squeezed his fist, but it trembled. She was right, he couldn’t keep it up. He broke the connection for now, and he saw all of them gasp as the tendrils of power faded away. He felt the immediate relief, but he was still exhausted.
“Dang, everything hurts.” CJ gasped.
Alyss helped him up onto wobbling feet.
“We have to go now,” Sir Byr shouted loud enough for the other soldiers on the wall to hear. “We should retreat to the inner keep, formulate a new plan of defense. Chuck is bringing the other guards back into the safety of the wall.”
A soldier yelled their report. “The Ash Walkers are at the walls, they are attempting to climb!”
Byr removed Mae’s grip from him and rushed over to the wall to look down. He didn’t like what he saw, and backed up with his weapon at the ready.
“Lady, Alyss, back up. We will have to fight off this wave of the monsters before we move!” Byr shouted.
Hands scrabbled over the rocks, and soon the heads of ash walkers started to appear. The archers backed away, some pulling long knives and other weapons. Orders went out to regroup, focus on the appearing threat.
The creatures pulled themselves up, scrambling over each other with no regard for their own lives. Then CJ saw that they were carrying something, a large black box like a carriage without wheels, complete with door on one side.
CJ didn’t need to check his map to know it was the center of the bond. All the lines from the ash walkers went back to it.
“That’s it!” Byr shouted. “Stand back, I’ll end this now.”
He charged forward, his sword hot with flame. The door on the box opened, and a black rod shot out of the darkness. It struck Byr in the chest with a metallic crunch, and the man stumbled to a stop. The rod retreated back into the darkness, and Byr took another stumbling step forward.
“Sir Byr!” Mae screamed.
Alyss’s arm clenched on CJ. Larl stumbled forward with his arm out, as if to summon his shield now that it was too late.
Byr took another step, then his shoulders slumped. He turned his back to the box, and looked over the group. He had a look of determination, but also a deep sadness. Then the many monsters swept over him, dragging him to the ground and piling onto him.
Then a person in all black with a gray cloak and gray mask stepped out of the box. They had one eye visible, a striking blue eye. They stepped over stationary ash walkers as they walked down to stand flat on the wall’s roof.
“I’m sorry to interrupt his hero act,” The person said. Their voice wasn’t masculine or feminine, it was just cold. “I need to have a conversation with your new arrival over there.”
Their eyes went right to CJ.
“The rest of you are free to run for your lives, with however much energy you have left.”
Waves of the creatures came over the walls. They attacked the Scaleback guards, charging the people there in feral assaults.
Mae was still stunned, her eyes watching where Byr was. Larl stood between her and the oncoming creatures. The gray cloaked person walked in CJ’s direction, ignoring the chaos of all around them.
Alyss grabbed her sword and pushed CJ back.
“Cute,” they said. “But I try not to get my hands dirty when I can use zombies.”
Several ash walkers rushed her, and she just barely got her sword up in time to hold them off before they forced her back.
While there was fighting all around him, CJ was left with no one to help him with this person. A villain standing in the center of a web of bonds.
“Who are you?” CJ asked, “what do you want?”
“Oh right,” they said. “Call me Greywind, I’m the one that’s going to kill you.”
“Why?!” CJ yelped, looking around. “Why do any of this. I don’t even know why I’m here, I haven’t done anything!”
Greywind looked with the one eye, and shrugged. “Sorry, it makes my life easier. The less fucking would-be heroes like you around, the better.”
“What?” They believed in the legend too. They thought he was going to what, stop the dragon? Why did they even know he was here?
“Look at this? You’re controlling this whole army, you’re already so much stronger than everyone else. Why worry about me?” CJ asked. He took a step back, but his legs felt like jello. He could see Alyss fighting for her life out of the corner of his eye. Some guards were defending Mae and Larl, but Mae was frozen in the center of them.
They lost, and they lost while using his plan.
If he could just reform the bond and hold them together. Maybe they could fight back. But his soul felt exhausted, he felt like anytime he blinked he might wake up two days later.
“Oh this?” Greywind smirked and looked around, “You appreciating my micro? You would be shocked the stuff you can do when you ignore the rules.”
CJ blinked hard. Something was wrong, and it was so in his face and obvious.
“You’re from Earth!” CJ said, pointing a finger.
Greywind chuckled. “You’re just catching that? Goodness, no wonder you’re the weakest.”
The normal curses, the awkward phrases. He was looking at another one of the Four Generals. But they were looking to kill him.
“Why would you try to kill me?” CJ shouted, taking another step back. “Don’t we all need to come together to…to… kill that thing? Four of us right?”
Greywind tilted their head a little. “Is that the version they told you? I don’t have time to explain before your timely death, but there is more than one version of the legend. I prefer the version where I win and rule as a supreme overlord. That means I can’t have you or any of the others getting in my way.”
The villain pulled a sword from their hip, an all black blade that seemed to absorb the little light around it.
“Look, maybe you’ll go back home when you die,” Greywind said. “Fat chance, but you never know.”
There was a rumbling sound as Greywind approached. Their black sword thrummed, but that wasn’t the source of the rumbling sound.
CJ grabbed for his sword, but he must have dropped it when he was knocked back in the fight against Redscar. Greywind pointed their weapon, and then a flush of heat went out over the whole wall. Everyone stopped, even the ash walkers went still for a moment.
Then the pile of ash walkers that piled on Sir Byr exploded into a bright orange conflagration. People were thrown back, monsters caught flame and scrambled over the wall to escape the flames. At the center of the bright orange blaze stood a man covered in red flame, Sir Byr.
He charged, ash walkers getting out of his way. Those that didn’t move fast enough were cut down with slashes fast enough to miss.
CJ couldn’t believe what he saw, he didn’t understand what he saw.
|Final Flame|
|Facet Skill of Purity Attunement|
|The attuned can defy death to make one last assault covered in flames. Their strength is enhanced and they are otherwise impervious to harm for the limited duration. When this facet ends, they will die.|
Greywind turned, but it was like everyone but Byr moved in slow motion. By the time Greywind was looking his direction all they could do is extend their black sword as a rod again. It rammed into Byr, but the man ignored it and kept up his charge.
Byr brought up his sword, the flame surrounding it burned white hot, and then it slashed down on Greywind.
The villain tried to step aside, but the heat alone seemed to seer their mask and strike their shoulder.
“AGH!” Greywind screamed before trying to swing at Byr. But the old soldier ignored the sword strike and brought up his sword for another blow.
CJ could see Greywind’s bond act. The energy flowed out through the bond and back in. The ash walkers leaped in front of the blow, half a dozen of them throwing themselves in front of the blow, enough to stop their master from dying. By the time Byr’s strike was done, ash walkers were dragging Greywind away. The way they struggled, their mask crumbling to reveal an emerald green eye surrounded by bubbling burning flesh, it seemed like they couldn’t stop their ash walkers from moving them.
Greywind was thrown over the edge of the wall, and many of the ash walkers followed. They made a wall of grey flesh between them and anyone that would dare assault Greywind.
Byr watched Greywind go, looked over his shoulder at CJ, and then his flames extinguished. The man was a black husk, and CJ couldn’t see anymore of the energy that flowed off of him just moments prior.
“Good job Eastman,” Byr said, “but the hard part starts now… understand?”
CJ was stunned, confused. But he nodded.
“Good…” Then he collapsed to the ground.
Mae was there, but in the moment CJ couldn’t hear what she was screaming about. She went to Byr’s side, spoke to him.
The fighting around them was breaking up, becoming chaos again. But something strange was happening in CJ’s map. He could see other parts of the battle, he could see the numbers.
They really were losing. He wasn’t sure if Scaleback would be lost, but so many bonds were hurt or lost. CJ looked over and up. Whitetune was on the wind, coming down toward them, and he had friends. Several groups of Skymen were sweeping down toward the fight.
CJ looked to Mae, who was distraught. He looked to Alyss, who looked stone-faced at the saddened Mae. “Alyss, Whitetune is here! He could help us get out!”
The Skymen were there for just that. There weren’t many of them, but they could carry a person each. The Akahi refugees, at least the ones that Barune would want turned over, could be carried away.
CJ got to watch another city burn, and this time it was at least in part his fault.
But he also knew who else was to blame, and he knew what questions to ask next.