TYRAM

The snail was a lot faster than he'd thought.

Well it would have to be, if two of them could pull a carriage fast enough to keep up with jeeps. He and Aurina rode on the enormous creature's shell, and if Andry was on foot they'd catch up to him in no time.

“So why didn't you use the sword in town?” Aurina asked as they rode.

“I'm not very good with it,” Tyram said.

“You said something about it being too dangerous?”

“Yeah,” Tyram said. “The Dragon Sword was made with the Dragon Regalia. It synchronizes perfectly with my energy and it's really, really powerful. Too powerful. I can't control it. So I get one good swing and it's...messy.”

“Oh,” Aurina said. “Seems to me that...look! There he is!”

Tyram saw him too. Andry, hurrying through the fields with a bag slung over his shoulder. Tyram urged the snail forwards and headed into a clear space between two feels of grain, bringing it to a stop right in Andry's path. The young villager pulled up short, glaring at both of them.

“What are you doing!?” he demanded. “You idiot, why would you bring her out here!?”

“I've got a better question!” Aurina said, hopping off the back of the snail. Tyram followed. “What are you doing out here in the first place?”

“I'm trying to reach the bandit attack before it gets to town,” he told her.

“And fight them all yourself?” Aurina said.

“No,” Andry said. “Convince them to give me time. Time to talk you idiots out of this!”

“Dammit Andry you can't!” Aurina shouted. “Don't you get it? You can't talk us out of this! This has been a long time coming--”

“You're all in such a hurry to die,” Andry growled. “Well I'm not in a hurry to see you all die.”

“What if I don't want to see you die?” Aurina demanded.

“Well that sucks,” Andry said. “This has gotten bad enough somebody has to die. If it's just me, that's fine. Besides, I have a peace offering.” He hefted the bag on his shoulder. “The money we were going to give to Jarlo. Plus the extra payment he decided he wanted.”

“They won't listen to you,” Tyram said. “Or if they do...you saw what town was like. The town won't agree to it. The outside villagers who came in to fight certainly won't go for it.”

“You can shut up,” Andry snarled at him. “This isn't even your planet, knight. So stay out of its business and we'll all be better off.”

The slap was like a gunshot. Aurina's hand slammed into her brother's face, turning his head aside and leaving an ugly red mark.

“No you can shut up,” Aurina said. “All the knights did was help when we were in trouble. We decided to have this fight, and we'd be having it with or without the Knights. We'd just be worse off if they weren't here. Maybe Jarlo would have destroyed the town already, I don't know. But the one who's getting in the way is you, Andry. Not him.”

Andry stood stock still for a moment.

“Aurina,” Andry said. “Get out of my way.”

“And what if I don't?” She demanded.

Andry grabbed her around the waist and lifted her out of the way. She punched at his head, but he didn't seem to mind the blows. Tyram would have bet he was fortifying himself with auram to avoid the pain. He stepped past a still protesting Aurina, and Tyram stepped forward to block his path,.

“Out of my way,” Andry snarled.

“No,” Tyram said. “She's right, and she forgot something. You getting killed when you go out there isn't the worst thing that could happen. You helped build the town's defenses. Do you know all the auram abilities they have over there? Do they have a mind reader? What about torture, are you sure you wouldn't reveal things under torture? Absolutely positive? Because if I was you I wouldn't be. Face it, Andry, you should have at least talked this over with everyone before you left.”

“Everyone's being idiots,” Andry snarled. “They've got their heads filled with banners and gleaming armor and fairy tales. And I don't need a lecture from you. This is your last warning. Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”

Tyram felt the auram in Andry's body shift and flow and the lion regalia simmered into being, all dull red leather and brass. The metallic face of a lion with a wild mane was placed in the center of his chest. His shoulder pads were a pair of maned lions, their mouths open and roaring. On his face a combination of the circlet on his forehead and chin guard, combined with the wild red mane of his hair, formed another roaring lion. More lions roared at his elbows and knees, the buckles of his boots, and knuckle guards on his gloves formed two more.

“Alright,” Tyram said, summoning his own dragon regalia. “If that's how it's got to be.”

“Aurina,” Andry shouted. “Get out of the way.”

Aurina nodded, climbing up on the snail and urging it a away from the battle. Tyram and Andry stood, sizing each other up. Tyram crouched, ready to charge at Andry and close the distance, but Andry didn't bother. He just swung his fist. There was a sound like a lion's roar splitting the air and something slammed into Tyram's face, sending him flying. He landed on his face in the dirt, blood seeming down from his lip.

“Oh wonderful,” Andry sneered at him. “Just perfect. What a heroic figure you cut down there, sir knight. Well what are you waiting for? You're the big strong true knight, remember? And apparently I'm the coward.”

Andry thrust both of his fists out in front of him and a pair of roars ripped through the night again. Tyram had been ready this time though. He was already airborne, a leap powered by auram that took him out of the way before the lion regalia's power dug a crater in the dirt where he'd been lying. He spin through the air and caught Andry in the air with a flying kick. Andry snarled in frustration as he was thrown to the ground.

“You're only half a coward,” Tyram said, dropping down into a fighting stance. “You're not afraid to die. You're just afraid to fight. Or let anyone else fight.”

“I'm afraid to watch them die,” Andry almost shrieked, picking himself to his feet. “Why is that cowardice? Not wanting to see the whole village get killed?”

“Because they decided to fight,” Tyram told him. “It's cowardice not to respect their position. And selfish to try and make them stop. They know they probably won't win, Andry. They all know they're probably going to die. That's the point. They're choosing how.”

Andry charged Tyram with a frustrated snarl and delivered a vicious flurry of punches. Tyram blocked and dodged until Andry splayed his arms and threw out his chest, normally a suicidal maneuver in a fistfight. Tyram had been expecting something like this, he rolled away from the melee seconds before the lion on Andry's chest opened its mouth and roared. The blast left a divot in the ground a few feet away.

“I've got your Regalia figured out,” Tyram said. “Sonic blasts. What did Grandfather call the martial art that came with the Lion Regalia...Proud Lion's Roar. Right?”

“And yours is an auram factory,” Andry panted. “That's why you're so fast and strong, why you can deliver huge blows like that. You can call up more auram than anybody else. Grandpa called your style Wise Dragon's Might. God, these names. Well it explains why you're such a cocky son of a bitch.”

“I'm not cocky,” Tyram said. “I never claimed to be someone who could save the village, Andry. I just agreed to help when they decided to fight. You'd be a big help too, Andry. That's one of the most powerful regalia I've ever seen.”

“Is it?” Andry said. “And what fucking good did it do? My grandfather fought with it. He went to face the Brothers Sloth, and he came back with his stomach ripped open and his guts spilling out!”

Andry's auram flared and he rushed at Tyram, another vicious flurry of blows. This time his blows started connecting. He had abandoned all defense, there was nothing his attack but wild rage. Tyram blocked what he could and struck back when he could, and all the time Andry ranted.

“He couldn't even speak!” Andry screamed through the brutal exchange. “He handed me this regalia in his broken, bleeding hands and then he died. So I went to get revenge for him, like a good Knight. I was younger. I was stronger. I'd defend his honor. I would--”

Tyram's knee caught Andry in the chin and villager flew backwards, blood flying from a bitten tongue. He landed on his back in the dirt, staring up at the starry sky. There was a moment of stunned silence.

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“Jarlo was the first man you killed?” Andry said finally, picking himself up. “Well good for you. I killed eighty men. They died with a thrust of my fist, shattered and broken and bleeding. And I stood there, knee deep in gore and covered in blood, and I shouted at the fortress for the Brother's Sloth to come out and pay for their crimes. And out came Jarlo.

“I didn't notice how much gore there was until I saw him wading through it. He kicked a severed arm aside. No one I'd fought had any kind of regalia, they couldn't handle my blasts head on. And I hadn't bothered trying to control them either.”

“Andry,” Aurina said softly from her mount atop the snail, but her brother didn't even seem to hear her. His attention was all on Tyram, glaring at him with fists clenched tight.

“I'd torn through them like a hurricane,” Andry said. “And now they were all dead, and in pieces, and I was covered in blood, and it wasn't a glorious fairytale, I wasn't some hero here to right all the universe's wrongs, I was just a killer. About to fight another killer. But I wasn't even strong enough for that. I wound up face down in the blood. I breathed in the men I'd killed. Can you imagine the stink of that? The taste of it? And that's what you want them to go through? What you want to let the villagers live through? I won't have it. I won't have it!”

That last bellow was accompanied by a roar from the armor. Every lions head roared at once emitting an ear splitting cry of rage and defiance, a dome of pure sonic force that sent Tyram flying backwards. It caught Aurina too and she shrieked as the blast rocked her on her mount.

“Aurina--!” Andry said, turning towards her, but Tyram could already see that she was fine. Instead he took advantage of the distraction and landed a blow to Andry's gut. The lion warrior stumbled back, but Tyram didn't let up on the blows.

“Do you really think they don't know that?” Tyram demanded, slamming auram fueled punch after auram fueled punch into Andry's chest and face. “Do you think Chaddim doesn't know that? He fought in the Ruin Wars! And so did a lot of the old folks back at the village, just like our grandfathers! How many people do you think they killed? They fought on battlefields where millions died!”

“And they failed!” Andry bellowed back, slamming a fist into Tyram's face. “They beat the Hegemony and it didn't even matter! The old alliance still fell! All those millions and millions of lives lost, and all for nothing!”

As he shouted the last word he swung an uppercut at Tyram's chin. Tyram tried to step away from it, but he only dodged the physical blow. The lion on Andry's fist emitted it's own roar, and the edge of the sonic blast caught Tyram on the chin and left him sprawling on the ground, his head reeling.

“I'm going now,” Andry said softly, turning away from the sprawled out night. “Take Aurina back to the village. If they do just kill me, at least maybe I bought you all some time to prepare.”

“Wait...” Tyram said, struggling to his feet. “I'm not...”

A weird crashing noise came from the fields, and for some reason the dormant Snail Regalia in Andry's pocket twitched. He didn't have time to think about it, because just then Jarlo's other snail crashed out through the fields of grain, sucking them into its circular maw and eating them as it moved. On its back was a new rider.

He wore armor from head to toe. His helmet was a fat, squashed teardrop with a pair of eyeholes. The armor on his trunk was much the same shape, a thick round mass of metal. Heavy plate covered all of him, down to his fingertips, and in his right hand he carried an enormous mace with a head the same flattened teardrop shape as his helmet.

“Zwiebel,” Andry said. “I was just coming to see your boss.”

“Oh I heard, I heard!” a surprisingly high pitched, giggling voice said from inside the heavy armor. “I thought I recognized your pleasant little kitty purrs all the way across the fields, so I came to check it out!”

“Look,” Andry said. “We can still talk about this...”

“Oh no!” Zwiebel said, leaping off the snail he rode and striding over to Andry. “No I don't think we can. Besides, it's too late to buy anybody any time!”

“Zwiebel wait-!” But the bandit wasn't listening, and Andry had to jump back to avoid a swing of the enormous mace. Tyram stood beside him, wiping blood off his chin.

“I think you're going to have to fight this one,” Tyram said.

“I know!” Andry said.

“I could help.”

“Fine,” Andry snarled. “just don't hold me back.”

“Ooooh and you must be one of those knights I heard so much about!” Zwiebel giggled. His mace began to whirr and spin with a grinding noise that made Tyram think it must be made of many different layers of metal all spinning inside. Sparks began to crackle in the air around it. “Fun! This is going to be fun! And then I'll get rewards!”

He brought the mace down on the the two knights. The leaped to either side as it dug a deep divot in the ground, throwing up dirt and mud and crackling tongues of lightning.

“Big Brother Sloth said you guys were worth special prizes!” Zwiebel cackled.

“You know I might have hated Jarlo,” Andry roared as he leaped through the air at Zwiebel, “but at least his didn't have such an annoying voice!”

His fist slammed into the bandit's face with a loud klong! And the bandit took a step back, but that was all the effect it seemed to have.

“Shame on you Andry!” Zwiebel giggled again. “You of all people should know my Onion Regalia is proof against your sonic blasts.”

“So that's what you are!” Tyram said, catching Zweibel with a kick to the chest. “An onion! I've been trying to figure out what to call that stupid helmet of yours!”

Despite lying on his back in the dirt, the knight in the onion armor just giggled and sat up, picking his mace off the ground.

“Nice try~y!” Zwiebel giggled. “It's been a while since somebody knocked me that far back. But you can't hurt me! My armor is 257 layers of solid auram-conjured steel! And when they all start spinning...” The helmet and the armor around his belly began to spin, the same whirring grinding noise. What Tyram had thought were just eye holes turned out to be two floating discs. They seemed to allow him to see, but when the helmet began to spin they remained still, floating just above the whirling metal. . Lightning began to crackle off his entire body, a glowing aura of electric sparks. “But I'm being all rude! There's someone else here we're ignoring! We're not going to say she can't play just because she's a girl,are we?”

“Aurina!” Andry bellowed, as Zwiebel turned his attention to the girl on the back of her snail. “Aurina, get out of here! Get--!”

But before Aurina could respond Zwiebel shoved his mace in her direction and fired a bolt of lightning from the end. Andry tried to leap into it's path but it sparked between them, striking Andry and Aurina and the snail all at once. All three screamed and collapsed, the snail tucked inside its shell. Tyram tried to take advantage of the distraction to land a solid blow, but Zwiebel swung his mace around and caught Tyram in the gut. Electric agony coursed through the young knight's body and he was thrown away, rolling along the dirt and landing at the base of the stalks of grain. Smoke wafted from the tips of his armor as he climbed to his feet.

“Is Aurina alright?” He called out.

“She's okay!” Andry said, walking back towards the battle. “She's taking the snail back to town right away!”

“Wait,” Aurina said. “the snail's acting weird, I think something...”

“Just go Aurina!” Andry shouted back. “You're not a combatant, you don't have a regalia, and we can't protect you!”

“Then let's finish off this jerk,” Tyram roared, filling his limbs with all the auram he could force into them and control. The two knights charged the bandit, delivering blow after blow to his armor. It sounded like someone beating a metal drum with rocks, and they accepted the shocks they received from touching him as the price they payed to fight. Zwiebel just took it, all of it, standing there giggling and their blows bounced harmlessly off the metal plate. Finally he crossed his wrists over his head.

“That's....useless!” He swing his arms down to his sides, emitting a blast of crackling energy that sent Andry and Tyram flying. When they stood they were both hunched over from exhaustion, panting desperately, blood streaming from their mouths.

“At least Aurina got away,” Andry painted.

“The fight's not over yet,” Tyram countered.

“The fight was over before it even started!” Zwiebel giggled. “And you two seem pretty proud of yourselves, considering you just sent that girl to her death.”

“What are you talking about?” Andry demanded.

“Don't you get it yet?” Zwiebel's whole body shook with the force of his snickering laughter. “I was moving behind the main force. By now they've already raised your village to the ground! You sent her there just in time to see them play with the bodies and add her to the pile!”

“What!?” Andry turned towards the fields where Aurina had disappeared. “I have to warn her! I-”

Zwiebel thrust his mace out again and a bolt of lightning shot at Andry and Tyram, slamming both of them to the dirt again in a smoking hole.

“So now the question is,” Zwiebel giggled, “do I crush your faces with my mace? Or do I just...”

He sent another bolt of electricity through the helpless knights.

“Shock you to death?” another bolt. “This is way more fun, but if I stay here too long I'll miss all the fun at town!” another bolt. “Decisions can be tough sometimes, you know? Maybe I should just smash your heads with my mace...but wait! How do I prove to the boss it's really you two then? And you'll get the saddle of my snail all mess...hey, where'd it go? Awww I needed that! I finally got to play with one after Jarlo died and now it's gone!”

The bandit whirled, looking for his missing mount. While his back was turned Tyram and Andry struggled quietly to their feet. They looked each other in the eye and made another desperate rush at Zwiebel. They never even reached him. He caught them with another lighting bolt, sending them back down to their knees as he pumped them full of electricity.

“Whatever!” Zwiebel said. “I'm sure I'll find it. I'll just have to keep it up with the lightning until your hearts give out!”

He stood over them, laughing and pouring more and more lightning into their bodies as they tried to stand, until Arina arrived on the snail.

On both of the snails.

Except there was only one snail now, a two headed thing with a massively armored shell that moved as fast as a race car, sending clouds of dirt up into the air behind it. Growing from the shell, near the front, were two enormous double barreled cannons on swivel mounts.

“FIRE!” Aurina shouted, pointing at Zwiebel, and the snail obliged. The cannons swung to face the bandit.

“What!?” Zwiebel babbled. “What's going on!?”

And then the barrage of energy blasts hit, sending him flying back and skipping across the dirt. He wailed in dismay as the force of the blasts sent him bouncing away across the field. Finally though he was able to roll out of the way and throw out his mace again, hitting Aurina and the snail both with another bolt of lighting. Aurna screamed and fell off her mount, and the snail skidded to a halt and lay on its side on the ground.

“You found a new way to play with the snail!” Zwiebel said. “Show me how! I wanna play I wanna play I wanna plaaaaayy!”

“Dammit Aurina!” Andry shouted, rushing to his sister's side. “I told you to get away!”

“Keep her behind me!” Tyram said, rushing to intercept the charging Zwiebel. The bandit didn't even seem to notice he was there. Andry stood in his way, reaching for his sword, carefully charging auram. He would only get one shot at this.

“Gonna play with the sna-il!” Zwiebel chanted as he ran. “Gonna play with the snail, gonna play with the snail....”

Tyram drew the sword.

It ought to be a gleaming blade, a blade charged with pure auram, built for the bottomless well of power granted by the Dragon Regalia, a blade that could cut through anything. But Tyram couldn't control it, couldn't hold it stable. The sword called on too much power for him to handle.

He drew the sparking, vibrating sword and swung it in the direction of the charging bandit.

All the energy that should have made the blade an unstoppable razor exploded at once in an enormous wave. There was a cutting edge at the end of that wave, but it wasn't a sharp as it would have been with a properly wielded sword, and it was followed by a chaotic storm of liquid light that blew aside everything in front of it. Zwiebel screamed as the light struck him, washing over him until he disappeared into the glare.