Kayde and Lunette descend the stairs of the building they were positioned on top of now that the battle for control over the Sacrosanct Empire has concluded. They notice some soldiers start to carry Xander, Kali, and Drakthar away from the city square that served as the battlefield.
Kayde notices Fore running towards him and he outstretches, welcoming Fore into his arms, “Hey, I’m glad to see you, buddy,” he feels Fore nuzzle up against him.
“Yeah, I did good, ripped someone’s throat out,” Fore responds cheerily.
Kayde takes a look at the blood that has dried in the fur around Fore’s mouth, “Looks like it, you did a good job”.
While Kayde and Fore are having their touching reunion, Lunette spots Gwendolyn talking to some Sacrosanct soldiers.
She goes over to them, asking Gwendolyn, “Hey, are you alright?”
Gwendolyn turns to see Lunette, letting out a deep sigh of relief, “Yeah, I think I am. A little worried about Xander, but he should be fine”.
Kayde and Fore catch up to the two of them.
“So we took down the Purity. You know I feel like it was going to be harder than this. Feels good though,” Kayde smiles, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxing pose.
“You three,” Avesa approaches them.
“Four, you forgot Fore,” Kayde corrects her.
She looks down at the wolf, annoyed that she was corrected for leaving an animal out, “Sure… anyway, you guys should rest, I have gotten you two rooms at an inn that is close to the infirmary where you can wait for your friends to recover”.
“No, I must go to the infirmary now,” Gwendolyn brings back up what she was talking about with the other soldier earlier.
“No,” Avesa firmly refuses.
“I wasn’t asking,” Gwendolyn makes her position on the matter clear, attempting to walk past Avesa towards where a bunch of soldiers are heading.
Avesa firmly grasps her shoulder to stop her, “Look, I understand your friends are hurt, but right now you should just stay out of the way so the professionals can heal them”. Gwendolyn looks at Avesa’s strict glare, the two proud leaders staring each other down seeing who will be the first to give.
“Come on Gwendolyn, Xander will be fine, Alwin is the one we need to worry about,” Kayde butts in, trying to defuse the tension.
“Okay fine, I’ll wait at an inn,” Gwendolyn finally agrees, causing a smirk to appear on Avesa’s face knowing she won.
They arrive at the inn where Avesa got rooms for them, Kayde slips his ring back on just to be safe, it would be weird if a citizen saw a cyborg walking around before anything is announced.
Upon opening the door to the first of their rooms, they see Drakthar sitting inside it, touching some scrapes and bruises on his torso.
“Look who it is, the doctors let you go?” Kayde asks, glad to see Drakthar up on his feet so soon.
“No, I left, I’m fine,” Drakthar informs them.
“Looks like it will be Drakthar, Fore, and I in here for now. You two should take the other room Avesa gave us,” Kayde notes, putting his bag down on the table. Gwendolyn and Lunette don’t disagree, leaving the room to get themselves cleaned up.
Once the door closes behind them, Kayde slumps down into the chair next to Drakthar and lets out a sigh of relief, “Good they’re gone. Glad you came back buddy thought I was going to have to share a room with Lunette”.
Drakthar gives him a look.
“What? You wonder why I would feel like that?” Kayde asks, noticing his expression.
“I don’t care,” Drakthar tries to get Kayde to move on, continuing to check out his injuries.
“Oh come on man, I saw how you ran to help Kali, it’s not like your heart is as icy as you want us to believe,” Kayde chuckles a little. Drakthar just growls at him in response.
“Okay, okay… I just want to explain it, you don’t even have to listen. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with women before, but I’ve never felt like this, it scares me,” Kayde gets his feelings off his chest.
Drakthar rolls his eyes, not believing he is doing this, but he asks, “Is it a good feeling?”
“I think so,” Kayde admits tentatively.
“Okay,” Drakthar stands up; he grabs his bag of holding and battle-axe and begins to leave the room.
“Where are you going?” Kayde asks as Drakthar just walks out the door.
Drakthar knocks on the door across the hall.
“What’s up?” Lunette is the one who answers it.
“We’re switching rooms,” Drakthar walks past her, putting his stuff down in the corner of the room.
“Yay,” Lunette immediately agrees, not questioning it at all, she grabs her stuff and heads towards the room where Kayde and Fore are.
“Hey, Lunette, do you know if there are any towels…” Gwendolyn stops in her tracks assuming it was Lunette in the other room and not Drakthar.
“Here,” Drakthar picks up one of the towels left out for them on the bed and hands it to her, unfazed by the dripping wet naked woman in front of him.
“Thanks,” Gwendolyn quickly wraps herself up in it.
“Why are you here?” She finally questions.
“I don’t want to explain it,” Drakthar grumbles, sitting back down in his chair in the corner.
“Well, I am just going to grab these,” Gwendolyn hastily grabs some clothes from her bag and goes back into the bathroom to change. She comes out of the bathroom, having composed herself from an awkward situation.
“Do you want the bed because you are injured?” Gwendolyn asks him, trying to decide the sleeping arrangement.
“No, I’ll be fine on the floor,” Drakthar responds, used to sleeping on worse his entire life.
“Oh, okay. Thank you,” Gwendolyn notes, surprised he would turn it down. They both sit in the room quietly, not saying anything to each other.
It doesn’t bother Drakthar much, but it is unnerving for Gwendolyn, causing her to say, “Drakthar, thank you. I haven’t gotten a chance to say it yet because of everything going on, but thank you for everything you have done for Xander and I since we have been here. I appreciate it more than you know”.
Drakthar looks irritated that he has to accept thanks, but he does so nonetheless, “It’s nothing. He is like a brother to me so that much is expected”.
“Either way thank you. And don’t think I didn’t notice you rush over to rescue Kali, glad to see you are finally showing her some affection,” Gwendolyn adds in cheekily.
Drakthar turns away from her, grabbing one of the towels and disappearing into the bathroom to avoid further discussion on this topic.
Meanwhile, Lunette bursts through the door to the other room, “Hey! Drakthar told me to switch room with him, what was that about? You piss him off or something?”
“Something like that,” Kayde lies, a slight anxious smile on his face.
“Last night I was trying to find you, but you were out recruiting all those animals weren’t you?” Lunette mentions.
“Yup, we needed backup, Kali could only handle so many royal guards at once,” Kayde laughs nervously, uncomfortable around the subject of new feelings for him.
He notices Lunette is staring at him blankly, she must be spacing out again.
“Um Lunette,” he tries to get her attention. She ignores him, his assumption correct about her not being in this moment.
“Oh, sorry, I spaced out again didn’t I? Anyway, you know you seem kind of weird right now Kayde,” Lunette points out, starting to inch closer to him.
“Nope, I’m fine,” he isn’t quite sure what she means and is getting concerned as she gets closer to him.
“I mean, you’re usually so cool and calm, but you seem unsettled by something right now,” She continues towards him until she is right up against him.
“You know what? Screw it,” Kayde grabs a hold of her and brings his lips to hers.
“I’ve been waiting for you to do this,” Lunette giggles as she lets Kayde remove her clothing.
Kayde is taken out of the moment for a second as he hears Fore ask, “What are you guys doing?” Lunette turns after hearing Fore bark as well.
“Human things buddy, why don’t you wait in the other room?” Kayde requests, finding it awkward if Fore is in the room with them.
“I don’t like the other room, it’s smaller than this one and you’re not in it,” Fore pushes back on it.
“You know what, we’ll go in the other room, you can have this one,” Kayde lifts Lunette onto his shoulder and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Fore jumps up onto the bed, lying down while he hears the sound of the shower turn on and other noises he has never heard before coming from the next room over.
A few days later, in the makeshift infirmary that was set up for the survivors of the battle, Xander awakens, his head still fuzzy as he notices Alwin and Kali in the beds beside him.
“How do you feel?” A doctor asks from above him.
Xander starts to sit up, “A little light-headed I guess, but other than that I feel fine”.
“Really now, I don’t know many fine people that sleep for three days,” the doctor not so subtly informs him of how long he was out.
“Was it that long? Hold on, how are the two next to me doing?” Xander asks about Kali and Alwin.
“She is fine, just a little bruised up. It’s going to take a little bit for her to recover. The other guy though… he’ll live, but his wound was one of the most severe I have seen. He probably won’t get to fight again even if he wants to,” the doctor informs him.
“You know I don’t think he is going to take that news too badly,” Xander laughs a little knowing Alwin.
“Hold on, I am going to go get your friends that have been waiting for you to wake up,” the doctor leaves the room.
He comes back into the room with Gwendolyn, Kayde, Kali, Lunette, and Drakthar.
Gwendolyn goes over to Xander and embraces him, “We need to stop meeting up like this”.
“It’s pretty bad I know,” Xander admits, just glad everyone is alive; he would have felt guilty if his dream had gotten one of them killed.
“You know if you keep doing this, I’m going to waste the better part of my life waiting for you to heal,” she jokes, half-seriously.
“Yeah, maybe I’ll take a break from getting injured for a while,” Xander agrees.
“We do have a wedding coming up,” Gwendolyn reminds him now that their business in the Sacrosanct Empire is over.
“How long until you are healed?” Drakthar interrupts their conversation.
“Not sure, ask the doctor,” Xander responds from behind Gwendolyn.
“He should be fine in a couple of days,” the doctor answers while checking on the sleeping Alwin.
“In two days, we fight,” Drakthar declares, eager to settle who between the two of them is the greater warrior. Xander nods, agreeing to his proposal.
“Are you kidding me! You just told me you weren’t going to go and get yourself injured again!” Gwendolyn scolds him in reaction to him immediately going against what they just talked about.
“What? You think Drakthar is going to injure me?” Xander just nervously retorts, already bracing himself as he prepares for the backlash of going against her wishes.
“Yes, he might even kill you,” Gwendolyn shrugs off his statement.
“Where’s the faith?” Xander goes all-in on him winning and not getting injured. Gwendolyn isn’t impressed by his recklessness; she gets up and starts to walk out of the infirmary.
“Wait, where are you going?” He asks, wanting to spend more time with her.
“I have a wedding to plan… that is if the groom doesn’t get himself killed first,” she slams the door behind her on the way out.
“You got one hell of a woman there,” the doctor comments at the foolish young man.
“She’ll understand… at least I hope she does. Anyway, you’re on, two days we fight,” Xander lets Drakthar know it is still on. Drakthar nods and leaves to prepare himself.
“You know you can take a longer break before fighting him right? I mean I don’t want to find myself siding with Gwendolyn over you, but are you sure you want to just rush into this?” Kayde starts to question his decision making.
“I know, but if I get this out of the way now then Drakthar won’t bother me about it later… at least I hope not,” Xander explains his reasoning.
“Hey, it’s your funeral,” Lunette shrugs; from her point of view, Drakthar is probably going to kill Xander in two days.
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Two days later, Drakthar comes back to the infirmary when Xander is released.
“How about we fight tomorrow instead, just give me one day to get used to being back on my feet,” Xander suggests, not feeling up to it today. Drakthar nods, quickly turning around to leave so he doesn’t waste a minute of preparation.
“Hold on, it looks like your other friend is up,” the doctor tells them.
“I’ll go get the others,” Drakthar states, walking out of the room before Kali can say a word.
“So… you feeling okay?” Xander asks, not sure what to say.
“A little sore I guess. I’ll know more if I stand,” Kali returns his small talk.
Drakthar quickly returns with the others. Gwendolyn goes over to Kali’s bedside and hugs her, “Good to have you up again”.
“It’s good to be up,” Kali responds, looking over at Drakthar over Gwendolyn’s shoulder.
“You kicked ass out there, you took down so many royal guards, I was watching while shooting from the roof,” Kayde compliments her ability.
Kali looks down, “Yeah, but Drakthar still had to save me in the end”.
Everyone looks over to Drakthar to see if he has anything to say, but he remains silent. Xander does notice an odd expression on Drakthar’s face, one he has never seen before. They bid Kali farewell.
“Hold on a minute,” Xander pulls Drakthar aside when they get out of the large room where all the injured are recovering.
“What?” Drakthar grumbles, annoyed because he is being prevented from training.
“You seemed kind of different, it wasn’t like the other times you have ignored her,” Xander mentions, recalling that look from before.
“Why do you guys keep doing this to me? I don’t want to talk about it… first Kayde, then Gwendolyn, and now you. I don’t want to talk about this,” Drakthar starts to complain.
Xander responds by putting a hand on his shoulder, “That’s fine you don’t have to talk about it, but maybe you should go back in there for a little. It might be easier if all of us aren’t there”.
“Fine,” Drakthar scowls before heading back into the other room.
He sees Kali sitting up in her bed looking a little down. She is surprised as Drakthar sits in the chair next to her bed, “Oh, I thought you guys left”.
“Xander told me to come back in here,” Drakthar explains flatly.
“Oh… I see... that was it…” Kali’s voice audibly deflates.
Drakthar braces himself before continuing, “But that wasn’t the only reason. I think I figured something out during that fight”. “How much you want to fight Xander?” Kali speculates, knowing he would say something disappointing like that in a moment like this.
“No… I have this… that I… I don’t want to talk about it, but it’s about you,” Drakthar finally gets it out, mortified at his own words. Kali’s face starts to light up as she notices how visibly embarrassed he is by this whole situation, showing her a side of him he has never shown to anyone else before.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything else I understand,” she ends his suffering, grabbing a hold of his hand.
“I feel the same way about you… but you probably already knew that,” she tells him, looking down at her bedsheets right after she does so.
“Yeah,” Drakthar very uncomfortably responds.
“I should get going now, I have to train for my fight with Xander tomorrow,” he starts to stand up.
“Wait, doctor?” Kali calls the doctor over.
“What?” The doctor takes a break from examining another patient.
“How long until I can be out of here?” She asks, trying to see if she can watch the fight tomorrow.
“Three days is the fastest I see it happening,” the doctor breaks the news to her.
“I need to leave tomorrow, there is somewhere I need to be,” Kali informs him.
The doctor looks down at her condescendingly, “No, there is no chance”.
“All she needs is rest right?” Drakthar interrupts.
“Yes,” the doctor confirms, an eyebrow raised as he is unsure of what the young man might be planning.
Drakthar picks Kali up and throws her over his shoulder, “She will rest”.
“Hold on, you put her back down right now!” The doctor raises his voice at them as Drakthar starts to carry Kali out of the infirmary. Drakthar ignores him, bringing Kali back to the room he recently purchased at the nearby inn.
“I’ll get you in the morning,” he tells her as he lays her down on his bed.
“Thanks, good luck,” she grins at him as she starts to relax and drift off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Xander is walking back to the inn to try and talk to Gwendolyn so he can explain why he is fighting Drakthar and maybe calm her down a bit. As he approaches the front door he sees Kayde, not disguised by the ring, leaning up against the side of the door.
“Xander, I want to take you somewhere,” Kayde tells him once he gets closer.
Xander tries to get around him, explaining, “I was going to try and talk to Gwend…”
“Yeah, she seemed kind of angry, best give her some time to cool off,” Kayde suggests, using that as an excuse to get him to come along.
“She’s had two days, that’s enough time,” Xander tries to get past him again, gripping the doorknob.
Kayde puts his hand on Xander’s wrist, “Seriously dude come with me”.
Xander gives up and lets go of the door, signaling for Kayde to lead the way. Kayde starts to explain while they are walking, “You know things have been hectic since we won, I don’t know if anyone has had time to congratulate each other and I know you wanted this more than all of us… so congratulations Xander”.
“Thanks… I guess. I know I should feel relieved, the thing I have wanted more than anything my entire life finally happened… but I don’t feel that great. Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet or maybe I am stressed about Gwendolyn being so angry with the wedding coming up and all this Drakthar business,” Xander describes how he is feeling.
“Well, maybe it hasn’t sunk in for you, but it has for me. I mean look around, I’m a cyborg in the eyes of these people and yet no one is coming over and trying to turn me in. I’ve even seen a couple of others walking around the last few days since Oswald gave his speech. He cleared everything up, the stuff about the Purity and the Athaulfs using it as a way to maintain control. Honestly, I think a lot of people are feeling really stupid right now for buying into it for so long,” Kayde points out, getting Xander to look all the people passing them by.
“How is it going? Oswald being king and everything?” Xander is curious; this is the first time he has heard anything about it since he’s been in the infirmary.
“Good, people believed him for the most part. A couple of noble families tried to fight it, but commander Avesa stepped in and made sure nothing happened. She’s been a huge help in getting things in order,” Kayde explains, thankful they got her on their side.
“Hey, you’re Kayde right?” A small boy, with a darker complexion, approaches them.
“Yes, I am,” Kayde smiles down at him.
“Thank you, I don’t have to live in the basement anymore because of you,” the half desert boy gets out before his parents catch up to him.
“I’m sorry if my boy bothered you two,” his mother apologizes.
“It’s no problem,” Kayde tells them, gracious as he has become a very recognizable figure, seeing as he has such a unique appearance.
“But seriously, thanks to you and your friends my wife and son don’t have to hide anymore,” the man thanks Kayde further.
“Hey don’t thank me, thank Xander. He’s the one that put all of this in motion,” Kayde directs their praise towards Xander.
“It’s nothing, don’t thank me it’s how things should have been this entire time,” Xander tries to reject the admiration.
“No, you did us a great service. I heard you were the one to slay that bastard Alexandros, it must have felt good,” the man comments with a satisfied tone.
“Don’t talk like that in front of Rion,” his wife picks up their son, covering his ears.
“Yeah it did,” Xander timidly admits, unsure if everyone is aware of his and Alexandros’s relationship.
“We have to get back to our walk, but it was nice meeting you three,” Kayde waves as he and Xander walk away.
“So as you can tell we are famous,” Kayde explains to him, evidenced by what they just experienced.
“How much do people know? Like do they know I am Alexandros’s grandson?” Xander asks in a hushed tone.
“Nope, they just know that you, Drakthar, Kali, Gwendolyn, Lunette, Fore, Alwin, Oswald, and myself are to thank for the Athaulfs being removed from power,” Kayde explains what was said in Oswald’s speech.
“Oh yeah… we also got paid a shit ton of gold for helping. Gwendolyn has your share given you guys are going to be married and all…” Kayde informs him.
“That’s good, we don’t need it, but I guess it will help pay for things,” Xander notes, not overly excited about all the money.
“Anyway, that’s kind of what I wanted to tell you… I guess it’s time for you to face the music isn’t it buddy?” Kayde states just as they complete their circle and make it back to the inn.
“Yeah, so it is,” Xander agrees, solemnly walking inside, preparing himself for whatever Gwendolyn is about to throw at him.
He reaches the room the others told him Gwendolyn is staying in. He knocks on the door and holds his breath, hoping she won’t just slam the door in his face once she sees him.
Gwendolyn opens the door and sees Xander standing there, a half-cringe half-smile on his face. To his surprise, she grabs him by the front of the shirt and pulls him inside.
“Gwendolyn, can we talk abo…” Xander tries to explain things, but his mouth becomes preoccupied when Gwendolyn sticks her tongue down his throat.
Xander doesn’t resist, but once they part he starts again, “Can I expla…”
Once again Gwendolyn silences him, this time Xander isn’t as amused as the first. He grabs a hold of both of her shoulders and forcefully separates the two of them.
“Gwendolyn! Can we…” Xander stops yelling when he notices for the first time the pure anger in her eyes.
Gwendolyn uses this opening to grab Xander and swing him around, slamming him down onto the bed, “I don’t want to hear any more words out of you unless they are: no I will not fight Drakthar tomorrow, in that order! Now shut the hell up and make love to me!” Xander starts to open his mouth to say something, but the sight of the seething woman above him scares him into silence.
A couple of hours later, they both lay there silently, after Gwendolyn is done with him.
“Gwendolyn, can we talk now?” Xander asks, hoping their previous activities made her more likely to hear him out.
“I don’t want to hear it,” she tries to shut him down.
“I know you don’t want me getting hurt anymore, but it is going to be fine. If anything goes too far I always have a way out, you know that. I’m not going to die tomorrow,” he explains, knowing that is what is on her mind.
“You don’t get it! I’m tired of feeling like the only one who cares about your well-being! I don’t want to spend my entire life worrying as you put yourself through all these ridiculous fights! I mean this whole Sacrosanct thing is fine cause it isn’t pointless, but this little battle between Drakthar doesn’t mean anything! You are beating yourself up over nothing! And it’s so close to our wedding! I feel like you care more about fighting him than you do about our future together!” Gwendolyn finally gets to the heart of why she is hurt, breaking into tears while doing so.
“I know you don’t want excuses right now, but the reason I want to fight him now has everything to do about our future. I don’t want to have to fight him after we are married. I know you probably won’t accept this, but I am trying to get this out of the way… because Drakthar isn’t just going to let this go,” Xander tries his best to justify his decisions.
Xander sees that she is still crying and he tries to hug her, but she shoves him away from him, “No! I know you aren’t going to change your mind, just... I don’t want to talk about it anymore”. Gwendolyn turns away from him.
“I’m sorry,” Xander apologizes quietly.
The next morning, everyone meets at the barracks the royal guards used to inhabit, inside is a space cleared for sparring, the arena where Drakthar and Xander will clash. As Gwendolyn walks in she spots Kali over Drakthar’s shoulder.
She goes directly over to her still healing friend, “Kali, what are you doing here? You should be in bed, not watching these two idiots”.
Kali responds once Drakthar puts her down on a bench at the edge of the open area, “I’m not going to be the only one to miss out on this. I have to be here to root for Drakthar”. Gwendolyn raises her hand to her forehead in the realization she is the only sane one in the group.
As Kayde, Gwendolyn, Lunette, and Fore take their seats around Kali, people begin to flood into the barracks. At the front are commander Avesa and the new king of the Sacrosanct Empire, Oswald.
“Woah, what’s the king doing here?” Kayde stands up to greet them.
“These two fighting? None of us wanted to miss that,” Oswald responds rather familiarly.
“I hope they will at least make it interesting,” Avesa comments, looking around for any threats to Oswald. She is only here to ensure the king’s safety.
Kayde sits back down, everyone else who just entered finds whatever seats are left while the rest remain standing, circling what is now a clearly outlined arena.
“So who do we think is going to win?” Lunette whispers to the others seated around her.
“It will not even be close, Drakthar is going to make quick work of him,” Kali responds from her supine position.
As much as Gwendolyn doesn’t want Xander to be in this fight, she does believe in him, “I think Xander can win, he just needs to use his abilities to catch Drakthar off guard”. Kali half snorts half laughs when she hears Gwendolyn’s thoughts, finding Xander winning no less than laughable.
“What about you Kayde?” Lunette asks, not surprised to find out Kali’s and Gwendolyn’s opinions. Instead of answering Kayde just shrugs, emphatically putting both arms out to the side as he raises his shoulders.
Everyone watching gets silent as Xander and Drakthar draw their weapons at the center of the circle.
“Did you turn back time already?” Drakthar asks, curious to know if Xander is already without one of his powers.
"No," Xander responds, a bit surprised he would ask that.
Once Drakthar hears this he pops a stym in his mouth. Avesa braces herself standing in front of Oswald in case Drakthar loses control, knowing exactly what the side effects of taking one of those are. She quickly realizes she has nothing to worry about, as Drakthar doesn’t go berserk.
“Going straight to the stym, I am honored,” Xander braces himself for the coming onslaught. Drakthar doesn’t respond, instead, he raises his axe and rushes directly towards Xander. His axe cuts through the air as Xander rolls to the side, elegantly slashing at Drakthar’s leg as he does so. It doesn’t leave a mark at all, blocked completely by Drakthar’s armor.
Drakthar turns around and starts to approach Xander, slowly and deliberately this time. Just as he gets close he hears a jingle flying over his head. Drakthar knows what is about to happen, but it is too late, he feels the bell in his hand where his axe used to be.
Xander, now with the advantage of having a weapon, makes his move, striking towards Drakthar. His blade is deflected, Drakthar raising his arm to block it before it gets near him. With his other arm, Drakthar punches Xander directly in the stomach, causing Gwendolyn to flinch in the audience.
Drakthar looks back at his arm while Xander reels back. He finds that Xander has cracked his armor, a feat he didn’t think his friend capable of, some blood sitting in the thin opening.
While Xander is still off-balance, Drakthar kicks him right where he punched him, sending Xander to the ground. Instead of doing something further, he goes to the edge of the circle near the people watching, where his axe now lies. Xander gets up and readies himself as Drakthar gets his axe and returns to stand directly in front of him, his arm now dripping with blood.
“Are you okay?” Lunette asks the visibly shaking Gwendolyn in the audience.
“I’m just worried… I don’t want him to get injured anymore… but look at his face, I don’t know if I’ll be able to ask him to stop when he looks this happy,” Gwendolyn responds, drawing Lunette’s attention to Xander’s wide grin.
Her attention is quickly brought elsewhere as Kali screams, “Tear him apart Drakthar!”
Drakthar, his arm in no shape to properly wield his axe, switches to using only one hand. The wide swings give Xander an easier opportunity to dodge. As the fight goes on Xander feels a jolt of pain in his stomach, the adrenaline from the fight no longer able to cover the agony from the bruise forming from Drakthar’s hard blows.
Drakthar notices his prey start to slow down, he goes for a low sweep with his axe. Xander jumps it thinking it will glide by beneath his feet, but right as it is underneath him, Drakthar uses his injured arm to change the trajectory of the swing, bringing it directly upwards towards Xander.
Unable to dodge due to being still in the air, Xander has no choice but to warp himself behind Drakthar, quickly slamming his blade into his back with everything he has with this one opportunity.
Drakthar’s back spasms, Xander’s sword embedding itself in the armor, creating a deep laceration. Xander is able to get his sword free as Drakthar voraciously turns around to face him.
Drakthar, knowing this will be his last opportunity before he can no longer go on due to his wounds, starts swinging with everything he has left. As one of his attacks goes wide, he realizes Xander has left himself open by ducking underneath the axe.
Drakthar shifts his weight towards Xander, pushing him prone onto the ground. He prepares to lower his axe upon his helpless opponent, at this moment fully intending to kill the person he considers himself closest to in order to further his ultimate goal.
But he never gets the chance to bury his axe in Xander, instead, he is frozen in time as Xander uses one of his last tricks to bail himself out. Quickly, he decides to take Drakthar’s axe out of his hands and lines up to hit him over the head with the broad side of it.
Just as time unfreezes Drakthar feels the full force of the blunt edge colliding with his skull. For a few seconds, he stands upright, staring intently at the one who just delivered the blow. He thinks to himself that this isn’t over just as he collapses to the ground, defeated.
The crowd watching doesn’t start to cheer but instead erupts into whispers, those who are unaware of Xander’s time abilities questioning how he can go from the ground to victorious in a mere moment.
Kali puts both hands behind her head in defeat, slowly sinking back down to lie flat on the bench.
Lunette turns to Kayde, excited by the turn of events; “I didn’t think Xander had it in him. I thought Drakthar was going to win for sure”. Kayde shrugs the same as before, not too amused by two dudes hitting each other with overgrown sticks.
While the others are reacting to what just happened, Gwendolyn rushes to Xander’s side, along with a few medics who were waiting onsight under Oswald’s orders to make sure neither of them died here.
“I’m sorry,” Xander apologizes as she embraces him, causing the pain in his stomach to flare up.
“Don’t be sorry… I saw how much you wanted to do this. So it’s okay. And you won,” Gwendolyn tries to convey to him that she isn’t mad at him anymore.
“No, I am sorry. I just opened up a can of worms,” Xander gets out while being stuck within her tight arms.
“Why is that?” Gwendolyn asks curiously, as she backs off a little to look him directly in the eyes.
“Because, when he wakes up he is going to challenge me again, and if I win the cycle will continue until he is victorious,” Xander points out, knowing exactly how his best friend thinks.
“Why didn’t you let him win then?” Gwendolyn asks, thinking that the most obvious solution.
“He would know if I let him win… and I don’t want to do that to him anyway,” Xander coughs up a little bit of blood, turning his head to the side so it doesn’t get onto Gwendolyn.
“I understand, forget about it for now… let’s get you back to the infirmary,” she throws one of his arms over her shoulder, guiding him back to where he’s spent the majority of his time for the last week.