Eirik woke up early the next day, so early that the sun had not yet risen. He carefully crawled out of bed and tip-toed out of the room, careful to not wake anyone up. He stood outside the house in the darkness, breathing in the cool air and thinking of the task that lay before him. All too soon, the darkness would pass, the sun would rise, and he would duel Tai'Tanu once more.
"If you can call it a duel. More like a mercy killing." He thought to himself as he stretched out and listened to the silence of the late night. He was soon interrupted by a faint rustling of grass, coming from the direction of the Tai'Tanu's ship. An instinct made Eirik slink into the dark shadows of the house and grab the wood chopping axe next to the door as he hid around the corner. He had no idea if it was needed, but his instincts had kept him alive so far.
A few minutes passed in silence, and just when Eirik was about to chalk it up to paranoia, another faint rustle of grass sounded out from the same direction, but it sounded as if it had moved closer. The moon was hidden behind a blanket of clouds and his visibility was limited to a few meters in front of him, barely going past the front door. But it would have to be enough, making any form of light would give his position away.
As time passed, the sound kept coming back, closer to the house each time, and Eirik was almost certain that someone was engaging in foul play. But impatience would only hurt his chances of catching the culprit red-handed. So he waited and listened, gripping the axe tight in his hand. Every once in a while he thought he could hear the faintest of whispering hissing, but nothing he could be certain of.
After what felt like hours, as the sky started turning grey instead of black, he saw several silhouettes on the ground, inching their way towards his home with all the speed of a drowsy snail. No wonder he had a hard time finding them, they had spent many hours crossing a stretch of land less than 200 meters wide (roughly 660 ft). As the first silhouette reached his home and slowly rose to a standing position, he recognized the Kloxna form. He didn't need any more proof and jumped forward while swinging the axe. His target barely had time to turn her head, but the axe struck true and severed the spine of the Kloxna soldier, almost passing through her body and cleaving her in 2 as it did.
He immediately followed the attack up with a heavy foot to the face of the next Kloxna who was scrambling to get off the ground, knocking the soldier out cold with a nasty crunching sound, and the rest of the suspected assassins quickly scrambled toward the Kloxna ship. The unnaturally large silhouette of one of the fleeing enemies did not escape his attention, but Eirik didn't follow them, instead taking the time to make sure the one he hit with the axe was dead before turning his attention to the unconscious soldier on the ground. He dragged her over to the toolshed and tied her up before he dragged her over to his forge After securing her inside, he went back to his house to clean up the dead soldier, but when he tried dragging her away, the last bit of skin and flesh broke and he was left holding a severed torso in his hands.
Shrugging with indifference, he dragged both halves over to the Kloxna ship and laid them out on the ground for all to see, before he went back and watered the ground in front of his door to get rid of the blood before he sat down on his porch, content with waiting for the Kloxna to wake up and discover the bloody work. woken up by the commotion, Freja soon emerged out of the front door with a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, but when she saw Eirik sitting on the porch with the bloody axe still in his hand, she relaxed and holstered the weapons again.
"What happened?" She whispered, not wanting to wake up their sons.
"Assassination attempt," Eirik whispered back, never taking his eyes off the Kloxna ship. "Go back inside and make sure the boys do not come out until I call for you. This is not going to be a pleasant thing to witness once they wake up. Wake up David and Jesper as well, I need them out here."
Freja did as he asked, and a couple of minutes later David and Jesper joined him outside, both carrying rifles. Freja had told them what had happened and Eirik directed Jesper to the back of the Kloxna ship and David to the forest nearby to climb a tree for the height advantage. Once in position, They could only sit back and wait for the Kloxna to wake up and leave the ship.
It took almost 2 hours and the sun had risen high into the sky before anyone left the Kloxna ship. Kyr'Tai came out as the first, stopped the moment she saw the mutilated body on the ground, and turned around to go back inside, but Eirik called out from his seat on the porch, "WHAT's THE MATTER KYR'TAI?? CAN'T STAND TO LOOK UPON YOUR FAILED ATTEMPT AT ASSASSINATION?!?"
She whirled back around and stared at Eirik, a mix of hatred and dear in her eyes as she called out for her soldiers, who arrived in seconds. She began stomping down the ramp with her soldiers in tow, but a shot from David hit the ramp in front of her and Eirik called out once more "THE NEXT ONE WILL NOT MISS!! STAY ON YOUR SHIP UNTIL YOUR MOTHER AND I HAVE HAD WORDS!"
Kyr'Tai was scanning the trees, trying to locate the shooter, but she could not find any trace of him. With a hidden gesture, she sent a small group of soldiers back into the ship to leave through the back, but they soon returned and informed her in a whisper that an armed Terran had the back exit of the ship covered as well. Unable to control her frustration, Kyr'Tai ripped the throat out of the 2 nearest soldiers with her claws and bit the arm of a third. The wailing of the wounded Kloxna was cut short as Eirik lifted his rifle and send a round through the head of the screaming soldier that was bleeding out.
It only took a minute for Tai'Tanu to arrive and she looked over the scene, noting her daughters' bloody claws and teeth as she passed her. She slowly made her way down the ramp and halfway across the clearing before she stopped and Eirik put down his weapon and walked over to meet her.
"What is the meaning of this!?!" Tai'Tanu demanded as soon as he was close enough to carry on a normal conversation, but Eirik simply lifted a hand and pointed to Kyr'Tai. "Ask your precious daughter. She was the one that led soldiers to my home in the still of the night!"
Tai'Tanu slowly turned around and stared down at her daughter, who stared back in defiance. "Is this true, Kyr'Tai?"
Kyr'Tai crossed her arms before answering "So what if it is? This is the best chance to take out the leader of an empire we are at war with!"
"IT IS DISHONORABLE AND IT GOES AGAINST THE VERY REASON I WISHED TO COME HERE!" Tai'Tanu yelled back, "THIS WAS NOT YOUR DECISION TO MAKE! IN FACT-" Tai'Tanu started making her way toward the ship, straight past Kyr'Tai who was watching in stunned silence as her mother disappeared into the ship.
She emerged a short while later, looking supremely pissed off. She walked up to Kyr'Tai and ripped the ceremonial dagger from her daughter's waist. "As if a short moment ago, you are no longer commander of the Kloxna forces under my command. You are to serve with the common soldiery for no less than a year before your former rank and title are reinstated. The daughters of Sai'Lonis have been dispatched to take over command of the ship and my forces. they will be here within a few days. until then, go grab a rifle from the armory and report for guard duty!"
Kyr'Tai stumbled backward as her mother's words hit her harder than any slap or tail whip ever would, and she tried protesting in a stammering voice "Y-you can't do t-this, mother-" But she was cut off by Tai'Tanu, "One more word, and I will disown you!"
Kyr'Tai stood in silence for a long while before she bowed her head in submission and trudged up the ramp and into the ship. Turning around and walking over to Eirik once more, Tai'Tanu said, "My apologies Eirik. This is not what I wanted. I hope this changes nothing."
"The only harm was is a few dead Kloxna, and that is no concern of mine. The duel is still on." Eirik replied. Tai'Tanu bowed her head in acknowledgment and turned to go back to her ship. "The coordinates have been sent to your ship. We fight at noon" Eirik called after her and she waved a claw without looking back.
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Eirik arrived on Krisnu's farm by shuttle and walked out of the small vessel, armed for combat. He was carrying the spear he had fashioned from the god tree, 2 axes hung from his belt and a long seax was strapped to his leg. He had a round shield in his left hand, an old-fashioned shield made of wooden planks, covered with cured leather and rimmed around the edge with iron. On his head sat a steel helmet and he wore full chainmail. Anyone not knowing better could have easily mistaken him for a warrior of old. Tai'Tanu was already waiting in the small arena, clad in the same armor she had worn every time they had fought, despite the obvious difficulty it caused her. She was too old to wear armor and step on the battlefield, but this was her wish.
She lovingly stroked the handles of her twin blades, the curved edges glinting in the sunlight. As Eirik stepped into the arena, she straightened up and presented herself at her full height. She no longer had the bulk to back it up, but she was still impressively tall for a Kloxna, though not as tall as Kyr'Tai. They stood there, eyeing each other for a moment before Tai'Tanu started laughing. She laughed up a storm, unable to control herself, and Eirik waited patiently.
"Forgive me my unbecoming outburst," Tai'Tanu finally managed after she got her laughter under control, "Fortive my rude outburst, I was just recalling our previous clashes. You are the only one to ever escape my claws. And more than once, I might add. The situation just became too much."
Eirik nodded and banged his spear against the rim of his shield, signaling that he was ready to fight. He barely had time to avoid the throwing knife aimed at his head, the blade slicing a long wound in his cheek despite his best attempt at moving his head out of the way. He turned his eyes back to locate Tai'Tanu, but she was not where she had been before the blade came flying. He heard running feet to his left side and saw a blur of movement approaching him at speed. With no other option, he raised his shield and braced himself for the impact. It hit him like a freight train, pushing him back as the boards in his shield creaked dangerously.
He looked over the rim of the shield and saw Tai'Tanu, her face twisted into a mask of anger and delight, the old, frail warrior gone, replaced by a capable and deceptive fighter that had managed to convince him that she presented no danger at all. "Still the warrior I remember. Maybe this will actually be a challenge!" Tai'Tanu growled, her voice now strong and fierce. Eirik pushed back but was stunned to feel enough resistance to stop his attempt at bashing her away.
Seeing the chance to capitalize on Eirik's inaction, Tai'Tanu pressed the attack, forcing him backward as she unleashed a torrent of attacks. She clawed, swiped, sliced, bit, and kicked without pause, rocking Eirik back on his heels. Several attacks made it through his defense, but his armor prevented any damage from going through. Jumping backward, Eirik managed to create a small pocket of breathing room and the short moment he was not under attack was enough for him to regain his composure. Tai'Tanu's next attack was met with a parry instead of a block and Eirik thrust the spear forward, but it only scraped her armor. A memory stirred within his mind and dodged to the side after his attack, narrowly avoiding the swipe of her armored tail.
"Very clever," Eirik panted, the relentless attacks taking their toll on his stamina, "You actually managed to fool me into believing you had become an old, useless, crone. But you missed your window of opportunity!" He switched his grip on the spear and flung it toward Tai'Tanu who narrowly dodged the thrown weapon. Not missing a beat, Eirik had drawn his seax before his opponent had righted herself after the dodge and now it was his turn to press the attack.
The lack of a shield forced Tai'Tanu to use her knives to block and parry his attacks and he added the edge of his shield to the mix of attacks, the wide swings making her jump backward to avoid them. No block or parry would stop the shield if it connected. Seeing a chance, Tai'Tanu lunged forward and attempted a bite attack at his face, but Eirik craned his head sideways and as she withdrew her head after the missed attack, he delivered a headbutt with as much force as he could manage. His helmet crashed into hers and the metallic *CLANG* as their heads collided made everyone present wince in pain.
Eirik was slightly dazed after the successful attack, but so was Tai'Tanu and she stumbled backward, clutching a claw to her face as blood started dripping from her maw. On the sidelines, Kyr'Tai was standing with her maw open in shock and disbelief at the battle she was witnessing. She had never seen her mother fight and it dawned on her how crude and unrefined her own fighting ability was. She had thought that this would be a humiliating display at best, and she had been proven wrong. But that was nothing compared to her shock at watching Eirik fight.
When she arrived, she had seen a family man and emperor, content with living a quiet life with his family and taking care of his fledgling empire. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined him being able to fight like this. She had almost laughed when he left his shuttle, dressed in ancient armor and weapons, but he had not only been able to hold his own against some of the finest fighting she had ever seen but even managed to gain the upper hand.
Back in the arena, Eirik was slowly circling Tai'Tanu who had taken a stance in the middle, waiting patiently for her opponent to engage once more. She didn't have to wait long as Eirik lunged forward and started swinging his blade, and Tai'Tanu moved to dodge, but he changed attack midway through his movement and instead drove his shield mercilessly into her side. The armor dented inwards and the audible crack of multiple ribs breaking told their story of impending victory.
Tai'Tanu fell to the ground, gasping for air and clutching her side. She managed to wrestle off her helmet and Turned her eyes to Eirik. "Finish it!" She grimaced through the pain and Eirik did not waste time. Driving his blade into her chest, he saw her smile one last time before her eyes went distant and empty. Breathing deeply, he slowly righted himself and looked down on the dead Tai'Tanu. she had fought well, her deception flawless until the moment she sprung her trap, and she had almost taken the victory.
Taking off his helmet, he kneeled next to the dead Kloxna and, almost tenderly, crossed her arms in front of her chest after pressing her blades into her hands. "DAVID!" Eirik called out when he was done.
"Yes, captain?" came the reply. "get her on board the Kloxna ship. She was a worthy foe and deserves a warrior's burial amongst her own people. Make sure they receive the footage of this final duel. Her honor has been restored." With those words, Eirik rose once more and moved to leave the arena, but a cry of anger stopped him,
"YOU WILL PAY FOR HER DEATH WITH YOUR OWN!" Kyr'Tai screamed but before she could make good on her threat, a dozen Kloxna crewmember jumped on her from behind and restrained her. "I don't think so." The voice came from a new arrival, her bearing spoke of someone that was used to being in command. "Greetings, emperor Eirik. Mur'Sai, at your service. I have come to take control of Tai'Tanus ship and enforce her final will for her daughter."
"Greetings, Mur'Sai. I bid you welcome to my empire and acknowledge your reasons for staying here." Eirik replied, a little shocked that he had not seen her shuttle arrive.
"We arrived before the battle began, but thought it best to stay airborne, to not disturb an honor duel," Mur'Sai said and gestured to the arena.
"Forgive my confusion, but Tai'Tanu said it would take a few days for you to arrive. How can you be here so fast?" Eirik asked.
"A minor ruse on our part. We were following shortly behind Tai'Tanu's ship from the moment they left Kloxna space. If there is nothing else, we would like to get going. The journey home is long and the fallen dead deserve their burial rites." Mur'Sai said bluntly as she turned around to leave. "But know that tales of your show of respect to a fallen enemy will be told back home. Our mother. Sai'Lonis, often spoke of your honorable nature, despite the wicked rumors that kept coming from the bloodline of Tai'Tanu. I am happy to admit, that our mother was right. Meeting you on the field of battle will be an honor and a privilege." With those words, she started walking away, her retainers carrying both the corpse of Tai'Tanu and the still struggling Kyr'Tai.
"Can I ask a small favor before you leave?" Eirik called out to her back. Mur'Sai turned around and walked back to him. "Speak!" She demanded.
Eirik gestured to Jesper who ran over to the shuttle Eirik arrived in and came running back with a heavy sack in his arms. "It is my understanding that your bloodline, despite its great renown as warriors, is rather poor in terms of wealth," Eirik said as he took the back from Jesper.
Mur'Sai's face was unreadable, but her tense body revealed the anger she felt at the statement. "Your point being?" She said through clenched teeth.
"This bag was meant as a gift to cover funeral arrangements, but the actions of Kyr'Tai tell me she is not worthy to receive my generosity. Instead, I wish to offer it to you, as a token of gratitude for your kind words and adherence to the truth." Eirik threw the bag at her feet as he spoke and small nuggets of gold spilled out of it. Unable to form words, Mur'Sai just stared at the bag and the gold, her desire to pick it up plain to see, but her fear of a trick prevented her from moving.
"There is no trick and no strings attached. Consider it a gift to your bloodline. Use it to restore the power of your family and try to steer the Kloxna species toward a better future. Do that, and I will consider it a gift well given." Before she could respond, Eirik turned around and left her standing with her maw open and a myriad of questions running through her head. When she finally regained the ability to form words, Eirik was long gone, along with his family and friends. Smiling, she picked up the heavy sack and carried it back to her ship,