❆ ❆ ❆ Chapter Twenty Eight ❆ ❆ ❆
All Good Things Must Come to an End
“We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.” “We are real.”
“Snow, get up!”
Snow awoke to Aela frantically shaking her.
“What, Aela?” Snow muttered in her half asleep daze. Aela looked panicked. It was so surreal that Snow nearly jumped out from the sheets, “What's going on?!”
“They are here! Grab your weapon!” Aela exclaimed.
There was only one threat Aela would react this way to. The black knights. Snow felt them too. The comfortable walls of their small home felt like paper and a fire was coming. Aela was barely dressed herself; she rifled through the chest strapping on only the bare minimum armor.
Snow didn’t even get to put on her boots, she went for Icebreaker first. The house was feeling more and more hot and hard to breathe.
Her sword was in the corner by the door, next to her gear. She ran to the door and began throwing on her own gear. A huge cracking noise interrupted her just as the ceiling collapsed between her and Aela. Three black knights came crashing in.
One of them let out a scream, red eyes filled its dark helmet.
“Snow, the key!” As Aela said that, everyone in the room turned their head towards the mystical orb that laid on the table. It was in the corner, a few steps away from Snow. There was a moment of silence, a moment of frozen time.
The intense freeze was broken when Aela swung her blade wide, cutting through the wall of the house just over the stove and hitting two of the knights away. The third knight tried to move on the key at the same time Snow did.
It was only a few steps away yet it might as well be on the other side of a field. A singular second is all she had against this knight who had the speed and strength of a warden. If only she put her gear by the table instead of the front door. She couldn’t have thought about that though. The key was like a shining piece of treasure and they both wanted it. No, rather they didn’t want the other person to have it.
The world felt as if it was slow motion. The key was slowly getting closer and closer to her reach with each step she took. Snow didn’t even look at the black knight, she couldn’t afford too. She gave all her effort to grabbing the key, to moving forward. As her hand extended out, she pushed to be faster. She pushed to be greater. Three steps made the difference between life and death.
As her fingers wrapped around the key, so was the knight.
Both of their hands were on the key, but Snow’s hands were under his. She grabbed it first.
The black knight worked to rip it away from her. His burning gauntlets gripped her fingers with crushing force as she held on, refusing to let go.
“Get..off me!” She struggled against the savage pulls of this monstrous knight.
The tug of war for the seal key ended when Aela tackled the knight into the wall, breaking out of the house.
Snow exited the house barefooted watching her steps of the splintered wood everywhere armed with just Icebreaker and the key. Upon exiting the house she saw dozens of black knights were surrounding the perimeter. The sky was dusk, signaling the oncoming night. They had attacked them right before dark.
Aela flung the knight she was wrestling with into the tree line before retreating back to Snow.
“Aela, there are way too many of them! What are we going to do?!” Snow said frantically. They could barely fight three and there were like fifteen of them now. The fires of hell surrounded them, They went back to back. “Well, any ideas, Aela?”
“Yeah, one sec.”
Aela stabbed her blade into the ground. A huge gust of wind started forming around them, forcing the knights to back up, until a full fledged frost tornado formed that mimicked a seal tornado. Aela grunted in pain while ice began growing on her temples.
Stolen novel; please report.
“That should give us time. Go grab all your gear from the house.”
Snow and Aela were in the half destroyed shack, gearing up with all they had. The steady but surprisingly quiet sound of the tornado gave the feeling of calm before the inevitable storm. Snow equipped everything she had and was thinking about how to fight these knights. There were far too many of them to absorb one at a time. If there was a way to absorb multiple knights at once, perhaps they could stand a chance. She looked at Icebreaker, the transformative sword and an idea popped into her mind. She began fiddling with Icebreaker and the key.
“Here, hold on to Laura’s book.” Aela dropped the book right next to her.
Snow took the book before resuming her tinkering.
“What are you doing with the key?”
“I got an idea.”
Icebreaker seemed to be confused for a moment until finally it shifted into the form she wanted. A small spiked cage formed near its base that the key slid into. The sword darkened, turning into an evil shape.
Snow combined the key with Icebreaker
“Yes, it worked!” Snow exclaimed.
“I wonder if you can absorb them by striking them now?” Aela commented.
“Only one way to find out.”
Snow peeked her head out of the tornado for a moment. Goldlines on her body and neck showing.
“They are still waiting out there.”
“This is bad, they are just going to stall us out until night comes. They really want that key. We need to act now.” Aela said.
“Okay so, how about you control me and I fight them with Icebreaker?” Snow suggested.
“Against over a dozen of them? Thats suicide Snow.” Aela shook her head.
“Don't worry, I know you can do it. I’ll cut them all down! Let's go, take control!” Snow was ready.
Aela paused for a moment in silent thought.
“Alright, we will do that.” Aela agreed.
“I'm ready.” Snow closed her eyes.
“Okay. Snow, listen up. There are over a dozen knights out there. The second you jump out they will swarm you. I will do my best in having you cut them down, but I will prioritize your survival above all else. In the event of a retreat. Go to wolf hill, Mina will sense the danger and come to assist you.”
“Don't worry, I know you can do it. I’ll cut them all down! Let's go, take control!”
Snow felt her body twitch before giving Aela control of it. She didn’t resist.
“One last thing. In the event I perish, I want you to destroy the seal by wolf gorge, that should spawn a rift where you can escape and get back home. Based on Laura’s conclusions, that won't trigger a winter catastrophe, it will only lessen the seal on Regalia. We need to get Laura’s book to your mother, as well as our findings. So your survival is paramount. Understood?”
“Aela come on we got this! Icebreaker wont let us down! Right Icebreaker!” Icebreaker flared open a pair of wings on its handle.
“You're right. We got this. But, just so I'm clear, you understand my instruction, in case of separation?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Snow dashed forward at the wind wall. The windwall dropped and like a switch, all the knights swarmed her. Snow got ready to attack. She expected herself to start swinging wildly in a blaze of rapid strikes and skillful parries but instead her legs pushed as hard as she could as she dashed past them into the treeline.
“What?” Was she repositioning?
All the knights tried to give chase but a new tornado grew in between her and them.
She wasn't repositioning. Aela was forcing her to escape! Snow tried to resist, the lines on her arm flashing but Aela’s control was much more potent. Snow gave it her all, the lines burning brightly but then fading away again.
“Aela, stop!” Snow couldn’t break Aela’s control. She was being forced to run away while the bulk of the knights were trapped in the new tornado. “Damnit, she played me again! No!” Snow cursed as she ran towards wolf gorge, there were three knights chasing her from atop the trees. She could see Wolf Gorge in the distance by the time she regained control.
Snow spun around clashing against a blade inches away from her face. Another knight landed right next to her, Snow ducked and rolled past the knight, slashing his thigh. Upon making contact Icebreaker began siphoning its black blood into itself and the knight’s leg was shrinking and shriveling. The knight roared as the two of them charged at her. Snow began dodging each one of their strikes, their broadswords whiffed and whiffed as Snow danced around the attacks. Then, the one with the shrinking leg began to limp. Snow used that opportunity and lunged past his throat, Icebreaker stabbed through it, removing a huge chunk. Then began fully absorbing him until he was reduced to an armored husk.
The other knight glanced at the remains of his fallen comrade and took a new, safer, dueling stance. Snow and the knight circled each other slowly. But, something was missing, or rather, one of them was missing. This wasn't really a one on one. The whooshing sound of a sword came in from her right, Snow spun and deflected the blade causing it to impale a nearby tree. At the same moment a foot slammed into her side, sending her flying into the trunk of another tree. Snow’s back exploded against the bark.
“Arg!” When Snow tried to get back up her body wouldn't allow it. Icebreaker was on the ground right in front of her. Snow threw her hand out. Icebreaker vibrated but didn't move. “To me, to me, Icebreaker!” Icebreaker vibrated but didn't move, was it the devilish transformation that was preventing her summoning of it?
The two knights slowly approached Icebreaker.
“No, Icebreaker!” Snow yelled.
One of the knights picked up Icebreaker. Icebreaker responded by spiking its handle like a porcupine, but the knight did not care. The knight began attempting to remove the key by force. After a few powerful yanks, Icebreaker began to crack.
“Icebreaker!” Snow shouted.
Icebreaker shook against the knight. The knight yelled as he pulled with all his might. The cracks on her blade grew more and more pronounced.
A deep growl was heard causing the knight to stop. A shadow formed underneath just as a large white direwolf pounced on him and gruesomely ripped him apart. It was Mina. Icebreaker dropped to the ground while Mina began fighting the knights. Snow finally stood up and quickly reclaimed her blade and then charged in to assist Mina.
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After the battle, Snow was holding her side, and gripping Icebreaker. Mina was limping alongside her. They had slain the three knights. Icebreaker looked ready to fall apart. Aela had told her to go and escape but there was no way in hell she was going to leave Aela behind.
When they arrived back at the house it was the scene of a battlefield; the house was completely destroyed, there was debris scattered everywhere and sword slashes on the trunks of the trees. There was a trail of chaos leading to the west. Snow followed it until she was able to sense them. The only good thing about the power of the knights was that they were easy to find. The fiery heat they gave off towards the west gave them away. After some easy tracking, Snow and Mina came up to an incline and found Aela.
A towering black knight wearing a tar-dripping cape was dragging Aela away. His height exaggerated his grueling hunched posture. That had to be the leader of the black knights, as all others were behind him in a disciplined march.
There was no way Snow could fight that with Mina. She didn’t know what to do. All she could do was follow, to see where they were going. Icebreaker began to tickle her hand. When she glanced at her blade the weapon made a pained bat-like noise.
“Icebreaker, you don't look so good.” Icebreaker began opening the cage around the spherical key, “You want me to take it out?” Snow removed the key and the darkness that coated Icebreaker got sucked into the key. Icebreaker turned azure blue again and its cracks began regenerating. “Oh, I'm sorry, was it painful?” The blade formed a sheath and didn't make any further noise.