Chapter 20: A Gathering of Blades

“We should probably set up camp soon, right?” Atma glanced to the orange horizon, light barely penetrating through the mist as the sun began to set. “We’re almost out of daylight.” The prince looked across the plains, with no sign of civilization save the road they walked on. It had been a fairly uneventful journey, their only real encounters having been a few passing traders traversing the same path. The trio neared an intersection, marked by a lone tree, a sign pointing to the left, and headed north for Falcidia, while the latter was headed southwest, towards the city of Larsiat.

“Not out here we’re not. We make it a bit further, and we hit a trading outpost where we can rest for the night. Falcidian roads are generally safe, but I’m not going to say we push our luck when Zanch hasn’t been able to put out patrols, leaving room for a lot of nasty things to spring up in the night.” Shade reached into a pouch at his belt, pulling out a timepiece, a well polished and maintained brass, with a chain meant to be put around his neck. He was quick to pocket it again after a quick check. He glanced back to the road behind them, and set his bag down.

“I thought we weren’t stopping?”

“You two aren’t,” Shade replied, stepping off the road, reaching for his belt as he turned his back to them, “But I’m taking a leak. Unless you’d care to stick around for that.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You say that like you’ll be a while.”

“Hey, you know how it is with armor. I’ll catch up just fine. You stay on the road, and I’ll follow, and keep an eye out for any of those critters I was talking about.”

“Just don’t take too long, alright?”

Shade took his time, waiting until Sienna and Atma were out of his sight line, and pulled a spare pair of boots from his bag, setting them aside in the grass, he kept glancing back to the road from Zanch. He glanced around the tree, glimpsing a low hanging branch, grabbing hold of it, and cutting it free. It was leafy all the same, exactly what he wanted. He had hoped for more foot traffic through the area, it would have better disguised any tracks in the dirt and gravel, but he was no stranger to working around tough luck. With one last glance to his timepiece, Shade took the leafy branch to the path where Atma and Sienna had been walking, careful not to erase too many footprints, as to make it obvious someone had tried covering tracks.

After he covered up the foot traffic to the best of his ability, be backtracked, careful to either use the grass, or already existing footprints to make his way back to the tree, and started walking towards Larsiat, creeping forward, leaving obvious footprints, tracking a bit of mud intentionally, mimicking steps to go into the grass to wipe it off, and then continuing forward. With any luck, they would operate under the assumption that there were only going to be two people on the run still, seeing as he was functionally an unknown. Atma hadn’t paid it much mind, but Shade had been careful to stand in file with either him or Sienna, to try and hide just how many people were on the move together. Shade was well traveled enough in the mist to not lose track of his position relative to Falcidia. Catching back up to the others would be easy enough, but for now, he thought, he needed to buy as much time as possible from inevitable pursuers, who he knew couldn’t be far behind, for how much time they’d spent in Zanch, or how they were stuck on foot.

“Don’t lie to yourself,” He said out loud, “You know exactly who you’re trying to draw the attention of.” With a piece of flint from his supplies, and a strike from one of his blades, he found one last use of the branch he’d cut down, setting it ablaze. He’d had an idea of travel time that would be required of anyone chasing them, and knew that it would be near nightfall if someone caught up, even if they were on horseback. A part of Shade didn’t like that he had split himself from someone he had said he’d accompany, but the thought of what was to come had his heart pounding, more than even his fighting in Zanch ever could have inspired. “Alright then, my Blazing Lion, come and get me, Raine.” He’d been acting the hero for long enough, he tried arguing with himself. He could allow himself to be selfish right now. He hadn’t exactly decided to follow Atma out of any sense of nobility or duty. Besides, he was doing well enough, this would definitely serve well enough as a distraction to buy time. If anything happened to Atma, he could live with it, but someone he’d sought to see for years, his self proclaimed eternal rival, how could he pass that up?

***

Raine glared at the fork in the road with the little light remaining. There was little in the way of fresh tracks headed for Falcidia, as the knight knelt down, making note of what was fresh, and what was long since passed. “This isn’t right.”

“The hell do you mean?”

“You said you heard from a local in Zanch that they were headed for Falcidia? Atma fled with one other, a woman with him. But there’s only one fresh set of tracks headed for Falcidia, there’s a pair headed southeast for Larsiat.”

“Some brat, yeah, kids are easy, they’ll be so blunt, you hardly need to ask ‘em a thing. Said someone called Shade was taking them there.”

Raine’s helmet turned slowly back to face Agravain. “You didn’t mention the third sooner?”

“Like a third person matters to you and me. I could take them all on myself if you’d let me off my leash.”

Raine seemed to piece something together. “You stay down the path to Falcidia then, I’ll head for Larsiat. There’s an outpost not too far down the road. I’ll meet you there. Ride as fast as you can, I plan on us running them down before the night is done.”

“Fine, leave the fun to yourself, but this third chump down the road to Falcidia better be worth my time, or you’re up next on my chopping block.” It was far from the first time he’d made such a claim, not that Raine had any real reason to fear Agravain, he’d lose in a direct confrontation without a doubt. Perhaps more than that, it wasn’t something he was a stranger to saying in jest.

“You’re welcome to try.”

It was about as disinterested as he’d ever heard Raine’s tone, so much so that it reminded Agravain rather uncomfortably of Regulus’s monotone manner of speaking. It was nothing short of infuriating. He wondered just how close he might be able to get if he reached for one of his blades and took a swing. He tightened his grip around the reins, imagining the motion, his eyes tracing a downward arc, only to find Raine already on the move, blade drawn. “Left to my own then? I’ll make my own fun then.” He doubted his chances, but with a little luck, he might be able to fulfill his own personal mission.

***

“He’s still not back,” Sienna glanced back as night began setting in, “You don’t think he ditched us, do you?” She ground her teeth just a bit, clearly frustrated.

“He said he’d be keeping an eye out for any monsters in the area, didn’t he? I’m sure he’ll be back just fine.”

“I’d say I admire your enthusiasm, but I’m also plenty familiar with that anxiety you’ve got that sinks it.” She sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve taken this route, but we shouldn’t take much longer to reach the outpost.”

It was a relieving thing to hear, given night the light of dusk was waning to near perfect darkness. The bugs had just started chirping, fireflies springing up to light the dark. Holding his hand with the mark upon it in his hand, Atma closed his eyes, taking in the sounds of the night. While there was relative silence, he could still hear a horse a ways back, in a fairly brisk gallop from the pace of the sound of its hooves meeting dirt and stone. He felt the cool night air around him, the gentle breeze at the back of his neck, and almost at once, he was struck with a sensation unlike any other, like a mix of sight and touch all at once. He could feel the winds blow past a tree to the side of the road, see the tree resist the breeze with a slight shake to its branches, could see and feel an owl in its upper branches flap its wings. So unusual was the sensation that Atma’s eyes shot open, and he could feel his heart pounding. His eyes had certainly been closed, but he could still see, he didn’t touch, but he could still feel. He’d let go of his hand bearing the mark, only just noticing the tingling feeling of his body, Atma glanced back, only really able to make out a torchlight. “I’ll ask the rider as they pass if they’ve seen Shade, if it’ll give you peace of mind.” Atma kept looking back, the rider barely illuminated by their light, still appearing as a dark figure atop an equally dark horse. He turned his gaze forwards once more, closed his eyes, and took in the sounds of the night, the feel of the cool air, the gentle breeze against the back of his neck. Once again, he could feel through the air itself, as he became more aware of the sensation, he could feel and see marginally more and more. In a way, he could even look at himself in an entirely new way. He started reaching out further again, and while he had at first though to try keeping it simple by trying to see Sienna right next to him, his attention drifted back to the rider behind them. The sound of hooves against the road was all too easy to focus on, borderline distracting. The horse was something of a blur, especially towards its legs, moving like a thundering cloud. The rider was easier, though still tricky to read with how fast they moved against the wood, he started to make out a silhouette, an armored rider, wearing a helmet. Atma felt his heart skip a beat, as details such as spikes upon the armor became clearer, as the rider motioned to draw a large blade from its scabbard on his back.

Atma opened his eyes, turning, and ducking, time seeming to slow as the blade went over his head, where his neck had been moments before. He threw off his bags and grabbed his shield and spear as the rider circled around.

“What the hell was that?!” Sienna let her gear thud to the ground as she readied her axe, and the rider circled around, blade in hand, ready to cut the two down.

“Oh it really is you!” The knight laughed, as he dismounted his horse. Agravain spread his arms excitedly, blade still in hand. Atma couldn’t make out his face beneath his helmet, but he didn’t need to to know Agravain was smiling beneath it. “How did you pull that off though? Was I coming in too fast?”

“You weren’t certain it was me? You would have killed an innocent?” His focus of Agravain’s willingness to harm someone else subsided, “You tried killing me?!”

“Eh, blonde, tall, with a brunette in red? I had a fair enough chance. Besides, if I was wrong, how hard do you think it would be for me to get rid of a single witness?”

“I’d split you in two for trying,” Sienna shot back.

“You wouldn’t be the first to try, and you wouldn’t be the first cute thing I broke. And of course, wayward prince, I mean, after all, you made a prison escape, brought down an airship, and killed countless soldiers, as well as a special investigator of the judicial force. I’d call it a signature on your own execution papers, traitor. And I’m sure you’ve heard the stories on how I deal with sedition?”

“Agravain, I am being framed! I am innocent! You know very well that I am owed a fair trial!”

“Not when you attacked us, and made this a military operation, all I have to say is that you resisted arrest. It’s nothing personal, but- oh, who am I kidding, this next part is personal, and it’s going to be all too much fun.” He drew his second blade, focusing down on Atma, with a malicious aura akin to a cat ready to pounce. “I despise you, and everything you stand for. You would have chained me like a mad beast, kept me from my calling in the name of ‘peace!’” He scoffed, crouching slightly and crossing his arms, his blades ready to swing.

“Is that not why you fought? To protect our home?”

Agravain tilted his head. “Nah.”

“Nah?!”

“But you’d know that if you didn’t just love to talk at people like a spoiled brat. You go on and on about not having to fight, but I live for this. Sure, I reveled in a defeated enemy when the war ended, but you know what? Things got boring real fast, and you come along acting like this is the greatest time ever. So, no, I didn’t fight for ‘our home,’ I fought because I live for the rush of battle, for the sensation of cutting though my enemies. I went into that war, and found out I loved every second of it. The way I see it, we through a peace loving brat who hasn’t seen a day of battle sit on the fancy chair, and I lose it, or, best case, you preaching doesn’t mean shit to Ranz, you get overthrown because you won’t fight back, and I get to go back to what I love best. So let’s just call this speeding everything up.” Agravain let out a deep breath, “You have no idea how long I’ve been holding that back, you little shit. I’ve had that monologue recited in my head every time I see you.”

Atma was utterly taken aback by everything that the man was saying. He hesitated to even refer to him as a knight in his own mind, let alone a man. Agravain was more akin to a berserker, feral, with his mind on a single thing. The prince could feel some strange, primal sensation filling him. Fight, flight, and freeze fought in his head. Agravain was completely and utterly out of their league. The last time he had sparred with Dante, the 13th Knight had been far out of his skill level, and Agravain was a seasoned veteran in his position of 6th Knight. Freeze was winning in his mind, but flight was looking more and more tempting.

Agravain, feral beast that he was, had tunnel visioned on the prince, he lunged, arcing his blades out to catch Atma in between his blades as if they were a pair of scissors, roaring in excitement, only for a swinging battle axe to enter his line of sight. He altered the angle of his heavy swing, to intercept the swing, not expecting just how much force would be behind the swing. He shot back, the attack defended against, but an echo of metal on metal as his armor absorbed much of the force, like a gong or bell. The mad beast skidded to a halt, his metal boots carving into the loose soil of the road, and one of his blades, having been used to anchor him, cut a similar gash into the ground.

Sienna panted, having swung with everything she had, intending to end things in a single strike. “The hell?! I’ve killed things way bigger than you with a hit like that!”

“If it’s any consolation…” Agravain pulled his blade from the earth, and stretched his limbs, certainly sore after the attack if nothing else. “That hurt like hell.” Agravain cracked his neck to either side, and set one of his blades back on his back. “Right then, if you’re actually going to fight, I can spare a few minutes.”

Atma’s mind flashed back briefly to Balthazar’s discussion of magic and affinity with him, about warriors whose magical energy enhanced their bodies. Sienna had brute force behind her swings, but in Agravain, he saw power, experience, and mastery. Agravain seemed to ooze a purplish aura, which crept across his body like flame. The beast flexed his arms, and his blade ignited with a more intense flow of this same aura, and a scream like a banshee’s rang out from them. Here and there, Atma could feel his sensation with the winds blend into his natural five senses, how even without an active slash, Agravain’s blade constantly cut at anything it could, like a violent vibration in the air.

“The hell do we do here, Atma? That was the best I’ve got!”

Atma had seen him duel enough to know that Agravain’s fighting style did not lend itself to battles of endurance, seeing as it ate at his own stamina in exchange for power. Moreover, he was well aware that neither he nor Sienna had the power needed to force Agravain into a longer fight by taking hits. “We take him down fast, we can’t take a hit from him, so we move fast, evade, and impede him any time he tries to attack.” Battles were fought with information, and thankfully, he had at least some when it came to fighting the beast before them. In a way, Atma found himself thankful for his encounters in Zanch, true preparation for having to fight another human being, where his life was on the line. He pushed his fear aside, knowing that nothing else mattered if he couldn’t get past this battle.

“No more talk? Are we ready to get started? Then show me a good time!”

For just a moment, Atma wondered if this would be a repeat of their encounter with Thanatos, surely they weren’t in the same league as Agravain, but something became immediately evident as Agravain held his blade, and made a taunting flick. Agravain wasn’t taking them seriously. It wasn’t a huge edge, but it might be enough for them to find an opening to escape, or stall for time. Atma tightened his grip upon his spear with his left hand, and blitzed forward, not giving Agravain even a moment to recompose himself after his taunt. He sped past the blade Agravain had reached out, and thrust out, aiming for a thinner point in the berserker’s armor, just under the ribs, where it had been thinned and scaled for maneuverability. For all of Atma’s speed, Agravain was able to keep pace, his bulk betraying his speed. The Dark Knight, with a fluidity such that he didn’t seem to sidestep so much as shift ever so slightly off from Atma’s rush. He grabbed hold of the spear with his free hand, in what seemed like slow motion, as he raised his foot, and drove it firmly into the prince’s sternum, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Back on your feet.” Agravain tossed Atma’s spear next to him haphazardly. “I’m not done with you.”

Atma sprung back to his feet with relative ease, though he could still certainly feel his chest ache with the aftermath of a metal boot slamming into it. He picked up his spear, and readied himself once more, though he was quick to shift stance from being ready to charge to something more conservative, once he realized Agravain wasn’t attacking just yet. Atma paced side to side, shield forward, and spear back, waiting for the inevitable attack. Agravain likewise adjusted his stance, crouched like a predator ready to pounce, his right arm holding his claymore parallel to the ground, and his left hanging somewhat loosely, ready to either two hand his blade, or grapple should they get too close.

Sienna crouched slightly, as she circled opposite to Atma. She tried staying in Agravain’s blind spot behind him, though she wasn’t particularly confident in her ability to get a solid hit in, Atma was faster than her, and was still caught and countered. The Dark Knight was hard to read, his eyes obscured by his helmet, and his head turned, facing neither of them, but positioned perfectly so that he could just see them out of the corner of his vision. He matched pace with their movements, for a moment, though after neither made a move to attack, and kept their distance, he opted to instead focus back down on Atma.

Agravain’s body tensed for a moment, and he moved to swing, and in that moment Sienna moved to attack, lunging, letting her axe hit the ground, her whole body moving with her swing to get as much force into it as possible. Agravain, had long since picked up that she was always opposite to Atma, he only needed to keep his eyes on one to know where the other was. His seeming attack on Atma proved to be a feint, he turned with his swing in an overhead arc, planning on cutting her in two with a single hit. He expected her to panic or hesitate, giving him a clean swing in said panic. Sienna was fully committed, unflinching as she kept swinging up, kicking up dirt and debris with her swing, and meeting his blade with her axe before he could get the full power and momentum of his downward swing. Sparks lit up in the night, though were quickly swallowed into darkness. Her tenacity hadn’t been the only thing Agravain underestimated, she was far more willing to fight dirty than the trained soldiers he had grown more accustomed to fighting, who more commonly defaulted to practiced forms, or only gave up their formal techniques when truly desperate, all too late to do anything. She’d only barely parried his attack, but she’d also flung dirt into his eyes with her swing. It was enough to throw him off for even just a moment.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Atma followed up, going for Agravain’s exposed back, though it was something of an obvious follow up, Agravain turning so that his second claymore, still at his back, took the hit instead. He caught himself before being knocked down, stomping to do so. He blinked and shook his head aggressively, trying to clear his vision, Agravain turned, and used the point of impact where he’d felt Atma’s spear make contact to supplement his vision. Atma pulled his spear back, expecting Agravain to try and grab it again, and moved to thrust again, aiming for directly center mass, counting on Agravin moving to evade, and not fully get away. Instead, he was met with the sensation of the back of Agravain’s gauntlet meeting his face, violently backhanding him into the dirt. He backed off before Sienna could try attacking again, again, trying to clear his vision.

Atma groaned, as once again, he got himself back on his feet, though certainly more dizzy than when he’d gone down before. This wasn’t about a fight, or survival for Agravain, this was about playing around, and inflicting pain. Agravain repositioned himself once more so that Atma and Sienna were in front of him, still rather lax in his stance.

“That didn’t go so bad, I can probably deflect his swings like-” Sienna glanced down to her axe, finding a massive gash into the head of her weapon, like how a wheel of cheese might have a wedge cut from it. She grit her teeth, “Oh you have got to be kidding me… That thing was mythril, and he cut right through it!” She was considering tossing it aside, it was more likely to break than do anything meaningful next time she swung it, but it was just about the only thing she had between herself the berserker in front of her.

“Come on! That can’t be all there is? Are you so weak that you can’t even make me bleed? Or have I put up with you for no reason after all these years, Atma?” He was right, for all their effort, Agravain had been playing around, and while he hadn’t inflicted any serious injury on them, it hadn’t been for a lack of effort on their behalf. As it stood, they had absolutely no way of winning, not when their opponent was so oppressively powerful.

“Oh, there’s no doubt that these two are weak.” A voice from the dark caught the three off guard. With a calm pace, Shade stepped from the shadows fully in armor, blades already drawn, similarly casual to Agravain’s demeanor, letting one arm rest lazily at his side, and the other resting his blade at his shoulder. “But why bother having fun now, when they can offer a much better fight later? Or is the point of this an execution? Either way, you’re doing a pretty piss poor job.”

Agravain on sight drew his second claymore, and postured himself far more seriously, his stance reflecting his, as he held one blade back, ready to strike, while the other was set to defend.

Atma briefly glanced back at Shade, seeing no real change to his posture, not seeing what made Agravain take him so seriously.

“And where the hell were you?” Sienna growled under gritted teeth, but she was relieved to have him back right now.

“What? I told you you could stay and watch if you really wanted to know.” He chortled beneath his helmet, and twirled one of his swords with the finesse one skilled with a knife might flip their weapon of choice.

“You’re a pig, you know that?”

“A pig here to save you, please don’t forget that part.” He mirrored the stance of Agravain, right foot forward, alongside his right handed blade, with his left side back, his blade pointed for a stabbing motion rather than a slash. “Oi, you! Got anything smart to say? I’ll take something stupid too, but I need some kind of material to work off of.”

“You were the one who butchered the mansion, weren’t you?”

“Unless you think these two are capable of making that much of a mess.”

“Then it looks like I’ll have to make this quick. You three die now.”

Shade cracked his neck to either side. “You two stand back and watch, you’ll just get in my way.”

“Bu-”

“Sienna, make sure the idiot doesn’t try to help me.”

“Gotcha.”

Shade’s blades ignited in the same dark aura as Agravain’s, and for a moment, bothe Dark Knights stood perfectly still. Atma was expecting a drawn out duel, like his own attempt at fighting Agravain, but his initial impression would prove to be far from accurate.

In a flash, both fighters rushed towards one another, their blades connecting with a grinding scream, as if metal were tearing at metal. By Atma’s battle experience, Shade should have been at the disadvantage, he was shorter, less muscular, and his blades had far less reach than his opponent, and yet- Shade moved with an elegance like that of a well trained dancer, When Agravain moved to swing his blades in a cross slash, Shade stepped back, and spun with both of his blades, and smashed Agravain’s attack into the ground. Agravain leapt back as Shade kicked off of the ground, spinning and slashing once more, cutting into Agravain’s chestplate, ever so slightly. Agravain pulled his blades up to guard, as Shade landed, but no sooner had his feet hit the ground had Shade pressed the attack again, stabbing for Agravain’s stomach, the larger Dark Knight only partially blocking the attack, one of his claymores pierced through by Shade’s blade. Still, the blade, extended by the dark aura pierced into his stomach, Agravain grunting, gasping, not remotely expecting the encounter to go such a way.

“Certainly, it seems like bullying the common soldier makes you a lot sloppier, but you’ve got to be better than that, right?”

Agravain spat beneath his helmet, and swung his other blade in a move to decapitate Shade, only to stop the motion, as his body impulsively flinched as shade ripped his blade from Agravain’s stomach and blade. “You!”

“Me. Come on you stupid animal, try it again, watch what happens.” Shade stepped back giving a fair bit of distance between the two, with a bit of spring to his step, a light hop back and forth, playing around just as Agravain had before.

“Then let’s see you try this…” Agravain raised both blades overhead, the intensity of their aura magnifying as he did so. “Dark Sword Art: -”

“Black Crescent!” In unison, both called out the technique, Shade swinging his blades horizontally as Agravain brought his down, and the black aura left their blades, following the arc of their slashes, accelerating, colliding, and exploding in that same screaming sound as when it had been upon their blades.

“Come on now, that’s a basic technique, you don’t think I could kick your ass without knowing that one? How you were ever knighted is beyond me.”

“I won’t be mocked by a nobody like you!”

“Nobody, sure, but I’ve trained with people far stronger than you. Now come on then, I’ll let you have one more shot in at me.” Shade spoke like a childhood bully, and leaned forward as if to present his neck. He straightened himself out, and took on a more relaxed stance once again.

“That’s it! You die!” Agravain’s blades ignited with a before unseen ferocity, enough so that the ground itself seemed to shake and vibrate with his blades, the screaming upon them deafening, nearly enough of a sensory overload to bring Atma to his knees. “Dark Sword Art: Black Buster!” A pillar of darkness rose from Agravain’s blades, held together, as though he were swinging a single blade. He roared as he arced the blade, at first seeming to swing for Shade, turning at the last moment to strike down Atma.

It was a swift, aggressive, and violent swing, but one Atma could react to. Beyond the darkness, the screaming of the blades, the sensation of the wind being torn apart, he could see, and feel the movements of Agravain’s feet though the wind. He grabbed Sienna and moved the both of them out of the way. However, Shade made the motion unnecessary. “So, that’s how it is. Fine. Dark Sword Art: Rising Raven!” He let out a deep breath, and in a motion that could hardly be followed, he crossed his arms, blades at either side, in a stance Atma recognized as the same stance Agravain had started his assault against him and Sienna with. With a mighty roar, he swung out, grinding his blades together, the black auras combining into an almost winged form, coming into contact with Agravain’s ultimate attack, forcing him back, and in a near deafening screech, blasted across the night sky.

Agravain panted and wheezed, utterly spent, his wounds catching up with him, blood dripping from the gashes in his armor, and his heavy use of his Dark Sword arts. He propped himself up on his blades, and even beneath the veil of his helmet, it was clear he was staring daggers into Shade.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done.” The aura dissipated from Shade’s blades, as he rather casually walked up to Agravain. “You’re sloppy, slow, and you give the impression that you only pick fights you know you can win. Now, I believe your commander would best describe that as you being a real coward, wouldn’t they?”

Agravain tried forcing himself to stand properly, only to receive a swift kick to his stab wound from earlier. He fell to his knees and growled. “You win this round, but one of these days, I’m going to parade your corpse halfway across the continent.”

“I’m sure you will. Goodbye Dark Knight.” Shade didn’t hesitate for a second in swinging one of his blades to decapitate Agravain. Atma couldn’t have shouted at him to stop, or even fully process what was about to happen. By the time he reached out and started to say something, metal clashed against metal, and the motion came to a stop. Shade backed off, holding his blades in a defensive stance. “Raine. Was wondering when you’d show up.”

“About time… Finish them off for me, would you?” Agravain face planted into the ground, wounded and unconscious, though not dead yet.

The silver knight still shone in the dark, broadsword drawn, blade held out to block Shade’s attack. “To be honest, I was expecting you back in Zanch, or perhaps at that fire you lit to try and draw me out.”

“You what?!” Sienna wanted to go ballistic, only for the situation to dawn on her. “Oh don’t tell me we’re back to square one, and outmatched again?”

“If we’re being fair, I did try to draw the two of them away from you. And to be honest, Raine, I’m just glad you were thinking of me. Do you know how awful it would be if you replaced me with that loser?” He paused, before taking off his helmet. “You didn’t rebound to him, did you? Please tell me I don’t have to think about that.”

Raine grumbled and mirrored Shade while removing their helmet. “You’re the same as ever.” The oldest Helion had a fairy-tale-like beauty, with silky silver hair, which gently caressed her cheek, a feature that had earned her the nickname of ‘Silver Lion’ from her enemies. She had piercing eyes of amber, alongside the same fair complexion as her youngest brother, though unlike Locke, she had a stern confidence to her which on its own could have intimidated most into standing down. “I’d ask you to stand down, but I don’t suppose you will.”

“To be honest, I wanted to fight you more than anything in the world. Well, almost. I don’t think an offer of another night in your company could ever be refused.”

“Please for the love of the Goddess above tell me she wasn’t the one you went to hook up with last night. If you sold us out, I know I can’t beat you in a fight, but I’m still going to try and help Agravain parade you around.” Sienna scowled, beginning to back away.

Raine seemed to chuckle, something Atma had never heard from her in all her years of service. Come to think of it, he almost never saw her outside of full plate armor, the only exceptions being formal parties, where she would still show up in uniform, rather than a gown, or even a suit, as most others would. He only ever knew the stoic 1st Knight. Raine sheathed her blade. “I could have recognized your handiwork anywhere. I thought she sounded rather in tune for sitting around all covered up like that.”

“Every time I come to town, I head back home, tune things up, waiting for you to join me at the piano.”

“Surrender, and help me detain the fugitives, and I’ll consider it.”

“Come on, Raine. You can’t be this bullheaded. You know something about this whole situation is wrong.”

Atma nervously stepped forward. “1st Knight Raine, I have been falsely accused! My companions and I were not responsible for the destruction of the Midsummer Night! We were the ones attacked!”

“Testimony of the accused is not a word I can accept, not when I have eyewitness testimony from Sir Stein, furthermore, Sir Tellian is emotionally compromised, and a close friend of yours, as such, I cannot allow the use of his biased statements. While this had once been a simple retrieval mission, the death of an investigator at the hands of one of your own is simply not something we can overlook.”

Shade scoffed. “Listen to yourself, Raine. What happened to the compassion I knew you for?” He stopped. “After all these years, is this still about-”

“I wavered from my duty once. Never again, Sieg.”

Shade closed his eyes, as Raine started to walk past him, though before she could, he held out his blade in front of her. When he opened his mouth to speak, his tone was far more dismal. “What did I tell you about using my name like that? If you’re going to bother with it, then don’t talk to me as the knight, I want to speak with the person I spent all those years with.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“No, but I seem to recall you never beating me when we were kids.”

There was silence for a moment, then, in a burst of speed, Raine and Shade, in a near perfect mirror of one another, backed off, circled, and struck out at each other, Raine drawing her blade from its sheath as she did so, a vermillion flash illuminated the night as she did so. Shade stumbled back, his armor seared, only lightly grazed, and his blades seemingly charred. In an instant, it was as if the moisture were ripped from the air with an intense dry heat, even to Atma, a fair distance away, it was as if someone held his face inches away from a blazing forge.

Raine’s blade glowed with an intense red flame, lighting up the dark, her eyes seeming like burning coals in its hot glow. “I won’t hold back again.”

Shade stood his ground, though only barely, beginning to fall to his knees. “Still that much stronger, huh? I must have let myself go to barely last that long with you.”

Raine’s expression was stern, though not cold, as her gaze shifted from Shade to Atma. “Will you continue to resist and face execution, or will you surrender?”

Atma stood his ground, despite every instinct telling him to run. “I cannot return with you, not when my life is so clearly under threat by those attempting to frame me for a crime I am innocent of. Should I attempt to fight, I will die, should I surrender, I will die. Agravain has more than made that clear.”

“I am more than capable of assuring your safety.”

“You are, perhaps, but this goes beyond you, Raine. It goes beyond me.” Atma clenched his fist. “Have you considered that you’re looking at the Midsummer Night in the wrong way? That this was an attempt on my life instead?”

“I have. It is why I dispatched Stein to detain your companions.”

Atma grimaced. “He’ll… he’ll kill them. Raine, Stein is to blame for all of this! He’ll kill them, your brother included if he gets the chance!”

“If they resist.”

At that moment, Atma could finally understand Shade’s sentiment on the brutality of Deponess. He’d finally seen it for himself. Honor, and justice were thrown to the wayside for the sake of the elimination of any perceived threat, even if it was one’s own brother, or one’s prince. “I refuse to return then. Not until I can save them from Stein, from you.”

Raine’s eye twitched ever so slightly, a break in even her composure. Her blade’s flames grew more intense, some of the grasses beginning to catch fire in a growing circle. “Then you have made your choice. I execute a fallen prince, here and now.” As she raised her blade, her eyes seemed to fill with rage, then shift towards sadness, as Shade forced himself back to his feet.

“I can’t let him show me up, now can I? What kind of cool mentor would I be if I did that?”

Before Raine could get a word out, a sullen note on a string instrument filled the air, coming from further down the road. It was an old love ballad, strummed upon a lyre, with the sound of boots upon the dirt with a rather whimsical pep to their step. “To see you two fight like this, it breaks my heart. Though I am a knight errant, it pains me too to see my prince in such dire straits.”

Atma wasn’t sure what expression Raine and Shade both wore. Shame? Discomfort? The voice was familiar, but one on the cusp of being forgotten, as though he’d only heard it once or twice. The figure stepped into the light of Raine’s flames, a tall man in sleek armor, a dark, near black shade of blue, accented with golds, which contoured to his body near perfectly like a second skin. It was of rather unconventional design, in that it would seem to flow, and then the flow would shift into a spike. To Atma, it reminded him of fancy woodwork, or bone, seemingly organic in shape, rather than the product of a deliberate forge. The helmet continued this design, though was unique aside from this, in that it had only a single, half moon shape opening for a singular eye on the right side.

“Uncle?” Shade stepped back, joining Atma’s side.

“Teacher?” The intensity on Raine’s blade weakened.

“Sir Siegfried?!” Atma was utterly baffled, having not seen the knight in years. Shade had mentioned reaching out to family for help, but Sir Siegfried was far from his expectation. Fourth Seat of the Knights’ Council, Atma was certainly familiar with the hearsay of Siegfried being Raine’s mentor, less so with Siegfried having a nephew. He was, to say the least, a controversial member of the Council. The Lords council having more than once moved to strip him of his rank for his constant absence. In the early days of the border war, he had been the single most effective warrior in the Deponesian army, and Leonidas Helion’s greatest student, though he had not long after considered himself a conscientious objector. Most labeled him a coward, others, a traitor, though none would doubt that he had been the vanguard of the war effort. He had vanished for over a decade, sparsely returning, only following the death of Sir Leonidas, alongside Raine, and then once more when she rose to claim the First Seat for herself. He recalled Siegfried had been the first choice of both his father and Sir Lancelot to take the place of 1st Seat, where the errant had promptly refused and left for parts unknown. If anyone could stand up to Raine, the only person he could think of would be Siegfried.

“All correct.”

“Why now? You haven’t been involved in Deponesian affairs in years.”

“To be honest, I hadn’t planned on it, but between the noise of the fight earlier, and my nephew Siegmund’s letters to me, I was headed this way anyways. If I may be so bold, I suggest you stand down Raine.”

“You know I can’t. The King has been assassinated, and the judicial fleet has been dispatched to have Prince Atma return home, after which he fled our custody.”

“Then allow my fresh perspective to offer a solution. I will take Prince Atma under my custody, he will be under my and Siegmund’s watch, where we will allow him to find a way to prove his innocence. From what I have overheard, you cannot trust him, and he cannot trust you, which I suppose, leaves me. Is this acceptable?”

“It is not, and you know this. The council will not stand for this, the Knights’ or Lords’ both.”

“Then perhaps this will suffice. One last order from our King.” From a satchel at his side, he pulled an incredibly worn scroll, damaged by years of being carried around on countless adventures bearing the royal crest of Deponess. “My title of Knight Errant is more than just a mockery by my peers. King Escalus XII gave me one and only one standing order last I saw him, to watch our country from the outside, so that I may see threats you may not. I may be lax with my duties, but you of all people know where my loyalties lie.”

“Clearly I do not.” She donned her helmet once more, as if to end the discussion. She raised her blade and swung with such speed that Atma hadn’t been able to track the motion, only feeling the intense wave of heat upon his face as he found Raine mere feet away, held back by Siegfried, defending against her attack with the flat of his blade, a long, single edged weapon, foreign to Deponesian smithing techniques. He hadn’t even seen Siegfried draw his blade from its sheath at his back. With some struggle on behalf of both knights, Siegfried pushed back Raine, who slid back towards Agravain.

“I do not wish to fight you, my beloved student, but make no mistake, if you are going to attempt such a thing, do not do so halfheartedly again.”

Raine was silent for a moment, as if trying to gauge her ability to take on Siegfried, before ultimately extinguishing the flames of her sword, and sheathing it. “Rest assured, my forces will be taking claim of Prince Atma, even if now is not the time.” She stepped back, keeping her gaze upon them the entire time, before picking Agravain off the ground. “I’ll be taking him away from here to see to his wounds. Do not expect such mercy again.” She turned to leave, only to look back to Shade and Siegfried. “Farewell, my teacher. Siegmund.”

Siegfried sheathed his blade, and tossed her the scroll he had revealed before. “Be safe, my apprentice.”

Raine inspected the scroll, and without any further words, set Agravain upon his horse, and walked away.

“Are we alive? Like I’m not just lying in a pool of my blood hallucinating all of this, right?” Sienna glanced around at the battlefield, embers from Raine’s flames all that were left to light the area.

“Yeah, we’re alive, for now at least.” Shade groaned as he removed his chest plate.

“I have a few questions in mind for you,” Atma started. “Things I need to tell Siegfried, but for now, surviving that? That’s enough.”