Iris felt a holy power run through her as her muscles burned and bulged, consumed by this otherworldly strength. She readied her grip on her sword as she felt her strength give her the ability to do whatever she wanted. And what she wanted right now was to wipe the ground with Bellona’s face.
She watched as her red vision cleared and as her eyes focused, she found that she could manipulate her sight in strange ways; zooming towards the horizon and being able to see distant cities in near clarity. She felt a strange pull on her waist that tugged towards the northern mountain and she could sense the sun’s direction and feel how it moved through the sky. She could hear the distant whispers of the spectators back at the gate and she could smell the sweat on Bellona’s skin.
She was becoming something inhuman.
Bellona shouted as she raised up her sword and prepared to bring it down onto Iris yet Iris calmly prepared for the attack. Sparks spat from her skin as she ran to the side as fast as a lightning strike, running around behind Bellona and jumping up with a strike from behind that bounced off of Bellona’s Thorns but still knocked her to the ground, the energy causing a tense pain in Iris’s arms.
Bellona quickly recovered and her sword shifted into a spear that Bellona brought forward, catching Iris in the stomach. Iris felt the pierce but felt little of the pain as her organs were punctured. She laughed wildly as she brought her sword around towards Bellona’s neck.
Bellona narrowly moved out of the way but received a thunderous kick in the stomach from Iris that sent her flying backwards and dropping her spear. Bellona struck the ground with a force that knocked the wind out of her and she felt an ache in her back and neck.
Iris looked down to the hole in her gut and watched as it slowly healed over and the stinging pain faded away, leaving only the hole in her armour exposing her skin. She rubbed the area and felt that not even a scar had formed unlike Bellona’s leg. Iris laughed as she lifted her sword and felt the lightning and flames run through her like an addicting alcohol.
Bellona rose up to her feet, taking in the spectacle while knowing just what Iris was capable of. “You really are Sordyn’s descendant,” she whispered in awe, watching the mortal girl be consumed by blue flames and white lightning. The Templarian caught her eyes on her spear and prepared a plan. She snapped open the shield on her arm and began running towards the weapon.
As she ran, Iris disappeared in a flash of light and Bellona was repeatedly pelted by lightning blasts that were starting to break through her Thorns. Bellona rolled as she reached for her spear and readed it from behind her shield, using it to block as much of the lightning as possible. She twisted the handle and the spear began to change shape into the sword again. Bellona had one thought come to her, one plan to get the formless Iris off of her before the Thorns broke.
She withdrew her shield and quickly reached for a series of humming stones on her belt as the lightning came at her harder, the energy causing Bellona’s hair to rise and muscles tense. She checked the stones in her hand to make sure her count was right before crushing them in her hand, releasing a blast of purple light that dissipated the lightning and sent the reformed Iris backwards, recoiling from a burning pain.
Bellona smirked. She ran her hand along her sword blade and it hummed to life with a purple lightning. She then ran towards Iris and attempted to cut Iris down but her sword only hit the lightning as Iris warped away but was sent to her knees as her body shone with the purple lightning.
“A little home cocktail I call ‘Bane’, you like it?” Bellona teased as she lifted the purple glowing sword. “You’re not the first of Rhamiel’s bloodline I’ve had the displeasure of fighting.”
Iris groaned in pain as her body felt like she had a giant boulder strapped to her back while under the effects of the magic. “What is this all about?” she grunted while trying to get back onto her feet.
“The day I fought Arylos, I lost all honour and trust with Templarius,” Bellona told Iris while walking closer. “Moviron took me in, gave me a home and a purpose much like Arylos did with you. On the last shred of honour I had left, I swore to serve and protect him.”
Iris shook her head, growing tired of this but understanding Bellona’s anger. She slowly rose to her feet as she felt the spell wane. She knew this was Bellona venting and it needed to come out.
“And because of you, I almost failed in that duty!” Bellona shouted as she swung her sword without warning, catching Iris’s arm and spilling a little blood but Bellona’s enchantment took hold and pinned Iris down.
“I was protecting myself and someone else who was innocent,” Iris called out, trying to defend herself.
“You should be careful about which side you choose, Iris,” Bellona warned as her sword began to take the shape of her warhammer. “I chose the wrong side once and it made me mortal. Be careful of who you trust.”
Iris growled as she warped to behind Bellona, reappearing just before her sword could make contact but Bellona was faster, striking the girl with the side of her large hammer and sending her flying to the ground as the ground broke from the impact. Iris growled as she came back up right as Bellona ran towards her as her hammer folded back into a sword and came at her with a follow up strike that Iris barely blocked.
The two crossed swords violently as energy radiated from their bodies, each sword strike ringing like bells in the air through the flurry of the close quarter combat. Iris started to build a rhythm of blocking opposing hits after striking out with attacks of her own, each exchange ringing out as a violent collision. She then found an opening; a gap between Bellona’s defensive strikes. Iris raised her sword to pierce the Templarian’s chest.
As Iris took the bait, Bellona ducked down and ran her sword through Iris’s side. Iris yelped and warped away to get room, holding the hole in her side to contain the blood. Bellona gave her no breathing room however as her sword unfolded into the flail and lashed out like an iron snake.
Iris raised her sword to block the strikes while trying to wait for her injury to heal. She could feel the skin move slowly to heal the wound but her attention had to be paid to the weapon that could be devastating if it hit her. She felt the wound nearly heal, but the lapse in her judgement meant she was too slow and the flail struck her hand, knocking the sword out. Bellona took her chance and swung the flail and struck Iris across the chest with it, sending her to the ground and groaning in pain.
Iris gritted her teeth. Even with this strength, she couldn’t beat the mortal Templarian. She hated how weak she felt with this realisation; that the most power she had ever held in her hands was being knocked down by a woman who was mortal. She felt her stinging wounds start to close as she rose up. She turned towards Bellona to make her plan.
Bang!
Iris’s mind was emptied as Bellona was already on her and struck her in the face with her shield, knocking Iris to the side. Iris shook the ringing out of her ears as she tried to get back up but as she did she received a kick to the face from the furious Templarian, sending her right back down.
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“Go on then, make my day,” Bellona called out behind gritted teeth. She watched Iris intently as she reached for a small phial made from a solid tube of glass, sealed at both ends that contained a deep orange energy. A section of her sword folded away and Bellona loaded the phial into a slot and the weapon hummed with power as it folded back up. Iris watched as the weapon folded into a new shape as it hissed and hummed and the blade folded into itself, taking the shape of a large battleaxe.
Iris groaned and she slowly pushed herself off the ground as her wounds healed. She watched Bellona raise up the axe and Iris felt a second wind come to her. Just before the axe came down, Iris warped out of the way as the axe struck the ground and cleaved the stony earth like it was paper.
Bellona growled as she turned towards Iris, lifting the axe high and running after the hybrid. Iris dodged the slow yet powerful axe strikes just as fast as Bellona could make them. Bellona caught on and punched Iris in between strikes. Iris watched as the axe unfolded into a different kind of sword that hummed with an orange lightning.
Bellona brought the sword around and slashed an unprepared Iris across the chest with it. Bellona growled as she then brought the sword around for two more cuts before turning and running it into Iris’s stomach, making Iris gasp in pain as the impaling was more than she expected.
Bellona then pulled a trigger on the sword hilt and the sword pulsed with energy as it released steam; sending a massive amount of electrical energy running through Iris that made her body burn with a searing and blinding pain.
A section of the sword popped open and a blast sent the two Templarians flying away, Iris landing to the ground and clutching the hole in her abdomen and Bellona landing on her feet. The sword unfolded and a panel opened and shot the empty phial out with a burst of steam. Bellona reached for her belt and reloaded a similar looking glass phial. Once reloaded, the sword hummed and it refolded back into an axe, ready for the next deadly strike.
Iris clutched her abdomen and rolled on the ground, still feeling the energy numb her nerves and dull her mind. The flames and energy around her slowly faded as she began to weaken and her vision darken. With pained gasps, she reached out and resorted to crawling away, trying to find her sword as her silver hair began to return back to its dull brown. As her power faded, she could still feel the skin on her stomach slowly move and stitch itself back together, but slower than normal; slow enough that Iris realised her predicament.
She had lost this fight; she couldn't fight back against Bellona.
Iris rolled over onto her back and held her exposed stomach, panting for any air that could come to her. She silently prayed for Arylos, asking for help. She wondered why this was happening; was Bellona infected by an Eikon? Why was she angry?
Or was she really jealous? What if she knew the same thing Moviron found out and is jealous about how close Arylos and her are? What if she loves him too somehow? Was this Bellona trying to take Iris out of the picture then?
Many questions swam through Iris’s exhausted mind as she heard footsteps come closer to her. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw Bellona come into Iris’s darkened view.
“Is that really it?” she heard Bellona lament. “The Incarnate of Helion was beaten that easily? Just how weak can you be, Iris?”
Iris coughed as a tear ran down her face; Bellona’s words hurt more than the gaping hole in her abdomen. “Then just kill me now and get it over with,” Iris whispered.
“And be killed by Arylos for my trouble?” Bellona laughed.
“You want him more, and you’re stronger than me,” Iris lamented while shaking her head, ready to give up.
Bellona thought for a moment before lowering her axe and staring at Iris in disbelief. “THAT’S what you think this is about?” she called out while shaking her head.
Before Iris could question, an ominous growl sounded in the air and when Bellona looked up she was struck by a blast of dark flames that knocked her to the ground.
Bellona slowly rose to her feet, feeling the burn of the dark flames on her body. She looked up and felt her heart stop as she saw a familiar dark shadow with burning red eyes staring back from beside the fallen Iris, dark wings of shadow and flame on his back that emanated with a dark glow.
The Titan knelt down to Iris and lifted her head to look at him. “Are you alright?” he growled.
Iris nodded while trying to hide her healing injury but Arylos already saw it, moving her hand out of the way. With a deep and growling sigh, he reached for the wound with a hand shrouded in shadowy tendrils. To Iris’s shock, he shoved his hand into the wound and Iris could feel a deep pain as well as the sensation of her organs and skin moving back into place, guided by Arylos’s own power.
After he removed his hand, Iris’s wound healed over and she found she could breath steadily again. “Stay here, I’ll take care of this,” he whispered while letting Iris go and standing back up.
“I can do this,” Iris coughed while trying to stand back up.
“No,” Arylos ordered while blocking her. “You’ve done your part; she’s mine now.” Arylos turned to Bellona and let out a monstrous growl. “So we’re doing this again, are we?”
Bellona felt fear come to her as she realised she was once more staring at Arylos from the opposite side of a battlefield. This was Onaria all over again; a furious Titan on the other side. Only this time, he wasn’t doing this to Bellona’s benefit; he was doing this for his own. He had no reason to hold back.
This was exactly what she wanted.
Bellona smiled as she lifted up her axe and it folded back into a sword and she ran at Arylos with it held high. Before Bellona could complete her attack though, the air roared and she was knocked aside by an unseen hand, sending her back to the dirt. Bellona quickly rose to her feet and charged at Arylos again. This time her sword found its mark but was caught fast in Arylos’s hand, as if the sharpened edge did nothing to cut through his skin. As soon as Bellona realised what happened, the sword was twisted to the side and Bellona was struck by a series of earth-shattering punches that cracked through the air, each one denting her Templarian armour and cracking bones.
Bellona backed away and turned her sword over as it folded back into an axe. She then lifted it high and it unfolded to reveal a rapidly spinning chain running around the metal like a sawing blade edge. She brought the machinery axe down on Arylos but he caught the spinning chain effortlessly in his hand once more, the chain spitting sparks as it bounced off of his skin. Bellona realised too late that Arylos was now fighting as himself; the closest to his Titan self that his mortal body could allow.
Bellona pulled the axe away and stared at Arylos while panting. She saw that Arylos was growling and yet calm. This calm fury of his was what terrified her the most; she knew that he wanted to rip her apart and yet he was waiting for her move. He was plotting his victory.
The carnivore was stalking his prey and knew how to finish this quickly.
Bellona lifted her axe once more to try and get the best of him. Without warning, Arylos pulled Bellona close and struck her forearms, the pain causing her to drop the machine as Arylos followed up with striking her across the face.
Bellona recollected herself and reached out for a punch but was blocked by the Titan as he nailed her right in the jaw. Bellona reached for another strike but was caught by Arylos’s forearm and was swiftly followed up by a swift punch to the chest that knocked the wind from Bellona as she felt a few ribs crack. Bellona tried a lower punch and yet once again was blocked and Arylos struck the other side of her jaw and she could feel teeth and her jaw hinge loosen.
Bellona turned to the side and as she looked back Arylos struck her with another punch that knocked her to the ground. She groaned as she felt a tooth come out of its socket and the jaw hinge fracture.
Bellona knew she was losing.
She jumped back up as quickly as she could but she could barely lift her arms back up. Taking advantage of the weakened Templarian, Arylos slapped her hands out of the way and struck her ribcage, fracturing the already damaged ribs. Bellona tried a sideways punch but was caught by Arylos as he struck her elbow, knocking the joint out of place.
With Bellona dazed and confused, blinded by pain, Arylos kicked her sternum, breaking the bone and causing Bellona to gasp as she lost her breath again. Arylos followed up with one more ear-ringing punch to the lower gut that knocked Bellona to the ground and she finally ended up vomiting under the strike. She found that she had no more strength to continue as she turned to the side and fell over, the only sign of life being her gasps for air.
Arylos came over beside Bellona and knelt down as he started to return to his normal self, disappointment heavy in his face and his reluctant sigh as he examined what he did. He realised that he was not the only one who was bottling emotions deep down and he knew that while he had moved on, Bellona had not.
There really was still bad blood between the two, and this was the only way to resolve it.