For the first time since I arrived at the bedroom, I looked at my mother’s face. On Walter’s face, I saw the resolve of a dying soldier. On Melissa’s face, I saw the fear of an unprepared civilian. On Tabitha’s face, however, I witnessed an expression of serene relief. It was as if she had died without regrets. In her last moments, I thought, she must have been relieved that, at least, her children would be safe.
You’re so useless.
Without warning, a venomous voice filled my head. This was the first time that Thale had spoken with such clarity.
You’re just as useless as me. Even with ten years of preparation, you couldn’t save her.
Shut up.
I responded weakly. I wasn’t in the right headspace to come up with a good response.
If I was in control, I could have saved her. But no, you had to come along and steal my body from me.
I’m not here intentionally.
Is that right? Well, if you don’t want the body, then give it to me.
Leave me alone, Thale.
“He hasn’t left yet.” Beltane shook me from my stupor. “I can still see him from the window.”
Beltane’s words pulled me to my feet. If the Red Knight hadn’t left yet, then everyone in Sableton was still in danger. As I stood, I looked one last time at the woman who had been my mother for the past seven years. Much as I would hate to admit it, Tabitha meant a lot to me, and seeing her dead on the ground made it hard for me to think clearly.
Within seconds, the grief I felt transformed into nothing more than blinding, murderous rage. He was still in Sableton. The man who had robbed me of one of the few people in the world who could ever love me unconditionally was still within range of my Hellfire.
If I were to fight him, I would most likely die. I knew that. He killed Sir Walter, a veteran arcane knight, with little difficulty. What could a weak priest and a war mage hope to achieve against such a powerful adversary?
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I walked to the shattered window. Through the shattered glass and broken timber, I saw a single man in knight’s armor staring back at me.
The Red Knight wore a beaked helmet that completely covered his head. He wore iron sabatons, vambraces, pauldrons, and couters, though the rest of his body was covered in chainmail. He held a blood-stained sword in one hand, though he did not carry a shield. Over his chainmail, he wore a crimson tabard with the symbol of the Church of Nyx emblazoned on the center. Over his shoulders, he wore a red cape that was the same color as his tabard.
As Beltane and I stared at the man, he looked back at us without any sign of emotion. It was as if he was waiting for us to see him. A moment after the Red Knight made eye contact with me, he turned his back and started slowly walking away from the manor.
Rage filled my body, and I placed my foot on the windowsill in preparation to jump. I would not allow this opportunity to pass me by. Before I could jump, Beltane placed a hand on my shoulder, arresting my momentum.
“Wait. You’ll just hurt yourself if you jump,” Beltane said.
“What do you suggest we do, then, Beltane!?” I shouted at the man standing behind me. “I’m not just going to just let him run away!”
As I spoke, Beltane flicked his wand. There was a brief flash of argent light, and my body suddenly felt weightless. Without warning, Beltane grabbed me by the coat and dragged me out through the window. The two of us floated through the air for a few seconds before a powerful wind pushed us down to the ground.
Just as fast as it came, the feeling of weightlessness disappeared, and I found myself on the ground. Moments after my feet touched the ground, the heavy sound of an unresisting corpse crashing against the dirt ground emanated from behind me. I didn’t turn to look at the zombies; my eyes were locked squarely on the knight standing in the middle of the street.
The Red Knight stood less than thirty meters away from me, and his back was turned to me. Years of practice made me acutely aware of one thing: he was within range of my Hellfire.
A mote of blazing fire appeared in the palm of my hand. The anger filling my body caused the flame to burn much brighter than I intended, and my sleeve promptly caught fire.
Something held me back, however. As I looked at the retreating form of the Red Knight, I did not sense weakness. Rather, it seemed as if the knight was asking me to attack him. It was as if his exposed back was nothing more than a single extended feint.
Even with the Red Knight’s back turned toward me, all my senses warned me of a terrible, looming danger. Despite this warning, I knew I had to attack. This was the greatest advantage I would have if I was going to attack the Red Knight at all. If I did not take that opportunity, I would have no choice but to simply let the knight leave.
No, that was not an option. I had to attack his exposed back. If I did not attack him at that moment, if I did not take the opportunity to avenge my mother, then I would be forsaking everything she meant to me. Doing nothing was not an option.
I reached deep into the well of Hellfire that burned in my core. I reached for all the anger, the rage, the despair that this man had instilled in me, and I poured all of it into the fire burning in my hands.
For the first time in my life, I released Hellfire at full-throttle.