Now stationary, the Red Knight regarded me for an instant before turning his attention toward Beltane. I don’t know why, but the knight seemed to disregard me after seeing me up close.
An instant later, the Red Knight was engaged in a frantic melee with Beltane. The knight attacked with such ferocity and speed that I could barely see the movement of his sword. Beltane, miraculously, was able to keep up with the Red Knight’s movements. He caught the knight’s blade on his staff and diverted it away from his body a few times. Beltane had clearly trained in some form of staff-based martial art.
As the two men fought, Beltane retreated behind a groaning zombie. The Red Knight’s speed precluded Beltane from speaking any commands to his zombies, but he was still able to use them as cover between himself and the knight.
For the duration of Beltane’s fight with the knight, I tried time and time again to summon forth Hellfire. Instead of the usual steady flame, I could only produce momentary embers that extinguished after an instant. I had no idea what was causing my inability to produce Hellfire. I was not suffering from the telltale headache indicative of mana loss. The only thing wrong with me was the steady stream of blood that had started flowing out of my nose and mouth.
Effortlessly, the Red Knight cut through the interposing zombies. At one point, however, as the knight’s blade scythed through the soft flesh and bone of Beltane’s undead creation, Beltane fired one last Blood Lance outside of the Red Knight’s vision. For a bare instant, Beltane was blocked from the knight’s field of view by flying viscera. In that fraction of a second, the War Mage threaded a lance of piercing blood between the flying, bisected form of his last zombie.
The Blood Lance struck the Red Knight hard in the chest. He looked down for a fraction of an instant. Despite the all-concealing armor, the knight’s body language carried an unmistakable expression of surprise.
“Yes!” Beltane called out, a victorious grin on his face.
The Blood Rune on Beltane’s hand glowed a dark red. The fingers of his hand flared out as if he was about to cast a spell. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the chainmail worn on the chest of the Red Knight. Blood splattered across most of the knight’s chest, but a small divot in the center of the chainmail showed that some small amount of blood pierced the armor.
Beltane’s blood had cut through the Red Knight’s armor. If he had pierced the knight’s skin, then he would be able to deal damage directly to the knight’s body. For an instant, it looked like we could win.
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There was a flash of movement, and the Red Knight closed the distance between himself and Beltane in less than a second. I didn’t see the attack. All I saw was the red light shining on Beltane’s hand fade away, and a moment later I heard a light thud as a small object hit the ground.
My gaze fell on the bleeding stump where Beltane’s hand had been a moment before. Beltane staggered a step back, shock and horror coloring his expression. In the same moment that Beltane’s hand struck the ground with a squelching thud, the Red Knight struck again.
The second blow cleaved Beltane’s staff in half. Undeterred by the dark red blood spilling from his wrist, Beltane reached his surviving hand across his chest to reach his want at his left hip. The third blow cut Beltane directly. Just as Beltane brought his glowing wand up to the Red Knight, he was cut diagonally across the chest and abdomen.
The Red Knight’s sword cut deep, and a fountain of blood watered the dirt at Beltane’s feet. Weakly, the War Mage stumbled back, dropped his wand, and fell on his back.
In that instant, I realized something. The Red Knight had been toying with us throughout the entire duration of the fight. He could have killed Beltane whenever he wanted; he had slowed his movements on purpose to extend the length of his fight with Beltane. It was only when he was in actual danger that the Red Knight decided to move at full speed.
Once Beltane crumpled to the ground, the Red Knight slowly turned toward me. Frantically, I tried to hit him with any spell available to me. [Hellfire], [Catapult], [Lift Object], none of them worked. The only thing my attempts managed to do was cause my nosebleed to worsen. I slowly stepped back from the Red Knight, and he matched my retreat at a leisurely pace.
With a fearful lump forming in my throat, I pointed Riomed’s wand at the approaching knight, but nothing happened. I couldn’t even cause the arcane runes engraved into the wand to glow silver. While backing up, my foot caught against a half-burnt root, and I fell to the ground.
Just as the Red Knight reached me, he looked down at me with cold indifference. He looked me in the face. After several long seconds, his head turned slightly. Was that recognition?
“Thale Feldrast.” A deep voice emanating from the knight spoke my name. The voice carried a minor echo due to the acoustics of the metal helmet he wore. “I am not permitted to kill you.”
The Red Knight’s sword was slapped back into its sheath, and he turned his back to me once again. I might have said something to him then if not for the terrible, racking coughing fit that forced me onto my hands and knees. When the coughing was done, a pool of blood had formed under my head, and the Red Knight was nowhere to be seen.
Slowly, painfully, I stood up and walked over to Beltane. I hadn’t been hit during the fight, yet I still felt like I was on the verge of death. My own blood flowed freely from my nose and mouth, adding to the existing bloodstains on my outfit.
Beltane was in much worse shape, of course. The Red Knight had cut him to the bone. A fatal amount of blood was flowing from the wound on his chest and the wound on his hand.
I could feel as [Triage] strained in my brain, wanting to be used. The use of that [Skill] would be pointless, however. I couldn’t use healing magic, so I couldn’t heal Beltane. There was no point for me to learn of his injuries, because there was nothing I could do to save him.