Chapter 42: The northern lion. (7)

Hu

Puff

Hu

Puff

Huff

Pu

Breaths too fast, lungs too rushed to properly draw each breath. Arms need oxygen, legs need it too, brain will shut down if ignored. Annoying, too many things that needed air, not enough breaths to go around.

Clank

Metal on metal, what a damn grating sound it was. It came from the left so it wasn’t the arm he used to hold his blade. Did he block? Hmmm, yes, seems like it. Grabbed the blade as it fell and pulled it aside. Effective, but now that palm and elbow hurt from the force. Gnats. Gnats. Gnats. Nothing but gnats on all his thoughts.

Black eyes that looked at him from beyond a layer of armour. Hurt pride, traces of anger, unease, exhaustion. Name…Name…Name… Right, James, James something. He was getting tired from the fight. Lord knows how long it had lasted at this point, seconds and minutes already felt like the same.

Arms were heavy, but had to pull on the blade, couldn’t afford to let it go now. The clanking of metal as he stumbled forward. Good, come right to me.

Gotta swing the blade, give the helmet a good whack, make his head ring like a bell. Ring… His alarm always rang so goddamn early during training, that infernal bell ringing still robbed him of sleep sometimes. Sleep… It would be nice to get some sleep. Arms were heavy and head felt drowsy, yeah, a bit of sleep would fix that right up.

"Ghrk…"

Hm? That wasn’t the ringing sound. No that sounded more like… Ah, right, own voice. When did his knee reach my stomach? Did I get distracted again. Ah, whatever, since he presented it may as well take it.

Drop the sword. Cumbersome. Heavy. Annoying. The knee was right there so just had to grab it, coil the arm around it to secure a good grip. Lean towards him and sweep the leg, fall to the stage together. Ah, he was almost like a bed now that he laid on top of him. Would be nice to get some sleep here before the alarm rings like that infernal bell…

…Ah, bell, right, that’s what the goal was. Helmet… Helmet… there. Good, head still resting on the metal stage, must have knocked it a bit when he fell. Good, trap it between a rock and a hard place.

Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down.

ClankClankClankClankClankClank

That infernal bell was ringing again. The clock tower was ringing to evacuate the city and the Magic Tower was banging its damn bell to call their men to arms. Emergency, attack on the city. How annoying that ringing was, he’d have to cut them down first so that he would get some silence.

So strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike. Silence that infernal ringing.

Clank ClankClankClankClank

Ah, that ringing wouldn’t stop. The alarm rang, it was time to wake up and go to the morning training. His master would scold… Or was it overseers? No, master, yeah that was… No, it might be overseers… no?

ClankClankClankClankClank

The bell. Someone stop that fucking bell before he had a fit. Ah, wait. He was the bell. He was making the noise, silence wouldn’t fall before he did.

Pull back the arm. Gauntlets were dented badly, a bit of blood staining the knuckles. Helmet below him… Dented but didn’t seem to be any blood coming out from within? Was it from his knuckles? Too numb, too many gnats on his thoughts, so what did it matter?

"It’s my… glrk… Loss. Thank you for the mercy…"

A voice from within the helmet, a wet cough cutting out the voice for a short moment. Ah well, seems like Jamye…Jamie… James, right, James, seemed like he was still good. Helmet was dented, visor was bent, would probably reach his face if the bell just rang a bit more.

Roll off the knight and push yourself up to your feet. Legs were weak, staggering. Was he even standing? No, he had to be, he was walking, couldn’t walk if he wasn’t standing.

Ah, sword. Right, sword, was supposed to be a knight so had to get the sword. Where…Where… There. Walked right past it, gotta go back and get it.

Heavy. Like a boulder in his grasp. His combat gear had never been this heavy before… Had the Kasarias capital been this heavy when he dropped it on the orphanage?

Orphanage. Right, the orphanage. He had to go back there again soon, the crown princess already shut it down but he still wanted to know what was going on there. Guards… Sneaking past them shouldn’t be too hard if he just used his magic.

Right, magic. The fights would end that much easier if he just used his magic. Kardur(Remove) for their armour. Lagu(Bind) for their limbs. Devak(Burst)for their chests. It was always a mess, but it would be fast. Nice and efficient, get right done with the job and get some sleep.

"Kiara Caslain. Knight-in-training of the Barong estate. Please, give me the honour."

A voice. Where… Ah, in front of him, orange eyes blazing behind armour. When did he reach the starting point again, and when did his feet stop? Time was a bit funky, his thoughts ran in circles so it felt like time was doing the same. Had they waited for him? Had he waited for them?

Not good, had to focus. Place a hand against the face and sweep it back, wipe the thoughts clean along with the face. Sticky. His face, his palm now, his hair as he swept it all back, it was all sticky and warm. Was he sweating? Yeah, of course, there was so much going on that he couldn’t help but sweat. But for there to be so much that it became sticky… He had to intensify his training.

A glimpse of crimson. Was he bleeding? Ah, no, it was eyes. When was his gaze drawn towards Alice? The enemy was in front, so why was he looking over there?

Crimson eyes. They always shone like rubies, a pair of gems crafted by the divine. Violet hair. Amethyst turned to string and draped over her like a shroud. A crimson dress adorned by black lace. He chose it. He put it on her. It looked good on her, she suited the colour of blood and the night. Or was it the colour of roses? Ah, did it matter? Her ears were twitching, was someone talking to her? Hard to tell, couldn’t see anything other than her. Other than those eyes.

Worry. Self-loathing. Restraint. Sadness. Or was it disappointment? Yeah, it had to be disappointment. There were still three people left but Gabriel was already tired. Pathetic. Worthless. Yeah, of course she’d be disappointed.

Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me like that, Alice. I’m a good tool, I’m a useful man. I’ll be good, I’ll be useful, so don’t look at me like that. Don’t throw me away. I’ll be a good tool, I always have. So just watch, I won’t fail your orders.

"Gabriel. Knight-training of Alice Vritara. Please."

Sword was heavy. Had to use both hands, not because of the greeting but because of the weight. The flat side looked comfortable, could he get some sleep if he leaned his head against it.

Ah, no, had to focus on the fight. It’s what he was good for so he had to do at least that. A dull blade was discarded, a dagger that couldn’t stab would just gather rust.

Legs were heavy, but they had to move so he forced them. Three left… Three left… Fast. Hit hem fast. Take them out fast. Conserve energy. Magic, a bit of magic and it would be fa… No. The order. He wasn’t allowed to eat them. Had to hide, had to keep hiding. A dagger was only useful while it was kept in the dark. And he was a good dagger, a useful dagger. Just watch, Alice, I’m a good dagger.

Hold the sword low, drag it along the stage. Offset the weight, don’t have to carry it. Once in range, swing upwards, look at the opening in their metal skirt.

A sword falls down to block. Yeah, expected. You covered it up with chainmail, but pain is pain and gnats are gnats.

Clank

Sword meets sword and the infernal bell rings again. He wanted to sleep but wasn’t so the bell couldn’t wake him, no matter how much it rang he would still find himself here. Let go of the sword, let it clank against the stage. Just charge forward, the moment the blade drops they’ll naturally drop their guard for an instant.

Clank

Pauldrons met cuirass, metal met metal. Just smash right into her, curl up slightly to focus the impact on her abdomen. Wrap the arms around her waist at the same time and keep pushing forward, lift her off her feet and slam her down.

A dull pain. His head was unguarded so it smacked into the cuirass as he charged into her. A gnat on his thoughts, a speck of rust. Another dull pain. This time from the back of his head. Size… larger than a pommel, harder. Did she hit him? Probably, he just beat the previous one… James…Jamie… Jaime, right, Jaime, he just beat him with his fist so there was no reason for them to not copy him.

Fast, had to act fast. Straddle her waist now that she was on the ground, ignore the sticky sweat that once again clung to the skin. Visor…Visor…There. Orange eyes, like living flames as they gazed at him. He burned under eyes like those. On the pyre, in the pit, in the orphanage, in the basement, on the battlefield, in the dungeon. He burned. He burned. He burned. Were all the eyes orange as he burned? Or was it just the fire? Ah, what did it matter, just strike.

Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. A dull pain on his face. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. A dull pain on his face.

Gnats. Gnats. Gnats. Gnats. Gnawing at his thoughts, like bloated flies on a corpse, the locusts that scoured after the plague.

Visor, dented. Good. Stick the fingers into the eye sockets, curl them and tug. Still stuck, good craftmanship. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. A dull pain on his face. A sharp pain on his knuckles. Raise the fist and bring it down.

Again fingers into the eye sockets, curl them, tug upwards. Loosened, almost there. Dig the other hand into a gap made by the dents, tug with both arm. Visor finally gone. A round face, thin lips, pale skin. A straight nose.

Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. Raise the fist and bring it down. A round face, puffy lips, red skin, a bent nose. Raise the fist and b…

"It’s my loss. I surrender!"

Lower the fist. Surrender, good, could save more energy. Roll off their body and stand u… hit the legs when they refused to listen. Stand u… Hit them again. Stand up.

Pick up the sword. Can’t lift it, have to drag it while walking. Can’t feel the legs anymore, that’s good, numbness was comfortable. World was blurry but that was fine, the body remembered where to go. Around here? Yeah, should be around here.

Something moved in his vision. A new enemy? Probably, should be. Good, only two left. Had to raise the sword. Hmmm… Couldn’t get it quite high enough, would have to settle by just pointing the tip at the enemy.

"Hellion Ravel. Knight-in-training of the Barong estate. Please… Just stop now, it’s enough."

Enough? No it wasn’t, there were still two more enemies, you being one of them. The order had yet to be completed. Vision got blurrier, something seemed to drip into his eyes. Sweating, he was sweating too much. Had to finish it fast before he started sweating more.

"Gabriel. Knight of Alice. Come."

Words like stones as they travelled up his throat. Precious air wasted. Would have to make up for it by finishing it faster. Ever faster, ever stronger. Had to go, had to act. Legs. Legs wouldn’t move, would have to hit them again.

Pomf.

A flash of red, and then… something soft. His head was resting against it, when did it get in front of him to stop his charge? When did he lean into it? But ah… It was comfortable… it was better than any of his pillows, better than the bed. Soft… Comfortable. Sleep would be good, could he sleep?

Scent. It smelled good, familiar. Why was that? Ah, right. It smelled of home. It was soft, it was home. Right, here it should be fine to sleep, it was home after all. Just a nap, a quick nap. Then you can watch, Alice, just a quick nap and then I’ll complete the ord…

Limp body. Then darkness. Sleep. Blessed sleep. No more infernal bell.