Chapter 1 – Dreams, Revolution and Departure
A dark sky… Without moon nor stars… Only darkness. Two big red eyes looked at him, as if ready to pierce him with a knife. Siegfried stood still, staring at the red eyes among the darkness of the night. A mouth, a big mouth full of teeth as sharp as sickles, opened right under the red eyes, letting a powerful and prideful roar escape. Sieg brought his hand to his waist, searching for the handle of Arondight, but the sword wasn't there. He stepped back as the creature advanced.
A lightning cracked the sky, revealing the beast in front of him.
A Black Dragon, double the size of the one he killed back in his village, with five huge horns above his head, three pointed backward, and two pointed forward. His scales looked like black shields, his claws were like the curved swords used by the elves, the tail ended with an axe-like structure, and the wings were big and strong enough to bring a building down with just one flap.
Without a weapon, the redhead appealed to his Thaumaturgical Circuits, but the sword markings weren't showing up, even with Siegfried saying all the enchantment. The beast continued its slow advance, as if savoring the moment. No weapon, no Thaumaturgy. What could he do?
Another roar.
Sieg looked back, and saw another dragon, just like the Black Dragon that was in front of him, except by its color. The second dragon was a white one, but had the same fierce and ferocious spirit printed in its eyes. The White Dragon rushed against Siegfried, but the redhead jumped off of his way, and the two creatures began a mortal fight.
Were they fighting to decide the one who would hunt Sieg down and devour him?
Even if that was the case, Sieg couldn't run. His legs couldn't move. His brain couldn't think. He couldn't fight.
The White Dragon buried its teeth on the neck of the other, and the Black Dragon did the same thing. The two were holding the other's neck firmly, then stood up on their rear legs, and began to exchange claw blows to the body, and tail attacks to the rear legs and back. Each attack unleashed a sound as like a heavy stone falling to the ground. Sieg was astonished. He never heard about dragons fighting in a way like that.
No breath attacks, no flying around. Just powerful hand-to-hand attacks, strong enough to take down a big oak with just one blow.
The Black Dragon put his forelegs on the chest of his enemy and pushed him away, freeing himself from the neck hold, but the White Dragon responded with a left-right combination of his claws to his enemy's head. The black one turned around, and slammed his tail on the side of the face of the White Dragon, who did the exactly same thing after getting hit.
The two roared viciously, louder than any thunder could be.
Sieg awoke abruptly, in a cold sweat, scared. He looked to the corners of the bedroom to be sure he was alone. Then he looked to his right, and saw his wife sleeping peacefully. He stroked her long, silky pink hair. Already 3 years had passed since Colossus was defeated, and Claire was still the 'safe house' of the redhead, the one he trusted the most.
Claire awoke with the movement on her hair, and looked a little bit confused to her husband. She was very sleepy, after all, it was late night and she was in the middle of a deep slumber. Claire sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness, her silky nightdress revealing her abdomen and thighs, and giving a certain attention to her bust, now a little more developed.
"What is it?" she asked after yawning. "Do you want to do it again already?"
"C'mon…" Sieg answered, blushing a little. "Can't I stroke my wife's hair without perverted intentions?"
"Maybe yes, maybe not. I'm not quite sure yet." Claire replied, nuzzling in the arms of the redhead. "The dragons again?"
"Yeah…" Sieg sighed, remembering the clash of the creatures. "And more real than last time."
"It's just a dream, relax." Claire said, running her hand trough the muscular abdomen of her husband. "You are accustomed to live your life in all kinds of battlefields; your mind is just trying to compensate the absence of a real fight."
"Maybe so…" Sieg said, but didn't believe it. He felt, deep in his heart, those dreams weren't just a trick of his mind. "If that's the case, I will stop seeing those dragons after tomorrow."
"Oh, we will test the familiars of the Magic Academy's students tomorrow. I almost forgot." Claire said, taking her index finger to her lips. "Hey, what do you think? Will someone summon the Ardens Victoria again?"
"I doubt that." Sieg rejected that idea without thinking twice. "Let's take it easy on the kids ok?"
"Kids? They aren't too much younger than us you silly, but ok, I don't want to make someone be held back a year." Claire then sat on the lap of the redhead, held his chin gently with her left hand, and approached her lips from his. "And what about my first question?"
"What?" Sieg's face was redder than his hair. He tried to increase the distance between him and Claire, but his back encountered the bed's headboard, and his wife approached him once again. "Claire you know very well how much nervous I get when you do this kind of stuff!"
"Why not? You already woke me up, and I won't be able to sleep again unless I'm tired." Claire stated, and she had a good point.
She approached a little more, resting her hands on his shoulders, and one could feel the breath of the other. Sieg made the final advance, kissing his wife, embracing her on his arms, and laying her beneath him. Claire enlaced Sieg's neck with her arms, taking out any chance he had to escape, and deepened their kiss. After three years, their feelings were still the same. The two fell asleep after about two hours, and of course, the battle between the dragons continued in Sieg's dreams.
Claire woke up some minutes after the rising of the morning sun, and saw her husband already prepared to travel; wearing the red and silver armor he wore three years ago, during the battle between the Halkeginia's Alliance and the Undead Army. The draconic armor used against Colossus, he never used again. He never had to use it again. Arondight was on his waist, as always.
Claire got out of the bad cursing the redhead for not calling her, but stopped the insults when she remembered they wouldn't need to use a carriage or a horse to get to the Magic Academy. They got Angelus, so the travel would be really quick; and they weren't even out of Tristain. She went to take a good bath, choose some good clothes to wear, brush her hair and other things Sieg himself didn't see any need.
Louise and Saito insisted to the couple to take residence with them in Ornielle Mansion, alleging the place was already too lonely, and was going to be even more without Claire visiting them from time to time. Furthermore, Claire and Sieg didn't have a place to stay besides his house in Herzen Schwarts, and the girl still needed to finish her studies. After that, one thing led to the other, and the couple took permanent residence in the mansion.
Claire was having her breakfast with her father and mother at the garden, while Sieg, who never had the habit of eating during morning, prepared Angelus to the travel, after paying a visit to Alexia, that now lived in Ornielle with other horses. Saito had a strange face while eating, like if something wasn't right. Claire was curious and worried at the same time; after all, her father was an easy going man. What could've happened to let him like that?
"Father…" Claire said after drinking a little bit of orange juice. "You're weird today. What happened?"
"I couldn't sleep last night then I went to take a night walk around the house, and, by chance, I heard you and Siegfried in your room…" Saito said, with a face that gave Claire some chills.
"W-W-W-W-W-W-What?" The girl's face gained a shining red color. That was a normal thing to married couples to do, but her father hearing it… Absolutely WASN'T even a little bit normal.
"Is he still having those dreams with the dragons?" The man asked, but saw his daughter embarrassment before she could regain her composure. "And what about that face? Did I miss something yesterday?"
"Of c-c-c-course not!" Claire put a huge slice of bread on her mouth, desperate to change the subject. "We only talked about his dream and then we slept. This bread is delicious, congratulate the cook for me!"
"Claire." Saito said, staring his daughter as if he stared to a thief. "What were you doing last night on your bedroom?"
"W-W-Well, we talked a-about how we w-would test the familiars t-t-today, then he f-fell asleep b-because he was to t-tired from training the P-P-Palace Guards…" Claire was trying to gain some time. Why was Siegfried taking so long to prepare the dragon?
"Saito, leave the girl in peace." Louise interrupted. She had her own share of fun seeing her daughter. "They are married remember?"
"I just don't want dirty things in MY house." Saito retorted.
"It's their house too." Louise continued to defend the couple. "Or did you forget they are living here because of us? They can move out and live in Siegfried's house in Germania if you want."
"NO WAY!" Saito trembled, thinking what could happen to his little daughter if she and Siegfried were living so far away of his vigilant eyes. "Claire, I don't care about what you do with that spitfire as long as you live here!"
"Angelus is ready!" Sieg yelled. "Sorry it took so long! She wasn't very comfortable with the new saddle but I already took care of it!"
"Right!" Claire yelled back. "Bye mom, bye dad. See you later."
"Wait right there!" Saito said, realizing the stupidity of what he said before. "I DO care about what you two do! Claire come back here!"
He chased his daughter through the gardens, but the girl was faster, and younger, and managed to reach Angelus before her father, but still could hear his screams. Sieg looked to the direction of his father-in-law's voice and arched one of his eyebrows when he saw the man chasing Claire, and almost losing all of his breath.
"Protector Crisis again?" Sieg, already mounted on Angelus, asked while helping Claire to climb up.
"Yeah, but he is getting over it. Just six times this month, it is a good number, you gotta admit." The mage answered, sitting behind her husband. "Shall we?"
"C'mon girl!" Sieg snapped the reins, giving Angelus the signal to take flight.
"SIEGFRIED!" Saito tried to chase, on foot, the flying dragon. Just like he did three years ago.
"How do you wanna test the familiars?" Sieg asked, while riding the dragon towards the Magic Academy. "The only way I know to test something is fighting, but I bet you know a more… Hm… Peaceful way."
"It will depend of the familiar." Claire answered, finally feeling comfortable while flying on the back of a dragon, after some bad experiences. "A simple test of obedience will be enough in most cases, but probably one or two of the familiars will require something a little more… Challenging."
"Like I did!" Sieg remembered and couldn't hold back a giggle. General Gramont's face when Sieg put the old nodachi against his neck was priceless. "It would be interesting if someone summoned a griffin, or perhaps even a dragon, a manticore like the one of your grandmother isn't bad too. The last time I used the Infinity Soul Blades was so long ago that I almost forgot the words."
"Don't dare to use Thaumaturgy against them!" Claire's eyes widened when she heard what Sieg was saying. "They are just students yet, and I bet most of them are already scared to know we are going to test their familiars."
"With this I have to agree… What Old Osmond was thinking when he invited us? And what was you thinking when you accepted?" Sieg said, wondering why the old man would make his students face a Void Mage and an Ascalonian.
"There's a recent theory that says pressure affects the summoning. Osmond wants to test this by comparing the expected results with the real familiars." Claire said, looking for the Academy in the horizon. "And it's a great honor to participate in the ceremony, I couldn't refuse. Also, Osmond is trusting on us to test that theory."
"And what do you think about that? Can pressure affect the familiar summoning?" Sieg asked more to keep the chat flowing then for interest. Magic wasn't his thing.
"Yes, but if it affects positively or negatively depends of the mage itself, like any other spell." Claire answered. "There! The Academy is right there! The second-year students are already waiting for us! Go faster Sieg!"
"Calm down, they can wait five seconds while I land safely." Sieg said, flying around the towers of the bedrooms to slowly decrease Angelus's speed, and then landing in the garden, in front of the students and the other guests.
"Claire! Siegfried!" Colbert was coordinating the summoning, like he always had. "I can't describe how much I'm happy to see you two again."
"I'm very happy too Professor." Claire said, while her husband simply waved. "We can begin at any time."
"Right now." Colbert pointed to a redhead girl who was staring at Siegfried as if he was a ghost or something. "Mademoiselle, you will be the first and Siegfried will test you. Begin when you're ready."
"Y-Yes!" The girl entered the Summoning Area with a low head, staring at her shoes as if her life depended on it. "Ok… Here I go…"
"Relax a little." Sieg said firmly. "I won't use Thaumaturgy to test your familiar, nor something of that level. Breath, and summon something nice."
"Y-Yes sir!" The girl took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and then began her enchantment. "Pentagram of the five elements, hear my voice and answer my pray. May you choose the familiar that will be the best for me, and bring it here in front of me to be accepted."
A yellow pentagram opened in the ground, with a gentle breeze blowing the girls hair upwards. It took some moments, but the familiar jumped off of the pentagram, surprising Siegfried, who had no idea of what expect. The girl, on the other side, was rater happy with what she summoned.
"A ram?" Sieg scratched his head while asking himself what to do. "A big ram but… Hey Claire! How am I supposed to test a ram?"
"Shut up you idiot!" Claire yelled, her face red with embarrassment. "You will embarrass the girl! Just ask her to order the ram to do something."
"Right…" Sieg waited for the girl to kiss the ram and finish the contract. It was just him who found strange a girl kissing a ram? That wasn't important. "Miss, you heard my wife. Order your ram show me what he can do."
As if the mind of the girl and the mind of the ram were connected, the animal advanced at Sieg just after the redhead stop talking. What was that big white horned thing up to do? Sieg thought while the ram approached. He was completely clueless. The ram then jumped, and hit Sieg with its hard head, right between the legs. The Dragon Child knelt, with both hands on his injured friend, victim of a ferocious ram…
"Even I felt that one…" Arondight said, seemingly painfully.
"He passed!" Sieg said with a high pitched voice, fighting to hold back some tears. "A strong headbutt… Congratulations…"
Claire covered her face with her hand, ashamed. Her husband was completely useless outside a battlefield. Maybe she just had to take care of the tests herself and just call him if some tougher familiar showed up. Yeah, that was the best thing to do. She walked to her husband, grabbed him by the collar and then dragged him out of the summoning area, without saying even one word of consolation. What would the nobles watching think? The Dragon Child everyone was talking about is an idiot.
"Right." Claire said after coming back to the summoning area. "The next one, please come."
And like that, the students came, one by one, summoning their familiars and being tested by Claire, while Siegfried was trying to understand how he could be so easily defeated by a ram… It was a big ram, but still, just a ram. Could it be that the time away from a real fight made the redhead a little rusty?
Maybe.
"Sieg." Claire's voice dragged Siegfried back to reality. "I will need your help with this one."
"Wow…" Sieg took a good look at the familiar. "A lava ogre… This sure brings back some memories."
"What my ogre must do?" asked a boy with long black hair.
"Hit me with his best shot." Sieg answered. It was a good chance to see if he really was rusty. "Bring it on!"
The lava ogre rushed against the redhead, who simply stepped back to escape his opponent's reach, and in response, punched the ogre's forehead, knocking it out.
"I'm not rusty after all…" Sieg said while looking at his right hand. "So how could a ram…"
"Stupid dog!" Claire didn't allow the redhead to complete his thinking, giving him a kick at the back of the neck. "Look what you did to the familiar!"
"He's not totally knocked out ya' know?" Sieg said while he stroked his neck. "He's still moaning… So he passed."
"Are you serious?" the boy asked perplexed. "But he was defeated with one single punch I…"
"I exaggerated." Sieg interrupted the student. "Even so, your ogre could barely maintain his conscience. A strong ogre, I must say."
"Well, this is just like Siegfried…" Colbert said while looking to the redhead who tried to wake up the ogre. "One moment being defeated by a ram, the other, knocking out a lava ogre with one single punch…"
"He's acting strange lately." Claire confessed to her former teacher. "Every night he haves a dream about two big dragons fighting, but not like normal ones. He said it was like hand-to-hand combat."
"I never heard about dragons fighting like that…" Colbert said what Claire already knew. "Do you think it have something to do with his Ascalonian blood?"
"I'm not sure…" Claire answered. "I think it's just a dream, but Sieg is taking it to seriously."
"I got your point Miss Vallière." Colbert understood what Claire was trying to say. "I will research trough the books we have, and tell you about anything I find."
After the incident with the lava ogre, the Summoning Ceremony went by without any greater problems, once Claire tested all the remaining students and their familiars. Siegfried could be a great warrior, a brilliant strategist, and even one of the best sword fighting teachers in Halkeginia, but his almost total lack of common sense prevented him from being able to do simple things without screwing everything up, like familiars tests.
The redhead was really depressed for being tossed away by his wife like that, but as soon as a girl summoned a griffin, Siegfried forgot his sadness and suddenly was overjoyed. It was the first time he saw a griffin.
Claire just hid her face in embarrassment. How could her husband be so naïve some times? But this was one of the reasons she loved that spitfire.
"Well, everything's finished." Sieg said, desperate to go home and examine carefully how a simple ram defeated him. "Right?"
"Miss Vallière, did you forget?" Colbert asked gently. "About the dance tonight?"
"Oh crap!" Claire said, slapping her forehead. "I completely forgot."
"Good thing I have some extra dresses in my room." A familiar voice said behind Claire, surprising not only the young mage, but also Siegfried.
"Cassandra?" Sieg asked rhetorically, turning his gaze to look his sister. "Give your brother a hug!"
"Hello brother." Cassandra said, doing exactly what Sieg requested. "I missed you so much."
"Training the Palace Guards is taking much of my time, but I promise I'll go to Germania as soon as I can." Sieg explained why he hasn't seen his sister in a while.
"It's true, some days it's hard even to me to see him." Said Claire, letting a point of jealously escape within her words. "But tell me, what is the Empress of Germania doing here? Is the dance the only reason?"
"If the annual commemoration of our victory against Colossus isn't a good reason, I don't know what else could be." Cassandra answered. "But in fact, I was dying to see my old fellows, my brother here the most!"
The blonde girl hugged Siegfried tightly. The two grew very attached to each other, as if they had passed many, many years together. Cassandra rarely took any decision without an advice from Siegfried, and Siegfried did the same. Some rumors even said that, even if Cassandra was the only one appearing to rule, the former Commander of The Alliance Army reigned with his sister, as an advisor, and sometimes, as Emperor.
But all were just stupid rumors.
Cassandra and Claire parted to the blonde's room, with the intention to find a dress for Claire to wear. Siegfried wasn't even a bit worried with that matter, once he was already wearing his most elegant outfit. The clothes he used at the coronation of his sister, and also the day he was announced as Prince of Germania to the rest of Halkeginia.
The redhead was still at the Summoning Area, the place where his life changed completely, and forever. From that point beyond, he became a much better person, and for that, he was ultimately grateful.
But yet, one thing still haunted his mind. Those dreams… The dragons fighting each other… What could that possibly mean? Was Claire right? Could he be taking simple dreams far too seriously?
He knew no answer for that question. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had been too many hours thinking about that. The sky was already dark, and Claire's voice was loud and clear, calling for the redhead.
"Siegfried." Colbert stopped the redhead. "Claire told me about your dreams, and I think I found something that could help."
"Tell me." Sieg requested. Claire could wait a little longer. "Something to do with this book of yours?"
"Everything to do with this book." Colbert opened the book, and showed a picture of two dragons fighting each other, hand-to-hand. "According to the author, Brianne, Ascalonians had dreams about a white dragon fighting a black one in hand-to-hand combat as a sign of a great battle."
"Battle against who? Or what?" Sieg knew those dreams weren't common dreams, and now he was more worried than ever. "I never had those dreams and lived great part of my life in battles."
"Sadly she ended the chapter here and don't say any other things, but I'm certain that if you can find her at the Elven Desert, she will give you more information." Colbert said, pointing to the last page of the book. "Those are the coordinates to her home, she put those here so anyone with information about Ascalonians could find her."
"Offering her home to strangers? Is this girl insane?" Sieg was astonished.
"She is the daughter of Luctiana of Nephthys, niece of Bidashal of Nephthys, two powerful elves known to Louise and Saito." Colbert said that, remembering he hadn't mentioned this to the redhead yet. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't have to worry about people trying to hurt her."
"Elves…" Siegfried pondered and took the book. "Right, I will tell this to Claire once the dance is over, thanks Professor."
After thanking Colbert, Siegfried continued on his way to the ballroom, where his wife would certainly already be, and waiting for him as impatient as ever, but it wasn't important. The important thing was that he finally had a clue about his dreams.
Arriving at the ballroom, on the top of one of the towers, the first thing he saw was his wife, wearing a green dress without sleeves and a discreet cleavage, adorned with golden ornaments over the chest and abdomen. Her hair was loose, a rarity in occasions like that, but Siegfried loved it that way.
Right by her side was Cassandra, wearing a red dress, her favorite color, with long sleeves and a more prominent cleavage, with the same gold ornaments of Claire's dress, with her golden hair tied in a bun with the help of a red ribbon. Just as beautiful as Claire.
Sieg walked until he reached the two women, and, without them realizing he was near, kissed his wife's nape, causing her to shiver and turn to face him at the same instant, with an incredulous look on her face.
"Are you crazy Sieg?" Claire asked blushing heavily. "Look at all the people in here."
"Everyone here knows we are married." Sieg replied without thinking twice.
"I'm jealous." Cassandra said, obviously kidding.
"Do Your Majesty accept a glass of wine?" a waiter, with long dark blue hair tied in a ponytail, asked with a tray full of glasses on a hand and a jar of wine on the other. "It was made especially for tonight."
"I accept." Cassandra said, taking one of the glasses and being served by the waiter. "Claire, do you want some?"
"Yes, I think it's okay to have a little bit." Claire answered, imitating the movements oh her sister-in-law. "Sieg?"
"No, I'm fine." Sieg denied the drink, remembering the last time he drank too much and ended up at the bed of one of the young ladies in Herzen Schwert, months before meeting Claire.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate and just call me." The waiter made a slight bow, ad took his leave.
"I don't remember seeing this guy around…" Sieg said just after the young man left.
"Maybe a new worker, or just here to help today and then never more…" Claire said, drinking her wine. "How is it called?"
"Temporary job?" Cassandra nailed it. "It's possible, given the number of people here."
"It's too quiet…" Sieg sighed. "The first time The Hundred Swords don't…"
The band suddenly stopped the music, and the sound of a glass being hit by a spoon filled the ears of everyone.
"Nobles of Halkeginia, be welcome to the Annual Celebration of the Alliance Victory." The waiter who served wine to Cassandra and Claire was the one speaking. "My name is Urick Schneider, and I expect that everyone liked the wine we prepared for you tonight."
Saying that, the other waiters and waitresses pulled daggers, hidden in their clothes, and put the blades at the necks of some students. Siegfried quickly drew Arondight, but if he moved a little bit more, someone could get hurt.
"Now, now, let's calm down." Urick said, with tranquility on his voice that not even the most old and wise man in Halkeginia could match. "The wine you drank is special. It will prevent you from casting any type of spell for some hours. Let's hear what I have to say then."
Urick looked directly to Siegfried, who was already prepared to decapitate the waiter.
"You had the dreams don't you? Then you know what's coming." Urick said to the redhead, and then turned his gaze to the others. "Soon, very soon, the two moons of this world and the sun will be aligned, completing once more a cycle of three thousand years, and again, changing the destiny of this world, but this time, I won't let nobles spoil everything… I will free the world of the mage scourge, and will not wait until the day of the First Roar! I will finish you all here and now, and then prepare to fight the Champion of the High Dragons!"
That was the right time to attack. The traitors were ready to cut the throats of the students and weren't expecting Siegfried to make his move. A violent swing of his sword, a powerful wind blast, and the students were free, with the traitors being pushed away, many of them dropping their weapons.
"Everyone! Run!" Siegfried roared, planning to serve as a shield while the nobles could escape. Without magic, they were helpless.
The traitors managed to get up, and then prepared to attack the redhead, but he was faster.
In the blink of an eye, Siegfried closed the distance between him and his enemies, slashing three of them with a single move. More tried to attack him from behind, but a violent swing of Arondight pushed them away, against a wall, and then to the ground.
"Hold!" Urick said, and his allies stopped, motionless. "Do you still fight for these people? After all they did to us?"
"Look, I don't know who you are or what your reasons are." Sieg said with a calm voice, but hiding a powerful wish to fight. "But these students here are the sons and daughter of the men who fought by my side, and the other nobles also fought by my side. By the way, none ever did something against me."
"Mages are the ones to blame for the near extinction of our kind." Urick replied. "And more than that, they abuse their own kind, the weaker ones, the ones who cannot use magic."
"Our kind?" Sieg asked, incredulous. "Do you mean… Are you Ascalonian too?"
"Precisely, my brother." Urick answered, with a small smile forming on his lips. "Did you think you were alone?"
"Not even for a sec. I have my wife, my sister, and many other friends." Sieg retorted, tightening the grip of his sword, his runes shining after so many years. "The ones you said you gonna kill!"
Sieg was preparing to rush against his enemy, and did it at the same moment he finished speaking, with the intention to nailing Arondight's blade at Urick's heart. Just some inches separated the two, Sieg knew there was nothing his opponent could do at such small distance.
A sudden pain on his ribs, and Sieg was thrown to the side, rolling on the ground. He quickly got up, and saw Urick lowering his leg. A kick? It wasn't important. Sieg tried to advance once more, but as he supported his weight on his left leg, his body crumbled.
His ribs were broken, two or more, with a single kick.
Urick advanced with a lightning speed, and hit Sieg's face with his right knee, and sending the redhead backwards. The blue haired one then grabbed his opponents head and lifted him up, only to hit his temple with a violent elbow strike.
Sieg was sent to the ground once more.
"Is this everything you have? I don't even need my sword." Urick said, unbuttoning his shirt. "We are the last two Ascalonians in this world, it means we will face each other at the day of First Roar, and you don't even know how to properly fight without a weapon…"
Sieg managed to get up, using Arondight as support to his weight, and when Urick advanced to attack him again, he leaned backwards, dodging his enemy's kick, and answered with a pommel strike to the forehead and then a slash at the waist line.
Urick dodged the pommel strike, and raised his leg, blocking the blade with his shin, and thus protecting his abdomen, but was hit by a pommel strike to the chin, what made him retreat a few steps.
"I'm just warming up." Sieg said after entering his combat pose once again. "Bring it on…"
"Ok…" Urick answered after cleaning up some blood on his chin. "I will finish you before the First Roar!"
The blue haired one advanced, his eyes glowing yellow, just like Sieg's eyes were at his battle against Colossus. The redhead froze.
A quick punch with his left hand followed up by a straight punch with his right hand, a low kick, then a kick to the ribs and a kick to the head, the three with his right leg, a knee strike to the ribs with his left one.
Sieg was hit by the six attacks, dropping Arondight at the process.
Urick grabbed Sieg on his nape, with both hands, in a way the redhead couldn't escape, and unleashed several knee strikes to his stomach, pushing him against a wall after the eighth strike, just to hit him with an elbow strike, right at the top of the head.
Why he couldn't fight? Why was Siegfried being used like a training dummy? After the battle with Colossus, Sieg never had those eyes, the eyes of a dragon, but not because he didn't want, but because he couldn't, like it was a power he could use only one time at his life.
That was what he thought, but there was someone using the same power, right there, and using it to crush the redhead.
How many punches he took to the head? Sieg was half conscious.
"Siegfried!" Claire's voice filled the redhead's ears. "Please help him!"
With those words, Sieg saw guards entering the ballroom. How many? He didn't know…
"Lucky bastard." Urick released Siegfried from his grip, and ran to the nearest window, just like his allies. "We will meet again brother. Become stronger, or don't get in my way!"
He said, and jumped just after, being catch in the air by a dragon, just like his allies, and flew to the horizon, disappearing from view.
"Sieg!" Claire ran to her husband, trying to maintain him awake. "C'mon love, hang it on just a little bit!"
His consciousness abandoned him, the last thing he heard was his wife's cries, the last thing he felt, her tears touching his face.
What exactly happened? The Ardens Victoria wasn't working like always, he wasn't sick or anything like that so… What was happening? Did he lose his desire to win? The fuel of his fighting spirit was no more?
His enemy was stronger too. He didn't need runes on his shoulder to fight, after all. Sieg remembered all the power he had on his hands when he fought the Colossus, the power that could smash an Ancient God… Urick had that power too, the same power.
No. It was different. Sieg didn't know what was different, but it was.
Three years without a real fight, without a battle for his life, a struggle against the Berserker, nothing.
His body wasn't rusty. He still could use a sword properly, still exercised every day. The problem was deeper than that. His instincts were rusty, he no longer had that burning passion for victory at all costs within his soul. He already had his ultimate victory… Claire.
But now, how could he protect her?
Sieg opened his eyes. He was laying in a bed, with Claire taking a nap in a chair right by his side. Long minutes passed by while he watched her, remembering the past three years with joy in his mind, but he had to leave those memories behind.
He got up, took Claire in his arms and lay her in the bed, covered her with the blanket, gently stroke her hair, and kissed her forehead, maintaining his lips in touch with her skin for many seconds.
A goodbye kiss.
"I love you Claire…" Sieg whispered, looking to his sleeping wife. "Never doubt that…"
For a moment he hesitated. He didn't want to leave her, but he needed. He needed to protect her, he needed to regain his strength, his powers, to protect her from that new enemy.
Siegfried left the room without making a noise, and quickly ran to the main garden, where he knew he was going to find Angelus.
If Urick was really an Ascalonian, Sieg needed to learn more about his kind, become once and for all, a real Ascalonian.
He didn't know much about that subject, but one person knew. An elf by the name of Brianne. His hopes of one day returning to Claire, were at the hands of that woman.
Siegfried snapped the reins on his hands, and Angelus took flight. Without looking back, the redhead left the Magic Academy behind.
A single tear rolled down his face…