"Think we're good?" Franz dismounted Primrose, landing next to his brother. He noted that Forde, Kyle, and Amelia had all armored up just as he had. Apparently he was not the only one afraid to get into trouble. And with good reason, too, because on their way to seeing general Seth about what Amelia had overheard, he saw the four Wyvern Riders, with their dragons. The other three knights of Renais had their own horses at hand as well, not wanting to bother putting them away after their own practice. Nevermind that those Wyverns could tear through the horses and eat them in the blink of an eye. As they approached the Wyvern Riders, the four became progressively more hostile. Franz saw Forde and Kyle put their hands on their sword and hesitantly followed their example as Amelia demanded passage in their own language.
Hell broke out when one of them gave her a shove. Franz caught her, but Forde saw one of them raise a lance and lashed out with his own weapon. The Wyvern Rider was unpleasantly surprised at the sheer length of the blonde knight's Lancereaver, knocking his spear clear out of his hand. The other three immediately mounted their dragons, an example the Knights of Renais followed. Franz took a lance to hand, throwing another one to Amelia- she caught it effortlessly and the Cavalier remarked how much she had improved since he'd first met her. Kyle and Forde both had Lancereavers, so all in all the Wyvern Riders had no advantage other than being capable of flight.
That which he had robbed from Valter.
Eirika knew that Seth and Valter had both loved her- although it was hard to twist the concept of love to the extents that the Moonstone had. She had made the obvious choice for the Paladin, but that had not stopped Valter from trying to get his hands on her. To this day the swordswoman did not want to thinks of what would have happened to her had she fallen into the Wyvern Knight's possession. Taken hostage at swordpoint and being used against Seth would probably have been the least of her trouble.
She now realized that she had been foolish. It had been so obvious… she rode a Wyvern like him, she was rude and uncouth like him, she looked a bit like him and even their names were alike. And of course Valter's younger sister would resent Seth for killing him. She should have seen it, but she had been so focused upon the role she would play in the Paladin's demise…
Wait…
"NO!" She started to violently struggle in Valerie's grip, praying this would end well. She didn't dream she'd break free- The Wyvern Lord was incredibly strong, much like her brother had been, so the slender, physically rather weak princess stood no choice of breaking out whatsoever. But if she struggled violently enough for long enough, Valerie might take her eyes off of Seth for just a second. For a normal man, that was a one-second opening. For Seth, it would be a turning of the tides, a massive, glaring opening he would exploit to defeat the woman without hesitation.
She didn't care that Valerie's sword drew blood from her at every single contact. She had to provide Seth with an opening, and that was the end of it! When she tried to tug her arm from the Wyvern Lord's grip, Valerie lost it. "Keep still, you!" She pulled her back, doing another step backwards, "It's not your turn yet! So stop moving!" She twisted Eirika's arm further, drawing a gasp from her as she was fairly sure she felt her arm break.
However, she'd reached her goal. Valerie had taken her eyes off of Seth and the sword had come off of Eirika's throat for a second. And the audible sound of Eirika's bone snapping, with her subsequent cry of pain, clearly drove him over the edge. He'd leapt forward, quietly rather than with the roar Eirika had expected, but with his sword fully drawn. Once he was close enough to push the princess out of the way of his sword, he tried to connect it with Valerie.
She pulled Eirika to the side so she could counter properly, but this drew a scream from her. Much like the last one, that scream was the signal for a strike on Seth's part. However, he stopped his sword just before it would touch Valerie's body. The Wyvern Lord wasn't stupid. She knew the value of her hostage and she had placed her own sword over Eirika's throat again. Seth, too, knew the tactical value of this particular hostage. He also knew that his foe was beyond sanity. She would harm the princess. With a sword as sharp as hers, she would slit Eirika's throat with minimal effort. As far as Valerie was concerned, she would only let go of Eirika if the girl had no chance of living long after she did so. "Put down your sword, general," she hissed. "I don't think I have to inform you of the alternative."
Franz knew he shouldn't allow himself the distraction, but his foe's dragon reeled from the blow it had taken to the chest, so he thought himself safe to take a sideways glance over to Amelia. Just as he looked, her lance bounced off of the Wyvern's chest harmlessly, but at the same time her horse bit into the wood of her foe's lance. This was hopeless, Franz knew. He wasn't as skilled as his brother was, but even he could tell these men weren't new to combat. They were too calm, too… amused, they weren't in the least bothered by their enemies being professional knights. Of course, Franz and Amelia were children compared to them, but at the very least, the recently promoted Kyle and Forde should bother them… right?
"Aack!" Primrose reared, narrowly avoiding a lance making contact with Franz' leg, and Franz threw his weapon at his enemy. As by some sort of miracle it ended up in the man's shoulder, and he roared what the young knight assumed to be a curse before his Wyvern pounced forward and mauled Franz' face and chestplate with both front claws. The impact from the heavy dragon sent Franz flying off Primrose's back and he hit the ground hard, sharply intaking breath when his elbows made contact with the hard stone floor. Primrose neighed loudly, trying to pick a fight with the Wyvern, but Franz quickly clambered back onto her. Amelia's lance had been knocked out of her hand, so he directed his mare in her direction. Instead of trying to get his lance back, for which he didn't have the time anyway, he unsheathed his own sword.
Sadly, it was not a Lancereaver, but he figured a Silver Sword would be good enough to withstand a blow from what seemed to be an ordinary Steel Lance. Amelia's Harmony neighed loudly, leaping out of the way when Primrose rushed by and Franz slashed at Amelia's attacker. Amelia was swift, dismounting to grab her lance, but when the man Franz had originally been fighting approached her, she had to use it right away to deflect his attack before she could get back into the saddle.
She held her own well, but Franz was still relieved when Kyle removed a Hand Axe from his belt and threw it at the Wyvern Rider. It bought Amelia precious seconds she needed to get back on Harmony's back and to resume her battle. Eventually she got close enough to pull Franz' lance out of the enemy's shoulder, not only causing the wound to start bleeding, but also tossing the weapon back to its owner so Franz could stand up against his own lance-wielding enemy.
Amelia's enemy suddenly roared in intense pain and fell off his Wyvern with a fresh lance stuck in his back. Amelia blinked, but then spotted Forde, who had apparently finished his own foe and come to the help of the younger cavaliers.
At that moment, Franz let out a scream. Once more, the Wyvern he fought had slammed clawfirst into him and pushed him off-horse, except this time the rider had come off of it and pushed him against the ground, lance tip at his throat.
Forde turned Melody and although he looked calm, Amelia could see the anger in his eyes. Suddenly, he dismounted, grabbed the hand Axe Kyle had left on the ground, and closed the distance between himself and the Wyvern Rider.
"Don't you DARE mess with my little brother!"
Seth lowered his sword, but didn't let go of it yet. He knew Valerie was serious though, so slowly, he bent his knees and lowered his weapon further, eventually putting it on the ground. Valerie looked delighted. "That's a good boy. No need to tell you twice, is there? Now…" She pulled princess Eirika closer to herself again, "I suggest you stay back while I-"
"Let go of my sister and surrender." Valerie turned in the direction of King Ephraim's voice, but then let go of princess Eirika in her haste to duck out of the way of the lance soaring towards her. The princess hurried over in Seth's direction and he grabbed her good arm and pulled her closer to him, putting both his arms around her as to protect her. She shook a little, but didn't have to seem any serious injuries. The blood drawn from her neck had come from shallow cuts.
"Who do you think you are?" Valerie shouted, her voice cracking at least once. "I'm so close! My revenge! My justice!" Seth, on the other hand, was relieved to see his liege, followed by princess Tana, who had a spare lance with her. Now that princess Eirika was no longer in the crazy minx' hands, he should be able to handle her just fine, but someone had to look after the princess… she was still shaking. Which was a little odd, considering Seth knew she had stood up to bigger threats in the past.
Perfectly calm, Ephraim walked over to where his lance was stuck in the ground and pulled it out, immediately flipping it over in his hands so he could use it at a moment's notice. "Interesting definition of justice you have there. Revenge I can understand. Seth's dealt deathblows to quite a few men of Grado, so I figure you're related to one of them."
"She's Valter's sister," princess Eirika said, "Her brother was that… that…"
"SAY IT!" Valerie turned and pointed her sword at princess Eirika, an idle threat that nonetheless provoked Seth into pulling the princess closer to him, "I dare you to say it, you wench!"
"That madman. That beast. That abomination against nature." With every word Ephraim said, Seth could see Valerie's anger getting stronger. "Let's face it, lady. Your brother was more of a monster than that dragon he rode, and while I understand your need for revenge… killing Seth for ridding the world of that maniac is a strange idea of justice."
Valerie let out a scream and attacked him, though fortunately Ephraim had been swift. Now that he used the lance to not only withstand Valerie's attack but also land a blow in her face, Seth saw that it was in fact Siegmund. That explained what had taken the king- knowing him, he had taken this threat seriously but not known off the top of his head where he had left his most powerful weapon. Those habits of his were starting to get troublesome…
Ephraim did not attack Valerie- rather, he stayed on the defensive. Tana kept a close eye on the fight, fiddling with the lance she, herself, held, but didn't step in. Finally, Valerie stopped her barrage of attacks on the king and just stood there, panting. "Wasting time…" she muttered, turning around and gazing at Seth and the princess.
Apparently she decided she'd get both her targets in one go, for she suddenly uttered a cry and ran at the two, sword raised. Seth's own sword was out of his reach, but a second after realizing this, he shoved princess Eirika away and reached to the sky with one arm. Not even a second later he felt his hand burning. But no matter.
When he grabbed the spear thrown to him by his liege with two hands, his other hand burnt as well. Siegmund was not meant to be wielded by just anyone, which explained the searing pain; the lance protested against the commoner's hands around it. However, Seth settled for this pain if it meant he could use a lance.
Valerie was upon him, but at the right moment, Seth stepped forward and lunged with the sacred lance. He pushed through the resistance he was faced with and felt warm blood gushing over his hands.
"General Seth!" looking to his side he saw Forde, mounted and armored, "We… uh… oh, you're fine." The blonde looked over at king Ephraim. "Your Majesty, we apologize for the tardiness… ran into some trouble with the ruffians… Kyle's taking them prisoner as we speak and-"
"Bring me one of those prisoners," Ephraim said, walking over to Seth to take Siegmund back. Seth realized that letting go of the lance was impossible alone- it had been welded to his hands. "I have questions for them."
Author's Notes: Sucking at combat scenes andputting up an all-combat chapter? I regret nothing! I'm going to be ballsy and try putting up the final chapter to Prophecies this Wednesday instead of Friday. I have a new project in the works, but more about that Wednesday.
