The Wounded Chapter 5

From beneath her blanket, Cassandra looked across the fire she had started a short while ago to her sister. She wanted to say something, but the quiet was beginning to get to her. All conversation between Cassandra and her sister had been silenced since their argument the day before. She had argued that there was no point to her staying back at home when she could help Sophitia search for Siegfried.

Her sister had reluctantly agreed and allowed her to accompany her so long as Cassandra wore one of the two the chain mail suits Rothion and crafted for her a few years back. The younger sister did not mind wearing it, but it was hard to sleep in. Sophitia had insisted she wear it for the duration since there were many bandits in along the road they chose to travel.

"Sophie?"

Her elder sister only moved the contents of the fire with a stick she found earlier.

"Sophitia?"

Cassandra was starting to feel more nervous.

"Hey!"

Sophitia didn't even bother to look at her. "I heard you the first two times."

"For crying out loud, Sophie. For a second I was beginning to think you became a cadaver and never told me."

Sophitia cocked the brow of her good eye at her.

"Look, I know you're not overjoyed at me tagging along, but would you at least give me a chance to prove that I'm not some child to be protected? I'm only a few years younger than you."

Sophitia resumed staring into the fire, "Yes, but considering the fact that you've never won a bout against me or Lucien doesn't speak well of your ability to protect yourself."

Cassandra frowned, "So what if I don't have your agility or Lucien's strength? I can still handle my own."

"Try taking on a monster that looks like a warrior and a lizard meshed into one. I barely escaped with my life that time."

Cassandra snorted and lay on her back to look at the stars, "Don't patronize me, Sophitia. The Soul Edge rhetoric I'll believe, but men shaped like lizards?"

Sophitia's frown silenced Cassandra, "If you have no desire to believe, then get back on the pack horse and head home. You chose to come with me on this journey and if you don't prepare for what may occur, you've none to blame but yourself when a Lizardman begins eating your flesh."

The sisters stared each other down for a minute before Cassandra yielded. "Very well... if these 'lizardmen', as you call them, do exist, then what should I do in case I should meet them?"

"If you tread lightly and quickly, you won't. They have remarkable senses of smell and tracking, but their eyesight and hearing are poor. If you can take advantage of that, then you may have a chance."

Cassandra's frown grew at her sister's choice of words. "Are you insinuating that I can't defend myself?"

Her sister stood up and stretched her arms, "Hardly, but these things are in a ken far beyond yours or mine. I was fortunate to have help with me or else I would have never survived."

Turning around, Cassandra gathered her blankets around her person and mumbled, "So... is the only true wisdom knowing that I know nothing?"

The younger sister couldn't see the frown on the elder's face, and wouldn't have cared even if she did. "Go to sleep, Cassandra. We have a long day tomorrow."

Cassandra sighed before closing her eyes and forcing herself to sleep.

===

Stepping to the edge of the clearing, Sophitia took another look towards her slumbering sister and sighed. They're constant bickering was getting worse and it was making her head hurt.

Pulling out the metal trinket she brought with her, she ran her thumb over the insignia that was sewn into the cloth coat of arms upon her armor. She smiled fondly at the memory of Rothion's love of his craft. Though he was a humble blacksmith, he could easily make metal bend to his will as though it was clay. Sculptures, weapons, armor, seals, and many more things were created with his hands.

One time, she was with him in his shop when he nearly scalded his hands, but when she took a look at them, the callouses had given him enough protection to escape injury. He had hurt himself to save the trinket from melting in the fire. Though he said it wasn't much, she had accepted it gratefully and had treasured it more than he would ever realize.

"Rothion..." she whispered with a slight sob, "I miss you."

"I miss you too."

Blinking, Sophitia looked up to see Rothion smiling at her a few feet from her location. In surprise, she gasped and hopped backward. When the adrenaline subsided, she rubbed her good eye and began to smile, "Rothion... you're alive!"

To her dismay, he shook his head, "No, I'm not. I'm dead. Look." Sophitia held back another gasp as he jumped into a tree and walked back out.

She sighed in disappointment, "Oh."

"I know... but if it means anything though, I feel nothing."

Wanting to be sure, she walked up and tried to cup his face with her hand. Sadly, it passed through as though he were made of mist. For a second, she was still hoping that he was still alive and he was merely pulling the occasional joke on her.

Her sadness only grew when he too tried to take her hand, but it passed through hers the same way.

"I'm sorry, Rothion. If I hadn't failed the first time, you'd still be alive."

He shook his head, "You don't know that. If what you told me about the Soul Edge was true, then it would have found another way."

She hung her head despondently, "Maybe... but how are you here? Shouldn't you be in the Elysium Fields?"

Folding his arms, he shrugged, "I'm not sure. When I died, all I heard was someone say 'not yet' and the next thing I knew, I saw you and Cassandra leaving Nea Koutali with your horse."

"But how can I see you? Normal people can't see souls and... I lost my gift."

"It's because of the shard in your eye. I can hear it just as much as you can."

She sniffed and started to shake her head slowly. This couldn't be happening. It had to be just a nightmare. It had to be!

"Sophie, I don't know what I can do and you won't be able to see me most of the time, but I'll be here as long as I can. "

She smiled sadly, trying to remain hopeful. However, she would still be happy knowing he was still around, in a manner of speaking. Even knowing it was pointless, she tried to reach for his slowly fading form. Her fingers only grazed his outline as the space he once took was now fill with darkness and she was alone again.

Her arms hung limply at her sides as she walked back to the clearing slowly. Taking a single look to her younger sister, she doused the fire and gathered herself in her blanket. With any hope, her dreams would give her some respite from the current set of circumstances she now found herself in.

===

With a sigh, Harker lowered herself from the tree, collapsed her looking glass, and hid it within her voluminous robes. From what she could see, the elder Alexandra woman had been speaking to someone just out of sight. Try as she might, the shadows were too dark for her to make out any shape.

Whoever it was, she would wait a while before scouting their campsite to check for any other footprints. Most of the people she had met in this region did not feel the need to keep their presence hidden. She, on the other hand, had no such levity. Which was the reason she couldn't light a fire of her own and had to rely on the warmth of her clothes to make sure she didn't freeze to death.

Returning to other matters, she hoped Alun would return with news from either Xianghua or Hwang. The owner of the bird had noted his punctuality, but Harker was starting to doubt the words of that young priestess. Initially, she was against the idea of utilizing a bird like Alun to communicate with her compatriots, but he had pr oven himself several times and was becoming more vital to her plans.

Sitting on the crook of a low branch, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her. During her travels, following the sisters, she had been hearing a disturbance amongst the wildlife. They were in a hurry more often than usually.

They were scared.

There was something in the air she couldn't see that was scaring them. And whatever it was, it was moving quickly. Hopping to the ground, she felt the sod and closed everything out to see if there was anything nearby on the move.

Her eyes flew open when she felt the vibration of several somethings approaching her location. Hopping up the tree again, she scampered up the branches with relative ease to reach the top faster than before.

Balancing on the highest branch, she took out her looking glass and searched to the east. They were too close. Her sharp ears could hear the sound of rustling feet. Yet, her eyes had yet to find anything because of the night. The clouds above were preventing the moonlight from giving her the adequate light she needed.

When a larger cloud unleashed the moon, she discovered a pack of human shaped creatures running with inhuman speed. Lizardmen! Not only that, their Alpha appeared far more different than the usual fare. She couldn't make out many details, but the noticeable spikes were not something she had seen on many of their kind.

To her relief, they were traveling parallel to hers and the Alexandra siblings. And with the wind blowing south, their scent would not attract their attention. Harker and her prey were safe for now. If their paths were to cross at some future date, then she would have to make sure and take what she could from the sisters should the worst happen.

Looking to the north, she hoped that neither of the Greeks had noticed their inadvertent escape. Otherwise they'd get more cautious and that was the last thing she needed. With a relieved sigh, she put the looking glass away and silently thanked whatever head of providence that would hear her.

Silently crawling down the tree again, she found a comfortable place on a few branches closest to the ground. Setting herself down, she resumed her planning for the Alexandras as sleep slowly enveloped her.

===

Looking over a map of the area, Siegfried found himself frustrated at the lack of information on maps to the Silk Road. The officers of the Ottoman Empire had a nasty habit of giving their maps to the east only to merchants that could stuff their pockets with more money they could use.

Siegfried, working as a hunter and occasional bounty hunter for the past week had found his resources to be quite scarce. He had even offered guard duty to some of the caravans that morning, despite his 'crippled' arm. However, the merchants had already made their choice and Siegfried found himself stranded in the Ottoman territory.

He had planned to reach Khalkis to charter a boat to Turkey. However, the port was closed for a while due to reports of lizard shaped men walking the streets at night. Siegfried knew what it was and knowing the cowardice of the governors, he had no choice but to head north. Now, here he was in Lavadhia with little hope to find the one man that he knew could help him.

It was the only man that he, as Nightmare, could never hope to defeat. The Edge Master, as some called him. The Father of War to others. The only man ever to resist the corruptive influence of the Soul Edge. The Rhinelander wasn't sure how he was able to do it, yet it must have meant that there was a way to resist and maybe even find a cure for those cursed.

If there was a cure, that is. Yet, he couldn't give up hope. If he did fine a cure, he'd try his best to help Sophitia's condition. He was responsible for her present condition. Besides, he owed it to her.

=

His sixteen year old self was having that same nightmare. The one where he saw himself cut his father down when that was anything but the truth. He hoped that everything was just a nightmare he would wake up from. Someone must have heard his plea, because he found himself lying near the remnants of a campfire. The sun was starting to rise in the east and his companion had already awoken. He was covered with sweat and his face was covered with tears.

His traveling companion, a Greek woman by the name of Sophitia, shook him gently out of sleep. "Siegfried! What's wrong?" She inquired. She was only eighteen, but some of the things she had seen made her seem much older. As capable a traveler as she was, her reserved manner made conversation a bit difficult.

He had met her about a month ago in France and to his surprise, they had hit it off quite well. Their partnership had been one of convenience since they were both heading south. The deal was to defend each other from brigands and thieves while traveling. Siegfried was no stranger to such agreements. Usually, the types that made such arrangements were unscrupulous. Siegfried could recognize those types on the spot and was a bit reluctant at times to collaborate with them.

Sophitia, on the other hand, was quite harmless and trusting, but not naive. She had often gone out of her way to show him kindness that he thought incapable by most people. Though he did not think much of it at first, her concern for his well being surprised him. Save for his parents, no one had been as considerate as she was.

He blinked and noticed that he was sniffing as though he had caught a cold, but soon found that he was crying. Embarrassed, he quickly crawled away from her to wipe his face off. How humiliating. A mighty Rhineland knight crying over something as childish as a dream was preposterous.

"It was about your father, wasn't it?" she asked. The loss of his father was one of the few things he had disclosed about himself to her. Her face was calm, as always, save for the concern in her eyes. Those were very pretty eyes. Yet, there seemed to be a sadness behind them. Being so far from home must have been hard on her. She had not spoken much of her life back in Greece, other than the fact that she was just the daughter of a baker with family waiting for her safe return. He knew little of her beyond that.

He was ready to snap and tell her to mind her own business, but held it in. Swallowing his pride, he nodded slowly. He knew she could tell what bothered him and he did not like it. However, it was hard to keep the sorrow in. It was never easy to admit that his noble father was gone.

To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. They were both without their armor for the time being and because of that, he could feel her heart beating against his back. It left him flustered when she whispered with a voice that reminded him of his mother, "Siegfried, there's no shame in mourning over the loved ones you've lost."

He nearly pulled away on impulse, yet retained the presence of mind to keep still. Truth be told, he actually enjoyed being held by her. He could still smell the floral soap she used in her hair. Her embrace was firm, but gentle enough give him freedom if he wanted. It was therapeutic to his troubled mind. It also brought back pleasant memories of his youth in Germany.

Reluctantly, he reached up and removed her hands from him. Turning around, he kept one of her hands in his. He noticed it was warm to the touch. Even after picking up a sword, her hand still seemed as soft as freshly strewn silk. It wasn't surprising, though. She made bread for most of her life. This was not the hand of a warrior. A gentle spirit like her was not meant for the battlefield.

With an inquisitive smile, she said. "Yes, Siegfried?" It appeared she didn't mind her hand being held like that, but he had to let go or else things would get awkward rather quickly.

"Thank you, but... it's nothing." He lied. In reality, he wanted to say much more. She accepted him for who he was without judging him. Such a person didn't exist in the world he knew. He was grateful beyond words for everything. To his chagrin, the memory ended there.

=

Though he wouldn't admit it, the Greek girl had pervaded his thoughts a for a while after they separated. Even as Nightmare, her impression still survived amongst the remnants of his shattered soul. She had done good to him and now he could do all he could to return that favor... among other things.

Grasping his cup of ale, he was ready to down it when a strange thought came to mind. "How foolish to be fashionably in love with an angel..." he snorted in self-loathing. He downed the last of the ale he had been nursing for the past hour and returned to his maps.

===

Moving at a casual pace, the Alexandras and their pack horse departed the forest, coming into an open air plain. They soon noticed a small town ahead, there they would rest in an inn and restock their meager supplies.

"What's the town ahead?" Cassandra asked quietly.

"I forget, I only passed through this way once," Sophitia replied, before resting her free hand on the hilt of her sword. Cassandra noticed her sister had gotten much more edgy ever since the night before.

"Sophie, calm down. There's nothing around here."

"Sorry, Cassandra, but I can't help but feel something dangerous nearby."

Cassandra was about to reply when he eyes noticed a trail of smoke appearing from the town ahead. Her apprehension grew when a few more joined the first from other houses.

Pulling out her own sword, she said, pulling their horse to a nearby tree and tying it, "I'm starting to agree with you."

Looking to the smoke, her sister whispered, "Oh no..."

The sisters strode towards the town through the fields as quickly as their legs could take them. The closer they came, the stronger the smell of burning wood started choking their lungs.

Kneeling beside one of the shacks, the sisters slowly crept around the side to get a better look at the invaders. Peeking around the edge, Cassandra gasped at seeing several lizard shaped men scouring the town. Some were dragging bags of looted property, others were roaring in voices that chilled Cassandra to the bone. At the edge of her line of sight, she saw a larger lizardman growling orders to what appeared to be his subordinates.

"I never wanted to believe you..." she whispered in fear. With her right hand on the handle of her sword she was about to pull it out when she heard her sister groan in pain. Whirling around, she saw Sophitia clutching her bandaged eye, struggling with what looked like a head ache.

"Stop it..." she whispered in agony, "Stay out... no!"

"Sophie! What's wrong?"

Cassandra held onto her sister's shoulders as Sophitia began to thrash about violently. The younger sister tightened her grip,
knowing that their activity could call the monsters' attention their way.

"Sophie, calm down!" she ordered as quietly as she could.

"Stop it... stop... UNHAND ME!" Sophitia growled, throwing Cassandra off of her and into the field like a rag doll.

Cassandra tried to ignore the pain in her shoulder as she saw her sister breathing heavily. She calmed down when her sister's breath steadied, but found it a mistake as her sister leaped towards her and violently pulled the sword from her scabbard.

Rolling away, Cassandra watched in horror as her sister ripped the bandages off of her face.

===

With the last of the offending cloths out of the way, Sophitia appraised the sword made for her. Her injured eye, scrutinizing the Omega Sword, narrowed in disgust.

"Worthless..." she said with a voice like and unlike her own. Turning to her sister, her frown grew, "just like you." Raising the sword high, she casually threw the blade into the ground, barely missing Cassandra.

Whirling around, she ran back to the town, pleased that the lizardmen were still there. Skipping silently between houses, she took stock of how many enemies she was up against. Taking quick glances, she noticed that each of the lizardmen had a letter of the Greek alphabet imprinted on their armor. Twenty-six lizardmen against one.

Looking into one of the empty and still untouched houses, a plan began to formulate as she sneaked through the back door.

=

"A great harvest, this one!" Beta roared to his companions.

"True, but no fun at all. These humans die far too easily," Delta grumbled tossing his sack of plunder in the pile.

"What do you expect?" Phi snarled, "These peasants don't know how to survive. They don't even know how to defend themselves. Therefore, they only gather and grow for us to take."

"Which explains how fulfilled you seem," Beta hissed back sardonically.

Delta was about to join the fray when his nose turned upward at the introduction of a new scent. The others soon followed suit and turned their attention to the still untouched house near the edge of town.

"Something's wrong..." Delta whispered.

"I agree... Phi, warn Alpha and the others. We may have a visitor or two." Beta replied quietly.

"Beta... I'll take point, be ready."

Nodding, Beta and Delta edged slowly to the house, their swords and shields ready. They leaned against the wall beside the doorway and with a mutual nod, Delta kicked in the door, and hopped backward.

When nothing happened, Beta looked to his companion and inclined his head to the entryway. Beta's subordinate nodded and slowly stalked through the doorway and into the house, looking at every possibly angle his attacker would come from.

He and Delta could tell someone was in there waiting for them. But why didn't they strike? Walking in behind Delta, he turned his back to his companion and looked everywhere to ensure they would not be attacked from behind blindly.

However, neither he nor Delta saw the single glowing red eye which narrowed in devilish glee just above both of them.

===

"Alpha! Alpha!" Phi screamed, running to the northern end of the town.

The tallest lizardman turned from his conversation with Omicron,
"What is it?"

"Sir! We have an intruder! Just at the southern tip of the town!" the smaller lizardman said between puffs.

Looking from his underling to the south, his eyes widened at the scent his nose felt.

"A Soul Edge shard... quick! Gather the others! Phi, get back there quickly, they're in danger!"

"Yes, sir!"

No sooner had Phi departed, Alpha detected another scent nearby. On instinct, he raised his left arm as several darts bounced off his shield.

Turning, he noticed a robed figure from the trees quickly retreating from on top of a house. Frowning, he ordered Omega, Tau, and Sigma to hunt down the interloper.

Pulling out the Xi Sword, he stomped off in the direction of the Soul Edge shard. Kunpaektu would be most pleased.

=

With both Delta and Beta lying motionless on the floor, Sophitia pulled their swords from their limp fingers. With another scrutinizing look from her injured eye, they too were not what she needed, but knew they would do for now. Whirling around, she used the momentum of her turn to throw one of the two swords straight into Phi's head.

Knowing he had company, she dove through the nearest window and out the other side, knowing they'd give chase. Rolling to her feet, she heard the heavy footsteps of her assailants drawing near. With a leap that belied her agility, she took hold of the roof and swung herself up. She ran over the top just as the other two started clawing their way up.

Leaping over the edge, she took advantage of the momentum, leaped off, and drove her foot straight in the face of another lizardman reinforcement on the ground. With Theta thrown back, she dove forward and thrust her sword through his neck. Continuing with her momentum, she rolled up to avoid Zeta's swing and once she got to her feet, ran towards another house.

She could tell that several of the lizardmen ran around to the back to prevent her escape. Thinking quick, she grabbed a support pillar, swung around, and dug the heel of her foot in the side of Xi's head. Still moving at a feverish pace, she side-stepped Mu's shield and swiped the point of her blade through his collarbone.

===

The other lizardmen stopped their advance when they had noticed her injured eye. Though their weapons were drawn and knew no fear, seeing a single human woman take out seven of their number in so short a time was disconcerting.

"Enough of this. The rest of you take the bounty and head back," Alpha growled, drawing his sword, "I'll take care of this one myself."

"Alpha, are you mad!" Lambda cried in near hysterics, "She'll kill you!"

Alpha glared to his underling, "Your concern is touching, but not necessary. Move!"

The remaining troops nodded and left Alpha to tower over their adversary.

"What makes you so certain you'll win?" Epsilon asked as he walked past his leader.

"Because I know her style of fighting. I know its weaknesses... to prove it, I'll bring her head back as a trophy."

"Be careful, Alpha," Rho cried, hefting a sack over his shoulder.

Alpha nodded once and turned back to the blood-soaked and wild-eyed human that had killed seven of his men.

"So then, little Greek," Alpha growled, raising his sword and shield to a battle position, "don't disappoint me."

===

Despite the throbbing in her head, Cassandra still had the cognition to understand what was going on. And seeing the results of Sophitia's handiwork made her theory all the more bleak.

Hiding behind the same shack, she noticed the lizardmen running out of the town rather quickly. However, she still heard the sounds of steel clashing. Peeking around the corner, she saw her sister locked in combat with an even larger lizardman, more heavily decorated than the others and all the more fearsome.

Another set of clashes drew her attention north to see a robed figure fending off two other lizardmen. The person seemed to move with such fluidity that it made his or her foes impossible for them to hit. More than her concern for her sister, she wondered how the person beneath what appeared to be under several layers of cloth was able to move so effortlessly fend.

With her sword ready, she was about to assist her sister when a growl forced her to turn around. Another blade was falling downward to cut her in two when her training kicked in and she was able to block the strike,
but the blow had landed hard and sent a jolt of pain through her wrist.

The lizardman attacking her hopped backward and readied his stance for another strike as she began to encircle him. She wouldn't be caught unaware again.

She discovered an opening as her foe bent his head down to roar. So, with a few well placed side-steps, she put her blade in her left hand and thrust the point at his head. Her attack missed as the lizardman ducked the attack and using her error, propelled his head into her midsection, throwing her backward into the wall of a house.

The lizardman attempted his own variation of her attack, only aiming lower to her heart. Even with the armor she had on, the creature's stab would surely run her though. Twirling to the side, she whipped her shield out and struck her foe's face with it, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground.

===

Another parry pushed Sophitia away from Alpha as the former advanced calmly. Her attacks were easy for him to read and knew that her style was so linear, it was nearly two-dimensional. Again, she attempted to attack him from the side, only to be whacked away by his fist after deflecting her sword.

"Foolish, little girl," Alpha chuckled from the depths of his throat,"you should have stayed home and cowered in your bed like all your kind does."

Sophitia only snarled and charged again. He ducked a horizontal swing and struck at her abdomen with a light punch. Considering how strong he was, it knocked the air out of her lungs and she collapsed to the floor.

"What a silly child..." he growled before delivering a swift kick to the side of her head. His winced when she blocked his kick with her shield, but it was still strong enough to hurt her even after the block.

"And I still wonder how you Greeks were able to defeat the Spartans," he said stepping on her blade, which had fallen a short time earlier.

He could tell she had already caught her breath. Yet, she wasn't fighting back as hard as hard as he would have hoped.

His disappointment turned to confusion as she began to thrash about some more. The shard in her eye must have had something to do with it.

"Get out... out! OUT!" she began yell.

It didn't surprise him in the least. As per his experience, even a shard of the Soul Edge could drive the weak of will mad. He was ready to simply end it all with a stab in her heart when she threw her head back and scream.

It was no ordinary cry, but a wail of such intensity that it caused him to cover his ears and double over in pain.

=

Harker was cutting the throat of the last lizardman attacking her when she heard a piercing cry. Falling to her knees, she covered her ears to keep the sound out, but the it persisted.

=

Cassandra and her attacker were not spared from the cry as both of them rolled on the ground, trying to find something to shut out the noise.

=

Siegfried, along with several other villagers looked to the sky in puzzlement at the unusual sound that had emerged only seconds before. He was slightly envious of their ignorance as he threw his sword into its large sheath, leaped upon a horse he had earned from one of the merchants, and sped south.

He understood it well enough to know that whatever had emerged had to be stopped at once. The cry of the Soul Edge was not something to be ignored.

=

Sophitia had been fighting against the overpowering malignancy of the shard in her eye. And for a moment, she had lost and the madness had taken over. However, she refused to give in so easily and as her body took down the lizardmen, so did she fight the Soul Edge.

Now, her ears were ringing with pain at the inhuman shriek her voice had been forced to make. Through the sound, she had heard something break in front of her, but couldn't tell as she slowly fell forward and out of consciousness.

Chapter 5 End

Notes:
Let's see... points of relevance. Rothion's continued existence in this story: Well, I have YF-21 to thank for the idea with his story, "As the Lightning Falls'. Because good ol' Rothie was portrayed quite respectably in that.

Cassie shows which philosopher she's a fan of in the first part. Kudos to the ancient ones!

Then, the memory of Sieg and Sophie from Soul Edge was something I wanted to put in chapter 2, but it wasn't really appropriate at the time. But if it still seems out of place, then let me know.

As for Harker's appearance: just think of her appearing closely to a woman, wearing the traditional Islamic Hijab, leaving only the eyes revealed. It has nothing to do with her nationality, btw.

Lizardmen groupings: the idea started out in the previous chapter and I liked it to the point where I thought, why not? It's practical enough.

Next to last, I originally intended this chapter to be longer, but I can tell you've gotten bored enough as it is. :p I don't wanna press my luck.

Remember: Comments and Criticisms are goods... moreso when they go into detail. And thank you for taking the time to read this.

Finally; any and all things related to SC belongs to Namco.