Chapter Sixteen:
The Final Battle

I stood calmly facing Mute.

"Go check to see if there's anyone else around here. I'll deal with this."

"So you will? Come at me, then!"

I advanced, and pulled out Altoda's Bane. I stood there, waiting for the slightest movement of his hand. The shirt Altoda had given me was over my armor. I don't know what made me wear it. He never told me what it did.

He struck fast, faster than I thought possible. I heard a clang underneath my shirt. The broken armor fell to the ground, useless. The shirt had no scratches on it at all.

"What tricks are these?" he yelled.

Without responding, I struck, he parried, and the battle began. We went at it for what seemed like hours, until he got a lucky hit on me.

I fell to the ground, and half gasped the familiar name.

The shadows of all Ten came out, and Mute yelled in fury. I looked up, in much pain, and saw Mute on the ground in front of Reno, who looked very angry.

"I warned you not to pursue them!" he yelled.

"And who made you the boss?" spat Mute.

He struck at Reno, who cleanly dodged the blade.

"You couldn't fight elite," he said, "not as worn out as you are."

"Maybe not," he agreed, "but I did something your precious trainee couldn't. I defeated him," he said, pointing at me.

As I got up, Reno shot a look at me, as if it was a warning not to approach them. Could Mute be a greater threat to Anegon than Reno was?

I heard a sound behind me, and turned my head. The Ten were back, and Reno noticed it also. He jumped out of the way, and Mute thought he was running away, and gave chase.

Suddenly, it all went black…

Cyrus's POV:

I found Kevin, our leader, laying half dead near the wall, mortally wounded. Whatever Mute had hit him with had certainly did its job well. There wasn't much life left in him, but he strained to talk to me anyway.

"There's... too many of them. They massacred most of our troops here."

I looked around as he talked. I saw them all now: Hundreds of bodies, not just of Anegon, but Mute's troops, and others, troops I hadn't seen in five years...

"Nick repaid his debt. Just as you came to his aid weeks ago, he rushed to our aid, bringing everybody he could. Your friend Andy was with him, as well. They took off into the forest after most of the attackers, and nothing has come out yet," he continued, straining to get every word out.

I started to move to help, to ease his pain. His hand shot up, and he shook his head.

"Leave me this way. I am a victim of the fighting which I live for. A casualty of war, and it's not something I regret."

I nodded, and watched as he faded away. He said one final thing.

"My command. Give it to whom you choose, but not to the unworthy. I have died protecting our city, and my successor should not do any less."

"Then it shall be done, old friend. May you go to the places where strife does not exist."

He smiled, and died. Last of his line, a fearsome and intrepid warrior indeed. His follower would be the same...

Mekae's POV:

The tide of the battle had turned in our favor, and I now know why the Adepts from Anegon are so highly feared and respected. Kevin's troops, all in their early twenty's and veterans of the siege, were a fearsome bunch. So were the strange-looking Vesuvian Adepts led by Nick, who took to hunting down Mute's troops in the forest.

"Mekae! Over here!" Blair's shout brought me back to reality, and I ran towards her.

I saw Mute, laughing and pursued by Reno, throwing a torch into the forest, starting a

huge blaze. He turned and parried Reno's stroke, and I stood confused. Where was Richard, and why were Reno and Mute fighting each other? With a huge jolt, I realized that Blair and I were the only ones not in the forest!

I woke up inside of a blazing inferno.

"Zambiandë!" I called, hoping he had stayed longer.

"General? Will I suffice?" asked a shadow I didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Forgive me. My name is Defond-Patriarch-Elephate, and I am one of the Ten, as well as the cousin of the brothers," he said, referring to Elephande and Zambiandë.

"Where are the others?" I inquired.

"Fighting. Jump on!" he yelled.

I did, and he sped up. In another second, I had blacked out from exhaustion again.

Blair's P O V:

I stood horrified, watching the forest ablaze. I knew that all of the armies were in that blaze, and I didn't know if anyone would survive. I saw movement below, and I noticed a limp figure on the back of a shadow.

"It's him!" Mekae yelled. "He's alive!"

If the person was alive, he was barely hanging on. I then realized that it was Richard, and I ran off after Mekae. As we ran, I saw him wake up as if from a deep sleep. I also saw Mekae draw his sword at another unrecognizable person.

"There is nothing you should be afraid about," Reno said. "My job is done."

"Job? But he's still alive," he said, pointing his head toward Richard.

"Yes, but I have repaid my debt. Unfortunately, not all of you survived my apprentice. I count seven of us total alive."

Besides us four, I saw Allen and Blaze walking out of the forest, followed by my best friend. Brooke was on the back of Elephande, and she looked almost as bad as Richard.

Among the dead, I counted Kevin and his troops. I also noted that no Vesuvian was left alive, including Nick, Mute, or Elrik. Sadly, Ryan and Andy, natives of Contigo, and Cyrus, native to this city, were counted among the dead.