Blah blah blah, technicalities and crap.
Fujishima Kosuke owns AMG and its characters. I own Xerangref and Daisen, Kruss, Kyuss and Shantar (previous statements about using all of them stand).
Warriors of Light
Chapter 2: Day of Reckoning
Kruss looked over the battlefield to see the same thing he'd grown accustomed to. Gods and demons locked in combat. Some using melee attacks, while others used supportive techniques from the backlines.
Against his better judgment, he'd told Daisen about his dream that he'd had on the fifth day that they'd been set to defend Yggdrasil. Daisen had warned him to keep it to heart, for it may not have been a dream, but a premonition.
As a result, Kruss had asked for a supportive role in the next attack to scout out the potential threat that he saw both the day before and in his dream. And possibly, this way he would remain unharmed and unhindered when he engaged his enemies.
As light came, Kruss began to get nervous. Even if he knew he was well equipped to handle the situation, something kept telling him that it felt wrong. Something felt like it was trying to warn him.
Warn him to avoid his impending doom.
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Kruss sat back and used both supportive spells and long range fire to help his comrades. His throwing daggers that Daisen had personally made were coming in handy. After each use, he would simply summon them back to his hand.
He'd already prevented several tragedies with his skill and active eye. He'd also been praised by several of his elders for his marksmanship and accuracy.
Praise was nothing to him, as he continued to scour over the battlefield to find his target. All of this would end if they simply put the hacker out of commission.
The entire day passed without much a hitch. The gods once again pushed the demons back, with no casualties and little injury. It was a simple repeat of the day before, and so many days before that.
Kruss sighed as he returned to the camp with his fellow warriors.
Another day, gone and passed.
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Kruss looked up as Daisen approached him with a rather funny look on his face.
"What is it?"
Daisen looked over to him and shook his head, "Nothing much…just I can't believe Uncle Thor would do this…"
Kruss looked at Daisen curiously, "Do what?"
Daisen held out a small note with Kruss took from his grip and read. His eyes slowly widened as he finished the letter, "He can't be serious?"
Daisen held up a small canister that the letter had come with, with an odd grin, "Wanna try it out?"
"You kiddin' me? I'm too young for that stuff! Hell, we don't even know what it would do to you or any other god here."
"Aww, c'mon Kruss! You've had a couple drinks with me and Shantar before. It's not like it'll hurt anything. Just give it a shot."
"I don't know…"
Daisen looked at him in annoyance, "Fine, you want me to try it first? Then will that put your mind at ease?"
Kruss looked at him with his mouth agape, "You serious? You honestly want to try something your uncle made? Knowing him?"
Daisen shrugged, "Why not? He's family, I trust him."
"He's nuts!"
Daisen rolled his eyes, "Just shut up and watch."
He proceeded to pull a small cap of the canister and undid the lid to it. He poured a honey color liquid into the cap and took a wiff of it. His eyebrows rose and he murmured something about it smelling good before putting the cap to his lips and drinking.
After a couple seconds, he looked at Kruss, "Pretty good. You want a shot?"
"What's it taste like?"
"Hard to describe, but it's pretty strong. You'd probably like it."
Kruss looked doubtful, but relented, "Alright, I'll give it a shot."
He took the cap Daisen drank from and watched as his friend poured more liquid into it. He put the cap to his mouth and took a few seconds, before finally downing the liquid.
Daisen was right, it was, indeed, strong. As soon as Kruss finished the drink, he found himself to be rather light-headed and very drowsy. He quickly passed out shortly after handing the cap back to Daisen.
The elder god had a grin on his face as he looked at the outcome of his uncle's legendary brew.
"At least he'll be fairly relaxed tomorrow…and have one heck of a hangover too."
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Kruss opened his eyes and immediately shielded them, the closed them again and slammed his hands over his ears.
He tried to remember what happened last night, but it was mostly a blur. He seemed to remember something about Thor sending Daisen a little gift, but that was all.
He put his hand to his head and quickly cast a spell that would alleviate the pain in his head.
That now done, he slowly got up and looked around groggily. Everyone was moving around, getting ready for the upcoming battle once again. He got to his station and started to prepare as well when the strike came.
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Kruss' motions and actions on the field of battle were strangely fluid. He seemed to be rather relaxed and smiling as he took to defending his area with ease.
Many demons had come at him, and all had retreated away, easily getting beaten by the younger god. Many had simply expected him to be easy prey, but they were proved quite wrong.
It was during a battle with three demons that Kruss was slashed down his back and behind each arm and shoulder. He didn't even seem to notice, until a small opening gave way for a demon to plunge its spear head into his thigh.
He'd been defending well against them until one demon over-extended an attack and one hesitated too long before attacking. At that moment, he'd made a simultaneous attack on both, but in the process left himself open for a split second too long.
Kruss roared in pain as he was immediately snapped out of his funk and stupor, and fought back with a vengeance. He'd taken little more than twenty seconds after that to de-arm all three demons. He relieved each of the demons of both there arms before turning back to go to one of the healers. What made him stop was the sight of three demons protecting a suspicious looking one. And they were coming nearer to the World Tree.
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Kruss paused, looked at the back lines of defense and then nodded to his cover. He immediately turned around and flew at the group of four demons. The demon ahead of the others quickly motioned for the unarmed demon to step back and hide away from combat.
Shortly after Kruss engaged the enemy, despite the tremendous amount of pain he was feeling. He simply sat in front of them for a second, and both parties stared at the other. It is said that gauging an opponent first is the easiest way to tell and guess his strength.
He turned to look at his three opponents after glancing back. Without warning, two of the three charged. Dodge left, parry right, duck, sidestep, roll and regain footing and wince. Everything was second nature now. He easily made his way back around behind one of the demons, as he was far faster, even in his injured state. With a hard punch and forceful dragging of his weapon, he disarmed one of his opponents. Literally. The demon, like so many others, was now missing an arm. The demon cried out in pain and clutched the stump and quickly retreated behind his comrades.
Kruss quickly moved back so he could see the remaining two threats. One still stood in the background, with no weapons drawn or shown. His weapons quickly came to his front and he began to attack the demon closest to him. Each seemed to anticipate and react according to whatever attack the other could throw at them.
It was a long battle that lasted near half an hour. Many of the other gods on the field were often glancing back to the young warrior and his demon foe. It was then that he received a small blessing when the supporters turned to help Kruss. The demon was slowly starting to wear down against the attacks of four gods.
Kruss had his back to the other demon, and was about to defeat his demon partner when he heard a shout and felt a stinging pain in his back. He realized what must've happened. But before any more stinging sensations found him, the demon behind him cried out. Daisen had crossed the field in an instant and cut off not only the demons arms, but his legs as well.
Kruss glancing back was just the opportunity to take advantage of. His demon attacker quickly forced him back and away. With a flurry of motion, he was now staring at the demon from one of the mighty roots of Yggdrasil. He saw the sword come up and stared at the point.
Before anything could happen, however, Kruss saw the demon slowly backing away. He had no idea why until he looked back behind him, and saw both Daisen and Thor with their weapons at the ready to attack. The demon quickly turned tail and fled, leaving the sole demon, the hacker, to fend for himself.
Everyone cheered as they apprehended the demon that caused the entire ruckus. He was to be taken immediately to one of the camps and sealed.
Kruss turned to thank his friend and Thor for their help. It was obvious that Daisen was just as worried as Kruss about the dream, and he'd been preparing for it. It was when he noticed the serious looks on their faces that made him pause.
"We're received a summons Kruss, we're to report back to the heavens immediately for a conference."
Kruss nodded as he looked at the seriousness on Thor's face. And even looking at the brutish face, he could sense a hint of sadness and remorse. Kruss shook the feeling off as he turned to his comrade and nodded again.
Both turned and left the battlefield. Their work done once again, unaware of what horrible news awaited them upon their return.
A/N: Took a long time to finish, but this is it. Thanks to Duo (aka Thaylien) for being pretty much the only reviewer of this story.
I don't know how much longer I'll put off Destiny's Beginning, but the time for it to return may be soon.
Until later!
