A tale of Sword and Shield

Chapter 2: Blade of the Righteous

Betakin´s Pov:

We had a chance, due to Alpharia´s Awakening as Shield…., a new perspective has been shown to us, a new way of doing what is right…., but one thing was clear to us all, this Battle which we fought was long not over.

Still, our Resolve to defend our home was hard and sharp as the Steel we used…., at the very least that's how it should be.

As wielder of Armatura Impervius, one of the Seven Swords of the Lunar King, it was my duty to fight all evil.

However, to fight with this sword, or to properly wield it, were two pairs of shoes to wear, which could not be any more different, but it lasted a while before I got to realize that, even longer than Alpharia took to solve her own problems and get over her own doubts.

Flashback, 2 hours ago:

I still doubted, not in my abilities, or in the context of my doing, my motivation…, no, what I doubted was the question if I even used this sword right.

"Isn´t it supposed to be one of the strongest swords ever, so why does it keep on refusing to show its true power to me, can it be, is it in the end really just supposed to defend…, but not to attack itself?" I wondered.

A question I asked myself for a while now.

Even if I managed to get a good strike at an enemy, such as ghouls, the sword only acted as any other normal sword would and then again not.

It slices through the enemy…., but it does not destroy, nor kill anyone.

From a sword to vanquish all evil, to banish all darkness and ill will , I honestly expected far more.

Not that it was my intention to deliberately kill anyone I wish with it.

However, if you have to make the choice before defending your people and defeating your enemies, so they can´t hurt them any longer, isn´t it rather a given, that you fight to free them, instead of backing yourself and others into a corner…, isn´t a swords duty to choose the battle, while the shield protects?

At least that´s how I see things.

But maybe my perception of things is completely wrong here, Armatura Impervius is also known as the Impenetrable Fortress, so maybe that's what the sword actually does, put up a barrier to defend, alongside the shield.

It protects those who otherwise would be without protection, while the other six swords were supposed to fight.

However, does that also mean, that it is the same case, if the Sword is the only one of the Seven swords on the Battlefield?

Isn´t there an exception to the rule?

Hasn´t the shield of this Sword been created through alchemy and magic crafting, precisely to take that burden of the sword when required.

If Armatura Impervius is the only magic sword on the Battlefield and all it does is protect the wielder and his allies, then how can the enemy, who is too powerfull for regular and ordinary weapons, be vanquished at all.

Is it our fate to wait underneath a giant dome of protective magic until the enemy losses interest or until someone else is able to defeat them?

"If that is the case, why has it the shape of a sword to begin with, if it would have been a shield all along, I would understand but…?" I kept wondering as I looked at the blade in my hand.

Although I felt power surging through it and even though the runes on its blade spoke of great power and might, did it still refused to show such.

I might have asked this question a million times before in my mind and yet I haven´t found a snitch of a suitable answer to it.

"What is the purpose of a sword which can´t kill?" I said to myself in sheer frustration, after slicing an enemy which backed away in agony.

"I don´t know son…, but does a sword really have to kill, is a sword really nothing but a weapon of murder, meant to erase a life, no matter whose?" Father replied, after we stood back to back, our group surrounded by Lycanians.

"What do you mean, as sword is after all created with the intent to kill with it, isn´t it?" I asked him with skeptical eyes.

"I wouldn´t know about that, for I never used a sword myself, all I ever used were guns and crossbows and archery and they worked flawlessly, maybe also because my resolve to use them for certain reasons was strong in me." He stated shrugging and I sighed in disappointment.

"Geez thanks a lot Dad, but that doesn´t help me here at all, you know?" I replied and he snickered.

"Maybe so…., but one thing I know, even if it are Lycanians and Ghouls, your mother wouldn´t want you to become a coldblooded murderer either way, especially not if it is to such a convenient reason as to say, I had to, to defeat the enemy…, to defend my people.

You said it yourself once…, erasing a life is nothing you can ever forget, or at the very least you should not forget about it.

Maybe some of these Lycanians had been brainwashed, some of them may be forced to partake in this war, as a means to keep their loved ones alive and out of trouble.

I´ve lived long enough to know all kinds of people, Beta.

I can tell that not all of them are willing to fight to the death, but its either fight or see your family die, that's how the real Lycanians operate when sending their troops into battle.

I´ve seen it in Airedale, one of their peers had been turned into a high-ranking ghoul, just for failing to kill Red the night before.

He lost almost his entire sense of self, only at the end, before he died, he seemed to be relieved that he was stopped.

The Girl I told you about before, Charlotte, an Orphan from Bassett, Red told me that she pointed out that its cries sounded lonely and full of fear, not entirely aggressive and that she kept hearing a voice asking for help, whenever their eyes met.

I know it is true and the real thing, because also in Ragdoll, some people were sensitive to finding the true meaning behind words and actions of others, they just feel what you try to hide or what you cannot tell.

We called them Truth-seekers, in the modern world they would be called Psychologists, they peer into your soul, through your actions and words and they can, if skilled enough, lay your innermost character bare for others to see.

I would say that out of 100 Lycanians, at the very least, 10 have been forced to fight, to take up arms and kill other innocent people.

You see, not everyone of them wishes to kill, they are simply forced to, trying to protect their own life or that of others.

Then again, there are also that kind of people who kill for fun, who find fulfilling in ruining others life as they feel that their own is miserable or that they serve a greater cause that way.

Those twisted minds are what makes them so dangerous, they fight until there is no life left in them." Father explained and I nodded in understanding.

"So the sword is like one of those Truth-seekers you spoke about, it determines whom to kill or wound and whose life to spare, because it can feel their innermost desire?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I suppose so, otherwise I too cannot explain why it would refuse to kill, even when it is clearly a sharp sword.

To me it seems as though the sword only hurts half-innocent enemies to certain degree, immobilizing them but not directly kills them.

However, if such a person isn´t helped soon after, they still might die on that wound.

The sword can kill, but only indirect or unless itself deems it the right cause of action.

One thing is for sure, over the course of my long life I have seen many strange things and mysteries, but that sword is perhaps the greatest one I have seen yet.

In my opinion we should drop our assumption, that the seven swords are but swords with complex magic weaved into them, and think more of them as sentient beings, trapped in sword form.

Sentient Magic, if it is to run free, can bring either prosperity or calamity, depending from which nature it is influenced, benevolent or malevolent.

If your intent to kill prevails over your intent to save lives, the safeguard weaved into the magic upon its creation, prevents the sword from unleashing its full potential, so maybe you should try to think less about killing and more about preserving the lives of others, after all we fight to save, to bring back peace to our island, not to vanquish the enemy and destroy him.

Still as I said before, this is but my own opinion, I think it all points down on you finding the answer within yourself, my son." Father explained and I nodded, I understood his point and I think there is truth spoken within it.

Still, I had no idea if I had the time to find that answer I sought, while trying to fight of the Lycanians and the ghouls.

"Here take one of these, I think for now we have no way to decide whether to spare lives or kill them all, we need to take down the aggressors one way or another, to stop all of this madness, I am sure you soon will find the opportunity to find the answer you seek.

For now, all I can tell you is to fight and survive, even if this siege is over, the battles outside surely will not end so easily.

We need to wrap up things here quickly, we still have a rendezvous with the Devil." Father explained and I knew what he meant as he threw a sword over to me, which he found on the ground, maybe one of the weapons of a dead I.D.A.-man.

Every second we wasted here fighting the Lycanians off, trying to drag them from the Island, mother has to fight for her life in the Devil´s Throat alongside her comrades and survivors.

We ought to hurry it up.

Flashback end:

So we said, but in the end, even after 2 more hours, the siege nor the enemy was in no way beaten down, if anything was though, it definitely seemed to be our resistance.

"Dammit, how long does it take for the Back-up to arrive?" I wondered as I shielded my father´s back from an attack, knocking the attacker out, with the hilt of my sword.

It´s edge seemed to become duller with every Lycanian it slashed, as if something wanted to prevent me from killing at all.

It might be misplaced in an actual battle, but little did I know, that only that saved my soul from being corrupted by the bloodshed, probably.

"They should be here in a while…., then again, if we struggle with that many enemies, I highly doubt they are doing any better.

Precisely to keep us from joining up with them, the enemy is coming in huge waves to prevent any more resistance from our side.

If we were to fall, this Island would be free for the taking." Father explained as he fought of some enemies.

"Reporting, second team has finally breached through the barricades and is on its way towards your location, they will join up very soon." We heard the voice of Professor Reginald out of the portable radio.

"At long last they made it." I sighed in relief.

"Alpharia seems to have joined them, also have we gotten a report from the Jade Dragon Palace, after some kind of commotion there, they finally managed to send out more fleets to join us, once they arrived, Professor Aurelia will begin her own assault against the war ships." the Professor continued.

"What kind of commotion, what has been going on there?" Father asked with a dark mine.

"Mutiny, it seems that there had been a large number of enemies been mixed under our soldiers, that's what prevented communication with the White Whale before.

Currently I was reported that Ex-General Sir Quebec has taken over the facility, in order to coordinate the further measurements, he seemed to have gotten a ride towards Nervo and Norva by an old acquaintance of him, which just happened to have been in Basset by that time.

Although the control over the Jade Dragon Palace has been regained, unfortunately the majority of traitors managed to escape, the facility is in disarray, but still functioning enough to get some things done.

However, it is to expect, that there also had been some traitors on board of both, the Golden Roar and the Royal Envy.

Sir Quebec assumes that this might have been the reason why the Royal Envy got this fake distress signal in the first place, which forced them to go near the Devils Throat.

As of now we still haven´t been able to get into contact with any of them both." Prof. Reginald explained.

"I see, well at the very least we just might be able to finally wrap things up here, luckily we have a cloudless night ahead of us, so the moonlight will prevent the Ghouls from acting all to lively, compared to yesterday night, that just might give us some advantages in this Battle.

Still, be careful and always wary of any possible attack, even things you deem as most unlikely to happen, might indeed be possible." Father explained as his bullets hit several enemies, mowing them down, one by one.

I wondered how he manages to fight so well, and yet when I try to do the same, nothing seems to work out as I intended.

"Just how do you do that father?" I whispered in admiration, as well as in frustration about my own incompetence.

"Willpower and faith, pure simple faith in my doing, that what I do is necessary to keep innocent lives safe.

However, there is also a deep Understanding required.

The ones who kill, always need to be prepared of being killed in return, if you cannot stomach this simple rule, you will never be able to fight a battle to the death and survive it.

Your fear will taint your skill, but having no fear at all, can easily turn into recklessness.

I fight to protect you, my family, this island and its peoples.

My greatest fear is to mess up and loosing you, or to be killed and losing all of you, to lose your sisters, your mother and you, my dear son.

In order to prevent that from happening, I have trained, I train and most likely will keep on training…, until the day, that my time is over and I will have to offer this heritage to you.

The duty of a Father is to open up the paths for his children´s stories.

He observes them, keeps them save until they are ready to write their own tales." Father stated with a mine that spoke of deepest believe.

"About 300 years ago, I always was of the believe that I would keep on living on Ragdoll and one day in the far future would die, without ever achieving anything worthwhile.

That I would die unnoticed by anyone, maybe acknowledged for a while, but I was sure no one would shed a tear for me, my loved ones, Father, Mother…, even my Big Sister, they all had died before me, I have no more relatives who are left to me anymore.

Back then I truly thought to die alone…, to be honest I even was at a point, where I would have willingly welcoming death, as a means to have no longer to suffer.

But ever since I met Merveille, ever since you kids were born, my life has turned around a whole 360 degrees.

Now I am afraid to die, to leave you and lose you, I know that someday it has to end, but if I can drag this inevitable fate out for even one more day, I will do my everything to achieve that.

Nowadays all I wish for is to sit upon the veranda on a bench with Merveille and watch the sun go down, knowing that we have survived another day in peace and freedom, knowing that you Kids are growing up well and that you blessed us with many grandchildren.

Knowing, that the world around us has become a harmonic place again and that the love we feel will never die until its fire burns out for good, this is the vision that I wish to become true, but as my Sister always used to say, miracles don´t occur wildly, we are the ones to make them.

But I will not sit by and watch this world being turned into chaos and fall under the Tyranny of Lycan or whoever tries to rise such, to see my kids being suppressed into slavery…, that is no option I would ever allow and to prevent this I will fight with all I've got, even if it costs my life and my dreams." Father stated with a serious face.

His voice spoke of deepest regret, grieve but also of hope, pure determination and faith.

To be honest I always felt that father was the one whom I resembled the closest to, since I had not that much of interest in technological or scientific things like mom, but now in this very moment, I understood that this was not the case, we might have some similarities, after all we are parent and child…, but I came to the realization, that my way might take a whole different direction than his.

I never told this to anyone, but I was dying to leave this island…., to see what is beyond the boundaries of my home, of this republic.

A dream I shared with Cherry, who too wanted to see the world.

But I understood that mine and fathers wish line up along the way.

"After all, to do that, the world first had to survive this new war." I thought as I glance upon the incoming new wave of enemies.

"If I wish to see the world, I have to defend the same, but I also have to defend this island, these people, after all, what is a world-travel worth, if there is no home we could return to, after having seen all there is to see." I thought as I glance back at the destroyed and tormented city.

"I will not allow anyone to lay waste to this island like this, never again!" I stated loudly as I engaged the enemy in combat.

The sword I wielded has become dull from all the hard armors it slashed upon and I knew I would have to soon find another weapon.

"If only I knew how to use this sword for real." I thought as I did so often in the last few hours.

But then it struck me like lightning.

Didn´t father just said, that we should throw away the assumption that this sword was a mere weapon, a mere tool, but rather a sentient being, sentient Magic if you will.

"Maybe…, but yes, if this is a sentient being, why would I try to control it then, why should I force my own will upon it, isn't that as if I tried to enslave the sword, isn´t that the exact same thing I am currently fighting against…., maybe the right way to use the sword is not to use it at all…, but to let it lead me instead, to let the magic guide me." I thought as realization hit me.

All this time it was I who tried to decide where to go, whom to kill and what to destroy, never once I tried to let the sword do that instead.

If father was right and the sword determined on its own what action to take, then I was setting my will against its own will, the whole time.

"Than it is no wonder that I cannot wield it properly." I thought as I looked at the sword, which emitted a certain shimmer all of a sudden.

"If this is what it takes to become a proper wielder, a knight worthy of this sword, then so be it…., Armatura Impervius, may your magic guide us in the right direction, I, Betakin Damiens Million offer you my body as vessel.

Let us fight together, in order to save all innocents." I thought and it was as though the Shimmer got brighter.

"As you wish, my Master!" I thought to hear a voice and for a split second I thought to see a huge being infront of me.

A being like I had never seen before, it seemed to be surrounded by some sort of shell, only its long neck and head, as well as four feet and a tail looked out of the same.

I was engulfed into the light of the sword and I could see how the Ghouls backed away in fear and agony.

This is it, you have found the right way my son…, now go and do what has to be done, in order to save this island and its peoples.

Your light and the moon are on our side." Father stated aloud to motivate me and I knew he was right.

I was raring to go and finally be able to fulfill my duty as a Knight of Maranell Wolvenra, a knight of my Brother, Prince Red Savarin.

"Guys, I´m back!" I heard a voice shouting behind us, I turned around to see that Alpharia had re-arrived again, adding her to our curent forces was the best news we could hope to get.

"Nice timing, if we are together like this we may finally end this siege and battle once and for all, everyone, prepare yourselves, we had much to swallow until now, its time to serve up a new round and make them drown in it." Father explained and we all let our battlecries atone…., or so we wanted to at least….

But before anyone could let our determination being shown something strange happened, something which was an omen of impending disaster.

"Guys…, Is it just me or doesn´t it seems far darker than before, all of a sudden…, not to mention it has become so silent?" Yin asked unsure and I had to acknowledge that she was right.

"What in the world is that?" I heard Alpharia asking as she looked upwards after checking her surroundings

I followed her glance only to gasp in pure shock.

"Unbelievable." I heard Father exclaiming breathlessly, as he took a step backwards, almost stumbling.

"Indeed." I mumbled at what I witnessed.

Right before our eyes the Full Moon, which had shone brightly in this stormy night, had vanished.

Of course wasn´t it gone, no, it was hidden, its light trapped behind a giant veil of pitch black cloth, spanned between 3 of the Eight Warships, high enough to cast a huge shadow upon the island.

There was only one reason of why the Lycanians would do such an outrageous thing.

"They going to release more ghouls, these Bastards gave up on trying to conquer the island, instead they want to massacre anyone of us with weapons which we cannot block." Father stated and gave my thoughts a clear image.

"Do we have a Plan B?" Alpharia asked.

"Plan B…, we need Plan C, D and E, all at once." Yang stated, his mouth agape as he looked at this outrageous situation.

"Can your Bullets not reach them?" I asked Father but he shook his head.

"Not only does the Nephilim lacks any homing missiles, it is mostly a weapon meant for close combat, or the very least for distance attacks, but these Warships are way up high.

Also can´t I be sure that my bullets will even hit in this storm, I cannot effortlessly lose ammunition when I clearly will need them soon, it would also be worse if they ricochet due to the storm and hit one of us instead." Father replied.

"Then what are we supposed to do, this place will soon be overrun by ghouls if we don´t do something against that quickly." I stated and he nodded.

"The White Whale is momentarily engaged in battle with the other 5 Warships so we cannot really count on their help soon….

If only we could fly…" Dad mumbled and it all seemed quite hopeless.

"I can only float for about 5 meters up high, but any more than that means that I would have to use more concentration on floating than on fighting, I would run out of force faster than I like." Yin explained.

"We also have no more flight gear which we could use, they are at the edge of the Island anyways, we would first have to get there and that is impossible without leaving the town defenseless.

If only our Mechas were still functional, we could at least fight better." Yang stated disheartened.

"But of course, that's the solution…., why didn´t I ever thought about this earlier!" Cetala suddenly exclaimed aloud.

"What is it Ceta?" Alpharia asked in surprise about our little sisters' outburst.

"I might just have found a way, on how to get rid of this thing, but it requires some preparation and I will need to use a huge amount of energy for it, so I can but only use this one time, I have but one try to make it work." Cetala replied with her intellectual expression, I was sure she was scheming something.

"Is it going to work?" Father asked interested.

"I will need the remains of our Mechas and I will need at least 30 minutes of time to prepare anything…, maybe it will end in failure but if I do it right it should work…., and it just might be our only way of winning this battle, before we all die!" She replied and Father nodded.

"Alright, Kids, lead the way, I will keep you safe for sure." He replied and so we made our way, back to the central plaza where we had to leave our Mechas behind.

"What are you planning, Sister?" I asked her while we ran through the darkening night.

"I´ll let the Eagle rise…"

To be continued….

A new Chapter has been written, and once again I must apologize for being on a little hiatus for a while, I had to get accustomed to my new job and my upcoming changing lifestyle (finally moving out of my hometown, in my first own apartment).

However, I was not all lazy during this time, I was also busily writing on my second book and managed to finish 4 chapters by now, as well as all the recent chapters of the Side stories.

Although I said that i´m trying to finish this book for this year am I not sure I truly get to that, but I will do my very best, in that regard I once again want to say I´m sorry and I´m glad to be back.

If you haven´t yet lost your faith and interest in my stories, please read and review.

Sincerely yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books.