Chapter 14

The Abadon of Adaryn

The fortifications at Adaryn were going as well as Rhodry could have expected. A deep trench now encircled the entire town, with wooden spikes faced diagonally outward. Owaen and Rhodry would not chance Esthar committing mechanised units or enslaved Lunar beasts to the battle. The weather made that unlikely, though the enemy could still deploy chocobo cavalry. All but one of the roads into the town had been blockaded, and stockpiles of weapons had been placed at intervals throughout.

The townsfolk needed no encouragement to defend their homeland against the hated Esthari. They were a particularly tough and robust bunch, all happily enduring obligatory hours of practice with arms each week, eager to finally put their skills to the test. Many of the older generation were alumni of Trabia Garden, and Mayor Owaen was a SeeD. Anyone over fourteen namedays was eligible to fight, and anyone under had already headed to settlements farther north. There would be over two thousand men and women staying to oppose the imperialists.

Every spring the Trabians feared the worst, and now the invasion was finally upon them. Trabia was not a country as such, with no central government, but its collective people were willing to answer a call to arms in the event of foreign incursion, as they had briefly done against Galbadia during the Second Sorceress War. The weak could not survive in the frigid north.

Their scouts had reported that the Esthari vanguard was a day's march away, having lost progress with an unseasonal intensifying of the snow. By the end of this day, the invading force would be going through a forested valley that was unfavourable terrain for a marching army.

In the town's market square were two hundred mesmerizes. These steeds were like horses, but larger and more intelligent, with woolly manes. On their heads were sickle-shaped horns, long since sharpened by stable hands, that were both deadly and often refined for their medicinal properties. The mesmerizes were trained to use these horns in battle. They were all armoured and would continue to fight when unmounted.

'You're sure about this, boyo?' Owaen asked Rhodry.

'They won't be expecting us to make the first move,' Rhodry replied.

'You know it won't make a difference in the scheme of things,' Owaen said.

'I know,' Rhodry admitted. 'But anything that can demoralise them will work in our favour. Give me two hundred of your finest riders.'

In their winter gear, the Esthari resembled a pale, meandering snake as they moved through the forest in twos, shoulder to shoulder. In the eyes of Rhodry's mounted force, the vanguard looked to outnumber Adaryn's townsfolk five to one. The Trabians were high in the valley, but at Rhodry's call they began a fleeting charge, descending through the trees toward the Esthari. Silently, well-disciplined despite their shared edginess, with no battle cries. They were nearly within striking distance of the imperials before they were spotted.

The first Esthari to sight them fired with sidearms, but Owaen had spent the town's finances wisely. Most Trabian settlements had projectile shields in their armouries, prepared for invasion. The riders were unfazed by the purple spheres of plasma, and a mesmerize could not be deterred from a charge as a horse could, especially ones bred for war.

When Rhodry reached the Esthari line, he tore through a soldier's headgear with Icefall, while his mesmerize brought its horn around in an equally deadly arc, killing two more. He pivoted in the saddle and killed another as he cut through the line, exiting the other side. Most of the riders followed suit, although some mesmerizes were cut down or shot pointblank. His own mount was protected by Shiva. Rhodry pulled on the reins to bring the mesmerize around in a semi-circle and tore into the line again.

After three more passes he still had most of his force, although he could hear a female officer shouting somewhere down the line, trying to better organise a defence. Any riders that had been dismounted had suffered a particularly brutal fate.

With his voice amplified by Shiva, Rhodry shouted, 'Fall back!'

As the riders moved to retreat, Shiva appeared before Rhodry, hovering above the snow. She extended her hands toward the Esthari, who were looking at her fearfully, some uselessly firing plasma. A pale blue light shot at them, solidifying into ice, and trapping their legs. With the essence continuing to pour from Shiva, the glacier enlarged, gaining height and encasing over a hundred soldiers.

Suddenly a golden light rushed Shiva like a bullet. When it got close enough, Rhodry could see it was a chocobo. He knew this had to be the fabled Golden Chocobo of the Grandidi Forest, taken by Reina long ago, now commanded by one of Esthar's officers. Just before the demi-GF made contact, Rhodry recalled Shiva and made to follow his riders. When he looked back, he saw the Golden Chocobo had not followed, standing in front of the regrouping Esthari line like a sentinel. Behind it, Shiva's glacier shattered in a chorus of screams from the soldiers trapped within it, the deadly shards cutting through flesh and armour as they hit the floor.

Rhodry estimated he had lost over fifty riders, but the Esthari losses had been almost twenty times that number. As far as he was concerned, the assault had been a success. They had cut deep into the force's vanguard on the eve of the battle. But there were another ninety thousand troops a few days away. Unless Neo-SeeD came to their aid, the townsfolk were only delaying the inevitable.

The vanguard reached Adaryn's perimeter just before noon the next day. The imperials had offered a parley, with Owaen and Rhodry meeting two female Esthari officers at the south of the town, facing them over the trench. Both of their faces were obscured by their thermal head covers and goggles. Shiva could sense Ramuh and the Golden Chocobo across the trench. The Glacial Empress was not worried. Even together, they were lower in power to her.

Rhodry knew the Lieutenant was Seifer and Fujin's daughter due to the lightning-blue magicite around her neck. But he thought it was unlikely Almasy would reveal her duplicity before the much more profitable Galbadian invasion. The weapon and body shape of Selena Vlahos was unmistakable, seared into his mind since the Fall of Balamb. The stripes on one arm identified her as the Colonel he knew she was now. Rhodry had been holding Icefall to the side, wanting them to behold it, but now he raised it toward Vlahos.

'You!'

'Have we met?' Selena asked.

'I'm Rhodry Blaen,' he replied. 'A SeeD from Balamb Garden. One of the last. I gave you your facial scar at the Balamb of Balamb, after you killed my lover.'

The Colonel did not respond immediately. 'This is war, as I'm sure you can appreciate, SeeD. My father Tiberius was killed in that same battle.'

'An officer of valour, as was your grandfather,' Rhodry allowed, but then said resolutely, 'Yet I cannot perish until Glyn has been avenged.'

'The Empress cares nothing for the fate of Adaryn's townspeople,' Vlahos warned him, 'but I desire no bloodshed. I will give you enough time to depart, and will even shelter or transport the more infirm, should you agree to completely evacuate.'

Owaen spoke. 'We're going nowhere, Vlahos. Your accursed Lunatic Pandora already forced our people north forty years ago, and now your Sorceress wants the settlements we have laboured so hard to raise.'

Rhodry cut in before Vlahos could respond. 'Where is Sorceress Selphie?' he demanded.

'In Esthar. Your Guardian serves the Empress now.' Vlahos replied. 'Despite your assault in the valley, my van still outnumbers your townsfolk more than four to one, and another ninety thousand troops will be here presently. If you do not agree to depart, every fighting man and woman in Adaryn will be killed.'

Rhodry said, 'You heard Owaen. We don't agree to your terms! If you do not turn back, I will unleash the full fury of Shiva upon you! The Lionheart will relieve us before the rest of your force gets here.'

Almasy spoke for the first time. 'So be it,' she said coldly, then turned to walk back to their force.

Vlahos turned to follow. 'Know that once we breach your defenses, my offer still stands. Do not condemn your townspeople to a senseless death, Blaen,' she said.

In no time, the vanguard had encircled the town, as they had the numbers to do so. Then they attempted to cross the trench. Some Esthari unfurled extendable ladders, others tried to awkwardly wade through the snow that had pooled at the bottom. Although projectile shields protected the townsfolk from Esthari gunfire, this meant they could not fire upon the soldiers with bullet or arrow either. All they could do was wait for the imperials to cross, then slash and thrust at them with spears, pikes, poles, or farming tools.

The Esthari bore the blows with traditional shields. Vlahos had the numerical advantage, and the townspeople were stretched to defend the entire perimeter. The two GFs on the opposing side were both summoned to break through the Trabian lines at opposite ends of Adaryn, and Shiva could not be in two places at once. While denying the Golden Chocobo's bounding charge with a wall of ice, Ramuh smashed through unopposed. Rhodry could hear the lightning bolts and the screams of his people.

Hynedamn, Almasy! Rhodry thought lividly. If she turned on Esthar now, Adaryn could be spared!

He wondered where Almasy's loyalty truly was. Her parents had never been SeeDs. It was likely she was on her own side, waiting for the chance to strike at Reina. Rhodry knew he would be faced with killing her if they met, and forced the thought to the back of his mind.

With Esthari now pouring into Adaryn from the west, the townsfolk began to fall back through predetermined routes into the town, mostly massing in the market square and the main commercial streets. Others became concealed in buildings and alleyways, ready to rush out in ambush. They all put up stubborn resistance, each fallen townsperson taking at least one Esthari with them, often more, but it would not be enough.

Eventually, Rhodry found himself in the market square with Owaen, some unmounted mesmerizes and about two hundred Trabians. Rhodry willed Shiva to make all but one of the routes into the market square impassable, thick blocks of ice appearing between buildings. He did the same at various junctions throughout the town to mask his position from Vlahos and Almasy better; their GFs a slave to their will, they would not betray Shiva's location. Then he had Shiva cover the remaining entrance to the square in a strip of black ice, and as the charging Esthari hit the ground, the townspeople cut into them with no mercy; a stockpile of spears and pikes left within the square for such an eventuality.

Yet Rhodry knew this was only a stalling tactic. As the Esthari bodies littered the entrance, he had to reposition the strip and the defense soon became impractical. In no time, the black ice would be underneath the frontline of defenders. An Esthari NCO conjured a powerful fire spell across the line, then the imperials charged unimpeded.

Even without drawing on Shiva's strength, Rhodry fought like a man possessed. The crystalline edges of Icefall cut through the enemy light armour like a knife through butter. Hardly any of the Esthari were adept enough to survive more than a few strokes from him. Evidently, the Adel Unit was not present.

The bodies piled up around Rhodry and Owaen, forcing the Esthari to wade around them, unable to assail either SeeD more than two at time. The Mayor wielded his own longsword with deadly precision, his body count the only one whose was anywhere near that of Rhodry's. His bloodlust now mirroring the invader's, he began to shout with each kill.

Flexing to avoid a spear thrust, Rhodry grabbed the shaft and ran through its owner with Icefall.

'For Trabia!'

He pulled the blade free, cutting the spear's shaft halfway as another ran at him. Parrying an overhand from the soldier's gunblade, Rhodry moved his body out of line to avoid the subsequent gunshot, driving the spearhead below the gunblade wielder's armpit.

'For Irvine!'

Turning to meet a third, Rhodry turned their sword aside and scored a clean cut on the downstroke.

'For Selphie!'

A fourth ended up with his head sliced in half.

'For Garden!'

After a time, the townspeople were overwhelmed, gradually cut down until only Owaen and Rhodry remained. The mesmerizes were either bludgeoned or had wisely fled. The two SeeDs fought with their backs to one another. The endless sea of Esthari had now formed a circle around them, many trying to drag bodies out of the way.

The Mayor had no GF and was tiring, his ice para-magic completely expended. He was beginning to lose his footing among the dead Esthari, meeting his end when he blunted a strike from a stubby gunblade but ended up with his centre mass in its line of fire. The slugs from all three barrels tore into his chest.

'Owaen!' Rhodry cried, but knew the SeeD was dead before he hit the ground. He pivoted to decapitate the gunblade wielder.

'We may be reunited again soon, after all, Glyn,' Rhodry said, followed with laughter. He let Shiva's pale blue aura flow from him, making the soldiers halt. 'But not yet!'

Shiva's vessel tore into the nearest Esthari with his superior speed and strength, cutting them down by the dozen in a chorus of frenzied battle cries. The soldiers began to cry out in terror, calling orders to back up, trying to call Vlahos and Almasy on their earpieces. Rhodry cut through any Esthari that he could reach, leaping over the mounds of bodies with ease. As they started to flee the square, Rhodry drove his glowing sword into the ground, shattering a stone slab. Lethal spikes of ice jutted from the sole opening, raising about twenty hapless Esthari high into the air and dwarfing the neighbouring buildings. Then he withdrew Icefall and gripped it with both hands, rotating in a circle as many javelins of ice shot from the tip, gutting scores more of the enemy.

Stopping to survey his carnage, he slowly spun to look at the cowering soldiers that were backing away, many fearfully pressing themselves against the buildings of the square and desperately trying to force their way into shelter.

'Where are you, Vlahos?' he roared. 'Show yourself!'

There was a golden glow to his right. The ice spikes shattered in Vlahos' wake. The relieved Esthari parted to let the Golden Chocobo pass; its feet incorporeal as it stepped through the dead. The thickset Colonel dismounted a few yards from him. She removed her headgear and pulled back her thermal hood, revealing the scar he had given her long ago. A sharp indent on her skin, it ran from her angular cheekbone down the rest of her face, ending at her square jaw. Her demi-GF had disappeared from her side, and now she glowed with its golden aura.

'You have fought admirably, Blaen,' Vlahos said. 'but you should have accepted my offer. The Empress' conquest cannot be stopped. This has been such a waste of your hard people, and of my own soldiers, too.'

'It is done,' Rhodry croaked, his voice devoid of all feeling. 'Let us finish what we started thirteen years ago.'

There were no more words before the ringing of steel resumed. The surrounding soldiers now formed a neat circle as the two duelled, extending beyond the square. Many Esthari struggled to follow the impossibly fast battle and did not presume to intervene, knowing their Colonel neither wanted nor needed their help. It quickly became clear who was the superior of the two. Even with a double-bladed weapon Vlahos was mostly on the defensive, struggling to keep the crystalline sword aside. The Colonel lost her footing after parrying a powerful, double-handed strike, almost tripping over a body. Rhodry moved in for the kill.

Almasy had forced her way through to the front. She broke from the circle and fired a lightning bolt at Rhodry, but Shiva stopped it. Though it halted Rhodry enough for Vlahos to get to her feet. Then Almasy joined the fray encircled with her lightning-blue nimbus, laced with electricity.

Rhodry laughed. 'So be it!'

The SeeD performed superbly against two of Esthar's finest warriors, but was now the one on the defensive. Almasy turned out to be as ambitious and daring as Seifer, not afraid to take risks, but also displayed the calculating manner of Fujin, circling to watch Rhodry's movements whenever Vlahos impeded her. Rhodry, now crazed at the butchery of the townsfolk – of which Tyris had helped play a part – no longer cared about sparing the young Lieutenant, even if she had warned Thalassa of the invasion.

A few of the Esthari grew anxious and loosed some gunfire at Rhodry, but it harmlessly hit his barrier. Even if the shield fell, Shiva would replace it.

'Don't interfere!' Vlahos instructed. 'He's ours!'

When Almasy overthrust her spear, Rhodry grabbed the extendable shaft and seized it from her grasp. She instantly drew the two gladiuses from her back, taking a new stance. Vlahos followed by splitting her double-headed sword. Now with two weapons, Rhodry was able to thrust as well as parry, and could keep at least one of them at bay with the spear. This new dance went on until the two officers backed up in unison, and Rhodry lowered Icefall slightly.

'I'm happy to call this a draw, for now,' he told them, 'but I'll look for you both on the Great Plains of Galbadia!'

He was enclosed by a great sphere of ice, concealing him from view. Almasy darted forward, striking it in a broad arc with her thunder-imbued swords. The ice shattered before them, but when the shards fell, only her spear could be seen.

'He's fled!' Vlahos shouted, pointing a sword to the sky.

High above them, they could see Shiva's light distantly flashing in the sky like a pale blue comet, quickly receding from view as it descended into the forest to the north.