Chapter 10 - Sins.
Dawn wasn't far off. The world was one of knee-high grass, waving softly in the silence befitting that of the quietest time of the night. Darkness engulfed everything as far as the eye could see, obscuring the distant features of the land and reducing them to mere silhouettes framing the brilliant canvas of stars accompanied by the partially filled moon hanging overhead.
Sorey slowly slid to his feet, his boots crunching rather noisily on the trodden dry grass besides the lone boulder he had been sitting on. Laying his hand on the pommel of his sword, the Shepherd made his way into position, meeting the blood red eyes of his opponent across the field.
The cold hard steel of its mask glinted in the night, the flare of the reflected moonlight framing its inhuman red eyes as it stared emotionlessly back at him. It stood there, wreathed in its ever-simmering cloak of malevolence, silent and unreadable; a terrifying being lurking beneath an opaque veil of tranquility.
A moment of silence passed.
And then the two opposing entities sprang into motion like clockwork, charging at each other underneath the curtain of stars. Both claw and sword sang as they sliced through the air towards each other.
CLANG!
The first strike was always the most jarring for Sorey. Recovering as best he could from the impact, he managed to retaliate quickly enough with a slash that forced the hellion to leap back to avoid it. Gratified by this start to the battle, the Shepherd took a step forward and pressed his attack with another slash.
The steel of his ceremonial sword bounced right off the monster's parry this time as it smacked the blade away as if it were an irritating fly. Without missing a beat, the hellion arced its claw downwards and slashed, mowing a swathe of grass as it made to sweep the him off his feet.
Sorey barely managed to jump over the claw, landing clumsily on one foot while the other flailed momentarily for balance. When the hellion's follow-up slash came, the attack rammed directly into his gut at full speed, sending him flying.
CRASH!
Gritting his teeth in pain, Sorey jerked his eyes open to find the sky spinning directly above him as he laid amidst a cloud of dirt and displaced grass. Spitting out blood from his mouth and cursing himself for stupidly biting his tongue, the Shepherd recovered as quickly as he could, bringing his sword up.
Just in time to parry a massive fist pounding down upon his head. On instinct, Sorey hastily guarded at a canted angle that let the monstrous appendage slide off his sword, eliciting a grating squeal accompanied by a brilliant burst of sparks. Letting out a wordless cry, Sorey forced the claw away and to the side, bringing his sword back for a powerful diagonal slash across the hellion's body.
His attack met only air as the hellion dodged his attack fluidly with almost frustrating ease. Still, he wasn't deterred in the least. Eyes narrowing, Sorey swung his sword once more, his body thrumming with both adrenaline and purpose. The rhythm of battle continued, growing smoother and smoother as the night progressed.
Amidst the sweat, exertion, and pain that he had come to associate with such nightly training sessions, came the clarity Sorey had wanted.
"You're an abject failure as both a friend and a sub-lord."
The harsh, grating words Velvet had attacked Mikleo with earlier resounded just as clearly in his ears as did the sound of steel meeting hardened flesh as he once more traded blows with the masked hellion.
He jerked his sword arm back and proceeded to unleash a flurry of rapid, indiscriminate stabs in the hellion's direction.
The monster responded by leaping up and over his sword strikes while slinging its entire cloaked body around in a back flip, bringing its claw down and onto his body at a merciless angle. The blow connected with bone-crushing force.
"As for you."
Sorey groaned as he rolled to a halt in the grass, his entire body aching from the sheer force of the blow. He forced himself to get up on a knee, heaving for breath and wiping some more blood leaking from the side of his mouth with the back of his Shepherd's glove.
"You can't pretend to be capable of saving the world..."
He blinked hard and cursed as he dove out of the way of a conjured fireball screaming towards him. The boiling heat washed over the back of his neck as it missed him by a hair. A distant explosion rattled the world as the errant fireball crashed in the distance, briefly brightening up the world and obscuring the stars.
"…If you aren't even capable of recognizing what needs to be done to save yourself."
The Shepherd got to his feet again with his sword still tightly held in his hand, his cape fluttering in the breeze of the shockwave. He narrowed his eyes and forced himself to focus on the threat before him as the artificial light faded. He squared his shoulders and held his sword above his head readily as the hellion charged him once more, undeterred.
"…It's not your damn fault."
Sorey let out a wordless cry as he was sent flying through the air once more, hurtling through the air from the pure shockwave generated by the explosion that the hellion had conjured at point-blank range in front of him.
"It's the Shepherd's."
CRASH!
It took far too long for his senses to return to him in the aftermath of his impact in the grass this time.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the world began to regain coherency. The sound of the grass surrounding his fallen body waving softly in the wind eventually reached his ringing ears, while the cavern of stars above him came back into view as the spots left his vision. Painfully heaving for breath, Sorey forced his muscles to clench, laboriously getting to his feet with his ceremonial sword still firmly gripped in his right hand. Still panting for breath, he took a moment to regain his bearings as the world stopped spinning around him.
The sound of something charging right at him quickly drew his attention.
"Stop!" He demanded loudly, squared his shoulders to the attacking hellion charging him. "That's enough!"
His voice echoed throughout the darkened fields. Punctuating his point, Sorey forcibly shoved his sword back into its sheath at his hip and instead crossed his arms, holding the approaching hellion evenly in his gaze.
The cloaked hellion came to a sliding halt before him, staring emotionlessly back at him.
In the distance, the first hints of a new day were beginning to form. Lighter swathes of darkness radiated out from beyond the sky, gently coaxing out colors and form from the distant mountains and forests that made up the distant horizon. Daybreak was fast approaching, and with it, the start of a new day.
Sorey abruptly broke into a tired, grateful smile, letting the tension drain slowly from his shaky body.
"I… I know what I have to do now." He breathed tiredly, shifting on his feet and letting his arms dangle at his sides.
He gave the hellion across the field from him a deep, grateful nod, catching his breath. "Thanks for your help." He intoned, holding the red-eyed monster's gaze respectfully with his own. With that having been said, Sorey turned his back to it and set off, striding determinedly into the fading night.
Behind the mask, Velvet Crowe watched motionlessly as the utterly beaten and tired Shepherd walked off determinedly into the breaking dawn, her lips drawn together in a fine line.
She didn't see a boy walking away from a fight he'd lost. Rather, she felt as if she were watching a man walking forward with a purpose in mind.
A man, – with just a hint, however obscure – of the regality and dignity befitting of that of a proper Shepherd.
His boots crunching with the dry grass he trod underfoot with each step, Sorey made his way back to camp, his eyes forward towards the brightening horizon. His cape, dirtied and soiled, flapped regally in the morning breeze.
"Alisha?"
The princess stopped a few feet away from the gates of Marlind and glanced over her shoulder at Sorey as he and the rest of the group caught up with her. "Sorey?" She replied, coming to a halt and turning to face him.
The canopy of the familiar Great Tree of Marlind hung far over their heads like an umbrella shielding the outskirts of town from the blistering heat of the midday sun. The gates of town were open, and within the walls of the plague town, the townsfolk could be seen going about their business. Nondistinctive, animated chattering could be heard sporadically from within – evidence of a bustling town on its way to recovering from the effects of a plague that had at last begun to slowly fade.
Just as they'd intended, the Shepherd and his group had been successful in dispelling the malevolence looming over the town by allowing the new Lord of the Land to reign over the area with the Great Tree as a pure vessel. Marlind would survive, given enough time, and establish itself as the artistic capital of the region one more. No more would its citizens suffer under dread and fear caused by rampant malevolence, by the grace of the Shepherd.
Yet this was the farthest thing from Sorey's mind as he set his jaw and held Alisha's gaze, standing before her at the entrance to the purified town. "I have something to say."
Behind him, Mikleo and Lailah exchanged a glance. Velvet stood behind them with her arms crossed, Edna standing solemnly beside her. The chirping of the birds and the chattering of the townsfolk became irrelevant as the elephant in the room was finally addressed.
"As do I." Alisha responded in kind, her expression growing resolute.
Sorey nodded. "Let me go first, then."
He held her gaze firmly as he began. "I… ignored things that shouldn't have been ignored, Alisha." He admitted. "I thought that if I just trusted that everything will be alright in the end, things… would just work themselves out, no matter how bad they might've seemed at the time."
He shook his head softly. "But Velvet was right. That was a stupid thing way for me to think." His eyes wandered over Alisha's shoulder towards the town of Marlind, his thoughts turning towards that one bloody night.
"…I suppose that, in ignoring the problem and just moving along with it all, I was really just being overconfident in myself." He grinned apologetically, his fingers idly drumming atop his sword pommel. "I was putting blind faith in my position as the Shepherd to overcome any obstacle imaginable, no matter the odds. I figured that I could just find the power within me to somehow keep things going. Keep things the way they were."
"But I'm not strong at all." He admitted. "I don't have that strength within me."
He shook his head as Alisha opened her mouth in protest. "I never did. Far from it. Thinking otherwise was just arrogance on my part." He insisted fervently, taking a heated step forward. "And I've come to realize that if I'm going to have any chance at all at helping the people around me, and have a shot at making my dream of coexistence between humans and seraphim a reality, then I'm going to have to be as strong and powerful as I can manage." He crossed his arms and nodded his head to himself, reaffirming his thoughts.
"…So, in order to achieve this as best as I can, I'm going to do something that I should've done a long time ago. One I really have nobody else to blame for not doing earlier but myself." He unfolded his arms and straightened his back, holding Alisha's gaze.
"Alisha, I'm going to ask that you rescind the squire's pact." He put simply.
A dull breeze blew in the wake of his words, filling the silence that followed. High up in the sky, the vast canopy of the pure Great Tree billowed gently in the wind, the thousands of leaves clacking together overhead resembling the crashing of waves on beach in the summer heat. Behind them all, Velvet watched on with grim approval.
Sorey broke the silence once more, apologetically scratching the back of his head. "…I'm really, really sorry that I have to do this, but really from what Lailah told me regarding the lack of a squire's own resonance and how that affects the pact and-"
Alisha held up a hand sharply, instantly silencing his rambling.
She nodded sharply, holding his gaze. "You need not be sorry." She reassured him. "As a knight, I was taught that sometimes things happen that are out of your control, and that you should make the best of that, regardless of how unfair or unjust you might perceive that thing to be."
Sorey blinked three times.
"…Alisha… you're not mad?" He asked hesitantly.
Alisha laughed incredulously, tilting her head curiously. "Oh, why in the world would I be angry at you, Sorey?"
She smiled brightly at him, intertwining her hands. "I have the right to be nothing but grateful to you, Sorey, for all that you've done for me and the people of this nation." She beamed at him. "Without your kindness and your openness, I would not know half of the things that I now know." Her eyes turned to the other companions of the Shepherd, her expression soft and bright. "Seraphim… hellions… malevolence…"
She met his eyes once more, firm and resolute.
"…While I will be most disappointed at not be able to travel with you all anymore…" She shook her head, her eyes glinting with determination. "I promise I will not stop being your squire, even if I no longer bear the title."
"Regardless of whatever happens in the coming years, you can trust that I, Alisha Diphda, Princess of Hyland, will continue to fight for a land without Malevolence, for Hyland and beyond, now and forever." She declared resolutely, her head held high and proud.
Sorey's expression had transitioned from surprise to fondness. "Alisha…!" He grinned back.
Behind him, Edna waved a hand lethargically. "You do realize that she was planning on leaving the moment she found out that the pact was causing you to lose your eyesight, right?" She asked dryly.
Lailah nodded deeply. "Indeed. That had been my conclusion as well."
"Oh." Alisha shuffled on her feet abashedly as she looked over at the seraphim. "Was I truly so transparent?"
Mikleo shook his head as he walked over. "Never mind that, what I want to know is what you plan on doing next." He gave her a concerned nod. "What will you do once we part ways?"
The princess answered respectfully, "You needn't concern yourself with me, Mikleo." Her gaze turned to sweep the rest of the group. "And neither should any of you."
She stiffened her shoulders. "I've decided to stay behind in Marlind for a while, to help find someone to properly give tribute to Rohan so that he can maintain his domain for years to come." She nodded to the rest of them. "And, once that has been completed, I shall report back to Ladylake about what happened here." She glanced at Sorey proudly. "About how the Shepherd helped save the town."
"…Sounds like you've got yourself figured out." Mikleo observed markedly, placing a hand on his hip. "I guess it was dumb of me to worry about you in the first place."
Lailah smiled happily. "Of course! Alisha is one strong princess. She'll do just fine without us, I've no doubt about it."
"Yeah." Edna twirled her opened umbrella, looking at Alisha in an idle glance. "You're pretty decent." She conceded. "For a human, at least." She added.
Mikleo's eye twitched. "Edna, can't you say something positive for once without undercutting it in the next sentence?" He implored.
"Depends." Edna shrugged. "Can't you say something not dumb for once?"
Mikleo exhaled out of his nose at length.
Hiding her chuckles behind her hand, Alisha turned to the last member of the group she had yet to address. "Velvet." She prompted.
The disguised therion met the princess's eyes.
"I must say," she remarked, glancing over her shoulder at Sorey, "it does my heart a great service, knowing that the Shepherd will have such a fine, experienced companion alongside him in his travels."
She nodded to herself, crossing her arms resolutely. "In much the same way that I was glad that I had my master Lady Maltran with me at my side for every step of the way, I'm sure Sorey will be glad to have you along as his steadfast companion as well." She gave Velvet a deep, grateful nod. "Thank you for everything. I wish you the best of luck in finding your cousin."
In turn, Velvet answered with a nod of her own.
"…Stay safe out there." She returned simply.
And with that having been said, Alisha turned and walked towards the entrance of Marlind before stopping and turning to face them all, her face set in determination and will. "All of you," she addressed formally, "I do not doubt I shall one day see you all again soon."
She gave them all one last genuine smile. "But for now, until our paths next converge, I wish you all farewell." She lifted one armored gauntlet as her final parting.
Sorey raised a solemn hand in kind. "Good luck, Alisha. I'm sure we'll see you again soon."
Alisha nodded, her expression strong and empowered. With that, the princess of Hyland turned around and parted ways with the Shepherd's group, headed off to fight her own battles for the betterment of mankind.
"…Doesn't matter. You're it, quit whining!"
"I'm not whining- h-hey! Get back here!"
The loud sound of a raspberry blown by the little boy as he pelted away from the other child carried easily across the wide-open grassy field that made up the park of Marlind, located at the heart of the city besides the vast, aged trunk of the Great Tree.
Leaning easily against the backboard of a weathered oak bench placed near the entrance to the park, Velvet watched the boy and girl play in the distance as she idly enjoyed the bright sunshine streaming in through the canopy above onto the revitalized city. Sitting primly on the bench beside her, Edna too spectated upon the game of tag currently in progress in the middle of the park, her head resting on her fist.
Eventually, Velvet broke the calm silence. "Say… Edna?" The therion glanced over her shoulder at the seraph. "Whatever ended up happening to those nor dolls?" She paused as a thought occurred to her. "…Those and, for that matter," she added, "all that other stuff Eizen sent you?"
Edna slid her eyes shut and let out a drawn-out breath in irritation. "Oh boy." She muttered. Her eyes opened as she sent Velvet a glare. "For the record, I still hold you partially responsible for that mess."
Velvet raised an eyebrow. "Did you not like the gifts he sent you?"
"Let's just say that I could've built a second Rayfalke out of all the stuff my brother sent me over the years." Edna grumbled.
With irritation clear in her expression, the earth seraph twisted around and confronted Velvet. "Just what, exactly, was I supposed to do with a pot that was as heavy as myself?" She demanded incredulously.
"The things he sent me were just ridiculous." She tossed a hand disdainfully in the air. "How many paintings did he think I needed before I had enough decorations on my shrine? How many old, crusty things did he think I wanted lying around just asking for me to trip on?" She shook her head. "My brother was such an idiot."
With a hmph, she turned away, shaking her head some more.
A wry smirk had crept onto Velvet's lips in the aftermath of the seraph's tirade. "…You never threw any of that stuff away, did you?" She guessed knowingly.
Edna's only response was a wordless huff.
Velvet leaned forward in her seat, casually examining her bandaged hand. "I'm guessing that if I look hard enough in Rayfalke, I'll find a weathered old lair of ancient treasures filled to the brim with old, crusty things." She remarked wryly. "Am I wrong?"
"Why even ask if you know the answer already?" Edna shot back dourly.
The therion chuckled warmly. "Fair enough."
Velvet leaned back, watching the boy and girl playing tag on the other end of the park with a distant look. "…I guess I'm also guilty of keeping the gifts my brother gave me." She noted quietly.
Almost instinctually, her right hand slipped into her coat pocket, pulling out two jagged shards of amber. Her eyes turned soft as she considered the broken pieces.
Edna watched the therion keenly. "A broken comb." She observed impartially. "...I presume that has something to do with your younger brother?"
Velvet nodded wordlessly.
After a pause, Edna turned her head up to gaze at the expansive trunk of the Great Tree before them. "You sure you know what you're doing here, Velvet?" She asked quietly without looking at her.
Her meaning was crystal clear to both of them.
Velvet's fingers curled around the two broken comb pieces; her lips drawn in a stiff line. Her thoughts went back to the day before; the brief instant in which her act had slipped in the heat of the moment. For a single misguided second, she had simply forgotten her goal.
That wouldn't happen again. She'd make sure of it.
"…I'm sure." Velvet reaffirmed quietly.
Edna was silent.
The faint sound of clanking metal abruptly intruded upon the peace and quiet. The two of them turned and watched as a group of five armed men in orange uniforms strolled together through the grass towards her. The sunlight glinted off their polished steel armor, helmets, and sheathed swords as they easily tromped up to the bench where she was sitting. The joyful yells and shouts of the children continued on in the background.
"You're Velvet, right?" The leader asked. "You're with the Shepherd?"
She met the eyes of the leader and gave him a nod in acknowledgement. "And you're Lucas, head of the mercenaries that Sorey hired to protect town." She responded, idly returning the pieces of the comb back into her coat pocket.
"Correct." The ponytailed warrior gave a prideful grin in response, puffing out his chest with his hands on his hips. "We Woodsmen did a damn fine job, don't ya think?" He waved his muscular arms around in a grand gesture, indicating their surroundings. "Wasn't a single bandit nor rabid animal that got through on our watch. His money was well spent, I assure you."
Unseen by Lucas, Edna twirled her closed umbrella in her hands. "It's true, they didn't do too badly in the end." she supposed.
"But never mind that." Velvet turned her gaze back onto Lucas as he got to the point.
"We came looking for a chat with the Shepherd." The mercenary explained, crossing his arms seriously. "In their patrols, a few of my men came across some pretty significant holes in the defenses of the town that I think he might want to know about. We've already told the mayor of town, but I figured it would be best to have him in the know as well before we leave for our next gig."
"That's very thoughtful of you." Velvet observed impartially. "After all the effort you put into protecting the town, I'd imagine you would've left by now."
"Bah." Lucas swatted his hand dismissively in the air. "Don't make us out to be some sort of charity squad, missy." The scarred warrior gave her a crooked grin and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "It's just that some of the townsfolk helped us out while we were here. We're just paying our debts as any honest mercenaries would. That's all."
Velvet waved a hand in kind. "In any case, you can tell me where the issue is, and I'll let the Shepherd know."
"Sure." The weathered mercenary seemed to survey Velvet's appearance closely, shifting on his feet as he did so. "…But out of curiosity, what's the deal with you and him?" He cocked his head to the side. "A lot of us are wondering what's going on with that kid who's been going around calling himself the Shepherd, you see, ever since we took the job." He raised an eyebrow at her. "And I also can't help but wonder what you all really want, in the end."
He shrugged. "Not that you have to tell me." He added with a welcoming grin. "We don't really care too much about our clientele's personal stories; so long as they pay us, we're good."
"Hmph." Edna huffed. "Another doubting human. How utterly surprising." She remarked drolly, rolling her eyes.
In response to his question, Velvet crossed her arms and leant back in her seat, holding Lucas's scrutiny evenly. "The reason Sorey does the things he does is the same as the reason why you're all really staying behind to help in Marlind even after the end of your contract." She analyzed. "The same reason why you all even took such a risky contract in the first place without extorting Sorey for money."
She abruptly got to her feet, the chains on her outfit clinking quietly in the breeze. Her eyes travelled from Lucas's to the other five mercenaries behind him, carefully studying the expressions of each armored man.
"…Am I wrong?" She prompted, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the leader of the Woodsmen.
While the men exchanged looks behind him, Lucas kept his eyes firmly locked onto Velvet's with his hands on his hips. After a pause, his expression lightened, and he finally opened his mouth to speak.
"Why… of course you're wrong." Lucas grinned wolfishly as he drawled, "Naturally, if it came out that the ferocious, greedy, and bloodthirsty mercenaries known as the Woodsmen were in reality a bunch of soft-hearted sissies, we'd be run right out of business within the week." He shrugged at length, glancing over his shoulder at the others. "And we wouldn't want that, would we, boys?"
Roars of denial were his collective response.
His grin widening, Lucas turned back around and gave Velvet a helpless shrug. "I guess that settles that." He supposed.
His eyebrows narrowed thoughtfully.
"…Still." He hummed. "If the Shepherd has such a keen-eyed lady like you travelling by his side… then I guess that means that he can't be all that bad."
Evidently making up his mind, Lucas nodded to himself and let his hands drop from his hips, meeting Velvet's eyes. "If you or he ever need our services again, don't hesitate to search us out." he offered openly with a grin.
"We Woodsmen value our customers. Never forget that." He gave the woman another nod. "And thanks in advance for passing along the message to the Shepherd. Let him know that both the south-southwest corner and northeastern section of the wall have pretty nasty breaches that ought to be fixed. That's all."
And with that, he turned on his heel and faced the men behind him. "Alright, bums. We're done here. Get!"
With that, the group of mercenaries turned and headed out of the park, their armor and weapons clanking loudly with each step they took. Soon, Lucas and his crew were out of sight as they left the area, their minds already focused on their future prospects. Velvet watched them leave with a thoughtful expression.
She glanced over at the sound of footsteps to find Edna walking up next to her, also watching the Woodsmen leave from under the shadow of her opened umbrella.
"…A thousand years of nothing but hardships and misery in this world." Velvet commented arbitrarily. "I suppose that doesn't stop a handful of people from still trying to use everything in their power to do something different for a change."
"Like I said. Humans are stupid." Edna replied dryly.
Velvet huffed in response, tearing her eyes away from the mercenaries and towards the setting sun. "Come on." She prompted. "Let's pass the message on. Sorey will want to hear it."
Together, the therion and the seraph trotted down the hill in the opposite direction that the mercenaries had went, headed through the bustling city brightened by the golden streaks of the swiftly approaching sunset.
The heavens were painted a dark, bloody orange hue by the time the two of them finally made it to the inn as the sun slowly dipped down into the distant, grassy horizon beyond the tall city walls. Steel and leather boots tromped noisily on the plank stairs leading up to the deck of the inn as Velvet and Edna trudged up them, leaving the dirt and gravel roads behind.
The Shepherd stood beside the railing alongside Lailah, a deeply troubled expression on his face. He turned around as the other two arrived in his presence, quietly sliding the weathered green tome in his hands shut as he did so. The long shadows drawn by the setting sun cast by his coarse hair framed his hard eyes as he greeted his fellow companions with a soft nod.
"Hey guys." He greeted lightly, putting his free hand on his hip. "We've decided to try out the inn's cooking this time instead of our own, if that's okay?"
Velvet didn't mince words. "What's wrong?" She asked sharply, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at his abnormal demeanor.
"Nothing's wrong." Sorey hurriedly reassured, shaking his head with a calming grin that was somehow genuine yet forced. "I just came across something kinda off-putting, that's all."
"…And that something was?" Edna prompted, twirling her umbrella slowly in the air.
Behind him, Lailah threaded her hands in front of her dress, her expression distant and unreadable. Hefting the green book in his arm as he idly shifted on his feet, Sorey glanced at both Velvet and Edna before opening his mouth.
"Well, I was wondering."
"Have either of you two heard of the name… Velvet Crowe?"
The chattering of two particularly noisy housewives doing the laundry in the distance filled the silence that followed. High up above them all, the Great Tree of Marlind began to sway ever so gently with arrival of a cool evening breeze. Velvet's hair and clothing rippled with the wind as she exchanged an unreadable glance with Edna in the wake of Sorey's question.
Ever so discreetly, the therion's eyes narrowed with anger and quickly flitted to the side towards Lailah. Lailah met the hellion's glaring eyes and subtly shook her head. This wasn't her doing.
Abruptly, Edna broke the silence with a bored voice. "Was that supposed to mean anything to me?" She asked dryly, twirling her umbrella once more.
Sorey's eyes furrowed.
He let out a sigh of disappointment, the tension leaving his body as he maneuvered his body to lean onto the railing standing behind him. "So, you didn't know about her either, huh?" He surmised. The Shepherd idly glanced up at the leaves high in the sky. "Lailah's also never heard anything about her before." He explained. "I was hoping that either of you two seraphim would've known more about her."
Slowly reigning in the emotions swirling around in her head, Velvet found the presence of mind to speak up. "…Well, who is she, then?" She prompted neutrally.
Sorey blinked and looked back down at Velvet Davidson with an apologetic smile. "Oh, Velvet I didn't mean you, of course." He added. "I'm talking about a different Velvet who lived a long time ago."
His eyes narrowed, an uncharacteristic hardened edge to his expression. "That is, the woman who was called Velvet Crowe, the Lord of Calamity that brought about the end of the Age of Asgard once and for all."
He gently maneuvered the weathered green book in his hands, carefully flipping it open once more. "It turns out that this book I bought from the Sparrowfeathers was actually written by a very, very old seraph a long time ago." Sorey explained. "It's written in the ancient tongue, so I doubt anybody who ever came across it ever recognized its true worth."
He turned the green book around to display the weathered, barely legible cursive writing on its pages detailing the accounts of events that had long, long since passed. Smudged ink drawings of foreign continents and places were nested comfortably within long flowing streams of text that populated the tome.
It was truly an invaluable relic that told of a time long since passed.
"Sorey's been looking through that book all day." The planks making up the deck groaned as Lailah quietly made her way over to Sorey's side. "He's been quite obsessed with detailing every last tidbit of information in his own notes." The fire seraph's smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Well of course I have!" Sorey exclaimed. "I'd be deeply ashamed of myself as an explorer if I didn't immediately see the value in doing so." He stroked the cover of the tome almost reverently. "The things in this book…" He shook his head.
"While a good portion of the pages have become unreadable over the years and a whole lot of it just plain doesn't make any sense, the rest is still legible and are undeniable, concrete pieces of information thoroughly documenting a period of history that, until now, has been considered almost completely lost!"
"And?" Edna interjected. "What have you learned?"
And just like that, the excitement seemed to fade from the Shepherd's expression, replaced by what could only be described as a somber sort of reverence. "…Well, it's like I said. I now know the story of the Lord of Calamity and her exploits, one thousand years ago."
He looked away, his jaw set. "I now know of the horrible things a Lord of Calamity is capable of."
In the far horizon, the sun had finally set. A squad of town workers had begun travelling up and down major thoroughfares, igniting the various steel lamps set up around town. One by one, the lamps dotted around town blinked into existence, illuminating the streets with their paltry yet sufficient light.
"Lailah." Sorey glanced over his shoulder at her in the growing darkness. "I'm slowly starting to truly understand what you meant back then. About what you said back in Ladylake."
He idly tugged at his Shepherd's glove as he thought back to that day over a month ago when he was just starting out on his journey. 'The being who gives rise to the hellions.'" he quoted softly. "'A Lord of Calamity, who begets hellions with the overwhelming amount of malevolence…'" He glanced at the book in his hands pensively. "'…he or she possesses.'" he finished quietly.
He abruptly glanced up at Velvet, a fierce determination etched in his features. "Velvet. About what you said yesterday. I wanted to thank you for what you said to me." He shook his head. "And not only that, but everything you've been teaching me. All this guidance and wisdom that you've been sharing… I'm really, truly grateful for all of it." The Shepherd put a fist to his chest in affirmation of his beliefs, giving her a nod of thanks. "Because the more I learn, and the stronger I grow…"
His fist rose from his chest to reach out towards the sky and beyond. "…The better chance I'll have against such terrible beings." He breathed. "I need to grow much stronger than I am now to that end. For the sake of both my dream… as well as for the sake of the dreams of the people who share the world with me."
His fist tightened in staunch determination.
The two present seraphim exchanged glances in the wake of the Shepherd's words. Hesitantly, Lailah opened her mouth to try and say something.
She was interrupted.
"It's important that you understand the type of evil you're up against." Velvet's words were calm and logical. "That book's a good find. She shifted on her feet, putting a hand on her hip and looking away, her eyes distant. An abrupt, volatile urge struck her. "But tell me, Sorey…"
"…why is it you think that birds fly?" Her soft question resounded through the silence.
The Shepherd blinked in surprise at the outlandish question.
Before he even had a chance to answer though, she turned swiftly on her heel and walked away, the chains on her outfit clinking gently yet loudly in the silence. Velvet waved her hand over her shoulder as she left. "If you ever find your answer to that question during your travels, come and tell me."
With that, the woman stepped down the stairs and made her way back into town, leaving the rest of the group watching her vanish into the darkened night, her black coat shrouding her lone figure companionably as she did so.
Why… do they fly? Behold my answer… Velvet.
Those words that had meant so much to her. Words that her entire life had once revolved upon.
Velvet's eyes were hard and unreadable as she walked on, deeper into the darkness.
Sorey watched as his companion left, a thoughtful expression on his face as he contemplated her parting words as well as what unknown meaning could be hidden within them.
He carefully closed the weathered tome in his hands and tucked it away in his pack, reminding himself to continue translating as much as he could in what free time he would have the future. There was still much to be learned from the history of the world.
From the sins committed long ago.
CLANG!
The next strike rattled Sorey's teeth as the hellion's claw crashed down upon his horizontal guard. His knees buckled and his boots dug deeper into the dirt as the cloaked hellion before him pushed down even harder, its hellish claw pushing down brutally upon his sword.
His dirty face gleaming with sweat, Sorey quickly considered all the possible options he had in order to save himself from the current deadlock.
He locked his gaze upon the emotionless red eyes of his opponent staring right back at him as he strained against its terrible might. His sword buckled as the monster added even more pressure upon his guard. He grunted, struggling to keep his body upright, glancing briefly at his sword held horizontally above his head. Mental images from previous battles with the hellion flashed before his eyes.
He was determined to not repeat his past mistakes. He met the eyes of the hellion once more, locking on to its blood red eyes in clear defiance as the huge claw above his head pushed down even harder. He would not fall here.
Suddenly, the crushing weight pressing down upon his sword vanished.
Sorey blinked in shock, stumbling forward as the planned maneuver in his head became entangled with the unexpected turn of events. Regaining his balance and finding his feet once more, his head shot up towards the masked hellion, his entire body thrumming with adrenaline as fear of a counterattack ran rampant in his head.
But it wasn't even looking at him.
It turned away from him, instead facing outwards into the darkness with its malevolence-wreathed claw held at a low ready. A cold breeze blew, cooling the skin on Sorey's neck and disturbing the hellion's bunched-up and – he could only imagine – disfigured cloaked frame.
A sea of treetops spread out for miles around in the dark of night. Scorched patches of grass patterned the field here and there, evidence of their previous training sessions in the past. The two of them stood upon what had now become familiar training grounds to Sorey within the vicinity of Marlind; an open field with a sharp cliff edge on one side and open forest on the other. High up above, the stars watched as Sorey took an urgent step closer to the motionless hellion ignoring him completely.
"…What's wrong?" He asked softly.
He was met with a glance over the masked hellion's shoulder. The single red eye angled towards him narrowed sharply, conveying an obvious message.
Be quiet.
The hellion then turned back away from the Shepherd and returned its attention to the dark forest in front of them; it's entire body tense as a drawn bowstring. At its side, the pulsating serrated claw, flexed ever so slightly in anticipation.
Sorey immediately readjusted his grip on his sword and moved behind the monster's right side opposite its claw, his entire body tensing. He'd been around this hellion long enough to immediately recognize what that stance meant. It was getting ready to pounce.
Dead silence followed. Still exhausted and spent from the exertion the night's training session had forced out of him, the sound of Sorey's suppressed yet labored breathing filled the air. Another cool nighttime breeze blew through, rustling the leaves of the vast sea of trees before them. From his perspective, there was absolutely nothing to be concerned about; they were alone. But he would not doubt the masked hellion.
A chorus of wild howls shattered the silence of the night.
Werewolf howls; primal cries of pure bloodlust and madness. Suddenly, a pack of rabid hellions charged out from the depths of the darkness born from the trees before them, and pounced upon their newly discovered prey.
"Damn!" Sorey swore, instinctively taking a step back as dozens upon dozens of rabid werewolf hellions charged him all at once. He glanced over his shoulder furtively. The vast gulfing cliffside awaited him. There was no escaping this battle. His only options were to fight or die.
At his side, the masked hellion exploded into action, its legs slamming hard into the ground in a fury of motion as it met the horde of charging hellions head on. Its claw slashed in the air long before its enemies were even in range, generating huge fireballs that whisked through the air to and detonate amongst the horde. Yelps of agony ripped through the night mixing with the other howls. When the closest werewolf hellion came into range, it was ripped out of existence in the blink of an eye with a feral swipe of the monster's claw.
Eaten alive in an instant.
Shaking his head harshly, Sorey snapped himself out of his awe and dug his boots into the grass, throwing himself into the fray. He would be damned if he were to leave this hellion alone to fend for itself.
SHINK!
He roared and channeled Lailah's power through his body, forcing the power of purification upon the body of the hellion he'd just stabbed. Jerking his sword out from the inferno of silver flames, he whirled around and slashed at the next werewolf to charge at him from behind, sending blood in crescent spray into the night.
At his side, the masked hellion remained close and fended off the rest of the monsters as they mindlessly charged towards the two of them. Its claw swung and slashed with almost mesmerizingly terrible grace, drawing trails of blood as it ripped and shredded through the horde of werewolves… like they were all made of paper.
Killing with each slash.
Sorey glanced briefly of his shoulder, his heart aching at the bloody murders taking place right before his eyes.
"You can't pretend to be capable of saving the world…"
Velvet's words once more ringing in his ears, Sorey gritted his teeth and turned away from the screams and howls of the dying hellions, instead focusing on what he could do; purifying the ones within his sword's reach.
He cried out fiercely, furiously, his eyes reflecting the vast swathes of flame drawn by his sword with each swing.
Power that he just didn't have enough of.
Every life the masked hellion took was a life he had failed to save… because he simply wasn't strong enough.
He couldn't've saved himself had he been alone. He needed the murderous aid of his mysterious hellion ally to keep himself alive. Furthermore… he was the Shepherd. The world couldn't afford to let him die here. So instead, they had to die by means of the hellion's claw. He could do nothing else about it but keep saving those he could. And so he did.
Life quickly devolved into nothing more than a simple, brutal struggle for survival as the rest of the hellions continued to charge. For most of them, it was to their deaths.
Hack.
Slash.
Stab.
Purify, purify, purify.
The Shepherd rolled to the side to avoid another monster's slash before retaliating with a sword straight through its gut, the flames of purification flaring up once more and illuminating the world with a flash of silver.
Just as soon as that hellion had been purified three more took its place, causing him to stumble backwards and give ground to avoid their attacks. Spinning around, Sorey cleanly sliced diagonally across another werewolf's breast, eliciting a furious roar of anger and pain from it. Blood that was not his own splattered across his clothing as the silver flames purified another monster.
He had to live. He just had to.
Absently, he noted that the clawed hellion whom was his ally was using its superior strength and abilities to stay close to him throughout the fray. For every hellion that he managed to purify, three suffered horrific deaths at the end of its vicious, merciless claw. That claw that had the ability to consume what it held. That same claw that he had sparred with for so many nights.
In the end, it was no surprise that it had been holding back on him for his own benefit. Yet it was still immensely jarring to see the hellion be true to its nature and unleash what he hoped was the full extent of its might. A natural killer, pure and simple.
And to think that he still had no clue as to what it wanted from him!
Sorey was forced to dive desperately to the side as two hellions slashed at him at the same time. He landed hard on his back on the grass, his sword tightly gripped in his right hand yet useless with such a compromised posture. As the two attackers adjusted their velocity to pounce onto him, he brought his sword up as a last-ditch effort to ward them off.
CRASH!
Yelps and howls of agony filled the air as the two pouncing hellions were bashed effortlessly away by the massive claw that had swept right over Sorey's body, saving him. Specks of blood flew off the bloodied claw, a few droplets landing on the Shepherd's face and making him wince.
The blood was warmer than he'd expected.
Adrenaline pumping desperately through his veins, he forced himself to roll to his feet. Without hesitating, he swiftly slashed away at another enemy trying to attack his hellion ally from behind. From there, almost instinctively, he and the hellion began to coordinate their efforts to fend the creatures off even as they fully encircled their position.
BANG!
The world erupted in bright light as the hellion cast a fully charged ball of fire mana into the distance, engulfing a trio of werewolves in flames and singing several others. Squinting through the sudden and unbearable flare of brightness, Sorey roared as he leapt forward, slashing at two similarly blinded monsters to drive them away.
He grunted as he landed awkwardly on the grass, stumbling for just a split-second.
That brief period of vulnerability was just enough time for a lucky hellion to charge right at him and get inside his guard. Sorey's eyes widened and he instinctually leapt backwards to avoid the razor-sharp claws sweeping inches away from his exposed neck.
He raised his sword to prepare his counter-attack the instant he recovered.
Yet his feet found only thin air.
Everything slowed to a halt. He watched it all in slow motion as he fell off the edge of the cliff, his ceremonial cloak flapping uselessly behind him and his sword still clenched habitually tightly in his right hand.
Above, the brilliant canvas of stars shining high in the night sky. Below, a vast drop with nothing but forest to meet him and his body as he eventually fell back towards the earth. Upon the edge of the cliff stood the werewolf hellion that would be ultimately responsible for his imminent death. Its rabid eyes were narrowed in fury as it snarled uselessly, its prey having escaped it in a final act of defiance.
And behind it, Sorey watched as the familiar masked hellion he had considered an ally turned and saw him falling. He saw its inhuman eyes widen in utterly uncharacteristic emotion as its entire body pivoted on the spot towards him.
He heard a faint, distorted, warped cry of horror.
"SOREY…!"
That was the last thing he heard before he fell down headfirst into the darkness to his death.
CRASH!
Sorey's eyes shot open. The first thing he registered was the roaring wind mixing violently with the deafening screech of a something huge digging deep into the cliffside. His stomach lurched and his whole body jerked as his momentum was partially arrested as something seized his. He twisted his head up and his eyes widened in shock.
The masked hellion gripped onto his belt with its right hand while its other inhumanly large appendage tore into the side of the cliff with overwhelming force, gouging out swathes of dirt and rock in its wake while at the same time managing to find enough traction to slow the two of them down in their fall.
Sorey's eyes shot to the dark ground below. He let out an instinctual yelp of terror as he registered the trees shooting up towards the two of them as they neared the bottom of the cliff. Up above him, the hellion's claw dug even deeper into the cliff side with something akin to desperation.
And then they landed.
CRASH!
…
His entire body ached.
That was the first thought that came to his mind as he came to, the nausea and distortion buzzing around in his head ebbing and flowing with the spots that had appeared in his vision. He blinked hard and coughed, groaning in agony as he felt his body first. He eventually let out a breath of pure adrenaline-driven relief as he slowly realized that he hadn't broken anything.
But what about the hellion?
Worry spiked sharply in Sorey's heart. With a massive effort, the Shepherd forced himself to sit up, wincing as the world around him shifted in an alarming manner. He shook himself slightly and forced his eyes to focus.
Dust hung in the air in the aftermath of the rock that had been gouged out of the side of the cliff face. The stars could be seen peeking through the heavy canopy of the tall trees surrounding his position. He had evidently tumbled for quite a while downhill, judging by the pattern of the disturbed grass at his side.
Out of pure chance, he managed to spot the masked hellion leaning painfully against one of the trees in the distant darkness, its entire body slouched heavily against the trunk.
His eyes widened as he took in the state of the hellion's human-like arm. It was clearly dislocated, if not outright broken. It was clearly a miracle that the arm was still attached to its body to begin with. Worried beyond belief, Sorey found his voice.
"H-hey!" He coughed out, reaching out with his hand.
The moment his voice rang out, the hellion's entire body stiffened. Without a second glance back, nor any thought or consideration given to its injury, the hellion slammed its claw into the floor and used it to propel itself far into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.
Sorey stared blankly at where it had disappeared, his eyes wide in utter astonishment and confusion. He let his arm fall down limply by his side, idly registering that his sleeve was still caked in congealed hellion blood.
In the wake of flagrant chaos, only the sound of chirping crickets and waving trees remained to keep the lone Shepherd company. Meanwhile, high up above, the hovering stars continued on as they always had been since the very beginning.
Silent.
Watching.
Remembering.
End of Part 2 – Closer.
Massive thanks to Paragon of Awesomeness for betaing this chapter!