Some people seemed to have gotten the gist of my idea. So I'm going to continue it! Hope you enjoy.
Encounter Number 2: Enemy Conqueror
After her encounter at Citadel Gate, Emora and Airi were overlooking their soldiers gather loot and supplies, and store it in horse carriages to take back to their fortress. Just then, the sound of a large object cutting through the air could be heard from the east.
"What the hell?!" Emora yelled out as she turned to look at the far gate, where she could see four fiery balls of death plummeting through the air.
"Catapults! Run! Get out of the open!" Airi yelled.
Men down on the battlefield flew onto their stomachs as the projectiles hit the ground, and blew up everything in the surrounding area. Dirt and debris scatted all over nearby soldiers.
Outside of the East Gate, a small army of a few hundred soldiers all dressed in orange waited. The Gate was being hammered down by a battering ram.
"We have to get down there and help Emora!" Airi grabbed the Warden's arm.
"Right. Let's go."
Emora and Airi slid down the ladder one by one, they ran out onto the open battlefield, trying to help up any soldiers who were still dazed by the catapult explosions.
"Get to the gates! Stay at the ready!" Emora ordered. Soon after, knights dressed in Blue were lined up in front of the gate.
"Defensive positions!" Airi yelled out as the Gate began to crack under the pressure of the Battering Ram.
The soldiers raised their shields, each of them ready for the assault that was about to come. The Battering Ram struck the gate again, making everyone shift in their stances. The Battering Ram struck once more, and the gate flew open.
A loud, spine-tingling war cry rang through the air as the enemy army charged towards Emora and her men.
"Hold your stances!"
The enemy drew nearer, only mere meters away, Emora readied her blade.
"NOW! Offensive stances!"
The two armies clashed, shields bashed against shields, swords clashed, helmets banged, blood was spilled, the flesh was cut, lives being wasted.
Emora swung her sword in a wide arc, killing multiple soldiers in front of her. She turned to her left and stabbed one through the stomach, then switched directions to strike another with the hilt of her blade on her right.
"YAAH!" Emora cried out as she uppercut another soldier, using her sword as a bludgeon. She flipped it back over, swung it widely, and decapitated two men. She turned to her right to see two men charging at her.
She blocked the sword of one and sensed the second blade heading toward her. She blocked the man's attack using her gauntlet. Once she had smacked the soldier's sword out of his hand, she dug her blade into his ribcage and forced him into the ground.
She then swept her sword with all her strength, hitting the second soldier's legs, and sending him flying up into the air. She charged forward, striking him in mid-air. The man's body rolled forward a few feet, completely lifeless.
"Hah...Huah...Rah!" Emora brought her blade down on another soldier's shield, cutting it in half, and sticking her sword through the man's arm. She forced it downward and cuffed him in his left cheek with her hilt. The man fell to the ground with a streak of blood flailing from his mouth.
Emora could see Airi swiftly pricking and stabbing enemies with her staff in quick succession, she was quick, agile, and efficient.
"The Samurai...They're fighting styles are so...Advanced." Emora thought. Suddenly, she could hear a loud explosion on her left.
"What the—HUH!?"
Emora watched as the left side of the battlefield was swarmed with enemies dressed in orange. They were entering from a spiral staircase that led into a small temple. An alternate entrance.
"Pricks...Airi!"
Airi slit the throat of someone in front of her, she watched as he gargled and drowned in his own blood before he slowly fell to the floor. She turned to look at Emora, breathing deeply.
"What is it?"
Emora pointed to the temple. "They've found another way in! I'm going to make sure they don't get a flank on us! You hold this point!"
Airi nodded her head. "Okay, I understand!" Before Emora could turn to run, the Nobushi reached out with her hand.
"Be careful...Warden." She said firmly.
Emora paused, she looked at the Nobushi, a stranger only a few mere hours ago, but now she could feel it. She had made a friend.
"I will. Thank you."
Emora pushed her fellow soldier out of the way, rushed up some steps, ran across a circular plaza, up some more stairs, and reached a sort of battle arena. She jogged across it and saw that she was standing before a narrow corridor, where the stone railings were broken, and the possibility of falling off the rocky cliffs was high.
"Huh...Holy shit.."
Emora looked off at the distance, endless forest, and more parts of Citadel Gate far below the top level. She breathed in fresh air through her ventilation holes in her helmet and shut her eyes.
For a second, she eased her stress, relaxed her shoulders, and un-tensed her cramped hands.
A grave mistake for a Warden in battle.
A sharp pain suddenly surged through Emora's shoulder, she let out a loud cry and staggered to the side holding her arm in pain.
"AHH! Ghg—Hah..."
Emora fell back against a piece of stone railing, her longsword clanged onto the ground next to her. She looked up to see a strong, powerful looking man. He was wearing a heavy brigandine on his chest and back, displaying an Orange cross, the rest of his clothes a dark gray.
His armor was a fine silver, although dirty and dented. His shoulder pads large and bulky, his helmet angled, narrow, and circular at the top.
A disk of metal covered his eye holes, as the man was looking down. To his sides, archers, and about a dozen foot soldiers.
"Just what were you doing just now? You let your guard down in battle...To look at the view?" The man asked.
Emora groaned as she grabbed the arrow lodged in her shoulder pad, and let out a whimper as she broke the shaft of the arrow, she would worry about the arrow-head later.
"Gh...You don't need to know what I was doing..." Emora said with a grunt, she wearily stood up but leaned back against the stone rails.
She observed the man closely. His eye holes narrowed, his breathing vents placed all over the bottom half of his hat looking helmet. He was quite muscular, having bulging, beefy arms that were foolishly unprotected. They were bare and unarmored, a cocky move on his part.
"Well...You don enemy colors. That means you're a threat. Not only that...But you're not just any soldier are you? You're one of those guardians. A Warden."
Emora swallowed beneath her helmet. She turned to look at her longsword, but it was too far away for her to reach it.
"Yeah don't even think about it blondie." The man said as he walked over, pushed Emora back, and kicked her sword even farther away.
"You little—"
Before she could finish, the man crushed his seemingly iron fist into the side of Emora's helmet. Pain surged through her already knocking head, she lost all sense of direction and her vision was all but a blur.
She staggered along the railing until she realized she was about to walk off. She stopped herself, and fell on her back, only to get caught by a strong grip.
"Ah—Wha...What are you doing?!" Emora cried out as her vision returned. She was facing off towards the forest. She looked down to see rocky cliffs that would make a horribly painful death.
The man laughed as he wrapped his metal chain around Emora's neck, and placed the spiked ball of his flail on the back of her neck. He placed his hand on Emora's chest, his shield covering her torso.
"Look at her boys! She's about to have a bit of a tumble!" The man laughed heartily, his companions cheering and bellowing along.
Emora growled under her breath as her boots chipped small rocks over the cliff. She watched as each small stone fell and ricocheted as it fell down the cliff. She tried stepping back, but every time she did so, the man would pull her neck back with the chain of his metal fail.
"GH—GAH! Guh... Ah...Hah..." Emora panted as she struggled to swallow her own saliva through the grip of the chain. She could feel the oxygen draining from her lungs. She began to panic as her throat tightened and constricted.
"Time to go freefalling gal! Off you go—" The man started, but his voice was interrupted by a loud shriek.
"SHIT!"
The man let go of Emora, threw her against the opposite side of the railing, and crouched below his shield.
Emora struck the back of her head on the railing, she sucked in deep, long breaths of air through her mouth. As she panted, she watched as fiery arrows killed every single one of the man's allies.
Emora stood up and looked back. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted Airi with her hand raised in her direction. Her archers had saved her life.
"Airi...Thank you.."
Emora turned around, rushed for her sword, and ran back to the man.
"Goddamn it...Those stupid Samurais and their archers! It's like bloody hellfire out here!" He yelled angrily as he stood up and broke the arrows off of his shield. He stepped back when he spotted Emora walking towards him.
"Ah...So...You have the help of your sword now? Well then...This is different."
Emora looked at the man's weapons. A flail and shield. Heavy shoulder pads, sturdy brigandines, and a hat-like helmet. Of course, the dirty taunt she had just been through, the humiliation, the lack of Honor...Could only be the actions of a typical Conqueror. Unlawful, boastful, cocky, arrogant, and irritating.
Emora got into a battle stance, she held her longsword with one hand as she rubbed her throat.
"I'm gonna make you regret strangling me off the edge of that cliff...You're going to be the one having a nice tumble to your death!" Emora yelled.
The Conqueror laughed. "Fine then! Bring it on.."
He began to swing his flail around, and constantly moving his shield around. He was making Emora guess.
"Hehe...This'll be good. I usually like to skip introductions...But the name's Rowen. I'll be your killer today."
Suddenly, he swung his flail at a surprising speed, striking Emora in the chest. He charged forward in a shield bash, which sent Emora staggering back. Rowen struck the Warden twice with his flail, then came back around using huge momentum for a heavy attack.
Emora quickly parried the attack, she countered with a swift light to her enemy's shoulder, and then spun around to follow up with a chained side heavy.
"Te affligam!" Rowen yelled as he sturdily placed his shield out in front of him. Emora felt her hand's sting as her sword seemingly bounced off his shield like nothing. From out of the blue, a horrible pain struck her as Rowen uppercut Emora using his flail.
"AAUGH!"
The Warden fell onto her back, her jaw stinging with pain. She watched as Rowen raised his flail, and brought it down. With barely just enough time, Emora rolled to the side and regained her footing.
"You got lucky!"
"Did I princess?"
Emora rushed forward, sidestepped, and charged up a shoulder charge.
"I ain't that stupid!" Rowen yelled as he side dashed to shield bash. But Emora placed her foot out in front of her as she canceled her shoulder charge, and round-house kicked Rowen on his side.
"AUH!" He yelled out in pain, his body crippled under the force of the melee move.
Emora went in for a heavy attack, but Rowen parried the move and moved in with his own heavy. Emora ducked under it and charged forward with a shoulder charge that connected with the Conqueror's torso.
"HA! RAH!" Emora grunted as she slashed Rowen across the chest twice in quick succession. She used her momentum to raise her sword up into the air with mighty speed.
"AHGH!" Rowen grunted as he raised his shield over his head to block the extremely heavy hit. His arm vibrated as his shield blocked the attack. He struck Emora once in the ribs with a weak light attack and dashed to the side.
"Te occidam!" He yelled as he charged into Emora and went for a heavy that missed. He quickly reacted and went in for yet another heavy attack.
"You're wide open!" Emora yelled, she moved to parry but she found herself out of breath as Rowen feinted his heavy, and went in to shield bash instead.
"RAAUGH!" Emora cried as her back struck the stone railing. She felt a heavy attack connect on her collarbone, and a light attack smack her across the front side of her helmet.
"You're done for!" Rowen bellowed as he shield-bashed forward. This time, Emora dodged the bash and grabbed the back of Rowen's neck.
"GLARGH!"
Emora threw Rowen back towards the opposite railing, the force of the push caused the railing to crumble and crack.
Emora landed a strong heavy attack on the Conqueror's ribcage, a huge gash caused him to yell out in pain as his left hand became painted in his own blood.
"AHH! FUCK YOU!"
Rowen angered, and as Emora went in for another heavy, he ducked under it and gut-punched her straight under the ribcage.
"GAAARGHUAH!" Emora cried out, blood sprayed out through her breathing holes as her body pulsed with a stunning shockwave of pure force.
"DIE!" Rowen roared as he struck Emora in the back of the head with his shield. The Warden fell on all fours beneath Rowen, she looked up at him, only to receive a powerful kick to the side of the head.
"OUH!" Emora grunted as she rolled over from the kick. She looked up to see a flail in the air. She rolled over, got onto her feet, grabbed Rowen's arm, and tried to shift it backward.
Her attempt backfired, and Rowen thrust his fist into the center of Emora's chest, rendering her stamina drained. He plunged her back towards the crumbling railing and went in for a heavy.
Emora dodged the attack and cut Rowen's arm with her blade. She struck him in the face with her hilt, then again with a pommel strike. As she tried to stab Rowen through the stomach with her sword, he quickly wrapped his chain around his arm, grabbed ahold of Emora's forearm, and threw it aside.
With her guard broken, Emora was bashed in the face by Rowen's shield. He then pushed her to his left, against the stone railing again.
"You're dead this time!" The Conqueror angrily yelled.
"Nah!" Emora exclaimed as Rowen smashed his flail into her gauntlet, causing her to drop her longsword.
"NO!" She cried.
"THIS FIGHT IS OVER!" Rowen laughed.
He quickly swung his flail in a right arc towards Emora's head, but the Warden ducked and wound up an obliterating gut punch that managed to land.
"RAUUGHLAGH!" Rowen gutted out, spit and blood spewed out of his mouth. Emora kept punching, hitting him with a swift right hook, then with a powerful left arc that sent Rowen staggering back.
"I'll TAKE THIS FOR A SECOND!"
Emora grabbed Rowen's flail and used it to swing him into a broken edge of the stone railing. A huge piece of the edge broke off as he collided with it. The Warden savagely ripped the flail from Rowen's grasp as she threw it over her shoulder.
"NOO! Why...Y-You..." Rowen clutched his fists as he clutched his shield.
He rushed forward, but Emora was too fast. He fell into a headlock, into which Emora violently made him turn around and face her.
"HOW'S THIS FEEL?!"
She lifted the Conqueror up into the air using all her strength and brought him down in a devastating chokeslam.
"ARGH—GRAUUGH!" Rowen yelled as his head banged against the hard floor. Emora angrily began to pummel him with punches, he kept tanking them until he found a swift opening. He caught the Warden's fist and rolled her over so that he was on top.
"How do you like it huh?! Huh!? HUH!?" Rowen shouted as he punched Emora rapidly with his iron fists.
"Take this shit off!"
Rowen grabbed the bottom part of Emora's helmet, and threw it off of her, exposing her face. He ripped off any chainmail and proceeded to brutalize the Warden's face.
"GAH! UGH! AGH! RGH! Ggh—GLAH!" Emora cried out with every punch, jab, strike, hit, and cuff.
"ENOUGH!"
Emora yelled out in everlasting fury. She grabbed ahold of Rowen's neck and threw him off of herself to the right. She quickly got onto her knees and rolled him over onto his stomach. She grabbed the back of his helmet and threw it off as well.
"How do I like it?! How do YOU LIKE IT!?" Emora wrapped her arm around Rowen's neck and punched him three times with her other arm.
"Ggh...Argh...Pgh.." He weakly groaned as blood streamed down his face from his forehead and cheekbones.
Emora inched the weak Conqueror towards the edge. She made him stand up, with her arm still around his neck tightly.
"Remember? Yeah, you do you bastard...You enjoying the view?" Emora asked as she held Rowen on the edge of the cliff, on the opening of the railing.
"Yeah...It ain't bad..." He exhaled, his voice strained, virtually begging for air.
"Yeah...It is. Isn't it? Now...It's time for you to—"
"I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" Rowen cried out, his voice thundered through the air, startling Emora, and making her drop her guard.
The Conqueror grabbed the Warden's arm and leaped off the cliff. Emora cried out in a horrifying, terrible shriek of despair as she felt herself fall off the ledge.
"NOOO!"
She flailed her arm around and managed to grab onto a lower edge of the cliff, a few feet below the fragile stone railing. She looked down to see Rowen hanging onto her left leg.
"COME DOWN HERE WITH ME! COME ON! WE DESERVE TO DIE TOGETHER AFTER SUCH A FIGHT!" Rowen laughed maniacally.
Emora whimpered and grunted as she grabbed onto the ledge using both of her arms. She looked down at Rowen with teary eyes.
"You know...I thought you had me there...I thought...I thought you had killed us both..."
Rowen raised an eyebrow. "H-Huh...?"
Emora sniffled a few times until she took a deep breath and grinned.
"But at least I know, I'm not dying...At least not today. And definitely not to you." She finally said.
"Wait...WHAT?!"
With a swift kick to the forehead, Rowen let go of Emora's leg and was sent plummeting to his death. Emora watched as he fell, farther and farther. His death cry getting fainter and fainter until...
Thud.
Emora exhaled, she began to pant completely of control when she realized she couldn't push herself up. Her arrow wound in her shoulder made her grip on one of her arms weak, she suddenly let go, and could only hang on with one good arm.
"NO! NO! SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP ME!" Emora cried out as loudly as she could, she prayed that someone could hear her.
"HELP! HELP ME! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME—AHH!"
Chunks of rock began to crumble and crack under Emora's weight, she tried to grab onto another ledge using her other arm, but the arrow wound hurt far too much.
"PLEASE! PLEASE, ANYONE! HELP ME! Please...Somebody...Help..Me..." Emora cried out once more, before quieting herself. Tears trickled down her face as she prepared to let go. The ledge she was hanging on finally gave in, and for a split second...She felt...
Completely weightless. Almost like a feather in the wind. Like a leaf traveling down a gentle stream. Like the gentle sensation...Of death.
Suddenly, she heard a cry and a tight, desperate grip on her hand. She gasped and looked up to see Airi grabbing onto her with all her strength.
"Emora! Hold on!" She cried.
"A-Airi.." Emora murmured as she let herself get pulled up by the Nobushi. She used her legs to climb up the rest of the way.
Both girls panted near the edge of the cliff, more so Emora than Airi.
The Nobushi took off her mask to get a better look at Emora's wounds.
"W-What happened...You look horrible.." She gently touched Emora's face with her fingertips.
The Warden winced lightly, but then painfully smirked. "Heh...Well...It wasn't an easy fight.." She chuckled.
Airi laughed, but then went back to her worried tone. "We had held off at the East Gate, and I was wondering what was taking you so long. I rushed over to come to check on you because I got too worried...Then I heard your screams, and I sprinted over at full speed."
Emora shook her head. "I had him...He was a strong fighter...And a really tough opponent. He was bent on killing me...We even got personal when we were disarmed...And unmasked. This is the closest I've ever been to death in my entire life so far..."
Airi frowned, she grabbed Emora's arm. "We need to get you medical attention. Your wounds look horrible...And we need to get that shoulder of yours checked out as well."
Emora stood up and let herself get dragged along by Airi. Until she made her come to a sudden stop.
"Hey! Wait!"
Airi turned around, her eyebrow raised. "Hm? What it?"
Emora smiled. "I didn't say thanks! You saved my life Airi...I'm forever in your debt. Thank you."
"It was nothing...It was the least I could do after your fight with—Oh!"
Emora embraced Airi in her arms, pulling her into a hug.
"Shut up. You don't need to act humble to the person whose life you saved. Accept my thanks." Emora said firmly.
Airi fumbled for words, her arms awkwardly hovering over Emora's body. "O-Okay...Y-You're welcome...Emora.."
Airi let her arms rest on the body of her companion, she hugged the Warden, then pulled away.
"Now, shall we?" Emora grinned. Airi giggled as the two Heroes walked back to a wagon stuffed with medical herbs, and bandage cloths.
The night sky was clear, the stars sparkling, the full moon shining down on Citadel Gate. Torches were lit up in the distance, an approaching army...An army that may or may not be in the way of Emora's return to her home fortress.
That was the quite climactic Conqueror fight! Holy shit, half of the stuff I came up with as I wrote! Anyway, I hope anyone reading enjoyed. Until the next one, later.
