Okay. I have been far too busy lately. I'm sorry my updates are getting less and less frequent. I'm trying...Believe me. It's okay though! I'll hopefully, I'll be able to get some chapters out.
Encounter Number 8: Enemy Warlord
Airi sat at a wooden table, her chair tucked in deeply, and she leaned forward on the letter she was reading. She sat in silence as she gathered all of its information.
Everything seems to be fine. Nice work on taking out Gunnvor by the way, if he had gotten here before we could set up a good attack, the army that was stationed in this town would've moved in on Ashfeld, and done some serious damage to the Legions. But we managed to take them all out, and completely deny the Warborn of their assault. We only lost one Hero; she got outnumbered by two Berserkers. We couldn't get there fast enough...But hey! We're fine now, and we'll keep moving up the map following our respective colored line. With enough luck and within a short matter of time, we'll all be together attacking Einar Magna and the rest of the Warborn! Good luck!
-Cyrus
Airi sighed and folded the letter in half. She dug her face in her hands and shook her head.
"Well...They're all okay. That's a relief..." Airi said to herself.
The Nobushi heard something to her left. She closed her eyes and exhaled, knowing who it was. She frowned with annoyance and turned to the man.
"Well? What is it?" Alban asked.
Hakushi briskly grabbed the letter and snapped it in the Highlander's direction, not making any eye contact with him.
"Take a look for yourself." She said hastily.
With a bit of hesitance, Alban took the letter from Airi, who quickly reeled her hand back, and folded her arms in frustration, her face blank with ignorance.
As the Highlander finished reading the letter, he sighed and smiled. "Well. Seems like everything worked out. I knew Cinderus was right about this plan."
Hakushi rolled her eyes. "Of course he is. He's been the General of Fort Diamond a while now, and I have been part of this Legion for quite some time as well. I would know that his plans are effective and are most of the time, successful." The Nobushi snapped.
Alban pulled back, his eyebrows raised. He cleared his throat and tried to continue.
"Well...Yes, I suppose so—"
"I'm surprised you would know. Not only are you not a Knight, but you're new to the Azure Legion as well." Airi followed up, her arms still folded, her eyes still fixed on the wall in front of her. She sat still, her chest rising up and down with her agitated breathing.
Alban opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes shifted downwards towards the letter. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Yes but...You are not a Knight either, Hakushi." He asked politely.
"I know I'm not a Knight. But I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't go around saying stuff about a Legion you haven't even been part of for a long time." Airi said firmly.
Alban shook his head and held the letter at his side. "Okay, Hakushi...Understood."
The Nobushi scoffed and reached out for the cup of water that was in front of her. She closed her eyes and gulped the entire thing down within seconds. When she finished, she gasped for air, slammed the cup down on the table, and wiped her mouth bluntly.
The Highlander stayed quiet until he decided to ask a question.
"You...You were once one of the Azure Legion's top Heroes...Right?"
Airi snapped her head to face Alban.
"I still am. Alongside Emora and some others. Why?"
The Highlander shook his head respectfully. "I was just asking. I knew I had heard something about that."
The two Heroes returned to being silent. For a few seconds, they stood idle, doing absolutely nothing. The air began to get heavy and stiff. It became hard to breathe, and the tension and awkwardness in the area was getting unbearable.
Alban sighed, he leaned forward on the table, looking at Airi.
"Okay. What do you have against me? I haven't done anything to you, yet you act like I'm the one who killed your entire family. Do you just hold grudges randomly? Because I recall doing nothing to offend or hurt you."
Airi's breathing became strained. Alban heard her throat make a small noise of suppression. She closed her eyes and breathed out heavily from her nose.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you go outside and bother someone else? Where is Katsue, I haven't seen her around the house for a while." The Nobushi said, her tone filled with desperation.
Alban took in air and replied. "She's outside on the porch, reading her map. She's going to lead the way to our next objective. She's busy, and she just came back from exploring the village. She's new to this territory, so I'm giving her some time alone." The Highlander explained.
Airi nodded her head. "Right. Well, she recovered much faster than Emora. Probably because I took her out of the water faster than you could take out Emora."
Alban frowned.
"Well...She has heavy BlackIron armor. She was drenched in water from head to toe, and she was half unconscious, so that made her quite heavy you know. I'm sorry I wasn't faster if that's what you want to hear."
Hakushi said nothing. She only looked at her nails with a blank expression. Alban glanced back at the letter he was holding and nodded to himself.
"Speaking of Emora, she hasn't seen this. I'm sure she'll be happy to see that her friend Cyrus is still alive."
As the Highlander was about to walk away and enter the room where the resting Warden was sleeping, Airi jumped to her feet and leaped in front of Alban, she harshly snatched the letter from his hands and glared angrily at the startled Warrior.
"I'll give it to her! Go do something else!" The Nobushi yelled.
Alban's eyes widened. He stepped back and put his hands up as if he were surrendering.
"O-Okay! You can take it to her if you want...It's fine. I'll just go...Talk to Katsue about our next course of action...I guess." The Highlander stammered as he slowly turned around. Hakushi watched as Alban opened the front door of the house, and closed it behind him.
The Samurai sighed, holding the slightly crumpled letter. She brushed hair out of her eyes and sighed.
"That was a bit too much..."
As she walked into Emora's room, she noticed that the Warden was sound asleep. She was quietly cooing in her sleep, releasing small noises of slumber. She was in the fetal position, her blankets tucked up in her arms.
"Crap. She's cold.."
The Nobushi walked to a box in the far corner of the room. She pulled out a large fur blanket that Katsue had found while searching the house. She carefully laid the blanket on top of Emora's body, stacking it on top of the thin cloth blanket she was already using.
As she softly finished enveloping the Warden in the thicker covers, she stepped back and observed.
Emora's face slowly shifted into a smile. Her face muscles relaxed and finally showed signs of true recovery. She moaned quietly as her body began to warm up underneath the covers.
Airi looked at Cyrus' letter. She smiled and quietly placed it on Emora's pillow, next to her head.
"Well...She'll see it once she wakes up."
The Nobushi exited the Warden's room. She gently closed the door and looked out towards the front window, where she could see Katsue and Alban looking at their maps, discussing vigorously.
"Well...They'll never come to a solid agreement by themselves. I'd better help." Airi thought to herself. And with that, she went out the front door to assist in setting up the plan to progress the attack on the Warborn.
A few hours later...
Alban bit into his apple and chewed quietly as Airi and Katsue finally nodded their heads in agreement.
"Alright. Our line leads to a large fortress that blocks our route into the upper mountain where Einar's final base is located at. What was it called? I forget..." Katsue asked.
"The Kingdom of Magna," Alban responded.
Katsue nodded her head. She had shiny black hair that she styled in a rigid ponytail on the top of her head when she wore her mask, but she let it down loose when not in battle.
Her bangs were spiky and long, covering her eyes, ears, and some of them rang down her neck. The rest of her hair went down her shoulders and back. She brushed some strands of hair from her face and rubbed her purple eyes.
"Well...It's a pretty big fort, we'll be meeting up with the Green team apparently." She continued.
Airi looked at her map and nodded. "Yep, we will be. Elea leads that team...So we'll be working alongside her. Emora will be happy to hear that."
"Happy to hear what?" Someone said from behind.
All three Heroes turned to look at the doorway, where Emora stood tall. She wore her full suit of armor, she had her helmet tucked under her arm and was holding her sword tightly in her other hand.
"Emora! You're awake!" Airi exclaimed cheerfully, she jumped up and hugged the Warden tightly.
"Yeah, I am. That was some of the best rest I've had in a really long time. I needed it...After falling into that cold water." Emora chuckled, glancing at Alban, who was smiling genuinely.
"I made sure to double check that you were warm enough. You were making little noises in your sleep, so I put that fur blanket over your first blanket to give you extra covers." Airi smiled.
The Warden grinned. "Well, thanks for doing that. I woke up feeling great. So, what were you all talking about?"
Katsue stood up and bowed in respect. She held up her map and began to explain.
"Our line goes up the map as shown my Lord. We will be meeting up with the Green Team, which according to Hakushi, is led by your friend and ally, Elea. With our two teams together, we will be attacking a major fort up North that blocks our entrance into the upper mountains of Einar's main headquarters...The Kingdom of Magna!" The young Shinobi said thoroughly.
She was trying not to stutter or stammer. She nearly fumbled over a few words of her explanation, which made her entire body surge with heat.
The Warden nodded her head firmly, but she wasn't serious, she looked at the fidgeting Shinobi with a cute smile.
"Well, that's great! I'm glad we already know where to head off to next. And perfect timing too...We have to get out of here, and pretty quickly too. We have to make it look like the Elio Legion is responsible for all this crap, so gear up, pack up, and get ready to saddle up, because we're leaving in ten minutes." Emora said firmly.
"Yes my Lord!" All three of Emora's teammates said loudly, even Airi, who was smirking. They all bowed and went off in their separate directions.
Emora crossed her arms and sighed. She put her head down and looked at her boots.
"Well...Fresh out of the warm bed and out into the cold...Back into battle."
The Knight uncrossed her arms and put on her helmet. She shut the visor over her face and blinked a few times to adjust to the world of a Warden. She held her longsword at her side and cracked her neck.
"Here we go."
A few hours later...
Emora stopped her horse at the opening of a large snowy field. Her teammates behind her did the same and waited on what to do next.
"Okay, tie the horses up a little more back, farther into the trees, then we look for the Green Team, and find a way into this base." The Warden said quietly.
Airi, Alban, and Katsue nodded their heads simultaneously. They turned back and began to tie their horses to concealed trees.
Emora observed the large base; she took deep breaths as she looked at her own armor and clothes. Her black and orange Elio robes were dirty and scratched from fighting. This gave her the appearance of the intimidating and experienced fighter she was.
"Okay. We're done Emora..." Airi put her hand on the Warden's shoulder and nodded as she put on her mask.
"Alright...We have to try and find Elea's team. Spread out."
The four Heroes separated. The treaded along the trees and pathways, trying to find a sign of the Green Team. No one knew if they had even decided to attack at the same time, but the map had a recommended time of arrival, where the fortress would have its defenses down, due to a fresh shipment of Azure Legion plunder from Ashfeld.
Alban looked up at the sky, which was bright white with snow clouds. He looked at his own icy breath in the air in front of him as he walked.
Suddenly, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, he spun around with his knuckles out, trying to strike whatever touched him as an instinct of self-defense.
"WOAH!" The voice said as they ducked under the back-hand attack and stepped back.
"The hell was that for?" The Berserker laughed.
"I...I'm sorry! I thought you were an enemy. Y-You must be..."
The Berserker had three other Heroes behind her. She stood proudly, holding her two axes stylishly.
"Yep! It's me, Elea. What's your name, dumbass?" She asked with a chuckle, making her entire team snicker quietly.
Alban smiled, recognizing the casual and friendly bond that Elea had with her team.
"I'm Alban. I am a member of the Red Team. Lord Ryon and my other squad-mates are nearby. They are all looking for you." The Highlander replied.
Elea nodded her head and giggled. "Well of course they are! We're attackin' this place together, aren't we? As one big group, team, and family! Come on Alban! Lead the way."
The Highlander turned around and led Elea's team back to the rally point. There, Katsue and Airi stood idle.
The Nobushi turned around at the sound of multiple footsteps behind her.
"Oh! Elea!"
"Ayy Hakushi! My favorite Nobushi!"
The two friends hugged tightly, both laughing.
"It's so good to see you again, Elea." Airi smiled.
"I bet it is! It's good to see you're still holding up too, Airi." The Berserker grinned at the Samurai.
The other Heroes soon came together to enter the fortress. The two teams looked around, all looking for someone who was missing.
"Well...Where's Emora?" Elea asked.
Just then, the gate began to open of the Fortress. Startled, all seven Heroes stood in their fighting positions.
They all paused and dropped their guards when they saw Emora standing in the middle of a few dozen Vikings, holding her longsword behind her head.
"Hey there! Come on in." The Warden laughed.
The seven other Heroes stared back with blank expressions. They all exchanged looks before all beginning to enter the gates. The heavy steel doors closed behind them as they all stood inside the base.
Emora called the Vikings off to their jobs and turned to her fellow Heroes.
"Okay, we're in. It just so happens that I found some soldier taking a bathroom break in the outhouse. It was a bit awkward, but he was nice enough to escort me inside the base with literally no trouble. We'll be meeting with the Warlord of this place in a few minutes."
"Okay, got it! So...How exactly are we going to kill the Warlord and destroy this base on our own? That sounds kind of hard, even for all eight of us." Alban asked.
"Anythin' is possible Alban! You just gotta believe!" Elea laughed.
Emora shook her head, laughing. "I appreciate your trust in our team Elea, but I have a plan. This base is chuck-full of supplies from everywhere. It has a whole lot of everything, and tons of it is gunpowder or tar. All we have to do set up some of those barrels full of that stuff around the core components of the base and use torches to set all hell loose."
"Okay...I like the sound of that. What about afterward?" Elea asked.
"Once everyone is panicking, and the Warlord comes out to see what's happening himself, we kill him. We take down all these other soldiers and warriors and burn this entire damn place to the ground. Remember, a Hero is the equivalent of an entire army of regular soldiers."
The seven Heroes looked at Emora, all their eyes shining through their helmets, masks, and face-covers.
"We're the driving force of the Azure Legion...We are the Heroes that will save Ashfeld from the savagery of the Warborn. We're the group of people that are going to put the Warborn back into their place and kill the feared Einar Magna. We'll defeat and slaughter the Elio Legion once again, and teach 'em one final time to not fuck with us Azures!"
Emora raised her sword in the air and yelled, making everyone else emote out in excitement and encouragement. They all cheered and laughed.
"Alright! Let's meet this Warlord guy..." Airi giggled.
After a few minutes of waiting, three Vikings walked out from a large building that could only be the main house of the fortress. Where the feasts are held, where big meetings are executed, and where most of the plunder is stored.
The three Vikings, a Valkyrie on the left, a Raider on the right, and finally, a Warlord in the middle stood before the eight Heroes.
"Welcome, mercenaries of the Elio Legion. What brings you all the way so far up north in Valkenheim to our glorious Fortress?" The Warlord asked.
Emora stepped forward, standing proud and at her full height.
"We were all sent to check on the supply rate at which this base is gathering loot from Ashfeld. We need to double-check that at least 60 percent of these supplies are heading up to the Kingdom of Magna. It seems that your men and women here are quite happy and a bit too...Over-equipped."
The Warlord shifted. It was true, his base was holding on to too many supplies from Ashfeld, and was not sending up enough to Einar Magna. But in reality, Emora could care less about the Warborn's sloppy procedures, she just wanted to get herself and her team spread out through the fortress to plant the gunpowder and tar-filled barrels.
"Ahem...Yes, yes of course. That should be no problem."
Elea stepped forward, grinning. Emora's heart skipped a beat; she was scared that the Berserker might say something stupid to break their cover.
"The Elio Legion needs to make sure that Einar is content with the alliance we are providing. If it weren't for us, the Warborn would not even be able to even cross the borders of Ashfeld without having their armies crushed by the Iron and Azure Legions. You should all be grateful that we're here to check on your progress." She said firmly, without stuttering or messing up at all.
Emora and the other Heroes stood silently; all surprised at Elea's sudden show of intelligence and professionalism.
The Warlord nodded his head. "Yes. May I get your names?"
Emora and Elea froze. They didn't come up with fake names. Luckily, someone who was slick and quick to think was on their side.
"You shall address the Warden as Lord Silver. The Berserker is named Claudia Solo, and I am named Asmund Felman." Alban said swiftly and quickly.
The Warlord nodded again in understanding. "Very well then. My name is Caldurn Brynjar, and I am the Warlord of this entire fortress."
A bell rang in the heads of all eight Heroes, it rang:
Target Located.
Emora thrust her sword into the ground, she leaned forward on it and cracked her knuckles.
"Alright then. My allies and I shall begin to tour around your fortress and ask your soldiers to show us the reserves of supplies laid around every individual segment. In the end, we'll decide if any of your supplies shall be stripped from you, and delivered to Einar Magna through mandatory convoys."
"Understood. Please take your time."
And with that, Caldurn, the Valkyrie, and the Raider all turned around to return to the main house. Emora and Elea unstiffened and relaxed their shoulders and chests.
"Alright, everyone spread out, and act casual. Find as many barrels of gunpowder and tar as you can, and tell the soldiers that they have far too much of it. Take it yourself, and plant them in key points of the fort." Emora explained.
"Like what?" Airi asked.
"Large houses, barracks, farms, blacksmiths, barns, markets, trading posts, horse stables, weapon armories, and of course the Main House. Then of course anything made of wood and potentially loose or old stone." Emora responded.
"Alright, we got it. Everyone, grab a torch, then get ahold of some string, and strap it onto your utility belts. We're going demolition mode on this entire damn place!" Elea laughed.
Emora nodded her head and took a few deep breaths.
"We'll gather here once the wreckage and fires have started. We'll kill off any soldiers and warriors that try and fight us. But remember, our target is that Warlord, Caldurn." The Warden specified.
"Understood my Lord. Okay, let's get to work." Alban said sternly, making everyone take serious moods and attitudes, and spread out.
"Alban!" Emora shouted to the Highlander before he left.
"Yes, my Lord?" The Highlander responded.
The Warden leaned forward and nodded. "What did I say about calling me 'Lord' huh? Emora is fine." She giggled.
"My apologies...Emora. I'd rather just call you Lord in front of large groups. I'm not comfortable calling you by your first name in front of people just yet, as most of these Heroes look up to you. Actually...I'm quite sure all of them do."
The Knight thought about it.
"I guess you're right. But in private, or...Just when...We're not on duty...None of that fancy stuff, alright? We're friends, right...?" Emora asked.
The Highlander paused, sensing a bit of anxiety in the Warden's voice. But he exhaled and grinned. "Yes of course we are! I have saved your life after all."
Emora blushed beneath her helmet. She waved her hand out in front of her and looked away, making the Highlander laugh.
"Well...I already said I'm in your debt for that." The Warden said shyly.
"Nonsense. From one friend to another...You're welcome, and it was my pleasure." Alban's polite and charming attitude broke in as he smiled and bowed lightly. His blue eyes glimmered with a bright twinkle.
The Warden's heart sped up, and her body temperature rose. She shuddered lightly to try and shake off the heat.
"Thank you...Alban." She whispered.
The Highlander nodded his head, not breaking eye contact with the Warden. He could see past the darkness of her eye holes and could tell she was looking at him directly.
"Of course, Emora."
As the two Heroes turned to walk away from one another, two other Heroes were watching.
"That...Fucking idiot...There he goes again...Having moments with my Emora while I'm not there!" Airi mumbled to herself.
"What was that?" Katsue asked while she carried two small barrels of tar.
"Huh? N-Nothing! It was nothing...Trust me." The Nobushi said, her tone flustered and panicked.
"Is it about Lord Ryon and Alban? I saw you glaring at them endlessly." The Shinobi asked innocently.
"Dgh—No shut up! I...I was just watching Emora...She's my girlfriend you know..." Airi blushed.
"I know. But I can tell you're jealous of Alban. That's why you act so rude and blunt towards him." Katsue said, her head tilted to the side.
Hakushi looked down; she began to breathe through her mouth as she shut her eyes.
"Is...Is it really that obvious...?" She asked, looking at the Shinobi, who only nodded in response.
Airi shook her head, feeling stupid and petty. "I don't know why I'm like this...I never thought myself as the jealous type...But now look at me. I just...I love Emora far too much...And I thought she felt the same way about me! But apparently not..."
Katsue placed the two barrels of tar down and put her hand on Airi's shoulder.
"Hey. Just because Emora sees him as a friend and a close confidant doesn't mean she doesn't love you. She feels comfortable with him, probably just like she does with her other close friends. Not only that, but he saved her from drowning in frozen water, just like you did to me. I feel like you're the best friend I've ever had because of that experience." The Shinobi comforted the distraught Nobushi.
"I guess so...After Emora saved my life...And after she did it two more times...And how I always found myself taking care of her, and healing her, and thinking about her...I never wanted to let her go." Airi said softly.
Katsue nodded her head. "Emora likes Alban as a good friend. It's nothing serious, like with you. She hasn't even had any emotional moments with him like she has had with you plenty of times."
"But...Who knows! It might happen. She already flirts and blushes when she's with him...What makes you think she won't fall in love with him, and completely forget about me!?" Airi cried.
Katsue looked into Airi's dark brown eyes. "She won't forget about you Hakushi, trust me. She may play around with him a bit...But that's because Alban is a charming, and genuine guy. He's good-looking, strong, well-driven, polite, and really caring. Any girl would fall for him. He's a really nice person."
Airi's shoulder drooped. Her eyes downcast as tears built up in her eyes.
"Emora is like this...She doesn't know how to read her own emotions well because she cares too much about everything. What if she realizes that she loves Alban...She'll be confused about her relationship with me and...And everything will fall apart..."
The Nobushi began to cry, Katsue slowly rubbed her back with her hand, comforting the conflicted Samurai.
"If Emora is like that...If she cares too much...Then she'll make the right choice. If she does have feelings for Alban, then so be it Airi...Because she won't forget about her feelings for you. She'll choose the right one, something tells me when I look at her and the type of person my Lord is...That she'll choose correctly, and follow her heart truthfully."
With the Shinobi's wise and comforting words, Hakushi stopped crying. She wiped her tears and sniffled a few times.
"I know she will...I just don't want to lose her. I...I'm more worried about me...Of...Of what I might do if he takes her from me."
Katsue had nothing to say about that. She sighed and did the best she could.
"Well...Try your best to compose yourself. Bring out that good and understanding side in yourself, and understand that Emora feels the way she feels for a reason unbeknownst to you. Control your anger, your malice, and your hatred. And instead, be compassionate, understanding, and accepting if things don't go your way."
The Nobushi nodded her head. She turned to the Shinobi and smiled.
"You're right. Thank you Katsue, I appreciate your help in all this..."
"No problem Hakushi. Now let's keep doing our job, come on!"
Airi watched the Shinobi picked up the two barrels of tar and ran off. But as she did, she felt a dark energy, and dark feeling, a...Dark intension envelop her once golden heart.
"I'm sorry Katsue. I'll try to suppress myself. But Emora, she's too important to me...Love can make people do crazy things sometimes, it can...control you."
Unconsciously, the Nobushi's hands curled into strained fists.
"Love can be dangerous...Love can be deadly. Alban, if you take Emora from me...I'll do what I can to stop myself from hurting you...But if I can't..."
Airi opened her eyes. Her pupils were dilated in her eyeballs. They were small, tight, compact black circles; their dark brown iris was faint. They screamed out with insanity.
"If I can't...I'm sorry if you end up dead."
An hour later...
Emora anxiously walked under an overpass that overlooked the courtyard of the Viking Fortress. She looked up to see three of her fellow Heroes place their explosives in position. Each of them placed a bit of string inside a hole they made and got ready to light it.
The Warden walked up behind Katsue and put her hand on the Shinobi's shoulder.
"Hey. I need you and the other Shinobi's to get ready to light these things up. You're all fast enough to sprint out of the blast radius, and be able to light up most of the explosives. We'll do what we can from our positions."
"Understood my Lord, right away," Katsue responded.
Emora watched as the Samurai dashed away at a high speed. She exhaled and stood next to three large barrels of gunpowder outside of the fortress' Main House.
"Alright..."
She looked up at the sky, and it was starting to get dark. It was orange and laid out with small little gray clouds. A bit of pink lined the edges of her view, where the sun was setting.
"Soon enough, this place will be a torch in the night, signifying the Elio Legion's entrance into the vast territory of the Warborn," Emora said to herself.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Katsue and two other Shinobi's signaled at the Warden that everything was in place. Emora would be the first to trigger her barrels, as soon as the other Heroes hear her explosion, and the base is on alert, the rest of the barrels will be lit.
"Alright...Here we go."
Emora held her torch tightly. She hovered it over the piece of string that went deep into the barrels components. One explosion would trigger the other two and cause major damage and fire spread to the Main House.
The Knight took a deep breath and opened her eyes to see the warming flame of her torch.
"Let there be fire."
The tip of the string lit up with fire, and as it began to consume the string, it went up and into the barrel.
Emora stood up and waved her arms at two other Heroes who were near her. She took off at full speed and waited for the boom.
A loud, ground-shaking explosion rang through the entire fortress. The sound of shattering wood and stone could be heard by the people and guards of the base. Soon after, more booms could be heard, until the sounds in the area imitated those of a full-scale battle between the Factions, with their deadly catapults, bombs, and fire flasks.
Katsue sprinted through the base, her arms out behind her, her body leaning forward. She cut through the air, her ponytail flapping like a flag as she ran. She crouched low, lit two barrels, and kept running. Above her, a fellow Shinobi leaped from a tall tower that exploded behind him, and into a haystack.
Katsue looked to her right and spotted another Shinobi jump off the ledge of a house, land on the ceiling of a market stand, and throw his torch into the booth. Seconds after: The house, market stand, and all of the nearby area went up in flames and with the magnificent crack of gunpowder.
Airi and two more Heroes sprinted across the courtyard; they paused as one of the Heroes passed the Nobushi an arrow.
"Perfect..."
Hakushi aimed her bow up at a stack of barrels that rested upon a tall stone tower. The tower was part of a large barrack building; it housed tons of supplies, including tar and oil.
She fired the arrow, which was on fire. An orange flash struck the barrel, and a thundering shockwave of heat blasted through the air. Stone and brick rained down from the collapsing tower. It fell below as the wooden support beams caught on fire.
The three Heroes watched as the building exploded with all of its supplies. The three Shinobi sprinted into the courtyard and stood across from Airi her two allies.
"Where's Lord Ryon?" One of the Heroes asked.
Airi looked around and counted six Heroes. She rolled her eyes and slouched over as she realized where she was.
"Everyone! Get ready! In front of the Main House!" Emora yelled as she sprinted into the courtyard, and behind her ran Alban holding a barrel whose string was on fire.
"Fuck.." Hakushi exhaled. "Of course she's with him..."
The Highlander turned around and shot-put the barrel behind him towards a small shack that had hay stacked up next to it. The barrel exploded as soon as it made contact with the shack's wall, effectively blowing it open, and lighting the stacks of hay on fire.
Hakushi furrowed her eyebrows in irritation. "What a show-off..." She thought.
The Warden and the Highlander joined the group and stood in front of everyone else.
"What the hell do we do now?!" Katsue cried.
Emora felt as beads of sweat ran down the sides of her head behind her visor. She blinked a few times before answering. "We have to wait until this entire place is burned to the ground, and kill Caldurn! Hold this position, there'll be Vikings looking for us!"
The Heroes nodded their heads as they all stood in the middle of the courtyard in a large group. All of them facing outwards with their weapons out.
Battle cries could be heard as angry Vikings charged into the courtyard.
"Get them! They were the ones who did this!" One of them yelled.
"Shit! Here they come!" Airi yelled.
"Watch each other's backs! Cover each other's weaknesses! Protect one another's blind spots! Fight as one!" Alban yelled.
As the dozens of Vikings charged forward, the Heroes stood their ground, all of them prepared to strike.
"NOW!" Emora yelled.
The Heroes broke out with power, all of them attacking angry soldiers that were out for their blood.
Emora plunged her sword into the stomach of one warrior; she turned to her left and forced the man's body into him. The soldier scrambled as he shoved his allies dead body off of him. It was in vain, he cried out with pain as he felt a stinging sensation brush his neck. He fell to the floor, gargling on his own blood.
"Pathetic, idiotic, inferior, Viking...SCUM!"
The Warden turned to her right, where three soldiers ran up with their shields raised.
She ducked below the sword of one of them and launched herself forward into the stomach of another. She thrust her sword up into the gut of the soldier, killing him. She simultaneously ripped her sword out of the man's body and swung it behind her in an arc, beheading the second soldier.
She panicked as she parried the attack of the third, but in the corner of her eye, she spotted four more men charging at her.
"FUCK!"
She stomped her leg down on the Viking's knee, shattering it. He fell onto one knee with a horrible yell. The Warden harshly kneecapped the man on the side of his head, his entire skull cracked as he fell to the side, dead.
Emora turned to the four other men, all yelling. They lunged forward in different directions. Upwards, to her left, to the right, and right through the center.
"ALRIGHT!"
She strode forward, and shifted to her left, dodging the attack from the right. She placed her sword in the way of the attack from the left, blocking it. She then cocked the blade upwards, blocking the attack from above, and finally slammed her sword down on the blade of the attacker going for the center.
All of them men winced at the sound of all their hands shaking with the vibration of the powerful multi-deflect. The metallic bangs of the swords caused their ears to seemingly start bleeding.
"Face me!"
Emora spiked upwards, her sword cutting through the neck of one soldier. She whipped it to the right, cutting clean through another's arm, and knocking him to the ground.
She quickly placed her sword in front of her, blocking the attacks of two Vikings at once. She catapulted her foot into the ribcage of one of the men, destroying his ribcage, and sending him flying backward.
The Warden savagely pushed her sword into the final Viking's chest; she lifted him up into the air and slammed him into the ground.
She raised her sword in the air and yelled out, all of her fellow Heroes turned to her with a sense of ecstasy and excitement.
They all yelled out with eagerness, feeling willed with hype and encouragement. They tore through the endless waves of Viking soldiers that rushed them in the courtyard.
"On your left!" A Conqueror yelled to Katsue, who slew the surprise attacker.
"Watch out, behind you!" A Shinobi yelled to his friend, who was another Shinobi. The Samurai swiftly slew the Viking.
"Careful stupid-ass!" Elea laughed as she chopped the head of a soldier who was about to attack Airi.
"Whew...Thank you, Elea!" Hakushi waved. She turned around and stabbed an enemy through the heart; he fell back with a short grunt.
"Huh?"
The Nobushi spotted an enemy Berserker charging at Alban from behind, his axes poised to attack the Highlander from above.
"Hm..." Airi narrowed her eyes. She watched as the Berserker got closed to Alban. She didn't yell out to warn him as everybody else would. She only watched, secretly hoping for the Highlander to die.
Just as the Berserker was about to leap into the air, Emora stepped behind Alban and thrust her sword his stomach. She held him there for a few seconds, saying something to him before pushing his lifeless body back.
"Thanks for having my back, Emora!" Alban chuckled.
"Anything to keep you alive, Alban!" Emora giggled.
Suddenly, the feeling of a wooden stake being driven through her heart raged through Airi's entire chest. She instinctively placed her hand on her beating, pulsating, almost throbbing torso. She breathed heavily as she glared at the ground with teary eyes.
"I...I just...I didn't warn him! I didn't! I didn't want to! How...How could I do that? What the fuck is wrong with me?!" Airi thought. She dropped her staff in disbelief. In disbelief of herself. In disbelief of how cold, vicious, malevolent, and spiteful she truly was.
She felt the world around her slowly ooze back into her mind. Her clear vision returned, and her hearing became clear. She heard a loud yell behind her, a battle-cry. A Viking.
"AH!"
"AIRI! Wake up!"
The frightened Nobushi fell onto her back and scrambled backward as she watched Emora fight an angry Raider, intent on killing her.
"E-Emora!"
"AIRI! For fuck's sake...GAH!"
Emora drove her fist deep into the Raider's face, sending his head back, flailing with blood. As he staggered back, the Warden stabbed him right through the ribcage. She yelled as she ripped it out to the right, spun around, and swung at his leg.
"RAAAAHHH—GUUAAAAAHH!"
The Raider's leg went flying as Emora's longsword cut it clean off. He fell onto his back, wailing in excruciating pain. He released an ear-splitting yell of death as the Knight brought the tip of her sword down on his chest, and dug it into the ground beneath him.
Airi breathed in and out rapidly. Desperately trying to breathe calmly. "Emora...I—"
"Be quiet! Come on Airi, get up! We don't have time for this!"
Emora grabbed the Nobushi's hand and helped her up. Hakushi grabbed her staff and shuddered the panic off.
"T-Thank you...I...I got distracted."
"No problem, just don't let it happen again! I wouldn't know what to do if you died out here Airi..." Emora said softly.
As if all the evil and hate in her heart was cut down, burned, and disintegrated, Hakushi felt her entire body get flushed by a purifying feeling. She smiled at the Warden, her cheeks burning up.
"I love you."
Emora paused and hesitated, surprised at the sudden show of affection, especially in the middle of battle.
"I...I love you too. Now come on! Get your head in the fight!"
Hakushi smiled behind her mask. "She said she loves me. That Scottish bastard can't compete with me!"
As the body count out on the courtyard grew larger, and the battlefield grew bloodier, a loud horn caught the attention of the Heroes.
"HRUAH! Huh?" Alban killed a soldier and turned to look at the burning Main House, the horn coming from that direction.
It was the Valkyrie, with the Raider standing next to her.
"Shit..." Katsue said under her breath.
More Viking's emerged from the far end of the courtyard. A Berserker, a Highlander, a Shaman, and finally, Caldurn.
The Warlord punched the front door of the Main House wide open and completely shattered it. He stomped out, coughing.
"Cah! Coh! Cuh—Caah!" He wheezed.
He wiped his mouth and blinked a few times, getting soot and ash out of his eyes. He focused his vision on the eight Heroes who stood in front of him.
"You..."
Emora stood in front of her allies. What seemed like at least a hundred dead Vikings surrounded them, and were spread out throughout the entire courtyard. The walls and buildings of the entire Fortress were on fire, and mostly everything was destroyed or being destroyed.
"You all did this! You'll pay for attacking us like this!" Caldurn thundered. As he finished, the Valkyrie launched a spear forward, and the Berserker flung a tomahawk forward.
"GUH—"
"GAH—"
The spear struck one of the Shinobi's right through the chest. He wheezed and coughed as he held the spear in shock. The tomahawk dug into the Conqueror's forehead, breaking clean through her helmet and visor. Both Heroes collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
"Fuck! Kihiro! Betha!" Elea yelled as she stared at her two dead teammates.
Now only with six Heroes, Emora stood before the six different Vikings. They glared each other down, prepared to fight to the death.
Caldurn narrowed his eyes as she banged his sword against his shield.
"You're done for, Silver..."
Emora frowned behind her helmet as she got into position. "My real name is Lord Ryon. Not Silver."
The Warlord cracked his neck and snickered. "It doesn't matter. You're going to be dead anyway."
He released a loud battle-yell as he charged forward, his fellow Viking's at his sides.
Emora dug her heels into the ground as she prepared to counter. The Heroes around her charged forward at their opponents.
"RAAHH!" Caldurn yelled as he took off into the air, his sword raised.
"Clumsy move!"
Emora swiftly deflected the strike and countered with her own devastating counter-attack. She sliced the Warlord's shoulder, and then followed up with a swift shoulder charge. She twirled around as she slammed her sword into the Warlord's shield.
Caldurn grunted as he pushed Emora backward, he threw her back, then swooped forward and pricked the Warden in her stomach. He uppercut the Knight with his shield, stunning her, and then struck her with a powerful attack on her side.
The blade cut through her chainmail and steel plates, blood flew out from the cut as she staggered back.
"Don't get...Cocky!"
Emora retaliated with a sturdy blow to Caldurn's helmet using the tip of her blade. Sparks flew from the impact of the blow, and the Warlord released a cry of pain as he retreated.
"Fuck! You'll pay for that!"
Both Heroes charged forward, they clashed blades once, twice. Emora turned around and looked over her shoulder, her sword poised backward.
"What're you—GUUUH!"
Blood erupted from the Warlord's mouth as he felt a sharp, stabbing pain jab into his abdomen. He bashed the blade sideways using his shield, gouging his stomach along the way. Emora ran forward, she had her sword prepared to swing upwards, but instead, the Warden raised it to strike from above.
Caldurn's entire arm trembled as he blocked the powerful strike. He lifted his shield upwards, knocking Emora's sword along with it. He thrust his sword into her gut and ripped it upwards; cutting a clean, bloody line up her torso, and in between her breasts.
"AAHHH!" The Warden cried, she lost her focus as the pain tore through her body and wrecked her nerves.
"AHAHAAH!" Caldurn laughed as he pushed onwards.
He landed a strike across Emora's entire body, slashing her arm and body from right to left. He then got up close and glared into her hazel eyes.
"Ggh.." She moaned as she stumbled back, drained of her stamina.
The Warlord laughed, he crashed his head into Emora's, the two helmets banging against each other loudly. Pain shredded through Emora's entire head. As if her skull was being crushed by a blacksmith's hammer, she cried out in pain as she scrambled backward, barely keeping her footing.
"GUUAH—UUAAGHH!" Emora cried as she felt a sword get plunged into her chest. She then felt herself get cut across her breasts and simultaneously punched in the gut by a metal-edged shield.
She shrieked out in agony as she tried to stay standing, but her legs couldn't do it. She heavily fell onto her knees; her head hung low, her arms begging for leverage.
"HUUAH!" Caldurn yelled out.
"UAAHHH!" Emora cried out.
The Warden fell onto her back, her helmet visor dented from the powerful blow to her face. The Warlord towered over her, laughing.
Blood covered her face within her helmet. She looked up, panting heavily. She looked around at her fellow Heroes killing Caldurn's allies. As they finished, they all began to close in on the Warlord.
"This...This is your leader?! The all-powerful Lord Ryon? She's weak! She's pathetic!"
Emora's entire body quivered and vibrated as she tried to stand up. With her teeth grit, and muscles strained, she began to lean on her arms to stand up.
"You...Were all of you selected by this Warden? To go on this mission along with her?"
The Heroes remained silent, all of them slowly circling the Warlord.
"Is nobody going to answer me? Because if you were all chosen or picked by this 'Lord', then that means that you're all inferior fighters compared to her! You're all garbage!"
Airi shook her head slowly. Alban growled quietly as he held his Claymore tightly in his hands. Elea fiercely taunted and fake-lunged at the Warlord.
Caldurn turned to Emora, who was on all fours, trying to catch her breath. He firmly placed his foot on her side and glanced at the Heroes all shift. He laughed.
"Fuck you!"
He jarringly kicked the Warden, making her release a sorry cry of pain. She rolled onto her side, breathing deeply.
The Warden that once looked so strong and skilled before all of the Heroes was now on the ground, lying on her side, blood painted her armor, the armor itself torn and broken. Her blonde hair was dirty and gritty; it lay behind her, spread out like a discarded rag on the ground.
"A leader who loses to someone right in front of their own team! PITIFUL!"
"She's not pitiful." Alban snapped.
Emora's eyes opened in shock as she heard the Highlander speak.
"What? A leader like her...A leader who can't handle herself? A leader who needs the help of others to gain victory? That's sad. It's pathetic, it's embarrassing, and it's stupid!" Caldurn growled angrily.
"A leader is only as strong as their team! A leader is simply someone who helps a stronger unit fight together as one! They don't have to be invincible! They're the source of a team's power, and the source of the groups resolve and encouragement!" Katsue yelled.
Caldurn laughed and wheezed at the remark.
"A team...Is only as strong as their weakest member. Emora...Is not that member. And it doesn't matter who that member is! The only thing that matters is that everyone lifts one another up, and helps each other all the way to the top. We'll test our limits, and fight until the end." Elea glared with spite.
"For Emora!" Airi yelled out.
All five Heroes charged at the single Warlord, their weapons raised in the air.
Emora watched in despair as Caldurn blocked and deflected attacks from all of his flanks. He spun around and twirled with his shield out. Metallic sparks and flashes were everywhere in the area.
"Fuck...Come...ON! I'm...I..."
Emora tried to lift herself up. She got up on all fours and panted her life away. She was drenched in sweat, and her entire body felt destroyed. Her head felt like a horse's hoof was stomping down on it constantly. She gritted her teeth in frustration and embarrassment.
"FUCK! Why...Why I am I so damn weak? I have to get up...I...Dgh—RAGH!"
Emora forced her fist into the ground; it dug a small hole in the floor of the courtyard. She felt her arms tremble and quake as she tried to place them on her knees to stand up.
Her legs shook and pulsed with exhaustion. The Warden could feel her calf and thigh muscles throb with pain. Her veins and tendons strained with effort.
She held her sword in her shaking hands. She dug it into the ground to help her stand. She watched the fight in front of her, trying to regain as much of her stamina and energy as possible.
"Weak! Fragile! Frail! Useless! Absolutely incompetent sacks of shit!"
He maneuvered his sword and shield in moves that the Heroes couldn't fight against. Using defense as his best offense, he sensed when his opponents were tired and struck when their guards were down.
"Get off of me! All of you!" He yelled as he bashed his shield against the head of a Shinobi's head. He released a short-lived grunt as he thumped onto the ground, unconscious.
The Warlord turned and slashed the stomach of Katsue, who cried out in pain. He lunged forward and delivered a devastating head-butt to the wounded Shinobi, sending her stumbling back, and onto her back.
Elea, Alban, and Airi all stood before the Warlord, all of them prepared to strike.
"Now!" Elea ordered.
All three rushed forward with their attacks, but as soon as they did, they felt the pressure in the air grow tense.
"Agh!"
"Wah!"
"Gah!"
All three Heroes fell onto their backs as Caldurn harshly parried their attacks. He laughed and yelled out with power and strength.
"It's time for my revenge!"
He charged forward and lifted off into the air.
"NOO!"
Emora watched as Elea was stabbed in the leg, thrown off her feet, and get ground-pounded by a shield. She watched as Airi was tripped, picked up, and thrown into Alban.
Both the Nobushi and the Highlander staggered backward, Alban tried to help Hakushi get back on her feet, but the Samurai pushed the Viking away.
"Get off of me!" She shouted angrily.
"I'm trying to help you!" Alban argued.
"Go bicker in HELL!"
Caldurn cracked his shield into Airi's jaw, making her squeal out with pain. He then slammed his shield into the Highlander's gut, crippling his body. He shoved his sword into Alban's stomach, and then threw him aside, letting the Highlander's body slide off of his blade, and fall to the ground.
"You should've NEVER tried to fight me!"
Caldurn slashed Airi across the body twice, both slices causing streaks of blood to fly through the air. He kicked the Nobushi back once he saw that she was half-dead. Her body staggered back before hitting the floor with a thud.
Emora's mouth was wide open behind her helmet, her pupil's small within her irises. Her entire body surged with high levels of adrenaline. She felt one of her eyes twitch repeatedly. Her teeth began to chatter as she tried to shut her mouth.
The Warlord turned to the Warden, who was slouched over, leaning on her sword.
"Hah. You're the more depressing excuse of a leader I've ever seen. You'll die knowing that your entire team of eight Elio Legion Heroes was slain by a single Warlord."
Caldurn rushed forward, his sword and shield at his sides. Emora got into position and tried to stop her jaw from shivering.
"You..."
Only mere meters away, the Warlord was yelling.
"You'll..."
He jumped up into the air, his mouth open with a deafening yell. His sword in the air prepared to cut the Warden in half.
"PAY!"
Emora lifted her sword with renowned power. The awestruck Warlord released a horrible cry as his attack was parried and completely denied. He staggered back, somehow out of breath.
"I'm weak, you say?!" The Warden asked as she charged into the Warlord's body, knocking the wind out of him, and ridding him off all his stamina.
"You're the one who's weak, you bastard!" Emora bellowed as she slashed the Warlord five whole times with her longsword. She reeled her sword upwards, and with all her momentum and drive, her sword sliced through the air and cut down onto Caldurn's body.
"GUUURAAAGH!" He cried out.
"Look at you! You're losing! I thought I was pathetic!" Emora thundered, her voice tore through the ears of her fallen Heroes, waking them from their states of weakness.
She thrust her sword in through the stomach of Caldurn; her blade came out of his back. The Warlord spat blood right into Emora's face. The red liquid splashed and splattered all over the Warden's visor, drenching it in crimson.
She ripped her sword back, grabbed Caldurn by the throat, lifted him up, and choke-slammed him into the ground. More blood blasted out from the Viking's mouth as he crashed into the ground. Emora forced the Warlord back onto his feet; she kneecapped him in the center of his stomach, Caldurn releasing a restrained grunt of pain from the blow. The Warden then delivered a devastating blow to Caldurn's cheekbone, obliterating it completely.
"AGHHH—FUCK!" He yelled and cried out in excruciating pain.
He raised his hand for mercy, his eyes shut tightly, tears flowing out from underneath his eyelids.
Emora angered, unsatisfied with the Viking's sudden show of weakness.
"What's wrong?! Are you scared?"
"Stop it! Mercy!" Caldurn cried.
Emora raised her blade and brought it down on the Warlord's shoulder. Blood shot out from his arm socket as his arm fell to the ground. As all the Heroes stood up, their jaws dropped at the sight they were all witnessing.
Caldurn held his arm socket in agony; he cried and wailed out for help, for mercy. His voice with far too much pain and desperation. Blood fell from his arm socket like a waterfall. It painted the ground below him red. He kept crying and shouting as Emora walked forward. As he was about to fall onto his knees, he suddenly fell silent.
"GHUA—G..Gh...Hgh...K-Kch..."
With her sword clean through the Warlord's chest and heart, he was silenced. His eyes were wide open, flashing with only mere seconds left of life. His mouth was gaping, blood dripping and dribbling from his bottom lip and onto the ground.
Emora walked forward, slowly. Caldurn still impaled at the end of the Warden's blade. His body slid down further and further down Emora's blade, he was getting closer and closer to the Knight who was his killer.
Finally, he leaned up against a wall made of straw and wood. His entire body was stiff and tense, his one arm that was left was grasping onto Emora's blade, his hand and fingers bloody. He slowly looked up at the Warden. He spotted her clear, hazel eyes glaring deep into his soul.
"I would praise you for your performance," Emora said firmly.
Caldurn tried to speak, but only a bit of blood squirted from his throat.
He began to gag and gurgle as Emora pressed her blade deeper and deeper into his chest. It pierced and dug into the straw wall behind him. She stopped when her visor was mere inches from Caldurn's face.
She blinked once, making the Warlord flinch.
"But you pissed me off. And for that..."
Emora's hilt pressed up against Caldurn's chest. The Warlord's eyes began to roll back into his head.
"You can burn in the depths of hell." She whispered in the Viking's ear.
She slid her blade from the Warlord's body, and let it fall limp against the wall.
She stepped back, breathing calmly.
"Emora..."
The Warden turned around to face her allies. Katsue, Airi, Elea, Alban, and the other Shinobi stood in front of her.
"Y-You're alive...You killed that—Gh! The uh...The Warlord..." Elea winced through her pain. She tried to laugh. But laughing probably hurt.
"Emora...We tried...We're so sorry..." Airi put her head down; she held her body tightly, wallowing in shame.
"Lord Ryon...We failed you..." Katsue and the Shinobi bowed down fully to the Warden, who only looked at them wearily.
"E-Emora...Are you okay...?" Alban asked.
Emora dropped her longsword, it made a clanging noise as it hit the ground. She slowly grabbed the sides of her head, grasped her helmet, and took it off.
Her face was bloody, one of her eyes shut. Her hazel eye was dull and downcast. Her face was blank, her hair flowing in the breeze.
"We did it. We just killed...Every Viking in this entire damn place."
The five Heroes shifted. They looked around, listening to the crackling of the fire, and peering at the destruction around them. The destruction that they had caused.
"Objective completed...Mission accomplished...I guess." Elea shrugged.
Emora nodded her head. She looked at Airi and Alban standing side by side. Her heart began to beat for one of them. She wanted to embrace with one of the two, but she suddenly felt unable to move. She inched forward. The Warden longed for the comfort of one of the two warriors after such a near-death fight. But she was hesitating.
Emora began to panic. Her heart rate increased with a sudden sense of panic.
"What's wrong Emora, are you alright?" Alban asked.
"Emora, we all need to rest, let's set up camp." Airi brought up.
Emora then paused. She recognized this feeling. She concentrated as much as she could, but she couldn't do it. She was unable to read herself. Her own emotions. Her own feelings.
"Just choose someone...What am I, stupid?"
Emora lunged into the arms of one of the Heroes. She felt someone's arms envelop her; they rocked her and patted her on the back.
"There, there Emora. You're fine, alright? We'll getcha patched up and healing by tomorrow!"
It was Elea. The Warden smiled and pulled away, content with the result.
"Thank you, Elea...Let's head back to the outskirts..."
Airi stood cluelessly. Alban stood confused.
"What was that...?" The two said simultaneously.
They turned to each other, their eyes angry.
"What did you just say?!" They said again, at the same time.
"Stop copying me you dipshit!" The two Heroes yelled at each other, at the same time.
"FUCK!" They yelled together.
"Okay, stop it already! FUCK OFF!" The two leaned towards one another, their faces scrunched up in anger.
They paused, staring into each other's eyes.
Airi spoke first.
"I hate you."
Alban huffed and closed his eyes.
"The feeling is now mutual."
The Nobushi pursed her lips, trying not to yell.
"Stay away from Emora."
The Highlander opened his eyes and smirked.
"It's her choice, not yours."
Hakushi grit her teeth and fiercened her gaze.
"Do as I say...Or you'll regret it. She won't choose you."
Alban scoffed, he passed his hand through his hair.
"Only time will tell."
With that, he pushed the Nobushi away, leaving her alone with clutched fists and a furious soul.
"That...Fucking...Asshole..." She whispered through gnawed teeth.
That took WAY too long to release. I'm really...Really sorry. I've been busy and distracted lately, as stated at the beginning of this chapter.
I also have tons of work to do, so that sucks. I'll try to at least release another chapter soon enough though. Once again...Sorry for the long wait.
