Hello Everyone!
Bet you didn't expect this to come out as early as it did, huh? To be honest neither did I. But I sat down, started writing, and just really got into it. So, here it is. The battle of Sanctas. Who will be left standing in the end? Only one way to find out.
On with the Story.
Deargis watched in quiet dread as the Grimm surged out of the dark forest.
There were more than she had guessed. Many, many more. They came out as an endless tide of dark fur, snarling and howling their mad hatred for human and faunus kind into the sky as they advanced on the five men beyond the wall.
They were going to die. They were going to be swept under by the horde and the monsters would move onto her people and complete the massacre they had started with Cyrus's crew.
A part of her mind registered that they were in range, but her arms wouldn't lift her weapon up to aim and fire. She was frozen by terror and hopelessness. They all were, even the Elder, standing in mute horror as the Grimm descended on the five dead men.
Then a light split the night and a roar of furious defiance shook the air.
Russel loosed.
The glowing arrow flew true and ripped through the Grimm. Its first victim burst into white fire as the arrow tore through its skin with effortless ease and found another victim. It passed through three Grimm and lodged itself in the fourth. Those that were struck by it were consumed by a white fire that burned them to ash. Russel drew and loosed again and again into the enemy, his arrows cutting a bright swathe through the dark horde.
"Cardin!" Nathaniel roared, his glowing blade held high. "The horn! Blow the horn!"
Cardin drew in a breath and brought the horn to his lips.
The Grimm were mere feet away. They would sweep over and destroy them, then move onto Sanctas. The place that they had traversed the wilderness to find. The place that had been cut off from the world as it awaited them. The people that had taken them in and treated them with dignity and respect. The Elder, who had answered their questions and given them more. Bitchy, bratty Deargis who drove him up the wall and made him want to tear his hair out in frustration. Deargis, who had hunted for them to save her people, who had only wanted to keep her home safe.
Cardin roared his fury and his hatred for the Grimm into the horn and it was magnified a thousand fold.
The Grimm crumbled as the sound swept over them, collapsing and clutching at their ears as they wailed and gnashed their teeth in terror.
"Now!" Nathaniel surged forward with a roar and his weapon drawn back to strike. Cardin, Dove, and Sky followed him before they even realized their legs were moving as Russel loosed shot after shot into the Grimm.
"For Sanctas, for Remnant, FOR THE LADY!"
Cardin drove his mace into an Ursa's maw and shattered its face with a roar. Hot black blood splashed over his face through the open visor but he didn't halt. None of them did. He followed Nathaniel into the darkness, his mace shattering bone and pulping flesh. Where it struck fire spread and those Grimm not slain by his strikes were consumed by holy fire and died in burning agony, a mother's fury unleashed upon them through her children. Dove and Sky reaped their own tallies, cutting through the darkness like hot blades through snow, but it was Nathaniel that reaped the greatest tally. Where he went the Light that burned from his weapon set the Grimm alight by mere proximity, and his strikes left smoking ash in his wake. All the while Russel's arrows rained death into the Grimm, tearing ragged holes in their mass with each shot.
They slew dozens, maybe a hundred or more, before Nathaniel ordered them to pull back. "Back! Back now, back to Russel!"
They broke off and retreated to Russel, who had slung his bow and drawn his knives now that his quiver was empty. Cardin was breathing hard, his heart hammering in his chest. Everything was in incredibly sharp focus as adrenaline flooded his body. "Should have stayed on the wall where you could get more arrows," he said to Russel as they reformed the line and the Grimm began to shake off the effects of the horn.
"I'm not leaving my brothers out here while I stay safe on a wall," the cloaked boy responded as he took a fighting stance. "Besides, someone's got to watch your big ass to make sure nothing takes a chunk out of it."
Cardin laughed, lifted the horn to his lips, and blew once more.
The five sons of Vaya charged with a roar.
Deargis watched in silent awe as the fight knights ripped into the Grimm.
They were doing it. They were fighting the Grimm on even ground and holding their own. No, they were winning. That horn blast had stunned the Grimm and they had ripped into them with a fury the likes of which even the monsters hadn't been able to match, leaving fire and death in their wake. And they were about to do it again.
As the second horn blast rang out Deargis finally snapped out of it. She grabbed the person next to her and shook them hard. "Oi OI! Everybody quit yer gawkin! Weapons up! Aim away from the knights! Focus on clearing the area around them! Fire! Fire!" Deargis drove her point home by bringing her rifle to her shoulder, aiming, and firing. Her target, she couldn't tell what kind of Grimm it was in the darkness, dropped.
Gun fire filled the air as the defenders of Sanctas opened up into the Grimm. It was dark beyond the wall, but many faunus had innate night vision to help them see. Even if they didn't the glowing red eyes of the Grimm served as convenient targets for their shots, and the mass of black fur and scales was so thick that every shot was guaranteed to hit something.
And all the while the Warriors of the Order of Light fought on.
Nathaniel carved through two Beowulves with a single swing, their carcasses burning to ash as his blade passed through. This was their fifth charge, but the knight sensed the others were beginning to flag. They were hardy young men but lacked the supernatural resilience and endurance of a full Gryphon Knight. Each time Cardin blew his horn the blasts were bit shorter, a bit softer. Still they did the trick. The Grimm quavered with each blast and the five of them ripped them apart without mercy. Cardin's heavy mace shattered its targets with each blow, its burning head leaving a trail of fire behind it like a comet as is thudded down on its next victim. Russel dodged and weaved through the Grimm, focusing on wounding over killing and letting the Light finish the job as he cut tendons and severed arteries before moving to his next foe. Dove flowed around his enemies, the Banner of the Sun King snapping in the wind and glowing with golden sun light that made the armored figure upon it burn like a sun himself. He fought with a skill that even Nathaniel was impressed by, dodging and deflecting his foes strikes and cutting them down in return even as he held the banner aloft. Sky cut and cut and cut with efficient and economical strikes that severed or disabled limbs and spread fire across the bodies of the dark creatures.
Grimm swarmed all around them. Cardin blew the Horn of Wrath again and again and again, keeping the monsters on the back foot as the knights pushed deeper into their ranks in search of a single target. Nathaniel cut left and right, his very presence setting the demons of Salem alight as they drew near to him.
And then he saw it. The target he had been hunting for.
A massive Deathstalker loomed over the horde, watching the warriors of light form a distance from its beady, hateful eyes. It was as tall as the walls of Sanctas.
It had to die. With its death the horde's cohesion would shatter into pieces without a guiding mind, and the Elder could work his magics to confuse and befuddle the Grimm.
"Once more!" Nathaniel roared to Cardin, his voice straining. "We must clear the way to the Elder Grimm!"
Heaving for air and pouring sweat, Cardin lifted the horn to his lips.
An Ursa slammed into him with a roar and drove him to the ground.
"No!" Nathaniel charged and drove the spearhead of his weapon into its throat, heaving it off of Cardin. He made to grab the squire and haul him to his feet, but instinct made him turn and cut as a Beowulf leapt for his back. The bisected creature hit the ground in a burst of ash as an Alpha lunged for him, snarling and snapping. It clamped its jaws down on his halberd even as its fur smoldered and caught fire, trying to wrench the weapon from his hands.
Nathaniel twisted his weapon like a wheel with a savage wrench and snapped its neck. Before he could turn back to Cardin something slammed into his back and drove him to the ground.
The Beringel roared and slammed its fists down on him in a massive sledgehammer blow. Aura crackled and he felt the force of impact shake him to the bone even through his armor, but steel and soul both held and saved his life as he rolled over and thrust into its throat, shining blade sinking into its shadow black flesh. The ape like monstrosity gurgled and howled even as its body slowly began to crumble from the point of impact. Too slowly.
He gagged as the beast slammed a fist into his stomach, driving the air out of his body. His vision blurred and his silver aura crackled over his body. He heaved for air and tried to make his body move as the Beringel brought its fists up to pummel him again.
A burning knife buried in its eye and it stumbled back with a shriek as Russel leapt at it, his other knife still in his fist as he engaged the beast.
Nathaniel sucked in air desperately. His aura and armor had robbed the blow of much of its force, but Beringels could flatten a car with nothing but their fists. He drew in air, but he couldn't push it back out. He couldn't breathe.
He had doomed them. He had thought that with the gifts and the blessings Vaya had bestowed upon them they could see off this attack, but in his fervor he had forgotten that the squires of CRDL were not Ascended Knights. Had they been then they very well could have defeated this attack with the Lady's aid and the support of the people of Sanctas. But they were just young men. Strong and brave young men, but just young men. And his poor decision making would get them killed. Nathaniel had no fear of death for himself. Such was the fate of a Knight of the Lady, but he regretted his error would get them killed too. He tried to yell, to tell them to retreat to Sanctas and hold the mountain entrance, but the air refused to leave his body and he choked as he tried to force it out.
"In the soil..."
"By sacrifice bound..."
That voice again. Only it wasn't alone. He heard others, fainter and softer, but there.
"All life..."
"Bound to this place..."
"Bound to our oath..."
"Brother..."
Cardin smashed the Beowulf into the ground.
Its chest caved in as his mace crushed it and the Light did the rest. He swung it up into the chest of an Ursa and it stumbled back, fur catching alight, but alive. It lunged back in with a roar and Cardin swung again with all his might. This time its ribs gave with a crunch and it tumbled to the ground in a burning, howling heap.
The squire heaved for air desperately. Every inhalation was a battle of attrition as he forced his body to work through the strain. His mace, Executioner, was like a mass of lead weights as he lifted it again, but lift it he did. Sweat stung his eyes and blurred his vision but he didn't have time to wipe his eyes clear. He didn't have time to do anything but swing again and splatter a Creep before moving onto his next opponent.
Nathaniel was still down, but the light that radiated from him was the only thing saving them from being completely swarmed. Russel had engaged the Beringel that had floored him and Cardin had tried to help, but it was all he could do to guard his brother and the fallen knight as Grimm braved the light that still radiated from Nathaniel.
The lesser entities burst into flame as soon as they entered its radius, and the greater forms still caught fire but pushed on through it, more hardy than their weaker kin. But all it was doing was slowing them down, not stopping them. Something had to change, or sheer exhaustion would doom them all.
The squire growled and choked down air as he smashed in the head of another Ursa, staggering and just managing to catch himself before he collapsed. Executioner thumped on the ground as he leaned against, heaving. "I can't... can't keep..."
"Cardin!" One of his brothers screamed his name. He couldn't tell which one it was. He looked up with bleary eyes and beheld a King Taijitu looming over him, just outside of the radius of Nathaniel's protection.
The monster lunged for him.
And all was Light.
Deargis ejected the spent casing and grabbed for more ammunition from her belt pouch. She'd filled it to capacity in anticipation of the fight, roughly one hundred rounds.
It was empty.
"Ah need ammo!" she called over the endless cacophony of gunfire. She glanced to her side at her hunched over grandfather. He was leaning against the wall and breathing hard. "Nothing?"
"No," he croaked. He wiped the sweat off his brow with a trembling hand. "That elder Grimm... it's directing the others. Keeping them focused. So long as it lives, my illusions are next to useless."
And they couldn't kill it from here. Night vision or not, the Grimm were too numerous and too far away to make out any particular figure in its mass. Even if Deargis had been able to make it out, she doubted her rifle would be able to penetrate its carapace, and even she couldn't nail a shot in the eyes at over a hundred meters away in pitch black darkness.
"Ammo!"
A girl in her teens rushed over with a bag over her shoulder and skidded to a halt. She sat the bag down and started rifling through it, her mousey nose twitching. "What do you need?!" She yelled over the din.
"Three oh eight caliber, as much as ye can spare!"
"Here, this is the last of it." The runner pulled out a box of forty rounds and handed it to her. "Make 'em count!"
"That's it?!"
"Everyone is running low! Some people are already completely out! If we survive this we likely won't have anything left!" Before Deargis could respond the girl darted off further down the wall as someone else called for her.
Deargis looked at the box in her hand and cursed before kneeling down and leaning her rifle against the wall. She cracked it open hastily and stuffed the ammo in her pouch. It felt far too light for her liking.
They were all doing everything they could, the head scout knew that, but... it was like throwing sand in the ocean. It just didn't seem to matter against so many Grimm. While it may have been impossible to miss it was also impossible to know if their shots actually mattered or not. Most Grimm could take several hits before they went down, and they wouldn't break and run or try to find cover if wounded. They would just keep coming until they died. Or you did. She couldn't even tell how the knights were doing, just that their lights were still burning and they were still fighting. But the horn had stopped blowing, and that couldn't be a good sign. Deargis swallowed hard. "I hope yer okay, ya big arsehole."
She loaded her rifle and pushed the bolt back into place. She drew in a breath, let it out, said a quick prayer to Mother Vaya, then stood back up and brought her weapon to bear.
What she saw froze her in place.
"Life is everywhere. Consciousness is everywhere."
Nathaniel understood.
Air flooded into his lungs and he rolled over onto his stomach. With a groan he pushed himself to his knees and gripped his halberd in both hands.
With a roar he drove it into the soft ground and Light exploded out from him. Grimm shrieked and died as fire washed over them, and more scuttled back from the raging inferno that surrounded Nathaniel and team CRDL.
A dome of white fire surrounded them. The four boys stared in awe at it, then at Nathaniel. "How are you doing that?" Cardin asked.
"Better question," Russel interjected. "How long can you do it for?"
"Not long enough," the grizzled veteran grunted as he bit down on the finger of his gauntlet and tugged the whole thing off of his hand. He drove that same hand into the soft earth up to the wrist and closed his eyes. "I know how to save us. How to save Sanctas. But I need cover. I can't fight and concentrate at the same time. Once the fire dies down the Grimm will try us again. You four need to hold out until help arrives."
"Help?!" Dove yelled. "What help?"
"I don't have time to explain, and if even if I did I wouldn't know how to do so. Just hold them off. In the name of the Lady, hold them off."
The four squires formed up around Nathaniel facing outward. Through the flames they could see the Grimm watching and waiting. Some crept close, but darted back as their fur or flesh began to smoke. Team CRDL panted for air, taking as much advantage of the short break as they could.
And Nathaniel focused. He focused on the feeling of the soft earth around his hand. It wasn't like Stone, which was solid and unyielding. Earth gave more easily, but that softness made it a bed for all life. It was from the earth that all life ultimately took its sustenance from, in some form or another. It was the foundation for all life, no matter its form, and it bore the marks of the lives that did and had walked its surface.
It was for that he hunted. Life was everywhere, and all life was connected. To live was to be part of a global ecosystem that fed you and in turn you fed back into. Even when a life ended, its mark could still be found upon or within the earth.
As Nathaniel sunk into his connection with the earth, he hunted for the traces of lives long since lost in this place. For those who still lingered between worlds.
Cardin gripped Executioner and stared out past the flames. The Grimm stared back, waiting.
It was that damn Deathstalker, he knew it. The elder Grimm was keeping its kin from throwing themselves at the light and destroying themselves and saving team CRDL a lot of trouble.
"I hate it when they're smart," he panted. At least with dumb brutish aggression you could just hit it until it stopped being a problem. Smart brutish aggression was another issue entirely.
"Tell me about it," Sky huffed as he leaned on his pole axe, taking some weight off of his legs.
"How's everyone's aura?" He asked his brothers.
"Still in the green," Russel reported. "Barely."
"I'm alright, around the mid point," Sky said.
"Still in the green," Dove chimed in. "You?"
"Same as Sky, around the mid point."
That they'd lasted as long as they had was a miracle all it's own, and thanks almost entirely to the Light and their gifts. The Banner of the Sun King kept fear from overwhelming them, and Russel's cloak made it harder for the Grimm to hit him.
The Horn of Wrath had crippled the Grimm initially and given them a big advantage starting out, but as Cardin had quickly learned it came at a cost. Every time he blew the horn it took more than just air from him. It was as though it drew from something inside of him to empower itself.
But it had saved them, of that he was sure. And he knew how to use it to buy them as much time as possible.
"Guys, when the fire's gone I'm going to use the horn for as long as I can. Think you can keep me covered?"
"On it." The three of them shifted formation to form a triangle around Cardin and Nathaniel. Dove stepped in front of his team leader. The squire looked at the banner clutched in his hand and hummed thoughtfully. With a grunt he planted it in the ground next to Cardin and held his hand out to the larger boy. "Since you'll be focusing on the horn do you mind if I borrow Executioner?"
"You sure you can handle it and your sword?"
Dove grinned, eyes practically glowing with excitement. "Oh, I'm sure. I've always wanted to do this." Cardin acquiesced and handed his mace over. Dove took it in his off hand and rested it on his shoulder. "You keep that thing going, and we'll handle the rest." He turned away and stared into the fire, sword and mace in hand. Waiting.
Beyond, Cardin could hear gunfire in the distance as the defenders of Sanctas did their best to help. The Grimm didn't even seem to take notice of the shots. At such a distance, in darkness no less, landing a good shot was almost impossible with standard rifle calibers. There was a reason a lot of huntsmen used larger caliber weapons. Standard rifle rounds might not do much to even a Beowulf if you couldn't land a heart or head shot, but even a Grimm couldn't ignore the kind of gaping wound that an anti tank round left. For his part Cardin had never bothered with mecha shift or ranged weapons. Except for the modification made to allow a dust crystal to be inserted in the weapon for an explosive surprise, he preferred to keep things simple and straightforward. Now however as Sky and Dove used the ranged components of their weapons to pick off Grimm beyond the circle of fire he wished he had some way to help.
The Light was more than a weapon.
Vaya had gifted it to Her knights to use it as such against Salem and her Grimm, but it could be so much more with the right understanding.
The Light was the raw manifestation of Her power, Her love given a physical form. Those who wielded it were suffused with it. It became a part of them, and all of her knights shared that connection to the Light, and nothing, not even death, could erase that.
But those who crossed fully beyond the threshold of Death could not cross back into the world. To do so was an imbalance of the natural order.
However not all who passed crossed over. Some lingered in between worlds. In many cases it was because they had unfinished business they desired to see to, but would never be able to resolve. Eventually they would let go of what bound them to the world of the living and pass on to what awaited them past the threshold. Others held on because they feared death and its mysteries, but fear in time gave way to weariness, and even the most cowardly would give in to the call and leave the world they no longer had a part in.
And a rare few lingered in between worlds because they still had a duty to see through. For them the call of Death meant nothing, for their very being was suffused with a purpose and love that transcended death.
Vaya opened her eyes as the Armor of the Knight Lord stirred beside her, as though by a wind. But there was no wind beneath the mountain, and the soft glow that began to suffuse the armor made it clear that what was taking place was no natural phenomena.
She stood and scooped up the large blade in her hands as the armor clenched and unclenched its gauntlets like a man testing out new hands. In the glow that suffused the armor two bright blue spots burned in the visor, precisely where a man's eyes would be.
The armor sat up and looked at her, then shifted and knelt before her, helmet bowed in obeisance. "My Lady." His voice had a hollow, ringing quality to it. But that did not diminish the power in the voice.
Vaya smiled kindly, but sadly. "I wish you had passed on my son. To linger for so long must strain you and your brothers."
He looked up at her, blue orbs burning with power. "We will never go where you are not, Mother. We are Yours, now and always."
She held the hilt of the blade to him. "I wish I had not put such a burden upon you all."
He reached out and took the blade in his hand as he stood. With a roar white fire swept up along the length of the keen killing edge. "I do not regret it. Not for one moment. None of us do." He looked down at himself and brushed a gauntlet over the twin golden crescents upon the white surcoat. "It is... smaller than I remember. Is he...?"
A smile spread across the Life Mother's beatific face as pride lit in her eyes. "He does your family name honor."
Her son nodded. "Good."
Daffodil Reynar curled against her grandmother, rabbit ears drooping over her face as she squeezed her teddy bear Snuffles to her chest. They were hiding in the mountain, in one of the big rooms full of weapons and armor. Her grammy had warned her not to touch any of them because they were dangerous, so she hadn't.
Her mommy and daddy were outside fighting the Grimm with the rest of the adults who could fight. She could hear the guns firing, and the sounds the Grimm made. She'd heard really loud noises like thunder earlier but they were gone now, and she didn't know what that meant. She was scared. She prayed to Vaya like Grammy said to do, but she was still scared. What if mommy and daddy were hurt? What if the Grimm were already inside and they just didn't know it? She sniffled and cuddled up closer to her grammy, who squeezed her gently. "There there Daffy, it's okay. Everything's going to be just fine, you'll see."
"When are mommy and daddy coming back?"
"Soon, you'll see. Just a couple more minutes and everything will be okay."
Someone screamed.
Daffodil gasped and looked up in the direction it had come from as her grandmother pulled her back. Snuffles fell from Daffodil's arms as the little girl stared, both scared and astonished. "Oh no, oh no... Mother Vaya, what is this?" her grammy whispered fearfully.
As the little girl watched, the suits of armor began to fall off of their stands. Piece by piece they hit the floor with a clatter of steel on stone until they were all strewn across the stone.
Then they started pulling themselves back together. Steel scraped on stone as the pieces pulled together into one cohesive whole and began to glow with a soft white light.
The first suit of armor stood, two green spots like eyes burning in the visor of its helmet. People backed away fearfully as more suits of armor stood, their 'eyes' burning in the dim light that was projected by the few lanterns and torches lighting the room.
As they began to move towards the people Daffodil's grandma pushed the little girl behind herself and grabbed a spear from the weapon rack beside her. the little girl whimpered and pressed herself against the stone wall behind her grandma. "Get back!" The elderly woman warned. "W-whatever you are, get back!"
The lead suit of armor paused and stared at her. Then it looked down at the ground and knelt to pick something up.
It held up Snuffles. "Is this hers?"
Everyone in the room fell into stunned silence as they heard the hollow voice come from the helmet.
"W-what are you?" her grandma whispered, the spear trembling in her hands.
"I am Knight Captain Osric, a warrior of the Lady of Light. I am here to protect you."
The spear clattered as it fell out of Grammy's grasp. The old woman stared slack jawed at the armor standing before her. Behind it the other suits of armor moved to weapon racks and drew swords, axes, pole arms, and hammers. Each and every one of the weapons were large things, designed to gripped two handed. The suit of armor stepped forward and she stepped back. Gently it knelt before them and held the teddy bear out to Daffodil. "Here, it is okay little one. I won't hurt you."
Hesitantly the child reached out for her teddy. When she grabbed it he released his hold on it and stood. "Worry not child. We will let no harm befall your parents. This I swear, as a servant of Light."
"Osric!" One of the living armors threw something to him. The knight caught it and looked it over.
"Ah, my old falchion. As sharp as the day I last wielded her." The weapon had a wide blade with a single cutting edge that gleamed with light as he took it. The blade was almost as tall as Osric himself. "Tis time to put her to the test once more."
Osric rested the blade on his pauldron and moved to the archway that led out into the large hall. The other armors, no, the other knights, followed him out with glowing weapons in hand, their eyes burning with fierce purpose.
Daffodil ran to the entrance and peeked out around the edge, Snuffles clutched tightly to her in her arms. What she saw took her breath away.
There were more walking suits of armor. A lot more. They lined the hallway on either side, three rows deep in perfect formation, their weapons resting on their shoulders. Other people stared out into the hallway as shocked as she was, but none dared step out. What were they waiting for, she wondered?
She got her answer as another suit of armor sprinted out of the darkness with a flaming greatsword in its fist. The golden edges of the armor and the laurels about the helmet and high collar glowed like sunlight as it rushed past, and the other knights quickly turned and charged in their leader's wake as he passed them.
Before he left Osric turned and looked at her and tapped two fingers to his helmet in a salute. Then he charged off after the others, singing a song in a language she didn't know.
The fires dimmed and died. The Grimm rushed in with a victorious howl.
Cardin pressed the horn to his mouth and unleashed its fury.
The ground trembled under his feet and the Grimm wailed and gnashed their teeth in terrified agony as it swept over them. The three squires leapt into action with a yell and laid into the Grimm with all their might. Russel and Sky cut, hacked and stabbed into the cringing monsters without mercy. Everything that fell under their blades died in fire and agony. Dove leapt into battle as a whirling dervish with sword and mace, cutting and smashing a swathe through the demons without hesitation. He triggered Executioner's explosive blast and blew a ragged hole in the ranks of darkness that he quickly widened into a circle of burning corpses.
And all the while Cardin blew into the horn. He blew until all the air ran out of his lungs, then he drew in more with a heavy gasp and blew again. And again, and again, and again. He blew until his throat spasmed in agony, the muscles twitching and trembling under the strain he put upon them. He blew until he gagged and hacked up blood as his vocal cords tore open and his neck nearly collapsed in on itself. Only then did Cardin stop. He fell to his hands and knees choking and hacking, blood bubbling out of his mouth onto the ground as his aura worked overtime to repair the damage he had done to himself.
As the effect of the horn wore off on the Grimm the three members of CRDL left standing were pushed back as the monsters pressed in. Step by step sheer numbers overwhelmed them. Russel went down under a Beowulf alpha and was only saved when Dove threw Executioner with all his might, shattering the beast's skull and saving his brother from certain death. Russel scrambled to his feet and cut the throat of another Beowulf as it lunged for him and then gouged out the eye of a charging Creep before leaping back to avoid the swipe of an Ursa's paw.
Cardin choked and coughed, his world spinning as he tried desperately to suck much needed air into his failing lungs. With all his might he pushed himself to his feet, hoping that standing would help draw air into his body "Can't..." he wheezed as he staggered under his own weight. "I can't..."
"Cardin!"
He hacked as something slammed into him and sent him sprawling to the ground. The Boarbatusk shrieked in fury and slammed its tusks down on his chest. With a crackle his aura gave in and failed. Only armor stopped his chest from collapsing. He fumbled for the beast's tusks and grabbed them, trying to stop it from hitting him again. He couldn't breathe.
A gauntlet closed down on one of the tusks. With a roar that put an Ursa to shame Sir Nathaniel lifted the Boarbatusk into the air and threw it. Fire consumed its screaming body as it flew, turning it into a hurtling comet that smashed into the mass of darkness and left a burning line of death in its wake.
The grizzled knight roared Vaya's name over and over as he tore into the Grimm. His eyes shone with amber light underneath his helmet and his tabard began to smoke at the edges as his Light burned like a solar flare and consumed the Grimm in his conflagration. For a few moments Sir Nathaniel singlehandedly forced the whole of the horde back. His halberd was like a star at the end of a staff and where it fell only ash remained.
But it was not enough. Nathaniel was only one man, and his squires were exhausted and drained. They gathered themselves behind him, preparing themselves for their last stand. Cardin could not even stand without Russel slipping an arm around him and helping him up. The ranger pushed one of his daggers into his brother's fist as Dove and Sky formed up on their flank behind the knight. "Only right..." Russel panted. "You should... die with a weapon in your hand..."
"I'm... sorry..." wheezed Cardin.
"Don't be." Dove somehow managed to laugh despite everything. "Nowhere... nowhere I'd rather be... than right here..."
"Together," Sky agreed as he drew in a shaky breath. "To the end..."
Nathaniel went down under the horde as his light flickered and died. The Grimm surged over him and towards them. Cardin lifted the dagger and prayed that one of the bastards would impale themselves on it before he died.
Jaune sprinted down the hallway towards the roof access. "Talon?! What is that?!"
"I don't- I can't believe it. It shouldn't be possible."
Jaune could sense a power the likes of which he had never felt before. It dwarfed even the Dark Champion's aura of raw menace, but it was not a dark presence he felt. This... whatever it was had a purity and righteousness to it that he could feel to his very core. It burned in him like a sun. It called to him.
He threw open the roof access door and took the stairs four at a time, nearly falling over himself when he burst out of the top and onto the roof. Talon was already there, staring off into the distance.
In the direction of the Lonely Mountain.
Jaune stepped beside him and stared out, placing a hand on Gryphon's shoulder blade. "Talon?"
"It can't be. He's... he's gone. Has been gone for so long. How...?"
The roof door slammed open. "Jaune!" Weiss and Ruby rushed up to him. The heiress placed a hand on his arm. "Something woke up Amare and I, and when I woke up..." she gestured to Ruby. "She says she feels it too."
Ruby nodded, her silver eyes wide and gleaming in the moonlight. "It's like... like I heard a voice calling my name, but with heat instead of words."
He looked at them both, unsurprised that whatever this was had resonated with Weiss and her relic, but shocked that it had reached Ruby too. "What is it?" The heiress asked him.
"I don't know," He said honestly as he turned to look back out across Vale. Talon's focus had never once wavered, regardless of Ruby and Weiss's presence. "Talon, what are you talking about? Who is he?"
The knight could feel the emotions roiling inside of the Gryphon like a maelstrom. They were so strong that they threatened to spill over into him and it was an effort of will to resist them. Confusion, joy, sorrow, melancholy. And above all else, stunned wonder.
"The first Knight Lord strides upon the world once more."
Salem wailed.
Agony pulsed in her breast, at the very spot where he had wounded her so long ago. A wound that had been so complete and grievous that it had left a scar on her very soul that would never fade.
Screaming, she tore her focus away from the battle at the mountain and her spirit fragment fled to the safety of her tower, wailing his name in terror as an old fear consumed her once more.
Cailan Arc brought his burning blade down on the cross bar keeping the gate shut and cut it in twain, bursting the gate open as he and and his knights charged through them and onto the open ground beyond. He heard startled voices shouting from the wall above, but he had not the time to address them. There was work to be done.
Cailan drew his arm back and threw his blade with all his might at the horde. It crossed the hundred paces between him and them in less time than it took to breathe and slammed into the ground.
White fire exploded from the point of impact and rent every Grimm within twenty feet to ash and smoke, leaving the prone bodies of five men in armor untouched.
Cailan and one thousand knights of the Order charged full tilt across the open ground towards the Grimm. the horde outnumbered them, but when had that ever not been the case? Even without their mighty Gryphons at their side the sons of Vaya felt no fear of the foe before them. The Knight Lord held out his empty hand and his blade sailed into it, reigniting as he gripped it in both fists.
The Grimm roared and surged towards them, the massive Deathstalker in the back chittering commands to its lesser brethren as it steadily retreated from them.
The Knight Lord would not let it escape.
As one the Knights roared the furious battle cry that fully encompassed the purpose of the Order, the oath that each and every one of them had sworn to uphold to the ends of their lives and beyond. The purpose that bound them to uphold it beyond even the call of Death.
"FOR THE LADY! FOR HER CHILDREN!"
Like the first rays of dawn Cailan and his knights tore into the darkness. Glowing weapons smashed and cut their way through even the mightiest Grimm form with effortless ease. Those not slain were trampled underfoot as the knights surged over them and drove them to the earth, raging battle cries filling the air alongside the sounds of the clash of battle and the dying screams of dark beasts under bright blades. Above all was Cailan's fury heard. The ground trembled underfoot as he surged forward and slaughtered every shadow creature that fell beneath his blade. He pushed ahead of his warriors into the panicking monsters, wholly focused on one target. The elder beast that led this army of darkness.
The Deathstalker tried to flee. It scrambled back, but the press of Grimm about it was too tight and in their terror its chittered orders to scatter were not heeded. With nowhere to run it decided instead to try and fight. It shrieked at him and surged forward, pincers brought before its face as a shield and tail lashing above its body.
Cailan ignored the stinger as it shot down and slid off his armor uselessly. He carved through its pincers in one swing and it howled in anguish as black ichor gushed out over the Knight Lord.
The Champion of Vaya roared as he brought his blade up and his war cry carried on the wind to the entire horde and to the people of Sanctas sheltering behind their walls.
"BURN!"
He drove his blade down into the Deathstalker's chittering face and hewed it in two. The blade passed through its steel hard carapace without resistance, through the soft meat within, back through its exoskeleton, and down into the earth below.
Fire swept out in every direction. In seconds hundreds of Salem's monsters burned to ash around him, the raging conflagration ripping through them.
The Grimm shattered and fled. Every which way they ran, bereft of guidance and consumed by terror as the knights pursued them. Into the forest went the monsters, and into the forest the knights followed with fell purpose. All but one of them.
Cailan turned and rushed back to the fallen bodies of the five brave men who had sacrificed themselves to defend Sanctas. With relief he saw they were still breathing. Exhausted and battered, but alive. He knelt beside the first of them, the one that had created the bridge that had allowed Cailan and his brothers to return to the place of their final stand. As the man attempted to rise he pressed a hand on his breastplate and forced him back down. "No, brother. Rest. You have done well this day. I commend your bravery and your willingness to give yourselves to defend these people."
He looked up at the four young men as they groaned and pushed themselves up on their elbows. One of them had blood running down his chin. "You..." He whispered, voice ruined. "You're..."
"Yes, but rest. Do not strain yourselves any further. You have done well. Sanctas and its people live because of you. Our brothers will scour the land. By dawn, no Grimm will be left for miles in any direction."
One of them, a boy with a brown cloak collapsed back with a wheeze. "That's... good... Imma sleep now. Deal with... whatever you are... later..."
He promptly passed out. The rest of them quickly followed suit as exhaustion finally forced their bodies into shutdown.
People rushed out of Sanctas towards them. He stood up as they approached and they slowed to a halt. "What are ye?" The leader asked in wonder, a faunus woman with a fox tail.
"I am Cailan. First Champion of the Lady. More questions I shall answer later, you have my word. For now however take these men into the mountain so they may be tended to. Your people are safe now. Thanks to them."
She looked like she wanted to say more, much more, but she swallowed her questions and nodded. Stretchers were brought up and the five men were loaded onto them. He watched as they were carried back behind the walls and towards the mountain.
The Knight Lord turned and strode into the dark woods, flaming blade resting on his shoulder.
By the time dawn came over the horizon no Grimm were left anywhere within miles of Sanctas, just as he had said.
Nathaniel stared at the armored figure before him in silent awe.
Cailan. Arc. The Cailan Arc stood before him in... well, not in the flesh per se. But he stood before him all the same.
Nathaniel and the four squires of CRDL sat before him in the Temple of Life. Their gryphon cubs were curled up in their laps as they stared at the Knight Lord silently.
They were not alone. Deargis and Malach sat with them, Malach beside Nathaniel and Deargis beside Russel. The two of them stared up at the knight with equal awe.
"You know," Malach leaned over to Nathaniel and muttered in his ear. "When I taught you how to make a connection with life, I didn't think you would use it like this."
"Join the club," he muttered back.
"You do not need to speak around me," the Knight Lord said with his ringing voice. "I am sure you have questions in need of answers."
Russel raised his hands. "I'll go first then: How are you here? Are... are you alive?"
"No," Cailan shook his head. "Not truly. I have no physical form, and merely took possession of my old armor. I am but a lingering spirit, bound to his duty and to his goddess. I cannot remain much longer, none of us can. Death may tolerate our lingering on this end of the threshold, but not us walking upon the world once more."
"Then why are you?" Dove asked. "Here, I mean." The young man looked at Nathaniel. "You did something, I know that much, but I don't understand what."
"In truth I barely understand it myself," Nathaniel admitted. "During the battle I heard voices speaking to me and an idea came to me." He looked at Cailan. "That was you and the others, wasn't it?"
The Champion nodded. "Yes. This place was where I and the last of the Gryphon Knights of my era met our ends. It is where Salem was wounded. Such actions leave a mark on the world, and we, like all our brothers, were not willing to cross over into full death where we would be without our Lady. We have been waiting in the world between, either for Her, or to be called upon again. What you did my brother was form a connection with our bond to the Light. That connection was enough of a bridge for us to cross over and take on forms familiar to us: our old armor."
"What you mean to say is that you can't do this anywhere else," Cardin croaked. His throat had been utterly ruined by his excessive use of the horn of wrath. His aura had kicked in as soon as it had started replenishing and was working to repair the damage, but it was likely that he'd never sound the same even after healing. Mother Vaya had offered to fully repair the damage. He had refused, preferring to keep it as a reminder.
"Yes. This place has a special bond with myself and the others who fell here. Were it not for that, us manifesting in this way would have been impossible."
"So Mother had this all planned from the start," Sky sighed. "Why didn't she mention any of this to us?"
"Our Lady is mighty and wise, and knows much of the future. But she does not know all. She may have simply known that it would all work out in our favor without knowing how." He turned and looked at the entrance, then fell to one knee. "Fortunately we find ourselves in a position to ask."
Vaya strode into the room, flanked by Osric and three other Knight Captains who had taken it upon themselves to be her bodyguards. She had told them it wasn't necessary. They had politely insisted that it was. Personally Nathaniel thought they were doing it just to stay close to her for as long as they could. He couldn't blame them.
Vaya brushed her hand over the brow of Cailan's helmet as she passed and stood upright behind her. He and his captains lined up behind Her, weapons resting on their shoulders as they stood at attention. With Her knights behind Her, Vaya looked every bit the goddess of Light. "What Nathaniel says is truth. I know much, but not all. I knew you would be successful in defending Sanctas, but I was not sure as to how. It was not until I felt Cailan's spirit stir that I understood, and took steps to make sure he would be where he was needed."
A sad expression crossed her face. "But he must leave soon. They all must. The universe operates on certain laws, and they cannot be defied easily. The longer they stay the more they shall suffer. Should they linger too long then their souls would dissipate altogether. Or they would be driven to madness."
"But we will not go far," Osric laughed as he stepped forward and struck a pose, one hand on his hip and the other balancing his blade on his shoulder. "We are the knights of Vaya, and we will never go where she is not! Death will have to wait a bit longer before we cross the Threshold."
Vaya looked at him and sighed. "Stubborn boy," she chided softly. "I know how lingering must strain you."
"It is nothing compared to being without you, Mother," Cailan said honestly. "We are your knights. Your loyal sons. If you are not a part of whatever lies beyond, we have no interest in it."
The three captains beside him each slammed a fist to their breastplate in salute. "Fidelis ut Vaya!"
"Faithful to Vaya," Osric said with a nod. "Exactly."
Upon the rolling green fields of the Sanctuary stood one thousand armored figures in perfect rank at parade rest, weapons planted in the ground and held before them with one arm behind their back. Cailan Arc looked out upon his men one final time and felt pride surge in his soul. These were his men. These were his brothers.
"Nathaniel."
Beside him the knight stood to attention. "Yes, my lord?"
"My scion... Jaune. Has he honored his blood line?"
Cailan didn't have to even look at Nathaniel to feel the pride he exuded. "He has done more than honor it."
"Then tell me of him. I would like to know my descendant and heir."
"Jaune... he started out rough. He snuck his way into a training academy because his father would not train him to fight, but despite being behind his peers Jaune had put everything into his training even before we had met. He understands the magnitude of what he must do and it weighs on him, but he uses that pressure to push himself harder and become stronger. He never shies from a challenge and meets his foes head on without hesitation. He has engaged and slain a mighty Grimm in single combat that even I could not defeat. Fear has no control over his heart, and he would do whatever it takes to protect the innocent from harm. Even at the cost of his own life. I..." Nathaniel's voice quavered. "I am so proud of him, and I miss him so much. He is everything a knight should be and so much more."
Pride welled in Cailan as he heard the knight's verdict. Yes, Jaune had done his name well. "And Talon? He is with him?"
Nathaniel laughed. "Oh yes. They hit it off almost immediately. Talon has very much taken Jaune under his wing, if you'll pardon the expression. Their bond is strong and they fight well together. He... Jaune tells me that he speaks of you often. He misses you greatly."
Were it possible Cailan knew he would have burst into tears at the thought of once more being in the same realm as Talon and being too far away to connect to him. It was a cruel jest, but all the same he was glad to hear that his old friend was doing well. "When you return to this Beacon Academy, please take a message to him for me."
"Of course."
"Tell him..." Cailan's voice quavered. "Tell him I miss him greatly, but I know that Jaune is in good hands with him. Tell him that I will see him again when the time comes."
"It will be as you say, my Lord," Nathaniel swore.
Cailan took a few moments to gather himself. "Tell me, Sir Nathaniel. Is he ready?"
Nathaniel was silent for several moments. He knew what it was that Cailan meant, just as he knew how dangerous it was. He himself had certainly undergone the same trial before he was knighted. "Yes. He is ready for the Vigil."
"The Vigil?" Sky asked from behind them. "Apologies, but what is the Vigil?"
"It is the last and most difficult test a squire must pass to be made into a knight of the Order," Nathaniel said somberly. "Failure almost always means death."
"Should he pass, Jaune shall be a Gryphon Knight in full. And I decree that he will be worthy of the mantle of Knight Lord. I can feel Salem's power growing by the day. He must take the mantle soon and work to rebuild the Order."
Nathaniel inclined his head. "Yes my Lord. I will put him to the test when we return."
"Very good." Cailan turned to the four squires behind them. Team Cardinal stood to attention nervously under his scrutiny. They were brave young men. It took a special kind of person to put yourself between a horde of Grimm and others. The kind of person worthy of being Gryphon Knight. But their trials were not yet done. They were not yet ready. It was not enough to be brave and skilled. To be a knight of the Lady, one had to be wholly selfless. Their life ceased to be theirs and instead belonged to the people of Remnant and to the Lady. Theirs would be an existence of sacrifice. Only when they truly understood that would they be worthy of knighthood.
"The four of you have impressed me thus far. You are well on your way to being worthy of knighthood. But you are not there yet."
"We just fought a big ass army of Grimm!" Russel threw his hands in the air. "How are we not wor-?!"
Cardin clamped a hand down on his teammate's mouth. "Apologies my lord," he croaked. "We understand."
Cailan laughed and shook his head. "It is not your bravery or skill that is in question young ones. There is more to being a warrior of Light than just those facets. When you stand in defense of the ones you have wronged, then and only then shall you be worthy of knighthood."
Sky and Dove shared a confused look. "What do you mean?" Sky asked.
"In time you shall see. For now, join your brothers below, all of you. It is only fair that you be a part of this."
Nathaniel and team Cardinal moved to stand in the front rank of the formation. The knights closest to them nodded and clapped them on the back or shoulders heartily.
Vaya stepped up beside Cailan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's time."
He looked out his men, his brothers, with pride. Pride in who they were, and pride that their legacy would not end here. Jaune, Nathaniel, Team Cardinal, and others to come would carry on the heritage they had built and restore the Order to its glory. They would lead the children of Vaya into an era of peace and prosperity. They would be the shield of the innocent and the sword of the light.
Knight Lord Cailan Arc raised his sword into the wind. Fire lit upon the blade as his brothers raised their weapons into the air in salute. Around them the people of Sanctas, gathered to witness this historic moment, watched in reverent silence.
Cailan roared and his voice was heard by all. "Men! Who are we?!"
"We are the Blades of Light!"
"Who are we?!"
"We are the Flame of Hope!"
"WHO. ARE. WE?!"
"WE ARE THE BLADES OF LIGHT! WE ARE THE FLAME OF HOPE! WE ARE THE WARRIORS OF VAYA!"
Cailan slammed his blade into the earth as his brothers did the same, driving their weapons into the ground where they stuck fast.
Their spirits left as one. One thousand suits of armor tumbled to the ground, leaving only Nathaniel and Cardinal standing as their souls left the physical world behind.
But they would not yet pass beyond the threshold of death. For they were the Warriors of Vaya, and where she was not, they would not go.
And... that is a wrap. This is easily one of my favorite chapters I've written so far, but even better is to come. The battle of Sanctas is over. Nathaniel and Team CRDL stand victorious thanks to the aid of their brothers in arms, and a new chapter begins in the story of the Order of Light. What is the Vigil, and why is it so deadly? Only one way to find out.
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