This chapter comes to you quite a fair bit sooner than last time. This is the last part before the two-part Arc (not the character) finale! And now, without further ado, I present to you the final character: Ingus!

X Chapter 5: The Last Soldier X

X Arc 1: The Crystal's Will X

There's a rush you get when your life is in danger. As a knight of King Sasune, it's a feeling I've felt many a time before. But those were against humans. Monsters were different. They were on a whole new level. Humans have thinking and the sense to know when to retreat. Monsters don't have that. They only know one thing: kill. Fighting a beast is both terrifying and exhilarating. You never know if this will be the last time you ever fight. Only the most trained of men can do it and survive. So when I saw three inexperienced looking teenagers around my age trying to fend off a group of werewolves in the woods next to the castle, I knew I had to step in.

I look back on that moment now and realize that was when I entered the fiercest war in my life.

Using the three teens, I quickly assessed the situation: Three kids. Silver hair boy wielding a broadsword. Brown hair boy using a knife. Redhead girl using twin daggers. Silver hair surprisingly proficient, he should be okay for now. Red hair not perfect but can hold her own for a while longer, as long as they don't all go at her at once, which is unlikely. Brown hair had no idea what he's doing and the beasts notice that. Most are targeting him. About one minute until complete and utter decimation. Analysis completed. Let's do this.

Sensing him as the main target, I charged towards the brown haired boy (I heard one of them call him Arc), slicing down beasts as I ran. There were five that had him pinned against a tree. Running quickly, I vaulted over them, slicing one's head in half. He was still cowering against the tree, but seeing me, his demeanor quickly changed.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Now is not the time for questions, but I can assure you I am an ally. Now, quickly, stand up and fight if you want to live!"

I didn't need to tell him twice. He scrambled up next to me, holding his knife out threateningly. I had managed to kill one of the werewolves when I sliced its head apart, but three more had taken its place, making it two against seven. I didn't like those odds.

I once again assessed the situation: Two against seven. My ally has no idea what he's doing, but may be able to take out one or two if he gets lucky. I can't allow him to die, so I'll have to be blocking him while fighting, which makes things considerably more difficult. The other two are still engaged, but silver hair looks like he's wrapping things up, he may be able to help when finished, which may take a few seconds, and time is something I can't spare. I this takes too long, other beasts will come, and we'll be hopelessly outnumbered. Analysis completed. Let's do this.

I did all this in a fraction of a second. I had come up with a plan in that time as well, but I knew Arc wouldn't like it. I whispered it in his ear. He didn't like it.

"On my mark, we'll carry out the plan! 3…2…1…NOW!"

God bless Arc, he did things flawlessly. Monsters know we are frightened of them, and use this to their advantage. So, imagine their surprise when the person they were previously hunting began charging straight at them bellowing at the top of his lungs with a knife pointed out. Needless to say, they hesitated long enough for Arc to barrel past them and to safety. Now there was the little problem of how I was supposed to survive. I went for the easy path: kill, kill, kill.

I drew my bow and quick as flash, three of the beasts had arrows down to the feathers in their necks. Before the monsters could even think Holy shit, I drew my sword and sliced two of them down, leaving only two more. The monsters finally got through to their small brains that Hey, he killed my friends and started slicing at me. One slash I could have easily avoided, but I kind of wanted to show off, so I kind of did a backflip. While upside down, I grabbed one of my knives and threw it directly into the monster's stomach. Yeah, I'm kind of awesome.

That left only one more. I began walking towards the other three, who had only been watching for a while. The last monster ran at my back, but I nonchalantly flipped a knife over my shoulder and heard it hit its target. All around us there was gore and sand from the dead monsters. The three teens just sort of looked at me for a while. Some of their expressions were kind of funny to watch. Finally, the girl spoke: "W-who are you?"

As a true knight, I spoke only respectfully. "I am Sir Ingus, a member of the royal guard at this castle. May I ask your names and why you are here?"

Silver hair answered this one. "I'm Luneth." Gesturing to the brown haired boy, he said "This is my adopted brother, Arc. And this," he said, gesturing to the girl, "Is Refia. We came to seek an audience with the king."

I thought about it for a second.

"May I ask what the audience is for?"

"We want to try to break the curse in Kazus. We need the mithril ring, supposedly," Refia said.

"You wish to seal the Djinn," I said, getting serious. "I warn you, if your showing here is of any indication, you will stand no chance against the demon."

Arc raised his hand shyly. "What's the Djinn?"

"The Djinn is the demon that caused your trouble. The power of mithril alone can seal it, but the earthquake may have shaken it loose. If it is an audience with the king you desire, then I should be able to set something up. Come with me and please, do mind yourself in front of his majesty."

Ooh, interesting. Also, for those of you who are having trouble with it, Ingus is awesome and he knows it, yet he will always speak respectfully. For now.