~ Chapter 15 ~
Unwavering Light
Helios broke into a full sprint, gliding towards the nearby staircase with alarming speed. Crescent followed less than a second later, pacing Helios and remaining several paces behind him. By the time Morgan and the others caught on to what was happening, Helios was already halfway up the stairs.
"Hel, wait!" Morgan called.
But Helios didn't slow, and so smooth was his stride that he seemed to soar effortlessly up the steps. Crescent did pause, but only to ready another arrow.
A muffled cry rang out as Helios nearly crashed into an approaching Sun Guard soldier. A moment later, the soldier was tumbling helplessly down the steps, his poleaxe thrown from his grasp. Crescent loosed her shot in a hurry, striking her target in the leg before sliding neatly clear of the flying polearm. Then she, too, disappeared from sight.
"I don't see how running away from the Sun Guard, then straight back at them constitutes a plan," Ferus moaned.
"Stick together, and stay on your guard," Morgan instructed, ignoring Ferus's complaining. Then, with her staff still at the ready, she raced after Helios and Crescent, Severa and Owain at her heels.
A confident grin spread across Helios's lips when he gained the top step mere seconds before the next pair of Sun Guard lancers could head him off. He burst through the doorway, falling over his newest challengers without the slightest trace of hesitation.
The two surprised soldiers gasped in surprise and promptly tried to back away, but they could not outpace the savage hurricane of shimmering steel that had found them. Helios's swords slapped at them again and again, stinging them with each awkward step they took. Finally, realizing there was no escape, the two Sun Guard fighters raised their glaives in hopes of staving off the furious assault.
Helios's grin widened, for he had expected his advantage to be fleeting, especially with how urgently he had pressed forth in hopes of gaining ground. Just as his opponents were beginning to find their composure, Helios dropped into a deep crouch, then raced towards the farther of his two opponents, a daring movement that left him dangerously exposed.
The closer of the two Sun Guard lancers saw the opening. He stepped out to the side, beyond the reach of Helios's swords, and moved to jab his lance viciously toward his unarmored, vulnerable foe. He had only barely begun to move, however, when an arrow struck his breastplate forcefully. He stumbled back with a grunt, turning reflexively in search of the shooter.
The angle wasn't quite perfect, but it was good enough. Crescent advanced further up the staircase, then pressed herself against the wall, bringing her bow tight to her chest to line up her next shot. Even shooting from such an awkward and uncomfortable posture, Crescent's next arrow bore straight into the seam beneath the armored lancer's arm.
Simultaneously, the other Sun Guard soldier thrust his lance forward, hoping to drive Helios back. The robed swordsman was too fast for that though, and closed in first, accepting a glancing blow from his opponent's glaive's shaft. Helios then slammed his swords into his opponent's side, one after another.
When the lancer felt his sturdy steel plating folding beneath the weight of Helios's vicious attack, he threw himself forward in a reckless tackle, hoping to use his weight to his advantage.
To Helios, the desperate move seemed painfully obvious, even sluggish. He simply weaved aside and watched his opponent stumble past. The sudden fall left the armored Sun Guard so winded that he could not even utter a sound when he felt Helios's sword sliding between his ribs.
"Wait up!" Morgan called, before promptly tripping over the limp form of a fallen Sun Guard lancer as she emerged through the doorway.
Helios had already moved away, however, and had posted himself at the top of one of the two sets of stairs leading down to the main chamber's lower floors. "Ah… sorry, Morgan, but I'm a bit busy at the moment," he apologized, working his swords frantically as he held back three opponents at once. Three more were trying to squeeze in between their allies, while several others were making their way across the room towards the remaining, unguarded staircase.
Morgan drew her sword and started towards Helios's side, but Crescent quickly stopped her. "Hel and I can hold them here," she promised, twirling and setting another arrow to her bow. Her aim drifted slowly to the left, putting several of the Sun Guard fighters on the defensive. Then Crescent's bow snapped back to the right, and her arrow flew precisely over Helios's shoulder, taking down an armored lancer who had been too distracted to notice her.
Helios had evidently been expecting that very shot, for he was already sidling towards that some opponent. He crossed his swords in front of his chest, then swept them out wide, shoving the lifeless Sun Guard into his waiting companions.
Again, Helios's remaining opponents thought to punish the apparent opening, and again, it was only a ruse.
"I'd run if I were you!" Crescent warned. Her bow quickly thrummed thrice, and one of the two soldiers collapsed, an arrow embedded in each of his shoulders and a third just above his knee.
At the sound of Crescent's voice, Helios had started moving again, too, sliding towards Crescent's target and only narrowly avoiding the stinging arrows himself. That allowed him just enough space to bring his swords to bear against the second Sun Guard soldier, who crumpled backwards a moment later.
Morgan found herself staring in amazement, hardly able to believe how flawlessly Crescent complimented Helios's daredevil posturing. She knew they had little time to waste, and that she should have been attending to their opponents, but it wasn't until the three Seekers finally caught up to her that she finally managed to tear herself away from the spectacle.
"Two more incoming," Bayn said, indicating two Sun Guard swordsmen approaching from across the room.
"Let's go. Leave the rest here to Hel," Morgan decided quickly. She exchanged her staff for her sword and charged, hoping to head off her opponents and trap them upon the staircase as Helios and Crescent had done.
Bayn, Trance, and Ferus obeyed at once, easily outrunning Morgan. The younger girl scrambled after them, only to feel Severa's hand clamping down tightly over her wrist. Severa had restrained Owain, too, who looked equally confused.
"Morgan, were you serious about needing the High Commander's armor?" Severa pressed.
"Yeah, but she's probably still at the staircase. I don't think she's moved," Morgan said. "We can confront her after we've dealt with her soldiers."
"Not if she runs when she sees that her men are losing," Severa said, shaking her head. "Keep the rest of these soldiers busy. Owain and I can take her." She tugged at Owain's hand, who promptly nodded in agreement.
"I don't…" Morgan started to argue, for she didn't think it too likely that the High Commander would flee. She changed her mind halfway, though, when she considered the consequences of their opposing commander escaping. "Alright, then, if you're sure you two can handle her alone," she agreed.
"I'm sure," Severa said, pressing one of her healing elixirs upon Morgan. "Just in case," she explained insistently, when Morgan tried to resist. "Stay safe, okay?"
Then, before Morgan could argue any further, Severa casually tossed her glaive over the walkway's rail, then leapt over it herself. Though the walkway was a good ten feet off the ground, Severa landed neatly on both feet, smoothly retrieving her weapon a second later. Owain seemed more hesitant, but he leapt over as well, stumbling slightly as he landed.
Morgan ran up to the rail, peeking over just in time to see her sister and Owain disappearing beneath the walkway.
By all appearances, the High Commander had not moved since the start of the battle. She remained at her post, guarding the staircase that led up towards the summit, and her glaive – one identical to Severa's pilfered weapon – rested easily in her gauntleted hands. She continued staring straight ahead, directly between her two challengers, as if she were entirely unaware of their approach.
Severa remained vigilant as she closed in upon the Sun Guard's leader, tensing up when she stepped within striking distance. She knew better than to fall for her opponent's feigned indifference, but for all her caution, Harmonia's first strike still came so quickly that Severa nearly missed the parry.
The two glaives clashed, scraping loudly against each other. The elite Sun Guard then retracted her polearm, spinning it behind her back into her other hand before stabbing again from a different angle.
Severa's first thought was to strike and interrupt the move, but even as she realigned her own glaive, she realized that her opponent was too fast, and that she could not hope to attack and still dodge away. At the last possible moment, she slipped to the right, away from the incoming glaive and buying just enough time to raise her own weapon for another parry. The two glaives sang out as they met again.
When he saw Severa moving right, Owain moved in the opposite direction, weaving past Harmonia's spinning glaive as he completed the flank. He threw out a quick stab, but wisely chose not to commit to the attack. A split second later, Harmonia swept Severa's glaive aside and countered swiftly, slashing powerfully at Owain, who had already retreated to safety.
But Harmonia had underestimated her opponents, and as soon as she rounded upon Owain, Severa closed in once more. Doing her best to match her opponent's blinding speed, the red-haired lancer struck twice in quick succession, and though her glaive did not pierce her opponent's armor, the powerful blows sent Harmonia reeling backward.
Curiously enough, the Sun Guard commander's first reaction was to try and force her way back to the staircase. "You cannot escape me!" she growled defiantly. Her rash move proved ill-advised, for both Owain and Severa seized the opportunity to strike again. This time, Owain's sword slid between his opponent's plated armor, tearing into Harmonia's arm.
"Escape?" Severa echoed disbelievingly, chopping again at Harmonia's helmet. "Does it look to you like we're going anywhere?"
Harmonia staggered back with a painful grunt. Severa and Owain gave chase, but there was more fight left in the wounded Sun Guard commander than either of them anticipated. Harmonia snapped her glaive outward in a wide sweep, driving back both of her attackers. She then leveled her weapon and charged straight at Severa.
Startled, Severa dove aside, twirling her glaive behind her in a desperate, blind parry. Luck was on her side, and she felt the impact of her glaive colliding again with Harmonia's, but the Sun Guard commander powered through the meager defense.
"Severa!" Owain shouted in alarm.
Severa fell back, clutching at her bleeding arm. She gritted her teeth stubbornly to keep herself from crying out in pain, and stared into Harmonia's helmet, determinedly meeting her opponent's gaze.
Harmonia, too, was bleeding from the arm; her armor was stained crimson where Owain had wounded her earlier, but unlike Severa, she hardly seemed to notice the pain. She straightened and brandished her glaive proudly, adamantly standing her ground until the end. "You do not deserve to bask in the light of the Solcryst, let alone approach it," she declared, her voice remarkably even despite her condition.
Owain was more than ready to match his opponent's haughty banter. "Your false light cannot withstand my darkness!" he proclaimed, charging once more. Severa was quick to follow, pausing only to quaff her remaining healing elixir.
Harmonia met their charge fearlessly, and to her credit, she hardly faltered despite her wounds. Though her movements were stiff, she proved just barely capable of turning aside each attack thrown her away. Her glaive rang out against glaive, sword, and glaive again. The furious melee dragged on and on, and still, the High Commander showed no signs of tiring.
"You're boring me!" Severa cried out angrily, as her frustration peaked. She went for a vicious forward stab, abandoning her defensive stance, and her glaive slid up against Harmonia's wounded arm, cutting deeply into the Sun Guard's shoulder.
Seemingly oblivious to the pain, the High Commander countered immediately, and her swift reprise left a bloody gash upon Severa's cheek.
Owain instinctively moved towards Severa, only to be cut off by Harmonia's impossibly fast reversal. Unable to fight on, Owain cursed loudly as he lumbered away, feebly attempting to stem the bleeding from the puncture in his side.
Hardly out of the fight, Severa threw herself forward in a fit of rage. The two glaives clashed repeatedly, and Severa seemed to be growing angrier with each failed attack. The exertion was finally taking its toll upon the red-haired lancer, and a burning sensation began working its way through her arms, but she pressed on relentlessly and with newfound intensity.
Finally, just as both combatants seemed to be reaching their limits, Harmonia slipped. Her glaive drifted but an inch too high, and Severa spun her own glaive underneath, then stabbed up and straight into her opponent's throat.
The High Commander gasped, then fell to her knees. As she collapsed, her helmet caught on Severa's glaive and came free, revealing a striking, angular face framed by a shock of dark hair. Harmonia's frozen expression remained one of defiance, with only the slightest trace of guilt at having failed her master.
Severa stood motionlessly, unable to tear her gaze away from the defeated High Commander. Even in death, Harmonia's zealous loyalty remained unwavering. Doubt inspired by her fallen opponent's unwavering conviction began gnawing at Severa's thoughts.
Could this fiercely loyal woman, who looked no older than Severa herself was, truly be responsible for the heartless massacre of two downtrodden cities? Had Harmonia even been aware of the truth? Severa was beginning to suspect otherwise, but another, more alarming question remained.
If Harmonia, the highest ranked member of the Sun Guard, had not been the one to order Aquila's Ascent and Leo's Rest destroyed, who was it that had been keeping secrets for so long? Or had Morgan been mistaken, after all?
Then Severa heard the rest of her companions converging upon her, and any thoughts of Harmonia and the Sun Guard faded as she remembered Owain. She spun about, searching desperately for her husband. To her relief, Owain was not only still conscious, but seemed capable of standing as Morgan tended to the grisly wound in his side. "How are you doing, Owain?" she asked, making no effort to hide her concern.
"I've been better," Owain said weakly, and the distinguished absence of any dramatic overtones made his wounds seem far worse than his nonchalance indicated.
"There. Try to relax a little, and it should heal up pretty quickly," Morgan said to Owain, before turning her staff to Severa.
Severa closed her eyes as the healing magic gushed over her face. The gash on her cheek stung, but the pain was fleeting. "Thanks," she said.
"No problem," Morgan said. She looked around, checking on each of her companions one last time before replacing her staff in her pouch. She then gestured with her pearl ring. As Morgan busied herself with removing and cleaning the High Commander's armor, the rift leading to Water's Edge began to form.
Severa glanced curiously at the rift, but more pressing doubts weighed upon her as she approached her younger sister. "Morgan, I don't think the High Commander knew the truth," she said quietly.
"Probably not," Morgan agreed.
"This doesn't seem right," Severa said worriedly. "Everything you said made sense before, but if the Sun Guard really destroyed the Sun Spires, how could their leader not know?"
"I don't think the High Commander was really the leader of the Sun Guard," Morgan explained softly.
Severa stared at her younger sister, baffled.
"You'll understand soon enough," Morgan promised. "Could you give me a hand with this armor?"
Reluctantly, Severa allowed the matter to drop and joined Morgan in stripping down the High Commander's corpse. Only when they had finished did Severa notice the absurdity of their task. The armor was obviously too large for Morgan, and the High Commander was surprisingly slender – too slender for her armor to fit Severa. "Okay. We've got her armor. Now what?"
"Now we're going to gather up robes and armor for everyone else. You're all going to disguise yourself as elite members of the Sun Guard," Morgan instructed, indicating the fallen Sun Guards strewn across the room. "Tie up anyone who's still alive, too. I'll tend to their wounds as best I can, but we need to keep them out of the fighting."
"I'm already wearing Second Class armor, lass," Bayn reminded.
"You're fine the way you are," Morgan agreed.
"What about me?" Crescent asked, for her armor was quite similar to Bayn's.
"You'll be wearing the High Commander's armor, Cress," Morgan explained.
Severa looked up in surprise. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the High Commander's armor was almost a perfect fit for Crescent. Remembering Morgan's previous, off-hand comment about keeping Crescent safe, Severa suddenly understood that her younger sister must have sized up both the enemy commander and Crescent at a glance before formulating whatever plans they were following now. "Okay. That was some pretty quick thinking," she admitted grudgingly.
"What was?" Morgan asked, looking up at her blankly.
"Never mind," Severa said hastily. "But why are we disguising ourselves as part of the Sun Guard now?"
"And why do you want Cress to disguise herself as the High Commander?" Helios added, frowning.
Morgan signaled towards the rift that was slowly forming beside her. "When the rift is complete, everyone but Bayn will head on through to Water's Edge and change into your new armor. I'll show Bayn how to use my ring and give him some warp powder. He'll warp back down to the first level."
"Me? I don't know the slightest thing about magic, lass!" Bayn protested.
"Don't worry. It'll be easy. You'll see," Morgan said soothingly. "And it has to be you. You know the lower levels quite well, and we can't be certain how the battle downstairs is going. Thankfully, neither the Sun Guard nor the Seekers should attack you on sight. You'll have plenty of time to find a safe, quiet spot to bring everyone else back to your side."
"But why are we headed back downstairs?" Severa interrupted. She pointed towards the nearby doorway and the staircase behind it. "The Solcryst is just up there, isn't it?"
"I promised to find a way to deal with the Sun Warden, remember?" Morgan reminded. "Once Bayn lets you all back through the rift, you're all going to follow Cress down to the Sun Forge."
"The Sun Forge?" Crescent said, surprised. "It won't be running, you know. The Sun Forge only runs during the day."
"And if the Sun Guard still has control of the Sun Forge – which is likely, since the Seekers had no plans of seizing it – you're going to order them to turn it on," Morgan said.
"Turn it on… and do what, exactly?" Bayn asked.
Morgan shrugged indifferently. "Nothing. Just leave it running," she said.
"Umm… Morgan, none of this armor is going to fit you," Owain, who was in the midst of choosing a robe for himself, interrupted.
"I know," Morgan admitted, bracing herself for another argument. "Which is why I won't be going with you all. Once Bayn heads downstairs, I'll head on up to the summit and destroy the Solcryst.
For several long seconds, no one said anything. Everyone simply stared at Morgan, as if they were wondering whether the young tactician had lost her mind.
"T-that's your plan?" Helios stammered at last.
"That's not a plan at all!" Severa insisted loudly. "No way, Morgan. We are not splitting up now, not after everything we've been through."
"We have to, Sis," Morgan pleaded. "We need the Sun Forge up and running, but I've never seen the Sun Forge before. I have no idea what it's going to be like down there, and since Bayn will be out of the fighting after he uses the warp powder, you're going to need all the help you can get."
"But what about you?" Trance asked. "We can't leave you to face the Sun Warden alone!"
"I can take care of myself. Besides, I won't be alone. I'll have Ellie with me," Morgan insisted. At the sound of her name, Yuelle poked the tip of her wings up over the brim of Morgan's hood.
"The Sun Warden's magical in nature, remember?" Morgan continued. "I think I know how to deal with him – it."
"You think?" Severa challenged.
"Uh-huh," Morgan said, nodding confidently. "Just get down to the Sun Forge and make sure it stays lit. Once you're sure it won't go out…"
"The Sun Forge is controlled by a simple lever," Crescent interrupted. "As long as no one turns it off, it should stay lit."
"Then as soon as you're certain that no one's going to turn it back off," Morgan corrected herself smoothly. "Bayn can open the rift, then warp you all back up here the same way." Morgan looked to Severa, who seemed on the verge of interrupting again. "Please, Severa. Trust me," the young tactician pleaded.
Severa was about to continue arguing, but stopped when she noticed the longing and almost desperate look that had suddenly spread across the young tactician's face. Severa considered her younger sister's tone more carefully then, and realized that Morgan wasn't really asking for permission – when had Morgan ever cared for her older sister's permission, anyways? No, Morgan was asking for something more this time. She was asking for her older sister to truly believe in her.
Yet when Severa met her sister's nervous stare, she found it impossible to forget that the girl was still only thirteen years old. Only thirteen, yet asking to bear the fate of a foreign world, and to bear it almost alone.
There was a faint sparkle, and Severa's gaze drifted slightly upward, settling upon the jeweled, silver butterfly nestled comfortably in the young tactician's hood.
At that moment, Severa made up her mind, determined not to repeat her father's mistake. "Always," she whispered, moving forward to embrace her sister tightly. "Just promise you'll keep yourself safe until we catch up."
Morgan seemed nearly overwhelmed, and when she replied, her voice was shaking, as was her entire body. "I… I promise," she whispered back.
The nearby rift buzzed as it neared its completion, and Severa finally released her sister. "Alright, everyone. You heard Morgan. Let's gather up some of this armor," she instructed.
In light of Severa's approval, no one pressed the matter any further, and after a quick and frantic search for appropriately-sized robes and pieces of armor, the group – save for Morgan and Bayn – retreated to Water's Edge with a few hasty farewells. Only Crescent hesitated, but any reluctance she initially displayed faded when Helios gently took her hand and led her through the rift.
Less than a minute later, Bayn was gone, too, along with the rift, leaving Morgan and Yuelle alone.
"Are you ready for this, Ellie?" Morgan asked, and despite her earlier assurances to her sister, the young tactician knew that the trial that awaited them now would likely be their greatest challenge yet.
Yuelle's wings quivered, emitting a soft, steady whistle.
"Here goes nothing, then. Let's bring Monolith's legends to life," Morgan said bravely. She started up the steps, trembling with anticipation. "Let's go kill a god."