Chapter thirty-four: Dishonor
Trying to ignore the clashing of metal, the whizzing of flying arrows, and the unnatural darkness Andr generated when she was angry, Rayallv examined the black sphere. Perfectly smooth with silvery swirls and situated in golden swirls, it reflected whatever light could still reach it.
He grimaced, leaning against the golden swirls. There was no redstone here. What could he do? He was not familiar with this kind of technology. He had tried to remove the sphere, but it was solidly installed.
He frowned when he noticed something; the golden swirls fought back against Andr's darklight, as if they themselves were made of glowstone. But they were not; he would recognize it otherwise.
No… No, it was coated in something. Some yellow powder, sprinkled over its surface, acting as a source of light. What was this? He ran a hand over it and came back with a thinly stained glove. Some kind of light source. Perhaps it was more than that? An equivalent to redstone?
He took out his dagger and scratched some of the stuff off. Powder fell in his raised hand. He felt a faint warmth through his glove.
He glanced at the sphere. Was it powered by warmth…? Either way, if this yellow substance functioned anything like redstone, the only way to deactivate it was to interrupt it.
Hoping he was right, he immediately resumed scraping it off. Six golden tubes connected to the sphere. Six. And the yellow dust had to be completely interrupted on each of them.
Better get to work, then.
Jack leaped forward to cross the corridor ahead. With the armor damaged, his jump wasn't as strong as before, but it beat running. He slammed a nearby door open.
Nothing.
Hearing creaking a distance behind him, he immediately leaped away and turned a corner. Herskagul was after him. The Valkyries were looking for him so they could report to her. He'd already checked the throne room for the mobs, but they weren't there either.
He busted open another door and ran through. More corridor. More rooms. He burst into what seemed a small dining room, with a single table surrounded by chairs. Why did he have to forget the way to the device?
A door to the side opened. Jack grabbed a chair and tossed it over, barely missing the Valkyrie that stood in the doorway. She immediately retreated, off to tell Herskagul where he was. Jack chased after her out of the room; once out, he ran in the opposite direction. There was no point to chasing Valkyries around the Sanctuary.
The device, it flashed through his head, but he began to feel doubts about his plan. Even if the artefact did work against a Queen, the Valkyries might see it as a breach of the duel's rules.
But what other choice did he have? He couldn't beat her, especially with half of his armor gone.
As always, the artefact was his best bet.
Andr teleported. She grabbed the head of a Valkyrie and twisted it. They fell like a ragdoll.
She teleported again and rammed her sword through a Valkyrie's chest.
Teleport. Strike.
Teleport back to shield Rayallv and Blazette.
All that happened within a matter of moments.
Valkyries had landed or climbed onto the device. She kicked a nearby Valkyrie off, but more flew over trying to hit Rayallv from above.
Fire surged as Blazette shot back. They recoiled.
Andr quickly raised her shield above Rayallv's head to block a few arrows. She looked to the other Hunters and their meager shield wall.
A line of Valkyrie archers shot a volley of arrows at them.
Andr was just fast enough to throw Rayallv to the ground before her danger sense forced her to teleport away. She immediately went to the Valkyrie archers and attacked from behind. She broke the line effortlessly; half of them were dead before the remainder could draw their backup weapons.
Then she dispatched said remainder.
A part of her in the back of her head tried to scream, still. She silenced it.
All that mattered now was the device.
Raulyn and Galen faced down a Valkyrie. The winged woman flew at them brandishing a spear and shield. She blocked Galen's stab and tried to get Raulyn, but he deflected her attack and retaliated.
He was just quick enough to hit her eye.
She fell, landing onto the cloud with barely any sound. Raulyn glanced at the corpse. The Rogue had been suspected of possessing low-level superhuman physical abilities and reflexes. His unconscious use of them must have contributed to his 'skill' in the past.
Another Valkyrie approached, wielding a greatsword. Raulyn tensed. Greatswords could be risky to deal with…
He focused. The Valkyrie paused for a moment, as if hesitating. Was it working?
He felt the heat of the fire before it hit them. Blazette had attacked from above, lighting the winged woman on fire. The Valkyrie yelped and dropped their sword.
Raulyn swiftly stepped forward and—taking a risk—kicked her off the device. She fell, still burning.
Others landed on the other end of the device, assembling into a formation of spears and shields. Raulyn tensed again as they stepped closer, but stood his ground.
"Ilyoin…" he said.
Ilyoin responded with a grunt. Only then did Raulyn realize the Hunter had tossed one of the poisons Mystia had given him. It hit the Valkyries' shields and burst open, spilling the green substance everywhere.
That gave Raulyn an idea. "Blaze!" he said. "Use poison!"
"What?"
"Some have protection against fire. Use poison from above."
"You're telling me how to fight?" But she took the bottle from his belt without objection. She flew to the side and descended below the device's surface, vanishing from sight.
The Valkyries' shield-and-spear formation approached further.
Then Blazette reemerged from the side behind them and tossed the poison bottle. It hit and shattered, releasing the toxic vapors inside.
As the formation began to fall apart, Blazette quickly flew over—shooting some fire for good measure—and hid behind the Hunters' shields again.
Raulyn reflexively looked out for other incoming Valkyries, but realized only a few were still in the air. He frowned.
Then he became aware of the sounds down below.
He peeked over the edge of the device to see a black-and-purple mass dancing among the winged warriors. Blood stained the ground and the figure's hands and weapons as it teleported around. Raulyn grimaced despite himself. Such carnage, caused by one person… Was he really wrong in hunting mobs?
From above, Blazette dropped another poison bottle. Andr teleported away from where it landed, but the Valkyries had no such luxury. Blazette laughed maniacally. "Ha! This is way more fun than it looks!"
Maybe he was, but if these two were any indication…
A separate group of Valkyries flew up from the side, eyes turned to the Hunters. Raulyn tensed, leveling his weapon. Blazette took note and launched a jet of fire their way to deter them. Some Valkyries changed their course, but the one among them with full plate armor did not.
Galen turned and moved his shield just in time to block the incoming sword strike—compromising the Hunters' formation as he did. The Valkyrie formation advanced. Galen was too slow to react and a spear buried its way into his arm. He grunted, backing away.
He managed to get the spear out of his arm, revealing that the padded gear had taken visible damage. It had prevented the spear from piercing his flesh completely, but the arm that held his shield sagged noticeably nonetheless. He gritted his teeth. "Rayallv…?"
"Get the Ender!" barked Raulyn. Blazette reacted, firing towards where the Ender was fighting the majority of the Valkyries.
Andr took the message and teleported over. She grabbed the Valkyrie that had attacked Galen earlier and threw her aside. As she did, she made a slashing motion with the sword she had taken earlier, cutting the Valkyrie's wings.
The Valkyrie formation backed away, looking at the Ender's bloodstained clothing, face and hands.
A mess of teleporting and fire followed, and the remaining Valkyries flew or fell off.
"There is no end to them…" Raulyn whispered. He glanced to Galen, who had managed to get a potion from Rayallv's belt.
"They're coming back to life," the Ender said. "I recognize their faces. I've killed half of these Valkyries several times already."
"Rayallv!"
"I am working on it, sir!"
"Work faster!" For as strong as the mobs were, the Hunters were more vulnerable by comparison. They only had so many potions with them.
Then the door burst open once again, this time so hard that it fell off its hinges and crashed to the ground.
Jack entered wearing damaged armor.
The first thing Jack saw and smelled were the corpses and blood on the ground. The second thing was the remaining Valkyries, who shied away from him as soon as he entered, not wanting to risk accidentally harming the Queen's personal enemy.
The last thing was the mobs and Hunters on top of the device.
He jumped. Despite his armor's damage, he made it to the top of the device. He leaped over to the others. He stopped when he noticed the blood on Andr's clothes. She looked at him with a cold expression he didn't recognize.
"Where's the artefact?" Jack demanded
"If by 'artefact' you mean a black sphere," a Hunter he didn't recognize said from behind the meager shield wall, "then it is right here."
Jack stepped past them. "Give it to me."
"I am trying; it is stuck, for now."
"What do you mean, stuck?"
"It means I am trying to sever the connection," the Hunter said with a hint of annoyance.
Jack growled. He noticed a few Valkyries leaving through the door, no doubt to get Herskagul. He needed to hurry. She'd be here before long.
Valkyries approached. Some landed on the device, weapons raised, preparing to attack. Jack grimaced and ducked his head. With his helmet gone…
Another Valkyrie landed before them, but this one had their back turned and was facing the attackers. "Stop! Jack can't be harmed."
"They're taking the artefact," said one of the attackers.
"We can reinstall it." More Valkyries landed on both sides.
Jack looked at the scene with disbelief. Valkyries, protecting him? Seemed they didn't all have the same priorities.
He noticed a Valkyrie flying up and towards them, spear raised. The Hunters saw it too and moved their shields to defend, but the attacker was intercepted by another Valkyrie in mid-air. They crashed right into the attackers' line.
"Charge!" one of them called.
Then the two sides fought.
Rayallv scraped more yellow dust off the golden swirls. He had disconnected four of the six, their light dying off from where he had separated the dust from itself. Just two more to go!
The fighting behind him took a pause as Jack joined the group. A glance back showed him Valkyries fighting Valkyries. He had heard their argument from before. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.
He just disconnected the second-to-last channel. Just one more. One more and—
"Here you are," a voice bellowed.
The word Jack growled was one Rayallv was unfamiliar with, but it sounded like a profanity.
"Shit," Jack growled. "She's here."
"Then keep her busy," Raulyn's voice sounded. "She will not hesitate to fight us."
"I'll deal with her," said Andr, but Jack immediately grabbed her wrist.
"No!" he said. "I have to be the one to kill her."
"What does it matter?" she bit back with an unfamiliar intensity. "We're destroying the device anyway."
"I'm going to keep her busy…" Jack glanced back at the Hunter behind him. "You! When you're done with the artefact, I need it. Badly."
"If you get hurt or cornered," Andr warned, "I will kill her."
Jack looked at her. Her eyes were so…uncompromising. This wasn't the Andr he knew.
Finally he leaped over the Hunters. He looked down to the ground, where Herskagul returned his gaze, paying no heed to the infighting among the Valkyries around her. Herskagul's armor was damaged in a similar way as his, with one arm exposed and a part of her cuirass gone. Her wings were mildly tattered, but didn't seem to be too damaged. She held her gilded sword in one hand.
"You've got no weapons," Herskagul spoke, her voice no less regal as it bellowed through the chamber. "How are you going to fight?"
I have to stall, Jack thought. And keep her eye away from the Hunters. He just hoped the Valkyries wouldn't stop their infighting; the confusion helped.
He dropped down and crashed on Gravitite-protected feet. "Oh, don't worry," he bluffed. "I won't need any weapons."
She grunted. "Hm."
Jack slowly readied his left, armored arm. It was all he had, really.
She leaped at him, sword raised.
Jack leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding her as he had before. He dived behind a group of fighting Valkyries.
He turned back to Herskagul and raised his arm protectively. She didn't press the attack, instead waiting for the surrounding Valkyries to disperse.
She flinched when Andr teleported into the masses and effortlessly ran a Valkyrie through with her sword. Andr grabbed the Valkyrie's white-and-gold blade and tossed it in Jack's direction, not bothering to look at him.
Jack leaped at it and grabbed it off the ground. He raised the weapon at Herskagul.
Andr teleported away.
Rayallv severed the last connection. The end of the golden swirl lost its glow.
He paused. Waiting, ignoring the wave of heat he felt when Blazette shot more fire at their enemies. Was something supposed to happen?
He tentatively took the sphere in both hands.
It came loose.
"Ha!" he said victoriously. "Captain! I—"
Something struck him in the back.
He felt no pain, at first. He dumbly stared down at the pointy arrowhead sticking out of his chest.
Potion, it flashed through his mind. He dropped the sphere and reached for his belt, where the glass bottle should be.
He came back empty. He had already used it to help Galen. Mystia had run low on supplies by the time they reached the Aether.
"Rayallv!" Ilyoin's voice called.
Rayallv turned to him, leaning against the device. Ilyoin…had a potion at his belt. But…
He felt himself fall to the ground.
"Where is Andr!" Raulyn barked. "Blaze!"
He felt the heat from the flames. Then a purple light.
And then Ilyoin took a spear to the leg from a stray attacking Valkyrie. He grunted and backed away. Another Valkyrie grabbed the attacker and yanked them back.
Ilyoin stumbled back. He collapsed next to Rayallv. Ilyoin reached to the potion at his belt.
He hesitated, eyeing the bottle. Then he offered it to Rayallv.
Rayallv gave an amused grunt. "Huh! No."
"This is not enough to heal us both," Ilyoin said. "Take it!"
Rayallv glanced to the wound in his friend's leg. "You will bleed out…"
"So will you!"
Rayallv grunted. He glanced down, where he spotted Jack fighting the Queen. Or, well, he was running from her, defending with what looked like a Valkyrie sword when needed.
"Blaze…" he grunted.
Blazette glanced at him.
With effort, Rayallv managed to get to his feet, grunting as he became more aware of the arrow in him. Clutching the artefact to his aching chest, he glanced over to Jack. "Get him here."
Jack ducked out of the way, deflecting Herskagul's stab, driving her sword in the wall. He jumped away, but she had caught on to his pattern and mirrored his movement. She managed to shove him to the side.
He landed on the intact part of his cuirass. It absorbed the shock. He tried to stand, but she was on him in a moment, holding him down.
She raised her sword to stab his unprotected head.
Jack raised his intact gauntlet. It wouldn't be enough.
Then something threw her off him.
Jack was frozen. Then he sat up and looked around frantically. What…?!
Then he spotted her, struggling in Andr's grip.
No…
Giving Jack a glance, Andr let the Queen go and teleported away. Herskagul snatched her sword off the ground and turned to face Jack.
She didn't advance.
Instead she cried out, "Dishonor!"
Andr teleported near him, sword and shield raised.
"I told you to let me take care of it…" Jack said.
"You're welcome," she bit back.
The Valkyries froze. Then they shifted. Now as one unit, they leveled their weapons at Jack. Jack picked up the sword he'd dropped, but what could he do against this army?
Andr grabbed him, and next thing he knew he stood on top of the device, near the Hunters. Andr killed the remaining few Valkyries present, then shoved Jack to the meager shield wall. Only two Hunters were left standing.
Jack spotted the other two. Bleeding. One of them had an arrow stuck in his chest.
"Fuck…" Jack whispered.
"Andr," Raulyn said. "Get us out of here."
"No!" Jack said. "There's still a chance…"
"A chance for what?"
"For them to free Brigul. If I kill Herskagul."
"We have no time for—"
"Jack!"
He looked up.
Blazette descended and dropped the artefact in his grip. "You wanted this? Take it."
Jack did so.
He looked to the approaching Valkyries. Some watched him from the air; others landed onto the device. All had their weapons raised.
Some raised bows.
"We have to go!" Raulyn pressed.
"Andr…" Jack said. "Get me to Herskagul."
She looked at him. "What?"
"Just do it!"
She didn't question it. She grabbed him. Next he knew, they stood next to the Queen.
Immediately Jack felt a kick to his chest, launching him back. He hit the ground. The artefact rolled away.
He sat up to see Herskagul staring him down. She'd expected it…!
Andr moved between her and Jack, raising her own sword at the Queen, but surrounding Valkyries flew at Jack and grabbed his arms. He resisted and tried to reach the artefact, but to no avail.
Jack growled. One of the Valkyries put a knife to his neck.
Andr raised her sword, but Herskagul said, "If you stand down, I'll show mercy."
Andr hesitated. She glanced at Jack and froze.
Then she lowered her weapon.
"Kill her!" Jack cried. "Kill Herskagul!"
Andr didn't respond. She just looked at him with an intense dark gaze, coated in red. The aura around her weakened the light from the runes in the wall.
Herskagul gave them one final glance. Then, sheathing her sword, she flew up onto the device. She gave orders to the Valkyries there. Jack watched as, slowly, the Hunters were lowered from the device. The two that were hurt were carried out of the room. Blazette descended as well and landed next to Andr.
"Well, then," Herskagul said. She stepped towards Jack. "What your friends have done here amounts to an act of war." She turned to face Raulyn. "What have you to say, Captain?"
Raulyn looked at her with an unreadable expression. The other Hunter—the only one who hadn't been hurt—crossed his arms and said, "Captain, if I may… We have been in a situation like this before."
Raulyn didn't spare him a glance. Andr and Blazette, however, did, albeit briefly.
"Stand down," Herskagul said to the Valkyries holding Jack. "He's done nothing."
They glanced at each other. "He…broke the laws of engagement," one of them said.
"That was her." Herskagul pointed to Andr. "Not him. The duel is still in effect."
"You said you'd show mercy…" Andr said.
"To you and those other humans. Not to Jack."
A silence fell. Then the Valkyries slowly let go of him. They moved back, dragging some of their fallen comrades' corpses with them, granting him and Herskagul room.
Blazette and the Hunters moved back as well. Andr looked at him conflicted.
Jack gave her a slow nod.
As he did, he peeked to the side, where the artefact lay. Its rolling trajectory had been halted by a corpse, whose black armor more or less camouflaged the sphere. Apparently the Valkyries didn't have the means to pick it up this time.
Jack slowly rose to his feet. One Valkyrie stepped forward and offered him something—a poleaxe made of Gravitite. His axe. He took it, mildly surprised. He hadn't expected to see it again.
Herskagul drew her gilded sword.
Jack raised his axe. It felt heavier. Everything did. Under the remainder of his Gravitite armor, he felt exhausted.
You've come this far. Just a little more.
They stood on opposite ends. Their gazes locked.
Come on…
Herskagul lunged with a flap of her wings.
Jack leaped forward—and passed under her gliding form. He landed flat on his chest, then leaped towards the artefact.
Herskagul lunged again.
Jack raised his axe and hit the artefact like a golf ball.
It struck her shin guard.
She grunted. Her leg limped for a moment, and she crashed to one knee. Jack swung his axe against her helmet, knocking her to the side.
Jack leaped to the artefact again. Grabbed it. Jump towards Herskagul.
She stabbed, but the attack was desperate. Jack swung his axe to deflect and ducked under the sword. He pressed the artefact against her chestplate.
She grunted. The sword dropped from her grip.
Jack pushed her back. She tripped over a corpse and fell, but Jack didn't back down. Dropping his own weapon, he pressed the artefact against her chestplate, watching as the silvery metal began to turn red and melt. The heat all but seared his bare hand.
Herskagul didn't even resist.
Her gauntleted hands slowly went to her head. With twitching fingers she removed her helmet, revealing the dark veins that had begun to spread over her face.
Jack looked into her eyes. They were just recovering from shock, making place for a calmer expression. Her grunts died down.
Finally she went limp.
Jack kept pressing the artefact down, his gaze fixated on her, as if to make sure she was really dead. He became aware of how fast and unregulated his breath was. He took a hold of it, and slowly calmed it down.
Finally he stood up. His hands were trembling. The artefact rolled off of Herskagul and over the ground.
Only then did he realize how quiet everything was. Humans, mobs and Valkyries were looking at him.
Bodies littered the floor, blood stained the two remaining Hunters' weapons. Andr… She looked as though she'd stepped in a bath of blood, with red streaking her skin, her clothing and the weapon in her hand.
Jack looked up at the flying Valkyries.
"She's dead," he whispered, realizing how tired he was. He could barely believe the words he spoke. "She's…dead."
They looked at him shocked. Finally some of them approached, weapons lowered. There weren't any less of them present than there had been at the beginning. Some of the Valkyries outside had probably joined the fight whenever possible—and, of course, they had a tendency to come back to life.
He felt someone grabbing his shoulders gently. He looked right into Andr's eyes. They looked a little more like the ones from the Andr he knew, with a hint of worry in them. Blazette approached as well. Raulyn and the other Hunter gave a glance, then flagged down one of the Valkyries, who led them out of the room.
Jack looked in Andr's eyes, their coldness cracking to reveal concern. "I, ah," he mumbled dumbly. "I think we won."