Well, it's been a while since the last update, but the new chapter is finally here! It's pretty long, so maybe that makes up for the wait a little bit?
I... have no excuses to why this update took so long. Sorry. Hopefully the next one will be here sooner.
Anyway! In this chapter, Malos is a morning person, while Minoth is definitely not. Old memories resurface, and the duo eventually reach the village they've been travelling to, where they end up in a fight they hadn't been expecting.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
Time to fight!
The next morning, Minoth is awakened by a poke in his side, followed by the blanket being pulled off, exposing him to the cool air of the room. Judging by the lack of light, even without opening his eyes, Minoth can tell it's still dark outside. The sun is probably not even up yet. Makes no sense to wake up now.
"go'way, 'ddam," he mutters sleepily, curling up in an attempt to stay warm. "'s night..."
"Oi!" A sharper jab, to his back this time.
The voice causes Minoth's hands to freeze where they are attempting pull the blanket back over himself. This is not the room in the Aureus Palace in Auresco. And that is not Addam's voice.
His eyes snap open and he suddenly feels wide awake as the events of the previous day flood his mind. Gormott. The job. The Gogols. Malos.
He slowly turns to look behind him and indeed, there the bastard is, looking down at him with an amused grin.
"It's morning, time to get up!" The Aegis loudly proclaims, pointing to where the sun is just barely peeking over the horizon. "Or were you planning on laying around all day like some sloth?"
Minoth blinks groggily a few times before giving the man an irritated glare. He just knows Malos enjoys annoying him by waking him up this early. Still looking to get whatever reactions he can out of Minoth.
Instead of humouring him, Minoth just gives him a flat look.
"Oh, you're still here," he says, in the most unimpressed tone he can manage, aware his voice is still gravelly with sleep, due to having been just woken up. He clears his throat, expecting some kind of response to his statement.
Malos, almost surprising him, actually pauses for a moment, staring down at Minoth with an unreadable expression for several seconds before the irritating smirk is back on his face. Maybe he was caught off guard by Minoth's lack of real response to his taunting?
"Well, what were you expecting?" Malos questions, reaching to pull the blanket off him again, just when he managed to get it back. In response, Minoth swats at his hands, before the Aegis decides he wants to grab something else while at it. "Were you hoping I'd sleepwalk away or something?"
"I was hoping yesterday was all just a bad dream, and you would still be at the bottom of the Cloud Sea, or wherever you ended up after Torna," he says, eyeing the slowly rising sun, briefly wondering if there's still time for him to get a bit more sleep before it's actually up properly, but ultimately decides Malos would just see it as a challenge and keep pestering him if he tries.
"Rude!" Malos exclaims, pretending to be offended by the response. "I almost get the impression you don't want me here!" He kicks Minoth in the lower back again, seemingly just because he can.
"I wonder why," Minoth responds, swatting at Malos' legs this time. "What reasons could there possibly be for me not liking having you around? It couldn't have something to do with you trying to kill me and my friends several times the last few times we met, could it?"
"Are you always this grumpy in the mornings?" Malos asks, crossing his arms with an amused expression on his smug face, completely ignoring the last part of what he said, though turning his head ever so slightly away. "Or is it just when you haven't slept well?"
"What would you know about that?" Minoth asks sharply. Surely the bond wouldn't allow for Malos to know what kinds of dreams he's been having?
"You kept whining in your sleep," Malos gleefully informs him, turning back to fully face him, grinning from ear to ear, obviously delighted by this discovery. "It was annoying," he adds after a few moments, before Minoth has even had a chance to take it in. "I almost tossed you into a lake, but then you stopped, so I didn't bother," he finishes with a shrug.
Minoth doesn't know what to say to that, so he simply grunts to let Malos know of his displeasure and gets up, turning his back to the annoying Aegis, to avoid having to look at his stupid face any longer than he has to.
In order to have some excuse to not have to interact with Malos, he starts by tending to the smouldering fire, getting it just hot enough to make some warm breakfast, puts something over the fire to heat up, tightens his ponytail since it tends to get a bit loose during the night, and then picks up his notebook and a pen to write down some notes while waiting to eat. He makes small notes of things he's thinking and the things that happened just yesterday.
As he writes, his mind is slightly drifting off, to his dream-memory last night, and Malos' comment about him talking in his sleep. He can understand why his mind had brought up the memory, with the new bond to Malos and the thoughts about breaking it just before he went to sleep. That doesn't surprise him, though it wasn't something he enjoyed reliving. He had not, however, known he apparently talks in his sleep. He wonders if he's done it before, or if it was just a one-time thing. Does it only happen when he has bad dreams? Does Addam know? Did he ever talk in his sleep during their travels in Torna?
After some time, he notices he's stopped writing at some point, and started doodling instead, as his mind has been wandering. He studies the scribbles, noticing some flying birds, a Core Crystal of some kind, and a four-legged animal he doesn't recognize, amongst other things. He's done this before, not often, so it doesn't really surprise him to see the drawings.
When he lifts his head, he notices the breakfast is ready. And that Malos has moved back to his side of the campfire, from where he is now staring at Minoth intently, unblinkingly. He doesn't even have the grace to avert his eyes and pretend he isn't staring. Jerk.
Staring right back at Malos, Minoth starts wondering what exactly he was thinking last night, going to sleep practically right next to this man, as if Malos wasn't a murderer and a menace. His reasoning had been that Malos wouldn't be able to do much to him without his powers, but that's not quite true, is it? If he really wanted to kill Minoth, all he'd had to do was pick up a large rock and smash his Core Crystal. It would have been easy.
But he didn't.
For some reason, it seems Malos isn't interested in killing him. Maybe he's intending to use Minoth as some kind of bodyguard after what happened with the Gogols? Maybe he's too uncertain about what would happen with the bond? Maybe he's lonely? Or maybe it just didn't occur to him that he could kill Minoth so easily if he wanted to.
Minoth shakes his head as he starts eating. Clearly, he must still be half-asleep if this is what his mind comes up with. It's far too early for trying to make sense of Malos's way of thinking.
So, instead of keeping trying to make sense of Malos's motivations, Minoth finishes his breakfast, pointedly not looking at Malos, and starts packing away the things he used last night. If he's going to be up far too early, he might as well use the extra time to make his way to his destination. He'll probably be there in the afternoon or early evening, if he's not held up too much.
"You really going to just wander off?" Malos asks somewhere behind his back, as he's stuffing his folded-up blanket in his small bag. "For someone who'd apparently sleep until noon, you sure seem to be in a hurry."
"Well," Minoth says, heaving the bag over his shoulder. "I do like to get a decent amount of sleep when I can, but since I'm already up, I may as well make use of the daylight I have left." He looks around, taking note of where he is and where he's going, to make sure he's heading in the right direction.
"You're such a weirdo," Malos grumbles with his mouth full as he basically shoves the rest of his breakfast in it. "I thought it would take longer for you to wake up. Didn't expect you to just up and leave. At least let me eat my breakfast before dragging me off, you ass."
"Trust me," Minoth says without turning around. "I'm definitely not dragging you anywhere. Like I've said before, no one is forcing you to come. As far as I care, you can stay here and eat crabs for the next hundred years." He keeps walking, part of him hoping Malos will indeed stop following him around.
And maybe, just maybe, there's another part of him, a small one he tries to ignore, almost kind of wants Malos to stay with him. As annoying as he is, and despite all the horrible things he's done, it's almost kind of nice to not be completely alone all the time. Even for someone like Minoth, who normally enjoys his solitude. Maybe he's too used to having people around.
Turns out, he doesn't have to ponder too long on whether he wants Malos with him or not, because only a few moments later he hears the man's heavy footsteps right beside him.
The way he's obviously hurried to catch up with him, panting and grumbling, is almost enough to make Minoth smile. It seems he's apparently not the only one who gets tired of being alone.
At the though of loneliness, his mind subconsciously reaches for his bond with Addam. It's as it always is, familiarly warm and bright and comforting. After that, he carefully brushes over the new bond to Malos, still not quite sure how to feel about it. It's not too bad, really, now that he examines it a bit closer. It's cool, unfamiliar, and somewhat dark, pretty much the complete opposite of what he has with Addam, but it's still considerably more comfortable than what he used to have with Amalthus. That was just a nightmare in every possible way.
He briefly brushes over where his bond to Amalthus used to be, quickly recoiling from it as a flare of pain spikes up. Even after being forcibly removed from his head, that man has never caused him anything but pain.
Minoth still remembers the aftermath of breaking his bond to Amalthus like it just happened yesterday, and not several long years ago. It hadn't been the best time of his life, and he is still immensely grateful to Addam for having been there for him.
It had taken him over two months to recover from the ordeal. The first two weeks spent almost exclusively in bed, with him being too weak to take more than a few steps without collapsing. He'd barely even had the energy to get any writing done. And yet, despite doing barely anything but sleep, he had been almost constantly exhausted.
Addam had been fussing over him the whole time. Constantly asking if there was something he needed, and if he was feeling okay, and if he was absolutely sure he shouldn't see a medic just in case. He also made sure he was warm enough, had enough to eat and drink, and kept bringing him things like books and extra pillows and hot chocolate and whatever he thought Minoth might like or need even a little bit. It had all been so overwhelming.
And then, some two weeks after the ordeal, the King himself had requested to talk to Minoth. It had come as a complete surprise, and Minoth hadn't had any idea what to expect. The King had wanted to meet Minoth alone, too, so even Addam couldn't be there.
"What am I supposed to do?" he had whispered to Addam as they stood before the door to the room he was meeting the King in (Addam had at least been allowed to escort him, to make sure he didn't get lost) "What does he even want from me?"
"It'll be fine," Addam had told him in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring way, but didn't really work as he must have been almost as nervous as Minoth. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Just... stay calm, and be respectful." He had patted Minoth on the shoulder and was gone before he had time to say another word.
Be respectful, Minoth thought as he entered through the door and stood in front of the King's desk. Be respectful, he says. What did that even really mean?In Indol, "be respectful" had meant, "keep your head down, don't speak unless spoken to, and don't talk back."
Did it mean something different in Torna? He had no idea. So he decided to just do what he was used to, and kept his head down, keeping his eyes on his own hands, clasped loosely in front of him.
The King had watched him for some time from behind his desk, probably wondering exactly what his son had dragged into the royal palace, gaze lingering on his two-toned Core Crystal.
Minoth, in turn, had taken the chance to discretely observe the King, as this had been his first time seeing the man. He was also curious if he would spot many similarities to Addam. He had the expected Tornan blue eyes, as well as a thick mane of dark hair, and a stern, serious face. He thought he could kind of see some likeness to Addam in his features, but he guessed the Prince must take more after his mother. Minoth tried his best to not look like he was staring (even though he was) because openly staring at someone was rather impolite, and surely string at a King would be even more so?
The meeting itself had been far less painful than Minoth had expected. The King had asked questions about where he was from, what had happened to him, how he had ended up here, how he was feeling (this question had been the most unexpected, but Minoth had quickly responded he was fine, and they had both pointedly ignored how he had wobbled and could barely stay on his feet as he had entered the room. The King had offered him a chair), about Indol and the experiments, as well as all kinds of related things.
The King had then asked him about Addam. How they had met, how they had come to be friends, along with other things. It was a bit of a change in topic, but he guessed the man just wanted to know about his son. He answered the questions as well as he could, carefully thinking over his answers and trying not to share more information than necessary. It felt like an interrogation of some sort.
He had briefly wondered if this was what it was like to meet your boyfriend's parent for the first time. Even though Addam was not his boyfriend. At this point, the Prince had been engaged, and would be married within the year.
Minoth had even met the wife-to-be, once. She was a pretty girl. Tornan, obviously, with long dark hair, clear sky-blue eyes, and a grounded, more level-headed personality. Outgoing, energetic, and friendly, but also stubborn and realistic. A good match for Addam.
In the end, his meeting with the Tornan King had been over rather quickly, and he had been sent off after being told he was welcome to stay in Torna as long as he wanted, and would always be welcome to visit. Apparently, he must've managed to say something right.
He's suddenly pulled out of his memories as Malos suddenly jabs him in the side. He looks at the Aegis questioningly, only for Malos to point silently at some Volff's wandering nearby. It seems to be a nest, judging by the numbers, the pups playing with what looks like a Bunnit-tail, and the couple of large ones dozing on a cliff overlooking the pack. Apparently, he zoned out a bit more than he thought, not noticing them.
Malos looks at him questioningly, but he shakes his head and gestures for them to walk around, giving the beasts some distance and avoiding getting into a fight. He has no interest in fighting them needlessly, especially when the numbers are so against them.
Malos turns to look at him with an intense look in his eyes, and for a moment Minoth fears he actually will go pick a fight with the Volff's by himself, making Minoth come save his ass, but thankfully he doesn't, and instead actually follows Minoth away from the pack.
Thank the Architect for Malos showing some common sense, Minoth just has time to think, when only moments later Malos is rushing off to pick a fight with a large Brog instead. He sighs, and runs after him, already pulling out his gun-knives and readying his ether-energy to help with the fight. At least it's not the pack of Volff's.
"You know," Minoth sighs after the fight, with both of them looking down at the dead monsters, because of course the Brog had two smaller ones with it that they also had to take out. "I already regret saving you," he finishes, looking wearily at Malos. Even knowing what Malos is like, it's still hard to believe one person can so willingly and enthusiastically get into this much trouble. He looks back at the monsters, briefly imagining where he would be now if he'd simply left Malos to the Gogols the other day. Having a much easier time, probably.
"Why did you do it, then?" comes the unexpected question. Minoth turns around to see Malos standing there with a strangely serious expression, arms crossed over his chest. "Why did you save me?" he asks again, when Minoth fails to say anything. And he actually sounds like he wants an answer, even willingly admitting he had needed saving from the Gogols.
"Well..." Minoth says slowly, carefully keeping his eyes on Malos, his brain working frantically to come up with an answer. He's been trying to make up some kind of reason for what he did just yesterday, find a way to justify his actions, but the simple truth is, he doesn't know why he saved Malos. His instincts simply told him to do it, and he acted on them, unable to simply leave him there. But there's no way he would admit that to Malos, so...
"Clearly, I must be going mad," he finally settles on with a shrug. "Considering any sensible person would have left you to the Gogols and what most would consider a well-deserved fate. Must be a side-effect of being a... what did you call me again? A soft-hearted fool."
"Clearly," Malos agrees with him. "Explains why you keep making sure I don't get killed by some random monster."
"I wouldn't have to make sure you don't get killed by some random monster, if you didn't keep picking fights with them!" Minoth exclaims, his composure finally starting to crack. It hasn't even been a full day since he met Malos again, but has already had to save the Aegis at least a dozen times, because of all the monsters he insists on provoking. Looking after Malos is like watching a toddler, constantly having to make sure they don't wander to their death. It's almost as if- Minoth feels his thoughts stop right there as he gets it, looking up at Malos's smug grin.
"You're doing it on purpose," he slowly says, as the realization gets to him. "You're deliberately picking fights with those monsters, making me come help you." The question is, why? He can't imagine Malos being someone who enjoys being some kind of damsel in (self-caused) distress, but then again, how well does he know Malos at all?
"Just wanted to see if you really wanted to keep me alive for some reason, or if saving me yesterday was just an accident," Malos says casually, strolling past Minoth, who at some point has stopped without even noticing. "Besides, it's just fun to annoy you," he finishes, turning just enough for Minoth to see his cocky grin.
Of course it is, Minoth thinks as he makes his legs move again, to catch up to and overtake Malos. So far, it almost seems he came back from the dead just so he can annoy me.
The rest of their travelling goes mostly in silence, only interrupted by Malos occasionally feeling the need to go fight some local wildlife or another, thankfully keeping to things he can handle without help. Minoth almost feels bad for the little Bunnits and Pippitos.
Aside from the fight with the Brogs, as well as Malos's little detours, their journey goes quite well. They travel over grassy plains, up hills, across fallen logs, over a small stream and finally up the rocky crags of the titan's neck. Minoth even manages to drag Malos from getting into any more fights he can't handle by himself ("No Malos, you are not picking any more fights with Gogols.")
Eventually, in the late afternoon, they finally reach their destination at the small village with a name he can't remember. It's... nothing impressive. If Malos thought Torigoth was "shitty little middle of nowhere place" as he put it, Minoth probably doesn't want to know what he thinks of this place. To say it's small is an understatement. From where they are, Minoth can just make out four houses, and what has to be a manufacturing plant where the materials Torigoth needs are produced.
Unimpressive village aside, they still have to find the problem, see if they can hopefully fix it, and then return to Torigoth for the promised reward.
There doesn't seem to be any people out and about, making him think whatever stopped the deliveries has a hold on the village as well. His guess would be either some powerful monsters expanding their territory, or other humans. Because if there's one thing humans are good at, it's causing trouble for other humans.
It doesn't take long to figure out the problem. They have just walked past the first house, when he notices, on the other side of the manufacturing plant, an eye-catching commotion. He silently nudges Malos, and points in the direction, motioning him to remain quiet and not rush in.
As they approach, he can make out a group of nine or ten human men, cornering in an old woman in a very threatening manner. At her feet is another human laying down (unconscious? dead?) and as they get closer, Minoth can just hear snippets of what they're saying if he strains his ears enough. It seems the men cornering the woman belong to a group of bandits, and are the reason Torigoth haven't gotten any supplies, as they've decided to take control of the village, forcing the people to hand everything they make to them. Minoth is willing to bet that, as a result, the villagers are too scared to even go outside unless necessary.
Time to put an end to this situation.
Minoth pulls out his gun-knives, not bothering with the plain sword at his waist, nodding to Malos to get ready. Malos gives him a feral grin and cracks his knuckles, clearly eager for a good fight. Or maybe he's just looking forward to getting to fight humans again, but Minoth tries not to think about it like that. He steps forward, so the bandits can see him, holding his guns ready.
"Back off," he tells them, levelling them with his best menacing look. He can feel Malos stepping in beside him, a solid presence. He lets his cloak and pack fall to the ground, and sees Malos drop his pack next to his, though keeping his cloak. Probably a smart move. The last thing they need is someone recognizing Malos, as unlikely as that is.
"Or what?" one of the bandits steps from the group to yell back at him, the others laughing behind him, as if finding the situation extremely amusing. Clearly, they don't see them as any kind of threat. Malos doesn't seem amused, going by the low growl he lets out.
"If you leave this place alone, we might let you live," Minoth responds, keeping his voice low and serious. He's encountered this kind of people before, and knows there's next to no chance of them actually doing as he asks, but it would also just feel wrong to not even give them a chance to surrender.
The group cackles like a pack of hyenas.
"Or how about this?" one of them, another one this time, yells back through his laughter. "You guys give up everything you have to us, and maybe we won't kill you!"
"Let's just get this over with," Malos growls, already getting ready for a fight.
"Yes," Minoth agrees, slipping into a fighting stance. The time for talking is over. He and Malos might be outnumbered, but he's fairly confident they can manage. The bandits seem to realize they're about to have a fight on their hands, and finally stop laughing in favour of grabbing their weapons.
Before any of them has a chance to react beyond that, Malos has already launched at one of them, grabbed his head and smashed it against a nearby tree with a loud crack, before letting the body slump to the ground.
Minoth doesn't know if he's dead or just unconscious, but he doesn't really care either. At least now the others know this won't be as easy of a fight as they first thought.
He makes his own first move by swapping his guns to knives, leaps at the nearest bandit and stabs them in his chest. As the man falls, the others finally seem to realize the fight has started and begin fighting back properly. Minoth can hear Malos holding his own, but doesn't pay much attention to it, as he focuses on his own fights.
He dodges left and right, blocks a few hits with his knives before swiping out with them, takes a hit to the side, tries to get some distance and fires off a few shots, before dodging again-
"Oi, Minoth! Weapon!" Malos yells from somewhere behind him and Minoth, barely even thinking about it, tosses one of his knives to Malos, along with a burst of ether to keep it activated.
He swiftly cuts down the bandit standing in his way with his remaining knife, and turns around just in time to see Malos stab his borrowed knife into the throat of another bandit and cutting it open with enough force to nearly decapitate the man.
He has to almost force back his instincts to stop Malos, seeing the clear enjoyment on his face. Fighting humans is different from fighting Gogols or other monsters, but these people, these bandits, are a threat that needs to be gotten rid of. For the people in this little village, the people of Torigoth, and the people of Gormott in general. He looks over to where the two villagers are, the woman also having passes out at some point when he wasn't looking. What's happening here is not the same as helping Malos kill innocent people, it's Malos helping him protect the innocent people. Ironically enough.
The ether-link between them has grown stronger as well, in only a short while. It's still blue, but a deeper colour, and more stable, stronger. At the same time, now that he knows it's there, he can also feel the mental link between the two of them react similarly, growing just a little stronger, just a little more permanent. He shrugs it off. This is not the time to be thinking about that.
Ultimately, the bandits had been too used to being able to simply outnumber their opponents and clearly hadn't been expecting more experienced fighters like the two of them, so the fight doesn't last long. With a final swipe of his blade, Minoth cuts down the last bandit it his way. When he turns around, he sees Malos finishing of the remaining one bandit by breaking his neck.
"Well, that's that," he says, letting the body drop to the ground and kicking it aside as he approaches Minoth. "And just in time for one the useless humans to wake up from their nap," he adds, pointing over his shoulder at where the older woman has regained consciousness, and is alternating between trying to wake the young man and looking over at Minoth and Malos with eyes wide, in either surprise or fear. Or maybe both. Poor thing probably doesn't know what to make of them.
"Yes," Minoth says, letting out a sigh, and putting away his knife and reaching to take the other one from Malos when suddenly, the woman lets out a frightened shriek.
Both Minoth and Malos immediately both turn sharply to look at whatever frightened her so, and see one more bandit emerging, from behind some trees. This one must be their leader, Minoth deduces based on his high-quality armour, the cape he wears as if giving himself great importance, and the way he struts like he's used to being the one everyone looks to for direction.
He also has a Blade. She carries a great axe, has her eyes fixated on them and her mouth is twisted in a near feral grin. She moves from foot to foot, looking like she's about to pounce on them at any moment. She's enjoying this, Minoth realizes. She's looking forward to taking them on.
Minoth and Malos trade looks before steeling themselves, preparing for another fight. Even Malos, with all his arrogance, knows a Driver and a Blade are going to be tougher to take out than normal humans. Even (or should it be especially?) for them.
"Wasn't expecting my men to be taken down by just two random mercenaries." The bandit says, looking from one of them to the other, before grabbing his large battle-axe, matching the one his Blade uses, and points it at them. "I don't appreciate you killing half my gang, not after it took me nearly two months to have this good for nothing heap under my control, and I'm not giving it up so easily!" He gestures for his Blade to step forth, which she does eagerly, swinging her axe into an attacking position. "I suppose if I want something done, I just have to do it myself."
"Well I hope you give us more of a challenge than your little minions did," Malos replies, pointing the knife he's still holding at the bandit. He almost sounds bored. "I've fought Bunnits tougher than them."
"Malos," Minoth whispers, keeping his eyes focused on the bandit and his Blade. "Do you have to provoke them?"
"Yes," comes the answer immediately. Minoth sighs internally. What did he expect? It's Malos, after all.
"His Blade looks pretty tough," Minoth says, trying to figure out the best way to go about this fight. "We should try to focus our attacks on him, take them both out at the same time." A Driver is tougher to take out than a regular human, but still considerably easier than a Blade. If they can manage to work together, maybe they can manage this without too much trouble...
"Sounds like a plan," Malos grins, clearly looking forward to the fight as much as the other Blade. Lovely.
And before Minoth has time to take a single step forward, Malos has already thrown himself into the fight. Against the Blade, completely ignoring the Driver. He doesn't know if he should sigh or roll his eyes, so he settles for joining the fight himself, putting his main focus on the Driver, as planned, but also making sure to keep an eye on Malos and the Blade. Just in case.
It quickly becomes clear there's a reason this man is the leader of the bandits. He's cleverer and more cunning than the others they fought and, thanks to the benefits of being a Driver, also stronger and more durable than a normal human. In other words, more than enough to present a challenge to Minoth. It doesn't help that he still only has one of his weapons, and still unused to fighting with this kind of handicap. But that doesn't stop him from putting up the best fight he can, while trying to find a way to end it as soon as possible.
The Driver with his battle-axe has both longer reach and more power in his attacks than Minoth, but he's also considerably slower. If things go well, all he has to do is not get hit, and wait for the right moment to strike, hoping to take both Driver and Blade in one swift move.
He dodges to the side, letting the axe sweep over his head, and- there! He sees the opening and lunges at the man, intending to stab his blade into his side and through his heart to take him down instantly. But the Driver, apparently having noticed his intention, manages to move aside at the last moment, and the hit only leaves a shallow cut on his arm. Minoth then has to quickly move back, creating distance between them as the axe sweeps out at him again.
Minoth hears Malos yelp somewhere behind him, followed by a swooshing sound, something moving through the air. He dodges quickly, but not fast enough, as the blunt end of the Blade's great axe hits him in the back, sending him to the ground. He manages to roll just begore hitting the ground, dodges a rock, and comes up in a crouch, facing his opponent. His ribs throb with pain and breathing has become more difficult, but he's sure he'll manage.
The Blade and Driver are both facing him now, while Malos is slumped on the ground behind them, struggling to get up, apparently having taken quite a hit moments ago. Minoth doesn't take his eyes of the approaching enemies, as he stands up fully and assesses the situation, but he quickly checks on Malos through the bond. He's pretty sure there's no real damage done, and he'll just need a few moments to get back on his feet.
"Not going to help your friend?" the Driver taunts him, apparently having noticed the way his eyes darted to Malos for only a moment before focusing on them again.
"He can take care of himself," Minoth replies, as he carefully tries to circle around the two, to figure out how to best approach this. Taking on just one of them has proven challenge enough, but he definitely can't fight both of them at the same time. His best chance will be to buy some time until Malos is back on his feet and back in the fight.
So he throws himself into the fight, aiming once again for the Driver. He ducks under a swing from his heavy battle-axe, getting himself inside the man's longer range, while getting in close enough to be able to use his own knife to slash and stab at his opponent. The close proximity to the Driver also makes it harder for his Blade to attack Minoth without risking hitting the bandit.
He gets in a few solid hits, puts a long deep gash in the bandit's arm, a stab in his thigh and even lands a punch to his jaw. Though he also makes a few mistakes, causing him to take a few hits in return. A slash to the arm when he's too slow to dodge a hit, a solid whack to the side when he reads his opponents intention wrong, and a heavy thump to the back when he moves a bit too far from the bandit, and his Blade takes the opportunity when he isn't paying enough attention to her.
But overall, he dodges more hits than not, and deals out more damage than he takes. It almost feels good to fight proper opponents, that take more skill and effort to take on than the average bandit or monster.
He is just starting to think this is actually going surprisingly well, not having expected to hold his own against both their opponents without too much trouble, when the Blade suddenly turns and focuses her attention back on Malos. He's managed to make it to his feet, still grasping Minoth's knife, and attempting to make his way back to the fight, a bit unsteady on his feet. He's completely open, won't be able to react in time to dodge or block the oncoming attack.
So Minoth does what he did just yesterday, that first time he saw Malos in trouble. He lets himself react on instinct, rather than rational thought.
Stepping between Malos and the Blade at the last moment, Minoth shoves his remaining knife at Malos before he raises both his hands and focuses his energy into creating an ether-shield, which just barely forms in time to block the attack. It takes considerably more effort than he would have liked, and his hands are shaking from the strength of the Blade's attack, but it holds.
Blocking has never been one of his stronger points, and he never really took the time to improve that particular skill. His way of thinking had been, why block attacks when he can just dodge them? This has served him well most of the time, but sometimes, he almost regrets not putting more effort into learning it properly. Almost.
He looks back at Malos for a moment, and their eyes meet for a split second. Then, they're fighting again. This time together, rather than separately.
The first few moments a somewhat fumbling, but soon they get the hang of it, and actually fight surprisingly well together. Minoth hadn't expected Malos to really get teamwork, with his past and all, but is pleasantly surprised to see they work near-perfectly together. It might have to do with the bond, but he doesn't give it too much thought, at least for now.
He blocks another attack from the Blade, then moves quickly to the side as Malos lashes out with the knives. Dodges an attack from the Driver and gives the man a hard kick in the ribs that send the man back several feet and knocks the air from his lungs. Ducks as Malos fires of a few shots, none of which hit their target, causing Malos to curse loudly. Minoth almost laughs, but instead slips under Malos's arm to block another from the Blade, who had been attempting to take advantage of Malos's turned back and slip in attention. Then moves aside again as Malos retaliates by attempting to run the Blade through with both knives.
Though, in the middle of the fight, seeing Malos wielding both his knives like this, actually reminds Minoth of Addam. It's something in the way he's so unused to them, just kind of flailing around, not knowing how to balance himself, or how far he can actually reach, being so used to wielding a large, proper sword. It's in the way he doesn't really know how to aim with the guns, with his aim being off and only a few of his shots actually hitting their target. It's almost uncanny, how similarly Malos fights to Addam (though Addam is better with the guns).
He tries to put the thought out of his mind. Malos is nothing like Addam.
In the end, even though the bandit and the Blade were tougher opponents than expected, Minoth and Malos eventually manage to take them down. Minoth makes the Driver stumble with a well-placed kick to the stab-wound in his thigh, which gives Malos the opportunity to stab both his knives into the man's chest, killing him almost instantly.
Somewhere near them, the now-dormant Core Crystal of his Blade falls to the ground with a soft thump. Minoth lets the link between him and Malos fizzle out, then takes a moment to pick up the Core, before getting his pack and placing it there for safekeeping. He's not sure what he's going to do with it, but just leaving it on the ground would feel too wrong. Throwing his cloak back over himself, there's just the humans left to handle.
The older woman and the young man are still standing where Minoth last saw them. The man, now awake, is gawking at them with wide eyes, clearly unsure if he should be impressed or terrified. A reasonable way of thinking, Minoth supposes, especially when he sees the look Malos is giving them. Like he's contemplating adding them to the mass of bodies around them. The blood-splatter on his face don't help either.
Minoth doesn't think Malos will go after them, but takes his weapons back from him, just in case. Luckily, Malos lets him have them without a fuss.
The older woman, on the other hand, is beaming at them like they just delivered her a basket of kittens. The bandit problem must have been pretty bad if this is how she reacts to the bloodshed that just happened.
"Thank you for your help," she says, directing her words mainly towards Malos. Malos, for his part, completely ignores her, looking in another direction with his arms crossed stubbornly over his chest. As if he's completely trying to dismiss the fact that he's just helped some humans.
"He's... not much of a people person," Minoth informs her, before she has a chance to wonder why Malos is ignoring her, hoping they won't try to pressure Malos into some conversation. That wouldn't end well for anyone.
"You don't really strike me as the most social person either," the woman says, tilting her head as she studies Minoth with tired, yet surprisingly sharp eyes.
"Well, you're not wrong," Minoth admits with a half-shrug, somewhat sheepishly. He's fully aware that neither him nor Malos are the most sociable people around. But still, one of them has to do the talking to people part, and it might as well be him, as he's more comfortable with them.
"Either way," she continues, "you boys are welcome to stay for dinner if you want, as thanks for handling those delinquents for us. They have been causing quite a nuisance lately, you see."
"Granny, are you sure about this?" He looks warily at Minoth and Malos, stepping in front of the woman as if to protect her from them, even though he has no weapons or armour or any way to defend himself, let alone her.
"It's fine, Leo" the woman says, nudging the man aside. He obliges, with visible hesitation. "This nice young man," she gestures to Malos, "and his Blade just did us a huge favour. The least we can do is offer them some hospitality."
Minoth almost laughs at Malos being called a nice young man, but manages to limit himself to a polite smile. The assumption about Malos being his Driver doesn't surprise him one bit. He knows what their cooperation must look like to other people. People who don't know who, or what, they are.
"Thank you for the offer," Minoth says, "but we'll have to keep going." Truthfully, he could use some food, and time to recover from the fight (his ribs are still aching something fierce), and he's guessing Malos probably is in the same situation, but he's not willing to risk what might happen if Malos is forced to socialize with humans for any longer than he absolutely has to.
Malos completely ignores them all, standing a bit away with his pack, clearly eager to leave as soon as possible, but Minoth suspects he will probably bring it up later. If only to find some way to use it to annoy him.
"Oh, right," the man says, clearly conflicted about how to feel about all of this, and also a bit relieved when Minoth says they won't be staying. Which is probably reasonable. Most people aren't too eager to associate with strangers who show up and kill nearly a dozen people like it's nothing, even if those people were bandits and arguably got what they deserved.
"Well, we'd better gather everyone here, let them know this dreadful situation is over now, and that we're going to have some clean-up to do," the woman continues casually, as if this is just another regular afternoon for her, "but at least we'll be able to get back to doing business with Torigoth without having to worry about being robbed or attacked again. I'm assuming they sent you from the town to see what's going on?" she asks Minoth, who nods in affirmation.
"Right," the man agrees with her, clearly reluctant to go anywhere, still keeping a wary eye on Malos and Minoth, as if he's afraid they might try to eat them at any moment. Deciding to not prolong their leaving for any longer, and seeing they have no further reason to stay, Minoth gives the two humans a wave, then nudges Malos in the arm and steers him toward the road out of the village. It's going to be another night of camping for them, but he doesn't think Malos will complain. At least when the only alternative is staying in this village.
"Come on, let's go."
With that, Minoth turns and starts walking away. After only a few moments, he can hear a second pair of footsteps beside him.
Fun Fact! The original name of this chapter was Dawn of the second day.
Also, that fight-scene took me actual weeks to write. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but also can't be bothered to spend another several weeks attempting to make it any better.