Edelgard had been in a nightmare before and she was in one again. She was exhausted, her body broken in places and her mind a jumbled mess.
And that's why when she saw the giant, panic rose in her throat.
The group of bandits around him hardly bothered her. In the early morning darkness, the giant looked like a monster. He broke into a charge and her heartrate spiked. Alexander, Ralph and Rufus advanced on him together and all three lay motionless on the ground soon after. The giant then moved towards Mik.
'Arrow!' Dalsk cried.
Adrien raised his bow, his arms trembling. He fired.
The arrow whizzed inches past the giant's neck.
'Shit,' Adrien breathed. Before he could fire another arrow, bandits closed in.
Dalsk cursed. Two bandits approached him. He parried one blow but the second floored him. Edelgard lunged, bringing her axe down on one and kicking the other backward. The second bandit regained his balance and rushed at her. She sidestepped and sank her axe into his back. She then turned and helped Dalsk to his feet. As she did, the man's eyes widened. She turned, and her eyes did the same.
The giant reached Mik and slammed his two blades downward. Mik raised his own weapon to parry. Edelgard knew the outcome before it happened. She mashed her eyes closed and Mk screamed.
Four of us…, she thought.
'No!' Dimitri cried.
Edelgard opened her eyes and saw Adrien crumple to the ground. The bandit who'd killed him fell to the ground soon after, courtesy of Dimitri's lance.
Three of us….
The giant rushed towards Dimitri.
'The bow, Dimitri!' Dalsk shouted.
Dimitri scrambled for Adrien's bow but gave up when the towering man closed in. The man slammed his blades downward on Dimitri just as he'd done with Mik.
'He's done fo'- Dalsk's eyes widened.
Dimitri not only parried the blow but sent the giant stumbling backward, dropping one of his swords.
'How's he so strong?' Dalsk breathed. 'Never mind, we gotta go, move!'
Edelgard could answer Dalsk's question, but now wasn't the time. They rushed forward. The giant lunged at Dimitri and swiped at him again and again. Before either she or Dalsk could reach him, the giant parried Dimitri's lance with his blade and slammed his fist into the boy's face. Dimitri crashed into a tree and slumped to the ground.
Dalsk lunged but the giant spun and kicked out, sending the mercenary sprawling. Edelgard swiped at the giant, but he met her blow and connected his foot with her stomach. Her axe spun into a nearby bush and she crashed to the ground, winded. The giant moved towards her but Dalsk jumped in the way. The giant swung, once, Dalsk parried, the giant swung twice, Dalsk parried again, the giant swung thrice, and this time, he knocked Dalsk's blade away and impaled him with his sword. Edelgard watched the mercenary's limp body tumble to the ground, her head thumping.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
She rose to her feet, but before she could move further, the giant closed in and knocked her into a tree.
She fell to the ground. The giant moved in, and her nightmare finished in a single blow.
Bayen grinned, yanking his blade free from the corpse below. He stretched and looked back in the direction of the battle in the valley. He then looked the other way in the direction of the village beyond the trees. He grinned, before looking back a final time.
The boy in the blue cloak was still breathing.
He moved towards him and then heard a ruffling sound. He turned and his eyes widened.
From the darkness, a man emerged, limping towards him. He had a blue mop of hair and purple eyes.
The Ashen Demon stopped and gazed at him.
Bayen's grin widened. He pointed his crimson-stained blade at him.
'For Ronan,' he spat.
He charged. The Ashen Demon swayed on his feet and closed his eyes-
-and saw the stone steps.
The first one was now close enough for him to step on. He felt a warmth from its glow and it made his body tingle.
He opened his eyes. Bayen closed in and swung. He jerked back but the blade struck him. He crashed to the ground, smashing the back of his head and seeing black. He couldn't breathe. A stinging heat ripped from his chest down to his stomach. He opened his eyes and bright sparks swam in his vision. He anchored his head up and saw blood… lots of it.
And then he saw the giant closing in, blade in hand.
In his last second of consciousness, the Ashen Demon placed his foot on the first stone step.
Byleth coughed, spluttering up blood, a hard stone surface digging into his back. A high-pitched shriek pierced his skull and he jolted. He opened his eyes for a split moment, and then a bright light made him mash them close.
The mercenary parried once, twice, and then fell at the giant's third strike.
The man's cry jolted Byleth's eyes open. He spun his head, his head pulsing. Up ahead, Dalsk's body tumbled to the ground. and to one side, the giant, Bayen, strode towards Edelgard. He slammed into her and sent her crashing into a tree.
Byleth staggered to his feet, wincing. He swayed on his feet, and saw the giant close in on Edelgard.
'H-Hey!'
Bayen stopped and turned. His dark eyes met Byleth's, They widened and then he grinned.
'You.'
Byleth looked at Edelgard and then back at the giant. In the distance, he heard clanging steel and pained cries of dying men, but no one was nearby. He was on his own.
'I have your brother's head,' he said.
The words came out without thinking about it. Bayen's grin turned into a snarl. His nostrils flared and his eyes bulged. He stormed to a nearby tree, picked up a second blade and then marched towards him.
'I'll have your head.'
Byleth gripped his sword in one trembling hand, still swaying on his feet and heaving jerked breaks. He cursed.
Bayen came at me with one blade last time.
He blinked. That was wrong, in the battle the day before, Bayen and Ronan had both wielded two blades.
He paused. He looked down and traced a hand over his armour that covered his chest and abdomen. There was no hot, stinging pain and his armour was scuffled but not torn.
He shook his head, blinking.
And then Bayen lunged.
He jerked sideways. His ankle twisted and he tumbled to the ground, for a moment unable to breathe. He forced himself to his feet and the giant closed in again. The man, who in the darkness looked anything but human, swung and missed his face by inches.
'Coward,' the giant spat. He kicked Byleth and he crashed into a tree, smacking the back of his head. Bright sparks exploded in his vision. Bayen tore towards him again. He scrambled to one side but the giant's blade connected, knocking his own sword from his grip and piercing his skin. He stumbled, clutching his arm.
'Your head next,' Bayen said.
Byleth spat blood, heaving in jerked breaths that made his chest burn. Bayen lunged again but this time he sidestepped and sunk his knee into the giant's groin. The giant stumbled and before he could regain his balance, Byleth threw himself at him. The collision tore his breath from him. They crashed into the overgrowth. He wrestled himself on top of the giant and lashed his hands downwards clawing at the man's neck. It felt as rough as the surrounding tree trunks. Bayen's eyes bulged and the giant shoved his arms upwards and grabbed Byleth's neck. Byleth spluttered and the giant grinned with the few teeth he had left. Byleth's vision twisted and curled; pangs of blue, red and white sparked where Bayen's face was. He closed his eyes, feeling his grip on the giant's neck weaken.
And then came a loud swishing sound. Bayen cried out. The pressure on Byleth's neck weakened and he opened his eyes.
An arrow stuck out of the giant's arm. Byleth looked up and saw a man in a yellow cloak stumble towards them.
'Your time's done, big guy,' the man called Claude said, fumbling with an arrow.
Byleth looked down at Bayen. The giant met his gaze and his nostrils flared.
'Fuck you!'
Bayen's grip on his neck tightened again. He couldn't breathe. Another arrow hit the giant, this time in the neck. His hands slumped to the ground and Byleth forced in short, burning breaths.
And yet, he couldn't keep his eyes open. He slumped to one side, falling off the giant and planting his face into the grass. He dug his fingernails into his skin but couldn't stop the darkness from sweeping over him.