I do not own Dragon Quest 11 or any of the characters.
Hell
"I know you are scurrying around in the shadows like the rodent you are, Darkspawn! Show yourself!"
Kai rolled his eyes. Jasper, one of Heliodor's two greatest knights, specifically its best strategist to balance out Hendrik's swordsmanship, had arrived late in the day and announced to the city that David was the Darkspawn, Heliodor's term for their warped view of the Luminary, and had tried to arrest him and Erik, the rest of David's group, now officially including Sylvando, being scattered through the city at the moment. After a long battle, the others had arrived in order to help them escape, only for Erik to shield David from a Darkness Magic spell from Jasper. The others had escaped, but now Erik was tied to a post near the pier, where the whole city could see him. It was bait for David.
"I suppose I do, technically, owe you one, huh?" Kai mused, then shrugged, striding toward Jasper.
"Who are you?" Jasper asked. "Are you one of the Darkspawn's thrawls?"
"I don't give a shit about your Darkspawn," Kai said. "I owe your hostage a favor."
Jasper's eyes barrowed. "Oh, I see. You're the escapee that disappeared."
"Disappeared, nothing," Kai said, drawing his Cobblestone Sword. "You all just didn't chase me."
Jasper nodded, sneering. "A mistake we shall now correct." He snapped his fingers over his head and soldiers swarmed toward Kai.
Kai rolled his eyes, sighing. Then, when they arrived, he stepped forward, carving into them. His sword deflected a pair more and he pivotted, his knife flashing out and slashing a pair of soldiers across the chest before his sword slashed the two who'd attacked. He sidestepped a sword, slashing its owner up across the torso, then turned, sword arcing back down through another. His knife deflected a sword and he kicked the soldier's knee backward, then slashed the side of his neck with his dagger. At the same time, his sword shot out, impaling a soldier through the heart, then withdrew as he turned sharply, the withdrawl transitioning into a sweeping slash across the entire circle, slaughtering them all. Then, as Kai turned toward Jasper again, the only surviving soldier turned to flee, only for Kai to sweep his left hand up, sending the dagger into his back.
"I see," Jasper growled, narrowing his eyes. "You're more dangerous than I gave you credit for."
"You have no idea what I am," Kai growled, stalking forward.
He paused long enough to retrieve his dagger, then wiped it off on the cloth over the soldier's armor before sheathing it and continuing forward. Jasper narrowed his eyes, drawing a pair of platinum swords. However, just as he did, David's group ran up to the top of the stage where Jasper was standing from behind him. Jasper turned, looking back, then smirked.
"I see," Jasper nodded. "Excellent choice of distraction."
"I told you, I'm not with them," Kai said. "I just have the bad luck to have them following me around."
Jasper shrugged. "It matters not. You'll die with them all the same."
Kai narrowed his eyes, then charged. Jasper spun to meet him, his two swords sweeping around rapidly, only for Kai's single blade to fend them off. Suddenly, Sylvando stepped up behind Jasper, slashing, only for Jasper to spin, deflecting the blade, then blocking David's as Kai hurled his dagger into the ropes binding Eric, the blade stabbing into the post he was tied to. Instantly, Jasper rounded on Kai, only to receive Kai's foot to the center of his chest, hurling him. He bounced off his upper back, only for a fireball to explode against him, hurling him again. He pushed hinself to his feet, snatching up one of his swords in time to deflect Sylvando's rapier several times, then ducked to the side from a jab qnd slashed back at Sylvando.
Sylvando managed to evade it, and David charged, slashing at Jasper, who deflected it, then cast Zam at point blank range, blasting David backward. The older blonde immediately healed him as Kai stepped forward. Jasper turned, slashing at him, only for Kai's free hand to catch Jasper's forearm, halting the strike. Erik shot forward instantly, slashing with Kai's dagger at the same time as snatching his own from Jasper's belt. Jasper spun, managing to escape with only a small scratch from Erik's dagger, then blasted Kai with Zam, freeing himself at the same time as stopping Kai from slashing him. Kai flipped, landing on his feet just as the blonde healed him, needless though it was, then held his hand out to Erik, who passed his knife back to him.
"Thanks," Erik said.
"We're even," Kai said.
Erik nodded. "Agreed."
Kai nodded, then stepped forward just as he saw David prepare to attack. Jasper lunged, slashing at Kai, but Kai's sword swept upward, crashing hard into the underside of Jasper's and sent it flipping into the air. Then, David's arms snapped out to the front. A moment later, a bolt of lightning about as thick as David's arm flashed down from the sky, striking Jasper in the chest and hurling him away. Jasper groaned, then pushed himself up, glaring at them all, only to fall back to his knees.
"Brought to my knees by...you vermin?" Jasper scoffed at himself, then coughed. "H-How could this...happen?"
Kai looked past Jasper as reinforcements arrived, charging over to stand between them and Jasper, swords drawn.
"What debilry is this, Darkspawn!?" one of the soldiers demanded. "By what trickery did you manage to overcome Sir Jasper!?"
"The trickery of being better fighters," Kai said. "Jasper's a tactician, not a sword master."
Jasper hauled himself to his feet. "It matters not! You have had your fun, now accept your fate and give yourselves up!"
"You think that fight was fun?" Kai snorted. "It was barely a warm-up."
Jasper's eyes narrowed, just as Sylvando said something about trusting him and turned, sprinting to the railing and diving in. Jasper began to laugh.
"True to form, the rats leap from the sinking ship! So much for your faithful friends, Darkspawn! Now, this ridiculous farce has gone on long enough. All that remains is for you to choose how it ends. Surrender to me, or entrust your fate to the sharks that circle beneath! Well? Which will it be?"
Kai rolled his eyes, sheathing his Cobblestone Sword and reached back, gripping his curved sword's hilt. "I'm going to kill him, now. Any complaints?"
"S-Sir Jasper! L-Look!"
Everyone turned, staring the way the surprised, terrified guard was pointing, seeing a very large ship sailing past, Silvando standing on the bowsprit.
"Yoohoo!" Sylvando called, waving to them all. "How's that for a dramatic entrance, eh? Introducing...the Salty Stallion! The finest ship to ever sashay across the seas!"
The others all laughed happily, and after a moment, the ship had swung around so that the others could get on.
"Hey, where's our mysterious opening act?" Sylvando asked as everyone boarded the ship and it pulled away.
Everyone looked around, even the Heliodorian soldiers, but Kai was gone. With little other choice, the ship sailed away quickly, and the soldiers all watched, Jasper yelling after them.
Below the water, Kai watched the ship go, then flipped his body swimming away from Gondolia and deeper underwater.
Flames roared high into the air. The battlefield rang with the clashes of steel, the screams of the doomed. Flickering, bloody light illuminated the carnage. The slaughter. Dragons roared, bathing their victims in flames. Jets of frigid air encased lines of troops in ice. Claws tore flesh. Jaws crushed bone. All manner of weapon made an appearance on the battlefield. Swords, axes, spears, boomerangs, clawed gauntlets, bows. And as the slaughter unfolded, glowing above it all in the flickering light of this Hell, those two symbols. The Two-Headed Eagle and Yggdrasil.
Kai slashed a pair of soldiers, panting and stumbling. He looked around, tears rolling down his cheeks. All around him, his friends, his family, lay scattered and broken, blood coating their bodies, many missing limbs. A dragon roared above him, equal parts pain and fear, and began to fall from the sky. Countless arrows protruded from its face and torso, and a spear had stabbed into its chest. It had missed the head, but as it crashed to the ground, its neck broke, killing it.
"Kill them all! Slaughter these fucking vermin! These monsters end today!"
Kai forced himself to his feet as soldiers bore down on him again. One of them swung a massive, jagged axe around, the axe's blade soaked in the blood of dragons. Kai ducked under it, bringing his sword up through the soldier's torso, seveting it diagonally from hip to shoulder. A trio of soldiers with spears charged, but Kai's mouth stretched wide, his face extending a couple inches from the bridge of his nose and down, his flesh transforming into blood-red scales. A torrent of flames roared from his mouth, consuming the soldiers before Kai turned, fleeing the army as the flames was delaying their pursuit. He sprinted for his home. He had to find the others. They had failed to hold the invaders back. They had to escape.
He stopped as he reached the gates. They'd been broken open and bodies filled the streets. He froze for only a moment before a scream of pain rent the air. He tore off at a sprint. He had to find them. Anyone who was left. He leapt over a pike of corpses, stumbled, slashed a soldier as he exited a house, his sword dripping fresh blood and a severed horn in his hand. A single glance confirmed the worst. A woman, a friend, stepped out of an alleyway.
Her usually teal, full-length, sleeveless coat was soaked crimson with blood, her beautiful white hair matted and tangles, her conical horns broken and bleeding. She'd lost the gold ring she kept around her neck, her circlet was broken and half of it dangled from her hair. One of her detatched sleeves was missing, the arm burned but healed into a scar, as was a gash in her right side that took up half her width. Her tights had been torn to shreds, her white kimono dress has ripped from her wound and burned in places, one foot was bare and had its scales exposed to make up for the loss. She exited her house into a group of soldiers, men whose weapons had seen much use already. Then, she twirled, and in a series of lightning-fast movements, almost as if it were a dance, her glaive laid all of the soldiers to rest. Hs looked over, smiling in relief as she spotted Kai. She opened her mout to speak.
If he'd blinked, he'd have missed it. If he'd blinked, he wouldn't have seen the transition between life and death. If he'd blinked, he wouldn't be haunted by it. A flash of Darkness swallowed her for the briefest of instants. A flash as black as night, lasting less time than to blink. Her body crumpled to the ground lifelessly, and a mage behind her lowered his hands, one of them holding a staff with a red shaft and an orange sphere set into a silver head. Kai roared in pain and grief. He crossed the gap in an instant, his blade opening the mage's torso and his clawed fingers removing his throat. He let his sword fall, lifting his friend's body. He sobbed, clutched at her, begged her to wake up. She did not.
More clashes, more screams, echoed from deeper within his home. He gently lay his friend down, kissing her forehead. He took up her glaive and sheathed his sword. He headed deeper into the city. Dozens of corpses. Dozens of friends. Of family. Of enemies. Finally, there remained but one place. The temple. The place of worship. The one building where weapons were forbidden. Where once they had prayed together with the invaders. Where once they had been kin.
He burst through the door just as the battle, the last battle, ended. A sea of corpses littered the hallowed floors of the church. The statue of the Goddess had been toppled. Shattered. And there, on the far end of the church, he whitnessed the final blow. The last of his brethren, bearing clawed gauntlets so much like his own but red with gold highlights, stood motionless, fresh blood dripping from his claws. Behind him and facing the opposite direction stood a man dressed in ornate, beautiful, freshly battle-scarred Drasillian Armor. Its gilded, silver plates were mangled and bloodied, the cape had been burned, and his beautiful, golden claws were drenched in blood.
It happened in slow motion. First he sagged, then he groaned, and then he collapsed. The wound reached from his left shoulder to his right side. The cuts were deep. Fatal. The fight was over.
Kai shouted in dismay. He charged, pulled the glaive back, and struck. The blow was swift. Masterful. It almost didn't hurt. Almost. And then it was over. He stared up at the man above him, at the bushy mustach, the swollen, bloody, broken nose, the disgust in his eyes.
No. He wouldn't accept this. He wouldn't die yet. Not yet. He couldn't. Not until he'd slaughtered them all. He stood, drawing his sword. He struck, and then he bled. The strikes had been so fast he hadn't even been able to react. Three of them. His strength left them, and he fell once again. As he lay there, he stared at the warrior's back, at the emblem of that accursed kingdom. The warrior walked calmly, with the gait of a man who had accomplished a great feat. A man who had achieved a great victory. But all Kai saw was a man who had taken everything he loved.
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