Chapter 43 – In the Rain

More dreams came to Reina that night. It wasn't like the other times she used this spell. Her vision was…fragmented. She saw parts of the inside of a building, like looking through a broken TV with the images intact, but all showing something different. Bits of long seats here, stained glass there, and a small podium in another. This was likely inside a church, an abandoned one. A broken pew came into view of one of the shards of dream. Darkness was otherwise all around her.

There was one other big difference in this dream: the little girl laying against the wall.

Reina instantly knew who that was, and it, combined with the 'viewing shards', told her two things. First was that she was viewing this dream from the outside, which she was glad about. Being able to tell this was a dream would worry her less later. Second was that this was before Lola's transformation, as the familiar girl had no claws, no wings, and no golden eyes. As for why this was happening, Reina was either getting better at Dream Eat, which was both good and bad, or the rain was affecting the spell. Honestly, she preferred the scenario where she wasn't improving her usage of what might very well be evil magic, seeing where the spell came from.

Regardless, this was exactly what she was looking for, aside from the fragmented nature of it. She could gain some insight on why Lola was the way she was…or so she thought. In the black void of the dream, the 'viewing shards' only showed partial bits of memories. Reina knew it was that—and not just copies of the same memory, since Lola remained in place—because of the position of the sun. These shards were at different times of the day.

Reina wondered if that was also because of the rain. It seemed likely to her.

Her attention was drawn to one shard, where she felt something happen. There was sound, but she couldn't hear anything until she focused on it. The image was partially cut off, but she could see three templars, their emblems blurred out.

"You've been causing problems, brat. Now it's time you paid for it." The voice of the templar could only be described as cruel.

The image stopped playing, and another shard appeared before her. Only, there was little she could see. Red covered it, like on a TV screen. Reina realized in a heartbeat what the red was.

Another shard came to her. This one felt…almost happy. "Templar dogs." A black claw, a scream of fear and pain, and then silence.

The shard moved away, and another took its place. There, just like she'd seen him in Savia, was Derdir looking down. "Come with me, and I offer you a home where this will never happen again. You will never have to fear a templar; they will be the one to fear you—"

The shard cracked, the sound echoing in the void. The other shards began to crack as well.

It wasn't long before every shard had a spiderweb of cracks in them. And then, they began to shatter. One by one, with increasing speed, the shards of dream broke apart and fell into nothingness.

Reina looked back to the shard with the last memory she watched, only for it to no longer be there. Gone was the empty void, replaced instead with the inside of the hut she fell asleep in, a fire her only light inside. Her breathing was heavy and fast, as if she'd just woken up from a nightmare.

"You peeked, Big Sis." She heard from behind her, where a pair of arms still wrapped around her middle.

"I…" Reina couldn't find the words, nor could she muster the courage to turn and face the person whose mind she just invaded.

"I'm not mad, Big Sis." The arms pulled back, forcing Reina to adjust as one moved underneath her. She pushed off the ground with an arm and slowly looked to Lola.

"You're not?" Reina asked, looking into the girl's golden eyes.

Lola shook her head. "I—"

Before she could continue, a loud crash shook the ground with an accompanying flash of light. Movement was quick in the hut as everyone stirred from their sleep. Another lightning bolt struck, an echoing boom with a shake of the ground. Reina got to her feet, worried about what was happening. From what Maria and Vyrdrun described, storms shouldn't be like this. Not only was it lasting a long time—given what her Wave timers said—but there was almost no sound of rain.

"Vyrdrun!" Reina called out as he stood up as well.

"Stay away from the door!" He replied, placing himself at the entrance. Kuromo padded away from the opening to stand just in front of Reina, as if on guard.

The lightning continued for a few moments more, a few of the bolts striking the hut and making it shake even more violently. Then, it all ended as if it never occurred at all.

Reina looked around, trying to find out if anyone was injured. There were no holes in the ceiling, no patches of water anywhere, and nothing else out of the ordinary inside the hut.

Grim was on his feet as well, though he looked barely able to stay standing. A partial night of rest wasn't enough to cure him of the rain's effects. Maria, however, held the pelt that covered her close as she sat up. She was in a worse state before, but was at least looking a little better now. She was still young, but Reina couldn't spend more than a moment thinking about that, now that she saw the two party members uninjured.

"Hello in there!" Outside of the hut, however, a voice called out.

Reina thought it was crazy. There was no way someone was outside in this storm. She thought she might have been hearing voices again—for the first time in weeks—but a look to the others told her they heard it as well.

"May I speak with the Ritual Implement Hero?" The voice, a man, called out again.

Vyrdrun looked over his shoulder at her. He didn't seem to understand what was going on any more than she did. Hesitantly, Reina stepped around Kuromo and approached.

The timing of things was just too close to be a coincidence. That lightning came from the sky, and then the man spoke. He was able to not only live after being in the rain, but control it to some extent. Reina thought maybe he had some sort of shield spell above him—as impossible as that sounded, given that the magic would unravel—but there was nothing around the man when she looked out at him.

Although it was night and in a storm of sorts, Reina had no problem seeing him. The violet clouds above held light in them, possibly from the moon and stars. The times she saw them expanding, the clouds didn't look very thick—or, rather, tall—but she couldn't see through them either. Given their current situation, she didn't have time to ponder how they could see.

"Ah, there you are." About 50 feet out from the hut, the man smiled at her. It wasn't a happy smile, but a vicious one, and he made no attempt to hide it. He wore a simple breastplate over a shirt, but no cloak. His light hair was cut short, maybe an inch long. And, he was completely drenched. He didn't try keeping the rain off of him at all.

"Who are you?" Reina asked. Her weapon was switched to one with the lowest magic bonus and the rain was hardly a drizzle now, so she was able to keep herself from getting sick. Still, she didn't move past the doorway, though Vyrdrun had already pull off the monster hide that covered it.

"Sabien Stormlord." His smile widened. "I'm here to collect that girl with you."

Reina kept her eyes on him a moment before she turned back to Lola. The girl shifted her attention from the man to Reina, shaking her head. "I don't know him, Big Sis."

Reina swallowed, then turned back out again. "She's going to stay with me."

Sabien just shook his head, as if having to take the time to deal with a child. "Listen here, Hero. I had to think long and hard about how the boss wanted this handled, since he doesn't want me killing you. So, just hand over the dragon girl and I'll be on my way."

"What do I do?" Reina had to consider the situation. If she refused, she had no doubt this would turn into a fight. She wasn't blind to the meaning of his words, even if she didn't know all the details. She wasn't to be killed, with no mention of her party.

Could they fight? Could they win? Reina looked back at her party.

Grim was leaning against the wall. He wasn't in any condition to fight, let alone go into the rain; he wouldn't last a minute. He also didn't have any ranged weapons, and his grimacing face told Reina he wouldn't be able to use one properly, even if she gave him spears to throw.

And Maria…Reina looked at the girl. She didn't look that much better than Grim, but she had even less to offer in a fight right now. Magic wouldn't reach the man, and anything she cast on the party would go away before they could reach him. More than that, Reina couldn't bring herself to let Maria fight as she was now.

The only ones who could really go out there were Kuromo and Vyrdrun. The odds were against them, especially since they didn't know what level he was. How could they possibly beat him? He stood out there in the rain like it was nothing. It'd be foolish to even try…

Reina felt a claw grip her shirt from behind. Lola was right behind her, peeking around her back to keep looking at the man. It was her eyes. Reina looked at them and knew it. Lola was scared.

She knew what she had to do. Reina turned to face Vyrdrun and softly spoke. "I don't want to hand her over."

Vyrdrun, never removing his eyes from the man outside, nodded. "Nor do I."

Kuromo came up beside Reina and leaned his head into hers. "Do you think you two can fight him? I'll support you as best as I can."

Then, Vyrdrun broke his staring match with the man and took a few steps to the side. He quickly flipped open his pack and took out a potion. It was one of the clay vials she'd seen him fill with cooked rainwater before.

"We'll see." He said before tilting back the vial, a sludge-like substance falling from it and into his mouth. When he finished, he set the vial on the ground. "Get your armor on."

Reina didn't need to be told twice. However, she also knew they didn't have much time. Quickly, she pulled off her shirt and moved to the pack. Inside was her old armor, the Mirror Bend Armor. It wasn't as good, but far easier and quicker to put on.

"Hey now, I don't think you understand your position." Sabien said as Vyrdrun stepped out into the drizzle. "I think I'm being pretty reasonable here."

"Grim." Reina didn't bother to look out, instead focusing on what they could do within. "If he gets in here, can you fight?"

She would have felt embarrassed with Grim seeing her like that, but she was still partially covered. More than that, the situation was too dangerous to be concerned about something like that.

"Ugh…" He groaned as he pushed off from the wall. "Yeah. I have a trick or two to handle things."

Reina really hoped that wasn't just bravado, but Grim never really showed any bluster before, so she took his word for it.

With her armor hastily donned, Reina strode to the doorway. The roof extended out a little further—thanks to Vyrdrun's quick alteration—so the opening to the hut wasn't directly in the rain anymore. Outside, Vyrdrun stood with his large mace in his hand. Kuromo was beside him, standing tall. The dragon was actually able to loom over Vyrdrun, and he was big enough that Vyrdrun could ride him, but only alone.

Together, they might stand a chance.

The man in the rain had his hands on his hips. He was too far away and now the slightly-more-than-drizzle made it hard to hear, but he looked to have sighed. "Are you really going to make me do this?"

Reina didn't respond to him. "Lola, can you help at all?"

The dragon girl kept right behind her, peeking past her shoulder. She shook her head. "I can't fight injured like this. My breath might not be a spell from spirits, but it's still magical. The part of it that isn't won't get far in the rain without the magic pushing it forward."

Then it really was just those two who could be out there. Thankfully, she had a few tricks of her own.

"Leave." Vyrdrun commanded as the rain started to pick up more.

Sabien ran his fingers over his short hair. "Yeah, I guess a hero wouldn't just back down. Oh well. I'm sure the boss won't be too mad if I lower her party size a little."

From his hip, he drew a one-handed sword and made ready.

"I prefer it this way anyway." He said with a wicked smile.

~Forging Legends~

Kuromo struck first. The dragon spat out a beam of acid right at this strange man. He jumped to the side, evading the blast, and leapt straight for Vyrdrun.

While Vyrdrun would have preferred to learn more from Grim before pitting his skills against another opponent with a weapon, he was confident in what he learned. Aside from the battle against the foreign hero, Vyrdrun knew he could hold his own, at least for a time. Perhaps he'd learn the secret of this 'Stormlord's' immunity to mystic rain and disrupt it.

The sword moved quickly through the air. Vyrdrun brought down his mace to deflect the blow. It was a heavy hit, indicating this man's level was likely higher than his own. Nevertheless, Vyrdrun would fight.

He swung the mace at Sabien, but it was easily dodged with a quick backstep. Vyrdrun lunged forward to pursue, swinging his mace around while the man weaved around it. One of the tips Grim had instilled in him was keeping the momentum of his heavy weapon, continuing in an almost swirling motion.

Vyrdrun had some minor skill with the weapons he used before, but understood them much better after Grim's training. He knew where his strengths lay, and his weaknesses. He lacked the finesse to use a proper sword—unlike some of his fellow Gromnar—but something with a longer reach, like a spear, would make anyone hesitate to attack. But he had a better weapon to make use of his size and strength, one better suited to his current skill. He wasn't going to disarm anyone with it, but he'd crush all opposition with a heavy mace in hand.

But that wasn't all. Against a stronger opponent that used a weapon, he could use his to remove theirs. While he wasn't skilled enough to disarm, especially with something like a mace, he was more than good enough to destroy a weapon. Grim had looked over his weapon and said it was of good quality. The material made it harder to damage, in addition to increasing its weight. Breaking weapons and armor were what this mace was made for, assuming the person he was attacking survived.

And, of course, assuming he could hit them, let alone their weapon.

"Big and slow, just like a Gromnar!" Sabien jeered. He didn't use his weapon to deflect any of Vyrdrun's blows, only using his superior agility to avoid them. He clearly knew what would happen if he tried. A confident smile was spread on the man's face, telling Vyrdrun he wasn't all too serious about the fight. That was fine. It just meant Vyrdrun would be able to surprise him.

Or, allow someone else to.

"Piercing Shot!" Reina called out her hero skill, sending a bolt of energy at the man's back. Vyrdrun wasn't just attacking without strategy. He kept the man within range of the hut, allowing Reina to use one of her few available skills to help.

Caught off guard, the man adjusted his evasive dodging. His jump to the side allowed Vyrdrun to quickly close the distance and swing his mace in an arc. It slammed into Sabien's side, throwing him away.

As he tumbled on the ground, Kuromo jumped forward and spewed out more of his acid breath. Even in the rain, there was more than enough of it to reach the man, coating him in a thin layer.

Sabien finished his roll and quickly stood, just as Vyrdrun was upon him again. The acid was already getting washed off from the ever-increasing mystic rain. Thankfully, the mystic rain wasn't turning the ground into mud, at least not much of it. That was one property mystic rain didn't have compared to normal water.

Vyrdrun brought down his mace in a heavy overhand swing, hoping to crush the man. All too late, he realized something else about this Stormlord. As the attack was evaded, Sabien brought forward his sword and slashed at Vyrdrun's left arm, leaving a large gash as he defended the rest of his body.

"Hah! Pathetic!" Sabien laughed, landing two more swift strikes.

What Vyrdrun realized was that this man wasn't simply ignoring the mystic rain's effects. He was channeling the power of the rain into his body. The evidence of that was the man's wounds, or lack thereof. It wasn't that his defense was too high. Vyrdrun saw the damage the acid caused him, as light as it was. But by the time Vyrdrun went to attack again, the wounds were mostly healed.

A swift kick to the back of Vyrdrun's knee brought him to the ground, nearly causing him to drop his mace. For a moment, he thought Sabien would continue the attack. However, he instead turned about and darted toward Kuromo.

"Let's thin you out a little." Sabien mocked. The dragon was strong, but not much more agile than Vyrdrun, at least on land. He would need help.

Vyrdrun got to his feet and ran after him. Sabien was fast, already at Kuromo and making quick strikes against the dragon. This would not be a good situation, something Kuromo had sensed even before they began. Two large opponents against one about half their size wouldn't be able to utilize their advantages appropriately, especially against someone so agile. They would interfere with each other, which was why Kuromo held back. Sabien understood that, it seemed.

A swipe of the mace got Sabien to back off for a moment, but he quickly reengaged. He was confident his agility would allow him to fight two larger opponents, and Vyrdrun had to agree. Still, there was little he could do to stop it. Kuromo used his wings to help him jump back, but the man was on him again.

"I'm sure there's a joke about a Gromnar and a dragon. Wish I knew it." Sabien laughed while his blade left tiny gashes across Kuromo's scales.

Another disadvantage to their size was Sabien ducking under and around them, the much larger Kuromo having to deal with that more. Kuromo could spin easily enough, but Vyrdrun took too long to move around the dragon to strike. Sabien was very well-trained in fighting.

"Quake!" But one advantage Vyrdrun had right now was magic. He stomped his foot on the ground, making it shake. It didn't reach that far, a few dozen feet, but it was enough to make Sabien lose his footing.

Kuromo swatted him away with his tail, quickly following up with another blast of acid breath. Sabien was more prepared this time. During his knockback, he vaulted off the ground with his free hand and avoided the acid entirely.

It still gave Vyrdrun enough time to interpose himself between him and Kuromo. What's more, he had just enough time to swing his mace down at Sabien before he could dodge. Now he would either have to take a devastating hit, or try to deflect the blow with his sword. Even a glancing blow would damage the blade.

This lord of the storm stood his ground and braced himself. His sword was held horizontally in the path of Vyrdrun's heavy mace. Madness must have overtaken him to think he could—

With a loud clang that almost sounded like thunder, mace met sword. The ground beneath Sabien indented from the pressure. Metal ground against metal. But, the sword remained firm.

"Hah!" With Vyrdrun's momentum interrupted, Sabien darted under the mace and lashed with his sword. It cut into Vyrdrun's thigh, making him take a knee.

This close, it was all Vyrdrun could do to swing at him with his unarmed hand. The sword deflected the blow slightly, giving Vyrdrun another cut, but it had the intended effect of granting him a little room.

However, just like before, Sabien made Kuromo his target once again.

"Piercing Shot! Web!" Reina launched her skills from the hut. They came one after the other. The magical bolt passed right in front of Sabien's face, barely avoided as he skidded into a stop. The spiderweb was right on target, even through the rain, but a few slashes with his sword made the attempt to restrain him futile.

"You should have taken my deal!" He called out, resuming his run to Kuromo.

Vyrdrun tried to stand, the wound causing intense pain. He scooped up a bit of mud from the ground and slapped it onto his leg. It would do for now. He just needed a little time.

Time, unfortunately, that he didn't have.

Kuromo found himself on the receiving end of a flurry of slashes. His scales were strong, but this man's blade was equally so, if not stronger. That was a mistake Vyrdrun made, thinking Sabien's actions in combat were indicative of his weapon's weakness. The human simply didn't need to use his weapon to defend at that point.

Vyrdrun was able to stand and started making his way over, just as Kuromo took one final bite at Sabien. The man was easily able to dodge out of the way and stab Kuromo in his large chest. The dragon fell back, pushed at the ground with his claws, and fell over.

He wasn't dead. Kuromo was still included in Vyrdrun's status. Sabien, however, was about to change that.

"Just remember, Hero!" He yelled with a laugh, his sword raised high. "This was your doing!"

Vyrdrun wouldn't make it in time. The wound slowed him down too much. The blade started on its descent to Kuromo's neck.

"Forge Spirit!" But just before it could strike the downed dragon, Reina's conjured spirit appeared in front of Sabien.

The blade cut deep into the rotten-looking 'flesh' of Reina's conjured spirit. It didn't last longer than it took for the sword to bite into it, breaking apart like all her other destroyed spirits. Just like those other times, Sabien recoiled as if stuck by a hard punch. Vyrdrun couldn't see from this angle, but he was sure the human had blood dripping from his mouth.

"Forge Spirit!" Again, Reina yelled out her skill. Her other forged spirit, the one in the form of a large doll, sprang up between Sabien and Kuromo. It swung its fist at him, and struck, knocking him back.

As Vyrdrun got closer, he was able to take a better look at this conjured spirit. He couldn't help but smile. When it was last in the mystic rain, the doll spirit dissolved after a few seconds of contact with the water. This time, it didn't.

Reina was a clever little thing. Her unique way of thinking as a summoned hero let her consider things others overlooked. For example, how exactly the mystic rain injured people. To damage humans based on their magic stat. Reina recently received the ability to directly alter the stats of her conjured spirits. That meant this one had a vastly reduced magic stat. It wouldn't last forever, that much Vyrdrun could tell. The conjured spirit looked to already be taking damage. It could still make the difference here.

"Bah! Fine!" Sabien turned back to Vyrdrun and raised his sword. "It's not like I have to finish them off right away."

And then he was next to Vyrdrun again. Kuromo had landed a few strikes on him, his torn clothing the only evidence of damage after healing. However this 'Stormlord' was using the mystic rain, he was quite adept.

The human was once more showing his proficiency in combat. Vyrdrun tried to direct their movement, but Sabien's superior agility made that impossible. There was no way to make the human move as he desired, closer to Kuromo. While that would have put the dragon at risk, it would also bring them closer to Reina's conjured spirit.

She had watched them fight this whole time, and it was clear she understood this man's strengths as well. That's why she didn't move her conjured spirit from in front of Kuromo. If it was moved away, Sabien would be able to attack Kuromo again, this time without interruption. True, Reina had an ability to instantly move her conjured spirit, but that used her hero SP, and took time after it was used to be used again. Sabien kept Vyrdrun's back to Kuromo, placing himself as far as possible from the greatest source of Reina's assistance.

Cuts accumulated on Vyrdrun's arms, either from deflecting partial blows or when he was too slow to block properly. It was becoming clear he could no longer even reasonably keep up with the human. That wouldn't last forever, though. He just needed a little time…

"Got you!" With a flourish, Sabien stabbed Vyrdrun through his mace hand. The weapon fell to the ground, Vyrdrun no longer able to keep a proper hold on it.

With the human within reach, Vyrdrun threw out his arm. His hand slipped right past Sabien's throat as the human lunged forward. A sharp pain forced Vyrdrun to stop.

He had been stabbed, all the way through. Their difference in height was the only thing that kept the blade from piercing his heart, instead entering less than half a foot lower.

With a twist and a yank, the blade was pulled back. Sabien spun in place and cut deep into Vyrdrun's abdomen. Vyrdrun was barely able to cover both wounds as he took a step back, then another.

"Heal…in rain…" Only barely above his normal volume, Vyrdrun tried to pass a message to Reina. As he fell back, his head hitting the wet ground, he could barely hear the girl scream his name.

Author's Notes:

Well…that's not good.

Man, I'm just not giving them a break at all. It's just one thing after another. Killer templars, an unknown spy, a surprise visit from a demon girl, an evil spirit, invading heroes, Maria's reveal, and now this guy.

Since the fighting was mostly done by Vyrdrun, I switched to his perspective for that part. I have a few other scenes planned in the future that'll be something like that.

Oh, and it looks like FF has finally gotten fixed, so you should be receiving notifications again.