A retelling of the climax of Anima’s Seal. One more chapter to go for the current batch of plot bunnies!

 

Don’t Break Me

I glided silently through the trees, Louise close behind me, stepping where I stepped with a grace that made me wonder if she’d ever had training in this sort of stealthy movement. I had no idea if that Milton could see us on Ceniro’s farseer, but I was doing my best to stay in the thickest cover, to make no sound, to show no sign of my trail. Baby Klein was quiet for now, and I prayed to Mother Earth that he would stay that way until we made it to the castle. If not, we’d just have to run. It wasn’t a good plan. But it was the best we could do right now. Ceniro didn’t want me on my own; Klein was safest with Louise.

He’d given me the most western of the routes up to the castle of Armica, where his enemy waited. It was the most dangerous, the most daring route, closest to the enemy armies – and the shortest route to the castle. Which was good, because otherwise I was going to take the longest to get there.

We’d already been spotted once by a group of ten footsoldiers and had to break cover to eliminate them all. If they could see us, the farseer could see us – we had no choice. Louise shot two of them before I managed to charge them, and two more as I darted among and around the rest. She was such a strong ally; I was glad to have her at my back.

When they were dead, I led my companion back into the forest quickly, attempting to weave a complicated trail before Milton could send reinforcements to our position. Wyverns could be upon us relatively quickly, and although Louise could probably shoot them down before they could harm us, they could delay us enough that some portion of the rest of his giant army could sweep us away.

When we had put some distance between us and the scene of the skirmish, I paused and waited for several minutes, waiting with bated breath under a thick knot of trees. Normally I would have been jittering with nerves and uncertainty, but I was also a hunter when I wasn’t a warrior, and I did know how to control my impatience sometimes. Louise bore it almost as well as I did, occupying herself with stroking Klein’s blond head, keeping him soothed and quiet.

That had been almost half an hour ago. We’d crossed the river a short while back, and we were getting close to our objective, I knew.

Hoofbeats! I froze, pressing up against a gnarled oak and gesturing for Louise to do the same. The enemy horsemen crashed swiftly through the undergrowth not far from us, looking around for us, but we were motionless in shadow and their pace never checked for an instant.

I waited five breaths after they vanished, letting the hoofbeats fade again, before I began to move forward again. Being stealthy definitely wasn’t fast. I really hoped Ceniro didn’t need me soon. I was his ace in the hole this battle, to borrow a phrase from Sain’s lexicon, but I was limited in scope.

He knew that. He knew how to use my abilities. I’d trust his trust in me.

There was the castle! On a cliff above us, off a little to the northeast. And from the flashes of thunder and the sparks of dark magic, Rigel and either Pent or Erk was already there. Which meant I could join them without worrying about hiding or charging blindly into the enemy.

The road up to the castle had no cover whatsoever… but it was also clear of enemies. “We’re going to make a run for it,” I said to Louise, who nodded in determination. I braced myself and after a breath, burst out of the undergrowth and took off running.

Ah! There were our cavalry on the road ahead of us: Kent, Fiora, Florina, Andy, Frank, and four Bernese knights, and Erk, I now saw, also charging towards the gate, which stood invitingly open. On the parapet over the gate was Lady Renee, facing in towards the castle, shouting orders to our allies. Where was Ceniro? He wasn’t hurt, was he? She seemed confident enough I assumed that was not the case. “Sir Kent! Lady Lyn! Get your butts in here, things are going down in the hall with Milton!”

Kent looked back and saw us, and slackened his horse’s speed just enough that we could catch up to him. Klein was beginning to whimper, never pleased at being jostled. Louise tried breathlessly to soothe him.

We were in through the gate and Renee called an order and the portcullis dropped behind us. I didn’t stop but sprinted onwards through the courtyard and up the steps to the hall.

Just before I reached the door, a horrible scream burst from it, a scream that wrenched my heart from my chest and almost made me trip.

Ceniro. On the floor. Covered in blood, lying in a slowly growing pool of it. His arm, gone, lying beside him in two pieces. A tall man in heavy armour standing over him, a massive sword in his hand that crackled with power. The farseer a shattered mess on the ground. The sword rising into the air, about to strike downwards to end that life forever…

I screamed. And charged.

My vision tunneled; my ears were deaf. I could hear nothing except the echo of his scream and my scream, and I could see nothing except for that cold, arrogant face before me. My swords met Eckesachs, and it cut through my ordinary sword like wax. The Mani Katti held, blazing like a brand, and I took it in both hands, to attack, and attack, and attack again. I was driving him back. I wanted nothing more than to drive him into the wall behind him, impale him, dismember him, behead him. I would kill him for hurting Ceniro.

My oath was broken. I had failed in the duty I’d set myself. I’d sworn on the dragon’s blood he would never again come so close to death. If only I had been faster! I could have defended him from that blow. I would even have given up my own arm to fulfil my vow.

I’d never tell him.

Sword rang on sword, again and again and again. I could barely get in any hits on this man, and the few times I slipped past his defenses my blows were only glancing, or mere scratches. I needed to fight better, fight faster – he was good, and he wasn’t going to die in a hurry, certainly not while wielding Eckesachs. White waves of energy were pulsing from it now, blasting past me with a wind that whipped my hair. Couldn’t get caught by those. Couldn’t block them. Had to dodge them. Had to call on my birth affinity, wind, had to become the wind itself. You can’t kill the air.

He was strong, very strong, probably stronger than Hector. But I was faster. Which meant I had the advantage, as long as I could keep it up. My teeth were bared in perpetual snarl, but that cold face in front of me never changed.

Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!

Working on it, the cold-blooded side of me responded. Don’t slip up now. One mistake and you’ll be cut in half before you even notice. I constantly changed my angle of attack, swinging at him from every side, trying to crack that steely defence.

Stone cracked deafeningly in our ears, as if the very ground couldn’t bear our combat, and we both flinched – just a little, not enough for either of us to capitalize on. No, it wasn’t the ground, it was the walls! And ceiling!

Those blasts had been tearing apart the walls of the hall around us. The others- I couldn’t worry about the others, I realized, deflecting another lethal swing of Eckesachs and jumping over the blast it caused. Now there was only survival.

Stones, masonry, ceiling timbers, all crashing down around us, almost in slow motion. Beautiful, I could use that for more attacks. Milton would become buried under the debris, would be struck by a stone or crushed by a beam. I wasn’t afraid for my own survival. I should have been. I could die as easily as he – more easily, I had no armour. I only had no time to think about it, relying on pure instinct and purer reflex.

He was attacking the falling debris now, making things easier for both of us, although of course he tried not to help me. Dust was rising in great obscuring clouds, and while my body wanted to breathe so badly, coughing and choking would kill me. I timed my breaths as carefully as any of Ceniro’s charges, my lungs already burning with the effort, always trying to get around Milton, to stab him somewhere he wasn’t paying attention. He wasn’t letting that happen either.

Noise. Dust. Heavy things crashing around me. I lost track of everything except not getting crushed. There was no stable footing anywhere. I could swear my blood was entirely replaced by adrenaline, wind, and prayers.

Was I going to die here?

No! I can’t!

The cascade of ruin was easing, and I only took a moment to reorient myself, to get a couple deep breaths in, before I sprang back to the attack. I wasn’t that surprised Milton had survived, except maybe a little disappointed… but also, deep down, darkly pleased.

I can kill him myself.

His armour was in ruins; he’d taken a couple hits in the collapse that he himself had unleashed, but he was still going strong.

His wyvern ally was coming in behind him, calling out to him. He shouted back, never taking his eyes from me as I continued raining blows upon him, and she left.

He had given up. I could feel it. He had sent her away to save her. He no longer had his armies to call upon. It was only him and me, and our enchanted swords, and he would never be able to rule Bern, even if he defeated me, and he had nothing greater to fight for than his own survival – which meant he had given up.

Now was my chance to punish him.

I leaped up on a piece of rubble; it held under my feet, and with a cry of rage and triumph, I jumped at him, the Mani Katti striking Eckesachs close to his hands and tearing it from his grip.

It clattered heavily to the stones, and Milton took a step back, defenseless, his eyes grim and resigned. He knew what was coming and made no move to stop me, to grovel for his life. Very well. I respected that. I would kill him quickly. I aimed the blazing Mani Katti for his heart.

Now! Now! Strike!

“Wait!” and grey eyes were between me and him, one arm outstretched. “Wait. Lyn. I want to talk to him.”

No, kill him! Kill him now!

Wait. What?

Ceniro. Ceniro! Ceniro!?

He was alive! Thank all the Spirits!

And he wanted me to do what!?

For a moment I stared, his words so mundane after the cataclysm I’d just been through, his voice both desperate and calm, afraid and earnest. Their meaning took a while to pierce the fog of adrenaline and battle-rage that had been focusing my concentration to a needle’s point. I almost staggered with the shock of it.

“You- you!” I shouted at him, my roiling emotions unable to express themselves any other way than violently hurling the Mani Katti to the ground. I stared at him, panting, sweating, covered in dust and blood, honestly not sure whether I might attack them both or not.

You almost died, and now you take my revenge from me? He hurt you! What is wrong with you?

He stared me down, his eyes serious – even if there was no small amount of fear in them.

Dammit. I roared wordlessly, picked up the Mani Katti, sheathed it, and stomped away as hard as I could. The Bern soldiers streaming past me could take care of it.

Childish. But I needed some release for the rage in my veins.

The courtyard was full of Bern wyvern riders, the reinforcements Ceniro and Murdock had sent for. King Desmond and his family were in their midst, all safe and well. I avoided them, and even my own friends, who all seemed to be present and intact, storming over to the south wall. I contemplated punching it, but that would probably just hurt with no satisfaction.

Erk came within speaking distance, brandishing his staff.

“I’m fine!” I snapped at him before he got too close, and he stopped abruptly, frowning a little, and then turned around and left without saying anything. Thank goodness.

Was I fine? I could easily have been injured and not felt it in all the excitement. All my limbs seemed attached, there wasn’t any extra blood on my clothes, my hair hadn’t been chopped off… Yes, I was fine. A bit of grit in my mouth, but I didn’t need healing. I was going to hurt tomorrow, though. I was in better condition than when fighting Nergal, but that didn’t mean I could do it every day without penalty.

Ceniro. Why had he stopped me? Going so far as to risk the life he’d already almost lost – I could have easily stabbed through them both by accident. Just to talk? He hated the man! And Milton hated him. I didn’t want to glorify him with the title of nemesis, but rival seemed too weak. Archenemy, too dramatic. Enemy, not personal enough. …Nemesis it was.

That was true. It was personal. Lundgren had been my own nemesis, a very personal one, but I’d never met him before I killed him. Ceniro had known this man for years. The last time they’d met, in Northern Ostia, it had been mind-games all the way with both of them. All right, I could accept that Ceniro would want to ask him a thing or two before someone killed him. I’d had nothing to ask Lundgren. But I was very straightforward compared to Ceniro.

Another thing. How had he been so close to Milton, when I burst in? I’d had the vague sense that Pent was nearby, injured, and a couple others, but Ceniro had been way out in front, in the middle of the room. Even with all my training, he wasn’t as capable a front-line fighter as the others, certainly not against Milton. What was he doing there? Had Milton called him there to humiliate him? Had Ceniro gone rather than risk the lives of our friends?

I didn’t have the mind to analyze right now. I hadn’t been there. Perhaps I would never understand.

He better not have been doing something stupid.

Was I being stupid now? Was I messing up somehow? He hadn’t asked me to kill Milton. I had just decided that myself. But if I hadn’t attacked with all my might, with every bit of my conviction and emotion, I would be dead now, let alone Ceniro. That much was clear.

Breathing was easier now. I was calming down. If Erk approached me now, I wouldn’t send him packing.

And I was beginning to shake with the aftermath. I’d almost lost him again. He would definitely have more scars to add to his small but terrifying collection. Did he know what that did to me? Did he know what he was doing to me?

The farseer was broken now. He’d have no choice but to keep me nearby from now on. Although my oath was broken, it was not void. I could keep fulfilling it. I had a second chance. As long as I could keep it together.

As my shaking grew less, I heard his footsteps approaching me, finally. “I’m glad you came,” he said softly. “You and Louise. I was a bit worried that you wouldn’t make it.”

A bit worried? After I had tried to rest my own worries with my trust in him? I rounded on him, finally able to put my feelings into words. “You idiot! Even if your entire plan always hinges on me and Pent and Florina, that doesn’t mean you can just go and die because you think you’re expendable or something!”

He dropped his gaze to the ground. I took the moment to look him over. He was bloodied and bruised, but someone had recovered his arm and managed to reattach it, and it was sitting in a sling across his chest. Maybe it would heal, then? “I had to destroy the farseer. Cut him off from his allies, get them off your backs.”

I guess that made sense. That explained what I had been wondering about. But still: “And then after I did all that fighting for you, I got my sword cut in half, kept fighting, avoided getting sliced in half by Legendary power or crushed by an entire freakin’ falling castle, defeat your stupid arch-nemesis, and then you just jump in and stop the fight because you want to talk to the bastard!” I guess Milton was now his arch-nemesis. Close enough. But he better appreciate it.

He winced. “I know. You were all keyed up and then I interrupted it. But… it…”

I dropped my chin to my chest, let out a tired sigh, then met his gaze again. His eyes were serious, anxiously waiting my opinion, but not afraid of me anymore. Thank goodness. “It’s important to you. You have history with him. It’s not like… me and Lundgren. Or… or Nino and Sonia.” Milton was at least human. “I get it. It’s just frustrating.”

“I… yeah.” He nodded, still meeting my eyes. “But thank you. I really… thank you.”

“So go talk to him!” I told him, covering up whatever else I was feeling with some ordinary, half-teasing scolding. “The things I do for you, and then you don’t even follow through!”

He snorted a laugh, and my heart eased. Success! “Right. I’ll do that, after I make sure everyone else is okay. Thanks.” He nodded to me and walked off in Zephiel’s direction, a short but straight and confident figure among the taller soldiers.

I would be okay. He would be okay. It would all be okay.

So I could forgive him for scaring me like that.