Passing the Final Trial

"Where's Esther," I groaned as Yssa's radiant healing spell caressed my body. "We have to stop her. She's a demon."

"So we deduced," Yssa said grimly. "Remmi and I hit her with blows hard enough to kill the red dragon we fought and she's mostly intact though I think she's unconscious."

"Is Alva safe?" Remmi asked several paces away. Her black sword was raised to her shoulder like a needle ready to strike at any moment. A dozen frozen white ice darts long enough to skewer through a cow orbited her blade, ready to run the sprawled out demon lying in the crumbled fountain at a moment's notice.

"I'm fine," I coughed, sitting up with Yssa's help. "Be careful. She's strong. She's been toying with me the whole fight."

"Well the game has ended. On your feet, demon. I know you can hear me."

A low chuckle that felt like it was wrapping around my soul answered as Esther pulled herself to her feet. A bright purple aura enveloped her body sending pulses of an unfamiliar energy that made my skin crawl through the garden. Even Yssa and Remmi recoiled at the feeling and they exchanged worried glances.

"I. WILL. NOT. FAIL!" Esther screamed. Her black wings and purple aura flared behind her. Her cold garnet eyes glared at us, the grey bangs that framed her face sticking to her soaked face. In her hand she clenched her sword, now more than double her size, in her hand and held it in front of her with one arm.

Time slowed as I watched Remmi and Esther charge one another, each letting out a feral war cry that shook the smoky air around us. A shock wave of energy knocked me into Yssa when their blades met and soon the air was filled with the flitting sound of frozen darts flying through the air and ear rending clanging of swords.

"You need to go help her," I yelled, grabbing Yssa by the shoulders. "She can't win alone!"

"She's going to get mopey if she hears you saying that," Yssa replied. "Just watch. We haven't been lounging about for a week."

It was only a week! How much stronger could they have gotten? They may have learned some new tricks, but there's a limit to how effective practice can be in such a short amount of time.

As if to alleviate my worries, Remmi's sword pierced the shoulder of Esther's sword arm and knocked her back into the stone garden wall.

"Stay down," Remmi warned. "It would be vexing if the palace branded us as traitors for killing you."

"Kill me?" Esther laughed as her purple aura brightened and her wound closed. "You couldn't if you wanted to."

A nerve shattering roar erupted from Esther's tiny lungs that rattled my bones, sending a shiver through my body. The strange purple energy around her brightened and the small knight's taunt muscles tightened to the breaking point. Even without seeing her attack it was clear that a clean hit could easily cleave us and half the palace in two.

"That's enough."

Just as suddenly as she had bellowed, Esther stopped, dropping to her knee and bowing her head. She didn't say anything and a moment later an old ban with a neatly trimmed pointed beard stepped out from around the destroyed fountain. His brown hair was peppered white and his gold embroidered purple clothing gave him a regal look that clued me into his identity. King Torian Sofior, one of the heroes who defeated the last Demon King with Lady Venna.

"Get down," Yssa hissed at me, pulling me down to my knee by the edge of my sleeve. Only Remmi remained standing, looking at the three of us in confusion before awkwardly following our example.

"Be at ease," the King laughed. He walked beside Esther and rested his jeweled ring decked hand on her shoulder. "You did well, Esther."

Esther's red eyes sparkled at the man's compliment, completely destroying the sinister demonic aura she'd exuded not even a minute ago. Even her purple aura had faded and she looked more like a puppy excited to see its master than a bloodthirsty demon knight.

"Well done ladies," the King said after bringing Esther to her feet. "Not many can push Esther this far."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Yssa answered immediately.

"What do you think, Venna?"

The shriveled old woman floated down into the garden landing next to Remmi and looked her over before making her way to me and Yssa to do the same.

"They exceeded my expectations. Especially this one." She gave me a pointed look. "I thought she'd already be dead."

"Dead?!" Remmi yelled, running up to Lady Venna and grabbing her by her robes. The headmistress's beady black eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything. "So you were trying to assassinate Alva? For what?"

"You forget yourself," Venna said in a hollow voice.

The rage flickering in Remmi's green eyes didn't lose its intensity, but she followed the order. Yssa's demeanor was calmer, though I could still feel the same indignation radiating from her.

"You two wanted Alva to join you, did you not? This was a test to see if she could survive without your assistance and though I don't approve of her foolish method, she managed to defend herself."

"But to send a demon to attack her… And why is the Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard a demon?"

"She's not a spy, if that's your concern," King Sofior said to Yssa. "Dame Esther has been a loyal servant of the kingdom for over thirty years."

Thirty?! She looks like she's thirteen! Though maybe she's still a child in demon age. There are plenty of demons like elves who age differently than humans.

"Then what now?"

"Now you three get cleaned up and we have your official audience!" the King laughed. "And don't worry about the damage, the kingdom will cover the repairs."

A tight ball of anxiety I hadn't noticed behind the stress of the battle dissipated. I couldn't even fathom how much the fountain alone cost. Probably more than I'd ever make in my lifetime.

It didn't take long for Yssa, Remmi, and me to get cleaned up. Remmi cleaned and repaired our robes with magic and we finally made it to the washroom I'd been trying to reach. Like the maid said, it was right up the hall from the sitting room, and unsurprisingly, not being renovated. Esther had departed with Venna and the King, her face glowing with a sharp toothed smile as she talked with the King.

"I still want to know how a demon is in the Royal Guard."

"There was a rumor that an officer in the Guard adopted a half-demon after the last war, though I had always assumed it was a lie spread by the anti-royal faction. My father always said that such a rumor was absurd… I guess he was wrong."

"Her origin is irrelevant. What matters is we get retribution for what she did to Alva."

"It's fine, Remmi," I said, splashing cold water on my face and letting it drip into the stone basin in front of me. "I'm just happy I passed Venna's stupid test and can go south with you two."

"Still, since when did Lady Venna start testing students like this? With how intense these trials have been and the training she put us through, she's making it seem like there's more to this assignment than she's letting on."

"Perhaps Alva should stay then."

Remmi's words caught me off guard and I looked at Yssa who seemed to actually be considering Remmi's statement.

"You can't be serious! Why do you suddenly not want me to go?"

"Because she's right!" Remmi snapped. "You barely managed to stay alive fighting Dame Esther and they're clearly warning us that we're going to be facing even more dangerous threats. What if we can't protect you? Neither of us wants to see you die, Alva."

"Yssa! Tell her she's wrong! I'll be fine!"

"I… Let's hear what they have to say," she replied with downcast eyes. "We don't even know what they want us to do."

The three of us didn't talk leaving the washroom. We were all frustrated in our own ways, though more at the situation than each other. I didn't want to be separated from them, but I couldn't argue that they were right. I fought Esther off, but ended up blowing myself up and almost dying. I was only alive thanks to Yssa's magic; regular healing magic would have struggled to heal such a grievous wound and it was only thanks to Esther purposely missing my heart that I was alive at all.

Let's get this over with.