What Needs To Be Done

Ravage whimpered behind the table as another volley of shot thudded against the wood. Arrow licked at the raptor’s belly, his mouth glowing as Crimson Vigor healed most of the beast’s wounds. Fulcher’s wounds closed slowly as well, as he braced himself against the table. With any luck the gunshots would not pierce the wood.

“Come out, son! I just want to talk!” the Sire shouted, pouring more blastpowder into the barrel of the blunderbuss. Fulcher’s eyes darted to the movement at the hall doors, as King Mnguni poked his head into the room.

“Look out! He’s going to shoot you!” Fulcher yelled. Mnguni ducked back behind one of the Great Hall doors as shot from the blunderbuss embedded itself within the wood where he had been standing. The foreign king looked over Fulcher, crouched behind the table.

“Give up, savage! Your army is routed, your champions dead!” Mnguni shouted.

“Primitive invader, why don’t you come out and fight me like one of your stray beasts!” Dilyniant taunted, filling the gun with pellets. Fulcher readied himself, turning to crouch behind the table.

He’ll need time to reload! he thought. More rounds impacted the dining table, sending vibrations along the wood. Fulcher leapt over the fallen table and began to run towards Dilyniant. With a sick grin, the Sire reached behind his throne and produced a second barrel, aiming it at the Prince.

He had two?! Fulcher thought as he slid behind a chair.

“Glacial Core!” he shouted, pressing his gauntlet against the wooden chair. Ice sprung from the wood, forming a small pillar of frost that caught the bullets Dilyniant fired from his second barrel. Fulcher kept the gauntlet pressed against the ice-bound chair.

“Brittle Fracture!” he said, cracks sprouting across the length of the ice. The ice shattered, sending sharp fragments of wood and frost spiraling towards Dilyniant. The Sire growled in pain as the splinters struck him, leveling the reloaded first barrel at the approaching Fulcher.

“Abyssal Black!” Fulcher said, sending a trembling shroud of darkness towards the Sire. Fulcher stepped to the side as Dilyniant fired into the blackness, the shot missing the Prince. Pushing out of the darkness, the Sire began to reload the second barrel as Fulcher neared. He extended his fist outwards.

“Sea Gate!” Fulcher commanded. A torrent of water flowed from the gauntlet, drenching Dilyniant. He shrugged off the wave as he aimed the second blunderbuss at Fulcher’s face just as the Prince entered his space. A click and a fizzle as the wet blast powder failed to ignite, allowing Fulcher to rush the King and strike him with an uppercut to the chin, forcing the Sire to fall to the ground. Fulcher landed on him, raising his gauntlet up high.

“Yield!” he commanded. The Sire laughed as Mnguni finally entered the room carefully. In a blur, the Sire unsheathed a hidden blade from within his clothes, sending the top directly at Fulcher’s eye. The Prince caught the arm with his gauntlet, but the Sire’s strength was impressive. Fulcher struggled to stop the knife as Dilyniant reached up and grabbed Fulcher’s free arm, preventing him from pushing the blade away with both.

If only I had the strength of my old body! Fulcher thought as the blade grew closer and closer.

“Fulcher!” Mnguni shouted, sprinting forward.

“Yield…” Fulcher begged as the knife drew closer to his eyes.

“Never…” Dilyniant wheezed as he pressed forward. Fulcher wheezed as his arm began to fail him, the blade slipping an inch closer. He struggled, shifting his weight on Dilyniant until his free gauntlet was pressed against the Sire’s chest. Fulcher looked down at the man one last time as he fought against the blade, pressing his gauntlet gently against the royal garb.

“Brittle Fracture,” Fulcher stammered. The gauntlet pulsed with energy as the ringcaster activated. A sickening chorus of pops erupted from Dilyniant, as if a bucket of kernels had just burst into popcorn. One last breath escaped the Sire as his arms fell limp, with Fulcher collapsing on the ground beside him. Mnguni rushed to his side, arriving just before Arrow to inspect Fulcher.

“Are you alright?” the King asked. Fulcher breathed heavily, but nodded. Arrow licked his face as Fulcher freed his hands from the magical gauntlets in order to pet his companion.

“Yeah… tell the others… stop the fighting…” he wheezed. The Ubuk king nodded with a smile, turning and running from the Great Hall as Fulcher closed his eyes in exhaustion.

—

Akaj burnt through the line of defenders guarding the door to the keep, the priestess still following him.

“I said enough!” he barked, “I must help my friends…”

“Help them by not killing yourself! You’re so stubborn!” Gwyn scolded.

They came upon the room leading to the Great Hall, where Vardia stood wheezing with a slash across his face. His shattered spear lay on the ground around him, with his tired hands clutching the spear’s tip like a dagger against the Kingsguard. The opponent spun his katana around in a flair, looking ready to continue to duel for as long as it took. Akaj’s hands crackled with elemental fire as he watched the man approach the tired and sweating Vardia.

Then, King Mnguni burst from the walls of the Great Hall, running past the group.

“King Dilyniant has fallen! Victory is ours!” the King shouted, running past them to deliver the news to the troops outside. Vardia wheezed as he looked at his opponent. The Kingsguard stood tall, spinning his katana again before slowly sheathing it. Akaj blinked, allowing the fire to die in his hands as the Kingsguard smiled.

“My my what a shame. I’ve failed in my duty to protect the Sire. It looks like you’ve defeated me, Vardia,” the old man said, taking off his katana and kneeling down before the beleaguered Princeguard. Vardia smiled, dropping the spear tip and taking the katana from the Kingsguard.

“Thank you, Master,” he huffed. A groan turned all eyes towards one of the staircases, as Schon limped into the main hall before collapsing.

“Schon!” Vardia called as he ran over. Akaj joined him, with the priestess in tow.

“Sister, can you heal her?” Vardia said, turning the quivering form of Schon over and cradling her off the cold stone floor. Gwyn knelt beside them, looking her over with a frown.

“I can but… she’s been poisoned. The Mother cannot remove poison if it has already infected her,” Gwyn said. Akaj knelt down and presented the hyperventilating Schon with a leather patch.

“Bite this,” Akaj said.

“What?” the girl said meekly.

“Bite,” Akaj commanded. Schon opened her mouth and bit down on the leather as Akaj placed his hand over the wound in her stomach. His flames burst forth, cauterizing the wound on Schon’s stomach and burning away the poison that continued to flow in her system. Schon squirmed and groaned against the leather, with Vardia holding her arms down to prevent her from striking Akaj while he worked. After a moment the Flame Prince stopped the fire, looking up at the priestess.

“Whatever poison is left inside of her will make her sick, but she should survive. Can you handle the rest?” he asked. Gwyn looked down in shock at the massive scorch mark he had left on Schon’s body as her hands lit up with holy blue.

“Of course I can - did you have to burn her so severely?!” the priestess said as she began to heal away the damage. Schon shuddered as she spit out the leather.

“Thank you,” she said softly.
A creak of the Great Hall doors alerted them of Fulcher leaving the room.

“Fulcher!” Akaj said with a grin.

The Prince smiled at the group as Arrow stepped under his hand, forcing him to pet him. Ravage peered around the door too, as Fulcher approached.

“It’s over, now,” he said, crouching down to take up one of Schon’s hands. The girl weakly looked over at him, smiling and closing her eyes in Vardia’s arms.

“Finally,” she muttered. Fulcher looked between the eyes of those gathered, finally landing on Arrows as he rubbed the wolf’s face playfully.

“Now, we can build a brighter future for everyone,”