Chapter 8 - Sword and sorcery II

“This is bad.”

Eran clenched his shortsword as tight as he could. The white knuckle grip kept him focused as he began to feel the effects of his injuries. His cheek continued to burn hot as the sea breeze poked at it like a spectral needle. Every few dozen seconds, a glob of wet blood formed and slid down to the young man’s chin, only to drip onto the grassy road below. Near his torso, a red stain on Eran’s shirt grew in size as blood leaked out from a thin but deep stab wound.

“This is really bad.”

The longer the fight dragged on, the more Eran would begin to succumb to his injuries. He was fine for the moment, but if he were to fall their frontline would be completely wiped out. Leafa had been taken out of the fight, and Wendy was not capable of holding an offensive front. A voice within the young adventurer told him to flee. He struggled enough before his opponent played his trump card, and now that he had revealed himself as a spellsword, the fight became skewed further out of Eran’s favor.

“But I can’t give up. He hurt Leafa. If I run now, I’ll live to regret it.”

Eran dryly laughed at himself. It was amusing that a man like him, who naturally chooses to live life on the safe side, always decided to be reckless whenever his life was threatened. He felt like he had things backwards.

“I can’t afford to rush in without a plan, though. That wand is more dangerous than his dagger. First things first, Leafa’s safety.”

Without turning his back to his opponent, Eran called out behind him. “Wendy! I need you to come get Leafa with Aiko!”

The mage woman furrowed her brow. She had been watching the battle with a frustrated glare, wracking her brain for any spell that might grant them a victory. When the thief revealed a dagger made of water, it made her task a simpler one. Wendy drew more mana from her body, intensifying the heat that focused itself around her staff’s red crystal as she walked up to Eran.

Aiko made her way to Leafa, gently scooping the collapsed monster girl into her arms. “I’ll take Leafa and run. You guys are clearly outmatched.”

“That depends. Eran, did you see any mana trails when you got close to that guy?” Wendy asked. The mage knew she had been called over to help strategize, and she had a plan.

“I did, two of them. Do you know what they are?”

Wendy smirked. She held out her staff, pointing its tip at Eran’s blade. “Something solar spells rely on. One should be for his water dagger, and if I had to guess he probably has a Haste spell too. It would explain why he’s been so quick, even after using Slow. If you can see it, that means you can cut the line and end the spell, however…” The mage released the collected mana from her staff, transferring the heat to Eran’s weapon and engulfing it in flames. “You’ll need to fight magic with magic.”

Eran felt the weight of his sword suddenly shift. It was heavier, but still something he could swing around without difficulty. “Anything I should know?”

“Blazing Blade is the most versatile weapon enchantment, but that means it’s difficult to wield and even harder to master. Oddly enough, your scattered weapon training might pay off here.” Wendy gripped her staff and gave Eran a hopeful look.

The adventurer gave her a nod in return. Determination filled his eyes as he walked forward to face the spellsword once again. He felt a pulse emanating from his sword, and when he focused on it the flames surrounding his blade dispersed with a powerful explosion. Eran found himself stumbling forward, barely managing to keep himself from tumbling due to the inertia. Shortly after he recovered from the blast, the heat surrounding his blade reignited.

“First time? It’s not too late to quit while you’re still alive.” The spellsword thief held up his weapons with a furrowed brow, waiting to see if his opponent would keep fighting.

“I’ve already made up my mind. You’re not getting away with hurting Leafa.” Eran swung his sword, and as he completed the motion he felt the pulse of his weapon shift. Focusing on that changed pulse, he caused the flames that dragged behind to shoot out as a blade of fire.

The horizontal arc rushed straight for the thief, forcing him to retaliate with a vertical cut from his dagger. Fire and water clashed together, and the two canceled each other out with a hiss of steam. “Wrong choice!” Accepting his hostile answer, the thief dashed toward Eran and began his relentless onslaught.

Eran quickly found himself on the backfoot, stuck guarding against the endless barrage of thrusts from the rapier and slashes from the magic dagger. He couldn’t go on the offensive without temporarily leaving himself vulnerable to the spellsword’s dagger, and successfully guarding against it put a short pause on his ability to rely on his own weapon’s enchantment. “It’ll be a gamble, but I need room to breathe.” Eran activated his enchantment’s ability, causing the flames to explode and propel him backwards.

A blade of water grazed Eran’s leg as his opponent retaliated against his evasion attempt. The spellsword prepared to give chase, but he was forced to block an oncoming firebolt from Wendy, who had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to provide covering fire.

With a deep breath, Eran readjusted his grip. “I see, it’s like using an axe. In that case…” He couldn’t allow the thief to go on the offensive again, so the moment his blade reignited he used another explosion to send himself hurtling toward the man. The adventurer allowed the inertia of his sword to carry him, only acting as its guide as he crashed his sword into his opponent’s rapier. The heavy blow staggered the spellsword, making it Eran’s turn to attack. He performed consecutive charged attacks, each one chipping away at his enemy’s poise.

“He might actually win…” Aiko watched the fight with bated breath. At Leafa’s request, the silver haired woman held her up so that they could both witness the intense duel. With the help of Blazing Blade and a few timely firebolts from Wendy, it seemed as though Eran would soon claim victory.

The spellsword was driven back all the way to the wall of the lighthouse, a cold sweat dripping down his neck once he noticed the poor position he was forced into. Still, he did not surrender nor did he lose the defiant glare in his eyes.

Eran would not be able to cut either of his opponent’s solar spells with his charged attack, and even though he had cornered the thief, he wasn’t confident in his ability to cleanly end the fight. With those two facts in mind, the adventurer dashed in with a normal swing of his sword. He had to create an opening without relying on Blazing Blade’s power, and then use the magic enchantment to slash away at the threads that kept the thief’s spells together. The path to victory was clear, all Eran had to do was execute it.

A grunt of pain escaped from the spellsword’s lips as his arm was knocked against the lighthouse’s stone wall. He dropped his rapier, allowing Eran the opportunity to freely slash at the wispy lines of mana that clung to his body. In an act of desperation, the thief fell back onto the stone wall for support and kicked Eran in the stomach with all his might. The adventurer’s shortsword came down and bit into his leg, but it was a small price to pay for the opening it created. The spellsword swung at the open space next to the staggered Eran, his blade of water slicing cleanly through the thin white line that held together Blazing Blade.

“Firestorm!” Sensing the shift in the battle, Wendy created a large ball of flames and flung it forward. The fireball arced across the sky until it hovered above the spellsword, where it froze in place. A second later, a relentless barrage of firebolts came raining down, giving Eran the chance to fall back while Wendy’s spell pinned down his opponent.

With his back against the wall, all the spellsword thief could do was use his dagger to slash away at the oncoming missiles and tank them head on. The fireball slowly shrunk in size as it continued to rain down on the man, giving the young tamer a fixed amount of time to recover.

Eran retreated back to Wendy while the spellsword was occupied, desperation starting to show on his face. “He took out your enchantment, I need another one.”

“A girl isn’t made of mana, you know!? If I give you another Blazing Blade I’ll be completely exhausted. It’ll be a big risk.” Not sensing another option, Wendy let out a tired sigh and began to gather up the last bit of her energy. As she replaced the enchantment on Eran’s blade, her vision became blurry. The mage felt a heavy weight force itself on her shoulders, as though the ground beneath her feet was attempting to drag her down. “You’re on your own now. Don’t lose.”

The Firestorm spell finished, and an angry spellsword came rushing toward Eran. The two resumed their intense battle; both fighters refusing to allow the other to go on an all out offensive.

Leafa watched the ongoing duel with concern plain on her face. She knew Eran was approaching his limit from the way he moved. The spellsword thief appeared to be similarly winded from the prolonged fight, but Eran’s life was not something the monster girl wished to leave to chance. “Aiko, is there a reason you’re not helping?” Leafa looked up at the silver-haired woman with eyes that pleaded for an answer.

Aiko grimaced. “What do you expect me to do? I can’t fight.”

“I stayed quiet, but I could tell you were lying when you said you didn’t know anything about magic. If you can help Eran, then please…” Leafa’s face twisted with emotion. She wanted to believe that Aiko could do something to help her treemate win.

The silver-haired woman set Leafa down with a deeply frustrated sigh. “Fine. You’re good people, so just this once I’ll help.” Aiko stepped forward with her arm held out to the side. Two furry canine ears sprouted from the top of her head, and an equal number of silver tails grew out from her waist. Moonlight shined down upon her tails, enhancing the mystical glow that emanated from them. Wind gathered around Aiko’s outstretched hand, dancing around her as if enthralled by her presence. She swung her arm forward, commanding the gale to support the young adventurer who was fighting with all of his might.

Eran felt his wounds become heavy. He struggled to create a window of attack for himself, and each time it came his vision went dark long enough for him to end up on the defensive instead.

The spellsword thief won the endurance match, stabbing his rapier cleanly through Eran. He went in with his dagger to finish the job, but a well timed burst from the young man’s sword allowed him to avoid a fatal slash.

Eran skid across the grassy path and used the momentum to stumble back up. With a new injury draining him of his strength, he knew he had lost all chances of winning. “I feel… light?” The heaviness that plagued him vanished. When he raised his sword, he noticed a zephyr had surrounded him. The winds made his every move feel lighter, allowing him to move at a speed he had never reached before.

“With this, I can win.”

Determination surged within the young adventurer. No longer did he feel like his body was holding him back. He attacked the spellsword with a flurry of sword strikes, the result of which matched perfectly with the visualization in his head. Every follow-up attack was hit, and there were no longer any gaps in Eran’s movements for the thief to counter. Fully capitalizing on the boost from Aiko’s spell, it only took a handful of seconds for Eran to knock his opponent to the floor. “Give up. I won.”

The tip of a sword was aimed directly at the spellsword’s neck. Despite being so assured of his victory, he was soundly beaten in the end. “Damn you… Just because you were born under a brighter star…”

“I don’t care what kind of star I was born under,” Eran said. “I wanted to be an adventurer, so I worked hard to become one. Even now, I’m going to continue to work hard to earn my title as a tamer.” The young man thought back to his time at the academy. He had no direction for the kind of adventurer he wanted to be, so he had dipped his toes into all of the disciplines. That indecisiveness culminated in making his duel with the spellsword a challenging one. Eran couldn’t say he regretted becoming a jack of all trades, but he wanted to strive for something greater. “The person you want to become is meaningless if the person you chose to be along the way doesn’t match.” Though he spoke those words to the thief, it was an affirmation for himself.

The thief snarled, gritting his teeth as he held back his indignant rage. “All of that is easy to say when you’ve been given opportunities. I had none. The world gave me nothing, so what’s wrong with taking from the world!?”

Before Eran could reply, Wendy came forward with heavy, fast-paced footsteps. The mage woman huffed as she rolled up her sleeve, winding her arm back to deliver a swift punch to the spellsword’s face. “I’ve just about had it listening to you blabber on and on about how sorry for yourself you are. Life didn’t give me anything good either, but I never complained. I became a mage through my own blood, sweat, and tears; and I will be shedding more to make sure no one else has to.”

There was a look in Wendy’s eyes that the spellsword thief recognized. His bitter emotions wanted him to refute her words like he did with the tamer, but the resentment in her eyes mirrored his own. He slumped down and dropped his weapons, allowing the words spoken to him by the tamer and the mage to sink in.

Wendy retrieved the stolen wand and returned it to Aiko while wearing an expression steeped with anger. “I’m a bit peeved at the moment. Tell me why you didn’t help sooner.”

“I’m a monster girl, and a rare one at that. I don’t want to force my sisters and I to be on the run again.” Aiko narrowed her eyes into a cold glare. Just then, a silhouette appeared by the wharf, forcing the silver-haired woman to quickly hide away her canine features once more.

Noticing the blonde figure in the distance, Wendy helped put the flustered monster girl at ease. “He’s a friend. I’d best not leave him worried, so I’ll take my leave. Someday, I’d like to meet your sister and teach her magic.”

“My sister might give you trouble, but I would appreciate that a lot.” Aiko’s cold expression warmed into something kinder. “Although if it’s fire magic, I would prefer that day to be far in the future,” She thought to herself.

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A visibly upset and flustered Dimitri waited for his partner with arms crossed. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you? Why did you think you could just run off and-!?”

As soon as she was close enough, Wendy slumped forward and buried her face into the blonde adventurer’s chest. “Sorry, but I’m going to be useless for the next few days. I had to spend all of my mana.”

“What could have possibly…?” Dimitri looked up to see the figures in the distance, but it was too dark to see them clearly.

“Eran and I helped catch a thief, but they ended up being a spellsword. We won, barely.”

The blonde man wanted to let his exasperation take over, but it was rare for him to see Wendy in an exhausted state. “You could have asked for my help.”

Frustrated moaning wailed out from Wendy as she placed more of her weight onto her friend. “I hate relying on you.”

Dimitri let out an annoyed sigh. He turned around to carry the mage woman on his back, muttering to himself as he lifted her up. “Could’ve fooled me…”

The two wandered through the warehouse district, passing by a few Ardorlain knights that lingered. They were unloading large crates from the caravan and placing them inside the empty warehouses. As Dimitri and Wendy walked by, the knights all stopped working and gave the pair of adventurers suspicious looks.

“Awfully late for a stroll.”

“I could say the same,” Dimitri said. “What are those boxes for?”

One of the knights stepped out from a covered wagon to address the blonde man’s question. “Payment. The kingdom saves money when we buy with goods as opposed to coin.” He was an imposing man dressed in dull armor that had long lost its shine. It was dented and scratched beyond belief, but the red cape that hung from his shoulders marked him as a man worthy of respect. “You’re Ashfield’s kid, right?”

“That’s correct, Vice-Captain Redclaw.” Dimitri bowed his head as deeply as he could without making Wendy fall over.

“Keep doing your best for the kingdom. There just might be a place for you amongst the knights one day.” With a wave of his hand, the men under his command resumed their work. The vice-captain turned away from the blonde adventurer with blatant disinterest.

After walking a short distance away from the knights, he noticed Wendy was pretending to be asleep on his back. “We’re out of sight now,” he said.

Wendy tightened her arms around Dimitri to embrace him in a hug. She snaked her head up to rest it against his shoulder, allowing her to whisper directly into his ear with a tired voice. “I hate that man.”

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Militiamen came to investigate the commotion not long after everything settled down. They escorted Eran and Leafa to a doctor, where they were able to get treated and rest until the morning. Aiko left on her own, and the spellsword was taken into custody.

When morning came, the tamer and his monster girl companion went back to the peninsula. While not allowed inside the lighthouse, they were able to sit in front of it and watch the sunrise together.

Soft pink light illuminated the sky from below the horizon, providing gentle daylight to the town of Barnesville. Leafa watched the fishing boats travel to and from the ocean with a smile on her face. Her hands were covered in bandages and still a source of stinging pain, but she was still smiling.

“It’s a shame we’ll have to leave before sunrise. I’m sure it’s beautiful.” Eran stared at the horizon, reflecting on his battle with the spellsword. Had he been a slightly better sword fighter, the fight wouldn’t have dragged on for as long as it did. It was his lack of focused training that forced Leafa and Wendy to protect him at the expense of themselves. Even Aiko had to step in and reveal her secret.

Sensing his gloom, Leafa leaned into her treemate. “We can come back someday, right?”

Eran put a pause on his thoughts and patted Leafa on the head. “Yeah, we can. Someday we’ll return and we’ll be able to see the sunrise.” The young man’s mood brightened, his outlook becoming deterministic as he thought about visiting Barnesville again in the future. “When that day comes, I’ll be someone who can protect you.”