Confrontation

“Teodan…” 

Kyr watched as the lady inquisitor seethed with anger. He knew that pain. He knew it very well.

"Let's run back to the forest," Leatrix whispered in silent resignation. "We can still—”

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that, milady,” Cinza said. “They already spotted us."

In the middle of the clearing, one of the men on horseback was pointing in their direction. He raised his arm and shot mana into the sky. In seconds, a bubble of light flashed like the sun. Half of the forest around Serenti Prison lit up, causing birds and other forest creatures to scramble in fear. Immediately, all eyes were on them.

So, the knights have a sorcerer. Running into the forest now would simply invite them to be cooked in it.

“I’ll do the talking,” Cinza said quickly as he stood up with his hands half raised.

Leatrix grabbed Kyr’s arm, looked at him, then nodded reassuringly.

At this point, Kyr was willing to believe the inquisitor was somebody who genuinely wanted to help him. Perhaps the Cinza fellow too. But what else could they do?

The knights on horseback brandished their sticks with curved blades at the end. Scythes. Suddenly, the hoods and dark armor made sense. Kyr never had the chance to deal with the reapers of Serenti Prison, who doubled as its executioners, but they were notoriously known as an elite force who hunted down escaped prisoners.

Leatrix followed after Cinza with Kyr lagging behind them.

“High Inquisitor Talos!” the warden yelled as they got closer. His hollow cheeks puffed with malicious grin. “We waited for you at the entrance! Inquisitor Ryhart, I believe you forgot your sword.” The warden tapped the weapon across his hip.

“Thank the sun you found us,” Cinza said, painting his voice with worry. “We’ve been looking for you!”

“I bet you were.” The warden eyes slowly landed on Kyr. His disgust was plain.

Cinza glanced at the carriage and the dead man on the ground. “Well, that looks unnecessary. But that doesn’t seem to be our coach. Is he somebody you know?”

“Your coach at the entrance of the prison is also dead, high inquisitor.”

“Ah, I knew that one,” Cinza replied with a shake of his head. “Not a criminal, I’m afraid. Nor condemned for execution. You just confessed to murder.”

“You’re the one harboring a murderer!” the warden hissed.

“Of whom the princess has exonerated!” Leatrix shouted so the other knights could hear. “With evidence I can prove! The inquisitor’s office has reason to believe Kyr Solian to be innocent! We need him back at the capital to—”

“Yes, yes, we know what you did and what you have,” the warden spat. “We have high respect for the inquisitor’s office, the magistrates and the royal family.” He spread his arms wide and gestured at the sky above. “But look at that! Eighty-one days! Our world still faces an apocalypse because of that man! You see, Inquisitor Talos, Inquisitor Ryhart, we at Serenti Prison had been ready to execute Kyr Solian ourselves! We will bring this world justice before its end!”

“The hero Ilara is hard at work stopping the apocalypse as we speak,” Leatrix argued. “The world isn’t going to end. We’ll make sure of it.”

The warden laughed. He always laughed maniacally back at prison, but it was the first time Kyr had heard the man laugh all the way down his belly.

“And your answer is Kyr sun-damned Solian?” the warden snapped, punctuating Kyr’s name with every bit of hatred he could muster. “It’s no wonder the world is doomed.” He removed Leatrix’s sword and threw it at her. “Take it,” he said. “Let’s make it fair. I’m sorry it had to be this way, inquisitors. But I can’t let any of you go.”

Fair?

Kyr looked at the dozen or so reaper knights surrounding them.

Hardly.

But this was the biggest chance he had in six years.

Think. Could they steal a horse? They still had their backs at the forest, but…

Mana rumbled in Cinza's hands. “It seems there’s no talking our way out of this,” the man whispered. “Karlan and Roy yet live. I gave them a signal. Ready your eyes.”

What signal?

And did he say Roy?

In a span of three seconds, Cinza summoned a bubble of light above them that flashed brightly. He followed it with two blasts of conjured flame from both hands. They were nothing more than sprouts of fire, but they were hot enough to spook two of the riders’ horses next to the warden.

Leatrix dashed for one of the riders, slashing her sword in an arc that disarmed the man.

At the same time, a person leapt out from beneath the carriage and tackled a different rider from behind.

Arrows flew, hitting a knight at the back of the group—the one who’s soul burned with magic. Where did that come from? The cliff across the road?

Everything happened so fast.

Kyr hadn’t seen combat in so long. He was shocked he could follow what happened. Was he always this sharp? He didn’t even have his glasses.

Cinza grabbed the scythe of a disarmed knight and spun it around like he knew how to wield it.

Leatrix clashed with a new opponent.

The person who came out of the carriage climbed behind the rider they tackled. It made the horse spin around in fright, inevitably hitting the others nearby.

Arrows continued to fly to and from the cliffside.

All this happened while the warden kept his eyes on Kyr. The man didn’t seem to care about anyone else. He took a blade from the horse behind him, then walked towards Kyr ready for the kill.

A voice rang in Kyr's head. A memory from long ago.

“I don’t know what use it’ll be for a sorcerer, but… I don’t mind teaching you a thing or two.” It was Aven's voice. “I call it… back-alley brawler style. I bet they don’t teach that at the castle.”

It was just a suggestion. A whimsical thought. But the Hero of the Creed never once held back when he sparred against Kyr.

Kyr lowered his stance and put his fists forward.

“I’ll cut off that damned horn of yours, hero killer!”  the warden screamed, then lunged at Kyr with a savage strike. 

But he was no Aven.

Kyr saw the blade coming for him and, just like he trained all those years ago, swiveled around the attack. That caught the warden by surprise. Kyr swiped at his leg then pushed him sideways.

The warden stumbled, but he caught himself. His armor didn’t just look heavy, it was heavy. And the lanky man can move around it with ease.

Kyr on the other hand was practically naked.

The warden turned and swung his sword again. And again. And again.

Kyr dodged around the attacks, or as Aven once described it, swam like a fish fighting for his life. “Not the prettiest description,” Aven said in his memories, “but it didn’t need to be. Your reward is living.”

Living.

“I guess all those push ups paid off, eh?” the warden laughed. “We always made fun of you for trying, but at least now you can die exhausted!”

The warden caught him in the shoulder. Blood trickled.

“Ah, how the mighty sorcerer bleeds. Demon or not, you’ll die like a whimpering man!”

The warden got a lot more aggressive as Kyr barely hung on. He could run to the others, but Leatrix was now facing two knights on foot, while Cinza dragged an unconscious enemy like a shield against a mounted knight. As for the third person who seized a horse... they were screaming for dear life as knights chased after them. 

What about the archer? Where—

A slash barely missed Kyr’s cheek.

“What?” the warden asked. “You think they’ll come help you? Don’t you see how outnumbered you all are?”

Kyr dodged another attack, and this time, he tried to block with the manacles around his wrists.

The warden laughed at the attempt.

“Come on, Kyr. You know the restraints wouldn't break so easily."

“I just thought you’d be strong enough to,” Kyr replied. “But I forgot it was just… you.”

The warden reddened than he already was. He lunged savagely, leaving his front wide open.

Kyr dodged. Then, in a do-or-die attempt at a counterattack, swung his head towards the warden. He hoped his horn would be good for something, but instead it hit the warden’s helmet and slid off it. The impact did more damage to his own skull than the enemy. He saw stars behind his eyes and took a couple steps back.

The warden looked dazed, but he was otherwise fine. He blinked at Kyr, then smiled.

A curved blade lowered in front of Kyr until it settled right next to his neck.

Kyr instinctively moved back, but behind him was a mounted knight. He could feel the horse’s breath. It was the reaper’s scythe he faced.

The warden cackled maliciously, eyes like pits of darkness.

“Checkmate, Hero Killer.”

Kyr glanced at the others. Leatrix managed to win against her opponents, but just as she looked back at Kyr, another knight swung a scythe at her. Cinza managed to block it, but no way could they help.

“I’ll do it,” the warden declared, pointing his sword. “Just hold him right there.”

Kyr gritted his teeth. If he moved, the scythe would end him.

Was this really it?

Aven. Headmaster Lwenas. Roy. Jessa.

Everyone.

Kyr Solian never had a lot of friends, but the faces of his fellow guardians and the people of the academy flashed before his eyes. He was an orphan, so he never knew his parents, but he wished that he at least glimpsed their faces then.

What a stupid way to go.

At least he tasted freedom one last time.

He closed his eyes.

......

“Kyyyyyyyyyrrrrrr!!!” a voice screamed. A familiar one.

Kyr’s eyes snapped open. 

Just then he saw the face of a fellow student back at the academy. It wasn’t in his mind. It was someone riding a horse towards him, blond curls fluttering in the wind.

An old friend. Roy.

Kyr felt the warden’s blade touch his chest.

Then everything turned white.