Kieran, The Mage Murderer

“They’re late…” Sophia said after finishing her breakfast plate.

“Maybe Valeria really had too much to drink and is sick now…” Kieran mentioned and ate the last bit of his bacon.

“We should check on them.”

Sophia got up and went up the stairs. Kieran followed. Together they stood in front of their door and Sophia knocked. Bastian opened the door shortly after.

“Ah… good morning you two… you were probably wondering why we haven’t come down to breakfast yet,” he said sticking his head out of the door.

“Yeah… is everything alright with you?” Sophia asked worried.

“I’m fine, but the lady is… uhm… somewhat disposed today...”

“Is that Sophia? Tell her I’ll be right there I just need t—urgh,” Valeria yelled from inside, ending with a vomiting sound.

Bastian’s head vanished inside.

“The only thing you need to do is to keep your pretty little head over that bucket until you stop puking!” he could be heard from inside.

“Aww, you think I’m pretty?” Valeria exclaimed.

“As pretty as a ogre projectile vomiting goop everywhere can be…”

“I’ll take th—Urgh!”

Bastian head appeared at the door again.

“Uhm… so as you can hear… The lady is not available for now” he said.

“No worries, get her to rest up… we’ll check that villa out ourselves,” Sophia replied.

“I need another bucket, Bastian! Quick!” Valeria yelled.

“I have to go now… sorry… good luck…” Bastian said hastily and closed the door.

“Now you get your wish after all… we’re going alone… happy now?” Sophia asked with a smile.

“Very happy,” Kieran replied genuinely, which took her a bit aback.

“Did you really want to be alone with me so much?”

“Yes.”

Kieran moved towards the stairs. Sophia followed him, slightly flustered. They left the inn and got Giebel out of the stable and rode the mare together, like they did in the beginning of their journey. It took them about one and a half hour to reach the rumored abandoned villa. They rode Giebel right to the stairs leading up to the entrance. There was no sign of inhabitants. Kieran got down first, like he used to and waited for Sophia to dismount as well. She didn’t for some reason.

“Why aren’t you getting down?” Kieran asked, confused.

“Help me down, please,” she answered and held her arm out.

Even more confused now, Kieran reached up, grabbed her and helped her dismount.

“Thank you,” Sophia said.

“You’re welcome,” Kieran replied, still confused.

Sophia looked towards the entrance and then back at him.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“No,” he answered, but went past her anyways.

Sophia followed him.

“Sophia, do you trust me?” Kieran asked as they climbed the stairs.

“Yeah…” she replied.

“Then get your sword out and be ready for an attack at any moment. Prepare all spells you need for a fight as well and have your magical force field out already when we go in there.”

“You’re kinda scaring me there…”

“Good.”

Sophia did as he asked and prepared herself. They reached the top of the stairs and Kieran turned around.

“And now the most important part,” he said and looked her straight in the eyes, “Stop trusting me.”

“Huh?” Sophia asked confused.

Kieran did not elaborate further but opened the big door and went inside. Sophia followed him. Inside she quickly scanned the room. They arrived in a big entrance hall. There was a wide staircase out of marble in the middle leading to the next floor. The walls were covered with different paintings and luxurious tapestries. Sophia froze and her eyes widened. She knew this place. Sophia looked at a door on one of the walls to the side. She knew it would lead down towards a dark corridor that led towards a cell. Sophia looked up at the marble staircase. She knew that if she went up there and through the corridor on the right, it would lead towards a big oaken door. Behind that she would find a study. Sophia knew all that because she had been here before. In Kieran’s dreams.

“How is this possible?” she wondered aloud.

Slightly dazed by the confusion she stumbled past Kieran. Sophia looked at the paintings on the wall. She noticed that they were different from the ones in Kieran’s dreams. The paintings that hung here now depicted different scenes of triumph and they always featured two people in the middle. A man that looked very much like Kieran and a woman with blond curly hair and deep blue eyes. Sophia looked at a few of them more closely and she recognized the scenes that were depicted.

“The Battle of Popsch, where the Ork hordes from the south were bested… the battle of Kugerl, where the clans of giants were slain… The demise of Enilorak, the death of the dragon ruler of the north… and that one there is the battle of the five Kingdoms, where the great magic war was stopped… those are among the greatest achievements in human history… which elevated us to the most powerful race in the realm… I know all of these paintings… I have seen them… But the ones I saw and learned about only had the Grand Dame Inquisitor in them… those are the heroic tales about her,” Sophia wondered and turned towards Kieran.

He just looked at her with a sad expression on his face.

“How is that possible?” Sophia asked.

“I can’t answer you that,” he replied quietly.

Sophia turned back around and took one step in the direction of the staircase. Suddenly a gust of wind came from the second floor and kicked up dust on his way down.

“Kill her,” a faint voice traveled with the wind and echoed through the room.

Sophia recognized this voice immediately. It was the voice of the woman with the golden curly hair and deep blue eyes from Kieran’s dream. She also remembered why it sounded so familiar to her. It was also the voice of Grand Dame Inquisitor Leonore Lieblich.

“What does that mean…” Sophia wondered.

A sudden sensation pulled her out of her daze. It was the activation of Kieran’s inscriptions.

Clank

Luckily Sophia had already her sword in hand, otherwise she would never had been able to parry the attack that came towards her right side at that moment. She stared at Kieran, whose sword was stopped by hers and her force field. He was bleeding slightly from his nose.

“What is going on?” Sophia asked.

“Defend yourself, Sophia!” Kieran pressed out between his gritted teeth. “You have to kill me.”

Sophia wanted to say something, but Kieran attacked again, swinging to her other side. His speed and power were even higher than in their last sparring matches. Sophia scrambled to parry the next and the following flurry of attacks. She then felt more of his inscriptions activate. Kieran clashed his sword against hers, turned his body and kicked Sophia right into the chest, flinging her against the wall behind her. The air was knocked out of her lungs, and a falling tapestry buried her under it. Sophia instantly pushed the forcefield around her outward catching Kieran, who was about to swing at her, and pushing him back a few meters. She then quickly changed the property of her forcefield to the fire element and burned herself free from under the tapestry. Her back ached a bit as she got up. Kieran was circling her. Sophia felt the aura of impending doom surrounding him grow but shook the rising fear in her. She began casting a few spells simultaneously. A bunch of firebolts and rock spear tips shot at him on her command. Kieran dodged them to the side. Sophia had already lobbed a flame orb on that spot and detonated it. A fiery inferno enveloped Kieran’s whole body. Sophia saw her spell get sucked up into his arm and he dashed towards her, even faster than before. She barely got her sword up to parry a brutal swing at her body center.

CLANK

The impact was so intense that Sophia got propelled backwards at a high speed. She clashed with a door and broke right through it. Her forcefield saved her from any mortal injuries, but a finger sized piece of wood got lodged into her left shoulder. Kieran appeared above her, pinning her to the ground by stepping on the wound, driving the splinter even deeper. Sophia screamed in pain and swung her sword at his chest. There was no way that she could reach him with her weapon, but the magical extension of her force field meant that Kieran had to turn his body so much sideways, that Sophia could free herself from under his feet. She pointed her hand up and shot a beam of fire at him, hitting the right shoulder and burning off the skin. Kieran’s charred bones were visible in the wound, but they quickly began to heal back up, but his right arm just hung limply to his side. He quickly switched his sword to his left arm. Sophia knew that this would be her best shot, if she had any at all. She pooled all the energy she could muster and propelled herself up, thrust at Kieran’s body.

Clank

Kieran pushed her sword aside with his, but his movement were definitely slower. Sophia pumped all that she could into her body strengthening magic, increasing her speed even further and she went on the offensive focusing on his injured side. She managed to push Kieran back, who struggled to parry all the attacks and dodge her invisible force field extensions simultaneously. More and more cuts appeared on his body and began to bleed, but she didn’t manage to land any meaningful hit yet. She pushed her magic even further, past the limit of her human body. She felt the pain coursing through every fiber in her and she knew that she would not be able to endure it for long. Even faster than before she continued the attack and she managed to break through the one-handed defense on his weak side. Sophia slashed across his chest, leaving a deep gash, she then went for the diagonal from the other side, cutting from above and finishing the cross pattern on his body. Kieran took a step back. Sophia followed with a thrust right at his heart, but her sword was stopped by his right hand gripping the blade.

“Fuck!” she exclaimed staring at his fist on her weapon.

Sophia had run out of time. With all the power that she could muster in this moment she discharged a stream of flames over her body to her sword and then to Kieran. The grip did not weaken, but it pulled her in. Sophia let go of her sword, to not get pulled in, but it was pointless either way, Kieran quickly turned his body and kicked her in the chest again and released her. Sophia was thrown against a wall again and came crashing to the ground. She immediately tried to roll to the side, but Kieran was quicker. He pinned her to the ground with a knee and placed his sword right over her heart.

“Not again…” Kieran whispered quietly and something wet hit Sophia’s face.

She realized that it was tears coming from his eyes.

“I’m sorry Sophia…” Kieran whispered softly and began to lower his sword. “Farewell…”

His blade broke through her skin and pierced her heart. Sophia immediately felt the cold spreading through her body. She panicked and tried to think of anything she could do. No spell came to mind. No trick that she could use. Strength was fading from her body. She stared at Kieran’s grey-purplish eyes. He leaned down a bit and pushed his sword through the back of her body.

“I won’t forget you…” Kieran whispered.

Sophia did the only thing that came to her mind at that moment. It wasn’t something that would help her in any way, but it felt like the right thing to do for her. She gathered all her power, all that was left in her dying body and leaned upwards. Sophia kissed Kieran on the mouth and then fell into darkness.