Year 2: The Scorched Remains - Chapter 10

Duncan and Brenda’s swords interlocked.

Then, using the Uruz Rune, Duncan pushed Brenda back, then used Raidho and Ehwaz to strike hard and fast.

Brenda struggled to block the flurry of slashes and slices, but she managed to move her body just enough to avoid any serious impacts. Flames burst from her Sword of Surtur, forcing Duncan to retreat a few metres; then, she drew her blade back and swung in a large arc towards him, spitting burning hot lava at him.

Duncan immediately activated the Thurisaz rune and began to duck and weave between the lava as it came at him. A few bits singed at his armour, but the Thurisaz rune did its job, improving the strength of his equipment and healing his wounds. Duncan charged forward again to close the distance between him and Brenda, preventing her from launching another ranged attack, and the two exchanged blows again and again.

The battle quickly turned from a fast duel into a war of attrition, that Duncan was losing ever so slightly.

Just as he had gotten stronger and gained more abilities from his Divine Artifact, so had Brenda.

But she doesn’t know about my trump card yet! Just need her to let her guard down for a few seconds!

Duncan felt himself slip and nearly fall to the ground; an opportunity Brenda wasn’t going to miss.

Confidently, she drew her blade back and aimed at his chest.

However.

The Hagalaz rune activated.

His exhaustion faded as his stamina and mana returned.

Brenda noticed the change too late as Duncan activated the runes that increased his speed and strength again, and dealt the final blow, dropping Brenda onto her knees.

“That’s enough!”

Blake, Stephanie and multiple other mages rushed onto the platform to treat their injuries.

Per King Alexander’s own instructions, he told the two to fight as if they meant to kill each other, while not aiming for each other’s necks.

“I do want to see you go all out, but try not to hack off limbs or heads,” the king had jokingly said, albeit with a slightly anxious expression.

Ever since their encounter with Abaddon and Charybdis, the mood in Duncan’s team had changed, for the better in Duncan’s opinion.

Everyone was more dedicated than ever to defeating the Demon Emperor; better yet, Dao Chen not only showed up for practice some times, but she also made an effort to offer advice and talk to them on very rare occasions.

It was, as Stephanie had put it, baby steps, but that was enough for Duncan for now.

Seven months had passed since they’d first arrived in Aangapea, and everyone was on edge as the eight month began.

They had trained hard, fought and killed many foes, including fellow humans, uncovered a traitor in their ranks and had come face to face with their ultimate foe and his strongest allies.

Everything’s scary, but there’s something quite exciting about it, Duncan told himself as Stephanie scolded him for worrying her. Every day, I feel like I’m doing something good with my life; it feels even better to know that it’s all making a difference, whether big or small.

One day, Demon Emperor, we’ll come and defeat you.

David Athelward - I don’t know who you really are or why you’re doing this, but that doesn’t matter to me.

You’re an existence that Aangapea needs to be rid of.

***

“Yo, Sharur!”

“What, Master?” The mace tied to Liam’s waist answered.

“Why haven’t you been talking much lately?”

“Well, Master, you haven’t been doing anything other than moping lately.”

“Can you blame me?” Liam sighed. “I can’t get pissed, I can’t get laid, I can barely fight back against Instructor Kella in our training sessions and now, to top it all off, I’m talking to a mace when I’m surrounded by my friends.”

“Friends is a strong word,” Adrien said.

“Dude, what the hell?”

“You’ve dragged me into the circle of ‘forever to be branded a pervert’ so I don’t think I could ever call you friend.”

“…Harsh.” Liam slumped into his seat and groaned. “I want to let loose like I used to.”

“Gross.”

“Not like that!”

“I understand your agony, Liam,” Kavi said. “I, too, miss the days of partying hard, getting drunk, getting some action and then not remembering anything the next day.”

“Aren’t you eighteen?”

“Oh, please, like that ever stopped any teenager before.” Then, with a solemn expression, Kavi gazed out of the window. “Do you guys ever think about back home at all?”

The mood, that was already low, turned more bitter.

“…Sometimes,” Liam confessed. “Dad was…” He smiled. “He was a legend, through and through. Couldn’t have asked for a better dad, but…I miss him. It’s weird, you know, I feel like he’s still alive back in Ireland, and I hope he’s not blaming himself for my death. Just because he gave me the booze doesn’t mean that my fall and cracking my head are his fault.

“Just bad luck was all. Ah shit, he’s probably blaming himself for it, isn’t he?”

“…Sorry, Liam.”

“Don’t be, Kavi.” Liam sat upright and smiled thinly. “It’s just stupid to worry about that sort of stuff now, but I still think about it from time to time. Just comes to me and doesn’t leave. Well.” Liam chuckled and held up a full bottle of whiskey. “Not until I have a few. What about you?”

“Me? Well, from time to time, sure, I think we all do, those of us who had happy memories, not like Talon or whatnot. Mum and dad would probably be crushed, no doubt, but a plane crash isn’t something they can do anything about. Don’t even think the airline could…can I be real for a moment?”

“Sure.”

“…I’m sort of glad, in a way…I’m here now,” Kavi continued. “Back on Earth, I…I got bullied, a lot, because, I mean, look at me.” He gestured to his exposed arms. “Half Irish, Half Indian. Kids are dumb, so I always thought it’d stop when we got older - well, that’s what mum used to say at least. She always told me not to let it get to me, to be the better man, to never lose my joy because of them.” Kavi smiled nostalgically.

“I also…might have thought some of the things Amen did, if only in passing once.”

“Dude, I’d be careful who you say that around,” Adrien cautioned him.

“I know, and I’d never do what that dickhead did, but…I did want to be popular with women and, honestly, when Harmonia gave us that big speech to invite us here, I thought for sure my time had come. I’d read some stories of stuff like that, the nobody becoming the big powerful hero that everyone loves, and I wished that was me. Even now, kind of still wish that would happen one day.”

“With enough hard work, it just might,” Gati said.

“If there’s one thing I’ll never lose, lads, it’s my positivity!”

“…I wish I could say the same.” Gati put his head on the table. “I was awful, back on Earth, lowest of the low. You know how Gabriel was stabbed on a blind date? I was…um…” He sighed and hit his head three times against the table. “I was murdered by an ex, after I cheated on her and moved on.”

“…Seriously?”

Shamefully, Gati nodded. “…Since I was a teenager, I suffered from depression and I didn’t really ever get it treated, not properly anyway. Well, I say suffered…still do. If…If I didn’t have you guys, I’d…probably be cutting my wrist right about now, a few times a day.”

“…Gati, why didn’t you ever tell us?”

“Bit hard to just casually bring up, Adrien. ‘Hey, I’m a womanizing cheater who used drugs and sex as an escape rather than getting proper treatment - want to be my friend?!’” Gati laughed at his own pathetic state. “I know I’ve gone along with everything we’ve done without letting it show, but that’s because I didn’t want anyone to know.” He rolled his head so that he was lying on his cheek. “Didn’t expect to just dump it on you lot like this.”

“Why didn’t you ever get it treated?” Liam asked.

“Too much time and effort, and there was nowhere near us in India with the proper facilities and medicines. Well, that’s what I was told at least when I told my dad. He said he’d help me get past it; never did, not really anyway. Drugs helped for a while, then women helped a lot. Can only do one of those in this world.”

“…I had no idea…you’d all been through…so, much…” Adrien muttered.

“…You don’t have to share if you don’t want to,” Liam assured him.

Adrien gave a weak smile back. “I don’t have anything much to share, to be honest. I lived and died a young burden, that’s it.”

“Don’t say that, don’t ever say that, especially not about yourself.”

“It’s the truth.” Adrien gave Liam a wide smile. “I had cancer.”

“…Oh…”

“Please don’t make that sort of face, it makes me feel sick.” Adrien lent back and stared up at the ceiling. “My parents weren’t rich, but we weren’t poor…but I was one of three kids, and I was a burden. My big sister and little brother were much brighter and healthier than me, always off doing something great while I wasted away in a hospital bed or a wheelchair. I didn’t have anything to do but read…even that was something I hated.

“My family loved me, always took me places, told me about their days, what they’d done and how one day I’d be able to come and achieve my dreams with them. I wasn’t an idiot - I knew they were just saying it so I wouldn’t lose faith.

“So…I faked my smile, my laugh, my joy at listening to them talk, because I didn’t want to burden them with anything. I wanted to make their day better, because that’s all I could do. Do you know what the last thing I thought was before I died?

“‘Finally, I can stop holding them back.’”

The four heroes sat in perfect silence.

No one looked at the others, no one moved, even time itself appeared as if it’d come to a stop.

“…Master, you’ve really turned this into a super big thing.”

“I know, Sharur! I didn’t mean to make this such a heavy discussion.” Liam sighed heavily again, then smiled. “Well, not that days like this are bad.”

“…By the way, why can your mace talk?”

“Also, why’d he ignore you for so long until Yve was scolding you, then ignored you again for ages?”

“I think your own Divine Artifact hates you, Liam.”

“Alright, all of you, shut the hell up and piss off.”

“Imagine not just being looked down on by all the girls, but by your own weapon too,” Gati mused.

“We might be low, but I’m grateful that we’re not that low,” Kavi followed up.

“We’re Liam’s friends so, to everyone else, I’m guessing we’re the lowest of the low by proxy,” Adrien joke, which made Liam grin.

“Yeah…we’re friends, aren’t we, lads?!”

***

“Good afternoon, Hailey,” Elysa greeted cheerfully.

“…Yve, why’s she with you?”

“Um, I don’t really know to be honest.”

“I followed her.”

“Stalker!”

“I’m not.”

“You speak French?”

“I don’t, no,” Elysa mused. “But I inferred what you might have called me. Forgive me for suddenly appearing at your door as soon as you opened it to let Yve in, but I have something that I wanted to talk to you about that might pique your interest.”

“Not interested.”

“…That’s a lie.” Hailey raised an eyebrow at Elysa’s remark. “Because you haven’t heard what I have and haven’t realised something that I and Kayleigh did, specifically about him.”

“E-Elysa?” Yve said sheepishly. “I don’t know what you’re about to say, but it’s a sensitive topic for Hailey and-”

“When we first arrived here, do you remember who it was that glared at you?” Elysa sternly asked.

“…I do,” Hailey replied.

“Then, do you remember what you said before she glared at you?”

“Vaguely, why does-?”

“I believe that Instructor Kella might share a mutual friend with you. I know you might feel like you have no one to talk to about him, but she might know more about him than you think.”