by Billy Wong
"Isn't he made of stone?" Andrew reminded everyone.
Rodrick brought the hammer down. But she had already dashed away from him, ripping her sword out his side in a shower of pebbles. She turned back towards him. He still stood, but with a huge slice more than halfway through his waist had trouble keeping his balance as one side of his torso sagged downwards. The gap was beginning to fill in, but not fast enough. Yet he laughed. "You're so ridiculous," he said almost happily.
As she made to charge again he pointed an arm at her, shot out what looked like a rocky projectile. After she batted it aside with her blade and it stopped rolling along the ground, Henry realized it to be his fist. She ran at Rodrick and struck. He swung his hammer at the same time. It connected with her face, but since he couldn't put his hips into it, it wasn't as hard as the previous hits and only knocked her down right in front of him.
She had also finished cutting through the rest of his waist. As his torso slid off his lower body and he dropped his weapon in a desperate attempt to catch himself, she stuck her sword up and caught him on the tip which pierced his solar plexus. Blackbird stood holding him up in the air, walked to the nearest tree and pushed her blade all the way through to nail him there. She took his hammer in hand. "Anything to say before I crush your skull?"
He regarded her with admiration. "Since everyone has to die, I'm glad to end my life like this. I have no regrets. I'm happy I got to meet a person stronger than me. I name you... champion of the continent."
Blackbird looked down. "I feel like maybe I shouldn't kill you."
"Just do it. I'll have to kill you if you don't, and I won't have a chance for a more fitting death."
She used his own hammer to smash his head into rubble and pulled out her sword, letting his dead torso fall to the ground. Turning to Henry and Andrew, she walked towards them—then fell on her face. "Hey, maybe you should untie us first before taking a nap?" Andrew said.
Henry watched her back rise and fall with slow breaths. "I think she might actually have fainted this time."
After a minute, Blackbird woke up and freed them before going back to sleep.
#
A while later, Henry sat questioning himself with Blackbird resting her head on his lap. "So if the church has angels on their side," he said to nobody in particular, "does that mean their will really is God's? Maybe we were wrong, and our cause misguided."
Andrew spat. "What, are you thinking of giving up just because they have some guys with fancy powers? Just because they're angels doesn't mean they're above reproach. That one tried to kill Blackbird just to keep his reputation as the best fighter, which is ethically unsound to say the least. Besides, we don't even know for sure they're actual angels."
Blackbird added, "And if the stories you guys have told me of them doing bad things are true, who they have helping them doesn't change that. We definitely shouldn't just accept it because a guy I fought claimed to be blessed by God."
Henry looked down at her exhausted form. She looked not much different from any regular girl right now, with her waist slim, hands small with tiny nails, and arms slender, well, compared to a strong man. Her face would have been pretty if not for the scars and being horribly swollen and bruised. "Yeah, you guys are right. It could even be that God's servants have been manipulated or corrupted by the church themselves. We should learn more about these angels, in addition to our work with the artifacts."
He worried that more church enforcers or bounty hunters might come while Blackbird was weakened, but none did. Perhaps they grew fearful after Rodrick didn't return, which would be justified. Blackbird's recovery proved as incredible as her other physical abilities—by the time a week had passed, she was back to her perky self with the only lingering effect that could be observed being slightly slurred speech. They resolved, once again, to get off the mountain.
"Think we should take his hammer with us too in case it might be magical?" Andrew asked. Rodrick had been buried with the armored ape-monster, but his weapon still lay where it'd been dropped.
"It had tons of sword nicks in it even before it met mine," Blackbird said. "I doubt it's magic."
Henry gave her a curious look. "By the way, what is that sword of yours made of, being used to cut through stone, steel, and giant monster bones all the time without breaking?"
"The mangaka called it handwavium. I think it might have been made with lost forging techniques to be strong though, I got it from the grave of an ancient hero whose ghost I beat in a fight. His headstone said 'winner of ten thousand duels, loser of none' or something like that."
"What the hell is a 'mangaka' anyway?" Andrew asked, sounding a little irritated. "You keep using that made up word, but it doesn't mean anything to us."
"I didn't make it up! The eastern artist who used to draw picture stories of me called himself that. He was one of my best temporary friends, but then he went back to Nipan..."
Henry chuckled. "I guess Blackbird can teach us new words too. Handwavium, mangaka, and nipan, I'll remember those."
"Nipan is the name of a place. Also, nakama means friends."
"Okay." He looked down the mountain at the vast country that spread out before them. "I wonder how the world has changed in the time since we put ourselves into seclusion."
"Well, it should be even warmer down there now." Blackbird pumped her fist happily. "So let's look forward to a good summer hopefully!"
#
They descended at night to reduce the chances of being noticed and split up as planned, Henry taking the main road while leaving Andrew and Blackbird a map with an alternate route highlighted. She supposed he thought she would less likely be able to keep a low profile, which was probably true. She felt at home anyway on the less traveled paths surrounded at first by dense birch trees and giving way to sweeping fields of wild grass, though Andrew complained about bugs and occasionally lamented having to avoid the more popular route.
"It's not that bad," she said once when he was slapping himself silly trying to ward off mosquitoes. "At least those aren't the hand-sized blood sucking flies of the Mulhrum Swamp."
"Hand sized?"
"Yeah, they mainly feed on the giant tree-eaters there. They'll go after a person who comes by though. Make a funny splat when you pop one."
He turned pale, but seemed not to think about the mosquitoes as much for a while after. Other than that, Blackbird tried to ask him about things like what his family was like and if he knew any fun places to visit in the country when she had free time, but he showed little enthusiasm to reply. She guessed he might still harbor some resentment towards her for not being there to help when he got hurt—and cutting off his arm—which she found understandable. So she let him have some space for a while, but eventually succumbed to curiosity and asked, "Why do have such a grudge against the church anyway? Henry has his ideas about protecting knowledge from being destroyed, but you mainly seem to just want to spit in their face."
"He never told you?"
"I never asked. We were mostly together all the time, so you probably would've heard if we'd discussed it."
His voice grew terse with rising anger just to talk about it. "My sister wanted to be a warrior of the church. When she finally earned a place in their ranks and was wounded in battle, her fellow knight and partner who 'loved' her told us there was a holy place where she could be healed—and when we got there, drowned her in the blessed water that was supposed to save her!"
Blackbird recoiled in surprise. "What?!" Even with the other stories the men had told of church misdeeds, like making people vanish just for speaking out against them, she wouldn't have expected them to act like that towards their own. "That sounds crazy, did he tell you why he did it?"
"He said she wanted him to, so she could be closer to God."
"Are you sure the whole group is to blame for this and not just the guy himself? I've no love lost for the church, but that just seems out there and uncharacteristic even of them."
He scowled
. "It may be atypical, but it reflects the true depth of corruption at their heart."
She had some doubts, but opposing the church seemed like a worthy cause overall. If he needed a motivation like this to do it, she supposed it could be tolerated. She decided to leave it alone for now.
They journeyed for many days, until the map indicated the city of Septapolis which Henry planned to meet them at drew near. At last, Blackbird would experience civilization again! She still feared a little that she might find herself in a situation where she'd lose control, but told herself she wouldn't allow it to happen. She looked forward to doing some things she never had before. While she had always been female, it'd been a long time since she really got to be a girl.
#
Henry sat before the mighty old oak east of Septapolis where he and the others would join up, watching the birds as Blackbird had taught him to. He had never noticed their social quirks before, how the males would vie for female attention and how they would posture to assert dominance over each other. She would be pretty fun even if she wasn't a peerless warrior; it made him wonder what she'd be like now if she was never lost in the wilds. Of course, then she wouldn't be Blackbird, but probably just a nice, ordinary person.
It was getting pretty late though. Night had already fallen, when they'd agreed to try and meet around noon and should've had enough time to get here. Granted, delays during two week long walking trips would normally be expected, but Blackbird was such a fine outdoorswoman and Andrew knew exactly where he would be. If anything, they should've gotten here arrived earlier than him.
Finally he heard light footsteps coming near and smiled. "Blackbird? What took so long?"
"What took so long?" The agitation in her voice made him instantly look up. "I had a hell of a time finding the right tree because Andrew wasn't here to show the way, because he got kidnapped!"
Henry smacked the back of his head against the trunk, nearly knocking himself out. "What the—how did—you were with him!" he stammered after he recovered his wits.
"He walked away in the middle of the night and I figured he was just going to relieve himself, but he never came back. When I woke up and looked around for him in the morning, I found this note on a nearby tree." She handed it to him.
For Henry
If you ever want to see your one armed boyfriend again, come to the abandoned mine west of Septapolis and bring the spear.
Signed,
GRENDEL
He groaned. "It seems like we have no choice. Stay on your guard."
"I always am." When he gave her a dubious look, she added, "My guard, not the guard of people letting the yellow river flow."
They traveled overnight to the mine nestled among the western hills. Walking through the square entrance framed with old wood, they soon came upon an unexpected sight. Before a hole that must lead deeper into the earth, two bodies lay one on top of the other. The bottom one was larger and more heavily armored, the top one wore a familiar cloak. "I think that's them!" Henry said. As Blackbird ran ahead, he asked, "Is Andrew alive?"
Just as she was about to check, he looked up. "Ow, that hurt... think we both knocked each other out."
"You did that? Impressive." She turned back towards Henry. "He's improved a lot."
"Look out!" he said as he saw—not wanting to believe his eyes—Andrew rise up behind her and draw back his sword. It seemed like she had already sensed the attack coming, as she ducked his swing easily and drove him back with a kick to the stomach. He teetered on the edge of the chasm, waving his arms for balance. Yet as she kicked, Grendel lunged up to plunge his glaive through her back. It exploded out her abdomen, dyed a darker red than pure blood. She grasped the handle behind the head and broke it off, lurched off the pole. But then her eyes rolled up and she fell, her cheek smacking the floor with a sombering finality.
"Grendel!" Henry screamed, charging him. His heart pounded like a drum beaten with a hammer in his chest, and his head was so light he probably would've fainted if not for the fury that ignited his muscles. Blackbird... They traded blistering blows, sword against headless glaive handle, but he watched Andrew out of the corner of his eye as well. "Andrew how could you do this? You'd betray us for the church you loathe?"
He shook his head. "He told me I could be an angel right away if I cooperated." He brushed back the side of his cloak that hid his severed limb, and incredulity was added to the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside Henry's head. Instead of there being nothing below the stump, a smooth metal arm served to replace what he'd lost. "They offered me a new arm."
"And for that you'd kill your friends?!"
Andrew stood there and didn't answer, but Grendel said while Henry battered him back and chased him around the cavern, "Not long ago I would have humbled you easily with just a pole against your sword. Impressive."
"I'll murder you bastard! How dare you corrupt my friend, how dare you kill Blackbird?!"
Grendel smirked. "But you're still naive."
"How am I naive?" He leaned heavily into his sword after a blocked blow, pushing it down towards his enemy's face and threatening to cut through the shaft. "All I even need to know is that you monsters deserve to die!"
"You think you have as much foresight about use of the artifacts as your name would imply, Henry Longeyes. Yet you don't realize-"
Before he could finish, Andrew's voice shouted what sounded like "Sniper mode!" Something seemed to hit Grendel's glaive handle and snap it in half. Henry's blade came plummeting down at his face. He moved just in time, the sword catching his shoulder instead. He stumbled, and Henry glanced towards Andrew. His metal arm had changed somehow so it ended in a smoking tube, which he pointed at the church enforcer. "Dammit, missed. See, Henry? I didn't betray you."
Grendel bared his teeth in a snarl. "I should've known not to trust you." Henry attacked again, but he took a kick that knocked him down for his efforts and Grendel was running for a side tunnel.
Andrew followed the fleeing villain with his aim, but couldn't seem to get another shot off. "Why's it taking so long to reload..."
Now alone with his friend—or former friend—Henry glared at him. "So you planned to betray the church from the start and just went along to get a new arm?"
"Yes, and this is an angel's arm! With it the two of us will have a much better chance of bringing them down together."
Henry gnashed his teeth in rage. "But you got Blackbird killed."
A scraping sound was heard. "No he didn't. He just got Big Sister mad." Somehow, impossibly as usual, she was standing up bent with a hand over her wound.
"But you got impaled with a huge glaive the shock alone of which should have killed you!"
"I've been stuck before." A glance told Henry that Andrew was shaking. "I was just waiting to see how things would develop. Good for you improving your skills to match Grendel's. But you should stand back now."
"I won't let you kill me!" Andrew cried. "Gatling mode!" Like it was made of living clay, his arm changed shape, the single tube on the end replaced by eight which now began to spin. Henry saw them emit what looked like bursts of flame, and Blackbird's body jerked as blood burst from holes that inexplicably appeared in her shirt. She fell back, rolled to a crouch and flailed her sword with such speed he couldn't see the weapon anymore. He heard pinging impacts of metal on metal, and mishappen lumps of it bounced over the floor.
"Both of you stop it!" Henry pleaded helplessly.
"Rocket mode!" Andrew's arm transformed now into one large tube, and a much bigger projectile flew from it. Blackbird dodged, but it exploded behind her in a roaring fireball, throwing her forward. "Shot mode!" The tube split in two, and a loud boom sounded. Blood sprayed from all over Blackbird's chest as she'd been hit by numerous tiny missiles at once, and the impact hurled her back and to the floor. She turned to her side and raised herself on an elbow as Andrew's arm changed again into a single thin tube. "Flame mode!"
"Annoyed," she muttered.
A mass
ive jet of fire shot from the tube. Blackbird rolled and ran away and to the side, just outpacing Andrew's attempt to keep her in his sights. When he saw she had gotten out of range, he started to issue another command. "Gatl-"
Blackbird covered the distance between them before he could finish. "Non-attached mode," she growled as she sliced through his arm just above where the real flesh ended.
"Ah ah ah ah!" Andrew yelled as the metal arm thudded onto the dirt and he clutched his newly shortened stump. He fell on his butt with blood running through his fingers and looked up at Blackbird. "So I can't do anything even as an angel... fine, finish me then."
Henry feared she would and prepared to ask for mercy, but she said, "I don't want to kill you." She sank to one knee beside him, spewing a great quantity of blood from her mouth while she hugged her body. Her feminine hand placed against the earth to hold herself up accentuated her frailty at the moment. "You lost your arm because of me being weak, so these wounds... I can forgive you for and call it even."
Andrew blinked. He didn't seem to be in excruciating pain, so Henry figured Blackbird might not have cut through any bone this time, just shaved off the layer of flesh on the end. "Really? I thought you intended to see me dead, that's why I shot at you to defend myself! Sorry... for the record, I was trying to hit you with the flat of my blade when I swung at you from behind. But you ducked and Grendel..."
"That wouldn't have knocked me out, dummy! I believe you though. I wasn't trying to kill you. I just wanted to get that stupid arm off—it's from the church, who knows what having it might do to you."
"You did kind of rush it... ouch. I guess what I did wasn't too well thought out either. I know I was wrong going off on my own like that now. If you can forgive me..."
Henry crouched and embraced him. "You're allowed to make one big mistake. If Blackbird can be forgiven for butchering a whole family, then you can too for getting her skewered and shooting her up."
