by Billy Wong
Good. Get him angry. "It's not like you have long before you join it." Their swords clashed, and Pierce shoved her back. So strong... he rushed after her, and she slipped a slash at her face. His backswing laid open her arm. She sliced at his chest. He parried with his crossguard, then punched his hilt into her face. This was getting annoying.
Pierce began to speak, his words seeming not to distract him at all from the fight. "I am no ordinary man, girl. I am Anram's son. You mock my death? Death is my calling, my plague his blessing. He rewards me for a life well lived, grants me his invisible sword so that I may do now what it would have taken me a lifetime without it, and join him in heaven early."
What an insane interpretation of his illness... but if Pierce was crazy, he was in perfect control of his body, and his movements radiated power and grace. Each time they clashed, though Rose was perhaps his equal in strength, she felt clumsy and inadequate in the face of his technique. He wasn't faster than her, but knew how to make the most of every movement, something she had thought herself good at. He countered her blows and hit her again and again, and she couldn't hit him back.
Admitting to herself that she was outclassed, Rose resolved that she wouldn't lose anyway. She fought harder like a madwoman, not really trying anymore to ward all his blows but only to stay alive while she rushed in, hammering him like a rainstorm against a cliff face. But his defense was as strong as a cliff face, and she couldn't get past it. She was just getting killed. Finally, a slash slipped past his guard as he sliced into her leg, and she cut him lightly above the right elbow.
"You're an amazing fighter," he said with surprising earnestness. "You'll be one of the few I remember, after you die."
He really was that good, that he could call someone who had wounded him once "amazing" in turn. Her own body covered in cuts, Rose growled, "I'm still not dead. Don't think you've won yet."
"But I know I have." He came on again, and this time he was out for blood. His sword lashed out again and again, and Rose found herself hard-pressed to survive. Her shield grew dented with the heavy strikes, and her own attacks found no flesh. Her limbs grew heavy with fatigue, and her weapons began to droop to her sides. Barely able to lift her sword, Rose lunged forward one more time, slashing at his shoulder. Suddenly she reversed the feint, and cut at his head.
He leaned aside, and the blade glanced off his heavy helm. "Good, girl. Not good enough." And then, as all cheering stopped and silence filled the air, Rose found herself run through for the second time in her life.
His sword pierced her through the stomach, and she shrieked as she was engulfed in sickly pain. She heard Ethan call her name in the distance. Hot fluids rushed out around his blade, and her knees quivered beneath her. Coppery blood filled her mouth. As she stared into Pierce's joyous eyes, she choked out one word.
"Die."
She brought her sword up and slashed at his neck. He caught her arm by the wrist and smirked. "Not this time." Then he twisted his sword inside her, tearing her guts apart. Even with all the horrible wounds she'd suffered, she'd never felt such pain. She tried to scream, and only gurgled through the blood in her throat. He punched her in the face, throwing her off the blade. She reeled back a few steps, then collapsed face-first into the dirt.
Spitting out blood, Rose stuffed a hand into the huge hole in her belly and tried to get her knees below her. She needed to get up, or she'd die. Wasn't she already dead? It didn't matter. As long as she felt, she'd fight. "Pierce... I'm not done with you, you scum."
"You're still alive? Stubborn girl. We'll see how you talk when I cut off your head." He started forward, and as she tried to rise her agony grew to an unbearable state. Rose folded over on her knees, moaning. "Dead already. I'm just taking away your pain."
With a last burst of energy, she pushed up and threw herself forward, ramming her head into his crotch. She hit metal—an armored codpiece. But he was still staggered by the impact, and she straightened as much and quickly as she could, smashing her shield with an uppercut blow into his face. She didn't have her sword anymore; she'd dropped it when he twisted the blade, and besides her sword hand was busy holding in her mangled insides.
He took a step back and she followed, cracking his jaw with a sideways swipe of her shield. He half turned, his legs unsteady as he backed away, and Rose heard cheers begin again on her side. She drove the steel into his temple and he crashed down, his sword flying away. Then her knees buckled, and she landed with her face on his crotch. She would have been embarrassed if she had the strength.
Recovering faster than she'd expected, Pierce brought his legs up to wrap around her neck. "Break your head off, wench!" he roared as he tried to snap her spine. She tucked her chin, relieving some of the pressure on her neck, and groped for her dagger. There. A stab deep into his right thigh and she fell away, gasping for air.
"You're damn good," Pierce acknowledged as he sat up, watching her writhe there on her side.
"Good enough to kill you." Rose propped herself up on an arm, but he threw himself on top of her before she could do any more. His fingers tightened around her neck, and she couldn't break his grip with one free hand... so she reached forward, grabbed the hilt of her dagger protruding from his thigh, and pulled, ripping the wound wide.
His hands barely loosened. But he let go with one hand, and punched down into her face. Again. Again. She heard the crunch of her breaking nose, and her lips split in three places. "Why won't you die?!" Pierce screamed.
She spat blood up into his face, and he wiped reflexively at his eyes. Seizing the moment, she ripped the dagger from his thigh and stabbed it into his neck. "I told you you're the one who falls today."
He toppled, falling away, and Rose tried to sit up. The pain in her gut flared like a volcano, and her face contorted in agony. She collapsed to her back again, her free hand falling limp at her side. Lying in a spreading pool of her own blood, Rose rasped, "Oh gods... Ethan, help me..."
He ran to her side while the Vlin mumbled among themselves. In a moment, the barbarians would rally themselves to attack, and they would both die. "You did it," Ethan said as he stroked Rose's white face. He took her hand and squeezed, but she barely felt it. A chill ran through her body, and she realized it hurt less than before. Numbness had replaced most of the pain. "You beat him, just like you said."
"Yeah, well... thanks for cheering on my side. I couldn't have done it without you."
"That's not true."
She smiled, warm blood running out between her lips to flow down her cheeks. The open air on her innards felt quite strange. "Just trying to make our last moments better, alright?"
"We're not going to die."
Rose took in the sight of their many foes. They were legion, and even she could not deny there was no hope of victory. Even if she was healthy, she'd still fall eventually, along with the rest of them. "What makes you say that?"
"Our bodies may die, but we'll live on together, in the afterlife."
"That's great. I'll try to believe it."
"Believe it."
She sagged back in his arms as darkness closed in, glad she wouldn't have to watch him be killed. "Bye, Ethan. See you soon. I love you."
"See you, Rose. Love you too."
Just then, Pierce sat up beside her and looked down at the doomed pair. "You missed, girl. And I thought you'd killed me for a second, too." He pulled the dagger from his muscular neck. Blood ran out, but not as much as if she'd cut a big vein. Indeed, she'd missed. Pressing his hand to the bloody wound, he regarded her fallen form. "I knew I'd win."
Somehow finding the strength to fight off death's call, Rose blinked her eyes clear and met Ethan's gaze. "Pull me up."
"What?!"
"Pull me up. I'm not going to leave until he dies."
"You beautiful warrior," he sobbed as he dragged her to her feet.
Pierce glared at her as if trying to burn through the defiance in her eyes, then exhaled and said, "Kill her. And get me away." After a mom
ent of hesitation in disbelief of their leader giving up the fight, a pair of his warriors ran forward and helped him away. The rest began the attack.
What? What happened to her dying on his blade? Rose looked around, and saw the ring closing in. She hoped she could take a few with her before she died. Then, she heard Gary cry "No!" and rush a nearby Vlin. Several of his fellow Whitestones followed him, and Rose realized the pacifists had decided to fight. Where was Ethan? He had gone from her side.
Most of the Whitestones were no match for their barbarian foes, and she saw two go down almost instantly, cut down by savage blades. Brian was the third to die, the big man snapping a neck with a huge punch before being impaled on two long spears. Following the Whitestones' example, though, the rest of Geben's defenders joined the fight, all seventy or so against however many hundreds Pierce had brought to finish them off. Her failing body shuddering uncontrollably, Rose loosed her shield and picked up her sword. She stepped forward and prepared to die.
She heard a great commotion begin at the edge of the Vlin swarm, and looked to see a mass of heavily armored cavalry smash into their rear. At their head was Alicia, and by her side rode a powerfully built, brown-bearded man in blazing golden armor. Hacking down men in droves, they resembled vengeful angels bringing heavenly wrath upon their enemies.
For moments, the barbarians turned and tried to resist, fighting back with desperate fervor. Then they broke, and the entire horde crumbled into a disjointed mass of frightened men. Their hearts were no longer in the fight. Rose felt glad that at least some of Geben's defenders would survive. As a respectfully silent circle of men gathered to attend her, she laid down and closed her eyes.
#
"I can't believe you're still alive," a familiar voice said. "He gutted you good. Doesn't anything kill you, you God-Touched freak?"
Rose blinked stubborn eyes open to see Alicia's chubby face. They were inside some sort of tent; an infirmary, from the smell of blood and moans of the injured and dying all around. The pain in her gut was unbelievable, and her face felt bruised and swollen. She could barely speak. "It seems not—at least, I haven't met my doom yet. I did pretty good, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did." The merc grinned cockily. "But if it were me, he wouldn't have gotten away."
"Are things over for now, though? Is his army destroyed? Who saved us?"
"His army broke apart, but most of them aren't dead, and neither's he. I'm not so sure that a lot of them won't rejoin pretty soon, but at least we've got a reprieve. As for who saved you, that was Prince Victor. He beat the enemy at his own doorstep, and then came here to save Geben."
Victor. So that was what a great hero looked like. Rose had done some impressive things, but she would never have mistaken herself for a man like that. His aura, if that was the word for it. The confidence—the power—to do whatever he did with no doubt in his mind. Maybe that was what set apart the truly great. "At his own doorstep? You're saying there was more than one enemy army?"
"Pierce has many warriors, remember? He decided to try and take down all our fortified strongholds at once, but it didn't work. Victor fought him off, and you held him long enough for help to arrive. I still can't believe you aren't dead."
"What about you?"
"We lost." Alicia shrugged. "I'd rather run, than make a useless sacrifice."
"We ran, too, only right into a trap."
"I suppose we were luckier than you, then. Anyway, we went to get help from Victor, only to find him under attack as well. So we joined up, beat the enemy, and came to save your hides."
"Can't say we didn't need it. Thanks. Victor's one hell of a fighter, isn't he?"
Alicia frowned. "What you think?"
"What do you mean? I guess he must be. They sing about him, don't they?"
"I'm just as good a fighter as him."
"Yeah, right."
"It's true. They just don't talk about me because he's a prince and I'm a merc, and a female merc at that."
"That's nonsense. They talk about people who aren't nobility, too."
With a harsh laugh, Alicia said, "After they're dead."
"Maybe you just didn't accomplish anything worthy of the songs yet."
"Unlikely."
"Why do you think Pierce came after me, instead of Victor?"
"Probably because you're a new face in the bards' tales, and he wanted to see if you're for real. Or maybe you have the luck I don't."
Rose didn't think it was all that lucky. Suddenly, she recalled the last charge of the Whitestones and felt panic rising in her mind. "My friends, where are they? How many of them survived?"
"Back to being friends again? Not too many lived. Actually, most of Geben's defenders died. A lot of the ones still alive on the field had suffered mortal wounds—including you, but somehow you survive."
"What about Ethan?" she asked, her heart pounding. Quickly, she described him in detail.
Alicia smiled. "I think he's alive. I saw a boy who looked like him eating outside. He looked really unhappy."
"Did he ask about me?"
"He didn't ask me, but he probably did to somebody. I'm sure they told him you're alive."
"Call him here."
"Now? You're hurt."
"I just want to talk. I'm doing that now anyway, aren't I?"
"Yeah, okay." Alicia left the tent. After some time, she came back with Ethan at her side.
He looked down at her, smiled nervously, and said in a soft voice, "Hey. You're alive."
"What, didn't somebody tell you?"
"They did, but I thought it just meant you were barely holding on." He paused. "Your wound—it's fatal, isn't it?"
She forced a smile. "It'd be fatal for pretty much anyone else. But I've survived being run through before, just not getting it twisted inside. Don't worry, though, I mean to live."
"Please do, Rose. Pierce is still alive, and you promised you'd kill him."
"That was just braggart talk. I'm surprised I did as well as I did. He was a lot better than me."
"You never gave up."
"No, and he thought I would. And that's how I got him. It won't work next time; I have to get better for him."
Ethan nodded, wiping at the blood which leaked slowly from her mouth. "I hope there won't have to be a next time."
Rose didn't want to talk about fighting anymore. "So you... are you the only one who survived?"
"No, but almost. There's two others. Oliver took a horrible wound in the arm that crushed the bone; he'll probably live, but it'll never move the same. Gary's alive, too. I didn't think he'd survive, considering he was the first one in the fight. But he's barely even wounded, just a few scratches on his arms and a cut on his side."
Oh, no. So he'd lost most of his friends and companions in one battle, just like she had at an earlier time. What about him, though? "Did you... kill any of them?"
"No. I tried to fight, but got knocked down almost right away. All I could do was watch my friends die."
"I'm so sorry." She found herself saying that a lot, didn't she? Once again, she thought of her friends in RIEL. Was she doomed to be forever helpless to save those around her? Disturbingly, she felt less guilty about it this time than before. Was her humanity deserting her?
He looked about ready to cry, but said, "It's a good thing I still have you. I don't what I'd do without you. No Whitestones, no code—we all broke that after your fight. You inspired us, though maybe in a bad way."
"A bad way?" Alicia asked at his side. "If you hadn't fought, would any of you be alive?"
"You've got a point. Anyway, I'm glad we made it. I'll take good care of her, don't worry."
Alicia rolled her eyes. "What, you think I'm her big sister or something? I don't care how you take care of her, though I'd prefer she stay alive."
"Thanks a lot for the concern," Rose said in a sarcastic voice.
"Alive's better than dead."
"Yeah, but there's more to life."
"It's by stayin
g alive that you get to the better moments in life."
"I know. But you make it sound so simple."
"Life is simple."
"For you, maybe."
Alicia nodded. "People think too much. What a silly waste of time."
After a pause, Ethan asked, "How long you think you'll be down like this?"
"It's a miracle that she's even still alive. People don't survive this kind of wound. Give her a few months' time."
"More like a few weeks," Rose corrected her, "and I should be ready to go. I'm a good healer." She frowned. "I don't understand how I can take so much, though. What kind of freak am I?"
"Don't worry about it, Rose. You've got a gift—cherish it. But you're going to be scarred to hell if you keep this up."
"If I am, I am. You won't mind, will you Ethan?"
"Not at all. What matters to me's on the inside."
Rose giggled and made a kissing motion, and he bent over her to receive her wet, loving gift. As Alicia crossed her arms and walked away, Rose saw the beginnings of a smile on her face.
Chapter 10
Weeks passed and Rose recovered as promised, though she wondered if she would ever be able to enjoy spicy foods as she once had after taking all that damage to her guts. They were rather sensitive to strong foods now. Victor's forces, among them Alicia's mercenaries, retook both Geben and Tulb, and there seemed no sign of Pierce's return anytime soon. Maybe he had died after all. Rose hoped so.
She and Ethan returned to Geben for now, not sure yet what to do next, and Rose began to train with her sword again with the warriors there. Alicia left, purportedly for home, and Rose found herself lacking a suitable training partner. There weren't too many people here on her level, even if she wasn't fully recovered.
Catching her sparring with the fort commander on a cloudy afternoon following a drizzle, Ethan asked good-humoredly, "Don't you know anything but fighting?"
"I can cook, and... make things used to fight."
He walked over to the practice rack and withdrew a blunted longsword, distracting her from the commander's attack. The lanky man slipped one in past her guard and poked her in the upper chest. "Looks like I killed you."
