Always Walk Forward

by Billy Wong

  Chapter 13

  "We'll still beat you!" Sam cried, her voice sounding desperate like she tried to convince herself. "We have each other, which is better than some drug."

  The Lord Paladin chuckled. "Is that so? The two of you were barely hanging on against me without this little boost."

  "We'll find a way..."

  "You will not have a chance to wound me again." He moved his hand away from his injury, holding the swords easily at his sides again as if he no longer felt it.

  "Watch out," Sam said to Vincent. "He might be quite a bit quicker now."

  "Quicker?"

  The Lord Paladin darted at Sam. As a storm of rapid strikes threatened to tear her axe from her hands, she moved diagonally backward attempting to get away. Not fast enough, as another worse cut opened on her arm and made her hiss. Vincent jumped in front of her to defend her, yelped when the Lord Paladin slashed his hand and then chest. No, he was going to kill him! Sam ran back in just in time to deflect a thrust at Vincent's heart, took a slice down her shoulder. The friends backed up together, weapons raised unsteadily before them.

  "What do you say now?" the Lord Paladin asked Eli. "Will you use your power, or will you watch them die first?"

  His expression wavered, and Sam said, "Don't! Our lives matter little compared to a possible disaster for the world."

  "That is courageous of you to say. Then you are prepared to die?"

  After a moment, she said, "No." She paused. "But I'm prepared to kill you. Come on Vincent, let's take him out!"

  "Such childish spunk. Come then." They charged, lashing out at him with all they had. But he guarded some of their blows and slipped between the others without effort, his reflexes having increased greatly. His ripostes inflicted deeper wounds now while their armor broke apart, and Sam felt faint with blood loss from gashes which littered her frame. Hearing Vincent's cries of pain when he was wounded affected her just as much if not worse. She had set him on this path, and couldn't bear for it to get him killed. Yet she seemed helpless to stop that if this fight continued.

  Locking weapons with the Lord Paladin, Sam drove forward pushing him back before her. She hoped to trip him up or at least put him off balance so Vincent might be able to take advantage, but he slipped around her so that she stumbled clumsily past and slashed her back. Because the mail there was intact, having taken fewer hits than her front, she only felt a jarring impact instead of the sting of another cut. Even so, it still hurt like a hammer to the spine. She spun whipping her axe at his head. As he dodged, she kicked at his knee. He lifted his foot to take it on his shin, mitigating the potential damage. Frustrating. He kicked her in the gut doubling her over, thrust at her breast. Momentarily unable to move, she gritted her teeth in vain preparation for it...

  Vincent deflected the blade upward, struck at its wielder. The Lord Paladin parried with his other sword, cut Vincent across the ribs. A second cut crisscrossing the first caused him to moan and fall to his hands and knees. "Augh..." The Lord Paladin raised a sword over his neck.

  "No!" Sam yelled. She blocked the killing stroke, and their enemy swung his other blade at her throat. She just avoided it by leaning back, overbalanced herself in her weakened state and landed painfully on her butt. Then she saw that Vincent had collapsed onto his belly, passed out. Darn, she had been thinking to help him up... by herself, she stood even less of a chance. She scooted back from a downward chop that sent stone chips flying up between her legs, scrambled up. "Eli, you have to use your power! Unleash it at the Lord Paladin, and blow him away!" Or the closest approximation he could do of that.

  "But I-" Then he nodded and looked towards the Lord Paladin. His features tightened as in concentration. There was a crackling sound, and electricity danced in the air before him. It built up, the flashes growing brighter and more frequent while Sam's lips parted in awe. That her frail friend could summon such power—she would never have imagined it. Even from a distance, she could feel how it heated the air. It condensed into a massive blast and shot forth, roaring across the chamber.

  The Lord Paladin leapt aside so that the bolt missed. It smashed into the far wall with a loud thoom, and debris cascaded down as the cavern shook. Wow... Eli turned to aim at the old bastard again. But before he could unleash his magic once more, his target had closed the distance and clubbed him down with a sword hilt.

  "Inconvenient," the Lord Paladin mused annoyedly, looking down at his unconscious form. "But I will simply kill one of his friends, bind the other and resume persuading him when he awakens." He glanced at the fallen Vincent, then met her eyes as if snidely asking for "permission" to finish him. She growled and, trying not to think about her chances, stepped between them.

  #

  The daimon swung both sets of claws down, angling towards Drea's head. She leapt up between them and sliced down, tearing its forearms. As it cringed, she ran up its leg, jumped off the knee and attempted to cleave its neck. It swatted her away before she could connect, so that she landed on her feet flexing a pained shoulder. These weren't the first hits either of them had gotten on the other, her leather armor hanging in bloody tatters as did her foe's hide. They stared at one another with a mix of respect and anger for opposing their goals.

  "You are strong, human. Why do you not use your magic? Are you so adamant about proving something about your physical prowess?"

  So even powerful daimons could be as ignorant about humans as most people were about them. "You must think all strong humans have magic. Before you die, I'll let you know that I don't."

  "Then all you bring is strength and skill? Impressive to have lasted this long. But now is your end." It dashed at her with a bellow. She cut one hand as it struck at her, dodged the other and slashed it up the groin and lower abdomen. It wailed and bent down in agony, but snatched her in its claws when she aimed a leaping chop at its head. Its talons gouged into her side, and she grimaced. She slid her sword between herself and its fingers and ripped up. Instead of dropping her immediately like she wished, it hurled her away into the wall so hard she imagined it left a person-shaped impression. Falling to a crouch amid a shower of pebbles, she coughed bloodily. She lurched up just as her opponent released a great cloud of smoke from its mouth that filled the space between them. What? She couldn't see, everything before her darkness, and tried to hold her breath to avoid being weakened too much. Already chills ran through her from exposure to the miasma, and she couldn't afford much more. She felt the displacement of air as a large mass hurtled towards her.

  Drea sprinted forward and slid low, swinging her falchion out to the side. She felt it meet resistance and go through. Emerging behind the daimon from the smoke cloud it had exhaled, she turned to watch it hop in place almost comically, one foot severed. Before it could fall over, she ran at its back and rammed her sword up through its spine. "Just because I have no magic," she said while it struggled to look at her, "doesn't mean yours is a trump card against me."

  "Do you not... desire peace?" it asked, black blood gouting from its jaws.

  She dropped her gaze. "I do. But one can't just look for shortcuts without weighing the risks. Let's do a lot more research and contemplation before acting. Well, we will. You can hope to be reborn in a better world." She jerked sideways, eviscerating the daimon as her blade burst out its flank. It toppled dead. She stumbled over to catch herself against the wall, took a few seconds to steady herself. That enervating breath was quite a nuisance. She wondered if Sam and Vincent had been able to handle the Lord Paladin. Well, if not, time to go save them. She just hoped it wasn't too late for that.

  #

  Sam panted as she flailed her axe before her, the incessant ringing of her and the Lord Paladin's blades together having grown to hurt her weary ears. Pushing beyond what she'd thought herself capable of, she had managed to survive many exchanges with him and even finally land a few mild hits. But the bastard seemed tireless, not slowing down at all while she inevitably did, and it became harder and harder to hold
the axe up. Trying to be unpredictable, she started a zigzagging flurry of cuts and took an unconventional forward step during one of them. It brought them too close to swing their weapons or even punch well, so she snapped her head forward into his mouth. He staggered, and she threw a hard knee to his ribs that audibly cracked one. At the same time, his armored elbow collided with her temple and knocked her back.

  "You're not that good," she said, spitting out blood as she tried to clear her head. "Without that drug, I could beat you."

  The Lord Paladin grinned. "You are very impressive for your age. Perhaps you'll last a while yet. In that case, I had better make sure somebody doesn't interrupt us by waking up." Sam realized with dread that their battle had brought him next to Vincent again. He made to stab down at her friend's still form.

  She swallowed, at her wits' end. "Wait! I'm the one who pushed him to save Eli, and gave your men the most trouble. You should kill me first."

  He strolled leisurely over, raised a sword to her neck. "Admirably selfless of you, I must admit. Though it might have been interesting to test my skills against you a little longer, I will oblige you." He drew the blade back.

  She threw herself forward right into him, his bicep smacking her head while his sword swing overshot her before her chest slammed against his midsection. Though she might not be able to win, she wouldn't give up before her very last breath. As Drea and Cordy taught her. She locked her arms around his waist to keep him from moving away and threw knee after powerful knee aimed at his crotch. Most missed the vulnerable area while he twisted around but hit his thighs and hips, good enough as they kept him off balance. But with his dampened sensitivity to pain, he would surely muster the will to ignore them and break free soon. She had to find a better way to actually hurt him. She focused on the stab wound Vincent put in his side. Everything or nothing. She stuck one of her thumbs into the hole, ripped sideways at it. The Lord Paladin bared his teeth as if trying to resist—then, despite the effects of the drug, he screamed. It emboldened her and she ripped harder, so hard it felt like her thumb might dislocate or break. She didn't care, wanting to tear his whole side out.

  He bashed her in the ear with one of his hilts. Dazed, her pressure slackened, and he managed to yank himself off her thumb with a gasp. Taking a step back, he chopped at her skull. She recovered just enough to block, saw how close his fist was and got an idea. Letting go of her haft with one hand, she reached forward and grabbed his wrist. "What are you..?" he murmured.

  "If I have a hold of you at all times then you can't move as well to evade, right? I bet you don't practice swordfighting while grappling as much either. This helps me negate your speed and experience advantage!"

  He swung his other sword at her. She parried, hooked her axe over the crossguard and pulled it down. When his hand got low enough, she kicked at his fingers. He didn't drop the blade, but winced and moved his hand back. Seeing an opportunity with his ability to attack momentarily hampered, she looked to the wrist she held. She opened her mouth and bit hard into its underside. "Ah, you..." Sam jerked her head from side to side, trying to find the veins with her canines. Come on, bleed fucker, die! She sensed something coming at her from behind, let go with her teeth and ducked. The Lord Paladin speared himself through the wrist with his other sword. One weapon clattered to the ground. "How can you do this?" he spat, struggling to pull the blade out. "Your skills are raw-"

  "They're not that developed, true." Though she might have improved them today just pushing her limits against him. "But in one of our conversations months ago, Drea told me sometimes, a less skilled fighter can defeat a more skilled one if they're scrappy enough. Call me Scrappy Sammy."

  He unsheathed the blade from his arm, blood dripping down. "You haven't defeated me yet!" He lunged at her, sword point first.

  Cordy had also told her that when even a seasoned fighter got hurt and bewildered enough, they could lose some of their skill and become sloppy. The overzealous attack had been entirely predictable. She jumped over the thrust, spun so that her axe rotated around her in an imitation of Drea's trademark finisher from the plays. "Fang Guillotine!" she shouted as she brought the weapon down. The Lord Paladin saw it coming and attempted to block—but just failed to raise his sword in time, the axehead burying itself into his shoulder. The blade fell from his hand. She wrenched him around, forcing him towards the ledge before the Font of Essence. Then she wondered, would there be any issues if a body fell into the flow? She didn't know, but not wanting to risk it aborted what she was doing. Instead she lifted a leg high to drop an axe kick onto the handle of her... axe, driving its head deeper through the Lord Paladin's shoulder and into his chest.

  He tried to speak, but only blood bubbled from his mouth as her blade had gone through ribs and lung. She twisted it out and he crumpled, dying with a huge chasm going down into his torso. Sam took a deep breath, tilting her head back. She wasn't proud of having killed a man, but didn't regret it either considering what he had intended. She was a smidgen proud that she had saved herself, her friends and possibly the world. Even if Drea or Cordy could have done it a lot easier had they gotten here in time, it was still her accomplishment, and let her know her efforts weren't inconsequential.

  "Nice Fang Guillotine," Drea's voice said from the entrance.

  She looked to see the tall girl leaning against the wall, bloodied and battered. But she'd obviously won her fight, being still alive. "You saw that? How long have you been watching?"

  "Not long. When I got here, I found you biting the Lord Paladin. Seemed like you had it under control, so I decided to only step in if you needed help."

  "So you like my version of your move?"

  "You know, I don't yell its name during actual fights. That's just for shows. And your jump was started rather late, making it a close call. Plus the 'Fang' part refers to the name of my weapon, so yours should have been 'Axe Guillotine' or just 'Guillotine.'" Drea smiled. "All in all though, not bad for a first try."

  Sam smiled back at the warrior's acknowledgment, then knelt beside Vincent. "Vincent, are you okay?"

  After a bit of gentle shaking, he stirred and opened his eyes. "Did we win?" he asked in a pained voice.

  She stroked his head comfortingly, though there wasn't much she could do for his suffering. The fact he'd woken up gave her hope the wounds weren't too serious, at least. "Yeah, we won. The sword stab you gave him was pivotal for me winning, so you needn't feel any shame."

  "And Eli?"

  "I'll go check on him now. I bet he's okay. The Lord Paladin didn't mean to harm him greatly considering he was necessary for the plan." She limped over to Eli, her injuries hindering her now that the rush of battle had passed, and enfolded him in shaky arms. The feeling of air on the exposed flesh of her open wounds and smell of her own blood disturbed her, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Someone would patch her shredded body up soon—probably Drea, who now attended to Vincent. "Eli, can you hear me? It's over, we can go home now." He didn't answer, and she reached down towards him. Then she glimpsed the red sheen on the floor past his hair, and a pit grew in her stomach. "Eli, wake up!"

  He groaned and clutched his head. "What happened?" he asked, sounding dazed. "I'm bleeding."

  She sighed with relief. For an instant she had feared he was dead, but it looked like she had just been scaring herself. "The hilt hit must have opened up your scalp, or you hit your head. But you're all right."

  "It appears you got your happy ending," Drea said.

  Eli spotted the Lord Paladin's torn corpse and started. "Did Drea kill him?"

  "No, I didn't do a thing here. That was all Scrappy Sammy." She blushed, somewhat questioning the nickname she'd given herself. Scrappy Sammy wasn't exactly that feminine...

  Only now did Eli seem to notice the many wounds that adorned her frame. "Sam, you're hurt!"

  "I'm fine. I imagine I might have some scars, but I'll wear them as proud battle trophies."

  "Damn," he said softly, "you're
a real warrior now."

  Drea grunted. "Well she better be, after traveling for a few months with me and Cordy." They all shared a laugh.

  Sam hugged Eli then, tears welling forth to stream down her face. "I'm so glad you're finally safe. There were times I thought we might never get you back, but I reckon luck was on our side."

  Leaning on Drea, Vincent approached gingerly to join in their embrace. "There wouldn't have been any luck if we didn't work hard to make it. You traveled over a thousand miles, hundreds of them alone, to get here. You should at least give yourself some credit."

  "You traveled most of them with me," she said with a smile. "So we both deserve credit. And thank you, Drea. Without your training and the help you and Cordy gave us, we wouldn't have gone anywhere."

  "You're welcome. Anyway, it was great finally taking it to the Paladins."

  Eli looked curiously at the tall girl. "Thanks for helping my friends, and me. I guess there really was more to you than we knew?"

  "A lot more," Sam replied while Drea began to bind her wounds. "She's an incredible warrior and leader among the Guardian Knights, who was undercover at our theatre for a mission. Having her around was definitely fortunate."

  Footsteps sounded from the entrance, just before Cordy stepped into view. "You all okay? Wow, so that's the Font of Essence... it looks magnificent."

  "We're fine," Drea said, "and yes, it is quite a sight. How are the Paladins?"

  "They're secured. Two of them were killed, but it couldn't be helped in the heat of battle."

  "That's alright. Given the magnitude and possible consequences of their plan, we were justified in doing whatever we had to to stop them. They would have turned the world upside down if they had their way, by ending the division between humans, anjeli and daimons."

  Eli stared at the Essence Divider. "That's what would have happened if I destroyed it? They never told me that, they just said it would stop supplying power to the daimons if I did... though I had my doubts that was the truth. It's a good thing you got here when you did."