Chapter 65: 64. Azhachi

“...and I stand before you not as a prince or a noble, but as a restorer of the star. A candle flame in the mist.”

 

I slid to a stop at the end of the roof, nowhere else left to run. 

 

I was over three stories in the air of Minua, standing before the foggy main square. Just ahead I could see the darkened shapes of birds as they claimed the sky while the sun lit up the grey clouds like only a morning star could. The cathedral lay across that vast open sky, swirling patterns in the air floating eerily past. Though I couldn’t see them all, I could just feel the presence of many thousands of people below me, so much so that I was sure I’d know even if I didn’t hear Andril’s voice shaking my very bones over the subtle roar of the huge fountain right below us.

 

As the main square was close to one of the great stone stacks that made up Minua’s citadel, I could see the odd tower standing stalwart in the mist. Narrow walkways of grey stone were strung between them, huge lanterns like fallen stars hanging below each one on chains. One of these ran just a score of metres over my right shoulder, though it was certainly too far to think of reaching.

 

A gentle pattering of drizzle flew against my face, the beginning of a winter rain that I knew would be freezing to anyone else. Instead, it was a welcomed distraction, but for only a moment.

 

The air sizzled and cracked behind me. The furious groans of an irritated beast followed.

 

I turned about, careful to keep my footing on the sloped shingles. The demon stood close at hand, its faceless visage looming three metres overhead. The fires on its back flickered in the weather, but the heat emanating from it refused to die to such a feeble threat. I could feel it upon my face, and I couldn’t help but take a step back as it crouched towards me. Its wings dragged on the roof as it moved, its exposed bone scratching against the shingles like nails on a chalkboard.

 

“For the Lmeri has fallen to the weakness of the few. A dread gryphon claws into the hearts of the senate, steering the Star’s kingdom towards the abyss. And they cheer for it.”

 

“It’s honestly just impressive at this point.” I muttered. “Standing right in front of him too.”

 

This was all real, right? Me and the Mavericks weren’t just having a collective delusion the rest of the town couldn’t see or hear? I didn’t think so based on the people who’d died on the way over, but I almost couldn’t explain just how news hadn’t yet reached the square. They weren’t that enthralled by Andril, were they?

 

I unsheathed the sword from my hip and held it towards the demon with both hands, suddenly feeling silly given the uniform I was wearing. Though I hadn’t much else up there, it still felt a little wrong to be wearing literally no armour at all. At the very least we should’ve stolen some vambraces or a helmet so that I wasn’t just standing here in my uniform. Actually, did the Veroline even use helmets with the shield masks?

 

Though it wouldn’t have helped much, really. The flames on that thing meant I couldn’t even get close enough to stab it. And a banishing spell? Forget about it! That required direct contact! Ha! And that was if that even worked without weakening it!

 

“What are you waiting for?” I shouted, hoping that I might be heard over the speech. “You’re not one to play with your food, are you?”

 

It would be hard to say that a ‘plan’ could be found somewhere in my skull, if I were to be honest. I’d hoped that I’d be able to lead it in circles until help arrived and I wouldn’t have to fight it after all, or that the people down there would notice and send up a phoenix knight or whatnot to blast it into the abyss, but neither had worked out too well. And to fight it? Well, that was looking like the only option now. At least they wouldn’t be able to ignore that.

 

It kept creeping towards me, each footstep shaking the building like a miniature earthquake. Whenever it thought that it could just walk me off the cliff, or if it was just enjoying tormenting me I couldn’t guess, but I also knew that just waiting for it to get close wasn’t really an option.

 

“Spatal!”

 

I used the sword as a makeshift staff, throwing the snowball directly out of the tip of the blade.

 

The demon slid down to the side of the roof like an iced cat, causing the first snowball to go wide. Though it had no face to convey it, I thought I could sense a wry pleasure in its posture as it reset.

 

Only to receive the next barrage.

 

“Spatal! Spatal! Spatal!” I shouted, subtly moving the sword to adjust towards the monster’s centre mass as it moved.

 

The demon roared with frustration as my aim proved true, each small snowball taking just a bit more out of me. None of them were nearly as big as the one I’d launched earlier, as I especially didn’t want to use up everything I had at once again. Still, each one opened a new flaming wound in its blackened flesh, a flash of steam and a burst of flames accompanying each hit. My vision became blinded with it, and my clothes grew heavy with the spray.

 

The demon roared again, fury and pain mixing into one ear-splitting screech. 

 

“Standing at the edges of the lantern light…” Andril’s voice fell silent as the roar reverberated through the square.

 

Finally.

 

I could hear a commotion growing in the crowds far below, but I didn’t dare turn my eyes away from the task at hand.

 

The monster didn’t stop its march however, the wounds not deep enough to maim. I watched with growing dread as the fire grew closer and closer.

 

“Spatal! Spatal! Die, damn it!”

 

Did it really require a souped up one to cut deeply? [Christ], but what would I do if I missed? I’d only get one shot! Not to mention how precarious my perch was. If I got mana drunk now I’d almost certainly lose my balance and fall off the building. And feather falling definitely wasn’t a spell I’d relearned yet.

 

The demon crept closer and closer, until I could feel the burning heat scorching my nose. I took steps back as I threw spell after spell, only stopping when my foot caught on the final blue shingle, sending it hurtling down into the square.

 

Was this it? 

 

All of this tedium, all that effort? Just to be burned up by a demon weak to ice of all things? Something I could’ve wiped the floor with back on Earth?

 

I had to admit, that was kinda bullshit. I’d learned way too much to get killed by something so stupid. I’d survived a dozen super villains, for the Star’s sake! I’d sat through countless hours of Saphry’s most meaningless memories! I’d gone to school for the fifth [fucking] time! Could you not give me one goddamn break?

 

“Gideon?” I laughed into the face of the demon. “I’m sorry I had to be stupid! Hopefully you can find a way home without me!”

 

I raised the sword for the last time, drawing forth every scrap of magic I could channel into a cast.

 

If I was going to die, I might as well get the bastard too.

 

“S-”

 

Don’t!

 

At the last second, I aimed my sword down towards the demon’s front forelimb, rapidly changing the casting image I had in my mind to a different, slightly more complicated spell.

 

“Relicin.” 

 

A burst of ice spread out over the shingles under its foot, causing it to slip as it stepped on it. Its body slammed into the peak, only for the demon to recover a second later. That, fortunately, was just enough time.

An angel of blue shot out of the clouds like a thunderbolt, the sound of hail and terrible wind on its breath. A cone of ice shot from its gaping maw as it fell, the spray impacting the demon with an explosion of steam as it screamed in horrible pain.

 

Gideon? Thank the [fucking] Star!

 

He continued to sweep around the demon, unleashing a seemingly endless beam of ice. The demon quickly became so immersed in mist and steam that I couldn’t make it out, though its cries left no doubt in my mind that it was still there.

 

What the hell did you drag out of that place? Gideon demanded as he flew. This is nowhere near the scale of threat I thought we were under!

 

Before I could respond, another set of voices came into existence behind me.

 

“Saphry! I thought you were sic- Pitching hell?”

 

I turned, only to find that the once empty walkway far above me was now populated with faces. Luis leaned over, the joking expression under his mask quickly dying as he beheld the writhing demon. Auro joined him soon after, as did a dozen soldiers holding swords and wearing masks.

 

“Cast, Esilmor!” The chief among them lowered a particular sword at the demon, and I immediately recognised him as Francis, the guard captain up at the academy.

 

An array of firebolts, explosive orbs, and sprays of white-hot magical constructs launched from the walkway, and I fell to my knees as the building shook. Shattered shingles and other shrapnel exploded into the air, and I could hear the cries of people far below in the square in response.

 

“Saphry!”

 

I looked up, halfway stunned by the firepower suddenly being dumped beside me. Auro held a mask in her hand, throwing it to me with all her might.

 

I reached up and just barely caught it by the strap.

 

It was iron, and shaped like a falcon’s beak. It was painted blue and white, and looked much higher quality than even the ones I’d seen the Mavericks use back in the pass, probably being lifted directly out of the Belvans’ personal armoury.

 

I slammed it over my face, immediately noticing as the heat left my skin.

 

Relief flooded my limbs as the situation dawned on me, and the fatalistic heroism left me. It was instead quickly replaced by a profound irritation.

 

Why the hell had it taken them so long? [Christ], why did we even send Gideon with Auro to begin with! He was much too useful as a combat tool now! And why are Luis and Roland here? And most importantly: why didn’t they bring any phoenix knights?

 

My questions, however, didn’t linger long in the air.

 

There was another roar from the demon, but this one was not of pain or anger, instead sounding as though it were… happy?

 

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Why the hell would that thing be happy from being smashed into a pancake by an artillery barrage?

 

The mist and smoke gradually disappeared as the soldiers stopped firing, only to reveal a hole in the roof where the demon had once stood. Broken wood supports jutted into the air, small embers and  thoroughly blazing timbers on top of them.

 

But someone’s poor home deposit was the least of my worries. For a single, unharmed claw grasped at the corners. The demonic wyrm pulled its faceless head back into the air and aimed its trunk-like neck right at the soldiers.

 

No… not unharmed, but better than it had looked before.

 

The wounds I had so laboriously afflicted had knit themselves closed before my eyes, the sputtering flames, so close to being extinguished, now crackled dangerously in the rain. 

 

And it looked very pissed.

 

Magical fire heals it. Gideon and I came to the same conclusion at the same time.

 

We locked eyes as he flew back around the demon, and I waved frantically towards the soldiers up above.

 

“Stop! Fire attacks hea-”

 

A huge chunk of wall larger than myself crashed into the walkway and exploded like a rocket strike. Huge sections of bridge gave in and fell, taking four soldiers with it as it screamed to the ground far below. The sound of tumbling rocks and falling stones filled the void as I blinked in confusion.

 

I stared at the demon, finding that there was a large pile of rubble where the chimney beside it had been. And even worse, I could now see that it was no longer in the hole, but hovering above it.

 

Or rather, flying.

 

Its wings, once holey and tattered, now supported the wyrm’s full weight as it hovered, albeit weakly. Even worse, it was now staring at Gideon and myself.

 

Ah [fuck].

 

I tumbled to my left, barely dodging it as it obliterated the spot where I’d been. My back almost scrabbed the demon’s scales as I got back to my feet, and I could see my shield bubble as it fought against the intense heat.

 

Gideon landed on the roof beside me as I put a few metres between me and the demon.

 

“Auro?” I asked without taking my eyes off of it. “The others?”

 

Four are dead. Gideon sounded understandably shaken, even over the telepathic link. I don’t think Auro was one of them.

 

I nodded. There wasn’t really time to mourn for those poor soldiers, but the fact that Auro wasn’t one of them took an edge off my growing panic. Was that callous? Perhaps, but I could worry about that later.

 

I held the sword in front of me with both hands as the demon turned back towards me, setting my feet in the same sort of position I’d seen Fredrick take against it. Now that the plaza side was in front of me I could see that the mists had cleared up quite a bit, and I could make out a unique figure watching me from the top of the grandstand.

 

Though it was certainly too far to make out something as small as an eye, I could almost swear Andril was studying me, even as the masses surged about in unbridled panic.

 

Might as well make it a show.

 

We charged as I raised my sword, beams of light breaking through the clouds to reflect blue off the enchanted tip. Even the monster’s churning flames seemed dim in comparison, and I could almost swear a thin haze surrounded us that beat back the demonic warmth.

 

“Relicin!”

 

The demon’s first swing went wide as it slipped on a sudden patch of ice, allowing my own swing to cleave a deep gash into its flank. An explosion of water vapour followed me as I drew the blade all the way down, and I could hear a fierce wind as Gidoen strafed it from above.

 

It roared and flailed in frustration, wildly smashing across the tiles as it tried to quash me into paste, while at the same time swinging into the air as if to bat down the drake like a distressing fly. My vision quickly became white and blue as the water and mist from its wounds blew into the air while my shield bubbled furiously a few inches in front of my face.

 

I barely ducked under a swing, falling into an exhausting system of dodging and hacking at its side whenever I thought it was safe to do so. Despite the danger of it flailing me off the roof I stayed close to it, knowing that it probably wouldn’t let me get in so close again if I gave it any time to breathe. Gideon continued to strafe like a fighter jet, which kept the air saturated with a steady stream of steam and water.

 

I quickly learned something as that game of dodging and fighting wore on.

 

[Christ], swords were [fucking] heavy, weren’t they? I was sure the fact that I was making huge hacking swings isn’t helping that too much, but how the hell did the Maverick’s do this for so long in training? If it wasn’t for Fredrick’s cutting enchantment I was sure I could’ve even done four of these swings.

 

Given that, I could tell that I only had about a minute of fighting left in me, maybe two if I really pushed it. My only chance was if I stopping slashing at blackened scales and burned skin to get something actually vital, if such a thing actually existed on a demon like this.

 

As that thought ran through my mind, I saw the demon lift its forelimbs to swat at Gideon again, this time overextending in frustration. Seeing my chance, I dove in, a spell on my lips as a complement to the strike.

 

“Spat-”

 

Ryder, wait!

 

A shadow fell over me as another of the demon’s limbs came down through the mist. I had only a second to actually register before it slammed into me, and I saw stars as I was lifted into the air.

 

The wind was knocked out of me again when I crashed into the roof and rolled to a stop, and I found stars running through my vision.

 

I laid there for some time, dead to everything but the pulsing pain. I could feel bones moving where they shouldn’t in my chest, and a haze went about my mind.

 

It was only when I heard the surprised screech of a small drake did I painstakingly pull open an eye.

 

At the end of the roof overlooking the plaza, a small drake was caught between shingle and talon. A glass scale shone from his flank, but the demon paid no mind to the smell of ozone and the confused images of a glass bird that flitted about the air. Instead, it raised its other claw overhead.

 

Ah… What an end. Perhaps it was a bit too foolish to-

 

Through the mist, my eyes settled upon a particular grandstand on the other side of the plaza, upon which a particular prince stood watching me. It was impossible to tell, but to me he almost looked disappointed.

 

I narrowed my eyes.

 

I climbed to my feet, the sword still somehow in my hand. Still somehow shining with light.

 

And I charged.

 

My sword punctured its back with an explosion of steam, but my mask held. The demon, surprised and off balance from its focus on Gideon, twisted as it roared, but that motion caused it to catch its foot on the roof it’d just destroyed. Still, it did not let go of the drake, nor did it move any further off the edge. 

 

It looked at me in pain and fury, but I didn’t mind.

 

“Relicin.” I whispered, the tip of the sword my casting point.

 

There was another blast as the demon’s insides filled with ice, and my mind went numb with the magical blowback. Small spikes of ice punctured the skin in places, and it stepped back in surprise and pain, and Gideon flew out of its grasp as it stepped right off the edge. I, however,  went with it, my hand frozen to the handle.

 

The wind rushed terribly as we hit the open air, and I saw the great fountain of the main square rush up to greet us, and I could see crowds of people watching as we fell. There was no doubt in my mind that we looked fantastical wrapped up in clouds of steam and flame as we were.

 

Despite the impending death, I felt a sense of contentment wash over me.

 

I’d really killed myself this time, hadn’t I?

 

Ah, this truly would be the dumbest way this could’ve happened, would it? Oh well, at least it was flashy. It only sucked that blunt force trauma wasn’t technically a spell.

 

The demon flailed like a dying chicken as we fell, and I felt a hard knock on the back of my head. The crackling sound of electricity snapped through the air as the glass feather crown on my head lifted just a tad from my hair.

 

A million images of Saphry briefly flashed through my head, of countless days and interactions I’d had never seen before. Books, people, and places came and went like drops in a rainstorm, overwhelming me even more than falling to my death did. A shadowy woman occupied most of these new memories, one whose form I couldn’t make out.

 

What? Who…

 

It ended with a different image, that of a blue crystal in the shape of a rough square. It glowed with the light of a miniature star. Red lava poured through channels cut into the rock, and I immediately understood that this memory was not Saphry’s, but someone else's. 

 

And it was of a Lmenli.

 

I couldn’t help but be confused as we hit the fountain, and everything went dark right after.

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