Chapter 9: The Dragon Witch (Conflict)

What’s this girl’s deal? Why is she looking like she wants to skewer me with those spears of hers? We’ve only just had eye contact for a second, surely I haven’t done anything that would have offended her, right?

“Wait! I think there might have been a misunderstanding between us! Let’s calm down and talk this through!” I wave towards the girl to signal that I do not wish to engage in combat. However, it seems like the act only brings matters to a worse, as my only answer is a bloodlust-filled scream:

“Now you want to talk, you scum!”

In a matter of seconds, multiple burning flames pop up just over her head, floating in an arc formation. From the flames emerge several black spears akin to the one she’s holding in her hand, and, with a gesture towards me, the spears are launched at blistering speed, so fast that one can practically hear the sound of the tearing wind around them.

I can’t parry these spears, not at the power they’re at. They’re no blunt staff, one hit and I’m pretty much dead. Focus. Remember what you’ve learned. Swordplay isn’t the only thing that’s important here. Use your entire body. You can react fast enough. Move!

Putting all my strength into my legs, I jump backwards just in time for the spears to plunge through the ground, firing off debris in all directions. What force those spears pack; I don’t think I’d be in one piece had any of those landed. However, I’m not through yet, as another shout from the girl interrupts my thoughts:

“Let’s see if you can dodge these!”

Her spears this time are angled much higher compared to before. She’s aiming to limit my movement. A flatter flight path means that I can’t resort to jumping back, and the wider arc of spears means that dodging sideways is not an option either. What do I do now?

“Stay calm. Unsheathe your sword.” Balam’s voice sounds in my head in the nick of time.

“Are you asking me to parry those? That’s not possible.” I let out a nervous laugh, almost cracking my voice in the process.

“No. Focus. These past few days you’ve only been learning basic swordplay; now it’s time to learn about why Excalibur is called ‘sacred’ in the first place. Let the sword’s power flow through you and swing.”

“Let the sword’s power flow through me and swing? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s hard to explain, but you should know when you feel it,” Balam answers with a pondering tone; if I could see him right now, he’d be deep in thought.

“Alright, I’ll trust you on this one. Not like I can think of anything better right now.” I nod as the spears leave their position.

From the moment they are launched towards me to the moment they make contact is only a brief second, but for me, it’s like an eternity. As I focus my mind on the sword, a burning sensation appears in my palm, as if the hilt itself is heating up from the immense pressure. Somehow, I feel like I can see the tiniest cracks on the ground, hear the slightest rummaging, and sense the ever-so-small vibrations made by everything around me. It’s as if before me is an intricate system with the gears perfectly in sync after a long period of being left out. In my hand, Excalibur glows a golden light that gets brighter with every moment that passes. Finally, when the spears are near enough, I take a step forward and swing with all my might, letting out a cry:

“Hah!”

As I swing the sword, beneath where I’m standing, the earth shakes violently, and slabs of earth, each as tall as a small house and wide as a large cart, rise upwards according to the direction of my slash. The slabs create a perfect arc blocking the spears’ path towards me, shaving off the impact. The spears halt when they crash into the earth wall, only managing to puncture halfway through the thick slabs like a harmless needle puncturing through a pincushion. Seeing her attack fail seemingly blows out the last fuse in the girl’s mind, as she screams and scowls like a mad person once more:

“Scum! Get out of there and face me!”

Another round of spears is conjured and fired at the stone wall I created. However, like the last round of attack, I can only see them piercing halfway through the structure as their momentum gets halted yet again. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn around to tell my traveling partner the good news for now:

“Okay, I think we’re…”

However, only as I turn around do I realize I was the only one standing in the fight this whole time. The road behind me is completely empty, with only a lingering ember and crumbling debris to accompany my presence.

“… Bea? Where are you?” I desperately turn around and call out her name. I don’t believe it. She was right next to me. How could I have forgotten about her? Did I let go of her when we were fighting? No, wait, did I even hold her hand when we ran away? If not, then… where is she now?

The bursting sound of rocks being blown away cuts off my thoughts, as the girl, with another set of burning spears floating around her, stares at me with eyes that can kill in an instant:

“I told you… you can’t get away from me, Pierre. Not until you pay for what you’ve done.”

“Pierre? Who’s Pierre?” I ask. However, seeing her killing intent up close makes my voice shake in anxiety and fear, and that just ticks her off even more. As I suspected, she only shouts in rage:

“Who’s Pierre? Don’t give me that crap! Are you too much of a coward to even admit your own name now?”

Her spears glow in a red-hot light, and with a flick of her arm, once again launch themselves towards me, forcing me to once more raise an earth wall. However, this time, the spears shred through my defenses as if it was nothing more than a piece of paper, and with only a fraction of a second to react, I manage to barely dodge on time, but not before several of them sear through my thin layer of clothes, marking my sides and limbs with a nasty burn.

The sound of my flesh and skin sizzling, as well as the burning smell is unbearable. Combining that with the already immense heat emanating around me, and the anxiety that’s slowly creeping up my mind, I’m already gasping for air as my opponent makes her way closer to me.

“Finally… it ends today.” The girl, gripping her spear tightly in her hand, mumbles. “Everything you’ve destroyed… Everyone you’ve killed… Time to pay for it, Pierre. With your life.”

As I soon prepare myself for the worst, however, a familiar feeling runs through my entire body. The heat from my surroundings makes it hard to realize, but my burnt places are getting soothed by something akin to steam. And before I can react, the familiar voice of my partner has already sounded in my mind:

“Focus, my King. Don’t talk; you need the energy. On my mark, make a rupture between you two, and get out of here as fast as you can.”  

With newfound strength, I slowly back away from the girl, hoping to strike a precise counter on her. However, as I take a step back, my target doesn’t make her move. Or rather, she’s forced to stop in her tracks, as, unbeknownst to both of us, an arrow has already pierced through her stomach from behind. I can only look in the direction of the shot as she slowly loses the last bit of her consciousness, still cursing me to the very end:

“So, you still… resort to this… trickery…”

The arrow, however, wasn’t my savior, but a mere sign for my executioner, as another one also pierces me from behind, in the exact position that the girl got shot at. As my vision blurs and my hearing deafens, I can only vaguely make out the sound of wings flapping and the fuzzy, white color of the robes that the perpetrators are wearing as they sound:

“Transport them back to Bastille…”

 

“Ugh… Where am I?” I ask myself as I come to. That arrow hurt like hell. I thought I would die from that, even though whoever shot that was clearly trying to not kill us by the looks of things, as they purposely aimed for a non-lethal area. Although I’d argue the legs or arms might have been better. Ouch.

“Be careful now. You still haven’t fully recovered.” A familiar voice sounds behind me. However, the voice also makes me realize my situation, as I finally calm down and look around only to see the familiar landscape of a lakeside meadow.

Turning around to confirm my suspicion, I say:

“I assume you healed me, Balam. Thanks.”

“It was nothing, my King.” Balam takes a humble bow to answer. “However, do be aware that Excalibur’s regeneration can only do so much. Healing your burn marks was already stretching it to the limits, and then I had to treat the arrow wounds as well. There’s only so much I can do. It has already taken five whole days, and it should still hurt quite a bit.”

“Five whole days…” I mumble. My eyes widen as I realize the meaning of those words. “I’ve been asleep for five whole days?”

“Unfortunately so.” Nods Balam. “Don’t worry, since you have woken up, you can return to the real world at any time now. However, I want you to stay here for a bit.”

“Why so?”

“To discuss your use of Excalibur.” Balam answers. “To be honest, I don’t think you’d be able to channel its earth mastery so soon. But this is good news, as now I can teach you another technique of the sacred sword.”

“I see. Do tell, then.” I nod in agreement.

“Alright, next up is…”

“…”

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I get woken up by the damp and moldy smell wafting in the air along with some sort of water dripping on my face periodically. A sharp pain immediately courses through my body, in all of my limbs as well as my abdomen. Guess Balam wasn’t kidding about not being able to heal me properly.

As I look around, all I see are the same stone walls and iron bars, a typical prison. What was it called again?... Right, Bastille. I think I remembered those guys that shot me and the girl saying that they’re taking us there. I wonder what’s going to happen to us now. Will it be imprisonment? Execution? And… if we’re here, where’s Bea? I hope she’s unharmed.

“Finally decided to wake up, huh?” A strange voice sounds across the walls. It looks like someone else is locked next to me, and I have a pretty good idea who that person is.

“Look who decides to talk. Finally mellowing out, are we?” I snicker at the question.

“Look… I’m sorry for trying to kill you. I got the wrong guy.” The voice answers, letting out a sigh of regret.

“Geez, you think?” I raise my voice in sarcasm.

“Hey, in my defense, that guy looks exactly like you.”

“Might want to have your eyes checked, then,” I comment. “There’s no way someone can look exactly like me; I’m an only child.”

“Who knows, really?” The girl answers, finally having a bit of life back in her voice. “I’ve heard stories of something called a doppelganger, a person who looks exactly like another in the world, even though the two have no relation to each other. At first, I thought it was a myth, but now… well, guess there’s some truth to it after all.”

“Maybe,” I answer, before turning to ask the one question I’ve been dying to get the answer to:

“Hey. Do you remember the girl with me from when we were fighting?”

“Hmm…” The girl sounds like she’s having a long, hard thought. “… Somewhat. Why ask?”

“Well, I’m traveling with her for the moment. Do you know where she is?”

“No idea.” I can feel the girl shaking her head. “I didn’t really pay attention to anything else except you when we were fighting.”

“Figured…” I let out a sigh of disappointment. Now I have to get out of this place quickly to find Bea, wherever she is right now.

“Well,” the girl suddenly sounds once more, “looks like we’re stuck here for a while. What’s your name?”

“Why asking?”

“Got a better way to kill time? It sure beats rotting in these cells.”

“Can’t you just break out with your power?”

“Can’t use it properly. It’s almost random whenever I was able to use it, and I can only remember two of them clearly: once when I first received it, and the other when I saw you. Besides, not like I’m in any condition to fight properly right now.”

“Well, that sucks.” I let out a bitter laugh.

“What about you?”

“Can’t move a muscle, really.”

“… My bad.” The girl answers. I can hear her sigh back behind the walls. “Well?”

“… I’m Peter. Peter Pendragon.”

“You’re not from around here, then.” The girl answers. “Speak pretty damn good French though.”

“French? I thought you were speaking perfect English.” Her words are a surprise, to say the least. Now that I think about it, the fact that we’re able to understand each other is already weird enough on its own, considering that I couldn’t even say a word to any of the locals here.

“When one awakens their cross, the connection between us Demons gets transferred to you as well, allowing you to understand their words even through the language barrier.” Balam interrupts from within my mind.

“Geez, at least tell me before you decide to pop up like that!” I complain, and then relay the information to the girl on the other side.

“Balam?” The girl raises her voice, seemingly confused by my mentioning of my partner.

“Yeah, he’s the Demon in my cross. What’s yours?”

“I don’t know.” The girl answers, but her voice suddenly lowers for some reason. “I’ve… never spoken to it.”

“That explains your powers not activating properly then,” I answer, piecing together the information I received. “Just asking to be sure, but have you attempted your Trial yet?”

“Never heard of it. But why so curious about it?”

“Because if you can control your power, doesn’t it mean that we can get out? So, I want to help.”

“Well, I don’t know anything about this Trial that you’re talking about. Sorry.” The girl answers.

“Then… tell me everything, then. From when you obtained the cross.”

“Nothing, really.” The girl answers, seemingly shrugging behind the walls. “I just stole it from a jewelry stall. That’s about it?”

“Stole?”

“Yeah. I live… well, lived, in the slums.” The girl answers with a sigh. “I have no food, no money, nothing at all. Stealing is what I do to live.”

Her words are like knives twisting into my heart. I can’t believe slums still exist in this day and age, especially after the Angels forced us under their control. So, those bastards still claim to lead us to the right path, even when there are still people suffering like this…

“Hey, what’s that sound?” The girl’s voice interrupts my thoughts once more. Realizing that I unconsciously punched the ground, I answer:

“Nothing. Anyway, then… how about you tell me everything you’ve done before that?”

“Would that really get you the information?” She asks in doubt.

“No… I just want to know more about your life.”

“Heh.” I can hear the bitterness in her laughter from where I’m sitting. “You even sound like him now. Go figure.”

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