Chapter 56: Ch. 56 – A Test of Skill

The sun was nearing the tops of the mountains, slowly making the shadows extend across the battleground. Despite that, it was not cause for celebration, since the advantage of the darkness was useless for me at this point. Most of my Shadow mana had been expended and my natural mana was at dangerously low levels, but it was not without results.

I stood in a sea of dead bodies, but for every one that Raven, Echo, and I killed, two to three times that many were killed by the archers under Iseto's control. The archers were made up of the women and children that stayed back, but when there were no more melee fighters, they marched forward until my presence turned them into enraged beasts in human skin. It was easier to fight against them, since they abandoned their bows and few carried anything more than knives, but the emotional damage was far worse. So much death was delivered by my own hands, and the rifles behind me, since my mana had been running out.

Behind the line of the main army, there were large metal plates erected in a half circle. My senses told me that, that was where Iseto was, but there were also those branded slaves around him. For a moment when the world grew quiet around me, I feared that he would attack us with all of them at once, but instead, Jako and two others slowly made their way towards me. The sound a gunshot rang out, but no one was hit as Jako's body moved to the side at speeds near what I could achieve when I first started learning the superspeed power.

"I'd call off your little pet before Master turns her against you again as he did the last time you crossed paths," Jako growled, his eyes the same red as those that I had been fighting.

I was too tired to argue since it was clear that these branded slaves could use some of Iseto's strength. Raven and Echo were both nearly out of ammunition and they would only waste what little that they had, if Jako and his group could use weaker versions of our abilities.

"Raven, Echo... stand down. You won't be able to hit these fools," I huffed, tapping the earpiece.

"You're good at following orders. Let's hope that your pets are just as good. Now, call out the other one. Master wants to see if she is worthy of his time since you already disappointed him before," Jako sneered.

My eye twitched with annoyance and, before I fully grasped what I was doing, I sent a thin Wind Blade at him. Jako's head dropped from his shoulders before the rest of his body crumbled to the ground.

"I'm your opponent," I growled.

"You are not. Master does not want you completely useless, but if you insist... we can all come now and kill you as easily as you did to all of these people," one of the remaining men said.

"Your archers killed more than we did," I retorted.

"Insects are trampled under the feet of the strong. They served their purpose by draining your energy, so now it is time for us to do the same for the other. You should take your chance to recover before Master cuts you apart," the other said.

"They're human beings!" I shouted with fury, about to send another Wind Blade to kill the remaining two men, but a hand grabbed my arm.

"Octavia, stop," Lexa said, blocking my instinctual counterattack. "You couldn't even sense me. You're fighting out of pure stubbornness and instinct. Rest, I'll handle what comes next."

Whether I wanted to admit it or not, she was right. My body was past the point of exhaustion and there were only wisps of mana left inside me. Even I did not know how I was still standing, only that I needed to, but with her here next to me, I could feel the last of my strength waning. I tried to take a step towards the wall, but I could barely pick up my foot, so I stumbled.

Lexa caught me while watching the two men, but they did not try to move closer. She plucked the headset off my ear as Raven's frantic questions came in. "Raven, calm down! She's just exhausted. Echo, come down here and move her back. I've been issued a challenge, it seems."

"Good choice. Master will be pleased," came their reply.

"I don't give a fuck if he's pleased. He's a monster," Lexa spat while holding me in her arms.

"What does that make both of you? Nearly forty thousand deaths from the missile strike, three thousand three hundred and fifty-eight by Natfaya's powers, one thousand six hundred and sixty-eight by gunfire... the seven thousand five hundred that Master has killed is small in comparison to both of your kill counts," they mocked in unison.

I could see the anger in Lexa's eyes, and I knew that was what they wanted. Iseto fed off those emotions, I already knew from experience, but this was her first time dealing with it. I squeezed her arm with what strength that I had left and said, "Iseto uses your anger against you. You can't give in."

"Her words are true, Heda," the remaining two men said, still in unison. "But it is far too late for you to truly master your self-hatred. At best, you might be able to stand in Master's presence without killing yourself, but that is not what we are here for. We wish to see the skill of the mighty Heda that forced Natfaya to bend a knee. You may draw from the same power as her, but in Master's eyes, you only hold a portion of her strength."

I could feel Lexa's body tensing, but there was little that I could do at this point. My stubbornness was keeping me conscious enough to be aware of the world around me, but that was my limit. It had been hours that I had been fighting, wielding my power, which was far more than anything that I had attempted before. Endurance was something that I had always prided myself on, but it was crushed under the weight of these incredible numbers.

"Echo, take Octavia back and clean her up as best as you can," Lexa instructed as Echo knelt down next to me.

There was a rare look of concern in Echo's eyes while she looked me over, but I did not have the strength to tease her, or even think of a taunting remark. Lexa transferred me over into Echo's arms and they both helped me to my feet. Echo pulled my arm over her shoulders, supporting most of my body weight.

"Take care of yourself," Echo said then started walking away.

I tried to move my feet while she walked, but I still ended up dragging my feet more than anything. She brought me over to my alcove and sat me down, so that I could still see Lexa while she continued inside. She stepped back out a moment later with a small bucket of water in her hands and a cloth on her arm.

"Are you injured anywhere?" Echo asked, kneeling next to me and dipping the cloth into the water.

"No," I said weakly.

With just the first wipe of my face, the cloth was already stained a dark red. What little I could see of my body was coated in blood, so I knew that she had her work cut out for her. I did not have the energy to help, so I just leaned against the wall and watched Lexa as she faced off against her first opponents.

Lexa drew her twin swords after Echo had taken me away. The two men standing across from her were both carrying a pair of axes and were wearing traditional Grounder armor. They took a casual stance as they circled around until she was in the middle of the two of them then they attacked in unison.

Both were trying to deliver a heavy, overhead chop with their right arms, but Lexa deflected them with a swing of her sword that moved faster than the eye could see. The axes that she hit were ripped out of their hands, but they ignored the loss and swung their remaining axes horizontally at her waist. She moved to deflect the attacks again, but this time when their weapons made contact, her swords were forcibly stopped as the bodies of the two men gave off a faint red glow.

They struggled for a moment and, when they added in their empty hands, they started inching their blades towards Lexa. She did not panic though since strength was not her style and twisted her body so that she could slip out of their trap. It seemed that she was done playing around as, the moment that she was safe, she kicked off the ground, leaving an afterimage behind. She stopped on the far side of the pair, not looking behind her, as both men collapsed with blood pouring from their necks.

Although it was a short exchange, her next opponents were already on their way. Three men were nearing her location, each carrying a spear, but Lexa was done letting them get the advantage of position. She charged at them with her natural speed while they spread out.

As she neared them, all three emitted the same red glow that the last two had. It looked like she was rushing the one on the right, but right before she was in their range, her body flickered, and she was suddenly in front of the one on the left. With the swing of her first sword, she knocked his spear to the side and followed that with her second sword, thrusting it through his heart.

The closest, still living, man stabbed out his spear at her back, but Lexa was already twisting around to meet the attack. She sped up the swing of her sword to combat their superior strength and was able to knock the attack away. She tried to finish off the second the same way as the first, but the third blocked her with a swipe of his spear.

Lexa retreated a few steps before the second man could use the butt end of his spear to hit her in retaliation. The third chased after her, thrusting his spear in rapid succession, but she continued to dance away from the attacks instead of wasting her strength or mana to block them. The two men were trying to pincer her in between them, but surprisingly, she allowed it to happen. They both launched a powerful and fast thrust at her, but it was the moment she had been waiting for, as her skin turned black and she vanished into the Shadow Realm.

They ended up impaling each other, and she reappeared in one of their shadows. She stabbed one sword through the neck of the closest man then swung her sword at the other. He tried to stop her by raising his arm, but she chopped through his wrist and sliced across his neck in the same motion.

I had never seen Lexa truly fight before, so the level of skill that she displayed left me amazed. Not only was she gifted with her ability to wield a blade, but she did not waste any mana either. Every time that she stirred her power, it was at the last moment, and she would use just enough to complete her goal. It was a beautiful, yet deadly grace that she moved with, and every single action had its purpose.

My mind was a mess, making me unable to meditate, but I could still recover my mana, just at a far slower rate. The faces of those that I had slaughtered were haunting me now that I was not struggling to stay alive. I could see the hundreds of red eyes staring back at me every time I closed my eyes. It may have been me or them, but it did not change the fact that I killed men, women, and children alike.

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"I never knew how talented she was," I said softly to Echo, who was sitting next to me.

"Lexa was chosen to be Heda for a reason. People may have doubted her and mistaken her compassion for weakness, but she earned her title," Echo replied.

After Lexa faced off against the three men, four more came walking towards her. She only had a minute or two to rest between the fights, but just like I had done, she kept pushing herself forward. Defeating four brought five and then six, seven, eight... Her opponents' attacks fell in series with each other, yet she kept fighting and dodging their blades.

It was not until she was facing off against ten men that she finally took her first injury. A lucky spearman was able to slip in close as she killed one of her opponents and thrusted his spear for her heart. Thankfully, the armor that I had created took and deflected the main force of the attack, but it left a nasty gash across her left shoulder which was not protected.

She managed to kill all of her opponents without taking another wound, but the damage had been done, since I could tell that she was slowing down quickly. Iseto did not send eleven, thankfully, but the ten was still too much for her. For every two that she killed, a new wound appeared on her body.

Next to me, Echo was digging her fingers into the dirt as she watched on, barely able to control herself. The sky had already faded to black, and we could only see the fight was due to the small, scattered fires and our close proximity. It had been over two hours that she had been fighting, so I had recovered some, but I was still far from my peak.

"We're going to end this one way or another. Go free Raven and get yourselves to the rover. I'm not sure if we'll be able to defeat him at this point, but neither of us want you two to die here," I said, forcing myself to stand up.

"I'm not abandoning you!" Echo snapped.

"You can't help," I replied simply. "What you can do is save yourself and Raven, easing both of our burden."

Echo did not take my statement well, but she also understood the truth behind my words. She stood up and drew her sword, passing it over to me. "I expect you to give this back to me."

My own swords had been left on the battlefield when Lexa had taken over, so it would waste some of my energy if I had to retrieve them on the way, but it was more of a symbolic gesture than anything else. She had carried this sword throughout most of the show except when she had infiltrated the Disciples because they had taken it from her. This was the representation of her warrior's spirit, and she entrusted it to me.

I placed a hand on the side of her face, holding her still as I gave her a kiss, since I did truly care about her and knew that this would likely be our final parting. "Take care of Raven for me."

"For the rest of my life," she promised as I took a step backwards.

I gave her one last smile before entering the Shadow Realm. Drawing in whatever Shadow mana that I could, I turned and started running towards Lexa. She was still fighting the second wave of the ten men and had brought them down to three, but she was focusing more on dodging than counterattacking. The blue glow that represented her in the realm was faint, showing her level of exhaustion, but she had yet to give up.

My presence was sensed again by those under Iseto's control, but it did not matter since they could not hit me like this without their own mana. Lexa took advantage of their distraction and raced forward, stabbing her sword through one of the branded slaves. When the remaining two turned on her, I exited the Shadow Realm behind one and swung my sword at his neck while launching a Shadow Bolt at the last man. A head went flying, but more disturbing was the effect of the Shadow Bolt which turned the spot that it hit into black ice and the unlucky spot that I had hit was the shoulder of his raised arm. The weight of his arm and weapon caused the ice to break and therefore his arm fell off. Lexa finished him off in the next moment, cutting his throat with the swing of her sword.

"Enjoy your nap?" she huffed as she placed her hands on her knees, breathing hard.

"Oh, it was just peachy," I retorted.  "I'm sorry, I don't have the strength to heal you."

"It doesn't matter; you wouldn't have the time, anyways," she replied, straightening up.

It was clear what she meant as twenty-six men left the security of their walled off area to join the ten that were already rushing our way. Lexa retrieved her swords with a weary sigh then stepped next to me.

"I sent Echo to free Raven and told her to get themselves out of here. They didn't need to die with us," I said in a sober tone.

"Do you really think either of them will truly leave us behind?" Lexa asked.

I looked over at her and smiled. "No, but it will keep Echo busy long enough for us to finish this."

"Clever as always," she chuckled lightly.

"I try," I replied, turning my head to look at the charging group.  "Today is a good day to die."

"Nerd," Lexa smirked, shaking her head.

"I used to be able to say it in Klingon too, but you're just as big of a nerd for recognizing it."

She gave a wry smile since she could not defend herself and said, "I'm glad I'm by your side, Rebecca."

"Likewise, Katye."

Without needing to say anything else, we both rushed forward to meet the group head on. Although we had only sparred against each other once, there was a special and unique bond between us that translated over into how we fought together. After the long, drawn-out battle, we knew what the other was capable of and we trusted each other completely, so together, we were even more deadly than apart.

I was still low on mana, as was Lexa, so I used what I had sparingly. When the first of them were within ten feet of me, I caused the ground under them to ripple which sent them all stumbling forward. Lexa wove through the five on her side, delivering deadly strikes as she passed, while I killed the first two of mine with my sword then sent a stream of red flames at the faces of the remaining three. Despite the terrible burns, they still rushed at me. I took a few steps back and casted my Stone Knife spell with deadly accuracy as the three stone blades pierced their throats.

"Pain is meaningless to them. If they can move, they'll keep trying to kill," Lexa said as she walked ahead.

"Understood," I replied, retrieving the stone knives with my power so that I could reuse them.

The last twenty-six men were only seconds away from my range, so I launched a barrage of new stone knives into the crowd to cover Lexa. Most were blocked by armor, but I got a few lucky hits in, including killing the lead slave. Lexa dashed straight into the crowd, enhancing her speed, while I slipped back into the Shadow Realm before circling around the main group, hoping to draw a few. I froze the backline for a moment when I neared them, but they quickly turned their focus back to Lexa.

Just as I exited the Shadow Realm, Lexa entered it which caused a moment of confusion amongst the ranks of the branded slaves. It was solved when I threw out the three stone knives in my hand and killed three more of their numbers. Those closest to me threw themselves at me, but I created five stone spears that they ran into, skewering them in their guts. Not an instant death, but they would still die quickly. I slipped back inside the Shadow Realm as she slipped out.

This was the power and deadliness of a Naru Darc pair at night. The Shadow Realm was overflowing with mana right now, and we could exit anywhere without a penalty. In the story where this power came from, Ishu and his partner had decimated a small army with this tactic alone. They were both at Rank Five, and not exhausted from a previous fight, but the principle of the technique allowed us to make easy work of those remaining.

As the last one died, a strange silence fell over the area since we even quieted our breathing. So much death was around us, yet we were still alive... for now. There was still a powerful foe that waited behind the metal walls who was currently stronger than both of us combined.

A slow clap broke the silence as Iseto walked into view, clapping his hands. He was wearing his heavy armor and his wild red hair had been pulled back loosely. He gave us an amused smile as he stopped twenty feet away, but I could still feel his Domain pressing against my own.

"Of all the ways that this battle could have happened, I believe that you chose the hardest of methods, but I must commend you. The sheer power and skill that you both have shown outclasses my own. If I had to fight both of you in your peak condition, there is no doubt that I would die... but, neither of you are in your peak condition, far from it," Iseto said with a bloodthirsty smile as he drew his saber.

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