An Expected Betrayal |TBATE

Chapter 45 - Heartfelt Reunion

KATHYLN GLAYDER

I watched Claire get sent flying by the mana beast. After using all of its mana it took nothing more than a single swing of the sword to kill it. It wasn't long before she was dead center in the hoard. Neither Theodore nor I freaked out. It just wasn't in our personality. Additionally, Claire was strong enough to handle herself.

All the AA and S ranked will be taken care of by Lance Mica, and it looked like she only landed about 300 feet away. As long as she didn't run into any Alacryan soldiers, she'd be fine. But not for long. If we didn't get to her quickly she'd be in great danger.

Luckily the nearby group noticed. We were rather familiar with them thanks to Claire's habit of making friends with everyone and everything. And because of that, they respected her. Wordlessly, we worked together and pushed through. Using wind magic we created not a protective barrier, but rather a barrier meant to knock enemies away. And thanks to Theodore's gravity magic making them all lighter, it wasn't hard.

"-n't further away!" someone shouted. It was further up, around where Claire landed. The voice sounded familiar, but not enough for me to remember who it was. I used water magic to shoot myself forwards, only to end up seeing a woman holding Claire's rapier. She looked familiar, and it took me only a tenth of a second to remember.

Her name was Caera, she was a girl that was part of a group traveling through the wall. They became friends with Claire, but left only a few hours later. But she was different. Two onyx horns sprouted from her head.

"Why are you here!?" I shouted, a demand honed through my many years as a princess. However my words were drowned out by a loud explosion. I turned to the wall. At the front, where part of the army was fighting underground, huge explosions shook the ground. Many of the troops that were stationed outside of the blast zone toppled and fell over. Many became victims of mana beasts.

"Well shit." Caera said. I rushed forwards, using ice magic under her feet to interrupt her footing. She noticed instantly. She extended her arm downwards, and a blast of black fire melted the ice instantly. With minimal effort that reminded me of Arthur, she parried my attack but didn't return the favor.

"C-Claire." Theodore muttered behind me. The muttering of the name forced me to turn around. There, on the ground, was Clarie, her head staring at her body, frozen in disbelief. I was overcome with something. No. Overcome is the wrong word. Consumed.

It was something I thought I had lost long ago. One I locked away back before I met Arthur at the auction house. An emotion. I could feel my blood pump faster. I could feel adrenaline spread throughout my body. I was completely controlled by Rage.

I turned back to Caera, who now understood what was happening. For whatever reason mana beasts avoided Caera and Claire's corpse. My swelling emotions didn't seem to matter to her, because she sent me a passing glance before jumping away, using wind magic to propel herself.

(A.N In a patreon chapter Caera is shown using a wind boost spell, not important to the story so don't worry about spoilers.)

(E.N Don't remind me. So irritated that they hyped up a certain meeting then never did it that I based an entire fic around the idea!)

I prepared to run off, but Theodore stopped me. "Kathyln, we need to get back and help those who were caught in the attack! That's what Claire would want." He wasn't lying but I could tell it was taking every ounce of self control to not run after Caera himself. Tears were streaming down his cheek, clutching Claire's body. The other group looked broken themselves, one of the girls even began crying herself.

I cut off my rage, and locked up my other emotions. I froze Claire's body, hopefully she'd get a proper burial, if we survived that is.

ALICE LEYWIN