Yuuki gazed up at the knight, searching for any sign of emotion, but the figure's expression was hidden beneath a helmet.
"Is this even a human?" Yuuki wondered.
The woman Yuuki had struck stood in stunned silence, gently touching her neck and face, assuring herself she was still alive.
"Lady," a gruff voice echoed from beneath the knight's helmet. "I suggest you make haste before an unpleasant sight unfolds."
The woman nodded quickly, scrambling through the space between the knight's legs, nearly tripping in her rush to escape.
The crowd that had gathered around Yuuki and the woman had already dispersed. Now, the only figures remaining on the stone-paved street were Yuuki and the knight. The once-busy capital square was eerily deserted.
"Boy. You've been found guilty of attempted murder. How do you plead?"
To the knight, Yuuki appeared calm, but inside, he was anything but. His steady gaze and relaxed posture masked the turmoil within—his heart racing, his instincts screaming at him to flee. As he prepared to declare his innocence, it felt as though an invisible hand wrapped around his throat, strangling the words before they could form. Every attempt to speak caused the grip to tighten. Fear of saying the wrong thing paralyzed him.
"If your silence continues, it will be taken as a guilty plea. I advise you to respond soon."
"Inn—" Yuuki coughed.
"What was that?" the knight demanded.
"Innocent," Yuuki mumbled.
"Speak up."
"Innocent," he repeated, louder this time.
The invisible hand loosened its grip on his throat but now tugged at his heart. Each beat felt like it was being squeezed as he waited for the knight's reaction. The wind whistled through the silence until Yuuki heard the knight's armour rattle. The knight shifted, raising his halberd over his shoulder and stepping forward, preparing to strike. Yuuki's heart plummeted, a cold dread settling in his stomach.
"So this is how it ends," Yuuki thought. "Executed in the name of 'justice.' No chance to explain myself. Damn this place."
"Any last words?"
"I can't run. His halberd would catch me before I even took two steps. Even if I escape, they'll track me down. And if they find me, Sana will be in danger. His strength is beyond anything I can imagine. I'm dead. I don't even have any last words."
"So be it."
The knight swung his halberd down with all his might, and Yuuki looked up, resigned to his fate.
"In the end, I'm nothing but a coward," Yuuki thought.
In those final moments, images of his family filled his mind. Nersi and Sana appeared, the three of them together, smiling—a sight he had never seen but always hoped to. The hand squeezing his heart tightened, and suddenly, a rush of adrenaline surged through his body. His heart raced, his mind screamed at him to flee, but his body defied the fear. Instead of running, he drew his blade and slashed, betting everything on this desperate move.
Time seemed to freeze. In a blink, Yuuki found himself several meters away, as if he had teleported. In his place stood a cloaked figure, brandishing a sword of their own. They braced themselves against the knight's halberd, and when the weapons collided, the sheer force of the impact sent Yuuki flying backward, the stone ground beneath them cracking under the pressure. The figure tilted their blade, allowing the halberd to slide off, and in one swift motion, they leapt onto the weapon's pole, ran up its length, and kicked the knight's helmet, toppling him over. The knight's armoured body hit the ground with a thunderous crash, shattering the floor.
YOU ARE READING
With Chaos Comes Grief: The First Stage of Grief
Fantasi"When I entered this life, my only desire was to protect my family. That desire had been tampered with and broken down to nothing but mere strings." Yuuki is a farmboy, living his teenage years isolated from the rest of the world while trying to kee...
