Tara & Tal - A sword age

6. Chapter - A Bright Morning

Tara and Tal awoke early the next morning, quickly ate their breakfast, and then met at the now almost empty armory. They had gathered everything they needed—or thought useful—for the battle there, throwing everything else out or distributing it among the palace staff. At their order, the staff also assembled in the courtyard, half clad in rusty armor and holding blunt swords.

Everything they had been able to prepare was so feeble that it was almost laughable, but they still didn't think about giving up.

"Let's do this!" Tara said, as she put on her armor.

They had decided to use the emptied-out armory as a starting point. The stone walls were thick, and they had a good overview from the windows.

Although they weren't given an exact time for when the battle would commence, they had the overall idea that the gods would be fair enough not to attack them while they were still getting ready.

After they did, however, it didn't take long.

They watched through the window as the clouds parted and a bright light, a swirl of colors, filled the sky. Tara and Tal narrowed their eyes.

"The rainbow bridge," Tara whispered. "Our enemy has arrived."

As the light dispersed, a man came into view, and a loud voice rang out: "Helloooo!!"

He was a tall guy with blond hair, which, like his armor, shimmered as if it were made of pure gold. He floated in the air, his eyes fixed on the palace. On his face, he wore a bright smile. "Won't any of you guys come out to greet me?" His voice sounded so cheerful, and Tara felt like she was about to puke.

Her face was as pale as flour, as she just stood there, unmoving as if she'd turned to stone, and stared out of the window at the man in the sky.

"W-we're screwed," she simply whispered under her breath.

Tal looked at her. "Knock, knock." He taped at the metal of her helmet as if it were a door. "Anyone home? I thought you had decided to fight. Is everything alright with y—"

"No!!!" Tara ripped off her armor. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!"

She grabbed Tal and pushed him to the ground, ducking under the windowsill.

Tara carefully peeked out the window.

"What is wrong? You said..." Tal began.

"I know what I said! But we stand no chance, not even in the slightest. I thought they would send some minor god, but not him!"

"So, you don't want to fight?"

"I want to—RUN!"

"Wha-"

She grabbed his shirt and yanked him through the door and around the corner, only moments before a bright beam of light shot through the wall behind them, melting it whole.

Tal shrieked, but she didn't let go of him and dragged him down the hallway.

They stopped behind a corner. Tara pressed her back against the stone wall, huffing. "A plan, a plan, we need a plan." Tara bit her lower lip, her brain going into overdrive. Tal noticed her eyelids twitching like mad.

A cheerful giggle rang through the walls.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the voice of the god playfully called out. "I'm going to find you anyway."

"This... this asshole," Tara hissed under her breath, "but he's right. Hiding is useless. And I certainly have had enough, too."

"Huh?"

"We will die," she exclaimed, "but at least we die fighting! Let's go!"

From one moment to the next, she grabbed Tal, passed the corner and threw the confused Tal out an open window.

He gasped and felt the air soaring around him. The ground got closer.

And he crashed into the courtyard.

Tara gnashed her teeth. She stood once more next to Tal. She must have jumped out of the window too. For a moment, she looked annoyed. "Gods damn it, the staff is gone? Why do all our allies always run away?"

Then her eyes darkened as she looked up at the floating man in the sky, who lowered himself near them.

"Baldraz!" she exclaimed, her voice rising high with anger. "What the Hel!?"

"Oh, hey!" The armored guy waved at them. On his face, he wore a bright smile. "Long time no see!"

Tal got up from the ground and sighed. She was right. They needed to do something—fight. He drew his sword.

Tal jumped at the god and ... Baldraz swung his spear and catapulted Tal up into the sky. Tara's eyes tried to follow where he flew, but he disappeared behind the horizon.

"Huh, that's a little disappointing." Baldraz shifted his gaze away from the sky toward Tara and giggled. "Still, I have to give you guys some credit. I mean, sure, I know who you were before, but still, I didn't expect you to dodge my light. That was kind of impressive."

"Shut your mouth, you crazy sicko! What did we do to deserve this!?"

His smile widened. "Can't you imagine why I'm here? Despite all the things you've done, we gave you a perfect chance of a normal life, and what did you do?"

"Give a wolf a piece of meat, and it'll take the entire arm, what did you expect? That you can do something like that to us, and we will gladly sit around and think, 'well, it could be worse'?"

"Hm, I haven't thought of that."

"We won't stand that! We will fight! You know what? I still declared war on all the gods, so at least I don't have to do that again!"

Baldraz laughed. "I mean, I already intended to kill you, but now I at least don't feel bad about it anymore. So then, Sayonara."

"What? No, that—"

He swung his spear, and the entire sky filled with light. Tara raised an arm, covering her eyes. "Crap, crap, crap! I-I don't wanna die!" She turned her back and ran. She ran as the heat kept growing closer.

In the distance, she heard the laughter of Baldraz.

"It will not end like this! I will not let that happen!"

She took a deep breath and turned around. Her full vision was filled with endless light, like a supernova blowing up in her face.

She raised her hands over her head. "Okay, I surrender."

"Wait what?" In an instant, all the light disappeared.

"We were at war, and now we're no longer. I surrendered. You're a fair god, aren't you? You surely wouldn't hurt a prisoner of war."

"O-of course not."

"And I think we can both agree that I'm currently not a foe to you, can we?"

"Sure."

"Now then, I have surrendered."

"And it's not a trap?"

"... No."

Baldraz shrugged. "Fair enough."