The Shadow of Death

chapter 10

Fuck, fuck fuck. Garret swore in his head as he charged forwards, towards where he'd last seen Dante and Alric, only to have his path blocked by a soldier in freshly polished silver armour.

I don't have time for this. Garret thought as he swiped his sword as hard as he could, knocking the sword out of the soldier's hand. He then spun and beheaded the soldier before continuing his charge, ducking under swinging blades, and pushing his way through the throng. He swapped his broad sword to his strong hand and unsheathed his second one, cutting through soldiers with both as he ran, the Materialsit-made swords cutting through Revalian's weaker iron and bronze armour.

It's no use, there are too many people. Garret thought as he wheeled around, fighting back the fear in his chest. NO. They are fine, they are formidable, and you need to fight and command your soldiers. Find a sword partner and get through this.

Garret quickly found a lone Larovethian soldier surrounded by Revalians, by the looks of their armour. With a battlecry, Garret launched himself at them, pulling them away from the lone soldier, cutting them down as he did so.

"General! Thank you!" The man gasped, wiping the blood off his face.

Garret glanced at the man's shoulder, noting the wing emblem on his right shoulder pad.

"Are you in the Wing Two Legion? Where's your sword partner."

"She-She's dead sir."

"You're with me now," Garret grunted, grabbing the soldier's discarded sword and shoving it into his hand.

"Yessir." The man saluted and turned around, turning his back to Garret as he swiped at a charging soldier. Leaving him no other choice, Garret went back to back with the man, slashing and stabbing at anyone that came near. He wove away a few times, trying to switch places with the Wing Soldier, but he wasn't trained the same way as Garret's soldiers, he didn't move with the fluidity and he quickly got lost in the throng, unable to keep up with Garret.

Shit... He will be fine. If he can't keep up, that's on him. Garret thought, turning his attention back to the battle. He didn't have time to worry about kids who didn't know how to fight properly.

A blast rocked the ground, throwing Garret off his feet, followed by a scorching wave of heat. Five enemy soldiers around Garret started running and screaming, engulfed in flames. Garret jumped back to his feet and glanced over his shoulder long enough to see a Fire Manipulator push another flaming wall towards the enemy soldiers, the heat of the wave brushing against Garret's cheek.

"Kill the Manipulator!" A man shouted in Revalian, charging towards the soldier.

Garret jumped in the way, putting all his energy into protecting the Fire Manipulator. With how vastly outnumbered they now were, they needed the strength the Manipulators brought.

"Demon General!" The soldier he was fighting yelled, seconds before Garret severed his head, but it caught the surrounding soldiers' attention.

"Kill the Demon General!" Another Revalian shouted, charging Garret wildly, leaving themselves so stupidly defenceless. Garret raised his sword, ready to cleave the man in two, but he was knocked off his feet before he could.

Garret grunted as he skidded across the ground, shaking his head slightly to clear his vision. A soldier in gleaming armour ran towards him, but by the looks of it, they were not just any soldier. No, their shoulder pad had purple and yellow lines on it and engraved in his chestplate was the name Ashford.

General Ashford. I've heard that name before. One of Revalia's best Generals. But why is a General with the stature that Ashford carries fighting in battle? That's unheard of in Revalia.