The Crimson Champion

Chapter 12: Lorelei's Escape

(Author's Note: This chapter is from Lorelei's point of view.)

I fly Seraph to Brightshine Castle's roof and land her on it, then I take the ash pouch from my bag and go over to the nearby hatch to climb down inside the castle. I walk through the halls, anxious about what will happen when I report to Yuri.

When I enter the throne room I see him, sitting smugly on his throne, so I approach him and he speaks. "So, were you successful?" He looks behind me. "Where is Grelnar?"

I pull out the pouch of ash and sadly offer it to him, knowing the truth of Grelnar's death. "Yes, we were successful, but unfortunately Grelnar used some kind of self-destruct ability to kill Brutus. I gathered his ashes in this pouch."

Yuri takes the pouch and inspects it, then he pours it on the ground. I give him an alarmed look. "Why did you do that?! Grelnar deserves much more respect than that for his actions!"

Yuri nods. "Yes, he does, but that was not Grelnar. You murdered him, you damned traitor." Horrified, I freeze up, but then I almost immediately put a calm expression on my face. "You have no proof, you weren't there."

Yuri cackles. "You're right, I wasn't. Lonril!" Lonril walks out from behind the throne. "I was there the entire time, out of sight. I saw you betray your comrade in cold blood to save an enemy." He shakes his head. "Despicable..."

Yuri smirks and snaps his fingers. "Guards! There is a traitor in here who needs to be disposed of!" Multiple soldiers swarm into the room from behind and shove me to the ground before I can do anything.

Yuri walks up to me and unsheathes his katanas. "Any last words, Lorelei Melnith?" As I see the satisfied look on his face, I know in my heart and soul that I cannot just give up. I know that I must live, so I can destroy this curse on the world, so I furiously glare at him. "You're pathetic, Yuri. You don't deserve to exist in this amazing world, and you can never be forgiven for anything you've done! YOU'RE A FUCKING MADMAN!"

Yuri snarls and starts to swing his blades, but I immediately summon Dragvandil, extend it, and bring it up to block, then I leap up into the air and land behind the guards, so I slash and stab them to get them out of my way.

After that, I quickly look over to where Lonril was and I notice he's gone. "Ugh, whatever." I look directly at Yuri and see him chanting and putting strange dark energy on his blades. "What in hell...?”

I lunge at him to try and stab, but he easily crosses his katanas over his chest to block. This close to him, I can sense that the aura on his weapons is...unholy, to say the least. I have to be careful it doesn't harm me!

I leap into the air and blast light beams at Yuri. He dodges most, but a few get through and he hisses in pain as they seem to scorch through his armor, which makes me realize something. "Interesting, he's weak to light magic..."

Yuri swipes his katanas to fling dark orbs at me, so I immediately drop to avoid them, but one clips my right shoulder right where Yuri stabbed me years ago and I feel a searing pain from the scar as the dark energy seems like it's trying to corrupt me.

I growl and I stab at Yuri, channeling light energy into my spear's blade, and I manage to stab into his side, making him yell in pain as the holiness of my weapon attempts to purify him.

Yuri leaps back and he starts chanting, then he waves around his katanas and dark beams shoot out of them at me. I blast light beams at them to cancel them out, but I miss some and stagger as they pierce through my armor and I feel like they're taking energy from me.

Yuri grins evilly as he notices me stumble and he moves in to try and finish me. "After all that talk, you still fail to leave a lasting wound upon me. If you yield now, I'll make sure your death is slightly less painful."

I bring my spear up to stab into his right shoulder in response. "Never. If I have to die, it'll be on my own damned terms!" I roughly yank my spear out of his shoulder as he glares and I leap up into the air.

I point my spear at Yuri and I yell. "MAY THE HOLY LIGHT OF LORD LAZARUS PURIFY YOUR FOUL EXISTENCE!" My spear glows as columns of light magically come down from the ceiling and rain down all over the throne room.

I watch as multiple columns hit Yuri and he growls as they leave holes in his armor, clearly doing serious damage, so I drop down and sprint up to him, then unleash a flurry of stabs.

Yuri tries to block, but he misses a few and they easily go through his weakened armor. He screeches in both pain and fury as I look at him with a grin. "Now I should be asking you your last words, Yuri Solaris."

Even as he stands there severely wounded, he still manages to laugh. "Do you really think I will die this easily, dragoon?!" Before I can defend, he slashes my waist with a blade.

My armor does a good job protecting me, but the dark energy still cuts through and I cry out in pain as it sucks away a bit of my energy. Yuri cackles even more and his katanas glow with a foul aura as he slashes at me again.

I manage to block, but my attack earlier drained a lot of my power, so it's hard to keep defending. If I don't finish him soon, I might not make it out of here! I twirl my spear and frantically stab at Yuri.

Even though my attacks aren't as focused, a few stabs at his arms, legs, and chest get through, making even more holes appear in the armor as my weapon's holiness attempts to purge Yuri's foul presence.

I notice Yuri is slowing, and I press my attack. If I can last a little longer, I may be able to finally end all of this! I focus my energy in my spear, and I yell as I stab Yuri directly in his left shoulder.

Using all of my strength, I fling Yuri across the room into his throne, making it break and collapse under him. I approach him as he slowly struggles to stand, and as I get nearer, I leap into the air and point my spear at his heart, ready to erase him once and for all!

I bring my spear down towards him, but to my shock, he lifts a hand and his eye glows purple as he roars and blasts me straight in the gut with a bolt of dark magic. I scream in pain as I collapse to the ground, the energy eating at me.

Yuri smirks as he comes up to me and he readies his katanas. "You put up a good fight, but your time has ended." He prepares to attack, but suddenly, the ceiling explodes as Seraph bursts into the throne room.

She lands nearby me and she breathes some healing breath on me, closing my smaller wounds and helping the bigger ones. I know that I should retreat, so I swiftly climb onto Seraph's back between her two pairs of wings.

We fly off but I hear Yuri yell something and the castle's ballistas start aiming at us. Seraph easily weaves through the massive bolts as they fire at us, but right before we get out of range, I notice one heading directly for me.

Seraph blocks the bolt with her wings, then it shoots directly through one pair and she screeches in pain, struggling to fly as we get away from Solaris.

I know that we need to find somewhere quickly before Seraph hurts herself more. As I think about what to do, I get a hopeful idea. "Seraph, head towards Lazarus. I think we can get help from there..."

Seraph grunts and she goes in that direction, and as we fly, I look at the sky. "I wonder if I'll be accepted there after everything I've done. I guess I can only hope..."