TBATE - OneShots

1. Hope (Bairon Wykes)

So here is the first OS. I actually wanted to do it as chronologically as possible, but my inspiration saw it differently. So here is an OS from Bairon's perspective. It takes place around the second chapter of the 10th volume, i.e. chapter 384. In Mahnwa that would correspond to chapter 1056 and if you consider the speed of the adaptation from the novel to the webtoon, it should take at least 15 years before the scene is available with pictures XD (After all, it has been running since 2018 and is only at chapter 180 now). In any case, this is about the scene in which Bairon sees Arthur again. 

Bairon Wykes

»We should go.« My words broke the silence that had surrounded the three of us. We had no choice but to wait and hope. Despite my physical condition, it was unbearable just to sit there. We had to be able to do something!

»No!« The usual sharpness in Varay's voice was missing and was replaced by exhaustion. I saw her will to fight. But I knew Varay well enough to know that she was not invulnerable either. Behind her cold, emotionless mask was a woman who, like me, wanted the best for Dicathen. Aya's death did not leave her cold, just as it did not leave me cold. The times when I would not have cared about her death were long gone.

»I ..." I understood her, but did not want to accept it.

»We can't do anything.« The resignation in her voice hurt more than I expected. Perhaps I was hoping for something from our leader that would give me courage? »Elder Rinia spoke of rescue. Let's hope she's right.«

»Hope?« I almost spat the word out. »Is that all we have left? Hope that everything will be okay? Wait?«

»I understand your pain. Mica... I want nothing more than to avenge Aya.« The childlike Lance spoke with such determination, and yet tears shimmered in her remaining eye. She had not left Aya's frozen corpse since we found her.

Where had the times gone when we Lances were the most powerful magicians of all? When had we become nothing more than weak extras in a game of the gods? Despair gnawed at me. Everything that we and the people of Dicathen had believed in, even hoped for, was made irrelevant in such a short time. We were defeated as if we were just inferior magicians and not Lances. And that too by a child! I wanted to vent my anger, but when I looked at Varay and Mica again, I realized that I would only drag them down with me. I remained silent.

***

»Mana signatures. Lots.« Mica finally remarked, and I also felt them at the edge of my perception. They were close, yet blurry. If they were attackers, we would have noticed them too late. »Most of them are still alive!« Mica's hope and joy were palpable.

I pushed myself up from my seat, and although every part of my body protested and screamed, I began to move unhindered. I had not previously realized how such a simple sequence of movements could be so difficult. Varay and Mica followed me hesitantly, apparently also in great pain. But hope pumped adrenaline into my body. How many had survived? What had happened to this Taci? These questions kept me on my feet. With a firm but slightly shuffling step, I moved toward the tunnel entrance. A small ledge gave me an elevated view of the landscape. There: people, actually! In the dim light, I could at first only see shadowy figures, but they gradually took shape.

»Lance Bairon!« The exclamation came from a very familiar voice: Curtis Glayder. He had been my student before the war and also for a while during it. Seeing him well meant more to me than I expected, surprisingly. »You - you're fine!«

»I was lucky that the...« I broke off as I looked at the surrounding magicians while speaking. A face caught my eye and... I couldn't believe who I saw. "Who...?" I broke off. That couldn't be. Arthur was dead. This man didn't look completely like him. More like an older, more mature and differently hair-colored version of him. His hair was wheat-blond, although the length was relatively correct. His eyes were golden and as emotionless as Varay's. His clothes had tears, holes and bloodstains in places, without the flesh underneath being visibly damaged. It just didn't fit together, and yet it was the familiar facial expressions, posture and features that had subconsciously stuck in my mind.

»Bairon!« His voice! It was a lot sharper and colder, and yet; it was Arthur's. His next words were like a confirmation: »I'm glad to know that I'm not the last of the lances...«

»Arthur!« I didn't let him finish, while a chaos of emotions raged through me. Not to mention the unanswered questions. But the unbridled joy and relief prevailed. My next action was a knee-jerk reaction: I more or less jumped off the elevation - although it was more like a controlled slide and fall at the same time - and stormed towards Arthur. Whatever differences there had been between us before, seeing him here made me forget them all. As I approached him, his eyes visibly widened in surprise and a subtle concern was reflected in his expression. Without letting this bother me, I grabbed him by the shoulders. My eyes searched his. His presence was still something I could not understand. Involuntarily, my eyes filled with tears of relief, with fresh sadness mixed in as well. I couldn't even say whether the feelings came from Arthur or from the recent events. I put my forehead against his, relieved and grateful. But also respectful of the other lances.

»You're late.« I had hardly noticed the direct presence of the other lances until Mica finally spoke. My core was exhausted. I let go of Arthur and took a step back, but kept my gaze on him. Apart from a few small micro-expressions of his feelings, his gaze was otherwise calm, almost apathetic.

»It's nice to have you back and apparently in the last moments before the catastrophe. You must have been the one the old elf seer saw coming?« Varay now spoke to Arthur and I realized that it had to be true. There was a slight sense of unease in his eyes.

»That seems to be the case, yes, although I had no idea what was coming.« His eyes looked around searchingly. »Where is Aya?« This question was like a stab in my heart.

»Brother!« Arthur's sister, Eleanor Leywin, spoke up. I looked at her slightly angrily, after all she was interrupting our conversation. It was a welcome distraction from Aya, but still. »Mana signatures are coming. A lot of them.«

Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows in irritation. I could still explain logically that Varay, Mica and I had missed it, but Arthur? This statement seemed to surprise him as much as it surprised me. My attention was drawn to the people behind Arthur, who were visibly panicking. That was the last thing we needed.

»Everyone back to the tunnel!« I ordered as authoritatively and confidently as possible. But I hesitated. I should and wanted to fight. My gaze inadvertently landed on Arthur, who was actually in good shape.

»We're fighting together, side by side«" Varay asked the question like a statement, but the question was still identifiable in her tone.

»No.« The one word was enough to convey the message: 'You are weakened, let me fight.' The word also caused a deep resignation in me. Arthur would not accept help, that was clear. So that's how it would go? When had Arthur become so much stronger than the rest? But maybe that was exactly what we needed: a hero. But was Arthur capable of it?