The Last Saint

11: The Solemn Winds

Oluja grinned confidently, and Eve charged forwards. Adam ran behind her, but an incredible burst of wind threw him and the others back. Eve and Oluja began to duel, their swords clashing against each other, while Airos stood, raising her hand. The birds began to swarm.

They were fast, and the rain made it hard to see; the wind pushed it right into Adam's eyes no matter which way he faced. Airos manipulated the winds to give her birds a speed boost, and to also make it harder for the group to swing their swords. 

Ryan's arrows kept getting carried away by the wind, making them effectively useless. The swarm of birds made another pass at Adam. He held his ground, but their talons sunk into his flesh. Still, somehow, he survived. Liz and Beth fought their way over to him, and Garamond ran over to Ryan, shooting down several of the birds and saving him.

Adam instructed the girls to fight their way to Garamond and Ryan, and when the swarm made it's second pass, the ground fought them off without any problems. Combined, the birds couldn't overwhelm them. But Airos knew it. She launched her winds at the group, throwing them all in different directions.

On their own, everyone was getting hurt from the birds, as they continued to fly around and swarm, except for Garamond, who  shot them down with ease. Still for some reason, Adam couldn't shake the feeling that there was something out there helping him out. despite the intense winds, he was somehow able to swing his sword steadily, taking out many of Airos' birds. He looked over. Eve was being pushed back by Oluja, who was exceptionally skilled with his sword.

The winds continued to throw Eve around, making it hard for her to fight him fairly. She took a kick to the stomach, and as their swords clashed, he kneed her and shoved her into the mud. She rolled away and charged back into the fight. Adam looked at Airos. If she was stopped, the winds would surely return to normal. He ran towards the playground.

Oluja raised his hand to the sky, and dozens of lightning bolts came down, striking at random all over the park. More and more fell, some nearly hitting Adam. One struck a tree near Garamond. He jumped out of the way, but his ankle became caught under a heavy branch, pinning him to the ground and making him drop his gun. Ryan knelt beside him, his leg injured from the birds, and guarded him, using his bow to swat away the monsters.

Liz and Beth continued to stand back to back, barely hanging on. Adam gripped his sword tighter. He had to stop Airos. He worked his way closer to her, trying to avoid the lightning. She noticed him getting close, and stood up, jumping down to where he was.

"So, you wanna fight me huh Fourteenth?" She yelled smugly.

"I won't let you kill my friends!" He shouted back, running right at her.

She waved her hand, and the wind picked him up, throwing him against a tree hard. He fell to the ground. Airos walked up to him with a smirk on her face. "Oh Fourteenth, you'll have to do better than that!"

Adam struggled to stand, but she picked him up with her winds and threw him again. He gasped in pain, as he fell back to the ground. He saw Eve still fighting Oluja. He parried her, knocking her sword out of her hands. She kept dodging, but she was tired and hurt. Her movements were slowing.

two of Airos' birds flew over. She smiled. "Sorry Fourteenth, but you're more use to us dead. If it helps, I really did believe you could come around to our side, but after the Eighth screwed things up, we couldn't take the chance."

Eve saw Adam and called out to him, trying to run to him, but Oluja cut her hip, and she fell to the ground.

Suddenly time stood still. It was as if the whole world was frozen, except for Adam. The winds and even the rain froze. From behind the tree, Fate walked out, kneeling down beside him.