The Silent Heir

Chapter 44

An:
Hey its me! So sorry for the late update, but for now, enjoy a 3k chap!

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Chaos raged across the night. The shouts of battle, the cries of misery and the smell of iron wafts through the air as Lucy relentlessly swung her blade, aiming to kill her horrified brother. Blow after blow, the two champions traded strikes that would kill lesser men. A single mistake was all it needed.

"Emma please!" Elias shouted in desperation and plea as he narrowly deflected a strike that was aimed at the artery on his neck. "Stop this madness! I-" An animalistic scream was all the young lady could reply, forcing Elias to duck mere seconds from a violent swing.

Elias breathed hard, trying to stabilize his breathing as his heart still beats with the regret coursing through in his veins. He didn't mean to impale that nun, only to disarm her. But tragedy struck then. She was moving too fast and could not control his blade midswing. Within a heartbeat, Elias found his blade impaling the nun.

He was a soldier. Not a murderer, and yet guilt gnawed his bones at the utter dismay of the children and the others. Elias did not even have a minute to mourn the loss of life when he finally saw her. His sister was wearing the clothes nuns have.

He barely even had a second to register why she wore one before she killed one of his men. It was a sentence that should have never been put together. Elias hadn't known his sister well. Fighting on the frontlines tends to make such endeavors impossible. But the time that he did spent with her was different.

Proactive, perhaps even a little desperate to connect with someone else, but never like... like this. No matter how much he tried to reason, Elias could simply not see that persistent, yet timid girl. Only a grieving vengeful lady remained.

And as if that was not enough, her eyes burned like molten gold, just like his. A champion. Elias lamented what trauma she had to go through to attain those accursed eyes. He could still remember their father's eyes glistening with tears as he was pushed to the brink of death.

To be a champion, one must endure pain that would break a man, be it physical or mental. Elias could still remember the hesitance their father showed when he begged to become one. All things considered; he was lucky. He had the support and care of his father who nursed him back to health after beating him thoroughly, unlike some of his peers.

The process made him a champion, but it came at a heavy price. It made him feel cold, almost detached. Yet it was a price he was more than willing to pay if it meant the protection of his family, should the time ever come. Standing before Emma now, it felt as if all of his sacrifice amounted to nothing. Her golden eyes stared back in blind madness as tears escaped them.

"It's me, damn you!" Elias shouted, unease and dismay clawed through his chest as he blocked a narrow strike, aiming directly at the artery near his throat. "Stop this, I-" Lucy threw a hard kick on his shin, breaking his balance.

Elias felt his heart dropped as Lucy roared, slamming her dagger down, aiming to kill. The young heir felt his power coursing through his veins, yet even with its aid, it was still to slow to stop the blow. Too-

"My lady please!" A young soldier intervened, a blade weaver to be exact as she blocked the blow mere inches away. "It is us! It's-"

"Move!" Elias shouted as he dragged the young blade weaver to the ground with him just in time as Lucy swiftly redirected the blow, aiming where the blade weaver's right eye mere seconds ago. The maneuver had left her open and Elias did not hesitate. He kicked Lucy in the hip, buying them time as she stumbled to the ground.