Nightmare's End

Present: A Dance of Blood and Fire

Lady Maria's eyes snapped open.  Something had interrupted her slumber. Perhaps my wait is over, my torment can end... she said to herself. She strained her ears, and she thought she faintly heard a familiar sound. A dream lantern. A hunter...free?

The intruder's footsteps grew louder as the seconds drew on. As great doors to her tower creaked open, she could see from the corner of her eye the intruder, clothed in the Crow Feathers of Eileen and the silver of a Cainhurst knight. Something in the figure's stride told her this one was male. Gripping his weapons tightly, the man approached her. Her blood, which wetted the floor around her, stuck to his black boots. With a leather-wrapped hand, the man reached out to her, and Maria grasped his hand firmly with a grip of iron.

"A corpse should be left well alone..." Lady Maria whispered, pulling the shrouded man close. "Oh yes, I know very well... how the secrets beckon so sweetly." Gingerly, she released his hand, almost lovingly. "Only a swift death could release you from your wild curiosity." She stood, grasping the cutlass that laid at her side, and twisted the bladed pommel off with a loud metallic ringing. Slowly, she advanced, wary of any movement her prey made, every step, every slight twitching of his hands. He made a swift slash with his serrated blade, and a moment later Maria was in his face, her blade flying toward his throat. The man, more skilled than she anticipated, narrowly avoided the counterattack. Where was he taught? she thought to herself. All her years of training were coming back. Ah, the thrill of the hunt!

Her blades flew as sparrows do, slicing through the air viciously. She stabbed with her dagger, knowing it would hit its mark and sever a major artery, except... he dodged. The man narrowly avoided bleeding to death, stepping just barely to her left. He merely stumbled luckily, she thought, until she had to twist to pull her arm away from a violent uppercut of her opponent's extended spear blade. In a heartbeat the tables had turned, and the intruder was the one on the offensive, his rugged weapon flying nearly as fast as Maria's Rakuyo. After narrowly avoiding an aggressive horizontal, Maria reconsidered her approach. If I'm not careful enough, I will likely die. I had hoped I wouldn't need to, but it seems I have no choice. She turned her blades around and glanced at each in turn, hesitating for the briefest moment, and pierced her own chest with each blade, coating them in her blood. The Vileblood. The Rakuyo was singing now, the cursed blood dripping along its length.

She roared at the hunter and leapt towards the rafters to strike him down from above, but he lunged forward before she struck, his feathered cloak flapping in the wake of her leap. She drew her pistol for a moment to take shot, but it ricocheted off his silver mask. He grimaced from the impact, but rushed at her regardless, growling menacingly.

Maria gradually became more and more worried as the duel progressed, the man proving himself worthy of being counted among those with the skill of the Old Hunters. She felt herself getting slower, her attacks becoming further and further from her target, even with her blood reaching out like a hand to a ledge, desperately grasping to make contact. Maria made up her mind. She needed her fire...

Knocking the hunter back with a burst of blood, she levitated for several seconds, gathering her focus on her blood, infusing it with her rage, embers swirling around her. She slashed at him, and the blood followed, but instead of the blood dissipating, it flared up and burned away, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. This is where it ends, you poor fool... Her attacks came faster than even the beginning, and she roared with each swing. She held her Rakuyo up and slammed it down, creating a wave of blood and fire cleaving through the air. The hunter sidestepped and switched his weapon. Maria knew it on sight. Siderite, the sky metal. That's master's weapon; the Burial Blade. He combined the sword with its extended handle to form a light but mighty scythe, and lunged forward, swinging the First Hunter's blade to the sky, lifting Maria of the ground.

Is this the end? Maria thought, her blades falling from her hands. The black and silver hunter hefted the scythe to his shoulder and swung it forward, launching Maria into the shelves along the wall, shattering them like glass. He sprinted at her, not daring to let her recover, and used the curved blade to catch her foot as she stood. As she fell again, the hunter threw his scythe aside and grabbed the pommel blade of the Rakuyo. He pinned her down and held the knife to her throat.

"You would take more from this nightmare? Even if it meant killing me?" Maria breathed, as a few drops of blood ran down her neck. The man remained silent, and released her right arm, pushing the hilt of the dagger into her hand. He leaned back and turned away from Maria. What is this? Maria asked herself. Is he... letting me decide? Hmm...

Lady Maria tossed her dagger away, and knelt beside the hunter, and reached for his shoulder. "What is this mercy, good hunter? You would leave your fate in my hands?" The hunter spoke not a word, but nodded, and stood. He put his hand out to her, offering to pull her up. She accepted, and soon stood beside the man who had moments ago been her prey, and she his. He bowed to her, retrieved his weapon, and passed through the great door, returning to her patients in the research hall.

***

As Lady Maria returned to her throne, she noticed a small envelope underneath. She picked it up and opened it, finding a brief letter addressed to her:

To the elegant Lady Maria,

I know what happened at the coast. The slaughter of innocents. The murder of the infant, the poor wizened child. Poor dear, you think yourself trapped....

- A Friend