Love Can Save {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Garroth

The bloodbath was never ending.

So many had already gone down in the fighting, and I dreaded to think about how many of those would never rise again. I had seen guards I had helped train with missing limbs, holes in their stomachs, bone peeking through layers of gore. Just thinking about it made me sick. These young lives cut short trying to defend a village that had no chance against this region dead-set on destroying us.

I leaned against the side of a building, letting the tip of my sword rest against the cobblestone path. Right in the heart of the city, I didn't see or hear any soldiers nearby, yet I kept my guard up and my senses alert. Despite that, I cursed the fact that I had left my canteen back at the barracks. On the Island. Which was now guarded almost as much as Lady Aphmau's old house where the children were being kept.

Why did Aphmau have to take all the magick wielders with her?! Especially Lucinda! We could've used her help to close the portal and keep the Island safe, but now we have to worry about guarding it instead of forcing these bastards away! Does Aphmau even know that Tu'la is here? Or has something happened to her? Thalia did say it might not work... Oh Irene, don't let Aaron's sacrifice for her go to waste just so she can save him and kill herself in the process!

There was a commotion farther down the street, and I immediately lifted my sword, mentally preparing myself for the slaughter that was about to occur. The action of taking a life over and over again repulsed me, but I did what I had to do, Anything for Phoenix Drop.

I pushed my tired limbs into motion, running towards the violence at a fraction of my normal speed. It didn't help that I had slices all over my arms, as well as a gash from my hip to my left kneecap which made any movement feel like a stroll through the Nether. But the screaming really pushed me into overdrive.

I turned the corner and found myself right in the middle of the old village, like, how it was when Aphmau first arrived. Right before me was Dale and Molly's first house. And in front of their house...

The earth swayed under my boots, and horror and repulsion overrode any trace of nostalgia. For in front of my eyes was Alexis, poor little Alexis who had suffered so much in her youth, screaming loud enough to rouse the dead as she tried to fight her way through the two soldiers blocking her path. She kicked and flailed and scratched as a feral animal would, but it was no use. The third and fourth soldier had already brought her father down with a thrust through the heart.

With a look of disgust, the woman who had made the final blow kicked Dale off of her sword, a thick spurt of blood following as my old friend collapsed to the ground, choking on his own blood. I could no longer hear Alexis's screaming as my own roar of fury erupted, sending my feet into action. I raced across the remaining distance and cut down the woman before she had a chance to react. My appearance made the other three hesitate, giving Alexis the opportunity to finally get her sword high enough to strike.

It took minutes longer than it should have to dispatch the remaining Tulians, but in our exhausted state, I was glad we even managed it. But grief and unadulterated rage was ruling our actions. Fury for the man who had raised the girl beside me, the man who had been a better father than my own, a mentor who had done everything he could for Phoenix Drop, and yet still grieved for his traitorous son Brian.

Alexis fell to her knees, tears running freely down her face as she cradled Dale's head in her lap, wiping away grime with one hand as the other frantically tried to stop the bleeding. "Dad, Daddy, oh Daddy..." The words kept tumbling out of her mouth like the tears now coating his face. I picked up his discarded sword and pressed it into his open palm, his weakening muscles automatically tightening around the hilt.

She looked up at me with glistening cheeks, barely able to speak around the sobs. "He's still breathing, maybe, maybe..." But I shook my head, kneeling next to her and pulling the girl I had known her entire life into my arms. She still held one of Dale's hands as she sobbed into my chest, unable to cope with the loss of her dearly beloved father.

"I'm sorry Alexis," I murmured, running my armored hand through her hair. "Maybe if Lady Aphmau were at the height of her power but... by the time we even found her, it would be too late. It... it already is." For Dale's chest had halted in it's subtle movement, and the hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword and relaxed, returning the weapon to the cobblestones.

I let the poor girl grieve for another long minute, but eventually I had to force myself to get moving. Sitting here and crying will do nothing to avenge Dale. It will only get us killed. I draped Alexis's arm over my shoulders and pulled us both to our feet, staggering as my weary body protested.

"No!" She cried, reaching for the body of her father. "We can't just leave him here! We can't leave him all alone!" I remained silent, knowing that my voice would break. Instead, I picked her sword up off of the ground and started trudging away, pulling the reluctant Alexis along with me. She struggled, but not hard enough to pull away; she knew her father was gone. She just wanted that knowledge that she didn't leave his side by choice.

When her crying still rang out as we entered the plaza, I made sure I looked her straight in the eyes. "Alexis, I know that you are grieving, but unless you don't quiet down, we may join your father within a matter of moments." I watched as a steel hardened behind her lilac eyes, and her wailing reduced to a quivering in her jaw. I gave her my best attempt at a smile, reaching up to squeeze her shoulder. Well, to attempt to squeeze it through her armor.

"Look, you are in no condition to fight." She started to protest, but I silenced her with a look, still leading her through the plaza, past the hill where Lady Irene still resided. "Grief will only spur you to act as you would not normally, and that will only lead to disaster. What I want you, what I need you to do, is to go to Lady Aphmau's old house, up on the hill. Some of the children are up there now, with only the elderly to guard them. They didn't have time to make it to the Island. Please, Alexis, run away from this slaughter and get those children to the beach. From there, either get them on a boat or start walking towards New Meteli."

Alexis raised her chin, training her eyes on mine to avoid the road we had just left, the road where fresh blood coated the stones. "I only go because I trust you. And because I can't leave my mother all alone. Don't let it be said I was a coward. And don't let my father's murder go unavenged." I dipped my head in return, a weight leaving my chest. At least she will be safe for a while longer. As will the children. Irene, let these monsters have a heart; don't let them slaughter the defenseless.

Alexis was about to leave when a commotion turned both our heads. Curses echoed throughout the plaza in a familiar Tulian accent, and my sinking heart knew they had discovered the four we had killed in retaliation. With a shove, I sent Alexis on her way. "Go!" I hissed, shifting my weight so the throbbing in my left leg was down to a minimum. I rolled my neck and raised my gore-covered sword, preparing for the fight that would likely end with my end.

Alexis only hesitated for a moment longer before she raced towards the trees at the edge of the plaza, her mail clinking together along with the clanging of her boots against the stone. Shouts from the soldiers followed her departure, and I knew they had heard her running steps. I only hoped I could delay them for long enough.

Far across the plaza, a group of three soldiers emerged, each looking wary of a trap. I grimaced, too exhausted for any banter or flourish. Instead, I wrapped both hands tighter around the hilt of my sword and charged, filling the air with my broken voice.