Chronicles Of Yositania: Of Demons And Men

Chapter 12: Struggles

"So, my adversery disappeared into shadows the moment you looked back?" asked a piggyback riding Winda.
"Yeah, but as your condition needed immediate attention; I didn't pay it much heed.'" promptly replied a piggyback ride giving Cronos; as he sprinted through the corridor.
"Well anyway, what's gone is gone. But I really don't think that he himself triggered the disappearing act."
"I belive the same."
"Oh and Cronos, thank you. You really saved me from the clutches of certain death back then."
"Don't mention it. I........... only did what seemed right to me."
"But you did it at a great risk of your-" she paused suddenly just as Cronos came to a halt.
The corridor before them was crawling with invaders.
Cronos was just about to transform both of his arms into his trademarked black blades; when he realized that he didn't have the spiritual energy to perform the act. However, that wasn't an issue at the moment.
But apparently, that wasn't what his rider had planned.
"Cronos, I'm letting myself down," said Winda in an almost commandeering tone; just as he reached for his left pocket.
"Are you sure?" he asked in a slightly hesitant manner as he extracted a refill tome. She really shouldn't be strong enough to fight others just yet. However, this was Winda he was talking about. She always did have a knack for defying his predictions- which he had learned quite clearly through his repeated losses against her (back when they were kids).
"General Zhou is currently being held captive in his own room, and is most certainly in need of your help. So, leave these guys to me, and go save him," she replied in the same commandeering tone as she descended from his back, and stepped up beside him.
This was definitely a pretty good plan; considering that even a severely weakened and completely unarmored Winda was still perfectly capable of wiping the floor with a few footsoldiers. However, against a number this large, "I am afraid I can't leave you alone with this many invaders- not at your current state," he plastered the refill tome on his right arm, "And besides, my master is strong. He can handle a few more minutes," he activated it.
They were going to go there together.
"Well, don't fall behind," she replied with a smile; as she summoned her unsheathed sword on her outstretched right arm.
"I won't," he transformed both of his arms into black, irregularly curved blades.
And in the next second, after sharing a quick glance with each other; both of them charged at the enemies before them. Time was of the essence; and they had no desire to waste any of it.
-x-
Claudia narrowly ducked under a horizontal swing from the left, and immediately tapped the ground with her staff; instantly blowing the assaulter off her feet with a huge errupting fist from the ground.
Without stopping, she whirled the staff around herself; making the fist enlargen, whirl around her, and then launch itself spinningly at the enemies surrounding her- five were knocked away in the following second, but two managed to leap up just in time.
And just when they were about to swoop down on her-- she purified one of the soldiers with a single pulse of spiritual energy from her outstretched palm. As the soldier began to stir, she moved to the next one-- Claudia conjured up a barrage of icicles and fired them in all directions- only three of which hit their targets.
Her knees felt wobbly, weak; but she forced herself to stand. Only a few more minutes, just a few more minutes.
She took three of them down with a single air whip, and three more by unleashing two errupting fists under them; just as they were about to gang up on her from behind.
And as she prepared to take down the two charging from the front with another air whip-- she purified a pair of soldiers by providing them with a simultaneous spiritual pulse. Time was running out for her-- Claudia tried to block a swing from the front with her staff; and was almost immediately blown away by the force, landing on her back half a feet away; right before another waiting enemy.
Without a second's delay, she raised her staff over her body; blocking a thrust from that enemy by a hair's breadth, and sweeping the tail end of her staff; knocked him away with an air whip.
She got up immediately; with what felt like an impossible effort, and knocked away a charging invader with another air whip- which left her on the verge of collapsing; but with all of her will, she kept herself together. They were all depending on her.
She had to keep them distracted; until she was done.
-x-
Selena watched her opponent with calmly hatred-filled eyes, and he looked back at her with the same clear eyes. His destroyed left sleeve, singed arm and partially singed face betrayed his calm demeanor- boldly representing that one time he almost got taken down by one of her explosive arrows.
And this face, this demeanor was one she had grown to hate almost passionately over the course of their battle. It was unbearable. It made her sick, and strengthened her desire to kill him beyond all possible limits. And this reaction was not an ordinary one.
Something was a bit off about her today.
She leapt back while firing an arrow, and it was deflected away.
She fired two more simultaneously and followed them up with a flaming one by leaping to her left. He dodged the first two almost casually, with a single left lean-in and caught the third one by the shaft with his intact hand.
Even though he was on a wheel-chair, his defense was not hindered in any way. It was calm, casual and fluid; almost as if his fighting style itself had always been designed for a wheelchair. It was unbelievable.............. and infuriating beyond belief.
She loaded one of her final arrows into her bow- a smoke creating one, and took aim; forcefully calming the anger, hatred and frustration within her. Her supplies were almost over. Now was not the time to use them carelessly.
She had to figure out a hole, a weakpoint in his defense. It certainly existed. No defense was perfect.
-x-
Claudia desperately stood on her two legs and fought back as hard as she could, as the endless assault from the invaders continued.
She summoned fists, fired icicles, surged lightning and barely blocked strikes- as her spiritual energy depleted bit by bit, and as her legs grew weaker still. All in her hopeless attempts to hold them out until it was done; to keep their attention on her.
She tried to knock out an entire group with an air whip- which was utterly evaded by everyone except one. She followed it up with a barrage of errupted fists; but they too, were mostly evaded. The effort of which finally forced her knees to give away; making her accidentally dodge an incoming slash from the back- which she hadn't even noticed in the first place.
In her effort to get back into the battle, she immediately countered it by summoning a barrage of fists around her- only this time, nothing happened.
The sheer shock of this forced her to completely miss her opportunity to get back up; and she could only watch in greater horror as a sword knocked her raised staff out of her hands.
The sheer terror and helplessness that overwhelmed her in the next second; was far greater than any she had ever experienced before. And she could only watch in stunned disbelief as the invaders slowly encircled her.
For a second, they stared at her, and she stared at them. Their eyes only reflected hatred, disgust and contempt. And hers most certainly reflected a disbelieving horror, an almost paralyzing horror.
Her brain was clotted up with fear, and the shattered bits of her focus were scurrying around in the deepest depths of her consciousness- trying desperately to get back together, to think out a plan. It was almost as if her staff was the cog holding all of her together, and the moment it was taken away from her; everything collapsed.
A kick landed on her head, not forcefully; but almost mockingly. And then one more, and then another, and another and soon; showers of kicks were raining down on her. And all that she could do, was to just cover herself with her hands.
She had no means to defend herself, no weapons to retaliate with and no external help to rely on. She was truly powerless before this humiliation.
She had one job; and she completely ruined it.  Now, because of her incompetence, her family was going to suffer. Because of her incompetence, these bastards were going to achieve their goal- whatever that may be.
She wanted to die. She wanted to just........ die. Tears began to flow uncontrollably from her eyes. Tears, borne from the utter frustration of not being able to do anything, of the utter shame of being reduced to such a state and the utter disappointment of failing her duties so miserably.
If she only had a weapon, any weapon............. then at least she could have died whilst fighting back, not like this; not like..... a stray dog.
But there was no weapon in her hands. There was no plan in her head. All that lay there, was shame and disappointment.  And a desire to stop existing.
They trusted her; and she failed them all like this. They depended on her, for something only she could have done; and she disappointed them bluntly. She was a weakling. A weakling who didn't have the mettle to stand up for herself.
She wasn't strong............. like them. She wasn't as brave as those three. She was a weak coward. It has always been like that. And she only had herself to blame.
The vision before her was slowly darkening from the sides. Guess it was time.
And then, it happened.
A gash of wind blew past her; throwing a bunch of cut-up legs on the air as it did- which stopped the barrage instantly. The invaders nearest to her screamed in agony and fell to the ground; clutching their cut down, bloodied legs.
And before her, stood two soldiers- with their back turned towards her, and their swords drawn at the surrounding invaders.  And surrounding the fifteen invaders, stood the entire regiment of the capital- all of their swords drawn and pointed at the invaders.
-x-
Selena began dashing to her left; firing the loaded smoke arrow as she did. Even without his legs, Prince Wun was a terrifying opponent- she hated to admit it, but it was true. However, even his astonishingly adept defence had its weakpoint; and she had found it. Now, she was finally going to avenge her mother.
As expected, he caught the arrow just before it was about to pierce his heart; and almost instantly, the arrow burst into a cloud of thick smoke; engulfing him and the area around completely.
Without a second's delay; she dropped her bow, took out her knife and rushed straight at him- utilizing her ability to run silently to its greatest extent. Even in the thick cloud of smoke, she knew exactly where everything was. And thus, she was able to seamlessly transition her dash into a leap just as she was about to run onto him. She grabbed onto the left back handle right before racing past its range, and using it as a support; spun around in mid-air and jammed the knife through his neck- splattering the night air with a gush of beautiful, red blood.
She had done it! She had avenged her mother- the blood was not from his neck; but from the hand that he had raised around his neck in the last second. This, was all that she could process before he grabbed her stunned hand with his free one, spun her around his head and slammed her onto the ground before him.
The impact, was strong enough to shake her body up to its core and etch the message deep into her psyche; she had lost.
No, it wasn't over yet! She wasn't going to let it be over yet! She still had the knife, and his head was so close-
"If you are planning on using the knife again on me; I am afraid that it won't work," replied the prince in an almost frighteningly stern tone; just before she was about to attempt a second jamming. "So please surrender peacefully."
Surrender................ peacefully? How could she surrender peacefully now? How could he dare to even propose such a thing? No, she was going to take him down; even if it was the last thing that she ever did! That was her promise to herself!
In one swift motion, she swung her left leg at his head- which he effortlessly evaded; immediately transitioned it into a vault-over by using his iron-like hand, and landed behind him- freeing her hand in the process. Now, she only needed to get away and pick her bow up.
However, she had greatly underestimated the severity of her hatred, the intensity of her fury and the strength of her wrath.
And it was this hatred, this fury, this agonizing wrath that forced her to jam the knife onto his back- even though she knew very clearly that it was going to be deflected away, even though she knew it all; she still did it, like a vengeful moth drawn to a mesmerising flame.
She just couldn't resist the temptation of stabbing him in the back, of initiating such an obvious attack, of completely squandering this opportunity. That.............. was the true extent of the influence that her rage had over her.
With the ferocity of a feral beast, she jammed the knife onto his back; fully knowing what was going to happen next.
And in the next second, it was caught by his whirled around, non-bleeding hand.
However, she wasn't done yet. She couldn't be done yet. She had to kill him. But why? He had to die. Was he truly the one responsible? He had to perish. Did she know for certain? She had to stab him over and over again. Why was she feeling like this? She had to avenge her mother-
"If you do not surrender peacefully; I am afraid I will have to put you down," he said in the same stern tone; looking into her eyes.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP AND DIE!" she yelled in pure hysteric rage as she pulled out an exploding tome- which was immediately set on fire; and his eyes instantly widened in shock. Ah, it was so refreshing! So ravishing!
She was going to kill him. She was going to end his vile life. It was his fault. It was all his fault. He was the only one to blame. He was the only one responsible. He was the only one who had to die. She was not to blame. He was the villain. She was the vicitim. He was the monster. She was the heroine.
She was going to take him down with her.
Was this really her? Did it matter?
No, it didn't. All that mattered was taking him out.
-x-
'Wun, a king must always protect his kingdom; and a human must always help their fellow humans; no matter who they are. That, is the Crestinian belief.'
Without a second's hesitation, Wun encased the body of the girl in strengthened black flames- riight up to the fingers holding the tome. And he did it in the blink of an eye.
The girl had tried to murder him repeatedly throughout this night. Every single one of her arrows had been fired with the intent to kill. And every single one of her associates was a threat to his family.
However, at that moment; none of that mattered to him. To him, she was just another human; a human who, in her desperation, was trying to take her own life. And he was just stopping her from achieving that; even at this huge a risk to his own life. It was unwise and foolish- he knew that very well. But if humans stopped helping each other just because it was foolish and unwise; how were they supposed to call each other humans?  How were they supposed to move forward, if there was no one to pull up the confused and the crestfallen; just because it was 'irrational'? No, helping others is never irrational. In fact, it is the most rational thing to do.
He was weak back then. But now, he had the strength. He had the strength to protect those he cared about, and help those who needed his help. If he couldn't even do that, how was he supposed to face Aldora in the afterlife? She was waiting for him, she was waiting for him to return as a king, and he was not going to return as someone who wasn't even a human. He was going to make her wait worthwhile.
The girl............ was confused and in pain. All that she needed, was for someone to help her, to pick her up gently. And if he survived this, he was definitely going to talk to her about it, about her issues and her suffering. Perhaps over a cup of warm, creamy milk. He was a good listener after all.
Her safety was now secure; but his still wasn't. And so, without a second's delay, he started his own protective encasing. The tome was going to explode any millisecond now, and he had no intention of dying without a fight.
He had only managed to cast a light layer of black flames over himself; when the tome exploded with a terrifying ferocity.
In an instant, his layer was blown away; and the explosion hit him point blank.
Everything went pitch black after that.
-x-
Selena stared blankly at her enemy's heavily burnt, bruised and sooted body. The explosion had left her completely unscathed; but had almost killed him. In a way, her plan had worked out way better than she had expected. He had been rendered completely defenseless, even more so than she had ever expected to find him. And she, was completely unharmed- fully prepared to end his misery.
In other words, he had saved her life by almost sacrificing his own.
  Did it matter? Of course it did! No, it didn't! Her job was to end his life. No, her job was to capture him. No, her job was to finish him off! No! Her job was definitely to capture him! Why did it matter? He was going to die one way or another. So she should just finish him off here and now- it mattered because he had saved her life. And why did that matter? Why did one good deed of a scumbag matter?! It mattered because she owed him her life. No she did not! Yes, yes she did, and she knew it. No, that was a complete accident! Then why was she completely unharmed? Because he tried to play the hero; like he always did! And this time, it just didn't work out as well as it had done in the past. And now, she was going to end his life; end his false heroism. She was actually doing a service to the whole world, by ending this fraud's life. That was not true, and she knew it! Well even if it was, it didn't matter. She didn't care. All that she had to do, was to kill him. Why should the reason matter? This....... this was not who she was. Yes, this was exactly who she was. She was not a murderer. Yes! Yes she was!
With a maniacal grin, Selena raised her knife, and slammed it down. Only, a hand made of the purest light stopped her just before she had done so. And before her, beside the chair of the prince; stood the owner of the hand- a light encased figure of a kind woman. A woman she had never seen before.
The 'Clang!'-s of sword clashes disappeared, the flutterings of leaves stopped, and the howling of the night wind concluded. The world around her came to a sudden halt.
And before she could bat an eyelid; she discovered herself standing in a pearly white void- which was being "devoured" by an ominous darkness.
The light-encased woman had disappeared.
Her knees gave away in the sheer shock, and she fell palm-first onto the "ground". Just what had happened in the last few seconds?
-x-
Jarroch walked at the highest velocity that she could conjure; for her master awaited her beyond that altar. Just two more seals. And then, her long journey would finally be over. Her men lay dead just outside the door. Well, they weren't really her men. No, disgusting humans could never be her men. And a nauseating human certainly could never be her king.
No, only a purespirit demon could be her master. And right now, he was awaiting her services. Her services of freeing him from his seals, his prison.
He has waited and suffered a long time. And now, it was time for him to return.
Those fools had enjoyed their seats in power for far too long. Now, it was time to pull them straight back down. Now, it was time to end their suffering, for they had suffered far too much, for far too long.