Blade(Part 4): Midnight

Chapter 21: Anorae

Anorae felt blood in her mouth as she pulled herself to her feet, and throbbing pain in her chest where Aziz struck her. There was a dent in her golden armor, and she felt one of her ribs crack as soon as she landed on her back after being thrown into the air. When she took a step forward, she stumbled, and collapsed to her knees. It was everything she could do not to cause pain to herself, but two of her friend were fighting Aziz himself. Anorae wanted nothing more than to help them, but she couldn't move an inch without more of her own blood spurting from her mouth. She was out of the fight. Suddenly, though, she felt her blood return to her mouth, her ribs healed, and whatever pain in her chest went away. Anorae then realized the familiar healing touch of a Guardian. Shala.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine," Anorae answered. "Thanks to you. Where's Dameon?" Shala pointed to Araxes, who was flying past Anorae, and flew above Aziz. Dameon was sitting behind King Matthias on the dragon's back, and when Araxes flew over him, he jumped off, raising his ancient sword above his head.

"Aziz!" he roared. He brought his ancient blade down on Skaola's King before he could look above him, and it slammed against his head. Dameon's sword didn't so much as scratch him, though. All it did was bounce off of him, throwing Dameon all the way back to Anorae and Shala.

"What happened?" asked Anorae.

"I don't know," Dameon answered. His sword did no harm to Aziz, and Anorae saw that Catherine's own ancient weapon didn't so much as scratch him, either. She then remembered where Marcus went, or what he was going to do. He was going to free the imprisoned New Ones.

"Let's hold him off until Marcus can get here with the gods," Anorae suggested. "Unless we can manage to find a way to kill him ourselves."

"That might be the only way to go about this," Shala sighed, forming her hook swords. Anorae and Dameon pulled themselves to their feet, then all three of them charged forward. Once they were against Aziz, Anorae slammed her shield into his side, throwing him across the ground. Aziz quickly stood up, then Dameon and Shala warped up to him to clash their radiant blades with his cursed blades. Dameon clashed with him first, swinging his ancient sword at his cursed bladestaff. Aziz parried his attack before Shala threw an aura blast at him, staggering him. The Guardian then launched herself to his height with an aura blast from her feet and thrust the stabbing blades of her hook swords at Aziz's armor. Her aura blades bounced off his armor, but staggered him, enough for Shala to warp backward, giving Catherine enough time to loose an arrow of light at him. Her bolt exploded against his armor, then Dameon rushed forward and threw Aziz off his feet with an aura blast. As he fell, Anorae rushed behind him and bashed him with her shield, making him fall on his face instead of his back. No one attacked him until he attempted to rise, at which point Maisa cast a Fuera glyph above him and blasted it downward, keeping him on his chest. Nothing brought more satisfaction to Anorae than seeing the person who wanted her and her kind on her knees even lower than his own knees.

"Serves you right," Dameon growled.

"Oh, does it?" Aziz taunted. "Does this give you satisfaction?"

"I think that's enough out of you," Maisa hissed, then she cast an Eilo glyph over his mouth and froze his lips shut with ice.

"So, you are Skaola's King," Anorae mocked. "Being on your chest suits you more than being on a throne, if you ask me."

"What do you think we should do with him?" Maisa wondered. "I can't do much more than what I'm doing."

"Acran typically punishes war criminals by dumping them in oil and setting it alight," Anorae suggested. "I believe it would be a fitting end for someone such as him."

"The Colonial Republic will want a more humane death, Anorae," Shala warned. "That sort of punishment makes us no better than him."

"It should be Azia that decides his fate," Dameon suggested. "He's as much a criminal to Skaola as he is to Acran and the colonies."

"True," Anorae admitted. Aziz may have killed her father, but she reminded herself that more people had lost much more to his armies. Dameon lost his childhood, Shala and Maisa lost their entire families, and Catherine lost the people who raised her. As for everyone who lived in the colonies, they also lost all of it because of his fantasies. They deserved justice as much as Anorae did.

"More people have lost more," she whispered. She felt Maisa's free hand on her arm, as a sign of comfort. Seeing Aziz powerless, and unable to defend himself, was enough for now. She and everyone else around her seemed to have learned restraint while they fought against Aziz's armies.

"So, have we won?" asked Catherine.

"There's still an army below the mesa to deal with, Catherine," Dameon reminded. "Once they're dead, we can say we've won."

"I see," Catherine understood. Suddenly, a powerful blast of force came from Aziz, sending all of them off their feet. Anorae stood up first, pointing the Blade of Posidas forward from behind her shield. Aziz must have been more powerful than she thought, and while Maisa had him pinned, she had her guard down. Skaola's King charged forth, swinging his bladestaff at Anorae. She deflected his attack with her shield before thrusting her mithril sword forward. Aziz stepped backward to avoid her sword, then began twirling his bladestaff. Anorae held her shield in front of herself, deflecting every strike that Aziz made in an attempt to wound her. Every swing he made seemed stronger than the last, and struck Anorae's shield with more strength every time. Anorae could hardly find an opportunity to attack him, but she suddenly heard a loud explosion behind her, then a bright, radiant beam of white light came from the air and struck Aziz, sending him sliding across the ground on his back.

"They're here," a voice suddenly said. It was Marcus. He landed behind Anorae with his lightshield out and his spear's pommel planted in the ground. Anorae looked up, and all around herself, seeing sixteen beings standing on golden platforms that hovered above the ground. Ametrasa was among them, as was Riohna. It was no question who they were. The gods.