Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 34: The Mayfly

"Master, I...," I shuddered. "I don't know what to say."

"Oh, you don't?" Master Avanka hissed. "Perhaps you would like to explain why you ran your blade through the Fox's stomach in Valedon."

Terror rushed through me when she said that. I knew exactly why she was here. I slowly reached for the hilt of my sword, grabbing it, but not drawing the blade just yet.

"I was fighting for Trident," I informed. "And he killed their soldiers. He's an enemy of... of Trident."

"But not an enemy of Chardan," Master Avanka denied. "Then again, you didn't make the choice to try and kill him for yourself, did you?"

Now, my own Master was telling me that I was being controlled. I was sick of hearing it at this point. I was sure she could sense my annoyance.

"Why do you fight for Trident, Mayfly?" she wondered.

"Because Evan Chambers fights for a future where he controls the fate of every person in Chardan," I answered. "And what you've always taught me was that people like that shouldn't be in power. He doesn't want to protect this country. He wants to rule it."

"So, the way you see it, he's taken advantage of the King's death and the death of Lord Thatch," Master Avanka concluded.

"Exactly," I confirmed.

"And how many people must die before Jonathan Chambers gets what he wants?" Master Avanka wondered. 

"We're at war, Master," I reminded. "You sound surprised that people die when blood is shed."

"We have a bigger threat here," Master Avanka argued. "Tereza. She's the one who's been giving both sides weapons, vehicles, and War Machines."

I thought about what she said for a second. The mercenaries that Jonathan Chambers just hired for the assassination mission had darkness surrounding them. I could sense them even at the distance I was from Fort Arclight. Tereza was a Tuatha assassin, who enjoyed nothing more than controlling others, and bending them to her own will. What Master Avanka said made sense, but I still fought for Trident, not her.

"Just come with me so we can help you," she begged.

"Sorry, Master," I sighed. "I can't abandon what I've been fighting for."

"Then you leave me no choice," Master Avanka hissed. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her katana, and we both drew our blades at once. There was no turning back, now. Only one of us would walk away from the other alive.

"What's that the Fox would say to you during training?" Avanka wondered. "Oh, that's right. Let's dance!"

We held our swords out in front of us, waiting for which one of us would make the first move. Master Avanka didn't for some time, but I didn't either. I wasn't sure whether she would eventually make the first move, or even if I would have to, but it would come eventually. It may as well have been me. I warped right in front of Avanka and hit her with an aura blast. She was thrown all the way to the bottom of the hill of snow, but landed on her bare feet as she slid backward.

"Fuera!" she shouted, and two glyphs appeared behind her feet, launching her all the way back to the top of the hill, right at me! I quickly raised my sword to block a swing from her, but the strength behind Avanka's attack sent me through the air, to the bottom of my side of the hill. I raised my arms to stop my head from hitting the snow, and pushed myself up one more time to land on my feet. When I saw Avanka rushing towards me down the hill of snow, I tossed my sword behind me, grabbing it with my foot, and swung my leg in front of myself as she came close. She quickly raised her blade to block my attack, then I stood on my hands to thrust it forward. Avanka ducked under the thrust, and I grabbed my sword with my hands again before taking a swing at her. She parried the attack, and when I thrust again, she parried and sidestepped before taking a swing of her own. I blocked her attack, but it was so strong that I had to put my other hand on my blade to keep her sword from touching me. Sparks were coming from where our swords met, trying to push each other away from one another.

"'To draw your sword in the service of others'," Master Avanka strained.

"The soldiers of Trident are 'others'," I hissed, then I kicked Avanka right in the chest, staggering her backward several steps. When I took another swing towards her, she raised her hand a cast a Fuera glyph at me, throwing me into the side of the snow hill. I warped behind Avanka to take a swing at her from behind, only for the attack to be blocked before she turned around, swinging her own sword. I blocked her attack, then warped backwards to charge at her with all my strength. I swung my sword as soon as Avanka was in its range, and she dodged backward to avoid the attack. She knew I would have killed her if I landed that attack. I stepped forward for another swing, and she parried before taking a swing with her own sword. Her sword struck my aura shield, but not hard enough to break through it.

"Fierno!" Avanka shouted, rubbing a flaming glyph along the side of her blade. Fire surrounded the entire sword, and it trailed behind the blade as she swung it at me again. I felt nothing but the fire's heat every time Avanka's sword clashed with mine, and my aura shield crackled every time the flames came close. I did my absolute best to stay focused on Avanka's flaming sword, but it was too bright and moved too quickly for me to follow it with how quickly she swung it. All I could do was block and parry as much as I could, but I still felt a few strikes on my aura shield. My APID was indicating that it was about to break, and I couldn't risk letting Avanka land one more hit against it. I unleashed an aura blast that caught her by surprise, sending her flying through the air, and even putting out the flames on her katana and knocking the weapon out of her hands. Before she could even land, I warped underneath her with my sword in my foot, landing two swipes on her, weakening her aura shield, but not breaking through it. Once she landed, I grabbed my sword with my hands, and plunged it through her stomach, shattering her aura shield, and impaling her to the ground. Master Avanka began to cough blood, and bleed out from under herself. My ninjato went all the way through her. I grabbed the hilt of my sword and yanked the blade out of her abdomen, and blood splashed out of her mouth. I knew what I had to do, now. Even though she was my Master, she wasn't my ally anymore. She was my enemy, and an enemy of Trident. I had no choice. I raised my sword above her, but the look on her eyes wasn't a look of fear, and I didn't sense a feeling of dread from her. She was like that. She didn't fear death. It made me want to kill her less, but I still had no other choice.

"I'm sorry, Master," I sighed. "It's over."