Episode Twelve: Duel
The day had dawned foggily, but the mist was beginning to clear by the time Kreis made his way into the field where the duel was to take place. For the safety of the onlookers, no one was allowed within a wide range of the participants.
Makes me feel really great about what I'm getting into. Kreis knew the rules were somewhere in his fogged mind, but at the moment all he could think about was imminent death.
He knew that this was the right thing to do. According to Kieme, he was the only one who had a chance to win. It wasn't a duel to the death, after all-most of the time, both participants were able to walk off the field of their own power. Most of the time. But accidents happened, and when the stakes were high-as they were now-overzealous actions led to fatalities. Perhaps Sephoni had been ordered to kill him. She didn't seem like the ethical type.
Kreis saw that Kieme had finished the negotiations and motioned for him to come forward. Sephoni was on her way towards the center as well. This was it. There was no backing out-there never had been any backing out. Kieme was leaving the circle, and she touched his arm and whispered to him in passing. Kreis closed his eyes for a moment in concentration and meditation.
What she whispered was, "I'm not going to let you die."
Sephoni grinned at Kreis as she strode towards him. She reached out her right hand to shake his. "Pleased to meet you, brother," she said frankly. "This is going to be fun."
Kreis looked uncertain-what was he supposed to say to that? Fighting certainly wasn't his idea of fun-getting killed even less. Sephoni was smaller than he was, but he was afraid of her. Had he made the right choice?
I'm doing this for Nele's people, he told himself firmly. So they don't get massacred by Aradinea's army. Besides, the goal of a duel isn't to kill each other-that doesn't mean it doesn't happen-
"You know the rules, right?" Sephoni said.
"Yes," Kreis replied numbly. "The first to fall..."
"Loses. Good boy. Ya ready?"
No, thought Kreis. "As ready as I'm gonna be," he said. His throat was dry.
Sephoni waved to the referee. "At the flash, then." She counted below her breath. "One, two, three!"
There was a flash of light, and a gust of wind sent Kreis staggering backwards. "I don't go easy on anyone, even if you have got some human in you," Sephoni said. "All the more reason to fight!"
Kreis drew his sword. And I can't go easy on you, either. The wind split to make a path through which he could run towards his opponent. She saw him coming, grinned, and drew her own sword to parry his blow. They crossed swords a few more times until Kreis got the upper hand, using his weight to push Sephoni down. She slid away and sent another gust at him, which Kreis again split-but Sephoni used the moment it took to send a shock at him. He cried out as it hit him, stumbling back and cursing.
"Oh, come on, you've gotta try!" taunted Sephoni. Still tingling from her spell, Kreis regained his footing and held out his sword in front of him, using it as a focus. Sephoni tried something else, binding a yellow-green aura to her body, a sort of shield Kreis had never seen before.
Far away, Kieme cursed. I should have briefed him on this, she thought. I bet he's never seen an absorption shield before. Dammit, why didn't I--! She clenched her fists. If things looked bad, she didn't care about the rules, she was going to step in. She could not afford to let him get killed. I made a promise...
A faint darkness now trailed after his sword, and the cloud seemed to have sunken into his skin. It was a simple shield-almost insultingly simple, thought Sephoni disdainfully.
"You're a disappointment," she said.
Kreis didn't care to reply. Sephoni seemed able to predict his every move, to be a step ahead of him as they matched blows. She was grinning, remaining on the defensive, as he began to look a bit desperate. The first tremor, though, actually took her by surprise. The ground below her had begun to shake. Each time their swords met, the tremors became stronger, but Sephoni was unfazed after the first moment of shock.
And Kreis bit his lip and broke away when he realized what was going on. She was just absorbing his tiny earthquakes-was it her shield? The green did seem to get brighter whenever his magic touched her...how could she do that? Was it possible?
Was the green still getting brighter?
"We're linked, dear." Sephoni's smile seemed even more unnerving. "It's the same as the energy-granting spell; I just don't need your permission to take your energy. Why don't you fall now, and save yourself any more suffering?"
Kreis glared at her in silence. He was cold-he could feel his energy draining. But didn't he know how to break this spell? If it really was the same as the engery spell, he should be able to-
He held out his sword and dragged the blade deliberately over the top of his arm. A red line appeared, and then scarlet rivers began to dribble down towards his wrist. Sephoni let out a shriek.
He broke it, Kieme thought in relief. Because the energy is magnified, so's any pain received by the recipient of the energy. He looks like he cut himself pretty well-she should really feel that!
"Cute," Sephoni said.
"We just need to finish this," Kreis said, still weary from the effects of the absorption. "All eyes are on us. I'm so goddamn sick of this..."
"Don't use the Lord's name in vain!" Sephoni cried, her smile turning into a mask of anger. She sprinted towards him, and Kreis could barely get his sword up in time. He cried out in pain-there was power behind Sephoni's blow, and he almost fell to the ground then as every bone in his body was crying out in pain. Now, she was striking to kill, and Kreis knew he had to fight with everything he had if he wanted to survive.
And, although he didn't have her magical expertise, he was a stronger and better swordsman, when it came down to that. She was going after him wildly, her serene exterior broken, her concentration gone. Now that she wasn't using complicated shields or spells, Kreis had no trouble keeping her at bay. She was beginning to breathe heavily, and even stumbled a bit as she dodged one of his blows.
I'm going to win, Kreis realized suddenly. He knew he had to concentrate, but the possibility had never occurred to him before. He seemed to gain back the energy that he'd lost to Sephoni and more.
And then he heard a shriek from the Queen's side of the audience, and turned to see Lady Nele swinging a sword at him, too quickly to block-
He waited for the blow that would end his life, but it never came. Instead, he heard a scream choked by gurgling blood, and looked up slowly to see Sephoni with her sword embedded in Nele's chest.
"I told you not to interfere," Sephoni hissed, drawing the sword out of the woman's breast. Somehow her blade had melted through Nele's armor. Sephoni seemed unmoved by her action; she just stared at Nele disdainfully as the older woman slumped to the ground, coughing as life fled her body. "That was stupid. Very, very stupid."
Kreis stared at the scene in horror, too shocked to think or act. Sephoni could have cut him down then, but instead, she just shook her head.
"I think this settles it," she said. "No hard feelings, Kreis. I guess I let my temper get away with me."
Kieme, followed by Aradel and Triana, were running down towards them.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Kreis. Until we meet again." Sephoni began to walk away.
"Sephoni!" Kreis called after her. She turned around.
"What?"
"Why-why did you-" he stuttered.
"She only would have got in my way in the end," Sephoni said. "She was only Elorhan, after all."
"Kreis, you're hurt!" Triana gasped, examining the arm that he had wounded. That wasn't the beginning of it-the raw anger behind Sephoni's blows had left him aching all over.
"The battle's off," Sephoni called back cheerfully to the group. "Catch ya later!"
"Excuse me," Kreis said softly, "but, seeing as things seem to be taken care of, I don't think I can stand any longer." And with that, he sank to the ground, panting. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea-the landing jarred him and made him bite back a yelp. Unfortunately, he remained conscious.
Kieme knelt down beside him. "You've done what I asked," she said, "so I must also keep my side of the bargain. From now on you owe me nothing. I-I thank you," she whispered. "I'm the one is in debt to you." She placed a hand on his forehead. "Now rest for a while."
And Kreis had no trouble complying, as the world faded into darkness.