"Blade of the Night!" Lucia shouted.
The sky darkened, and a purple beam shaped like a dagger rained down. It hit the rebels who were already struggling in close combat, greatly outmanned.
"Heh, Luciia, look," Ren said. "One of ours just went straight for the enemy archers and mages. Why haven't they run yet?"
"The honor of the beast-people or something," she shrugged. "Don't ask me stupid stuff like that, I have no clue."
"Then maybe I'll put on a little show for the army, heh."
Luciia raised her eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see."
Ren pointed his staff forward. He cast two spells on Rai: Berserk and Haste.
*
Aulora's there! She's standing scared in the middle of them – I have to save her!
Suddenly, Rai felt a burning urge to kill, and his body moved faster. His teeth clenched on their own in anger, tears filled in his eyes, and a bit of blood ran from his nose.
What the hell is happening to me?
One of these damn mages must've cast a spell on me that…
Rai's thoughts went silent.
The knight felt like the burning desire to destroy had taken over his mind, his soul, and his heart.
*
"Even… even this, I'm not good enough…?" Aulora muttered under her breath. "That area spell shaped like a dagger broke through my defense. We have to run," she whispered. "Run!" she screamed, crying.
"We're staying," one of the arches said. "Dying next to our leader is the highest honor for us."
Aulora let go of her staff and collapsed onto the grass, drained and hopeless.
So… this is how I die? Here, completely by accident, because I picked the losing side? Or maybe it's because I should've used offensive spells? But what would've happened then? How many people would I have killed… and how many more would I have had to?
I don't get any of this! What am I supposed to do?!
"This is weird," one of the mages said. "The enemy army isn't shooting at us or coming closer – they're just staring at us, like they're waiting for something."
"We could use that to –" the archer started, but didn't finished. A sword pierced his chest.
Everyone else on the hill tried to cast close-range spells, stab the mad knight who had suddenly appeared, or just do anything to stop him.
But the knight didn't slow down, no matter how much damage he took. He growled like an animal, and his armor was soaked red with blood.
After a moment, he got closer to Aulora. She tried to move away but couldn't stand or run – her legs wouldn't obey, shaking violently.
"Please… no…" she whimpered through her sobs. She looked at the Atoria army, which was already retreating, leaving them alone.
The knight raised his weapon to strike her, but froze halfway through the swing. His hand was shaking, like he was fighting himself.
"No… I don't want to…" came a familiar voice from under the helmet, sounding like a plea for help.
"Ra-Rai?" she whispered, unable to believe what was happening.
Nevai appeared between them and drove his claws into Rai's neck without hesitation. Rai spat blood and, one last time, locked eyes with Aulora.
Nevai looked around. The Atoria army was already beyond the horizon. Motivated by the easy victory and capturing the leader of the rebellion, they marched quickly. Nevai threw Rai's body to the ground with such force that his helmet flew off.
"Rai… no… it's all my fault!" she screamed, crying even harder.
"Hey, kid," Nevai said, his back to her. "If you want to survive, stop whining and give me your hand."
"You don't get it! He… he was my friend. Someone must've hypnotized him and–"
"I'll give you four seconds. You come with us, or you stay here alone. One… two…"
Still shaking all over, Aulora got up and grabbed his hand.
Nevai carried her to the ruins of a small wooden house, where Haien, badly wounded, was sitting against the wall.
"J-just… only this many of us left?" Aulora asked, her voice shaking in disbelief. Somebody tell me this is just a bad dream. Please. I want to wake up as soon as possible. Her eyes went wide in shock, and she started crying again.
Nevai sighed.
"As you can see," he said coolly, "an asshole who didn't even thank me for saving his life, and a crying kid. If we make it in one piece to the northeastern desert with a team like that, I might actually start believing in the gods again."
"Who are you calling an asshole?" Haien spoke up, breathing heavily. He had a makeshift bandage along his torso – a deep cut from an axe that somehow he survived. "I wanted to die beside Gerai! Even though I killed an opponent way stronger than me, I still feel robbed of a warrior's honor."
Nevai stepped up and punched Haien in the face. Aulora looked at them, frozen in fear.
"Warrior's honor up my ass. Reminder, idiot: you have a wife and two kids. You want to throw your life away for some made-up glory? The uprising fell as fast as it started. All we can do now is follow Zetto's path, and hopefully he'll get there safely and give our race a new home. Besides, even he, as the Messenger, can't handle everything alone. Bet he'll need strong people to defend the place if anything goes wrong."
"W-where are we?" Aulora asked, voice trembling.
"As far as I could get us - ruins of some house, nine kilometers north of Arun, just below the Vinrea border. Even at this range, I can only transport myself and whoever I touch at the moment. Enough talking. You can rest as much as you want before we start the journey. Nobody's coming for us here. I'll go grab something to eat," he said, then disappeared.
Aulora looked at Haien, who stared sadly at the ground.
"Thanks for the show, kid," he said quietly and gloomily, but with a sincere, weak smile. "It was the last good memory most of them got to have before they died."
Aulora burst into tears again. There was something in Haien's words that touched her – she couldn't tell if it was the words themselves, the tone, or the fact that he made her think of her fireworks display – probably all of it at once.
After a long, exhausting day, Aulora finally fell asleep. She didn't even remember when.
She dreamed of her past. She dreamed of the first time she saw Rai smile.