Lauri's voice echoed in his ear.
"Did you miss me?"
Struggling against the black hand holding his shoulder – having dropped his sword after being stabbed – Lauri gripped the dark blade protruding through his waist, intending to hold it still as each shiver sent pain stinging through his entire body.
Twisting his head, Lauri caught a glimpse of the face bearing down on him.
It was… Lauri's own face, as if he were looking in a mirror plunged into the darkest of substances. The head was almost impossible to see with the smoke produced by the now-deceased Weirwood Everburn still clogging the air.
But Lauri did not need to see the face to know who he was speaking to.
"Shadow! Why! Why now!"
Lauri's face distorted in pain as Shadow adjusted his grip on the sword.
Shadow's voice, like his appearance, was a dark reflection of Lauri's own.
Where Lauri's voice was entirely taken by pain, Shadow's voice was full of glee.
"Why now, Lauri? It's the perfect moment, don't you agree? You're out of essence; your little Irregulars aren't anywhere around to offer you aid. It's just you and me, my old friend. I can finally free myself of your incessant light; I can finally rid myself of you and be fre–."
"And here I thought it was too good to be true!"
Shadow's gleeful smile dimmed as Lauri interrupted him.
"It was so peaceful not having you around, not having to worry about you attacking me the moment I dropped my guard. Why can't you just be a good little shadow, like all the other shadows and just stay on the ground like you're supposed to!"
Twisting the sword, Shadow grabbed the back of Lauri's head, forcing his head back until all he could see was the dark sky. Sharp nails dug into Lauri's scalp as Shadow muttered.
"I knew you would find a way to take all the fun out of my achievement…"
Glaring at Shadow out of the corner of his eye, Lauri grinned.
"Well, you are literally twisting the sword in my back."
Seeing Lauri's grin, Shadow frowned.
"What's so funny? I finally have my moment; I finally get to kill you and be free."
Slightly shrugging, Lauri laughed.
"You aren't going to get the chance to kill me, Shadow. For all your worth, you'll never succeed in your one mission in life, not this long night, not ever."
Tilting his head slightly towards Lauri, Shadow's dark gaze dug into Lauri's slim smile. Licking his lips, Shadow would ask.
"And how could you be so sure?"
"It's simple, really… If I die, do you really think you'll be enough to protect everyone? Those Irregulars under my care? Our friends? You have no more reason to stay alive than I do. Work with me, Shadow. Think about how strong we could be. You and I, dealing with every problem with two heads and two sets of hands."
Lauri's voice tensed as Shadow adjusted his grip.
"Please, Shadow, give up on this."
Still tilting his head, Shadow opened his mouth to respond when Lauri broke into action. Swinging his head back, he connected with Shadow's nose. A gasp escaped Shadow's mouth as he staggered back from the pain, acting on the moment Lauri moved forward, sliding the sword out of his waist. Dropping one shoulder, Lauri rolled across the ground, picking up his sword before standing, his sword held up, prepared to defend himself.
Raising his hand, Lauri's expression hardened, seeing Shadow had vanished.
Without a moment's hesitation, he leapt back – from the spot he was standing, Shadow emerged, his own sword cutting through the space, narrowly missing Lauri's chest as Lauri brought his own sword down to swat the sword away.
Rubbing his nose with one hand, Shadow glared at Lauri, letting out an aggrieved noise.
"Ah! Damn it! Come on! I was this close, Lauri! Why couldn't you just let me kill you!"
Raising his sword, Lauri pressed the stump of his left arm against the wound in his abdomen.
"Surely you must hear how that sounds, Shadow. What idiot would allow themselves to die!"
Shadow dashed toward Lauri, their swords crashing together.
Both were equally matched. For each of Shadow's lunges, Lauri's defence was already prepared and in place. For every retaliatory swing of Lauri's sword, Shadow's counter caught it, his next attack already in motion. Both sides fought with an effortless synergy; this was not because both wielded perfect swordsmanship, but because Shadow and master had fought countless times over countless years, because they knew each other as only a shadow and the man who cast it could.
Each skill Lauri had developed was one his Shadow had mastered. And every trick Shadow mastered, Lauri already knew. At this time in their lives, where one was a Human Master and the other an Ascended Shadow, the tide of the fight could only be changed through the use of Lauri's Aspect, and the dark reflection of that power Shadow wielded.
But Lauri's Aspect was out of his reach; he had no essence to call upon, and his Soul Core was devoid of the light that rejuvenated and expedited the rate of his essence regeneration. Shadow had yet to call upon his dark powers.
Something Lauri found to be quite humorous.
"Say, Shadow."
Catching Shadow's sword in a bind, Lauri threw his left arm forward. Shadow, in turn, raised his hand intending to catch Lauri's arm – only for Lauri to swing his leg, slamming it into Shadow's side.
"I can't help but notice, you aren't using any of your Dark Armaments."
So close together with his sword still caught in Lauri's bind, Shadow raised his empty hand – the tips of the shadowy version of [Her Aegis] that Shadow wore turned into razor-sharp claws which he swung at Lauri's chest.
Lauri tried to put distance between the two – Shadow's claws caught Lauri's chest, digging into the light and wounding him a touch more.
Swinging his sword to push Shadow away a bit more, Lauri finished his thought.
"As you would know, I've never suffered from Essence exhaustion before. Do you think there is a correlation between my exhaustion and you not using your powers, or is it just a coincidence?"
"Shut up, Lauri!"
Instead of chasing after Lauri, Shadow threw his empty hand out to the side – Lauri grimaced, knowing what was going to happen next. A shape stretched from Shadow's open palm; within moments, the shadow took shape into an exact replica of the sword in the shadow's other hand.
Lauri subconsciously groaned.
Since the first time they clashed in their Winter Solstice, Lauri and his shadow were equally matched. Their swordsmanship, how they wielded their respective powers. Neither was able to one-up the other; any advantage one found, the other quickly evened the playing field.
But currently, Lauri had only one hand, and he did not have his Aspect to accommodate this problem.
Seeing Shadow now holding two swords, Lauri looked at his stump, then back at Shadow.
Lauri shook his head.
"Nah."
Turning around, Lauri put one foot in front of the other and ran for his life.
Seeing Lauri run, Shadow howled.
"Why are you running!"
Without looking back, Lauri tried to think about how he could get out of this one.
'No essence, a light sword that Shadow can't easily consume because I've infused it with my stories of light and essence, a set of light armour that Shadow can easily consume because I didn't think to infuse it, ah! Dumb, idiot, Lauri!'
The ash cloud produced by the Everburn's perpetually burning branches had lessened, and was lessening at an increasing rate every second as the ash drifted through the air, settling on the ground. The blizzard that was ravaging the reaches of Antarctica was slowly retaking its place.
Lauri's eyes flicked to the shadow on the ground. Lowering his stance, he brought his foot up just in time to deflect one of Shadow's swords; with the other, he used his own sword to deflect. Shadow pulled his swords back into the shadows, preparing another counterattack.
'Ah, I know what to do.'
Lauri dismissed all the Memories he had summoned; at the moment, he remembered having left [Partition's Relief] on his bed. Hopefully its essence and the essence of any Memory he had forgotten to dismiss previously – despite knowing it took only a small amount of essence to summon a Memory, Lauri decided the gamble would be worth it if Lauri was able to return from essence exhaustion sooner.
Stuck in his mind for a second too long, a hand caught Lauri's shoulder, pulling him off balance. Twisting his body, Lauri avoided the first sword, causing it to harmlessly scratch against his breastplate, leaving a line in the light as it was absorbed into the blade.
Lauri brought his hand down on Shadow's hand; the sword hit Shadow's gauntlet, the sudden attack causing him to lose grip on the weapon. The moment the sword fell from Shadow's grasp, it turned wispy, dropping to the ground where it returned to its natural shadow state.
Shadow pinned Lauri in the back with his other sword, knocking Lauri to the ground. Lying on his back, Shadow crawled atop Lauri, his sword poised above Lauri's chest, bringing the sword down a heartbeat later.
Unable to do anything with his own sword due to the angle, Lauri cast it aside. Grabbing the blade with his hand, pain immediately flared in Lauri's hand as the blade cut through the armour of Lauri's gauntlet, digging into the flesh of his fingers. Blood dripped down the length of the sword as Lauri struggled to stay alive.
"There we go."
Shadow leaned down, pushing the sword with both his hands.
"Do me this favour, Lauri. Just die for me to live free."
Struggling under the mounting pressure, the sword slid a few inches, its tip pressing against Lauri's chestplate. Gritting his teeth, Lauri bit back the instinct that he was fighting against. The human urge to let go of the very thing that was causing him agony. Even a moment's hesitation would lead to Lauri's end.
"Shadow–"
Bearing down on him, Shadow would smile.
"Yes, Lauri. Are these your last words? I hope they're good ones."
"It's just, just–"
The sword slid a fraction, pressing through Lauri's armour as the very tip pushed into his chest.
"It's just what, Lauri? What could you possibly say that's going to save you right now?"
Biting his lip, Lauri winced as he drew blood. Spitting his bloody saliva to the side, Lauri smiled.
"I was just wondering, how lucky do you feel? I'm feeling incredibly lucky all of a sudden."
Shadow's smile slipped a fraction.
"What?"
A warhammer slipped through the swirling cloud of ash and snow, planting itself firmly in Shadow's side, throwing him off Lauri. A fraction of a second later, as he flew through the air, another invisible strike planted itself on the opposite side of Shadow's body, tossing him in a different direction.
Tossing the sword aside, Lauri let out a heavy, shaky breath.
Standing over him, Danse levelled his warhammer at Shadow.
"Lauri, what is that thing!"
Tilting his head toward Shadow, Lauri took a deep breath as he held his hand up to Danse, who was quick to help Lauri to his feet. Steadying himself against Danse, the older man looked at Lauri, concern explicit on his face.
Danse looked at the thing that writhed on the ground a very short distance from them. A string of curses ran from its mouth as it picked itself up.
Furrowing his brow, Danse's jaw hung open for a moment before he forced the question out of his mouth a second time.
"Lauri, why does it look exactly like you?"
Leaning against Danse, Lauri shook his head. It had been such a long day.
First the surprise fight against the Whispering King, then the Rhino's destruction and the subsequent fight against the Weirwood's Everburn, and now fighting his own Shadow.
Lauri murmured, his words barely carrying over the blizzard.
"My… It's my…"
Danse cut his eyes toward Lauri.
Raising his head, Lauri looked into Danse's eyes.
"That is my Flaw."
"Damn it, Danse! You couldn't have waited a second longer! How is this fair!? How is any of this fair to–"
Shadow's outcry was cut short as he noticed something over Lauri's shoulder, his enraged expression falling away as quickly as his sudden appearance. With Danse by his side, Lauri knew he would be safe to turn his back on the shadow. So he did, turning around; he saw what Shadow was looking at.
Through the blizzard he saw it.
The rest of the Irregulars.
Mele had summoned her bow, an arrow nocked, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
Sansa was on her knees, kneeling amongst a group of dead Weirwood Saplings, resting her head against the pommel of her sword.
Katrina and Lucky were…
They were…
Lauri's vision grew blurry as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.
They were talking frantically; Katrina seemed to be on the verge of tears, Lucky's expression was solemn.
Their hands were bloody; Katrina was holding bandages. In his hands, Lucky held a bag of powder upside down, letting the powder fall down. Despite the bag being able to comfortably fit in the palm of his hand, the powder stored within had yet to run out.
And the powder…
It was falling onto…
"No…"
Lauri's voice was little more than a croak; the tears blurring his vision rolled down his cheeks.
"Oh… Vick…"
Vick lay motionless between Katrina and Lucky.
Everything below her waist was gone, blood seeping from the torn remains of her body, pooling in the ashen snow beneath her.