Dual Wielding

Corrin let out a breath, his legs aching slightly even under the effects of mana from his frenzied run across the countryside. He’d lost an incredible amount of it from the initial blow, and waves of mana poured out of his body like water escaping a sponge. He wasn’t sure exactly why it was so much harder to hold it in up here, but it didn’t matter.

For the time being, he had plenty.

His head swiveled, taking in the situation in an instant, Wyn was across from the monster, seemingly alive, that was good. Where was his sword? And why were the sticks he was holding on fire? Questions for later.

The beast writhed underneath him, tossing him from its back as it rose, but his mana-enhanced body was easily able to right itself as he landed on the ground in a crouched position, holding his claw sword at his side.

Corrin glanced towards Wyn, and their eyes met, mutual understanding passing between them. Wyn nodded, and their assault began.

Corrin leapt again, channeling mana to his legs to launch himself into the air above the monster as the ethereal flames flared up around Wyn’s weapon, drawing its attention. It worked, but only momentarily, as Corrin was still glowing blinding white himself. The beast swept its clawed arm at the ground, sending mud and rocks hurtling towards Wyn as its muscular tail stabbed up at Corrin.

Channeling mana into his arms now, he brought his sword forward and slammed it into the scythed tail, but the sheer weight behind the blow still knocked him back, and he hurtled through the sheets of rain before landing again, immediately launching off towards the creature again.

This time, he was able to duck under its strike, sliding underneath its body and thrusting up with his sword. It cut into the skin, but only a few inches before it lost its momentum.

Those scales are so damn tough! He thought as he came out on the other side. He spun around just in time to block another crushing blow from one of its claws, but it bit into his shoulder, nonetheless. It seemed that mana gave him more speed and physical prowess than raw strength.

Purple flames raced along the wound, scorching the stomach of the monster as Corrin looked to see Wyn having impaled it as well. But both were forced to jump away as it snapped ferociously with its jaws.

“I think I can do more with my spirit flame if I can get it into a deep wound,” Wyn said, “You cut it open, I’ll burn it away.” He held out his fist, looking towards the monster.

Corrin obliged, hitting Wyn’s fist with his own. “It’s good to be back.”

They raced forwards again, staying closer together this time, Corrin in the lead. He ducked under a claw, then another, darting to the side to avoid its tail. He rammed his sword into the scaly side of the monster, finally thrusting it in deep enough to damage it. As Wyn came up behind him, Corrin yanked his sword out of its body and dove to the side, allowing Wyn to shove the spear halves into the already open wound.

After a moment, the fire around Wyn’s weapons blazed even brighter, causing the abomination’s skin to glow purple from the inside out. The monster howled in pain, ringing Corrin’s ears. He jumped back as it swept its powerful claws across the space where he and Wyn had been standing only moments before.

“That’s better, but still not deep enough, or maybe just not in the right spot…” Wyn muttered. Then he raised his voice. “Corrin! Let’s aim for its heart or head!”

Corrin nodded, he already figured as much. It was easier said than done though. He could feel himself starting to tire. Though he still had plenty of mana—even as it streamed off his body—something inside him still seemed a little strained from using so much of it, like a phantom muscle aching.

That damn demon probably didn’t tell me something.

The beast’s eyes glowed a brighter red as it roared into the night, launching another attack which forced him to evade. Even though he stepped to the side, the force of the blow hitting the ground shook it enough that he almost stumbled, and it pressed the advantage further. Soon Corrin found himself facing an unrelenting attack, and though he couldn’t see him, he assumed Wyn was dealing with the same.

They began to lose ground. Even with the power of mana, the monster’s power was ridiculous, and its extra ten feet of reach made attacking it almost impossible. Still, Corrin fought, leaping around the night like a bug, cutting, stabbing, and evading strikes to the best of his ability. Each time he landed a hit, Wyn would find a way to follow up with a burst of fire, but at the rate they were going, it would take hours to bring the thing down. He had no doubt they’d lose.

“Looks like you two could use some help.” A voice cut through the rain, aging but firm. Corrin recognized it immediately, he’d been chastised by it more times than he could count, sword forms drilled into him through thousands of repetitions. Corrin flipped out of the way of another deadly strike, retreating as Elder Irym and Elder Terris stepped forward towards the monster.

“Most of the others have been cleared up or left by now.” Terris said, “All that’s left is this ugly bastard.” He was wearing a set of full plate armor minus a helmet and was wielding his halberd. Irym on the other hand was wearing more traditional battle robes, and wielding two curved knives, each the length of his forearms.

Wyn held out a hand to stop them. “The help is appreciated, but this thing is too strong. You’ll just get in our way.” He grimaced as he said it, like he’d eaten a food he found distasteful, but Terris just laughed.

“We understand you’re stronger than either of us Wyn, but don’t forget what I taught you. We’ve always kept a trick or two up our sleeves.” He hefted the halberd again, “you’ve never seen either of us go all out… And besides, from where I'm standing, it doesn't seem like you're winning.”

Their time ran out as the monster began its rampage anew. Corrin dashed forwards under another strike, looking for an opportunity to attack. The beast began to thrash with both arms, its tail and its mouth, engaging all four at once through its sheer size. Hoping to capitalize on its confusion, he channeled mana to his legs and leapt up towards the leviathan’s head. Its tail streaked out of the night, slamming him through the air and into the roof of a building, where he tumbled over the top and fell off the other side, landing hard on the ground. The single strike had knocked out about half of his remaining mana, and if it wasn’t for the enhancements it was granting him, he’d be dead.

“And I just got healed too,” he grumbled, but he got to his feet and ran back towards the battle, which was spilling into the edge of the town. Wyn and Irym were battling with the beast as Terris seemed to be recovering from taking a hit of his own. Corrin approached him, speaking quickly as he rolled his shoulder, shaking off the attack.

“Any ideas on how we can kill this thing?”

“Working on it,” Terris grunted, “Two striking claws, and its tail, those are its deadliest weapons. Its bite isn’t nearly as threatening as either of them. There’s four of us, but Irym and I aren’t going to be able to put this thing down. I’d reckon the best chance we’ve got is whatever that fire Wyn has, but he can’t cut it open like you can, which means we need to get both of you in there. I still have a card I can play, but I’ll need some time to let Irym know.”

The leviathan wasn’t going to let them rest though, and he swung another attack at them, and Corrin leapt backwards out of range, twisting and dodging a barrage of follow-up blows. As he ducked under another strike, he cut a gash into its arm, then its hand, falling back further and further. The storm had begun to soften—once booming thunder and roaring wind had become a gentler rainfall—but the battle only heated up even more, becoming more frantic by the second as it spilled into the edge of town.

A swing of its tail smashed through a building, coming at Corrin from an unexpected angle.

Shit! he thought, channeling mana to his arms and swinging against it with all the force he could muster. The strike was weakened after passing through the building, and for the first time, he wasn’t entirely blown away. The tail halted on his guard, knocking him only a few feet back. He charged to attack the appendage, but it whipped up into the night, out of his reach.

He jumped up onto a nearby building, getting a better vantage of the situation, the monster was still going strong, and Wyn had yet to disengage from it. From what Corrin could tell, he was fighting unbelievably well. He didn’t seem any faster or slower, but every movement he made was precise, with no wasted movement or errors.

“Corrin!” Terris’ voice sounded from the ground besides him, and Corrin saw the two elders gathered. “If we create an opening. Can the two of you kill it?”

Corrin paused, “I think so, but it’s hard to say.”

“Are you sure about this Terris?” Irym said, “How many months is it going to take?”

Terris’ voice was deathly serious, “I don’t know, and I doubt it’ll be months. But there’s no point saving time if we’re just going to die anyways, and I don’t need the extra years, there’s only one thing left that I really want. Don’t hold back a thing yourself.”

Irym sighed, “They’d better reimburse me for this.”

“Corrin,” Terris said, “We’re going to create an opening. And you’re going to kill the thing, understand?”

Corrin's grip tightened on his sword. It wasn't a question. "Yes. We'll kill it."

“Good. Oh, if this goes poorly, take care of Wyn for me. Now start running.”

“I will,” Corrin ran towards Wyn, they’d use the same tactic they had before, but this time he’d cut into the monster’s head.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a claw crash down towards Terris, but rather than dodging, the elder charged it, dropping his halberd and meeting the blow with his arms outstretched. The claw struck down with the force of an avalanche, sending mud spraying out in all directions like a boulder falling into a lake. When it cleared though, Corrin couldn’t believe what he saw.

Terris had caught the blow. No deflection, no dodge. He’d taken the blow on his armor, letting it crumble under the force, and he had his arms wrapped around the arm of the beast, body bending as he fell to a knee and tried to… hold it in place?

That’s not possible, Corrin thought in awe. Even with the power of mana, he couldn’t see himself stopping a blow like that. Elder Terris strained under the weight of it, holding back the strength of the monster many times his size. The leviathan let out another ear-splitting roar, shaking the night, and Terris bellowed back, yelling defiantly before forming it into a single word.

“Go!”

Corrin was already running towards the monster, it was an impossible chance, a miracle that he felt wouldn’t happen again. In that same moment, Irym dashed forwards, dual knives flashing as he cut a series of gashes into its restricted arm. The beast’s other claw swung at him, but he nimbly jumped away from the strike. A moment later, a barrage of crystals flew out of his cloak up towards the head of the beast. Firestones.

The air turned hot in front of Corrin as an explosion rocked the beast like a burst of thunder, parts of its scaly carapace getting blown off in the process, revealing strands of muscle and bone underneath.

Perfect.

Corrin didn’t need to tell Wyn, he would know what to do. They dashed up the back of the beast, and it whipped its tail towards them, seemingly unconcerned about hitting itself.

But one limb was easier to deal with than three, and its angles of attack were limited with its own body in the way. Corrin’s foot slipped on the wet, scaly back of the monster as he dodged, but he managed to right himself, finally reaching the head.

A laceration in the beast’s scales, no more than a foot across. In the darkness and rain, it should’ve been almost impossible to spot, but Corrin’s focus was absolute—he’d never lost sight of it since the explosion had blown it open. He reared the blade back, and mana poured into his arms—more than he’d ever intentionally used at once before—causing them to gush with light.

He brought the blade down, driving it into the skin and deepening the gash, he rent all the flesh he could in a single moment, and then he jumped off its head, taking the sword with him.

Twisting in the air, he was just able to see as Wyn’s fire lit up the darkness, a raging inferno, flooding every pore of the monstrosity’s scales. Flames leaked through the cracks in its skin like sunlight breaking through the clouds, bathing the darkness in an ethereal lavender glow.

With a deafening screech, the beast thrashed back and forth, knocking over several more buildings before it finally fell, crashing down onto the earth, its body twitching twice more, until the red glow faded from its eyes, and everything grew still. The battlefield was quiet. Only the sound of rain remained.

An anguished cry cut through the silence, coming from…

Corrin stumbled towards Irym, who had fallen to his knees, bent over a figure in armor, laying in the mud.

Elder Terris lay on his back, breathing weakly, the front of his chestplate was caved in, with a large hole puncturing the center.

“No no no…” Wyn came up behind Corrin, staggering to the side of his master. “Elder, wait please. Wha—what happened? I need a healer!” He cried out into the darkness, but his ragged voice was drowned out by the rain.

“It… got me good huh?” Elder Terris rasped, coughing up blood. “Well, that’s not great. I always knew you’d outlive me Irym. Seems like all that drinking finally caught up to me.” He tried to laugh, but it just came out as ragged wheezing.

Irym removed his glasses, his face was a mask, but his body seemed to be shaking. “And not even a year into retirement. How am I to enjoy the hot springs without you, my friend?”

“Wait, wait! Hang on, there must be something I can do!” Wyn’s hands erupted with the ethereal flame, his anguished face cast in the ghastly purple light.

“Please, work.” He prayed before placing his hands on the wound. The flames scattered across the armor before dispersing. “Heal him! Please! Iillia! Please heal him!”

Elder Terris grabbed his wrist, speaking softly, “It’s pointless Wyn, I can tell. There’s no coming back from this, I traded too much to catch that blow.”

Corrin couldn’t see Irym’s face as his mentor spoke, “How many years?”

“All of them.” Terris chuckled, “I finally asked for too much it seems. You know, I used to wonder why I had been born with such a ridiculous blessing. Life strength… trading time and life for temporary power. One strike like that and it was all gone, I guess it didn’t amount to much in the end. But I think… I think this was the reason all along.”

“What are you talking about?” Wyn cried, “I don’t care about a stupid blessing right now!”

“Wyn… did you reclaim your dream?”

Wyn’s eyes widened, “I—I did.”

“Ah, I’m glad. Maybe I was able to do something right then. You’ll be a far better man than me.” Terris gasped for breath, smiling as he let go of Wyn’s hand. “Wyn. I never remarried after Elsa passed, and with Milo being gone… Well, I never thought I’d have another chance to have anything like a son, I thought I’d die drinking and alone. I know I could never replace your father, but watching you grow into such a good young man… Thank you Wyn, thank you for giving me that chance.”

“Stop it!” Wyn shouted, his face wet. “Stop talking like you’re going to die!”

Elder Terris’ eyes began to glaze over. “You can be a foolish boy sometimes… Try not to feel bad that I’ll be gone. Time will not wait for you to grieve for me, and if you’ve really reclaimed that dream of yours, then you don’t have any to waste. Wyn, you’re going to be a fine knight, so hold your head high. I couldn’t be prouder of you…”

Wyn grabbed the hand again, staring at the lifeless body in front of him. Unsure of what to do, Corrin could only wait. He placed a hand on his friend’s back, and pretended that the water streaming down their faces was merely the rain.