Legacies of light

Φ As Ferdiad and Setanta fight, I slowly start to get the horses that were blown away by Aoife’s attack back up and as I do my sister comes up and says, “We need to hurry up and get out of here this instant.”

Looking at her I see she looks worn out as if she has been doing a physically strenuous activity. She also has heavy eye bags showing a lack of sleep, so I ask, “Laeg are you alright.”

Not even stopping to look at me, she says, “Ibar right now we need to get everyone out of here because if for a moment I start worrying about your wellbeing I won’t be able to focus.”

Getting back to work, I say, “Then let’s get through it quickly.”

Φ As we work I take glimpses at Ibar’s body, and every time I notice a bruise or injury I can feel my heart almost stop. Don’t focus on it, because if you do you won’t be able to keep going.

Setanta, Ferdiad please finish up and return quickly.

Φ Behind me, I hear Ferdiad use sonic thrust right into a giant boulder, and turning I start to deflect the pieces of stone coming towards me at high speed.

It was a large boulder so many of the pieces come towards me in large chunks which I swat away. “I am disappointed if that is all your surprise amounted to.”

Hearing Setanta move, I turn my head to see he has jumped into the air.

Is he insane? with his calf in that state any movement could permanently damage his injury. The pain alone could probably knock an adult out.

To my surprise I see Setanta smiling as he comes towards me with sky flower. I thrust my spear at him, but then Setanta quickly jumps off the pieces of the boulder scattered in the air, and move around me.

I have an advantage, in spirit energy, technique, physicality, and even in wonderbeast abilities, but one thing they do have more than is stamina, and smaller bodies.

Due to that pulling off something like jumping off pieces of rocks is a feat he is capable of accomplishing.

He continues to move around me, and I try to hold out until gravity pulls all the pieces down, but then Ferdiad does the same thing again to another boulder he has pulled out of the ground.

I quickly move to dodge the pieces but Setanta uses that opening to splash blood in my face obscuring my vision. Then I feel a sharp pain in my calf, and soon I notice Setanta has sent his spear straight through one of my calves.

I move backwards, but at that moment Ferdiad comes towards me and starts attacking again. The battlefield is hectic and my senses have deteriorated due to old age, I rely far more on my sight than the average beastkin.

So keeping up with him with my sight gone is extremely taxing, and in some cases impossible. Lightly pierces my body a few times which causes me to drip blood, but I am able to wipe away the blood from my face during this time.

I instantly go to counterattack but as I do the pain from my injury causes me to stop mid-way, and wielding his spear like a staff Setanta wacks me in the face and says, “You're too old to walk off an injury like that.”

As I fly in the air from that blow I take some of the cloth around my body and use it to tie up my leg before I land.

His spirit energy control has gotten good enough to the point where he can use his spear as a staff. It hasn’t even been twenty minutes since he awakened his use of it, some kids truly are blessed from the moment they are born.

The both of them charge forth at me and put me on the defensive completely.

As I am right now my chances of beating both of them without seriously wasting stamina is low. I don’t feel like using my trump card yet, so I will just allow my men to get here.

The beastkin our trying their best their best to hold back my men giving Setanta and Ferdiad time to finish me, but they will soon be overwhelmed, and then my men will kill the rest of their horses and come support me. We have all but won.

Suddenly I hear a scream and then one of the humans from behind us screams, “WE HAVE BEEN HIT WITH A SURPRIZE ATTACK IN THE FRONT, ANOTHER BEASTKIN ARMY HAS ARRIVED.”

What!?

Location: Front of the fleeing humans

Φ Looking down at the humans and my eternal moths I say, “My greatest weapon, and my biggest mistake. It is time for me to finally put an end to all of you, goodbye old friends.”

I raise my hand and my army of beastkin rush down, screaming, “FOR GORIAS!”

Then they rush into the humans and the eternal moth knights protecting them.

Φ Gripping my first, I shout, “LUGH!!!” He saw through us and came here to launch a surprise attack.

Φ Setanta beside me shouts, “EVERYONE MY FATHER HAS ARRIVED IF WE HOLD ON FOR JUST A LITTLE LONGER, WE WILL HAVE WON THIS WAR!”

He stares at me and says, “Come on.”

I smile, and then the both of us move forward towards Aoife, and she gets into a stance ready to perform and attack, so I throw my spear full power toward her leg which breaks her footing.

In this moment Setanta moves forward but suddenly from the horn on her head light shines, and we are both blinded for a second.

Shit, that light completely overloaded my eyes so much that all my other senses are out of control.

Opening my eyes again I see her spear is merely a moment away from my heart, and in that moment my life flashes before my eyes as I brace for death, but then Setanta pushes me out of the way.

Then threw his body, her spear moved and pushed out his heart.

With her spear through Setanta’s heart she says, “This battle is over.”

She pulls her spear back towards her body and throws Setanta’s body at me.

In my arms, I stare down at Setanta’s lifeless body, and as I do all of the memories I have with him flash before my eyes, and I scream from the bottom of my soul.

Φ Looking around, I see all of the beastkin who were just fighting have taken a rather fierce mental blow and my men have started heading towards all of the beastkin readying the horses.

This battlefield is won, I need to go and kill Lugh.

Sensing something coming towards me at high speed I turn my body to intercept it and their I see Ibar in a rage coming towards me. I block his spear and the force behind his attack sends me back somewhat.

Just from the look in his eyes, I can tell that he has abandoned all logic and is coming at me with the resolve to end my life. If I try to run he will just get in my way.

“Leaving your master to just lay dead like that on the cold ground? As his right hand, delivering his body to his home should be your first instinct, but that would be the only the second big mistake you have made today.”

“I WILL KILL YOU!”

“TRY IT!”

I thrust my spear at him, but he disappears.

Wait isn’t this!

Before I finish my thought, I am stabbed in the side, and say, “You figure out Camellia japonica in your rage.”

We continue to clash again and again, and as we he spams Camellia japonica again and again.

Camellia japonica allows one to move particular way that makes it so that the light doesn’t capture your movement, leaving behind an afterimage that fades by the time you launch your attack.

In his enraged state he is forcing his body to bring out the best it possibly can, and has just happened upon this technique, it seems doing it was enough for him to figure it out unconsciously.

I hate prodigies.

If by some twist of fate, he would be capable of pulling off the ultimate art, this entire area will be lost after I leave. I should just kill him now.

From the horn on my head, I shine a light which blinds him, then I strike him right in the chest. “Let’s finish this.”

Φ As me and my sister get the remaining men on the horses so we can all leave, I turn my head around and there I see Setanta lying on the floor with a pool of blood surrounding him, and moving my head around a bit I see his heart close by.

Looking for Ferdiad, I see him fighting Aoife like a beast with tears falling down his eyes, and I mutter, “No.”

My sister looks at me, and says, “Why did you sto-.” Noticing Setanta and Ferdiad’s states my sister completely freezes.

“He couldn’t, he just couldn’t have died,” she says with a trembling voice.

Seething with rage, I run forward and say, “YOU BASTARDS!”

Two humans seeing me run forward towards me. One swings his sword at me, but due to his injuries and exhaustion, I am able to dodge it easily despite him being a human using the weird energy.

When the sword lands downward I kick it and break it. I may not be a wonderbeast beastkin, but the leg strength of a horse shouldn’t be underestimated.

I then kick him in one of his kneecaps breaking his leg. The other human swings his sword at me, and I take a step back easily dodging it.

To a certain extent, I have always been afraid of a real life or death battle. Though at the end of the day, I am a beastkin, I can take down a dozen humans if I really put my mind to it.

I continue to dodge and as I do I kick him right in the middle of his ribcage and wait for him to fall but even though he is grasping for air the human with determination in his eyes still manages to swing one more time.

But I dodge it saying, “Don’t get cocky you pathetic human.”

Feeling a sharp pain in my leg, I turn to see the other human has plunged a dagger into it, and he says, “Same for you.”

He twists it which causes me to fall to the ground in pain. It feels so bad that I start to tear up and lose the ability to move, but then as I look up I see both of the broken humans towering over me.

In pain, I say, “How are you able to move?”

“Even this pain that we feel at the point just before death is light compared to all you people have put us through.”

“If you think that hurts imagine it every day, for years on end. We will be free, and you will die.”

Both of the humans grabbing their broken weapons swing them directly towards my neck, and I cry even more until my sister comes in and kicks them both backwards.

Then she loops around both of them and puts them in headlocks, and tightens her grip.

The humans try to fight back hitting, biting and scratching her wherever they can, and eventually even stabbing her, but my sister continues and eventually snaps both of their necks.

Sitting up on her knees, my sister looks at her hands and starts to breathe in and out heavily. Sweat trickles down her panicked face as she starts to become short of breath, and she looks like she just saw a loved one die.

In this state Laeg is defenceless, and one of the other humans seeing this throws his sword directly at my sister.