Young Flame

Tetsu lunged forward, her falchion piercing the neck of her opponent. She twisted and jerked the blade out as her body flowed forward. In her other hand, a second blade swung through the chest of a merminea scrambling at the flames scorching its fur.

She didn’t like to admit it, but the dual short-swords had always been her best weapons. It just allowed for so much freedom in a fight. Of course, the downsides often made them unusable, especially in contests of strength, but when she could dance around her opponents like this, there was little she was as skilled at.

It was a point of pride to be well-trained in all weapons. She didn’t want all her hard earned skill to be hidden behind one in particular. Her father was once a master of every weapon in the family storage, but nobody ever mentioned anything but his immense talent for the halberd. As much as she wanted to be like her father, she did not want people to see her the same.

But right now, pride had to take a step back. She needed to perform her best. She’d already lost to them once, she wasn’t about to let that happen again. Each mermineae was naturally strong — likely due to the environment of their growth — but they were not skilled in combat against other sapients.

It was still frustrating how they got the jump on her. If so many hadn’t ambushed them, Tetsu was sure that she could beat them in a grapple.

They were running forward at a decent pace. With Imiha’s walls leading the way, it wouldn’t be long before they reached the entrance to the tunnels. There was no doubt in her mind she needed to be prepared for the opposition they would face.

A merminea rushed through the surrounding fire with a crazed focus on the young girl beside Tetsu. She stepped into the path of the creature’s attack and swung a falchion at its neck. The merminea was dead before it could register the sharp edge of steel.

The blade sliced through with ease. Tetsu forced every fibre of strength she could manage into her strike. The mermineae fell to the ground, its head rolling by its side. The corpse left to burn behind them. It was likely an unnecessary level of effort directed at the creature; it would have died regardless and Tetsu doubted the áed would have been in danger, anyway.

But Tetsu couldn’t help the anger she felt when she saw the girl in danger. She knew she shouldn’t. It was an insult to Solvei after everything she’s been through. With how much the girl has grown since they met, she doubted there was much that Tetsu could defend her from that the áed couldn’t fight herself.

Why did Tetsu have this feeling of wanting to protect the girl now? Why didn’t it show itself back when she commit the act that would ruin the trust the girl had placed in them?

As much as she regretted the past, it could never be changed. She could only work toward making it right.

A second horn blared, scarcely audible over the rolling earth, roaring fire and crackling thunder already muting much of the outside chaos. Only a few seconds after the horn ended, a massive plume of dust rose ahead of them.

The group didn’t stop, but they each looked to the ash spreading through the sky. Something happened near the guarded entrance. Tetsu knew the clergy were planning something, but from everything else they’d seen, she never expected it to be this big. Well, whatever it was, it would have distracted the defenders.

The resistance they faced loosened. Whatever caused all that dust must be far more concerning than Tetsu’s small group.

Solvei’s flames wrapped around Tetsu like a warm blanket rather than the inferno it was for their enemies. Her ability to hold back against her allies had improved tremendously, even considering her flames burnt far hotter than they used to.

Between the áed’s flames, the áinfean’s aggressive shocks and the mage’s earth piercing those who pass the walls, there wasn’t much for Tetsu to do. Only the luckiest and most incensed mermineae made it close enough for her to enjoy the thrill of the fight.

Months had passed since she could use her weapons. The makeshift blades she’d made were… decent, but she missed the proper craftsmen-made ones back home. Steel weapons just didn’t last long against creatures with strong defences.

“There’s a crevice ahead,” Imiha shouted over the cacophony of battle.

“Alright. Be ready to face intense opposition,” Remus said.

With little fanfare, the group dove into the tunnel as soon as Imiha’s walls pass over.

Tetsu’s feet slammed into some unfortunate soul. She felt several ribs shatter beneath her boots, but paid it only an instant of her attention. Tensing her legs, Tetsu pounced on the first Forvaal she sees. The creature had no time to activate its eyes, one blade pierced its chest, the other right between the eyes.

She kicked out at the next Forvaal, whipping its head away from her. It wasn’t enough to do much damage, but it stopped the creature’s eyes burning her. Two swipes with her blades were enough to end it before it could regain its senses.

Five mermineae stood before her, two of which were Forvaal. Their eyes glowed, ready to burn into her. Tetsu bounced forward, intent on stabbing both before they could.

Spikes shred out of the walls, pin-cushioning each merminea before she could reach them. Tetsu looked back at the others, who had cleaned up the rest of the defenders of this crevice. All in all, a rather clean entry despite the number of Forvaal amongst them.

Spenne, Grímr and Solvei would remain above, defending their entry point. Tetsu disliked the idea of leaving Solvei and Grímr. The mermineae were bad enough, but she’d heard plenty of stories about Spenne’s predilection toward collateral damage and fratricide.

She didn’t want to leave Solvei up there, but Tetsu wouldn’t force her again, even if she thought it would be safer.

They pushed forward through the tube beneath the Titan’s path, searching for the transition to ranked stone and the tunnel within it. Imiha crushed and pierced mermineae with ease. The environment made the mage’s magic unbeatable even for the stronger Forvaal.

Despite the number of mermineae down in these tunnels, they held a less fierce defence than they’d been expecting. After only a few minutes of tearing through the wide tunnel, they found their target: a four metre wide hole bearing down through a three metre thick layer of ranked stone.

Things had gone worryingly well. Too many things had gone better than expected and now Tetsu was waiting for the one thing to go horribly wrong. Plans with this many unknowns never went this well.

Walls rose around them, blocking off any path except for below. Imiha sat before the hole, amber markings lighting the otherwise dark tunnel.

“Once I start, I won’t be able to defend. Directing ranked stone is too difficult for me to be splitting my focus.” Imiha’s eyes dropped to the stub that was Remus’ limb and let out an annoyed grunt. “Come here.”

Imiha really should have healed Remus earlier, but at least she’s doing so now. Tetsu didn’t know what the history was between the two, at least deeper than the surface, so she didn’t think it was her place to judge. It was good that Imiha was finally putting aside her reservations.

Remus smiled down at the younger dohrni. “Thanks, Your Highness.”

Tetsu had been a part of his team for years now, and she still couldn’t tell if Remus was joking at times. Imiha just ignored the possible sarcasm and got to work.

The ranked stone ever so slowly crept forward. Tetsu knew Imiha was an incredibly talented mage, and yet this is still as much as she could do with the near indestructible stone. It raised questions of how the mermineae knew it could be done. There was an immense difference between destruction and creation.

Remus, with his newly regained limb, took to the tunnel below to fight the mermineae clambering to rise. Tetsu would join him, but the walls erected by Imiha wouldn’t last.

As expected, the walls crumbled, decaying to dust from the strange visual power of the Forvaal. The clergy had done their job of causing a distraction far better than she’d expected, but it looked like things were about to get difficult.

Tetsu prepared her weapons, waiting for the moment the first of them stepped through the new opening. She pounced as soon as the opportunity presented, flying past the first with a swipe at its jugular. It was imperative to keep moving. She couldn’t stop to confirm her kill, lest her advantage be wasted.

There was no mermineae behind the one passing through the opening, so her momentum took her to the rock face of the wide tunnel. With power in her legs gained from many years of training and enhanced by plentiful hunts, she sprung to the rearmost of the ten mermineae.

The wide tunnel was almost the perfect battlefield for her favourite type of fighting. That style also happened to be the cause of that infernal nickname bestowed upon her.

She would never tell them she secretly enjoyed the name.

The target she flew toward was one of the oldest forvaal. Like Saad and Taanoraa, their eyes were entirely grey. They were blind, but that seemed to matter little to them. The old Forvaal must have some other sense, as they twisted out of the path of her blade. Her strike connected, but not deep enough to be fatal.

The Forvaal held its bleeding neck and shouted a command to the others around. In the brief moment Tetsu slammed into the wall, she inspected each of her opponents. There were only three Forvaal amongst them besides the old one. She could only hope to succeed if she took them out first. The foggy eyed’s reactions were too fast to waste time on.

Tetsu launched forward again, her blade swiping the eyes of one and her boot cracking the jaw of another Forvaal before they slam into the tunnel wall. Before her feet touched ground and she could pick up speed again, Tetsu felt a blaze of agony across her back. It was as though tiny, hot hooks pulled at every muscle and nerve she had.

In a motion trained by countless hours of effort, she threw the sword at the last Forvaal. Relying only on her memory to aim.

She stumbled to her hands and knees. Blood pouring down her arms as she tries to bite down the pain. This was no time to be tending to her injuries. Tetsu kicked out beneath her. Her thrown falchion rested a few metres off the third Forvaal, who clutched at their bleeding arm.

She needed that weapon back. More importantly, she had to kill that Forvaal before it could focus its eyes on her once more.

Tetsu sprung forward, eyes only for the Forvaal. Her tunnel-vision was a mistake. The other mermineae, now realising they couldn’t keep up with her explosive movement, moved to intercept.

Claws dug into her side, the disturbance redirected her trajectory. Tetsu, no longer in a position to swing her blade, turned to body slam into the Forvaal.

Before the Forvaal could lower its eyes to her, Tetsu thrust her blade through its jaw and out its snout, holding its head up while she punches its exposed neck. She wailed on the merminea until, with a snap, its neck twisted unnaturally.

Through the agony of her back and side, she pushed off the dead Forvaal. Not quick enough. A pair of mermineae plough through her. Tetsu let out a gasp as her back ground along the earth. It was excruciating. Like hundreds of molten razor-blades slicing through her skin.

She swung her short-sword, but a merminea blocked her arm. Her blade failed to pull blood, but the strength of her blow stunned the creature. Its partner lunged forward, biting into the flesh of her arm. She refused to let her weapon go, but she could not pull her arm free.

Tetsu wasn’t about to lose to these fucking creatures again.

She punched the throat of the merminea biting her arm. She winced in pain as its teeth sunk deeper, but so did her enemy. The moment the merminea’s eyes shut, she dropped the blade from her pinned hand to the other and thrust it into the side of its head.

She couldn’t fight anymore. There were still too many for her to take on and there wasn’t a chance that elderly Forvaal would be weak. She could only praise her luck that it didn’t burn her with his eyes. Whether that was by choice or because it couldn’t, she didn’t know.

It was stupid to push her advantage as hard as she had. She would have had a better chance if she kept the defensive advantage.

The first merminea sitting on top of her regained its senses and grabbed her beneath the chin, claws sinking into the skin of her cheek and neck. She tried to swing her arm, but it caught her wrist, stopping the blade only centimetres from the side of its head.

Tetsu pushed with all her might to kill this creature. She only had moments to deal with it before the others of its kind would be all over her. Her muscles bulged under the pressure, slowly edging the sharp tip closer.

The claws dig deeper into Tetsu’s face and the merminea quivers as the blade slices through the fur of its neck. Just a little further.

Suddenly, the resistance to her blade arm died and her falchion slides through her opponent’s head with ease. She rolled out of the way, expecting to be dived upon by the remaining mermineae, but it didn’t come.

She looked up to see Jav spinning a thousand rotations around the first two mermineae, deepening wounds to their throats and tendons with each pass. Slowly rising to her feet, it became apparent that Jav wasn’t the only one to come to her aid. Remus fought against the elderly Forvaal.

The dohrni danced around his target, only attacking when the opportunity presented itself, but mostly stayed out of retaliation range. It was the sort of fighting style utilised when facing an opponent of far greater enhancement, yet was less skilled a fighter.

Enhancement level was the great equaliser, but if they didn’t have the skills to use those immense energy reserves, then they were nothing more than a tough punching bag to those who had spent years training.

Of course, that would still be made difficult due to the mermineae around them. Tetsu forced herself to her feet, ready to jump into the brawl despite the immense pain assaulting her body.

Before she could even reach her first target, it was taken from her. A pillar of earth crushed each merminea. Even the elderly Forvaal.

Imiha was done.

“I’ve closed it just enough for Grímr to pass through,” Imiha said. “I’ve amassed a ball of enhanced earth we can drop after us and I’ll be able to seal the tunnel in moments.”

The dohrni walked up to Tetsu and rested a tentacle on her upper back. She winced, but attempted to ignore the pain as green markings glowed over Imiha’s body.

“Now, how about we go get the other two before Spenne tires of waiting?”