Areia stared at her palm, the skin smeared with grit and cooling ichor. Above her, the cave was screaming—the ceiling groaning as massive stalactites shattered against the floor like falling towers. Huge rocks thundered down, landing dangerously close, yet she didn't flinch. Her mind was miles away, drifting back to the cold halls of Amag.
She could still hear them—the shrill wails of the "failed subjects" echoing through the sterile labs as they were torn apart by the very machines meant to forge them into gods. Bodies dropped day by day, their numbers dwindling until only the most ruthless remained. She had never been blindly obedient; she had dreamed of escaping that hellhole every single night. But back then, she was a frail girl with nowhere to go. She was a lab rat of war, created for the sole purpose of spilling blood.
I was made to endure, she thought, a small, tired smile touching her lips.
Her memory shifted to the courtroom after she'd been hauled in by Hav'al's elite guards. She remembered his eyes— Master's eyes. Dan. He had looked at her without fear, indifferent to her blood-soaked past or her nature as a tool. He saw a companion. At the time, she'd thought him a fool. Had she not been surrounded by legends like Flynn and King Arthur, she might have slit Dan's throat or taken him hostage just to see the sky as a free woman.
Flynn... even now, the memory of his power made her skin crawl. He was terrifying—more so than even Dan's mother, Lizzy. So, Areia had played the part of the loyal soldier to survive. But somewhere between the battles and the quiet moments, the "tool" began to feel. Was it his kindness? His childish, untainted heart? Dan was like a piece of white silk hung over a pit of oil; she had desperately wanted to keep him from being stained.
But the world was a cruel master. The kingdom had fallen. Dan's mother was gone, his father and Flynn were dead, and Areia had waited for the breakdown. She had watched him night and day, fearing he would take his own life in the grip of such grief.
How wrong I was, she mused. He was strong—stronger than any machine in Amag. He simply refused to speak of the dead.
A sharp, stabbing pain in her chest snapped her back to the present. Her heart was going haywire. If only I were stronger, she cursed herself. If only that lizard hadn't broken me with a single strike.
She looked into the void of the crumbling cave, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "Come back to me, Master... no. Come back to me, Dan."
Areia stood before the ruins of a massive, rundown cathedral. The air here was stagnant, smelling of ancient incense and ozone. Her vision was a hazy blur, a warm trickle of blood matting her hair and stinging her eyes. Two massive greatswords were still strapped to her back, their weight a familiar comfort.
In front of the arched entrance sat a man. His black hair gleamed with an unnatural luster even in the darkness of the void. His muscles were corded and bulging, straining against his dark, dragon-scale armor. A long, wicked spear rested across his lap.
Areia took a step, her iron-shod boots clacking sharply against the cracked, interlocking stone. Every movement was agony. Her stomach was impaled, a jagged hole she tried to ignore, and her ribs felt like a bag of broken glass. She didn't care.
With a heavy thud, she let her sheaths fall to the pavement. She drew both longswords, the cold steel singing as it caught the dim light. She stopped fifteen feet from the man, her gaze locked onto his.
The man looked up. His eyes burned with an unholy, predatory red glow. He didn't stand, but the pressure he emitted was suffocating, like the weight of a mountain pressing down on her shoulders.
"Just how many have you defeated so far?" the man asked, his voice a deep, resonant rumble that vibrated in Areia's very marrow.
"I don't know," Areia answered coldly. "And please, don't ask me anything else. The last dragon I fought knocked the daylight out of me. I'd rather just start. I have someone I need to save."
She raised her blades, her knuckles white.
The man smiled, a flash of sharp teeth. "Like a true warrior. I like strong women," he laughed, though his eyes remained chillingly sharp. "I hope you bring some stimulation to my existence. You are in the presence of Ryuu, second-in-command of Guava's Guardian Force."
"Areia," she replied, her voice low and dangerous. "Knight of Dan Shula. Let's get this over with."
Ryuu began to rise, but Areia didn't wait. She blurred forward, her blade descending before he was even fully on his feet. Clang! The spear moved on its own, blocking the strike with a shower of sparks.
Areia's sword—a standard-issue blade of forged iron—shattered like glass upon impact with the dragon-steel. She gasped, backing away instantly. Ryuu was suddenly in her space, his movement so fast it defied logic. A massive fist brushed her cheek, and the sheer wind pressure from the miss obliterated the stone wall behind her.
She dropped the hilt of the broken sword, caught his arm, and used his momentum to slam him into the ground. The spear whistled behind her, nearly taking her head off. She dove to the right, but the tip grazed her waist, opening a jagged red canyon in her side.
"Honestly, I thought that slam would work," Ryuu chuckled, his voice appearing right at her ear.
Areia's afterimage was all he struck. She reappeared below him, driving a fist into his vitals. He groaned—a mistake. In a flash, Areia recovered both her whole and broken blades, unleashing a flurry of strikes. They traded a dozen blows in a half-second, a symphony of screeching metal.
The force jerked them apart. Areia flipped, landing on her feet, but her breath was growing heavy. They zeroed the distance again, putting everything into a single stroke.
Crack! Her second sword shattered. Shards of iron Peppered the air, slicing into Areia's neck and chest. The spear didn't slow down. She twisted, the blade slashing her from her navel to her shoulder blade.
Her linen cloak fell away, her simple cloth bra and tank top torn to rags by the force of the blow. Gritting her teeth, she snatched the scraps of fabric and tied them tightly around her chest to stem the bleeding.
"I'm not going far without the basics, huh?" she spat, grabbing her broken hilts again.
The fight became a blur of violence. Ryuu's spear was relentless, but Areia moved like a cat. She parried with the broken stubs of her swords, dodging and weaving. When Ryuu raised his spear for a overhead strike, Areia lunged for his throat.
Ryuu didn't move his hands—he caught the jagged metal of her blade in his teeth.
Areia let go instantly, retreating as the spear cratered the ground where she'd stood. She vanished into the dust cloud, reappearing behind him. She wrapped her legs around his neck, hammered his skull with her bare fists, and drove a broken shard of steel into his head.
Ryuu growled, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the dirt. She rolled away as the spear followed, her boot connecting with his jaw in a brutal kick. She followed up with lightning jabs to his throat and a punch to his eye that shook the very air.
Ryuu tumbled back, laughing as he pulled the shard of steel from his forehead. Blood dripped down his face, but he looked delighted. "Look at me, being schooled! You don't have a style—you just use whatever works. I love it."
The "beatdown" began. Ryuu stopped playing. The spear handle slammed into Areia's head, sending her flying into the cathedral dome like a cannonball. She crashed through the stone, only to see the spear coming for her throat. She tilted her head—the blade took a chunk of her hair and sliced her neck.
Ryuu kicked her back out of the ruins. Before she hit the ground, he caught her leg and drove the spear through her gut.
"Gah!" Areia's hand glowed a violent, pulsing red. She pressed her palm to Ryuu's face. "BURN!"
A beam of concentrated magical energy erupted, the sheer force of the spell vaporizing the remaining half of the cathedral and a chunk of the cave. Areia ripped the spear out of her stomach, coughing blood. She teleported behind him, firing again and again, stamping him into the ground with red light.
She moved in a zigzag, a streak of purple and red. She kicked his knee, forcing him down, then hammered his head with her boot until her own toes broke from the impact.
"Interesting... interesting!" Ryuu smiled through a mouth of blood. "You're fas—"
CRACK. Areia's palm struck his mouth, silencing him. She struck the spear, her fist clanging against the metal like a hammer on an anvil. Ryuu's hand closed around her neck—no, an afterimage.
Areia reappeared above him, her hand dislocating as she slammed it into his skull. He fell to one knee, coughing up thick clots of blood. Areia didn't stop, her foot connecting with the back of his head, driving his face into the shattered pavement.
She stared at her limp, dislocated hand. With a guttural groan, she snapped the bone back into place. Her breath was a ragged wheeze. She looked up, her eyes widening.
I'm dead.
Ryuu's fist was inches from her face. The world exploded. Areia was sent skipping across the terrain like a stone on water, eventually slamming into the far wall of the cave.
Her once-vibrant purple eyes were glazed and lifeless. I can't move. Why can't I move? Get up! She forced herself up, her bones creaking like rusted hinges. Her ribs were punctured, her organs failing. She took one step and collapsed onto her knees. Her hands moved to her long hair, trembling as she tied it into a neat, functional bun.
"I remember... Dan said he liked it long," she whispered, a single tear tracing a path through the blood on her cheek. "I don't think I can win this... but I'll die trying."
"Impressive," Ryuu's metallic voice drifted through the dust. "You took that punch and stayed in this world? You are a magnificent warrior. It's a shame you fought so many before me. It's over now. You los—"
Areia's fist connected with his lips before he could finish. The bang of the impact sent them both reeling. Ryuu grabbed his dislocated jaw, but Areia was already on top of him.
She rained blows down on him, her fists creating mini-earthquakes that brought the rest of the cave down around them. She dodged falling boulders, her movements slowing by the second. She struck his fist, breaking her own arm in the process, then used the momentum to hammer his neck.
"I'm... not... going to lose!" she screamed, her voice cracking. Her punches were getting weaker, fading into soft touches. "I... won't... Dan! Give him back!"
She fell to her knees, the last of her life-force flickering out. Tears streamed down her face.
"Don't die on me," Ryuu said softly. He sat beside her, his own head bleeding profusely. He placed a large hand on her head. "I can't heal you fully, but I can stop the rot. Whoever your master is... he's a lucky man."
He looked at her small, battered form. "Rest well, warrior. You passed."
Areia's head swayed, her hair coming undone and flowing around her like silk as she finally succumbed to the darkness. Ryuu caught her before she hit the ground, lifting her in a princess carry.
"She's just a child," he sighed, his spear floating faithfully beside him. "Just what is the King planning?"
He turned and began to walk, the cave slowly repairing its own wounds as the dragon and the knight disappeared into the shadows.