December 30, 2111 - December 31, 2111
Catharine Darcrose
Cathy had just finished taking a shower in the privy located in her quarters. Still drenched from head to toe, she stepped out of the shower past the stained glass door and found herself in front of a mirror hung over her wash station. Almost another week of research had gone. She even missed Christmas, but duty came first.
She seized a towel from the hangar next to her and dried herself. Earlier, on the wash station, she had placed a bag of makeup she had brought on the trip. From it she pulled out a preparation bottle and sluiced the cold liquid over her body to help the makeup last longer and be more durable. A concoction made just for her. Next, she followed up with the makeup, spending most of her time touching up her skin around her body. Her back was the hardest as always, but she had a device that helped. The process of it all was nothing but a drag, but she was used to it. She wondered if other women felt the same over the matter, but then again, it wasn't the same for them. No matter, she knew she had no taste for these beauty products and was doing it mostly to maintain appearances at this point.
When she was finished and fully clothed, she reentered her chambers. She was almost ready to sleep. Tomorrow would begin another day of researching. After all, she felt as if she was getting closer each day.
The lights to her room cut off, interrupting the moment. Almost immediately, backup lights switched on, red and dim.
Power outage? she wondered.
A window was in her room, and she looked out and saw the darkness of night, which was made even darker by the lack of lights in the stronghold. Everything but emergency lights were off. Rain was falling hard, driven by wind and drumming against the wall and window. Rivers of black water were running down the glass.
She turned away from the window and saw movement on her floor. Shadows! She remembered the skylight glass above her room.
Crash!
The glass above Cathy had shattered! She jumped back, barely dodging the broken glass as she caught a glimpse of two intruders. She felt vulnerable since she didn't have on her armor. They were dressed up in exaggerated outfits; one dressed as a blue clown, the other as a red one. And both were clearly omelics. Intelligent individuals would guess they were mercenaries.
They both noticed Cathy in an instant.
Skolla appeared at the door leading to the privy after hearing the noise. His teeth were bared, and his tail and ears were laid back with aggression. Cathy held up her hand to hold off Skolla.
"The briefing said this room would be empty," the red clown said.
"You weren't paying attention. It said this was a guest room," said the blue clown.
"That was supposed to be empty!" retorted the first. "Frak it, let's just kill the helpless bitch and be on with it."
"Helpless?" Cathy grabbed a nearby lamp by the handle and pulled it out of the floor it was attached to. "Let's see who's helpless."
Cathy was laser focused on the two foes that came at her. She had no weapons. But she had a lamp, and it was enough for her. One pulled a silver-bladed hypersword on Cathy.
A shifting sound behind her had her sudden attention, and she turned to see another mercenary had come through the window, shattering the glass. His blade was already lit and ready to attack.
Then Skolla slammed into him, grabbing him by the neck, and both went out the window!
"Skolla!" Cathy ran to the window and saw nothing but the darkness. She was high up and knew in her head there was no surviving that fall.
"A shame about your mutt," she heard the red clown say from behind her.
When she turned back, he was already attacking. She dodged the slash, grabbed the clown's wrist, and rammed her hand against his elbow.
Snap!
"AWW! FRAK!" he cursed and dropped the blade.
Quickly, Cathy swung the lamp at the red clown, knocking the shivf out of him. He flew to the floor. She dodged her second attacker's dagger and tossed the lamp at his face. The distraction allowed her to seize the fallen hypersword. It was silver, so Cathy was able to ignite it, and she sliced deep into the blue clown's rib before he could recover. Still alive, he gazed back and was aghast.
"You--" He dropped to the floor. The blade slid out of his body, followed by a river of scarlet blood.
The other was barely getting to his feet when Cathy decapitated him with a flick of her wrist.
The power going off, along with mercenaries coming through her ceiling at almost the same time, can't be a coincidence, Cathy thought, some plan was in play here.
It was in her best interest to defend this castle, despite having no obligation to do so. If this place falls, her mission did, too, and that wasn't something she was going to let happen.
"For a human, you are good fighter. You were able to take two cutthroats down that fast. That was… fun to watch," a voice called from the skylight above.
She looked up in time to see another mercenary jumping into her room.
He was an omelic as well, covered in cleaned bones in a variety of sizes. Tiny bones shaped like thumbs and teeth were chained around his neck, his armor was made of carved bone, and he even wore a mask made of the skull of a giant animal.
"And I suppose--" Cathy gestured to and around the bone man, "--all of that is what? Scary?"
He snickered. "One for every victim. Patchface and Slackjaw here--" he pointed to the dead, "--had a body count, too."
"A lot of good that did them," Cathy snapped back.
"Mine's multiple times larger." He smirked. "They call me Scourge."
"It only takes one person to snuff out that count," Cathy jeered.
He held an ill look in his wanting eyes. "I like your face. Maybe I'll sell it when I'm done." Scourge came at Cathy with a red-bladed hyperdagger. She blocked with the sword in a shower of sparks. The bone man pulled out a second dagger and came for her throat. In one swift motion, she whirlwinded her sword to swipe it away.
He came at her again with fury. She ducked, and he went past her. She spun and kicked him into the door leading out of her chambers. It buckled from the impact. Cathy slashed at Scourge. He redirected her blade with his daggers into the door, and the sword cut through the latch like butter. The domino effect of that action led to the door spinning open and causing Scourge to fall into the hall.
He was quick to his feet to match blades with Cathy once more. In the heat of the fight, Cathy barely made out another sound. It was another fight happening close to her right.
She turned to see Mauga Lightbourne protecting the entrance to a room from another assaulter. He looked to be a knight emblazoned with the banner of a different kingdom on his slender armor. He bore an orange-bladed hypersword. At Mauga's feet lay two dead allied knights. And Mauga was on wobbly legs, with blood dripping from his shoulder and down his left leg.
Mercenaries and foreign knights? Cathy asked herself.
The foreign knight came at Mauga with absurd speed and agility. One second the knight was at Mauga's left, then his right, then dropping from the air above him; all with the use of some kind of acceleration boots to amplify his attacking speed. Mauga struggled to defend against the insane barrage of attacks.
"Don't take your attention away from me!" Scourge shouted as he took a stab at her gut with his free dagger. She barely escaped with just a graze to her side.
Scourge and Cathy were now two meters apart. Scourge then halted, seeming to be listening to a voice in his left ear.
"Fine! I'm on my way, Erryn," he said.
Erryn! Cathy's eyes flared at the familiar name.
Nonetheless, this was her moment to strike, and she took it by swinging the silver blade at Scourge. He noticed and tossed both his daggers at Cathy. She had to slide to dodge under them.
He just threw his weapons, Cathy thought, he'll be open to an attack.
As Cathy recovered to her feet after the slide, her face almost collided with a night-black blade erupting with darkness and swirling with power. She stopped on a dime and barely managed to spin backwards into a fighting stance. Immediately, she used her silver hypersword to block the black-bladed hypersword Scourge had pulled.
The blades collided, and her blade snapped right in half! Dumbfounded and frozen by the sudden splitting of her blade, she didn't notice a hasty follow-up attack by Scourge.
When she did see it, she knew she wouldn't be able to dodge in time. She had failed.
The air was then forced from her lungs as another body tackled her to the floor and away from Scourge and his attack. The body slid off her, and she sat up, looking to her side to see Mauga wailing in pain. His hands covered his right leg, or what was left of it. Below the knee, it was severed completely off! Blood was draining like a hose. And she didn't have to look far to see the rest of it beside Scourge.
"You fraken idiot!" she cursed. Mauga was in too much pain to hear her. Sweating from the fight, with what little she had on, her clothes had started to cling to her skin.
"You've got quite the soldier's body," Scourge complimented. He was walking toward them. "Maybe, instead, I'll just cut off your limbs so you can't struggle as I take you."
"You fit the stereotype of omelic men quite heavily. You assume you have the right to take what you want just because your blood is up."
He let loose wild laughter. "Nothing like a good rape after a fight."
Behind Scourge, the knight that Mauga was fighting off earlier was heading towards them, too. And Cathy had nothing left to defend herself or Mauga. Even so, she stood up ready to fight, fist out and bared.
Scourge and the other knight stopped.
Cathy felt a hand on her shoulder. "Leave them to me. You've done enough today," a voice whispered from behind. She hadn't even heard his footsteps.
She turned to see another omelic in allied armor; chiseled and elegant, with a gold tint to highlight its black color. He held a brown-bladed hypersword. The stearth was curved, giving the hypersword blade a curve as well; saber-framed. Black with gold accents, the grip was stylish. What truly was the marvel piece of the sword was the design of the cross guard; one end formed into a knuckle guard that protected his hand. And the flowing energy made its way over the knuckle and cross guard.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Qrow Jraxston." He stepped in front of her and was now in-between her and the enemies. "Help Mauga, please. He has done a lot for our kingdom and doesn't deserve to die today."
Cathy did as asked and bent down to help. She placed Mauga against the wall. He slouched, now recovering some from the initial pain of the lost limb. She took off her top and covered Mauga's cut. She used her belt to strap it tight. She now had nothing above her waist but a bra. His eyes caught the sight of Ser Qrow.
"It's him," he whispered to Cathy.
"Don't speak," she instructed.
"He'll save us. He--" Mauga coughed. "He's the best duelist I've ever seen."
Now interested, Cathy looked up to see Qrow still idle, waiting.
Scourge pointed his sword at Qrow. "I know you, Ser Qrow. Tell me, what is a shadow knight like you doing here?"
"I came upon intelligence about an attack scheduled to take place on Wolph Castle today. So I came to stop it," he answered.
"Only you?"
"I'm all that's needed."
"Arrogant fraker," Scourge cursed him. "But you'll make a fine addition to the collection on my armor."
"And you-- I recognized that voice. Ryben Bukkaro - the Scourge of the South. Said to kill his victims, eat from their corpses, and mold their bones into armor. Said to have killed three members of his own family, two when he was a young kid, and raped two more. Said to have cut the tongues out of his newborn sons because he couldn't stand to hear them cry. Said to have made a young girl fall in love with him - gave her gifts and made her feel like a queen - and when she got pregnant, he cut her tongue and chained her to the bow of his pirate ship, all just to prove a point."
"Lies! I never did half of what you said. I shall cut your tongue out for your slander." Scourge was livid, with his hypersword still pointed at Qrow.
"Cutting a man's tongue out doesn't prove he is liar, only that you don't like what he has to say."
Scourge and the other enemy knight were gearing up to attack. Scourge pounded his chest. "You! You fraker! I'll be damned if you think you can say that to me! Come, Ser Yarth." The hall was wide enough for Scourge to run towards Qrow's right, and the other knight to Qrow's left.
Scourge met him first. Qrow swiftly blocked a high and low attack before momentum carried Scourge past Qrow. Yarth was next, and Qrow blocked his attack just as fast. Both held blades together, leaving Scourge with an opening to strike Qrow's back. Qrow spun his blade around and ducked under Scourge attack. He gathered on the other side, in range of Yarth, who swung at Qrow's leg. He stepped over the strike and flipped over him completely and was now behind Yarth. He brought his sword around his body and came back down with the blade vertically. Qrow bent his back and spun the blade to block the attack over his back. He spun out again, causing Yarth to almost lose his blade.
Yarth recovered and powered up his boots and boosted to the ceiling, then to the wall. He attacked, but it was parried by Qrow. The next came from behind and then above and then to the side; all happening in quick succession of one another. Qrow's defense was ironclad. After another two swift attacks and blocks, Qrow snuck in a kick and knocked Yarth to the ground.
Qrow smiled and said, "You're an impressive user of Syvn in the art of hypersword combat. A style that utilizes speed and haste to break past an opponent's defense. But every user of this style is well-aware of its severe drawback - it exhausts the user quickly. All I needed to do was outlast your barrage of attacks and wait for an opening."
Yarth growled in response. He bolted up and attacked Qrow recklessly and paid for his mistake. Qrow dodged and bashed him with his knuckle guard, cutting Yarth's cheek and sending him to the ground once more.
Scourge was quick to capitalize. Jumping earlier, he came down with his blade angled straight down. Qrow dodged and the blade impaled the floor. He pulled it up and sliced at Qrow's feet. He blocked low, with his blade touching the floor. Yarth had gotten back to his feet and sliced at Qrow's exposed arm. Qrow let go of his handle for a mere instant to avoid the swing and grabbed it again with his other hand. Yarth's blade was now in-between Qrow and his blade, his momentum carrying his blade closer to the floor. Qrow angled his blade, which was still locked with Scourge, upward and kicked the handle of Yarth's hypersword towards Scourge. His blade had nowhere to go but into Scourge's now exposed stomach. His orange blade tore partly into Scourge, who fell to his knees.
Qrow pulled his blade free of Scourge and sliced Yarth from waist to shoulder. He couldn't pull his sword in time to defend himself.
With both enemies defeated, Qrow turned to Cathy. "Head down the left. I'll go right."
"And what about Lord Mauga?"
"I'll call an arkenlord and let him know this area is clear. The arkenlord will help him. But we have to find and protect the king. He wasn't in his quarters or his study. I checked."
"Very well. I'll do my duty." Cathy rose. She would've loved nothing more to grab one of those swords. However, none were silver bladed. Since she had no bond with a scarlencoul, she would be unable to use them. She had no choice to go left down the hall without any weapons.
She kept a quick pace, ignoring much of the details of her surroundings. She knew going left would eventually lead her out of the guest section of the castle, and she made haste until she was clear of it. After bursting into one of the main corridors, she had a few different ways to go. Directly left led to Saulomon's Temple and entrance to the throne room. King Kaylob wouldn't be in the temple, of that she was sure. But the throne room?
She listened and heard no sounds of fighting. Much of what happened in the area of the castle had already happened. There were bodies in the corridor, but no sounds of battle. So she chose to go a way she hadn't been yet, directly right.
Soon the sounds of battle found her, and she spotted a large doorway at the end of the hall. It was the council's chambers. A clash was going on in and outside of the room. The royal knights were fighting off mercenaries, along with enemy knights.
Behind her, she heard the roars of men. When she turned, she recognized them to be allied knights. She moved aside and let them take the lead. Following behind, she waited as they charged toward the enemies and took up blades. That distraction allowed her to slip into the council's chambers.
Inside was richly furnished. Expansive carpets covered the floor instead of rushes, and in one corner a hundred fabulous beasts cavorted in bright paints on a carved screen for décor. The walls were hung with tapestries from around the planet, and a pair of metallic sphinxes flanked the door with eyes of polished garnet smoldering in black marble faces.
At the head of the large table centering the room, King Kaydon was standing up, anxiously hoping for his guards to pull through and clear an exit for his escape. Kaizerious was rather calm given the circumstances, sitting in a chair a meter away from the king.
"How did you get in?" King Kaydon asked.
"I'm trained to get into places that I'm not supposed to," Cathy answered, with dry humor.
"You have no part in this. You shouldn't've come."
"No guest should watch as their host dies." Cathy picked up a hypersword from a dead knight and ignited the silver blade.
"You've got it backwards. The host is responsible for his guests, not the other way around. I cannot ask you to risk your life for me."
A sudden bang stopped her before she could speak. She turned to see the fighting had been stopped by an explosion. The last royal knight alive then fell from a shot to the head. As his body hit the floor, one last mercenary was revealed.
She was an omelic wearing a worn-down, brown western hat with two gold laced strings tied around it; a tattered scarf rested below her breathing mask but above her body armor. The mercenary's right arm was robotic, and a golden-ink and animated skelven tattoo decorated her left arm. She pointed one of her two ballistic revolvers at the king.
The mercenary was Erryn Wolph.
Cathy only had a hypersword, with no armor. From experience, she knew it would not stop a bullet. Nonetheless, she stood in front of the king, blocking him from Erryn. Kaizerious edged further up his chair, troubled by the situation.
"Move, bitch," Erryn panted from the exhaustion of fighting. "My only gripe here is with my family. Get in the way, and I'll shoot right through you."
"I'm not moving," Cathy promised.
"Have it your way, dear." Those words ended with a gunshot! Cathy blinked at the sound and expected to feel the pain of dying. Her eyes opened, and she felt nothing. In front of her was an arm thicker than her torso. She followed the arm back to Kaizerious, and her face filled with shock. But at the same time, she felt a prick in her heart at the thought that Kaizerious took a bullet for her.
Erryn fell to the ground after firing the bullet, panting still. She let the gun go. "Frak it all. That was my last bullet," she said. She didn't move, letting whatever happened next happen.
Guards stormed in and seized her.
"Take my sister to the dungeons," King Kaydon commanded.
It took nearly the whole night to stop the invasion. Most of the remaining mercenaries fled upon hearing Erryn Wolph had been captured, leaving the enemy knights outnumbered. Many of them were shown little mercy.
⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕
It was the following morning, and at last Cathy sat face-to-face with Erryn Wolph. In a circular room of just a single table and chair, it was recently decorated with fresh blood. Erryn was beaten and battered; her ribs were tenderized like meat, and she had cuts and scrapes all over her body. Tortured. And yet Erryn smirked. "You're quite a beautiful specimen."
Cathy held back from blushing. "I thought you fancied men?"
"No dear, I fancy pleasure. When I'm offered love, I'm not choosy. Why indulge myself in only half of the galaxy's pleasures?" Erryn coughed, spewing some blood in the process. "You here to get your revenge?"
"Revenge?"
"I did try to shoot you."
"Yet, I'm unharmed. No, I'm here because I'm hoping you might be able to lead me on the correct path."
"What are you even talking about?" Erryn asked.
"I want information on the Brotherhood of Relics."
Erryn snorted at the mention of their name. "Then talk to Kaydon. He is the bloody king."
"He claims to not know anything about the brotherhood."
"That's because they aren't real, honey." There was mockery in her tone. "They're just a damn myth. So--"
Cathy stopped her. "I wonder how someone of royal blood like you ends up a mercenary on the run… on her own… alone in this grand galaxy."
"What the frak is it to you?" Erryn cursed.
"Most people have no clue you descended from a king."
"They know I killed my father… that's enough."
"But why?"
"You know how omelics treat their women. They--"
"Don't bullshivf me." Cathy slammed her hands on the table filled with torturous tools.
"What? Do you want my whole life story?!" Erryn screamed.
"No. I just want information on any clues that the Brotherhood of Relic's ancestors may have left here."
Erryn sighed. "I already told you--"
"Stop!" Cathy pushed aside the table and came closer to Erryn. "Let's stop wasting precious time with lies and deception. You remember our mutual acquaintance, James Stone?"
Erryn cheered up, shifting upright in her chair, chains clanking in her movement. She smiled. "Of course. How could I forget such a fine ass?"
Cathy rolled her eyes. "According to Captain Wild-Heart, James had a run in with the Brotherhood of Relics on a recent mission, and they were responsible for saving countless ARW and civilian lives. I want to thank them personally."
"I thought you said not to waste time with lies?" Erryn retorted. "You wouldn't waste time thanking them. You want to meet them to form some kind of alliance, no?"
Cathy shifted upright. "That's ARW business."
"Save your time. The Brotherhood of Relics allies with nobody but themselves." Erryn's gaze turned to the floor.
"They'll want to hear what I have to say."
"And if I help you, what's in it for me?" Erryn asked.
Cathy pulled out a key. Erryn gazed in complete shock and awe. She began, "Is that--?"
"Yes. The key to your shackles."
"How?" Erryn's eyes did not leave the key.
"Snatched it from the guard. And it's yours… if you help me."
Through the bruising and pain, Erryn smiled with cheer. "Deal."
"Glad to hear it," Cathy nodded.
Erryn grinned. "Have you ever heard of the Tale of the Lost Village?"
"What does that have to do with the brotherhood?" Cathy questioned.
"Legend says the brotherhood's location lies hidden… riddled into the story."
"Hmm. You have my undivided attention. Where can I find this story?"
"In Saulomon's Temple, the children's section."
"Children? It's a damn children's story?!" Cathy was a bit miffed by that reveal. Not what she expected.
"Trust me. But look specifically for the call number: LVP 909.P57996. From there, read the book all the way until the end," Erryn informed.
"Anything else?"
Erryn looked to the door for a brief moment. "Just a word of advice. Your friend…. watch out for that one."
"Who?" Cathy had an idea of who.
"The big guy of course!" Erryn yelled.
Cathy gazed at Erryn for a few seconds, still not quite sure what to make of the warning. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"When I said that I'll shoot right through you, I meant what I said. That bullet was forged from pure forcidion and packed full of as much airjin fuel that I could squeeze in. And… and that bullet - made of the most indestructible metal in all existence - bounced off that man like rubber! A bullet like that would pierce straight through a line of maelkii!"
Those words chilled Cathy. What could this mean if what Erryn said was true? "Why are you telling me this?"
"To scare you, dumbo! I mean, what the hell is he? Th-that he could take firepower like that without even flinching."
"I don't know! And you know what? I really don't care. Here!" Cathy tossed Erryn the key, and it landed on her lap. "Take the key, and leave this place." Cathy headed for the door. She looked back at Erryn, who had already somehow managed to shift the key to one of her chained hands. Cathy banged on the door. The guard opened it and let her out.