Duscur - Early Afternoon - Cool
Senka Rinaldi
Senka.
Even now, with her eyes closed, she could still hear his voice. How it still haunted her even five years later.
Sen—
“—eria!" Senka felt her eyes snap open, a rush of air splashing her face as the entire battlefield below encompassed her vision. Her people were being pushed back by a pincer attack on Kleiman's part, and Senka felt her brows furrow. “Valeria, what are your orders," Espera spoke, glancing at her with furrowed brows. Even he looked tired, the crease in his brows a permanent expression. And the name he'd called her. That was who she was, now. Senka died, and she could feel it in her heart, how hollow, how empty it was.
The only thing keeping Valeria going was the fact that there was a chance at freeing her people from Kleiman's grasp, and the chance of killing the woman responsible for Senka's death. For Sorcha's. She glanced in Espera's direction, narrowing her eyes slightly.
“Take half of the reserves and reinforce the right flank. I'll take the others and reinforce the left," she spoke, nudging Liev, her pegasus, in the direction she needed to go. It wasn't going to be easy to pull out of the pincer, but if they did this right, they could manage it. The air rushed past her as she flew through a crowd, jumping off of the pegasus' back when they were close to the ground. She pulled the sword from her back, leaving Blutgang on the other side of her as she swung her blade to catch a soldier in the back.
It seemed endless, though.
For every soldier she dropped, another seemed to take their place. Bodies were being piled up on both sides, but she was losing soldiers. Her people were dying for this war between Kleiman and herself. She needed this to end, to give the remainder of her people a chance at a life. A sudden roar echoed through the field, and Senka felt her head snap in the direction. A demonic beast? What was that doing here? From the looks of it, there seemed to be at least three. She pulled in a breath between her teeth, and glanced at her soldiers.
“Don't engage them recklessly!" she shouted. They weren't used to fighting beasts like that. Kleiman only ever sent soldiers after her rebel army, but what was she doing with beasts? Was she really that desperate to end the war that she'd resort to using them? “Espera, with me!" she shouted, making a sharp whistle in the air as Liev came back. She mounted the pegasus and charged for the first beast.
They wouldn't last much longer if they didn't get rid of the beasts, first.
These beasts, she could tell quickly, were stronger than the ones she'd faced before. A cavalry formation went in to charge the second beast, but it simply shrieked with a sound like warping metal and swept outwards with its massive, spiked tail. People and horses went flying, too many landing never to move again. The beast lashed at others with its claws, rending armor as easily as if it had been made from paper.
The soldiers were beginning to panic—they had never faced anything like this before. Truth be told, she hadn't faced this before. Not quite like this anyway. The lines were breaking, Kleiman's soldiers charging in around the beasts to take out the stragglers. The battle was slowly turning into a slaughter.
And she'd had enough of that.
Her people needed to live. If they were all wiped out... an entire people...
“Espera, fall back! Give the signal to regroup and stay away from the beasts," she shouted in his direction. He had been defending some of their soldiers from Kleiman's as Senka tossed her blade to the ground in favor of Blutgang at her back. She wasn't going to lose anymore people. She couldn't. If this was how her new life was to be used, to be given in defense of the people she'd promised not to fail, then so be it.
“Senka!"
It was the first time she'd heard him call her that in the last couple of years. She could hear the panic in his voice as she charged the creature. She just needed to draw its attention, to give her soldiers enough time to retreat so that they could live. But she'd vastly underestimated the strength of the beast. With a single swipe of its clawed hand, it tore her armor, leaving a large cut across her abdomen. Another scar to add to the collection.
She held Blutgang up in an attempt to defend herself from the creature's attacks, however; its strength overwhelmed her quickly, and it pinned her beneath one of its massive clawed hands. Roaring as if it had won some prize, its jaws lowered towards her, open wide as if to consume her.
She did not close her eyes.
It was close enough for the stench of its hot, humid breath to wash over her face when a bolt of lightning slammed into it, followed abruptly by a spear a moment later. It wasn't an ordinary javelin, though; there were runes carved into the haft, almost like—
“Senka!"
Even mere moments before death washed over her, she could still hear his voice calling out to her. Was she really that far gone?
He appeared a moment later in her field of vision, gripping the Arrow of Indra in both hands and shoving it deeper into the creature's eye, until it stilled, then collapsed. This left her pinned under its claws, but with a heave, he pulled those away from her, dropping to her side, white magic already at his fingertips.
He looked different. A fair bit thinner, for one, though still somewhat solid. His hair was long, pulled back from his face but falling forward over his shoulder where he leaned to apply magic to the cut across her body. His eyes—brighter than she remembered—kept flicking back to her face, as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
It was warm, his magic. It had always been warm to her, as it flowed through her whenever she'd needed to be healed in some way. But this was a ghost, was it not? She wasn't being healed by him, but someone who looked like him. That didn't seem right, though. No one had those eyes, the bright gold she'd loved so long ago.
“Cyril," his name came out before she'd even registered herself saying it. He was dead. She'd seen him die, and her hands reached out towards him. Everything around her seemed to go deafening silent. She couldn't focus on anything but him. “Cyril, why do you haunt me still?" she spoke, feeling a spike of fear lance through her body. Was this her punishment? Was she being punished, now, for what she could not do so many years ago? When she could not save him?
“Why?" she called out. She wanted to touch him, his face, his shoulder, anything to prove that he was real. That this wasn't just an apparition before her to haunt her further of Senka's failures.
Around them, she sensed the battle still raged. New sounds had been added to the fray, the twang of bowstrings, the rush of wind magic, shouts and the cries of the beasts as they engaged with newer, mightier foes.
“I'm not haunting you, Senka." His tone was low, urgent, earnest, almost desperate. “I'm here. I'm real, I swear it to you." His hands shifted, the warm flow of the magic ceasing. “I'll—I'll explain everything. But first we have to save your people. We have to save Duscur." He stood, offering a hand down to help her to her feet.
She was hesitant to take it. This ghost was just tempting her with sweet lies. That he was real, that he was alive. She sat up slowly, instead, refusing to take his hand and pushed herself to her feet, using Blutgang as a means to keep herself balanced. She was healed, that much she could register, but she could not force herself to register him.
But then she saw them.
Her friends, the ones who'd meant the world to her so many years ago. Vridel, Thea, Devon, Sofia, Sylvi, Deirdre, they were all here. Even Reynard. Her eyes, burning with a warm sensation, shifted back towards him. Was it true... was he really...
“Senka!" Espera's voice cut through her like a hot knife, and she turned towards him. “The tide is in our favor. If we push now, we can end this," he shouted, shifting the lance in his hand as he glanced towards him. “If what you say is true, help us. Céleste is taking the field, and if we can kill her," they could end this battle once and for all.
“She's mine," Senka nearly snarled. She could feel it, the way her blood went cold again at the name of that woman. “Espera, keep the soldiers away from the other two beasts. Reroute them towards Kleiman and have them push forward. We end this now," she stated, earning a nod of approval from him as he took off. She turned her eyes towards Cyril, feeling something stirring in her heart, something old and forgotten.
“Help me."
“I'm yours," he replied softly, yanking the Arrow from the beast's eye without breaking his gaze from hers. “Only tell me what you wish, and it will be done."
The first step was to carve a path to Céleste, and Cyril set about flinging lightning into the thick of the opposing soldiers, each bolt finding a mark and dropping them. He didn't seem to run out, didn't stop casting until they reached melee range, where he thrust the spear for the nearest paladin and unhorsed him, spinning the spear until it was point-down and finding the man's throat with it.
Her friends worked together to fight the two beasts remaining: enhanced though the creatures must be, they would surely be a poor match for those who had fought so many of their brethren.
And she was beside him every step of the way, flinging her own dark magic into the fray. She used her sword to cut down anyone who stood between her and Kleiman, and didn't stop. When they'd finally reached Céleste, there was a flicker of surprise on the woman's face. It was something akin to what Senka had worn when she'd seen him.
“But I saw you. You were dead," the woman spoke almost in disbelief. Senka openly glared at the woman, pointing Blutgang in her direction.
“You're correct, I was dead. Long enough for you to believe that Senka Rinaldi no longer existed so that Valeria Scutari could lead her people against you. This ends now, Céleste. Duscur will be yours no longer. I will never be yours, nor will my people ever serve you. And you will pay for Sorcha's death," and for the deaths of so many others. Céleste, shook her head, though.
“You should have taken my offer, Senka. Now... you'll die along with the rest of your wretched people!" the woman nearly snarled. That was alright by Senka as long as she took Kleiman down too. Something gleamed in the woman's hands, though. She dismounted her steed, sending it off in another direction as she pulled her glove off. The stone she had in her gloved hand seemed familiar to Senka, as if she'd seen it before somewhere.
“You leave me no choice. I know who that is by your side, and I will, at whatever the cost, win this war. Even if I have to rip you to shreds to do it!" she stated, placing the stone into the hand that wasn't gloved. And Senka was suddenly reminded of what that stone was. A Crest Stone that wasn't compatible with a person turned them into something not human. A demonic beast cursed to never be human again.
“Céleste, don't!" but it was too late. The same black ooze that errupted from the stone, covered Kleiman, twisting and morphing her into something not even Senka recognized. A beast she was, but it looked like the one Senka had been pinned underneath, earlier, and was larger. Was the stone corrupted somehow? It didn't matter. Gripping Blutgang tightly in her hands, she glanced towards Cyril.
“I will not fail you a second time," she spoke before she charged after Kleiman as the beast roared.
He didn't let her go alone, hurling a bolt of dark, miasmic magic for the beast and following it with himself. With the hand not holding the Arrow, he drew the Sword of the Creator, wielding one weapon in each hand. He lashed forward with the sword first, its segments catching Kleiman across the cheek and snapping her head to the side.
It was enough to enrage Kleiman, and Senka could see her gathering flames to her mouth. Senka couldn't let that happen. She hurled a saggitae spell towards Kleiman, catching her in the eye, forcing her to close it. It was enough to interrupt her attacks, however; she began berserking. She smashed her claws into the ground, sweeping her tail from side to side as if to clear the area around her from whatever might be attacking her. Senka kept her distance and used the opportunity to summon her black magic. Agnea's Arrow required a bit of time to summon, however; if she could time this just right... she could use it to her advantage.
When Kleiman turned her attention towards Cyril, lunging for him, Senka acted. She released the dark magic she'd built up for the spell, watching as a bright blue light surged towards Kleiman. It was in the shape of an arrow, ironically enough, but it managed to find its mark in Kleiman's neck with enough force to topple her over.
“Cyril, now!" she shouted, lunging forward with Blutgang. They had such a small window before Kleiman would recover, but she was exposed now. If she could just get Blutgang into the belly of the beast...
He responded immediately, using the lengthened form of his sword to tangle the beast's legs, impeding her efforts to stand again, and with the spear he pierced her tongue as she tried to pull in a breath for more fire, staking it to the ground. “Go!" he called, indicating that her path was as clear as it was going to get.
She didn't need to be told twice. Senka lunged towards Kleiman, and with as much strength as she could muster, the glow of her Crest alighting her forehead, she plunged Blutgang through the beast's scales, finding Kleiman's heart. The beast shrieked, something akin to a human shriek, but mixed with a beast's. It was painful to Senka's ears, but she did not try to cover them. When Kleiman stirred no more, and her beastly body began to disintegrate, Senka fell to her knees.
Finally.
They were finally free.
Duscur was free from her.
Sorcha was avenged.
The world seemed to spin, but Senka didn't care. Whether they were from joy, sorrow, or happiness, she did not stop the tears that fell down her cheek.
“Did you see, Sorcha? I did it. I finally... did it."
Even now, with her eyes closed, she could still hear his voice. How it still haunted her even five years later.
Sen—
“—eria!" Senka felt her eyes snap open, a rush of air splashing her face as the entire battlefield below encompassed her vision. Her people were being pushed back by a pincer attack on Kleiman's part, and Senka felt her brows furrow. “Valeria, what are your orders," Espera spoke, glancing at her with furrowed brows. Even he looked tired, the crease in his brows a permanent expression. And the name he'd called her. That was who she was, now. Senka died, and she could feel it in her heart, how hollow, how empty it was.
The only thing keeping Valeria going was the fact that there was a chance at freeing her people from Kleiman's grasp, and the chance of killing the woman responsible for Senka's death. For Sorcha's. She glanced in Espera's direction, narrowing her eyes slightly.
“Take half of the reserves and reinforce the right flank. I'll take the others and reinforce the left," she spoke, nudging Liev, her pegasus, in the direction she needed to go. It wasn't going to be easy to pull out of the pincer, but if they did this right, they could manage it. The air rushed past her as she flew through a crowd, jumping off of the pegasus' back when they were close to the ground. She pulled the sword from her back, leaving Blutgang on the other side of her as she swung her blade to catch a soldier in the back.
It seemed endless, though.
For every soldier she dropped, another seemed to take their place. Bodies were being piled up on both sides, but she was losing soldiers. Her people were dying for this war between Kleiman and herself. She needed this to end, to give the remainder of her people a chance at a life. A sudden roar echoed through the field, and Senka felt her head snap in the direction. A demonic beast? What was that doing here? From the looks of it, there seemed to be at least three. She pulled in a breath between her teeth, and glanced at her soldiers.
“Don't engage them recklessly!" she shouted. They weren't used to fighting beasts like that. Kleiman only ever sent soldiers after her rebel army, but what was she doing with beasts? Was she really that desperate to end the war that she'd resort to using them? “Espera, with me!" she shouted, making a sharp whistle in the air as Liev came back. She mounted the pegasus and charged for the first beast.
They wouldn't last much longer if they didn't get rid of the beasts, first.
These beasts, she could tell quickly, were stronger than the ones she'd faced before. A cavalry formation went in to charge the second beast, but it simply shrieked with a sound like warping metal and swept outwards with its massive, spiked tail. People and horses went flying, too many landing never to move again. The beast lashed at others with its claws, rending armor as easily as if it had been made from paper.
The soldiers were beginning to panic—they had never faced anything like this before. Truth be told, she hadn't faced this before. Not quite like this anyway. The lines were breaking, Kleiman's soldiers charging in around the beasts to take out the stragglers. The battle was slowly turning into a slaughter.
And she'd had enough of that.
Her people needed to live. If they were all wiped out... an entire people...
“Espera, fall back! Give the signal to regroup and stay away from the beasts," she shouted in his direction. He had been defending some of their soldiers from Kleiman's as Senka tossed her blade to the ground in favor of Blutgang at her back. She wasn't going to lose anymore people. She couldn't. If this was how her new life was to be used, to be given in defense of the people she'd promised not to fail, then so be it.
“Senka!"
It was the first time she'd heard him call her that in the last couple of years. She could hear the panic in his voice as she charged the creature. She just needed to draw its attention, to give her soldiers enough time to retreat so that they could live. But she'd vastly underestimated the strength of the beast. With a single swipe of its clawed hand, it tore her armor, leaving a large cut across her abdomen. Another scar to add to the collection.
She held Blutgang up in an attempt to defend herself from the creature's attacks, however; its strength overwhelmed her quickly, and it pinned her beneath one of its massive clawed hands. Roaring as if it had won some prize, its jaws lowered towards her, open wide as if to consume her.
She did not close her eyes.
It was close enough for the stench of its hot, humid breath to wash over her face when a bolt of lightning slammed into it, followed abruptly by a spear a moment later. It wasn't an ordinary javelin, though; there were runes carved into the haft, almost like—
“Senka!"
Even mere moments before death washed over her, she could still hear his voice calling out to her. Was she really that far gone?
He appeared a moment later in her field of vision, gripping the Arrow of Indra in both hands and shoving it deeper into the creature's eye, until it stilled, then collapsed. This left her pinned under its claws, but with a heave, he pulled those away from her, dropping to her side, white magic already at his fingertips.
He looked different. A fair bit thinner, for one, though still somewhat solid. His hair was long, pulled back from his face but falling forward over his shoulder where he leaned to apply magic to the cut across her body. His eyes—brighter than she remembered—kept flicking back to her face, as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
It was warm, his magic. It had always been warm to her, as it flowed through her whenever she'd needed to be healed in some way. But this was a ghost, was it not? She wasn't being healed by him, but someone who looked like him. That didn't seem right, though. No one had those eyes, the bright gold she'd loved so long ago.
“Cyril," his name came out before she'd even registered herself saying it. He was dead. She'd seen him die, and her hands reached out towards him. Everything around her seemed to go deafening silent. She couldn't focus on anything but him. “Cyril, why do you haunt me still?" she spoke, feeling a spike of fear lance through her body. Was this her punishment? Was she being punished, now, for what she could not do so many years ago? When she could not save him?
“Why?" she called out. She wanted to touch him, his face, his shoulder, anything to prove that he was real. That this wasn't just an apparition before her to haunt her further of Senka's failures.
Around them, she sensed the battle still raged. New sounds had been added to the fray, the twang of bowstrings, the rush of wind magic, shouts and the cries of the beasts as they engaged with newer, mightier foes.
“I'm not haunting you, Senka." His tone was low, urgent, earnest, almost desperate. “I'm here. I'm real, I swear it to you." His hands shifted, the warm flow of the magic ceasing. “I'll—I'll explain everything. But first we have to save your people. We have to save Duscur." He stood, offering a hand down to help her to her feet.
She was hesitant to take it. This ghost was just tempting her with sweet lies. That he was real, that he was alive. She sat up slowly, instead, refusing to take his hand and pushed herself to her feet, using Blutgang as a means to keep herself balanced. She was healed, that much she could register, but she could not force herself to register him.
But then she saw them.
Her friends, the ones who'd meant the world to her so many years ago. Vridel, Thea, Devon, Sofia, Sylvi, Deirdre, they were all here. Even Reynard. Her eyes, burning with a warm sensation, shifted back towards him. Was it true... was he really...
“Senka!" Espera's voice cut through her like a hot knife, and she turned towards him. “The tide is in our favor. If we push now, we can end this," he shouted, shifting the lance in his hand as he glanced towards him. “If what you say is true, help us. Céleste is taking the field, and if we can kill her," they could end this battle once and for all.
“She's mine," Senka nearly snarled. She could feel it, the way her blood went cold again at the name of that woman. “Espera, keep the soldiers away from the other two beasts. Reroute them towards Kleiman and have them push forward. We end this now," she stated, earning a nod of approval from him as he took off. She turned her eyes towards Cyril, feeling something stirring in her heart, something old and forgotten.
“Help me."
“I'm yours," he replied softly, yanking the Arrow from the beast's eye without breaking his gaze from hers. “Only tell me what you wish, and it will be done."
The first step was to carve a path to Céleste, and Cyril set about flinging lightning into the thick of the opposing soldiers, each bolt finding a mark and dropping them. He didn't seem to run out, didn't stop casting until they reached melee range, where he thrust the spear for the nearest paladin and unhorsed him, spinning the spear until it was point-down and finding the man's throat with it.
Her friends worked together to fight the two beasts remaining: enhanced though the creatures must be, they would surely be a poor match for those who had fought so many of their brethren.
And she was beside him every step of the way, flinging her own dark magic into the fray. She used her sword to cut down anyone who stood between her and Kleiman, and didn't stop. When they'd finally reached Céleste, there was a flicker of surprise on the woman's face. It was something akin to what Senka had worn when she'd seen him.
“But I saw you. You were dead," the woman spoke almost in disbelief. Senka openly glared at the woman, pointing Blutgang in her direction.
“You're correct, I was dead. Long enough for you to believe that Senka Rinaldi no longer existed so that Valeria Scutari could lead her people against you. This ends now, Céleste. Duscur will be yours no longer. I will never be yours, nor will my people ever serve you. And you will pay for Sorcha's death," and for the deaths of so many others. Céleste, shook her head, though.
“You should have taken my offer, Senka. Now... you'll die along with the rest of your wretched people!" the woman nearly snarled. That was alright by Senka as long as she took Kleiman down too. Something gleamed in the woman's hands, though. She dismounted her steed, sending it off in another direction as she pulled her glove off. The stone she had in her gloved hand seemed familiar to Senka, as if she'd seen it before somewhere.
“You leave me no choice. I know who that is by your side, and I will, at whatever the cost, win this war. Even if I have to rip you to shreds to do it!" she stated, placing the stone into the hand that wasn't gloved. And Senka was suddenly reminded of what that stone was. A Crest Stone that wasn't compatible with a person turned them into something not human. A demonic beast cursed to never be human again.
“Céleste, don't!" but it was too late. The same black ooze that errupted from the stone, covered Kleiman, twisting and morphing her into something not even Senka recognized. A beast she was, but it looked like the one Senka had been pinned underneath, earlier, and was larger. Was the stone corrupted somehow? It didn't matter. Gripping Blutgang tightly in her hands, she glanced towards Cyril.
“I will not fail you a second time," she spoke before she charged after Kleiman as the beast roared.
He didn't let her go alone, hurling a bolt of dark, miasmic magic for the beast and following it with himself. With the hand not holding the Arrow, he drew the Sword of the Creator, wielding one weapon in each hand. He lashed forward with the sword first, its segments catching Kleiman across the cheek and snapping her head to the side.
It was enough to enrage Kleiman, and Senka could see her gathering flames to her mouth. Senka couldn't let that happen. She hurled a saggitae spell towards Kleiman, catching her in the eye, forcing her to close it. It was enough to interrupt her attacks, however; she began berserking. She smashed her claws into the ground, sweeping her tail from side to side as if to clear the area around her from whatever might be attacking her. Senka kept her distance and used the opportunity to summon her black magic. Agnea's Arrow required a bit of time to summon, however; if she could time this just right... she could use it to her advantage.
When Kleiman turned her attention towards Cyril, lunging for him, Senka acted. She released the dark magic she'd built up for the spell, watching as a bright blue light surged towards Kleiman. It was in the shape of an arrow, ironically enough, but it managed to find its mark in Kleiman's neck with enough force to topple her over.
“Cyril, now!" she shouted, lunging forward with Blutgang. They had such a small window before Kleiman would recover, but she was exposed now. If she could just get Blutgang into the belly of the beast...
He responded immediately, using the lengthened form of his sword to tangle the beast's legs, impeding her efforts to stand again, and with the spear he pierced her tongue as she tried to pull in a breath for more fire, staking it to the ground. “Go!" he called, indicating that her path was as clear as it was going to get.
She didn't need to be told twice. Senka lunged towards Kleiman, and with as much strength as she could muster, the glow of her Crest alighting her forehead, she plunged Blutgang through the beast's scales, finding Kleiman's heart. The beast shrieked, something akin to a human shriek, but mixed with a beast's. It was painful to Senka's ears, but she did not try to cover them. When Kleiman stirred no more, and her beastly body began to disintegrate, Senka fell to her knees.
Finally.
They were finally free.
Duscur was free from her.
Sorcha was avenged.
The world seemed to spin, but Senka didn't care. Whether they were from joy, sorrow, or happiness, she did not stop the tears that fell down her cheek.
“Did you see, Sorcha? I did it. I finally... did it."