Chapter 326: One Last Smile

 

  Sylvie walked out of the coliseum’s tunnel and stepped into the white sands of the arena. The crowd's cheers were already deafening. The Heralds seemed to have already done their job of riling up the crowds.

  THORN, THORN, THORN!! they chanted over and over.

  Sylvie smiled to herself, hefted her hammer, and walked towards the center of the arena where a lone drow stood.

  Calex Thorn looked her over as she walked, his eyes lingering on her hammer.

  “Ready to lose?” Sylvie smirked.

  “...You’re going to fight with a hammer,” Calex noted quietly.

  “Yeah, I got a little tired of the ax. Thought I might give the hammer a try,” she shrugged.

  “Why not the sword? You are a swordmaster, yet you refuse to carry a sword?”

  Sylvie chuckled, “Says the guy who carries a sword but has yet to draw it once.”

  “You will regret not using one,” Calex sighed.

  “You think I can’t beat you in a fight without a sword?” Sylvie laughed.

  “This won’t be much of a fight…”

 

  “YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR LONG ENOUGH, SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…”

  “MAY THE 14TH MATCH OF THE CHALLENGE OF SPELL & STEEL… BEGIN!” The Heralds yelled.

 

  Sylvie channeled blue mana into her hands and fired off a lightning bolt. Calex had already done the same, a second quicker. The bolts of lightning clashed in front of Sylvie before she had a chance to move. The blast of electricity arced outwards and slammed into her chest. The aurum aegis around her neck flared to life and created a golden shield around her before the storm spell struck, though the force of the blast still sent her careening backward.

  She crashed into the sand and quickly rolled to her feet, hammer in hand. Calex was already on her, Orange agility magic flowing through his veins. He drew Nightshade from its sheath and struck out in rapid blinding slashes. Sylvie’s eyes darted around, she raised her hammer and blocked each strike with the steel shaft. Calex dashed away after his initial strikes, leaving no room for a counterattack.

  Sylvie shook her head and laughed, “Running away so soon?”

  She tried her best to appear calm and relaxed, but panic slowly rose in the pit of her stomach. It hadn’t even been a minute, but she had already realized what sort of monster Calex was.

  He was fast, too fast. Not even Stryg in their sparring matches was as fast with his agility magic and his body was already naturally quick. 

  Then there was Calex’s spellcasting. The speed of his casts were borderline unnatural. Even high-masters couldn’t cast with such high efficiency without even a second’s delay.

  It’s not just his speed, Sylvie thought grimly. His storm spell was significantly stronger than mine. If it hadn’t been for my aegis this fight would have already been over.

  She had never felt so overwhelmingly outclassed by a peer before. She had always thought of Stryg as a friendly rival and perhaps the only real challenge she might encounter during the tournament, but as she stared at Calex, she knew without a doubt that he was by far the most skilled mage among them.

  “Dammit,” Sylvie muttered under her breath. “This is embarrassing…”

  If she couldn’t defeat Calex with magic alone, she would have to rely on her martial skills far more heavily.

  I can’t believe I’m regretting not bringing a stupid sword… she thought.

  Calex sighed and looked at her in admiration, “You really are incredible.”

  “Huh?” Sylvie blinked.

  “The storm spell knocked you on the ground, you should have been helpless, at least for a moment. Yet somehow despite that and my speed, I was unable to land a single solid blow on you. Your ability to anticipate my attacks is truly incredible.”

  “Thanks…?” Sylvie said cautiously.

  Is he trying to trick me or something?

  “You’re not even an Orange mage, but you were still fast enough to react to my attacks, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Calex said in wonder. “Is this the ability of a swordmaster? Or is it your own natural physique as a dire? Perhaps a mutation of your hybrid nature? Or maybe all three?”

  “Maybe you just suck at fighting with swords, huh?” Sylvie taunted.

  “Hm, no, I don’t think so. I was trained from little to fight with a sword. Granted, I cannot compare to a swordmaster like you, but I can get by,” Calex shrugged. “Fortunately, I have my family’s Nightshade. It is enough.”

  “You really think so?” Sylvie smirked. “How about you come closer and we can find out if you really have what it takes to land a blow with that fancy sword of yours?”

  “I already told you, it is enough,” Calex raised his sword. Blood dripped off the edge of the purple blade.

  Sylvie frowned. “How did you…?”

  She glanced over herself and was surprised to see a small gash over her thigh. The aegis hadn’t stopped the blade? She hadn’t even felt the cut. In fact, she still couldn’t. Her eyes widened in shock.

  I can’t feel my thigh!

  Calex stared at Sylvie with sympathy, “My family has gone through great efforts to keep the true extent of Nightshade’s abilities hidden from the general populace. For whatever reason, my mother decided to forgo that tradition and insisted I use the sword in today’s duel. I am sorry.”

  Sylvie’s vision began to blur. She fell to her knees and hands. Her throat felt tight and it was difficult to breathe.

  “You are truly a great warrior, Sylvie of Hollow Shade. But I must keep my sister safe, even if it means killing those who I admire.” Calex bit his lip, “The poison will work quickly. There is no pain. You will soon lose all feeling, and then all five of your senses. Then… your heart will stop. I am sorry, Sylvie.”

  Calex turned around and walked away.

  Sylvie wanted to tell him she didn’t want his apology, but her mouth had gone numb. Her hands couldn’t handle her weight and she fell face down on the sand. With what little strength she had left she rolled onto her back and stared up at the blue sky and the sun hanging above.

  This can’t be it…

  She had so much she wanted to do, so much she wanted to see…

  The voices of her friends echoed in the distance, but they were faint and she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

  Sylvie tried to smile, to be brave one last time.

  Her vision darkened and the crowd faded into silence…

  As her mind fell into oblivion she wondered if this was what her brothers and sisters had felt. If their last moments had been so helpless…

 

~~~

 

  …13 years ago…

 

  The sound of shattering wood and roaring flames exploded in the dining hall. Even from the hallway, the little girl could feel the vibrations of the battle as they shook the stone tiles beneath her feet. She stumbled back in fear and fell. Half a dozen voices yelled in anger, her siblings’ voices. They grew louder and louder as rage overtook them.

  The crackle of thunder boomed throughout the castle. It had not come from the storm outside, but from behind the dining hall door. 

  A voice of wretched agony pierced the air and was suddenly cut short.

  “Lea, NO!” her brother Jasper cried out.

  Had something happened to Lea? The thought chilled her to the bone.

  A second boom of thunder resounded through the castle. Her brothers and sisters screamed in dismay.

  What was happening?

  The walls shook and bits of rock and dust fell from the ceiling all around. She cried out in terror and huddled at the edge of the hallway. 

  A third clap of thunder, stronger and louder than the ones before, struck from within the castle, shaking its foundations. The walls trembled as if they were about to give in and fall over, crushing her beneath them.

  The night abruptly fell silent and an eerie quietness swept over the dining hall. Her siblings' voices had disappeared. 

  She crawled towards the dining hall door, placed her ear over the wood, and strained to hear something, anything.

  But there was nothing. She heard not the laughter of Aria, nor the melodic voice of James, or even Claude’s constant banter.

  She had always resented Lea’s authoritative tone, yet now she’d give anything to hear it once more. 

  The silence was broken by the crunch of glass underneath a pair of footsteps.

  …Who was that…?

  She swallowed the lump in her throat and reached out hesitantly. With a trembling hand, she turned the door knob. The door creaked open just an inch and she peered through the crack. Her chest seized up at the gruesome sight. She froze and stifled a cry.

  Splatters of blood had bathed the chamber a bright red. The broken bodies of her brothers and sisters were sprawled over the scorched floor. A woman in a tattered blue dress stood alone in what little was left of the dining hall.

  The woman’s neck snapped backward, her head lolled to the side, and her lips slowly curled into a smile. Her bloodied mouth stretched further than what seemed possible, revealing a row of sharp black teeth.

  It’s you…!

  The child’s voice caught in her throat, she wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. Her body felt numb, she couldn’t move, she could only stare into the monstrous woman’s iridescent eyes as she shambled towards the door.

  Caligo’s bloodied smile widened, “Hello, little girl.”

  “Y-you…!? It’s really you…” the child cried in helpless horror.

  “Why are you hiding behind the door? Is that how you treat your friends? That’s not very nice, is it?” Caligo wrapped her arms under her breasts and swayed from side to side. 

  “W-why…did y-you…?” the child half-mumbled through her tears.

  The woman’s slim fingers reached out and grasped the doorknob, “Let me… show you!” 

  A pair of strong arms grabbed the little girl by the back of her nightgown and yanked her away from the door. She looked up in surprise and saw a familiar bearded face staring down at her, his scarlet eyes filled with worry.

  “Dad!” she cried out.

  “Hold on!” he shouted and threw her over his shoulder. 

  Green mana filled her father’s legs. He stomped his foot down and the stone tiles cracked underneath him and the wall in front of them crumbled apart. He jumped out from the castle tower with his daughter and fell into the wailing storm. They plummeted down the 50 ft drop, but the rain answered the call of his blue mana and swept underneath them in a torrent of water, cradling their fall. He landed on his feet in a giant splash of water and sprinted away as fast as he could towards the mountain’s treeline.

  The little girl looked back at the castle from her father’s shoulder, the tower was collapsing in on itself, thousands of grey bricks crashing down in a cloud of dust.

  “The lady…” she mumbled.

  “That wasn’t a lady, that was something else!” her father said as he ran. “My stone spell won’t hold it back there for long. We need to make as much distance from the castle as we can!”

  “B-but Lea and Claude and…” she broke down into tears. 

  “I know darling, but it’s… it’s too late for them,” his father whispered mournfully. “We can’t go back.”

  The little girl suddenly gripped her father’s cloak tight, “Mom! We left Mom!” She beat her small fists into her father’s back and screamed panickedly, “We can’t leave her!”

  “Your mother wasn’t in the castle, she’s fine!”

  “Where is she?! I want to see Mom!” she whimpered.

  “We’ll find her, I promise! But first, we need to run, sweetheart.”

  “Run where?” Caligo’s silky voice whispered from above.

  The father skidded to a halt in the muddied ground and thrust his arm up towards the trees. A bolt of lightning crackled out from his hand, sizzling through the rain. The spell exploded over Caligo and dissipated before it touched her pale skin. She laughed, a beautiful sound composed of multiple shifting voices. 

  “Really? Is that all?” Caligo jumped down from a branch and landed softly on the ground. “I expected more from you, Dorian.”

  The vampire stiffened and his brown skin turned a shade paler. “How did you…?”

  “Oh, please. You embarrass yourself, Dorian. Did you think I didn’t know who you really were? Or did you think your little Order is as secretive as they so haughtily presume?”

  Dorian lowered his daughter to the ground and stepped in front of her, “Stay behind me, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, Dorian, do you think you can somehow stop me? You? A mere archmage?” Caligo held her sides as she laughed. The rain had washed away the blood and grime from her skin and chestnut hair, but her wide iridescent irises were as cold and bright as ever. She wiped a tear of mirth from the edge of her eye and smiled, “I’ll give you this, you are braver than your brother.”

  “My brother!? Then the incident at sea…? It was a lie!” Dorian yelled angrily.

  “Ah, I wish it were so. Unfortunately, I had no hand in his death. Lord Elliot Ashe did indeed perish at sea. However, contrary to the stories his daughter Calantha spread, the regal Lord Elliot screamed and cried like a coward as the sea serpent’s fangs enclosed around him. Strange, no? To know such a brave man cried at the end.” Caligo sauntered towards them, her red lips curled in a smirk, “~I wonder?~ Will you cry, sweet Dorian?”

  “Dad…?” the little girl whimpered fearfully.

  Dorian licked his lips and glanced down at his daughter. He smiled strainedly, “It’s going to be okay… but… I need you to run now, sweetheart. Get as far away from here as you can.”

  “No… No, no, no! Dad, I don’t like this! Come with me! Please, come with me!” she cried frantically.

  “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” Dorian hugged his daughter tight. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”

  “Your father is a liar, child. Just like your mother,” Caligo said. “But don’t you worry, I won’t end his miserable life, that is, if you come here, child.” 

  “YOU WILL NOT STEP NEAR HER, MONSTER,” a voice boomed from behind them.

  Caligo spun on her heel and stared into the darkness of the trees, “~Finally!~”

  A towering warrior strode out from the shadows, a burgundy cloak wrapped around her dark armor. She loomed over the others, almost twice as tall as Dorian. Her face was shrouded in a black steel helmet, but the anger in her heavy footsteps was clear.

  “You’ve finally arrived!” Caligo opened her arms wide and bowed mockingly, “~The Guardian of the Realm, The Goddess of War~ The Daughter of the Sun herself!” Caligo smiled wide, “It’s been too long, Bellum.”

  Dorian’s shoulders relaxed at the sight of the goddess. He smiled shakily, “My lady!”

  “Mom!” the little girl cried out in relief.

  With a single hand, Bellum gripped the bottom edge of her helmet and pulled it off. Her brilliant scarlet hair cascaded down to her waist. A pair of black-tipped wolfin ears sat above her hair. She had high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Her warm fair skin seemed unusually cold in the darkness and rain, but her fiery golden eyes burned brighter than ever.

  “It doesn’t matter what form you take, Caligo, you’re still the same arrogant bastard as always,” Bellum said icily.

  “Arrogant? You think me arrogant?” 

  “You are the youngest of the Ebon Pantheon, yet you come to your elder’s home unannounced on a moonless night. So yes, I do think you’re an arrogant bastard.”

  Caligo shook her head, “I am not arrogant, no, I was trusting, too trusting. That was my mistake. I believed in your lies.”

  “Lies?” Bellum asked calmly. “What are you talking about? Is that why you came here? To provoke me over some unfounded fantasy of yours?” 

  “Oh, Bellum, still lying, are you? Lies always have a price, often steeper than one might believe, you should know that,” Caligo smiled eerily.

  “...Dorian, where are my other children?” Bellum asked with a measured tone, though her eyes stayed on Caligo.

  “T-They… They…” Dorian stared at the ground in shame.

  Bellum’s wolfin ears twitched, but her face stayed still. “Caligo… If you—”

  “I can’t take all the credit,” Caligo grinned. “The little one behind you helped. She was the one who showed me where to find you all.”

  The little girl gasped in horror, “I… I didn’t! I thought you were my friend! You tricked me!”

  “And I am so grateful to you,” Caligo winked.

  “You used the dreamscape to invade my daughter’s mind while she slept?” Bellum whispered in realization. Her lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing sharp prominent canines, “You dare—!”

  “I DARE!?” Caligo screamed. “ME!? You and Lunae are the ones who overstepped! I was content to leave you alone! But no! …You may have both tried to hide it, but I learned your secret!” Caligo glared at her, “I know… I KNOW what really happened to Solis that night!”

  Bellum narrowed her golden eyes, “I am going to kill you.”

  Caligo stepped back and smiled, “Will you?”

  Bellum pulled off the necklace around her neck and tossed it to Dorian. “Put it on our daughter and get her out of here.”

  Dorian stared in surprise at the golden talisman in his hands, “Your aurum aegis…”

  “Keep our daughter safe, no matter what,” Bellum said sternly. 

  “I will, I swear it,” Dorian nodded and threw the child over his shoulder.

  “Good.” Bellum turned to Caligo and drew her sword, a long narrow blade of orichalcum. Golden flames ignited over her clawed fingers and turned black as they curled around the blade.

  “Mom, don’t leave me!” the little girl cried weakly. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

  “This isn’t your fault.” Bellum looked back and smiled half-heartedly, “Don’t cry. Hold your head up high. And promise me, no matter what happens, no matter how difficult it may seem, try to be happy, Belle.”

 

~~~

 

  …I’m sorry, mom. I tried, I really tried. But I’m tired of smiling…

 

  Sylvie took a deep breath and for the first time, she stopped trying to bury the feelings swelling inside her. 

  Belle opened her crimson eyes and a single tear slipped down her cheek. The golden sun stared down at her from the azure sky. Her olive-brown skin greedily drank in the warm rays of light. The small gash on her thigh closed up and faded away. 

  Golden flames sparked to life over her skin, roaring over her until they enveloped her in a raging inferno, and burned the poison within.

  Calex turned around in surprise. He flinched, backed away, and covered his face, the heat of the flames painfully hot even from a distance. 

  Belle rose to her feet and growled.