I ducked down as soon as the light started shining. I heard a grunt from Stratford as the light filled the room. I opened my eyes to see Stratford rubbing his shut-closed eyes and Fayette flying towards us. Did she already evacuate the citizens? I picked Alberto up onto my shoulder and used all my strength to carry him out of the room. He isn’t too heavy, I can do this, that’s what I wanted to think. Every one step felt like a thousand, it was then I acknowledged my stamina was almost completely gone from over-exerting myself with the cultist. I sweat myself carrying Alberto downstairs before Stratford recovered his sight. Fayette flew over to me as I carried him down the stairs, looking like she had aged.
“What happened to Alberto! And wasn’t that Stratford? Why is he here?” Asked Fayette frantically.
“We will tell you later, right now, I need to get him to a safe place. Can you heal him like you did me before?” I asked her as I struggled to walk each step down the stairs. Such a short stair had never been so tiring before, my body was drenched in my sweat and Alberto’s blood. I wasn’t even sure if it was his blood or mine. After a struggle, I finally got downstairs, as I placed Alberto down on the ground. Fayette flew over to Alberto, casting Quick Heal on his chest as Alberto fought for his life. A chill ran down my spine as I heard footsteps upstairs. Stratford! His vision is back!
“Keep healing him, I will stop Stratford,” I told Fayette, as she nodded. Why am I going to such lengths to save some people I have only known for 3 days? That thought suddenly appeared in my mind. I could have easily left, leaving them there at Stratford’s mercy. Yet I stayed, perhaps they reminded me of Chelsea and Vesper, and the ones that I failed to save, the ones that died, like Issak. I could feel Stratford’s bloodlust as he came down the stairs. I looked over to Alberto, the wound wasn’t deep anymore, and the bleeding had stopped. The sense of relief didn’t last long, as the stairs started creaking as Stratford walked down the stairs with a white, featureless mask on his face. He did not say anything, as he pulled out his rapier and prepared to lunge at me. I stood there, exhausted, as I waited for the attack. Stratford is fast, I need to prepare myself for an attack, or I will be dead after one hi-, before I could even finish thinking, the rapier was already ready to take my soul, as it was only an inch away from my face. My life flashed before it, finding a way to dodge out of this. But I couldn’t dodge it, it was too fast, my body was too exhausted to react to that sword, as I closed my eyes, preparing for impact.
I thought I was dead until I heard blades clanking at each other. When I opened my eyes, I saw Alberto right in front of me, blocking the rapier with his daggers. He had a smile on his face, it was an unusual expression, one that I have never seen on him before. It was challenging, confident, like a man that just escaped death.
“I told you, Stratford, I won’t die unless you were waiting for me on the other side,” Albero said roughly. In his blue eyes, there was confidence. Every strike he made on Stratford was relentless, with full killing intention. Stratford faltered at that, but he still kept up with the pace of the battle. I held up my ax, as I charged in to help Alberto. I used the ax to increase my mass, making my attacks stronger. The flurry of attacks echoed out into the night sky, as both of us kept on dominating Stratford. Stratford kept on relentlessly parrying our hits, but eventually, he missed the block. I cut his arm deep as he screamed out in pain, faltering from his balance. Alberto then brought his dagger down his face, and he jerked his head back reflexively, but it wasn’t fast enough. His mask broke in half as his left eye was cut deep by Alberto’s dagger, as he fell back onto the ground, holding his face, bleeding from his eye. He had a terrified look on his face, yet he still pointed his rapier at us. Alberto ran up to him and pointed his steel dagger at Stratford’s throat.
“Where is she?” Asked Alberto. She? Does Stratford have his family?
Stratford spitted on Alberto’s face. “You kill me, she never sees the light of days again.” He said, having a quite confident smile. “Last time, she was in Arcanus. She could be ANYWHERE now, Blackburn, Cevine, maybe OBIA, you ever thought about that? Truth is, you need me alive, so what CAN you do?” He yelled at Alberto. Alberto looked like he was going to blow up the city, he looked at Stratford in the face, and hit him with the handle, effectively knocking Stratford out. Alberto then laid down, breathing hard through his mouth. I tried to approach him, but as I tried to take another step, my legs tensed up and I fell down. Agh, my legs, I need to work on my stamina more.
“You good, Alberto?” I asked. He didn’t reply, just threw out a thumbs up into the air. I looked over to Fayette, she was out cold. Magic deficiency huh? Every living thing in the world has a soul that generates magic. When that magic runs out, the body would shut down to wait for the soul to generate some more. It seemed like she had cast too many healing spells, spending her magic away. We need to tie Stratford up before he wakes up. I got up, feeling pain everywhere in my body. Our surroundings were dark, the once tailor shop is nothing more than a mess now. The street was quiet, dead bodies were laying around, it was a dreadful sight. Ironically, it had a…peaceful feeling to it, as the moonlight was shining onto the street, turning everything into a shade of blue. It’s a full moon. I never noticed earlier, the moon was beautifully round, surrounded by a quiet night sky, like a shining marble on the sea. I took several pieces of cloth from the broken hangars, as I made my way over to Stratford to tie him up and gag him, so he couldn’t use any spells. Even when he was on the ground, Stratford had a majestic look of a captain, seasoned by the sea. Maybe he was once honest. But he allied himself to the cult, and attempted to kill me and my friends, I couldn’t just forgive him. Friends. I looked to Fayette and Alberto, and it reminded me that the only friends that I have ever had were Chelsea and Vesper, until now. It would be easy to kill Stratford right now, but Alberto wouldn’t have appreciated that, so I just moved to tie him up. As I almost reached him, I could hear the sounds of a horn echoing throughout the city. Someone teleported right in front of me and hit me with a staff. KERES! THE CULT LEADER!
“Sorry, I would rather this man die or get captured here,” Keres said, picking Stratford up onto his shoulder. I could not have a clear look on that man’s face, his hood almost blocking his entire face. “Would love to kill you right now, but that horn means trouble, so I would be taking my leave now.” He said, chanting his warping spell. I could see Alberto trying to get up, but his body seemed to be fatigued, I tried to get up as well, but my legs were as good as air.
“YOU BASTARD! WHERE IS VESPER, WHERE IS CHELSEA!” I screamed at the top of my lungs at him.
“Your friend! He is fine, well, it isn’t exactly my standard of fine, but he is alive, you should visit by sometimes, it would be rather welcoming, don’t know who Chelsea is though,” He laughed at his own jokes, I was fuming. I screamed out as I tried my best to get up, but I was too late, as he teleported away.
“I’M COMING FOR YOUR LIFE! AND I WILL TAKE YOUR LIFE, YOU BASTARD!” I screamed out into the air, and I fell down, the last thing I saw before blacking out, was multiple people charging in, wearing adventurer’s badges.
