2 A Time to Kill (2/2)

The soft glow of fairy glimmer surrounded Luca for a brief second before disappearing just as quickly. Immediately afterward, he unleashed an inhuman roar that even made the hairs on the back of my arms stand on end. I could only imagine the kind of mind-numbing fear our enemies must have felt.

Although his fairy gift turned him into something akin to a tank, my little brother unleashed berserker tendencies whenever he used Foolish Strength that was totally out of character to his usual gentle bearing.

Luca's roar stunned the hobgoblins enough that they were a second too late in raising their weapons to block his attack. With a wide swing of his broadsword, he struck the closest hobgoblin and sent it barreling into the soldier beside it, forcing them both to topple over. Luca's second attack was another ferocious swing toward the hobgoblin on his left. The creature had just enough wit to raise his own shadowblade to block the attack. This may have seemed like a wise move but I was pretty sure Luca had baited the hobgoblin into it.

Why would my brother do that, you ask? Well, it had to do with the properties of a shadowblade. All of them, regardless of shape were similar in that they were formed out of shadows hardened by the magic harnessed from the shadow crystal core hidden inside the weapon handle. A shadowblade's strength depended on its core, and Luca's, like mine, had a bronze tier core. Out of the six weapon tiers; copper, bronze, steel, silver, gold, and the legendary mythril, bronze cores had the unique trait of being the quickest to draw and retract.

As soon as their shadowblades clashed, Luca retracted his weapon. The shadows forming the broadsword's blade lost their hardness and slinked back into the weapon handle. The hobgoblin had only a second to look smug, however, before Luca's shadowblade reformed and hardened, impaling the fairy through its undefended gut.

Less than a minute went by since Luca's charge but already three of the five guards were down. At the same time as my brother struck down his foe, I reactivated Fool's Insight. As this power wasn't limited to the strategic bird's-eye-view I'd used earlier, but could also give me enhanced perception, I knew it would aid me in my own task.

My vision refocused just in time to witness the commander point a hand at Luca. I saw the fingers twitch and noticed the arcane energy build-up at their tips. I saw the gleam of wicked eyes and the thin-lipped mouth uttering the beginnings of a spell.

Having seen the danger, my left hand jerked to the back of my belt and I pulled out the dagger handle I kept there. I threw the dagger at the enemy commander without waiting for the shadowblade to form, and thanks to insight guiding my aim, my newly formed blade pierced the palm of the enemy's outstretched hand.

A pained scream came from the hood and was immediately followed by a slur of primordial curses.

Quick as I dared, I dashed forward while my right hand grasped the handle of my falchion.

I ran past Luca who'd switched targets to the fourth hobgoblin guard. From my peripheral, I saw them exchange sword blows. There was another howl of pain. Luca's charred blade cut deep into his opponent's shoulder.

I quickened my pace, pushing my legs and feet to the extremes.

The last standing hobgoblin guard moved to block me with his shadowblade spear raised. Behind him, the enemy commander had just removed my dagger from its hand. More cursing ensued.

The hobgoblin's spear came hurtling at me, but I feinted to the right. The hobgoblin turned to follow, and at that exact moment, I spun around in a three-sixty-degree arc while my momentum carried me forward like I was executing a basketball spin move against the defender of the opposing team. As I spun, I pulled my falchion from its sheath in a quick draw style that used the buildup of shadows in forming the blade like a rocket to boost the speed and force of my slash. I moved past the hobgoblin and rushed forward to my sword's intended target.

Unfortunately, I hadn't accounted for the fireball that came to greet me. Sent by the mage's outstretched hand and possibly formed out of a rushed spell to counter my attack. Heat grazed my skin. The incoming flames threatened to burn my outstretched arm. But I gritted my teeth and forced my sword through the fire. My falchion arced forward at blinding speed and the shadowblade's charred edge met the flames. The two magics collided.

Here's the thing about spells. The more time you put into casting, the more potent its power. When it's rushed, however, the spell is weaker. So, it was no surprise to me when my falchion cut through the fire and reach the commander's throat.

The hood flew back, revealing the face of a beautiful Elven maiden with golden hair and golden eyes the color of the summer sun. There was an instance of disbelief appearing on her fair face right before the fear settled in. Blood splattered her hair and cloak as my falchion bit into her throat. She clutched at her gaping wound with both hands but the blood wouldn't stop flowing, and neither did I.

She sent me a last spurt of defiance, her eyes pulsing in what might have been the start of a chantless spell, but I gave her no quarter. I plunged my shadowblade into her.

As I sent my blade into her chest and saw her gurgle her soundless death scream, I felt hot tears fall down my face. A great sadness had suddenly overwhelmed me. She was a creature of myth and legend—and I, a lowly human, sentenced her to an early grave. I watched her fall. Heard the thud of her body as it hit the ground. I felt numb. So much that I didn't even care when the surviving hobgoblin guards dropped their weapons and ran for their lives. What monsters me and my brother must have seemed to them.

It wasn't until Luca shook my shoulders that my stupor cleared.

”What…?” I asked, confused.

”The elf charmed you just before she died,” he answered.

”Really…?” my mind still felt muddled.

”You probably looked into her eyes,” Luca insisted. ”Dean, please focus…”

The urgency in Luca's voice sent warning bells into my brain, forcing me to wake up from the daze.

”I'm okay,” I said. ”We did it. We won.”

Luca nodded. ”Yeah… but, we're too late… the sun's coming up.”

My eyes glanced eastward toward the rising dawn.

”Shit,” I hissed.

I turned my sight to the hillside below and saw that both armies had stopped fighting. It wasn't clear if the enemies realized their leader was dead and were in retreat or if the coming of the morning had simply postponed the fight because they knew that much of their force would vanish soon.

I grabbed Luca's shoulders with shaky hands.

”Listen, the moment I'm gone get down there and tell Roselle what we did here. Get him to lead the rest of our soldiers up the hill to claim the fort. Have Aura help you convince him if you need to. Got it?”

I was desperate. There was no time. I could already feel the pull of home calling me. Damn that she-elf for charming me at the worst moment.

Luca gave me a weak smile.

”I'll try,” he said.

As sunlight touched his exposed skin, golden lines formed in patterned swirls across his face and arms. My eyes narrowed at the sight of them. My fists clenched. Here was the root cause of our troubles. The tool the fairies used to force my brother and those like him into a life of slavery.

However, since I didn't possess these faintly glowing loops of gold that I knew were actually magical chains that bound Luca to the Fayne, I was a free man—what the fairies called a visere, someone who was a frequent visitor to their realm. This also meant my time was up.

”Do as I ask, okay?” I reminded him. ”You won't get much resistance. I saw it earlier. A big chunk of the enemy's forces was human. Most likely, many of them are viseres like me.”

Luca nodded thoughtfully before saying, ”I'll be okay, Dean.”

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This always happened during dawn. Luca would show me a brave face. Sometimes it felt like he was the big brother.

”I promise I'll be back. I'll always come back,” I said.

The last thing I saw was Luca's smile. I heard him say, ”See you later”, and then he vanished from my sight.

Everything went black, and then I woke up in my bed.