Melody of War 11

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something Chainmaid. Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

“Ugh. More like irritated. I was expecting to twist a trafficker’s arm not encounter another Hero.”

Despite the danger that Chain feared she was in with the unexpected Hero standing across from her in the chamber below the alley she clutched at her left temple irritably. The unnamed Hero with red hair however was impressed by Chain’s recognition of his nature as one elevated by the Builders’ Song.

“Oh, you can tell? Not like I was hiding it but that’s still impressive Chainmaid.”

“You can’t hide it from someone who can hear the Builders’ Song no matter how much you try though.”

“Oh~! That must be how you managed to hold your own against that bastard Roc then. If you can hear the Builders’ Song it’s no wonder.”

“Roc? Bastard? I’m guessing you both know the grinning idiot and don’t get along.”

Chain wanted to relax and believe that the red-haired Hero before her was not an enemy based off the way he spoke about the Bandit King but still shifted her weight to be ready to flee or defend herself. The Hero recognized her readiness for action and smiled telling the maid she was right to be wary even as his words told her he might not be an enemy.

“Grinning idiot. I like it. It definitely fit’s that bastard like a glove too. But you know Chainmaid, even knowing that you’ve actually seen that bastard I still want to see if you’re as strong as I hope.”

“Crap.”

As Chain had feared the Hero did indeed intend to battle with her and twirled his spear into a battle position as he took a combat stance. Squating down ever so slightly he held his left hand open palmed towards Chain and offered her a smirk.

“Kyte Ardea, a humble fisherman of the great kingdom of Bright Rift and you’re current challenger Chainmaid. En garde!”

(Fast!)

Chain gritted her teeth fiercely as the Hero who went by the name Kyte was upon her in an instant, his spear leading the charge. It was an impressive charge as well as his lunge assured he had no immediate blindside when approached from the fore and the length of his spear assured no chance for counteract in a straight on collision. Fortunately for Chain the chamber she shared with the Hero was surprisingly large compared to the alley above and there was room to move to avoid such a head on confrontation. Unfortunately for the maid the charge left her in a bad spot as she had not yet summoned her sword and dodging it to either side would expose her to either a follow up swipe or any number of options available to Kyte’s left hand. Preferring to face the Hero’s spear alone Chain committed to dodging to her left and the spearman’s right. Her dodge was nothing dramatic however as she swung her right foot out to balance herself as she twisted out of the way of spear earning an approving smile from the Hero. She did not see his smile for long however as she allowed her impromptu robe of three capes to dissipate into the shadowy mist from which it formed.

“That’s the way to do it Chainmaid. Now show me more!”

As Chain had prepared herself for Kyte shifted from his thrust into a swiping backhand that she had to fold over backwards to avoid. Had she not already shifted her right foot to balance herself she surely would have fell over but as it was she still had to use her arms to balance herself preventing her from being able to draw her sword which had appeared on her hip as her capes vanished. Her position combined with her still sheathed sword being on her left hip allowed Kyte to see that it had at last been summoned. Though he had challenged her to the fight Kyte had no intention of letting Chain draw her weapon and snapped his spear back around to take the maid’s feet out from under her. In this moment Chain again impressed the Hero as she had built up a surprising amount of energy in her back foot and as she brought it back around jumped over the spear turning over in a tight spin. Turning over at least three times in her spin Chain drew her sword and caught the spear’s next pass on her blade as she landed in a low squat. Using the energy from her rotation Chain threw the spear over head as she spun under the Hero’s weapon and leapt up into a twisting preparation for an over head strike.

“Impressive Chainmaid! I’d expect no less from the adventure who faced off against Roc and lived to tell the tale!”

Much as Kyte applauded Chain’s efforts he showed no signs of straining against the Chainmaid as he casually jumped back out of the way of her attack. Chain did not take the time to join in the Hero’s banter instead taking advantage of the positioning she had managed to achieve between her and her opponent. As was natural with a weapon that was as long as a spear it was left leading out in front of Kyte by quite a ways and Chain brought her sword back up to strike it. A curious expression dawned on Kyte’s face as he had expected Chain to rush in on his exposed body and had to adjust to the maid’s tactics. Twisting himself backwards as he landed he grabbed his spear with his left hand behind his back to brace against Chain’s impressive strength. Chain was a lot stronger than he expected however and his curiosity turned to surprise as he felt he would have to tense himself to prevent Chain from moving his spear. He had no doubt that he still easily was strong enough to do so but with Chain’s sword under his spear the only counterattack available from such a position would expose him to the maid’s control.

“You’re starting to exceed my expectations Chainmaid. I have to say that I’m fully impressed and understand how a Hero would find you worthy prey.”

“Will you just shut up already!”

Chain’s irritation and demonstration of strength and skill drew forth a fresh smile from Kyte and he allowed himself to relax letting Chain knock his spear aside. Chain recognized the trap immediately but took the bait anyway needing to eliminate the range advantage of the Hero’s spear. Betting on her speed to close the gap between her and the Hero before he finished bringing his spear back around from behind his back Chain launched herself forward in a powerful charge. She then lost her bet as Kyte took advantage of his height to twirl his spear around like a baton and deflect her attack. The twirling motion did not allow the Hero to put his full strength into his defense however and Chain was able to open into a flurry of blows to test the limits of Kyte’s defenses. Kyte’s smirk started to show signs of strain as despite him knowing he was faster and stronger than Chain the maid’s footwork and mastery of the sword prevented him from doing more than deflecting her attack.

“Oh~ I didn’t think I could be pushed so hard by a person possessed by a Relic but you continue to impress me Chainmaid. I have no doubt that if you could be affected by the Builders’ Song as well that your swordsmanship alone might have elevated you to being a Hero who had a permanent place in the history of the world. But as you cannot…”

Chain knew that her advantage was coming to an end but had no way of doing anything to stop it as she heard a verse rise up from the Builders’ Song.

♪~ Sleeping fish beyond sight ~♪
♪~ A bounty earned they will not yield ~♪
♪~ For the fisher’ to skewer have them dance he must ~♪

Chain hoped that hearing the verse out would give her an idea of what type of attack Kyte was preparing but all the verse did was tell her that she had little choice but switch to defense. What type of defense that would be however seemed impossible to determine as with the completion of the verse every step that Kyte took shook the ground and it took Chain everything she had to maintain her footing no less prevent the Hero from striking. Continuing to be impressed by Chain’s ability Kyte smirked joyously before a look of disappointment appeared in his eyes as it was time he ended his fight with Chain. With a fierce step a shockwave tore through the ground and Chain as well as all of the thugs she had knocked out earlier were hurled into the air. Chain could not hide her surprise but gritted her teeth and snapped the fingers of her left hand releasing the distinctive ringing sound and an orb of light.

“Your persistence and skill have impressed me to no end Chainmaid, but it’s over now.”

“~ From the depths of the Sixth Well, I call forth your dark power ~

“A spell? You are full of surprises Chainmaid, but…”

The next line of Chain’s incantation did not reach her lips as the butt of Kyte’s spear found its way into her stomach stealing her breath away even as the sphere of light she held became one of shadow. With wild eyed disbelief Chain still managed to turn a hateful glare onto the red-haired Hero who offered her a cocky smirk before twirling his spear around while she was still airborne and smacking her into the wall of the stairs she had descended with a whipping backhand.

“GUH~!”

“If you were going to cast it should have been before my verse came to fruition.”

Kyte twirled his spear so that it stood behind his back and closed the distance between him and Chain. Chain did not look up as she breathlessly uttered the next line of her incantation

“~ Rush forth from your prison and release your destructive will ~”

“Ah, ah, ah. Chainmaid. This fight is over.”

Declaring his victory Kyte thrust his spear out and pressed the flat of the tip up against Chain’s chin prompting her to lift her head. Glaring her opponent down the maid tensed and still tried to finish her spell.

“~ Dar–”

“You fool!”

Kyte yelled out and withdrew his spear and begun to twirl it about so as to knock out Chain with the butt of the weapon before she could finish but a gunshot caused him to stop just shy of Chain’s face. A look of disbelief came over Chain’s face as the shot hit neither her nor Kyte but instead struck the sphere of magic in her hand dissipating the gathered energies. Kyte ignored Chain’s disbelief as he looked back over his shoulder looking very dissatisfied.

“Come now Commander, I could have handled it.”

“And let you compound the mess your battle lust already created Kyte. I’m for certain even Professor Beaks would agree that I made the right choice in this case, maybe. He may have shot you instead and let you get hit by the Chainmaid’s spell.”

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater