Chain the Infamous Chainmaid 12

“Gya!”

Finch cried out as her head was smashed against the head of her sentinel with enough force to leave a spattering of blood against the steel form of the biped. Gritting her teeth she tossed her gun from one hand to the other and tried to take aim at the Bandit King behind her whose grip on her shifted from shoulder to head. Pulling the trigger Finch was in for a nasty surprise as Roc moved his hand back to her shoulder and contorted her body so that she took her own shot in the side. A feral scream escaped the child of ten springs and the giant’s toothy grin split his face.

“That’s it kid. If you’re going to be a Hero you have to recognize what you’re putting on the line.”

“Monster! I’ll kill you!”

“You’ll try.”

Roc smiled as Finch gritted her teeth and her Sentinel, Uprooter, suddenly leapt up into the air. Tossing out its gun Finch changed her aim and fired off a shot at the giant version of her own gun. With unerring aim her shot collided with the trigger of the gun sized for the eight meter tall steel biped and a shot of blue light was fired. Roc could not help himself but smile as he had to quickly vacate the shoulder of the Sentinel so as not to be caught in the shot. He did not go alone however and pulled Finch with him smashing her violently into the surface of the bridge. Releasing the child he snagged the swirling chain of his weapon out of the air and with a fierce tug drew it tight around the still airborne Sentinel. Pulling the tightly entangled Sentinel through the air with unmatched strength the Bandit King hurled it from the bridge before firing a shot of his hand cannon to launch it off into the city. As it crashed into the distance a bloom of explosive flame rose up into the sky incinerating any of the Bright Rift Sentinels caught in the blast. Grinning at the sight Roc turned his attention again onto Finch.

“Now that we got your little doll out of the way we can see just what you’re made of and maybe you can start to see what I meant when I said let’s make a Hero out of you.”

“I’ll die before I let you make a Hero out of me in any way but soaked in your blood as the last of it spills from your corpse.”

“That’s some violent language for a child so young. Even the Bandit Eater isn’t that vile and she takes pleasure in the killing of those less fortunate than herself.”

“What are you even trying to say? She kills bandits doesn’t she?!”

Springing to her feet and nearly flying down the length of the bridge towards the city and away from the Bandit King, Finch fired off questions along with blue energy shots from her gun. To the child’s questions Roc offered answers while her gun shots he answered with shot’s of his own from his hand cannon.

“That she does kid. But bandits are worse off than her. They can’t make ends meet the way an adventurer or a soldier like you can. They have no place in the world and have to steal to stay alive. Sure you have some who take pleasure in the life, but most bandits start with nothing without a means to get more. No means beyond what they can take with their hands and keep with the fleetness of their feet.”

“Don’t give me that crap! Bandit’s prey on the weak and make those who can’t defend themselves suffer and turn to those who would enslave them, just like that damn dragon!”

“Thurlix here? Hm, hm, hm, hm, hmmmm. That’s a fine joke there kid. Thurlix is a victim of his own draconic nature and the desperation of the civilization what trapped him. If not for the people of your little village he would have suffered an eternity of isolation and became a mindless beast. Instead he used what power he could to protect your little village and keep what company he could against the loneliness. He may be a chain-scaled dragon of the Clan of Chains but he’s really just a big softy who doesn’t want to be left alone. There is one problem though…”

Though he continued to counter Finch’s shots with his own no matter how she danced about the bridge the Bandit King turned his gaze onto the dragon. Noticing the giant’s gaze upon it Thurlix lowered its own from where Chain was in the city to meet Roc’s.

“ARE YOU NOT TOO PREOCCUPIED TO ENGAGE IN IDLE CHATTER BANDIT KING?”

“Oh don’t mind me Thurlix, I’ve got the kid well under control.”

“You bastard!”

Taking insult from Roc’s casual dismissal of the threat she posed Finch fired off a pair of shots that never would have struck the Bandit King. Even without looking though Roc countered their intention with merely one shot of his own to stop that came from Uprooter’s gun as it was aimed and fired by Finch.

“What I don’t have under control here is a certain dragon who’s all that’s really left from keeping a Demon Lord escaping from a Sacred Sword too far gone to disrepair to keep working.”

“A WORTHWHILE PRICE FOR MAN TO PAY FOR THE IMPRISONMENT OF A DRAGON”

“You think so Thurlix? Well then, I guess that means you can’t be convinced to resume your duty out of the kindness of your heart. In that case I don’t see a point to letting you live, not without knowing which Clan of Chains you hold allegiance to anyway.”

A deep growl escaped Thurlix as the dragon was faced with the threat of death from the giant as he turned his hand cannon onto it. With his free hand he whipped up his spiked ball and chain and used the chain to continue to deflect Finch’s barrage of fire while beginning a counter attack against the child.

“Don’t you dare!”

Finch’s shout brightened Roc’s toothy grin and he mockingly squeezed the trigger of his hand cannon slowly.

“I won’t let you! I’m the one who’ll kill the dragon!”

Roc closed his eyes and a serene air came over the grinning giant as he listened closely to the Builders’ Song and how Finch’s place in it came more and more into tune. With each step Finch took her verse became clearer and she began to weave between the swirling chain at Roc’s command. Behind her in the city her Sentinel rose to its feet and charged once again for the bridge. From where it had been clinging desperately on her shoulder Matches ran up her arm and prepared to leap. In the next instant it all came together with a gunshot.

“That’s right kid. That’s what it means to be a Hero. You choose to save no matter what your values or your outlook. Be it yourself or be it that which you hate most of all. Be it out of kindness, honor, treachery, survival, or even plain and simple selfishness, a Hero always chooses to save someone or something. Even an idea will do in the end if you give it your all.”

“What…?”

The question fell meaninglessly from Finch’s mouth as she knew full well what the Bandit King was talking about as he opened his eyes and looked down upon her from beyond his toothy grin. In that instant as time seemed to freeze as Finch stood before the Bandit King, her gun discharging harmlessly into his spike ball which had returned to his hand as Matches took the shot from his hand cannon and Uprooter slammed into Thurlix with enough force to dislodge the dragon, it was obvious that she had saved that which she hated most. There was so much more that became clear to Finch in that moment as well with her senses heightened beyond anything she had ever experienced. The distortions in the air from the shockwaves caused by how fiercely Roc whipped about his chain were as clear as the chunks of the devastated bridge upon which they fought. Even the sensation of the Builders’ Song became clear to Finch throughthe abilities of Uprooter but it was through the Sentinel’s eyes that Finch realized that there was much more going on than her battle with the Bandit King. She had saved the dragon and that made her aware of an evil that aimed to punish her for that action as the verse that she heard as Uprooter’s eyes managed to look directly into those of the Soulless black eyed pilot of one the many three meter tall Bright Rift Sentinels that filled the city.

♪~ Actor garbed in obscurity~♪
♪~ Behind the stage and clear of sight ~♪
♪~ With fingers cold and tied in string ~♪
♪~ Motionless and silent both ~♪
♪~ The victim not the twisted shadow ~♪
♪~ With finger twitch they dance and fall ~♪
♪~ Life and death are but their stage ~♪
♪~ Never the prisoner the Puppeteer ~♪

“You’ve really gone and done it now child, so I guess all that’s left is for all of them to die. Eh, he, he, he, he. That is unless of course you swear yourself to me.”

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater