"Harsh words for such a young lady," he pronounced with a semi-disinteresting manner. "But what could I have expected from someone born from hell and defiles God's commandments."
"I'll show you what demons we really are." She lunged forward but a hand quickly grabbed her foot.
"Don't Isabelle. They have Elise," Paolo warned.
Isabelle snapped from his cousin's eyes back to Elise whose mouth was shivering and face was sweating from the blade on her neck. Her grip on the pommel of her rapier shook and then she set it down.
"Oh dear devil sir," called out Lawce. "The young lady may choose to fight me if she dares to. She does not need to fear for the woman's life. She is human after all, and we clergymen only kill demons, not one of our own."
"May I have your word on that, Your Eminence," asked Isabelle.
"As a man of God, you have my word." His grey eyes seemed to pierce even more through his glasses as he stared at Isabelle with a grin.
She breathed deeply, gripped her rapier tight and then pushed forward with a front strike. With her free hand waving behind her, she advanced on him with precise movements, jabbing and striking. But the cardinal moved with the grace of a cat, avoiding all attacks with minor steps and waves of his arms. Screaming through a wild thrust, she managed to hit the cardinal, but he moved quickly after, running few paces back.
"For a priest you move damn fast. Is it practice from banging whores and wenches on your spare time?" mocked Isabelle.
"Such mockery when you have not properly landed a hit." He raised a fabric of his robe on his left, showing the long tear where she hit her, indicating no sign of blood or flesh.
"I had only just begun." She strode on ahead again with her rapier on her side.
A smile crossed his face. "Gladius lucis,�� he said as a sword of light appeared floating in front of him and flew right at Isabelle's direction.
Her eyes widened as the sword was inches from her; but with a swift motion, she turned her rapier in and raised the pommel to her face, blocking the light-sword right at the start of her blade. A ringing sound echoed from her steel as the light-sword smashed into fragments of light and disappeared.
"Hmm…It seems it is true," said Lawce. "You minstrael devils could use any object to be your musical instrument. I have to say, I am a little surprised. And that rarely happens."
"Now that you know, you better pray to your God for help." She continued her attack.
As Isabelle advanced with her rapiers, striking and jabbing, Lawce avoided her with full steps now and greater movements; so that when there was an opening in her attack, he'd pray for another sword of light and send it at her. Knowing her family may get hit, Isabelle always backed up and smashed the light-sword before it went beyond her, making her attacks slow and cutting off the momentum. Though the cardinal had the upper hand with his mobility, she kept pursuing him, not letting herself back down.
Running through three swords at once, Isabelle smashed the three with sharp consecutive movements and managed to position herself right beside Lawce. She thrust her rapier and grazed his arm, and this time, the blade tasted blood. Immediately, the cardinal withdrew a few paces from her and checked his wounds.
"The longer we do this, the easier it is to read your movements," heaved Isabelle. Being the student in sword practices all her life, and not mention a skilled dancer, it was easy for her to mimic her opponent's movements and deliver a counter technique.
"Huh. You surprise me even more," cheered Lawce with a slight grin.
Three knocks sounded from the door as the queen's soldiers blocking it opened it and let another priest, younger looking than the cardinal, entered.
The priest bowed his head to Lawce and spoke, "Your Eminence, we have acquired the woman settler. We ambushed her carriage; unfortunately the driver was killed in the incident. We left it ransacked for people to assume it has been the act of thieves."
"And what of the settler?" asked Lawce.
"Dead, Your Eminence. The necromancer had started the ritual the moment he had his hands on her."
Isabelle's body went cold; it was as if the walls of the inn broke down and the cold mist of the morning air enveloped her and pierced through her skin and ruptured her heart. "You killed…I knew this would happen…"
Lawce faced her with a quizzical look. "So devils mourn their loss? This is new. Past settlers I've killed, they fought valiantly with no remorse or pain for their comrades. Perhaps they were different because of how they carried themselves—warrior-like. And you, young lady, are far from it."
Tears ran from her eyes, but she didn't bother blinking them away. "You killed her. You killed Joan," she screamed.
"No, I let my men catch her. The necromancer killed her. They have this addiction for death, in case you didn't know, but of course you do, since you are one of the same breed."
"I'm going to kill you; I swear on every settler you have killed in your hands, I will kill you." She locked her eyes on him with fiery intensity.
"Silly girl with your silly devilish ambitions. God is within me and you are but a speck of dust in our way." He raised a hand up in the air as the light from the candlesticks and lanterns disappeared enveloping the room in total black.
"Patrem in caelo, sit in fide in Christum credens auctoritate mihi, et coheres regni…" prayed Lawce in the dark.
"Where are you? Show yourself," screamed Isabelle, slashing her sword in the dark.
"In nomine lesu omne alligo spiritus et omne consilium in hoc situ."
Stop your praying and start fighting! Coward!"
"I ante hostium consiliis et evocant Dei consilia pro re."
"Show your—" A bright light enveloped Isabelle as the fire in the lanterns and candles were brought back and the room was visible again. But now, she had found herself on the floor bound by chains of light, from her feet to her shoulders. She searched around; Next to her, Paolo was struggling on the floor with chains as well.
Lawce stood at the door with the younger priest who held Mikael by the leg—also bound by chains of light. Elise was kneeling on the floor as two guards surrounded her.
"Your Eminence, what of them?" asked a guard.
"We have what we came for, dispose of them," said Lawce as he and the priest left the room with Mikael.
As soon as the door shut, the guardsman stabbed Elise in the chest as she fell down on the floor with eyes wide and blood pouring from her. Then they started toward Isabelle.
"No…this…this can't be happening," murmured Isabelle.
"Cousin…" breathed Paolo.
"Mikael! Joan!"
"Sing with me," he pleaded.
"Paolo…they have Mikael. And…Joan, she…"
"Sing with me cousin. Sing with me," he repeated.
She stared back at him with surprise. "No. No. I am not going to let others die for me. That is not how we work. We are warriors. We are…" She said those words out of pride; but as she heard herself say them, they felt hollow and empty.
"Look around you," howled Paolo. "You already failed. Elise is dead. Joan is dead."
"Then what about the others. Would I have to sacrifice them as well? They are innocent."
"Not as innocent as you'd think. They only stood by while we suffer. If they truly care, then we wouldn't be here at all facing our deaths," he spattered on with complete spite and hate.
"Mikael wouldn't want—"
"Mikael will be dead if we won't," he snapped.
"Pretty talkative for devils who are about to die," said a soldier as he towered over Isabelle.
"Let them be. It's their last moment," said the second as he rested his blade over Paolo's back.
"Isabelle," whispered Paolo softly, staring, gazing right at her.
As she felt the blade of the guard on her neck, she nodded, parted her lips and began to sing.
A melodious song graced the air with careful tones and seductive notes. The soft, high pitched voice of Isabelle blended harmoniously with the deep rich baritones of Paolo as the two sang a song with lyrics derived from their homeland. The song first blessed the ears of the two soldiers, then drifted outwards towards the other rooms and then carried itself up and down the floors. And as it went on, cradling the people's hearing, it spread itself wide at the whole of the inn and along its surrounding roads. The two delivered with such passion and energy it was hard for any of the people to stop from listening; they discontinued their washing, their eating, their cleaning—everything—just so they could listen and be at awe.
And as the sun brightened the streets and warmed the past cold night, Isabelle found herself free from the bonds of light and sealing her lips with a teardrop. From the armored men who attempted on her life, to the couple on the next room kissing, to the family right above them who were visiting a relative, to the owner of the inn staying in his room downstairs and right down to every living being who was staying for the night—all of them lay on their beds, chairs and floors with closed eyes and a content smile on their face. All of them had blood dripping from their ears. All of them dead.
It was a sunny morning. A new day in London. Isabelle had just bid farewell to Joan, a second mother to her. And in the following moments, she was already dead, Elise was dead, Mikael had been captured; and she sung a dozen innocents their last lullaby to sleep.
Truly, she hated goodbyes.