STAGE TWENTY-ONE: THE SIXTH LENFIARE
More than anyone, Freyja knows what Kirin is really capable of. They may have succeeded taking down most of the Aethelmaer troops, but Kirin himself is a completely different story. He looked at her with familiar eyes. It was Kirin, no doubt. Freyja clenched her fists, urging herself not to back down now.
"Astrid…" Freyja called upon the celestial rune blade, taking its form perfectly in her hand. Both the crest on her chest and her golden eyes glowed radiantly as she pointed the blade at him.
As Freyja walked straight towards him, Kirin couldn't help but see that 13-year-old girl whom he first found trembling in the middle of the forest, cluelessly running from assassins sent by the Aethelmaer clan. That girl then, struggled to get four weights on her limbs. That girl was so frail, she could break if you hold her too tight. And that is the very same girl in front of her, the heir to the throne, the Lenfiare of Celestia.
Kirin didn't waste a second, he summoned a rain of blades aimed at Freyja, which she effortlessly blocked with Afra's barrier. She perfectly matched his speed, blocking every single attack he threw at her. This is something that even Kirin, found surprising. The aura around her, harmoniously dancing with her movement, as if it has a mind of its own. Freyja counterattacked, Kirin stepped back, blocking her aggressive thrusts and slashes.
Kirin jumped back, and drew a circle in the air with his fingers. From it, emerged a serpent-like stream of aura, aimed at the Lenfiare, who started running away sensing its power. But the dark aura dragon followed her wherever she escaped to. Freyja summoned Amos' flames and confronted Kirin's enchantment head-on. It disappeared, and so did Amos' flames. She clashed swords with him another time.
Not for long, Alaric arrived, witnessing what he has always wondered about. If Freyja and Kirin fought each other seriously, how will it look like? For years, he thought of this impossible. Freyja is the least person Kirin would hurt, and Kirin is someone she would abandon everything for. "Freyja… Kirin.." Alaric could only clench his fists, as he watches his two best friends kill each other.
Kirin summoned a pair of wings on his back, allowing him flight. But, so did Freyja. She summoned Avice' wings, and followed Kirin high up in the sky. Kirin's attacks grew stronger and faster, he was able to deeply wound her left leg. But it was useless. Even without Freyja's command, Aria had been healing her in the middle of battle since they started. In a matter of seconds, the wound was no more. On the other hand, Freyja's attack went through, wounding Kirin on the shoulder. Seeing blood flow from Kirin body distracted her, creating an opening for him to counter attack. Kirin took the chance and thrusted his blade into her stomach. Had it not been for Afra's barrier, she would have instantly died the same way as Alfiore Kinju did. Freyja was flung away by the blow��s force, Kirin following up his attack with another slash, which she managed to evade by a hairline.
Kirin was serious, she can tell. She sparred with him for so long, and she never won against him, not even once. He has always been level-headed, and emotionless in battle. But now, this was the first time she can feel his strong emotions burning into his movements, into his attacks.
Freyja clenched her fists, the more she is determined not to lose. The more she should give it her all. Once again, she attacked Kirin, who parried her attack as expected. But, she quickly summoned Amos, encircling Kirin with his white flames. Kirin felt his skin burn a little, but managed to douse the flames off with his own aura. While doing so, Freyja used the chance to slice him, hitting him hard, sending him down the ground in an instant. Kirin blocked the attack, but it was too powerful to hold his ground. He could feel the pain slowly creep into his limbs. But he grit his teeth and stood back up. Freyja attacked, relentlessly, and so did he.
Every time their swords clashed, the ground shook, the skies turned darker and darker. The two of them were so focused on each other, they didn't realize what's happening around them.
"What in the world is happening!?" Alaric looked up, seeing the sky swirl in shades of blue, gold, and purple. The air suddenly felt dense, tingly, and hot. He could see the look of panic in the Famirth soldiers, and in the celestials around. "Human Sorcerer…" Saifer called Alaric, still weak and unable to stand on his own. "The dimension gate… its collapsing."
"WHAT!?" He looked around. It is true. It's the same feeling when they entered the portal to Celestia, but on a much larger scale.
"This is terrible. The more they use their aura, the more the barriers are breaking! It's already weak to begin with, we have to sop them!" Saifer's sister cried, horrified. Because Kirin and Freyja both cage half of the Celestial core, the more they clash, the more it is raging, and the more its shaking all of Celestia.
"But will they, though? Will Kirin really stop?" Alaric started biting his nails, knowing very well that Kirin will NOT. And even if Freyja does stop, Kirin will kill her the moment she drops her guard.
"Celestia is a critical node of the dimension barriers. We have to stop it!" Saifer forced himself to stand up. Alaric couldn't think of anything either. He used his communication rune-stone to call Alyon, who's supposedly warding off remaining Aethelmaer soldiers from nearby. "Alyon! The barrier is collapsing, any idea how we can stop this!?"
"I don't know!" Alyon sounded panicked. "Stop those two!" He shouted.
Alaric trembled. He didn't want to do this nor was he expecting anything form it. But he wanted to try. He clenched his fists and bravely ran to where Freyja and Kirin are. "Freyja! Kirin! Stop! At this rate you will destroy the barriers!" He shouted, with all of his might. Alaric even used an amplifying spell to make sure it reaches Freyja's ears.
Freyja jumped back and looked up the sky. She was so caught up in the fight that she didn't notice what's happening. The ground was shaking, the sky, swirling violently, the celestials around trembling in horror. "Kirin, stop!" She yelled, trying to talk him out of it. But he showed no sign of pause. He attacked her, wounding her arms. Freyja tried to escape, but Kirin pursued her. He won't even let her rest for a second! The more he attacks and the more he blocks, the more dense and violent the air around them became. From afar, Freyja could even see collapsing structures, and flames engulfing other parts of Celestia. "Kirin! I beg you, stop!" She shouted, a shred of hope that the old Kirin will do so.
But, he didn't. Kirin couldn't hear anything. He only has one thing in mind, and that is to defeat her.
Freyja didn't have a choice. She retaliated, attacking him with all of her might, shaking Celestia and the dimension gates even more.
"It's the prophecy!" One of the priests among the Famirth soldiers shouted. "Flames all over Celestia, the Lenfiare up in the sky." It was exactly the same vision the seers saw upon her birth. The priests, sorcerers scrambled to stabilize the dimensional barriers, but it is futile, compared to the magnitude of Freyja and Kirin's auras. More flames bursted out from the ground. Alaric could even see sparks forming out of thin air. Not only Celestia, but his world, all the other worlds will fall into chaos if the dimensional barrier collapses. And still, no sign of the two up above stopping.
"I don't care if the universe collapses. I don't care!!!!" Kirin shouted, piercing Freyja with a rune blade ten times as big and as strong as what he once held. Freyja could block it. She can. But if she did, she might really destroy the worlds. Freyja's heart raced, confused, conflicted.
"What should I do?" The voice inside her said, shaking her mind in a split-second. "I want to…"
It felt like everything came to a standstill. Freyja could imagine the faces of her friends who are confused and terrified of the dimensional quake they are causing, and all others who are suffering because of her and Kirin. "Kirin..." She unknowingly whispered his name. Then, Freyja took a deep breath. She knows exactly what she needs to do—what she wants to do.
Freyja fled high up, stretched her arms out, a pair of gigantic wings, ten times larger than her usual wings, emerged from her back. "This is what I will do!" She shouted, her gleaming golden eyes straight at Kirin.
Channeling as much aura as she could, Freyja summoned a barrier, the largest, the strongest she has ever summoned in her entire life. The barrier spanned so wide, like a dome covering the entire capital of Celestia. Freyja felt as if her entire body is burning, churning, being stretched to a million threads. She can feel her entire aura, life-force, stretch out to its limits.
Underneath the barrier, the dense air, the flames sprouting from the ground, the sparks, the quake, it all disappeared. It was exactly the same dome that protected Celestia for millions of years, the dome that disappeared a thousand years ago. "I will protect them." She said, smiling. Kirin could no longer stop his attack, nor is he planning to. His dark aura blade, pierced right through her body.
"Freyja!" Alaric screamed in horror, seeing how Kirin's aura blade skewer the Lenfiare before his eyes. Saifer almost collapsed. "Lenfiare! No!" He shouted, tears gushing out of his eyes. "Alaric! What happened over there!? Hey!" Alyon's voice echoed loudly from Alaric's rune stone. But Alaric was too shocked to say anything.
"Lenfiare! No!" All eyes watching couldn't believe the horror they witnessed. They called out to her, shouted, prayed, summoned spells. The Famirth and the Royal soldiers rushed all together to attack Kirin, but they were warded off by Kirin's power like a swarm of flies trapped on a spider web. Freyja twitched, unable to speak nor hear. She can't even fully open her eyes anymore. She can summon Aria to save herself, but if she does that, the barrier she created might collapse. Freyja was about to lose consiouness, when she heard a voice from below. A district, familiar voice shouting at her.
"Lenfiare Freyja!" Reyrah shouted, a team of elite priests, seers, and royal guards behind her. "We will handle the barrier! Go and finish him!" Reyrah, and the elite priests and sorcerers formed a circle, and started casting spells to maintain the stabilizing dome that the Lenfiare summoned. "DO IT! FREYJA!"
Freyja opened her eyes, Aria immediately started closing the wound through her body. Kirin smirked. "Do it." He taunted. Freyja took a deep breath, summoned Astrid, the rune blade in her hand. She squeezed it tight, she could feel Astrid's warmth, as if urging her to fight. She slashed Kirin. He blocked it. She slashed him another time, he blocked it. And another. And another. With every step, Kirin could feel his body weakening, the white aura sealed inside him that he was never able to use, started leaking. "Are you going back? To your real master?" He mumbled. He blocked her attack, until he couldn't block anymore.
Kirin felt a warm stream of energy pierce right through his chest. And in front of him, Freyja.
"F—Freyja." He mumbled, feeling his limbs suddenly lose its feeling. Kirin's wings disappeared, and he came crashing down the ground.
Kirin tried to stand up, but his body won't listen anymore. He felt a wet, gaping hole on his chest, and his mouth bursting with a strong taste of metal. Blood streaming out of his mouth, and from the wounds all around his body. Strangely, it he felt very little pain than he expected.
Then, Freyja came, and crouched beside him. She isn't looking too good either.
"You… are Freyja, aren't you?" He asked, forcing his eyes open. "Yeah. Of course, its me." She said, holding Kirin's hand tight. "Are you okay?" Kirin asked, instinctively. Freyja took a deep breath.
"You did it." Kirin said, struggling to get words out. Even his mouth is getting numb.
"Yeah, the first and the last time I won against you." She answered, squeezing his hand tight.
The Celestials were about to rush to Freyja and Kirin, but Alaric stopped them. "No. Let them." He said, tears streaming down his face.
The tears Freyja has been desperately holding back ever since Kirin left, started flowing, gushing out of her eyes. They fell, of all places, on Kirin's pale face. She held his hand on her warm cheek. Kirin smiled, weakly trying to wipe her tears. "Crybaby."
"I'm still angry at you!" She yelled, pouting, something he always found adorable. It made him giggle. "I'll pay you back for doing this! Remember that!" She shouted, squeezing his hand even tighter.
"Of course, you will." He whispered. "I will never hear… the end of it." Kirin's breath grew shorter and shorter, words won't even come out properly.
Freyja smiled, as he leaned to embrace him tight. She squeezed him tight. "Kirin, make sure you wait for me, okay?" She said, giving him a wide smile. "Okay?"
Kirin nodded, he sighed in relief. As if everything that had burdened him for so long, has been lifted. His body felt most light, and free. "I will, Freyja." He whispered. "I always will."
Kirin's life slowly faded away. Freyja squeezed him tighter, as the precious memories they shared started flashing in their minds. The day they first met in the woods, when Kirin saved Freyja from the assassins of Aneurin Aethelmaer. She followed him persistently, like a newborn chick. Kirin was very strict with her training, he even made her, a little girl, wear weights and climb on top of a mountain. A weak laugh escaped his lips as he remembered how she used to be so ditzy and clingy. And Alaric. How can they forget the time they snuck into the runemaster's tower? Freyja fought in a combat tournament, and then they met Keon again. So many things happened in their fleeting few years, they could barely keep track of it all. Had they lived as celestials, these wouldn't have mattered. They were so glad, that they lived as humans. Every fleeting moment, clearly engraved in their minds. "Thank you, Kirin" She whispered, laying him down.
Freyja gently closed his half-open emerald eyes, gazing into its beauty for the last time. Those eyes that never failed to enchant her. She kissed his closed lids, and said her goodbye to the one man she loves more than anything.
Still with tears streaming from her eyes, Freyja stood up, a pair of white wings emerged from her back. Carrying Kirin in her arms, she fled high up into the tower, where the celestial core was once caged.
He laid Kirin in the middle of the empty room, inside the crystal chamber. And right before her yes, she witnessed how the half of the celestial core seeped out of his body, illuminating the darkened crystals, turning the skies brighter than ever. Making the streams flow again, and the barren lands green with new sprouts of grass.
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