The woman before her stood up, four crooked bone wings emerged from her back and on each bone that there would be a feather was a thick red liquid dripping down instead, said ooze seemed to have it's own life, slowly crawling towards Leona. Her mother's hands were blackened with pulsating red paste as she shambly approached the girl.
"Remember my name, impart upon your soul, for I am Lastraeous, the true god of this world!"
Darkness seemed to engulf her whole, muffling her screams of terror into an eternal abyss void of light.
Leona shot up awake, her breathing was rugged, uneven pale puffs of air came from her mouth. It was already night time, some bags of the group were piled up together to form a slope against the rocky cave wall, apparently she was sleeping on them. Leona reached for her forehead to swipe the cold sweat before covering her eyes with both hands and breathe deeply.
"Are you alright?"
Laslow was looking at her from over his book on the other side of the shallow cave, lying against what appeared to be a thick tuft of grass.
"It was just a bad dream."
She answered before lowering her hands covered with sweat, drying them against the ripped blue cloak around her shoulders.
"A nightmare you mean."
The Princess refrained from replying, instead she laid her back against the bags again trying to concentrate on her breathing to calm down. A spiking cold chill went down her spine the moment she tried to remember what the dream was about, but she wasn't able to. It felt surreal, almost as if she couldn't grasp the meaning behind it, yet it was there lingering on her mind like poison spreading in water.
"Princess Leona, I need to apologize for the way I spoke to you when we first met, it was unsightly of me to judge you based on my personal experiences with previous nobles."
He crossed his legs and put each hand on his knees and lowered his head.
"I am very sorry."
Her eyes slowly glanced at him prostrating towards her. She grasped her nose ridge and closed her eyes before saying.
"Water under the bridge. You did us a service by protecting everyone in the previous confrontation with the wizards. As long as we can fight together, that's what matters to me."
Being apologized to was not exactly a common occurrence to her, it wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't unwelcomed either. She opened her eyes again to face him.
"Let's just forget this happened and move on, you've proven more than capable to help us so there is no need for you to get worked up for this."
He lifted his head to look at her.
"I am ever in your debt, if you find yourself in need of a tutor in the arcane field, do consider telling me so, I may not look but I am one of the teachers in the magic school of Windia."
She nodded half heartedly before reaching for her belt, the shortsword was still there.
"I'll think about it, thank you. If you excuse me."
She stood up and looked around, deeper into the cave Phoebe and Luke were handling the campfire, the two were apparently too occupied to notice her. To the other side there was a forest line not too far from where she stood. She decided to head inside and pull her sword out. The metallic blade grazing against the leather scabbard made a distinct sound that caught the elf's attention as she swiftly turned to face where the sound came from with both her hands inside the cloak. Luke turned right after her but with his hand on a piece of burning wood.
"Ah, Princess Leona, did you manage to rest?"
"Yes. I'm just going to train a little while we have time."
"Very well, do tell me if you need anything."
Leona nodded. Luke smiled.
"Good to see you better Leo."
"It was thanks to everyone really. How about you? Are you fully recovered?"
"Yeah I- Eowch!"
He dropped the piece of log he had picked up right back into the campfire.
"I'm feeling better, yes, not so much now. Ow…"
The princess giggled from the sight of him shaking his hand. She approached him and kneeled down before opening her left hand. A rock of ice the size of her palm began to form from the crystallization of the air.
"Here, use it."
She handed it to him.
"Appreciate it Leo."
After taking care of her friend, she decided to take a few steps back and lift the shortsword into a stance, pointing the tip of the blade towards the far wall. Her right leg was forward and slightly bent while she anchored her left foot behind her, she raised the weapon above her head and while exhaling her breath, she stepped forward with her left foot and swung the blade downwards. By putting too much strength on the swing, it made the blade go too low and bounce off the rocky ground sending sparks around her.
"Ah!"
She held the blade up again, surprised by what just happened. After taking another deep breath she assumed the same stance but focusing more on the blade.
'I mustn't swing with everything I have.'
She thought as she raised the blade once again. With another left foot step, she brought the sword down but only a few centimeters past below her chest. The blade was firmly held between her slender fingers.
Phoebe finished preparing the campfire before laying her back against a rock behind her, hearing the sword travel through the air a couple of times made her stare at the one using the blade. While the Princess' stance was not the best, each swing seemed to be more sharp and precise than the last. She repeated the same swings for a couple more times before switching to another stance.
Leona raised her sword horizontally above her head, holding the handle firmly with her right hand and having the other secure the pommel in place, her legs gently bending to increase her stability. This time her slashes came off diagonally, two strikes forming an x and a finishing upwards cut with a step of her left foot forward.
She returned to her initial stance and repeated the attacks once again. Sweat started to build up on the sides of her face, at one point it fell on her right eye, forcing her to stop swinging the blade to dry up. She dried herself by using the edge of her ragged cloak.
"Hey Princess."
Phoebe's voice caught her attention but the moment she turned towards her a small pebble was thrown in her direction by the elf.
"Ow!"
Leona took a step back when the rock no bigger than an egg hit her right on the clavicle. She regained balance while still with her right eye closed due to her own perspiration.
"Wha- what was that for?"
"Take it as a lesson from me."
She picked another two pebbles off the ground. Throwing them up and down on her right palm.
"You'd want to either dodge or parry, a sword is useless if their user is incapacitated."
Leona swiped the right side of her eyebrow with her backhand and grasped the sword towards the elf.
"Princess, this stance is called long point. It's a guard meant for a more defensive style, useful to deal with an opponent whose range is greater than your own. You can easily sidestep an incoming strike or parry by using the flat surface of your blade and punish it with an attack of your own."
Remembering Krieg's words, made her hold the weapon with more confidence as the elf prepared to chuck the pebbles at her. Leona took a deep and steady breath, by focusing all her senses the moment Phoebe threw the pebble, time seemed to come to a crawl. Darkness slowly creeped into her field of view. A strange dark red force enveloped her arms like a gentle touch, moving the weapon on her hand like a puppet on a string.
The first pebble was swatted to the side by the flat side of the blade and the other was cut in half with a horizontal slash, Leona only realized what she had done after looking at the dumbfounded elf staring at her intently.
"Princess Leona, that was amazing. Just how did you manage to do that?"
"I'm… I'm not sure myself, it felt like my sword was being guided."
Looking down at her hands, nothing seemed different. She closed her eyes trying to recall the feeling she felt but it was in vain, much like a violent gust of wind, it was a powerful yet fleeting influence. With surprise on his face, Luke started to clap behind Phoebe.
"That was impressive Leo! I didn't know you improved so much in so little time."
Leona knew it wasn't her own effort completely, but she smiled nonetheless.
"Thank you Luke."
Her eyes shifted to the entrance of the cave, whatever was guiding her blade seemed to be on her side and she would take up any help she could get to save her father, even if it meant corrupting herself in doing so.
'Father, I will save you, no matter the cost.'
The moon was high in the sky, brightening the forest, or what was left of it. Krieg, Laura, Neiliel and Jonathan were scrounging the forest for food, each fanned out to search before the thief came across a half-melted wall of ice in the middle of the forest not too far from where they set up camp.
"Neil, come here."
His voice prompted the priestess to walk up to him.
"What do you need?"
He motioned with his head to the ice behind him and asked as she took a closer look.
"This can't possibly be natural, right?"
She kneeled and touched the ice. concentrating on the frigid cold spot while shaking her head.
"It was made, most likely from those wizards from before."
"So, it's safe to say they planned the fire. Damn."
"To be willing to sacrifice the Great Forest for something like this… hm?!"
Her head turned sharply to Jonathan, she rushed forward knocking him aside with her left hand and pulling her mace with the right hand.
"Merciful goddess of light, put this restless soul at peace, Exorcise!"
A blinding flash of light burst from her mace in a radiant burning energy, the shambling humanoid creature that was dangerously close to Jonathan's back took a few steps away from the light, seemingly scorched by the divine energy emitted from the priestess weapon, but it only made it angrier. It's hanging mouth opened in an ear splitting screech that prompted them both to cover their ears.
"Did you hear that?"
Laura was a few meters away from Krieg who also turned towards the sound. The forest used to be a dense maze, but it was mostly cleared out due to the fire, however that didn't make it any easier to locate things, even through sound.
"Yeah, it came from where Jonathan and Neiliel went. We should go."
The barbarian nodded while also drawing her weapon. The knight rushed through the foliage, cutting down any resistance from what remained from bushes.
A strong flash of light caught the knight's attention by the edge of his vision, he sharply turned towards the light and jumped over a bush before finding Jonathan clutching his head with his knees on the ground. Neiliel had a deep cut on the right side of her arm she was clutching with her left hand. A few meters in front of her was a skeletal humanoid creature cloaked in dark mist wielding what seemed to be a shortsword.
It tried to attack the priestess once again but she sidestepped the stab going for her exposed shoulder and hit the skeleton's head with a horizontal strike of the mace. It was a solid hit but it wasn't enough for it to fall, its head turned awkwardly to the right side before turning back towards her with its empty eye sockets.
"Wha-!"
The next attack was going directly for her left eye but a greatsword smashed the skeleton's elbow and lower body in one strike. Laura was holding the weapon which had sunken into the ground tightly in her enormous hands with an unbelievable amount of anger on her face.
"Are- are you alright Neil?"
The barbarian was breathing hard, it was possible to see the glint of rage still in her emerald eyes as the malicious dark magic left the formerly animated skeleton.
"Y-yeah. But Jonathan needs help, I'm almost out of mana too."
Neiliel held her arm tighter to prevent more loss of blood, she needed to cast the healing spell but the pain was too much causing her to lose concentration when trying to tap into her divine powers.
"Laura. Grab both of them and get out of here."
Krieg spoke as he stood in front of them. Laura was already in the process of getting them ready to carry but what the knight said made the barbarian worry for their safety.
"What are you saying? Wasn't that the only enemy here?"
"A dark wraith is never without its master."
Krieg held the greatsword firmly with both hands and put his left foot behind his body, slightly bending his knees into a long point stance. The sound of metallic armor clanging in the distance became more apparent the closer the foe approached. Like nightmares fueled by malice, the blackened armor left a dark trail of mist behind its user.
The towering figure brought a blackened greatsword on his right hand, the blade had even darker red spots, what seemed to be dried blood stained upon the metal.
"So we meet again. Krieg."
The croaky voice echoed from behind the closed helmet. He loomed above the dried bushes, the heavily armored knight clad in black armor crushed the bones of his former minion under the weight of his sabatons. Laura flinched at the sight of the opposing knight, the air seemed to chill around his armor as if screams of the dead screeched the black metal.
"Laura, take both of them and run."
Krieg tightened the grip around the sword's handle, small amounts of sweat started to drip from the sides of his forehead. The barbarian was hesitating, with only one enemy remaining it was possible to take on the opposing knight, but leaving the two helpless on the ground could be a fatal mistake should the enemy go for a killing blow. She tightly gritted her teeth before picking up both of them under each arm.
"Sir Krieg… I'll return with help. I promise."
She dashed over the bushes and ran as fast as she could towards the cave. The black knight turned to Krieg, pulling his sword up straight to the sky close to his chest, his left hand grasping the lower part of the handle.
The starry night sky was brightly lit by the reflection of the full moon in the sky, light seemed to come to a stop on the surface of the blade, not even the slightest glimmer of light was reflected by the dark metal.
"I hope you have been training Krieg."
"…"
Krieg stared at his opponent, but no matter where he looked, there was no way to tell how he would attack. The stance was too unorthodox to be an Arcadian knight, and even if he was from the kingdom, someone that stood out like that would be widely known especially in the capital.
"Why are you helping me?"
Seemingly ignoring his question, the black knight swung his weapon down with all his might, the air crackling with bursts of lightning coming off the blade. Instead of parrying, Krieg evaded with a sidestep while also switching to a more compact stance in order to stab the enemy's shoulder as the armor is normally thinner there. However his foe noticed the stance and instead of backing away he charged in with his sword low behind his body. Krieg couldn't back away so he rotated the blade to a horizontal position and tried to go for the gap between the helmet and chest armor.
They exchanged blows almost at the same time, but Krieg's blade was deflected to the side when the other knight used his left shoulder armor to redirect the blade outwards and with an upward swing, his greatsword stopped a few centimeters shy from beheading Krieg that had dropped his weapon at that point.
"I… yield."
The black knight lowered the blade, his voice seemed disappointed.
"You regressed from the time we last met. Why are you not attacking? Have you grown too accustomed to the protection of your armor that you forgot what a real knight is capable of? A knight's mettle is won by hard cold steel driven by purpose and duty. Such duty must be taken head on without fear, 'tis courage that guides us forward, even against overwhelming odds."
Krieg picked up his greatsword before sheathing it, all the while looking at the knight walking away from him.
"Why are you helping me?"
"You'll discover soon enough, Leonard Krieg."
Night shadows from the moonlight seemed to engulf the knight before suddenly disappearing into the woods. Krieg felt a strange sensation of familiarity through those words, as if it was something he should remember but it only appeared to be a distant memory in his mind. Exhausted and disappointed by his own display of skill, or lack thereof, he decided to go back to the cave. His sword-arm had a strange feeling of lightness to it as he opened and closed his hand repeatedly.
Back in the shallow cave, Luke, Laslow, Leona and Phoebe were gathered together around the fire sharing a big enough bread to feed all of them for days. Light conversation happened as the Princess tore part of the bread on her hands to eat in small bites. Her shortsword was lying on the ground in its worn scabbard.
"Las doesn't really seem like an instructor to me. Though he knows a lot about magic I'll give you that."
Phoebe chuckled before she laid back again on her own bag against the wall. Laslow had an annoyed expression while he tended to the sizable casted iron cauldron held above the fire by a sturdy branch, some sort of soup was being made by the wizard.
"Knock it off will you, I was officially recognized by my arcane expertise by the director. I am more than qualified to teach about magic."
Luke was trying to calm his cousin, however he was failing to do so."
"Now, now… don't need to fight over that-"
"Laslow! Phoebe!"
Leona's hand instinctively reached for the weapon lying on the ground beside her as she turned around with the other hand on the handle ready to draw steel. Phoebe and Laslow readied the longbow and a fire spell respectively as their eyes met with the barbarian's weary body. Though big and strong, her body was on the limit of carrying one person on each arm while running through the narrow forest.
"What happened?!"
The elf was the first to rush forward to aid them as Laslow motioned to Luke to keep an eye on the food as he too approached them. A cold feel in Leona's stomach started to grow as she didn't see Krieg come behind the barbarian. Her body started to tremble from imagining what could have happened to the knight. By mustering all her courage, she asked the barbarian who was in the middle of tending Neiliel's wounds with bandages from a nearby bag.
"Where- where is Krieg? Wasn't he with you?"
Laura's eyes drifted for a moment of worry but then met Princess'.
"He stayed behind to fend off the enemy, it was a single knight wearing black armor."
Her eyes went wide and a biting cold chill went down to the base of her spine.
'It can't be that knight… Krieg defeated him before.'
Her mind started to race trying to come up with a reasonable explanation but nothing seemed to make sense, if that knight was really alive and seeking revenge, it could mean the end of Krieg's life. Such thoughts frightened her to the core.
A flash of Adele's last words came to her mind. The maid laid on the blood soaked ground waiting for her life to snuff out like a dying candle. It couldn't happen again, not with someone so close to her as Krieg.
"This can't happen… not again…"
Words came out of her mouth as small mutters while her hand tightened its grip around the shortsword handle. Phoebe noticed her strange behaviour from the corner of her vision.
"Princess?"
The elf called out but she suddenly dashed towards the entrance of the cave. Her eyes were filled to the brim with tears, desperation had kicked in, anguish born from the thought of losing another person precious to her. She couldn't bear it, through her own hands she decided to end it.
"Leo, wait!"
Their voices became dimmer as Leona reckless sprinted out of the cave and through the forest, though she had no clue which direction they took first but reasoning was out of the window as the only thing she could think of was the knight's safety.
What could she do even if there were enemies? Fight? She could barely hold a candle to Krieg's swordplay, much less so in a serious fight.
'Offer my life…?'
A dangerous idea occurred to her, if they were really only after her, it meant that accepting to come quietly would mean the safety of those around her, possibly even saving her father.
"Princess?"
The familiar voice made her stop and look to her right side.
"Why are you out here?"
Krieg was standing with his scabbard loosely held on his left shoulder by the leather strap. His face was drenched with sweat but no wounds were apparent on his body. He was alive.
"K-Krieg…!"
"I'm sorry, I was on my way back to the camp but an enemy showed up and-"
She didn't wait for him to finish what he was saying and instead let go of the shortsword, throwing herself onto the knight with a tight hug to his chest. Krieg was first taken aback but then only caressed her head with a genuine smile on his face.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, Leona."
"I won't let you leave my side ever again."
She sobbed, hiccuping and crying all the while. Her legs gave out eventually, making her fall with her knees on the ground but still grasping the knight's clothes tightly with no intention of letting go.
"There you two are."
Krieg lifted his face and saw the wizard standing in front of him, he had his book open and his robe was wavering like it was submerged in water.
"Let's go back, everyone needs some rest."
Laslow motioned with his chin to Leona.
"She needs it the most apparently."
Krieg nodded. He held the Princess' hands and kneeled to face her eye to eye.
"Leona we need to go back, can you walk?"
She shook her head slightly. Krieg smiled while sighing lightly before picking her up in his arms. The knight then looked towards the wizard that floated mid-air.
"Laslow, can you protect us while I take Leona back to the camp?"
"Hm? I'll keep an eye on you two from above then."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
They started to walk back slowly. Leona all the while clutching tightly around the knight's neck. Krieg could understand why she was so worried, but he also knew it was his fault, for his selfishness of improving, he left his liege unattended when she needed him. The black knight's words still echoing in his mind.
'A knight's mettle is won by hard cold steel driven by purpose and duty.'
Long did Krieg not know for what purpose he fought, nor why he did so. His duty was always so plain and clear to him but now it was cloudy and uncertain. The existence of Eleonora made his mind doubt for whom he fought for, but now more than ever, he knew it was in Leona's name. Her life was the sole reason why he still drew breath.
"I took my own vow too lightly, and those around me paid the price for my mistakes, I won't allow this to happen again. I promise you Leona."
The dark sky beckoned them to another day, however the next day would soon prove to be ever more arduous than the last.