Two figures in red stood in an open field known as Rendell's place among Capricorn novices. Dead leaves and dust danced round in the whistling wind, moving so gently that one would fail to anticipate the bloodshed it foretells. The waning crescent moon provided an illumination only bright enough for each of the young men to see the other's face.
"Do you think they will still come?" Ashviel asked his companion.
"They will," answered the gilt-haired comrade.
"I mean, it's now past an hour after midnight," said Ashviel.
"Wait," Kael said, knitting his brows in concentration as his ears picked up the faint sound of approaching horses. "They are here," he said in a stage whisper.
Coming in their direction were four horses, each mounted by two of Mishino's men, except the last one, which he chose to ride on alone. They reached the spot Ashviel stood with Kael, and took their horses around them in battle fashion.
"How courageous you are," said Mishino, bringing his horse to a stop. "I didn't expect you to rush to your deaths."
"Like the dog that ambushes the tiger, you waited for us," said another.
Ashviel looked around the group, all seven of them. It was just as Allit had said — that Mishino had six other novices that worked for him. That was both good and bad news to Ashviel. Fighting them all at once would ensure that there was no enemy unknown to them, yet he was not sure if his team could defeat all seven of them, even with Master Vauxall's treasures around them.
"Look Mishino," he said, "we can all avoid this fight by apologizing to each other, and then we leave and live peacefully together."
"Live peaceful with you? Outrageous," snorted one of the men, seeing Ashviel for the first time. He was tall and with a pate so bald that it shone in the dim moonlight.
"You see," said Mishino, "the only thing I'm sorry about is not getting to kill you twice."
"Hey boss," called one of the men, "I take it this is the feisty one," he said, pointing at Kael.
"You're right about that," Kael said, answering the question posed at Mishino.
The men all got down from the horses, and revealing their weapons, they drew in on Ashviel and Kael.
"What is the matter?" asked Mishino. "I do not see the pretty redhead."
"Oh, we've decided to save her the sight of your guts," said Ashviel, parroting Sir Mat.
"Oh, isn't that adorable?" said one of the men in return. He moved faster than his allies did, and Ashviel and Kael stepped back steadily, which made him to charge at them in a sprint.
As the unthinking novice covered the fourth step, an assault arrow sped at him from nowhere and tore through his stomach. Before he could figure out what had happened to him, a Zeroszen blade went through his neck, moving in and out in less than a heartbeat.
One down, six more to go.
"From where?" cried the one closest to Mishino.
His question was answered by three more assault arrows that rushed at them from the darkness, and though they all managed to dodge them, the attack was made in such a way that dodging it would only disrupt whatever formation they had before hand.
They ran around, frantically trying to avoid the streams of red-hot fire that kept coming at them. Their disorderliness provided Ashviel and Kael the chance to attack freely, and in less than twenty seconds, two more of them had fallen, one with his head cut in two and the other impaled with his own pike.
Mishino and the surviving members proved to be better adversaries, and Kyra had to come out of her hiding spot to provide her comrades support. She sallied out, running at full speed, and was just in time to save Kael from being butchered by a swordstorm.
Ashviel was losing the fight with his double-wielding opponent who commanded a mastery of wind and force Rek. Yet when he thought that was all he had to endure, the bald man before him rained down a hail of attack spells that pushed Ashviel to the ground.
He tried to open his eyes, but the smoke around made that impossible. Another barrage went towards him, and his enchanted robe began to wear out. The man pounced upon him, but instead of using his sword, he sent a shooting star right at Ashviel's chest.
At such close distance and with such expertise, the spell was supposed to run through him, burning out his heart and killing him in an instant. Yet, none of such occurred. Instead, he only felt a short albeit sharp pain in his chest, and knew he had the enchanted robe to thank for his life. His opponent was taken aback to find him still alive, and stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts.
A single moment was all Ashviel needed. He sat up quickly and clutched the bald mage by the neck, as if trying to squeeze his soul out. For long has he longed for Capricorn blood, and here were men offering theirs freely. Who was he to reject such a generous offer?
He made a rapping tempest with both hands still gripping the mage's neck. Then like a guillotine, he cut clean through it, letting out a fountain of blood gush out of an aperture onto his face.
He stood up from the headless body, and his lips curled to form a dark smile. Even though he would hate to admit it, he felt an immense pleasure after killing his foe. In fact, he had never felt happier in a long time. Decollating a Capricorn mage had always been one his fervent wishes and it now appeared that the desire had been finally satisfied.
As he stood over the body, wallowing in a dark bliss, a sharp cry alerted him, and recognizing the voice to be Kyra's, he rushed to where she stood. Kael was lying in a pool of blood beside two of Mishino's dead men, and Kyra was battling the last man standing — Mishino himself.
She already had a wound on her shoulder that was probably caused by a shooting star, and Mishino seemed to be close to killing her. Ashviel ran close to help her, but he fell before her, as the spells began taking a toll on him.
Evidently, the bald mage he had fought was far stronger than he was, and had sent a salvo of spells that Ashviel could not even recognize. The fact that he was not dead was only because of Master Vauxall's robe and armor, but as they were now all ruined, the spells began to become effective, albeit not as lethal as they could have been. He writhed in pain and cried loud as Mishino landed yet another strike on Kyra.
Unexpectedly, Mishino proved to be a strong fighter, and Kyra seemed to be only seconds away from death. Kael tried to stand up from the pool but he found himself unable to due to his multiple injuries. Ashviel was at the east corner and he was at the west, with Mishino and Kyra at the center. The two were forced to watch helplessly as Mishino landed strike after strike, like an expert butcher hacking at a lump of beef.
Kyra was already drowning in her own blood, and the sound of her ribs shattering resounded throughout the place. Then, with a smug smile, Mishino sent his sword into her, piercing through her abdomen. Rather than dropping dead, Kyra stood up with a great presence of mind, and letting the sword run her through, she grabbed Mishino by the neck.
She gripped it tight, and then, with all the energy left in her, she twisted and snapped it at a stroke. Mishino's eyed sunk immediately, and Kyra completed the work by wrenching his head severely, pulling it out and raising it high like a trophy.
Then she dropped it, and with a smile imprinted on her face, she dropped dead to the ground.
Ashviel and Kael crawled to where her body lay, and a stream of tears rolled down their eyes as Kyra breathed her last.
Kael held her hands and pressed it to his chest, unable to come to terms with the prospect of Kyra dying. "No Kyra," said he, "you can't die, not now. I still have a lot to tell you."
Ashviel turned her face around. "Wake up Kyra, you can't die on us," he screamed, and his emerald eyes shone with tears, but of what use were his tears if she was dead already?