Shayn dodged left. Simone screamed. How could such a complete transformation have taken place?
Kyler didn't even finish the follow through on his first attack before his second was in play. Shayn brought his sword up to block, and his arm buckled under the strength of Kyler's blow. The clangor of metal on metal rang through the air as the brothers engaged in a spar like none they had ever had before.
Shayn ducked, and jumped, and tried his best to stay ahead of Kyler's furious attack. Where had all this come from? His brother's eyes were wild, yet focused. A stranger's eyes. No matter how intense their arguments, or sparring, Kyler never would have looked at him with the calculated murder that dwelt in his gaze right now.
"This isn't you," Shayn managed to say as their blades clashed.
Kyler grinned and slashed, driving Shayn back even further. The younger had been stronger ever since the war, but that seemed reversed now. Kyler was taller, too.
The doctors had once told them that since Kyler's legs were broken in his early teens, they didn't grow like they should have, and he might have been taller otherwise. That hadn't been a helpful thing to say at the time, but Shayn remembered it now as he adjusted to fighting this man who was swifter, taller, and stronger than he ever had been.
"Please don't." Shayn tried again. Couldn't he get through to Kyler somehow? Hot, angry tears burned at the back of his eyes, but he refused to let them blur his vision. He was held back by the desire to see his brother live, and not die.
Kyler had no such reservations and struck again and again. Shayn didn't know where Simone was, but he hoped she was staying back from the fighting. Maybe she'd even gained her senses and run.
Surely, that was better, far better, than watching his brother kill him. He only wished they'd had a few minutes longer. He'd had much he wanted to tell her, but now that was looking less likely. It was kill or be killed, and even if he survived this duel, he would never be the same with his brother's death on his sword.
No. Neither of them would die today. Shayn couldn't bear killing Kyler, and he wouldn't let Kyler bear the guilt of his blood. If, someday, he came back to his senses, it shouldn't be with that weight on his conscience.
"Gah!" He got caught off balance, and Kyler's sword slashed a shallow scrape across his arm. "Ow, Kyler, Come on! That hurt!" He called as if they were young again, practicing with sticks in the gardens of their village.
"It will hurt much more when you die, but not for long." The elder said coldly, striking thrice more in rapid succession.
Shayn was barely holding on. The battle raged between them, and he was tiring out more quickly than he expected. Normally he was on equal ground with an opponent, with similar goals. With this taller, stronger man who seemed to desire his death more than anything else in the world, and Shayn unwilling to rise to the bloodthirsty fury of wanting his opponent's death… it was not going well.
"You've been practicing," He accused. He remembered their eldest brother, Riley, making such quips during the War Between Worlds. It had seemed odd, yet uniquely Riley at the time. Shayn tried to adopt it now to pull Kyler back from the brink of insanity.
"You haven't." Kyler frowned. "I expected more from you."
Shayn made a face, but abandoned it just before Kyler's sword would have taken his head off. "That's terribly rude. Mother would be disappointed."
It was true that Shayn hadn't been practicing lately. The years on the road with only Kyler as a companion had not done too much to sharpen his skills, since when he was disabled he had not made much of a partner. He'd settled for practicing his forms.
That was woefully inadequate now. Whatever power Beast had that healed Kyler had not only changed his body and his heart, but the way his body moved. His movements now were almost snakelike: smooth, swift, and deadly.
Shayn had no time to ponder the transformation. Sweat poured down his face. His movements were not as concentrated as they should have been. The emotional turmoil was affecting his fighting, which was the opposite of what Riley had always taught him.
Use the anger, use the feelings, the sadness. Whatever you have, focus it on the battle. But that was against enemies. Kyler wasn't an enemy, not truly. It was so tempting to give in. Whatever Beast was, maybe serving it alongside Kyler was better than trying to kill him.
No. Any creature that would do this to people's minds could not be trusted and should not be followed. The Fae had been unequivocal in the evil nature of this Beast, and Shayn had felt the ominous aura of its presence even seeing it from afar.
"How different it is, looking down on you." Kyler mused aloud as he slashed again. "My 'little' brother once more."
The statement struck something deep in Shayn. When each of them became old enough to work the fields and farm, the next one down had been given the same instruction, either from their father or from Riley.
'You're the biggest brother in the house today. What's a big brother's job?' Ashmayne would ask.
'Help the little brother and protect him', The boy would recite in response, 'help Mama and be a blessing,'
Riley had continued the ritual until their village was burned. Kyler had looked after Shayn, and then when he went to the fields, Shayn had looked after the youngers.
A lump in his throat formed as the words echoed through his memories, giving Kyler the opening to strike him in the leg with a blow using the flat of his blade. Shayn fell to his knees as pain flashed through him. A swift kick threw Shayn onto his back, the tip of Kyler's sword at his throat.
"I love you, Big brother," Shayn whispered, a hot tear streaking down his face. The same phrase he used when they were little, when he would bid goodbye to the elder for the day, and take over watching the little ones.
Their bond had been unshakable then, and now his life's blood would forever mar his brother's blade. He stared up into Kyler's face, trying to morph the stranger towering over him into the beloved face of his youth. His closest friend, confidant, playmate.
When the Rhone released them from the Darkness, Kyler's face was the first one Shayn looked for. The relief he had felt seeing that his brother was with him, and safe, was even greater than the emotion of stepping back into their own world for the first time.
When Kyler had been trampled by goblins in the War Between Worlds, Shayn had been sure they would die together, a fitting end to their nearly inseparable lives. He'd never let go of the hope that Kyler would walk again, never ceased to support his brother, protect him, advocate for him…
Another tear escaped green eyes that were blurred with sorrow. Was the brother he knew dead? Was this heartless fiend who stood, about to take his life, the last remnant of Kyler, the man who would end Shayn forever?
A subtle change softened Kyler's face for a moment before it hardened again. Shayn looked up at him, refusing to meet his death with closed eyes like a frightened child. If nothing else, he could be brave for these last few seconds of his existence.
He only hoped Simone was running for her life.
Kyler's contemplation of Shayn's demise was at its end. With a bitter smile, he raised his blade for a final, life-ending blow.
"Goodbye, 'Little Brother'."
The words hurt Shayn more deeply than the blade that was about to slash his throat. With a last effort, he rolled to the side and raised the blade at his side to block the final blow.
Kyler laughed and knocked Shayn's sword aside, out of his hand. With another kick, he sent the younger man sprawling to the ground once more. There was nothing else. No other plan, no other escape strategy. No hope. He was utterly spent, his soul and body hurting and tired.
"Goodbye, Kyler. I… forgive you." Shayn swallowed the words. If Kyler ever came back to his senses, Shayn wanted him to know that.
The older man rolled his eyes and raised his blade. Shayn's eyes twitched closed before he forced them back open. He would face death like a man. If Simone was an idiot and not running like he'd told her to, at least he wouldn't be a coward in front of her. But that was silly. She was far away by now if she had one bit of sense.
Kyler raised his weapon with cold hatred in his eyes, and Shayn took a deep breath. This was his end.
"NO!" The cry came a split second before Simone threw herself in front of Kyler's descending blade.