Pain was a distant thing now.
The world had narrowed to the pulse of battle.
Su'Rhaal's breath came in short, ragged bursts. His heart thundered in his chest, each beat pushing him further into the firestorm of his rage. Blood dripped from the runeblades in his hands, dark and viscous, steaming in the desert air.
Before him stood Kahlira and Cassiopeia Du Couteau.
One wielded twisted dark magic, her cursed hand pulsing with corrupted energy.
The other radiated predatory grace, her serpentine tail coiled beneath her like a spring primed to strike.
Alone, he might have beaten one of them.
Together, they were death incarnate.
But Su didn't care.
He would fight. He would kill.
Or die with vengeance on his lips.
---
The Charge
He launched himself forward with a guttural roar.
The runeblades hummed to life in his hands. The crimson runes flared like embers caught in a desert gale. His instincts took control: the battle-ritual of his ancestors—the Sang'Kalla Deathsong—guided his steps.
His body screamed in protest. The corrupted magic from Kahlira's touch still gnawed at his flesh, slowing his healing.
The venom from Cassiopeia's presence hung like a toxin in the air. His lungs burned. His muscles trembled.
But he surged forward regardless.
---
Kahlira met him first.
She extended her corrupted hand, and a black vine lashed toward his throat.
Su sidestepped and cleaved downward.
The vine was severed, but thick, dark ichor splattered across his forearm. The skin beneath his vambrace began to freeze and crackle, the cursed energy leeching through the steel.
Kahlira's eyes widened at his speed.
"You're faster than you should be," she hissed, stepping back.
"I am Sang'Kalla."
He advanced, blades flashing.
Kahlira parried desperately, her sabre deflecting his relentless strikes. But with each impact, her stance faltered.
Su's fury drove him forward—blade after blade, cut after cut.
He forced her toward a burning supply cart, the heat licking at their skin.
With a feral growl, Su slammed the pommel of his right blade into her jaw.
Her head snapped back.
He reversed his grip and drove his left sword toward her throat—
Cassiopeia's tail lashed out from Su's blind spot.
The impact caught him across the ribs with bone-shattering force.
Ribs cracked. Armor bent inward.
Su was launched backward, crashing through a row of stacked crates.
The splintered wood pierced his arms and legs, and he skidded to a halt against a broken stone pillar.
His vision blurred.
His breathing faltered.
Cassiopeia emerged from the smoke, gliding forward with lethal elegance.
Her eyes glowed softly, twin beacons in the dark.
"Why do you persist, Captain?" she asked. "You're already dead. Just let go."
Su coughed, spitting blood. His body refused to move.
Not like this.
---
"Captain!"
From across the square, Samira fired both pistols. The bullets streaked toward Cassiopeia's head.
Cassiopeia twitched her wrist. Her tail lashed upward, knocking the bullets aside with unnatural precision.
Samira cursed and reloaded with practiced ease.
"Gonna take more than fancy scales to beat me, snake-bitch!"
Cassiopeia's expression didn't change.
Her eyes flicked toward Samira. "You're an insect."
The serpent queen pulled her head back. She spit a barrage of venom toward the gunslinger.
Samira dove into a roll, barely avoiding it.
The cobblestones behind her melting, Revealing more Rebels.
"Shit, shit, shit!" she muttered.
------------------
Su tried to rise. His legs refused to respond.
Kahlira reappeared beside Cassiopeia, her jaw bloodied but her eyes triumphant.
"He's weakening," she said.
Cassiopeia tilted her head. "Then finish it."
Kahlira raised her corrupted hand.
The vines writhed and coiled together, forming a long, spear-like appendage. The red core at its center pulsed like a heartbeat.
"You tried to destroy us," she said, voice trembling with hate. "But tonight, Demon, you die in the dirt."
She lunged.
Su lifted his blades just in time. The impact sent him skidding backward.
The corrupted spear clashed against his swords. The dark energy surged along the steel, into his flesh.
His vision darkened. His limbs turned to lead.
But he didn't let go.
Step. Breathe. Strike.
The mantra echoed in his mind.
The Sang'Kalla way.
The warrior's creed.
He twisted his left sword to the side, locking the spear between the blades.
With a snarl, he wrenched the weapon downward, snapping the vine in half.
Kahlira gasped as the backlash of magic jolted up her arm.
Su lunged forward, blades flashing.
He caught her across the thigh—a deep, splintering cut.
She fell to one knee.
He raised both swords for the killing blow.
Cassiopeia struck.
Her tail impaled him from behind.
The force drove her tail through his back, piercing armor, muscle, and bone.
The tip burst through his chest, slick with blood.
Su's eyes widened. His mouth opened in shock.
The runeblades slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.
Cassiopeia leaned forward, her breath hot against his ear.
"There it is," she whispered. "The end of the mighty Sang'Kalla warrior."
Her venom spread instantly.
Su felt it coil through his veins—thick, slow, and cold.
His limbs locked. His heart slowed. His mind, sharp only seconds ago, clouded like a mirror fogging in the rain.
Not like this.
He saw Zanaiya's broken body amidst the rubble.
He saw Samira surrounded, fighting alone against a dozen rebels.
He saw the burning city—the city he was supposed to control.
Not like this.
---
Cassiopeia twisted the tail, and agony consumed him.
"It will be over soon," she hissed.
---
Something deep within Su snapped.
The Sang'Kalla war-spirit stirred.
Rage surged, shattering the paralysis.
---
With a roar, Su grabbed the tail impaling him and pulled himself forward.
Cassiopeia's eyes widened in shock. "Impossible!"
The venom still burned.
His body still crumbled.
But Su moved through the agony.
---
He reached for the dagger on his belt.
Kahlira staggered forward, realizing too late what was happening.
Su twisted Cassiopeia's tail to pull himself closer to Kahlira.
She raised her sword, but her injured leg buckled.
In one motion, Su drove the dagger into Kahlira's chest
The corrupted hand exploded with magical backlash.
The vines recoiled, writhing like severed serpents.
Her gaze softened, as though seeing something distant.
"I'm sorry, Big brother... I tried."
The light in her eyes faded as the dark magic devoured her from the inside out.
Her body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Su let go of the dagger. His knees gave out.
Cassiopeia released him, her tail sliding free from his chest with a sickening slurp.
He fell face-first onto the blood-soaked ground.
His runeblades lay inches away, but his strength was gone.
His eyes fluttered closed.
The sounds of battle faded.
Darkness took him.
The battle ended shortly after.
The Suns of Bel'zhun, seeing their commander fall, scattered into the night.
The hextech shipment was lost. The harbor burned.
From the shadows of the main street, General Dorrik arrived with his personal guard.
He stood over Su's unconscious body, eyes unreadable.
Cassiopeia turned to him, tail coiled around herself. "He's alive. Barely."
Dorrik nodded. "Good. Bind him in irons."
Two guards knelt beside Su and shackled his wrists.
Dorrik knelt, staring into the bloodied, dirt-covered face of the man who had been poised to take his city.
"You should've stayed loyal, Captain," he murmured. "Now, you'll learn what loyalty truly costs."
---
The soldiers dragged Su away into the smoke.
The city of Bel'zhun burned behind them.