The attack was going perfectly; the duelists had performed enviably for their early training. Ashley and Meridia had entered the building.
The girls and I walked away from the battlefield, but in the direction we thought the fire god was supposed to come from.
His magic gave him away, his anger could be felt in the air, when he appeared, we had seen him first, he came completely alone, Azumi jumped and with terrifying speed shot towards the fire god, effectively knocking him to the ground.
Just as he hit the ground, Jane and I launched a combined attack with dragon energy. We slashed at his shoulders and abdomen. When we turned around, he'd already cauterized his wounds. He glared at us with pure hatred. His magic was so strong it was hard to breathe, yet neither of us lost focus. Now he was the prey.
But this time there was no chatter, no boasting, it was only the sound of our swords clashing and the flames roaring. Consumed by rage, that man was in torment, a torment caused by me.
Again, even though I had become stronger, blocking his attacks was dangerous, now I had more magic in turn, I was stronger.
Our multiple blows were taking their toll on him, but the problem for Jane and me was Azumi's style; it was difficult to match her rhythm; she practically needed the entire field of the fight to jump and dodge, but that was precisely what caused her mistake. The fire god delivered a blow to her face hard enough to single-handedly kill Azumi, who was thrown to the ground, but it was at that very moment that Jane and I turned the tide.
Because of our training, because of our time alone, our feelings had become balanced, we were two, but we fought as one sword, and thanks to that our energy attacks joined together, even changing to a purple color.
This gave the fire god a lot of trouble, and he could barely dodge them. We were surrounding him, we were winning, or so he thought. He smiled and hit the ground, an immense flame engulfed the battlefield. We could barely cover ourselves with energy, but as we did, the fire god attacked us, unable to respond in time.
It all happened so fast. Azumi, who couldn't even defend herself from the flame, stood in front of us. Not only did she receive the fire directly on her skin, she blocked the attack, or at least half of it. Her arm was sliced in half, as if it were butter.
I had to react faster, I had to be stronger, I had to kill him. I lunged at him, our swords clashed, and ignoring the pain, I braced myself with my spears in the air. I had to strike, I had to win. He just looked at me and smiled.
Jane followed me too, our anger becoming one.
"You're alone... What did you do?" Jane said as she attacked.
I hadn't been sure what he was talking about, but right after that, we managed to pierce his chest, a perfect cut. He fell to his knees, but he was still smiling.
He burst out laughing and took out a piece of meat, ate it in one bite, and suddenly an excessive amount of magic came out of him. I didn't understand what was happening, but Jane was trembling.
"Sean... I'm going to kill him... I'm going to kill him even if it costs me my life!" Jane screamed. She wasn't trembling with fear, she was trembling with anger.
"Don't die!" Azumi cried desperately through her tears.
But at that moment I could do nothing but fight and share the feelings of my precious companion.
"Even if he ceases to be a god after this, it will have been worth it!" the fire god spits.
Jane was the one clashing swords this time. I saw her tremble in pain, but she wouldn't stop. The battle had begun, and the fire threatened to cook her alive. She had small burns all over her body. I launched an attack and plunged my spears into the fire god's legs. Jane tried to finish her off, but the fire god received the attack with his bare arm. With his wounded arm, he grabbed Jane by the neck and stabbed her in the abdomen. That's when I managed to finish my technique. The spears began to cut him from the inside. These wounds couldn't be cauterized, serious wounds. But just as they reached his abdomen, he threw Jane to the ground. The god's entire body was burned, burning the spears and even his own flesh.
Unable to continue fighting, he fell to the ground. I walked toward him to deliver the blow, the blow that would give me victory. His smile had disappeared. I focused all my magic on my katana. One last attack, that's all I needed.
But he was far from giving up.
"I expected this... I wanted to save a little, but I see that will be impossible. If so, I'll wait for you, because I'm sure you'll reach me. When you arrive, I'll grant your wish; I'll show you the power of a god."
When he finished his sentence I rushed towards him but his body was engulfed in flames, and from one second to the next he had disappeared.
What did she mean? I had no idea, but it wasn't time to ask, nor was it time to get upset or frustrated. I had to treat Jane and Azumi's wounds, which were in serious condition. Fortunately, Jane seemed to be doing better, even less tired. We cauterized Azumi's arm perfectly, but when she felt the pain, she woke up and let out such a heart-rending scream that I started to cry myself.
She had lost an arm and with it her ability as a warrior, Jane was also shattered.
"How did you heal so quickly?" I asked Jane. But one look was enough. She'd burned herself to keep from bleeding out. She couldn't shake from the pain.
Still he didn't let me know.
"You have a wound on your shoulder," he replied.
Our pain doesn't matter. Not really. I gave him a look of hatred. I had understood perfectly what the fire god was referring to. The power I had just witnessed wasn't real; in fact, he no longer possessed it.
"Kain said it. She was the one who needed help, she was the one who asked for it. When she refused to help because she knew she'd be found out, the bastard... He killed her..." Jane finished the answer.
—Damn it! And even then we couldn't just beat him! Azumi lost her arm! Is there no way to give it back to her?
—No... No, at least not with our current knowledge. —She shook her head; she was crying too.
Ashley came running up to us.
"Are you okay?!" he shouted as he knelt down to look at Azumi.
"We stabilized her, but she needs to see Doc. He took a lot of damage," Jane replied.
Ashley nodded and looked at me.
—Sean, we have a problem. The attack went well, we even have a prisoner, but this is a nuclear plant.
I spat, the metallic taste wasn't my blood, it was radiation.
"I gave the order to blow it up. We should retreat now. We have to get going." She then coughed up blood.
This was bad… Extremely bad.
"Jane, hurry up, take Ashley and get back to Archadia! The radiation is poisonous to us!" Jane followed my instructions to the letter.
I grabbed Azumi and we joined the desperate march. Everyone was very calm, which confirmed my theory: they really aren't afraid of radiation.
The explosion echoed in my ears, not because of the explosion itself, but because we were still within radiation range. I quickly switched bodies with Jane.
I felt my heart pounding. Maybe I could save myself with magic, but Ashley… And I remembered something else. I remembered what I'd done at the office, how I'd managed to produce energy at the expense of my own health. I'd done it. My skin, my organs, my bones, my muscles were burning and aching as a result. It was a familiar sensation by now: I was dying, but I couldn't stop.
Everything that was happening was my fault, from the start. I shouldn't have defended myself; I should have been more aggressive. That way, Azumi would still have had her arm. It was all because I didn't give it my all. I should have been ready to die in the attack, but the reality was, I wasn't.
My lungs failed, I couldn't breathe, I was drenched in blood, and I fell to the ground. When I looked up, I saw the walls of Archadia. I'd done it! Ashley was out of range.
I pulled myself together, I had to act, the Archadians who had stayed behind to defend us, not only wouldn't expect us so quickly, but they wouldn't expect me to return alone either.
In that case, I had to give an answer, not as a person but as a leader. It's a simple matter of trust, so I forced myself to stand up. I couldn't carry Ashley anymore, but she could get up on her own.
I told them we had won, but that General Ashley had been seriously wounded. By my order, the army had to be barred from entering. I arrived at the room Meridia had shown me earlier, we took a deep bath, and I used magic to change our clothes.
The problem was that Ashley was getting worse. I felt it too, but the metallic taste was gone. That was magic. I'd experienced this before; since I've had magic, I tend to heal faster, but Ashley is normal.
The most desperate hours of my life passed while I tried to stabilize Ashley with the help of the Archadian nurses. My blood is of no use to him so I can only pray that he holds out. Even if Doc were here, I don't know if he could save him.
When they gave me the news that the army had arrived, it wasn't hard to guess they'd come running. Although they were very happy, I forced them to abandon their clothes and bathe. Even Meridia looked at me strangely, but they agreed without much problem. In truth, bathing alone wasn't enough, but there was nothing more I could do. Jane went farther away to do it; I explained to her why. She also took Azumi; I gave her a change of clothes, and I closed myself back in with Ashley. Little by little, I could hear the cheers of the town. Jane arrived with Azumi in her arms; she was soaked, but dressed; and Meridia was a little more of the same.
"What's going on?" Jane asked.
—Radiation can kill us. I can tell I'm healing, because the metallic taste is fading… But for us, who should be incapable of doing so, even that is permanent.
I stood up to give more explanations, to make a plan, we had to move, help Lombardi and Frost also do something with the prisoner.
I still had a lot of things to do, but I fell. My body stopped responding; I was too hurt to continue, but I had to. I got up.
"You used that magic too. I told you not to. You must be even worse off than her, Sean." Jane placed Azumi on one of the pieces of furniture in the living room.
—Meridia, send the Archadians east to the city of Vergarito. They'll encounter Lombardi, who's likely attacking them. Bring flags to identify you. Send my men to Velgia to assist Frost.
I almost fell again as I approached Meridia, but Jane caught me. Meridia nodded and ran off. Jane was trembling.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes glassy.
-I…
I couldn't take it anymore; I fell to the ground. However, she caught me and placed her hand over my mouth, forcing me to drink her blood. With that, I felt as if the air returned to my body and my heart began to beat strongly again.
—Sean, we have to do the merger if we want to win. We have to be serious.
I stared at her, dumbfounded. I couldn't believe what I had just heard.
—No, I... I know I'd be forcing you to do that, you don't have to do it.
—Didn't you see it? He's going to kill us! We're not strong enough.
She was really desperate.
"I'm sorry. I gave you that impression too. Next time will be the last, and this time I'll be willing to die. For him to kill me, he'll have to be willing to die too. It'll be a battle of wills. Jane, this isn't your fight. I don't want you here this time."
After those words left my mouth I received a slap.
—Don't tell me... Let me see you die... Not after everything... You filled my head with beautiful things! You swore to me there was a future. It was you! My mother and my sister died. Why not me?! I'm not going to allow myself to be left alone again. I can't! Do you know what it's like to live 200 years alone?! Do you know what I was doing before you summoned me?! I was going to kill myself! After I fell ill, after nearly dying and having people who care about me again, I understood. Don't ask me to leave you!
Her tears sprang forth and before I knew it I was crying too.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me not to be able to get close to you or anyone else? Yet I managed it. I put my feelings before that fear… Look me in the eyes, Sean. If I had been able to merge, my friend wouldn't have been left without an arm! I was selfish; I understand that more than anyone else. I understand how you felt when we lost more than our fair share of soldiers in the battle."
"It's different," I replied.
She gave me a painful smile as she shook her head.
"It isn't. At this rate, I'm not just going to lose Azumi, I'll lose them all. And I'll go back to wishing I was dead." She wiped her tears and continued. "For decades, I thought I was better off dead, that survival wasn't worth it. I even came close to taking my own life. Yet when the poison nearly killed me, I… I… I clung to life. I didn't want to die. I'll give everything I have to protect this. I can do it because it's you. I know I can trust you, and I know you're strong enough, too."
She was looking into my eyes. Finally, the tears broke, and I cried. The weight of my actions, the weight of my mistakes, broke me once again. Yet she hugged me, and I clung to her, even though I knew she would surely hate it.
Before I knew it, I accepted. We merged.