Scales and Swords ✓

65: To Let Go

There's an emptiness in the eyes of those who have seen the worst of the world. A darkness after the light has gone out. I'd seen it in Philip, Lance, Cyr, Dad, Xon, Hoku, the other guards, including Leofwin. It seemed to make them less than alive, a bit dead inside. I wondered if they had noticed themselves decaying from the inside out. Or if they'd just accepted it and let that darkness take over.

My sword was in my hands just as Leofwin's descended upon me. The hilt in one hand and the blade in the other in a desperate attempt to defend myself.

"Leofwin," I cried, "you don't have to do this."

He withdrew his sword only to reposition himself which gave me enough time to do the same. He circled me, sword aimed and ready as I did the same.

The rain roared on and the wind just as wild. Leofwin didn't seem to care that I was me, which made me consider if it were truly him.

"Leofwin is it really you?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" He asked, but where he usually sounded timid and feeble he was now cold and unfeeling.

"Why are you doing this then?"

"Why don't you take a guess."

He lunged. I parried. Blade against blade, neither of us willing to give in. I fought to live but what was he fighting for? "Did Cyr send you?"

He disengaged, only to swipe once again, slicing me across the shoulder. I hissed and fell back. He stood over me, regarding me through slits, sword pointed at my throat.

"You're not a real knight, are you?" He asked.

His words caught me off guard. I let my defenses fall. "If not Cyr then did the King send you?"

A cold smirk flashed across his face. I couldn't know for sure who had sent him, but one thing was certain, he had to get rid of me.

I kicked his knee in and he went crashing to the ground. I took his place, standing over him with the tip of my own sword raised over his heart. He stared up at me, smirking as though a push of my wrist couldn't end his life.

"A real knight wouldn't hesitate."

"We don't have to fight. I'll explain why I did it, if you'd just let me."

For a brief moment he hesitated. But he quickly steeled himself and stared straight ahead, whispering words I couldn't decipher. I looked away, following his line of sight to find nothing. Not even rain.

I fell to a crouch protecting as much of my head as I could. My wings came out to block out the knives that bombarded me from above. I'd be lying if I said each hit didn't sting like a real knife would, perhaps worse. All the while, I never let my sword slip from my grip. I would have rather died than let go.

Ice crawled up my feet and encircled my ankles. The ice daggers that managed to force their way into the flesh of my wings, seemed to run beneath my skin, freezing my blood.

I burst from the little cocoon I had made myself. Ice exploded and fell all around me in a million crystalline shards. The ice within me melted away.

But just as I broke free a jet of frozen water met me head on, propelling me back with the force of a giant's throw. When I landed, my sword was beyond my reach and I was at the tip of a cliff. The sound of rushing water rivaled that of the storm just beyond the cliffs edge.

"You don't want to kill me either!" I shouted over the clamour of rain and river and the howl of the wind.

He scoffed. "Forgive me, I've prolonged your pain."