Chapter 33 - Death (T) (Patreon)

She struck the wall at full speed, not bothering to slow her descent. Her body was far more resilient than any rock or metal that wall could be made of, and the impact proved her assumptions.

The entire ramparts groaned and ripped apart as she landed, the ripples of force flowing like a wave across the human structure, throwing the chaos of melee into a whole new state of disarray as relic knights were thrown off their feet.

Something ignited under the railing and a massive explosion rocketed the rest of the wallside, plumes of ash left floating up and joining the other, dotting the more distant machine gun turrets across the wall. If there were any knights that had managed to keep their footing, it was now a pipe dream.

At the center of the smoke, To’Wrathh opened her eyes, violet glowing through the darkness. With a flare of her wings, she burst out of the smoke, blades whistling through the air. The very smoke twisted behind her, trailing like a cape of shadow.

Her first target had barely gotten back on his feet. The Undersider knight had been fighting off one of her own Chosen, and winning, until she’d arrived. The victim turned, lifted his blade high on reflex and swung it down in wild panic at the speeding Feather.

She didn’t bother to parry the strike, digging down deep within, skeletal strings reaching out for the demon that lurked trapped under her thumb. The techniques and skills flooded mind, her body moving along, matching pace.

To’Wrathh was swift. The knight found himself quickly impaled in the gut, lifted up and slammed down into the ground. A quick strike through the helmet ended it.

Another knight rushed out of the smoke, disoriented, fleeing from a pair of Chosen knights. That one had been unlucky and found his head cut free of his shoulders. Body slumped down while the head soared away, the dimming mind inside feeling almost bemused for a moment at the turn of events, before unconsciousness took him, long before pain could be registered.

He had been in her way.

The two chosen knights followed through the smoke, stopped the moment they saw her and gave curt salutes.

“Lady To’Wrathh,” The left one said. “We’re ho-”

She held a hand up. “Follow. The girl is mine. Deal with the rest.”

They didn’t know what she meant by girl, but she had no time to explain. Ahead, she could almost taste her prey. Another small disorganized melee was in her way. A pair of Undersiders had banded together, holding off more of her Chosen. She strode into their ranks, cutting them down with hardly any effort. The second tried to run, and she let him. To'Wrathh wasn't here for the rabble.

That one didn't run far anyhow before her Chosen cut into his path and then almost into his life before he had the good sense to loudly call a surrender and throw down his weapons and disarmor. With the way clear, her slowly assembling group of survivors followed lock step behind her.

Ahead was her true target, flanked by two other of the surface savages that had managed to regroup in the chaos.

Her chosen had done well, surrounding the three knights. But that was where the good news ended. Despite the surround, despite the advantage in numbers, they still haven't been able to deal any true damage to the three knights. Rather it was the opposite.

At the center of the small resistance was Kidra. Two knives making short work of an unlucky Chosen that had tried an unwise attack. The rest of the Chosen were holding back, fear in their minds blazing, not knowing if they should wait for backup or all charge together.

Dead Undersiders littered the ground. These Chosen had survived this far for a reason. The training she’d given them had been enough to put them on even footing with the soldiers. The rest was learned in combat, and quickly.

Those who hadn’t were no longer among the living.

She needed to get Tenisent under control. If she had his full cooperation, more of her Chosen would have survived this day.

The surface knights gave her quick glances, keeping their focus on any possible movement from the surrounding enemies. Their comms kept their comments encrypted, but this close, her enhanced ears could pick out just enough.

“For fuck’s sake. Of course we’d run into one of them.” The teal knight said, longsword held in his right hand, knife in his left.

“What is that? A machine woman?” The knight in red asked, voice narrow.

“A Feather.” Kidra said from the center position.

“No scrapshit, are you serious?” The red knight said, “They exist?”

The chosen gave To’Wrathh curious looks as the Feather came to a stop before the three foes. Not quite sure if they should charge forward yet. Not willing to take initiative, not unless she took the first step.

To’Wrathh instead had eyes for only two before her. The first was clad in armor, the same armor she’d once killed a man in. And the second figure hovered translucent by his daughters side. The very same man she'd killed.

Tenisent didn’t speak. Didn’t trust himself to speak. Despite that, his face betrayed his thoughts so easily.

To’Wrathh raised an eyebrow. What will you give in exchange? She asked him, lightly knocking on the door to his cell. What will you give me if I spare her life?

His head turned sharply to meet her own gaze. There was a war in those eyes.

“We need to isolate her somehow.” The savage with teal markings and machine bones said. Memory that she’d stolen from Tenisent whispered a name: Windrunner. A friend. “What is she waiting for?” He hissed out, longsword kept in stance.

The ghost glanced back at his daughter, a look of shame flying through his eyes. "Gods forgive me. Spare her life… please." He said, despair heavy in his voice. There was no other way his daughter could live against a Feather. Even if his actions cost the lives of hundreds, it was his daughter in the end.

“Have you come to surrender?” Kidra said out loud, opening a conversation.

To’Wrathh stayed stunned for a moment, processing the bizarre request. Then she smiled. The human was making a joke. Tamery had shown her how to spot them. “I don’t believe surrendering is on my itinerary. I checked.”

“We could have done this the easy way.” Kidra shrugged, knives still raised. “Your loss.”

“No, I don’t believe it will be.” To’Wrathh said. “My victory is a foregone conclusion. Rather, I am debating the merits of cutting your head off and sending it to your brother. Personal gifts always have more weight, or so I’m told.”

The feather hadn’t been lying either. Strategy, or her revenge. Which was more important to her?

She found the choice oddly difficult. On one hand, the satisfaction of cutting this girl's head off and sending it to him was appealing. Very appealing.

On the other hand, she would make an excellent hostage to hold against Tenisent in order to leverage her enemy's true skills. By rights, the choice should be obvious. The pale lady's will should hold priority above all, including her personal grudge. But still...

“She’s buying time.” Kidra said, back on her group comms, her voice muffled under the helmet. “Too many traitors were culled already, every second that passes the army gets closer. On three, we disengage and jump off the wall. Regroup with the other two shadowsongs and continue to reclaim the turrets.”

“And the fucking feather that wants to cut your head off, Winterscar? What the fuck do you want us to do about that?” The red one said. A name floated through her mind. A shadowsong. Locke.

“Your duty.” Kidra hissed. “Find Ankah and Calem. Help them take the turrets. Windrunner and I can keep the feather busy. If that army makes it to the walls, we'll have far larger trouble than a single feather.”

Choice was wrenched out of To’Wrathh’s hand, as the three knights turned as one and stormed through the backline, easily overwhelming the two Chosen knights cordoning that section of the surround.

She made a snap decision and speared forward with a flick of her wings. Relic armors were fast. She was faster.

Kidra turned at the last second, spinning on herself, almost as if she had a paranormal sense of the incoming attack. Blades flashing down to strike at the incoming Feather. To’Wrathh ignored those, letting her personal shields take the hit. That let her crash directly into the knight and lift her up, like a hawk carrying off prey.

They vanished high into the smoke columns.

Hidden in the smoke, both twisted and turned like cats in an alley brawl, each trying to stab the other. And each being thwarted by inches. In seconds, the ground neared and both combatants tumbled over the metal courtyard.

Kidra’s hand struck down like a fist, hard into the ground, lifting her up as she somersaulted back onto her feet, twisting around to face her enemy, the heavy armor screeching to a stop, white and yellow sparks grinding away from her boots.

They’d both flown far into the center of the fortress. The tower itself loomed behind Kidra.

She flipped both knives back into position, a blue halo and blur in her hands. "I don't know who you are. I don’t know how you know about my brother. But you are in my way."

To’Wrathh smiled at that, then mimicked the motion, longswords flourishing in a halo as she took a similar stance.

Confusion crossed Kidra, evident through just body language, but she had little time to ponder on how a machine knew the same stance she’d been taught. Said Feather was already lunging straight at her, blade reaching for her neck.

Fast.

Faster than anyone the savage surface girl had fought before. But Kidra was quick. She parried the blow and struck back, a hammering attack, followed by a relentless barrage of stabs and strikes.

To’Wrathh had never had the chance to make full use of Tenisent’s skills. All fights she’d been in had been trivial. The Undersiders stood little chance against her. Even without the stolen skills, she was a Feather. Her body alone was nearly indestructible and faster than any relic armor could be. Her mind was sharp, capable of making the entire world feel as if time crawled to a stop.

Kidra was still a human in the end, limited. Even Tenisent knew she would die here, cut down in seconds. He wouldn't have begged for a deal otherwise. This would be done and dealt with in seconds.

Ten at most, the feather expected.

Ten seconds into the fight and an occult edge buried itself in To’Wrathh’s gut.

Her personal shields blocked the full damage it could have caused. Another swing brought a second dagger to her neck, cutting through more of the Feather’s shields. Her wings saved her from the third slice as she zipped backwards, attempting to give herself room to understand what had happened. Instead, a thrown knife flew right at her face, which she battered by reflex, only to find the knocked away knife caught by her enemy midlunge. 

Kidra plowed right back into the fight, knives striking in asynchronous tandem. Ripping apart her defense, peeling away layers and stopping any attempt to leverage the range of her swords against the opposing dual daggers.

The feather reached further into the soul fractal trapped in her chest... and found the demon had shut the door on her, skills ebbing away somehow. The worst possible moment in time.

Desperate now, she took another set of hits on her shields as payment to leap far up into the air, wings stretched out and hovering above what she'd thought was prey.

Kirda remained grounded, looking up, weapons at the ready. "Come back down here." She purred. "I'll make it quick."

How?

Kidra had not been cut down. No, instead, To’Wrathh found herself overwhelmed. Already her shields had been eaten away past the thirty percent mark. And Tenisent had somehow blocked her access to his skills. Not completely, but enough she wasn't able to drink deeply of the intuition that came with them. Only the clinical terms and motions of the surface styles.

How??

The ghost of Tenisent stood by his daughter's side, a grin spread across his face. A leering proud smile that stabbed into To’Wrathh deeper than the blades had.

The feather snarled. An ugly, unbidden voice from deep in her throat. Emotions were coursing through her, disbelief, anger, and finally - wrath.

First, she would deal with Tenisent's misguided resistance. Then she would deal with the daughter - and this time she wouldn't be caught off guard.

Without the distraction of combat, she ripped into the captive soul, shredding past his defense. The ghost evaporated, returned chained up into his cell. Let this be a lesson in humility to you. She growled at the reinforced door, leaving the captive a metaphoric keyhole to see his daughter's death.

Speaking to me? Or to yourself? He grinned back, white teeth looking more like a wolf's fangs in the darkness of his cell. Go and die well, monster.

• Next chapter - A major test of strength (T)