Tales of Eleutheros

Avria and Daniel ran over hundreds of bodies in the wide street that lead to the Regios estate and the barracks. The sight was a humbling one, with the buildings on either side now little more than piles of rubble, and the stone below slick with blood and littered with the fallen. The sounds of fighting could be heard further up ahead, consisting of yells, shouts, screams, explosions, all of which would normally be indicators for normal or sane people to run away from. Daniel found himself running toward the fighting, much as he did back home. Running away just wasn’t his style.

Daniel stopped and leaned against a ruined shop at the corner of the street. From here, they could see clearly the extensive force that had been brought to snuff out the Lokkadonians in Vul De Rah. It mainly consisted of Sabree and Visgo warriors but was clearly being led by the Rexunii. At the rear of the offensive, Avria pointed out a man who stood with multiple guards, his hands clasped behind his back and a small crown on his head.

“Alektor? The king?” Daniel asked, incredulously. “What the hell is he doing here? Shouldn’t he be back in his castle or on a hill somewhere?”

“He’s an arrogant warrior king, remember?” Avria seethed. “He isn’t on the front lines, and they must believe this sector is secure.”

“Yeah.” Daniel huffed. “Good thing we were able to sneak by the rear guard.”

When they were getting close to the Regios estate, they observed that the Rexunii had several elements protecting their flanks. Being such a small group, Avria and Daniel managed to slip by undetected. As many of the warriors were fresh from the front and taking time to rest and recuperate, it wasn’t too difficult.

“Complacency kills,” Daniel echoed words from his old platoon commander.

Avria nodded, then turned to Daniel. “You don’t have to do this, you know? We won’t survive for long after it’s done.”

“I don’t think that matters, Avria,” he said, doing his best to smile. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about my existence since I got to your world, and I’m not sure I was meant to live this long. Every day I’ve lived here felt like borrowed time… so… fuck it, right?”

Avria stared at him, seeming to study him.

“I’m sorry about Oros,” he said before she could speak. “He was one of my only friends here. He deserves to be avenged.”

She blinked a tear away in her eye but looked away toward Alektor. “He will be.” “And thank you, Daniel, I’m glad I didn’t have to do this on my own.”

“No one should die alone,” he said darkly.

With that, she took a deep breath and pressed her hands together. “We both hit him with everything we have. Then we charge in and finish him. Understand?”

“Got it,” he said, closing his eyes to focus.

The air around her seemed to vibrate with the power she was building up, and Daniel once again saw how terrifying this woman was in power. There was a screeching crackle around her, and she opened her eyes to meet his. As one, they turned the corner and blasted with all of their strength. Daniel’s crimson flame erupted from his hands and spiraled toward the King’s back. Avria’s blast of lightning was several times the size and tore the ground up where it passed. As they both struck their mark, a blinding flash of light burst, and all went silent.

Daniel fell to one knee, gasping for air, but was grabbed by Avria and hauled up. “We’re not done yet!” she yelled, and they charged into the glowing furnace they had created.

The rear part of the Rexunii force that engaged the Lokkadonian barracks had been shocked by the massive attack. There were bodies of Dae scattered all around the street, and hundreds of warriors were dazed and confused. Avria charged in with her spear in hand to do as much damage as she could, but as she cleared the smoke and flames, she skidded to a halt before Alektor, who was surprisingly still in one piece.

“No…” Avria said, as Daniel stopped beside her.

Alektor stood before them, his face unreadable, and his body completely unphased by the massive attack. Even his six guards were unaffected, looking as though they had hidden behind him for protection.

“What are you!?” Avria screamed, her rage flowing out.

“Avria Regios,” Alektor said, his voice calm and unrelenting. “I must say I am surprised to see you here.” He examined her, she must have seemed a sight to him, Daniel thought; covered in blood and her ceremonial uniform torn and tattered. “You are a resilient one.”

She lifted her spear and pointed it at him. “I’ll kill you for what you’ve done here. Rexunii scum!”

Daniel lifted his blade as well, and Alektor’s gaze turned to him.

“You must be Daniel,” he said. “The other human who came with Reku.”

“Where is that traitorous scumbag?” Daniel spat. “Last I saw, he was running for his life.”

Alektor ignored his words and continued. “You cannot hope to win. Your city has fallen, your Hego is dead, and you have no chance to defeat us. Lay your arms down, and we will relent. Convince your warriors here to surrender, and they will be treated with respect.”

“We will never surrender.” Avria dashed toward him, her weapon launching another blast of electricity ahead of it. Daniel blinked as she attacked, and in an instant, she was brushed aside by a wave of fire that scorched everything around him. Daniel choked from the smoke and coughed uncontrollably. What the hell is this guy? he thought, looking for Avria in the flames.

Seeing her form on the ground, he dashed as fast as he could to get to her. His legs surged with the Dunamis, and in moments he was next to her, but now face to face with Alektor. Daniel reeled, surprised the man had moved so quickly, so he swung his blade at him. The Rexunii king swept his hand again, and fire burst from it to engulf Daniel and Avria at his feet.

Suddenly there was a blast of energy that deflected it to the side. Alektor looked up in shock at the culprit, and Daniel turned to see Gro’ak snarling at him. He was much larger now, at least the size of a building, but looked as though he had been severely wounded.

“Human!” he bellowed. “Come to me!” The ground shook at the presence of the Spirit, and Daniel grabbed Avria’s smoking body in his arms. As he ran toward Gro’ak, he fell into a portal of light, much like he did when he remembered first coming to this world.

~

He fell through it and landed on a grassy field. He had broken Avria’s fall with his own body and groaned in pain.

As quickly as he could, he sat up and examined her. “Avria,” he said, trying to be as calm as possible. “Can you hear me?” He felt for a pulse in her neck, and let out a breath of relief when he found one. Her chest rose suddenly, and she took in a breath with a gasp, her eyes shooting open.

“Dan…” she said, looking around in confusion. “What…? What happened?”

“I don’t—” He was cut off by Gro’ak, who grew from the ground to their left.

“I had to intervene,” he said, in his usual imposing and terrifying voice, but more subdued.

“Wait,” Daniel sputtered. “Intervene? You couldn’t help protect the city? Why didn’t you kill Alektor?”

“I would have,” he grumbled, “but they… had an ancient spirit with them… somehow… I tried to fight her… but she would have killed me… I took an opportunity to escape, and save you in the process…”

Avria tried to sit up but winced at some burns across her left side. Daniel held his arm out and helped her up. “They had a spirit?” she said weakly.

Gro’ak slumped. “The creature is ancient to even me… she was a terror to us and the Dae… many thousands of years ago… why she has chosen to follow the whims of a Rexunii king… I do not know…”

“Thank you, Gro’ak,” Daniel finally said. “Is everyone else alright?”

He shook his head. “That… I cannot be sure of either… her presence has masked the city… there is nothing more we can do but escape this place and go to a more secure location…”

“I can’t leave,” Avria protested. “My brother and father are still in there; Katrina is too! We can’t just leave, we have to—” She winced again, holding her wound.

“Calm down, holy shit,” Daniel chided. “I’m sure they got out of there. Your dad was putting together the withdrawal plan when we left. They’re probably on their way to one of the other cities as we speak. So don’t worry.” He looked at Gro’ak. “What now?”