Dual Wielding

“Quickly, I have to get back out there,” Wyn said sharply as Jeth treated his wounds. He looked around the corner towards the main street where the monsters were rushing past. After the barricades were broken, they’d retreated into the streets, using them to supplement their lesser numbers. Funneling the monsters into narrow streets where they could be picked off by hunters atop the buildings. No matter how many they killed though, their numbers never seemed to thin.

The surgeon clicked his tongue, “Shut up, I’m going as fast as I can. Maybe try not to get injured next time. Is this position still going to be safe?”

“If you get overwhelmed here, have your guards retreat two streets to the south and hold out in Elder Gerad’s workshop. We can’t afford to lose you and your father right now, you’re the only reason we’re holding this well so far.”

Jeth grunted, finishing bandaging the wound, “You’re set, get back out there.”

“Thanks,” Wyn turned to leave, but Jeth grabbed his arm.

“Wyn,” Jeth’s eyes were burning with an intensity that Wyn had never seen in him before. “Kill those bastards. And don’t die.”

Wyn started to say something, but he stopped himself. He nodded, and then he rushed back out into the street, lopping off the head of a large cat-monster as he passed. He killed as he rushed through the streets, avoiding larger monsters on the way. Though he was the only person that could “safely” fight several of them, he was also the only person—besides maybe Elders Terris and Irym—that could move so freely around the battlefield. And he had a more important objective at the moment: search and rescue.

Given the short amount of time, time of day, and overall chaos between the sounding of the bells and the attack of the monsters, it was almost a certainty that some people hadn’t made it to a shelter. He’d already escorted two families as well as a few individuals to safety.

Eia, the lavender spirit, flew through the air ahead of him, pulsing rapidly as he ran through the rain. Despite what Iillia had said, he’d yet to figure out whatever blessing he supposedly had. But he kept hoping, watching Eia for any clues. Without that power, he wouldn’t—

“Help me!” Wyn heard a faint cry over the sound of the rain, and he abruptly changed course. The sound came from the northeast.

Shit.

The northeast part of town was the first to get overrun in the initial wave, making it the most dangerous place on the current battlefield. But he didn’t even slow down as he heard the voice yet again, legs plowing through the mud until he found its source.

A young woman in a torn and filthy tunic was running towards him, he didn’t recognize her, but he called out as she approached gesturing to get his attention. “I’m here! Come this way!”

She crashed into him, grabbing his arm in a death grip, she was speaking hysterically, too fast for Wyn to understand. He grabbed her and held her at arm’s length, trying to calm her down. She had a large gash across her forehead that was sending blood down her face.

“Miss… Miss, I need you to calm down!”

“TheoisstuckbackthereandIcan’tgettherubbleoutofthedoorohspiritspleasehelpme!”

“Please breathe! I can’t understand you. Slow down and tell me what’s happening.”

Her wide eyes, filled with fear, closed slightly as he could see her fighting to control her own breath.

“Theo—My son is trapped inside that building over there!” She pointed towards a half-collapsed structure that had once been a butcher’s shop. “I was out tending to—”

“Miss, I need you to run to the garrison,” Wyn interrupted, there wasn’t time for this right now, and she was clearly panicking. “I just cleared the way from that side street there onwards. Stay off the main road.”

“I’m not leaving without Theo!” She screamed.

“I’ll save your son, I promise, but if I have to protect two of you it’s just going to make things harder. If you want your son to be safe, I need you to go to the garrison.”

It took more convincing, but after insisting there was nothing she could do and swearing up and down he’d save the boy, the woman finally left. Wyn wasted no time running to the building she’d pointed out.

“Theo!” He called the name out over and over, trying to get a response from the child trapped inside, but he didn’t hear anything back. That was a bad sign, he hoped he just couldn’t hear him over the storm. The entrance to the building had collapsed, blocked off by a thick barrier of stone and wood. He could blast it away with a firestone, but without knowing where Theo was, he might kill him in the attempt.

He dropped his sword and started pulling the debris away by hand, trying to clear a path into the building, but the process was too slow. His hands scraped over and over on the rough stone and splintered wood, but he kept going, calling the boy’s name the whole time.

There was a sound of movement from behind him, and he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a charging sheep’s attack. The beast turned to him, red eyes and bared teeth clearly visible. Wyn’s sword was on the ground besides it, leaving him unarmed.

The teeth are scary, but they won’t matter in the grand scheme of things, Wyn thought, if it’s anything like an actual ram, its most dangerous weapon will be its horns on a charge.

Time spent helping older farmers in the village was well spent, and Wyn had a decent handle on the weight and movement of sheep. One thing he’d noticed while fighting monsters over the past few months was that of those that looked like animals, they weren’t ever entirely alien. Monsters in the form of dogs didn’t tend to fight too differently from them, and he’d only encountered one or two creatures whose weight was truly surprising.

Still, it’s a dungeon beast, and one I haven’t seen before, meaning it’s likely from the lower floors. It’s going to be faster and stronger, and I’d bet that wool is tough to get through. My sword might not even be the best weapon unless I can hit it in the legs or face, but why waste the time.

The sheep lowered its head, and Wyn charged.

It will accelerate towards me, I’ll cut off its top speed.

He dodged to the side and grabbed its horn before it could build momentum, punching it in its flank. It was a weak blow, but it knocked the creature off balance, leaving its head exposed. While rams could withstand incredible blows to the head, their horns distributed most of the impact, and only at specific angles.

Wyn and Corrin were equals in combat, ahead of anyone else in town by a wide margin. But that did not mean that they were the same. Corrin was faster and much nimbler, but when it came to pure strength and power, Wyn had no match.

He stepped forward, his hips pivoted as they channeled the force from his legs and core up his body, down his arm, and into his fist. The punch flew like an arrow straight into the jaw of the sheep, and Wyn heard a distinct crushing sound. Its body flew limply across the ground.

He shook his hand twice, eyeing the split knuckle.

Back to work. Wyn sheathed his sword so it wouldn’t happen again and kept working to get the entrance clear. He had to fight off two more monsters in the time it took him to drag rubble away from the door, and his arms burned as he pulled away the last of the debris. But as soon as the entrance was clear, he ran inside. “Theo!” he called, looking through the darkness for the boy.

“Here…” It was strained and weak, but he finally heard a sound from somewhere in the dark of the building.

Eia drifted over towards the voice, glowing brighter to light up the darkened corner of the room.

A young boy, no older than eight, was trapped under a fallen wooden beam. It looked like it had hit him on the way down, and he seemed dazed and scared.

“Just don’t move, I’m going to get you out of there,” Wyn promised. He marched through the rubble and bent down to lift the beam. “When I lift, I need you to get out ok?”

The boy nodded, and Wyn pulled upwards. The beam creaked dangerously as he pulled it up, the end was stuck under some rubble, so it bent slightly as he struggled to lift it. Slowly though, it raised up a few inches and the boy was able to scramble out from beneath. Wyn let go and it fell back down with a crash, sending splinters of wood and dust shooting out in all directions.

“Hey there,” He knelt in front of the boy, “We’re going to get you back to your mother, ok? Can you walk?”

The boy started to speak, but the words choked out in his throat, so he just shook his head. Tears streamed down his face as his eyes pleaded with Wyn, the eyes of someone who thought they were going to die, he’d seen them before.

Wyn grabbed the boy in his arms—he was much lighter than the beam—and dashed out of the house. As he got closer to the garrison, it became clear things had gotten even worse in the time it had taken him to clear the entrance.

Just as he approached the final turn, he was stopped by a huge beast, with long claws and thick, draping fur. Its head swiveled to meet his and he set the boy down, drawing his sword. “Hide over there while I deal with this thing,” he ordered.

Another deep floor monster, and he was far more intimidated by this than the sheep. He knew less about its form as well; he’d wait to see what it did.

The beast walked towards him slowly, stepping in range with its claws and swinging at him. He met them with his blade, letting them knock him back as he gauged the strength of the blow. He rolled out of his fall; their strength was close enough that he could fight it directly. But it had two arms to his one sword, so he’d have to be careful, one bad strike could be the end of him.

He lunged in, engaging the beast in a deadly dance of sword and claw, scoring its fur several times. But the monster’s arms were strong, and its reach was so much greater that he couldn’t get in range to land a decisive blow. He needed more power, but he was already fighting at the limits of his abilities, and it was all he could do to stay alive.

Iillia had said to look within himself, but how was he supposed to do that on the battlefield?

Slowly, the claw beast pushed him back, and he lost ground, getting further separated from Theo. His back hit a wall, and he had no more room to retreat, claws swinging in on both sides. He could only block one of them, but he didn’t know if his cloak and armor would save him from getting slashed in two.

He thrust his sword into its chest, piercing its flesh as the claws descended on him. Theo could escape to the garrison if he took the thing down with him…

The boy cried out in fear, and the world seemed to slow.

Wyn’s head slowly turned to where Theo was hiding against a wall. An ossein spider was perched on the roof above him, legs crouched to pounce. Before he knew what was happening, Wyn let go of his sword and ducked under the monster’s arm, taking a large gash across his back as the lowest claw tore his cloak. The ossein dropped down, fangs flaring out.

Wyn dove in between them, throwing his arms around the younger boy, and the spider bit down on his shoulder instead. Ossein venom wasn’t powerful enough to kill an adult, but it would probably be enough for a child. After it bit down, it was unable to move for a brief moment, so he rolled it into the ground. It fell off from the impact, and he punched it into the nearest wall, splattering it against the stone.

He spun just as the claw-beast—still alive even with a blade in its chest—charged them, its arm pulled back, but he rushed into its stomach, grabbing it with all the force he could muster, “Run Theo!” He screamed; voice hoarse as he struggled against its weight. He couldn’t hold it back, but he could stall it for a few seconds. If Theo could make it to the garrison, he’d be safe.

Suddenly though, the monsters weight shifted, and Wyn heard a rough, tearing sound as he tipped over along with it. The body went limp.

“Wyn, is that you?” Elder Terris’ voice grunted from beside him.

Wyn rolled off the beast, collapsing into the mud, “Thank the spirits.” After a moment, he rose to his feet, seeing Elder Terris’ enormous halberd planted in the ground. It was the older man’s preferred weapon, though he often lamented it wasn’t useful in many of the tighter corridors on the first floor of the dungeon.

“Thanks for distracting it for me,” Elder Terris grinned as he put the huge weapon onto his back. He was wearing a full set of dull gray armor, completely untraditional, though Wyn could see the appeal. “Made its head nice and easy to hit.”

“Help me get this boy back to the garrison,” Wyn mumbled, pulling his sword from the corpse before stumbling.

“Steady there Wyn, don’t force it.” Terris grabbed Wyn’s arm and threw it over his shoulder, helping him walk. He grabbed Theo in his other arm and carried him along.

As they reached the garrison, Theo’s mother was standing outside the entrance, looking around desperately. When she saw them approach, she rushed over and threw her arms around Theo, sobbing and apologizing as she fell to her knees.

“Please, Miss Tera, stand up.” Elder Terris placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look. “We need to get you off the streets. Will you go into the garrison now?”

“Y-yes, thank you for saving him…” the woman stammered.

“Thank Wyn, he risked his life to bring your boy back safely,” Terris pushed Wyn forward, and the woman grabbed his rough and torn hands in her own.

“Thank you,” tears streamed down her face, “Thank you so much.”

Wyn stood there, unsure of how to respond, but as some of the tension melted from his body, he managed a small smile, “I’m glad you’re both safe. Please go to the garrison and wait, we’ll make sure to drive them off.”

The two of them left towards the garrison, and Wyn turned to head back out into the battle, but Elder Terris’ hand grabbed his shoulder.

“You’re working too hard Wyn, you need to cycle out and rest for a little,” his voice was firm.

Wyn had to keep heat from his voice. “Working too hard? We're under attack Elder. There’s no time for me to rest, I’m the best fighter on the battlefield right now, if I cycle out...”

Elder Terris’ grip tightened, “That’s exactly why you must. We’ll need you later in the battle; haven’t you noticed the number of deep floor monsters increasing? The streets are getting more dangerous by the second, and we’ll need you as strong as possible when the worst of them show up. If you exhaust all your strength now, we won't stand a chance. Besides, in your state I don’t think the title of strongest belongs to you right now. When was the last time you would’ve needed me to bail you out of a fight?”

Wyn’s eyes looked out into the streets, littered with corpses of both monsters and men, “If I had cycled out earlier, that boy would be dead right now, and his mother would likely be as well.”

“Spirits boy!” Elder Terris spun him around, his eyes burning with frustration, “Get your head out of your own past and think for two damn seconds! You’re not usually this impulsive, and you’re reaching your limit, it’s plain to see. If you go back out there, forget saving people, you’re going to get yourself killed! Please, let Irym and I pick up the slack while you recover…”

Wyn shook his mentor’s arm off, “I’m going back out there. Stay safe until this is all over Elder.”

He dashed off towards the place where the battle sounded thickest. Eia flitted ahead of him, lighting the way. He had to keep moving, every second he wasn’t on the battlefield was another second someone was dying. If someone did, it was his fault, so he needed to be stronger: push himself harder. He wouldn’t let anyone else die so that he could live.

Never again.

Until the battle ended, Wyn wouldn’t rest. He’d fight until he couldn’t any longer.