Chapter 36- Drake Lightheart

Chapter 36

 

Drake Lightheart

 

           

            Drake could feel the burn from the sun’s light beaming on his brow. Every drop of sweat cutting through his cheeks like steel knife. The air was humid and suffocating. The weight of his rapier heavy and tiring. Nothing had changed but everything felt wrong. This was the path I chose to walk. The path God gave me.

            “What is the meaning of this, Drake?” demanded Bright Edgar.

            “I’ve come to place you under arrest,” answered Drake, though the words felt not his own.

            “On what charges? I am the law here!”

            “For treason! We saw the chest, Edgar. All this time, after all those you’ve condemned for heresy, it was you who was the True Believer.”

            Edgar ignited with a look of fear in his eyes, unsheathing his rapier. All the men behind him followed suit. “How dare you! I am a loyal servant of Judicium forever serving our Glory!” He pointed his rapier at Drake. “I see what you’re doing here, traitor. You knew it would only be a matter of time before I uncovered you so you decided to try to turn the cards on me instead. But it won’t work.” The Sun lifted his sword. “Men! Arrest this traitor who would dare raise his sword against a superior officer!”

            Henry stepped in between them. “This is madness! This can all be cleared with a fair trial! If we continue on like this, soon there will be no Generals left to hold the white ring in place and the True Believers will have truly won. If both of you indeed serve Judicium, stop this madness this instant!”

            Edgar swung his sword madly at Henry slashing him across the face. “F**k you! Drake means to stand in my way to protect his Angel traitors from capture.”

            “Aaarggh!” Henry pressed his hand against the wound on his face. “Cromwell was right, you have f*****g lost it.”

            The fire in Edgar’s eyes said he was already beyond reasoning. The Sun raised his hand to end Henry’s life but Drake managed to be just fast enough to prevent it. After the Sun saw his sword parried to the side there were no more words left to say. The two legends erupted into a full-fledged battle to the death with all their men joining in the frenzy.  White Coat fought against White Coat again. Shots were fired, hearts were pierced, and justice remained as far from presence as it had been since the creation of the white ring.

            The years without war had not rusted neither Drake’s nor Edgar’s skill with a sword. Much as Drake recalled, of the Great Three, Edgar was always the fastest while he had the honor of the best defense. Edgar managed to strike in three different places faster than the average man could react but Drake was always a step ahead. The fact Edgar didn’t have the ferocity and power of Charles made it so no one blow left Drake unbalanced. Unfortunately his speed never allowed room to counter either.

            “I knew one day it would end like this,” said Edgar, attacking vigorously. “There was never room enough for the three of us to stand in light.”

            Drake kept stepping back cautiously, never leaving an opening. “For once that is something we both agree in. Yet even so…” Drake parried and elbowed Edgar across the face following it up with a tackle that threw Edgar off balance enough to gain the offensive. “It should never have gone down this way.”

            Drake thrust for a stab to the heart but Edgar managed to dodge it and spin himself back into the offensive. “That’s precisely why I never liked you, Drake. All you know how to do is lie.” Edgar attacked from the left, then right, stepped back, thrust, then from the left again. “You preach peace and justice yet all you ever yearn for is war and chaos. You feign guilt to appear moral but deep inside this is what you love.” Left. Right. Back. Thrust. Left. “It was never for your loyalty to Judicium. You have none of that. Men like you, you only think about yourselves! Even Charles fights for something bigger than himself!” Left. Right. Back. Thrust. Right.

            Drake felt the cold steel graze his right shoulder. “How dare you of all people judge me!” Drake decided to step away from his sheltered fighting style and go for an all out offensive. “You lost your family to the Cruorians and blame the whole world for it.” Drake struck hard and true, much like Charles might do if he were fighting Edgar. “What ever happened to the loyal Edgar who left his emotions away from the battlefield?”

            “War opened my eyes.” Edgar parried one of Drake’s heavy slashes and cut him lightly across the chest. “And let’s get one thing straight. You’re not Charles.” Edgar unleashed a fury of thrusts and slashes cutting Drake lightly across his arms and legs. Drake took a big leap back to regain his posture and resumed his defensive stance, breathing heavily. Edgar laughed. “You were always the worst one of the Great Three, weren’t you. It’s no wonder you were always our Glory’s last choice.”

            That one hit deeper than any of the injuries Drake had just received. Slowly, all the hesitation, guilt, and remorse were beginning to fade into a vortex of accumulated hate.

Drake shook his head to cool off. No, whatever I do I must maintain my composure. I will not become the villain. I am the hero. That is my duty. My way of proving myself as an Archangel and bearing the name Gabriel.

 

***

 

            “What is that?” asked Drake.

            Raziel opened the box. “It’s what you will use to bring Judicium’s Sun to justice.”

            Drake looked inside the steel chest. Inside were the bones from multiple corpses, long decayed, with a crystallite cross lying on top. “What the f**k is that?”

“It’s your proof,” said Raziel. “Old taboo rituals in the Holy Grimoire spoke of mortals who tried to play God by using God’s life stream to bring back the dead.”

            Drake closed the chest. “This doesn’t prove s**t!”

            Raziel opened his hands wide, “We’re in his tent. You think us prisoners in the white ring need a good reason to condemn Bright Edgar. The fact he’s doing rituals considered to be blasphemy is enough to band him with the rest of the heretics who use God’s name to destroy peace.”

            “You mean us…”

            “What? Are you going to tell me that starting a war in a world without war is an act of peace?”

 

***

 

            Drake parried one strike, then another, and another. “So tell me the truth Edgar. What’s in the chest?”

Edgar’s attacks became significantly more aggressive. “What do you care? After this battle one of us will be dead and that person will live on as Judicium’s Sun. Isn’t that what you always wanted? To stand where me and Charles could.”

            Drake acknowledged his provocations calmly, the same way he received each of Edgar’s attacks. “Yes, you’re right. After seeing how weak you and Charles were, how could I not? I’ve lost just as much as the both of you, but not once have I ever let my losses shape who I was. You’re both haunted by demons of the past, neither ever truly living in the present. Tell me!” Drake hit Edgar’s blade to the ground and drew in close enough to smell his breath. “Whose bones are in that chest?”

            Fire erupted in Edgar’s eyes. He head butted Drake away from him and started unleashing an onslaught of heavy slashes. “You always did have to have an opinion about everything, didn’t you? Could never just follow f*****g orders like a loyal Judician! What I hold on to is none of your business!”

            Drake waited for the right opportunity to step out of the way and slash Edgar deep across his thigh. Drake laughed. “I bet it’s your wife and children. Is that why you kill so many in religious fashion? In hopes that it’ll bring back your wife and children. You know even the Church condemns acts of blasphemy such as that.”

            Edgar shouted a way cry as he launched himself at Drake again. “What do you know of loss? You’ve never had a wife! You’ve never had children! You’ve never even had a friend you could call brother! You’ve been alone your whole life! So don’t stand there and act like you’re better than me.”

            Drake continued stepping back just out of Edgar’s reach, letting the Sun continue to strain his injured leg. “You’re right. I never did have any of those things you and Charles had. Never met a woman I could love for more than a day. Never wanted a child to forever bound me to a woman I could give a f**k less about. I’ve seen what it does to soldiers like us. I saw what it turned you into, and I saw what it did to Charles. But I’ve never been alone. I have always had loyal men who serve me and believe in me. Men I would never even think of crucifying.” Drake dodged and kicked Edgar on his injured thigh. Edgar fell to his knees and Drake pressed the point of his rapier to the bottom of his chin. “You say I’m not loyal, but I’ve stood and watched you crucify countless of my friends for the simple fact that you were above me! Do you know how much that hurt me? Know this, Bright Edgar.” Drake raised his voice so the battlefield could hear him. “What I do today is not out of hate for the vile men that you are! Today I am serving justice! Justice for all those you have condemned to an undeserved death! Justice for your betrayal of Judicium! Justice in the name of our Glory!”

 

***

 

            Henry was skeptical. “How do I know you didn’t just place this chest here?”

            Talahad argued for Drake, “If this truly belongs to Bright Edgar, we’ll know once we bring it up to him. Something this big, it must mean something to him.”

            Henry looked around. The Sun’s tent was desolate but for the three Generals. “Why is the Sun’s tent empty? Where are all his guards and servants?”

            “It was like this when I came to try to persuade Edgar not to ruin the Shadow in the Light’s plan,” said Drake. “I can only assume he might’ve taken them all with him to aid him in his reckless plot.” Maybe I should’ve just told them the truth. That Raziel killed them all and hid their bodies. Yet as far as I’m concerned, they don’t even know who he is or that he’s even here.

            Henry was not convinced. “Even the Rat? I highly doubt that.” Why does Henry have to be so Goddamn loyal? Can’t he see that getting rid of Edgar regardless of the reason is a good thing?

            “All will be cleared out once we find Edgar,” said Talahad. “If Edgar is indeed a True Believer, we don’t have time to worry about his pawns. We need to stop him before he ruins our best chance at bringing down Caelum Infinitum.”

            It was clear Henry was conflicted but even he couldn’t argue against taking action given the situation. “Very well, yet we will dissolve this conflict by fair trial. I will not have you two antagonize him before we even bring up the details. We know how impulsive Edgar can be.”

 

***

 

            Edgar slapped Drake’s sword away from under his chin. “Lies! Lies! All lies!!! It’s you the one who is a True Believer! All of you! You’ve all banded together to protect Caelum Infinitum’s Angels! But I won’t let it happen. Judicium will not crumble on my watch!”

            He’s snapped. It’s over now. “Then prove yourself in a fair trial like a sane man!”

            Edgar leaned on his good knee to get back on his feet. “A trial? Is this your plan? Waste our time on a trial while we watch the Angels safely escape our grasp?” The Sun raised his sword again. “Not on my watch, Drake. Not on my watch.”

            “Look around you Edgar! This is what your madness is doing to Judicium’s Light!”

            The battle was raging on all around them. Men loyal to Edgar, men loyal to Drake, men fighting in fear of disloyalty, and men fighting out of pure hate, all killing each other in a bloodbath spilled with red on white. Edgar had broken the white ring with his madness, and the stage was set for Drake to rebuild it in its former glory. There was nothing Bright Edgar could do anymore to undo it. No matter what choice he made now he would be condemned the villain and Drake the hero. It would not have been Drake’s choice of method but Raziel had delivered much as he promised. Somewhere along the battlefield right now I bet that sadistic f**k is smiling.

            Edgar was shaking with rage, but the look in his eyes was one of fear. “I…am…Judicium’s Sun. I will fix this. Once I kill you. And Henry. And Talahad. There will be no one to try and corrupt the white ring.”

            Drake watched with pity as the great Edgar limped towards him. “You’ve already lost Edgar. Give it up. A fair trial is the best you can hope for.”

            Edgar started slashing across the air lightning quick the way he did but Drake continued to stay a step away. The burning Sun burst into an uncontrollable rage. “You have no conscience! How can you just stand there and try to play the hero when you know exactly what you’re doing! You…you’re a f*****g traitor! How dare you turn all this on me!” Edgar leaned on his bad leg by accident and collapsed to the floor. “I’m innocent…you know I’m innocent Goddamn it!”

            Drake walked forward and hit Edgar’s rapier away from his grasp. He stood above him and looked down. In a voice low enough for only the two of them to hear, he said, “You’re right. As far as Judicium goes you’re innocent. But I serve a higher power.” Edgar’s eyes opened wide. “Today, I’m not judging you as a General of Judicium. I’m judging you as an Archangel of Caelum Infinitum.”

            “You f*****g trai…uggh…”

            Drake slowly seeped his sword into Edgar’s heart. “But to the world, I will be Judicium’s Sun. And you, you will forever be remembered as the traitor who died at my hands. As you choke on your own blood I want you to remember that I won, and that I was always the better one. And for the record, Charles was never one of us. He will be joining you in hell soon enough.”

            Drake released the red stained steel from Edgar’s heart and stood up. “I’ll be sure to honor your corpse on a cross. Along with the ashes of your family’s bones.”

            Edgar grasped Drake’s ankle with the little power he had left, hate burning in his eyes, blood dripping from his lips. Looking down at Edgar now, standing above him in every possible way, Drake could understand where the satisfaction came from in sadists. He had once judged Charles for the things he did to the Cruorian Queen and her daughter, but no more. There are some cruelties in this world that are well deserved.

            Drake spit on Edgar’s face and kicked him to his back. The fight left the once proud Sun and soon after, his life. Drake smiled and directed his attention towards the slaughtering happening around him. “JUDICIUM’S LIGHT! IT IS OVER!” A couple people seized fighting and some heads turned. “OUR ONCE PROUD AND HONORABLE SUN IS DEAD!” At that instant everyone stopped fighting.

            Henry looked to the side, covered in the blood of Edgar’s men. “So it’s over then…”

            “And good riddance!” shouted Talahad from the side, also covered in the blood of the fallen.

            Henry was not one bit too pleased with Talahad’s tone. “Perhaps you don’t realize what this means. Judicium’s Light cannot properly operate without a Sun. And how will we explain this to our Glory? All the Fuhrer knows is whatever Edgar has told him, which I imagine is not very accurate. How do you think he will react to the news that there was an uprising and the man he left in charge is dead?”

            “He will be fine with it,” said Drake. “The Fuhrer knows everything. I’m sure he knew it was only a matter of time before Edgar had to be disposed of. As for the white ring, we’re all loyal Judicians who have served countless years under Judicium’s Light. We know what must be done to make the white ring what it should’ve been.”

            “And when we return,” said Henry. “I bet you’re expecting a nice promotion. After all, it’s only natural that the third of the Great Three was finally offered the position.” Henry walked up to Drake. “Don’t think for a second that I believe this was all done for the sake of justice. Guilty or not, you’ve always been hoping for a way to dispose of Edgar. I will work with you to maintain order in the white ring but know this. Once we return to the homeland, I will voice my thoughts to our Glory.”

            Drake clenched his rapier. “Do what you must, Henry. Our Glory will make the right choice when it comes times to make the decision.” You will not take this away from me. I swear it in God’s name.

            Once the chaos subsided and order was restored, Drake returned to his tent. He needed a moment to let everything that just happened sink in. Today marked his first real betrayal to his country and the birth of the Archangel inside him. It was a heavy burden to carry, but one he was committed to. Drake was not about to let it all go to waste because one General wanted to be honorable.

            Waiting inside his tent was just the person he wanted to see. “Raziel, I need a favor…”

            Raziel smiled. “Already a step ahead of you.”

Author's Note

Took longer than I wanted it to before it was published, personally I think it felt a little rushed but I hope you enjoyed it.

So my curiosities. Do you feel bad for Edgar or do you think he deserved it? Has your opinion of Drake changed, do you like him more or less? And have you picked a side of who you're rooting for yet? Judicium or Caelum Infinitum?

Next chapter is another Caius chapter and should be up sooner rather than later.

Reviews

[Dark Rider]

This was not rushed at all! I loved it. One of the best fight scenes I have ever read. And I don't really feel.sorry for Edgar. I wasn't fond of him from the beginning, so I don't really care that he's dead. And I'm still not sure who's side I'm on. XD I'm too torn. But I really do need more chapters, and soon!

[Cynical_Art]

Lol honestly I don't expect anyone to care for Edgar, but I do expect certain people to not like Drake. And I'm glad to know you didn't think it was rushed :)

[Dark Rider]

I kind of like Drake. And I was very surprised to find out he was Gabriel.