Chapter 4: Limits

The battle inside Noam continues as Carthy must protect her village from the Taplican threat. Meanwhile, Nova and David must meet with Cathy in time or else their mission is over.

Sparks flew with every strike of their weapons. Nothing mattered to the lead officer other than completing his mission for the Lord. Carthy knew that Taplican soldiers were primarily trained for melee combat so this would be a greater challenge. The two fighters swung from their left, the pair of holo-swords pushing down against the fortified stone blade as they locked with one another.

“You just don’t know when to give up, do you?” Carthy chuckled as she pushed the officer back and went for a thrust to his chest. He blocked the incoming attack by putting his blades in an X formation then went for horizontal slashes on either side of his enemy. Carthy jumped back to safety then lunged for an overhead slash, only to be kicked in the stomach. She rolled backwards across the mats, grunting as she collided with the wall.

“It’s you with your misplaced confidence that don’t know when to quit,” the officer spoke as he pointed the tip of the right holo-sword at Carthy. He began to walk towards her as she got ready to counterattack. “You need to understand when you’re outmatched.”

              Carthy shouted, letting loose a series of diagonal slashes that were all blocked by the officer. In an attempt to throw him off guard, she pushed her shield forward to knock him down. The officer instead moved out of range then swung both blades down with incredible force upon her defense, leaving a large crack down the shield's middle. Carthy then went for a punch from her left but the officer grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall, leaving an imprint of her body on its surface. She fell face first onto the ground, panting.

              Grinning from the right side of his face, the officer clashed his two swords together with powerful strikes. Large sparks were released by each collision and they drifted onto the floor. Carthy was starting to get on her feet as the officer reeled a kick back and struck her in the abdomen, sending her through the facility’s wall and into the village. She slid a few feet after hitting the ground. She could hear the sound of villagers moving in their huts and holo-swords colliding. She opened her eye and lifted herself up, seeing the crazed officer step out from the hole he created in the wall.

“Oh, you’ve really done it now…” Carthy hissed as she launched the stone blade from her weapon towards the officer. He moved out of the way fast enough and the pillar lodged itself into the facility’s back wall. The officer laughed manically.

“To hear that you call such a place home…” the officer called out to Carthy as he moved towards her. “…it hurts. 

Truly. You’ll understand your mistakes once we return back to Taplica.”

Carthy darted to the right suddenly. The officer kept his focus on the girl as she unleashed a barrage of six fireballs from her right weapon, ending with a charged shot. He spun his swords in front of him, reflecting the assault towards the rest of the village.

The wood interior of Carthy’s facility could withstand fire in tiny increments but would be damaged from the small explosion each round caused. The huts of the village, however, were made of straw and significantly weaker wood. Once the reflected ammunition struck their sides, the huts burst into flames, causing the villagers inside to quickly evacuate from the massive hole caused by the explosion. That was, however, if the explosion didn’t level the entire hut. The charged shot was sent into Carthy’s facility, which went off as it struck the floor. The walls blew outwards and the roof was sent skywards, the shockwave flinging Carthy and the officer back. The villagers held one another for safety as the facility transformed into a mess of broken furniture and debris.

              

Carthy moaned in pain as she began to move slowly on the ground. Her shield was now destroyed but she and her weapons were miraculously intact. A hand reached out to her and helped her up. Rubbing her eye, she cleared her vision to see Cecil and two more hunters standing in front of her, their steel blades drawn.

“Sensei,” Cecil said, his short brown hair matted against his head. “Don’t push yourself, let us handle it from here.”

              The hunters then faced the officer, who laughed once more after seeing his new challengers.

“You fools are willing to die for this traitor?” He sneered and wiped the blood from his face. His left eye was completely bloodshot and a large cut ran down his cheek. “Suit yourselves.”

              The trio of hunters formed a triangle around their foe. The one with dark blonde hair, who stood behind the officer, ran in for a decapitating blow. The officer heard his advance and quickly impaled his aggressor through the stomach, chuckling as he extracted his blade from the body. As the corpse hit the ground, Cecil and his partner, who had long black hair, closed in. The officer avoided the attack and hacked at the black haired hunter, whose attempt to block failed as the holo-sword cut through the steel and into its wielder. Cecil stepped back and stared down at his fallen companions.

“Cecil!” Carthy yelled. “Watch out!”

Before Cecil could react, the officer slashed upwards and cut him from his stomach to his right shoulder. Carthy called out as the force spun Cecil around and the officer booted him towards the cowering villagers watching the massacre. Without hesitation, Carthy ran at the officer to avenge her students. The officer snickered upon seeing this.

“You’re making a fatal mistake,” he said as he stood with his blades ready.

Despite the moon being at the 22:00 position, Nova and David continued to hike towards Noam. Nova was leading the way, making sure that they didn’t trigger any Artificial traps along the way. She heard very little of Noam before this but what she did know was that it was a hunting village that captured Artificial to use as food, clothing and furniture. They weren’t Mercenaries, however, nor were they exporting anything to the rest of Magraan. It was just a village doing what it could to survive.

David’s eyes were drooping as he followed each step Nova took. He wished she would understand that sleep was important to him and that it was okay to rest for more than a few minutes for every hour of walking. After seeing Nova step over a log, he simply put his pack down and sprawled himself across its surface.

“Go on without me,” David said through a yawn. “I’ll catch up with you in the morning.”

“We can’t stop yet,” Nova called, turning around to face her partner who was rubbing his eyes. “Noam’s just a couple more miles from here, at most. We can rest once we get there.”

“Can’t we just set up camp here? Nova, it’s been a long day. I think we need some rest.”

“I’m feeling fine.” Nova crossed her arms and cocked her left hip. “This mission is important, David. We can’t sleep until we’re in Noam.”

“You weren’t the one who had to carry an Udpist’s head for a full day!”

“Don’t talk to me about carrying the heads back to the contractor. What do you think I did for years before you started coming with me?”

“Yeah? Well…ugh, come on! Can’t we take a break?”

              The sound of a large explosion broke through the bickering as the birds in the trees began to scatter. The pair looked at each other, petrified.

“You heard that, right?” Nova said slowly, trying to remain calm in front of David.

“I did,” David replied, raising his hand to point north. “But I don’t think you saw that.”

              Nova turned around and saw smoke rising above the trees. Her mind began to race. Did someone find out about the letter and destroy the village before they could get there? Believing that time was running short, she turned back to David and waved her arms frantically towards her body.

“Come on!”

              David grabbed his pack and ran with Nova, weaving through the greenery and hopping over tree roots to get to their destination as fast as possible. She was just hoping that the village was okay and safe. Especially the Carthy person that the letter talked about. They had to get to Noam and fast.

              The officer began advancing upon the worn-out Carthy, who he had just tossed back into the dirt road in front of the villagers. She was on one knee, using her blade as a support to keep herself up as she coughed. Though sweating himself, the officer still had fight in him. He sneered and hovered his right holo-sword next to the girl’s neck, ready to slice at any moment. His eyes glistened in the scorching rubble of the training facility scattered around the village. The villagers couldn’t do anything, as the ones who tried to protect Carthy were not spared. Cecil barely made it out of the scrap with his life, his chest scarred with a diagonal slash that bled greatly. Many began to treat his wounds but the ones who weren’t stood in terror as their sensei looked up into the officer’s putrid green eyes.

“Now then,” the officer hissed, grinning with malice. “You’ll be coming back to Taplica with me, Ms. Ethoros. That or I kill the rest of the scum in this village one by one right in front of you.”

              Carthy swung at her enemy but he stopped the strike and kicked her across the left side of her face. She hit the ground with a thud, wincing. She tried to get back up, only to be held down by a boot on the small of her back.

“Listen carefully for one second, alright? I was ordered specifically to bring you back alive but considering how much of a thorn you’ve been in my side…” The officer began to twist his boot into Carthy’s back, pressing down harder as she cried out in pain. “…I don’t care what punishment I’ll receive for ending your pathetic life right here.”

              Carthy attempted once more to lift herself off of the ground, but the officer stomped down, causing her head to rebound off the rocky earth, splitting her nose open. She looked over at the villagers as blood rushed down her face to see them look on in fear and at what the battle had done to their home.

              The huts of many were reduced to smoking piles and bodies of both the Taplican officers and two hunters were lying in various ways on the dirt. A couple of huts were still ablaze, with Carthy’s own facility being mostly destroyed except some support beams and parts of the walls that managed to stand. Orange embers and black ash blew in the faint breeze and the fires were enough to light the faces of the horrified residents. Carthy scanned their faces one last time as the officer raised his holo-sword to deliver the final blow. She saw the ones tending to Cecil, the elders huddled together in fear, and Cecil himself covered in crimson. The last villager she looked at was Dillon, holding her father’s hand as she stared at Carthy, tears running down the little girl's face. It can’t end like this, Carthy thought.

              In her last effort, she took hold of the officer’s ankle with her right hand and squeezed as hard as she could. The holo-sword began to make its descent. With one last push, the sound of bone snapping rang out over the crackling of the fire. The officer fell to the ground, writhing in pain as he held his ankle, his holo-sword lying next to Carthy’s head. She slowly got to her feet as she saw Dillon tug at her father’s pant leg, hopping up and down and pointing towards her hero. Carthy grabbed her second blade and walked to the flailing officer. She placed a foot on his chest, leaning down to lay the tip of her blade at his throat.

“Game set,” Carthy said, smirking slightly as she pushed her shoe down on the officer’s chest.

“Y-you…you’re…” The officer stuttered between gasps of pain and a clenched jaw. “You’re f*****g dead!”

              He then reached for his weapon but his arm went limp before he could lift it. The village went silent, the only sound heard was of burning wood coming from the huts. Carthy retracted her blade from the officer’s neck as two figures ran into the village. Without hesitation, she pointed her weapon at the pair.

“Whoa!” The female figure with green hair stopped in her tracks, seeing all of the destruction left by the battle.

“State your business,” Carthy said with authority.

“We come in peace, we promise!” The one with black hair put his arms out, showing that his weapon was not drawn. The female did the same.

“We saw the smoke and came to see what was happening,” the green haired figure added.

              Carthy looked over at the other villagers and sighed. Seeing the figures as harmless, she sheathed her weapons and placed them on her left shoulder. She walked towards the two newcomers, limping slightly and holding her right arm.

“We appreciate the concern, but your help isn’t needed. We have everything under control now.”

“Are you kidding? Just look at this place!” The figure with black hair moved his arm from left to right, demonstrating his point.

“It's nothing that we can’t handle. Just leave. Now.”

“We can’t. We’re here to meet someone,” said the green haired figure, crossing her arms. The red and blue sleeves of her green cloak looked very strange in the lack of light. Carthy put her hands on her hips, finding their claim hard to believe.

“And who would that be?”

“Someone named Carthy Von…Ethoros,” replied the male figure. Carthy’s face twisted into anger as she reached for her weapons.

“We have proof, look!” Thinking quickly, the green haired figure grabbed a letter from her pack and handed it to Carthy, who snatched it and began to read it.

“We’re Mercenaries,” the female figure continued. “We were meant to meet this Carthy person so we could continue with our mission. I’m Nova, by the way.” She then pointed to her partner who was releasing his grip on an undrawn dagger. “And this is my partner, David. I imagine our contractor has told you about us?”

              Carthy gave the paper back to Nova. She leaned in so her face was close to the two Mercenaries. So close that Nova could clearly smell the blood dripping from her nose.

“You two need to get inside my office,” harshly whispered Carthy, who used her head to point towards what was left of her facility. “I’ll meet you there once I’m done cleaning up. There’s something we really need to discuss.”

Author's Note

This chapter is very battle heavy so critiques on that dialogue would be extra appreciated, along with any other insight you can offer. Please don't be shy on sharing your thoughts on this story, be them good or bad. Anything helps in this stage.