Chapter 108: Beating

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Beating

"The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men." — Minot J. Savage

Riven’s dark grey eyes turned pitch black as his core erupted with wild, uncontrollable fury.

He didn’t think about retreat.

He didn’t think about the odds.

He stepped directly in front of the stone pillar where the terrified noble girl cowered, drawing his steel blade and placing himself between her and the large man standing across the clearing.

The man slowly stepped over Fen’s body.

Blood dripped from the edge of his zweihander.

He wiped it away with the back of one armored gauntlet before looking toward Riven.

"Well, well."

His scarred face twisted into an amused smile.

"The human boy thinks he’s a knight."

His eyes shifted toward the noble girl.

"You actually managed to untie our million gold prize."

The surrounding mercenaries formed a loose circle around the battlefield.

They began laughing.

Some slammed their weapons against their shields.

Others shouted encouragement toward their leader.

"Break his legs!"

"Cut him open!"

"Make the girl watch!"

"Let’s see how long the brat lasts!"

CLANG.

CLANG.

The sound echoed through the fog.

Riven didn’t respond.

His grip tightened around his sword.

The large man raised his zweihander.

"Come on, then."

Riven moved first.

Phantom Step.

His body vanished into the fog.

The large man immediately turned.

Riven reappeared at his flank.

His sword flashed toward the man’s ribs.

Clang!

The zweihander came up just in time.

The two blades collided.

Riven twisted his wrists and redirected the larger weapon.

Then he stepped inside the man’s reach.

A Shadow Orb formed briefly against his palm.

The man recognized the attack and pulled his arm away.

Riven canceled the spell before it could fully form and drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.

The impact forced the large man backward several steps.

The mercenaries fell silent.

The man looked down at the spot where Riven had struck him.

Then he laughed.

"You’re stronger than you look."

Riven didn’t answer.

He attacked again.

This time, he combined Phantom Step with his swordsmanship.

One step.

A slash.

Another step.

A thrust.

A low sweep.

The large man blocked the first attack.

Parried the second.

Barely avoided the third.

Riven appeared behind him.

The man’s armor split across the shoulder.

A thin line of blood appeared.

The mercenaries stared.

Their leader had been cut.

Riven landed several meters away.

His breathing remained controlled.

The large man slowly looked at the blood on his armor.

Then he smiled.

"Interesting."

Lightning began crawling across his body.

Thin blue arcs jumped from his shoulders to his arms.

The air around him became charged.

Riven’s expression hardened.

The man’s mana suddenly surged.

His sword became surrounded by a brilliant aura of crackling lightning.

The weapon itself seemed to vibrate.

Riven’s eyes narrowed.

The man’s body blurred.

He crossed the distance between them almost instantly.

Riven barely managed to raise his sword.

BOOM!

The collision sent him sliding backward.

His arms shook.

The lightning surrounding the man’s blade crawled across Riven’s sword and into his hands.

Pain exploded through his fingers.

Riven gritted his teeth.

The lightning wasn’t simply strengthening the man’s sword.

It was enhancing his body.

His legs.

His reflexes.

His acceleration.

Every movement became faster.

The man swung again.

Riven ducked.

The zweihander passed over his head.

Lightning scorched the air above him.

Riven countered with a slash.

The man blocked.

Riven stepped forward.

Phantom Step.

He disappeared.

The man turned.

Riven appeared directly behind him.

His blade struck the man’s back.

CRACK.

The armored plate fractured.

The large man stumbled.

Riven immediately followed with another attack.

Then another.

For several seconds, Riven controlled the fight.

He wasn’t stronger.

He wasn’t faster.

But he was more precise.

His movements were disciplined.

His footwork was economical.

Every Step was placed exactly where it needed to be.

The large man couldn’t predict him.

Riven’s blade slipped through another gap in the man’s armor.

Blood spilled.

The man finally stopped smiling.

"You’re not a little runt."

Riven’s eyes remained cold.

"No."

He attacked again.

The man raised his sword.

Their blades collided.

They remained locked together.

Riven pushed forward.

The man’s lightning aura surged.

Electricity crawled over the crossed blades and burned into Riven’s arms.

His muscles spasmed.

Riven gritted his teeth.

The large man suddenly leaned closer.

"Let’s see how long you can maintain that."

His free hand shot forward.

Riven tried to move.

Too late.

The man’s hand closed around Riven’s throat.

His fingers tightened.

Riven’s feet left the ground.

The world lurched.

He grabbed the man’s wrist with both hands.

"Get..."

His voice cracked.

"...off."

The large man lifted him higher.

Riven’s legs kicked uselessly.

Lightning continued to flow from the man’s body.

It burned across Riven’s neck and chest.

His vision began to blur.

Then the man threw him.

Riven flew across the clearing.

His back slammed into a basalt wall.

Pain exploded through his body.

He rolled into the snow.

His sword landed several meters away.

Riven tried to breathe.

Nothing came.

His lungs refused to cooperate.

He coughed violently.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

Nyx’s scream tore through the canyon.

The wyvern immediately spread her wings and charged.

Riven’s eyes widened.

"Nyx!"

Nyx stopped.

"Don’t!"

The wyvern whined.

Riven forced himself onto one elbow.

"Don’t fight him."

"You will die"

Nyx stared at him.

Her violet eyes were wide with panic.

"Nyx..."

Riven coughed again.

"Stay back."

The wyvern lowered her head.

She could sense the difference in power.

She knew what would happen if she attacked.

But she still wanted to help.

Her wings trembled.

A quiet, heartbreaking whimper escaped her throat.

Riven looked away.

"Please."

Nyx flew back.

The large man walked toward Riven.

Riven pushed himself upright.

His legs shook.

His sword materialized in his hand.

His hands were trembling.

But his eyes remained focused.

"I’ve survived worse."

The man laughed.

"Have you?"

Lightning exploded from his body.

Riven felt the pressure.

His instincts screamed.

The man disappeared.

Riven barely raised his sword.

The zweihander slammed into his blade.

The impact forced him to one knee.

Lightning crawled across Riven’s body.

His armor absorbed part of the electrical force.

The rest burned through him.

Riven’s teeth clenched.

His muscles screamed.

He pushed upward.

The two swords remained locked.

Riven suddenly released his grip with one hand.

The large man’s eyes narrowed.

Riven extended his palm.

Disturb Magic

A pulse of shadow mana erupted.

The surrounding lightning flickered.

For the first time, the large man’s expression changed.

His spell destabilized.

The lightning aura around his sword sputtered.

The next discharge misfired.

A thunderbolt erupted harmlessly into the ground several meters away.

BOOOOM.

Stone exploded.

The large man stared at his weapon.

Then at Riven.

"You interrupted my magic."

Riven’s breathing was ragged.

"Not completely."

The man slowly smiled.

"No."

He looked genuinely fascinated.

Riven forced himself back onto his feet.

The man’s eyes gleamed with interest.

"I’ve never seen a technique like that."

Riven raised his sword.

The man stepped forward.

Lightning returned.

Stronger.

Denser.

The man’s entire body became wrapped in a blazing electrical aura.

The lightning didn’t merely surround his sword anymore.

It reinforced every muscle.

Every movement.

Every step.

He became a streak of blue light.

Riven’s eyes widened.

The man struck.

Riven blocked.

The impact tore his feet from the ground.

He flew backward.

His body slammed into the ground.

He rolled.

His shoulder dislocated.

He forced it back into place.

Pain nearly blinded him.

But he stood.

The large man was already there.

Riven blocked the first strike.

The second struck his ribs.

CRACK.

He heard bone break.

The third struck his shoulder.

The fourth slammed into his stomach.

Riven coughed blood.

He tried to counter.

The man caught his wrist.

He twisted.

Riven screamed.

The man drove his knee into Riven’s abdomen.

Riven folded.

A lightning charged elbow smashed into the side of his head.

He hit the ground again.

The world spun.

He couldn’t tell which direction was up.

His fingers searched blindly for his sword.

He found it.

He tried to stand.

His legs failed.

The large man walked toward him.

Riven looked toward Fen.

Then Sera.

Then Mira.

Their bodies lay motionless in the snow.

Something inside him cracked.

Not his core.

Something deeper.

Three months.

Three people.

Three lives.

Gone.

Riven forced himself upward.

His arms shook violently.

The large man stopped.

"Still standing?"

Riven raised his sword.

Barely.

His breathing sounded like broken glass.

"I’m not..."

He coughed blood.

"...finished."

The large man stared at him.

For the first time, the amusement disappeared from his face.

The man raised his lightning covered sword.

Riven raised his own.

They charged.

Steel collided.

Lightning exploded across Riven’s body.

His muscles burned.

His vision faded.

He pushed forward anyway funneling mana into his sword.

One step.

Another.

His blade moved.

The large man’s zweihander struck his shoulder.

Riven’s armor absorbed most of the impact.

Not all of it.

He felt something tear beneath the armor.

Blood poured down his arm.

But Riven’s sword continued forward.

The tip pierced the man’s armor.

A shallow wound opened across his abdomen.

The man looked down.

Then back at Riven.

"You actually hurt me."

Riven’s legs finally gave out.

The large man grabbed him by the throat again.

This time Riven couldn’t fight back.

He was lifted from the ground.

His sword slipped from his fingers.

The man’s lightning aura burned through his very being.

Riven’s vision began fading.

His heartbeat slowed.

He couldn’t breathe.

The noble girl was crying behind the pillar.

The man ignored her.

He tightened his grip.

Riven’s consciousness began slipping away.

He couldn’t hear Nyx whining behind him.

He couldn’t see the bodies of his friends.

He couldn’t feel the cold.

His heart was slowing.

His vision became nothing but darkness.

Then he heard something.

A voice.

Far away.

Someone shouting.

Riven couldn’t understand the words.

The large man’s grip loosened slightly.

Then a deafening explosion ripped through the mountain pass.

SHING.

A massive runic spear slammed into the ground between them.

A wave of pressurized kinetic force erupted outward.

The large man was thrown backward.

Riven fell into the snow.

He didn’t move.

He couldn’t.

His lungs finally dragged in a broken breath.

His vision flickered.

Through the haze, he saw silver armor descending from the canyon rim.

An entire formation of Imperial Knights landed in the snow with terrifying precision.

At their head stood a towering commander.

His royal saber was already drawn.

His voice thundered through the mountain pass.

"Mercenaries."

The commander raised his weapon.

"You are surrounded by the Order of the Crown."

The large man stared upward.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

"Imperial Knights..."

Behind them came an elderly man wearing elaborate noble robes.

His face was filled with panic.

"My daughter!"

He searched the battlefield frantically.

"Where is Lady Caelia?"

His eyes suddenly found the young woman hiding behind the pillar.

"Caelia!"

"Father!"

She ran toward him.

Then stopped.

Her eyes returned to Riven.

The battered human boy lay bleeding in the snow.

His sword was several feet away.

His armor was scorched.

Blood covered his face.

Yet even while dying, he had kept himself between her and the mercenaries.

"Father..."

Caelia’s voice trembled.

"He saved me."

The Duke stared at Riven.

His expression slowly changed.

Shock.

Then disbelief.

Then profound gratitude.

"He did what?"

Caelia ran toward Riven and dropped to her knees beside him.

"He saved me."

She looked toward her father through tear filled eyes.

"He fought them alone."

The Duke’s gaze shifted toward the mercenary leader.

Then toward Fen, Sera, and Mira.

His expression became cold.

"Kill them."

The Imperial Knights moved.

The battle lasted seconds.

The mercenaries were overwhelmed by the Crown’s elite forces.

The large leader fought desperately, lightning exploding from his body as he tried to break through the encirclement.

It didn’t matter.

He was eventually driven to his knees.

His weapon shattered.

The remaining mercenaries were killed soon afterward.

The mountain pass fell silent.

The Duke hurried toward Riven.

He knelt beside the unconscious boy.

Riven’s breathing was shallow.

His pulse was weak.

The Duke placed two fingers against his neck.

"He’s alive."

Caelia dropped beside him.

"Please save him."

The Duke looked at his daughter.

Then back at the battered human.

"Who is this boy?"

Caelia shook her head.

"I don’t know."

She looked down at Riven.

"But he saved me."

The Duke studied the fourteen year old adventurer.

A human boy.

Alone.

Willing to nearly die for a girl whose name he didn’t even know, my daughter.

The Duke’s expression hardened with determination.

"Then he will not die here."

Riven’s vision faded.

The last thing he felt was the warmth of someone’s hand gripping his.

Then everything went black.