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Part 27

As Shani entered the Manor, she could tell merely by the tone of the voices around her that the tide of the battle had begun to shift. The air was thick and heavy, and Shani could hear the distant sounds of timbers and support beams cracking, her home was falling apart. All around Shani, wounded soldiers were being dragged back behind the line.

"They're trying to bottleneck us!" one of her officers informed her as she marched down the South hallway towards the fighting line. "We've tried to push them back, but they are fighting far harder than we ever expected!"

"They are desperate." Shani growled. "The end is coming and they know it. One push and they will break."

"We're trying, but every attempt to push through has been broken! We've Lost Captains Mecklinger, Verner, and Kairous!"

Shani paused for a moment at the entrance to her brother's study. Her troops had managed to smother the fire for the most part, but the room had been all but destroyed. Bits of charred skin hung off of the skeletal hunting trophies, the skulls' black eye holes seeming to stare back at Shani, as if taunting her. Tahl's chair was a smouldering ruin, half of it burned to ash and the rest a tattered ruin.

The officer stopped. "My lady?"

"I'm going in." Shani growled, testing her fingers. "I'm going to get in behind their lines and rip them open. Tell your troops to prepare for a full scale assault."

"But my lady, is that-" the officer froze as Shani's gaze flicked over to him, the rabid fire in her eyes chilling him to his very soul.

"Tell them. And anyone who refuses to join in the assault, execute them."

"Yes my lady."

As the officer hurried off, Shani's hand drifted down to her side. As she closed her eyes, she let herself go. Her mother, her father, the pain Jabarian put her through, the humiliation, the frustration at watching years of planning fall to ruin. She felt a powerful stirring within her, a vortex of rage that filled her with renewed strength. She let it wash over her, sweeping her up in a current of hatred.

"Burn it all." she muttered to herself as she started walking towards the fighting line. "If I can't have it, no one can."

With each step she grew faster and faster. Her side burned, but she fought past it. Soon she was sprinting, the hall flashing by as her legs became little more than a blur, her arms pumping, her chest burning.

As she reached the front line, she leapt into the air, colliding with one of her own soldiers and using him as a springboard. Her cape billowed out behind her as she lunged over the fighting line, passing over the hurricane of blades and spears.

She rolled as she hit the stone floor. In a heartbeat she was back on her feet, lunging at the first soldier that she saw, ending his life in a flash. The soldier, a young man no older than sixteen, never knew what hit him.

Flecks of blood flew off of Shani's blade as she attacked her next target, a Hearth Warrior. The man barely had time to turn to face Shani as she attacked. Tahl's sword cleaved clear through the shaft of the warrior's spear, and then through the warrior's arm. Before the warrior's arm even struck the ground, Shani swung again, cleaving open his chest.

With a roar, more animal than Basitin, Shani leapt after her next opponent, throwing her sword like a spear into her chest. The blade pierced the armour easily, killing the soldier almost instantly. Grabbing hold of the sword as she ran past her falling foe, Shani attacked another, decapitating him from behind.

Three soldiers of the Thirteenth tried to attack her at once from behind, but Shani heard them coming. Her hate and rage, even the pain from her side, all of them pushed her harder and faster. Sword, teeth, claws, Shani attacked with them all, ripping through her enemies like a terrible wind.

One soldier was lucky enough to manage to thrust his spear into Shani's back, though the blow only barely penetrated her armour. Shani stumbled forward, and then spun around, her blade cleaving the tip of the spear from the handle.

As Shani rounded on her, blood dripping from her blade and her teeth bared like an animal, terror froze the soldier in place. All she could think to do as Shani lunged at her was cry out. "Captain, help!"

In one blow, Shani sliced what was left of the soldier's spear in half, and with another tore a rend in the soldier's chest plate and knocked her helmet flying. The soldier could do nothing but stare as Shani's blade descended like a lightning bolt at her unprotected head.

Suddenly the soldier found herself dragged backwards. Shani's blade cleaved through empty air as she missed her target by less than an inch.

As the soldier crashed to the ground, a streak of dark brown erupted from behind her and lunged at Shani.

Shani was forced to step back as Marien slammed into her at full force. Her claws squealed against the marble as she dug in, her blade and Marien's creaking and squealing as they locked together.

"Marien Kolvest." Shani snarled, her face less than an inch from Marien's. "Good! I was just getting tired of slaughtering your soldiers!"

"You! But you're Nao-"

Shani lashed out with a kick, slamming her heel into the side of Marien's knee. Marien's leg buckled, but as it did she surged forward, driving her shoulder into Shani's chest and forcing her back

Shani leapt forward again, catching Marien off guard with her speed.

Marien was quickly forced on the defensive, blocking attack after attack. Shani was relentless, each blow as powerful as it was fast.

As Marien fought, a sudden realization flashed across her mind. Her opponent was making no attempts to weaken or disable her, she aimed only to kill. She wasn't fighting like a soldier, she was fighting like a duelist.

Deflecting one of Shani's strikes, Marien deliberately lowered her sword, leaving her neck exposed. On instinct more than anything else, Shani lunged, the point of her sword flashing as she aimed at Marien's throat.

Marien ducked.

As the blade passed over her head, this time it was Marien who charged, knocking Shani's arm away and driving her forehead into Shani's nose. Though she was too close to swing her sword effectively, Marien drew back her fist and struck Shani with a powerful uppercut.

As Shani stumbled backwards, a nearby Chariot soldier rushed at Marien. "Lady Chariot!"

With a loud curse, Marien turned to engage the soldier, blocking his rush before dispatching him with a powerful upward sweep across his chest. As the soldier fell, Marien caught his fallen sword on her foot, kicked it into the air and grabbed hold of the handle.

By the time Marien was able to return her attention, Shani was already on her feet and attacking again.

"So you're Shani Chariot." Marien snarled, blocking and evading a pair of wild swings from Shani. "You were the one messing with Sieg's head!"

Shani's eyes narrowed as Marien attacked her, using both of her swords to counter Shani's speed.

"I'd be less worried about Sieg's head, and more worried about yours!" Shani replied. "After all, I promised I would bring it to him once I've finished tearing you apart."

===

As she tore into the Chariots line defending the North hallway, even Awlyn was starting to feel the pull of exhaustion creeping into her muscles. The pain from the burns she'd suffered on her right side was long forgotten amidst the roar of blood in her ears and the ocean of adrenaline that pushed her onward.

Lifting a Chariot soldier off the ground by the helmet, she swung the man like a club at another that was attempting to attack her left side. Just behind her, Teela knocked away a spear aimed at Alwyn's back, before responding with a thrust of her own, forcing her attacker to step back.

Tossing her makeshift club aside, Alwyn turned to meet a pair of Chariot soldiers that attacked her in tandem. She met the sword of the first with her own blade, striking with such force that her attacker's sword was torn from his fingers. The second soldier managed to hit Alwyn, but his blade did little more than dent her shoulder plate.

Gripping her greatsword with both hands, Alwyn lunged forwards and swung as hard as she could in a wide, sweeping. Both of her opponents were cleaved in half just above their waists, Alwyns sword tearing through armour, leather, flesh and bone with barely any resistance.

"Come on Chariots!" She roared, menacing a trio of soldiers who watched in horror as their former comrades fell to the floor in pieces.

Suddenly there was a flash of silver to Alwyn's right and a long thin blade buried itself in her shoulder.

Hissing in agony, Alwyn spun round, just in time for another blade to bury itself in her left shoulder.

"You know, I'm sure you get compared to King Adelaide from time to time." Jabarian sneered, drawing another pair of blades from a quiver on each hip.

"The one from the Hearth." Teela gasped, her throat aching at the memory of Jabarian's garrote.

"Stay behind me." Alwyn growled, pulling Jabarian's blade from her shoulder and dropping it to the floor. "I'm going to crush his skull with my bare hands."

"I'm afraid it's not an accurate comparison." Jabarian continued, striding forwards as he didn't have a care in the world.

Alwny lunged, aiming a swing at Jabarian with her sword, while also trying to grab him with her free hand. Jabarian twisted his body to avoid Alwyn's sword, and ducked to avoid her attempt to grab him. As Alwyn's hand passed over him, Jabarian thrust one of his blades behind Alwyn's left knee, slicing deep as he stepped back.

Alwyn's leg buckled and she dropped to one knee, her tendon slashed. As she dropped, Jabarian whirled one of his blades around and drove it downward into Alwyn's shoulder.

"Love!" Teela dropped her spear and gripped Alwyn's shoulder as Jabarian stepped back again. "Are you alright?"

"While Adelaide is a muscle bound freak, whatever quirk of fate led to her unnatural strength, also saw fit to grant her intelligence." Jabarian raised a hand and gestured at the Chariot soldiers around him. "Well go on then, surely you can handle her now."

With a collective roar, a crowd of Chariot soldiers rushed forwards, swords and spears raised and ready.

Teela closed her eyes, gripping Alwyn tightly as spearpoints and sword blades rushed towards her. And then, suddenly, Alwyn was gone.

Jabarian's eyes narrowed as Alwyn tore into her attackers like a hurricane. Spears pierced her armour, swords sliced into her skin, but none of it seemed to slow her down. Within moments, six soldiers were dead, and the rest were either limping away, or backing off in sheer terror.

Alwyn panted hard as she rounded on Jabarian, dropping the crushed body of a Chariot soldier to the ground.

"High priestess!"

From the melee a trio of Hearth Warrior emerged, rushing forward to assist their leader.

"Protect Teela!" Alwyn barked, glaring at Jabarian, "This one is mine."

"Fine." Jabarian sighed, drawing another blade. "I'll do it myself then."

"You'll die trying."

Again Jabarian advanced, but Alwyn didn't wait for him to get close before she attacked.

Even Jabarian found himself surprised by Alwyn's speed as she pushed forward, using her sword to keep him at a distance, while also forcing him to step back. Though he was a little faster than Alwyn, Jabarian knew that a single slip up on his part and he would be torn apart.

His mind racing, Jabarian thrust one of his blades at Alwyn's right thigh. Alwyn countered the blow, her sword striking Jabarians blade so hard it snapped in half, exactly as Jabarian had planned.

With a quick step forward, Jabarian thrust his second blade at Alwyn's right eye. Jabarian's eyes widened in surprise as Alwyn released her grip on her sword and raised her hand. Jabarien's blade pierced Alwyn's palm to the hilt as she reached forward and seized hold of Jabarian's left hand.

"Caught you!" Alwyn snarled, squeezing hard enough that the bones in Jabarian's hand cracked.

Jabarian roared in agony as Alwyn squeezed and twisted, his wrist cracking. But as Alwyn raised her sword to strike, Jabarian released his broken sword, flipped a short dagger into his hand from his sleeve, and sliced both of Alwyn's eyes in a single swing.

As Alwyn cried out, Jabarian thurst his dagger into Awlyn's wrist, slicing the muscles that controlled her grip. Pulling his hand free, Jabarian drew another pair of blades and thrust both of them upwards under Alwyn's breast plate into her chest.

Alwyn gasped, coughing up blood as she stumbled.

Before Jabarian could do anything else, a furious cry from Teela drew his attention. "ALWYN!"

Jabarian looked up just as Teela's spear arched towards him. He barely managed to avoid a fatal hit, but the spear still sliced deep into his cheek and ripped through his right ear, all but cutting it from his head.

As Jabarian stumbled backwards, Bruik's voice roared behind him, "Leave them alone!"

Bruik swung his spear hard, the blade digging deep into Jabarian's left arm and shattering his elbow.

Acting more on instinct than thought, Jabarian flipped another dagger into his hand and threw it at Bruik.

Bruik deflected the dagger, but Jabarian was able to take advantage of the distraction and made a run for it, cradling his arm as he fled into the melee.

Panting hard, Jabarian ducked and weaved his way through the fighting. He dodged and evaded multiple attacks, never pausing in his flight.

With all haste, Jabarian made his way towards one of the weapons displays on the hallway wall, a pair of tiger spears crossed over an ornate shield decorated with feathers. A soldier from the thirteenth tried to get in his way, but Jabarian dispatched him with a pair of lightning fast thrusts.

As soon as he reached the display, Jabarian reached up behind the shield and pressed a switch hidden in the wall. With a loud clunk, a passageway opened a few steps to his left.

As Jabarian made to enter the passage, a voice roared out behind him.

"SLIVER!"

Jabarian recognized the voice immediately and took off running down the secret passage, pausing only to slash the rope that held the door's counterweight.

"Get back here!" Kent bellowed as the door began to slide closed behind Jabarain. He lunged through, his armour squealing as it ground against the shifting stones.

As he reached the other side, Kent felt a burning pain run up his backside and his spine. The last six inches of his tail had been caught in the door and refused to budge. Without a thought, Kent swung his sword, slashing off another few inches of tail.

Kent squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth in agony for just a few seconds, before taking off after Jabarian.

"You're mine!" he roared, "You are not escaping this time!"

===

Ein Heric flinched as a large section of the eastern roof of the Chariot manor collapsed, creating a volcano of sparks and smoke. He could still hear the sounds of battle inside the Manor, it appeared the quick victory he had expected was not happening. There were still a few soldiers trying to break their way through the front door, but most had abandoned the effort and were entering through windows with the rest of the army.

Ein shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying his best to ignore the howling wind and driving rain all around him. There was a part of him that wanted to go in and join the fray, there was another part of him that was very glad that he had been assigned to stay outside and hold the Lady Chariot's prisoner instead.

"How do you think it's going in there?" Ein asked, turning to his comrade, standing on the other side of their captive.

Annerose Unnet shuddered a little in the cold. "Can't be good. Lady Chariot and Commander Jabarian went in almost twenty minutes ago and they are still fighting."

As if to punctuate her point, one of the small towers near the back of the manor groaned and collapsed as the last of its interior supports burned away. The red hot stone hissed loudly in the rain as the tower collapsed into rubble, crushing a decorative gazebo into mangled bits.

Ein looked down at their captive, some dock guard that Lady Chariot knew somehow. He'd long since stopped fighting, and now just hung limply in their grip.

"By the king's great fuzzy tits this guy is heavy." Annerose groaned. "Is he dead or what?"

"Hey!" Ein shook his captive. "Hey stand up! You're heavy. Hey!"

As he slapped the prisoner across the back of the head, Ein froze as he noticed a trickle of blood running out of the prisoner's mouth and pooling on the ground.

"Oh shit!" Ein cried, releasing his grip on the prisoner's arm and grabbing at his face. The prisoner made no response, only more blood trickling from his mouth.

"Is he hit?" Annerose demanded.

"I don't know!" Ein drew his dagger and poked the prisoners cheek, but again there was no response.

"What do we do?' Annerose demanded. "If Lady Chariot thinks we killed him..."

"Just set him down."

As his captors lay him on the ground, Sieg opened his eyes just a crack. The commander that Marien struck down was laying outside of his reach. His helmet, however...

"I don't see an arrow." Ein grumbled, patting up and down Sieg's body.

Annerose bent down as well. "You sure he's dead?"

"Not dead, just unconscious."

As Annerose leaned closer, Sieg's eyes flew open and he spit a mouthful of blood into her eyes. As Annerose cried out, Sieg twisted his body, grabbed hold of the fallen commander's helmet and swung it at Ein as hard as he could. Though Ein was also wearing a helmet, the impact, as well as the noise the impact made, badly dazed him.

Scrambling to his feet, Sieg swung the helmet again, cracking Ein on the top of the head and sending him crashing to the ground.

Annerose was still cursing, rubbing her eyes with one hand and fumbling for her sword with the other. Just as she got her hand on her sword, Sieg struck her with the helmet too. She took a shaky step back, before collapsing unconscious onto her back.

Ignoring the pain in his cheek from where he had bitten himself, Seig cut his hands free with a dagger taken from Ein. Tossing the slashed rope to the ground, Sieg looked back at the Manor.

"Marien... I have to get in there."

As he started towards the Manor, Sieg paused, his guard uniform was not exactly inconspicuous.

Turning back to his previous guards, Sieg had an idea.

"Sorry about this." Sieg mumbled as he pulled off his clothes and replaced them with some of Ein's and Annerose's.

Despite his hurry, Sieg tried his best not to look at Annerose as he pulled her armour and shirt off. He also made certain to cut and throw away the ankle bindings of both Ein and Annerose, his face glowing red as he did.

"This isn't perverted, it's tactical." He thought to himself as he worked. "It's better than killing them. No one is going to go into battle naked and unarmed."

Finally, Sieg was in a Chariot uniform, while a mostly naked Ein and Annerose lay on the ground. After tossing the weapons he didn't need into a nearby bush, Sieg took off towards the mansion.

===

The wine cellar rumbled as another section of the Chariot manor above collapsed. Thin showers of dust rained from the ceiling, the bottles clinking quietly as the shelves shook

"Are we in danger?" Fern asked, the nervousness obvious in her voice as she looked over at Davit.

"Unlikely." Davit replied, glancing up at the ceiling "This section was built before the rest of the manor, as part of the fortifications for this island."

"What about the fire?"

"The two levels above us are constructed entirely from stone, and stone does not burn."

"You are certain?"

"No, but it is my best guess."

"You know, it's eerie how calm you are about all of this." Fern muttered, crossing her arms.

"Is there some advantage you see to panicking?"

"No. But I'm not sure I can trust someone who can just turn off their feelings."

"I do not 'turn off my feelings'." I've merely been trained to keep them under control."

"Hmmm." Fern shrugged. "I suppose that's fair enough.

Fern looked over at Youlan, standing with her eyes closed and her hands outstretched towards the mana-bomb. "Take your human for example. You obviously have feelings where she is concerned."

"And this surprises you."

"A little."

"Why?"

Fern raised an eyebrow. "Would you like the reasons in alphabetical order? She brought a weapon to our shores, she's crazy, she's human, she's an ex-Templar, it's unnatural AND unlawful."

"Your point?"

"My... my point?! My point is that you are an easterner! You're supposed to be obsessed with rules and laws and all that!"

"I'm not Eastern."

"You-" Fern paused. "Wait... what?"

"Southern, from one of the isolationist colonies. I left when I was fourteen, trying to find something better. The Chariots took me in and trained me when no one else would."

Davit looked back at Youlan. "As for her, she's beautiful, caring, intelligent, quick witted, respectful, smart, and wounded."

"Did... did you just actually do that in alphabetical order?"

"What I am saying," Davit continued, "Is that I know what it's like to feel alone, even when you are surrounded by people. If I can stop even one person from feeling that way, I will do it."

"I suppose I understand." Fern admitted. "Still, I don't understand what you could possibly see in a human. They have no fur, no tails, just all that bare skin and-"

Fern's comment was interrupted as Youlan's eyes flew open. Her legs shook as she staggered backwards away from the device.

Davit rushed forward, catching Youlan as she started to fall. "What's wrong? What's-" He paused as Youlan turned around and buried her face in his chest.

"I'm sorry." She whispered frantically, clutching at Davit's fur. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!"

"What's happening?" Fern demanded. "Why are you sorry."

"It's going off!"

Davit and Fern froze as Youlan continued to shiver and shake.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault."

"What do you mean?" Davit asked, gripping Youlan's shoulders so he could look into her eyes.

"Th-the bomb has almost reached critical! It's completely out of control!"

"You said we had days! Even weeks!" Fern yelped. "What happened to slowing it down?!"

"It... it's my fault."

"What do you mean?!" Fern shouted, ignoring a warning glance from Davit as she surged forwards.

"I swear, I didn't know this would happen!" Youlan pleaded as she looked up at Fern. "My spell... it... it accelerated the weapon's cascade! The crystals aren't breaking down in just one sequence anymore, now it's four, maybe five sequences, all running at once!"

Fern's breath caught in her throat. "Then... a week or two just turned into..."

"Hours! Three at most."

"B-but that's not enough time!" Fern stammered. "There's no way we could get it out of here and far enough away from the city in just a few hours! We... we're dead!"

"Youlan, can it be stopped?" Davit asked, looking directly into Youlan's eyes.

"I... I don't..."

"Can't it be stopped?!" Davit asked again, shaking Youlan's shoulders, his calm demeanor vanishing. "Come on Youlan, think! There must be some way to disable it!"

"If... if the energy could be drawn away, the crystals could be stopped from breaking down... B-but the energy would have to be transferred into a container of some sort."

Fern looked around the room. "What kind of container?"

Youlan looked down at her hands. "Me."

Davit paused. "You?"

"There's no mana crystal around large enough to store the energy, and if a Basitin were to be exposed to that much Mana, it would burn you alive from the inside." Youlan looked up at Davit. "It has to be me."

"Can you survive that much mana?"

"I... think so."

The moment Youlan spoke, Davit knew she was lying. He wanted to say something, anything, but the look in Youlan's eyes stopped him.

"Are you certain about this."

Youlan took a deep shuddering breath as she looked back at the bomb. "Yeah... I'm sure."

"Very well. There is just one final thing to do then."

Youlan turned back to Davit. "Wha-"

Davit swept forward, pulled Youlan into his arms and kissed her deeply, his tail curling around her body.. Youlan's eyes widened, but slowly drifted closed as she returned Davit's embrace.

Minutes, hours, days, neither Davit nor Youlan knew or cared how much time passed. The two could have stayed like that forever.

As they broke off the kiss, Davit and Youlan stared into each other's eyes. Gently, Davit pressed his forehead against Youlan's as he stroked her ears. "I wish we had more time."

"Me too."

"Hey, Youlan, listen," Fern stepped forwards. "We could try something else. There is a mana crystal in the Hearth, maybe we could use it?"

"Unless it's larger than me, it won't work. And even then, there is no guarantee it wouldn't start to break down as well."

"Maybe... maybe we have more time? Maybe we could try and get it to a ship?"

Youlan shook her head. "There's no time. If this thing goes off... this mansion, Basikal city, they all will be burned away to nothing. I can't risk it. I have to end this myself."

Fern's eyes widened as she realized what Yolan was saying. "You... you'll die!"

Youlan tried to answer, but couldn't find the words.

"You will won't you! You're going to kill yourself trying to stop this thing!"

"It's... it's my responsibility." Youlan took a deep breath. "I got us into this mess, guess I should be happy I can get us out at least."

"But..." Tears welled up in Ferns eyes, "No! Damn it this isn't fair! I... I may not like you very much, human, but you're not bad! You don't deserve this!"

Davit released Youlan and put a hand on Fern's shoulders as she started to cry.

"It's not fair!" She sobbed, rubbing at her eyes. "It's not fair!"

As Fern cried, Youlan and Davit shared one last look.

"Thank you," Youlan said, bowing her head. "Thank you for everything."

"I would do it again, without hesitation."

Turning back to the bomb, Youlan squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Again her fingers began to glow as she raised her hands and touched the Mana Bomb. The metal burned her finger tips, and sent a shock of coursing through her body.

"Alright... let's get this over with." Youlan growled as her mana burrowed into the device, connecting with each crystal.

A deafening chorus of screams echoed through Youlan's mind. The crystals shrieked as they were slowly torn apart, their annihilation feeding an ocean of raw, agonizing energy.

The screams echoed through Youlan's body, filling the cavernous cellar with a haunting chorus of high pitched shrieking. Davit, Fern and the other two Basitins guarding the cellar entrance all cried out, covering their ears with their hands as the noise grew louder and louder.

Youlan's clothes rippled, her hair blowing out behind her as she gritted her teeth. "Fight all you want, you bastard, I've got you now!"

The veins in her hands began to glow a deep, dark red, tiny bolts of black energy erupting from the device and crawling up her arms. The glow quickly worked its way up her body, staining Youlans hands black, followed by her wrists and her forearms.

"Come on!" Youlan bellowed, straining to connect to the final few crystals. "Come on!"

The cellar shook, wine bottles exploded, bolts of black energy lashed out and carved glowing lines into the solid rock.

"GOT YOU!" Youlan cried as she connected with the final crystal.

At that moment, a blinding white light filled the cellar followed by a deafening thunderclap, and then total silence.

===

Halfway around the world, a young man with light blue hair sat bolt upright in bed, torn from sleep by a feeling that he could not explain. A twinge of familiarity ran up his back, accompanied by a feeling of horrible darkness. He felt the fingers of his left hand twitch, the flesh crawling beneath his glove.

And then, as quickly as it had come, the feeling was gone, just another echo from a forgotten past.

"Mmmph... Trace... Are you ok?"

"Yeah... Yeah I... I think so..."

It would be a long time before the young man would return to sleep. And when sleep finally took him back, his dreams were dark.

===

Kent sprinted down the winding stairs of one of the many secret passages that traced the Chariot Manor.

Ahead of him, just barely out of sight, Jabarian was also going as fast as he could. He had tried to evade Kent, but the trail of blood he was leaving behind made that impossible. To make matters worse, many of the Manor's passages were in flames and impassable.

"Damn it!" He snarled, still cradling his arm as he turned another sharp corner and leapt down a narrow staircase as fast as he could.

Kent turned the corner as well, his feet scrambling on the floor at the sudden change of direction. For a moment he caught sight of Jabarian at the bottom of the stairs.

"You're mine Sliver!" Kent roared, leaping down the staircase, four stairs at a time.

With all the speed he could manage, Jabarian sprinted down the hallway towards familiar territory.

As he reached the familiar confines of his kitchen, Jabarian triggered a secret door to the side of the wash sink. As the door slid open, Jabarian leapt towards another secret door built into the far wall. If he could just get through before Kent arrived, there was a fifty fifty chance he could lose the general once and for all. Even if Kent managed to follow him, the passage led to a garden shed on the edge of the grounds where Jabarian had a number of rather lethal traps already prepared.

The door slid open, but a sudden blast of heat and smoke forced Jabarian back. The passage was a vision of hell, totally engulfed in flames and filled with choking black smoke. The fur on Jabarian's face curled as the searing heat rolled over him.

With a shouted curse, Jabarian slammed the door shut. He started towards his decoy exit, when a dagger flashed by his face and buried itself in a spice rack.

Jabarian paused, his eyes flicking to the kitchen entrance. Kent stood in the doorway, his sword drawn and murder in his eyes.

Keeping his eyes locked on Jabarian, Kent stepped into the kitchen.

"I've been waiting a long time for this, Sliver."

"Indeed you have." Jabarian replied, pulling Kent's dagger from the spice rack and casually flipping it around in his hand. "You almost caught me in the capital... and on Barid-Moore. I suppose it must irk you, that I've been living on Basikal all this time, and you were too dimwitted to see it."

"You may be right. But you know what they say about revenge."

"So, what now?" Jabarian sneered, keeping the large wooden table in the center of the room between him and Kent.

"I'll be damned if I let you escape again."

"But you abandoned your troops upstairs to chase me down. Not exactly sterling leadership."

Kent's eyes narrowed. Jabarian was right, but there was no chance Kent was going to let his prey slip away, no matter the cost. As much as it shamed him to admit it, killing Sliver meant far more to him than the battle upstairs.

"Well I suppose it's to be expected. Failed bodyguard, and now failed General!" As Jabarian spoke, he threw Kent's dagger back at him.

Kent deflected the dagger and lunged forward. He slid across the table and took a swing at Jabarian the moment he landed. His blade tore a hole in Jabarian's cloak as the old assassin retreated.

Falling back, Jabarian seized hold of a long kitchen knife and threw it at Kent. Again Kent was able to deflect the blade away, but Jabarian was in the process of throwing another knife. The knife struck Kent's armour, but Jabarian had another in his hand. A nearly constant stream of deadly silver flashed towards Kent.

As one of the knives sliced open his left cheek, Kent ducked behind a large metal stove. Jabarian continued to rain knives at him, trapping him.

"Why are you betraying the Chariots?" Kent demanded, peering out from behind the stove for a moment, only to be forced back by a cleaver whipping past him.

"Betraying them?"

"I've been on dozens of battlefields, and I have never heard of one of us dying from an infection from a single wound. You've done something to Lyon, haven't you? "

"A brilliant deduction, 'General'!"

Kent drew a dagger to throw at Jabarian, but as he tried to duck out from behind the stove, the dagger was knocked from his hand by another knife.

"The Chariot's protected you for all these years, so why betray them?!" Kent called out, grimacing in pain as blood dripped from the fresh wound on his hand.

"I tried to hand the Chariot brats the throne!" Jabarian shot back. "But Lyon, the ungrateful prat, wouldn't take the opportunity, and his fool of a sister is nothing but a rabid dog! I gave everything to the Chariots, and they did nothing but fail! I'm doing Basidian a favour by ridding it of them!"

"You mean you've killed Shani?" Kent demanded.

"Killed her? She's killing herself right now! All I had to do was introduce the catalyst, she's just too prideful and stupid to seek help." Jabarian drew one of his needle blades as he realised he was out of kitchen knives.

"Doesn't answer my question!"

"You want an answer? The Chariot's owed me, and they failed to pay!"

Kent stood up from behind the stove, his face twisted into a mask of hatred and rage. "And I thought you had run out of ways to make me sick. This is about money?"

"Money?" Jabarian scoffed. "No, you damned fool, they promised me Aster Alabaster's neck!"

With a furious roar, Kent lunged forwards.

"I owe the Alabasters a debt!" Jabarian taunted as he blocked Kent's attack. "And I will see it paid in full! Every last one of that goatface's seed will die screaming!"

Kent's sword tore a chunk of wood out of the counter as Jabarian dodged to the side. Jabarian thrust his sword into Kent's arm as he fell back, but the blow did little but enrage Kent even further.

"I should thank you!" Jabarian barked as Kent pursued him. "Had it not been for your pathetic service as a bodyguard, the Alabaster bitch might have had children of her own some day! Nothing but more work for me!"

"She did nothing to you!" Kent swung wildly at Jabarian, forgoing any kind of swordsmanship for pure rage. "She was innocent!"

"Was I supposed to wait before she became a threat to me?" Jabarian stepped back, scowling as Kent's sword tore through a shelf of ingredients, flour and sugar flying.

Kent's teeth ground together as he glared at Jabarian. "No... you are supposed to leave children out of it!"

Jabarian threw his head back and let out a single, poisonous laugh. "Alabaster didn't extend me that courtesy!"

Kent paused at Jabarian's words. "What do you mean?"

"Did he not tell you? When that bastard Alabaster couldn't find me, he settled for my family!"

This time it was Jabarian that attacked, his sword whipping through the air with a high pitched keen as he struck at Kent.

Kent grimaced as Jabarian's blade sliced across his cheek. As he stepped back, Jabarain swung his sword, releasing the blade from the handle. The blade flew over Kent's head and crashed into a shelf of pots and pans.

Kent raised an arm to shield himself as a rain of pots and pans came crashing down on top of him. One particularly large pot smashed into his forehead, while another crashed into his back, almost driving him to the ground.

Jabarians blade flashed through the storm of falling metal, burying itself in Kent's shoulder. Kent swung wildly, but Jabarian detached the hilt, leaving the blade stuck in Kent's shoulder as he stepped out of range.

As he stepped back, Jabarian grabbed a small paper wrapped pouch from the counter and hid it up his sleeve.

"Alabaster was a bastard, even I wouldn't deny that" Kent growled, blood dripping from his chin from a large cut on his forehead. "But I don't believe for a second that he would kill innocent people to get to you!"

"Your belief is irrelevant." Jabarian shot back, attaching his last needle blade to his hilt. "In a moment, you'll be able to ask him yourself!"

As Kent leapt at him, Jabarian took hold of the paper package he had taken from the counter and flung the bright red contents into Kent's face.

Kent's world exploded in red hot fire and pain as the cayenne powder assaulted his eyes and nose. He stumbled back, retching as the pepper flooded his lungs, his eyes two pits of agonized burning,

Almost casually, Jabarian raised his blade and aimed it at Kent. "I wanted to take my time killing the Alabaster brat," he sneered. "But for now... you'll do."

His first thrust sliced into Kent's left ear, his second cutting into the top of Kent's already wounded right hand. Thrust after thrust he tortured Kent, his cuts painful but not deep enough to kill. Kent swung blindly, but Jabarian dodged each wild stroke.

Kent's sword flew out of his hand and clattered to the floor as Jabarians' blade pierced the back of his right hand.

Finally, Kent was backed up against a wall. He was bleeding from over a dozen cuts, blood running down his legs and pooling at his feet.

Jabarian couldn't help but scoff as Kent fumbled around for a weapon, eventually laying hands on a potato peeler.

Despite the pain and the burning, Kent forced himself to take a deep breath, to calm his panic and rage.

*"Time to die, General."*

Jabarian stepped forwards, aiming a finishing blow at Kent's throat.

In a flurry of movement, Kent batted his blade away with his forearm. As Jabairans blade struck the stone wall, Kent lunged forward and drove the sharp edge of the potato peeler into the side of Jabarian's neck.

Jabarian blinked in surprise more than pain as he stumbled back, dropping his sword. He fumbled at his neck, his hands quickly growing slippery with blood. Tripping over a fallen pot, he fell and lay on his back, his breath coming in gasps.

Kent forced himself to open his eyes, doing his best to ignore the burning. His vision was blurry, but he could see Jabarian lying on the floor, a red pool quickly gathering around him.

Kent stepped forwards, tossing the potato peeler away. "I wanted to be a healer before I joined the fourth legion. Thing was, I had no ear for medicine or anatomy, but I was very good with those damned blindfolds."

The kitchen ceiling groaned loudly, sparks falling from between the stone cracks as Kent knelt down beside Jabarian. Kent's gaze was empty of emotion as Jabarian stared up at him.

"I loved that girl, like she was my own." Kent said after a moment. "When I lost Vahlen, the whole world was grey and cold, I thought I was going to be broken forever. She brought it back. She was good, and kind, and you killed her."

Raising his hands from his neck, Jabarian wrapped his fingers around Kent's throat. Kent made no effort to stop him, Jabarians grip was too weak to hurt him.

"Ari...ya... and... Ziel... Gua..ssre..il.." Jabarian managed to gasp as his breathing began erratic, his strength waning. "That... is... my... last..."

"You're an old, dried up murderer." Kent straightened as the light faded from Jabarians eyes as his hands dropped to his side. "You have nothing to say that interests me."

"Sh...Shani..." Jabarian took one final shuddering gasp, and then was still.

Limping towards the exit, Kent pulled the needle blade from his shoulder and tossed it aside. As he started back up the narrow secret staircase, the ceiling of Jabarian's kitchen collapsed. Kent's cloak rustled as a rush of hot air and smoke billowed around him.

Kent paused and looked over his shoulder for a moment. "Don't worry, she'll be with you soon."

With effort, Kent continued up the stairs, leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints.

End of Part 27

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