Of Duty and Favours

The streets of Onketh were burning. All hell broke loose the second the first explosion echoed through the city. As chaos erupted, people started flooding the streets. Yucca took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the smoke surrounding them. Myyystic at her side, her own heart beating faster in her chest and her sword heavy in her hand, ready and set to go. She could feel her senses sharpen as the adrenaline rushed through her veins and she flexed her fingers around the handle of her sword. A gust of wind pulled at her hair as she rose the blade to face their friend.

Emile was standing only a few feet ahead. His back turned to the group who had taken the girl Grace to wherever they thought was safe. They would not be able to hide from Garcius, though. She would find them eventually. She has to.

“Nothing personal, right?” said Emile, readying himself. The sword at his side still sheathed but his fists were up. Yucca chuckled. Myyystic flexed her muscles, signaling Yucca that she was ready to let go of the thin control she had on her fury. Her eyes shone bright with excitement. “Nothing personal.” Yucca responded.

In the fight against the dragon Emile had proven himself to be an incredibly skilled fighter. Quick on his feet, efficient and brutal in his attacks. Although they outnumbered him, he’s powerful and they should never underestimate him. Myyystic flew towards Emile, her hand reeling back to land the first punch, which he blocked by quickly lifting his arms and grabbing for her wrist. He used the speed of her movement to whirl her past himself before charging towards Yucca. His fists collided with the blunt side of her sword, pressing it back towards her body. Yucca stumbled and lost her balance for a second. She swung her sword towards him, gritting her teeth and trying to get some distance between them again. Yucca rose her hand, a spell on her lips but Emile was too quick for her to have a steady aim at him. A heavy punch impacted with her side, leaving her reeling and gasping for air.

Yucca cursed as Myyystic rushed to put herself between them and unleashed her rage on Emile. Her attacks put him on the defense. One landing kick was enough to push him away on the rooftop. Sliding to a stop, he wiped at the blood flowing from his nose.

Myyystic grinned wide, showing all of her teeth in a predatory gesture while Yucca readied a spell. Together and with a loud laugh escaping Myyystic they charged at Emile. It started to feel more like a game, as the blows they exchanged were harsh and aimed to hurt and incapacitate but it still seemed like Emile was holding back. He didn’t touch his sword yet, every punch he landed was to stop Yucca from casting a spell, focusing his attacks mostly on her. Every time Emile came too close, Myyystic had her hands full with blocking the hits aimed at Yucca that her own countering strikes barely hit hard enough to get him to slow down. They danced around each other, their own little performance above the fights raging through the streets underneath them. A constant give and take where none allowed the other to gain any advantage.

Emile kept on glancing in the direction where the group with the Dunamancy girl disappeared to. Following his gaze, Yucca spotted a few ship masts between the trails of smoke. The port would be the only possible way to leave the city in this chaos, if they’d make it that far. As soon as she realized that, it should have been an easy choice to go after them. To leave and have Myyystic deal with Emile on her own. She was sturdier than Yucca, could take more hits and right now it would have been the reasonable course of action. Especially because Myyystic was focusing most of her strength on shielding Yucca from the heaviest blows. The mission had priority. It always should have.

But, since the moment that Myyystic and Yucca had met on the battlefield, their chaos and uncontrollable hunger for a good fight had drawn them to each other. Since then it had been an undeniable magnetic pull that left them aimless when they weren’t close. Yucca did not have the strength to walk away from the beauty of her love in the middle of a fight, nor did she wish to ever do so. This feeling of being alive and burning for somebody who reciprocates that was something that she could not leave behind.

Yucca hesitated, conflicted by the notion that she had found something that was able to step between her and her mission for her patron. This pause was enough for another brutal punch to land on her side. Her ribs bruised with the impact and all air left Yucca’s lungs in a pained gasp. She fell to her knees, curling forward and tasting the surge of coppery blood in her mouth.

Before Emile could land another blow, Myyystic slammed into him. The force of her tackle brought him to the ground, where he stayed while Myyystic jumped to Yucca’s side and helped her back on her feet.

“Are you okay?” she said, cupping Yucca’s face between her smaller hands. Yucca melted a bit. Her cheeks warmed as she smiled reassuringly and softly put her hand over Myyystics.

“I’m honestly a bit surprised.” hissed Yucca directed at Emile. As she straightened, she pressed a hand against her side. The ribs weren’t broken, so she took another deep breath. “That group. Didn’t think you would trust someone like them with anything at all.”

Emile grunted from his position on the roof. The few good hits he got on Yucca cost him enough of his defense for Myyystic to have landed some heavy blows of her own. Blood was still flowing freely from his cracked nose.

“Who are they to you, Emile?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, Emile got himself up on his feet again, put his fingers against his nose and pushed the bone underneath into a straight position with a loud crack. With a snuffle, he spit some blood on the roof tiles beneath his feet and lifted his fists in front of his face. “Well, what does Garcius want from Grace?”

Yucca looked at him, one eyebrow raised in a skeptical expression. “Probably the same thing your father wants? She’s powerful. It’s good to keep an eye on people like her.” Between her fingertips, she pulled and twisted at a spark of magic before spreading it over the sharp edge of her sword which started to sing in response.

Emile and Myyystic charged at the same time. When they met halfway, Emile ducked underneath a blow from Myyystic, elbowed her hard into the back and continued towards Yucca. She readied her sword for a first attack, swung it forward in a stab and left a small bloody gash on Emile’s left cheek before he dodged into a full turn to fall behind her. He was about to hit Yucca between the shoulderblades when Myyystic jumped to block his fists. Her eyes shone bright again, her grin wide and toothy and her fury aiming to destroy.

With a quick jab, Myyystic tricked Emile into ducking once more and with another well aimed kick to the stomach, she slammed into him. Thanks to his reflexes, Emile managed to get a hand between her leg and his body but the raw force of the kick still pushed him a few feet back on the slippery tiles. Yucca used the short second he took to recover to charge, her sword magically enhanced and its sharp edge singing with bloodthirst. Instead of aiming his punch at Yucca, Emile slammed his fist against the blade, making it miss by centimeters but ripping a piece of his cloak away. His eyes seemed to darken for a split second, Yucca heard the soft click of his holster being opened and froze completely when she stared down the barrel of a gun.

Emile had his finger on the trigger but didn’t pull. His eyes were focused on something else entirely as he stared at something further behind Myyystic towards the horizon. Yucca turned around immediately and right there, on the waters up north sailed a ship away from port.

A heavy sigh left Emile, the tension in his shoulders dissipated, he uncurled his fingers to fall lax then rose his face to the sky. Their fight seemed to have ended with that. His goal achieved, the group gone and the girl out of reach. Yucca ran a hand through her hair, brushing the few unruly strands back into place, while Myyystic looked from one to the other, still ready to jump the second she sensed another attack, though she quickly understood that neither of them were willing to continue the fight any longer.

The streets around them still vibrated with the trampling of booted soldiers and civilians, their war cries still echoing up to where they stood. For how long the fighting would run rampage through the streets of Onketh, they wouldn’t know.

Emile stepped onto the edge of the roof, looking down through the thin layer of smoke that had accumulated around them. “Any idea what happens when you fail him, Yucca?” he asked. His voice was almost monotone as he turned around to look at her. The smoke wasn’t thick enough to obscure his face completely, his eyes portraying something like uncertainty, or maybe even worry.

Yucca frowned. “I can’t fail him. You of all people should understand that.” Emile averted his gaze. A thought ran through Yucca’s mind when she looked at him and saw a man unsure. She couldn’t imagine that there might have been something that had unsteadied Emile’s loyalty to the man who he had called a father, but now, he seemed to have lost some of the fierceness that she had recognized within herself when it came to Garcius.

When he didn’t say anything else, Yucca tried to approach. “You changed, Emile.” she said carefully.

He looked at her. “Maybe. A few things were said. I have to think about them.”

Myyystic walked up to Yucca’s side. Their hands were barely touching, but it was enough to ground Yucca a little bit and not let her curiosity run her mouth. Instead, she smiled before fixing Emile with a look. “I wouldn’t recommend standing in my way again.” The tone of her voice turned sweeter and almost teasing, though she knew that Emile would understand her threat. “You won’t be able to beat me.” he said. “I might not. But Garcius won’t allow for another disruption like this.”

A small smile tugged at Emile’s lips and he rose his shoulders in a shrug. The smoke wrapped around him as he fell backwards from the rooftop. Yucca blinked, and a Raven joined a small flock of it’s brethren flying north. Myyystic tenderly touched Yucca’s side in a soothing gesture which she leant into and bent down to allow herself a quick kiss from her love.

“We should find a place to lay low.” said Myyystic. “Wherever they go, we will find them.”

Yucca sighs. “Yes, but first. I need to talk to Garcius.”

Together they left the burning streets of Onketh behind to find the next best inn that was still remaining untouched by the fighting. They took a bath, washed the grime and blood from each other’s bodies with almost no words spoken between them so as to not disturb the calmness and satisfying exhaustion within them. It had almost become a ritual. To share their space like this after battle.

Later, Yucca sat on their bed, while Myyystic took watch, her eyes closed, her chest expanding in slow controlled breaths, and she retreated to an isolated place within her heart. To a place, she had reserved only for Garcius and his presence.

A long hallway led into a hall, sparsely lit with mystical light. There was no noise, just the resounding echoes of Yucca’s footsteps. No other senses mattered in this place, no taste, no smell, there was no room for anything else but her worship.

Garcius sat on a throne, tall, with golden ornaments that spread up the black translucent walls that surrounded the space like veils. They reflected only him as he sat elegant and in his huge form, waiting for Yucca to step closer. His face laid in shadow in this palace that she had given him.

Yucca bows deeply in front of the throne. “Sir.”

esponding silence lasted for what felt like an eternity. Yucca could only hear the occasional soft rustle of his clothes as Garcius changed positions and then a deep breath, a sigh from deep within his chest, before he stepped from the throne and moved closer. The silence started to drown out any other thought in Yucca’s mind, her heartbeat thundering in her ears as her failure to hail to the wishes of her patron became a looming presence that filled out even the smallest most hidden corners within her soul. Desperation started to spread as she yearned for the sound of his voice and Yucca bit her lip to stop herself from pleading.

A finger pressed underneath her chin to lift her head and look up at Garcius. He didn’t reduce his size like he usually would when talking to her like this. This close, Yucca could clearly see the disappointment in his furrowed brows and downturned corners of his lips. When he spoke his voice rang through the hall like thunder, low and dangerous.

“You failed to bring her back to me.” Yucca flinched, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. “I did.” Her words left her in only a whisper. Garcius looked down on her, scrutinizing, taking in every scratch, every bruise. “Why?”

In this moment, as she explained the fight with Emile, the group that had taken the girl away, her failure to get past the Raven of Loflein and leave her love to fight him alone, in this moment, she wished for Garcius’ anger. She wished for his voice to raise, for him to turn away from her, not able to look at her without being furious, because this calmness, the deep sadness she could see in his eyes and the knowledge that her failure had caused that, struck her deep within her core. It tore herself apart to not have been able to prevent this.

“I gave you the power to crush everything that stands in your way.” Garcius said in this low deep growl. “I allowed yourself your freedom to never be used again by nothing and nobody, to become whoever you want to become.” He let go of Yucca’s chin, cupped her cheek in an imitation of how Myyystic had held her on the rooftop. Yucca nuzzled into his palm, her tears now running freely.

“Oh why, my little Marigold, must you hurt me so.”

A sob escaped Yucca as she felt her heart break into pieces. She curled forward, pressing her hands against her face as she cried. The hand on her cheek disappeared and returned in a more familiar size. Garcius now stood only a few heads taller than her, accepting of Yucca wrapping her arms around his waist and crying words of apology.

“I swear it will never happen again.” she promised in between sobs “I won’t allow it.” Garcius patted her head. Unbeknownst to Yucca, a cruel smile had spread over his face, his eyes cold and calculating. “I know, I know.” Garcius slowly pressed her away, lifting her chin up so she would stand straight with tears still streaming down her face and then retreated to his throne. With every step, he grew in size until he reached the same height when Yucca had first entered this hall. He sat, his eyes now glowing dangerously as he looked down on Yucca.

“Nothing will stand in our way again. You’ll make sure of it, won’t you?”

Yucca woke up. Her head resting in Myyystic’s lap while she tenderly and so softly wiped at the tears running down Yucca’s face. She was humming a lullaby Yucca had heard her sing before on multiple occasions but only when they were alone. Just the two of them. Yucca rose a hand to touch the face of her love, ran a finger over her lips when Myyystic leant into it with a warm smile. Her eyes were filled with love and adoration as she looked down upon her. Myyystic bent into a kiss and Yucca heard Garcius’ voice in her head say one more word before their lips met.