Hector didn’t think or hesitate. As soon as the battle started, he rushed headlong into the fray. Some poor fool’s shoulder quickly met the sharp end of his axe and they fell to the ground, their eyes scrunched with pain as they feebly clutched their wound. A couple more brigands rushed him with their axes drawn. Hector dodged the first one’s swing and struck his axe into his stomach, making him fall to the ground alongside his comrade. The second one swung at him with a vengeful battle cry and Hector clashed weapons with him. They locked intense gazes, growling as they pushed with all their might to overpower the other.
“Die you royal cur!” the brigand snarled.
“Not while I have people to protect from the likes of you!” Hector replied.
He broke the stalemate and smacked the brigand’s axe away. The brigand’s eyes bulged first in surprise, then in terror as Hector swung his axe down towards his gut. The brigand cried out as the axe buried itself in deep, drawing a large amount of blood. He fell to his knees, his own axe dropping to the ground. Hector dislodged the axe from him and he fell facedown to the ground, unmoving. Blood seeped from under his body.
Hector snorted, then turned to survey the battle. The village militia and Fiora’s mercenaries had formed a battle plan beforehand, which was to herd the brigands into one large group and defend against escape while occasionally taking shots to whittle down their numbers. Looking at how the tide of battle was turning, that plan was working. Aside from a few stragglers, the brigand group was surrounded on all sides and clashing with his forces with reckless abandon, trying to beat back the opposition through sheer brute force and strength. The village square was a flurry of clashing metal and frenzied cries, but through the chaos, Hector could tell his side was winning.
Florina and Fiora were hovering overhead atop their pegasi. Fiora gave a signal to Florina and the younger sister swooped down toward the battle. One of the brigands had strayed away from the fight and was edging behind one of Fiora’s mercenaries. Florina lifted her sword and, with expert precision, slashed his back and he fell to the ground. The mercenary turned around to see what had happened before waving to Florina in thanks.
Hector smiled at his wife’s strength before returning his attention to the battle. He took off in a jog, rushing past everyone into the main body of brigand forces. He came up behind one brigand who was engaged with a militia soldier and plunged his axe into their back. He didn’t wait to see what his comrade’s reaction would be and turned to look for more opponents. He didn’t have to wait as two more brigands turned away from their own opponents to rush him. The first one took a hasty swipe at him which he easily dodged before hacking his neck. The second one charged with fervor, crying in rage as he swung at his head. He held his axe up to block the attack, but the brigand proved to be stronger than his brethren as both of them struggled to overpower the other, their axes trembling against each other from their opposing forces.
Hector broke the stalemate and took another swing but the brigand was quick to block his attack and put them into another deadlock. They scowled at each other, silently communicating their drive to beat the other. Then Hector’s heart skipped a beat when he heard footsteps running up behind him— his opponent smirked in triumph. He turned around just enough to see another brigand rushing towards him.
He broke from his first opponent just in time to dodge the second one’s attack. Both of them then began swiping at him one after another, forcing him to swiftly dodge every other second — a task made hard by his heavy riding armor — all the while never giving him an opening to counterattack. Gradually, they pushed him away from the main battleground. He doubted they had the tactical awareness to intentionally do this as per a battle strategy, but it was a problem for him all the same.
The brigands rushed at him in unison. A pair of flapping wings sounded above the din of battle from Hector’s left. He turned to see Fiora swooping down, sword raised at her side. She got close enough for Hector to see the gentle fury in her eyes as she descended upon the brigands, who turned to see her too late. The second after she passed between Hector and the brigands, two red slash marks had appeared across the latters' chests. They just stood in place as if the injuries had immobilized them. Their axes fell from their grasps. Hector seized the moment and rushed forward. He put his axe into the stomach of the first brigand, felling him, before following suit with the second. They fell to the ground, two more corpses for the ever-increasing brigand body count.
Hector wrenched his axe free as Fiora touched down right in front of him, kicking up some air that made his cape billow.
“Thanks for the backup,” he said.
Fiora gave him a salute. “Of course. We’ll drive back these curs together as one.”
Florina touched down next to her sister. “Are you okay, Hector?” she asked, worried.
Hector waved her off. “Two on one is just enough for me; I could’ve taken care of it by myself.” He eyed Fiora with playful contempt which she returned with a soft giggle. “I’m going to charge into the thick of the battle again; having some air support would be a great help.”
Fiora snapped another salute. “I’ll give it my best,” she promised.
Florina nodded softly. “I’ll fight to protect you, dear.”
Hector did a double take. For a second, he thought he’d misheard his wife, but no, she’d called him ‘dear’ without a shred of hesitation. It was the first time since they married that she’d called him that. He felt a warm tingle in his heart, but outwardly all he could do was stare continually in surprise.
“Of-Of course, yes.” Hector inwardly cursed for stuttering. He gestured for them to follow. “Let’s make haste and end this fight quickly!”
Fiora and Florina flew up while Hector rushed back into the battle. He did his best to put aside the abrupt feelings of sentimentality and warmth to concentrate on fighting. There would be time to celebrate later.
“Boss! We’re losing!”
Gervas growled. The battle started off alright but the numbers on his side were noticeably thinning out. Malo had disappeared at the worst possible time.
He used his axe to block a soldier’s strike before kicking them backward with his boot. “Keep fighting!” he commanded. “Don’t give them any breathing room!”
“Right!”
The ground was stained with blood and corpses and dropped weapons. The ruckus of frenzied, battle-ready cries had dimmed and many fighters on both sides were showing signs of fatigue. His group was outnumbered by about two to one at this point.
He looked to the far side of the village square where the damned royals were fighting together. For a bunch of pampered nobles, they were putting up a good fight, especially the lumbering wall of armor with the big mouth. Among the militia, that lout was the only one using an axe. He could probably take him on if it weren’t for the two pegasus knight girls wielding swords keeping watch over him.
He glanced at the nearby fallen forms of some of his minions, spying a swordreaver in one of their hands. He smirked and bent down to yank it free from his grasp.
“Sorry, I need this more than you do.”
He dashed for the royals.
Fiora held her sword out as Lucy dived toward the ongoing battle. She pulled her reins to the left, guiding Lucy toward a brigand currently engaged in a stalemate against one of her mercenaries. Once she was within range she swung her sword, slashing the brigand across the back and bringing him to his knees before she ascended again. She looked back to see her subordinate giving her a thankful wave which she happily returned.
Lucy let out a frenzied whinny and Fiora gently patted the back of her neck. “You’re doing good, don’t worry,” she soothed, earning a snort in reply.
Fiora caught a flurry of blue movement in her eye’s corner. She turned to see that Hector was caught in a fight against three brigands at once. Despite being outnumbered and wearing heavy riding armor, Hector was fending them off with surprising dexterity and swiftness, even managing to cut into them a couple of times. Florina was flying just above him, diving down every now and then to take a shot at the brigands.
Fiora guided Lucy around and dived toward Hector to aid him. One of the brigands spotted her just as she approached and she could see the surprise and terror in his eyes before she slashed his neck and the life faded from his eyes. Turning back as she guided Lucy up again, she saw the remaining two brigands rush Hector with unbridled fury in their eyes, roaring like a pair of wild, enraged beasts. She signaled to Florina for a twin dive maneuver which her sister acknowledged. She readied her sword once again, keeping a tight grip on it and signaling Lucy to go top speed, which she obeyed.
The sounds of battle were muted against the air rushing past her. She raised her sword above her head while taking care not to hold it too far back lest it get tangled up in her hair. She and Florina came at the remaining two brigands in perfect synchronization. Hector had one locked in a stalemate, the both of them struggling to overpower the other, while the other brigand was getting up from the ground and readying for a sneak attack.
Fiora aimed for the brigand engaged with Hector while Florina aimed for the one at his back. As they approached, Fiora heard her sister shout, “I won’t let you hurt him!” Their swords struck true in unison, stabbing the brigands in their backs. Fiora shot her sister a proud smile as they passed each other.
The brigands fell to the ground. Fiora guided Lucy back up into the air. She lifted her sword, grimacing at the sight of how much blood it had accumulated; it would need a thorough scrubbing when the battle was over. Looking down, it was clear that would come sooner rather than later as the brigands’ numbers were noticeably thinning out while her side was holding strong. Then she spotted the brigand leader rushing across the village square, an axe in each hand, towards Hector, who was charging to meet him head-on. Their axes clashed and once again Hector found himself in a stalemate; such was the disadvantage of using the same type of weapon as the enemy.
Once again, Fiora made the dive to come to Hector’s aid. It was her hope that once the leader was taken down that his subordinates would surrender; it would be nice to end the battle quickly before more blood was spilled. She readied her sword and aimed it at the brigand leader’s neck. She was less than ten feet away when the brigand turned his head to her with a smirk and she realized the axe held in his right hand was actually a swordreaver.
Her sword clashed with his swordreaver, the latter easily batting the former away and almost causing Fiora to lose her grip. She grimaced. She guided Lucy up for another dive maneuver, but Florina dived down first. Her sister raised her sword, but the brigand leader had already spotted her. He broke the stalemate with Hector, ducking under Florina’s swing and swinging his axe upward.
Fiora felt her heart skip several beats as his attack connected. Huey let out a cry of pain as the axe dug into his barrel, causing him to falter before plummeting to the ground with Florina falling off his back with a horrified cry. The two landed hard on the ground, skidding uncontrollably a short distance and kicking up a giant cloud of dirt. Huey came to a stop near the water well while Florina found herself right outside the local tavern. Huey let out a few agonized whinnies before going silent, whereas Florina didn’t move a muscle, her face down in the dirt.
“Florina!” Hector cried out and rushed over to his wife.
The brigand leader rushed after him. Fiora didn’t think; she signaled for Lucy to dive at top speed again. Lucy obeyed and Fiora steered her so that he couldn’t perform the same maneuver on her as he did Florina. He caught sight of her just in time to hold up his swordreaver to parry her attack. For a brief moment, she and the brigand leader locked gazes, hers filled with the unbridled rage of a protective sister and his with sneering contempt.
She signaled for Lucy to touch down, guiding her a safe distance away from the fighting. She disembarked from her mount and rushed to join Hector with Florina. She stood in front of them, sword at the ready to protect them from the brigand leader while Hector tended to her sister.
“Florina! Florina!” he cried. “C’mon, get up!” He shook her a little.
“I’m… okay,” Florina muttered.
“Can you move?” Hector asked.
A moment later Florina let out a pained whimper. “My arm!”
Hector tsked. “Fiora, take Florina somewhere safe. I’ll deal with this cur.”
Fiora gripped her sword tighter. The brigand leader was staring at her with smug anticipation. He dropped his regular axe and gripped the swordreaver with both hands, holding it proudly in front. Being incredibly long and made of metal, in addition to the power of a regular axe, a swordreaver was specifically made to give axe fighters an advantage over sword users. Normally, the ease and nimbleness of wielding a sword would have the advantage against a heavy and unwieldy axe, but a swordreaver could even the odds in such a fight.
“... No, I’ll fight him.”
“Fiora, this isn’t the time for needless heroics.”
Fiora shook her head. “I’m not trying to be a hero here, Hector.” Her arms trembled and her heartbeat quickened. The world around her seemed to melt away as her attention focused solely on the man who’d hurt her sister. Rage had consumed her and she needed a way to express it. “My duty is to my mercenaries, my countrymen, and right now my family.”
“How do you expect to beat him?” There was more frustration than actual worry in Hector’s tone. “Just leave it to me!”
“I can do this, Hector.” She turned and flashed him a confident smile. “I’ve been practicing ground combat just like my sister. And I’ve practiced against swordreavers, so I know the basics of combat against one.”
“You’re putting yourself in needless danger,” Hector argued.
“Maybe, but if I wasn’t the one to fight him I’d be left with an unbearable weight in my heart. I know the risk is high, but I’m confident that my abilities outmatch this cur’s own.”
“You’ve sure got a big mouth, lass!” the brigand leader shouted, annoyed.
Hector was a stubborn one and it showed in his eyes. He wasn’t convinced by her argument but Fiora was determined not to budge. The best way to beat a stubborn, prideful man was to outmatch them in both respects. She remained staunch in her countenance, silently communicating she wouldn’t leave no matter what.
His stubbornness melted away at last. His teeth gritted and he looked to Florina; she seemed too busy fighting the pain in her arm to pay attention to what they were saying. Fiora felt a stab of pain in her heart at the sight of her sister’s agony but didn’t let her unwavering expression falter.
“Fine,” Hector finally relented. He sheathed his axe and hooked his arms under Florina’s body, lifting her small, lithe form while taking care not to shift her broken arm too roughly.
Without another word, he stood and carried his wife away. For a brief moment, as he passed Fiora, Florina’s eyes opened and the two sisters shared eye contact; they were full of hope and trust. Fiora gave her a nod and mouthed, “I can do this”. Hector made his way away from the battle, angrily eyeing the brigand leader as he left and headed to the apothecary’s house where the ponies were stationed.
The brigand leader watched them go, never daring to move after them. He turned back to Fiora and sized her up. “Who are you to think you can beat me so easily, lass?”
Fiora assumed a battle-ready stance, holding her sword in front of her with both hands. “I am Fiora; commander of the Fifth Wing of Ilia’s Pegasus Knights. My duty is to protect Ilia’s citizens from lawless curs like your band!”
The brigand leader snorted and pointed to himself. “My name is Gervas, leader of the Trea bandits. Maybe you’ve heard of us?”
Fiora racked her brain for a moment. “I have a vague recollection of the name from Central’s reports.”
Gervas smirked. “A shame you won’t live to understand our true glory, then.”
The rage in Fiora’s heart blazed with unbridled passion. “You’ve poisoned these innocent villagers, injured my little sister, all for selfish gain and without a single shred of remorse!”
“What you call ‘selfish gain’ is what we call providing for our livelihoods, lass! We would’ve been happy to rob y’all without killin’ ya, but it’s too late for that now!”
“On my honor as a mercenary of Ilia, I will strike you down!”
She charged him, holding her sword at her side, ready to strike. Gervas rushed to meet her halfway, his swordreaver held over his head with both hands. With mighty battle cries, they brought their weapons upon each other and they held firm, shuddering with the force their wielders put into them to overpower the other.
Fiora grit her teeth, mustering every last ounce of strength she had, but Gervas was a head taller than her and had arms bulging with corded muscles. A straight fight of strength would be hers to lose, but she didn’t intend to best him with raw power. She broke the stalemate and took a swipe at Gervas’ chest. He jumped out of the way and brought down his swordreaver, only for Fiora to hold her sword horizontally to block it, creating another stalemate.
Gervas smirked. “Don’t think I don’t know how to handle this thing.”
He broke the stalemate and spread his hands along the swordreaver’s length. He then gave a quick vertical swipe only for Fiora to block it again. He took a horizontal swipe and Fiora blocked it yet again. Over and over in quick succession he swiped at her and Fiora blocked each and every attack, all the while backing her towards the tavern until her back was against the wall.
“You’ll die regretting you challenged me,” Gervas declared.
He gave a horizontal swipe. Fiora ducked under the weapon and it bounced against the wall of the tavern, causing Gervas to lose his balance momentarily. She took the opportunity and thrusted her sword toward his chest. He sidestepped. But while the sword missed his torso, his arm got in the way of the strike and was pierced. He let out a pained grunt. Blood dripped from the wound, staining his clothes and the ground. The two remained locked in place for a few moments, glaring daggers at each other. Fiora twisted the sword and Gervas cried out.
He snarled. “You rotten whore!”
He shifted his swordreaver to one hand and swung it down toward her head. Fiora quickly wrenched the sword free and dived out of the way, the swordreaver missing her by a few inches.
The two resumed their battle ready stances. Gervas growled at his wound, then glared at Fiora with fury to rival that of a vengeful god.
“You… You!”
He charged so fast Fiora almost didn’t realize he’d closed the distance between them until she saw the end of his swordreaver coming toward her midriff, quickly blocking it with her sword. He took another, much faster swipe, and Fiora blocked again before he went into a barrage of swift strikes. Fiora found herself struggling to keep up, the blows coming as fast as lightning and from every direction.
Gervas backed Fiora away from their clashing armies, toward the other end of the village square. Being so far away from her comrades meant she couldn’t rely on them for backup if he managed to gain the upper hand. Whether that was a deliberate tactic, she wasn’t sure, but Gervas was proving to be more skilled than most bandits she’d come across during her career. The fact that his wound wasn’t affecting his stamina at all was doubly impressive. What little hope she’d had of an easy victory was slowly being crushed the longer the battle waged on and he didn’t give her an opening.
Then an idea came to her. Gervas brought the swordreaver down, aiming for her head again. She blocked again, but this time once they stalemated she took one hand off her sword to grip the swordreaver. Gervas’ confusion only lasted a moment before his eyes bulged upon seeing her point her sword at his stomach. He tried to wrench the swordreaver out of her grip but she held firm. Mustering every ounce of strength she had, she rammed her sword through his gut.
Gervas’ face froze into a mask of agony as blood dripped from his mouth. His clothes stained dark purple around the wound. The swordreaver fell to the ground between them as he let go of it, bringing his hands up to the sword and feebly trying to grip it. Fiora gritted her teeth and pushed the sword deeper, eliciting a pained whimper from him. She continued pushing her sword deeper into him while he tried to hold back his cries of agony. More blood gushed from the wound, further staining his clothes. His body shuddered and he reached around behind him which Fiora took as confirmation that her sword had pierced clean through his body. Clearly, he was only still standing thanks to his immense bulk and sheer willpower.
She looked into his eyes; the bloodlust she saw sent a chill down her spine despite the upper hand she’d gained. His gaze was so intense, so inhuman, that for a brief moment she actually thought he was going to kill her through his stare. She twisted her sword in a flash of panic, desperate to finish him off. A spurt of blood flew from his mouth, splattering her turquoise hair. Any pain his face might have conveyed was drowned out by the murder in his eyes.
“DIE YOU WHORE!” he screamed in her face.
Fiora only had a split second to react as Gervas reached out and grabbed her neck with his massive hand. His fingers closed tightly, making her choke and gasp for air. He squeezed harder. She let go of the sword and reached her hands up to pry his fingers loose, but to no avail.
Gervas’ smirk returned. He raised her up and, in one swift motion, slammed her to the ground. The impact knocked the wind right out of Fiora. Her body was stone still for a brief moment, the shock muting the pain before it struck like an arrow in her back and she wailed, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She continued crying in agony for a few seconds all while she heard Gervas picking up his swordreaver. She opened her eyes once she settled down— despite having a sword shoved through his stomach, he was carrying himself incredibly well. His swordreaver clutched firmly in hand, he gave her a crooked, bloody smile.
“Don’t worry, my boys and me’ll be sure to send the rest of your army along to join you.”
He raised his swordreaver over his head; the slow, lethargic manner in which he did confirmed that he was indeed growing weak. With a mighty cry, he swung it down.
Fiora’s body kicked into motion, rolling out of the way. The swordreaver hit the dirt mere inches from her head, kicking up a spray in her face. The pain in her back manifested itself and she squealed. It might’ve been sprained, or worse, but she couldn’t be bothered to care at the moment. Gervas let out an annoyed grunt and swung his weapon again. She dodged again. This repeated a couple more times. He got slower with each attack, giving her more reaction time, but each time the pain in her back manifested itself, making her cry out and tears to stream from her eyes.
Gervas growled. He lifted his leg and pressed down hard on Fiora’s stomach. She tried to wriggle free, pounding her fists against his boot. When that didn’t work, she pushed against it with both hands. He pressed down harder in response, summoning the pain in her back and making her cease her escape attempt. He raised the swordreaver again. Fiora’s heart pounded in her chest. She tried pushing again, desperate to free herself. She tried kicking with her legs, but she couldn’t reach him. Terror gripped her heart with icy cold fingers.
As Gervas positioned the swordreaver above his head, Fiora saw her life flash before her eyes: the first time she saw both Farina and Florina as infants; comforting her sisters when their mother died; their training to become pegasus knights; the argument between her and Farina which led to her sister striking out on her own; caring for Florina after she caught a cold waiting an entire night for the mythical Ice Dragon— every single one made her feel like crying.
I’m sorry, Florina. Farina.
“Die!” Gervas shouted weakly.
Fiora shut her eyes.
There was a distant boom.
Fiora opened her eyes just in time to see a rainbow shockwave shoot through the air. In the center of the shockwave, she saw a little blue dot with a rainbow contrail streaking through the air. It arced downward and came barreling straight towards Gervas, who was oblivious to its presence. Details filled themselves in during the split second it took for it to reach them, taking the form of a familiar pegasus whose eyes were filled with both panic and determination
Rainbow Dash struck Gervas in the back, splitting the air with a sharp crack and the squish of flesh. Right at the moment of impact, Fiora heard her shout, “I won’t let you hurt her!” Another spray of blood flew from Gervas’ mouth and his eyes glazed over. The force of the impact lifted him off his feet and sent him careening through the air out of Fiora’s sight, his swordreaver falling harmlessly to the ground. She heard a loud crash and the sound of splintering wood a moment later.
Rainbow Dash looped back around away from the winding battle, slowing her speed before coming to a stop a short distance from Fiora. She galloped the rest of the way, coming up to Fiora’s side.
“Are you okay!?” she asked, wide-eyed.
Fiora blinked. She was still in shock from her near death experience. She lifted her head up, blinking again. Her heart was gradually returning to its normal speed. She tried moving her arms; they were fine. It seemed she was okay aside from the pain in her back.
“I’m not bleeding at least,” she replied. “But I’ll need help moving around; my back hurts.”
Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I got you there.” She turned in the direction Gervas went flying and her jaw dropped. “Sweet Celestia…”
Fiora twisted her neck around just enough to see where she was looking. The force of Rainbow’s impact had sent Gervas crashing through a wooden fence on the other side of the village square, shattering it to pieces. Somehow, the force had caused her sword to rent him, the two halves of his corpse gruesomely piled against the side of a house. She felt a swallow of bile rise in her throat, but she forced it down and turned back to Rainbow.
“Thanks for saving me,” she said, smiling. Her eyelids started feeling a little heavy.
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Yeah, no problem.”
A cry of despair from the battle drew their attention. One of the brigands was staring in their direction — no, past them at Gervas’ corpse — with terror-stricken eyes.
“The boss is dead!” he shouted.
Gradually, everyone still battling shifted their attention from their opponents and onto Gervas. Fiora could actually see the brigands’ resolve being crushed before her eyes. Her own subordinates and the village militia were similarly transfixed but more out of relief than terror. The resulting silence that settled over the village was deafening.
Finally, one of the brigands started backing away. A few more followed his lead, quickly followed by the rest. The mercenaries and militia just watched, satisfaction mixing with their relief. Then the brigands took off in a sprint together toward the village gate. Everyone watched them go until they disappeared from sight into the same cluster of trees they had emerged from.
Fiora let her head drop back down. “It’s over,” she breathed. “Finally.”
“Hey, you sure you’re feeling okay?” Rainbow asked.
A wave of exhaustion washed over Fiora and she closed her eyes. “I pushed myself farther than I ever have before.” She relished in the feeling of sleep’s warm embrace beginning to creep over her.
“Hey, uh, before you go out, mind telling me why my plan didn’t work?”
“The brigands thought your lightning strike was from a spellcaster; they had a staff on hand that would protect them from such magic. Don’t feel bad about it not working, please; it was a sound idea.”
“Yeah, that sucks…”
As Fiora felt sleep overtake her, she heard the distant cheers of the fighters celebrating their victory. “Thanks again for saving me… Rainbow Dash...”