By Jonesly
A woman was running along a trail in the Everfree forest. Her long multicolored hair flowed out from under a simple golden helm. She was armored, golden highlights the only indication of the value of her armor. She carried a shield and a lightly glowing sword. As she ran, her eyes kept scanning the trail, following the signs of previous usage. She’d been pursuing for hours, yet showed no signs of tiring. It wasn’t her lungs that were burning, but her heart.
As she passed a particularly large tree, she caught a flash out of the corner of her eyes, throwing up her shield, she barely caught the blade of an axe as it flashed towards her heart. With a loud clang, she was sent her rolling along the ground, coming to a rest in the middle of a glade. She rose to see a massive man in stepping out from the forest. He was easily three times her size and wore a hulking black armor with red highlights. He carried a massive axe with the ease of prodigious muscle and long practice. His uncovered hair was blond and his eyes were green, but there was a darkness at the corners that didn’t look natural.
“You’re here to stop me?”
“Eee-Yup”
“I see the shadow of the Nightmare in your eyes. There won’t be a peaceful resolution to this, will there?”
“Eh, Nope”
She sighed. “Fine then, I don’t have time for this.”
He swung his axe at her, a slow, lumbering movement that she easily sidestepped. Her return swipe was blocked by the axes haft. They circled each other, carefully probing with measured strikes, attempting to get a feel for the others’ fighting style or find a weakness in their defense.
She took a quick step towards him, thrusting her shield out in front in an attempt to punch him with the inches of steel. He blocked it with the head of his axe, then swung the haft up underneath the shield in a quick attempt to get a hit in.
She danced backwards, skipping out of his reach. As she did so, he took his axe by one hand and swung it towards her shield again. Odd, she thought, but then realized his intent as he managed to get the head of the axe hooked over the top edge of her shield. He then grabbed the haft by both hands and heaved. In one swift movement her shield was ripped from her arm and sent spinning across the clearing, it clanged off a rock and skidded towards the edge of the clearing.
She took her sword in hand, sliding her right hand further up the hilt so her left could join it in a two-handed grip. She took a chance and charged at him, swinging with a broad overhanded stroke. The massive axe was slow to intercept, but it made it. For a time the clearing echoed with the clanging and grunts of exertion.
After a time, she felt she was getting the upper hand, her strokes continued to have the same speed and frequency, but his were slowing down, coming more infrequently as he focused on blocking. At the last minute though she realized her mistake. Just because he wasn’t hitting as frequently, didn’t mean he couldn’t.
With a sudden flurry he moved onto the offensive. Swinging his axe around as if it weighed less than her sword he pounded her defenses. He found his opening and instantly pounced on it, dropping his axe and punching her in the face with his mailed hands. She staggered back, her vision blurring as he picked his axe up once more.
Her guard was still open as he raised the axe in a massive overhead blow, putting his full weight behind it. She barely got her sword up in time to intercept it, angling it off to the side. Had she taken the hit, it would have split her in two. As it was, the blade of her sword snapped as it hit the ground still carrying the force of the axe on it.
He stood over her, hefting the axe, as he raised it for the final blow, she gripped the shattered sword with her hand. “I’ve got one last trick in me.” She growled, tracing the magic runes inscribed on the hilt. As they activated, she could feel the power gathering, when it hit its peak, she thrust the hilt towards the man and yelled. “Aurora surgit!” A light, pure and hot, blasted out of the sword, slammed into the man and sent him flying backwards. He slammed into a tree on the far side of the clearing and was held there by the channeled sunlight. When it finally faded, he slumped to the ground. Smoke rose from his armor as he lay crumpled in a heap, unconscious.
Tossing the now melted hilt to the side, Celestia limped over to her shield. When she picked it up, she traced three runes on the backside. They lit up and formed a glow in her hand, as she pulled it back from her shield, a new sword formed in her hand, identical to the destroyed one she had discarded. She As She walked from the grove, flames licking up the trees behind her, she muttered. “I’m coming Twilight, hold on for me. With Sol as my witness, they shall not keep you.”