Nyte Guard: Chapter 9 - A Hero’s Duel

“I don’t think I can watch this.” I bury my face in my hands as Álvaro faces off against Verity. 

Quell pats me on the shoulder. “I’m sure it will be fine! After all, it’s a hero’s tournament. The fight has to be heroic.”

“Yeah,” Liz pops in. “She won’t kill him or anything. Maybe just cut off a finger or two, but—”

“Not helping, Liz!” Quell interrupts. 

I groan into my hands. 

“Lord Verity is one of Moonfall’s finest swordfighters,” Darian tells me. “She’ll be careful not to hurt him.” 

As I’ve learned over the previous hour of the match, the young woman who’s been giving me dagger-eyes every time we cross paths is some sort of noble in Moonfall society. She’s also dearly beloved by her kingdom, and is favored to win the tournament. 

Of course. Of course that’s the person Álvaro decided to pick a fight with. 

I grimace, peeking through my fingers as the two shift into fighting stances. I can’t actually see them directly; they’re somewhere on the opposite side of the stadium, hidden behind stone and trees, but a giant illusion is projecting their image—and voices—into the sky. Quell’s father is involved somehow, bolstering the quality and size of the illusion. Apparently the arena is typically set up with a handful of small pedestals scattered throughout the crowd, designed to create soundless illusions of the competitors. However, with the Sterling royals here, and illusion being their specialty, the crowd is getting an unprecedented treat. 

All of which means I get a front-row seat to my brother’s ass-kicking. 

Up until now, he’s been doing well. Surprisingly well, actually. Of the thirty contestants, he has the sixth-highest number of points. While the entire match has been extremely stress-inducing—especially when he was nearly mauled by that boar—Álvaro’s done a good job of keeping out of the way of the other competitors. He’s also surprised me with his resourcefulness. He seemed to catch onto the subtleties of the match much faster than others, scoring some early points by looking for bangles in places others simply walked past.

Verity, of course, is in first place, and unless a miracle occurs, that’s unlikely to change. In fact, she hasn’t had to go hunting for bangles at all; other competitors have been seeking her out, perhaps hoping to gain some favor with the crowd if they show they can defeat Moonfall’s favored champion. She’s accepted every challenge that’s been thrown her way, and won each one of them. 

The Aegis mentally nudges me, and I give it an irritated, mental sigh. Can this wait? It’s been bothering me ever since we sat down. 

Of course it can’t wait. It can feel the Scimitar nearby! It would really love to clash with that sword again. Or maybe Devour it. Or maybe fight with it! But probably, Devour it.

I glance to the side, where the Crimson Scimitar has been propped up and proudly displayed toward the front of the royal’s spectator box. The Moonfall kings are on one side, and the Duneshade royalty on the other. Both sides include several more nobles and guards, arranged roughly in order of importance. Liz had to fight to get Darian seated next to her, instead of stationed along the back wall with the other guards, but after her parents finally caved, they didn’t bother to fight it when Quell requested the same special treatment for me. I suspect, however, they allowed it because I’m the wielder of the Crimson Aegis, not because Quell finally told his parents about our relationship.

The Aegis mopes. Why tantalize it like this? Why must it endure such cruel torture?

On that, I kind of agree. It’s annoying having the Scimitar sitting right there, just a few feet away. I can feel its presence—I can feel the Aegis and Scimitar’s draw toward each other. Paradoxically, that innate draw makes me want to get away; I don’t like that there seems to be this strange link between them, and I don’t want to find out what might happen if they’re reunited. 

On the other hand, it tempts me. I could stand up, walk over there, and grab it right now to put an end to this tournament. By the time they realized what I’m doing, it would be too late. I’d save my brother—or anyone else—from having to take on its burden. That’s what Constance would want. Is it what I want?

I surreptitiously glance down the line, where Constance is seated, mercifully as far away from the Scimitar as possible. Even so, his attention doesn’t appear to be on the match. His head turned away from the Scimitar, a hand at his temple, and one of his legs is subtly bouncing up and down. I wince in sympathy. This can’t be comfortable for him, either.

The crowd roars, and my attention snaps back to the fight. Álvaro has activated some sort of camouflage spell and appears to be melting into his surroundings. Verity doesn’t wait for him to finish slipping away; she charges forward, sword raised. 

Álvaro dodges to the side, his whip snapping out to grab her blade. The strike misses because of Álvaro’s deflection, but a light illuminates along her blade, and the whip abruptly loosens and slips free. 

Yet another new trick. Throughout the various matches she’s now fought, I’ve had the opportunity to witness several of her spells in action, all of them sword-based. One allows her sword to cut through stone like a hot knife through butter, while another summons a wide pane of light, effectively turning her blade into a temporary shield. I’ve seen it catch on fire, flash with a blinding light, and even duplicate—though I’m not sure if that one was just an illusion.

Álvaro takes it all in stride. By now he’s difficult to make out, only visible as an outline when he moves. He skips back, snapping his whip toward Verity’s ankles, but she slices through the end of his whip before he can try to pull her feet out from under her. Undeterred, Álvaro continues to dance around the clearing, dodging and counterattacking at every available opportunity. 

Then I see it; a glint of light on a leaf that Álvaro passes over. The magic flares and just as quickly goes out. A trap spell—like the ones he’d planted for me during our sparring match. Álvaro begins to retreat and Verity pursues him, heading straight for his trap. 

I hold my breath. It’s not as strong as the one he used on me, right? I have healing abilities that most people don’t. Oh god, he better not blow up Moonfall’s darling. 

Just as Verity reaches the trap, she grins, then pointedly jumps over it. 

“What,” she says. “You didn’t really think I’d fall for that, did you?”

For the first time, Álvaro appears to falter. Now his retreat doesn’t appear to be intentional, trying to guide her into a trap. Instead, he’s dodging around rocks and trees, trying to maneuver deeper into the artificial forest, where his camouflage might be more effective. Verity keeps right on top of him, however, and abruptly, Álvaro flickers back into existence. 

“Uh oh,” Liz says. “His mana must be extinguished.”

If I could see him directly I could Check and verify that for myself, but I suspect she’s right. 

The Aegis tugs at my attention again. It doesn’t like this feeling. Can’t it please eat the Scimitar? It’s only growing more frustrated at being denied for so long.

No, I tell it. As I keep saying: you can’t eat it. You’re just going to have to deal. 

The Aegis pouts. It should not have to “deal!” Whatever that means. Unless that means “allow it to eat the Scimitar.”

I can put you in my Inventory if that would help, I think. You won’t feel it from in there. The shield is currently propped against the back of my seat, accommodating both its clingy personality and my desire to not be leaning against a hunk of hard metal for hours on end.

The Aegis is aghast. How could I suggest such a thing? How could I treat it with such derision when it is deserving of such reverence!

Aegis, please shut up, I think, trying to focus on the match. We can talk about this later when my brother’s life’s not in danger. 

The Aegis is alarmed. If someone is in danger, we should protect them!

My heart squeezes. That’s at least one thing the Aegis and I can agree on. I really wish we could. 

I try to keep my gaze from drifting back to the Scimitar. 

Back in the arena, Álvaro is not doing great. As Liz guessed, he seems to be out of mana, now purely on the retreat with Verity hacking away plants as she stalks after him. 

“You can’t run forever,” she calls. “And your weapon is ineffective against me. Not your fault; it’s a bad match up.”

Álvaro forces a grin. “That’s what you think!” He snaps his whip out again, grabbing a branch and pulling it down into Verity’s face. She slashes the branch away with a flick of her sword, not even breaking stride. 

“Tell you what,” she says. “If you forfeit now, I won’t even take all your bangles. I think half is fair. You’ll stay in the running, but you won’t drop to last place.”

Álvaro grits his teeth. “Not a chance.” 

Quell makes a hmm sound. 

“What?” I ask him. 

“Nothing,” he says. Then, after a moment, he adds, “It’s just, I see how you two are related.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “What’s that mean?”

Darian snorts. 

And then the forest explodes. 

I’m on my feet even before the shockwave hits our spectator box. Startled shrieks from the crowd also ring out through the stadium. The illusion displaying Álvaro and Verity is whited out, but begins to clear even as I watch. 

A crater exists where the fight had just been taking place. My heart nearly jumps out of my chest. “Ál!” 

As the illusion widens, like a camera pulling back, I can make out two forms, prone on the ground. Ice runs through my veins. What happened? Is he okay? He has to be okay.

“Ow.” Álvaro rolls onto his side with a cough. “Guess I overdid that one.”

On the other side of the crater, Verity is also pushing herself up to her hands and knees. Her hair is a tangled mess of dirt and twigs, and she heaves in a breath, shaking her head. 

Álvaro stumbles to his feet first. Verity’s sword is off to the side, half stuck into the trunk of a tree. He lurches over, planting a foot on the trunk and yanking the sword free. As he stumbles back, nearly falling into his own crater, Verity manages to get her feet under herself. 

“Are you trying to get us both killed?” she growls, gauntlets clenching into fists. 

“Sorry.” Álvaro grins his signature lop-sided grin. “Didn’t want to under-do it. All that extra mana from dropping the Camouflage spell had to go somewhere.”

He tricked her. He tricked us. Pulling that treebranch into her face must have been the moment he planted the trap. She wouldn’t have been expecting it if she thought he was out of mana. I guess he didn’t expect her to trigger it before he could get out of the blast radius. 

Quell tugs on my sleeve. “Nye, sit back down.” 

I heavily fall back into my seat, letting out a relieved sigh. I can’t believe he pulled that off. 

Then the anger hits. I told him not to use that on people! He could have seriously hurt her. I grit my teeth, even as he crosses the clearing and levels Verity’s own sword toward her chest. 

“Tell you what,” he says with a shit-eating grin. “If you forfeit now, I won’t even take all your bangles. I think half is fair. You’ll stay in the running, but you won’t drop to last place.”

Verity growls as the stadium howls with applause. He’s the only one to have beaten her. He did it in a very stupid, suicidal way, but still. The upset is driving the viewers mad. 

“Heaven’s light,” Liz says. “He might actually win the whole thing.” 

My stomach sinks through the floor. 

The Aegis pokes at me again. 

Not now, I think, trying to swallow down all the conflicted feelings I’m wrestling with. The way he’s handling himself makes me so goddamn proud. Yet, he can’t win. I can’t let him win. 

“No,” Verity says, smoothing the anger out of her tone. “You won. Fair and square.” She removes the clattering bracelets from her arms and holds them up for Álvaro to claim. 

The Aegis nudges me again. Please! The pull is just getting stronger. Can’t it please fight?

Not now, Aegis, I think, irritation mounting. It’s usually not this pushy, but then again, we’ve never sat in the Scimitar’s presence for this long, before. 

Álvaro reaches for the bangles. In that moment, to get close enough, he’s shifted her blade to the side. Just as his fingers brush against the bracelets, Verity’s other hand shoots out, grabbing her sword about its blade. In the same moment she’s launching herself at Álvaro, swinging the fistfull of bangles up to crack against the underside of Álvaro’s jaw. The sword slips from his grasp as he falls back, tripping into the crater. 

Blood and fury rushes in my ears. The stadium riots, booing Verity’s sucker-punch after she already conceded defeat. Álvaro doesn’t get up. 

He doesn’t get up. 

The Aegis tries to snag my attention. Please, the pull is getting worse, can’t it just—

“Not now!” I snarl, squeezing the arms of my chair. Come on, Ál. Get up. Get up!

Verity retrieves her sword, blood dripping down the hand that had grabbed the blade. She looks down on Álvaro’s prone form, then tosses her bangles at him, turns away, and lumbers wearily off into the woods. 

Álvaro stirs, and I let out a breath. Thank god. That’s got to sting, but at least the System will slowly heal him up. 

Verity. The crowd is still booing her sportsmanship. She all but eliminated herself from the tournament—and all but guaranteed Álvaro will win this round. Why, though? Is she really such a sore loser? My blood boils. The next time I see her face…

The Aegis pokes at my mind, hard. I wince in surprise more than pain. What the hell? Kind of busy, here!

It can’t remain silent any longer. Just one of those things? Can’t it have just one?

One? I think, confused. 

I’m so distracted by the Aegis, I don’t notice Constance has stood up until he’s halfway to the Scimitar. Darian hisses in a breath, probably noticing at the same time I launch myself from my seat.

Constance lunges forward, pushing past other Duneshade nobles. Some of the guards have noticed, but they’re all too far away. The king and queen turn toward the scuffle—they’re the only ones between him and the Scimitar, now—but no one is reacting fast enough. 

I throw myself at Constance, tackling him just as he reaches the Scimitar. He falls forward against the pedestal, knocking the Scimitar loose. He growls, snatching for it, but mid-fall he only manages to bat it away. The sword spins out into the open air, disappearing into the arena below. Constance and I hit the ground. The spectator box is in an uproar. 

Guards are upon us in mere seconds, which is great, because even in his emaciated state, Constance is still bigger and stronger than me. But he doesn’t fight. He lays there, face scrunched in anguish, tears beading at the corners of his eyes. I stare in shock as guards yank him away from me, pinning him against a wall. 

Constance’s eyes find mine. I’m expecting swears and angry threats. Instead, the tears break free and run down his face. “Thank you.”

I just sit there, not sure what to do or say as the chaos moves around me. People are shouting to take Constance away, for people to retrieve the Scimitar. Quell appears at my side, but I don’t register whatever it is he says to me.

The guards yank Constance to his feet, and only then does he resist them. “Nye! They’re coming. Protect Liz and Quell for me.”

All I can do is gape as he’s dragged away. 

“...protect us?” Quell asks, hand tightening on my arm. “What was that? What’s he talking about?”

“I don’t know.”

But the Aegis does. It’s practically in a frenzy, even though the Scimitar is now so far away we can barely feel it. But that’s not what’s been bothering the Aegis, I finally realize. There’s still something tugging at it—something that’s not coming from the Scimitar. 

I stand and lean out over the box’s parapet, craning my head in the direction the Aegis is fussing over. In the midst of the night, with all the lights in the arena burning away my dark vision, I can’t make out anything in the desert’s dark. But I can feel something. It’s coming our way. 

Is that what Constance was talking about? Is that why he snapped? 

I don’t know. But I do know things are about to get a lot worse. 

“Darian!” I shout back at her over the raised voices. “Something’s coming. Swords out!” 

She doesn’t even question me. The captain immediately turns to her guards, ordering them into position around the royals. Then she wades over to the king and queen’s side to speak with them. 

“What’s happening?” Quell asks as I look back out into the night. “What’s coming? Nye, talk to me!”

“The Aegis can sense something out there,” I tell him. 

No! The Aegis corrects me: It can sense many somethings. 

And just then I can start to hear it; a distant chittering, like a flock of birds about to descend upon us.