Chapter 43: The northern lion. (8)

Chapter 43: The northern lion. (8)

Fast. Efficient. More than a tad lucky. Those were Arioch’s thoughts when he saw Gabriel defeat Quinn. Gabriel was younger than most of the knights on the Barong side so it would only be natural if he was a bit physically weaker. He also seemed aware of that possibility and hence chose a quick deflect that relied on his opponents power. He trusted his decision and moved at the same time, and that trust and planning coupled with the carelessness of his own men to produce a quick defeat.

Definitely lucky on his side and careless on the Barong side, but it was still a marvellous display, striking that small spot so quickly and accurately.

"That was fast. It seems like your knight has a good eye and a fast hand. Caine, if you had to guess, how many before he has to tap out?"

Unlike the fighting knights, Arioch and the other onlookers could take it easy and observe the fight with more relaxed eyes. In a different setting, they might even place some bets on the fights, at least between themselves. Right now however, that would be a bit inappropriate.

"Hmmm... Hard to say, honestly. A normal knight trainee, wearing that lacklustre armour and not using magic, I would give him one and a half fight. A skilled and well-trained one, two maybe three. But that one there... I can’t say. He could lose after three or four, or he could go the entire way. What’s your personal opinion, Lady Alice? You seemed to be giving him some encouragement before he went."

Caine observed the fight, which had started again after Quinn left the field, with narrowed eyes. The armour worn by Gabriel really wasn’t suited for this. If it was just a single match then it would work, but in a gauntlet... it’s shortcomings would only become more pronounced as time went on. But the knight in question... His very existence made it hard for Caine to give a definitive answer so he passed it along to someone else.

"I did not give him encouragement, I simply told him to not lose."

Alice only spoke briefly, her brows slightly creased as her gaze refused to leave the stage. Berrit’s blade just hit Gabriel’s waist and slid along the leather armour. Not a terribly bad hit, but the fact that the armour stuck so close to his body probably meant that it hurt a fair bit.

"So all of them. Confident."

Both Arioch and Caine thought of it as natural, if not a bit arrogant. She was his lord, it was only natural that she had to believe in his victory. But Alice and Gabriel... What the two shared was far from normal

"No, I did not tell him to take them all down. I told him not to lose."

A finger unconsciously went up to her mouth as she spoke, her teeth nibbling on her thumbnail. From the start, what Arioch and Alice thought about these matches was different, their definitions of victory and defeat were different. Alice had nothing but faith in Gabriel and his skills, she knew what he could do better than anyone else. But because she knew him, and what he could do, she also feared for him more than anyone else.

The next match began without fanfare. He breathed slowly, he lowered his sword and he waited. Slow breaths, drawn out breaths, sharp eyes.

"Your knight must have been in his fair share of fights, right? He’s quick at grasping the situation and taking advantage of the moments he can get his hands on. I’m guessing his relationship with the knights working for your siblings isn’t the best?"

Arioch kept talking as the fight started. Wait in the first match to take advantage of the opponents carelessness, charge in the second to prevent the other knights from getting enough time to suit up, wait again in the third to conserve his energy. Gabriel constantly took stock of his current situation and did what he could to handle it as efficiently as possible. If he wore proper armour... Things really would look nasty.

Gabriel was still quite young, and Alice had yet to join any expedition with the army or excursion with the academy so there shouldn’t be a lot of places where Gabriel could get practical battle experience. Spars were one thing, but just sparring wouldn’t create such a sharpness or heavy focus on efficiency. No, he guessed that the knights of Francis and Marion were making things difficult for him so he constantly had to defend himself.

"I wonder. What if he is just... That talented?"

Alice sidestepped the question, her words trailing mid-sentence because the girl he was fighting pushed him aside by pressing her sword into his side. He grit his teeth, a grunt escaped him. It must have been painful.

"The same armour is covering the gap on my knees, elbows, groin, and even my neck. Gabriel, you need to adapt."

The girl spoke to him as the battle continued, but there was no trace of condescension in her voice. A friendly reminder, from one knight to another so that they could both do their best. Or perhaps a warning of what was to come.

"We too, must adapt and learn."

A warning it was. She copied what Trisha had first done and abruptly changed the direction of her swing to catch Gabriel off-guard.

"Hmm. That one was a bit close. What do you say, Alice, should we call it quits here?"

Arioch’s lips pressed into a thin line for a moment as he turned to Alice. Ilia had managed to catch Gabriel off-guard, her blade bumping his pauldrons while the tip reached his face. Normally, the helmet would block it, but since Gabriel didn’t wear one he ended up with a cut that went from his cheek all the way to the back of his neck. The blood that poured out ran into his mouth and down his armour, luckily, Ilia had enough control of her strength to ensure that the cut wasn’t so deep that it completely tore open his cheek.

But still, it was a rather nasty cut. Injuries during sparring weren’t uncommon, the sensation of death was the first thing many instructors wanted to teach their students. But Alice was rather... Fond of this knight, so Arioch would prefer it if their relationship didn’t sour because he was injured.

"...No. Let them keep going. It’s not enough yet, not for him."

Alice spoke through grit teeth as Gabriel took advantage of the opening caused by his wound to close in and finish the fight by removing Ilia’s helmet. She struck him twice in the process, but he stuck to her like a leech and got the job done. Hand around the throat, fingers in front of the eyes, far too easy to kill or maim if he wanted to. But luckily he managed to hold himself back, he simply kept it as a threat.

Heavy steps as he walked back to his starting position, deep breaths. Each time he sucked in air he swallowed more blood but he didn’t even seem to notice it anymore. Alice had already chewed away every part of her thumbnail that she could reach so she had started to nibble on her lips as the next battle started.

"Keep... Going? Alice, this might harm his pride to say, but things will only get worse if he keeps going. It’s just one cut now, but there’s a real risk that he’ll suffer more cuts, one or two attacks might even get through his armour. This is an excellent time to stop things."

Arioch almost couldn’t believe Alice’s answer. She liked that knight, she was pursuing him romantically. But she wanted to keep things going after he got hurt?

"No, this is not an excellent time to stop it. And don’t speak of my knight’s pride if you don’t understand it."

A voice finally came from within the helmet to announce defeat. The knight who looked like he should be the loser rolled off and staggered to his feet.

"Walk... Walk... Right, walking..."

He didn’t even seem conscious of his own muttering as he walked past his sword, only realising it after a few more seconds. He wasn’t even raising the blade as he picked it up, he was dragging it after him as he took his position.

When he finally stopped, and the new fighter stepped onto the stage, Arioch could see Gabriel’s fingers move. They were wriggling, like a child painting with their fingers.

"No... You can’t..."

A subdued whisper from Alice, who was lurching forward without even realising it. Arioch didn’t think that Gabriel could hear them, but his fingers stopped moving after Alice whispered. Those finger movements... Did they mean something?

"Kiara Caslain. Knight-in-training of the Barong estate. Please, give me the honour."

The knight introduced themselves, eyes quivering slightly. The display... Was it hurting their pride or were they awed by the sheer weight of that suicidal determination. Arioch couldn’t tell, perhaps only the knights could.

"Sweat...Annoying."

Gabriel kept muttering, a hand sweeping across his face and smearing his silvery-white hair with blood. Did he... not even realise that he was bleeding? He then spat out some blood, his gaze floating over towards them. No, not them, Alice. He didn’t even seem to see them, only when he looked at Alice did those murky eyes take on a glimmer of clarity.

There was a small smile on his face. Even his eyes looked a bit happy in that moment, even in that state. But it only lasted for a few short moments before traces of darkness washed over it. Alice looked miserable right now, blood on her face and dress, an expression distorted by self-loathing and worry, arms clenched in restraint as she fought the sorrow that lurked in her gaze.

"I’m good...I’m good... Alice... I’m...I’m good..."

Like a broken recorder, the words repeated themselves, one of Alice’s hands reaching for her chest to clutch it. The bloody knight turned back to his opponent, sword held up by both hands as it quivered unstably. His fingers looked to be wiggling again as he lowered the sword, but it stopped again with a small flash of clarity in his eyes.

The two charged at each other, if Gabriel’s staggering could even be called that, he was barely even walking. His attack was b locked and he lost his sword, or perhaps he let it go. He then lunged at the opponent and smashed into them with his whole weight. A dull sound was heard amidst the clanking as he hit his skull against her chest-piece.

But it was successful, Kiara was knocked to the ground and he quickly straddled her. He had done the same to his previous opponent so Kiara reacted quickly, hitting the back of his head with her own fist. But the beast, that mad dog... He barely even flinched at it.

"Fire...We burn...We burned...We burnt..."

He didn’t stop muttering, at this point even Arioch felt his chest clench because of how unnerving it was. Alice still looked miserable, but Caine looked a bit pensive, brows furrowed as his eyes were locked deep in thought.

Clank.

Clank.

Once again, Gabriel made the bells ring. He raised the broken gauntlets and struck down like a beast clawing its way into a burrow. Kiara retaliated with hits of her own, smashing her fists into his head. But he didn’t even seem to feel them anymore as he just kept raising and lowering his fists, denting her helmet even as his gauntlets were peeled away.

"Ahh... The flies, Master... They feast... Me..."

He dug his fingers into the eye sockets of the visor as he muttered, tearing it away after giving it a few more hits to loosen it. Would he still be able to stop this time?

The answer was... Almost. He raised his fist a few times and brought it down directly on Kiara’s face, blood splattering out from the helmet. But the moment she called out her surrender, his merciless hands stopped.

He rolled down from her but wasn’t immediately able to stand up, he had to hit his legs several times for them to finally listen to him. He dragged the blade and staggered away like a mercenary struggling to get away from a horribly lost battle. But those who looked at him... They couldn’t even entertain that thought. No, they either thought of him as scary, crazy, stupid, or painfully loyal.

He stopped a bit away from his original starting position, hollow eyes searching around for a moment before he stopped. The next knight from the Barong estate entered the arena. Originally, this knight was supposed to go up last since he was the strongest from this batch, but it seemed like the display made him change his mind.

"Hellion Ravel. Knight-in-training of the Barong estate. Please... Just stop now, it’s enough."

Even the knights were trying to stop it now. Gabriel barely looked human as he stood there, swaying as he could barely hold his sword. The blood that was getting into his eyes, was he even able to see properly? He was about to fall, everyone could see it. He started to speak, and Alice finally moved.

"Gabriel. Knight of Alice. Come."

His introduction had only gotten shorter as the fights dragged on. At first he just mimicked the other opponents, save for the fact that he didn’t say that he trained for the Vritara estate. This one... This barely conscious introduction, perhaps this was the truest one for him, the one he could speak for himself, by himself.

He raised his arm, seeming as if he was about to hit his legs again as he lurched forward. But Alice had arrived in front of him, arms wrapping around him as he fell into her embrace. His blood stained her already crimson dress, some of it splattering onto her face as she caught him, her entire body jolting and stiffening, her expression twisting with more pain than anything she had shown so far.

"I’m useful... Alice... A good tool... So don’t abandon me... And take me... Home... Home..."

His sword clanked softly as it slipped from his grasp, his consciousness finally seemed to leave him. Was he still muttering? He felt like he saw Gabriel’s mouth move as he fell, so perhaps he was still voicing his thoughts. His head was buried in Alice’s embrace so Arioch couldn’t hear anything, but her body suddenly jolted and stiffened, her expression twisting with more pain than anything she had shown so far. What exactly had he whispered as his last drops of consciousness slipped away.