Bladewarriors Book 1: Refresh

"Flare!"

Ivy called out, gasping as the spray of crimson liquid splashed across the ground, staining the spongy surface red. Fear and astonishment forced the green-haired girl to take a step back as a venomous aura of murderous intent swirled about her, emanating from the serpentine woman perched before her ally. But that step was as far back as she allowed herself to be pushed, steeling her nerves against the fearsome air that clutched at her. She tightened the grip she had on the sword in her hands, narrowing her gaze as Flare stumbled back, blood running down his cheek. Somehow, despite that monster's speed, the redhead had managed to avoid a fatal blow.

The Serpent roared in reply, twisting her body into a rapid spin as the fiery-haired warrior reached up with his free hand to check the new wound, flinching slightly as his fingers ran across its length. For a moment, as Ivy stared at the redhead, gazing into the boy's eyes, she thought – for the first time – that she could see a tinge of fear there. Whether such a thing was true or not, though, the tomboy and the rest of the Bladewarriors had little time to concern themselves with it. As the Creature of the Gods continued to spin, holding her hands out ever so slightly from her body, the beast began to create slivers of water floating in the air around her – rings of liquid that were held aloft by her power.

Flare gritted his teeth, watching the streams of water form as he leapt backward, seeking some distance. The Serpent refused to grant him such luxury, though, halting her spin as she thrust her arms outward. The rings of water that surrounded the beast suddenly shot out, expanding toward them all as the redhead still hung in the air. The flame warrior grunted, finally pulling his blade from the sheath on his back, swinging it downward, through the approaching aquatic crescents, breaking their structure. The rings began to quickly fall apart, but still continued along their path outward.

Before Ivy was even sure what was happening, a form slid in front of her, strands of blue hair dancing before her eyes. The tomboy shifted her glance, raising it to meet the back of Myst's head as the nymph held her hands outward in front of her, warding The Serpent's spray away from the both of them. At first, the tomboy didn't fully understand why, but as she tossed her gaze back towards her fiery ally, she began to understand.

The Serpent's spray continued like miniature daggers through the air, slicing across Flare's face and arms, leaving small gashes across his flesh. Though his slash through the rings had weakened the attack from a life-ending guillotine, the end result was still not pretty. Flare groaned, trying to bide through the pain as the water slid by, somehow missing any vital spots across his body. As his feet returned to the ground though, the full force of the attack was quickly realized. The added pressure of his weight caused the wounds to scream at him, catching the redhead off guard as he slid and collapsed to his knees.

"Flare! Look out!"

Ivy's warning forced the fiery warrior to raise his head, taking The Serpent's visage in once more. The beast seemed to have no intention of giving the boy even the briefest of respites as she recoiled her arm yet again, pulling back. While the motion was familiar, the effect was decidedly different this time. As the limb pulled back it shimmered, wavering in the light as it became translucent, transforming into water. The watery arm quivered a moment before it bent itself out, forming into a surging spear of liquid as The Serpent thrust it forward. The redhead clenched his teeth, eyes focused on the oncoming assault, unable to avoid yet another strike. Even with a lethal strike aimed his way, though, Flare didn't flinch or blink, facing it head on.

As the attack was about to hit, though, an arctic chill rushed up, slicing between the Flamian boy and the aquatic monster. The Serpent let out a piercing scream as her watery limb hardened, freezing in place as ice engulfed it, reaching up like a hand from the ground to halt its movement.

"I know it's rare for me to be so quiet for so long, but I'd really appreciate if you didn't forget about me."

Ivy spun her head from The Serpent and Flare, turning to look behind herself and Myst at the arctic warrior perched there. His expression uncharacteristically serious, Frost held out his Arctic Blade, tip pointed toward the frozen region it had just created. The Serpent hissed in response to the boy's sudden intrusion, tearing away her frozen arm, causing it to shatter as she leapt back. The green-haired girl spun her head back, watching as The Serpent pulled back, staring at the creatures arm once again turned into water. The tendril of liquid whipped about for a moment before reforming the beasts lost limb, replacing the appendage as if nothing had happened.

"Flare… your sword!"

Prompted by the shock inherent in Myst's voice, Ivy turned once more to the swordsman, fixing her eyes upon the boy's blade – his dull, gray blade.

"It's still dormant!" Ivy shouted out in surprise, staring at the weapon. It was true the edge near the weapon's hilt had regained its fiery appearance, but the rest of the sword was still lifeless and dull. "But you said-!"

"Now really isn't the time."

Flare gritted his teeth, forcing himself to rise as he leaned on the blade for support.

"Myst… go free your dad."

"What!" Myst replied, perplexed. "But-!"

"Hey, you heard him."

Frost moved forward, standing beside Flare as the redhead returned to his feet, seeming to brush off the series of scratches and gouges that ran through his flesh.

"This little snake isn't something the two of us can't handle." Frost boasted, putting on a strong front as he glared at the beast on the other side of his ice. "We can hold our own at least long enough for you to get him off that wall."

"But…" Myst paused, tilting her gaze toward Calder as he still hung lifeless against the distant slab. She wasn't sure she really wanted to get him down from there, though she would admit she wasn't fond of the sight of him hanging against the wall either.

Ivy blinked, her eyes resting upon the troubled expression that haunted the nymph's face. Clouded by uncertainty, Myst's eyes seemed to shake as she stared off toward the distant form of her battered father. Her brow seemed to quiver, her cheeks responding in turn as he face seemed to struggle to decide whether unbridled hatred or compassion was needed in this situation. The tomboy threw her gaze back toward the two boys, studying the stern glares they focused on The Serpent, their focus unwavering. It seemed there was really no choice here – there was only one thing to do.

"You two…" Ivy trailed off, shaking her head as she reached out, wrapping her fingers around Myst's wrist while turning toward the dangling man. "Don't die!"

Before the nymph had a chance to put up any sort of protest, Ivy took off, dragging the blue-haired witch with her toward the distant man. At the very least, she could do this. If nothing else, she could help Myst decide. If nothing else…

"As if I'd let you!"

The Serpent hissed, screaming out as Ivy and Myst moved toward their target, but the green-haired girl made no attempt to look back. Even as she heard the surge of water blast toward her, she kept her focus ahead – her eyes on Calder. She trusted her allies… her friends. Before the source of the gushing sound could strike her or the nymph in her clutches, it was silenced, a crackling, chilling sound replacing it as a frigid breeze brushed at Ivy's back. She'd have to make sure to thank the pest for his help later.

"Ivy, we—"

"Don't argue!" the tomboy cut her friend off as Myst began to protest. "This is… this is something you need to do!"

No further argument came as they continued to run forward, closing the distance. The green-haired girl, reaching the platform, risked a glance back, spotting the chaotic plumes of the erupting battle behind her. She hoped Frost and Flare could last until Myst was done.

"Here…"

Ivy turned away from the chaos behind her, drawing to a stop in front of the lifeless form of the nymph's father, Myst slowing to a halt beside her as well. The tomboy blinked, staring up at the bloodied and bruised face of the Aquatican hanging before her, pupils tracing the gashes and cuts that ran across it. A steady stream of blood trickled from the wounds, rolling down the man's cheeks to gather temporarily at the male's chin before it dripped gently to the ground below.

"Let's get him down." Ivy turned, looking toward the blue-haired girl as she finally released her hold on the nymph's wrist. Eyes falling upon her friend, though, Ivy was forced to stop and simply stare.

"Myst…"

The nymph noticeably jumped as the hushed words of the weakened man reached her, every muscle in her body seeming to tighten for a single moment as the sound struck her ears. The noise sent a wave of revulsion through her – a tremor of hatred that shook her to her core. How dare he say her name!

"What are…"

"Shut up!" The blue-haired girl's tone was harsh, her words forceful as she cut Calder off, refusing to listen to him.

"Just shut up…" The nymph's fist trembled at her side, restrained through will alone. Every fiber of her being was begging her to strike the man, to deck him – to beat him to an even bloodier pulp.

"Do you know…?" Myst's voice quivered with the restricted rage building within her.

"Do you know how much I hate you!" The nymph screamed the words, her voice seeming to shake the very world around her as the liquid and water in the air and ground quivered under her influence. "Do you know how much I want to strike you right now! How much I want to kill you!"

Myst flung her head up, wrathful gaze falling upon the bloodstained face of her father, staring into the bastard's weak and listless eyes. It only served to anger her more, seeing him like that. How could he! He had caused her so much pain! How could he have let himself be hurt like that!

"I hate you!"

As that bellow of rage rang through the cathedral-like chamber, the undulating saber in the nymph's hand rose, slashing out towards the man as it burst with a wave of the young girl's power. A slash of blue emanated from the sword's edge, crashing against the wall as the tomboy beside her gasped in surprise, the brilliance of the energy almost blinding.

"Myst!"

Ivy called out in shock, turning toward the wall as the light cleared, unsure what her eyes would behold, uncertain she wanted to see it. As her gaze feel upon the drab slab, though, she saw nothing but the shattered chains that had once held a man there. Blinking, the girl lowered her eyes to the ground, spotting Calder sprawled out there on the floor, too weak to even groan from the impact.

"The only reason I'm even saving you…"

Ivy exhaled, shifting her gaze back toward the nymph at her side.

"…is because if you're going to die… if anyone deserves to kill you… It's me!"

Once more the space around them shook with the girl's rage, as if the world itself feared her wrath. Ivy stared on in disbelief, unsure what to do. She had pulled Myst over there, thinking they would free and heal the man. But, staring up at those heated eyes – the pupils boiling over with revulsion – she was no longer sure what her friend's intentions were.

"Then go ahead…"

Calder coughed, his voice weak, his body motionless. The man made no attempt to lift himself or rise from where he had fallen upon the ground, unable to summon enough strength to even roll over.

"If you want to kill me, then go ahead." The injured father repeated himself.

"Don't tempt me." The vehement tone of the nymph's words warned of the girl's conspicuous desire.

"It's fine…" Calder sputtered out the words, struggling to find the strength to talk loud enough for the blue-haired girl to hear. "I… wouldn't blame you…"

A simple gasp was the only response the man got as Myst stared down at him, uncertain she had heard correctly.

"For what I've done to you… it would be fitting…"

"Stop it…" Myst whispered the words, barely loud enough for even Ivy to hear.

"Strapped to this wall, killed again and again by that beast…" Calder paused, a spray of blood expelled from his mouth. "I realized… how horrible I was to you…"

"Stop it…"

The nymph repeated the phrase, slightly louder this time, but still with a hushed whisper.

"Forced to watch my memories flash before me… over and over…" The man began to hack and cough once more, but continued undeterred, "I saw… the horrors… I dealt you… and Undine. And I saw… the love… we once shared."

"I said stop." Myst's words were not so quiet this time, but they still went unheeded.

"I realized… that before you had magic… and after you had magic… you were still you…"

"Enough!" Myst's tone became more forceful as she clenched her hand into a fist once again.

"But I… I was not me anymore." A splatter of blood stained the ground as the man began to cough once more, showing more life in those painful writhes than he had since they had arrived. "I'm sorry… I didn't see it… before…"

"I said stop it!" Myst screamed, stamping her foot hard on the ground. "You can't say that now! How dare you say that now! When you're like this! When you're dying! It's meaningless!"

"I'm… sorry…" Calder choked out the words again, between painful fits.

"I won't forgive you!" Myst screeched, her entire body shaking. "Even if you apologize now, I won't forgive you! I'll still hate you! Forever! So stop it!"

"I know…"

Calder groaned, continuing to hack up his life as – for the first time – he attempted to lift himself. The man struggled to raise himself even an inch, twisting his head around to the other side before he collapsed once more, finally able to stare at his daughter's feet as he did.

"But I'm still… sorry…"

"You selfish bastard!" Myst roared, her powers – fueled by her own rage – forcing the water around her to flee from her presence, pushing it away as her whole being shook with anger. "When you're dying! That's when you do this! When you can't make amends any more? When you can no longer atone! That's when you admit you were wrong!"

The enraged nymph received no response, not even an agonizing cough as she stared down at the pathetic wretch before her.

"Is that all you have to say!" Myst screamed out at the dreg through clenched teeth, still struggling to contain her will to strike the man. "You coward!"

"Myst, I…"

The nymph spun her eyes to the green-haired girl accompanying her. In her rage and frustration, she had nearly forgotten Ivy was there. As she stared down at the mass of braided hair, the tomboy slowly turning sorrowful eyes up toward her, she felt her anger ebb away.

"I think he's…"

Myst exhaled, her rage subsiding as she flung her eyes back toward the bastard at her feet, staring at his motionless form. She stepped forward, kneeling down closer to him, lowering a hand before his mouth. She felt nothing. No inhale. No exhale. The nymph gasped, clenching her teeth as she bent down further, pressing her ear to the bloodied back of her father, concentrating, searching… but there was nothing.

"No…"

Anger began to swell in the young woman once more as she raised her head, her silky, ocean-blue hair now marred by the crimson fluid that covered that man. Ungoverned rage overtook her, its target now lost. She felt her hand ball into a fist. She felt her arm swing down. She heard the sickening thud of her strike against the dreg before her.

"You coward!" The nymph yelled out as loud as she could, raising her hand again to strike the man's back. "You can't die! You gutless bastard! You think you can say 'I'm sorry' and then die and that'll be it!"

Myst reached out, gripping the man by the collar to raise his lifeless head up towards her own.

"Do you think I'll forgive you, now!"

Painful tears welled in the young girl's eyes as she stared at the unresponsive gaze of the wretch in her grasp, staring back at her as if she wasn't there – as if nothing was there. After all he had put her through, this was how he chose to end it? Did he think a dying request for forgiveness – a deathbed apology – would wipe clean what he'd done? Did he think it was that easy!

The nymph released her grasp on the man's collar, letting the lifeless body drop to the ground as she rose once more.

"I'll never forgive you…"

Ivy turned her head up, averting her gaze from the deceased, and toward his daughter, watching as a gentle trickle of tears rolled down the girl's cheeks, watching as the swordswoman tightened her grip on her blade.

"… But I will avenge you."