Serial
94: The Lion - III
March 22nd, 33 S.D. 13:21 Tafren Plains, Henron
“Leave,” Govan said tersely, referring to Doctor Sansat. At first, the scientist could but stare at Losha, frozen in her very presence. “Out!” the Prime Lead growled.
Sansat seemed to snap out of his fixation. Hurriedly, he fled, running haphazardly all the while. He nearly slipped again as he started and bumped up against another crate, throwing his head over his shoulder. Sansat took one last look at Losha; the color left his cheeks as their eyes briefly met. With that, he left, stepping frantically as fast as he could. Perhaps he did not want to be anywhere near these two when their fight began. Perhaps he was simply not underestimating the Wolf as he had last time. Nothing had ever stopped her, and he was certain she still held him in contempt. At any rate, Sansat soon vanished, leaving Losha and Govan to themselves. Dozens of loyalists paused as they saw the two combatants draw towards their arena, however, all of them kept back a great distance.
Now but a handful of meters apart, Losha and Govan circled around each other, Cautiously, they crept, counterclockwise, examining their opponent with sharpened scrutiny. Losha could feel her mind working on its own as it devised countless plans of attack. Ever since her match with Koter, it were as if she’d unlocked a secret side of herself, the heart of a warrior. Every time she picked up her servai, a flood of strategies and techniques raced through her. She knew not where all of this martial talent came from, but to her it was of no matter. So long as she could best Govan, these latent skill were much appreciated.
The Prime Lead, however, was a veteran soldier. He’d been through battle before she’d even been born. His experience dwarfed her own by several obvious magnitudes. Regardless, she directed herself to focus every thought on their duel; she could not afford to misjudge Govan. They continued pacing about, each keeping to their own half of the path.
“Well, Wolf, are you going to make a move?” Govan asked.
“Not until you do,” Losha said.
“Hmph. You actions seem to speak of uncertainty.”
“Sa? I think this is rather tactical in a way. Your serasword, it constantly leaks seras just by being activated. I can feel it. Any moment I spend stalling like this is one less moment of power you have to use.”
Although Govan found himself frowning, he had to admit it was a clever ploy. Nevertheless, he raised the serasword up at Losha. A bright sphere grew at the very tip as he began charging up a blast. All at once, Losha stopped walking. She stood up straight, loosening her stance.
“A beam attack?” she predicted. “And what if you miss?” she asked; her gaze briefly tugged at the scores of soldiers behind her. The shot would strike Govan’s own people if he failed to get her.
“I will not miss,” Govan said calmly.
Losha narrowed her eyes as the ball of light grew more and more intense. The Barul Lion intended to release his attack; not the slightest bit of hesitation affected him.
“This mad fool...” she whispered to herself as she prepared the timing in her head. The same instant he was about to fire the serasword, she rushed in with a speed-step. Swinging her servai in an upward arc, she clashed against Govan’s weapon. Catching his blade from underneath, she knocked it skywards. A single, long line of hot, white light erupted. It sailed on high, burning into the heavens. Her servai and his serasword ignited in a flash as they contacted one another, repelling each user backwards one full step.
“Are you insane?” Losha asked, her voice growing somewhat heated as she glared at him. “You cannot even begin to know how to properly control that sword. You would have missed, and you would have obliterated those you vowed to lead.”
Govan looked blankly at Losha, though he glanced shortly at the spot she’d dashed from. He’d heard the stories surrounding the Wolf, how she could move as fast and unseen as the wind itself. Witnessing her in action surprised him. Even so, he did not let that get to his psyche. Bringing the serasword level once again, he steeled himself for their battle.
“I would not have missed had you simply stayed put.”
Raising the serasword over his head, Govan reared the blade before slamming it into the ground. Light started pumping into the earth, digging and tunneling its way below. Beneath her, Losha sensed a trembling disturbance. The field around her quaked violently. Like snaking veins, seras ran underfoot, splitting and rending the land itself. A chunk of grass and dirt collapsed near her, exposing a chasm. From this hole, a vast amount of energy surfaced. Govan was going to attack her with this surging outbreak.
Thinking fast, Losha leaped upwards, propelled by a speed-step. As she launched for many meters, a pillar of white light spewed forth, bursting from the plains like a geyser. It tore through the surrounding environment, instantly making a large crater. This fountain missed Losha in the end. Though it had been a strong move, it was also very short-lived. Right as Losha descended, the light ran out. To her dismay, however, she saw Govan behind the column as it faded. He held up the serasword and again charged another beam.
“Shrieking luck of mine...” she whispered, realizing what the Prime Lead had done. He’d wanted her to jump all along so he could get her in midair. At this angle, even if he missed, his attack would just go over his soldiers. It wouldn’t be easy, but she soon figured a way to dodge the incoming ray.
She created a kinetic series with a wave of her hand. Suddenly, it were as if someone were pushing upon her back. Losha fell much quicker and harder than she was supposed to as a result. Govan fired his round, however, the shining, laser-like seras blazed right over her. Swiftly, the serialist plunged, colliding with the grass. Her force-field mitigated most of the damage, thankfully. Wasting no time, she came to her feet almost instantly. With two speed-steps, she was upon the Prime Lead.
Though his eyes were wide, Govan somehow managed to overcome his shock. Reacting automatically from years of experience, he cut his serasword through the air horizontally. Losha stopped immediately and ducked, bowing forward to let the blade fly above her. The next moment she looked up, Govan was readying a backhanded stroke against her. She swung at him equally. In yet another explosion of light, servai and serasword danced and tangled together. Despite Govan size and physical prowess, both fighters came to a stalemate. Their weapons shifted slightly, shuddering as the two of them pressed with their might.
As if they were magnets, they found themselves repulsed. Losha and Govan moved back several steps, nearly stumbling all the while. Govan quickly looked at his sword, perplexed by the phenomenon. After her fight with Koter, Losha knew there was some kind of connection between serastone and her servai. If the two ever touched, light released. Being thrown away in such a manner, however, was a new observation. It had happened slightly just after she redirected Govan’s first beam, but now the effects were most pronounced. However, nothing like that had ever occurred at Binfort. Was the serasword somehow different from Koter’s knives? Govan’s serastone was notably denser in terms of how much energy it possessed, but Losha could not definitely explain what was at work here. Still, she wondered how this discovery could aid her.
Despite his shock, Govan recovered himself hastily. He held his sword firmly as he planted his feet. He slashed from a distanced, and in the shape of his arc, a wave of light hurried towards her. It was like what Koter had done, attacking with seratic projectiles. She stood but a few meters away, yet a single speed-step ensured her safety. As she escaped to the side, the spot she’d formerly occupied blew up when Govan’s light neared, casting bits of dirt up in a spire. It seemed the Prime Lead could manipulate the seras better than she’d initially thought.
Govan spared no moment; rapidly, he made several more cuts. Each move unleashed another wave aimed at her. However, no matter how fast he swung, Losha always avoided his attempts. Running around him, sprinting every so often with a speed-step, she stayed ahead of Govan’s efforts. The ground behind her ripped itself apart when the waves struck, yet she remained unharmed as she sped off. Govan was a crafty, strategic man nonetheless. What may have appeared to be a waste of time was in fact a clever play on his part. Unbeknown to Losha, she was being guided to a point of his choosing. At last, after entering the area, the Lion activated his trap.
He made short swipe, though instead of whipping out another wave, nothing happened evidently. Losha, poised to take off, all at once halted. Her brow wrinkled up in confusion for a moment. A second later, she felt seras zooming towards her. Before she could offer any resistance, a barrier materialized around her. Like a box, an aura now enclosed her location. Its glow was the same as the force-fields Govan had given his troops, only here its design kept her inside. To every side and above Losha, the bright, semi-translucent shield blocked her.
Though she glanced all around, the Wolf knew right away that this version was a great deal stronger than the ones used on the loyalists. She bashed her servai into one wall. A flash lit up as she tried to slice her way through, but Govan’s light denied her blade. Again, she felt some sort of rebound as she was pushed away. Losha fell backwards, kneeling as she lost her balance. So it wasn’t just the serastone itself that could cause a reaction like that, she wondered.
“Ksh,” she said, gripping the handle of her servai tightly. How could she get out of this? Her brain processed a series of thoughts, each trained on finding a viable solution. Even with all of that, she simply couldn’t see what to do next.
Govan drew his serasword over his head, holding it towards the center of the sky. It then was set aflame by a layer of searing light. The very way the seras itself move was not unlike a wild fire. Thick, jagged, and alive, this light wrapped around the sword. It grew like a torch, extending the total length of his weapon to some three meters.
“You fight well, Wolf of Sventa. I can see why no one has been able to best you in all your battles. Unfortunately, your winning comes to an end today.”
The Prime Lead threw the serasword down. Upon doing so, the light plowed into the ground, hurling towards her like a siege of spikes. As the attack closed in, she braced herself quickly. Blinding streaks of light ran in all directions when it finally reached her, breaking through Govan’s own force-field. As if detonating a bomb, massive concussive energy expelled from the site as a mighty fireball roared to life. The supersonic scream of the blast echoed loudly; a plume of red and black towered high above the fields.
For a brief moment, Govan imagined the setting had calmed. The wind, the rain, everything seemed to ease up. It proved temporary at the most, for the tempest resumed, tossing the elements about. The black smoke caused by his assault soon dissipated. Where Losha had once stood, only a dark, scorched square remained. The soil had been razed completely, leaving but fresh simmering ash. Govan held himself there tensely as he gazed upon the destruction. With narrow eyes, he scanned left and right. Even after a thorough examination, however, he saw no trace of his enemy. His shoulders fell as he stood upright. He exhaled into the storm, looking up into the clouds. As he relaxed for but an instant, something came across the edge of his vision.
He thought he caught an object launching into the air. Whirling his head back to Losha’s last position, Govan noted what looked like a trail of dust jettisoning out of the ground. Instinctively, he snapped his head up, searching for whatever he’d seen. Gritting his teeth, he shifted from side-to-side, trying to find it. By mere chance, he realized something was coming down directly on him.
“Ghhh!” he breathed as he dove and rolled to his right. At that very same time, a large mass barreled down towards the plains. It hit the land with a vibrating thud, running a shockwave through the vicinity. Govan felt a sudden gale strike his face as the object make its mark and shattered the earth with deep fissures. Debris choked the point of impact, veiling all beneath a muddy haze. The weather cleared up the mess shortly, but before that happened, Govan saw a blue luminance radiating through everything.
“D****t,” he cursed trying to rise. He barely made it to one knee; he had to use the serasword defensively, bringing it up to block. As he moved, Losha’s servai pummeled his blade with a solid blow. She stood over him, her body protected by a heavy force-field. Their two weapons gnashed and clawed at each other before ultimately repelling their foe. Govan was sent backwards, sliding in the mud on heels and hands. Losha slid as well, although she remained standing.
“How are you still alive, Wolf?” Govan asked. “Some sort of trick only a serialist would know?”
“Nothing fancy was done,” Losha said. “You did not seal the ground beneath me. I simply burrowed below and waited a bit. Then at the right moment, I sent myself into the air with a speed-step. Both maneuvers only require basic kinetic series. I tried to attack you from above, but as expected of a warrior, you leaped at the last second. I can easily survive a fall of a few hundred meters. I was trying to see if you could survive something like that too.” She cocked her head to the side, smiling. The gestures provoked the Prime Lead, as she intended. He huffed noisily, crinkling his nose as he stood up.
“Impressive, but do not expect it to work a second time,” he warned.
“There will be no need for that,” Losha explained. “You will not get the chance to corner me again. This time, I will go on the offensive.”
She whirled her free hand above her head, casting several kinetic series. The first turned a number of raindrops into needles of ice. A second series suspended them in place while they grew. Lastly, she commanded them to target Govan in a sudden frenzy of movement. A hail of daggers, the ice swiftly approached Govan. With a wave of his serasword, the Prime Lead created a screen of light before him. The crystal shards attacked it by the hundreds, however, they all either broke or pinged harmlessly to the side. Losha knew she couldn’t get past the barrier with such a relatively weak assault, however, she had never planned on hurting him with that move. The ice was in fact a mere distraction.
Propelled by a speed-step, she darted towards Govan, thrusting her servai ahead. By the time the needles ran out, she was but meters away from her opponent, much to his own wide-eyed astonishment. Her blade shredded through the screen as if it were glass, shattering it into smaller, cracking fragments. Govan side-stepped at the last possible instant, yet he could not avoid the Wolf’s fang. Her servai tore into his right shoulder, spitting up neon-orange light into the air.
He grunted in pain, twisting away as he readied his sword. For a moment, he looked at his wound. He could see no blood; it was just like all the reports he’d read. The damage he felt was at his core being, his soul. His arm itself felt fine, but inside she’d hit his very life-force.
“So that is what your seras looks like,” she mused. “I will offer you this again; lay down your arms and stop this fight. There is still time to properly resolve things.”
“Do not mock me with talk of peace,” he said lowly. “Do you really think it is so easy to end conflict?”
“Do you believe it to be so hard?” she countered. “It seems to me the biggest obstacle is the stubbornness of all Astens alike. What are you truly fighting for? Have you an honest answer?”
“I doubt a Sventa like you would understand my cause, our cause.”
“How can I if you do not bother to elaborate?”
“Ksh!” Govan said dismissively. Nevertheless, he began to speak more. “You know of the promise we Henron soldiers undertake, the Ordinal Oath, our binding vow as warriors of the clan? It is a code that forces us to dedicate ourselves to our fellow Henron, and the oldest tradition of our land. The people are to come first above all else. It is a principle I hold very dear. However, without a leader, Henron would be nothing. Did you know, Wolf of Sventa, that Henron was not more than a handful of rival families a few centuries ago? Even with the oath, we bitterly fought amongst ourselves; all the while other clans slowly picked us off. Everything changed though when an absolute ruler emerged.”
“For ages since, our kind has thrived, but only because a single person stood over all, a supreme authority, a dictator if you will. Though the lineage changes every few generations or so, Heigon comes from a long line of powerful autocrats. To ensure the overall safety and prosperity of Henron, the head of the state must be protected; their control and influence must be safeguarded.”
“Just look at the mess Liveta had made. The military is divided, its forces are weakened internally and externally. Whatever she hoped to achieve will be for naught. Our people will be left vulnerable. The peace you seek will not last, mark my words; we will be on the frontlines as enemies once again. Henron’s survival has always been predicated on a cold and harsh master. Without Heigon or someone like him, order will perish from these lands. How will that serve my clan? How will that protect it? That is what I fight for, to restore Heigon to his rightful place!”
All at once, Losha realized something was wrong with his words. Govan did not know what had happened to Heigon. By Liveta’s order, the Prime Lead had been purposefully kept aware of the despot’s fate. She’d forgotten all about that detail until just now. Her body seemed to sink as she sighed and lowered her head. With a slight frown, she looked at him through the rain
“Govan, Heigon will never act as Henron’s leader, not again. The man you believed in, the one you put your trust and faith in is dead.”
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