#nemisae

We arrive at the place. Odin returns to my head presenting his challenge once again. “Finally. And the Warrior of Light with you, no less.”

“I heard that, Primal.” Nemisae spoke answering Odin to my surprise.

“Ah, what a relief. You can hear him too… at least I’m definitely not crazy” I nervously mock the whole situation trying to focus into the battle to come. “Yes, Odin. I am here. To face you once again. To defeat you this time.”

“This is what we’ll all see… Tenryuu heir”

The battle began as ferocious as it could be, with Nemisae taking the initiative jumping into the fighting arena created by the Primal. She looked like a coeurl, vicious, fast, ready to rend the prey. Her speed was hard to see even to myself. I open a slight smile thinking that I was glad to have her as an ally and not as an adversary.

Odin takes the first strike but it doesn’t stutter. He stands on Sleipnir, his personal dark horse. I don’t have my Lotus by my side. “Seems kinda unfair, matey.” I provoke the Primal that only answered with a lunge with everything against me, ignoring the Warrior of Light. I manage to parry his blade with mine, something that actually made me proud. I rolled to get away of the parrying challenge and Nemisae takes the lead again, using my back as plataform for a high jump delivering a flying kick on the dark helm of Odin. The enemy keeps its balance on his horse, however, it was clear that he felt that. “Sorry for your back, Shin, I took the opportunity”. Nemisae yells from the other side of the flank. “Not a problem with that”, I answer from mine.

Again the primal faces me and this time he doesn’t attack directly, but comes with a focused energy coming from the dark cloudy skies. “Einherjar”. It’s what I can hear before something hits me. The attack is strong but I still can support it, although with some bruises already. I’m wearing out. There’s something on the arena now, a spear. “I’ll take care of the Gungnir!” Nemisae points to the spear. “You take care of Odin!”

I needed to take the initiative. I couldn’t just stand there seeing what he was able to do to me. I concentrate my aether in my chest, then spread out through my whole body. “It’s my turn, Odin! Fight… or FLIGHT!”. I augment my speed and strength with this technique I learned with a gladiator many years ago, now I can even see the movements of his horse and his sword. “Anticipation!” I break through the strikes of Zantetsuken, stepping on the armor of Sleipnir and delivering a savage blow on Odin’s back. He felt. He definitely felt. But it was not enough. He uses his dark aether to push me back far away from himself. Nemisae manages to destroy Gungnir and helps me to stand up. “Einherjar!” Again, the same attack. “Sentinel!” I answer, protecting Nemisae from the strike as much as I can. Gungnir is back on the field.

“Grrr. This is getting annoying…” The Warrior of Light humanely delivers a complaint. “Alright, same tactic!”

“Hai!” I answer to her, but something is wrong. Something is amiss. This is different from before. “Nemisae! Watch out!” But it was too late. Gungnir shines and creates energy shackles binding Nemisae on her position. “Try to set yourself free! I’ll hold him meanwhile…” However, the elezen didn’t answer. She was petrified. “What did you do to her, Odin?”

“Did you really think you would come here with help to face me? You need to do this alone, Shintaro of the Tenryuu Family. You want to test your mettle? Test it. With your own strength, with your own power. Come. Face me. Face your destiny!” And with a growl, he rides his dark horse against me in full speed. I’m getting tired, but I still have some tricks under my sleeve.

“Hallowed ground!”

“Useless!”

He strikes me and a hold my ground but now I have a slashed wound on my left arm. I am bleeding. How? Hallowed Ground should hold his strike.

“You can’t simply try to stop Zantetsuken. But I commend you. You managed to dodge and hold your ground, barely, against my Sanngetall. Are you done yet?”

“Never.”

“Good. Because now you will lose. Shin. Zantetsuken. Aaaaaaaah” The Primal starts to concentrate a huge amount of Aether in his presence. It was like if all the reality was beginning to bend around us. I look at Nemisae, hoping for some help of the Warrior of Light. Was it for naught? Am I going to lose here…?

“Misaki…”

I close my eyes and start to focus on my iai. It’s been a long time since I’ve last try it, to no avail, but it was my last resort. I feel my aether flowing through the body, holy, lightning, in my mind, my own teachings to Misaki come to me. I feel the spark. There’s another thing… another aether. It’s the Warrior of Light! Nemisae! She’s trying to protect me! I can’t let them down. I still need to reclaim my home, to find my mother. I still need to tell Misaki… that I’m sorry.

“MIDARE! RAIJIN SETSUGEKKA!!!”

“SHIN! ZANTETSUKEN!!!”

A clash of aether explodes in a vicious blast shaking the whole structure of the arena we were fighting for. Trees bent and broke. The ground cracked and fissured. The sky, cloudy until that moment, see the sun breaking through just for a moment and then turns back to its dark tension.

And a dark knight stands. The blue oni falls. I lost. Again.

“Shintaro!” I hear Nemisae screaming my name as I fall on my knees, dropping my blade. I’m bleeding, bruised. Everything hurts. Maybe some broken bones. But this made me realise something.

“Hah… hahah… Ahahahaha… I… am... still alive… haha hahaha...” I tried to laugh making my lungs, or my chest, or whatever, hurts more.

“Yes.. you are, my adversary.” Odin… falters? Did I…? I smile from horn to horn just with the thought. “You did manage to hit me, bushi.” I see with my opened eye a piece of cloth, black, emanating aether from it. I lay down on the ground, a hole where I was standing. And close my eyes in relief while I sense Nemisae standing between me and Odin.

“Don’t worry, Warrior of Light. This fight is over.” Odin informs before turning his back to the elezen. “However, you should treat his wounds… even if he managed to almost equalize my Shin Zantetsuken, he was the one that took the heavier blow”

“Heavier blow?” Nemisae opens her mouth surprised. I’m still smiling on the ground, a relief after all of that. I survived. I delivered a blow on that primal. The voice on my head was silenced for a moment. I feel Nemisae’s aether again in my veins. She is healing me. My own holy aether comes back to help. As I stand up, Odin raises his blade, casting a lightning from the sky. He disappears, leaving only the Zantetsuken.

“Farewell, for now, Bushi. We will have our fight one last time later. Prevail, survive, train.” He challenges me again. And then quietly vanishes. My mind is lighter.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that. Ouch” I jest still with some pain. My wounds heal much faster now that I’m having my aether back to normal. Nemisae seems a bit surprised with that but then raises her head and smiles to me. Our job there was done.

“Sorry for not helping you on the last part.” She apologizes, lowering a bit her head.

“But you did help… I felt your aether trying to protect me from Shin Zantetsuken.” I answer her.

“Yeah, I tried at least that… glad I could make it.”

“Thank you. For everything. If you need me, I’ll gladly lend you a hand. But for now, I need to go to Othard. I am now ready to face my own end. And this…” I pick the piece of Odin’s Mantle from the ground. “This is my token. I know what to do with this, but I need to go to Hingashi first.”

“It’s a primal aether, are you sure?” She asks, worried.