Daiki took a deep breath as he stood behind the parapet. The dust of the approaching army on the horizon had been getting closer since sunrise. Now it filled the horizon. If he squinted, he could make out the approaching demonic soldiers.

    Athena grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He looked into her eyes and gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. She smiled back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cap and Aquila leaning on the parapet.

    “Kasumi’s safe, right?” Aquila said, straightening up and starting to button up her coat.

    “She’s at the aid station behind the wall,” Cap said, rolling up his shirt sleeves. “She insisted on volunteering.”

    Aquila cursed. “That’s far too close.”

    Cap raised his hand. “I talked to both her and the medics. They know who she is, that she’s the one who put up the walls, and, if something goes wrong, the minute the wall is breached a protective detail will get her to safety...and she will go with them.”

    “She’s still far too close.”

    Cap rested a hand on her shoulder. “It was the furthest away she would agree to be from you. Would you compromise if you were in her shoes?”

    Aquila sighed. “I guess not.”

    Daiki looked back out at the approaching army. They were now close enough to make out the gap between the marching columns. And they were starting to enter the kill zone in front of the barbed wire.

    “This is going to be a long day,” Athena muttered, shaking out each arm and then picking up her great shield.

    Daiki nodded and freed the Black Sword from its scabbard. He opened the interface and started sifting through the ranged attacks, selecting the ones most likely to do mass damage.

    “Time for our first fair fight,” Cap said, rising into the air.

    “You’ll have to tell me what that means later,” Aquila said, rising into the air a few feet away from him. Three spinning rings of longswords flashed into existence around her, criss-crossing in their orbits. Daiki felt a wave of fear sweep over him at the sight of it. “So, do we wait for them to take the first shot?” she asked.

    “No,” said Cap, blasting full force with his laser eyes. In the distance, a line of demonic soldiers screamed as they were incinerated.

    “Right then,” Aquila said, cruelty entering her voice. One of the rings of longswords streaked towards the demonic army, ripping through armour, flesh, and bone as they stuck into the earth. The swords exploded, filling the air with shrapnel and bringing down a vast swath of soldiers. A new third ring of swords flashed into being around her, only to streak out towards another grouping of the enemy.

    Athena stared at the carnage, and then looked at Daiki with wide eyes. “That’s what they can do?”

    Daiki took a deep breath and struck out with his sword, slicing a small group of demonic soldiers in half with a wave of energy. “I think they may only just be getting started,” he said, striking again.

    “I see the siege equipment coming up,” Cap announced, staring at a dot in the distance. “I’m on it.” With a flash he slammed into it, a sonic boom in his wake. In the distance, Diaki made out the glow of laser eyes as throngs of demons fell around him.

    “Thank the gods they’re on our side,” Athena said. More screams erupted from the battlefield, followed by an explosion of swords.

    Around them, the archers and crossbowmen began to fire into the throngs of demonic soldiers clumping up around the barbed wire, the screams of the dying a constant chorus. Daiki struck again, cutting a few more demonic soldiers down by the wire.

    The first enemy arrows clattered against the parapet beside him.

    Athena moved in front of him, the two falling into the rhythm they had perfected long ago. She covered him with her shield, shifted aside so he could strike, and then shifted back. The dance repeated, again and again. Daiki was vaguely aware of the sun rising in the sky.

    The battle continued, the enemy pressing against the barbed wire. In the distance, Daiki saw the explosions of dirt and gore as Cap wreaked havoc towards the rear of the lines.

    Daiki blinked. Something was wrong. He looked around the parapet. The archers and crossbowmen still fired, a few wounded being carried down off the wall. In the distance to the north, flashing lights on the wall and small explosions by the barbed wire marked the position of the Legendary Hero of the Crossbow. Everything seemed under control. Everybody who was supposed to be here was...

    Daiki’s eyes widened.

    Aquila was gone.

Aquila had lost count of how many volleys of swords she had sent into the enemy throngs long ago. Still, more came, pressing against the barbed wire, even climbing over the bodies of their comrades to get closer to the wall.

    Part of her felt sick watching the spectacle. The rest reveled in the carnage she wrought.

    Some of her longswords clattered off a magical barrier. She smirked as she watched a robed figure start to wave his arms and speak an enchantment, surrounded by layer of layer of impenetrable magical protection. “A mage,” she said. “How cute. Twenty-third stage.”

    The robed figure exploded into a cloud of blue particles, erased from existence. A barrage of swords tore through the men around where he had been standing, their explosion finishing off any survivors.

    A few arrows ricocheted off her spinning rings of longswords, the rings shifting in their orbits to cover her. She shook her head. Cap was worried about this? These aren’t even as fast as a normal bullet!

    A flash of colour towards the rear of the enemy caught her eye. She squinted. Banners – the sort of banners that a command staff would raise to mark their position to their men.

    Aquila grinned. They thought they were far enough away to be safe from her swords and power, but they were wrong. They might be out of range for now, but she could come to them.

    She began to glide out onto the battlefield, her three spinning rings of longswords orbiting around her, knocking away the occasional arrow. The barbed wire entanglement passed below her.

    Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large group of demon archers take aim at her, at least a hundred strong. Two of her rings shifted to protect her as she turned to face them, their arrows clattering away. She smirked as she redirected the third ring to annihilate them.

    Something slammed into her inner right leg from behind, a warm dampness spreading down towards her knee.

    Aquila looked down. An arrow stuck out of her halfway between her knee and thigh, pinning the coat to her leg. Blood ran freely, soaking her pants.

    A wave of nausea rippled through her. She shook her head to clear it. More arrows clattered away from her two rings of spinning longswords. She blinked. Hadn’t she had three rings a moment ago?

    Her head swam. The ground sped toward her. She hit hard, the impact forcing the air from her lungs. She rose to one knee, looking around, struggling to focus. She was just outside the wire entanglement. A group of demons approached her cautiously, wielding polearms. Another wave of nausea rippled through her.

    The demons came closer. She summoned all of her swords, but only one spinning ring of longswords appeared. She blinked. The demons backed off.

    She shivered, trying to catch her breath and failing. Her right leg had gone numb. Why was she so cold? The ring of swords slowed and disappeared. The demons began to advance again.

    The sonic boom nearly knocked her down again. Cap stood above her, blasting the circle of demons with his laser eyes. Then he looked at her, his eyes widening in alarm. Without a word, he grabbed the arrow sticking out her leg, yanked it out, and blasted the wound with his laser eyes.

    Aquila blinked. Her leg was still numb. Shouldn’t she have felt something?

    Cap took her in his arms. He was nice and warm. Aquila smiled and snuggled into him.

    “Listen to me carefully,” Cap said. “Don’t try to speak. Just nod. I need you to do that ring of swords thing and hold it for a count of three. Do you understand?”

    Aquila nodded. If Cap would keep being this nice and warm, she’d do whatever he wanted. She felt the heat of his laser eyes as he blasted something nearby. It was nice and warm too.

    “Do it now.”

    She summoned her swords and started to count. She felt her feet lift off the ground. She felt the swords fade away after the count of two.

    Aquila felt Cap putting her down on something soft. “She needs help, STAT!” she heard him shout. “She’s been hit in the femoral artery. I’ve cauterized the wound, but I probably did a lot of additional tissue damage. I think she’s lost at least half a gallon of blood.”

    “Aquila, NO!” she heard Kasumi scream.

    Aquila turned to look around. “Hey Kasumi,” she mumbled, smiling as she saw her. “I had this strange dream. I was in this battle, and there were all these people...”

    “Kasumi, listen to me carefully,” she heard Cap say. She tried to look at him, but her eyes wouldn’t focus. “She needs blood, as much as possible. You need to draw that for her right now.”

    “Cap’s really warm, did you know that?” Aquila said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kasumi frantically sketching something in her book.

    “You, do you have healing magic, medical knowledge, something?” she heard Cap say to somebody she couldn’t see.

    “We do,” another voice said.

    “Keep her alive, whatever it takes,” Cap said. “And save the leg if you can.”

    “We will.”

    A drawing was thrust in front of her. Aquila tried to focus on it. “Please look at this,” she heard Kasumi beg. “Please, you need to look at this.”

    “That’s neat,” Aquila mumbled, squinting at the blur in front of her. “What’s that supposed to be?”

    Darkness took her.

Daiki and Athena crouched behind the parapet, taking a break and drinking from their canteens. The sun was now descending in the sky above them. Daiki looked up as Cap landed beside them.

    “What’s the situation here?” Cap asked.

    “We’re holding,” Daiki reported. “That barbed wire of yours works really well. Do you know what happened to Aquila? She just disappeared on us...” His heart fell when he saw the look on Cap’s face.

    “Oh no,” Athena said. “How bad is it?”

    Cap’s shoulders slumped. “Very. They managed to hit the artery in her leg. By the time I got to her at least three minutes had passed. I cauterized the wound, but I don’t know if I was in time. She’s at the aid station now with Kasumi.” He sighed. “Even if she survives, there’s a good chance she might lose the leg.”

    “I hope she’s okay,” Athena said. Daiki nodded.

    Cap stared out over the parapet. “I think they’re withdrawing,” he said.

    Daiki rose and looked out at the battlefield. The ground before the barbed wire was littered with bodies, with some spots sporting mounds of corpses five or six bodies deep. The demonic army was pulling their wounded back and quitting the field.

    “Did we win?” Athena asked.

    Daiki nodded. “I think we did.”

    “Doesn’t feel like much of a victory,” Athena said.

    “It isn’t one,” Cap stated. “They’re withdrawing in good order. It isn’t a rout. Everything will depend on what happens tomorrow.”

    Daiki heard footfalls on the wall coming from the north. He turned to see Daisuke and Denki approaching.

    “We, uh, saw what you did out there,” Daisuke said, looking at Cap. “You did some really good work. We could have handled it ourselves, but we appreciate you helping out.”

    Cap scowled and gripped the stone parapet so tightly the stone crumbled under his fingers. “Shut your fucking teeth,” he growled.

    Denki and Daisuke stared at Cap in shock. After a moment, Daiki realized he and Athena were doing the same.

    “Wait,” Denki said. “We’re the Legendary Heroes of his world – you can’t just talk to us like that!”

    “I said shut your fucking teeth!” Cap roared. “You punks have no understanding of what happened here today. None! When I got out of the army after the war, I swore that no child would ever lose a father at my hands again. Ever! I kept that promise for almost eighty years! And I broke that promise today, for all of you!” He pointed out at the battlefield. “Hundreds of children will never see their fathers again, because of me. So none of you ingrates has anything to say to me, ever! None of you punks ever gets to speak to me again!” He leaned against the parapet, staring out at the carnage. “Now leave me in peace.”

    Without a word, Denki and Daisuke turned on their heels and walked away. Daiki glanced at Athena, and then at Cap. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Athena looked at Cap, helplessness in her eyes.

    Daiki stood up and leaned on the parapet beside Cap. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have...I’m just sorry.”

    “I made my own choices,” Cap stated, still looking out at the battlefield. “If it gets your Devil King to talk to us and ends this war, it was worth it.”

    “We’ll know if it worked tomorrow,” Daiki said. “He’ll either come out and talk to us, or...”

    Cap just nodded, gazing out at the carnage.

    Athena looked at him, and then at Daiki.

    “We’re going to go to the house,” Daiki said. “We’ll keep the door open for you, whenever you’re ready to come back.”

    Cap just nodded again, but did not move.

    They left him there, leaning against the parapet, staring out at what he had done.

NEXT: “Parley”