“Elder, please let me fight,” Everett pleaded. “You say that like I’m in any place to refuse,” I sighed. Worried about what would happen next. 

“Fair point,” he then returned. “Well, I’ll be off then,” the boy saluted before diving off the top of the tower. 

“Boys,” I sighed again dumbfounded, as he weaved and swung from the few trees below like a fully-fledged monkey.

I continued to watch from afar as he hesitantly leant down and grabbed a sword that was left atop the wall before rushing through the gates and into the battlefield.

I was confused at first, why on Etherium he hadn't grabbed Ether crystals too. Without them, there's no way for him to wield the power of the spirits. However, the longer he spent darting into the battlefield, the more I began to realise his strength. 

With the way he moves, it's obvious he's never fought with the Abaddon before, his sword isn’t used to their barbaric attacks. However, the techniques he uses, and the confidence in his movements… Despite our enemies being merely footsoldiers no one would question how truly terrifying they are, and yet to fight them with such confidence I cannot even fathom the monsters he's faced up until this point. 

Placing my hand on the pommel of the tower's soft wooden railing for support, I slowly crouched down to begin an old prayer for our village’s triumph as I have done many times before. 

Reciting the forgotten words I continued to watch the boy climb his way through the grasslands when I began to pick up on occasional gaps in his movement signalling that he hadn't quite refined his technique yet, and considering recent events I can only assume It’s because his training was cut short. 

Slowly but steadily his swordplay began to feel almost familiar somehow. Despite knowing I hadn’t seen someone fight this way before, I was slowly beginning to recognise his movements.

And that was when I realised.

“This stance,” I spoke aloud, unable to contain my revelation. “Where have I seen it before,” I continued in surprise. Scrunching my brows, I scowled in Everett’s direction, studying his every move, hoping that I would figure out why I recognised his technique. 

The boy stood still awaiting a pair of Abaddon to strike at him. He was crouching backward with his front leg pointing straight and forward. However, what intrigued me the most was the fact that the hilt of his sword was held up to the side of his head with his blade crossing over the front of his body.

Just when the Abaddon beasts closed in on the boy he lunged forward propelling off his back foot and thrusting the sword straight through his enemy's sternum in a spearing motion before sidestepping and slashing the other monstrous creature.

‘But that's just it,’ I pieced together.

“This is no sword technique. This is ‘Ravaryn’s blade,’ the Eberhard dynasty’s legendary spear style,” I Staggered as my mouth seemingly reached the floor. 

“But I thought the technique had been lost since the great war.”

“It's like a forgotten melody.” 

Everett

Sheathing my sword I raced through the battlefield spinning and dodging stray Abaddon that had made it into our formation in a near desperate attempt to catch up to the front line. My heart raced with every shadowy beast that appeared in front of me. 

While I'm completely unsure what weapon I normally use I can sense my own unfamiliarity with the sword, its reach doesn't match my muscle memory. ‘Is that an Ether Crystal,’ I thought, focusing on the blade’s pommel at my waist as I noticed a soft glowing aura from its hilt. 

As my focus wavered, I awoke to reality once more as a long shadowy claw struck down narrowly missing my shoulder. After finishing off the creature with a swift blow, my attention was stolen once more as I noticed one of the townsmen lying sprawled across the ground. As I neared closer I was first met by a large pool of blood splattering from his chest and merging with the silver-coloured grass. But it wasn't until he turned his head in my direction that I peered into his soulless hazy eyes. 

At that moment I finally realised how dire the situation was. My body stood frozen only meters away from the dying man.

‘This was no sparring match. One more slip-up like earlier and it will be me lying cold and lifeless in the leaden grass,’ I wrenched, forcing the contents of my stomach back down my throat as I knelt beside the poor man. Lifting my shaky hand I gently closed his eyelids and watched as his face slowly turned blue from twilight’s chill. 

As I continued to battle my last meal I was snapped to my feet as the lifeless grass began to consume the villager's body wrapping around him like vines made of steel. Grabbing the man's hands I attempted to haul him upwards salvaging what remained of his body. Until eventually I was flung backwards as I hauled the man from his bind. 

Only, it wasn't all of him that I had saved.

“BLEGH,” I belched finally, unable to contain my own vomit as I looked down at the man's arms still in my hands, only not attached to his body. Tears came to my eyes as I watched the cursed colourless blades of grass crunch the man into pieces until nothing remained. 

The Withering devoured everything down to the last drop of blood from his body as it sank deep into the earth making the grass glow a soft sparkling white that I could only assume to be a result of his remaining lifeforce. 

Still, No thoughts crossed my mind. 

Only adrenaline, fear, and an overwhelming power that had been slowly consuming me since I leapt from the tower which now felt as if it was about to boil over. Despite what I had seen and the sick feeling in my stomach. There was something deep within me that urged me forward. 

Swallowing my nervousness, I continued to weave and dance through the masses of Abaddon as well as our own warriors until I eventually spotted a lone oak tree in the centre of the valley where a series of large green lights whistled across the battlefield. 

Focusing in on its origin I noticed A man crouched on one of its branches holding a large warbow. As I closed in on the tree I recognised the flowy black hair that could only be from Cayden’s head.

It was surprising to think that he was the so-called army commander, I realised remembering him ordering the soldiers around prior to the battle.

Using the high ground from the tree he could effortlessly oversee the battlefield, giving orders and providing cover fire with his oddly shaped warbow bow. 

It was made up with a series of vines and leaves giving the appearance of it being alive. Interestingly, however, the top part of the bow curved forward and was adorned with what I only knew to be harp strings. 

Ducking, swerving, and slashing I made a bee-line towards Cayden before scurrying up the tree to meet him.

“How can I help Cayden,” I shouted, causing him to almost jump out of the tree in surprise. “Everett. What in the hell are you doing here,” he shot back. “There's no time to explain but I can fight, and it looks like you need as much help as you can get.”

“Even if you say that,” Cayden shrugged, still caught up in surprise. “Cayden, send me to the front line wherever they’re struggling the most,” I projected, grabbing his shoulder. Scratching his head, Cayden put aside his worries out of his sheer desperation, before overseeing the battlefield once again. 

After a short while of him scanning the front line while looking down his bow, he eventually pointed out a girl clearly struggling in the centre of the battlefield was being swarmed by Abaddon causing her to fall back from the line creating a weak point in our defence.

“I'll cover you, so please make your way over there as fast as possible,” Cayden ordered, his voice still reluctant as he struck a series of chords on the musical strings of his bow.

Without skipping a beat I slid down from the tree and started sprinting through the ashen valley. My eyes locked on the girl who was easily distinguishable due to her abnormally light auburn hair.

As I crossed paths with many stray Abaddon, I was more than surprised when each and every one of them were obliterated seconds before I was able to strike them. 

‘Complimenting its unique appearance, that certainly isn't a normal bow’, I thought to myself, as Cayden continued to clear a path in front of me, reducing the Abaddon to cinders. 

As I drew closer to the girl, Cayden's support began to fade and eventually, I heard the distant shriek of his arrows firing off at the other side of the battle. 

‘It seems I made it just in time,’ I smirked, slashing an Abaddon beast which almost struck the girl from behind. It was a shallow slash reminding me of my inexperience with the sword. However, I followed it up with a deep forward lunge placing one hand on the sword's pommel to force the blade through the beastly creature's abdomen. 

“Wait are you…,” the dainty girl expressed whilst clumsily spinning to thank me and nearly slicing my head off with her battle axe. “There's no time I’ll cover your left so please focus on the battle,” I returned. 

After she had performed a brief nod in acknowledgement, she then turned her back to me once more before haphazardly swinging her entire body behind her axe, making me unsure whether she was simply using the battleaxe as a weapon or whether it was trying to free itself from her grasp. 

We slashed and struck over and over and over as seconds became minutes and those minutes slowly became a number of hours until our stamina had worn thin. Slowly but surely the sheer masses of Abaddon pushed onward causing our line to shrink backwards. 

“How is it that we have become so tired and yet the Abaddon continues to press on with unrelenting force,” I croaked as my muscles cramped and my strikes became slow. “Because they're dead of course,” a voice called out from my rear as a large grotesque head rolled over my shoulder followed by a small steel boomerang that whirled through the air.

Contrary to the playful nature of his words the boy's tone was flat and cold. Spinning on my feet I turned curiously to see who it was only to be met with the uncharacteristically sombre face of a tired Ezra.

“I never thought I’d see you at a loss for energy,” I smirked, making light of our struggle. “Ha, ha,” Ezra shrugged sarcastically as he reached out to catch his boomerang. “Interesting weapon,” I complimented as I turned to face the battle once more. 

“Weapons,” Ezra corrected, as two flying blades danced through the air at my side clearing all the Abaddon within our nearby radius. “A gift from my mother,” he continued, walking up next to me before staggering to one knee. 

‘It's not just Ezra who's about to pass out,’ I gathered. Initially, I was able to land 10 clean hits before suffering a light blow myself. However, slowly but steadily those 10 hits became 9, then 8, and then 7, as our line was pushed further and further back. 

“Dammit,” I coughed, my face gritting in anger unsure what I was supposed to do. If I fell back then my position in our line would be breached and we would be slaughtered. But if I stay where I am then it's still just a matter of time.

I glanced over at Ezra who was still down on one knee using all his strength just to launch his attacks. Looking over his shoulder we shared the same look. A look of uncertainty unsure of what our next move should be. 

“Retreat,” a beckoning voice echoed through the clash of claws and steel. It was Cayden I realised as he began to scream once more. “Everyone, take cover within the wall.”

At that moment we all froze. The fact that we were losing mustn't be something they're familiar with and even if we retreat to the wall the chances of us surviving is still next to none. 

As I continued to hack away at the many dark wispy creatures I couldn't help but glance over at the girl I had initially been sent to help. Claws grasped at her axe attempting to tear it from her hands while others circled behind her. Like the rest of our soldiers, she had been completely overpowered.

“There's no way we can make it back to the wall like this,” Ezra anguished, just as a glowing blue arrow whizzed over our heads, possibly saving my life. 

“Eyes forward, and fall back,” Cayden repeated.

Following Cayden's orders Ezra slowly began to fall back whilst I was still frozen in thought. Many thoughts and memories flew across my mind as I stood motionless amidst the classing of colourful lights and black shadowy talons until I had finally decided.

‘I’m sorry Cayden, but to ensure that everyone can make it back safely someone needs to divert their attention,’ I concluded, glancing back at Ezra once more. 

As the rest of our battle line slowly retreated, I instead pushed forward. Since the moment I set foot on the battlefield I was still uncertain where my confidence came from but seeing the Abaddon simply makes my blood boil. Not in the sense that I want to kill them all but it was more like an overwhelming rage was still bottled inside of me that knows I’m capable of it.

Instead of slashing at my nearby foe I instead smashed the hilt of my sword into Abaddon's cold elongated face shattering the Ether crystal within the sword.