Sequester couldn’t quite understand why he was struggling so much. The Ashmorn girl was already injured, yet she stood firm against his opening barrage of attacks. Perhaps seeing Martian being flung through the air like a thrown toy was enough to put him on poor mental footing. She had not flinched due to the pain of her injury, one that had penetrated the muscle below the knee and severely limited her mobility.

That damn halberd. Of all the weapons she could have used, why did it have to be a halberd? He could fight assured that she no longer had any magical abilities to use, but the halberd was just as dangerous as a fireball. It was long range, heavy, and could crush through his defence in a single swing. The sturdy wooden shaft also provided her a makeshift support that allowed her to manoeuvre to face him from any angle.

But the thing that disturbed him the most was the way she looked, or rather – the lack of emotion on her face. There was no fear, no panic, not a trace of any recognizable feeling. She was stone cold, glaring ahead like a sentry statue at the entrance to a grand city. She was unflappable. Sequester did not know why such a high-pressure situation had not elicited a strong response. It did go some way to explaining how she could stomach being around a cursed weapon holder.

“Boring.”

Sequester thought that he had misheard her. He dived in with another long shot swing from his sword, only for the polearm to be thrusted upwards, taking his arms with it. Cali ducked him the blade and delivered a powerful melee blow to his gut. He staggered back and tried to create a new plan of action. Her knocking out Maritan had thrown everything into disarray. If only she had struck a more vital area with her first shot!

“Boring!” she repeated, louder this time.

“This isn’t a game!” Sequester shouted.

“I know, but it is tedious nonetheless. Are you truthfully the best and brightest that they could have sent to fight me?”

Sequester did consider himself in the upper echelons of the organisation. He was an experienced and well-trained officer. He was meant to set an example for all of the junior knights to follow. Anything that they could do, he must be capable of doing himself. Archery, swordplay, leadership and tactics – he had spent years mastering every one to the full extent of his ability.

But why did she bring it up now? She was trying to rattle him.

“I will not flee from this fight, no matter what you say. King John has staked his honour on our success.”

La’Corvan sneered in the first outward expression he had seen from her, “More worthless platitudes. You are a waste of my effort. Come and meet your end, quickly now.”

“I don’t have to do as you ask. Surely losing so much blood is starting to wear you down.”

Cali returned to her neutral façade again. Sequester’s heart leapt into his throat as she slowly turned to face the still unconscious Maritan on the ground behind her. With a single, hobbled step, Sequester was forced to jump back into action and distract her. There was no doubt in his mind that the psychopathic woman would reach her through dogged determination alone.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

The only thing he could rely on now was his ability in combat. There were no cards left to play, aside from the emergency catalyst launcher that John had entrusted to him. He needed to decide. He could concuss her and try to kill her while she was blind, or he could save it and try to rescue Maritan. Both options were essentially the same in truth. Holding back now would only endanger them further.

As he closed the gap and entered the outside range of her halberd, he reached into his jacket and drew the pistol. The faint seemed to work, right until the moment where the magic words left his mouth.

“[Concuss!]”

But Cali was already one step ahead of him. Using such a basic trick on a talented warmage was testament to suicide. Cali had already reacted, ducking under the potential blast and closing her eyes to avoid the flash. When Sequester finally saw through the cloud of gun smoke, the only thing he was greeted with was the sharp end of Cali’s blade slicing upwards through his chest.

“Gah!”

He was lucky that his spacing was so precise. Any deeper and the curved point would have dug through into his organs and flung him into the air. He staggered back and clutched the bleeding gash in shock. Her reactions were incredible. That unflinching nature was not a mere trick of the eyes. Within milliseconds she had perfectly anticipated and countered his strategy. His trump card had come up bust. Had Kageyama turned her into a monster too?

“That was very silly of you,” Cali said, wafting away the acrid smoke with her free hand. “Did you really believe that a predictable trick like that would work on me?”

He did. He believed it with everything he had. Every bone in his body. He was finally starting to understand why Kageyama had gotten away with so much. It wasn’t just him. His companions also defied logic and reason. He had somehow stumbled into the guardianship of an extraordinary magus. The cut that ran up his chest and split his clothes in twain was the worst injury he had ever received. He knew that he was on a timer; blood loss, or heavens forbid an infection getting into the wound would surely be the end of him.

“How did you do that?”

“In battles of magic and wit, I am unbeaten. Every amateur mage has tried this exact thing at least once. The moment that you reached for the catalyst I already knew what you were going to do. A short spell designed to incapacitate for cheap – one that could feasibly be used with a smaller chamber. It could only be [Concuss.]”

She had picked him apart from the moment that he took that course of action, and Sequester felt extremely stupid for having done it. If his repertoire of magic was larger and more developed he may have stood a chance at misdirecting her. Everything was going her way, even after getting shot in the leg.

“Fine. We’ll have to do this the hard way!” Sequester grunted. He poised himself into a fighting stance once again and held his sword aloft. But even the bristling anger he felt did not turn into the needed courage. He could have turned and run, but to do so would have been the greatest possible disgrace. He needed to protect Maritan.

Cali could sense his weakness. Not once during the encounter had she ever felt true fear, nor the excitement of a battle in which the odds were stacked against her. It was an implicit ability that she had developed over the years. She knew that even with an injured leg, she had an advantage. Her range was longer, her morale unshaken. Sequester was about to do something rash. It would be the last mistake he ever made.

With a cry of grit, he charged again, barely dodging the tip of Cali’s spear and closing in for another attack. Cali quickly pulled back using her elbow and obstructed his movement using the full heft of the deceptively heavy weapon. With a desperate lunge, he tried to thrust the tip of his sword into her chest, but missed and left a glancing blow against her shoulder. Stars burst into his eyes as Cali came down on the back of his head with a series of punches and elbow strikes. Feeling his consciousness fading, he pushed her back and tried to press the minimal advantage he had gained.

Cali was not going to allow him so much space again. Using her remaining good leg and the support of the halberd, she hopped forth and brought it down in a vertical swing. Sequester leaped back and narrowly avoided being split in two once again. Sequester was growing frustrated. He was meant to be one of the rising stars of the Inquisition, and here he was being stonewalled by a woman on one leg!

“Why don’t you just give up and die peacefully?” he demanded.

Cali did not respond. She remained still, silently calculating her next attack. All of the confidence in the world could not change the outcome. They had done everything within their power and came up short. Now all that was left was for Sequester to collect his prize. He ran towards her, sword held aloft. He stepped to the left in an attempt to avoid the spear, but Cali had already seen through his tactics.

His entire body jolted and came to a sudden halt – he looked down at his chest and realised that he had gone a step too far. The point was buried deep into his chest cavity, slipping through the already present injury and connecting with something important. Blood spurted from his mouth as a tide of bile and blood welled up in his throat. The spear was pulled back, forcing his body down onto its knees.

Sequester turned his head to the left, where he came to understand that Maritan had not gone through the same considerations that he had. She was gone. Nothing more than an imprint in the dirt remained. Rather than stay behind and fight, she had run away to protect herself.

“M-Maritan…”

If only his body had the strength to rumble with a deep-seated anger. The only thing he could do now was try to keep himself upright. Second by second, his life was draining away as his body went into meltdown. This was the end. No grand victory, no heroic sacrifice. Just a fight that ended within minutes and a ‘friend’ who didn’t stick around to see him lose.

What was it all for in the end?

That bitter truth hurt more than the fatal injury. Sequester had believed himself to be the next coming of the great Saint. A man who would engrave his name and legend into the lore of the Inquisition for future generations to discuss and ruminate over. No such future had emerged for him. He was just another cog in the machine, a soldier and officer who screwed up a simple task. The zeal, the dedication, none of that mattered.

John and Joseph, surely they were struggling against Kageyama too. The last words on his lips were a silent prayer of protection for the both of them. His head slumped down without his control as things came to a quick and painful end. Cali stood above the kneeling corpse and considered the preceding events. A fool to the very end; this was not a battle to remember.

What a waste of a life.

Such poor entertainment did not sit well with her. She turned and hobbled her way out of the yard, crossing over onto one of the main roads. A large crowd had gathered thanks to the burning building pouring a plume of thick black smoke into the overcast sky above. The full story would be known only to her. The incident would likely be written off as an accident.

His friend had proven to be craven to the bone. Cali had noticed her making away without revealing as such to her companion. Was this the kind of spirited unity that the Inquisitors tried to cultivate? Ren’s cynical view on the value of those bonds was accurate. They were just as self-interested as the rest of them, though it was to their benefit to dress it up with a sense of grand, holy responsibility.

Cali needed to fix her leg. She found a safe place and sat down, reaching into her coat and retrieving a small vial of healing salve that she kept for emergencies. Cali had more than enough money to purchase things such as this. It would work to dull the pain and mend the worst of it, though the full recovery would take longer. Cali’s face twitched into a frown as she downed the fluid in one gulp.

“Bad.”