“Back away!” I shouted down the hole a second before hearing the sound of an explosion. I heard the roaring sound of fire as a thick plume of dark grey smoke billowed upwards. Much more smoke than I expected to see.

“I see that the oil down there is burning quite well,” he commented casually. I looked over to see Truth taking off his fur coat with a surprising level of dexterity from his one arm.

“T- Tasha! Flora! Are you okay?!” I screamed. I thought I could hear some kind of response coming from below, but I couldn’t make out any words. That’ll have to be good enough for now.

“Pardon me, but I figured fighting against three of you at once may have proved problematic. Although, as soldiers on the battlefield, I’m sure you can understand me leveraging whatever advantages I can.” I side-stepped away from the smoke to get a clearer look at Truth. It was faint, but I thought I could see a new, red glint in his eyes. They gave off a fiery look, like sparks about to fly. At the same time, I got a bad, familiar feeling coming off of him now. I backed away from the hole to be on more open ground. I quickly took in the surroundings. It was starting to get quite dark, and the glow of the flames below was almost as bright as the remaining light from the sun as it sank towards the horizon. The roof was bare stone save for the large mat by the hole and something else small and metallic over by one edge of the roof. I guess the mat is used to cover the hole at times, maybe for the rare occasion it rains?

Truth began pacing towards me, his foreboding presence causing my skin to tingle slightly. Instinctively, I charged up to six bolts. Suddenly, he threw his fur coat at me, obstructing my vision. Not wanting to get closer to him just yet, I jumped back from the coat. Then, the point of his rapier pierced right through the coat, missing one of my hands by only a few inches. Right as I swung my sword at the rapier in an attempt to break it, it instantly pulled back. As the fur coat fell towards the ground, Truth had already shifted to the side. He thrusted at me and I barely had enough time to kick off the ground to avoid him striking me in the side. He apparently correctly guessed which direction I was even going to slash at. Without a moment’s rest, though, Truth continued his barrage of thrusts. With a surge of adrenaline, I charged up to seven bolts to gain enough speed to just barely avoid the attacks as he pressured me back. Sweat was starting to build up on my brow and my muscles were starting to heat up, but I wasn’t going to beat Truth if I didn’t go all out. With a howl that even I didn’t expect to make, I charged up to eight bolts. I slashed back at Truth, fast enough to finally cause him to back off, if only for a moment. He was clearly working out in his mind how I kept getting faster and was clearly wondering what my limitations were. Well, he wasn’t the only one. There’s just no way a regular human could move as quickly as he could.

“Truth, you’re hiding something awfully important, aren’t you?” I almost blushed upon realizing how breathless I sounded at the end of my question.

“I could say the same to you. Although, I expected as much. Those demi-humans wouldn’t want to use an ordinary human as their key piece.”

“I don’t think I like being called something like a pawn.”

“No, I’m saying you’re more like a rook or a knight. Hmmm, yes, definitely like a knight.” On the one hand, it was still clearly an insult, on the other, completely unrelated hand, I found someone who actually plays chess. Wasn’t even sure chess was a game here.

“Well, I find it rather unfair that the enemy king isn’t so limited in his moves,” I retorted.

“Truly, it is a shame. To think a human such as yourself is on their side. I had no doubt in the strength of my conviction, but to think you may actually be on par with me…truly, a shame.”

“You can stop pitying me any time now.” I struggled to keep my body calm and stay focused as the blood rushed to my head and heart beat continued to rise. I have to find out his weakness soon, my body was quickly becoming unstable under the rising strain. “Although, if your pity inclines you to share the secret to your power, then I don’t mind.” I didn’t think I could trick him into leaking any secrets, so the direct route seemed most effective.

“Well…I may be willing to tell you if you tell me the secret to your strength as well.” I thought about it. What were the various risks associated with telling him?

“Just a bonus from being the vessel to a guardian spirit.” I’m not sure if I was in the right state of mind to be saying this, but most of my thoughts were focused on monitoring his movements. Truth opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it. After an extended bit of silence, he must have finally found the right words.

“Once again, I find it regrettable to fight someone like you. Regardless, to reciprocate, I shall tell you how I gained my powers. I command an army of humans, but there is one among them that is drastically different from the rest. My Lieutenant-Colonel is different in a number of regards. Although, the most pertinent difference is that he has the power to imbue strength upon others. Well, I could have only ascertained that very recently, though.”

“You’re telling me you were powered up by someone else’s guardian spirit?” That could explain this power. It also doesn’t sound too out there, especially since I did meet the Lieutenant-Colonel before and it was probably the reason behind this familiar aura that was coming off of Truth. But, that also seemed…strangely convenient. “Why only you, though? Couldn’t he have strengthened all of you troops?”

“I am unaware of all the details and limitations of his powers. Whether it is even due to a guardian spirit and not some kind of spell or work of alchemy is something I am also uncertain about. However, he did make clear something very important about it. The strength of my conviction is what is necessary to draw upon this power. Which is why…I will not lose!”

Suddenly, Truth charged at me again, thrusting his rapier straight at my neck. I tried to circle around him to dodge and get an opening, but he was too quick on his feet and always made just enough space to avoid my counter attacks. We continued this exchange of attacks as we circled each other, both of us gradually getting closer with our strikes as we both slowly advanced our offensives. One clean hit, that’s all I needed to take him down. As quick as Truth was, I could tell that his attacks lacked weight behind them. His actual level of strength probably was not increased by that much. A single slash from my sword would cut straight through bone.

However, Truth clearly figured this out as well and was also fully intent on ending it with just one hit. If it weren’t for all the hot blood rushing through my body, I’d probably feel a tingling of the nerves on my neck each time his thrusts just barely avoid piercing it. Around and around, we got in as close as we dared to make our attacks before backing off just in time to avoid the return, which would come in ever so slightly faster and sharper than before despite our breathing becoming increasingly haggard. My mind raced, drowning out my surroundings as I concentrated only on Truth and his exact movements and distance relative to myself.

As we continued to dance around each other’s attacks, finally, I thought I saw an opening just big enough for me to dodge one last attack and get in a good hit. The dodging part was mostly successful. The rapier grazed the side of my neck, nicking it like a tiny razor. The second countering part was an absolute failure. As I stepped to the side, I felt a shortage of roof beneath my foot. I was trying so hard to stay focused on Truth as we continued to circle around each other, I had not noticed that I was at the very edge of the roof. I stumbled and tried to quickly regain my footing, but Truth did not miss a beat.

He attacked me again in such a way that it would have been impossible to dodge by moving forward. My reflexes forced me to move back and I slipped off the roof. Even as gravity started pulling me down, I desperately blocked Truth’s final attack. Then, I fell.

With all the senses of my body working overtime, the falling seemed to occur rather slowly, but my reaction was just as unbearably slow. I just looked back at Truth as he stood on the edge of the roof, his rapier still thrusted outwards. I had both of my hands holding my sword during that last block and my knees were bent as if I was about to just dash off the air and continue the battle. It was not until my eye level had sunk down to Truth’s feet that I could finally feel my muscles getting ready to move again. With my left hand, I desperately reached for the stone wall as my descent continued to accelerate. Finding only a sheer wall, this did nothing.

I brought my feet forward as well in an attempt to slow my fall. Shortly into the fall, one of my feet slid off the wall. I realized just in time that I was falling next to one of the windows on the top floor. I kicked my right foot hard into the wall while stamping my left foot onto the base of the window. The sudden stop made my body arch back but I used the momentum to spin around as I scrambled with my left hand to grab onto the wall. By some miracle, I was now fixed in place, my back against the wall, both feet now on the window and my left hand against the wall.

“Your tenacity is nothing short of impressive,” Truth remarked as he stared down at me from the edge of the roof. “You even managed to hold onto your sword during all of that.” I gave an awkward smile. I think I did deserve to be at least a bit proud of how I had persevered just then. However, my smile quickly disappeared, replaced with a stone-faced glare, recognizing that I wouldn’t be in such a position if I didn’t fall off the roof to begin with. I tried to point my sword threateningly at him without compromising the careful balance I had made for myself. The smoke coming out of the window also did not serve to help me in any way.

“You just wait right there, I’ll be right back up to kick your ass.” It was hard to make out his expression from the encroaching shadows, but I think I saw him furrow his brow.

“That’s…some interesting bravado.” I grimaced. That’s what I used to describe the Nature Clan’s king. “However, I do not think it is entirely baseless. I think it truly is far too much of a shame to have to kill you.”

“Well, whatever you think about me, I’m definitely not going to become one of you if that’s what you’re getting at.” Alright, we’re talking again. Come on, how do I get out of this one? These windows are too small to fit though so that’s a no-go. Try fighting him from here? He’s too far away. Jump up and resume the fight? Have you seen how fast he is? I’d be dead before I realized it.

“I am well aware that you hold preference towards your companions. Hmmm, if you can bring them to heel, I may be able to make an exception for you.” Alright, then, I just need to wait on an opening. I felt my sweating begin to intensify. If that’s the best plan I have, it definitely has a very short time limit. What kind of opening am I even looking for? What’s the best way to make use of it? How do I go from a zero percent chance of survival to any number above that?

“They’re not my pets.” Truth took in a deep breath. He tried to take it calmly, but I could tell, his breathing was still ragged. Of course it was. We’re both just humans, right? Our bodies weren’t meant to continually use this level of power.

“On second thought, never mind. This is something I can never make an exception for. It is what I and all of the True-Bloods are committed to. No matter the sacrifice. Go on, make your next move. Or, are you planning to just hang on there forever?” He’s talking like he’s already won, but he’s tired. Not tired enough to miss skewering me from point blank, but tired enough for me to take on if we were on even footing. My entire body started to write in painful convulsions. Damn, I’m starting to reach my limit, too though. “Hmmm, now that I think about it. Although I heard you call out to your two companions, I haven’t heard your name yet. Do you wish to share it with me?” My mind continued to race, trying to find the best way to get back up as I looked at him dead in his blazing red eyes.

“My name is Braith.”

“Braith, huh? Now that’s a name I’ve never heard-” Truth suddenly let out a loud cough. Immediately, I threw my shortsword at him. He overreacted to the sudden attack by backing far away from the roof. Right as he jumped out of view, I jumped to the side to get to the next window. I just barely made it over there, bruising my right wrist slightly to get into a position stable enough for one last jump. I jumped up and landed back on the roof. Truth was still standing in front of the other window. I quickly started running towards the center of the roof where I saw my sword had landed.

However, Truth quickly intercepted my path. Well, I expected this to happen. I tried my best to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do. Instead of backing off or trying to get around him, I lowered my stance and continued charging. Truth was unperturbed and thrust his rapier towards my neck. I quickly dropped down to almost one knee (I kept it just barely above the ground), and used my left hand to grasp onto the rapier. I braced myself for the incoming pain, and surprisingly, felt a strange shock going through my hand right before the rapier made contact. The blade easily tore through the material of my glove and scraped through my flesh. I clamped down my fingers on the blade to try to pull on it, or at least keep it somewhat in place as I got back up and continued the last bit of my charge.

Panicked, Truth tried to pull back and even with the bones in my hand making contact with metal as I squeezed down on it, he was mostly successful. However, all that mattered was that the rapier was still in my hand and he was in striking range as I rose back up. I delivered a clumsy uppercut, but its explosive power was still more than enough. Truth let go of the rapier and his whole body rose up almost two feet off the ground as my fist smashed into the side of his chin. His body flew off and eventually landed several feet away. I stood fully upright, finally triumphant.