The icy rocks bit hard into Drake’s side as he plummeted down the cliffside to the frozen river below, the metallic octopus still entwined on his arm and stabbing at him. He crashed into the thick ice that blanketed the once-raging torrents. The ice crunched and groaned as the colossal demon smashed into it. The form of the Shadow Drake was beginning to feel heavy, or he was running out of steam. Either way, he felt his strength running from him.
After landing, the Vita Macel wasted no time continuing its attack, each of the deadly eight tentacles cutting deep into Drake's flesh. Drake raised the octopus aloft and bashed it back onto the ice, but the enchanted metal held firm. Drake slammed it again and again, but it would not relent.
He heard the captain collapse into the ice beside him. The armor skidded on the frozen plain with the fall’s carried momentum. Drake lifted his fist again, driving it straight into the captain’s chest. The enchanted metals collided, the blade relenting this time, and the downed Sargasso cried out in pain. The shining octopus released Drake, and he pulled his arm free and fell backward.
He could hear the voice of the Black Lord calling to him. It sounded remote; he had lost so much blood.
Kid! You can’t die yet! You haven’t even begun to spread my name again yet!
Drake was kneeling, and the Shadow Drake’s demonic visage began dissolving. The extra bulk, the claws, and his remaining wing all began to slough off into shadow. The sky he had so painstakingly blotted out began to crack with light. The sun was besting his magics.
He clenched his jaw and looked to the breaking dawn. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough, Gigi. I love you.
“Do you yield?” the captain growled.
Drake lifted his head to see Sargasso lumbering to his feet. The Vita Macel had become a serpent and was slithering toward its master. The blade snaked its way up the captain’s leg to his hand before becoming a simple blade once more.
“I would rather die,” Drake spat.
“By the old ones, damn you, Drake. Gaius will have my head for this!”
Drake found his feet on shaky legs but managed to stand. “Then I guess we’re both already dead.”
Sargasso roared in frustration and pointed his sword at the insolent soldier. Without another word, the blade shot forward, extending toward Drake. Even though he could see it coming, he just couldn’t command his muscles to move. They felt as heavy as stone, and he had no strength left. He watched the blade fly toward him and saw as it bit into him, drawing blood. The ice below him seeped with red as his blood stained the river.
***
Gigi’s heart was pounding furiously as she raced to the cliffside. Drake. His name kept running through her mind, the loveable moron. She couldn’t get the image of him going over the cliff out of her head. The fact that the sun was now heating her cheeks filled her with terror. Whatever magic Drake used to call the darkness had been broken. She feared that meant the worst.
Gigi hit the cliff face and looked down. It was a steep slope but not a cliff. She figured she could slide down if she could keep her balance.
“I’m coming, you idiot,” she whispered.
A moment later, she slid down the icy rocks, doing her best to keep her gravity from flying out from under her. As she slid, two figures came into view—the captain standing tall in his gleaming armor and Drake bent low, the snow beneath him stained red.
Her heart sank at the sight of her lover bleeding on the ice. She jumped the final stretch and landed on the snowy frost. The ground beneath her was slick and gave little purchase, but she just needed to be extra careful. Gigi would be damned if she or her love died because she slipped.
Gigi heaved herself and bolted forward, her arms pumping to build up speed. The wind was howling over the frozen river. Gigi thought she heard the captain barking something at Drake but couldn’t hear it over the din. She pressed on, closing in on the unaware Sargasso. When she was a few paces away, the captain began to turn to look.
She leaped into the air with her right knee raised. Before the captain could meet the attack, Gigi’s knee struck the back of his helmet like a lightning bolt of righteous anger. Sargasso was sent sprawling onto the ice from the force of the blow, Gigi following from the momentum, and the pair crumpled to the ground together. The captain held his sword in one hand and his head in the other as he groaned on the ground. Gigi scrambled to her feet. She would not waste this opportunity.
She backed up, making sure she had enough space. She would show him exactly what she thought of him and his knights. She straightened her stance and then wound up a mighty kick. Gigi struck out with all the pain and hate this man caused her and Drake. The kick landed true on the skull of the downed captain. The sickening crunch of steel against bone rang out, and the captain's helmet cracked, sailing skyward.
Sargasso was flipped onto his back before lying still. Gigi wasn’t sure if he was dead, but she was sure Drake would be if she didn’t get him help immediately. She dashed to the bleeding man. Gigi got down on her knees, the snow cold against her.
“Oh, Drake,” she whispered.
She looked down at the man in front of her. He had been mutilated by the blades, with deep lacerations all over his form. A gruesome gash on his side released gurgling blood. Gigi put her hands on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Panic was beginning to race through her veins. If she didn’t get him out of here now, he was going to die in her arms.
“G-i-gi,” Drake mouthed.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Don’t talk. I’m going to get you out of here,” she promised.
“The g-gauntlets. Do they fit?” he wheezed happily.
She smiled despite herself. Bleeding out on the ice, he was still only worried about her.
“Like a glove,” she said, kissing him.
“I love you-” he whispered before his eyes closed.
“Drake?” she cried out. “Oh, Drake, I should have said this sooner-” And when he wasn’t dying. “But I love you too, and I’m sorry I’ve been too stubborn to admit it.” She scooped up his limp body in her muscular green arms. “Whatever the future holds, we’ll face it side by side. Let’s be together forever, you wonderful idiot.”
“Congra-du-fucking-lations,” the captain spat as he roused.
Gigi’s eyes narrowed. The good captain was not dead. Sargasso spit out a glob of blood and a tooth. He slowly pawed at the snowy ice with his free hand and used the sword in his grip to try and prop himself up.
“All you had to fucking do was come back, was that so pissing hard?” Sargasso growled.
Gigi walked her true love to the river's side and gently placed him in the pillowy snow. “I’ll be right back,” she promised.
“The Lord Commander needs his head at least and maybe a pair of goblin ears while I’m at it for the trouble.” Sargasso brandished the Vita Macel and pointed it directly at Gigi. “Let’s see if you’re so tough when you don’t blindside someone.”
Gigi balled her fists, and rage burned within her. “Big words coming from a monster who makes others do what he can’t do himself.”
Sargasso sneered. “You’re calling me a monster? You have no idea what Drake has done, how many men he’s killed, how ma-.”
“Men, you made him kill, and now he never has to listen to you again!” she roared.
Gigi exploded forward, her arms raised defensively, her hair blowing in the wind. Sargasso gritted his teeth and commanded the blade to go forth. The edge shot forward. Gigi’s eyes widened with shock. I didn’t know it could do that! As the blade rushed to meet her, she darted and slid beneath it on the ice. The blade missed her by fractions of an inch, splitting the ends of her hair.
“No, you don’t, you little rat!”
Sargasso pulled the blade down to greet the goblin. Gigi cried out and crossed her arms to block the slash. The enchanted blade slammed into the amplified metal of the gauntlets, the strike's power causing the ice under Gigi to splinter and crack like glass.
“Fuck,” the captain spat.
He raised the blade to bring it back down again. Gigi rolled out of the way, causing the sword to slash the ice. A wave of frigid water erupted from the gash, soaking Gigi, but she didn’t have time to feel the cold’s sting. The captain swung the sword again in a wide horizontal arc. She threw her arms up again, and the sword struck against her gauntlets, forcing her backward on the ice.
A furious barrage of slashes erupted forth from the captain. Gigi couldn’t do anything but block as best as she could. Despite her strength and speed, she got minor cuts, and red rivulets dripped down her cheek and arms. She needed to get closer. She needed to put the captain down for good. She had never killed anyone but could make an exception to avenge her love and keep him safe.
Sargasso breathed heavily in the frigid air, each puff rising as little clouds. Gigi could feel the swings growing more ragged. He’s getting tired. Gigi waited for his strikes to get sloppy. Finally, his shoulders hitched, and his swing was weaker. She was not going to get a better chance. This time, when the blade's edge came, she caught it.
Sargasso’s eyes went wide with horror. Gigi closed her metal-clad fingers around the blade and pulled with all her might. The captain was yanked from his feet and collapsed to the ice. By all the gods, Gigi would rip his arm right from its socket. But Sargasso seemingly was no fool.
“Back to me!” he shouted.
The blade screeched through Gigi’s fingers as it retracted. She tried to hold on, but the metals clashed and slid against one another. The sword pulled away from her, but she gave chase. The blade had pushed her several feet back on the snow. As the captain regained his footing, she was upon him. Standing before him, she wound up a kick, her long ebony hair flowing wildly in the wind.
Sargasso moved to block with his sword, but she was faster. The kick found its mark - the captain’s knee. Gigi felt something crunching against her shin as the knight screamed in pain. He staggered back on his good leg, unable to bend the other. She hoped she had shattered his knee.
“Bitch, burn in the seven hells,” Sargasso hissed as he pointed his sword at her. They were only inches apart, the blade pointed directly at Gigi’s heart. “Sally forth,” he commanded.
The edge shot forward. Gigi slammed her palms on the blade's tip just before it could pierce her. However, the blade did not stop extending. She could feel herself being pushed back on the ice as the blade continued. She began to panic as her grip began to slip. With the fluidity of a cat, she spun out of the way of the tip and pushed it away. Gigi crashed down to the ice as the blade screamed past her.
“Damn it!” Sargasso cried. “Back to me!” The blade retracted at lightning speed.
“Okay, time to meet your ancestors, asshole,” Gigi growled.
The goblin brought both fists into the air before bringing them down as hard as she could on the ice. The ice below her immediately rippled out a network of cracks that carpeted the ground under Sargasso’s feet. They surrounded her as well. Perhaps that had not been as smart as she had thought.
Sargasso and Gigi locked eyes. She could see the mad glint in his gray eyes and the shine of his shaved head. He could have been Drake’s uncle in another life. They were countrymen; all it took was a helmet and some chains to make that evaporate.
Neither the goblin nor the knight wanted to make the first move. She eyed his stance. He was favoring his right leg. She wondered if he could still walk. The ice underfoot groaned, and the wind screamed. They were only about six paces from each other, but with the state of the fractious ice, it might as well have been a mile. Gigi raised her fists.
She could run the ice and slide into his bad leg if she was quick and careful. She had to take him off his feet. It would be over. If they both went into the ice, so be it. She could live with that. Drake would be safe. He would get the chance at a life that was taken from him.
Sargasso smiled as if he just remembered something hilarious. A flash of confusion tore across Gigi as the knight raised his sword high into the air. He then turned it downward and stabbed directly into the ice beneath him. Gigi stared at him for a moment in bafflement.
Had he given up? Was this some kind of honor suicide thing? The captain locked eyes with her, his bloody visage grinning like a madman. No, this was some kind of trick. Before she could make another move, the tip of the Vita Macel exploded through the ice beneath her. The goddamn thing could curve! Of course, it could. Gigi was caught completely flat-footed. She tried to jump back, but before she could, the blade spiked up and pierced her thigh like a skewer through a fish.
Gigi cried out in agony. Her footing gave, and she fell hard onto the ice. The blade cut deeper as she collapsed. On her back, she screamed as she tried to sit up. Every movement sent bolts of suffering through her.
“You’re mine!” the captain cried out in jubilation.
Operating on instinct alone, Gigi cocked back her right fist. Her pain and fury cascaded through her fingers. She screamed. Then, she erupted with a punch that would have made a god flinch. For Drake! The gauntlet's knuckles collided with the side of the blade. Venomous hatred for the captain burned in her veins as her fist pushed into the sword. The blade rippled with the blow's force before shattering into useless metal.
“FUCK!” Sargasso cursed.
The ruptured blade retracted and ripped a fresh wound through Gigi. She cried out from the torture and rolled onto her side. Red ichor gushed from the wound as she put her right hand over the wound. She looked up to see the captain crying over his broken sword.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she said.
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