30 A Battle of Gold and Silver

Tyra and Bellbraun stood quite still waiting for the other to strike first. Bellbraun wasn't going to do it, so Tyra had no choice but to go on the offensive. As soon as she charged in and went away from Syren, the other golden-robed knights charged towards Syren. They knew that Bellbraun didn't want them to interfere by just looking at him, but Syren was still an enemy that they needed to fight.

Tyra couldn't help Syren, but was confident that he could protect himself. Syren was also very confident in his own abilities even without Ira to help him. However, Ira was still there watching as I watched. Now that Ira felt the fear of death from Syren, he was more reluctant to try anything. But he still waited patiently for the moment when he needed him the most. That would be the moment when Ira would strike.

Syren conjured his shadow blade and whatever spells he needed. He could fight them fairly well, but each one was very skilled in their own way. They each held swords, but fought very differently. Some swung with power. Others tried to cut fast. Nonetheless, Syren was doing well for the moment.

Tyra focused on her battle with Bellbraun. As she fought, tears kept flowing, but she quickly wiped them away to concentrate. She was fast and dodged Bellbraun's slow movements. But whenever Tyra would strike, he would easily block the damage with his hammer or armor. Her blade couldn't even make a dent in them. She even knew that he was going easy. He wasn't as aggressive as he usually was. If this was between anybody else, Bellbraun would have slaughtered his enemy, but this was a fight with Tyra. He was still very hesitant to hurt her.

Tyra tried to hit in between the armor's weak points or towards Bellbraun's neck or head for a quick and painless death, but his defense was just too much for any. But this did not deter her. She continued to speak with Bellbraun to try and get just a little bit of the old Bellbraun that she knew.

"Bellbraun, you're not a monster. We can still live together happily ever after. I am willing to leave the Silver Order if it means saving you," Tyra pleaded.

"I don't need saving. The Golden Garden provided me with a new sense of purpose like so many others who joined. I can't abandon that child. I would have become this even if I had the chance before this eclipse appeared," Bellbraun replied as he swung his warhammer. Tyra dodged it, but knew that he was intentionally moving slower than usual. Tyra hoped that she could at least use that to her advantage.

The more they fought, the faster Bellbraun became. Tyra was getting tired and weak from the constant action. But Bellbraun was the exact opposite. He didn't tire. He didn't need to rest. He didn't feel weak. He was a monster that didn't and wouldn't stop.

With a sudden burst of speed, Bellbraun aimed his hammer to sweep underneath Tyra. She jumped up to dodge it as he guessed that she would. When she did exactly as he thought would happen, Bellbraun immediately swung the hammer back towards the vulnerable knight as she was still in the air. She couldn't dodge. Instead, she had to block with her blade - a small piece of metal compared to Bellbraun's massive hammer.

The blade cracked. Bellbraun could have broken it if he wanted to. He could have even turned Tyra into just a mangled body like so many others that laid nearby. But he didn't.

Tyra was sent flying to a nearby wall. She heard her own bones crack as she struck the wall. She coughed out cups full of blood. She fell to her knees. She slowly tried to get herself up. As she tried to lift herself up with her cracked blade, the blade snapped in two. She fell to the ground as her body ached in pain.

"Now, Tyra, do you see that humanity alone can only go so far? Will your silver knight come save you, perhaps? Why don't you pray and see if he comes? At least, Avaritia has given me the strength to fight. Your savior has given you nothing but false hope," Bellbraun said, "Now, please. Come with me. If you are serious about leaving the Silver Order, I will leave the Golden Garden after I finish my current business. After all of this, I still hope that we can be together. Please, take my hand..."

Bellbraun went over to her with his hands open to pick her up. But when Tyra saw that hand from above, she saw a monster that would have crushed it if she had given her hand.

Tyra looked at Syren who was having trouble dealing with the onslaught of robed warriors. He killed a few, but they were still coming.

Ira tried to convince Syren that he needed him, but Syren didn't listen.

Tyra got herself up slowly by herself slapping away Bellbraun's hand. He tried not to take it personally, but felt incredibly insulted. Nonetheless, he moved paces away from Tyra. He didn't even bother to prepare a battle stance. Her blade was broken. And even if she picked up one of the fallen blades, Bellbraun was confident that he wouldn't need to try very hard.

Tyra stood back up throwing away her broken blade and picked up another off of a mangled corpse's body. She breathed hoarsely. She had bruises all over her body, but she stood up. She looked at Bellbraun with both sadness and hate aimed at herself. She blamed herself for what happened, and vowed that she would fix things. She vowed to herself just like Syren did.

She believed that she had to keep fighting no matter what. Even if her body felt like it was going to fall apart in any moment, she wouldn't forgive herself otherwise.

As she looked up towards Bellbraun, she took two steps before falling back down to her legs. Even if her mind was set on something, her body didn't listen and couldn't keep fighting.

Bellbraun waited for the moment when Tyra would realize that she couldn't win. All she had to do was stop and he would have left her alone. However, he had no plans on letting Syren stay alive. He just didn't like being replaced.

"Damn it," Tyra whispered to herself, "Get up. Damn it."

Her body wouldn't listen. Her tears dropped to the ground, but she was no longer feeling anguish over trying to kill Bellbraun. She felt weak knowing that she couldn't make the choice. She thought that perhaps her body rejected what she wanted because Bellbraun was right. Only monsters can compete in this world. Only monsters like her silver knight.

But she didn't give up. She stood up and took another step while leaning on her borrowed blade. Bellbraun was very patient with her and waited for her just to give up already. But she wouldn't. She would force herself and her body through hell to get some kind of feeling of repentance from something or another for the horrible things she's done - the horrible things they've done.

As she took one more step, something by her side dropped to the ground. One of her pouches ripped open and a small glass contained broke apart. It contained dirt and particles of silver. After the silver knight saved her and Bellbraun from the undead dragon, she remembered picking up small pieces of the silver knight that was scraped off. It was so small, but shined so brightly. She kept it in a pouch and made sure to put it in a small glass container she bought later on so that it wouldn't get lost.

Now, it was broken. She picked up the dirt and particles of silver in her palm. The silver was still shining so ever brightly. Each one was like a star. She remembered the silver knight, but didn't expect nor want his help. This time, she knew that she needed to finish this fight herself even if meant killing her.

But as she held the pieces of silver in her hand, they began to move on their own accord. They stung Tyra's skin. And as she threw away all the dirt from the pain, all that was left was the small pieces of silver stuck to her skin. They pierced through her skin and entered inside of her body.

She dropped her blade and began to writhe in pain. It was just a single moment, but for her, it felt like eternity.

Bellbraun watched her and wondered whether she was alright. He was worried whether he hit her too hard. But that wasn't the case.

A scream that began to shatter the earth around them spread throughout the air. It was not a human scream, but sounded like something getting muffled.

Syren, Bellbraun, Ira, and the other golden-robed all stopped in their tracks to see what could have done this. Each one utterly surprised and shocked. None of them knew what they were seeing.

Tyra's entire body began to rip apart and invert. Her eyes began to whiten. Her skin grew harder and harder. The armor on her body was forced off as some kind of new armor emerged - an armor of pure silver or so it seemed. Her own face was becoming engulfed in it. But she didn't feel any pain. It was just cold. Her fear was gone. Everything began to look more distant. It was like looking through a window.

She stood up without feeling any pain. Her body was no longer aching. And she felt a new sense of resolve flow through her. It was different, but she wasn't afraid of it. She felt... powerful.

To everybody else, she looked like a knight in silver armor. Nobody could see any eyes where she could see from. Instead of any discernible eyes, there was only a dark void where the visor and slit was placed.

Her emotions were slowly going away until there was only anger and regret left, and even that was starting to disappear. But she didn't care. The pain was fading. Her strength renewed itself. She felt being torn apart in the cold night, while being reborn in the same way.

As though she wanted to let out all her cold rage and sadness towards the injustices she has committed and inadvertently caused, she screamed once more making a muffled roar that was guttural and hoarse. And the world shook.