8: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

The knight looked at the sleeping beast one last time before he acted, drawing his sword, and in one fluid motion slashing with the force of a hammer at the beast's neck. A deep gash was made. Enough to weaken it significantly, but not enough to kill it.

"Dammit, that was my only chance at an easy fight." The night cursed himself under his breath as he turned around and sprinted out of the cave and towards the clearing.

He heard a blood-curdling howl behind him, and he knew the beast would not stop until his body was unrecognizable. He knew the beast was far stronger than he was, and there was no way to change it. He knew now was the time to come to face his fears. He had acted so strongly in front of Cleo, and he did say the truth. He was confident, but now, staring into the face of death, he was terrified. There was no escaping it anymore.

The hound began to move slowly into the clearing, leveling its head after the initial rage it felt from the attack. It let out a small growl that dragged on for roughly fifteen seconds. It was at this moment that the knight lost control of his body.

To Cleo, it seemed as if the knight was making a stand, charging in to deal the first blow and take the offensive. This was not the case. The knight's body was moving on its own, his fear had taken over his senses, and he was in a state of near unconsciousness. His body was reacting out of memory of long ago fights, but something was missing. His moves fell short of par for the knight's current fighting style.

He was still dancing around the beast, like the amber leaves falling into the clearing, but he wasn't dealing any damage to the hound. However, the hound couldn't hit him. Each time its attacks fell short of the small target.

The fight dragged on, until the knight began to tire out. He was moving his body in a seriously inefficient way for someone without the capability to unleash mana, and the beast took advantage of this opportunity, striking the knight with a heavy blow from its tail.

The knight flew into a thorned bush. It broke his fall but tore scratches all over his skin. The sudden pain brought him back to reality and he was once in control of his body. He was hoping this was the bush where Cleo was hiding, but when he quickly scanned the area, he realized she was on the other side of the Cerberus. It would be impossible to recover his lost energy immediately.

The knight got up, accepting that he had to fight with his own strength for now, at least until he could quickly make it across the clearing. He picked up his sword, which was on the ground, a meter to his right. As he walked towards the beast, his posture changed. His walk was slow, but authoritative. As he drifted towards the beast, his movements changed. He began to move at a pace much faster than earlier in the fight. This change did not go unnoticed by Cleo. "What happened to you? How are you fighting this much better than your best after being completely drained of energy?"

The truth was the knight wasn't fighting at his best in the beginning. His movements were stiff and unrefined. Now that he was awake and in his right mind, his hope was not lost. If he could do that well against the beast while not in control of his body, he had a chance of beating it while he was in control of himself.

The dance was faster than ever, as the knight weaved through the frantic motions of the hound. It shot flames at him, but the flames could not even dream of touching the knight.

Attack after attack, the knight would spiral out of one swipe, instantly following up with an attack of his own. These attacks were not strong, they could only barely scratch the skin of the beast's legs, but the knight kept at it, determined to give himself enough time for a recovery and enhancement from Cleo.

The small attacks added up, and soon the beast was limping slightly. The knight made one last strike to the middle head's left eye, causing the beast to spasm around on the ground for a short amount of time. Using his earned time immediately, he ran towards Cleo and spoke a few words.

"Heal, Energy, 20%." The meaning was simple, but it surprised Cleo. This was the language actual knights used to tell healers what to do in battle. It meant to heal any more serious wounds quickly, recover their stamina, and provide a physical augmentation of twenty percent. As she swiftly went through with the commands, she reasoned with herself. 'If he knew the other aspects of mage warfare, I shouldn't be surprised that he knew the language as well.'

When she finished with the energy recovery, she began the augmentation. He had never taught her how to properly augment another person, so she had no idea how to do an entire body augmentation. Instead she touched her index fingers to each of his legs and augmented them by what she assumed had to be twenty percent, as he nodded at her in approval when she had finished.

The knight was relieved that she had at least augmented his legs, because he was unsure if she could augment his full body at that time. He was right that she couldn't and had hoped she would at least do his legs, because he needed to tie down the beast until the knights arrived, if they did.

However, as the knight was standing up, the beast had recovered a few seconds before he did and was charging at the knight. There was no time to dodge, not even enough time to recognize what was happening. The cerberus leaped towards the knight, trying to claw at him with all of its might. The knight was caught off guard and thrown into a tree at a considerable speed. As he was on the ground, accepting the end, something was different. The beast wasn't standing before him, it was still where it had hit him away moments earlier.

Then, the truth hit his stomach like a ball of lead.

The beast was no longer going for him, but for her. Unlike him, she couldn't escape the beast no matter what she tried. She wasn't skilled enough in augmentation to run away or fit enough to avoid the rabid strikes.

The villagers would be left without a leader. He knew what a capable leader Cleo was. He had visited the village several times, and even the village gossip was only praise about how she could keep everyone alive, even through the harsher winters.

To the knight, this was no longer just about keeping Cleo alive. It was about the future of that village. It was nearing harvest season, they needed her more than ever right now, or else there would be struggles over resources. He had seen this happen in other villages, and he knew how it ended. To think this would happen to them as well frustrated him.

In the matter of fractions of a second, the knight went from stone-cold fear to a burning rage. He could feel his body pulsating as the blood went all around his body.

Or was it something else?

He began to try and move the feeling around and he realized what it was. He could feel mana again. There was no time left to explore the feeling, and he let his body do the work for him.

His body remembered the feeling and swirled around his dormant mana. He instinctively augmented his physical ability by a hundred percent while sprinting towards the beast.

As the beast began to pounce on Cleo, something hit it in the side with an alarming force. The beast was pushed to the opposite edge of the clearing, the knight close behind it.

As the beast got up, the heads looked at the knight in unison as he clicked his tongue. He stared the heads dead in the eyes and said the only word he thought they deserved from him: "Rot."

Suddenly, his sword flew back into his hand as if magnetized to his body and he swung it with full force. All that was seen by both the beast and Cleo was an arc of light followed by a large flash. Then there was nothing. The cerberus, a beast strong enough to level the plains if it wished, destroyed in an instant.

"Just who the actual fuck are you?" Cleo questioned the knight, trying her hardest to restrain herself from screaming at him.

Suddenly, there was a squadron of ten knights encircling the clearing, and someone stepped out from the trees. Both Cleo and the knight recognized him instantly, it was Gabriel Lionheart.

Cleo kneeled before the archmage, but the knight, however, remained standing.

"Augustus Draconis," Gabriel, the eighth archmage began. "By order of the council of the archmagi, I hereby place you under arrest. If you resist you will be seen as a threat to not only the council but also the kingdom."

----- End of Arc One -----