"Honorable" Duel (Part 2)

Doevm and Boro were the first of dozens to reach each other. The mace slammed into the ground, ripping the dirt away as it drew back. While Doevm had a weapon that extended his range, Boro's limb and mace could reach him. It was a terrible matchup, yet he was smiling. They both were in fact. Even as they got scratched up or they were hit, their smiles persisted. Each spear stab was a whistle. Each swing with the mace was a roar.

The men didn't have time to wonder or stare. They put all their focus on staying alive. While Doevm had trained his men more on navigating the forest, the skills the men picked up translated to combat. While the Vilbarian enemies had a little experience under their belt, their weakness was that they tried to fight fair. Like Frey once thought, those soldiers did not fight dirty or try to outsmart the enemy.

The Acrin farmers, however, had picked up on Doevm's ruthlessness. Hitting under the belt, throwing dirt, spitting, climbing up trees, teaming up on one target, nothing was forbidden. These men were fighting for their survival, a much more noble purpose than fighting for some stupid kingdom.

Hopi's spear flashed time and time again, taking occasional glances at the Savage that he was supposed to be emulating. It seemed the man was a little broken despite Doevm's compliments on their mental health. He wore no armor, talked during the fight, and even smiled. While he had seen Doevm smile during fights a lot, he never imagined someone else would do it.

He shook his head and dug up his own anger. After entering his state, however, he found himself smiling much like the others. It was strange. He didn't enjoy the fight, yet when his muscles screamed at him or when he blocked a sword at the perfect angle, the smile widened. This concern, along with all of his thoughts, faded as he dived deeper in the trance of battle.

Doevm managed to land a throwing knife into Boro's chest but it bounced off his ribcage. The cut was too shallow for actual damage. While he was smiling, the battle wasn't in his favor. He had nothing to block the mace. While his spear could regenerate, it had a limit. The mace would tear through it like paper if he made a wrong move. His weapons were too dull.

'I can't support my men,' He thought. He couldn't help but glance back. No matter if his men used cheap methods, no matter if they had trained like hell this past few weeks, the strong could overcome it. His fight against Frey had proved at least that much. He needed to end the battle quickly but… He flipped over a mace. Before he could regain his balance, a fist smashed into his stomach. Blocking with life essence didn't stop the wind from leaving his lungs. He bounced off the dirt and slid back.

Several knights joined in the fight by Boro, but he shooed them away: "This is my fight. My culture has our own way of doing things. Don't interfere."

'Some honor,' Doevm thought. 'You, a fully grown adult are going after a kid. Your culture doesn't care about honor and that's why I love it. You guys only care about individual physical strength.' While Boro was distracted, Doevm propped himself up and tried to normalize his breath. His life essence faded in and out. Boro charged forward, swinging the mace around. Doevm rolled out of its path. His legs burned. His lungs burned brighter. His will to live burned brightest. He ran around trees and through bushes, distancing himself from the battlefield in order to gain distance from his opponent.

Boro blew every bush away, not bothering to go around. His life essence flared, and he closed in on his prey. "Come on little one! Where is your bite?" He taunted and laughed. He seemed to loom over everything, casting his shadow over Doevm's.

Finally, Doevm couldn't run anymore. He turned to face his opponent, who smiled: "That's good. Die on your feet like a warrior." The mace flew forward, and a large crack echoed. Doevm's spear broke into pieces so he drew his dagger and leaned against a tree for support. Boro narrowed his eyes: "You're not going to die easily, are you?"

Doevm slid out of the mace's path on his own sweat. The tree where he had been moments ago had a hole ripped in its side. Boro grunted and pulled the mace out. "Just stay still!" Again the mace came, managing to catch Doevm's foot.

Blood flew everywhere as pain exploded through him. He had used the last of his life essence to defend but his foot was broken. He crawled away, leaving a trail of blood and sweat. "Accept your death!" Boro screamed and stomped on Doevm's chest. His mace crashed into dirt as Doevm had slipped out of his breastplate. Boro snarled and stomped on Doevm again. "I don't like that look," he muttered. "Your eyes, you don't have the eyes of a warrior. Instead of looking forward to the fight, you're now afraid. How can you look like that, like someone so pathetic?"

"Because…" Doevm breathed under the foot and his own fatigue. "I do not seek my own death." He drew his dagger and cut deep into Boro's foot. As the Savage screamed and rolled around, Doevm limped away and behind a tree.

"You little shit!" Boro shrieked and then took several deep breaths. Doevm heard him limp around while still muttering. "That was deserved, I gave you mercy. I should have ended you right there." Boro's voice seemed to be getting closer by the second. "But you, you should be glad to die in battle. That is why we fight. That is why we smile, because we love to be here." Doevm calmed himself and activated his mana sense just in time to feel a gust of wind from behind him.

He ducked right as a mace broke through the tree. Splinters entered his back. A branch collapsed on him, knocking his dagger away and trapping his limbs. He struggled but he could never free himself in time.

Boro's smile faded as he stood over his opponent one last time: "May you find peace after death." He raised his mace and frowned. The veins in his arm burst out as the mace shook. "What magic is this?"

"Mine." The Lich and a magic circle appeared. Boro erupted in flames.

The Savage staged back. "I thought you were a warrior of honor!" he screamed even though he was burning alive. "You're just a weak boy who relies on mana." He refused to completely fall down, ending up on a single knee. "You outnumbered me. You are and always will be weak. Your weapons should be ashamed to be wielded by you." He reached forward, still cursing. He collapsed before he could reach Doevm, who sighed and turned to see Hopi.

"I-I" Hopi stuttered as he took a step back.

'Kill him,' The Lich held out a skeletal hand. A magic circle appeared right below Hopi, who was too shocked to move or react.

'No,' Doevm thought. While he was out of breath, he didn't need his stamina. He pulled something out of himself, a sort of strength he had never called on before. The magic circle below Hopi blinked in and out of existence as he fought for control of himself. The Lich stumbled for a second, then resisted the pull.

It was so fast that Doevm couldn't grasp what exactly he was doing. He just knew he was not allowed to let go of the magic circle. They both pulled at it until their surroundings vanished, replaced by a black veil. Hopi was gone. It was now Doevm against the Lich. They weren't in a place so to speak, more of a space inside of the mind.

The two stared at each other. Doevm was above and the Lich was below, trapped in murky water. There were no blows or even magic, only their wills. As he fought, Doevm felt ideas enter his mind, thoughts about healing magic and of his old life. He recognized it, but it also felt foreign to him. The will to eliminate the human species, the determination to master every magic, and the curiosity towards everything related around magic all flooded through him like a title wave. It all felt familiar, yet wrong.

These weren't his thoughts and feelings but a sweet lie of some kind of purpose in his undead life. They crashed against him, threatening to pull him down into murky water. The Lich was below him, cackling. Doevm looked up to where he wanted to go. It was a place even darker than the murky water below him. For the first time, the dark scared him. Faced with the two, the Lich seemed to offer more of a comfort. In a fraction of a second of hesitation, he let himself fall towards the Lich.

Despite falling, he never made it into the water. He landed on its surface and could only look through its slightly transparent surface. No matter how much the Lich pulled him, he never fell. He could not fall. Upon closer inspection he saw cracks in it, however these were old and did not budge.

The Lich stopped cackling and Doevm could have sworn he was frowning. The pull stopped and they both stared at each other. "Why isn't this working?" The Lich asked itself. "Why aren't you falling? Is it that our two souls can only coexist?" It sank deep into the water until Doevm couldn't see it anymore. The surrounding dark dispersed and Doevm's mind returned to his body which was trapped under a branch. Hopi cut at the branches with the dagger.

"I won't tell anyone," Hopi said more to himself than to Doevm. "I always knew you were different. Either in the way you acted or the way you fought. I never once thought you would lose. It looks like I now know why." He helped Doevm up. "Now I need to go lead everyone. Stay here and rest." He ran off before Doevm cleared his head.

'That should have been soul magic,' Doevm thought about the battle, having realized Hopi wasn't a threat. 'He pulled at me, trying to absorb me like the power Frey has. I shouldn't be here right now. I know I didn't do anything so it must have been some external force.' As he thought he couldn't help but get the feeling that during his battle with the Lich, something had been watching them from the sidelines. Something…dangerous.

His thoughts raced like his heart, changing from one experience to another. Everything was moving too fast. 'Hopi, he needs to be dealt with, but that will have to wait until after the battle.' He looked at this broken foot, which was just a piece of meat attached to the end of his shin at this point.

He threw the distraction to the back of his mind and limped back to the battlefield. It seemed that Hopi had been instrumental in keeping everyone alive. All the men were clumped around him in a tight formation as they dealt with the last of the enemies. After, they all cheered and saluted their captain.

"Now what should we do squad leader?" Hopi asked, still covered in blood, some of it his and most of it not. He acted like he had seen nothing but Doevm could tell the Elf was hiding fear by his shaking hands. The squad had taken quite a few casualties: seven deaths and eight injured. They were done for the day.

"We watch," Doevm said. Seeing his men were a little hesitant, he explained: "We could go flank the enemy, but we are one, in no shape to fight, and two, not equipped to fight mages. We need to get ready to move in case anything happens. The best way to do that is to watch the battle and see if anyone needs help. We are not here to win this battle, only to draw out a tie. Marcus said that himself." Doevm wanted to loot the corpses but knew none of the equipment was his size. His spear, he picked up the pieces. Although he wanted to believe it could be repaired, when he let the wood absorb blood, nothing happened. Sighing, he took the pieces with him. He had his squad climb up a tree (he was carried up by Hopi) and watched the center lane for the rest of the battle.

'I think Hopi can keep quiet about my magic, but I'll need some insurance on him. I'm exposed enough as it is already.' He frowned and thought about something else. 'If the mages didn't come to us, they are going after Frey. I hope he makes it out.'