Jane, Warrior of Decura Chapter 46

Foregone Conclusion

After she was sure nobody was chasing her, Jane turned a corner and came to a screeching halt. “Alright, I think we got away” she said as she put Emina and Nate down. “How's Nice?”

Emina held up the kassi in her palms. Nice seemed to be shaking off the lingering dizziness from hitting her head on the stone pavement. “Did I save the day?” she asked after sitting up, her head swaying from side to side.

“You sure did” Jane said with a smile. “Good work.”

“Emi is so proud of Nice!” Emina cheered a little too loudly in Nice's ear.

Nate raised an eyebrow. “How did you manage to get away Nice?” he asked eagerly. “Did you trick them into letting you go? Or did you use your magic to escape?”

Nice's ears suddenly drooped down and she hung her head, a sad expression on her face. “Well...” she muttered.

A concerned Jane leaned in closer to the kassi. “Did something happen Nice?” she asked. “They didn't hurt you did they?”

“We don't have much time!” Nice shouted after leaping to her feet, startling everyone else. “Jane, Nate, Emina... We have to go back there and stop them!”

“What? Why?” Nate asked.

“They... They know how to get to Kassile...” Nice whimpered. “I didn't want to tell them... But...”

Jane grit her teeth and averted her eyes. “What did they do to you?” she asked, her fists clenching up.

Nice dropped to her knees. “A mask...” she whimpered. “The same mask that trapped you in a deep sleep... Someone wearing it tore it from their face. I watched as the mask snapped and folded in on itself until it could fit on my face... Once it was on, I saw a face... A face shrouded in darkness... I couldn't... I couldn't stop myself...” A tear fell from Nice's cheek. “I only got away because I pretended to pass out. If I hadn't...”

Jane remembered the face she saw while she was trapped within that strange dream. Huge pupil-less eyes, massive sharp teeth and voice that still sent shivers down her spine anytime she pictured it.

“Nice...” Emina muttered before cuddling the kassi to her face, albeit much more gently then usual. “Emi is here for you...” Nice tried to hold back her sadness but failed miserably and wrapped her arms around Emina's stony cheek as she burst into tears, especially when Jane crouched down and wrapped her arms around Emina.

“Bastards” Nate growled through his teeth. “That hag and her cronies are going to pay for this...”

“We have to go back” Nice sobbed while wiping her tears away. “We have to stop them before they sail for my home.” After giving her friends a quick nod, Jane grabbed Nate and Emina and bolted back toward Hazel's mansion.

Unfortunately by the time they got there, Hazel and her minions were nowhere in sight. “They must have left already...” Jane growled.

“Then we have to hurry after them” Nice said after leaping to Jane's shoulder. “Which way did they go?”

Jane quickly put her friends down and placed Nice on Emina's shoulder. “One second, I'll check” she said before suddenly sprouting up to the largest size she could grow too. Unfortunately, she couldn't see anything that would indicate where Hazel was or which way she was headed. “Where did she go?” After giving herself a few more moments to survey Etin city's upper quarter, Jane shrank herself back down.

“Did you see them?” Nice asked in a desperate tone.

Jane slowly shook her head. “I'm afraid not...” she sighed.

“See who?” a familiar voice asked, causing everyone to turn and spot Kiera and several Gigan knights emerging from Hazel's mansion.

“Kiera?” Jane gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Kiera crossed her arms. “Well I went to the Pennynook mansion to inform you about William's match” she explained. “But all I found was a torn up room. I knew something terrible had happened so I immediately got to work searching for you. Then I saw a huge blue explosion in the sky and headed straight toward it.” Kiera pointed to the damage to Hazel's mansion. “Looks like some serious combat happened here so we started to search the mansion. But then I spotted you approaching through a window.”

Jane's eyes widened. “Will?!?” she gasped before grabbing Kiera by her shoulders. “Is he fighting right now?”

“Y-yes” Kiera grunted, Jane's grip proving to be just a little too tight. “I received the signal about fifteen minutes ago. You'd best hurry if you want to get there in time to save him. I can get you a horse if you need it.”

“Don't bother” Jane said before glancing at Nate. “Just get Nate, Emina and Nice to the ship and prepare to sail. I will meet you there with Will.”

“I'm coming with you Jane” Nate assured. “You'll need my help.”

Jane shook her head. “No Nate” she said. “I need you to go with the others and protect them. I'm not going in there for a fight. I'm just going to jump in, grab Will and go.” Jane put her hand on Nate's shoulder before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss. “Please go with Kiera and the others. They need you to protect them.”

Nate blushed a little as turned back to Kiera. “Alright, let's get moving” he said as Jane started to grow herself back to her maximum height of eighty feet.

Jane, now towering over the entire courtyard, gave her friends a thumbs up. “I'll see you all very soon” she said with a confidant smile on her face.

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Elsewhere, within the high walls of the Gigan Coliseum, the battle between the Marshal brothers continued to rage on. Despite the sizes of their weapons, both combatants swung their swords with such speed and frequency, you'd think they were no lighter than the average sword. Thanks to having one less weapon, William found himself more on the defensive than he would have liked. However, the few times he did managed to launch an attack, Sedrick would have no choice but to halt his own offensive and use both weapons to block his brother's sword.

Austell, Danford, Adam and the rest of the crowd did their best to fight the urge to blink, they didn't want to miss a single second of this incredible battle.

After another thirty seconds of weapons clashing, one of Sedrick's attacks made it past William's sword, tearing the old knight's left shoulder pad away.

In response, one of William's attacks managed to nick his brother's neck. He followed that up by thrusting the hilt of his huge sword into Sedrick's chest. The impact, while small, was enough to force Sedrick to stop his flurry of strikes. William did a complete spin and swung his sword toward Sedrick's side, roaring as he did it. With no time to attempt an attack of his own, Sedrick attempted to block the attack with both of his swords. Unfortunately for him, William's attack had so much power behind it that the impact caused Sedrick to knock away, his feet digging small ditches into the arena's rough dirt floor as he slid across the ground.

“That was a great attack, brother” Sedrick chuckled, his breathing now much heavier than it was at the beginning of the fight. “I can feel the bones in my arms shaking.”

William smirked, doing a great job hiding his own fatigue. “We really have gotten old haven't we...” he sighed.

“We have” Sedrick agreed. “I bet you're still quite popular with the ladies despite that.”

“Now you're just teasing” William chuckled. “I've never been popular with women.”

Sedrick seemed to lose all the strength in his legs for a moment. “Still just as clueless as ever I see...” he grumbled. “Seriously brother, when you were a kid, did you suffer a major head injury while I wasn't looking?”

William looked confused, but quickly shrugged off his brother's question. “So, are your legs as tired as mine?” he asked, causing Sedrick to sigh and nod. “Then how about we call this a bout a draw so we can rest?”

“As great as that sounds... You know we can't both leave this arena alive” Sedrick assured as a twisted grin appeared on his face. “This has been the most fun I've had in years. I'm not about to stop midway. I'm seeing this battle through to the end brother and if you want to see your friends again, you'll give me everything you've got.”

William let out a sigh and readied his weapon. “Still just as bloodthirsty as ever I see...” he muttered to himself before noticing something interesting about the sword in Sedrick's right hand.

Sedrick couldn't help but let out a little giggle. “Here we go” he said. After giving his neck a good crack, Sedrick rushed forward.

Acting fast, William thrust his huge sword toward Sedrick, managing to score a direct hit to the center of his brother's torso.

A crazed smile suddenly appeared on Sedrick's face as he turned and shifted his body to the side. While William's blade still pierced Sedrick's skin, thanks to his maneuver, all it did was put a large, horizontal but also non-fatal cut in his chest. Now that he was past his brother's defense, Sedrick swung his left blade at William from below.

William tried to shift away from the attack, but Sedrick's attack was too fast to completely avoid and it not only carved into his armor, but it also left William with a long vertical slash to his chest. Despite the pain coursing through his body, William clenched his weapon tight as he spun toward his brother.

With no time to use avoid or fully block the attack with both of his weapons, Sedrick opted to meet it head on with his right blade. However, as he moved it to intercept his brother's attack, Sedrick noticed the same thing William had spotted earlier. All across the front of his sword were cracks, small but incredibly numerous.

In one single mighty swing, William's huge sword smashed through Sedrick's the instant they connected. Luckily for Sedrick, it seemed his brother was only aiming for his weapon, as William's attack passed right over his head, along with the top half of his right blade. Knowing he had a second before William would launch another attack, Sedrick quickly jumped back.

“You never were very good about checking and maintaining your weapons brother” William said as he placed his hand on his latest cut.

Despite the blood gushing from his chest, Sedrick glanced down at his broken weapon instead. “Guess I should have gone to a blacksmith this month” he grumbled to himself before turning his gaze toward his brother. “Oh well, sometimes you have to work with what you got.”

Austell struggled to keep his jaw from dropping. This had been the most intense battle he'd ever witnessed. It made his battle with Locke look like two children squabbling over a toy.

Danford couldn't help but feel a little amazed as well. From the moment he first laid eyes on William, he could tell the old man was a powerful fighter. However, it seemed that in the few months since their two battles in Bhaldural, William had somehow gotten even better.

Sedrick kept his gaze fixated on his brother. “This is fantastic” he thought. “To feel this way again... I missed it so much.” Sedrick took a strong step forward. “Brother!” he called out. “You really are amazing! I've missed this feeling... Facing an opponent who was so strong that my chances of victory and defeat are the same.”

William narrowed his eyes and remained silent, his mind attempting to predict what his brother's next move will be.

“I get the feeling this reunion of ours will be ending soon” Sedrick chuckled. “It's a shame... It's been great seeing you one final time brother” Sedrick and William gave each other warm smiles. A few seconds later, Sedrick rushed forward while William stood his ground.

Once he had halved the distance between both fighters, Sedrick tossed his broken weapon at William so that it spun like a disk. A single swing from William's massive sword swatted the projectile away. This however didn't deter Sedrick at all and he raised his weapon before trying to bring it down on William's shoulder.

Such an obvious attack from his brother made it easy for William to swing his weapon up to intercept it. Thanks to Sedrick only holding his sword with one hand, the instant his weapon collided with William's it flew from his grasp, landing several dozen yards away behind him. This however, was exactly what Sedrick had been waiting for.

Thanks to the size of his weapon, William was unable to raise his weapon in time to stop Sedrick from landing a powerful punch to his face. As William stumbled back, Sedrick grabbed his sword's hilt before sending a strong kick into his torso, disarming the old knight and sending him tumbling backwards.

As the crowd let out a wild cheer, Sedrick rested William's weapon over his shoulder. “Well, looks like this is the end brother” he said before cracking his neck. “It's been fun, but I'm afraid the next attack is going to settle this.”

William pulled himself to his feet and spat out some blood. “So it would seem... I'm sorry everyone” he grumbled to himself while taking a few steps back, only stopping when he felt his heel touch something. “Although...”

“This looks like the end for William Marshal” the speaker gasped as everyone gripped their seats. “How is he going to get out of this?”

Austell grasp on the window's bars tightened. “There's always a way out...” he muttered to himself.

“Come on old man” Danford thought as sweat poured down his face. “You still owe me a rematch.”

After taking a deep breath, Sedrick placed both hands on William's weapon and started to slowly approach his brother. With each step, he increased his pace, eventually changing his walk into a charge.

Despite having no weapon of his own, William remained stationary, his gaze fixated on Sedrick's face.

As Sedrick go closer and closer to his brother, Adam leaned forward in his chair. “Damn you William” he growled through his teeth. “You have to kill the Butcher...”

“This is the end brother!” Sedrick roared as he raised William's weapon up over his head, intent of crushing his brother in a single blow.

“Yes, it is” William replied, his face expressing nothing but sadness. With a single swift lift of his foot, William kicked a sword up from the ground and into his hands, the same sword he had tossed away at the beginning of the battle. With a single tear falling down his face, William put all his strength and energy into his legs and rushed forward at an incredible speed.

Sedrick, completely shocked by William's sudden counter attack, swung his brother's massive weapon downward. Unfortunately for him, A single side step was all it took for William to avoid his brother's attack completely and the huge sword crashed into the ground. With no way to lift the sword up again in time, Sedrick could only watch as William plunged his blade into Sedrick's chest with such force that it's tip burst through his back.

A satisfied smirk appeared on Sedrick's face as all of his strength fled his body. “Wasn't expecting that...” he muttered before coughing up a lot of blood and falling forward into his brother's arms.

William put his arms around his brother. “I always warned you to watch your opponent's feet” he said while embracing his brother. “I'm sorry brother.”

Sedrick's face bore a bloody grin. “Don't... Don't apologize” he grunted. “Deep down, we both knew this was how it would end...” Sedrick continued to cough up more blood. “Never could beat you... One on one...”

“This was the closest you ever got” William assured while giving his brother a proud pat on the back before gently laying Sedrick down on his back before getting on one knee. “I only won because I got lucky.”

“Funny...” Sedrick snickered as his blood continued to pour from his wounds.

William noticed the color fading from Sedrick's face and grabbed his hand. “At least this time I get to say a proper goodbye” he said, doing a great job holding back his sadness.

“Yeah, sorry about barely saying a word when they carted me off all those years ago...” Sedrick muttered weakly as his eyelids grew heavy. “I'll... I'll do it right this time...” Sedrick put all of his remaining strength into his free hand and gave William a single wave with two fingers. “Farewell... Brother...”

“Farewell, brother” William sobbed as he watched Sedrick's eyes close and his arm fall back to the ground.

The crowd suddenly erupted into a wild cheer as the speaker declared William the winner. Adam let out a relieved sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “Finally...” he thought before wiping his nervous sweat away. “Now I won't have to deal with an angry giant woman...” Satisfied with himself, Adam went to take a sip of his wine, only to see it ripple slightly.

“He won...” Austell sighed loudly. “I was worried there for a second.”

“Well I wasn't” Danford assured after crossing his arms. “I knew William would win from the start.”

Austell raised an eyebrow. “You know, just because I can't see your head doesn't mean I can't tell how much you were sweating” he snickered, earning a disapproving growl from the dwarf. Austell was going to reply with another witty comment, only to interrupted by a mild shaking. “What was that?”

The crowd slowly began to notice the shaking too, along with distance screaming. “It's going to eat our children!” a far away voice screamed.

“No I'm not!” a booming female voice growled, getting louder with each word spoken. “Why does everyone always assume that?!?”

The approaching shaking and the familiar voice snapped William out of his grief. “Miss Jane?” he asked before glancing in the direction of the voice.

The shaking stopped a few seconds later. “That's a tall coliseum” Jane's voice said. “Guess I got no choice.”

Suddenly, Jane, at her usual height of seven and a half feet, came leaping over the top of the coliseum's walls, managing to land on her feet within the center of the arena.

“It's her?!?” Adam, Danford and Austell all gasped at the same time.

“Will!” Jane cheered gleefully before running to her friend's side. “Will are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere are you?” Jane spotted the cut on William's chest and cheek and the damage to his armor. “Oh my gosh... Are you in pain?”

William carefully placed his brother's hand on the ground before standing up. “I'll be fine miss Jane” he assured before glancing back to his brother.

“Who's that?” Jane asked before noticing the deceased man's face look shockingly similar to William's.

William let out a sigh. “What are you doing here miss Jane?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

“I came to save you Will” Jane answered. “You and Austell. Do you know where he is?”

As the people in the crowd started to ask who the tall woman was, William pointed towards a barred window and Jane immediately spotted Austell staring back at her. Acting fast, Jane dashed over to the window, leaving William alone with his brother once again.

“Austell!” Jane cheered before easily tearing the window's bars away. “Glad to see you're alright.”

“Don't worry, I'm fine” Austell said while climbing through the window. “What about the kids? Are they all safe?”

Jane smiled and nodded. “They're perfectly safe” she assured, immediately putting a relieved smile on Austell's face. “I found them all a new home.”

“You did?” Austell asked, causing Jane to nod again. “Thank you Jane. Thank you so much.” After getting a thumbs up from Jane, Austell turned back towards the window to help Danford climb through.

Jane turned back to William and spotted him still standing over his lookalike's body. “Will?” she said while quickly approaching the old knight. “Are you sure you're alright?”

William quickly wiped a tear away and smiled at Jane. “Yes miss Jane, I'm fine” he replied. “Where's Nate and the others?”

“I'll explain on the way Will” Jane said. “Right now we've got to head to the lower docks. There's a ship waiting there for us.”

“A ship?” William questioned. “What for?”

“All I can say is Nice's people are in grave danger” Jane answered. “We have to help her stop that hag and her cronies. Once and for all.”

William nodded. “Let's go then.”

“Not without me!” Austell shouted as he and Danford hurried over. “You're not going anywhere without me.”

“Or me for that matter” Danford said.

Jane raised an eyebrow and was about to ask who the dwarf was, only for William to chime in. “That's Danford” he explained. “The dwarf whose shield I've borrowed for the past few months.”

“Right, right” Jane said. “But, why do you want to come with us exactly?”

“Because he owes me a rematch” Danford explained while glaring at William. “Plus, it sounds like you'll need all the help you can get. Well, you can't get better help than me. I insist you allow me to accompany you into battle.”

“He would be a significant boost to our group's strength miss Jane” William explained.

Jane shrugged. “Fine, fine” she said. “You can come with us. But Austell, I can't ask you to come along too.”

“Well I-” was about as far as Austell got before being interrupted.

“Hey!” Adam roared, silencing the muttering crowd. “Don't think I'll allow you to take the Rooftop Runner anywhere! He is my prisoner!”

“Well if you leave me here, they're just going to lock me up again” Austell finished, ignoring Adam completely. “Plus, after everything you've done for me, I owe you my life. Please, let me lend you an extra sword.”

“Don't ignore me!” Adam barked, only to immediately quiet down when Jane gave him a soul crushing glare. “K-k-knights! Seize them all at once!”

“Well I guess that settles that” Jane said as she watched at least fifty knights start to head towards them from the stands. “You're both coming with us.” Jane got on one knee and held out her arms. “Grab hold and I'll run us out of here.”

Danford quickly leaped onto Jane's back as Austell and William took one arm each. William gave his brother one final sad look as he felt Jane's arm wrap around him.

Once she was sure her own grip was secure and everyone was holding on, Jane bolted toward the side of the arena. With a single bound she leaped onto one of the stairways and dashed up it in seconds.

“You won't escape!” Adam roared as he watched Jane disappear over the side of the coliseum. After tossing his wine cup as hard as he could, Adam turned to one of his personal bodyguards. “Get me a horse and send everyone after them.”

“Everyone?” the knight asked.

“EVERYONE!!!” Adam snapped, rattling the knight's helmet.

TO BE CONTINUED....