Chapter 7: True Divinity
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"Bow down to my glory or cower in fear of my wrath!"
Urilesh was hovering a few inches above the floor, her arms wide open in a grandiloquent gesture. Behind the fallen goddess' back, four wings of purple crackling flames languidly flapped and on top of her borrowed head stood two curved horns made of swirling, writhing shadows.
"Enough with the decorum!" The azure glow of Sir Reinhold's sword grew brighter and a wave of energy swept the room, snuffing Urilesh's wings and forcing the demon to land. "We both know that your powers are useless against my Goddess'!"
"With each of our encounters I grow increasingly tired of you, human. Let's end this." Urilesh's grip on her sword tightened as her signature smirk faded in an angry frown.
"Gladly."
Loretta simply watched, dumbfounded and unable to act, as Reinhold and Urilesh rushed toward each other. When they met, their indomitable will clashed as much as their sword did.
The knightess was a great fighter and she knew it. She had been able to stand her ground even against the most renowned fighter among the Order of the Moon during her training. But despite being decades older than her, Reinhold was on a whole other level.
He was moving so fast that Loretta's eyes struggled to keep up with him. He swung his sword faster and stronger than any men in their prime Loretta had seen. He was a relentless attacker always on the offensive and yet somehow always defending as well. Loretta wondered how much of his fighting prowess he owed the Mother of All and how much came from his life of training and diligence.
And so, as impossible as Loretta thought it, Urilesh was floundering. The knightess had no doubt that Urilesh at her full potential would be a ridiculously terrifying opponent from what she had seen first hand, but here the demon was severely handicaped.
Her magic was apparently powerless against the protection offered to Sir Reinhold by the Holy Moon. Her mastery over bladed weapons was limited by the strength and stamina of Elisa's body. Despite the rage that animated her, Urilesh was slowly but surely losing her fight.
"Loretta!" Reinhold roared as he deflected a strike from the demon. "Destiny awaits! Together we send this creature back to the unholy abyss she crawled from!"
"If you think this human can even point her sword against my host, you're even more dense than I thought, Reinhold."
"Don't listen to her Loretta! This fiend is nothing but lies and deceptions! The Princess you cared about is long gone, only darkness remains now!"
"I-I... can't... I don't know..." The knightess slowly raised her sword without much conviction.
"Then stand aside as I claim the victory that shall be ours!" Reinhold had no time to think much of Loretta's passiveness, busy as he was fighting Urilesh.
Blocking Reinhold's sudden heavy strike put Urilesh off-balance, Elisa's frail arm unable to withstand the power of Reinhold's aggression. The old knight pushed his advantage, and Urilesh only barely managed to dodge a swing that would have severed her right arm and it instead left a large bleeding gash on Elisa's upper right arm.
The sight of Elisa's wound pulled Loretta out of her stupor. Her heart was thundering in her chest, the knightess' mind torn apart by what was happening. She knew what she had to do, she knew where her loyalty stood, but she couldn't resolve herself to act.
With a masterful parry followed by a counterattack, Reinhold managed to send Urilesh's sword flying, disarming her. "This ends now!" He roared, sure of his imminent victory.
"Noooo!" Loretta lunged forward, blocking Reinhold's sword with her own.
"What are you doing?!" Reinhold snarled, his focus suddenly returning to Loretta as their swords against each other.
The knightess had no time to answer. The hilt of a flying sword roughly hit Reinhold's temple. Staggered, the old knight stumbled backward then a powerful blast of focused energy hit his breastplate. Reinhold was launched up in the air then heavily crashed back down on the floor.
"W-What have I done?!" Loretta's gaze repeatedly went from her sword to Reinhold's immobile body.
Clutching her bleeding arm, Urilesh intensely looked at Loretta. With unsteady steps, the demon slowly made her way to the shaking, whimpering knightess. Standing right in front of the knightess', Urilesh fixed her gaze on hers.
"Strike me down."
Loretta broke down crying. Unable to handle the Princess' eyes staring at her, she averted her eyes. Urilesh grabbed the knightess' right hand which was still holding her sword and moved it until Loretta's blade was resting against the Princess' neck.
"Strike me down. I'll die, be gone for good. The bards will sing the praise of Loretta the Godslayer until the very end of this world. You'll be the hero you always aspired to be."
The knightess blubbered even louder and more messily. Her hand slowly opened and her sword harmlessly fell to the ground. "I can't... I can't hurt her... You know that I can't..."
Urilesh let out an imperceptible sigh of relief. "Good. Now that this is settled, I have an offer for you. One last task. Help me, and I swear I'll be out of your life before sunrise."
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With eyes red and puffy from her recent outbursts of tears, Loretta had followed Urilesh through the maze of corridors and stairways that led down to the dark, ancient foundation of Kaedon Castle. The two women were now walking down the same dank tunnel that Loretta had explored earlier with Sir Reinhold.
Urilesh glanced behind her to face Loretta, an amused smirk on her lips. "You're not surprised by the existence of this place. The old man brought you down here before, didn't he?"
"He did." Loretta's tone was as neutral as a voice could be, the knightess too out of it to feel anything. "And I can even guess why we're here."
"Really? Can you?"
"You want to open the Vault. The royal blood of Kaedon and the blessing of the Moon."
Urilesh chuckled, neither confirming nor denying the knightess' conjecture.
Without warning, Loretta stopped. When Urilesh finally noticed that the knightess was not following her anymore, she flipped around, an eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Can I ask you to be honest with me, Urilesh?" The knightess asked, gathering what she still had of confidence.