Chapter 29: An Act of Faith
"Bang," Cassian whispered, his voice soft, anticipating the coming thunder.
Then, a huge surge of black lightning shot forward at the Commander, burning the grass and vaporizing the trees it contacted as it hurtled toward the defeated Knight.
Without hesitation, the Commander raised his axe in front of him and spun it with a desperate, furious strength, causing it to act as a localized energy shield. He took the lightning head-on.
BOOM!
The impact with his axe was catastrophic. It detonated, destroying every single object around it and instantly shattering the Commander's holy armor.
He stood in shock, literally smoking, a metallic stench rising from his body as charred pieces of his fragmented armor fell and clattered to the ground. Exhaustion washed over him, leaving his fingers weak. His battle axe, now too heavy, slipped from his grasp and fell into the dirt.
"Even all those years of training can't make someone as cowardly as me strong," he whispered, his voice raw.
"I'm just going to end up repeating the same mistake all over again."
The Commander felt utterly powerless, exactly as he did two decades ago when he first stepped onto a battlefield. As he stood, memories of that faithful day flooded his mind like it happened yesterday.
🕰️ FLASHBACK: THE LAST SURVIVOR.
On that terrible day, he and his comrades, all young, stepped into war for the very first time. Though the battle was eventually victorious for the kingdom, he was the only survivor and was hailed as a hero. But deep down, he never thought of himself as a hero.
In the heavy midst of the battle, he couldn't fight or protect himself; all the training had failed him. As a small, terrified boy, he cowered in fear, watching bodies drop as he scrambled desperately for his life.
Some enemies tried to cut him down, but his comrades—his friends—protected him with their own bodies. He never understood why. He hid himself until the uproar, the screams, and the sounds of canons slowly died away.
When he finally crawled out, he was shocked. The field was silent, littered with the bodies of his comrades and his enemies. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he fell to his knees beside his fallen friends.
"Why?" he wept.
"Why?"
(END OF FLASHBACK)
"Why am I still so weak?" he asked himself now, the question echoing the despair of his youth.
The monster raised both its hands high into the air. A new, small ball of black lightning appeared between them, releasing intense, crackling charges, even stronger than the previous attack.
The Commander managed a weak, sad smile. "What is this monster?" he said.
Even seeing the oncoming, lethal threat, he didn't move a muscle. He couldn't even if he wanted to; every last reserve of mana, energy, and strength had been used up.
"This is fine. My death day is long overdue," he said, accepting his fate.
The small ball grew larger as more black lightning surged into it, releasing shockwaves that terrified the adventurers so completely they couldn't move from their position.
The monster's gaze, fixed on the Commander, suddenly flickered sideways, settling on the adventurers. Seeing its grin at the sight of them, they shivered violently.
"Princess," the Commander muttered, his eyes wide as he saw the monster's predatory focus shift toward the carriage behind the adventurers.
With a final, desperate surge of strength, he dropped to his knees, gripping his battle axe. He went deep inside himself, diving into the well of his trauma, to draw power. The yellow lightning began to surge from his body again.
"Common!" he yelled, forcing the energy out.
More intense lightning surged from his body. With a final, agonizing kick from his right leg, he charged forward with his lightning infused axe, suddenly appearing directly in front of the paralyzed adventurers. The monster's gaze snapped back to him, and seeing the Knight move to shield its targets, it didn't hesitate.
RRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!
An ear-splitting roar shook the earth as the lightning bolt in its hands grew louder and more volatile. It stretched both hands out, and large, chaotic bolts of lightning surged uncontrollably out of the sphere and toward the Commander.
The Commander could have easily dodged it, saving himself. But for the safety of the Princess, he squeezed every last piece of energy he had left, spinning his axe for the final time.
The lightning struck the battle axe with a tremendous force—enough to decimate a tank or reduce a small village to pieces. The impact released a shockwave that sent the adventurers flying backward all at once, and shattered the remaining pieces of the Commander's holy armor as he stood his ground.
The pressure from the devastating lightning assault finally began to subside, but the Commander had nothing left to mount another attack.
"I'm done," he whispered, the axe barely turning now.
"Retreat," he gasped, barely having enough energy to form the word.
"The Princess must think I'm pathetic." He closed his eyes as tears slowly ran down his charred cheeks.
"I failed her. But worst of all, I failed my men, just like that day."
He slowly opened his eyes, and they widened in the final, terrified shock to see a large black foot planting itself directly in front of his face.
"It's over."