Eliona's War 1: Hesitant Healer

Chapter 57

The Chosen sank to his knees, his giant cleaver slipping from lax fingers to clatter onto the ground. Severance was trying very hard not to stare at the soft pink intestines peeking through the horrendous wound.

"Where'd these guys come from?" Awesome Dude asked, as if he were a mere bystander rather than a participant. The fact he'd disemboweled a man didn't appear to register.

The sight was so surreal that Severance's brain nearly shorted out. Chosen ran towards them, a few stopping to help Kobha, who'd been badly hurt by the Eternal Champion, Siegfried the Third.

Siegfried himself was at the far end of the street, his back against the wall as he stoically defended himself against three other Chosen. He had a slender throwing knife in one hand and a heavy, nicked axe in the other.

We're going to die, Severance thought faintly. His defense skills were horribly lacking, and Awesome Dude would last maybe two seconds against the horde of irrational Chosen. Nothing they could do would save them at this point.

"Wow, there's a lot of them!" Awesome Dude grinned, and he smacked his two claw blades together. The clash of metal created sparks. "This is gonna be fun!" And then he bounded forward once more, charging headlong into the crowd.

Severance groaned. His friend was insane. He almost couldn't bring himself to watch the unfolding disaster. And what a disaster it was.

Movement flashed across his peripheral vision. That was all he glimpsed before Awesome Dude was deleted in an instant.

His name in the party list turned gray and dark, just like Saffron's.

Severance's eyes grew wide. The Shade hadn't even reached the Chosen. He hung limply from a spear that protruded through his chest. And behind him, holding said spear effortlessly with a single hand, stood a tall and ominous figure.

Blackened metal formed an intricate armor that clung to a masculine form; the newcomer was a tall and lean predator that was nothing like Severance had seen before. Even the spear was a savage thing, taller than the warrior himself, all sharp lines and cruel edges.

With the face hidden behind an angular helmet, it was impossible to see who it was. Not that Severance wanted to. He stared at his friend's limp body, stunned into silence as the tall warrior tilted his spear downwards.

Gravity helped Awesome Dude's body to slide to the end, where it plopped unceremoniously onto the ground. With a savage swipe to the side, the warrior shook the worst of the blood free from his weapon. Then his helmet head turned to face Severance.

Panic clawed at his ribcage like a wild beast, yet Severance might as well have been a tree rooted to the ground. There was a strange name appearing over the warrior's head in Elionan gray: Knight Sessh.

A Knight? Severance almost choked. What kind of knight was this?

The helmet shifted ever so slightly, the chin lowering a fraction of an inch. A terrible sense of doom suddenly descended upon Severance. His hands tightened unconsciously around the cold metal of his closed war fans.

He blinked.

A shadow fell over him, and Sessh was right there, the frighteningly sharp point of his spear reaching out to close the remaining distance between them.

That was when a loud shout rang across the street. A dark wall appeared right in front of Severance, blocking off his entire view. Metal crunched and Severance flinched, eyes squeezing shut.

Yet nothing touched him. He heard only a dull clang then scrape as another attack was diverted. Only then did he cautiously open his eyes.

The wall before him was not an actual wall, but someone's heavily armored back. Severance lifted his gaze to the area above his rescuer's head. It was a player named Ironhide.