From the screams and explosions I can hear in the distance, the battle must be lost. I will still return to the front to hold the enemy back, but we need a plan for escaping the city if it is taken. I turn to Camilla, who is healing my wounds to the best of her ability.
"Camilla, if this temple is burnt to the ground, where are you going to go?" Camilla forces a light smile and looks around the room.
"I have nothing else. I have lived here most of my life, so I suppose I am going to die in the temple when it is burned down" a depressing acceptance of a doomed existence, but not one that I want to become reality. I refuse to let someone who helped me, die. I will not allow this temple to become her tomb. She helped me, and now it is my turn to help her.
"you should not waste your life on some kind of poetic death for yourself. You should do everything you can to make this world a better place. You are already a healer, so you have the possibility to save millions. So why let your life be wasted on a selfish thought like that? Think about how much good you still have to do in this world" Camilla is struggling to form a word now, she does not know how to react to my outburst. Was she really expecting me to let her die here? Camilla stutters,
"w-well, this city is going to be sacked, and I need to be present to help with rebuilding and repairing the damage" it seems that Camilla has a very constricted view on how she can help everyone. Is she really hoping that she will survive a fire out of pure luck?
"you don't have to stay in a burning temple for the whole sacking. You can flee and return once the smoke has cleared" I have offered my solution to Camilla, who is struggling to choose the best course of action. I force myself onto my feet and walk towards the door, "when this city falls, I will come back here. And when I see you, I want you to come with my group, to survive and escape the city. Before everything comes crashing down" I walk out of the room and run towards the temple exit. As I reach the exit, the smoky, red sky comes into view. I can determine the fastest way back to my friends based on the path they took me through on my way back here. I will have to run as fast as I can, while also trying to conserve my energy. I need to be ready for that Meddler if he returns. I should be able to take him on, seeing as though I am no longer hampered by my wounds. But if the situation is dire, we might need to pull a full retreat to the inner-city. The defenders may be trying to prolong the battle and delay their enemy for as long as possible, but the battle is close to being lost. When the victor becomes clear, I will have to decide on our course of action. If worse comes to worse, we will have to flee the city and hide in the wilderness. While my main focus right now is trying to defend this city, my focus will shift more towards finding a way back to our time. But that will take time, and we may encounter that Meddler before then. A group of conscripts sprint through the street, rushing past me. The leader is pointing towards the direction I am heading. The leader has a panicked expression on his face.
"we are down to the last few outer defences. We will begin our retreat towards the middle-city when the last few defences fall" the group disappears down the street. The casualties must be piling up rapidly if forces are being redirected to the areas I was fighting in. Our forces couldn't have collapsed that fast, right? The conscripts should have been able to hold out a lot longer than that. Or did that Meddler return and obliterate our defences? I am going to have to rush through the city as quickly as I can, I can not risk arriving late to the battle. Without a moment to spare, I break into a sprint and move towards the gate as quickly as I can. The sounds of explosions, screams, war cries and clashing metal fill the city as I pass each street I had preciously passed by when my friends brought me to the temple to recover. But now I am going to return to the front, and I am not going to allow this city to fall. I can see the shining reflections coming off the swords in the distance, so there must be a blazing inferno nearby, on account of this battle taking place during the night. I reach the end of the street, revealing the chaotic scene before me. Most of the defenders are either dead, or are lying on the ground, exhausted. I swiftly draw both of my swords, and dash forward to meet an enemy's sword head-on. I clash my first sword against his, both taking him by surprise and saving the vulnerable conscript at the same time. I use my free sword to slash at the enemy. He must have not been expecting another attack, because he does not attempt to block it, and my blade cuts through his entire body. As my opponent's body falls to the ground, I turn to the conscript on the ground, who is showing a thankful smile on his face. He raises both of his hands and claps them together in a praying pose, nodding his head as a follow-up.
"thank you, I thought I was dead. I do not know how much longer we can hold them back" I turn back to the fighting and ready both of my swords.
"I will hold them back for as long as I can" I scan around the battle to see if I can save anyone else, before I choose my next proper target.
"do you think you will be ale to hold them back longer than we have been?" I turn back to the conscript, who has an expression of concern and fear on his face.
"I know I will" I have to be sure of myself, so that I will not falter when I am needed the most. The conscript shows a faint smile, a shine of hope.
"good luck, and thank you for coming to help us in our time of need" I nod to the conscript, and return my attention to the battle at hand. Thinking back on my fighting abilities, I have been able to kill opponents who were skilled with swords, but I was able to defeat them as if it was second nature for me to accomplish such a feat. I felt as if I was calling upon something resting deep inside me, which helped me fight as well as I did. Well, whatever helped me through these battles so far, I need it now more than ever. I look on ahead, towards the maelstrom of close quarters fighting rage wildly in the streets, surrounded by the overwhelmed walls. Any moment now, the defenders would be forced to retreat, and the city would inevitably fall. With that in mind, I raise both of my swords, and lunge towards the closest group of enemies who are preparing to engage my allies. Before the first enemy can react, I have swung my left sword around and sliced through his shoulder and out through his ribs. I continue onto the next barbarian, who reacts with just barely enough time to block my attack with my right sword. The remaining two enemies jump back in surprise and raise their weapons to me. If these three barbarians are able to coordinate a decent simultaneous attack, I will not stand a chance against them. I raise both of my swords towards them, and bring them into an 'X' position. At this sight, my opponents make confused and intrigued expressions. With that, I will take the gamble and hope that my action has lowered their guard, if even just partially. I dash towards the three barbarians, and swing my right sword towards the one in the middle of their small formation. As my sword connects with his blade, I swing my other sword towards the enemy on the left. The remaining barbarian on the right side of their formation winds up his sword to swing at my opening. I can not allow my opponent to use this chance to cut my valiant effort short. I slide both of my blades to the left, making sure that my other two opponents can't help their ally with blocking my attack. I swing my sword across my enemy's now-lowered defences, cutting through his torso and sending him to the ground in a short second. The other two barbarians step back and raise their swords back to me. Now that they are down two men, they are going to be fighting with a more cautious approach. The two enemies immediately separate and circle around me in opposite directions. If I can time it right, I should be able to block both of their attacks without suffering a wound. The two stop as they reach each side of me and point their swords towards me, announcing their attacks. Without even a small delay, they each lunge towards me. I kneel down and raise both of my swords to stop both of their attacks, while being able to still use my legs to launch a counter attack. The combined weight of their two strikes sends me to the ground, on my knees. If I do not counter in the next few moments, I will die. I lean forward, risking an injury to my back, and use the small window of opportunity to swing my right sword towards my opponent on my right, who has been forced to open up his guard by my manoeuvres. My sword makes a clean cut through the barbarian and sends his body to the ground in two halves; being his left arm, and the rest of his body. The final barbarian takes advantage of my opening, and I immediately feel an intense pain run across my back. I swing my left sword up and guide it past his blade, cutting deep into his arm, which is holding his sword. As he drops his weapon, I lift my sword up towards his neck with as much strength as I can muster. With nothing to defend his body, my opponent tries to avoid my weapon, but my blade reaches the skin on his neck, and continues to lift into the air, carving through his throat. As my opponent's head rolls off of his shoulders, I jump back up onto my feet and rush towards the front line. A heavily wounded Halfar comes into my field of vision, who is being tended to by Seive. I run over to my two friends as quickly as I can.
"defending this gate is becoming almost impossible. We are going to have to retreat towards the temple. There, Camilla should be able to heal all of your minor wounds. Those of us who can still fight, will defend the temple until we can all escape together" Halfar and Seive look to me with exhausted faces. Seive turns his attention back to Halfar, but speaks first.
"we will continue to defend whatever part of this city we need to. We may not be as powerful as you are, but we will do our best to defend the people who live here" I look over to the conscripts who are still fighting against the invaders with all of their might.
"I am afraid that the event we are currently taking part in, does not result in a successful defence. In-fact, I think we are only influencing the battle by an insignificant amount. I believe the best course of action for us, would be to return to the temple, and help our two new friends escape with us. It may seem a bit selfish, but I am afraid of what would happen if we were to interfere too much with past events" Halfar and Seive turn back to look at me, showing faces of interest and confusion. Halfar attempts to sit up, while opening his mouth, which is twitching wildly.
"so what, we should just abandon everyone in this city?" there are some hard decisions that we have to make in the early days of our journey to becoming powerful people who can vanquish the evil which is plaguing the world.
"we have already done enough just by defeating one invader each. Besides, we are needed more in the present than we are needed here" Halfar makes a contorted face of frustration, raising his shaking fist to the red-stained sky above us, covered in smoke.
"what happened to our families...What happened to those unlucky kids in those experiments...We still need to bring them justice. What has happened here, is something which should not be our concern. We may still be able to help some of the people at risk, but I can see what you mean. We will head to the temple when we get the chance" I nod to Halfar and ready both of my swords for the next battle. I walk towards the fray surrounding the gate, and turn back to Seive.
"where are the others?" Seive raises his head to inspect our surroundings. And points across the battlefield, towards a group of conscripts.
"Felicity and 11O are assisting the defenders over there" Seive moves his hand over towards a set of fortified building, "Alice and 7P are helping wounded conscripts move into the alleyways to retreat towards the medical areas that have been set up temporarily. If we can not find a way to return to our time before the city falls, I think we can agree that we will have to flee to a more secluded spot, so that you can find a way for us to return home" since the cause for us travelling back in time is likely my abilities, I will have to be the one to find a way back home. There is that possibility, that fighting will improve my powers, but will I be able to push myself without falling in battle? I was already close to dying during the first stage of this battle. But now, I might have to face off against that Meddler again, and this time, I have to defeat him. I grip tightly onto my swords and begin walking towards the front line. I turn back to Seive and Halfar to speak with them one last time before I join the hopeless defence of this city.
"I don't know whether I will survive this or not. Once all of you are gathered at the temple, try to convince Camilla and Dionus to escape. They might not wish to leave without me, but I would rather you all survive than risk your lives to save mine. If the enemy forces come too close to the temple, begin your escape" Seive and Halfar shake their heads to me. Halfar raises his shaking left arm.
"we will not leave you behind. Not only because you are the only way we are getting tome, but because you are our best friend, our family" I smile to those words, I just can't help it. In this new world, I do not have any family that is blood-related, but my new family has been slowly growing on me. For their survival, I will go through hell to ensure it.
"well, I guess I have no choice now. Now I have to survive this battle. I will retreat to the temple once everyone else has left the front line, and the situation is absolutely hopeless" Seive and Halfar sigh to my promise. I turn away, and rush towards the front lines to find 11O and Felicity. The bodies closest to the inner streets are those of the dying who have been dragged away from the battle, only to die a few steps away from the back lines of defenders. The red lines of blood from where the bodies have been dragged across the streets paint the streets and stone paths. Even though the battle is still being held at the gate, the bodies are already near the inner streets. Most other places around the city are now crawling with the barbarian hordes. If we take too much time, the temple will be surrounded. I need to try to help the conscripts defending this gate, while also allowing for their defensive line to break before the enemy can reach the temple. I can not, and will never be able to forgive myself for the terrible decision I am about to make. I run into the crowd of conscripts, and slip through their formation to reach the front line. The battle has been raging for some time, so there are only three rows of conscripts left defending this gate. I quickly reach the front line and engage my first enemy on the front. Before my first enemy can even-wait, I just felt a slash across my stomach. I look down to the area where the pain is originating from, finding that my opponent has managed to land a direct slash against me, without my eyes seeing it. The wound is not deep enough to cause me any real problems though, so I should just overlook it. Before my opponent can wind up his next strike, I bring both of my swords towards him, giving him no chance to deflect my attack. With little choice, my opponent moves his sword to block my right attack, but my left sword moves faster as a response, cutting through his neck and reaching just below his left shoulder. With a small break in the action, I look around to see where 11O and Felicity are fighting. Besides the large groups of conscripts hopelessly fending off the invaders, there is only one duo standing against the horde on their own. I recognise them immediately and rush forwards to assist them in battle. There are easily ten barbarians fighting against my friends, and they will definitely not be able to hold their own against five opponents on their own. I run through the gap in the front, where the bodies have stacked too high up for a proper fight t take place. I use the peak of the hill of bodies to launch down towards my friends, landing between them and taking on three opponents of my own. 11O looks to me with surprise.
"I didn't expect you to be back so soon. We were worried we were going to have to carry you out of the city" I clash my swords against two of my opponents, while dodging the third's attack. I divert my attention to my friends for a short moment.
"I do not see us defending the city for much longer, so I have come to inform you that we are regrouping at the temple to escape" 11O narrows his eyes and returns his attention to his opponents, slashing at, and killing one in the process.
"how long should we remain here?" the outcome of this battle is almost certainly a defeat, and we have no idea how long we have until enemy reinforcements reach our position from the other gates into the city. So we can not take many risks.
"we need to escape as soon as we can. So once these enemies have been dealt with, we need to move to the temple, and figure out an escape plan from there" I block an attack from one of my opponents and use his new opening to deal a finishing blow. Felicity and 11O make frustrated faces, but nod in agreement to my plans. Felicity deflects a blow from one of her opponents, and slides her sword across his neck, resulting in him choking on his own blood. She turns back to me, now given a chance to speak to me due to the gap in the action for her.
"fine. We will return to the temple once we are free to do so. Until then, we will fight off these ruffians and help the people defending this gate" Felicity returns her attention to the enemies in-front of her and swings her sword towards them. With only two more opponents of my own, I should be able to help Felicity and 11O with their enemies too. One of my opponents takes advantage of my state of mind and thrusts his sword towards me as fast as he can muster. I step out of the path of the sword, and hit it towards the ground with a simple flick of my right sword. My opponent struggles to maintain his grip on his blade, but he is dead either way. I bring my sword down into the man, cutting into his spine and stopping just short of cleaving him in half. I rip my sword out of the corpse and attempt to block the inevitable attack from my other opponent, who is now behind me. I bring my left sword to my back, but my enemy's sword pierces through my chest. He was not using a swinging attack, but a thrusting, piercing attack. I twist my body to loosen my opponent's grip on his weapon, but his hand is strong. With two more painful twists, my opponent loses his grip on his sword, and is now defenceless. I bring both of my swords down into him, while his blade is still lodged in my chest. I straighten my back, feeling an intense pain as I try to hold a proper posture. But with this weapon in my body, I can not fight properly. I grip onto the sharp edges of the blade, and pull it towards me, sending it back out of the hole it had created. The bloody blade hits the ground with a metallic clang, and my red life force starts pouring out of my wound. I can not stop the bleeding with proper medical attention, as that would take too long, and I am needed right now. The only thing I can think of, is a little extreme, but I have no better options. I envision something frightening in my mind. Two metal plates materialise in my hands, with metal nails to hold them in place. I do not know how well this is going to work, but I need to try it. I hold the metal plate in place on my chest, and place all four screws into the holes in the corners. I slap the metal plate onto my chest, sending the screws into my body. The pain is extreme, and unbearable, but I need to stop the bleeding. My efforts seem to be in vain though, since the screws are just creating more holes to bleed from. I place the back plate in my pocket, and visualise a screwdriver in my hand. It is already paining me to think about what comes next. I open my eyes, seeing that the screwdriver has been created. I push the screwdriver onto the first screw, and start rotating it, deeper into my chest. The slow, piercing pain of the screw is driving me insane, but I must continue. I twist the first one into my chest, I can even feel as it passes by, and scrapes across my ribs. A feel a little relief when the screw stops turning. I swiftly move onto the next metal screw and hurriedly twist each of the remaining three into my chest. Each one is as painful, if not more painful than the previous. I remove the back plate from my pocket, dreading what will happen next. I push the metal plate into my back, and push the four remaining screws into my back. As each one stops, I sluggishly screw each of them deeper into my back. With the last screw in my body, unable to be twisted any more, I make a small sigh of relief. I look up to 11O and Felicity with my whole body shaking. 11O and Felicity are staring at me with widened eyes. 11O points to the metal plate, which now only has a small stream of blood leaking from it.
"that was a little extreme. Are you really that determined to buy us time to escape? We don't want to see you pushing yourself so hard for no reason" I look up to 11O with the strongest face of determination I could make.
"we have all lost our families, and this new family of ours, is one which I do not want to lose. I have already lost too much family!" 11O is looking at me with shock in his eyes, his face is changing to also display his shock. Felicity clutches onto her chest and makes a frustrated sigh.
"you are his family too. Have you even considered how the rest of the group feels!? Do you know how much everyone in the group cares about you!?" have I truly considered everyone else and the feelings they have? Am I going too far with the actions I am taking? I can't be.
"Felicity, I want all of you to survive this battle. Fighting here will only put all of you in danger. I want to make sure that none of you die, so I will do everything I can to prevent death. I will not allow anyone in our group to end up like your father. I will not let you die like your father did. I am truly sorry for not being able to do more for you. If I could turn back time and change things so that your father could have survived, I would have. But the best I can do right now, is protect all of you, for all of you to survive" I saw Felicity shed a tear or two when I mentioned her father, but her resolve only seems to have strengthened to my words. She raises her sword into the air.
"we will go to the temple. But please promise me that you will start heading towards the temple once you have found 7P and Alice" I nod in response to Felicity and turn towards the building where Seive and Halfar said that 7P and Alice would be present. I run through the crowd of conscripts as they hold back the relentless invaders, passing by a few who are in the midst of being dealt their final blow. I can not falter now, even if I want to stop and help all of them, I have my own family to protect at this moment. I pass by the last few ragged defenders and enter the building that should have 7P and Alice present. The guards at the door are watching in horror as their last line of defence crumbles before their very eyes. It will not be long now, the gate we have fought so hard to protect will fall. I immediately step into a set of corridors, with wounded conscripts and civilians alike strewn across the floor and walls, since I am now in a non-combat zoned room, I will sheath my swords. The wounded are moaning and groaning from the obvious pain they are experiencing. I pass through the crowded hallways, and move towards the room that looks the largest. I step through the doorway and enter a room that I can only describe as a hastily thrown together command centre. A woman in purple, who looks like what I imagine a female praetorian guard would look like, walks towards me with a hurried pace. The woman has green eyes and black hair, wearing pathetically small pieces of leather armour over her purple combat dress. With her sword in-hand, she reaches me and looks over my body.
"you are one of the mysterious people who Camilla nursed back to health, aren't you?" does this lady know of the temple and those who live there?
"you know Camilla?" the lady nods to me and sheaths her sword. She looks back to the sad scene before us, lowering her eyes in sadness.
"yes, I do indeed know her. I grew up in that temple too, but I became a sword master instead of studying the ways of healing. I want to protect her, and everyone else in that temple, I will not allow for these monsters to lay a finger on her" so this lady was also someone who was born from the adventures of that mysterious traveller who passed through the city.
"that would mean that you are her sister, right?" the woman nods to me, and gestures for me to follow her through the hallway. I nod to her in agreement and run up to walk by her side. The woman turns to me as soon as we leave the room.
"our father had many bastard children in this city, so we have searched the city for every one of our siblings. I have already witnessed the death of ten of my brothers, so I will not allow for any more of my family to die" she is just like my group. We only have each other now, so we consider our group a family. Just like us, she does not want to lose the only family she has.
"I can understand how you feel. I lost my entire family too. Now all I have is my new family, and we have only known each other for a week or two. I am not going to let them die, so I am going to hold the enemy here for as long as I can. I have been asking my family to regroup at the temple and we will plan our escape from there. I am also going to have Camilla and Dionus escape with us. Would you also like to escape with us?" the lady looks down to the ground with unease, but breathes out a gentle sigh. She raises her head to me with a calm expression.
"I will come with you, but only because I want to be at Camilla's side when she needs me, and I also want you to stand with me, in defence of the people of this city, until we are overwhelmed" I nod to the lady in response to her simple request. A sudden rumble shakes the entire building, and the room we had just come from, was now buried in rubble. The lady reaches her hand out, but is showing no hope of being able to move the rubble out of the doorway, "Flinos!" the lady drops to her knees, unable to stand any longer. I can think of a pretty easy explanation for this.
"was one of your brothers in that room?" the lady nods her head shakily, revealing tears trailing down her cheeks. She looks up to me with a face of defeat.
"we have been through thick and thin together. He was the one who was organising the defence of this area" so he was the one thing keeping order on this front? That is terrible news. His death will be a significant hit to our efforts of defending this area.
"now isn't the time for mourning. Flinos was the one person keeping this defence solid, let's not let his death be in vain" the lady makes a face with a great mixture of anger, sadness, frustration and hatred. She draws her sword and turns to head towards the door.
"are you coming?" I nod my head and place my hand on her shoulder. The lady looks at me with an eager expression of a longing for revenge. I ease my face to a more stern look.
"I still need to find two of my family members who are in this building. I will meet up with you outside once I find them and inform them that they have to head towards the temple" the lady nods strongly and rushes towards the door, leaving me to find 7P and Alice. From what just happened, I suppose that the enemy are intensifying their bombardment of this area, due to the resistance the barbarians are facing from us. The terrible thought crosses my mind, which sends shivers down my spine. What if Alice and 7P were caught in the path of one of the hurdling projectiles launched by one of the catapults? What if they are currently trapped in a collapsed room? I need to find them as quickly as I can, before another rock can be thrown into this building. I swiftly peek through each doorway I can find, checking every corner of each room for any sign of 7P or Alice. As I look into the final room on the first level of the building, I am confronted with the thought of them being on level two. From what I have observed with 7P, she would most likely want to be close to a balcony to observe the battle from above. I run up the stairwell as quickly as I can, reaching the top in little under five seconds. I can hear the clashing metal outside of the building, the horde is slowly advancing towards us. I run out onto the balcony, with two recognisable faces instantly coming into view. The blonde-haired girl claps her hands together at the sight of my arrival, running up to welcome me back.
"17C! I am so happy that you have recovered from your injuries. But it looks like you have more wounds, and they look fresh. 17C, if you continue to push yourself like this, you are not going to live to see the sun rise" Alice looks at me with great concern on her face. 7P follows up behind Alice and looks back to the battle below us.
"the final line of conscripts have begun their heroic struggle against the invading forces. They will be the last defenders to pull back, they will buy time for everyone else" even if I am only here because of an accidental activation of time travel, I can not leave these brave men to die. Even if only for the moment, I am going to have to join the conscripts in defending against the overwhelming force of the barbarian invaders. I grip firmly onto my swords and give Alice and 7P a look of determination.
"I am going to move down there and help the conscripts defend against the numerous invaders. I want the two of you to retreat to the temple, and regroup with everyone else immediately. I will return to the temple when the time is right, but please make sure that you reach the temple as quickly as possible. I do not want the two of you to be caught in-between two advancing groups of enemies who are pouring through the other gates and over the walls" Alice and 7P nod to me and start to pick up all of their belongings which they have placed around the balcony. Alice puts on an expression of joy and optimism.
"we will be waiting for you at the temple, please do not take too long" I nod to Alice and turn to walk back into the building and make my way towards the stairs, but 7P rushes up to me.
"17C, we want you to survive this battle, this ordeal. So please, do not put yourself in too much danger" I nod to 7P in reassurance.
"do not worry 7P, I intend on retreating to the temple once the remaining defenders here have either fallen, or have decided to retreat" 7P sighs, and returns her attention to collecting her belongings. With that, I run into the building and head for the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, a building outside the closest window is obliterated by a descending rock, shaking the building. Not too long from now, every building in the city will be in ruins. I reach the bottom of the stairs without delay, and pass by the collapsed room which holds the dead leaders of this gate's defence, my thoughts dwelling on the lady for a moment. I reach the exit and burst out into the street. Just from looking over the state of our defence line, I can see that it is nearly time to retreat. There is only a thin line of conscripts defending against the horde now, with many bodies covering the ground below us. I need to help these remaining men to retreat towards the temple. I run up to the last line of defence to speak with one of the only conscripts who are not fighting against the enemy. The conscript looks to me and attempts to slow his panting.
"all of you need to retreat towards the temple near the centre of the city. I will do my best to single-handedly hold off the enemy" the conscript looks at me with a worried face filled with despair, shaking his head to my words.
"no, we can not just leave you to certain death" I draw both of my swords back out from their sheaths and ready them to fight.
"I wasn't making a request, more like a demand. I am going to hold them here, meanwhile you will head for the temple" I point my swords towards the enemy forces. The conscript makes a face of frustration and grips his hands into fists.
"fine! We will begin our retreat to the temple" the conscript shouts out orders to everyone else, and I move towards the large crowd of barbarians. But near the back of the wave, I can see him. The Meddler is waiting.