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Rangertale, Ch.10: Resonance and Harmony

The very air was tense, the sun bright overhead, and the dust around the tower had finally settled. Tull kept his distance from Rumelis and Mels, waiting for a good time to strike. The two Rangers kept a defensive stance, attempting to provoke Tull and use their better defense against his agility. For a while, nothing happened- a worried calm before the storm of black steel, with feints and light attacks from each side.

Eventually, Tull decided to strike. He first vaulted over Mels, hoping to attack Rumelis on the way with a swift strike that was easily parried. He began his assault, swinging Relentless with amazing speed that no one swordsman could face.

But Rumelis and Mels were not one swordsman. They acted with surprising coordination, with Mels ducking in and out to parry Tull's blows as Rumelis attempted to get an attack in edgewise. Tull continued this line of attack for some time, tumbling about the room to try to get another angle of attack, but Mels' surprising agility and deftness prevented any blows from landing. After a couple thwarted attacks, Tull stepped back, into a more defensive stace. Mels seemed confused by this change of character, as Tull began talking to them.

"Heh. You two make a good team. Almost as good as Mels and her other lover! Hah!"

Mels seemed to shake something off. "You--you wouldn't dare. You--"

"I what? I killed him? Yes, all blessings to your dead noble husband, blueblood that he was."

Rumelis tried to stop Mels from dashing forwards, but it was far too late for that. Mels ran at Tull, who lazily sidestepped her first attack, then swung Relentless at Mels with a wicked overhand that she could barely parry.

"Yes,your dead blueblood. You afraid your new one will die too? You afraid... _I_might kill him?"

Mels cried out, a bloodcurdling shout of pain and anger. She began to swing at Tull with Harmony; her broad, heavy strikes were fueled only by anger. Yet Tull's agility was still unmatched, as he again lazily dodged her attacks, moving slowly towards Rumelis. Her attacks slowed over time, such wide swipes could not maintain that speed for very long. Here Rumelis swung, an overhand strike at Tull's unprotected back--it seemed he had not remembered Rumelis.

Tull whipped around, swinging upwards at Rumelis' head. Though he could dodge the fatal blow Rumelis cried out in pain as the upper half of his right ear arced across the room. However, it seemd his blow had connected as well, leaving a large, bloody gash across Tull''s leg. Surely now his movement, and thus his advantage, would diminish.

Sustaining his first wound, Tull's tactics changed. He began a relentless attack on Rumelis, the weaker of the two Rangers, hoping to break his guard and land a mortal blow. Rumelis, wieling the heaviest of the Blades, was hard-pressed to parry and dodge Tull's onslaught. He began to tire quickly, parrying and sidestepping back and forth, never able to retaliate against the sheer speed of Tull's attacks.

"This is for my country and my lover, murderer!"

Mels jumped from across the room with a flying kick at Tull, a surprise attack that sent him reeling backwards from Rumelis. He knocked his head on one of the walls, slumped over for a brief second, then slowly brought himself to his feet in time to see Mels draw back to swing at his sword arm.

Tired, but not exhausted, Tull parried the blow, watching as Harmony made a deep gash in the stone near him. The brief pause in both parties' blows made all aware of the noise in the air, a cacophony of chords from the clashing blades. A beautiful sound, but not one any could stop and appreciate, as Tull pushed himself off the wall and began to fight again.

Another exchange with Mels followed, both swinging slower and slower, with some futile swings from Rumelis interspersed in the melee. Tull backed towards the pedestal that lay in the center of the room, eventually pressed against it, then swung with renewed energy at Mels. To his clear surprise, Mels parried the blow and landed one of her own. Tull screeched in pain, a beast wounded and cornered, and shoved Mels away, into Rumelis--stunning both of them for a brief second.

Here he swung his sword back into the pedestal. Immediately, spiderweb lights spiraled from the pedestal, as the massive panels that had shown the sun began to recede. The door that led into the tower's summit began to slide closed.

"My plan... will... not... fail. My power..."

Tull dove forwards at the two Rangers, claws and fangs bared.

Rumelis and Mels flourished their blades, clashing them together as Tull dove. The chord that resounded was beautiful, but brief, as Tull impaled himself on the twin blades. He let out a final snarl, then went limp, never to wield the power of Eulas.

The two Rangers, one vengeful, the other horrified, withdrew their blades and removed Relentless from its place. As the sun came into view once again Rumelis stared at the broken body of Tull.

"I... have killed Kindred. Was this... avoidable?"

He paused and thought.

"Is this how Tull felt? This joy of survival, weighed with guilt?"

Mels walked up to Rumelis.

"He did not feel guilt. I do not either. That man was a born killer, his fate was deserved. Now, what are we to do with these Blades? We cannot return them to civilization, lest we face the fate of Eulas."

Rumelis thought for a moment. "Why not destroy this one with our own? It seems to dispel whatever forces are at work here, in this tower and in the blades."

Mels nodded. They both swung downwards at Relentless, now ownerless. Discord rose from the blade, and all three of the Blades began to quiver.

Mels spoke one word. "Again."

With renewed force, Mels and Rumelis swung their blades, Resonance and Harmony. As they struck the blade the sound of the chord that came from their strike was so intense as to force them to recoil and cover their ears, for what little good it did. The chord echoed for minutes, aftershocks of the original beauty.

Councilor Lenon walked down the halls of his library as he heard a beautiful chord, from the south. He stopped his work, and looked towards those Scarred Lands.

"They have done it."

After the Chord ended, Mels and Rumelis looked at where the Blades of Eulas once lay. Only dust remained. Rumelis looked at Mels.

"You know, there are more blades out there. Should we--"

"No, Rumelis. They... they are for another's duty. We shall leave them be, I think."

They walked upon the roads of the Scarred Lands, homeward bound, hand in hand.

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AUTHOR NOTES

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Opinions? Suggestions? Typos? Tell me, please. I am by no means a professional writer, and even they make mistakes every now and again.

And that, as they say, is that. This was the largest and most detailed work of literature I have ever produced (if you can call it that). It was finished in 3 months, specifically over the summer of 2013. It consists of, without author notes or page breaks, in 12 pt. Times New Roman:

23 Pages, or approximately 2.09 pages/chapter

10,363 words- approximately 942 per chapter

Which means that while I've improved, I'm going to need more if I want to do NaNoWriMo. Oh Well.

Thanks to everyone who made it through the whole mess, my brother for being cool with me being a furry, and Brian Jacques, for fascinating me with tales of adventure that made me want to read more in the first place.

Now, onwards to a Sci-Fi piece! There's a contest for it and everything!

TL;DR EDITION

(Do you really need one?) The Rangers and Tull do battle. Tull is slain, the blades destroyed, and the mission completed. Rumelis and Mels head homeward, hand in hand.

Wondering why I call Tull a Lupine, Rumelis an Ursan, etc.? Read the note at the end of the 1st chapter, it explains my reasoning.