The Scepter of Marahuyo

Chapter 056

I said I would do it, but I’m never really given a chance. So it’s only Ethan and Al who can move. But just one hit from the ogro, and the two spiral on the ground back to me. 

The ogros approach us until those giant black monsters tower over us. I tense. This is the time of death. I should not be afraid. I’ve tasted death before. I touch the ground. Due to overuse, Anitun Tabu is no longer responding to my call. But I need her the most this time. I can’t let Al and Ethan die too. 

Then, one of the ogros moves, its claw coming down on us. I go in front to defend Ethan and Al. Yet, death is still scary. I shut my eyes. Maybe when I’m dying, my blessing will respond.

Instead of a sharp pain piercing my body, hot liquid splashes on my face. I open my eyes and see a person standing before me, his back on mine. 

“You still attract a horde of ogros, huh? You never change, Holly.”

My eyes widen. Axel! My mind screams. And just like that, everything washes away in relief. He turns to look at me and inspects me from head to toe. At over six feet and a bulky frame, he shadows over my petite frame. He’s using a long sword that is popular in Caltra. As usual, he’s wearing black leather pants and a dark blue shirt. He’s devoid of any accessories save for a necklace with a trinket pendant, possibly a protection pendant, while outside the residential zones. This time, his brown shoulder-length hair is let loose, giving him a wild look, except for the smile on his face. 

“You’re spent,” he says. “I warned you about retrogressing before.”

I bite the corner of my lower lip. Yes, he did when I was a child. Yet, somehow, I feel proud that he remembers that even if I am about to be scolded. 

The admonishment did not come though, as one of the ogros attack, but in one single strike, Axel cut it in half. It’s undeniable strength. From the last time I saw him fight, he’s just become even more powerful. My admiration swells, but that’s all. All I can do is dream that I’ll have that much strength.

Then, he leaves and I watch him fight alone. All the ogros attention goes to him. They seem all angry that a human being, a non-mage, could overpower them like that. Just one single movement, one cut, one strike, and one ogro gets impaled and dies. It’s so fast that I get dizzy just by watching it.

A few moments later, approaching footsteps come—more mages and warriors. But all the warriors can do is stare at Axel while he single-handedly fights all the ogros. But at least, they can give the killing blow to any ogro who tries to escape or shift their attention away from Axel. 

Then, a mage kneels before me and checks for wounds. “You’re not injured?” he asks, confused that I can’t move, but am not injured. He goes to Al and finds him unscathed as well. “What’s--” he pauses but stops his question when finally he goes to Ethan and finds him so wounded that questions matter less.

It’s expected. The tiny creature from the celestial ocean heals Al and me. We are still dead-tired of using our blessing, though. And Ethan, well, he’s always been too strong that we didn’t realize that he’s the one in the worst shape.

As they help us, I observe Axel. The battle with the ogros is still ongoing. Half of the monsters are now slain. I’m not even sure how he does not slip on one of the corpses. I watch his movements. He’s fast, coupled with his powerful strike. He’s a force to be reckoned with. No wonder they let him register in the Sword selection in Caltra, despite being short of eighteen, the youngest in history. 

I watch until all the ogros are decimated, and Axel bathes in its blood. Even his hair is drenched with the red liquid. All of a sudden, an image comes into my mind. I groan. It is a vision of the destroyed carriage with all the merchandise on the ground, of my parents with part of their body missing, of ogros devouring them, then… then of warmth on my hands. A voice telling me that it’s not my fault, that it’s his.

“Ahhh…”

My head seems like it’s breaking. I know it’s real. I feel the guilt, the confusion. It’s a memory I’ve blacked out before. It’s so vivid, the ogros munching on my parents. And there is also another person. It’s not only my parents, since we travel with a couple of mages too.

“What’s wrong? Holly!” Ethan’s voice. He shakes my shoulder to bring me back to reality. I push him away.

What is this? I clutch tighter on my head. I breathe hard. It’s not only the ogros. There are other monsters too, waiting for their turn. Then a person, a person that looks a lot like Aaron, but not him. He’s older, more prominent, taller, has more muscles in him. He’s missing an arm, but he’s trying to protect me, no, us. I feel the warmth on my hand tighten. I look at the owner. Aaron? A younger Aaron. 

‘Don’t you worry, my older brother is strong, he will—’ The older brother dies, and all the other monsters feast on him instead. The warm hands tremble, but he stays. He—One monster looks at us. I take a step back. But Aaron, he’s not budging at all, as if he couldn’t believe that his older brother died. I pulled on him, but he didn’t want to. Instead, he steps forward.

My breathing hitches, I can’t breathe, I claw on my neck. Ethan reaches for my hands to stop it. Then I reach for my pendant instead. I need to calm myself. I need to hold onto something. I feel my blessing activating on its own.

“She’s retrogressing,” the mage who came to help us says. 

I touch the pendant that Aaron gave me. The wind rises around me. It forms around me as if it’s planning to carry me upward. My hold on the square pendant tightens. I trace its edges, feels its-- 

Someone hugs me, enveloping me in his warmth. “Calm yourself, Holly.”

Axel! My tears fall. I feel overwhelmed by his size, as if he’s hugging a little child instead of an eighteen-year-old girl. 

I drop the pendant, and I reach up to his neck. I drape my arms around him the same way he does to me. The wind swirls around us, then water. I close my eyes and focus. He groans, his arms tightening around me. My blessing might be hurting him too. I can’t breathe, but instead of loosening my grip on him, I hold on to him like I do on something I don’t want to let go of.

I groan at the crook of his neck and shoulders. My body shivers and trembles on its own as if my own blessing is damaging it. Then my blessing softens into that of a gentle wind. Axel massages my back, and I feel my blown-up hair coming down. Then my blessing comes to a complete stop.

I take a deep breath, and Axel loosens his hold on me. He pushes and studies my face. I did it too. There are scratches on his face. I’m sure it’s because of my wind and not due to the ogros. I reach up and wipe the blood on it. He crumples his face as if hurt from my touch.

He saves me again, but this time I don’t know how to say sorry to him. Somehow, apologizing has become too used of a word for me. 

“How am I gonna thank you again?” I squeak. 

“How about becoming my woman?” he wiggles his brows, and I know he’s just trying to lighten the mood. 

I look around. Marahuyo mages he brought with him are cleaning up the mess of the battle. I can see Master Deborah directing the other warriors. As always, Nico is with her. My eyes pass Ethan and catch him winking at me. 

As if knowing what’s on my mind, he says, “A day passed and when you guys did not return, they created a search party.”

“And you?”

“I joined on a whim,” he says.

Then I remember Aicelle and the two older mages. “Aicelle, she--”

“—will be found. I’m sure they will create a search party just for her.”

“But Sir Tomas and Sir Edmund…”

Axel points with his mouth on a casket close to the horses. “We couldn’t save them but, at least, we got here just in time.”

“There are old women here, in the mountains. They…”

“It’s not under my jurisdiction, but you can ask Master Deborah about it.”

Suddenly, he lifts me, and I instinctively wind my arms around his neck. “I don’t need to be carried,” I say, embarrassed at the attention. 

“Not to worry. It’s needed. Look.”

I trail where he’s pointing and notice Ethan on Master Deborah’s horse and Al on Nico’s. Both are evidently ashamed.

“Since we are outside the zone, the helpless and injured need to be with someone strong who can effectively protect them. And so, I’m yours.”

I redden. I will never get used to his joking. Ethan does it a lot, too, although sometimes he gets overboard. But when it’s Axel, instead of becoming annoyed, I get all flustered. 

“However, you’ll need to pardon the smell of the ogro on me,” Axel adds.

I nod. Not daring to speak anymore. 

“Now, let’s go find our horse,” he says and strides towards where Master Deborah and the rest are waiting.

To be continued...