“Aryu, follow his lead!” Sho shouted to him as he came around his diminutive mother and brought his shield into a defensive position. Aryu was about to argue, but one look from the intense eyes of the forest-keeper and he knew enough not to. Fear gave way to adrenalin as he followed in step behind Nixon, the mighty Shi Kaze clenched tightly in his fist. There wasn’t a Herald in sight, but these common robotic foot soldiers would have to serve the purpose.
“For Tan Torna Qu-ay!” he screamed as he began slashing with what little educated movements he could muster, a modicum of his revenge finally at hand.
He never doubted the power of the blade in his hands. The light-as-air ninjato sword began slashing through each enemy in range effortlessly. The machines relied strictly on their numbers, as any errant pistol blast could cause a serious problem. The numbers game and superior strength (at least over Aryu) were their weapons of choice, but as Aryu rushed through the crowd in Nixon’s sizeable wake, he had the strong belief his side still held the advantage.
How much he had retained from the heavy training at Nixon’s hands astonished him as the lessons transferred themselves into his movements seamlessly. Thrusts, feints, and counterattacks ran through him like a seasoned pro, each motion bringing down more and more of the enemy. The sound of metal grinding together and piling on to the ground was everywhere. Although the group had anticipated this encounter to some degree, the variables in their plan relied on working quickly.
To his right, amidst the crowd of rushing, flailing silver bodies, another group of soldiers broke off and began moving towards Sho and Crystal. Aryu cried out to Nixon as best he could to tell him, wondering if they should help or continue as planned. After a moment, Nixon brought his massive sword about, taking at least six with him. “Bah, it’s only twelve or so, he can handle twice tha' even without the Power!”
Aryu wasn’t so sure. All it took was one to breach Sho and make it to his mother. They only had the shield for defense, and although impressive with its border of jagged teeth, Aryu doubted it could be used against such a numerous and aggressive enemy.
As he beat down all that came at him, body still tense and loving every dispatching, Aryu watched as the wonder of Sho’s miraculous weapon came to light. Before they reached the two, Sho readied his weapon in front of him and began a steady and repetitive clenching of the fist that carried it.
Through some unseen workings, Aryu watched the shield remain stationary, but the blades that bordered it began to rotate like clockwork, gaining in speed until they were a whirling saw blade when the first robotic set of hands were at them. Careful to keep the spinning weapon of both offence and defense at a distance, Sho began sweeping his arm back and forth, leveling out the shield and easily shredding the robots to pieces. In only a matter of a few strokes, all who broke off and attacked them were nothing more than broken metal on the ground, the shield back to its ready position, waiting for another group to be foolish.
Aryu could now believe this exceptionally clever weapon and the man that carried it, with Power, luck, and training in equal number, really could have killed a god. That did not, however, prevent one of the machines from reaching an unlabeled switch and pulling it before shutting down.
“Aryu!” screamed the accented voice behind him. “Get t’ tha side now!” Aryu didn’t argue or ask why. Nixon’s word was law and he followed it unquestioningly. Aryu began to make his way to the closest wall, opposite where Nixon was heading. It was a welcomed position to be in, as he now had nothing to worry about behind him and the number of piling up enemies in front were slowing down those that still functioned, allowing more time between attacks and ceasing the need to slash about blindly.
Aryu could feel the heavy vibration in the wall, a steady reminder of exactly where he was at that moment. A hint of his dormant fear came to the surface, but he could now fight against it just as well as the tangible enemies before him. If he succumbed to either he was a dead man, and only being a man for such a short while, he wasn’t quite ready to relinquish the title just yet.
Somewhere, out of the confusion, he heard Nixon’s voice shout what sounded like “Everyone hang on!” Aryu, in his brief free moments, looked around at the wall for something to grip but found only smooth surfaces everywhere he looked.
A sudden jarring at his feet caused Aryu to lose his balance, staggering him to the side, allowing a set of metal hands to reach out and grab him by the left wing, a painless but no less incapacitating action. The arm twisted the appendage around, using Aryu’s own wing as a guard while it continued to attack. Aryu tried to shake free as the ground below him rumbled on. All the adrenalin in the world could not have drowned out his fear.
The floor was shifting away, sloping downward toward the rear of the plane where Sho and Crystal still stood, though away from the descending floor. Crystal was on the pulled switch in an instant, trying to do who-knew-what with the device. Aryu saw daylight to his right as the bottom of the plane fell away, revealing a dizzying height below them that bottomed out in an endless field of blue. The ocean was dark and unwelcoming to Aryu, and it sat ready to swallow him up unless he could find a way to get this beast
