Chapter 66: A Broken Promise
(Warning: this chapter is a bit more violent than my usual stuff)
(Warning: this chapter is a bit more violent than my usual stuff)
It was midday by the time Windkeep Tower came into sight. Rammus had been eager to fly straight through the night, but as Rhowen reminded them they had no idea when the battle would strike, they should rest and save their energy in case they needed it later. It became clear that Rhowen's choice had been a good one, as it was now obvious an army was surrounding Windkeep Tower. Before they could dive down for a closer look, they saw a giant emperor burst out of the bamboo forest, only to be met by a three-headed emperor.
"When did Windkeep Tower get an emperor on their side?" Runeclaw asked. "Because seriously, who gets to pull the strings to wrangle that?"
"It looks like illusion magic to me." Rhowen commented. "But if it's physically fighting the real emperor, that's pretty impressive stuff."
"Enough talk! I want to help!" Ruby exclaimed, and dived down to join the fray. Rhowen tried to call her back, but realized it was pointless so he raced after her to fight by her side.
"Well, I guess we better go too, hey?" Runeclaw turned to his brother. "I seriously hope this isn't as bad as it looks, because it looks pretty bad."
"Of course we're going. That's our home. We need to fight for it." Rammus pointed out.
"You and your honour." Runeclaw shook his head with a smile. "Well, I'm no coward, and I'm not going to leave everyone on their own but I hope you know I'm pretty heckin' scared."
"Me too. But hey, life is like that sometimes, eh?" And with that, the brothers dove down to join the fight.
With a rush of anger, Quartz stood before Daisy Mae. He had forgotten how much larger than him she was, not that there was nothing between them. She was at least twice his size, and a grin was spreading across her face.
"Gosh, we meet again at last, Quartz. How far we have come since our apprentice days." Daisy Mae said smoothly. It was clear she thought she had the upper hand.
"Just because you are bigger than me now doesn't mean anything. True power will be victorious in the end." Quartz hissed.
"You think you're better than me, you haven't learned a thing, have you? Arrogance was always going to be your downfall." Daisy Mae narrowed her eyes.
"And your quest for revenge will be yours." With that, Quartz blasted Daisy Mae with a rush of magical energy.
Daisy Mae growled and forced her way through it, allowing the energy to rush over her scales. It was clear it was causing her pain, but she was far too close to her goal to give in now. She drew her trident and cast it at Quartz, only narrowly missing him. It flew straight back to her, and she caught it with ease.
"You're going to need more than weapons to kill me." Quartz warned her.
"You seriously think you can outlast me? I have done nothing but train since leaving Mercer's apprenticeship. You are no match for me." Daisy Mae warned as she threw it back. This time it pierced his wing, but not enough to hinder him.
Quartz prepared his retaliation, but before he could cast it, two young wildclaws bore down on him and knocked him over. They sat on top of each wing, pinning him down to the ground. The first thing he noticed was that neither was wearing the armor of those from the prison. With a smile, Daisy Mae sauntered over and held her trident over his heart. He could feel his pulse racing.
"He is ours." The orange-winged one spat, glaring at the large guardian. She rolled her eyes, but before she could act, Querida flew down and knocked the trident out of her hands. Daisy Mae tried to summon it back, but Querida held on tight.
"I've got you Quartz!" Querida said through gritted teeth, as though she would rather be allowing Daisy Mae her way, but between the binding of the hearts and the deal with Windkeep Tower, she could do nothing to ensure his defeat. With a leap, she began to spar with Daisy Mae, trident meeting tooth and claw.
"Let me go!" Quartz began to hiss at the two wildclaws. He squirmed, but their grip was too tight.
"You are going to pay for what you did to our sister." Runeclaw said through gritted teeth.
"Your sister? Who even are you?" Quartz asked, flabbergasted.
"We are your sons, borne and raised in secret." Rammus said with a flick of the tongue. "And we know how you abused our sister." He exchanged an excited look with Runeclaw, apparently happy with how his tough speech was coming out.
"Look, kids, I don't know who you are, but if you are a part of Windkeep Tower, you can't lay a claw on me." Quartz glared at them. "We have a deal, now let me go so I can save your stupid skins!"
"What is this deal?" Runeclaw asked. "Because from what I've heard you are a master of deceit and trickery."
"It's true, boys." Querida said, landing briefly beside them and giving them each a quick glance. She leaped up to avoid being stomped on by Daisy Mae then shouted down at them. "He's on our side, he's protecting the tower."
With frustrated sighs, the two wildclaws released Quartz from their grip. The coatl's wing was now bleeding from the pressure of Runeclaw's talons.
"You didn't tell me we had sons!" Quartz shouted up at Querida.
"Well, after what you did to our daughter, are you surprised?" Querida shot back as she dove down and ran the trident along Daisy Mae's back, breaking through the scales. "Also, now isn't really the best time to talk about this! I'm sort of preoccupied!"
"Go, fight elsewhere. Fight for your clan. You have no loyalty to me." Quartz told his sons, and Rammus flew off quickly. Runeclaw, however, stayed to fight.
"What are you doing?" Quartz hissed.
"Keeping an eye on you! I don't trust you as far as I can throw you!" Runeclaw glanced at Querida. "Either of you!"
"Suit yourself." Quartz muttered under his breath. "It's your own hide you're risking."
Quartz sprung into battle, falling in time with Querida. He saw her roll her eyes and deliberately complicate her moves to throw him off, but the binding of the hearts allowed that to grow into only a more complicated dance. Daisy Mae growled with irritation and took to the air to grab hold of just one of the three dragons flying around her. Her tail managed to hit Querida and she dropped the trident, allowing to be called back into Daisy Mae's grasp. The three now had to dodge her weapon in addition to trying to land swipes and bolts of magic on her thick hide.
They couldn't keep this up for much longer. Between Daisy Mae's magic she had not yet begun to unleash, and her physical prowess, this seemed to be a losing battle. She was right, she had trained for this. Quartz, not so much. Plus, she was armed with the anger of the injustice Quartz had done to her by killing her charge in cold blood. It was growing increasingly harder and harder to dodge her blows. He saw the anger flash in her eyes, driving her like a machine.
That was when Quartz realized: Daisy Mae would never stop. Killing him would not soothe the pain and loss of purpose she felt, and she would keep taking and taking and taking from others for the rest of her life, because that's how Mercer had raised them, to take from others until their need was satisfied. Mercer had made something terrible, and Quartz had helped to make it by following through on Mercer's orders blindly. He was the only one who truly knew Daisy Mae, he had to be the one to stop her.
"Distract her." He transmitted the thought telepathically to Querida and Runeclaw. He needed all the time he could get.
When Daisy Mae was not looking at him, he withdrew from the skies, and hid himself beneath the overhand of a rock. He hoped he would be out of view long enough to charge the spell. Warm pink and blue lights began to glow around him, combining into a great mass. He was almost finished building up the momentum when Daisy Mae landed on top of the rock and took a swipe at him, raking the trident across his chest. The shock was enough to release the energy he had been holding. He hadn't had the time to refine it, so it exploded in a large blast. He only had just enough time to cast a shield around himself to protect himself.
The smoke began to clear, a lavender haze. The ground beneath him was scorched, save for where his shield charm had been protecting. The rock seemed to have absorbed some of the blast, and was now glowing the same lavender.
Quartz stepped out from beneath the overhang. Daisy Mae had been tossed from her position on top of it, and she lay several feet away from the rock, dead. Clutching the wound on his chest to staunch the flow of blood, he climbed on top of the rock to survey the area. Everyone seemed to be looking at him in shock. Querida was standing a distance away, staring in horror at an orange and brown shape. He couldn't make out what it was at first, but as the identity of the dragon clicked, he felt a wave of horror.
He had killed Runeclaw.
Fenn's words came rushing back to him. "We accept your offer on two other conditions. One, you teach us everything you know that will help us in our fight against Daisy Mae, and two, if anything you do brings any harm to any of the members of Windkeep Tower, and I mean any, you will be cast out immediately."
He had broken his promise. The world seemed to go quiet for a moment and time seemed to slow down. That was when the roar of the two emperors came to his attention. This would have to be dealt with later. The battle was not yet over. He turned to help with the emperor, preparing himself to face the ghost of his old mentor, but before he could do anything, he collapsed, his wounds getting the better of him. He had done all he could do, and he had failed Windkeep Tower.
He was just as bad as Mercer and Daisy Mae after all.
@CleverDual @Alwaid @zzzhorses @Skyeset @ScrivenerRook @Kizzan @clarax @lilastar @tigressRising @Disillusionist @Aetherstorm @rainphee @RiaFire11
Part two of three of the battle completed! One danger defeated, but there is still one left to go.
To be honest, I did have a difficult time deciding what to do with Daisy Mae in the end. She is a fascinating character, and I did play with the idea of redeeming her, but I don't know, the more I wrote her, the more bitter and heartless she seemed, and she grew into more of a villain than I was expecting. Of course, Quartz is also a villain of this arc, but I think they make for an interesting contrast. I do feel like I could have done better with Daisy Mae, but what's written is written, and I feel like as a writer, I have learned many lessons from Daisy Mae.
