Calm and Calamity

Chapter 61

Day: 667

Days Left: 4813

Lives Saved: 3

Riley slowly opened her eyes from her short nap and was surprised to find that the other side of the bed was not empty as usual. Instead, Lili was asleep, nestled underneath Riley's arm and softly breathing. She never stayed afterwards, ever. Of course, Riley wanted to tease her about it, but that was likely to make Lili leave.

So, Riley closed her eyes again, embracing the warmth of another human being as it made her forget the cold and cruel world of the Eternal Abyss outside.

But that bliss was short-lived.

There was a loud and frantic knocking on the front door.

Lili bolted up, abruptly awoken from the noise. "Shit," she grumbled as she whipped off the duvet cover and collected up her clothes that were scattered around the floor.

There was another knock.

"I'll go get it," groaned Riley, annoyed that her moment of peace was interrupted. She wrapped her naked body in her dressing-gown then exited her room to answer the door.

Meanwhile, Lili put on her undergarments and trousers in a panic-stricken time, hoping that she had not overslept and was late to return to her bodyguard duties.

Riley slammed the bedroom door open and rushed in, her breath stagnant.

"What's wrong?" asked Lili. She saw behind Riley were two imps, both of them trembling and tugging at Riley desperately.

"There's been a fight," answered Riley.

Lili froze, seeing the shocked and dour expression on Riley's face. Usually, Riley would be ecstatic if there was any conflict or drama, but it seemed that whatever happened was serious. "Was it a new prisoner that crossed to this sector?" Lili picked up her belt with her weapons and mask attached.

"No, it's Corinna."

*

The three imps guarding Princess Alfreda cheered and chanted in support as the chimaera rushed towards the golden knight and slashed at her with her claws. Not expecting such speed, the golden knight barely managed to dodge in time, and the claws left black scratches against her armour. She retaliated and drove her spear into the chimaera's torso. Harmony winced but fought through the pain and wrapped her arms around the golden knight, restraining her in a tight embrace; the spear pierced through Harmony's flesh even further, all the way to the other side.

"Corinna," Harmony hushed. "I know you're still in there. You can fight it; I know you can."

After the confusion of essentially being hugged, the golden knight struggled against the chimaera's restraints and broke free, yanking her spear out and ready to strike once again.

She followed through with a series of fast jabs and slashes, whilst Harmony remained mainly on the defensive. No matter how many times the golden knight managed to strike the chimaera, Harmony showed no sign of exhaustion or slowing down, all of her wounds healing faster than the golden could deal it out.

Whenever Harmony saw an opening, she either grappled and restrained the golden knight or disarmed her, never attempting to hurt or injure her and all the while continued to talk to Corinna, telling her to regain control.

Princess Alfreda watched on in frustration. This fight may never end, an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object. However, Harmony would eventually lose at this rate as her healing factor was no longer catching up to the damage she was receiving, whilst she refused to hurt the golden knight at all, only restraining her, which the golden knight always broke out. It would need more people than that to secure that monster of a warrior.