Axel's Promise

XIV

Judgment was due. 

Axel and Caldrufini both rose into the sky. Axel's white wings twitched as he stared Caldrufini dead in his face, his pupils contracting to the size of pinheads. 

"What have you done to Serina?!" Axel roared, his hands balled into fists. A hissing laugh came from Caldrufini as he folded his arms.

"She was yearning for love, Axel. I gave her what she yearned for. You never did." Caldrufini drew a sword. "If you want her back, you have to get through me and my dragon." Caldrufini gestured toward the volcano, where the roar of a dragon was heard deep within its belly. Axel looked toward the volcano, then back at Caldrufini. 

"There is no beast that can slow me down." Axel gripped his staff tightly. "Xenia is on my side, while you're on your own." Axel started to circle Caldrufini. "You don't know me, Caldru." 

"Caldru? That's my new name? Cute." Caldrufini retorted. "Well, enough bickering. It's time to finish you." 

Caldrufini made the opening move by swinging his sword toward Axel with a downward motion as if using an axe. Axel quickly got out of the way before countering with a swift swipe with his staff, striking Caldrufini in the arm, buying him enough time to move to the left and come in for another staff strike, hitting his opponent in the shoulder. 

"Step it up, Caldrufini!" Axel taunted. "You fight like a damn turtle!"

"Shut up, Axel! Your voice is like nails on a chalkboard!" Caldrufini swiftly dashed toward Axel and swung his sword in his direction. Axel took a hit to the shoulder, but he remained airborne. Axel swiftly ascended above his opponent. Caldrufini went for another blow, but Axel would be quick to block the attack with his staff.

"This is a pointless battle, Caldrufini! You know you can't win, right?" Axel drove his boot into Caldrufini's shoulder, pushing him back a little. "Give it up!"

"Me? Give up? Now, why would I do that?" Caldrufini was speaking with a great deal of sass, almost as if he were mocking Axel. "Giving up is for the weak, Axel. You and I both know that." Caldrufini waved his hand and summoned a spear of black magic. Caldrufini rose it above his head and sharpened his gaze; he was going for his opponent's heart. "I think it's time for you to give up, Axel. I'll ensure that."

Axel became overwhelmed with thoughts at this moment; if the spear struck him, it would spell death in the stars for him, but if Axel reflected it back, it would give him a window of opportunity to strike his opponent down. After piecing the situation together in his mind, Axel attempted to follow his scripted plan of deflecting the spear; he attempted to use his wing to volley the spear back, but it missed and hit Fable, who was fighting off one of Caldrufini's many guards. 

"It burns!" Fable exclaimed as she slowly dropped onto the ground, reaching toward her back where the spear pierced her tender flesh. "My precious soul! It-it's burning alive! Oh God! Xenia, have mercy!" Fable continued to scream. "Help me!" 

"Fable!" Axel cried out. Axel attempted to go to his beloved, but Caldrufini grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Why bother? She's going to die anyway." Caldrufini then reached for a dagger, which was cursed with a death hex. Caldrufini used the dagger to cut off one of Axel's wings. A scream came from Axel as the black magic burned him. Axel attempted to grab the dagger but he was met with a cut to the hand, then a cut to the cheek before the dagger rested upon his throat. "Silly White Doves, you never seem to know when to quit, don't you?" A large crowd of Caldrufini's men gathered underneath him, watching intensely. "What do you have to say now?"

Axel looked at his staff and raised it into the air; a bright flash emitted from its tip, then a flock of doves appeared, which then flew into the air. Axel then heard the rumble of a cavalry of White Doves mounted on giant wolves heading toward Axel's location. Axel then grabbed Caldrufini's wrist and shoved it toward his chest. 

"I say we fight, army against the army, and see who's really the best." Axel then forcefully drove his boot into Caldrufini's chest, pushing him back. "Every White Dove in the area can see that beacon I just flashed. You're in for a ride you don't want to go on." Axel would use his singular wing to stay airborne; the cavalry drew closer. "You will pay for what you've done!" 

"Pay? Oh, I'm so terrified. Look at me shake," Caldrufini said sarcastically. Caldrufini watched as the White Doves crashed through the tree line on their giant wolves, weapons raised and ready for war. Caldrufini looked down at the army and smirked before folding his arms and whistling. A terrifying roar came from afar. Axel looked toward the direction it came from and went pale when he saw what owned the roar; the Dayugana, awake and heading toward their location. Axel looked down at Fable and lowered himself to the ground, then he ran to her and quickly pulled her out of harm's way seconds before a wall of giant wolves zipped past them. 

"Fable!" Axel exclaimed before he began to remove the spear from Fable's back. 

"A-Axel? What are you doing?" Fable replied weakly. Leave me here. I'll be alright. Go fight and try to get Serina back...try, at least, even if she is a lost cause."

"I can't leave you here. Not like this." Axel removed the spear and tossed it aside before using his staff to conjure a healing spell, sealing Fable's wound but not removing the black magic within her. "If we can get Xenia here, she can heal you completely." 

"I'm sure...she'll come. Xenia can sense high amounts of White Dove energy in one area at any given time, so I'm sure she'll be here." Fable looked up into Axel's eyes and grabbed his hand. "You know, this is quite the...scenario. Me and you, two lovers, sitting here when the chaos of battle is raging on all around us. Who knew it would be so...romantic." 

Axel blinked upon hearing Fable calling a situation such as this romantic. "Romantic?"

"Yeah, I mean. Being on the verge of death is rather-" Fable was cut short when a large piece of the castle beside them fell dangerously close to her head. Axel would pull Fable to her feet. 

"Appealing? Is that what you were going to say?" Axel flinched when a knife was swung at him. Axel kicked the attacker away. "We need to get to higher ground and quickly." A paw from a giant wolf came dangerously close to Axel. Axel stepped back. "C'mon, let's hurry before we are killed."

Axel assisted Fable around the back of the castle, which was swarming with guards. Axel used every last inch of his strength and his spells to fight them off; he was left with cuts and bruises once he reached higher ground. Axel sat down for a moment.

"We need to sit down and think about what we are going to do," Axel said before adjusting his tunic. "We have an army of White Doves holding off Caldrufini's army, so we need to find Serina and take care of her."

"Serina is a lost cause, Axel. Once you join Caldrufini, there is no way back to Xenia," Fable replied, then sighed. "We failed her, Axel. We really did." Fable massaged her injured back; some of her muscles still burned slightly. 

"No, we didn't," Axel retorted. "Where there's Xenia, there's hope. We can bring her back to our side, but it's going to be hard." Axel watched as one of Caldrufini's guards killed a White Dove. Axel looked back up at Fable. "We need to get in there and help our allies; maybe we can buy time for Xenia to arrive." 

"Axel, you're not catching the point," Fable said as she sat down to take pressure off of her injuries. "Serina is gone. I assure you." Fable rested her back against a wooden crate. 

"Don't underestimate Xenia's power, Fable," Axel replied. Out of the corner of his eye, Axel saw a giant, golden wolf, and sitting on top of it was Xenia; she was coming to assist in fighting the Dayugana, as it was a powerful being. Axel smiled upon seeing Xenia riding into battle. "Fable, like I said, where there's Xenia, there's hope."