Fate/Lunasa Fomhar

Chapter 1: War of Two - Redux

FATE/LÚNASA FÓMHAR

"August Harvest"

Chapter 1: War of Two – Redux

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This and any future stories involving Connla will assume that you have read all previous stories, so some details already covered there will not be explained here. If you haven't read those, I recommend you do so before this one so you aren't too confused.

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It was a scorching hot day in the middle of colonial America's western deserts. Since the European migrants who settled in eastern America had not explored these lands yet, there were no viable settlements other than old camps that had long since been abandoned by nomadic Native American tribes. Hundreds of cicadas chirped in unison, and the blaring sun's incredible heat made the scene all the more desolate and oppressive. Yet somehow, this blasted wasteland that would otherwise be totally silent was the stage for an intense battle.

"Hagalaz!" a seven-year old girl shouted. She thrust her palm forth and sprayed a vicious hailstorm from a Rune she conjured over her hand, aiming it directly at a pair of werewolves that were bearing down on her. Although the beasts were much larger in stature compared to the child warrior, they were easily torn asunder into bloody chunks of meat. Most children her age would have been frightened of such a grisly scene, but she barely reacted to the sight and concentrated on slashing her spear around in an arc. The blade carved through another werewolf's abdomen and eviscerated it instantly.

While she was preoccupied with dispatching the smaller enemies, her lone partner leapt high over a hovering wyvern and pointed his massive spiked polearm down upon its cranium. The blade cracked through the skull like a broken egg, instantly killing the monster before they both reached the ground. The attack was so violent that it left the dragon's brains splattered all over the dusty earth. The hooded man was just as complacent as the little girl, not sparing a moment to celebrate his victory because he had to focus on the next wyvern swooping in low for him.

Just then, the girl vaulted off her spear like a high-jump athlete would off a pole, and she elegantly swiped at one of its wings to cut it clean off. The monster lost its equilibrium and howled in both rage and pain while falling towards the man. He grinned at his little partner's cleverness, then likewise slashed his weapon in a semicircle right as the wyvern passed by him. As quickly as it happened, its neck was severed from the rest of its body and fell in a separate direction from the collapsing bulk. Dust rose around the decapitated corpse, and the pair stood together to observe the dead monsters disappearing in plumes of dark ash.

"Phew..." the girl sighed and wiped her sweating forehead. She felt so woozy that her brain was practically doing somersaults inside her skull.

"You okay?" the monstrous fellow asked in a surprisingly concerned tone. "This kind of heat isn't good for a kid like yourself."

She looked up at him. Standing side-by-side, the top of her head just barely reached his waist, and he also sported a long spiked tail that swayed in the arid wind. If she didn't know him already, she definitely would have been intimidated by such a frightening-looking man. However, they were partners who needed to rely on each other to survive in this wasteland. It also helped that they already shared one of the strongest relationships that two people could have with each other.

"Don't worry about me, Father," she assured. "We're Servants, so this isn't going to kill me."

"Stop trying to act so tough," he snapped harshly and turned to take the lead ahead of her. "You just recovered from that pell-mell in Denmark. If you go getting heat stroke on me, you'll wind up in the same sorry state the next time more of those things attack us."