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With the Fire Crystal clutched in his arms, Helio sprinted for the border of Holograd.
Unfortunately for him, Gladys wasn’t far behind. The only weight that slowed her down was the sword she carried.
“Come… back here you… Callous, little bastard!” Gladys said between her gasps for breath.
They both winded down a path. It was unfamiliar to Helio, though it wouldn’t matter if Gladys ran out of breath before he did. He was thin and had little muscle, but she suffered a stab wound. Surely, she should be winded by now, Helio thought to himself. But the further down the path, the more his confidence faltered…
… Helio was wrong. The dagger had only grazed her. Gladys saw her attacker from the corner of her eye and dogged enough that it wouldn’t stab her directly. When Helio spotted her fall from the sudden movement, he thought she was done for and took the chance to gloat. Of the downfall of her country. The trust she put in him.
And of her parents. The most dangerous mistake of all.
With the sword clutched in her arms, Gladys sprinted after Helio down the narrow path.
Unfortunately for him, Gladys knew where they were heading. The only weight that slowed him down was the red jewel he carried.
She had the region of Rimedhal mapped like the back of her hand. If she was correct, it wouldn’t be long until Gladys would be able to confront the coward. She was tired. Tired of being lied to, and tired of being used. But not quite tired enough to let the opportunity to get revenge slip by. The rage that seethed inside kept her running.
The path led to exactly where Gladys predicted, a dead end. It only dawned upon Helio until she stopped running and stood still. It was her turn to gloat, but she wasn’t stupid enough to do so. Gladys waited for him to turn around and square up instead.
Helio muttered something of a prayer, which she couldn’t make out. Maybe it was a swear instead. He looked back to see her standing there, waiting with her sword faced towards the ground. His heart paced, unsure what to do next. It was just the two of them, with him unarmed. Not that he had much of a chance with a weapon anyway. There was a reason he accepted her help to apprehend all of those people in the first place.
Time froze while the both of them waited for the other to make the first move. Gladys steadied the grip on her blade, expecting him to sprint away behind her rather than simply turning around…
… Gladys was right. Helio bolted, but she caught him with a single, swift swing of her sword. The impact sent him tumbling towards the icy ground and made him drop the Crystal. He landed on his face and groaned from the pain. He tried to push himself up, but Gladys stomped him back to the ground with one boot.
“What a waste of energy,” Gladys said, her tone mixed with contempt and mockery. “All this work, just for you to fall so easily.”
She realized he couldn’t talk with her foot crushing him towards the soil, so she leaned down and turned him to face up. His breaths came up in short gasps, and it was clear he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Well, it worked anyway. Holograd arrived according to my plan, didn’t it?” Helio said back. “Shouldn’t… You be defending it?”
Gladys reflected for a moment. She was last guarding the rear of Rimedhal before the revenge-seeker came from behind. She held back the Holograder troops there, whose numbers began to decrease. After the encounter, Gladys went to chase Helio. They should be fine, Gladys thought.
“Rimedhal’s safe from whatever your attempt from a scheme was.”
“Well, I couldn’t say the same about your paren-”
Gladys interrupted him when she pressed her boot down on his chest, and Helio wheezed from the agony. Helio could throw as many insults as he wanted now that he had told the truth, but Gladys didn’t want to feel any worse than she already did now.
“Oh, shut it, you son of a bitch. I’m sick of this little game of yours.” Gladys raised her sword so that he could see it. For a few seconds, Helio opened his eyes instead of the squint he always did. They were bright green, and they seemed filled with fear for once. They reminded her of a snake’s, always looking to stab someone in the back. Gladys waited for him to say something. Maybe utter out one last retort or curse her family’s name. But finally, he closed his eyes and gave her a chilling smile.
“Well then, get it over with. It’s not like it’s going to change anything you’ve done,” Helio said in his familiar smugness.
She avoided the comment he made. It was all his fault. He’s the reason why we’re here. As she fumed with anger, Gladys heaved the sword upwards and positioned herself. She kept one foot on his chest and the other planted in the snow. She clenched her blade tighter to strike easier. Then, Gladys took one more breath as she raised her sword higher.
And she plummeted it downwards, piercing the wind and Helio’s neck. The sound of a crunch filled the air around them.
She let the blade rest there while she rested to regain her breath. After a moment, Gladys pulled it out from his neck. But, then decided to stab it back in once more, for good measure.
She expected to feel some sort of relief from killing him. She sought revenge and got it. She should have been glad that this fiend was gone. While Gladys felt better from it, there was still something else she felt.
Bitterness. Guilt.
The revenge she wanted for so long led her right to the man who deceived her. Yet the blood that he- They painted remained. That blood would never wash away, and his murder was no redemption. Not yet, at least. Gladys looked to where he dropped the Crystal. The faint red glow it gave off struck curiosity in her. What was so important about it? She thought. Didn’t the archbishop mention something about it?
As she walked towards it, she noticed the warmth it gave, practically inviting her to reach out to take it. She crouched down and leaned over but hissed from pain. The cut she received earlier was starting to show its consequences. The pain was even more noticeable when the adrenaline wore off from the chase. I probably deserve it, she sighed.
Gladys picked up the jewel and went to lean back against the side of the narrow valley. As much as she wanted to help, everything was too overwhelming. The heat of the Fire Crystal only made the temptations to rest stronger. To rest from all the guilt she felt and the pain in her back. Nobody would really miss her for a couple of minutes, she thought. Her eyes thoughtlessly started to close, heavy with the weight of the world.
“Gladys!” A voice cried out.
Her eyes shot back open and she was prevented from taking a nap. Martha? It couldn’t be. Why would she be way back here?
“Gladys, are you alright?” the voice said again. A figure ran out to her line of sight, and she immediately recognized the long hair.
Martha dashed to where she sat and began to speak before she looked to the side.
“Is… That Helio? Did you kill him?” Martha said. She sounded a little bit in disbelief. The scene was a lot to take in. Especially with his neck almost completely severed and the blood spilled on the ground around him.
“Yeah, and good riddance,” Gladys answered. She wasn’t sure if she wanted anyone near her right now, but at least Martha was someone she could trust. She wasn’t some snake who would go around to stab a friend in the back. That’s if she even thought of them as friends still.
Martha turned her attention back to her. “Are you hurt? You have to be in some pain if you’re sitting down like that.” She reached out a hand towards her, but Gladys swatted it away.
“There’s just a cut on my back. You can leave me alone.”
“Oh, don’t be so stubborn, Gladys. And besides, I don’t have anything to help you heal that anyway.” She crouched down to Gladys’ level and looked her in the eyes. “I just needed to make sure that you were safe, that’s all. I saw you running off, and I had to make sure you were okay.”
Gladys didn’t know how to respond. They both hung in silence for a minute, trying to find something to say. Even after everything, she’s still here for me. Despite that she couldn’t understand why Martha would want to stick around, the thought relieved Gladys. And friends should admit the truth, right? She took a deep breath before she spoke her mind and the truth.
“Helio killed my parents,” Gladys said to break the silence. It probably wasn’t the best thing to say, but it was something to get rid of the awkwardness.
Martha visibly recoiled; she didn’t expect to hear that. Numerous emotions flashed over her face in seconds, disbelief, anger, and then concern. She then tried to find her own words to say.
“Well, I- That’s-” Martha stumbled out. Gladys looked away, breaking their eye contact. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. Now she would start to be worried again.
“So, it wasn’t the fairies then,” Martha said. Gladys almost wanted to laugh, but she changed her mind before she did.
“There weren’t even fairies at all, were there? I think everything they told us was a damn lie.”
Gladys still avoided eye contact. If she was a toddler, she would probably start to cry. They weren’t kids anymore, though. When they were growing up, Martha was more of a crier than she was anyway. Now, unlike her, Martha’s the one who has her act together. She never ran off to get manipulated by some shady bishop, unlike her.
“No, there probably weren’t any. In the first place, at least,” Martha replied. She reached out a hand again to place it on her shoulder, and this time, Gladys let it stay. She knew Martha could be as stubborn as she was at times, so there was no point to try to fight her off. And besides, the hand on her shoulder was comforting enough. Even with the insulation of clothes and the Fire Crystal tucked in her arm, it felt warm and a little bit soothing. Maybe the warmth was just her imagination.
Martha spoke up again, “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” Gladys answered unhesitantly.
Martha laughed a bit in return, “You know, for someone who works for a church, you do swear a lot.” It was an old habit. Not a good one, but it was hard to stop at times. Gladys smiled at the joke, nonetheless.
“Heh, yeah, guess you’re right.” She looked back at Martha, who was now sitting on the snow-clad ground with her hand still on her shoulder. It’s not that Gladys hated the touch; it was just noticeable between the two. Martha saw Gladys looking at her hand, had a similar thought about it, and pulled it back.
“Back to that cut,” Martha said, likely to dodge the awkwardness of her hand the moment before. “Are you sure it’s not that bad?”
“Martha, I’m sure the only wounds you’ve attended to belonged to a dragon. When did you become a sort of doctor?
“Hey! Looking after the Lord of Dragons is work too, you know,” Martha retorted, a little bit insulted. “Fine, don’t tell me how bad it is, but can you walk back to Rimedhal?”
“Back to Rimedhal? If I could walk, I would get back to fighting Holograd,” Gladys huffed.
“Look, Gladys, I think you should take a rest or-” Martha was interrupted when Gladys started to get up.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m f- Agh!” A pain stopped her attempt to raise herself, and she sat back down. It wasn’t the cut; it was the sudden soreness in her legs.
“Sorry, you’re not going anywhere. You’ve done enough, Gladys.”
Enough? Are you crazy? The damage she caused still left scars, and they would remain for a while. If the attack from behind didn’t prove that Rimedhal hated her, then what did? Gladys dragged people’s loved ones to their demises. Every single one that she dragged off never came back, unlike what Helio and the archbishop said. And for what, Revenge? Even the revenge achieved from killing Helio wasn’t worth the numerous deaths. She couldn’t be done on her road to redemption, and she wouldn’t be done until they forgave her. What if they never do?
“No, I haven’t done enough. Are you stupid, or have you forgot about what I did?”
“Yeah, I remember, and we can talk about that later.” She answered In a tone that was as stern as Gladys’. She wasn’t used to Martha’s serious side, and it always struck her by surprise. Not that she couldn’t handle herself; It was just that Gladys didn’t want to convince herself that Martha could likely kick her ass if the time came to it.
“I know how badly you wanted revenge,” Martha said, and she glanced at Helio’s corpse again, now with even more blood spilling out his neck’s wounds. “And you’ve got that. Now, you just have to try to fix that. It’ll be hard, sure, but you can’t go helping anyone again if you just let yourself get killed.”
Her words hung in Gladys’ mind. She wanted to redeem herself for her atrocious crimes against humanity, but maybe it was better to wait.
Maybe Martha is right.
Gladys thought of adding a for once at the end of it, but that wasn’t true. While with Helio, Martha was the one who tried to knock sense into her, but she always just threatened and pushed her away. She thought it was a miracle Martha still liked her.
“Alright, I’ll rest, but one last thing,” Gladys finally told her. She took the Crystal that she kept close to her side to save her from the bitter cold and held it up to Martha, who took it. She seemed to have an idea of what it was. “This rock is what that lot is looking for, isn’t it?”
“Yep, that’s it for sure. We knew Helio had it. Thanks for getting it back for us.” Martha said and gave Gladys a wide smile as her reward. She didn’t expect anything in return, but it was welcomed.
“I- I don’t need thanks, but... Thanks, I guess,” Gladys said, unsure of what to say after that. Martha did, of course.
Looking straight into her eyes, Martha caressed a hand on her face. And at that moment, it felt that all the heat in her body condensed right into Gladys’ face. Her glove made the touch soft and soothing; Gladys was more than fine with the feeling.
“Just sit tight, and maybe take a rest. Play dead or something if some Holograders come around, alright?”
Martha must have been a lunatic if she expected a still stunned Gladys to respond right away.
“Yeah, uh. Of course, Martha. I’ll be fine.”
And with her response, Martha got up and pulled the warmth away, which had radiated from both the Fire Crystal and her hand. She rushed back to probably where the other knights, or the four that Gladys had interrogated and fought earlier, were.
Now, it was just Gladys and the harsh, cold wind of Rimedhal.
She closed her eyes, almost grateful to live another day.