The Many Burdens of a Hero

 Static discharge and the spell of burnt laminate wood filled the still air around us as music filled our ears. People chanting in unison for the lightning that had struck. Rider had impeccable taste in music.

 Pure white lightning sparked around my body as if I had become a conduit of power. Inadvertently, I had also become a beacon in the night. They would have no issues tracking me down so hiding was not an option. Not that I felt I would need to now.

 Our enemies that perched along rooftops and rundown battlements took a few seconds to recover from the thunder that struck their ranged weapons. By the looks of things, their hands had suffered some damage, but not much.

 The theoretical mastery of magic required to pull off such a feat was nothing short of a miracle. Yet there was not blue tinge or vapor left in the air. Even if a catalyst was used to harness the elements, traces of mana would be left

 Truth was, it wasn't magic.

 "Men! Draw your swords!"

 They followed their commander like obedient tamed monsters, who also drew her sabers. She looked at me and licked her lips. A gust of wind picked up her long brown hair and I got the feeling she was up to something.

 Marge walked back over to us, lowering her voice to ask us a single question as she quickly rewove her clothing. Like a protruding vein, I saw lines of thread move underneath her skin and up to her arms.

 No wonder she didn't wear armor, it would stop the flow of silk she used to hinder others, although I wasn't exactly sure if the trade off was worth it. Although with their weapons, they might have been able to piece the majority of armor unless she could reinforce it with her aura.

 "Two verses twenty one. Think you can take them?"

 "Do you need an answer?"

 Marge giggled as her whole body began to shimmer, slowly fading from sight, as if several wings had slowly wrapped around her body.

 "Kill them!"

 With a screech from their commander who had been made a fool, the Scouts spurred into motion, jumping down from their advantageous positions to fight with their standardized bastard swords that appeared to have seen many battles.

 Two scouts charged in to attack our questionable ally before she could make her escape. They swiped in order to hit the now invisible Motte only to fail miserably. Marge had already left.

 If we waited, we would become outnumbered. Best chance of survival was to cut through them and delay any sort of combined attack.

 "Ota?"

 "You attack, I'll defend"

 The Oni was ready to redeem herself. I could tell she hated the part of the past when she felt powerless, even more so that it still chained her down. This time, she would not falter.

 We charged in side by side, her Halberd pointed forward, my Tachi pointed behind.

 For the first time, I felt confident in taking a fight. Outnumbered, but not outplayed.

 One.

 The first man stuck with an overhead blow and I swiped from the right, targeting his blade. With sparks and the loud clash of metal, I quickly followed up with an overhead slash following the natural motion of my weapon, cutting through his chest and electrocuting him.

 Ota blocked the second man's attack by catching the blade with the beak of her Halberd. She may have been unfamiliar with the weapon, but she knew how to use its angles to achieve her goal.

 Two.

 With a grunt, the Oni pushed back against the second scout's attack, leaving his torso open for a brief moment.

 I lunged at him. Within a fraction of a second, I stopped barely out of range realizing he would recover in time for a Tachi, but not for a spear. With a single thrust, it changed forms to the weapon I needed, hitting him in the gut with another zap, he lost consciousness.

 "With me!"

 Quickly grabbing three arrows from the fallen scouts side quiver and swapping what hand was holding my Relic, I barked out instructions to Ota who responded with acknowledgement.

 "Yeah!"

 Once again running next to each other I guided her out of the open and down the side street that led to my old home. I noticed her left hand silently casting Stream on the muddy road I was leading her down, causing it to be both slippery and prime for spreading elements.

 Our destination was the bridge in the middle of town that connected both the Holy Kingdom and Eternal Empire with a cobblestone highway.

 A smile crept up my mouth as I noticed a few small glowing blue lights towards our destination. Either Marge foresaw our plan or wanted to guide us from the shadows.

 I spun around and positioned myself to fire all my arrows simultaneously using my mentor's bow, only to find it impossible to draw back.

 Dammit! Not strong enough

 My Relic changed once again to fit my needs. A compound bow that I had once used to practice archery before I left this town. Its draw weight reflected the emotions in my memories being both hard to pull back and rewarding to fire.

 Three. Four. Five.

 Using my left thumb to hold up each arrow, I rapidly let loose each arrow, one at a time, as a group of five scouts rounded another abandoned house's corner to chase us down. I made sure to touch each arrow tip with my index and middle finger with each shot.

 'Right for rapid'

 Typically, an arrow is notched and positioned between the bow itself and the archer, however, this process was slow and made repeated shots cumbersome. The Captain of the Tyrants Rest Guardsmen taught me a different method, one that I had just recreated.

 Each arrow struck their target, although not in vital areas, the shock seemed to paralyze them, leaving the fastest people in the group still running, unaware it had become a two on two fight.

 Ota jumped forward and slammed the butt of her Halberd into the ground as if hunting a charging monster.

 Six. Seven.

 Both of them attempted to halt their charge only to slip and fall on their asses thanks to the trap Ota prepared. She quickly followed up by standing on top of her target and spun her Halberd to plunge through the scouts heart as he tried to thrust into her plate armor.

 It did not work.

 I stomped on my foes hand that held his Bastard Sword and stabbed his dominant shoulder with an electrified short spear. Crackling and the spell of simmered flesh confirmed my enemy had passed out.

 "You're not gonna kill him?"

 "Stopping them- is enough-..."

 This power was exhausting me so I took the little chance I could to catch my breath. I sat down on the man I had knocked out for the few seconds we had.

 Hated may have filled my mind, but my foster sister's ideals steadied my hand. Not all deserved death, especially when they failed their chance to take a life. If I had the ability to nullify a threat then I would... for now.

 Ota reached out her hand and I gladly took it to stand back up as we heard more shouting. Ten of them had grouped into one pack to launch an attack together.

 There are four missing...

 *Thump-Thump*

 A Bolt had been launched directly at me from the rooftop of a nearby two story house. Without my Relic being transformed into Arisu's blade, its speed wasn't nearly as slow in my heighted focus state, but neither was it fast enough to the point where I couldn't do anything.

 Eight.

 I reached out and grabbed the bolt mid flight with my left hand and used its force to spin my whole body and throw my Relic that had been shaped further from a short spear to javelin. A burning sensation filled my eyes as I made my counterplay.

 My throw broke the sound barrier, resulting in a loud crack and the man that had recovered one of the crossbows from his dead allies slid down the side of the roof, a hole straight through his head. Blood gushed out and painted the house as he fell.

 Immediately, I pressed my thumb against my recall ring and channeled mana into it too.

 "Touji… your eyes"

 In the reflection of the muddy ground beneath my feet, I caught a glimpse of what had happened. They began to water in pain and I quickly cast a low level heal to calm them down.

 What I saw was the cause of the burning I had felt before. In the moments my heart beat twice and the few seconds following, they had not been what I had slowly been accustomed to.

 From navy blue to aqua with streaks of white after I had woken up from my coma, it had changed once again, only temporarily, to that of a monster.

 In the reflection of my face I saw the glowing yellow eyes and black slits of a Dragon.