Unbound

Alister sat in his parlor, slowly reading while war tore apart the outside world.

Roars and explosions rippled the barrier outside his window as the conflict at the shoreline continued to rage days later. It had been his constant companion, more reliable than the timepiece on his mantle, or the sun that was just now peaking above the horizon.

It was almost comforting.

Without so much as a knock, a clutch of Knight Ghreldan barged into the room, hands on their weapons. Their leader, a youthful woman with strawberry blonde hair, stepped forward. “Alister Knacht. The prince has summoned you.”

A touch later than expected, Alister noted as he placed a pasteboard marker in the book before setting it on an end table. “Lead the way.”

The walk from his apartments to the prince was a long one, even taking several shortcuts through the gardens, but it gave Alister plenty of time to notice the barrier above them was fainter than ever. That the Knights bore dark circles under their eyes. And, most importantly, their leader hadn’t locked the manacles he wore.

Interesting.

They emerged eventually onto a balcony dominated by a large table that had clearly been set for a sumptuous meal—which had been abandoned, half-eaten. Knights ringed the balcony, but Alister noted that their armor was more dinged and scratched than he recalled. The prince himself stood next to his chair, staring fixedly out into the lightening horizon as if Alister didn’t exist. The Knight-Commander Lavin, however, watched him with calculating eyes.

Alister ignored her.

The balcony overlooked the front of the palace, and the gardens and fortifications were easy to observe. Below were rank upon rank of Knights on the walls, most manning large ballistas and catapults, just inside the shimmering barrier. He could also see the Nagafolk on the outside, though they were constantly moving in the waters beyond, easily evading the Skill-sheathed bolts and boulders that chased them down. They dove out of the way and returned with new projectiles that they hurled at the prince’s defenses. Thunderous booms shook the air, vibrating through the balcony floor as massive stones, trees, and jets of water smashed into the barrier.

“They are quite earnest, aren’t they?” Alister asked.

“Earnest?” The prince looked out over the battlefield, and his eye twitched. “Yes, I dare say they are. They have attacked our barriers ceaselessly for days, and nothing has calmed their animal rage. The serpent wishes for true war.”

“Have you tried returning his people and allies?” Alister asked.

The prince offered him a withering glance, then returned to looking out the windows. “To give into the monster is to put myself beneath him…and that I cannot do.”

Ah. Worth a shot. “If you are so hard-pressed by the Deepking, then why not negotiate with him?”

“You misunderstand, Lord Knacht. There is to be no negotiation, but a demonstration.”

Without another word, Prince Tevin leaped out into the sky, his Body flaring with deep blue light before he was met by a pillar of swirling water taller than the palace itself.

He—! Alister gaped as the prince hovered within that pillar. He’d been told of the prince’s particular talents, but this…

“You wish to face down my people? Then your own people will pay the price!” Held aloft by its might, the man thrust his hands outward. Hundreds of droplets sprang from the pillar to hang weightlessly in the sky, condensing until they were solid balls of ice. “This Skill has destroyed entire battalions, you snakes! Hailfall!”

The hail blurred, launching forth through the weakening barrier and into the lake beyond. The fist-sized bits of ice exploded the waters for a thousand strides, sending geysers of pressurized fluid into the sky, as well as bits of shrieking Nagafolk.

No, Alister had to keep himself from running to the balcony’s edge.

A vast, scaled body emerged, intercepting the volley of ice onto its deep green hide. The Deepking, Kar'casitrix of the Abyssal Shores rose from the dark waters as if the land itself were heaving up out of the depths.

“A potent attack, for a coward,” Kar’casitrix said, and his voice was like thunder. “Yet I find your concept of devastation to be woefully limited.”

Kar’casitrix chomped his mighty jaws and the mere shockwave threw Knights from the battlements and forced the barriers to flare a brilliant, urgent red. At the same time, his tail moved, inciting a mighty wave that was only barely stopped.

They’re coming down quickly. If the barriers fall and we aren’t prepared…Tevin might do anything. Alister’s eyes flicked around the room, catching on the Knight-Commander’s. You better be right about this.

She looked away, and Alister fought to keep his expression aggressively neutral.

The Deepking hissed, and it was louder than the waves around him. “Give me a greater challenge, prince! Let me bathe in the blood of your people, as you have bathed in mine!”

Tevin landed back atop the balcony, breathing heavily as the Deepking roared out defiance. It was clear that his attack had taken a lot out of the man, just as it was clear that he had intended to put on a show of force for Alister. For it to be so ineffectual—Alister could hear the prince’s Spirit writhe.

One more push…Come now, Kar’casitrix!

“Come and fight, prince! Or do you find comfort there, behind your walls and shields?” The Deepking chuckled. “Your men call you a coward, you know. They whisper it from atop their walls and think themselves alone, but the winds and the waters are mine.”

Alister watched the words transform the prince from a tired ruler to an enraged warrior. “Knight-Commander,” he said through clenched jaws. “You heard that snake’s vile words. Bring your Knights beyond the barrier. Fight for the honor of Tevin Province!”

“I refuse,” Lavin said, planting herself before her soldiers. “My Knights are excellently trained, but they are no match for the raw Strength of the Nagafolk.”

“You dare to disobey? I’ve executed your predecessors for less!”

“Then you will have to execute me as well, depriving yourself of a skilled commander and still my Knights would not enter those waters.” Lavin shook her head. “Were my Knights to fight the Nagafolk on their own terrain, we would be slaughtered, leaving you with no protection at all.”

The prince stared at her, eyes wide and hands trembling with clear rage. A thin, tenuous silence stretched across the balcony. A thread moments from snapping.

“I am willing to broker peace between the Deepking and your people, Prince Tevin,” Alister offered. “For a price.”

The prince was a bit wild around the eyes as he spun on the mage. He licked the corner of his mouth. “What price?”

“Our freedom. All of my Legionnaires, the spirit Paxus, and the Nagafolk.”

“Hah! You cannot negotiate with the snake, you said so yourself. ‘I am not the Autarch,’ weren’t those your words? You think I’m so foolish as to believe I’d part with my one bargaining chip in this farcical siege?” The prince spun, facing the waters again. His voice boomed out into the morning air. “Deepking! I demand that you stand down!”

In a blur, he unsheathed the heavy saber at his side and brought it to Alister’s neck. “Or I kill this man.”

Alister swallowed. It had come to this. Clenching his jaw, he pressed his throat briefly against the blade, drawing a burning line across his skin.

The Deepking snapped his jaws again, and the barrier flared yellow-orange. "The Returned God's representative is the only reason I have not crushed your fortress entirely, prince. Do you dare to test my resolve?"

Blind gods this better work, Lavin.

"You have threatened my life," Alister stated, careful not to move.

"I do so only with a heavy heart, Lord Knacht!” For all his Mana fatigue, the prince’s arm was solid as stone. “Your ally gives me no choice!"

"There is always a choice.” Alister took a breath. “And I choose to challenge you, Prince Tevin, to a Trial By Combat."

A System notification popped up before both of them, visible to all.

A Challenge Has Been Issued!

Trial By Combat!

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Tevin laughed. “You think I would stoop so low as to fight you?

Every muscle in Alister’s body clenched, ready to fight or flee.

Tevin swiped at his screen, dismissing it…only for it to reappear. “What is going on?”

He dismissed it again, and this time the notification shook but did not vanish.

“You must accept,” the Knight-Commander said. “You have drawn the blood of a political captive. The founding laws of the Territory, from before it was splintered into Provinces, forbid such a thing. Moreover, they demand that you compensate the captive in one of two ways: a weregild paid to their family or a trial by combat.”

“Blood? What blood?” Tevin demanded.

The prince looked to Alister, and the mage opened the collar of his doublet to reveal the streaks of blood down his neck. There was a reason he’d worn his least favorite doublet.

“That is nonsense,” the prince spat. “I rule in this Province, and I determine the laws by which we operate! And I say that this is null and void!”

The notification screen did not budge.

The Continent operated largely on the same rules, place to place. But just as different nations were subject to their own laws, so too were some Territories enhanced with different rules. All such rules were put into place long ago, when rulers had greater Authority and control over their Territories. The Knight-Commander had told Alister about this particular wrinkle, and it was the hub upon which their plan turned.

“Then I will pay a weregild,” the prince said, his voice tight. “How much?”

“His weight in mithril,” Lavin provided.

Tevin ground his teeth together. “Fine! I’ll pay—”

“I refuse.” Alister dabbed at his neck with a kerchief, his manacles dangling from a single wrist. “I choose trial by combat.”

“Your chains—Wait, you cannot refuse! I did not give you the choice, Lord Knacht.”

The notification came back.

Authority Superseded!

A Challenge Has Been Issued!

Trial By Combat!

“What Authority?” the prince demanded.

“Mine,” Alister said, tossing his kerchief onto the table. His blood soaked into the cloth immediately.

“You have no Authority here, Knacht!”

“Not usually, no. A dignitary visiting a foreign state cannot leverage their Authority…except in a few specific ways. A challenge can be issued, Prince Tevin,” Alister reminded him with a smile. “A legal one, by your own laws. As representative of the Autarch, I am endowed with a portion of his Authority…and even that small amount is greater than what you possess.

“So I repeat myself, Prince Tevin of the Ghreldan Hills: I challenge you to a Trial By Combat.”

Diplomacy is level 74!

The notification jittered, as if demanding for their attention, and a faint ringing noise accompanied it. Tevin didn’t notice. He was too busy glaring daggers at Alister.

“Alright,” the prince said, suddenly relaxing. His grimace became that easy, familiar smile. “I accept—”

A Challenge Has Been Accepted!Warning!

No Outside Influence Is Allowed!

The Challenger May Choose The Terms Of Submission!

The Challenged May Choose The Battlefield And Method Of Combat!

“—but of course, a prince cannot sully his hands. It would be unseemly.” Tevin straightened himself and sheathed his saber. “I will appoint a Champion in my stead.”

Alister nodded along. “Wise. I shall appoint a Champion too, then, as is my right.”

The prince laughed. “Choose, then.”

“Kar’casitrix.”

Tevin paled and outside the barrier, the Deepking roared in jubilation. “No! No! That isn’t allowed!”

“He is my ally and, as you have noted, a follower of my liege Lord. It is well within my purview to choose him as Champion—”

“Then I recant! No Champions! Just us, man to man.”

The Challenged May Choose The Battlefield And Method Of—

“I know that!” he snapped. He unsheathed his saber with a flourish. “Blades! Here and now!”

“Very well,” Alister said, and nearly jumped when a Knight handed him his dark rapier. He lifted the Leviathan bone basket hilt to his mouth. “Ah. I have missed you, dear.”The Challenger May Choose The Terms Of Submission!

Alister swung his rapier down, setting his stance. “To the death.”

The System chimed around them.

The duel began.

Tevin rushed him, demonstrating a potent Agility as he performed a brutal diagonal slash. Alister parried the slash to his side before fluidly moving into a thrust. His rapier caught the prince across the shoulder, slicing through his fine jacket…but no further.

“You’re a madman!” Tevin accused. “‘To the death’?”

Alister didn’t answer except to bash his basket hilt into the prince’s cheek. The man grunted and fell back, but not for long. He advanced again, attacking with his saber in sweeping slashes that were entirely too fast and strong.

Rapier Mastery is level 79!

Duelist’s Finesse is level 81!

Alister mained his distance, jumping back while his Agility rose. His Finesse sacrificed Mana to boost the stat, and it was all that allowed him to evade the tenacious ruler’s weapon.

He’s strong. Adept Tier but only just, Lavin had told him. You must be careful.

I will do as I must, he’d said.

Their fight ranged across the balcony. Alister dodged between chairs before catching one up with the tip of his rapier and hurling it at the prince. The man bashed through it, but he slowed down. Another chair followed, and another, each one broken to splinters by the prince’s relentless assault.

“Enough!” Tevin hurled the last chair aside before kicking the entire table and all its dishes. It crashed into the far wall and forced his Knights to dive out of harm’s way.

It was a show of Strength and an impressive one at that…but Alister had been preparing for this fight.

He knew how to beat the prince.

Tevin was eager, ambitious, and strong…but he was impatient and full of his own importance. Alister had known far too many people like him…had almost become such a person, at one time. There was nothing more important to the man than his own pride.

“Pathetic, Tevin. It’s no wonder your cousins are going to crush you.” Alister caught another blow and spun it away. “When this is over, I’ll ensure that Nagast aligns itself with them instead. Prince Garin, perhaps.“

“You—!” Tevin howled, before Mana poured from his channels. “Sunder Rush!”

Blades of water and ice formed and shot forth in the same instant, arcing for Alister’s chest—only to shatter upon a shield of blue force.

Greater Force Shielding is level 85!

“Violation!” Tevin said with a wicked grin. “I said blades alone are allowed in this duel!”

The Challenged Has Chosen To Use A Mana Skill.Method Of Combat Has Been Adjusted.

Blades And Mana Skills Allowed.

The notification seemed to shock the disheveled prince, because he didn’t see Alister’s sword until it was too late.

Parry is level 77!

Disarm is level 71!

The prince’s saber went flying, and the man screamed. “No! Riverburst!”

Twin jets of water ripped from his palms, aimed directly for Alister’s head.

“Pillars of the Domineering Sentinel!”

Three massive pillars made entirely of bright blue force Mana surged from the ceiling. The first two shot into the path of the water jets, blocking them entirely, while the last smashed down upon Tevin’s shoulders. To his credit, the man withstood the crushing force, knees bent but still standing.

Alister put his rapier to the prince’s throat, very lightly nicking him. Blood oozed out to stain his torn jacket.

“Order my men free,” Alister demanded. “You have lost here.”

Tevin bared his teeth. “The duel is to the death, you fool. I’m not so naive as to think you’ll spare me”

“System, as Challenger, might I change the rules of submission?”

Yes. Do You Wish To Change Them Now?

Alister looked to the prince, who looked equal parts relieved and dismayed beneath his force pillar. “Release my people, Legionnaire and Nagafolk both…and I will let you live.”

“Lavin! Aid me!” the prince demanded. “Do something!”

“I’m afraid I cannot, my prince. To act now would be interference in a System sanctioned Challenge. It would risk your life and rule. Even if the System allowed me to interfere, my Oath would not.”

“Then I release you from your Oath!” he bellowed.

A sharp note pierced Alister’s ears, like the string of a viol snapping and sounding an ill-shaped chord.

“Help me!”

Lavin looked the prince directly in the eyes. “No.”

“What? You—!”

Alister pressed harder, aligning the tip of his rapier with the man’s largest blood vessel. “She is not your concern anymore. Make your choice.”

“Sunder Ru—!”

“Grand Impetus.”

A lance of blue force blasted from the tip of Alister’s rapier…and took off Prince Tevin’s head.

You Have Killed Prince Tevin Of The Ghreldan Hills!XP Earned!

New Title!

Kingslayer (Legendary)!

Not all kings deserve their crowns. You have slain a ruler of a Territory in Trial By Combat!

+20 STR

+20 END

+20 WIL

While energy rushed his core, the System blared triumphant horns all around them.

Congratulations!

You Have Won A Trial By Combat!

The Knights, as if on cue, drew their weapons on the mage. Swallowing hard, Alister looked to the Knight-Commander. “Any time now.”

Lavin stepped forward. “As next in line, I take up the Authority of Tevin Province.”

More horns and stringed instruments sounded, rising from what seemed the depths of the palace below them. Lavin shuddered and light gathered around her in a fierce, multicolored storm before sinking into her head and shoulders.

“Stand down,” Lavin commanded, and every single Knight put up their blade.

Alister breathed a sigh of relief.

One of the guards, the strawberry blonde that had escorted him in, spoke up. “The prince is dead. Long live the princess!”

Outside, the Deepking roared in triumph.

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