Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Chapter 498: Interlude - Iona and Nina - Sanctuary

Nina was familiar with Ionas eyes unfocusing as the [Paladin] talked with her moon goddesses. Even in the middle of dinner the two were always dropping in on her! It was like they were a merry band of five, not three. With [Grandmaster] Sigrun visiting and her supersized spinosaurus, Serratrix, they were a whole busy group! Nina loved the companionship, the comradery, the sisterhood. Family, like shed never had before. Iona snapped back to reality a moment later.

Emergency. Lets go. Iona dropped her plate and fork, bending her knees and leaping onto Fenrirs back in a single motion.

Nina stuffed one last huge bite of food into her mouth - no telling when the next meal would be - and scrambled after Iona, grabbing one of the ropes leading up Fenrirs side.

Hold on! Iona ordered, and Fenrir took off, Nina dangling off the rope like a worm on a hook, baited to catch well, practically nothing in the world wanted to tangle with a wyvern.

Ionas armor flowed around her, encasing the Valkyrie in its protective embrace. A little smaller, a little thinner ever since shed donated a portion for Ninas weapon.

Nina had spent some time meditating on a companion or steed like Iona had Fenrir, and Sigrun had Serratrix. Supersized was not her jam, not after all the hours shed spent tending Fenrir, then later on had been roped into helping with Serratrix. Something small if she even continued the tradition.

It wasnt required that Valkyries have a partner or steed.

Nina, unfortunately, was missing a critical piece of the puzzle. Namely, with Iona and Fenrir around, and needing to rapidly respond all over the Han empire to various issues, shed never had to walk the length of an entire country, one of the main reasons the Valkyries and most other knightly orders took on steeds. She wasnt a speedster, or had any particular long-range mobility skills.

Sigrun watched Iona and Nina fly off in a hurry, shrugged, and finished her meal before hopping onto Serratrixs back. She patted the large carnivore fondly.

Look, you greedy lug, youll get too fat and wont want to move if you finish everything of Fenrirs, and you probably dont want to piss the wyvern off. Thats one big sucker.

The dinosaur roared at Sigruns impeccable logic, and she pulled on the reins.

Come on. With a divine message for help, its got to be something big. Lets see if we can give them a hand.

The sail-backed steed roared again, oriented himself in the direction they flew off in, and began to plod after them.

Fenrir quickly flew to where the small tabernacle was, located inside a quiet valley. Soldiers were already beginning to slowly march in, but they were in no rush, focused more on making a long screen and slowly advancing such that nobody could slip out and escape their net. Iona narrowed her eyes at them but didnt attack, unsure of the specifics of the situation.

All she knew was the goddesses had transmitted a cry for sanctuary to her, and that she was to protect whoever wanted the shelter of the tabernacle.

Be on your toes. Iona advised Nina. We dont know the situation. Anyone could be an enemy, anyone could be a friend. Keep your head on a swivel.

Nina nodded, reflexively playing with her mallium, shaping it into a knife, then a mace, a claw then a sword.

The three of them landed heavily in front of the tabernacle, the single entrance guarded by a dullahan pointing a spear at them. Fenrir roared at the man, who flinched and held steady.

Iona and the man quickly talked, the Valkyrie pointing to her winged helmet at one point. They didnt talk fast enough. A bolt flew through the air and fortunately clattered off Fenrirs armor, but the wyvern was a marked beast. A sitting duck on the ground.

Iona jumped off Fenrirs back, and Nina slid to the ground, thankful that her skills and abilities had held out, and shed been able to stay holding on the entire time. The one time she hadnt

She shook her head to clear it, hyper aware once again that she was outfitted as a [Squire], and didnt have the centimeters of thick metal between herself and a hostile world. Fenrir took off into the sky.

Iona and the man finished their conversation, and the man bowed deeply, then gritted his teeth and dashed off towards the side of the valley, aiming for one of the less guarded cliffs.

This is a big one. Iona said without preamble, striding towards the entrance of the tabernacle. Nina hurried to keep up with her mentor. Theyve got the Qin [Emperor] inside, and the Zhao know it. Now, normally the sanctity of religious sites is enough to stop people from deliberately demolishing places, but the chance to get the last [Emperor] and to win this war is enough that all the norms are going out the window. Selene and Lunaris are going to be personally protecting and reinforcing the tabernacle though, so theres exactly one entrance that we know of that we need to protect.

The tabernacle was relatively tiny. Maybe seven paces from wall to wall, with two benches, a small altar, and a scared boy kneeling before it. Nina lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

Hes the [Emperor] of the Qin? There was no way. He was what, five, maybe six? And [Emperor]? Nina supposed he was coated in adamantium, the legendary material marking the royal family.

How every claimant to the throne all managed to have adamantium and claim the rest were imposters boggled her mind, but it wasnt her concern.

Nina couldnt see Ionas face from under the helmet, but she could imagine it.

It doesnt matter if he is or isnt. Iona said. Hes requested sanctuary and protection, and were honorbound to provide it. With just one entrance, the Zhao are going to be funneled hard, and we can hold them here.

For how long? Nina asked, knowing the answer, dreading the answer. Iona shrugged.

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Until theyre all dead or we are. I need you directly protecting Feng Taizi. Attacks and moves are going to slip by me, and hes vulnerable. Nothing big should get by, but small seekers? Shrapnel? You know what to do.

The first soldier ran in through the door, screaming something. Iona threw an armored elbow behind her, caving in the dullahans face entirely, the body dropping like a sack of bricks.

Go. She ordered, and the Valkyrie left Nina and Feng Taizi together.

Are you alright? She asked the little boy in halting Hakka. He drew himself together and tilted his head back, ruining the look with a sniff. He rapid-fire shot off a dozen words that Nina missed, mostly due to her inexperience with the language, but the high accent and complex words, far beyond the vocabulary of most six year olds, was the final nail in obfuscating communication.

Nina frowned, then stumbled forward as a stray shot hit her in the back. Nothing too lethal, nothing too dangerous, not with her skills and weak armor, but it was a reminder that they just didnt have the time for this.

Move! She shouted, backing up her words with actions. Grabbing one of the [Emperors] arms, she dragged him behind the altar, the solid stone block an extra layer of protection. She dragged the benches over, using them to offer some shielding to the flank.

She then turned around, reshaping her morphic mallium into her favorite weapon - a mace.

The kitsune had seen Iona at work before. She still shuddered at the deadly violence going on right outside the door.

This was her moment. This was where Iona shone brightest. This was where her [Vow] beat strongest.

Iona stabbed her glaive forward, impaling two [Soldiers] at once. The invisible head of the weapon meant they hadnt seen it coming at all. She twisted her weapon and pulled it forward, both struggling bodies coming with the glaive. She put her foot on the first ones chest and heaved, ripping her glaive free and killing the two of them. Four more soldiers, two from either side, charged at her, and the Valkyrie swept her glaive in a long motion, slicing all of them in half in a single powerful motion. Rocks pinged off her seamless [Star-Forged] armor as low level Metal [Mages] fired shots at her, attacks strong enough to pierce through dullahans entirely simply bouncing off the first layer of her armor.

Another dullahan tried to speed past her, and Ionas left hand shot out, grabbing him by the jaw. She twisted and pulled, knowing exactly how the mans anatomy would break, and ripped his lower face off, tongue and all. A quick stab backwards half-crippled him as he fell through the door. In a flash, Iona judged him weak enough for Nina to finish off without any trouble, and flicked her wrist out. The jaw, tongue still wagging, whistled through the air before sinking itself into the eyesocket of the [Mage] harassing her.

Another dullahan tried to tackle Iona around the waist, hoping that getting inside the range of her glaive would be good enough. Iona sharply cracked her shield down at the same time she brought her knee up, utterly crushing the mans head. With a flick of her foot and [Weaknesses] spotting the ideal location, she threw the body into another three soldiers, tripping them up and slowing them down.

A snipers arrow screamed past her, and she reflexively brought her hand up, catching the piercing shot with her bare hand. It snapped as she grabbed it, the tip going wild inside the tabernacle, but no longer so aimed or empowered by skills. More [Archers] took up position along the edges of the valley, peppering her with arrows. Now and then a shot was poorly aimed, hitting one of their own troops instead of breaking against Ionas armor. [Harmony of the Spheres] worked overtime, bending and nudging the arrows slightly out of the way. It wasnt perfect, but glancing blows missed entirely, and almost-direct hits turned into glancing blows.

Bones snapped like twigs and blood ran like rivers. A [Swordsman] slashed out at Iona, his blade supremely fast with the distinct look of Gale surrounding it, providing speed and sharpness to his attack. The Valkyrie responded by bringing her glaive down on his head full-force. With a perfectly serene look on his face, the [Swordsman] traded blows, accepting the end of his life for a single hit on Iona. The tips of her right pinky and ring fingers went flying as she caved in his head, the wound squirting blood for a moment before scabbing over.

It was only a nick in the grand scheme of things, but Elaine wasnt around. There was no healing from a blow like that. She shifted her grip slightly, aware that she wasnt quite as capable of holding her glaive or axe as before, knowing it was only a matter of time before she was worn down.

It was the Wobby Pass all over again.

Ionas heart was calm, her mind pure. She accepted her fate, knowing deep in her bones that she was doing the right thing.

Someone tried to fuck with the ground, turn it into mud to make her sink in or foul a step. [As Steady as the Stars] kept her footing perfect, supernaturally keeping her on top of the goop that should by all rights suck her and her extra-heavy body into the ground.

Ooze slipped into the tabernacle and ignited, the Classer controlling it hoping to burn, cook, draw out enough air, or kill the boy via smoke inhalation. There was little Iona could do about the existing blaze, but she did find and kill the Classer in question, trusting to Nina to handle it.

Shed been around Auri often enough.

A powerful [Mage] blasted her with Acid and Inferno, the first practically harmless against her but the second heating her up to the point where blisters popped all up and down her arms and legs. Iona gritted her teeth through the pain, throwing her glaive in a desperate move, impaling the [Mage] and continuing on, slaying four more soldiers before coming to a quivering stop in a tree trunk. Another soldier closed in with a spear, jabbing at Iona from just outside of her now-shortened range. She grabbed the shaft and yanked, bringing the soldier in close. With a twist, she disarmed the soldier, threw the spear like a javelin at the [Sniper-Archer] along the ridge of the valley, the weapon moving with such speed that he wasnt able to dodge it.

In close with the now disarmed soldier, Iona slammed her hands down on his metal shoulders, her fingers digging deep into his body. With a snarl, she pulled the man apart down the middle, using the momentum of the blow with [New Moons Dance] to punch through two more troops who were trying to flank her.

Fenrir descended down, Lightning and Ice crossing the valley in a mighty roar, the flow of soldiers slowing slightly. The two had lived and fought together for years, and the great wyvern knew exactly how close he could get to Iona, how much she could take.

The pillar of descending Lightning landed a mere meter away from her, while an oversized greatsword of Ice killed yet another soldier. Iona dashed forwards, grabbing the weapon Fenrir provided, then dashed back to the entrance of the tabernacle. She did a sliding kick at the last portion, breaking the legs of a soldier trying to rush in, then with a thought, caused a dozen needle-sharp spikes to emerge from her gauntlet. She grabbed the soldiers neck with her spiked hand and twisted, dropping the soldier with a wet gurgle as he choked on his own blood. Then she swept her Icy greatsword up, deflecting a thrust spear and perfectly countering.

A shot of metal twice the size of Ionas head impacted the side of the tabernacle at hypersonic speeds, multiple [Mages] having worked in tandem to accelerate the shot to unreal velocities. The very ground shook at the force of the impact, but the walls of the tabernacle held, divine providence preventing the violation of the holy site.

To Ionas minor dismay, no divine retribution came down from the skies into the mages, and in the brief gap in the fighting, the goddesses explained why.

Too much power required. Selene gasped.

This is rapidly becoming not worth it. Lunaris agreed.

The two goddesses could split the heavens and smite the blasphemers, but the expenditure of power, and this not being their temple, calling, or domain, simply made it too expensive for the goddesses.

The brief reprieve let Iona rearm herself, drawing out [Frost Wyverns Fang] and snapping off dozens of arrows, piling up more bodies before they could get close to her.

A blinding slash of blazing energy came out of the woods, cutting through trees like they were butter. Iona had only a fraction of a second to cross her arms, putting her shield in front of her body before the attack hit her. Her armor helped, her subdermal anklyosaurus scales took the brunt of the blow, but she was still left with a long, bloody gash going from her left shoulder down to her right hip, freely bleeding.

With a thought, she reformed her now-thinner mallium over the wound, cinching it down. Iona was trading flexibility for not bleeding out.

The wound was bad. She staggered as her body unexpectedly betrayed her, stepping forward and letting [As Steady as the Stars] guide her footwork to rebalance herself.

Sigrun and Serratrix arrived at that moment, the [Grandmaster] using [Flash Step] all along the rim of the valley, her blade freely drinking the blood of the people firing arrows down. Iona took advantage of the moment to retrieve her glaive, [Telekinesis] coming in handy once again.

Two moments later, the [Great General] pushed his way forward.

Iona took a deep breath, and settled into a stance, warily eyeing the soldiers emerging from the torn up underbrush, aware that theyd tried to slip past into the temple while she was distracted.

Not while I still draw breath. Iona swore to herself.