Kingdom of Power, of Courage, and of Wisdom

Dragmire's War - The Great Bird of Qin

-Link-

Qin roared, even when more battalions of Zhao poured upon them. Hope was momentarily restored, and Qin fought back with Ouki organizing them. Link pushed his way to the front-lines. Despite being wounded before, Link had recovered enough to put up a good fight. He reached the front line where Zhao were pressing in, and with a roar, Link cleaved down any who came close. Every second counted. Every man counted. Link refused to let exhaustion come. He refused to give Zhao an inch of ground, and in his little way, the Qin around him retaliated and joined in. Together halting Zhao's advance to press in and squeeze them in.

"Watch out! There's something strange with that kid! Focus on him first!" A Zhao officer yelled.

Link grinned tiredly as Zhao around him turned their attention to him. His Gift flashed on his hand, and a moment later a dozen men fell dead. "You think you can take Ouki from me?" He taunted. "Come and try it, you shitters!"

One Zhao, barely alive, despite Link cutting him, reached out and grabbed Link by the legs in attempt to pin him down. Link fell backwards and dropped his borrowed sword. The man quickly reached up and grabbed Link by the neck to choke him.

A manic grin spread across the dying Zhao's face, "Do-don't get cocky, Qin dog! All of you have already lost! No one will be spared! Now you will feel the curse of Chou-hei! Now you will know what it is to lose family!"

Link choked under the much larger man's hands, but he managed to get words out, "Hey, I got something."

"What?"

"Your sword," Link stabbed him in the chest with the man's sword. He spewed blood from his mouth on Link's face. With a great thrust, Link shoved the dying man off him and pinned him to the ground with his sword. The man continued to gasp out profanities and threats like a haunted madman, so Link stabbed him in the head.

"Bastards just won't quit," Link sighed. He took a moment to breath before turning his eyes up.

A Zhao battalion had been defeated under the renewed moral of Qin, but it was one group of a thousand amongst a hundred other groups. That was just the Zhao's test. Now the reinforcements and main army slowly marched forward.

-Ouki-

"Ouki!" Ouki heard a roar behind him. He stopped giving orders and looked back. To his surprise, Harken was standing once more. "We aren't done!"

Ouki sighed. Harken's blade extended itself and killed an officer trying to block his way. Ouki extended his hand, motioning for the men to scatter. Bloody, barely conscious, covered in broken bones and with a cracked skull, Harken rushed him as furiously as ever. Harken came upon him like a man possessed, a berserker freed from his shackles of sanity.

It took all of Ouki's strength to block every attack barraging him. His men rushed in to help, no longer trying to give the space for a proper duel. However, they all died in their attempts when Harken cut them down easily.

Ouki grunted, "You are as tenacious as the very demon you spawned."

In a situation where he was outnumbered more than ten-to-one and surrounded in a closed-off chasm with weakened troops, Ouki knew every second counted. He needed to organize his army. He needed to regroup with the scattered soldiers, but with each blow, the tingling numbness in his arm spread further to his chest. Adding insult to injury, Harken would not allow a moment to do what he needed to do. He stood on the edge between life and death.

Never in his life had Ouki ever met an obstacle more difficult than this. He never met a rival who could take so much from him or push him so far. In a way, he almost wept inside because he knew what had to be done. He had to rid himself of a man who had helped shape him as much as his loved one. For what was hate besides being the other side of the coin from love? What was a man without his rival? To Ouki, a rival was as needed for completing the soul as a lover is, and now it was time to be rid of it. Now was the time to be alone.