Candlelight Fantasia

Part Three

Preparations for the attack were made quickly, and in secret.

Beatrix knew from the information that Maia had gathered that Lamplight had no listed residence in Alexandria, and his movements tended to be only from his warehouse to whichever booked passage on to go to Lindblum or Treno or whatever his destination was. He was not seen in the town inns, or the theater, and while he was on the list of traders granted access to the lower levels of the castle, Beatrix knew that she had never seen him there. She would remember if Lamplight had ever been there; it was her job, after all. That would suggest to her that Lamplight had some sort of residence within his warehouse, and spent his time when he was in Alexandria there. There were perhaps holes in that logic, but, like it or not, Beatrix had to make some assumptions to plan for her attack. Those who claimed that you could not make assumptions in combat lived in an ideal world, far away from the realities of battle; sometimes you simply had to allow that certain things were a given, and hope that your assumptions did not cost someone their life. Beatrix detailed several members of the domestic guard, experts at blending in, to keep an eye on the warehouse and its surroundings to insure that Lamplight did not leave, and to follow him if he did. And this was where things took a turn towards the odd for Beatrix. She believed that Lamplight was far more likely to have a secret method of leaving the warehouse, and he would try to make an escape in that fashion. Yet Lamplight remained, appearing on many occasions (according to messengers from the docks) in the windows of the warehouse, as if advertising his very presence. Other messengers reported that the workers that had been in the warehouse earlier in the day had remained there after their customary shift had ended, and twenty more men had arrived just after nightfall. To Beatrix, this suggested only one thing: Lamplight was going to stand and fight.

None of Lamplight's actions fit the pattern of most of the revolutionaries that Beatrix had defeated in the service of the Queen, she thought as she walked towards the infirmary where Larissa was being tended to by the healers. It may have seemed odd that she was going to check on a injured member of her guard as she was also preparing to attack an enemy, but Beatrix knew that Maia could handle assembling the forces that would shatter Lamplight's forces. So she went to visit her injured compatriot, because she knew that it was expected of her. She did have her mind on the problem at hand as she made her way to where the healers worked, and all she could think of was something was wrong. What compels men to throw their lives away for Lamplight, she thought as she passed under the arched stone entrance to the infirmary. Why do they fight against me with skills that my least knights, unless taken unaware, can easily best? Why is Lamplight doing this? He has no reputation for sedition, no connections we can find to the other forces that rebel against the rule of the Queen. What is his game?

Beatrix looked around the wide space that was the infirmary, which had twenty beds for the healing of the injured and ill and currently was home only to Larissa. This was rare; training accidents alone usually accounted for two to five beds at any given time being filled. The healers, three women dressed in white, were tending to minor tasks when Beatrix walked in, and they nodded politely to her, then returned to work. They probably don't think much of me, she thought. After all, the Knights of Pluto aren't known for training so diligently that their training injuries are sometimes as bad as combat ones. Beatrix trained her troops as aggressively as she had been trained for her role as a Holy Knight, and she was as willing to suffer injury as she had always been. The healers were likely to take a dim view of her for that reason, but she cared not. The survival of her troops was the most important thing, after all. She found Larissa in a bed in the corner, sitting up, speaking to a young girl in a white gown that Beatrix was surprised to find was Princess Garnet. Such compassion from one so young, Beatrix thought. If she ever adds the edge of being able to make hard decisions, she will be a formidable Queen. Beatrix went over to the corner of the room and was almost amused when Larissa noticed her and snapped off a crisp salute, then winced from the pain that the movement brought her. Garnet turned and saw her. "General Beatrix. Are you here to visit Larissa?"

Beatrix nodded. "Yes, I am, your majesty. What brings you here?"

Garnet rose to her feet. "I just wished to see how Larissa was doing. She was injured in my service, after all. Loyalty deserves to be rewarded." She smiled at Larissa. "Get better, all right?" Larissa, who seemed overwhelmed that the princess and her general were both paying her a visit, nodded quickly. Beatrix bowed to Garnet as the young heiress to the throne swept regally out of the infirmary. "A decent child," Beatrix said, thinking not of the princess but of the reasons why she had to act quickly in the case of Lamplight. Queen Brahne could very well put a stop to the attack if she believed it would do harm to Alexandria in any fashion, and while it was dangerously close to disobeying the will of the Queen, Beatrix knew that Lamplight had to be stopped. She turned her attention back to Larissa. "And how are you doing?" she asked.

"Perfectly fine, General. I would be capable of doing my duties now if the healers would release me."

Beatrix smiled. "Larissa, I have no small knowledge of the art of white magic, and I know when someone is still injured. There will be plenty of time for you to do your duty...you just do as the healers say."

"I shall, General." Larissa was quiet for a moment, then she asked, "Is there any word on why the man who attacked me was in the castle?"

Beatrix nodded. "More than word, Larissa. In fact, by the end of the night, I hope to have brought that issue to a conclusion."

Larissa beamed at her. "I hope, General, that it is a satisfactory conclusion."

Beatrix nodded. "It will be. I'll make certain of that." For the sake of Alexandria, I will, she thought.

It would have been foolish to march the two platoons that Maia had assembled through town to the docks, Beatrix knew; Lamplight may have known that they were coming but he did not need to know their exact time of arrival from various low lives who would sell the information to Lamplight. So Maia had decided to load the platoons in boats and row them down to the docks, to at least manage to maintain some level of surprise. In the lead boat, Beatrix stood on the prow, listening to the sound of the rowers as their oars moved through the water, Maia as always behind her. "Bravely the General leads her troops into battle," Maia remarked in her usual sarcastic manner. "If any of Lamplight's spies are watching the river, the distinctive profile of the General will definitely give us away."

"That's quite enough, Maia." Maia, Beatrix knew, had a tendency to deal with pre-combat stress by making jokes, and sometimes it could turn to nervous chatter. "We'll be in battle soon enough, and this will be over."

"Yes, General. The last estimate of troop strength in the warehouse was around thirty men, their combat skills unknown. Two platoons, forty knights, along with your skills, should suffice."

"I certainly hope so." Beatrix was not given to doubt, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was missing something. The reason why men were willing to die for Lamplight was a missing piece that she wished she could have had before the battle commenced. She doubted it would matter; she could defeat the thirty or so men Lamplight had assembled herself, if need be. But still, it lingered, nagging at her. It matters not, but I can't help but wonder if I'm making a mistake.

The boats made their way down to the docks, Maia navigating them to their destination with hand signals as they drew closer to the water front. The plan was to take the two platoons to a dock near the warehouse and disembark them rapidly, then assume positions around the building and attack in force. It was a good plan, a simple plan, and Beatrix knew that if Lamplight had any chance of defeating them, he would have anticipated such an attack, and would somehow manage to ambush them here, or when they disembarked. So when the two platoons managed to make it to the shore and to the docks unmolested, Beatrix again had to feel a twinge of doubt and worry. This is going too easily; what is Lamplight attempting to accomplish? The two platoons marched down the docks, moving quietly, and Beatrix quickly realized that there was no sound coming from any of the buildings around Lamplight's property. Maia noticed this as well, and whispered to Beatrix "Everyone knows we're coming, don't they, General?"

"Less of a chance that anyone else will join in, Maia," Beatrix answered. Maia nodded, but uncertainly, and Beatrix knew that Maia shared her doubts. Beatrix wondered if perhaps she was not dealing with an expert in sedition, an arrogant, reckless man, but perhaps a fool, who had created loyalty out of charisma or by buying it. Perhaps Lamplight is only a fool, an incompetent bumbler, and no true threat to the Queen. Beatrix hoped it was so.

The platoons moved in silence towards their destination, and as they neared the warehouse Maia began issuing commands via hand signals, detailing squads to take up positions behind old crates, barrels, the usual debris that filled the docks. Maia sent the second platoon past the warehouse, having already coordinated their placement with the squad leaders, and they went to assume their positions. Meanwhile, Beatrix watched the warehouse, the windows dimly lit, no shadows behind them. Lamplight's men have to be watching us from somewhere, she thought, crouching behind an old crate. Unless they are complete fools, she thought. She realized that one of the shadows on the dock was moving toward her, and her night vision allowed her to see that it was Dian, the head of the detail of domestic guards that was assigned to surveillance on the docks. Dian, who was virtually indistinguishable from the usual drunkards that hung around the docks and near the inns, saluted Beatrix and whispered, "Nothing has changed, General. There was been no activity for nearly an hour."

"Let's see if we can change that," Beatrix said. She was tired of the tension, of the waiting, of this petty game, and she decided to act. She rose and drew Save the Queen and to the amazement of Maia and the others marched towards the main doors of the warehouse. She raised the sacred sword and announced that she had arrived on the scene by dealing the wooden doors a mighty blow that shattered them into a million pieces and, in theory, should have frightened Lamplight's men into submission.

That theory was instantly dismissed as she realized a wall of crates was falling towards her.

Later, after the battle was over, Beatrix realized that Lamplight's workers had created a deadfall composed of crates that had been inside the warehouse, designed to collapse when someone opened the doors, which along with a network of ropes had been balancing the deadfall. She supposed it was a clever ruse, but with literally tons of wood and metal falling towards her, she had no time to appreciate the cleverness of the attack. Her reflexes took over, and Save the Queen moved, like a thing alive, Beatrix using more of her power than she had in years. The sword sliced through crates as they fell towards her, the blade funneling the deadfall around her in both directions as if it was a stream and she an unmoving rock. She felt something brush her cheek and blood begin to flow down her face, but she did not have time to worry about that. In a second that lasted forever, Beatrix fought against the trap, cursing her rash foolishness, hearing her master tell her that the only foe that truly defeats a fighter is the fighter herself. And then it ended, leaving Beatrix standing in a heap of wood and metal that blocked a decent portion of the doors. She sensed movement in the warehouse and jumped aside just as a flurry of arrows from perhaps five archers slashed the air at her. "Maia!" she cried, ordering the attack to begin.

Maia rose and shouted orders at the platoons, and the squads began to move forward into the entrance that Beatrix had rashly cleared for them. Beatrix peered around the corner of the door and saw that the crates within had been rearranged into a maze, a battlement that her forces would have to penetrate. What the hell is Lamplight up to? He can't escape from here, and even if he defeats us, which is unlikely, he will eventually be over run. This makes no sense. She dove inside, hoping that her familiar profile, as Maia liked to say, would draw the fire of the archers, and indeed, arrows darted towards her as the first squads raced in. With a shout, men charged from behind the first row of defenses, and the battle was joined in earnest. And here, for all the planning that Lamplight had apparently made, was when things came apart. For Lamplight's men were no match for the battle hardened troops of Alexandria, and they quickly began to fall. After a few minutes of unequal fighting, the survivors retreated into the maze, and Beatrix decided that it was time to take the offensive in truth. "Don't follow them into the maze!" she ordered. Behind her, Maia's few archers had engaged the ones that hid in the rafters, keeping them from attacking. Beatrix leaped on top of the maze and saw the few survivors of the first attack looking up at her in awe. "Gentlemen," she said, and fell upon them.

Following Beatrix's example, the platoons made their way on top of the maze and engaged their opponents from above, suffering very few losses and slaughtering their foes. Beatrix realized very quickly that the maze did not take up the entire warehouse floor, and she imagined that Lamplight waited beyond the maze, waiting for her. Maia had caught up with her, and she shouted in her ear, "Well, they started off well," and Beatrix nodded. The forces of Alexandria penetrated the defenses of Lamplight, killing men who knew they were defeated and fought with a mindless fury that did not shock Beatrix; she'd seen it before, in Lamplight's men. After ten minutes of fighting, Beatrix and Maia cut through the last band of men and emerged into the clear...and Lamplight was there, alone, standing in the middle of the clear space that his men had fought and died for. He carried his walking stick in one hand and a sword with an unusually curved blade in the other. His expression was insanely calm as he considered the two soldiers of the Queen. "Ladies. I see you have finally chosen the proper method to accept my invitation," he said.

"Joshua Lamplight," Beatrix began, "you are under arrest for plotting treason against the Throne."

Lamplight, amazingly, began to laugh. "General, General, I care not for the throne, or Alexandria. The purpose of all of this was to bring you here, to engage me in combat."

Maia shook her head in disbelief. "That's it? All the planning, all the men you sacrificed, all of this, was just because you want to fight the General?"

Lamplight's smile was a thing of pure evil. "To battle her, to see how she responds to situations, to test her. My plans are not directly concerned with Alexandria, but her power is something I have to consider."

Beatrix raised Save the Queen. "You are a fool if you wish to challenge me, Lamplight."

"And you are a fool to underestimate me, General. Allow me to demonstrate."

And in one instant, Lamplight demonstrated just what motivated his men to fight to the death for him by clearing the distance between himself and Beatrix and striking her with a blow from his stick that hurled her into the maze of crates. She had never felt such a blow, not even from her masters, and not since she had attained her current level of power. It's fear, she thought, trying to clear her head, his men are afraid of him and that is why they fight as they do. She tried to rise to her feet, seeing through her one good eye Maia raise her sword and attack.

Lamplight parried the strike with a blow that shattered Maia's sword, and Beatrix's heart went cold with fear as she tried to make herself move to defend Maia. Maia's hands were bloody from shards of the metal of her sword that had cut her, and her face was pale with fear. Lamplight raised his staff over his head and said "Die," and smashed it into the ground. A globe of energy exploded from the ground, throwing Maia into the nearest wall, shattering the windows, and rocking the very foundations of the warehouse. Beatrix did not have to have been trained in the white arts to see that Maia was dead, her body broken beyond the repair of any spell. She rose to her feet and the world fell away from her as rage filled her; she forgot her troops, the mission, and her loyalty to the Queen. All she saw, all she knew, was Joshua Lamplight. Lamplight looked her way and said, coldly, "Foolish child. She knew she could not defeat me, but she attacked. Loyalty is strange."

Beatrix lifted Save the Queen. "I'm going to kill you, Lamplight," she spat.

"You are welcome to try."

For the first time in years, Beatrix faced a foe using all of her power and skill, and amazingly enough Lamplight managed to keep up with her, using both the sword and what she belatedly realized was not a walking stick but a mage's staff of some sort to parry her blows. She was clearly stronger than he...every blow she threw shook him to the bone, she could tell...but his skill made up for it was. He mounted a brief offensive flurry, driving her back, and when he'd cleared a space he built his power into his staff again. Beatrix wasn't about to let him do to her what he'd done to poor Maia; she kicked him squarely in the face and struck at his heart with Save the Queen. He managed to recover and swept the staff into her ribs, and she felt one break. Lamplight took a step back from her, his breath coming in gasps, and he sneered at her. "I imagine that's the worst that anyone has ever hurt you, General."

Beatrix shook her head. "You have no idea what kind of pain I've felt, Lamplight. Allow me to show you what pain is."

They battled all over the warehouse then, blades flashing like bolts of lightning from the heavens, and anyone who knew combat knew that the question of who was going to win had been answered. The only question was exactly how long that Beatrix would need to defeat Lamplight. She drove him across the floor, over the maze of crates, and out onto the docks, her blade drawing blood from his arm, his cheek, his leg. She was faintly aware that her platoons were cheering her on, and she knew why; Maia was beloved amongst the troops, and Lamplight, in his arrogance, his bizarre need to test her, had killed Maia. This still doesn't make any sense, Beatrix thought as she continued to battle him, why would he do this? I'm going to kill him-whatever plans he has die with him.

Unless they aren't HIS plans.

With a shout, Beatrix clove his sword in two with a single blow, knocking him back against a barrel. Lamplight looked at the stump of his sword with almost a bemused expression then threw it away. "You are quite skilled, General. You will prove a formidable foe."

"You are insane, Lamplight. You are defeated. Your plans, if they are truly yours, end here."

Lamplight smiled ferally at her. "I am not yet defeated, General." He threw the staff at her face, and as she avoided it she felt him build his power. He raised his arms over his head, shouted "Hades Bomb!" and pointed his hands at her.

A globular explosion erupted around her, the force of it shattering the front of the warehouse and breaking every window for a half mile. Surely, anyone observing the blast would have thought Beatrix dead...but before the blast had had a chance to disperse, Beatrix leaped out of the explosion, Save the Queen held above her head. "Shock!!!" she cried, Save the Queen glowing with power, and the last thing she saw was the stunned expression on Lamplight's face as her attack hit him.

Then the force of his attack caught both of them and threw them into the water.

Epilogue(1):

Queen Brahne and Princess Garnet attended the funerals of the six people, including Maia, killed in the attack on Lamplight, which perhaps would have amused Maia if she were there to see it, Beatrix thought.

Beatrix stood at the head of the honor guard assembled for the grave side service, her right arm, which had been broken in the force of the final attack, in a sling. When her troops had pulled her out of the water, barely conscious, she had clung to Save the Queen with a deathgrip with her numbed right hand, as if she had expected Lamplight to rise from the water and continue their battle. Perhaps the fear had been somewhat justified; she had never faced a foe such as him, and perhaps never would again. Lamplight was presumed dead, although his body had yet to be found, and his death had only added to the mystery. All of his men were dead, except for the boy servant and a few employees that had not been in the warehouse at the time of the attack, and Beatrix hoped that they would be found. For Lamplight's offices at the warehouse held no business records, no clue to the plans that he mentioned or even if he served another master...it was almost as if he had created his business solely to have a reason to be in Alexandria to fight her. It was a mystery that perhaps never would be solved, and Beatrix found that she did not care. Maia was dead. Her friend and compatriot had died in battle, died when she had fallen into the crossfire of a war that she did not understand. And as she always did, Beatrix used that failure to fuel her ambition. I am Beatrix of Alexandria, the strongest fighter in all of Gaia, and I will be stronger yet, she thought, watching as the Queen stepped up to the six graves of these heroines of Alexandria and began to speak of their sacrifice. Steiner and his knights were there as well, honoring the dead, and for some reason Beatrix found that gesture touching. Steiner was a fool, but he was a fool who had his heart in the right place.

As Queen Brahne spoke, Beatrix found herself thinking not of the battle that she had just fought, the battles to come, or even Maia, but rather, she thought of the last day that she had spent in the circle of candles, in the training of her master. She had spent six years under his training, and she had never forgotten anything that he had told her, even if she believed that she had surpassed him at the last....

Beatrix is seventeen years old, a young woman of staggering beauty, and her looks as admired by men as her combat skills are by her fellow students. She stands in the center of the ring of candles, her sword master having just presented her with the Sacred Sword, Save the Queen. He considers her from outside the ring of candles and begins to blow them out, one at a time. There are rumors that he is done with the school, that he means to return to his home and begin the training of the son that his wife gave birth to in the past few years, and that Beatrix is his last and greatest work. "All life ends, Beatrix," he tells her. "No matter how hard you try, no matter what skills you apply to a situation, all lives are finite. Even yours." One by one the candles went out, casting the room in shadows, until only one remains. "That is the last lesson that I will teach you, Beatrix. No matter what, all lives come to an end." His blue eyes lock on hers. "Do you understand me?" She nodded not truly understanding, but eager to bring this to a close. Her master shakes her head. "No, you do not. But you will, someday." With that, her sword master, Desmond Alfredsson, blew out the last candle, and said, "I teach you no more. Life teaches your lessons now."

And now, over a decade later, Beatrix began to believe that she understood what her master meant; that sometimes, despite training, skill, and intent, lives ended, and sometimes you were helpless to stop it. Maia, she thought, I will try to honor your memory and become so strong that no fighter will ever challenge my might, and the name of Beatrix will bring fear to any who face me. And in that way, I will overcome all that would wish to do as Lamplight did with you. I will learn from this, and become stronger, so those weaker will not fall.

Brahne concluded her speech, and with that, the service was over. Princess Garnet came over and offered her sympathy to Beatrix, who accepted it with grace, and then the royalty left, Steiner and his knights following them. Her troops left as well, as if sensing that she wanted to say a private farewell to Maia, her friend. When all were gone, Beatrix knelt beside the open grave, took a handful of dirt, and sprinkled it over Maia's coffin. "Goodbye, my friend. I failed you. I will never fail again."

She could almost hear Maia's voice, laughing in the wind. Didn't you learn anything, Beatrix? Everyone dies. Soldiers sooner than others, but we all die. Now you go and remember me, but don't forget yourself, my friend.

Beatrix wiped tears away from her eye. "Goodbye, my friend." And then she turned on Maia's grave; her heart hardening with every step, so the world would once again see her as the invincible knight of Alexandria once again. And for some odd reason, she heard her sword master as well, saying that she still did not understand what he had meant all those years ago.

Epilogue (2):

Joshua Lamplight lay in a bed in the home of the mayor of Arnfeld, a small village not far from Alexandria, recovering from his wounds. At least, he considered, that fool mayor had done his part, and had been there to save him from the battle. That much at least had gone right. She is truly formidable, but she can be beaten, he thought. Her arrogance will see to that. Lamplight closed his eyes, and decided that now it was time to tell the mayor to take the steps that he had outlined to prepare the weapon that would deal with Beatrix...always assuming, he knew, that the Gaia survived what Garland planned for it. If it did, well, then, he would be there to pick up the pieces and make the next move. At least now his direct involvement was ended, he considered as he fell asleep. From now on, other powers would clash, and in the end, Joshua Lamplight would control the game. With a smile of pure malice on his face, Lamplight fell into a dreamless slumber, waiting for the day that the world either ended, or became his.

The End.