At present, the sun was setting over the grasslands as Catria found herself facing off against three knights.
“I WON’T LOSE!” she roared, even knowing her chances were slim. Those knights had been sent to retrieve a fugitive…namely, her.
When the king was assassinated, Catria just happened to be in the capital, taking her sick father’s place at the funeral. Concerned that she couldn’t find Lithisia, she made her way to the princess’ room. It was there that she overheard something she shouldn’t have: a conversation between Prime Minister Zeleburg and Lithisia’s body double. She’d gasped, and that had given her away.
“Who’s there?!” Zeleburg had shouted.
Catria had fled the palace, becoming a fugitive in the process. She could no longer return to the knights. She could no longer go anywhere. She had to find the princess.
“Aaaaaaah!” she shouted as she traded blows with the knights. Catria stood no chance of victory against even one of them, but nonetheless, she couldn’t afford to fall here. She was the only one who could save her beloved princess, or so she believed. That thought kept her standing, desperately swinging her sword.
“You’ll be the greatest Holy Knight on the continent.”
Lithisia’s words echoed in her head. For the sake of her beloved, radiant princess, Catria could not afford to lose.
“Come on!” Catria taunted. She thrust her sword forward with every ounce of power she had. Reach. Reach. REACH!!!
“As if!” laughed one of the knights.
“Wha—?!”
Clank! Catria’s sword was sent flying by one of the knights.
“You don’t even have the basics down, rookie.” The knight swept her legs out from under her, causing her to tumble to the ground. He pointed his sword at her. “Catria Eugenohl, for the sin of desertion, you will be executed here and now.”
Her sword was long gone. But that just meant she’d have to fight with her two hands. The moment she attempted to move, however, the knight’s white blade quickly moved to her neck. There was nothing she could do. It was over.
“If you have any last words, I’ll relay them to Lord Eugenohl.”
She began to sob in despair. “I… I….”
Why am I so weak? she cursed herself.
In order to live up to her father’s and Lithisia’s expectations, she’d thrown herself into her training. That sword thrust she attempted mere moments ago was the product of months of training, and yet, she was told she didn’t have the basics down.
It was as if her very heart had been cut from her chest.
“What the princess says, goes! That’s a fact!”
Catria recalled Princess Lithisia’s words, but they only made the pain worse, causing more tears to roll down her cheeks. She had to save the woman who gave her a reason to live, but she couldn’t. After all the hard work she put in, why was her goal so unattainable?
“Catria… As a knight and as a person…” the knight above her intoned, plunging her into the depths of despair. “You’re nothing but a weakling.”
She closed her eyes. The sword came swinging down.
KA-CHOOOOOOOOOM!
The knight was sent flying high into the air. His screams echoed throughout the grasslands.
Catria jerked her head up in surprise. “...Huh?”
KA-CHOOOOOOOOOM!
The slightly goofy roar rang out a second time, but despite the way it sounded, its power was tremendous. The knight had been hurled almost a thousand feet into the sky. He was in the air for several seconds before he came crashing down in front of Catria.
BA-BOOM!
The dent in the earth where the knight had once stood was the same shape as the head of a shovel.
Boom! Kerplow! Bam! One after the other, the rest of the knights were sent flying.
“What the heck…?” was all Catria could manage.