Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece

The red-armored knight that Cedric had pushed back earlier let out a guttural snarl and charged again.

His greatsword sliced through the air with brutal force.

Cedric barely managed to raise his sword in time.

Steel met steel with a deafening clang. The shock rattling up his arms.

He gritted his teeth, boots digging into the dirt as he struggled to hold the line.

But then. Shouts rang out from ahead.

More red-armored knights appeared. Storming toward them across the broken battlefield.

"Shit." Kyle cursed.

He reached over his waist and drew Zalrielle, his tachi.

The blade shimmered faintly, pale blue frost swirling along its edge.

Sparks of lightning danced around the metal, pulsing with his mana.

Beside him, Serena spun her glaive. Lightning crackling along its curved blade.

Her face stayed calm. Cold even. Like this wasn't the first time she'd faced danger.

Cassian's fists burst into flame, his eyes scanning the enemy. Earth rumbled faintly beneath his feet.

Eleanora, silent as always. Unsheathed her slender estoc and stepped forward. Shadows clung to her blade.

Her expression didn't change. She looked almost... detached.

The first red knight reached them. Swinging his sword straight at Serena.

She parried with her glaive. The clash sending a sharp jolt up her arms.

But just as she started to counter, another knight closed in behind her. His sword raised for a deadly strike to her back.

"Serena, behind you!" Kyle shouted.

She started to turn, but too late.

The sword came down—

CLANG.

Cedric moved in. Blocking the strike just in time.

"I've got him!" Cedric shouted, gritting his teeth as he struggled against the knight's strength.

"Then finish him!" Kyle yelled.

But Cedric didn't move.

He froze for a second. Staring at the knight through the helmet. His sword trembled. He hesitated.

And that second nearly cost them everything.

The knight twisted, elbowed Cedric hard in the gut, and shoved past him.

He raised his sword again. This time right above Serena, who was caught mid-pivot.

Kyle's heart skipped.

"[Lightning Step]," he whispered, and vanished in a flash of blue light.

He reappeared beside Serena.

Zalrielle already mid-swing. The blade howled with lightning and ice.

Lightning crackled down its edge as he sliced upward. The knight's armor splitting with a spray of sparks and blood.

The knight dropped without a sound.

Kyle stood there, chest heaving. The cold hum of his blade pulsing in his hand.

Then he turned, furious.

"What the hell was that?!" he snapped at Cedric.

Cedric stumbled back, still stunned. "I—I thought—maybe he—"

"You thought?!" Kyle's voice rose. "You thought while Serena almost got stabbed through the spine?! This isn't some training match, Cedric!"

Cassian flinched nearby.

He'd knocked down a knight but hadn't struck the killing blow. Just like Cedric. And now that knight was limping away, still alive.

Kyle pointed his blade. "You see that? That could've been her blood on the ground!"

Cedric looked down. "I'm sorry… I didn't know—"

Kyle cut him off, voice lower but no softer.

"You don't get to hesitate. Not here. Not now. Either we kill... or we die."

"We don't know if they are real or illusions. But they are trying to kill us. That's all that matters."

For a moment. The only sound was the clash of distant blades and the roar of war around them.

Cedric looked pale. Guilty. But he nodded.

Kyle turned to Eleanora.

She had already killed two knights in the span of that short exchange.

Her estoc moved like a needle—fast, precise.

One clean stab to the chest. Another to the throat. Her blade dripped red, but her hands didn't shake.

She turned and ran her blade through a third knight's neck. Twisting once before pulling back.

Cassian stared, eyes wide. "You just… you didn't even think."

"They were enemies," she replied calmly, flicking blood off her sword. "What's there to think about?"

No emotion. Just cold logic.

Another knight came running toward them. Sword high.

Cassian hesitated again.

But Eleanora moved first. Her estoc slipping through the gap in the knight's helmet. The man dropped like a rag doll.

Cassian looked away, jaw tight.

Kyle stepped forward.

He felt it too. His chest was tight, his stomach turning.

Every scream, every life ended. It all echoed inside him.

But he couldn't show it. They needed someone steady. So he put on the face they needed.

"I know it's hard," Kyle said.

"But if we freeze… if we cling to whatever morals we had outside this place… we are going to die here. So kill. Kill, or someone else pays the price."

Serena stood off to the side, quiet.

Her eyes were distant, unreadable.

But she looked down at her glaive, then at the knight lying dead beside her.

Lightning flickered softly across her weapon.

"…Fine," Serena muttered. "I get it."

Another red-armored knight came charging in, letting out a roar.

This time, she didn't hesitate.

She stepped forward. Her expression unreadable, and struck clean across his chest with a flash of purple lightning.

The knight didn't even get to swing. He dropped to the ground. His body twitching violently as the electricity surged through him.

Kyle glanced at her.

She didn't flinch. Didn't even blink.

She just turned back to the line.

Cassian grit his teeth. The fire around his fists flaring brighter. He raised his hands and slammed them into the dirt.

BOOM.

A line of flame burst outward in a sharp arc, catching another charging knight mid-stride.

The blast launched the man into the air. His armor blackened and cracking. He landed hard, unmoving.

Bits of scorched metal rained down like red-hot hail.

Kyle nodded slightly, relieved.

They were finally responding. Fighting like they meant it.

Still. The battlefield wasn't quiet.

Not for a second.

More footsteps pounded from the left.

A group of red knights pushed through the broken terrain. Swords and axes drawn, eyes burning through their visors.

The wind shifted.

Kyle raised his tachi. Zalrielle. The blade glowing faintly in his grip.

He took a slow breath as frost spread around his boots.

Lightning cracked in the air, rising from his skin like blue sparks. He could feel the cold in his bones. The magic pulsing. Waiting.

"More incoming," he said, eyes narrowing toward the ridge.

Four knights. One heavier unit behind them. Larger than the rest, towering. With a broad tower shield and thick armor plated in crimson and steel.

The ground trembled under its steps.

Kyle's grip on Zalrielle tightened. "We hold this line. No more mistakes."

Everyone turned to him.

Even Cedric.

He stepped up beside Kyle, sword in both hands. His face was pale, but his eyes were steady now. Focused.

"I won't hesitate again," Cedric said quietly.

Kyle didn't reply. Just gave a small nod.

Eleanora stood on the other side, her estoc dripping with blood.

She wiped it clean with a single flick. Eyes locked on the approaching knights.

"They'll break formation soon," she said calmly. "That big one looks like a frontline breaker."

Cassian cracked his knuckles. "Let him come. I'll bury him."

Kyle stepped forward. Just enough for the cold wind to swirl around his coat.

Ice crackled on the ground beneath him as he raised Zalrielle, pointing the glowing tip toward the enemy.

The four knights broke into a charge.

Behind them, the heavy unit began to pick up speed too. Its massive shield raised, boots pounding like drums.

"Positions!" Kyle called.

Serena slid into a low stance on the left. Lightning flickering around her arms. Cedric and Cassian stood in front, weapons raised.

Eleanora vanished into the shadows. Silent and unseen.

Then they clashed.

The first red knight lunged at Cedric, swinging wildly.

Cedric blocked the strike, sliding back but not falling.

He grunted and parried the second blow, then countered. This time, cutting deep across the knight's side.

The knight stumbled.

But before Cedric could finish him. Another enemy was already there—swinging low.

Cassian intercepted with a punch to the ground, sending a wall of earth rising up, blocking the strike just in time.

On the left. Serena's glaive spun like a storm.

She dodged one strike and slashed the second knight clean across the chest. Sparks flew. Lightning exploded with the hit, knocking the man off his feet.

Then the heavy unit arrived.

It barreled forward like a living battering ram.

It crashed into Cedric's sword with a thunderous impact, knocking him back several steps.

Cedric groaned but stayed standing.

The monster of a knight raised its massive mace, ready to crush him—

Before it could swing—

Shhhh-WHAM!

A bolt of darkness tore through the side of its helmet. The heavy knight jerked back, staggering.

Eleanora appeared behind it. Her estoc already dripping with black mist.

She didn't pause. She stabbed low. Slipping her blade beneath the plate armor and piercing the joint of its leg.

The knight roared, falling to one knee.

"Now!" Kyle shouted.

He stepped forward, gathering mana into his blade. Ice wrapped around Zalrielle, glowing faint blue.

He slashed once. Sending a wave of frost forward. It struck the kneeling knight square in the chest, freezing its armor solid.

Cassian didn't wait.

He drove his flaming fists into the ice-covered knight. Shattering the entire upper half with a burst of molten fire.

The massive knight collapsed in pieces, smoke rising from the remains.

There was a brief moment of stillness.

Only the sound of their breathing.

Kyle looked around. The enemy squad had been wiped. The ridge was clear. For now.

Everyone was alive.

He let out a slow breath. Frost curling from his lips.

Serena leaned against her glaive, chest rising and falling. Her hands trembled slightly. But her face was calm.

Cassian wiped sweat from his brow, his fire fading.

Cedric lowered his sword, eyes still glued to the corpse at his feet.

The sky above was still dark. The battlefield still echoed with steel and screams in the distance.

This wasn't over.

Not even close.

But now. They were fighting.

Together.

And they wouldn't hesitate again.

———