Hiss. Crack. Thud.

"There is no need to fear the flame," Sayed whispered, his eyes closed before the building burning down around him. "The flame is the light of truth, the light we all strive for in the grand tale of life."

He opened his eyes, and smoke burned them. Tears flowed down his face, but he didn't allow his focus to break. Around him, his conjured illusions stood high in the smoke. There was no need for a mirage to breathe or shy from the fire. Outside, the knights yelled through the crackling flame. They had him surrounded.

It was time. Sayed surged forward into the fire. Heat flared across his skin as he jumped through the flaming door. Wood cracked under his shoulder, already weakened by the flame. He landed on the ground and rolled. Any flames that clung to his clothes were smothered as he came to his feet.

"He's here!" a knight yelled through his blaring heartbeat. "Surround him!"

He did not exit alone. Behind him, from doors and windows, images of his friends, his crew, jumped through the flame, landing with him outside of the burning building and surrounded by the black-armored knights. The knights in front him hesitated, and Sayed used that to his advantage.

"With me, brothers! Demon's Thrust!"

Clang. Thud. Crack.

He shot forward, the tip of his blade slamming into the nearest knight's chest and sending him tumbling back into the nearest wall. Sayed followed through with the strike and slammed the knight hard into the nearest wall. The stone cracked under the force of the strike, and the knight fell to the ground in the shock of the attack.

"Take them down." Sayed nodded to his illusions, as they spread out into the surrounding knights, and he disappeared from sight.

His plan was simple. The illusions would be distractions, something to keep the knights occupied. The knights spread out around the illusory fighters. Their flaming blades lit the area like the flames of the burning building. Sayed smiled as he positioned himself for his next attack. He stepped into the nearest illusion—Alex, wielding a long metal staff.

"I'll cut them down!" A knight swung at Erin, but the illusion blurred, and she appeared to dodge out of the way.

It was all incredibly tiring. Sayed's ability to maintain his illusion necessitated compromising on details. If not for the fires, it would have been much harder. The flickering flames hid the natural blurriness of his illusions. The occasional error would not be noticed by the knights, who knew nothing about the crew.

However, in that moment, it would let him turn the tide.

"Hrah!" The knight nearest him swung his flaming blade at Alex's image, and the image contorted to bring the staff around to block.

Ting.

Sayed swung his own blade, catching the sword. The metals sang together as he and the illusion pushed it back. However, Sayed could do so much more. He reached out, grabbing hold of the knight's spaulder, and pulling the knight down to slam into the ground below.

He did not know what it looked like to the knight, but it was hard to imagine an extra arm sprouting out of an opponent and pulling you down. Sayed did not know if he could counter such a technique. He slammed his boot down on the knight's head for good measure and received a resounding clang in return.

Now, he just had to deal with the rest.

He turned and observed the street. His illusions were doing their job, always staying just out of reach of their opponents as they drew the attacks. Even his image of Jack, the orphan boy, could not be touched by a knight's blade. Sayed smiled, though it did not carry to his eyes. Jack was another of their crew who had not made it, though they never found his body in Glory Plateau.

He went after that knight next. The knight swung down on the rag-covered boy with his sword, and Jack skirted away with a roll. Sayed came from behind, appearing in the flickering flames for a moment as he brought the pommel of his sword down on the knight's helmet. The knight never knew he was there.

Clang.

"To wield a sword against a child." Sayed shook his head as the knight fell. "Have you no shame, knight?"

He cut through as many of the knights as he could manage. His breath came in quick gasps as he kept pouring more aether into his illusions. At the same time, he kept his blade burning bright so that the heat of the blade could better pierce the knight's armor. Soon, he lost count of the knights he brought low. His mind swam with waves of dizziness as the flames jumped to more buildings and surrounded him in a sea of fire.

However, he was not done yet. The knights had him so outnumbered that each victory was too small to matter. He fought against a rising tide of flames. The knights did not need to defeat him in individual fights. They had the weight of their comrades to eventually drag Sayed down.

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The only thing they didn't count on was that Sayed had faced worse odds time and time again in his life. He had survived the Hajh civil war. He had survived Glory Plateau. He had faced down countless fights against foes of all kinds, and always come out on top. Sayed was going to be the victor.

His story was nowhere close to being over.

"They're not real!" A voice behind him yelled through the beating of his heartbeat. "Stop playing around and get this idiot!"

He turned, and more knights filed into the area. Sayed watched as a few just plowed through some images. Erin's image went up in a haze of mist as a knight crossed through it, and Jean's was pushed aside into a trailing cloud of light and vapor with a swing of a sword.

His illusion would not last forever, but it did not need to. He was going to turn around the fight on his own. Ten knights remained. The bodies of the rest lay all around him and the remaining illusions. Some might still be alive, but he knew that many were dead. That was the price of fighting with a blade.

Those who lived by the sword, died by the sword. That was an immutable fact of taking up the blade. He did not relish killing. When it happened, it was just the way of the world.

"I will give you all one chance," Sayed whispered as his images retreated to him, surrounding him with weapons ready. "I won't be able to control my strikes much longer. I can not afford to be gentle with you. My blades will cut through you, and I will not stop until you are all dead."

"Hah." One knight pointed his blazing blade at Sayed. "Listen to this fool. He can barely stand, and he's threating us. "Take him from all sides. We'll skewer him and watch the end of the fight."

Sayed shook his head, and his illusions disappeared. He could no longer maintain their complexity. He raised his arms together, taking hold of his khopesh with two hands before pulling his hands away. His arm blurred, leaving a remnant at each point he paused. In moments, where there was one blade, nine now stood ready to attack. Sayed exhaled as he finished his preparations.

"Mirage Blades." The nine blades glowed brightly around Sayed, turning him as bright as the sun itself as he spread out his arms and took on a wide stance. "You may be masters of evil flame, but I walk in the light of God. Come at me, knights, and I will show you whose flame is mightier!"

The knights advanced on him, moving so that they could circle him entirely with their blades held high. However, they could see the bodies strewn around him the same as their fellows. They knew that not all of them would walk away from the confrontation, even if they killed Sayed in the end. That was Sayed's advantage. He had until the first one fell before they would come to their senses and attack him together.

Sayed smiled and lowered his swords until they were all horizontal to the approaching knights. His ears pushed away the drum of his heartbeat so he could focus on the sound of the knight's boots. Even the crackling fire faded into the background as he searched for the moment. He would know precisely when he would turn the encounter around.

Ksht.

Behind him, a knight's boot slid across the ground, stirring up small rocks against the dirt. Sayed knew his target then. His hands remained where they were as he lowered his blade and crouched further. He glanced back to see the knight, sword raised high like the others. The only hint of the knight's intent was in the stance.

"Hah!"

Sayed turned, his blades spinning like a flower on a river as he came for the knight first. Orange blazed bright around him as he cut up in a long swing. There was no technique beyond his own prowess. No aether filled his lungs, just the pure swing of a swordsman. His curse, however, was still active and burning away across both his illusory blades and his real one.

It was the real one that cut into the knight's side, melting armor and slicing into the ribcage as the knight's own flaming sword came down.

Fwoosh.

The flames came for Sayed's face, but Sayed didn't flinch. He already had the winning blow. He smiled as the flames caressed his face. The searing blade sliced against his shoulder but was held in fingers too weak to continue the blow. Sayed smiled as the blade fell away, ignoring the slice in his skin as it cauterized itself.

"You may wield the fire, but I wield the heat of God itself. Your flames are mere mockeries of God's flame."

He turned on the next nearest knight, who stood frozen, flaming blade in hand. Sayed again moved without an enhanced technique, relying on his sword skill alone. He flicked his blade, catching the back of the flaming sword with his khopesh and sending it clattering to the ground.

"Let me show you the gulf between us."

Thud.

With one hand, he grabbed hold of the knight's helm, raising the knight high above his head before slamming it down hard onto the ground. His blades and extra arms fanned out behind him, giving the illusion of a defense and buying him the time he needed. That gave him two, with only a cut to his shoulder to show in response.

Eight knights remained.

Whoosh.

Sayed ducked down as a flaming word cut above his head. It seemed his moment of respite bought by his illusions was ending. He rolled forward and caught himself at the end of the roll. He came up in a spring, his blade swinging behind him blindly for the attack he knew was coming.

Ting.

Blades met, and heat flared across his side as he spun on one foot. His illusory blades swung for the knight as he turned, his arms stretching out beyond what they should have been capable of to attack the knight's neck and head. At the same time, Sayed's hand slammed into the back of his sword, forcing the blade against the knight's and to the side.

The knight hadn't expected the extra force, and Sayed threw the knight off and away. However, he couldn't land the decisive blow yet. Another knight lunged, his blade cutting through the air in a straight line for Sayed's side. Sayed jumped back, his back landing against a wall.

Still, eight knights remained.

"I can't get a read on him, sir," one knight spoke up to the center most of the group.

"It's his illusions." The center knight shook his helm, but kept the red light on Sayed. "If you give him a moment of hesitation, eh cam come at you from any of them. You have to know where the blade is."

"What shall we do?"

"Call the archers."

Sayed frowned. He was out of time. He took in a deep breath and held his blade steady. The knights with archers would be able to take him down. It was inevitable. He only had once chance, and it required taking down all the knights in a single move. He pushed down his doubts and directed his thoughts toward God. He needed all the help he could get.

"I have yet to perfect this technique," Sayed whispered. "But if you choose this path, I must try it. Prepare yourselves."

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