「 spent a lifetime planning out your destruction 」

[erythrosi]

characters: Isen Meridan erythrosi and Cassian Lucerne adeios
location: City streets near the airship.
time: Late evening?
rating: As high as Cassian wants it to be.
open/closed: Closed, must be eighteen or older to view maybe.
summary: Commander Lucerne vs. General Meridan.

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[erythrosi]

"Terribly."

His neck throbbed the closer the Commander moved, tempting the General to just tear the cloth off it and itch the damn thing but that was likely not going to make the situation easier. Isen remained where he was instead, hoisting his weapon over his shoulder and keeping a level gaze with the man making his way towards him. He'd only heard brief snippets of where the Commander had been, something about nearby cities and the fact that they too were now considered Avatican territory. All the more reason to drive them all out; bad enough they took his City, they were not taking his entire country along with it.

The fragrance was strong, and Isen had half a hunch that it would not bode well for him. He didn't know exactly what it was for until his vision blurred, the effort to remain on his feet increasingly more difficult the longer he had to smell the stuff. And his glove certainly wasn't the best mask, but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice.

"You do know you're only supposed to spray a small amount and not the entire bottle's contents, hm?" he continued, feet inching the slightest bit apart to be ready. He was already close to exhaustion, and the disorienting feeling from whatever it was the Commander had decided to slather over him was not helping matters. "And mixing them is rarely a good idea. It's like an old woman who's lost her sense of smell."

But he was not backing down. He would fight, for his City, his country. Interesting that it would have to be against the man who'd already killed him once, but it would not happen again. There'd be no capture, no execution. He was not failing this time. His weapon was ready, his feet were ready, his eyes were ready. Standing around and waiting to die would come later, not now.

[adeios]

"How rude," Cassian sniffed, tossing some of his hair back with a flick of his wrist as he sauntered closer to his most beloved General. "I formulated this especially for you, and this is the thanks I get? What kind of example are you to that boy of yours, hm?"

Smiling tauntingly, Cassian lifted his sword to lick the blood off the flat of the blade, eyes fluttering briefly shut in ecstasy. Ahh, the thrill of battle. He'd missed it so running petty errands for the crown. And Isen was promising as well, just the sight of him alone causing Cassian's breath to quicken, pulse pounding. The General would not let him down. He would put up a most fantastic struggle against the inevitable, and then-- Well, Cassian had no intentions of executing him. Should any orders be passed down, he would simply argue that it would be a waste of resources. Why kill someone who might not necessarily stay dead? Oh no.

After this, Isen was his.

"Such a thankless world. And here I was going to ask you to dance. I wonder if I still should?" Cassian's lips quirked into a menacing, coy little smile, and he extended his prosthetic claw to beckon Isen hither.

"Well, Isen Meridan? Shall we dance?"

[erythrosi]

He wasn't sure what the word for this was. Revenge, possibly, for taking his City and his life on top of that. It didn't feel like revenge. It was only taking back what was his, what didn't belong to them. What didn't belong to him, the Commander who for all Isen knew was only following orders or doing what was best for his country.

Maybe this fight wouldn't be about his City. He'd spent all day, so many days and so many years of his life fighting them to protect his City. Never once did he lose focus, but this time, it could be different. He would rid Avaticans from his City, yes, but he would give the Commander a proper battle in which to risk their lives in. Their last meeting was not a battle, merely an order to be carried out. Their blades never met once, only a dagger to his throat as the bells tolled and his own princess watched blood spill from him without once standing up to fight for himself. He followed their orders.

Shameful.

"I'm flattered," came his quick response, lifting his sword and gripping the hilt tight, ready for whatever would be thrown at him. The fragrance would be impossible to avoid once in battle, and Isen wasn't sure just how much it would affect him. A cheap trick it was. All the more reason to make this quick.

"My lead."

Without wasting another moment on banter, on words as cheap as the drugged perfume he could not avoid, he charged forward. He wouldn't risk using a teleport, lest the scent confuse him and send him trapped halfway between a brick wall. And he had no strength to keep the shadows under control if he unleashed them. In some ways, this was better. A proper battle of speed and swords, protecting his City and his family, and making sure the other knew how the Grey General of Solinth won his battles.

[adeios]

It was almost as though Isen knew the path to Cassian's heart. Cassian had followed orders then because he had sworn fealty to the King, but fealty only took him so far. There was a point in every man's life where he had to take a long, hard look at himself and decide what it was he truly wanted to live for.

Though Cassian had long since decided what it was he wanted to live and fight for, these last few months had taught him what he did not want to be. He did not want to be someone who merely executed prisoners of war for being a liability. He would execute war criminals gladly. Those who pillaged, burned, and raped. But men of honor and status like Isen. Never again. He would sooner commit treason, and treason was not a thing Cassian took lightly.

As Isen moved in, Cassian flashed a satisfied smile, pushing himself forward to meet the General halfway. Finally, a fight worth dying for. Though he could have tried to dodge Isen's first strike, Cassian decided against it. Instead he allowed their swords to clash, to hear the ringing of metal as it struck metal. He delighted in the way the shock of the impact traveled through his flesh and blood arm. Grinning wickedly at Isen, he licked his lips before throwing his weight against the General in hopes of knocking him off balance, ready to follow it up with a sweeping slice of his sword.

[erythrosi]

It worried him, how his usually balanced footing in battle was even slightly skewed by the effects of the perfume. He'd witnessed the other's skills in battle enough to know that a single missed step, a single inch to the side would be all his opponent needed to drive a blade through his throat. He focused as best he could, quick on his feet and doing his level best to at least appear unaffected by the stuff, and hoping he wouldn't have to rely on using any other abilities should worse come to worse. It was a battle of blades, not trickery.

However, as best as he tried to hide it, Isen's vision blurred at the edges, and entirely once or twice the closer to the source of it he was. Trickery. And it would be fair in those terms only if he did rely on magic, if he vanished into thin air only to reappear behind the man with his sword poised at his throat. But it would be stooping to a level he was beneath. He could manage the rest of the fight on his feet, with his eyes focused as best he can in the midst of it.

The General gave it his all as promised, the clatter of their blades ringing in his ears before he had the chance to step back, pushed back. Isen's footing did stumble, but he was quick to recover this time, avoiding the next strike with a leap backwards and his sword raised to parry the next attack. It was bad enough that all the recent days of fighting had exhausted him, but rest would be later. Not until he's had this victory.