The Last Of An Era

Edward's scouts kept their complete attention on Honey Badger, the last Desyn Savage alive.

Today, I'm going to finish the conflict they started.

A scout brought me over to the location Honey Badger picked as their hideout.

We met up with two other scouts outside of a museum.

"This is it, have fun." A scout whispered to me.

My hands rose to my helmet's edges and pushed down, locking the rest of the helmet in one piece. Then, I reached down for the curved dagger Osto gifted me.

On a side, I wrote "Rod" to remember the fight that almost killed me.

I was ready.

The moment I opened the heavy wooden door, a strong sinister presence struck me.

"Yep, this is it."

Each stop I took inside felt heavy. I knew why I was going in there for. And they knew there is an entire faction hunting them down.

A hooded figure stood before me. They were calmly humming, back turned to me.

"You're here to kill me. I suppose we should make this a good fight instead of a calm death. Savages never died peacefully."

Their voice, so calm. It was eerie.

"Well, what's your response?"

I didn't talk back to them; I jerked my head toward another room.

They walked away from the giant map they stood in front of, and into the next room.

We marched side-by-side. Like allies. But deep down we knew how serious this is.

He stopped and pointed across the room. "You stand there. Raise your hand once you're ready."

I followed their order. Why shouldn't I? They sound fair, nothing to lose. Nothing to gain.

My hand went up and Honey Badger charged at me. In their hand, they had a short steel blade.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Why didn't they have something unique like Osto? Maybe it was to through me off, if it was it worked.

Honey Badger landed his first shot on me. My armor slid the weapon's edge off it. In response, I reached down for their weapon and grabbed it before Badger could rewind for another shot.

And with my other hand, I reached for Badger's neck.

He opened his mouth and bit my fingers. His bite force wasn't enough to make me feel anything.

I let go of his weapon and grabbed the back of his head. Now that he was in a suitable position, I kneed him in the stomach.

Badger was forced to let and protect himself from more hits, leaving his face exposed. A fist formed on the hand he tried to bite.

Before I could strike Badger, he looked up and saw what was happening. He dodged out of the way just as I slammed my fist down against the floor.

"Wow, you're a speedy one?" I tried to make the fight a little brighter.

Badger landed on his feet and charged at me again. This time he didn't charge with a sword.

They climbed up onto my knee and kicked me on the jaw.

His attack stunned me. I was dazed and in pain. A burning ache took over the back of my neck. My mind was screaming at me to recover and try to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Badger rushed again, I was prepared. He jumped to kick me again, before he could reach me I caught him by his leg and spun around. The only thing he could do was watch his reflection getting closer.

Glass shattered, and a body landed on the broken glass.

I came closer to Honey Badger. "Is this where you want to end it?"

"Why w-would I want to do that?" Badger was clearly weak.

Suddenly, Badger forced himself on his feet and ran into another room.

I didn't want him to get away, so I chased after him.

In the next room, Badger proudly stood in the middle of a room full of ancient weapons of war.

"In here! This is where I want to die!" Badger proudly announced.

He jumped against the wall and tried to get onto me. Before Badger could land on me, I caught him by the shoulders and dropped on the floor.

I rolled with him still in my hands. Then launched him above the door I walked through.

"Alright, then let's end it he-"

I didn't just throw him above the door. I noticed the spikes coming through Badger's body. Each tainted red.

He used the little strength he had left to pull himself out. His body dropped on the floor.

The scene made me sick. He didn't act like a Savage; he acted like a lost child. Accepting at any point in his life someone would come to claim his life, and today was that day.

His death looked almost planned. It was like he wanted to die on those spikes.

I forced myself to pick up Honey Badger's body. He didn't deserve to be rotting away inside this place.

On my way out, I got a closer look at the map. Someone drew on it. Names of different factions were listed there, and on the bottom, another note rested. It was an upcoming conflict.

I somehow knew this was Badger's work. He wanted to draw this before his death.

Edward's scouts waited outside. The body in my arms surprised them.

"Go inside, there's a map. Make an exact replica of it, then bring it to me. I'll need two of you to help me return." My voice was clearly shaking.

***

Edward played with my helmet by shutting and opening the face of my helmet.

After an hour of silence, he finally spoke. "Why did you bring back that body?"

"You wouldn't understand. We walked alongside each other. Marching into a room. Then crashed into another. He was calm, accepting, and willing to help by feeding us this map." My voice cracked.

Why was I feeling so bad for him? Shouldn't I hate him for being part of the people that ordered an attack?

"Listen, Finch. We'll bury him, but in the future don't do that. Its disrespectful to why we were brought together."

"I know why. Because we already had experience fighting. I had a passion for proving how great the side I was on was. You loved being lost and finding your way back. Defender cared for others. Warmonger fought. It's that simple."

"Simple? Yeah, I guess you can say it was. Anyway, about this map-" Edward tried to drive the conversation away.

"Wildmen and Downpour are fighting up at Razor Bank River. That's the river close to ours. We need to fight them away from it."

"Finch always looking for the next problem, I like that." Edward chuckled.