Gacha Gacha Hero

“Go get Luke.” Ave yelled at Ash.

Ash freed himself from the last of the ropes and sprinted across the clearing.

The Paladin was staring in shock at the statue. He spun around to face Ave.

“You, you, you, you troglodytes!” Gilt spit out. “How dare you deface a vision of the Gods. I will teach you a lesson!” With a flourish the Paladin unsheathed his sword.

Ave sighed. She reluctantly drew her arming sword. She set her feet apart and held the blade in front of her body with one hand. With a slight turn of her head she looked at the green bandana wearing Lamb who was standing off to the side.

Lamb calmly put up her hands. “We’re cool.” She took a few steps back.

Ave returned her attention to Gilt.

Gilt was holding his tapered blade with two hands. His cheeks were flushed red. He raised his arms and charged forward.

“He is clearly one of the chosen ones. Once he joins the Paladins we will finally be taken seriously.” Gilt yelled.

Ave snorted. “That will never happen.” She parried his blade to the side and stepped back to keep her distance.

“With his divine summoning we won’t even need to rob people anymore.” Gilt swung again..

“So you admit that you’re bandits after all.” Ave parried again.

“Can you really steal what the Gods have given?” Gilt feinted.

Ave shifted her legs and slightly bent her knees. She raised her sword and angled the tip towards Gilt.

“You’re just trying to use him as a puppet for your phony piety.” She feinted as well.

“Nonsense. He will be a leader in our cause. He just won’t have any power or authority.” Gilt flourished his blade dramatically yet ineffectually.

Ave blinked. “That’s… that’s exactly what I said.”

“I will not let you take our chosen one.” Gilt raised his sword again.

“This is why nobody likes Paladins.” Ave readied herself to parry again.

#

“Luke! Are you alright?” Ash kneeled down by the other boy.

“Only a little tired… “ Luke said. “It looks like I made a mistake. I thought I could convince them to help us…” He gave a wan smile.

“Let’s get out of here.” Ash said.

Ash tried to get an arm under Luke’s shoulder. With an exaggerated grunt he finally managed to lift Luke off of the ground.

“You put on weight. *Pant* Too much good living *Wheeze* in the Capital.” Ash said as he hobbled out of the way with Luke in his arms.

*Clang*

Ash looked up to see Ave deflect another blow from Gilt. The Paladin was red in the face and breathing heavy. Ave had not even broken a sweat yet.

“I think she can beat him. We should try to sneak away quickly.” Ash said.

#

*Clang*

Gilt stumbled back a few feet. His sword tip was starting to drop closer to the ground.

“Grrr.” He wiped some sweat from his forehead. “It’s time that I showed you the real power of the Gods.”

Ave braced herself.

Gilt put on a self satisfied smile. “Have you ever seen… a magic sword?”

With a smooth motion Gilt raised his sword overhead. He swung it down. The tip of the blade buried itself in the ground in front of him.

*Thunk*Crack-Flash*

The ground turned white. Ave shifted her stance in surprise but it was too late. A sheet of frost spread out in all directions freezing the ground solid. Moisture in the soil turned instantly into ice crystals. Ave’s left foot was covered in ice. She twisted her right foot, barely managing to keep it from sticking to the ground.

“Tch…” Ave grimaced. A sheath of ice had frozen her left boot to the ground.

“What do you think of that?” The Paladin gloated as he pulled his sword from the ground. He held the blade perpendicular to his body. “The Ice Blade Ahurfrost. This sword is proof that I am one of those favored by the divines. Only the Gods most loyal, most dedicated, most righteous servants can summon a magical sword like this one.”

“And how many times did you try to summon a sword like that before you succeeded?” Ave asked.

“Bah! That’s not important.” Gilt shouted back.

“Paladins…”

#

“Why is it so cold?” Luke was rubbing his eyes.

“That Paladin has a magic sword. He froze the ground.” Ash replied.

“He froze the ground?”

“That’s right, he froze the damn ground! Ave’s stuck.” Ash panicked.

“Are we frozen?” Luke was having trouble focusing.

“Huh… no we aren’t…” Ash looked at his feet. “Looking at the pattern of the ice, the ground was frozen in every direction, except where he was standing. And except where we’re standing.”

“Was it because we were standing behind him?”

“No, we're standing behind the statue.” Ash looked up. “He controlled the ice because he didn’t want to freeze it. I have an idea.”

Ash put his shoulder against the statue and tried to push. The statue refused to budge.

“Luke!” Ash shouted. “Help me here.”

Luke grunted and put his own shoulder against the statue beside Ash.

“Grrrr!” They shoved in unison.

The statue’s weight held, and held, and held, and held. Then it quivered. The godly sculpture tilted a degree away from the boys, then another, then another, then another.

“Almost there!” Ash shouted. He could see a sliver of shadow beneath the statue’s base. “Hold it for me!”

“I’ve got it!” Luke braced both of his elbows against the massive model.

Ash dropped to his knees. He blinked, then jammed his hand into the gap under the base of the statue.

Gilt drew circles in the air with the tip of his magic sword. The blade shimmered with a layer of frost. “How do you like my magic? Have you cooled off? Is your blood frozen in fear?” He said mockingly.

Ave kept her sword steady, but there were beads of sweat on the back of her neck.

“I try to keep a cool head.” She said.

“I should warn you. I can be very cold blooded.” Gilt grinned.

“Ugh. This ice is thicker than you wit.” Ave replied.

“Enough of this. It’s time to freeze you solid.” Gilt raised his magic sword above his head.

“Start with my ears so I won’t have to listen to any more of your drivel.” Ave raised her sword to defend herself.

“Hey worship warrior! You might want to pray for forgiveness.” Ash shouted from behind.

Gilt turned his head to see Ash on the ground next to the statue.

There was a sizzle of magical energy. Sand erupted from beside his hand under the base of the sculpture. As if from a giant broken hourglass it poured out in all directions. The statue itself was lifted up by the shear volume of the gritty gravel. Ash summoned more and more until the statue was lifted off the ground on a bed of sand. Already off balance the stone statue started to shift on the sloping sand below its base.

Gilt looked on in horror as the stately statuette began to tip over.

“No!” He shouted. “No! No! No! No! No!” With a scream he ran forward. His magic sword dropped to the ground behind him. He put both hands on the statue and braced himself like a human bipod. His arms shook as he tried to keep the statue from falling.

#

“Ave!” Ash crunched across the icey sand towards the guardswoman. One of Luke’s arms was draped over his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“I’ve been better.” She grumbled. Ave’s left boot was covered with ice and sand.

“Can you move?”

“Give me a second.” Ave bent down. She struck the ice around her boot with the pomel of her arming sword. The ice shattered. Ave winced. There was a cracking sound as she pulled her boot free.

“Give me your arm.” Ash said.

Ave threw her free arm over Ash’s shoulder.

#

“No! The Gods cannot be defaced and disgraced like this!” Gilt’s face turned bright red as he held up the entire weight of the statue. For a moment he actually kept it from falling.

Then Gilt’s feet suddenly slipped in the smooth and sandy slush. The summoned sculpture fell on him with a great *Ka-thud*.

Nobody moved for a second while they waited to see if he was still alive.

“Aaarrrhhh!” The Paladin’s arms and legs wiggled out from under the statue. Gilt flailed around like a flattened cockroach. “Less! Lamb! Help me out from under here!”, came the muffled shouts from the bank of sand he was buried in.

“On my way sir!” Less jumped up. “Glllgggkkk!” He accidentally strangled himself on his own scarf again.

“Right away boss.” Lamb didn’t move. She started idly kicking sand off of her boots.

Ash, Luke, and Ave looked at each other. They nodded in unison. The three of them quietly sidled off into the underbrush without another word.