Relic of the Future: Chapter 4

The horse snorted and raised its head, breathing down on him and releasing a cloud of emerald-coloured gas.

Clutching his nose and mouth, abandoning his shield, Jaune rolled away and staggered onto his feet, hacking for breath. He'd heard stories but never seen that attack. Their plan had killed it too quickly the last time. Still, he'd wounded it and taken several blows himself. A quick glance at his scroll revealed he didn't have a scroll, which meant the best he could do with his aura was guess. It was probably still more than half-full, but those blows had covered him in bruises.

The Nucklelavee was uninterested in the pause and charged him down. Its hooves struck with such fury that it pushed him back with sheer aggression alone, and the rider seemed more alert now, swinging its arms to try and reach him. He fended them off as best he could but the day's long march had already tired him and he could feel his muscles begin to ache. This hadn't been the plan. He was supposed to come back and change things by not being reckless. Rushing in like this could easily get him killed, and before he'd changed a damn thing.

That couldn't happen. Crocea Mors deflected the next attack away, the force of it causing the metal – and his hands – to ring violently. With gritted teeth, he pushed through it, charging in towards the beast and lunging for its breast. The Grimm turned at the last second to protect its heart, though that still caused the blade to cut deep into its flank. Rather than withdraw away as expected, he used his sword as a lever and hauled himself up onto the Grimm's back so that he was sat behind the rider. The Nucklelavee froze in shock – but only for a moment.

It soon went mad.

The Nucklelavee thrashed and whirled, kicking out with both front and hide hooves to dislodge him. Jaune threw his arms around the rider's waist, more than aware of how bad an idea that was. The rider tried to turn to remove him but groaned in pain as he – along with Jaune – were slammed into the side of a building. The horse was crashing into things now and Jaune grit his teeth as his aura flared, preventing any terrible harm but doing little for the pain.

In a moment where the wall supported him, even as it grated his skin, he reached up with both hands to take hold of the rider's neck. Holding on for dear life and with the Nucklelavee now dashing across the central courtyard, he wrenched his arms from side to side, trying to snap its neck. He'd never had to on a human or a Grimm before, and it was a whole lot harder than the movies suggested. It fought against him the entire way, not with its arms but rather its brute strength, tossing its body left and right. At one point the rider did it so much that Jaune was dragged off the side of the mount to dangle next to it. He winced and brought his feet up, planting them on its back and using them as a piston to pull away, twisting all the while.

The rider's neck snapped with a jarring crack.

It slumped to the side and hung, but still turned to look at him with burning eyes.

"That's not enough?" he howled. "Die already!" He took its head and twisted again, this time the other way. There was another crack and the rider slumped forward, either dead of paralysed. The mount itself screeched in agony and careened off the main path, down into the aqueduct he'd been in before. The Grimm stumbled on the embankment, toppled over and slid down. Water splashed all around him and the Nucklelavee rolled over, pinning him down and under. In shock and pain, he released his hold on the beast.

It wasn't a conscious move by the enemy, even if it was a good one. The monster looked like it had suffered brain damage, stumbling around like everything wasn't quite working – despite that it was still alive and able to function. It was like it was punch drunk, staggering and stumbling. It managed to get back onto its feet and roar at him, however. And worse, Crocea Mors was still stuck in its side. Jaune tried to move and winced as pain shot up his left thigh. A quick look down revealed a nasty gash running red with blood, staining the water below.

He was stronger than this, he knew, but he was so used to fighting in a group and with a team that he'd never really had to do so solo before. Whether it was his plan, Ruby's or Ren's there would always be someone to watch his back and distract the enemy if he got in too deep. Not here. He was very much on his own and this, for the first time since he'd come back, reinforced that fact. But if he couldn't kill even this thing, then how could he hope to kill all the other things he'd have to face? Tyrian, Watts, Hazel and even Salem herself. They were all out there and they all needed to die if he was going to change anything.

Exhausted and with his muscles cramped, Jaune pushed one foot forward and adopted the stance Ren had taught him, Ozpin helped to perfect, and Qrow turned dirty and brutal. He was no Yang Xiao-Long, but he could hold his own.

He'd have to.

The Nucklelavee wasn't much better and that was evident in the way it laboured for breath and didn't attack him, despite its advantage. The rider was slumped over its neck with an arm on either side of it dragging in the water, and the blade lodged into its side had been driven even deeper by its impromptu fall into the aqueduct. They were both of them the worse for wear, so he'd done a damn sight better than he had against it the first time.

The sounds of gunfire had ceased from above. Were the survivors he'd left in that diner still alive? He had no idea and no way of telling. All he could do was hold this thing off and try to get back to them. With that in mind he sloshed forwards through the water, slowly making his way toward the Grimm. It didn't shy away but neither did it charge at him. Instead, it steadied its hooves and watched him warily.

Their clashing wasn't the stuff of legends, not even close. Jaune lunged in and nearly tripped in the water, which luckily meant that its hooves reared up and struck air. When he went for his sword it shied away, presenting its other flank to him. He rammed into it regardless, hooking his arms around one of its hooves and pushing with his shoulders and body. More noxious gas was blown into his face but he held his breath and struggled on until, with a startled cry, the Nucklelavee fell backwards. It impaled itself on Crocea Mors once more.

Its legs kicked weakly at him and one caught the side of his head, knocking him into the water with a splash. He gasped for air as he came up and quickly looked toward the beast, prepared for an attack that never came. The Grimm spasmed one final time and lay still. Motes of its flesh began to break down and be washed away.

"F-Finally," he croaked. Exhausted, he dragged himself towards its body to free his sword. He didn't have the strength to sheathe it, nor the scabbard he realised on second glance. He'd dropped it back in the courtyard.

The survivors. He had to find them.

Sword in one hand and the other clutching his wounded leg, Jaune dragged himself up the slope towards flat ground, listening desperately for the sounds of any fighting, any Grimm, or even the screams of the dying. All he could hear was a dull buzz in his head like static, that and the rush of water. As he reached the top his hand stretched out and clamped onto something soft and yet firm at the same time. His eyes sought it a moment later, and through the haze of fatigue, poison and aura loss he saw what appeared to be a black boot. His hand was around the ankle, gripping it. It was a person's foot, not a Grimm's.

With that last thought his strength failed him. He collapsed down on the embankment.

—Relic of the Future: Chapter 4