Bacorium Legacy (16 page)

“What about the ouroboros?” Rael asked.

“It would have appeared,” Brand told him. “In fact, it should have shown up the moment his hand was stabbed. I think he was just bluffing the whole time. Either the ouroboros' nest is in a different part of the forest - or it really was just a rumour. Either way, I don't think any of us are up to going after it now.”

Indeed, nobody was.

They slowly made their way back, and once he had made sure Emila was alright, and that she had healed her hand up, Luca walked beside Brand and spoke to him.

“What he said about Ash being my brother - is that true?”

Brand hesitated, but he answered honestly. “Yes. Ash really is your brother.”

“And you all knew this?”

“We did. But we were forbidden to tell you, by Allma's orders.”

“But why would Allma make such a rule?”

“We do not question the word of Allma. It is not our place. We merely follow.” Brand said it like a mantra. There was a clear undercurrent of hatred in his voice that Luca did not fail to notice.

Setting aside the why for the time being, Luca's mind turned to the implications of this. This Ash kid - Dori's apprentice that he had wanted Luca to meet before - was his younger brother, someone Luca had assumed long dead. He wasn't sure what to think of this yet, but at least he now understood why his father had wanted him to come to Allma Temple.

<> <> <>

“Are you alright?” Emila asked him once they had returned to their shared room. She was sitting on the bed, while Luca was on the floor, stretching.

“Me?” he said, a bit surprised. “I'm more concerned about you.”

She smiled a bit, and looked away meekly. “I'm fine. I guess I was just surprised at how you reacted. You were so - enraged at him.”

“He was going to kill you.”

“Yes, but still...”

“If you die, I die. We're connected, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” she said. “That's how I was able to get away from him. I used your mana to create that ice shard.”

He looked up at her in surprise. “That was you? I thought my mana just swelled up because of how angry I was.”

“Well, it was just an idea I had,” she said. “I didn't think it would actually work, but thankfully it did. I just needed a little bit, so I took it from you, that way he wouldn't notice what I was doing. He thought you were up to something, not me.”

“Still, you shouldn't have done that,” Luca told her. “It was risky. He might have panicked. He might have killed you.”

Emila thought for a moment, then she looked down in shame.

“You're right,” she said. “I'm not just responsible for my life anymore. I'm responsible for your life, as well. I never thought I...” She trailed off.

She seemed a bit upset, so Luca sat up and moved to the side of the bed. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, the important thing is that we made it, right? You heard what Brand said, it was all just a bluff. Just be more careful in the future, okay? I can take the hits, but you can't.”

She looked at him for a moment, like she wanted to protest, but she couldn't seem to find the words. So instead, she sat back, resting her head against the wall.

“Luca, I have to tell you something,” she said. “Earlier today, one of the students told me about your brother. They said that the rule was that they couldn't tell you about him, but they could tell me. Since I’m not a student, the rule didn't apply to me, so I could tell you if I wanted to. I wasn't sure what to do. All day, I wandered around the temple, unable to make up my mind.”

He laid back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. “Were you going to tell me?”

“I really wanted to. I felt that you had the right to know. But - when I spoke to Brand, he said that your brother is - not a very good person. He said that Ash once killed another student, and that perhaps Allma passed that rule of silence because of that. He said that most of the students hate Ash, and that the only thing keeping Allma from banishing him is Dori's insistence on training him.”

Luca didn't know what to say.

Ash! You know, Dori's apprentice? He's your brother. The second son of Lodin. The one he abandoned in order to train you.

His father had abandoned one of his children, preferring to raise one over the other? He just couldn't believe Lodin would do that. There must be more to the story.

“Dori clearly wanted you to meet him,” Emila said. “He was trying to introduce you yesterday, remember? Maybe the rumours are wrong. I don't really know. It's not my place to make decisions about this, because this is your business. Family business. That's why I was having such a hard time deciding if I should tell you or not. Brand felt that Dori would eventually tell you - 'when the time was right'.”

“Well...” Luca said slowly. “I guess I'll go pay him a visit tomorrow morning. I'll go meet my brother.”

He got up and turned the lights off. Emila said nothing else, she just laid down on the bed and was asleep in minutes.

Luca remembered their argument from last night, and how she refused to use the bed unless they took turns. He, on the other hand, had refused to use the bed because that would leave her sleeping on the floor some nights.

Yet here she was, caving in after only a single day. Or perhaps - this meant she would try to use this to get him to take turns with her now. Which he wouldn't do, of course. And yet, having them both sleep on the floor was no solution, either. It was simply a stalemate met out of their mutual stubbornness.

If only there was another way they could do this, some way where they both could...

No.

Not a chance in hell.

He'd take the floor himself, the rest of his life, before that.

Luca sighed, and climbed inside his sleeping bag. This shouldn't have been bothering him. She was on the bed, he was on the floor. This was what he wanted. He had won. End of story.

What was really bothering him was how close she had come to being hurt today. How nearly Davik had killed her. Back in that forest, with that sword pressed up against Emila's neck, all he could think about was Arlea.

And in the end, he had not been able to help her. It was Emila's own cleverness that had saved her life. He wasn't able to do a thing.

The sound of her gentle breathing was the only sound in the room. It was so quiet, so peaceful.

He hated how worried about her he had been.

Chapter VI

Heroes and Monsters

Luca woke before Emila this time, and was greeted by the amusing sight of her arm dangling over the edge of the bed. Her soft breathing was the only sound in the room.

He sat up, yawned, stretched, and grabbed a fresh change of clothes from his bags. As they had gone to sleep the moment they had returned from the forest, he was still wearing his garments from the previous night. With fresh clothes in hand, he left the room as quietly as possible. Outside, the early morning sun was just beginning to emerge over the horizon.

Many of the students were already awake and going about their daily routine. He asked one student where he could find the showers, and the boy gave him directions. Luca had only used a public shower once before, and he hadn't liked being around other people. Thankfully, he was the only one there when he arrived, so he was able to go about his business in privacy. Luca was clean and dressed in fifteen minutes.

Luca then stopped by the dining hall, grabbed two trays of food, and returned to the bedroom. Emila was just beginning to stir when he entered, and a big smile appeared on her face at the sight of the warm breakfast.

He gave her one of the trays, and sat down beside the bed with his own. They spent the next five or so minutes filling their stomachs.

“Luca,” Emila said after a while. “How are you holding up?”

“In what regard?”

“Well - with what happened last night.”

“What about it?”

“You killed somebody.”

He paused, about to bite into a sausage. “That sort of thing doesn't bother me.”

Emila leaned over the bed, giving him a strange look. “It bothers everyone.”

“Not me.”

“A lot of stuff happened last night. Are you sure there isn't anything you'd like to talk about?”

“Nothing.”

Disappointed, Emila leaned back, disappearing from his view.

“I'm going to go see my brother today,” Luca told her.

“You are?” She sat back up. “For sure?”

“Of course. For the past two weeks I've thought I was the only surviving member of my family. Last night, I learnt for the first time that I have a brother. Of course I'm going to go see him.”

“Brand said he's very hard to find.”

“Then I'll ask around. There's only so many places here one can hide.”

“I can help you,” she offered.

He accepted her offer with a nod.

They finished their meal in silence, and then emerged to the bustling and thriving grounds of the temple. The students were going about their daily activities, and only giving the two the occasional glance. They seemed used to them by now, the excitement of Luca's initial arrival having died down. There were no more hushed whispers behind their backs.

He had been expecting hushed whispers after what had happened in the woods.

This meant that news of Davik had yet to reach their ears, Luca thought.

<> <> <>

Luca wondered where to look first. He eventually considered going to Dori, deciding that he was probably the best place to start. Dori was Ash's master, and thus should know where his apprentice was. But Luca didn't see him among the populace of the temple. It seemed to him that Dori only appeared at times when Dori himself chose.

Before they went to ask a student where to find Dori, they spotted Brand amongst the white-robed students. He was with a group of girls, likely the same ones who had ogled him during his match with Ash. He noticed Luca and Emila as they approached, and he quickly excused himself from the harem.

“Ah, good morning!” he said as they reached him. “How are you both doing?”

Luca didn't feel like answering this particular question, so he let Emila do the talking. Thankfully, she had no reservations about sharing her feelings.

“We're fine,” she said. “I got a good rest, and I woke to a nice breakfast waiting for me. But, uh - about last night...”

Brand waved his hand. “Don't worry about it. I've told Allma what happened. A cover story will be told to the students. Nobody will know what really happened, with the exception of Rael and ourselves.”

“We're going to lie to them?” Emila asked, clearly not enthusiastic about the idea.

“For now,” Brand assured her. “Things are delicate at the moment. We can't let any unnecessary tension be sown among the students. Well - that's what Allma said, anyway.”

“Because of the emissary from Sono?” Luca asked.

“Exactly. Right now, it's not officially confirmed, but everyone knows the emissary is on their way. Somebody must have leaked the news. As a result, there's a lot of different rumours, and speculation about who will be chosen. If it got out that one student tried to murder another over this, who knows how they would react?”

“And exactly what is this emissary choosing students for?” Luca asked, crossing his arms.

Brand shrugged. “Nobody knows for sure. The most popular rumour is that King Zaow wants to hire the three best prodigies of the temple to be his generals, should another war break out between Sono and Acaria. I don't know if that's true or not, because Zaow is known for avoiding conflicts. I have doubts that he would wish to take the offencive, as Acaria still has yet to make any direct attacks. Just small raids on tiny villages... which isn't enough to start a war, but enough to get people nervous. I asked my master about it, and he said he doesn't know what the emissary is picking people for, either.”

Luca considered.
Davik had seemed to think being chosen would lead to him being a hero... But the last thing Luca would want would be to command troops.
 

“Luca,” Brand said. “About your brother...”

“I want to see him,” he said immediately.

“That's understandable,” Brand said. “I think we should talk first. There's a few things you need to know.”

Luca frowned. “Very well.”

Brand took them to a bench beneath a tree, some distance away from the centre of the temple. He sat down opposite of Luca and Emila. His eyes were weary.

“Your brother does not have the best reputation here,” Brand told Luca, as levelly as he were able. “I'm honest enough to tell you that even I don't particularly like him. I'll give him the time of day, which is more than some here will, but I generally prefer company other than his.”

“Why?” Luca demanded.

“Why is he so hated?” Brand asked rhetorically. “I think it's a number of things. For one, he's not very nice. He's very short and dismissive of others. He doesn't talk much, which puts people off. Often, when spoken to, he'll simply ignore the person addressing him. But there's more to it than just that. That's just his personality - there's people in this temple with attitudes worse than his. A lot of it has to do with Dori.”

“Dori?” Emila asked.

Brand nodded. “Dori is the man who trained Lodin. He's a legend - the first human to ever ride a dragon into battle. In terms of popularity, I would say that Dori is respected the most of the temple's alumni, after Lodin. Of course, the fact that he actually trained Lodin contributes to that.”

A rider of dragons? Luca hadn't known Dori had done such things. And judging by the surprise on her face, it seemed Emila hadn't either. Just one surprise after another, it would seem. Just how many secrets did this temple hold?

“After the war, there was a lot of competition amongst the students to be chosen as Dori's next apprentice,” Brand continued. “It isn't surprising that many expected him to produce another hero like Lodin. But he didn't. For years, he refused to take another student. Until Ash arrived. Dori took him under his wing immediately.

“Everyone expected Ash to be the next Lodin. And Ash trained very hard. But he made little progress. He was constantly beaten in sparring matches. People began to grow disappointed. Ash was not the hero they were expecting. He was rude and acted like he was better than everyone else just because he was Lodin's son, or so it seemed to them. The disappointment they felt for him turned into hate. Ash remained here long after many of his peers graduated. Nobody stays in the temple longer than five years - yet Ash has been here for twelve.