Bacorium Legacy (31 page)

She looked up at him, surprised and confused. “What do you-?”

“I told you to stay in Dori's house. Don't you understand why I said that? The tether was keeping me alive, and it would continue to do so as long as you are alive. So long as you stay out of harm's way, nothing can hurt me, not even a blade through the heart. But you didn't listen. In fact, this was the second time today that you ventured out into an open battlefield, when I specifically asked you not to. Why would you go out there, risking both of our lives, when you cannot even bring yourself to take a life?”

Emila stared at him for a moment, shocked. Her surprise slowly faded, and was replaced by anger.

Then she slapped him.

Again.

“First of all,” she said bitterly. “You're not my father and you don't own me. If I don't want to just stay put where you tell me, I don't have to.”

“I'm sorry. When I say I 'told' you - I didn't mean it that way.”

“Are you an idiot? Why do you
think
I came after you?”
 

“I-”

“I care about you,” she said, her voice softer. “Do you not understand that? I came to get you, so we could flee together. Because after you sent Ash, with a message that I was to flee with him, what in the world was I supposed to think? That you just wanted me to run away without you, until the tether broke, and you just dropped dead?

“Because that's exactly what would have happened. You would have stayed with Brand, fighting a battle you could not win, until I got so far away that my mana stopped keeping you alive. What was I suppose to do? Listen to your stupid self-destructive orders?

“I came back for you because I care about you, even if you don't care about yourself. I passed out in the caves because you were pushing yourself so much that I was running out of mana to sustain you. If I had listened to you, and left with Ash, you would never have survived.”

He sat there, quietly listening as she spoke.

“Luca - do you want to die?”

“No,” he said, his voice coming out thin and tight. “I just - I don't know why I said that. You're right, it would have been better if you stayed at Dori's house. I - must not have been thinking.”

Emila sighed. “No, you're missing the point of what I'm trying to say. Don't you understand how I feel? Or even how you feel? You wanted me to flee because you were worried about me. People do things that don't always make sense when they follow their hearts.”

Now he was the one who looked away.

“You're right - it was a mistake.”

Indeed, how could he not have seen how mistaken he was? If he had died in the temple, he could never have his revenge on Zinoro.

He would need to be more careful. He would have to plan out his actions in advance, if he ever wanted to reach Acaria. Perhaps he couldn't die, but that didn't mean he was invincible. He had to separate his emotions from his goals. He had just been so lost in the feeling of fighting honourably that he had forgotten all about Zinoro.

“I think I've learnt something today,” he said quietly.

Emila smiled. “I'm glad. I'm sorry I hit you. I just - well, sometimes I feel like you just don't understand anything I say.”

Luca nodded, and laid back down on his side of the tent. “We should get some rest. We've got a long day of travel tomorrow, and you still have to recover your mana.”

“Indeed,” Emila said, lying down herself. “Goodnight, Luca.”

“Goodnight, Emila.”

Silence returned, save for the bird outside that sang alone to the night. In a few minutes, Emila's steady breathing was back. She must still have been tired to fall asleep so quickly.

Going with Selphie would be the best chance he had of ultimately reaching Zinoro - that hadn't changed. Whatever their mission was, be it preventing a war, or killing Zinoro in his sleep, it didn't matter to Luca, because it was just a means of getting to him.

And when he did reach Zinoro, if Emila was in his company, he would not be able to lose.

He couldn't be so reckless. He had to stop caring so much for Emila if he wanted to kill Zinoro. She was holding him back. He needed her, for sure, but he couldn't let himself be so drawn in.

Glancing back at her sleeping form, her light skin contrasting with her black hair. There wasn't a particularly beautiful girl most of the time, more cute than gorgeous, but at night, when under the moon's light, there seemed to be something mystical about her.

He knew he had been drawn into her. Even now, he could feel her soft beauty threatening to pull him back in again. But if he wanted to kill Zinoro, he couldn't let that happen. Just a few hours ago, he had been willing to throw away everything - both his life and his father's justice - all to protect her.

Noble sacrifice, as Uro had written of, was indeed the honourable thing. But honour would not get his father justice.

Honour would get Luca killed.

Chapter X

A Message

Morning came with an icy wind from the north. The moment his eyes were open, Luca felt the cold air cut right through the tent and blanket, chilling him to the bone. He yawned and stretched, feeling stiff after having slept on the ground. The only two sleeping bags had gone to the girls, and while he had been in the tent with Emila, he still had only the thin fabric of it between him and the hard earth.

Emila was rising as well, he noticed. While Luca still felt weary and exhausted after yesterday's events, Emila rose with a bright smile. She seemed to be recovered completely from her mana exhaustion.

Emila rose up and slid out of the sleeping roll, stretching and yawning as she did. She didn't seem to think much of the cold air. But then again, she was an ice-form magus. Luca, on the other hand, was right back in Arimos.

“Good morning, Luca,” she said cheerfully.

He murmured something in reply and stumbled his way out of the tent. Outside, Brand sat at the edge of the cliff, stretching. It seemed like he'd had the last turn keeping watch.

“Nobody ever woke me to take a turn keeping watch,” Luca said to him.

“That would be the princess' doing,” Brand said. “She said you needed rest as much as Emila did.”

“Ah.” He couldn't argue with that. He had needed it.

Selphie and Jared were busy unfolding the other tent, while Ash was pacing around the edge of the plateau, looking over a map and shivering. Emila emerged from the tent and joined the two boys.

“Is there anything to eat? I'm starving.”

Come to think of it, Luca's stomach felt tight as well.

“Yeah, the princess saved some breakfast for you two.”

After thanking Brand, they went over to where Selphie was. She and Jared had just finished folding up the tent, and were talking. The princess smiled as they approached.

“You look much better,” Selphie said to Emila. “And you, too,” she added for Luca's sake.

“Thank you very much for everything you've done,” Emila said. “Luca said you helped us get out of the caves. And lending me your tent to sleep in - well, I probably wouldn't have pulled through without your help.”

“I think everyone here helped each other,” the princess replied.

“Brand said you saved something for us to eat,” Emila continued modestly. “I hate to impose, but I'm very hungry.”

“Sure, here.” Selphie looked through her bag and produced a small plastic bag containing some strips of beef jerky. “It's nothing fantastic, just travel rations. When we get to town I'll be able to get you something more substantial.”

“Town?” Emila asked, as she bit down on the rough meat. “Which town?”

“That's what I'm trying to figure out,” Ash said, not looking up from his map. “Unless we figure out where we are, we could spend the whole day wandering in the wrong direction. I need some kind of landmark or something.”

“There's a river in the distance,” Jared told him. “Does that help?”

“Possibly, but I'd have to know which river it is. Would it be possible for us to go there first? If I get closer, I might be able to figure out where we are.”

“How far do you think this river is?” Selphie asked her guard.

“It couldn't be more than two kilometres,” he guessed.

“In that case, absolutely.”

The atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant, in spite of the frigid morning air and the rather dire situation. They had no idea where they were, what direction they needed to travel in, and if any Acarians were around. No words were uttered about the bloody events of yesterday, as though nobody wished to sacrifice the mood by bringing it up. But still, regardless of all this, everyone seemed to be in a fair mood.

Except Luca, that is, because he really hated the cold.

As if reading his mind, Emila then said, “It sure is cold out today. Maybe we're north of the temple?”

“We couldn't be that far north,” Brand said, who had suddenly joined them without a sound.

Selphie and Jared went to pack up the other tent, while Emila and Luca sat down to finish their small breakfast. Brand joined them. Ash was still analysing the map, as if the answer he sought was hidden somewhere on it in tiny print.

“There are quite a few towns in this area,” Brand said to him, noticing his troubled expression and mistaking it for worry. “Even if Ash is unable to figure out where we are, I'm sure we'll be able to find civilisation in time. We've got enough supplies to last a few days, at least.”

“That's not it. I'm just wondering how it got so damn cold.” Luca pulled his fur coat closer around himself, feeling thankful he had held onto it since Arimos.

“It's cold enough that if it rains I could make it snow!” Emila suggested enthusiastically.

“You'd be letting the Acarians know where we are,” Luca muttered bitterly. “Might as well just march over to them and present our necks.”

Emila frowned, but determined not to let her good mood falter, she turned to Brand. “I've been meaning to ask you, Brand. Your skin is a shade darker than ours. Are you from the south?”

He nodded. “Yup. Guess where.”

“Mainyu?” Emila guessed. “Or perhaps Samgo?”

“Sendora.”

Emila and Luca exchanged glances, their eyes going wide in surprise. “You jest,” Emila said.

“Nope. I was born and raised in the city of Sendor.”

Emila got really excited, took a big bite of her jerky, and leaned in closer to Brand. “That's incredible. I've never known anyone from Sendora. You must have known many Sendorai.”

“Many,” Brand said. “In fact, I knew more Sendorai than humans growing up. I only had one human friend, but there were about three Sendorai kids we would hang out with.”

“That is so cool. What are they like?”

“The same as you or me, in most ways,” Brand said, before laughing. “You could say it is cliche of me to say this, but we're really all the same inside.”

“Did the lizardmen hate you because you were different?” Luca asked in a quiet voice. “The same way northerners hate them?”

Brand stared at him for a moment, frowning. “Some did, of course. There are always some who will hate. Certain people need to hate something. If it wasn't someone who looked different, it would be someone else, like a mundane.”

Now, Emila frowned. “Do you really believe that? You don't have any more hope for the human race?”

Brand didn't seem to have an answer for that. Instead, it was Luca who spoke. “Look at what the human race has accomplished so far. Look at what it accomplished yesterday.”

As she stood up, Emila said, “You're never satisfied until you ruin something good, aren't you?”

“We're done!” Selphie called out. She and Jared were joining them, carrying two backpacks. “Let us go look at Ash's river, shall we?”

Luca looked over to Emila, to see if she had more to say, but she was smiling, as though she had already forgotten.

<> <> <>

They made their way through the woods, and they quickly located the river Jared had pointed out. Ash went over to the edge of the water, checking his map, and looking around at the hills and trees.

“Princess, you're bleeding,” Emila said, pointing to Selphie's hand.

Selphie held up her hand, and sure enough there was a small cut. “Oh. I must have cut myself on a branch earlier.”

“Here, allow me.” Emila took Selphie's hand in her own. She glowed faintly with mana, and when she took her hand away, Selphie's cut was gone. “You took care of me earlier, so I'm in your debt.”

“It was nothing,” Selphie said, her cheeks faintly red. “Really, there was nothing I could do. All I could do was give you somewhere to sleep.”

“Still, that probably saved us,” Emila said, indicating Luca as well.

“Ah, that reminds me,” Selphie said, addressing everyone now. “When we get to town, none of you are to address me as 'princess'. There could be Acarian spies anywhere, and even if there aren't, we shouldn't draw that kind of attention to ourselves. Until we get back to T'Saw, I'm just Selphie, and that's what you should all call me. In fact, you should all start doing this now.”

“Why not just use an alias in town?” Brand asked.

“It's not really necessary. Selphie's a fairly common name. More trouble could result in someone forgetting what they were supposed to call me. It's far easier and more natural-sounding if you just call me by my real name.”

“Is it really so difficult to remember a name?” Luca asked her.

“You would be surprised,” she said, with a touch of sadness. “My escorts have made such mistakes in the past. Those poor men...”

“Princess...” Jared started to say.

“This rule extends to you, Jared,” Selphie chastised him. “I know it makes you uncomfortable, but this is for our safety.”

He frowned. “I understand - Selphie.” He said it hesitantly, like it was a foul curse, and his eyes glanced over the others as though they would demonise him for it.

“Ah-hah!” Ash shouted suddenly. A moment later, he returned to them, grinning. “I've got it. I know exactly where we are.” He pointed to a spot on a map, next to a river.

“We're actually southwest of the temple,” Brand pointed out. Emila looked slightly disappointed.

“There's a fairly prominent town quite close,” Jared said. “We can easily make that in a day's travel.”