Bacorium Legacy (34 page)

Dreevius was certain of this, yet he could not shake the feeling that he was forgetting something very important...

Shaking his head, Dreevius disappeared within his tent to write that letter.

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Selphie kicked Brand and Jared until they woke up, and then they all exchanged stories. The others had been doing their shopping back in Kasma, when ten Acarian soldiers had appeared and attacked them in the street. Jared and Brand had fought, telling Selphie to flee, but things had happened too quickly for her to either help them or get away. The two boys were knocked out, and Selphie was forced to surrender or forfeit their lives. Any witnesses to all this were either killed or paid to keep silent.

They had not seen Ash before or after this happened. Nobody had.

Luca thought about this, and he remembered how quickly Ash had left the inn. He prayed that his brother had not realised that the Tranom at the inn was an impostor, and abandoned them. He thought about his first meeting with him in the caves, and how despite his cold words, Ash had saved him when he fell in the lake. Luca did not know him well enough, but it did not seem like him to forsake them.

Especially not after they had saved him from Allma.

No, his hopes were that he had come upon the fight and lingered back, realising he could not help Selphie yet. Dreevius would have taken Emila and himself from the inn long before Ash returned, if he came to tell them.

Perhaps he was planning to come and help them.

But the cynic in him shot down such hopes. What chance could Ash alone have? Dreevius' army may be marching back to Acaria, but he still had thirty men with him. Their only chance was to somehow escape during the night, but even then it would be difficult for a party of six to move quietly.

Their weapons had been taken from them, which only made escaping more difficult. Luca could not leave without
Siora
- he would have to stay until he found it. Alone, if need be. He had lost his father's sword once already, and he would not do so again.
 

Using magick to escape was without question, because the tent they were in was marked with a mana-blocking circle, as anything meant to hold someone in Bacoria would be.

And the men watching them - it wouldn't be too wild of a guess to say that they could stay there twenty-four hours and continue to watch them. Luca wondered if they even blinked beneath those helms. If even a single one of them began to break free of their binds, those guards would thwart that attempt in a second.

Overall, things didn't look very good.

“We cannot give up, though,” Selphie insisted. “There has to be a way out.”

Emila was strangely quiet. There were no optimistic words of reassurance from her, no smiles and no hope. She looked defeated. Perhaps it was the threat of Dreevius' knife from earlier, or the lecherous way he had touched her, but Luca thought it was more likely the hopelessness of the situation finally crushing her.

It was heartbreaking to see.

“Zinoro...” Emila said very quietly. “He's going to come here, isn't he? Because they've captured the princess, and Zinoro always does these things himself. He's going to come here, and see us...”

“I will kill him,” Luca swore. “No matter what they do to me, no matter how bad things may seem. I swore I will avenge my father, and I always keep my word. Even if they cut off my arms and legs to stop me, I will still squirm my way over to him and bite him until he bleeds to death.”

“You don't understand, Luca!” Emila shouted. “It's not that simple. We're caught - there's nothing any of us can do. And even if we were not, and we had our weapons, it wouldn't mean anything against Zinoro. He's a monster. He's inhuman. And he has a Rixeor Fragment. His blade would cut right through yours like a knife through butter.”

Luca bit his lip, refusing to let the subtext of that last line get to him.

“There's something very important we haven't thought about,” Brand said, nudging a little closer to them. “If they wanted to start a war with Sono, why not just kill Selphie? That would have been easier than going through all this effort to capture us. They haven't killed any of us, so they must have some reason to need us alive.”

“Dreevius was going to kill Emila,” Luca said.

Brand frowned. “But that other guy talked him out of it. Perhaps Dreevius is just a fool who doesn't know what he's doing.”

“My apprentice is right,” Tranom said. “Dreevius is a fool - a man who should never have had any power. But Zinoro is not a fool. The attack against the temple was expertly planned. Hundreds died yesterday, and millions more will follow if Zinoro has his way. Whatever it is he needs the princess for, we cannot allow her to fall into his hands. Even if it kills the rest of us, she at least must escape.”

They all grew quiet, realising the gravity of his words.

The two guards continued to watch them, not reacting to anything they said. Were they even comprehending their words? Human captors would have beaten them to silence at this point.

“We aren't going to get far while those two clowns are standing there,” Luca said.

And then, as though he had made a wish, something truly unexpected happened. Two figures, not dressed in Acarian armour, stepped in through the opening of the tent and each grabbed an Acarian from behind. Daggers were drawn, and the throat of each guard was slit.

The bodies slumped to the ground, and vanished, leaving only their armour.

One of the assassins Luca immediately recognised as his brother. The other was a blond-haired girl who looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite remember...

Then it clicked. Ah, of course. How could he have forgotten? The glasses weren't there, because she had lost them in the battle. Luca had seen them on the ground. But she at least was alive, and seeing that made Luca's heart leap.

“We must make haste,” Wiosna said, coming towards them with her dagger. “It won't take them long to miss the guards outside. We have to get you all untied before I give the signal.”

Signal?

“Ash, the weapons,” she said, already having started to cut the ropes binding Emila, who was closest to the entrance. Ash, who Luca just now noticed was carrying a rolled up cloth, tossed the bundle to the ground. Wrapped up were their weapons -
Siora
, Brand's scimitar, Emila's bow, Selphie's swords, Jared's halberd, and a sword that must have belonged to Tranom.
 

Ash went over and began to cut Luca's binds.

“You figured out who he was, back at the inn,” he said to his brother.

“I did,” was his short reply.

“You didn't tell us.”

“He was sitting right beside you. I'd have gotten you both killed.”

Ash finished cutting through the ropes around his feet, and he moved on to Brand. There would be plenty of time to discuss this later, Luca figured. He went to the pile of weapons and picked up
Siora
.
 

“We'll have to move quickly if we're going to escape,” he said.

“We're not escaping,” Wiosna said, now freeing Tranom.

“What do you mean?” Selphie asked, as she placed her swords back in their sheathes.

“That's everyone,” Ash said, interrupting her.

“Then, I'll give the signal.” Wiosna closed her eyes, and glowed with mana for a few seconds. The energy faded, and she opened her eyes. “They're on their way.”

“You came back,” Tranom said to her. “Even though I told you not to.”

“Allmans have more honour than that,” she said with a proud smile. She turned to Brand. “Could you please start a fire? Let's let them know we're here.”

Brand raised an eyebrow. From outside, a dying scream was heard. His confused expression changed to a smile as realisation dawned. “Oh, I see. Sure.” He summoned his mana and threw a fireball at the wall of the tent. It was instantly ablaze.

“Let's go!” Wiosna shouted. “We've got Acarian blood to spill!”

The eight of them ran out of the tent into the darkness. Outside, a small crowd of people wearing white robes beneath armour were in battle with the black-armoured Acarians. The numbers were with the Allmans this time, outnumbering the Acarians by nearly double, and they had the element of surprise. Several Acarians were being dragged out of tents, where eager Allmans waited with bloodied steel.

Apparently they did need to sleep, Luca noted.

Wiosna gave a battle cry unbecoming of the bookworm she had once appeared to be, and charged out into the carnage, swinging her sword with a vengeful fury.

Brand grinned, and lifted his heavy scimitar. “Master, let's not let this opportunity pass us by. This time, there aren't enough Acarians to go around.”

A smile appeared on the lips of the usually grim man. “Indeed.” The two charged out and joined in the fight.

Jared, holding his halberd over his shoulder, turned to Selphie. “They don't need our help. Let's just stay back, so I can focus on keeping you safe.”

Selphie nodded. Emila had not taken out her bow, but she merely lingered behind, watching the battle with an uncertain expression.

“Emila,” Luca said to her, “just stay with them for now.”

“Where are you going?” She asked him.

He looked over to the tent farthest from where they were, the largest one in the camp, where a figure with pale skin had just emerged.

“I have a promise I need to keep.”

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Dreevius watched with horror as his men were slaughtered. Several of the tents were on fire, and there were only a few of his thirty men remaining.

At his feet, the captain crawled feebly towards him, blood dripping from his lips.

“My - lord - don't - the girl is...” he choked on his words, blood dripping from his mouth.

A girl stepped up and stood over the captain. She was a small cute thing, or she would have been, were it not for the blood covering her face, and the terrifying grin she wore. She placed the tip of her sword at the back of the captain's neck, and drove it in slowly, until the point of the blade emerged from beneath his chin. The captain gave one last pitiful cough of blood, and disappeared.

“Look at how stupid his dying face was,” the girl laughed.

Dreevius was frozen, not in fear, but in disbelief. He simply could not comprehend what was happening in front of him.

“H-how...?”

“Your mistake was underestimating the Allma Temple, Acarian,” the girl spat at him. “Did you really think that we were cowards, or that we would abandon our companions and flee? You're a special kind of fool.” She raised her blade, pointing the blood-cover tip right at his face. “I'll give you the chance to surrender. Please say no. I would be overjoyed to cut open a shapeseeker and see what's inside.”

He backed away slowly, shaking his head. And then, rage flashed across his features.

“NOOO!!!” he shrieked. He blasted at the girl with lightning magick, and then turned and fled into the woods.

Wiosna, after easily blocking the attack, shook her head.

“So the fool chooses death.”

After looking back at the camp to ensure that things were okay - which they were - Wiosna sheathed her sword and pursued Dreevius into the woods.

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Knowing that Dreevius' only choice would be to flee, Luca passed by the battle and his tent and waited in a deeper part of the woods.

He stopped. Someone was following him.

He turned around, dead leaves crackling beneath his feet. Though his visibility was limited under the veil of darkness, he could easily see the white dress that Emila always wore.

“He's gotten away,” she said to him. “C'mon, let's go back.”

Luca shook his head. “I told you stay with Selphie and Jared. Even now, you still won't listen to me? It's too dangerous out here. There could still be Acarians about.”

“I was just worried about you,” she said. “You shouldn't have gone after that guy alone.”

“I can handle myself,” Luca told her. “I've already fought this guy a few times. I know his tricks. But I have to kill him myself. So just go on back to the camp and wait with the others. I'll be fine, no matter what happens. You have nothing to worry about.”

“You know I won't just leave you,” she insisted. “I guess I'll just have to wait here with you until he shows up.” She crossed her arms, indicating that she wasn't budging.

Luca chuckled, and took a step towards her.

“Emila - what's my name?”

She froze.

Luca sprang forth like an uncoiled spring, drawing his sword and bringing it down. Unable to draw his own blade in time, all Dreevius could do was dodge to the side. However, the footing on the leaf-covered hill betrayed him, and he slipped and tumbled down. He rolled all the way down the hill, landing in the muddy bank of a river.

He no longer looked like Emila, having returned to his grey-skinned, tattooed appearance. The white dress was also gone, replaced by the black Acarian armour.

“You can even imitate clothing,” Luca said as he casually followed him down the hill. “Impressive. Tranom told me there weren't many of your kind left in this world. It's almost a shame I have to kill you.”

Dreevius stumbled around in the mud until he was back on his feet. His sword appeared in his hands.

“Shut up!” he shouted. “It is you who will die tonight! I wasn't kidding when I said you shouldn't have come after me alone!”

Luca ignored what he said, and continued. “But don't worry. You will not completely vanish from the world.”

Dreevius charged, bringing his sword down. Luca easily parried the blow and countered. He jumped back to avoid it, and stumbled back into the mud.

Luca shook his head.

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Wiosna quickly located Dreevius, who had ran to a small valley in the woods. She saw him, with his sword drawn, thrashing around in the mud.

He wasn't alone.

For a moment, Wiosna considered running down to help Luca, but then she saw he was unwounded, standing confidently over his opponent, who was clearly flustered and demonstrating a poor imitation of swordplay. There was something quite familiar about the situation.