Bacorium Legacy (47 page)

When he was only three years old, his mother had been carrying him and running through the night. Lodin had left them already, taking Luca with him and disappearing into the fringes of the world to hide from Zinoro. As the Acarian king cared only about Lodin and his first born son, he ignored Ash and his mother. Lodin doubtlessly thought this would keep them safe. But he had been wrong.

Vampires were after them.

They had chased them down, his mother letting go of him and commanding him to run. He had tried, but his mother's screams of pain had drawn him back. He had found her just in time to see the vampires tearing into her throat like wild animals. Somehow, they had not seen him - perhaps they had been so occupied with his mother to notice. With tears in his eyes, he had crawled away and hid under a tree until morning.

He remembered the last commands of his mother - to get to Allma Temple and find Dori. Torachi was far away, and he was only a small child. But he had nothing else to do - and nothing else to live for. He got up, on his tiny legs, and made his way very slowly in what he had hoped was the right direction.

It took him two whole years to get to Allma Temple. He had managed to survive thanks to his intuition - he was able to detect danger and avoid it almost every time. When that wasn't enough, he just ran. He had to take a lot of detours and spent a lot of time in small villages doing menial work to keep himself fed. But finally he was able to make it to the temple, and meet with Dori.

He would not have lived were it not for that grumpy old dwarf. That day, when he was sparring with Kevalie...

He knew Allma had arranged for that to happen. He could see the guilt in the old bastard's eyes - he had made a mistake, and gotten the wrong student killed. Unlike Kevalie, Ash had never had any friends in that temple. The blame had been placed entirely on him. Were it not for Dori - the students likely would have lynched him right there.

But none of that mattered now, he told himself. Allma Temple, his home of twelve years, was gone. Dori, the closest thing he'd ever had to a father, was dead. And all those people who had hated him were killed - with the exception of Brand, Wiosna, and the fifty or so survivors who were with Tranom now.

Perhaps that was what was troubling him. While he had hated Allma Temple, it had been his home. His life had been shattered, and was now thrown into uncertainty. Just what was he doing with Selphie and his brother? What was their goal - to prevent a war between Acaria and the Alliance? What was the point of that? The Alliance would crush Acaria in open war. Zinoro had destroyed Allma Temple through trickery and smart planning, but there was no way be had the numbers to match the three greatest nations in Bacoria. The previous king, Manorith, had been crushed by Sono alone during the previous war, and there had been a much bigger population in Acaria in those days.

It just seemed to be better judgement to just let Zinoro have his war. He would be crushed, just like Manorith was, and the world could move on.

If the Allmans hadn't hated him so much, he could have just stayed with them in Serenite. He could have let the others go, and let Selphie have her little dream.

The tent was too small. He felt like he was going to suffocate if he stayed in it any longer. He sat up, grabbed his cloak, and stepped outside.

Outside, Ash could just faintly see the camp with the red glow of the dying fire, and the illumination of the stars and moon. Jared was lying just outside Selphie's tent, his giant halberd at his side. He was supposed to be keeping watch, but it seemed he had fallen asleep. Ash chuckled quietly. That guy acted big and tough, but he was just as vulnerable as everyone else.

Ash walked over to his brother's tent, and opened it slowly, just enough to see inside. Luca was lying on his back, and Emila was at his side, her arm over his chest. Their clothes were all on, and undisturbed. Ash shook his head. How ridiculous.

He quietly closed the tent back up, and wandered over to the remnants of the fire. There was nothing else to do - checking Brand and Wiosna's tent for any signs of naughtiness would be pointless.

As he sat by the fire, his eyes caught a faint sign of movement over by the edge of the woods, far from where their camp was. It was too brief to reliably trust, but he could have sworn it looked like a person.

It was possible someone was out there, watching them. He went back to his tent, grabbed his sword, and set off in the direction of the woods. There was a good chance it was just his imagination. He wouldn't want to have woken the others if there was nobody out there. So he would just check it out himself.

He went to the edge of the forest, where he was sure he had seen the movement. He stepped past the first few trees, soon being swallowed up by the darkness of the forest. The pale moonlight did not reach through the thick foliage, and Ash soon found himself wandering blindly into the woods.

He listened carefully, having to rely on his hearing and touch with the lack of his sight. He found it difficult and frustrating to be unable to see. He was soon stumbling over tree roots, quietly cursing and wondering if perhaps he had made a mistake.

But a moment later, he stumbled through a bush, and emerged to a small cliff. He stopped, managing to keep himself from taking those extra couple of steps that would have sent him falling over the edge.

“Oh, it's Ash.”

Sitting at the edge of the cliff, with her bare feet dangling over the edge, was the princess.

Ash blinked a few times. It was Selphie he had seen?

“How did you get out here? Jared was right in front of your tent.”

Selphie chuckled. “Sleeping, yes. Growing up in a palace, I learnt how to slip away from the people in charge of watching me long ago.”

He stared at her for a moment, not quite sure he was believing what he was seeing. She smiled, and pat the spot on the ground beside her. “Join me,” she offered.

Ash hesitated. He would have much preferred to just go back to his tent and try to go back to sleep. But by discovering the princess out here, he was now in charge of her. It was their responsibility to keep her safe, and if he left and something were to happen to her, it would be his fault. He should have just ignored what he saw.

Selphie seemed to realise what he was thinking, because she said, “I'm not going back until we have a talk.”

He wasn't getting out of this one. Sighing, he went to the edge of the cliff and sat next to her.

“I've been wanting to talk with you for a while,” she said to him. “Perhaps fate has given us this opportunity for just that reason.”

“Why?” he asked dryly.

“You're the only member of the group I haven't had a chance to really talk to yet,” she said. “Is it odd that I would want to get to know the people I'm travelling with?”

“There's nothing interesting here,” Ash told her, brushing his long platinum hair back behind his ear where it belonged. “I'm just Luca's little brother, the son of Lodin that isn't immortal and isn't a hero. The one who walks in his shadow, and carries the things he cannot be bothered with.”

“You sound like you resent your brother.”

“I don't. I resent everyone else. But he's family - I'm not allowed to resent him.”

“He tells me you resent your father,” Selphie said.

“That's different. He-” Ash trailed off, seeing the playful look in Selphie's eyes. “Why am I telling you this? This is amusing you.”

“You act so stoic,” Selphie said. “But I can see, deep down, you really want someone to talk to.”

Ash stared at her for a moment. “Is that what this is all about? You just want to know what makes me tick?”

“You always look so bitter. I was hoping I might be able to cheer you up.”

He scoffed. “Don't bother. I have plenty to be bitter about. It's what I know, and I'm fine with it that way.”

“You enjoy being miserable?”

“Contentment lures one into a false sense of security. It makes you foolish, and more prone to making mistakes at the worst of times. As I am now, I'm smart. Take a look at my brother - he is happy, whether he would admit it or not. How many times over would be be dead already were it not for that girl's magick?”

Selphie frowned, and looked away from him, at the expanse of terrain visible over the large valley. “I don't think that's true. That's just something people say when they've been hurt before.”

Ash blinked.

“No, that's not...”

C'mon, Ash! Let's go train!

Even the slightest of thoughts seemed to trigger the flashback. How many times had he replayed her death in his mind's eye?

“This conversation is over,” he asserted.

Selphie frowned. “Ash, why are you here?”

“Because I saw you wandering off by yourself, and as the princess, you need to be watched over,” he told her impatiently.

“That's not what I mean,” Selphie said. She stood up and walked over to him. “I meant, why are you
here
?”
 

“I...” Ash struggled to find the words. He couldn't answer because he didn't know. He was just going along with the flow, following with them because that was where his brother was going.

Hadn't he been pondering that very question earlier that night?

Selphie moved a little closer to him. She reached up, and placed her hand on his cheek. He almost recoiled from the touch like it were the bite of a poisonous insect. But she held him, both gently and firmly. Her blue eyes looked deep into his.

“It's not your fault,” she said to him.

“W-what...?”

“It's not your fault,” she repeated. “The thing that happened to you. I don't know the details of it, but I can see the guilt clearly enough.”

“Shut up,” he said to her, not caring in the slightest that he was talking to royalty. “You don't know anything about that.” He tried to push her away, but the little princess was surprisingly strong. Her other hand grabbed his shoulder and held him fast.

“It's not your fault.”

The way she was looking at him - she knew
exactly
what she was talking about. She knew exactly what it was that tormented him. His mother... Kevalie... She knew, somehow. Had Luca or Brand told her?
 

“Let me go, princess!” he insisted. He grabbed her wrist, the one holding his shoulder, and pushed her hand away.

Surprisingly, she let him go. She smiled, and said, “We should get back. We've got a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow.” And then she started back, as though nothing had happened at all.

Ash stare at her as she walked away, completely baffled.

“Are you coming?” she asked as she entered the thick forest between them and the camp.

“Is she mad?” he quietly asked himself.

She would have to be mad to think that her power alone could prevent a war between Acaria and the Alliance. This mission they were following her on was idiotic. Perhaps he really should consider why he was with them.

Sighing, he brushed his white hair back behind his ear and followed after her.

Chapter XV

Phantom Pain

“At long last!” Selphie declared. “I'm almost home!”

They were nearing the border of Saeticia and Sono. The road, strangely empty today, led up to the guard outpost that watched over the border. A stone wall followed along the border, separating the two kingdoms. It was a relic from an old time, when the lands were filled with great towers and machines that flew through the sky.

As they drew closer to the guard station, the banner of Sono could be seen flying high atop it.

“Once we pass through there, we'll be in Sono,” Selphie informed them enthusiastically. “I'm sure the guards here will be relieved to see me back. We passed through here on our way to Allma Temple, and I'm sure they've heard by now what happened there, and at Serenite.”

No guards came out to greet them, however. As they reached the station, there were no sounds.

“Odd...” Selphie muttered. “Where are the guards?”

“We should check inside,” Jared suggested.

Emila, who was walking at Luca's side, suddenly looked worried. He noticed, and gave her a reassuring nod.

Once inside the guards' station, however, they saw what was wrong. The guards had not come out to greet them because they were all dead.

In total, there had been ten guards. All that remained of them was their armour, and large amounts of dried blood covering the walls and floor.

Jared looked furious. “Someone will pay for this,” he swore quietly.

“Who could have done this?” Selphie asked.

Brand approached the scene of the crime and looked it over. “The blood is already pretty dry. I would say this happened a day ago, maybe two.”

“An entire group of people would be needed to overpower this many men,” Wiosna said.

“Take a look at the armour,” Brand said. “There are no cuts in the paint. These men were killed by a bludgeoning weapon. A mace, or...”

Brand slowly picked up a breastplate. There was a perfect fist-shaped hole punched through it.

“...or someone's fist,” he concluded grimly.

“There's no way someone could have done this with their fists,” Wiosna insisted.

Brand was examining another piece of armour now - a helmet. It was also punched in at the side. “Perhaps they used reinforcement magick on themselves.”

Jared shook his head, and said, “Even so, that's not possible. I'm an Earth-form magus myself, and I've used reinforcement many times. You can only strengthen your skin with it, in order to block external damage. But your bones and internal organs are still just as vulnerable - the magick would keep a sword or spear from drawing blood, but it would not stop a mace or hammer from hurting you. Therefore, a punch with enough force to put such a dent in reinforced plate mail would undoubtedly have still broken his hand. He could not have done it twice, much less ten times.”

Brand set down the helm. “It looks like all the armour in here has damage like that. So how else could he have done this?”

Jared scratched his trimmed black goatee, thinking. “The question isn't how it was done, but by whom and for what reason.”