Bacorium Legacy (59 page)

In theory, Allma Temple was invulnerable as well. And it had fallen in a single afternoon.

Luca sighed, plagued by doubts yet again. “I'll be waiting at the city gates.” He turned and started out of the room.

“Luca,” Selphie said to him in a soft voice. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

He stopped at the doorway.

Of course it's not what I want, he thought, but it's what needs to be done.

<> <> <>

Luca made his way down the steps of the Ivory Palace, his head bowed. Try as he might, he could not keep the guilty thoughts out of his mind.

“I should have known... I should have known...”

He had known. He'd known for months, as far back as when they had left Forga. He'd known not to let himself get too close to Emila, and yet he had gone and done it anyway.

But why?

He couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was the tether that had drawn them so close to each other. Perhaps it was simply the time they had spent together. But whatever it was, it was trying its best to hold him in T'Saw - to keep him from leaving Emila.

She would be safer here, he told himself.

Indeed, but that didn't change the fact that he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He looked up, seeing the emptiness of the dimly-lit streets, and he almost thought he could see Emila approaching him like a spectre in white.

No... she
was
approaching him.
 

“Luca,” she said to him.

“I...” He couldn't find the words. It couldn't actually be her. It couldn't be. It was just an illusion, just a figment of his mind come to haunt and torment him...

But that thought ended as she reached out and placed her hand on his cheek. “You're shaking...” she said. “And so pale - what's wrong?”

“I...” Again, he just couldn't say it.
I was going to leave you
. Those words were his guilt - his crime against her.
 

“You weren't at the inn,” Emila said. “I saw you slipped off, and I felt guilty for forgetting you. I was going to go look for you, but I guess I had too much to drink. I just woke at the inn, but you still weren't there. I was worried.”

“I-I'm okay,” he said.

Emila chuckled. “For a second, I though you were leaving me.”

And then the guilt hit him like a sack of bricks to the gut. He found himself unable to look her in the eyes. She seemed to notice this, because the smile vanished from her lips, replaced with a worried frown.

“You - you weren't going to leave were you?” The worry in her voice was evident.

“No,” he lied, as much to himself as to her. “I - I was just talking with the others. We're leaving tonight, to go to a town called Eccador. We'll meet up with Zaow at the Elder Hall later. I - I just wanted you to get some rest before we left. That's why I went off on my own.”

He was digging himself back into the hole. How could he leave Emila now? But the relief in her eyes eased the guilt he felt. The prospect of continuing to travel with her fought away the demons his leaving her was bringing up.

And then he knew just how pathetic he was. He was attached to her, both magickally and emotionally. He should never have kissed her at the inn in Revan. That kiss had been the step he'd never taken, the stage he had never allowed himself to pass. He'd passed it with her, and now he could never go back.

Of course, at that moment, Emila stepped in front of him, put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

After a few moments of painful joy, she pulled back. “You're so thoughtful,” she said with a smile.

It was like she knew, and was doing everything she could to torment him.

Luca heard footsteps coming from behind him. He turned to see Brand, Selphie, Jared, Wiosna, and Ash coming down the marble stairs. They, of course, immediately noticed that Emila was there, but they they gave no reaction, aside from a few brief starts.

Luca wasn't sure if he was appreciative, or irritated by this.

“I've decided to come as well,” Selphie said to him. “I've left a note for my father.”

“Will he be alright with that?” Luca asked.

“Likely not,” Selphie said. “I doubt he'll let me leave now, after being gone for so long. But either way, I will have to be with him at the Elder Hall. My brother will manage the kingdom in our absence, as he has been doing.”

“I see,” Luca said. He looked to Ash. “And you? What changed your mind?”

Ash said nothing, but Luca did not fail to catch a brief glance at Selphie.

“We're a team, remember?” Brand said. “You can't break the fellowship, right?”

Luca met Brand's gaze for a moment. There was a look in Brand's eyes that Luca could not quite identify. Resentment? Did Brand hold against him that he was going to leave Emila behind? Nobody was saying anything, but Selphie had to have told them.

It didn't matter in the end, anyway. Luca couldn't bring himself to do it now. Perhaps before, when he had hardened his heart and been ready to leave on his own. But after she had found him, and said exactly the wrong things...

She was smiling. Emila was happy that they were leaving. What had happened to her fear from before? Wasn't Acaria the one place she could not go? She had even told him once that she could not follow him there, back at Allma Temple when he had first tied to leave her...

But it would seem that fate had other plans.

“If Selphie is coming, then we shouldn't waste time,” Luca said. “It could cause problems if she is seen.”

“Indeed,” Selphie said.

So with nothing else to say, they started off. Nobody said anything, and the silence was like torment to Luca's ears. Before long Emila's hand found its way into his own, and he had not the heart to reject it.

His heart was weak. Try as he might to be strong, he keep falling back into his comfortable weaknesses. Emila held his hand as they left T'Saw, and he let her, being guiltily comforted by her warmth.

Chapter XIX

Things that Lurk in the Dark

The group of seven travelled away from T'Saw until the city and the mountain it was built into had disappeared under the horizon, and the sun of the morning had rose up to take it's place. They travelled to the south-west, in the direction of a small town called Eccador, where Luca hoped he might find a Rixeor Fragment he could use. Once the sun was above the horizon, they stopped to rest.

Luca recounted to the others his secret meeting with Gordon, and the things the Acarian had told him, this time sparing no details. He told them first of Gordon's story - of his encounters with Lodin on the last night of the Acarian War. He told them of Zinoro's dark pact with the demon Ekkei for power, and of his obsession with vengeance. And finally, he told them of the revenants Zinoro made from the blood of the dead. They reacted to it much as he expected them to.

“Inhuman...” Brand muttered.

“This explains how he has built his army,” Selphie said in a quiet voice. “As well as the reasoning behind the attacks against the small villages on the borders - easy targets to build up his numbers.”

“Gordon said as much,” Luca confirmed.

Selphie had a look in her eyes Luca had never seen before. “Zinoro has no soul. He's a monster - no human being could do such a thing. He cannot be allowed to get away with this. Those innocent people...”

“Selphie, remember the mission,” Jared urged her.

“I have not forgotten it. Preventing war is still our mission. All the more now that we have this knowledge. An open battle with Zinoro would only make things all the worse - we would just be sending people to their deaths, and increasing the number of Zinoro's troops. But I will not allow him to get away with what he has done! That monster! To think, I nearly-!”

Jared placed his hand on Selphie's and she stopped herself from saying anymore. They exchanged glances, and something unspoken was said between them. With anger and frustration in her eyes, Selphie rested her head against Jared's hand.

“Ekkei?” Wiosna asked slowly, turning to Luca. He nodded, and she said, “Do you really believe this, Luca?”

He thought about it. “I don't know if Zinoro really spoke with Ekkei in that shrine or not. All I have is Gordon's word to trust, but he certainly seems to believe that that is where Zinoro attained his unnatural abilities. I've seen Zinoro with my own eyes, and there is definitely some kind of dark, alien corruption to his mana. I've felt it.” His finger caressed the scar across his cheek.

After a moment's pause, he added, “I do not personally believe in the Old Ones. My father did, but it was one of many things we never agreed on.”

“I do not believe in Ekkei or any of the Old Ones,” Wiosna said with disgust. “Zinoro might have decided to make such a claim to rally followers to his side, but whatever he found in that shrine, it was certainly not a god.”

“I doubt any of us believe in them,” Brand said. “But until we know for sure, let's keep an open mind.”

“Regardless of whether Ekkei exists or not, or if he is the source of Zinoro's power, it doesn't change one simple fact,” Luca said. “Zinoro has a Rixeor Fragment, and unless we have one of our own, we have no way to match him. That's why we're going to Eccador.”

“There's a Rixeor Fragment in Eccador?” Brand asked.

“Perhaps. There have been rumours, but we don't know anything for certain yet.”

Luca noticed Emila had cast her eyes on the ground, hiding an expression of pain and unease. He knew why - the Acarians were still her greatest fear, and the conversation had been a reminder that they were on their way to the front door of Acaria.

He took her hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. Emila looked up and met his gaze, and he gave her a reassuring smile. After a moment, she returned it, but there was still an echo of pain in her eyes.

Luca looked over to Selphie and saw that she too was troubled, though the look in her eyes was one of disgust. Jared spoke softly to her, and she hesitantly nodded in agreement to whatever it was he was saying.

“We should get moving,” Luca said. “It's a long way to Eccador, and we have little time to spare if we're going to make it to the Elder Hall.”

<> <> <>

After another two hours' worth of travel, they came across a pair of weary-looking travellers, dressed in dirty rags.

“On your way to Eccador?” One of the travellers asked.

Selphie answered. “Our business is our own.”

“Aye. Just wondering, though,” The traveller scratched his beard awkwardly, a bit put-off by the secrecy. “We just came from Eccador. A lot of people have been going there to see the sword in the stone.”

Luca stepped up and asked about the sword.

“They say it's a Rixeor Fragment,” the traveller told him. “Someone stuck it in a boulder at the edge of town and left it there. Nobody can take it out, because it burns anyone who touches it.”

That's undoubtedly a Rixeor Fragment, Luca thought.

“Does anyone have any idea who put the sword there?” he asked.

“It's a mystery,” the traveller said. “Who knows who put that sword there, or why they even would in the first place? I know if I had a Rixeor Fragment I certainly wouldn't be leaving it lying around.”

“If it's a Rixeor Fragment, it doesn't matter,” Brand said. “As you said, nobody is able to touch it without burning themselves. There would be no need to fear of someone taking it.”

The man spaced out for a second, then he blinked a few times and laughed. “You're right. I guess I did say that.”

Luca glanced at the other traveller, who had so far not said a single word. The other man was even more haggard looking than the first, with a longer beard and sunken cheeks. He simply stared off longingly into the distance, his mind somewhere else.

Something about these two was wrong. Their behaviour was odd. They both looked physically exhausted, dirty and unshaven. Though neither of them quite acted tired - more like spaced out and absent-minded.

“Well, we'd best get going,” Luca muttered, wanting to get away from the two of them as quickly as he could.

“Indeed, we have a job to do as well,” said the bearded traveller. “Farewell.”

Luca's group and the two travellers started to walk in separate directions, but they had not taken ten steps before the traveller exclaimed something and rushed back to them.

“There's something I forgot to tell you,” he said, his eyes wide. “There's also been sightings of vampires in southern Sono.”

“Vampires?” Luca repeated, remembering the encounter he'd had with one back in Forga. “How organised are they?”

The man's brow tightened in concentration, like he was having great difficulty remembering what he wanted to say. “I - I can't say. They seem to be gathering, from what I've heard. But things are still pretty calm. They're no farther north than Lysander.”

“I see...” Luca muttered. He glanced at Selphie, whose eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

“Just - something to keep in mind,” the traveller said oddly. “Be careful on your way to Eccador...”

He left, this time for real. Luca watched as the two travellers disappeared over the hill, wondering what the cause of their odd behaviour was.

“What could vampires possibly be organising for?” the princess wondered aloud.

“Have they ever organised before in these parts?” Luca asked her. His father had told him about vampires a few times on their travels, and from what he knew, they always remained underground in small groups. Vampires were extremely dangerous monsters, especially in groups. They were fast, strong, and resistant to every mana form save for fire. Their ability to hypnotise in particular was especially dangerous - with a glance and a few words, a vampire could turn the steadiest of fighters into a willing victim.

But their vulnerability to fire - the most commonly found mana form - made it difficult for them to gather in very large numbers. A skilled fire-form magus could handle a dozen vampires on his own.

At least, that was what Lodin had told him.

“There have been a few minor groups that have gathered in the past,” Selphie replied. “They never made it far, however. A vampire on its own is dangerous, but in groups, they become easier to notice. And easier to wipe out. Not to mention all the infighting - really, it's hard to believe that such dangerous creatures are such a minor threat.”