Bacorium Legacy (60 page)

“We should let the king know,” Brand suggested. “The sooner action is taken on this, the better.”

“He's got enough on his plate as it is,” Selphie said. “I'll write to my brother. He'll be the acting king while my father is at the Elder Hall. He can organise an effort to deal with this.”

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Selphie was unlike her usual self, keeping quiet most of the day and saying little. Her visible mood alternated between anger and sullenness. Luca, who walked at the front of the group with Emila, glanced back at her from time to time and happened to see her speaking quietly with Jared. On noticing Luca's staring, Selphie would stop talking.

As the day went on, Luca found himself making decisions for the group after waiting too long for Selphie to do so. Selphie usually decided when to stop to eat, which roads to take, and other things like that. But today she was either forgetting or simply didn't care enough. And as no one else seemed to want to, Luca found it was he who had to step up and take responsibility.

So he took the group and found a good spot at the edge of a large forest, just off the road. They were hidden by a hill, but still close enough that whoever was on watch could keep an eye on the path.

They erected their three tents, unpacked, and started up a fire. Everyone found their usual spots and they had a light dinner with little conversation.

Every now and then, Luca would glance over at Selphie. She refused to meet his gaze. Something was definitely wrong. When he had the opportunity, he would have to approach her and ask her what was on her mind.

The atmosphere was subdued in a way that was bothering Luca. He needed to do something to lighten things up.

“Emila,” Luca said suddenly, turning to the girl beside him. “You should play a song for us.”

Her eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

“On your lute.”

Emila stared at him like he'd just murdered a child. “How do you about that?”

“Because-” he nearly mentioned that the innkeeper from T'Saw who had told her all those things she had kept from him, but he remembered that he wasn't supposed to know about that. “I've - seen it among your belongings a few times by chance. I just assumed...” He trailed off. It was a lie, at least partly, which telling to her made his stomach turn, but he couldn't tell her how he knew those things, especially not in front of the others.

He remembered that Emila had told him she could have made extra money by playing to patrons, but she never did. Clearly, it was something she was uncomfortable with. Luca silently cursed his foolish mistake.

“I - I'm actually not very good at it,” Emila said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and looking away from him. “It would not be pleasant to hear.”

Luca knew that was also a lie, but he kept his silence. How many things did they really keep from each other, he wondered.

The uncomfortable silence returned to the group, and they stared at the fire without a word spoken. Luca bit his lip, realising he'd actually made things worse with his thoughtless suggestion. Several long minutes passed in this purgatory.

“Hey - where's Wiosna?” Brand asked suddenly, breaking the silence like a rock thrown through glass.

They looked around. Wiosna was nowhere to be seen. She did not sit by the fire, nor was she in any of the tents.

“Where did she go?” Selphie asked. “She was right here just a minute ago...”

A chill ran down Luca's back. “Look for her.”

They split up a bit and searched the immediate area. After a few minutes, they regrouped. Nobody had seen the blond-haired girl anywhere.

“There's only one place she could have gone...” Jared muttered, glancing off to the forest in the distance.

“But why would she go there?” Emila asked.

“We'll know soon enough,” Luca said, starting off in the direction of the forest. Without hesitation, Emila and Brand followed after him. Selphie and Jared exchanged glances, and Selphie looked like she wanted to say something, but she kept silent and they both followed as well. As usual, Ash lingered in the back.

The group hastily made their way into the woods. The trees were close together, and the foliage thick. It wasn't long before what little sun remained was cut off from them. Still, Luca looked carefully, and it wasn't long before he spotted what he was looking for.

“She's been here,” he said, pointing to the ground. There, in the dirt, was a set of footprints vaguely in the shape of travel boots such as the ones Wiosna wore.

“Maybe we should call for her,” Emila suggested.

“No,” Luca said. “We need to keep quiet.”

Emila peered into the depths of the forest and then saw what Luca saw. The peerless darkness within. There was no light in these woods.

“In dark places like these, monsters are always hiding somewhere,” he said in a quiet voice. He commanded them, “Follow me closely. Be as quiet as you can, and no matter what you do, do not separate from the group.”

He saw Emila nod, and she followed behind him, with the others four just behind her. The only sounds they heard as they made their way through the woods was the snapping of
twigs beneath their feet, and the occasional rustle of leaves when the wind blew. Luca's eyes were sharp, and he kept his hand tight around the hilt of
Siora
. He watched the darkness closely, able to make out only the vague shape of the ground and the trees. He did not look for that, however. He was looking for movement.
 

The ground beneath them began to slope upwards, and Luca followed the occasional footprint up. He had done this many times, out on hunts with his father. He had no doubt that these were Wiosna's footprints he was following - what he didn't know was why she had gone so deep into this dark forest on her own. That worried him, and he feared the worst.

He stopped just at the top of the hill, and the others stopped with him. He slowly peered over the edge, and into the spacious valley below, well-lit by the moonlight shining through a gap in the previously impenetrable foliage. At the centre of the valley was a dilapidated shrine, the entrance of which had crumbled away long ago, sealing whatever secrets lie inside. But that wasn't what caught his attention. Before the ruined entrance was a stone slab, upon which two figures could be seen.

One was a pale-skinned man with jet-black hair and eyes as red as blood. It was clear enough what he was - Luca had slain one in Forga some time ago.

Wiosna sat upon the slab, staring off into space and making no move to escape from her captive. The vampire sat before her, his face close to hers. He was not drinking her blood, thankfully. He seemed to be speaking to her.

“Vampire,” Luca said to the others quietly.

He heard a sharp intake of breath, but he did not know who it came from.

“It's trying to turn her into it's thrall,” Brand muttered. “We cannot waste any time.”

“Indeed,” Luca replied. “But we must be careful.” He looked over the group. There were six of them, including himself. “Alright, here's what we'll do. Three of us will circle around the hill and approach them from behind. The other three will attack up front, drawing the vampire's attention. The three in the back will get Wiosna away, and once certain that she's safe, return and help in the fight. Six of us should be able to handle one vampire.”

“A solid plan,” Jared said. “Who will make up each group?”

“Emila and Ash are not fighters, so they will be in the back group,” Luca said. “Jared, you will go with them because you're the best at defencive abilities. They might need the protection if something goes wrong. Brand will lead the attack on the front, because his fire magick is the thing vampires are most vulnerable to. Selphie and I will support him.”

Luca looked to Selphie for a moment, an unspoken question in the air.
Can I trust you to do this
? She met his gaze for a second, then looked away. Her expression said nothing.
 

“I think I should be with the princess...” Jared began quietly.

“She'll be fine without you this once,” Luca told him. “Go on. We don't have much time. Remember, your priority is getting Wiosna away from the vampire. We cannot let it bite her.”

Because if it bit her, Wiosna was gone forever.

Jared and Ash started off, moving carefully down the hill to double back and circle around. Emila looked to Luca for a moment. “Be careful,” she said to him.

He gave her a reassuring nod, and she left.

“Those guys on the road warned us about vampires, but I didn't think we would actually see one,” Brand said. “What do you make of this?”

“It's hypnotising her,” Luca pointed out. “It hasn't bit her, thank goodness, but who knows what kind of commands it's putting in her mind? That's why we can't afford to waste time.”

“This might have been planned ahead of time,” Selphie spoke up. “When I write to my brother, I'll have to be convincing.”

Luca turned back to the valley. At the bottom, he saw the vampire move its lips to Wiosna's neck. For a moment, he feared it was about to bite her. But when the vampire moved his lips away from Wiosna's neck, there was no blood. It was a kiss. Wiosna was smiling, though her eyes were still heavy and dazed. The vampire kissed Wiosna again, this time on the lips, and guided her down to a lying position. His hands roamed over her body, travelling from her inner thigh up to her breasts.

“The others are ready,” Brand pointed out.

Luca's expression was an angry scowl. “Let's go.”

The three of them drew their weapons and made their way down into the valley, moving from tree to tree and keeping hidden from the vampire. At last, when they were no more than twenty metres from the stone slab, Luca looked across to Brand, who was hidden behind another tree, and nodded.

Brand sprang from the tree, charging at the vampire. However, the creature seemed to be expecting the attack, as he immediately leaped from atop the slab and hissed at Brand with a twisted expression on his face. Brand was thrown off his momentum, unable to swing his scimitar. It was all he could do to stop running and keep from stumbling into reach of the vampire's sharp claws.

“Fresh meat,” the vampire said aloud.

At those words, the collapsed entrance of the shrine broke apart, the glow of earth-form mana filling the air. Two men emerged from within the shrine, the very same travellers that Luca and Selphie had spoken to earlier in the day. Their eyes were glazed over much the same as Wiosna's.

“Kill them!” the vampire commanded.

The thralls each drew a dagger from their belts and ran past the vampire towards Brand.

“Magick!” Luca shouted, stepping out from behind the tree and rushing past Brand to meet the thralls' attack. On his side was the second of the travellers, the one who had never spoken. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Selphie intercepting the other.

The thrall met his attack, blocking
Siora
with his dagger. There was surprising strength behind the parry, and when the thrall pushed back, Luca found himself stumble backwards. He felt his foot hit something, and there was a moment of panic as he realised what it was. He tripped over the tree root, and fell backwards.
 

Luca did not hit the ground, however. He fell back, collapsing into something that caught his fall and held him in the air. When he tried to rise from it, he found he was stuck fast. He twisted around, only getting his feet and left hand wrapped up in the sticky wires that held him.

He heard something above him. Unable to focus on the combat going on between the vampire, his thralls, and the others, Luca looked up and saw the creature whose web he had so easily fallen into. The arachne climbed slowly down the tree, its many eyes black and round. Its mandibles opened in anticipation of its meal.

Thankfully, Luca's right hand was not caught in the web. Unfortunately, his sword was not in it. It had fallen on the ground when he tripped, and it now rested some distance away from him, just out of reach.

The arachne was moving towards him too fast for him to use magick to fight it off. Luca twisted his body in the web, reaching for the sword. He strained and reached as far as he could, but not even the tips of his fingers could brush against the hilt of his blade.

“Damn...”

The arachne was getting closer now. In seconds it would be upon him.

Still, the sword was too far away. He heaved himself with as much strength as his body could muster, but all it accomplished was getting him even more tangled up in the web. He began to feel the tips of the giant spider's legs brushing against his shoulders.

“Come on...!” Luca reached out with all the strength he could muster.

It was no enough. He felt the arachne's fangs dip into his shoulder, and with it pain and venom. Immediately, he could feel his body growing stiff and rigid. An artificial rigour mortis. He would become paralysed, then wrapped up in a cocoon from which there was no escape. Then the arachne would lay eggs inside his body, and in a day or so when they hatched, the baby spiders would feast on him from the inside out. And he would be alive and awake through it all.

But then, he felt
Siora
in his grasp. He couldn't explain how, but he had somehow managed to reach it, even while being bitten by the arachne's poisoned fangs.
 

He thrust the blade forward, driving it deep into the giant spider above him. The horrid thing shrieked in pain, and tried to squirm away from its former prey. But the tables had turned, and Luca had the fangs now. He pulled
Siora
out, and under the moonlight, the blade seemed almost to glow white. He stabbed the arachne again, and again, and again, until the thing moved no more. Then he cut himself free as well as he could with his body growing harder to move. Webbing still covered his arms and legs, but he was able to get up and see what was happening.
 

One of the thralls was killed, with only a bloody stain on a tree trunk remaining. The other was wounded, his guts all but spilling out of his stomach as he tried to crawl away. He wouldn't make it, though - that wound was fatal. Luca wasn't sure which of the travellers had been slain and which was dying, but he didn't dwell on it.