Bacorium Legacy (72 page)

Luca broke the parry and jumped back. “If you're not Acarian, then why do you serve Zinoro?”

“Because I like to kill people. And working for Zinoro gives me plenty of opportunities.”

Serpos then switched to the offencive, attacking Luca with thrusts of his twin spears. Luca dodged the attacks, and blocked when he could not. He felt drained from all the teleportation - the spell used quite a bit of mana. He knew his movements would grow tired after too long, so he kept his distance from Serpos when he could, and fought conservatively. He needed to get that pouch. Whatever it was, it seemed to be the means Serpos used to control the dragon.

But Serpos' attacks were precise and strong. The man left no gaps in his defences, and he attacked without mercy or hesitation. He was a skilled fighter, one of the best Luca had ever faced.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luca saw Brand and Wiosna on the edge of the battlefield,  taking out a group of Acarians. An idea formed in his mind. He took a few careful steps back from Serpos, and sheathed his sword.

“Giving up?”

Luca warped away, reappearing near Brand and Wiosna. They gave a start at his sudden arrival, and an Acarian nearly took advantage of that, but Brand managed to stop the blow and counter with a killing blow.

“Luca, what's happening?” Wiosna asked.

“I need your help,” he said to them. Before they could say any more, Luca moved between them and grabbed them both by their shoulders. An instant later, he warped back to the area away from the battlefield, where Serpos was.

“W-whoa...” Brand groaned, unsettled by the teleportation.

“He has something on his belt that lets him control the dragon,” Luca said to them in a quiet voice. “If we can get that off him, we can turn the tide of the battle.”

“Ah, you brought your friends,” Serpos laughed. “Very well. I can kill them for you.”

“Surround him,” Luca said. “Fighting with two spears like that limits his mobility. He won't be able to defend against all three of us at the same time.”

And then, the expression on Serpos' face changed. All hints of his confident joviality vanished, replaced with the cold expression of an animal. He moved like lightning, hurling one of his spears through the air at them. They jumped away, just managing to dodge the thrown weapon, but in the time it took them to recover, Serpos had already closed the distance. He brought his remaining spear down on Wiosna, who had separated from Luca and Brand. She blocked the attack with her sword, but Serpos pushed against her with his full strength, causing her to fall backwards. Wiosna was about to slash at him with her sword, but his boot came down on her wrist, and she cried out. Serpos pointed the spear at her and thrust.

Luca warped to Serpos' side and slammed himself against him, knocking him away from Wiosna. They both fell on the ground, and Luca's sword went flying away. He had only a second to recover before he felt Serpos' knee slam into his stomach. He stumbled back, and a second later, the flat of Serpos' spear struck the side of his head, and this time he fell.

Brand arrived, his scimitar clashing against the blade of Serpos' spear. Brand pushed against Serpos, driving him away from Luca and Wiosna. While Luca fought to quiet the ringing in his ears, and the throbbing pain in his skull, Brand and Serpos clashed blades. He climbed to his feet, and saw that Wiosna was struggling to do the same. She saw Luca's gaze, and she winked at him. Luca then saw what was in her hand - the pouch from Serpos' belt.

Luca spotted
Siora
in the dirt a few metres away, and he ran and grabbed it. Wiosna pulled open the pouch and pulled out a black orb that appeared to be full of smoke.
 

Serpos seemed to realise he was missing something, because he turned and saw that Wiosna was holding his orb. His face twisted into an enraged scowl, and he broke away from Brand and started to run towards Wiosna.

“Wiosna!” Luca shouted.

She tossed the orb to Luca just before Serpos reached her. He swung at her with his spear, but this time Wiosna jumped back, avoiding the attack and countering with one of her own. He dodged as well, but the tip of her sword traced across Serpos' cheek, drawing out a line of blood.

Luca threw the orb down on the ground and brought the point of his sword down upon it. There was a flash of light as the blade plunged into the smoky orb, and it shattered into many pieces which scattered at Luca's feet. The black smoke within the orb drifted into the air and vanished, and Luca felt the orb's mana go with it.

“Damn it!” Serpos swore. Wiosna swung her sword to attack him again, but he parried the attack and pushed her back.

Luca made his way over to where they were, as Brand did the same. Serpos was surrounded on three sides, with nowhere to flee. He did not look panicked, merely angry. His face was calm as he considered the situation. His eyes looked to the battlefield, and there was a brief flash of satisfaction in them.

“It makes no difference,” Serpos said. “I have another.”

“Use it, then,” Luca dared him.

“I'm not foolish enough to bring it with me,” he replied. “I'll save it for another day. You're the fools for thinking that the dragon was my only trick!”

Serpos' mana swelled, and a wall of flame rose up around him, spreading outward towards them. Luca threw up a rudimentary shield of mana, which managed to prevent the fire from touching him, but he was still thrown back by the the force of impact. Wiosna was pushed away as well. Only Brand was able to endure it, being a fire-form magus himself.

Serpos created a ball of fire magick, and hurled it at Brand. It was matched with an identical sphere of flames, and the two burst in midair. Brand closed in on Serpos as this happened, and swung his scimitar. The attack was matched with Serpos' spear. They broke away, and Serpos carefully stepped away. Despite his previous boastful words, it would seem Serpos was a cautious fighter.

No. That was just a mask he had used to lure Luca into a false state of confidence. Serpos had wanted Luca to think he was boastful idiot, like Dreevius had been. The careful, but dangerous animal that he saw now was the true Serpos.

A familiar shadow covered the area, and the ground shook as the dragon landed near them. Everyone, including Serpos, turned to face it, and held their weapons ready.

“So - you're back,” Serpos muttered.

The dragon drew its head back, and when it came forth, a stream of fire burst from its jaws, covering the spot where Serpos stood. Brand leaped away, rolling on the ground and just managing to avoid the fire.

The fire died down, and a thick cloud of smoke remained. As it cleared, the image of Serpos remained, all but untouched by the fire. His mana faded as the shield vanished.

“It seems you have hard feelings about your time as my slave,” Serpos said mirthlessly.

The dragon roared, the sound overwhelmingly loud and intense. It started towards Serpos, its heavy legs making the ground shake with each step. It snarled, the teeth in its mouth visible - each one was as long as a dagger.

“Hmph,” Serpos muttered. “So be it.” He stepped forward and threw his spear at the dragon. The blade cut through the air and struck the dragon in its long neck. Normally, a dragon's thick scales would block such a weapon, but the spear was thrown with such perfect accuracy that it buried itself in the small gap between the scales.

The dragon cried out in pain and recoiled, thrashing about in blind pain with its legs and tail. Serpos ran, covering the ground quickly, ducking between the dragon's legs and racing past it while it stomped around. He quickly vanished on the other side.

“Damn it!” Luca cursed. He couldn't teleport to where Serpos was if he couldn't see him. He didn't feel as lucky as Serpos, so he took the long way around the thrashing dragon. As he ran, with Brand and Wiosna just behind him, he heard the sound of a horn being blown not far from where he was. It was soon echoed by another, much farther away.

“No...” Luca said. He had a feeling he knew what that meant.

As he emerged on the other side of the dragon, he saw Serpos drop a horn on the ground. In his other hand, he was carrying his other spear - the one he had thrown earlier. He was running towards the giant ornate circle.

“Damn it!” Luca repeated. He warped, not to Serpos, but to the far edge of the circle, where Halt stood with his kingsguard. Luca noticed that there were not even half the number of them remaining.

“What the-?!” Halt gasped at Luca's appearance. The guards turned on him, ready to attack him at a moment's notice.

“Order a retreat!” Luca shouted. “Do it now! Get as many of your men out of the circle as you possibly can!”

“What are you talking about?!”

“There's no time to explain! Just do it!”

Luca turned, not sparing the precious extra moments it would take to make sure Halt would listen. By his estimation, they would only have a few minutes before it happened, and anyone still in the circle was doomed.

He then warped to Zaow, and repeated the instructions. The old king was just as surprised at his sudden arrival, but he seemed to understand the necessity of the situation. Zaow ordered his men to flee from the circle, and his generals and captains repeated the order, spreading it across the battlefield. The Sonoians turned and ran from the circle.

Luca then warped back to the place they were fleeing from. He spotted survivors, some wounded, others in small groups fighting off Acarians still. He teleported to each in turn, seized them by the shoulders, and took them a safe distance away. He repeated this process as many times as he could. He felt his mana draining more with each use of the strange new magick, but he pushed himself to save as many people as he could. He knew he was likely draining Emila's mana as well, but he felt compelled to save as many as he could.

He'd heard the last horn a few minutes ago, and he knew there was little time remaining. The Acarians were fleeing back into the circle, and the Sonoians and Saeticians were fleeing away from it. Some Acarians were caught outside the circle, and some of his people were still inside it when the lines began to glow again. Luca knew he was out of time. He grabbed one last person, and teleported back to the edges outside the circle, and collapsed in the ground. Light filled the area, and the Acarians were gone.

Several long minutes passed, and an uncomfortable silence slowly settled on the valley. The remaining Acarians were quickly wiped out by the Sonoians, with the exception of a few here and there that were disarmed and taken prisoner.

Luca was drained of mana and his body ached with the need for rest. But he forced himself back to his feet, and looked out over the battlefield.

It was an awful sight. Bloodied armour littered the half a kilometre that the fighting had taken place in, the bodies of the people who had worn it vanished when death took them. The bodies of the monsters were scattered about. The three behemoths were slain as well, their corpses lying like giant boulders across the battlefield. And in the distance, where the dragon had been, only a spear remained, stuck in the ground. In the sky, a grey blur could be seen flying towards the mountains, away from Acaria.

The wounded were being gathered up and taken to the healers, who had set up several tents since the battle had ended. Luca looked over the soldiers gathered at the edge of the hill they had descended earlier, and he felt a chill run through him when he saw how few of them wore the Saetician armour.

He started walking, half dazed. He passed Zaow, who he heard tiredly giving orders to his men. He spotted Brand and Wiosna with the soldiers, helping to gather up the wounded. A part of him was growing increasingly worried. There were four people who he had not seen since the battle had started.

Luca wandered to the healer's small group of tents. It was loudest there, for occasional screams still filled the air. The healer in charge was barking out orders, trying to keep things organised. The worst injured people were being treated first. In the chaos, he saw a flash of familiar black hair. He let out a relieved sigh. She, at least, was all right. He turned and left, not wanting to get in the way.

Luca next wandered back to where Zaow was. He was alone now, his men having gone out to follow his instructions. The Sonoian king was leaning on his cane, his sword sheathed and his armour bloodied. He looked exhausted, but for a man of nearly eighty years of age, he had held up with surprising strength.

Zaow looked up as he saw Luca approaching.

“S-Selphie...?” Luca managed to say. His heart was pounding, for he dreaded hearing the answer he was expecting.

Zaow's features softened a bit. “She is alright,” he said.

Luca felt like an intense weight had been taken off his shoulder. “Jared? And my brother?”

“They all live, as far as I know.”

Luca let out a breath, and fell onto his knees. Everyone was alright. He told himself that again and again, taking comfort in the knowledge that none of his friends had died. He looked up at Zaow, who more than anything, looked old and tired.

“I'm sorry,” Luca said to him. “I'm sorry. This is all my fault...”

“It is not,” Zaow said. “You couldn't possibly be blamed for something like this. There's only one man who can, and he didn't show his face today.”

“But - back at the Elder Hall, I...”

“You did what you felt was right,” Zaow reassured him. “For the greater good. I understand that well, because I've done many things over the years that I've regretted, all for the greater good. You lied at the Elder Hall, but you did it to save lives. And in the end, you may still have. Many lives may have been lost today, but the fact is that you couldn't have possibly known what was waiting here. I certainly didn't, and neither did Marcus when he made the plans to come this way. You knew Zinoro had an army of undead beings - but you didn't know he could send them to ambush us in such a way. So don't blame yourself.”

A soldier in Sonoian armour approached Zaow. “Your majesty, I've got the estimated casualty reports.”

Zaow glanced at Luca, and hesitated for a moment. “Tell me.”