Bacorium Legacy (76 page)

“Nothing,” Luca muttered irritably. He then rubbed his temple, the headache already vanishing. “So what do we do about her?”

“We need the sword - and we absolutely cannot let it get in Zinoro's hands. We have to follow her, until we have an opportunity to get close without her knowing. We need to attack her, and finish things before she even knows we're there.”

It bothered Luca immensely to abandon searching for Emila to trail this woman - but he couldn't argue Gordon's points. Especially after they were able to get a little closer and see that it definitely was Verra, and she did have a sword strapped across her back that looked like
Altair
. So for the next two days, they followed after Verra at a safe distance, as she hastily made her way across the Grey Wasteland.
 

She looked tired. She hadn't moved for a few minutes. She sat beneath the dried husk of a tree, beside what had once been a pool of water. Every few minutes, she would look up and glance around the immediate area. Really, with how paranoid she was being, it really was a miracle she hadn't seen them yet.

“Why is she being so cautious?” Luca muttered. Verra was moving as carefully as they were, but with a greater sense of urgency. This was Acaria, where Zinoro ruled over an army of the dead. Verra was one of Zinoro's acolytes - his five closest followers - and returning after slaying an enemy king and obtaining a second legendary sword for him. So why was she being so careful?

“At first I thought she was going to Acarienthia, but I'm having my doubts now,” Gordon replied, brushing his grey hair out his eyes. “Unless she's taking quite a detour...”

An idea came to Luca. “Perhaps she intends to keep the sword for herself.”

“She would be a fool to do so,” Gordon muttered. “Zinoro would hunt her to the edges of Bacoria for such a betrayal. As I've said before, he does not suffer traitors to live. And if she was going to do that, why flee back into Acaria? That can't be it, it just doesn't add up...”

Luca looked to Gordon, suddenly feeling a bit guilty. “You're a traitor. If you're found with me...”

“I'll be killed,” he said in a level tone. “Yes, I know. I would not have brought you here if I was not ready to face the consequences of my actions. Even despite the fact that your chances of slaying Zinoro are so low...”

“Then why do it?”

“Because I want to believe he can be stopped,” Gordon said with a faint smile. “He needs to be stopped, and if one believes the words of a mad blind man, then you're the only one still alive who can do it. That's why I came back to this dead place with you to help you with your insane pursuit of that girl.” Gordon looked back to Verra. “She's moving again. Let's go.”

They rose from behind the boulder and followed once more. It was business as usual for a few hours. It was hard to tell - as the sky was obscured by a thick layer of clouds that little light passed through - but it appeared to be around midday when a change finally happened. In the distance, a large shape began to creep up the horizon.

“What is that?” Luca asked Gordon.

After squinting at it for a moment, he excitedly said,
“
A city! It must be the ruins of Harra Eli - there cannot be another city of that size in this area. This is great. It's the opportunity we've been waiting for. We can get closer to her while she's passing through this city.”
 

As they drew closer, the shape of the city came into view - as well as the reason Verra needed to pass through it. The city was built over a massive bridge, which stood over the centre of a large valley that stretched on for several kilometres. Perhaps it had once been a lake. In any case, the cliffs were too narrow to climb, and the valley was too wide to walk around without wasting several hours.

Some time later, Verra reached the ruined city gates and carefully stepped through a large gap in them. Luca and Gordon waited as nearby as they dared for a few minutes, and then followed after her.

The city was as barren and empty as the grey desert outside its walls, but it at least had the remnants of what had once been vibrant life. It had once been a thriving trade city, which made sense if it had been built as a bridge over a lake. Empty merchant stalls lined the streets, as well as overturned carts that had once carried produce. Everything was covered in a millimetre of dust. Doors lazily swung back and forth on their rusted hinges. The flag of Acaria, its colours once bright and proud, was faded from time and exposure, and flapped uselessly in the wind with no one to see. The bones of monsters lied in the shadows between buildings.

“I don't see her,” Gordon said. “Let's find a hiding place quickly and search for her.”

That wasn't hard. The thick clouds in the sky gave little light, so the shadows were full and easy to disappear in. Luca and Gordon quickly made their way from street to street, in search of the dark woman.

Soon, they found her. In fact, they nearly stepped out in front of her, but Luca caught a glimpse of movement and grabbed Gordon by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him back into the darkness of the alley before Verra stepped out of her own alley. It would seem that she was hiding as well.

“Perhaps she does know we're following her,” Gordon whispered as they watched Verra carefully step out of an alley two blocks from them. This time, Gordon did have reason to be whispering.

As Verra began to move away from them, Luca was about to move to follow her, when Gordon placed his hand before Luca. “Wait.”

“Why?”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Gordon said, his eyes narrow.

A moment later, Verra stopped in the middle of the street. Her head down, she slowly put her hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender.

“What the...” Luca muttered.

And then, an armoured Acarian stepped out of one of the derelict buildings - holding a bow with an arrow drawn and aimed at Verra's chest. The Acarian was then followed by a second, also with a bow pointed at her. And then a third, and a fourth. Soon, two dozen Acarians had emerged from the nearby buildings, and formed a circle around Verra.

“It looks like my theory was right,” Luca said.

Gordon scowled. “So it would seem.” He squinted, but it was hard to make out the fine details of what was going on over there. If anything was being said, they were too far to hear it. “We need to get closer. It looks like there's someone else there.”

“What if there's more Acarians in the buildings?” Luca asked.

“The ones that were here for Verra didn't see us. Let's continue to be careful. I want to know what's going on.”

So they made their way through the alleys until they were close enough to see and hear what was going on. They found an overturned waggon near the edge of one of the alleys, and they darted to it. There was a crack in its floor that was big enough for them to see through.

“Damn...” Gordon muttered as he got his first look at the scene.

Verra was on her knees, her hands gloved and bound at the wrist behind her back. An Acarian with no helm stood within the circle in front of her, his arms crossed. Luca instantly recognised him - after all, he had seen him not long ago.

“It's funny, really,” Serpos said to his captive. “You're so known for being a master at getting to your enemies without them knowing, but it turns out you're absolutely terrible at getting away from them.”

The sword was off Verra's back and was placed on the ground behind her.

“How did you know it was me?” Verra asked calmly.

Serpos smiled smugly. “Killing Marcus was a bold move. He was the king of Saeticia, after all. But the way you killed him? Your style is unique, Verra. Did you believe for a second that we would not know it was you when we heard?”

“I suppose I didn't think about that.”

“We haven't heard from you in a while,” Serpos said. “There were rumours that you had abandoned your post in Sendor City, but we believed better of you. You've always been so loyal, after all.” He paused for a moment. “So tell me - you clearly weren't returning to Acarienthia. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were on your way to that temple our king is so fond of.”

Verra said nothing. She met Serpos' gaze with a steady gaze.

He walked past her, over to the sheathed sword on the ground. He reached down and picked it up. “And a sword? Not your style to carry one of- Damn!”

Serpos threw the sword aside as though it were made of fire - which to him, it was. The blade dropped on the ground some distance away from them both. Serpos pulled off one of the gauntlets he wore - though the steel was untouched, the skin of his hands was red with minor burns.

“A Rixeor Fragment... Like King Zinoro's sword...”

He looked back to Verra, studying the neutral expression on her face. “This was the Saetician king's, wasn't it? That was why you killed him. But instead of taking it to our king, you were running away. You thought to keep the sword for yourself...”

Serpos pointed to one of the armoured revenants. “You. Carry it.”

The revenant silently went to the sword and picked it up. Though the blade was certainly burning it, the dead man made no sound of protest or pain. He simply stood there, holding it, and awaiting further instructions.

“Keep arrows on her and be ready to fire at all times,” Serpos said to his soldiers. “If she makes any kind of action that could be interpreted as an attempt to escape, turn her into a pincushion. And no matter what, make sure her hands stay bound.”

One of the revenants went to Verra and pulled her up to a standing position. Serpos turned and started down the street. The revenants followed behind him, with three walking behind Verra with arrows pointed at her back. At the very last, the revenant carrying the sword followed.

 Luca turned to Gordon. “He certainly gets around a lot.”

“I'm not surprised Zinoro sent him,” Gordon said. “You need to send someone to give orders to the acolytes - they can't function on their own. But an ordinary soldier wouldn't be enough. She's too dangerous. He needed his last available acolyte to catch her.”

“And now he's got the sword...” Luca said. “Or at least, he has possession of it. He can't use it unless he kills her.”

“This complicates things. We need that sword, but now we have to deal with Serpos and Verra... Under any other circumstances I would go against facing them, but we cannot let Zinoro get that sword...” Gordon bit his lip. “What to do...?”

“For now, we should follow them,” Luca said. He moved out from behind the waggon, and made his way back into the alley. Gordon followed him.

They trailed the group of Acarians back to the entrance of the city, where Serpos ordered the revenants to push open the broken gate. Six of them mechanically obeyed the order, pushing against the broken, stuck wooden gate with their full weight. The door stubbornly refused to budge.

“Perhaps six isn't enough...” Serpos muttered, glancing over at Verra for a moment. It was clear what he was thinking - he might need to use more of his men to get the gate open, but if he did sent more to do it, he would have fewer watching over Verra.

The sound of steel dropping to the ground echoed through the streets. Everyone's eyes went to the revenant in the back - the one carrying the sword. Now on the ground, the blade rested in it's sheath beside a pair of gloves. Both the sheath and the gloves were unblemished, but the revenant's hands were not so fortunate. Melted flesh dripped off the stumps at it's wrists.

“You've got to be kidding me,” Serpos said. “The sword actually got so hot it melted through its hands? What an inconvenience.” He glanced at the remaining revenants - the ones guarding Verra, and the six who were pushing at the broken gate. “That one only lasted a few minutes carrying that thing. It would take hundreds of them to get it back to Acarienthia.”

“You could always just let me carry it,” Verra suggested.

“You'd like that, wouldn't you?” Serpos scoffed. “This is indeed an inconvenience, because now I have a choice to make. I know King Zinoro would want that blade. But I also know he wants the traitor. However, I can only bring him one. So do I leave the sword here and return to him with you, as he ordered me to? Or do I kill you here and now, disobeying his orders to return you alive, but giving him something much better instead?”

“The sword will still be here when you get back. I'm the only one who can carry it, remember?”

“I'm not the risk-taking type.” Serpos drew the spear from his back and put the tip right under Verra's chin, pushing her head up just a bit. “It would be quite a shame to kill you, though. You were useful for a while. You have a pretty face. I like you better than the others, I'll admit. The idea of killing you, even after you betrayed us, doesn't sit well with me.”

Verra smiled slowly. “I'm no traitor. You never understood me at all. If you came here to find the traitor, you came to the right place. You just caught the wrong person.”

“What do you mean?”

She turned her head slowly, looking away from Serpos, right at the spot where Luca and Gordon were hiding. “The real traitor is hiding right over there.”

Gordon drew in a breath.

“She did know,” Luca whispered.

Serpos stared in the direction she was looking to. Luca knew he could not see them, but he still felt exposed and vulnerable.

“Only a fool would fall for such a trick,” Serpos said. He hesitated for a moment. “But an even greater fool would disregard it. There's a chance you're right, and I don't like taking risks.” He snapped his fingers and pointed to the revenants who had finally finished pushing the door open. “You! Go take a look!”

The six revenants turned away from the door, and started in the direction Luca and Gordon were hiding. After exchanging a quick, panicked look, Luca hastily retreated back into the shadows. Gordon followed after him.

But the revenants must have detected them nonetheless. A few arrows were fired, bouncing off the stone tiles where they had been standing a moment ago. Gordon groaned aloud as one of the arrows glanced his thigh, and he fell on his knee.

It was no use. They were found. Luca drew his sword and stepped out.