Bacorium Legacy (87 page)

“It can't be...”

From their hiding place behind one of the nearby ruined buildings, Brand, Wiosna, and Gordon watched with pale faces as Zinoro emerged from the palace. Wiosna's hand covered her mouth, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“Did Luca - fail?” Brand muttered. “No. No, it can't be...”

Gordon blinked a few times, taking in the reality of the situation. And then, he slowly cast his eyes down to the ground, defeated.

Zinoro stopped at the bottom of the steps, considering. Then, he shouted out to the empty streets, “Gordon?! I know you're out there! Come face me! Show yourself!”

A moment passed, and Gordon's expression was as empty as that of a statue. Brand and Wiosna turned to him.

“Gordon! At least have the honour to face me after what you've done!”

Gordon took a deep breath, and he began to walk out towards the streets. Brand moved after him, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. “What are you doing? He'll kill you!”

There was a look of resignation in Gordon's eyes. “I expected to die the moment I returned to this city. Whether Luca won or not, I never wanted to leave. Acaria is my home, and I will die here in it.”

“It - it doesn't have to be that way,” Wiosna pleaded.

“He won't leave until he's found me,” Gordon said. “He knows I'm here, but not you two. So I'll go. You two stay here. Better he kill me, than all three of us.”

Seeing that there was no possibility of talking him out of it, Brand slowly let go. Gordon turned away, and walked out to the streets.

Zinoro spotted him as he emerged. “There you are. Come here. I want to look you in the eyes.”

One step at a time, Gordon made his way down the street, towards the man in black armour. A few long minutes passed, and Zinoro waited patiently. Finally, once Gordon stood before him, he slowly looked up and met Zinoro's gaze.

“You betrayed me, Gordon. You, the first acolyte I chose. The man who served with my father, and the sole survivor of the attack that took his life.”

After a pause, Gordon said in a small voice, “I did.”

“Tell me why.”

“Because of what you have become,” Gordon said, a hint of conviction in his voice. “There was a time, when first I returned from Sono, when I followed you with pride. But you went to that shrine, and you came back a different person. All the things you've done since then - you said they were justified - that you were doing them to save Acaria. But you're not. You're lost in your own madness. I don't know why you commit these atrocities anymore, and I don't think you do, either. You just continue because you have nothing left. Acaria is dead, and I would rather see her die in peace than be brought back under your rule.”

Zinoro thought on this. “The Sonoians must pay for what they did to us.”

“Your father's campaign against the Sonoians was not wrong,” Gordon said. “And Zaow's retaliation to it was not wrong, either. Both sides did what was right at the time. The whole ordeal was just the sad, final chapter in Acaria's death.”

“You can think that,” Zinoro said. “But you're wrong. This is not the end. Acaria will live on for a thousand years more. I will take my army to Sono, and they will know what vengeance feels like. They will know that Acaria is not dead.”

“With an army of dead men? Your message denies itself.”

Zinoro glanced back at the palace. “Your champion is dead. I took his sword - the very sword that his father used to kill my own - and drove it through his chest. In the end, the only one who could have stopped me stood no chance. I see now that fate cannot be denied. It is my fate to destroy Sono the way they tried to destroy Acaria. And I suppose it was your fate to try to stop me.”

Reaching across his back, Zinoro drew his great sword. The black manaflame surged across the blade, and Gordon could feel its overpowering presence from where he stood.

“You know I do not tolerate treachery,” Zinoro said. He held his blade high in the air.

Gordon took a deep breath and closed his eyes, ready for the strike. Zinoro swung the blade.

It stopped a hair shy of Gordon's throat.

“I do have the potential to be merciful,” Zinoro said. “You served me well, before you turned against me. So I will give you a promise. If I ever see you again - I will kill you.”

The manaflame faded away, and Zinoro returned the sword to its sheath. Without another word to say to him, he marched past Gordon and away from the palace. He was on his way to the gates of the city, to the Grey Wasteland outside, where the giant warp circle, and his army of revenants, waited.

Gordon stood, still as a statue, until Zinoro was gone, and he let out a heavy breath that he had not known he was holding. He felt refreshed, in the way that only a man who had just avoided death could.

At the sound of footsteps, Gordon turned around to see Brand and Wiosna running to him.

“He's gone,” Brand said. “Where is he going?”

“T'Saw,” Gordon muttered. “He's going to war with that giant army of revenants outside.”

“What did he say to you?” Wiosna asked him. Gordon knew what she wanted to know. And he dreaded saying it. But it had to be done.

“He said - he killed Luca.”

Wiosna cast her eyes down, wearing a look of despair and restrained grief. Brand clenched his fists and his jaw. He glanced for a brief moment in the direction of the city's gate, where Zinoro had gone. But he did not go after the man who had killed his closest friend. Brand was not foolish enough to throw his life away.

“We can still save Emila,” Brand reassured Wiosna. Glancing up at the entrance of the palace, one of the guards had noticed them, and was pointing them out to the other. “We can get Emila and race back to T'Saw. It will take him weeks to get that huge army to the city, whereas four people can travel quickly. If we get there first, we can warn them of what's coming.”

Gordon nodded. Wiosna, after a moment, looked up and wiped her eyes. “You're right,” she said. “We can still fight, can't we?”

Hearing the two palace guards coming down the stairs towards them, Wiosna drew her sword. “We'll start with these two.” She took off at a run.

Brand watched her for a moment, then smirked. “Yeah, I think that'll make me feel better, too.” He drew his scimitar, and followed after her.

<> <> <>

He saw a soft, gentle light.

I'm dead.

There was a warmth flowing through him. He felt like he was floating.

Is this the life after life? Am I where we go when we vanish from the world?

He could hear the sound of a voice speaking to him. He had never heard the voice before, but there was a strange familiarity to it.

“Wake up.”

Slowly, his eyelids opened.

Through blurred vision, he saw a strong light. It was so bright, it hurt his eyes to try and see through it. He felt comfortable - at peace. The pain in his chest was gone.

It dawned on his that he was not dead. The light in his eyes was the light of the setting sun, streaming in from the broken stain glass windows of the hall.

As his vision adjusted, he began to see that someone sat over him. The soft glow of healing magick came from a pair of hands placed over his wound. As the image sharpened, he saw black hair and green eyes.

“...Emila?”

Luca blinked. The healing magick faded - the wound in his chest was completely healed. Memories of the fight before came back to him. He remembered the confrontation with Zinoro, the difficult battle, and his horrible mistake at the moment when he should have won. And he remembered what Emila had done to save him, and the tragic consequences of that.

His vision returned to the girl in front of him. She was not Emila. Her hair was shorter, cut just before her shoulders. And she was younger, at least by a few years. But otherwise, the resemblance between the two was so uncanny that they couldn't have been anything but sisters.

The girl pointed away. “She's right there.”

Luca turned his head. Indeed, Emila was lying nearby on the stone floor, her eyes closed. Her breathing was soft and steady. Though her dress was covered in red stains, the wound he had transferred to her was gone. She was alright.

He sighed in relief, and slowly sat up. The girl moved away from him, giving him space. He looked down at the breastplate he wore. It was dented and broken, and covered in his blood. Grimacing, he undid the straps and tossed the thing away. Through the hole in his shirt, he examined the spot where he had been stabbed. It was healed, completely and perfectly. There was no trace that he had even been wounded, aside from the blood.

He looked inward, searching for any trace of the second tether. There was none. Their 'deaths' must have broken it. Though Luca did feel his mana was restored, after being so drained from his fight with Zinoro. One good thing came from it, at least.

He looked back at the small girl who had healed him. “Who are you?”

She hesitated for a moment, then said, “My name is Eva. I'm Zinoro's sister.”

Luca stared for at the girl for a moment, unable to believe what he'd just heard. Though he'd known the moment he'd laid eyes on the girl, to hear it out loud...

“So that's really her, then?” Eva asked, pointing to Emila. “That's really - my big sister?”

“It is.”

“She's really alive...” Eva said, a smile forming. But just as quickly, the smile faded, replaced with a frown. “But Zinoro told me...”

“What did he tell you?”

“He told me everyone died in the attack. Mother, Father, and Emila, too.” She looked sad, thinking back to that. “I know Father died. I saw it happen. I even tried to bring him back, but-”

The loud sound of the doors slamming open interrupted her. Three figures ran into the room, with drawn weapons. Luca immediately knew who they were. He climbed to his feet.

“Luca!” Wiosna exclaimed, running towards him. He grimaced as her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. “You're alive!”

Brand and Gordon joined them. “Zinoro said he'd killed you...” Brand said slowly.

Luca frowned. “That's because he did. But I got better. Thanks to Eva.” He stepped out of Wiosna's hug and showed the others the girl who had saved him.

Brand looked at Eva for a moment, confused. He then looked to the unconscious form of Emila, and then back to the younger girl. His eyes grew wide. “What the...?”

“I still don't understand the situation,” Luca said. “A lot of explanations are due. But first - I think more than anything - Emila deserves to woken up.”

Ignoring everyone's confused glances, Luca went over to where Emila lay and sat down beside her. He began to shake her gently, and say her name, until her eyelids fluttered open.

“Wha...?” Sleepily, she blinked, and looked up at him. “Luca? What happened?”

He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. “It's alright. We're okay.”

The realisation of what had happened came to Emila, and she looked fearful for a moment. “I'm so sorry. I was such a fool...”

“It's okay,” he reassured her, squeezing her hand again. “There's something more important right now that you should see.”

Emila gave him a confused look, as he helped her up to a sitting position, and moved away so she could see the others.

“Brand?” Emila muttered. “Wiosna?” She paused for a moment, not recognising Gordon, then her eyes fell on Eva. Her eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped.

“By the light... It can't be...”

Eva smiled. “Em?”

Tears in her eyes, Emila all but shoved Luca aside as she climbed to her feet. She ran, throwing her arms around her little sister and holding her tight, as though she were about to disappear. But she did not - Emila's sister was returned to her, in flesh and blood.

<> <> <>

Luca sat on the steps before the throne with Brand, Wiosna, and Gordon. Some distance away, Emila sat by one of the pillars with her Eva, the two talking excitedly. They each wore bright smiles. Luca felt at peace, seeing Emila so happy.

Luca had just finished catching Brand and Wiosna up with what had happened with Zinoro. Gordon might have been listening, but he was lost in his own thoughts - he would glance at the throne from time to time, frowning.

“You're a fool for leaving us behind,” Brand told Luca.

“Perhaps I am,” he said. “But I knew this was going to end in fighting. I didn't want you to get hurt.”

“I know that,” said Brand. “But still...”

“It's a miracle that I even survived,” Luca muttered. He thought of Emila, and how the tether had backfired on them. He had omitted that part when he'd told them the story, as well as the reason why Emila has come to Acaria. “I have no idea how Eva managed to heal me. That wound was mortal... Emila couldn't do anything for it.”

“Perhaps your connection had something to do with it?” Wiosna suggested.

“The tether is broken,” Luca said. And it truly was - he felt not even the faintest trace of it anymore, and neither had Emila. “I was dead. There was no denying that. Zinoro wouldn't have gone if I hadn't been. Somehow... Emila's sister did the impossible.”

They looked over at the two of them again. Eva was speaking excitedly about something, and Emila was listening, but the overjoyed smile of before had faded, replaced by a worried frown.

“Emila never spoke about her family,” Brand said.

“To me, she did once,” Luca said. “Her family entire family was killed in an Acarian attack that wiped out her home town. Not too different from what happened to me, actually. Everyone she knew died, including her mother, her father, and her sister - or so she thought. I don't know for sure - but it would seem Zinoro spared Eva in that attack, and has kept her here since.”

“What could have possibly brought him to do something like that?”

Luca hesitated. He'd already told them too much - personal secrets Emila had entrusted to him. But the situation demanded they know. “Because Eva is Zinoro's half-sister.”

“But that would mean...” Brand started, but as he put two-and-two together, he trailed off and his eyes grew wide. “Holy hell... That girl sure had secrets.”

Wiosna glanced at the two sisters, and her eyes narrowed. “All this time, and she never said anything?”