Bacorium Legacy (93 page)

“You're finished hiding, then?” Luca asked.

Zinoro said nothing. He responded by holding up his sword, the blade pointed towards Luca. Zinoro's mana surged, and black flames enveloped the blade.

Luca drew his sword, and did the same. They charged, the distance between them closing in seconds, and their swords clashed, drawing up a flash of mana each time they met.

Over on the roof, Ash muttered a few orders to his archers, and they all drew arrows, which were nocked and aimed at Zinoro.

Luca rolled out of the way, rising up on his other side of his opponent. He closed in and caught Zinoro in a parry.

His back now to the archers, Zinoro was blind to the flurry of arrows they fired.

But still, he knew they were coming. Zinoro broke out of Luca's engagement, and jumped up into the air. Luca, knowing the attack was coming, jumped back in time to avoid being turned into a pincushion. The arrows struck the paved street, bouncing away harmlessly.

Zinoro landed back on the ground just in time to avoid the last of them.

“You'll have to try harder than that!” he shouted.

Just as he finished saying that, one final arrow - fired by Ash himself - went flying past Zinoro, soaring just over his ear. His sole eye widened in genuine surprise, as the arrow continued on and struck the wall of the house, just beside Luca.

A second later, his eye patch fluttered off his head, the string cut.

Luca's own eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed. Behind the eye patch, where one would have expected an empty socket, there was a second eye. It was no ordinary eye, but a smoky glass marble that gave off a slight glow - a glow that faded and died after a moment of its exposure.

“Just as I thought,” Luca said. “That was your secret. Before, you spoke of your ability to foresee attacks. Like any seer, you need mystic eyes for that, and those eyes must be kept covered, or they lose their power.”

Zinoro said nothing. He looked down at the eye patch. The cut was clean - it could not be placed back on him.

“You couldn't foresee Ash's arrow, because it wasn't actually a threat to you. You told me that, back at your palace. Your hubris betrayed you.”

Luca warped over to him, and delivered a simple stroke. Zinoro blocked the attack and stepped away, but Luca could see the difference in his movements now, and he knew his theory was right. While Zinoro's swordplay was still that of a master, he no longer countered Luca's attacks with the previous efficiency and perfection.

Luca looked up to the rooftop, and gave his brother a curt nod. Ash returned it, and then he and his men slipped away, leaving Luca to finish the job.

<> <> <>

A few minutes passed, and nothing was said between the two sisters. Emila sat in one of the chairs, and she glanced occasionally at Eva, who stood against one of the walls, looking conflicted.

Emila glanced at the door. “No one has knocked. It's been too long, if they were just going to bring Trist back...” She worried for Selphie and Jared. The worse possibilities came to mind, and she felt her heart pounding. She now understood why Trist and Selphie had been so restless. It was pure torture to sit in that room, in awful silence, knowing that there was a battle going on outside, but not knowing anything as far as who was winning, or whether her friends were still alive or not.

She wanted very much to leave - to see, and even to help by fighting or healing the wounded. But she couldn't possibly run off and leave Eva by herself, with only the sleeping Lette to protect her - nor could she take Eva with her into that danger.

“Emila...” Eva said suddenly, in a quiet voice. “There's something I need to tell you.”

“Yes?”

Eva took a deep breath. “It has to do with the day Sulin was attacked. I... I was with Father when those men showed up. We went into the sanctum, but he left the door unlocked because he thought you and Mother would be come. But those men showed up instead, and they - they killed him.”

Emila frowned. She hadn't known the specifics, but she'd always imagined it. In her dark fantasies, her sister would always be among those cut down, but she knew now that she at least had been spared.

“I panicked. Father was dying in front of me, and I tried to use my magick to save him, just like with the fish, but I couldn't do it. The wounds were too much, and I was too distressed to focus. But I kept trying. Even after he was gone, and all that was left were his bloodied clothes, I kept trying - and then, suddenly, he was back.”

“What...?” Emila sat up. “What do you mean?”

“Father came back to life. I couldn't explain it. It just happened. At first, I was overjoyed. But I quickly realised that it - wasn't him. It looked like him, but it had no mind. It couldn't speak, or really do anything I didn't tell it to do. It was just a shell that looked like Father.”

Emila stared at her sister, having difficulty believing what she was hearing. “A revenant...?”

Eva nodded. “That's the name Gordon came up with for them. While I was staying with Zinoro, when I finally came to trust him, he told me about his plans to destroy Sono and rebuild Acaria. At the time it made sense. All he needed me to do was...”

She trailed off, the guilt and confliction in her eyes suddenly making sense to Emila. “It was never Zinoro at all...”

Tears ran down Eva's cheeks. “I'm sorry. I just - I just thought...”

Emila rose and ran over to her little sister, pulling her into an embrace.

“I didn't know...” Eva sobbed. “The way he spoke - I thought Sono was full of bad men who just wanted to destroy Acaria. That's not true, right? Right?”

“No, not at all. It was all just a big mistake.”

Eva looked up and met Emila's gaze. “Broth- Zinoro - he's really the bad guy, isn't he?”

She was so confused, Emila realised. She had no idea what was happening.

“He's done horrible things, and he'll continue to do more unless he's stopped.”

Eva hesitated for a moment, then she drew herself up, and gently pushed Emila away. Emila felt her gathering mana.

“What are you doing?”

Eva didn't answer. She held out her hand, and a sphere of mana formed within her grasp. It grew and grew, until the orb was larger than her head, and then it burst, sending out a ripple of energy that passed through the room and vanished beyond the walls.

“Eva - what was that...?”

Again, Eva did not answer. She slowly walked over to the second couch, and slumped morosely onto it. Her gaze down, she muttered, “I feel like this is the right thing to do - but I just don't know. Acaria is going to die and be forgotten...”

Emila went to her sister's side. She didn't know what to say to comfort her, so she just took her hand.

Eva looked up at her. “That guy - that Luca - is he going to kill Zinoro?”

“Well...” Emila didn't want to think about that, but she wanted to believe that Luca could win. “If he can - I know he will.”

Bowing her head again, Eva let out a heavy, defeated sigh.

<> <> <>

King Zaow rose from his throne as Brand and the others rushed inside.

“What's happening out there?”

Brand made it halfway to the throne before he doubled over in pain. He could only do so much with his ribs broken. Though gasping for breath, he said, “Gareth is - dead. The Acarians have entered the palace. They're everywhere.”

“Zinoro is not among them?”

“No...”

Zaow frowned, and returned to his throne. “That means - he is not here to take the city at all, is he? He just wants us all dead...”

Brand stood up as best he could, leaning against one of the marble pillars in the hall. He turned, and counted the Sonoian soldiers rushing into the room.

Nine - ten - eleven...

Eleven. That was it. Just eleven men to protect the king and make their last stand.

And Wiosna was nowhere to be seen.

“Is this all that remains of the palace guard?” Zaow asked him.

Brand looked back at the old king, and nodded slowly.

Zaow frowned. He let out a long sigh. “I have failed my people today. And I have failed my kingdom.”

There was a loud bang as the makeshift barricade on the other end of the long hallway was broken. Brand and the others turned, knowing that it was only a matter of moments before the Acarians rushed into the throne room.

Zaow rose from his throne, and approached them. He drew his sword from the sheath at his side. His ornate armour shone brightly under the lights on the ceiling. “This is the end, I suppose. I will fight beside you. What sort of king would I be if I hid in these last moments?”

Brand had no answer. He simply drew his own sword, and waited, still leaning against the pillar. There wasn't much he could do. He could throw a few fireballs, and maybe even slay a few of the revenants. But he was too wounded to fight at his true potential.

The sound of the footsteps drew closer, echoing in the chamber they had just fled from. Brand drew in a long breath, as ready as he could be.

The throne room door slammed open, and Selphie stepped through. Her brother Trist followed behind her, along with Jared and a few other guards. And then, behind them, entered Ash and a team of archers.

“Wh-what...?”

Selphie reached them, and stopped. “I can't explain it. I don't know what happened - but they're gone.” She tossed an Acarian helmet onto the palace floor, which rolled over to Brand and Zaow's feet.

“What are you saying...?” Brand asked. “The revenants just...”

“Disappeared,” Selphie finished for him. “A ripple of mana passed through the room, and they just froze, and vanished as though killed.”

“The magick that sustained them...” Zaow muttered. “It must have been undone.”

Brand dropped his sword, and started towards Selphie. But the pain in his chest was too much, and he almost fell.

Of all people, it was Ash who stepped forward and caught him.

“Wiosna...” Brand gasped. “Is she...?”

“She's fine,” Ash said. “She was out there, fighting on her own like a madman. After the Acarians vanished, she collapsed. The healers took her away. She was in pretty bad shape - but she's alive.”

Brand let out a relieved breath, and found tears in his eyes from the sheer relief. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he slipped into unconsciousness.

<> <> <>

Luca turned his attention back to Zinoro now. “So now we really are equal.” He shifted the blade in his hand, switching to the reverse-grip. “No more tricks, no more hidden abilities. It comes down to just you and me, and which of us it the greater swordsman.”

Still, Zinoro remained silent. There was a flash of contained anger in his eye. Or perhaps it was determination? Luca could not be sure.

He moved, bringing down his blade. To his surprise, Zinoro did not block it, but rather he jumped out of the way. He flipped backwards, and landed some distance away, in the middle of the town square.

“H-help me!”

Zinoro looked away, and Luca followed his gaze. A man raced for his life down the streets, pursued by an armoured revenant. There was something familiar about him. Luca's recollection told him the man was Jorus, the protester from his first visit to T'Saw.

They drew closer, the revenant ruthlessly pursuing, and Jorus crying out for someone to save him. Luca gripped his blade, about to warp over and strike down the revenant, when suddenly it stopped its pursuit, coming to an abrupt halt. Jorus tripped, and turned back to the revenant in confusion.

The Acarian soldier stood in place for a moment, then there was a flash of mana being released, and the armour it wore clattered uselessly to the ground.

Jorus stared for a moment, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened. He then noticed Luca and Zinoro, his eyes growing wide at the sight of them, and drew himself back up to his feet. As he took off back in the direction he'd come from, Luca turned to Zinoro.

“What just happened?”

Zinoro's eyes were wide, a look of disbelief on his face. A few moments passed, as something seemed to set in his mind. The shock on his features shifted to a weary look of defeat. “So you've even turned her against me...”

“What are you saying?”

“It would seem my campaign has failed, after all,” Zinoro laughed spitefully. “My soldiers have been erased.”

“All of them?”

“Every one.”

Luca looked to the palace in the distance. He saw no change in it from before - smoke still rose from the fires started by battle. But he no longer heard the sounds of combat and death. If Zinoro was right, setting aside the reason for this change, then that meant the fight was over...

“So have you given up, then?” he asked.

Zinoro bowed his head, gripping his sword tightly with shaking hands. A wind blew through the city square, as a long moment passed in silence between them. And finally, when Zinoro looked back up and met Luca's gaze, there were tears in the Acarian king's eyes.

“For the glory of my kingdom - for the glory of my father, who was dishonoured and killed by you people... I swear that I will not stop fighting. I will do everything in my power to destroy you, this city, this kingdom, and every single person in it! I will continue, until my very last breath, fighting you all, until I am dead, or everything that is Sonoian is gone forever!”

Zinoro gripped his sword in both hands, and the manaflame surged back to life. This time however, it was stronger than ever. The black fire covered the sword and burned strong with an intensity beyond anything Luca had seen before. Never in all his life had Luca felt so much mana coming from a single point.

Strong winds were roused, and surrounded Zinoro like a tempest. Luca felt himself being pushed back, away from Zinoro by the sheer power that he was creating. His single eye glowed red, far more brightly than before, piercing through everything with its hatred.

“DIE!!!”

Zinoro brought down the blade, and a blast of pure, black energy erupted from the sword. It spread like a cone, growing in size as it travelled away from him. A sound like thunder tearing through the ground filled the air. Everything in the path of the blast of energy was obliterated.