The Sworn Defender

by The Ranger

  Richard looked at him, his fists clenched tightly as his friend spoke. The Prince merely tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.

  "That makes the sword yours," he surmised. "If Levi's ghost is unhappy with that, he's welcome to come find me."

  "I-I don't know, Luce. It isn't my place to-" Richard began.

  "It isn't your place to deny my instructions," the Prince interrupted. "So, do as I ask, Richard. This… I suppose this is the last command I give you."

  He took a deep breath and nodded slightly, turning back to face the door. He wavered as his hand came to rest on its handle.

  "Goodbye, Luce," he whispered.

  "Goodbye, Richard. If the jewel allows, perhaps we'll see each other again soon. And if not, well then— I hope we don't meet for a long time."

  Richard kept his eyes on the door as he nodded, and he pushed it open. The Prince watched him step through the frame and vanish from the realm he remained trapped within.

  "Eilon… he was right, Richard," he sighed, taking a seat on the marble throne. "About my Fire, and… I'm afraid you may need it."

  Chapter Fourteen

  Khora

  The scent of burning tallow filled the cottage as a pair of candles flickered at Richard's side. Khora had found them among Rahm's things when she searched the house for anything they might be able to use. She decided to light them only after their fire died and determined it would be foolish to seek firewood alone. The small candles were almost useless when it came to providing warmth, but they brought light to the darkened room.

  While it was true that some heat still lingered in the cottage, she had been grateful to find a few small blankets that she then threw on top of Edmund and Richard, both of whom were sprawled out before her.

  The former laid still and silent, except for the occasional snore, with his head resting on Ranger's shoulders. She had begun coaxing him to sleep shortly after Eren and Aven's departure, and he did once it became apparent they would not change their minds and return.

  Richard remained in the same position he had been in since their arrival, except now a thin, wool blanket was draped over his shoulders and chest. It was too short to cover his legs, but Khora assumed he wouldn't mind the chill. Beneath his head, she placed a pillow she had found in Rahm's room; upon doing so, she regretted not laying him in the bed before. It was too late then, as the concealing circle had been drawn when they still thought Richard's slumber would be short.

  "Focus," Khora whispered to herself.

  For the fourth time in the last hour, she felt her shoulders begin to slump and returned her attention to the candles sitting in front of her. It was difficult to keep herself awake, but she would not risk sleeping— not when they were so vulnerable.

  Instead, she knelt, resting on the backs of her legs, and placed her hands on her lap. In front of her rested Jira's silver dagger and her own spear. It was as close to meditation as she had ever come since arriving in Azra.

  Her own faith was another justification for lighting the meager candles. In times past, she may have offered her vigil to the Ancients and pleaded for Richard's health as well as Eren and Aven's safety. However, she found it difficult to commit to such a prayer after all the trouble the Ancients had brought upon them. She thought of dedicating her time to Izkar, but it was a sentiment that had begun to unnerve her. Ever since they left Torfir's lair, Khora felt a shiver race down her back whenever her mind wandered to the Fate-Maker, and to the creature from her dream.

  Lacking other options, she decided to whisper Lucian's name when she ignited the candles. It felt more natural to do than anything else she had considered, and she hoped that his spirit might have heard her call.

  While Norfolk faith established a fiery afterlife for the souls of those who had committed great treacheries in their life, it was believed that those who died without great transgressions were allowed to remain in the mortal realm. They would linger around those they had known in life and dutifully watch over them. Unlike hauntlings, the Norfolk maintained that the spirits of the honored dead could not damage the material world but simply provided an aura of protection around those they accompanied.

  The simple act of whispering the Prince's name and hoping he heard it was all Khora could do to ease her mind.

  She clenched her fists, scratching at her palm with her fingernails. The slight sting forced her drowsy eyes open once again, and she scanned the room. She hadn't noticed it before, but light had begun to filter in from the outside. Dawn had finally come.

  A chill scraped across Khora's scalp, forcing her gaze towards the door — believing, somehow, it had opened — yet it remained shut. She brought her eyes forward, wondering if it had been an imagined breeze when she saw her candles extinguished. She reached for one to inspect it when a movement caught her eye, and she shifted her attention to a stirring Edmund.

  "You're awake," she whispered, watching him turn to face her.

  "I don't know how I was even able to sleep," he yawned. "I was sure something bad would happen in the middle of the night, but I suppose… nothing went wrong, just this once."

  Khora nodded slightly, her head drooping lower than she meant to.

  "Did you stay up the entire time?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

  "I had to remain alert," she groaned, easing herself into a sitting position. "Lyla's work has yet to fail us, but with Eren and Aven gone, and Richard in this position— I could leave nothing to chance."

  "I understand, Khora," he replied meekly. "Well, if you'd like, you could sleep now. I can keep watch."

  She wanted to reject his offer in the name of caution, but it was indeed a tempting notion. The idea of curling up on the ground, beneath her warm blanket, and besides an even warmer dog, called to her at a time when she could already feel fatigue seeping into her bones.

  "Perhaps I'll just shut my eyes for a momen-" she began.

  Richard's eyes flew open, and he cried out as he jerked forward. He leapt to his feet and tripped on the blanket that had fallen from his chest. He stumbled out of the concealing circle, smearing its contents across the floor. He came to a stop when he crashed into Rahm's table and turned to look back at Khora and Edmund.

  "Where-" he started to say.

  "What was that?" the boy half-yelled.

  "I-I'm sorry, I was… I was confused for a moment, and I didn't know where I was," he explained.

  Richard's erratic awakening managed to jolt Khora back to the present and temporarily push her exhaustion further away.

  "What happened to you?" she asked, rising to her feet. "We had thought the worst."

  He shook his head as he stepped closer to them.

  "I was fine, I-I saw a vision of the sorcerer — of Lucan — and I think the strain of it overwhelmed me," he revealed. "Then I was with… I was with Lucian."

  "What?" Edmund murmured. "What do you mean you were with Lucian?"

  Richard's hand darted into his pocket, and he retrieved the small green gem they had found among the Prince's ashes.

  "This," he showed them," It's his… this thing has got his soul trapped inside it."

  Khora couldn't help but take a few steps away from him as he held the curious gem out in front of him.

  "What are you saying?" she muttered.

  "I'm saying he's still with us, and he told me that-" he began to explain before pausing.

  Richard glanced around the room before bringing his eyes back to his friends.

  "Where's Eren?" he inquired. "And Aven?"

  "They left," Khora murmured. "Eren… he was afraid we would miss the opportunity to defeat Lucan, and so he went to the Ashlands. Aven joined him— they planned on aiding the Marinians in their fight."

  Richard gripped the jewel in his hand tightly as a worrisome expression consumed his features. He set it back in his pocket and turned to face the west.

  After a few moments of silence, he knelt on the ground and placed his hands on the floor.

  "I can't sense
anything around us," he groaned. "I feel almost… blinded."

  "Eren and I," Edmund whispered. "We gave you Lyla's poison— we tho-thought, maybe, it might help wake you."

  Richard raised himself slowly, his worry turning to anger, as he returned his attention to Khora and Edmund.

  "We have to leave now and try to find them before they confront Lucan," he urged. "Every moment we wait, we risk losing another of our friends."

  Edmund spared a brief look towards Khora before setting his eyes on Richard.

  "Wait, she hasn't-" he tried to say.

  "Let us not delay," she interrupted, lowering herself to gather her weapons. "We were waiting for you to return to us, and now that you have…"

  She slid the dagger back into its sheath and nodded towards him.

  "Let's head out then," he said, rushing to slip into his armor.

  Khora offered Edmund a small look before opening the door and stepping out. The chill of the roaring wind pierced her skin but allowed her a moment to regain her composure. Whether or not she was ready for it, the time had come to return to Marinia.

  The road was covered in a fresh layer of snow that caked their feet as they walked. It was then Khora was grateful for the blanket she had found in Rahm's home. She draped it over her shoulders and around her chest along with her own. It was a surprisingly comfortable walk, at least it should have been.

  Richard took that time to explain his meeting with the Prince. It had started as a rushed explanation, though, as he seemed intent on sprinting all the way to Marinia. It wasn't until he realized his companions were in no condition to do so that he took the time to tell them of his encounter in detail.

  It was the only thing that managed to pull Khora's focus away from her weariness, which was itself a subject that continued to creep through the back of her thoughts.

  The notion that Tala had not only murdered Prince Lucian but prevented his spirit from finding eternal rest enraged her. It was a despicable thought, one that might have brought her to tears if she weren't too tired to cry.

  The only comfort she found in the Prince's fate was the peace he seemed to have made with it. It was not something she would wish on anyone, yet he had accepted what Tala had done to him, treating his confinement as a price paid for his kingdom's survival.

  It might have been admirable if Khora didn't find it was so infuriating.

  Then, there remained Richard's last revelation to them. Lucan — the vicious and vile sorcerer, the man whose power had bitten into the land and torn across Marinia — was King Lacerne's brother.

  In learning of the Norva's history, of the centuries of blood and deception that sat upon the pages of its existence, she had thought herself above astonishment. Yet, here, in a foreign land and in another time, she found herself startled. It was a feeling that ripped through her and fell to the deepest edge of her heat. She lamented for Prince Lucian and for the legacy of this place, her new home.

  Before long, they had made it back to Marinia and began to wander the streets aimlessly as they searched for their allies.

  "I can't feel them anywhere here," Richard grumbled. "I can't sense anything around us."

  "I don't hear anything either," Edmund pointed out. "No fighting, no yelling… nothing."

  "Could the battle have ended already?" Khora offered, her own eyes desperately peering around each corner.

  Richard let out a deep sigh as he shook his head.

  "I saw how many Seekers Lucan had at his side," he groaned. "There were so many. Still, Bogar knew about them too, and even then, he seemed confident."

  Richard turned, a naive optimism clear on his face.

  "Maybe they did manage to win?" he wondered aloud.

  Khora wanted to hold onto the same hope he did, but something strange caught her eye on the road ahead of them.

  "Wait," she murmured. "Look at that."

  Her arm rose upward, pointed forward with her spear, and they slowly moved to investigate the scene before them.

  There was a crescent carved into the ash-ridden snow ahead. However, just beyond it, the path was completely devoid of the frost. Just the same ash and dirt they had witnessed on their first crossing through the Ashlands.

  "Why wouldn't there be any snow here?" Edmund questioned.

  Richard crouched closer to the ground and passed his finger through the mounds of ash gathered at their feet. It was an act that earned a disgusted look from Edmund and a curious one from Khora.

  "It's damp," he announced. "There was snow, but it melted."

  His eyes widened in realization, and he looked up to find she had come to the same conclusion.

  "It was melted by the sorcerer's flames," Khora muttered, her eyes darting along the snowless streets.

  "I think so," he sighed. "We have to keep moving. Eren and Aven could be hurt, or worse."

  His voice trailed off, but that did not stop him from dashing ahead towards the empty roads, forcing them to share his pace.

  When her friends had first left the cottage, Khora harbored an unease that she might never see them again. However, it was an apprehension that she locked away in favor of focusing on the task at hand. Yet, now that they scoured the Ashlands hunting for a trace of their whereabouts, all of her nervousness swirled back to the forefront of her mind.

  It was an unsettling feeling, one that was only deepened by the gruesome remains they found.

  "I-is that… is that a person?" Edmund cried out, keeping Ranger from investigating the mess in front of them.

  Khora had witnessed countless horrors in her life, but very few forced her to cover her mouth for fear of retching.

  Supported by the wall at its back, there laid a mound of warped steel atop, what she assumed was, scorched flesh. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the metal had been armor once. Yet, it was now reduced to gleaming trails drooping onto the ground and twisting around the corpse it had been meant to protect. It was impossible to tell if the body had been a man or a woman, as all its features had been wiped away by the intense heat that left it in this state.

  At its side, there laid a nearly withered helm; there were two horns erected on the surface of what was left of it.

  Khora pursed her lips as a wave of repulsion passed over her and quickly subsided.

  "This wasn't some battlefield killing," Richard whispered, staring at the corpse. "This was an execution."

  "What makes you say that?" she groaned, pushing herself to return to her usual calm.

  He pointed to their surroundings before letting his finger fall back on the tangle of flesh and metal.

  "The Marinians had an army, but this is all that's left for us to see," he explained. "I don't know if it's because of Tala, or if it's just… this place, but I can feel death all around us. Lucan simply didn't leave any bodies for us to find. Not beyond this one."

  Khora closed her eyes for a moment, wondering if she might feel the same massacre he had. When she didn't, she realized his senses were returning to him much faster than they had the first time Lyla fed him poison. She hoped it would help them find their friends before something grisly befell them.

  "He left this for us," Edmund said faintly, staring at something that laid just beyond their sight.

  Richard trudged ahead, a few steps away to where the young boy had wandered, and peered around the wall on which the remains rested against. Khora moved to join them, searching their faces for a sign of what they saw, but she found nothing. She met them, and nervousness fell away, allowing shock to sit in its place.

  While the city had looked abandoned and entrenched in snow, it was mostly unchanged from their previous visit. Before, grime and neglect were visible in every corner of the settlement, and most of the structures, whether built of wood or stone, seemed like they were ready to fall. However, that presence was no longer here. It had been wiped away, with the few buildings that remained reduced to smoldering piles of stone pooling on the ground.

  From where they stood, they coul
d see across the area of land that had been razed by the wizard's power. It looked like a scorched field that was still smoking from the onslaught that befell it.

  "I can see a few buildings that survived," Richard told them, his eyes narrowed as he looked beyond the destruction.

  "This… this shouldn't be possible," Edmund complained. "How could we think we had a chance to stop someone who could do this?"

  Khora wanted to agree with him. Magic was not an uncommon sight in the Norva, but a power great enough to enact such annihilation was not some commonality. It was like nothing she had ever known.

  "I don't know that I can stop Lucan. Not if he's capable of something like this," Richard meekly said. "But I know I could never live with myself if I didn't at least try to defeat him."

  She sighed and stepped forward, moving past both him and Edmund before stepping into the razed earth. It was an odd sensation: the dirt was soft and warm — almost like grimy sand — and did not resist her steps, causing her feet to sink an inch or two into the ground with each move.

  "We may not be able to defeat him," she admitted. "But we can continue searching for our allies. Once that's done, we will return to Azra and make our choice."

  Richard stuffed away a grim look before nodding with an utter lack of enthusiasm. Edmund joined his lukewarm expression with one of surprise as he stepped onto the blackened ground.

  "It's hot!" he squealed.

  Richard pressed his hand to the ground in response.

  "It's warm," he allowed. "I can't imagine the heat this place saw last night."

  He straightened himself and turned to face Edmund.

  "Still, Khora's right; let's get moving," he sighed.

  Ranger tentatively stepped onto the warm soil but raised his front paws in apparent protest. Khora held her spear out towards Edmund, and he took it wordlessly.

  "Come here," she gestured to the dog, picking up the large beast and carrying him in her arms as they made their way across the seared earth.

  It had seemed to be quite a distance, at first, but the desire to locate their friends made the trek feel short. It seemed as if only moments passed before they were walking on solid ground again. Khora may have agreed, had her arms not tired by clinging to Ranger for the entirety of the walk. However, even she felt an odd sense of relief when she stepped onto solid ground once more and let the dog back on his feet.