I'm the Bad Guy

by Kenneth Arant

  "Are you certain, sir?" I asked, as one of my ghouls mentally sent me an image of wagon tracks in the forest behind the castle. That's mostly how my summons spoke to me. Since they couldn't speak, whether due to sheer stupidity on the part of the Imps or the lack of a whole brain on the part of the Ghouls, they sent me either mental pictures or a two to three-second long 'clip' of what they saw and awaited further orders. I imagined a more intelligent creature could speak to me in the same way, but I had no way to test that at the moment.

  "I'm relatively certain, yes."

  Then my plans need to change.

  "One of my summons found wheel tracks about two-hundred meters into the forest."

  The arch-mage's face showed his agitation and he asked Head-mage Le-Doux to send a letter to the emperor and inform him of the situation.

  ...

  "There's no need for that."

  I looked over my shoulder and saw the emperor hurriedly walking towards us. He was in full battle regalia, which consisted of a plain looking suit of plate armor with the emperor's personal seal emblazoned on the pauldrons. He had what appeared to be a longsword attached to his hip and a large silver kite-shield strapped to his back.

  Flanking him, were two men. One I didn't recognize and one I most definitely did recognize.

  Short black hair, black eyes, and encased in a suit of plate armor that was as dark as night. He was Jia Ling, captain of the imperial guard, and the reigning king of the martial world.

  His small five and a half-foot frame belied his skill as he was rumored to have mastered a hundred martial styles and was known as the 'hundred-man-slayer' amongst those who knew him during the last war.

  He was known to anime watchers as the walking 'battle flag' due to the massive battles that seemed to always follow his appearances.

  "Your majesty," The arch-mage bowed his head and Head-mage Le-Doux quickly copied him. " Might I assume that you already know?"

  "Yes." He replied as he came to a stop in front of us.

  "After Aren's last letter I decided to send someone to check out the Venton household."

  He sighed.

  "It's not good. It took a few days of digging, but my agent found five bodies buried in the orchard at the back of the property."

  ...

  "I believe them to be the bodies of Baron Venton and his family."

  A three-second clip began playing in my mind. I saw three men and Markus in a fleeing wagon. Two of the men were shooting arrows and throwing spells at my Ghouls as they raced after them while the other man drove the wagon and Markus appeared to be holding something down.

  "I've found them."

  All eyes turned to me as I explained what I saw.

  "Could they be heading for the Sukon mountain range?" The head-mage asked.

  "It doesn't matter where they're going." The emperor's body began to give off a faint yellow glow.

  "They've got Kami... That's all the information I need."

  The emperor's body seemed to become two sizes larger as his muscles bulged, his eyes turned into yellow slits, and what appeared to be cat ears and a long tail, each composed of pure energy, sprouted from his head and waist respectively.

  I opened my gate, summoned a pack of ghouls, and ordered any summon not currently pursuing the kidnappers to return to the gate.

  I hopped onto the back of one of the ghouls, then motioned for the rest to do the same. If we were going to catch up to them, then we needed to get a move on... Like, now.

  The head-mage looked a little squeamish at the idea of riding on the back of a Ghoul, but the Emperor, the arch-mage, Jia Ling, and the other soldier barely batted an eye as they mounted the undead beasts.

  "Well, Aren, lead the way."

  I nodded my head and mentally gave the Ghouls their orders.

  We exploded out of the castle's gate at speeds that would leave most horses in the dust and I zeroed in on the location of my other summons. My ghouls ran with long, loping strides which made the ride fairly smooth... Considering we were riding malformed, man-eating, monstrosities.

  "Will the other students be fine without the two of you here?" I asked the arch-mage.

  "Your little stunt earlier forced us to give the order to confine all students to their dorms. Even the incumbent students have been taken to the great hall until we could ensure there was no longer a threat."

  "You caused several children to wet themselves and a second year to have a panic attack!" The head-mage yelled.

  "I did it to find the princess!"

  "Regardless of the why. We're going to need to have a word with you after we return about proper magic usage!"

  "Now, Annika, I'm sure we can overlook it this once. It was dire circumstances, after all." The arch-mage calmly replied.

  The head-mage looked like the very idea left a bad taste in her mouth, but she acquiesced anyway.

  After a few minutes of tearing through the forest, I got a mental image from the last Imp at the academy as it dove into the gate. I ordered the gate to close, then refocused on where I was going.

  Judging by the time it took the ghouls to catch up with them, the kidnappers should be between four or five miles ahead of us... Which meant they'd only left, at most, fifteen minutes or so before I discovered she was missing and were most likely traveling as fast as they could. We were lucky the wagon could only go so fast or we probably wouldn't have found them in time to do anything about it.

  The image of a ghoul being turned into charcoal by a bolt of lighting almost made me want to wince.

  I ordered the ghouls to fall back and follow them from a safe distance. It would do us no good if all of my summons were destroyed before we could catch up to them...

  * * *

  Chapter 15: The Confrontation

  * * *

  The ghoul's muscles repeatedly knotted and exploded as it propelled us through the forest, trees became nothing but brown and green blurs as its unyielding body continued to pick up speed.

  One of the benefits of riding on a ghoul was their inexhaustible stamina and indomitable will. Ghouls didn't get scared, they didn't get tired or hungry, and they would continue their task until either their body was destroyed, or they were given a different command. Even after ten of their packmates were destroyed in a hail of arrows and a blast of lightning, my ghouls continued to single-mindedly chase the wagon.

  Likewise, we were also doggedly closing in on the kidnappers.

  With every mile we traveled, with every dead ghoul we passed, the emperor's aura grew stronger... As did his anger. He'd earned the title of 'The Lion at the Gates' during the last war after entering a berserker's rage and single-handedly butchering his way through a choke point. Over a hundred Tilean soldiers lost their lives to the emperor's rage and there was little doubt in my mind that the kidnappers would soon meet the same fate.

  "How much further?" The emperor asked. His voice breaking the silence for the first time since our pursuit began almost thirty minutes ago.

  "I'm not sure. My ghouls are still on their heels and they're still ahead of us. But my control over the ghouls isn't quite up to snuff, yet." I once again sighed in annoyance at my lack of talent. "I still can't get an accurate location on them once they get more than a mile from me." I explained.

  There was an almost deafening silence from the five adults behind me, so I looked at them over my shoulder.

  The emperor's brows were furrowed in what I assumed to be annoyance at my lack of a proper response and the rest just looked confused.

  I looked ahead of us and mentally ordered the ghouls to slow the wagon down.

  Various still images, from multiple angles, of ghouls throwing themselves at the four horses pulling the wagon flashed through my mind. I quickly ordered them to not kill the horses and instead, to tear the harnesses free. I didn't want them to accidentally harm the princess by causing the wagon to crash, so freeing the horses was the best I could hope for.

  I could immediately feel severa
l of my ghouls perish under an onslaught of spells and arrows... But a few were successful. The heavy wooden shaft holding the four horses together was snapped under the weight of a dying ghoul and the horses altered their course almost immediately. The horses briefly fought against the man holding their reigns, then they ripped them from his hands, nearly dragging him from the cart in the process and the wagon was left without any form of propulsion.

  I quickly ordered the ghouls to fall back to a safe distance and continue to observe them until we arrived and only interfere if it looked like they were going to do something to the princess. Luckily, it seemed as if they were more interested in getting away than they were in hurting her. They ditched the wagon and left what appeared to be a body, wrapped in a white sheet, thrashing in the back. Which is probably the first smart thing they've done all day.

  When we finally caught up, the princess had managed to free herself from the sheet and was sitting on the ground beside the wagon. Her hair was a mess, tears stained her cheeks, and the nightgown she'd been wearing for most of the day was basically ruined... But she was okay.

  "What happened!?" The emperor yelled as he dismounted the ghoul and raced to embrace his daughter.

  "Daddy!" She screamed as she latched onto his robe and began to wail in relief.

  I was glad everything worked out in the end... Though, now that I think about it... That was a really stupid thing for me to do. The ghouls could have easily caused the wagon to crash, possibly injuring... or outright killing the princess in the process.

  ...

  Yeah, that was insanely stupid of me.

  Another image flashed through my mind of the three kidnappers running through the forest on foot.

  "Your majesty?" He looked over Kami's head at me and frowned. "The kidnappers are approximately five-hundred meters in that direction," I pointed. "And are fleeing on foot."

  "Jia Ling, Authur, go catch them!"

  The two soldiers replied with a strong "Sir!". I gave the ghouls the order to chase the kidnappers. They leaped into motion and raced after them.

  I almost pitied the poor bastards.

  I hopped off my ghoul and made my way over to check on Kami.

  ...

  Wait..., I stopped walking as a horrible thought found its way into my mind.

  Three kidnappers?

  ...

  "Will you be needing us any further, your majesty?"

  "No. The two of you can leave."

  "Wait!" I yelled. "One of the kidnappers is missing!"

  Just then, a blue light shined at the edge of my vision and I turned, almost in slow motion, as I realized that I was too late. The storm Arcanist was already in the process of casting his spell.

  Why me?

  Without thinking. I dove in front of the emperor and the princess and did the only thing I could do... I opened my gate. I somehow managed to summon it in the time it took for me to hit the ground, then I braced for impact as something incredibly fast slammed into the still closed gate and blasted me into the side of the wagon. The very last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the sight of the Emperor swatting away a bolt of blue lightning, then standing to face the storm arcanist.

  ...

  When I finally woke up after... I'm not sure how long. The first thing I noticed was that I was on top of a firm bed. The second thing I noticed was the floral scented shampoo of the girl currently napping in the chair beside the bed.

  I sighed at the sight of Kami's head resting beside my shoulder and desperately wanted to run my fingers through her hair.

  ...

  I slowly pushed the blanket off of my legs and stood up from the bed without disturbing her.

  I glanced around the infirmary for my shirt, finding it neatly folded on the bed behind Kami's chair, then I slipped it over my head.

  "Thanks for staying with me." I whispered into the sleeping Kami's ear, then I wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and left the infirmary in search of food. I hadn't eaten since before I'd gone for a run... Yesterday? Regardless, I was hungry, and I somehow doubted the emperor would have allowed the kidnappers to escape after all the trouble they'd put us through, so I believed the princess would be okay waiting in the infirmary by herself for a few minutes.

  Or that was the plan. But before I could reach the door and pull it open, it opened seemingly on its own and the arch-mage entered with a smile on his face.

  "I had a feeling you would be awake soon." He said cheerfully. "How are you feeling?"

  "Well, for starters, I'm starving. And my back feels like someone smacked me with a club. Other than that, I'm fine."

  "Oh, most excellent! The Emperor will be most pleased to hear that you've finally awoken."

  "How long was I out?"

  "Oh, not long. Twenty-hours or so."

  My eyes widened and I felt my mouth open slightly in surprise.

  "I was asleep for twenty hours?"

  "Something like that, yes."

  I glanced over my shoulder at the still sleeping princess. She'd pulled the blanket closer to her body at some point and was snuggling into it.

  "Ah, yes, the princess has been awake for quite a while. She's been very worried about you, you know?"

  "Hmm."

  ...

  "Was she hurt?"

  "A few scrapes and bruises. Nothing to worry about."

  "Has anyone checked to see if that Illusionist did anything to her? And what happened to them?"

  "Of course, what do you take us for? Amateurs?" The arch-mage snorted derisively. "We had her mentally and physically examined as soon as we returned. And she's been given a clean bill of health. As for the kidnappers. Well, they've been taken to the capital for questioning."

  "Good... Well, I'm going to find something to eat now. I'm starving!"

  He placed his hand on my chest, stopping me from walking out the door.

  "You, on the other hand, will need to remain here for a few more hours, at least."

  "What? Why?"

  "Two reasons... First, you stupidly allowed an enemy combatant to attack your portal. Which, as I'm fairly certain you already know, is the metaphysical representation of your mana core. Truthfully, It's a miracle you got away with only a severely bruised back and a few scrapes. That could have easily killed you. And second, we've found some rather... odd energy amounts within your mana core and just want to be certain. We're not sure if the second has anything to do with the first, but, that's what the tests are for."

  He must have understood the look on my face because his smile dropped for the first time since entering the room.

  "The tests are not dangerous and will not hurt."

  ...

  "Fine," I sighed. "But if I'm stuck in here, could you at least have some food sent over? I really am starving."

  "Sure," He laughed. "I can do that."

  He guided me back over to my bed, then turned and left the room.

  ...

  I believe locking the door was a bit unnecessary, given the circumstances, but whatever.

  I laid back on the bed and rested my head on the pillow.

  I was basically useless during the fight...

  I bunched the bed sheet up in my fist for a few seconds, then let out a sigh of annoyance and relaxed.

  I'm making progress. Truly, I am... But it's too slow!

  Things are changing much faster than I intended: I don't remember anything about Kami getting kidnapped from the anime, I don't remember Markus Venton ever showing up, and I definitely do not remember the previous Aren being scanned for an odd energy signature.

  ...

  Unless... That's the point?

  Maybe everything that's happened was part of some future plotline that I missed out on and this was supposed to happen?

  But... If that's the case... Then, what was supposed to happen to Kami?

  If I hadn't interrupted Markus and consequently stopped whatever he was doing to her... How long would it have continued? How many da
ys, months, years, would he have continued to mess with her mind? And, more importantly, why would he mess with her mind in the first place? The fact that he had a group of men waiting in the forest behind the academy was proof enough that they were prepared to kidnap her, so... Why didn't they do that at the first opportunity? Why go through all the trouble of discretely messing with her mind if they were just going to kidnap her anyway?

  "Mmm..."

  I looked over at her and I felt a small smile tug at my lips.

  Enough about the 'what ifs'. The point I should be focusing on is the 'now what?' I was useless during that fight. That much, I'm sure about. And that's the only thing I can truly control. I can't do anything about the future... At least, not right now, I can't.

  So, I guess I'll just have to focus on the present.

  * * *

  Interlude: Gesshin the First

  * * *

  Five days... That's how long I've been waiting.

  I could understand a few days delay. After all, Tristen was trying to regain control of his academy, which involved calming down students, ensuring the parents of said students were properly reassured, and 'cleaning house' so to speak. And Jia Ling was reinforcing the academy's defenses and bolstering the number of guards on campus from a measly twenty guards to over a hundred. Which came with its own hurdles.

  ...

  While I understood the delay. I was still severely annoyed by it.

  I agitatedly tapped my finger on the small wooden desk Tristen provided for me as I mentally reviewed the events of the last few days.

  First, a group of four men had somehow managed to infiltrate one of, if not the most, secure places in the empire.

  Then, those same four men somehow managed to not only sneak a horse-drawn wagon into the barrier surrounding the academy. But they also managed to sneak my daughter out of the barrier.