Arthur bit his lip and folded his hands on the table. He engaged Eric in an intense stare, as if trying to peer into his soul to see the truth.
“My soldiers will never go for such a thing,” Arthur said. He no longer tried to hide the contempt in his voice. “They will fight and demand her death.”
He let out a long sigh. He looked to Abe, then back at Eric. Eric had looked at him before, but now he truly stared into the eyes of Arthur. He saw a man without a soul. He saw a man, in some ways, like Artemia. Perhaps it made too much sense, then, that he served as the general for a man like Rufus Syrast.
“If you can find a way to get her on the boat, do what you will,” Arthur said. “If we scour the city and we cannot find her, I will assume you have taken her. And I warn you, Eric, if you do not bring her back, your status as a hero cannot help you for the crime that would entail. Aiding the enemy, in the eyes of the empire, makes you as culpable as the enemy.”
“I understand,” Eric said immediately.
He didn’t feel great about his decision. Inside, he feared that what he had just done had turned his soul darker than anything he’d done before. He’d never killed a man, and now he’d just possibly sentenced dozens of them to their deaths and one ally in particular to a gruesome, unexpected death.
But he saw no other choice. He began to appreciate what battle did to a man’s soul, and he didn’t like it.
“When do you wish to leave?” Arthur asked.
“Ideally today, tomorrow if possible.”
“I do not think we can get all the magi rounded up today, but whoever we have, we will give you tomorrow.”
Eric nodded. He shook the hand of Arthur, and a guard came to escort him and Abe out. The guard took them to an unused bedroom, one with two beds, as if reserved for a family that stayed in the palace. The guard left, and Eric collapsed on the bed. It did not feel as cushioned as his last stay, but then again, he hadn’t returned to the palace having helped kill a legendary dragon. At least not in the public eye of the emperor.
“I hope I did the right thing,” Eric said.
“Only time will let you know that answer,” Abe said. “But I can tell you you acted the right way. That’s all you can control. You managed to gather forces to stop Artemia while limiting the violence against magi here. Frankly, if this doesn’t show that you did the right thing, I’m not sure what more will.”
But Eric could not shake the idea of two factors.
One, he’d exhausted his status as a hero to get what he wanted. That would limit his capability of leading the people in the future.
Two, he’d placed Tetra in a position where she would perish, no matter what.
If Chrystos looked upon his soul now, he prayed the god would do so with a level of understanding and mercy reserved for men who had to kill in war for the greater good.
CHAPTER 12: ZELDA
Zelda stood with Romarus as she watched Eric and Abe approach the guards. She found it strange how the relationship of the hunters had changed. When she saw them in Caia as Indica attacked, Eric seemed to follow Abe, though Abe acted as if the young boy had so much potential.
Now, Eric led. He moved with confidence and authority that Zelda could only hope to possess someday. Abe followed, not having had his role diminished but simply overpowered by Eric’s newfound confidence.
What had changed for Eric? How could she develop those skills?
Did it even make sense for her to have those skills? For how unique she was and how much she was capable of…
“Come,” Romarus said, tugging on her sleeves. “Let us move within the shadows before we get caught.”
They moved stealthily like critters, avoiding the light at all costs. Given the absolute silence of the city, Zelda could hear Eric and Abe’s conversation. She noted they called over someone named Arthur. She heard them talking about Artemia. Nothing in the conversation caught her off-guard, though she did note some unusual pauses. Her gut told her things weren’t going well, but then again, she had a tendency to assume the worst.
Just as Arthur invited them back in, Zelda and Romarus turned a sharp corner from the side of the library and ducked inside, the darkness of the building protecting them. Only a few stray rays of lights had come in. Zelda glanced back but did not notice any suspicious gazes into the library.
“Even for an old man like myself, things can change,” Romarus said with a chuckle. “I don’t hate the empire like I once did, although hate is perhaps too strong a word. I almost pity them. Their leader whom they depended on for everything is gone, and now they don’t know what to do.”
“It’s almost like we overthrew the empire,” Zelda said. “Or Tetra did. Either way, the magi won.”
She hadn’t said the words with particular cheerfulness or joy. The tension of the day had sapped her of any enthusiasm and optimism. But her last three words brought a temporary smile to her face. Temporary, because she didn’t feel any safer.
“Perhaps so, but it will be a hollow victory if we do not stop Artemia,” Romarus reminded her. “And even then, it will not mark the end of our task. I suspect these guards will still despise us.”
“Yes, but we have a new hope,” Zelda said, grasping for strands of optimism. “With the empire, at least. Artemia…”
Zelda trailed off. When she thought about what Artemia possessed, it left her more than a little terrified. Defeating dragons was one thing. Stopping a force of imperial soldiers was another.
But to stop a legion of monsters like that?
They would test Zelda’s magical powers like nothing else would. Artemia possessed the power of Ragnor. Zelda had her own powers, but nothing from legendary dragons.
She had to get the power of Indica from Tetra. It seemed like the only way to stop someone with the forces like that.
And even then, would it be enough? Would her powers, with the essence of Indica, really conquer a multitude of monsters? Would it stop Artemia? If she got Bahamut’s power, how quickly would that end things?
It gave her some level of comfort that Romarus would join her. It helped, too, that Eric and Abe would team up with her. Yeva seemed likely to join, too.
It would make her feel even better if they could somehow convince Tetra to join.
“Artemia will make for a nightmare of a battle, there can be little doubt about that,” Romarus said. “She is a true existential threat to the world. The empire made life hell on us, but they wanted to preserve humanity, not control it as a god would. Or, at least, they never acted out that desire. I do not mean to be so rude, Zelda, but you will have a much more important battle against Artemia. Your war against the empire is one that many magi have played out. Your fight against Artemia is what will make you a legend of the war.”
Zelda nodded in agreement, but she knew she couldn’t do it alone. And if she did, she shuddered to think about what would happen. Would she win? And even if she did, what would it mean that she had saved the world? Could she handle the fallout properly? Or would it affect her in some manner she didn’t yet understand?
“But it is not a fight you will have alone,” Romarus said. “We must find Tetra and Yeva.”
“I think I know where they are,” Zelda said, remembering where Garo had taught her so often.
She led him through the stacks of books, as empty a place as the seas during a week-long storm. The guards had presumably already cleared out the area—why would they ever need to go back and check?
She turned the final corner to the hidden stacks, where she would have run into the stairs leading to the base of the Shadows of the Empire.
No one stood there. Zelda harrumphed. They couldn’t have gone anywhere else except…
“Where else would they be?” Romarus asked.
Zelda knew the answer.
“Come.”
She led him to the top of the hidden stairs, behind a couple of doors. The darkness made it nearly impossible to see, so before they descended, Romarus grabbed some book
s that he described as “alternative historical accounts” and used them as a conduit for fire. The place reeked of oil and fire, but Zelda felt grateful that it remained at that. She’d feared the scent of death would have lingered here.
After two turns, she saw a light that flickered at the end of the hallway.
“Tetra,” she said. “Yeva!”
She knew if one of those two emerged, she could handle herself.
She didn’t have to ask that question. Tetra walked out, her legs wobbling, one arm on the wall as she moved forward.
Tetra had somehow aged even more in the past couple of weeks. Now, she looked closer to that of a grandmother than of a girl only a decade or two older than her.
“You finished in Dabira,” she said with a voice that left Zelda feeling sad. It had become far more weary and worn out. In fact, she almost sounded on death’s door. “Romarus?”
“It seems I need to believe in Chrystos once more, for I seem to have someone making sure I don’t die,” he said with a chuckle, though Tetra did not respond.
“I made sure everyone had a proper burial,” Zelda said, trying to stave off the emotion from the memory of that night. “What are you doing here? Why do you look so… like that?”
Tetra snorted.
“I’m not really sure, to be frank,” she said, ignoring Zelda’s second question. “I thought about saying hiding, but that’s only true in the literal sense. I don’t care if the empire finds me. I accomplished what I came here to do.”
“You killed the emperor.”
Tetra nodded with ease. Zelda felt surprised to feel a level of guilt and sympathy for the man who had murdered her mother and nearly her. She had always held out hope Rufus could change, even as she had become more jaded in the previous month. Now, he would never get that chance. Iblis probably had his soul by now.
“But Tetra, we’re not done. Artemia is still—”
“A threat, I am aware,” Tetra said. “But this past night has not been kind to me. I feel myself weakening by the minute, not the hour. It is as if I have fulfilled my purpose here on Hydor and Chrystos is fighting to take my soul for having lived far too long.”
Zelda now noticed some of the blemishes that identified Tetra as such. The splotches of moles on her face. The thinning hair. The scratchy voice. Having to lean on the wall just to remain upright.
How Tetra had gone from a beautiful young woman, one so young she could’ve been Zelda’s older sister, to that of an elder nearing her death left Zelda in a sad, grief-filled state. Tetra had compressed the time in appearances from young to old, but Zelda knew she would look like the older version of Tetra some day. And when that day came, it would feel like just as short a time had passed as it had for Tetra.
“Believe me, when I came here, I thought that I would go from the emperor to Artemia. I saw her with my own eyes leave this city with monsters that I had only heard of in the faintest of tales, tales which have lost their place in magi mythology. I knew she left Caia with one purpose, and that accomplishing that purpose would throw the world into chaos that no one, magi or human, can predict or understand. I remembered how she had left the Shadows to die after promising to help us. But… I just don’t know. I have lived for far too long. I accomplished what I’ve set out to do for over two hundred years. I can’t bring myself to start a new goal. I… you should leave me here. Let me die in the place where I’ve fought for so long.”
“Tetra,” Zelda said. This seemed too far removed from the real Tetra. Would she become like this some day? Weakened, defeated, without motivation? Zelda couldn’t see it. But she also couldn’t have envisioned Tetra going from her physical peak to standing on the doorway of death in such a short time. “Please fight. Please. We all need to fight to defeat Artemia. We need everyone at our disposal.”
But Tetra would not agree.
“I will only slow you down. My magic is fading. I am losing not just my physical strength, but my magical strength. My fire burns like a flicker instead of a flame, and my ice feels more like a melting cube than a frozen sword. I will do you no better than an infant magi who does not even know how to walk on their own two feet.”
Zelda began to despair. She could not change her mind. She wanted to believe otherwise, but she had nothing to support that fading hope.
But there is something she can still give you.
“Can I at least have the essence of Indica, then?” Zelda asked. “It may yet help us against Artemia.”
“By all means,” Tetra said, removing it from her pocket and handing it to Zelda with a shaky hand.
She did it with such little resistance that Zelda hesitated, sure this was some sort of test.
“My work is done,” Tetra said. “And Zelda… there is something you should know.”
Even by the standards of the last few minutes, Tetra seemed pained. She paused, as if realizing something, and looked over Zelda’s shoulder.
“Romarus. Yeva is in a room two doors down. Go speak to her. Advise her of what Zelda has told me. I wish to speak to Zelda in private.”
“Of course,” Romarus said, bowing and taking leave immediately. As he walked, Tetra slouched to the ground. Zelda quickly ran over and assisted her down, trying to hold back tears. Tetra couldn’t even stand anymore.
It wasn’t until his footsteps faded that Tetra resumed speaking.
“I found Garo’s teachings,” she said, followed by a violent cough. “I learned many things within. Things that you should read when the time has come. But for right now, Zelda, you should know something about me. I’m blocking you from reaching your full potential.”
Zelda scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. How? Tetra had lifted Zelda closer to her potential, not pulled her away. She’d given Zelda some of Indica’s powers. Tetra had done nothing but increased Zelda’s magical power.
“Garo realized some time ago that every couple of hundred years, Chrystos creates a being in his image blessed with immense power. That power, I have since intuited, grows with every new person from the previous soul. But there is a catch. If the person before still lives, that new power will not reach their full potential until the first person dies.”
She coughed some more, badly enough that she slumped to the ground. Zelda sat by her side, holding her hand, but now it shook even more violently than before. She tried to prop Tetra up, but she couldn’t even manage that. Zelda held her hand with both of her hands as Tetra fell to the ground.
“You, Zelda. I believe you were made in the image of Chrystos. You have his power. Garo did too.”
“But he’s dead. Why would you—”
“Our generation has stood in the way long enough, Zelda. We failed you. It is time for you to take over this war of the magi. It is time for you to become one of the greatest legends of the war.”
“Why can’t I do that with you still alive?!?” Zelda said, her voice rising and her fear of losing Tetra overcoming her. Then she became defiant. “If you want me to become a legend of the war, you won’t die on me. You won’t die until Artemia is defeated. Then I will let you earn your rest. But this is too important. The fall of the empire won’t mean anything if Artemia rises in place of it.”
Tetra gave a weak laugh, one that seemed to take effort more than being an organic response.
“You are learning to stand up for yourself. That’s good. You need to embrace your tougher side if you are to become a legend.”
“I did that in Dabira with the guards. I’ll do it here.”
Zelda knew she might have sounded petulant. She didn’t care. No one would die to let her become more powerful. Zelda had enough power. And if she didn’t, she didn’t want to live in a world where Tetra’s death had led to her ascension.
“You are serious,” Tetra said, surprised.
“I’m not letting you die, Tetra. Garo died in battle protecting all of us. You’re going to die the same way. Not hiding in your base. But out in battle.”
Tetra laughed softly, though Zel
da suspected she just could not laugh any harder.
“The spirit of the young has a way of invigorating the spirit of the old,” she said. “Even if I confused myself with what I was.”
She sighed. Zelda noticed, however, the trembling subsiding.
“I will go with you. But this is my final fight. I do not care if the defeat of Artemia leads to Iblis himself coming into Hydor. My body has outlived its usefulness, my soul yearns for peace, and my mind can barely muster the strength to endure more. I will not go on after this. I cannot go on after this.”
“I understand,” Zelda said. She wanted to fight for more, but she knew she’d gotten everything out of her that she could. Tetra would collapse if she had to go beyond—and she may yet still.
“If I fall on the path, if I perish at any point, do not stop to mourn my death,” Tetra said. “My legacy will live on through the example of your generation, Zelda. You and Yeva will lead the way forward. A ceremony or period of grief will not reflect on my legacy as well as you two carrying on the way of the magi.”
“I know,” Zelda said. “But if we do defeat Artemia and there are no further consequences, then you will receive a proper burial. I will take your body to Dabira.”
Tetra smiled, went silent, and a single tear streamed down her face.
“I would like that,” she said.
She seemed to collect herself, for she shook her head and laughed.
“Did you just come here with Romarus? How—”
“After you left, I ran into a dragon hunter named Abe,” Zelda said. “We went south to investigate what happened with Ragnor. But we narrowly avoided Artemia. Fortunately, after her, we ran into Romarus and the dragon hunter, Eric.”
She could see the recognition in Tetra’s face.
“We’re all here in Caia, though Eric and Abe are trying to get the guards to back off of the magi. I think they will come here later, but right now they are working with the soldiers.”
“As they should, Rufus loved the hunters,” Tetra said with a snort. “Perhaps they will give us the breathing space to head to Mathos. I wouldn’t plan on it, though—these guards have a way of getting in our way. In any case, though, while we wait for them, I want you to read something. Upstairs, near the stacks, you will find Garo’s meditations. They will help you more than they will help me. Clearly, given that I knew immediately from them I had to stop Artemia and I still fell into this trap of self-pity. You should go. Do not worry. I just need some time to regain my strength. I will not fall today.”
Legends of the War (War of the Magi Book 3) Page 15