by Dixon, TJ
“Yes… He’s not in good shape. He did this to Lucy before he regained control of his body. The enemy were reduced to charred corpses. He blames himself for everything.”
“Where is he?” Rin asks concerned.
“I don’t know. He ported. He was saying he couldn’t return to the academy.”
“That idiot!” Rin says and punches the wall. She then winces at the pain and waves her hand a little to relieve the pain.
“He’ll be back.” Rin’s mother says and puts a hand on Rin’s shoulder. Rin looks back and up at her.
“Are you sure?” Rin asks.
“Yes.”
(Alumia)
I am back in the forest but Emily is with me and so are a hundred elite mages. We are hunting a Death Bird. We have been hunting a Death Bird for about a week but it is like a needle in a haystack. We have killed other monsters that should not be here and sent wayward students, who should also not be here, home.
“There’s something close.” I say quietly. We ready our magic as one, and Emily raises her insanely powerful shield. If it is the Death Bird we will need everything we have. If it is the master of the Death Bird we are in deep trouble.
“Hello.” A boy says and after a moment I realise it is Peter. He has a smile on his face but it doesn’t reach his eyes, or his voice. After a moment I notice tear stains down his cheeks.
“What are you doing here boy?” A mage next to me asks sternly.
“Hunting.” He says.
“You…” She starts to say but Emily cuts her off.
“Peter. I thought you were infected by the Death Bird.”
“I was.” He says and everyone around us is clearly disbelieving. People don’t recover from a Death Bird infection. They die or go mad. Peter obviously isn’t dead but is he mad? He doesn’t sound it.
“How did you recover?” Emily asks clearly only a little suspicious. Not having been brought up in Contractia she doesn’t have the same deeply ingrained belief in her that the Death Bird is certain death or madness.
“Lucy used a ring to dive into my soul and kill... what was in me. She was left close to death herself though.”
“What ring?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that she took it from the dragon’s lair.”
“Impossible!” A mage beside me responds.
“Silence!” Emily says before anyone else can join in. The mage looks down at her feet and does her best to not be noticed any more. An unwelcome interruption to the previous queen would have resulted in instant death. She is lucky that Emily is much more merciful.
“Alumia have you heard of any ring with such a power?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The dragon lair used to be a royal palace so there certainly are magical items of great power there. The problem is that anyone trying to take them would be killed by the dragon. With the dragon awake all Contractia would be in grave danger.”
“Lucy didn’t wake the dragon.” Peter says. From the fact that we haven’t had any reports of cities destroyed it seems quite clear that the dragon is still asleep.
“How did Lucy know that this ring was there?”
“She had connections to the old royal family. If it was a royal palace then she may have simply known.” Peter says sounding a little cautious not to say too much.
“What exactly are you here to hunt?” Emily asks putting aside the matter of his miraculous recovery.
“The Death Bird, but I can’t kill it alone.” He says. There are gasps all around me and I can’t say I am not shocked.
“We are here to kill the Death Bird. You can go home.” Emily says.
“But you are in totally the wrong part of the forest.” Peter says dubiously.
“Are you saying you know where it is?” Emily asks in surprise.
“Yes. I can show you if you can kill it.” Peter replies.
“How do you know where it is?” Emily asks.
“I can sense it.”
“How?”
“Perhaps because it infected me, but I don’t know for sure though.”
“Everyone prepare for battle. Peter, please share its location with me.” Emily says.
We ready our senses and our attacks. Emily and Peter place their foreheads together for a moment. Then Emily raises her shield and ports us all. The Death Bird is small and black. Feathers fly our way and even Emily struggles to hold the shield. We launch fire and lightning at the Death Bird and it shrieks. Around it black flames flare up and throw back our attacks against Emily’s shield. The dark flames themselves reach out and grab hold of the shield. It shakes for a moment but holds.
Ice attacks are next but the ice melts before it can reach the bird. As an air mage I along with many others try to rob the flames of their air but they just flare up even stronger. Earth and stone rise from the ground and attack the bird from all directions but shatter the moment they touch the flames. Freezing cold water tries to vanquish the flames but turns to steam. Even with a hundred of the best mages of Contractia shielded by Emily, and so free to concentrate on attack, can we not beat a mere creation of the Fallen Angels?
“Increase the air.” Peter says quietly in my ear.
“But the flame will burn even stronger!” I protest.
“Exactly, it will burn too strong. The Death Bird will either be burnt by its own flame, or will have to stop using it.”
“What makes you so sure?” I ask.
“There’s no time to explain. The shield is about to fall if this continues much longer.” Looking at Emily on her knees I see how weak her power has gotten compared to normal. He is right. We need to finish this quickly.
“Air mages! Increase the air of the enemy’s flames!” I shout and there are incredulous looks aimed my way, but they obey. The flames flare up and reach towards the sky. For a moment I am sure that Emily is about to be overwhelmed as they crash against her shield. She closes her eyes and I can hear her gasp in pain but then the flames are gone and a spark of lightning lights the air around the Death Bird. Normal flames rush towards it quickly aided by magical ones. I send lightning of my own and in an instant the Death Bird is reduced to ash by our combined attack. I then look at Peter and ask. “That was your lightning wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” Peter say with a shrug and ports away before I can ask any more questions. I look at the air where he was a moment ago and sigh. There would be no time to ask questions even if he was still here.
Thanks to Emily’s shield nobody has been harmed other than by overuse of magic. That said, if the Fallen Angels were to invade right now we would be helpless. Worse this was just a creation of the Fallen Angels and we were almost beaten. If the Fallen Angels invade even at the best of times we will be in serious trouble. If they were watching our fight, they will know this just as well as we do.
Looking to the mages around me I can see that morale is at its lowest since the rebellion. These are the faces of the scared, not the fearless faces of Contractia the Invincible. Contractia said to be the centre of the universe, whose mere name inspires terror in the hearts of even the strongest of foes. This is the land where even the gods do not trespass. This fear will not do. If the regular army sees the elite looking like this we will be in even more trouble. Something must be done.
(Hermes)
I lie on my bed exhausted and a little scared. I rub my stomach. The pain is gone thanks to Rin but I still recall the kick. I had thought that I would never be so helpless again, that I would never be hurt like that unable to do anything to protect myself again.
I look at Lucy’s empty pillow and wonder how long until she wakes up. I try not to think if she will wake up. She will wake up. Lucy is so strong for someone so small. There is no way that she will let something like this beat her. She will wake.
I close my eyes and pray that Peter will be back tonight. He has gone through a lot. I thought I had lost him forever and then he returned. And now he is gone again and I don’t know when he will be
back. Again I try not to think if.
“Hermes.” A small voice says weakly. I open my eyes and sit up in an instant. Sure enough it is Peter. Looking at him though, this isn’t the fearless Peter that slays monsters with me and gives the right order calmly no matter the situation. This is Peter the little boy. Only looking at him now do I remember just how young he is.
“Peter.” I say after a moment. I had thought of lots of things to say but now the moment has come I am at a loss for words.
“I’m sorry!” He says and there are tears in the corner of his eyes.
“It’s OK. There’s no, no need to be sorry.” I say in a panic.
“Lucy?” He asks desperately.
“She isn’t awake yet. Rin’s mother is looking after her for now.”
“Please… can I sleep with you?” Peter says and it takes a moment to sink in. I had been terrified that he would order me to do this. Then as I got to know him more I started to secretly hope he would one day order me to. I wouldn’t be betraying Rin if it was an order. But now? Under these circumstances? I want my first time to be a happy thing. There is nothing happy about this. “I… can’t?”
“It’s not that you can’t. I’m your slave so if you order me I will have no choice, but… I don’t want my first time to be like this.”
“First time?” He asks blankly. Looking at him I realise my mistake.
“When you said sleep, you just meant sleep didn’t you?” I ask to be sure.
“What else would I mean?” He asks.
“Never mind.” I say hastily.
“I don’t want to order you. I said before that you should not think of yourself as a slave. I… just don’t want to be alone. I’m scared. Scared of the darkness. Scared I won’t wake up. That I’ll return to…” Then he bursts into tears and falls to his knees. Looking at him I am ashamed I thought of him like that.
“It’s OK. You can sleep with me.” I say. Then a scary thought occurs to me. “Just don’t tell Rin. Or anyone for that matter.”
Chapter 17 (Rin)
Normally I wouldn’t port directly into Peter and Hermes room. It is a little rude. They gave me access to port in case of an emergency but this isn’t what they intended it for. This morning though I want to find out right away whether Peter is back. I’m wide awake despite it being so early. I haven’t even changed into my uniform yet. So yes I’m being a bit rude but I am sure they will forgive me. Especially after everything that has happened. I just hope that Peter is there to forgive me.
Peter’s bed is empty. I sigh quietly and take a quick look at Hermes before porting back. I take a double look. It’s not just my eyes playing tricks on me. She’s in bed with Peter. I know it’s perfectly innocent just by looking but I can’t help myself. Although I am relieved to see him back, and I know it is innocent it still hurts to see them like that. I must tease her about this. I walk over to her and gently poke her cheek.
“Umm.” She says and rolls over but is still asleep. I gently poke her other cheek. “Ummm.” She says still mostly asleep but is clearly starting to wake now. I poke her again still gently but slightly firmer this time. She starts to open her eyes but is looking away from me.
“Hermes.” I whisper in her ear.
“Ummmh.” She says and still half asleep looks at me but without really seeing.
“Hermes.” I say and she yawns but after a moment she sees me.
“Rin?” She asks sleepily. I point beside her at Peter. She looks at him. Looks back at me and then looks at him again. This time when she looks at me she looks scared. “Rin, I, umm, I can, explain.”
I decide to tease her a little more. “You mean you can explain why you took advantage of Peter?” I whisper and put on a scary face. Her expression is priceless. Then I silently laugh and grin. “Just kidding. If you ever did take advantage of him though, I am sure I don’t need to tell you how bad that would be, or how badly I would punish you. Let’s meet for breakfast at the Drake later. Sorry to wake you so early.” I say before porting back. Undoubtedly Hermes breathes a sigh of relief when I am gone.
Perhaps I was a little evil but seeing them in bed like that hurt. It’s not like I want to be in bed with Peter myself. He’s still a kid no matter how mature he acts. But he’s not always going to be a kid of course and even now I have feelings for him. It doesn’t feel like how mother describes love, but I definitely care about him as more than just a friend. A best friend? I’m not sure. That feels more like Yu Kii or more likely Elucia to be perfectly honest.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Elucia. I think Peter has forgotten her but he didn’t really know her. I knew her most of my life. So what is Peter to me? I don’t know. He is important though, and it would really hurt if he was taken away like Elucia, or worse, killed. When I thought he was gone forever, taken from me by the Death Bird, I felt that pain. Now he is back I am grateful but still confused.
Yu Kii is still asleep and it is too early to wake her. Hermes must be cursing me now for waking her so early. With Peter there she can’t get up without waking him. I doubt she’ll be able to get to sleep again easily after our little chat and with Peter on her. I smile. I’m not evil really though. Probably. I can laugh about it now because Peter is back. My mother will have Lucy awake in no time and we can put this behind us.
I get clean and dressed. Then I walk out my door and see someone who is evil. Really evil. Claire. I raise my shield and shout, “Yu Kii! Enemy!”
“Wait. I’m not here to fight.” Claire says in a hurry.
“Are you here to die then?” I ask.
“I have something you need and I need your help.” Claire says.
“What exactly do you have?” I ask suspiciously. I sense Yu Kii behind me.
“The small one soul dived and now she isn’t waking, right? I know how to wake her.”
“How?”
“I’ll tell you if you make a contract with me.”
“What do you want?”
“Let’s talk inside before anyone sees us.”
“Fine.” I say. She is a wanted criminal sentenced to death. She did try to destroy an entire city so her sentence is certainly deserved. But if she can save Lucy then it is worth at least hearing her out. It’s lucky nobody else heard my shout. The rooms are sound proofed though so unless a door was open they wouldn’t hear me, and it is too early for any sane person to be up. I let her in but keep my shield up. She shuts the door behind us.
“What I want is protection.”
“How are we meant to protect someone sentenced to death?” I ask dubiously.
“Not from the government or royalty. Those fools aren’t going to get me in a million years. I want a contract that none of your little band of friends is going to come after me. Especially Peter. I also want you to deal with my former boss. He’s a wanted criminal so you can get the bounty whilst you’re at it.”
“He… You worked for a man?”
“He was the cruellest person I knew other than my mother and the queen. Since they were both dead he seemed the best person to work for. Unfortunately now he thinks I betrayed him and he’s out to get me. I’ll leave the contract with you. If you want to make this deal then just sign it and kill him. I’ll know of course but the contract itself will reveal how to save the small one. You’ll never see me again.”
“Is it written in the contract that you’ll never come after us either?” I ask.
“Of course, but after seeing that boy on a rampage… If he wasn’t my enemy I might have considered working for him. I certainly don’t want to piss him off again, let alone fight him. Lucy may have killed that thing inside him, but...”
“I don’t mind you being scared of Peter if it means that we don’t have to deal with you again and we get a cure for Lucy, but don’t insult Peter in front of me. Better yet just don’t insult Peter.”
“Are you going to sign that now?”
“Without reading it through? Do you think I’m suicidal?”
&
nbsp; “I promise that there’s nothing to worry about.” Claire says sounding wounded but I can tell it is just an act. An idiot could tell that. “One last thing… He was the one who ordered my mother to have me destroy the capital.” With that she ports away. She could of course be lying about that but a contract is enforced by magic. If we do this then both sides will be forced to obey the contract or suffer the consequences. In this case the consequences are instant death, which is not uncommon in such serious contracts.
I read the contract carefully and so does Yu Kii. I check it to make sure it is magically signed and it is. This is definitely Claire’s magical signature. We can’t see any loopholes. Once we agree to the contract both sides are unable to intentionally harm each other. There are no consequences if we are unable to kill our enemy. The information we need will be revealed even if he is killed by someone else, or even if he accidentally dies. I want to check at the town hall that there is definitely a bounty on him but otherwise I can see no problem.
Peter and Hermes will need to take a look too before any of us sign it. It is only effective with all of our signatures. Claire doesn’t seem to know about Charlotte but she knows about Emma. Sending members of our team against her would however trigger the consequences for whoever sent them even if that member would not be harmed. Claire however can’t knowingly harm newer members of our team either, unless in self-defence. It is still way too early to wake Peter and Hermes. Jenny and my mother are also probably asleep.
“Unless Peter is back we aren’t able to get all the signatures.” Yu Kii says worriedly.
“He’s back.” I say.
“What?! How do you know?”
“I ported over there earlier to check.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Yu Kii asks sounding a little hurt. I feel a little guilty as she must have been worried too.
“I’m sorry. With Claire and the contract I forgot you didn’t know.”
“Well it’s good to know he’s back. Why don’t we go over there now?”
“He’s not awake.”