“Exactly what they call me, a traitor and a kinslayer. I found a way to get away from the clutches of the Red God and I’m not going back. I’m also not letting him go free, so here we are,” Lucas revealed.
“Go free… how?” Raven inquired.
“The archangels of past hoped they would one day return to their home to banish the Red God. Therefore, they sealed his prison with keys, keys they hid on the populated worlds. And don’t worry, I have made sure that I don’t know where the keys are or what do they even look like,” Lucas exhaled.
“How come you could free yourself and others cannot?” Raven pressed.
“I am made from a different dream. Mine is the dream of freedom, theirs is not,” Lucas revealed.
“Why? Why are you the only one who’s different?”
“Because I was the one tasked with getting him out of his prison. I couldn’t do it. He punished me, tortured me, killed and remade me over and over and over again. But it didn’t help. At some point, when he tortured me to death and revived me for about seventy thousandth time, he imbued me with his own dream. Dream of freedom. Eventually, I found a loophole in his prison that let him send his servants out… so yes, I’m the reason why we have the world plagued by demons,” Lucas explained.
“No… you neither made them nor had a choice to not do it. Someone else would, even if you didn’t. Last thing, I want to see your real face. From what I understand, you are a spirit possessing a body… but you have your own form, one you can shift to, don’t you?”
“Where does that come from?” Lucas played cluelessly.
“Kayleanne showed me hers, so I figure you must have yours.”
Lucas smirked sadly, “I do, but I don’t show it… it’s the reason why I wear a mask when I fight.”
“Sorry, I was just curious. I still don’t know what to do about Kayleanne,” Raven sighed.
“That’s something you shall have to decide by yourself. Eventually, that is. Just remember one thing, no matter what she says or does when the Red God calls, she will obey. No matter what.”
A sharp shriek pierced the air. A scouting demon noticed their camp.
“Break’s over,” Lucas announced and they headed to the others to wake them up and continue their escape.
“How long is this going to take?” Zoey breathed weakly. They had been on horseback for over a week; their longest break was four hours. They were beyond exhausted.
“I think we are going to try to disappear in the north-eastern mountains. I’m so tired that I can’t even remember their name,” Raven breathed.
“Uhhh… yeah… just, how does Lucas sleep like this?” Zoey tossed up.
Lucas had a couple of spears attached to the saddle to make a support for his back. He was leaning on it and downright snoring.
“Practice, I guess. I also think this is why he told us not to come to the ball,” Raven replied.
“I was afraid someone would say it… especially him. Yes, in retrospect, were Lucas to be alone, he could have easily hidden from the army, which is pursuing us or have lost it by using a few longer teleports. With us, we would have all died on the first day without the undead horses,” Zoey evaluated sadly, “I just don’t get why are they after us so badly.”
“There is something strongly personal between Kayleanne and Lucas. But I don’t think that’s it because she isn’t the type to chase personal grudges when she is threatened. There has to be something that makes Lucas absolutely vital to the Palai Order, something which makes Kayleanne believe that if she can kill him, she wins,” Raven revealed.
“It’s the dream walking, isn’t it? I’ve been wondering about this since the start. We have spent all our time around the center of the continent. There is Palai army to the south, another to the north-east. We are where we are so he has an easier time contacting both armies through the Dream World. Were he to be with one of them, the other one would be too far to communicate easily… I should have realized this a long time ago. Fuck. I’ve spent months dragging my ass around you guys and I’ve missed the most important thing. I thought you and Lucas were a decoy to keep the demons busy. You are not. You are arranged to look like a decoy while you are literally the most important piece of his strategy. Kayleanne realized this, which is why she has been chasing you herself from the second you emerged out of the western forests,” Zoey realized.
“Well… I hope Lucas has a plan to get us out of this… because I don’t think I can handle much more riding,” Raven sighed.
“You two really know how to whine,” Lucas exhaled.
“Are things going bad in the Dream World?” Zoey smirked.
“I wish… I can’t dream walk from the saddle. Anyway, there is a Palai army beyond the mountains, once we cross them, we are fine,” Lucas revealed, “Luna!” he turned to her.
“Hnnnnhh?” Luna groaned painfully.
“This is where you split off. Head south-east till you run into your unit, then more south east until you reach a town named Flosa. The 3rd Legion is camping few miles north from there,” Lucas commanded.
“Uhhhgghh,” Luna exhaled and turned her horse. She tried to speak, but her body just didn’t manage.
“Just… how are we going to cross the mountains?” Raven asked as they got to the end of the foothills. Among the peaks flew so many demons that they blocked the sun.
“Well, I guess that’s the second part of their army. I’ve been wondering where it’s hiding,” Lucas smirked.
“What? That’s what you have to say? Our only escape route is cut off, we are exhausted to the point where a dozen smaller demons could kill us, we have no supplies and the horses look like they will collapse any minute,” Zoey shouted.
“Well, yeah. We head south-east, there is a town where we shall resupply and plan our next move,” Lucas added calmly.
“The demons are going to destroy that city,” Raven contested.
“Well, Zoey was right, we are out of everything. About the town, if it’s well fortified, we shall help defend it and then drag the demons away by slipping into the mountains in a way they can see us. I don’t think they will stay behind to get the town if it means we might get away,” Lucas stated.
“So, we have a choice between certain death and potentially dooming an entire town. Do we have a third option, because I don’t see any?” Raven asked uncomfortably.
“Nope,” Zoey confirmed grimly.
“I hate this,” Raven sighed.
“Yeah… I guess survival instinct beats the suffering of others a touch too easily,” Zoey shook her head as if to clear it. They turned the horses to follow Lucas.
It took another day of riding before they reached the mouth of the valley which featured the town at the other end.
“Well… the town does seem to be fortified, to say the least,” Raven breathed as they stared over the valley at Vlatton. The valley was long, but not very wide. On the sides were smaller but steep mountains, behind the town was a sharp, tall peak, the largest Raven had ever seen.
“On the downside, the valley is without a single tree. We will be sitting ducks on the way,” Zoey added.
“We need to ride fast then, now it doesn’t matter if the horses fall apart as we won’t need them when we slip into the mountains,” Lucas revealed and nudged the horse forward. They pushed the horses to the limit. To their surprise, the flying demons couldn’t catch up.
“Well, looks like they do get tired after all,” Zoey smiled.
As soon as they got close to the city, covering fire came and they made it to the gate. It was already opened and the wall of Palai soldiers was expecting them. Lucas leaped off the horse and headed toward the men. The horse collapsed behind him.
“Akku,” Lucas stepped in front of the soldiers and turned to a large man standing at the center.
“Lucas,” he acknowledged.
Zoey and Raven waited.
“Where is my room?” Lucas asked coldly.
“Third house from the left in
the inner circle. Your companion’s rooms are next doors,” Akku answered.
“Tell Li Mu I have arrived. I shall sleep for the next two to three days, do no wake me up,” Lucas ordered.
“Yes.”
Lucas didn’t wait for the answer and just passed through. He headed straight to the inner circle of the city.
“Care to explain?” Raven pried.
“I seriously need to go sleep so I shall cut this short. Who you see around is the 1st Legion. It was stationed here to help the city from stray demons, but well, we are on plan B now. Escaping through the mountains is not an option unless she withdraws her demons from them and we have nowhere else to go. Since we are done running from Kayleanne and her armies, we shall make our stand here. Go get some sleep; we are horrendously outnumbered,” Lucas replied.
“Legion… that’s a thousand men. Tell me there are some more soldiers around,” Zoey asked.
“The town has its own military and shall raise some militia. I’m guessing we shall have somewhere around three to four thousand men, in total,” Lucas stated.
“You want to defend a city with four thousand men against a demonic army of twenty to twenty-five thousand demons?” Zoey inquired in disbelief.
“If you’ve got a better plan, I’m all ears,” Lucas sighed. Nobody said anything. “On the plus side, they have no siege machines or supply routes and are likely dead tired from chasing us. At the very least, now we have time to rest for a day or two.”
50
Zerae
“I suppose asking the two of you if you have been good girls is pointless, isn’t it?” Zerae asked as she entered the Astril’s and Leena’s tent.
“Mostly,” Astril smirked and got up provocatively. She was naked. She walked to Zerae and weaved herself around her, leaning in for a kiss. Zerae smelled her strong flowery perfume. It made the anger inside of her disappear. She kissed her shortly.
“Is Leena out?” Zerae asked softly.
“Yep, she shouldn’t wake up for at least a day… wanna have some fun?” Astril suggested sweetly.
“Maybe later. What else did you lie to me about, Astril?” Zerae jabbed at her.
“Not much,” Astril breathed awkwardly.
“Tell me.”
“Well… remember when we split up for ten years? I didn’t exactly go to explore the world… I went here to James’ organization and spent the ten years being a bandit,” Astril admitted.
“Being a bandit… what exactly were you doing?” Zerae pressed.
“Well… the usual bandit stuff… raiding cities, pillaging villages, assassinations…” Astril started evasively.
“And?”
“Kidnappings, blackmailing, drug dealing and slave trading. I’m wanted in a few cities,” Astril revealed.
“Wanted? Where?”
“I’ve got about a million-gold bounty on me in Nurnfell, then smaller ones in almost every city between Voidspire and Redwall… the Urushnii really don’t like me either,” Astril replied.
That answers the question what does Astril do when she gets off the leash.
“So, you are wanted in literally half of the known world. Tell me you didn’t do it under the name of our clan,” Zerae whispered dangerously.
“No, of course not! I went under a nickname,” Astril returned.
“What nickname?”
“Astril, the Legion Slayer.”
“When you were with the bandits, who did you bed?” Zerae pressed.
Astril turned red. “There were quite a few people… you know that I don’t exactly stick to one person so much,” Astril exhaled.
“Are you sure there wasn’t any main one?” Zerae didn’t let up.
“Ivan.”
“You cheated on me with a man?” Zerae shouted.
“You weren’t around and I was pissed and he was nice and… yeah.”
That actually sounds like truth. Good. While I have been too dependent on her, I don’t have time to find someone else I can trust, at least not fast enough and I must have someone trustworthy… and Rael had a good point; sometimes it’s easier to just take the other person’s word for it.
“Whatever. I want to spar, get dressed,” Zerae ordered.
They met in the courtyard in a few minutes. She could see the hesitation on Astril’s face.
“Fight me with your full strength, I want to see how much you can do,” Zerae commanded and attacked with her signature top-down cut. Astril dodged it easily and launched a counter-attack. Zerae parried. They continued like this for a while.
I am slightly winning… as usual. Not even a hint of the speed and strength she used when she beheaded Barria.
“Stop taking it easy and fight for real!” Zerae ordered her.
“I am,” Astril breathed.
“Don’t lie to me, Astril!” Zerae pressed.
“I’m not!” Astril went for another exchange.
Now I’m slightly losing. She fights the same though… she is just slightly faster and more precise now. It’s… exactly like sparring with Lucas. Every spar with him is like this – I’m slightly losing, but not enough for it to be too obvious. This is actually eerily familiar. She moves somehow like him. He uses a longsword while Astril uses two arming swords, their fighting styles are like day and night… so what is this feeling of familiarity?
Zerae pushed forward aggressively; she tried to put Astril under pressure.
When they get into a bad position, they get out of it in an instant using a few quick, concise moves. The thing is that in the Dream World, Lucas is like a God. It is expected of him to be able to outpower me should he need to. But I’m supposed to be stronger than Astril. Hell, I’ve lived my entire life believing I’m stronger than her. I won the tournament; therefore, I am the strongest Faye warrior… then why can’t I shake the feeling that Astril is overwhelmingly stronger than me? After all, her teleportation is faster and less limited than mine, she has her flames while I have none and now she is outfighting me when I’m trying my best… and her style is really, really similar to that of Lucas. They use different weapons, but it feels the same. Almost identical.
“Let’s take a break,” Zerae stopped the spar. They sat down.
“Remind me, Astril, how did you get eliminated in the tournament?” Zerae shot as she grabbed a water skin.
“That was a long time ago,” Astril breathed and looked into the ground.
“I won’t hold it over your head no matter how embarrassing it is,” Zerae promised.
“I got a bit too much into playing around with Leena and we forgot about it… so I got disqualified for not coming to my first-round match,” Astril admitted.
This is exactly what I had thought. Astril wouldn’t lose on purpose; she is too proud of her strength for that… the fact that Leena did the same is definitely not a coincidence.
“Didn’t you want to fight in it? It was your chance to grab some high position, after all, the winner was named the War Leader of the United Faye clans,” Zerae probed. She knew the answer to it but wanted to hear it anyway.
“It was just stupid. You need to be smart to lead people, not be good at single combat. I know I’m not smart enough to make strategies or bullshit like that, so I figured I would just make space for others,” Astril replied.
Did you… or were you afraid of getting paired with me and having to either eliminate me or lose on purpose? Well… I suppose I can’t be too mad about this. After all, I did beat everyone else and claimed my position from there on. Objectively speaking, I don’t need to be the strongest. So why does this bother me so much?
“You know, Astril, I don’t care. I just need to be able to trust you… ever since I’ve become the War Leader, everyone has been more or less lying to me, trying to manipulate me or hiding things from me. You are the only one I’ve always trusted unconditionally. Don’t break this trust, Astril, just don’t,” Zerae stated.
“Don’t worry; I have never lied to you and never will. I promise,” Astril
smiled warmly and leaned in for a kiss.
You just did. But why? What is so bad about your strength that you need to hide it from me at all cost. You aren’t as stupid as you look, Astril, you know that this lie is a risk to our entire relationship… yet you do it anyway. Why?
“You know I love you. Wanna spar some more?” Astril tossed up charmingly.
I believe you. You do love me… I know it. What are you hiding that’s so bad you are willing to risk all of this for it? The only possibility is that it’s something that would end our relationship the second I find out. What did you do, Astril? It has to be something that can only be done with whatever you are hiding… you aren’t hiding your swordsmanship, are you? Your flames… you keep saying all they do is burn, but what if they don’t? Leena’s flame can turn into stone… what can your flame do that you risk everything so I don’t find out?
“Nah, we need to get ready to go. We have a war to win,” Zerae kissed her again and went to Belenus.
Well… there is one way to find out what can your flame do… I just have to force you to use it when I can see it.
They soon got ready and left to get back to the main Faye camp. Zerae tried to ignore Leena taking a dozen roasted chickens as a snack for the way, but she was embarrassed no matter how hard she forced herself to not think about it.
“That’s not where our headquarters is,” Astril observed.
“No shit,” Zerae remarked and led them on to the part of the Voidwalker’s part of the camp. She followed her cautiously while Leena was tagging along with them, fully consumed by the smoked lamb leg she grabbed at the storage. They raised a few curious looks, but nobody stopped them or asked anything as they marched toward the headquarters.
“Tell Chloe I’m here,” Zerae told the guards in a sharp tone.
“That won’t be necessary, she is inside,” one of the guards motioned them in.
“So, what have I missed?” Zerae tossed up as they entered.
Inside were Chloe and two other Voidwalker warriors going over a lot of maps. It was a total mess.
Legacy of Death_Revenge Page 40