“We believe Kitoh was meant to help you,” the mother said. “It is important in out city to repay our debts. If you are taking part in events that will change the world, it feels right that Kitoh would be there, helping.”
“Of course, we leave it up to him,” the father said. “But that is our proposition, and our suggestion.”
All of this was about the last thing Terico expected a child’s parents to say in such a situation. Did they really think Kitoh would be perfectly safe out there, traveling with strangers, fighting against dangerous enemies? Most parents would do everything they could to keep their child out of danger’s way, Terico thought.
“Well, it probably wouldn’t be for too long, and we’d bring you back home afterward,” Terico said. “But like I said, it won’t be a safe journey, and I don’t feel you’re obligated to help us more than you already have. But I’ll go ahead and ask anyways, if that’s what your parents wish... Do you want to come with us?”
“No,” Kitoh said, looking to the side.
“Why?” Kitoh’s father asked. “Most boys your age would be excited to help.”
“I’m... afraid,” Kitoh said in a soft voice.
“I’m sorry,” Kitoh’s mother said, placing a hand on the boy’s head. “If you wish to stay, that’s fine.”
“What is it you’re afraid of?” the father asked.
Kitoh looked to the ground for a few seconds before responding. “It will be dangerous. I’m afraid of dying... But mostly I’m afraid of myself. I... I turned into a monster. I don’t want to have so much power...”
Terico could understand what the child may have been thinking. Kitoh saw firsthand what a terrible man could do with the power to turn into a dragon. And he also saw said dragon die a grisly death at Terico’s blade. The memories of that terrible fight would never leave that boy, but the fact that Kitoh turned into a dragon very similar to Ganto would make the experience even more harrowing. Kitoh knew what it felt like to house the strength of a massive beast, and to blow fire capable of melting through everything in its path. The sheer destruction Kitoh could bring was more than a boy like him would ever want to be capable of. As the father implied, Kitoh wasn’t like most boys his age.
“I know what you mean, Kitoh,” Terico said. “If you remember, I also transformed when we fought Ganto and Delkol. It’s a frightening transformation, and the power I wielded was... probably more than any one person should ever have. But I kept hold of who I was. I knew what I was fighting for. And even though I looked different and felt different...” Terico motioned to his heart. “I wasn’t different. And I think you are stronger than you think, Kitoh. And I don’t mean strength as in Nexi power or ability to fight. You have the will to be precisely who you want to be.”
Kitoh looked up to Terico. The boy’s eyes were open wide, and Terico noticed just how weathered and beaten-down the child looked. It was clear Kitoh hadn’t been able to sleep at all.
“You’ve been through a lot,” Terico said. “Choose for yourself what you do next, but just know that I think you’re already a commendable eigni. Don’t come with us because your parents want you to, or because your society expects you to. Just do what you wish.”
Kitoh nodded, and a faint smile crept up the sides of his thin lips. “Thank you, Terico. I think... I think I’ll go with you. I’d like to see if I can find a good way to help more.”
Terico smiled, a part of him amazed that someone that young could be that selfless. “Right, then. We’ll wait for you to get what things you wish to bring.”
Kitoh returned to his home, and after a couple minutes came back with a small pack. He still had a worried look on his face, and Terico wondered how certain Kitoh actually was about coming with them. Perhaps it was impossible for the boy to be completely sure. How often was Terico completely sure of the choices he made? Kitoh had just gone two weeks on his own and had been all right, though, so perhaps he thought he’d be fine away from home for a while.
Once his parents finished their good-byes, Kitoh joined Terico, Areo, and Borely and headed down the city street to the dock. There weren’t many eigni walking the street at this hour, but there were some crowds looking over the burnt-down boats and working to recover items and materials lost in the water. Unfortunately Borely’s entire little ship was lost to the sea, so there wasn’t much chance of finding anything left intact.
Terico and his companions kept a good distance away from all the eigni at the dock. They waited in silence for the airship to arrive, and it wasn’t for another hour or so before it came into view. It was a small, clunky-looking dirigible. A loud mechanism of random metal parts, none of which seemed to match each other in color or texture. Terico led Areo, Borely, and Kitoh down an intact pier, where they awaited a rope ladder to lower from the airship.
Once the ladder was down, Terico worked his way up the creaky ropes—a long, difficult climb in his exhausted state. There was a good wind that morning, and Terico had to keep still at times to maintain a strong grip.
He soon made it to the top and grabbed a hand that reached out to help him aboard. Terico stepped into the dark, torchlit room and took a few seconds to catch his breath. He looked from the thin, slender arm he held and up to the face of this operative.
It was Suran.
8
Unexpected Reunion
Terico could hardly believe his eyes. Standing just in front of him, holding his hand—was Suran. The fact she was even alive was a miracle in and of itself, but to see her now... and here, of all places...
“Suran... you’re alive,” Terico said, almost disbelieving his own words—even with her standing right there. Ever since the attack on Edellerston, he had expected the worst for Suran. And in light of recent events, it felt strange to have such a positive turn of events in his life.
Suran smiled and took Terico’s other hand. “My brother and I took a secret passage from our workshop to the caves, where we hid for a few days... We eventually went to our airship in Plien though. My brother is on the bridge, piloting it right now.”
“I’m glad you’re all right,” Terico said. He heard Areo, Borely, and Kitoh make their way into the ship, but didn’t look back.
“Ah, you two know each other?” Borely asked.
“Yes,” Terico said. “Go ahead and roll up the rope ladder and close the hatch. I’ll be back with you in a minute.” Terico led Suran out of the room and into a dim, narrow hallway, which squeaked and vibrated with loud machinery.
He stared into Suran’s bright hazel eyes, overcome with the fact she was right here with him. “I... never found your body, or Lanek’s. I was afraid the Brotherhood captured you.”
Suran trembled a little, and her smiled faded away. Her eyes watered a bit as she spoke. “We came back to Edellerston. Once we felt it was safe, we searched the entire village. Everything was burnt down, and there was nobody there. No bodies anywhere... We searched for you, and for our parents, and for Turan... we searched for anyone. But there was nobody. We thought... you had died, Terico. I’m so sorry.”
It was just like Suran to apologize, though she had clearly done nothing wrong. Terico let go of one of Suran’s hands and placed it on her shoulder. “I had left already. I traveled with an old man named Jujor. We went to Merze, and then to an underground city below Edellerston. I had already buried everyone beforehand.”
Suran frowned. “Everyone?”
“I’m sorry,” Terico said. “Your parents were killed by the Brotherhood. I believe everyone we knew was killed that day.” The exception was Turan, of course, but Terico didn’t want to bring up what happened to him right now.
Tears flowed down Suran’s face, and she had to catch her breath for a few seconds. “Mother and Father...” She looked down and sniffed a couple times. “I... I’m sorry. Lanek told me they were most likely dead... But I had hoped... I hoped...”
She stepped closer to Terico and wrapped her arms around his back. Terico draped his arms over her shoulder
s and held her close, letting her cry on his shoulder.
“I understand how you feel,” Terico said. He closed his eyes and could see his parents’ deaths transpire right in front of him. Mother charging Father’s sword with Nexi energy. Father fighting off Delkol. Delkol setting Father ablaze with fire, then swiftly beheading Father and Mother in one stroke.
“I’m sorry,” Suran said, looking up at Terico. “You’ve lost your parents too...” She tried to hold back her crying, but the tears still dripped from her eyes. “It’s just so... It’s just not right. How could this happen? How could anyone do this?”
Terico shook his head. “It’s unthinkable, and yet it happens.” He couldn’t think of what else to say. He didn’t care how Delkol and his Brotherhood could be so heartless as to eradicate an entire village. There was no legitimate reason for it, and Terico intended to make them pay with their blood.
He held to Suran until she recovered from her grieving. Terico’s heart ached for her, and for a minute he wondered if he had ever truly mourned for the loss of his own parents. He had cried over the complete massacre that composed his village after the attack, but he busied himself with burying the dead right away. And all his thoughts had already turned to having his revenge on the Brotherhood. From the very onset, he latched onto the goal of killing Delkol.
I can mourn for the dead later, Terico thought. Once Delkol is dead and his Brotherhood destroyed—then I can mourn.
Once Suran was feeling a little better, Terico took her back to meet Areo, Borely, and Kitoh. But before Terico could begin recounting what he had been through the past couple weeks, Suran had everyone follow her to the bridge, so that Lanek would be able to hear everything as well.
The airship was a small one, and it made Terico feel even more ill at ease than Borely’s boat did. The high winds rocked the airship just as much as they did the boat, but the fact Terico was hundreds of meters in the air gave him a constant disconcerting feeling.
The bridge was at the front of the ship, and was a small room with a metal floor and lots of dark, crooked machinery. A boy Terico’s age sat in a chair overlooking a wide variety of bent levers, thin chains, and a variety of hooks and clamps. The boy was Lanek, an elf with hair as long as his sister’s, though his hair was a light turquoise rather than red. Terico had a class on Nexi control with him and Suran, and before and after class Lanek was nearly always in the middle of a group of cheerful classmates, usually composed of girls.
Even in this rusty airship, Lanek presented himself in an air of elegance. He wore a dark turquoise uniform that complemented his hair, along with black trousers, gloves, and boots.
“Welcome aboard the Seven-Three,” he said. “Or as I prefer to call it, The Finest Hour.”
“Glad to see you’re okay,” Terico said.
“Well, I’m glad you’re glad,” Lanek said, tilting his head and lowering his eyelids a bit. “I know Suran is glad.”
Terico had never spoken with Lanek too much, but each time he did Lanek always seemed a little... suspicious of Terico, if that was the right word for it.
“Yes, it’s wonderful,” Suran said, walking toward her brother. “Terico has always been a good friend.”
Lanek grabbed Suran’s arm and pulled her close. He spun her around, wrapped an arm around her stomach, and had her lounge back on his left leg, her head resting against Lanek’s right shoulder. Suran laughed and Lanek grinned, tilting his head atop of Suran’s.
Lanek turned serious and whispered in Suran’s ear. “Your eyes are bloodshot. Has he made you cry, Sister? I can toss him out the window if you wish.”
Suran nudged Lanek in the stomach and slipped out of his arms. “Oh, Lanek. You need to stop treating me like a little kid.”
“I’m sorry,” Lanek said. “You’re just too sweet and adorable, though.”
Borely leaned to Terico and whispered, “You said they are siblings, right?”
Terico sighed. “Yes, they just get along really well...” Or something. Lanek was just strange.
Lanek crossed one leg over the other and folded his arms. He looked over Terico and his companions and smirked. “I suppose I should learn your names. A colorful little group you’ve assembled here, Terico.”
“This is Borely, Kitoh, and Areo,” Terico said. “It’s a bit of a story how I met each of them.”
“A sailor, a powerful eigni child, and a vampire who has passed her Rite,” Lanek said.
“Um... yes,” Terico said, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve met them before?”
“No, of course not,” Lanek muttered. “But I have eyes.”
“Wait a second,” Borely said. “You could tell Areo was a vampire?”
“Well, yes,” Lanek said. “It’s kind of obvious.”
Borely’s face turned a bright red, though it was difficult to tell in the room’s poor lighting.
“Still, it’s surprising you could tell all this from looking at them,” Terico said.
Lanek held an arm to the side nonchalantly. “The man’s dressed like a sailor. Smells like one, too. As for the boy, well—I don’t imagine you’d drag along a nine, ten-year-old without good reason, and it is said the eigni have a natural connection with Nexi. He must have a particularly good connection, and is helping you find those Elpis fragments you love so much. As for the girl, well—I suppose she could be a hundred years old for all I know. But at any rate she’s a vampire, as evidenced by the pale skin, the pointed ears she’s trying to hide, the way she keeps her fingers slightly curled, the way she keeps her mouth clamped shut, and the... unseemly clothing she’s wearing. And she must have passed her Rite if she’s been able to travel with you in the daytime all this while.”
It was a terribly meticulous observation, which surprised Terico a bit. Lanek had never been one to stand out in class, but it seemed now that he likely just didn’t hold much interest in the things the teachers taught.
Borely turned to Areo and frowned. “I never did find out how old you really are. Maybe you are a hundred years old.”
“Almost,” Areo said. “Give me a few more months.”
“You’re ninety-nine?” Borely yelled. “You have to be kidding me!”
Lanek leaned his head back and clenched his teeth. “Not so loud, please.”
Borely shook his head and threw his hands up in frustration.
“No need to throw a fit,” Lanek said. “From what I understand, the number of years a vampire lives doesn’t have much effect on her age, if you follow.” He turned to Terico and leaned forward a bit, shifting to a new subject. “Fortunately I have recently received from Rilv an overview of what you have been up to. You have a piece of the Elpis?”
Terico pointed to the pouch at his belt. “I have one, and Delkol has one.”
Lanek tossed Terico a stone, and he caught it.
“Now you have twoooooo,” Lanek said slowly, raising two fingers.
Terico looked at the small rock, and found its glow constantly shifting from one color to the next. Like the piece Terico had, this was perfectly smooth save for the end where it was broken off. It really was an Elpis fragment.
“How... How did you...?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Lanek said, closing his eyes and holding his hands out to either side of himself.
“Brother exaggerates,” Suran said. “When we went to our airship, we met with a woman named Rilv, who works for the royal court. She told us that Delkol likely destroyed Edellerston in order to find a piece of the Elpis, a powerful stone the government has tried to keep secret. She asked us if we could use our airship to go look for an Elpis piece at the ancient ruins of an island called Reipol. Lanek was anxious to do whatever he could to stop Delkol, so we accepted the mission.”
“Not anxious,” Lanek said. “I simply... needed something to do.”
“We searched several islands before finding the right one,” Suran continued. “We eventually found one with some very tall mountains and found some old stone ruins hidden in the s
now. But when we found the Elpis fragment... we were attacked.”
Lanek’s expression grew surprisingly grim. “Knight’s armor... without the knights. Just collections of floating armor from some long-forgotten era of the past. Phantoms, as it were. Phantoms guarding their treasure.”
“You fought off phantoms of knights?” Terico asked, surprised Suran was involved in such a dangerous situation. He knew she and Lanek were talented with Nexi stones, but he had never thought of them as the fighting type—especially Suran.
“We had to,” Suran said. “I felt bad for them, but they were trying to kill my brother.”
“And you,” Lanek added. “Those foul demons slashed open your right thigh, if you remember. Spilling your precious blood across the snow, scarring your slender, beautiful leg... I’ll never forgive myself.”
Terico looked to Suran’s leg—which was covered by her skirt, of course.
“I’ll be fine,” Suran said with a smile. “Brother bandaged me up, and I’m already well enough now to walk. He seems to forget he was the one nearly killed, though.”
“A couple of the buffoons had the nerve to try dropping a boulder on me while I was busy fighting the others,” Lanek said. “Sister pulled me away with vines in time, but a chunk of the rock chipped off and bashed me in the back of the head. Knocked me out cold for hours, Suran tells me.” He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Doubt the lump will ever go away, though.”
Terico stifled a laugh, but Lanek still seemed to notice Terico’s amusement.
Lanek glared at Terico but continued his account. “So in the end, Sister finished off the knights and obtained the Elpis, then helped me back to The Finest Hour. Eventually we let Rilv know of our success, and were told to just lay low for a while. She was still trying to work out where other pieces of the Elpis could be, it seems. But last night we were told to fly over to Vursa and pick you lot up. It seems you’re an important part of Rilv’s plans, seeing as she wants you to have the Elpis fragments.”
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