Inassea Chronicles: The Blighted Flame

by P. A. Peña

  “That’s good. We have some time to relax before things get hectic again.”

  Aurelia nodded as she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and exhaled. A faint blue mist cascaded over Virgil and enveloped his body. It wasn’t nearly as potent as Cordellia’s, but comforting nonetheless.

  “Is Fynn okay?”

  The mist faded just as quickly as it had come. “Fynn?” Aurelia said, taken aback.

  “Yeah. Last I remember, he was moments away from death and too stubborn to care.”

  “He’s doing okay. He went kicking and screaming, but Logan pulled him out of the Network and Cordellia’s staff patched him up.”

  Virgil breathed a sigh of relief. “And what about Logan?”

  “He’s doing well. He wasn’t nearly as banged up as you and I were.”

  “No,” Virgil said with a shake of his head. “That’s not what I meant. How’s he doing since finding out about Paisley?”

  Aurelia paused, her eyes trained on the floor. “Oh. He’s pretty much acting how I expected he would.”

  “I take it that’s a bad thing.”

  “It is what it is.” Aurelia shrugged as she looked back at Virgil. “He’s upset now, but he’ll get over it. He always does.”

  “And how are you feeling?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, I’m okay. I hate keeping secrets from him, but sometimes, I feel like I don’t have any other option. Logan can be so stubborn sometimes. Like no matter what, he knows what’s best for me. It can be so frustrating. You know?”

  “Have you told him this?”

  Aurelia forced out a chuckle. “Why bother? Nine times out of ten, he’s right, and I just end up looking like a dumbass little kid again.”

  “Even if that’s true, you should tell him how you feel. Things won’t change if he doesn’t know he’s upsetting you.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “If you want,” Virgil continued. “I can talk to him with you. Perhaps together—”

  “No,” Aurelia said sharply. “That’s a bad idea.”

  His eyes narrowed as bewilderment washed over Virgil’s face. “And why is that?”

  “It just is. You’re sweet to offer, but I can handle it on my own.”

  “Well, if you change your mind, I’m more than willing to back you up.”

  Aurelia conjured the Saint’s Breath once more. This time the mist was thicker and much more vivid.

  Virgil opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. He knew what he wanted to ask. The question was burning through his mind like a flaming arrow. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to let the inquiry escape his lips. He locked eyes with Aurelia, and quickly turned away. Virgil swallowed the lump in his throat, and took a deep breath. “Is, uh, how is Olivia?”

  Aurelia grinned, her eyes lit with excitement. “Boy, I thought you were never going to ask. She’s doing well. Cordellia’s healers took care of her. More importantly though, she asked quite a bit about you.”

  “She did?” Virgil asked, his stomach fluttering as he turned back to Aurelia.

  “She did.”

  “Well, what did she ask? What did you say? What did—”

  “Easy there,” Aurelia replied. “We’ll get to it. She asked a bunch of personal stuff, which obviously was just a ploy to get know your likes and dislikes. I told her what I could, but most importantly, she asked if you and I were a thing. I told her no, of course.”

  Virgil took in a deep breath as relief washed over him, and he couldn’t help but grin.

  Aurelia giggled. “You’ve never done this before, have you?”

  “Is it really that obvious?”

  “It is, but I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Aurelia winked at Virgil. “You’ve got me in your corner after all.” Her gaze drifted down towards Virgil’s chest. A frown stretched across her face, and the mist disappeared again.

  “What is it now?” Virgil asked.

  “Nothing,” Aurelia said, her tone low. “I just, I was thinking about your scars.”

  Virgil looked down at his chest, and thoughts of Cecelia, the vile witch responsible for dealing him that blow flooded his mind. He forced a smile. It was all he could do to keep the rage from boiling inside him.

  “I’m sorry,” Aurelia said. “I didn’t mean to stare before. They just look so painful. I couldn’t imagine living through an injury like that.”

  “This is nothing. My father got the worst of it.”

  “Can you tell me about it?”

  “About what part?” Virgil asked.

  “About everything.” Aurelia placed her hand on Virgil’s chest. “I get the feeling you’re holding on to a lot of pain and suffering. You don’t have to carry that alone. I can help you.”

  “Ah,” Virgil replied with a smirk. “You mean like letting me help you with Logan?”

  Aurelia leaned on the edge of the table and sighed. “Okay, I walked right into that one. How about this? If you let me help you, then I’ll let you help me. Sounds fair, right?”

  “I suppose that works,” Virgil said as he sat up alongside Aurelia. “I swear, by the end of this exam, I’m not going to have any secrets left.”

  Aurelia rolled her eyes. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “I’m not sure I’d call it a good thing.”

  “Quit stalling,” Aurelia prodded.

  “Okay, okay.”

  Virgil revealed everything. His brother’s disappearance. The witch responsible. His failure to make her pay for what she had done. What his shortcomings had cost him. What they cost his father. As he spoke, his shoulders eased up. It was as if he had been saddled with a thousand weights, and with each word that left his lips, another weight disintegrated.

  “I’m not sure what happened after the light,” Virgil said. “I blacked out, and my memory still hasn’t come back after all these years. I don’t know if it ever will. What I do know is that I woke up sometime later, and Cecelia was gone. I remember my chest feeling as if it had been doused in gasoline and lit on fire.” Virgil tensed up as he rubbed his hand across his chest. “Even now, I can feel it stinging sometimes. It’s like my skin is burning from the inside out.”

  “That’s terrible,” Aurelia said.

  Virgil nodded. “My father got it so much worse. He was so strong, and he held on for so long, but even he couldn’t keep the curse at bay forever.” Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, and his hands began to tremble. “He was my hero. He was everything I wanted to be, and in the end, he wasted away.” Tears poured down his face. Aurelia leaned over and placed her arms around him, holding him tightly. “I tried for so long to cure him. I took him to see specialist after specialist. I tried every elixir you could think of, but nothing worked. In the end, my only hope was to track down Cecelia and force her to undo her curse before it was too late.”

  “But you couldn’t find her in time.”

  Virgil nodded, his tears coming to a halt. “I’m still looking for her, and the Crusader’s Alliance is going to be my ticket to her doorstep. When I finally find her, I’m going to repay her for all the suffering she’s caused. The one thing that saddens me is that I’ll only get to kill her once.”

  “Will that really make you happy?” Aurelia asked.

  “What do you mean?” Virgil asked as he pulled back. “Of course it will.”

  “I mean killing Cecelia isn’t going to bring your family back. Do you really think it will make you feel any better?”

  Virgil paused for a moment as he looked down at his necklace. “I don’t know, but it’s a damn good place to start.”

  Chapter 22

  Virgil sat in the banquet hall, his mouth flooding at the sight of the feast spread out before him. A symphony of smells flooded his nostrils. There were cheese-covered eggs scrambled to perfection, bacon with crispy edges and soft, chewy centers, powdered toast with fresh vanilla, and a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade. He dug in, the thought of waiting another moment a comp
lete and utter travesty.

  “Must you eat like an animal,” Logan said from across the table, a cup of coffee in hand.

  “Look,” Virgil said between bites of egg and toast, “last time I was here, I only had a couple of lukewarm pastries. I’m making up for lost time.”

  Aurelia giggled as she nudged Virgil’s ribs with her elbow. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

  Logan tilted his head. “You two are more chummy than usual.”

  “Not really,” Virgil said after swallowing a gulp of lemonade. “If anything, you’re more grouchy than usual.”

  “I’m not grouchy,” Logan grumbled.

  “If you’re not grouchy, then I’m not eating the best damn powdered toast in the world.” Virgil took his fork and dipped a piece of toast in a pool of syrup before taking a bite. “Mmm. Yeah. Just as I thought. These are savagely delicious.”

  “I think what Virgil is trying to say,” Aurelia said between giggles, “is that you seem on edge. Is everything all right?”

  “I’m perfectly fine,” Logan replied. “I’m sure that after our talk yesterday, everything will straighten itself out.”

  “About that. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  At the head of the banquet hall, a white void appeared, and Roxanne entered the room. By now, the applicants had grown accustomed to her grand entrances. They turned quiet almost instantly and awaited her instruction.

  “Good morning,” Roxanne said. “I hate to interrupt a good breakfast, so I’ll try to make this as brief as possible. It brings me great pleasure to announce that we are entering the fourth phase of the exam. In years past, we’ve implemented more phases, but this year’s exam has proved to be much more grueling than anticipated. Truth is, if we follow our normal protocol, we fear none of you will make it to the finish line. And so, I’m certain you will also be happy to know this will be the final phase of the exam.”

  The crowd erupted in jubilee.

  “Hold your excitement,” Roxanne said, raising her hand. “I’m not finished. Per usual, the final phase of the exam is a mentorship. You will each be grouped into teams and assigned a rook or queen level Crusader. Once again, you are free to form your own teams, however, if you are unable to do so, we will group you together into a team of at least three. Under the guidance of your mentor, you will develop your skills, learn exactly what it means to be a Crusader, and get first-hand experience working in the field.”

  Wait, Virgil thought. Does that mean?

  “Yes, you heard me correctly. As of right now, you are all probationary Crusaders. Congratulations.”

  The crowd exploded into a celebration much more boisterous than before. There wasn’t a body still seated.

  “All right,” Roxanne said. “I have one last announcement to make. As an introduction to the fourth phase, we will be holding a tournament. Each of you will be pitted against another in a series of one-on-one battles to determine who among you is the strongest. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, what’s the point of this if you’re already probationary Crusaders? Well, the reason we have this tournament is to determine your starting rank in the Alliance.” The crowd was silent as everyone hung off Roxanne’s every word. “For those of you who don’t know, the Crusader’s Alliance is broken up into ranks. At the bottom, we have the pawns, followed by the knights, then the bishops, then the rooks, then the queens, and finally the kings. As I’ve already stated, you’ve all been accepted as probationary Crusaders, so if you’d rather not fight, we won’t force you to do so. However, know that you will be starting out at the bottom of the heap, and thus, missing out on crucial opportunities. The tournament will consist of four rounds. Our tournament winner will be crowned rook, the semi-finalists bishops, the quarter finalists knights, and everyone else Pawns.”

  This is it, Virgil thought. Orlando said rooks get to work on their own. I’d have to report to a queen, but still. If I win this tournament, I’ll be in the perfect position to finally hunt down Cecelia.

  “You’ll have three days from now to prepare. On the morning of the tournament, you will find instructions in your rooms detailing where to gather on the island. For those of you who choose not to participate, please enjoy everything we have to offer here in the castle and patiently await the tournament’s completion.”

  With that, Roxanne left, and the banquet hall fell into an uproar.

  “We did it,” Aurelia said, her smile brimming ear to ear. “We’re Crusaders, Logan. Just like Mom and Dad.”

  Logan shot Aurelia a cold, domineering stare, and the joy drained from her face.

  “That was a little uncalled for,” Virgil said, his brows lowered. “Your sister’s excited. You should be too.”

  “I’m ecstatic,” Logan replied, dry as a bone.

  “You have a funny way of showing it.”

  “Shouldn’t you be going off to do some training? I imagine you’ll be gunning for the top spot, after all.”

  “Of course, but no. I’m probably going to just relax. The best thing I can do is clear my mind after all of the stress I’ve been through. I’m sure you two could use a break too.”

  “I don’t think so,” Logan said with a laugh. “Aurelia and I will be deep in training.”

  Logan began to walk away but stopped when he noticed Aurelia hadn’t budged. “Aren’t you coming?” he said as he turned back around.

  “I think some rest right now would be good,” Aurelia said, her tone low, almost inaudible.

  “Now is not the time for that. Have you forgotten how shaky your ice conjuration is? There are several techniques you can improve upon before the start of the tournament.”

  “Dude, we just went through a lot in the last phase,” Virgil said. “I think she’ll be fine if she slacks off for a day or two.”

  “Forgive me,” Logan said. “But we are not people who care to throw caution to the wind and hope for the best.”

  Virgil clenched his fists, as he ground his teeth. “And what is that supposed to mean?” he asked, as if he didn’t already know the answer.

  Logan glared at Virgil. “It means what you think it means.”

  “You guys are making too big a deal out of this,” Aurelia said, walking towards her brother.

  “Aurelia—”

  “Logan makes a good point, Virgil. We could have avoided some dangerous situations if I had a better grasp of aquamancy. There’s plenty for me to work on, and it will only help me better prepare for the tournament.”

  Virgil paused for a moment as he looked at Aurelia, and then to Logan. “If that’s really what you want to do, then fine. But please don’t think you have to.”

  Aurelia flashed a smile. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Why don’t you see what Olivia’s up to? Perhaps you two could spend some time together. You are running out of time, after all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, after the exam, I imagine we’ll be going our separate ways. If you don’t establish a bond with her now, then you might not get another chance later.”

  Virgil nodded as he exhaled. “That’s an excellent point.”

  “You got this.” Aurelia winked. “Remember, she already likes you. Just be yourself, and you have nothing to worry about.”

  Chapter 23

  Virgil walked through the halls of the castle. He had locked onto Olivia’s aura signature and was on his way to her location with a bouquet of flowers he had scrounged together from the various gardens spread around the castle. The closer he got, the more his heartbeat ramped up, and his nerves seized up like rusty locks.

  “This is stupid,” he said to himself. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve never had a girlfriend before. Hell, you’ve never talked to a woman before.” He stopped, frozen in place. A hard lump swelled in the back of his throat, and his stomach turned. “You’re going to make an ass out of yourself. You’re going to look like a fool again, and this time you won’t be so lucky.” Aurelia’s words echoed throug
h Virgil’s mind. “She thinks I can do it,” he said as he resumed walking. “Yeah. She’d know.”

  Virgil stopped again, and frowned. “But what if she lied to me?” He shook his head and continued walking. “She wouldn’t do that.”

  Virgil rounded a corner, and Olivia came into view. As he walked closer, he prepared to call out her name but quickly stopped. He ducked behind a nearby pillar and concealed his aura as best he could.

  What is she doing? He thought as he poked out his head.

  There she was, examining the wall carefully. She was focused and intent, only, the wall was barren. It wasn’t even intricately designed.

  Okay, this is weird. It’s almost as if she’s looking for something, but nothing’s there.

  Virgil came out from around the pillar. “Olivia,” he called out. “How’s it going?”

  Olivia turned around in a panic. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, relieved. “You’ve got to stop sneaking up on me like that.”

  Virgil pursed his lips. “Afraid I was a king again?” he asked.

  “N-no. Not this time.” Olivia took note of the flowers in Virgil’s hand. “Are those for me?”

  “They are.”

  “They’re beautiful. Although, I don’t think the Alliance would appreciate you picking their flowers.”

  “I can see that. What were you doing here?”

  Olivia’s face began to look flustered. “Nothing.”

  “Really? It looked like you were searching for something.”

  Olivia paused, looking Virgil in his eyes. She exhaled and turned away. “Okay. You got me. I’ll tell you what’s going on, but you have to promise not to say anything.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Olivia turned back towards Virgil. “I’m serious. What I’m about to tell you could put everyone on the island in danger.”

  Virgil tilted his head. “What is it?”

  Olivia took a deep breath, and exhaled. “The Scarlet Mage is here.”