Chapter IX
The Gullibility of the Benevolent
Luca fell backwards, hitting the stone wall behind him.
Brand said something to him that he couldn't understand. He could hear nothing over the sound of the blood rushing through his ears, driven by the artificial heartbeat that was keeping him alive.
He was cold. He didn't know if it was the lack of real blood flowing through his veins, or if it was simply the wind, but he shivered.
No... perhaps it was fear.
There had been a sense of optimism earlier in their fight. Never once had they considered that they might lose, and that the Acarians might win and seize the temple. After all, Allma Temple had never fallen before, so why would it today?
But then, as they ran from one safe zone to the next, he had fleetingly seen the corpse of Austille, and he knew that they were fighting a losing battle.
Brand shouted his name again. There was something strange about his voice. It sounded like it was coming from underwater. Perhaps Luca was simply close to passing out. But if that happened... he would surely die. He had been wrong to think that the Soul Tether could save him no matter what. If he collapsed in the middle of this battlefield, Dreevius would take him and cut him into a thousand pieces, and no magick could save him from that.
His sword - the blade that the late dragon had returned to him - was sheathed now. They were no longer in the middle of the battle. The battle was over, and they had lost.
They were now simply trying to stay alive.
Luca and Brand had found themselves behind one of the buildings, unable to break free from the swarm of black-armoured Acarians that seemed to fill every square of the temple walls.
The Acarians were no longer killing Allmans where they found them, because there just were no more Allmans left to kill. Near the end, Tranom and several others had used magick to break down one of the walls, and a small group had escaped. It couldn't have been more than fifty students. That was about all that was left.
Allma Temple had fallen.
"Luca!"
He continued to ignore Brand. He had now spotted something; something that struck him to his very core and made his insides turn cold.
A pair of glasses, crushed by a heavy boot, nearly buried in the mud.
Somehow, that sight was what finished him. He felt like the very energy was drained from his limbs, as though he had been forcing through hours of fatigue with sheer willpower, and then he had stopped for a moment, and it all caught up with him. He just couldn't go on any more.
Brand shouted his name once more.
Finally, he responded. He slowly looked up, not at Brand, but at the black-haired girl approaching them.
She didn't run away...
"Luca," Emila said, stopping just in front of him. Standing where she was, she was blocking his view of the glasses.
There was a worried look in her eyes. What was she worried about?
Ah, right. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to have left with Ash and the princess. And he should be angry about that, he remembered. He should be angry that she risked herself to come here, when he need her to be okay for his own sake.
Luca did not feel angry. Truly, he did not feel much of anything.
"Luca," she said to him, leaning in close and looking him right in the eyes. "Luca, we have to flee."
Flee? How could they possibly flee when he could barely move? His limbs were so heavy. He just wanted to lie down and sleep. He didn't care what happened anymore...
Emila slapped him across the cheek.
Luca drew back, startled and suddenly aware of himself. The underwater feeling was gone, like he had been pulled up into the air. Suddenly, he could hear and see everything again.
His cheek hurt where she had hit him.
"I'm sorry," she immediately said. "But please, we have to go. The Acarians are everywhere. They will find us if we linger here."
Luca looked over to Brand, who wore an expression of consternation. Brand noticed his staring, and nodded in affirmation.
He followed Brand's gaze up to the temple garden. Or what was left of it. The Acarians had taken the temple, there was no doubt of that. They were relatively hidden in their alley, but the Acarians were ruthlessly efficient in their searching. Emila was right. Eventually they would be found.
"But they're everywhere," he said quietly. "Where can we flee to?"
"I've been thinking about that," Brand said. "The main gate is out of the question, and the hole Tranom created is blocked off by Acarians now. Our only chance is through the underground caverns, but getting to Dori's house could be difficult."
"I just came from there," Emila said. "The path was clear. They don't seem very interested in Dori's house. It's like they don't even realise it's there."
"Then let's not waste our chance," Brand said, starting off. "We must make haste!"
"Wait...!" Luca said, placing his hand on Brand's shoulder.
Out in the open of the courtyard, illuminated faintly by the orange light of the setting sun, he could just barely see the shape of Dreevius making his way alone towards the centre sanctum. He pointed this out to Brand and Emila.
"What could he be going there for?" Brand questioned, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Perhaps he's looking for survivors?" Emila suggested. "Where else could anyone have gone? They've raided every other building."
"Not likely," Luca said. "The centre sanctum would have been one of the first places they would have searched. And they would have found only one person in there."
Emila turned to him. "What do you mean? Who is there?"
Luca and Brand quickly told her about Allma attacking Selphie, and how they had locked him up in the cell in the basement.
"So... what do we do?" she asked. "We cannot just leave him in there to die."
"He left me to die," Luca said in a low voice. "Why should I do anything more for him?"
Emila's eyes grew wide in shock. "Luca... that's not how it works. Just because someone does something to you, that doesn't give you the right to return that to them. That's the way people like Allma think, and I know you're not that low. No, the honourable thing to do now would be to try to help him."
He met her gaze for a moment. She was pleading with him. She really wanted to go and try to save that man, in spite of the fact that he had all but given him up to be killed.
"Whatever it is that's going to happen to him, he's earned for himself," he said, looking away from her. "If we tried to save him now, we would just get ourselves killed. Allma the third is not worth risking our lives for."
"But..."
"He would not be in that cell if he had not tried to kill the princess," Brand stepped in. "Luca is right. He got himself in this situation. Whatever happens to him, it is his own doing."
"The path to Dori's house is clear," Luca said to them. "It's now or never."
Emila bit her lip. She sighed, and said, "Fine. Let's go."
Luca took one final glance at the crushed glasses before they made their way towards Dori's house. He thought of the girl who had worn them, a person he had only met a single time. He had not seen her die with his own eyes, but the odds of her having survived were too low to have any real hope.
The thought of a young girl being killed was painful to him... for reasons that were all too clear. He had seen it happen, after all; and it haunted him as much as his father's death had.
And Emila had come back for him, which meant it could have just as easily been her instead of Wiosna.
So many others had died in the attack. The dragon had fallen; which meant Dori himself had likely not survived, either. And then there was Rael, who Allma himself had sacrificed to save his own skin. And the countless students and masters of the now-fallen temple.
If Dreevius' words to Allma were true, then he had known the attack was coming. Yet he had told no one, or done anything save for trying to frame Ash for it. Whatever Allma's game was, h
e had not hesitated to send everyone who followed him off to their deaths.
If Allma had gotten his way, Luca would be dead, Ash would be dead, Selphie would be dead...
He just couldn't believe that Emila thought it was right to risk their lives to save this man.
They would not. Even Luca could understand there were times when the only thing you could do was run away. And now was one of those times. They would leave Allma behind, along with the temple he had forsaken, the temple which was now in ruins and in flames.
The Acarians were going to burn it to the ground.
"Ah, it is you," Dreevius said with a grin. "My men informed me that you were down here, but for a moment I doubted that fate could be so generous to me."
Allma looked up at Dreevius, trying not to let the fear in his heart show on his face. He had abandoned his honour many years ago, but he still had enough dignity that he would not resort to begging for his life.
He was trapped behind bars, with his mana sealed by a magick circle. There was no way to escape, and any effort he made to do so would just humiliate him. He would not give Dreevius the satisfaction.
But he did need to talk to his murderer; there were things he needed to know.
"How...?" he demanded of the Acarian before him. "How did you bring down the dragon?"
Dreevius stopped his pacing for a moment, and tilted his head to the side. "How do you know the dragon fell?"
"Even down here, I could hear the dragon's dying screams. And really, how could you have made it this far if it still lived?"
"Ah," Dreevius laughed, his cocky grin returning. "Well, wouldn't you like to know?"
"I am a dead man," Allma replied. "I just want to know where I made my mistake."
Dreevius' grin vanished, immediately replaced with a scowl of rage. He stepped up to the bars, reached his hand through, and grabbed Allma by the collar of his shirt. Allma was pulled forward, his head striking the iron bars. Mana surged through Dreevius, taking the form of electricity as it flowed into Allma. He cried out, unable to control himself as his whole world went white with pain.
After a few seconds of hell, the mana faded. Dreevius released him, and Allma fell back into his cell, twitching feebly.
"Your mistake," Dreevius spat, "was thinking so light of the Acarians. Did you really believe that we could be so easily tricked? That we were fools?! That you could just invite us here and double cross us, and that we would be oblivious to your goals...?" His voice rose with each sentence.
Allma did not answer.
"I suppose you did not." Dreevius laughed again, hatred burning in his eyes. "This plan of yours? A fool could see through it. You told us of the princess' arrival, knowing that we would come here to take her. You planned to kill the princess yourself while your dragon finished us off, and then place the blame of her death of us. This would lead to a war between Sono and Acaria. Am I right?"
He paused, and when Allma did not answer, he continued. "Yes, of course I am. Because this war would line your pockets with gold, just as the first war did, twenty years ago. This temple exists in such esteem because the mercenaries you sent to Sono, specifically Dori and that dragon he rode, were what won that war."
Allma, having regained enough strength to move, pulled himself up to a sitting position.
"So your mistake..." Dreevius said, getting close to the bars and smiling a wicked toothy grin. "Well, you just thought the old drunk and the dragon could fight off anyone, didn't you? And to a degree, you were right. An army with all the spears and arrows in Bacoria could do nothing to those two when they were working together.
"A dragon on its own is enough to wipe out a town, but when it lands to rest, the hunters will get it. Once those beasts hit the ground, they're finished. So having one at your disposal... well, in most cases that would be the perfect way to defend your fortress."
Dreevius reached into his pocket and took out an orb filled with the black smoke. "Let me tell you a story. In the old days, Acaria had a lot of trouble with dragons. We're surrounded by mountains, after all, their natural resting place. This was long before the days of the truce, so these dragons attacked us freely. Our magi, in desperation, created these little devices. When mana is channelled through one, it sends out an aura field that makes the unique blood of dragons burn like fire. In those old times, they would use these to train captured dragons to be beasts of burden."
He stood up, placing the orb back in his pocket. "A friend lent this to me, because we knew about your dragon from the very beginning." Quietly, Dreevius said to himself, "I don't get why he was so reluctant to give it up; he's got three of them." He returned his attention to Allma. "Remember those bandits you were so proud of defeating ten years ago? There were survivors. Those survivors came to us for refuge, and they told us all about your trump card. Those survivors joined our army, and helped bring this temple down."
Dreevius walked away from Allma's cell, disappearing from his vision. A moment later, he returned, carrying the ring of keys for the cells. After finding the right key, the Acarian opened the door and stepped inside.
"I don't believe in letting a man die with confusion in his mind," Dreevius said. "So know this. We will have our war with Sono, and with all of the Alliance if they defy us. Zaow will die at the hand of King Zinoro. Sono will be nought but ash when we are through, and the destruction of your temple was just the first step in our campaign. Whether there was a princess here or not, we would have still murdered you all."
Allma's body was still too numb to even struggle as Dreevius placed his hands on the sides of his head.
"Your mistake was defying Zinoro at all. That cost you a merciful death."
It was slow... so slow that the numbness Dreevius' electricity had left in him was gone long before it was over. The pain was unbearable, and he screamed and cried and begged him to stop, all thoughts of honour and dignity and regret lost in the unbearable pain.
Perhaps to Dreevius it lasted only a few seconds... but to Allma it felt like an eternity.
Dreevius rose when it was done, staring down at the corpse of Allma - the head of which was twisted completely backwards - for the few seconds it would exist before it faded into mana.
He smiled. "That damn drunk almost made that one impossible for me, cutting off one of my hands earlier. Were I human, I wouldn't have been able to kill Allma in such a satisfying fashion."
He placed his fingers together, cracking the knuckles on each hand, then he dropped the keyring on the floor and left, whistling as he went.
He was back in the caverns, back in that thick darkness, with the glowing eyes of a thousand creatures watching from the shadows, warily, but not quite as afraid as they had been on his first visit. They ran, until the noise of the battle and the killing was gone, replaced by the silence of the underground.
They stopped in the tunnel for a moment to catch their breath. Emila looked exhausted, and Luca wished he could have helped her in some way. He would have even carried her, but his body was growing weaker all the time. He wasn't quite sure how he was even still able to move, but he felt like he could just push through any amount of fatigue. Emila however, looked like she needed the break.
Brand even looked tired, but he was holding up better than either of them.
"You wouldn't happen to know the way out of here, would you?" Luca asked him.
Brand shook his head. "From what I know, Ash was the one who always came down here. I knew there were other ways out of the temple, but I was never shown them."
Luca's magick sphere of light hovered close behind them, illuminating the dark maze. He looked around at the various tunnels and passages in the underground.
Now that the dragon was gone, there was really nothing to hold the monsters back. Only their caution was keeping the threesome alive; the monsters didn't know if the dragon would come back, so they did not rush out. But there was fresh meat down there, just ripe for the taking. These dark
things... they could see they were tired, and they were just waiting for them to collapse, so they could come out and have a quick meal of them. Eventually, though, their hunger would overcome their fear of Austille, and they would emerge nonetheless.
Luca looked over at Emila, who had grown pale in the hour or so since they had entered the cavern. Her eyes were hazy and unfocused, and her breathing laboured.
"Emila..." he said to her, "what's wrong?"
She shook her head, and smiled reassuringly. "I just feel very exhausted all of a sudden. But it's fine, I can keep going."
She clearly wasn't fine, but the situation demanded that they keep going. Stopping to rest would end with their deaths.
"Here," Luca said, going to her side. "Put your arms around my shoulder. You can lean on me for support."
She didn't protest. Normally, he knew she would have put on a strong face and told him she didn't need the help. The fact that she didn't say that this time worried him.
They continued on, and after another half hour or so of wandering, they managed to find the subterranean lake where Luca had first met Ash the previous day. The blue light shone down from the gap in the ceiling, providing some faint illumination.
There, in that pale blue light, they saw something strange.
A beast sat by the lakeside, a strange creature that vaguely resembled a naked human, but clearly was not. Its skin was pale, its limbs far too long in proportion to its torso and head, and it had curved claws as long as a short sword on each hand.
It slowly turned its head as it noticed their presence, its eyes seeming to glow in the faint light.
There were various human limbs around it, lying half-eaten in a pool of blood. Enough for three people.
Luca drew in a breath. Those people... who else could they have been but-
In anger, Luca drew his sword, and Brand did the same.
The creature let out a low rumbling growl, and stood up, dropping part of an arm it had been chewing on. It started to walk towards them, moving in an unnatural way on its gangly limbs. Its long arms hung limp at its side, and the claws drew lines in the dirt, scraping against the rock beneath. The sound of it chilling to hear.
"Emila, just-" Luca began, half turning around to address her. He stopped when he realised she had fallen, her face a deathly pale shade of white. "Emila!"
She didn't answer him.
"Brand, she's-!" Once again, he was unable to finish. The creature had closed the distance between them with frightening speed, and it swung its long claws at them. Brand stepped forward first, slashing at the claws in the air. His blade hit them, and knocked them back. They did not break.
The creature stepped back, circling around him slowly. Its claws were so long that he could not close in and attack it, for any movement to do so was met with the creature swinging its claws through the air, keeping him at a comfortable distance. These claws, despite their length, were not flimsy. They were rigid and clearly sharp. Red blood dripped from them.
"Hang in there, Emila," Luca whispered to her. Leaving her behind, he ran to where Brand was fighting the beast. He began to circle around to the left. Brand, realising his plan, continued to make feign movements towards it, forcing it to keep its focus on him. Therefore, it ignored Luca as he circled around to its backside.
Once he was behind it, he moved in to stab it in the neck. At that moment, it twisted its body in a sickening way, slashing at him with the claws of its right hand. At the same time, it slashed at Brand with the claws of its left hand. The two swings made a perfect circle. Neither of them were able to get close enough to reach it.
The beast seemed to be enjoying itself.
Having only barely avoided being sliced in half by its blade-like claws, Luca was forced to step back. His body was still too weak... he couldn't trust himself to be able to move quickly enough to dodge those claws if he was closer to it. Unfortunately, Brand was on his own.
He could, however, use magick. He took another step back, and started to gather his mana, readying his needle spell.
Emila then gave out a stifled cry of pain, and he cut his mana flow off immediately. Suddenly, the cause of her condition was clear to him. After all, the mana sustaining his life had to come from somewhere.
Even in the heat of battle, the thought of him causing her pain stabbed him with guilt. he couldn't use magick, which meant...
He would have to take a risk.
"Brand! I'll attack, and you use magick!"
Without waiting for a reply, Luca charged. The beast turned and swung its claws at him, which he caught with his sword. He felt Brand's mana surging.
While he held the right-hand claws in a parry, the creature tried to slash at him with the left. Just in time, he broke the parry and jumped away.
But he wasn't fast enough. The tips of the claws caught his legs, cutting right through his clothes and leaving a line of blood.
"Argh!"
Luca stumbled, and fell. Sensing his weakness, the creature completely turned away from Brand and ran after him. Its eyes widened in vicious excitement.
Brand then threw a ball of fire from his hands at the beast. The fire struck it in the back, causing it to stumble for a moment, but left no real damage. Brand threw another, which also hit its back, and also failed to even singe it.
It seemed almost amused.
Almost panicking, Luca analysed the situation. Magick was useless against it, and it could keep two fighters at bay even when they were on either side of it. Just what was this thing? He had never encountered, or even of such a monster, in all the years he had travelled with his father.
The beast drew closer, dragging its long claws behind it like a rake. Luca lifted Siora up, anticipating the next attack.
It never came.
Instead, a halberd flied through the air and pierced the creature's chest.
It did not cry out in pain, nor did any blood flow from it. It just turned to see who had attacked it.
In the distance, Ash, Selphie, and Jared were emerging from another tunnel. Selphie, her two short swords drawn, ran ahead of the other two. Ash did not have a weapon, and Jared had just thrown his, so they remained behind.
Brand moved in against the creature, causing it to divert its attention back to him. Realising this was their chance, Luca forced himself back to his feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that threatened to engulf him. He ran to the beast and swung his sword, once again trapping its claws in a parry.
The creature was slowed down by Jared's halberd in its chest, and it was unable to fully turn to swing at them both like before. This gave Brand a chance he didn't have before. This time, he threw a fireball at the creature's face, momentarily blinding it. Then he swung his scimitar and cut off the thing's hand, claws and all.
With one hand gone, and the other trapped by his sword, the creature was unable to defend itself as Selphie ran up and placed her two swords before its neck in an X-shape. She swung them both, like a scissors cutting paper, cleaning decapitating it.
The head bounced away, and the body collapsed to the ground in a twisted heap.
Luca immediately ran to Emila's side, ignoring the pain in his leg. She was alive, unconscious and pale as snow.
"What happened?" Selphie asked, as she wiped her swords off with a rag. "Was she attacked by it?"
"No, she just collapsed," he said. "I think she's out of mana..."
Jared walked past them to the creature's headless body, and yanked his halberd out of its chest, green blood dripped from the axe-like blade.
Brand and Ash joined Selphie and Luca, who were kneeling beside Emila.
"It does look like mana exhaustion," Ash muttered, looking down at her. "Has she been using a lot of magick?"
"She hasn't used any," Brand told him. "Luca's the only one who has been using mana since we came here, providing illumination."
Selphie placed her hand on Emila's forehead. There was a faint glow of mana as the princess checked
her for injuries. "No, it's definitely mana exhaustion. She's not sick, and she has no physical injuries."
"Her mana..." Luca muttered, unconsciously touching the spot where Dreevius had stabbed him. "The tether. Of course."
"Tether?" Selphie repeated, looking up at him.
In fact, everyone was looking at him now. Brand in particular, who seemed to have an idea what it was he spoke of. Their expressions demanded an explanation. Time to come clean, it appeared.
"When we first met, I was dying," he told them. "The only way she could save my life was with this spell she calls the Soul Tether. As she explained it, my soul is connected to hers, meaning that as long as she is alive, I cannot die, no matter what injuries I sustain."
"Even if someone stabs you in the heart," Brand said, clearly remembering the hushed conversation from before.
"Exactly," he said. "Her mana exhaustion must have to do with this. When we were fighting that thing, and I went to use magick, she cried out in pain. I must be leeching mana off her without realising it."
"Couldn't you just give mana back to her, then?" Selphie asked.
He shook his head. "The connection only goes one-way."
The princess bit her lip, deep in thought. "I don't know what to do for her. I've never heard of such a thing as this tether before."
"Me neither," Brand said.
"Nor I," Jared added.
Ash shook his head.
Luca looked up at them. "None of you have ever heard of this spell before?"
"Did she tell you this spell was commonly known?" Selphie asked.
"No quite. She said it was taboo, but I don't think she ever said it was uncommon. In fact, she rarely said much about it at all."
Selphie sighed. "Well, the only way to recover from mana exhaustion is just with plain old rest. However, if you're leeching off her mana, it is possible that you just being awake might be preventing that recovery. Either way, it'll be hours before she's fit to travel, and we cannot stay here. There could be more Acarians about."
"More?" Brand asked.
"Those three over there," Ash said, pointing to the remnants of the creature's meal. "They're Acarians who were camped out here. We managed to sneak past them on our way through, but the princess insisted we go back when we heard the sounds of battle echoing in the caverns."
"Not to save the Acarians," Jared added. "But we might have needed to deal with whatever killed them, in case you or any other survivors came through."
Judging from his tone of voice, he hadn't been in agreement with that decision. He seemed to care little for anything that could harm the princess.
"But as the princess said, we can't linger here," Ash said. "There could be dozens of those things in here, for all we know." He looked down at the head of the creature. "Just one of those was enough to kill three trained Acarian soldiers. And right now, I'm unarmed, and she's unconscious. That leaves us with four fighters, one of whom looks like he's about to pass out. If I were a gambling man, I would not bet on those odds."
"Our best chance is to get back above ground," Selphie said. "However, the sun was starting to set when we first came down here. That was at least two hours ago. We must make haste if we are to find shelter before midnight. Jared, can you carry her?"
The guard nodded, sheathed his halberd across his back, and moved beside Emila, lifting her up and carrying her over his shoulder.
"Ash, lead the way," Selphie said.
The six of them then made their escape.
They managed to make it out of the caves, not long after their meeting. They found themselves emerging from the caverns into a rocky collection of hills, and as they stepped out of the opening of the cavern, it vanished into nothingness after a few steps.
"What the-" Luca muttered.
"Magick concealment, it seems," said Ash. "Not as subtle as what Dori's house uses, it seems. But it's an exit, not an entrance. So it makes sense."
Brand walked over to the now-invisible entrance and placed his hand on the rock. At the contact, the opening reappeared. He then stepped away, and it vanished once more.
"If somebody didn't know right where this was, they would never find it," Brand concluded. "It just looks like a stone wall from afar."
After quickly scanning the area, Jared said, "There's no sight of Acarians."
"That means this entrance wasn't how they got in the caverns, then," Ash said.
"And it means we're safe for now," said Selphie.
"We should find a place where we can make camp," Luca suggested. "It looks like there are some hills in that direction, so we might have luck there." He pointed towards an area in the distance, on the other side of the forest before them, where larger hills sat on the horizon.
"Indeed," Selphie agreed. "Well called."
"Keep an eye out for monsters," Ash warned.
They made their way through the trees to the hills overlooking the forest. They located one hill that had a flat top and was relatively easy to climb on one side. After reaching the top, the entire forest could be seen, and there was no road in sight.
"Where are we?" Brand asked, wondering the same thing as everyone else.
"I can't say," Ash replied. "I only ever saw the map of the tunnels once, and it was outdated even then. I've long forgotten where that exit took you, but if I had to guess, I would say we are somewhere south of the temple. The forest was particularly thick in that direction."
"I can't see the temple," Luca observed. "It was burning when we left, but I see no smoke."
"It's gone," Brand said regretfully. "The Acarians won this day, and Allma Temple has been destroyed."
Everyone grew quiet for a moment.
Jared, who was still carrying Emila, went to Selphie's side. "Princess, will we be making camp here?"
Selphie looked over the small plateau they were on. "Hmm. Yes, this place will do well. The only way up here is that small hill we climbed, and a lookout can easily check that for enemies. Luca, do you agree?"
He nodded.
The princess clapped her hands. "Excellent. The first thing we must do is to tend to your friend."
The only ones who had any travel supplies on them were Selphie and Jared, as they had never unpacked. At Selphie's insistence, they set up her tent and sleeping roll and Jared laid Emila down on it.
Some colour had returned to her cheeks, and her breathing seemed steadier. Once Luca was convinced she was okay, he left the tent along with Jared and Selphie, and they closed it up. Luca sat down at the edge of the plateau, exhausted, and relaxed by watching the stars.
A minute passed, and the princess joined him, sitting by his side. "You look quite relieved."
"Well, like I said in the caves, her mana is keeping me alive. If she were to die, I would as well."
Selphie chuckled, covering her mouth with the tips of her fingers as she did. "You don't have to try to hide it. It is quite obvious that you're concerned for her."
He grew silent, and prayed he was not so pale as Emila had been, or his embarrassment might be very visible.
At that moment, Brand saved him by also sitting down at the edge of the small cliff, on his other side. He asked the princess, "So you don't have a problem with us staying with you guys?"
"Not at all," Selphie replied. "There is safety in numbers after all, and I could not simply abandon you while your friend is ill."
"I take it you'll be going back to Sono?" Luca asked.
"Yes, immediately. The first step, however, will be getting to the next town. Once there, I can send a messenger raven for my father. He'll need to know what has happened here. After that, it's a trip of about a month and a half to get to T'Saw."
"Hopefully Emila will be recovered by tomorrow," Luca said. "I would like to go with you to the next town, but if she is unable to travel, I must stay here with her. As for Ash and Brand, they of course are free to go as they wish."
Brand smiled, and said, "You'll be going with the princess, an
d I promised to help her. I fully intended to go with her to be part of this group her father seeks, and I see no reason why that cannot still happen. Why can we not all go to T'Saw?"
They thought about it for a moment.
"We do not have Wiosna with us," Selphie said. "I do not know if she survived or not."
Luca remembered the half-crushed glasses, and thought of mentioning it. He decided against it.
"However," Selphie continued, "she was never a priority member. The actual group was never set in stone; I only asked for the ideal members for what my father requested. Were any of them to bow out, substitutes would be considered.
"The real problem is how this attack on Allma Temple will change the situation. If the king of Torachi declares this an act of war, then it is inevitable that Saeticia and Sono will be drawn into the conflict, as they are part of the Alliance."
"Tellador is not far from here," Brand suggested. "Perhaps if we hurry, we can tell the king the truth of what happened before he declares war on Acaria. If he hears of what Allma plotted, perhaps he will not declare war."
Jared, who had been silently listening to the conversation up until now, suddenly looked up.
Selphie frowned. "I don't know if that is the best idea. Tellador is in the opposite direction from T'Saw. We would have to make a complete detour to go there; and there are other reasons why that might not be the best idea. Better to make for T'Saw, stopping at Serenite along the way to speak with King Marcus."
Brand shrugged. "Perhaps a letter, then?"
"I will have to consider it overnight," Selphie said. "Now that I think of it, it has grown rather late. We should all retire."
Luca and Brand nodded, and they started to rise. Luca considered how suddenly she had said that, and why she would not want to go to Tellador. He knew nothing of the king of Torachi, so he would simply have to wait until tomorrow, and see what she said then.
"Luca," Selphie said to him as she stood up. "You should sleep in the tent with Emila. It would be best if she woke to a familiar face."
He frowned, but he had to admit she was right. The most recent thing Emila would remember would be collapsing in the caves when they had encountered that monster. She may worry, not sure of the safety of Brand or himself, if she woke beside the princess.
"Very well," he said, too tired to argue even if he disagreed.
Really, being honest with himself, he wouldn't have felt comfortable if anyone but he were in that tent, or if he had to sleep alone. He had gotten so used to being in her company. He remembered the night before, how he had relied on listening to her soft breathing to get himself to sleep. And inevitably, the guilty dreams of her he'd had.
He hated himself for enjoying that so much.
Jared and Ash had retrieved the other tent from Jared's bag, and were busy erecting it. It would seem that Selphie would sleep in the other tent, and Brand, Ash, and Jared would sleep outside. Luca didn't feel comfortable with this, as he was the only man in the group inside a tent, but the princess had spoken, after all.
"I'll take the first watch," Jared said.
Nobody argued.
Luca woke several hours later.
It was pitch black within the tent. The oppressive darkness of the late night was strong. They had decided not to light a fire, for it would be all too easy for an Acarian scout to spot from the woods below. Therefore, there was nothing to ease the burden of the night; whoever it was keeping watch now had only the stars to see by.
Nobody had woken him, though... he had simply stirred of his own will. Perhaps he had been having a nightmare... No, whatever it was he had been dreaming of, it was something pleasant. Not the previous dreams of Emila, thankfully. But he was relieved either way, because even though he had hated having those dreams, they were still preferable to reliving his father's death every night.
After several minutes had passed, and his eyes were adjusted to the darkness, he could make out the shape of Emila sleeping peacefully beside him. Her complexion had returned to its original healthy shade, for which he was immensely relieved.
A bird somewhere was singing.
Almost without even noticing, he leaned in a little closer. He wasn't sure what he was doing... perhaps he just wanted to be able to see her better in the thick darkness? Yes, that was surely it.
A single strand of Emila's black hair had fallen over her face. It rose and fell with each breath she took through her nose. A funny thought struck him, and he just couldn't resist. He reached out and gently brushed the lock back, out of her face.
Her eyelids fluttered open.
For a moment, everything was frozen. Their eyes met. His hand was still there, the tips of his fingers touching her temple. Their faces could not have been more than a few millimetres apart. Her green eyes shone with an unspoken ebullience. A faint blush filled her cheeks.
Luca pulled away.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath.
"I feel better," she said quietly. "Much better. More importantly, how are you?"
For a moment, the question confused him, and then he remembered that he was the one who was supposed to have died.
"Somehow, I pulled through. There were no strange complications or anything."
She smiled, and sat up in the sleeping bag. She rubbed her eyes, and looked around a bit, taking in her surroundings for the first time.
"We're in a tent?"
"It's the princess'. We met up with the others in the cave, after you collapsed. They helped Brand and I take care of that monster, and we've decided to stick together for now."
Emile tilted her head slightly. "Monster?"
"That thing by the lake... you must have passed out before seeing it."
"I see. It looks like I missed a lot."
"Not really. As I said, we're all going to travel together for now, at least until its safe. The princess wants to go back to T'Saw, and Brand wants to stay with me, wherever I choose to go. I haven't really thought about it much yet."
"What to do next, you mean?"
"Right. Things have gotten rather chaotic."
Emila looked down at her feet, and she sighed. A moment passed, then she asked him, "Who all has died in the attack?"
Luca thought about it. "Of whom I know? Allma's squire, Rael. Dori. The dragon, Austille. Wiosna... the girl who was supposed to be in the princess' group. Almost certainly Allma himself. Tranom managed to get away with about fifty or so students. Everyone else who was in the temple was killed. The Acarians took no prisoners."
Emila's eyes were heavy with guilt and regret. "I see," she said in a hesitant voice. "They were certainly ruthless."
He looked to her, searching in her eyes for the reason for her pain.
But he had to remind himself that not everyone was so numb to death as he was. A person with a caring heart, especially someone as caring as Emila, could not simply hear that so many had died and just shrug it off.
How many people had been in the temple to begin with? Several hundred students, and at least three dozen masters, he estimated.
All of them had been wiped out. All those lives were lost, and a temple that had stood for three generations was burned to the ground. The survivors would never be able to forget the horror of that.
And yet, to Luca, it was just a Tuesday. Nobody he cared for had died, so he felt nothing for it all; unlike the Arimos attack where he had lost Arlea and his father. He felt guilty that he was so relieved that Ash, Brand, and Emila were all okay, but he just couldn't bring himself to care for any of the others. Even Dori he felt no sorrow for. The only exception was Wiosna, and probably only because she reminded him so much of Arlea.
"Is your brother okay?" Emila asked him, out of nowhere.
He nodded. "He is fine. He needs new clothes and a weapon, but he's okay. It's funny really... everything he told me about Allma, it all turned out to be true. At the time, I had written
it off as irrational paranoia."
"You need to watch out for him, okay?" Emila said with a very serious look in her eyes. "You're the older sibling, right? Older siblings need to take care of the younger one. It's your responsibility."
"I know," he said. "But there's only so much I can do. The way he was back in the caves, when we first met; well, he's not the most agreeable person."
Emila looked away again, her eyes heavy and tired. It was difficult to tell in the darkness, but it looked like she was holding back tears.
A tense and awkward silence settled over the small tent. Luca felt like he should say something; like he needed to say something. He just didn't know what it was she needed from him. It was so hard to find the right words. She looked so troubled at times, but she would never tell him what it was that bothered her.
"Emila... why did you come back for me?" He was certain this wasn't the right thing to say, but it was something that he needed to know.
She looked up at him, surprised and confused. "What do you-?"
"I told you to stay in Dori's house. Don't you understand why I said that? The tether was keeping me alive, and it would continue to do so as long as you are alive. So long as you stay out of harm's way, nothing can hurt me, not even a blade through the heart. But you didn't listen. In fact, this was the second time today that you ventured out into an open battlefield, when I specifically asked you not to. Why would you go out there, risking both of our lives, when you cannot even bring yourself to take a life?"
Emila stared at him for a moment, shocked. Her surprise slowly faded, and was replaced by anger.
Then she slapped him.
Again.
"First of all," she said bitterly. "You're not my father and you don't own me. If I don't want to just stay put where you tell me, I don't have to."
"I'm sorry. When I say I 'told' you... I didn't mean it that way."
"Are you an idiot? Why do you think I came after you?"
"I-"
"I care about you," she said, her voice softer. "Do you not understand that? I came to get you, so we could flee together. Because after you sent Ash, with a message that I was to flee with him, what in the world was I supposed to think? That you just wanted me to run away without you, until the tether broke, and you just dropped dead?
"Because that's exactly what would have happened. You would have stayed with Brand, fighting a battle you could not win, until I got so far away that my mana stopped keeping you alive. What was I suppose to do? Listen to your stupid self-destructive orders?
"I came back for you because I care about you, even if you don't care about yourself. I passed out in the caves because you were pushing yourself so much that I was running out of mana to sustain you. If I had listened to you, and left with Ash, you would never have survived."
He sat there, quietly listening as she spoke.
"Luca... do you want to die?"
"No," he said, his voice coming out thin and tight. "I just... I don't know why I said that. You're right, it would have been better if you stayed at Dori's house. I... must not have been thinking."
Emila sighed. "No, you're missing the point of what I'm trying to say. Don't you understand how I feel? Or even how you feel? You wanted me to flee because you were worried about me. People do things that don't always make sense when they follow their hearts."
Now he was the one who looked away.
"You're right... it was a mistake."
Indeed, how could he not have seen how mistaken he was? If he had died in the temple, he could never have his revenge on Zinoro.
He would need to be more careful. He would have to plan out his actions in advance, if he ever wanted to reach Acaria. Perhaps he couldn't die, but that didn't mean he was invincible. He had to separate his emotions from his goals. He had just been so lost in the feeling of fighting honourably that he had forgotten all about Zinoro.
"I think I've learnt something today," he said quietly.
Emila smiled. "I'm glad. I'm sorry I hit you. I just... well, sometimes I feel like you just don't understand anything I say."
Luca nodded, and laid back down on his side of the tent. "We should get some rest. We've got a long day of travel tomorrow, and you still have to recover your mana."
"Indeed," Emila said, lying down herself. "Goodnight, Luca."
"Goodnight, Emila."
Silence returned, save for the bird outside that sang alone to the night. In a few minutes, Emila's steady breathing was back. She must still have been tired to fall asleep so quickly.
Going with Selphie would be the best chance he had of ultimately reaching Zinoro... that hadn't changed. Whatever their mission was, be it preventing a war, or killing Zinoro in his sleep, it didn't matter to Luca, because it was just a means of getting to him.
And when he did reach Zinoro, if Emila was in his company, he would not be able to lose.
He couldn't be so reckless. He had to stop caring so much for Emila if he wanted to kill Zinoro. She was holding him back. He needed her, for sure, but he couldn't let himself be so drawn in.
Glancing back at her sleeping form, her light skin contrasting with her black hair. There wasn't a particularly beautiful girl most of the time, more cute than gorgeous, but at night, when under the moon's light, there seemed to be something mystical about her.
He knew he had been drawn into her. Even now, he could feel her soft beauty threatening to pull him back in again. But if he wanted to kill Zinoro, he couldn't let that happen. Just a few hours ago, he had been willing to throw away everything - both his life and his father's justice - all to protect her.
Noble sacrifice, as Uro had written of, was indeed the honourable thing. But honour would not get his father justice.
Honour would get Luca killed.