Chapter XXIII
First Blood
An hour ago, they had crossed the border into Acaria. What Luca saw was not the desolate wasteland that he had been told many times that Acaria was, but rather the same rough, wooded terrain that embodied most of northern Saeticia. The borders were not exact, of course, so Luca knew not to take it as a good sign.
He walked in stride with Brand and Wiosna, closely behind Tranom. The new trainees of Allma Temple followed behind them, dressed in white robes beneath steel armour, and with expressions of varying confidence. They were atop a hill at the time, and from there Luca could see the majority of the two armies stretched out before them. A sea of red, and a sea of blue. The Sonoians, and the Saeticians. As per Marcus' plans, the Torachians had gone west, to enter Acaria on the other side of the great forest.
Marcus was dead. Halt had put his father out of his misery, then taken his place as king of Saeticia. He now marched at the head of the Saetician army, and if Luca squinted his eyes, he could almost see the flag carried by the bannerman at his side.
On the Sonoian side, Selphie was marching with her father. Luca now knew that his brother was with her, along with Jared. Ash had taken her side in the aftermath of his actions at the Elder Hall, and seemed to want little to do with him anymore. This suited Luca fine.
As for Emila... she was in the back, with the healers. Luca had insisted on it, both to keep her safe from harm in the battles to come, and so that she could lend her magick to the injured. Even at the distance she was from him, he could still feel her presence through the tether. Every little irritation she felt, from a toe stubbed on a rock, to an itch on her shoulder, seemed to resonate within Luca. The distance seemed to make no difference anymore; if anything, their connection seemed to have grown much stronger since the previous night.
Turning his gaze from the army below, he looked behind him to his companions. Brand wore a frown, his eyes filled with a strange expression of calm. Wiosna, however, looked full of excitement at the prospect of the coming battles.
"Why have they stopped?" Brand asked suddenly.
Luca looked back at the armies. Indeed, they had ceased their advance. The two kings, with their banner men close behind, left their respective groups and made the gap between them.
"It looks like they're meeting to discuss something," said Tranom.
The two kings met, spoke for a few minutes, and then separated, returning to their respective positions. A minute or two later, and the Saetician army resumed its march, but the Sonoian army stayed where it was.
"What happened?" Wiosna asked.
Tranom looked down at the army, thinking. "I think I know what's happening. Look to where we must go next."
He pointed to where the Saetician army was going. They were making their way down a hill, bordered on each side by hills to steep for an army to climb. The hill sloped gradually downward for nearly a kilometre, until it finally narrowed out into a large valley.
"That basin was once a lake. It emptied for unknown reasons years ago. The hill that leads into it is too narrow for both the Saeticians and the Sonoians to pass through at the same time. Halt and Zaow were most likely deciding who would go first."
"What do we do?" Brand asked.
"We'll follow after the Saeticians," Tranom said, starting off. "We'll take the position between the two armies."
As they made their way towards the basin, Luca thought back to his conversation with Marcus. He'd mentioned the emptied lake. Though they were still following Marcus' plans, nobody had known anything about Marcus' plans to have Luca lead the assault with Altair. It must have been something Marcus had only decided after the meeting at the Elder Hall. Nobody else knew that Luca had been the last person to speak with Marcus before his death; and as Marcus' assassin was still unknown, Luca had no intention of bringing this up.
Now Marcus was dead, and his sword was missing. Even without the Rixeor Fragment they needed to defeat Zinoro, they were marching out to face him and his army of revenants. Luca may not even get the opportunity to fight Zinoro now, much less kill him. But even with a Rixeor Fragment, Zinoro was not invincible. If they wiped out his entire army, what choice would Zinoro have but to surrender? No great swordsman, no matter how legendary a blade he carried, could fight when a hundred archers surrounded him.
The Allmans reached the edge of the basin and began their descent down the long hill. It was narrow, and the soil was loose, so stable footing was no certainty. As they went, there were several moments when someone would slip and almost fall, only to be saved at the last minute by a companion. The hill was long and there were many large rocks. If someone fell, it could be fatal.
But thankfully, nobody did. The Allmans reached the bottom of the long hill, and touched the soft ground of the drained lake. It was bone dry, and there was at least a millimetre or two of soft, sand-like dirt that was once mud. Every step one took kicked up a small cloud.
Looking back up the hill, Luca now saw the Sonoians making their way down. At their head, King Zaow walked with his daughter. Selphie supported her father as they went, making sure the old man did not slip on his even-less sure feet.
Luca turned away before Selphie could notice his looking. The others had already started off, so he went with them. They followed behind the Saeticians, and soon, the Sonoians were behind them.
He noticed Wiosna would glance at him from time to time. "What?" he asked her, after growing too irritated to continue ignoring it.
"Something's different about you," she said. "Did something happen last night?"
He scoffed. "Aside from the fact that Selphie hates me now?"
"No, not that," Wiosna said. "You have a certain feeling to you... It's like your mana is stronger, or something like that."
He thought of himself, and Emila, and nearly chuckled. For a moment, he nearly considered telling Wiosna of his night with Emila. But even he could not be so cruel.
"If that's true, then all the better," he said. "I'll need all the strength I can get in the days ahead."
Wiosna smiled. "But you don't need to be strong. You're the only one among us who has nothing to fear. You cannot die."
But he did fear, he thought to himself. He feared not for himself, but for someone else.
A gush of wind blew through the valley, throwing up the dirt at their feet into a blinding cloud of dust. Luca coughed, and covered his eyes, until the wind finally died down and he could see again.
"What the hell...?"
Hearing Tranom, Luca looked to him to see what it was. At Tranom's feet, there was a line, nearly five millimetres thick, carved into the ground and filled with hard ground of a vastly different colour. It stretched on, running well past where they were.
"This wasn't here a moment ago..." Tranom muttered.
"No, it was buried under the dirt," Brand said.
The army had stopped its advance. Around them, Luca could see groups talking, and digging into the ground with their hands. Many other lines had been uncovered, it would seem.
"Someone carved this into the ground here," Wiosna said, getting down on her knees to get a better look at it.
"But what is it?" Tranom asked her.
"I have no idea," she said. "Perhaps its a giant ornate marking that covers the entire basin?"
Tranom turned to one of his students. "Get back up on the hill. Tell me what it looked like from above." The boy nodded and took off the way they had come.
Luca watched for several long minutes as they boy went past the Sonoians behind them, and started back up the long, steep hill. It had taken them almost half of an hour already to get the two armies past down that hill. Climbing down it had been difficult; climbing back up would be impossible.
"You might be right," Tranom said to Wiosna. "Small parts of it appear to be uncovered all over the basin. It looks to be one giant carving."
"But what is it a carving of?" she asked. "I would like to uncover the whole thing and see it from afar."
>
Tranom thought about that, frowning. He looked around at the many soldiers. "Everything is rather confused right now. Halt and Zaow are trying to reestablish order, and get their men to start moving again. This thing is a distraction."
No sooner had he finished saying that, when another large wind tore through the basin, sending up yet another cloud of dust. This one lasted for much longer, and when it finally died down, the dirt was all but gone from the ground at their feet. Though it was hard to see it from the thousands of people occupying the basin, it was clear enough that the carving covered almost the entire size of it. It was an ornate circle, with many intersecting lines and patterns.
Then the sound of a horn being blown filled the air, coming from somewhere up in the mountains.
Everyone was still, looking to one another as the sound of the horn rang loudly, echoing through the valley.
Brand turned to his former master. "Was that one of ours?"
Tranom's expression soured. He slowly shook his head. "They know we're here."
Another horn was blown, this one some distance farther away than the first. And then, as that one died, they heard the faint sound of a third, even farther away.
"They're sending a signal to Zinoro," Wiosna said.
"How long will it take to reach him?" asked Brand.
"Assuming they have a man stationed every kilometre or two, he might know within the hour," Tranom said. "It makes little difference, though. He was bound to know we were coming sooner or later. The only advantage this gives him is a little extra time to mobilise his troops and prepare his defences..."
Tranom trailed off. A feeling filled the air, one that everyone in the entire army had felt before, but never in such a way. It was the feeling of one gathering mana, but rather than coming from a particular person, it was coming from everywhere.
"What is this?" Tranom said, drawing his sword. "Everyone get ready! Something is happening!"
The sounds of a thousand swords being drawn filled the air. They stood, waiting, as the mana gathering continued. Then they noticed the carvings on the ground were glowing.
"It's coming from the thing on the ground!" someone shouted.
"Beware!"
"It's a trap!"
And then it happened. The mana exploded all around them. They were not struck, however, for it was not an attack. A flash of bright light filled the air, temporarily blinding everyone.
The scar across Luca's cheek suddenly ached. The wound opened anew, and he felt blood flowing through it. He knew the dark mana before them was Zinoro's.
As the light cleared, and vision returned, sounds of panic filled the air. Luca looked up, and saw the sight that had brought so much dread.
They were no longer alone. A third army had joined them, surrounding the Saeticians on all sides. The Sonoians, some distance away, was cut off.
The Acarian army had appeared on the edges of the ornate circle. There were hundreds of them; the faceless armoured revenants in red and black. And they brought with them monsters; caged goblins, trolls, and even three massive bull-like behemoths, which stood at the west, east, and south corners of the circle.
At the north end was a dragon, upon whose back rode a man in the Acarian armour. Black haired, with a trimmed beard. This man was not Zinoro. Another acolyte, it would seem.
The man atop the dragon pointed a spear at the Saetician army before him.
"Annihilate them all."
The dragon kicked off the ground, its huge wings throwing up a cloud of dust with each bat. The Acarians made no battle cry as they charged. The monsters were unleashed, and ran towards the Saeticians with a simple-minded fervour. The behemoths shook the ground with each step of their heavy feet.
"Fight them!" Luca heard Halt shouting to his men. "Archers! Open fire!"
The archers did so, though without time to prepare, their attacks were uncoordinated and ineffective. A few Acarians were hit, and struck down, but the assault continued all but unhindered. Compared to the masterful, synchronised archery Luca had seen at Allma Temple; which had been enough to bring down two behemoths the moment they'd broken through the gate; the attacks of the Saetician archers were like the clumsy efforts of a child.
The two forces met, and chaos broke out. The sounds of battle filled the air, and the sounds of battle cries. Within moments, however, the sounds of death echoed over them.
Tranom quickly assessed the situation, and began to bark orders to his students.
Luca drew Siora and said to Brand and Wiosna, "I'll handle the guy on the dragon."
They stared at him like he was insane. "What are you saying?" Brand demanded.
"Just help Tranom!" Luca shouted to them, already starting off in the direction of the dragon, which flew a good fifty metres above the battlefield. It hovered in place, maintaining its altitude with strong, steady beats of its thick wings.
But even though Luca was determined to beat the man on the dragon, he had no idea how he was going to get him to come down. He had no magick powerful enough to knock the dragon out of the sky, and no weapon would harm it, as the many arrows bouncing harmlessly off its scales showed.
He thought back to the battle of Allma Temple, when Dori had emerged from underground, riding on the back of Austille. They had lost that day, and both Dori and Austille had been killed. That had been with a dragon on their side, and with powerful walls to keep the enemy at bay. Here, they were ambushed, surrounded, and a dragon was fighting for the enemy. And though the Sonoians were attacking the Acarians from outside the circle, it did little to stay the slaughter of the Saeticians. For the sake of the situation at hand, Luca forced himself to ignore the sounds of Saetician soldiers dying left and right.
He thrust his sword and struck an Acarian between the gaps in his armour before he could finish killing a Saetician. The Acarian gave no cry, though red blood did spill out from the wound, covering Luca's sword and gloves. The Acarian then died, his armour falling apart in many pieces as his body vanished.
"Are you okay..." Luca began to ask the wounded Saetician soldier, but his voice caught as he saw the nature of the wounds. An arm was missing, and a leg, both on the right side of his body. His helm had fallen off, and his face and hair were soaked in blood. Luca could not be sure, but it looked like he was missing an eye. He was a boy, at least a few years younger than Luca himself.
The sheer brutality of it cut through Luca's usual stoic exterior like a knife through butter. Suddenly, he felt naked in that battlefield. He wore only light armour, as he preferred speed over protection, and the dying boy before him wore armour much heavier than Luca's. All it would take was a single determined swing of an axe, or a thrust spear, and he could be in the same miserable condition.
No. No, worse. For even though the boy before him was dying a slow, painful death, at least he could feel the eventual reprieve of death. Luca could not have that. He could be cut a hundred times, and bear the most horrible of agonies, but he would cling to life so long as Emila still breathed. The thing that had before been his armour was suddenly terrifying to him.
There was nothing he could do for this boy. Luca knew that if he looked around, he would see similar sights everywhere. In the time it would take him to get the kid to the healers, dozens of others would suffer the same injuries. The healers were probably struggling as it was. And even if they did get to him in time to save his life, the chances that they could reattach his limbs after so long was very low.
He didn't want to look, but he did anyway. He turned his gaze away from the boy, and at the battlefield.
It was chaos. There was no strategy, no formations, no orders. The Saeticians were on their own, doing all they could to defend against an endless wave of monsters and faceless men in black and red armour. The Acarians had split off into two groups, one of which was driving the Sonoians back, away from the large circle. The rest of them were driving the Saeticians inward, towards the centre, in a ring that grew tighter and tighter.
In the distance, Luca could see Halt surrounded by his men, who were struggling to keep their king safe. Halt looked terrified. He had a sword out, which was stained with green blood.
On the other side of the fight, Zaow had his sword out, and was beside his men, fighting off Acarians with a determined strength that one would not expect from a man his age. Luca did not see Selphie beside him, and his heart almost stopped as he realised what that likely meant. The Sonoians were doing well, but they could not break the tight wall the Acarians had built between them and the Saeticians.
The Acarian man on the dragon watched over it all, his eyes glowing with savage cruelty.
Luca's reverie was broken by the sight of an Acarian with an axe charging in his direction. He suddenly remembered something, a moment he had forgotten before then. He was dying, and an Acarian was charging at him with an axe. Just like this. But this was months ago, and they were beside a river, near an abandoned town. Luca could not think, because he was dying, and his body was burning, but some part of him remembered that he should not have been at that town. He should have been leagues and leagues north, in the frozen pit of death that his father had died in. So how had be come to be in a completely different part of the world in such a short time?
But then he was back at the situation at hand. He switched his sword to reverse-grip, and used his father's combat style, Jiuv'ol'xolic, to flow right past the Acarian. A moment later, a head went flying in the air, and the Acarian with the axe was dead.
Two more Acarians charged at him, these two with spears. Luca could feel his mind emptying, being replaced by a sort of haziness. There was no more thought to be had. He was fighting, and there was nothing but him and the enemy.
He danced right past the two Acarians, cutting them up like ribbons. His sword felt hot in his hand. He saw more Acarians, with goblins, who were engaged with a small group of Saeticians. In what felt like an instant, he was there, and driving his sword into the Acarians, right through their armour. The goblins shrieked as he split them in half. The Saeticians he had saved stared at him in awe.
"H-how...?!"
He didn't answer. He was a machine, and there was nothing to him but the task at hand. He spotted more Acarians, hefting bloody weapons to strike down Saeticians. He was then beside them, his sword flowing through them. It was too easy. He could do this all day.
He continued this cycle, moving from here to there, killing Acarians and their monsters. He couldn't know how long this went on, but when a pair of hands seized him by his shoulders and shouted his name, he suddenly returned to his senses and saw he was covered in blood from head to toe.
"Luca!" Brand shouted again.
"Wh-what..."
"Do you have any idea what you've been doing...?!" Brand demanded, halfway between fear and amazement.
"I was..."
He trailed off. Something else was coming back to him.
This spell is different from most others. It is hard to explain, but if I tell you any more about the weave before you actually perform it, mental blocks could rise up and prevent you from ever mastering it at all. It is like swimming? the only way to figure it out is to just jump in.
His father's voice.
It was that infuriating spell he could never figure out. The one he had to master before he could even know what it did. The one Lodin could never figure out.
And then he knew what had been nagging at him. The giant ornate circle had triggered something in his mind. He knew it, because he had seen it before. It was the same as the circle his father had given him to study; the circle he was supposed to visualise as he practised that spell.
The spell that he now knew Zinoro could also use; for he had used it so many times already. Zinoro has used it to get his army to Arimos, and to Allma Temple, and he had just now used it to send his acolyte and his army before them and ambush them.
"I know what I'm doing now," he said to Brand. Wiosna stood beside him as well, ragged and short of breath. They were both covered in blood as well. Luca didn't know how long the battle had been going on, but the Saeticians were still alive, and the Sonoians were still fighting their way to them.
"Luca, how are you doing that?" Wiosna asked in awe.
"It's too much to explain now," he replied. He cast his gaze up to the dragon, still hovering in the air. "But now that I've got my wits back, I'm going to do what I said I was going to do."
Brand and Wiosna both began to say something, but he didn't listen. He turned away from them, and started walking towards the edge of the battlefield, ignoring the chaos and bloodshed around him, making his way towards the acolyte. He could see the man clearly, even as far away as he was. Luca focused his gaze on the back of the dragon's neck, at the spot right in front of the acolyte.
He gathered his mana.
There was a flash of light, and he was gone. Within the span of a single second, he vanished from the ground of the battlefield, and appeared on the back of the dragon, right in front of the man.
The wind was raging around them. The acolyte smirked, unsurprised at Luca's sudden appearance.
"So you've decided to join me," he said. "Your trick was quite interesting to watch. My king can do something similar, but it's a bit different from what you do. He can only use the circles."
"You're one of his acolytes?" Luca demanded.
The man nodded slowly. "I'm his second in command, actually. My name is Serpos. And this is my dragon you're on."
Luca felt a rush of mana, and suddenly the dragon lurched, throwing itself back with a powerful bat of its wings. Luca immediately lost his balance, and fell.
He panicked for a moment, but he knew what he needed to do. He gathered his mana and warped again, but this time he picked a spot on the ground, some distance away from the battle. The momentum of his fall was gone immediately, and he reappeared on the ground without harm.
He had barely five seconds to gather his bearings, before he heard the sound of laughter bellowing through the air. A massive shadow blocked out the sun, and Luca saw the giant dragon swooping down in front of him. The beast landed with a heavy thud, and its neck stretched out so the head was facing him. Its jaws opened.
Luca warped away at the last second before a stream of fire erupted from the dragon's mouth, incinerating the spot where he had been standing. He reappeared a safe distance away, but Serpos immediately spotted him.
"You're fast, boy!" the Acarian shouted. He reached behind him, pulling two man-length spears out of sheathes attached to the dragon's saddle. He then slid off the side of the dragon, and landed on the ground beside it. A moment later, the dragon kicked off the ground, leaving Serpos behind.
Luca accepted the challenge, teleporting to the man's side. He swung his sword, but Serpos jumped back, doing a back flip in midair and landing a couple metres away.
"But I'm faster," Serpos said with a smirk.
Luca was about to close the distance and attack him again, when Serpos put one of his spears in the ground and raised a hand to stop him.
"Wait, wait," he said. "Before we fight, I think you should know what's at stake."
"What do you mean?"
"Look up." Serpos pointed at the sky, where his dragon was circling the battlefield. "I have magick that lets me control that beast. I have complete power over it, and it will do anything I order it to without question. You saw this when it watched the battle from afar, not participating until I ordered it to. Now, I will give you an option. Surrender to me, son of Lodin, and I will end this battle now."
Luca spat at the ground. "Your word means nothing."
"We Acarians do have honour," said Serpos. "And on that honour, I will tell you that if you don't surrender, I will order my dragon to reign fire upon your comrades. They're struggling against three behemoths and a few thousand of our men. Imagine how long they'll last if I send my dragon in there as well."
For half a second, Luca did consider it. But he thought of all the people who had died. He could still see
the image of the boy from before like it was burned in the back of his eyelids.
"Too many people have died already," Luca said. "We're here to stop you. There will be no negotiation."
Serpos smirked again. "I thought you would say that." His left hand discreetly moved to his hip, where a small pouch was tied to his belt. There was a rush of mana, and then the sound of the dragon roaring filled the air.
Something about the pouch he held; he was clearly trying to hide that movement. Luca decided to pretend he hadn't seen it.
In the distance, Luca could see the dragon swooping down, a burst of fire striking the Saeticians. Luca averted his eyes. He couldn't force himself to watch it.
"To tell the truth, you made the right choice," Serpos said with a sadistic smile. "I would not have stopped the attack one way or the other. I lied."
Luca charged at Serpos, swinging his sword in the reverse-grip. Serpos pulled his extra spear from the ground, and parried Luca's strike.
"Do you see a braid over my ear?!" Serpos demanded. "I'm no Acarian! I don't have an honourable bone in my body!"
Luca broke the parry and jumped back. "If you're not Acarian, then why do you serve Zinoro?"
"Because I like to kill people. And working for Zinoro gives me plenty of opportunities."
Serpos then switched to the offencive, attacking Luca with thrusts of his twin spears. Luca dodged the attacks, and blocked when he could not. He felt drained from all the teleportation; the spell used quite a bit of mana. He knew his movements would grow tired after too long, so he kept his distance from Serpos when he could, and fought conservatively. He needed to get that pouch. Whatever it was, it seemed to be the means Serpos used to control the dragon.
But Serpos' attacks were precise and strong. The man left no gaps in his defences, and he attacked without mercy or hesitation. He was a skilled fighter, one of the best Luca had ever faced.
Out of the corner of his eye, Luca saw Brand and Wiosna on the edge of the battlefield, taking out a group of Acarians. An idea formed in his mind. He took a few careful steps back from Serpos, and sheathed his sword.
"Giving up?"
Luca warped away, reappearing near Brand and Wiosna. They gave a start at his sudden arrival, and an Acarian nearly took advantage of that, but Brand managed to stop the blow and counter with a killing blow.
"Luca, what's happening?" Wiosna asked.
"I need your help," he said to them. Before they could say any more, Luca moved between them and grabbed them both by their shoulders. An instant later, he warped back to the area away from the battlefield, where Serpos was.
"W-whoa..." Brand groaned, unsettled by the teleportation.
"He has something on his belt that lets him control the dragon," Luca said to them in a quiet voice. "If we can get that off him, we can turn the tide of the battle."
"Ah, you brought your friends," Serpos laughed. "Very well. I can kill them for you."
"Surround him," Luca said. "Fighting with two spears like that limits his mobility. He won't be able to defend against all three of us at the same time."
And then, the expression on Serpos' face changed. All hints of his confident joviality vanished, replaced with the cold expression of an animal. He moved like lightning, hurling one of his spears through the air at them. They jumped away, just managing to dodge the thrown weapon, but in the time it took them to recover, Serpos had already closed the distance. He brought his remaining spear down on Wiosna, who had separated from Luca and Brand. She blocked the attack with her sword, but Serpos pushed against her with his full strength, causing her to fall backwards. Wiosna was about to slash at him with her sword, but his boot came down on her wrist, and she cried out. Serpos pointed the spear at her and thrust.
Luca warped to Serpos' side and slammed himself against him, knocking him away from Wiosna. They both fell on the ground, and Luca's sword went flying away. He had only a second to recover before he felt Serpos' knee slam into his stomach. He stumbled back, and a second later, the flat of Serpos' spear struck the side of his head, and this time he fell.
Brand arrived, his scimitar clashing against the blade of Serpos' spear. Brand pushed against Serpos, driving him away from Luca and Wiosna. While Luca fought to quiet the ringing in his ears, and the throbbing pain in his skull, Brand and Serpos clashed blades. He climbed to his feet, and saw that Wiosna was struggling to do the same. She saw Luca's gaze, and she winked at him. Luca then saw what was in her hand; the pouch from Serpos' belt.
Luca spotted Siora in the dirt a few metres away, and he ran and grabbed it. Wiosna pulled open the pouch and pulled out a black orb that appeared to be full of smoke.
Serpos seemed to realise he was missing something, because he turned and saw that Wiosna was holding his orb. His face twisted into an enraged scowl, and he broke away from Brand and started to run towards Wiosna.
"Wiosna!" Luca shouted.
She tossed the orb to Luca just before Serpos reached her. He swung at her with his spear, but this time Wiosna jumped back, avoiding the attack and countering with one of her own. He dodged as well, but the tip of her sword traced across Serpos' cheek, drawing out a line of blood.
Luca threw the orb down on the ground and brought the point of his sword down upon it. There was a flash of light as the blade plunged into the smoky orb, and it shattered into many pieces which scattered at Luca's feet. The black smoke within the orb drifted into the air and vanished, and Luca felt the orb's mana go with it.
"Damn it!" Serpos swore. Wiosna swung her sword to attack him again, but he parried the attack and pushed her back.
Luca made his way over to where they were, as Brand did the same. Serpos was surrounded on three sides, with nowhere to flee. He did not look panicked, merely angry. His face was calm as he considered the situation. His eyes looked to the battlefield, and there was a brief flash of satisfaction in them.
"It makes no difference," Serpos said. "I have another."
"Use it, then," Luca dared him.
"I'm not foolish enough to bring it with me," he replied. "I'll save it for another day. You're the fools for thinking that the dragon was my only trick!"
Serpos' mana swelled, and a wall of flame rose up around him, spreading outward towards them. Luca threw up a rudimentary shield of mana, which managed to prevent the fire from touching him, but he was still thrown back by the the force of impact. Wiosna was pushed away as well. Only Brand was able to endure it, being a fire-form magus himself.
Serpos created a ball of fire magick, and hurled it at Brand. It was matched with an identical sphere of flames, and the two burst in midair. Brand closed in on Serpos as this happened, and swung his scimitar. The attack was matched with Serpos' spear. They broke away, and Serpos carefully stepped away. Despite his previous boastful words, it would seem Serpos was a cautious fighter.
No. That was just a mask he had used to lure Luca into a false state of confidence. Serpos had wanted Luca to think he was boastful idiot, like Dreevius had been. The careful, but dangerous animal that he saw now was the true Serpos.
A familiar shadow covered the area, and the ground shook as the dragon landed near them. Everyone, including Serpos, turned to face it, and held their weapons ready.
"So... you're back," Serpos muttered.
The dragon drew its head back, and when it came forth, a stream of fire burst from its jaws, covering the spot where Serpos stood. Brand leaped away, rolling on the ground and just managing to avoid the fire.
The fire died down, and a thick cloud of smoke remained. As it cleared, the image of Serpos remained, all but untouched by the fire. His mana faded as the shield vanished.
"It seems you have hard feelings about your time as my slave," Serpos said mirthlessly.
The dragon roared, the sound overwhelmingly loud and intense. It started towards Serpos, its heavy legs making the ground shake with each step. It snarled, the teeth in its mouth visible; each one was as long as a dagger.
"Hmph," Serpo
s muttered. "So be it." He stepped forward and threw his spear at the dragon. The blade cut through the air and struck the dragon in its long neck. Normally, a dragon's thick scales would block such a weapon, but the spear was thrown with such perfect accuracy that it buried itself in the small gap between the scales.
The dragon cried out in pain and recoiled, thrashing about in blind pain with its legs and tail. Serpos ran, covering the ground quickly, ducking between the dragon's legs and racing past it while it stomped around. He quickly vanished on the other side.
"Damn it!" Luca cursed. He couldn't teleport to where Serpos was if he couldn't see him. He didn't feel as lucky as Serpos, so he took the long way around the thrashing dragon. As he ran, with Brand and Wiosna just behind him, he heard the sound of a horn being blown not far from where he was. It was soon echoed by another, much farther away.
"No..." Luca said. He had a feeling he knew what that meant.
As he emerged on the other side of the dragon, he saw Serpos drop a horn on the ground. In his other hand, he was carrying his other spear; the one he had thrown earlier. He was running towards the giant ornate circle.
"Damn it!" Luca repeated. He warped, not to Serpos, but to the far edge of the circle, where Halt stood with his kingsguard. Luca noticed that there were not even half the number of them remaining.
"What the-?!" Halt gasped at Luca's appearance. The guards turned on him, ready to attack him at a moment's notice.
"Order a retreat!" Luca shouted. "Do it now! Get as many of your men out of the circle as you possibly can!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"There's no time to explain! Just do it!"
Luca turned, not sparing the precious extra moments it would take to make sure Halt would listen. By his estimation, they would only have a few minutes before it happened, and anyone still in the circle was doomed.
He then warped to Zaow, and repeated the instructions. The old king was just as surprised at his sudden arrival, but he seemed to understand the necessity of the situation. Zaow ordered his men to flee from the circle, and his generals and captains repeated the order, spreading it across the battlefield. The Sonoians turned and ran from the circle.
Luca then warped back to the place they were fleeing from. He spotted survivors, some wounded, others in small groups fighting off Acarians still. He teleported to each in turn, seized them by the shoulders, and took them a safe distance away. He repeated this process as many times as he could. He felt his mana draining more with each use of the strange new magick, but he pushed himself to save as many people as he could. He knew he was likely draining Emila's mana as well, but he felt compelled to save as many as he could.
He'd heard the last horn a few minutes ago, and he knew there was little time remaining. The Acarians were fleeing back into the circle, and the Sonoians and Saeticians were fleeing away from it. Some Acarians were caught outside the circle, and some of his people were still inside it when the lines began to glow again. Luca knew he was out of time. He grabbed one last person, and teleported back to the edges outside the circle, and collapsed in the ground. Light filled the area, and the Acarians were gone.
Several long minutes passed, and an uncomfortable silence slowly settled on the valley. The remaining Acarians were quickly wiped out by the Sonoians, with the exception of a few here and there that were disarmed and taken prisoner.
Luca was drained of mana and his body ached with the need for rest. But he forced himself back to his feet, and looked out over the battlefield.
It was an awful sight. Bloodied armour littered the half a kilometre that the fighting had taken place in, the bodies of the people who had worn it vanished when death took them. The bodies of the monsters were scattered about. The three behemoths were slain as well, their corpses lying like giant boulders across the battlefield. And in the distance, where the dragon had been, only a spear remained, stuck in the ground. In the sky, a grey blur could be seen flying towards the mountains, away from Acaria.
The wounded were being gathered up and taken to the healers, who had set up several tents since the battle had ended. Luca looked over the soldiers gathered at the edge of the hill they had descended earlier, and he felt a chill run through him when he saw how few of them wore the Saetician armour.
He started walking, half dazed. He passed Zaow, who he heard tiredly giving orders to his men. He spotted Brand and Wiosna with the soldiers, helping to gather up the wounded. A part of him was growing increasingly worried. There were four people who he had not seen since the battle had started.
Luca wandered to the healer's small group of tents. It was loudest there, for occasional screams still filled the air. The healer in charge was barking out orders, trying to keep things organised. The worst injured people were being treated first. In the chaos, he saw a flash of familiar black hair. He let out a relieved sigh. She, at least, was all right. He turned and left, not wanting to get in the way.
Luca next wandered back to where Zaow was. He was alone now, his men having gone out to follow his instructions. The Sonoian king was leaning on his cane, his sword sheathed and his armour bloodied. He looked exhausted, but for a man of nearly eighty years of age, he had held up with surprising strength.
Zaow looked up as he saw Luca approaching.
"S-Selphie...?" Luca managed to say. His heart was pounding, for he dreaded hearing the answer he was expecting.
Zaow's features softened a bit. "She is alright," he said.
Luca felt like an intense weight had been taken off his shoulder. "Jared? And my brother?"
"They all live, as far as I know."
Luca let out a breath, and fell onto his knees. Everyone was alright. He told himself that again and again, taking comfort in the knowledge that none of his friends had died. He looked up at Zaow, who more than anything, looked old and tired.
"I'm sorry," Luca said to him. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault..."
"It is not," Zaow said. "You couldn't possibly be blamed for something like this. There's only one man who can, and he didn't show his face today."
"But... back at the Elder Hall, I..."
"You did what you felt was right," Zaow reassured him. "For the greater good. I understand that well, because I've done many things over the years that I've regretted, all for the greater good. You lied at the Elder Hall, but you did it to save lives. And in the end, you may still have. Many lives may have been lost today, but the fact is that you couldn't have possibly known what was waiting here. I certainly didn't, and neither did Marcus when he made the plans to come this way. You knew Zinoro had an army of undead beings... but you didn't know he could send them to ambush us in such a way. So don't blame yourself."
A soldier in Sonoian armour approached Zaow. "Your majesty, I've got the estimated casualty reports."
Zaow glanced at Luca, and hesitated for a moment. "Tell me."
"Of our men, we lost roughly thirty percent. Including those too injured to continue fighting, we've lost about forty-five percent. The Saeticians lost... more than seventy percent, and the injured bring it up to over eighty-five."
Zaow grimaced at each number. "Almost all the Saeticians... and more than a third of our own... what a disaster." He took a deep breath, and drew himself up. "Once the injured are treated enough to be moved, we need to climb back up that hill. We're too vulnerable in this valley. Once we're out of here, set up camp between the hills. I'll have to meet with King Halt."
The soldier nodded, and left to spread the word. Zaow sighed again, and turned to Luca.
"Your instructions near the end likely saved many lives. Had we not known what was about to happen, so many more would have still been in that circle when the Acarians warped back. Though many still died, your efforts lightened the blow. Remember that, son of Lodin."
Zaow walked away, leaning on his cane, leaving Luca alone. He sat there for a moment in silence, then he drew his sword from its sheath. It was covered in blood.
For several long minute
s, he sat there, wiping the blood from his sword on his fur clothes, while a blur of indeterminate voices shouted around him.