Chapter Sixteen
Half an hour later, after walking through the magnificent ruins of Castarious, Keo, Dlaine, and Jola arrived in front of a massive statue that stood in an open square all by itself. The statue was made of marble and looked like it had stood twenty or thirty feet tall in its day, but now half of it lay on the street, with bits and pieces of marble around it. The upper half of the statue that lay on the street was of a man with a stern but kind face, who carried a large sword that had also been broken in half, likely upon impact. There was a crown carved into the statue's head, a crown with a dragon's head carved into the crest, which made the man look like a king. The lower half of the statue, which still stood, towered over both of them.
“Where are we?” said Keo, looking around the area before focusing on the broken statue lying on the street in front of them. “And who is this a statue of?”
“This is part of the old business district,” said Dlaine, gesturing at the empty storefronts that circled the area. “Used to be one of the busiest parts of the city before King Riuno's death. And speaking of King Riuno, this is a statue of him and had been built in his honor.”
Keo looked at the statue more closely. He had been born just after the King's death, so Keo had never seen Lamaira's Last King, as Riuno was sometimes called, before. So he was eager to get an idea about what the Last King might have looked like.
Yet there was something familiar about the statue's face, like Keo had seen it somewhere before. He realized that the nose looked just like his nose, except slightly shorter, but he thought little of it, because Keo's nose was not exactly unique, because he had seen other people in New Ora with it.
But the statue's eyes, which stared lifelessly at Keo, now those seemed too familiar, even in their stone form. They were as round as Keo's, which he found interesting because few people had eyes like his. Even his hair looked similar, albeit longer than Keo's short trim.
Dlaine was looking between Keo and King Riuno's face, a puzzled look on his face. “Weird.”
“Weird?” said Keo, looking at Dlaine. “What's weird?”
“Your face,” said Dlaine.
Keo sighed. “Dlaine, if this is another one of your jokes—”
“It's not,” said Dlaine, shaking his head. “What I mean is that your face looks like King Riuno's, except younger.”
Keo, surprised, looked at the huge statue lying before him. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” said Dlaine. “Seriously, you look just like him. It's freaky. You even have a sword.”
Keo looked at the large sword that the statue carried and then looked at Gildshine, which was sheathed at his side. The two swords looked virtually nothing alike, aside from their general shape, but Keo wondered how much he would resemble King Riuno if he were to draw Gildshine right now and hold it similarly to how the statue held its sword.
But then Keo realized that that would be a waste of time, so he said, “So why did Jola take us here? I don't see any signs that could lead us to the Fallsman that Sadia told us about.”
“Jola said that the last time we were here, she saw some strange paintings on the ruins that she thought didn't mean anything,” said Dlaine, his old eyes scanning the area. “But now she thinks they might be the signs Sadia told us about, because they all appeared to be pointing in one direction.”
Keo looked around the area as well, but he didn't see any paintings anywhere, whether on the streets or buildings. “Well, I don't—Ah!”
Keo said that because he was suddenly knocked off his feet by a force he couldn't see and landed hard on the street. At the same time, however, something flew past the spot where his head had been mere moments before and struck the street only a couple of feet away. A quick glance told Keo that he had just narrowly avoided getting hit in the head by a long, silver blade that was shaped almost like an arrow.
“What the hell?” said Keo. He looked around, but did not see the person who had thrown that knife. “Where did that come from? And who knocked me over?”
“Jola did,” said Dlaine, who was now looking around the area as well, his eyes scanning the tall buildings all around them. “She saw the knife coming. But I don't know who threw it.”
Keo scrambled to his feet and drew Gildshine. He also scanned the buildings around them, but the ruins of Castarious seemed as empty and dead as ever. He almost wondered if he had actually been assaulted by one of the ghosts said to live here, but then he realized that an actual ghost wouldn't have been able to throw a physical knife at him like that. Still, the fact that Keo had not even heard the knife coming meant that whoever had tried to attack Keo was just as dangerous as any ghost, perhaps even more so.
Then Keo saw movement from within one of the buildings. He looked in that direction just in time to see a man wearing black to dash out, carrying two swords in hand, moving with the speed of a rushing river.
Dlaine raised his fists, but Keo dashed forward, causing Dlaine to shout, “Hey, kid! What are you doing?”
“He's got swords,” Keo shouted, without looking at Dlaine. “I can handle him better than you. Just keep an eye out for any allies he may have!”
Dlaine said something else, but Keo did not hear him because, in a second, he and the man in black were in front of each other, and the man brought his swords down on Keo's head. Keo blocked the attack with Gildshine, but his opponent was stronger than he looked, because the impact of the blow almost sent Keo to his knees. But Keo managed to retain his footing and even found enough strength to push back.
His opponent, however, merely jumped backwards in response and slashed at Keo with one of his swords. Keo blocked it with Gildshine, but his opponent's other sword flew at his opening, forcing Keo to duck to avoid losing his head entirely. Seeing an opening, Keo tried stabbing the man, but the man in black blocked Gildshine with both of his blades. Then the man shoved Keo backwards, sending him staggering, but Keo recovered fast enough to block another couple of blows from the man, although just barely.
Breathing hard, Keo held Gildshine in a defensive position, watching his opponent carefully, who was now swinging his swords around like he was preparing for another attack. Keo looked for any openings that he could take advantage of, but the man left nothing for Keo to exploit, which told Keo that this swordsman was no amateur.
Then, without warning, the swordsman dashed toward Keo. He swung his left sword at Keo, which Keo blocked, but then the swordsman tried to stab Keo with his right sword. Keo barely managed to dodge it, however, and responded by kicking the swordsman in his exposed gut.
Keo's foot connected and the swordsman was sent staggering, gasping for air from the impact of the blow. Keo advanced and brought Gildshine down on the swordsman's head, but the swordsman blocked it in the nick of time, catching it between both of his blades.
Yet Keo did not give up. He forced the swordsman to go down, putting as much of his weight onto Gildshine as he could. And to his relief, the swordsman was indeed going down, even though he was clearly struggling hard against Keo's weight. The swordsman was almost on his knees now, at which point Keo was sure that the fight would be over.
But then Keo heard Dlaine shout, “Keo, to your right!” and he looked to his right and saw another swordsman in black wielding duel blades running toward him. Keo removed Gildshine from his first opponent and managed to block the second assailant's attacks, but then his first opponent swung his swords at him again.
Again, Keo forced his second opponent back and jumped to the side, the tips of the first swordsman's blades nearly cutting through his side. Keo staggered, but still held up Gildshine before him as his two opponents ganged up on him. Keo heard a shout behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Dlaine fighting his own set of swordsmen, though he was even more defensive than Keo, having to jump around and dodge to avoid getting slashed or stabbed by the two mysterious swordsmen.
Yet there was nothing Keo could do to help, so he looked back at the two swordsmen advancing on him. He b
acked up as quickly as he could, looking for any openings he could take advantage of, but the two swordsmen advancing on him left no openings for him to strike. And Keo was already starting to feel tired and hungry, but he ignored his fatigue in order to focus on doing what he needed to in order to win.
Where's Jola? Keo thought, scowling as he looked around the area. Why isn't she helping?
Then, without warning, Keo's two opponents surged forward and starting slashing at him with their four swords. Keo blocked each blow as quickly as he could, but even Gildshine was not large enough to block every blow, forcing him to dodge just as many attacks as he blocked. He had no time to strike back and was becoming increasingly certain that he was going to die unless a miracle happened.
Eventually, Keo and Dlaine were driven back to back, with the four swordsmen on every side circling them like lions looking for an opportunity to go in for the kill. Both Keo and Dlaine were tired and panting, but their opponents hardly seemed fazed, as if this was merely a light training exercise rather than a battle to the death.
“Any ideas, kid?” said Dlaine as they watched the swordsmen circle them.
Keo shook his head. “No. Where's Jola?”
“No idea,” said Dlaine. “But I know she didn't run away. She's not a coward. I can tell you that much about her.”
Keo frowned. “If she didn't run, then what is she doing?”
“Like I said, I don't know,” said Dlaine. “Don't know who these freaks are, either.”
Keo shook his head. “Wonderful. Just—”
At that moment, a sudden cry of pain shot through the square, so loud that it even caused the four swordsmen to look around in surprise, as if they recognized it. Keo and Dlaine looked around as well, but did not spot anyone who might have cried out in pain until a figure staggered out of the darkness of a nearby building.
The figure was a woman with short, dark hair. Like the swordsmen, she wore a black outfit that covered up much of her body and face, and she also carried a sword at her side, although her sword was thinner and shorter than the swords wielded by her allies.
The odd thing about her was that her right arm was twisted behind her back and she looked like she was in great pain. Her fellow swordsmen looked torn between staying and fighting Keo and Dlaine or going and helping her, which made Keo wonder just who this woman was and what was so important about her. Was she their leader?
“Stop!” the woman shouted. Her voice was rather high, but there was a definite commanding tone to it, like she was used to issuing orders. “Stand down! Spare these two.”
The four swordsmen all exchanged puzzled glances, but they lowered their weapons anyway and stepped back from Keo and Dlaine without another word. Still, Keo did not lower Gildshine, nor did Dlaine lower his fists, because there was a good possibility that this was a trick and that the swordsmen would attack if they saw an opening.
Then the woman looked over her shoulder and said, “All right. I let them go. Stop twisting my arm.”
There was no answer, although Keo was confused until Dlaine muttered, “Jola's my girl,” which helped Keo understand that Jola was the one twisting that woman's arm.
The woman's arm untwisted and she immediately started rubbing it. Keo expected the woman to order her men to attack Dlaine and him again, but the woman instead looked around hesitantly, like she expected a monster to leap from the shadows and eat her, before she walked toward them. Neither Keo nor Dlaine let their guard down, however, even though it was now clear that the woman was not going to have her men attack.
“Who are you?” said Dlaine as the woman stopped just outside of the vague circle created by the swordsmen. “Are these your men?”
The woman regarded both Keo and Dlaine with severe distaste, as if there was something about their appearances that offended her. “No. I am their commander, but they answer to a higher authority than me.”
“Who's that?” said Dlaine.
“The Fallsman,” said the woman. “And you have intruded upon his territory, which is why I and my fellow Warriors of the Falls tried to kill you.”
Keo's eyes widened. “The Fallsman? That's who you work for?”
“Yes,” said the woman, nodding. “Do you recognize that name?”
“Yes,” said Keo, nodding himself. Although it was risky, he lowered Gildshine, opened his pack, and started digging around in it for the letter for the Fallsman. “I have a letter that we were supposed to deliver to him.”
“A letter?” said the woman in surprise. “Who is it from?”
“A woman named Sadia,” said Keo. He stopped digging through his pack and looked up at the woman with an inquiring expression. “Do you recognize that name?”
The woman's eyes narrowed. “Too well.”
Keo did not know why the woman seemed so hostile toward Sadia, but he didn't ask why. He just fished out the letter from his pack and held it up for the woman to see. “Here's the letter from Sadia that I was telling you about.”
The woman held out her hand. “Give it to me and I will make sure that the Fallsman gets it.”
Keo was about to do that, but then Dlaine grabbed his arm and lowered it, causing Keo to look at him in surprise.
“No way, lady,” said Dlaine, shaking his head. “We have no guarantee that you won't kill us the moment we give you that letter. We'll take it to the Fallsman ourselves and you will lead us to him.”
The woman folded her arms in annoyance. “No one sees the Fallsman unless he invites them, and you have not been invited to his presence.”
Dlaine snorted. “That's one heck of an ego your master has. What, is he the second coming of King Riuno or something? Either take us to Fallsman and let us deliver the letter personally or we'll have Jola—you know, the spirit that twisted your arm—show you why you generally don't mess with the spiritual world.”
The woman gulped and looked around, like she thought that the 'spirit'—obviously Jola—was going to appear out of nowhere and attack her again. Then she looked at Keo and Dlaine, again with that same distaste in her eyes.
“Very well,” said the woman. “I will take you to the Fallsman. The Warriors will not harm you, but I must ask you to put away your sword. The Fallsman does not like to meet armed visitors.”
Although Keo did not trust either the woman or the Warriors at all, he nonetheless understood that he had no real choice in the matter. So he sheathed Gildshine and expected the Warriors to fall on Dlaine and him in a frenzy of metal and blood, but the Warriors did not move an inch from where they stood, thankfully.
“Now, follow me,” said the woman as she turned. “The Fallsman is not far from here, so we should get there quickly if we do not run into any delays. I cannot guarantee that he will be happy to see you, but I know he will want to see that letter, so we must go, and quickly.”
***