Episode 8: Conscience Flying Episode 10: The Blizzard
I did 10,000 words on April 29th. Then I did another 11,000 on the 30th. Then I gave up and cheated because there was no way I was going to write another chapter in ten minutes and I wanted to see what the winner’s certificate was like. : P I feel kind of bad about that now, but anyway this chapter and the next one need quite a bit of editing. I also need to go back and add things like:
– more Farina and Dart in episode 6! (added)
– more clear explanation of the Ending Winter now that I know it exists in episode 4! (added)
And of course, write the final showdown and aftermath. So I’ll still be writing this week, but maybe not in such a crazy way. I can focus on other things, like work and sleeping and hanging out with neglected friends!
Episode 9: Dark Sage
It was October, and they were journeying carefully right into the heart of Etruria. Louise and Klein spent a lot of time with Fiora and Florina, out of range of identification by most people, and Pent stayed close to George and Yens, who were the only other people in the group who were both tall enough that he didn’t stand out, and who didn’t ride a horse like Kent, Andy, and Frank. Bartre and Karla had left them in Jutes again, and the rest of them continued onwards, back across the sea to Etruria and towards their next goal.
“I’m not sure exactly how we’re going to play this,” Pent confessed to Ceniro. “Douglas would understand, and he could get us to see Bishop Yodel, who could probably arrange something to keep Aureola safe, even if he can’t get me to it. But getting to see Douglas could be tricky.”
“We could use Matthew or Legault,” Ceniro agreed. “But Matthew is in Ostia, and I have no idea where Legault might be. Probably in Pherae with Nino, if I had to guess. Anyway, perhaps we can do something else. He remembers me and Fiora, right?”
“He remembers you. He might remember Fiora.”
“Then you should hole up somewhere outside of Aquleia and she and I, and maybe a couple of the others like Renee and Rigel, should go seek him out. I’m sure if he remembers me, he’ll agree to see me.”
“You did do him and all of Etruria a great service,” Pent agreed. “All right. We’ll find a place to stay that doesn’t ask too many questions. You go on, then.”
So Ceniro took the three women with him and ventured into Aquleia, the white City of Saint Elimine, and went straight to the palace, asking for General Douglas. When he gave his name, the guard saluted smartly and went straight off. Ceniro blinked at his retreating back, trying to remember if he’d met him two years before, but it was a hopeless task, even though he was reasonably good at remembering people. It was his now-well-trained habit of assessing people’s combat strengths that helped him, but there had been so many people to keep track of that one crazy day in Aquleia, when Lord Eshan had tried for a coup with the Holy Maiden staff…
He was distracted by Renee and Rigel whispering and giggling behind him. “What?”
“You’re so important now,” Renee teased him. “Generals jump at your name.”
“That wasn’t a general,” he said, confused, and was more confused when that just made them giggle more.
Fortunately, then the soldier returned and led them to General Douglas’s study.
Douglas rose to greet them. “Ah, Ceniro! I recall you well. How are you?”
“I’m well,” Ceniro said, shaking the extended hand, “and so is our mutual friend. I left him in Ostia while I traveled here to speak with you.” He was flat-out lying, since he had no idea how to speak a coded message. But perhaps he’d get a chance to speak with Douglas honestly soon.
“I see,” Douglas said, and he seemed a little disappointed. “Still, I’m glad to know he found you. He wasn’t expecting you to be easy to find, you know.”
“I don’t blame him,” Ceniro said. “But it was his good luck that he met a Sacaean hunter friend of ours who managed to find me for him.”
“That’s good to hear,” Douglas said. “Now, what did you want to speak to me about?”
Ceniro looked around; the door was shut, but he didn’t know how cautious he had to be. Fiora had remained outside on guard duty, and Renee and Rigel were casually looking out the window, so they were pretty safe, he hoped.
Douglas noticed, of course – Ceniro’s gesture had not been subtle. “I think you may speak reasonably freely here. Only keep your voice down.”
“Well, then,” Ceniro began, almost in a whisper, “Pent and Louise are definitely with me, although not in Aquleia, and we’re looking for the eight Legendary Weapons so as to seal them away from the world.”
Douglas blinked and rocked back on his heels. “You don’t pick the easy quests, do you?”
Ceniro laughed self-consciously. “It’s related to a certain set of incidents last year, incidents that left the Legendary Weapons unsealed and ready for anyone to grab – although of course they have to get past the ghosts who guard them first. It’s a bit complicated. I’ll try to start from the beginning.”
He tried not to go into too much detail regarding his journey with Eliwood and Hector, although Douglas nodded knowingly when Ceniro had to mention the Shrine of Seals – it was rather important to the story.
Douglas sat back when he was done. “So you want me to arrange a meeting with Bishop Yodel, a secret meeting.”
“Yes, sir. I don’t know exactly where Aureola is, but if, as we guess, it’s guarded by the Church of Saint Elimine, it’s probably quite safe already. If Bishop Yodel decides that it doesn’t need sealing, then Pent and I are agreed to believe him and continue on our way.”
“I’ll speak with him. In the meantime,” Douglas said, raising his voice to signal the end of subterfuge, “you would like a job, wouldn’t you?”
Ceniro smiled. “If you have any suiting a rag-tag band of mercenaries with all wins and no losses.”
“I think I can find something for you,” Douglas said. “There have been reports of a Count Dymal terrorizing his own villages. I’d like you to investigate, but I do not authorize you to shake him down. Defend yourself, if necessary, but any other interference will reflect badly on the crown. And make sure your mage friend watches his spells.” He wrote quickly and after a few minutes while Ceniro let him concentrate, handed Ceniro a letter reiterating what he had just said in more formal terms.
Ceniro nodded. “That will do nicely, and I’ll warn him, not that he needs it. It sounds interesting. When should we be back by?”
“His estate is about two days from here, so be back in about five days. I should have more for you then.”
Ceniro smiled and stood. “Thank you, General Douglas.”
“No, thank you, Ceniro.”
As it turned out, Pent volunteered to stay behind with Klein and Fiora while Louise came with the rest of the group; Lyn had put Louise’s hair in a Sacaean headwrap and she also drew her hood over her head. The group marched north-west to the county of Ullean, Count Dymal’s territory.
Count Dymal was indeed terrorizing his own villages; they came across him doing so almost as soon as they entered Ullean. He took them for bandits at first and right in the middle of the road, he set his troops on them. Ceniro made sure not to kill many of them – it wasn’t their fault they were working for an idiot… he hoped – and soon enough, they were all injured or unconscious except for the unlucky few who had been hit by Erk’s thunder and one who had been killed by Caddie’s axe. After that, the Count panicked and fled, until Ceniro called him back by explaining they had been sent by General Douglas, showing him the letter that authorized them to investigate certain activites. “But I think we’ve seen all that we need to. Care to explain?”
The Count spluttered and blustered, something about peasants evading taxes, and Ceniro, who was the son of a carpenter after all, listened skeptically. In Santaruz, the Marquess had never invaded his own villages; if someone wasn’t paying their taxes, soldiers might come and throw them in prison, but the punishment wasn’t meted out to everyone indiscriminately, young and old, rich and poor, hard-working and lazy. It was ridiculous. The Count just wanted to indulge his ego and his temper.
Then the Count tried to bribe him. Ceniro laughed and refused. The Count drew his sword and swung at him, calling him a churl; quick as a breath, Lyn was behind him, locking her swords around his throat. After the Count almost said something uncomplimentary about Sacaeans, Ceniro calmly said that they would be returning to General Douglas now, and the Count just about had an aneurysm, but dared not touch them again.
Douglas appeared not to have moved since Ceniro had last seen him. “Ah, Ceniro, I hear you were successful.”
“To some extent,” Ceniro said. “I think I let him down gently.”
“Excellent work. And I have that answer for you.” He passed Ceniro a sealed envelope. “I don’t need to warn you not to open this in front of strangers.”
“Of course,” Ceniro said. “I’ll see you then. Or not, as the case may be.”
Douglas chuckled. “You catch on quickly. Farewell.”
Ceniro bowed and left.
The message was a short one; a location near the Tower of the Saint on the outskirts of Aquleia, and a time for late in the evening.
“We probably shouldn’t take everyone,” Pent said. “Even if things get sticky, the fewer people around, the better.”
“In that case, let’s take Lyn, Rigel, Erk, Florina, and Fiora,” Ceniro said. “That’s… seven people.”
“Not me?” Renee cried indignantly. “Do you not trust me to be quiet?”
“It’s not that,” Ceniro said. “I’m only taking people with swords or magic. You use a spear. It stands out.”
Renee subsided, though not without a pout and a longing glance at Rigel, who wasn’t looking. Ceniro gave her a curious look before leading the rest out of the inn and back to the city.
The location was for a small café, and Bishop Yodel was there. Pent strolled up to him and took a seat at his table. “Nice summer night, isn’t it?”
“Indeed it is,” Bishop Yodel said, with a wizened smile. “Do you approach me seeking Saint Elimine’s grace?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Pent answered. There hadn’t been a sign or countersign arranged that Ceniro knew of, but apparently their conversation had been long and casual enough that Bishop Yodel thought it sufficient and stood, leading them to the cathedral.
They didn’t go in any of the main doors, which appeared to be locked for the evening. If Ceniro recalled correctly from when he had been sightseeing, there was always one door unlocked in the main entrances for someone desperately in need to approach the priests, but he hadn’t made use of it himself. And it wasn’t the one that Bishop Yodel led them to now. They entered a small, private door around the back, and went into the nave of the church just long enough for the bishop to open a large trapdoor on one side, descending down a steep flight of black steps into the darkness of the cathedral’s crypt.
Ceniro stopped the rest of his group. “Pent’s the only one who really needs to be with the tome. The rest of you should stay here, out of sight, if possible, and watch that no one followed us.”
“Understood,” Lyn said with a smile, and the five fighters scattered through the church, finding alcoves to watch from. Ceniro turned to follow Pent and Yodel. If there was a disturbance, he’d try to come back to assist.
They made it to the bottom and gathered in the low-ceilinged crypt. “Is this it?” Pent asked, his voice echoing softly in the stone space.
“No,” Bishop Yodel said. “We will go there shortly. But first I must confess to you that not all has been well here. Aureola has lain untouched for centuries, and yet… there seems to be something showing interest in it.”
“Something?” Pent asked with great curiousity. Ceniro heard Florina shiver and her avatar drew closer to Fiora’s.
“We can’t tell who it might be, but the brothers and sisters have been sensing concentrations of dark magic near the cathedral, and once from the chamber where Aureola itself lies. It’s most unusual. We contacted the Chapter of Elder Mages, and they claimed to have nothing to do with it. The tome was untouched, and we dare not leave a guard for fear that others will discover it, but I worry that someone or something might be trying to steal it.”
“Huh,” Pent said thoughtfully. “So… be careful, is what you’re saying. I can’t promise the sealing ritual won’t attract attention – there may be flashy lights, it is anima magic after all – but I’ll do my best.”
“I can try to sense it while you are working,” Rigel said softly from her corner upstairs.
Yodel nodded. “That is all. I will lead you to it.”
He led them to a secret panel in the wall, one that they would not have seen even in the light of the lantern, and they came to an even more cramping spiral staircase. Pent was at quite a disadvantage, bent almost double to fit into the space, and even Ceniro had to stoop.
The staircase seemed to go on longer than was reasonable, and was just as dark as it had been underground, but at last they saw the glimmer of moonlight, and came to a chamber in the tall tower at the back of the church, the Tower of the Saint itself. Perhaps the highest chamber; only the rafters were above them. It was hardly enclosed; the night wind blew through many windows and artistic openings in the tower, and the moonlight streamed through, lighting up the place enough that Yodel quickly put out his lantern and left it on the stairs. The chamber was much wider than the spiral staircase had been, and Ceniro guessed that the stairs had been built into the wall, hidden even from the rooms on the floors below.
And on a plinth in the middle of the chamber lay a vaguely familiar golden tome, unmarred by long years.
Pent smiled. “Well, time to get to work. Stand back, please.”
There certainly was a lot of light involved in casting anima magic, Ceniro reflected nervously as Pent set about his ritual. No one looking in even the vicinity of the tower could miss that.
And the farseer pinged.
Everyone, Pent, Yodel, and Ceniro jumped, and Ceniro almost dropped it getting it out as fast as he could. There were unknown figures approaching the Tower.
He turned to Bishop Yodel. “There are people coming, and I don’t know who they are. Just in case, I’m going to go back down. You should take this and use it after I leave.” He handed him the Light Rune that he had kept ever since Nabata.
“Ah, I see,” said the bishop. “Just… be careful. It is forbidden to use violence in the Tower of the Saint, but if these people are violent, you will have no choice. Only please do not hurt the brothers and sisters who live here.”
“I’ll do my best to keep them all unharmed,” Ceniro promised, and started down. The Light Rune lit up and blocked the entrance to the chamber behind him.
If it hadn’t been for the slightest glow from the farseer, he would have had no light. It was a little claustrophobic in that cramped stairwell with only that faint light, but he pushed on as fast as he could. Still, the unknown figures had entered the cathedral by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs and found himself in the crypt. “Lyn?”
“Here. Need me?”
“What exactly are they doing?”
“Looking for something. The way up, maybe? Oh, they’re about to find Erk…”
“We found a little boy!” Ceniro heard as he poked his head out of the stairwell and into the main part of the cathedral. “Not who we’re looking for, right?”
“No, get on with it,” said another voice, and Ceniro heard Rigel gasp. It was a quiet gasp, but in the echoes of the cathedral, it grew to a loud one, but the enemies turned this way and that, trying to figure out where it came from. “What was that?”
“Who are you?” asked a new voice, and Ceniro saw a cluster of monks and clerics approaching the people. “You are armed within a sacred space. That is not permitted.”
“Yeah, but it’s important!” said the enemy leader, a druid, walking forward to face the lead cleric. “Look, just go back to bed and we’ll do our business on our own.”
“What do we do with the boy, sir?” asked one of the soldiers with the druid.
“Throw him outside, we don’t need him.”
“It’s all right, Erk,” Ceniro said softly. “Don’t burn them all yet. Let this play out for a bit.”
“I must protest!” cried the cleric. “He is but a child, clearly just taking shelter from the outside.”
“It’s a nice night, he’ll be fine,” the druid said coldly. “Now go on, you should move yourselves.”
“There’s stairs down over here,” called a soldier from the stairwell Ceniro had vacated a few minutes ago.
“We want stairs up, don’t be silly.”
Ceniro grinned to himself. This lot wasn’t going to find Aureola even if he put a sign out telling them which way to go.
“The stairs into the Tower are off-limits,” the cleric said stiffly. “You are not of the Church of Saint Elimine, so you are not allowed up.”
“My master told me not to use force unless it was necessary,” growled the druid, getting in the cleric’s face. She began to look a bit nervous, but recovered herself, probably reminding herself that her light magic was stronger than his dark magic… even if he was probably more powerful than she was.
“You would be committing sacrilige!”
“I’d say it’s necessary; our end goal is too important just to spare your feelings.” The druid pointed at the monks and clerics. “Remove them!”
Ceniro stepped from behind a pillar. “Maybe it’s me you’re looking for?”
“Who are you?” the druid snapped. “Aren’t you the one Lord Milton keeps complaining about?”
“Aren’t you the older brother of one of my companions?” Ceniro retorted.
“Rigel!? She’s here? She’s supposed to be…”
“In Nabata!” Rigel exclaimed, also stepping out of cover on the other side of the room. “The Elder gave that mission to me! What are you doing here, with that Lord Milton?”
“He has been my friend for a long time! If anyone knows what to do with the Legendary Weapons, he does!”
“He doesn’t know what they do!” Rigel shouted. “They almost wiped out all life on Elibe, not just dragons!”
Ceniro interrupted their sibling spat. “In any case, we are all searching for the same thing, but I can’t allow you to find it and give it to Milton!”
“Who let you in?” one of the monks demanded. “How do you know about the Legendary Weapon?”
“The Bishop, and educated guessing,” Ceniro said. “It’s not important. Lyn?”
“If these folk intend to do you harm, we shall defend you,” Lyn said to the monks and clerics, stepping out beside Ceniro. “Have no fear.”
“But… but…” said the cleric.
There were about thirty enemies, grouping up near the front of the church, and only six of them. This wouldn’t be the easiest battle he’d fought. “Go up there by the… the throne-thing,” he said to the monks and clerics. It would be easiest if he could keep an eye on them. “Are there any more of you in the back?” It wouldn’t do for the enemy to take hostages in the confusion.
“Some…”
“Erk! Lyn! Go guard the back door, keep any of the enemy from getting past! Florina, there, Fiora, stand there.” The high dias was difficult to climb except at the points with the stairs. If they could manage the choke points… How were they going to deal with the druid? Rigel probably couldn’t overpower her brother, but perhaps both pegasus knights working together… “Rigel, stay with me, we’ll cover this staircase.”
“I’ll help,” said a monk, stepping forward. “I happen to have my tome with me…”
“You can’t, Trinn!” cried the cleric. “It’s not allowed…”
“Saint Elimine fought against the dragons rather than be overwhelmed and her people slain,” said the monk, with a holy gesture. “I’d like to help these folk protect us.” He turned to Ceniro. “I’m Trinn. You appear to be a strategist. Where shall I stand?”
“Please go with the knights,” Ceniro said, pointing to Florina and Fiora, who were dealing with lancemen with only their swords. They were good enough he trusted them to hold the stairs.
But he still hoped Pent would finish soon.
“You’re horribly outnumbered,” said the druid. “You really want to fight us?”
“What are you waiting for?” Ceniro asked, sword in hand and farseer in the other.
Soldiers began to climb the staircase towards them. “If you’re going to fight, you’re going to get hurt, Rigel,” warned the druid. “You’re not a fighter!”
“I… I am now!” Rigel said defiantly. “I can be a scholar and a fighter! I learned it from Lord Pent!” But her voice wavered, seeing axemen advancing quickly up the stairs towards them.
“We’re fine,” Ceniro assured her. “Just take them out before they reach the top. I’ll deal with the rest.”
“Lord Pent is a traitor and an assassin!”
“That’s a lie! He’s the best teacher in Elibe!” Erk called back.
“Yeah!” Rigel agreed. “Meanwhile, you’re threatening to kill defenseless clergy!” One axeman fell back, looking pale and feverish from her spells, but the other three kept coming. Soon Ceniro would have to deal with them… could he take them all on at once?
“Collateral damage for the greater good!”
“Oh, shut up!” Rigel screamed, and lobbed a great big ball of black goo at her brother. He ducked and sent his own flying back; Rigel didn’t dodge in time and cried out as it wrapped around her shoulder.
A light lit up and the goo dissolved, and one of the clerics took a step forward, raising a healing staff. “I’ll help you too!”
“Thanks,” Ceniro panted, parrying another blow from the axeman and kicking him in the gut, trying to shove him back down the stairs. It was a desperate move, only to be used as a last resort, since he was now horribly off balance. The other axeman took advantage of it and moved in on his left, overbalancing him and knocking him down. Rigel screamed and threw more magic at the axemen, buying Ceniro just enough time to scramble to his feet. “Fiora! I need to trade with you!”
“Yes, sir!”
“We’re done up here!” Pent cried from up in the tower. “Need us?”
“Yes please!” Ceniro said, while running to Florina’s side of the dias, quickly checking the farseer. “In fact, you’re going to have to fight just to make it out of the crypt again.” There were some soldiers down there, although they looked a bit lost. They wouldn’t find the secret passage until Pent emerged from it, but Pent could take care of himself. He hoped. He heard Yodel deactivate the Light Rune and saw the two begin to make the long trip down the spiral staircase as fast as they could. They’d hold out until Pent and Yodel got there. “Lyn, can you go clear the top of the stairs for when Pent gets here?”
“Got it!” Lyn cried, leaving Erk to deal with what was left of their enemies by himself and sprinting for the stairs. She took the soldiers there by surprise, and they couldn’t stand against both her swords.
After what seemed like ages, Pent and Yodel emerged from the stairs; there were still about twenty enemy soldiers left, including the druid. “You haven’t left us many, Ceniro!”
Ceniro had no energy for banter right now. “Get Yodel to the druid! He’s Rigel’s brother, try not to kill him, but he’s messing up my defense!”
“Will do,” Pent said, but there were a lot of soldiers between him and the druid, and even with Lyn’s swords defending him, both spellcasters were vulnerable and getting backed into a corner rather than able to advance on the druid. Erk was also running low on energy, and Rigel was out of energy, resting with the clerics by the seat of the Bishop. This wasn’t looking good…
There was a sound like a thunderclap, and a dark-robed figure obscured by shadowy black mist appeared in the centre of the cathedral. Dark energy radiated through the chamber, throwing almost everyone from their feet.
Yodel immediately climbed back to his feet and pointed. “He- he- that’s the one we’ve been feeling! You! Who are you!?”
“My name matters not!” snapped the figure, as enraged as Yodel was. “All that matters is Aureola’s safety! Stand aside!”
Pent bowed to the figure. “Your arrival is timely, Lord Bramimond.”
“L-l-l-lord Brami-” Rigel stammered, before falling on her knees and prostrating herself in a Khafti gesture of respect. “My lord!”
“You who seal the Legendary Weapons, good work,” Bramimond said to Pent. “It’s a good job, and I don’t have the strength to do it anymore.” He turned to Rigel. “I… er… it’s… nice to have fans…?”
“Why does he speak like that?” Fiora asked.
“I’m not sure, but I was told it’s because to achieve complete mastery over Elder magic, to be able to wield Apocalypse, he had to give up everything that he was, even his personality. Now he – or she – only mirrors the people he’s talking to,” Ceniro explained in a low voice.
“Lord Bramimond…” Yodel said. “I… I apologize. I did not know.”
Vellith was out cold. Bramimond walked over to him. “He has talent, and yet not as much as his younger sister,” he said conversationally. “But he shouldn’t be here. When I leave, he will have no memory of me – or of this night. Nor will any of the others who now lie unconscious. You should move them far away from here.” Ceniro looked around. That meant all the remaining enemy soldiers, and all the monks and clerics, including Trinn and the cleric who had helped them. The power Bramimond had if he could alter memories… He shivered.
“We will do that,” Pent said. “Before you go, if I might ask a quick question…?”
“I am growing weary again already, but if it is indeed quick…”
“Please, can you tell us where to find Murgleis, or Maltet, or Eckesachs? I’m sure Apocalypse is safe with you…”
“It is safe within the Shrine of Seals. The others will reveal themselves to you, but…” Bramimond’s face was almost impossible to see, but there might have been the ghost of a smile. “For Maltet, the lavender-haired girl will guide you.” He pointed vaguely at Florina, who dropped her sword, her eyes wide and hands shaking.
“M-m-m-me…?”
“Yes…?” Bramimond said, timidly. “You should… um… trust yourself, pegasus rider.”
“Thank you,” Pent said, bowing.
Bramimond did not acknowledge him but disappeared with a poof of mist.
Florina clapped her hands to her mouth, presumably to keep from screaming or something. Fiora put an arm around her. “It’s all right, Florina, we’ll figure out what he meant together. It’s okay! Just take some deep breaths.”
Pent looked at Yodel. “Well. Mission accomplished, somehow?”
Yodel was still recovering. “You had better take this fellow and his accomplices and remove them quickly from the Tower before they awaken. You have done us a great service, Pent, though I don’t believe Etruria will ever know about it. I wish you well, and I hope you can lift your exile soon.”
“Thank you,” Pent said. “I hope it too.”
A week or two later, they were crossing the mountains back into Sacae. As the plateau of plains came into view, Pent pushed back his hood from his head, letting his long silver hair spill out across his shoulders. “It’ll be nice not to have to hide, anymore.”
“Indeed,” Louise said, doing the same. “But it was also nice to see our homeland, for a time. It felt… more precious, somehow, because we weren’t supposed to be there.”
“I’ll get you back home someday,” Ceniro promised. “After this big important quest, of course.”
“Of course!” Pent said. “Now, I haven’t the faintest clue where in Sacae Hanon’s bow is supposed to be hidden. Lyn, do you have any ideas?”
“Me?” Lyn asked in surprise. “Oh, you mean like folk tales that might help? No, not really. I know many tales about her, but they’re pretty hazy on locations.”
“I have a suggestion,” Rigel said. “We should find some of the shaman of Sacae. Surely they have been working on the problem, just like all the other shaman in Elibe.”
“And… then what?” Pent asked, considering her idea. “Surely they won’t just hand over their research to strangers if we ask them directly, even if you are a shaman yourself.”
“What if we tell them it’s something incredibly dangerous?” Renee asked. “But that would just make them more curious. Rigel, can you not figure out the location from your own knowledge?”
Rigel looked flattered. “I’m not strong enough to do that. And I didn’t have the map of the whole continent when I set out, just of Nabata.”
“I know!” Renee exclaimed. “We should go to the biggest city in Sacae, or wherever the shaman of Sacae have some kind of headquarters, and you just go in and talk about things with them! Show them you’re an eager student and ask if they have any new discoveries!”
“That might work,” Pent said thoughtfully. “They were discussing it right out in the open when I first heard about it from them. Yes, that angle will probably work. Thank you, Renee.”
“You’re welcome,” Renee said, looking pleased. “I’ll coach you, Rigel! Subterfuge is fun, and you’ll do great!”
“W-wait, no one said anything about subterfuge!” Rigel exclaimed, backing away.
Renee took her hands. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to do this!”
“Um, er, well… I want to help, but that’s such a scary word!”
“But I’ll help you! Come on, let’s go talk about it.”
The two girls walked away through the grass, hand in hand.
Wil looked at Ceniro and waggled his eyebrows. Ceniro blinked back, mystified.
A few days later, after a quick trip to Bulgar and a bit of espionage by Renee and Rigel, Ceniro’s band was heading to the most eastern side of Sacae, so far east that most maps didn’t bother to include it. It was a very long journey, and took them another two weeks on top of the month that they’d traveled from Aquleia already.
Rigel had said she was not strong enough to sense the traces of the unsealing ripple, but she had a map showing its general location. Lyn said there were not likely to be many caves in this part of the land, not large ones anyway, but there were some old ruins from a time when there were more cities and fewer nomads in Sacae. From before the Scouring.
It took a few days, and the air was growing cold again, reminding many of them of when they had all met and banded together to become mercenaries. Louise bundled up Klein in warm woolen things, carrying him in a sling on her front. But they did eventually find a set of stone ruins set into the landscape, scattered wide as if there had once been a great city there; now, there were hardly the remains of walls of a few buildings.
It was a very melancholy sight, even though it was so old.
“In legends of my people, it’s said that this place is haunted,” Lyn said. “We don’t come here, not often, anyway. I wonder if it’s haunted by Hanon’s allies?”
“This place must have been destroyed in the Scouring,” Kent said. “But was it by dragons, or by the Legendary Weapons?”
Andy shivered. “Does it matter? Both are bad.”
“Dragons aren’t necessarily bad,” Lyn assured them quickly. “In fact, wasn’t it humans who started the war?”
“Playing devil’s advocate?” Yens drawled.
“No, not at all,” Lyn said. “I haven’t really met any dragons, of course, at least not to talk to,” which was technically true, she never talked to Ninian while she was in dragon form, “but even though I fought one, I think Eliwood is right, that maybe they’re misunderstood.”
Frank blinked in surprise. “That was a leap you made there.”
Lyn smiled. “Sorry. But anyway… Neither dragons nor the Legendary Weapons are necessarily bad… but it’s true that they can both be used in this way.”
“And that’s why we’re sealing them!” Andy said. “The weapons, of course. The dragons are already stuck in their own dimension, thank goodness.”
Lyn and Ceniro shared an amused glance. “Yes, perhaps. Anyway, it’s getting late, we should make camp here and search the ruins tomorrow.”
In the middle of the night, Frank, who was on watch, came to get Ceniro. “I… might… have seen something.”
“Hnn?” Ceniro wasn’t too happy about being woken, but if it was important… “Show me?”
Lyn rolled over. “What’s-”
“I’ll get you if I need you,” Ceniro mumbled blearily in her direction, and stumbled out of the tent after Frank.
Frank led him to the edge of camp and pointed out at the ruins. “I thought I saw something in the sky, over there, but…”
The cold autumn night air was waking Ceniro up against his will. He checked the farseer and saw nothing, but often it didn’t see much at night anyway. “Did it look like a ghost?”
“I’m not sure exactly what a ghost would look like,” Frank said. “So… no? It might have been a bird, really. A big bird.”
Ceniro looked around, but both pegasi seemed to be sleeping quietly in camp. “I’ll stay here for a bit, if we see anything else.”
But he saw nothing else for maybe fifteen minutes, at which point he was almost too asleep to go back to his tent. He made it there with no memory of walking and burrowed into the warm blankets beside Lyn.
They approached the ruins in the early morning of the next day and the farseer went ping.
Ceniro and Frank looked at each other. “Guess there was something there after all,” Frank said.
“Guess so,” Ceniro said, looking down at it. “But not ghosts. Lots of mercenaries, including a wyvern rider, Milton’s wyvern rider actually, and… Rigel, your brother’s still trying to kill us.”
Rigel stamped in frustration. “Why is he following us?”
“Well, we must have led them right here,” George said. “But how would they follow us without us noticing?”
“Perhaps they could see the pegasus knights,” Wil suggested. “While staying out of range of the farseer? Is that possible?”
“It’s possible,” Ceniro said slowly. “Well, Rigel, since he’s your brother, I’m not enthusiastic about killing him…”
“You’re not enthusiastic about killing anyone,” Lyn said.
“But he knows where this place is now, and we can’t expect Bramimond to show up again and wipe his memory.”
Rigel lowered her head. “I don’t want him to die. He’s my only family. But if he could be… contained, somehow…”
“Difficult to take prisoners with us,” Ceniro mused. “But not impossible. All right. You lure him out, we’ll take out everyone else, Louise and Wil can take out the wyvern rider, and we’ll take him to Bulgar and cash in a favour to have him incarcerated for a while. If he really is a good friend of Milton’s, he’ll probably show up to release him sooner or later, but maybe we can finish things up with the last three Weapons before that happens.” He knew he could be risking the continent, but… he was an optimist?
“Thanks,” Rigel said.
“So let’s pretend we haven’t noticed them,” Ceniro said, taking Klein from Louise in preparation of the action to come, and divided his force into three groups to more efficiently search the ruins. One group had Louise, one group had Wil, and one group had Rigel. Louise went to the right, Wil went to the left, and Rigel went down the middle. Now he just had to convince that wyvern rider to not also go down the middle… so he put Pent and Erk in the middle too. Wyverns hated magic, especially thunder.
These mercenaries were good. Better than the ones they’d faced in the Tower of the Saint. They were moving to surround Ceniro’s groups as soon as they saw them, showing an actual vague sense of coordination. Ceniro had to adjust his forces quite a bit, as more and more enemies came out of the ruins closest to them, alerted by their companions already in combat. The wyvern rider was hovering overhead in the back, calling down orders to the group. The terrain was pretty open, but the ruins still provided a bit of cover, and the grasses were tall, hiding everything below waist-height. He kept a careful eye on the map. If these fighters had mines with them, even the farseer might not see them until too late. But then, the mercenaries wouldn’t be able to see their own mines… He decided mines were unlikely.
“Vellith!” Rigel shouted once she saw her brother coming to attack them in the middle. “Why do you keep following me!?”
“Your new best friends are very good guides,” Vellith said. “I’d be a fool not to follow you! Since you’re here, you should come with me. They won’t last long now.”
“No!” Rigel said. “My friends are stronger than your friends, even your Milton friend! And you never listen to me when I warn you you’re doing something stupid!”
“Then you’ve chosen your path, Rigel, and I’m not going to save you from it,” Vellith said. “And you were always the stupid one, not me!”
“I am steel, you are glue,” Rigel muttered, but didn’t say it aloud, and the two shaman began to cast at each other. Pent and Erk were at a bit of a disadvantage here, but Kent wasn’t, and fast enough that Vellith’s spells went wide. Vellith ducked away, and Kent turned his attention to the swordsmen backing up the shaman.
Ceniro was a little worried. The enemies had been here all night, probably, which was plenty of time to search the near ruins. They might bring out Murgleis any moment now, and then they would be in trouble. He had to finish them as quickly as possible, before they could do that. “Fiora, Florina, I’m most worried about you. There seem to be fewer mercenaries farther north; take Andy and Frank and clear them out.” He hoped that meant the mercenaries hadn’t gotten to the northern section yet, and not that they’d already finished.
They were outnumbered, but not hopelessly. There were a few injuries, including a far-too-close call involving Louise and a cavalier, but he got Caddie to pull her back while Yens took care of the cavalier, and brought Erk out of the middle to heal her. The wyvern rider was cannily staying back far enough that none of his spellcasters or archers could hit her, but her encirclements weren’t working very well, and after the right side collapsed in favour of Ceniro’s fighters, he could bring them back around to try and encircle Vellith. If Yens could just give him a good whack in the gut…
But the enemies had seen the right side fall as well. “Rovenna!” yelled Vellith, backing up quickly. “We’ve taken too many losses! Get me out of here!”
“I suppose we have no choice,” Rovenna called back, and, greatly daring, swooped in past Kent’s lance and scooped up Vellith in her wyvern’s claw. Erk cast Thunder at her, but Vellith threw up a dark spell that shielded them from it, and then before Erk could cast another, the wyvern shot away, south over the plains.
Ceniro grimaced. “That… wasn’t quite according to plan.” The farseer was showing the rest of the enemies eliminated or retreating after Rovenna and Vellith. He decided to let them go. They probably didn’t even know why they had been hired. At least no one had shown up with Murgleis. Did that mean it was still safe?
“Did someone outsmart the great Ceniro?” Lyn teased, cleaning her sword.
It wasn’t really teasing he appreciated, not so close to the fact. “I was too obvious. Even a novice would have seen what was going on.”
“It’s hard to disguise dying people. Don’t worry about it,” she said. “We won, and Murgleis will be well safe before Milton gets anywhere near it.”
“If it’s still here.”
“They didn’t get away with it, did they?”
“I’m not sure, but it didn’t look like it…”
“Then it’s probably fine. We have plenty of time now. You seem grumpy! Take the day off and let me take care of things.” She shook a finger at him.
“Okay,” he said, a bit sheepishly.
It was true. He was pretty disappointed in himself, but they had the ruins to themselves, and Pent could get to work once they found that bow.