Aqua- the Unforgiving Sea

by J. C. Ritchie

  Creo was now beginning to understand how the Numina worked. It was this stone, the aquacite that created the bond between the people of Levian and Aquarus. As long as they had the aquacite, they were under Aquarus protection. The stone is where the Numina derive their power from and without the stone it could spell disaster for them.

  Suddenly there was a crash coming from behind Creo. The glass window behind the altar had shattered; a figure in black had entered the Cathedral. The people inside the room screamed and began to run out in a panic. Creo looked up and could see the intruder; it was a woman with long black hair wearing a black dress with white lace throughout it.

  “Guards!” the priest shouted.

  The doors of the Cathedral burst open and the Knights of Mercy began to pour into the room like a golden wave. They surrounded the intruder and the priest that were in the middle of the room. Emelia immediately ran toward the door to join Cyrus who was standing waiting for her. Creo stood and watched from behind the altar, he had never seen this woman before. There was something strange about her but he couldn’t quite place it.

  “You have trespassed on these hallowed grounds, what say you?” a knight asked pointing his sword at the woman.

  The woman began to laugh hysterically while twirling strands of her long black hair around her index finger. “Maybe you boys should put those things away, you might hurt yourselves.” She said.

  “By the grace of Aquarus and the kingdom of Levian, we are placing you under arrest.” The knight said still pointing his sword at the mysterious woman.

  “I simply don’t have time for this, your beginning to annoy me.” The woman said. Creo watched as her eyes began to glow a crimson color. She remained perfectly still except for a finger that she had raised to the knight, her eyes still glowing the color of blood.

  Creo and the others watched in horror as each knight in the room had turned their weapons around and pointed them dangerously close to their own throats. Emelia looked away and pressed her face against Cyrus’ body. They didn’t know what was about to happen and frankly they didn’t want to know.

  “With the snap of my finger I can make each one of you take your own life.” The woman said. “Isn’t that interesting? A room full of soldiers cutting their own throats?”

  Creo was horrified, she was serious. Creo could feel her lust for blood, the hairs on his arms began to rise and he could feel a cold chill down his spine. “Why have you come here to this holy place?” the priest asked slowly.

  The woman turned her attention to the old man who was cowering on the floor below her clutching the bright blue stone. She walked over to him slowly and crouched down in front of him. The look on her face was unwavering, she was smiling. It wasn’t a normal smile; it had been something more sinister. “The only reason I’m here is in the palm of your hand.” She said. “So you can either hand over the stone or I can cut off your hand and take it.”

  The priest was horrified; he could tell just as well as anyone else in the room that she meant what she said. She could kill everyone in the room without much effort at all and they knew it. The priest raised his hand slowly and handed the stone to the woman in black. The woman sat for a moment and glared at the beauty of the stone and smiled. Her attention then returned to the priest who still had a look of horror on his face. “Thank you, father.” She said smiling at him innocently. She quickly pulled out a dagger from her boot and thrust it into his heart. “Thank you very much!” she shouted before standing up and laughing hysterically once more.

  “No!” Emelia screamed trying to break free from Cyrus who was holding her tightly.

  “Emelia no!” he shouted at her.

  The woman in black walked towards the knights who at this time still had their weapons pointed to their necks. They moved aside for her and watched as she walked over to the door and opened it. She ran out into the streets of Levian carrying the aquacite. The hold on the knights was finally lifted and a group of them fled the Cathedral in search of the woman. The others stayed with Creo and the others inside.

  Emelia ran over to the priest who was lying on the ground with a dagger through his chest. She slowly removed the dagger from his body and placed her hands one overlapping the other over his body. A green aura surrounded her hands; she was trying to heal him.

  “Emelia don’t.” Cyrus said from across the room.

  “I can heal him Cyrus!” she shouted continued to work on the old man.

  The aura had glowed brighter the harder she tried to heal him; she was exhausting herself and her magic. “Emelia he is gone!” Cyrus shouted running over to her and pulling her away from the priest’s body.

  “I can heal him.” She said faintly looking down at the blood on her hands. “I can heal him.”

  Cyrus held her and rocked her gently. “Its okay sister, you tried your best he is gone.” He said softly holding her closer to him.

  Creo stood across the room not saying a word. What could he have said? A priest was just murdered in front of them and the aquacite stolen. What do you say to something like that? He remained silent and just watched as Cyrus held Emelia. The only thing he could think about was his parents and the fact that they were gone. They were gone and he would never see them again. This feeling that he was feeling was loss and he hated it. He had never lost anyone before; he had never felt that pain before. At that very moment he was afraid. He was alone and afraid.

  Chapter 6

  Creo, Cyrus, and Emelia sat in the entrance of Levian’s Sanctorum Headquarters waiting to be brought back for questioning. The Chancellor had called for any witnesses who watched the priest being murdered by the mysterious intruder. The entire situation once again made Creo feel uneasy. What if the Chancellor needed to ID them for questioning? What if everyone in the room had found out his secret? He didn’t like this at all and the worse part of it was that he couldn’t escape it.

  Cyrus looked over at Creo and noticed that he was shaking quite noticeably. “Creo your shaking like a leaf, calm yourself.” He said.

  “Perhaps he still in shock from what happened, I’m still quite shaken myself.” Emelia explained.

  Creo shook his head, “No its not that, its just that we are about to meet the Chancellor of Levian.” Creo said. “It’s a bit nerve-racking.”

  Emelia smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder, “Chancellor Gato is a truly compassionate man, and you needn’t fear him.” She said trying to make Creo feel better.

  It hadn’t at all.

  Creo couldn’t be fooled everyone in Levian including his two new friends could be fooled but Creo knew better. He especially knew better when it came to the Sanctorum and the Chancellors. He had thought back to Chancellor Lars and his interrogation. The very thought of the smug look on the man’s face when he mentioned Creo’s execution infuriated him. The Chancellors were not anyone to trust no matter who they were or what they seemed to be. Looks can be deceiving and Creo had known that all too well by now.

  “Have you met the Chancellor before Emelia?” Creo asked.

  “Oh of course, he can’t always make it to the worship services at the Cathedral but when he does I get to speak with him from time to time.” She explained. “Trust me this will be quick and painless.”

  “Honestly Creo, you act as though were the ones that done the murdering.” Cyrus said laughing a little.

  “Murder is not something to poke fun at Cyrus Oriander.” Emelia said glaring at him. He should have known better than to open his mouth leaving his big sister to swiftly put him in his place.

  After a few moments a priest walked up to them, “The Chancellor is ready for you, right this way please.” The old man said showing them over to the staircase. They had walked up the winding path of the stairs until they came to a brown wooden door. The Priest knocked on the door only once, which Creo had found to be very odd. From the other side of the door they could hear a voice telling them to come inside. The priest opened the door slowly and ushered them inside.


  Creo and the others could see the Chancellor sitting at his desk from the other side of the room. The room itself had been quite different from that of Chancellor Lars’ office. Chancellor Gato’s office was nautical themed with anchors, ships in a bottle, Levian naval uniforms. Creo could even see a small statue of Aquarus sitting on the side of his desk.

  “Thank you Father Zuke.” The Chancellor said.

  The priest bowed his head in respect and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  “Please have a seat.” Chancellor Gato added pointing to the three chairs laid out for the in front of his brown wooden desk.

  Creo and the others walked over and sat down in the chairs facing the Chancellor, “It is nice to see you again Chancellor.” Emelia said smiling at him.

  “Always a pleasure Ms. Oriander, I wish that we were here under brighter circumstances.” Gato said.

  “Yes it is terrible what happened to Father Brigg.” Emelia said bowing her head in respect of the fallen priest.

  “So I take it that this is your younger brother Cyrus?” The Chancellor asked her.

  Cyrus leaned over and shook the Chancellor’s hand, “It is nice to meet you sir, and I have heard nothing but good things from my dear sister.” Cyrus said.

  The two of them made Creo sick to his stomach. How could they have been so kind and polite to one of the Sanctorum’s monsters? Creo now had no fondness at all for the Sanctorum or its leadership.

  “This is our friend Creo; he is an acolyte at the Cathedral.” Emelia explained pointed to him.

  “Its nice to meet you Creo, its always a pleasure to meet one of the acolytes or clerics from the Cathedral.” Chancellor Gato said extending his hand. “As you may already know it isn’t everyday that I get to leave this stuffy office.”

  Creo slowly extended his hand to shake the Chancellors’, “It’s a pleasure to meet you sir.” Creo said weakly trying not to vomit on the office floor.

  “Well now that the formalities are out of the way, please explain what you saw concerning this intruder.”

  “Well Chancellor Gato the service was like that of any other, up until the mysterious woman arrived.” Cyrus began to explain.

  The Chancellor gave Cyrus a rather skeptical glance, “A woman you say?” he asked curiously. “A woman broke into the Cathedral during service and stole the sacred stone of Aquarus?”

  “Yes sir, Cyrus is speaking the truth. It was a woman dressed in all black, she crash through the window behind the altar.” Emelia said.

  The Chancellor looked over at Creo who at this time was looking down at the office floor, “Creo did you also see this mysterious woman in black?” Chancellor Gato asked him.

  “Yes sir.” Creo said nodding slightly.

  The Chancellor rose from his chair and walked over to the window across the room and peered outside down into the city. “Emelia, were there any special characteristics you can tell me about this woman?”

  “Besides her wardrobe and her black hair I can only recall one.” Emelia said. “Her eyes had seemed to glow red as she was controlling the movements of the soldiers.”

  The Chancellor stood still and fell silent for quite an uncomfortable amount of time. “Red eyes?” he asked slowly.

  “Yes, she must have some sort of magic ability.” Cyrus said.

  “Lust.” The Chancellor muttered under his breath.

  “I’m sorry sir?” Cyrus asked. “Lust?”

  “Listen, the three of you. The woman that you saw and I use that term quite loosely is very dangerous.” Gato explained. “You must not engage with her by any means.”

  “Sir I am a high-born evoker I can be of some use here.” Cyrus said willing to help Levian recover the stone.

  “Your dedication is admirable Mr. Oriander but you are only a novice evoker. You have two Numina at your disposal and dealing with this woman is not an easy task.” Chancellor Gato explained to Cyrus.

  “Chancellor, who is she?” Emelia asked.

  “Lust is not an ordinary humana with special talents. She is one of the Seven Deadly Sein.” The Chancellor said.

  “I’m sorry sir, but what is a deadly sein?” Cyrus asked.

  Chancellor Gato dragged himself back over to his wooden desk and sat down, sighing heavily. “The Seven Sein are creatures born from the darkest part of the Infernum. They have no heart, and they don’t feel any emotion like you and I feel.” He said. “They are an abomination and they must be stopped, if Lust is free then that means the other six must have been set free as well.”

  “What about the Knights of Mercy? Can they do nothing to stop them?” Emelia asked.

  Chancellor Gato chuckled a little, “The Knights of Mercy are charged with protecting the kingdoms with their lives and they are skilled warriors but they are no match for the Sein of the Infernum.” He explained to the three of them.

  Creo’s head began to spin rapidly. Lust? Sein? Infernum? None of these words had made any sense to him at all. Were there other pieces of the world’s history that the Sanctorum were keeping locked away somewhere. He didn’t quite know how to process all of this new information.

  “So what are we to do?” Cyrus asked the Chancellor.

  “You have given me the information I need, the three of you are to return home at once and let the Knights of Mercy and the Sanctorum handle this.” Chancellor Gato commanded.

  “Of course sir.” Emelia agreed as she rose from her seat, Cyrus and Creo followed and walked towards the door.

  “Mr. Oriander, while your thoughts and efforts are commendable please refrain from disobeying this order.” Gato said.

  Cyrus remained silent as he and the others walked out of the Chancellor’s office and down to the entrance of the Sanctorum’s Headquarters.

  “Cyrus, please tell me you’re not going to do anything stupid.” Emelia asked looking over at her brother as they walked down the street towards her home.

  “Of course not Emelia, don’t you worry about your little brother.” Cyrus said walking on ahead of them ending the conversation prematurely.

  “Creo you can stay with us for awhile if you like, we have plenty of room.” Emelia said smiling at Creo.

  “Thank you Emelia, I appreciate that.” Creo said smiling back at her faintly. Her smile seemed to calm his nervous a bit. Creo had taken somewhat of a romantic interest in Cyrus’ older sister. In Le’Freya however, an eighteen year old courting a fifteen year old had been unheard of. It was by law of the Sanctorum that couples or spouses may only be older or younger by a difference of two years or less. Anything more or less than that was unholy in the eyes of the Sanctorum and the Numina that the people of Le’Freya worshipped.

  Even still, Emelia’s smile and voice could make him forget all of the bad things surrounding his life at the moment. She was quickly becoming his comfort, his safe place. Around her he felt stronger and more confident than he had before. Even as confident as he was becoming he had still lacked the courage to stand up for himself and to protect those he had cared about. Only time would tell just how strong he would become.

  Chapter 7

  “Creo run!” Emelia shouted across the streets of Levian. The city had looked as though it had been torn apart. The streets and buildings were riddled with cracks and holes. Creo could see Cyrus in front of him; he had summoned Aquarus to battle. Above the three of them was the enormous three-headed dragon from before. The dragon’s large red eyes leered down at them preparing to strike.

  “Creo take Emelia and get out of here at once, I’ll hold it off!” Cyrus shouted over the sounded of the dragon’s roar.

  Creo couldn’t moved, he was completely and utterly horrified. Emelia ran over to him and grabbed him by his hand and pulled him away from the fight. Creo looked back to find Aquarus attacking the dragon with various water spells that seemed to not phase the great black Numina. The dragon reared back and proceeded with a flame attack so powerful that it destroyed the Aquarus shadow in one blow.

  “A
quarus!” Cyrus shouted just before the dragon used its large claw to strike Cyrus and throw him into the building to his right. Creo’s eyes widened at the image of his friend lying on the ground blood covering his face. He wasn’t moving; Creo had no idea whether he was just knocked unconscious or if he was dead. He had prayed to the Numina that it wasn’t the latter.

  “We have to go back for Cyrus!” Creo shouted to Emelia however she could not hear him. She had just kept running through the streets of Levian away from the dragon. He tried to speak but no sound came from his lips, it was if he was mute. They had heard the sound of the roar grow closer and the both turned and stopped moving. The large black dragon had flown up above the city. Creo could see very clearly now, he could see the dragon’s master standing on its second head. It was the man from before, the black haired man that had summoned the Numina just before Lytos had been destroyed. He could see his face this time, he had seemed to be around the same age as Emelia or not much older and he was smiling of all things. It had given him great pleasure to cause so much devastation to the world, he reveled in it.

  Creo knew what was coming next; it was almost exactly like the attack on Lytos. Creo looked to Emelia and tried to warn her but he still could not speak. They watched grimly as the Numina prepared its final attack. It gathered the energy in its jaws just as it had before. “Fire!” They heard the black haired man shout from atop of the dragon’s head. Emelia looked over at Creo and smiled grabbing his hand once more. Creo then watched as she closed her eyes and held up her head at the beast preparing to be blasted to oblivion. Creo stared up at the dragon and could only see the purple blast of energy come towards him. It was over.

  ***

  “Creo wake up!” Emelia shouted. “Cyrus is gone!”

  She shook him awake and he jumped up and nearly knocked her off of her feet. He was sweating and breathing heavily; he looked up at Emelia and then looked down at his hands. They were alive. “It was all a dream.” He mumbled to himself.