The Sworn Defender

by The Ranger

  "What are you?" Eren whispered, the battle raging around them no longer his focus.

  "Y-yo-you ha-have to r-run," Aven warned him.

  His spine seemed to crack and twist as he spoke, forcing him to cry out in pain. Aven turned to Eren and opened his mouth to speak; however, the only sound that left his lips was a terrible roar that split the night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Prince Lucian

  The winds swelled around Queen Ursula's garden, billowing through the carefully arranged orchids and delicately placed shrubbery. Even the sun shone brightly here, forcing away the cold and the darkness that seemed to linger around the grounds' new guest.

  Lucian smiled as his friend turned to look at him, his eyes widening in surprise.

  "I-it-it's you," Richard murmured.

  "Oh, did you already forget my name?" the Prince poked.

  Richard's mouth was hanging low, his face twitching awkwardly as he stared at the Prince.

  "Fine," Lucian sighed, stretching his hand down towards him. "Lucian, Prince of Azra. A pleasure."

  He swatted his hand away and clumsily crawled backward before jumping to his feet.

  "You're not real," he murmured. "Th-this is a trick. Some sort of ma-magic."

  "Well, I am quite real, and so are my feelings," the Prince teased. "Which you've just now managed to bruise."

  "Lu-Lucian?" he stuttered.

  "Well, I'm pretty sure that's me," he mused, glancing at his clothes. "I'm dressed like him, at least-"

  Lucian felt the air forced from his lungs as Richard crashed into him, his arms stretched around and gripping him tightly.

  "I-I thought you we-were dead," he wailed. "T-Tala killed you. I watched her do it…"

  Lucian smiled as he patted Richard's back, feeling his friend breathing unevenly.

  "Well, she did kill me," the Prince corrected.

  Richard released him and took a few steps back.

  "B-but," he sputtered. "You… you're standing right here in front of me. Am I… dead?"

  "No, you're very much alive. You've just come to visit me for a little bit."

  "What? What does that mean?"

  "Had you not realized? You've been carrying me ever since you left Tala's cave."

  "The jewel?" Richard surmised. "It… it's you?"

  "My essence, my aspect, my soul— one of those things, I think," the Prince explained. "It seems killing me wasn't enough for the almighty nature spirit. She had to keep me trapped in this… place."

  Richard gritted his teeth and shifted his attention to the dirt and stone at his feet.

  "I didn't know, Luce. I'm… I'm so sorry."

  "Why?" Lucian asked, a chair appearing behind him as he sat down. "You didn't do this to me."

  Richard seemed unfazed by the casual change in their environment and instead turned his back to his friend.

  "I was your Sworn Defender," he sighed. "I was supposed to protect you, not let you sacrifice your life for mine."

  "But it wasn't just your life. Yes, that was a part of it, but Tala would never have given us anything without taking something else. And the power to defeat our enemy? I couldn't place my own life above everyone else."

  Richard stood silent, his back trembling slightly.

  "I could have found another way," he murmured. "I should have been able to."

  The Prince's chair disappeared as he stood up, and he trudged towards his friend. He could see his head slowly rocking and could hear him gasping slightly. Lucian looked towards his friend's feet and saw the stones had dampened.

  "Look at me, Rich," he muttered.

  "N-no," he replied. "I- I can't."

  His body shook as he spoke, but he quickly subdued himself.

  "Look at me, Richard," the Prince ordered. "I command it."

  He straightened his back and slowly turned to face him. He swiped at his face but could not keep his composure as he looked upon his friend. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his eyes had begun to redden as he wept.

  "Oh, Richard," Lucian lamented.

  "Please," his friend sobbed. "Don't look at me."

  "It's fine to cry," Lucian told him. "You're dealing with the loss of the greatest, smartest, and most amazing person you've ever met. I'd be disappointed if there weren't any tears."

  Richard couldn't help but laugh, and Lucian quickly followed him.

  "Why aren't you more upset?" Richard questioned.

  "Oh, I was. For a bit," the Prince clarified. "In the beginning, I didn't understand what had happened, but the longer I was here— the more I realized what this place was."

  "What is 'this,' anyway?" Richard inquired, wiping away his tears.

  Lucian grinned slightly.

  "Do you remember when we were young, and my mother actually let me leave Azra?" he asked. "Even if that meant she was three steps behind me the whole time?"

  "I do," Richard recounted. "The Queen had Captain Finn and me accompany the two of you."

  "And do you remember the name of the little fishing village we stayed in? They hadn't seen a visitor in ages, much less their queen?" the Prince inquired.

  Richard shook his head softly.

  "I barely remember the village," he admitted. "Didn't it burn down ages ago?"

  "It did," Lucian confirmed, his hand motioning to their surroundings. "And, yet…"

  The landscape around them shifted away from Queen Ursula's garden and into the small settlement they had visited years earlier. A few huts and the rare cabin dotted the coastline. Nets and tiny boats rose and fell with the ocean's waves, handled and guided by steadfast fishermen.

  A few children ran along, splashing in the water while their mothers kept a close watch on them.

  The sound of happiness was clearer here than in most places Lucian had visited in his life.

  Richard glanced around, and his eyes landed on a circle of logs sticking out from the white sand beach ahead of them. Sitting on a log, and tending to a small fire, was Captain Finnegan. Across from him, laughing wildly at one of his remarks, sat Queen Ursula. Lucian smiled at the memory— they had both seemed so unbothered. This had been Queen Ursula's last outing before her illness grew worse; it left her weak and fragile until she passed away shortly after.

  "This is incredible, Lucian," Richard commented, his eyes staring at the pair in front of them. "They look so happy, don't they?"

  "They do," the Prince agreed. "I never noticed, as a child, just how well they got along. Although I must admit, your former battlemaster was not very good at hiding his love for my mother."

  "No, not at all. He used to get so mad when Eren made these little comments about him and Ursula. His face would turn red, and we could never tell if it was from anger or embarrassment," Richard chuckled. "It's nice to… to remember him like this."

  "Is it strange for you to see Finnegan like this?" Lucian questioned. "Before the accident?"

  Richard shot him a sour look, and the Prince raised his hands innocently.

  "Sorry," he whispered. "I remember how difficult that was."

  "It's fine, Luce. It was a long time ago."

  He set his hands on his sides and turned to look at the Prince. He forced an awkward smile as he cleared his throat slightly.

  "So, are you at least happy here?" he asked.

  Lucian pursed his lips as he thought about his answer.

  "I wouldn't say happy," he admitted. "Content, maybe. But not happy."

  Richard looked at him sadly, a mournful look sitting in his eyes. Lucian frowned and took a few steps closer to the log circle. He spared a glance back over his shoulder.

  "There's plenty to do here, though. I can do more than revisit old memories."

  He looked up at the sky and watched it darken to a ripe purple, then he brought his attention to Finn's fire, and it grew brighter. Gathered around it appeared Khora, Edmund, and Ranger.

  They sat along the logs, just as Ursula and Finnegan did. They seemed to fit into place quite neatly—
almost as if they belonged and had always been here.

  Richard trudged forward, amazed by the sight before him.

  Khora turned her attention to him, a slight grin appearing on her face.

  "I'm smarter than everyone in Azra," she told him. "And I like to make that fact known."

  "I'm not really sure what I'm doing here," Edmund added. "But, boy, do I like to talk!"

  "Bark," Ranger barked.

  Lucian spared a glimpse at his friend and watched him chuckle as he scanned their companions.

  "I saw you added Eren and Aven to the group," he laughed, turning his attention back to the logs.

  The pair appeared, already sitting down next to Khora and Edmund.

  "I annoyed everyone so much, I got sent to the Dawn Tower. No one knows this, but I was actually the other prisoner," Eren grumbled.

  "Lucian and I didn't know each other very well," Aven admitted. "So, he doesn't know what I should say right now."

  "It's not perfect," the Prince laughed. "But it is very amusing."

  Richard's smile slowly faded into a more serious look as he returned his attention to his friend.

  "But… is this enough for you?"

  Richard reached for Lucian's shoulder, but the Prince moved away abruptly, the beach and its imitations dwindling into Azra's merchant docks. He looked out onto the open sea as dozens of people hurried around them.

  "I mean," the Prince mumbled. "How could I complain? This is what… this is the world I paid for. An-and you're so powerful now. It was all… all so worth it."

  "So, you know about the power Tala gave me?"

  Lucian nodded and turned to meet his eyes.

  "I see some of what happens around you. Not much. Slivers, here and there. I hear a lot, though. That helps me piece it all together. I've discovered Eren is as grating as ever."

  "He's got a certain charm," Richard added.

  Lucian shrugged his shoulders.

  "I suppose I can't deny that," he sighed.

  His friend smiled, and they both looked back towards the ocean. The waves rippled beneath the afternoon sun. It almost resembled Rahm's painting, the only difference being all the life that surrounded them here. Regardless of whether or not those that walked among the docks were real or recreated.

  "It's beautiful," Richard murmured, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

  "It really is," Lucian agreed. "But you should know you can't stay here, Rich."

  "I didn't say-"

  "You didn't have to. I could see it in your eyes. This isn't a place for the living, and there's still much that must be done."

  Lucian walked away from the dock, and the environment slowly fell apart— morphing into the frozen mountains to the north of Azra. The peaks were largely forsaken, save for a massive fortress settled between the snowy wastes.

  "What is this place?" Richard asked, catching up with the Prince.

  "The Dawn Tower," Lucian muttered. "Our greatest failure."

  Richard scanned the fortress carefully before turning back to him.

  "This isn't the Dawn Tower," he told him. "This is some castle or something. I've never been to the Tower, but I saw it once in an illustration."

  Lucian crossed his arms over his chest and frowned slightly.

  "Well, I've never seen the damn place," he grumbled. "This is how I imagined it."

  "Well, the Dawn Tower is more of a… tower than a fortress," his friend teased.

  "Enough, the details don't matter," he pushed. "He does."

  The Prince pointed ahead, and the fortress collapsed, ravaged by black flames. Before it, stood the sorcerer they sought.

  "Lucan," Richard whispered.

  The Prince shivered at the mention of the name. He had heard it first when Eren mentioned it in what felt like ages earlier. It was a name that brought forth more than he could have expected.

  "What is it?" Richard questioned, watching his friend squirm. "Do you know something that… I should know?"

  Lucian turned to look at him and sighed, scratching the edges of his nape lightly.

  "Well… yes, the thing is, that…" the Prince began, hesitating for a moment. "The man's my uncle— brother to my father, second son to King Laycen. Family."

  Richard adopted a quiet, somber expression, but he seemed otherwise unmoved by the revelation.

  "You're not surprised?" the Prince asked him.

  "I'm a bit surprised, but I'm not stupid. Lucan, Lucian… ties to the crown, fire magic— I had begun to wonder if there might be some connection."

  "Well, there was one, and I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry."

  "You didn't know this entire time, though, did you?"

  "No… no, not at all," Lucian answered. "This place… like I showed you, it has quite a way with… memories. I can see all of mine here; even those I thought lost are clearer than… than the outside world, right now."

  "And you have memories of your uncle?" he asked, slowly marching closer.

  "I do. I— he had to have been imprisoned when I was… two or three years old," the Prince started. "But, I have so many memories of him. My uncle, my grandfather Uros, a man named Bartholomew… I remember them all so clearly now."

  "If you remember all that," Richard began. "Then, do you somehow know what happened? Between Lucan… and Lacerne?"

  "Bits," he replied. "My mother, it seems, would share most of her thoughts with me. I could never have understood what she told me, but that did not stop her. I assume it was… a way to alleviate her burdens. Thanks to that… I can put some of the details together."

  Lucian waved his hand, and the cold, frost-worn mountains cracked and crashed; in their place rose the remains of once-great Marinia. They returned to the Ashlands, as it was first known to the both of them.

  "My grandfather, Laycen, lived a life of poor health. Every waking moment was filled with a fear that he would suddenly pass— and then he did. He died in the middle of negotiations with the Marinian Council; he was trying to create a more permanent peace. It all fell apart when they began to request new terms from Azra, and we rejected them," the Prince recounted. "Kota served as an advisor to my father then. My mother, though… she felt cold towards him— she thought my father was too eager to prove himself and would do anything the High Priest suggested to him. And so, when he encouraged a show of strength…"

  "We attacked Marinia," Richard joined. "With Lucan unleashing his magic against the settlement…"

  "It was a battle that resulted in our victory, but there was still a great loss," Lucian continued. "Many of our soldiers never returned, including Bartholomew's son, my father's own Sworn Defender. There were some who lost faith in his ability to lead Azra and looked towards another."

  "And that was when Lucan attempted to take the throne?"

  "I think so. Things get muddled after the battle and Lucan's sentence. My mother… she regarded my— she thought of him as her own brother and her greatest friend. I… it seems I was named in his honor. Once he went away, she never spoke of him again. I don't know exactly what happened then. Yet… we both know what's happening now."

  "I know," Richard sighed, shaking his head. "What's happened— what's still happening out there right now… it's madness, Luce. All of it. I… he may be your uncle, but I-"

  "I know. I know. He has to be stopped. All of this has to be stopped. There's no point in trying to understand it now. I wish I could say there was no helping it, but I know now there was much that my father hid from me. Things that… things that I should have known before we set out, not discovered when confronted by our own sins."

  The ashen environment swirled and shifted, evaporating as the bright day was tinted red, and they stood in Azra's throne room.

  Lucian cast his eyes to the marble throne at the head of the chamber and made his way towards it.

  "It was a desire of mine to earn my place on this throne," he muttered. "But I've come to wonder if any of my ancestors were worthy of it. The dec
eit… the twisted histories… the betrayals— it's hard for me to find reason within it all."

  "I don't know why King Lacerne lied about Marinia or why his brother turned on him, but it doesn't matter now," Richard pushed. "The past is the past, and the present is the only thing we should worry about."

  "You're right, of course," Lucian turned. "As always."

  "I never thought you'd admit a thing like that."

  "Well, I've certainly had time to reflect," the Prince chuckled.

  "Maybe… when this is over… we can find a way."

  "Find a way to do what?"

  "Bring you back to us," his friend continued. "Lyla couldn't help, and I doubt Tala would help us… but there's still Eilon. I even met this Julian fellow— a warlock, if that means anything to you. All that we've seen… it tells me there's still so much for us to learn. Someone out there must know of a way…"

  Lucian smiled for a moment, appreciative of his friend's optimism yet fearing that it was misplaced.

  "Maybe you're right," he whispered. "But, that isn't the work that must be done now. The people — our people — must be saved. Azra must be preserved."

  "I understand. Then does that mean… it's time for me to go, isn't it?"

  Lucian could feel a heaviness in his chest, but he ignored the sentiment. Even now, he knew, he had to be strong.

  "It is," he claimed. "The living are waiting for you, after all."

  Richard sniffled slightly and swiped at his eyes. He slowly walked towards the door at the opposite end of the chamber. Lucian saw he had nearly reached the door when he called out to him.

  "Wait," he muttered. "Wait a moment."

  Richard twisted around, a confused look materializing in his eyes.

  "I want you to use the sword," the Prince told him. "I need you to use it."

  "It's not mine."

  "Then whose is it?"

  "I don't know… it just isn't mine," he meekly said. "I am not royalty. I'm… me. That weapon belongs to the heir of Azra."

  "Well, it no longer belongs to my father, and it doesn't belong to me anymore. I don't have any children," Lucian said, pausing for a moment. "Well, I don't think I have any children."