Marin glared at her, then poked a finger into my chest. “You were planning on letting me come with you the whole time?”
“Of course I was,” I answered. “They tried to kill you, Marin. If I hadn’t sent you out to talk to Savitz, they would never have known you were with us. That’s on me, and it’s up to me to make it right. Regardless of the fact that the men who did that are dead, if there’s even a one percent chance that it could happen again, I wouldn’t let you stay in Kaldan.”
She jumped up from the box and stomped her foot. “Then why did you try to convince me to leave just now?!”
“I didn’t want to convince you to leave, I just needed to make sure you were serious about coming with us. Leaving your old life behind isn’t something you should take lightly. You won’t be able to talk to your family if you come with us; whether you believe your sister is truly innocent in all of this or not, anything you send to her or your parents would most likely be intercepted by the King’s men.” She screwed up her face and stared at me through squinted eyes, then sat down on her crate with a huff and nodded begrudgingly. “Plus,” I laughed, “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to give you a hard time after your offer.”
“That’s not nice!” she sulked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Next time you make a decision like that, tell me beforehand instead of stringing me along, please!”
“Duly noted,” I chuckled, “but it isn’t actually my decision to make. It’s what I’d like to see happen, but it’s up to Marten if he still wants to work with you. Next time we stop, we can—”
“Do you think this cloth is soundproof, Lux?” Marten called out from the front bench, giving the cloth wall between us a hearty shake. “I’ve heard every word you’ve said all afternoon!”
“Well then, speak up!” I shouted back to him with a grin. “Do you want Marin to stick around and help you with your business, or not?”
“I’m going to need all the help I can get to rebuild my business, and I get the feeling you and Lia won’t be sticking around very long. I can’t imagine I’ll be able to pay what we had originally negotiated, but I’ll do my best to make good on that offer.” A playful tone entered his voice after a short pause. “On the other hand, it is difficult to pass up the offer of a free maid…”
“If I hear the word maid one more time, I’m jumping out of this wagon!” Marin declared. We all burst into laughter, and after a moment, a small smile spread across her face as well. With the serious topic behind us, we fell into a more casual conversation that carried on for the rest of the afternoon. It was difficult to gauge the passing time due to the overcast, snowy skies, and before we knew it, Marten had pulled the wagon into a clearing to break for the night. We filed out into the snow-covered field and began the process of setting up a small camp.
“It’s so cold!” Marin complained as we worked. “I appreciate you letting me borrow some clothes, Lia, but do you have anything a bit warmer?” After her original clothing had become emergency bandages, she had chosen to borrow a sundress from Lia to replace Marten’s shirt. While it fit loose in the chest and tight around the waist, it was clearly more comfortable than the alternative, but the shift in weather had brought a new set of problems.
“I know we have some furs packed somewhere,” Hana said, rubbing her arms to keep warm. “Let’s go find something to change into.” Although her dress was made of a much thicker fabric than Marin’s, it didn’t stop her from shivering against the winter air.
I walked up behind Lia and hugged her from behind. “While they’re busy doing that,” I whispered in her ear, “I have an idea of how we can keep warm.”
Lia’s eyebrows shot up as her cheeks flushed, and she slowly turned her head to stare at me with wide eyes. “Lux, are you, uhm…suggesting we—”
“Go find a place to spar, yes,” I finished with a laugh. I gave her a tight squeeze, then walked past her towards the snow covered fields beside our camp.
I heard her sputtering in place behind me for a moment, followed quickly by the soft squeak of snow under her boots as she rushed after me. There was a sudden pain in my shoulder as she landed a playful punch on her way by. “You probably think you’re clever, don’t you?”
“Oh, from time to time,” I mused, tipping my head back and forth. “What, did you think I’d suddenly stop teasing you now that Marin’s here?”
“Maybe I did!” she replied, turning her nose up and looking away from me.
“That wouldn’t be any fun at all, and you know it,” I said, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close. It took her a few moments to shake off her partially exaggerated indignation, but she eventually leaned into the sideways embrace as we walked.
Once we were a few hundred yards away from camp, we split apart and took our places across from one another. “Now, I hope you’re ready for—”
My advice was interrupted by an immediate charge, and I barely had time to dodge as a stab from her blunted sword drove towards my chest. I laughed as she slid by me, her feet failing to stop where she had intended due to the snowy ground. My sword formed in my hand and smacked her across the back. “As I was saying, I hope you’re ready for a new lesson in footwork.”
Our session was brief, but full of energy; the intensity of our practice bouts had grown in tandem with Lia’s proficiency, and we were quickly reaching a speed and ferocity that far surpassed any regular human. When the match was finished, we both fell to the ground panting, our breath clearly visible in the frigid air. “Well...you were right,” Lia said breathlessly.
“You’ll have to be more specific; I’m right about a lot of things,” I responded as I leaned back on my hands with a satisfied smirk.
She let out a loud groan and flopped back into the snow. “You were right about sparring. I’m definitely warm now.”
“Ah, that,” I said, falling back to join her. “Glad I could be of service.”
We lay together in the snowy field for a while, staring up at the dark clouds that hung low in the night sky. “Lux, I have a question.”
“Ask away,” I said, taking her hand in mine.
“What do you think is going to happen when we get to the Mountain Gate?”
“I’m not sure,” I sighed. “I’d like to believe that your parents and Marin could get through without an issue. I have no doubt that guards are distributing wanted posters with our faces on them as we speak, but I doubt they know what your parents look like.” I frowned and shook my head. “There’s a chance that they do, though, and that’s not a chance I’m willing to take. Virram will no doubt have the gate heavily guarded, so...I’d say the most likely outcome will be a fight.”
Lia nodded beside me. “Do you have a plan?”
“Sure. Kill anyone who tries to stop us.”
She laughed softly. “Well, I guess that’s technically a plan.”
“Having never seen the Mountain Gate for myself and not knowing how many guards we’ll be facing, it’s hard to be more specific than that.” I tapped my finger on the back of her hand as I lay quietly, deep in thought. “I promised Savitz something before he died. I told him that I was done running, and that I would do anything to protect my family. No matter who they put in our way, I’m keeping that promise.”
The intention behind my words were clear. “Even Val?” she asked, barely louder than a whisper.
“Even Val.” I scowled at the mention of her name. “Ever since I arrived in Kaldan, I’ve been making excuses: the guards who arrested me didn’t know any better, or Savitz was just following orders to bring me back to face justice, or Val is a good person at heart, but she’s just conflicted.” I sat up from my place in the snow and pulled Lia up with me as I was filled with a sudden burst of resolve. “I’m done with excuses. We’re getting out of this damn country, and we’re going to live our lives the way we want. Nobody will stand in the way of that anymore.”
“And I’ll be right beside you,” she added as she climbed to her feet. �
��We’ll face whatever comes next together.”
I smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” After standing up beside her, we began our trip back towards camp. “Besides, who are they going to throw at us now? We’ve taken out two of Kaldan’s greatest warriors and sent an entire company of men scattering. What do they have left?”
“Well, I’m sure they’ve already filled the two empty slots in the Trinity Guard,” she remarked offhandedly.
My eyebrow shot up. “Why would you think that? They don’t even have the weapons anymore.”
“They don’t have those weapons, sure, but there are plenty of others that could take their place. I don’t think there’s been a King’s Reach since before I was born, and Val replaced the King’s Wisdom when she first joined.”
“You’re telling me that Virram has an entire arsenal of magic weapons at his disposal, but he only uses three of them at a time?” I asked incredulously.
“I wouldn’t call it an arsenal, really. The Golden Throne has eight artifacts in their collection: one for each of the eight major Primevals. They’re called the ‘King’s Primes’.” She turned to me with a smirk. “They only use three of them at a time because it’s called the Trinity Guard.”
“But why would you call it a Trinity Guard if you have eight weapons? Wouldn’t you want them all being used at all times, if they’re so miraculous and powerful?!” I was entirely bewildered at the thought of Virram hiding away powerful artifacts just to satisfy a naming convention. “Wouldn’t you just call it the...Octernity Guard? The Octave Guard? The…” I trailed off, searching for an appropriate name.
“When the country was founded, they only had three weapons, so they called it the Trinity Guard; the other five artifacts came later. If I had to guess, I would say they kept the name because there’s no good phrase for a group of eight people,” Lia laughed. “I guess you’ll just have to ask the King next time you see him.”
I threw my head back and sighed loudly, dissatisfied with the lack of logic. “I don’t know why I’m surprised; this is Virram we’re talking about. Why am I trying to find reasoning in anything he does?” For the remainder of our walk back to camp, I muttered under my breath in an effort to determine a fitting name for a group of eight knights. The effort was quickly abandoned when we returned to the wagon and Hana, now dressed in a long hide jacket lined with fur, handed us our dinner. We all ate in the shelter of the wagon, forsaking the comfort of our small fire for protection from the wind and falling snow.
When our meal was finished and the wagon was rearranged to accommodate bedrolls, I made to take my leave to keep watch for the night. Hana and Marten both protested on the grounds that I would freeze to death overnight, despite my reassurances that I would be plenty warm beneath my cloak. Lia raised her own complaints about my absence for the night, though her motive was more self-serving: if I would be using my cloak to keep warm outside, she wouldn’t be using it as a blanket for the night, much to her dismay. Marin offered to sleep under one blanket with her to help stay warm, and the argument was ultimately dropped.
After I said my goodnights, I paced along the road until I found a suitable spot to hold my nightly vigil. A solitary stump on the roadside appeared after a minute of walking, and I brushed the snow from its wide face and sat down, making sure to drape my cloak carefully over my crossed legs. Along with keeping watch, I had a secondary goal in mind for my meditation: find a workaround for the new issues with Detection magic. The falling snow showed no signs of stopping, and I could sense every snowflake landing around me as I sent my mana out in a tight circle.
I stumbled upon the solution much quicker than I had anticipated. The strain of processing each individual bit of information was taxing on my brain, and it seemed to fight against my efforts to stay focused. When I inevitably gave in to the need to relax, the images within my head lost their neon sharpness in the moment before my mana receded. I replicated the sensation in succession until I could reliably call upon it; the feeling was similar to letting my eyes lose focus on a distant object, and brought a similar hazy view of the world around me. My mana was still extended as it always had been, but my mind chose the level of detail with which to display the reported data.
With my new strategy ready, I pushed out the fullest extent of my abilities, covering miles of countryside in every direction. The world was still and silent under the freshly fallen snow; apart from the tiny flickering lights of forest creatures hidden within their tree hollows, it might as well have been a barren, lifeless tundra. The static image within my head made it easy for my mind to wander, and I fell into a pleasant trance.
Movement at the edge of my vision roused me to an immediate focus, and my Detection shifted from a wide circle to a sharp line between myself and the new arrivals. Three horses trotted along the same road we had traveled only hours before, heading in our direction. Each carried a man dressed in furs emblazoned with the crescent moon of the Golden Throne, all of whom held out lanterns to inspect the dark world surrounding them. Outriders. Given the speed at which they moved, I guessed they would reach our camp in a few hours.
The thought sent a bolt of adrenaline racing through my system. It was clear that the scouts had to be prevented from finding signs of our camp, but the only solution I could think of raised its own problems. Our pursuers clearly didn’t know where we were if they were sending scouts, but if an entire group failed to return from a patrol, it would be just as damning as if they had found us outright. I stood up from my stump and turned back towards camp, ready to send a warning signal to Lia that we needed to move on.
I’m not running anymore. The words stopped me in place. My train of thought shifted immediately; instead of trying to find a way to avoid detection, I made my plans around it. What happens when their scouts don’t return in the morning? They confirm which direction to travel in and send whatever force they’ve mustered against us, and then...what? A self-satisfied grin spread across my face. We would see their forces coming from miles away. How long will Virram’s men follow orders when their ranks begin to fall from an instant, invisible death?
My mana found its mark in each of the three outriders in order, suffusing into the bone at the base of their skulls. It took a few seconds for the energy to fully coalesce within the first man, and longer for each guard in turn; while it wasn’t a particularly complex task, I had never held mana in multiple spots at once before, especially not ones that were moving. I took a long, silent minute to breathe deeply and prepare for what I knew would come next, and then the Shatter rune within my ring flashed.
The influx of dark energy throughout my body was immediate and overwhelming as the guards died. A heatless black flame rippled over the glove on my right hand, bathing the road in an eerie, flickering light, and my vision faded to shades of gray. I staggered forward and clenched my jaw, fighting back against the otherworldly pain.
MORE. The voice rumbled through my mind like an earthquake, shaking my vision and rattling my teeth. My leg began to tremble as I felt an inexorable pull down the road in the direction of the scouts. THERE ARE MORE TO COME. WE WILL PUNISH THEM ALL. It took every bit of strength within me to resist the call to slaughter. After a long struggle, I managed to fight myself down to the ground, where I sat on my knees and twitched in pain. My surroundings disappeared from view as I retreated inward, fortifying a small corner of my mind from which I could fight the encroaching darkness with total focus.
As I remained locked in place, the foreign energy gradually began to burn away; the ravenous flames on my arm dimmed, receded, and eventually flickered out into wisps of gray smoke that snaked out from my fingertips. When I was confident the presence had disappeared, I shakily took my feet and looked around, taking in the world around for the first time in what felt like hours. There was a soft, rhythmic crunching of snow from somewhere ahead of me, and it was growing closer by the second.
I staggered to the roadside to find cover as I reached out with a narrow band o
f mana to identify the oncoming threat. My concern proved to be baseless as the source was revealed to be one of the scout’s horses, still trudging onward through the snowstorm with its rider collapsed on its back. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked out to meet it. “Hey there,” I called out softly as it approached, “easy now. I’m a friend.”
The dark brown courser stopped a few feet away and let out a loud snort, sending a large cloud of steam up into the cold night air. I placed a gentle hand on its nose and rubbed its face as I walked forward to check on the scout. He had fallen forward in his saddle and tangled an arm through the reins, which kept him draped securely around the horse’s neck as it walked on after his untimely demise. I unlooped the reins and gave the rider’s body a firm tug, dislodging it from the saddle to crash to the ground before me.
The horse whinnied nervously and stepped away from the commotion, stopping a few yards ahead. I crouched down to search the scout’s body; the only item of interest on his person was a cloth bag stashed in an inside pocket of his winter cloak. Upending the bag produced a matching set of unsealed scrolls, each bearing the wax seal of the Golden Throne. Hunching forward to block the falling snow, I unraveled the first scroll to find a picture of myself staring back at me, drawn beside a block of text. It read: “WANTED: Lux. Extremely dangerous; do not attempt to capture alive. Wanted for murder, high treason, and conspiracy to assassinate King Yorrell. Last seen traveling west in a covered wagon. 1000 Imperial reward for proof of elimination. 250 Imperial reward for information leading directly to his location.”
I rerolled the scroll and placed it back into the bag before examining the next one with a frown. It was a similar poster but, as I had feared, it bore Lia’s face instead of mine. The first block of text read the same as mine had, but her scroll had an additional block of text at the bottom, reading: “Known associates: Marten Corell, father. Hana Corell, mother. Wanted for aiding and abetting known criminals. 100 Imperial reward for any information directly leading to their capture or execution.”
Restart Again: Volume 3 Page 6
