People in Terrasole were born with one type of magic. Most people were born with an elemental magic, though a few had more esoteric magics like Freya’s mimic. However, even Freya only had one type of magic.
“It’s… fine,” Jacob struggled to return to the matter at hand. “Do you have a spell that can put that guard to sleep?”
Enyo’s thoughtful expression was rather cute. She nodded once. “I do… it’s a dark spell, though.”
“That’s fine. Use it to put that guard to sleep.”
Nodding, Enyo took several deep breaths. She held her hands up, spread her feet shoulder width apart, and muttered in ancient tongues.
“Somnum. Dormitationem. Lethargis.”
A ball of black energy formed in her hand, which compressed as she brought her hands together. When it was about the size of a coin, she opened her hands, fingers spreading like a blooming flower, and let the spell hit the man standing guard. Barely a second passed before the guard slumped to the ground. His staff and metal armor created a loud clattered.
“Hey, Ezio! What are you doing back there?!” one of the guards at the front shouted. “Ezio?”
When “Ezio” didn’t respond, the two guards rushed through the arch and toward the unconscious guard. They knelt to check him. While they were preoccupied, Jacob grabbed Enyo’s hand and swiftly darted for the archway.
Bursting into the open field, he and Enyo rushed into the grass. Shouting from behind alerted them that they had been spotted, but Jacob didn’t stop. He tugged on Enyo, eliciting a yelp as he scooped her into his arms, and then augmented his legs.
“Hang on tight,” he warned.
“What?” Enyo asked right before Jacob shot forward more quickly than a bolt fired from a crossbow.
Her screams echoed across the vast plain. Jacob hoped to the goddess Alaya that the knights wouldn’t be able to track their location. That would suck.
***
Jacob didn’t know how far he’d run, but he eventually stopped. His legs were getting tired. It had been so long since he’d used physical augmentation that his body couldn’t handle it for too long.
The knights located at the fortress didn’t have horses, from what he’d seen, so there was little chance that they would catch up to them before daybreak.
“Can you stand?” he asked.
“I-I think so,” Enyo muttered. She still seemed shell-shocked by Jacob’s running. Her pink hair was in disarray, though somehow, even with her hair a complete mess, it still looked enchanting.
Jacob set her down, but he was forced to catch her when Enyo stumbled. She fell into his chest. Her knees buckled.
“It seems your legs are shaky from being forced to travel at such high speeds. Sorry about that. I should have known this would happen. The same thing happened to me whenever I rode on the back of my dad’s motorcycle.”
“Motor… sickle?” Enyo tilted her head. “What is that? Some kind of weapon?”
“… Never mind,” Jacob muttered.
“Don’t mind him,” Durandal said. “Partner is always saying weird things like—clack!”
“Can it,” Jacob muttered as he shoved the sword back into its sheath.
After Enyo had regained the use of her legs, they traveled together through the plain, guided only by the moon’s luminescence. Enyo held onto Jacob’s left sleeve to keep from being accidentally separated. The grass was high, easily ascending over both of their heads. Durandal was mercifully silent.
“Where are we going?” Enyo asked after a time.
“We’re going back to Albany,” Jacob said.
“Isn’t that dangerous? Won’t Albany be the first place they look?”
“No.” Shaking his head, Jacob extrapolated on his reasoning. “The knights will assume you went in the opposite direction because they captured you in Albany. The most obvious choice is always the least expected choice.”
Enyo silently considered that before nodding. “I guess that makes sense.”
“It helps that these knights are kind of stupid,” Durandal added.
Jacob let loose with a grim chuckle. “Indeed.”
They didn’t make it to Albany that night, sadly. Jacob had misjudged how far it was. He could’ve gotten there in two hours if he’d augmented his legs, but his body was already strained from overusing of his powers. Walking to Albany like a normal person took an entire day. He had been up all night, Enyo was wounded, and the sun would be rising soon.
They found a small clearing that was devoid of grass, with a large rock jutting from the ground, acting as a shelter. It had probably been a den built by a monster that had abandoned it. Such primitive domiciles were not rare.
As Jacob started a fire by using two rocks as a makeshift flint and some grass, Enyo sat with her knees curled up to her chest. Her long hair was still a mess, and her bruise had become a dark black. The swelling of her eye was also turning purple. Despite this, she didn’t complain once.
“Thank you for rescuing me.”
Jacob looked up. The light from the newly flickering fire cast stark shadows against Enyo’s pale skin, which flickered and changed as the flame danced. Thanks to her posture, she seemed quite small.
She was also still quite naked, clad as she was in just her undergarments.
Somehow containing the heat in his cheeks, Jacob unhooked his cloak and, moving over to her, he set the cloak on her shoulders. She looked up at him, her startled eyes wide.
“It’s to cover up,” he explained unnecessarily, as if he needed justification for his actions.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting his gesture with a smile and wrapping the cloak around herself.
Jacob nodded as he moved back to the fire. Durandal, leaning against the rock, glistened with a crimson hue.
“I knew that you would come for me,” Enyo said at last. “You turned me down before, but after I was captured, I knew that if you found out, you would rescue me.”
Jacob didn’t look up as he fed grass to the fire. He didn’t want her to see him blush.
“Don’t misjudge me. I only saved you because I was curious about what you said. I saved you for purely selfish reasons.”
“I do not believe that,” Enyo countered. “You may not know it, but I know a lot about you. My former maid told me the tales that our spies reported when tracking your movements. She said that you would save everyone from entire cities to individual people without asking for any form of compensation. She told me about how you braved fierce monsters, battled atrocious horrors, all so you could protect the people you came across. You’re not the kind of person who would leave someone to their fate when you know you can save them.”
“That was in the past. I’m different now.”
“And yet you still saved me.”
Jacob said nothing at first. He didn’t like speaking about the past. He didn’t even like remembering it. It reminded him of all his mistakes, of how naive he had been to trust others without question.
“Tell me… why would the daughter of Alucard request my help?” Jacob asked.
“Because what I seek is something that only you can give me.”
“Revenge?”
Enyo shook his head. “I do not seek revenge. Revenge is something that people desire when they feel like taking justice into their own hands. You have done nothing that warrants my seeking justice.”
“I killed your father,” Jacob pointed out.
The weak smile on Enyo’s face made him flinch. “I know. However, I did not know my father that well. I was hidden away after my birth, locked in a mansion far removed from even the darklands. I only saw him once or twice a year, and when the war started after I turned ten, I saw him no more.”
Hugging her legs, Enyo stared into the fire, her eyes glassy as if remembering something that had happened long ago.
“Besides, my father was the Dark Lord. He knew that a hero would rise up one day and slay him. The last time I saw him, he told me this: ‘One day, I shall b
e slain. A hero shall rise from the land of light, take up arms against me, and crush me utterly. When that happens, I want you to go with this hero, for he shall be the only one who can grant you salvation.’”
“Salvation, huh?”
The fire crackled and popped. Jacob’s eyes drooped. The effects of physical augmentation were hitting him at long last.
“Even now, I don’t know what he meant,” Enyo admitted in a soft voice. “However, after hearing the stories of your heroism, I believe that my father was correct. That is why I have decided to place my trust in you.”
Trust. It had been so long since Jacob had trusted anyone. The last time he had allowed himself to trust, it had ended with him being used, his reputation being smeared in the mud, and him being stabbed in the back. That was what trust got people.
Yet here was this girl who claimed to trust him, a person she had never met, the person who had killed her father no less. Was she being serious? Was she lying to make him drop his guard? He didn’t know, and because he didn’t know, he decided to be cautious.
“We should get some rest,” he said at last. “The knights won’t be able to send out a search party for some time, and even if they do, they’re likely to travel in the opposite direction, toward the next city. But we can only rest for a few hours. I’ll wake you when it’s time to leave.”
“Okay.” Enyo didn’t even put up a fuss. Wrapped up in his cloak, she laid on her side, shut her eyes, and slowly drifted off. “Good night.”
With her eyes closed and her mouth parted as she breathed evenly, the girl looked like nothing more than an extremely beautiful young woman without a care in the world. She was so defenseless. If he had wanted to, he could have plunged Durandal through her throat, and she would have been none the wiser.
Watching the girl for a moment longer, he wondered how someone who had every reason to hate him could act so defenseless. Was this really a ploy to make him lower his guard?
“Durandal?”
“Yeah, Partner?”
“Keep an eye on things for me.”
“I would, but I don’t have eyes.”
Jacob rolled his eyes as Durandal cackled. “Also, wake me up in four hours, will you?”
“Sure thing. Sleep tight.”
Closing his eyes, Jacob entered a light sleep. He never sank deep into slumber anymore. Having been attacked by assassins more times than he could count, he’d learned to remain in a light state of alertness. If anything moved, if any sound was heard, he would wake right up.
He also didn’t want to deal with the nightmares that came when he did fall fully asleep.
Four hours wasn’t much time—certainly, it was nowhere near enough to get a real good night’s rest. Yet four hours passed, and Jacob and Enyo woke up to continue their journey. Durandal had tried to tell Enyo dirty jokes during the journey, but Jacob had shut him up after the first one, though he sadly hadn’t been quick enough. He didn’t think anyone’s face had been capable of turning the shade of red that Enyo’s had been.
Within two hours, Albany came into sight.
Cities were often divided into three classes based on their size: small, mid, and large. After small cities, there were villages, which were too small to be considered a city.
Albany was a mid-sized city. Sprawled out for over a dozen kilometers, its buildings followed a uniform style of architecture as they continued beyond one’s line of sight in evenly spaced lines. Well-maintained cobblestone roads traversed through the city, intersecting with perfect geometry. There was an old legend about how the person who built this place, Albion, had been an architect who was obsessed with geometry.
It was mid-day by the time they arrived. Everyone was already awake, and the bustling crowd made it easy for them to blend in. Keeping a tight hold of Enyo’s hand, Jacob merged with traffic. Together, they slipped through the gaps within the crowd.
Enyo was incredibly graceful, Jacob discovered as she followed his lead, never stumbling or being forced to stop. Like him, her feet appeared to glide along the ground. It was the kind of grace that could have only come from training.
She mentioned being trained in the use of daggers. I guess that’s where it came from.
He hoped there wasn’t a dagger waiting to slide into his back.
A few people greeted him on his way home. They called out and waved. Several of them noticed the cloaked girl, and a few catcalled or whistled.
“Where ya going with that pretty young thing?” they’d ask. Jacob did his best to shake off their mild teasing with a smile. Enyo just blushed beneath her hood.
They finally entered his bar, and Jacob locked the door behind them and led Enyo upstairs. Once there, he allowed her to sit on the bed. Meanwhile, he leaned Durandal against the desk, grabbed the chair, spun it around, and sat down. Resting his forearms against the headrest, he pinned Enyo with a stare.
“All right. Now that we have some privacy, why don’t you tell me what it is you want from me.” It was not a question.
Enyo nodded. “As I said before, I can send you back to your world.”
Jacob continued to stare. “Yes, that is what you told me before, but that doesn’t tell me what you want.”
A moment of silence passed between them as Enyo, looking down at the hands on her lap, squirmed. She seemed reluctant—no, maybe embarrassed was a better word. Her cheeks were slightly red, and she was biting her lower lip as if she was preparing to ask something that she wanted badly, but she was ashamed of asking for it.
“I… want you to take me with you,” she said at last.
“E-excuse me?”
“I want to go with you. When I help you get back to your world, I want you to take me with you.”
Silence reigned for a time. Jacob sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Before we get into how such a thing would even be possible, could I know why you want to go with me?”
Looking away, Enyo nevertheless answered his question. “I’d like to start anew. If I remain in Terrasole, then all that will happen is a repetition of the cycle that has plagued this land for many, many centuries.”
Known as the Vicious Cycle, it was a common fact that upon the death of the previous dark lord, a new dark lord was chosen. This dark lord would then start a new crusade against humanity. Humans would then summon another hero to fight for their cause, provided they did not already have a living hero ready to fight for them, and so the cycle repeated itself, over and over and over again.
From the books that he’d read in Avant Heim, Jacob was the 23rd hero to have been summoned. He was the 14th to have defeated a dark lord. He was also the youngest to have ever been summoned in the entire history of human culture.
“If you remained here, then you would become the next dark lord,” Jacob deduced.
Enyo shook her head. “I would birth the next dark lord, who would then be trained from a young age to do the bidding of the dark council.”
“I think I vaguely remember hearing something about the dark council,” Jacob frowned.
“I know of them,” Durandal interrupted. “They’re a bunch of old coots who like to stir up trouble. Back when I was forged, my first wielder fought against the dark council. I thought he had vanquished them, but I guess not.”
“The dark council operates on a level of secrecy known only to the dark lord and his progeny,” Enyo said. “As I understand it, all dark council members have gained a form of immortality. They’re the ones who proclaim a new dark lord and raise that person to be their pawn in this never-ending struggle with humanity.”
Pressing a hand to her chest, Enyo’s eyes lost their luster as if recalling unpleasant memories.
“I don’t know how many council members there are, but my father once warned me about them. He told me they were not to be underestimated, and that if possible, I should never get myself involved with them.”
From the way she spoke, it sounded like Alucard had actually cared about her, but… that co
uldn’t be true, could it? The Alucard that he had fought was the most evil man he’d ever met. He laughed at the thought of killing his own subjections, sneered as he threw people in front of Jacob to slay, and thought nothing sacrificing of entire villages of dark clansmen for the sake of his goal. His every action had caused only death and destruction. A man like that could never care for another…
… could he?
“Let’s get back on our original topic.” Jacob decided to think on this later. There were more important things to worry about. “You mentioned getting me home. How do you plan on doing that?”
Enyo brightened as if the subject they were talking about was one that made her much happier. “Within Avant Heim, there is a massive gate. It is said that this gate leads to a world beyond our own. Supposedly, all the heroes who are summoned to Terrasole pass through this gate.”
Despite having been summoned to this world, Jacob had never heard of this gate before, nor could he remember passing through one. The first thing that he remembered upon coming to this world was standing in the middle of a circle of old men dressed in white robes.
Of course, at the time, he had been weak and delirious. He barely remembered what happened those first few days. He’d passed in and out of consciousness, until he’d one day fully awakened. According to the old men who made up the Council of Light, it was called transportation sickness.
“And this gate leads to my world?” Jacob asked.
“Yes.” Enyo nodded. “It’s a portal that connects your world to Terrasole. However, there is a catch.”
Jacob would’ve groaned, but he’d already expected as much. There was always a catch.
“What’s the catch?”
Enyo held up a finger. “First: a key is required to unlock the gate. Second: only someone who is from your world may pass through the gate.”
Another moment of silence passed. Jacob stared at Enyo, who didn’t seem to realize what she had said.
“Question.”
“What is it?”
“If only someone from my world can pass through the gate, then how, exactly, do you plan on traveling with me?”
Journey of a Betrayed Hero- Volume 1 Page 4
