by Jake Taylor
Dalgus Bloodmoon was an imposing figure. About the same age as Isabella and Haruka, he was a few inches over six feet tall, a noticeable presence. His hair was as dark as Freya’s but short and spiky, slightly messy to match his scruffy short facial hair. A black band of cloth covered his right eye like an eye patch, but his left eye was visible, an odd amber color. He wore thick, hardened black leather armor and a large cape that looked just like the flags around the camp. The armor had an image of a howling wolf carved on the front. On his back was a five-foot-long scimitar with a blade a foot wide, well-polished.
“Who’re your friends, and why’d you bring ‘em here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at his aunt.
“Isabella, Haruka, Able, an’ Suria,” Freya said as she pointed to each one in turn. “We got a bit o’ trouble they could use ‘elp with.”
“Ours,” Isabella said with a look at Haruka, who nodded. “There are two groups after both of us.”
Dalgus rubbed his chin. “Isabella Enyo and Haruka Saito?”
The two blinked in surprise and Freya leaned around to peer at Dalgus’ face. “An’ how d’ you know that?”
“We got an odd contract offer the other day,” Ophelia said as she opened the large book she was carrying, turning back a few pages. “A job offer from Areya.”
Isabella stepped forward. “Reis?! What did he ask you to do?”
Dalgus raised his hands in a placating gesture. “He asked us to capture and detain you. We turned it down; the Bloodmoon Company is an army, that’s a job for bounty hunters. I’d normally put a job like that on our job board for some of my men to take, but I didn’t like the sound of this one.”
“That’s lucky for us,” Haruka said, relaxing her hands.
Freya folded her arms. “He must not know we’re family.”
“Wait…” Isabella looked at Dalgus. “He just asked you to detain us? Not take us anywhere?”
The mercenary nodded. “Right. Why? Does that mean something?”
Bella glanced at Haruka, who shared a look with her before speaking for them. “It means he’s coming to us.”
Dalgus cracked his knuckles, grinning. “Sounds good to me. It’s nice when you don’t even have to travel.”
“Speakin’ o’ travelin’, I gotta be headin’ back t’ my ship soon.”
“Of course. Stay the night, at least. Leave in the morning. I can send some people with you for the trip.”
“You really think that’s necessary?”
“It’s a good idea,” Bella suggested. “Who knows if Reis or the Black Sun will try to attack you to get to us?”
“Alright. Well, I ain’t stupid, I won’t turn it down.”
“Good.” Dalgus looked around with a smile. “You’re all just in time for dinner, so Ophelia can get you set up with some tents and then you can join us for that.”
Ophelia opened the tent flap. “Of course. Right this way.”
Haruka and Isabella looked at Dalgus as the others started leaving. “Thank you,” Bella said for both of them.
Dalgus shrugged. “You’re family friends.”
“You’d be surprised how little that means to some people,” Haruka said, softly.
An hour later they were all seated in the mess tent at Dalgus’ table, surrounded by the sounds of conversation and eating among hundreds of people. It was a huge change for all of them but Freya, being around this many people; Haruka, Able and Suria hadn’t ever been in such a large, friendly crowd, so all of them were getting used to it.
For Isabella it reminded her of the celebrations Faust would throw after every victory. She had to fight the urge to go stand out of the way somewhere and watch from afar. Haruka’s hand fell on her knee and Bella looked at her, remembering that the monk had seen a memory of such an event and therefore knew exactly what she was thinking. A genuine smile touched Bella’s face and she squeezed the hand, saying a silent ‘thank you’ for the support, to which the monk nodded.
The Bloodmoon Company was a nomadic army according to Dalgus, so all the tables and chairs they were using were made of lightweight wood that was designed to be easily disassembled and reassembled. He pointed out a large number of carts in the distance that would carry the larger or heavier items, describing how proficient the group was at getting on the move. It was an impressive operation to be sure, a working machine made of over two thousand people. The key, Isabella was sure, was that Dalgus seemed to respect every member of his company. He seemed as loyal to them as they were to him, and there were no signs of him giving himself better treatment as she had seen so many times from leaders. There was a mutual feeling of trust in the camp, and Isabella thought it made the company all the more dangerous to its enemies.
“Loyalty earned is more valuable than loyalty bought,” Dalgus said when she questioned him about it. It was a wise statement, and one she had unfortunately not followed herself.
“When I was a military leader, I followed only cold logic,” Bella said, explaining why this situation felt so different to her. She was seated between Freya on her right and Haruka on her left; Dalgus was at the head of the table to Freya’s right. Across from Freya sat Ophelia, and to her right sat Suria followed by Able. The table was long and filled with others, but these were the only ones who could hear Isabella speak, leaving her feeling more secure about speaking about her past. She didn’t really know Dalgus or Ophelia yet, or even Suria, but she trusted them anyway. It was probably Haruka’s influence, she thought, that made her able to trust so quickly now.
Dalgus nodded in understanding. “Many leaders do. What I find works is that you need to follow cold logic during battle, you weigh it in when making important decisions, and you forget about it during the downtime so you can connect with those that follow you.”
Isabella nodded. “It sounds like a wise way to do things. At the time, though, I didn’t connect with anyone. My men were just sort of… there. I gave them orders and that was it.”
Dalgus leaned his elbows on the table and studied her. “I can see it,” he said. “But you look like you’re ashamed by that.”
Bella smiled humorlessly. “You can tell? Well, I don’t really think I was ever a leader. I led people, but I wasn’t a leader.”
“You worked for someone else, right? If there’s someone above you, their word is law and you have to work within that if you want to keep your position. It doesn’t leave a lot of room.”
“So you’re saying I did it the way I did because of his decisions?”
“You already know that,” Haruka said, drawing their attention to her but keeping her eyes on Isabella’s. “You only did what you did because he ordered it. If he’d ordered you to protect people only and do nothing else, you would have done just that.”
Isabella smiled. “Well, that’s the problem with making none of your own decisions, isn’t it?” She looked between Haruka and Suria. “That seems to be the cause of many of our problems.”
Suria nodded. “Once you broke free you changed, right? Making your own decisions is important.”
“Well, now we’ve moved on to leading yourself,” Dalgus said with a smile.
Isabella covered her mouth at a sudden short coughing fit, but it didn’t slow her down as she continued, “Isn’t that a part of leading others? A good leader starts with control over self,” she stated as she took a drink of water.
Dalgus shrugged, leaning back in his seat. “Maybe. I think it depends on who you’re leading, and how. There’s more than one style.”
“Aye, take me, fer instance,” Freya piped in from beside Bella, leaning forward over her plate as she looked around the table. “I ‘ave a lack o’ control o’er m’self a lotta times, but my crew knows I got th’ skill an’ knowledge t’ lead ‘em right.”
“You lead pirates,” Able said from across the table. “If you had too much control you wouldn’t fit in. They respect different things.”
Isabella coughed a few times as she shook her head. “My original point was
that it comes down to whether or not you respect those you lead. Freya does. Dalgus does. I didn’t. Most leaders don’t.”
“Disrespect can be dangerous,” Dalgus pointed out. “Mutiny has been caused by less.”
Suria nodded. “My father often speaks of people in power losing their positions just because they didn’t seem to respect the public enough. People are weird about respect.”
Bella coughed again, turning away from the table this time and getting a few looks as it went on a bit long. In case you haven’t realized this yet, Bai spoke up in her mind, you might want to leave. Bella nodded, quickly excusing herself from the table as she stood, ignoring their questions or concerns as she stumbled out of the tent and away from the crowded area. Haruka looked after her worriedly; standing up without hesitation, she told the rest of the table not to seek them out before following quickly.
Outside, Isabella made it a fair distance away – at least out of the way from anyone else – before falling to her hands and knees and coughing violently. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, causing her to grip at her chest with her left hand as her right supported her. Her eyes slowly focused on the grass beside her hand, catching something glistening there. She touched it and lifted her hand to her face, seeing red on her fingers. She lifted her hand to her face and wiped her sleeve across her lips, leaving red streaks on the golden fabric. She stared at it until a moment later when a hand began rubbing her back. Bella sat back on her knees, meeting Haruka’s gaze. “I’m degrading… faster than I thought,” she said softly.
Haruka nodded, blinking her eyes a few times as she took the bloody hand in one of hers, laying her other on Bella’s cheek. “You’ll be fine. You’ve just used your power way more than is good for you over the past few weeks. We have to avoid that from now on.”
Isabella looked down. “I haven’t had a choice. I might not have a choice later, either.”
Haruka glanced away, fighting frustration. “I know… I know, but we have to try. You’re getting worse every time you use it.”
“There’s no… other… option!” Bella shook her head, folding her arms and gripping the cloth of her robe. “There’s no escape from this situation. We’re just fighting to stall it.”
“Anything,” Haruka said with conviction, “Anything we can get. I’ll fight everything that gets in our way for one extra day.” She picked up Bella as she stood. “This situation is what I’ve been working towards. This is the real reason I’m strong – so I can fight for us. For you.”
Bella closed her eyes, laying her head on Haruka’s shoulder. “Do you believe in fate, Haru?” she asked softly, mirroring her question from just after they’d met.
Haruka smiled slightly. “Maybe.”
“You’re a good argument… for fate, you know.” Bella took a deep breath, feeling like her lungs weren’t taking in enough air. “What are the chances of… meeting you in a town where neither of us lives,” she continued, pausing to take a breath every few words. “Or of you working hard to be strong… for so long, so you can protect me. Do you really believe that?”
Haruka nodded, watching her carefully as she continued walking towards their tent. “Yes.”
“Then it’s fate,” Bella said weakly, opening her eyes to meet Haruka’s gaze. “Finally working in my favor for once.”
“You deserve it.” Haruka stepped inside their tent, laying Bella on the bedding inside as the blue-haired knight looked up at her.
“You’re… staying, right?”
Haruka nodded as she lay down behind her, wrapping arms around her waist. “Of course,” she said as she kissed her neck softly. “Not going anywhere.”
Bella sighed, closing her eyes again. “Good.” She’d barely finished the word before she was asleep; Haruka, however, would find sleep hard to come by, and she knew it wouldn’t be her only sleepless night.
IXH
Back in the mess tent Freya was giving what information she thought appropriate to the others. She didn’t know everything about Isabella’s condition, but she knew the woman had less than a year left and was getting worse as time passed, so she shared that with Dalgus, Ophelia and Suria, feeling not that they deserved to know, but that they should understand why the formerly nightmarishly powerful knight now needed to be protected. After all, things would be better for Bella if the people around her were able to provide a bit of understanding and support.
Dalgus heaved a sigh as he sat back, running a hand over his face. “It’s never people I dislike being put in situations like this.”
“But we can help them,” Ophelia said with a look at Dalgus. “We can at least keep them from having to run.”
The mercenary general nodded. “Yeah… Yeah, we can. I’ll put my army in the way. No one’s going to reach them as long as they’re here.”
“Thanks,” Freya said honestly. “I like these two; I don’t want to see ‘em hurt if I can ‘elp it.”
Suria shook her head. “Isabella doesn’t seem depressed, really; I didn’t notice anything was wrong.”
Freya smiled at her. “You didn’t look deep enough, lass. You’ll get th’ hang o’ readin’ people eventually. But don’t get me wrong – not everythin’s goin’ bad for ‘er. Just ask ‘er yerself sometime.”
IXH
It was some point late in the night, Haruka hadn’t really bothered to keep time. Isabella had woken up feeling better a couple hours before and after that, well, she’d lost track of time even more so. Now she lay under her tracing a finger over the scars on Bella’s bare back, remembering the first time she’d seen them, when Bella had teased her by starting to undress. She touched a particularly deep gash on her lower back, following the furrow. “What was this one? It looks like an axe.”
Isabella had her head on Haruka’s chest and her eyes closed, enjoying the odd tingle the monk’s calloused fingers caused. “That was a battle-axe,” she answered. “It would’ve severed my spine if not for my armor. Big guy was swinging it.”
“You must have been mobbed,” Haruka guessed, having seen Bella’s ability to dodge even now. Bella nodded and Haruka continued the search, touching an odd circular scar. “I don’t recognize this weapon scar,” she said as she traced the curve.
“That’s because it wasn’t a weapon. There was a metal spike sticking out of the ground and someone tried to impale me on it. I managed to cut off the top of the spike as he did, but the edge of the pole still cut into me.”
Haruka winced. “That sounds painful.”
“More frustrating than painful,” Bella said, shifting to point to a scar on her hip. “This one was painful.”
Haruka looked over her shoulder to see the jagged scar, grimacing at its brutal appearance. “I don’t even want to guess what caused that.”
“You wouldn’t get it anyway,” Bella said with a smile.
“So what was it, then?”
“A saw.”
Haruka blinked. “A saw? Like… The type you use to cut wood?”
“The two-person type you use to cut down a tree.”
“How did…?”
“They piled on me,” Bella explained. “Two of them then tried to cut me in half. They got pretty deep into the bone before I got them off.”
Haruka shook her head. “That’s… sadistic.”
Isabella sighed. “I had it coming. That’s the thing; I deserved most of these scars when I got them. Everyone who gave one to me died.”
“No, there are… limits. At some point even revenge or vengeance can go too far.”
“You think so?” Bella moved Haruka’s arm to see the scar on her forearm, one that matched on both arms from the story she’d told Bella the day before. “I think yours are worse. You didn’t deserve any of them.”
“No, I didn’t,” Haruka agreed. “At least, not the ones from training. The ones from missions I deserved, those all came from mistakes.”
“Oh, I have some of those. I guess there’s no way to be perfect in a fight, huh?”
Bella smiled. “Mhmm… I can’t wait until I’m done fighting. I’ve never liked it.”
“Never?”
Bella shook her head. “I know a lot of people who are strong enjoy it, but I never reached that point. Fighting is necessary, but I wish it wasn’t. I’m just so tired of it.” She sighed. “I’m tired of… so many things.”
Haruka kissed her head. “It’s almost over. Soon it will just be you, me, and whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go.”
Bella smiled, closing her eyes again. “Sounds perfect.”
IXH
The next morning Isabella, Haruka, Able, Suria, Dalgus and Ophelia all stood at the edge of the camp in front of Freya. A group of eight mercenaries stood nearby with nine horses they’d be taking, talking among themselves as they prepared to leave. Freya was speaking to Suria, ruffling her hair in a manner that would probably annoy most people but just made the nineteen-year-old smile. “Well, Little Red, you an’ I didn’t get a lotta time t’ talk, but if you’re joinin’ my crew later, we’ll ‘ave all the time in th’ world.”
Suria smiled at her, grinning as she tried to fix her hair. “I’m looking forward to it. You’ll teach me all the piratey words, right?”
Freya chuckled. “You bet. Gimme two weeks an’ you’ll be speakin’ like th’ saltiest dog on th’ brine.”
“Right, stuff like that.”
Freya grinned and winked, ruffling her hair again just to mess it up more before moving to Able. “Alright, kid?”
Able tilted his head, studying her. “What are you expecting?”
“I dunno. Sadness? Depression?” She grinned. “A tearful goodbye while ye cling t’ my legs an’ beg me not t’ go?”
He smirked very slightly. “I don’t get sad.”
“Well fine, ye robot, jus’ stand there an’ stare like a statue.”
“Am I a robot or a statue?”
“You’re a robot statue, bastard. Don’t get sarcastic with your elders.”
