Viktor

by Francesco Leo

  “Everything you have experienced so far, all that has happened ... all this is but the beginning. Very powerful forces act against the Star: beware of everyone, even those who have earned your trust. The real war against evil is not this, but it will come sooner than you think. My time is over,” he stepped back. “What am I for you?” he added after a moment’s hesitation.

  When Edgar asked that question, Selene’s heart seemed to stop beating for a moment. Filaments of transparent energy began to envelop the boy from the bottom up.

  “All that’s left is just a place in my memories. You are part of the past.”

  Edgar hesitated for a moment, the filaments almost completely enveloping him. “Make sure it stays in your past, then. Cut off every link, because this is the last time you will see me as your ally. Forget me.”

  Edgar’s words were as cold as ice, but Selene saw a tear run down his face just before the energy enveloped him completely, making him transparent.

  When she felt that she was alone again, she rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her dress to wipe away the traces of tears and sat down with her head bent over Elaine’s studies.

  Edgar seemed forced to do what he was doing. Forced to let her go, forced to act against his will, but for what reason she could not know.

  His last words, however, left their mark.

  ““What did he mean with this is the last time you will see me as your ally? Does he want go against the Star? Then why warn me about the imminent danger?”

  Other questions arose with the ones she already had and this only made her state of mind worse.

  Shortly after she heard the door of the infirmary open.

  “How’s the study going?” Elaine asked, pointing to the notes.

  “Well, well ...” the girl wavered.

  “You have shiny, red, eyes. What happened?” asked the woman, who was struck by her pupil’s expression.

  “They hurt, I rubbed them too hard. It’s probably because I’m studying too much. I’ve been on these notes all afternoon.”

  “I understand…you can stop now and start again tomorrow, if you want. It’s getting late and you should have a rest if you want to be alert tomorrow, what do you think?”

  “Thank you,” Selene said, leaving the infirmary.

  The girl knew there were too many things to settle, too many questions to answer, and she could not continue to follow Elaine’s lessons quietly, doing nothing.

  She recalled what Viktor had told her of Xemnath’s diary and how this had helped him to understand his mission better, though he was not sure he had fully understood the words of his predecessor. She mulled over the importance the boy had given to the diary and decided that perhaps its contents could help her too.

  She hoped to find teachings that would enable them to cope with the current circumstances.

  So, without thinking twice, she took the diary she had hidden for Viktor in her room and began to read it.

  Even Selene, like Viktor, noted the opening paragraph in which the author pointed out that all that the chosen one was to look for was in that diary. She paused on the word “all” marked so as to underline the concept and this taunted her even more.

  Intrigued by what that message hid, she quickly devoured the first few pages, then, in the eagerness of continuing reading, the manuscript slipped from her hand.

  It hit a corner of the bed, so she checked that the cover was not damaged in any way and, making sure of its condition, started reading again.

  She flipped through the pages looking for the one she hadn’t finished reading but her attention was drawn to the cover: touching it, the front cover was softer than the back cover of the diary.

  She pressed on the binding several times, then she felt a small split in the seam, too precise to be fortuitous.

  Slowly, she ran her forefinger and middle finger over the area until, to her surprise, she saw a sheet of paper hidden inside.

  FIRE IN THE SAND

  “R

  emenant!” Amir shouted, rushing out of the hermit’s home.

  “But look who we have here ... a black sorceress from the Star,” smiled the man, raising his hand from the victim’s head.

  The elf’s eyes were rolling and foam was coming out of his mouth.

  He dangled, then fell to the ground.

  “He still resists despite his age. Unfortunately you interrupted me when it was getting good: I’m afraid I’ll have to get rid of you very quickly.”

  “If you think you can do it ...” Amir replied, making the palms of her hands blaze in a beam of light.

  “Hidden in the sand there are hundreds of followers of the Daedalus ready to attack at my command. I won’t dirty my hands on you, it’s the boy I’m looking for.”

  “Before you get to him you’ll have to get them dirty, my dear!” Amir cried, fading into thin air.

  Remenant smiled.

  “Behind you,” Amir whispered, reappearing behind her opponent to hit him with the light rune.

  The girl’s satisfied expression faded as Remenant’s body exploded into a mound of sand.

  “Predictable move. You, on the other hand, seem to have come to the point where you can no longer distinguish a simulacrum from a living being,” Remenant scoffed, from the top of a dune.

  The girl gritted her teeth and lunged at her enemy, who waited patiently for her to reach out and he grabbed her neck quickly.

  “So weak ... so wasted on the role you’ve been assigned in this story. I wanted to play with you a little more,” the man admitted regretfully.

  “Put her down!” a third voice shouted.

  Remenant turned and a smug expression appeared on his face. The grip on the sorceress’s neck loosened and her body fell rolling from the dune.

  “You want me, you don’t need to take any more lives,” Viktor challenged, emerging from the darkness of the night.

  “The boy chosen by the Star of Prophecy. The one who will save the equilibrium of all existence ... “he chuckled.” I was expecting someone more ... mature, you know.”

  At the epilogue of those words, Viktor drew Siride out and launched himself against him.

  Before he could sink the blade into the enemy’s armour, Remenant countered the blow by imposing a hand on the tip of the sword.

  Strong energy stopped the blow.

  Grinding his teeth for the effort, the chosen one tried to push Siride as much as possible towards the opponent who, however, didn’t seem to be showing signs of strain.

  When Viktor looked at Remenant’s black eyes, he had the impression that he had already seen him.

  “You! I saw your face drawn on the windows of the hall of thrones at the monastery of the Elders!” he exclaimed, letting his bewilderment out.

  Remenant smiled. “You were acquainted to the other four, I suppose. What did they tell you about me? They will have surely talked about the old deserter who abandoned reason for the Daedalus!”

  His gaze showed madness and terror. His sadistic smile showed some front teeth.

  “No, they didn’t tell me about you. I just wondered who that fifth face was, but now I know the answer. Now I finally understand the tests and the recommendations they made. And finally I have met the Daedalus of Death: now you have to account for many things.”

  Viktor forced his lunge against the magic block that Remenant kept feeding.

  “Have you ever wondered what our purpose was, boy? We are not the tyrants that the Star wants you to believe; our intentions have purifying purposes. Evil is not us, nor is it represented by the deity that is about to return. Evil feeds the inhabitants of the world with greed, deception and betrayal: together with a god we will rebuild a new world, a perfect world!”

  “You talk about deception and betrayal when even you used it so you could benefit from them!” Viktor roared, keeping his steady grip on his sword.

  “For a just cause! The Elders and the Star wouldn’t have understood, would have continued to remain slaves of the f
airy tales that chained them! Knuckle under now, take sides with us and all the problems will disappear instantly.”

  “You too know that what you are doing is wrong! You allowed darkness to devour your soul, I read it in your eyes ... what drives you to believe that your conduct is right?”

  “What makes me believe in what I do, you say? The number of people who, like me, fight for this cause. Have you ever wondered why there is an army in the service of the Daedalus while you are only two poor dozens fighting for your ideals?”

  “Yes, I asked myself and I came to the conclusion that there will always be more people to follow the simplest way, even if it is the wrong one. We are less only because few are those who choose the right path even in difficulties. You wear white armour with the hope of symbolizing the light of a new beginning, but the means you use is darkness ... and I will not allow darkness to destroy the Star!” The boy shouted. “Flama!” he called out immediately after raising his free hand to Remenant.

  A vortex of fire enveloped the adversary with all the warmth of anger. The flames crackled and trembled in an unusual way and Viktor realized that the blow had not gone as well as he hoped.

  The magical vortex exploded in green and blue hues, darts of fire in every direction.

  Viktor, who had closed his eyes to protect himself, reopened them and saw Amir in front of him trying to defend herself from the flames by engulfing both of them in a large bubble of water.

  “Thank you,” Viktor whispered.

  Amir started to reply, but something forced her to be quiet. She felt a force trying to take control of her spell, and without the chance to defend herself, she gave up.

  The ball of water began to rise upward and the sorceress saw Remenant not far from the place of the explosion of the vortex of flames.

  “You wanted to be heroes, but your death will not be so heroic,” said the traitor.

  When the sphere reached a height that showed the prisoners the village of Mufàs in the distance, it collapsed and the two fell through space.

  The splashes of water burst violently against Viktor’s face that was turned to the sky.

  He stared at the immensity of the stars for one last time before closing his eyes forever.

  Then he arrived.

  With his eyes closed and water on his face, he returned once more to the lake of Mephis.

  Devanorth’s lifeless body fell into space, but it didn’t collide on the ground.

  He opened his eyes and imitated the will that Vroel had used to stop his friend’s free-fall.

  “Seida!” he shouted.

  He felt the air getting thicker, but it was not enough to slow Amir and him down.

  “Seida!” he cried again.

  This time the fall slowed down and Amir, who understood Viktor’s intention, summoned the water rune just before they touched the ground. The bodies fell into a liquid basin, then they got up quickly.

  Remenant was near the hermit, still on the ground because of the attack he had suffered.

  “Leave him!” Viktor shouted as he joined him. The man turned and his pointed ears were marked by the intensity of the moonlight.

  “A tough guy, eh? You would have been good in our ranks.”

  “You’re an elf!” the young man snapped.

  “To govern Mirthya’s knowledge I had to be. The world needed someone with a certain number of years behind him at the time. Who could pass on the culture? A human? Or a dwarf?” he asked, smiling. “The problem is that the former live too little to teach and the latter have not lived long enough to learn. They died carrying their greed, their ineptitude toward life in the grave. They should be an example,” he added a little later.

  “Everyone deserves to live. Life is a possibility, not a trophy to be earned according to your criteria.”

  Viktor’s words made some strings vibrate in Remenant’s soul.

  “Insolent! Your words arise from ignorance! I control the Daedalus, I am the authority of the dark god that you should fear, not fight against! You and your predecessors will continue to pay even after death for this affront. Nocturna!” the angry servant enunciated angrily.

  Siride fell on the sand, sticking into the ground, while Viktor was struck by excruciating pangs that entered every fibre of his body.

  “Viktor!” Amir cried, running towards him.

  “Don’t move or I will consume his soul before you can take another step!” Remenant shouted.

  Amir stopped and could not help but listen to the boy’s screams. «Heartrending, aren’t they? A scene already lived, isn’t it my dear?” Amir had seen her brother being tortured in front of her until darkness had made him become another person. She had seen the light leave his eyes when she was little more than a girl.

  “Your brother was a good buy. Now he’s my right hand-man, you should be satisfied with how far he’s gotten. Do you still hate him so much for having submitted to darkness? Did you really believe that he would resist?

  Don’t worry ... today your friend, your hero, will undergo the same fate. I wonder if he will choose to stand at my side before death comes.”

  “Enough, shut up!” Amir ranted in tears.

  “Oh, but what do I see ... it just seems that you fear the boy’s safety ...”

  “Stop it, stop it, I said!” the sorceress ordered without finding an answer.

  “Now look while everything you put your hopes in will be annihilated!”

  Remenant tightened his fist and Viktor felt blades of darkness penetrate to touch his soul.

  The chosen one strengthened himself and, fighting the excruciating pain that he felt in every fibre of his being, began to advance towards Remenant.

  “On your knees!” he ordered, increasing the intensity of the dark rune. Viktor staggered several times, but kept walking. He held back other screams, tears of rage coming down his face.

  “Why don’t you give up? Submit, submit! It isn’t possible to fight against the force of darkness!”

  When Remenant’s crazed body backed away a couple of steps, Viktor felt the pain decrease.

  Every step he took towards the enemy injured the will of the adversary and, consequently, the power of his magic. He reached him and looked him in the eye.

  “I... won’t ... kneel ... in front of a madman!” he murmured.

  With a sprint he brought his hands to Remenant’s face. “Laina!” he shouted. At that moment, a white glow exploded from his palms and rays of light irradiated the desert.

  Viktor felt the activity of the dark spell cease and his body relaxed. He breathed deeply and emerged from the great sand wall that had risen and then returned to Amir.

  The sorceress embraced him.

  “What a beautiful picture,” their enemy said behind them.

  Amir and Viktor pulled themselves immediately together swearing: they had hoped to have stopped their enemy, but he was still there, very much alive. When the carpet of sand dissipated, Remenant was in the exact spot where Viktor’s spell had struck him.

  The upper part of his armour was split, showing on the right side the hauberk of iron rings, while on his left side there was no shoulder strap.

  “A good blow. Without the armour I would have been wounded, I must admit it. I wanted to be quick with you, go easy, but you didn’t allow it. I proposed an alliance, but I was given a bold negative opinion about it. And then a boy who plays being a hero hit me. This was humiliating enough for me. However, as I have already told you, I have hundreds of men at my command, and now you will learn to pay more respect.” At that moment, over the dunes that surrounded the hermit’s oasis, about thirty figures raised with their backs to the light radiated by the stars. Amir, like Viktor, didn’t move. They both looked around.

  “The Daedalus recruits whoever falls into the clutches of fear. Nearly none of us here are fighters. If we stay together, we can do it.”

  Viktor listened carefully to the girl’s encouraging words.

  “What do you suggest?” he asked.
/>
  “Get your sword out of the sand.”

  RED AND WHITE

  T he chosen one jumped forward to seize Siride and he joined Amir again.

  Meanwhile the night was quickly giving way to sunrise and to the heat of the day.

  Remenant’s followers lingered, then began to descend from the dunes and they began to enclose their targets.

  “Let’s not give them time to get close, let’s attack first. They think we’re frightened by the number of them and they won’t expect us to make the first move.”

  Viktor scrutinized the surroundings, evaluating her advice. “And so be it. We will rely on the element of surprise.”

  Amir winked with a smile.

  As the enemies approached, Amir broke the formation running towards them.

  “Gaedra, Disendo!” she summoned, stopping suddenly and directing her palms against the ground.

  Columns of sand burst from the ground, rising upward, and the enemies, caught by surprise, aimed their arms and ran towards them.

  “Now!” exclaimed Amir to Viktor, in the other half of the circle the figures had built.

  Without having to repeat it, the boy ran towards the targets.

  Meanwhile, the columns of sand had created a multitude of obstacles that served as shelters from the arrows and crossbow bolts.

  Viktor had not grasped the meaning of that spell: the only thing he had seen were those columns of sand that kept growing.

  Taking advantage of the same principles used during the flight to the river in the Grey Hills, Amir tried to save magic essence for the blows against the enemies.

  The chosen one had to postpone his reasoning concerning the operation of the sandbars when one of the enemies slashed at him with a long steel halberd. He jumped just before the blow hit him in his knees, then he lunged forward, sinking the blade into the victim’s neck, who capitulated to the ground, tinging the golden sand red.

  A handful of three adversaries came forward.

  Viktor kept thrashing out, trying to find breaches in their defence and jumped sideways evading the enemies’ attacks; he summoned the earth rune to raise a cloud of sand with an explosion that captured three adversaries. Immediately, he used the advantage to attack his opponents temporarily blinded.