Chapter Six
Emerald eyes fluttered open to chestnut brown hair splayed across the pillow beside him, Linda's features peaceful as she slept. Restraining himself from bolting out of bed, Gust remained still and attempted to grasp at the memories of the night before. The Round Table...alcohol...Linda's house… It all flooded back to him, including the image of her face in the flickering light of the candle.
Again. Embarrassment gripped at him again from having to be taken care of by the woman. Why did he keep putting himself in such a position?
Stifling a yawn, he rubbed his face with a large hand. The small movement drew his companion out of her sleep slowly. When her eyes finally opened, she had a brief shock of not remembering the previous night. With another person in her bed, she was so shocked that she yelped and slid off her side of the bed onto the floor. Mortified at the occurrence, she remained on the floor for a minute pitying herself. During this time, Gust had pushed himself off the bed and stretched. The repaired wooden boards groaned under his feet as he stepped around to where she was.
A hand was extended to her, the act so surprising that she only stared up at him with a quirked eyebrow. Finally, she grabbed his hand and he effortlessly hoisted her to a standing position.
With the sky starting to turn into a bright red-orange to the east, they knew it would only be about an hour before needing to rendezvous at the cave entrance. In order to have some energy for the day, Linda fried bacon and eggs for the two of them and they ate in silence. It was a wonder how Gust was not hungover from the night before. In truth, the man never really got hangovers for whatever reason.
"Do you have an extra iron sword?" The words almost caused the brunette to spit out her milk.
"Do you even know how to use one?" she asked outright, brows furrowing. How could this refined, high-class architect possibly know how to wield a sword?
Giving her the usual blank expression, he retorted, "I have a lot of abilities that may surprise you." Somewhat hesitantly, she retrieved an extra iron sword for her guest and handed it to him. He slipped the strap of the holster over his shoulder.
Both itching to start the mission and get Ginger back safely, they left directly after breakfast and walked to Amber Island. Arlo, Remington, Dr. Xu, and Gale were waiting at the entrance of the cave. It was clear that everyone was eager to get this over with and have the relief of having Ginger back. Simply eyeing the two, Gale did not question why Gust had not come home the night before.
The redheaded leader of the Civil Corps gave a brief overview of the mission before they headed into the cave. Arlo had reluctantly let Linda lead the pack since she was the only one who had set foot in the cave before. Walking briskly through the cave and deeper into a tunnel, it was a while before they encountered any bandirats.
"Back for more?" they screeched at her, some of them having witnessed her escape a few weeks ago. The woman had readied herself to attack, but Arlo had pushed her aside and took care of them. Without an impending threat any longer, Linda confronted him, stabbing the tip of her sword into the ground. "With all due respect, this isn't going to work if you feel the need to do all the fighting. Don't push me out of the way. I've done this before without you."
Chuckling, the man nodded, his blue eyes glimmering with amusement. "I suppose you're right. Sorry, just instinct…"
Linda took the lead again and they fought their way through more tunnels. Gust surprised both of his companions, slicing through bandirats nearly effortlessly. His disdain for dust and filth was concealed well and they hadn't heard one complaint from the man, which was surprising considering they had anticipated that he may be a burden to the rescue mission. The deeper they got into the cave, the more difficult it was to fight the bandirats. Not only were they in larger groups, but they were also much stronger. It was clear that they were getting close to the lair of the Bandirat Prince.
As Linda slashed her sword at one bandirat, another jumped onto her back, raking his claws across her neck and shoulder. The searing pain caused her to stumble. The iron sword slipped from her hand and clanged to the floor, a puff of dust emerging. The rat had started to choke her, her breathing ragged and strained. Launching herself back, she slammed her back into the side of the cave, knocking the air out of the rat.
Knowing she ventured like this and seeing her in action were two completely different things. Gust felt the same panic course through him as when they had taken Ginger when he saw Linda being choked. Just like before, he couldn't get there fast enough. However, Linda was more capable of fighting than his fragile sister. This woman was not delicate or refined. Even after being pummeling in the Hazardous Ruins, she had somehow managed to drag herself to Dr. Xu's house. The Builder had a strong will, determination…
Still, he couldn't just stand there like he had when he watched his sister get taken. There was an anger that bubbled inside his stomach for hurting the woman. As she fell to the ground, clutching for her fallen sword, Gust interjected and stabbed the rat before he could gather himself to attack the woman once again. "I can't have something happen to you too," he muttered, the words escaping his mouth before registering in his mind. He assured himself she hadn't heard them.
As soon as her small hand had encircled the sword, he lifted her up under the stomach with one arm and hurried to join Arlo, who had continued on to clear as many bandirats as he could.
"I can walk, you know," the Builder said, the tip of the sword dragging on the ground and she was carried. Stopping, the tall man set her down on her feet and she adjusted her clothes. Bright red blood was seeping through her sleeve where the claws had broken the skin. "It's nothing." She waved her hand in dismissal, seeing Gust eyeing the blood. The words he uttered a minute ago replayed in her mind, heart fluttering once again. It wasn't the appropriate time to smile, so she suppressed it.
Catching up with Arlo who had made it to the lair, they crouched down with him to survey the area. The large Bandirat Prince was once again lounging on his couch, the giant fork poised in his hand. This time, though, the meat on the fork was being held in front of the face of Ginger, who was sitting stiffly on a second couch that had been placed in the middle of the dim room.
"Eat, my Princess."
She waved a small hand. "N-No thank you, I'm not quite hungry yet."
The large rat shrugged and brought the meat to his face, ripping a large piece from it. Eyes searching Ginger, it appeared she had not been harmed physically. There was a bit of dirt on her clothes, but everything was otherwise intact.
Linda grabbed at Gust's pant leg as he quickly stood and started to rush down the stairs to where the Bandirat Prince was holding his sister captive. The fabric slipped right out of Linda's hands. They needed to analyze the situation before attacking, but Gust had impulsively rushed to the scene.
"I can't let him go down there alone," Linda whispered frantically to Arlo before bolting after him.
The Bandirat Prince cackled at the arrival of the three, while Ginger's green eyes widened. Just at seeing the three, she burst into tears of relief, cradling her head in her hands.
"How dare you make my Princess cry?" the Bandirat Prince snarled.
"You're the one making her cry," Arlo stated matter-of-factly. "I think she's quite relieved to see us. Who do you think you are holding an innocent woman against her will?"
The only other female in the room stepped forward. "She's not your Princess. Stop calling her that." Rage flowed through Linda's veins as she glared at the monster. Her fist was turning white as it clutched the sword tightly. This thing felt he could do whatever he pleased, including taking one of her best friends, and get away with it.
Gust ran toward his sister. A yell was caught in Linda's throat as she watched, eyes wide. She was frozen with panic as she watched the Bandirat Prince swing the fork at him. There was such momentum that the man went flying into the stone wall. Pain and fear rippled through Gust's body, the air being knocked out of him to where he couldn't inhale. Instinctively, he stumbled from the wall still attempting to get to his sister. It was only a few steps enduring excruciating pain before he collapsed to the ground, everything going black. He was breathing again and could hear what was happening, but was too stunned and pained to move.
"Gust!" Linda screamed, becoming even more panicked when he didn't budge. This was soon replaced with rage once again, even more intense than before. "You'll pay for that!"
"Ah, I struck a nerve with my first would-have-been Princess...is he why you wouldn't stay with me?"
Anger fueling her, she launched herself at the Bandirat Prince. Dodging his swings, she managed to get in close enough proximity to start slashing at him with her sword. Instantaneously, his fist was sailing at her. She rolled away, a few loose pebbles slapping her in the face.
The brunette sped toward him once again, but the tip of his fork clipped her this time and sent her flying. Luckily, it hadn't had nearly as much momentum as the one that hit Gust. She landed on the ground, rolling a few times to try and minimize the severity of the impact.
Arlo was now involved, swaying to dodge the attacks before sinking his sword into the monster. There was a shriek that erupted from deep within the Bandirat Prince. His fist came around again, Arlo successfully escaping its path.
While he was distracted with the leader of the Civil Corps, Linda once again rushed at him and sank her sword into the other side of him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Gust starting to move once again and relief flooded through her. Just as a smile started to grace her lips, Arlo yelled at her to look out. The fist was coming at her once again. There was no time to dodge the blow, so Linda pointed the tip of her sword toward the incoming blow as the fist came at her. The pain of having the sword pierce his hand softened the blow to the woman, but she was still a bit dazed from having been knocked over and bumping her head against the stone ground.
Sluggishly, she tried to crawl away to regain her composure before attacking again. A hot, bloody hand grabbed her right arm firmly, causing her to drop the weapon. Squirming in his grasp was pointless, as she had been weakened by the blow and knew she would only be free of the grip when the Prince decided she would be.
"None of this would be happening if you had stayed with me in the first place," the Prince bellowed.
Gust eventually made it to his feet, stumbling a bit. Pain shot through his body, causing him to wince. He now realized he had been brash and foolish rushing in like that. Now Linda and Arlo were in danger because there was no attack plan and they had to wing it.
Seeing the Bandirat Prince grabbing Linda made his blood boil. Grabbing the sword that had dropped to the ground when he fell, he clutched it tightly and took aim. Grunting in a strained effort, he flung the sword as hard as possible. The blade sliced into the Bandirat Prince's arm, blood spraying into Linda's face before the hand unclenched from the pain and shock.
Meanwhile, Gust finally fumbled his way over to Ginger and enveloped her in his arms. The two leaned into one another in relief, a weight lifted off their shoulders.
"Ginger, I'm so sorry," Gust apologized as she cried into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." There were so many other words he wanted to say to his little sister. I should have protected you. This is all my fault. With Ginger, he didn't need to say any more. The woman knew what he was thinking, and she didn't blame him for anything that had happened.
Sniffling, she said, "This isn't your fault. I'm just happy you came to save me." Her pale, thin arms clutched him tightly.
He held her as he watched Arlo jab his sword into one of the Prince's feet. The monster yelped, now spurting blood from multiple locations. His unharmed fist came at the Civil Corps member, who dodged it. Linda had disappeared. Gust's eyes slid over the general vicinity searching for the woman. The next thing he knew, the brunette had launched herself off the ledge up top. Brown locks flowed in the air behind her as she soared at the monster. There was such boldness and persistence in her action, yet grace and elegance simultaneously. Upon landing on the monster, she thrust the length of her sword into the beast's chest.
With a sputter of red liquid, the Prince crumpled and took his last breath. The Builder wrapped both hands around the handle of her sword and yanked it out. Climbing off, Arlo caught her as she stumbled. Her body quaked from exhaustion, the blood loss from the scratches earlier adding to the loss of strength.
"It's over," the man said reassuringly, staring down at her. "You were impressive." A bright white smile was flashed up at the man.
Too tired to turn her head, she asked, "Ginger?"
"I'm fine," the woman called to her friend, still locked in her brother's embrace.
The red-haired male beamed down at her. "We're all good here." Strong arms cradling her, sleep started to pull her away. She had gone to bed far too late the night before with having to care for Gust, not to mention she was both physically and emotionally drained. "Just sleep. I've got you."