Music: David and Lenne's Theme - "Corynorhinus" by Hans Zimmer (Batman Begins Soundtrack). Possibly one of the saddest, most beautiful songs ever.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Last Remnant.
Sacrifice
Chapter X
In the day since it had been decided that Lenne, Torgal and David would sneak into Elysion to retrieve the final piece of the artifact, David and the generals had been making preparations nonstop and with very little sleep. They now met in the conference room, reviewing the status of how everything was progressing.
Emmy had been working with her extremely limited sewing skills to shorten her extra uniform to Lenne's shorter frame. David knew she could not ask the castle tailor to do it without raising eyebrows. Emmy had found the request funny at first, laughing at the memory of her mother attempting to mend her clothes as a child. Emma would struggle only to create a crooked, lopsided garment, which she'd throw into the trash with a few choice words before taking Emmy shopping for new ones. As she worked though, Emmy's inability to control the needle and thread began to extremely aggravate the general. Jager had attempted to help her at first, but her frustration and its accompanying bad mood quickly drove him off, and he delegated himself to keeping her constantly supplied with tea and sweet snacks of some sort.
Blocter had been quietly given control of Athlum's standing army, normally Torgal's responsibility, and had been reviewing troop placements throughout the city. The yama was hovered over a map of Athlum at one end of the table, designing new patrol routes for guards, which Torgal would issue as soon as they were finished. While new patrol routes were configured every few weeks for the city soldiers, these were designed to create a path through the city which would allow the three to leave Athlum hopefully unnoticed.
David had made himself easily available to messengers from the other nations. Qubine had promptly replied in support of the suspension of the treaty, citing a noticeable anxiety in his troops at the thought of leaving Celapaleis during such an unstable time. The young Lord had simultaneously dispatched similar messages to the other Lords, expressing his agreement with David. A messenger from Duke Ghor had arrived only moments before David was to leave for the meeting. To David's relief the nation of warriors had also agreed to the suspension, although the Duke did express concern for the smaller nations, like Baaluk and Melphina.
Torgal meanwhile had begun to dig in the archives for maps of Elysion. He had searched for hours before realizing that no one knew the archives better than Pagus. Leaving the files a mess on the floor he had stood and marched to Pagus' room, ignoring questioning looks from Blocter and Emmy along the way.
"Pagus," Torgal said as he entered the room, exchanging a small nod of his head in respect with his fellow general.
"Torgal, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Pagus replied, a small smile on his face and a knowing look in his eyes.
"Are you familiar with any maps or plans of Elysion that may be in the archives?"
"Ah," sighed the qsiti. "Busy planning I see. I do remember seeing some a few years ago, from when we were trying to find Miss Irina. But I'm afraid I do not know where they may be now."
Torgal's ears fell slightly at Pagus' words. Although necessary for their plan, he dreaded the idea of digging through papers for hours and searching without any guidance.
"Thank you Pagus," Torgal said quietly after a moment as he bowed his head again. Pagus returned the gesture and leaned back against his pillows again, watching as Torgal approached his door to exit.
"Oh, Torgal," the qsiti called out just as the sovani's hand had grasped the door knob. Torgal turned to glance over his shoulder.
"Yes?"
"Dig for Elysion maps if you like, but might I suggest browsing the reports of the Althumian soldiers that escorted the Sykes to Elysion after the remnants disappeared."
Torgal's hand left the knob and he folded his arms over his chest, turning to face Pagus fully.
"What exactly is in there?" Torgal asked, one corner of his mouth turning upwards in a smirk.
"Intelligence, my friend. Intelligence that will most definitely be of help."
Torgal had left Pagus' room and returned to the archive room, a new urgency in his steps. On the way he passed Blocter, Emmy and now David all watching him from the doorway of the conference room. When he reached the archives he stepped over the papers he had left on the floor and made his way to the back of the room. Bookshelves filled with boxes lined the walls, and he quickly found a box dated for the spring of two years ago. Tossing the lid aside he began to dig through papers, making it halfway through the stack before one caught his attention. His eyes flew over it as his earlier smirk returned to his face.
A map was messily scribbled down, showing a few hallways and rooms. A few of the rooms had labels, such as "library" or "storage room." An arrow weaved through the hallways to a room at the end of one hall, and the label for this room made Torgal's eyes widen.
"Storage for Academy items."
The map was signed at the bottom by one of the guards which had accompanied the Sykes when they returned to Elysion to work on dividing the academy's property.
He snorted through his nose and shook his head slightly. Pagus' memory and wisdom never failed to amaze Torgal, despite being four times his age.
"We've been very fortunate with where Elysion selected to establish their vault," Torgal said, unrolling an oversized roll of parchment on the conference table in front of David. David moved to his side to join him in inspecting the sheet, noticing that this particular map was of Elysion's keep.
"Getting in and out of the city will not be difficult, especially in the chaos of a collapse. The bigger concern was getting to the vault, but after looking at this it may not be too difficult. Here," Torgal said, reaching out to point at a room on the map. "This is the vault. This is on the second floor of Elysion's keep, down a corridor with only two other rooms in that same hallway. The vault has no windows, but the room across the hall does, and the window is directly above a rampart." As he said this, Torgal reached across the table and opened another map, which was of the lower floor of the keep.
"What's this other room used for?" David asked.
"Storage I believe. This area of the keep is opposite the area used for quarters and staff areas," Torgal replied without having to look at the map.
"That is quite lucky."
"Indeed. Even luckier is the fact that the rampart under the window is near an edge of the keep that borders the outer edge of the city. This means that we could get to the vault by climbing up to that rampart to below the window, through it and across the hall."
"How far above the rampart is this window?"
"Only the height of a single level, so around ten feet," Torgal replied after looking at the map and finding no precise height measurement.
"And how high is the rampart from the ground outside the city?" David asked, his eyes still flitting over the map in various places. He could quickly see the appeal of the route Torgal had chosen; not only was it the most direct path to the vault, but it seemed that they could keep out of sight almost the whole time.
A tense silence fell over the room, and David's eyes flew up to meet Torgal's. The sovani had not answered his question.
"How high is it?" David asked more firmly, straightening himself up to his full height. His stomach turned nervously as he realized he was not going to like the answer to the question.
"About seventy feet," Torgal said gravely. "It is an outer defense wall of the city."
David's jaw tightened. "We'll just have to scale it. Gather up the equipment we'll need to do it."
Torgal nodded before unfurling another map on the table, and they began to plan their travel to Elysion.
A knock at the door startled Lenne and caused the quill in her hand to twitch, ripping a small hole in the parchment on which she was writing. She swore under her breath, and turned to look at the door over her shoulder.
"It's David," she heard him call quietly from the other side. Lenne quickly turned back to the small desk at which she was seated and slid a book sideways to cover the parchment. She set the quill aside and got up from the desk. Breathing a deep sigh as she reached the door, she steeled her features and twisted the knob.
David stood just outside the door, leaning against the frame. She opened the door only a few inches, and - even upon seeing him – did not fully open the door.
"What is it?" she asked.
"May I come in? I wouldn't want anyone to see my talking to you." She looked at him, unresponsive for a moment, before finally stepping away from the door and leaving him to let himself in.
David entered the room and closed the door behind him before turning to watch Lenne. The day before Emmy had returned from town with a bottle of a light colored paste, which she had taken directly to Lenne's room along with a short knife. She had emerged half an hour later to see David and Torgal waiting at the door. They had peered inside as Emmy left, both unable to stop their curiosity, and saw that Lenne's long, dark hair had been lightened and cut to indeed look like the young general's.
"Good work," David had commented awkwardly to Emmy.
"At least she didn't put up a fight. Must be important to her," she had replied quietly before continuing down the hall.
Lenne moved to the window as David entered the room, and he followed her to it. As he gazed out the window pane with her, the thought crossed his mind that although the conditions were much better than the holding cells in the lower levels, this was still somewhat of a prison that she was being held in. She had not been able to leave the room for days, and although she had not complained, David could see the discontent on her face.
"What do you want?" she asked again.
"I just wanted to reconfirm our plans for Elysion," he said, fumbling with the words for a second. He, Torgal and Lenne had gone over their plan countless times already, and this was not the reason for his visit with her. The truth was that he had felt the uncomfortable need to come talk to her, even though he had nothing to discuss. Something in the back of his mind craved the simple interaction.
"We've been through this a hundred times," she sighed, clearly annoyed. "You and I will disguise ourselves and sneak into the city to retrieve my part of the artifact before meeting Torgal at nightfall along the outer edge of Elysion's keep. And if I try anything funny you'll kill me. Pretty simple and easy to remember," she snapped at him, laying heavy emphasis on the final three words.
Through her rant he had not taken his eyes off her. He found himself immune to her sarcasm and sharp tongue after the past few weeks, and had almost come to admire her for her audacity at times. His eyes took in her hair, now choppy and barely brushing her shoulders. A ghost of a smile crossed his face as he remembered Jager laughing aloud upon seeing Emmy's handiwork.
"Hell, should I dye my hair blonde to fit in too?" he exclaimed as he looked at Lenne, David and Emmy standing together one evening in Lenne's room. The three blondes had glanced at each other briefly before Lenne had stood up and marched to the bathroom, glaring at Jager the entire way before slamming the door behind her. Emmy, trying to suppress a smile, had reached out to punch her fiancé in the arm.
Lenne was still looking out the window, avoiding looking at David, and he took the opportunity to reach out slowly and take a lock of her hair in his fingers. He could see her body bristle upon sensing his touch.
"David-"
"Listen," he said, cutting her off. She turned sideways to look at him, giving him her full attention.
"What?" she asked, her tone lacking the sarcasm it had contained a moment before.
David reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping her an arm's length away. As he searched for the words to convey what he had come to her room to tell her, a stark realization hit him. He in fact did not know what to say, because he simply did not know what he was feeling. Although he felt like he should say something, that there indeed was something to be said, he could not define it. This woman he had hunted for months had changed into something more meaningful than he had ever foreseen. He could no longer find it in himself to call her his enemy, yet a new label for her escaped him entirely.
She watched as he stood before her in silence, obviously at a loss for words. She could easily read his confusion, and somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered when she had developed this ability to read him.
"David," she started, her tone soft. "Don't confuse want with basic need. We're just two lonely people. We aren't looking for each other for anything more than this mission."
"How do you know?" he asked her. It was not a challenge to what she had said, it was a genuine desire to know the answer. He watched as she hesitated to answer him, her eyes conveying a depth of sadness that he had never seen before in her. Her face stirred within him a deep curiosity, a sudden desperation to understand what could make her so sad.
"How do you know?" he repeated quieter, and suddenly realized how badly he wanted an answer. His grip subconsciously tightened on her shoulders as he took a step closer to her, entering her personal space. She was suddenly overwhelmed by everything that was him; his smell of fresh air and clean linen, the warmth and weight of his hands on her shoulders, his breath slightly tickling her face.
She said nothing to him and looked up at him with sad eyes before reaching out to him. David's heart began to race in anticipation and excitement as her hand came up near his heart and curled itself around the fabric of his shirt. They stood frozen, David feeling as though she held his heart in hand for that brief moment. He was holding his breath without knowing it, waiting… craving for her to tug on his shirt and lead him somewhere he had never been before.
His features fell when he felt her hand release his shirt and push lightly against his chest. Rush's talisman, alongside a piece of the artifact, pressed into David's skin. Their eyes met, and David's excitement drained from him as quickly as it had arrived.
After exchanging a long, meaningful look with him, Lenne moved away slowly and returned to the desk she had been seated at earlier. She pulled open the book that sat there and found the page she was looking for quickly and began to read. She could feel David's eyes on her as she pretended that he was not standing only a few feet away. After an awkward silence he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click.
Upon hearing him leave, Lenne looked up from the book she was pretending to read. She sat frozen for a long time, thinking, before finally snapping the book shut and moving it aside to reveal the parchment she had been working on earlier. Retrieving the quill, she wet the tip and continued to write.
Midmorning four days later, a messenger arrived in the audience chamber of Athlum. David looked up from his seat where he'd been reviewing building requests for the city, and instantly recognized the man's Elysian colors as the courier made his way forward. He took a deep breath, telling himself to stay calm and not to give away that he'd been waiting anxiously for what this man might tell him.
"Lord David Nassau," the man acknowledged, coming to a stop in front of him and bowing quickly. At his words Torgal, who had been in the small antechamber of the room, emerged.
"Welcome," David replied, keeping his voice even and calm.
"A collapse began in the middle of last night in Elysion. My Lord wished to inform you of it and that the proposed suspension of the treaty is to be observed. He is very confident that Elysion's troops can handle the situation, and he wishes Athlum to remain vigilant."
"Very well," replied David, nodding his head. The man bowed again and quickly exited the hall. Without another word David stood and he and Torgal left the room. They both began speaking as soon as they were out of earshot of the guards in the hall.
"If we leave now we'll arrive in Elysion tomorrow, in the middle of the night. As long as it doesn't take too long for Lenne to pick up her pieces, we can be on our way home the following morning," Torgal said quickly as they both headed for the quarters area of the castle. David's chamber held their supplies for the trip, and was located just down the hall Lenne and the generals' rooms. Torgal followed David into his room where he retrieved Emmy's uniform that had been modified for Lenne, then quickly moved down to corridor to her door.
"Time to go," were his only words as he shoved the clothes into her arms when she opened the door. She nodded and withdrew back into the room. Torgal then took a few long strides to Emmy's chambers and knocked on the door. He could hear quiet whispers of Emmy and Jager behind it. After a long pause she opened the door, wrapped in a robe over her pajamas. Her hair was a disheveled mess, and she was trying to rub sleep from her eyes. She had only gone to bed a few hours ago after being on night watch in the castle.
"What issit?" she mumbled sleepily.
"Time to hide," was all he said to her. Her eyes immediately sharpened as her brow furrowed, and understanding fell over her face.
"Okay," she replied, biting her bottom lip in apprehension. Torgal nodded briefly and turned to leave, but he suddenly felt her small hand on his arm, tugging him back. He turned back to Emmy, his face not betraying his question, and watched her step into the hall and close the door to her room behind her. She motioned for him to lower himself closer, and as he did so she raised herself up on her toes.
"Be safe, please," she whispered in his ear before placing a light kiss on the side of his face. He nodded again to her and straightened himself back up, not lingering close to her. She made no attempt to hide the hurt that flashed briefly across her face. Torgal turned back down the hall to continue on to find Blocter, leaving Emmy to lean against her door, sleep suddenly seeming impossibly far away.
David entered Blocter's quarters to find the yama and Torgal reviewing last minute instructions for during their absence. David carried with him two small packs, one full of food, clothes and medical supplies, the other with ropes and hooks which they would use to climb the rampart.
"I think we're ready," David said, handing the packs to Blocter. "We'll see you outside the gate."
Blocter looked back and forth between Torgal and David, nervousness evident on his face. "Okay. Now ya listen to me. Yer better take care of each other, ya hear?"
A sad smile crossed David's face as he reached forward to place his hand on Blocter's forearm. "We will, and we'll see you in a few days when we get back. Everything will be fine."
Blocter nodded quickly before looking at Torgal one last time. "I'll be waitin' for ya." David and Torgal followed Blocter out of his quarters, and the three immediately split off in different directions. Blocter shouldered the packs and headed out of the castle to where he was to meet them with their supplies outside the castle gates. Torgal turned towards Lenne's room to retrieve her, while David headed to Pagus' room.
Pagus had been relocated to his quarters a few days earlier, where the castle physician continued to help make him comfortable. David had kept Pagus informed of their plans for Elysion, and as always the qsiti had lent a guiding hand in the plans.
"Pagus?" David called as he knocked lightly on the door. He heard Pagus' reply for him to enter almost immediately, and David let himself in the room. As he approached his bedside, he noticed that Pagus did not raise himself up to speak with David as he normally did.
"How are you doing?" David asked, knowing the answer already.
"Just a little ache in my joints. Nothing to concern yourself about, happens when the weather changes."
David cast a quick look out of Pagus' open windows, only to see the same clear winter sky that had been present the last few days.
"There's no storm, Pagus," he replied, sitting softly on the edge of Pagus' bed.
"There's one on the way then. Nevermind that, what news is there my boy?"
"We're about to depart. A collapse began in Elysion last night."
Pagus' face grew serious and possibly greyer than it had already seemed. David opened his mouth to reassure Pagus like he had Blocter, but the qsiti cut him off.
"This is a necessary risk, I do not object to this plan. And I know with Torgal by your side, you can accomplish almost anything. Just remember there are things we do not understand yet." Pagus advised him.
"You have always guided me best. We should be back in a few days, and I'll come to see you immediately." David said, rising from the bed. He knew Torgal and Lenne would be waiting for him.
"Do be careful David, and remember to look to the past for answers. Always," Pagus said quietly, his words more a request than a statement. After sharing a long, knowing look with the general, David nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Down the hall, Torgal was waiting outside Lenne's door.
As he approached Torgal the door opened from behind the sovani, and Lenne emerged cautiously. From the short distance he was away from her, David could now barely tell the difference between her and Emmy. With the exception that Lenne was shorter, the uniform along with her hair pulled forward to partially cover her face proved to be an excellent disguise.
"Let's go," Torgal said quietly, and they all turned down the hall together. They passed through the castle at a brisk walk, passing few guards on the way. The ones they did encounter saluted quickly, a few even acknowledging Lenne as "Lady Emmy." None of them spoke to the guards as they passed, heading for the side exit of the castle. As they walked outside, both David and Torgal cast sideways glances as Emma's tomb on the hill.
They weaved through the back streets of Athlum along the route that Blocter had mapped out, encountering few people and, according to plan, no soldiers. As they exited the city, Blocter was waiting for them with their packs, which Lenne and Torgal shouldered before they set off without another word. David lingered near Blocter a moment, looking back at Athlum.
"Take care of her," he said quietly to the yama.
"Of course," Blocter replied quietly, his voice shaking a bit. David cast him a nervous smile before turning back to Lenne and Torgal. They had walked a few yards before noticing that David was not following, and they had both turned to watch him. After glancing at the city one last time, David turned away from Athlum to join them.
The three traveled briskly toward Elysion. They had decided to leave the city in formal Athlum clothes, especially since Torgal was highly noticeable, being a sovani. As soon as they could no longer see the city they left the road and diverged into a wooded area, where they changed quickly into civilian clothes that had been in one of the packs. The clothes they had selected were dark in color to aid them in remaining undetected, and David and Lenne also pulled on dark travelling cloaks. With their Athlum clothes stuffed back into the pack, Lenne and David returned to the road together while Torgal followed a distance behind them. They did not feel it too unusual to see a sovani travelling alone; at least it was more likely than a sovani travelling with two mitras.
They travelled this way for hours, Lenne and David barely speaking the entire journey. Near the halfway point between Athlum and Elysion she spoke up, breaking into David's thoughts.
"I hope you plan on giving me a weapon of some sorts, since we're walking into a city that's sure to be swarming with beasts," she said dryly.
"We weren't planning on it," David responded, his tone serious and implying that the topic was not open for discussion.
"Great," she spat in annoyance.
"You know we'll keep you safe, we still need that trigger word."
"Right, who knows where I'd be if it weren't for that thorn in your side."
David ignored her comment, and they fell into silence again. They continued to walk for hours, each occasionally looking over their shoulder to see Torgal following them a few hundred feet back. As the sun set and the darkness fell over the them, Torgal gradually caught up with them.
"We should stop and make camp for the night. We'll sleep in shifts after we have some food; we need to keep out energy up," the sovani said quietly to David from behind him. David nodded briefly and turned away from the road, towards a wooded area not far off.
After moving into the woods for half an hour, David and Torgal finally selected a campsite as Lenne followed along in silence. Torgal set to starting a fire while Lenne and David began sorting the food that they had brought with them. They divided the small supply of dried meat, apples, cheese and bread between the three of them and sat down around the fire to eat. They ate in an uncomfortable silence, the only sounds around them were the crackle of the fire and noise of the woods surrounding them.
"I'll take first watch ," David said finally, brushing bread crumbs from his hands. "I'm not tired at all yet," he added when he saw Torgal's ears rotate forward, a signal that a protest was about to be voiced. The sovani's eyes darted around the camp for a second before he nodded, stood and moved towards a tree further away from the fire. He sat at the base of it and leaned his back against the trunk. As he moved David glanced at Lenne, who had moved closer to the fire and was using one of their packs as a makeshift pillow. She pulled her cloak tightly around her, trying to shield herself from the cold ground.
"Will you be warm enough?" David asked her.
"Yeah, I'll manage. Damn sovanis," she said, casting a contemptuous look at Torgal. David smiled to himself before standing up and wondering into the trees around their camp. He circled it for the next few hours, never moving far enough to where he could not see the shapes of Lenne and Torgal.
When David finally returned to the fire in the middle of the night, he found Torgal awake and waiting for him.
"This place seems strangely familiar," David commented as he stood near the fire, holding his hands outward towards it to warm them.
"Of course it does," Torgal replied, and David looked back to the sovani as he rose up to stand next to him. "When you were young, Emma used to bring you and Emmy here."
The odd feeling of déjà vu that had accompanied David on his patrol through the trees suddenly reconciled itself in his mind. Those childhood trips which had been buried and forgotten swam to life in his mind, and he could remember chasing Emmy through the trees.
"We were so young then," David said quietly, his eyes staring unfocused at the fire
"Only five or six I believe," added Torgal.
"And Emma-" David started, but his voiced died in his throat. Although it had been a few years since her death, an overwhelming feeling of loss still followed David
"You should get some sleep. You'll need your energy tomorrow," Torgal told him while checking the swords on his back as he prepared to take watch until the morning. David nodded and looked towards Lenne, who was sleeping with her back towards them and the fire. He laid down with his head near hers, and although his mind was racing, was asleep in moments.
They departed as soon as the sun was beginning to rise the following morning. Torgal lagged at a further distance than the previous day behind them as they walked. Unlike the day before, Lenne and David easily made conversation as they walked, although they never discussed anything personal. David felt the need to apologize for what had happened between them in her room, and tried to feel for the right moment to bring it up. But as midday passed and the sun began its descent downwards in the sky, he never got the chance.
As they neared the Elysian border in the early evening, David raised his eyes in the direction of the city and noticed large storm clouds beginning to gather ahead of them.
Pagus was right, he thought. Amazing he could feel it this far away.
"If it rains it's going to make climbing that wall even worse," Lenne said suddenly. She had evidently noticed the clouds in the distance as well. David hummed in agreement, and nothing more was said about it.
As the night wore on and they moved further into Elysion territory, David could sense Torgal move closer to them on the road, following only twenty yards or so behind them now.
"Not much further now, only over this hill," he said to Lenne, his stomach beginning to turn anxiously. They both subconsciously quickened their pace, their boots digging into the grassy side of the hill. David, whose legs were longer than Lenne's, reached the top slightly before her, and looked down at Elysion.
"God Emperor…" he exhaled in shock. Lenne was just close enough to hear him, and her eyes flew up to follow his gaze. Her jaw fell slack at the scene that lay before them.
From the hill where they stood, they could look down at Elysion over its walls. Multiple areas scattered across the city were ablaze, and the fires illuminated a layer of smoke that hung over the city.
"Is that dust too?" Lenne asked, squinting in an attempt to try to see more clearly through the haze.
"It is," Torgal said, coming from behind to join them on the hill. "They must be having frequent earthquakes as well to stir up that much dust."
They all stood for a moment, transfixed by the city in chaos before them.
"Go as quickly as possible. No stops or unnecessary risks," Torgal told them. David suddenly realized that this was the point where he and Lenne were to separate from Torgal. They had agreed it too risky and suspicious for the sovani to enter the city to retrieve Lenne's pieces of the artifact, so they were to meet him outside the city, at the bottom of the rampart they were to climb.
"C'mon," Lenne said, pulling her hood up over her head. "We'd better go before it gets worse." David nodded and turned to Torgal, handing him the pack that contained their climbing rope. Lenne took off the pack she was carrying with their clothes and food and tossed it under a bush just off the road. She began to step towards the city when Torgal called out to her.
"Wait," he said, reaching within his shirt to pull out an item. He handed her a dagger in its sheath, and her eyes widened as she took it.
"My dagger…I thought I'd lost it," she said, her voice softening.
"It was confiscated the first time you were taken into custody. I know we agreed on no weapons, but this collapse looks worse than expected," Torgal said, the explanation more meant for David than Lenne.
"It's probably a good idea," David said. "It does look pretty bad down there."
"Alright, you know where to meet me. Get going," Torgal said quickly before leaving the road in the direction of the rampart. Lenne and David continued on the road, their pace the quickest yet as they approached the city gates.
As they got closer, the sounds of the chaos within Elysion began to reach their ears. Soldiers yelling orders, beasts roaring and the occasional screaming of civilians drifted past them as they got closer. When they were only a few dozen yards from the entrance, David felt Lenne reach out and grab his arm, pulling him abruptly to a stop.
"What the hell is that?" she said, leaning closer to him to whisper harshly in his ear. In the dim light cast by the fires of the city, he could see her pointing off the side of the road. As his gaze followed her finger, he saw immediately what she was referring to. A deep fissure had formed in the ground a ways off from the road, and thick smoke was rising from within. It looked to be a few hundred feet long, and stretched like an ugly scar against the grassy landscape.
"I don't know," he replied, shaking his head in disbelief. Over their heads thunder suddenly cracked loudly, and he felt Lenne's grip on his arm tighten.
"Let's go…fast!" David said, looking up at the ominous sky above them. Lenne took off at a run immediately, her hand slipping down David's arm to hold onto his hand as she guided him through the streets. David followed her closely, but could not help himself from looking at the destruction surrounding them. They were constantly passed by citizens that were fleeing through the streets, opposite the way they were heading, and they had to leap over the bodies of slain beasts. Once, as Lenne stepped over an obstacle without looking, David's eyes fell downward to see where to step. He saw on the ground the body of a soldier, his face splattered with blood and barely recognizable. David's steps faltered and Lenne turned back to him, her hood flying off of her head as she reached for him.
"Come on, it's not far," she yelled to him over the noise, pulling him by the hand. He looked at her and noticed she was gripping her dagger tightly in her other hand. His hand flew to his sword and they began running again.
A moment later Lenne rounded a corner and instantly dropped David's hand. He saw her skid to a stop in the dirt and he stopped next to her, bumping into her slightly. He followed her eyes and saw her staring at a building that was completely ablaze. Citizens were scurrying around it frantically, throwing buckets of water at it as soldiers defended them from the beasts that roamed the streets.
"Is that your building?" David asked breathlessly.
"No," she replied, coughing as she tried to catch her breath through the dust and smoke. "The one next to it."
David's eyes darted to look at the building next to it. It looked intact, but the fire from the adjacent building was beginning to lick at the roof of it.
"Which floor?" he yelled out to her, the noise around them escalating with every second that past.
"The bottom," she shouted, and at the same time they both took off at a run, drawing their weapons as they went. They wove among soldiers and beasts towards the building. When they had almost reached the door, David saw a basilisk leap from the roof of the building towards Lenne. He screamed her name, and watched as she fell to her knees, ducking just in time for the monster to land behind her. She was already spinning on her knees to face it as David swung his sword downward onto the creature's neck, the blade sinking into its flesh. The creature hissed in pain as Lenne's dagger also found its mark in his side before becoming silent and still.
David and Lenne looked at each other, both panting heavily, before removing their weapons and continuing inside the house.
"They're in here," she said, entering a small sitting room in the house. Books were scattered everywhere, and a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the tables and chairs.
"This was your home?" David asked, casting a brief look around the area.
"Yes," she replied, barely paying attention to him. Lenne bent over, grabbing a corner of a rug that covered the center of the room, and pulled it back. She knocked over a side table as she did so, but ignored the crash of a bowl shattering on the floor. David knelt next to her as she stuck her dagger between two of the floorboards and pried one upwards. It came out easily, and David could see that the nails originally used to keep it in place were no longer present. Beneath it a small hole had been dug into the ground, and Lenne reached into the floor as deep as her elbow. When she withdrew her arm, two half circles with half of an orb magically suspended in the middle appeared.
David could not keep a small smile from spreading across his lips. They were so close now that he was suddenly anxious to get back to Torgal and retrieve the last piece.
"Now, you're sure it only split into these four pieces? You're completely sure?" David asked, excitement growing in his voice.
"I'm sure. Look at your piece, it's a perfect half circle," she said, motioning her head towards David's chest. He reached into his shirt and pulled out the piece, still tied to Rush's talisman.
"Before it was broken up it was the orb and two surrounding circles. It was so unnatural for it to split into these perfect pieces, I think it was some sort of magic that broke it apart, not the force that it was hit with. It's meant to be put back together," she said, something wild flashing in her eyes. She took the chain attached to the half which she had just removed from the floor, and looped the chain tightly around her wrist.
"How do they go back together?" David asked, leaning forward towards Lenne. He felt an odd tugging around his neck and looked down; the piece around his neck was pulling away from him, towards Lenne. The piece wound around her wrist was lifting itself upwards towards his, the attraction between the pieces overcoming gravity to try to be reunited.
"Not yet," she said, reaching with her other hand to push him back. He quickly grabbed his chain and tucked it back into his shirt for safe keeping.
"Right," he said, slightly disappointed. "We need to get back to Torgal."
"And get the hell out of here."
They stood and left the house, both subconsciously reaching out for the other's hand as they entered the street and the chaos once more.
Author's Note:
Thank you as always to Sorceress Nadira for being my wonderful beta!
Although the wait for this chapter has been long, it's not without reason. When I completed Chapter 10 it came in a just under 17,000 words, so I decided to split it into two parts to make reading easier. The other part will be up in probably 3-4 days. Thank you for reading everyone!