Chapter 10: Voice

"Your Excellency," Yosak was asking as they neared the sight, "Are you certain?"

"Unless you want to die most pathetically, stay here and make head way to the castle if I'm not back by sunset otherwise be my guest," Gwendal growled. He felt the pendant thump against his chest.

Flashback

It was three in the afternoon when Yosak came back, one look a the spy's face told Gwendal everything. He hurried to the stables to ready his horse leading it to the front gate. He wasted no time telling anyone where he was going...

"Gwendal!" a voice called before he could mount. Gwendal looked and saw his king running towards him. "I want to give you something for your journey," said Yuri as he approached his stern advisor. Without a word, Yuri reached behind his neck, undid the clasp of his pendant and brought it around stunned Gwendal's neck. Gwendal, not able to say anything, held the blue jewel in his hand. He saw the Wincott crest within it and, for some reason, felt a certain warmth emitting from the jewel.

"Heika..." Gwendal murmured, gazing at the pendant. It was a piece of trinket to him, but once, not so long ago, it was one of Conrad's most treasured items.

"Conrad gave me this in hope to protect me," Yuri explained, "I hope it does the same for you."

Gwendal looked at his king quizzically. Has Yuri forgotten that Conrad had realised this piece of trinket was not what protected Yuri? Even if it had once belonged to Julia? Yare.. yare...

When he looked into Yuri's eyes, he saw that the boy-king had been thinking about the night of his Promise, just two days ago. Gwendal smiled gently. "Arigatou, Yuri..."

Flashback ends

"They can sense human blood," Gwendal explained, "That's why I have to go alone." Yosak sighed exasperatedly with silent defeat.

"Just make sure you get out of there alive all right?" said Yosak, "There are important people who will miss you if you die." Apart from his mother, and Greta, Gwendal had high doubts about that. But with the protection Yuri supposedly gave, he should be back at Covenant Castle – with Conrad. He made a promise, and he was going to keep it. Gwendal urged his horse to gallop faster. Leaving a worried Yosak near the familiar clearing of flowers. He went into the forest Yosak indicated and galloped on until his horse reared. It was then Gwendal realised they had reached the dead thorn forest.

"Whoa," he murmured, calming the horse. He dismounted, understanding why the horse was terrified. "Stay here," he murmured. The beast inclined his head. Gwendal rubbed its nose appreciatively before heading deeper into the woods of thorns. This was not amongst the best of forests to walk in. Every direction seemed to be a direction of death.

Gwendal felt his trained ears flick towards a direction. The next thing he heard nearly made his heart stop.

"Never!" someone yelled. Seconds later a cry of pain reached his ears. Gwendal's heart stopped beating. He knew that yell and the cry. It belonged to Conrad!

He moved quickly. His blood flowing through his veins with cold dread. Within minutes, he came to the clearing of bones which Yosak had been earlier.

Gwendal shuddered as he stepped around the bones. Who knew how many Humans, mixed Mazoku-Humans parentage... men, women, and children... lost their lives to the cult owning this building... the creaking of a door made Gwendal look up. There stood the last man Gwendal thought he would see. He did not know how to react, surprised or not.

He would recognise this man even if he had not seen him for a thousand years. He thought he had seen the last of this man twice before... and twice before he tried to either kill or be rid of Conrart... Gwendal clenched his fists. There was no way he would let this monster anywhere near Wolfram, not after he had caused Lady Celi the miscarriage of his twin sister about two months before he was born.

"Olbaid Von Bielefeld..." he muttered darkly and with utter hatred. This was the man who taught him pride; this was the man who killed his sister; this is the man who hurt his family... Olbaid turned, his malicious smile grew wider when he saw Gwendal. He knew Gwendal as the stern advisor of the Maoh was an exact copy of his father.

"Ah," said Olbaid sneeringly as he discarded the remains of what seemed like a bloody heap into the fire. Gwendal knew neither body belonged to his brother, "Gwendal. It has been a long time."

"Not long enough for me," Gwendal said quietly and dangerously.

"How is my son?" Olbaid asked.

"Last I checked, you were childless."

"Surely, you know I meant Wolfram," said Olbaid. Gwendal closed his eyes and clenched his fists to regain self-control. How well did he remember...

"Explain that to his dead twin," said Gwendal bitingly. He flicked his eyes to the bloody mound, "What is this?"

"These are carcasses of my companions who died in the hands of the heretic." Gwendal clenched his fist at the word. It was no fault of Conrad's that he was half-blood!

Olbaid turned and led Gwendal into the fortress, "So you have finally seen truth and join me? Perhaps you can convince Wolfram as well."

"No," growled Gwendal, unsheathing his sword. Olbaid stopped and slowly turned, "I came to arrest you by order of Maoh Heika Shibuya Yuri."

"The half-breed?" asked Olbaid, un-sheathing his sword.

"My master," Gwendal replied. They turned in a circle, much like lion against lion, Gwendal eyed the man who had originally brought much harm to Conrad's heart. "Where's my brother?" he asked in a cold and deadly voice. He then remembered Yuri's words.

"I normally would not approve of killing..." Yuri had said, "but hunting the seeds of the future is a crime not worth forgiving. Neither is hunting others simply for their blood."

"Yuri..." Wolfram murmured. He had never seen his fiancé as a hard person. It was likely because Yuri's patience had reached its peak on racial prejudice.

"Shibuya," said Murata, "I did not tell you that story to avenge the children..."

"Children are lives given to their parents as gifts, and to their people for a better future," Yuri stated, he turned his attention back to Gwendal then, "Turn them in if they feel remorse for what they did, but you can kill them if they don't."

"Your majesty!" Gunter gasped.

"I will not allow such people to exist within my kingdom," said Yuri, "We cannot control what has happened, but we can try to prevent it from happening again."

Yuri's eyes were as hard as stone when he said those words. Gwendal, for his part, admired his king for such coldness. It showed him that Yuri was beginning to learn how to act like a king, in recognizing that some people can never change. But then, he felt sorry as well. From the look in the boy's eyes, it was as if Yuri still wanted blood for what they could have done to his daughter, and what they had done to Conrad, as well as those before them.

Gwendal could tell what Yuri was feeling was not vengeance, it was purely justified anger. If people like the Black-Folds could kill innocent children again and again, they should be imprisoned or killed. He and his brothers knew as a fact that they had killed.

Though it was not his choice to begin with, Gwendal could not prevent his brothers from being soldiers. Because he had no power whatsoever to prevent his brothers from staining their hands as well, Gwendal hid his true feelings as a brother. And a servant...

Yuri would have come out to stain his hands for what the cult King Slaughter created had done. He had not trusted himself, but he had trusted him, Gwendal, to go and rescue Conrad. Even Yuri knew that Conrad would not have wanted him to stain his hands. Gwendal's sword clashed with Olbaid's.

Gwendal looked at the man before him. The man who killed his sister while she was still in Lady Celi's belly with Wolfram, this man had fathered them.

It was the incident that occurred a few months after Wolfram that Lady Celi finally divorced him and Waltorana disowned him. And the Luttenberg division that banished him. He hated this man so much, he never gave him a second thought. Dan Hiri was only an exception as he was Human, and a more worthy opponent than a coward like Olbaid.

Olbaid summoned the fire maryoku and threw it towards Gwendal who barely dodged it in time time as he made an earthen wall to block the flames. Olbaid, however, had been expecting this as he lunged himself towards Gwendal – only to be deflected by his sword. Gwendal clutched his injured shoulder. Blood streamed making a rather large red patch.

They turned in a circle.

"Where's Conrart?" Gwendal growled as their swords clashed. Sparks escaped and landed on the dry hay. Fire spread quickly around them. Olbaid leapt back into the fire, Gwendal tensed. Only a high level fire manipulator of the forbidden arts was able to leap into the fire unharmed. They manipulate themselves into the fire in order to distract enemies. Not good!

Gwendal had only manage to dodge in time before a dagger aimed at his chest came from the flames slashing his shoulder. Unfortunately, this was a diversion. And by the time Gwendal discovered it, it was too late.

Olbaid leapt out of the fire, disarmed him and slashed his chest, causing him to fall. The cult leader watched as Gwendal fell onto the stone floor. Gwendal cursed himself silently.

"Pathetic," Olbaid spat as Gwendal clutched his chest, spitting out blood, "Decades have passed and you are still that little swordsman who gives his life only for that dirt of a filthy half-breed." Gwendal's eyes began to blur. The injuries were not helping. Was he and Conrad going to die here?

"Even you are foolish enough to underestimate Slaughter's power!" Olbaid cackled, raising the sword for the final blow. Gwendal felt his eyes close... all hope was gone. The only thing he could think of was the heaviness in his heart of his broken promise.

Yuri!

Suddenly, he felt the pendant burn against his skin. It was not hot, simply... burning. There was no other way to put it. A vision appeared before his left eye. He found himself before Yuri at the Shinou temple, the king had turned into his Maoh form before Shinou. His black eyes thinned to slits but he was not angry. Gwendal himself had been there many times to know the feel of the atmosphere but his body told him that he was still in the fortress of the Black-Folds.

There was a rush of wind and water around Yuri... Morgif in hand.

The sun is sleeping quietly

I am with you now...

It was then Gwendal understood.

Once upon a century

He leapt aside, grabbing his sword and found himself back within the Black-Folds temple, courage renewed and strength returned.

Wistful oceans calm and red

Then, as if by miracle, Gwendal's body began to glow. Blue flames surrounded him.

Ardent caresses laid to rest

His injuries healed as his blue eyes thinned to slits like those of Yuri's when the boy king turned into his Maoh form.

They became one.

For my dreams I hold my life

One body made by mutual trust and a force just as strong: love

For wishes I behold my nights

Love for the man they were both desperately saving. Gwendal stood and fixed a fighting stance while Yuri called out to Morgif. Yuri's voice loud and clear in his mind, "Let's go Gwendal!"

A truth at the end of time

"Hait!" Gwendal yelled as he released full maryoku. "I, Morgif," their voices echoed, "will only serve the Maoh alone."

Losing faith makes a crime

Gwendal's sword began to morph into Morgif in his full power.

I wish for this night-time to last for a life-time

"CALL UPON MY NAME!"

The darkness around me - shores of a solar sea

"AND RELEASE MY POWER!"

"ERIBISU MORGIF!"

Olbaid began to back away slowly, unsure of what was happening. This type of maryoku was supposed to be impossible! Gwendal looked on without pity. He ran forward and embraced another duel with Olbaid and his sword. It came to a point where Gwendal practically sliced the sword to pieces before one last interlock.

Oh how I wish to go down with the sun

"I am Lord Gwendal Von Voltaire," Gwendal growled, an image of a happily laughing Yuri came into his mind, "It's my duty to protect his majesty," – then Wolfram, Greta and Lady Celi – "and my family," – Conrad – "from people like you!" With that he brought his sword down with a yell, slashing Olbaid's face, not caring if the blood of this man stained his uniform, as he stabbed the dagger into Olbaid's chest.

Sleeping

"Rot until the end of time," Gwendal growled with utter hatred in his voice as the body of the fanatic crumpled pathetically to the ground. The blue from his sword and body died down as he stood. He took out the blue pendant and looked at it in the firelight before closing his hand into a fist.

Weeping

"Arigatou," he murmured, fist shaking, "Yuri..."

With you

The stern advisor then wasted no time over the corpse as he saw a fresh blood trail some feet behind Olbaid. For some reason or another, he knew that blood belonged to Conrad. Gwendal followed the blood trail until it shortly led to a lit chamber. Forcing the door open with his maryoku, Gwendal stepped inside to find a sight that nearly made his heart stop.

There was Conrad, lying almost naked on the hard floor of filthy straw, partially matted with blood.

Gwendal rushed over to his brother's side and flipped him over gently. He sighed with relief as he inspected of the dagger wound on Conrad's stomach. While it bled profusely, miraculously, the dagger did not damage any internal organs. Gwendal tore his green sleeves bandaged that wound the best he could before wrapping his green over coat around Conrad. He gently lifted the wounded over his shoulder and hurried out of the rapidly burning fortress.

Outside, Gwendal gently laid his brother down and used his Earth maryoku to create a mud wall around the fortress so it would not spread throughout the thorny forest beyond. Where, in there, hopefully all documentation of the Black Folds cult were burning as well. He picked Conrad up again and hurried among the thorns to the edge of the forest near the field of flowers, determined to get away as fast as his legs could carry them both.

Once he reached the fields, the nobleman slumped down on grass beside his brother and breathe deeply, catching his breath and taking in the sweet scented air rather than the odour of blood.

As his heartbeat slowed to it's normal rate, he looked up to the sky to find what seemed like minutes turned out to be slightly more than half an hour. Yosak would have noticed his presence by now and left for the castle. As he brought his hand to his aching head, Gwendal noticed that his ponytail was undone. He then turned his attention to Conrad who was shivering within the green over coat.

Gwendal gently brought Conrad close, cradling his limp body. It had always hurt him deeply to see Conrad in pain. Though he held Conrad as a baby, he did not know what to do in the past; not during the years in the academy, not during the war and his pride had prevented him from opening his heart for Conrad to seek comfort openly even when he tried to protect him secretly. Now, seeing Conrad like this, he hoped he was not too late. The only thing he wanted now was to tell Conrad he loved him.

"Oh Conrart..." he murmured sorrowfully, tenderly caressing Conrad's bruised cheek.

Wild brown eyes snapped open as the bloodied hands weakly tried to push Gwendal away. It was only a fraction of a second before he recognised his older brother, Conrad's shoulders slumped with relief. He then winced with pain at the position he is in.

"Easy," Gwendal soothed, brushing away strands of brown hair from Conrad's eyes, so the younger man could see him clearly, "Easy..." He could feel Conrad's shoulders shaking almost convulsively and allowed his brother to lean against his chest. To show that he was not dreaming. "Nothing's going to hurt you."

"G-Gwen...?" Conrad coughed. He twitched at the pain his stomach gave him. This caress... I know this caress...

"Shh..." Gwendal soothed. What have they done to you?

"You... came.." Conrad gasped. This statement surprised Gwendal. This heartbeat...

"Of course I'd come," said Gwendal, holding him securely. Conrad coughed again. It sounded as if his throat was tearing apart. He clutched Gwendal's shirt with a bloody hand for support even though the older was holding him. "Gre-ta...?" he whispered, heaving.

"She's safe," Gwendal answered quietly. Conrad sighed with relief and coughed. Pain drawn deeply into his face. Why? Why were Gwendal's hands so... familiar...? So... tired...

"Gwen...?" Conrad started before lunging forward in a harsh coughing fit.

"I got you..." Gwendal soothed, rubbing soothing circles on his brother's back, "I got you..." He tightened his grip around Conrad's shoulders as the latter passed out, murmuring, "I'm sorry..."

Gwendal's blue eyes softened as he held his little brother. "You don't how much you scare me," he murmured. He then cradled his brother and pressed a soft kiss on Conrad's head, something he had not done in years. He slowly stood, leaving the buried fortress behind him.

Hiding amongst the branches of trees, Yosak witnessed an unforgettable scene. He shifted from his position and made his way back to the castle to bring news. Though they would likely ask him questions about Conrad and Gwendal, Yosak much rather keep to himself how Conrad looked.

"Well done, your Excellency," he murmured as he galloped towards the direction of the castle.

Far away from the lonely area, inside the Shrine. A certain Maoh was on his hands and knees panting heavily. Sweat lining his frowned brow. From the images he saw, he knew Gwendal had retrieved Conrad. He closed his eyes as his tears leaked out.

It took a huge amount of maryoku to do what he did only minutes ago. While harmlessly gardening with Greta only moments ago, a voice called him to rush to the Shrine, taking Morgif with him. Ulrike gave him entry without a word and left both him and the Shinou alone. Shinou just looked at Yuri with his troubled blue eyes. Something was happening to Gwendal...

Gwendal needed him!

Nodding Yuri unsheathed Morgif and turned into his Maoh form. Shinou activated his maryoku as well just before Olbaid struck the fatal blow upon Gwendal – in the nick of time as well. Yuri was relieved that he was able to save Gwendal even if it took much of his energy.

"Don't move," Shinou's voice reached his ears. Though Yuri did not see it, he knew the Shinou was extending his hand over his black hair and using healing maryoku to calm him. Yuri kept crying. The image of Conrad he saw was purely heartbreaking. The only two comforts he could find in seeing this was that at least he would be strong for Wolfram and Greta... the other was the pride he felt for his advisor...

"Well done," he murmured, opening his teary black eyes slowly, "Gwendal..."

Shinou's eyes softened as he continued to heal the boy's pain, aware of what the finest king of Shin Makoku was feeling.

Well done indeed, Lord Von Voltaire...

Said man was mounting his horse, holding his brother close... tears escaping his blue eyes.