Duty bound chpt 10aa
Disclaimer: I don't own the Last Story –sigh-
I reuploaded this after finding a website to help with grammar and such
Sorry for the late update. With any luck you guys will get a few this week though! Thanks for all the reviews!
Cormag Ravenstaff, thank you for bringing that up! I'll probably go through and fix what I can. It's a bit hard since I don't have a beta reader (and I suck at proofreading, to be honest) so thanks again for pointing out anything that can be fixed! I'll try to make Calista less OOC in upcoming chapters also. Please keep telling me if you think anyone is getting weird haha.
Mysterious guest, yay indeed! Hahaha
SheikahLover, I'm glad you loved it! It took a while to figure out how I wanted to do the flashback. That took the longest to write... _ That sounds pretty interesting! When its up I definitely want to check it out!
I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I went over it several times but I'm only one person haha
This chapter is done in Mana's POV
Gurak poured out of the crimson door before we could bar it off. Not that we would be able to as the other exit had been officially blocked out by a giant pile of rubble. Oh, I hope Ashlya is okay. I knew she had dodged the falling boulders well enough to be alive, but she still could have been injured. Hopefully, she still has her first aid kit. The thought of her getting hurt while she was by herself made me speed up my chanting as I cast my spells at the ones that Dagran had not gotten to. They fried, steam rising from their charred flesh. Dagran sliced through the head of one that was on fire due to Yurick's magic. My arms were tired and my throat was sore but I kept chanting and casting, stabbing any that got too close. I felt a blade nick my arm but Yurick's training ensured that my concentration wasn't broken. I heard the sound swords clashing as Dagran parried the gurak that had attacked me and I shot off a new bolt of lightning. The air crackled as it shot out. The sensation of weightlessness and the feeling of pushing the magic out was almost euphoric. Had it not been for the scent of burning flesh and hair I would have probably enjoyed it.
I watched in my peripheral vision as Dagran moved with the grace of an apex predator as he worked his way to the crimson door. I fired another bolt towards the foes in his path and he took the chance to dash through, slamming it shut behind him.
"Dagran! Dammit! What is he thinking? Surely he isn't going to try to block the door by himself!" I faintly heard Yurick shouting but my main focus was on channeling the next spell. Even with the flow shut off there were still at least ten hostiles left. And without our melee fighters, this was going to be a bitch. The spells took too long to cast, giving us too many opportunities to be attacked. I willed myself to speak the words faster and pushed the lightning out towards a new target. The ground shook but I ignored it to stab a gurak with a dagger held in shaking hands. The blood ran down the blade but my heart was steeled. I would protect what was important to me. A flash of white hair darting behind a rock strengthened my conviction. I felt my magic growing stronger as my feelings surged. He was breathing heavily and my arms felt like there were shackles on them then I heard the sound of footsteps flanking us. Light brown hair and an ethereal blue light came out of the hallway followed by the long locks of Lisa.
"You took your sweet time! Help us with this lot!" His voice was slightly haggard but full of relief. I looked at him to see a spot of red running down his arm.
"Where's Dagran?"
"He went to take out the enemies on the other side of the door. We haven't heard anything from the other side since he went in." Yurick shot another fireball at an archer. The arrow that he had notched caught fire, followed quickly by the rest of his body and all that was left was a circle of fire. Zael ran up the wall cut down the last of the last foes and a let out a sigh of relief. My arms were shaking and my tongue felt dry. I wiped the blood off my hands and took a swig out of my water skin. As I finished my drink the floor trembled again.
"Do you two know what that is?" The vibrations shook the floors and made my bones feel like they were rattling. The seemed to follow a pattern and my theory was confirmed when Lisa said that it was most likely the Lazulis navy. Another wave of tremors came and a secret door opened up, leading to a set of stairs.
"It seems like most of these passages are interconnected, so if we go up these we should run into Dagran and Ashlya at some point." The back of Yurick's hand brushed against mine and I took comfort in his words.
"With any luck, we'll also meet with my father and sir Therius."
I heard the sound of metal clashing through the passage as we worked our way up the stairs. The sound grew louder with each footstep until we entered a room and saw a familiar figure fighting his way through enemy troops.
"Dagran!" Zael leaped into the fray, a blue light emitting from his hand. He cleaved through the gurak warriors while my magic mixed with Yurick's: my magic paralyzing while his burnt them to the bone.
"Ah, Zael... Now we can bust some heads..." Dagran seemed like he was in a fair mood, despite being surround by enemies. He swung his sword, catching a neck. The blade slid through the flesh in one smooth motion and soon the head fell off.
"Have you met up with Ashlya?" I asked between my cantrips and felt a pang of disappointment when he answered in the negative. I shot another bolt towards the enemy swordsman. It was better to focus on the present than to worry about what could be. I kept telling myself that as gurak fell around us. Some let out strangled cries, some did not even have the chance as they died. I could smell the blood and sweat and burning hair. The last one fell to Dagran's blade when his sword found the heart.
"We should probably keep moving." I had a bad feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. My nervous energy must have been apparent to my mentor for he placed a hand on my head and ruffled my hair.
"Don't worry. We'll find her. But you are right; we do need to keep moving. Who knows when more soldiers will come through here."
We worked our way towards the cliff that overlooked the brilliant sea. The sun was beginning to set and its reflection twinkled off the water. As we approached the outcropping another set of cannonballs bombarded the island.
"Whoa! Zael watch out!" I reached forward, barely able to grab a hold of his jacket before yanking him back. Boulders came plunging down and crashed into the ledge. I heard the sound of the shelf falling into the water and a few droplets managed to cover us in mist.
"Thanks, Mana."
"Just looking out for my friends." Though honestly I think I just reacted out of instinct. I kept that thought to myself as we gazed at the chasm.
"I guess we're not going this way."
"Yeah. We'll have to find a way around. Maybe some of those doors in there were unlocked." I sighed and headed back into the room. We began testing the doors while Zael filled Dagran in on the presence of the navy.
"Ah, nice. It'll be a great victory if Lazulis can take this island." His eyes didn't match the excitement in his voice but before I had the chance to ask Zael pointed out a very valid point. No one knew we were here and that placed us right in the middle of conflict. Being hit by friendly fire was a very possible scenario.
"We're all human. If we get their attention, we can explain. Plus we have the General's daughter with us. He'll be able to recognize her fairly well." He briefly looked at me before resuming to look for unlocked gates or doors.
"This one's unlocked." Zael stood in front of the one furthest in the room before opening it.
"Dagran, how are we going to cross the water to get to the other cliff?" Our leader paused in consideration before answering vaguely. He apparently didn't have a clue either.
"I have a feeling that my dad would probably take down one those bird monsters." It was originally intended as a joke but the more I thought about it the more it seemed like something he would do. We ran through another room that was surprisingly empty while pondering how to get to the other side before coming across another unlocked gate. The gate rose away and we stepped into a familiar room.
"Is… Is this the first room we were in?" I looked around, finding the chest that had been looted. We had gone full circle. I rubbed my tongue over my teeth in angrily. We still hadn't found my sister and we hadn't made any actual progress. I stood staring out at the sea, watching as cannons shot down behemoth wyrms. The sound of flapping brought my attention to my left. I saw the long white hair of Therius. I opened my mouth before sighing. I wasn't expecting my joke to turn out to be true.
"Get on! By order of the General." His eyes looked over the group and came back to me.
"Mana, where is your sister."
"We got separated. We're not sure where she is." There was only the slightest of tensing in his jaw. I climbed on the beast behind Therius and Yurick when I saw Zael begin running towards the cliff. He launched himself in the air right when one of the beasts flew past. It struggled briefly underneath his weight before correcting itself and allowing him to guide it back towards the cliff. He called out to Calista and she jumped into him.
"Wow… Reckless man and reckless woman. The perfect power couple…"
"Like you have any place to speak, Ms. Mana. Storming off to an enemy base with a group of people who barely know? Your father was not pleased."
"I would like to point out that I was actually kidnapped, thank you very much. It was your girlfriend that ran out." His ears turned a slight pink and he grumbled that he had no feelings for my sister. Why he wouldn't admit it to himself always irked me.
"But in all serious, Therius… we need to find her. I have a really bad feeling." His hand gripped the harness tighter before he nodded.
"The General is up ahead. He will know what we need to do." We flew in silence for a few brief moments before my father figure came into view. When he came close enough I gathered my courage and jumped. He caught me with ease and I held onto him tightly.
"Where is Ashlya?" His voice was laced with worry and I felt my eyes began to burn. I ignored the burning feeling in my eyes and told him everything that had happened this far. I curled in closer to my father as he reassured me that we would find her. I sniffled and straightened myself back out. Now's not the time for tears. We flew towards the other cliff with little problem. That is until the gurak began fire hundreds of arrows at us. My father pulled the beast into a sharp incline, dodging the projectiles.
"They're not making this easy." He was grinning at the thought of a challenge. The similarities between him and Ashlya were striking and I found myself smiling despite the situation. He pulled the gryphon further up before having it dart forwards with a speed I had not know possible from a creature its size. The arrows whizzed past and my father smoothly evaded them. When the archers realized that their arrows were being dodged the spell casters stepped in. A fireball larger than any I had ever seen shot towards us. I could feel the air heating up before it was even close to us. Our formation split apart as we tried to dodge the fire. I turned my head to make sure everyone was all right and saw Yurick gazing at the fire admiringly.
"Yurick, I don't think now is the time!" He smiled cheekily at me before Therius broke into our conversation.
"We're too high up." He had a point. Up here we were easy targets.
"What about that entrance?" Zael pointed his mount towards an entrance nestled on the side of the cliffs.
"Hmm. You have a good eye. Gather everyone together!" I called out to Yurick and Therius as Zael captured Dagran's attention. Once everyone was back together Zael gave Yurick and myself the order to hit the platform while he and Dagran pulled the fire away. I stood up on the back of the gryphon so that I had a clear shot and placed one hand on my father's shoulder to help my balance. I raised my dagger in the air, channeling my magic through it. I heard Zael give the order to fire and I unleashed what I had built up. It wrapped itself around Yurick's fireball and the air sizzled with raw energy. It hit the platform with such force that the rocks crumbled and fell, taking a few unlucky gurak with it into the depths of the ocean. Our mounts landed gracefully, talons clinking against the stone floor, as the gurak struggled to regain their footing. A door opened in the right side of the room as more gurak ran into the room to help their comrades. Dagran grumbled about the reinforcements as we drew our weapons. There was a silence as each side scanned the other for weakness and strengths.
A ball of fire and mortar came down and the fight began as it shattered against the ground.
"Snipers! Keep your heads down!" Dagran's warning came right before a bolt whizzed past my ear. I ducked behind a fallen pillar, popping my head up to scan for the marksmen.
"Lisa, Yurick, take out that sniper!" I followed Zael's line of sight right before my teacher's magic caught him on fire. I could concentrate on my own magic attacks now. And I did just that. My star magic found its way to the enemy that was trying to flank my father. He stopped in his tracks and was sliced in half by my father's blade. I moved my focus on the next enemy, keeping my breathing steady as my companions' swords sliced enemies down. A part of me briefly wondered why so many conflicts ended with bloodshed. The other part looked at everything with an almost cold logic, knowing that it was them or us.
I felt my hair rise as I charged my magic. I sent out another bolt of lightning and it came down with a whip-like crack. The soldier's muscles flexed and he flew backwards, slamming into the wall. His head hit the rock with a sickening sound. His neck was held at a strange angle and I quickly turned my head away and heard my father telling everyone to stay alert as I barely dodged out of the way of a blade. I didn't have the reflexes or stamina of my sister or father and I felt my lungs wheezing for air and I was beginning to feel a slight itch on my arm. A few droplets of blood bubbled out of a small cut, proof that my body slowing from fatigue. I went to electrocute the soldier to find that he was already gone, consumed in the chaos of the battle. I took a deep breath to center myself before preparing my next spell.
I saw Zael dispel a golden circle and felt the presence of a barrier surrounding me. It was a soothing sensation but I did not allow it to lull me into a sense of false security. It may add to defense but I knew that a well-placed arrow could still kill.
I spied the leader of the troops hanging near the back. He was directing what forces were remaining in this small room with ruthless precision. He was a skilled tactician, using what few of his men he had left to fight us off long enough for reinforcements. He has to go. The thought had formed as soon as I had realized what a threat he was to the group and my body was in motion before the thought was even fully formed. A lightning bolt caught him while he was in the middle of barking an order and he fell to the ground, twitching as the electricity flooded his nervous system.
The chaos of the battlefield increased tenfold with the loss of the commander and my father used the opportunity to swiftly cut down what resistance was left. What had felt like an hour of battle could not have been more than a few minutes. Fatigue was hitting me like a bag of bricks but I knew we had to keep going. A nap would be heaven right now. Or at the least some food. I pushed the need for food away as we started moving before the reinforcements showed up. The gears on the door creaked as it rose up, dust filling the air from the movement. My nose tingled and the sensation of something wet trickled down the area above my lip. What's that area called again?
The room felt like it was tilting sideways.
"Mana, your nose is bleeding. Are you alright?" Yurick's voice sounded slightly fuzzy. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand, blood streaking the flesh.
"I'm fine. Just a little tired and hungry." The tingling had stopped already and when I touched my nose my fingers came back clean. His hand appeared in front of my face with a piece of hardtack.
"This should help a bit. Don't push yourself too much. Using this much magic when you're still learning is very stressful on the body. Hopefully, we will be done soon and you can take a break." His voice sounded almost neutral but I could detect the worry in it. He patted my head gently as I took a bite into the biscuit.
"Do you think you can make it?" I nodded at his question, though honestly I think the only thing that was keeping me going was willpower and worry for my sister. He took my hand in his; rubbing comforting circles with his thumb, as we caught back up with the party. As we got closer comments of how the architecture was similar to the empire. Yurick was quick to respond with why that would be but I was finding it hard pay attention to the history lesson.
"You seem to know much, master Yurick. Tell me, when did you learn this?" My father looked back at Yurick and no doubt saw our joined hands. Going off his facial expression I knew that I would be getting an embarrassing talk once we got out of the base. I could feel my face warming up already. Yurick gave a noncommittal reply to his knowledge and his voice hinted at a scar on his heart that hadn't fully healed. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. I wonder if his dad taught him these things. I was startled by how little I actually knew of the past of the man holding my hand. A few more comments were passed back and forth between them before my father said something about Yurick being a fine man. He hung back until he was next to us then looked Yurick in the one visible eye.
"But know this master Yurick: if you hurt my little girl..." The threat lingered between us before father's signature smile came back and he clapped the white haired mage on his shoulder. He buckled slightly under the strength that my father put into it. Another raising door ended the hallway we were in.
"Everyone be on your guard. There are probably enemy soldiers on the other side." My hand tightened over my dagger at Dagran's warning and I took a deep breathe in.
As soon as the door fully opened fire bolts came raining down.
"Such impudence!" A bolt shot past my father's arm as everyone took cover from the sharpshooters. I peered out from my hiding to spot where the bolts were coming from.
"Up there!" Dagran followed my finger to a perch on the wall.
"They do like their snipers." I could hear the smirking in Dagran's voice. More troops began coming into the room. It was obvious that they knew we were coming. But there was no going back now.
"Master Zael, it's going to be rough from here. Don't die." It seems my dad approves of most of the group. A smile found its way onto my lips. It wasn't every day that my father approved of the people that I hung out with. Two approvals in one day was a new record.
"Mana I need you or Yurick to take out those snipers." Zael's order came from the other side of the room and I signaled that I heard him and while we began our chants Zael drew their fire.
The area around him glowed a faint blue as his power distracted the enemies. My own power arced towards one of the snipers and the boom resonated through the room when the electricity hit. The soldier I hit fell over the ledge right as Yurick's fire hit one on the other side of the room. Zael and Dagran flanked a leader, unrelentingly swinging their blades at him. The sound of metal grinding against metal as sword hit shield rang loudly in the air. Even with the two of them attacking the commander managed to block or dodge each blow with ease. Lightning ceased his ability to move and the Dagran used the paralyzing effect of my magic to stab through his heart.
"Lisa, can you bring that bit of ceiling down?" I was surprised that Lisa was able to hear his order over the roar of the battle.
The crystals that were clinging to the ceiling came crashing down after being hit with her golden magic. Screams came from underneath the rose quartz and I could see an arm sticking out from underneath one of the larger pieces. Some of the enemies had been impaled by the sharper pieces. The rosy color of the crystals clashed with the carmine color of the blood.
"Mana, watch out!" It felt like my body was moving too slowly as I tore my gaze away from the rubble. A hand gripped around my neck with bruising pressure. I grabbed the assailant's wrist and ducked down, breaking out of his hold before rolling out of the way. He kicked at me and once his leg passed by me I used the opportunity to slice behind his knee. He howled in pain, left leg going completely limp before I stabbed into the slit in his helmet. His jerked a few times before becoming still and I used my leg to push him while pulling my blade out.
Does Ashlya feel this shaky after she has to kill someone this close? I felt sick to my stomach and the acidic taste of bile was at the back of my throat.
I peeled my eyes away from the corpse as I heard the company moving through the room to eliminate the remaining forces. As the last of the troops fell to the ground another wave came running towards us. I hung towards the back, unwilling to have another close encounter.
"One of you, get that sniper!" I was already ahead of Zael, magic shooting towards the marksman. His convulsed and fell to the ground. As I was preparing another attack Zael came flying towards me. He landed in front of me, coughing but getting up despite the pain.
"Zael, what the hell happened? Are you okay?" He coughed a few times before nodded.
"Yeah. Just a bit winded. I wasn't expecting another ogre." No sooner than he said that did I see what had knocked him back towards me. The monstrosity was swinging its hammer furiously at anything that got too close.
"Dagran, I'll distract it. You attack it from behind. Mana, I need you to paralyze it so I can get close." He was back on his feet and preparing to dart back into the fray.
I gave Zael a warning when my attack was ready and as I shot it he ran in, slicing at the ogre. Unable to move it suffered from several lacerations before finally being able to swing at Zael again. By then it was too infuriated with Zael that it didn't notice the darker haired merc slinking behind him until it was too late. Dagran launched himself into the air, using some of the fallen pillars around him as leverage, and he landed on the ogre's back. He dug his blade between its ribs and it came out the other side of its torso, lung clearly punctured. It roared in anger but Dagran wasn't done with his attack and now it was surrounded by all of the close range fighters. My father cut its hamstrings while Therius stabbed it through its other lung with his rapier. As he pulled it back out the creature shuddered and fell to the ground. Its last breaths were raspy and bloody. Dagran jumped off its back and went to pursue the remaining soldiers, cutting them down with practiced ease. Yurick took down a sniper that was lurking an outpost on the other side of the room. The smell of charred flesh and fresh blood had been overwhelming at first but now it barely registered.
"Mana, Yurick! Get those snipers sorted out. Lisa, I need you to bring down those crystals on my mark."
"Right!" I gathered my energy into another bolt then released it towards the sniper. As he fell from his perch the sound of breaking crystals and struggling cries echoed through the room.
I had managed to block most out of my senses until a putrid smell overcame all the other scents. Two more ogres sauntered into the room. I saw Therius chasing down a mage to prevent it from healing the enemies while the rest of the company focused on the heavy hitting ogres.
A club collided into the earth as my father ducked out of the way. I threw a magic attack at it to give my father an opening to either attack or disengage. He chose to do the former and sliced into the ogre's belly. Intestines spilled out from the cut but it refused to stop, swinging its hammer as strongly as it could. An even worse smell filled the air as more of its entrails came out and I felt my eyes water. Finally, after another attack from my father, one ogre fell to the ground. The other ogre cried in anger and spat at the nearest person, covering them in thick mucus.
"What a dreadful attack! I feel like my nose will fall off!"
"You better wash that off before you see Ashlya, Sir Therius. Otherwise, she'll make fun of you for a week!" I laughed at his misery as he tried to fling the sludge of him then fired another bolt at the next ogre.
It froze in place as its muscles refused to cooperate and Zael ran up a wall only to bring his blade down through its skull. It struggled to shake him for a few moments before it couldn't function anymore and dropped to the floor. Zael slid his blade out of its brain and shook off whatever organ matter was on the metal before turning to the soldiers that were left. He charged at the nearest one right as a fireball caught the warrior on fire. While he panicked Zael sliced through the weak points in his armor. When the soldier fell the fire continued burning until all that was left was charred flesh. I noticed an enemy sorcerer trying to hide on the other side of the room and shot lightning at him. He flailed on the floor before his heart stopped.
"Did we get them all?" No more gurak were storming in the room so I could only hope that the answer to Zael' question was 'yes'. I took a few more deep breaths and cracked my neck to relieve some tension when Dagran pointed out that there were bound to be more.
"Now's our chance Zael. Do we move forward, or do we fight a bit more?"
"We need to hurry to find my sister. I don't think we really have time to fight more, Dagran." She had been basically raised to be a fighter, but it didn't stop the nagging sensation in the pit of my stomach.
"She's right, Dagran. We need to find her. Let's move on." We continued through the large room, opening up random chest as we stumbled across them and at the end of the chamber we found an elevator. We filed into it and I leaned onto Yurick, glad for the break in combat. He handed me a few more of the disgusting biscuits and though they hurt my teeth I scarfed them down. The hunger that I felt was stronger than I had ever experienced. At least I'm not dizzy anymore. As soon as we get back I'm going to bathe, eat, and then pass out for at least twelve hours. As I swallowed the last biscuit the elevator came to a stop and the doors smoothly slid down into the floor.
The air in the new room felt heavy and oppressive.
"This feeling... It's him." The sensation in the room suddenly made sense. When asked about how 'he' was Zael explained how he had fought the owner of this dark aura. The hallway leading to what could only be his throne room suddenly seemed longer and each step became harder to take. It was like the air was leaving my lungs. A heavy hand came down onto my shoulder and I found myself leaning into my father's large frame.
"Don't worry, Mana. Just remember to breathe. The fear you're feeling is natural but you have comrades and your father looking out for you, so don't let the fear overcome you." I nodded weakly but stood up straighter and the shaking that I hadn't originally noticed stopped. He was right. As long as he was there to guide me I knew now true harm would befall me.
"I'll make you proud, daddy."
"You already have." His smile light up his face and courage filled me as Zael opened the overly large doors at the end of the corridor.
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