Hey everyone! Just a quick heads up for the younger readers that you may find the violence to be more graphic and intense in this chapter, so be forewarned. Also, due to the nature and interplay of the scenes, especially in the second half of the chapter, there is quite a bit of POV change which I have chosen to separate by the primary character in each scene, so I hope it doesn't get to confusing.
Chapter 11 – Aurora Fading
Ike ignored the aching protests of his muscles as he sidestepped another slash from Navina's savage assault. He was trying every position he knew, but every time she would be ready to catch his sword in the groove of the weapon of one hand while at the same time striking at him with the curved steel of the other; her feline agility and sharp, darting metal proving more than a match for his large and increasingly cumbersome sword. He knew certain armaments had advantages over others, like swords against axes and axes over spears, but this was starting to feel more like fighting a wyvern with a heal staff.
His was slick with sweat as for the first time since he could remember he was put in a defensive position. Out of the corner of his vision he could see Cohen, who after provoking the fight now seemed to be ignoring it completely, his attention focused on one of the massive stained glass windows embedded in the cathedral. Ike gritted his teeth. He had to find a way to end this, and quickly.
He studied her weapons again, searching for a weak point. It was as if two blades of two long knives had been fused together, shaped into the form of an arc, and then joined together with an inward-facing twin at two points along the top and bottom, creating that troublesome niche between the two. The area between the two fusion points on the outer-facing component was wrapped in leather, forming a handle through which they could be grasped through a narrow slit between its two parts.
"Those are some impressive…instruments you have there," Ike commented as he feinted high, but went low, "It's too bad you're making such poor use of them."
She smiled with grim pride as she easily countered the move, once again halting Ragnell with smooth precision. "Considering the disadvantage of your sword against my "instruments", I'd suggest you reconsider that statement."
"That's not what I meant."
She winced. "I take no pleasure in it, or what is coming," she confessed as she took another swipe at him. Ike once again managed to slip out of the way, as her blade decapitated one of the sculpted trees, its leafy head tumbling away as her smile disappeared back into determined lucidity. "But it is coming."
Their conversation had sparked something in Ike's mind, and an idea began to coalesce. Through his harried defense he made a quick survey of his surroundings. They had traversed the area of the north wing, and he was steadily being forced nearer and nearer to the edge. "So you're really going through with this? Over a stupid rock?"
"You have no idea what it can do!"
"Maybe not, but I know what I can do, especially when my sister is involved," he replied as he studied her movements. "That's why I'm going to offer you a deal. I'll get that stone for you and make sure he is…incapacitated."
"I can't help…"
"I'm not expecting you to. Just help me maneuver the battle back in the other direction towards him, and I'll do the rest. It'll be so fast that no matter what that thing can do he won't have time to do it. The only thing you have to do is not interfere, then you you'll have what you want and he will be…neutralized. Then I'll leave and you can do whatever you want."
"Why are you saying this to me?" she asked in a tone of perplexed hesitation, "I thought that all that could be said, had been said."
"Because I know you really don't want to be doing this. Because I don't care anymore about you or that freaking idiot over there or even this Cathedral at this point. Even if he could somehow destroy it, it's a crumbling relic of a fraudulent past, and the empress would do well to find a new place to live. All I care about right now is my sister. Please. I just want to make sure she's safe."
Her movements became less decisive as Ike could see she was considering the idea. He decided to drive the point home. "Look at him," he said, his head darting toward Cohen, "he's not even paying attention. This will be easy."
But the ember of hope flitted into nonexistence as his words seemed to have the opposite effect on her, as she once again redoubled the force of her attack. "That can be when he's the most dangerous, when you think that he isn't. I'm sorry, but I just can't take the risk. Not with something so important."
"Tell me, do you have any family? Anyone you care about?"
"Do you suppose there's any other reason why I would be doing this?"
"Then we're both fighting for the same reason, because we care about our loved ones and don't want to see them hurt. But guess what, you're hurting yours right now. You're betraying who you are and giving in to a monster! How do you think they would feel about that?" he demanded to know as another one of his efforts was blocked.
"I'd rather them be alive and ashamed than dead and proud," she responded in a tone that stretched painfully between anguish and anger as she pushed his blade away from hers, causing him to stagger back a few steps.
"And that right there is the difference between you and me, because I'd prefer them to be alive and proud," Ike retorted. "I offered you once last chance. Remember that you refused it." To her surprise, he then gripped Ragnell with both hands and charged, sweeping the sword down in what seemed to be an unstoppable arc. Still, she managed to catch the furious blade, the impact waves plowing through her hand. But doing so had been costly for him, as the force and angle of the blow had brought his exposed midsection dangerously close to her as with grim satisfaction her other arm swept towards the unprotected area in what was assuredly the final, unavoidable blow.
But then its mortal trajectory was halted by a thick forearm, slicing deeply into it as Ike's hand seized hold of her wrist and tossed her around in a half-circle toward the edge of the roof.
Thinking quickly, Navina flung herself downwards and drove the sharpened tips down against the stone, bringing her to a painful, unceremonious stop perilously close to the precipitous drop, her legs dangling in open air. She scrambled back to her feet, breathing heavily as she glared toward Ike. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting that one," she panted, "did you really expect such an unworthy trick to work?"
"It did work."
"What are you talking about?" she exclaimed as she gestured at the blood trickling down his right arm, "I'm still here, and now you've lost your primary sword hand!
"Who said I wanted you gone? Besides, you didn't come through unscathed either," he said, nodding toward her left hand. She looked down and noticed for the first time that in her attempt to slow herself one of the blades had snapped off. She stared at it for a moment before flipping it around, bringing the smaller yet still effective lower blade into play. "It appears you have gained nothing."
He scoffed as he accustomed Ragnell to his left hand. "We'll see about that."
She came at him again with renewed vigor. Now that he was fighting with his weak hand, it was all he could do to fend off the howling attack as he was forced to yield ground back the other way even faster than before. She pressed close to him, making the task of avoidance nearly impossible, and the probability of a fatal blow nearly inevitable.
Just a few more steps, he thought to himself, as he barely avoided another strike, hearing the blade ripping through the material of his tunic. But then, instead of lunging at him with her blade, Navina twirled and landed a kick right on his wounded arm, forcing him to drop his sword with a grunt as another hit crushed all the air out of him and sent him staggering backwards, collapsing against the ground.
Navina drew closer to his crumpled figure. Ike, unable to stand, was dragging himself in the direction of the entryway, toward where Cohen was waiting.
Cohen looked incredulous. "Is he really going to beg me for mercy? I would never have expected this!"
Navina stepped in front of him, blocking his path, arms lowered. "Ike, please, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."
He said nothing as he began groping around in the dark around him, like a blind man looking for a coin. He was oblivious to her presence, as she listened to the scraping of his palms rasping against the rough surface.
"If you're looking for Ragnell, it's back there, but it's not going to help you now." Her posture stiffened as regret and respect wrestled for dominance in her visage. "Don't struggle, and I promise I'll make it quick. Do you have any last requests?"
Ike's hands stopped searching as he looked up at her, a wry grin on his face. "Yeah, if you'll going to stab me, let me turn around. That seems to be the best angle for you."
"You'll never know how sorry I am, for everything," she muttered as she brought the pointed tip down towards him.
ELINCIA
As Elincia lunged toward Ludveck's cousin, she felt a sharp, firm grip twisting into the fabric of her back, pulling her back from the leering loop of men. She twisted her head around to confront the admonishing glare of Lucia. "What are you doing?" Elincia blurted with impatience. "We have to stop this!"
"Yes, I was so looking forward to seeing the look in her eyes as she plunged her sword into the heart of an unarmed man," Ludveck's cousin taunted behind her.
"And that's why I had to stop you!" Lucia replied, gesturing back to the scornful spectators. "all you would end up doing is accomplishing what he wants."
"My name is David, in case you get tired of calling me 'he'," the newly-introduced David sniped.
"If I need a name for you, I can think of quite a few that would suit you better!" she snapped before turning back to Elincia. "Don't you see, your majesty? If you did this thing, it would haunt you forever, tinging your very being. What kind of queen would that make you?"
"The kind she already is," David answered.
"Lucia," Elincia said in a hushed whisper, "Do you really believe me capable of that? I was simply going to rush them. Once the sword got close enough, they would have buckled. We could have made it through!"
Lucia cocked an eyebrow. "Uh huh. Well, they didn't look like they were caving to me, and you were almost on them. What would you have done then?"
Elincia stared at her with resolved intensity. "It wouldn't be the first time I would have had to consider the well-being of many against my own peace of mind."
"But this is different!"
"How so?"
Lucia shook her head. "It doesn't matter, because I have a plan—"
But before she could finish, she was cut off by a screaming flash of light as another swath of magic was absorbed into the object, causing it to shudder and shift into a smooth sphere, its exterior taking on the stiff, translucent appearance of glass. Within it a viscous, shimmering substance sloshed around in anxious anticipation.
David dropped his hands away from his companions as the chain disintegrated. In unison, they all turned to watch the hideous spectacle taking place behind them. "You're too late," he proclaimed with triumphant arrogance, "now behold the power which shall forever alter this continent!"
The two of them drew closer, drawn by a sense of curious resignation toward the abhorrent yet magnetic allure of what was transpiring. They brushed among the now indifferent sentries, whose attention was now religiously devoted to the animated effulgence.
Finally, there was a loud crash as the crystalline casing of the orb shattered with startling violence, spilling the agitated ooze out in thick, copious heaps that landed on the floor with a splattering plop. It then began to spread outwards like a seeping nightmare, wrapping around the feet of the sages and slowly making its way up their legs with slick, alarming rapidity.
Most of them simply looked down and smiled at this with obstinate serenity, as though they were being nudged by a playful pet. But one of them, when he realized what was happening, let out a jarring scream and tried to flee, only to be brought down by the binding fluid around his ankles. Fingers clawing at the unforgiving hardness of the floor, his frantic, popping eyes fixed on Elincia. "Help me!" he begged with shrill desperation. But before she could move to help him, the enveloping mass had slicked over the rigid, terrified visage, encasing him completely in a gelatinous, dripping shell.
"We have to get out of here, immediately!" Lucia's voice cut through the sudden silent horror, which was magnified by the fact that she had been unable to prevent it. And now…
"You're right," she finally managed to reply, the city will have to be evaWhoaaaaa!" she cried as she felt a sharp strike against her ankle that sent her flailing backwards to the ground, striking her head. As she flailed against the dizziness tumbling through her body, trying to right herself, she felt a firm grip in her right hand, overcoming what was left of her weak equilibrium as it pulled her back down against the floor, this time on her stomach, its smooth, polished chill pressing against her cheek. She looked over to see David, hand pressed into hers as he lay flat on his back beside her, plastered all over with audacious jubilation. "Don't tell me you're going to leave me alone in my final moments."
She flung her gaze around, looking for Lucia, seeing with sharp anxiety that she had been pinned down by two of the other onlookers, her mouth muffled. She shot her attention back to David, flaring with fury through the unsteadying wooziness. "Why are you doing this? You said you wasn't going to attack us!"
"We're not attacking you," he said with exasperating tranquility, as many of his companions around her kneeled down as they awaited the fluid, which was still discharging out of the fragmented vessel with unabated ferocity, sloshing its way unceasingly towards them. "In fact, I'm actually doing you a favor."
"A favor?!"
"Yes. You are always saying how you want to be a part of making Tellius a better place. Well, you'll never have a better chance than right here, with me."
She tried with all her strength to pull away, but his unbreakable grip combined with the swirling pain in her head brought her back down, and all she could do was watch with muted helplessness as the crouched man behind David was slowly engulfed by the shimmering viscosity.
Her heart was now thrashing inside of her chest like a rabid beast trapped inside a drum. Banishing the enfeebling panic which threatened to numb her brain, she realized that she still had her sword. Reaching down with her left hand, she pulled Amiti out of its scabbard.
David watched with sadistic amusement as she fought in vain against the disorientation to strike at him from her disadvantageous position. "Isn't this ironic," he observed, as he squeezed against her imprisoned hand like an angry lover, "all those months ago, running, hunted, afraid of being struck down by your hand. And now, I'm going down the dark path holding your hand. I almost wish there was a poet here to record it."
"No poet would waste their ink on this madness," she retorted as she continued to struggle. "The only reason you're here is because someone, and I think I know who, convinced you it would be nobler to die for cause than to live for one. But it's not too late. Let me go, and tell me how to stop this, and I promise you that I will help you."
She felt a little of the tightness go out of his grip, but not enough for her to slip free. "Will you give me my cousin's lands? And his title?"
"I'll see what I can do."
He laughed. "Even now, that's the best offer you can make? I'll see what I can do? I'll give you a little advice, highness, when you're slinking toward the abyss, it's okay to let go of some of that infamous honesty. But it doesn't matter now anyway," he announced, as she noticed the seeping, glimmering wetness dribbling down over him, "nothing can stop it now, not even that blue-haired symbol of power and righteousness that you, the empress and even the Goddess herself seem to have so much faith in."
His features writhed with humor-filled agony. "And just so you know," he spit out with caustic animosity, "I never wanted anything from you, except that look you're giving me, yes, that one right there! That's worth more than a thousand kingdoms to me. It may not be very noble, but it is insanely satisfying."
With that, the slinking, searching material cascaded down over his lips, shrouding them in permanent silence. The pressing grip on her hand fell away and she immediately tried to yank it back, only to realize with horror that her arm was drenched in the creeping secretion. She tried ripping off the sleeve, but the gel had penetrated the fabric and seemed to bind the flesh of her arm to the ground in its sinister grip.
Then the pain set in. It started as a slow tingle which rapidly sprouted into a gushing geyser of pain, as if a thousand pairs of tiny scissors were slicing through her skin, cutting through the last of her vertigo. She raised herself up as far as she could, blinking through the sliding perspiration as she slipped her sword under her and towards her pinned arm in an effort to pry herself free.
Suddenly, she felt a tug on her left shoulder, and before she knew it she was being lifted up and backwards, arm and all. She turned around to see Lucia, staring at her with flooded relief as she gripped the queen's hands tightly. "I thought I was too late," she babbled, as from the corner of her eye Elincia spied the men that had restrained her lying motionless on the ground. Suddenly, Lucia's hand made contact with the substance, already hardening along her sleeve. "Majesty! Are you all right?"
"Lucia! You got loose!"
She smiled with dour resolution. "Of course I did. Do you think I would have any purpose if I ever failed in my duty to you?" It was then that she noticed the stiffening, glossy mess along the queen's arm and let out a yelp as she began frantically trying to remove it. "We've got to get this mess off you!" she cried.
Elincia looked down at her arm. The hardened sheen extended up along her arm to her shoulder, and even out onto her chest extended tendrils of amber-like material. She waved her arm up and down, testing it. The pain was gone, and there was no visible damage as she moved her limb within its full range of motion. Whatever that stuff was seemed to have gone inert away from the main source, its obvious fatal powers useless when separated from it. Had she just imagined the pain? Could she have moved any time she wanted? She looked back at the advancing slime and its collection of unmoving bulges with an air of pensive disgust.
"What is this stuff?" Lucia asked as she tried without success to peel it away.
"No time for that now," Elincia called out as she sheathed her sword and retreated with no small haste back to Dalidion. "Come on, we have to warn the others what is happening here, and get the people of Sienne to safety."
They quickly mounted Dalidion, who needed no encouragement to lift off and away from the encroaching slime. As they slung away from the Tower, Elincia risked a glance back, and through the gap she could see the syrupy glop sliding over the side.
But something was wrong. Elincia halted Dalidion, turning him back around toward the tower, studying it closely. "What are you doing?" Lucia inquired.
"Look at it," Elincia whispered. Lucia directed her gaze to follow Elincia's. "I've already seen it, and we can't waste— "
It was then that she perceived it. Instead of just falling straight down the tower, the stuff stopped, and then began slinking its way around the tower's radius like a giant slug. Once it completed its circle, merging with the main body, it began its slow, inevitable drop, glistening in the first piercings of dawn over the horizon.
Lucia shuddered. "We need to find the empress and have her order an evacuation. It's going to be tough, but as long as the people see their national symbol safe and in control we should be able to manage—"
Elincia shot her head back towards Lucia. "What did you just say?"
"I said as long as the empress is safe and directing things, we should be able to carry out a relatively efficient evacuation."
"No, you used another word. You said symbol."
"What of it?"
Nothing can stop it now, not even that blue-haired symbol of power and righteousness that you, the empress and even the Goddess herself seem to have so much faith in. That's what David had said.
Elincia thought back, to Navina's warning in the camp - Our leader has positioned his forces in Sienne to eliminate the symbol of the Goddess, the one who wields her power on Tellius.
The symbol.
SYMBOL
"Hey!" Lucia yelped as Elincia veered Dalidion abruptly around, and shot straight for Mainal Cathedral. "Where are we going? I thought we had to find the empress!
Elincia did not answer as the broken pieces fused together painfully in her mind. It all made sense now. The reason Cohen would let Navina slip away alone and warn them, drawing them back to the capital. The reason he had made the threat to bring down the cathedral, and then let the empress, his presumed target, flee without so much as lifting a finger. The reason he had dropped just enough hints for her to deduce the supposedly real objective, to remove her presence. He was emptying the stage of everyone except his true focus. The one true symbol of the Goddess' power on Tellius, because he was the one who had wielded it in a very literal sense.
Ike.
IKE
As Navina's final stroke came down, Ike swung Sanaki's dropped staff up, smashing against Navina's plunging hand, breaking the crystal into scattering fragments that skimmed with frantic haste away from them in every direction. As Navina screamed with pain and dropped the weapon, Ike thrust the tip of the stave through the groove of the one in her left hand and jerked hard, sending it flying away from her, where it landed with a rattling clank some distance away. Navina collapsed to the ground, clasping her wrecked hand by the wrist as she looked up at Ike with pained admiration. "I suppose this was coming all along."
"Not necessarily. But as you said, I was at a disadvantage. All I had to do was find a more effective tool."
It is…as it should be, but please, you must let me have…the stone," she said quietly with pain-warped words, and sand to the ground.
Ike turned to the sound of Cohen applauding behind him. "Excellent, excellent! It had everything – drama, excitement, and the last minute twist at the end! But I had faith that you would find a way, but I never saw that coming! Using the senator's staff no less – can't you just taste the irony? I think you missed your calling, Ike, you were meant to perform. But I guess you have, after all, seeing as you were Sephiran's puppe—"
Cohen would have continued with his sadistic praise, had it not been nearly impossible for him to speak with Ike's fist making a devastatingly intense impact against his jaw, sending him whirling back against the shadow-soaked wall. Before Cohen could recover, Ike was on him again, binding the priest's hands as he tried to ignore the throbbing in his knuckles. What was this guy made of?
Cohen giggled, completely unperturbed. "Well, I guess now comes the interrogation part of our little scene. But really, you should have saved that punch for when I refused to answer. It would have had much more dramatic impact that way, if you know what I mean."
"The only question I have right now is how in the world you can still talk," Ike muttered, "and I think it had at least enough impact to make you reconsider your attitude."
Cohen offered no resistance as Ike finished his work, merely staring up at the images which decorated the stained glass that he had been studying earlier, which were now sparkling with tentative flecks of morning light.
Ike snorted. "I don't know why you're staring up at those windows, it's not like they're going to come down to save you or anything."
"Don't you know who that is?" Cohen asked as he pointed with his head, oblivious to Ike's taunts. Ike glanced where he was indicating, noting a bearded image with a spear, about to be struck down by the Apostle Altina. "I don't know, but it looks like he had about as much luck as you did."
"It's Bythinius," Cohen continued, pointing with his head. "He served the Apostle for many years," he proceeded, "before throwing it all away to launch a fruitless civil war against her which only tightened her grip on this continent. Why do you think he did that?"
"Maybe he had to listen to one of your ancestors rant on until it drove him insane."
Cohen smiled. "Oh, I highly doubt that. I like to think it was because he found out a truth, something his conscience could not endure until he did something to right it, and he was willing to walk away and sacrifice everything to accomplish it." He paused, reflecting for a moment. "Or, maybe he was just bored and wanted some excitement."
"Is that how you see yourself? Some kind of noble rebel fighting for his principles? I don't know much about Bythinius, but it looks like he at least had the courage to put a weapon in his hand and fight his enemy in the open. At least he didn't make others fight for him by threatening them with—" he paused, eying the lump in Cohen's vest, reaching in and withdrawing the stone. "Whatever this is."
Cohen regarded him through narrowed eyes. "You really shouldn't touch things that don't belong to you."
"Then you should have kept your hands off my friends," he retorted as he put the object into his makeshift pouch with the Fire Emblem. "Why is it wet?" he asked, wiping his palms on his pants. "Gross! Were you sweating on it?"
"What can I say? I get so anxious when I'm around someone of such lofty distinction."
"'Whatever," Ike replied as he shoved Cohen toward the door. "Get moving."
"Where are we going?"
"You're going to a cell, and I'm going to check on my sister and prove that you're a liar." He grabbed Cohen by the collar, a sudden surge of angry heat flooding through him as he yanked his face right up to his, as Cohen retaining his apparently indestructible smile. "But if I find out that you're not, then the empress won't need to search for an executioner."
"My, my, such concern for a family that you're on the point of abandoning."
Ike twisted his grip. "How do you know about that?"
"Just call it a part of my endearing admiration for you and your deeds. That's another irony I suppose, the man who has everything and could have even more wants none of it, while men search and sweat their whole lives to get even a fraction of it, and usually fail even in that. But you, all you want to do is find somewhere new just because you hate all the attention you're getting. What's the matter? Afraid you might start to like it?"
A smirk slipped through Ike's wrath as he wiped a dribble of sweat from his forehead. "Wow, you're jealous, you're actually jealous of me. I'd be flattered, if the thought didn't make me want to throw up all over myself."
Cohen chuckled. "Oh, I wouldn't say jealous. Intrigued is much more appropriate. Like how you can achieve so much just to cast it away like garbage, and leave others to pick up the pieces. But I guess that's to be expected, considering your lineage."
Ike shook him roughly, beating back the swift, unexpected swell of molten fire that was urging him to do more. Why was it so hot all the sudden? "Don't EVER talk about my father like that, or you may not live long enough to be executed! Whatever he did, he did to protect his family!"
"Who said I was talking about your father?"
Before Ike could reply, the billow of flame that he had felt running through him suddenly concentrated into a blazing conflagration of pain at his hip, jerking him instantly to the ground with a fevered grunt.
"What's the matter?" Cohen asked, "you're not being overwhelmed by your own greatness, are you?"
Ike barely heard him as his hands immediately sought out the source of the searing pain, only to draw them away quickly as scorching needles shot through them, but it was long enough for him to realize that was where the pouch was that contained the fire emblem and the…
The stone.
He again tried to put his hands around the pouch, to remove it, but even the slightest touch brought the feeling that he was being bitten by fiery serpent's fangs, sending excruciating agony through him.
With incredible effort, Ike pushed himself back to his feet, the pouch sending out pulsating bursts of venomous fire as he straightened as much as he was able. "What did you do?" he demanded to the cocky, reveling figure.
"Me? I didn't do anything. "You're the one who hit me and took it from me, remember? If anyone should be angry here, it's me, and I have every right to be pouting and refusing to speak to you. But lucky for you I'm magnanimous enough to forgive. That's the way of the Goddess, isn't it?"
"What…is it?" Ike demanded, trying to fight against the staggering pain.
"Honestly, you really should have asked that before you got so grabby. It's actually many things, but I'll start with the most pressing factor at the moment. Do you remember that stuff you wiped off your hands? Well, it wasn't sweat. I would tell you the name, but I don't think that's as significant to you right now as its effects. Anything that Ashunera or any part of her has blessed or infused with her power, it just doesn't get along too well with it. And usually, it ends up destroying said object. And I can tell right now that it really doesn't like the Fire Emblem, which you were so gracious enough to put it beside. Must be because Yune dwelled in it so long that it's being particularly testy. I'm afraid that's going to leave quite a mark when it finally goes."
"How did you know…."
"How did I know…that you would be gracious enough to put the two side by side? I didn't. Since it's on your hands, it would have been equally effective if you had picked up Ragnell." He laughed. "Just be glad you don't have Ragnell right now as well. Boy, I would've hated to see how it would have reacted then. I would never have gotten the Ike chunks out of my clothes."
Ike, with a strained gasp, reached down and picked up Navina's blade and tried to cut the pouch off. To his horror, it seemed as if the pouch had been soldered to his skin, and no matter how hard he tried, it would not budge.
"I'm afraid that's not going anywhere."
Ike fell back to his knees, his body feeling like it had been shoved full of hot coals "I'll survive this, count on it. And then…"
"Tell me, is that pouch only burning at your waist, or do you feel like a bottled volcano? Okay, don't bother to answer me, that exquisite sheen all over you tells me it's the latter," he concluded as he nodded in approval. "So my theory was right. Not only will it work on objects, but it will also act on people who have been blessed by the Goddess. This is excellent news!" he exclaimed as he practically jumped with giddy excitement. "So you see, I didn't need the Fire Emblem, or Ragnell, I just needed you to be you."
Ike grimaced. "So be it. Even if I do die, at least I'm taking the Fire Emblem with me. You'll never have it."
"Well that kind of works out great for me, because I never wanted it."
"But you…said you did."
"Yes, I guess I did, but only to destroy it. I guess I should thank you, for saving me such a monotonous and time-consuming step."
He went over and grabbed Ike by his collar, lifting him easily off the ground. Ike, enfeebled and bordering on delirium, could not resist. "You know, Ike, this land is full of worthless things it would be better off without – the fire emblem, Ashera's tower, even this drab Cathedral. Since the first two have been taken care of, we should celebrate my excellent rightness about my theory by making it an even three." He leaned in close to him. "Would you like to help me with that?"
Ike was barely listening, as his attention was focused behind Cohen, on the silhouette flitting over the climbing sun.
Elincia.
Cohen eyed him, as if looking for something he had lost. "Someone's coming up behind me, aren't they?" he stated without even turning around. "It's that Crimean queen, isn't it? He cackled with cold derision. "This is absolutely perfect. I suppose she's getting ready to swoop down on me? I hope so," he remarked, and with that he snatched the sharp armament away from Ike and pressed it flat against his thigh. "It's a little cliché for the lovers to go out together at the end, but I suppose every production needs a little sickening melodrama."
"Are you sure about this?" Lucia protested as Elincia brought Dalidion lower. "I mean, even if this Cohen did have something planned, didn't you say yourself that Ike could handle it?"
"If he went to all the effort to get Ike alone, then he must be stronger than he looks," she said as she readied her sword. "We'll check on Ike, then warn the empress."
Lucia looked back at the Tower. "I just hope this doesn't cost us too much time. We need to find our people as soon as possible."
As the cathedral grew before them, Elincia could make out the outline Cohen below. He seemed to be holding something…something big. It couldn't be. Elincia strained her eyes, her vision of the object, or should she say person, now sufficiently clear enough to twist her insides like noodles on a fork. By the Goddess.
"Hold on Lucia, we're going in," she called out as they sank down steeply.
Ike watched as Elincia entered a sharp nose-dive, heading for a waiting Cohen like an eagle diving for a salmon, only this time it was the salmon who would end up with dinner. No, I won't let it end like this. Searching deep within himself for the last scrap of strength that had not yet been scorched away, Ike slammed his head into Cohen's, stunning him enough to make him drop the warrior and stagger backwards.
Quickly Ike shoved the unbalanced body out of the way, catching a full view of the surprise on Elincia's approaching visage. "Get away from here, now!" he yelled.
Elincia, caught off guard by this last minute alteration of events and the urgency of Ike's plea, quickly swerved off course towards the north, sending a welcome gust of air over his sweat-sopped body.
It was then that he heard a scraping noise behind him. Ike turned with aching slowness to find Navina, once again on her feet, dragging Ragnell in her uncrushed hand.
ELINCIA
Elincia halted Dalidion's trajectory only after they were some distance away from the empress' residence, swinging his anxious bulk back around toward the pointed dome and quickly surveyed the scene. In the pale light of the waking sun she could make out Cohen's fluttering robes lying flat and motionless. Ike was once again on his feet, but seemed to be struggling to maintain his balance. He was facing Navina, who had Ragnell in her hand. What was she doing with Ragnell? Unless…
"Hang on Lucia, we're going back down." She started to tap Dalidion with her right heel to signal him, when she felt a warm, pressing weight holding her leg against the steed's flank, immobilizing it. She looked down, stunned to find Lucia's leg pressed against hers. Before she could react to this, Lucia reached around and seized Elincia's arms, binding them in place.
"Lucia! What are you doing?!"
"I'm sorry, your highness, but it's my job to keep you safe, and I've already close to losing you more than once tonight. I can't let you go back down there."
"But didn't you see Ike's face? He's in pain! I have to help him! Please, Lucia, don't do this!" she protested as she squirmed uselessly against Lucia's unyielding grip.
"I saw his it too, majesty, and it wasn't the face of a man who wanted help. It was the face of a man who knew he was about to die and wanted to spare his loved ones the same fate. Didn't you notice the pouch at his belt? It was glowing red! There's some kind of strange power at work here tonight, and until we know more about it, we can't engage it."
"But that Navina girl, I'm afraid she's up to something. We can't just sit and do nothing!"
"If you want to do something, then let's go and warn the empress. Because whatever is happening here is out of our hands."
IKE
Ike chuckled bitterly as he regarded Navina through steadily blurring vision, refusing to let his fragile balance give way. "If you're hoping to finish me off, don't bother. I think your friend has already done that," he declared with resolved bitterness, as he cast a quick glance towards the pale, unmoving mass laying several feet away, just to make sure it was still there.
Navina stepped closer to him. "It didn't have to be this way. If you had only let me…." She trailed off, shaking her head. "But there may yet be something I can do for you, she said, straightening the sword in her hand.
"I think you've done quite enough. So unless you want to go out in a big way, I suggest you get yourself and Ragnell away from me," he replied.
"And you're starting to listen to that liar now? Listen, just take the sword and—"
She was cut off by a slight, almost imperceptible tearing sound. For the breath of a second she just stood there, looking at Ike for as if her tongue had just dropped out of her mouth, before looking down to see the tip of the broken staff, which had passed right through her abdomen, continuing on to pierce the sizzling pouch at Ike's side.
Navina tilted her head around, to be met with the gleeful form of Cohen. Shed of his priest's robe he was now clad only in a dark, close-fitting outfit similar to hers. "You know, I must say I wasn't counting on this pairing, but now that I think about everything it will make my job a lot easier," he observed, looking up toward Elincia, frozen and fluttering in place.
"But how…"
"You know, I really should give my regards to the empress for her choice of decoration. These trees are amazing! One could almost wrap clothes on them, and they could be mistaken for a human being."
He walked around to the side of them with gloating smugness. "Well Ike, I guess now would be a good time to tell you about the other attributes of my special little item. And no spoilers now, Navina! I guess first I'll say that it's not really a stone per se. Think of it as a vessel, containing a special little concoction I whipped up just for you. But I guess it's enough to say that when combined with that angry little trinket on your belt and your wonderful blessed personage then, well, let's just say that the empress will have a lot of redecorating to do."
"At least…you'll go with us," Navina growled weakly, trying in vain to move the staff, which had transfixed with determined fastness on the pouch.
"I'm very moved by your concern, but I have far too much to do to think about wandering off down that dark path just yet," he quipped. He looked over toward the hovering Elincia. "I guess it's time."
ELINCIA
Elincia had tried everything – struggling, begging, pleading – but nothing could sway Lucia. She had only one option left, and she almost preferred any alternative to using it. Almost. "Lucia, I'm asking you one more time. Please, let me help Ike. I can't believe you would stop me from saving someone's life."
"What about our retinue? What about all those who will die if we don't start evacuating? Does Ike mean more than all of them? I don't think he would agree with that."
"But Ike could help us, perhaps stop it somehow."
"Do you really believe that?"
"Has he failed yet?"
"Then why hasn't he saved himself? I said no, and that's my final answer. Until you give me your word that you'll withdraw and begin the evacuation, I'm not going to release you."
As Lucia finished speaking, Elincia saw a flitter of movement behind Navina. Was that…? Yes, it was. But she knew Lucia wouldn't care. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was time for the last resort. It could destroy them both, but so be it. It would be better than sitting and watching while…
"Lucia, let me do this or…or you are dismissed from my service."
"What did you say?"
"Not only you, but Geoffrey as well. Both of you will return home to your estate, and our only communication will be in an official capacity. Am I clear?"
Lucia went stiff behind her. "Your majesty…", she stammered, "please…I just…"
"So what's your answer?" she pressed with rigid fortitude.
Lucia said nothing, but a moment later she released her hold of her best friend's limbs, and Elincia moved silently into action.
IKE
"Oh, and by the way Ike," he said, looking down on the faltering figure, whose speechless expression had gone blank, breaths reduced to wheezing gasps. "Or should I call you Bythinius? You know, the one who threw everything away for no good reason? Well, except one I suppose. You have become my weapon, my instrument, by which I will seize and remake this land. Think upon that as I grant your desire to leave it." With that he picked up the staff by the middle, the two human forms dangling from its ends like groaning ornaments. Then, with a mighty, merciless heave, he cast them through the colored glass, smashing right through the image of Altina.
ELINCIA
Elincia felt herself scream, but she could not hear it through the suddenly thick air. Abandoned by reason, driven on by sheer instinct, she flung Dalidion low on a collision course with the broken window. But as she crossed the threshold of the cathedral there was a tremendous, muffled roar, as if all the thunder from a fierce storm had been gathered and wrapped in a blanket. The entire building trembled as a vicious orange incandescence surged from behind the windows, spewing violent, licking flames out through heated, shattering glass.
It was then that she felt the shockwave hit her, a hot, angry fist of energy that slammed into her with pitiless force, knocking both her and Lucia off of a shrieking Dalidion and sending them tumbling, rolling along the unforgiving solidness of the roof before crashing against an overturned pot. Through dim, flickering vision the last and only thing Elincia saw before dizzying obscurity wrapped over her was Navina's broken weapon, glinting with turbulent fire.
OSCAR
Down below in the courtyard, pandemonium clawed its way through the battle-wearied palace guards, who pressed themselves up against the outer wall as the cathedral shuddered one final time, then began to fall in on itself. The massive structure breaking, tearing, ripping, itself into a million collapsing clumps of rubble that crashed down in a sweeping, maddening cloud of dirt and debris. Oscar, Soren propped up beside him, was bunched against the main doors, watching the magnificent monument plunge inexorably into terrible, roaring oblivion.
As his eyes adjusted to the choking cloud emanating off the ruins, he could discern that the two wings of the tower remained standing, two giant, trembling infants who had lost the guiding hand of their father. It was then that he suddenly remembered Ike. Was he still up there? He had to check on him! He looked down at his still limp charge. "Come on Soren, wake up!" he urged as he shook him gently.
His anxious thoughts were interrupted by a frenzied shriek. "The cathedral has fallen!" someone beside him screamed, "it's the end! We must flee!" His panic infected those nearest to him, and they shoved Oscar aside as they moved to pry open the doors. "No don't!" he screamed, fearing the effect that they would have on the already unsettled crowd outside. He could already hear them, feel their frantic blows reverberating against the thick oak. But they overwhelmed his protests and unbolting the doors, only to be immediately buried by a surge of people bursting through.
COHEN
Cohen picked his robes up from off the tree, shaking the bits of scattered debris off them before sliding them back on. "How do priests wear these all the time? They're so constrictive!" he complained to himself as he fastened them in place. He looked over at the two unmoving white bodies near the northern tip, one crumpled on her side as if sleeping, the other flat on her back, limps spread out. He approached the former, watching as the wind flickered through her green hair. "Sorry you couldn't go with your hero," he said, "but if you had just gotten back a few seconds sooner." He eyed her sword. "Oh well, perhaps this will be better. For both of us." He turned to focus on the crowds spilling into the grounds below. "Right, now that the insignificant stuff is out of the way, we can begin," he announced to his unconscious audience as he stepped over them, positioning himself in clear view of the living wave below, clamoring for the empress.
The mummering mass below him was shifting and pointing upwards with hundreds of questioning fingers, pressing as close as they dared to what remained of the cathedral, calling for the empress as Cohen smiled to himself. It's amazing how confusion, fear, and curiosity can fuse into such a large unthinking swarm, he observed to himself as he raised his arms, gesturing for silence. "People of Begnion! My name is Cohen, a humble servant of healing in the service of this land," he called out in a shaky but assuring voice. "Let me begin by assuring you that the empress is safe, she was forewarned and was able with my assistance to flee to a place of safety."
He noted with satisfaction the heave of relief that passed through the crowd. "Yes, there was a foul plot tonight to eliminate the empress, to silence her before she could reveal the full truth to you." There was a round of muttering, which Cohen allowed to circulate before continuing. "My friends, today the empress told you that she, together with Ike, had defeated the dark god that had turned all of us to stone and by doing so restored the true goddess. But she did not tell you more, because she could not, for what she had discovered was so shocking that she had not fully coped with it herself. She needed time to prepare herself before addressing you today. But there were those who were not willing to give her that opportunity, who were willing to murder our beloved empress to keep it from becoming known."
"Who is it?" a wine-soaked voice from the crowd demanded.
"We deserve to know, now!" another voice called out, followed by a cry of approbation.
Cohen feigned weakness, stooping slightly, as if remembering brought him pain. "They were strangers to me, led by a mysterious woman with long, blue hair clad all in black, like evil itself."
"Bring her out!' the crowd began to chant in unison. Cohen had to restrain himself to keep from bursting into laughter. Did they learn nothing from their own murderous history?
"She is dead," he announced in a tone of righteous finality, "defeated by the hero Ike. And although the fight cost him his life, he managed to defeat her and save the empress." He finished as he bowed his head with grief.
A hushed shroud of stunned silence seeped into the people, followed by bellowing disbelief. "There is still more my friends, for how could these enemies of peace get so far, and do so much damage? They must have known someone on the inside. If that is true and they're still alive, I fear the danger remains."
The crowd was quiet for a moment, before a holler of realization rang out. "Hey!" a tall, burly man cried out, "I saw that woman you're talking about! She was on a pegasus, with that Crimean queen. She took her up to the top of the Cathedral shortly before it came down!"
An accusing tone pervaded the crowd as they whispered among themselves. Cohen could practically feel the rising hatred. Why was this so easy? They were sucking all the fun out of it!
He once again raised his hands. "Before she left, the empress imparted the truth to me, in case anything should happen to her. You must know it, before they silence me, as I am an all too easy target."
As the cries of "No!" and "Never!" died down, he proceeded with his speech. "Friends, brace yourselves, for it was no dark god that petrified us. It was none other than Ashera herself."
A melee of shouting rose up to him, roiling anger tinged with a colorful assortment of swear words. He smiled slightly. Maybe there will be a challenge after all.
It was with that thought that a blast of air swept over him, and cheers broke out from below. Cohen turned to see two Pegasi soaring past him, winging their way over the pile of mangled rubble that had been the Cathedral, before arcing back to land. Cohen smiled as the slight form of the empress alight from the horse with the help of her two attendants before they all began making their way over to him, swords drawn.
SANAKI
Cohen took a few steps forward so that he was standing between the new arrivals and Elincia's sprawled limbs. Once in position, he raised his hand in a gesture of greeting. "Empress!" he called out, "aren't you going to congratulate me?"
The empress trio halted, noting the menacing way he was standing over Elincia's body. The empress' normally serene expression buried under a steaming contortion of bewilderment and wrath as she gestured for Sigrun to check on Lucia. "What have you done?"
He clasped his hands. "Something amazing! Did you see how I brought down the cathedral while leaving the wings intact? I'm incredible!"
Sanaki's gaze wandered to Elincia, taking a step towards her when Tanith blocked the path. "Careful, empress. We're on shaky ground here. It could collapse at any minute."
Cohen studied her with an expression of corrupted mirth. "You have no idea how true that is."
I shouldn't have let you talk me into this." Tanith continued, her eyes never leaving him.
Sanaki's gaze darted to Tanith, then back to Cohen. She could hear chanting below, but the words were blurring before they reached her brain. "And I suppose in the process of being amazing you had to kill them as well?" she spat, gesturing.
"Them? Oh no, I didn't touch them. They just got too close to the experiment, but they're still alive. For the moment, anyway. It was a close one, after all."
She knocked Tanith's hand loose as she looked to Sigrun, who nodded an affirmative. "And what about Ike?"
He grinned a little too broadly. "Well, I know I said I destroyed the cathedral, but I guess the real credit goes to Ike for that. As I said he was doing a little experiment for me, and I guess he got a little too…overeager."
"Ike…" she uttered in a quaking whisper, shaking her head as if trying to dislodge those last words from it. "No, you're wrong."
"Sorry, but it's really difficult for me to be wrong, even when I try." He shrugged. "I guess everyone is going to have to find someone new to run to when they need help. And by the way, thanks for dropping that staff. It proved terribly useful. Too bad Ike can't be here to convey his gratitude, so I guess mine will have to do."
It took both Tanith and Sigrun to hold her back this time. "Why? Can you at least tell me that?"
"Why what? The cathedral? It was blocking the view."
"I've heard enough!" Sanaki hissed through gritted teeth. "Tanith, Sigrun, arrest that...man."
"I wouldn't if I were you," he said as he brushed Elincia's head with his foot. It would be awful if disgusting accident happened in the scuffle. And besides, I don't think the crowd would like it very much either, manhandling a priest who has done nothing but tell them the truth," he said mockingly as he pointed below.
It was then that Sanaki discerned the sound of her name being chanted below, alternating with calls of "We want the truth!". She gestured for her bodyguards to stand down. "What did you say to them?" she asked, feeling a sudden, irrepressible unease.
"As I said, only what happened. I simply told them that Ashera was the one who was responsible for what happened to them."
Sanaki went pale. "You told them that here, like this, in the mood they're in? Are you trying to start a riot? Do you want to see more people die?"
"Whether more people die or not, empress, is entirely in your hands now," he said, as he tapped Elincia's forehead with his boot. "You have two options. You can lie to your people as Sephiran has and say I deceived them, and perhaps they will believe you and everything will go back to normal. But in that case, I can guarantee at least two people will die. Me, which I don't think would concern you that much, and a certain queen of a certain country who will remain nameless. But on the other hand, you could tell the truth, and see how many people die then. Personally, I prefer option two, because of the mystery. Plus, I'd really rather not mess up my new boot."
Sanaki walked over to the side and looked out over the expectant throng, Sigrun right beside her. "You have them judging the nature of a beast just by feeling the tip of its tail. What if I explained the whole truth to them? Then they might not hold you in such high esteem."
"Surely you're not that naïve, empress. Like you said, they're in a rather unpleasant mood right now. Do you think they're interested in a complex theological discussion?"
Sanaki studied the crowd, honing in on individual faces lit up by the fresh, searching shoots of sunlight. Mangled with fear, doubt, and uncertainty over their shocking loss tonight, there was also hope and faith peeking through, faith in their empress. She looked back to Elincia, who for all appearances looked as if she were lost in the tranquil waters of a dream, with no idea how quickly that dream could be crushed. She closed her eyes, sighing heavily as she turned back to address her people.
There was a solemn hush as she gestured for quiet. "People of Begnion," she began in a clear and encouraging tone, "these recent times have been filled with struggle, loss, and revelation of a magnitude that has shaken us to our core. But no matter what has been lost, we must remember that we are a strong, resilient people, capable of— "
"Is it true?" someone shouted, "is what the priest said true? Is that why you renounced your Apostle title?
Sanaki continued undeterred, yet inwardly shocked that someone had dared to disrupt her. "You have heard it said tonight that Ashera, who has been our protector goddess for hundreds of years, the one who has watched over and guided us, was the one who inflicted us with the calamity that was inflicted on us."
"Highness, please…" Sigrun pleaded in a quiet, urgent tone. "You can't let him do this."
So many images…Ike, Elincia, Yune, Micaiah…Sephiran the one who had started all this by the lie he had told because of the bitter animosity he had borne. Ike, who had survived so much, sacrificed so much for the people of Tellius, now gone to satisfy the whims of a maniac. She glanced back at the queen. Would nothing of his legacy remain?
"I come before you tonight, to tell you once and for all, that what this person has told you is…true."
That one definite, irretrievable word crashed down on the crowd, burying them under muted shock. For a moment, the only sound was the trickling of debris down onto the rubble below. Then Cohen's voice rang out like a rallying trumpet call as he stepped away from Elincia, to stand beside Sanaki. "My friends, there it is, straight from the lips of the empress herself! We have all been deceived! How can we possibly trust the goddess now? Who can protect us from her capricious ways? Do not despair, there is an answer! Look to the east! Look to the dwelling of the traitorous Ashera!" he exhorted, gesturing frantically through the gaping hollow where the cathedral had been, toward the east and the Tower.
Sanaki turned, the tower a stern silhouette against the soft rays of the morning sun rising directly behind it. Suddenly, a piercing glow enveloped the top of the tower. Many in the crowd who could not see jostled for a better position. Sanaki felt vague, incessant dread sliding down her body like a cold hand. An enraptured silence fell over the crowd as the glow began to slide down the sides of the tower in narrow streams that crisscrossed and intermingled with each other, a variety of colors caressing each other into an iridescent lattice that wove its elegant patterns down toward the base of the tower.
Sanaki stared in awe. It was incredible, as if someone had managed to seal a rainbow within vines, and then compel them to grow all over the Tower's exterior. Although she continued to feel a certain anxiety, it was becoming more and more difficult to think that she was witnessing something sinister as a feeling of helpless awe swept over her.
Once the lines of light reached the ground, the glowing network of trellised light began to spread out and fuse with each other, coating the entirety of the tower in what appeared from a distance to be a coarse, rippling sheen. Then along the top half lumps appeared, distorting the perfectly symmetrical cylinder shape of the monument. The lumps then became rod-like shapes that thrust out at perpendicular angles, like the spindly arms of desperate creatures trapped beneath tar, tearing against a pliable yet unyielding substance as it tried frantically to escape. They curved and angled in different directions the further they shot out from the tower, splitting and molding into new lines of light from which new shoots of light emerged. All the light from the lower part flowed up into the top, encasing it in a swirling brilliance that expanded outward until all the rods were encased in a rustling, frantic cloud of movement. Then, with a flash of impossible luminosity the agitated clump shot outwards in a brilliant circle, forcing everyone to look away.
So this is it, Sanaki thought to herself as she shielded her eyes, this is how it ends. It hardly seemed fair that everything they had achieved, everything that they had discovered, was about to be consumed in an immaculately beautiful apocalypse. She was thinking about her sister, how she would never have the chance to know her better, when she noticed that the flash had disappeared, to be replaced by cowed ahhs all around her. Sanaki lowered her arm and looked forward, wondering what form the destruction of her city had taken…
…And was instead greeted with an enrapturing view of disturbing splendor. The Tower of Ashera, until recently the home of the goddess, the winding, unending enclave where they had fought horrifyingly dangerous battles mere hours before, had been transformed into something so incredible, so sumptuous, that to not look at it would be a violation against beauty itself.
It had become a tree.
But not just any tree. Its massive, unimaginably thick trunk, thrusted upwards with unrestrained vigor as the glistening leaves, half-bathed in delicate clouds, swayed with almost musical harmony in the breeze. Sanaki could smell the crisp, filling scent of the sudden new entity glistening with new life and light as its enrapturing aura gently imposed a feeling of inspiring assurance and tranquility over the city.
Cohen spread his arms wide. "Gaze upon it, people of Begnion, the proof of my words made into spectacular and undeniable reality! Behold, the stark, cold symbol of the capricious goddess has been replaced by the dazzling reflection of the glorious future of Tellius! The betrayer goddess no longer has any power here, otherwise why would she allow her 'home' to be changed by benevolence from a symbol of oppression to one of beauty and hope? There is no longer any reason to be afraid! Come, join with me in embracing the power that will shield us and lead us toward a glorious new age!"
A thunderous roar of roiling enthusiasm burst forth from below, tearing away the clinging spell from Sanaki's mind. As she looked below at the faces of her people, filled with radiant joy and exuberant hope, even in the stalwart features of her guards. But with a bitter twinge of jealousy and regret, she realized that none of them were looking at her, that she was no longer the source of their euphoria. And in her mind she could see people all over the city, who didn't even know Cohen existed, feeling the same sense of benign serenity. She wanted to shout, to scream, to make them understand that this wasn't right. But this now hopeless dream was being crushed by the inescapable reality pressing towards her.
She had lost them.
As Cohen basked in the glory of the moment, Sanaki walked away from the edge, followed by her unnerved companions.
Sigrun stared at her for a moment, blanched and gaping. "Empress, what are you going to do now? Just give the order, and—"
Sanaki flung her hair back, straightening herself. "Get those two and bring them over to the Pegasi."
They hastily complied as Sanaki returned to her mount and rummaged through her saddlebag, pulling out parchment, ink, and a small ball of wax.
Tanith and Sigrun exchanged puzzled glances. "Empress, what are you doing? We should be trying…"
Sigrun trailed off when she saw that the Sanaki wasn't paying attention. She knelt down, hastily scribbling a note on the parchment as her two friends looked after the two Crimeans. She wrapped it up and then, flicking on a torch, she melted some wax, dripped it over the paper and thrust her ring against it, then closed it tight.
"Tanith", she called out, calling the attention of the laconic yet shaken fighter. "Take this and Queen Crimea, then find the other members of her group as the Greil Mercenaries. Once you've done that, lead them out of Sienne and Begnion as fast as possible. It is essential that you give that parchment to the queen when she awakens." She paused a minute, studying the slight blood rivulets running down the Elincia's face. "If she awakens. If she doesn't, give it to her uncle."
Tanith looked as if Sanaki had just ordered her to pull the wings off her pegasus. "Surely, you're not suggesting flight, your highness. It would make more sense to find the others and bring them back, then maybe we can—"
Sanaki shook her head with solemn finality as she looked back to Cohen, who, having got what he wanted from her, seemed to have cast her out of his mind completely as once again he addressed the crowd. She heard a word here and there, but she was not focused on what he was saying, only on the fact that he was still distracted. "If it was an army we were fighting, then I would say yes. But we would be fighting our own citizens, who have just been overwhelmed by a dark, world-upending "truth", followed by an apparent miracle to back it up. We must find a way to cut through that, and I'm afraid that we can't do that with swords."
"Then at least let us flee with the Crimeans, your highness," Sigrun pleaded, "at least there will be some measure of safety with them."
"No. I fled once before, and I almost didn't make it back. What I will do, I will do here."
Sigrun, her cheeks streaked with tears, could only nod as she held Sanaki's hand. "And whatever you do, you will do it with me by your side," she announced with shaky resolution that threatened to be crushed with unbearable sadness.
"Thank you. Now, get moving! There isn't much time!" Sanaki urged as she yanked her hand out of her friend's. "And don't look so glum! This isn't the end, not by a long shot."
"What about her?" Tanith inquired as she tilted her head toward Lucia. "I don't think I can manage with two unconscious passengers."
"Then there's no help for it. She'll have to come with Sigrun and I for now. Hurry! There's no time to lose!"
"Where are we going?" Sigrun asked.
"To create a miracle of our own."
COHEN
Cohen paused his speech as he watched as the two Pegasi laden with their heavy cargo raise up into the sky. He savored the sight of them winging off hurriedly in opposite directions like flies shooed off a carcass, leaving behind a tasty meal for those who knew how to season it properly.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" a voice whispered with barely contained rage behind him, the urgent fury that saturated the tone giving it a greater resonance within Cohen's mind than would have been possible under normal circumstances.
Cohen didn't turn around, or make any visible gesture that he had even heard it as he continued waving to the jubilant masses below. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to go back to your hunting and let me enjoy my victory a little longer, would you?"
"First of all, I had to interrupt the hunt because of what you were doing. Secondly, it isn't your victory. And third, I would hardly call it a victory when all your forces were annihilated!" The voice shot back with acid-soaked words.
"But I would say the gains were worth it. Not only that I believe I can offer you a rather large pool of eager new recruits."
"You acted too soon, you hasty, presumptuous fool! Now people are dead who shouldn't be, and those that should be dead yet draw breath."
He smiled. "I'm not so sure about that. You shouldn't chop down a tree until you've harvested all the fruit. Besides, the overarching goal has been achieved, hasn't it?"
"While managing to exalt yourself beyond measure, I see. Or was that just another unforeseen consequence?"
Cohen was silent for a moment as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So I walked onto the stage early and forgot almost all my lines. Yet somehow, I still managed to upstage not one, not two, but three key protagonists before obtaining a standing ovation from the audience who was supposed to be cheering for them. Now, if anything, the road ahead is straighter and smoother for us. Am I right?"
There was no answer except an irritated rumbling, which he took as a cue to continue. "You could kill me now for my audacity," he observed with a challenging tone, "but I'd appreciate a thank you first for my efforts. And I wish you luck finding someone else who can carry the burden I must endure without tearing themselves apart."
"Then be grateful for your burden, as you call it, for it is the only thing that is preventing me from sending you straight to your comrades. But do not think yourself so special as to be completely irreplaceable, for I am the only one who bears that distinction. You are merely useful, not necessary." The voice was quiet for a moment, as it considered the cheers coming from down below. "But for now, I suppose we must make the best of things."
"Yes," Cohen muttered as he looked down at the now exuberant crowd, anxious to hear him speak again. "I suppose we must."
THE END
…Of Part 1. Look for Part Two of the series to begin this summer, probably in early July. I may create a new story heading for it, so if you're interested in receiving updates be sure to click "follow" or "favorite" on my profile page. Until then, feel free to leave your comments, questions, and concerns about this chapter and the series in general so far and I'll respond to them ASAP. Also let me know if you run across any spelling or punctuation errors, or anything that doesn't make sense grammatically. I try to edit carefully, but I'm only human. Thank you for your continued support!
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