CHAPTER 3: BRANDED

As Jardin ran, he could feel his grief giving way to anger. Tricked! Deceived! The only family he had known had turned on him, and he was alone in the world.

"No! Not alone! Romo would never betray me," Jardin reasoned grimly.

He decided to make for Romo's house and find him. His feet clapped loudly on the cobblestone streets. Suddenly, he became aware of more then one pair of feet making a clamor on the road. He put his back up against the wall of a house and drew both his sword and the one taken from Griffin. Out of the darkness came three of the archers from the manor, eyes gleaming with deadly intent.

"Jardin Dante, I place you under arrest!" called one of them loudly.

"So that is my true father's name," thought Jardin. "At least I'll know that before I die."

"You will come with us quietly to Igros Castle," continued the archer, "where you will be promptly executed for high treason and theft of the Holy Sword, Excalibur."

Jardin looked with amazement at the sword in his hand. This? This was the Holy Sword? Griffin (whoever he was) had wielded Excalibur? Perhaps he wouldn't fall in battle after all!

"If I'm to be executed, then why should I come quietly? No, if today I face death, it will be here and now," replied Jardin, and with that, he charged the nearest enemy.

He felt the wind from a crossbow bolt brush by his ear; he had to fight quickly. He reached the first archer and slashed wildly with his own sword, but the stroke was partially deflected by some sort of plate armor. Following the first blow up with Excalibur, he watched in amazement as the sword cut through the armor as if it were cotton. Screaming something horrible, the first archer fell to the ground. Jardin then leaped out of the way as two more bolts sailed narrowly past him, imbedding themselves into a nearby house.

Dashing at his next foe, Jarding realized he wouldn't make it in time. The archer had already fitted a bolt into his crossbow and was cocking it. Jardin hurled his iron sword with all his strength at his enemy, and the sword struck home beneath the neck.

"Only one more!" triumphed Jardin silently. "I will live through this!"

Just as those thoughts crossed his mind, he felt a sharp pain in his side. An arrow had just missed his ribs, but had managed to lance the skin deeply. Crying out in pain and rage, Jardin rushed at the attacker madly. The archer fumbled for an arrow, but the young soldier was already on him. With one sweep of Excalibur, the crossbow flew from his grasp, cloven in two. Trembling violently, the archer drew a small knife, but that was soon gone as well, knocked several yards away by the Holy Sword. Jardin lifted the sword for the kill, but then saw before him a small, quaking man, arms lifted to ward off the imminent blow. "Very alone and very afraid," realized Jardin. "Just like me." Slowly, he found himself lowering the sword.

"Go home. I will spare you," he told the archer sternly. "But tell Readon this, I will have vengeance! He will pay for this injustice!"

The archer looked up at Jardin, and then, picking himself up, ran off toward Igros Castle.

Losing not a moment, and not even bothering to remove his sword from the dead archer's body, Jardin sprinted toward Romo's house. He had run for about fifteen minutes past the monotonous rows of whitewashed houses when he finally reached 143rd street, where the house that he sought was located. He could hear shouts, and the ringing of metal. Gripping Excalibur fiercely, Jardin ran to the large residence of Romo's father, Thornin Descarei.

The sight was not encouraging. A monk and a knight had cornered Romo, who stood guarding his father with a drawn sword. The old man lay prostrate on the ground, a katana still quivering in his back. A few yards over, the apparent murderer, a ninja, sat dead as a stone with a bloody gash running across his torso.

Screaming various obscenities in several different languages, Jardin ran forward, plunging his sword deep into the monk's unarmored back.

"Jardin! Thank God!" gasped Romo, a bit of blood trickling from his mouth.

Descarei then ran away from the house to the veranda and jumped, catching a lip in the roof and swinging himself on top.

Meanwhile, Jardin was fencing desperately with the knight, who he had underestimated. The captain could not have been sure of his victory, had not a bolt from Romo's crossbow found a home in the knight's neck.

Jardin turned and looked toward the veranda. Romo had fallen to his knees with his face in his hands, sobbing.

"Romo," called Jardin softly, walking to the veranda. "I'm so sorry about your father."

"I-I tried to protect him, but I didn't see the ninja till it was to late!" cried Romo in his grief. "Then those other two cornered me. I parried the knight's attacks while the monk was free to work me over pretty well. But I couldn't protect him, Jardin!"

"I'm sorry if I sound harsh, Romo, but there's no time for grief! We are both fugitives now. I allegedly held a sword to a noble's throat, and they will most likely make up some charges for you."

"W-why?!"

"Because," explained Jardin, "If I were killed, you would not rest until you'd uncovered the truth. Readon foresaw this, and decided to save himself grief by killing us both."

"Readon?!?!"

"I'll explain on the way. We can steal those soldier's chocobos."

"On the way to where? I'm confused."

"We must go to the military encampment. We need to take as many soldiers that are willing to go with us as we can, and I want to get a few items of personal interest."

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure you will explain. The chocobos are out back."

During the five hour ride, between the consistent beat of chocobo feet, Jardin explained what he knew of the dark conspiracy of the nobles. Romo listened, sniffing and recovering from the initial shock of his father's death. Rushing past the green hills and trees with incredible swiftness, the chocobos showed no signs of fatigue, but seemingly ran faster by the minute. After a long quiet, Romo finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Jardin, Readon lied."

"What are you talking about?" asked Jardin, turning his head.

"You weren't taken as a hostage to put down a rebellion. If you had, I obviously would know about it. For a hostage to work, the people need to know he's a hostage."

"Yes, I knew something was wrong when he said that."

Romo groaned. "Argh, that's another thing I need to talk to you about! You'll get us all killed if you keep talking like a noble!"

"What?"

"For instance, don't say 'yes', say 'yeah'. And use more contractions!"

"You have a point. I'll work on it."

"That sounds better already!" Romo grinned.

The two soon found themselves nearing camp. The green scenery had given way to barren rocks and weeds, and the gray light of morning was peeking over the eastern horizon. Off in the distance, they could see the bonfire in the camp center flickering faintly between the rows of tents. Pressing their chocobos harder, they made for the light.

Upon arrival, Jardin immediately ran for his tent. Pulling a locked sailor's chest out from under his cot, he groped in his pocket for the key.

"No! I must've left it at Igros!"

Swearing a blue streak, he kicked the chest viciously with his steel- toed boot. The old lock immediately snapped and flew off. Jardin opened it eagerly. Throwing out clothing and other various items, he carefully drew out yet another chest. He opened it gingerly, and took out a small silver medallion on a string, a large leather pouch, and a long, double-edged dagger with a gold-plated, jeweled hilt. The medallion he threw around his neck, and the pouch and dagger he fastened to his belt. Romo, who looked at the "treasures" over Jardin's shoulder, glanced at his friend with a question in his eyes.

"I can see you don't know about these things," observed Jardin. "Well, this pouch is my gil pouch. It contains my life savings and has plenty of room for more. The dagger was my first weapon, and a fine one at that. It'll be useful both in and out of battle. And the medallion- well, it seems to be linked with our current dilemma. Look at the small relief carving on the front.

"Well, it seems to be a ship- but what are those bulges on the side with large blades coming out of them?"

"No clue, but I've seen this sign in Igros castle, a drawing of it on one of the papers on Readon's desk."

"So what? Probably a coincidence!" said Romo, waving it off.

"That's what I would think, if it weren't a contract for a bounty hunter!"

Romo opened his mouth to question, but the canvas covering the tent entrance was suddenly pushed aside. Jeremy, one of Jardin's knights, stepped inside dressed in full armor.

"We-ell, look at this!" he grinned mockingly, flashing his yellow teeth. "Captain Greyhelm and Lieutenant Descarei! Please come with me."

"How dare you address your officer in such a manner!" roared Jardin angrily.

Jeremy's smile vanished, a scowl replacing it. He drew his sword menacingly, shouting, "You will come with me now!"

A flash of rage crossed Jardin's face as he whipped out Excalibur. "I don't think you want to cross swords with me," he growled. Romo pulled out his crossbow and loaded it.

Jeremy merely whistled. Three monks and a knight ran out from the shadows behind him, all from Jardin's company. The knight layed his hand on his sword hilt, and the monks stood in a defensive position, ready to use Wave Fist.

Jardin groaned and dropped his sword, which was quickly confiscated by Jeremy. Romo sighed and surrendered his weapons as well.

"Now come with me!" barked Jeremy.

The pair followed the traitor to the camp center, where ten other soldiers awaited, all from Jardin's squad.

"Look what I found!" shouted Jeremy gleefully.

Most cackled greedily in response, though a few gasps could be heard as well.

"Where are the other squadrons?" demanded Romo.

"Oh, they were sent off to battle," replied Jeremy. "We returned from leave to find the camp empty."

"Why have you betrayed us?" Jardin shouted, enraged.

"Ya see, the funniest thing happed. A squire on a chocobo trotted in just an hour or two ago with a couple new Wanted posters. Imagine our shock when we found your faces on them, with a hefty reward of 10,000 gil a head- oh yeah, dead or alive!" With that, Jeremy stepped forward, sword raised. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide. Slowly, the corrupt knight sank to the ground, icicles imbedded in his neck and arms. Linus, a black mage who before becoming a wizard had devoted good years of his life to chemistry, ran to join Jardin and Romo, his staff still glowing with a supernatural light. Hammer, the most experienced monk in the squad, and Kate, a talented lancer who was also well versed in thievery, followed Linus eagerly.

Chaos followed. In one smooth motion, Jardin swept up Excalibur and cut the throat of the nearest monk. Romo ran at the knight holding his weapons, nailing him with a solid haymaker. The knight dropped the crossbow and sword as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Linus roasted two knights and samurai with Fire2, while with a mighty leap Kate soared into the air. Spinning his sword around his head, Jardin released Stasis sword, injuring and decapitating the remaining monks. Meanwhile, Hammer was pummeling an archer into the ground just as Kate crashed down on a Time Mage spear first. Romo had retrieved his weapons and slew many with his crossbow.

However, the battle soon took a turn for the worse. Jardin reeled back from a blow deflected by his armor into the center of the battlefield. Romo and the others found themselves in a similar plight. Realizing this, their enemies surrounded them and began to slowly close in on them like a vise. The party stood back to back in a defensive position, prepared to die well.

Suddenly, three short blasts from a trumpet in the sentinel towers broke the grim silence.

"No! Tabreum's attacking!" cried an inexperienced squire.

The enemy literally dissolved. Running of in various directions, they began preparations to defend the camp.

"We have no time to lose," commanded Jardin. "Linus, Hammer, and Kate, thank you for staying true to us. I will reward you greatly when I can. But now, I need you to get your best armor and weapons, a good supply of food, and then saddle your chocobo. Meet us at the camp entrance." The soldiers obeyed promptly.

As Jardin and Romo walked to the camp entrance, the former captain sighed. "To think I'd be branded a fugitive."