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Chapter Eight: Dark Matters
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I didn't know why I was alive, honestly. I had expected death at Dragonheart's hands - after all, his spell had nearly knocked me out. I could barely move, let alone defend myself. I do remember the flash of light, like staring into the sun, but little else between that and the unknown warrior saying he needed to talk to me. All I knew is that, somehow, I felt I could trust him. So I followed, albeit slowly.
When we were in the halls of the castle, the warrior turned around and hugged me tightly.
"Hellfire, but I've missed you!" The phrase struck one of my buried memories, one of the few pleasant ones I'd tried to bury. Somebody had said that, or things like that, to me before..
"Rubicant?"
"It's me, Kain," he said quietly, resting his head on my shoulder. I remembered the nights, long ago, when he would come in after Valvalis had finished torturing me - and worse - and heal my wounds. Then, when he was done, before my dark side could take control again, he would talk with me. Even my somewhat muddled mind remembered, though, that Rubicant had died during the War.
"How?"
"Dragonheart brought us all back to life," Rubicant said quietly as he drew away from me. "I rebelled, left him to his own plans. I was trying to find you when I found out what he had done. I came here to help as much as I could."
"Then I owe you my life again, it would seem," I said, smiling. "I don't know how, but you saved Cecil and I both."
"How was a fairly simple matter. When you fought against Zemus, his powers were made greater than normal by something called dark matter. Dragonheart was using the same thing, though in a larger quantity than I had thought possible. That flash of light you saw was how I beat him - I destroyed his dark matter, overwhelmed it completely."
"Dark matter? You mean that black gem Edge stole from Zeromus?" Rubicant was silent for a moment as he absorbed my question.
"You're telling me," he said quietly, "that Zemus' dark matter was not in his possession when he died?"
"No - we had seen what it could do when he nearly killed Golbez and FuSoYa. Edge took it from him before Cecil used the Crystal and revealed his true form." The blood drained from Rubicant's face as he took in the new information.
"Shit. This is not good."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't have time to explain this twice - Cecil should be awake now, and if he isn't I can wake him up. Come on, we have to decide what to do - now." Rubicant ran down the hall towards Cecil's chambers as I followed him, taking a moment to call on Reis' Wind again while I ran.
From the sound of things, this wasn't the time to wait for healing.
***
When we reached Cecil's chambers, I felt a cold lump of fear start to form in my chest. Rosa was standing outside the room, nervously pacing back and forth. She looked like she'd gone through hell, but how much of that was because of Dragonheart's torture I couldn't be sure.
"Rosa, how is he," I asked, fearing that I might not have been in time earlier.
"He's alive, thanks the gods - mother's checking him over to see how badly hurt he is. Whoever you are," she said, turning to Rubicant, "thank you. I've heard that you drove off Dragonheart before he could kill Cecil and Kain." Rubicant chuckled.
"I also helped rescue you, if you'll remember."
"Rubicant? But you look like a human," she said, confused. That was when I realized the same thing - there was a passing resemblance to his true form, but not much more.
"It's a long story. Is Cecil awake?"
"No, that's what has me worried. Damn it, if only I had my spells!"
"What do you mean, Rosa," I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"That bastard stole my spells somehow - I only have a handful left, ones he didn't think he could use. I don't have nearly enough power to do anything more than be a nuisance in there - I don't even have a Scan I could use to find out exactly what's wrong with him!" I swore mentally, and walked up to the door.
"We're going in there anyway. Rubicant says he can wake Cecil up, and I'm inclined to believe him. Besides, I'm not going to stand around out here being useless when I still have an ace up my sleeve," I said, reaching for the slender steel container that I had slipped into a pouch inside my armor this morning. It contained a single Life ointment, enough healing power to wake a person from the deepest coma, and keep them awake. Rosa opened the door, and the three of us walked in just as her mother, Briar, was finishing her examination.
Cecil looked like somebody had beaten him with a small tree. I could see where his sword arm was broken, and something about his chest didn't look right. The crystal armor - what was left of it - was cracked and broken. But it was probably the only thing that had kept him alive. Anything that had the force to break lunarian armor had more than enough force to reduce the average human to a fine red spray. Briar was pulling out a roll of heavy cloth to restrict his movements.
"His ribs are broken, badly. Don't think there are any internal injuries," she said, with an almost unnatural calm. "I'll need some help prying the armor off of him, though - I can't wrap him up while he's in it. Rosa, make yourself useful, and go see if Cid's in-laws are in town, will you? Porom should be able to help with this." Rosa raked her lower lip with her teeth, torn between the knowledge that she couldn't help much, and the desire to stay with Cecil. A moment later, she ran from the room as fast as she could. I nodded to one of the guards to go help her if necessary, and he followed her out. When Rosa was out of the room, Briar sat the rolls of cloth down, and sat in a chair by the wall.
"She should be gone for awhile, now - Porom's in Mysidia, she'll have to use the Serpent Road to reach her quickly. You two start getting his armor off - whatever let it slide off of him before seems to have stopped working." I moved over to the cabinet in the room where supplies where kept to help get normal armor off of wounded soldiers, and pulled out a sharp knife, chisel, and a small pry bar.
"Should magic be used on him," Rubicant was asking. "I know that some injuries can be made worse by certain sorts of healing, but it would help if he were more stable than this."
"He's as stable as he'll ever be, lad," she answered. "And no, you shouldn't use any magic to heal him. It could wake him up, and if he moved around much in this state, it could be fatal." I handed Rubicant the pry bar and chisel, and he set to work moving what was left of the crystal breastplate out of the way so I could try to cut through the thin strips of stone that served as its straps.
A few minutes later, I decided the lunarians had been far too advanced for our own good. The armor was impossible to remove with the tools we had at hand, the straps resisting any attempt to cut through them.
"Rubicant, do you know anything about this sort of armor," I asked.
"It was said to be a sort of living armor - capable of changing to suit its owner." Of course! I opened the jar of ointment, speaking as I did so.
"Does that mean that, in theory, it could be killed by a strong enough attack?"
"He used his dark sword techniques against it, didn't he?"
"Yes. A very advanced one, from what I saw. Could that have killed the armor?"
"The only thing I can think of that could damage it, let alone kill it. However, if it had really died, then it would have fallen off of him."
"Better yet." I started to spread the ointment on the armor, carefully avoiding Cecil's body as I did so. The cracks started to seal, and soon the crystal softened and flowed off of him like water, reforming on the floor, though still seriously damaged. Rubicant and Briar stared in shock, as I explained. "If it's normally alive, then it made sense that an injury that would disable it, but not kill it, could be healed by normal magic." Briar nodded, and moved in to start wrapping Cecil's shattered arm and chest with Rubicant's help.
"What happened to him, Briar," I asked, trying not to interrupt her.
"That dark knight's attack seems to have infected him somehow. If it was just the ribs and arm - well, any competent white mage could fix those. But what's happened to him made the attentions of the other mages useless. And Rosa -"
"Has lost her magic, I know."
"That worries me," she said quietly. "There were legends of a way it could be done, but no man alive knows how."
"I know how," Rubicant said quietly. "In a strictly academic sense. It's a technique developed by the dark knights centuries ago, used to help destroy the rune knights in the great wars." We both looked at him curiously, as he continued to explain.
"I was trained as a rune knight after a familial dispute. That's when I learned how to use my cloak of flames - it's gone, now, but I still know the techniques. I'd just internalized them as a Fiend." Briar stepped back and reached for the small bow that was still in the room, but I held a hand out to stop her.
"He saved our lives, Briar - if he meant harm to Cecil or myself, I'm sure he would only have had to let Dragonheart finish what he was doing."
"Kain's right. They would both be dead now if I hadn't helped him. But I understand your reaction - too easily, I'm afraid. Back to the issue at hand, the technique was supposedly lost at the end of the war. The rune knights were destroyed, and the paladins and dark knights turned on each other. The dark knights alone survived, though even they were reduced to a handful of practitioners - their numbers never recovered, for that matter. The dragon knights had remained neutral as an order, and so they survived to this day. But their most advanced warriors had chosen one side or the other, and generally died painfully."
"That's why the ancient techniques were lost," I broke in. "What I did today hasn't been done for centuries. I hope to have a chance to make sure I'm not the last one who knows how to use those techniques, though."
"You will, Kain - after all, you have the advantage of being able to write it down these days. A luxury Reis and her allies never had, I'm afraid. Miss Briar - now that his limbs are restrained, do you think he could be awakened," Rubicant asked, indicating Cecil. She shook her head.
"Not until Porom gets here. Rosa could still see that he had been infected by something, but nobody here has the power to change that. Porom's almost a strong a white mage as Rosa was, so if anybody can cleanse it from him, it would probably be her. Or you," she said, looking at Rubicant, who shook his head sadly.
"Destroying Dragonheart's dark matter has had greater effects on my powers than I had anticipated. But that's another matter. How long should it take her to get back?" Just then, we heard people running down the hallway.
"I think they should be here right about now," Briar said, smiling. She opened the door as Rosa, Porom, and the guard I had sent out returned. Porom walked into the room, a shocked expression on her face as she looked at Cecil. She turned to look at Briar, as if to ask what to do.
"A dark knight nearly killed him with one of those dark-sword techniques. It seems to be preventing his healing. I've never seen anything like this before." Porom frowned as she looked at Cecil.
"Scan," she said quietly, and a glow surrounded them both as she nodded slowly.
"This shouldn't have happened - I saw him use his techniques dozens of times before. They were devastatingly powerful, but nothing long-term. I think it has to do with the fact that he's a Paladin, though. He's reacting almost as if he'd been poisoned by the blast." Rosa raked her lower lip with her teeth in worry, and I put an arm around her shoulders, hoping to give her a little comfort.
"Can you heal him," I asked.
"I can't completely remove the taint - not without using something just as strong, which could kill him. I'd have to hit the injury with intrusive white magical force - the only way I know of to do that would almost certainly be lethal, if I miscalculated the amount of energy needed by even the slightest amount. I can, however, wake him up. Once that's been done - time should remove the taint, but he'll have to heal naturally. It only hinders magical healing, from what I can see. But there's a way past that," she said, rolling her sleeves back and focusing on a spell. She closed her eyes, and Rubicant stepped out of the room.
"Curaga," she began to chant - over and over again, not touching Cecil, but instead building the energy in her hands. She was going to build up enough power to overcome the barrier, and then pump it into him at once.
"Is that safe," I asked Rosa. She nodded before speaking quietly, so as not to disturb her pupil's concentration.
"Perfectly. It's not an intrusive use of magic, just enhances his body's ability to heal itself naturally. What she was talking about, to destroy the taint, would involve hitting him with a full-force Holy." I nodded, understanding. They were right - that would have killed him. A few more moments passed as Porom built up the ball of energy in her hands to near- blinding intensity. Just before she stopped, she changed her chant.
"Life," she shouted, thrusting the energy into Cecil's chest. The entire room was filled with light, and even I felt excess energy pouring off my friend. A dark shell seemed to form around him, but it began to fade as the light flowed over it. Porom kept her hand on Cecil's chest, fighting the shell, trying to force her final spell through its defenses. Suddenly, Cecil's body arched up as it broke through, his eyes fluttering open and his mouth opening in a wordless cry at the agony that the movement caused him. Porom pulled her hand back as the glow faded and Cecil returned to a resting position, breathing hard. But he was awake. Porom sat down, a tired expression on her face.
"I think I'll take an airship back," she said with a chuckle.
"Cecil," Rosa said as she moved to his side and rubbed the side of his face, "are you awake?"
"What hit me," he asked in a parched, dry voice. I motioned for the guard to get some water as Porom stood and left the room quietly, replaced by Rubicant.
"The dark knight you were fighting. He had a technique that shouldn't exist on this world," Rubicant said quietly.
"Damnation's Lance," Cecil almost whispered. "I had heard the legends, but not even King Odin risked using its power - he said it was far too dangerous, that it took the soul, rather than the life, of the warrior who invoked it."
"Only an issue when the warrior has a soul to lose. I doubt that Dragonheart does, at least not of his own."
"Why am I still alive? Kain - did you beat him?" I shook my head and scowled.
"No, damn it. I thought I had him for a few moments, but he forced me to take the full force of one of his spells, almost killed me with it. We have Rubicant here," I indicated my friend with a nod, "to thank for the fact that we're both alive." Cecil looked at Rubicant in shock.
"But - I thought you were dead?" Just then, the guard returned with Cecil's water, and he sat up to drink, wincing as he moved.
"I was," Rubicant answered. "It's a very long story, but one that must be told. Everybody sit down - I only want to say this once. And the fate of the world could hinge on understanding it perfectly."
~~~===~~~
Dragonheart, for the first time in over twenty years, was afraid. He had been worried when he found that the dragoon actually knew some of the ancient techniques that were supposed to have been lost to this world. But now, without the dark matter that connected him to his Lord and Lady, he was afraid. Not of the warriors he had left behind - he could deal with the rabble in small groups, and even the great warriors he had bested today were ones he could have defeated without the dark matter.
No, he was afraid of his own servants - the three Fiends who were currently running the ship. They knew he was weaker now. He had resurrected them and made them strong enough that, with the full power of his own masters, he could strike them down with a word and a gesture. But now - now, he had to rely on his own magic and techniques. The latter were next to useless against the three beings of evil, and the former.. He would have felt much better if he hadn't virtually exhausted his personal reserves of power during the two duels. He was sharing a ship with three beings of incredible power, all of which had few reasons to like him, and many, many reasons to want him dead.
Yet, despite this, he was calling them into his antechamber, hoping that they wouldn't realize how badly crippled he was. Praying that they would choose to cut and run rather than fight him. That would still serve his goals, by spreading chaos throughout the world. Scarmiglione was the first to arrive, squirming into the room silently, his head bowed and his flesh still charred by Rubicant's response to a botched ambush. Caignazzo followed, scuttling behind far faster than a turtle should. His expression was almost impossible to read, but Dragonheart knew that the two of them would be the ones least likely to face him in combat. They were far too insecure regarding their personal powers to risk that.
Valvalis, only now slowly moving into the room, was a far greater risk. The arrogant, amused expression in her eyes said that she probably had a good idea of just how seriously the tables had turned. And, if anything, her greatest flaw was her overconfidence in her abilities. Dragonheart sat calmly in his chair, his outward expression belying none of his inner terror. And one of the three could probably best him single-handedly - all three of them together could easily tear him to pieces.
"Well," he said softly. "I understand that Rubicant interfered with my well-laid plans. And that, before he did so, one of you had the perfect opportunity to kill him, to tear him apart like the traitor he is, and be rid of him. But that you passed that opportunity up." The dark knight's gaze fell on all three of the fiends - Caignazzo, Scarmiglione and, finally, Valvalis. His eyes met hers, and it seemed for a moment that there would be a battle of wills - but Valvalis turned away.
"I thought as much. Because of you, the paladin still lives, and the conquest of this rock must be postponed indefinitely. You do realize that, if we were in my home realm, I would have you destroyed for your incompetence?" Gauntleted fingers thrummed against the arm of his throne, the only sound to be heard over the deafening silence of Valvalis' reply.
"Consider yourself fortunate, Fiend of Wind, that you are not completely expendable." Even as Dragonheart threatened her, his heart was pounding in his chest. Scarmiglione watched his master carefully, deciding that the dark knight was bluffing. Only that, or rage completely contrasting the calm demeanor of the warrior, would explain the way his body was responding. So, Rubicant had succeeded in destroying the dark matter. Excellent.
"What do you plan on doing with me," Valvalis said quietly, her tone mixing apology with a submissive willingness to do whatever he suggested. Caignazzo's stomach churned as he listened to the silken voice, listened to her following the pattern of failure and seductive apology that she had followed countless times before with Zemus and Golbez. Didn't she know any other way to deal with humanoids?
"I plan on throwing you into the drive system. You should have more than enough power to run the ship until I need you again." She looked up at him - smiling?
"Sounds like a delightful plan, 'master,'" she said with a sneer. "But I don't plan on letting anybody do something like that unless they can make me. And I'm not blind. Now, I'd love to stay and teach you to fear me," she said, licking her lips, "but I have bigger fires to put out. Farewell, 'master.'" With that, she faded from sight, and Dragonheart gave a mental sigh of relief.
"Well," he scowled at Caignazzo and Scarmiglione. "I suppose you two have your own delusions of grandeur," he asked, summoning a brief blast of flame to one hand, and lightning to the other, using the last of his magical power. Caignazzo and Scarmiglione both gave their versions of a submissive bow.
"Hardly, Master," they said. Scarmiglione walked closer, his tentacles pressed firmly to the ground in what Dragonheart assumed was supposed to be a sign of non-aggression.
"Master, I believe I know how to teach our wayward sister a lesson."
"What do you mean?"
"I know of your dark matter, of how Rubicant managed to destroy it." Scarmiglione recoiled as Dragonheart raised his spear, as though to attack the Fiend of Earth. "Wait! I know more! I know more," the obscene monster shouted, quivering in fear.
"Speak, then." Caignazzo scuttled up next to his brother, and continued.
"Scarmiglione told me about this, and that he knows where there is more for you to take. Master Zemus wielded this dark matter as well - until it was stolen from him before his death."
"And it is on this world?"
"Indeed," Scarmiglione explained eagerly. "The ninja who stole it keeps it in his castle as a trophy - Castle Eblan. Rubicant had destroyed it, and most of its occupants, during the War. But Prince Geraldine has rebuilt it, I have sensed the reversal of its destruction! And, in that area, there is a pit of darkness, the prince's stolen dark matter."
"What defenses does this castle have?"
"A small army of ninja - Rubicant defeated them before, surely we could defeat them now."
"And their Prince?"
"Also a ninja, of incredible skill, but a far less dangerous warrior than those you defeated today." Dragonheart smiled.
"Set a course for Eblan then, Scarmiglione. Soon, darkness shall retake that which belongs to darkness.."
~~~===~~~
End of Legacy of Kain Chapter 8: Dark Matters
~~~===~~~
Chapter Eight: Dark Matters
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I didn't know why I was alive, honestly. I had expected death at Dragonheart's hands - after all, his spell had nearly knocked me out. I could barely move, let alone defend myself. I do remember the flash of light, like staring into the sun, but little else between that and the unknown warrior saying he needed to talk to me. All I knew is that, somehow, I felt I could trust him. So I followed, albeit slowly.
When we were in the halls of the castle, the warrior turned around and hugged me tightly.
"Hellfire, but I've missed you!" The phrase struck one of my buried memories, one of the few pleasant ones I'd tried to bury. Somebody had said that, or things like that, to me before..
"Rubicant?"
"It's me, Kain," he said quietly, resting his head on my shoulder. I remembered the nights, long ago, when he would come in after Valvalis had finished torturing me - and worse - and heal my wounds. Then, when he was done, before my dark side could take control again, he would talk with me. Even my somewhat muddled mind remembered, though, that Rubicant had died during the War.
"How?"
"Dragonheart brought us all back to life," Rubicant said quietly as he drew away from me. "I rebelled, left him to his own plans. I was trying to find you when I found out what he had done. I came here to help as much as I could."
"Then I owe you my life again, it would seem," I said, smiling. "I don't know how, but you saved Cecil and I both."
"How was a fairly simple matter. When you fought against Zemus, his powers were made greater than normal by something called dark matter. Dragonheart was using the same thing, though in a larger quantity than I had thought possible. That flash of light you saw was how I beat him - I destroyed his dark matter, overwhelmed it completely."
"Dark matter? You mean that black gem Edge stole from Zeromus?" Rubicant was silent for a moment as he absorbed my question.
"You're telling me," he said quietly, "that Zemus' dark matter was not in his possession when he died?"
"No - we had seen what it could do when he nearly killed Golbez and FuSoYa. Edge took it from him before Cecil used the Crystal and revealed his true form." The blood drained from Rubicant's face as he took in the new information.
"Shit. This is not good."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't have time to explain this twice - Cecil should be awake now, and if he isn't I can wake him up. Come on, we have to decide what to do - now." Rubicant ran down the hall towards Cecil's chambers as I followed him, taking a moment to call on Reis' Wind again while I ran.
From the sound of things, this wasn't the time to wait for healing.
***
When we reached Cecil's chambers, I felt a cold lump of fear start to form in my chest. Rosa was standing outside the room, nervously pacing back and forth. She looked like she'd gone through hell, but how much of that was because of Dragonheart's torture I couldn't be sure.
"Rosa, how is he," I asked, fearing that I might not have been in time earlier.
"He's alive, thanks the gods - mother's checking him over to see how badly hurt he is. Whoever you are," she said, turning to Rubicant, "thank you. I've heard that you drove off Dragonheart before he could kill Cecil and Kain." Rubicant chuckled.
"I also helped rescue you, if you'll remember."
"Rubicant? But you look like a human," she said, confused. That was when I realized the same thing - there was a passing resemblance to his true form, but not much more.
"It's a long story. Is Cecil awake?"
"No, that's what has me worried. Damn it, if only I had my spells!"
"What do you mean, Rosa," I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"That bastard stole my spells somehow - I only have a handful left, ones he didn't think he could use. I don't have nearly enough power to do anything more than be a nuisance in there - I don't even have a Scan I could use to find out exactly what's wrong with him!" I swore mentally, and walked up to the door.
"We're going in there anyway. Rubicant says he can wake Cecil up, and I'm inclined to believe him. Besides, I'm not going to stand around out here being useless when I still have an ace up my sleeve," I said, reaching for the slender steel container that I had slipped into a pouch inside my armor this morning. It contained a single Life ointment, enough healing power to wake a person from the deepest coma, and keep them awake. Rosa opened the door, and the three of us walked in just as her mother, Briar, was finishing her examination.
Cecil looked like somebody had beaten him with a small tree. I could see where his sword arm was broken, and something about his chest didn't look right. The crystal armor - what was left of it - was cracked and broken. But it was probably the only thing that had kept him alive. Anything that had the force to break lunarian armor had more than enough force to reduce the average human to a fine red spray. Briar was pulling out a roll of heavy cloth to restrict his movements.
"His ribs are broken, badly. Don't think there are any internal injuries," she said, with an almost unnatural calm. "I'll need some help prying the armor off of him, though - I can't wrap him up while he's in it. Rosa, make yourself useful, and go see if Cid's in-laws are in town, will you? Porom should be able to help with this." Rosa raked her lower lip with her teeth, torn between the knowledge that she couldn't help much, and the desire to stay with Cecil. A moment later, she ran from the room as fast as she could. I nodded to one of the guards to go help her if necessary, and he followed her out. When Rosa was out of the room, Briar sat the rolls of cloth down, and sat in a chair by the wall.
"She should be gone for awhile, now - Porom's in Mysidia, she'll have to use the Serpent Road to reach her quickly. You two start getting his armor off - whatever let it slide off of him before seems to have stopped working." I moved over to the cabinet in the room where supplies where kept to help get normal armor off of wounded soldiers, and pulled out a sharp knife, chisel, and a small pry bar.
"Should magic be used on him," Rubicant was asking. "I know that some injuries can be made worse by certain sorts of healing, but it would help if he were more stable than this."
"He's as stable as he'll ever be, lad," she answered. "And no, you shouldn't use any magic to heal him. It could wake him up, and if he moved around much in this state, it could be fatal." I handed Rubicant the pry bar and chisel, and he set to work moving what was left of the crystal breastplate out of the way so I could try to cut through the thin strips of stone that served as its straps.
A few minutes later, I decided the lunarians had been far too advanced for our own good. The armor was impossible to remove with the tools we had at hand, the straps resisting any attempt to cut through them.
"Rubicant, do you know anything about this sort of armor," I asked.
"It was said to be a sort of living armor - capable of changing to suit its owner." Of course! I opened the jar of ointment, speaking as I did so.
"Does that mean that, in theory, it could be killed by a strong enough attack?"
"He used his dark sword techniques against it, didn't he?"
"Yes. A very advanced one, from what I saw. Could that have killed the armor?"
"The only thing I can think of that could damage it, let alone kill it. However, if it had really died, then it would have fallen off of him."
"Better yet." I started to spread the ointment on the armor, carefully avoiding Cecil's body as I did so. The cracks started to seal, and soon the crystal softened and flowed off of him like water, reforming on the floor, though still seriously damaged. Rubicant and Briar stared in shock, as I explained. "If it's normally alive, then it made sense that an injury that would disable it, but not kill it, could be healed by normal magic." Briar nodded, and moved in to start wrapping Cecil's shattered arm and chest with Rubicant's help.
"What happened to him, Briar," I asked, trying not to interrupt her.
"That dark knight's attack seems to have infected him somehow. If it was just the ribs and arm - well, any competent white mage could fix those. But what's happened to him made the attentions of the other mages useless. And Rosa -"
"Has lost her magic, I know."
"That worries me," she said quietly. "There were legends of a way it could be done, but no man alive knows how."
"I know how," Rubicant said quietly. "In a strictly academic sense. It's a technique developed by the dark knights centuries ago, used to help destroy the rune knights in the great wars." We both looked at him curiously, as he continued to explain.
"I was trained as a rune knight after a familial dispute. That's when I learned how to use my cloak of flames - it's gone, now, but I still know the techniques. I'd just internalized them as a Fiend." Briar stepped back and reached for the small bow that was still in the room, but I held a hand out to stop her.
"He saved our lives, Briar - if he meant harm to Cecil or myself, I'm sure he would only have had to let Dragonheart finish what he was doing."
"Kain's right. They would both be dead now if I hadn't helped him. But I understand your reaction - too easily, I'm afraid. Back to the issue at hand, the technique was supposedly lost at the end of the war. The rune knights were destroyed, and the paladins and dark knights turned on each other. The dark knights alone survived, though even they were reduced to a handful of practitioners - their numbers never recovered, for that matter. The dragon knights had remained neutral as an order, and so they survived to this day. But their most advanced warriors had chosen one side or the other, and generally died painfully."
"That's why the ancient techniques were lost," I broke in. "What I did today hasn't been done for centuries. I hope to have a chance to make sure I'm not the last one who knows how to use those techniques, though."
"You will, Kain - after all, you have the advantage of being able to write it down these days. A luxury Reis and her allies never had, I'm afraid. Miss Briar - now that his limbs are restrained, do you think he could be awakened," Rubicant asked, indicating Cecil. She shook her head.
"Not until Porom gets here. Rosa could still see that he had been infected by something, but nobody here has the power to change that. Porom's almost a strong a white mage as Rosa was, so if anybody can cleanse it from him, it would probably be her. Or you," she said, looking at Rubicant, who shook his head sadly.
"Destroying Dragonheart's dark matter has had greater effects on my powers than I had anticipated. But that's another matter. How long should it take her to get back?" Just then, we heard people running down the hallway.
"I think they should be here right about now," Briar said, smiling. She opened the door as Rosa, Porom, and the guard I had sent out returned. Porom walked into the room, a shocked expression on her face as she looked at Cecil. She turned to look at Briar, as if to ask what to do.
"A dark knight nearly killed him with one of those dark-sword techniques. It seems to be preventing his healing. I've never seen anything like this before." Porom frowned as she looked at Cecil.
"Scan," she said quietly, and a glow surrounded them both as she nodded slowly.
"This shouldn't have happened - I saw him use his techniques dozens of times before. They were devastatingly powerful, but nothing long-term. I think it has to do with the fact that he's a Paladin, though. He's reacting almost as if he'd been poisoned by the blast." Rosa raked her lower lip with her teeth in worry, and I put an arm around her shoulders, hoping to give her a little comfort.
"Can you heal him," I asked.
"I can't completely remove the taint - not without using something just as strong, which could kill him. I'd have to hit the injury with intrusive white magical force - the only way I know of to do that would almost certainly be lethal, if I miscalculated the amount of energy needed by even the slightest amount. I can, however, wake him up. Once that's been done - time should remove the taint, but he'll have to heal naturally. It only hinders magical healing, from what I can see. But there's a way past that," she said, rolling her sleeves back and focusing on a spell. She closed her eyes, and Rubicant stepped out of the room.
"Curaga," she began to chant - over and over again, not touching Cecil, but instead building the energy in her hands. She was going to build up enough power to overcome the barrier, and then pump it into him at once.
"Is that safe," I asked Rosa. She nodded before speaking quietly, so as not to disturb her pupil's concentration.
"Perfectly. It's not an intrusive use of magic, just enhances his body's ability to heal itself naturally. What she was talking about, to destroy the taint, would involve hitting him with a full-force Holy." I nodded, understanding. They were right - that would have killed him. A few more moments passed as Porom built up the ball of energy in her hands to near- blinding intensity. Just before she stopped, she changed her chant.
"Life," she shouted, thrusting the energy into Cecil's chest. The entire room was filled with light, and even I felt excess energy pouring off my friend. A dark shell seemed to form around him, but it began to fade as the light flowed over it. Porom kept her hand on Cecil's chest, fighting the shell, trying to force her final spell through its defenses. Suddenly, Cecil's body arched up as it broke through, his eyes fluttering open and his mouth opening in a wordless cry at the agony that the movement caused him. Porom pulled her hand back as the glow faded and Cecil returned to a resting position, breathing hard. But he was awake. Porom sat down, a tired expression on her face.
"I think I'll take an airship back," she said with a chuckle.
"Cecil," Rosa said as she moved to his side and rubbed the side of his face, "are you awake?"
"What hit me," he asked in a parched, dry voice. I motioned for the guard to get some water as Porom stood and left the room quietly, replaced by Rubicant.
"The dark knight you were fighting. He had a technique that shouldn't exist on this world," Rubicant said quietly.
"Damnation's Lance," Cecil almost whispered. "I had heard the legends, but not even King Odin risked using its power - he said it was far too dangerous, that it took the soul, rather than the life, of the warrior who invoked it."
"Only an issue when the warrior has a soul to lose. I doubt that Dragonheart does, at least not of his own."
"Why am I still alive? Kain - did you beat him?" I shook my head and scowled.
"No, damn it. I thought I had him for a few moments, but he forced me to take the full force of one of his spells, almost killed me with it. We have Rubicant here," I indicated my friend with a nod, "to thank for the fact that we're both alive." Cecil looked at Rubicant in shock.
"But - I thought you were dead?" Just then, the guard returned with Cecil's water, and he sat up to drink, wincing as he moved.
"I was," Rubicant answered. "It's a very long story, but one that must be told. Everybody sit down - I only want to say this once. And the fate of the world could hinge on understanding it perfectly."
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Dragonheart, for the first time in over twenty years, was afraid. He had been worried when he found that the dragoon actually knew some of the ancient techniques that were supposed to have been lost to this world. But now, without the dark matter that connected him to his Lord and Lady, he was afraid. Not of the warriors he had left behind - he could deal with the rabble in small groups, and even the great warriors he had bested today were ones he could have defeated without the dark matter.
No, he was afraid of his own servants - the three Fiends who were currently running the ship. They knew he was weaker now. He had resurrected them and made them strong enough that, with the full power of his own masters, he could strike them down with a word and a gesture. But now - now, he had to rely on his own magic and techniques. The latter were next to useless against the three beings of evil, and the former.. He would have felt much better if he hadn't virtually exhausted his personal reserves of power during the two duels. He was sharing a ship with three beings of incredible power, all of which had few reasons to like him, and many, many reasons to want him dead.
Yet, despite this, he was calling them into his antechamber, hoping that they wouldn't realize how badly crippled he was. Praying that they would choose to cut and run rather than fight him. That would still serve his goals, by spreading chaos throughout the world. Scarmiglione was the first to arrive, squirming into the room silently, his head bowed and his flesh still charred by Rubicant's response to a botched ambush. Caignazzo followed, scuttling behind far faster than a turtle should. His expression was almost impossible to read, but Dragonheart knew that the two of them would be the ones least likely to face him in combat. They were far too insecure regarding their personal powers to risk that.
Valvalis, only now slowly moving into the room, was a far greater risk. The arrogant, amused expression in her eyes said that she probably had a good idea of just how seriously the tables had turned. And, if anything, her greatest flaw was her overconfidence in her abilities. Dragonheart sat calmly in his chair, his outward expression belying none of his inner terror. And one of the three could probably best him single-handedly - all three of them together could easily tear him to pieces.
"Well," he said softly. "I understand that Rubicant interfered with my well-laid plans. And that, before he did so, one of you had the perfect opportunity to kill him, to tear him apart like the traitor he is, and be rid of him. But that you passed that opportunity up." The dark knight's gaze fell on all three of the fiends - Caignazzo, Scarmiglione and, finally, Valvalis. His eyes met hers, and it seemed for a moment that there would be a battle of wills - but Valvalis turned away.
"I thought as much. Because of you, the paladin still lives, and the conquest of this rock must be postponed indefinitely. You do realize that, if we were in my home realm, I would have you destroyed for your incompetence?" Gauntleted fingers thrummed against the arm of his throne, the only sound to be heard over the deafening silence of Valvalis' reply.
"Consider yourself fortunate, Fiend of Wind, that you are not completely expendable." Even as Dragonheart threatened her, his heart was pounding in his chest. Scarmiglione watched his master carefully, deciding that the dark knight was bluffing. Only that, or rage completely contrasting the calm demeanor of the warrior, would explain the way his body was responding. So, Rubicant had succeeded in destroying the dark matter. Excellent.
"What do you plan on doing with me," Valvalis said quietly, her tone mixing apology with a submissive willingness to do whatever he suggested. Caignazzo's stomach churned as he listened to the silken voice, listened to her following the pattern of failure and seductive apology that she had followed countless times before with Zemus and Golbez. Didn't she know any other way to deal with humanoids?
"I plan on throwing you into the drive system. You should have more than enough power to run the ship until I need you again." She looked up at him - smiling?
"Sounds like a delightful plan, 'master,'" she said with a sneer. "But I don't plan on letting anybody do something like that unless they can make me. And I'm not blind. Now, I'd love to stay and teach you to fear me," she said, licking her lips, "but I have bigger fires to put out. Farewell, 'master.'" With that, she faded from sight, and Dragonheart gave a mental sigh of relief.
"Well," he scowled at Caignazzo and Scarmiglione. "I suppose you two have your own delusions of grandeur," he asked, summoning a brief blast of flame to one hand, and lightning to the other, using the last of his magical power. Caignazzo and Scarmiglione both gave their versions of a submissive bow.
"Hardly, Master," they said. Scarmiglione walked closer, his tentacles pressed firmly to the ground in what Dragonheart assumed was supposed to be a sign of non-aggression.
"Master, I believe I know how to teach our wayward sister a lesson."
"What do you mean?"
"I know of your dark matter, of how Rubicant managed to destroy it." Scarmiglione recoiled as Dragonheart raised his spear, as though to attack the Fiend of Earth. "Wait! I know more! I know more," the obscene monster shouted, quivering in fear.
"Speak, then." Caignazzo scuttled up next to his brother, and continued.
"Scarmiglione told me about this, and that he knows where there is more for you to take. Master Zemus wielded this dark matter as well - until it was stolen from him before his death."
"And it is on this world?"
"Indeed," Scarmiglione explained eagerly. "The ninja who stole it keeps it in his castle as a trophy - Castle Eblan. Rubicant had destroyed it, and most of its occupants, during the War. But Prince Geraldine has rebuilt it, I have sensed the reversal of its destruction! And, in that area, there is a pit of darkness, the prince's stolen dark matter."
"What defenses does this castle have?"
"A small army of ninja - Rubicant defeated them before, surely we could defeat them now."
"And their Prince?"
"Also a ninja, of incredible skill, but a far less dangerous warrior than those you defeated today." Dragonheart smiled.
"Set a course for Eblan then, Scarmiglione. Soon, darkness shall retake that which belongs to darkness.."
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End of Legacy of Kain Chapter 8: Dark Matters
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