PART XV

They had journeyed in silence for some time. Nobody had felt like saying anything. Vivli had been crying (and sneezing) and not a single one of the five strong team had felt like saying a thing. Dedji had wrapped her arms around Vivli in an attempt to make her feel better, but Vivli hadn't reacted. So, in turn, Dedji was feeling incredibly bad about herself because she could do nothing to help her little sister.

Vivli didn't even know why she was so upset. Sure, she had liked Olose, but people had died before. They were at war. She had to prepare for people to die. Did she love him? She didn't know. Something echoed in her head. The words of Lich.

"You love her. You wouldn't harm her."

She stopped walking, breaking down into tears again. Was that true? Did Olose love her? She found herself wondering what such a monster knew about love anyway. And if Olose loved her, did she love him? Why didn't she know?

"Sis?" Dedji said quietly before her. "We have to keep moving." Her voice was soft to prevent upsetting Vivli further. Vivli wiped tears from her eyes again. She tried her best to smile.

"Of course we do." The tiny mithra replied. "Let's keep going." Zinkata had pondered bring up the point that he never actually saw Olose die. He thought that maybe she'd find some comfort in that. But, in turn, it may crush her completely if it turns out he is dead after raising her hopes. And so, the hume decided to stay silent.

They reached the same cave before nightfall. How they had travelled so fast they weren't sure, but with Vivli so upset she never asked to stop or rest, and none of the others felt like asking her to stop, so they had kept going all day. They wondered into the dark cave in silence. Vivli sneezed, which made the others jump. Had circumstances been different, she would have laughed. As it was, she was upset, and fairly frightened due to the darkness.

"You are back." A ghostly voice boomed as the image of Fiorel formed before them.

"Yes." Vivli managed to answer.

"I sense a great deal of pain from you." Fiorel sounded concerned despite his ghostly form. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"We lost a friend." Zinkata explained.

"A friend is lost." Fiorel told him. "But not necessarily forever."

"Why are ghosts always cryptic?" Voldos sighed. Zinkata ignored him.

"We retrieved the orb." Zinkata told the ghost.

"By we, he means us." Bootus interjected, pointing to himself, Dedji and Vivli. Bootus felt it important to point this out despite the current gloom that hung over the party.

"The orb must be kept from Lich." Fiorel told them. "But keeping it from him alone shall not win this war. As you predicted, the earth crystal has been remade."

"How did we know we predicted that?" Whispered Voldos.

"He's a ghost. He knows a lot of things." Zinkata replied.

"It is deep in the realm of San D'Oria. It is no coincidence the four nations exist. He is planning to use each one to set up one crystal. He cannot give power to the four crystals without the fiends, but that will not stop him. He will destroy all in his path to reclaim the orb. He will wipe this world clean if he has to. And all the time the land is dieing. You are short on time, and low on chance." Fiorel's words seemed to hang in the air.

"What can we do?" Dedji asked desperately.

"Lich prepares to march on Bastok." Fiorel told the party. "The nation will fall unless the Light Warriors can defend it. Remember this: Lich's army is not invincible. Where brute force fails, there are other options."

"Then we must go to Bastok? We must help defend it?" Zinkata asked.

"That is your destiny." Fiorel said with a smile, as if he enjoyed sounding mysterious. "Now go. And remember, not every pathway is seen. Not every strategy is obvious." The five walked away without uttering a word.

"What did he mean by that?" Voldos asked.

It was midday the following day when they arrived back in Mhaura. Gigantic wooden walls were under construction.

"No! No!" A voice cried. "That pole goes there, or else the whole structure will collapse!"

"How's it going Andrew?" Zinkata cried from the ground.

"We're going to be ready for when Lich comes." Andrew replied. "Even if I have to build everything myself." He added in a grumble as a large wooden support fell down. "How did your quest go?"

"We've got to head to Bastok." Zinkata explained. "According to Fiorel, we can save it."

"That doesn't sound too likely." Celphie called. She was on top of the newly constructed wall.

"Hey, baby!" Voldos cried. Celphie threw a rock at him, and Voldos dived behind Bootus.

"Would you shut up? Please?" Bootus requested, not wanting to be hit by anything else Celphie might decide to throw.

"But if she runs out of stones, maybe she'll start throwing her clothes at me!" Voldos had completely forgotten about the depression in the party, and saw what he thought was his opportunity to win Celphie over. She just threw more rocks at him, at which point the ran far enough away to be safe. Andrew laughed.

"Well, Cid's been working all night on the Raven. It should be airworthy again." He told them.

"Sounds good." Zinkata told him, walking into the town. "Provided he lets us fly it after last time."

Cid ran angrily to them.

"NO!" He cried as they tried to approach the airship. "NO! You're not taking her! Do you know how smashed up she was?"

"Hey, we got attacked." Voldos said with a shrug. "It happens."

"The fate of Bastok may rest on it." Zinkata tried a different approach.

"Bastok?" Exclaimed Cid. "Why didn't you say so? We have to leave right away!"

"We?" Zinkata inquired.

"You think I trusting you to fly her after last time?" Cid asked.

"Point taken." Zinkata nodded. "Come on guys!" He called to the other Light Warriors. "We're heading home!"

"Not my home." Dedji pointed out.
"True." Zinkata said in response. "But then it's not Vivli's or Voldos's home either, is it?" He paused. "Besides, you're not coming."

"What?" Dedji screamed in disbelief. "Why?"

"Head to Kazham. It was attacked. Take your mother and father. We need to make sure it's okay. We're spread thin right now, we need everybody doing everything they can. We don't know the state of Kazham or the state of the Temple of Uggalepih. We need to find out what Lich did and how many survived." Zinkata explained to her.

"I'll go." She sighed. "Be carrrreful. And take care of Vivli."

"We will." Zinkata smiled. "You take care as well. We'll meet back here after we've dealt with Bastok. We'll need as much information on the state of Kazham. I'm considering using it as our last refuge. It's out of the way of the main nations and has been attacked already, so Lich wouldn't launch a second strike."

"Goodbye." Dedji waved with a sad look. "Please make sure she's alright." She didn't have to say a name. It was obvious who she meant.

"She's going to find the next few days rough. She lost someone close to her. We'll help her however we can." Zinkata turned away. "Goodbye. And good luck."

The Raven hurtled across the sky in its usual fashion. That meant it was shaking and barely stable. Luckily this took Vivli's mind off the death of Olose as she was too busy trying not to be sick. She wasn't trying hard enough, it would appear, as she threw up over the deck, and slumped down, feeling very ill. A combination of a cold and travel sickness. On top of that, she hadn't slept the previous night and was feeling very upset over the loss of a very close friend. This left her almost curled up against the small wall at the edge of the Raven, the only thing that protected her from a very long drop. Luckily, she blocked this from her mind just because she had so much else worrying her.

Of course, had she been stood up she'd of seen the unpleasant sight of hundreds of skeletal troops marching across the sandy dunes. Zinkata, however, could see this clearly.

"This does not look good." He said worryingly. Bootus peered over the edge.

"You can say that again." Bootus agreed. "But I'd prefer it if you didn't." He added.

"How long until we reach Bastok?" Zinkata called to Cid.

"We're coming into range now." Cid replied. "We should be down in a few moments."

"Good." Zinkata replied. "Judging by that, we need every second we can get."

"We don't have a landing clearance." Cid explained. "They don't know we're coming. It's unsafe to land in the main airship dock. Another ship could just land right on top of us."

"Put us down by the fountain." Zinkata said casually.

"By the fountain?" Cid exclaimed.

"Yeah, there should be plenty of room between the fountain and the auction house." Zinkata explained.

"You boys sure like to make a dramatic entrance." Cid sighed. Vivli, who was trying to break her trance of illness, stood up at this point.

"I'm not a boy." She pointed out, expecting a petty argument to start that would at least distract her. Instead the ship jolted and she fell over. Bootus, of course, laughed at this, and she grumbled to herself miserably.

The citizens of Bastok at first admired the small black airship as it flew low over their heads. This admiration soon turned to fear as they realised it was landing on their heads. The crowds scattered and the Raven touched down. Zinkata and Voldos casually flung down the loading ramp and the four casually strolled down. Darklighter, a gigantic galka, thundered to the front of the crowd. A hardened war hero, he had encountered the Light Warriors in the battle at the Temple of Uggalepih a few months ago.

"Well, you boys can certainly make an entrance." He growled. Vivli sighed.

"I am not a boy!" She shouted for the second time in a few minutes. This time she was just ignored.

"We have a serious problem, Darklighter." Zinkata began, running down the ramp.

"Problem?" Darklighter asked. "Don't be so modest. You guys have many problems." The galka emitted a hearty laugh.

"I was referring to the army coming to crush this entire city." Zinkata said, his facial features firm.

"Expecting us to fall like the puny elvaan of San D'Oria?" Darklighter was a warrior who had seen much war, including the Crystal War twenty years ago. He had a hardened approach when it came to battle. "Bastok is much stronger."

"At least we don't hide in this miserable desert!" Voldos spat.

"It doesn't matter where you hide." Vivli spoke up, feeling very much like a neutral party since she was from neither Bastok nor San D'Oria. "That army is unstoppable. They won't die. They are undead and never stop functioning. They will keep coming no matter what you do. Keep reforming. That is why San D'Oria fell." Darklighter reflected on this for a moment.

"We must see the President!" He announced.

The President looked outraged as soon as the Light Warriors entered his office.

"Dammit!" He barked. "Whenever you show up, there is some serious problem. What is it this time?"

"We've come to warn you." Zinkata explained. "The army that took San D'Oria is coming, and it cannot be stopped. It is an army of invincible skeletons. All the military might in the world cannot stop them." The President paused.

"And why is it always you explaining things?" The President asked. "Do the other three not speak?" Zinkata sighed.

"I'm serious!" He protested.
"I know. You always are. You're also always right." The President paused, as if waiting for something. "So? Tell me then. What's your plan?" The President questioned, almost sounding weary.
"Evacuation is our only option." Bootus put in, just to prove the President's previous point wrong.

"Evacuate the city?" The President took it casually. "Impossible." He stated. "Our scouts can't even reach the dunes anymore. The army you refer to has gathered there, and now forced itself into Gustenberg itself. We cannot leave." Zinkata paused, thoughtfully. Vivli came up with an idea before him.

"Use the airships!" She cried. "Evacuate by air."

"That would take forever!" The President exclaimed.

"Evacuate the civilians then." Vivli suggested.

"And the others?" The President inquired. Vivli turned to the other Light Warriors.

"We fight." She stated. "We delay them by whatever means possible."

"But they cannot be killed!" The President reminded her. "Our armies would be committing suicide."

"It is our only choice." Zinkata pointed out. "If we don't, we'll just sit here and be eliminated one by one as they approach. Who knows? We might find a weakness."

"What is it with you people and suicidal plans?" The President asked tiredly.

"We do not choose the suicidal plans. The suicidal plans choose us." Voldos said profoundly.

"Wow. Deep." Muttered Bootus. "Where did you learn things like that?"

"It was in a book I read." Voldos explained proudly. "Read that being profound and wise is the best way to impress women."

"So why haven't you tried it before?" Bootus asked. Voldos shot him a look. "Besides, there are no women here." Vivli folded her arms, agitated.

"Did I cease to exist when I wasn't paying attention or something?" She asked.

"Nah, we just like ignoring you." Bootus said with a shrug.

"The point is," Zinkata began, desperately trying to get back on track, "We're out of choices. We need to fight. We need to prepare for war. And we need to do it now."

Archers lined the walls of Bastok, with black mages stood on either side. Warriors lined the streets waiting at the gates. White mages were stood far back, to heal those in battle without risking injury. Vivli was crammed in with them, between a tall hume and an elvaan, and so felt very short and insignificant. Every other job was in the respective positions deemed most suitable for them. And there they waited calmly for the coming storm.

Except it didn't come. The brave warriors stood, waiting. But nothing appeared out in the deserts of Gustenberg. There was silence. Zinkata, who was stood next to Darklighter, began to become concerned.
"Where are they?" He asked. "They should be here by now."

"Stay calm." Darklighter said through gritted teeth. "They will come."

"Lich isn't one to take his time." Zinkata warned.

"Maybe he's clearing out the quadav in the mines first." Darklighter suggested. "He could be bringing them under his power."

"Wait!" Zinkata cried. "The mines? They're connected to the mining district, don't they?"

"Well, it's possible yes. But I-" Darklighter was cut off.

"Oh no." Zinkata said in disbelief. Fiorel's words echoed in his head.

"Now go. And remember, not every pathway is seen. Not every strategy is obvious." Not every pathway is seen, he suddenly realised what that meant.

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" He began to yell. Just as he did he heard commotion from the back lines of white mages. "THE MINES! THEY'RE USING THE MINES!"

"THEY'RE COMING OUT OF THE MINES!" Vivli screamed as loudly as she could, but her voice was drowned by panic. The skeletal hoards flooded out of the mines and into the city of Bastok. The warriors turned and charged. Vivli was knocked over in the chaos and found herself surrounded. The battle began inside the city. The Bastokian lines fell to pieces instantly, such a simple strategy had been overlooked and threw everything into disarray.

Zinkata, Voldos and Darklighter led the charge against the hoards. They clashed on the streets. Bootus led a band of monks around to try and attack from behind. They were cut off before they could get there.

"You will be exterminated!" Cried the skeletal troops. The battle raged all around. Nobody was prepared, and it seemed to be a losing battle.

The archers, in panic, unleashed their arrows, hitting their own troops. Vivli looked up as arrows clashed down around her. She screamed in panic, getting to her feet to run. A skeleton grabbed her and flung her to the floor. It rose its weapon and prepared to strike her down.

She was in serious trouble.