CHAPTER 38

SAVED

Arcadia was flopped helplessly on the bunk in the jail cell she had been thrown in. She managed to turn her head through great effort, despite the poison doing its best to make that difficult. She could see Astra's bright blue eyes peering out of the darkness. She was holding herself up, but clearly finding it difficult.

"I liked my old prison better." She commented gently. Arcadia tried to laugh, but failed. "What happens now? Do we stay here?"

"I do not know." Arcadia wheezed in reply. Unlike Astra who was used to her condition, Arcadia was finding it very difficult to even breath.

"Why did Miss Julie poison you?" Astra asked. "It doesn't seem like her." Her voice carried a confused innocence about it. "She's normally been nice to me." Astra paused. She may have behaved like an innocent child from time to time, mainly due to how sheltered her life had been, but she was no fool. "Do you think she planned this? That this was a trap? Does that mean she's never actually cared about me?" Arcadia went to reply, but was beaten to it.

"Very clever." Came a sarcastic snap from the other side of the jail cell. It was a basic stone jail, with two bunks, and bars for a door. Julie stood on the other side. "I'm glad to see you learnt a thing or two under me."

"Why?" Astra asked blankly. "Why did you do this to us?"

"You fool." Laughed Julie. "It's all quite simple. You were a threat. The Cardinal came to me and offered me San d'Oria, or at least equal rule, in return for you being disposed of. He didn't want bloodshed, so I just infected you. The same illness now occupies Arcadia's bloodstream. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You bi-" Arcadia began.

"Be silent!" Snapped Julie.

"Wait. You made me like this?" Astra looked at her, puzzled.

"Yes." Julie stated. "It wasn't easy, it took all of my alchemy skill to create the poison. And then I had to evoke an early birth in your mother to make sure nobody wondered why you were ill. Everybody just assumes it was a side effect of an early birth." Julie chuckled to herself. "Of course, the Queen remembered eventually the spell being cast on her. So I disposed of her."

"You killed the Queen?" Arcadia gasped. "I was always told she died of a heart attack." Julie laughed aloud.

"Popular myth. The King trusted the Cardinal. Simple." Julie shrugged. "I took Astra into my care, making sure she never recovered of course, while the Cardinal began his plan."

"What is his plan?" Astra asked gently, out of plain curiosity.

"Bastok was already beginning to develop. He saw the immense potential of technology. He knew once Bastok was finished it would expand, and so he began slowly dropping hints, making the elvaan people feel threatened, and prepare for war. He managed to persuade that fool Richard that the only option was to go to war. The perfect ruse for us to lose our King in. With the Royal Family gone, he could rule San d'Oria." Julie paused.

"The elvaans will never give into him." Arcadia managed to splutter. "They are far too proud, far too strong. They will not allow him to rule."

"Oh, he's planned for that." Julie laughed. "With the poison he has available he will be able infect the entire population. Everybody will become as you two. Once San d'Oria is his, the population so physically weakened they can do nothing, he can offer a cure to those who swear loyalty. Of course, he'll make out that the cure is a miracle, and that he has a limited supply. He'll just offer it to those who are loyal because he needs to cure only people he can trust to keep San d'Oria strong, or so he'll claim. San d'Oria will be his, and anybody who might oppose him will slowly fade away."

"Why are we here, then?" Arcadia said in a breathless sigh. "Why do this to us?"

"You had to interfere." Julie growled. "I was perfectly happy to let Astra live, but she currently threatens the Cardinal's plan. And with that as a threat, I must destroy her, and you, for you know what is coming." She drew a long sword, its blade sparking in the light that filtered through the small hole at the top of the cell. "Goodbye, Astra. I can only say I'm glad I don't have to put up with your clueless whining any longer. Don't worry. It will be quick."

Arcadia tried to get up. The door was still open. If she could stand, she could run. Her arms shook uselessly, and she collapsed, panting. She couldn't do it. She simply couldn't, not in this state. Julie lowered the blade to Astra's neck.

"Who's that?" Astra asked, pointing, ignoring the blade. Julie spun around to see a grinning figure stood behind her.

"Hello." Olose Sampson beamed, grabbing her sword and throwing it to the ground. She reacted quickly, hitting him in the face and blasting him with a bolt of lightning, sending him reeling back. She picked up her sword as Olose sprang to his feet.

"How did you find me so quickly?" She asked.

"Oh, please. It became obvious you would have abducted Astra and Arcadia, and where else would you take them but to the jail?" Olose paused. "Wait. Who are you?" Julie chuckled.

"I'm the one responsible for this. The Cardinal may be a brilliant manipulator, but I'm the one who makes the poison. I'm the one responsible." She grinned at Olose's rage, especially as he spotted Arcadia and saw her suffering from the poison.

"You're the black mage!" He cried. "You're the one that made the Queen give birth to Astra early and everything that happened all those years ago!"

"Obviously." Julie sighed, swinging in with her sword. Olose blocked it and slashed downwards. Julie just managed to block it, but Olose drove upwards, striking her in the face. She stumbled back, almost falling onto Arcadia. At the last second she held out her sword, stopping Olose from advancing. "How did you get in here, anyway?" She asked, confident in her ability to win, and trying to get as much information out of Olose as possible before she killed him.

"Santia was quite helpful." Olose laughed.

"Santia?" Julie had never bothered learning the first name of any of the Temple Knights.
"Captain d'Mil." Olose took his turn to grin.

"That traitorous whore! I'll see she dies for this! But you first!" Julie lunged Olose again, but Olose blocked her blade. She blasted him with a fireball and he flew back. She ran in to strike. She could swear her sword impacted with him, but he continued to fight, and apparently was unwounded. He slashed down, cutting her cheek and knocked her back. She turned to run. "Bind!" She cried, and Olose's feet became pinned to the floor by an invisible force.

Julie sheathed her sword and chuckled at Olose, who was now unable to move.

"Well played." Olose admitted with a shrug.

"Now you will be destroyed." Julie chuckled.

"Perhaps." Olose seemed apathetic. Julie rose an eyebrow. "Or perhaps not." He suddenly growled and dove forwards. His own trousers tore, and his shirt visible through his jacket began to rip as his muscles bulged. He didn't transform, but instead applied all his strength, and ripped the ground apart, tearing the concrete apart, still stuck to his feet. Julie's jaw dropped, utterly stunned by such strength (aided by his lycanthropic tendencies). He spun his foot up in a roundhouse kick, huge slab of concrete still attached, and smashed into Julie, taking her out. The bind spell collapsed and Olose ran to Arcadia, completely ignoring Astra. Julie had utterly collapsed, seemingly unconscious or dead, on the floor, having been smashed across the face by a huge mass of concrete.

He lifted Arcadia up in his arms. She smiled weakly.

"Sorry." She sighed.

"Don't worry." Olose smiled. "You'll be fine. Julie said the Cardinal had a cure to give out. We can find it. We can cure you. And Astra!" Astra looked up in surprise.

"You mean I can be like everybody else?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure." Olose answered, smiling. "Of course you can. We can put everything right now."

"Olose!" Arcadia exclaimed. Julie had risen, still bleeding heavily from her forehead.

"You will pay for that." She growled. "Olose huh? You must be Olose Sampson. The one the Cardinal was moaning about. He'll be so happy that I killed you." She held her sword loosely in her hand. She was clearly badly hurt.

"You're a little overconfident aren't you?" Olose laughed, drawing his own sword again.

"Perhaps." She said. Olose spun in to attack. She blocked with one hand, but it was weak. Her sword was forced down. But with her other hand she sprang forwards with an injection needle, filled with the vile white poison and injected it directly into Olose's heart. "Perhaps not." She grinned. Olose dropped his sword and staggered back. "That won't be slow acting like it was for Arcadia." She laughed. "Directly into the heart and directly into the bloodstream." Olose dropped to the floor, gasping. "I'll finish off these two while you feel the pain, then kill you." She paused. "Perhaps the Cardinal would like to kill you himself, in your weakened state there's nothing you'll be able to do." She smiled a sinister smile, turning away from Olose and flicking her sword out to Astra's neck. "Now, I do believe we were here." She grinned, beginning to press it against her skin.

"Ow. That hurts!" Astra pulled away as quickly as she could, which was not very fast. She fell over involuntarily and Julie lifted the blade back, ready to slice off Astra's head, savouring every moment. She swung the sword down, or at least attempted too. She had run into a problem.

That problem was her arm was no longer where she had left it. It wasn't even attached to her body. It had been ripped off. A gigantic werewolf growled, holding her torn off arm, before tossing it to the ground. Olose reverted into his human form as the screaming Julie slid to the floor, blood pouring everywhere. Luckily Olose was still wearing the tattered remains of his trousers. Julie bled on the floor in disbelief.

"Impossible." She managed to say.

"I'm a werewolf. No illness can affect me." Olose told her angrily, before kicking her in the chest. She flew back and slammed into the concrete wall, dropping down. He kicked out, pinning her neck to the wall and began to choke her. "I already know a one armed elvaan. Would hate for things to get confusing." Olose let out an angry smirk as Julie gasped for air. "Guess you have to go then."

"You're a killer, aren't you?" Julie managed to growl. "You may try to act heroic, but I can see it in your eyes. You're a murderer." Julie smirked to herself, despite her lack of oxygen. "How many people have you killed, eh? Any friends? Any family?" Olose tightened the pressure on her neck.

"Shut up!" He snapped. "You threatened me! You threatened by love! You deserve to die!"

"Did everybody else you killed deserve to die?" She grinned. She knew the legends of the werewolf curse, and she knew what Olose must have done in the past. Olose paused.

"No. But the past is irrelevant." He told her. "You will die here." Julie was fast losing consciousness.

"One catch." She decided to change her plan. "I'm the only one who can create a cure for your little girlfriend over there. You wouldn't want me to die, would you? None of it exists. I'm the only one who can make some." Olose removed his foot and she gasped for breath, but let out a victorious smile.
"Watch." Olose stated, before flipping up the fallen needle with his foot. He jabbed it in his own arm and sucked out his blood. He ran over to Arcadia and injected her with his own blood. "Werewolf blood. The ultimate cure. The lycanthropic curse can't be transmitted by a blood flow, only by a bite or birth. But the defences in my blood that protect me against any illness can." He grinned. "Yeah, I've read about the werewolf legends too." Olose had guessed that Julie was familiar with the legends, judging by how she guessed his character, but Olose himself had done months of research about his condition, especially with the assistance of Arcadia's library. He removed the needle, sucked out more of his own blood, and injected Astra, who winced painfully at the needle.

"Ow! It hurts! It hurts!" She whined, not knowing what it was going to feel like, and being incredibly frail.

"Don't worry." Olose removed it. "It won't anymore."

Julie let out an angry growl, reaching for her sword. She managed to get to her feet, and attacked, swinging the blade. Olose smirked, and ducked under it, pulling a dagger from his still intact belt and driving it into her throat. She stumbled back as he drew his sword, and he took a slice, beheading her. Arcadia suddenly sat up, the colour back in her.

"Wow." She muttered. "That is more effective than those potions." Olose just laughed, walking towards her. She jumped into his arms with a happy sigh. Astra sat up slowly.

"I feel funny." She commented, her skin becoming a pale, yet healthy colour. Living deprived of sunlight meant that she had no tan like most elvaans, but she was at least clearly healthy.

"You're just normal." Olose smiled. "Even a disease rooted in your system is no match for werewolf blood." He explained. "The ultimate cure."

"We should market you." Arcadia joked.

"Hey! I need some of this blood, you know?" Olose laughed. Astra stood up, and instinctively put her hands on the wall. She paused, realising her legs weren't struggling to support her. She slowly pulled her hands back, shaking a bit as she got her balance.

"I can stand up!" She exclaimed, far louder than necessary, but she wasn't used to not needing to put so much energy into her voice. She walked around a bit, quite often stabilising herself on the walls, before realising she didn't need it. She cautiously lifted one foot off the ground, and shakily stood on one foot. She lost her balance quickly, but had a grin plastered over her face at the fact that she hadn't fallen over. Olose smiled. "I'm cured!" She cried. "Everybody said it was impossible."

"Well, I am pretty great." Olose smirked sarcastically. She ran in and hugged him, far faster than she thought.

"I feel so strong!" She exclaimed, squeezing Olose as hard as she could to demonstrate. Olose chuckled.

"Don't go telling other people that." He advised, feeling her weak hug. "You may be cured, but your muscles have been severely underused, it's going to be a long time before you have the strength of an ordinary person."

"So, what now?" Arcadia asked.

"Well, Captain d'Mil is waiting outside for us, she got the Temple Knights to leave, and kept them dismissed.. I suggest we get back to Dartian." He began to walk out.

"Wait? D'Mil?" Arcadia said in shock.
"Yeah, turns out she's seen the light." Olose answered. Arcadia gave him a sceptical look. "No really, she has. Told me the whole story. I'll explain it on the way." He walked out, and they followed. "Watch yourselves on the streets, I have them rioting against the Cardinal. A bit of a bad move, but it might buy us some freedom, and especially delay the Cardinal taking the throne."

The Cardinal sat on the mighty chair, deep in thought. He regarded the young lieutenant who told him that Princess Astra was gone, that Julie was beheaded within the jail cell, and that the jailer who had hidden reported seeing Olose Sampson fleeing with two unknown women.

"This is a problem." The Cardinal admitted. The head of the San d'Orian parliament approached the Cardinal.

"Your eminence, the vote is in." The Cardinal turned to the head of parliament, and motioned with his hand for the old elvaan to speak. "They have agreed to give you power, and that if you take it, it is officially yours, and that the Royal Family is denounced. They have agreed it is the best way to stop chaos in the city over who to support." The Cardinal allowed himself a pleasurable grin.

"Excellent." He stated. "We must hold the coronation as soon as possible. I fear that the city is getting more and more out of control."

"I do not know if they will be willing to do that, yet." The head of parliament admitted. "This Sampson figure has them in uproar, and they are starving."

"Then tomorrow morning, we will give them back their food. That will show them that I am a kind man, and they shall flock to me." He smiled a knowing smile, but the head of parliament didn't quite understand why.

"A good suggestion, your eminence." He grinned innocently. "I guess then, by tomorrow evening, you will be king." The Cardinal grinned himself.

Olose, Santia, Astra and Arcadia all walked into the small room in the tavern. Only Astra didn't have a look of shock on her face, she was still busy being thrilled with the big city, the new places she was seeing, and the awesome energy she had flowing through her now her illness was gone. She blinked innocently.

"Why is it all smashed up?" She asked. "And where is that nice Dartian person you were telling me about?" The others did not reply. They simply surveyed the carnage. Dartian was nowhere to be seen. Olose quickly noticed the poison was no longer there.

"I have a bad feeling about this." He whispered.

Author's Note: Check it out! A chapter with no author's note! WOOHOOH!

Wait.

Oh darn.