Chapter 38: Inside the Silence

Yuber was waiting for Luc and Sarah when the Blinking Rune deposited them in the specially prepared and well-guarded spot near the edge of the Harmonian camp that Luc had set aside for magical travel.

Daybreak remained hours away, and so it was the light of campfires that illuminated the dark knight. Chainmail rustled angrily as he shot to his feet. His armor bore nicks and scrapes, and drying blood streaked his greaves and armguards. His swords lay on the grass, their otherworldly metal bent and twisted out of shape. As Luc watched, the blades appeared to be straightening, and the nicks in the metal smoothing over – like torn skin in the process of healing.

The dark knight stalked over to them. Whatever was on the man's mind, Luc forestalled him, saying, "We needed you at the sacred glade." Had the dark knight been there for the confrontation, things might've played out very differently. Would they have had the True Lightning Rune in hand, as well?

Yuber ignored him, staring past him at Sarah, his mouth twisted hungrily. For a moment, Luc thought the dark knight meant her harm, but then he realized the true object of Yuber's attention. The glowing rune cradled in Sarah's hands. The Sealing Rune.

"That rune," Yuber said, stabbing his gauntleted hand towards it, "I need its power."

"For what purpose?"

Yuber spun away, walking over to yank his blades from the ground. He stared at the twisted metal with barely contained frustration. "I am being hunted."

Luc considered this statement. "Your nemesis," he guessed. The dark knight's power was integral to their plans, but Luc barely understood the true nature of the man standing before them. If he even was a man. Albert had conjured the bloodthirsty warrior from the World of Emptiness, using a ritual handed down to him by his grandfather, the famous strategist Leon Silverberg. Yuber was an agent of destruction. A warmonger. A creature of chaos.

Perhaps even a demon.

Yuber inclined his head in agreement. "My nemesis."

Luc motioned for Yuber to follow, then started towards his command tent. He rubbed at his eyes. Now that the battle was over, he had trouble staying on his feet. His body ached all over, and his head threatened to split with each beat of his heart. He needed rest, though he dreaded sleep.

Even in the middle of the night, the Harmonian camp hummed with life. The air was filled with the murmur of soft voices around camp fires and the thunder of snores from inside tents. Groups of soldiers patrolled the orderly lines of tents, stopping to salute as Luc and his companions passed. Security had been redoubled since the assassination attempt, and though command had since changed hands, Luc had seen fit to keep these arrangements in place.

The Harmonian camp sprawled across a spit of land on a hill near the river, within two bowshots of Alma-Kinan. The trees made black outlines against the dark blue of the night sky. From here, the woods looked no different than they had the night before. There was nothing to tell that in the village of the shaman women, on this night, everything had changed.

"Your nemesis," Luc said, as they walked, "We could help you defeat this mysterious pursuer."

"The time isn't right. This battle between us two, I can't allow it to happen here. Not now."

Luc sighed his frustration. "You're asking me to use the rune," Luc said, "The Sealing Rune we fought so hard for, to protect you from this nemesis of yours."

"The rune can hide my presence from Pesmerga. More than that, it can prevent him from getting anywhere near me."

Two guardsmen stood on watch outside Luc's command tent. They saluted as Luc drew near. They were handpicked men – men he could rely on.

They stopped outside the command tent. "Sarah," Luc said, "If we use the rune in this way…"

She nodded. "It will spend the rune's power for some time. The seal on the Ceremonial Site… we'll have to wait to break it."

"How long?"

Sarah's brows knitted as he she did some mental calculations. "Weeks."

The dark knight leaned in menacingly, drawing himself up to his full height. "Give me the power of the rune, or I'll leave."

The man's words took Luc aback. "You made a pact…"

"The pact doesn't hold me. Not for this."

Luc took a deep breath, looking out over the camp spreading out before him. He saw the shadows of soldiers moving about the tents, performing their night time duties. Such a machine, was the Harmonian army. Even bereft of their beloved leader, they soldiered on in enemy territory, as if the machine had but stumbled, and not broken a wheel. A delay of weeks. If he did this, would his plans break down, or merely stumble?

He turned to Sarah, drinking in the sight of the glittering crystalline formation of the Sealing Rune where it hovered in the palm of her hand. Her face was pale blue in the light of the rune. She looked beautiful. Radiant.

"Give him the rune," he said.

Sarah did not hesitate for even a moment. She held the rune out to the dark knight, who reached out a mailed fist and snatched it up. The monstrous man's mouth twisted in a hideous grin. "You won't regret this," he said, hoarsely, as if containing a great joy.

When the dark knight had left, Luc and Sarah stood alone outside the tent. Luc was lost in his own thoughts, and Sarah did not disturb him. She merely waited, patiently. The night was still dark, and Luc's headache had begun to recede. The thought of sleep filled him with fear. Sarah watched him, her eyes unreadable. There was no question there, no challenge. Just patience. In that moment, Luc felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to the beautiful rune sage. Sarah was the only one who truly stood beside him, and held him up.

Finally, Sarah turned to leave. "Good night, my lord."

"Wait," Luc said. He reached out a hand, almost involuntarily. He lowered it, feeling self-conscious and awkward. Sarah looked at him, puzzled. "Stay with me," he said.

The cruel light of the dawn reached Chris through the slatted window of her room in Alma-Kinan. She was sitting on the bed, with its tousled sheets, on which she'd laid awake all night, unable to sleep. The wound on her shoulder had been healed, but still ached. It was a painful reminder, but she was glad of it. The sun still shone, the wind still rustled in the leaves. Everything seemed too normal. Too right.

Hugo was gone. That single thought kept running through her head, over and over. Gone. She tried to wrap her head around it. She'd lost her father, her mother. She had seen companions dragged down beneath a swarm of stabbing blades, and held others as they bled out in her arms. She'd lost so many comrades on the battlefield. She'd thought herself hardened against loss, if not immune to it. She needed only to picture Hugo's boyish grin to know how wrong she had been.

Chris caressed the box he had given her, tracing her fingers over the carved patterns in its lid. Itself a work of art, the box contained something infinitely more precious. Gently, she pried open the lid to once again look at its contents.

Two painted warrior bangles lay within, curled atop one another. Hugo's gift. Chris held the bangles up to the pale light, and tried to follow the patterns painted upon them. They were handmade. Such things could only be presented by the maker to their recipient. The bangles were a sign of prowess and skill among the Karaya, given to young men and women who had just begun to take their first step on the path to becoming a true warrior. For a young Karayan, they represented emancipation from childhood, and a first sign that she had won the respect of her elders. For Chris, they represented love, and a gift of belonging. Hugo had welcomed her among the Karaya, and shown her that his home could be her home, too.

They had searched for him. After the Destroyers departed, Chris had mobilized the Kinese. It was all a blur now, but she remembered shouting orders, instructing the women to comb the woods for any sign of Hugo. But the forest was deep, and dark, and Hugo was but a single man. They'd brought out Fubar, hoping the griffin could track its beloved master, but the beast had been unable to pick up a trail from the sacred glade. It only made sense – the Destroyers had access to the Blinking Rune. They could have taken Hugo anywhere. Why should he remain in the woods, at all? But she could not give up before she had tried everything. So they had searched, hour after hour, and with each passing moment, the sinking realization came bubbling up towards the surface. Hugo was gone. She'd lost him. If the Destroyers had not taken him back to their camp, if the Destroyers had even left him alive, they would not find him before it was too late. Hugo would find his way back, or he would not.

Chris placed the bangles back into the box, swallowing back tears. Hugo had wanted to show her his determination. He had wanted to show her his devotion. Chris struggled with that notion. Trust. When she gave herself to him, she had thought herself ready. The night they had spent together in tenderness and lust, the strength of those feelings had swept her up in a tempest of emotion. She had clutched him close, seizing his body tight against her own, gripped with an immense feeling of vulnerability.

She wanted to trust him. With all her being, she wanted that. But could she? Every fiber of her cultural upbringing had cried out against trusting Hugo. Every fiber had cried out against giving herself to him. Even now, she felt her cheeks color at the thought. She had chosen to trust, against her better judgment. She had taken a leap of faith. But in the morning, she had taken a step back. She'd been afraid. And now, cradling the bracelets in her hands, she felt only regret.

Gently, Chris closed the lid on the box. She felt light-headed with fatigue, and had to steady herself as she stood. Then she smoothed her breeches, and took a deep breath. There was much to be done.

It was time to get back to work.

Lucia entered Alma-Kinan with the dawn's first light, but she may as well have walked into a graveyard. The great glade was peopled with countless refugees, bursting in the seams with survivors. Her people.

There were so few of them. Where had they all gone? Were these all that remained of the clans? They looked up where she passed, mumbled voices raised in surprise. She saw shock in their faces, joy, relief. Young women reached out and touched her arm as she passed, and she smiled her tight-lipped smile in return. There was such pain in those familiar faces. She yearned to stay with them, comfort them, but that would have to come later. First, she needed to see Rina.

Behind her, Nash and Sasarai followed. Tended to by Nash, the Bishop had stirred from his unnatural sleep after several days. He was pale, and had remained nearly silent since he woke, making her wonder if some part of the Bishop had broken.

Nash had traded their clothes for anonymous cottons along the way. They would not be welcome here, in Alma-Kinan. Lucia had considered leaving the two at the edge of the forest, at the mercy of the Harmonians. But Nash had been relentless. She half expected him to track her through the woods, were it necessary.

The path to the great glade had gone smoothly. Much too smoothly, in fact. Lucia had expected to be greeted by the warrior maidens at the outskirts of their territory. She had been to the village twice before, the first time as a young woman accompanying her father, the second time as chieftain of the Karaya. Each time, the silent watchers of the woods had stepped out from the shadows among the trees to greet their visitors. The fact that they had seen no one on the path to the village was worrying. Worse, the barrier she thought would block her path had yielded without resistance. Alma-Kinan lay open. And its people had been bloodied.

Yuiri and Rina met her near the middle of the village. Lucia quickened her step. The Kinese chief bore fresh scars upon her cheek and forehead, and her upper arm was bandaged. Yes, something had happened here.

They embraced. There was joy in the reunion, but Lucia could read something more on their faces. Tension. Guilt. Suddenly, a terrible thought came over her.

"Where is my son?"

Sharp sunlight lanced through the narrow windows in the cellar, illuminating the knight huddling against the wall. Thick rope bound Percival's arms to the timbers at his back. His knees were folded beneath him, and his head hung low as he stared at the hard-packed dirt floor.

The prisoner looked up as Chris reached the bottom of the stairs. She paused there, surveying the room. The two Karayan warriors standing guard at the top of the stairs had let her pass without comment. In the cellar room, there was only her and Percival. There was no other exit.

A crooked grin spread on his lips. "Our Beautiful Goddess…"

Before she could contain her rage, Chris had marched into the middle of the room, halting just before doing something that would shame her. She clenched her fists. "I would have helped you save your sister. You should have told me."

Percival threw back his head and laughed.

"You find this amusing, traitor?"

"I laugh," Percival said, his voice a dry croak, "Because I believe you."

Chris frowned. "Then why? I am your captain. Why did you not come to me with this?"

Percival turned his face from her, as if he could not bear to meet her eyes anymore. "Because I believed them, too." He chuckled, but the sound came out bitter. "They said they'd kill Dindee."

Chris regarded the man carefully. Once, not long ago, she would have trusted this man with her life. When she had looked upon his smooth cheeks, his hawkish nose, his sardonic smile, she had seen bravery, loyalty, and devotion. When she now looked upon those same features, handsome though they might be, she saw only a loathsome knave. It frightened her that she felt such disgust at the sight of him. It was like something inside her had wrenched apart, forever broken. She turned away. She could not bear to look upon him.

"Why should the Destroyers keep their bargain? Why should they return your sister unharmed?"

She heard the ropes creak as he shifted his position. "I… I held on to hope. It was the only way…" Doubt had crept into his voice now, his words coming whispered and tormented.

Chris paced the breadth of the cellar, taking great pains to keep her steps slow and measured. She did not wish to betray the storm of emotions beneath her cool façade. Her thoughts turned back to the game of subterfuge and deceit she had played with the Chimera in Vinay. Seeing Percival here, she could not help but imagine the cell where Alron and Sarah had kept her. There were times when her skin still ached where the fallen knight had lashed her back. Curling a lock of silver hair in her fingers, she remembered washing the dye out in a stream near Chisha. No more illusions. No more lies.

"There is always another way," she said, with conviction. Percival remained quiet, but his pain came off him in waves, a thing almost physical. A thought occurred to her. She turned to face him – she needed to see his eyes when she asked the question. "How long?"

Percival breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling like a bellows. "Months ago. She came to me… some months ago. Before all of this began."

Chris felt her throat tighten with anger. All this time, she'd nourished a snake at her bosom. How could she not had seen it? Surely she should have been able to see the turmoil in his eyes? She shook the thought away. She could blame herself later. "Where have they taken Hugo?"

Percival stared up at her with a confused look on his face. He took some time to answer. "Why would they take him anywhere?" he said. "They wanted his rune, that's all. Once they're done with him—" He stopped suddenly. Something on her face must have warned him.

Chris nearly crumpled. Was he right? Was Hugo…? No. The thought was too awful to even consider. With effort, she mastered herself. "Are there more like you? More traitors hiding in our midst?"

Percival grimaced, and hung his head. "I don't know."

"Where will the Destroyers strike next? Will they come for the True Lightning Rune?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"You do not know?" Chris knelt before him, pushed his chin up to meet his eyes, inches from hers. She could see shame and pain in his eyes. She hated that she had to do this. She hated that it was necessary. "You knew they would strike at Alma-Kinan," she said.

"Yes. They told me that much."

She released him, took a few steps away from the man. "Give me something I can work with. Show me that your betrayal meant something. Tell me just one useful thing you have learned in the employ of Zexen's enemies."

Percival deflated, head sinking. He said nothing.

"What are they planning?" she said. "How do we find them? Is there a limit to the Blinking Rune's power?"

"I don't know," Percival said, hissing. Bitterness had crept into his voice, and he looked up, gritting his teeth like a caged animal. "I don't know," he snarled. "I don't know!" he shouted.

Chris squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and sighed. She took a step back, and faced him, hands at her sides. What she was about to do was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. "Percival Fraulein. You have betrayed the knights. You have betrayed your country. You were a knight, but no longer. Now you will face the knights' justice."

She turned to leave the room. Just before mounting the steps, she said, "If your sister lives, I will do everything in my power to save her." Without waiting for an answer, she started up the stairs. Her heart pounded in her chest. Each step felt as heavy as if dragging an anvil behind her.

From the cellar came the faint sounds of sobbing.

Hugo ran over endless fields of emerald, beneath a sapphire sky. The wind sang of the spirits. He ran towards the rising sun, feeling a cooling breeze upon his bare legs. The fields stretched on forever, yet Hugo had a sense of approaching a threshold. Without turning to look, he could sense the darkness following in his wake, waiting for him to falter. Hugo felt no fear. Fear was past. He felt peace. Joy.

Time stretched into eternity as he ran. He passed by stunning landscapes. Great gorges of ochre sandstone, jutting spires rising between streams carved into deep riverbeds. Primordial forests, great oaks towering into the heavens. All this, and much more, he saw as he ran.

Hugo had a sense that he had forgotten something. It was a small, nagging thing, this feeling, hidden beneath an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility. He kept his eyes on the distant horizon where the brilliant sun rose. With each step, he drew closer to the unseen threshold. With each step, his heart quickened with anticipation. Soon, so very soon, he would know complete peace.

"Wake up…" The voice came to him from a great distance.

Hugo knew instantly that something had gone wrong. Some careless hand had shaken his world, and disturbed the scene before him. Hugo stumbled. When he continued forward, something had changed. The green-gold radiance of the grass had faded. The sky had lost its pearlescent sheen, bleached to a gray-blue filled with dread and sorrow. Even the sun had surrendered its glittering diamond hues, as if shedding a skin to reveal beneath it a sickly orange-yellow.

"Wake up…"

Hugo stumbled again. He looked around to see dense woods. The sounds of pealing laughter and splashing water reached him from somewhere nearby. He picked his way through the woods, following the sound of laughter, until he entered a glade surrounding a small lake. The sun glittered like diamonds on the surface of its crystal waters.

Three women frolicked in the pond, splashing water at each other. They were naked, their hair damp and slicked against their skin, their soft bodies youthful and lovely.

"Come," Chris said, turning to smile at him. "Wake up…" She beckoned him with one curled finger.

"Yes, come," Yumi said. She held her arms out to him. "Wake up…"

Lily stood with arms at her sides, holding nothing back. "Wake up," she said.

Hugo had a sense that he was forgetting something important. The feeling of peace had been torn. He felt pulled between the emerald fields and their distant threshold, between the women in the pond, and between something else. Something darker that followed in his wake.

Hugo stepped eagerly into the water. Only now did he realize that he wore no clothes. Oddly, the realization meant nothing to him. And the women gave no reaction.

"Come," Chris repeated. The sun warmed her drenched skin where she waded towards him. Slowly she approached, and yet she seemed to come no closer.

"Wake up…"

Again, Hugo's world seemed to quiver. The sun set in an instant, plunging the woods into darkness. Hugo stared at the three figures before him. Not women, but something ghostly, something immaterial. He reached out a hand for the creature that had been Chris, and it passed through her translucent form.

Hugo shuddered, backing off. He ran.

The woods were black as pitch. Time stretched again into eternity. Roots snagged his feet, branches flayed his head and arms. He ran without knowing his destination. He ran without knowing where he was. He ran until the world turned into a whole black nothingness, without any features hidden or visible. He plunged into a pit, and felt himself falling. The pit was bottomless. For an eternity, he fell, and his whole being filled with dread.

"Wake up!"

Slowly, the sheet of blackness dissolved into flickers of movement, the dark gray outline of shapes. Tall things towered all around him. Trees. Hugo moved his head. His vision blurred each time. Very slowly, the night yielded to his eyes.

He felt numb. His arm throbbed strangely, as if his pain were someone else's pain. "Where am I?" he tried to ask, but he couldn't get the words out.

Someone moved over him. Hands shifted about his numb body, doing something he could not see. Hugo blinked, struggling to focus. Exhausted, he fell back into unconsciousness. When he next awoke, a dark form squatted over him. "You're finally awake," said the stranger.

Hugo stared up at the man. He recognized him as if from a dream. He knew this man, somehow, but… he could not place him.

"Who are you…" he mumbled.

Armor rustled as the stranger stood, pulling Hugo to his feet in one swift motion. The world seemed to lurch. Hugo felt nausea pass through him, and he nearly emptied his stomach then and there. He tried to steady himself, and felt something disturbing. In a cold sweat, Hugo looked down at his hand.

He saw only a stump there. His vision swam. He nearly fell back into unconsciousness.

"I've healed you, for now," said the stranger, "You must come with me. I will bring you to safety…"

Hugo staggered back against the trunk of a tree, clutching at his lost hand and feeling his heart pound in his chest. Spirits! He still felt the hand!

The stranger mumbled a series of mystical words. Then he drew his great sword from its sheath. He plunged its blade into mid-air.

A terrible howl, like wrenching metal apart, tore loose from the world itself as the stranger forced open a portal. Hugo watched as the aperture slid open in a vertical line, then yawned wider until it formed a roughly circular shape.

Hugo stared through the portal into the darkness of the void. Impossible shapes floated there, illuminated in flashes of crimson lightning.

The stranger pushed Hugo towards the portal. He strained against the grip, but the man was too strong.

"Yes," the stranger said. "I will bring you to safety." His voice boomed in Hugo's ear. He could not tell if it was a trick of his weakened mind, or some hint of the man's true nature. "Though, it may not be safety as you know it…"

The gap in reality howled like a gale as Hugo stepped through.