Author's Notes
Hi everyone!^^
I'm here at last. It's been longer than expected, even considering that from now chapters will be a bit longer than usual, but finally I found time to complete this new chapter (and it's almost a miracle, since I'm actually playing Kingdom Hearts 3 again and againXD).
Things are reaching their climax, and soon all pieces will go into place for the final act of this story and this first arc.
See you soon for the next one!^^
Cj Spencer
8
«What the hell happened to you?» Sarpi said.
The solider Mazzega now standing in front of them only barely resembled the one they left six months before.
When they left her, they had entrusted to the centaurs a rookie, inexpert young soldier with almost no experience in wild life; now, those same centaurs were about to return them some sort of warrior princess, stronger and more vigorous than a longstanding athlete and with apparent skills in fighting far better than almost every soldiers Dante had ever seen.
She was… unhuman.
«Kheshiz, sal kara sipa mei hakka.» she said like if she was speaking in her mother language.
«What!?» everyone said
«Ops. Excuse me, I'm still having problems in controlling it. Sometimes u glashi, I mean, I speak in their language without knowing.»
«Hell, I thought I've seen them all.» Dante commented while waiting for Lily to finish healing his wounds aboard of the LMV.
«In short, not too much time after we divided, I've been badly wounded when a group of elves attacked our caravan while passing through Arlea.
I was in a very bad state, so King Kerion gave me one of their potions to save my life. Don't ask me why, but when I recovered, my whole being was changed. I was even able to speak and understand their language perfectly.»
«Our potions are made only for centaurs.» Herera commented, still a bit limping due to the battle. «I'm surprised you're still alive.»
«Shaman Gazer said the same. He says my physique has changed giving me part of your people's power without changing my human form. I spent this whole time learning to control this new strength, but I still need to pay attention to not go too far to avoid dangers.»
«Great, now we have a motherfucking Aloy with us.» Santalba murmured
«I heard you, Captain. My hearing too has improved strongly.»
«Quirasha sura kant, Herei. (We have to hurry, Herei)» said king Kerion.
«Flashy, uriel zeki tark, Mar Sauner. (I know, it's dangerous to stay here, Lord Kerion)»
«Wait a minute!» Herera said. «How did he call you? Herei?»
«Yes.» she answered almost embarrassed
«What's the problem?» Betton asked
«A centaur gives the same name to all of his sons.» Mazzega explained. «The sole thing changing is the final suffix, indicating the year of birth. Ra, Si, Fi, Ma, I for daughters, Lu, Be, Ku, Ce for sons, and so on.»
«If I remember correctly» Zori said. «Right now we're in the Year of the Butterfly, according to centaurs' calendar.»
«So» Herera said in astonishment. «You're my…»
«Your small sister.» Mazzega smiled. «I said King Kerios that I was an orphan, so he told me that from now on I could call him father, and gave me a new name. He also thought me his secrets in fighting and hunting.»
«Father, I knew you wanted another daughter, but this…»
«We swore to protect Herei and respect our agreement. This was the pact. And if it was the Gods' will to make me find one more daughter, so be it.»
In a few minutes the centaurs managed to drag the jeep out of the mud, and at that point it was time for everyone to say goodbye.
«My father says that he would like to organize a banquet to thank you for having protected me.» Herera said.
«Tell him we're grateful for his offer, but we really have to go.» Dante answered. «We stayed far from home for too long. Passing through Arlea, we'll be in Castria in a couple of days. And we still have to know if they found the Falcon-1.»
Herera looked at the ground, nervously rubbing her hands and almost blushing.
«It's… it's been an honor to make this journey with you.» she said with unusual embarrassment, only to recover her proverbial self-control with just a few seconds of delay. «Thank you for what you did for me. I will never forget that you risked your lives to save mine.»
«Neither us we'll forget you did the same.» Dante replied.
«I think I can speak in my father's name if I say that from now on, you'll always find a good friend in my tribe. And I think it will be the same even for all other tribes when I'll have spoken about you with them.»
«It will be an honor for us if you will want to pay a visit on Castria to seal this friendship.»
«I'll come Castria myself very soon. From now on, the centaurs and Italy will walk along the same path.»
Then, the centaurs left, and the guys of the Falcon-9 felt a wave of sadness when Herera turned to them for a last goodbye before vanishing beyond the hill with her clan.
«Come on, guys.» the Major said trying to hide his own sadness. «Let's move. We're almost home.»
«Wait a minute, there's one more thing.»
«What now, Mazzega?»
«Well…» she said in embarrassment. «Now that I think about, these dresses are quite comfortable, but a bit… skimpy. Don't you have one more uniform to lend me, please?»
Many times Ivana and Minister Giovanardi had seen Rigamonti face very difficult situations, putting his own political career at risk to not go against his ideas or what he thought may be the better interest for his nations.
But this time, and for the first time, it was different. For a whole night, they had prayed for the last message came from their spies on Alnus to remain unconfirmed; they hoped to see it adjusted, because if the initial news had been confirmed, it would've been the end of all hopes for the Italian ambitions over the Special Region.
The silence in the Prime Minister's office was outstanding, and when the delegate arrived with the spies' answer to the request for confirms, Ivana opened the door and grabbed the paper even before the messenger finished knocking.
«So?» Rigamonti asked without turning, and keeping to look at the streets starting to fill of people out of the window.
Ivana read the paper, and her initial silence gave the confirm he feared before she answered.
«It's confirmed, Prime Minister. Both Princess Pina and her father have been retrieved from the Japanese and taken to Alnus.»
«What are Molt's conditions?» Giovanardi demanded
«He's still recovering from the assassination's attempt, but he's alive. Our agents on Italica report that the survivors of the Rose Knights and other units loyal to the Emperor have regrouped around the city. The Formal family has already proclaimed his loyalty to princess Pina and the JSDF, and the city's garrison is already reinforcing the walls to face a siege. Even the JSDF are in state of alert.»
«What about Prince Zorzal?»
«He left the capital with his personal guard and a group of servants, but his troops still control the city. The senate, or what remains, has proclaimed him as legitimate successor to the throne, but riots are reported in a certain number of districts, and even among some of the vassals.»
«It's over.» Rigamonti sentenced with a faint voice. «We lost.»
Ivana and Giovanardi were shocked: that was the first time in their life that they were hearing the word "defeat" coming out of Rigamonti's lips.
«Let's say the truth.»
«Sergio…»
«There's no way for us to reverse the course of this game at this point.» and then he turned to his trusted companions, showing a glance of defeat that none of them had ever seen before. «All we can do at this point is try to catch some other nations' interest at Japan's place. We built a strong community and we have access both to a lot of resources and magic technology. This should be enough to attract the greedier ones. Maybe someone like US or Russia will not follow us, but we can still hope to create an European alliance around our Gate.»
Both Ivana and Giovanardi stayed silent for a while, they too unable to accept that all efforts of the last twelve months had been vain.
«You know that the moment you finish speaking your political career will be over, right?» Ivana said
«I started this game knowing the risks, I have no regrets. But I want to be sure that our past efforts will not end up in the garbage. Giovanardi?»
«Yes, Prime Minister?»
«Settle everything for a press conference. We'll call it for next Friday evening. Like this, the markets will have a whole weekend to absorb this revelation.»
«But it's just three days far.»
«We need to do it quickly, while everyone's lips are still not completely attached to Morita's butt. And I want you and your team prepare a complete report as soon as possible, analyzing all possible scenarios from now, especially regarding a possible conflict against Reich to retake the regions around Castria. It will be really useful to me… or whoever will come after me.»
«Do I have to make report to the other political leaders or the Government?» Ivana demanded
«So that they can sink me before time? No thanks. I'll not let them claim my conquests.»
At that point, Rigamonti slowly took the coat from the hanger, wearing his brown leather gloves while looking at the ground.
«Le jeux sont fait.» he said with a smile before leaving the office.
A completely relaxed mind was essential even for the most trained and pure Warrior Bunny to reach the world between worlds while sleeping.
And when you're a fugitive in an hostile land, forced to sleep almost every night on a horseback, it was difficult to find the proper mental state for such complex ritual.
However, in all that time spent on that ethereal state, Radika had developed some sort of empathy with Queen Tyuule, as if now they were able to "sense" each other state even while not sleeping. That's why Radika in those last days had tried the she could to reach the proper state to travel in the world between worlds: because the heart pain she was feeling told her that something really bad had happened to the queen.
Finally, after an indefinite time spent traveling between real and dream world, Radika found herself on the banks of the lake, nothing but an image created by the warrior's subconscious to turn an indefinite dimension into something more real.
However, it was not the usual place, not completely: instead of a pleasurable sunny day, Radika found a cold, autumn-like grey sky; the grassy fields were now yellow printed, the far trees were throwing their leaves to the wind, and everywhere one could see signs of an upcoming winter.
«What's happening here?» the girl said looking around.
Then, she noted Tyuule sat on the banks as always, and she immediately run to her.
«My queen!»
When the queen turned, however, Radinka remained shocked; she was smiling, but it was a resignation smile, and the light in her eyes was visibly weaker than usual.
«Oh, you're here my dear.»
«What's happening, my Queen? I felt your heart crying.»
Tyuule hesitated for a moment, but at the end she turned again to the lake.
«I did it, my dear.»
«You did… what?»
«The things you told me… what my people thinks of me… I accepted all sorts of humiliations to protect them…».
Then, the most obscure rage appeared in the queen's eyes, while a storm wind started flowing all around them, turning a grey but still a bit luminous day into a night of thunders and cold.
«But thanks to Zorzal's lies, now they see me as a traitor! They call me bitch and say that I betrayed them just to save my life! You call the hell I'm forced in life? That bastard hasn't taken me away only my nation and my honor, but even the same respect of my people!»
«Our people is resurrecting, My Queen. Remember? Queen Pentesia is leading us to a new life.»
«It's not my people, Radika! No more! How could I come back now after all things Zorzal said about me? He took me everything I had! And so, I did the same! I gave that fool everything he wanted, and I took it away to him! Then why? Why I'm not able to feel satisfaction? Tell me!»
Suddenly wind became so strong that Radika found herself almost unable to remain on feet, and despite all her efforts she started being pushed behind, as if Tyuule, at that point barely visible in that storm of leaves and water, was trying to throw her out of that world.
«My Queen!»
«Live, my dear.» Radika heard her saying in a quiet and almost resigned tone. «My life will not last long I fear. But as long as the ones like you live, the soul of our people will not die.»
Then, everything vanished in a devastating tornado that consumed all things.
«You're awake.» Sadee said seeing Radika get up from one of the carriages, and noting almost immediately her worried expression. «Is everything all right?»
«More or less.» she answered. «Where are we?»
«In the middle of Arlea Forest. We're not far from home.»
The column made by Imperial soldiers and Calibrian refugees was proceeding along a narrow in the deepest and most unexplored region of the forest, where the same sun had problems in sending a bit of light to the ground, with all those massive trees leaning their branches above the road.
For someone who was not a native of Arlea it was impossible to cross such mazy net of paths and passages without getting lost, but for Sadee each tree, each stone and stream was familiar, and even considering her will to come back home as soon as possible, Agrippa had chosen to follow her suggestions, even considering that like this they could stay far from the most frequented routes, avoiding undesired encounters.
When a messenger came from the head of the column informing Sadee that Agrippa wanted to talk to her, the elven princess quickly reached the General.
«How much is left for Castria?»
«We're almost there, General. Just three more days and we'll be arrived. But there's a Green People's watch post in the forest, between us and the fort. If we reach it and explain our situation, I'm sure they'll grant us a safe and fast passage with their vehicles.»
«I suppose I should thank you, lady Sadee. We wouldn't been able to travel so fast without you.»
«Don't misunderstand, General. I'm not doing it for you. I just want to lead this people to safety as fast as possible.»
«Relax, I know it. Right now, we're just enemies sharing a common objective, and that's how it has to be. If the Green People will accept our requests for cooperation, only then we'll be allowed to start considering ourselves as allies.»
«Well said.»
Suddenly, a noise that almost no one among them had never heard started echoing; it was some king of whistle, coming from the sky.
«What is this noise?» Valeriano asked.
In a few seconds the whistle became so strong to be almost deafening, and moments later, despite the few visible sky above their heads, everyone saw a couple of strange, iron-made objects flying in the sky, passing above them faster than any dragon and scaring everyone to death.
«By the Gods! What are those things?»
«Sadee!» Radika shouted
«I know it!» the elf answered, and once god off her horse she started preparing a campfire.
«What are you doing?»
«Don't you see it?»
«Are you crazy? Those dragons will see us!» Valeriano shouted
«They're not dragons, they're the Green People! You're armed and uninvited, so they'll shoot if they think we're hostile!»
Without further explanations, Sadee lighted fire, covering it with leaves and grass to create as much smoke as possible; then, Radika came to her with a long cape.
«What do you think, General?» Valeriano asked
«Let them do. They surely know the Green People better than us.»
Lieutenant Ignazio Corso and his partner and friend Carlo Zerbi were making their daily patrol around Castria.
Things had become quite problematic since the fall of Calibria, and flying squads used to mount guard in all directions day and night, in search for the smallest sign of suspicious movements in the region.
That morning, Corso and Zerbi were on duty above Arlea Forest, whose mysterious interferences made it the most dangerous place to keep under eye, since even with the antennas system now operative it still asked AEW&CS support to be inspected. Even thermic visors had problems working, as if the whole forest was nothing but a giant magnetic field, capable of reflecting all sorts of electronic signals.
In such cases, the pilot's eyes were the most trustworthy spotters, even if in order to have a good vision of the paths under the trees it was necessary to fly incredibly low.
And right when that one was a good point to become just another ordinary inspection, the disturbed but still working radar of Corso's tornado signaled something not far from them, and a fast inspection proved that it hadn't been a false alarm.
«Spotter-1 to spotter-3, you hear me?»
«Loud and clear, spotter-1.» the G550 AEW flying a couple of miles above them reported. «What's the situation?»
«Confirmed contact. Sixty miles southeast of HQ. Unidentified unit spotted. Estimated force, two thousands units. We require thermic confirm.»
One of the operators aboard of the plane confirmed, noting thanks to the thermic vision no less than two thousand men moving across a less frequented path along the forest.
«What you think they are, Sir?» the operator asked to the officer in command aboard the plane, Major Piero Vecchioni. «Merchants?»
«Too many. Definitely.» then he took the radio. «Spotter-1, can you tell us something more? Who are they?»
«I cannot say it clearly Sir. It seems some sort of little army from up here.»
«Reich?»
«Negative. The uniforms seem different. But I'm able to confirm.»
In such situation, even considering both the newcomers' high number and they were not using the paths indicated for the locals, orders were to try scaring the uninvited guests with some air show, proving them the Italian superior technology and hoping that this was enough to prevent them from advancing further.
However, things had changed since when the Italian Administrated Region found itself surrounded by Reich's new dominion, and the same engagement rules became less strict.
«Do we have to use force, Spotter-3?» Corso demanded.
Theoretically, Castria's authorization was still necessary to open fire against locals, and that's why Vecchioni hesitated giving the order, unable to choose between acting immediately or follow the rules.
Meanwhile, the two tornado had started flying around above the newcomers waiting for orders, when all of a sudden something happened, leaving both Corso and Zerbi speechless.
«Sir, wait, something's happening!» Corso said
«Report! What do you see?»
«Smoke. The unidentified unit is sending some sort of smoke signal. It seems… Sir, I think it's Morse!»
«Morse!?»
Obviously, no one in the Special Region knew Morse code, apart for few locals trained as guide and pathfinders.
«What do they say?»
«They don't seem words, Sir. They seem… numbers.» Corso answered. «Six. Zero. Six. Nine. One. Repeat. Six. Zero. Six. Nine. One.»
Initially no one understood the meaning of those numbers, but when Vecchioni and the others turned them into an ID, everyone jumped in disbelief.
«My God, it's the Falcon-1!»
«Probably their radio is gone, Sir. That's why we were unable to call them.»
While both the scouts and Vecchioni were still trying to find a way to answer the call, all of a sudden Corso's thermic vision lit up like a Christmas tree, with hundreds of new heat sources appearing from nothing among trees all around the main force.
«Shit! Spotter-3, multiple contacts sighted!»
«What!? Where did they come from?»
«I don't know, Sir! They came out from nothing! The Falcon-1 is completely surrounded!»
«We have to help them! Open fire!»
«It's too late, sir! We may hit our allies!»
«Fuck!»
The sight of the jets flying in circle above them was for Radika and Sadee the proof that probably the pilots had noted and understood their message.
«It worked, it seems.» Sadee said.
«And my father said that studying Morse was a waste of time.» Radika smiled.
Valeriano and Agrippa on contrary were completely out of words, as much as the rest of their soldiers and the survivors of Calibria.
«Gods almighties.» said Anthelea. «What kind of world have we entered in contact with?»
«I've never seen animals like them.» Pharmenon commented.
«They're not animals.» Radika answered. «They're machines?»
«Machines!?» Valeriano replied in disbelief. «You mean… men built them?»
«You seem to know a lot of things about them, Lady Sadee.» said Agrippa
«I lived among them for years. Trust me, the Empire would gain nothing but its end from defying the other world much longer.»
Agrippa was doing his best to hide what he was thinking right now, but the truth was that those things had threw his soul up and down. For all that time he had always thought, or maybe he had desperately tried to move him to believe that all those voices about the Green People and their powerful war machines were exaggerate, and that the Imperial Army's defeat in the other world had been mainly because of unworthy commanders. But now that he was seeing them and their knowledge with his own eyes, nothing more had sense.
A tree collapsing over the road less than ten meters far violently brought him back to the real world, and almost immediately another tree fell behind their backs trapping the column like rats caught in a trap.
«It's a trap!» the General shouted. «Soldiers, defensive formation!»
Legionaries barely had enough time to regroup and form barriers on both flanks, because seconds later hundreds of enemies appeared from nowhere all around them, launching themselves down of the hills and attacking the column while shouting and screaming like demons from hell.
It was not a regular army, not the sort of Agrippa had already faced in the past: there were dwarves, half-animals, goblins, little orcs, even white and black elves, but not a single human. Most of them were dressed and armed like barbarians, apart for the elves, wearing grass mantles and covered in mud, and that was why despite her sensitive nose Radika had been unable to smell their presence.
The Imperials managed to maintain the line against the first wave, but almost immediately, the enemies started throwing everything from the top of the trees; arrows, stones and even some sort of petrol bombs. Normally the legionaries were more than able to protect themselves even from such of dangers while remaining in close formation, but not when an assault was made with such ferocity, and not if there were civilians to protect.
Despite everything, Agrippa's men held the line with minimum losses, but that was just the beginning; when the assaulters understood that the first attack had been partially contained they partially fell back, without however stopping to launch all sorts of projectiles to prevent the imperials from advancing. Then, right when the legionaries were starting to think they could gain an easy victory, the enemies threw down of the hills tree trunks covered with oil, that passing over the flames provoked by the bombs turned into burning rams.
At that point, forced to choose between burning alive or breaking the line, the legionaries opened holes in their lines, not to mention that plenty of them were overwhelmed in any case and died screaming in pain; all those mess made everything even more dramatic, and before the column could try to reorganize the enemies launched another and even more violent assault.
«Do not break formation! Stay on line!» Agrippa tried to say, but it was useless.
Then, with their usual closed and tidy way to fight officially gone, the legionaries passed from a choral resistance into a dramatic one vs one, and despite their superior training the enemies' number was overwhelming; every soldier had to fight against two opponents at the same time at minimum, and the same General at a certain point found himself unable to command his soldiers due to his being literally surrounded by enemies.
«Sir, if we don't do something they will all die like flies!» Corso shouted seeing the massacre taking place under their feet.
«Where the fuck are the reinforcements I asked?» Vecchioni shouted in anger
«The watch post in the forest has sent a squad to assist.» replied one of the operators. «They'll be there in twenty minutes.»
«There will be no more need of them in twenty minutes, curse you!»
Corso was about to require green light to open fire in any case, hoping to scare the enemies at the point of making them retreat even at the cost of as less friendly lives as possible, when suddenly his thermic view spotted something more, not too far from the battlefields in the heart of the forest.
But this time, it was something different.
«Sir, vehicle signal spotted! Three miles south-east from our position!»
«What!?»
«They're not far from here. Can you warn them?»
«Quickly!» the Major shouted. «Point every signal toward them!»
The forest did its best to counter the crew's attempt to call the newcomers and warn them both about the risk and the need for their help, forcing the whole crew of the radar plane to sacrifice any other function to allow the computers to implement the power of the signal at its maximum.
«Hello? Hello? Is anybody listening? If you hear me, answer now! This is an emergency!»
Fortunately, this proved being enough for their purposes.
«This is Major Dante, leader of the Falcon-9. Do you hear me?»
«Finally! We need you and your squad now, Major!»
Even the civilians and refugees weren't spared by the assaulters.
Taking advantage from the battle becoming more and more chaotic, some of the assaulters pointed their attentions to the survivors of Calibria, engaging and overwhelming the few legionaries and Calibrian soldiers defending them and starting with their massacre. Deiphobos and Anthelea did their best to protect their people, but the truth was their magic was extremely weak due to the long time spent without eating or sleeping properly.
Radika and Sadee, seeing their friends on danger, left the head of the column to provide some help. The elven princess in particular was fighting like a true lioness, wielding her sword and an Imperial gladius at the same time and killing anyone crazy enough to try face her.
However, Sadee's strong will faced a tremendous hit the moment she noted some elves among the assaulters wearing strange iron masks as helmets, immediately recognizing both their ways to fight and to dress.
They were not common elves, they were… the Arleians. The tribe of the forest: her tribe.
She couldn't believe it: she had seen the few survivors of her clan being massacred in front of her eyes, her father entrusting her to Lunardi and the firsts of the Falcon-1 before leading a fierce last stand with her brothers.
One of those masked warriors attacked her while she was still trying to accept all this, facing her with a short dagger and a small rounded shield. Like all elves she was extremely fast and agile, and in a first moment she succeeded in putting Sadee in big trouble.
There was something strange, something familiar in her way to fight, but Sadee was still too much shocked and confused to note it; after a bit of time spent on defending herself, the princess finally managed to open a hole in the enemy defense, kicking the shield away and preparing to perform a deadly blow to the throat.
In a desperate attempt to save her life, the opponent lowered his face enough to make the sword hit the mask; however, the moment the mask flew away, revealing the gentle and beautiful face of a young female elf with the usual blue eyes and short blonde hair, Sadee's initial disbelief turned into true shock.
«Niwa!?»
The other girl didn't answer, and kept on looking Sadee without moving with severe eyes.
Then, all of a sudden, a horn echoed from far, and hearing it the enemies, really close to wipe the legionaries completely away at that point, started withdrawing, carefully but quickly.
Niwa too made some steps behind, and despite Sadee's attempts to call her she quickly reached the top of the hill, calling all her allies to retreat with a single whistle, and at that point, everyone left, vanishing among trees.
Agrippa couldn't believe it, and the moment he realized that the enemies had left for true, he started searching for his entrusted officers, finding almost immediately Valeriano's dead body impaled against a nearby tree by a lance.
«Report.» he said, barely finding enough force to walk leaning on the sword. «How many have died?»
«One hundred at minimum, General.» said his sole attendant still alive.
«Who the hell were they?»
«Black legions.» Radika answered while trying to catch some breath. «Demi-humans subjugated by Reich. They attack caravans and convoys that come and go from Castria.»
«I thought Reich hated demi-humans.» Anthelea said «Why did they enroll them in their army?»
«They had to choose. They could fight for Reich as auxiliaries, or be purged. What would you have chosen in their place?»
Then, Radika noted Sadee's discomforted and shocked expression, and went to her to try to help.
«Is everything ok?»
«That... that elf… the one that was leading them…»
«I saw her. And then?»
«She… she's Niwa…» she said, and when she turned, Radika was almost scared by sadness in her eyes. «She's my sister.»