Chapter 5
The next morning came far too quickly. At the first sign of sunlight, Ephraim and company left the little house in the big woods. The Renais twins rode their horses, while Tana rode aground on her pegasus. The rest of the group traveled on foot, as they had since they left Caer Pelyn.
Gerik moved up to walk alongside Ephraim. "Are you sure about going to Renais?" he asked. "You'll have to fight your own soldiers. I know it was a bit shock when they attacked out of nowhere, but now that we're expecting it...you don't really have to go in."
"I'll be fine," Ephraim assured him. "I know what I must do. Besides, the vault that keeps the Sacred Stone can only be opened with the bracelets that Eirika and I wear. But I appreciate your concern."
Actually, this bothered Ephraim more than he was letting on. The memories from last year came flooding back, when he had expressed those same concerns to General Duessel. It was just now that Ephraim began to get an inkling of what Duessel had felt, when his own soldiers pursued him, when his own emperor had ordered his execution, and when his own colleague, Selena Flourspar, carried out the order without hesitation. It was no wonder that Duessel had felt the way he did. But Ephraim could not let those feelings hinder him. He needed to follow his own advice that he had given to Duessel back then. He was fighting for something important. Perhaps even more so now."
"Okay, I get that," Gerik said. "But are you sure about getting the stone? If Prince Lyon was possessed from messing with it..."
"We're just going to pick it up," Ephraim cut him off. "We're not going to mess with it. Not until we know what we're going to do with it, anyway."
Gerik nodded. "Gotcha."
The rest of the journey to Renais was uneventful, much to the heroes' relief. Ephraim guided them to the rear of the castle rather than the front entrance.
"Now that I think about it," he said, "the castle wasn't very well guarded when we returned. But we still can't risk going through the main entrance. We'll try to avoid combat with the soldiers if we can."
"Sounds like a good idea," Gerik said. "But who'd have thought these castles would have a secret passageway?"
"We built it after the war last year," Ephraim said. "We can use it to escape in an emergency."
"When Grado invaded Renais, we had to break through the enemy forces to escape, and Seth got injured in the process," Eirika added.
"I get it!" Ewan exclaimed. "If you get attacked again, you can just sneak out through the passageway!"
"That's right," Ephraim replied. "Come, follow me."
Walking up to the wall, he pressed on it, causing it to slide out and then to the side. Ephraim led the group inside and through a long, dark tunnel.
"It's so dark in here..." Tana remarked.
"Yes, we haven't gotten around to adding the torches yet," Ephraim said. "But it's pretty straight, so they're not really needed. Not when entering, anyway. The other downside is that we won't be able to reach the horses...but then again, the idea is to escape quietly, and the horses may make too much noise."
The corridor led to the castle library. From there, the Renais twins led the way to the room where the vault keeping the Sacred Stone was located. Ephraim and Eirika stood in front of the seal.
"Eirika, are you ready?" Ephraim asked.
"Yes, Brother," Eirika replied.
The twins raised their bracelets into the air. The bracelets glowed, and the seal door glowed in reaction. The door began to slide open.
"There it is," Eirika said. "Now let's go get the stone!"
"We'll go," Ephraim told her. "The rest of you stay here and keep an eye out for anything that happens."
Gerik nodded. "Got it."
The Renais twins entered the vault, descending down a long flight of stairs.
"It shouldn't take that long," Saleh remarked. "We'll be prepared to leave as quickly as possible when they return."
The others nodded.
"Um...Saleh?" Myrrh called nervously.
"Hmm?" Saleh turned to glance at her, and in doing so, caught a glimpse of the movement in the distance. Walking towards them was Seth. He strode towards them in a calm, steady pace. When he stepped food into the room, he drew his sword, pointing it at them.
"I'll handle this," Gerik said, drawing his own sword to meet the challenge.
"He's the Silver Knight..." Ewan said quietly. "He's gonna be tough."
"Yeah, but I'm the Desert Tiger," Gerik pointed out. "So I'm gonna be tough."
"Be careful, Gerik," Saleh warned. "We'll cover you."
He held the ends of his staff in his hands in a defensive stance. Tana, Ewan, and Myrrh stood near the walls of the room, also in similar defensive stances.
Gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands, Seth took a massive horizontal swing. Gerik blocked the blade with his own, but Seth continued relentlessly, swinging his sword. The other heroes flinched, watching as Gerik and Seth continued to meet with the fierce clashing of blades.
Ephraim and Eirika finally reached the room where the Sacred Stone was kept. Even with the Demon King inside, the stone still radiated with its dazzling light.
"There it is..." Eirika said. "It's just as beautiful as I remember."
"Yeah...but there's no time to stand and admire it."
Ephraim approached the stone and carefully picked it up. Suddenly, a burst of energy erupted from the stone, knocking him flat on his back.
"Ephraim!" Eirika gasped as she knelt down beside him. "What happened? Are you all right?"
"Ugh..." Ephraim sat up, glaring at the stone in his hand. "I'm fine. Just...a little stunned is all. Let's go. We got what we came for; we shouldn't tarry here any longer."
They stood up and started to leave, but after a few steps, Ephraim's vision began to spin. He lost his balance, stumbling and collapsing to his knees.
Eirika moved to support him again. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Ephraim paused, a vacant expression on his face. "I'll be fine. Maybe...if I just sit still for a moment...it'll pass..."
"All right..." Eirika relaxed on the floor next to him. "I hope the others are okay up there..."
"I'm sure they're fine," Ephraim said abruptly, but tiredly. "They're tough. They have the Desert Tiger up there..."
The Desert Tiger... The title rather bitterly crossed his mind.
Nevertheless, Ephraim continued. "The mountain sage...the Dragonkin..." He glanced over at Eirika. "We have quite a team, don't we?"
"Indeed..." Eirika couldn't help but smile at that. "Quite a team..."
"Yaaahh!" Gerik yelled as he swung his sword overhead towards Seth. The Silver Knight raised his sword to block it, and the two blades became locked in a struggle to overcome one another.
Meanwhile, Gerik's companions watched intently, wanting to help, but not wanting to get in the way.
"Come on, come on..." Ewan cheered quickly, shaking his fists.
Myrrh clasped her hands together timidly with an audible gulp.
Without warning, Seth pressed his food into Gerik's gut, knocking him to the floor. Instead of advancing with his sword, however, Seth picked up a large white vase and raised it overhead.
Oh shit! Gerik thought as he quickly rolled out of the way, just barely avoiding the vase that smashed onto the floor beside him.
Before he could get up, Seth jumped onto his back, clinging tightly. Gerik struggled to get him off, but Seth only tightened his hold, slowly bringing himself closer. Baring his teeth, Seth bit down hard on Gerik's ear, causing it to bleed. The Desert Tiger roared in pain.
"Eww!" Tana screamed, cringing at the sight. Ewan and Myrrh couldn't bring themselves to watch either.
"Gerik!" Saleh started to move in to help him, but a flash of light caught his attention, freezing him in his tracks. Everyone looked over towards the vault, where Ephraim stood, holding the Sacred Stone, glowing brightly in his hand. Eirika stood beside him. Without a word, his face expressionless, Ephraim slowly began to step forward towards Seth. The glow of the stone seemed to repel the Silver Knight, as he jumped up, releasing Gerik. He backed away, shielding his face with his arms before turning and running out of the room.
"Arrrgh!" Gerik groaned as he picked himself up, covering his ear with one hand, while blood trickled down between his fingers. "I can't feel my ear...I think he ripped it off!"
"Let me see..." Saleh gently pulled Gerik's hand away. Luckily, his ear hadn't been ripped off. "No, it's still there. Here..."
He brought the orb of his staff towards Gerik's ear, healing it. Within seconds, Gerik felt the pain fading away.
"Whew, thanks! Don't know what I'd do without you."
Now the group turned their attention to Ephraim.
"You got the stone?" Ewan asked, excited.
"Yes. Here it is." Still expressionless, Ephraim held the stone out for everyone to behold.
"Wow..." Ewan gazed at its dazzling light before he frowned suddenly. "The last Sacred Stone. I can't believe it..."
Everyone else stared at the stone with a similar frown. The Sacred Stone that had once repelled evil was now the source of their troubles.
"All right, we got what we came for," Ephraim said, tucking the stone away in his pouch. "Were we heading to Grado Keep next?"
"Yes," Saleh said, "to research the notes from Prince Lyon's studies. From there...hopefully we'll have a solution."
Gerik gave an exasperated sigh. "It still feels like we're up the creek without a paddle. But fine, let's go."
The group nodded in agreement and began to leave the castle.