Chapter Sixteen

Lamb to the Slaughter

Linebeck slows Kaito to a stop outside of the dilapidated temple. The woods around him are eerily silent, swallowing up any sound as Linebeck lifts up the lantern to illuminate the area.

With the only light coming from from the captain's lantern and the waning moon above it all, the temple looms before Linebeck. With its run-down appearance, Linebeck feels like he's staring at the bones of a creature about to come to life at any moment.

"If I survive this, I will never be able to look at this temple the same way again." Linebeck thinks to himself, hands gripping Kaito's reins.

Swallowing hard, Linebeck dismounts and ties Kaito to a low hanging branch, giving a soft pat to her nose. Then he faces the temple and resolutely makes his way to the temple entrance.

As Linebeck picks his way through the briars and pieces of temple, he remembers his words to Ciela almost two months ago now. "Hopefully, no sections will fall down while I'm in there." Linebeck gripes.

Linebeck stumbles into the temple's entrance room, one foot having been caught up in a clump of briars. He straightens himself and immediately sees two torches lit, between them a doorway that led into the bowels of the temple. Inside the doorway, a line of torches disappear into the darkness.

As Linebeck sees that doorway, a sudden cowardice seizes his limbs, freezing him in his spot. His heart hammers in his chest as Linebeck stares into the maw of the temple abyss. Try as he might, his body refused to move anywhere near the doorway. Linebeck squeezes his eyes shut, laying curse upon curse upon himself, before opening them to continue staring at the entrance.

Out of the corner of his eye, Linebeck spots a cracked, long dried up, small fountain. Above it, a mosaic of the Goddess Farore lays, now with the colors almost faded and quite a few of the tiles littering the floor beneath it. In the center of her, a tile has her symbol carved into it.

Linebeck steps over to the fountain and reaches up a hand to trace the circle and the two curves emanating from it.

The captain's thoughts turn to his Fiancee, whom he thought was still soundly asleep in their bed and not currently making her way towards him, thoroughly pissed off.

Feeling weird, Linebeck halfway bows his head, clasping his hands together and keeping them close to his chest. He closes his eyes and takes a breath.

"Goddess Farore... if you're watching or... I don't know, listening to this whole shit situation." Too late, Linebeck thinks that maybe it's not the best idea to swear in a prayer to a goddess. "Well, whatever, you may be doing... You see that I'm not being very brave right now... so would you mind lending some courage to this pathetic coward? And kinda make sure I or my sister doesn't die tonight?"

"Because I am scared of dying... I don't like how close I have come in previous situations to actually kicking the bucket. And trust me, it doesn't get any easier facing certain death, especially when you know that you have people waiting back home for you to return." Linebeck winces as Ciela returns to the forefront of his mind.

"So yeah... if you could lend some of my fiancee's courage to me, or give some kind of encouragement, or even just a sign that you're listening to this prayer, that would be fantastic..."

Linebeck opens his eyes, flicking them side to side, searching for anything in the low light.

At nothing seemingly happening, Linebeck lets out the breath he'd been holding, dropping his hands down. Shaking his head, Linebeck turns and yelps when he comes face to face with a pale blue orb.

The orb bobs up and down in quick succession as if it is laughing at the captain's reaction. Then it still and hovers just in front of Linebeck's face, slowly floating away from him.

Linebeck stares at the orb with wide eyes. He looks back at the fountain and the image of Farore and the courage symbol, then back to the orb. It bobs a few times as if confirming with what Linebeck is thinking.

"Alright then." Linebeck breathes.

The orb shoots back towards Linebeck's face and circles his head once. It flies over to the doorway, hovering next to a torch, waiting for Linebeck to join it. Linebeck takes a deep breath and let's it out slowly before beginning to follow the orb. Off handily, Linebeck wonders why the orb is blue and not green, like Farore's designated color. Then Linebeck steps into the doorway and sees the line of torches, knowing what laid at the end of them.

His breath stops short, then Linebeck shakes his head. He steps down the walkway and into the darkness.

For an unknown amount of time, the only sounds Linebeck hears is his steps echoing down the hallway, and the crackling of the torches. The air grows colder and a smell of mustiness pervades the tunnel, alerting Linebeck that he is delving deeper and deeper into the temple.

To keep his mind off of the fact that he is walking towards certain death, Linebeck focuses on the orb, as it provides a welcome distraction with its movements.

Most of the time, the orb would hover just a little in front of Linebeck's head, keeping itself in time with Linebeck's pace. Other times, the orb would dart ahead and hover next to the next torch, waiting for Linebeck to catch up. Then sometimes it would fly in between Linebeck and the next torch in a steady stream of movement.

As he watches the orb, Linebeck finds himself thinking of Ruby and how she would move between everyone while in wolf form, and sometimes even in her human form.

Linebeck shakes his head, squashing down the thoughts. He picks up his pace, wanting to finally reach Jolon and Linette.

Finally, Linebeck sees two torches resting next to a second doorway, signaling that he has reached his destination. Linebeck wets his lips, footsteps slowing. He glances around, trying to find the orb and realizing at some point in the last leg of the journey, it disappeared.

Linebeck turns back the way he came, following the line of torches before they disappeared around a bend in the tunnel.

Then the captain straightens and turns back towards the doorway, steeling his features.

"It's time to finish this." Linebeck mummers. He walks forward and into the room.

As soon as Linebeck enters the room, he begins to feel very small. The room must have been the old worshipping area. The ceiling flies up a good fifty feet, with cracks and holes proving certain death for anyone stupid enough to wander around the temple. Evidence of animals not realizing it rest in the bones scattered around. Among the holes, one could make out the faint depictions of the Goddesses along with a fourth mystery woman and a man clad in a faded green tunic. In the last ten feet before reaching the temple, broken stain glass windows let in more moonlight. The beams of light shines upon the remains of the cathedral's benches, cobblestone and general debris.

Linebeck follows the trail of moonbeams, until his gaze reaches the other end of the cathedral and a stone podium still mostly standing-

Linebeck's breath hitches in his throat as the same pair of emerald eyes lock onto one another.

Linebeck slowly begins stepping forward, barely realizing what he is doing, then quickly picks up his speed to the point where he is running, stumbling over the church debris and scattered bones. He finally reaches the podium and collapses in front of it, much like a sinner in front of his God.

Arms suddenly trembling, Linebeck gently wraps his arms around Linette for the first time in thirteen years.

"Net..." Linebeck breathes, squeezing his eyes shut against oncoming tears. They fall anyway and Linebeck can't really bring himself to care.

"Linebeck..." Linette returns, resting her head in the crook of Linebeck's shoulder. Her arms are tied behind her, preventing her from returning the hug. She has no qualms about crying. Droplets quickly begin falling onto Linebeck's coat as Linette trembles in her brother's arms.

Linebeck draws away and softly takes Linette's face into his hands, wiping away tears left on her grimy and bloody face.

"Finally found you." Linebeck whispers.

Linette lets out a shaky laugh. "Found me." She echos. Her eyes rove over Linebeck's face, soaking in his features. "You've changed so much... You look so much older."

Linebeck remains silent, face growing stony as he takes in Linette's injured face.

"Hey." Linette sharply states, interrupting Linebeck's inspection. "Hey, I've had worse."

Linebeck starts to respond but stops when he sees the color drain out of Linette's face.

Then the voice that wordlessly haunted Linebeck's nightmares speaks behind them, sending chills down Linebeck's spine.

"Hello, Son."

...

Annnnd we finally start hitting the climax. Only took us what? Two years? On a plus side, there is only seven chapters to go with SARF, then we bid it addio and begin the final installment of the Really series. Kinda crazy.

So thoughts on this chapter? Yay or nay? Any theories on what's going to happen? I will hopefully have the next two chapters out in a more timely manner than last time but who knows with me entering the last half of my high school career. I'm setting a deadline for myself, but I'm not telling any of you so as to keep you in suspense on when SARF ends.

Next time I see you lovelies, we travel back once again to formally meet Bellumbeck in this trilogy.

~Roses