Tales of Xalthia
Chapter 15: Darkness Unveiled
The minutes creeped on into hours as Tsuki couldn't do anything until word from Ruko and Queen Emma was received. The free time they had now allowed Tsuki and Lynette to rest up and to get prepared for whatever may come next. They didn't have much choice in the matter anyways. Thankfully, nothing really happened in the few hours of peace that they had. It was a time that most wouldn't think twice about but for Tsuki and Lynette, they felt like this was the calm before the storm. They weren't sure what it was that they were feeling but they both had a gut feeling that something was building up. Even Allie started to notice slight changes in Aer around various points in town. More specifically, around the Residential District, Marketplace and the port where it was felt the most strongest. However, only people who were attuned to feel changes in Aer would notice them.
The hours continued to pass into the early hours of the next day as the sun has already rose up over the horizon and people were getting ready to do whatever it is they do on a daily basis around town. Tsuki and Lynette still haven't received word from Alba and seeing as how they were starting to get a little anxious, they decided to leave the Grand Sandpearl after eating some breakfast and made their way back towards the headquarters building. As they walked through the streets, they noticed that there was an increase in security presence, most likely due to Alba's precautions. Not only that, they could feel that there was a bit of heaviness in the air. People were visibly uneasy about the increased security. Unlike yesterday, people weren't idling around as much. The people did their best to try to keep spirits up though.
Eventually, they made it the headquarters building where they were guided to Alba's office upstairs. Inside, they regrouped with Alba and Ramza where it seems that they were in the middle of some type of conversation as they walked through the doors. Whatever it was they were talking about seemed to put them on edge a bit.
Alba heard the doors to his office open as he looked up and saw Tsuki and Lynette walk in. "Welcome back, you two. I hope you guys managed to get sufficient rest" he said. They appeared to be much more refreshed and ready to go compared to yesterday.
Tsuki nodded at him. "A good nights' sleep was what we needed. I feel like I recovered all my strength and can take on anything" he said. Both of them needded some rest but he definitely needed it as he felt like he had completely recovered from his injuries he sustained back at Briswater with the back-to-back encounters with that Rhino and Caius.
Ramza nodded slowly, glancing over to the two of them briefly. "That's good to hear because you're going to potentially need it, I'm afraid" he said. He sighed heavily, scratching the back of his head. "We got some news to share and it's not particularly anything good" he said.
Lynette tilted her head. She had a bad feeling where this was all heading. "Oh no. What happened? Please, tell me there hasn't been another murder" she said. Caius has already racked up a pretty high body count as it is when it came to some of Cayhills' finest fighters and important figures.
Alba closed his eyes, looking down at his desk for a moment with his arms folded in front of him as he leaned back in his chair. Silence and anxiety filled the room and remained this way for about a minute before he spoke. "We have a confirmed sighting of Caius" he said.
Tsuki knew something was going on. That would explain the increased presence in security around town that they've noticed and the uneasiness the townspeople are feeling. "He's here!? Where!?" he asked.
Ramza shook his head as he walked over to a nearby chair and sat down on it. "We aren't sure where he is, exactly. He was seen hanging out around the non-commercial docks. For the safety of my men and the townspeople, I ordered them to not engage him and only observe. Before we could arrive, he had already disappeared. We searched the area but found no trace of him" he said.
Tsuki scratched his head with a sigh. They needed to find him before things take a turn for the worse. "Well, at least we know he's in the area. Unlike Briswater, this is a relatively small place so it shouldn't be as easy for him to hide out" he said. It was only going to be a matter of time before his location was discovered.
Lynette looked around the room and noticed that Ruko wasn't around. "What about Ruko? Any word from him yet?" she asked.
Alba sighed heavily, leaning forward onto his desk while shaking his head. "Well, the good news is that he received the necessary clearance for our dangerous cargo. The bad news, however, is that he has yet to arrive or even send out any additional word" he said.
Ramza tilted his head a bit. "When was the lasat you heard from him?" he asked, glancing over at Alba.
Alba was silent for a brief moment before looking up at the group. "Yesterday evening. He said he had one quick stop to make at the first checkpoint but haven't heard anything since" he said.
Ramza held his hand up to his chin in thought. He didn't know Ruko but he seemed to be a man who worked with diligence. "Maybe whatever it was that he had to check up on delayed him" he said.
Alba shook his head once more. "No. This isn't like him. If he were delayed or if something had happened, he would of sent word out via carrier bird immediately" he said.
Tsuki couldn't help but worry about him being missing. With the recent sighting of Caius, it made him worry about the fact that he might have fallen victim to him. "That's not good" he said.
Alba nodded to himself slowly before locking his gaze on Tsuki. "Which brings me to a favor I want to ask of you three. I would like you guys to head up to the first checkpoint and see if you can track down Ruko" he said.
Lynette understood that Ruko being missing was bad for not only them but in a general sense. However, with a sighting of Caius in town, she wasn't sure if dividing their forces was a good idea. "Are you sure? What about Caius?" she asked.
Alba stood up and walked over to the wall behind him, tapping on the axe that was mounted to the wall. "This town is my responsibility. If Caius shows up, I'll deal with him. Don't worry about the town either; my men aren't your typical town guardsmen. Ruko is my lieutenant and if he found himself in trouble, then action needs to be taken" he said. He then turned and faced the others. He couldn't afford to send his own men out to look for him so they were his only hope. "Can I entrust this task to you?" he asked.
Ramza shrugged and pointed towards Tsuki. "I'm still under contract so it's up to Tsuki" he said. He doesn't leave a job unfinished. Once he's contracted to do a certain task, he will fulfill it.
Tsuki didn't need to hear another word or need to be convinced. "Did you even have to ask? Of course we'll help out" he said.
Alba gave him a single nod. "I appreciate it. Ruko may not look it but he's well-trained in hand-to-hand combat. He was taught the art of fighting by a monk and has adapted his fighting style to incorporate his whole body. With steel gauntlets and plating around his feet, he can go even go toe-to-toe with someone wielding a weapon against him" he said. He was confident that Ruko could handle himself but if he were to encounter another one of those entities again, he will have no one to back him up. He almost lost his life last time so he couldn't help but be a little worried.
Lynette looked at Tsuki and Ramza. "We'd better hurry then. If he is in trouble, then every second counts" she said. She then turned around and headed towards the door and left.
Tsuki looked at Lynette but before he could get a word in, she had already left. He scratched the back of his head as she seemed a little too eager. "Someone's raring to go" he said. He then glanced back over to Alba. "We'll find him, don't worry. If Caius does appear and you confront him, be careful. He's unnaturally strong and wields Gravity-based Artes" he said.
Alba patted his chest with confident grin and nod. "Will do. Good luck out there" he said.
Tsuki and Ramza left the room and rejoined with Lynette who was waiting outside for them. They double checked their supplies and equipment and headed for the town exit. Once they were ready to go, they left and headed out into the open fields as they followed along the main road. Since they really had no reason to go off the main roads, they didn't stray too far from them. It takes roughly an hour on foot to get to the first checkpoint from Basilwell and another 45 minutes to reach the second checkpoint from there. With the roads well-maintained, they didn't have many issues as they walked along it. They had a couple skirmishes with local monsters but nothing too crazy. The main road was pretty straightforward minus a couple branching roads that extended out towards the ocean and mountains where the Cavern of Solace was.
After walking along the main road for 40 minutes, they came up to an interesting scene that was out of the ordinary. There was a medium-sized boulder off to the side of the road but what was interesting was the fact that the boulder was almost practically pulverized. Pieces of rock were scattered among the grass with larger chunks of the boulder more off to the side. It also appeared to be fairly recent too.
Tsuki walked up to what was left of the boulder and examined it closely. There were other boulders around the area but this was the only one that had been pulverized. "What do you think did this?" he asked.
Lynette tilted her head a bit. She did an appraisal of the area but didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. "Hmm...maybe a rampaging monster that came through here?" she asked. There were monsters of the Bear and Rhino variety in the area that they've fought a couple times so it's possible that it was caused by one of them.
Ramza shook his head as he took a closer look at the scene. "No, the point of impact on the boulder is too clean for it to have been a rampaging monster. Could have been an adventurer using it as target practice to test out their skills and abilities. After all, boulders are commonly used as testing dummies to guage a persons' power" he said. He used to do it all the time back when he was actively training himself.
Tsuki stood back up and stepped away from the boulder. "Well, whoever it was seems to be quite capable to do this much damage" he said. The boulder looked quite tough and sturdy so it would take no small amont of effort to deal this level of damage with just a single attack.
Ramza shrugged his shoulders and faced badk down the road. "We're wasting time here. Let's continue on. It shouldn't be much longer before we arrive at the first checkpoint" he said.
Putting the boulder in the back of their heads, they continued along the main road where the rest of their trip went by rather peacefully. After another 20 minutes, they arrived at the first checkpoint. The checkpoint itself was essentially like an outpost of sorts. A small, square wooden wall enclosed the checkpoint with a few small buildings inside of it with a gate on both sides of it. Due to its small size, there were about 20 guards stationed at the checkpoint.
As they approached the checkpoint, one of the guards met with them. It would seem that he recognized the armor that Tsuki was wearing. "Good day to you, sir. We weren't expecting a visit from one of the Royal Eight today, much less from our side of the checkpoint. To what do we owe the pleasure?" he asked, standing at attention with a salute.
Tsuki shook his head, waving his hand in front of him. He wasn't one for formalities unless it was in an official setting. "Well, we initially went through the Cavern of Solace so I guess it's no surprise to see me approaching from this side of the gates. Who's in charge around here?" he asked.
The guard became more relaxed. "That would be Captain Morris. If you would follow me, I'll gladly take you to him" he said.
The guard led them into the checkpoint where they could get a better view of what the inside looked like. A couple small wooden buildings with one slightly bigger off to the right side. There was a small training area on the opposite side of the checkpoint with a few striking dummies. Despite its size, they had everything they would need to get by. A storage building, bathhouse, dining hall, barracks and a couple other necesseties. Some guards were posted up top on a walkway that circled around the inner perimeter of the checkpoint while each gate had two guards posted to them. The rest were lingering around the inner courtyard.
They were guided into the slightly bigger building that appeared to be used as some sort of assembly hall for the guards. Inside, there were two people talking to each other. One of them seemed to be another one of the guards while the other oen stood out. He was dressed differently and had a commanding aura around him. It was clear that this person was this Captain Morris that the guard mentioned.
The guard stopped in front of them and stood at attention, saluting to the man that stood out among the rest. "Captain, you have a visitor" he said.
The man looked over to the guard that spoke out to him and saw Tsuki and the others standing behind him. He immediately noticed the Royal Eight armor as he raised an eyebrow. "Well now, I wasn't expecting such an esteemed guest" he said. He then looked over at the two guards and gave them a nod. "Good work. You're dismissed" he said. The two guards soon turned and walked out the front doors back out into the courtyard, leaving them alone in the assembly hall. Once they were gone, he put his full attention on Tsuki. "First, allow me to welcome you to the Velkhor Checkpoint. My name is Cole Morris and I serve as its' captain" he said.
Tsuki stood off to the side so that he could introduce everyone. "I'm Tsuki Himura, one of the Royal Eight. These are my companions, Lynette Suzaki and Ramza Toketsu. I apologize for the unannounced visit" he said.
Cole shook his head at him. "Don't worry about it. This place doesn't get much excitement often anyway. So, what can I do for you today?" he asked.
Tsuki wanted to get right to the point. "Did someone by the name of Ruko come through here recently?" he asked.
Cole tilted his head a bit. "Ruko? You mean Lieutenant Amado from Basilwell? Yeah, he came through here. He needed to obtain clearance for some dangerous cargo that needs to come through on orders of Commander Alba" he said.
Lynette held her hand up to her chest as she stepped forward a bit. "Do you know if he's still here?" she asked.
Cole shook his head once more. "Unfortunately, you're a little too late. He came back through here after obtaining clearance from Beltoise, the second checkpoint further up the road, to get a bit of rest before continuing on back to Basilwell. He left sometime last night" he said.
Ramza tilted his head. Something didn't seem to add up. "Wait, last night? Do you know the time?" he asked.
Cole folded his arms and fell into thought as he tried to remember the previous night. "If I remember correctly, I believe it was around 10pm" he said.
Lynette was shocked when they learned when he left Velkhor. "What!? It only took us an hour to get here! He should have made it back hours ago!" she said with clear concern.
Cole tilted his head a bit, unsure of what she was talking about. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What's going on?" he asked.
Tsuki sighed a bit at the news. Their situation just worsened. "He never made it back to Basilwell. Commander Alba sent us out to try and find him" he said.
Lynette's worries were confirmed. Somewhere between Basilwell and Velkhor, he ran into some kind of trouble. "There aren't many places between here and Basilwell. Where could he have gone?" she asked.
Ramza fell into thought for a minute as he soon remembered the pulverized boulder they saw along the road and the fact that Alba mentioned he was a master when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. It was then he started to make the connection. The impact on the boulder had a singular impact point that expanded outwards which reminds him of a technique used in martial arts. Just in case, he wanted to verify something. "Have any adventurers came through here recently?" he asked.
Cole shook his head. "None. The only people that have come through here were merchants and ordinary travelers" he said.
Ramza nodded to himself. "I thought so" he said. He then glanced over at Tsuki and Lynette and saw that they shared the same conclusion. "Remember that boulder we came across on the main road?" he asked.
Tsuki looked at Ramza with a nod. He knew that there was something off about what they saw. "You think that it was caused by Ruko, don't you?" he asked.
Ramza didn't just think it was caused by him. He was confident that it was caused by him. "I know it was. I wasn't sure at first but now I am" he said.
Cole looked back and forth at the two of them. "You know where he is?" he asked.
Tsuki nodded at him. They won't know for sure until they take a better look at the area but it seems likely. "Potentially. We won't know until we get there" he said.
Lynette knew that he was in trouble. It wasn't something she could explain but she had a strong feeling that was the case. "We need to get back out there. He could be in trouble" she said.
Cole nodded and headed towards the door as well. "I'll have my men keep their eyes out just in case he comes back" he said. He waved them off before leaving the assembly hall.
They looked at each other with a collective nod as Tsuki stepped out through the door. "Let's get going" he said.
They left the building and headed out through the gates they entered from as they made their way back along the main road towards where they found the pulverized boulder. With a bit more pep in their step, they arrived at the boulder within 10 minutes. Once they were back, they took another closer look at not only the boulder but the surrounding area as well. Not much was different around the boulder but the surrounding area told a different story. They noticed that there was clear evidence of a fight.
While Tsuki and Lynette looked around the boulder and main road, Ramza searched near the small woods not too far from the boulder. As he made he way across the grass, he noticed there were drops of blood hidden among the grass and bushes. It also appeared to be fairly recent. He wasn't sure if it was human or monster blood but it was the best lead they had right now. "Tsuki, Lyn! Come over here!" he shouted.
Tsuki and Lynette heard him calling out to them and made their way over to the small woods beyond the boulder. They saw what Ramza had found and looked deeper into the woods. It was a fairly small area so there aren't that many places one could hide out in or seek shelter. There didn't appear to be any monsters in the area either due to how quiet it was along with the presence of normal forest animals.
Believing that they were onto something, they pushed through the brush and noticed that there was a trail of blood that led them through the bushes. As they made they way, they came up to a small clearing. As they stepped into it, they could feel a sense of peace. With no presence of monsters, it makes the perfect scenic destination. With the sounds of birds chirping and smaller animals moving through the brush and trees, it was something out of a fairytale. The blood trail that they were following, unfortunately, had stopped so they ended up looking around the clearing.
As they walked around to see if they could find anymore clues to follow, Lynette noticed something against a tree not too far from the clearing. As she got closer, she realized what she was looking at which sent her into full healer mode. "Tsuki! Ramza! I found him!" she shouted.
Tsuki and Ramza heard her shout out in panic and alarm as they rushed on over to her. When they got to her, they saw that Ruko was sitting on the ground, propped up against a tree. He was unconscious and covered with injuries. He had cuts and scraps all over his upper arms, parts of his clothing were torn up, bleeding from his forehead and the steel plating on his gauntlets and leggings were scraped up. Lynette was already in the process of healing his injuries.
Tsuki approached them where he was able to get a closer look at his condition. "Dear god, he looks like he just went through a meat grinder" he said. His injuries didn't appear to be too serious but there were many. It was a miracle that the smell of blood didn't attract any nearby monsters. In fact, as he looked around, he noticed that there were forest creatures that were hiding in bushes and trees, watching them. They appeared to be friendly and after looking around him, he could see that there were indentations in the grass and dirt that appeared to be left by them. "Were the forest creatures protecting him from predators?" he asked.
Ramza looked around as Lynette concentrated on healing his injuries. "Seems like it. Not all monsters and creatures are hostile, after all. You may not see it often here but where I come from, there's actually quite a lot of friendly monsters and creatures" he said. His gaze soon locked back onto Lynette and Ruko. Her healing efforts continued but Ruko showed no signs of waking up any time soon. "How is he doing?" he asked.
Lynette kept her gaze and focus on Ruko as she could see her healing start to take effect on him. "Well, his injuries aren't as serious as they appear to be. He took a bit of a blow to the head but nothing too bad. After everything that's happened, it could have been a lot worse" she said.
Ramza looked back in the direction where they came from as he thought about the blood trail they followed through the bushes. "I think you might be right. Whatever, or whoever, he fought, it's obvious that he fled from them. He wouldn't have used the forest to seek shelter otherwise" he said. If he was victorious in his encounter, he would have either patched himself and moved on or returned to Velkhor for medical attention.
Tsuki shook his head. They could speculate all they want but there was no way of knowing what truly happened until they hear it from him. The entire time they were in the forest, not once did he sense any hostile monsters. There were varients of Bear and Rhino monsters along the roads and grassy plains but nothing that should have given Ruko struggle if what Alba said about his combat skills were true. "We need to get him to safety. Lyn, can he be moved?" he asked.
Lynette finished what healing she could do to Ruko. Most of his minor injuries were healed up but he would need additional healing with medicines for the rest. She looked back at Tsuki, sweating a little bit and slightly out of breath and nodded. "Yeah. Just be careful with him" she said. She then stood up slowly but felt bit off-balance as she ended up stumbling back.
Tsuki grabbed onto so she wouldn't fall over, handing her an Orange Gel from their bag. "Looks like he isn't the only one that needs to be careful" he said.
Lynette took the Orange Gel and ate it, feeling its restorative effects immediately but still felt a little weak in the legs. "T-thanks..." she said, slightly embarrassed.
Ramza walked up to Ruko, putting his right arm over his shoulder as he slowly stood back up with him. "Let's get him back to Velkhor. We can reassess things there" he said.
They nodded and once Lynette got strength back in her legs, they made their way out of the forest and back onto the mainroad. The trip back to Velkhor took slightly longer because they were carrying Ruko with them. With Ramza unable to participate in battles, it was left up to Tsuki and Lynette to fight off monsters while protecting them both. After about 30 minutes with some struggle, they returned to Velkhor where the guards on duty quickly came out to their aid. They took Ruko from them and carried him over to the infirmary where the clerics used various medicines to treat his remaining injuries with a bit more healing assistance from Lynette. In the meantime, Tsuki and Ramza met up with Cole in the courtyard, just outside of the infirmary.
Cole had his arms folded as he stared at the ground as they informed him of what happened out in the fields. "Strange. There shouldn't be any monsters out in that area that would give Ruko much trouble, at least not at this time of year. I'm not sure what the Commander has told you about him but he's a master when it comes to martial arts. This whole area from Basilwell all the way to Beltoise is practically his backyard" he said. Ruko made frequent rounds with guards throughout the entire area. It was necessary to ensure peace and stability because when the seasons change, monster behavior changes along with it and some monsters that weren't around the previous season start to show up.
Ramza tilted his head when he implied that there was a tough monster that shows up during another season. "Not at this time of year? When does this troublesome monster usually show up?" he asked.
Cole looked up into the sky, taking a deep breath. "It shows up in the Winter...when snow starts to blanket the area" he said.
Ramza looked over at Tsuki, remember that he mentioned that he encountered a Rhybgaro back on Crescentia Hill. "Didn't you say you encountered a monster that should have been in hibernation during this time of year?" he asked.
Tsuki looked over at Ramza, nodding at him. "Yeah. A Rhybgaro was causing some trouble due to the influence of those crystals. You're thinking that this is the same thing, aren't you? A monster influenced by that dark power" he said.
Ramza nodded. If it happened before, it can happen again whether it was an intentional act or not. "It's very possible. Although, you don't seem to be convinced" he said.
Tsuki shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head. What he was saying wasn't necessarily wrong but that didn't seem to be the case. There was one person that would be able to answer that. "Allie, you there? What do you think?" he asked.
The Caliburn started to glow for a bit before the glow came off the sword and appeared in front of them as Allie manifested in front of them. It was a sight that made Cole step back in surprise as she didn't expect her to come out of nowhere. Once Allie had fully manifested, she looked up at Tsuki and shook her head. "No. I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. The levels of Aer were completely normal and unchanged" she said.
Ramza folded his arms and fell into thought for a moment. If it wasn't a monster that could have done this to Ruko, then there were only 2 other options. "If not a monster, then he either was unlucky enough to encounter another one of those entities or he had a run-in with Caius" he said.
Tsuki looked back towards the gate behind them which led to Basilwell. With the sudden appearance of Caius and Ruko's condition, it didn't seem like a coincidence. "I don't know about you but I'm getting bad vibes all of a sudden" he said.
Cole regained his composure from the appearance of Allie, not even giving it a second thought. He then felt a slight breeze blow past him as he followed Tsukis' gaze over to the gate. "A foul wind is in the air. For sailors, it's an indication that something bad is about to happen" he said.
Ramza nodded in agreement. His instincts were pretty much telling him the same thing and it was all going back to Basilwell. "Once Ruko is able to move, we should get back to town" he said.
After about talking among themselves for another few minutes, the door to the infirmary opened and Lynette came out. Since most of his injuries were practically healed by her healing, the medicines the clerics at Velkhor applied to Ruko were enough to handle the rest. What she wanted to try is to see if she could blend her Healing Artes with modern medicines. Based on her expression, however, she was unsuccessful. Healing Artes and modern medicines have their own limitations but if it was possible to bring them together, then it was possible that they could make up for their faults.
Ramza looked over at Lynette as she came outside. "How's he doing?" he asked.
Lynette nodded at them. "He'll be fine. Just like Alba said, he's pretty tough. He's awake and alert" she said.
Tsuki stepped forward towards the infirmary. If he was awake, he wanted to know what happened to him. "Let's see what he knows then" he said. Normally, he'd let him rest and recover before asking any questions but they were feeling a bit on edge with anxiety.
They headed into the infimary where a number of different rooms and beds filled the space. Besides Ruko, there were only three other people that were inside who were the current medics on duty. They stepped into the area where Ruko was resting and saw that he had bandages across both his arms and forehead. Despite looking like he went through a meat grinder, he seemed to be in roughly good shape.
Ruko looked over to them as he heard their footsteps enter the room he was in. "Hey guys..." he said. He was in a disgraceful state and didn't want anyone to see him like this.
Ramza lifted his right arm and gave him a slight wave. "You look like crap but other than that, you seem to be fine" he said.
Ruko put his left hand up to his right shoulder as he rotated his arm in a circular motion. "My body is a little sore but nothing I can't handle. Martial artists need to have tough, durable bodies so they tend to put themselves through worse pain" he said.
Allie walked up to the bed he was resting in and climbed onto it so that she could get a better look at him. She instinctively held out her arm and poked his right arm where some of the bandages were. "You look like a mummy" she said.
Ruko chuckled nervously as he scratched his head. "I do, don't I? I'm sorry that you guys have to see me like this" he said.
Tsuki shook his head, waving his hand out in front of him. "Don't worry about. Can you tell us what happened?" he asked.
Ruko leaned back against the headboard of the bed as he looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "After obtaining the proper clearance for your shipment, I came back here to rest for a bit. About an hour later, I continued on back to Basilwell. It was a quiet, still night and nothing was out of the ordinary. That is, until I came across someone who wielded an axe. At first, I thought it was an adventurer but I kept getting bad vibes off him" he said. He then looked down towards the bed, looking at the palms of his hands, which were also bandaged up. "All of a sudden, he attacked me so I forced to defend myself. He didn't say much about who he was but based off what you told us, it was clear who I was fighting" he said.
Lynette felt the tension in the room rise when they all looked at each other. By the looks on their faces, they all seemed to have drawn the same conclusion. "Caius" she said.
Ramza folded his arms and leaned against the nearby wall. As it turns out, their suspicions were true. However, something bothered him. "What I want to know is, how did you survive? Everyone he's suddenly attacked was killed without mercy" he said.
Ruko shook his head, unsure of how to answer him. Even he doesn't understand why he's still alive or how he managed to escape from him. "I don't know. While I was fighting him, it seemed like he was just toying with me. When I knew that there was no way for me to win, I used a feint to distract him and escape into the forest. The feint didn't work and yet he chose not to pursue me into the woods" he said. As he spoke, he had flashbacks to his fight with Caius. It was a completely one-sided battle. None of his blows connected with him as he was easily able to dodge and block everything. It didn't appear that he was even trying. Caius could have easily killed him but, for some reason, chose not to. It frustrated him to realize just how much he was outclassed. "That guy is on a whole different level...and you're saying he's our enemy? If that's the case, then things aren't looking too good for us" he said. He still had much to learn when it came to martial arts. Even though he's considered a master at it, there will always be room for improvement. If anything, this encounter with Caius proved that.
Tsuki fell into thought as he tried to rationalize what Ruko was saying. He thought back to his encounter with Caius back in the Briswater mines when he said that he would remove anyone that would prove to be an obstacle in whatever he was plotting which resulted in the deaths of some of Cayhills' finest. Tsuki was painted as a target as well but things didn't go out as he had planned. "If you were truly marked as a target, he wouldn't have let you slip away so easily" he said.
Lynette looked over at Tsuki as she remembered that Tsuki was also to be considered an obstacle that needed to be removed. "But, you were made into a target for him as well. That was a couple days ago and he still hasn't made a move against you. He seemed pretty adamant that you, in particular, would prove to be a threat because of some unawakened power" she said. It didn't make sense to her. If he was as much of a potential threat as Caius made him out to be, then why hasn't he acted against him already? Normally, she should be relieved that it hasn't happened yet but it makes her feel a little uneasy.
Tsuki held his hand up to his chest as he looked towards the ground. He still had no idea what he was talking about. It was true that when he was trying to stand his ground against Caius, he felt a mix of different powers supporting him. It was almost as if there were people pushing him forward but there wasn't actually anyone there except for him. He then recalled his strange, dream-like sequence in that blue void supposedly called the Celestial Bridge and how the featureless apparition told him that three others were connected with him. "An unawakened power. Connected to by others..." he mumbled to himself, shaking his head. He hasn't really given much thought into what Caius said to him back at the mines. In fact, he pretty much almost forgot about it because what he was told by that apparition and Caius seemed like total nonsense. However, as he thought about all of this, he could feel something shift inside of him. "What could it all mean...?" he asked.
Due to her connection, Allie sensed the changes within Tsuki immediately. She turned around and crawled to the other side of the bed where Tsuki was standing and looked up at him, tilting her head. "Master?" she asked with a small hint of concern in her voice.
Tsuki was about to get lost in his own thoughts when Allie pulled him back out of them. He looked down at her and even though she still has an emotionless expression on her face, he could tell that she was concerned about him. He reached his hand out and patted her on the head to reassure her. "I'm fine. Just thinking, is all" he said. He didn't want to raise any concerns so he kept it all to himself but it was something he couldn't simply ignore anymore. It had to mean something otherwise nothing would have been said about it in the first place.
Since Cole was only given a short summary about what was going on, he was very much in the dark about what they were talking about. He looked very confused and out of place as they talked among themselves. It was a little awkward for him. "I'm not sure what is going on but we should let him rest a bit before you guys return to the Commander. It wouldn't be a good idea for an injured person to move around so much" he said.
Rest was what Ruko definitely needed right now as he wasn't exactly in top form despite what he says. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as their fears would soon come to a reality. Moments later, the sound of running, metallic footsteps could be heard approaching the infirmary with the front doors being thrown wide open as a guard came in a panic.
The guard was a bit out of breath as he stood in the opened doorway. "C-Captain! There's been an emergency!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Cole and the others stepped out of the room that Ruko was in and walked up to the guard. Looking past the guard out into the courtyard, they could see that the other guards were in a high level of alert and panic. Obviously, something was very wrong.
Cole walked up to the guard. "What is it? What's going on?" he asked.
The guard took a moment to catch his breath and then held out a letter. "It's from the Commander. Basilwell is under attack!" he shouted.
The news shocks everyone in the infirmary as Cole quickly takes the letter from the guard. "What!?" he shouted. He quickly read through the letter before looking over towards Tsuki. "Basilwell is under attack by strange, unknown entities. The Commander has called all of you back immediately" he said.
Tsuki walked up to Cole and took the letter from him. He wanted to know what was going on and hear what he had to say.
Tsuki and friends,
Our worst fears have been realized. The town is under attack by those strange, unknown entities. We're not sure where they came from but we don't have time to figure that out right now. Basilwell requires your assistance. Call off your search for Ruko and return to us immediately. If you haven't found him yet, we will have to continue the search for him later. We count an estimate of about 30 of those entities ravaging through the town. Not only that but Caius has been spotted as well. My men are tough but against the likes of these entities, I fear that many won't stand a chance. The mercenaries are providing combat assistance and doing whatever they can to safeguard the citizens. Please hurry back as soon are you are able.
-Alba Sykes, Commander of Basilwell
Lynette couldn't believe what was happening. "Did he say that there were 30 of them!? Just one is tough enough as it is!" she said with alarm.
Tsuki nodded at her as he put the letter down on a nearby table. "But we're the only ones that know how to kill them. We need to get back there now!" he said.
Ramza couldn't agree more with him. "With the mercenaries backing them up, I'm sure that they will be able to hold their own until we get there" he said.
Cole looked at them and nodded. "Unfortunately, we can't leave here as we have to seal off the checkpoint to prevent any attempted passage. I'll leave things to you. We'll take care of Ruko in the meantime" he said.
As he said that, Ruko came out dressed in the same torn and ripped clothing from before. "I appreciate it but I'll have to decline. I'm going back with them" he said.
Lynette looked over at Ruko, shaking her head. He was still in the process of recovering and not in any shape to go back into battle. "Are you crazy? Your injuries may have healed but your body still needs time to recover!" she said.
Ruko pounded his chest with the side of his fist and did a few stretches to show her that he was more than healed enough for battle. "Don't you worry about a thing. Like I said, my body is quite tough. I think I can handle a few more fights" he said. He was both nervous and excited to try fighting another one of those entities. Now that he knows what he could expect, he won't be dropping his guard like before.
Lynette continued shaking her head. From a healer's perspective, it's best for him to not get involved. Nothing good comes out of making an injured person fight. "That's not what I meant!" she said.
Tsuki placed his hand on her shoulder to try calm her down. "Look, I know where you're going with this but we don't have the time to argue. Right now, Basilwell needs all the help they can get" he said. Truthfully, he didn't want him to fight until he was fully healed as well but the situation was dire. He then looked over at Ruko. "You sure you can fight?" he asked.
Ruko brought flexed his right arm with his hand against his right elbow. "More than sure. Besides, I have to regain my pride after my disgraceful display" he said.
Lynette sighed as she knew that he wasn't going to sit back and do nothing while Basilwell is in trouble. "Just try not to push yourself too much, alright?" she asked.
Ramza walked over to the door, looking back at them. "If we're all in agreement, then we need to get a move on" he said.
They nodded in agreement as Allie retreated back into the Caliburn. They left the infirmary and took off through the gates. Once they left Velkhor, they heard the gates close behind them as they made their way down the main road in a a mild sprint. They needed to get back to Basilwell as fast as possible. Thankfully, there weren't too many monster encounters along the road. As they ran along the road, they passed by people taking refuge along the main road. As they got closer to Basilwell, they could see smoke clouds stretching high up into the air.
After a quick sprint, they managed to arrive at Basilwell in roughly 40 minutes. They could hear the total chaos going on in the city. Various buildings were engulfed in intense flames as smoke filled the air. Some of the wooden buildings and structures have collapsed in on themselves due to the fire damage. The town guards were doing their best to fend off the entities with the assistance of the mercenaries that were around town as they tried to get as many people to safety as possible.
They made their way towards the central plaza where the fighting was intense. Bodies of guards, mercenaries and citizens were scattered around the area as they could see the battle lines start to break apart. It was clear that even though the guardsmen and mercenaries were tough fighters, they were completely outmatched by the entities.
Lynette looked at Tsuki as she pointed over to where the fighting was taking place. "Come on! We have to help them!" she shouted.
Tsuki nodded as he looked at Ramza and Ruko. He then drew his sword as the blade start to glow due to Allie's influence. "To arms! Stabilize the battle lines!" he shouted.
They rushed over to where the fighting was and jumped right into the middle of it. The battle lines consisted of 2 squads of guards and a handful of mercenaries fighting against 5 entities. By the time they arrived, morale among them was rather low as no matter what they did, they weren't going down. However, with the arrival of Tsuki and the others, that quickly changed as they took charge of the battlefield. Since they knew how to kill them, they didn't find much struggle with taking them down. The fight was still pretty rough though since they were fighting against 5 of them instead of 1.
Lynette used her Binding Chains spell to restrain two of the entities as Tsuki went in with an inexplicable burst of speed and strength and quickly dispatched one of them by plunging his sword through its chest with the assistance of Allie informing Tsuki on where to strike. The shard that served as its core could be seen impaled by his blade as it shattered in half. Once the entity had disappeared, he shifted his focus on the other one as he spun his body around and swinging his sword at the entity with incredible force and power that he cleaved it in half, destroying the shard in the process.
Ramza took two entities at once as they ganged up on him. Ramza quickly dispatched one of them by channeling his Mana into his blade as it started to emit a violet glow. One could hear a faint pulsating whine as he charged up an attack. "Delirium!" he shouted. Moments later, he swung his sword in an upwards arc, releasing an arc blast of violet energy towards the entities. One of them managed to dodge but the other one wasn't as quick as it took the brunt of the attack. The blast of energy cleaved it in half as it soon exploded, destroying the shard. Meanwhile, the other entity rushed at him while he was recovering from his attack. The entity lunged forward as claws formed on its hands. Ramza dodged its lunge as he grabbed onto it and tossed him down onto the ground. He then plunged his sword straight down into the entity where the shard would be before it had a chance to get back up. Moments later, the entity disappeared and left the broken pieces of the shard on the ground around his blade.
Ruko had a bit more struggle than the others due to the fact that he had to rely on his martial arts and injuries he was still recovering from. He was able to act and move around a lot faster than Tsuki and Ramza because of his wide free range of movement and flexibility. Despite still recovering from his injuries, they didn't slow him down one bit asa he effortlessly dodged and blocked the entity's attacks. As the entity rushed him while swinging a sword, he clashed with him, the blade making a loud metallic sound as it collided with his steel gauntlets. Ruko quickly broke the clash by knocking the sword out of its hands and kicking it off balance and stumbling back. He took the opportunity to close in and delivered several quick punches and jabs with his fist. Then, he held his left arm back as he crouched down. His gauntlet started to glow as he channeled his Mana into it. "Sunset Uppercut!" he shouted. Once he channeled enough Mana, he quickly brought his arm up and struck at the entity, releasing an orange blast of energy that shot upwards, engulfing the entity within it as its body was destroyed along with the shard.
With the entities killed, the nearby guards and mercenaries have a bit of time to patch themselves up and get things together. They helped them sort things out as best as they could, safeguarding the area. Once things appeared to be settled and under control, Tsuki and the others met up at the fountain in the center of the central plaza where they would strategize what to do from there. As a precaution, they told them how to kill the entities if anymore show up.
Ramza was looking over at the mercenaries who were getting ready to send out a small team to the Residential District. "I'm heading out to the Residential District to evacuate those who couldn't get away. What are you guys going to do?" he asked.
Tsuki looked over towards the direction of the port. "I'm going to check to see how things are going at the port. That's where things were most on edge earlier. It was also the last place that Caius was seen at. With any luck, I'll find the Alba along the way" he said.
Ruko wanted to go with him. As his lieutenant, he needed to regroup with Alba as soon as possible. "Then, I'll-" he said. He then felt a surge of pain as he fell down to one knee. As he stared at the ground, he saw drops of blood hitting the pavement.
Lynette knew this was going to happen. "You're not going anywhere. See? Your wounds opened up again" she said. With no one around able to provide effective first aid, she had no choice but to stay with him and tend to his injuries. She then looked at Tsuki, nodding at him. "I'll stay here with him and treat his injuries and those that come through here" she said.
Ruko shook his head as he slowly stood up though stumbling a bit. "No, the town needs me" he said. He didn't want to sit by and watch other people struggle.
Tsuki shook his head. "No. Stay here and let her heal your injuries. Someone needs to be here to safeguard the plaza and I don't want to leave Lyn here by herself anyways. I'll find the Commander. There's a good chance he's where Caius is if he's been spotted in town" he said.
Ruko knew that he had a point. Plus, with his injuries, he would just slow him down. "Alright. I'll stay here with Lyn and keep the plaza safe" he said.
Lynette looked over towards Tsuki. She couldn't help but worry about him because he would be on his own if he encountered Caius. "Be careful down there, okay? You're not going to have any healing support outside of whatever basic first aid you know" she said.
Tsuki nodded, patting his chest. "I'll be careful. Besides, I'll have Allie with me to watch my back" he said.
The Caliburn started to glow as the voice of Allie could be heard speaking to them telepathically. "I'll defend Master with my life" she said.
Ramza looked at them and gave them one last nod before turning around. "Good luck. Don't any of you go dying on me, alright?" he asked. He then walked over to the team of mercenaries that were waiting for him. Once he grouped up with them, they headed off towards the Residential District in full sprint.
Tsuki turned and faced in the direction of the port. Before heading out, he glanced back at Lynette and Ruko. "I'll be back before you know it" he said. He then took off running in the opposite direction that Ramza left in as he headed down through the flaming streets towards the port.
With the group now split, they each had their own duties to fulfill as the town continues to erupt in chaos. By splitting up, they would be able to cover more ground easier but it also had its risks. It wasn't so bad with Ramza since he had his mercenary friends with him. Ruko and Lynette had each other and the rest of the guards and mercenaries that were safeguarding the central plaza. Tsuki, however, was on his own with no back-up. With all that was going on, they were all hoping that the Silver Knight was also lending a hand somewhere. With no hope for any kind of reinforcements, they had to resolve this situation with what resources they had available to them. With Tsuki and the others providing assistance, however, the morale of the town guards and frantic mercenaries was bolstered and reinforced. They weren't going to go down without a fight.
To be continued...