Revelations

The tension was high. Even with delicious food in front of them, none of them got ready to eat. Instead, Phorok sat down and folded his hands.

“First things first,” he said. “You’re no real elf.”

“What gave it away?” Mikkah grumbled.

“You’re way too well versed with machinery, and know too little magic,” Phorok laughed. “Do you not know about the stories? Elves are great magicians, not mechanics.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t choose my talents,” she grumbled back.

“Also, You’re not a holy knight. You’re not even human.” Phorok shot at Berus.

“That’s unfortunately true. I’m a soul stuck inside this automaton.”

Phorok nodded at that. “But you have some fighting experience.”

“I do.”

Berus didn’t want to talk more about this, however. So instead, he followed up with his own realization: “You’re no farmer, and no simple adventurer, either.”

“That’s right.” Phorok glanced at Iuria. “But without her consent, I won’t say anything more.”

“It’s fine.” Iuria smiled at him. “I think we can trust them.”

“You said that immediately after we met them.”

“And? Did they try to hurt us? They didn’t. So why would they do it now?”

“I don’t know, but…”

“Plus, they could even have some valuable information.”

She looked at them with determination in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but we had to lie to you in order to keep me safe. My name is Iuria. I am the illegitimate daughter of King Flavis II.”

She held up her right hand, and on its back, a faint symbol of interlinked circles appeared. It glowed faintly against her tanned, freckles skin. Berus immediately recognized it as the royal sigil.

“Huh. I didn’t think of that,” he said.

Iuria smiled at him, and lowered her hand again. “See? They’re still not attacking us.”

“Hmph.” Phorok grumbled.

“So, who are you, really?” Berus pressed on. “You can’t be her real father, then.”

Hurt flashed before Phorok’s eyes. “I suppose you’re right. But I did spend all that time alone with her, raising her as if she was my daughter. You should at least recognize that. But yes, I am her guard, not her real father, whatever that means to you.”

“I’m sorry,” Berus said. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“And yet, you said it.” Phorok grumbled.

“I spoke too soon, and I’m sorry for that. I know how much you care about her, and how important she is to you.”
“And he is to me,” Iuria added. “So, what do you know about my father? Has he been well?”

Berus and Mikkah exchanged a glance. Who should break the news to her?

“By Lucine… this isn’t easy,” Mikkah finally sighed. “We don’t know much. But he’s changed, that is for sure. And not for the better. He’s working with the demons now, giving them free reign while the humans suffer.”

Iuria let out a soft gasp. “Oh no! That can’t be true! Father… someone must be manipulating him.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Mikkah’s voice hardened. “But that is why we have to go. We have to rid this shard of the demons.”

Phorok nodded at that. “But that would explain why no one came here for all this time.”

“We have to go meet him, as soon as possible,” Iuria said.

“No.”

She glared at him, both of their stares intense.

“I can’t let you get into danger like that,” he said. “You’re only going to get hurt.”

“I’m going to get hurt one way or another. I was already worried before that, but now? How should I sleep at night when something horrible is going on, and it directly concerns my father?”

“Maybe he wants you to stay put, to sort this out on his own.”

“Maybe he wants me to save him,” she pushed against that. “We don’t know. We can’t know. You’ve told me you taught me everything you could. Should I just stay here and feed the chickens? You know I can’t do that.”

“But…”

“You know I’m fully within my right to choose,” she said. “I hear your points, but for me, it’s more important to find out what’s going on than staying safe. I will take that risk.”

For a moment, they silently glared at each other. Berus didn’t dare to speak, and the same went for Mikkah. This was something that they had to make out between themselves.

But it felt relieving, not having to lie anymore. He hadn’t known there was such a heavy weight on him, but after speaking about this, his shoulders felt lighter. Who knew lying -- and finally telling the truth – would have such an effect on even an inhuman body?

“Are you sure?” Phorok pressed her.

“I am,” came Iuria’s definitive answer.

Once more, there was silence between them.

“Fine,” he finally mumbled, and took up his cutlery. “If that is your decision, I will support you with it as best as I can.”

“Thank you,” she smiled back, and a peaceful warmth once again radiated from her.

It was a sign for all of them to finally dig into their meals. Only Berus held back. Iuria immediately caught his reaction.

“Is something wrong with the food?”

“No, it’s nothing, just…”

“He’s an automaton,” Phorok explained. “He doesn’t need food. I’m surprised he even managed to get anything into his system.”

“I’m more surprised it didn’t damage him more than it did,” Mikkah added.

For a moment, they looked at each other, before they broke out in a low chuckle.

“I’m sorry,” Berus finally said. “I would love to try the food, but it’s just impossible. It smells incredible, though.”

“I’m glad to hear that, at least,” Phorok said. “So, can you also stop hogging the bathroom now?”

“Sure thing. Just be aware that I might sometimes talk to, uh… the evil voice inside the machine?”

At that, Phorok glared at him again.

“Nothing to worry,” he quickly added. “She can’t do anything, but sometimes, she… gets lonely.”

“You’re talking to a cursed spirit?”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“I told you already. She’s lonely. And… I don’t think it would be fair to leave her out like this. I wouldn’t want that, if our roles were reversed.”

“That spirit is there to torture you, to maximize your suffering so you can better extract and refine the mana that keeps your body running.”

“Woah, you know a lot about automatons.”

“Not by choice,” he grumbled. “I had to kill a lot of them back when I was on active duty. I’m glad you’re not like them, though.”

Berus shuddered at that. If even a battle-experienced veteran like Phorok said something like it, being a normal automaton must be grueling. He should be happy that Mikkah fixed him before any of this could possibly happen.

“So, what do we do now?” Mikkah said. “Our goals align. We want to get to the castle to get rid of the demons, you want to go meet the king. How should we go about that?”

“Isn’t it clear?” Phorok said. “We have to do something about that spell keeping us here.”