Chapter 15: Reunion

Thaleo spent a year in the Underworld. He witnessed the struggles of the people from afar. When he saw the ill praying for aid, he lamented his own powerlessness. Even the injured moved to help their fellow man. The fields were barren and gray. The soil was black. Livestock couldn't survive. He was meticulous in his notes, cataloging his observations every step of the way.

He searched for a reason. A reason that all of this was happening. It was not only for the sake of his curiosity, but for the sake of his people. What he desired was a future for the people of Serya. He wanted them to be aware of the threats from the world below.

They wouldn't listen. He spoke until he was blue in the face. He appealed to them with words and deeds, with an earnest spirit. They never listened. If they had just listened, none of this would be happening. If they had just listened when he spoke from his experiences. If only they had lent an ear. If they had only listened.

“Mare, Marna, run,” Taizu said, his voice nothing but a rasp.

Thaleo's father hung limp in the air, held aloft by the creature's grasp. His golden robes were stained red. Taizu’s body fell into the pond, dyeing it a deep crimson that not even the shifting hues could mask.

“Brother! Brother!” Marna screamed, grasping Thaleo’s hand. “Please, save Father. Please, do something!”

She tugged on his arm.

He couldn’t do anything. He was a man of the courts, not of action. They asked the impossible. He wasn't Ezia or Luria. Fog drifted in from the forest. It coated the beast in an obscuring veil. He could hardly make out its silhouette.

“T-thaleo, Marna, we need to run!” Mare grabbed Marna’s hand.

Thaleo stared onward.

It was just like back then.

When his mother lay dying. When Serya couldn't save her. Needles prodded his face. He coughed, choking on the air. Nausea overwhelmed him. His heart echoed in his ears.

Chainmail rattled as the guards surged from behind the beast. Spears punctured the hide, poking out from the beast's stomach. It screeched in pain. Thaleo covered his ears. He wanted to avert his eyes. But he couldn't. He stared onward.

The men fighting risked their lives. Some grew up in the Lower Ring, and others were raised with the prestige endowed by the Divine Chrysalis. Yet, they fought. They had trained under Ezia for a few short days. Men who could hardly hold their spears aloft. They weren't well trained. Yet, they stood in defiance of fate. A conviction that he thought absent in the people of Serya. He had seen their hands shake and heard their ragged breathing when they trained. They were inexperienced. How could they stand against such a creature?

The beast—the remnant— stood tall, its hands shielding where Thaleo believed its stomach to be. Then, it lashed out, its arms ripping through the air as if parting the water in a river. Ripples followed in its wake.

Three men flew through the air, their arms and legs flailing as they splashed into the pond. Another three held their ground, bracing themselves with spears in hand. One man stood tall in front of the remnant, thrusting his spear forward. The spear’s head tore through its waist.

“Get going!” the lone warrior pleaded. “Stop gawking, and go! We have to hold out until Lady Ezia gets here!”

A man of the Upper Ring, one who had not known struggle, stood against the tide.

The remnant swatted at the man as if he were a gnat. He stumbled back, then thrust the spear forward. The point struck its mark. Then, a second spear punctured the beast. Then a third. The unified front gradually pressed the remnant back across the bridge, into the arch leading into the forest path.

Where did this come from?

“We need medical attention!” One of the guards in the pond dragged Taizu from the pond.

“F-father!” Thaleo sprinted forward, pulling himself free from his siblings' grasp. He ran adjacent to the bridge, leaning down to take his father’s hand. “Father, please. Please, get up!”

The soldier that pulled Taizu out guided him onto the ground.

“Thaleo,” Taizu said, a hand resting on Thaleo’s shoulder. “Take your siblings and leave. Please.”

“Father, no. I can’t leave you like this.” Thaleo shook his head. “Give me your arm.” He dragged Taizu’s arm over his shoulder. The guard grabbed the other arm. Together, they stepped forward, pulling Taizu along the cobblestone path to the porch.

“Serya’s blessing still holds.” Taizu turned his head toward the creature. “I’ll be fine. Please, get your siblings to safety.”

“Stop talking, Father. Mare, Marna, clear the way!” Thaleo yelled.

Thaleo remembered what he had asked Nico.

What did he know?

It turned out Thaleo didn’t know anything. He carried his father toward the porch. A man who might well die for the sake of his own decisions. It was a sacrifice he said he would be willing to make. When reality had looked him in the eye, he faltered. He grit his teeth at his own cowardice.

“Thaleo, you fool,” Taizu mumbled, his head hanging low. “You…”

His words tapered off.

“Father?” Thaleo’s knee hit the red wood of the porch. “Father, please.”

The guard pressed a hand to Taizu’s neck. He sighed. “His heart still beats. The blessing is mending his wounds.”

Thaleo sighed, shaking his head.

The guards screamed as the assault continued. A single man flew across the courtyard, his back bending around the bannister. He groaned, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. After a moment, he fell to the ground, shaking his head. He grasped the spear and charged forth. He kept fighting, Serya’s blessing keeping them strong.

And here Thaleo was, fearing the loss of his father. Thaleo looked down to his hands stained red with Taizu’s blood. The monster was the weapon, but Thaleo wielded it. A dagger aimed at Serya’s people in judgement for the sin of ignorance. By whose right can he pass judgement? Was this the price to be paid for change?

“I’m a fool,” Thaleo mumbled. “I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t… I couldn’t understand it.”

He knew everything.

He knew it all.

Yet, he knew nothing.

“Lord Thaleo, get your father inside.” The guard slapped Thaleo’s shoulder. “He’s depending on you.”

The creature grasped another guard in its hands, pressing its fingers into his body as if it were peeling an apple. Thaleo grabbed Mare and Marna and pulled them close.

“Don’t look,” he said, as if he were a proper brother. As if he had nothing to do with this.

Scarlet rain dyed the fog red. The ugly viscera were obscured by the thickening veil. He didn’t have to see it to know what happened. The beast licked its fingers, then stood tall at the foot of the bridge.

“A-ah!” Nerves seized the remaining guard. He had watched a comrade, a friend, get torn in half. Fear guided his spear forward as he stabbed at the beast. He thrust into the shadow that composed its body. In the foot, the waist, the stomach. It did nothing.

“Go!” the soldier next to Thaleo yelled. “You’re wasting time!”

Thaleo grabbed Taizu and hoisted him up. “Mare, Marna, grab Father. We’re moving!”

“O-okay!” Marna wiped her tears. She grabbed Taizu’s left arm while Mare grabbed the right. They yanked their father across the porch. The children struggled, but they tried their best.

Thaleo’s legs moved toward the sliding door. As he moved, he couldn’t take his eyes off the two weapons he had helped forge. One to defend Serya, and the other to destroy it. An act of ignorance which would consign him to oblivion. A crime, and a secret, that he could tell no one. If he lost his father, then he might well want to die, but neither the soldiers nor his siblings would allow that to pass. He had to live by their decree.

He just wanted to speak with Taizu about meeting with Serya. It was supposed to happen for the sake of Nico’s health. Perhaps this was punishment for using Nico as a tool. If it was, then Serya had much to answer for. No, he couldn’t blame Serya for his deeds. This was his own creation. A two-fold gambit to test the resolve of those who already had a tempered blade in their hearts. It wasn’t a few paltry days of training, this was a desire to protect that which they already cherished.

The frigid wind blew.

A door slid open.

A sheath flew through the air.

Ezia leaped into the sky, the wind propelling her forward. Luria joined her, running just a step behind her elder sister. Ezia cast a glare at Thaleo as she passed by. It was pointed, as sharp as her sword. He knew that look. She had questions she wanted answered. She didn’t speak or weep. Her sword wreathed in the wind met the beast head-on.

“Step back!” she commanded. The remaining guard leaped back, trading places with Ezia.

The monster cried out as it grasped its face. It shook its head and thrust its hands out to Ezia. She responded by raising her blade against the remnant’s arm. She twisted the sword, stabbing into its forearm. She glided through the air, flying toward the remnant’s head. She ripped the sword upward, the wind propelling her forward through the air.

Black ink spilled onto the bridge. Ezia, now behind its head, pivoted. “Luria!”

Luria followed in her sister’s wake, approaching the beast from the front. She dashed forward, stabbing her sword into the remnant’s opposite arm. Scarlet ice encased the point of impact. It spread like a plague, moving up the remnant’s arm. It tried to pull back, tried to swat at Luria with its other arm.

Ezia impaled its shoulder.

“On me, beast!”

The remnant flexed. The blood-dyed ice shattered as it batted at Luria.

“Ah!” Luria conjured a thin wall of ice. It shattered upon impact, sending her sliding back.

“No you don’t!” Ezia tore her sword down, leaving a crevice between its shoulder and back. It fell forward, balancing itself with its elongated arms.

It roared.

Thaleo winced, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Then, it was as if the world slowed to a crawl. The remnant changed. Its body undulated. The shadows that comprised its body expanded. Something was fighting its way out of its body. Then, all at once, a black pillar burst forth at Ezia.

Ezia exhaled, blasting a plume of wind at the new appendage. She flipped backwards through the air, sliding to a stop just below the arch leading into the forest path.

“It’s adapting.” Ezia clicked her tongue. “This is not good.”

“Sister, what do we do?” Luria yelled from the bridge.

“I’m unsure.” Ezia shook her head. “But your job is to protect the estate!”

“What? No, I’m helping!”

The beast roared in pain as it leaped at Ezia.

It was fast.

Its movements were clumsy, almost weighed down.

The beast swung with its right. Ezia lifted into the air to dodge. Another strike from above. Ezia thrust herself flat to the ground. The third appendage from overhead. Ezia exhaled, sliding backward out of range.

The strikes continued. Ezia danced through each and every strike, using the beast’s large size to her advantage. Her eyes bounced between each appendage as it struck. Even if it was faster, it was still a beast. It lacked Ezia’s grace and finesse.

Thaleo knew she couldn’t keep it up.

Ezia goaded it toward the archway.

But it didn’t move. She was so focused on dodging that she couldn’t strike.

Fog flowed past Thaleo, moving toward the monster. He looked back toward the porch, then toward Luria.

“Sorry, Sister, but I can’t wait anymore!” Luria kneeled down.

“Luria, don’t!” Ezia cried.

Luria rushed forward, ice encasing her hand. It crawled up the hilt of her sword before leaping off its tip. The tip of the sword elongated with sharpened ice.

“This is for Father!” She thrust the sword forward.

It struck true. The ice expanded into the beast’s waist, cascading down to cover its legs. It couldn’t move.

“Back away!” Ezia pleaded.

“Strike, Sister!” Luria said. “It’s op—”

Darkness bubbled beneath the ice.

It shattered.

Another black tower ripped forward.

It was aimed at Luria’s head.

The dense fog coalesced.

Thaleo’s eyes widened.

There was no blood.

It was divine intervention. He thought it was from Serya, but it was something else entirely. A creature stood between Luria and the remnant. Pointed horns and a head of hissing locks. A robe that flowed from the wind of the strike. The woman’s hand pressed flat against the newly grown arm. The large appendage pressed forth with all its might, but the newcomer was unfazed.

“You are quite the brute, aren’t you, child?” the woman said with a frown. “Unfortunate to see you’ve changed this much in such a short time.”

The new arm reeled back into the remnant’s shifting form.

“So, are you going to stand there and gawk, girl?” The woman said.

“W-what? Who are you?” Luria yelled. “We have another monster, Sister!”

“Luria, leave!” Ezia yelled. “And Rinzai, stop teasing her!”

‘Rinzai’ sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “Fine then.”

Ezia, bolstered by the new presence, stood tall.

The door slid open. Thaleo, Mare and Marna turned toward the door.

Ahmel leaped out, grabbing the hem of Taizu’s golden robes. “Come on, Bro. We’re getting him inside.”

“Ahmel?” Thaleo saw his brother’s gray head of hair. Then, he looked to the left. “Nico? What are you doing?”

“What I can.” Nico walked past the rest of the siblings, toward Rinzai. “Get Father to safety.”

“Brother, come on!” Marna pulled and pushed.

“Yeah, stop starin’, and let’s go!” Ahmel yanked Taizu into the corridor.

Thaleo watched Nico walk forward.

He carried himself with a purpose. His shoulders were broad. He held his head high, looking forward at the remnant without fear.

How? What happened when he wasn’t looking? Was this the same boy he had berated only two days ago? People didn’t change that fast. So, was he always like this? Was he blind? No, Thaleo thought himself a good judge of character. The Nico he knew would cower at the sight of such a creature. He would run for Ezia or Luria for help. Maybe that was it.

The person in front of him wasn’t Nico.

It was someone else.

Someone he never knew.

The door closed.