Chapter Three Hundred and Three - Out of the Dark

I shook my head and wiggled my ears. They were ringing a bit, which I supposed was normal after hearing such a loud noise.

Standing up, I dusted myself off, then glanced back.

Smoke and dust was still rising from the spot where I’d flung the bomb, and a couple of the nearby homes had their walls knocked down into big piles of rubble.

I stumbled towards the explosion, a finger digging into one of my human ears to get it to pop back. The ringing started to fade as I arrived close to the edge of the roof where I tossed the bomb from. I didn’t want to stand on the very edge, since there were a few big cracks running across the stone wall.

“Bastion?” I called down. “Are you okay?”

The shield he’d put up was gone, and I was worried that I might have hurt my friend.

A few wooshes burst from the smoke, clearing it away to reveal Bastion on his feet, sword by his side and wings flapping even though he wasn’t flying. “Broccoli?” he called out. “You’re still alive?”

“Yeah!” I said. “I’m fine!”

He glanced up and spotted me, then he waved me over. “Come over here, please.”

I jumped down, landing with a crunch on the road that was now covered in little bits of rock. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you? What about the guards that were with you?”

Bastion shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said before glancing over his shoulder. “These two look alright as well.”

I pushed some Cleaning magic out to clear the area, revealing the two guards getting to their feet. They were covered in dust and grime, but they didn’t look injured.

“I’m happy that everyone made it out okay,” I said.

Bastion nodded, then he beckoned me closer. “Come here,” he said.

I stepped up to him. Did he need me to carry something? I watched as his arm stretched out above my head, then he turned his hand so that its side was facing down. “What are--” I began.

Bastion chopped down, clunking me right between the ears.

“Ow!” I yelped as I brought my hands up to rub at my head. “That hurt!”

“So did being blown up,” Bastion said. “Broccoli, it’s... it’s not good form to drop explosives next to allies, especially not when they’re within the blast radius.”

“I... I’m sorry!” I said.

“I really hope you are. Friends don’t bomb friends.”

I pouted, but Bastion was probably right. That hadn't been very nice of me at all. “I’m sorry. Really. Uh, but we should go check on Rainnewt. He was closer to the explosion.”

Bastion nodded, then half-turned to address the guards. He barked a few orders, sending one out to fetch reinforcements while the other gathered the nearby guards who could help once we found Rainnewt again.

Bastion and I took the lead in checking the area of the explosion. There was a black scorch on the ground, and a big circle where all of the long-accumulated dust and debris had been pushed back. No signs of Rainnewt though.

“There,” Bastion said. He pointed to one of the nearest houses. I couldn’t see what hinted that Rainnewt had gone that way, but I trusted Bastion’s intuition on the matter.

He kicked open a door and I tossed a lightball into the room, filling it with pale white light that shoved aside the old shadows occupying the home. Rainnewt was there, laying on the ground with his back against the wall.

I gasped.

He was clutching at his tummy. Blood seeped out from between his clenched fingers, running down over his legs and pooling on the floor. His head was turned to the side and pressed against the wall, eyes squeezed shut and teeth grit.

“Oh no,” I said. “I’m so, so sorry.” I started to run in, but Bastion held an arm out, stopping me.

“Illusion,” he said.

We stepped into the room and I pushed a bit of Cleaning magic towards Rainnewt and his body faded away into so many motes of light. “Oh, it really was just an--”

I was cut off as Bastion spun, grabbed me by the scruff, and shoved me aside.

It was such a brusque, sudden motion, that I barely had time to wonder why Bastion was being so mean before his sword came up and caught something out of the air with a metallic clink.

A new Rainnewt appeared, holding onto a dagger mid-parry.

He looked rough, his suit covered in dust and grime, with a few tears in it that hadn’t been there before. A long cut along his forehead was bleeding across his face, and he was grimacing as he moved back, as though the motion hurt him.

“Came back to finish me off?” he rasped. “You know, Broccoli, your whole facade, pretending to be so innocent, so harmless. You’re not, are you?”

“Hey! I’m as harmless as I want to be!” I said.

“You tossed a bomb at me!” Rainnewt shouted right back.

I stood up properly as Bastion let go and crossed my arms. “You’re the one that brought the bombs. You can’t blame me for using your own weapon against you.”

Bastion must have been tired of our argument, because his arm blurred toward Rainnewt.

Rainnewt’s eyes widened a moment before the paladin’s knuckles met his chin with a hard crack. I saw his face go through a few strange expressions as he was spun halfway around. His eyes rolled up, and he crashed to the floor like a sackful of potatoes.

Bastion was on him a moment later, pinning his arms to the small of his back and tossing the two daggers he had to the corner of the room. “I need restraints,” he said.

I slid to the side as a guard ran in with a short length of rope which Bastion immediately used to tie Rainnewt’s hands together. Rainnewt didn’t stay unconscious for long. He came to and started to squirm to fight Bastion off, but it was no use, not with more guards stepping into the room and surrounding him.

“I believe it goes without saying that you’re under arrest,” Bastion said to Rainnewt. Looking up, he addressed the guards. “I want three pairs of eyes on him at all times. No exceptions. He’s capable of shapeshifting and it’s possible that he has bribed some members of the guard. Do not trust anything he says. In fact, gag him. I’m certain someone can spare a sock.”

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The guards nodded, and soon they helped drag Rainnewt out of the home and into the street. They never actually let him get to his feet though, preferring to drag him around by the armpits.

I followed the guards out of the building, but paused when I saw that Bastion wasn’t following. “Are you okay?” I asked.

Bastion looked up, then smiled. “I’m well. A little disappointed though. I’ve scuffed my armour in a few places. It will take hours to buff it back to a shine.”

“Oh,” I said. "I could help?" I raised a hand, manifesting the barest glow of cleaning magic.

He shook his head. “It’s a Paladin’s responsibility to keep his gear in tip-top shape. Ceremonial equipment more so. Though I believe I will be forgiven for having become somewhat unkempt today. While traditions are important, lives are more so.” He bent down and plucked Rainnewt's two daggers off the ground.

“As long as you don’t get a talking-to for it. You were awesome earlier, fighting against Rainnewt like that.”

“I’m more concerned over how difficult the battle was,” Bastion said. He raised one of the knives, inspecting it in the faint light.

“Are the knives special?”

He shook his head and looked at the other. “No. Quite the opposite. They’re perfectly ordinary. Well-made, but not mastercraft. No markings, nothing to make them special. I’m a little disappointed.”

“How so?”

He smiled. ”I was hoping the reason I had to work hard to keep up was because he had superior equipment, perhaps enchanted. This knocks that theory out of the air. That Rainnewt man is dangerous. Most Paladins would defeat him in a straight contest, I think, but he doesn’t fight fairly. Tricks and illusions and deception at every turn. He’s dangerous.”

I glanced back to where he was being held by the guards. A few more had joined the group, and I saw Awen loitering by the edge. Unless he pulled off some great trick, he wasn’t going to get away. “What’s going to happen to him?” I asked.

Bastion took a while to answer. “He will be judged. Likely in a more private venue. Then he will pay for his crimes, depending on the judgement handed down to him.”

“So, jail?” I asked.

Bastion patted me on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go see how your friends are doing.”

“Oh, okay,” I said. Bastion wasn’t that great at distractions, but I didn’t mind. I stuck close to him until I was close enough to Awen that I could run over and pull her into a tight hug. “You’re alright?”

“I’m fine,” Awen said with a giggle. “I heard an explosion, that was you?”

“I didn’t explode. But I might have caused one, yeah. Your bomb worked, by the way.”

“I figured as much,” Awens said. “Fortunately, that’s the only explosion I heard. I think that they cleared out the others.”

“They had someone that could disable them?” I asked.

Awen shook her head. “I think they had some guards that could jam up the traps on the bombs, but they mostly just carried them out of the building. I guess they’ll let them all explode where it’s safe.”

“Uh, is that safe at all?” I asked.

“An explosion outside, with nothing to redirect the force of it? I think it should be safe,” Awen said. “The blast will just disperse in every direction. If it’s far enough from any homes or anything important, then it shouldn’t actually cause any harm.”

I nodded firmly. “Good.”

Bastion walked up next to us. “We’ll be escorting the prisoner out. You should follow us. I’m certain there will be many questions.”

“Questions?”

“Oh yes, plenty,” Bastion said. “The fact that you both acted to help, that things might have been worse without your assistance, will help a lot.”

“Why do you say that as if we’ll need the help?” I asked.

“Because you might. With situations like these, there are some people who will immediately look for ways to put the blame on someone that isn’t themselves. That means that they might see your involvement in the situation as an easy way to claim that you’re somehow responsible.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said.

Bastion shrugged. “One of the first things the fearful and cowardly toss away is common sense and decency.” He patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll do what I can to allay suspicions. And besides, you have friends in good places, and something of a reputation.”

I snorted. “Come on, we’ve only been here for a few days, we can hardly have a reputation already.”

“Ah, if you say so,” Bastion said.

The guards kept a formation around Rainnewt as they escorted him through the old city. Bastion, Awen, and I stayed at the back of the group, walking along at a decent pace through the ancient ruins until we reentered the basement of the old palace. The room was a hive of activity, with what must have been half the city’s guards and Paladins scouring the basement for anything out of place.

We got lots of looks, but Bastion being there probably saved us from some scrutiny.

A couple of Paladins joined us, sharing quick signs with Bastion before they nodded and formed up at our flanks.

The halls above, unlike the basement, were eerily empty. Where dignitaries and diplomats and nosy people of all sorts had been gathering before, there was now a whole lot of nothing, only a few guards moving around in quick patrols.

It was only when we were outside that we found everyone again. “Broccoli Bunch!”

I flinched at the snap in Amaryllis’ voice.

“I prepared all night for that speech. I should have known that I didn’t need to bother, what with you around to cause a ruckus!”

***