Chapter 5
Akira, Mel and Rock stood in front of the small side doors to the throne room of the kingdom of Relancia. They were the same cold, uninspired grey as the stonework throughout the rest of the castle. When they went to the Demon Kings’ castle, everything was decorated. The doors, walls and floors were beautiful and coloured in oranges and browns. There wasn’t anything as depressing as Relancia’s doors. Akira hated them. They didn’t befit a hero of his status. He deserved the massive gold engraved doors. Solid oak ones, that took at least three people each to open during formal occasions, accompanied by music and applause. Regular people entered through the side doors.
Akira pulled at his collar and adjusted his tunic. His face was still sore from where that traitorous woman had smashed his jaw. His tongue worked its way into the open spaces. Rock hadn’t been able to find all his teeth and there were too many gaps. Just another thing to make her pay for, if she was still alive.
He dry-washed his hands and gave a small thought to where Ayasse was. The sight of him yelling at them, then running off, still played itself out in his mind. Why should he care what dagger was used? She deserves to die.
“Do you think Ayasse will come back soon?” Akira tried to make it sound like he didn’t care one way or the other.
“How the hell should I know where he is?” Rock shrugged his shoulders while Mel ignored him.
Akira scowled. If Ayasse didn’t show up soon, how could he get his money? Akira owed Ayasse’s master, Thane, almost a year’s pay and she had his token. If that got released, things would be rather embarrassing. Akira had given the money to the thief before the fight with the Demon King for safekeeping and now he was gone.
Akira had never met Thane in person and had no idea how to contact the woman or even what she looked like. The rumours put her as either greater than the goddess Zial or someone you’d be embarrassed to be on the same side of the street with. He could never figure out which was real or not, All he knew was that she would find him, and she was in a position to destroy him.
Dammit. Akira ground what was left of his teeth and flinched. He rubbed his face, wincing at the pain. It had taken too long to get the right healing potion, and Akira could swear his jaw was bigger now.
“Stop touching it,” Mel scolded. “What are you, a child?”
“It still hurts.” He rubbed it some more.
“What did you expect? Healing isn’t a miracle. There’s no way it’ll replace everything.” She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.
“Do you think we’ll get a reward for coming back?” Rock fidgeted with his blue clothes. When King Eon’s steward had thrust the tunic on Rock, Akira was humiliated to see him almost turn it down. Why Rock loved his ugly green outfit was a mystery.
“Let’s see,” Mel smiled at Rock and held out four fingers. “We failed to defeat the Demon King; and lost the Holy Sword; one of our members is a traitor; and the other is missing.” She turned away from him. “What do you think, idiot?”
Ever since they left the Demon castle, Akira noticed that Mel had dropped the mask of civility that she usually wore around him. Having her secrets exposed had loosened her tongue. Sam was gone and Akira was certain Mel wanted to resume their old relationship. She was still attractive, but Akira didn’t like how she could manipulate minds.
Rock hung his head and started mumbling to himself. Akira didn’t care what he was saying. He had his plans to make for when he met Samantha, or her corpse, again.
“His Majesty, King Eon, will see you now,” an aged steward announced when he stepped through the small grey door. He was dressed in the palace finery, much better than Akira’s usual tunic. He compared his clothes to the other man’s and scowled. Why do the little people dress better than me?
The steward still stood straight, despite having little hair and a face covered in wrinkles. “Do not forget to show the proper respect to His Majesty. “
“We know what to do,” scoffed Akira. He dismissed the steward with a wave. “Just open the door.”
The steward scowled at the three heroes, shook his head and sighed. He opened the side door, stood to the left and bowed them through. He’s going to need replacing when I become king, thought Akira as he stalked by.
“Presenting Akira, the blessed Hero, and his companions; Melisia, the mage and Rock, the archer.” The steward announced as they entered the throne room.
The hall could easily hold hundreds of people. Down the center of the room, there was a thick, vibrant red carpet which drew Akira’s eyes, taking all the chill from the drab, grey stone. Two fire pits on either side of the room kept the cold from overwhelming everything else and the burning torch lights along the walls tried to push away any lingering shadows. Akira always liked coming in here when it was full of people. Now, it was depressing.
The tapestries along the walls showed the violent subjugation of the demon race in intricate detail. The exquisite reds and gold matched the carpet. One day this will be mine, he thought. I will get rid of that stupid king and take everything. I’ll make sure there will always be a crowd here to proclaim my greatness. Until then, it doesn’t hurt to play humble.
“Your Majesty,” Akira sank to one knee and lowered his head. Rock and Mel knelt behind him. As the Hero, he would be the best one to give this news and take the blame. They had a big fight over that. Mel threatened to use her memory magic before Akira agreed to take responsibility. Another reason to stay away from her. “I have returned from our subjection with dire news.”
“Arise. I wish to look at your face when you speak,” said a voice above them.
Akira and the others stood and gazed at the hefty, bald king sitting on a vermillion throne. Even though he was approaching the middle years there were still signs of a handsome man’s face, now covered in bacon grease. Akira pinched his lips and swallowed his bile. He hated the man and tried not to look at him, staring over his shoulder at the tapestries. He was such a pig that any room he entered immediately lost value. The truth was so different from the king’s public persona as a loving father. His son was better but he spent too long away from the palace. Akira remembered when he first came to Relancia after his home was destroyed. The king hadn’t been so fat then.
“Please continue, Lord Akira.” The king bit into another slice of bacon.
Akira nodded his head. “We had the Demon King cornered. Mel had weakened him with her newest magic creation and had driven him to his knees. Everything was perfect.” Akira swallowed. He hated having to say this part.
“All we needed was one more push, and I would have destroyed that evil forever with my sword when one of our allies turned on us. Samantha stole my Holy Blade and snapped it in two with her brutish strength. She then shattered my jaw and broke my leg. If Mel hadn’t been able to distract her with her last spell, we all would have died. Mel was spent, I was injured, and Ayasse was missing. Rock was able to get us out of there,” He held out the sword, lengthwise, for the king to see. “We failed. It was all we could do to escape that hellish place alive. I have no excuse for our weakness.”
Akira was not about to tell the King that the Demon King just let them go because Sam had asked him for a truce. That would have been humiliating.
“I see. She broke the sword,” King Eon sighed, wiping his chin on his sleeve. “This is quite disheartening. I had hoped to begin the clean-up of that tired race, but it seems that must be postponed. Thank you for your report. I must consider our next move.” The king waved to dismiss them. It was now or never. Akira needed to know if it was true.
“Excuse me, sire,” Akira gulped. “Is Samantha a Realmwalker?” He hoped the answer was no. Mel and Rock shot glances filled with daggers at him. He ignored them. This wasn’t part of the plan, but he didn’t care. He wanted to be the prophesied hero, not her.
The king stared at the three, chewed his bacon and swallowed. The silence stretched out. Akira gulped and could hear the saliva drop down his throat.
“Yes, she is. How did you find that out? The secret behind Samantha is a closely guarded secret.” He waved to his guards, and they loosened their swords in their scabbards.
Akira swallowed. He could defeat them if he didn’t care about the damage to his reputation. That would be irreversible. But this was more important. “She said she had recovered her memories and that her name was Samantha Morningshire. She vowed to make you pay for bringing her here, Sire.”
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“I see.” King Eon reached over and washed the bacon grease from his hands in a platinum-inlay bowl. He gestured to a small beast boy standing next to the throne. The boy ran over and got behind Eon to help push him to his feet. Standing, Eon brushed off his doublet and gestured to Akira. “Walk with me a minute, Lord Akira. Your friends can wait here.” The king wiggled himself down a short set of stairs to the right of the throne. Akira nodded to Mel and Rock, leaving them behind as he followed after the monarch through his private exit. Guards surrounded the two of them as they walked down the hall deeper into the castle.
King Eon clasped his hands behind his back. With his big stomach in the way, it made it difficult to put his arms anywhere else. “What I’m about to tell you is a national secret. If you divulge it to anyone, I will have you hanged, Hero or no Hero. My guards are privy to that secret and are quite motivated to keep it within their group.”
“Even my companions?” Akira asked.
King Eon was silent, “We’ll think about that. If they can keep their tongue, they may be of some use. However, be warned, if the secret is exposed, the families of the guards will be the first ones to pay and they won’t let that happen. Tell no one. Is that clear?” Eon said, pausing to catch his breath. Akira grimaced, but he nodded and glanced at the guards. Their scowls told him everything he needed to know.
“Very well. An ancient prophecy says that there will come a ‘Realmwalker’ to cleanse the land in time of dire need. It’s vague on the specifics. The former court mage, Tysone was quite interested in it. When the Demon King invaded and pushed back our forces, it looked like that time had come. He was too powerful, and we didn’t have the magic necessary to stop him,” King Eon said as they descended some spiral stairs. They had to pause several times for Eon to catch his breath.
Akira ground his teeth at each pause. He wanted to rip out Eon’s entrails. Anything to get him moving.
“There was the magic school,” Eon continued, “but the sorcerers there were next to useless. There were some successes, however. A few of the mages there experimented and found they could use the demon blood to increase the power of their spells. Your mage is the culmination of those experiments. Pity so many died in the process. Alas, such is progress.” He turned to Akira. “In addition, we found you, the hero able to wield the Holy Sword. Pity. It seems you weren’t strong enough.”
Akira sneered. He didn’t want to hear about his weaknesses. Finding out about how Mel got her powers, though, was interesting. He filed that information away for later in case he needed it. It may help him get the upper hand against her. She’d been hinting at changing their relationship and reaching out to touch him, probably to cast her memory magic. Pushing down his pride, he focused on what the king was saying.
“So, we had to go elsewhere. Luckily, I had made contact with a powerful man. We were already in a lucrative business venture together when I told him about our dilemma. He had someone he needed to dispose of and I needed some power. So, we struck a deal. He suggested we use the prophecy to our advantage and bring out our own hero. One we could shape.” They stopped in front of a door.
“Where are we?” Akira looked around. This was in the deepest part of the old castle. He sneezed. There was dust coating all the corners of the hallway, except for the brown door and the path leading up to it. It stood out like it had been opened often. Even the handle was new.
“This is where Samantha came from. When you first met her, I told you she had lost her memory and I needed your help to create a believable past for her. The former court mage helped make that a reality. If, as you say, she has remembered her real name, then we must tell our Backer that right away. He will not be pleased,” The King put his hand on Akira’s arm and gave him a warm smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll like you. If not, well, we’ll deal with that when the time comes.” The king opened the door and stepped into the room. Akira glanced at the guards surrounding him from the corner of his eye and checked out their swords. If he killed the king now and took control, there would be no way he was getting through them, not without a weapon of his own. He could take theirs. No. His ambition could wait. Wincing, he rubbed his jaw and stepped into the room.
*******
“Why must we head to your master’s place?” Sam said, kicking some dirt over the fire as the orange sun rose. The humidity was already rising and Sam hated sweating. They had spent another night camping in the forest. After a week of walking, they were finally away from the black trees in the demon lands and the eyes that had followed her everywhere. She never mentioned the feeling to Ayasse or any of the team. She didn’t trust it was real. “I feel fine. Whatever you gave me did the trick.”
His mask moved into a frown. “Maybe you feel okay now, but it’s only temporary. The poison has spread too far and your body is different from ours. I was able to arrest it, not clear it, from your system. We need the Master Pill to do that.”
“If we don’t cleanse it, then what?”
“Then the hallucinations will return, you will grow more paranoid and then death.” He pulled out a knife and held it up to his face, turning it slowly.
If Sam looked at Ayasse too long, she had to rub her eyes. It was as if he was avoiding her gaze. There was something about him she just couldn’t put her finger on. He was wiry and graceful, everything else including his age and gender, though, was a complete mystery. Sam could tell he might be a man, and that’s how I’ll think about him, with handsome dark eyes, and always kept his face covered. There was no telling what he was like underneath his mask. His hair was black but it could look blue sometimes.
“Whatever. You’ve saved my life, so I’ll follow you for now. Know this, I don’t trust you and I’ll call the shots for everything else.”
“Fair enough. I’m not a very trustworthy person,” he replied, checking his knives. He did that every day. Retouching the poison on them and sharpening any nicks out. In the week they’d been together, Sam hadn’t seen him miss a single day.
“Why are you helping me?” Sam asked, cocking her head to the side. “I know you’re a thief. Usually, they aren’t keen on assisting people. I could be mistaken though. There are still some holes in my memory.”
Ayasse was silent as he put his knives away. Sam started tapping her foot, crossing her arms and waiting. She was losing patience with him.
“I liked the way you stood up for your beliefs. I know you were willing to help the children, back at the village the hero destroyed. I was unable to do anything, but you faced him, even if you were punished.”
“Why didn’t you try to stop him then?” Sam asked. The memory was still raw in her mind. When she closed her eyes the head of the woman’s council still pleaded with her. The body of the child haunted her. She needed to know why Akira had done that, and if Ayasse needed to be punished as well. It doesn’t matter if he wasn’t there when they did it, that wouldn’t absolve him of the crime.
“Loyalty to one’s master is powerful in this land. Especially in my profession,” he said. “My Master tasked me to follow Akira’s orders. He knew I wouldn’t have approved of what they planned to do there, so he sent me away on a mission. I didn’t return until it was over. You were injured and being tended to by Melisia. I had no idea she was performing a spell to erase your memory. I realized afterwards what you’d tried to do when I saw some of the damage, you’d caused trying to protect the children and failing. I wanted to kill them at that time, but my Master would never have approved.”
Sam grunted. She had fought Akira there, breaking his arm to get him to stop. She even tore down one of the local lord’s castle walls to provide protection. Nothing worked. Akira had cornered her and Rock’s arrows pinned her hands. They were too strong for her and knew how to fight. Finally, Mel knocked her out and performed the memory eraser on her. Sam punched her fist into her other hand.
“In addition, Akira stole my knife and used it on you. That is unforgivable, and I must take responsibility. In my profession, failing to complete a job is allowed; losing control is not.” He finished hiding his knives in his clothes. “Good people are rare in this world, and they should be protected. At all costs.” He stood up. “Shall we go?”
“Fine. Lead the way.” Samantha turned away to hide her red face. That almost sounded praiseworthy, heroic even. There was no way he thought of her like that. Maybe, he was a friend? She could use some of those. Shaking her head at the absurd thoughts, she pushed ahead of Ayasse. They may be going to see his Master, but this was her life and she needed to be the one to steer it.
*********
“I have dire news for you today, my loyal subjects of Relancia,” King Eon’s voice boomed from the balcony as he addressed the crowd below. “Akira, our beloved hero, has failed in his holy mission to defeat the vile Demon King. Not through lack of power, or strength on his part. No, it was through base treachery.” He held his hand to his chest and swallowed.
Akira knew King Eon was a master at playing the audience, and sometimes you had to build the suspense with a dramatic pause. He still couldn’t believe such a short, bald, round, father-like figure could be so devious. If only the people could see him eat. They would change their opinion.
“One of his trusted allies, an orphan found near the fringes of the Kolori empire decided to betray everything this kingdom was founded on. Samantha Morningshire has joined forces with the enemy. She is on her way here, to kill you all. Be wary, for she is quite powerful, given unnatural strength by the Demon King.” Eon paused to let the whispers build and turned to Akira. He winked.
Akira rolled his eyes.
“Posters of her face have been distributed throughout the land. If you see her, contact the local garrison immediately. Do not try to apprehend her yourself. She could kill you where in a heartbeat.”
Akira could hear the crowd shouting. The Demon King was a difficult subject for many people. The war had been going on for ten years, and many had seen a family member die because of it. King Eon beckoned for Akira to join him at the window.
“This is Akira, the Holy Hero, as you know, tasked with delivering us from that evil, —show them the sword—” he whispered to Akira.
A hush fell upon the crowd as he pulled out the blade.
“Look at what she has done!” King Eon gestured to the sword, shouting for all to hear.
There were gasps at the sight of the broken blade, the symbol of Relancia’s power. Akira heard a woman cry out in horror. However, it was cut off and a thud rang out as she probably hit the ground. The Holy Sword was an important relic for the country. With it, the people felt safe and protected.
Akira sniffed. He couldn’t stop his eyes from misting. Before, whenever he gripped the blade, its voice filled his ears and drove him on. Now, it was dead.
“Her evil strength is no rumour,” The king continued. “She did this with her bare hands. The church is working day and night to repair the damage, but know that Samantha Morningshire is extremely dangerous. If you see her, remember to contact the soldiers. You will be rewarded.”
The king had Akira put the sword away and gestured for the crowd to quiet. “Thank you for your patience during this trying time. We will show the Demon King and the traitor how we deal with this betrayal,” —King Eon pumped his hand in the air— “This will not go unavenged.” He turned and led Akira back inside the castle as the wails of the peasants continued to grow mixed in with cries of revenge. From what the king said, they would do most of the work for his army and locate Sam. All Akira had to do now was wait.