With a violent crash the door was flung across the room. It took down a few of the men in the room as it flew through the air. The frame, which used to contain the door, was charred, with smoke coming off it. Aela blew the smoke off her finger, and smirked before stepping back to let everyone charge in. As Alaric and his men poured in, they were met with fierce resistance. In the blink of an eye, the room was filled with a bloody battle. It was their most spacious arena thus far, but that soon turned to the Diebstahl’s advantage.
From among the crowd of thieves stood a hooded figure. Aela singled out the figure, and called upon the Rigmatite mages to assist her in taking it down. Together they fought the Chaodite in a display of Mystiko. Despite the clear advantage of numbers, Aela and the Rigmatites struggled to keep up with the immense speed and ferocity of the Chaodite. He may not have been a master, but he was certainly close. The wards were just barely enough to keep the Chaodite from using his most dastardly sorcery, but his ethereal daggers still made deep cuts. It seemed that neither side could gain the edge with any attempt to attack from the inside. Aela’s Bone Break did nothing except cause her headaches. Similarly, the Chaodite was unable to possess any of them. The Rigmatites also learned the futile nature of internal attacks.
Just as it had been in Wolbung, the Mystiko battle went from an exchange of mighty blows to a game of wit and trickery. Its sudden turn was sharply contrasted by the wild display of steel clashing all around them. Lucullus, together with Johannes and Alaric, led the charge and fought their way through. If it weren’t for the enemy daggers being so small, Lucullus’s shield would be in far worse condition. He blocked many oncoming strikes, and turned his enemy’s strike against them. With each foe that attacked, he countered with a shield bash. His new favorite method of defense.
After some time, it was only the Chaodite and one other man left. While the Mystiko battle raged on, Lucullus and Alaric charged the other man. At first, he was too quick to hit, but after the Chaodite was eventually slain, his speed seemed to slow down significantly.
Lucullus nearly landed a slash with his sword, and the man fell to the ground. Lucullus sliced off the man’s right hand, and watched as the dagger dropped to the floor. “Tell us where you’re keeping Olivia! And where is your leader?”
The man, despite the extreme pain he was in, grinned and laughed with his teeth clenched. “Er spricht wie ein wilder.” He coughed blood. “Ich bin…”
Lucullus turned to Johannes, and put his foot over the man’s neck. “What is this filth saying?”
Johannes sighed. “He’s taunting you for speaking Dasosan.”
He turned back to the man, this time he shouted louder. “If I must ask you again, the next thing you lose will be your head!”
Aela put her hand on his shoulder. She gave a disapproving stare as he looked back at her. “Lucullus, this is getting us nowhere.”
He sighed, and stomped the man’s ribs before stepping back.
The man struggled to laugh as he rolled over in pain.
Aela stooped down next to him, and whispered in his ear.
He violently coughed and wheezed. “Ich bin der anführer.” He seemed to struggle just to remain conscious. “Der Preis bleibt verborgen.”
She turned back to Lucullus. “It seems we only need to find Olivia. And given the presence of that Chaodite, I suggest we investigate this whole room before leaving.”
“But who is the leader?”
“You took his right hand.”
Lucullus looked down at the man struggling to keep his life. “Then we should put him to the sword, now.”
She shook her head. “We’ll need him alive until we find her. But I doubt he would keep their ‘prize’ too far from where he is.”
Lucullus looked around. Judging by all the chairs and overturned mugs, he guessed they were in the Diebstahl’s private tavern, or something of that nature. “The Furum Forum didn’t have anything except drunkards in a room like this.”
Aela closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “That Chaodite was in here for more than just a drink.”
Johannes interjected, “How do you know?”
She walked over to a wall on the far side of the room, and placed her hand on it. Smiling to herself, she silently recited a prayer. “Behold.” With a few waving motions of her arms, she recited another prayer and punched the wall.
Johannes stepped back in amazement as a section of the wall vanished. “I should have known. Only a Chaodite could hide something so cleverly…”
Lucullus rushed over and caught Aela as she fell back. “Are you okay?”
She allowed herself to rest for a moment in his arms, glad that her legs were able to have some reprieve. Softly, she replied, “I think I shall live. That illusion, I think, took more to break than I should have given.”
“I remember what you told me about using Mystiko beyond one’s abilities.”
“Fear not. The fact that I’m still conscious and talking to you means that, whatever damage it did to me, it wasn’t much, and certainly not permanent.”
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“Can you stand?”
She nodded. “Part of me just wants to remain where I am. But I know the battle is not over, yet.” Her legs trembled slightly as she stood up.
“Are you sure you’re still battle-ready?”
She chuckled. “Just give me a moment to pray, and I shall be ready for whatever may be at the end of the new passageway.”
With a sharp breath, Lucullus kicked down the old wooden door, charging in with determination. By his side, Alaric, Johannes, and Aela charged in. The room opened up into a large cave-like structure; its walls took very organic shapes, but had certain artificial elements throughout, like torches, braces, and other things mounted to them. The floor maintained its original stony texture, but certain markings were visible on it. Lucullus wasn’t sure what they were, but something related to Chaodite rituals was a safe guess. Toward the back of the enormous room was a large cage that hung from the ceiling. Its bottom was several feet above the ground.
Seemingly from nowhere, Chaodites and brigands emerged in droves, and the battle had begun. Lucullus saw a woman sitting in the cage, and when he had seen her, his anger was kindled against his assailants, and he became reckless in his attack. Johannes jumped in to help him before he got surrounded.
Aela joined with the remaining Rigmatites to clear out the lesser Chaodites. They were nothing like the one in the leader’s chamber, but anyone allied with Chaodis was a great danger regardless of their fighting prowess, and with numbers they can prove even more lethal. No longer possessing the numbers advantage, Aela and the Rigmatites struggled to maintain a foothold in the fight.
Alaric eventually joined up with Johannes and Lucullus to lead the battle as they carved their way through brigands. The three got their share of cuts and bruises, but their foes seemed to be weaker than before. They thought perhaps the absence of the brigand leader made the brigands fear the worst. Regardless of what it was, the battle was still hard-fought, and Lucullus’s armor became very damaged because of his frenetic fighting. His feet were swift like a lion, and his sword moved like the wind. But if Alaric and Johannes had not been at his side, he would’ve suffered thrice the blows he did. Though the hits would stagger him, he continued as if he never felt it. The holes in his armor gradually increased in number, with some being decorated with stab wounds. None of them went particularly deep because of the short daggers carried by the brigands, but only his tattered shield could sufficiently protect him from any further strikes.
The room eventually filled with the bodies of thieves, Chaodites, Rigmatites, and men of the Kampfergilde. Lucullus looked around, his breathing labored, and staggered over to the cage on the far side. He looked up to the woman in the cage. She sat with her legs to her chest, her face half-hidden behind her knees and long flowing hair. Her clothes were stained with dirt and the rare scorch mark. The hem of her dress looked like that of a beggar’s rags, but they still maintained that unmistakable color of royalty. Scarlet. Not the color of the king’s robes, but of his heir. The Princess of Lucium. Though her face, what little she showed, was stained with dirt, her hazel eyes still radiated with a most pure innocence and beauty.
With the blade of his sword, he broke the lock to pieces, causing her to jolt back a little and hide her face completely. He opened the door, and sheathing his sword, he held out his hand and said, “Princess Olivia, I have come to bring you home to your father. To Lucium.”
She slowly turned her head to look at him. Only her eyes were visible. “You speak like an Altum…” She continued with trembling in her voice, “Who are you?”
He took a step closer to the cage. “I have been called many things in the last several months. But I am Lucullus.”
Gradually, she revealed more of her face as she inched forward. “Where are you from, Lucullus?”
“Lucium. Agros. Forget any reservations you have about accepting my hand,” he said with his hand still stretched out to her. “King Titus entrusted me with returning you home, and Mystic Cicero trusts me, too.”
There was a sudden change in her eyes. They no longer looked like those of a cornered animal, but more like a curious one. “You know Cicero?” Her voice trembled less than before, but it was soft like cotton.
He nodded. “Cicero and your father set me free. But that freedom could only be accomplished by doing a great service for Lucium, my homeland.”
Reluctantly, and with trembling, she reached out to grab his hand. “If Cicero trusts you, then I shall do the same.”
Putting his shield on the ground with his left hand, Lucullus helped her out of the cage with his right. Once she was on the threshold of the cage, he lifted her up and gently lowered her to the ground. “Do you have the strength to walk? If not, I can carry you.”
She looked at his many battle wounds. “I can walk. I would not wish to burden a wounded soldier.”
“If you have any trouble, I shall carry you. It is a long walk out of these sewers.”
She gave a weak smile. “I am fine for now. If you were to carry me, you would not have your sword to fight with.”
Putting his shield on his back, he chuckled. “As long as we follow the path we took coming in, I think we shall be fine.”
Johannes approached them, and put his hand on Lucullus’s right shoulder. “The Princess of Lucium,” he muttered to himself. “Are we ready to depart, Lucullus?”
Lucullus nodded. “The sooner we leave this horrid place, the better.”
The trek through the sewers was remarkably quiet. Everyone was weary from battle, but they still had the energy to be paranoid of any suspect sound. The reality of Lucullus’s wounds began to catch up with him as he grunted with each step while carrying his torch. Every few steps he would clutch his side.
Olivia gave him a worried look. “Should we stop for a moment?”
He shook his head. “The longer we stay in here, the worse I feel. Aela,” he pointed his torch in Aela’s direction, “can do her Mystiko healing on me when I see the sky.”
“Is she a Mystic like Cicero?”
Aela answered, “No. I still have years to go before I earn such a title. Though perhaps my research can help advance my rank…”
“Research?”
“I originally joined Lucullus because following him meant I could visit the places I needed for my research. The college’s archives are great, but they are unable to fulfill my needs in the way that seeing the world can. Books are nothing but theory.”
“Will you join him on the ferry back to Lucium?”
She shrugged. “I guess I don’t really have much of a choice. It’s much cheaper than, and easier, than finding my own ferry. And I doubt the merchants here will give a fair price to a Dasosan like me.” She sighed. “Perhaps our departure shall be at the port of Admare, or wherever a fork in the road splits our paths.”
“It has been a journey. But I have learned much from you,” Lucullus added.
She smiled “When you return to Lucium, you can learn even more from Mystic Cicero. He knows far more than I do.”
“Now, every time I think about going back to Lucium, I am filled with such an indescribable joy. I know the work is not truly done, yet. But the thought of returning home as a free man… I haven’t been free since the last harvest.”
“What happened last harvest?” Olivia asked.
Lucullus closed his eyes for a moment. “We can discuss that on the ferry. But just know that many injustices followed my return from the Furca market. And I still have a favor to return…”