Rupture: Rise of the Demon King (16 page)

After a few minutes, Seeko could tell he had succeeded. The prisoners laughed and hugged each other. Seeko smiled in response and looked to Todd, who just stared back, shaking his head at Seeko’s enjoyment.

Keith stood up and dusted himself off. A nearby guard handed Keith his sword. The quiet warrior turned toward the edge of the camp and walked away. Seeko shrugged at the sight and looked back to the rejoicing townspeople. They still had nothing to go back to. His smile faded.

Seeko and Mori found Kazuma preparing when they returned to where his tent stood. “How did it go, Seeko?” Kazuma asked when they got close enough.

“We actually convinced him to let them go!” Seeko said. “They’re free.”

“Really now?” Kazuma said with a hint of a smile. “Wow. Where did they go?”

“I guess they went back to Irris. I actually did it. I guess being a hero has its advantages.”
It’s really been a downhill journey. It feels good to do something visibly helpful for once.

“Congratulations, then! I just hope you’re right about him.” Kazuma patted Seeko on the shoulder and went back to getting ready. Seeko helped Kazuma ready the company for departure, and by midday, the army was ready to move.

Hours went by as they trudged eastward. Wagons pulled by kitseans behind the army carried all the equipment, lifting Seeko and Mori from the burden of their own bags. Kazuma stood in front of his company, and both Seeko and Mori walked beside him.

“Kazuma, I know you lived in Vicussa. Do you miss it?” Seeko asked after a while.

Kazuma continued walking without even a glance to him. “The demons took everything I had from there. Nothing in that town could make me live there again. It has been corrupted by the Halcyon now and is probably riddled with demons. Besides, it’s in the middle of the desert. Who would want to live there?”

Seeko backed off and let him walk without his questions. He looked around for something else to pass time, observing the soldiers around him.
Two weeks of this,
he thought to himself. He slowed his steps and steered away from the rest of the company. Seeko soon found himself behind the company, being passed by the supply wagons.

A flame lit in Seeko’s hand. He took the jade light and set it into his clothes. His control of fire prevented his clothes from burning and allowed him to move it along his arm. A sigh escaped the hero before he threw the green ball of fire into the sky, watching it travel until he could no longer feed it.

“I’ve never seen such reckless magic,” said a familiar voice from behind.

He turned and found Keith standing there. The large man was shaking his head, his scarf blowing behind him in the hot summer breeze.

“Keith, what are you doing here?” Seeko asked.

Keith pointed toward the tail end of the army and started walking. “You better keep walking or you will fall behind the Irenic stooges.”

Seeko followed alongside the swordsman.

“I’m here because … I have nothing left,” Keith said quietly.

“What about the other villagers? You have them.”

Keith shook his head. “I gave up on everything. I gave up on life, on them. But you didn’t. I have nothing to live for, but you saved me. Why?”

Seeko let out a deep breath. “You didn’t do anything wrong, so why should you die? Anyone is worth saving if at all possible.”

“What about Irris?”

“I would have saved them too, if I could have.” He frowned as he thought of those who died.

Keith stopped in his tracks, his voice harder than before. “Irris is gone now. I have nothing.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not my fault.”

“It
is
your fault, hero. You kept me alive.”

Seeko lost what little sympathy he was feeling for Keith. “So you would rather die? I saved you from the Irenic Empire. What more do you want with me?”

Keith looked in the direction Irris once stood. The charred remnants reflected in his eyes, but his face betrayed nothing. He faced back toward the army and began walking. “A purpose.”

What did that mean? “So you want me to give you something to do? I’m busy with the demon portals and the Irenic army, if you didn’t know.”

Keith looked back and gave Seeko a cold stare. Keith’s expression made it obvious what his response was.

“So that’s it, then?” Seeko said.

Keith continued to march forward, oblivious to Seeko.

“Fine, but don’t cry to me when a demon rips your arm off.” Seeko caught up to the brisk Keith, the army considerably ahead. Mori wouldn’t be happy about this.

They were a considerable distance away from the army, so Seeko decided to ask Keith some questions. “What are you going to do now that you’re following me?”

“I was a caravan guardsman before. I will be a guard for you now, hero.”

“My name is Seeko.”

Keith paused. “And the girl you travel with?”

“Mori.”

“Daughter of Luxant?”

“You know her?”

“No, but the Shadow of Dawn does.”

Seeko placed his hand on his sword. “Is she in danger?”

“I doubt it. They know of all the Irenic lords. This war will end with another war, they know. Neither kingdom has an heir. Both will collapse into a war of succession.”

“Then I will stop that too,” Seeko said, staring straight ahead. “I’m the Hero of Endetia. I will bring peace.”

“Your arrogance will get you killed.” His face cracked into what Seeko determined was a smile. “Unless you’ve got someone watching your back.”

Seeko paused and fell back a step. Did he really want this man watching his back? Could this Keith be trusted?

Only time could tell.

16: Transformation

12 Sheri, 112 AV: Day 111

“What?” Mori said as the army prepared to camp for the night. “It’s one thing to save him, but to bring him along is too much!” Seeko and Mori were alone inside their tent, adjacent to Kazuma’s. “I thought he hated the Irenic Empire! Why does he want to help?”

“He has nothing else, Mori.”

“He could still be working for the Shadow of Dawn! Did that not cross your mind?”

Seeko frowned. “What does the Shadow of Dawn want with me?”

“I don’t know, Seeko. Maybe the necklaces, or maybe they want to kidnap you. There’s just something he’s hiding,” she said. She squinted at him. “What is the matter with you? You don’t seem to care that he is also either Halcyon or a rebel.”

“I trust him. Helping me gives him something to do, at least for now. Please don’t hate me for trying to help someone.”

Mori was about to give a rebuttal when they heard a man scream in the adjacent tent. The duo rushed into Kazuma’s tent, where they found a laughing Kazuma and a stoic Keith speaking across a table. At their entrance, Keith turned to face them with a frown.

“Kazuma, can we talk to you in private?” Mori said, shooting Keith a nasty glare.

Kazuma’s chuckles subsided. “Anything for Luxant’s daughter and the hero!” He made no gesture to send Keith away, however.

“Leave!” Mori said to Keith.

Keith rose and walked past her. He paused near Seeko, whispering, “How do you stand her?”

Seeko let out a small laugh.

“I’ll be out here when you three are finished talking about me,” Keith said as he walked past the tent flaps.

Mori spoke up first. “He is probably still working for the Shadow of Dawn, Kazuma. At the very least, he is holding a grudge against the Irenic Empire for burning down his hometown. Why did you just let him into your tent?”

“Ya think he just wandered into here by accident? Grama Company has made it our mission to protect Seeko. And Seeko took in this bandit, so I was questioning him.”

“And?” Mori asked.

Kazuma shrugged. “He’s funny. He reminds me of Seeko.”

“Do you trust him?” Mori said.

“Of course not. However, you’ll be surrounded by company elite during your stay with the army. He won’t be able to so much as blink without Captain Kazuma knowing!”

Mori looked to Seeko. “See? Kazuma doesn’t trust him, either.”

Seeko rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, he means no harm.” Did he really believe that, or was he just rebelling against them?

“There will be four guards posted at your tent tonight, watching him,” Kazuma said. “Go get some sleep.”

Mori nodded, taking Seeko with her outside. Seeko scanned for Keith but couldn’t find him in the darkness of the summer night. So, they went back to their tent, pulling back the flaps to reveal someone waiting for them.

Keith’s frame was silhouetted against the light fabric of the tent. He held a dagger in one hand. Mori screamed at seeing him and tried to use magic, but couldn’t. Keith turned to them and dropped the dagger.

Seeko reached for his spark and found he couldn’t, either, his green spark just out of reach. Perturbed, Seeko fumbled around and eventually pointed his short-sword at Keith. “What are you doing in here? Where are Kazuma’s guards?”

“I mean you no harm.” Funny, since his dagger was covered in blood and he didn’t answer the question of where the guards were.

Seeko edged closer to him. “Explain. Now.”

Keith gestured to the ground, where a dead man lay in an enlarging pool of blood. “He was a Halcyon agent. He poisoned the food with raxanweed and was going to kill you. Do you feel its effects?”

“Is that why I can’t use magic?” Seeko asked.

Mori nodded. “How do we know you didn’t set this all up?”

Kazuma burst into the room at that moment and shot a glance at Keith before saying, “Are ya alright, Mori?”

Keith spoke again. “Do you really think I would kill a man just so that I could get to you later?”

“If you were an assassin, you might have,” Mori said.

“Why then did I not attack you after realizing you were poisoned?”

“How did you even know he poisoned us?” Seeko asked.

Kazuma was the one who answered this question: “Josh was a cook here, so he would have access to our raxanweed. He was secretly an Irenic double-agent. We were using him to learn of Halcyon troop movements. Guess we know his true colors now.”

“You two have no value to the Shadow of Dawn,” Keith said. “I have no ties to them anymore. I was telling Kazuma of their headquarters.”

Kazuma whistled and a couple of guards entered the room. “Clean this place up and move their tent.”

So, Seeko and Mori waited outside in the humid darkness, staring at Keith opposite the red fire Kazuma started.

“I never sleep,” Keith said after losing a staring contest with Seeko.

“I doubt that very much,” Seeko said.

“Wind magic lets me stay upright even when exhausted. I haven’t slept for years.”

Was he for real? Seeko was starting to believe this expressionless man.

“Ya seriously never sleep?” Kazuma asked, sitting down next to Seeko. “Your tent is ready, Seeko, by the way.”

“Nope,” Keith said. “Never sleep.”

Seeko imitated Keith’s face as best as he could. Finally, Keith broke from the pressure, saying, “Joking.”

“That makes it easy,” Kazuma said with a laugh. “I don’t have to get ya a bed! Ya can just stand out here with our guards.”

“That’s a great idea, Kazuma!” Mori said as she made her way back to the tent. “Hope he likes bitebugs!”

Keith’s face went still and he looked to Seeko, who shrugged. “You dug your own grave, Keith.” Then he followed Mori into the tent, a smile crossing his face.

Keith wasn’t so bad. Seeko was mostly sure he had made the right choice about letting him stay with them.

But there was still a part of him that made him turn back to glance at Keith before he headed to the tent.

/ / / / /

The farther they marched from Irris, the dryer the land became. Lush green grasses turned to pale, sickly yellows. Eventually, grass stopped appearing altogether, replaced with short sagebrush and small cacti. The land faded to orange as they marched farther on, and all around the army stood large red and brown mesas that were home to the giant thunderbirds, or so Kazuma claimed.

Other than the mesas, the desert was as flat as a sheet of ice. As a result, the wind was relentless. Vast dust storms whipped up from time to time, slowing progress to a crawl as the army huddled together so as to not get separated.

The army made slow but steady progress to Vicussa. When the winds died down, only the sound of relentless marching remained. Occasionally, a group of soldiers would have a conversation about their home and how they wished the war was over. Seeko would listen in on these conversations and Keith would shake his head.

Seeko was staring into the ground below him when General Todd yelled out to stop. Seeko looked up. Vicussa was visible in the distance. The town sat below a mesa, preventing a way into it from behind. To the north of the city stood a large spire of rock, a solitary spear that rose above all.

“We make camp here. Tomorrow, we charge to battle!” Todd yelled over the clamor of halting soldiers.

The rest of the day moved slowly. Tomorrow, they were to fight. Tomorrow, soldiers would die. Seeko looked over at Mori, who sat at the tent, fiddling with her rapier. Seeko didn’t have the training of a soldier. He was going to die. Keith walked up to him, pulling him out of earshot from Mori.

“Are you sure Mori should be fighting?” he said, folding his arms. “Fencing isn’t a fighting style for taking on multiple opponents.”

Seeko scratched his head and looked back to her. “I’m more worried about me. She’s a better fighter than I am.”

“I’m not worried for you. You seem to have an unlimited amount of magic,” he said. “In battle, no one will be able to dodge a beam of your fire.”

Seeko imagined this, then asked, “So you’re worried about Mori?”

Keith looked back to the girl now practicing small movements with the blade. “It’s a light, fast fighting style. It’s better for one-on-one fighting. That’s why she is a better fighter than most, if she fights them alone.”

“What should we do then?” he asked.

“You can’t do anything about it. I will protect her if you cannot. It’s my purpose, now.”

Seeko smiled. “Thanks, Keith.”

“If you two die, I have nothing again. I’ll fight for you.”

Seeko couldn’t tell if that was sentimental or ironic. “I hope we one day mean more to you than just a job.”

Keith’s eyebrows rose slightly. “One day, hero. One day.”

/ / / / /

Dust blew around as the fully armed Irenic army marched toward Vicussa. Halcyon forces lined the desert, ready for the attack. Seeko stood shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers in the front line. Mori and Keith were on either side of Seeko. Kazuma was on the opposite side of him, ready to lead him and the rest of Grama Company.

Seeko examined the closest soldiers. Metal helmets hid Irenic faces, rendering them emotionless and distant. Drones on the field, ready to fight and kill and die. The opposing army observed its enemies across the field, their black tunics forming a wall of darkness.

Elegantly armored General Todd moved to the front of the army, mounted on a large white kitsean clothed in white and blue. He cleared his throat, saluting to his men. “Today will be a glorious day for the Irenic Empire, my soldiers! Today, we march on the city of Vicussa, a city that was ours, once upon a time. Today, we take back what is rightfully ours! Today, we fight back!

“We fought back for our homelands and protected Envoran from Halcyon invasion! We fought back and pushed them into Halcyon land! We fought back and beat them in their own city! Wherever the Halcyon have pushed, have prodded, have provoked, we have fought back!”

The soldiers sent a cheer into the air, banging their shields. Todd nodded to the officers in the front of the army, Kazuma and Seeko included. “Are you ready? Are you ready to fight back?”

Another cheer.

“Then let’s fight back!”

The loudest cheer yet rang through the dry desert air.

Seeko watched General Todd draw his sword and point it toward the Halcyon army. The noise around him dulled as soldiers suddenly charged past him, and Seeko took a deep breath. Then he rushed forward with the rest of the army, watching the figures move around him. What was he doing? He was in the middle of a battle, but he didn’t want to kill. His movement slowed and more soldiers flooded past him.
I can’t do this.

A hand clenched Seeko’s shoulder and his senses came back to him. Mori ran alongside him, wearing chainmail under her red clothing. She pulled him along, keeping him from falling farther behind. A light shroud suddenly appeared in the sky. The shroud arched high into the air and fell toward Seeko and the people around him.
Arrows!
They fell closer toward their targets, a cloud of death.

Seeko waved his hand in the air and a green wave of fire burned through the arrows overhead. The arrowheads fell to the ground, harmless. Around him, others were deflecting the arrows with elemental shields of their own, but not everyone was so lucky. His eyes grew wide as the soldiers and their black-dressed counterparts merged into a mass of flowing bodies.

Seeko finally drew his sword, clashing against the blade of an opponent. The helmets of the Halcyon matched those of the Irenic. Every soldier clashed with an unknown enemy, faceless in battle. Seeko watched the blade of his opponent swing from side to side. He dodged the sharp edge with the training he’d learned in Asilis. The Halcyon soldier suddenly whipped water out of a skin on his side, pulling Seeko off his feet. He hit the ground with a dull thud and watched the soldier swing down at him.

Seeko clenched his eyes shut, unable to dodge the falling blade. A loud clash overhead forced his eyes back open. A large sword sat hovering above his chest with another pressed against it. Keith stood over Seeko and pushed the Halcyon soldier away with a swift kick.

Standing back up, Seeko drew on his spark. He blasted short bursts of fire into the helmet of the Halcyon. The enemy soldier held his face as he stumbled backward, no real damage caused to him. Seeko waved his hand to thank Keith, who only nodded as he turned to fight another charging Halcyon in the dust-filled air.

Seeko looked around during the momentary lull for Mori. She was nowhere within eyesight. Had he lost her? A large group of kitsean riders rode into a distant part of the battle, falling out of sight quickly afterward. Seeko fought his way across the battlefield, searching for Mori when he had the chance.

Swinging his sword and running around soon took effect on Seeko’s stamina. He breathed heavily, navigating through the brown and red maze of war. A loud screech echoed across the battlefield, catching Seeko’s attention. A bat, the same as in the forest, flew over the battle. “Demons!” he yelled while fighting the soldier before him. The bat flew into the mesh of Irenic soldiers, screeching in the distance. Dodging and blocking both swords and magic alike, Seeko finally made out a figure in red through the chaos.