Age of Darkness (32 page)

It had been several days since Yuri had
spoken to Keimaro in Aladdin’s mansion. How long did that idiot expect him to
wait before he could save Lena? His friend was sitting in a dungeon being
tortured every day, and he was expected to just sit there and wait until her
execution was announced? What kind of logic was that?

The werewolf sat isolated in the room that
Aladdin had provided for him. The noble had left the house early that morning
in hopes of asking Gavin and Yata a question regarding their previous mission
underground. He still had not returned. The snow-haired boy lay on his king-sized
bed and stared at the ceiling with his arms outstretched on the purple and
yellow blankets. He hadn’t seen Keimaro since that day either. It looked as if
he were actually taking his job seriously in the Royal Guard.
How the hell
can he take the job seriously when he’s the one who will be assassinating the
king?
He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly.
That bastard
is probably off enjoying himself and forgetting about Lena, isn’t he?

Yuri had almost forgotten what her laugh
sounded like after so many days of being separated from her. Noah was gone and
now Lena? How could he call himself their squad leader if he couldn’t even
protect them from getting captured? He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. It
was settled. He had to go and get her himself. He didn’t care if Keimaro or
Aladdin weren’t ready. He remembered the instructions that Keimaro had given
him. He didn’t care if Aladdin had ordered him to stay inside of this damn
mansion. He had to go out there and save Lena. He couldn’t allow her to suffer
anymore—not more than she already had through her life. She deserved better.
Much better.

***

After spending almost an entire week with
Aika and Judal, Keimaro found himself “protecting” the princess when in reality
they were just spending time together. The Royal Guard leaned back against his
wooden chair as he watched Aika studying her books in the royal library. He
yawned, patting his lips with the palm of his hand. It was so quiet, like
always. Royal librarians were as sneaky as assassins and crept about, careful
not to make any noise so that they didn’t disturb anyone. The boy leaned against
his palm as he watched the princess, who seemed deep into her reading.
What
could be so interesting about that book, anyway?

Aika closed the book abruptly, and Keimaro
almost jumped as she smacked him gently on the top of the head with the novel. “Stop
staring at me! It’s making me uncomfortable.”

“Isn’t that my job?” Keimaro muttered,
putting his chin on the desk. Over the past few days, he had been laying low to
ensure that anyone in the government wouldn’t suspect him of being Keimaro. He
had also been trying to deduce who in the castle was a member of the Bounts,
but he didn’t have any particular suspicions other than one of the king’s royal
advisors, General Mundo, and a random servant that had been following him
around for about an hour before he broke off the trail. But he didn’t have much
time to inspect anyone, since he had to keep following Aika around every day.
And out of the princess’s lengthy schedule, this was probably the most boring
period of her entire day.

“Hey, Riku,” Judal said, walking over from
the door of the library toward the table. He was also assigned to watch the
princess during this time. “I heard that you’re having a spar with Darius today;
is that true?”

“Word gets around, huh?” Keimaro said. “The
prince has arrived already? I wasn’t informed.”

“Oh, he’s arriving this afternoon. That’s
what I heard, at least,” Judal said as he stepped aside to allow one of the
librarians to set down a book in front of Aika to read. “Milady, you sure do
read a lot, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do enjoy a good read,” Aika said
with a smile, opening the book and beginning to flip through the pages.

Keimaro turned his attention back to Judal.
“Really, now?”

“Yep. The princess will be escorted to her
father’s side at the throne. That means that we will have to go and meet Prince
Darius at the main gate and escort him through the city to the throne room.
General Mundo is making the battle quite the form of entertainment for tonight.
The word is all over the place. I suspect most of the guard might come and watch,
not to mention a large population of the nobles.”

Keimaro rolled his eyes. “I’m not nervous.”

“You should be.”

“Your faith in me, Captain, is awfully
discouraging.”

Judal laughed warmly. “Oh, I’ve seen you in
action all right. I know that you’re a phenomenon and a prodigy amongst
swordsmen. The reason that you’re so unpredictable is because these men are
incapable of adjusting their sword style to meet yours. Your style of combat is
so unique on its own that one cannot predict the path of your blade. Your speed
makes it so that, even if they guess, your sword cuts through them before they
are even ready to make a single movement. However, Darius is very similar to
you. In fact, I’d say you two are one and the same.”

“Really, now? I find the challenge worthy
of my interest then,” Keimaro grinned.

“Stop talking about hacking each other with
blades around me,” Aika said with a sigh. “The library is no place for barbaric
talk.”

“Yes, milady,” the two Royal Guards said
apologetically in unison, bowing their heads.

“I was joking.”

“Of course, milady.”

Aika rolled her eyes and closed her book,
slowly standing up. “It’s time to get going anyway, isn’t it?”

Keimaro nodded and slowly pushed back his
chair as Judal began to walk in front of Aika while he stood behind. That was
the typical two-man formation that they formed when they were escorting her.
But, just as Aika had begun to walk toward the door of the library, Keimaro
heard a sound just over his shoulder. He glanced, just barely, using his
peripheral vision to see if there was anything. Nothing. There was no way that
someone wasn’t there. He
had
heard something. There was no mistake.
Someone had moved, thus showing that they didn’t want to be seen. He had to be
on his toes.

“So, Riku,” Aika said, playing with the hem
of her blue dress as she walked out of the library, “I was wondering. Since
there’s going to be a ball in my brother’s name, during his arrival, would you
mind accompanying me there? I mean, I have no one else to go with and….”

“So, you’re picking me as a last resort
plan, princess?” Keimaro said with a teasing smile.

Aika flushed red and shook her head
quickly. “No, it’s not that!”

“I’d like to go with you, princess,” Judal
announced proudly.

“Umm….”

“She didn’t ask you,” Keimaro laughed. “And
don’t you have a wife, Judal? What on earth are you saying?”

“I have no idea,” Judal chuckled.

They continued to chat and laugh as they
walked through the hallways of the castle, greeting soldiers as they went by.
However, Keimaro’s mind was already on meeting the prince. He knew that he
would have to assassinate him. Aika had never mentioned her brother and seemed
to avoid the topic whenever he came up. Could it be that they were on bad
terms? If this Darius was as strong as rumors said, an assassination might be
difficult even if the prince were alone. And if he killed the prince, the king
might tighten security around Aika and himself. That would surely make things
more complicated. They might even increase security around Lena, which would
only piss Yuri off even more. It was already bad enough that they had left Lena
in that cell for several days now. He closed his eyes. Sometimes he had
sleepless nights just thinking about her. He tried to make sure that she received
decent treatment and didn’t get beaten too often, but she looked skinnier and
weaker with every day. An image appeared in his mind—the starved man from the
slums he’d seen when he had first arrived in the city.

Keimaro stopped in place, his body shaking.
If she turned out like that … he would never forgive his decision to wait
before saving her. Never.

“Yo, Riku.” Judal’s words snapped him back
to reality, and he glanced up to see his captain looking at him with a raised
eyebrow. “What’s wrong? We are almost there,” he said, pointing to the door to
the throne room at the end of the hallway. The two guards that were standing
beside the door, waiting for the princess to walk through, had already opened
it.

Keimaro blinked a few times and shook his
head. “It’s nothing,” he lied and walked through the doorway.

***

Darius wiped a bit of sweat from his brow
as he rode his stallion across the lush green plains at a casual pace. He saw
the draped banners of Faar over the Bassada walls and couldn’t help but flash a
glowing white smile. The trot of horses echoed in his ears, but when he looked
at the clear blue skies, he felt as if he were locked in the deepest of
silence. The clouds floated and drifted slowly, mesmerizing him with their
shapes.

“Milord,” his squire said, riding up beside
him, “we are almost at the gate.”

“I can see that,” Darius said with a roll
of his eyes. “I want to see this Keimaro Hayashi for myself. A couple days of
constant riding have left me impatient. But, knowing my father, he won’t let me
skip straight to the task at hand. The buffoon will probably be wasting tax
money on another ball or party. At any rate, keep on your toes at all times,
even when we are in the city,” he said to his men and drove his heels into the
side of his horse, galloping forward with increased speed.

The gates opened as Darius and his squad of
men dismounted swiftly. Their blades were sheathed at their sides, and the
prince’s red cape hung behind him and touched the ground. He pulled off his
golden battle helm, which had a red feather hanging from the top. He held it at
his side and looked forward with his gleaming royal blue eyes at the townsfolk
who had come to greet their arrival.

This was a large occasion for the city.
Their war hero had finally returned, even if it was only for a short while. The
appearance was rare and to be celebrated. Soldiers lined both sides of the
street, brandishing black clubs and pressing back the crowds of common folk who
had come to simply gaze upon the infamous prince. Yet, Darius couldn’t help but
see two specific soldiers walking through the center of the city along the
tiled pathway toward them. None of the other guards were even bothering to stop
them.

Darius raised an eyebrow.
Don’t tell me.
My father asked for two men to escort me to the castle? What a joke.
He
sighed when he saw that the two were a simple eighteen-year-old boy and a
middle-aged man. He put his hand on his hip as the two guards dropped to their
knees, putting a fist to the ground in a bow.

“You may rise,” Darius said. “Knowing my
father, he would’ve sent his best men to escort me, though he need not expend the
effort. He should’ve put you men to guarding my sister instead.”

“Princess Aika is in the throne room
underneath the protection of the Royal Guard. There is no need to worry, milord,”
the middle-aged man said.

“Your names?”

“Captain Judal of the Royal Guard,” the middle-aged
man responded.

Darius frowned when the younger boy didn’t
respond. “I asked your name,” he repeated, annoyed.

“Riku Hikari,” the boy said, looking up at
Darius.

Darius’s heart skipped a beat at the look
in the boy’s eyes. They bore a hint of innocence but also gave off a fierce,
intimidating aura for some reason. The darkness of the guard’s pupils seemed to
stare straight through his flesh and into his soul. The eyes were two voids
filled with emptiness, silence, and nothingness. Typically, from someone’s
eyes, Darius was able to read what a person was thinking simply from the
emotions that they expressed. But this boy … there was nothing. It was as if he
had no emotion at all. Darius’s eyebrow twitched with frustration and
annoyance.

“Milord,” the squire whispered into Darius’s
ear, “this boy is a new recruit of the Royal Guard. He killed over ten of the
king’s men during the tryout. His ability to manipulate the sword and martial
arts is supposedly comparable to your style. General Mundo has arranged for you
two to spar in the courtyard today.”

“Is that so?” Darius said with a small grin
spreading across his lips. A young prodigy, huh? Ah, this boy reminded him of
himself at the time. But, the young guard didn’t know the storm that was
coming. “Rise, let’s go off to the castle. Riku Hikari, correct? I am Prince
Darius, the war hero of Faar, destroyer of the Athenian empire, conqueror of
the Spartans, and dominator of Bakaara. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

***

Gavin staggered backward after having been
barraged with a flurry of fast blows by Yata. Already, the soldier could see a
considerable amount of progress in Yata’s combat. His ability to manipulate
metal allowed for parts of his body to morph into a variety of shapes that he
could use in a fight. It was similar to Noah’s magic, except the objects were
attached to his body. Yata wasn’t capable of creating new matter out of thin air;
instead, he simply changed his physical form, so he was quite limited with what
kind of metallic transformations he could use.

On the other hand, Gavin was still having
trouble keeping his balance while fighting such strong opponents. Sure, he had
improved in comparison to the weakling that he had been in the Forbidden Forest.
But against Yata, he felt practically powerless. His blows did no damage, and
it was near impossible to break through Yata’s guard.

Gavin sighed, tossing his one-handed sword
to the side with a shake of his head. “This isn’t working! I’m not hitting you with
enough power.” Glancing to his left, his eyes locked onto a brilliant gleaming
blade that rested on the wall. It had a golden hilt with a sapphire embedded in
the center that radiated a bright glow. The blade itself was forged by what
looked to be some type of elven blacksmith and ended with a slight curve at its
tip. That meant that the blade would be light but still be extremely powerful.
The only heavy part of the weapon would be the gold hilt. The soldier found
himself walking toward the weapon, his hand outstretched, hypnotized by its
beauty.

“The blade of Kuro,” a voice said from
behind Gavin.

“Buu,” Yata growled, leaving his metallic
form. He gripped his bat tightly and began to walk forward with an annoyed look
on his face. “I’d remember that stupid face of yours anywhere. You survived
Bakaara after all of these years?”

“What, Keimaro didn’t tell you?” Buu said,
brushing his curly, brown hair out of his smiling blue eyes. A bright red
bruise bloomed on his cheek, hinting that he had been punched recently. He
touched the wound and winced a bit. “Well, he gave me quite the punch a couple
days ago. At any rate, I’m not here to cause conflict anymore. I’m done with
arguing with you guys over the past. The only past that I care about is the
destruction of Bakaara and how much I’m going to make Faar pay for what they’ve
done.”

“Is that so?” Yata raised an eyebrow. “Looks
like something we can agree on. And Keimaro and I are not really on the best of
terms right now.”

“That so? That hot-head finally blow his
cap?” Buu smirked, not surprised.

“You two know each other?” Gavin whistled
awkwardly.

“Yeah,” Buu said with a chuckle, “we are
from the same village. We weren’t exactly on the best of terms at the time.”
The boy’s body vanished, and he immediately appeared beside Yata with his arm
wrapped around the annoyed metal shifter. “But we’re fine now; isn’t that
right?”

“Get your hand off me before I break it.”

Buu’s image blinked and reappeared beside
Gavin as he turned his attention to the sword that the soldier had been marveling.
“Oh, well. Past ties are hard to sever. I couldn’t help but learn that Yata was
up here training, so I figured I’d stop by. Anyway, that blade that you’re
about to pick up is actually quite the antique. It hasn’t been touched for a
hundred years. It was the original blade that Kuro used before he decided to
toss it for a new one made of dragon bone instead. You see,” he said, pointing
to the shining blue glow of the blade, “this weapon was made by forest elves, a
race of creatures that live on a far-off continent. Their weaponry is without a
doubt the most magical of all the races’ creations. As humans, we are capable
of mass-producing weapons, but the elves take time to create each individual
weapon. In a way, you could say, they treat the weapon as they would an actual
living being. They give it a name, they spend the time to enchant the weapon,
pray for it, and always keep it in the best of shape.

“Now, the history of this blade is rather
interesting. Kuro used this sword to slaughter thousands of men after he went
into the Enchanted Forest and forced the elves to forge him this weapon. They
call it Bloodthirster because it’s always thirsty for blood, suitable name.
When it tastes blood, it absorbs the fluid and becomes larger. Even though the
blade grows, the weapon itself doesn’t become any heavier. It simply becomes
ten-times deadlier, harder, sharper, and scarier with every man that it kills.
However, when deprived of blood, it shrinks back to its original size, until it’s
like this,” he said, nodding toward the weapon.

Gavin stared at the sword in awe. “And it
hasn’t been touched all of this time?”

“After Kuro killed the world’s first
dragon, he forged a weapon made from its bones. His armor was forged from that
same bone and covered in the dragon’s scales. It was the strongest material in
the entire world to create a weapon. With no further need of his old weapon, he
cast it from Skytera, where it embedded in the earth below. Back in the day,
there were competitions for men to pull the blade out of the ground.
Supposedly, only the one man who was as worthy as Kuro—and as dangerous—would
be able to pull the blade out of the ground. Interestingly enough, the only one
who pulled it out was Zylon himself. The old man was Kuro’s partner back when
they used to go adventuring and such. He brought it back but never used it in
combat. Neither has anyone else here. Sure, it’s an insanely strong blade, but
many of the people think that it’s cursed and that it is capable of corrupting
the soul. Not to mention, I figure that the blade would get so thirsty that it
could even decide to start sucking up the wielder’s blood,” Buu said with a
slight shiver. “Scary thought, right?”

Gavin’s eyes stayed on the weapon, and his
hands shook furiously. To become stronger, like everyone else, he had to do
something! He didn’t want to accept magic as the only way to gain strength. He
also didn’t want to rely on a weapon in order to make himself stronger. But, he
did believe that he was strong enough to wield the Bloodthirster. “Is it
against the rules to wield the sword?”

“No, it’s just….”

“Just that everyone is afraid,” Gavin said.
Everyone else is working hard to fight against this corrupt government and
to prepare for the battle against the Bounts. I can’t be dead weight forever.
Will wielding this blade make me stronger?
His mind flashed to the moment
when Keimaro had been fighting against Yuri. He had been too powerless to fight
against magic this whole time. He had to show everyone that just because he didn’t
have magic, he wasn’t weak. He wasn’t powerless!

“But I’m not afraid of this power,” he
said, grasping the hilt of the golden weapon. The very instant his hand curled
around the handle, he felt drained, as if everything was being sucked out of
his body—all of his happiness, hope, and joy. He grunted as he hauled the blade
into the air. Buu stepped backward as if Gavin were cursed. “I’ll show everyone
that I can be strong even without magic!” Gavin growled, holding the blade
overhead though his arms shook with the effort.

Yata stared at the soldier with newfound
respect. He couldn’t help but smile, lowering his bat to his side. “Hey, that’s
cool and all … but you look a bit pale.” He chuckled, putting a hand on his
hip.

Gavin blinked a few times, realizing he did
indeed feel sapped of energy. He groaned and dropped the blade onto the ground.
Then he doubled over, falling onto the floor in a heap. “Ugh, I feel terrible. What’s
happening…?”

Buu sighed, standing over the soldier with
his arms folded. “Idiot. I told you! The weapon saps your energy unless you’re
in real combat. Don’t use it to train because you won’t be feeding it any blood
while you’re fighting. If you use it while it’s hungry, it’ll just start
sapping your energy and blood.”

“It’s like a vampire,” Gavin gasped,
staring at the ceiling. He chuckled. “So, it sure does take stamina to wield
this thing, doesn’t it? Good! I’ll learn to wield it.”

Buu groaned and looked to Yata. “Have you
been teaching this guy to be an idiot? Because he reminds me of you.”

“All three of you,” Z said, walking into
the training room. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that Gavin was on the floor
with Bloodthirster at his side. A small smile appeared upon his lips, but he
said nothing about the spectacle. “We have a particular situation. The girl
that Yata, Gavin, and Noah saved has awoken. Come with me immediately.”