Bacorium Legacy (57 page)

“It was storming that night. I remember that detail well, because the storm obscured our vision so badly we couldn't go on into the night. Those rocks were treacherous enough in the dark, but the rain made them slippery as well. We couldn't risk going on, so we stopped in a small cave and made camp. One of the other men - I can't remember his name, but I hated him - he advised King Manorith against it. He reminded him of the Allman mercenaries who were still on our trail, and said that they would not stop for the storm. I think the king believed him, but everyone in the group was so exhausted he chose to risk it so that we could sleep for the night.

“The man I hated turned out to be right, because the Allmans ambushed us. It was brutal - everyone was slaughtered. King Manorith and I were the only ones who were able to get away, but they chased us. We fled into the night, and we managed to get away from the Allmans who chased us. All but one.”

“My father,” Luca said.

“Indeed,” said Gordon. “At the time, I didn't know who it was - just that he was out to kill us. I was terrified - I thought I was going to die. But King Manorith took me by my shoulder, told me to get back home and tell his wife and son what happened to him. And he went and fought your father. I ran away, but I looked back and saw what happened. I don't think your father knew who he was chasing until the fight was over. It was too dark. But I could still see your father carrying King Manorith's helm back.

“I followed his last order. I went back to Acaria. The plague had ravaged our kingdom - that strange disease that killed both man and plant. Acaria had not been a beautiful land, not for a long while, but it was a frozen wasteland when I returned. The small number of people still alive now lived in Acarienthia, the capital. The queen and prince still lived, much to my relief. At this time, the plague more or less passed. But our country was damaged beyond repair.

“I told them what had happened, and they both grieved in their own way. The queen was distraught. She cried and shut herself up in her room. She cared dearly for Manorith. The prince on the other hand - he grew angry. Young Zinoro was filled with rage and hatred. He swore vengeance against Sono for what they had done, both to his father, and to his kingdom.

“A few months later, we received a letter from a man sympathetic to us in Sono. He told us the truth of the matter, that the public believed it was Zaow who had struck down Manorith in the last battle of the war, it was actually a man from Saeticia named Lodin who had killed him. The description of Lodin matched the man I'd seen perfectly.”

“Now Zinoro hated both your father and Zaow. He vowed to destroy them both, but to do this, he needed power. Power he lacked. And that is where the tragedy truly begins. Because Zinoro threw away everything his father believed in in the name of his justice.

“Your father is dead because of my actions. I could not have known they would lead to this, but they are still my responsibility nonetheless. I am sorry.”

“You say it is your fault, but it is not,” Luca told him. “The fault lies with Zinoro. He's the one who killed my father, who led his men to destroy that town and all those innocent people. It was Zinoro's orders that led to Allma Temple's destruction.”

Gordon shook his head. “While I will not deny that it is indeed Zinoro who did those things, he could not have done those things without help. He received this help from the darkest place imaginable - from Ekkei.”

Luca drew in a sharp breath at that name, and stared at Gordon in disbelief. “That can't be. You're wrong. Ekkei is a myth - a story told to frighten children away from misbehaviour.”

“I used to believe that once, too,” Gordon said sadly. “The shrine was once nothing more than a relic of another time - a temple to a being that no one truly believed existed. The last shrine of Ekkei - the only one the Paladins had been unable to destroy. It was always been the duty of Acaria's king to watch over it and ensure that no one enters it and disturbs the dark forces that resides within. While no one actually believed there was any need for the rule, it was still followed, for Acarians are slow to give up the old ways. King Manorith believed in that rule as he believed in any of the others - Zinoro did as well, but he cared more about revenge than that. So he forsake the king's duty and entered the shrine of Ekkei.

“He spent a week there. We started to fear he was dead. And then he returned - a different person. I know he is touched by Ekkei's evil, because his eyes were not red before. And when he came back, he had powers. Magick that had been forgotten since the ancient times. And his mana was different - dark and vile and corrupted.”

Luca knew what he meant. He had felt that mana himself. Even now, some trace of its evil lingered in the scar across his cheek, defying the healing magick that should have removed it.

“With this power he had, he found and attacked your father in Saeticia,” Gordon said. “He was confident then, and he went alone. The attack failed. Your father, and the rest of your family was able to escape, and Zinoro lost one of his eyes in the battle. He told me it was your mother who did this.”

Luca hadn't known that. Ash probably had, but he spoke so little of their mother.

“Even Ekkei's power was not enough, Zinoro learnt,” Gordon continued. “So he travelled all over Bacoria, taking me with him. I was his first acolyte. He found others on his travels - people with skills he knew he would have use of. Trunda was chosen for his ability to absorb mana. Verra for her skill in Reverse-Healing. Serpos for his orbs that can control dragons. Dreevius for his shapeshifting.”

“And yourself?” Luca asked.

“I've no special skills,” Gordon admitted. “Zinoro made me an acolyte as repayment for my service to him. I've been loyal to him to from the beginning.” Gordon's voice was heavy as he said this, and his eyes were filled with regret.

“I should have seen what was happening from the beginning,” Gordon said. “Zinoro started to lose himself in his rage. He was no monster before - he actually wrote poetry when he was young. I don't know if it was his grief, the influence of Ekkei on him, or both, but eventually all he could think of was his desire for revenge. His madness led him to do horrible things. The queen was devastated by what he did, and tried to run from him. She hid from him for a very long time. But like your father, eventually he tracked her down and killed her. His own mother.”

Gordon paused for a moment, visibly upset at the memory.

“When he found a man with a Rixeor Fragment, rather than challenge the man as he would have before, he sent Verra to kill the man in his sleep. She did, and brought him back the sword he uses now. And when he found the seer he was looking for, he had the man tortured until he told him what he needed to know.

“His acolytes, the Rixeor Fragment, the seer - it was no coincidence that he found them all. Ekkei was guiding his footsteps, leading him to the people and tools he would need. I don't know what Zinoro promised him in return, because he never speaks of his time in the shrine.

“After the seer, however, things changed. The seer told Zinoro that he could possibly fail, and he told him of the potential futures where he did. In most of these futures, it is you, Lodin's first son, who kills him. Zinoro, now knowing that he could possibly fail, started to be more careful. He would not go through with any more of his plans until he was sure you and your father were both dead. This was about two years ago. He shifted his focus entirely to finding you two, but this proved difficult as you were in hiding. He sent his men all over Bacoria to find you, and eventually they did. A team up north in Arimos reported you, so he took his revenants and attacked that village.”

“Revenants?”

“Aye,” Gordon said, his eyes wide. “More of Ekkei's evil power. When someone dies, they vanish, retaken by the mana of the earth. But if Zinoro has blood, even just a few drops, he can - bring them back. It's not truly the person it was before, just a pale imitation of them. These beings we call revenants. They do not speak, they do not act on their own - they only follow the orders we give them. In the past two years, Zinoro has built an army of them. He only had a hundred of so remaining Acarian soldiers prior to that. He needed an army if he wanted to destroy Sono, and he found a way.”

Luca thought back to all the Acarian soldiers he had fought before. The one with the axe he'd faced in Forga, the ones who had come from underground in Allma Temple, the pair who had stood watch over them like statues when Dreevius had captured them - they had all been such revenants - soulless copies of people Zinoro had killed.

“The attacks on the fringe villages,” Luca said in realisation. “The Acarians attacked not for captives or spoils, but simply to kill.”

“In the aftermath, the revenants will gather up any clothes or bloodied objects and take them back to Acarienthia,” Gordon told him. “Zinoro will use this blood to make more revenants. Any fallen revenants can be brought back as well. His army never loses men, but with each battle it grows. I'm sure all the slain students of Allma Temple now wear the armour of Acaria. As well as all the people who were killed at that village you lived in.”

Arlea - was she there somewhere, hidden under the black and red helm of Acaria? Was she one of the silent attackers Luca had struck down at the temple?

Luca found that he had clenched his fist. His hatred of Zinoro only grew with each thing he learnt of him.

“So why are you telling me all this?” Luca asked him.

“As I said, I've been with Zinoro since the beginning,” Gordon said sadly. “I watched him transform from a kind young prince into the monster he is now. And I can't follow someone like that. At first, I believed in what he was doing. I believed that Acaria could rise again from the ashes, and we could have vengeance for the war. But I've long since lost those feelings - ever since he started using slaughtering innocents to build his army of dead men. I cannot follow someone like that anymore.

“I've come to you because you're the only person left who can stop him. The seer said that in most potential futures, it is you who kills him. Zinoro has already cut the other branches - so you're the only one left who has any chance. But in order to do that, you'll need a Rixeor Fragment.”

“I've been looking,” Luca said.

“Set aside all other goals,” Gordon told him. “Because without one of those sacred blades, you have no chance of matching him. Do you know anyone who has one?”

Luca thought about it. “King Marcus of Saeticia. His sword,
Altair
. It's a Fragment.”
 

“You must convince Marcus of the importance of this,” Gordon told him. “Rixeor Fragments can be temporarily used by someone else if the master allows it. Convince him to let you borrow it, and go to Acarienthia. If you do this, you can not only prevent this war everyone is talking about, but you might also spare the world of whatever evil Ekkei is aiming to unleash.”

Luca frowned. He thought back to his previous encounter with Marcus. “I don't think Marcus would be very willing to give his sword to anyone, much less me. We'll be going to the Elder Hall soon, and I'll have the opportunity to speak with him there, but I wouldn't count on him agreeing to this.”

“In that case, we must find another,” Gordon said. “I have heard rumours of a town called Eccador, in Saeticia. They say there is someone with a Fragment there. But these are only rumours, and I have heard little else. The town is not far from the Elder Hall.”

Luca mused. “Perhaps I could go there, and meet the others at the Elder Hall later.”

“I see,” Gordon muttered. “I'll do what I can in the meantime. We'll need to meet again. I'll see you at the Elder Hall.”

“You're one of Zinoro's acolytes. You can't just wander about the Elder Hall...”

“In disguise, or course,” Gordon assured him. “The kings are taking their armies with them. It will be no great task to wear the armour of a soldier and blend in among them. But do not look for me. I will find you. That we met here must remain a secret between us. Neither Zaow's men, nor Zinoro's spies, can know. I don't know how much Zinoro still trusts me, if he does at all. I know there are things he hides from me. And he does not suffer traitors to live. If my treachery is found out, it could ruin everything. You'll need me to get into Acarienthia.”

“Of course,” Luca said.

Gordon bowed his head. “I'll meet you at the Elder Hall. With luck, we'll both still be alive by then.” And with those words, he made his leave.

Luca waited upstairs, until he heard the sound of the front door closing. He considered Gordon's words, and whether or not he could trust them. The man was an Acarian - of that there was no doubt. A truer Acarian than even the king of Acaria. Gordon had spoken of Manorith, the honourable king, with reverence and pride. He had spoken of Zinoro with thinly-veiled disgust and shame. Sure, there had been a time when Gordon might have believed in Zinoro - but those days were gone. Gordon's loyalties remained with Acaria, but not with Zinoro.

Luca would trust him for now, but he would be wary. The man was still one of Zinoro's closest followers. It might still be a plot that he came to meet with him - even if Gordon did not know it.

After a few minutes, Luca left as well, opening the front door slowly and carefully and stepping out once he was sure no pedestrians were looking. The streets looked empty, but he could not be sure if any eyes watched him from the windows.

He made his way back to the inn from before. Some time had passed since he had left - possibly an hour or so. The revelry at the inn had died down to just a few people at tables in the corners, discussing their own shady business. Luca spotted the portly innkeeper at the bar, but Emila was no longer there.

“Ah, it's Emila's companion,” said Trent as Luca drew near him. “She was wondering where you'd wandered off to.”

“Where is she?”

“Upstairs, in bed. She was always a lightweight,” Trent said, pointing at the ale barrels behind him. “Why don't you take a seat? You can have a drink, on the house.”

After a moment of thought, Luca sat down at the bar. Trent poured him a mug of ale, and handed it to him. He took a drink, but he swore it would only be one - after what had happened before, he doubted he would ever let himself get drunk again.