Rupture: Rise of the Demon King (14 page)

On the other side of the forest lay the lush grasslands that Seeko remembered seeing upon entering the world. About two miles separated them from Irris, and Seeko could see the town on the horizon.
Wait a second …

Something was wrong with the city. It looked different …
grayer
. They approached closer, and Seeko could see that a fire had destroyed the town. Demons? Halcyon? He stopped and hung his head.

“We’ve got to help!” Mori said as she grabbed his hand.

“We’re too late. Look at it!”

“So you’re just going to sit here? You’re the hero! Do something heroic for once!”

Tears found their way onto his face, but it was surely just the ash stinging his eyes. He gritted his teeth. She was right. He was a coward.

Well, no more. Seeko clenched her hand tightly and, unsheathed his blade with his other hand. Without a word, he began running toward the city, almost jolting Mori’s arm from its socket. Alongside her, he rushed into the ruins of Irris, making sure she could not sense his tears.

14: Injury

28 Rynr, 112 AV: Day 97

The smell of smoldering wood engulfed Seeko and Mori. Glowing red embers still flew from the burnt timber, swirling with small eddies of ash. The smoking buildings were beyond repair, and rubble and rock lay strewn about.

Seeko moved around the debris that lined the streets. “What do you think happened?” he said. His earlier bravery drained from him as the wanton destruction became more apparent.

Mori followed behind him, watching where she stepped. “I don’t know. This is terrible.” Her voice cracked as more of the town became visible.

Seeko’s foot caught on what he thought was another log, but when he looked at it, he saw a charred arm. He jumped back, tripping over a fallen piece of wood. The half-burned corpse stared lifelessly at him from under a collapsed piece of building. Seeko scooted away from the dead body, breathing heavily.

Mori grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Don’t look at it. Stay strong.”

Seeko looked into the dull eyes of the fallen citizen as tears reformed in his own. He tore away and fell to his knees, Mori standing beside him. His gut churned. They didn’t deserve to die. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the dead body was still there and his gut turned again.

After his stomach settled itself, he rose to his feet. Mori’s hand fell on his shoulder. They rounded a corner and arrived at what used to be the market. More charred bodies lay scattered across the streets. The stench of burnt flesh hung in the air, threatening Seeko’s stomach again with the putrid scent. Seeko bent over, placing his hands on his knees. His gut heaved but he held it back.

“It’s not your fault, Seeko,” Mori said, patting him on the back. “I don’t like seeing dead people, either, but you have to get used to it.”

He looked back up, viewing the smoldering buildings surrounding him. “I’ll never get used to this.” His eyes trained on the dead once more. Tears welled again, but he forced down the lump in his throat. His weak legs shuffled through the town while his mind tried to keep his emotions together.

The familiar building where Kazuma had introduced him to the general came into sight before long. “What happened to the army?” Seeko asked, thinking of Kazuma. Wasn’t he coming back to Irris? He jogged up to the building and walked into its remains. The inside held only collapsed wood. He saw no remains of soldiers or of the supplies they would have had with them. Seeko tried remembering what was inside the building. At the time, Seeko was more interested in other things, but he knew it wasn’t empty.

“They must have escaped in time,” he said, turning to Mori, had who just entered the building.
With all their supplies?
he wondered.

She walked up beside him, examining the building’s collapsed interior. “I can’t figure out why anyone would burn down an entire town. There doesn’t seem to be any soldiers from either side dead, so I can’t figure out what it was for.”

“Maybe it was a wildfire,” Seeko suggested, not really believing it. He looked to her, thinking about what the town was like before. The Irenic Empire had recently recaptured the city, so it was either the Halcyon or the demons who had done this. Demons could have walked in as humans and burned it without warning. Seeko scratched his head and shrugged. “Demons, maybe?”

Mori nodded at his comment, distant in thought. Movement caught Seeko’s attention and he looked up to the rubble of the building. Something moved behind a fallen wall but Mori hadn’t noticed the disturbance.

Seeko’s hand tightened on his sword. Mori looked up, surprised. He stood still, watching for movement from the shadows.

“What’s wrong? Is something there?” She pulled out her rapier and looked for the disturbance. Both stared into the unseen shade behind the debris, but nothing moved.

A sudden force, like a gust of wind, pushed Seeko back. His eyes darted around the collapsed room for the source. Another rush of wind hit him, shoving him backward. Seeko regained his footing and saw a man charging toward him, swinging a large, two-handed claymore way too fast. Seeko barely dodged the quick-moving blade and jumped away, calling on his spark. The man’s heavy frame moved and attacked faster than Seeko thought possible.

An emerald flame shot toward the attacker, but he easily dodged it and ran at Seeko. Mori stabbed at the man, but he pushed her rapier away with his blade and jumped back. His angry blue eyes stared back from above a yellow scarf, analyzing the fight. Seeko took this chance to launch another emerald blaze. The man jumped back, giving the two a chance to counterattack.

Mori fired a jolt of water at the man, and Seeko swung at his open side. His blade struck true, leaving a cut along the man’s arm. Seeko had only a second to watch the blood seep into the pale yellow cloth of his shirt before their opponent retaliated.

Seeko clumsily blocked the incoming attack, losing his footing in the rubble. He fell to one knee, but the attacker moved past him and knocked Mori into a wall with a violent swing. The attacker turned around and blasted Seeko into a corner with another gust of wind before he could recover. Seeko staggered to his feet, using the wall as support. Mori regained the attacker’s attention, desperately parrying his attacks, but eventually she failed and was cut deeply on her arm. She fell to the ground, crying in pain.

“Hey!” Seeko yelled at the man in an attempt to save Mori.

The warrior turned and charged toward Seeko. He tried to reach his spark, but the man attacked before he grabbed the magic. Seeko stepped aside as the rushing blade slammed into the wall. Before Seeko could respond, he was kicked into the wall, which crumbled under his weight. Seeko burst into the street, rolling on the ground.

He coughed as the man approached him. “Please … don’t kill me,” Seeko said as he scooted through the dirt and debris.

“You deserve to die,” the man said, just above a whisper.

He swung his claymore down at the helpless Seeko, who held up his sword, using his other hand to support the blade from the attack. The claymore hit Seeko’s weapon before he was fully prepared and slammed his own blade against his chest. Without a second to react, the man slashed at Seeko again. This time, he cut into his right shoulder, gashing it open.

Seeko screamed in pain and unleashed a blaze of fire that engulfed the man. After a few seconds, Seeko let go of his spark. The man, though, showed no effects from the blaze.

“Die, demon!” Seeko yelled, gripping his shoulder and scooting across the ground again.

Just then, Mori burst out of the hole in the building, blood trailing down her own arm. She drew liquid from her water-skin and shot it toward the man, and even with his quick reactions, he had trouble deflecting the water. Suddenly, Mori was swept off her feet and fell to the ground.

The man walked up to Seeko and pointed the large sword at his face. “I am not a demon. You … You deserve to die.”

He swung down at Seeko’s head, but Seeko moved just in time. The blade missed its target, instead catching Seeko’s other shoulder. Seeko shouted in agony and fell as Mori charged the towering man.

She was hopelessly outmatched, her flimsy blade batted away by his massive sword. Seeko needed to help her, but his limbs wouldn’t respond. Instead, the pain engulfed him, becoming the only thing in his world. Finally, the man kicked Mori away, blasting her onto a pile of rubble with wind magic. Seeko stared at the man. No more. They would
not
die today.

“Get away from her,” Seeko forced out. He grabbed onto his spark, igniting himself. He became flame and rushed his foe. The man jumped back, deflecting with his wind magic. Seeko blasted a green inferno at him, but he couldn’t keep his form much longer and pulled back. He let go of his spark, turning back into his physical body. His wounded arms fell uselessly at his sides.

The man stood behind his blade, his clothes burning around the edges. A spiral of wind put out the flames on his clothes, and he remained in his stance. He watched Seeko, studying, ready to defend.

“You monster,” the man said, voice trembling with rage. “You took all of these innocent lives!”

“What? I didn’t kill these people!” Seeko yelled. “Why would I?” He managed to weakly lift his arm and light a flame in his hand. “I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.”

Mori limped over to Seeko, holding her weapon toward the man. He muttered something Seeko could barely hear.

“They’re already dead. I have no reason to live.” The man’s voice rose: “But I won’t lose to you!”

He charged forward and Seeko shot a ball of fire at him. He extinguished it with a blast of wind and continued to dash at Seeko. Seeko jumped to the side, unable to swing his own weapon effectively. Mori caught the attacker in the side with a blast of water, slamming him to the ground.

As he got up, he said, “The Irenic Empire will pay for this.”

Another swing and Seeko jumped back, barely dodging the swift blow. “The Irenic Empire didn’t do this! I didn’t do this,” he said in between backpedals and dodges.

The man stopped. “Who are you kidding?” he sputtered back. “I saw them burn down Irris with my own eyes.” He looked down. “You all deserve to die.”

His distraction gave Mori an opening to whip water around his feet. He fell to his knees. Mori ran toward him and stabbed at him, aiming her rapier at his chest. Her weapon almost reached his body before a torrent of wind blasted her through the air.

Seeko tried to help but the agony of his arms froze him. “I didn’t burn down Irris! I’m the Hero of Endetia. All I’m trying to do is stop the demons!” he yelled.

The man rose, looking confused. “You … the hero?”

“I am,” Seeko replied. “I’m trying to close the portals.” Ignoring the pain, Seeko fumbled through his pocket and pulled out the necklace. He held it shakily in a wounded hand. “This closes them! I’ve already closed one!”

The man lowered his guard slightly, seeming to contemplate this new data. He took a hard look at Seeko, appearing to now see him as something more than just an enemy, but was interrupted by an arrow burying itself in his shoulder. The three looked for the source and found Irenic soldiers standing in the street.

“Good work, hero. You found the rebel leader,” one of the soldiers said.

The man groaned as he pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. He held the wound and looked at the men with disgust. “No, but I’ll kill you regardless.” He bolted toward the soldiers, pushing away their arrows.

Seeko ran up to Mori as he watched the wounded man fight the three soldiers. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“Your shoulders look bad, Seeko. You need to get healed or you’ll bleed out,” she said.

He looked at his wounds. Blood ran down his clothes, dripping onto the dirt. She pulled a little water from her water-skin, and healed Seeko a bit.

“I did what I could, but we still need you healed by actual healers.”

“Do you really think the Irenic Empire burnt down Irris?” he asked.

She looked over at the three soldiers fighting their attacker. “Of course not. That man is a rebel leader. He wants us to turn on them.”

Seeko could see the hate in that man’s eyes. He could be trying to trick them. Seeko and Mori ran over to the soldiers, still fighting the angered man. The way he stood, ready to die for what he believed … He truly believed that the Irenic Empire had done this atrocity.

Soon the man lay on the ground with the soldiers surrounding him, wounded. They shackled the now unconscious man and led him away, followed by Mori and Seeko.

“Thanks, hero,” one of the soldiers said. “You just helped us catch one of the most wanted men in the Irenic Empire. Follow us; we’ll take you to our camp.”

Seeko slowed his walk, and he and Mori hung back a bit. She held onto her arm, limping alongside him. “I don’t know what rebellion they’re talking about, but I don’t think that guy is the leader,” he said.

“Are you kidding?” Mori said. “He almost killed us both. I’ve never been so overwhelmed by anybody.”

They looked at the man, now defenseless in the arms of the soldiers. If he was telling the truth, then the Irenic Empire burned down Irris. “If he was, why would he be here, alone?” Seeko paused to let her think about it before continuing. “There would have been guards surrounding him, if not an army. Look at what he’s wearing; none of it is armor. Would a rebel leader wear no armor?”

Mori stared at the stranger’s yellow clothing. “Maybe,” she replied. “He looks like a regular citizen, but he definitely doesn’t fight like one. But why do you care so much? He almost killed you! Even if he isn’t the leader of the rebellion, he attacked you, and he’ll pay for that.”

Why
did
Seeko care? He did almost kill him. Maybe it’s because Seeko would have done the same thing if their roles had been reversed. Seeko looked at the dead. At least he liked to think he would.

They headed west and eventually a camp came into sight, but the sun was gone by the time they made it there. Seeko followed the troops to a large tent. A fully armored man walked out of the tent, and Seeko recognized him.

“General Todd,” said one of the three soldiers. “We found the rebel leader, Greg, son of Adaelm.”

“Good work,” Todd said. “Tomorrow we hang him in front of the survivors.” Seeko detected a bit of venom when Todd said “survivors.” Todd paused and looked at Seeko. “Ah, I see you found our hero! Excellent. Watch over Greg and make sure he doesn’t escape. I need to have a talk with the hero.”