Rupture: Rise of the Demon King (17 page)

Seeko weaved through the conflict, tripping toward Mori. Her face became visible through the dirt, looking over to see Seeko. She yelled to him, unheard above the loud clashing of metal as he ran toward her. A creature jumped onto an Irenic soldier in front of him, freezing him in place. The creature was the same as the wolf demon that had attacked him when he arrived in Endetia. Seeko’s mind reeled through images of the solder that was killed in Irris, and he watched it repeat, remembering his regrets. He rose and charged the demon, plunging his sword into the monster’s side with a roar.

The demon howled in pain and jumped away from Seeko, blood pouring from the beast’s side. Seeko’s palm caught fire and he sent a bright emerald flame into the monster’s head. The monster flopped to one side and Seeko noticed the attention the display had brought to him. Halcyon soldiers charged toward the hero. He pulled the Irenic soldier to a healer and ran through the battle to evade the wave of troops.

Mori had moved out of sight, leaving him alone again. He fought toward where he had last seen her, but she wasn’t there. He continued his search, using his green fire to push away those who attacked him. Dead bodies littered the ground that Seeko ran along. Soon he had come to the edge of the battle, where the lonely desert lurked. Where was Mori? He didn’t want her hurt.
I need to know she’s safe,
he thought as he searched for her from the sidelines.

Another screech drew close to him, and he saw a bat hover above the battlefield toward him. He drew on his spark, flailing fire at the beast. It burst through the flames, diving in on him. Its claws grabbed his shoulders and lifted him off the ground. It threw him after a moment, unable to continue holding his weight, and he fell to the desert.

Seeko tumbled along the ground to a stop. He coughed and stumbled back to his feet. The world spun in circles as he tried to focus on a desert shrub in front of him. The piercing pain in his limbs made it hard to focus, and he fell to his knees.

The spinning slowed to a stop, allowing Seeko to rise to his feet. The bat was gone and he discovered that he stood alone a distance away from the fight. He looked around for his sword, which he had dropped on impact.

The dust of the desert hid his sword, but metal reflected through the dirt and soon after the blade was back in his hands. Seeko looked back toward the fight and found someone opposing him.

A single soldier wearing a full helm stood between him and the main body of the Irenic army. The soldier beckoned. Seeko responded by charging at him. This soldier stood between him and his friends.

Their weapons clashed. Seeko tried to get around the soldier, but the soldier was fast, moving in his way, swinging quickly at him. Seeko had no choice but to fight the soldier, twirling his short-sword wildly in an attempt to disable the soldier. The foe dodged the attack, countering with a blast of wind that sent Seeko flying. Seeko landed and the soldier removed his helm …

… to reveal Yoshino.

Seeko rose with a roar, charging at him with sword in one hand and flame in the other, swinging both in tandem to land a hit on him. Yoshino countered with two swords, the second consisting of air, and blocked or evaded each of Seeko’s attacks.

Yoshino backpedaled, and at the same time, Seeko summoned a plume of green fire to rise up from under him. Yoshino was engulfed in flame, but shifted away and was behind Seeko a moment later.

Instantly, Seeko summoned another plume of fire right behind him, engulfing Yoshino again. Yoshino teleported away, reappearing in the air. He fired half a dozen orbs of pressurized air at Seeko, then sent a wave of darkness into him with tremendous force, sending Seeko sprawling. Yoshino landed gently away from the stunned hero.

“You passed all my tests!” Yoshino said. “This is fantastic!”

Seeko rose shakily and took a step back. “What tests? The fighting? I never touched you in any of our fights!”

Yoshino took a step closer, raising a palm. Darkness appeared underneath Seeko, enveloping his feet. He couldn’t move. “Yes! I have something for you.” He approached and Seeko couldn’t do anything but stare as he advanced. Yoshino placed his palm on Seeko’s forehead and smiled. “You should be proud. This is the first time I’ve done something like this to a human.”

Seeko flinched back from the touch. “Done what to a human?”

Yoshino laughed. “Why, turn you into a demon, of course.”

Seeko paled. “What the
hell
are you talking about?” he shouted. “Get away from me!” He tried to push Yoshino away, to escape. Yoshino stayed put.

Soon darkness coalesced before Yoshino’s palm. It formed into a small black ball, surging and swirling with menacing reds and violets. The darkness flew from his palm and into Seeko’s forehead. The darkness moved past his head, into his mind. Seeko writhed in agony as darkness assaulted his spark.

“Ah, this brings me back,” Yoshino said. “The Syran were my first experiment back when I was a young Akeni. There was an eighty percent fatality rate at first.” He frowned. “But I can still see the look in his eyes when Vishoni first heard the Kikoeru. What a resounding success! And Shima didn’t think I had it in me!”

Seeko was screaming at the top of his lungs. Why wasn’t anyone helping him? There was so much pain … His spark glowed brilliantly, trying to combat the darkness that invaded. It was failing, however, and Seeko was losing consciousness.

Yoshino continued to babble. “You passed my tests, so you should survive this. I don’t want you to die before we fully understand your memories. Hopefully, the Kikoeru will help me understand you better.”

The spark within Seeko felt dull. The once brilliant emerald beacon was now a minute throbbing glimmer. It was over, he knew.
Once it goes out, I will die.
The darkness enveloped the spark, Seeko’s last sensation.

17: Perspective

13 Sheri, 112 AV: Day 112

Kazuma was nothing. A hollow shell of void, surrendering to the abyss around him. He had felt this way once before, when his family was ripped from him by the Halcyon and their terrible monsters. This time, there would be no tears.

Yesterday, there were one hundred soldiers in Grama Company. Now there was only one. Their faces flashed in his mind, the ninety-nine men and women—his family.

He walked the long walk to General Todd’s white and blue tent. He paused at the entrance. Then the husk of a man pulled back the flap and entered.

General Todd was discussing the battle with an advisor, but the man whisked himself away when Kazuma entered. Todd sat down in one of the small chairs in the tent and gestured to Kazuma to sit in another.

Todd looked at Kazuma with no emotion. “You know why you are here, correct?”

Kazuma blinked and swallowed. He nodded.

“A soldier under your command betrayed the company and murdered them all. The resulting chaos caused the Irenic military to panic, and we lost a battle that was all but ours. Why did that happen?”

Broken, Kazuma just stared at Todd.

“You are relieved of duty,” Todd said. “Your rank as captain is gone. Your uniform and your sword, please.”

Kazuma obliged him—and once again became a civilian.
Now there are zero in Grama Company.

“You can stay with the army until we are back in Irenic territory, and then I expect you gone. I don’t want to see you again, you hear me?” Todd squinted at Kazuma. “You will wear the burden of this defeat your entire life. Though you were not the one who betrayed us, you were responsible for him and you failed him. Now get out.”

Kazuma escaped the tent, his face a stone. He walked to the edge of the camp and looked at the vast expanse of the Vicussa Desert. That’s where he really belonged. Out there with the rest of the company, feeding the carrion birds. He paused. He would do no good out there. His thoughts shifted. It couldn’t have been
his
fault. Someone must have done something to him.

Before I kill him, maybe I should get the full story.

/ / / / /

In a tent on the edge of camp, Seeko lay on a bed, unconscious and barely breathing. Mori sat at Seeko’s side, holding his hand. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that this had happened to him.
I didn’t have the courage to finish you, and now I don’t have the courage to leave you. What’s wrong with me?

Kazuma strode into the tent, dagger in hand. Mori’s tear-stained eyes locked onto him.

He returned her stare, revealing nothing. “Let me see him. We have unfinished business, him and I.” He twisted the dagger.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“All I want to do is even the score.” He took a step forward. “Move.”

She stood up, her arms barring the way to the wounded. “You can’t take it out on him!” Mori cried. “There is a man or a demon out there named Yoshino. He did this to Seeko! If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at him!”

Kazuma paused. “What does he look like? I want to know, so that I can rip his heart out. After I kill Seeko, of course.”

“No! Stay away!” Mori grabbed his arm and they began to struggle for the hero’s life.

/ / / / /

Keith entered the tent at that moment to see the strange sight. Mori was crying on the ground, Kazuma looming over her, dagger in hand. Keith blasted Kazuma’s dagger away from him with a rush of air. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“We were all there. We saw what he did. As a traitor, it is only reasonable for me to ask for his death as repayment.” Kazuma reached for his fallen dagger while Keith pulled out his claymore.

“Don’t move,” Keith said, “or I slice off your head.”

“Go for it. I have no reason to live. Just let me kill him first.”

Keith squinted at the man who had nothing. He felt as if he was staring into a mirror. Was he himself really like that? Was he still like that? “I understand your pain. But it’s not his fault. It was someone else.”

“Yes, this Yoshino that Mori was talking about. I’ll kill him, too, if my life doesn’t end here.”

Mori had recovered by now, standing at Seeko’s side again. “We all want a piece of him, Kazuma. Believe me, the next time I see him, I will destroy him.”

Keith gripped Kazuma’s shoulder. “Don’t blame Seeko for his actions. He would have never done something like that normally.”

Kazuma looked down. He stood for a moment, then said, “You’re right. He has a good heart. I’m sorry for trying to kill him.” He moved away from Keith and Mori. “Who is this Yoshino? My dagger and I would like to meet him.”

“He’s a dead man,” Keith said.

Kazuma nodded. “What are ya going to do with him?” He gestured to Seeko.

Mori shrugged. “I haven’t healed his wounds for fear that he will reawaken. I bandaged him, but once he wakes up, we’ll be in trouble. He’s stronger than both Keith and I.”

“Hmm … I’ll go get some raxanweed,” Kazuma stated. He left the tent, heading to the supply wagons.

“So, what’s the plan?” Keith asked Mori once Kazuma was gone.

“I don’t know,” she said, slumping onto Seeko’s bed. “We can’t seal portals with Seeko in this condition. I wouldn’t even know where to go to seal another one anyway.”

Keith thought for a long moment. “I have an idea,” he finally said. “Deep in the Penumbran Forest lies a temple of mystical healers. They might be able to help him.”

Kazuma walked back into the tent just then, carrying a buddle of raxanweed in one hand and a sheathed sword in the other. “Mori, we’ll feed him raxanweed daily so he can’t use magic during the journey. Don’t feed too much at one time, though. It’ll kill him.” He looked at Keith. “I’m not going into the Penumbran Forest, by the way.”

Keith met his gaze. “Who said you’re coming with us?”

Kazuma buckled the sword to his belt. “I did. Anyway, there are demon worshippers in that forest. For all ya know, there could be another portal in there.”

“Well, if there is,” Mori said, “we’ll just have to seal it. Keith, are those healers really there, or are they demon worshipers?”

Keith shrugged.

“It’s our only chance,” she said finally. With that, Mori packed her things. “They will help the hero if they are healers,” she continued, “and if they are demon worshipers, then we’ll have to hope that we can escape alive. Are you coming with us, Kazuma?”

Kazuma sighed. “I owe it to him to see him through this. Did ya know that I was the one who saved him from a demon when he first showed up?” He smiled, but no light flashed in his eyes.

Mori’s smile echoed his. She hurt so much, but it felt good to smile. She started to tear up and extracted herself from the tent.

“Where ya going, Mori?” Kazuma asked before she was though the tent flaps.

She stopped. “I’ll get us some supplies.”

“We’ll make a stretcher to carry Seeko, then,” Keith said.

Once out of the tent, the daughter of Luxant wandered aimlessly around until she found the edge of the camp. She could see Irenic soldiers, out there in the desert, burying their comrades, somber all.

The tears came freely. She couldn’t help herself. She fell to her knees and ran her hands through the dirt, feeling the ground beneath her soak from the tears. She did not try to mask the sobs she made. She grabbed a small rock and threw it as far as she could, hoping that somehow it would change what had happened.

Why did he have to leave her?

“Mori,” a voice spoke from behind her.

She turned and found Lord Bastion, recalling dully that he had brought a small arm of Ormant’s guardians to help with the battle. “Go away, Bastion. I’m not in the mood.”

“Look,” he said, sitting next to her. “I’m sorry for your loss. In fact, there was a lot of loss yesterday. But you haven’t lost everything. You still have me. You’re going to need someone there for you now more than ever.”

Mori felt disgusted. “Seeko needs
me
now more than ever!” she replied, still facing away from town. “He still has a chance.”

“What hope is there left for him? He betrayed us all yesterday!”

“The—The healers in the Penumbran Forest …”

“Do you really believe those rumors about the forest? I look out at that forest every day and all I ever see leave are demons,” Bastion said. He took a deep breath, cooling off. “Please, don’t throw your life away for a lost cause.”

Mori was trembling. Bastion was right. From Ormant, he could see that twisted forest. He would know better than she would. Was a rumor worth risking everything?

She looked to Bastion and sniveled. He smiled his lopsided grin. He had shown more than once that he cared for her. She could leave now and live a better life. She could see a life without fear, a life with him, an honorable life as the lady of two cities. Who knew? Maybe they could even threaten the Irenic throne one day.

Until the Halcyon and demons took over everything. Her dream life shattered as reality whipped across her face and reminded her that the Halcyon would butcher everyone she loved. It would be foolish to run. Eventually, the demons would overrun them all. Their only hope rested, unconscious, in her tent. For all she knew, Seeko could be dead, or dying, and she could do nothing. Only the supposed healers would know what to do.

She hugged him. “I’m sorry, Bastion,” she said into his shoulder, “but it’s no longer just about what I want. Everyone is counting on Seeko. If he loses, we all lose.”

Bastion was silent for a while, then pushed her gently away. “If that is what you feel is right, then I won’t stop you. I’m sorry it couldn’t have been a more peaceful time. Good luck on your mission. I will pray for your success.”

He rose and Mori listened as the man’s footsteps faded away behind her. She hoped that she was making the right choice. If she wasn’t, her dream of death would become reality.

/ / / / /

They began the long trek northeast, back to the Penumbran Forest, later that day. Mori took the lead while Kazuma and Keith carried Seeko on their improvised stretcher.

Mori scanned the barren desert for answers. Water formed in her eyes again, but she refused to let the others see it. What type of hero did this to his people? To her?

“It’s a good thing I came along,” Kazuma said as they left the camp, snapping Mori from her thoughts. “How else could ya carry the stretcher?”

Neither Keith nor Mori was amused. “How far, Mori?” Keith asked after a moment.

“Two weeks out of the desert, then another two weeks past Irris,” Mori said, looking back into the desert. “If you can, you should use your magic to help lighten the load.”

Keith nodded. “I am. It’s just annoying to carry.”

The hot summer day dragged along, exhausting Keith and Kazuma. Silence stilled the dry, dusty air as they walked. Mori would attempt to draw any water from the cracked ground and air when she could, giving it to them to prevent exhaustion.

More days passed before grass and small brush appeared within the orange dirt. The rest of the journey became easier from there. Mori pulled water out of the ground, keeping the group well hydrated. Keith would go out and hunt for the food the group would eat before sleeping each night.

The group became more anxious as the days went on. Carrying the helpless hero for miles was starting to make
them
feel helpless. Irris found its way onto the horizon and they rested in its ruins. Already people were beginning to rebuild the town, bringing life to a dead zone. Mori could see that Keith was trying to ignore the damage wrought to his hometown, but his stoic face betrayed his emotions. Kazuma, too, was having trouble dealing with the destruction he had a direct hand in. They left early the next day before anyone could say anything.

Soon after Irris, Seeko awoke. But they knew it was not Seeko, for red eyes had replaced his normal brown eyes. They forced the hero out of the stretcher, abandoning it. Keith bound his arms tight with rope and attached a leash to his hands, allowing him to pull Seeko along.

The night after Seeko awoke, he tried to escape. He didn’t get far without the use of his magic, so Keith caught him quickly and brought him back to their camp. The hero was laughing when he caught him.

“Ha! He says your name is Keith! What a stupid name!” Seeko said. Throughout the day, Seeko had been throwing insults and threats at the three of them. “I will cut you into little pieces and cast you into the wind!”

Keith nodded. “That’s nice.”

“I will eat your face!”

Keith stifled a chuckle. “Wow. That’s a new one.”

“Once I break free of this accursed binds, I will end you!”

“You talk a lot.”

Seeko roared, writhing in his binds. Keith stuffed a gag into Seeko’s mouth, and it didn’t come out again except for when he needed to eat or drink.

The forest drew nearer and nearer as the days passed, and the more it did, the more Mori felt it was a lost cause. The only things in that forest were demons that were going to try to kill them.