Vengeance Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

 

Foretold Turnabout

 

“TERMER! Assist me now!” Lyra screeched and Talya began to walk towards the edge of the depression.

 

“Don’t.” Nero said sternly from behind Talya. The man was leaning against a small obelisk that appeared to be chiseled alabaster. Various dark stains marred its otherwise perfection. As Nero stepped closer to Lucien and Talya. With the folds of his robes no longer obscuring the archaic surface, the carvings on the surface shone darkly in the light. FAEV. OV GLVMAR.

The black shimmer caught Talya’s eye as she turned to face him.

 

“Nero. What’s that writing on the obelisk? I’ve never seen that type of script before.” She interrupted his scolding of Lyra.

 

“Oh that, that’s nothing.” He ignored the catatonic priestess huddled next to him.

 

“I’ve researched the old writings pulled from the ruins of Glenmar. The style and wording is the same. So it must be something from that era….” Talya attempted to look past his blocking body, but the words slowly faded the more her eyes focused.

 

“I’m sure you had better things to be doing than just studying recent language trends,” Nero shifted to edge away from Fuzuii, and in the process dislodged a small, but dense octagonal crystal. It bounced off her head with a wet-sounding ‘thwack!’ before rolling to be stopped by Lucien’s deftly moved foot. Fuzuii raised her staff threateningly, a gleam of fervent malice shining in her eyes.

 

The man knelt quickly and experimentally hefted the heavy stone to eye-level. There was a small, almost imperceptible spark of dark recognition, and the crystal began to exude a soft white light. Seeing the obviously holy light, the priestess heaved a sigh that contained her worldly burdens and released her grip on the twisted wood of the staff.

 

“This is the type of glass that is used in Ignominia to scatter the lamplight around the city. But, I had thought it to merely be a focus for actual light. Not the source itself…” He looked around the group. All except Lyra were gazing in wonder at the light-producing crystal.

 

“It’s just reflecting the sunlight…” Nero growled. Somehow, his robes had expanded and he appeared to be marginally taller and his shoulders broader.

 

“Let me see,” Hawthorne requested. Lucien stared at him thoughtfully for a second before nodding and passing it to him. While Lucien didn’t know the specifics, he had a hunch that Nero would be more inclined to answer any questions the assassin posed.

 

Hawthorne rolled the crystal between his hands and felt an immediate familiarity with the growing light. “Nero, where is this from?”

 

“Ignominia.” The robed man replied curtly.

 

Sensing the rare opportunity to learn about a potentially powerful advantage, Lucien moved to the side of Hawthorne and subtly kicked the back of his heel.

 

“Hey! Ah, I mean….” The man caught on to what Lucien was silently saying and decided to go with his own curiosity. “What does it do, exactly?”

 

“Are you slow? It produces light!!” Lyra interjected.

 

“Actually, the Lumen crystal gives off light in direct relation to the darkness around it. Hence a faint glow here in the day, and the brighter light underground.” Nero smirked with triumph, before his face fell. “But none of that is important, you sods are too naïve to understand the complex nature of the Redica.”

 

Hawthorne smiled broadly as he gained a mental foothold. “So, this has a specific name, huh? And I assume it is a type of ‘Redica’…”

 

Nero’s right eye twitched unconsciously, and he struggled to maintain the situation before it grew out of hand. He glanced up to where the sun continued to illuminate the earth. Still tilted to the right, Nero took the information to mean that he was facing south. The direction of his home; while Prylea lay to the north.

It was as if his life was some phantasmagoria a childlike deity had reversed.

 

“That could be said, yes.” The man muttered. With slight disgust at his slip, he stared down at the brittle and dying grass under his sandals.

 

 

“So how many of them are there? If this is one type, there must be differences." Hawthorne smirked as Nero looked back at him and the assassin saw for a brief instant an enraged glint in his eyes.

 

“Many. There are many types of Redica. And before you ask, no. I don’t know how many. Just that there is a significant amount. Some like the Lumen here are relatively simple and can’t really be used in ways counter to their purpose. However, others have the potential to cause great acts on the scale of disasters or miracles, depending on the context.”

 

Lucien held up his right index and middle fingers in a motion to interject. “And that is why the Great Library of Alpharion hordes information about them, right?”

 

Nero paused for a crucial second to think. If the man had the capability of appearing uncertain, he had the look of a person who was caught unawares.

 

“The Great Library of Alpharion? Err… Yes! That is why the sealed Vaults contain that information. So it can’t fall into the wrong hands.” He glared at Lucien discretely, who was smiling like a wicked saint.

 

“So while you are saying that most information is guarded, there are other sources. I’ve never heard of the Great Library having any sort of vault. And as you not only knew about the Redica, but carried one on your person, they must be what you said you collect….”

 

            The man constrained by immaculate white robes smiled and nodded silently, ignoring the gasp of pain from the falling priestess next to him. With a great intake of breath, Fuzuii lurched to her feet, using her staff as a crutch.

            Pseudo-divine voice speaking hollow words, the fallen priestess cast off the false comfort of Talya’s ineffectual litany.

 

Nero smirked at the horror evident on the peasant’s face as she felt the lack of a heartbeat within her companion. “Oh, lovely. Well, because of this casual disregard of propriety, I suppose you shall wait to hear the rest of the explanation of the Redica. All because a worthless priestess chose to have a fit.”

 

Talya turned on her heel and raised her hand, before slamming it against his turned cheek. She then outstretched it, disgusted.

 

    The burst capillaries instantly coloured the left side of the man’s face a deep crimson, before the bruise faded quickly. He stumbled back several paces, before raising a hand to the feel the receding warmth. With all the grace of a coiled cobra, Nero’s grimace turned to a smile. He chuckled quietly, and shook his head.

    “Talya, Talya…. You Pryleates sure are more spirited than I remember! The last time someone has had the nerve to strike one of my station was… I can’t even remember…!” The man’s genial tone barely concealed scathing pretension.

     

            Something inside Lyra’s noble blood was set aflame by the man, and Lucien sensed the grain of truth to his words.

 

“Oh really? What are you; so that I might address you as such?” Lucien respectfully inquired, as he mentally recalled the nobles he had met during his travels. 

 

The robed man’s face fell instantaneously. One could almost hear the furious whirring of gears as he struggled to devise a cover. “I am a collector of the Redica under the direction of the Imperial Sovereign Himself.”

 

Lyra decided to release the nagging thoughts that had been plaguing her porcelain mind. “The last time you were in Prylea must have been before all those dirty commoners got a voice, and before the Lady Vergir silenced such offensive sedition.”

 

A sound somewhat similar to a growl escaped from Lucien’s throat before he quashed it. He tightened his posture and looked towards the rolling plains that characterized the southern portion of insular Prylea.

 

“I am going to Ignominia and will appeal to its Grandmistress to intervene in Prylea. I would advise against staying in this corrupt and damned land; however, I’m not asking any of you to follow me.

 

And the man walked on, purposefully ignoring the five distinct shadows following his steps. He walked on, ignoring the lead shadow’s dramatic waving of its staff.