Right as Venamo was about to cross the barricade from one side, he heard a holler from behind.
"Hold up. Do not leave yet!" Lapis shouted from behind.
"What is it now?" Venamo asked impatiently.
"The battle is lost over here. Either the Vastus will flatten this place, or take it over. They finally figured out how to penetrate the dome, and we have no way to fight back. Even if we all had enchanted armour and weapons, the students here are not fighters on the level of trained soldiers. All hope is lost, unless I do what you suggested earlier and join the fight. That's my only hope of saving the academy and the tribe of Haimana. I've changed my mind. I'm coming with you." Lapis said to Venamo while holding his staff of thunder.
"Great. Follow me and I will take you to our boat. We'll need to get to the lake of Kemioe, so a long journey is ahead. Be prepared." Venamo replied.
"It's not a long journey at all. Just sail down the river east of here." Lapis said with slight confusion.
"There's a river that leads there?" Venamo asked.
"Follow my instructions when we're on the boat and we'll get there. But we don't even have to get to the lake to save the academy. All we need to do is take out the royal ambassador. You saw him, right? In the robes of mail." Lapis explained.
"Really now? How does that help the academy's fate?" Venamo asked Lapis.
"The ambassadors send letters to each other to pass information. We need to take out the ambassador before he can hand a letter asking for trebuches to a courier. And also, my brother is coming too. He wants to help in the fight." Lapis said and pointed to where he saw Degolani running to the scene while holding a wooden crate over his shoulder.
"We need all the arms we can get. Great. Follow me." Venamo said and crossed the barricade.
"Perhaps it'd be best if you followed me, actually. I know the city a bit better than you do." Lapis said to Venamo as he followed Venamo to the poorly lit streets.
"Fine, as long as we head west where our ship is." Venamo replied.
Lapis assumed the lead and kept his eyes sharp. As he stuck to the shadows and lit the way when needed with his electric staff, Degolani watched the back, and Venamo kept his eyes on the relative stranger. Although Lapis knew the streets, he didn't know the tactics of the enemy. He didn't know that the enemy would hide in the same shadows that he would stick to. From the shadows Lapis was tackled down by a man in black robes and a silver mask. The attacker mounted Lapis and raised a mace to the air, ready to bring it down. Before Venamo could even reach the attacker, Degolani ran past Venamo and reached the attacker first. Degolani grabbed the attacker, hoisted him up by the throat and slammed him back first onto the cobblestone road. As the attacker was barely conscious on the ground, Degolani grabbed him by the neck again and shook him.
"Mean man will not hurt big brother!" Degolani shouted at the attacker's face and ripped off his silver mask.
Right then from the shadows another attacker with the same outfit rushed at Degolani. The new attacker hit Degolani in the back with a mace. Degolani felt it and howled, but he didn't stay to lick his wounds. He sprung up and turned around to see the attacker. He towered over the attacker, grabbed his shoulders, hoisted him up, spun him upside down and spiked him down to the road, head first.
Lapis noticed something down the street. A lone soldier aiming a crossbow at Degolani's large bare back. Lapis saw a bolt flying from the soldier towards Degolani, but Lapis grabbed his electric staff in time and formed a barrier around Degolani just in time. The arrow hit the barricade, became electrically charged and bounced away. Lapis then aimed his staff at the soldier's glowing armour and sent a lightning from his staff at the soldier's breastplate. The unlucky soldier fried inside his armour and black smoke rose from him before he fell on his back.
"That was closer than I would have wished. Especially since my sword is back on the boat. Let's keep moving. Lead the way, Lapis." Venamo told the president.
"Yes yes. Let's." Lapis said and dusted himself off.
With Lapis' lead they made it out of the city and began travelling through the outskirts. Lapis knew where the soldier camp outside the city was, and led the way towards there. But before they were anywhere near, Venamo spotted something curious.
"Somebody is riding fast out of the town. Over there." Venamo pointed out.
"He's got a brown coat. He's a courier!" Lapis exclaimed.
"We can't catch him anymore. Damned be!" Venamo said.
"We don't have to." Lapis said, rubbed his staff into his robe fast, and released thunder to the direction of the riding courier.
The lighting coming from the staff hit the courier perfectly and made him fall of his mount. The mount was frightened by it so much that it kept running away alone much faster than before.
"There. Quickly. Let's get his bag before anyone comes over." Lapis said and began jogging towards his kill.
Where the courier was struck with thunder, laid a badly burned body laying on its belly. The brown coat on it was ruined, but the bag of letters was unharmed. When they arrived to the body, Lapis and Venamo didn't feel sorry for the courier who got fried. Both understood that this had to be done. Degolani tried to make Lapis feel guilty until it was explained to him why this had to be done.
"We need to check if the letter about the trebuchets is here. If it is, we need to find the courier who might have it." Lapis said and took the bag.
Venamo and Lapis skimmed through the letters in the bag, and when Lapis spotted a letter that was sealed with the royal crest, he opened it.
"It's this one." Lapis said and tore the letter to shreds.
"So will you go back to the academy now? You think you can just keep stopping their couriers and delay them getting their trebuchets?" Venamo asked Lapis.
"Perhaps I should return. But I think you're right. I know that the Vastus will keep sending letter after letter until they get their trebuchets. I can't afford to endanger myself or anyone else to be out here watching for couriers all the time. The all out attack is coming. You may be right. Perhaps I should help take out the ones at the top leading all of it and just hope that their replacement will leave Haimana alone. At this point that seems to be the best hope." Lapis said and felt hopeless.
"Then come with us. The more help we have, the better our chances." Venamo told him.
"Then I will. I will fight with you and free the lands of us both, if you have a plan." Lapis said and nodded at Venamo.
"We have a solid plan, and you can have a role in it." Venamo said dishonestly.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcC4YQfCwwJ
When Venamo, Lapis and Degolani arrived at the boat, Yilka and Nofa were already there. Venamo noticed that Yilka looked his usual tired self, and that Nofa looked especially worried. He also saw that both of them were looking at the same thing, but he couldn't see what. No greetings were exchanged between the brothers when Venamo boarded the ship.
"Where is Varma now? I'd have expected her to get here first." Venamo asked with disappointment.
"She did get here first." Yilka replied and kept looking at what he was looking at.
"So where is she now then?" Venamo asked.
"Somewhere where she is needed more, it looks like." Yilka said and grabbed the thing that he was looking at.
He tossed it at Venamo who caught it.
"It's her little book where she writes her silly poems. What am I meant to learn from this?" Venamo asked.
"Read the last page." Yilka said and sat down.
Venamo checked the last page and saw freshly written text where the ink wasn't even fully dry yet.
"I couldn't stay anymore. Not as long as Vena is with us. I'm sorry for being a coward and a failure. I hope you'll succeed and win the fight, but you'll have to do it without me. I'll be going somewhere where I'm needed more. I feel bad for this because Nofa has become my bestest friend in the created world, and Yilka is still the good one of my cousins. But you all can do fine without me. I hope you can all return home as heroes." The page said.
"The damn scared girl left us. I reckon she's safer back home anyway. I see she also took her stone with her. She'll be all right. And so will we." Venamo stated.
"You don't feel bad at all over how you were to her?" Nofa asked.
"Headpatting doesn't turn anyone into a hunter or a warrior." Venamo replied.
"And now she hates you." Yilka added.
"She and I can talk it out when we return home as heroes. She clearly doesn't want to be one." Venamo said.
"What you said and did to her was disgusting. She feels lifelong guilt over surviving the famine year and you just validated her shame. Not only did you cause her to hate you, you may have caused her to hate herself now, and now nobody is around to talk sense into her." Nofa accused seriously.
"If she ever wants to be a great hunter like her father was, the last thing she needs is whatever you consider sense. Now, Yilka. About what you did to me back at the academy..." Venamo said and pointed at his black eye.
"I'd do it again." Yilka interrupted with.
"You are too emotional. And it's all because of that woman." Venamo accused.
"You won't get between us anymore." Yilka insisted calmly.
"Please don't talk about any us so certainly." Nofa said shyly.
"Brother, it is clear that we will never agree on this. We have to settle this, and that is why, I propose a duel." Venamo said to Yilka.
"You've enhanced your body with Leri's blessing. The duel wouldn't be fair." Yilka sharply pointed out.
"A tribe warrior doesn't seek fair fights. He just fights." Venamo countered with.
"So if I win?" Yilka asked.
"If you win, I will no longer get between you and Nofa. If I win, Nofa has to go home." Venamo answered.
"Does my opinion count in this?" Nofa asked with snark.
"Do you not believe that Yilka can defeat me?" Venamo asked her.
"I see how you try to manipulate us." Nofa replied to him.
"And would our weapons be enchanted when we duel?" Yilka asked Venamo.
"Of course not. You've seen what happens when two enchanted items collide. I'll remove the enchantment for the duration of the duel." Venamo promised.
"And why would I believe for a heartbeat that you'll actually leave us alone this time?" Yilka asked.
Venamo couldn't give a satisfying answer, but he sure tried to think of one. Lapis tapped his staff into the floorboards to get the attention to himself.
"Now is not the time for infighting. We need to get this boat on the waters already. I don't exactly feel safest outside the dome like this, and your friend who wishes to meet me shouldn't be kept waiting." Lapis told the heated brothers.
"He's right." Nofa seconded.
"We will do this later." Venamo told Yilka and went to untie the rope that kept the ship ashore.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtjoHymGy0
Once the ship had reached the river on the east and was sailing down it, Lapis had assumed the wheel, Venamo had reunited with his Defiance and Blueberry was curiously investigating Degolani who was just obediently sitting near Lapis. Yilka was training his muscles in case of a showdown with Venamo and Nofa was reading Varma's poem book. As Venamo was standing by Lapis, he began wondering something.
"Where exactly does the hunk here know you from?" Venamo asked Lapis and subtly gestured towards Degolani.
"I could ask where you got these massive fruits from? Did you stop by the Lehrean islands along the way?" Lapis asked right back.
"We did indeed. Now answer my question." Venamo said.
"Very well. We grew up in the same orphanage." Lapis answered.
"Didn't take you for an orphan kid." Venamo pointed out.
"My mother died while giving birth, and my father died in defense of Haimana. I was orphaned before I even properly understood the concept of death, let alone war. I mostly stuck to my own corner in the orphanage, but Degolani who even back then was the tallest there, kept trying to stick to me. I was scared of him at first so I avoided him, but eventually I got used to him. For some reason he calls me Big Brother, even though neither of us know our own age. I am glad that he is still fine, despite being left outside the dome." Lapis explained.
"Why was he left out of the dome?" Venamo asked.
"He scared the students and they didn't want him around. Especially since he wasn't even a student himself. I don't know if you can tell but... he isn't exactly fit for the academic field." Lapis said.
Venamo looked at Degolani who seemed to be having a staring contest with Blueberry.
"What is he good at?" Venamo asked.
"You already saw that he's as strong of a man you'll find. He once wrestled a wallcrawl and broke its neck. He's also a fast climber and a good swimmer." Lapis answered.
"Hm. Good to know." Venamo said.
"How about that girl you had with you when you came to our academy? She had wings on her back. Did she craft them? I don't know of any race that would have wings on their backs."
"She inhaled the last breath of the Fire Feather and got them from her. It's a shame that she chose to go home. We could have used her." Venamo said.
"You insulted her and slapped her. Of course she'd leave." Lapis pointed out.
"You don't know why I said what I said and did what I did. So don't make assumptions." Venamo replied.
"Then I won't. Reasons to guess that you have a good reason to be against your brother being with the pretty Rarhean lady. Do you not trust her kind?" Lapis answered and asked.
"In short, no." Venamo replied.
"She's the only one I've met and seems like a lovely lady. Are you sure you are not jealous that your brother got her before you did?" Lapis quizzed.
"Do not think so for a moment. Have you not read the Records? Her kind are bringers of decay and drought. Their homeland is proof of that. Her own yard is proof of that, even." Venamo replied.
"I have read the Records, and I remember nothing mentioned of the Wicked people being a threat to any intelligent life. Only plants really." Lapis pointed out.
"Perhaps you didn't read between the lines then." Venamo said.
"I see no point arguing about this with you since I have something a bit better to do than argue about a book that I don't have at hand here right now." Lapis said.
"Perhaps you should indeed focus on what you're doing and stay out of my matters." Venamo said passive-aggressively.
On the other end of the ship, Nofa had to get something out of her mind. She had switched from Varma's poem book to her own spellbook, but put it down with frustration and slammed it shut.
"I can't focus on anything or distract myself! I'm too worried about Varma and can't stop thinking about where and how she might be!" Nofa complained.
"Nothing we can do about it now." Yilka said and kept picking up and putting down a heavy crate.
"Are you not worried at all?" Nofa asked.
"Extremely. That's why I distract myself." Yilka said and quit his exercise.
"I tried that myself and it didn't work." Nofa said with worry.
"She's most likely headed home. If she can find it." Yilka guessed.
"If?" Nofa asked.
"Maybe I should be more worried." Yilka admitted.
"You should be!" Nofa exclaimed.
"But we can't chase her on a boat. And I don't think Blueberry is fast enough to catch her. And we don't even know which way she went. Best we can do is keep our ears sharp around other folk and listen if we hear any rumours about a flying girl." Yilka reasoned.
"You're right. We should do that. And another thing, please don't accept that duel from Venamo. He'll do something cheap to win. I just know it already. That's the sort of man that he is." Nofa said.
"I know. But I feel ashamed to turn down a challenge from him. He already looks down on me." Yilka replied.
"And he knows that. He knew that you'd feel too ashamed to turn down the challenge. And that's when he'll cheat to win. It's a pointless fight that I have no stake in. I'm not going to go home just because he tells me to." Nofa said.
"He would be tricky enough to manipulate my shame like that. I guess the winning move is to not play at all. But I'm sure I won't hear the end of it from him." Yilka guessed.
"I don't really like being the stakes in your dispute. It's like you two just treat me like an object. And Varma is missing and he's thinking about fighting his brother over petty nonsense." Nofa said and sighed.
"It was he who offered the stakes." Yilka pointed out.
"I know." Nofa said and walked away.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyFhNFkGjF
A handful of days went by on the ship as it sailed the seas on the river that works as a border between the region of Haimana and the Capital Province. The whole time Lapis was on the wheel and Venamo had his ear, Degolani stuck to himself, and Nofa kept avoiding Yilka. But once the river had been passed and the lake of Kemioe was entered, Lapis realised something.
"Where precisely is this Vakevata fellow who wants to meet me?" He asked Venamo next to him.
"He dropped us off on the southeast shore of the lake." Venamo replied.
"The southeast shore is wide, my friend. You need to be more specific." Lapis told Venamo.
"I am not sure, but I have a way to find out." Venamo said and reached his hand out.
The shining dove he got from Malakiis landed on his hand.
"Lead us to the man known as Vakevata Vinia." Venamo said to the dove and let it go.
The dove began flying southeast and Lapis looked on in wonder.
"Could that possibly be Holy magic in the form of a bird?" Lapis asked.
"It is indeed. Just follow it and you will find the way." Venamo promised.
"What is happening in the city?" Degolani asked while looking overboard.
Only Lapis understood what he said and so he also looked overboard towards the nearby city where the townsfolk were rushing around seemingly aimlessly, but not panicking, all while the sky was black with smoke.
"What is going on there?" Venamo asked.
"Looks like the locals are getting hot over those voting rights." Lapis said to Venamo.
"Voting rights? Is that what this is about? What are they even doing?" Venamo asked.
"See, the way lords have traditionally been picked in Haimana is with a sort of a unique way. It really gets the folk going." Lapis answered.
"Care to explain further?" Venamo asked.
"The way it works is, somewhere in the town a box is hidden, and whoever finds the box first, gets to drop their vote in the box. And that vote is the only one that counts. So whoever finds the box gets to pick the local lord. And everybody is now trying to find the box. Just about the only thing that gets the folk out of their houses. Traditionally anybody who lives in the town can be voted for, as long as they accept the title. But nowadays, only a handful of selected individuals can be voted for." Lapis explained.
"Why does it matter to them who's the lord since these folk never do anything anyway?" Venamo asked.
"It's more about upholding a tradition. For me it means nothing. Not ever since the Vastus took this land over and perverted our tradition." Lapis explained.
"Your land too will soon be free." Venamo assured and turned his gaze on the shining dove.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxHfIF0mIn
After another long sail where the weather at the lake was calm, a familiar ship was spotted by Nofa who was still staying at the head of the ship. It was early in the morning and the sky was unpolluted over the lake. Nofa recognised the red stripe in the black sail of the ship she had spotted.
Nofa didn't holler at anyone, so weak was her to desire to say anything at all to Venamo. After a while Lapis spotted the ship as well and asked Venamo about it. Venamo confirmed it to be the right one. Their sails were lowered and the ship was slowly stopped next to the black-sailed ship.
"Anyone awake in there?" Lapis shouted into the boat.
"I bet the coward has run away or been caught." Yilka commented as he came to stand next to Lapis.
"More likely he is sleeping under the floor. I'm sure we can just go wake him up." Venamo said and set a wide board between the two ships to be used as a bridge.
He then glanced over at Nofa.
"Witch, you go first and test how sturdy the board is." He commanded.
"And why me?" Nofa asked.
"Because you're a witch. Now go!"
"I'll just go." Yilka said and stepped on the board.
The board held just fine and he got safely on the other ship. Once everyone was on the black-sailed ship, Yilka knocked on the trapdoor on the floor with the thin end of his cudgel.
"We came back!" He shouted at it with a tired voice.
After a moment of waiting, the trapdoor opened and out came Vakevata Vinia and his strange gray-bearded companion.
"How did it take you this long to come back and why are you coming from that direction? What are all those big fruits? And where is Bloodmist?" Vakevata asked impatiently when he saw the familiar faces.
"Bloodmist is dead. She had to be put down after she became uncontrollable and violent. But we have Lapis Timishwar with us." Venamo replied.
"Bloodmist is dead, you say?" Vakevata asked and sounded oddly pleased.
"I am sorry to have failed you." Venamo said.
"Matters not. At least you have Timishwar with you." Vakevata replied.
"And now what? Do we take the fight to the Crown now?" Yilka asked.
"Now that we have a valuable new ally, we are closer to getting there. We have a base in the city of Lahkor in the capital province. With the knowledge and technology of Timishwar on our side, we can start planning our next move." Vakevata told everyone and looked at the electric staff that Lapis was holding.
"I'm warning you, it's not as good as it could be with further development, but it has saved me from my foes before." Lapis warned.
"Oh I'm sure it'll do just fine for now. Who is the tall pale man here?" Vakevata asked.
"That's my brother, and he'll go anywhere I go, so don't even try to tell him otherwise." Lapis warned.
"Fine, he can come too. At this point it doesn't matter." Vakevata stated.
"Hm? At this point?" Venamo wondered.
"What I mean is... at this point we can use all the helping hands we can get. Now, raise the sails and off we shall go!" Vakevata answered and exclaimed.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7mkhpWkDe
Once again the travelers were sailing onboard a ship across the lake of Kemioe. At the end of the ship, Yilka's nerves were wrecking him. He clenched his cudgel in his hand and breathed heavily and loudly, knowing that an assault on the capitol city was becoming more inevitable. But in his nerves some excitement was also mixed in. He walked over to Nofa quietly enough that she didn't hear him coming.
"Can you believe it?" Yilka asked Nofa who was looking overboard.
"Oh. Hello again. Yep. We've actually gotten this far." Nofa replied.
"We actually have. Are you scared?" Yilka asked.
"Terrified, but I'm not giving up now. I have to be here until the end. I can't abandon this fight now." Nofa assured.
"That puts me at ease. And Nofa..." Yilka began.
"Yes?" She replied.
"Having you on this journey has made these days the most meaningful times of my life. I've at last gotten to feel like I'm working for something that is worth fighting for. Once it's time to fight, I'm not just fighting for the tribe's freedom. I'm also fighting for us." Yilka spoke sincerely.
"Hm. I'm glad you're willing to say that. This journey has made me see that not every place fears me like our home village does. I've seen what a wonderful world this truly is, and why it must be freed from the men who play gods." Nofa added.
"And another thing, Nofa..." Yilka began.
"Hm?" Nofa let out.
"I hope you understand that we might lose." Yilka pointed out.
"I know. I sure do know. Remember when you said that we should be like every day is our last?" Nofa answered and asked.
"I did say that. Should we?" Yilka replied and asked and looked Nofa directly in the eyes.
"I'm sorry. It doesn't feel right." Nofa said.
"Hm?" Yilka let out.
"I can't do it. I just can't. I don't trust you like that anymore." Nofa said with regret.
Right then, Yilka got yanked from behind by the shoulder.
"About that duel I proposed..." Venamo said to Yilka after having yanked him away from Nofa.
"I'm not accepting it." Yilka firmly said.
"Whether you accept it or not, we should still get some last moment training in before it's time to fight with all our might." Venamo told him and held his sword.
"Fine. I actually agree with you there." Yilka said right back.
Venamo took the enchantment out of both men's weapons and took a fighting stance.
Both men had a fighting stance and waited for the other to charge forward. Venamo charged first with his blade pointed forward, but Yilka hit the blade with his cudgel and ducked out of the way. Before Venamo's momentum carried him too far, he spun around and swept Yilka's leg and caused him to fall down. Venamo swung his sword down but Yilka rolled out of way. The blade of the Defiance hit the boards of the ship and caused splinters to fly. While Venamo was pulling his sword free from the boards, Yilka sprung up and swung his Beast Slayer at Venamo's head, but Venamo freed his sword just in time and blocked the hit.
"I don't think you're training anymore." Yilka said to Venamo as their weapons ground against one another in a standstill.
"An enemy doesn't hold back, and a warrior doesn't expect them to." Venamo said and kicked Yilka away.
Venamo then took a big swing from left to right, but Yilka blocked it and kicked Venamo away from him. Venamo then aimed at Yilka's hand and tried to swing at it, but Yilka raised the hand and swung his weapon down at Venamo's. As their weapons were low and grinding against one another, Yilka smashed his bad shoulder to collide into Venamo, causing him to take a step back. Then Yilka swept Venamo's leg and caused him to fall on his back. As Venamo was on his back, Yilka swung his cudgel down at Venamo's unprotected face. Right before impact, Yilka stopped his own weapon and looked down at Venamo with pity.
"I win. Now enchant my weapon and let us be."
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ453KTD595R
After another long trip, the ship had reached the middle of Kemioe. Vakevata ordered his companion to lower the sails, and the ship came to a halt.
"Why have we stopped?" Venamo asked Vakevata.
"If we sail to the Capital Province with this distinct sail, we'll be spotted and stopped. We will wait here until the time is right to set sail again. We must arrive to our destination at night to avoid detection." Vakevata explained.
Then Vakevata's bearded companion went under the boards and brought back a bow, a quiver of arrows and a lit lantern. He lit the arrow on fire with the lantern and shot the arrow up to the sky.
"What was that?" Nofa questioned.
"Do you want attention on us?" Yilka questioned as well.
"Trust me, this is necessary." Vakevata assured.
Degolani marched over to the graybeard and hoisted him up.
"Everybody is angry at you. You are a bad man." He said to the man in his native tongue.
"Put him down!" Vakevata shouted at Degolani who couldn't understand.
Instead of putting the man down, Degolani tossed him overboard.
"No, you big bulking thick skulled fool!" Vakevata shouted at Degolani who couldn't understand but felt guilty.
"Dego, go get him back." Lapis told his brother and shook his head.
"Sorry." Degolani said and dove overboard.
"No wonder the Haimanaika got conquered so easily. They are damned fools and Timishwar is an anomaly." Vakevata mumbled to himself.
After everybody had been fished back to the ship, a period of waiting began for the night to fall.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77asPZ0MQw
When the sun began setting, Yilka spotted something in the sky, rather several things. They were leaving behind a trail of thick black smoke and seemed to be getting larger, and soon enough he realised what they were.
"Airboats are coming our way!" Yilka shouted.
Everybody looked where he was looking. Venamo unsheathed his sword, Lapis held his staff firmly, Nofa opened her book and Yilka clenched his cudgel.
"If only Varma was here to do what she did in Lehrea." Nofa commented.
"Can your magic reach them from here?" Yilka asked her.
"I already know that it doesn't. They'll have to come closer. But I know a spell that could help us." Nofa answered.
"Then do it." Venamo demanded.
"What does it do?" Yilka asked.
"It'll bring darkness. It won't just blacken the sky. It'll make everything around dark. If I do it, they won't spot us and we can sail away from them." Nofa explained.
"Unleash it." Yilka said.
"Ae Rari, lahe meffe karkhe..." Nofa began reciting from her book but she was stopped when Vakevata pointed a bow at her.
"That's enough of that now." Vakevata said.
"What in the damned are you doing now?" Venamo asked.
"You've been useful and done as told." Vakevata simply replied.
"Put that bow down!" Lapis threatened and pointed his staff at Vakevata.
Vakevata's companion then snatched Lapis' staff away and aimed it at Lapis.
Nofa whispered a different incantation and focused on Vakevata's arrow. Vakevata noticed it and pulled the string of the bow even further back while aiming at Nofa. Yilka charged to stand between Nofa and Vakevata. Vakevata relased his arrow and hit Yilka in the chest, but the weakened arrow couldn't even pierce his skin, but rather shattered on impact. Yilka was about to swing his cudgel at Vakevata, but got whacked in the face with the bow before he could connect. Venamo charged with his sword, but before he could connect, a crossbow's bolt hit his sword and knocked it out of his hands. The airboats were now surrounding the ship and men armed with crossbows were aiming at everyone on the ship, except Vakevata and his companion. Vakevata ran over to his companion who still had Lapis' staff.
"You invited them here, didn't you?" Venamo asked Vakevata.
"Precisely! You fools did everything we wanted you to do. Bloodmist was wanted by the Crown and she's out of the picture now. Timishwar is an enemy of the Crown and he'll be out of the picture soon enough." Vakevata replied.
"You bastard! You've betrayed the Road of Blood and worked for the Crown the whole time!" Yilka shouted at him.
"The Road of Blood was never a real thing! The whole purpose was to recruit Uhmaks to rebel against the Crown and be used as justification for an invasion. You grabbed the bait, and you and everyone who joined the Road of Blood will be judged by the Royal Court in a public trial. All the people in the grand capital city will witness your trial and they'll be begging the Crown to retaliate against the land where these rebels came from." Vakevata explained.
"And what proof have you got against us?" Venamo asked.
"A tribe that is known as rebellious doesn't have much of a benefit of the doubt. The people of the Capital have all heard of the Road of Blood, and they will want your head." Vakevata further explained.
"All this time, this was all pointless?" Yilka said to himself.
"You must feel like a damned fool now. Your homeland will be added under the rule of Greater Vastusar and you are partly to blame. But that is what your desire to rebel got you." Vakevata taunted Yilka with from a safe distance.
Somebody who didn't understand a word was Degolani. But he understood that the situation was dire. He charged towards Vakevata and his companion who had the electric staff. As he was running towards them, he got shot in the shoulder blade with a crossbow, but he didn't stop running. He got another bolt on his other shoulder blade, but he still didn't stop. He charged at the thief of the staff who tried to use it against Degolani but didn't know how to use it. Degolani snatched the staff away and threw it to Lapis who caught it. All the crossbows in all the airboats were shot, but before any bolt could hit anyone, Lapis created an electric dome around the entire ship that reflected all the metallic bolts away.
"We are not going anywhere." Lapis said confidently and looked at the two unarmed traitors.
"These brave soldiers are willing to wait. Your staff can't keep this barrier up forever." Vakevata smugly replied.
"I know. That's why I have to do something bold." Lapis said and aimed his staff at the water of the lake.
He unleashed all the power of the staff at the water of lake, covering the surface of the entire huge lake in electricity. Nothing that lives in the lake could possibly survive what Lapis did there, and after he was done, his staff was drained of its power.
"What did you think you'd accomplish with that?" Vakevata asked him smugly.
"A bird sang to me that the fish of the lake collectively are the Grand Beast of waters. And now I have killed the Grand Beast of waters." Lapis replied.
The barrier around the ship went out and all the crossbows on the airboats were now aimed at Lapis alone.
"And whichever of these brave soldier kills you will become the new ruler of waters. Fool." Vakevata said.
"I'll have to do this quickly then. Look left." Lapis said.
Vakevata looked to his left and saw in the distance a massive tidal wave coming towards the ship.
"Kill him now!" Vakevata shouted at the soldiers in the airboats.
Lapis jumped out of the boat and dove under the surface now that the water was no longer electric.
"The bastard doomed all of us now!" Venamo exclaimed.
"Nofa, tell Blueberry to fly you far away! The fight is over! Go back home or somewhere where nobody will find you! Now!" Yilka told Nofa.
"I'm not leaving you here! Take my hand!" Nofa said and offered her hand.
"Are you even able to hold me up?" Yilka asked.
"I have to try! Now take it!" She demanded.
Yilka took her by the hand and Nofa gave Blueberry the order to fly her and Yilka to the northeast shore of the lake.
Blueberry took to the air and lifted Nofa up with her, and Nofa held on to Yilka's hand as best as she could, and Yilka did the same in return.
"You're leaving without me?" Venamo shouted at them.
"You can die here!" Nofa shouted at him as she was already up in the air.
"Good luck, bastard!" Yilka then also shouted at his brother as he and Nofa flew over him.
"You're not leaving me here!" Venamo said and jumped up to grab Yilka's ankle.
"What are you... nghh!" Nofa complained when Venamo began hanging from Yilka's ankle.
"You're staying here and fighting with me!" Venamo shouted.
"I can't hold on to the both of you!" Nofa screamed as Yilka was yanked out of her hand.
Yilka fell back to the boat but luckily for him, nobody was aiming at him. All the soldiers were focused on the incoming tidal wave.
"Fly away, Nofa! Get out of here quickly!" Yilka shouted at Nofa.
Nofa looked up at Blueberry who was carrying her by the sleeve.
"Blueberry, go back and let me pick up Yilka!" Nofa commanded Blueberry, but Blueberry in her loyalty only wanted to save her mistress, and ignored the command.
"Just get yourself to safety!" Yilka shouted at Nofa who kept flying further away!
"Blueberry! Go back! Go BACK!" Nofa kept screaming at Blueberry who wouldn't listen.
"Why? Why did you do this?" Yilka screamed at his brother.
"A warrior doesn't escape. We'll hijack one of these airboats and escape as a unit." Venamo told him.
He then pointed at how Vakevata was climbing a rope that was thrown to him from one of the airboats.
"Get him up here and fly away!" A soldier from the airboat shouted.
"They're not going to throw us a rope!" Yilka stated the obvious to Venamo.
Without being asked to, Degolani grabbed Yilka by the belt and neck and threw him into one of the airboats.
When Yilka landed in one, all the soldiers noticed him. Before any of them could do anything to him, he hit his enchanted cudgel into the enchanted armour of one of the soldiers, creating a shockwave that knocked all of them out of the airboat. Yilka himself managed to hold on to one of the ropes that connect the boat to the balloon that carries it. Once he saw that he was alone in the boat, he saw two pull chains. He pulled one of them, and it made the boat get higher. He then pulled the other one and it made the bow reduce altitude.
"Now come get me back!" Venamo shouted at him.
Yilka took a moment to think about it, but when he saw the scared look on Degolani's face, he made his choice. He lowered the boat next to the seaship and so Venamo and Degolani got on board.
"The mounts! We need to take them too!" Yilka said and watched as the beakmounts were going crazy and bucking in all directions.
"We don't need the added weight! Get this thing up!" Venamo commanded.
"No, I'll go get them!" Yilka demanded.
"No you will not! You will get this boat out of here!" Venamo said and pointed his sword at Yilka's throat.
"You bastard..." Yilka said quietly and bitterly.
Yilka felt bad, but he had no room to move. All he could do was pull the chain, and so he then increased the altitude of the airboat.
"How do I make this thing move?" He asked in panic when he realised he didn't know how to go forward with it.
Venamo saw two pedals at the back of the boat that were connected to an air blower. Venamo used the pedal that made the air blower work and made the airboat move. He found that the air blower turns, and he aimed it in a way that the boat would be facing northeast.
"I've got this! Let's get out of here!" Venamo shouted.
Degolani helped in pumping the air faster and Yilka increased the altitude. Everybody in the airboat looked down and saw a massive tidal coming really close now. Everybody grit their teeth and worked as hard as they could as the noises of the incoming wave were becoming deafening. Then, it completely swallowed the ship that they had been onboard of, and passed under their airboat just as the boat had gained enough altitude to avoid it.
"Lapis..." Degolani said as he looked down in great worry.
He then ripped the two crossbow bolts out of his shoulder blades. They were both enchanted, and had gone straight through all the skin and bone that they hit, but Degolani didn't complain. He only tossed the bolts overboard.
Yilka looked at Degolani with empathy and felt sorry that he couldn't say anything that the large man could understand.
"We'll have to warn everyone to flee to the mountains. The Vastus didn't get us, but if they have the rest of the Road of Blood, they'll use that to justify an invasion. They are coming yet, and nobody in Uhmakas can fight against them. The word has to be spread, and fast." Venamo said.
"Will they believe us?" Yilka asked.
"They'll have to if they want to avoid living under servitude." Venamo only replied.
"I guess the fight is lost..." Yilka said somberly and looked ahead.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3hT33mY1C
Eventually the airboat arrived at the crescent-shaped City of the Poet in Laukiv. The airboat and the black smoky trail behind it gathered the attention of the natives who had never seen such a thing. Yilka reduced the altitude over the city until he was low enough to be heard by the pedestrians.
"Has anybody seen a red-haired lady pass through here?" He shouted down at the folk on the street.
"One flew over the city earlier!" Somebody shouted back at him.
"Where did she go?" Yilka asked back.
"Northeast!" The local replied.
"That's where the mountains are! Everybody, flee to the mountains! Vastusar is intending to invade! Fighting them is hopeless! Take what you can carry! Take your families and spouses and leave to the mountains!" Venamo shouted from the boats.
"And spread the word to everyone you know!" Yilka added.
"That's what the red lady was also saying! Is it true?" A local shouted at the brothers.
"It's true! This boat is theirs, and they have plenty more of these! It won't take them long to get here!" Venamo warned.
"Spread the word!" Yilka reminded one more time.
They flew above every corner of the city and told everyone they saw the same thing. Once they had covered the city of Laukiv, Venamo set the course towards heir home village of Kalekanka. However, before they could get anywhere near home, the airboat started descending on its own. Yilka noticed that the pot where the cavemoss was burning had depleted, and the flame was dying out.
"No! Not now! We still have so many places to go!" Yilka complained as the airboat landed softly in the green hills of Uhmakas.
Venamo took a deep breath and turned to Yilka.
"Yilka, flee to the mountains. I'll go home on foot to warn the others." Venamo told his brother.
"I can go to other places to warn everyone." Yilka suggested.
"Home is not terribly far, but every other place is. You wouldn't make it in time even if you ran the whole time. You'd be trampled by the incoming enemy. Save yourself. I beg of you." Venamo told him.
"I won't sacrifice the tribe to save myself." Yilka insisted.
"You can see the mountains from here! Can you see any town? You can't. The Vastus have these airboats and you saw how fast they move. Faster than you can run. Please, save yourself. My legs have more power than yours because of my blessing. I can travel faster and longer than you can. I at least have some amount of hope in saving our village. Please, go. Go even if finding Nofa is your reason for going. The fight is lost. You'll never be the tribe warrior that father would have wanted you to be, so at least survive long enough to have a son of your own one day." Venamo explained.
Venamo then put his hand on Degolani's shoulder and pointed at the mountains with his other hand. Degolani looked at him with a questioning look, but Venamo gave him a reassuring nod. Degolani stepped out of the boat and began walking towards the mountains.
"Take care of the big man if you want responsibility so badly." Venamo said to Yilka and also got out of the boat.
"He won't be able to understand anyone out there!" Yilka complained.
"Stay by his side then. Go to the mountains and be the defender of everyone who also flees there. When I come back and find you, we'll go take down the King together." Venamo said.
"Didn't you just say that the battle is lost?" Yilka asked.
"It is lost for now, but if we always run away from evil, evil will always catch up to us. We have to destroy it. But this time, you will follow my lead and do what I say." Venamo told his brother.
"Varma did as you told and that worked so badly that the academy fell to the enemy. No, you'll follow my lead." Yilka demanded.
"Varma failed, not because of my order, but because of her execution. But you are skilled and reliable."
"Well, if you are such an excellence of execution and everything is so damned easy for you, then why don't you just do it yourself?" Yilka asked.
"Listen, do you want to get it done or not?" Venamo asked.
"I'd rather do it alone than follow your lead anymore. For now I'll look after the big man and anyone who'll need help in the mountains and I'll go find Nofa, since seemingly I won't be able to reach any village in time. When I've found Nofa and helped those who'll flee to the mountains, I'll begin preparing." Yilka answered.
"I'll come looking for you when I've warned the folk of the village." Venamo said.
"Don't bother. We won't be able to work together. Me and the big man will train for when the day comes, and we'll do it as a team." Yilka said and walked quickly over to Degolani to catch up with him.
Venamo shook his head.
"That damned fool. Fine. I'll do it myself then."
ns216.73.216.95da2
