Whirlpool's Betrayal, Chapter Nine
Chapter 9
They had been running for several minutes, with Dmitri supporting Jani and Trey carrying Viranei the entire way.
“I think we can stop for a minute,” Aric called out, “I haven’t seen any guards for a while.” They stopped, and Kara went to tend to Jani’s leg, which had been stabbed.
“Yeah, you can put me down now Trey.” Viranei said as she struggled a little to escape his grasp. He knelt down and let her off his shoulder. She got to her feet and turned to the newcomer, who was looking at the ground and fidgeting. “I think we owe you our thanks. If you didn’t come, there’s no telling what Ren would have done to us.”
“It’s alright.” The man spoke without looking up. “It’s not like I meant to save you or anything, I just figured you running away would provide a distraction.”
“But you still saved us. And I believe this is yours.” Viranei held out her hand with the key to their shackles towards the man, but he reached out and folded her hand around it.
“Keep it. Please.” He looked up at her, and Dmitri noticed his expression was almost one of mourning. “I want you to have it.”
“Thank you.” Viranei put the key in her bag. “By the way, we don’t even know who you are, or anything about these ‘Forgotten.’ Could you enlighten us?” The man looked conflicted, like he was debating whether to tell her or not. But he spoke.
“My name is Naero.” He looked away from Viranei again, “we, the Forgotten, are not like you. We are merely lost souls attached to bodies, seeking an existence like yours.”
“Really!” Viranei’s eyes brightened and she stared at Naero with rapt attention. “That’s amazing!” Naero looked back at her for a brief second before looking away again and shaking his head.
“No, I’m sorry, I just can’t lie to you. I was just told to say that.”
“Oh, I see. Is your name Naero, at least?”
“Yeah.” Naero nodded. “I’m not like you, though.”
“Let me see.” Dmitri interrupted. His activated his Sight and stared at Naero, who fidgeted uncomfortably. “Whoa! You were right.”
“What is it?” Aric asked, concern showing in his voice as he readied his scythe.
“His aura. It’s demonic for sure, but it’s different from ours.”
“Told you.” Naero grinned. “And I should be going now. The rest of the Forgotten will not be pleased with me,” his voice trailed off and he began to shake slightly.
“Is there anything we can do?” Viranei asked. Naero began to shake his head, but stopped midway. He reached into his right pocket and handed Viranei a slip of paper. Dmitri noticed there was a symbol tattooed onto his right hand in deep blue ink. It looked like a curved, backwards “S.” Viranei accepted the paper and looked at it, letting out a small gasp of surprise.
“Keep this safe, please.” Naero turned around to leave. “And if you can, forget me.”
“Wait!” Viranei called out and took a step forwards, but Naero took off before she could reach him. He was fast, very fast. Dmitri doubted even he could keep up with him. Within moments he had disappeared.
“What is it Viranei? What did he give you?” Alaina asked as she moved closer to Viranei. The rest of the group began to gather around her as well. Dmitri took a couple steps over towards her, and arched his head to look at the paper. It was a small, incredibly detailed watercolor landscape.
“What was that about?” Saki asked.
“I don’t know,” Kara replied, “but I don’t like him. He seems pretty creepy to me.”
“Either way, I doubt we’ll have to deal with him again.” Alaina said. “I think it would be best to do as he asked, forget him, and continue on with our mission.”
“I’m not forgetting him, not after what he did for us.” Viranei said as she shook her head. “But we should continue. Jani? Are you feeling well enough to travel?”
“Yes, thank you.” Jani said as she got up. “The further we get from Ren’s tents, the better I’ll feel.” Mutual agreement was had, and the group soon set off.
It had taken them another week, one that had passed without event, but they made it to the gates of Ailex. There was a large crowd in front of the gates, and it seemed that they were making extremely slow progress inside the city. Viranei sighed.
“A crowd again, I wonder what it’s for this time.”
“Do you think you’ll be okay, Viranei?” Aric asked.
“Yeah, I can handle it.” She said, looking a little nervous. “Let’s go.” They made their way to the back of the line, and after about an hour they made it to the front. The tall gates were surrounded by guards carrying various weapons, most of them spears and shields. There was one man without weapons but wearing the guards’ uniform. He was inspecting each traveler that passed through the gates with pitch black eyes, showing he had the Sight activated. Suddenly, one of the guards drew his spear and pointed it towards Viranei.
“That one matches the description! You, boy!” He pointed his spear at Dmitri. “Let me take a look at you.”
“What is it?” Dmitri tried to sound less nervous than he felt. The guard stared at him for a moment, then gasped.
“This is the group we were warned about! It has to be!” He roughly grabbed Viranei by her left arm, causing her to punch him violently with her right. The guard staggered back, and several more drew their spears and pointed them at Viranei.
“What’s the meaning of this!” Alaina called out before Viranei could say anything that would further jeopardize their position. “We are simple travelers on a mission to the king!”
“You are demons!” The first guard got up and rubbed his cheek where Viranei punched him. “We were warned by Mius about a group of demons who could mask their auras from those with the Sight. The messenger said the group was lead by a tall, dark haired man with one blue and one green eye, and a woman with a green ribbon in her hair.”
“What? But that doesn’t make any sense!” Aric exclaimed. “We saved the king of Mius from a demon attack!”
“And what about our weapons!” Jani held up her sword, causing a couple guards to hold up their shields and advance towards her. “No, I’m not going to attack you, but if we were demons, our weapons would be concealed.”
“You can explain your case to the king.” Another guard spoke. “We were ordered to bring you straight to him. Why he didn’t want you executed on sight, I have no idea. But there you are. Now come with us, demons, unless you think you can defeat all of us.”
“We mean you no harm, we’ll go with you.” Saki said. Viranei still looked unconvinced, but they allowed themselves to be surrounded by the armed guards. About half the guards escorted the group inwards towards the city, while the other half stayed by the gate. With the guards’ spears at their backs, the group started to march into the city.
Despite his position, Dmitri couldn’t help looking at the sights around him. He guessed they were walking through the nicer parts of the city. Most of the buildings had multiple stories, with shops on the bottom floors and homes on top. All the buildings seemed to be made of the same white stone. People were nervously poking their heads out of doors and gaping at the spectacle of half a regiment of guards accompanying a small group of travelers. Being in a big city reminded Dmitri of his own home, living in the slums near the castle with the Knights of Nine. The houses there were far smaller and more dilapidated, but they had the same city feeling.
It took them a while, but they arrived to the inner gates to the palace. More armed guards were there to meet them and take their weapons once again. However, this time they didn’t notice Viranei’s fans or Dmitri’s bracers. They marched together into the king’s palace, which was far more ornate than the one in Mius. They were led up stairs, past works of art on display and corridors leading off into various rooms. After they had walked for several minutes, they came to a large pair of double doors. Two guards on either side opened them, and the group gazed into the throne room.
There were archers and spear carrying guards lined up on both sides of the long room. Near the end of the room was a young woman, an older woman, and a middle aged man, all wearing shabby clothes, and all surrounded by armed guards. Dmitri’s eyes widened in surprise. In front of the three poorly dressed figures were not one, but two thrones. In each jeweled throne sat a young man, looking to be about fifteen years old. At first glance, they appeared identical. Both were short, probably only an inch or two over five feet, and they both had shaggy black hair falling a few inches bellow their ears, and they were dressed in identical white and golden outfits.
“It can’t be!” Jani called out. “Twins? I thought king Lyon was an only child.”
“He is.” One of the guards answered her. “But we were lucky enough to find a boy who looks almost exactly like him. Makes it hard for assassins, wouldn’t you agree demon?” Jani grit her teeth, but remained silent.
“What’s going on?” The boy on the right asked. “We’re in an important meeting discussing funds for the orphanage, we made requests not to be disturbed.” He started to get up, but the boy on the left held up his hand.
“Wait brother, look carefully.” He was grinning madly. “These are the ones we were warned about. I believe I explained the situation to you.” He stood up and walked to the women and man in front of him.
“If you would step to the side please. You must excuse me, this is urgent business.” The younger woman started to protest, but the shabbily dressed man next to her grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. The king who was in the right throne got up and walked next to his double. The one on the left took a few steps towards the group, still smiling. Suddenly he sunk to his knees and began laughing wildly.
“My Lord!” Several guards called out and ran to his side. “Are you alright?” One of them asked.
“I’m better than alright. Forgive me for losing my composure.” He slowly got up, still smiling, and extended a hand towards the group. “Viranei,” he called out, “it’s been too long. Have you forgotten me?”
“What?” Saki turned and grabbed Viranei’s arm. “You know the king? You’ve never said anything to us!” Viranei herself looked pale, and she slightly shook her head.
“It can’t be,” she muttered, “it’s impossible, he’s dead.”
“What are you talking about Vi? I’m right here.” The left king took a the last steps towards the group with his hand outstretched. The guards between him and Viranei held up their shields.
“Have you lost your mind?” One of them began, “they’re demons! They’ll kill you!”
“No.” He shook his head. “Viranei and those she trusts would never harm me. Now step aside.” The guards did as they were asked, leaving the way open between him and Viranei. The king sprinted the last few steps towards her before crashing into her and wrapping her into an embrace. Viranei looked down at him, startled.
“What are you doing?” She asked. “Let go of me!” The king continued embracing her, but looked up at her sadly.
“Viranei, have you already forgotten me? Your friend, Saro.”
They had been running for several minutes, with Dmitri supporting Jani and Trey carrying Viranei the entire way.
“I think we can stop for a minute,” Aric called out, “I haven’t seen any guards for a while.” They stopped, and Kara went to tend to Jani’s leg, which had been stabbed.
“Yeah, you can put me down now Trey.” Viranei said as she struggled a little to escape his grasp. He knelt down and let her off his shoulder. She got to her feet and turned to the newcomer, who was looking at the ground and fidgeting. “I think we owe you our thanks. If you didn’t come, there’s no telling what Ren would have done to us.”
“It’s alright.” The man spoke without looking up. “It’s not like I meant to save you or anything, I just figured you running away would provide a distraction.”
“But you still saved us. And I believe this is yours.” Viranei held out her hand with the key to their shackles towards the man, but he reached out and folded her hand around it.
“Keep it. Please.” He looked up at her, and Dmitri noticed his expression was almost one of mourning. “I want you to have it.”
“Thank you.” Viranei put the key in her bag. “By the way, we don’t even know who you are, or anything about these ‘Forgotten.’ Could you enlighten us?” The man looked conflicted, like he was debating whether to tell her or not. But he spoke.
“My name is Naero.” He looked away from Viranei again, “we, the Forgotten, are not like you. We are merely lost souls attached to bodies, seeking an existence like yours.”
“Really!” Viranei’s eyes brightened and she stared at Naero with rapt attention. “That’s amazing!” Naero looked back at her for a brief second before looking away again and shaking his head.
“No, I’m sorry, I just can’t lie to you. I was just told to say that.”
“Oh, I see. Is your name Naero, at least?”
“Yeah.” Naero nodded. “I’m not like you, though.”
“Let me see.” Dmitri interrupted. His activated his Sight and stared at Naero, who fidgeted uncomfortably. “Whoa! You were right.”
“What is it?” Aric asked, concern showing in his voice as he readied his scythe.
“His aura. It’s demonic for sure, but it’s different from ours.”
“Told you.” Naero grinned. “And I should be going now. The rest of the Forgotten will not be pleased with me,” his voice trailed off and he began to shake slightly.
“Is there anything we can do?” Viranei asked. Naero began to shake his head, but stopped midway. He reached into his right pocket and handed Viranei a slip of paper. Dmitri noticed there was a symbol tattooed onto his right hand in deep blue ink. It looked like a curved, backwards “S.” Viranei accepted the paper and looked at it, letting out a small gasp of surprise.
“Keep this safe, please.” Naero turned around to leave. “And if you can, forget me.”
“Wait!” Viranei called out and took a step forwards, but Naero took off before she could reach him. He was fast, very fast. Dmitri doubted even he could keep up with him. Within moments he had disappeared.
“What is it Viranei? What did he give you?” Alaina asked as she moved closer to Viranei. The rest of the group began to gather around her as well. Dmitri took a couple steps over towards her, and arched his head to look at the paper. It was a small, incredibly detailed watercolor landscape.
“What was that about?” Saki asked.
“I don’t know,” Kara replied, “but I don’t like him. He seems pretty creepy to me.”
“Either way, I doubt we’ll have to deal with him again.” Alaina said. “I think it would be best to do as he asked, forget him, and continue on with our mission.”
“I’m not forgetting him, not after what he did for us.” Viranei said as she shook her head. “But we should continue. Jani? Are you feeling well enough to travel?”
“Yes, thank you.” Jani said as she got up. “The further we get from Ren’s tents, the better I’ll feel.” Mutual agreement was had, and the group soon set off.
It had taken them another week, one that had passed without event, but they made it to the gates of Ailex. There was a large crowd in front of the gates, and it seemed that they were making extremely slow progress inside the city. Viranei sighed.
“A crowd again, I wonder what it’s for this time.”
“Do you think you’ll be okay, Viranei?” Aric asked.
“Yeah, I can handle it.” She said, looking a little nervous. “Let’s go.” They made their way to the back of the line, and after about an hour they made it to the front. The tall gates were surrounded by guards carrying various weapons, most of them spears and shields. There was one man without weapons but wearing the guards’ uniform. He was inspecting each traveler that passed through the gates with pitch black eyes, showing he had the Sight activated. Suddenly, one of the guards drew his spear and pointed it towards Viranei.
“That one matches the description! You, boy!” He pointed his spear at Dmitri. “Let me take a look at you.”
“What is it?” Dmitri tried to sound less nervous than he felt. The guard stared at him for a moment, then gasped.
“This is the group we were warned about! It has to be!” He roughly grabbed Viranei by her left arm, causing her to punch him violently with her right. The guard staggered back, and several more drew their spears and pointed them at Viranei.
“What’s the meaning of this!” Alaina called out before Viranei could say anything that would further jeopardize their position. “We are simple travelers on a mission to the king!”
“You are demons!” The first guard got up and rubbed his cheek where Viranei punched him. “We were warned by Mius about a group of demons who could mask their auras from those with the Sight. The messenger said the group was lead by a tall, dark haired man with one blue and one green eye, and a woman with a green ribbon in her hair.”
“What? But that doesn’t make any sense!” Aric exclaimed. “We saved the king of Mius from a demon attack!”
“And what about our weapons!” Jani held up her sword, causing a couple guards to hold up their shields and advance towards her. “No, I’m not going to attack you, but if we were demons, our weapons would be concealed.”
“You can explain your case to the king.” Another guard spoke. “We were ordered to bring you straight to him. Why he didn’t want you executed on sight, I have no idea. But there you are. Now come with us, demons, unless you think you can defeat all of us.”
“We mean you no harm, we’ll go with you.” Saki said. Viranei still looked unconvinced, but they allowed themselves to be surrounded by the armed guards. About half the guards escorted the group inwards towards the city, while the other half stayed by the gate. With the guards’ spears at their backs, the group started to march into the city.
Despite his position, Dmitri couldn’t help looking at the sights around him. He guessed they were walking through the nicer parts of the city. Most of the buildings had multiple stories, with shops on the bottom floors and homes on top. All the buildings seemed to be made of the same white stone. People were nervously poking their heads out of doors and gaping at the spectacle of half a regiment of guards accompanying a small group of travelers. Being in a big city reminded Dmitri of his own home, living in the slums near the castle with the Knights of Nine. The houses there were far smaller and more dilapidated, but they had the same city feeling.
It took them a while, but they arrived to the inner gates to the palace. More armed guards were there to meet them and take their weapons once again. However, this time they didn’t notice Viranei’s fans or Dmitri’s bracers. They marched together into the king’s palace, which was far more ornate than the one in Mius. They were led up stairs, past works of art on display and corridors leading off into various rooms. After they had walked for several minutes, they came to a large pair of double doors. Two guards on either side opened them, and the group gazed into the throne room.
There were archers and spear carrying guards lined up on both sides of the long room. Near the end of the room was a young woman, an older woman, and a middle aged man, all wearing shabby clothes, and all surrounded by armed guards. Dmitri’s eyes widened in surprise. In front of the three poorly dressed figures were not one, but two thrones. In each jeweled throne sat a young man, looking to be about fifteen years old. At first glance, they appeared identical. Both were short, probably only an inch or two over five feet, and they both had shaggy black hair falling a few inches bellow their ears, and they were dressed in identical white and golden outfits.
“It can’t be!” Jani called out. “Twins? I thought king Lyon was an only child.”
“He is.” One of the guards answered her. “But we were lucky enough to find a boy who looks almost exactly like him. Makes it hard for assassins, wouldn’t you agree demon?” Jani grit her teeth, but remained silent.
“What’s going on?” The boy on the right asked. “We’re in an important meeting discussing funds for the orphanage, we made requests not to be disturbed.” He started to get up, but the boy on the left held up his hand.
“Wait brother, look carefully.” He was grinning madly. “These are the ones we were warned about. I believe I explained the situation to you.” He stood up and walked to the women and man in front of him.
“If you would step to the side please. You must excuse me, this is urgent business.” The younger woman started to protest, but the shabbily dressed man next to her grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. The king who was in the right throne got up and walked next to his double. The one on the left took a few steps towards the group, still smiling. Suddenly he sunk to his knees and began laughing wildly.
“My Lord!” Several guards called out and ran to his side. “Are you alright?” One of them asked.
“I’m better than alright. Forgive me for losing my composure.” He slowly got up, still smiling, and extended a hand towards the group. “Viranei,” he called out, “it’s been too long. Have you forgotten me?”
“What?” Saki turned and grabbed Viranei’s arm. “You know the king? You’ve never said anything to us!” Viranei herself looked pale, and she slightly shook her head.
“It can’t be,” she muttered, “it’s impossible, he’s dead.”
“What are you talking about Vi? I’m right here.” The left king took a the last steps towards the group with his hand outstretched. The guards between him and Viranei held up their shields.
“Have you lost your mind?” One of them began, “they’re demons! They’ll kill you!”
“No.” He shook his head. “Viranei and those she trusts would never harm me. Now step aside.” The guards did as they were asked, leaving the way open between him and Viranei. The king sprinted the last few steps towards her before crashing into her and wrapping her into an embrace. Viranei looked down at him, startled.
“What are you doing?” She asked. “Let go of me!” The king continued embracing her, but looked up at her sadly.
“Viranei, have you already forgotten me? Your friend, Saro.”