Chapter Twenty-Two - The Rescue

Trailing the trio had been surprisingly easy for Arette.

For someone who had lived over a half year in the forest, staying hidden was a prerequisite for a successful hunt and hopping over rooftops was far easier than climbing trees, so that was that.

Shortly after she had left a bewildered Elea and a weary Liz, she had sprinted to catch up with Harker and his goons and had found them not at all far.

They walked slowly, throwing their weight on everyone they met like the disgusting pigs they were, so Arette had no problem keeping up with them.

She stuck to the roofs and followed them out of the village, through the forest and back to the city of Gera, where the side alleys and crowds gave her an even better cover than the trees.

Finally, she observed them entering an abandoned looking building. If she’d followed them in, she wouldn’t have been able to stay covered and as much as she wanted to, a battle in there was risky.

Harker himself was nothing much to worry about - an Emperor wasn’t someone she feared. And even though his goons were also only Sovereigns, she couldn’t read their paths in their hardened flames and if she’d learned anything from Nex, it was that she shouldn’t barge into a fight if she didn’t know her enemies strengths.

And so, she observed them a while longer through the windows and even got a glimpse of a tied up man in a corner of the room - Elea’s brother, she guessed.

Memorizing the way to the hideout, she withdrew and walked back to Elea’s village, trying to formulate a plan other than barging in and kicking ass.

She didn’t come up with anything.

Oh well, Liz would think of something. Liz was smart after all.

It was well in the night when she reached the inn that Liz had told her to meet at. She hadn’t met up with Zenon before following the trio, mostly because she knew he’d want to leave right away.

With her gone, she’d forced him to find something to stay the night, remaining in the village until morning, just as she wanted him to.

Instead, Liz had returned to find Zenon to tell him about what they found out about Elea.

Now, they’d agreed to meet again and Liz was already pacing up and down in front of the inn when Arette arrived.

“How did it go?” her best friend all but assaulted her once she’d come close enough.

“Good, I think,” she shrugged and told Liz about what she’d found, “How was your end?”

Liz’s face fight brightened with her good news, then scrunched up.

“He didn’t listen to me at all. Just brushed me off. I had no chance to explain anything at all.”

Arette groaned - damn Zenon was almost as stubborn as herself.

“Then what should we do? We need to prevent the ceremony that starts in...how late is it?”

Arette shot a quizzical look at Liz, who had recently purchased something called a ‘pocket watch’ that was able to count time. Liz took the round thing out of her pocket and frowned.

“It’s almost two a.m.” she said grimly.

“What? That late?” she’d left the city when the sun had just set, but apparently the sun had set later than she’d thought, “The ceremony stats at seven. I need two hours if I run to the city, at least one hour to free the brother and if I have to carry him, three hours to be back. And that’s if I leave now with a plan on how to free him - that’s not enough, isn’t it?”

She was better at calculating than at writing and Liz’s dark expression confirmed her estimate.

“No…” Liz said and began to pace again.

“What should we do?” Arette asked, after all, Liz was the planner of them. Liz paused, then paced again, then stopped in her tracks.

“We need to stop the ceremony whatever it takes. But I can’t do that, so either you do it or Zenon. The other has to go and free Elea’s brother. But to free the brother, you’d need to leave now...and persuading Zenon won’t be a matter of just a few minutes, I fear…”

Liz bit her lip and then finally turned to Arette with determination in her eyes.

“Alright, let’s do it like this. You go now and go back to their hideout. By the time you get there, Harker and at least one of his bodyguards should be gone, on the way here. Get in as fast as you can and take the brother. Only fight if you have to. I’ll try to persuade Zenon to get his ass up and stop the ceremony.”

Arette pondered about it for a moment, but hardly found a better solution. In fact, barging in and kicking ass sounded just fine for her. She grinned.

“Alright. I’ll free the brother, don’t worry. Will you manage?”

“I’ll have to.”

They gave each other a serious nod and Arette took off in the direction she’d come from. Finally, her training paid off - running for two hours straight wasn’t much of a strain anymore, thankfully.

Now, she pushed herself harder than ever before.

And honestly?

She loved every second of it.

Two hours later, she was hiding in a small street next to the hall in Gera again. She’d met Harker and one of his goons on the way, just as Liz predicted.

The other one, as she could see through one of the windows, was guarding their prisoner, while two more guards were stationed throughout the room.

The guards were Emperors, both seeming to be the elemental type. The fire one wouldn’t be a problem - no flame in her vicinity would dare to attack her, not if it was controlled by someone weaker than her. The wind one could become a problem - but the one she was most worried about was the other of Harker’s bodyguards, a Sovereign she couldn’t see through at all.

But still, she wasn’t exactly afraid. The opposite, actually.

Thrill was bubbling in her stomach, making her tense with excitement rather than worry or fear.

Her fingers itched as she climbed up the wall to an already opened window in the first floor.

There seemed to be ordinary rooms above the abandoned hall and she figured entering from within and having surprise on her side would help her cause.

She hadn’t scaled many houses before but with the red brick under her fingers being uneven, she didn’t have much difficulty finding little nooks and ledges she could use to climb.

In a few swift motions, she had propelled herself through the opened window and into a room that looked empty.

By the amount of dust and spiders that lived in it, there hadn’t been anyone here in years. Not that Arette cared much - if anything, it was to her advantage.

With light steps, she snuck out of the room and down a staircase in the hallways behind it. She was halfway down and could already see the backs of the two guards when her next step caused a loud creaking sound to echo through the room.

Immediately, three pairs of eyes shot towards her.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” The leader goon questioned, stepping closer to her. She could feel his aura seeping from his hardened flame into his body, then his surroundings.

Her fingers itched as she grabbed the sword she’d strapped to her belt earlier on.

“I would say I’m not here to fight...but that would be a lie,” she grinned and drew her blade. The goon’s eyes narrowed and his aura flashed out, no doubt aiming to subdue her without even making a move.

But she swatted his outreach away with a single sweep of her flames before releasing her own fire into her surroundings. The two weaker guards immediately paled and retreated, while the head goon’s expression darkened.

Without warning, Arette made the first move.

Not unlike she’d attacked Nex a month prior, she ran towards him, but this time, she kept her senses aware to her surroundings. That was one of the first things her instructor had taught her - always be aware of what’s around you.

She ran towards the head goon, taking a small step left before swinging her blade at his shoulder. He darted away, avoiding the blow and immediately drew his own weapons, two smaller daggers strapped to his legs.

Arette retreated in a single motion, then jumped to deliver a kick to his side. This time, she succeeded, her foot slammed into his ribs, rewarding her with a satisfying crunch.

She grinned, but he didn’t fall as she hoped.

Instead, he grabbed ahold of her leg and used her own momentum to smash her against the wall.

All air left her lungs as she smashed against the concrete and slumped for a second.

But the pain was insubstantial with the adrenaline in her veins and when she heard the sizzling in the air, she immediately darted out of the way to avoid the throwing knives that he’d aimed at her.

She grabbed her sword tighter and ran at him again.

If she used her flames, she’d have him defeated within seconds. She knew it because she knew how much stronger she was compared to him, but at the same time, she didn’t want to.

Because in that moment, with her raising her sword to deliver a blow to his throat, being blocked by his daggers and thrown back, then retreating to attack again, she felt so incredibly alive.

She felt like she did what she was born to do.

She hadn’t felt like this ever since she’d left the woods. Because this wasn’t a training fight - this was survival. Her or him. Life or death.

And she loved it.

A grin was spreading on her face as her blows started to land, slicing open his arms, then his stomach. He hit her as well, but failed to drive his blades in deep enough to slow her down.

She swirled and ran, using her smaller physique and higher speed to evade his stronger attacks, backflipping over him to cut his shoulders and back, but he always managed to dodge the life threatening blows in the last second.

Still, it was only a matter of time.

She was faster, had more endurance and her innate powers gave her overall more power. The only thing he could combat her with was more experience, but with raising fatigue, that too wouldn’t protect him forever.

So Arette played a game of endurance that she knew she would win. She danced around him, her sword darting forwards when he didn’t expect it, breaking through his defense again and again, while the wounds he managed to inflict on her remained superficial.

And all the while, the buzz of life in her spurred her to go past her limits.

Finally, she saw it. An opening, an arm raised a little too high, leaving his side completely vulnerable. She pounced, thrusting her sword forwards and accurately hitting his side.

He groaned and stumbled backwards, but he didn’t fall, even with her blade stuck in his side. Arette frowned and suddenly, he turned around to her and smashed his fist in her face.

She recoiled, falling down from the force of the punch and felt blood rise in her mouth.

For a second, her defense was failing.

That was all it took for his aura to envelop her.

And suddenly, the world dissolved into agony.

Pain rushed through her, filling her entire body, from her head to her shoulders to her legs, everything was filled with pain. A scream tore through her mouth as she curled up, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Everything hurt. She coughed and felt more blood spluttering out of her mouth as the pain in her head increased to an impossible level. She screamed again.

“Silly girl. I’ve been walking the path of pain for a hundred years, it’s inevitable,” the head goon drawled, clearly happy with himself, even if her sword was embedded in his body.

It’s inevitable.

For him to beat her? Like hell.

She growled and pushed her eyes open past the pain, glaring at him. That was when she realized it - she wasn’t actually wounded. The pain was...his ability. His path, just like her fire.

It overpowered her, but it couldn’t conquer her. She wouldn’t let it.

Drawing from her flame, she pushed her soul outwards, spreading it into her body and outwards again. With explosive force, she propelled it outwards and incinerated the head goon’s aura.

The pain disappeared in a flash as she struggled to stand up and glared at him.

The excitement had now vanished to make way for boiling, vengeful anger.

“Oh so you’re playing dirty, huh?” she snarled, seeing red, “Well, I can play dirty too.”

She incinerated the air around her, letting flames blaze over her body. The heat of the fire ran through her as she pushed her inner power forwards and let the fires burn as hot as she could.

The head goon paled and stumbled backwards, but his feet couldn’t carry him far.

He might not be perturbed by the sword in his side, but his body sure as hell was.

Well, it wasn’t as if he’d have a body for much longer.

With a low growl, she set her flames on him, burning his oxygen before setting his skin on fire. His screams echoed through the night.

Still furious, she darted forwards, pulled her blade out of his side and pushed it straight through his heart. His screams died as he sunk to the floor.

Within moments, his body was reduced to ashes.

Panting, Arette stared down on him.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop and there was only her and the awareness of the fact that she just killed someone. And it wasn’t just an animal to ensure survival - it was another person and she was the instigator of the attack.

But what shocked her the most was the fact that she didn’t really feel anything.

Not satisfaction. Not guilt.

She hadn’t wanted to kill him, only intended to knock him out, but the heat of the battle had gotten to her head and she hadn’t even thought about anything else than winning.

If he hadn’t pulled the pain thing on her, she wouldn’t have killed him. But he did and now he was dead and there was no shred of remorse in her.

He’d been Elea’s enemy and Elea’s enemies were Zenon’s and Zenon’s were hers. And she had no mercy for enemies.

She took another deep breath and pushed her blade back into the sheath.

The other two guards had long fled the building - good for them. If they wouldn’t stand in her way, she didn’t need to consider them enemies.

Brushing her hair out of her face, she walked over to the captive, who was staring at her with wide, fearful eyes. His body looked younger than hers and not like Elea at all with black skin and red hair, but family was rarely defined by blood in the Plane of Gods.

She pulled the gag from his mouth and burned off the shackles they’d chained him with.

“What- who are you?” he questioned as soon as he could speak again.

“Are you Elea’s brother?”

“Elea? She hasn’t used that name for a long time...but yes, she’s my sister,” he nodded, now completely confused, “Are you here because of her?”

Arette nodded and met his dark golden eyes with her pale ones.

“You could say that. Her soul companion Zenon is a friend of mine. But that doesn’t matter right now. The man who captured you, Harker, apparently wants to force your sister to be his slave with your life as leverage in...a few hours. I don’t want that to happen.”

The brother raised his eyebrows, looking first baffled, then angry, then determined.

“Bastard,” he cursed and then nodded at her, “I knew this was more than just bullying us. We have to stop him.”

“I know,” Arette cast a look at his legs, “Elea told me you can’t walk.”

He looked down, face filled with shame and bitterness. “Yeah. I’m basically useless...you should probably leave me here and save her on your own.” He sighed in frustration.

Arette rolled her eyes and squatted in front of him without asking.

“Idiot,” she chided, “No one’s useless. And your sister is doing this for you so you should be damn well present when we save her ass. Now get onto my back. I’ll carry you.”

There was silence for a while and she couldn’t see his expression, but she guessed he was fighting with himself. She impatiently waited, trying to channel Liz and her ever present steadiness.

Just when she was about to jump and yell something, his arms finally wrapped around her neck.

She took his legs and hoisted him onto her back, wasting no time in getting out of the hall.

“Why are you doing this? You probably just saved my life,” he stated once they were out of the city and Arette began to sprint towards the forest and the village beyond it.

“I told you, Zenon is my friend. I want him to be happy and the best shot at that is with Elea. And Elea can’t be with him unless you’re safe, so...here I am,” she tried to shrug, which was kind of hard with a person on her back.

“Zenon? That bastard dares to show his face again after what he did to her?” the man on her back growled, his fingers around her neck tightening. Arette pursed her lips.

“He loves her. That should be more important than anything else, no?” she gave back curtly. If Elea’s brother wanted to get into an argument, she’d be on Zenon’s side - after all, it had been her who wanted to come here.

“You don’t know how much she went through after he left her,” he grumbled.

“You don’t know how much he went through after he left. More than that, you don’t even know why he left,” she snapped and he kept quiet after that.

It was only after a while that he spoke up again and Arette tensed, ready to argue again.

“What’s your name?” he asked, leaving her baffled. A smile returned to her face as they went back to easier topics.

“Arette,” she said lightly, all while still darting through the forest they’d reached by now. If all went well, she’d reach the village just in time to give Elea proof of her brother’s safety.

“I’m Floric. I used to be Eré Pharan, but I left the clan after I was injured. Now I’m just Floric.”

“It’s nice to meet you, just Floric,” she smiled to herself, feeling quite happy to have made another acquaintance - she didn’t have many after all.

Sure, she’d stayed at Redhall for a month, but most people there avoided her, whyever. To have someone she didn’t know talk to her normally made her quite happy already.

“Yeah, me too. Thanks for saving my life again.”

“Thank me after we save your sister’s as well.”