Subaru bolted upright in bed as a terrifying scream lanced through the air.
Emilia sat up beside him, her face pale and drawn. They shared a momentary look of shock and fear, and then they scrambled out of bed and threw on their clothes.
The pair emerged to find Garfiel and Felt already standing on the balcony-corridor outside, looking around in the darkness with fearful expressions. The inn was as dark and silent as a tomb.
"What's going on?" Subaru asked.
"How the fuck would I know?" Felt whispered.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. We need to figure out what's happening," Subaru said.
The foursome raced down the stairs and out of the inn.
The shouts and screams were coming from the camp where their escort had set up for the night.
Subaru swallowed hard. "You three, go and grab Patrasche out of the stable. Then get ready to get out of here fast," He ordered.
"What?" Garfiel said in bafflement. "Captain, we can't all ride on-"
"I'll go see what's going on," Subaru pushed ahead, trying to ride roughshod over any objections. "If I'm not back in ten minutes, you three get the hell out of here!"
"I am not leaving without-" Emilia declared hotly.
"I'm the only one with magic right now," Subaru said with a sharp glance at the collars wrapped around their necks. "Right now, you're liabilities. You can't help me. You'll just slow me down."
Emilia 's eyes widened, seemingly cut to the quick by this comment.
Subaru inwardly winced, but he didn 't give her time to reply. He bolted off into the darkness, following the shouts and the screaming.
What 's going on here? He wondered as he raced toward the campfires still burning in Tob 's encampment. He could see a dozen silhouettes illuminated against the backdrop of the campfires, darting in every direction, but he couldn't make out what was going on.
Why am I even investigating this? I 've got no loyalty to these guys! What do I care what's going on? I should just get out of here with the others.
Knowing the local threats is valuable information, a voice in Subaru 's mind disagreed. It 's not unreasonable to assume that whatever is attacking the soldiers might also attack you. In fact, it's quite probable that whatever is attacking the soldiers is specifically here to find you. Identifying the threat is the first step to avoiding and neutralizing it.
As Subaru drew closer, he saw that the Vollachian soldiers were mustering a desperate defense against something but in the inky black night, he couldn 't make out what it was. Many of the soldiers were almost naked save for the spears or halberds that they held in their hands.
This is an ambush , Subaru realized. For whatever reason, the soldiers and sentries didn 't realize that they were under attack until the foes were already inside the camp. These soldiers were roused for a desperate fight with no time to prepare.
Subaru desperately ducked as something just barely flew over his head and crashed into a nearby tent, knocking it flat.
Subaru stared at the ruined tent that was covered in fluid. A moment later, Subaru realized that it had been knocked flat by half a human torso, a body with the legs ripped off, and blood was pouring all over the tattered canvas.
Subaru fought back a retch and turned back to the soldiers ' desperate struggle. Subaru saw a great black silhouette standing before the fire, a colossal figure nearly ten feet tall. It was humanoid, but its body looked lumpy and mottled.
Subaru stared in shock as the creature lifted two screaming soldiers, one in each hand, and then slammed them together, smashing them into a paste.
The creature dropped the bodies and then it just stood there for a moment, not moving.
With a cry of despair, another soldier lunged at the monster with his spear. The spear dug into the creature and then snapped. The man struggled to regain his balance as he fell over, his momentum landing the hapless soldier right at the monster 's feet.
The beast slowly raised a massive fist the size of a car tire and then brought it down on the soldier 's head with crushing force. The soldier seemed to disintegrate in front of Subaru's eyes as the force of the blow broke the man into tiny debris, the fist crashing through the soldier's body to the ground without any resistance.
Tob was desperately screaming contradictory orders to his men. The remaining soldiers huddled together into a tight phalanx formation with spears held at the ready.
The creature stood there in silence and stared at the crowd of soldiers, seeming to study them.
After a moment of thought, the beast appeared to randomly select a target. It plodded toward the cringing soldiers. The monster walked with a bad limp, and it moved with a harsh rasping sound like bones grinding together.
Subaru leaped in front of the creature. "Everyone get out of here!" He roared, triggering Indomitable and striking the towering monster in the stomach as hard as he could.
Because Subaru was forced to punch up to reach its stomach, the monster flew through the air in a long, shallow arc and then crashed down into a tree.
The beast was heavy enough for its landing to break the tree into splinters. The creature appeared damaged as well. Its upper torso was cracked in half vertically, and its right arm had completely snapped off.
The creature lay there, unmoving. Now that Subaru could study it, he could see that its skin, which had appeared mottled in the dark, was actually covered with a thick layer of dirt and mud. The creature had numerous ferns and tufts of grass growing in this muddy coat. Looking through the crack in the monster 's torso, Subaru could see that beneath the monster's muddy coat, there was an eerie blue fire burning inside of it.
As the creature lay motionless, the soldiers began to calm down.
Subaru turned to address the soldiers. "What the hell was that thing? " He demanded of everyone.
None of the soldiers directly met his gaze. They all looked terrified. One whispered, "Draugr," in a horrified voice.
Before Subaru could ask any more questions, he heard a scraping sound from behind him.
Subaru looked at the fallen tree, and his eyes widened in shock to see that the monster was moving .
Slowly, ponderously, the creature regained its feet. As Subaru watched, the cobalt fire burning inside the creature grew slender gray tendrils that looked liquid. The tendrils grasped both sides of the gapping crack in the thing 's torso, slowly pulling it closed.
The monster reached down to grab its other arm from where it lay in the dirt. It pressed it against the stump, and there was a tiny flash of blue fire as more tendrils did their work. In seconds, the creature 's arm was reattached, and it experimentally flexed its fingers.
"Holy shit," Subaru whispered.
Fully recovered, the monster charged forward. Its limp made it move slowly and ponderously, but what it lacked in speed, it made up for in raw power.
Alright! Time to go!
The soldiers started to scream in panic.
"Everyone get out of here!" Subaru shouted as the creature closed the distance between them.
"Subaru!" Emilia yelled.
Subaru dared to look behind him only to see that Emilia and his friends standing there, beckoning him to run.
He frantically turned back around, prepared to confront the draugr, but it had come to a stop. Subaru raised his fists defensively but realized that the monster wasn 't looking at him anymore. The creature seemed to be studying Subaru's friends.
Then, the monster ignored Subaru, charging at Emilia and the others.
Subaru flung himself in front of the monster, trying to stop its charge. The draugr seemed now to be completely unconcerned with Subaru. It didn 't even pause its stride as it delivered a backhand slap to knock him out of its way.
Subaru barely triggered Indomitable in time. The monster brought its arm up and slapped Subaru across the face, an awkward, comical attack made terrifying by the reality that without Indomitable , it would have knocked Subaru 's head off.
Subaru desperately punched the monster, and again, he sent it flying. The soldiers around him all scattered into the night as the monster crashed into the empty field and skidded out against the hard-packed dirt.
The monster barely seemed to even feel the impact. It slowly regained its feet, and Subaru could see the holes in the mud covering where he had wounded the thing. The monster stared down at its latest wound in quiet contemplation.
As Subaru watched, the wounds knit themselves closed, and the creature staggered toward him again.
"Is that a draugr?" Garfiel whispered.
"That's what the soldiers called it," Subaru muttered, not taking his eyes off the creature for a second.
"The legends say that they're indestructible!" Garfiel said.
"Yeah… I'm starting to get that impression, too," Subaru whispered, swallowing hard.
The draugr broke into a loping charge. Subaru stepped forward to face it, but it was clear that the draugr was paying him no mind. It tried to bat him aside again.
Subaru looked behind him in horror. Now that his friends had spread out slightly, one thing became abundantly clear: It 's targeting Emilia! He thought in horror.
Subaru triggered Indomitable as the monster struck him with a fist that could have shattered boulders. He shrugged off the creature 's blow, and this time, he thrust both fists forward, delivering a blow to each of its legs simultaneously.
The monster flew backward and skidded out on the hard dirt. Its legs flew through the air and landed a few feet away.
The draugr calmly picked up its legs and began to pull itself back together.
Shit! This thing regenerates in seconds! I need to slow it down. If I could separate the draugr from its legs, then at least we could get a head start on it while it 's crawling around and trying to pull itself back together!
In a matter of seconds, the draugr had reattached its legs and was charging again, straight toward Emilia.
Subaru leaped in front of it. "Mili! You have to get out of here! You're the one that it wants!" He screamed.
"What?!" Emilia gasped.
As the draugr charged toward them, Subaru triggered Indomitable . He punched the draugr in the chest and at the same time, he stomped down hard on its right foot.
The draugr went flying, its leg torn off from under it. The monster was separated from its leg by at least sixty feet.
Subaru gave a sigh of relief. "Alright. Let's get out of here. And let's take this with us," He said, picking up the draugr's leg. "This ought to slow it down for a-" Subaru cut himself off as the leg began to glow with that same eerie blue fire and thrashed around violently in his hand. A moment later, the leg leaped out of Subaru 's grip and quickly hopped across the barren earth toward its body.
"How the hell do we kill this thing?" Felt shouted in horror.
"Garf!" Subaru yelled. "Any ideas?!"
"Captain, the stories all say that they're indestructible!" Garfiel repeated helplessly.
This thing isn 't slowly down at all , Subaru thought in horror. It 's slow and stupid, but it just doesn't stop! It's going to keep attacking until I'm too tired to stand up, much less fight back!
Subaru swallowed hard as the monster quickly pulled itself back together. What does it take to put this thing down?!
This time, Subaru didn 't wait for it to get close. He took a deep breath and pulled the talisman out of his satchel.
"Pridebreaker!" He roared, blasting out the magic in a great circle all around him.
The wave of power washed over the monster just as it got back to its feet. It seemed momentarily perplexed by the magic that had engulfed it, but it made no other reaction. The monster lurched toward Subaru again but its focus remained fixed tightly on Emilia.
Subaru was disappointed but not especially surprised to see that the monster had resisted Pridebreaker .
That 's alright. I have another plan.
The monster 's charge was interrupted as a tiny ball of blue light shot over its shoulder. The draugr stopped, seeming to study the situation as more and more orbs appeared from all sides, flying toward Subaru as if drawn by a magnet.
Subaru spread his arms wide with a smirk, waiting for the dozen tiny voices of adoration to fill his mind with their song.
A moment later, he was driven to his hands and knees by the pain.
Subaru crouched helplessly on the ground as his brain felt like it was on fire.
This time, the spirits weren 't silent, and they weren't proclaiming their devotion. In his mind, Subaru could hear the spirits all screaming in pain.
Wrong! No! Bad! Away! The spirits screamed.
The agony, fear, and utter panic were so intense that Subaru felt like he was beginning to lose himself under the sheer power of the spirits ' emotions.
Subaru shook his head, fighting to regain control.
What the hell is going on?! He thought desperately. The spirits have never reacted like this before!
A moment later, he answered his own question. It 's this… thing. They recognize it, and whatever it is, they are scared to death of it. They 're begging me to get them as far away from this monster as possible.
And to save myself as well but that 's a secondary concern to them.
By the time Subaru managed to regain his feet, the monster was staggering toward him again. The draugr had studied the gathering of tiny lights for a moment and then seemed to dismiss the phenomenon as irrelevant.
The closer the monster drew, the louder the spirits ' screams became.
They 're in pain. They're in terrible pain. Whatever this thing is, its presence is burning the spirits like fire.
Unable to waste any time thinking about this, Subaru raised the golden staff and shook it, the chimes ringing.
The spirits ' screaming quieted, but he still felt their terrible agony. Subaru used every ounce of willpower he had, fighting to bend the spirits to concentrate on what he needed them to do. The spirits fought back like wild beasts to escape, but Subaru clawed them into line with all the strength of his desperation. Their pain and terror surged, but their voices trailed off as they all became unified under Subaru's will.
The monster was now only a few yards away from him.
Subaru screwed his eyes shut and imagined a massive boulder colliding with the creature. He concentrated on the image with all of his might.
There was a grinding sound, and as he opened his eyes, a huge boulder was dragging itself up out of the earth and floating in midair, either because the spirits had understood Subaru 's direction or because they, too, deemed this the best solution to the problem.
The boulder floated in midair, its surface glowing a brilliant purple. Subaru somehow recognized this as the spirits ' spell work, infusing the stone with an unbreakable shield to ensure the boulder didn't crack and fragment under the force of the impact.
The monster paused, studying the massive stone. Then, the stone dove forward at great speed, flying toward the beast with all the force of an avalanche.
The boulder slammed into the creature full force-
And shattered like cheap pottery.
Subaru gasped in shock as the monster was completely unphased by the impact.
As he looked more closely, Subaru realized that the boulder hadn 't hit the draugr at all. The blue fire inside of it had created some sort of glittering shield around the beast, and that field had shattered the spirits' magic like glass.
Subaru realized that at the last moment, the spirits had lost all control over the boulder, and then the monster had simply smashed it to pieces.
Subaru stood there dumbfounded as the monster stumbled toward him again. It was only as he was engulfed by the putrid smell of rot and fetid earth that he remembered that he couldn 't use Indomitable as long as he held onto the spirits .
In desperation, Subaru set the spirits free, and they scattered in every direction, streaking through the night sky like comets as they fled away from the strange creature.
Subaru saw the monster 's enormous fist descend toward his face as if in slow motion, and he barely triggered Indomitable in time.
The monster 's enormous fist slapped against Subaru's face and the blow rippled through him without effect.
Subaru punched the draugr in the side, but this time, instead of sending the monster flying, Subaru 's fist simply broke clean through the monster, leaving him caught by his arm in its side.
Subaru was stunned, and the monster simply plowed into Subaru as Indomitable timed out. Subaru 's arm was torn out of the monster's body, and he went down hard, smashing his face against the ground.
For a moment, he lay there on the cold ground, shaking his head and trying to focus.
"Stay away from me!" Subaru heard a voice scream. To Subaru's scattered wits, the voice sounded as if it were underwater.
Subaru looked up in horror as the draugr closed in on Emilia. She raised both hands and channeled all her magic at the beast.
A small breath of cold air coated the ground immediately in front of Emilia like frost. That was all.
"Get away!" Emilia screamed in panic, running for dear life.
The monster 's pace was slow but steady and untiring, and Emilia couldn't use her mana to enhance her stamina. She was panting for breath in seconds as she fought desperately to keep out of the monster's clutches.
Subaru violently shook his head as he fought to get back to his feet.
Emilia saw that Subaru had regained his footing, and she made a desperate dash toward him.
Subaru ran toward her as fast as he could. Emilia slipped around him as Subaru triggered Indomitable . Subaru threw his body at the monster as it crashed into him. Quickly standing on both its feet and then punching its stomach as hard as he could.
The monster went to pieces, appendages, and bits raining down everywhere.
Shit! That will only hold it back for a second!
"Mili! You've got to get out of here!" Subaru screamed desperately.
"I won't leave you!" Emilia cried back, sounding just as frightened as Subaru.
"It doesn't want me! It wants you! Get out of here!"
"I can't!"
"Come on!" Another voice shouted.
Subaru and Emilia both looked behind them. Felt and Garfiel were mounted on Patrasche. Felt made frantic beckoning gestures.
Subaru looked back at the monster, already pulling itself back together. If the creature had any sense that its prey might escape, there was no sign of it.
Subaru looked at Emilia. "Let's go!" He shouted as they both made a mad dash for the riding dragon.
"Hurry!" Felt screamed, holding the reins tightly.
Subaru and Emilia bolted toward Patrasche, and they each stuck one foot in the stirrups, barely hanging onto the dragon.
"Go!" Subaru bellowed, uncertain if he was telling Felt or Patrasche, as the monster regained its feet.
Either way, Patrasche took off at run, bolting into the dark night. The monster continued to stumble after them, never changing its gait until they lost sight of it in the dark.
"What the hell was that thing?!" Felt screamed.
"I don't know!" Subaru snapped, struggling not to fall off of Patrasche. "One of the soldiers said that it was a draugr."
Patrasche stumbled, and Subaru and Emilia nearly fell off. They both made a desperate grab for the saddle, hanging on for dear life.
Subaru took a deep breath and grabbed the reins. "Alright. Stop," He said, pulling back on the reins.
Felt 's eyes bugged out. " Stop ? " She gasped as Subaru climbed down out of the stirrup. Emilia did likewise, but her face was confused.
"Are you kidding me?" Felt demanded. "We need to get the hell out of here!"
"I know!" Subaru shot back. "And we won't move very fast while carrying Patrasche!"
Felt glanced at the riding dragon and realized that even after this short sprint, the dragon was clearly winded and struggling to catch her breath.
"Patrasche can't carry this much weight," Subaru said flatly. "Garf, let's you and me get off here."
Garfiel obediently hopped down. "Captain, what are we doing?" He asked uncertainly as Subaru gently coaxed Emilia to climb onto the dragon behind Felt. Felt was clearly uncomfortable being this close to Emilia but she made no objection other than swallowing hard.
"Patrasche can't carry all of us," Subaru said bluntly. "So we need to move on foot. The girls will ride, we'll walk. Quickly," He emphasized.
"Can we outrun that monster?" Emilia asked in a frightened tone.
"I think so," Subaru said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "We have a decent head start, and so far, it looks like it moves pretty slowly. Let's go!"
Subaru took off at a jog, and Garfiel matched his pace while Patrasche trotted alongside them, looking curiously at the latest example of her master 's bizarre behavior.
I have no idea where we 're going! Subaru thought in near despair. There 's no moon tonight, and everything is pitch dark. All that we can do is follow the road, but where is it leading us? We could be going in any direction, toward the border or deeper into Vollachia.
Hell, we could be going in a big circle, headed right back to whatever-the-hell that thing was!
They ran for a while through the dark night.
"Garfiel, do you know anything else about those 'draugr' things?" Subaru asked, fighting for breath.
Garfiel shrugged. "Not much, Captain. They're supposed to be some kind of undead swamp monster. The only real detail the stories get into is how they're supposed to be unstoppable. But I'd never heard of them coming out of the Gandahar swamps before."
Subaru thought about that as he ran. "OK. If they're not usually seen in this part of the Empire," He panted. "Then that suggests that it was deliberately sent out here. Maybe even deliberately sent after us . "
"Are you thinking about Sphinx?" Felt asked sharply.
"She does sort of come to mind," Subaru said, trying to catch his breath. "We know she's based in the heart of the Jungle swamps. That's where she's creating an army of the dead. Negotiations between us and Sphinx break down, and then six hours later, we get attacked by an undead swamp monster. That's one hell of a coincidence."
"But why target Frosty?" Garfiel asked. "What's Sphinx's interest in her, Captain? That draugr ignored you to try and get its hands on Frosty!"
Emilia shivered, as did Subaru.
Subaru ground his teeth. If Sphinx tries to lay a single finger on her ….
"Because Sphinx knows a lot about us," Felt said grimly. "A whole lot more than I'd like. I bet she already knows that if she wants to get leverage on Subaru, the best way is to just kidnap Emilia."
Subaru 's face went flat. "If this was Sphinx, then I 'm going to find her and give her a clear idea of what I do to people who try to hurt my family!" He growled.
In the distance ahead, Subaru could barely make out a massive stone bridge spanning a vast chasm. He dimly saw a sign sticking out of the road on the other side.
Well, that sign might at least give us directions.
Subaru tried to keep running, but his breath burned in his lungs, and his heart ached. He glanced beside him and saw that Garfiel surprisingly looked winded as well.
He 's not used to running without his mana. This isn't good.
Subaru fought to make it at least across the bridge before stopping. His heart felt like it might burst. They cleared the bridge, and Subaru called for a break, panting for breath.
Garfiel snarled and jerked at his collar. "Damn! If I had mana, we could be out of here in a flash!"
"Well, we don't have any!" Emilia snapped defensively.
Garfiel looked up in surprise at Emilia 's vehemence.
"Get your hands off that collar, you idiot!" Felt scolded him. "It's a bomb!"
Emilia looked in concern at Subaru, who was doubled over and panting.
"Subaru," Emilia said, "Why don't we take turns riding Patrasche?"
Subaru shook his head. "Garfiel and I are faster than you two as long as your mana is sealed," He said.
Both Emilia and Felt looked slightly offended by this analysis, but they said nothing.
"Nothing personal, Captain," Garfiel murmured in an aside, "But you don't move too fast even with your mana."
Subaru sighed. "Thanks for that, Garf," He grumbled. He shook his head. "Alright. You two ride for now. Maybe we'll swap later," He allowed, staring at the wooden sign that appeared to give directions to nearby locations. "Flonse, Napoli, Faradar, and Gura…"
Subaru looked at the others with a sigh. "Has anybody ever heard of any of those? Any theories on where they are in the Empire? "
Everyone shook their heads.
"Isn't Napoli where Tob was bringing us before?" Emilia asked.
"Yeah," Subaru said slowly. "Brador said that it's a port town, so that road is definitely leading us further south…"
"So, should we head that way?" Felt asked. "That's where the Emperor is waiting for us, right?"
"No. That's where a ship is supposed to be waiting to take us to the Emperor," Subaru muttered. "I have no idea where Vincent actually is. And I'm not sure if anyone in Napoli would be inclined to help us reach him without Brador and Tob tagging along to authorize it."
"Hey, what happened to Brador and Kya?" Garfiel asked.
"No idea," Subaru admitted. "They might have run off or been killed. I have no clue."
"So, what do we do?" Emilia murmured.
Subaru started to say something, but then he stopped himself. "Well, I figure we have a choice to make," He said, looking at everyone. "Either we at least try to head south and meet up with the Emperor as we'd planned, or we give up on that idea and start heading north to get out of Vollachia. By now, Lagunica has no idea where we are or what we're doing, so I think we'd have a good chance of slipping across the border undetected."
"So, which are we going to do, Captain?" Garfiel asked.
Subaru sighed. "Well, that's what we're going to decide now. I want to know what all of you think."
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
Subaru rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "Alright, Alright! OK, I guess I deserved that," He grumbled. "Look. It's been… brought to my attention that lately, I haven't… been behaving the way I should have been. And I'm… I'm very sorry. I want everyone to know that I'm extremely grateful that you've all stuck it out with me this far. Especially you, Mili," He added.
"I've made some… pretty bad decisions over the past few weeks," He admitted. "I can't take them back, but I'm going to try to make better ones going forward."
Garfiel clapped his hands together in glee. "There! You see, shrimp? I told you that the Captain still had his head on straight."
"Well, I'm not sure I'd go that far," Subaru admitted.
Subaru noticed Emilia was smiling at him. She looked genuinely relieved by Subaru 's admission, and he flushed. "Uh, Garf, do you have an opinion on our next move?" He asked quickly.
Garfiel thought about it. "Well. I don't know about just heading north, Captain. It's an idea, but it might be harder than you think."
"What do you mean?"
"The country's a war zone. We might run into trouble from either side. Also, ordinary folks need papers to travel through Vollachia unsupervised. We might be taken for runaway kholops by the authorities, and that means they'd try to capture us."
Subaru shrugged. "As long as I have the golden staff, I think that if we run into trouble, we should be able to knock it aside without too much trouble," Subaru commented. "As long as it's not another draugr."
Garfiel put up his hands defensively. "Hey, Captain, you asked me what I thought!" He protested.
"You're right, you're right. I did," Subaru said in a placating tone. "So you think we should keep going south to Napoli?"
"I don't know, to be honest. I'm just saying that getting out of the Empire like that might be more difficult than you think."
Subaru struggled to conceal his annoyance.
I 'm asking for suggestions! That means people need to have opinions! Saying 'I don't know' is not helpful when it comes time to try and make decisions as a group.
Subaru swallowed his irritation and moved on. "Felt, do you have any opinions on our next move?" Subaru asked.
Felt made a face. "Tell you the truth, I don't think that we're ready to leave the Empire yet," She said flatly. "I know that you guys want to rescue the spirits, but we need to think about how we 're going to do it. Even with the staff, Subaru, if we head back to Lagunica, Red will come looking for us immediately. We need a plan for how we'll get to Torgon Tower without getting noticed.
"Also, in the long run, we might still need Vincent's protection at some point. I know that we have a few backup plans if he's totally unreasonable, but I can't overstate just how little I want to be a fugitive from all four nations. I say that we keep heading south. When we reach Napoli, we can at least try to meet with the Emperor."
Subaru made a face. "I'm honestly not sure if we even want to meet with him anymore," He said after a moment's thought. "If what Debra told us about the burned-down villages is correct, then Vincent is committing just as many war crimes as Sphinx. I don't know why we'd get involved with either of them right now.
"I think maybe we should just focus on getting out of here and finding the spirits. Considering the state of the civil war, I think we could still probably make friends with the victor later if we really needed to. And as long as I have the golden staff, we shouldn't have much trouble persuading some city in Kararagi to take us in in exchange for making the desert arable again."
Felt mulled that over and finally nodded. "That's actually a good point. OK then, let's keep going south," She said firmly.
Subaru squinted at her. "You lost me."
"Forget the Emperor," Felt said. "Napoli is supposed to be a port town, and we have plenty of money. Lagunica has a few small shipping ports north of the Mirula desert. We could buy a berth on a merchant ship headed that way. Nobody would be looking at us to head toward Torgon Tower from the east. We'd have good odds of the kingdom not even realizing what we're doing until it's too late."
Subaru mulled that over. "That's… a really good idea, actually," He said.
"Of course it is. All my ideas are good ideas," Felt snickered.
Subaru gave her a steady look and then glanced at Garfiel. "You want to comment on that one?" He asked blandly.
"Too tired, Captain," Garfiel chuckled.
Subaru laughed. "Mili, what do you think?"
Emilia thought it over carefully. "I think Felt's plan makes sense," She said slowly. "And we know that this is the road to Napoli. But heading off in the direction of 'Not Napoli' could lead us anywhere. And it might take us through some very dangerous territory without us ever realizing that we're in danger until it's too late. I think we should try to head south."
Subaru nodded. "Alright. Well, I guess that's the plan then. We'll head to Napoli and then…" He trailed off, his eyes narrowing.
Garfiel cocked his head. "Then what, Captain?" He asked.
Subaru stiffened. "Quiet!" Subaru snapped.
Garfiel looked hurt. "Hey, Capt! I'm just saying-"
"Shut up!" Felt hissed, also looking around wildly.
Garfiel 's eyes widened as he realized that they had heard something. He listened intently, and he heard it as well: A faint grinding sound.
Subaru swallowed hard and peered into the darkness.
The monster lurched into view, still limping with its bad leg.
Subaru staggered back. This thing not only found us, it circled around the bridge to try and cut us off!
"Get back across the bridge!" Subaru shouted, taking off at a run on his aching legs.
Garfiel flew into motion, as did Patrasche, racing back the way they 'd originally come and leaving Subaru fumbling in their wake. He easily outdistanced the monster, but his throbbing legs warned him that they didn't have much more to offer tonight.
Garfiel and the girls reached the other side of the bridge and realized that Subaru wasn 't with them.
"Captain!" Garfiel shouted, starting to race back to him.
Subaru stopped him with a gesture, and he managed to catch up with the others on the far side of the bridge, panting as if he 'd just run a marathon.
Subaru looked back at the draugr. The monster had barely crossed half of the bridge, but it moved with a steady and tireless gait.
"Is that the same one?" Emilia shouted.
"It came from the other direction!" Garfiel answered.
"No, I recognize it," Subaru panted. "It has the same wounds I inflicted on the first one."
"What do we do?" Felt cried.
"Don't worry," Subaru said, struggling for breath.
Subaru triggered Indomitable and stepped onto the bridge. He lifted his foot and brought it down on the stones with shattering force.
The stones under Subaru 's foot blew away, and he staggered backward, barely avoiding falling into the dark hole he'd created. The bridge trembled and shook. Large cracks crept across its length.
The monster paused. It seemed to study the cracks spreading across the bridge beneath it with mild curiosity.
Then the bridge shattered like gram crackers, and the monster dropped into the abyss without a sound.
Subaru had to frantically throw himself backward to avoid joining it, and Garfiel quickly grabbed him and pulled him back from the ledge.
Several seconds later, from what seemed to be a considerable distance away, they heard a series of loud crashes and splashes.
The group stood silently for several seconds, listening intently, but no further sounds were heard.
"Do you think that the thing is dead?" Garfiel whispered.
Subaru sighed. "I think that we shouldn't wait around to find out," He said meaningfully.
"Nothing could survive that fall, right?" Emilia asked slowly.
"It might have hit the water instead of the ground," Felt pointed out.
"Doesn't matter," Garfiel said at once. "A fall from this height, the water would be hard as a rock anyway."
Felt squinted at him. "Water is water. What difference does it make how far the fall into it is?"
"Let's just get out of here," Subaru said before Garfiel could reply. "During our fight, that thing absorbed blows that would have dismembered a troll, and if it is still alive, I want to be a long way from here before it climbs back up."
"Alright. So are we still headed for Napoli?" Felt asked.
"Looks that way. Besides, the other direction appears to be rather blocked at the moment," Subaru gestured at the shattered bridge. "I just hope that Vincent doesn't send me a bill for this. Anyway, right now, the most important thing is to get out of here and to get as far away from this thing as possible in case it's not dead. So let's keep moving."
Subaru started walking down the road to the south.
Garfiel chuckled. "Yeah, let's go! It's a beautiful night to walk all the way to the ocean!"
"Very funny, fleabag," Felt grumbled as she nudged Patrasche to follow the boys.
Felt quickly slid off the riding dragon, and she darted to Garfiel 's side, deliberately not glancing back at Emilia.
Emilia 's face grew somber, and she slid down as well, moving to walk beside Subaru.
Patrasche 's expression grew briefly offended as she followed the group down the road without a rider.
"So, the plan is to get to Napoli?" Emilia asked quietly.
"That's step one, anyway," Subaru said, taking Emilia's hand as they walked.
"Not to be a pessimist, but no matter where we're going, it's going to take us an awful long time on foot," Felt pointed out.
"I know, Felt," Subaru said patiently. "But there's nothing that I can do about that right now. With any luck, we'll come across a farmhouse or something on this road, and we can try to buy a wagon. You're right. Walking everywhere is going to take too much time. Trust me. I've tried it," He muttered.
Emilia chuckled at the memories of their escape from the Sanctuary.
They wandered long into the night, following the road with no clear idea of where they were or where they were going.
At least the draugr didn 't reappear. As they made their way through a deep forest, Subaru kept double-checking every shadow and listening intently for any sound of the draugr reappearing. The forest was dark, and much of the local plant life looked desiccated and dead. The road led them past a cliff over a deep ravine.
We could be wandering around in circles for all we know. We really need to try to figure out where we are.
Subaru looked around. Nearby he saw a massive pine tree standing head and shoulders above its neighbors. "Hey, Garf," Subaru said.
"Yeah, Captain?"
"You think you could climb that tree?"
Garfiel studied it. "Sure. Why? You want to watch for the monster?"
"I doubt that we could see it coming at night," Subaru remarked. "No, I just want to look around for landmarks. That tree is the tallest I've seen in the area, so if you climb up there, you should be able to spot any interesting landmarks around here, like campfires or torchlight. Maybe we can find a farmhouse. Or maybe we can see if we're getting close to any cities or the ocean."
Garfiel grinned. "And of course, when there's physical labor to be done, you tell the demi-human to do it," He joked.
Subaru shook his head with a sigh. "Garf," He complained. "Is this really the time? "
"No, no, I get it," He chuckled. "Tote that barge, lift that bale, I-"
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Felt exploded. "I'd already be on my way back down the tree by now!" She pushed past Garfiel and prepared to climb the tree.
Garfiel stopped her. "Bad idea, shrimp," He said laconically, then he deftly pulled himself up into the tree. Even without his mana, he climbed easily, his muscles effortlessly supporting his weight.
Emilia let out a deep sigh and drifted away from the group. She walked over to the cliff and sat down, her legs hanging off the edge as she gazed morosely off into the distance.
"Hey," Felt said uncertainly. "Are you OK?"
Emilia glanced back and saw Felt standing there with an awkward expression.
Emilia sighed. "… No, not really," She admitted.
Felt made a face. "I… guess that draugr must have really freaked you out, huh?" Felt said as she cautiously sat down on the cliff, keeping a short distance between herself and Emilia. "The way that it kept chasing after you."
Emilia nodded. "It did, but it was more than that."
"What do you mean?"
Emilia sighed. "I… I just feel so helpless ! " She reached up to touch the collar around her neck.
"At first, I didn't mind having my magic sealed. Or at least I didn't mind once Subaru had rescued us, and we were all safe," Emilia amended. "It was almost relaxing. I didn't have to worry about losing control of my magic and hurting someone else by accident."
Felt shuddered at the memory of the horrible frost flowers attacking her, but Emilia pretended not to notice.
"But now…" Emilia murmured. She shook her head. "I feel completely helpless. When the draugr attacked, all I could do was run around in circles like a scared little girl while I waited for Subaru to come and rescue me!" She finished with venom.
Felt took a deep breath. "Emilia," She said calmly. "If Subaru couldn 't beat that thing, then I don't think you would have had any luck fighting it either, even with your magic. "
"But I could have helped!" Emilia argued. "I could have frozen it solid to distract it! I could have laid down a sheet of ice on the ground to make it stumble and fall. I could have used my mana to increase my speed and endurance so that it could have never caught me! Instead… all I could do was depend on Subaru to save me. Again…" She finished bitterly.
Felt considered her answer carefully. "You know… I really don't think that Subaru minds taking care of you."
"I mind," Emilia said fiercely. "I don't mind him protecting me, but I want to be able to protect him too! I want to be his partner… not just another burden for him to carry."
Felt considered that. "Don't you think that you are his partner? " She asked.
Emilia sighed. "I thought that I was making some progress, " She admitted. "I helped Subaru fight the Gusteko army in the Valley of Winds. We faced Capella together. We fought off the Lagunican soldiers in Picoutatte side by side. We fought the Iotuns together."
"Sounds to me like you made a lot of progress," Felt shrugged.
Emilia struck the ground hard with her fist. "But now it's all been undone! I can't do anything without my magic! " She pulled her knees to her chest, staring morosely off into the distance. "I'm right back to where I started. I feel so useless…"
Felt sighed. "Look… Emilia, getting that damn collar wrapped around your neck wasn 't your fault. You did it … to save us," She added awkwardly, "Uh. Thanks for that, by the way. I guess I never got around to thanking you for that."
Emilia shook her head gloomily. "It all seems so stupid . I spent my entire life thinking that my magic was nothing but a burden and a curse. I spent years wishing that my magic would just go away and disappear. Now that it 's gone, I suddenly want to have it back!"
"Well, that's irony for you," Felt commented. She looked out over the ravine in silence for a moment. "Hey, what made you hate your magic so much anyway? Was it… what happened to me?" She muttered uncomfortably.
Emilia raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember? Oh. No, of course, you wouldn't," Emilia answered her own question with a sigh. "No, it wasn't the frost flowers. But that certainly didn't help. When I was a little girl, I lived in the Elior Forest in a village of elves. One day, we were attacked by powerful strangers as well as the Black Snake."
Felt stared at her, her eyes wide in shock.
"I tried to protect everyone," Emilia continued bitterly, "But I lost all control of my magic. I froze the entire forest. I entombed all of the people in solid ice. I entombed myself in ice until Daddy found me years later and thawed me out. I've spent my whole life trying to break the curse and save the elves. That's the only reason that I ever agreed to become involved in the royal selection in the first place. Roswaal found me and convinced me that the Dragon Blood could break the curse and save the elves, but only the King has access to it."
Felt digested that. "So that's why you suggested that we go hide in the Elior Forest," She said in understanding.
Emilia nodded. "The village there is still full of houses. I've tried to take care of them so they're still safe to live in."
"Huh. I'd heard that the Elior Forest was under a curse of perpetual winter," Felt remembered, "But I never actually knew why."
Emilia gave a mirthless laugh. "Well, now you know. It was me," She said with dark humor. "You see, Felt? You're not the first person whose life I ruined with my magic," She finished bitterly.
There was a long silence, then Felt let out a deep sigh. "Hey, Emilia? Can you knock off the pity party already? It's making me kind of tired."
Emilia blinked and looked at Felt in shock.
Felt gave her a flat look. "Emilia. Look, you didn't 'ruin' my life, OK? You did something that was really… really unpleasant to me. And it 's going to take me a long time to get over it." She shuddered but then forced herself on. "But I'm still here. I'm still kicking. It's going to take a lot more than some weird spell from an incompetent ice mage to put me down for the count! " She snorted.
Emilia stared at Felt, looking conflicted.
Felt sighed. "Look, Emilia, you… you really need to cut yourself some slack, OK?" She said awkwardly. "All of the crap that you're going through right now isn't your fault. It didn't happen because you were weak or dumb or scared. It just… happened .
"It's the same thing as me getting hit with the frost flowers," Felt's voice trembled for a moment, but then she forced herself to keep going in a deliberately harsh voice. "Look, I didn't get cursed because I did something wrong, OK?! It just happened. And the forest didn't turn into an ice cube or whatever because you screwed up. You were just a kid in a desperate situation because you were under attack by a monster that eats cities for breakfast!"
"Felt," Emilia protested, "The forest and all its people were frozen because I lost control! If I'd just kept my head-"
"Then what?" Felt demanded. "Do you really think that your magic would have been strong enough to drive off the Black Snake?"
Emilia frowned, remembering how every ounce of her magic hadn 't even been sufficient to defeat the Black Water, the dregs of living venom that the snake had left behind. "No… I guess not…"
"Then maybe you did make the best decision!" Felt insisted. "You'll never know for sure, but maybe you did. If you'd done nothing, the Black Snake would have hunted down all the elves and eaten them one by one! You froze the forest, but you also protected all the other elves! And now you still have a chance to rescue them!"
Emilia considered that.
Felt climbed back to her feet, brushing dirt off her pants. "Look, Emilia, sometimes bad stuff just happens. Even when we're all trying to prevent it. Beating yourself up over it does nobody any good. The only thing we can do about it is pick ourselves up and keep going. So, let's get moving. We've already been sitting here for too long. And I really don't want that creepy thing to catch up with us again."
Emilia gave Felt a small smile. "Thank you, Felt," She said quietly. "That means a lot coming from you."
"Forget it," Felt brushed off Emilia's thanks. "We… used to be close friends, right? And we probably will be again as soon Subaru fixes the… whatever-is-wrong with all our memories of you, so it's just… Yeah. Forget it," She walked away, her face flushed.
Emilia gave Felt 's retreating form a warm smile. She got to her feet and took a deep breath. Emilia gathered herself and then followed Felt back to where Subaru was standing.
Subaru stared up into the sky, looking extremely nervous. Emilia looked up and saw that Garfiel had climbed nearly a hundred feet into the air. He looked tiny at that distance, but he seemed to be hanging a branch with only one arm and peering around, looking as calm as if he 'd been only a few feet off the ground.
"Hey, Captain! I see something!" Garfiel yelled down the tree.
Subaru rubbed his forehead as if it pained him. "Garfiel, get down here," Subaru called quietly, gesturing for him to return to the ground.
Garfiel squinted at him. "What?" He yelled.
"Get down!" Subaru said a little louder, making large descending gestures.
Garfiel shook his head. "I can't hear-"
"He said, 'Get down here,' you dumb fleabag!" Felt said in a shattering roar.
Garfiel looked slightly offended, but he quickly scrambled down the tree.
On the ground, Subaru seemed to be struggling with a sizable headache. Emilia patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"What's up?" Garfiel asked in confusion.
Subaru sighed. "Listen," He growled to Garfiel and Felt, "I'd like to remind you both that we're being hunted right now, and we don't know if our pursuer is dead or alive. So maybe don't scream out into the night for everybody to hear you. "
Garfiel looked chagrined, and Felt 's face was flaming red as if she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that.
Subaru sighed and shook his head. "Never mind that. What did you see?"
"I saw a little village," Garfiel said. "Not too far from here. Maybe a dozen houses. I think I saw a campfire in the village square, too, so the folks are still awake."
Subaru frowned. "It's way after midnight. What would a farming village be doing up at this time of night?"
"How can you tell it's a campfire instead of firelight coming through the windows or something?" Felt asked skeptically.
"Firelight shining through glass looks different than a campfire does," Garfiel explained as if it was obvious.
Felt sighed. "Subaru, how long until we get city streets back under our feet? I feel fricking useless out here! "
Subaru hid a smile. "Alright," He said. "Let's go investigate. Maybe if we're lucky, we can get directions to Napoli and buy a wagon. Which way, Garf?"
The group walked steadily through the night. It wasn 't long before Subaru could see the fire in the village square that Garfiel had referred to. It looked like a small farming village with a dozen houses overlooking their fields. Even in the dark, Subaru could tell these fields were as brown and blighted as all the others in the Westfold. The houses were small and crude, establishing that the village was poor.
"Let's… be cautious here," Subaru said. "Something about this feels off."
"You mean that?" Garfiel asked, pointing toward a wooden statue standing guard at the edge of the road.
This effigy looked just like the last one, a stick figure with a deer skull and antlers, wearing a heavy red hooded cloak.
"That is a pretty good sign of this not being a safe place," Subaru admitted. "Our old friend, the Horned Witch, makes yet another appearance."
"Why are the peasants making these hideous statues?" Emilia murmured.
"To show whose side they're on," Felt said at once. "They're putting up these statues to ask the witch or Sphinx, or whoever she really is, for protection. So it looks like this village is also rebelling against the Emperor."
Garfiel looked at Subaru. "But we 'd be OK here, right, Captain? We 've got nothing to do with the Emperor."
"I'm not so sure, Garf," Subaru admitted. "Treason is a capital crime. So rebels, no matter who or what they're rebelling against, usually aren't all that keen on strangers coming to call."
Garfiel peered toward the village. "Looks like there's still a crowd gathered around the bonfire."
"What are they doing?" Subaru asked, unable to make anything out clearly at that distance.
"… I think they're arguing," Garfiel reported. "I can't hear what they're saying, so I don't know what they're arguing about."
Subaru made a face. "Well… like I said, let's be careful," He said slowly. "Garf and I will go first. You two stay back until we've felt things out."
"Subaru," Emilia grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.
Subaru gave her a steady look. "Mili, until we get that collar off you, you don't have any magic."
Emilia fumed, staring off into the darkness, but she made no other objection.
Subaru thought of something and walked over to Patrasche. "Hang on a sec," He said, rummaging around in the riding dragon's saddlebags.
"What are you doing?" Felt asked.
Subaru pulled out an elegant blade with the symbol of House Astrea on it. "I'm taking this with me," He said calmly.
Felt folded her arms across her chest. "Do you really need to take Red 's sword?" She asked defensively. "Or… well, his grandmother 's sword, I guess? "
"Hopefully not. But as far as avoiding trouble goes, it's better if they see that I have a weapon in hand. It'll make them a lot more likely to believe that I can hurt them as opposed to me trying to convince them that I once killed a troll with my bare hands," He said glibly. "Alright. Let's go."
Subaru and Garfiel led the way as they slowly moved toward the fire burning in the center of the village. As Subaru drew closer, he could clearly see that this was no party. There had to be at least fifty people assembled of all ages; some were human, and some were demi-human, but nobody seemed happy or laughing. They were dressed crudely, and they all seemed seriously underfed. Two different groups stood together, arguing with one another. But one thing they had in common was they all looked nervous and kept a weather eye toward the darkness. The other thing they all had in common was they were all armed. It was all crude weapons, nothing so elegant as a sword, spear, or bow, but each person assembled held a pitchfork, a knife, or an axe.
Weird. The most noteworthy thing about this village is that the humans and the demi-humans haven 't formed separate factions. Both of these groups are thoroughly mixed. I guess Vollachia really does have one up on Lagunica in terms of racial equality. The major difference between these groups seems to be age: one group is mostly older folks, and the other is younger.
Subaru slowly emerged from the shadows. "Hello, the village," He called in a calm voice.
The villagers sprang into action at once, their 'weapons' in hand as they raced into the dark to surround Subaru and Garfiel.
Garfiel flexed his muscles, doing his best to bulk up and look more intimidating, while Subaru slowly raised his sword.
The villagers had the pair surrounded but they were clearly nervous about attempting anything more.
"Who are you?" An old man demanded. "Are you soldiers?!"
"No. We're not soldiers," Subaru said in a calm voice.
"Do you serve the Horned Witch?" A young man asked cautiously.
Subaru sighed. "We're not soldiers. And we don't have anything to do with the Horned Witch. We're not even Vollachians. We're just looking to buy a wagon if you have one."
Subaru 's words appeared to make no sense to the villagers, and they looked at one another in confusion.
Most of the villagers turned back toward the old man. He looked uncertain but barked out, "You're not stealing our wagons either!"
"I don't want to steal it," Subaru said, fighting to keep the incredulity out of his voice. "I have gold, and I'm willing to spend it. I'll make you a fair offer for a good wagon."
"Gold?" Asked one of the women who held a kitchen knife as a weapon. Her tone wasn't greedy; it was confused, much like how Subaru would have reacted if someone had mentioned 'mithril' or 'adamantium.'
Subaru was increasingly feeling like he was missing something here. Keeping his sword ready, he felt around in his satchel with his other hand until he found a gold coin. He pulled it out and held it up for inspection.
The villagers murmured in amazement.
"Is that what gold looks like?" One villager asked another.
"I think so," The old man replied. "I had to help our master ship goods to market once. He was paid in really shiny coins that looked like that."
Subaru raised an eyebrow. 'Really shiny Coins?' Seriously? I know that these people are poor, but are you trying to tell me that they've never even seen a gold coin before?
The old man squinted at Subaru, and then his face hardened. "And who are they ?! " He shouted, directing everyone's attention to something behind Subaru.
Subaru didn 't need to look behind him to know that Emilia and Felt must have wandered too close. If it had been anyone else sneaking up behind him, the girls would have shouted a warning.
Damn it, Mili! Would it really kill you to just stay back for once?!
The peasants started to move toward the girls, but Subaru extended his sword. He gave them all a warning look, his sword marking a clear boundary that they 'd be fools to cross.
"They're with us," Subaru snapped. "Now, I don't know what's going on here. Nor do I care. I just want to know if you have a wagon that you'd be willing to sell me. After that, we're leaving."
The old man raised a trembling hand and pointed. "She's a silver-haired half-elf!"
Subaru struggled to repress a growl. "Yes, we're aware of that," He grated.
"Is she the Horned Witch?" The young man whispered in awe.
Subaru sighed. "No," He said in a mocking tone. "She is not any kind of witch. Also, do you think that elves usually come with horns?! "
The crowd murmured to one another, apparently conceding that Subaru had a point.
"Look, we just want to do business," Subaru said more diplomatically. "We need some help, and we'll pay you well for it. Then we'll leave, and you won't have to worry about us anymore. What do you say?"