Chapter 66 (Book 1 End)

[CW: Blood, Violence]

It was difficult for Camilla not to stare down at the girl in her arms as she sped through the forest. Between the longer white hair and her large rabbit ears, Pearl looked both the same and different. It was obvious that she’d had some kind of breakthrough, triggered by whatever happened between her and Silas. The event pushed her firmly into the first true stage of cultivation. Were they not running for their lives, Camilla would have been quite a bit more excited.

Between that and the mana from the strange crystal, she was curious how far Pearl had progressed. But more than that, Camilla couldn’t help but feel a nascent guilt building in her chest.

Her memory of exactly what happened immediately after Pearl stomped down on the crystal was vague. Camilla had only just barely started to heal as she gathered the other three and left as fast as she could. Not before putting a dagger through the skull of the unconscious Praevus, however. Even with the dense mana’s surprising potency at helping the body heal and recover, she was certain Emver was dead. Though a small part of her wished she’d stuck around to be a bit more thorough about it.

More than her concerns about the Praevus, however, she couldn’t stop ruminating on the events leading up to it. In retrospect, she never should have trusted in Leon’s ridiculous plan to escape through the mines. It was a given that the Praevus would have known about it. Perhaps he even had a hand in setting it up. And even if the assassination attempt at the barrack had been successful, there was no guarantee their escape would have been successful. It frustrated her that even given all that, it had still been their best chance at escape in one form or another.

The sorceress sighed.

Regardless, when the exit from the mine was blasted open, she’d never planned to stick around and fight anyone who might be on the other side. Lena and the foolish rebels could do as they pleased, but she didn’t want a part in it.

Camilla had never considered herself a good or honorable person. At best, she was a coward. She’d grown to like the trio of girls—Pearl in particular. Yet a few people that she’d known for a handful of weeks weren’t worth needlessly dying for. Not when they had little to no chance of succeeding. That they had managed to escape was a stroke of luck.

Camilla hated that she felt the need to justify the decision to herself. She knew it was better that she run and survive than that all of them, herself included, die for nothing. So why did the choice only make the sorceress hate herself more?

When she heard the first cracks of gunpowder, Camilla burst out and ran the moment the opportunity presented itself. The glance that she’d shot over toward the Praevus and his surrounding sentinels was a fleeting one. She only caught the barest glimpse of the girl Emver was gripping before the sentinels closed the brief gap in their shields.

It wasn’t Pearl’s face that she saw, though; it was Fionna’s.

The vision of Fionna’s death forever haunted her—even now, as they escaped through the forest. The memories consumed her mind. Once more, it was as though she were there in that hall, lined up with the other newly marked. Blood splattered across her skin as she stood there frozen. The Praevus watched on indifferently as Fionna’s body fell to the floor.

It was all Camilla’s fault. If only she’d done something—anything—maybe Emver would have killed her instead.

A tear slid down her cheek. The sorceress watched as it fell and soaked into the bloodied dress of the girl in her arms. She tightened her hold around Pearl as she vaulted over a fallen tree.

Behind her, a horse neighed with a troubled snort, and Camilla turned her head to check on Lena and her maid. Even with how sparse the trees were, the steed was still having trouble trudging through at any real speed. It was clearly not used to the rugged off-road terrain. They would have to rest before long, but Camilla was fairly sure a road existed somewhere ahead of them, which would help.

Back when she’d escaped out from the mining tunnel and saw Fionna’s face, Camilla hadn’t realized she’d stopped out in the open until it had been too late. One of the large bolts from the spitfires pierced through her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. It was only the air leaving her lungs that had prevented her from screaming out.

If she’d been thinking logically, she might have gotten back up and continued to run. But the sight of Fionna completely threw that out. Instead, in a moment of delirium, she became driven by the unstoppable urge to save her. Truly, she was lucky that she had enough sense to not just run blindly in and instead attacked from the forest edge—using her minor telekinetic abilities to sling daggers at every enemy she could. The blind rage only begun to fade when the Praevus revealed himself, along with Pearl gripped in front of him, a knife to her throat.

At first, Camilla was certain it was Fionna there in his arms. The scene was just too similar, even if the details differed. At the time, Camilla almost felt as though she’d been in two places at once—there in the forest and back in that dreadful hall.

She did eventually recognize the truth in front of her. Fionna had never truly been there in the clearing. It’d been Pearl the whole time. But with her emotions so raw and overwhelming, it didn’t matter. Pearl and Fionna might as well have been one and the same. Thus when the Praevus offered her a deal, Camilla was foolish enough to accept it—too consumed by dread and the past to truly think it through.

It was only as Silas dragged Pearl off that she realized her mistake. She knew that the Praevus saw himself as a man who kept his word. What she should have also remembered was that he was a man of half-truths.

In her arms, Pearl slowly stirred, finally awakening and pulling Camilla back to the present. The maid’s eyes cracked open to meet Camilla’s, and a smile slid along the girl’s lips. The sorceress couldn’t help but smile back, as a mix of relief and further guilt fell over her. Her foolish, blockheaded maid was alright. And Pearl’s golden eyes glowed with magic.

— — —

“Where are we?” I mumbled out.

The calming chirp of birds filled my ears along with the sway of trees as a chilling breeze brushed across my face. Blinking to clear my eyes, I turned my gaze away from Camilla to find a forest moving around us.

“North of Sunridge,” Camilla responded as she slowed to a stop. “Are you alright to stand?”

I gave an absent nod, only vaguely listening as I stared out across the forest. The arm beneath my legs fell and a squeak slipped from my lips as I briefly thought she was dropping me. With a steady arm, Camilla helped me to my feet. It occurred to me that the sorceress had just been carrying me through the forest like a princess. My cheeks reddened, and Camilla kept an arm at my waist as she momentarily looked over me.

My memories began to catch back up as my mind cleared from the fog of sleep. To my left, a horse trotted to a stop, though I didn’t have the presence of mind to pay it any attention.

“What happened after—Where’s Lena and Rosetta?” I asked in a panic.

Before I even finished the last word, I heard a shout and a figure crashed into me.

“Pearl!”

I let out an “oof,” as Lena wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. She let go, and her eyes met mine.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” she whispered, her face merely a few inches from mine.

With warm cheeks, I nodded back.

Behind her, I spotted Rosetta dismounting the tan-colored horse.

“We—we did it?” I asked, amazed. We’d survived? “What happened? I don’t remember anything after I stomped on that rock.” A frown slipped across my lips.

“I’m not completely sure,” Lena admitted. “It was… odd.”

Lena gave Camilla a look. I glanced between the two, confused to see odd tension between them.

Somewhat awkwardly, Camilla spoke up. “The crystal held an immense amount of mana, as you probably knew. When it cracked, all of it flooded the clearing—and everyone within.” She paused as I began to put together what that meant.

“So then…” I began, and looked between the two. I had a suspicion of where this was going, but thought it better to let them speak. Back behind them, Rosetta stared off at the ground, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

Camilla continued, “Much like yourself, just about everyone around us fell immediately unconscious, and I suspect those who didn’t likely did so not long after we left. Were it not for my higher stage of cultivation, I expect I would have as well. Instead, I was disoriented but able to get myself and the three of you out of there.”

I nodded, knowing there was more still unsaid.

“Everyone close to the crystal was marked,” Lena concluded for her.

“Everyone?” I whispered.

My gaze shifted between the three of them. Rosetta gave me a somewhat nervous nod.

“We definitely need to have a longer conversation about this,” Camilla said, “but we should keep moving before someone manages to catch up to us. The horse could use a longer break, I’m sure. But the further we get before night hits, the less likely it is that we’ll be found.”

I nodded, glancing up at the sky to see the evening sun hovering not far above the horizon as it peeked through the treetops.

Lena let out a heavy sigh. “But my ass is already killing me,” she grumbled.

To her back, Rosetta smiled, and let out a chuckle. The growing tension broke.

“Where are we headed?” I asked.

The question made me think of my father and where he might be. Once more, I hoped that he was alive and well somewhere out there. If he was, I would do whatever I could to find him. The same for my mother, wherever she was. Though if I ever managed to meet her again, I had a number of pointed questions for her.

In the distance a loud bird squawked, landing in a nearby tree. It sounded much like a hawk or some other predatory bird.

Camilla bent forward, placing an arm against my back and sweeping me off my feet. My arms wrapped around her neck as the fear of falling gripped me.

“We’re going east.” Camilla stared out into the forest ahead.

“Into the Deadlands.”

— — —

Far off, in a small clearing close to Sunridge, a figure stumbled to his feet. The dozens of sentinels who stood around the man froze as a dark uncertainty held them in place.

One brave soul approached just as the man felt along the hilt of a dagger—one which stuck out from the side of his head.

Meilir Emver, Fourth Praevus of the Seven Imperial Praevi and Warden of the Encroaching Night, blinked in an attempt to clear his vision. It did little to help, but he was able to make out Gavin as the sentinel drew closer.

As usual, the man saluted. “Allow me, sir.”

Emver nodded, and barely a moment later, Gavin pulled the dagger from his head along with a spray of blood. The Praevus stumbled, and could feel death looming over him. Then Gavin caught his shoulder.

“Here, sir.” the sentinel pressed something into his hands.

Emver crushed the large vial of black liquid, watching as the substance quickly absorbed into his skin. A searing pain gripped him moments after.

It was over an hour before the Praevus was clear-headed enough to truly communicate. All around, sentinels hovered nervously, uncertain of what to do with themselves. It hadn’t taken them long to realize what had occurred—namely that they’d all been marked with the curse of sorcery. Morale and loyalty was at an all-time low. Their command structure was in shatters. In truth, it was only the presence of the Praevus that kept the clearing from devolving into total chaos, despite the growing distrust and unease. Even still, a number of sentinels had fled, while others stood far off to the sides and within the forest edge—weapons drawn and eyes full of mistrust.

As Emver sat on a wooden stool, a hand pressed just below his bandaged head, he listened to an officer’s report. The plain nervousness in the man’s voice began to grate on his nerves, and it wasn’t long before he dismissed the man in annoyance.

As he watched the man leave, the Praevus turned to the figure to his right. “Gavin.”

“Sir?”

“I can’t help but notice your distinct absence during the fight with Camilla and her ‘maid.’”

Gavin had been ever reliable. It was the first time his loyal retainer had truly let him down.

The sentinel bowed. “Forgive me, sir. Had I known that she—”

Emver waved the response off, not wanting to hear the excuse. “We can speak on your punishment later.”

The Praevus stood, making his way to his horse. Things hadn’t gone nearly to plan, though that wasn’t particularly abnormal when it came to battle. He’d known that Camilla was hiding some of her abilities from him. That he had anticipated. But the peasant ‘girl’ Pearl having some kind of breakthrough then of all times was a truly unlucky turn of events. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought it was planned.

However, the biggest downside was the number of witnesses and the loss of the lezun crystal. Emver had expected to have quite a bit more time before making use of the immense mana it contained. He’d plan to use it all for himself in the coming future. It and the many vials of lezun he’d manage to gather.

Still, he was certain he could make this work.

He would fix this rotting world, no matter the obstacle. Even if he had to corrupt himself to do it. Emver hadn’t come this far for nothing.

After Gavin helped him onto his mount, Emver continued, “I’m surprised Revon hasn’t already come for my head.” The captain had to know how immense of a danger he now could become. Emver was certain the Emperor would soon list him an enemy to the Empire once word reached the capital. Still, attacking a Praevus would probably still land Revon at the gallows, Emver was sure, regardless of circumstance.

“I made it clear to him what would happen should he try, sir.”

Emver nodded. Perhaps he could make use of the man’s uncertainty. “If he has any lingering loyalty to me left, tell him to pause the search for the sorceress. I’d like him to prioritize finding deserters, as well as any rebels that have escaped.” He eyed the sentinels all around him. “But first, I’d like you to clean things up here—anyone that was within twenty meters of the clearing.”

Gavin gave him a salute. “Of course, sir.”

The man vanished in a flash of light.

As Praevus Emver brought the horse to a steady trot, a piercing scream rang out behind him.