"What do you mean he fell? He has fucking wings!"
Kordia had to put more effort into resisting the urge to shriek at the no-good bully who said he saw Kir disappear.
She and Rainier knew about Lugh, which is why, here at the eleventh-floor outpost, she had focused in on him the moment she heard Kir was gone. Which is how they wound up outside the wall, with Kordia pinning the boy against a tree with magic.
"I mean they broke his wing! Then when they threw his bat off the edge, he just shouted ’Stella’ and dove after her!" Lugh spoke rapidly. When Kordia had abducted him at the latrine pit, she’d been surprised when he didn’t even try to call out for help, much less resist aside from when he’d first lost the ability to move.
"Why didn’t Stella just fly away?" Kordia demanded.
"I don’t know! She looked sick or something. The bat’s eyes weren’t even open," Lugh confessed freely. "I’m not lying, it was Professor Fayren and the Knight Commander who... executed him."
Kordia sneered, "Don’t try to sell me a line, you racist shit! They’re both in trouble for losing a student. And if they did attack Kir, what, you just watched and did nothing? So you could get a shiny-fucking shield?"
She knew what the prize had been, an enchanted shield with a high amount of magic resistance. Something any Arcane Knight would love to have, especially the cadets who were from poorer families. Like the human in front of her.
"There was nothing I could do!" he said. "Professor Fayren showed up an hour later, pretending not to notice Kir was gone... We searched, but he pushed everyone to pack up and leave." Lugh looked down guiltily, "I didn’t want to get anyone else killed."
"So you raced ahead? You could have searched harder!" Kordia raised her voice. "You wanted him dead, admit it!"
Lugh lowered his head, "I knew no one would believe me," he said, evading her question.
Before Kordia could call him out on his shit, however, he suddenly raised his head. "Wait, I know! Fayren and Commander Magrus said they were going deeper to try to find him. They were talking like they were working together because of... Because the Commander was working for some demon and the Professor was working for some angel. They kept calling him a-a ’hybrid’ and Magrus said something like both heaven and hell would want him dead."
Kordia’s eyes widened a bit, but then she remembered Lugh and Kir shared a home town. "You know Kir is a hybrid?."
"I didn’t believe it!" Lugh said. "Not till I saw them try to kill him for it. And I didn’t find out in Darlbridge... I found out on the way to Norneau..."
He proceeded to tell Kordia some sob-story about wanting to protect his sister from Kir. Then what happened after he lost his challenge. How he was genuinely trying to "become a man his sister could admire."
Kordia kept her heart closed to his plight. "It’s people like you who made sure he never had a day of peace at the Academy."
"What even is he to you?" Lugh asked.
"You don’t get to know that," Kordia snarled. "If what you say is true, I’m going to follow those two down and you better pray that when I get back, Kir is alive-"
"Hey Kor!" Rainier suddenly called out to her from closer to the camp, jogging forward. "You shouldn’t be out here, they’re reorganizing everyone to go to the entrance together. You missed the meeting." After a moment Rain noticed the situation. "Oh. Hello Lugh. Congratulations on the shield."
"Hi... Rainier," the human said.
Kordia recognized the sight and sound of Rainier’s fake smile. "This filth says he saw the Knight Commander and Professor Fayren attack Kir."
Rain looked confused. "That can’t be right, they just volunteered to go look for him in the deeper dungeon. We’re supposed to start escorting everyone back up tomorrow."
"Now do you believe me?" Lugh asked, his eyes boring into Kordia’s when she turned for a moment.
"What did you say?" Kordia looked at Rain with wide eyes, her tails bunching with tension.
"We’re supposed to start-"
"The other thing!" she interrupted.
"Oh. Fayren and Magrus, they’re going deeper into the dungeon to look for Kir. They actually just left. I tried to volunteer but they both outrank me so... No-go."
Kordia had Lugh explain his story again, checking for any differences. She didn’t know to be annoyed or grateful that there turned out to be none. As soon as he finished-
"I’m going after them," Kordia declared. "I know we’ll lose the commission but we can’t help Kir if he’s dead, and this one claims those two are going to try and finish him off." She gestured with her head at Lugh, her ears twitching in disgust.
Rain’s confusion cleared up at once. "Not without me you aren’t."
Kordia nodded. "Thank you... but what do we do with him?"
"We could send him back up," Rain suggested. "Figure him out later."
"Take me with you!" Lugh pleaded. "I won’t get in the way... Just... let me make this right." Check latest chapters at novel✶fire.net
Rain tilted his head. "I thought you two didn’t like each other."
"We still don’t... but after the duel... it’s complicated-"
"Lugh’s doing it for his sister," Kordia said.
"Oh. Ann, right? She’s nice. Why? Is she into Kir?" Rain asked Lugh, making Kordia cringe up to her ears.
A look of anger flashed on Lugh’s face at the suggestion, but he calmed himself the next moment. "I... don’t know. I’ve tried to ask her, but she doesn’t talk about him with me. The last time we spoke was after the duel."
Rain looked at Lugh for a long moment. "I think we should trust him," he finally said. "Bring him with us."
"But- You know he- Why?" Kordia asked.
Rain shrugged. "Just a gut feeling. Besides, if he helps bring Kir back, they can be friends. And if he tries something, either we or the dungeon will kill him." Rain put his ability to smile in any situation on full display. It was still fake, but the dark tone it conveyed to Lugh seemed to go through.
"Just let me get my sword. I’ll go with you right now if you want," Lugh shifted in his bonds, projecting an eagerness to start.
Rain raised a halting hand. "Whoah buddy," he said, "You don’t get a weapon for this. I’ll carry your sword until Kor and I agree you can have it back."
Kordia had been just about to say something like that.
Lugh hesitated, but after a long, thoughtful moment, he asked "Can I use a shield?"
Rain looked at Kordia. She still felt like she wanted to flay Lugh with fire, but she had bigger priorities. "Fine. We’ll take him with us. Give him two shields for all I care," she scowled, her tails flicking with frustration. She let go of her spell and Lugh sagged forward before managing to stay on his feet. "The moment I even think you’re going to try to run or attack us-"
"I know better than to fight a three-tailed foxkin," Lugh said. "I won’t run away. I swear on my honor."
Kordia narrowed her eyes. "Your honor means nothing to me."
Rain placed a comforting hand on Kordia’s shoulder. "Kor, we should let him swear on something. It’s very important to Arcane Knights."
Lugh looked down as Kordia glared at him. Until he finally raised his head and said, "I swear on my sister, Ann, that I’ll do everything I can to help."
Kordia looked up at Rainier. He had such a satisfied look, Kordia wondered if he truly understood the gravity of everything Lugh had explained about the situation.
The eleventh floor of the dungeon they were in had about a two-to-one resonance with surface time, meaning that they were experiencing almost two days down here for every single day up there.
The further down they got, the more time they could spend searching, but it also meant they could sacrifice days, weeks, and months of their lives... And since most employers only paid surface rates, there was little incentive to go beyond the minimum one needed to acquire certain resources.
Only the truly dedicated or desperate would delve deep into a place where time moved so fast. The bottommost, twenty-third floor was said to have about an eleven-to-one resonance with the surface, but it had yet to be accurately surveyed.
"We’ll leave at nightfall," Kordia said. "I’ll study the floors ahead. Lugh, go to the hostel and gather your things quietly. Rain, keep an eye on him. Make sure no one else knows where we’re going. We’ll meet at the general store."
She walked back toward the outpost.
Halfway there, Rain caught up to her. Alone.
"Why aren’t you with Lugh?" she asked.
"He swore on his sister," her angelkin boyfriend said. "I told him to wait a minute before coming back. It’s less suspicious that way."
"Whatever," Kordia said, her ears flattening in agitation.
"Kor... please," Rain took her hands. She was surprised to find his were shaking. "When I heard his story, I was so angry back there... I almost couldn’t take it. He could have saved Kir if he’d brought out their team but..." He took a breath. "Kor, I do believe we can trust him. That doesn’t excuse what he did in the past, but I want to know you’ll be able to focus on what we’re going to do... We could die down there."
"I know!" Kordia said, squeezing his hands. "But I just..." she looked away. "I wrote my mother about ending my engagement. She’s going to be here at the start of the summer break. I was going to tell you both when we got here... but now he’s gone..."
"That’s great news! You used to dream about this..." He brushed a hand through her hair. "I know you, Kor. You feel like you owe him, but I feel like he would never ask for anything back. We’ll find him..." Rain looked a little sad. "And I’m guessing... you wanted to propose?"
"What? No! I just... Getting our adventurer licenses... got me thinking... Maybe we could do something to help him find his birth mother. One big adventure... before we go back to our obligations."
Rain hugged her then. When he withdrew, however, his sadness seemed to have deepened. "I have something to confess too..." He took a breath. "I wrote my brother about earning my license... One thing led to another and... Well... He wrote me back to say that my parents found out."
"Isn’t that good?" Kordia asked.
Rain looked away. "They’re using it and the Heavenswar as an excuse to move up my wedding... Once I finish out the school year, they’re coming to get me... along with my fiance."
Kordia wished she hadn’t suspected this would happen. Rainier had been betrothed to elven royals for as long as she’d known him... and not simply royalty, the most powerful elven mages to be seen in centuries, whose seat was the World Tree Amrita.
And not once had he ever seemed willing to resist the fate his parents had in store for him.
"If it’s what you want... I’m happy for you," Kordia said, forcing a smile as she hugged him, burying her face in his chest.
She didn’t want to admit it, but, right now, it felt like her heart was breaking.
They shared that embrace for a long, long moment. Until at last Rain pushed her away.
"Now let’s go save our boyfriend."