Capítulo 41: - Home to the Veterans...
Lia could see nothing from one corner of the chamber to the other, left alone to observe the battle in blindness.
Since Alan had toppled a pillar over Cain's head, Lia had not seen him since. Her worry and anticipation spoke levels, though she said nothing.
A huge dust cloud was covering the entire front chamber, and within it she could hear the subtle sounds of fighting. It did little to help her nerves. Of course Rian didn't fail to reassure her, but even then she felt as though the whole world depended on this battle.
"Are you sure he's okay? I don't hear anything anymore."
Lia turned to Rian, who was seated by a large broken bit of stone, propping himself up against it.
"It means someone won. The fighting is over so there isn't any reason to worry about it now."
"But who won?"
Rian eyed her, as if asking her if she was really thinking about her words.
When he realized that she was being serious, he sighed, crossing his arms and making himself comfortable.
"That depends on who got the upper hand. But don't worry. If you know Cain, and you put your trust in him, eventually he will meet your expectations."
Though Rian offered a much more lax option for Lia, rather than running around like a headless chicken, worrying about something that she had no control over, Lia wasn't as open to change as he had thought.
Pacing back and forth, Lia mumbled to herself, trying to calm her worries.
"He will be fine, he will be fine, he will be fine. I just need to wait."
Though Lia still had many questions about Cain, and who he really was, he was the only person she had an absolute guarantee would stay with her after this was all over.
Lukali was only present until the contract that had been agreed upon ended, and even then she had no guarantee he would stay afterwards. While Rian would only be present with her until she left Neverdark.
So in many ways, Lia could not lose Cain, especially to someone like Alan and his arrogant attitude.
"Are you sure we shouldn't go in and check on them?"
Lia asked again, her gaze turning to the dust cloud.
While the cloud covered much of the chamber, since she and the others were on a raised platform, they were naturally above it. This allowed her easy eye sight across the chamber, but still she could tell nothing of the ongoing battle.
"No, Cain will be fine. It's best if you have some confidence in him if you want him to succeed."
"But you saw how badly he was getting beaten."
"Yes I did. I also saw the man heal himself like he was a bloody demon!"
Rian didn't intend to raise his voice, but it only proved to Lia just how surprised he must have been when he saw it happening before his eyes.
"Lia."
His voice grew calmer but continued to hold onto its sternness, like he was consoling a child.
"He will be fine. We won't know until he comes out of there, but until then, worrying about it will do nothing."
"..."
Lia thought about it, and realized that her constant nagging must have been annoying Kal and Rian, who were patiently waiting, and trying to rest.
But Lia couldn't keep herself from being afraid, every single time Cain fought against someone, she was always afraid he wouldn't come back. A connection she never had before.
"Grr…grr."
The sounds of groaning immediately snapped Lia's attention back to reality.
Turning her head, Lia's eyes landed on Lukali, who had been thought to have passed out. But as his body began to shift, all fear and other thoughts left her mind as she rushed over to his body.
"Lukali…Lukali are you there."
Throughout the entire battle, Lukali had shown no signs of waking up, and Lia had begun to fear that he might never.
"Lukali please…"
Rian joined her by her side, just as worried as she was, though he didn't show it.
"...grr…"
Eventually, after several attempts, Lukali's eyes fluttered open, his expression filled with pain and drowsiness.
"What happened…ooh."
As Lukali tried to get up, he suddenly clutched the right side of his chest before falling back down on his back.
"Are you in pain?"
After seeing his reaction, Rian couldn't stop himself from asking, before he lightly took Lukali's hand from his shoulder.
"Pain? Good gods…I feel like a bolder just crushed me underfoot. No-more like a mountain."
Scoffing at his answer, Rian nodded his head.
"Yeah, it will feel like that. But hey, since you can complain about it so openly, I guess you're fine then?"
"Fine? I mean, I'm not dying so I guess you could say that."
Letting out a low groan, Rian shifted his right shoulder, his face grimacing in pain.
"But I am in pain, that much is true."
Before Lia could even speak, or give her thanks to the gods that Lukali had survived, Kal had appeared on the other side of Lukali, more silent than a mouse.
Kal gestured to Lukali's right shoulder, as if asking to see it. But Lukali, who had not yet met Cain, was more than caught off guard when Kal appeared beside him.
"Who…"
Lia took Lukali's hand to calm him down, stopping him mid sentence as he trailed off from his thoughts.
"Who is this?"
Rian was about to answer him, the words on the tip of his tongue, but Lia stopped him, and spoke in his stead.
"He's my summons."
The statement not only caught Rian off guard for its obvious lie, but Lia could see a twinge of some foreign emotion in his face, before it disappeared.
"Oh...alright then."
Hearing her blatant lie, Lukali believed every word of it, and let down his guard around Kal, who took his right shoulder in his hands. Applying some vial of medicine onto the deep bruise that was showing on his skin, Kal was careful not to cause Lukali any pain.
Taking this opportunity to talk with Rian, Lia turned her head and whispered into his ear.
"I thought it was better to tell him this much. We don't have the time to sit here and explain everything to him."
Nodding his head, Rian whispered back in understanding.
"Alright. It's your choice in the end."
Lia was grateful that Rian was so understanding, especially when he didn't seem to question why she was lying to someone he considered her friend.
But Lia had more important things to focus on, especially when dealing with Lukali.
"Are you absolutely sure you're alright?"
"Yeah. Thanks to your summons, I don't feel much pain anymore."
Rian took a glance at the vial Kal had given him, and deduced in his head that it must have been a pain killer of some kind. Meaning that the actual problem hadn't been solved , but merely delayed.
However, he decided to log this away in his mind, contrary to his emotions that were yelling at him to help.
"We should get you out of here. Though I have my doubts that the fighting is still going on, it would be best to have him out of here for the time being."
In the end, Rian changed the topic in hopes that it would keep his desires to tell Lukali the truth at bay.
He was really bad at keeping secrets.
"That's a good plan. It's best to keep him away from Ca.."
Lia trailed off as she caught her own words in her mouth.
Leaning over, she whispered in Rian's ear, her voice betraying slight hints of fear and anxiety.
"What about Cain? How do we introduce him to Lukali?"
Similarly Rian whispered back, his voice stern and unafraid.
"It's fine. We just have to get them out of here, not explain ourselves. We can do that later, so just delay everything."
Lukali, taking notice of the two's whispers, became worried that something was wrong. A small growing fear in his chest began to rise.
"Is everything alright?"
He said cautiously, worry easily read across his face.
Seeing his fear, Lia sought for a way to quell his fears, and keep him calm.
"Yeah, everything's fine…"
Lia debated whether or not she should give him some bits of information, just to calm his nerves down, as he was clearly frightened.
'I guess a close run in with death does leave a heavy impression on your mind.'
"...there's just something we need to tell you. But it will have to wait till later, since we're not in the best of positions right now.
As if to prove her point, a loud and booming sound could be heard within the dust cloud, something far beyond their own sight.
-BOOM!
"What the hell?"
Rian cried out, raising his hand to block the oncoming dust cloud that did not spare them like last time.
Surrounded by dust, Lia held tightly onto Lukali's hand, reaching out to grasp Rian's.
But just as Lia was about to question what had happened to cause such a loud sound of destruction, the air around her began to pulsate. And then suddenly, started moving in the opposite direction at a speed that nearly made her lose her balance.
The air felt as if it was being suctioned towards one specific point, like the air blown from a pipe.
-Whoosh!
The result of which, cleared the air of any and all dust and particles that were floating around, having once blocked their vision.
"What was…"
Lia trailed off as the dust cloud disappeared, and her sight retired to a wide open, yet destroyed chamber, filled the brim with fallen rocks and debris, dead spiders, and the occasional corpse of a human.
But none of this is what caught her attention. Instead, it was the lone man, standing beside a broken door.
In the palm of his hand floated a small glowing orb, that caused the area around it to fluctuate, and move in several odd patterns.
"Cain…"
The name came easily, as if she was calling out to a friend, a family member, or a person she had known all her life.
Cain felt like all of them combined.
"...he won."
Scoffing, Rian turned to Lia, his smile betraying the obvious joy and relief he felt, contrary to his words
"I told you he would win."
"Sorry I doubted you."
"Come on, let's go greet him."
Standing up, Rian was about to double back for Lukali, but upon seeing Kal helping the boy up, Rian sighed, failing to stop the smile from appearing on his face.
'Just like a Hunter's party, leaving behind their prey.'
The whole thing didn't necessarily feel nostalgic to him, though he had been in many binds like this one before, but instead it made him feel warm inside.
Hobbling over, and going at a pace that wouldn't rush Lukali in his already injured state, the four made their way over to Cain.
Taking notice of the four coming closer, the orb within his palm flashed before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"I see that you are alright."
Cain said after similarly taking notice of Lukali, who was barley hobbling his way thanks to Kal.
"Uh…Yeah."
Lukali, who was still a bit hesitant at the sight of this new person he had never seen before, merely nodded his head to Cain.
Of course, Cain took no insult to this, deducing that Lia had not yet told him of who he was. A move he would have pushed for anyways given their current predicament.
"You probably have questions, but I'm afraid those will have to wait."
"What do you mean?"
It was Lia who asked this question, as she saw no reason to continue any facade against Lukali, now that the battle was obviously won.
But Cain, having read her thoughts, shook his head, before turning back to Rian.
"Your master sent over a few of the miners. They were supposed to fight beside Alan and his group, but seeing as there is not one dead miner here, they must have held back."
Rian nodded his head, agreeing with Cain's deduction from the battle.
"If what you're saying is true, it's more than likely they'll be coming around soon to check on things."
"Precisely."
Turning to Lia, Cain spoke again, but this time in a sterner tone, telling her that he was serious.
"When they come they will question things, and I have no doubt you will be taken to meet Rian's master. When that happens - rather, before that happens, I would like to go back."
"Back?"
"This isn't up for debate. Right now I am extremely weakened to the point that I have no guarantee that I will survive if we do battle again. Similarly Kal is skillful in indirect attacks, not a head on collision."
Lia turned to Kal as if to ask, but the man simply nodded his head, confirming Cain's words before she could say anything.
"If that's the case then, will this be bad?"
Rather than answering, Cain turned to Rian as if he had the answer.
Taking note of this, Rian answered in Cain's place, knowing full well that he was their only connection to his master, who they feared as of right now.
And fear can compel those to do foolish things in the face of good, but also in the face of evil.
"He isn't dangerous if that's what you're asking. Though he most certainly will be asking you several questions, questions that I can't guarantee you won't be compelled to answer them."
Nodding her head, Lia thought for a moment, her focus turned away from the rest of them.
'It wasn't a question of 'can I?' Cain knows what will happen and he would prefer to go back to that dark place.'
Taking a moment to go over all the information she knew, and the information she had the option of assuming, she came to a conclusion.
'If that's the case, then it's best to listen to him.'
"Alright, you can go back. But please keep aware of the situation, in case I need help."
Turning to Lukali, who was taken by Rian given the situation they now found themselves in, and spoke in a resolving tone.
"What happens next, I need you to just bear with it okay? No matter what, you cannot reveal what you're about to see to the people who will come through that door."
She gestured to the empty door frame, as the actual door had been blown away by Alan and his troops.
Though Lukali looked more than confused, and wary, he trusted Lia and nodded his head in understanding.
"Alright then. Cain?"
Heading her call, Cain's body disappeared into a flash, followed by Kal's who disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
As they both disappeared, Lia watched as the Rune circle on the back of her palm changed from that of a horned creature - which she couldn't name - and a dagger cloaked in fog, before reverting back to its original form.
'I guess different summons have different insignia's.'
Taking her focus away from Rian and Lukali, who held his mouth open in a gape, she turned to the door frame, a look of fierceness in her eyes.
And before long, several men wearing armor similar in design to Rian's 'steampunk' gauntlets, appeared before them, surrounding them with spears and swords.
The leader of this small band of miners came forward, his own weapon slung across his chest.
"Lia I presume?"
She nodded her head to the man's rough and scratchy voice.
"Then follow me."
And with that, he turned his back to her, and walked out, not bothering to wait for an answer.
Because it wasn't a question.
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