Chapter 39: Soir

Lucia held up her good hand to release another blast of flames. The girl interlinked her fingers with Lucia. The fire extinguished. Lucia tried to pull away. The demon grabbed Lucia by the scruff of her neck. Lucia winced. 

"Trying calling me Mistress one time. Let's see how it feels," The demon hissed. "'Mistress Soir, please let me go.' Say it, maybe I'll let you live!"

Lucia inhaled deeply. All she could feel was the fear and anger of her situation. She pushed down her urge to run and tried to concentrate on her mana. The flames began to encase her hand. 

"Oh?" Soir smiled. "That doesn't sound like what I want to hear." She began to tighten her grip. Lucia felt a pop in her hand. 

'Concentrate!' Lucia pleaded to herself.  She pictured the lake the Sword Saint had told her about. A lake whirling in chaos overcome by a terrible storm. She imagined the sky beginning to clear. The last ripples in the surface smoothing out. A serene lake with a perfect blue sky.

Soir glanced down at her hand. "It's starting to tickle. Are you doing that?" Soir released her hand and struck Lucia in the face. Lucia fell to the floor.

"Bad. That's very bad behaviour." Soir continued. She lifted Lucia up by her hair to face her. Soir was about to lay on another blow.  She was suddenly distracted by a fleet of airborne jagged rocks pointing her way. Soir jumped back. The spiked rocks hit the earth where she had been standing. Lucia fell back in the other direction. 

Lucia looked up with one eye open. She wiped the blood trickling down her nose. Clover dashed to her side and pulled her up. 

"It's a demon," Lucia informed Clover. They both look to Soir who was picking herself up across from them. Soir dusted herself down. She laid eyes on Clover. Her face twitched in annoyance.

Soir's gleeful expression became cold. She inhaled thoughtfully. Clover glared back without saying anything. The rest of the knights emerged from the foliage. 

Soir held up both hands. "I guess I'm outmatched. What a pity! I was just beginning to have fun."

The knights stepped toward Soir. With inhuman speed, Soir leapt back onto the overhang of the mine entrance. She stared back to them with dark, hungry eyes before disappearing up beyond the hill behind her.

Lucia breathed a sigh of relief. The moment she let her guard down she fell back into Clover's arms. Clover looked into Lucia's face startled. 

"We should hurry back," Clover instructed the rest of the knights. They picked up Lucia and carried her back to the horses. Lucia remained passed out for the journey back. Clover glanced down at her with anxious concern.

When she next came to, Lucia was back in Veldeer in the healer's tent. A sister was leaning over her. Lucia winced. Her head pounded.

"Oh! Careful there. Lay still," Came a familiar voice. Lucia's right was too swollen to open. She peeked up with her left eye. 

"We must stop meeting like this!" Lucy giggled. She set another pillow behind Lucia's head.

"Lucy..." Lucia breathed heavily. "What are you doing here?"

Lucy smiled sadly. She pressed her hands together. She pushed her small blonde curls behind her ears.

"Actually, I came because of my brother. I wanted to help in some way." Lucy answered finally.

Lucia raised an eyebrow. She had never heard anything about a brother.

"We usually don't tell anyone.  But, since circumstances are so strange I don't think it matters." Lucy continued. "Albaric. Albaric's my brother."

Lucia saw it for the first time. The playful twinkle in their eyes and the flaxen curly locks were undoubtedly the same. Lucia felt at once comforted yet guilty. Albaric and the members of the court still hadn't been found.

"I'm sorry but we didn't find anything," Lucia explained.

Lucy shook her head.

"You don't have to apologise to me. At least, you're trying. I know we'll find them eventually." Lucy affirmed. She had Albaric's quiet sense of reassurance and self-possession.

The Sword Saint, however, was less amicable. He stormed into the tent summarily. Clover followed behind. Their eyes lit up seeing Lucia awake.

"I specifically told you this was a scouting mission and you were not to engage the demons," Valentus barked. 

"I thought it was Neri," Lucia answered.

"Did the demon knock you over the head? What part did you not understand?" Valentus retorted. "You better get ready. As soon as you can stand, I'm gonna have you shovelling shit out of the privy!" Valentus marched out of the tent. Lucy gave a shy smile before following him out. Lucia and Clover were left alone in the tent.

"He's just rattled cause you got injured." Clover laughed. The conversation lulled into an awkward silence. Lucia sat herself up as best she could.

"You saved my life," Lucia said to Clover seriously. "Even after I doubted you back there, you still came back for me. Thank you."

Clover's cheeks turned pink.  They averted their gaze. "You would have done the same for me."

---------------------------

Over the next few weeks, the Sword Saint kept his promise. Lucia was made to the worst jobs available. Her training became twice as hard. She began to wonder if the Sword Saint was actually trying to kill her. 

Meanwhile, Michael and Clover continued their own training. Between their extended periods going over the wizard's notes and Clover's ad hoc lessons, Michael began to understand more about magic. 

"It took the Cirillian wizard an enormous amount of mana to seal the door. As his only blood relative, you will have to be the one who actually does the sealing. This is why we have to increase your mana." Clover explained.

Michael sighed. "How can we do that in such a short period of time?"

Clover smiled mischievously. "Usually mana builds over time, but as you say we have to speed up the process. I know of a way to do this..."

"...but?" Michael anticipated.

"It's risky." Clover played with a lock of their hair. "I can give you a boost with my mana. However, if you can handle it, it could be fatal." Clover looked into Michael's eyes to read his reaction. Michael paced the length of the study.

He never knew the old man had such high expectations for him. If anything, the wizard had always appeared disappointed by Michael. In fact, this whole time, the wizard always intended for Michael to carry on his legacy. If only the wizard hadn't died so suddenly. Michael had so many questions he wanted to ask.

Michael never cared much for what other people thought of him. His expectations for himself always came from his own desire to push himself. Yet, despite their differences, it meant something to Michael that the wizard had believed in him enough to leave this task. 

What's more, Michael hated the idea of the demons getting their way. Not after they had killed DB. Michael breathed in deeply and turned to Clover.

"I'll do it." He declared.

The corner's of Clover's mouth twisted into a grin. Clover held out both palms face up. 

"We'll try a little at a time. This might sting a bit." Clover beckoned Michael toward them.

Michael placed his hands on Clover's. He closed his eyes. At first, it felt cold and sharp. It was like diving into the icy water. Michael breathed through the discomfort. Behind his eyelids, deep inside the solid black depths, a light began to shine. It grew brighter and brighter. 

Before Michael knew it, he found himself in a field of wildflowers. He didn't know how he came to be there but somehow he felt his body begin to move. In the distance was one great towering tree. An oak tree so broad it cast a ten-foot shadow all around. The trunk of the tree was the size of five men. 

Michael wandered underneath the shade of the great tree. He heard the sound of a flute being played. He followed the noise around to the other side of the tree. A woman with jet white hair and sparkling red eyes looked up to him. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She held the pipe to her lips and played the tune again.

Michael was about to reach out to the woman when he felt a sharp tug from behind. He flew black spiralling into the darkness. His eyes shot open. Clover pulled their hands away. It took a moment for Michael to adjust. 

"Well, how do you feel?" Clover asked.

Michael blinked still in a daze. "I feel the same."

"Good. Then it worked," Clover asked, stretching their arms back. 

"I feel like I saw something strange," Michael said half to himself. 

Clover's eyes narrowed but their smile remained the same.

"Oh? What did you see?" Clover questioned.

"A woman. She kind of looked like you." Michael met Clover's eyes.

"Well sharing mana is a very intimate act," Clover winked. Michael's brow furrowed. 

"It's not totally unheard of one person to see parts of another person's memories." Clover dismissed.

Michael felt like asking another question. However, he could tell Clover was already putting a wall up between them.