Epilogue: A new mistery

"... and as soon as morning came they took me to the arena, and we finally met again. You know the rest"

Haku looked at Darbi with wide eyes. He had hardly uttered a word since his brother started speaking. "Did you really do all this?"

"Well, I didn't do much actually. Most of the work was done by the others" Darbi answered. "Besides, we've also had a lot of luck. Were it not for the help of those adventurers it would have taken us a lot longer to locate you and the portable gate. Therefore we can say that..."

"That's not what I meant" Haku interrupted. "I meant... did you do all this... for me? You could have gone away, reached a safe place like we planned... and instead you stayed here, for a whole year, and blended into human society... just for me?"

Darbi was silent for a moment, then jerked around and punched him in the face. The impact was so strong that Haku's head moved a few inches, and the sound reverberated throughout the dormitory. When the other gladiators heard this, they looked at Darbi as if he were crazy, expecting to see him devoured at any moment. Instead, Haku's only reaction was: "Ouch! And what was that for?"

"Because you are an idiot!" Darbi answered angrily. "Did you really think we abandoned you? Did you think we'd go our own way, leaving you here, a prisoner of newcomers?"

"I didn't say that. I never thought you abandoned me, I just thought you thought I was dead and went on your way" Haku replied rubbing the affected spot. "But still…after what had happened between me and Rhaegal and the others before…I didn't think you'd go that far to…"

"Haku, you are our brother! Put this in your head: we love you!" Darbi said. "No matter how many mistakes you make or how many times we fight amongst ourselves, we will never leave you in the hands of the newcomers! You wouldn't do it for us, why do you think we would do it for you?"

Haku didn't know what to answer. Taking his silence as a surrender, Darbi sighed. "When we get your ass out of this place, we'll all have a good talk. This has got to stop and you have to get into your head that the bond that binds us isn't something that can be broken. It doesn't matter if Rhaegal and the others they are angry with you or even fear you, they would never leave you here. This is an absolute truth, and all the work we have done in the last year is tangible proof of that"

Haku looked down. During the course of that year he had often thought of his siblings, and had always imagined them at the Thul Oasis, unaware that he was still alive, intent on enjoying life without fear. However, he had often found himself wondering what they would do if they knew he was still alive. Part of him knew they wouldn't abandon him… but how could he be sure? They had already abandoned him once, albeit under completely different circumstances. And he clearly remembered Tikka and Teramon's look when they had come to tell Kotaru about the great basilisk: those eyes full of fear and hostility still haunted him in his nightmares. And as a result, he'd often wondered if his siblings weren't secretly happy that he was dead. Surely they would feel great pain, there was no doubt… but maybe, deep down, they would feel relief at the thought of not having to be afraid of him anymore.

But he was wrong. He was completely wrong. They hadn't abandoned him. Despite all the mistakes he'd made, despite all he'd done to them, they'd come to save him. They hadn't even thought for an instant of running away and leaving him there, they had never remembered what he had done, they had never spoken of the fear he instilled in them; they had just come to save him. This brought out a strange warmth in Haku's chest, not a malignant warmth as he often felt when he was angry, but a benign one, like a warm blanket enveloping him.

In the end he shook his head. He should have apologized to them, for that and many other things, but now wasn't the time to think about that. His logic got the better of his emotions again, and he immediately focused on the more important matter. "Tell me about the plan, please" he asked Darbi.

His brother nodded, pleased with the change of subject. "We have studied everything in detail. As I already explained to you, what we have to do is allow Maldor to steal the portable gate, cross the whole city and come here. Unfortunately, Maldor has already confirmed that the laboratories of the academy are monitored periodically, just like the arena, so it will be impossible for her to steal the portable gate silently. Therefore, what we need to do is to draw the attention of the authorities elsewhere"

Darbi began drawing a sort of map on the ground. "At the moment, there are several armed forces in the capital. The most difficult and dangerous ones to manage will be the legendary levels. As you well know, there are three legendary levels in this kingdom, namely Carrion, Hara and Thornag. Carrion is currently not a problem, because he is busy with the military managing the pacification of the Baudonia City Alliance. As a result, we only have to worry about two legendary levels. Of course we don't have to defeat them, just lure them away and make sure to keep them busy for a while. The first one we'll get rid of will be Thornag"

Darbi pointed to the royal palace, or rather the scribble he had drawn that was supposed to symbolize the royal palace. "First, Sisna, Glausar, Maleficent and Jatara will attack the royal palace, and possibly the king as well. We have studied a way to deal with most of the guards, even if they are level adamantium, so Thornag will be forced to intervene. A that point, we will initiate the second attack" and he pointed to another point on the patchy map he had drawn. "Tikka, Teramon and Keita will attack the Academy of Magic, and Kotaru will also join them, and they will force Hara to focus on them. Maldor will take advantage of the chaos to steal the portable gate, since he now knows exactly how to do it. With the mages busy protecting the students, it will be easy for her to do so and escape before anyone realizes her absence. At this point clearly the entire capital will be in turmoil, so all the armed forces will go into action". He pointed another place. "Rhaegal, Corgorin and Serengal will take care of the adventurers guild, and they already have a plan on how to do it, and when they have settled them they will go to support one of the other groups. And finally, Kialandì, Malchia and Finiar will attract the attention of the guards in the streets. In this way, all the armed forces present in the capital will be engaged, and Maldor will be able to get to the arena easily"

Haku listened to everything very carefully, and when Darbi finished, he found no flaw in that plan. Though Darbi hadn't explained the details well, her tone was so confident that Haku became convinced that others like Rhaegal, Sisna, and Kotaru had thought of them. "It's a good plan" he admitted. "But I don't understand. You said that I too would have a role. What would it be?"

"Nothing escapes you, as usual. Well yes, you will have a role... and I, of course, will help you since my avatar is here with you" Darbi answered. "You see, when the capital is under attack, the arena will also go into emergency mode. This means that a magical barrier will immediately be erected around it and it will be impossible to both enter and exit. And there is no way to open it from the external. Do you understand what I mean?"

Haku understood very well. "You and I will have to deactivate the barrier to allow Maldor to enter"

"Exactly. Which will mean that we will have to face dozens if not hundreds of guards, fight like few times before, and many other things" Darbi replied. "Basically we're going to throw a nice party"

Haku wasn't very convinced. "I admire your bloodlust, brother, but I'm not sure that we will be able to succeed in our task. Maybe you didn't know it, but the arena is built like a fortress. Fighting in these small corridors will be difficult and we will have to deal with many guards with a high level of strength. Even if your avatar had a mana core of level adamantium, succeeding in this feat would not be easy at all. To be sure of success we would need..."

"...an army" Darbi anticipated him with a smile. "We know. That's why the others sent me here so early. We need to build an army"

Haku didn't understand right away, but after a few seconds everything was clear to him. "Are you suggesting..."

"Exactly. Look around" Darbi said, pointing to the other gladiators in the dormitory. "We are in a place full of outcast warriors who would do anything to escape this shitty place. And not only that. There are beasts locked up in dungeons who just wish they could be free again. And this place is full of armories… if we play our cards right, we can transform this pack of troglodyte fighters into an army that will allow us to conquer the arena in time for Maldor to bring us the portable gate". A smile appeared on his brother's face. "Outside these walls they call you 'the king of the arena', brother. I say that the time has come for the king to lead his subjects to battle"

Haku smiled back. "I like it. It won't be easy, but we can do it if we play our cards right. You said we have a week, right?"

"Exactly. But if necessary, I will tell the others to postpone the attack" Darbi replied.

Haku shook his head. "We'll try not to waste too much time. I want to get out of here" he said. "I'm glad you'll be here to help me, brother"

"That's what family is for, isn't it?" Darbi laughed patting him on the shoulder.

Haku felt his heart pounding in his chest. It was like stepping back in time to when he and Darbi hunted alone in their mother's territory and supported each other. Now it was the same situation again, with the difference that they would have to fight against more dangerous enemies. But the plan was good, and it could work.

Haku had never felt closer to freedom than in that moment since he was captured. He hadn't been able to come up with an efficient escape plan in a whole year, and what little he'd been able to come up with now seemed like rubbish. He would never have escaped if not for the help of his siblings, he had to admit; and for some reason he didn't feel angry or disappointed in himself, but on the contrary could only feel happiness in knowing that his brothers and sisters were there to save him, and that they had come up with a perfect plan to do it. Soon he would be free again, and he would be with them again. He would be happy again.

However, there was something troubling him. It wasn't a detail of the plan, but of the story that Darbi had told him.

It was about the fairy magic. Based on what Maldor had discovered, and what Darbi had explained to him, it was actually a by-product of light magic, one of the bestowed spells of the gods. Which meant things like runes were related to the gods. And there was one in particular that immediately jumped into Haku's mind...

The nullification rune. The rune that wiped out mana, stripping the magic and powers of those affected by it. Even dragons weren't completely immune to it. And apparently, that was a power bestowed by the gods.

But Haku had heard of a similar situation before, where a light stripped the mana of anything it could hit. His mother had told him about it some time ago, and Haku wondered how he hadn't thought of this sooner. There had been a time in the history of the world where all mana had vanished from the surface... and coincidentally that was due to a light...

'If the nullification rune and the gods are connected, then the gods possess the power to wipe out mana... but then... is it possible that... the gods and the catastrophe of the second sun are connected?'