Blood of Decusia

Chapter Twelve

"That's impossible," I muttered, "He's dead. He died."
    Adolphus shook his head somberly.
    "No," he said, "He survived, how I don't know, but he did. He never told me."
    "Wait," I exclaimed, "You knew him?"
    "Yes," he said softly, "He lived here, for years actually."
    "Here? He was here?"
    "He didn't tell me who he was when he arrived; just told me his first name, but I had my suspicions. He looked exactly like Alex, but I didn't want to push it on him, because he seemed so broken and lost.
    He was so like his father, though. The determination, the natural skill, the humor that hid the pain on the inside."
    I sunk onto the bed, like a balloon who's air had been let out.
    "He survived," I whispered, "He survived and left me."
    Adolphus grabbed my hand.
    "Clove," he said, "You have to know that leaving you behind destroyed your brother. It haunted him."
    "How do you know that? You didn't even know him, who he really was or who I was."
    "Because even though he was broken, he would fight like he had something to live for. He was fighting for you, Clove."
    "But why did he leave me?"
    The tears were threatening to burst through.
    "I thought I lost everything that night!" I cried, "I was completely alone! He let me believe that he was dead! When he wasn't! He was here!"
    "I'm sorry," he said, "I can't imagine what that was like and I know it's difficult to understand, but he did it to protect you."
    "Protect me?"
    "This fire," he said, "You weren't there, correct?"
    I furrowed my brow.
    "Yeah," I answered, "I was at a friend's house."
    He sighed.
    "Clove," he said, slowly, "this fire was no accident. It was deliberately set, your parents were murdered."
    "That's ridiculous!" I said, "It was an accident. A faulty space heater."
    "No," he said, "Now I never met your mother, but I have known your father since he was a child. It had to be something powerful. It was intentionally set."
    "By who?" I asked, more confused than ever, "Who would want to murder my parents?"
    He looked me dead in the eyes.
    "I think you know the answer to that. I think it's the reason that you're here right now."
    I did. Someone who had been haunting me since I arrived.
"Dominius," I whispered.
    "I believe he was after the stone and was determined to eliminate anyone who tried to prevent him from doing that: which unfortunately included your parents."
    "I don't understand," I said, "How did he escape? And where is he, why did he leave?"
    "I don't know," he answered, "Your brother told me very little before he left. He revealed his real name and what happened to his parents, which at that point almost everyone in the camp suspected, because after being with us for a few years, he was the spitting image of his father.
    He revealed to me in confidence who he believed murdered them and he believed that Dominius was planning to storm Majestas with the goal of taking the Bellatoro."
    "The other stone?" I asked, "The one from King?"
    Adolphus nodded.
    "He convinced me and the others that the only way to stop him was to attack before he could. It seemed like a sound idea. We didn't know much about the Malum, but we had only had a few run-ins. We expected our numbers to greatly overpower theirs.
    So your brother led an expedition into Tenebris. His first and only one. We were greatly outnumbered. Dark and horrible creatures came out of the mountains by the thousands and we lost many of our soldiers. We tried to call for a retreat, but Sage called for a push and trusting him, we did, which cost us greatly."
    Hearing this version of my brother didn't feel real. I couldn't see him as a leader of an army.
    "What happened?"
    "Your brother failed to tell us, even me, his true intentions."
    A thought struck me.
    "He was going after Dominius," I answered.
    "This was a mission of revenge, not a duty to his country. We finally managed a retreat, but lost many fine soldiers."
    Marcus's face flashed in my mind. The pain on his face when I mentioned my family and his weird behavior the next day, why he didn't tell me about my father and brother.
    "Marcus," I whispered, "He lost someone, didn't he?"
    Adolphus sighed and nodded.
    "His father, Conan," he answered, "He was a great man and soldier. Marcus took it really hard, especially after losing his mother and brother when she was in childbirth a few years prior."
    His father, Marcus's father, had died in that battle. The battle that was led and started by my brother. I didn't know this Sage, this revenge-bound bloodthirsty Sage, who's unwavering focus led to so many deaths.
    "Where is he?" I asked, not really excited to hear the answer, "What happened to him?"
    Adolphus, who already had a somber expression on his face, seemed to grow even sadder.
    "For his deceit and his utter lack of safety for his tribe, he was to put on trial," he sighed, "But the night before he was to face the council, he vanished and hasn't been seen since."
    "So you don't know where he is?"
    I'm not sure whether I really wanted to see him after everything he had done. All of the lives he destroyed in his quest for vengeance. I know he must've been broken after the death of our parents, especially if he knew it was a murder, but to go this far? I could feel the anger, the hatred for Dominus burning through me, as well. But was it hot enough for me to endanger the lives of others like they were pawns in a chess match? He was my blood, that disregard could be inside me.
    As if he could read my thoughts, Adolphus put a hand on my shoulder.
    "Clove," he said, "I know what I've told you about your brother must be upsetting, but I need you to know that he had the biggest heart of any man I knew. He made a mistake, an immense, unforgivable one, but a mistake like you and me have made. He let his ambitions control his life and paid for the price of that. But, he's just someone who lost everything and is hurting, I'm sure you can understand that?"
    I understood what he was trying to say, but it was hard for me to get past it. My memories of my brother were him telling these elaborate stories of magical lands, helping me ride my bike, and baking cookies with me on Sunday afternoons. My Sage wasn't the type to be responsible for the death of so many.
    "So you haven't seen him in years?" I asked, pushing those thoughts away.
    "No," he said, "He's disappeared."
    "What if he went back?" I asked, "To face Dominius?"
    "That's very possible," he said.
    "Why doesn't anyone go after him?" I snapped, standing up, "He could be dead!"
    "Because we don't know what happened to him," he explained, "We don't know if he went back."
    "But what if he did?" I urged, "Sir, there's something not right here. Dominius brought me here, he wants the stones and he'll stop at anything to get them. This isn't just about me and this stone, but it's about the one in Majestas too. You all are in as much danger as I am."
    "There's not a soul out there you can convince to go back into those mountains," he explained calmly, "We're ready on the defense, but the mountains are too dangerous to go in blind."
    "But-."
    "I'm sorry, Clove."
    I sank back on the bed. After a long pause, he continued.
    "Listen, I may not be able to give you an army, but I can give you something better. If what you're saying is true, and I have no doubt that it is, you'll need something more powerful than an army. You'll need the power of a myth on your side."
    "The stone," I whispered, putting a hand to my necklace, "But-."
    "Not one," he said, "Two."
    "Two? How-?"
    "You're going to need the Bellatoro."
"What?"
    I opened my mouth to say more, but Adolphus held up his hand.
    "Listen, Clove. If what you're saying is true and he has the Umbra, then you can't stop him with only one stone. You need the Bellatoro in order to truly overpower him."
    "Do you have it?" I asked, "I thought it was still with the King."
    I could see his jaw tighten, as if he was holding some anger back.
    "It is," he said, "You need to go to Majestas and get it."
    Majestas: where the King and his family lived. Where they had guarded that stone for centuries, maybe longer. It was a part of their legend, a thing of myths, there's no way they would just hand it over, especially to someone from the Other World.
    "It will take some convincing," Adolphus said, as if he could read my thoughts, "But if he's wise, he'll recognize the threat. Tell him I sent you and show him this."
    He handed me back the picture of him and my father.
    "And that," he pointed to the necklace.
    "And if he doesn't?"
    This whole plan sounded crazy, everything that had happened to me over the past two days seemed crazy. But deep in my bones, I knew the answer to my question before Adolphus even answered. He looked at me, his eyes hard and sharp jaw set.
    "Then Decusia will be consumed by the darkness, and everyone with it."