Blood of the Merciless

Chapter Twenty-Six

26.

It was near the summit of the mountain that Florian finally woke up. They had been hiking for a few days. No one seemed to be following them, Alaric permitted them to slow their pace a little. Throughout the few days, Florian had been getting progressively better. The bleeding had completely stopped and the hole in his torso closed up. It left a bad scar, however. Ashe stood hovering over Florian along with Alaric and Everard when his eyes began fluttering open. Savia had been further back checking their surroundings. Florian coughed roughly as he woke up. She carefully lifted his head and began pouring water into his mouth. They had acquired the water when they found the Gwyn River's source. With Florian's thirst quenched, he began to look at them.

"I...am...sorry...I...couldn't...beat...him." Florian's voice came just a little higher than a whisper. His voice had been hoarse.

"Shhhhh...don't speak." Ashe calmly caresses him on the head.

"And you are wrong, you beat Chapman. You did a wonderful job." Alaric smiled at him.

Florian's eyes widened at his remark.

Everard nodded. "You sliced him right in two."

Florian broke eye contact and looked downwards.

Alaric bent and ruffled Florian's curly hair. "It is okay, we are safe right now. You should just focus on healing."

Florian nodded.

Alaric and Everard walked away towards Savia. She stayed with Florian. She moved behind him and placed his head on her legs. She looked out at the now darkened landscape they found themselves in. Mountains blocked their vision on both sides, blocking them from seeing the horizon. Alaric had said Adhu Aqua would be on the other side of the mountain.

"I...shouldn't...have...been...able...to..hit...Chapman...from...that...distance." "How...am...I...not...dead."

"I wasn't there but I will try to explain." Ashe motioned for him to look at Everard.

"He was there when you fought Chapman, right?"

Florian nodded.

"He is also the one that kept you alive. He has some sort of healing capability. I think Alaric called it Desano."

"Why?"

Ashe shrugged. "We didn't ask." Ashe pointed at the crimson blade that had laid next to Florian. "That blade was the reason you beat Chapman. Apparently, that blade is part of Heinzidal's Arsenal."

Ashe could sense Florian's confusion.

"It is one of twenty legendary weapons that Heinzidal owned. Each requires a large amount of stria and stamina to even wield. Most of them are kept by the Zidal Empire but a few of them are still missing. This one included."

Florian had a confused look on his face. Ashe chuckled.

"At least that is what I was told."

Ashe filled Florian in on the happenings of the past few days. At some point, Florian fell asleep and she followed quickly after him.

The next morning the group began their trek once again. Alaric carried Flroian on his back. If he had been struggling he did not mention it. A few hours into their trek they reached the summit. The view from the summit had been breathtaking. All that effort climbing the mountain seemed to disappear when she laid her eyes on the stunning visual.

The Great City of Adhu Aqua could be seen from the summit. It defied any expectations Ashe had. Isern had been a speck of dust compared to Adhu Aqua. Ashe had always thought Isern had been large, especially compared to what she knew about in Diable Island and Nezzagwyn. Adhu Aqua was a real city about one hundred times larger than Isern. Even being this far from the city she could see that the entire city had been made of tall buildings with slanted roofs. It looked as if it would take an entire day and then some to cross the city by foot. The entire city had been inside a huge wall. She assumed they could only see beyond the wall because they had been on top of the mountain. Closer to them had been cultivated fields that looked like patterns that had been drawn onto the ground. Of all the buildings within the city walls, there had been one building that made the rest look like dwarves. It was the furthest north and looked like a castle from the fairy tales that Alaric read to her when they were younger. Behind the castle was the sole reason she had been speechless. At first glance, she assumed it was a void. It was a lake. The small movement made certain of that fact. It stretched further than she could see. There had been dark clouds covering the sky above Adhu Aqua and heavy rain poured down onto the city.