[Kara] Chapter 15: Celebrations (Patreon)

“What makes a hero?”

The little girl asked as she stood at the edge of the valley before the burning city. It hadn’t been a large city by any means. Perhaps there had been about ten thousand souls living there before. But now they were all gone. And in their stead, nightmares ran amok.

She saw the twisted creatures that moved like shadows. They blended in with the darkness of night, and they swarmed the ruined buildings, their screeches echoing throughout the valley. The raging fire crackled, and a tower collapsed.

“Have I not explained this to you before, Eve?” a voice replied.

The little girl turned to face her companion. He wore dark rags that covered parts of his body, and his skin was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Only his right eye was visible. And he spoke in a muffled voice.

“A hero is someone who shows bravery in the face of adversity. It is a term often used to praise individuals who have successfully demonstrated their abilities against a great enemy—”

“I understand that,” she replied, cutting him off. Her eyes darted towards the edge of the burning city, and she saw hundreds of corpses lying there in a haphazard pile. “But I do not understand what compels them to act. I do not understand the logic behind their actions.”

She tilted her head back and stared at the artificial glow of twilight that painted the sky. Her companion peered at her quizzically. And she spoke softly.

“There are innumerable tales that talk of great heroes who risk their lives to fell a terrible beast. Even when the odds aren’t in their favor, they throw themselves into danger to save those they love. They risk their lives— their everything— to protect those around them. Some even go as far as to sacrifice themselves to make the world a better place.”

Her eyes glinted as a name crossed her mind. A figure that was revered throughout history by all of Xantos.

Her companion vocalized that name for her. “He Who Stole Magic From The Gods.”

“Yes,” she said as she lowered her head. “Even His actions elude me. I cannot comprehend them. He gave His everything to create the System, all just to empower humankind. He was a god, but He chose to become nothing at all for those who can only remember him. He sacrificed Himself, and for what?”

Staring at the palm of her hand, her vision began to blur. She tried to understand the logic behind it. She tried to find the reason behind His actions. But she failed to comprehend it. Her hands trembled as she shook her head.

“He never got to see the results of His labor. He never even knew if He succeeded. He never got to see this world of humans He helped create. For all He knew, humankind could still have been destroyed, even with the System. But even knowing nothing, He still sacrificed Himself for them.”

She looked up to meet the gaze of her watchful companion. He did not utter a word. He remained standing in place, even as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her breathing quickened, and she barely managed to find her voice.

“Isn’t that… sad?” she asked as her lips quivered.

Her companion didn’t respond. She gritted her teeth, and she looked up at him expectantly.

“So tell me, Adam: what is it that makes someone a hero?”

Eve waited. But her companion still refused to say a word. She saw the way he ignored her question. She saw the way his single eye remained shut. And finally, she snapped.

“Answer me!” she shouted.

Her voice resounded throughout the valley. The last of the standing buildings in the burning city collapsed. The nightmares flocking through the rubble fled. Her gaze pierced into her companion. And he looked up as his single eye opened.

“It is belief that makes a hero,” he answered.

And Eve blinked at his response. “What?”

He took a step forward as he raised his arms to his sides. She stared at him, and he drew out a pool of light from the corpses. It was a wispy aura that waded through the air like water. An amorphous shape at first. Until he began to mold it into something else.

“It is their innate belief in themselves that they can protect their friends. It is their belief that their friends will not fail them should they fall. And it is belief that is the core of a soul.”

Adam spoke as he continued to weave the vast amalgamation of light into a bloated figure. Dozens of shadowed tendrils carried its body. It was a creature so large that it could have crushed a small city with its size alone. But despite its bulbous shape, it was not disgusting or gross to see, for it wore the night sky on its skin.

“After all, belief can even make gods from mortals,” Adam said as he took a step back, admiring his creation. Then he turned to Eve as the shadows hiding in the city emerged once more. They swarmed around him as he nodded at the little girl. “But before we can believe, first we must dream. For without dreams, what are we to believe in?”

Adam strode forward as she stared at him with round eyes.

“That is why I want you to dream with me, Eve.”

He craned his neck back, facing her with the bandaged side of his face.

“And then we can become more than heroes.”

He proffered a hand for her to follow, and she closed her eyes. She looked down at herself for a long moment, before she nodded.

Adam finished, “We can become gods.”

And Eve accepted his hand, following after him as the two Dreamers continued into the night.

—---

It had been a few days since Kara and Caius worked together to defeat Levi in battle atop the battlements of Alyona. Because of their actions there, they had been declared as heroes. A celebration was even thrown in their names, much to their surprises.

Despite knowing Koros for nearly ten years now, Caius never knew what to expect from the Dark Lord. They were close— certainly, most people would consider them to be close enough to be friends. After all, if talking to someone for the better part of a decade didn’t constitute as a friendship, then what did?

But Caius was no ordinary person. For one, he was an elf. And he was a young one at that. So he was acutely aware of just how fleeting friendships could be at this stage of his life. To get too attached to others at his age would result in only pain and grief, for he would outlive most people ten times over.

It was his parents who hammered this idea in his mind from as far back as he could remember— to befriend only elves to avoid the sadness that came from losing friends of other species to old age.

However, perhaps this lesson wouldn’t have stuck to him as strongly as it did if he hadn’t experienced what he did twenty years ago. Back when he had lost everything the first time around. When everyone he knew and loved was killed. When his past life had been taken from him by force.

His eyes flickered as he walked through the streets of Alyona. He saw the bustling crowds. He heard the shouts of hawkers and street vendors. He could even smell the faint dank scent of the glow moss growing across the walls of the cavern holding the city. But where he looked, all he saw was another Sanctuary City.

Caius paused for a moment as his breathing quickened. He still remembered that day. The words of Dark Lord Adam reverberated in his mind. Through his very soul. Then he saw the ruins. He recalled the screams—

And he shook his head, breaking out of his stupor as he spotted a commotion breaking out up ahead. He watched as a young minotaur— barely a teenager— was surrounded and harassed by a group of teenage dark elves.

“This one begs you to stop—” the young minotaur started.

But the dark elf teens ripped the bag of coins out of his hand.

“Now how did a minotaur like you get so much money, huh?” one of the dark elf teens asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” another one said. “He obviously stole it!”

“This one can assure you his parents acquired his coins through legal means,” the young minotaur argued meekly. “Please return the coins back to this one.”

“Why should we—” the lead teen dark elf laughed.

And Caius stepped forward, grabbing the coin pouch in one swift motion. “I’ll be taking this.”

“What…?” The group of dark elf teens stared in confusion.

Caius simply handed the coins back to the young minotaur. “Here you go.”

“This one thanks you very much.” The young minotaur bowed his head.

“Now get out of here,” Caius said, waving a hand dismissively.

And the young minotaur listened. The group of dark elf teens glared angrily at the elf.

“You—” one of them started.

But Caius drew his bow from his back. “Is something the matter?” he asked, nocking an arrow dangerously onto his weapon.

The dark elf teens paled. Then they began to back away, before their leader scowled.

“You’re lucky you’re favored by the Dark Lord! Otherwise, we’d teach you a lesson!”

“I’m sure you will.” Caius scoffed as he watched them go.

Was there a reason why he did all this— why he always went out of his way to help others? Well, he couldn’t give a genuine answer. He always made up some sort of excuse that was different each time. Even though he tried his best not to care about the people of this city.

He still helped them.

Caius dusted his hands off, continuing towards the tallest tower in the city. There were twenty-one of these thin towers scattered across the main section of Alyona. All except for one belonged to a captain of the army.

Although… most of them could scarcely ever be found in their towers, too preoccupied with their duties. For example, Hayder was typically manning the walls, while someone like Bushra guarded the outpost at the very back of the upper tunnels, keeping watch for monsters coming from beneath that could threaten the city.

The only one who could often be found at their tower was Dark Lord Koros himself. And that was who Caius was going to pay a visit.

“How are you doing, my most definitely not a friend, Dark Lord?” Caius asked.

And Koros looked up from his desk. The elf had snuck in through the window like he normally did, and now, he was sitting on the windowsill as he held up a stick of centipede eyes.

“Hungry?” he offered the skewer. “It’s a traditional troll dish, from what I hear.”

“No thanks.” Koros shook his head and returned to work.

Caius shrugged. “More for me, I guess.”

The two of them said nothing more for a few minutes. Koros signed a handful of documents, while Caius finished his stick of centipede eyes. Until, finally, a rapping on the door came.

“Dark Lord,” a muffled voice called out from the outside of the room. “Architect Magus Uzbug is here to speak with you.”

And Koros rose to his feet. “Let her know I am on my way.”

“Yes, Dark Lord.”

Caius watched as Koros stood up and got ready. Neither of them exchanged a word, even as the Dark Lord grabbed his helmet, about to leave. It was only when he reached the doorway, did the elf pipe up.

“So… a dragonsoul, huh?”

Koros paused. He craned his neck back to face the elf sitting there with a grin.

“I do not know what you are talking about,” the Dark Lord eventually replied, looking back towards the doorway.

“Come on, she already revealed it to me,” Caius said as he waved a hand off. “There’s no need to be secretive with me. Aren’t we friends?”

“You just said I wasn’t your friend,” Koros stated flatly.

Caius harrumphed jokingly. “And this is why we aren’t friends— you refuse to tell me anything!”

The Dark Lord rolled his eyes at that. He spun around and faced the sitting elf.

“Even if Kara hypothetically did have a dragonsoul, what difference does it make? I see no reason why I should divulge this information to you.”

“Well, it would have made coming up with a plan to defeat Levi a lot more easier,” Caius said simply.

Koros closed his eyes and sighed, “First of all, you were never supposed to interfere with that human thief. You could have died.”

“You keep treating me like a child even though I’m nearly twice your age.” The elf pouted over exaggeratedly, trying to mask the hint of truth in his words.

“Secondly, the outcome remains the same, whether or not I told you anything,” the Dark Lord continued. “Is that not what you told Captain Hayder just the other day?”

A small smile slipped onto his face as he glanced back fractionally. Caius blinked, then scowled at that.

“That’s not fair— you can’t use my own words against me,” the elf said as he crossed his arms. “And it’s under a completely different context. So it doesn’t apply at all.”

“But it’s true. You succeeded in taking down that human thief. And now the people of the city have finally accepted both you and Kara.” The Dark Lord pulled the door open, ready to leave.

Caius crossed his arms at that. “I’m going to be honest, I really don’t care about being accepted by the people of this city. I know I say that a lot. But you know me— that’s just an excuse. So I don’t get why you threw that celebration for us. I did all this so the other captains could get off my ass for always causing trouble.”

“I’m glad to hear that then,” Koros said, looking back one last time. He smirked as he started out the doorway. “Because I didn’t throw that celebration for you either. I needed an easy way to get word out there of Levi’s involvement in the deaths of those orcs, and everybody loves a good party. It keeps the people happy, especially after the riots.”

“Wait, what?” Caius blinked.

And the Dark Lord exited the room, closing the door behind him. The elf remained sitting there for a while, before he snorted.

“...I should’ve expected that.”

That was another reason why Caius found it hard to describe their relationship as ‘friendship’. While Koros had chosen to take the elf under his direct care, that wasn’t the full picture either. Like much of the Dark Lord’s actions, the reasoning behind it was multifaceted.

After all, having an elf in Alyona protected them from coming into conflict with the other Sanctuary Cities. While they might have all been safe havens in the Xor-In Mountains, that didn’t mean that there was always peace between them. But they all recognized the importance of ensuring the continued survival of elvenkind.

And that was why Caius didn’t believe Koros to be a true friend. They could have spoken casually and even bantered with each other, but the very basis behind their relationship was a pragmatic one. It stung the elf a little bit whenever he remembered that.

“Well, there’s no use being upset over a broken bow,” he muttered as he climbed down the tower and swept his gaze over the city. “I confirmed what I wanted to know anyway.”

He halted halfway down the tower as he caught sight of a blonde girl walking through Sentinel Square in the far-off distance. Even without her brightly-colored hair, she still stood out amongst the mass of faces, considering she was a human.

“So she wasn’t lying,” Caius whispered as his eyes remained fixed on her. “She does have a dragonsoul.”

While he had seen Kara’s power firsthand, he had to make sure it wasn’t a trick. There was no reason for him to believe her so easily. Just because she said she had a dragonsoul, didn’t mean it was the truth. They had barely met for the first time just two weeks ago.

But now that he confirmed she hadn’t been lying to him, Caius felt a niggling feeling grow inside of him. He might not have been the most familiar with how dragonsouls worked, however he knew one aspect of it that kindled a hope within him. He thought that maybe… just maybe…

“Maybe I can finally have a true friend,” the elf whispered.

And he descended from the rest of the tower.

—--

Kara felt the piercing gazes bore into her as she pursed her lips. She glanced back, and she saw a dark elf boy pointing at her. His parents quickly ushered him away as he mouthed something she couldn’t hear. But even though he was the most obvious one, he wasn’t the only one who was looking her way.

She could hear the hushed whispers coming from the nearby food vendors. She noticed the sidelong glances. She felt the attention on the street land on her, and she couldn’t help but want to crawl into a hole and hide. Her embarrassment was only exacerbated when a voice piped up teasingly.

“To think that the hero of Alyona herself would come to visit my stall! I’m so flattered...”

“Not you too, Issa,” Kara sighed as she looked back towards her front.

The troll stepped out from the back of the food stand and placed her burly hands on her hips. She looked the human up and down with a wide grin on her face.

“I take it you’re not faring too well with your newfound popularity?” Issa asked with a raised brow.

“You can say that…”

Kara had gotten a lot of stares even before she was pronounced a hero by the Dark Lord of Alyona himself. The fact that she was a human always made her stand out in this city full of mostly dark elves, and while she hadn’t liked it, they had been more like looks of suspicion or disdain. So she could tolerate it.

It was what she was used to. Even back on Earth.

Now, though? Well, things hadn’t exactly changed too drastically. There was still the lingering suspicion there, even after what she was said to have accomplished. But there was more curiosity too. People were actually asking questions about her, rather than dismissing her immediately. And there were some, particularly the children, who looked at her in adoration.

That was why she didn’t know how to react to her newfound fame. She was never one to receive too much praise, so it made her feel uncomfortable. That was not to mention that she was always more of an introvert, even before she was isolated from any proper interaction besides with Angel.

So she awkwardly shifted her feet as she ordered a dozen skewers of centipede eye from Issa’s stall.

“I take it these are for Angel?” the troll asked, handing over the order to Kara. “Where is he today?”

“He’s actually going to be spending the day with Zlo’tan. They were excited over something— some kind of breakthrough in their research on the soulrock? I honestly don’t really know…”

Kara shrugged as she accepted the handful of skewers and handed over the payment. She was starting to run low on her coins. Soon, she was going to have to look into making more money. But not just yet.

“And these are actually for my innkeeper, Dammir,” she continued as she drew back from the food stand. “He’s a dwarf, and he told me he loves troll cuisine, but there aren't many proper options for it in the upper tunnels. Since… you know, it’s mostly dominated by orcs back there.”

There were certainly trolls and dark elves and even minotaurs in the upper tunnels. But they remained near the edges, close to the main city. Meanwhile, the orc clans apparently dominated the furthest section of the upper tunnels.

Even after the resolution of the riots, with Dark Lord Koros explaining that it was Levi who was responsible for all the orc killings, the tension between orcs and dark elves remained at an all time high. Not as high as during the riots itself. But now the dark elves were mad at the orcs too.

Most of the conflict had been temporarily placated for a few days, though. The massive celebration Koros had thrown had been the perfect distraction. It hadn’t cooled things off, but it had prevented even more riots from occurring immediately after Elder Golag was set free.

He was the orc that was responsible for starting the riots. While most of the other orcs that were detained were still kept in prison, he was allowed to walk out, because that would have antagonized the other major orc clams into action, and that would have only made things worse.

At least, this was the Dark Lord’s reasoning, from what he told Kara the other day. But while she wasn’t too familiar with Alyona’s politics, she paid attention to her surroundings, and she could tell that this was a decision that evidently upset quite a few people in the Sanctuary City.

Kara passed by a tavern and overheard a loud conversation coming from within.

“It’s ridiculous that those orcs get to do whatever they want and get away with it,” a dark elf said as he slammed a mug of ale onto the stone table. “Why do we keep letting all these cursed refugees into the city?”

“If they’re going to abide by our laws, then I see no problem with allowing them into our borders. But if they’re not going to do that, I fully agree!”

“It’s not a matter of refugees. It’s a matter of those orcs— you don’t see any minotaurs or trolls causing trouble, do you?”

“Actually, a troll broke my best friend’s arm before…”

There wasn’t a clear consensus in general on what actions should be taken about the refugees. Some only held disdain against the orcs, while others weren’t so discriminatory. There were some who were firmly against all refugees, but they were evidently in the minority.

“We should kick all refugees out of our city and close our borders— why should we care about them when we should be more worried about those cursed monsters going around and destroying all those cities?”

“Oh, shut up!”

Kara didn’t care or know enough to want to involve herself in the city’s politics. Now that she had found some semblance of peace, she wanted to savor it and enjoy herself for a little longer, before she decided what she did next. After all, did she really want to stay forever in this Sanctuary City? Or would she want to venture out and eventually find a human city?

Her mind flashed as she recalled Levi. But if all humans are as despicable as him, I don’t know if I’d want to live amongst them either.

She hoped that he was an outlier, rather than the norm. However, it would take her a while to figure that out anyways, since according to Koros, the closest human city was over a thousand miles away.

“For now, relax,” Kara reminded herself as she reached the edge of the main city. “I can stress about what I want to do later.”

If there was a library in this city, she would be sitting down and reading a book to pass the time right now and calm her restless mind. But there was no such thing as a library in Alyona. She had asked around during her first week here, and the most she found out was that there was an archive of records kept about the city next to the vault. But while Koros had been quite helpful to her so far, he wasn’t going to give her access to it.

Kara turned a corner as she munched on one of the centipede eyes, before she came to a halt. A figure she recognized stood there, helping a dark elf old lady pick up her dropped basket of food.

“Oh thank you, young man,” the old lady croaked as she placed a hand on her back. “My hips aren’t as good as they used to be. I don’t think I would’ve been able to stand back up if I had to pick up that mess.”

“Don’t worry, young lady. I do what I can to help out.” He winked back at her.

“Young lady?” She flushed and shuffled her feet. “You flatter me too much…”

He bade his farewells to her, before he turned to Kara, his hands held behind his back, and his signature grin plastered over his face.

“Hello, Kara,” Caius greeted her casually. “What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

She blinked, then smiled back at him. “Caius? I haven’t seen you since the party— how have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been fine, just stalking you, you know?” he replied simply. “I’ve been trying to find the opportune moment to pretend to bump into you for like half an hour now, and I think I finally found it.”

Kara narrowed her eyes as she backed away from him. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

“It’s a joke, it’s a joke,” Caius tried to reassure her. Then he tilted his head back. “Or is it?”

She sighed, before walking past him. “Well, let’s pretend you’ve been looking for me: is there something you need?”

He placed a hand on his chin. “Actually, now that you mention it, I’m in need of your help.”

“What is it?” Kara asked as she rolled her eyes.

“I’d like you to accompany me to the lower tunnels,” the elf said simply.

And she squinted at him. “I thought we weren’t allowed to go down there?”

“Most people aren’t. And I wasn’t either, because it was ‘too dangerous’ for me. But now that I’ve proven myself to Koros, he has given me permission to enter the lower tunnels… with one tiny caveat.”

“Is it that you can only go down there with me?” she asked knowingly.

Caius nodded as he gave her a thumbs-up. “Exactly!”

She snorted as she walked past him.

“Is that a yes?” he asked, following after her.

Kara looked down at herself and stared at her dragonsoul. After defeating Levi, she had felt a small increase in her manapool there, but it hadn’t been anywhere near enough to fill it to its maximum capacity. When that happened, she knew she could ascend her dragonsoul to the Third Stage.

But she had been too stagnant since she arrived here, that she wasn’t even close to her next ascension.

“Sure,” she said as she glanced back at the elf. “But why do we even need to visit the lower tunnels now that Levi is gone?”

“It’s the fact that he is gone why we’re needed,” Caius countered, wagging a finger like he was giving a lecture. “You see, the monsters in the lower tunnels have been constantly agitated for the past year because of Levi’s presence. But their agitation was always targeted to him, and they were mostly preoccupied trying to hunt him down.”

Kara nodded understandingly. “Now that he’s gone, they’re free to direct their agitation elsewhere. And that’s the upper tunnels?”

“That’s exactly it— this is why I want you as my partner, Kara. You’re too sharp.”

“If you keep patronizing me, I’m not going,” she said flatly.

And the elf laughed. “It was just a joke. Come on, have a sense of humor.”

“What kind of monsters are down there, anyways?” Kara asked as she reached a familiar street. Her inn was right up ahead. “Are they that dangerous?”

“If there’s enough of them? Definitely. But considering you survived the magical storms of the Xor-In Mountains, this will be a breeze to you.” Caius patted her on the shoulder.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand why a city would be built above a tunnel full of monsters. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“We’re still in the Xor-In Mountains, even if we’re closer to the edges,” the elf explained. “Everything here is dangerous. Besides, it’s not like they knew about the lower tunnels when they first built this city. They only discovered it when they tried to expand even further downwards.”

“So why not close up the entrance to the lower tunnels?” Kara asked with a frown.

“Because—” Caius started.

But then he paused when they turned the corner. Kara narrowed her eyes too, immediately noticing the figures gathered up ahead. A small crowd stood before Dammir’s inn as a commotion was raised.

“Those are… orcs?” Kara’s brows snapped together, seeing the burly green creatures. “But why are they here?”

“I don’t know. But they’re here to cause trouble, that’s for sure.”

Caius glanced at her, then he eyed the glinting weapons the orcs carried. They shouted something as they threw rocks at the inn. Kara saw this as she drew her lips into a thin line.

“Not unless you act, of course,” the elf added.

And without a word, she started forward into the scene.

Author's Notes:

What thonk?

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