Another

"You idiot!" Jhilza hissed as she sent a hand flying across the man's face. "You brought them in the city? I only wanted her, not the entire Caledonian army. Especially that blasted captain."

To say that I was relieved that Jhilza's blade wasn't at my throat would be innacurate. I was ecstatic. I exhaled slowly and shakily, my eyes darting between her and the door.

Jhilza's panic was a strange reaction to Innes' name. Does she know him? If so, why did I hear a tinge of fear peppered with panic?

A familiar scene flashed across the back of my mind in a swift blur. The taste of that heavenly milk cake as we journeyed through the back alleys of the city came slithering back to the top of my tongue, as if it had somehow materialized from my memory. The sweetness was accompanied by the salty taste of the tears that slid down my face just as those men—those monsters—sauntered towards me in a hungered fury.

I remembered Jhilza. I remembered the way her braid whipped out from under her cloak I remembered the way her body slid around Innes' as her eyes locked onto me.

"You fear him." I picked my chin up, confident in my accusation. "You're frightened Innes will take care of you just as he did those corrupted soldiers."

The room silenced and the assassin slowly twisted her head around to glare at me.

"It was you all along. In the market. Y-you used your magic on those guards and-" I quickly pressed my lips together as Jhilza began a slow walk towards me, knife glimmering in her hand. "-you tried to kill me."

I don't care what she's said to me. She was Ulrich's killer. The true assassin that stalked the streets of Luster City.

The corner of Jhilza's lips curled into a grin colder than the blade of her knife. "How precious. You remembered. I'd slit your throat right here, but circumstances being what they are, you're of more use to me alive."

She reached behind and cut the ropes that bound me. I pulled my arms forward, massaging my shoulders as I stood. I winced when I pressed a finger too harshly against a tense area close to my neck.

I was suddenly launched forward towards the door by what felt like a punch against my lower back from Jhilza. She snorted when I slammed a hip against the corner of the nearby table and collapsed on the floor. The weapons from the table scattered around me, some even kissing my fingers as well as the edges of my feet.

A light clinking cut the silence when a small glass vial of strange purple liquid rolled to my knuckle. Pulling my shoulders tightly into my chest, I quickly grabbed the vial and slid it into the cups of my dress. I hid my movements beneath my hair which formed a dark curtain around my shrunken figure.

"Get up," Jhilza roared, pulling my hair like some noose.

I gripped the portion of my hair just beneath her fist, trying to soften the pain her iron grip was causing. I lurched forward as she forced my head towards the door. The familiar ringing echoed in my head as I was reminded of the very first time I'd been slammed against a door.

Heat prickled my skin and raced from the back of my ears and down my shoulders. I immediately fished for the vial that was between my breasts and spun around, looking Jhilza in the darks of her eyes.

"You have some fight in you," Jhilza said before clicking her tongue and wagging a finger at me. "But I don't think you even know how to use that."

I glanced at the glowing vial that was raised above my head. The sharp sound of glass cracking resounded at the back of my head just as the memory of those two crystalline guards came stalking back.

She was wrong.

My eyes flew towards the two men standing behind her. I threw the vial at the ground in front of them. Suddenly a dark red mist poured out of the tiny encasing, flooding inside the men's noses as red sparks crackled around them.

Jhilza jumped back as she lifted an arm up to her nose. With the haze backing Jhilza to the other side of the room as well as engulfing the men, I took that as my sign to fling the door open and run. Once I was outside, I sprinted aimlessly down a hazy road, not caring where it led.

Innes was nearby. His voice from before was faint, but within reach. I slowed my pace and looked around, realizing that I was within the port city.

Liberty Shores was the sea gem of Caledonia's kingdom, but one would not be able to tell. The streets were dirty as an odor fouler than death hovered just above the puddles of dark water that lined the canals. Even in the night, I could see the faded streaks of red on the roofs of the buildings around me, their bold color looking more like blood or tomatoes than the deep gallant hue that was found in Luster City. Frayed flags and banners held desperately onto their staffs as their loose seams billowed in the dark haze that encompassed the whole of the city.

The sight was the same down every street I'd walked. Not a soul in sight; not even ghosts treaded down these cobblestone paths.

"Myst!" a voice called in the dark.

I spun around, searching for the source of the sound. "Innes?"

A darkened figure of a man was cast against the purple cloud in front of me. The broad shoulders and tall stature was familiar to me.

"General?"

The aged man emerged from the puff of magical haze that swirled around him. His deep frown softened at the sight of me.

As relieved as I was to see an ally, my eyes and mind were more concerned with the longsword he carried. It's large, silvery blade hummed softly as a faint white glow pulsed from its center. I recognized it as the very same weapon he bared towards those assassins in Orzon, but something about it was different. Beneath his fingers where the hilt lied, was instead a glass vial of blue liquid that was connected to the blade.

"You escaped caputre? Well done!" his voice boomed. He was never one for subtlety, I suppose. "Come, we must find the others before the assassins execute them."

His large hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me in front of him. Furiously, I tore his hand off of me and spun around to face him.

"General, your blade..." I mumbled, raising a finger at its magical light. "...why does it glow like that? Is it some sort of magic?"

He scoffed, shaking his head. "I don't understand it myself. In an effort to arm myself after evading my captors, I pilfered this sword from the blackheart. You've seen this before?"

I nodded my head. His explanation of it did little to comfort the confusion in my head.

"You lie to me, general," I replied, my eyes going up to meet his stern gaze. "That is the same sword you carried in Orzon. I recognize its make and its engravings. The hilt however, is a different story." I was panting now. My attempts to understand this mystery caused my breathing to quicken.

Why does the almighty defender of Caledonia wield the weapon of her enemies?

"Yes, do tell the truth Bacchus," Jhilza purred as she strutted out from within the thick body of the mist. "Actually, allow me."

I craned my head around to watch her slow approach. Each step was sharp as her hips swayed side to side, hitting hard with every step. In each of her hands were small daggers with the magical vials that pulsed wildly the closer she drew towards us. Blood dripped from the tip of her left dagger as well as the small thin cut on her neck.

"Silence!" Bacchus' voice echoed in the streets as he stepped in front of me. "Do not listen, Myst. The Children of the Dawn seek only to turn you against your own."

"Her own? And just who is that, Bacchus? The Gifted," she pointed a dagger at herself before continuing, "...or her back-stabbing comrades?" She growled, pointing the dagger at the general as the corner of her lip pulled up into vicious grin.

My head swirled with questions and anger mixed with confusion brewed at the bottom of my stomach, rising up my throat like acidic bile. Something has to make sense! I was tired of being fed lies and treated like some sort of vicious creature they keep locked in a tower.

"Then tell me!" I cried, squeezing my fists tightly and digging my nails into my skin.

Jhilza chuckled and as the seconds passed, her light laughter exploded into a thunderous cackle. "Mystaline, if you come with me, I'll tell you everything you want to know. But we can start with how—"

Before she could finish, a dark figure blitzed in front of Bacchus and I, taking with it a strong gust of wind that kicked up a dust cloud and caused my hair to whip into my face.

I shut my eyes and pushed the hair away from my eyes before opening them. When I could see again, I spotted a blonde-haired captain locked in a clash of blades against Jhilza. His silver sword pushed hard against her crossed daggers.

"Innes," Jhilza purred as she bit her bottom lip. "You look just like your father."

*Innes.* My heart skipped a beat as a smile spread uncontrollably across my face.

"Don't you dare feed her your disgusting lies, witch," Innes cursed through gritted teeth. His left hand held tightly on the hilt of his sword as his right reached behind and under his red cape. In half a second, he pulled out a small knife with a vial of golden liquid.

I gasped. He, too, carried one of those accursed weapons.

Jhilza arced her crossed blades down to her left before spinning on her right heel and kicking Innes with her left leg.

Innes backed away, dropping the knife.

Jhilza scoffed as she smashed the vials on her daggers together before whipping their contents around her. Light blue liquid splattered on the streets and dripped into the cracks of the streets, some mixing with the dark puddles of sewage water.

"Myst," the general called as he slid an arm across my shoulders. "Come. We must get you to safety. Innes will deal with her."

I could feel his grip squeeze my shoulder and the all too familiar feeling of heat tickling the edges of my neck returned. The general was hiding something from me and so was Innes. I was caught between two evils, but at least one of them saved my life.

"Don't touch me!" I shoved him away. It took all of my strength to push him one step backwards. Taking that little bit of distance between us as an opening, I made for Innes.

As the general reached his giant hand out for me, a blinding circle of light burst through from the cracks of the streets, separating us. Hundreds of glass swords with swirling liquids of varying colors rose from the circle of light.

Innes glanced back at me, drawing a second blade from the sheath that was slung over his back and under his cape. "Myst, get away from here."

I shook my head. "No! I'm safer with you," I replied, pushing my back against his. "I am not returning to the general. So, please, let me help you fight her." My eyes returned to the general, whose stern gaze fell over me.

As much as I wanted to hurt the woman who killed Ulrich and tossed me around, I desired answers more than anything. If I could help Innes capture her, maybe then I could appease my curiosity.

"Fine, but do not leave my side." Innes twirled his blades around his hands. "And follow everything I tell you to do."

I nodded in response, readying myself. A strange surge of strength welled up from within me, filling me with both excitement and dread.

"Here she comes!" Innes called as mutiple pillars of light exploded from the glass swords.

Suddenly, three crystal monsters emerged from the columns of light. They were similar to those malformed palace guards with their flesh laced between protruding pieces of crystal. Their rotten hands grasped the blades from whence they'd been summoned from, tearing them out of the ground. They locked their displaced eyeballs onto me and began staggering forward.

"Myst, get the knife," Innes commanded, his voice steady unlike my breathing. "I will cover you."

I spun my head around and noticed the knife some distance away, right in front of a crystalline monster that had begun to spawn from the light. With my heart on the verge of leaping into my throat, I raced for the small weapon. Within a few seconds, my knees were on the ground and my fingers were wrapped tightly around its glossy hilt, the magical water swooshing around.

"Head down," he commanded as he sent a sword sailing through the air.

I laced my fingers behind and pulled my head down. The sound of crystal cracking followed by Jhilza's laughter resounded in the air above. When I opened my eyes, I found Innes pulling me up on my feet as fragments of the monster rolled around my bare feet.

Spotting Jhilza speeding towards his back, I shoved Innes to the ground next to me. *What was I thinking?!* At least Innes had armor on, but nothing protected my skin save for the thin panels of cloth that barely qualified as clothing.

Regardless, I stood firmly on the ground as Jhilza's daggers came hurtling towards me. My eyes didn't blink nor did my heart falter. I could feel a wave of calm wash over me as the assassin just held the tip of her blade just above my eye and throat.

"You can't kill me," I exhaled shakily. "You need me alive. You said so yourself."

Jhilza's grin crooked into a frown. In a flash, she kicked the dagger in my hand and jumped backwards just as Innes regained his footing. With a flick of her hand, the turtle-paced monsters grew faster. Some even leapt towards us.

Innes stepped in front of me, dancing with his blades as he mutilated the monsters that raced towards us. But there was only so much one man could do against an endless horde.

The pieces of the fallen creatures twitched on the ground, slowly rolling around me. Not even three seconds later, I was being surrounded by giant shards of glass; a blue crystal coffin.

"Innes!" I screamed, my fists banging against the beautiful, jagged faces of the crystal. I winced in pain, noticing the shards of glass buried in my hand from the shattered hilt of the knife. The strange golden liquid slid down my fingers and arm, numbing me. I could feel my strength fade as I sunk onto my knees. The light began to fade as well with every tiny window to the outside being glued shut by another fragment of crystal.

I rested my head against the crystal. My eyelids began to droop and I could find no way to convince myself to stay awake.

"That is enough!" a voice roared from the outside.

Suddenly, a golden light emerged from the liquid that slid down my arm. My eyes shut in pain from the searing light. I could feel a shot of warmth course through my body as the sounds of crystal cracking filled my ears.

Once the gem-like coffin crumbled around me, air filled my lungs as I took in a desperate breath. I fell flat on my face, my arms too weak to catch me. After giving myself some much needed breaths of fresh air, I tilted my chin up, wondering what had happened while I was nearly suffocated to death.

Floating a few inches off the ground not too far in front of me was Jhilza with a giant sword sitting through her body like a makeshift crucifix. I stifled the urge to use my breaths to scream. The sight of her wide eyes and gaping mouth coupled with the pool of blood that formed beneath her was enough to make the bile in my stomch retreat in fear. I could see her fingers and lips twitch just as the glimmer in her eyes darkened.

Beside me was a panting Innes, who clutched a bleeding arm. Sweat raced down his face as his expression scrunched into a wince.

I mustered every bit of the returning strength I had and crawled towards the captain. "Innes."

He glanced at me, tightening his grip on his bleeding arm. "Are you alright, Myst?"

I nodded my head. "I'm alright, but you're bleeding!"

From the corner of my eyes, a victorious general Bacchus flicked his longsword to the side, sending Jhilza's body hurtling towards the other end of the street. The fluidity of the motion frightened me and I cowered into Innes embrace, my eyes never leaving Jhilza's body.

"It's over now, Myst." Sensing the shaking of my body, Innes wrapped an arm around me. I could feel his skin through his worn leather armor and warmth poured out of him, comforting me.

A soft glow on the ground caught my eye, just as the first rays of the dawn began to shine from the horizon. Large golden petals fluttered and sailed through the air, their mere presence warding and vanquishing the poisonous cloud that filled the streets as well as the magical circle that surrounded us.

These were Aegil blossoms. A telltale sign of Gifted magic.

My eyes drifted towards the general as sunlight touched his old and creviced face. He marched towards us, his great feet trampling the petals carelessly, as if their presence was normal. A giant pit in my mind opened, swallowing all that I thought I knew about Caledonia.

I was not alone. General Bacchus was one of the Gifted.