[Kara] Chapter 28: Family And Friends (Patreon)

Many things had happened over the last day. The Sanctuary City of Alyona was destroyed. Half the people Caius knew were brutally murdered, and the other half he knew were likely traumatized with their livelihoods ruined.

On the bright side, the elf’s manacore had advanced from Tier 22 all the way to Tier 25. It was a massive jump to happen overnight, and he had even gotten an incredibly useful Manacore Ability called Rain Of Fire which he intuitively knew would allow him to unleash hundreds of fire arrows into a horde of enemies. It would have been a lot more useful if he had it just a day before. Unfortunately, sometimes things didn’t work out.

And while there were plenty of things that happened, only one was relevant enough to require Caius’s immediate attention.

It was a revelation, of sorts. One that was made to his human… friend maybe?

That was why the elf knew he needed to have this conversation. He didn’t want to have it, but it was inevitable. So instead of waiting for Kara to approach him about it, he sought her out first.

Now, they sat together alone in a tent at a quiet section of the camp. Well, they weren’t completely alone. Angel was here. Like always, the utlas bear was with his master. The two of them were inseparable. Except during the destruction of Alyona. He wasn’t there with her. And that was likely for the best.

A shadow fell over the elf’s face as he recalled the events of the night before. He shuddered as he thought about all those that have died. All the captains, all the mages, and all the soldiers. Caius remembered the last words Koros said before parting ways and—

“I’m glad to see you’re doing better, Caius,” Kara finally said, breaking the silence.

Caius blinked a few times as he snapped out of his stupor. Looking down at himself, he realized he was shaking. His hands were trembling, and his skin was crawling with the pinprick feeling of a thousand ants. He tried to calm his breathing, before he mustered out a smile.

“Thanks, Kara. I… wouldn’t be alive without your help. So thank you.” And he truly meant what he said.

But that was not all he came here to say— he hadn’t called her here to relay his gratitude. He had to explain himself to her. Especially after everything she has seen because of him. Unfortunately, he didn’t even know where to begin.

He opened his mouth, and Kara waved a hand dismissively.

“You give me too much credit— I didn’t do much other than run away.” She paused as she said that, like she was remembering what happened at Sentinel Square. Shaking her head, she quickly changed the subject. “Anyways, how are you holding up, mentally-speaking?”

Caius blinked at her question. “Mentally-speaking? What do you mean?”

Kara scratched the back of her head. “I mean, a situation like what happened yesterday must be very traumatic, you know? And you’re only a kid…”

“First of all,”—the elf rolled his eyes—“I’m a teenager. And secondly, I am literally fifty years older than you. So you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Well, actually, that makes you more than fifty years older than me. So you’re not ‘literally’ fifty years older than me.” Kara grinned back at him.

Caius gave her a flat stare. “You get my point.”

She laughed, and he snorted too. Even Angel couldn’t help but smile at what she said.

It was a stupid interaction. But Caius realized what she was doing. He was calmer now. His hands weren’t shaking, and he didn’t feel like throwing up any longer.

He closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath. “And more than just my age, there’s another reason as to why you shouldn’t worry about me.”

Caius opened his eyes and met Kara’s gaze. The smile vanished from her face as the atmosphere in the tent grew serious once again.

And the elf continued simply, “After all, it’s not the first time Adam has taken away everything from me.”

Kara grew silent. She simply stared at him as he looked down at himself. He tightened his fists on the hems of his shirt as he recalled what happened twenty years ago— back when he was still living in Catherine.

It was the same as what happened the night before. Except the destruction had been far more thorough. There hadn’t only been a single sleepwalker, but instead there had been nearly a dozen. And while a swarm of nightmares didn’t immediately pour in and invade the city, they multiplied in numbers as every single person in Catherine was killed.

Except for two people. The first was Caius, which was why he was here today. And the second was… his father.

Adam the former Dark Lord of Catherine.

Or the one who had so far brought about the destruction of three Sanctuary Cities.

Caius raised his head as he gesticulated weakly. “I know I didn’t tell you Adam was my father. And I know I didn’t tell you he was after me. I’m sorry, Kara. For keeping it a secret from you.”

He averted his gaze, remembering what happened the night before. More than just the swarms of nightmares— it was seeing his father again.

Staring down Adam at Sentinel Square as everyone there was slaughtered mercilessly and easily. And he did all that just to get to the elf.

To get to Caius.

“I should’ve told you sooner,” Caius started as he placed a hand on his chest. “And I understand if you’re upset at me—”

But he couldn’t finish. Because Kara spoke up abruptly.

“Did you know, Caius, that I’m from another world?”

The elf paused. “I— what…?”

Kara nodded back at him as he gaped at her, trying to process what she was saying.

“I’m from a place called Earth,” she continued casually. “I was summoned to Xantos by a dragon— his name is Zarkoth, and he lived in the Xor-In Mountains. Have you ever heard of him?”

“No—” Caius started, before correcting himself. “I mean, I have heard of a dragon living in the Xor-in Mountains. But I didn’t know it… he had a name.”

“Well, he did. And he was an asshole for almost killing me and kidnapping me. But he was also nice since he saved me and gave me my dragonsoul.” Kara smiled as she placed a hand on her chest.

Caius hesitated as he stared at her. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that she was from another world.

To him, even a life outside of the Xor-In Mountains was a completely unknown thing. The idea of a place called Earth that was supposed to be completely distinct from Xantos…

The elf could only draw up blanks in his mind.

He broke himself out of his thoughts as he faced the human from another world. “I see… but I don’t understand how that’s relevant to what I was saying, Kara.”

“It’s relevant because it’s a secret I was keeping from you,” Kara replied simply. “Just like how Adam being your father was a secret you were keeping from me. You see— we all have secrets, and we don’t owe telling them to anyone.”

Caius pursed his lips. “But this is more than just a little secret, Kara. I’m the reason why what happened last night happened— because Adam is after me.”

Kara crossed her arms as she shot him a half-glare. “That’s pretty self-centered, don’t you think? The world doesn’t revolve around you, and Adam himself said he would have destroyed Alyona regardless of you. He’s a psychopath. It’s not your fault you’re his kid.”

“I…” Caius wasn’t sure why he was trying to argue with her. It was almost like he wanted to blame himself— or he wanted someone to blame him. “But maybe things could’ve been different if I hadn’t been in Alyona. I shouldn’t even have been here. Most of the captains rejected me when I first arrived. They said I would have led to this. And they were right.”

“So that’s the real reason why they rejected you from the city, huh?” Kara raised a brow at that. “You told me that it was because you were an elf, but it was because they knew you were Adam’s son.”

The elf shrank back as he scratched the back of his head. “I did lie, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me. And you don’t have to explain all this to me. Seriously, it’s fine, Caius.” She seemed sincere in her words.

Caius shifted back uncomfortably. “I don’t know, I just feel guilty. That’s why I felt like explaining myself and apologizing…”

Kara rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms. “Well, I still think there’s no need to apologize to me. But you owe anyone an explanation, it’s the people of Alyona.”

“The people of Alyona…?” Caius repeated after her dumbly.

“Yeah,” she scoffed, before turning serious. “And I don’t mean apologize for lying about who your father is, but apologize for lying about the Dreamers.”

Caius blinked as she held his gaze.

“Don’t you think they deserve to know the truth?” she asked, her mismatched eyes peering into him.

“I—” He felt many conflicting emotions clash inside of him. His gaze drifted towards an object that was lying at the side of the tent. “But that wasn’t my…”

Kara noticed it too. She saw the ornate black helmet laid on top of the elf’s belongings. The two of them stared at it, before she finally sighed.

“I know it wasn’t your decision. However, someone needs to tell everyone the truth. And it sure can’t be me— it won’t be right if it was me.”

Caius could agree with that last part. He understood that Kara was an outsider— in even more ways than one, considering her background from another world. But he still didn’t understand her logic.

“It has to be you,” she insisted.

And he asked, “But why?”

“Because Koros is not here to do it.” Kara shrugged. “And Hayder has a lot to deal with right now, so I doubt he’d be too keen about doing this.”

“Good gods, that still does explain why it has to be me.” Caius didn’t understand her logic at all. Was she seeing something he didn’t?

With a sigh, Kara rose to her feet.

“For the exact same reason why you wanted to explain yourself and apologize to me— to make things right.”

“That’s—” Caius wanted to protest.

But Kara walked up to Angel and glanced back once. “Look, this is entirely up to you. But I’m going to get some rest now. I’m… a bit tired, after everything happened. You should rest too. And think about what I said.”

The elf watched as the human and utlas bear pair left the tent. He sat there, alone. And he slowly looked towards the black helmet again.

It was the Helmet of Alyona.

It was an artifact only worn by the Dark Lord or Dark Lady of Alyona. It laid there, staring at him with its slits where the eyes should be.

Almost like it was judging him.

Caius immediately turned away from it as he folded his arms across his chest. “But I’m not…”

Even still, the helmet’s gaze bore into him like a familiar face. And the elf closed his eyes as he thought of all the time he spent together with that dark elf.

“…you’re the one who’s responsible for this, so why don’t you fix it?”

But Caius never got a response.

—--

When Kara went to sleep, she didn’t dream. There were no nightmares nor were there comforting visions. All she saw was darkness for a few hours, before waking up the next morning, still exhausted.

Angel groggily got up next to her. She smiled as she placed a hand on his closest head to her.

“Didn’t sleep well either, huh?” she said as she ran her fingers through his fur. “Well, neither did I. But we have a lot to do.”

He paused. He looked towards Zlo’tan’s pole, before nodding with both his heads. Kara led Angel out of the tent as they heard the muffled voices coming from outside.

People were already going around and packing up to leave the camp. Kara could hear Hayder’s voice as he went around with a group of guards to wake up anyone who was still asleep.

“It’s already morning! Wake up everyone! Let’s get moving, people!”

Surprisingly, Arjin and Dammir were both already awake too. They were sitting right outside of their tent eating some stew.

Angel’s stomach rumbled. He pointed at them, and Kara chuckled.

“Alright, we’ll get a quick bite to eat first.”

They approached the dark elf and the dwarf. Dammir got to his feet and nodded at Arjin.

“I’ve gotta pack up our stuff. Just relax, alright?” he said as he patted the former prostitute on the shoulder.

He started past Kara and the two greeted each other.

“Good morning, Dammir.”

“Good mornin’, lass. There’s still some leftover stew for ye and Angel. Just ask Arjin to share some.”

“Thank you.” Kara smiled back.

And the dwarf got to work, dismantling his makeshift tent. Angel hurriedly plopped himself down next to Arjin, looking at her expectantly. She giggled and handed him a bowl of stew which he gratefully lapped up with both his heads.

“Don’t be too messy, Angel,” Kara said as she sat down next to them. “You’re going to spill more stew than you eat at this rate.”

He whined before slowing down and licking from the bowl of stew more gently. Meanwhile, Arjin turned to the human and proffered another bowl.

“Hungry?”

Kara accepted the bowl and nodded. “I’ll have some, thanks.”

Arjin watched the human eat for a moment, before asking with a worried look, “How are you holding up?”

“Me?” Kara paused, lowering the bowl down to her lap. “I should be the one asking you that question.”

“But you’re the one who was there fighting the swarms of nightmares— you were there when Alyona was destroyed. Meanwhile, I was safe thanks to Angel and Dammir.” Arjin spoke meekly.

And Kara shrugged. “Well, I’m as fine as I could be. I’d be even better once we start heading out.”

Arjin was intrigued. “Why is that?”

It was a simple question, but Kara wasn’t exactly sure how to answer it. All she knew was that she felt her blood pumping, excited to smash in the skulls of some monsters, so that she could grow even stronger than she was right now.

“I just want to get out of here, that’s all,” she eventually said, skirting around the question.

“I get what you mean,” Arjin agreed as she glanced around nervously. “I don’t feel safe here either… but I doubt that feeling is going to go away until we reach another Sanctuary City.”

“Well, first we’re going to have to decide which Sanctuary City is going to be our destination…”

And as the two women chatted casually, an armored figure approached them. He looked like a soldier in one of Alyona’s companies. Except he didn’t wear the badge of a specific company. Which meant that he was one of the border guards.

Kara noticed him first. She glanced up his way as he came to a halt behind Arjin. Angel continued eating, ignoring the guard’s presence. But Arjin finally noticed him as she glanced back.

The guard cleared his throat. And Kara spoke up first.

“Sorry,” she said as she rose to her feet. “We’re going to pack up soon too. We were just grabbing a quick breakfast.”

She had assumed that the guard was going around with the rest of the soldiers to wake up the survivors and get them ready to leave. But she realized she was wrong when he shook his head.

“I’m not, uh, here because of that. I’m here to talk to—”

“Brother?” Arjin piped up, staring at the guard with wide eyes.

He shifted his feet uncomfortably as she stood up.

“Hello, sister,” he returned her greeting.

And after a long moment of gaping, she caught herself and mustered up her voice. “What are you doing here, brother? And why are you…?”

She looked him up and down. His armor was covered in blood and dirt. He was visibly exhausted, but he still managed to stand up straight.

“I’m a guard of the city wall. I was caught up in… more than I was capable of, during the attack.”

“Oh.” Arjin went silent.

Kara glanced between the two of them quizzically. Her confusion was evident. And Arjin must have realized that.

The former prostitute stepped to the side as she gestured at her brother. “Kara, this is my older brother, Soraan. He’s—”

And Kara’s brows snapped together as she cut off her friend. “He’s one of your asshole family members who disowned you for your job.”

“Oh, that’s…” Arjin blinked a few times.

Soraan averted his gaze at that. He teetered where he stood as he replied, “I didn’t disown Arjin. The rest of our family did. I had no say on the matter.”

“But you didn’t help your little sister when she needed it the most,” Kara said simply.

And with the way he reacted, it seemed she was right. He fidgeted with his fingers as Arjin pursed her lips, before he scowled. While Kara didn’t know that much about their family, she knew enough to get the gist of how they were like.

They were a warrior people, but Arjin wasn’t predisposed to killing innocent things. Because of that, they treated her like a failure, and when they came to Alyona and she was forced to become a prostitute to survive, they completely abandoned her.

Arjin piped up apprehensively, “Kara, my brother was the only one in my family who still talked to me even after they disowned me.”

“And how often did he check up on you? Did he offer you any help?” Kara asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

“That’s—” Arjin started.

And Soraan sighed, “No, your human friend is right.”

Arjin was taken by surprise when he said that. She turned to him, and even Kara raised a brow at that.

“Cursed souls, I should’ve stuck up for you more,” Soraan said. “You’re my little sister. But I never once tried to help you. The most I did was not treat you as terribly as the rest of our family. I am sorry for that.”

“Brother…” Arjin eyed him, completely thrown off by what he was saying. “Did something… happen?”

“I guess you can say that. But that isn’t the point. I realized I’ve been too selfish. And I no longer want to be that man.”

Soraan lowered his head. He was a relatively young man, but his face was covered in wrinkles. Perhaps due to the events that had transpired just two nights ago, if Kara had to guess.

He took a step back as he inhaled deeply. “Anyway, I wanted to check up on you. But I also came here to tell you that…”

“That?” Arjin tilted her head.

Soraan hesitated, before he continued, “That our parents left last night. Most of our family went along with them. They left with Captain Karwan and the rest of the Thirteenth Company.”

“Oh.” The former prostitute stood there as she processed his words.

He began to walk away, waving at her. “I decided to stay because, as I said, I’m tired of who I was before. So if you ever need anything, you can ask me for help.”

“Right. Thank you.” Arjin watched him go.

Kara glanced between the two siblings. Arjin seemed to be taking in what he said as she remained silent. The former prostitute probably needed time to herself to process it.

“Well, I’ve also got to get to work,” Kara excused herself as she gestured for Angel to finish his meal.

The utlas bear downed the rest of the pot of stew, before he followed after her. They waved goodbye to Arjin who nodded back at them.

And they set about their plans for the day.

Now that Kara wasn’t so tired and could get a better look at the encampment, she had to estimate that there were roughly a hundred thousand to two hundred thousand at the most that were gathered here in this group of survivors.

That was after subtracting those who had already broken off and left just last night.

But even if those who left numbered in the tens of thousands, that was still a significant decrease from the supposed population of Alyona. Last Kara heard, due to the influx of refugees entering the Sanctuary City, the number of people living within its walls had been just over half a million.

That meant that hundreds of thousands of people perished during the destruction of Alyona. And while it might have seemed like such a ridiculous amount at first, it was feasible after considering the circumstances that played out.

Firstly— that the nightmares were flying creatures that had swarmed into the city, only barely able to be slowed by the city walls and the magical barrier. But also, even a single touch from a nightmare was capable of killing an ordinary person, or crippling a soldier.

So the fact that it was a massacre wasn’t unexpected. In fact, Kara was surprised that more people hadn’t been killed. They had Koros to thank for that. If his contingency plan to bring down the city hadn’t stopped the swarms of nightmares, there might not have even been any survivors today.

But even though they had escaped Alyona alive, the survivors weren’t even sure if they were going to make it through the next week. And that was why they woke up so early, to immediately get going.

There was barely even enough time for breakfast. But the camp of survivors started to make their way further down the valley only a few hours after daybreak.

While waiting for the camp to be fully dismantled, Kara brought Angel to scout the area up ahead, searching for nearby monsters. She had offered their help to Hayder with the guise of wanting to protect the survivors from running into any unforeseen circumstances, and while that was also true, her real intentions were purely selfish.

An hour had passed, and they found nothing. Kara was starting to think that her ventures were pointless. But then her eyes flickered as the valley narrowed into a winding rocky corridor, and she spotted scratches along the stone walls. She nodded at Angel. He produced both the Soulmaster’s machine’s staff and Zlo’tan’s crimson pole.

They readied themselves as they pressed on.

And eventually, they found a giant scorpion standing in the middle of the path, feasting on a group of dead vultures.

It made a clicking sound as it spotted her, and she grinned. Her body burst into flames as her Dragon’s Claws and Dragon’s Scales protected her. Angel pointed as the monster hissed and swung out with its tail.

But Kara leapt over the attack. The scorpion raised its pincers, only for a large slab of stone to crash into its back. It staggered forward as Kara reached it and slid underneath its underbelly, raking her claws through its stomach.

It let out a screech and collapsed to the ground, defeated decisively by the pair.

Angel walked up to Kara as she glanced dismissively at the dead monster. “I’ve never seen something like you before, so I thought you’d be stronger…”

She felt the mana pool surrounding her dragonsoul grow in size. But it wasn’t nearly enough for her to ascend to the next stage.

“Well, whatever helps helps, I guess…” she started as she looked down the rocky corridor.

And she heard a susurration of clacking footsteps. Her gaze snapped to the side as Angel tensed. The two of them saw even more giant scorpions make their approach. There was at least half a dozen of them.

They surrounded Kara and Angel. But both the human and the utlas bear simply grinned.

Because this was exactly what they were looking for. It was almost a crazy idea. But they did what they had to grow even stronger.

And they charged forward, tearing through the giant scorpions as the day went on.

Author's Notes:

Decided to do two chapters today. Thanks for reading :) 4k words.