Chapter 5
The OPPOSITE of a DESERT
Once he was back on the road, Bakura started South.
Either way would mean swamp, for more miles than he could see.
On top of that, either way would mean hunting, since these were officially human territories. On this coast, it was a crime just to be an orc, let alone a known killer, like Bakura was.
Guttry was the last Orcish Nation on the way to Neium.
Neium was the capital of the country of Misos.
Misos was ruled by the Lich.
Misos was a human country. It happened to be South. There were other ancestries allowed, to be clear.
“As long as you’re not an orc,” Bakura muttered, mumbling his thoughts without meaning to.
But it was known in that country that it belonged to the humans, and the humans belonged to the Lich.
The Lich had a general, and that general was the Death Knight.
That’s all he cared about— The Death Knight.
Bakura hated him. He hated him almost as much as he hated himself.
He went South.
“What do you think?” he muttered to the dagger. “We going the right way?”
Hhhh… hissed the dagger. He knew what it meant.
“Because I don’t want to.”
Hhhh? Hhhh… Hehhh, hehhh…
Bakura bared his tusks, annoyed, and ignored the voice in his head.
“Hate that I can understand you now, without the mask.”
Hehhh… Hhhh.
“No.”
You’re not ready, it was saying. You’re making a mistake.
Bakura didn’t want to hear any of it.
“It’s arbitrary!” he said, defensively.
But it wasn’t arbitrary.
To the South was Neium.
To the South was the Death Knight, and once he had the mask, he would find the Death Knight, and make him pay for—
Hhhh!
“I’m not going on your silly little quest!” Bakura snarled at the dagger. “Tedious! And no blurted use, either! We’ve been to three Temples already, and all three of them were—”
Hhhh—
“No, you listen now! All three of them were bust— Two we couldn’t even get into! And not once! Not once, have we come across any other pieces of you!”
The red wind hissed across the sprawling marshes. For once, it hissed but did not speak.
Hhhh…
Just wind.
Hhhh…
Letting him say it.
“Not once,” said Bakura, more quietly now. “We’re wasting time, and I’d rather just find him and get it over with.”
Hhhh… the red wind grinned. Hhhh… Shhh, ssssss, khhhh—
“Well maybe I’m not!” Bakura shouted.
Crows flew, and even the beasts of the vast rolling marshlands went quiet. Even the frogs, and the crickets. The herons went still as sticks.
“Maybe I’m not ready! But I don’t care! Maybe I’ll die; so what! Let’s get it over with! Let’s just—”
He smelled her, and turned. The dagger was in his hand, and his face was that of a survivor in danger again.
Ushga stopped. She was not close to him, but it felt like she was. It felt dangerous. Her hands went up instinctively, and she bowed her head slightly.
“S-sorry! I… Sorry. Didn’t mean to… startle you.”
He breathed fast and heavy. Then, Bakura lowered his dagger, and slowed his breathing down.
“What are you doing here?”
Ushga dared a look. “Let me join you?”
“No.”
“Please?”
“I said no.”
“You’re going the wrong way.”
Bakura squinted. “How do you know?”
“The Duke has gone to his Shoreside Estate,” Usgha said. “Even the Dukes fear the Lich. And his Death Knight.”
“…What do you know about the Death Knight?”
“I know what he did at Yegorah.”
Bakura didn’t know what to say. “Haven’t… heard that word from someone else’s mouth since… Since I don’t know when.”
“Brun talks about it all the time,” Ushga said.
He nodded. “Brun. Is he coming with you?”
“No one’s coming with me,” Ushga said. “They already tried to make me stay. And I told them, right then and right there, that this would be goodbye so… Here I am. It’s just me. They’re all too afraid.”
“As you should be.”
“But I’m not,” she said. “Or… I mean, I am, but… Let me come with you.”
“Why?”
“This used to be my country,” she said. “Used to be called Guttry. You heard of that? The Guttry Nation? That was us. But now it’s… Now we’re animals, hunted more for sport than anything. What do I call myself now?”
“And you think it’s gonna be any better for you where I’m going?”
But Ushga was resolved. “I’ve made my choice.”
Bakura actually laughed. “You should make a new choice! You should choose to stay here, stay home, where it’s safe.” He turned, and began to walk away.
“What would you say if I told you to go home?”
He stopped walking.
“What home? You think I’m safer here? I can help you.”
“No one can help me,” Bakura muttered, knowing he wouldn’t be heard.
“I mean it, I can help,” Ushga said, daring to approach him, though his winged back was turned to her. “I know these lands. And I know that castle, as a point of speaking; I’ve… Well, I’ve… I know that castle.”
Bakura looked over his shoulder, peering between his wings.
“I stole something from that castle,” Ushga admitted. Her dark skin blushed a purple, as if her blood was blue. Bakura wondered if it was. And if it’s not, why does that happen? He liked to look at her, he realized.
“And that’s how you…? How everyone…?”
Ushga nodded. “And that was my fault, it’s true, but… No one knows that castle better than me now. I’ve studied their plans, and spied on their guards, and even managed to—”
Bakura put up a hand, and Ushga stopped talking.
Bakura let his hand fall. He felt so tired. None of the clothes he’d looted felt very comfortable, and he hadn’t bothered to try and find his old clothes. They were worthless anyway; there was little point. Of all the boy’s dreams, his favorites were the ones where he got to dress like a prince again.
Like the prince he used to be.