NOVEL NEXT 342. Twin Sisters
Helion led Lucian, Liara, and Milena deeper into the labyrinth, where the tents grew scarce and the black sand piled up in mounds. There were no statues here, no stone path, nor any sand-filled water channels. Lucian hadn't noticed it before, but the light wasn't supplied normally through torches. A check with his Mana Sight revealed a myriad of invisible balls of light populating every space in the pyramid.
Yet, the place they were heading to was growing darker, as if the one who'd set the lights had forgotten this place, or avoided it.
Helion stopped and crossed his hands behind his back. "He should be over there, recovering from shooting at the Newborn Ruler."
Lucian nodded hesitantly. 'Who's over there? I still can't figure this thing out.'
Milena and Liara suddenly overtook him, stepping into the darkness. Milena conjured a small ball of light, a hand pressed to her chest. Liara was following carefully, a big drop of sweat trickling down her forehead.
Sitting on a broken wall, his skin pale like the moon and his eyes dark like the blackest night. His clothes were dark, hiding him in the shadows, and a bow was lying on his knees, the string taken off. A pile of arrows lay next to his boots, carved from moonstone, their metal tips glistening.
He looked up at Milena and Liara, black eyes that once were empty of life, of soul.
The Pale Hunter rose to his feet and stepped before them. He was a little taller and a little more muscular, too. He seemed to have more life in him, strangely.
Liara held her breath. She hadn't been that close to him, but it was different for her.
Milena's four arms trembled.
"Javier?"
Lucian's memory finally snapped into place. Nicknamed the Pale or Silent Hunter, an incredibly talented archer with unnatural stealth abilities, he was in Glenn's group before mysteriously disappearing during the first skirmishes with the Celestial Gods and the apparition of the W.O.R.M., a massive sand-burrowing machine that Glenn's team discovered and that Exan the Omniscient destroyed.
But if his memory served him correctly, he should be dead, according to the official reports.
Javier stood silently, his arms at his side. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. With a light touch of his fingers, he pressed against his throat and grimaced. Milena took a step back, startled. Liara frowned and kept her hand close to the hilt of her sword. The Javier they knew about wasn't one to have expressions.
The Pale Hunter kneeled and drew in the sand with his finger. Milena stood next to him, decrypting the message.
"So...rry? You're sorry?" She repeated. Javier looked up and nodded. Without warning, Milena slapped the Pale Son across the face. Javier took it without a noise, her hand imprinted in his skin.
"You're saying you're sorry? Really?" She raised her fist, but Liara stopped her. Lucian was a little startled observing this, but he kept himself at the back, not wanting to interrupt.
"You've betrayed us!" Milena accused, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I don't know what you thought of us, but you were our friend, Javier! And... And suddenly, you destroyed the Heart of Darkness, took over the W.O.R.M., and kicked us out before getting yourself executed by Exan! Why? Why would you do that?!"
Javier's head leaned forward dejectedly and, more weakly, drew again in the sand.
"It's complicated," he wrote. "I had no choice. I was different."
Liara repressed a snort. Javier showing emotions, of all things, was already groundbreaking news, so communicating? That was unthinkable. So yes, he was certainly different. Milena crossed all four arms, frowning.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Javier."
"And that will have to wait, I'm afraid," interrupted Lucian, stepping in and ignoring the glares. "I know it's not my place to stop this touching reunion, but I'd like to remind you that we're working against the clock. The more time we spend not destroying the supposed Orc factories, the more death our side suffers. And we can't produce as many soldiers as the Celestial Gods."
Milena closed her mouth, sealing her retort away. Liara nodded in agreement and approached Javier.
"Do you know anything about this place? This pyramid," she asked. "It's connected to my people, and... it might help us in the war."
Javier thought for a moment and resumed his writing in the sand. "The Twin Sisters guided me here. It was the place the Pale Sons were supposed to be."
Liara frowned. "What do you mean? Who are the Twin Sisters?"
The Pale Hunter hesitated before drawing two circles, one large and the other smaller. Milena blinked, only to blurt out an awed chuckle.
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"Are you speaking of the twin moons?"
Javier nodded, smiling slightly. It was a shocking appearance, but in the girls' opinion, it suited him to a tee. "They're the ones who gave the Trial of White Plague to us, touched by moonlight. We are hunters, tracking true Corruption. And this place is our headquarters until the dark queen comes." He glanced at Liara. "The past is connected to the present, fighting for the future."
Lucian tapped his chin in interest. "Cryptic words. I'd love to pull some more explanations from you, but we simply do not have the time."
With a mysterious smile, the Silent Hunter added a few more lines to his writing in the sand. "The Prince is right. We must leave at once and return Thalorieth to its past glory." He stood up, grabbed his gear, and walked away. The shadows followed him in his wake, silent and orderly. Lucian blew raspberries, curious. Milena and Liara exchanged a glance and followed the Pale Son, wondering what he was thinking.
Javier led them to the farthest point from the center of the pyramid, the place with the most light. The shadows at his feet crawled and hid beneath him, terrified. A sculpture as tall as a house, carved into ebony, had been erected there. It was a tree, lacquered and well-maintained, the light reflecting off with a pale hue. A symbol had been carved in its center, the symbol of the Black Heirs.
"There's another tree like this somewhere," Javier wrote using a sheet of paper and a pen Milena gave him. "A white tree. We need to find it and bring it back here."
Lucian scratched the top of his head. "I would love to help you in this quest, Sir Javier, but we have our ordeals to deal with."
"The tree is in the location occupied by the Celestial Gods, the place they think is the River of Life." Javier swiftly replied, almost as if he already expected the comment. Lucian thought for a short second and shrugged.
"Alright then." He activated his Mana Sight to check out Javier's power, but his Aura Core was veiled in mysterious moonlight. He couldn't tell how strong the hunter was, which was very strange. Very few could hide from his Mana Sight, after all.
Only Newborn Rulers could.
Lucian froze in his steps, his heart missing a beat. 'Could it be... that Javier is a Newborn Ruler?'
He shook the idea out of his head. No, it'd be absurd. A random hunter, afflicted by the one curse that stunted growth in the mystical domain, reaching a level comparable to Exan, Duke Noir, or even the King's Blade?
The Prince carefully shelved the thought. Even if very low, the possibility was still there. And if he could get the services of a rogue Newborn Ruler for Munirp, the war... the whole war could be changed to their advantage!
Phew... He inhaled deeply and pushed back against the excitement. These were all guesses and conjectures. Acting upon these guesses was a terrible idea. 'For now, I'll just try to see and verify whether my guesses are correct. If he's the one who shot that arrow at the Newborn Ruler earlier, perhaps he actually is that powerful.'
"Tsk..." Milena cursed and kicked into a mound of sand. "Okay, Javier. We will follow you. This is your one chance to redeem yourself. Don't waste it," she warned. Javier smiled and nodded deeply. In the meantime, Liara was studying the sculpted, ebony tree closer. She passed her finger on the carved wood, holding her breath. It felt like a voyage through time, and she could feel it. This tree was key to the future, to the Black Heirs' future.
"First, we need to deactivate the communication jammer," wrote Javier. "Glenn and Sahro will be needed to take the tree. Without them, this plan is doomed to fail."
Lucian's eyes widened. "How do you even know that these two are here?" He raised a hand and pre-emptively stopped Javier. "No, never mind. I don't care. If your plan has a chance of helping Munirp more than what we were already planning, then I'll proceed with it without questioning it. Carry on."
Javier nodded, appreciating the respect, and added a few more lines to his sheet of paper. "There are two Celestial Gods we need to be careful of. One has a monkey mask, and the other a bird mask. Monkey-mask guards the place mass-producing the Orcs, while the other guards the communication jammer."
He drew two circles to illustrate his words, one with a remarkably well-sketched monkey, and a similarly good drawing of a bird on the other. There were many small islands on the monkey's side, while on the other hand, the bird watched over just one very large island.
"I will be drawing away Bird-mask attention. In that short time, you'll have to get the help of an Orc—Decimius. He was there back in the W.O.R.M. Without him, you will all die," he warned with a serious expression.
"How do you even know all this...?" Milena asked, not actually expecting an answer. That's why she choked on her saliva when Javier simply replied, "The moons told me."
"As soon as Decimius' support has been acquired, you must destroy the communication jammer. This will allow Glenn and Sahro to regroup at the final location."
He drew one last circle, writing 'Miyāh al-Ḥayāh' in its center. "The fake River of Life. There, I will occupy the Newborn Rulers while you all transport the tree."
"That's... an insane plan, Javier!" Milena grabbed his collar and raised him with all four of her arms. "Have you gone completely crazy?! You're nowhere strong enough to take care of one Newborn Ruler, so how could you fight multiple at once?!"
Javier gently made her let go of his collar. "I will not be alone. The Twin Sisters will be with me."
Milena cursed and stomped away, breathing in and out heavily. "This is ridiculous! It won't even work anyway! Javier just wants to kill himself! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Liara left Milena to her ramblings and turned to Javier. "Are you sure you're capable of this?"
Javier smiled. "As sure as there are two moons in the sky at night. You can also talk now. What happened?"
The Black Heiress froze for an instant, startled. She shook herself awake and rubbed the back of her head, blushing a little.
"...Glenn happened."
The Pale Hunter nodded with a knowing gaze that said, 'Don't tell me anything, I know.'
Javier clapped his hands lightly, drawing back Lucian and Milena's attention. "Please follow me. I will show you why I am so confident fighting against numerous Newborn Rulers."
Lucian brightened up. "Oh, a duel?" He paused and grimaced. "Ah, darn, I would have loved to, but did I already mention we're pressed for time?"
Shadows twirled around Javier's feet as he shook his head with a gentle smile. He walked away, leading them to an opening to the side of the pyramid. Probably the actual entry to it. There was a dark stone wall blocking the access out, which was probably buried beneath hundreds of tons of black sand anyway.
Liara and Milena stared at the dark wall pensively. Something about it seemed familiar, but they couldn't tell what.
Javier quickly cleared out the confusion when he pressed his hand against the dark wall. Red lines of energy ran through the cracks, and a door appeared, with a familiar anagram painted onto it in white.
W.O.R.M.