• Tales of Xalthia

    Chapter 16: True Mission


    The sun rose the next morning, lighting up the darkened seaside town. Normally, this would indicate the start of another day but that wasn't the case this time. The sunrise was red and it's been known that red sunrises indicates either lots of blood was spilled during the night before or something ominous was going to happen. This made some of the townspeople feel uneasy. Since Basilwell was a town of mostly scholars, there were few guards and fighters in Basilwell. Due to the low number of fighters, the town doesn't have a strong defense force.

    When Tsuki and the others woke up, they gathered their things and got ready to leave. As they were getting ready, they heard a commotion going on from outside. Since the commotion had signs of panic, Tsuki was the first one to leave the inn to investigate what's going on. Lynette and Ramza soon followed after him after he bolted out of the in out of instinct.

    When the group caught up to the crowd, they found themselves in the town square with a massive group of people all crowded around the square. Tsuki pushed his way through the crowd to get to the front so he could see what was happening since they didn't have a few from the back. When he got up to the front, he saw seven people on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. To the right of them were eight Briswater soldiers and someone wearing a black, executioner's mask. It appeared to be a public execution since the executioner had a sword in his hand. Tsuki couldn't believe what he was seeing. After taking a closer look at the soldiers, he saw Menorions' mark on their shoulder plates. He wasn't going to let this execution happen but before he could act, Ramza stopped him by grabbing onto his shoulder.

    Ramza placed his hand on Tsuki's shoulder because he knew that he would jump in without thinking. "Take it easy. Let's learn what's going on before we do anything. This could help us in our search" he said. He had a feeling that Menorion was trying to create tension between Eresseas and Briswater by posing as Briswater soldiers and make public executions, which was against the law. Menorion knew that if they were successful, they would be too focused on Briswater which would leave them open for a surprise attack.

    Tsuki didn't want to stand by and let this happen but he had a point. This was their chance to see if they can learn what their motives are. He then sighed and sunk back into the crowd so he doesn't become too exposed. His attention then turned to the people in the center of the crowd, anxiously listening in on what's going on.

    The soldier that had the black, executioners' mask paced left and right in front of the seven people who were on their knees. "Behold, citizens of Basilwell! Take heed of this! These people have committed crimes against Briswater and the Holy Kingdom of Eresseas! They were caught red-handed planning to overthrow the royal family and are responsible for the deaths of Briswater officials! Due to their crimes, their punishment is death!" the soldier shouted.

    Since the people in the crowd didn't know that the soldiers were actually Menorion soldiers in disguise, they believed them. However, their prisoners knew the truth. A young man in his twenties denied their absurd claims. "They're lying! They raided our homes in the middle of the night and took us prisoner!" the man shouted.

    The soldier looked towards the man and approached him. "Silence, you traitor!" he shouted. He then kicked the man in his stomach, knocking him onto his back. Moments later, he held his sword above the man, pointing the tip straight down as if he was going to plunge the sword into the man. "Let this be a lesson to everyone. The laws of Eresseas are absolute! Traitors will be put to death! Since you're so eager, you will be the first to die" he said. He lifted his sword up a bit higher and got ready to plunge the sword down into his stomach.

    As the soldier made his plunge, a figure bolted out of the crowd and punched the soldier in the face and sent him crashing through the crowd and into a pile of crates. The figure turned out to be a young boy around Tsukis' age who had steel gauntlets that covered his fists and extended past his wrists. He had a matching pair of bracers on his legs for kicking. "Law of Eresseas? If you knew of the laws, then you would know that public executions are prohibited in Cayhill" he said.

    Another disguised soldier few his sword and pointed it at the young boy. "Insolent brat! How dare you assault a soldier of Briswter!" the soldier shouted. He then charged at the boy with intent to cut him down.

    The boy spun around and swept his feet against the ground and the soldier's feet, causing him to be completely knocked off his feet. As the soldier started to fall face-first onto the ground, the boy did an uppercut to the soldiers' chin, sending him up off the ground a bit further and onto his back.

    A third soldier watched as his two comrades were easily defeated and grew infuriated. "In the name of Briswater, you are under arrest for assaulting a Briswater soldier. If you resist, we will cut you down! Seize him, men!" he commanded. With his command, two soldiers drew their spear and sword and charged at the young boy together.

    Tsuki wasn't going to watch this anymore. He broke free from Ramzas' grip and bolted out of the crowd. Before they got close to the young boy, Tsuki quickly drew his sword and delivered two swift swings of his sword, slashing them across their backs and kicked the back of their knees in, knocking them onto the ground. The two soldiers were dead before they hit ground. When the two fell to the ground, he turned around and faced the remaining four soldiers. "Alright, I've seen enough. This execution of yours is a sham" he said with a displeased tone.

    One of the remaining soldiers recognized Tsuki from the previous night when he appeared at the docks. He knew that their plan has now failed. However, since he was still disguised, he tried to pass off as a Briswater soldier. A royal knight? What do you think you're doing? Are you turning against us?" he asked.

    Tsuki's right eye twitched then lunged at the soldier and slashed the soldier across his torso, knocking him back and killing him on impact. "Don't even try and act like we're allies. Menorion soldiers aren't welcome on our land" he said. He then kneeled down and removed the fake mark of Briswater, revealing Menorions' mark.

    When Menorions' mark was revealed, the crowd grew uneasy. Tsuki turned and faced the remaining soldiers who appeared to be frightened from his display of speed and power. Ramza and Lynette came out from the crowd and approached their captives and released them from their bonds. Once they were free, they stood up and expressed their gratitude to them. Before Tsuki could finish off the other soldiers, they dropped their weapons and took off running out into the wilderness outside of the town. As they fled, Tsuki sheathed his sword. As things were starting to calm down, Basilwell officials showed up.

    Tsuki looked towards the officials, which consisted of a man in heavy armor accompanied by two soldiers. "Well, look who finally decided to show up. I don't mind killing our invaders but I feel like I'm doing someone's dirty work if it happens under someone else's watch" he said.

    The man laughed a bit at his comment. He was a very buff muscle man with a scar over his right eyelid. It would seem like he has seen his share of battles unlike the other town officials. "And I feel like someone's being a bad guest when a certain brat comes into my town, unannounced. Would it kill you to drop in on an old ally to say hi?" he asked.

    Tsuki chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "You haven't changed on bit, my friend. It's good to see you doing well" he said. He had a calm expression on his face while the man had an intimidating presence to him. However, Tsuki wasn't bothered by it. There seems to be history between them.

    Lynette walked up to them and looked at the two with a confused look on her face. "Um...you two know each other?" she asked. She obviously knew the answer but she was hoping that one of them would fill in the blanks for her if she asked them.

    The man looked at Lynette and nodded. "I was one of the Royal Eight when Tsuki became a knight. I retired from that life and he eventually took my place. We have quite the history together...almost three years worth" he said. He fell silent for a bit and examined Tsuki. "I've been waiting for your arrival. I didn't think it'd take you so long to get here though. You sure took your sweet time getting here, don't you think?" he asked.

    Tsuki shrugged and examined the man. "You can put all the blame for my late arrival on General Maxwell of Briswater for the delay. You have no idea what we had to do to get here" he said. It's already been a month since he left Eresseas. His mission was suppose to take a few days at most but with so many delays and side trips, it couldn't be helped.

    The man rubbed his chin in thought. "I see. Well, I'd be happy to hear of your endeavors that made your arrival so late in my office. We can talk more there with less of a crowd listening in on us" he said. He then looked towards the young boy from before you originally interfered with execution. "Ruko!" Stay here and find out what happened from their captives. When you've learned everything you can, come to my office" he said.

    The boy named Ruko, the hand-to-hand combat fighter looked at the man and saluted him. "Yes sir!" he acknowledged. He then went off to talk to the seven people who were taken captive by the disguised soldiers.

    The man looked back at Tsuki and nodded. "Follow me. I'll show you the way. Your companions can come along as well since they're a part of this now" he said. He then turned around and started to head towards the center of town.

    Tsuki nodded and looked towards Lynette and Ramza, motioning for them to follow him. They soon followed the man to the Town Hall. However, this wasn't a normal Town Hall as it held one of Basilwells' biggest secrets. The Town Hall held the secret entrance to Basilwells' underground base. Since making big buildings on the surface exposes them to risks such as being consumed by natural disasters and becoming prime targets for invaders, they built an underground base to store precious data and documents.

    The man led them into the Town Hall and into the vaults that were in the basement. The vaults were heavily secured by thick steel doors that were several inches thick followed by a defense grid to further protect against intruders and armed personnel. Inside the vaults and passed all the security checkpoints, there was a steel elevator that goes straight down into the ground. They climbed onto the elevator and moments later, they began their slow descent down into the earth. They've somehow managed to built a ten-story headquarters under Basilwell's foundation. Access into this underground base is strictly prohibited for Briswater and Basilwell personnel. The royals of Eresseas don't even know such a place even exists. The only reason Tsuki was given access was because they were the ones that were called upon by Basilwell. As they made their ride down to the lowest level, they saw that each floor had different things. The place was massive. It was as if they were in an underground city. Each level has different security checks so if someone doesn't have the proper ID card for that level, they cannot gain access regardless of their position. The further you go down, the heavier and tighter the security becomes. Gaining access to the lowest level is impossible without an authorized escort. Once they reached the very bottom, they stepped off of the elevator and proceeded down a hallway that led into a heavy, strong glass tunnel that led into a small glass dome. The headquarters extended down to the bottom of the sea. Everything beyond the glass tunnel was all underwater. Inside the glass dome was an office that had bookshelves all around the walls with reinforced steel plated strips along the glass.

    The man walked behind the desk and sat down in the chair. He then raised his arm up, dismissing the two soldiers that were escorting them. Once they left the room, he relaxed a bit. "Welcome to my undersea office, my honored guests. I apologize for the long walk" he said.

    They were all still speechless by how far down their headquarters stretched. They didn't expect something like this. They were the first outsiders to have walked through the halls of the underground headquarters. They didn't know what to say.

    Tsuki overcame the shock and finally decided to break the silence. "When I heard Basilwell had a heavily restricted zone, I didn't expect it to be an underground base such as this..." he said.

    The man chuckled a bit. "Welcome to Basilwell's pride and joy. Allow me to introduce myself to your companions. My name is Alba Sykes, commander of Basilwells' small military and research center" he said. He then examined Lynette and Ramza a bit. "I wasn't aware that you'd be traveling with people especially someone from another nation. I'd like to hear what you've been through since you left Eresseas" he said.

    Tsuki nodded and started to tell Alba what's happened throughout their journey since he first left Eresseas. It took him almost an hour just to briefly explain everything with few details. If he were to go in a full report, it would take even longer. Once he was finally done, Alba had an intrigued look on his face.

    Alba rubbed his chin in thought as Tsuki finished his long story. "I see...that's quite a tale. No wonder your arrival was so late. I suppose that answers that question" he said.

    Tsuki nodded. "Yes. It couldn't be helped. Anyways, I know that you lied in your initial request for help. You also specifically asked for my presence. So, what is the real reason for calling upon my help?" he asked. He wanted to know the real reason on why he wanted his help specifically. His initial request for help was too absurd.

    Alba closed his eyes and sighed for a moment. He needed to gather his thoughts for a minute. Soon, he spoke up. "It's a long story" he said.

    Ramza saw that Alba was having trouble putting it into words so he decided to help get to the point. "Let me guess; it has something to do with Menorions' presence here, right?" he asked.

    Alba looked at Ramza and nodded. "Yes. We recently learned that they are planning something sinister that will lead to great suffering. I didn't want to cause panic or alarm for Eresseas if I came out and told them what's happening when we still don't know much as of now. You were the only one I could trust so that's why I called you here under a fake request for help" he said.

    Lynette tilted her head a bit. There were a few things she didn't understand. "Wait, how did Menorion get here anyway? If you saw them come in by boat, couldn't you have stopped them before they docked?" she asked.

    Alba shook his head. "That's just it. We didn't see them come in at all nor have we spotted any Menorion ships come in" he said.

    Ramza folded his arms and leaned up against one of the bookshelves. "That only leaves one other option. They must of hijacked one of your ships while it was still out at sea and disguised themselves in your armor" he said.

    Alba nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. We didn't catch on until it was too late" he said. He then sighed heavily. Menorion soldiers managed to slip past his defenses so easily when he tries to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

    Lynette was still confused. "If you knew Menorion soldiers were within the town, why haven't you forced them out by now?" she asked.

    Alba looked at Lynette and shook his head. "That's easier said than done. There are a few problems that have prevented us from doing so. They remain hidden from our sights so we can't chase them out. There's also the matter of their leader. King Caius, the king of Menorion is leading them himself. He's a force to be reckoned with. Our last problem is our own military strength. We're a town of scholars and researchers. We have little force to face such an enemy who specializes in power. If their king wasn't among their numbers, we wouldn't have a problem forcing them out" he explained.

    Tsuki folded his arms and slipped into thought for a moment. "So, you that's why you requested my assistance to eliminate or drive out the Menorion threat. Does that sound about right?" he asked.

    Alba nodded. "Yes. We've also seen them roaming the streets. We believe they're searching for this base" he said.

    Tsuki tilted his head, now confused. "Wait, why are they searching for this place? If the Basilwell militia is weak in numbers and strength, they wouldn't be considered a threat to them. What reason would they have for this place?" he asked.

    Ramza then interrupted them as he had a sudden thought. "I think the better question is, how do they know this place exists? If this place is as big of a secret as you made it, no one should know about this especially people from outside of Cayhill" he said.

    Alba fill silent for a moment to get this thoughts together. "I'm afraid some of our researchers have...disappeared. We believe they were spies of Menorion. We're researching about the Ancients and the doorways to their world. Located in different parts of the world are large doors that look very old. It's been said that those doors will lead to the Ancients. The Kingdom of Menorion has been trying to find a way there in order to obtain their frightening and enormous power and wisdom for themselves. The reason why they're looking for this base in particular is for the research data we've collected over the years. Unfortunately, that research is very sensitive so I can't disclose anything to anyone who isn't authorized" he said.

    The mention of doors caused Tsuki to remember the giant door they found in the depths of Briswaters' mine. "Large doors...you mean like the one from the mines of Briswater?" he asked.

    Alba nodded. "Yes. Those doors are said to leave to where the Ancients reside. We only have a rough idea on where the remaining doors are. For now, we---" he said. As he was talking, he was interrupted when someone came busting through the doors. It was Ruko, the martial artist from before. He saw that he was in a major rush. "Ruko! What's going on? Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked.

    Ruko was out of breath and needed a moment to breathe. He was in a panic about something. "T-the Menorion soldiers...they're attacking the city! They're demanding for our immediate surrender!" he shouted.

    Alba's expression turned to absolute shock. He didn't think Menorion soldiers would attack so suddenly. "They're what!? Initiate a state of emergency and mobilize our forces. We'll have to drive them back with everything we have! Get the civilians to safety!" he commanded.

    Ruko saluted him. "Yes sir!" he said. He then turned around and bolted out of the room. There was no time to waste.

    Alba stood up and looked at Tsuki. "It would seem the time to drive them back is now. Will you lend us your strength? We'll need any help we can get" he said, already knowing his answer anyway.

    Tsuki nodded without hesitation. "Please, must you ask? It's my duty to defend Cayhill. Not only that, but it's my mission. I will not allow Menorion to tarnish our land" he said. He then turned around and faced Lynette and Ramza. "What about you guys? You're welcome to stay here if you don't want to get involved. I won't force you to come with me" he said.

    Lynette looked at Tsuki and nodded. "I'm with you. We're a team, right? We've come this far already. It's pretty pointless to back out of this now, right?" she asked. She loved Cayhill. She doesn't want to see a land full of green and life to become a blood-stained battlefield again.

    Ramza shrugged. "Honestly, my mission is to deal with the Shadow Knight at my own discretion. I don't mind fighting off a few bad guys that threaten the peace" he said. Even though he wasn't loyal to Cayhill, he was someone who couldn't turn his back on those in need. He was going to help regardless.

    Alba listened to their responses and nodded. He was very pleased to hear that they would help. He then bowed to them. "Thank you. I'm grateful for your help" he said.

    Tsuki turned around and briefly faced Alba. "Leave it to us. We'll do what we can to help" he said. He then faced Lynette and Ramza once more. "Okay. Let's get a move on, people. We have a town to save" he said.

    Everyone nodded and ran out of the room and hurried back up to the surface. When they finally reached the surface, the smell of smoke was strong. People were running around in a panic. Menorion soldiers were laying waste to the town, setting buildings on fire while Basilwell troops did their best to fight back the chaos. They wasted no time and hurried into the city to fight back the invaders.

    To be continued...