The Chronicles of Arnora: The Curse of the Blood Moon

Chapter Twelve: A Rock and a Hard Place

~Chapter Twelve~
A Rock and A Hard Place

Owin and Arwen went ahead of Percival who was lagging behind from carrying Ryo on his shoulders. They proceeded up the hallway they came down a bit ago and back into the large corridor that they entered earlier. At the same time Aqua and Luke came up the opposite end of the hall that led to the cells where Owin and Percival were being kept. Owin took quick notice of the blood on Luke and the large bloody hole that was in Aqua's tunic from where the spear had pierced her body.

Owin: "Aqua, Luke, what the hell happened to you two!? Where'd that hole in your tunic come from and who's blood is that!?"

Aqua: "It's fine Owin, I'm fine. We had a run in with some golems shortly after I found Luke. He tried to defeat them with his magic but it wasn't all that effective, one of the golems broke free from his ice spell and threw rubble from another at me. Luke said it pierced my chest and knocked me out cold, luckily it wasn't all that bad and he was able to heal my injuries." This however was a lie Luke had told Aqua, she in fact died from a spear in her chest that was thrown by one of the guards. Looking at Aqua's bloody motionless corpse had sent Luke into a rage that awakened his black mana. He ended up using dark magic to kill the guards as a result and used their lifeforce to bring Aqua back from the dead.

Owin: "Luke, thank you for looking after her, you did well to try and defeat the golems. But next time leave the hard battles to Aqua, you're still in training after all." Luke looked at Owin through a fake smile, if he only knew what he had truly done.

Luke: "I insisted on fighting them by myself, I really thought I was ready but it seems that I wasn't. My attack spell combination wasn't all that powerful, but my healing magic seems to have been of great use."

Aqua: "It's fine Luke, you did your best and you were able to stop them in the end. It's my fault for not paying better attention." Again Luke had a fake smile on his face as he looked at Aqua, he felt bad not letting her of all people know the truth. But what would she think if she knew Luke had resulted to black magic to bring her back, what would they all think? Aqua then looked over to Percival who was still holding Ryo up on his shoulders, she immediately ran over to examine him. "What happened to Ryo that you had to carry him all this way?"

Percival: "He's been heavily drugged by Isis, we found him out cold in his cell. Is there anything you can do to help him?"

Aqua: "I could try a cleansing spell, but there's no telling how effective it'll be. It really depends on the potency of whatever she gave him, lay him on the floor there Percival." He did as Aqua said and laid Ryo down on the corridor floor, she then knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his forehead and chest. "He's tense and his breathing is slowed. Whatever it is, it's taking quite a toll on him. I invoke the power of Revione, God of Medicine, heal that which ails this man, let him be free of the sickness that infects him." Aqua's hands began to glow white hot and Ryo started to shudder as the energy flowed from her into him. "Whatever they gave him it's fighting back hard, I'm not sure if my spell will cure him but it should suppress it for the time being."

Owin: "Something that strong surely has to have a cure right?"

Aqua: "It's hard to say, if there is a cure Isis would be the one to know. Although I doubt she's still back in that laboratory where she was keeping Luke tied up. So confronting her about it is out of the question for now." Owin looked over to Luke with a look of concern on his face.

Owin: "Are you okay Luke? What did she have you tied up for?" Luke looked back at Owin for some time thinking of what he was going to tell him. "Luke, did you hear me? What did Isis do to you?"

Luke: "Oh yes I'm sorry, it's just hard to think about. I don't know how long I was there, but I do know why she had me bound. Your suspicions of Killian working for the royals is true Owin. He told Isis what he had seen of my past when he entered my mind. She wanted to know just how exactly I killed those upier when I was a child. There's no telling what she would have done to me if Aqua hadn't shown up in time to stop her."