They set out again the next day. Lucia led the way, as she was the one most familiar with where Darius and his men had been headed.
After about an hour of walking, they came to the remains of yet another burning village. They were indeed on the right track. They entered the village to seek survivors. They found only a little girl, sobbing in the corner of a destroyed house. Lucia was reminded of herself, and her heart went out to the child. She slowly entered the hut, and approached the girl. She gazed up at Lucia with wide, frightened eyes. Sobbing, she asked, “Are you going to kill me?”
Lucia was struck by her boldness, and heartbroken that a girl of her age would know so much about violence that she would question a stranger as to whether they meant to kill her or not. Smiling as much as the situation could bear, she shook her head.
“No, child! I’m here to help. Can you tell me what happened? Are your parents okay?”
The girl frowned. “A mean man wearing a black cape with black armor on a black horse attacked us. He lit our home on fire. My Momma escaped with my little brother into the woods. She told me to hide here, because she couldn’t take us both! I don’t know if she’s alive! I want my Mommy!” She sobbed. Lucia frowned and embraced the child.
“There there. We’ll help you find your Mommy. Can you show us where she ran to?”
Sniffling, the girl nodded. Taking Lucia’s hand, she led her over to the forest near the hut she had been in. “There.”
Zangulus joined them. He looked to Lucia. “Where are we going?”
“I’m going to take her to her mother. Hopefully she can tell us more about “you-know-who”.” Zangulus nodded, and followed the girl. She led them deep into the woods, calling for her mother. At last they heard a woman’s high-pitched cry, and then an older lady, about middle-age, came racing toward them. “Oh, my baby! My precious baby!” She embraced the girl, then stood up and looked at Zangulus and Lucia.
“Who are you? Thank you so much for returning her to me! I thought I would never see my darling little Christine again!”
Lucia stepped forward. “I am Lucia. My … “partner” here is Zangulus. Tell me, why didn’t you take your child with you when you ran off?”
“Oh, I tried to, but there were guards all around the village! I had just grabbed her brother when she ran off. I couldn’t find her and so I ran off!”
“That’s not what she told us. She said you told her to hide in the hut! Look, you should be ashamed! Abandoning your own flesh and blood to killers! How could you?!”
The woman bowed her head. “I…I’m sorry. There’s simply no excuse. I just…didn’t think. I ran.”
“Well you’d better think! I don’t know if we should even give her back to you if that’s the sort of thing you do whenever danger strikes!”
“I promise! Please, return my little Christine to me!” She sobbed. Lucia sighed and nodded. “Very well. But I need you to give me some information. Who did this, why, and where is he now?”
“He was called “Lord Darius”. He apparently knows a great deal of magic, because some of the flames used to burn everything were magical. He said something about sacrificing all to the God of War, Torak. I also heard him say that he must find the one, the “Goddess of Destruction, called Arakia”. He and his men headed on to the town of Caldania in the Southeast. If you’re going to fight him, be careful! He’s as powerful as they come!”
Lucia nodded. “Sounds like we got a mage to fight.” She turned to the mother. “Thank you. Do you have a place to stay? The whole town is ashes.”
"Yes. I built a shelter in a nearby cave. We’ll be alright. Thank you, and be careful!”
Lucia nodded. “Thank you.” She turned to Zangulus as they both started off again. “Zang, she said he uses magic. This isn’t good.”
Zangulus frowned. “No. But you said you use magic, right?”
“Yes. I even create my own spells. Lately I’ve been developing a spell that is more powerful than the Laguna Blade and Dragon Slave together.”
“Then what are you worried about? You’ll fry him, at least!” “That’s not it. For one, I read a prophecy long ago about a dark mage who would try to sacrifice the world to an ancient evil god. It was said that the only way he could be stopped was by the combination of a great swordsman and a great sorceress.”
“You made that up! It sounds a heck of a lot like us!”
“No kidding. I didn’t make it up! It IS us, Zang. We are the ones prophesied to destroy him. And that’s not the only problem. You see, to defeat Darius, I will need to use my new spell-the “Drive Spell” I call it-and to do so means giving away almost all of my life force!”
“Lucia, no! You could die! Promise me you won’t do that!”
“I may have to Zang! if I don’t, who knows what Darius will do to this world! I’m sorry, Zang, but I’ve got to…!” Lucia bowed her head. Zangulus wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He stared into her dark eyes. In his most serious voice, he said: “Lucia, I can’t bear the thought of losing you, too! Martina was bad enough! I Couldn’t bear to lose you too! Lucia…after a long time, we’re finally together again. And what’s more…” He bowed his head. “I think I love you…no, I KNOW I love you!”
Lucia frowned. “Oh, Zang…What can I possibly say to that? The truth is, I love you too….I have since I met you as a kid…!”
“Lucia….” Zangulus began, “If you must use that spell, do it. But please, remember how I feel for you…” He lowered his lips to meet her own. Both of them closed their eyes as they shared a long, passionate kiss….
“Oh, how sweet!”
Both of them turned to see that they were surrounded by at least twenty men with their weapons drawn and aimed at them. Lucia growled angrily. “What the hell is this?!”
A man with a scarred face and rotten teeth grinned at them. “Lord Darius has heard that you two were going against him…and he wishes for your presence!”
Zangulus pulled out the Howling Sword, prepared to fight. But Lucia held him back.
“We’re too vastly outnumbered to fight! Let’s just go along with this for a while. When we find out what Darius is really like, then we can fight!”
Zangulus looked at her, unsure, but she gave him a knowing wink. He sighed and put away the sword, as he and Lucia were escorted off to Lord Darius’ camp….!
