A Soft Chime

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Akirio groaned, sitting up slowly. His whole throbbed with ache. Elphie was nearby, reading an ancient tome.

"You're awake, finally," he said, not lifting his eyes from the book.

"Yes..." He trailed off, "Aren't I supposed to be dead?"

"Death's Chimes tricked you into thinking you had died. It was just a needle coated in knockout poisons," Elphie slowly shut his book, "I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but-"

Akirio cut him off. "That I should stop hunting them!? They killed my closest friend and my family! I'm not just going to let them run free. Death's Chimes, Tempting Voice, Final Sight, they'll all pay for what they did."

Elphie glared at him, a rare emotion showing. "He stopped one of my most charged bolts without even breaking a sweat. I don't know what the others can do, but still if he's part of them, you're going to have some trouble. I don't want you risking your life over some silly vengeance game."

Akirio glared darkly at him

"You don't understand anything, Elphie. What would you do if someone took your family and the closest friend from you?"

"You think you are the only one who has experienced loss?! Your arrogance knows no bounds!" Elphie slammed down the book, disturbing the dust that had still laid upon it. "My parents were put to death after experimenting with magics they shouldn't have when I was...created. I wanted to kill the men who executed my parents, but I couldn't. I couldn't because they were too strong."

"You weren't strong enough! You magi are always weak before you learn how real men fight!" Akirio leaned forward as he spat out the insults.

Elphie's fingertips flickered with blue sparks, "What would you know about magic? You're a petty fool who thinks the world revolves around their massive egos!"

"You're one to talk. All I ever hear you talk about is how much better you are than everyone else because you can put on a little thunderstorm with your fingers."

Elphie's eyes blazed with an anger that Akirio hadn't seen in ages as his fingers began to crackle and sizzle. The air charged with static, then it stilled.

"Akirio, you're fighting a hopeless battle," sighed Elphie, the lightning dissipating.

"What does your weakness hold over me? Is it that you're so willing to give up? To go run back to your books with your tail between your legs like a kicked dog? The enemy always has weaknesses to exploit and we must find them."

"They don't have weaknesses, Akirio. When will I be able to get that through your dense skull? You're small, an insect compared to them. Death's Chimes alone could defeat you. One moment you'd be standing, blade raised, the next dut down pouring your lifeblood into the grass."

"Isn't that what always happens in books? The underdog wins? Why can't that happen here?"

"Because, Akirio, this is life. There are no happy endings. Go back to sleep. Your body still is pumped full of poisons."

Akirio sighed and remained in his sitting position.

"I can drug you."

"Go ahead. It doesn't matter to me anymore."

Elphie sighed and gently jabbed his wrist with a needle and Akirio slept.

He was dreaming again. He just prayed that Death's Chimes didn't return. As much as he hated to admit it, the man, if he was a man, unnerved him. He recognized the room he was in. Stone walls, low ceiling, lone fire smoldering in the hearth. He was back home in the Zarani countryside. Back when his family was alive and his brother wasn't trying to kill him with every breath he took. The house was empty though. He was alone.

"Do you remember this place, Akirio?" The voice wasn't the assassin's melodious, formal tone. It was dark, low and sinister.

"Yes," he stated, "This was my home before everything went to hell."

"Precisely," the scene changed and he was standing by the lifeless body of a young man. His tawny, mousy hair was cut short and was spiked in the front with a thick liquid. Akirio knew that it was rose oil immediately. The body lying there was Ikasagan, killed by a single thrust into the back of his neck, an assassination.

"What? They told me he died fighting!" Akirio protested.

"Ah, but he didn't." The picture slowly faded and was replaced by another still image. A white robed scarlet eyed assassin plunging a knife into the base of Ikasagan's skull. The tiny blood droplets were frozen in time. Little rubies glistening in the air.

"Do you see now?" the voice asked, "Do you see why you must kill Death's Chimes and his companions? Ikasagan Ado was murdered in cold blood for cold coin."

"Yes, but does he have a weakness?" Akirio questioned the voice.

There was a low resounding chuckle. "Perhaps, perhaps you would know if you thought of the power that you yourself cannot taste of."

"What do you mean?" He shouted but the freeze frame of Ikasagan's death slowly faded into nothingness.

Akirio woke with a jerk to Elphie shaking him.

"You were talking to yourself," he stated bluntly.

"It was a dream." He shook his head.

"Did Death's Chimes pop up again?"

"No, there was this voice though. It was low and sinister. Like he was some embodiment of death."

Elphie thought for a moment. "I don't know who that is or would be. There's probably some book about it," he stood, "I'll be at the library if you need me."

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In the darkness, a voice snarled. "Dreamhaunt!" the voice barked, low and raspy.

Footsteps hurried closer and skidded to a halt. A creature dropped to its knees.

"Yes, lord?" The creature known as Dreamhaunt asked in a soft and formal voice.

"You failed me. I know what will happen now. He will not kill Iakex. He will become his friend, and I will be defeated."

"I am sorry my lord. If there is anything I can do-"

"Silence!" The lord roared. "You have failed me so now you must pay."

"No lord, please. I am your most humble and loyal servant. I meant no-" Dreamhaunt's pleading was cut off by the sickeningly wet sound of a blade being lodged in the flesh of a throat. The creature gurgled and slumped to the floor.