He's a Bastard - 12. Chapter 12- A Wanderer Gone Astray

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Chapter 12- A Wanderer Gone Astray

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Revelin's POV:

The sun had set mercilessly fast in the horizon. Alexandra and I mindlessly built a fire from the wooden rubble and sat with our knees bent, gazing absently at the flames. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Losing both Makith and Itharos at once was a hard thing for either of us to come to terms with. Makith was my best friend and Itharos was my best rival...it was as if one of my brothers kidnapped the other. I would never delude myself into thinking that my deductive hunches were always right, but it was still quite a shock to find that someone that was like family to me would be the one to have created so much chaos. I would have preferred that it had been a scorned lover or vengeful assistant instead, either of which I would have been able to handle without so many complications.

I sighed, raking my nails through my scalp, and was surprised to feel Cyrus's hands on my shoulder. When I looked over to my right, I could see the concern swirling around in those sharp hazel eyes of his. To be able to keep my hands to myself whenever I was around him was becoming more and more difficult. But, what was more frightening to me was the fact that I no longer cared for releasing my frustration through sensual activities with a variety of people.

In fact, Cyrus had become my one sole frustration. Though I wanted nothing more than to relieve it by staking my claim over him, I didn't want to lose him as my assistant. My life was simply far more entertaining with him by my side. For the first time since I had begun Wandering, I was seriously considering having an actual partner, so long as it was the platinum blonde sitting next to me. "Still cold?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but only when the breeze sneaks in-between the stones." He replied. "I hate to bring this up, but don't communities usually build walls to keep things out?" He commented as he peered around. I followed his gaze to the base of what used to be the wall that surrounded the nymph kingdom. "I mean, this looks like it was sturdy stone at one point...should we worry about desert dwellers reclaiming their territory at night? We have giant desert lizards that breathe fire in the deserts of our dimension, for crying out loud..."

"Don't worry so much," Alexandra sighed from the far right. Her voice was no longer shaking, but her body still was. "We shouldn't be sitting around moping, we should be figuring out how to get Makith back along with those young-ins."

"Your bracelet," I pointed out. "It still has both Itharos and Makith's signature Vim, does it not?"

"Yeah, but it's not enough to even..." Her voice ended in a surprised choke when she saw the round charm on her bracelet begin to glow a burgundy hue. She glanced up and locked eyes with me, both sets widening in surprise. "I don't believe it..." She whispered just as a familiar form began to materialize beside her.

"You better damn well believe it," Verity scoffed as she pulled her burgundy hood back to reveal her round face. All of us quickly rose to our feet. But, it was Alexandra that nearly tripped herself on the way up.

"Verity," Alexandra's voice began to break as she took in the sight of her best friend. Her back straightened abruptly, as if she were pulling herself together. "Shorter hair sure looks good on you." She said as she took in Verity's pixie cut.

"You too," She replied with a smirk until her expression changed into a frown. "Though that color does not suit you." She reached out to shake her fingers through Alexandra's hair, restoring the strands to their original violet shade. "Much better."

"Damn, I missed you girl." Alexandra hissed as she hugged Verity tightly. "You have no idea what we've just been through."

Verity snorted. "Let me guess...Itharos? You don't know the half of it."

"Please, enlighten us," I prompted.

"Well then, everyone needs to sit their butts back down and I'll show you everything I've witnessed." Verity explained as she took her place in front of the fire. A burgundy hued staff formed on her hand. As she twirled it over the fire, the fire took on the same hue and a flickering image formed inside it.

My eyes narrowed as I focused on a landscape that was very familiar to me. I recognized it as the town where the tsunami hit; the last time I had seen Verity. The last time she had helped me. What we were seeing must have been what happened after I left the town. As the images moved, it felt as if I were seeing everything through Verity's eyes...

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Verity’s POV:

"You don't understand. Those waves looked too sharply cut to be a natural occurring Tsunami," I growled at one of the priests in the church. "Which means that this last one was anything but natural." I had been suspicious from the very beginning when it came to the causes of the tsunami, whether it was natural or not. Before Revelin left, I had him handle the press while I stayed behind and talked to the few Vim carriers that helped during the chaos, and the priests. But, none of them seemed to think that the tsunami was forcefully created.

"Fine, don't believe me," I sighed. "Just make sure that everyone is safe while I go investigate." I pulled my hood back over my head and headed towards the shore. After some heavy bribing, I managed to get a crew to take me out to sea in the direction that the tsunami was first seen.

When we were far enough on the water, I formed a staff in my hands and twirled it over the water, using an activation spell. If the water was manipulated by vim, it would give off a burgundy glow. If no form of magic was used, then it would remain the same. What I saw made me frown. "That is a long trail of Vim...not many people are capable of doing this much. Not at this scale."

**

Sometime later, I came across Itharos to talk to him. I noticed that his wrist cuff was made of the scales of a serpent...a species that only lived in the waters of a particular ocean. My suspicions began to grow. I walked through his arch-passage to confront him. "Just what were your motives for trying to drown the Trade Island? Or did you somehow lose control of your Vim out in the ocean while hunting for the serpent that became your cuff?" I questioned as I motioned with her hand towards his wrist. "Talk to me, Itharos."

The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I observed the Itharos before me. His silver eyes were glowing and there was something about his stance and the way he slowly walked towards me that seemed off. I immediately formed a Vim shield around myself as he approached.

"Dearest Verity." Though the words rolled out in a purr, there was a sharpness of warning to them. As he spoke, the arch-passage behind me began to activate. "Far be it for you to stand in my way." In one swift move, he shoved me right through the arch-passage and inactivated it.

When I came to, I ended up trudging through a tundra and coming across an arctic dragon. The pale creature's azure eyes settled on my form. I tossed up my shield just as blue fire rained down from above…

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Revelin’s POV:

"Damn it! Just when I thought I was finished with feeling so cold!"

As I blinked a few times to clear my vision, I heard the voices of Alexandra and Cyrus as they, too, came back from Verity's vivid memories. Alexandra was rubbing her forehead while my assistant rubbed his arms and snarled at the fire, where the images had once been.

"I can certainly see how Itharos could have used water to exploit the weaknesses of these structures." I commented aloud as my eyes gazed at the ruins of what used to be the nymph kingdom. "But, my question is the same as yours, Verity. The Vim required to bring that much water out here to a desert...Itharos was certainly a powerful Wanderer. But, not even all of us together would have been able accomplish as much."

"And you said that the signature Vim in your bracelet isn't enough to form a trace?" Cyrus asked Alexandra.

"Oh?" Verity asked. "But, perhaps with this, it will be enough?" She suggested as she pulled out Itharos's serpent skin cuff from within her burgundy robes.

"I should have known!" I cried as a genuine smile formed on my face at last. "Verity, welcome back into the fold. We're lucky to have you."

"I know, I know." Verity replied with an answering grin. She turned towards Alexandra. "Well, Lexie? Let's get to work on extracting the Vim from that book-shaped charm of yours."

"With pleasure." She conceded as she plucked the charm right off her bracelet.

Soon, the two of them managed to stabilize a connection between Itharos's Vim and his whereabouts. Alexandra's violet sphere began to show dark figures dashing about. "What are those things?" She asked as she frowned at one of the shadow-like forms.

"I've been trying to figure that out since I first saw them," Cyrus huffed.

"Look, there's Makith!" Alexandra pointed out.

"He has Makith?" Verity asked with a frown.

"Yes, he kidnapped him along with two others." I supplied. "I'll explain it all to you later."

We all looked on as Itharos approached the nymph. Makith's wrist were held above his head in a cloth-like material and his feet were each held down by chains on the ground. "They will come for you," Itharos said as he trailed his fingers along the side of Makith's throat. "And then, I'll finally rid myself of them one at a time."

Alexandra cursed when the image dissipated. "Shit!" She looked at everyone in turn. "Does anyone have any idea where they could be based on what we saw?"

"I do." Cyrus sighed. I knew what his answer was going to be even before the words were even out of his mouth. "They're in Revelin's mansion."