"That thing out there isn't Orpheus," Thornfum said abruptly, not caring to ease into the information with his usual jests.
Xerxes frowned, and looked back at 'Orpheus' and then to Thornfum, it didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense, the person looked exactly like Orpheus. It spoke like Orpheus. It's power felt similar to Orpheus', by the gods even the peerer marked him as 'Orpheus'.
The only word that escaped Xerxes' breath was, "What?" He was left dumbfounded.
Airi's feather bristled subtly. Her gaze unfocused, as if she were replaying every sensation she'd felt since Orpheus had arrived.
The unnatural flow of mana that this 'Orpheus' had.
Thornfum scoffed and waved a hand, "I think flaming parrot is getting closer to the answer than you are, so don't gimme that look, lad. Ya heard me." He jabbed a thumb towards the chaos that was ensuing outside.
Men clashed with Giants, some men were slain, whilst some giants were rendered to weak to continue fighting but one thing was clear, the giants were winning in their efforts of resistance.
However, Orpheus had not acted. Not yet.
"That bastard out there? That ain't him. Not really." Thornfum confirmed.
Xerxes' stomach tightened. "Then what is it?"
Airi spoke quietly, almost to herself, "...That would explain it."
Both turned to match Airi's gaze, and it was clear she was stuck in thought, piecing together the anomalies.
"When I see people, I perceive their mana, that is their appearance. Whilst you see skin complexion, other features, I see mana, and what I could see was something strange. It was like how artifacts act, but it was external?"
Airi said in a final attempt of trying to fathom it, "The mana it felt powerful, but...wrong. Like a voice echoing through the wrong throat."
Thornfum then clicked his fingers, "Bingo!"
He spoke tiredly, "I figured it out m'self, but that version of Orpheus is simply a copy of the original."
The dwarf seemed to draw on his memories, shivering slightly, "He's got his hands on one nasty ol' artifact called 'resonance', where he can imbue his power into someone, and if you guessed it, that person there was likely one of his slaves who now carries Orpheus' mannerisms, appearance, portions of magic and all of that jargon."
Xerxes shook his head, trying to figure out many things. "You're saying that the real Orpheus was never there with us in Baratheon?"
Thornfum barked out a harsh laugh. "Ya think Orphy-boy would've let you walk outta that inn alive if he was the original? Nah. If that were the real him, you'd be dead. Proper dead. And Airi?" He glanced at her. "Birdy Bird woulda' been taken without a second breath, at least I think."
Silence pressed on Xerxes' chest. He had trouble trying to accept a reality where he was that hopeless. It was more like he couldn't accept it.
He had been spending so much time, trying to forge himself into an immovable warrior, that's what Baratheon had been for him, becoming a warrior who could face anything.
But as he thought on it, was that really all that Baratheon meant to him, or what was forced on him?
He shook his head, not trying to dwell much on that question. Instead, he focused on the fact that Orpheus could have killed him, but whether it was a clone or not, why didn't he? Xerxes' original question was still unanswered, so he reiterated it to Thornfum.
"Then what happened? What did you see?"
Thornfum lingered for a moment and dragged a hand down his face. "Right. This is where it gets messy."
He reminisced on the night when he had been separated from Xerxes, "So there I was," Thornfum began, already sounding defensive, "at a brothel. As a man does, searching for love... romance! Or at least someone that might tolerate me snorin.'
Xerxes honestly wasn't surprised he was in a brothel, what took him by surprise is trying to find his 'true love' in there, but he failed to see how this was related.
"I don't care about your peverted things Thornfum, just get to it already."
Piping up, with anger across his blood-stained brows, "Oi, I'm getting to it, give a man some time."
He carried on, "Anyway, I'm four drinks in, visions hazy, nights basically a blur, but I remember thinkin' I've struck gold."
He leaned closer, and his voice lowered.
"There was a file on the table, I thought it was my chance to see... nevermind I won't explain that but something very good."
Then he swallowed, "And inside it was something drunk Thornfum started to panic over."
He ticked the points off on his fingers.
'Delta has received the information.'
'Xerxes Draedon possesses an ancient mana beast,'
'Thornfum Furdia's lineage carries the inherited technique for Cardinal Craftsmanship'
'Xerxes Draedon is no longer a threat to Delta'
"The cursed child will be found.'
'The peerer artifact is in his possession, for the lost child.'
Xerxes felt cold as Thornfum listed off some of the things he saw briefly.
Thornfum acknowledged Xerxes' look of realisation and continued, "The night was hazy, there was too many files to read, but I remember seeing somet', it was a page that had specific instructions. Remember when Orpheus told you Tristan's weakness."
Xerxes nodded.
"Well, somet' were written, 'When a lost child is far from home, all they want to know is the way back', and back then, Xerxes, it was widely known Tristan didn't want anything from Luminaria's sanctuary, he'd been rejecting it every year he had won the tournament previously."
Airi pieced it together, "So Orpheus needed Xerxes to win the tournament, had he anticipated that Xerxes would have needed a map, a map that could only be secured from Luminaria's sanctuary?"
Thornfum nodded, "Damn right, and I think it's because he's lost his most valuable slave, a cursed child. I don't know what's so darn special about them, but it was clear that he needed them in those files."
Xerxes then finished, "And Orpheus couldn't risk asking me that when I was still under the notion that he was 'friendly', he was likely superstitious about me, I was acting unpredictable and he probably didn't want me to pry, at least not in public, that's why we've been drawn so far out but that's only one part of it."
Thornfum raised an eyebrow, "Go on?"
"He also needs moonshard, in most cases he could have killed me, but when killing someone their is a restoration period before someone else could claim an artifact, and I'm guessing because of how desperate he's getting, with creating a clone of himself, he's racing against time. He doesn't need me dead, he needs me contained, so that I'm forced to use the artifact in his favour."
Thornfum nodded grimly. "Aye. Killin' you would take too long, and he was in a rush, believe me and that artifact of yours, it tracks moonshard, he was yappin' about it when I collapsed in the brothel too drunk."
Thornfum put his hands on his temple trying to remember, "I just know I tried to write something, and it was blurry, Orpheus had me held, my mana felt exhausted and I recognised that we were going back to the inn, and my best guess is that..."
Looking outside, "The person who's being controlled by Orpheus, he must be a noble sorta guy, his will is battling against Orpheus. It's why he ain't fighting right now, look at the fool, but what is it about Moonshard? Everyone seems to be after it!"
Thornfum began listing it off, "Everyone has been forcing me to learn about it, the reason I was brought here was to study it! You's wanted to learn about it so adamantly! Orpheus wants it! Hell, I'm starting to want it!"
Xerxes hesitated in answering. Moonshard was an ore that he had been instructed to gain by the man in his soul core, if he wanted to learn more about the style of the 'Ezurewrath'.
'If I tell him now, do I change destiny, do I stray from it as I did back then. The future is too unpredictable and I can't risk anything happening, not whilst I have this level of control over my future.'
But, even with that, Thornfum still needed to know what Orpheus wanted it for, "Honestly, I've simply heard it is a rare ore, but it seems that..."
Xerxes then explained his journey here with Kaylun, and how the Gem'rafh had been blessed by Hera, one of Luminare's children, how their eyes held radiant power, which is why Orpheus harvests them, and what Moonshard could do.
"...Orpheus might be trying to forge a Cardinal weapon."
For once, Thornfum didn't joke. His face went pale.
"Well shit."
Xerxes pressed on.. "And here's the worst part. He doesn't need me for it. Just you and Airi, and your both here, everyone necessary for his plans are here and when he realises that do you not think the real Orpheus will come? With more soldiers than what are here now?"
Understanding quickly hit Thornfum. Despite how irrational he was sometimes, when something was so clearly explicit, he knew the risks.
Putting a hand on his chin, "If we stay ere', Orphy boy will close the trap."
Xerxes straightened.
"But I have a plan."
Airi heard glimpses of it before he and Kaylun advanced into the tribe, but this part was something Xerxes didn't share.
"I need you to go back to Baratheon. Get as many people as you can, whom we can trust."
Xerxes swallowed.
"...And if there's one person whose strength I can rely on, more than anything, it's hers. I need you to get Leiya."
Thornfum stared at him, his mouth stuck open, "Lad," he said slowly, "last time I mentioned the lass, you near took me head off."
Xerxes didn't look away, instead, he accepted how grave the danger was, "That's how bad things will get. Trust me, I tend to have a feeling for these things."
Thornfum exhaled heavily, "Ah, then what about you and the flaming parrot?"
Xerxes turned to Airi, "Not we. It's just me, I need to stay here."
There was a subtle shift in the air, and everyone could notice it as Airi's eyes began to widen, "Xerxes, absolutely not!"
"I can't afford for you to be here," he said softly. "Without reinforcements, it'll hold the most danger. Baratheon is safer, getting them with Thornfum is safer. Remember, I'm not a required piece in this, but you and Thornfum are."
Xerxes put a hand on her head and started rubbing her feathers, "You promised me that if things were to go bad, you would listen to me, and if you trust me...I need you to listen to me."
Thornfum scowled. "I'm already ass deep into this, I'll stay you and Airi leg it."
Xerxes stepped forward, "No."
Both of them looked at him.
"As it stands right now, Thornfum. I am a stronger mage and fighter than you, it's a fact. I plan to fight that Orpheus and hold him off. He'll think that his plan worked when he realises im here, but what he won't expect is the calvary you all will bring."
Airi snapped with fury and genuine concern, "Why does it always have to be you?! Why do you feel the need to place yourself in danger, why can you never take an easy route. Just for once."
Xerxes summoned a small flame in his palm, as it made the features on his face more prominent.
"It's who I am," he said quietly. "Even before meeting you, Airi. I put my life on the line for Aya, lost it even. When I battled the Orc, I put my life on the line for people I didn't even know, Blake and Umiya."
The flame flickered as he continued.
"Maybe it's how I was found, Vanessa abandoned her life of adventury to ensure I would have a good life, she sacrificed her future for me, so why shouldn't I at least risk my future for others."
Xerxes' flame in his hand grew hotter and brighter,
"You know...before meeting the Gem'rafh, and after what happened, I tried to be so indifferent, I thought becoming 'emotionless' was what I needed. The praise people gave me for what I became meant nothing."
The next words became hard to come out, "But when I look deep down to the very day I picked up a sword, conjured the first embers of fire it hadn't been because I wanted to be seen all powerful...it's because I wanted to prove to myself that a few kids from the poverous parts of Layne can be renowned not for their strength but because of what they can invoke in people."
He looked deeper into the flame, "I still think back to the day I killed the Orc and the look on people's faces."
Xerxes smiled with full content, "I remember the faces filled with courage, with hope and smiles. I know it seems selfish to pursue this ambition, but I lost myself after everything that happened, and I need you both to let me do this, to reclaim who I once was."
He looked at the Gem'rafh who were fighting tirelessly, through the pain...through everything.
"This means something to me. I don't want to push people away from me anymore. I want to apologise to them, I want to apologise to Leiya, to Learna. I want to free the giants from the shackles, so that they can be free. I want to be who the old me wanted to become."
Thornfum and Airi were left speechless, Xerxes explained his needs in such a clear way and they knew what sparked the change.
It was these moments.
When pressure came, people could collapse or form into something greater, and something greater was what Xerxes intended to be.
For him, a young teenager still learning about the world, it felt necessary to put himself through these challenges because it was all he'd ever known.
Him being found by Vanessa in the war of beast and man was a challenge. Him Learning magic had been a challenge. Dorian's lessons were a challenge. The battle with an Orc was a challenge. Beating death had been a challenge. Escaping the fallen kingdom was a challenge. Baratheon had been a challenge, and now Orpheus was the next challenge.
Airi's jaw tightened, "You're unbearable!" She muttered, then hopped onto Thornfum's shoulder. "I will get Leiya but you promise me something, you will find what it is your fighting for...you won't lose to Orpheus."
Xerxes clasped his hands around the flame and smiled, "Of course I will."
Thornfum punched a fist lightly into Xerxes' chest, "Y'know, when you ain't so gloomy, you're one badass, for the love of every woman in Baratheon, get Orpheus on his knees."
Xerxes then took off his black furred cloak and handed it to Thornufm, "Stay warm and take this," he gave Thronfum the peerer artifact "it's currently showing Orpheus' position, Airi take Thornfum the quickest route that Kaylun showed us."
Airi accepted his order and Thornfum and Airi discretely left the camp.
"Birdy, is Leiya a fine piece of art?"
Airi screeched and pecked his head multiple times.
After confirming they were safe and had escaped, Xerxes drew his sword and held his blade firmly.
He stepped out into the snow and began walking through the battlefield, directly towards Orpheus.
Footsoldiers rushed him, after noticing that he wasn't anyone familiar, but without any difficulty he cut them down without slowing and mana pulsed with every step.
Finally noticing the imposing presence, 'Orpheus' began to turn slowly, and not allowing him the leverage of even being fully turned.
'This... is the 'conviction' I have, Kaylun.'
Xerxes launched forward, with fire dancing across his blade, then he struck.