Chapter 32: DB

"You have the right energy, kid, but your passion is misdirected." Albaric sighed. "What do they teach you kids in the South?"

"The South?" Neri's lip twitched. He looked down at his arms. "You can tell because of my letters?" 

Albaric twisted his sword around with one hand. The force of the blade made the air ripple. He circled Neri.

"You're a Southman right? Those markings are your family name." Albaric observed. " Why don't you make things easy for yourself. Were you sent from the South? Or were you hired on the continent?"

Neri's broke off into a bout of childish laughter. He licked his lips."Wrong. Wrong. Wrong."

Neri released a furious series of punches. Albaric dodged each one. As Neri swung from below with a kick, Albaric leapt back. He swung his sword. The air vibrated. Cutting slices of wind flew toward Neri. Neri held up a hand. The wind dissipated. 

Albaric's eyes narrowed. His expression became serious. He began to parry Neri's hits without returning any blows. This only seemed to delight Neri more. He landed a punch on Albaric sending him flying. 

"Done already, mister knight?" Neri giggled.

Albaric pulled himself up and dusted himself down.

"Not quite." Albaric smiled.

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A distance away, Keitel made his way to the rest of the guard. He instructed them to double back and assist Albaric. Keitel propped Lucia up against a tree. He tapped her face gently. Lucia's flinched. Her eyes began to flicker open. She jumped startled.

"It's okay. You're safe."Keitel told her. He pulled her in and hugged her tightly.

"Neri?" Lucia questioned. 

Keitel stared back blankly. "The child? " 

Lucia nodded. 

"Albaric's holding him off," Keitel explained.

She clawed at the hard ring around her neck.

"I need to get this thing off." Lucia tried to pull it off. "We have to help him."

"Albaric can hold his own, don't worry. There's a reason why he's my guard." Keitel reassured. He began to inspect the necklace. He found a keyhole slot in the metal.

"I think we need a key to open it. What's wrong? Can't you leave it on for now?" 

"I don't know how but it's feeding off my mana. It's draining my life energy."

"I bet that brat has the key."Keitel rose abruptly to his feet. "Stay here."

Lucia reached out to stop him but she was too weak. She watched him disappear back into the woods.

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Albaric dodged another Neri's blows. His fist fell into the ground and cracked the earth. Neri pulled his fist back. He clicked his knuckles. His face was a mixture of childish delight and devilish blood lust. 

"It's no fun if I'm the only one playing," Neri complained.

At that moment, Keitel burst through the foliage. The men were waiting. They all circled Neri. Neri spied the knights approaching. He leapt onto a branch of a tree behind him. He scanned the crowd gathered under him. From under his shirt, he pulled out a chain with a key attached.

Keitel knew instantly what it was. Neri motioned to Keitel.

"Looking for this?" Neri smiled. 

Keitel lunged towards him. Neri yanked the key from his own neck and motioned to throw it in the dark forest behind him. Keitel froze.

"AHA! Now, we play by my rules, yes?" Neri glared challengingly.

"What are your rules?" Keitel snapped.

"Simple. Yes, you two stay. The rest go." Neri's eyes narrowed.

Keitel signalled for the rest to fall back.

"Your Majesty?!"A knight responded.

"Do as I say," Keitel instructed.

The knights fell back into the woods. Albaric and Keitel were left behind. Neri grinned satisfied. He put the necklace back over his head and dived down. Albaric ran between Keitel just as Neri launched another heavy fist.

"Can you hold him off for a bit?" Albaric whispered.

Keitel nodded. However, truthfully he was unsure. Neri's abilities seemed beyond anything he had faced before. He could prevent mana attacks. There was no way to block him. Nevertheless, Keitel trusted Albaric. Keitel prepared to defend against Neri's next attack.

Neri ducked low and swung low to the ground. His uppercut came up at lightning speed. Keitel missed the blow by a hair. The next punch, he was not so lucky. A kick sent him pummeling back. He skidded back across the ground trying to regain his footing. Neri's attacks were relentless.

Simultaneously, Albaric began to charge his attack. It took longer to charge high-level magic. This attack would be all or nothing. If it missed, they were finished. Keitel was sent flying back again. This time, Neri turned to Albaric with a curious look. 

Neri dashed towards Albaric with rapid momentum. Albaric stood his ground. The impact of the blow sent waves around them. Neri lodged a fist directly in Albaric's gut. Albaric left out a gut-wrenching cough. It took all his strength to continue standing. He wheezed back a mouthful of blood. Neri surveyed the effect of the attack with indifference. 

"Why didn't you block?" Neri questioned with naive curiosity.

Albaric smiled. He had gripped onto Neri's arm in the interlude. Before Neri could pull away, Albaric struck him at point-blank range.  At first, Neri didn't seem to respond. Suddenly, Neri tore himself away, flailing his arms wildly. 

Neri squeezed his stomach, letting out a loud cry.

"It hurts! It hurts! What did you do?"Neri screamed. Tears began to stream down Neri's face.

Albaric inhaled. He peered down at Neri sympathetically.

"Is this your first taste of holy magic, kid?" Albaric observed.

Neri shot him a frightened gaze. He began to step back.

"How does a child like you become a demon? Or are you even a child at all?" Albaric followed sternly.

"Stupid knight!" Neri spat. He yanked the key from his neck. " Fine, just have it!"

Neri threw the key behind Albaric. In the same instance, he disappeared back into the forests. Keitel stumbled towards Albaric.

"How did you know that would work?" Keitel croaked. He swiped the key from the ground.

Blood dribbled from Albaric's lips.

"Just a hunch. I occasionally do listen to what old man, Valentus says." Albaric took Keitel under his shoulder.

"Remind me to thank Master later," Keitel exhaled.

They made their way back to the rest of the troops. Lucia was passed out under the tree where Keitel had left her. He unchained the necklace from her throat. He shoved the necklace into his satchel. They began to set up camp. 

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By morning, Lucia felt her mana begin to return to her. She awoke with a sense of dread.  She fumbled around her neck. It was gone. She breathed out a sigh of relief.  She searched around the camp. Keitel lay beside her. He had been injured. His armour was scuffed and dented. A gash above his forehead had been messily dressed with a bandage. 

There were no sisters among the troop. It had been a diplomatic visit after all. Lucia wondered how much time had passed since the day of the party. The last thing she remembered was saying goodnight to DB. It suddenly occurred to Lucia the strange performance Neri had given might relate to him. 

Lucia waited patiently for Keitel to wake. He gripped his head and groaned. His long black lashes began to bat. His watery, blue eyes looked up to Lucia with recognition. 

"Are you feeling better?" He asked.

Lucia chuckled. "You look a lot worse."

"I'll recover," Keitel muttered while sitting up. "I'm just glad we found you."

Lucia turned to him. "What was that child? I've never seen anything like it. Why did he take me?" She contemplated gravely.

"He got away. Albaric says it was a demon. We'll search the shack but I doubt we'll find anything useful."

Lucia leaned in hesitantly. "That explains the necklace. The one thing I don't understand is,  why me? How did he even know where I was? We never announced I would be travelling with you."

"After you disappeared, we interrogated the household. Seems Duchess Mildred went missing the same night as you. We launched an investigation but our power is still limited in Ramelle. It took a full day just to track you down. That kid was sloppy. Like he wanted us to find you."

"Yes, he said he was waiting for something. Or someone. The poor Duchess. I hope they find her. But what about the Empire? I thought you were worried about it. Last I knew, you were heading back early."

"I sent Victor to check it out. I couldn't leave you behind." Keitel put a hand to Lucia's cheek.

She enveloped his hand in hers. There was one thing still bothering her. She didn't even want to ask. She kept picturing the worst. Her stomach began to knot and her heart palpitated. She felt a sense of dread. She had to know.

"DB what happened to him?" She asked softly. 

Keitel looked into her eyes. An expression Lucia had never seen came over his face. He swallowed hard.

"He defended you to the end but he didn't make it."