Chapter 9 - Chapter 8: Secrets Revealed

Nina opened her eyes. Riko was still standing above her holding out his sword. She could hear Selinia screaming at him. Riko's father looked irritated. “What are you waiting for? Finish her!” Riko lifted his sword into the air, but instead of bringing it down upon her, he lowered it to his side. Nina was more confused than ever. He then held out his hand and helped Nina up. His father looked outraged.



“What on earth are you doing Riko?”



“Father, listen to me. She can't be the one.”



“What do you mean? Of course she is!”



“The one spoken about in the legends was evil. Nina isn't that person. She is far too kind.”



“It's all a trick son. Don't believe her! Kill her now!”



“No.”



“What did you just say to me?”



“I said no. I won't kill her.”



“How dare you! I am your father; you are to listen to me! You trained all your life for this moment! You can't throw it all away now! It is our duty to protect the world from the Ruler of Darkness. Now that we have found her, you can't let her live!”



“I told you, she can't be the one! Nina and her friends were very kind to me, and I will not let them die.”



“Fine. I will do it myself!” Riko's father rushed at Nina with a sword. Riko blocked his attack with his own sword.



“ Call everyone back. Stop this fight now.” Riko demanded.



“We can't…”



“I said do it!”



His father hesitated. “Everybody, stop!” The fighting ceased at once. “Son, you better know what you are doing.”



“I will explain myself later. Right now, I must tell Nina and her friends everything.”



“Are you sure about this?”



“Yes. I told you, Nina isn't like what we thought she would be like. Neither are her friends. Something is amiss.”



“Fine. I trust you. Come see me later. Take these Elixers for them in case they got hurt.”



“Thank you father. I will see you soon.”



Riko's father, along with the rest of the attackers, walked away. Riko handed everybody the elixers. “Let's go back to your house. I will explain everything there.”



“You want us to welcome you to our home after that? You tried to kill us!” Selinia yelled.



“I am very sorry. But as I told you, I will tell you everything later. Don't you want to see your parents first?”



“Well…yea…but…” Selinia said no more, and the goup quietly made their way to Selinia and Cadoc's home. So much had been happening lately, Nina didn't have the slightest clue as to what was going on. It was hard to tell if Riko was friend or foe, but Nina felt that he was on their side. He must have his reasons. As soon as they arrived, Sariah rushed out of the house, tears pouring from her eyes.



“You are back! Selinia, Cadoc, Nina!”



“Mom!” Selinia ran to her mother and hugged her.



“Oh Selinia! Where have you all been! We have been worried sick! Koen! Koen the children are back!” Sariah then hugged Cadoc and Nina as well. Ilmatar and Draco also came over to greet them.



Koen rushed out of the house. “Oh I am so glad to see you are all safe!”



“Glad to be home mother, father. But we have something important to discuss.” Cadoc said.



“Yes, we want to know where you have been! Quickly, into the house, all of you.” Sariah said.



They followed Sariah into the house and all sat down in the living room. Nina was anxious to learn what Riko was up to, and she could tell everybody else was as well. As soon as they had all taken their seats, Sariah spoke. “Now please, tell us where on earth you have been and what you have been doing!”



Cadoc told their story for them. He told his parents all about being captured, escaping, and finding the village. The whole time he spoke, both his mother and father were bewildered, and Sariah began to cry once more when he finished.



“I am so glad you are all safe! But…I don't understand. Why on earth were you captured?”



“That is something we would like to know as well. Riko seems to have the answers.” Cadoc said, and they all turned to Riko.



Riko hesitated for a moment, then began his story. “Well, there is a lot to it. When I first met you, it was all planned out. The one who attacked Ilmatar was one of my companions. I wasn't sure it would work, but it went as intended. The people that attacked that day weren't bandits. They were also with me.”



Before he could continue, Selinia cut him off. She became enraged, and started to scream at him. “So the whole thing was set up by you! I can't believe it! Some of my friends and fellow knights were killed in that battle! And you are with them!” She had stood up, and looked as if she was ready to kill Riko. Nina pulled her back down.



“Let's hear what he has to say.”



“I don't care what he has to say! He is the reason some of my friends are dead!”



“Selinia, please, let him continue!” Cadoc said. She opened her mouth as if to say more, but closed it again.



Riko began to speak again. “I am greatly sorry for everything, but, please, let me explain myself. Then you may judge me.” When nobody spoke, he continued. “I was to stay with you until I was able to kill Nina. I couldn't while anybody else was around of course, so I never had a chance. I could contact my father, however, and report what was happening. But the ones who captured us… I don't know who they are. That had absolutly nothing to do with our plan. It posed a slight problem at first, but after we escaped everything was fine. My father waited until the right moment, and attacked.”



“But why? I don't understand that at all. Why do people want me dead?” Nina asked, perplexed and afraid of what was happening.



“Remember I told you about the prophecy? It has been passed down in my family since the fortune tellers predicted it.”



“You said you weren't part of them! Cadoc asked you! You liar!” Selinia said.



“Actually, now that I think about it, he never did say that. He only said that he had heard about it during his travels. I don't think Riko lied to us once, but instead has been telling us half-truths.” Cadoc suggested.



“Correct. I had indeed heard about it during my travels. Since nobody questioned me further, it was quite easy to avoid telling the truth. Anyway, we found out that Nina was the one spoken about in the prophecy, or at least I thought so until recently.”



The whole room went quite. Nina couldn't believe her ears. Why would anybody think that? This is why they wanted her dead? “Wh…what do you mean?”



“The one said to have complete control of the darkness. The one that was going to ruin our world, it was suppose to be you, Nina. However, I now question that.”



Nina was shocked. “How can that be? And how do you know who it is?”



“My family has been searching for the Ruler of Darkness. My father was a talented thief, and he could easily find out information. That is where I learned to pick locks. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but instead I wanted to become a swordmaster. A couple years back, my father was taking a walk in the forest. During his walk, he came across some people in dark robes. He heard them speak of the prophecy, and became interested. He began to follow them, and collected information. According to what he told me, they knew exactly who the Ruler of Darkness was. Apparently, they were followers of the Ruler of Darkness, and were waiting for the moment when darkness would reign over the land, and bring them to power. They spoke of a young girl living in Etruria with her foster parents. The rest even I am unsure of, but I am sure my father could tell you more. I was sent to find you, and now here we are.”



“That is crazy! Nina isn't anything like that!” Selinia said



“I know. I was told she was evil, cruel, and merciless. But after I was around you all for a little while, I quickly found that she wasn't like that at all, and neither were any of you. I hope you can forgive me for everything I have done. I give you my most sincere apology, and I promise I will make it up to you somehow.”



“I don't know…how do we know that this isn't part of your plot? To lower our guard and then strike?” Selinia asked.



Nina thought about the night before. That must have been what he was thinking about. Riko did say that he would tell her everything, when the time was right. “Well, he has never lied to us before. I think we can trust him.”



“Well…you do have a point there. But I want to know more about this. I can't believe that they thought this “Ruler of Darkness” was you.” Selinia said.



“I can take you to my father, he knows more. I'm sure he can explain it all.”



Sariah didn't seem very pleased. “You are saying Riko tried to kill you?!?”



“Well, not really. He actually protected us.” Selinia told her mother.



“I don't want you going anywhere with him!”



“Please Sariah, I need to find out why they attacked me. And how those other people knew who I was.” Nina said.



“Nina, I can't let you go with him! What if something happens?”



“Mother, I think Nina is right. If Riko wanted to kill her, he had the perfect opportunity already. But he didn't.” Cadoc said.



Sariah would not give in. “No! I don't trust him!”



“Sariah, I think we can trust Nina and our children. They have been through a lot, and they know whom they can and can't trust. We weren't there, so we don't know exactly what happened.” Koen added.



Sariah sighed. “I guess you are right. They are smart, they know what they are doing. Please, be careful. I still don't know what is going on, but I'm sure you will figure it out.”



“Thanks mom! Don't worry, we will be fine!” Selinia said as she hugged her mom.



“We should take Draco and Ilmatar with us this time.” Cadoc said. “We can fly there, Riko can show us the way.”



“Thank you. I promise we won't harm you again. I am curious as to what went wrong. My father probably wants to know some things as well. Let's go.”

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