15: I Once Met a Girl

Back at my squad’s office. I stare at Kiera’s pendant on the desk. Something in my heart is calling me to pick it up. But I try to look away. Something is poking at my heart to do something. The more I try to ignore that inner voice, the more it haunts me with this strange feeling of guilt.

Kang Yu laughs as he walks into the office. “I can’t believe it. Before today, we were just a squad of nobodies among the thousands of Swordmasters. But now, other squads look at us with respect simply because you killed the Wraith. They even gave you a nickname—the Wraith Slayer. Now I’m proud to let them know whose squad I belong to. I heard rumors that Lord Wrazen himself has taken notice of your remarkable feat. I’m truly enjoying this newfound attention we’re receiving from everybody.”

My expression doesn’t seem to indicate that I share the same joy as Kang Yu, and he immediately picks that signal. “Is something bothering you, Gideon?”

I sip my hot cup of tea. “Enjoy it while you still can, Kang Yu. Jackal is not going to stop looking for opportunities to bring us back down to the dirt.”

Kang Yu says, “I know it’s not easy trying to bury a secret. So did Jackal suspect that we are hiding something?”

I say, “He doesn’t have any concrete proof that we secretly helped New Haven.”

Kang Yu says, “Do you think Kiera would blow our secret that Maleek is still alive? If they were to hand her over to the prison warden Alvus for interrogation, I’m afraid that Kiera would eventually leak about our involvement. They said Alvus has never failed to extract information out from his prisoners.”

I say, “I know Jackal. He wouldn’t believe Kiera’s words at face value unless he sees Maleek himself. My only worry is, what if our squad members eventually leak the truth to Jackal?”

Kang Yu says, “When you spoke to Lionhart, Jega and Tori, they agreed to protect our secret. Are you afraid that they will betray our squad?”

I say, “I don’t know, Kang Yu. Three of them had been placed conveniently into our squad. Lionhart had a history of stealing from his former squad members but was never subjected to the military law. Jega had a murder history that was pardoned after he joined the Swordmaster Academy. Tori pulled strings using her father’s rich businessman status to pass her Swordmaster graduation exams even though she failed terribly. Could they have some invisible connection to the favor of someone high up in our Swordmaster ranks? If they leak that story out and it reaches Jackals’ ears, my life will be over.”

Kang Yu says, “I don’t know if we can trust those three. But I do suggest that we watch every step we take carefully from now onwards. Jackal may be hellbent on destroying your career. But you have won Lord Wrazen’s temporary favor for now. Jackal wouldn’t dare touch the famed Wraith Slayer. You need to use that to your advantage.”

Kang Yu snaps his fingers in front of my eyes. “Stop worrying so much. Our squad did well today. I suggest we go celebrate at the tavern.”

I shake my head. “Not in the mood to celebrate anything tonight.” I punch Kang Yu on his arm. “Why don’t you ask my cousin out instead?”

Kang Yu laughs. “You want me to rekindle old flames?”

I say, “Why not? If you like her, you should just ask her out.”

Kang Yu says, “I may have no problem blabbering sarcasm to you. But opening my mouth to ask your cousin out, I think my heart is not that courageous.”

I smile sarcastically at Kang Yu. “Then how about I ask Sharon for you?”

Kang Yu shakes his head. “No, that wouldn’t be fair to me. How can I make you do something on my behalf? You’ll just make me look like a coward.”

I say, “Then stop acting like a coward and go ask her yourself. What did you like about her in the first place?”

Kang Yu chuckles. “Don’t jump to conclusion yet, my friend. I have not ‘liked’ her yet. But she seems very nice and kind. I think that’s the type of girl I like. But just because I ask her out, it doesn’t mean she would say yes.”

I say, “If you ask, she might say yes. But if you don’t, you wouldn’t know if she may have interest back in you.”

Kang Yu says, “You sure know how to sell your cousin.”

I say, “You’ve already shown sparks of interest. I’m just giving you a little nudge to make the first move.”

Kang Yu says, “Fine. What about yourself? You poke so much into my love affairs. You should start looking for one as well. I have a suggestion. You should consider the pretty girl of our squad, Tori.”

I say, “Tori? I have not really gotten the chance to know her yet. We hardly talked throughout the last mission.”

Kang Yu says, “Yes, you were too busy giving out orders to notice her. But I think Tori might have an interest in you. Just look at the way she gazed at you during the mission—it was so full of admiration. Why don’t you ask her out as well?”

I take another sip from my hot tea. “You can throw your observation skill out of the window. Tori is not that kind of girl.”

Kang Yu snaps his finger. “Wait! I think I just figured out something. You have an interest in the Masked Assassin.”

I almost spit my tea out. “What? No way! How can I have an interest in someone who is from the enemy’s side? And she’s a prisoner waiting for execution. Are you even thinking straight?”

Kang Yu points to Kiera’s pendant on my desk. “Then why do you keep staring at her pendant? Shouldn’t you be handing over an enemy’s item to Jackal?”

I stare long at the pendant on the desk. Once again, the voice in my heart is asking me to pick up the pendant. “Kang Yu, the pendant is merely Kiera’s tool to form a communication link with the wearer. It will serve no purpose to Jackal.”

Kang Yu says, “She provided you the emotional support you needed to defeat the Wraith. I believed she left a good impression on you, even though she’s coming from the enemy’s side.”

Really? Is Kang Yu telling me the truth that my heart doesn’t want to admit?

Kang Yu says, “In the last mission, you were supposed to capture her. But then you sided with her at the end. What changed your heart?”

I too wonder about that question. It was like Kiera’s spirit triggered something in my heart. Did she do that with her Empath powers? Or was that ‘something’ already there in my heart, buried all the while? “Kang Yu, she believes in doing the right thing even if it’s not a popular choice. Such burning fire in her heart—it’s something I’ve never felt for so long. It’s such a shame that she is going to be executed in a few more days. I wish I have more time to get to know why she does the things she does.”

Kang Yu says, “Careful, Gideon. An Empath’s greatest weapon is your emotions. She succeeded in manipulating your former squad leader Itoshi into helping New Haven, and look where it got him. Now as she sits in the death row, she’s getting justice served back to her for what she did to mislead Itoshi.”

I say, “The passion in her is genuine, Kang Yu. We Swordmasters may think she’s serving New Haven’s lost cause. But have you looked at the eyes of the Marked refugees she rescued? They looked up to her as their leader and protector because she genuinely looked out for them. My heart cannot let go the fact that I’m allowing someone good-hearted like her to die.”

Kang Yu says, “It’s not your fault, Gideon. She helped you to defeat the Wraith. You had returned the favor by allowing her refugees to return safely to New Haven. But she decided to come back and shut the malfunctioning portal, knowing with full certainty she would be captured by Jackal’s reinforcements.”

I say, “I know. But I just wish there’s a way to help her out of this situation.”

Kang Yu says, “She’s been placed in a high-security prison. There’s nothing we can do about it. I suggest you throw that pendant away. Looking at it merely triggers more confusion within you. Our mission is already over. Don’t carry any unnecessary baggage from your past mission, or else it will eat you up from the inside.”

Perhaps Kang Yu is right. I need to discard the pendant. It keeps reminding me that I do not have the power to rescue a girl as noble-hearted as Kiera. No point fussing over something that is beyond my control. “It’s been a long day, Kang Yu. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After Kang Yu leaves our office, I continue to stare at the pendant. There is something haunting me from the inside of my heart. I cannot quite determine what it is. Looking at the pendant haunts me. Shall I leave it alone? I pick it up and throw it into a nearby trash bin. But then suddenly I remember something.

A voice rings in my head over and over again. A girl’s voice that says, “I’m dying. Please, somebody help me. Can anybody hear me?”

It’s impossible that Kiera is using the pendant to mess with my memory again. The pendant is in the trash bin. It’s not even touching me. And she’s too far away to be doing any heart-to-heart communication link with me.

“I’m dying. Please, somebody help me. Can anybody hear me?”

Wait! I remember those words.

* * *

When I was thirteen, Hezekiah’s Undead army attacked our former city. When I heard a group of students was trapped in the school, I led two of my friends, Xing and Jackal to return to the school to save them.

Ghouls had overrun the entire school. We did our best to avoid the undead as we scouted the entire school. However, we failed to find anybody alive in the first hour of our search. There was one last section of the school where we almost didn’t want to check because we thought that it was unlikely that anybody would still be alive. However, my heart insisted that we should check that last section.

To my surprise, I heard a girl’s voice coming out from a locked basement. “I’m dying. Please, somebody help me. Can anybody hear me?”

My friends and I opened up the basement door and found ten students who had been trapped in the underground shelter for almost a day without food and water. We quickly brought them to join the rest and get them the medical assistance they needed.

Out of the students we rescued, a girl came to thank me. “I was about to give up hope until you found us. You have given me a second chance in my life. Because of what you’ve done for me, the best way I can repay your favor is by dedicating my life to bring second chances to others who need it.”

When I first suggested this idea to my group of friends to go back to the school and rescued the trapped students, many said I was crazy and suicidal. But I believed that was the right thing to do. So I did it anyway.

I was proud that my actions had helped saved ten more lives. Even better, the girl was inspired to dedicate her life to helping many more others simply because of my decision.

I heard there were a few more schools in the vicinity which had been under attack. Some students were trapped but had nobody coming to rescue them.

So we succeeded in rescuing a group of students from the second school. However, during the rescue mission in the third school, my best friend Xing died at the hands of a Wraith, which left me broken and devastated over my failure to prevent his death. I held myself responsible for his death because I asked him to play hero. Ever since then, I decided that playing safe is the best way. I might have shortchanged my own life because many times destiny required me to step up with courage to do the right thing, but I shied away because I was afraid of pulling others down with me.

As I remember what the girl told me, suddenly it brings me back to the day when the fire of courage was burning strong within me. I thought that was my last time talking with that girl I rescued twelve years ago. But I am wrong.

Today, I met that girl again. She was in the mansion trapped together with me in a locked room while we figured out the way to escape the room and defeat the Wraith. The reason she fights for New Haven’s cause is because twelve years ago, she said that she would repay my favor by dedicating her life to bringing second chances to those who need it.

Kiera.

Twelve years after I rescued her, she has lived up to her promise. Very soon, she’s going to the execution ground to die for the promise she made to me twelve years ago.

And that tears my heart apart. She’s going to die alone for the good cause which my action inspired her to dedicate herself to.

Jackal said my heroic actions twelves years ago had inspired no one. He was wrong!

I’ve made my decision. I’m not going to let that happen. I will help Kiera. I will not let her die.

If I can get New Haven to return Maleek to the Swordmasters, then Kiera will be spared from the execution. But that will mean bigger trouble for me. Maleek will surely report to Jackal that I helped Kiera to knock him out. That will give enough proof for Jackal to destroy me permanently. My greater concern is, my entire squad may get dragged into this whole mess as accomplices. This could mean the end for them as well. My cousin Sharon has so much potential in her future. I wouldn’t want it to be taken away from her prematurely.

I need to figure out a way. I need to have the courage to do the right thing even if the odds seem impossible against me.

Think hard, Gideon. What shall I do?

Next: Epilogue: Traitor! →