18 The Dragon-Slayer (2/2)
”So, it's like that, huh.” Hector mysteriously commented.
”What do you mean 'like that'?” Riwall had to ask.
”Lila had lost her memories from that day.” Edward commented but was still acting strangely.
”I have been trying to know how my family died for the last fifteen years. Do you know what's like to wake up one day and learn that everyone you loved has died? And that for some reason you are a hero?” Her eyes got red as if she was going to start crying again, but she managed to hold it.
”I always felt that there was something wrong about me having two mana cores where I used to have one. People always said it was a blessing from the gods, that I got it to face the dragon. These two cores always made me feel comfortable, but I never knew why.” She looked fondly at her abdomen. The cores were probably there.
”You gave the one thing I desired the most since that day. You gave me closure. I will be forever in your debt.” She bowed deeply to him, and when she got up, she was smiling.
”But you called us here for another reason, right?” Hector kept replaying the battle inside his head and finally noticed an anomaly.
Edward still had the same empty look on his face.
{Something is wrong with him.}
”Riwall, Lila's lover, his name was Lukas Farsteel, he was Edward's and Eleanor's older brother. But Edward is not reacting this way because he saw his brother's death. Try replaying his death in your head.” Hector was trying, but failing, to hide his shaking hands as he told Riwall what to do.
Riwall got confused, but Friday talked before him.
[I was waiting for this emotional stuff to blow over before showing it to you. Close your eyes.]
He did as commanded and found himself watching the events unfold through Lila's eyes again.
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They were walking around the area, killing some mutant plants and a few other weak monsters. There was a lot of banter between them, and they were very relaxed, nothing in this area was strong enough to hurt them.
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{So far nothing suspicious Friday, care to fast forward a little?}
[Just pay attention to Lukas' body language.]
The first time he was in the memory, he had no control over his emotions. For the whole thing, he felt as if he and Lila were one and the same; her feelings and thoughts made him unable to watch things unfold objectively.
After Friday's observation, Riwall noticed how Lukas was always brooding; he barely interacted with everyone or reacted when Lila kissed him. He was the oldest of them, being 32-year-old while Lila was the youngest, a 20-year-old at the time.
As they chatted while walking over the road, Lukas increased his pace and widened his distance to the group. Soon, Benir showed up. Lukas shouted for them to run and Lila hesitated long enough to see Benir's mouth snapping shut after Lukas' body was entirely inside of it.
Friday noticed that her host failed to see what happened; she replayed the scene in slow motion.
Lukas shouts for them to run; Lila hesitates and keeps looking; Benir's mouth descends upon Lukas; he closes his mouth; Benir laughs and then looks at her. Riwall finally noticed the anomaly.
{Wait, what the hell?}
[Took you long enough. It was an illusion, and you can see some signs of it. First Luka's feet are not inside Benir's mouth when he snaps it such, and they should have been amputated, yet, it does not happen. For him to eat Lukas in one go, he would have eaten part of the ground below Lukas too.] She played this part again and zoomed at this moment.
[Second, when Benir laughs again, he slight opens his mouth. No blood, no armor scrap, nothing. Lukas was wearing an enchanted heavy armor.] Again, she zoomed at the right time.
[Third, while he is laughing and Lila was completely shocked and focused on him, look at the far right of her view.] A shadow, barely noticeable, moves from one tree to the other.
[Fourth, Lila's sister's second spell failed at the last second, someone interrupted the casting.] A zoomed view of her hand showed the spell leaving her palm, only for it to scatter and Benir's claw to impale her.
[Fifth, her childhood friend's failed to dodge a blatant attack, he is a harasser, dodging is what he can do better. Look closely at his feet.] Benir attacked in a very wide arc, the man bent his legs to jump, but his feet did not leave the ground, the claw amputated his legs, but they took a second more than they should before falling.
[Sixth, during their frenetic fight at close range, his eyes keep darting in some random directions, as if searching for something at times or monitoring someone.] She replayed some key scenes, and it was all true.
[Seventh, his beam attack was not diverted because of a stroke of luck. He missed on purpose.] The scene repeated in slow motion, Benir slightly turned his head to the side, changing his attack's trajectory on purpose.
[Eigth, look at his eyes.]
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”In the end.”
His eyes were not looking at Lila anymore. He was looking at something or someone that was behind her and to her left side.
”I won.”
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[Nineth and last reason, before he said his last words, Lila rotates clockwise to look at the damage Benir's attack did] The scene repeats itself, and Riwall notices some drips of blood a few meters away from her, right at the edge of the crater.
[Lukas, or an accomplice, knew that Benir would not kill Lila, someone needed to survive to tell the tale of his demise after all. Not only the safest spot was close to her, but he also knew Benir would have to redirect his attack or risk killing her. By hiding behind Lila, this person could move in to finish her sister and friend should they somehow survive. Benir noticed it and managed to injure this person, who then moved to her left side and probably escaped the scene by going in that direction.]
{But why would Benir betray them right at that time?}
[He had been betraying them since the start, all his actions exposed Lukas somehow. He could have killed Lila's sister and friend in one attack, but he did not. The other person even had to intervene. Otherwise, both of them would have survived. Think about it, what caused Lila's sister to be impaled? What made Lila's friend fail to dodge? He always positioned himself in ways that made some clue show up in Lila's field of vision.]
{But why let yourself die in the end?}
[How else would you escape a life oath?]