The Path of the Loner
Disclaimer: I don't own The Last Story or it's characters.
Chapter 1: Our paths departs here
Zael, Dagran, Syrenne, Lowell, Mirania and Yurick were walking on the street on their way to the inn what works for their temporary lodging.
"It went well," Lowell stated aloud: "The mission failed and we were left without our reward."
[flashback]
The home of the town's mayor had been broken into and values of goods were stolen, including the painting painted by the first mayor of the town what was considered the culture treasure of the town. To avoid scandal, the mayor had hired Dagran's mercenaries to search thieves and get the painting back. Dagran's group managed to find thieves's hiding place and surprise the group of thieves. But...
The leader of thieves had fled with some stolen items, the mayor's painting being one of them, from the hiding place while Dagran and others were fighting with his subordinates.
"He is fleeing!" Zael exclaimed when he was first to notice the leader's escape. Syrenne and Lowell beated quickly their opponents and then they ran after the thieves's leader.
Yurick was keeping watch on the roof of the hiding place due to command by Dagran. The hiding place was along a roaring rapids and the only way to get there was cross the bridge, at which point Yurick had got an idea. He had piled dry branches and other kindling as a barricade on the bridge and when he saw the leader of thieves going to cross the bridge, Yurick created a fire ball and threw it into the kindling barricade. As Yurick had anticipated, the fire ball lit the kindling barricade on fire and cut escape of the leader of thieves.
Yurick dropped himself down from the roof and came closer the leader of thieves just when Syrenne and Lowell came to the bridge. The leader turned his panicing gaze from burning barricade to three mercenaries.
"Very well," Yurick said: "Return stoled items and you'll be facilitated." The leader took couple of steps back when mercenaries came closer and he went almost too close to the fire.
"Watch out," Syrenne said: "We should return things you "borrowed"."
The leader glanced at the fire again, then he glanced at his sack, again at the fire and then a smirk appeared in his face. "If I don't benefit from these goods," the leader said while raising the sack: "Then you don't benefit either!" After saying these words the leader threw the sack into the fire and then he jumped into the rapids.
Lowell ran to the edge of the bridge and looked down while thinking: "He couldn't survive with that..."
"Holy goodness! Yurick! Extinguish the fire!" Syrenne shouted.
"What?! I'm a fire mage, not an ice mage!" Yurick shouted and turned to get Lowell's attention: "Lowell!"
When Dagran, Zael and Mirania finally came to the bridge, Lowell was using ice magic to extinguish the fire and meanwhile Syrenne and Yurick explained them what has happened.
The assignment ended in failure. Although the majority of thieves were captured, the mayor's painting was destroyed. It was clear that the mayor was furious. He informed that he will pay nothing to Dagran's mercenaries and ordered to cast them out of his house.
[flashback ends]
"Well done, Yurick," Syrenne said bitterly: "The assingment would had been an easy one but you messed up."
"What you mean "I messed up"?" Yurick asked strictly.
"If you wouldn't had lit your little campfire, we would had got that scribble back and our reward after the assingment," Syrenne explained fiercely.
"Are you blaming me?! How could I know that guy would do something so stupid?" Yurick hissed: "Why didn't you took the sack from him before he threw it into the fire?"
"You was standing in front of me!" Syrenne snapped.
"That's enough, you two!" Dagran shouted while standing between of them: "I admit that it wasn't a smart idea to use fire in this assingment but done can not be undone." If Dagran tried to calm situation with his speech, he failed completely.
"Are you blaming me as well?! Allow me remind you that you commanded me to keep watch!" Yurick shouted angrily.
Dagran sighed and turned to face Yurick: "I'm not blaming you, Yurick. But you shouldn't use fire magic in that situation. Why didn't you stop him with, say, a dagger?"
"Oh, are you now going to advise me?" Yurick demanded bitterly: "I thought that I'm the strategist of the group?!"
"We know how to think even without you," slipped from Lowell's mouth and he regretted it immediately when he saw Yurick's murderous face.
"Now, now," Zael said while trying to calm others: "Let's calm down, everybody. Nobody blame anybody-" Yurick didn't listen Zael but he left walking away briskly.
Yurick continued walking while cursing the failure and his partners. "Damn! What gives them the right to blame and advise me?! Are they thinking that I haven't any kind of experience?!" Yurick muttered furiously: "Why do I even tolerate them?! It think it would be much better to leave!"
Yurick stopped to think about his thoughts. "That's right... What is holding me in this group?" Yurick pondered: "I know how to take care for myself and then I don't need care about anybody else." Yurick pondered for a while before he nodded to himself and continued walking.
After some time Dagran, Zael and others finally returned to the inn. Meanwhile Syrenne and Lowell went to the inn's bar to drink, Yurick appeared with his bag from upstairs.
"Yurick?" Mirania asked both curiously and concerned.
Yurick walked to Dagran and informed: "I'm leaving."
"What?!" Zael and Mirania asked almost in unison.
Dagran frowned and asked strictly: "Where?"
"That's not your business. I'm not a member of your group anymore," Yurick said coldly and walked past of his former partners out of the inn.
"Yurick, wait!" Zael shouted when he ran with Mirania after Yurick.
"Yurick!" Zael said: "Don't leave!"
"Why not? You don't need me and I don't need you," Yurick snorted while continuing walk but then he turned to face them: "And stop following me!"
"Yurick!" Zael exclaimed while running and grabbed Yurick's arm when the fire mage turned to leave and said: "We are friends..."
"We aren't friends! And not partners anymore!" Yurick informed sharply when he freed himself from Zael's grip. Then Yurick turned away and said: "Goodbye."
Zael tried to run after Yurick while he walked away but Mirania grabbed Zael's shoulder, stopping him. "Maybe we should give him some own time... Maybe he will return then," Mirania suggested with hopefulness in her quiet tone.
Dagran had followed the situation at the inn's door. When he saw Yurick walking away, he shook his head with slightly disappointed face.
Yurick walked until he arrived in the forest. He lifted his eyes to the sky and when he noticed that the sun was setting, he decided to stay the night in the forest and continue his journey tomorrow. Yurick gathered dry branches and used fire magic to light the campfire. At nightfall Yurick sat down next to the campfire and started to think what he would do next. Maybe some other town would have job for mage?
A rustling branch someway off woke him from his thoughts and he looked around as well as he managed in the dark forest. When he heard nothing else, Yurick relaxed – just a little bit. Yurick had learned to be on guard during the night after being a part of Dagran's mercenaries, so now he started to think how he would keep vigil during the night. After thinking for a while Yurick decided to stay awake the whole night and sleep when he would find the next inn.
Without warning, something charged from bushes towards Yurick. Yurick exclaimed with startled tone and lept a short distance away from the campfire, when attack missed just barely. Yurick grabbed his dagger and studied an attacker in the light of campfire.
The attacker was a dog-sized reptile with short forelegs, brown scales and alarmingly sharp-looking claws and teeth.
Yurick wasn't sure about it's species but since it had tried attack on Yurick, it was dangerous. Yurick slowly stood up while keeping his eyes in reptile. The reptile took a couple of steps backwards but it still stared at Yurick.
Yurick started to think should he stab the lizard with his dagger or drive it away with fire? The lizard seemed observant and quick so it might attack on Yurick before he would manage end his magic. Using a dagger felt a good idea.
The reptile charged again towards Yurick but Yurick dodged and hit his dagger into reptile's scaly skin. The reptile hissed in pain and took a few steps back when Yurick removed his dagger.
Yurick was going to hit with his dagger again but another hissing voice behind of him caught his attention. Yurick managed just barely dodged when a second reptile almost bit Yurick's leg. Before the reptile had time to attack again Yurick slashed with his dagger in it's snout, making it take a few steps back.
Yurick glared at two reptiles who stared at Yurick from a short distance. "Okay, lizards! I will give you two alternatives: you either leave now or I'm forced to kill you!" Yurick shouted while pointing his dagger at them, hoping that his voice would scare them away. Reptiles stared at Yurick without showing any signs of fear and one of them hissed loudly.
Unfortunately Yurick's attention was attached to two reptiles, so he didn't notice the third reptile before it sank its teeth into his side! Yurick screamed in pain and started to hit the reptile with his dagger in the snout and neck until the biting reptile finally fell as dead on the ground.
After this Yurick focused on the fire magic and threw a fireball just when two other reptiles tried to attack. Fireball hit both of reptiles and made them finally retreat.
Yurick stared after two reptiles who ran into the forest and when he didn't hear any threatening sounds, he moved the corpse of reptile away from his camp and then he ventured to lean against a tree while heavily panting in pain and tiredness. "This is going to be a long night..." Yurick muttered to himself.
Yurick's journey started quite well... Will he be alright in the rest of the night or is there something else that could threaten him?
To be continue...