Nego leaped off Tagu's back and jumped on the boat. The minute he put on the talisman, his mind was calm. Despite the dire situation, the talisman helped his body relax but his senses keep alert. The talisman had helped him on the discussion which they both agreed it was better to prevent Dious from getting the talismans instead of getting the talismans like the four fallen. It made much more sense. They didn't need to get any talisman for its power.
Hazel shimmied across the rope. Jun opened his wings at the last second, slowly letting his feet touch the wood. 'Ecaep ni tser,' she said quietly. Nego knew by that, she meant the Shadows. She obviously hadn't forgotten that. 'Rest in peace pronounced backwards?' 'Yes.'
'The rain will cover up any noise we make, their supplies are essential,' Nego told her. Hazel smiled, the one that meant she knew what to do. Jun walked slowly across the deck, the sound of Tagu's hooves clacking were barely audible with the sound of the raindrops hitting the deck. Thunder flashed.
Hazel had found other things in the room they had went in. She had found Zhongnese blast powder much to her happiness and lots of destructive things which she put into the pockets which she buttoned up carefully.
Her javelin had shrunk into a baton, an impressive arsenal of throwing knives hung from her belt with different patterns on them. Two swords which were meant for raids meaning they weren't very long, and very light in her Scabbard made her look like an assassin.
Nego followed Jun into the storeroom. With the ship setting down their anchors, everything had stopped rattling. Still, soldiers could be in the food storage. Nego opened the door, to find two soldiers guarding it.
Jun knocked one unconscious with his wide wingspan. Nego bonked the other on the head with Yarrow. Hazel walked across the maze of crates. This was different from alleyways. She used her knife to cut the ropes fastening the wooden boxes to their place and slice open the lid of a certain crate on the built in racks.
All sorts of travel food were there. Dried seaweed, jerky, dehydrated fruits, biscuits … It was an armies feast. Stuffing his pockets with rations, Tagu chewed on the seaweed he was offered.
Silently bonking more soldiers, Hazel found empty flasks and kegs of water. With one flask of water each, Hazel sprinkled blast powder in the middle of the room and clenched some herbs together.
Transparent liquid dripped down from her fist. 'I fused together a couple of simple things to make the food near it rot. We have to get out of the room.' Jun helped them by scouting from above. Closing the door behind them, Jun unfurled his wings and took off.
Nego and Hazel clambered on Tagu's back before leaping into the sea. The buffalo submerged himself in water, but Nego found out he wasn't soaked. He felt his shirt. It felt dry, which meant his supplies were dry. Leaping out of the water, he felt like he was riding through the skies.
Jun flapped his wings and soared through the clouds. Nego rubbed the talisman around his neck. Staying calm was essential on a battlefield. There were no second chances, you had to keep calm.
It was a long time, but Nego spotted land. Tall trees, dark earth, the sound of water … Tagu made a beeline for the source of water. Hazel sat down on a rock and chewed on some dried fruit before taking out her flask.
'We never got to talk much, even while being in the same place. You might as well tell me the parts we both didn't see.'
Nego decided to go first. 'I'm from Amaya and I never knew my parents. I spent the winters foraging for nuts and berries from the forest. I've been captured before after I summoned Tagu, who made a very good comforter.' Tagu huffed and rumbled with affection.
Hazel took her knife and sharpened it on the rock she was sitting on. 'I was twelve when Jun came to me. We lived in a small village where the Greencloaks were. We used up the supply of nectar when my sister took it. After Dious came, the heartbreak was enough to nearly kill me. Matrika, the star helped me. The first year was horrible. Slowly, I found the rebels. I followed my path and found the forest,' her voice was tight with emotion.
Tagu pulled at her trouser leg. Jun ruffled his feathers and leaned against her. Hazel stood up and looked at the forest. 'How do you feel about trekking?'
Nego continued walking as Jun flew ahead, just below the tree line. Hazel slashed and hacked at the branches like it was nobody's business. She reminded Nego of an insane branch chopper. 'Remote forests are bases for most societies. The forest of the Shadows is made to remember itself. Bits and pieces will have survived. Clothing, broken weapons, tree stumps, ancient rock … The drawings in the mountain will have survived. The rock with names on it.'
She made her knife twist in such a way the branch in front of her fell to the ground into tiny pieces. 'Dreams assured me that their up there, and they don't blame me. They said they don't regret the path they chose to take.' Tagu chewed on the leaves that fell to the ground.
'They say war hardens people,' Hazel continued. 'And now I truly believe that.' Jun gave a high pitched squawk. Nego listened to the trees and the earth. The information came in a rush. His fingertips were tingling and his ears ringed.
'There's a wall two-hundred meters away. Its twenty-six feet high made out of wood and stone. It's too long to go around and I suspect that it's a test,' Nego said in a rush. 'How did you know that?' Hazel asked. 'I just listened to nature,' he answered.
Tagu nodded in approval. 'How do we get up it?' Nego asked. 'That,' Hazel said with a hint of light in her eyes. '-Is something we'll think of when we get there.' Then, she ran off. Nego found it a bit scary how well she hid the pain and heartbreak when she was leader of the Shadows, being strong with murderous eyes.
It turned out, she was a destructive bomber with a wide knowledge of plants and herbs who loved nearly-impossible challenges. Strangely enough, he preferred the destructive bomber Hazel. With Tagu behind him, Nego ran off to see the wall.
The plants weren't lying. The wall was smooth with no ivy, footholds, handholds, cracks or ledges. Jun landed next to them. 'You need to put Tagu in doormat state,' Hazel said. Tagu looked at the wall that was impossibly long and terribly high and disappeared in a soft radiance.
Hazel took two knives from her belt, one in each hand before giving him two meat cleavers. 'Okay, I think I can work with this. 'The meat cleavers were heavy, but they would do. 'Jun will help us, come on.' With that, she jumped as high as she could, stuck a knife into the wall and propelled herself up using it as leverage and stuck the one in her other hand in.
Nego took a deep breath before muttering to himself, 'I am insane for following her,' before doing exactly what she was doing, except with meat cleavers. Hazel was still climbing and Nego nearly slipped, but Jun caught him. 'Thanks,' he said to the egret.
Jun squawked in return. Nego thought it would be strange to see a boy who was wearing khaki pants with a light grey shirt holding meat cleavers and a girl with camo pants and a navy blue shirt with throwing knives scaling a wall with an egret flying about in the background.
Panting heavily, he dug a meat cleaver into the wall. The outer-part was wood coated with silver wood sap to prevent it from rotting. The inside was stone. Pushing himself to go on, Hazel helped him to get up.
Climbing the fence on the wall, Nego looked what was behind the wall. There was a large stone building in the middle, there was an obstacle course that he could make out and an arena. There was a well for water near the building with pipes attached to each other.
Hazel put the meat cleavers back into her belt and looked at what he was seeing. She leaned over the fence and sighed. Just then, a tiger followed by an ocelot came on either side with lightly armored soldiers.
Snarling and crouched down, Nego hurriedly released Tagu. Jun trilled and opened his wings. 'Girl, call off your spirit animal. It's a clumsy egret against a tiger, though I think the buffalo stands a chance against Gunderson's ocelot,' said a female voice. 'Anything can happen, Ethel.' The other soldier was a male.
The talisman worked its magic. Hazel took her javelin and thwacked the tiger on the head with the shaft. The soldier gave a cry and pulled out a sword. Nego felt strange calm as he whacked the ocelot on the head. Tagu ducked and used his horns to carry the soldier in the air.
Jun was flapping his wings around the fence, distracting the female soldier. The soldier in Tagu's horns screamed as Nego pulled out Yarrow. Hazel pointed the tip of her javelin at the female soldier's throat. 'Hi, Ethel. I suppose you don't want to die, I understand. Still, we mean no harm. I'm Hazel and this is Jun, the egret. That's Nego and the buffalo with your friend is Tagu. We scaled your wall with knives and meat cleavers which was a relief from being prisoners on a ship. Captured by people and all the trifecta. The thing is, who are you?'
'We are the Tailtan's. I would be glad to explain if you release Gunderson and not kill me.'
If you don't understand, Nego and Hazel have decided to prevent Dious from getting the talismans. This is not like the four fallen on a talisman hunt, respectively. I need you guys to help me, if not I will take this matter into my own hands. You guys have Saturday the eighteenth. Tight deadline, sorry but I know you guys can do it, right?
Number One : The leader of the Tailtan's is horrible. (Please vote on the name of the leader)
Number Two : The mentors are horrible. (If you vote on this one, I want ONE name. It has to be a male name because I have an issue with names.)
Number Three: Both of them are horrible.
The person whose suggested name is picked can have a cookie! I need an old timey name that makes the person sound like a creep but not too much. All the guest rightfully have the right to enter. The people whose names aren't picked will be used for equally horrible people. I hope we get entries!
Peace!