Chapter Four: The Smallest Light
"Alright, we'll look in here and rid the Roamer or Roamers in here and begin our way towards the river," Hunter said as he awoke Prowlus from his sleep, soon edging his way towards the blocked door as Prowlus shook himself awake. "We have to cover a lot of ground today otherwise we'll be sleeping outside tonight, I don't know of any other villages around here."
"Nor I brother, whenever you're ready," Prowlus said as the two very swiftly manage to remove the obstacles in their path. "I'll be right behind you, stay on your toes." Hunter nodded his head as he slowly opened the door leading into the operating room, creaking on the hinges as he heard a shuffling noise in the corner of the room as if something had a quick panic spasm or something was trying to escape.
"Hello, is anyone in here?" Hunter whispered knowing if there was a Roamer in the shadows, it would have attacked him by now. The dull light which curved into the room from the main room was poor, but enough to see most of the obstructions in the room. Dried blood and small piles of ash and dust signed that a fight had broken out in the room as Hunter and Prowlus entered the room.
"Please, whoever you are, help me get out of here." A female voice whispered as Hunter's ears stood up on end to the direction of the voice.
"Are you alone?" Prowlus asked softly as the female voice did not respond right away.
"In the closet next to my voice," the voice warned as Hunter slowly made his way towards the voice. "New type of Roamer, stay back unless you are swift on your feet."
"What do you mean?" Hunter asked, suddenly covering his ears to the loudest screech he had ever heard erupted from his front, followed by the closet door swinging open forcefully as a small, swift creature leaped towards Hunter. The creature was a Hyena warrior, much like one of Skabb's minions, covered in blood splotches on it's face and hands as his teeth were aimed for Hunter's throat. A large, green sphere of energy then erupted from the corner of the room, stopping the Hyena warrior in midair. Hunter looked around the snarling Hyena and noticed that the sphere was connected to a rope-like ray of magic which lead directly to the female stranger who effortlessly slammed the Hyena into the ceiling forcefully, crushing it's head as the body fell limp onto the floor.
"Why didn't it disintegrate?" Prowlus asked as Hunter shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe because it wasn't a true Fallen Roamer, but just an infected civilian," Hunter concluded as he watched the hooded female figure approach the two. "I have to thank you for sacing me, I was not prepared for such swiftness from a being like that."
"Many aren't I'm afraid," the female voice said as she was mere feet away from Hunter. "My name is Bianca, a sorcerer's apprentice from the far east, part of this world which was abandoned long ago."
"My name is Hunter and this is my brother in arms Prowlus," Hunter introduced the two of them as he looked towards the door. "He is Chief of the Cheetahs in the Cheetah Village in the Valley of Avalar and I am the Chief of the Cheetahs in the city of Warfang. We are heading that way now, you can't stay out here all by yourself, come with us to safety. We can discuss about our lives when we get someplace safer."
"Ok, where is this Warfang and how are we going to make it there?" Bianca asked as the three left the building swiftly and kept a readied stance in case if any more infected Hyena's or any type of Roamer was ready to strike.
"We're heading towards the main river which Valley of Avalar, hopefully there is a raft along one of the many docks along the river which we can use to float down towards the Valley of Avalar," Hunter explained as he kept his bow loaded with an arrow in his sturdy grip. "There is a secret passage which will take us directly towards the outside walls of Warfang where we will be safe once we're inside."
"Don't forget that we need to get to the river before sundown today, otherwise we'll have a very tough time getting to the river in the moonlight and dense forest," Prowlus warned as Hunter nodded his head. "But we should be safe once we are among a raft; I haven't seen any type of Roamer which could swim."
"Stay sharp, let us move now." Hunter said as the three began their way towards their first destination.
"So your dad let you go without punishment," Smoke asked Skyro as the three sat around in Flare's room talking amongst each other about random things. "Your dad seems pretty cool, aside the fact he is the savior of this world and all." Smoke chuckled to himself as Skyro knew that the three were going to be great friends.
"He may have faced great evil, but he's a softy when it comes to his heart." Flare joked as Skyro smiled and nodded to her nagging.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, he is a softy," Skyro said with a smile as he thought of his father which he loved very much. "But he means well, and I'm proud to call him my father. You've been holding onto that cloth all day now Smoke, what do you plan on doing with it?"
"Well I was planning on tying it around my neck, but I'm afraid it might look weird." Smoke said as Flare shook her head.
"Nonsense, try it, I think it will look good." Flare said as Smoke hesitated for a minute before beginning to tie the cloth around his neck.
"Ok, how does it look?" Smoke asked as Skyro looked at him thoroughly, soon admiring his new look. The cloth mocked a bandana except it was a personal token to remember his mother. The bloodstains were almost completely covered up due to the dirt stains as Skyro nodded his head in admiration.
"You look good, you should keep that look." Skyro said, little did he know that his father was listening in on their conversation.
"You know it is not polite to eavesdrop on other's conversations." Cynder teased as she poked Spyro's side, making him jump as he followed her into the living room.
"I couldn't resist, that kid Smoke was talking about me and I couldn't resist from listening in," Spyro said, trying to defend his pride as he separated from his wife with a smile and made his way towards Flame. "So about this plan, do you think it will work?"
"It's sketchy yes, but the Roamers are stupid," Flame said as he explained his plan once more. "But I believe if we somehow get enough troops together, we can begin to wipe out the major majority of them if not all of them at once."
"That just leaves us with the thought that everyone will be ok once we start fighting back," Spyro said, then pondering with the thought soon after he spoke. "We'll most likely have casualties after this it is all said and done though."
"And we haven't had any already," Flame asked as he drake a glass of wine while offering Spyro some as well whom happily accepted the offer. "There will be losses, but what choice do we have? This world is indeed what Draikor wanted according to your words. It is all nothing but survival of the fittest now, only the strongest survive and the weak die. All that the strongest can do is do the best they can until a day of change arrives, well that day is today. We should head to Warfang now while we still can. The morning is still young."
"Alright, you're right, we should go," Spyro agreed as he called for Cynder. "Honey, we need to head to Warfang now while we still have the chance to, it is safer there."
"Ok, I'll go get the kids, why the sudden decision though?" Cynder asked as Ember joined the two males in the living room.
"Because we need to move now while there is still a large group in Warfang," Spyro said as Cynder gathered the children in Flare's room into the living room. "And I think the time is right to."
"We shall fly all the way to Warfang and hopefully encourage others if they see us to come with us as well," Flame said as he and Spyro began to shove the boulder out of the way. "And hopefully arrive before nightfall; otherwise we'll fly right into some trouble I don't think anyone will want to get into." The two dragons then pushed the boulder off to the side, only to be staring at the mob of Roamers which were waiting outside.
"… Nobody said this would be easy," Spyro said as he and Flame began to close the boulder behind them. "Cynder, Ember, stay in here, we'll le you out when this is over." Spyro then shoved the boulder the rest of the way over the door just as a Roamer Hyena leaped towards him.
"So Bianca, how long did it take you to travel from where you came to here and why would you want to anyway?" Hunter asked as the three somehow managed to find an opening in the forest which shown no sign of Roamers anywhere.
"I came here looking for redemption, and to just forget what happened to me," Bianca said as she finally revealed her face, her appearance took Hunter by surprise as he never seen such beauty before. "I am the last of my kind due to my master's ignorance."
"You are of the Rabbit species I see," Hunter said, still taking in her beauty for the moment, especially her crystal clear blue eyes which looked up at him every once in a while as they spoke. "Do you mind me asking what happened to you and your master?"
"You are kind to ask in such manor, but I prefer a more suitable time," Bianca said as Hunter smirked to her statement, knowing that she was smirking to. "I'll be happy to tell you about my past once we get to Warfang if you might still be interested on the topic."
Hunter smiled and kindly said, "As you wish Bianca. Prowlus, how are you holding up?"
"Why are you asking me when I should be asking you," Prowlus asked as they were about halfway across the clearing. "You have been under severe stress for a while now; you must feel drained by now."
"I'll be fine as soon as we reach the river," Hunter said as he seemed to grip his bow much harder now for seemingly no apparent reason. "The more I think about what can happen to us out here, the more I stay focused, what of you?"
"I'll be happy once we reach the river to like you said," Prowlus said as they began to enter the forest once more. "I just can't shake the feeling though that we are farther away from our goal than what we should be. The sky is starting to show signs that it is getting dark again soon and I don't know these parts of the forest. All I know is that we need to keep heading in this direction."
"I might be able to provide some light in case we do get stuck outside," Bianca said as she held up her hand slightly to make a suggestion. "But I can't keep the spell going for long, it only lasts for a short time per use and I don't think that showing our location with a beacon will suite well with us due to the Roamers."
"We'll have to use it if we are to press onward through the night," Hunter said as the three readied themselves for any encounters in the forest ahead of them. "It would be a suiting change though if we happen to stumble upon a small supply road heading in the same direction as we are going, it will make travel easier."
"If we have luck on our side then we might find a road which to follow," Prowlus said as he notched an arrow in his bow. "I see one… Hyena Roamer, what should we call them from now on do you suppose?"
"I called them Leapers once," Bianca whispered as she and Hunter watched Prowlus draw back his bow. "But I've heard some people call them Berserkers because how they attack… or that might have been another type, I can't remember."
"Leapers it is," Hunter said as he put his hand on Prowlus' shoulder. "Do you think we might be able to get around it without alerting it?" Hunter asked as Prowlus shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head.
"Hard to tell, if we kill it now, it means one less to worry about, but we run the risk of being discovered." Prowlus said as he aimed his bow at the Leaper's head. "Then again, it would be grand if we could get around it, but if we mess up somehow, we'll be in big trouble because we wouldn't stand a change in this area."
"Bianca, what do you suppose?" Hunter asked as he looked at her while she reached into her small satchel for something.
"Kill it, I can buy us some time if we do get discovered with this," she pulled out a small bottle of disgusting looking brown gas which seemed alive inside of the glass jar. "It's a smog which will cover our escape should we need to." That was more than enough motivation Prowlus needed as he released his arrow, zipping nicely through the air as it shot clean through the Leaper's head and continued to fly into a tree.
"Huh, that's a first." Prowlus said as he replaced his bow around his chest and held one an arrow firmly in his hand as he watched the infected body fall limp to the ground.
"Nice shot brother, now let us keep going before-" a loud shriek then split the forest as Bianca threw the jar into a nearby tree which caused the brown smoke to explode out and around them.
"RUN, GO, THEY'LL BE COMING SOON!" Bianca yelled as the three began to sprint around the large area of smoke which continued to expand and grow in density. They ran until their lungs hurt as though they would burst and continued to run, jumping over fallen trees and rocks until they finally stopped to catch their breath.
"Do you think we lost them?" Hunter asked as he panted hard to catch his breath.
"Yeah… yeah we did." Prowlus said as Bianca leaned her back against a tree and breathed deeply to regain her thoughts.
"Well, that must have knocked about half a mile off of our journey," Bianca said as she pointed past Hunter who sat among a rock with Prowlus to rest. "Plus we found a road to follow." Hunter smiled as he looked among the path's surface. He recognized the surface and realized that they were getting close to their destination. Wide enough to have two wagons travel side to side; it was safer and more effective to travel on rather than cutting through the forest while risking a Roamer attack around every corner. The road meant they could see the enemy and retreat or fight head on rather than the enemy having the element of surprise.
"I know this road; we should be able to know off half a day if we keep to it, maybe a whole day's worth of travel if we push on through the night." Hunter suggested as Prowlus stood with the three and examined their method of travel, a little bit uneasy with the travel at night.
"I don't know about night travel brother, sure we have Bianca's light for support and we can see the Roamers coming yes, but they can see us on the road from the forest as well." Prowlus said as Hunter nodded his head.
"I think we should risk it, at least we will know where we are going and besides, we have a direct passage towards the village," Hunter said as he continued to look along down the road. "I recall just finishing a small path leading to the village which branches off this road here. I just hope someone managed to post a sign saying where it leads or else we might find ourselves traveling down a road which we don't want to take."
"Alright, I'm for it," Prowlus said as he looked towards Bianca who was already nodding her head in agreement. "Let us move then." The three then began to make their way down the path, ready for any surprise attacks as the day began to slip away quickly.
