Here's the next chapter. I encourage any and all criticism because I'm not going to get any better without it.
Read, review, enjoy.
Chapter 3: The Holy Knights
"This night just keeps getting better," Yuri muttered as he leaned against a pillar in the throne room of the castle.
It was well past midnight, maybe two of three, and they had to tell what had happen at the lab to Ioder and even the head of the council, Lilith Nightwood. Thankfully, Dr. Vossler wasn't there, or at the very least wasn't there yet. Yuri supposed the good doctor couldn't be disturbed at this hour even though it concerned his precious labs.
Ioder and Nightwood didn't look like they had even had the chance to fall asleep like the rest of them. Obviously news of the Ringing Fox's appearance in the city warranted their full attention.
"Could you have a little bit of decency when in front of His Highness?" Flynn snapped after Yuri interrupted his report again. Flynn was the only one who was telling about the accounts of their fight with the Fox. The only reason Yuri and the others were there was so Karol could ask if they could chase after the Ringing Fox with the knights. Yuri would have preferred just to do it on their own but Raven said it would be better and a lot less of a hassle if they could work with the knights.
"There shall be no offence taken at this hour," Nightwood chimed in. This was the first time Yuri had seen the new head of the council. She certainly looked like a krityan with her pointed ears but she had no anntenm. She also didn't dress like other krityan. Instead she wore the bulky greed council robes that hid whatever figure she had but her shoulders were exposed and her sleeves covered her hands. Her black hair was in in a bun and Yuri could see much intelligence behind her dark piercing eyes. It was hard to tell how old she was since she appeared to look younger than Raven, but yet her expression told him she had been around longer than that. At the very least she seemed to carry her age well.
Flynn turned his attention back to Ioder and Nightwood. "As I was saying, the culprit managed to escape the lab but Captain Sodia had an ambush waiting for him. But according to them the culprit used some high level magic. It's concerning considering nobody has accomplished such feat since the defeat of the Adephagos."
Except Estelle, Yuri thought as he glanced at the princess standing next to him.
"What kind of magic was it? Don't tell me those knights under you command couldn't even tell the difference between spells," a woman's voice, which Yuri didn't recognize, echoed down the hall.
They all turned their attention to the hall but the first thing they saw were two wolves entering the throne room. Karol let out a startled scream as everyone else assumed attack position. Flynn drew his sword to protect Ioder and the council lady. Both of the monsters started growing at all the aggression.
But soon a boy who was younger than Karol appeared behind them. He looked to be a noble's kid the way he was dressed in green shorts and a white buttoned shirt with a small green tie. His brown hair was also combed neatly into place. But his expression looked no different than warrior in the midst of a battle. "Touch them and I will kill you," he threatened.
Yuri saw Flynn sheath his sword and gave a tired sigh. "Damn it, James," Flynn started to scold. "How many times do I have to tell you not to bring in your pet monsters into the city?" It vaguely reminded Yuri of all the other times Flynn scolded him for not following the laws.
Out of nowhere, the boy's face changed to suit his age. He even stuck his tongue out at Flynn. "They're not pets. They're my family." The boy even hugged the neck of one of the wolves while the other one started licking the boy's face. The wolves acted like domestic dogs and the boy was nuzzling them as so.
Flynn may think these monsters were safe enough to be around but Yuri wasn't going to let his guard down. He and Karol both kept their weapons drawn. Repede also wasn't going to take his eye off them.
A woman that was probably around the same age as Yuri entered the room behind James with the same voice that called out earlier. "Surely you're not doubting James' abilities?" She had fiery red hair that was in a ponytail but there were a lot of loose strains. She had on hunting greaves and wrappings to cover her somewhat flat chest. The woman also wore leather shoulder pads with long fingerless gloves. Whatever skin was exposed was covered in scars. The most notable one being on her side that ran up to her armpit from her hip. Wrapped around her small waist was a chain with two sickles at her thighs. These two were definitely…interesting individuals.
"Of course not, but seeing monsters in the city can cause the citizens to panic," Flynn tried to reason. "And also my men were startled that the Fox could use magic. They think it was either fire or light magic based on the scorched marks," Flynn began to defend.
The woman merely shrugged which seemed to annoy Flynn further. Yuri would have to get the details later about that woman.
James just rolled his eyes. "All these stupid rules are annoying. It's no fun being a knight."
Yuri glanced at the others and that Karol and Rita were just as shocked at hearing what James said. It wasn't just him that heard it.
"Have your monsters caught the Ringing Fox's scent?" the council lady asked the monster boy.
"Aye, some of my brothers and sisters are hunting him down as we speak," James said.
"Yeah, all that blood from that guy helped a lot," the woman commented with a wide smile. "It took the monsters one sniff before they started their hunt. I suppose you did one thing right commandant."
Just who the hell are these guys? Yuri wondered. If they were taking orders from the head of the council, then did that mean they were members of the Holy Knights? Maybe the woman, but the kid?
Nightwood nodded. "I thank the both of you for your work this late but I need you two to escort Dr. Vossler to Aurnion. He left several hours ago to check on the lab so you two need to make haste."
The two newcomers didn't like their orders. "Seriously ? We do all the tracking and yet we don't even get to participate in hunting down the elusive Ringing Fox? So not far lady." The woman complained.
James looked even more upset. He even pointed a finger at Flynn. "I'm not leaving my brothers and sisters with the knights. Do you even know what happened last time?"
"As long as they don't hurt anyone we won't have to hurt them," Flynn told him. "But last time you let one of your pets loose it was a giant scorpion we had to kill because it was harming people."
The menacing looked returned to James' face as he stared at Flynn. Even the wolves stared growling at him. Flynn had his hand at the ready for his sword.
"That's enough," Nightwood ordered and the two newcomers obeyed. "You have your orders. Now go."
The newcomers were still upset but they weren't going to argue with the council woman. James left stomping like child being sent to his room with his two wolves following close behind. The woman stopped by Yuri and looked to be sizing him up. "So you're the infamous Yuri Lowell," she started by saying. "I have to say you're much cuter than the wanted poster of the Ringing Fox. It's hard to believe that anyone would mistake you for him."
Yuri was too tired to come up with a clever comeback. "At least someone realized that," he muttered.
The woman gave him a sly smile but Yuri could see that there were some ulterior motives behind it.
But soon James called back to her. "Come on Xiu."
She gave Yuri a wink before going off to join the boy and his monsters.
"Don't tell me that Xiu the Huntress is a member of the Holy Knights?" Raven asked once these two disappeared down the hall.
"She is, and so is James, the child you just saw," Flynn answered him.
"Seriously?" Yuri injected. "The Empire is letting a kid fight monsters by himself." He didn't care if the council woman threw him out for his comment. James could only be about ten and there was no way someone that young should join the knights. Karol was probably about the same age when he first joined a guild but guilds did their own thing. There were also different types of guilds. Knights, in theory, had to follow orders and protect people.
"I don't like that James is a member either," Nightwood surprised him by saying. "But James' ability to communicate with monsters has been incredibility valuable to us."
It still sounded like the Empire was just extorting a young boy.
"Well, since the culprit's trail has been found I suspect you'll be leading the search commandant?" Ioder asked, quickly bringing them back to the original reason they were here.
"Of course, I'll assemble some men and be ready to leave in a few hours," Flynn told him.
Yuri wasn't going to wait for Flynn to bring them up which could have taken longer. He left the corner he and his group were in to stand next to Flynn. "Brave Vesperia would also like to go after the Ringing Fox." He did receive a warning look from Flynn but the knight didn't say anything. Maybe he was starting to realize that it was useless trying to tell Yuri what to do. Wouldn't that be a nice change of things?
"Given the circumstance, I can't help but agree," Ioder admitted. "Since its unknown if Ringing Fox is working for anyone, it will look good if both the Empire and the Union were working together on this. So I ask if Brave Vesperia would work with the knights on this job. You'll be paid of course."
Yuri still didn't like the idea, especially since Flynn would be with them. That meant they would have to follow the law or listen to Flynn nagging. Oh well, it may make it easier for what he was about to ask next. "Fine, you can talk to Karol about the pay. But I also want Estelle to come with us."
He heard a surprised sound from both Flynn and Estelle. Yuri looked back at Estelle and shot her a small grin. The princess couldn't help but smile back.
Ioder and the council woman exchanged glances. Nightwood nodded and so Ioder said, "Very well. Estellise, would you care to act as my proxy?"
Estelle was still startled that she stumbled on her words. "O-of course. Thank you very much." She gave a slight bow toward Ioder.
"Well, now that that's taken care of," Yuri started to say, as he turned around to leave he grabbed Estelle's shoulder to have her follow him, "we'll be catching some sleep. Meet you by the gates in a couple of hours?" He asked Flynn.
"Yeah," the commandant answered.
Yuri only nodded and left the throne room with Estelle and the others in tow.
The group walked in silence until they were nearing the exit to the castle. Once there, Karol asked, "Why did you do that for Yuri?"
"We all need a little bit of rest if we want to catch this guy, I was just hurrying it along," Yuri answered.
Karol let out a sigh of relief. "And here I thought you were going to have us chase after him ourselves." The others seemed to have had a similar thought.
"It did occur to me, but Ioder is right. People will probably calm down a little if the knights and the guilds work together." Brave Vasperia wasn't one of the Five Master Guilds but they had established quite a name for themselves. At the very least people know who they are.
"Since that's taken care of, I want to know how the old man knows that woman we just met," Rita said.
Raven seemed a little startled by the mages' inquires. "Who? Xiu? Everyone in Dahngrest knows about her. She's been in about every guild in the Union. She beats Karol's record easily."
"Oh right," Karol chimed in, "I remember hearing from Tison and Nan that she was once in the Hunting Blades before I ever joined. They said she almost beat Client in a duel."
"So why isn't she still with the Hunting Blades?" Yuri asked. He wanted to know more about the members of Holy Knight in case they ever ran into them again. If Xiu was about the same level of strength as Client then Yuri could believe she could handle monster killings.
"Because she's freaking insane," Raven declared. "If you got in her way on a job you're as good as dead. There was no difference in friend and enemy. After being kicked out of so many guilds, people stopped hiring her. Rumors had been floating that she finally lost it and left to live out in the wild to hunt monsters."
That's just what the knights' need, another crazy person with bloodlust, Yuri though bitterly. "Are the rest of the Holy Knights like that?"
"I haven't meet all of them but I don't think any of them have such an extreme back story," Estelle started and began telling them the rest of the members. "There's of course James. Some have even gone to call him James the Wild Child because of his unique ability to tame monsters. There's another krityan named Zalmon but I don't know too much about him other than that some of the knights call him Shade Walker."
No one had any additional information on the kid or the krityan. Although, it was surprising to hear that there was another krityan who fought.
Estelle went on, "Zane Holwell was once a researcher in Aspio-"
Rita let out a mocking laugh. "That guy certainly wasn't a researcher. Of course that pompous ass was almost as brilliant as me. But no topic could keep his interest long enough."
"So now hunting monsters keeps his interest," Yuri commented.
Estelle continued with the last member, "I'm not sure what his real name is but everyone calls the fifth member Reaper."
"Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time," Raven said.
"Go on and share with the rest of us," Yuri told him.
The old man just heaved a great big sigh, "I'm afraid there isn't much to tell ya. All I know is that we both fought in the war together and that was when he got the name Reaper the Immortal Warrior. The guy was frightening to watch. He just charged at the Entelexeia while other men started wetting themselves."
"Could he be like you Raven?" Karol asked as he nodded toward the old man's chest.
"If he is it had to happen before the war. He's not afraid of death. That much I'm certain."
"It's certainly a colorful bunch defending the people," Yuri muttered.
He was about to suggest that they all leave to get some sleep when suddenly he heard rumbling outside the castle. "Ah hell," Yuri muttered.
He quickly ran over to a window and looked up at the night sky. After a few seconds there came a small rain drop hit the glass.
It was followed by two more.
Suddenly it began to pour down rain, wiping away the Ringing Fox's trail.
"Damn, the Fox has lady luck on his side," Raven said once he realized what the rain meant.
"Maybe James' monsters found the culprit," Estelle suggested.
"I doubt it," Yuri said still watching the rain fall on the sleeping city.
"Even monsters would have a hard time tracking in this weather," Karol answered.
Yuri curled his hand into a fist. This isn't over yet, we'll catch up with you eventually.
/~/~/
"Come inside already Karen, nobody's out there," Rich called out to the woman out in the downpour of rain who was under an umbrella. They weren't far from Deidon Hold but they were the only people in their travelers' lodge. Rich still stood underneath their large covered wagon. The only light source they had came from the few lanterns they had, which made it hard to make out anything in the distance.
"But I could have sworn I saw a potential customer," Karen told him.
While rainy weather always did bring in people seeking shelter it was also very early in the morning. The only reason they were even up was because they heard some wolves howling. "No one is out there. Now get inside before you get sick."
She was just about to listen to him when some nearby bushes began to rustle. It startled both of them but they soon saw the figure of a person.
Is that the sword guy who took care of all the giganto monsters? Rich wondered thinking the dark figure and long hair looked a lot like the guy they ran into a lot two years ago. But this person wasn't Yuri. He couldn't explain it but something told him that it wasn't who he thought he was. The fox mask also didn't help much.
"Welcome to the King of Adventures," Karen started to say to try and get their visitor to stay. "We have some bedrolls left if you would like a place to-"
She was cut short when the mask man collapsed in the mud.
Karen hurried over to him with her umbrella and Rich wasn't far behind her. Rich helped the mask man sit up while Karen kept the rain off him. The masked man was still conscious since he let out a painful moan when Rich grabbed his left shoulder.
"Rich, help him into the wagon," Karen told him as he did what she said. Though their visitor was very shady he wasn't about to let someone die in front of them.
Rich supported the man on his good side and helped him walk to the wagon and Karen kept them as dry as they could be at this point. The man was lighter than Rich expected. He probably could have carried his full weight, but he didn't so not to cause any more harm to the man.
They got their visitor out of the rain and sitting down. In the lamp light Rich was able to tell how serious the man's wound really was. It looked like if the man let go of his shoulder than his arm was going to fall off. A few drops of blood, mixed in with the water on his clothes, fell on their wagon floor from the man.
"I'm not a doctor but I can try and stich the wound up," Karen said as she quickly rushed to the corner to retrieve their supplies.
The masked man nodded and weakly started to unbutton his shirt. Rich was going to help him but the man swatted his hands away. So Rich just stood back and watched as Karen stuck her sewing needle in the lamp's flame.
The man managed to pull his shirt down enough to expose his injured shoulder. It probably would have caused more pain to take the shirt off completely. It was still hard to judge the wound since it was covered in blood. His whole left side was red. The man was scrawny and he even had bandages cover his whole torso. For a moment, Rich thought the light was playing tricks with him because he could have sworn the skin around the bandages looked green.
"So what's your name?" Karen asked, as she gently began to wipe the blood away so she could asses just how bad the wound really was.
"Trust me, it's better if you don't know," the man answered. He still kept his mask on. He even had his right hand holding it in place like he was afraid they would try to steal it from him, while his left hand lay lifelessly next to Karen.
Karen had cleaned most of the blood away and Rich could now see that the man's wound could have only come from a sword or an ax. "How did you end up with that?" Rich asked. He had a bad feeling that this wasn't just some random traveler.
"Rich!" Karen scolded as she poured alcohol over the wound to sterilize it.
The masked man didn't answer him or even flinch. He probably couldn't feel his arm any more. If that was the case then a doctor would probably have to cut it off. Even if this guy was some bandit, he wouldn't be able to do much in his state, so Rich relaxed a bit.
Realizing what Rich had, Karen said, "I can keep you from bleeding out but you should see a doctor. We're not far from Deidon Hold. We can take you-"
"Just stop the bleeding. I have a friend who can help me more," the man told her.
Karen just looked at Rich before she stuck the needle in the man's flesh.
There was a brief moment when the three of them were silent and Rich carefully watched the masked man. Just then the man turned his head and started talking. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said.
"Who are you talking to?" Rich asked the man. Karen even paused at her work.
The man didn't answer them. Instead he said, "You worry about finding the next target. We're on a time crunch."
Rich slowly walked over to the flaps and looked into the rain. There wasn't a soul out there. He looked back over at Karen who was still staring nervously at their visitor.
"We have to keep you know who's promise…" the man paused as if he was listening to his invisible and silent friend. "Yeah, I'd hate to see him angry too."
/~/~/
Z-Skit
Raven: So Rita darlin', you sounded awfully jealous when you asked how I knew Xiu.
Rita: Sounds like you need your hearing checked.
Raven: Come now Rita, don't be coy. It's perfectly natural for a girl you age to feel attracted to an older man like myself.
Rita used karate chopped: Ha!
Raven: Ouch! What was that for?
Rita: Don't be so full of yourself. I just needed more information for my database to prove what a sleazy old man you are.
Raven: Way to wound an old man with that sharp tongue of yours. Kids these days, I tell ya.
