(A/N: I am back everyone and I have some new chapter for you all today and I think that you all will love this one. This chapter is about Ryu and friends going down to the ever falls to find the missing pawns and find the disturbance. Then he will find something that will shaped the balances of his destiny and he will meet the Duchess for the first time. She was attack in the market by a group of bandits and Ryu was trying to save her. I know that you all will like it, but I am so excited to be reading this chapter. let get started shall we.)
Enjoy :-)
Ever fall and meet the Duchess
They made it to the cave of the ever falls and Ryu couldn't see anything and April use her magic to light the path for them. Ryu was in awe at the sight of the underground temple. He looked at April because she was able to light their way.
"I never thought that a sorcerer could summon the power of light before." said Ryu.
April was impressed that he comment her magic and they started to move towards the door to ever fall. Then Ryu saw the door to ever fall and he noticed something about the place was too quiet, but he ready himself for anything. He heard moaning coming from within the ever fall and he looked to the left to see that their was undead warriors and sorcerers.
"I hate when dead soldiers come back alive and why do they have to be sorcerers." Ryu said.
Sora was scare out of her mind when she saw dead corpse walking about and Zero drew his great sword to get ready for a fight of their lives. Then April summon a sword to her side and Ryu was shocked when he saw that she had a swords with her and he saw the undead started to charged at them. They stand their ground and when the undead got close, they started to fight them off for a little while and Ryu heard screaming.
"Hey, I think that missing pawns are this way." said Ryu.
They manage destroy the undead warriors and sorcerers and they ran to find the sound of those voices and they heard the scream coming from the gate passage, but Ryu saw a switch that connected to the gate and when he pulled the switch down the door started to rise up. Ryu noticed that door was opening, but he saw another gate in front of them started to close and he thought for a moment about the puzzle. Then he ran towards the sound of screaming and when they saw some more use undead soldiers and sorcerers, but he use his smoke bombs and Sora shot her fire arrow to ignited the smoke to cause flame to spark. Then the undead soldiers and mages was burned to death and Ryu started to follow the sound of screaming pawns. When they got to the door, Ryu saw a huge Ogre and he saw some of the missing pawns that Barnaby told him about.
"This is going to be tough for us to handle." Ryu thought.
The Ogre caught their sensed and it turned around to see new pray. Then the beast charged at them with full speed and Ryu jumped over the beast and he landed behind the beast.
Then he toss his throwing knives while Zero use his strength to slice the Ogre. but he saw that the cut didn't fades the beast and the beast knocked Zero back and he hit his head.
"Zero! Are you alright?!" Sora asked.
She ran to his side to check for injury and April saw the beast walking towards them, but she saw Ryu jumped on the beat's back and he was ticked that the monster had attack his friend. Then he slammed his sword into the beast left eyes and the ogre started to shake him off, but Ryu held on tight and he continue to slamming his sword into the monster's left eyes. April saw what he was doing and she started to shoot her spells at the right eye of the beast. Sora was trying to wake Zero up and she saw that Ryu and April was working together, but she saw that beast was losing balance and she picked up Zero's sword. Then she started to run towards the beast legs and she slice them and the beast fell on his stomach. Ryu wasn't done with the beast just yet and he started to cut the throat of the beast. April sense that the beast was dead and she saw that Ryu was injury on his right arm.
"I see that you have suffered a torn muscle and I might stop the bleeding for you." said April.
Then she started to heal his right arm and Ryu saw that Zero was standing with Sora holding him up. Then he saw the missing the pawns and they was grateful that he had saved them from the ogre. One of them was another sorcerer and she looked exactly like April, but she had short black hair.
"I knew that you have return to me, my sister. And it is an honor to finally to meet you, Arisen. My name is Rita and I am the elder sister of April. I see that she had healed your wounds, but she still need to learn more before she travels with the Arisen." said Rita.
April looked at her and she nodded her head to tell him that she need to learn more spells order to become a master sorcerer.
"I see no reason that she could come with me on my journey and I can use some more help from the pawns like you for example." said Ryu.
Rita was shocked that he offer her a chance to travel with the Arisen and she knew that her sister was waiting for her to answer his offer.
"I would be honor to travel with the great Arisen." said Rita.
She bow to him and Ryu knew that he needed the power of both sorcerers at his side.
"Do you know what's down here?" Ryu asked.
Rita thought about it for a moment and she remember what was down here.
"Thousand of generation there was an ancient altar that uses the power of the wake stones that could bring the living back from the grave." said Rita.
Ryu thought about getting some of these wake stones to bring not just his parents, but Quina's mother back from the grave and he knew that she would hate him for dishonoring her mother's memories. Then he shook the thought out of his head and he heard a sound, but he started to follow it and everyon went after him.
"Where is he going?" Sora asked.
She was trying to help Zero to keep up with them and when Ryu turned down the corner, he saw a blue light up ahead.
"I think that this must be the ancient altar that Rita was telling me about." said Ryu.
He looked at the ancient writing while he waited for the others to show up. When the others made it, they saw the room and they couldn't believed their eyes. Sora was the first to see the altar and she looked at Zero who was shocked to see the altar for the first time. This was April first time to see the altar because she heard story about from her sister and she looked at Rita who was smiling at her.
"I can't believe that it was here. I heard stories about it and I never thought that I was going to be the first to actually weakness." said April.
Rita hugged her, but Ryu felt something wasn't right and he felt silence in the room. He saw something on the altar and he started to walking towards the altar, but he started to hear something and he saw three wakes stones sticking out of the altar. Then he started to pulled all three of them out of there and they all startd to feel the ground shake. "Run!" He shouted as tentacles popping out of the ground and the tentacle started to use magic. They all started to run, but April fell and Ryu helped her up, then they continue to run. Ryu started to shoot some of the pillars to slow the tentacles down.
"I think that will slow them down." said Ryu.
The tentacles pop from the ground again and Ryu hit his forehead to realized that the tentacles came from the ground.
"Hey Ryu, I think that you need to shoot the ground next time." Sora said.
She was trying her best not to laugh at his mistake and Ryu was looking at her.
"Oh ha-ha. How about you start shooting at these damn things while we tried to escape with our lives." said Ryu.
He avoid some of the spells that was aiming at him and he jumped over them. April and Rita use their combine attack to cover Ryu and they made it to the lever that close the gate. Then Zero pulled the lever and the gate started to raise up and he broke the lever.
"Was that really nesscceary?" Sora asked.
Zero nodded his head and Ryu saw that his method didn't work because he saw the tentacles popping up again.
"Who cares just run." said Ryu.
They all made it back to where they started and he saw a one of the tentacle popped up to block their path, but Ryu slice the tentacle and he waited for the others to get in. April was the last person to get in and he follow ahead of her, but the tentacle grabbed her left leg and it started to pull her down the steps. "AHHH...Someone help me!" said April.
Ryu looked at her to see that she was trying her best to free herself, but the tentacle was strong and Ryu need to save her before she get kill. Then he brought his sword above his head and he cut the tentacle off her leg. The creature retreated back into the everfalls after the tentacle was cut off and April was glad that he had saved her from being eaten.
"Thank you, master. I will be more careful for now on." said April.
Ryu rubbed the back of his head and he smiled at her.
"I know that you tried your best, but you just need to focus on one thing and that one thing is to protect others." said Ryu.
April nodded her head and she watch as he walked off to check if the others was hurt. Sora punched him in the shoulder and Ryu was checking on Zero to see if he was hurt. He knew that Zero was tough fighter.
"There is no need for you to worry about me, master." said Zero.
Sora knew that he was lying and she started to hit him. Then he flenched in pain and Ryu started to laugh at his pain.
"Well, we have more days to waste before the they send word for us. I think that we should train for the meantime." said Ryu.
They all just sighed and he looked at them and he knew that they needed their rest.
"I guess I will do my training else where. I better go to the market to get some food for us." said Ryu.
Then Ryu started to walk around the market to find some food for him and the others. He knew that he need some new clothes to wear. He noticed that his clothes was half destroyed and he walked around the market to find a clothing store. At the castle, there was a young woman walking around her garden and she noticed that her herb was dying.
"Time to gathered some more herbs."
Then she started to walked towards the castle's gate, but she saw that the guards was stopping her from leaving the castle ground and she look at them.
"What is the meaning of this?"
The guards knew that she couldn't leave without any escort.
"Sorry lady Aelinore, but the Duke requested that you must be escorted around market at all time."
She looked at them and she knew that she couldn't go against her husband's wishes.
"Of course, I will find someone to escort me to the market." said Aelinore.
as the guards bow to her and she started to look for her handmaiden Mirabelle. Then she saw her walking towards her garden and she knew that she could count on her to be there for her.
"Lady Aelinore, I was looking for you to tell you that your herbs are dying." said Mirabelle.
Aelinore nodded her head and she looked at her for a moment and Mirabelle had a feeling that she wanted her to do something.
"I want to go to the market to buy some more herbs before that happen and I want you to accompanied me." said Aelinore.
Mirabelle nodded her head and they started to walk towards her chamber to find some cloaks to wear because they don't want anyone to know that the Duchess had left the castle. Then they started to walk towards the castle's gates and the guards let them passed. Aelinore saw the pawns guild and she noticed it was getting late and she needs to get some new herbs before nightfall. Then she saw a group of bandits and she saw Ryu looked at a pair of shirts. She was started to walk passed that crowd to get to the herbs shop to get her herbs. She was able to get the shop and she saw the shop keeper and they started to talk. then Aelinore told her that her garden was dying and the owner started to looked for some herbs for her, but she saw the door open and she saw to bandits walk inside.
"Give us your money or your shop won't last long once we are done with it."
They started to knocked over some plants and Aelinore couldn't stand by any longer and she started to hit one of them acrossed the face.
"What the hell was that for?"
his brother helped him up and he started to walk up to her. Then he looked at her for a moment and he noticed her crown, but he knew that he was going to have his way with her.
"I think that we have someone that wants to be a hero. Let take her to the boss and see if he was going to keep her."
Aelinore was scared for her life and then the bandits grabbed her and Mirabelle. Then they started to struggle to free themselves and they saw moire of them waiting outside of the shop.
"I guess that we have some new faces to the group and I have been wandering if she could scream really loud."
They started to get close to them and Aelinore held on to Mirabelle as tight as she could and they both close their eyes. Then there was a sound of a bow pulled and an arrow went flying towards one of the bandits and Aelinore open her eyes to see her savor was Ryu.
"Leave at once before I kill all of you." said Ryu.
The bandits surrounded him and Aelinore was scared for his safety.
"Please run away! These men are dangerous for a mere man to fight alone." said Aelinore.
Ryu just ignore her and the bandits started to attack him, but he dodge every shot and he started to counterattack on them with his own attacks.
"Looks like this guy got a death wish that we can grant."
Ryu started to fight back with all his might and he was overpowered by them, but he started to struggle to get free and he saw that the leader had a knife in his hand. The leader was about to kill him and he brought the knife down, but Ryu use all his strength and he was stabbed. Then blood squirt out and Aelinore was shocked to see it. Ryu head butted the leader and the he use his hidden blades to slice his emenies, but he started to pulled the knife out of him.
"I believed that you made a big mistake for doing that." said Ryu.
He was shooting his arrows at them and he drew his sword on them. They was scared out of their mind and in a flashed the bandits was laying on the ground dead. He looked at both Aelinore and Mirabelle to see that they wasn't hurt and then he started to walk away, but he collapse to the ground from the lost of so many blood. Then they both check on him and they couldn't do anything and they was worried that they didn't want to leave him alone.
"What should we do, my lady?" Mirabelle asked.
Aelinore looked at her and she was trying to stop the bleeding, but she saw that Ryu was getting up and she looked into his eyes to see that he was going to be okay. Then he started to walk towards the pawn guild to get heal.
"I need to get help from the others before I waste away I know that April could heal me." Ryu thought.
He held his side and he started to around the corner and he saw the pawns guild build, but it was his luck to see April standing outside and she saw him. Then she was shocked to see that he was hurt and she ran to side to heal him.
"Master, what happened to you?" April asked.
Ryu was holding his side and she was able to stopped the bleeding and she started to wrapped some bandage on him.
"I was helping the helpless women that was being harassed by bandits and they started to attack me, but I held my own against them." said Ryu.
April helped him walk inside and she saw that he had gotten the food for them to eat. Aelinore was in a daze when she saw that he had made it to the pawn guild and she was wandering about that scar on his chest. "Mirabelle, I didn't even knew his name for saving us from those bandits and I hope that he is okay." She said as Mirabelle nodded her head in agreement and Aelinore started to draw a picture of him. "Well, we will know his name soon, my lady. For now, you have to worry about that garden not some man." Mirabelle said as she watched her draw herself in his arms and she felt her heart race when she realize that it was love in first sight. "Mirabelle, I think that I have fallen to this man and I know that I am loyalties is to my husband the Duke, but my heart belong to another." She said as Mirabelle was happy that she was acting silly. Then Aelinore was getting tired and she stopped drawing for a moment, but Mirabelle guide her to her bed and she started to fade in and out. Mirabelle started to leave he chamber and she shut the door behind her while Aelinore was looked at the picture of her and Ryu.
"Soon my hero, I will know your name and we will be together just like in the stories of the great Arisen and his beloved." Aelinore thought as she drifted off to sleep and she was about to dream about him.
There you have folks, I have complete the chapter and I hope this pleases you all that Aelinore and Ryu meet each other for first time. I will make a poll to decided how you want the next chapter to be about and I hoipe that you all will vote for what you like. I will get started on the poll right now and don't worry I will have the next chapter ready as soon as possible. Now, if you have question don't hesitate to PM me on my Profile. Naruto11222 is out. Peace.
Please Review :)