A familiar and a new face.
Some time had passed since Galen's not to friendly meeting with Ivy and he was back on his journey again. He was heading towards the place Nightmare was last sighted, hoping he could pick up a trail that would lead him to the demon. As he walked he had his hood up and made sure to be on his guard in case Ivy finds him again, or anyone else who shares her desire to wipe out everything and anyone even remotely connected to Soul Edge. Galen sighed, he never wanted any of this, but like always destiny keeps forcing these things on him.
He reached a river and decided to get a drink and refill his water bottle. When he was done, he could sense others were nearby. He put a hand on his sword while glancing around. He felt the person was behind him and quickly pulled his sword, only to have it blocked by a staff. Galen ended up trading a few strikes with the person before both threw a kick that sent the other back.
Galen looked up, ready to continue until he got wide eyes when he noticed who it was "Kilik?".
Said staff warrior got wide eyes too "Galen?".
Galen removed his hood to show it was indeed him. They stood in silence for a moment before both smiled and shared a friendly handshake.
"Got to say, nice to see an familiar face out here. It's an welcoming break from the rough time" Galen said with a smile.
"Same here! It's really good to see you again Galen" Kilik said with a smile of his own.
"Kilik! What's going on?" Came an female voice.
Galen looked and saw a young woman with brown hair and a rather colorful outfit. She looked pretty cute and friendly. Though the fencing sword she was carrying showed she was no helpless girl.
Kilik smiled "Galen, meet my companion, Xianghua. Xianghua, this is Galen".
Galen gave a small bow "Pleasure to meet you, Xianghua".
Xianghua gave a small bow of her own "Likewise, Galen".
"So Galen, what are you doing out here?" Kilik asked.
"I am tracking Soul Edge. And the one who holds it, Nightmare" Galen answered.
When he said that, both Kilik and Xianghua shared surprised looks before Kilik spoke up "That's an interesting coincidence. So are we".
Galen narrowed his eyes "Well, that makes things easier".
"Do you know where he is?" Xianghua asked.
"No... but I think I know how to find him" Galen said as he took out something from his pocket and held it up.
Kilik got wide eyes "Is that?".
Galen nods "A shard from Soul Edge. Been using it to help me track Nightmare. But I have to be careful, even this tiny shard is full of his poisonous power and could trigger something bad if I use it to much. A thin line between being myself or something else".
"You are taking a big risk even holding that thing" Xianghua said.
"I know, but it's all we have to track Nightmare. Without it, finding him could take more time than we have" Galen said.
Kilik sighed "Very well, I guess I will trust you on this. For now. Will you allow us to travel with you?".
Galen nods "Could use the help since Nightmare and his minions are not the only threat out here. People that hunts those touched by Nightmare's evil are sure to attack us. Already ran in to one of them, and she was dead set on killing me, even though I was not under Nightmare's control".
"We'll be on our guard. Any idea where to start?" Kilik asked.
"Yes. I know where he was last seen. If we check it out, maybe we can find a trail to follow" Galen answered.
Kilik motions for him to get going "Lead the way".
Galen began to walk as Xianghua whispers to Kilik "You sure we can trust him?".
"I met him before, he is not evil. And we don't have much of a choice, we need to find Nightmare as quickly as possible. And right now Galen is our best chance of doing this" Kilik answered.
"If you say so" Xianghua said as they finally follows Galen.
They finally reached an area where they saw several torn trees, cracks in the ground... and they could still smell some blood in the air.
"No doubt about it. There was a battle here... and a really brutal one" Kilik said.
"I can sense traces of Nightmare's power... he was here" Galen said as he felt the remains of an evil aura.
"How do you sense these things?" Xianghua asked.
"I will explain when I can... maybe when we set up camp" Galen said as he walked in to the middle of the area "We got a trail. Now we just need to know where it leads".
Galen took out the shard. He took a deep breath before he began to focus. Kilik and Xianghua watched as red aura began to surround Galen. Xianghua grabbed her sword just in case, but Kilik put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.
The aura vanished and Galen began breathing hard, like he had been trying to wrestle a bear. Kilik walked up to him "You ok?".
"That was very painful. But I know which direction Nightmare headed. He went North" Galen said as he put the shard away.
"Then that's where we're heading too" Kilik declared.
With that, they continued on their journey.
Meanwhile, Tira had just killed several people for her master. A woman tried to crawl away as Tira walked towards her "Please no... I have kids!".
Tira smiled as she stroke the woman's cheek "Don't worry, I will be sure to give them your regards".
"No! Please! PLEA-" The woman could not finish as Tira kissed her... and after a few moments the woman's body went motionless as she died from the kiss.
Tira stood up with a smile "Not a bad kiss. But I prefer the lips of that handsome young man" She looked at the sky "I want to find him so bad! If a kiss was enough to make me this crazy for him, just imagine what the rest of him could do!".
Tira giggled as she fantasized about all the things she would do to Galen the moment she has him at her mercy. She licked her lips and made her mind up. Next time she finds Galen, she would go all the way. Next time she would claim what she wanted. She was shaking in excitement from the mere thoughts of the fun they would have, it was getting very hard to wait.
"I will find you! And when I do, you will be mine!" Tira said as she let out an insane laugh.
Back with the gang, they had set up camp and was resting for the night. Galen however did not sleep well as he could feel the evil power, tempting him to give in and turn in to that beast that killed all those lizard men. Galen woke up early and groans from the rough night. He got up and walked away from Kilik and Xianghua to gather his thoughts.
When he was alone he began thinking about everything... but mostly he was thinking of Cassandra and... his unborn child... he hoped they were doing well... though they had Sophitia looking out for them so he was not to worried. Still he was concerned since he could not shake the fear of that Nightmare would send more of his slaves after them. And while Sophitia is more than able to defend herself in a fight, Cassandra was practically defenseless since she could not risk exerting herself while being pregnant.
Galen sighs, this would be so much easier if he could just contact her and make sure she is ok. Sometimes he really missed the technology from his old life, where he could just turn on a hologram and speak to someone directly. But all he could do now was to hope that Cassandra would be ok long enough for him to make it back... and make sure he stays alive long enough to see his child be born.
"Galen" The voice of Kilik snapped him out of his thoughts "Something bothering you?".
"Just thinking about my home" Galen said with a small sigh.
Kilik nods in understanding "Something waiting for you back home? Or maybe someone? A woman?".
"Yes... she is pregnant with my child" Galen answered.
"Oh! Well then you better make it home. I have a feeling she would not forgive you if you missed the birth" Kilik said with a smile.
"She would never forgive that. But time is not really the problem since she's not that far along yet... the problem is to survive long enough to make it home" Galen said as he looked at his blade "I forged my blade to kill Nightmare. But there is not guarantee that I will be able to do that... and even if I pull it of, I might end up dying anyway".
Kilik put a hand on his shoulder "You will make it. Me and Xianghua will make sure of that. We the three of us together, I am sure we can defeat Nightmare".
Galen smiled a little at that "Thank you Kilik. I needed that".
"We are friends now, Galen. And friends helps each other out" Kilik said with a smile.
"Yeah... Kilik, I need to ask you for a favor" Galen said.
"And that is?" Kilik asked.
"Fight me" Galen said.
Kilik blinked "Excuse me?".
"I want you to fight me" Galen repeated.
"Why?" Kilik asked.
"I am fully aware of what this shard can do to me... I need to test your skills first hand, so I can be sure you will be able to stop me, should I ever turn to the darkness" Galen answered, meaning every word.
Kilik thought it over before nodding and stepped back, spinning his staff in his hand "Very well. I will show you that you can count on me".
"Thank you" Galen said as he took out his sword and got ready.
Galen and Kilik swing their weapons at each other, but both fighters block every strike. Soon, Galen backflips into the air and propels himself past Kilik. As he flies past him, Galen finally lands a hit, so he uses this tactic three more times. However, on the third time, Kilik swings his staff to block and strikes at Galen. Right before the strike connects, Galen dodged and performed a backflip. As he begins to turn upright in the air, Kilik swings at him again, but Galen blocks with his katana and lands on his feet.
Kilik moves in close and attempts to punch Galen in the face, but he ducks just before it connects. As soon as he is back on her feet, Galen slashes at Kilik again, but once again, his attacks are blocked. Then, he swings his katana at Kilik, but he hooks the blade with his staff, trapping it. As Galen tries to pull it free, he leaves an opening for Kilik to hit him in the side. As Galen is recovering, Kilik swings his staff upward, striking Galen in the chin hard enough to cause him to lean back. While Galen straightens his posture, Kilik spins around, and slams his staff into the side of his face, causing Galen to turn around 180 degrees. He stumbles and turns around to strike back, only to be hit once again and knocked to the ground.
Without missing a beat, Galen quickly jumped back to his feet and ran back and began performing several swift strikes. He was still weakened form the curse, but he was still fast enough to perform several speed strikes. However, despite with the rapid rate of strikes, Kilik manages to deflect them all, forcing Galen to change up his offence. Suddenly, Galen jumps back before dashing back into the fight and hits Kilik hard enough to knock him backward onto his back.
Kilik spun around on his hand before leaping back on to his feet. Still ready to continue.
Xianghua was watching from the sidelines. She heard the reason for this fight. Galen was aware of the danger inside that shard, so he wanted Kilik to stop him, should it ever be needed... Xianghua did not trust him at first since she didn't know him... but now she had a feeling Galen could be trusted.
She hoped she was right on that.
Back with Cassandra, she stood at her window, while praying to the gods. Praying that Galen would be safe and that he would come back to her and help raise their child.
"You've been praying for over an hour now Cassandra" Sophitia said as she walked up behind her "You need to rest".
"Sorry sis... hard to relax as long as Galen is out there, hunting a demon" Cassandra said in a sad tone.
Sophitia hugs her sister from behind "He will be back Cassandra. I know it".
Cassandra sighs "You're right. He made me a promise after all".
Sophitia kissed Cassandra on the cheek "Come on. Let's get you back to bed".
When Cassandra laid down on the bed, she finally noticed how tired she was. She could feel herself relaxing at her sister's gentle treatment as she rubbed Cassandra's cheek and kissed her forehead. There was one last thing going through Cassandra's head before she drifted of to sleep...
'Galen... please be safe'.
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