Late to the Party: Wrath of Xan
There are eighty floorboards on the floor and fifty on the slanted ceiling. I think it's Saturday and everyone's left town but I'm not sure. I haven't left the room since I came charging in here. I think it was nearing evening and I could hear the crickets start to chirp even though I was on the second floor. Those buggers are loud. Not only that, but it was extremely hot and weird bumping noises were coming from the roof.
I was supposed to leave yesterday morning but no luck. I feel terrible. There's a stone in my stomach and my limbs refuse to move. All I can do is loaf in bed, hugging the package that my family sent me in the dark. The only glow came from the bones. They gleamed beautifully in the inky blackness.
"Just like how it used to be while you were alive."
I'm surprised though. No one's come to check on me since I hid myself in here. I remember seeing Serenity's and Twilly's bewilderment as I rushed by them. I wonder if they saw what was in the box. I wonder if Twilly already knew.
When I jumped into the room and locked the door… I probably just fell into bed but I don't remember. I don't remember dreaming either but I don't want to sleep anymore. It was making me feel even worse.
I wonder what conclusions they've leapt to. Maybe they think I'm a necromancer or maybe even a demon. That's not far from the truth actually but it'll still be awful. Both John and Justine said that I was naïve and told me that it would be better if I lived a lie with normal people rather than tell the truth. Justine and John hardly agree on anything but they both decided to tell me this when I was still in school.
Burying myself in these bed sheets cut off from everyone else sure makes me feel glad that I took their advice.
"Lies aren't as healthy as the truth but they still satisfy don't they? Like the additives in chocolate. It isn't real and it's not good for you but it's still sweet and makes me come back for more! Who needs the real thing anyway?"
Zelia told me that. I wonder if she's already changed her name.
But I'm not sad or disappointed. I'm fine! I'm just still feeling the effects from that stupid episode. Probably.
Just thinking about all of this crap was making me depressed. The heat wasn't helping either. Since yesterday, it's intensified and it's almost unbearable.
Looking for a distraction, I reach into the package and pull out one of my books. Flitting through the pages, I briefly scan through all of the drawings and writing that I had put into this particular one. Comprehensive descriptions of various plants, animals and environments along with detailed drawings were displayed on each page. All of them came from a world much like this one. I even colored some of them. I remember meticulously drawing every scale on each reptilian beast and detailing every component of an ent's cell structure.
I learned how to do all of this from my older sister Justine. When I first showed interest in the bestiary in the library at home and started to ask what kind of monsters my older siblings fought, they thought that it would be a good idea to start me early before I started to rip apart the frogs in the pond outside to see how they ticked. Justine started to teach me about biology and put the other subjects on the side. It was a good move. I couldn't do math without getting irrationally angry, languages made me break tables and history was only fun if Zelia was teaching me. Her fieldtrips were fun; especially that one trip to the country with the yellow banners. What was the name of that kingdom again? Eh, I'll figure it out later.
Anyway, I kept learning more and more as we traveled around and eventually I started writing the books. It was hard though; took me six years to get good at it and it was only that fast because it turned into the only thing I concentrated on besides combat and some magic. Even then, we travel around a lot and the rules and fundamentals change all of the time but it's never boring. Especially when I try teaching my siblings.
"K, so Waddle Doos are an advanced version of a Waddle Dee that also reside in Dream Land. They're more spherical in shape and have one large protruding eye in the middle of their head. Their main form of defense is an angled beam of energy that they fire from their huge eyeball."
"…Who the hell named them Waddle Doos?"
"…Is that really the only question?"
I didn't have time to record much since we moved around a lot but then John heard about some new city that was going to get built under the se-
"Hurry! Hurry!" Someone yells from downstairs. "Serenity, are you there?" I think it's Robina and she sounds frantic. I could hear heavy footsteps and someone else shouting in pain.
"Did they bring someone injured here?" I groan out loud, throat feeling dry from not talking for so long. Gingerly, I roll over and try to sit up. I feel all of my joints crack and pop and my head feels light and spots were invading my vision.
The ruckus from downstairs was getting louder and I could hear them bump and struggle their way up the stairs. They continued to scuffle down the hall and towards the room at the end of it.
"I'm sorry Serenity. There's no room left in the tower and there are too many wounded."
Too many wounded? They can't actually be losing…it's only been a day or two.
Curiosity piqued, I decide that maybe it's a good idea to get up and find out what's going on. I place my book back into the box, careful not to shift the bones too much, and lift my legs over the edge of the bed. I clench my teeth as I stand up; everything is sore and aching. Stretching makes it worse and I'm caught by surprise when I check the bed. There was a large indent in the mattress…Am I gaining weight or something? I've been a lot more active lately so what the crap?
Deciding on ignoring it for the time being, I take one small step towards the door and slowly put my weight on my foot. Immediately, my knee buckles and I almost crash down on the floor.
"What's happening to me?" I ask out loud, trembling as I stumble to the wall for support. There's no way that just a day of sleeping makes you this sore. Even when I use the wall to lean on, every step stings as I move towards the door.
Once I got to the door, I grab a hold of the doorknob and realize that I hadn't locked it. Why did no one come into the room? Were they too preoccupied with the war?
A shriek of pain coming from the other room stops that train of thought or to be more descriptive, it flipped the train over a cliff. The shriek wasn't just was piercing; it was horrifying and drawn out like someone was having their eye ripped out of its socket excruciatingly slowly. My stomach churns at the ugly thought but I turn the knob anyway. The metal was warm on my fingers and when I came out into the hall, the outside light made me wince. It was empty but not for long if Robina was right. More of the injured were going to come here and maybe I should vacate as soon as possible.
Another weird bumping sound came from the roof again and this time I feel the building shake. It prompts me to hurry and limp down the hall still using the walls as support. As I approach the room, I try stepping lighter to keep myself from being heard. The room had suddenly gone quiet and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know why.
The door was opened a crack inwards into the room. When I peer in to see what was happening, the sight of Robina, Serenity and a guardian standing over another guardian who was injured greets me. It's not pretty. He's covered in singe marks and some parts were partially melted. Unfortunately, some were melded into his skin. Robina didn't look too good either; there were angry burns on her skin and a bandage was wrapped around her shoulder. Blood was seeping through it.
"The potion will knock him out for a while. In that time, I can get someone to help treat him but…We have to be careful with how much healing items we use. We're running low and Reens can't make more until the runners come back with the reagents from the west." Robina sighs, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "They're a lot easier to find in Surewood but we can't get there right now."
"Why? What's happened?" Serenity asks. "I haven't been able to go outside for a while."
"Ma'am, have you seen the most eastern part of town?" The guardian asks in return. I had to lean in through the door a bit more to get a better look at him. He was also covered in singe markings and wore bandages all over his head. "The enemy managed to push us back into town and destroy some of the building before we pushed them out again. We're on the brink."
I stifle a gasp to keep myself from being caught. How can all of this happen in just two days? Is Xan really that powerful?
"Oh no, Grams and Aria live there. Are they okay?" My back was against the door and the comment almost makes me fall into the room.
"We evacuated everyone there and moved them but I'm sorry to say that some of the places that burned down included their home and the pet shop. I saw Grams helping with treating the wounded at the tower with Twilly and the other healers but-" He explains as I shift my footing. It causes one of the floorboards to creak and the guardian turns to face the door. Startled, I try to make a run for it down the hall but the pain in my legs makes me trip and drop on the ground.
"Ty! Is that you?" Serenity exclaims, fully opening the door and rushing to my side. When she throws her arms around me, I have no idea what to say. "You're awake! I was so worried" Her words were muffled against my neck. Both Robina and the guardian move towards us. The guardian looks at me in mild confusion and Robina looks furious.
"I-I'm sorry. Did I worry you?" I ask shakily, hugging Serenity back.
"Yes, you jerk!" Robina scolds, walking over and whacking the back of my head. "You ran off, barged into the inn and hid yourself in a room without a word."
"We left you alone for a while thinking that maybe Ash upset you but after about a day we came to check. No matter what we did, you didn't wake up." Serenity hugs me tighter before moving back.
"You didn't need to be that worried. I guess I'm a heavier sleeper than I thought," I say, embarrassed.
"I'll say! You were asleep for a week!" Robina hauls me up and hugs me too. I'm left speechless.
"What do you mean a week? I was only lying in bed for one!" I stumble back from her. "There's no way I would…" I trail off. I was lying around in a windowless room so how much time actually did pass? I can't say I was thinking much about the time but…this doesn't happen. This never happens.
"When Ash and I came to check on you, we found you lying on the ground," Serenity informs me gently, laying her hand on my arm. "We moved you to the bed and you didn't move or react to us at all. We had no idea what was wrong and then the war started and things became terrible very fast." Another noise comes from the roof, punctuating her statement.
"We should have been more prepared. There are way more of those monsters than we expected. We starting rationing supplies a few days ago and the healers are always busy."
"You weren't the only one sleeping either," The guardian says to me from the bedside of the wounded man. "Tanisha's still out," he says, pointing out the other bed in the room. I didn't notice but there were more beds at both sides of the room. One had Tanisha tucked under its covers. She seems to be sleeping peacefully but if it's like how the others were when I...did that to them, she's probably going to be there for a while.
"We thought it was some sort disease at first but no one else fell asleep. Good thing too. I don't think it's possible for us to fare any worse."
"Is it really that bad? It's been only a week. What happened while I was sleeping?"
"The day after you fell asleep, everyone went out of town to face the enemy. Within two days, we were pushed back," Robina sighs. "We're barely keeping them out of town but there is some good news though. Reinforcements from King Alteon are coming in a few days so we might not have to fall back to Oaklore."
"I see…Are Ash and everyone else helping out too?" Robina nods at my question and answers my next before I say it out loud.
"Everyone's fine and they've been checking you regularly. Ash was just in this morning before he went out with a group into the front lines. Not that the front line's that far off." She says staring out the window. "Brave kid; refused to stay back no matter what I said."
I'm glad they're okay but if they've been checking on me and since I woke up with my box still opened…Maybe I should just run now before anyone asks.
"Ty?" Serenity says, seeing the shift in my expression. "Are you feeling okay? You were asleep for a long time." Why aren't they mentioning anything about the bones? Is this some attempt at lulling me into a sense of calm? Who's to say that they didn't keep me asleep like the injured guardian.
Before I could even make a move to run away, we all hear someone barge in from downstairs. Robina and the guardian share a concerned look before rushing out of the room and downstairs. Serenity follows after them and I'm left alone in the room. Shouting comes from downstairs and I was debating whether or not to join them or take my things and jump out the window. Then something catches my ear.
"Where's Ash?" Someone, Robina maybe, shouts from below. I was on the stairs so fast that I didn't even realize that I was supposed to still be in pain. As I reach the ground floor, I'm struck by how burned and torn up the group of people coming through the door were. Humans shouldn't even be able to stay alive with the injuries that they had. One was leaning on his friend; he had an injury on his forearm that let me see a part of his charred bone. It was like his flesh had been ripped apart by fangs and burned at the same time. His was the worst but the others were close.
Serenity and the guardian were trying to heal them right on the spot but there was no way these guys were going back out.
"We decided that maybe if we blasted into their ranks with a big magical explosion, we could disrupt them and cause confusion among the enemy but it wasn't big enough and got in too deep." A mage winces, explaining the situation absently as he pants on the ground holding a wound on his stomach with his torn up hands.
"Guys? Where's Ash?" One of them gasps. "Did we leave the kid behind? We have to go back!"
"I told him that he shouldn't go in so far but he's been acting so out of it lately," Robina grits her teeth in frustration.
"Ash is alone out there?" I breathe out. Thinking back to the Bassault and looking at what the monsters out there did to these people made my knees shake. Ash is out there and he's alone. I was already heading back to my room when Serenity calls out to me.
"Ty! You can't go!" She says as she catches up to me. "You just woke up from a coma or something like that. You can't go to the battlefield so soon!" I enter the dark room and grab my bag from the top of the bedstand. Serenity stops herself from entering the room. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Someone will go look for him." She says from the doorway.
"Not during war times they won't. Everyone sounds busy as it is" I say, taking my armor out from my bag. All of my armor this time; I promised Eric and Father I would even if I hated it. "And this is Ash we're talking about, there's no way he can take whatever's out there by himself. Looking at those guys downstairs…" I trail off, readjusting my gauntlet. "I can't stand the thought of him out there alone and injured like that." Or dead. Looking over to the box on the bed, I try to decide what to do with it. I could take it with me in my bag but I'm afraid that my things will fall out; the bones were fragile and Justine told me to never let the books come to any harm whatsoever. I pick it up and stare at the contents, thinking about where I should hide it.
"You don't need to worry," Robina says from the doorway and I subconsciously hold the box tighter to me. I didn't notice her come up. "Serenity can keep it safe for you if you really are going." Serenity looks at Robina then at me before she concedes to let me go.
"I'll keep it safe…that is if you trust me with it," Serenity offers, carefully stepping towards me. I mull over it for a moment, searching Serenity's expression. Her eyes were hopeful and sincere.
Still tense, I decide to place the box on the bed and take a few steps back. Serenity took my actions as a sign to come in and take the box. She moves to the bed and picks up the box without wincing once at the box.
"It'll be safe with me, I promise. So you have to promise that you'll come back for it," She smiles at me and I nod firmly before I leave the room and pass Robina.
"Sorry." Robina says, making me stop. "I was there when we found you on the ground. One of your books fell out of your box and it was lying open on the ground along with some other things. The picture looked really nice so I couldn't help but read it. I only read that one page so I didn't invade your privacy that much," She laughs a little. "Ash saw it too. He read a bit after he put your things back in the box. Don't worry he was careful." She pauses to gauge my reaction.
"Maybe when you bring him back and things start to settle around here, we could ask you for permission to read some more. What's in the box is your business after all." Robina continues, looking me in the eyes. She was trying to be subtle, I'll give her that.
"I'll think about it…" I say shakily even though I feel immensely relieved. "Say, which page did you guys read?"
"It was the one about Hydrus the Leviathan. It was subtitled something but I forgot what it was."
"Draco Marinus," I reply, more relaxed. "A Colossus." The sides of Robina's mouth pull up into a half smile.
"Go on now. I'll be right behind you if I can get my damn shoulder healed that is," she scowls, rubbing her bandaged wound.
There was nothing more needed to be said. I ran down the stairs, armor clanking with each step. I pass the guardian and the wounded burst out of the front doors with sword in hand.
What was waiting outside was unbearable heat and fireballs raining down on Falconreach. That explains the bumps coming from the roof. Smoke was billowing from the west and nothing else mattered but getting there and finding Ash.
…
"Hey you!" A warrior yells at me as I pass him by. "What are you doing?" He shouts as I slash my way into the hoard of fire monsters. The crowds of them were getting denser and denser as I weave my way through them.
The others were keeping them at bay practically just outside of town with mages and archers firing ice balls and arrows at them from afar. The warriors face the monsters that managed to get past the barrage of projectiles. They were trying desperately to keep them back long enough for the reinforcements to come.
The monsters were surging down the road from Surewood and That-a-way. The monsters ranged from the standard elementals and slimes to flaming flamingos and furies. There were even fiery demonic bats creating smoke lines in the sky. They had scorched the road that they had used to come here and many of the trees were aflame. I hack and slash at them, disintegrating elementals and cutting down the furies frantically looking for any signs of Ash as I keep moving through them. Breathing in the smoky air was not doing well for me.
The group of adventurers had said that they went too deep and lost Ash around that time…probably. It occurred to me that I had no idea where to look exactly and that finding Ash in this mess was going to take a lot of luck.
"Konnan! We have to go back!" The shout startles me and I search for the source. It was Ash and for some reason Konnan was out here too. I could hear them shouting but all I could see was a sea of fire…and feathers and fur.
"I can't let you stay here!" Ash yells and I finally catch sight of a tuff of chestnut hair through the monsters. As I push my way through them, I can see him pulling at Konnan's arm, trying to drag him back to Falconreach but the opposite was happening and Ash was getting dragged. For some reason all of the monsters were moving right past them making a point to dodge Konnan as they pass by.
"I can't. I need to find him!" Konnan shouts back over the noise of the battle. "I need to go! I need to get him to sto-"
At that moment, Ash loses his grip on Konnan and slips on to the dry grass. It takes half a second for Konnan to look back to see if he was okay and another half for the monsters to jump for Ash.
A huge fiery eyed bat lunges for him but a knife flies right through its skull.
My knife to be specific.
"Stay away from them!" I shout as I cut down an elemental about to jump on Ash. It dissipates into thin air in front of Ash's dumbfounded eyes.
"Ty! You're awake!" Ash exclaims with a mixture of excitement and relief.
"I fall asleep just for a few days and this is what happens?" I joke, pulling him up on his feet. "But you," I turn to Konnan who was standing by just gaping at us. "I can understand why Ash is this far out here but where do you think you're going?"
"That…that's none of your business!" Konnan snaps back after a second of hesitation.
"None of my business? Well I…it doesn't matter right now. Whatever it is, it can wait till after you're both out of mortal danger!"
"Ty, watch out!" Ash warns me and he pulls me down to dodge a stray fireball that we both watch fly right past Konnan's head. He flinches away from it but I swear that fire ball went off course a little bit.
I didn't have much time to think about it though. More monsters were attacking us and even if most of them were ignoring us in favor of moving towards Falconreach, the ones that attacked were tiring me out already. Ash wasn't faring any better.
"We aren't going to last long!" I grimace, hitting away a glob of lava. "C'mon Konnan. We're going to get overrun if we don't start heading back!" Konnan wasn't listening; he kept trying to move up the river of fire that flowed down to Falconreach.
"Hey! Are you listening? Get back here you idiot!" I yell, trying to reach out to him. Then a familiar face shows up in my peripheral vision and I think I threw up my mouth a bit.
"Is that…?" Ash stammers, pointing up at the towering Bassault.
"You mean there are bigger ones?" I could feel my eye twitching involuntarily as I stare at the thing that was rising up from the ground. "No arguing Konnan; we're going back whether you want to or not!" Moving towards Konnan, I aim for the back of his neck and prepare to knock him out. Ash, seeing what I was about to do, moves towards me to help me carry the soon to be unconscious Konnan.
A furious roar pierces the air and I swear loudly. The Bassault had seen us was about to launch a shot of lava at us. With a grunt, I grab both Ash and Konnan by the collar and push them down to the ground.
It took about a second and even then I wasn't fast enough. The Bassault shoots through the mass of monsters and the battlefield explodes in an enormous blast of flame. I managed to push the two down in time and the shot only singes their backs slightly.
I was hit directly of course.
Intense heat hits me and I'm blasted into the air. My world was spinning and it ended with me crashing into a group of monsters. The impact kills most of them and incapacitates me. I think I made a smoking crater but I couldn't really tell through the pain inducing haze.
More shouting brings me back to the present. Come on Ty; get up! They're being attacked!
It takes a lot of effort to sit up and somehow I manage it and my fingers were still wrapped around the hilt of my sword. It was some sort of small miracle that I had hung on to it.
There was a clear blackened path back to Konnan and Ash that the Bassault's attack had made. That same Bassault had smashed its fist into the ground aiming for Ash but missed him barely thanks to Konnan pushing him away.
I make a mad dash towards them, preparing to jump the monster to distract it or something. I'll think of something when I get there.
A bat dives for me but a quick upward slash slices its wing clean off and I keep moving. I was on a roll, leaping over lava globs and cutting through fire elementals that get in my way.
One of the furies flew into my path and shot some of its feathers at me. Deflecting the projectiles with a twirl of my sword, I spring into the bird and stab it through.
That was a big mistake.
A whole group of them rush me from all directions. The Fury was limp on my sword and I fling it off into a bunch of them to try to make a path out but more just keep coming. I don't understand how all of them are attacking me and only one Bassault was attacking the others.
I slash wildly, fending off my attackers but they just keep surging in. I could hear Ash and Konnan shouting my name and really they should be focusing on their own huge ass problem and I'm rambling in my own head.
A Lava Glob of all things was the thing that knocks me down on my back, slamming a molten fist into my stomach. I'm down and now they were all closing in on me. Now on my back, I fight to keep them off and struggle to keep my view of the sky that was, despite all the fiery destruction on the ground, still blue.
It was intensely hot and it was getting harder to breathe and fight to stand up. The heat was definitely going to my head cause I can see a black dot in the sky and it was getting bigger and bigger. Am I starting to black out?
As the dot was getting larger, I start to see that there was something weird about it. It had weird lines protruding from it; eight to be exact. What the-
Eight huge spindly legs slam onto the ground, creating a miniature quake and causing the monsters to scatter. Stunned, I lie still on the scorched ground trying to make sense of what was standing above me.
It's a gigantic spider. A gigantic spider the size of a cottage fell from the sky and saved me. Now it's probably going to eat me.
"Hey sleepy head!" A young girlish voice yells. Oh god, it can talk and it sounds like a hell spawn. "Hey, are you going to pass out for a week again?" It asks.
"Spu-spu-SPIDER!" I shout and point at it.
"Duh, obviously," The girlish voice says. A little red headed girl peers down from atop it and wrinkles her nose. "Hey lazy, are you going to get up or what?"
"You! I know you!" I exclaim, sitting up. "You're Aria; the little brat who doesn't watch where she's going. What's a little girl even doing in a battlefield?"
"I just saved your sorry butt and you're lecturing me?" She raises an eyebrow. "And I should be asking you the same thing!"
"I am not a child!" A loud blast stops me from continuing to argue and I look over to see that the Bassault had missed Ash and Konnan again. Both of them look tired; they probably won't be able to keep dodging much longer and there's no way they can turn and run. This thing was faster than the last one.
"Ugh, it doesn't matter," I pick myself up and leap up to grab the femur, spiders do have femurs by the way, and swing myself up onto its abdomen to kneel next to Aria. "This lady yours?"
"Yes, her name is Thomas. Caught and raised her myself," Aria proclaims proudly, puffing out her chest. "She and I were stomping around having a great time until we saw you guys. It looked like you needed help."
"Heh, saved by a little girl," I sigh and place a hand on her shoulder. "How about you do the same for the boys. I need you to get Thomas to leap on to and knock that freak down," I motion over to the berserk Bassault.
"You want Thomas to fight that thing?" She asks, incredulous. "Sorry, no way. Thomas can jump and smash small fry pretty well but I'm not letting her get into a fight with that!" I shake my head and continue to explain.
"Once you do that, jump away and get Ash and Konnan on to Thomas. I'll kill that thing and we can head back." Aria nods and crawls up to Thomas' head and taps her lightly.
"C'mon, Thomas! Let's go!" She shouts, pointing over to the Bassault. "Hang on tight, sleeping beauty!" She shouts back to me a spit second before launch into the sky. I latch on to Thomas and feel my stomach twist as we fly through the air. Boy, could Thomas jump. I could see the entire path from up here. It was a long flaming river that lead to Falconreach and I couldn't see where the river began.
I had about three seconds to take in the view before we start to plummet to the ground. I was too engrossed in Aria's expression of utter glee to scream as we fall.
The impact of Thomas' legs crushing the Bassault creates another crater in the ground and sends Ash and Konnan flying back a few meters.
Thomas bends her legs to leap again, making the Bassault sink into the ground even more. The Bassault roars angrily but the force of Thomas falling on it keeps it from getting up. Just before Thomas jumps, I hop down to land on the back of the huge fallen Bassault.
Thomas leaps again but this time lands next to the two discombobulated boys.
"Get on the spider, guys." I shout over to them as I prepare my sword. I remember holding the severed head of the Bassault that I defeated when I was…you know. Maybe if I do the same here, it'll kill the beast immediately. "Off with your head you annoying jerk!" I grab one of the Bassault's horns, pulling the head back and hack at its neck twice before it's lopped off.
The head falls and rolls to a stop on the dirt and instantly, the rest of the body goes limp and I punch the air in triumph. I turn back and wave to the small party on Thomas. Aria waves back and Ash's face is lit up by admiration. It made my heart swell. Konnan on the other hand looks like he's about to make a run for it. I was about to shout at them to keep Konnan from running off but then I heard a strange buzzing noise and the temperature shot up.
My face falls and I turn to the Bassault's stump of a neck. Something glowing yellow and extremely hot was oozing out of it. The grey outer shell of the Bassault's body was flaking off and revealing a glowing and pulsing center. The corpse was beginning to shake and it was heating up fast.
"Is it going to blow?" My eyes widen and I'm frozen; the thing was about to explode.
"You aren't cool enough to go out in a blazing glory," Aria says and I feel two pairs of hands on my shoulders and suddenly we're flying through the air again.
"Hang on!" Konnan grimaces, gripping my shoulder tighter. Ash was doing the same and I grab on to both of their arms. The body of the Bassault was fast becoming a speck on the ground.
A twinkle flickers from the corpse for a single moment and then a flash goes off. The body explodes, sending out an advancing wall of pure energy that engulfs everything its path. The shockwave it emits propels us away even faster and we brace ourselves for impact. As we begin to descend, the fire begins to die out, leaving a big empty space.
I didn't blink at all throughout the whole thing.
"That was close," Aria exhales. "That was way too close to Falconreach!" When the comment reaches my ears, I notice that the monsters on the ground were scattering, confused and startled by the explosion. The adventurers had taken advantage of that and surge out of Falconreach to regain land.
"Look, they have a welcoming party for us!"
"Why are they pointing their arrows at us?"
…...
"So you're telling me that a bunch of newbie kids and a blacksmith apprentice made more progress on their own in a few hours than what almost all of the adventurers and guardians in Falconreach did in a week?" Eli asks, arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground as he addresses a group of strategists and leaders of various adventuring parties.
"We were just lucky," I mumble, standing beside Eli, Robina and Ash. We were also lucky that the archers heard us screaming before they decided to fire. I'm also lucky that no one was scolding me for my rash actions yet. Aria was dragged off by Grams by the ear and Konnan was probably getting an ear full by that guy with the beard, Yulgar. Konnan wouldn't say why he ran out so suddenly and it looks like he won't get the chance to try again. I hope he isn't too angry.
"But now we just got a chance to turn this battle to our favor. We can't let this slip through our fingers. Now get out there and beat them back," Eli orders, dismissing them and they all run off to their stations.
"You aren't off the hook you know," Eli turns to me and I wince at his words. Crappers, here it comes. "If you had offed that Bassault closer to town, we would have been wiped out too."
"Sorry, I had no idea it was going to do that. It was different from the last one," I explain myself.
"It was probably a good thing that she set it off," Robina cuts in. "I think this Bassault was made to come closer to or into town. If we had slayed it here rather have it explode farther away in the middle of the battlefield, we would have been finished."
"So that monster was a walking trap?" Ash asks.
"It's a good strategy. We were all fighting them off just outside of Falconreach. Having that monster come up would've been a disaster but it seems that Xan's trap blew up in his face," Eli agrees. "Thank you for your help and I'm glad you have returned to full health," Eli says to me. "I thought you said you couldn't fight like you did with the last Bassault."
"Well, I wasn't armored last time and Aria and Thomas were the ones that did most of the work. But it looks like Aria won't be allowed out to fight let alone out of her own house for a while."
"Who's Thomas?"
"The spider," I answer. "And without Aria, she won't be fighting either."
"Thomas is a girl? Ehem, I mean…it's too bad we won't have Thomas helping us but I'm not one to force people to let their kids run around in a war. I usually don't let kids fight period…no offense." Eli coughs.
"What do you mean no offense?" I demand but Robina places a hand on the top of my head to stop me.
"We should get back to work," Robina says, ruffling my hair. "This time, we should be on the lookout for more surprises. Word just came in that King Alteon's forces are ahead of schedule and they'll be here in about two days."
"And then I have to high tail it out of here," Robina mutters.
"Yes, I'm going back to the front lines. Take time to recuperate and get back out there as soon as you're ready." He nods to us and walks off. I was about to ask Ash and Robina where we were supposed to go when Ash suddenly grabs my arm and let's go just as suddenly.
"Sorry, I just…wanted to know if you were really okay," He stammers. "I mean, you were in asleep for so long and when you saved us, you got hit directly by that attack," He looks guilty when he says it.
"I'm pretty okay actually. I thought the attack was going to knock me down and keep me there but I think the armor saved my life," I explain, looking down at the shining white metal. What a color to pick for me. "The defense stats and metal must be pretty high. I could probably get one commissioned for you if you like," I say, getting off topic. "As for the whole sleeping for a week thing…I have no idea what happened. I felt terrible when I first woke up but now it's gone. I feel fine all around. It's weird."
"Are you sure?" He asks again. "Well yeah, you just said so but do you think it was because I…I just…um sorry," He finally gets out, ears flushed red. "Maybe if I wasn't acting like-"
"It's okay," I say, throwing my arms around him in a tight hug. "I overreact a lot if you haven't noticed. But everything's fine that is…if you're okay with sticking around me." I say, pulling back. He's beet red now but the edges of his mouth pull up into a relieved smile and he nods happily.
"Sorry to interrupt but I have something for you," Robina says, pulling out an envelope. My name was handwritten on the back in a flourish of loops and decorated with hearts. "The packaging of it is interesting. Is it something that you use for letters back where you come from?"
"…Yup, this is an envelope. We usually put letters in here to send them out but they also come in bigger sizes too." I say as I examine the envelope. It has an enchanted seal and the handwriting was unmistakable. "Who did you get this from?" I ask, wording myself carefully.
"It fell out of the sky and on to my head."
"Ah, must have teleported it magically then," I say, discreetly placing my thumb on the seal. I feel heat emanating from it as it melts. Ripping the envelope open, I take out the lace print letter.
Hey, sis. Hope you're having a nice time. Soon it's going to be the bestest time cause guess who is going to be rooming with you. Gosh, it's going to be so fun even with the totally bland medieval dungeons and dragons setting again. Haha. I would've come sooner but sneaking around John and actually tracking down this weird out of the way world is hard! I'd have an easier time fucking a dinosaur. Teehee. Anyway, in two days' time, it's going to get crazy.
"Great…" I deadpan, stuffing the letter into my pocket. "My sister Zelia is coming to visit in about two days." This is just perfect, not that I dislike Zelia but…I'm not sure I want her to fight in a war.
"Two days? It's not safe for her! Isn't there a way to contact her to ask her to wait?" Ash asks, flustered.
"Even if there was a way to reply, there's no way she'd miss a war. Especially since I'm involved," I look over to the evening sky rolling in. "Ash, you've met Eric and Father. What do you think about them? Be honest."
"Well, your dad looks cool and laid back," Ash answers, hesitant. "Eric's cool too but…I don't think he likes me that much." He confesses.
"I bet he wouldn't," I say, reaching a hand out to pinch his cheek. He reacts with a small "ow" but doesn't move to resist me. "You're a really sweet kid and you're more adorable than a kitten playfully head booping the muzzle of a corgi-husky while sitting on a bed of flowers and metroids."
"That's a bit too sweet…What's a metroid?"
"Believe me; they are adorable," I assure him, putting my hand down. "But the thing is, that's not Eric's type. He's into the wild type or delinquent type. People who like to think of themselves as tough. He adores messing with them. He's also into the badass beauties like Robina."
"Really now," Robina smirks.
"Truth's standing right here," I smile mischievously. "Now Zelia is a different fish. She doesn't mind Eric's taste but she's into people like you," I poke Ash's forehead playfully. "Combine that and the fact that everybody in my family likes to showboat, she'd be itching to get into the fight to show off to you," I say, remembering back to a time when she would jump from rooftop to rooftop setting off explosions to attract fights. Great times I tell ya.
"So she's a go-getter," Robina muses. "What does she look like?"
"I don't know," I answer reflexively. "I mean…she changes her style and clothes so much that I have no idea what she'll look like next." Like a dinosaur maybe. "Though it would help if you didn't mention anything about her appearance when you see her. It's a touchy subject. Just a warning." I shrug, starting to walk towards the guardian tower. "How about we head to the tower? I want to see how everyone else is doing before I go back to fight." I say, changing the subject.
"Sure," Ash says. "But…you told us about what your siblings' preferences are…so…what about you," He asks, voice gradually getting quieter as he looks at a spot on the ground.
"Me?" I ask, looking back to him. Robina smiles knowingly and I think of the answer that would fluster him the most. "Eric's and Zelia's preferences are quite different but I swing both of their ways," I wink at him before walking off feeling like a million gold. The look on his face was at least worth that much.
…
Two days came by and went. Confidence was building in the ranks as more enemy waves were taken down.
When I visited the tower for the first time after waking up, I walked into a hall filled to the brim with the injured. A chorus of moans or pain came from every corner of the tower. It was intensely hot and humid inside which was unbearable and it probably wasn't good for healing injuries. Reens was there tending to them and jumped at me when I came by.
"Are you a bear or something?" She asked. "Cause if you are, you sure picked the right time to go hibernate."
Grams came by too. She was still dragging Aria around to keep an eye on her and she told me she was glad that I was okay. Aria pouted the whole time.
Then some bald guy with a mustache and a pair of scissors came up to me and started to cut off bits of my hair.
"…What are you-"
"It not be good to keep burnt bits in your hair, lass."
"Just go with it," Robina said.
"…Okay."
After that meeting, I stuffed a piece of bread into my face and continued on. Everyone was worried that I wasn't eating enough but I felt fine. It's strange; a whole week of literally doing nothing but breathing hadn't done any damage to me.
I checked how the portal was doing after that. The dimensional disturbance was dying down but using it was still out of the question. I was sure the egg would be fine and that Lady Celestia was taking care of herself just fine so I went back out to the battlefield. Everything's been going well up to now but we shouldn't speak so soon.
"Keep up the good work guys!" Eli yells as he bats a fury into the ground. "Don't save any for Alteon's slowpokes." He jokes and laughter washes across the adventurers close by. We've been advancing at a steady rate and the declining amount of attacking monsters let everyone recover. As the sun was going down, I could feel that we were on the verge of victory.
"What's taking them so long?" I ask, stomping on a fallen bat as I watch from afar as Ash slash at and miss a fury. "They're taking their time aren't they?" I feel a tiny rush of air hits my neck and I barely have time to side step an arrow.
"I'm sure there's a reason he's not here," Robina says, aiming another arrow at the Fury that was terrorizing Ash.
"If you say so but that was sorta close, Robina," I smile, deftly knocking down a fire elemental. I was getting better at this warrior stuff.
"Eh, I knew you would dodge it," She shrugs, letting the arrow fly. "Believe me, they'll be here," She continues, lowering her bow. "But when they do, I'm going to hide for a while. Stealing from the rich still gets me on the wanted lists of the authorities, even if I give the gold to the poor or furry forest creatures or…" She trails off, jaw dropping. She was suddenly pale and her eyes were widened in panic, staring up at the space above me.
"What's gotten in to you? Is it something behind me?" I ask nervously, full expecting something terrible to be standing behind me. I swivel around slowly but what I saw was probably worse than a huge monster.
A miniature mushroom cloud was rising over the horizon, just barely outside of the west end of Falconreach.
"D-do you think?" Robina sprints past me without a word, running back in the direction of Falconreach. "Wait just a second!" I yell after her. "Not you too," I groan, looking around the battlefield for someone; anyone really.
"Where's Robina going," Ash asks as he walks up behind me, making me jump.
"Ash!" I grab his shoulders and turn him to face me. "By any chance, did you check to see if the portal was working this morning?"
"Yeah but it's still busted why do you ask?" He says, stumbling over his words.
"Go find Eli. Start yelling or something. Tell everyone that we're being attacked from the back!"
I drop his shoulders and rush off, chasing Robina's back. By the time I reached the middle of Falconreach, I hear a loud explosion go off back at the front lines but I couldn't go back. I already lost sight of Robina and there was no one to defend the west end.
I don't falter and keep going as fast as I can, hearing echoing maniacal laughter as I move along.
Author Notes: Again this took way too long. I also had to split this into two chapters cause it was getting too long again. The next one will be shorter but it'll be out faster? Notice the question mark as I cry at my own incompetence.
Anyway, here are some notes while I'm still sane.
Thomas the spider is a tiny bit different in this story. Okay, a lot different and I hope no one has a problem with that.
I tried to make an action scene. I tried and it was rewritten a lot. A LOT.
I left a bunch of obvious and not very obvious references to where Ty had been before she came to Lore. They're in most of the chapters and give some clues to her background. How many can you pick out?
So, on to the reviewer replies:
Kaiban: I'm sorry that nothing much happened last chapter. Nothing much happened this chapter either. But I'm really glad that you're okay with multiple OCs. I'm always freaking out about it but as long as they're interesting and fun (in non-horrifying ways sometimes), it'll be alright I suppose.
Jessica: I'm glad that you like my story and I will try my very best to write more even if I'm slower than dial-up internet. *hysterical crying*
Arieta41: You mean chapter 2? You liked the humor? My stabs at making humor are okay? Thank the high whatever may be up there, I don't make sucky jokes! Well, I try hard. I really do. Freaking birds are chirping outside again. Can't they see that writing and 3 in the morning makes my writing funny?
Next chapter will be up when I pull myself together (at least the cold's gone).
Oh and quick question. Am I drawing out the story too much? I feel like I am but imput would be nice.
So I hope you liked the chapter and review if you like. I'm going to go crush my face into my pillow now.