(Chapter 13)

"Where in Avo's name is Jake?" Walter asked.

"We don't know. He was with you. Maybe he abandoned the revolution." A villager said.

"No! That is not Jake. He would never abandon something he strongly believed in." Walter said in Jake's defense.

Just then Jake materialized before them.

"Hi!" He said.

"Jake?! Where the hell have you been?!" Walter exclaimed.

"Oh, I...uh...I went to Brightwall for supplies but I ended up doing a quest. I ran out of time to get supplies and just came here." He lied.

"You know you should get supplies. We are not sure if these balverines will attack or not. If they do, we will need what we can get."

"You want me to go back?" He asked.

"Yes. Get plenty of food and water as well. Potions too." He said handing Jake a bag full of gold.

"I got it. Christina gave me two thousand gold as a reward."

"Oh? How are they? Is the little girl doing okay?" He inquired.

"Yes! Better than okay." He had a secret behind his words. He wished he could tell Walter.

'Maybe he will understand if I tell him.' He thought.

"Walter...I need to tell you something. You know the little girl?"

"Yes?"

"What would you think...if I said...I have fallen in love with someone while we were in Brightwall?" Jake hesitated.

"You son of a gun! Who is the lucky girl?" He slapped Jake on the back.

"Well, that's the thing...she is just a girl."

"What do you mean?"

Jake paused for a few seconds.

"She is just a girl. A young girl."

"How young?"

"It is Sharon." He finally said.

"The little girl you rescued? Jake, she is too young!"

"I knew you would say that. Walter, she fell in love with me! I promised her I would be with her, once she is older. Christina told me that it was okay."

"She was okay with you dating her?"

"We aren't dating, yet. I told her I am hers."

"You lover boy!"

"I told her I would come to her once the revolution was a success. In fact," He reached in his coat and pulled out the necklace he had on. "This is proof."

Walter took the charm and studied it hard. It was small writing. He had to squint his eyes to read it.

"I'll be damned. She does love you."

"Also." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Walter.

"'I promised?'"

"Yes. I gave her a paper that said 'I promise' it is to remind her that I am coming back for her. I feel something from her that I hadn't felt from Elise. Yes. I loved her, but I feel like Sharon is my true love. If she is, she is worth waiting for. I told her me waiting for her is nothing compared to her waiting for me."

Walter gave the note back to him and he held it close to his chest.

"I don't expect you to support our relationship...or whatever we have...but I don't need people telling me who to love and who not to love." He put the note back in his pocket.

"Jake, you love who you want to, as long as you are happy."

He smiled at Walter.

"I am Walter. I am."

"So you don't mind now going back to Brightwall for supplies?"

"No. I won't be long. I want to defend against these beasts."

He took the Guild Seal out but as soon as he did they all heard a howling that almost sounded like it was behind them.

"What was that!?" Walter had his pistol drawn. Jake followed suit.

"I don't know. I hope that wasn't a balverine!"

They heard screaming a few feet away. Jake and Walter ran to the source of the scream. They saw a creature with razor sharp claws and a snarling teeth. Its legs were long and its fur bloody from the fresh kill. This was a balverine.

"The village is under attack! Hide the women and children!" Walter shouted. "Gather all men old enough to wield a sword. It is time to kill these bastards!"

Jake started putting bullets in every balverine in shooting range. Walter started handing out swords to the men. Once they all had proper equipment, they joined Jake in killing the creatures. Walter decided to use his sword along with the villagers. He kept his eyes on both the balverines that came from all over and the men that were too nervous to fight. Jake was handling himself with expert aiming. Once he shot and killed twenty balverines his pistol began to morph again. He lifted the weapon in the air almost in relief like a newborn hatchling breaking free of its shell. He noticed the barrel of his pistol had a balverine head on the end of it. He began firing even faster, the bullets were striking true.

'This pistol is awesome!' He felt too excited for his new pistol.

Walter was handling his own as well, hacking and slicing the grotesque beasts.

"How you doing over there, old timer?" Jake called over his shoulder.

"Don't you worry about me. The time hasn't come when I run from a fight!" Walter said enthusiastically

"How many are there of these things?" Jake asked.

"I don't know. They just-"

He was interrupted by a high pitched roar of something in the distance. The balverines they were fighting froze and their leader, an all white balverine jumped down from the trees. He was at least nine feet tall. His body was covered in scars from previous warriors he battered with. Each scar a medal of honor to his brethren.

"This doesn't look good." Walter said.

The balverines all charged toward their prey. The white balverine seemed to target only Jake. He slowly crept to him, teeth and claws ready to sink into his skin. Their numbers were too many. Walter kicked a balverine down to the ground and stabbed his sword into his chest.

"Jake! We need you to use a summon creatures potion!" He called to him.

"Right."

He uncorked the purple potion with his teeth and drank its contents. He made a face at the vile taste. Suddenly, five shadow Hobbes sprung from his feet and began attacking the balverines at will. The vicious creatures were completely confused on who to attack. The villagers took the opportunity to charge after the distracted balverines. Jake drew his sword and joined hacking down the enemies. One by one the balverines fell to the might of the duo.

"There is just the white balverine left! Everyone! To me!" Jake addressed the villagers. They all stood behind him, holding their weapons in a threatening posture. The white balverine was a little imitated as he lost his comrades. He stood back about twenty feet and he seemed to point to Jake, snarling at him. He jumped tall up into the trees and took off under the cover of the treetops.

"We've won!" A man said.

Jake looked around and saw too many young men lying on the ground, their injuries were too gruesome to look at. It's true they won, but at a heavy cost. He thought it would be a good idea to make sure they were all dead. He took his sword and pierced the hearts of the corpses. A few made blood gurgling noises as he did.

'Good thing I did that. We would have a few more balverines to kill.'

Walter walked behind Jake.

"You ready to get out of here once we lay these poor kids to rest?"

Jake was a little shaken up at the sight of the dead. A few looked a little older than he was.

"Yes. Lets give these brave men a proper burial." Jake said somberly. He grabbed one villager that had a necklace around his neck. He pulled it off and read it. It was necklace he must have received from his girlfriend. Her name, Lily, was carved on the charm. It reminded him painfully of his necklace Sharon gave to him. He thought of how she would move on once she found out he was dead. He tried to push it to the back of his mind and continued to drag the man to Walter, who was digging graves for the warriors. He placed the man in the hole once it was deep enough and began to cover it. They did this for six men and the remaining villagers said their peace. Walter and Jake didn't stay long.

"We can mourn them later. We must get to Bowerstone."

"I am ready." Jake said. "Let's go to Bowerstone."