Colors, A Prelude to Death

by Joe JS Smitty

Ch. 10 Another local village is being terrorized, in an attempt for the mage to exemplify their power. Enter the apprentices.

8. Colors: A Prelude to Death, Monsters

Magic: The gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast.

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Colors: A Prelude to Death- Enchanting Dreams

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Three months, three months have passed since Urza left the apprentices out on their own.  For three months, they practiced what little skill Urza had taught them, and most was just learned by book, or accident.  Everyone, although not as strong as a regular mage would be, were quickly becoming very powerful, and skilful in their use of mana.  Everyone was practicing the spells most described by their particular color.  Tay had focused mostly on countering, which she and Jack, who was training in more explosive spells, practiced daily.  Drake concentrated on destruction spells as well, but his focused more on entering the soul of the enemy, and attacking it from there.  Jesse worked mostly on instant spells that increased his strength, defense, and agility.  Also, he seemed to have an uncanny skill in controlling the forest elements, especially vines.  Sarah had not advanced much further than when she started practicing, she was able to heal the others in a mere second, and she also practiced one of a white mages greatest spells, Pacifism.  Now, she wanted to be able to summon a creature, and she tried hard to do so.

Like any other training day for them, it began as usual.  Tay had to force the others to get up and start working; she usually needed help when dealing with Jack.  Drake would go off on his own, to do what, nobody really knew.  Sarah had tried following him, but she always got lost, and eventually had to find her way to Jesse and the others.  This day, however, Drake stayed near them, and Tay and Jack had started an amazing sparring match.

Tay leapt in the air, and tried to drop kick Jack.  He ducked under it, and bounded off behind her.  When he landed on his feet again, he formed two small fireballs and threw them at Tay.  She dodged one, and threw out her hand, countering the other one with Counterspell.  Jack leapt backwards, his feet gliding just an inch off the ground.  Tay cupped her hands and closed her eyes.  At once, psionic energy began to form, and ripple around her body.  She moaned softly, growing louder every second, then she whipped her hands back, and flung them in front of her again.

 "PSIONIC BLAST!" She yelled.  Jack crossed his arms to block it, but the blast was still strong enough to send him backwards on his back.  Tay stumbled backwards, feeling the side-effect of the spell.  Although Psionic Blast is powerful in damage, and less cost efficient, there is a recoil of damage equal that of about half of the damage given to the opponent, best used in the beginning of a fight.  Tay rubbed her head, feeling nauseous, as Jack struggled to rise to his feet.  He stumbled around when he did, before facing Tay again.  He shook it off, and began to form another fireball in front of him.  This one was larger than previous ones, much larger, about the size of a basketball backboard.  Tay gathered up her energy, and prepared for the worst.  He lifted the ball high above his head, and launched it at Tay.  Her eyes squinted as the gigantic ball made its way towards her.  She cupped her hands again, and flung them out in front of her.  This time, it was a large burst of water the shot from her hands.  It hit the ball directly on, stopping it to a halt, although not diminishing it.  Steam began to rise from the middle, as both forces tried to push the other one back.  Tay was growing readily tiresome, and weren't not for a quick burst of adrenaline, her Hydroblast wouldn't have swallowed the fireball.  Jack wasted no time, as he raised his hand in the air.  Dark clouds began to form, as he prepared to unleash his latest spell.  Using his mana to produce charges, he was able to call upon the awesome element of lightning.  Although not very skilled in it, it did provide a quick jab to his opponent.

About twenty yards away, the three other apprentices watched them, most of them.  Drake was leaning against a tree, about half-way between Jesse and Sarah.  Both of whom were sitting Indian style on two large rocks, except Jesse was watching them.  Sarah was in deep meditation.  Drake, his eyes not leaving the battlefield, started talking to Jesse.

 "Your friend's being a little reckless with his powers."

 "Jack's always been like this.  He'll do whatever it takes to win."

Drake smiled evilly, "And yet he's lost to her ten times already."

Jesse didn't say anything, he just continued to watch.

In the battlefield, Jack had finished, and a small bolt of lightning came tearing down from the sky.  Tay dodged it, and dodged yet another one.  Then she looked up at Jack, and smiled.  She felt his energy diminishing fast, and dodging small bolts wasn't a big problem for her.  When the last one hit, she kneeled on one foot, and sprinted towards him.  Her fist connected squarely with his chin, and he went flying backwards.  He lay there for a minute, as Tay was in a finishing position, breathing heavily.  Jack then sat up, holding his jaw and screaming.

 "SHIT!  Did you have to hit me so hard?!  God damn!  I think you broke something!"

 "I win, that makes it eleven to zero." Tay said, exhausted but happy.

 "Oh no!  I still got a little…" And with that his knees gave out on him, and fell on his butt again.

Tay laughed maniacally, and yelled over to Jesse, "Yoo-hoo!  Jessssssseeee!  Write down another one for the ladies!"

Jesse sighed, pulled out a piece of paper, and made a tick mark in it.  On one side, it had girls.  And the other was guys.  So far, there was fifteen tick marks in the girls, only two in the boys.  Drake's doing.

Jack fell on his back, looking up in the sky, "Damn.  I can't believe this.  My God, my body aches.  Hey Sarah!  Can you help me please?"

Nothing happened, everyone looked over at noticed that she was still in meditation.  They just stood there, watching her for several minutes.   She was sitting there, so relaxed, so calm.  All of a sudden, they heard an odd chirping sound.  Out of the sky, flew a bird.  It was about the size of a full-grown robin, except it was an off-white color.  Sarah held out her hands, and the bird landed on it.  It trotted around on her palms for a while, before it chirped again, and Sarah opened her eyes.  It looked up at her, and cocked its head.  She smiled wide, and tears began to form in her eyes, then she held the bird closely.

 "Getting a little worked up over a stupid bird." Drake comments, dully as usual, everyone glared at him, which he just shrugged off.  Sarah uncrossed her legs, and trotted over to Drake, holding out the bird in front of her.

 "Look Drake.  It's my first summon.  Come on, look."

Drake glanced at it, scoffed, and looked away.  The bird flew out of her hands and proceeded to peck him in the head.  He yelped, and began to swing his arms wildly trying to get rid of it, all the while everyone laughing at him.  The bird began to fly off and Drake just glared at it.  He held out his hand at it.  The bird stopped dead in its tracks, and began to squirm, as if something was attacking it from the inside.  But as soon as it started, it stopped, and began to fly around everyone's heads.  Drake just blinked.

 "Wha-WHAT the hell?!"

The bird flew back to Sarah, who caught it in her hands, "It's a sundiver Drake.  I read that it's immune to black spells" She held the bird out to him again, "Come on, just be nice." Drake was not pleased at all, his face scrunched with anger, he smacked Sarah's hand away from him, causing the bird to fly away.  Sarah yelped, and held her hand back.  Drake went storming off into the woods.

 "My God…" Jesse said, "What a jerk."  Everyone except Sarah nodded, who was watching him go off, then she started out after him.  Jesse, shocked at first, tried going out after her, but Tay stopped him.

 "Let's not get separated.  Sarah will lose him, and then come back." But Jesse didn't care about that, he formed a fist and punched the rock next to him, creating faults all along the top.  He relaxed a little bit, in body anyways, and turned to them.

 "So…what's next?" He asked.

Tay tapped her chin, thinking, "Well….since those two are gone now, maybe…."

 "OH!  Mages!  Oh thank goodness!" A voice came out from behind them.  They whipped around and saw a middle-aged man in peasant clothing, looking awfully distraught.  Everyone's eyes were bulged at the sight of another human being, their first in three months aside them.  "Oh please…PLEASE oh powerful mages, you have to help us."

Everyone looked at each other, and Jesse spoke up, "We're not exact…."

 "What do you need my good friend?!" Jack said all too cockily and proudly.  The other two quickly glared at him.

 "Good sirs, we are being attacked by a lawless group of rogues.  We tried to fight them, but their skill is greater than our own.  Plus, they have a kavu as their attack animal, and its tearing up the town, killing all of our people!"

The others tried to talk, but Jack interrupted again, "Fear not my fine friend!  We shall take care of these rouges, and the vile beast that threatens your village!  Now, lead us forward!" He said, with too much anticipation.

 "Oh thank you!  Thank you great wizards!" The man proclaimed, and sprinted off into the woods.  Jack, not noticing the death stares the other two were giving them, asked them, "What's a kavu?"

He felt the sharp pain of two hands smacking the back of his head.  The old man bounded back up, yelling, "Come young masters!  This way!"

In all of their awe and wonder of their actually "first" task as mages, they nearly forgot the fact that, outside them, they saw human life for the first time in months.  But the man was in too much of a panic for them to ask any questions, and they had to concentrate on their upcoming battle, although they weren't concentrating much.  Even they hadn't realized the potency one would have if they were to attack an entire town, knowing well the magics that others would possess.  It was a long run, over half-an-hour, they were several hundred yards away, looking down on it from a large hill.  The man was nearly out of breath, but his determination to save his town kept him going.

 "Quickly…down…here…." He said, about to collapse from exhaustion.  In a typical hero fashion, Jack stood on the hill looking down on the village.  He was about to speak when Tay pushed him down.

 "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" She yelled.  He looked up to see Jesse's foot sprinting past him.  He mumbled something, then got up, brushed himself off, and tried to catch up to them.

Tay and Jesse came to a screeching halt when they entered the village. Jack wasn't far behind.  They all stopped to overlay the mess the man's town was in.  Shattered wood everywhere, bits of broken glass, and the distinct smell of blood was in the air.  They heard the far-off sound of people screaming, mixed with the rumblings of what they perceived as some sort of beast.  They slowly began to walk down the long path in front of them, with houses on each side.  The growling grew louder towards their right, and frankly, they weren't that excited about what it could have been.  They stopped right in the middle of the walkway.

 "Well…" Tay gulped, "Jack you got us into this mess, go and see what it is!"

 "I-I-I nominate Jesse!" He blurted out.

 "I'm not the one who lied to get us into this mess, you go."

 "We-we-we-well…Jesse, you did defeat that one…big creature thing, you know.  Before we came to Dom-dom…this place."

 "Well…that is true." Tay said rather curiously, "And we very well can't trust Jack to finish a job."

 "Yep.  That's right.  Can't trust me at all.  I'm lazy you know."

Jesse, still rather upset from before, finally yelled out, "Fine!  I'll go!"  And he stormed off past a building.

Further past it, Jesse slowed his pace to a more depressive walk.  He still felt the heavy burden that was pressing around his heart.  Sarah, the woman whom he had been in love since the third grade, had fallen for another man.  He remembered, that all her past boyfriends, were just something…he couldn't really explain it.  She no doubt liked them, but Jesse knew that she had no real feelings for them, past that of friends.  Maybe it was the fact that she just wanted everyone to be friends, and this was her way of trying to get everyone closer together.  Even the high school bully, Milfred, whom she had the longest "relationship" with, she felt not much more feelings towards him.  He knew this, because he always seemed to have an, understanding of what her emotions were.  He couldn't explain it, he just, read her mind, almost, if that was the case.  But now, Jesse noticed something different developing within Sarah.  It was a feeling that Jesse had known, long before Sarah had ever felt.  It was the feel of that first heart-skip, the rushing of her blood, the "good" feel of nausea that someone gets when they are near someone.  And that always seemed to be around Drake.  Even now, as he walked slowly down the alleys, even down do the deepest pit of his stomach, did it hurt.  This was the feeling the plagued him every time Sarah seemed to be around Drake, and with being out of eye distance from him, did it only make him sicker.  Meanwhile, up on the roofs, a small figure watched him maliciously.

Jesse finally regained his senses, and snapped into reality.  The noises had stopped, and now, just a quiet wind rushed through the buildings.  Jesse looked around the dark alleyways, for being quite a sunny day, it was curiously dark in this place.  Someone was near him, Jesse could feel the tingling on the back of his neck.  He closed his eyes and sniffed the air.  It was a familiar scent…he sniffed again.  It was faint, but it was there.  The smell of mana.  Where it was, he had no idea.  He just gripped his robe tightly and walked off.  If they tried anything, he would notice the increase of mana, and he'd be able to dodge it.

The small figure, unaware of the ability of Jesse, moved with him along the treetops.

 "He's moving," Jesse thought.

The figure bolted across the rooftop, nearly missing, but had no time to steady itself as it lunged forward at Jesse.

 "THERE!" He yelled, turning to face the figure.  With one hand he caught it in the air and threw it on the ground, on its back.  It laid there stunned.  Jesse watched carefully as the figure, darkened by the shadows, sprung up at his face again.  It slashed at his face with wicked speed, but not much else.  He grabbed it by the back of the shirt and slammed it against the wall.  He reached back and focused his mana.  Thorns immediately began to crawl towards him, forming a cup-like object around his hand.  As he threw his hand towards the object, as the distance closed, Jesse noticed that this "thing," was none other than a small, human girl.  His eyes bolted open, as the thorns missed the girl's face by an inch.  The girl, breathless from her fight, looked terrified between the fist of thorns to her left, and Jesse's face, also terrified, in front of her.  He jerked his hand from the wall, leaving a gaping crater in the side of it, as he fell to his knees, the thorns dying away from his hand.

 "K-Kid…what…are you doing?" He said, breathless.  The girl ran over and kicked him in the stomach.

 "You jerk!  I'm not going to let you touch mommy or daddy!" And she tried to kick him again.  Jesse, a little shocked, blocked the kick, sending the girl to the ground.  She held back her tears of pain as she rubbed her foot.

 "You kick pretty hard for a little girl." Jesse said, SOMEWHAT sympathetic, he leaned over to her, "Here let me…."

With a quick speed the girl pulled what looked like a knife and swiped it at Jesse.  "Stay away from me!  You're not going to feed me to that thing!"

 "Th-thing…what thing?" He asked confusedly.

 "Don't lie!  I know you're one of the mages who's attacking us!  Don't lie!"

 "M-mages…." Jesse thought about this, then it hit him, "Ohhh, you think I'm one of the bad guys, huh?" She nodded, although sourly, Jesse breathed a sigh of relief, "Whoo, thank goodness, for a minute, I thought YOU were one of the bad guys.  Huh, silly me."

 "What are you talking about you dummy?!  You attacked us!"

 "Actually I'm here to help this town, although I can't guarantee anything."

 "YOU LIE!"

 "No really!" He said, trying to convince her.  She wasn't going to change her mind unless he showed her some proof, "Uh…um…oh!  I got it, how about if you come with me, and I'll show you my friends.. now, if you'll just…" She scooted backwards, glaring at him.  Jesse sighed, and pointed his finger towards her.  As she pondered what he was doing, a small vine snuck up behind her, and grabbed the knife away from her.  She struggled to get it back, but the pain in her leg slowed her down.  Jesse took the knife by both hands.

 "I hate to do this but…" He snaps the blade in two, "I can't have you lying here helpless like this, I don't know what we're up against."

Jesse noticed the little girl blush a little, before her face reverted back to the frowned version, "Fine, but I still don't believe you."  Jesse bent down and picked her up, hoisting her onto his shoulders.

 "Now I'm trusting that you don't have anymore of those knives so you don't stab me in the neck." Jesse said, jokingly.  The girl was not amused.  Jesse began to walk back to the main road, rolling his eyes along the way.

Meanwhile….

 "You think Jesse stopped that thing?" Tay asked, rather nervously.

 "Either that or he gave it bad indigestion." Jack replied, Tay glared at him.

 "Would you stop with those pessimistic remarks?!  You're starting to worry me even!"

 "But it's true, I remember when me and him were kids, we got in a big fight and I bit him.  God awfullest taste too, I was sick for days." He never noticed Tay picking up a large piece of wood before he felt it hard on the back of the head.  And that time, Jesse and the little girl came out of the alleyway.  Tay was relieved to see him.

 "Oh, Jesse!  Did you find anything?  Hey…" She noticed the little girl, "Who's the kid?"

 "Uh, I uh….I dunno." He answered, "What is your name?"

The girl glared at him, and turned away from him.

Jack, recovering from the blow, adds, "Well it doesn't really matter right now, first we gotta find…."
"JACK, LOOK OUT!" Jesse yelled all of a sudden.  Jack stood there, as a sharp blur flew passed the side of his face, nicking his ear.  There was silence for a moment, as jack stood there, bleeding.  He slowly turned around.

Behind them, about fifty yards away, were four people.  One of them was a man with dark brown hair, really spiky.  He wore a loose, cloth around his chest, with a large armguard covering his shoulders down to his elbow.  There was two big, burly looking guys, both of them carrying massive swords, and covered from head to toe with armor, well everything except their heads.  And leaning on one knee, there was a woman.  Her face was pale, but her hair was that of a raven.  She was extremely thin too, and her face wasn't all that much of a sight either.  In her hands, however, was a large bow about three feet long, and an arrow was being pulled back.  It seemed to be aimed at Jack again, and she released it.  Before anyone knew what hit them, the arrow zoomed past them again, this time, creating a long slash across Jack's neck.  He stood there, petrified for awhile, before he rubbed the gash, and looked at the blood on his hands.  By this time, he was done being scared.

 "So," he called to them, "I'm assuming you're the people responsible for this." He motioned his arms around the destroyed town.  The tall man with the armguard looked around, quite content with himself, smiled and called back.

 "So what of it?"

 "No reason," Tay said, creating a fist, "Just that we're the insurance company, and we're here to make sure you're covered."

Another sinister smile, "So what if we aren't?"

 "Then we're going to have to take you in." Jack replied, his lifted up his arm and shot a fireball straight at them.  The man just watched it, as it collided with an invisible force, bouncing off to the side, exploding.  Jack was rather surprised.

 "You are too much of a nuisance for me, I'm not going to waste my time on you." With that, he lifted his hand in the air, and snapped his fingers.  All was quiet for a while, the other four listening for anything out of the ordinary.  Then it started to come.  It was a large rumbling, the entire ground was shaking, and it was coming to their right!  They quickly turned their heads, and the house next to them shattered in a spray of wood and rock.  The creature stood large, nearly twelve feet tall.  Two large tusks protruded from its mouth, lined by a row of teeth half as large as them.  Its hide resembled that of sedimentary rock…really HARD sedimentary rock.  It let loose a tremendous roar, lifting its entire front body in the air, and its feet came crashing down, shaking the ground underneath them.

 "THAT'S A KAVU?!" Tay, Jesse and Jack yelled.  The creature roared again as it looked towards its master.  He nodded at Jesse and the others, the kavu roared yet again, but this time, its foot came crashing down right in the middle of them.  All four of them, just looked at the kavu's foot in horror, then they ran.

 "JES…SE!" Jack yelled, "GROW…INTO…SOMETHING!"

 "I WISH I COULD JACK!  BUT I DON'T REMEMBER HOW!"

 "WHAT?!"

 "I SUGGEST WE STOP THE DAMN BICKERING AND START A RUNNIN'!" Tay screamed at them.  For once, everyone agreed on something.  As they ran, the kavu began to run too, roaring a deafening roar.  The four were actually bouncing off the ground with each step the kavu took, it was so close.

Jesse, still carrying the little girl, began to think, "Uh, okay how did it go?" A deafening roar overcame them, disrupting Jesse's train of thought, "Now uh, lesse, it was uh…uh…oh come on."  The kavu lowered its head to ground and opened its mouth.  "Green mana, green mana, escaping spells uh uh...THAT'S IT!" He ran a little faster, next to Tay, and handed her the little girl, "HERE!  DON'T LET GO OF HER!" He yelled.  With that, he screeched to a hault.  With no hesitation, his eyes glowed a mysterious green color, and he raised his hands in hands in the air.  Almost immediately, a thick layer of trees burst from the ground. 

The kavu, although mighty it was in its own way, slammed head first into this wall of tree, nearly rendering it unconscious.  As it shrugged off the blow, he looked at the trees, and let out a loud roar of anger, and began to thrash at them with his mighty claws.  Several trees, ones that he rammed head first, fell in one swipe.  There was still many others, most were not weakened by the blow.  As the kavu mercilessly thrashed the trees, and finally burst from the other side, it noticed the prey had escaped into the woods.  It let out another roar of anger, as Jesse and the others trudged up the large hill overlooking the town.

 "WHY CAN'T YOU GO BACK THERE?!" The little girl screamed at the three.

Jack, breathing heavily, looked up at the girl menacingly, "One reason kid, we ain't strong enough to take on a monster like that."

Tears started to form in the little girl's eye, "I DON'T CARE!  MY MOMMY AND DADDY ARE STILL BACK THERE, AND YOU PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN SAVE THEM!"

Jack looked away from her, mumbling, "You're parents still alive?  I doubt it."

However, that wasn't low enough to not be heard, and the girl held back her tears as she picked up a large rock and flung it at Jack's head.  He didn't even bother to look at her as his hand reached up and grabbed the rock inches from his head.

Tay was looking at the ground despondently, "We would have a chance if Drake were here."

Jesse heard this, and his blood began to boil.  What he said next was part out of jealously, and part of actual courage, "We don't NEED Drake!" He yelled, his voice echoing in the hills.  This startled the little girl, but only received glares from the other two, "We can at least destroy ONE monster by ourselves, can't we?!  Besides, if we don't act quickly, that town will be destroyed, they'll leave, and they'll destroy another town!"

 "Birds are one thing Jesse," Jack said, "But we are dealing with one hell of a creature, who is undoubtedly being backed by some form of enchantments." Tay's eyes then widened.

 "Waitaminute…." Her voice trailed off.  Her hand began to rub the area around her mouth.  "There were no enchantments on that thing, but…." The others looked at her curiously, as her eyes shifted from the ground to them, "It did have an item on it…an…."

Jesse's eyes widened, "An artifact.  I remember it too.  There was a slight pulsing I could feel from the creature, that wasn't of its own.  I'm not sure of what it was, but there was definitely another energy source that was there."

 "Come to think of it, I do remember something off about the creature's head when I looked at it." Jack said curiously.

 "Then it's settled!" Jesse said rather sure of himself, "We'll get rid of the monster by destroying whatever's backing it up…."

 "That still leaves the problem of the raiders." Tay said rather despondently.  "If they can summon a creature of that immense proportion, there is no doubt that they have some other hidden tricks up their sleeves."

 "We'll think of that when we finish off the kavu!" Jesse yelled, more assuring than before.  Before anyone could stop him, he flung his back to them, his robes swaying from the force, and he began to trudge down the hill back to the town.

Tay's eyes were once again wide with shock, "That's something I was expecting from you Jack."

Jack, also gaping with shock, rested as his face curved to a devilish gin, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." He turned his head to Tay, smiling wickedly, "So, you coming?"

Tay began to rub the bridge of her nose, "Acting without any sort of strategy whatsoever.  That is so typical of you." She sighed, and began to follow Jesse down the hill.

The little girl began to run after them, before Jack's hand slammed down on her shoulder.

 "Where do you think you're going?"

The girl, who was no more than seven or eight, gave him a most evil glare, as if to say "Back off." Jack didn't flinch, nor did he give it back.  Instead, he had his eyebrow cocked in a confused manner.  He sighed, grabbed the girl's face and shoved her behind him, "Don't get in our way and you won't get hurt." And with that, he followed Tay and Jesse, the girl following him.

The day was almost to an end, although it had ended completely for the kavu…almost.  As it slept, Jesse took note that the creature not only looked completely harmless asleep, it also resembled that of a dog as it curls up to tuck in for the night.  He heard a snap of a twig, and whipped around to find Jack, Tay, and the girl come out from some underbrush.  He felt the fear inside of him settle down a bit.

 "Glad you guys came." He said happily.

 "Ah, we can't leave ya behind." Jack said, peering at the kavu, "Besides, Sarah would kill me if we did."

 "Amen to that." Tay assured, Jesse, however, wasn't.  He shot a glare behind them, and noticed the girl, keeping her gaping eyes on the kavu.  His brow furrowed in disappointment.

 "Couldn't keep her to stay there?"

 "The little pipsqueak has a nasty kick." Jack and Tay said at the same time.  Jesse almost smiled, then turned his attention to the kavu.  His eyes squinted, trying to get a good look at its forehead.

 "I still can't see the artifact."

 "It's too far away, we need to get in closer."

 "If we get in too close, its masters might sense our mana."

Everyone let out a "Hmmm...," then looked at the little girl.  Although more afraid, she was actually excited.

Slowly, the girl crept on her hands and knees, closer and closer to the sleeping kavu.  It's  breath was deep and heavy, as if it was the first time it had slept in a long time.  Beads of sweat ran down the girls head, neck, and back.  Her hand came down a small twig, ans it snapped louder than it should have.  At least that's what the girl thought.  She froze in her tracks, as the kavu grunted, but never move.  She looked up, and she saw a tiny object in the middle of the kavu's forehead.  She took a few more baby steps, until she was able to make it out.  She had seen the thing before, but never it a position like this.  It was supposed to be worn around the human head, one bar running from slightly below the forehead, to the top of the head, and one more bar running from ear to ear.  This, however, was stretched further than what she thought it was supposed to.  Slightly below the exact center, where the two bars crossed, rested a shining jewel.  The girl, too frightened to sigh, completing her task, slowly rose from her position, her hands shaking, as she slowly tried to turn around.  It was at that time, the wind started to pick up.  A gust blew from behind the girl's back, upwind of the kavu's resting place.  It took a deep breath of the wind…and its large eyes shot open at the smell of human stink.  Its eyes focused center, as they came upon the little girl, whose mouth was gaping open with fright as tears began to sell in her eyes.  From behind her she heard the loud whisperings of the others telling her to run for cover.  But she could barely move, how could she run?  She started backing up slowly, and the kavu rose to its feet, in slow pursuit of her.  Her eyes became wider, as did her mouth, until she slipped on a moss-covered rock.  She rolled over to her stomach, a little winded, and stared up at the kavu as it began to rear up and opened its gaping mouth.  She closed her eyes and her heart almost stopped.

There was a loud crack, as if someone slammed rock and rock.  She whipped her head around and saw Jesse in a finishing position of an uppercut, the kavu's head recoiling from the blow as it fell to its side.  Jesse wasted no time as he sprang back from his punch and with all his strength grabbed the two protruding tusks from its bottom jaw.

 "Get her out of here!" He yelled.  Even as strong as he was with mana, the kavu was stronger, as sprang to it's feet, Jesse still holding on to the tusks.  The kavu roared, and Jesse tried desperately not to get flung into its mouth, for that matter, not to get anywhere near its mouth.  But the violent swinging of the kavu's head caused his hands to slip from the slippery teeth, and his back was pressed hard into a tree.  By this time, Tay had already reached the girl, as she held out a hand to help her up.  But the kavu was quick, as it raised it head, and sent it crashing down on the two.  Tay recognized this, and threw out her arm, glowing blue.  The kavu smashed its head into the transparent shield.  Although strong enough to knock the kavu back, it wasn't strong to the point of holding out.  Tay's mind folded in, as the force to her mind sent her flying backwards, rendering her unconscious.

The kavu reared back on its hind legs once again, as it readied a third charge.  But this time, it was stopped as a large fireball exploded in it's chest.  It didn't throw it on its back, but did push it.  Jack had already hoisted Tay onto his shoulder, and grabbed the girl by her clothes, and was almost dragging her backwards.  The kavu landed on its feet, stared at Jack running away with the girls.  It squinted its eyes and reared again, roaring.

 "The middle!" The little girl yelled.  Jack looked down at the girl confused, "The item!  The…artifact!  It's in the center of its forhead!" Jack came to a screeching halt, right next to Jesse as he gained his senses.  Jack looked between Jesse, and the raging monster.  It was almost a matter of time before it picked it up their scent, and they had to act quick.

 "Jesse!" Jack yelled, "Do you trust me?!"

 "What?!  Of course I do!"

 "Then I need some vines!  Grip one end, and have the other wrap around the tree!"

 "Wait a minute Jack!  I trust you as a friend!  Not as a strategist!"

 "Now's not the time Jess!  Just do it!"

Jesse looked at his worriedly, then  raised his hands, almost immediately, green vines began to wrap down from the top of the tree in a snake-like manner, and shot out to Jesse's palm.  He wrapped it around his wrist once, twice, three times.  He pulled hard, and had an idea of what Jack was doing.
"This is crazy!" He yelled, pulling harder.  Jack wasn't listening as he was searching the ground for something.  He found a rock buried under the earth, and he dug it out.  It was that large, but it was large enough.  He looked at the kavu, and his eyes met its.  He then looked back to Jesse.

 "Get ready!" He yelled.  Jesse gave one last tug, as he heard the monster roar.  This was Jack's cue, as he ran towards the vines.  At the last second, he turned his back into them as Jesse let his arm reach back to give Jack more recoil.  With all his strength, Jesse flung Jack, using the vines, at the kavu.

The kavu heard him before it saw him.  Jack was yelling loudly, as the rock in his hands began to get hotter and hotter, cradled in his chest.  Within feet of the kavu, Jack flung his arm with the rock out at the kavu.

 "SMASH!"

The rock collided head on with the artifact.  The rock shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, but so did the artifact.  The impact against the artifact gave Jack enough force to bounce off its head, and back-flipped several yards behind the kavu, landing in a most corny finishing stance.  He smiled to himself, and turned around at his fallen foe.  Too bad it wasn't down.

The kavu staggered around for a while, almost as if it were drunk.  After a minute of dizziness, the kavu stood still for a moment.  But it was a different still then before.  It wasn't threatening at all, but more at peace with itself.  It looked around, its monstrous body shifting with it.  It sniffed the air, and stared down at Jesse.  He was in a fighting stance, sweat running down his brow, the remains of torn vines dangling from his hands.  The kavu grunted, and walked off to his right, either not caring, or not seeing him as a harm.  As it walked away into the wilderness, Jack could only be befuddled.

 "Wah…gah…bu…." Were the only words from his mouth.  He looked over to Jesse, the exact same confused look on his face.  He shrugged, and they both turned to watch the last of the thundering footsteps disappear.  Jack's confusion quickly turned into pure giddiness, as he leapt up in the air yelling wildly.  Even Jesse was relieved and proud of himself for "defeating" an opponent, if you can call it that.  But neither of them cared, especially Jack, who quickly latched his arms around Jesse's neck.  At that time, Jesse was also overcome with happiness, as he laughed and yelled with Jack.

The little girl looked at them strangely.  Perhaps, the strongest enemy was out of the enemy, but there were still more.  Aside from that, with all that fighting and strength they put behind those blows, she was even more surprised at how they could even move like that.  Perhaps these mages weren't any ordinary mages.  They were young, stronger than most mages were at their age, and yet with the way they act, it seemed hardly believable that they had spent their entire lives studying magic and mana.

Tay had finally regained consciousness, but was still weak from that attack.  She was used to physical blows, but that attack hurt her mind, being as her shield was part of mind's creations, and she wasn't used to blows to her mental state.

 "Hey guys…" she said weakly.  The two slowed down to a mild chuckle as they looked  at her, smiling wide.  She looked back at them, sharing their happiness, sharing their feelings.  She smiled back, were it not for perpetual weakness, almost the same happiness as them.  She slowly stood to her feet, nearly falling over doing so.

 "I'm glad…you guys are alright…." She said softly, Jack and Jesse's grin grew wider.  "But…don't forget guys, we still…."

She never finished as Jack wrapped his arms around her.  It wasn't affectionate or anything, it was almost the exact type of hug he gave Jesse, a best bud hug.  Or perhaps, that was what he wanted her to believe.

 "WOOH!" He yelled, swinging her wildly, knowing full well of her stability.  "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT TAY?!  WE ACTUALLY DID IT!  Alibi we didn't necessarily FINISH it off, and you weren't that much of a help neither, BUT STILL WE WON!"  He stopped swinging her around and just pulled her closer to him, still laughing like a complete idiot.  But for a brief second, Tay wasn't angry, ecstatic, nor grievous.  Instead, a small smile came across her lips, and her face blushed a deep red.  She was about to hug him back, when her instincts took over, and she shoved him away in a panic.

 "You idiot!" She yelled, "We still got four lunatics to deal with, and who knows how powerful they are!  And you two are going on like you've already won!" Jack just chuckled, and her face became a little les red than before.

 "You're so uptight Tay." He said calmly, "Although perhaps a small victory in one of our many soon-to-be accomplishments, it still a victory nonetheless, we should be privileged to celebrate such an early victory."

 "But…but….  Jesse!  You can't possibly feel the same way!"

Jesse smiled and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry Tay, but I have to take Jack on this one.  We still have to fight in about five minutes here, but still, we should have a small premature celebration."  Tay sighed and looked at the ground.  She was silent for a moment, before her shoulders started to vibrate with laughter.  She stood straight up, and pointed to the center of town.

 "Well…what are we waiting for?!  Let's go!" She didn't take a step before her temporary frailty made her collapse onto the ground.  Jack helped her to her knees, as he patted her back.

 "It appears not."

Jesse smiled and nodded, then looked over to the little girl.

 "So, are you going to tell me your name?"

 "Wh-why?  Why do you want to know?"

Jesse shrugged, "Curiosity.  I hate calling people names other than their own."

The girl looked at the ground and blushed, "Well…i…it's…my name…my name is….."

 "Never mind." Jesse said, waving her off.  "Just take care of Tay here, we shouldn't be long."

There was an explosion further away from them.  Far enough for them to get away from Tay and the girl, but close enough so that they were still in danger.

 "Better get goin'." Jack said, cracking his knuckles.

Jesse sighed, his happiness turning to impatience, "Do we really have to fight again?  Geez…." And with that, both him and Jack headed off into the center of town.

***********

End Chapter 8