Chapter 3 - A New Beginning
We walked for hours across endless fields, and the pain that I had been previously experiencing had oddly come to rest over quite a short period of time. I felt almost good, despite the level of my predicament, and with Karon walking briskly alongside me I felt safer than ever. But a few things still stabbed at the back of my mind. Who was this girl for a start? And why in God's name was I trusting someone who only three hours ago was ready to slice me open? I put it down to loneliness at first. After all, I had nowhere else to run, and considering the fact that I had no idea where I was it seemed perfectly natural to walk alongside someone who knew the surrounding area well.
We had been walked around 8 miles when Karon turned to me. I was taken off guard slightly for she had been completely silent the whole way since we had met earlier, especially when she thought she heard the sound of approaching footsteps coming towards us both. However, all these threats so far had been false. She started to speak to me as we walked.
"We should be pretty safe now, we're in our territory. I was worried for a while there."
I was now intrigued by what she was saying. Her voice commanded respect, odd in such a young child. Now that I could see her clearly I was amazed to find that she was 12 at the eldest. And yet she was able to take me out in a split second. I'm not professing to be some sort of great fighter or anything, but this kind of skill held me fascinated in a way that I had never felt before.
"May I ask you something?" I replied. She turned to me and nodded lightly.
"Who exactly are you? I mean, why are you out here in the first place? I've never seen anyone like you before."
Karon face had the look of amazement on it.
"Are you seriously telling me that you've never heard of Kilbane? Or Kefka?"
"Never in my life. as I said, I have no idea where I am."
"Wow. well, you're not from around here, that's for damn sure. You couldn't live in this country and not know what's going on. Any ideas how you got here?"
I sighed slowly, and looked back over my shoulder. That was when I spotted them. Soldiers, around 10 or 11 of them were pursuing us at full speed, sprinting towards us. I yelled at Karon and she turned and growled something under her breath. Then she turned right around to me and I saw the look on her face. It was one of pure hatred and anger, and then I realised that I was in the middle of a full-scale conflict.
"Rylian, those are Kefka's men."
"Who the hell is this guy?!" I screamed at Karon, but she didn't pay attention to my cries. Instead in an amazing display of speed she thrust her staff into the air, and instantly massive bolts of blue electricity started to shine and pulsate around the body of the young girl. I was absolutely astounded. What was going on here?
Karon closed her eyes and let the energy flow through her body. and I can describe this for I now know the feeling of this. The power she was displaying was immense for a girl of her age. Suddenly, she pushed her hands into the air as far up as she could, and the discharge flew into the sky so quickly I could hardly follow it with my naked eyes. Then it exploded in mid-air, and the blast knocked me to the ground. Karon stood with her hands over her face as the power from the blast engulfed us both.
When I rose to my feet I looked at myself all over, and found myself to be unharmed, which was quite a relief. Karon was also fine, standing with her staff in hand. and the soldiers were also unaffected by the blast. I sprinted over to Karon frantically.
"Karon, why aren't they dead? That was amazing what you did now!"
She glanced over her shoulder at me, checking to see if I was injured, and then her eyes focused once again on the task at hand.
"I wasn't aiming for them in the first place."
"Why not?!" I screamed but Karon kept her composure in a way that was new and exciting to me. This whole world was exciting to me, but it wasn't a good kind of excitement. it was the kind that tore you away from where you belonged. The only reason it was exciting was because it was new. Karon now had her focus on the oncoming enemy, and she spoke to me fiercely without turning herself around to face me.
"Listen up Rylian! That was a signal to my village Jamala. My people should only be half a mile away at the most, they'll be here in a minute or two. In the meantime we're gonna have to hold these guys off! Understand?!"
I would have expected my response to such an idea to be one of sheer terror, or that I would have ran for the hills. But I didn't. I think the reason for this was the sheer confidence of my fellow companion. Karon made me feel as if we had a good chance against the dozen or so warriors who were now but feet away from us. I whipped out my dagger and held it sturdily in my clenched palm. Then I prepared myself for the onslaught that was about to occur.
*****************************************
I ever got the chance to launch myself into battle, for at that moment seven young soldiers appeared before our very eyes. I nearly fell back with amazement at what had just happened, for these people had materialised from nothing except the air that was all around us. The soldiers that had been previously running towards us both stopped dead in their tracks, and I thought for a split second that they were going to run for it. However, they stood firm against our group and I knew that the battle was imminent. One of our soldiers, whom I only recognised as female because of her soft flowing voice scanned over me, and then looked towards Karon.
"Kid, who's the guy?"
"His name's Rylian. I found him near where I was fighting."
"Yeah?"
The woman turned around to me and placed her hands by her side.
"We have no time for introductions Rylian. If you live through this then we can talk." She looked at the dagger that adorned my hand at that moment. "Can you use that thing?"
I reply in the affirmative but unsurely to say the least. The woman nodded to me and then turned to the soldiers who were getting ready to attack.
"Who are you?"
The leader of the men who had been chasing Karon and myself came to the front of the pack. He was a huge man, and I guessed he must have been near to seven feet tall. He wore a bandana, which had been ripped nearly to pieces but somehow was able to fit upon his head. A pair of huge studded boots adorned his feet, and he held a huge mace in his right hand. It looked like a weapon of considerable power if it was held in the right hands, and I was sure as hell hoping those hands were left. He looked at the group and addressed us all.
"We are Kefka's private army. Will you yield to us or are we going to have to use force?"
Every single person apart from myself in our group took on a fighting stance. The leader of the opposing force smiled to himself.
"So be it, but you are all going to perish."
My rage awoke, and I believe that it was the threat of death that did it. I was sixteen and my life was valuable to me then. I wasn't going to let some half-wit group of mercenaries kill me off in my prime. I raised my dagger in the air and screamed at the top of my voice words that I would never have believed possibly for myself in my lifetime.
"It's you who gonna die you big bastard!" and with these words I sprinted towards the behemoth of a man who stood before me. I spotted the crazy grin on his face, and at this point my own life had little value, for the adrenalin in my blood was pushing me into the line of fire. I swung the sword towards his body, and he disappeared into thin air. Then the heavy club came down upon my skull, and my fight was over before it had even begun.
We walked for hours across endless fields, and the pain that I had been previously experiencing had oddly come to rest over quite a short period of time. I felt almost good, despite the level of my predicament, and with Karon walking briskly alongside me I felt safer than ever. But a few things still stabbed at the back of my mind. Who was this girl for a start? And why in God's name was I trusting someone who only three hours ago was ready to slice me open? I put it down to loneliness at first. After all, I had nowhere else to run, and considering the fact that I had no idea where I was it seemed perfectly natural to walk alongside someone who knew the surrounding area well.
We had been walked around 8 miles when Karon turned to me. I was taken off guard slightly for she had been completely silent the whole way since we had met earlier, especially when she thought she heard the sound of approaching footsteps coming towards us both. However, all these threats so far had been false. She started to speak to me as we walked.
"We should be pretty safe now, we're in our territory. I was worried for a while there."
I was now intrigued by what she was saying. Her voice commanded respect, odd in such a young child. Now that I could see her clearly I was amazed to find that she was 12 at the eldest. And yet she was able to take me out in a split second. I'm not professing to be some sort of great fighter or anything, but this kind of skill held me fascinated in a way that I had never felt before.
"May I ask you something?" I replied. She turned to me and nodded lightly.
"Who exactly are you? I mean, why are you out here in the first place? I've never seen anyone like you before."
Karon face had the look of amazement on it.
"Are you seriously telling me that you've never heard of Kilbane? Or Kefka?"
"Never in my life. as I said, I have no idea where I am."
"Wow. well, you're not from around here, that's for damn sure. You couldn't live in this country and not know what's going on. Any ideas how you got here?"
I sighed slowly, and looked back over my shoulder. That was when I spotted them. Soldiers, around 10 or 11 of them were pursuing us at full speed, sprinting towards us. I yelled at Karon and she turned and growled something under her breath. Then she turned right around to me and I saw the look on her face. It was one of pure hatred and anger, and then I realised that I was in the middle of a full-scale conflict.
"Rylian, those are Kefka's men."
"Who the hell is this guy?!" I screamed at Karon, but she didn't pay attention to my cries. Instead in an amazing display of speed she thrust her staff into the air, and instantly massive bolts of blue electricity started to shine and pulsate around the body of the young girl. I was absolutely astounded. What was going on here?
Karon closed her eyes and let the energy flow through her body. and I can describe this for I now know the feeling of this. The power she was displaying was immense for a girl of her age. Suddenly, she pushed her hands into the air as far up as she could, and the discharge flew into the sky so quickly I could hardly follow it with my naked eyes. Then it exploded in mid-air, and the blast knocked me to the ground. Karon stood with her hands over her face as the power from the blast engulfed us both.
When I rose to my feet I looked at myself all over, and found myself to be unharmed, which was quite a relief. Karon was also fine, standing with her staff in hand. and the soldiers were also unaffected by the blast. I sprinted over to Karon frantically.
"Karon, why aren't they dead? That was amazing what you did now!"
She glanced over her shoulder at me, checking to see if I was injured, and then her eyes focused once again on the task at hand.
"I wasn't aiming for them in the first place."
"Why not?!" I screamed but Karon kept her composure in a way that was new and exciting to me. This whole world was exciting to me, but it wasn't a good kind of excitement. it was the kind that tore you away from where you belonged. The only reason it was exciting was because it was new. Karon now had her focus on the oncoming enemy, and she spoke to me fiercely without turning herself around to face me.
"Listen up Rylian! That was a signal to my village Jamala. My people should only be half a mile away at the most, they'll be here in a minute or two. In the meantime we're gonna have to hold these guys off! Understand?!"
I would have expected my response to such an idea to be one of sheer terror, or that I would have ran for the hills. But I didn't. I think the reason for this was the sheer confidence of my fellow companion. Karon made me feel as if we had a good chance against the dozen or so warriors who were now but feet away from us. I whipped out my dagger and held it sturdily in my clenched palm. Then I prepared myself for the onslaught that was about to occur.
*****************************************
I ever got the chance to launch myself into battle, for at that moment seven young soldiers appeared before our very eyes. I nearly fell back with amazement at what had just happened, for these people had materialised from nothing except the air that was all around us. The soldiers that had been previously running towards us both stopped dead in their tracks, and I thought for a split second that they were going to run for it. However, they stood firm against our group and I knew that the battle was imminent. One of our soldiers, whom I only recognised as female because of her soft flowing voice scanned over me, and then looked towards Karon.
"Kid, who's the guy?"
"His name's Rylian. I found him near where I was fighting."
"Yeah?"
The woman turned around to me and placed her hands by her side.
"We have no time for introductions Rylian. If you live through this then we can talk." She looked at the dagger that adorned my hand at that moment. "Can you use that thing?"
I reply in the affirmative but unsurely to say the least. The woman nodded to me and then turned to the soldiers who were getting ready to attack.
"Who are you?"
The leader of the men who had been chasing Karon and myself came to the front of the pack. He was a huge man, and I guessed he must have been near to seven feet tall. He wore a bandana, which had been ripped nearly to pieces but somehow was able to fit upon his head. A pair of huge studded boots adorned his feet, and he held a huge mace in his right hand. It looked like a weapon of considerable power if it was held in the right hands, and I was sure as hell hoping those hands were left. He looked at the group and addressed us all.
"We are Kefka's private army. Will you yield to us or are we going to have to use force?"
Every single person apart from myself in our group took on a fighting stance. The leader of the opposing force smiled to himself.
"So be it, but you are all going to perish."
My rage awoke, and I believe that it was the threat of death that did it. I was sixteen and my life was valuable to me then. I wasn't going to let some half-wit group of mercenaries kill me off in my prime. I raised my dagger in the air and screamed at the top of my voice words that I would never have believed possibly for myself in my lifetime.
"It's you who gonna die you big bastard!" and with these words I sprinted towards the behemoth of a man who stood before me. I spotted the crazy grin on his face, and at this point my own life had little value, for the adrenalin in my blood was pushing me into the line of fire. I swung the sword towards his body, and he disappeared into thin air. Then the heavy club came down upon my skull, and my fight was over before it had even begun.
