Ha Ha!! Finally had time for an update!! HOORAY!! Welp, here it is folks, and hopefully there'll be more to follow…soon!
Chapter 6:
What is it?
Before daybreak Janus was awake and preparing to leave. He scanned the room one last time, just to make sure everything was cleaned and set-up properly. His bed was made, Leila's cloak lay folded on top of that, his dirty food bowls were stacked on a tray, and last but not least, the harvesting scythe lay in his hands. "I hate to take more than what is mine," he thought, tightening his grip on the blade's handle, "But what's done has to be done, no matter what cost." He pushed the door open and crept quietly toward the sleeping house, "My life depends on this."
Reaching the door, he slid his hand over the doorknob and began to turn it as slowly as he could. After what seemed like an eternity, the door softly opened, allowing him to enter the house cautiously.
Janus slithered his way into a small, tidy kitchen and quickly scanned his new surroundings. Another small door caught his attention and as carefully as before, he opened that door.
A smile crept across his face as his eyes searched the new room and landed on a sleeping heap on the floor. He gingerly walked into the room to stand over Cyrus, his prey, the smile on his face slowly turning hard and concentrated. "Let's get this over with." He thought, gripping his scythe tightly. Suddenly, a bundle behind the knight stirred, reminding Janus of one aspect he'd forgotten in his planning.
"Damn!" He scowled, staring at the other knight Leila had saved, "He's going to be a problem." Contemplating his next move carefully, Janus sighed, "I did not want to shed more blood than necessary," He hovered the sickle above the innocent boy, "But he will only cause problems otherwise."
He then lifted the scythe up, fixing it to be one effective blow to both men. Slowly he relaxed his muscles, allowing gravity to work in his favor. A cold pressure against the boy's neck caused him to catch his scythe suddenly, completely freezing his entire body.
"Give me the reaper." A low, stern voice whispered in his ear.
Janus closed his eyes, cursing himself. How could he be so careless?
"Do as I say mystic," The voice demanded.
Defiantly, the boy stood there as still as possible, his mind racing for a way out of his predicament. Pressure from the cold steel against his throat jolted the reality of his hopelessness and reluctantly Janus handed over his weapon. The man snatched it from the boy's grip and placed it somewhere out of Janus's view, the knife still holding tight against his throat.
"Now," The voice hissed as its producer advanced closer to Janus. Within a few seconds, even against Janus's slight struggle, the man had Janus grappled and unable to move his upper body in any helpful motion; the knife becoming even more unbearably close to his neck. "Follow me."
After an awkward struggle, the entangled pair were outside retaining their close proximity. "Hands on the house," The voice commanded, immediately easing his grip on the boy.
Janus, aggravated but understanding his vulnerable situation complied, turning for a quick glance at his attacker before placing his hands against the wall. As he had expected, Leila's father stood behind him, only he was seasoned enough to keep him so helpless. The man's eyes lay on him, stern and cold, a very different look about him from what Janus had seen the previous night.
Soon, Janus felt the man's hands against his lower legs; he was being searched. "Very clever," Janus thought, "Too bad I don't have any other wea-"
"What's this?" Meklanor queried, reaching into Janus's pocket and pulling out his precious pendant. Janus, realizing what the man had just stolen from his pocket, and knowing how helpless he was to get it back, let out a small cough of anguish. Meklanor, upon seeing the crest upon the necklace, let out the same small noise simultaneously with Janus's, each startling the other.
The boy spun around, hoping to grab the pendant and flee before his captor had time to react. He was then halted by the very expression of the now defenseless knight. "How," The man uttered repeatedly as he dangled the necklace in front of his eyes. His expression confused Janus, the boy wasn't sure what kind of emotion hid behind the man's wide brown eyes. He looked excited, confused, upset, hurt, and amazed all at once.
After a moment, Janus finally mustered up enough sense to confront the man. "Give that back!" He growled, opening his palm to the older man.
Meklanor, snapping out of his trance, recoiled, nestling the pendent close to his chest. "Where did you get this?" He retorted back.
"I found it!" Janus blurted, becoming impatient, "Now give it back!"
"Who are you?" The knight shot back, tightening his grip on the jewelry piece.
"That's none of your business!" The flustered boy yelled in response, "Give it to me!" He blindly lunged at Meklanor and rightfully was shot back by a solid punch to his exposed ribs.
Janus landed against the house forcefully, even more perturbed at his own stupidity. The knight grabbed him by the neck, pinning him against the wall. "You're lying, otherwise this little trinket would not be worth your life to you!" He shouted, tightening his grip on the boy. "Now tell me how you came to possess this!"
Quick thinking and a bit of luck, led Janus to land one hard punch to the man's stomach, giving him a moment to release himself from the knight's grip and teleport into the nearby woods.
"Where are you?" Meklanor coughed, leaning against the house.
Janus snuck behind a large shrub, intently watching the man's every move.
"Come back!" The knight shouted as he turned his back to the house and slid to the ground. "Come back!"
Through the brush, Janus could barely believe what he saw. The grown man lay heavy against the ground, he eyes swollen with tears. "Pathetic," He scowled, beginning to run and walk away.
"I'm sorry," The man's voice was much softer and something about it made Janus turn back around. "I'm so sorry," Meklanor whispered, again dangling the necklace in front of him, "Schala, I'm so sorry."
SCHALA! Janus's eye's widened. This was a new twist to his story. At first he had thought that Leila was a descendent of his beloved sister; but then how did this man know her by name? Why did his pendant upset the man so? Confused but fearful of discovery, the boy retired further into the forest, questions racing in his mind.
"Now what?" He thought aloud to himself after he had walked for a long while. Not only had he lost his precious relic from Schala, but also this man Meklanor knew more about her than Janus had previously believed. "Too many twists to this game," He growled, stopping to gaze back down the path he'd made from Leila's house. He sighed, his pendant was gone, but should he risk going back to retrieve it? He needed answers to so many of the questions drifting in his mind, but was it really worth having to confront Leila's father again over it?
"Dammit!" He threw his fist into the trunk of a nearby tree, trying to ease his frustrations. "What now you foolhardy dolt!" He leaned against the tree with his fist, "It's your own fault this whole thing happened, careless fool you—"
The snapping of a twig awakened Janus to his surroundings. He silently molded into the shadows surrounding him just in time to see two mystics stumble through the brush in front of him.
"How pathetic," The fatter of the two grunted, "We get stuck on this boring scuffle while the rest of our troop sit at home doing absolutely nothing but relax."
"Well, what do you expect?" The leaner of the two retorted, "Someone has to do this work. If it weren't us, it'd be someone else."
"And I'd rather it be someone else!" The fat one huffed.
"I don't really mind though," Another mystic added, following behind them, "I am honored to be on this mission. It means Commander Ozzie trusts us to do this job successfully."
Flustered, the fat mystic stopped to turn and look at the mystic behind him, "What are you talking about boy? This is one of the most basic missions a mystic could be posted for."
"All we are doing is clearing the forest from any human threats," The lean mystic agreed, "There's not much to killing unaware humans."
"They're too stupid to know the difference between up and down let alone put up a decent fight" The fat mystic spat, turning back around, "Now let's get this done and over with so we can go home, I'm missing my ale already." With that, all two monsters shuffled toward Leila's house, being much more quiet then they had been upon their arrival.
Intrigued, Janus followed them up to the undergrowth's end, still remaining in the shadows. Dusk was beginning to fall, and the attack was a perfect timing to complete. "Ozzie has decided to sweep the forest for our army's occupancy," He thought to himself, watching as the mystics signaled another group on the other side of the clearing.
The mystics began to advance on the dimly light cottage as Janus watched on. Then, as if he had been struck, a thought ran through his head. What would he do if the mystics killed the whole family? He'd never get his answers then. He hovered up to where the shadows ended. Plus, how could he be as cruel as to allow the people who saved his very life to be massacred, that wasn't even allowed by his conscious.
"But I can't let either side know about this," He thought, wondering how to be inconspicuous about the whole ordeal.
One of the mystics lit a torch and tossed it in the front window, his smile indicting the pleasure he was encountering just by that. Janus watched intensely as two more were lit and flung by other mystics. Soon the entire house was up in flames and the small family was rushing out, Meklanor armed and ready for the onslaught.
Both Fiona and Sylvia headed to the shed, Leila in front of them with a weapon of her own. As the three women entered the shed, Meklanor closed the door behind them and began to attack his oppressors violently. With one blow, the knight took out an attacking mystic and was prepared for its companion to assault him.
Janus, impressed with the man's fighting ability, began to watch for his amusement. The mystics, having expended their supply of torches, surrounded the small shed, first attacking the shed's only window. Leila and her mother quickly began resisting them by shoving a hayfork out the window and into the body of a mystic climbing through to them. He fell only to be replaced by another two.
In helpless despair, Leila ran out of the shed door to her father and around to the window, a small dagger in her one hand and a spear in the other. This caught Janus's interest and brought him back to the attention of helping the family.
He hid behind a patch of thick brush, and without another thought, he began chanting the only spell he knew that would not allow the mystics to track him. Clouds began to whirl over the heads of the combatants, causing some to stare but not halting battle completely. Meklanor was visibly beginning to wear down, and Leila, although doing well enough to keep herself alive, was a clumsy fighter and would not last much longer without aid. Janus began to chant faster, he had to at least save Leila and her sister. A roll of thunder stopped the entire throng of bodies and forced all to stare up at the spiraling darkness above them.
The incantation was complete, and with a wave of his hand, lightning tore through the clouds, landing in a crowd of mystics and killing them all. Janus smiled, motioning again with his hands for the clouds to spit out another flash of energy at the now fleeing warriors. Meklanor, relieved yet a bit wary, began to attack his distracted oppressors, causing Leila to copy him.
Janus, enjoying the chaos, shot one last bolt into the confused army as they dispersed into the surrounding woods, leaving the family in peace. The hidden boy watched as Leila gave a sigh of relief and turned to her father smiling. The girl had been knocked around a bit, but no major injuries had befallen her. Her father tried to smile back at her, but began to fall over, causing Leila to rush and support him.
Janus couldn't see much, even with the black clouds gone, night had set and there wasn't enough visibility for him to see the man's condition. The two humans then shuffled inside the shed to care for Meklanor's injuries. Janus, feeling secure enough to come out of hiding, floated quietly up to the illuminated shed and hid in the shadows, listening to the conversations inside.
"I'm fine Sylvia!" Meklanor's deep voice retorted with a grunt.
"No you're not!" Sylvia retorted as gently as she could, "Lie down honey and let me take a look at you." Another groan was heard, followed by a small cry by Sylvia.
"Mother," Leila's shaky voice interrupted, "Mother, is Papa okay?"
"Take Fiona outside," Sylvia's calm voice replied, "I'll call you inside in a bit."
The door squeaked open as Sylvia added a word of warning to the girls and they quietly moved out next to the dying flames of their house.
"Is daddy going to be alright?" Fiona queried, tugging at her sister's skirt and reviving her from her daze.
Leila looked at the girl and smiled, "Papa will be fine, Mommy knows what to do, she'll fix him all up." She picked up the little girl and hugged her, "Now let's get out of the light so we aren't as noticeable." She then proceeded to carry the girl to the shed's darkened side and then whispered softly, "We're going to play hide and go seek for a while, so we have to be quiet."
"Alright," The young girl whispered back.
They sat down at the side of the house for a while; both very alert of every sound they heard. Janus, on the other hand, sat on the other side of the shed near the window, listening in to Meklanor and Sylvia's conversation.
A rustling noise alarmed him of someone's approach and he slid a bit farther back from the corner of the building. Someone was approaching the window, trying to be as stealthy as possible. Worrying more about himself, the boy sat still against the wall, waiting for whoever was there to leave.
Within a few minutes, a dark figure slid up next to him against the corner of the wall. The figure leaned over to peek around at the window and bumped its leg against his, causing it to jump back in fear.
Janus, after being bumped, quickly grabbed the terrified figure, pulling them against his body and rendering them immobile while covering their mouth. Both were silent and motionless for a moment, until Janus realized whom he had captured.
"Leila," He whispered, "It's only me, Jack." He could feel her body relax at his words, informing him that she wouldn't do anything brash. "I'm going to let you go now, so don't be alarmed." Slowly he relaxed his grip, allowing her to turn and face him.
"What are you doing here?" She scolded, a bit louder than he had wanted her to be.
Janus moved back away from the corner a bit more, "I heard that my comrades were going to attack you and I came to see what had happened."
Janus watched as Leila's silhouette placed her hands on her hips, indicating that she was a bit upset. "So you didn't help us?"
Janus lay silent, not sure whether to lie or not.
"Well?"
"No." He replied coldly.
Leila giggled softly then turned back around, "You know, you don't have to worry about telling me you helped. I promise I won't tell anyone that you helped us with your thunder spell."
Janus didn't move, "What do you mean?" He retorted, "I just arrived here."
Leila moved closer to him, tapping his arm lightly, "You don't have to lie Jack, I'm not stupid." She then leaned against the wall, "I know that it would take you a lot longer than a day to arrive at your territory and then come back. It would not have been possible for you to have been here unless you had arrived with the marauding band that attacked us."
"You have no idea what the limits of my powers are." He huffed, wishing his curiosity had not led him to the house.
Leila turned to him, "Oh, then you must be one of those all-powerful magus they have locked up in those towers of theirs."
Janus back to her confused, "A what?"
"Magus," Leila answered in surprise, "Haven't you ever heard that word before?"
Janus again was silent.
"I guess that's a no, huh?" Leila laughed softly, "Magus is people who can use magic or have much authority and power, at least that's what I was taught."
"What happened to your father?" The boy then queried, changing the subject.
Leila was hushed for a moment, "I, I don't know. I hope he's alright." She stood up from her reclined position against the wall, "Oh Jack, I'm so worried about him."
Leila then proceeded to hug the boy, causing him to jump in surprise. She was obviously trying not to cry and he had no idea what to do. Uneasy as he was, with his hands hovering in the air away from the sobbing girl he didn't budge, he just allowed her to remain, the only way he knew how to sympathize with her.
Leila, realizing his anxiety quickly let go, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"That's fine," Janus sighed, brushing himself off.
Sylvia's voice then softly called out the window to the two girls, encouraging them to come back in.
"Oh no!" Leila gasped, "My poor sister is alone over there!" With that she turned quickly to leave.
Janus, reacting to an impulse, grabbed her wrist to stop her.
The girl turned again to look at him, "What is it?"
Janus stood there silently, "Your father…" He stopped, not sure whether to tell her or not.
Leila twisted her wrist out of his grasp, "I have to go, so if you don't tell me now, I'm just going to leave."
"He has something of mine." Janus again paused.
"And?"
"I want it back."
Leila sighed and turned to leave, "Well, if you want it back, get it from him yourself. You know where he is." With that, she hastily went to fetch her sister and went inside, leaving Janus alone and flustered at her answer.