Chapter Five: The Princess and the Bad Man

Thol woke up with all sorts of aches and pains from the uneven ground he had slept on. That was one thing he hated about traveling all the time. You can't always stay at an inn when night falls.

Tor was surprisingly already up. Thol walked over to his friend and partner.

"You're up early. That unusual for you," Thol said.

"Yeah well, you know me. Every time there's a major battle ahead, I never sleep well," he replied.

"You worried?" Thol asked.

"Not so much for the two of us, but we're not the only ones involved this time. I'm sure Goro will come out all right. He could probably take out a troll on his own."

"Yeah. Valon should be okay too. As much as I berated him for not being able to use level five magic, he'll be okay with the lower stuff."

"Moreover, he can use a decent weapon too," Tor added.

"What's wrong with a staff? I've never had any problems using one."

"Thol, you know as well as I do that you can't really do all that much damage with that little stick of yours."

"Funny, I seem to recall you being the one to get knocked out in that fight."

Tor thought about that for a moment and shrugged. "Okay, you've got a point there."

Goro was the next to wake up. He nodded to them as a greeting and immediately went back to practicing his moves. The two of them watched him for a few moments when Tor spoke up again.

"Like I said, he'll be fine. I'm more worried about Keza and Melira," he said.

Thol nodded. "Keza's okay, but he really doesn't have any advantages other than his speed. Melira on the other hand . . . " Thol said, trailing off.

"Yeah. She'll be a treasure for after the fight, but I'm not sure she's going to contribute too much to the battle itself."

"I guess I'll have to keep an eye on her. She's not as good with her staff as I am and her magic is somewhat limited," Thol said.

"You'll keep an eye on her?" Tor asked with a smirk.

"I mean we. Don't get any smart ideas or you'll find yourself waking up without any hair," Thol said defensively. What the Hell is with everybody? he thought.

They had a quick breakfast before heading into the forest. They had been going for about two hours when they found a clearing in the forest. There was a small cabin in the middle, right beside a small pond.

"I thought we might run into this place," Goro said.

"What is it?" Keza asked. He looked much better than he did last night after coming out of the marsh.

"It's where I use to live with my master,"

"Use to?" Valon asked.

"Yes. I left when he died. I've been taking odd jobs here and there ever since then," Goro replied.

"Shame. Your master seemed like a very wise man," Tor said. "What happened?"

"He was very old and had been getting sick during the winters. His body just couldn't take it anymore."

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to force you," Tor apologized.

"Don't worry. Master said he was ready to move on. He lived a long full life."

Thol was getting restless and decided that they had been here long enough. "Look, I hate to break up all this teary eyed reminiscing, but standing here talking all day isn't getting us any closer to rescuing the princess," he said.

"Do you always have to be so rude about everything?" Melira asked in an angry tone.

Thol chose not to answer her.

"No. Thol's right. We've been here long enough. Master wouldn't want us to stay any longer in light of our mission," Goro said.

Thol nodded his thanks at his support and started off toward the temple again. "Goro," he said after a few steps.

"Yes?"

"You said that you use to go to the temple to practice your skills, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. You know the way better than the rest of us. I think you should take the lead. We'll probably get there faster that way."

"All right. Good thinking, Thol," Goro complimented him.

Thol again said nothing but let him pass. He happened to catch a stray glance from Melira and she gave him a withering look. He simply fell in behind Goro and ignored her.

The emerged from the forest and were given their first look at the temple.

"Ugly little place, isn't it?" Keza said.

"It's even uglier inside," Goro said. "It's not called the Temple of Fiends for nothing."

"Alright. We'd better be careful from here on in. Goro said that there are a lot of undead monsters roaming about in there," Thol said, again taking the lead.

Sure enough, just inside the entrance, they ran into a large pack of zombies and ghosts. With the six of them, they made short work of them.  Melira proved that she could handle herself in a fight against the undead, her Harm magic especially useful and probably saving them from a few minor wounds in the long run.

"There," Goro pointed. "If I were to take someone here, I'd keep them in that room. The monsters are afraid to go in there for some reason." He had pointed to a large set of doors set in a large structure in the center of the room.

"Everyone be ready. I doubt we'll be able to get the jump on this guy," Thol said.

Goro went ahead and placed his hand on the door handle. He looked at Thol, who made sure the others were ready, then nodded. Goro heaved the doors open and rushed in, the others right behind him.

A large armored man was in the center of the room, standing in front of an ominous looking black orb. He had his arms raised and was chanting something. Chained down to an altar of some sort behind that, was Princess Sara.

"Fiend!" Tor yelled, seeing the helpless princess.

The armored man turned at the sound of his voice and bellowed "Who dares come here to this black temple and interrupt this sacred ritual?"

Valon stepped forward and addressed the man. "Lo, Garland, The Dark One. As it was foretold in Lukahn's prophecy, we, the Light Warriors, have come to rid this world of you and the darkness you seek to bring and return Princess Sara, Heiress of Coneria, to her rightful place!"

"No one touches my princess! Light Warriors? Impertinent fools! I, Garland, shall knock you all down!" the armored man yelled. With that, he swept his arms toward them and they were indeed knocked over by an incredible blast of wind.

Tor was first to his feet and attacked Garland with all he was worth. Valon was right behind him and they soon found out that his fighting prowess was just as good as his magic. Thol and Valon both began casting spells at him, but they didn't seem to be doing much to the armored man. Goro seemed to be the one doing all the damage despite his lack of weapons. Garland wasn't able to hit him at all and Goro kept pummeling him with fists.

When he finally did get a hit in, he sent Goro flying across the room. He then lashed out with magic and blew back Tor and Keza. Thol sent another spell in his direction and was also blown across the room by a spell. Melira had been staying out of the way and casting curative spells when she could and Garland seemed to think that she posed the greatest threat because he sent a spell her way and it wasn't a simple wind spell either.

Thol had scouted the move and lunged to intercept it. The spell sent him into the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of him.

"Thol!" Melira said, rushing to his side. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Thol was trying to catch his breath and was pissed off. He got up and growled "I'll live. Go help Tor," he said noticing that Garland had just sent him flying head first into the wall.

Melira didn't move as Thol stood up and stood right in front of Garland. "Burn you bastard!" he yelled. He thrust his hands forward and a giant inferno erupted in Garland's direction. Garland raised his hand as if to attempt to deflect it, but there was no chance. The high-level fire spell incinerated him just like it had done the ogre back in the cave.

Thol collapsed in exhaustion. Melira was right there as soon as he went down. "What is it? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm just exhausted. Go help the others," he said.

"Are you sure? That blow you took looked fairly brutal," she said.

He could plainly see that she was worried about him. "Yes I'm sure. I'll be all right until you're done with the others."

"A-alright," she said finally. She got up and headed toward Tor, but she kept on looking back at him.

Thol slumped back down again when he was sure she was attending to Tor. He had almost used up all his magic energy with the last spell. He wasn't going to be very useful in battle for a day or so.

Melira had just finished getting Tor back up to par and the young swordsman went over to where the princess was and freed her from the chains that had bounding her to the altar. To Tor's surprise, the princess immediately latched onto him and wouldn't let go. He stood there stunned as the sobbing princess clung to him. Being the man that he was, he recovered his wits and carried her over to where the others were.

"Who are you?" the princess asked after she had composed herself some.

"We are the Light Warriors, my lady. We have come to save you as it was declared in the prophecy," Tor said.

"Oh, thank you!" the grateful princess said. She suddenly threw her arms about Tor's neck and kissed him.

Blushing furiously, Tor said "It was no problem."

Thol laughed at his friend's embarrassment and stood up. He was still a little weak from his spell casting however and he needed to use his staff for support. He looked down at himself and noticed the damage the spell did for the first time. He also realized that it hurt to breathe. No wonder I had a hard time catching my breath, he thought. . . .

* * * *

They had camped just outside the forest to rest their injuries from the battle. Melira and Valon could only do so much with their magic and then they too had exhausted themselves.

Thol sat watching Tor and Princess Sara. The frightened princess had attached herself to the young swordsman similar to how an infant animal will consider the first thing it sees as its mother. Thol was both amused at his friend's predicament and happy for him. He sighed and leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting under.

He stayed like that for maybe five minutes when he heard someone approach. He opened his eyes to see Melira walking toward him. She sat next to him when she got there and looked at the ground. Thol thought that she looked like she was ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry, Thol," she said after awhile.

"For what?" he asked.

"For treating you so poorly yesterday. I thought that you were a selfish, conceited person, but you saved me in there. Thank you."

"Oh. That," Thol said, looking at the ground, a little embarrassed. "It was nothing. Forget about it."

"Not likely," she replied. Thol looked at her but said nothing. "Thol," she began again after a few moments. "Why would you do that for me, but you won't let me help you?" she asked. She again reached for his mask, but he didn't pull away this time. "Why do you hide your face?"

"Ask me again sometime and I'll tell you. Just . . . Not right now," he said, feeling a bit nervous from her touch.

She smiled widely and said, "Okay. Thank you, Thol." She got up and left him then.

Now was that so hard? he asked himself, leaning back against the tree again. He was thinking of her when he fell asleep. . . .

* * * *