Ranma/Lone Wolf Crossover Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or the Lone Wolf Series or any other characters. The rights to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi and for the Lone Wolf Series Joe Dever. This story is created solely for entertainment purposes and no profit as gained from this.
Note.
Kai Names:
* Ranma Stormgard (Saotome) - Wild Horse
* Braxus Stormgard - Swift Blade
Current Age:
* Ranma - 16yrs old
* Braxus - 17yrs old
* Banedon - 16yrs old
* Ranko - ???
Wild Horse of Kai
By Montymouse
' ' - Thought
" " - Speech
Chapter Six - Death and Betrayal
***
Spring in Sommerlund
As winter finally subsided, new growth was starting to flourish in Sommerlund, indicating that the spring had finally arrived. The first day of spring is known as Fehmarn to the people of Sommerlund as they consider this day as a holy day. On this day the Sommlending reaffirm their oath of allegiance to King Ulnar V who was the current king of Sommerlund. At the Kai monastery, preparations for a special festival were being organised, as all the Lords of the Kai would arrive as expected for this special occasion. It was a rare occasion to see so many Lords in one place at any time.
Today, the Lords of the Kai celebrate the Feast of Fehmarn.
Wise Heart and Rising Eagle, the most senior Lords in the monastery, were they're to greet the Lords as they arrived for this special day. Most of the young Kai warriors were really excited to see so many Kai Grand Masters while they attended the monastery and they were greatly honored by their presence. Some of them were considered legends as the tutors told their tales of heroism about their exploits and their adventures in history lessons.
Earlier ago before the Kai Lords started to arrive, Storm Hawk had ordered all the Kai Initiates to start cleaning up the monastery from the stables to the armoury as everything had to be perfect and arranged appropriately to the highest standard. Shining Star and Dancing Hawk were chosen as representatives of their current Kai group while Swift Blade was patrolling the monastery wall on the lookout. Ranma aka Wild Horse was of course outside the monastery collecting firewood again as he had managed to annoy Storm Hawk enough in his classes.
***
Somewhere in the Sommerlund forest, there was a lone individual trending carefully through the woods and undergrowth. The individual was wearing a grey cloak that hid his uniform underneath. Also, he was currently sporting a pigtail. This was of course Ranma Stormgard aka Wild Horse.
"He had to send me out collecting wood today didn't he. Today is one of the most important dates in the Kai year and he sent me out," Ranma muttered to himself as he collected the dry wood from forest floor.
Ten minutes later after collecting enough wood, Ranma started to return back to the Kai monastery hoping that he hadn't missed too much of the feast and that he would still be able to participate. Suddenly the whole area of the forest went completely dark.
'Huh, it's shouldn't be dark right now, maybe it's an eclipse,' Ranma first thought as he looked up.
What Ranma saw made his jaw drop in horror. It wasn't an eclipse as he had at first thought but a huge flock of black creatures flying overhead. The flock was heading straight for the Kai monastery. Seeing the danger, Ranma immediately dropped the bundle of wood that he was carrying and headed straight for the monastery to warn his Kai brothers.
'I must warn them of the danger,' Ranma thought as ran as fast as his feet could carry him.
He was almost there until he was knocked out cold by a low hanging branch which Ranma didn't spot as the whole woodland was covered in an unnatural darkness. Even with Ranma's keen eyesight in the dark, he didn't spot it as the darkness had a sinister nature to it. The last image he saw was the monastery in flames in the distance as the banner that represented the Kai order was slowly burning.
***
Watching the destruction of the Kai monastery from afar was a hunchbacked figure.
'Finally the order of Kai has annihilated and Sommerlund is ours for the taking. Naar would be certainly be pleased with this result,' thought the hunchbacked person as he saw the carefully laid out plan reached its potential and with success.
Suddenly a deadly cold voice spoke from behind the hunched back person.
"Make sure that ALL of the Kai warriors have been slain, Vonotar."
"Eck... Lord Zagarna, don't do that!" Vonotar said as he was spooked out by the voice.
"Calm yourself Vonotar, stop acting like a baby. Now give me the status report of phase one of our plan!" Darklord Zagarna demanded.
"Phase one was a complete success. The Kai monastery is destroyed and all the Kai warriors have been annihilated. We are currently looking for any Kai survivors that have survived our initial assault," Vonotar reported.
"Excellent. Our master Naar will be pleased. I will be leaving you with the task of clearing up and you will personally be held responsible IF anything goes wrong. I will be taking half of our forces to Toran to finish phase two of our Invasion," Zagarna said.
"But... But I wanted to handle phase two and get my final revenge on the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. It's not fair!"
"SILENCE! Vonotar you are given your orders, make sure that they're carried out," Zagarna hissed as he mounted a Zlanbeast to start phase two.
"Stupid arrogant Darklord, he thinks he's the boss around here," muttered Vonotar as he saw Zagarna trying to get all the glory in front of his master Naar.
"I heard that! I will pretend not to hear that, now go!" a voice shouted above him. It was Zagarna who was circling round above him.
"Ack... Yes my Lord." With that, Vonotar immediately set to the task of routing out any Kai survivors.
'How did he hear that?' Vonotar thought as he chanted a dark spell that he had been given as part of deal with Darklord Zagarna
Using his magical powers he was able to levitate himself above ground so he was floating as he led a group of Giak riders to begin their search. They were searching every inch of the immediate area of the Sommerlund forest, and he would have spotted Ranma lying unconscious in the woodland clearing. Vonotar would certainly have killed him if he had moved just a little to his left.
Suddenly Vonotar spotted something out of the corner of his eye and narrowly dodged a huge fireball. The two Giak riders next to him were not so lucky as the fireball struck them sending them spiralling down to the hard ground in flames.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Vonotar as he turned to face the direction from where the fireball had come. What he saw was a red haired female who was hovering just above the ground like him.
"Hey Voney over here!"
'Who is this witch?' thought Vonotar, as he demanded who she was.
"It's VONOTAR, and who the hell are you?"
"Ranko's the name. Come on Voney, come and get me!" She fired off another fireball towards Vonotar and his Giak riders to provoke them.
'Damn I missed. Might as well have some fun with Voney here,' Ranko thought as she raced off while making sure that Vonotar and his Giak warriors were pursuing her. Her main concern was keeping Ranma safe by leading them away from where Ranma was.
"AFTER HER! I want her head on a plate!" Vonotar dodged another incoming fireball as he and the rest of his Giak riders gave chase after the red haired figure.
***
After a few hours had passed Ranma was starting to wake up in the woodland. The sky was filled with dark clouds as a thick blanket of smoke was covering the forest sky.
'Did anyone get the number of that horse?' thought Ranma as he tried to shake off his dizziness and get his bearings. He also had a thumping headache from when he had struck that branch.
'The Monastery,' he immediately thought as he got to his feet and ran to the monastery in the hopes that he could still help his fellow Kai brothers.
By the time Ranma reached the monastery it was too late. The once proud monastery was now left in ruins and was still burning.
'Noooo, I'm too late,' Ranma cried out as he fell to his knees and surveyed the scene of destruction. Using his keen eyesight Ranma could see many bodies of both humans and Giaks scattered around the ruins of the monastery.
Running down the hill to the monastery, Ranma hoped that there would be some survivors of the massacre including his brother Braxus Stormgard. Looking around the scenes of death, Ranma could see so many of his Kai brothers slain including his two best friends Shining Star and Dancing Hawk but they hadn't died without a fight as dozens of Giak warriors were dead and scattered around them.
"May Ishir protect you in your after life, my friends," Ranma said as he gave a short Kai prayer for his fallen comrades.
Ranma didn't have time to bury his two friends as he was sure that the Darklords' forces would return to the scene soon. Carefully walking and surveying the ruins Ranma started to see that this attack was a carefully laid out plan because judging from the damage and accuracy of the attack it must have taken years of planning to kill off the entire order in one go.
'Where is he?' Ranma thought as he tried to identify his brother among the slain bodies.
After about ten minutes of searching for his brother, Ranma decided that he should leave the immediate area, as this was a hot spot as the Darklords' forces had finally invaded Sommerlund. Gathering what he could salvage from the ruins, he managed to find his bow and some other equipment to take with him but not too much because he had to travel light if he was able to escape the immediate area.
Climbing up the hill, Ranma turned around for the very last time to see the ruins of the monastery that he had called home for the last few years.
"I swear on my life that I will have my vengeance on those who are responsible for this massacre even if it takes a lifetime to do it." Ranma swore that he would do anything in his power to get his revenge on his fallen Kai brothers.
"You hear me Naar? You haven't won yet," Ranma shouted as he raised a clenched fist in the air as lightning somehow appeared behind him to make it more dramatic. Before he left he blinked a tearful eye as he left the monastery for the very last time into the dark woods.
***
Carefully walking through the woodland forest of Sommerlund, Ranma aka Wild Horse knew that the invasion of Sommerlund had begun and that he must warn the King of the immediate danger and that the Kai order has been annihilated. As he was about to cross a small stream, Ranma heard the noise of swords clashing and inhuman sounds made somewhere in the forest. Judging from Ranma's Kai senses he estimated that the fight was occurring to the left of him. Wanting to get even with those who had killed his Kai Brothers, Ranma quickly moved with such ease as a fish in water as he was using speed and agility to navigate through the forest.
Finally reaching the place where the fight was occurring, he watched what was unfolding in front of him. What he saw was a brief skirmish between two Giak riders on Kraans, which Ranma instantly recognised as one of the creatures that had taken part in the destruction of the Kai monastery. They were currently fighting against a grey cloaked character that seemed vaguely familiar to Ranma.
"AAWRAAAAAK!" the Kraan cried out.
"ORGADAK TAAG!" The Giak rider shot an arrow at the cloaked person.
The person moved with such speed and agility that he dodged the arrow with ease and skill.
"You need to try better than that, Giak scum!" the cloaked stranger shouted, as he pulled out his short sword from his cloak, which Ranma instantly recognised.
'Two against one, I like those odds,' the stranger thought as one of Giak riders swooped down towards him.
"Come on Giak, make my day!" taunted the stranger.
'It can't be,' Ranma thought with surprise. He didn't want to get his hopes up but he was sure that it was he. Wanting to confirm his suspicions he continued to watch the fight to try to make out the face which was hidden under a cloak.
As the winged Kraan swooped toward the stranger, he ducked and thrust his short sword right into its belly, which spent the creature crashing through woods behind him, and sent the Giak riding on it flying right into a tree head first, cracking its skull and neck on impact.
As the cloaked person got to his feet, the hood that hid his face fell back. Ranma's jaw dropped as he recognised whom it was.
'He's alive, my brother Braxus,' Ranma thought, overjoyed to see that his brother had survived the massacre; but the question was, how?
Wanting to make sure that this stranger was indeed his brother, he continued to watch the fight. During his trekking thought the woods, there had been many of Naar's agents around dressed in the uniforms of Kai warriors so that they would root out any survivors but Ranma was able to sense their evil auras and managed to avoid them. He would interfere if he was in danger but he was sure that this was his brother.
The second Giak rider, seeing that his comrade was taken out with ease, screamed in outrage. Swooping down as the first rider had before, the stranger dodged the attack but didn't see the Kraan's claw smacking him in the back sending him crashing to the ground. The stranger seemed knocked out as the Giak got off his Kraan and was about to finish him off.
"EK! EK! EK! ORGADAK ZEJAR GOOGA ZEGOR!" The Giak warriors walked up to finish him off, thinking that this human was unconscious. Ranma was about to intervene to save his brother when he noticed that he was holding his short sword in his hand in readiness.
'Closer, just a bit closer,' the stranger thought as he sensed the Giak approaching ever nearer. When he was almost on top of him, Braxus rolled to his left, narrowly avoiding the axe and immediately got up.
"Die, vile spawn of Naar!" he screamed as his short sword chopped off the Giak warrior's head with ease.
He then fell to his knees in exhaustion and was resting to get his breath back forgetting one thing... the Kraan.
"AWAAKWAWAK! AWAAAKWAAK!" the Kraan cried out as it dove down.
'Oh crap,' he thought, as he didn't have time to defend himself from the attack of the Kraan.
Suddenly Ranma jumped out from where he was hiding to engage the Kraan before it reached his brother.
"Will you shut up? I've had enough of your annoying cries and cackles!" Ranma shouted as he chopped off one of its wings with his sword.
'I bet there isn't any other creature as annoying as this,' Ranma thought as he saw the creature crashing down.
***
Somewhere in another Dimension e.g. Rumiko Takashashi universe
A certain crazed black leotard-clad rhythmic gymnastics martial artist sneezed as she hopped from roof to roof in Nerima.
***
Ranma scanned the area to see if they were any more of those creatures about. Sensing nothing, he walked over to the cloaked stranger who looked up with surprise.
"Ra... Ranma is that you?" he said with surprise as he sheathed his short sword.
"Yes, it's me. I thought you were dead?" Ranma gave his brother Braxus a great big hug. He was glad that someone apart from him had survived the massacre.
"The same for me, too. Before the attack, Wise Heart told me to fetch you before the feast started as it was inappropriate sending you out like that," Braxus replied as he returned the brotherly hug having thought that Ranma was dead too.
"Yeah but we must warn the King of the news and that the Darklords' forces have begun their invasion of Sommerlund."
"That would be the most appropriate plan. Come, we better get moving before any more of this kind starting appearing."
"Did you find any other survivors?" asked Ranma, wanting to know if anyone else survived. Braxus shook his head.
"Haven't seen anyone since I left the ruins of the monastery. How about you?"
"None, I'm afraid that we are the only Kai warriors left in Sommerlund," Ranma said in a sad tone.
"We must avenge our fallen brothers and warn the king," Braxus said to raise their morale. Ranma nodded and they got up and headed straight to Holmgard.
***
As our only two Kai warrior survivors were heading south toward the capital city of Holmgard, following hot on their trail was the Darklords' forces that were responsible for the devastating attack that had nearly wiped out the entire Kai order in Sommerlund. Swift Blade aka Braxus decided to keep off the main roads to avoid detection and the dangers that were still present.
Of course, by taking this route it meant that it would take longer to get to Holmgard, as they had to navigate through dense woodland. Wild Horse aka Ranma agreed it was the best plan to follow as they were seriously outnumbered. They must reach the city of Holmgard in order to warn King Ulnar V of the news that the Kai order had been destroyed and that the Darklords' forces had begun their invasion of Sommerlund.
As Ranma and Braxus were going through the dense woodlands, it was Ranma who heard the sounds of a battle that was occurring just fifty feet ahead of them. Deciding to find out what it was, Ranma crept forward slowly while using his Kai discipline of camouflage as a precaution so that he wouldn't be spotted as he moved to investigate. Also, he signalled silently to his brother Braxus to keep an active lookout.
As Ranma crept forward, he could hear the sound of an intense battle, of shouting and noise like thunder getting closer and closer as he made his way forward. As Ranma edged closer to the site of the battle, he noticed that it was in the ruins of an old building that used to be part of an old forest temple. Getting a good vantagepoint among the ruins, he could see what was happening. What he saw surprised him as he could see roughly twelve charred and smoking Giak soldiers scattered near the entrance to the temple ruins.
Ranma could hear the battle being fought within the temple and crept silently further into the ruins. After a few minutes of moving quietly among the ruins till he reached a clearing, Ranma could make out the person who had taken out the Giaks that he had previously seen, and was currently zapping Giak soldiers left and right of him with blue lightning bolts. From where Ranma was he could see that the person was tired and was wearing a purple robe embroidered with star symbols, which Ranma instantly recognised.
'BANEDON!' thought Ranma as he saw his old friend fighting off the Giak Soldiers with his magical powers.
From the of the battle, it seemed Banedon was winning for the moment but as tides of Giak soldiers came flooding in, Ranma could see that Banedon was beginning to feel exhausted and would soon be too weak to fight.
'Banedon needs my help,' thought Ranma as he immediately charged forward to help his friend in need.
As Ranma made his way forward to aid Banedon, it was at that moment a group of five Giaks decided to charge in with their spears in the hope of stabbing this human who had slain half of their war party.
'I don't think I can hold this up any longer,' thought Banedon as he raised his left hand and chanted a battle spell as a bolt of blue lightning shot out from his fingertips into the group of snarling Giak soldiers.
As the blue lightning struck the assault group, Banedon didn't noticed that one of the Giak soldiers had managed to sneak around him and was currently on top of a pillar with a jagged dagger in his mouth.
Seeing that Banedon was unaware of the single Giak soldier that was about to attack him from behind, Ranma charged forward and called out a warning Banedon.
"BANEDON, BEHIND YOU!" shouted Ranma as drew out his sword in the hope that he would make in time to save Banedon.
Hearing a shout, Banedon looked to his left and saw his friend Ranma rushing out from the ruins.
"Ranma! Thank Ishir you came. What's behind me?" Banedon shouted back as he turned around to see the Giak perched on top of the pillar behind him.
The Giak that was behind him leapt from the pillar towards Banedon with the intention of stabbing this annoying human in the heart with his jagged dagger. Ranma was too far away to prevent the Giak's attack on Banedon, who was immobilised with fear as he saw the Giak bearing down on him with the dagger.
"ORGADAK TAAG!!! ...Urrgg," was the only thing that the Giak said as two arrows slammed into his chest and pinned him to the pillar.
Shaking out of his moment of frozenness, Banedon turned to see Braxus coming out of the ruins with a silver bow in his hands.
"Braxus!" shouted Banedon as he saw that his old friend had saved his life, just like old times.
"Come Ranma, let's aid Banedon over there," shouted Braxus as he engaged the nearest Giak soldier while Ranma aided Banedon who was having trouble dealing with three Giak at the same time.
Blue lightning and steel were engaged in the skirmish. Among the group of Giak soldiers was a black clad Giak that Ranma assumed was the leader of the war party. The black clad Giak was indeed the leader and as he saw these two humans coming to the aid of the human wizard and slaying a couple more of his Giak soldiers, he decided it was time to call a retreat into the woods.
"OGOT! OGOT!" he shouted out to his remaining troops who responded by fleeing into the safety of the woods. Before the leader joined the rest of his fleeing soldiers, he turned around and screamed out, "RANEG ROGAG OK - ORGADAKA OKAK ROGAG GAJ!" before joining the rest of retreating soldiers in the woods.
Seeing that the skirmish had been won, Ranma and Braxus sheathed their weapons. Braxus decided to make a quick count of the dead Giaks that were scattered among the ruins; it was about twenty-five. Seeing there was no immediate danger, both Ranma and Braxus made their way towards Banedon who was sitting down on large stone block trying to regain some of his strength that he had used up in the skirmish.
"Thank Ishir that you two came to aid me, my powers were nearly drained and had you not come to my aid, I fear I would have ended my days atop a Giak lance." Banedon greeted his two friends that had come in the nick of time.
"Hey, what are friends for?" replied Braxus as he greeted Banedon in the same way.
"Banedon, what are you doing here?" asked Ranma as he sat down opposite Banedon. He too was exhausted from the battle.
"Well... My Guildmasters had asked me to deliver a message to your Kai Lords, and seeing that this was an opportunity to see you again, I volunteered along with two other fellow companions. We were about half way to the Kai monastery when a party of Giak warriors ambushed us and we were split up. I fear that my companions are dead now," explained Banedon.
"Here is the message that I supposed to give to your masters. It's been opened and it's a warning that the festival should be cancelled as there has been reported a vast army beyond the Durncrag range. We must give this to your masters." Banedon removed vellum envelope from inside his robes and handed to Ranma.
"What's wrong?" asked Banedon as he saw the sad look on Ranma's face as he readied the message.
"We're the only two surviving Kai warriors left. The Kai monastery has been destroyed and all the Kai Lords have been slain," Braxus said as he kept a watch out for any more attacks.
"We barely managed to escape the slaughter with our lives," added Ranma, remembering all the friends he had made at the Kai monastery dead. Ranma then explained in detail to Banedon about the massive army comprised of Giaks mounted on Zlanbeast and Kraan that had attacked during the festival and almost annihilated every single member of the Kai order.
"It seems that we have been betrayed," Banedon said as he listened to Ranma.
"How?" demanded Ranma, wanting to know the person who had betrayed them and Sommerlund.
"Well, there was a rumour that Vonotar had allied himself with the Darklords. Vonotar used to be a brother of my order and was said to have discovered the forbidden mysteries of the Black Arts. I met him once and I didn't like the feeling I was getting from him; it felt darker and more sinister than I expected from a brother of the Crystal Star. Anyway, he denounced the Brotherhood and killed one of our Elders," explained Banedon.
'Wait till I get my hands on him,' thought Banedon as he got up from where he sitting feeling much better.
"We'd better leave this place before any more of those Giaks come looking for us and make us pay in revenge," Braxus said. He could sense that if they stayed, they would certainly be killed.
"Good idea. I must return to my Guild and bring back the news to my Guildmasters. Before I go Ranma, I want you to have this." Banedon removed a gold necklace that he was wearing and gave it to Ranma.
"Thanks Banedon," Ranma said gratefully as he put it around his neck.
"It's a symbol of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star and will bring you good luck. I think that you will need it," Banedon said as he bid farewell to his two friends and headed immediately towards Toran, while Ranma and Braxus headed in the opposite direction to Holmgard to warn the King.
***
The whole area of the Sommerlund forest was filled with danger and without the protection of the Kai Lords to drive the Darklords' forces back, the people were in danger, especially those in rural villages. Ranma and Braxus tried their best to help these people but there was so much to do as they were woefully outnumbered despite their considerable skill.
Along the way they had encountered Giaks, Kraan and even Drakkarim warriors as they made their way through the forest. It was a sad sight to see so many villages being burnt down, as the Darklords wanted nothing but the total annihilation of the Sommlending. The current forces of Sommerlund that were repelling the advances of the enemy forces were not enough, seriously outnumbered two to one.
We now see them helping the villagers to get to safety and into shelter after their village were razed down to the ground just a few miles to the north. The people look tired and hungry but their spirits refuse to be broken by the invaders, causing Ranma to admire the people for their courage and determination. The group was mainly comprised of women and children as the men had stayed to fight off the invaders from their lands. Hopefully they would reach the village of Searsby where they would be safe. They were currently three minutes away from the village and so far everything was fine until Ranma heard the cries of the group.
"Kraan, Kraan! Hide yourselves!"
"People, try to remain calm and when I say "Go!" run to the village. We will handle this." Ranma tried to calm the scared people, and they listened to what their protector was saying.
"Thank Ishir for your aid, Kai Lord" the people said.
Looking down the road, Ranma could see a war party of Kraan riders heading towards them, intent of slaughtering the villagers that Ranma and Braxus were protecting. He could see his brother who was acting as the rearguard and he already spotted the danger. He ran up to Braxus, who was getting ready to engage the threat by readying his bow.
"How many do see?" asked Ranma.
"About seven," Braxus said without looking up.
"How many arrows do we have?"
"Enough to take about four of them out. Did you manage to calm the villagers down?" asked Braxus as he counted the number of arrows he had.
"Yeah, they ready to leg it down to the village."
"Do you think they make it?"
"Of course, but they'll have to run quick until they reach the safety of the village."
"Good, once I give the word, we must act fast."
The war party was coming ever nearer and the villagers almost bolted until Ranma reassured them. Looking down the road, he could see the village and the defenders were ready to receive the homeless people.
"Go!" Ranma ordered as everyone started to run to the village.
Ranma and Braxus launched a volley of arrows at the Giak riders to provide cover as the villagers ran. They managed to nail four of the riders instantly due to their expertise with the bow, the rest just scattered to avoid the arrows.
The villagers had all made it to the village as Ranma gave a quick count to see if everyone was accounted for. It seemed that everyone was accounted for until a woman cried out.
"Where is my baby daughter?"
Braxus heard the woman's cries and looked back down the road. There, in the middle of the road, was a small child who had tripped over during the mad rush. Nearby her was a Kraan who had spotted her and dived down to make a quick meal of her.
"My baby!" the woman screamed as she saw her daughter was in danger.
"Calm down, we doing all we can to save her," Ranma reassured her as he spotted out of the corner of his eye Braxus running toward the child.
Braxus, seeing that he wouldn't reach her time, decided to baseball slide along the dusty road, and he managed to pick up the child just seconds from being taken by the swooping Kraan. It was about to make a return pass at Braxus who was holding the child until an arrow struck it right in the eye. Not wasting any more time, Braxus got to his feet and immediately ran for the village before the rest of them turn up.
The mother was eternally grateful for Braxus' efforts in saving her baby daughter as he returned the girl back to her mother.
"You did great, bro," Ranma said as he patted him on the back.
"Thanks Ranma. We can't stay long we must continue our mission."
"You're right, we leave at first light." They decided to get some rest and food before they left the village.
***
Next day
We see Ranma and Braxus currently treading through the muddy ground as they head eastwards along the water's edge of the river Eledil. The only way to cross the river and reach Holmgard was a stone bridge. Moving carefully through the woods and using their Kai skill of camouflage as an extra precaution, so far Ranma and Braxus had avoided numerous patrols and scouts of the Darklords' forces.
"Are you sure this is the only way to cross the river?" asked Ranma as he kept a lookout for Giak war parties or scouts.
"Yeah, the Alema Bridge is the only way to cross the river. We don't have time to cross the river ourselves," replied Braxus as he checked his map.
"You know that the bridge will be one of the main objectives that the Darklord forces will try to occupy and defend."
"We really don't have a choice. If it is under enemy control, we will have to fight our way across it," Braxus replied.
On the outside, Braxus looked confident and was in high spirits but inside he was unsure of himself that they would both make it. He didn't want to tell his brother of what he was really feeling for the sake of morale.
"Yeah but..." was all Ranma said before Braxus interrupted him by placing his finger on his lips.
"Quiet. Can you heard that?" whispered Braxus as Ranma listened to the noise of the background.
What Braxus heard was the sound of a fierce battle. The sound of men and beast could be heard echoing through the forest, and the clash of steel swords. Quickly the two raced towards the sound of where the battle was being fought. Once they left the woodland and entered into the clearing, they were able to see what was happening
What they saw was two forces engaged in a fierce battle and they looked like they were fighting over the bridge that Ranma and Braxus were meant to cross. On one side were the forces of the Darklords and on the other side were the human defenders. Braxus immediately recognised the human soldier as he saw the war banner that indicated that they were the Sommerlund army, led by Crown Prince Pelethar of Sommerlund. From Braxus' experience, judging from the fight it looked like a losing battle unless reinforcements came soon.
In the midst of the fierce battle, Braxus spotted Prince Pelethar, the King's son, in the forefront of the battle and he was currently in combat with a large grey Gourgaz, which was twice the height of him. Suddenly, the Prince fell, wounded by an arrow shot by one Giak archers, the arrow impaled into his side.
Without hesitation, Ranma charged forward to save the Prince and engaged the Gourgaz while Braxus dragged the Prince away from the battle. Judging from the wound that the arrow caused it would need immediate attention; otherwise the Prince would die. Not wanting this to happen, Braxus ordered some of the Prince's bodyguards to form a protective wall around him and the prince as arrows whistled past Braxus' head. Using his Kai discipline of Healing, he started to heal some of the damage.
Ranma on the other hand was having a difficult time fighting off the Gourgaz who was blocking the bridge. A Gourgaz was a cold-blooded reptilian creature and was twice the height of Ranma.
'Why do I have to fight the biggest and baddest of them all?' Ranma thought as he parried the Gourgaz's huge battleaxe with his sword. He could hear the Giak behind the Gourgaz encouraging him to kill this puny human that dared stand in their way.
"Err... Braxus, a little help?" Ranma said as he dodged another swipe from the Gourgaz.
"Not now, Ranma, I have to save the prince first!" replied Braxus as he was still attending the wounds of the fallen prince.
"Okay then," Ranma said as he focused on the Gourgaz that was hell bent on killing him.
Although the Gourgaz was much tougher and stronger than Ranma, it was still slow, and Ranma was able to find gaps in the monster's defenses. After three minutes of intense fighting, the Gourgaz started to weaken to the wounds inflicted and was staggering near the edge of bridge.
'This is my chance,' thought Ranma as he ran up to the staggering Gourgaz and drop kicked it in the chest. The blow from Ranma's kick caused the Gourgaz to tumble over the edge of the bridge and into the water.
As the Giant Gourgaz washed down the river, the Giaks cursed Ranma for defeating their champion and started to fall back from the bridge. Soon the Prince's soldiers were able to reclaim the bridge from the Giak soldiers due to Ranma's efforts.
Ranma walked over to where Braxus and the fallen Prince were.
"Braxus, how is the Prince doing?" asked Ranma as he sat down on a nearby log, exhausted.
Braxus finished attending the wounds on the Prince and looked up at Ranma.
"He will live. Lucky for him I was able to heal him quickly enough with what I learned from my Kai master and my mother. His condition is stabilising but he is quite weak right now," Braxus explained. The Prince slowly rose from where he was lying.
"Prince Pelethar, you need your rest," pleaded Braxus but the Prince shook his head, as he wanted to say something.
"Kai Lords, I wish to thank you for saving my life but I ask one of you to take a message to my father the King," Pelethar said in a weak voice.
"What is this message, Prince Pelethar?" asked Ranma.
"Tell the king the enemy is strong and with our current forces, we cannot hold them without reinforcements. The king must seek that which is in Durenor or all is lost," was all Pelethar had to say before he fell unconscious. Braxus immediately checked his condition and sighed in relief as he had just fallen asleep.
"Ranma, I will stay and defend the Prince. The bridge must remain in our hands until reinforcements come from Holmgard. I want you to go to Holmgard and take the Prince's horse," Braxus said.
"But I thought that we be going together to Holmgard?" asked Ranma as he was a bit wary of leaving his brother here.
"It's important that we hold the bridge to slow down the Darklords' forces advance. Also it will be must faster to get there if one of us goes, and it will be less hard to track," explained Braxus.
"But still..." Ranma replied.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. So get going!"
"Okay, okay, I'm going, see you in Holmgard," replied Ranma as he eventually gave in to Braxus' request.
"Yeah, see you in Holmgard. I'll cover your back when you leave here as there's bound to be ambushers along the path."
"Well if you're going to cover my back, I think you will need this," Ranma said as he unsung his silver bow and handled it to his brother.
Braxus accepted Ranma silver bow.
"What don't you trust me in covering your back Ranma?" Braxus asked.
"I do trust you brother, but this will guarantees you that you will cover my back as I go down there." Ranma pointed to the area of clearing.
Braxus nodded and started to find a good sniper spot along the bridge.
As he saw Ranma get on the horse, he asked some of the Prince's men to help clear the path for Ranma. He went to spot where he could see clearly the path that Ranma was about to follow. Placing some arrows on the ground, he prepared himself to take out any threat to Ranma as he rode. Braxus notices the craftsmanship on the bow and knew that this was a rare item as he tested the bowstrings.
"Ready Wild Horse? You've better live up to your name if you are going to leave this clearing. May Ishir protect you," Braxus said, as there was quite some distance till he reached some cover in the woods.
"As ready as always," Ranma said in a confident voice.
"Now go, run like the wind," shouted Braxus as he smacked the horse. Ranma's horse started galloping along the path. Braxus had expected there would be Giak soldiers hidden among the undergrowth near the path, and he spotted Giak soldiers emerging from their spots.
As each Giak ambusher tried to dislodge Ranma from the horse and prevent him from reaching Holmgard, one by one they were picked off by Braxus' bow skills and using his Kai discipline of weaponskill, he was able to do so with pinpoint accuracy. Eventually Ranma cleared the path and disappeared into the woods.
'Good Luck Ranma. You will need it,' thought Braxus.
Braxus then turned around to aid the Prince's men in preparation for another assault on the bridge. Sheathing his family short sword, he prepared himself for the oncoming assault.
Soon, fresh troops of Giak soldier renewed their assault followed by a flock of Kraan from the sky.
"For Kai and Sommerlund!" Swift Blade aka Braxus shouted a warcry to rally the weary defenders of the bridge.
TBC...
***
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or the Lone Wolf Series or any other characters. The rights to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi and for the Lone Wolf Series Joe Dever. This story is created solely for entertainment purposes and no profit as gained from this.
Note.
Kai Names:
* Ranma Stormgard (Saotome) - Wild Horse
* Braxus Stormgard - Swift Blade
Current Age:
* Ranma - 16yrs old
* Braxus - 17yrs old
* Banedon - 16yrs old
* Ranko - ???
Wild Horse of Kai
By Montymouse
' ' - Thought
" " - Speech
Chapter Six - Death and Betrayal
***
Spring in Sommerlund
As winter finally subsided, new growth was starting to flourish in Sommerlund, indicating that the spring had finally arrived. The first day of spring is known as Fehmarn to the people of Sommerlund as they consider this day as a holy day. On this day the Sommlending reaffirm their oath of allegiance to King Ulnar V who was the current king of Sommerlund. At the Kai monastery, preparations for a special festival were being organised, as all the Lords of the Kai would arrive as expected for this special occasion. It was a rare occasion to see so many Lords in one place at any time.
Today, the Lords of the Kai celebrate the Feast of Fehmarn.
Wise Heart and Rising Eagle, the most senior Lords in the monastery, were they're to greet the Lords as they arrived for this special day. Most of the young Kai warriors were really excited to see so many Kai Grand Masters while they attended the monastery and they were greatly honored by their presence. Some of them were considered legends as the tutors told their tales of heroism about their exploits and their adventures in history lessons.
Earlier ago before the Kai Lords started to arrive, Storm Hawk had ordered all the Kai Initiates to start cleaning up the monastery from the stables to the armoury as everything had to be perfect and arranged appropriately to the highest standard. Shining Star and Dancing Hawk were chosen as representatives of their current Kai group while Swift Blade was patrolling the monastery wall on the lookout. Ranma aka Wild Horse was of course outside the monastery collecting firewood again as he had managed to annoy Storm Hawk enough in his classes.
***
Somewhere in the Sommerlund forest, there was a lone individual trending carefully through the woods and undergrowth. The individual was wearing a grey cloak that hid his uniform underneath. Also, he was currently sporting a pigtail. This was of course Ranma Stormgard aka Wild Horse.
"He had to send me out collecting wood today didn't he. Today is one of the most important dates in the Kai year and he sent me out," Ranma muttered to himself as he collected the dry wood from forest floor.
Ten minutes later after collecting enough wood, Ranma started to return back to the Kai monastery hoping that he hadn't missed too much of the feast and that he would still be able to participate. Suddenly the whole area of the forest went completely dark.
'Huh, it's shouldn't be dark right now, maybe it's an eclipse,' Ranma first thought as he looked up.
What Ranma saw made his jaw drop in horror. It wasn't an eclipse as he had at first thought but a huge flock of black creatures flying overhead. The flock was heading straight for the Kai monastery. Seeing the danger, Ranma immediately dropped the bundle of wood that he was carrying and headed straight for the monastery to warn his Kai brothers.
'I must warn them of the danger,' Ranma thought as ran as fast as his feet could carry him.
He was almost there until he was knocked out cold by a low hanging branch which Ranma didn't spot as the whole woodland was covered in an unnatural darkness. Even with Ranma's keen eyesight in the dark, he didn't spot it as the darkness had a sinister nature to it. The last image he saw was the monastery in flames in the distance as the banner that represented the Kai order was slowly burning.
***
Watching the destruction of the Kai monastery from afar was a hunchbacked figure.
'Finally the order of Kai has annihilated and Sommerlund is ours for the taking. Naar would be certainly be pleased with this result,' thought the hunchbacked person as he saw the carefully laid out plan reached its potential and with success.
Suddenly a deadly cold voice spoke from behind the hunched back person.
"Make sure that ALL of the Kai warriors have been slain, Vonotar."
"Eck... Lord Zagarna, don't do that!" Vonotar said as he was spooked out by the voice.
"Calm yourself Vonotar, stop acting like a baby. Now give me the status report of phase one of our plan!" Darklord Zagarna demanded.
"Phase one was a complete success. The Kai monastery is destroyed and all the Kai warriors have been annihilated. We are currently looking for any Kai survivors that have survived our initial assault," Vonotar reported.
"Excellent. Our master Naar will be pleased. I will be leaving you with the task of clearing up and you will personally be held responsible IF anything goes wrong. I will be taking half of our forces to Toran to finish phase two of our Invasion," Zagarna said.
"But... But I wanted to handle phase two and get my final revenge on the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. It's not fair!"
"SILENCE! Vonotar you are given your orders, make sure that they're carried out," Zagarna hissed as he mounted a Zlanbeast to start phase two.
"Stupid arrogant Darklord, he thinks he's the boss around here," muttered Vonotar as he saw Zagarna trying to get all the glory in front of his master Naar.
"I heard that! I will pretend not to hear that, now go!" a voice shouted above him. It was Zagarna who was circling round above him.
"Ack... Yes my Lord." With that, Vonotar immediately set to the task of routing out any Kai survivors.
'How did he hear that?' Vonotar thought as he chanted a dark spell that he had been given as part of deal with Darklord Zagarna
Using his magical powers he was able to levitate himself above ground so he was floating as he led a group of Giak riders to begin their search. They were searching every inch of the immediate area of the Sommerlund forest, and he would have spotted Ranma lying unconscious in the woodland clearing. Vonotar would certainly have killed him if he had moved just a little to his left.
Suddenly Vonotar spotted something out of the corner of his eye and narrowly dodged a huge fireball. The two Giak riders next to him were not so lucky as the fireball struck them sending them spiralling down to the hard ground in flames.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Vonotar as he turned to face the direction from where the fireball had come. What he saw was a red haired female who was hovering just above the ground like him.
"Hey Voney over here!"
'Who is this witch?' thought Vonotar, as he demanded who she was.
"It's VONOTAR, and who the hell are you?"
"Ranko's the name. Come on Voney, come and get me!" She fired off another fireball towards Vonotar and his Giak riders to provoke them.
'Damn I missed. Might as well have some fun with Voney here,' Ranko thought as she raced off while making sure that Vonotar and his Giak warriors were pursuing her. Her main concern was keeping Ranma safe by leading them away from where Ranma was.
"AFTER HER! I want her head on a plate!" Vonotar dodged another incoming fireball as he and the rest of his Giak riders gave chase after the red haired figure.
***
After a few hours had passed Ranma was starting to wake up in the woodland. The sky was filled with dark clouds as a thick blanket of smoke was covering the forest sky.
'Did anyone get the number of that horse?' thought Ranma as he tried to shake off his dizziness and get his bearings. He also had a thumping headache from when he had struck that branch.
'The Monastery,' he immediately thought as he got to his feet and ran to the monastery in the hopes that he could still help his fellow Kai brothers.
By the time Ranma reached the monastery it was too late. The once proud monastery was now left in ruins and was still burning.
'Noooo, I'm too late,' Ranma cried out as he fell to his knees and surveyed the scene of destruction. Using his keen eyesight Ranma could see many bodies of both humans and Giaks scattered around the ruins of the monastery.
Running down the hill to the monastery, Ranma hoped that there would be some survivors of the massacre including his brother Braxus Stormgard. Looking around the scenes of death, Ranma could see so many of his Kai brothers slain including his two best friends Shining Star and Dancing Hawk but they hadn't died without a fight as dozens of Giak warriors were dead and scattered around them.
"May Ishir protect you in your after life, my friends," Ranma said as he gave a short Kai prayer for his fallen comrades.
Ranma didn't have time to bury his two friends as he was sure that the Darklords' forces would return to the scene soon. Carefully walking and surveying the ruins Ranma started to see that this attack was a carefully laid out plan because judging from the damage and accuracy of the attack it must have taken years of planning to kill off the entire order in one go.
'Where is he?' Ranma thought as he tried to identify his brother among the slain bodies.
After about ten minutes of searching for his brother, Ranma decided that he should leave the immediate area, as this was a hot spot as the Darklords' forces had finally invaded Sommerlund. Gathering what he could salvage from the ruins, he managed to find his bow and some other equipment to take with him but not too much because he had to travel light if he was able to escape the immediate area.
Climbing up the hill, Ranma turned around for the very last time to see the ruins of the monastery that he had called home for the last few years.
"I swear on my life that I will have my vengeance on those who are responsible for this massacre even if it takes a lifetime to do it." Ranma swore that he would do anything in his power to get his revenge on his fallen Kai brothers.
"You hear me Naar? You haven't won yet," Ranma shouted as he raised a clenched fist in the air as lightning somehow appeared behind him to make it more dramatic. Before he left he blinked a tearful eye as he left the monastery for the very last time into the dark woods.
***
Carefully walking through the woodland forest of Sommerlund, Ranma aka Wild Horse knew that the invasion of Sommerlund had begun and that he must warn the King of the immediate danger and that the Kai order has been annihilated. As he was about to cross a small stream, Ranma heard the noise of swords clashing and inhuman sounds made somewhere in the forest. Judging from Ranma's Kai senses he estimated that the fight was occurring to the left of him. Wanting to get even with those who had killed his Kai Brothers, Ranma quickly moved with such ease as a fish in water as he was using speed and agility to navigate through the forest.
Finally reaching the place where the fight was occurring, he watched what was unfolding in front of him. What he saw was a brief skirmish between two Giak riders on Kraans, which Ranma instantly recognised as one of the creatures that had taken part in the destruction of the Kai monastery. They were currently fighting against a grey cloaked character that seemed vaguely familiar to Ranma.
"AAWRAAAAAK!" the Kraan cried out.
"ORGADAK TAAG!" The Giak rider shot an arrow at the cloaked person.
The person moved with such speed and agility that he dodged the arrow with ease and skill.
"You need to try better than that, Giak scum!" the cloaked stranger shouted, as he pulled out his short sword from his cloak, which Ranma instantly recognised.
'Two against one, I like those odds,' the stranger thought as one of Giak riders swooped down towards him.
"Come on Giak, make my day!" taunted the stranger.
'It can't be,' Ranma thought with surprise. He didn't want to get his hopes up but he was sure that it was he. Wanting to confirm his suspicions he continued to watch the fight to try to make out the face which was hidden under a cloak.
As the winged Kraan swooped toward the stranger, he ducked and thrust his short sword right into its belly, which spent the creature crashing through woods behind him, and sent the Giak riding on it flying right into a tree head first, cracking its skull and neck on impact.
As the cloaked person got to his feet, the hood that hid his face fell back. Ranma's jaw dropped as he recognised whom it was.
'He's alive, my brother Braxus,' Ranma thought, overjoyed to see that his brother had survived the massacre; but the question was, how?
Wanting to make sure that this stranger was indeed his brother, he continued to watch the fight. During his trekking thought the woods, there had been many of Naar's agents around dressed in the uniforms of Kai warriors so that they would root out any survivors but Ranma was able to sense their evil auras and managed to avoid them. He would interfere if he was in danger but he was sure that this was his brother.
The second Giak rider, seeing that his comrade was taken out with ease, screamed in outrage. Swooping down as the first rider had before, the stranger dodged the attack but didn't see the Kraan's claw smacking him in the back sending him crashing to the ground. The stranger seemed knocked out as the Giak got off his Kraan and was about to finish him off.
"EK! EK! EK! ORGADAK ZEJAR GOOGA ZEGOR!" The Giak warriors walked up to finish him off, thinking that this human was unconscious. Ranma was about to intervene to save his brother when he noticed that he was holding his short sword in his hand in readiness.
'Closer, just a bit closer,' the stranger thought as he sensed the Giak approaching ever nearer. When he was almost on top of him, Braxus rolled to his left, narrowly avoiding the axe and immediately got up.
"Die, vile spawn of Naar!" he screamed as his short sword chopped off the Giak warrior's head with ease.
He then fell to his knees in exhaustion and was resting to get his breath back forgetting one thing... the Kraan.
"AWAAKWAWAK! AWAAAKWAAK!" the Kraan cried out as it dove down.
'Oh crap,' he thought, as he didn't have time to defend himself from the attack of the Kraan.
Suddenly Ranma jumped out from where he was hiding to engage the Kraan before it reached his brother.
"Will you shut up? I've had enough of your annoying cries and cackles!" Ranma shouted as he chopped off one of its wings with his sword.
'I bet there isn't any other creature as annoying as this,' Ranma thought as he saw the creature crashing down.
***
Somewhere in another Dimension e.g. Rumiko Takashashi universe
A certain crazed black leotard-clad rhythmic gymnastics martial artist sneezed as she hopped from roof to roof in Nerima.
***
Ranma scanned the area to see if they were any more of those creatures about. Sensing nothing, he walked over to the cloaked stranger who looked up with surprise.
"Ra... Ranma is that you?" he said with surprise as he sheathed his short sword.
"Yes, it's me. I thought you were dead?" Ranma gave his brother Braxus a great big hug. He was glad that someone apart from him had survived the massacre.
"The same for me, too. Before the attack, Wise Heart told me to fetch you before the feast started as it was inappropriate sending you out like that," Braxus replied as he returned the brotherly hug having thought that Ranma was dead too.
"Yeah but we must warn the King of the news and that the Darklords' forces have begun their invasion of Sommerlund."
"That would be the most appropriate plan. Come, we better get moving before any more of this kind starting appearing."
"Did you find any other survivors?" asked Ranma, wanting to know if anyone else survived. Braxus shook his head.
"Haven't seen anyone since I left the ruins of the monastery. How about you?"
"None, I'm afraid that we are the only Kai warriors left in Sommerlund," Ranma said in a sad tone.
"We must avenge our fallen brothers and warn the king," Braxus said to raise their morale. Ranma nodded and they got up and headed straight to Holmgard.
***
As our only two Kai warrior survivors were heading south toward the capital city of Holmgard, following hot on their trail was the Darklords' forces that were responsible for the devastating attack that had nearly wiped out the entire Kai order in Sommerlund. Swift Blade aka Braxus decided to keep off the main roads to avoid detection and the dangers that were still present.
Of course, by taking this route it meant that it would take longer to get to Holmgard, as they had to navigate through dense woodland. Wild Horse aka Ranma agreed it was the best plan to follow as they were seriously outnumbered. They must reach the city of Holmgard in order to warn King Ulnar V of the news that the Kai order had been destroyed and that the Darklords' forces had begun their invasion of Sommerlund.
As Ranma and Braxus were going through the dense woodlands, it was Ranma who heard the sounds of a battle that was occurring just fifty feet ahead of them. Deciding to find out what it was, Ranma crept forward slowly while using his Kai discipline of camouflage as a precaution so that he wouldn't be spotted as he moved to investigate. Also, he signalled silently to his brother Braxus to keep an active lookout.
As Ranma crept forward, he could hear the sound of an intense battle, of shouting and noise like thunder getting closer and closer as he made his way forward. As Ranma edged closer to the site of the battle, he noticed that it was in the ruins of an old building that used to be part of an old forest temple. Getting a good vantagepoint among the ruins, he could see what was happening. What he saw surprised him as he could see roughly twelve charred and smoking Giak soldiers scattered near the entrance to the temple ruins.
Ranma could hear the battle being fought within the temple and crept silently further into the ruins. After a few minutes of moving quietly among the ruins till he reached a clearing, Ranma could make out the person who had taken out the Giaks that he had previously seen, and was currently zapping Giak soldiers left and right of him with blue lightning bolts. From where Ranma was he could see that the person was tired and was wearing a purple robe embroidered with star symbols, which Ranma instantly recognised.
'BANEDON!' thought Ranma as he saw his old friend fighting off the Giak Soldiers with his magical powers.
From the of the battle, it seemed Banedon was winning for the moment but as tides of Giak soldiers came flooding in, Ranma could see that Banedon was beginning to feel exhausted and would soon be too weak to fight.
'Banedon needs my help,' thought Ranma as he immediately charged forward to help his friend in need.
As Ranma made his way forward to aid Banedon, it was at that moment a group of five Giaks decided to charge in with their spears in the hope of stabbing this human who had slain half of their war party.
'I don't think I can hold this up any longer,' thought Banedon as he raised his left hand and chanted a battle spell as a bolt of blue lightning shot out from his fingertips into the group of snarling Giak soldiers.
As the blue lightning struck the assault group, Banedon didn't noticed that one of the Giak soldiers had managed to sneak around him and was currently on top of a pillar with a jagged dagger in his mouth.
Seeing that Banedon was unaware of the single Giak soldier that was about to attack him from behind, Ranma charged forward and called out a warning Banedon.
"BANEDON, BEHIND YOU!" shouted Ranma as drew out his sword in the hope that he would make in time to save Banedon.
Hearing a shout, Banedon looked to his left and saw his friend Ranma rushing out from the ruins.
"Ranma! Thank Ishir you came. What's behind me?" Banedon shouted back as he turned around to see the Giak perched on top of the pillar behind him.
The Giak that was behind him leapt from the pillar towards Banedon with the intention of stabbing this annoying human in the heart with his jagged dagger. Ranma was too far away to prevent the Giak's attack on Banedon, who was immobilised with fear as he saw the Giak bearing down on him with the dagger.
"ORGADAK TAAG!!! ...Urrgg," was the only thing that the Giak said as two arrows slammed into his chest and pinned him to the pillar.
Shaking out of his moment of frozenness, Banedon turned to see Braxus coming out of the ruins with a silver bow in his hands.
"Braxus!" shouted Banedon as he saw that his old friend had saved his life, just like old times.
"Come Ranma, let's aid Banedon over there," shouted Braxus as he engaged the nearest Giak soldier while Ranma aided Banedon who was having trouble dealing with three Giak at the same time.
Blue lightning and steel were engaged in the skirmish. Among the group of Giak soldiers was a black clad Giak that Ranma assumed was the leader of the war party. The black clad Giak was indeed the leader and as he saw these two humans coming to the aid of the human wizard and slaying a couple more of his Giak soldiers, he decided it was time to call a retreat into the woods.
"OGOT! OGOT!" he shouted out to his remaining troops who responded by fleeing into the safety of the woods. Before the leader joined the rest of his fleeing soldiers, he turned around and screamed out, "RANEG ROGAG OK - ORGADAKA OKAK ROGAG GAJ!" before joining the rest of retreating soldiers in the woods.
Seeing that the skirmish had been won, Ranma and Braxus sheathed their weapons. Braxus decided to make a quick count of the dead Giaks that were scattered among the ruins; it was about twenty-five. Seeing there was no immediate danger, both Ranma and Braxus made their way towards Banedon who was sitting down on large stone block trying to regain some of his strength that he had used up in the skirmish.
"Thank Ishir that you two came to aid me, my powers were nearly drained and had you not come to my aid, I fear I would have ended my days atop a Giak lance." Banedon greeted his two friends that had come in the nick of time.
"Hey, what are friends for?" replied Braxus as he greeted Banedon in the same way.
"Banedon, what are you doing here?" asked Ranma as he sat down opposite Banedon. He too was exhausted from the battle.
"Well... My Guildmasters had asked me to deliver a message to your Kai Lords, and seeing that this was an opportunity to see you again, I volunteered along with two other fellow companions. We were about half way to the Kai monastery when a party of Giak warriors ambushed us and we were split up. I fear that my companions are dead now," explained Banedon.
"Here is the message that I supposed to give to your masters. It's been opened and it's a warning that the festival should be cancelled as there has been reported a vast army beyond the Durncrag range. We must give this to your masters." Banedon removed vellum envelope from inside his robes and handed to Ranma.
"What's wrong?" asked Banedon as he saw the sad look on Ranma's face as he readied the message.
"We're the only two surviving Kai warriors left. The Kai monastery has been destroyed and all the Kai Lords have been slain," Braxus said as he kept a watch out for any more attacks.
"We barely managed to escape the slaughter with our lives," added Ranma, remembering all the friends he had made at the Kai monastery dead. Ranma then explained in detail to Banedon about the massive army comprised of Giaks mounted on Zlanbeast and Kraan that had attacked during the festival and almost annihilated every single member of the Kai order.
"It seems that we have been betrayed," Banedon said as he listened to Ranma.
"How?" demanded Ranma, wanting to know the person who had betrayed them and Sommerlund.
"Well, there was a rumour that Vonotar had allied himself with the Darklords. Vonotar used to be a brother of my order and was said to have discovered the forbidden mysteries of the Black Arts. I met him once and I didn't like the feeling I was getting from him; it felt darker and more sinister than I expected from a brother of the Crystal Star. Anyway, he denounced the Brotherhood and killed one of our Elders," explained Banedon.
'Wait till I get my hands on him,' thought Banedon as he got up from where he sitting feeling much better.
"We'd better leave this place before any more of those Giaks come looking for us and make us pay in revenge," Braxus said. He could sense that if they stayed, they would certainly be killed.
"Good idea. I must return to my Guild and bring back the news to my Guildmasters. Before I go Ranma, I want you to have this." Banedon removed a gold necklace that he was wearing and gave it to Ranma.
"Thanks Banedon," Ranma said gratefully as he put it around his neck.
"It's a symbol of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star and will bring you good luck. I think that you will need it," Banedon said as he bid farewell to his two friends and headed immediately towards Toran, while Ranma and Braxus headed in the opposite direction to Holmgard to warn the King.
***
The whole area of the Sommerlund forest was filled with danger and without the protection of the Kai Lords to drive the Darklords' forces back, the people were in danger, especially those in rural villages. Ranma and Braxus tried their best to help these people but there was so much to do as they were woefully outnumbered despite their considerable skill.
Along the way they had encountered Giaks, Kraan and even Drakkarim warriors as they made their way through the forest. It was a sad sight to see so many villages being burnt down, as the Darklords wanted nothing but the total annihilation of the Sommlending. The current forces of Sommerlund that were repelling the advances of the enemy forces were not enough, seriously outnumbered two to one.
We now see them helping the villagers to get to safety and into shelter after their village were razed down to the ground just a few miles to the north. The people look tired and hungry but their spirits refuse to be broken by the invaders, causing Ranma to admire the people for their courage and determination. The group was mainly comprised of women and children as the men had stayed to fight off the invaders from their lands. Hopefully they would reach the village of Searsby where they would be safe. They were currently three minutes away from the village and so far everything was fine until Ranma heard the cries of the group.
"Kraan, Kraan! Hide yourselves!"
"People, try to remain calm and when I say "Go!" run to the village. We will handle this." Ranma tried to calm the scared people, and they listened to what their protector was saying.
"Thank Ishir for your aid, Kai Lord" the people said.
Looking down the road, Ranma could see a war party of Kraan riders heading towards them, intent of slaughtering the villagers that Ranma and Braxus were protecting. He could see his brother who was acting as the rearguard and he already spotted the danger. He ran up to Braxus, who was getting ready to engage the threat by readying his bow.
"How many do see?" asked Ranma.
"About seven," Braxus said without looking up.
"How many arrows do we have?"
"Enough to take about four of them out. Did you manage to calm the villagers down?" asked Braxus as he counted the number of arrows he had.
"Yeah, they ready to leg it down to the village."
"Do you think they make it?"
"Of course, but they'll have to run quick until they reach the safety of the village."
"Good, once I give the word, we must act fast."
The war party was coming ever nearer and the villagers almost bolted until Ranma reassured them. Looking down the road, he could see the village and the defenders were ready to receive the homeless people.
"Go!" Ranma ordered as everyone started to run to the village.
Ranma and Braxus launched a volley of arrows at the Giak riders to provide cover as the villagers ran. They managed to nail four of the riders instantly due to their expertise with the bow, the rest just scattered to avoid the arrows.
The villagers had all made it to the village as Ranma gave a quick count to see if everyone was accounted for. It seemed that everyone was accounted for until a woman cried out.
"Where is my baby daughter?"
Braxus heard the woman's cries and looked back down the road. There, in the middle of the road, was a small child who had tripped over during the mad rush. Nearby her was a Kraan who had spotted her and dived down to make a quick meal of her.
"My baby!" the woman screamed as she saw her daughter was in danger.
"Calm down, we doing all we can to save her," Ranma reassured her as he spotted out of the corner of his eye Braxus running toward the child.
Braxus, seeing that he wouldn't reach her time, decided to baseball slide along the dusty road, and he managed to pick up the child just seconds from being taken by the swooping Kraan. It was about to make a return pass at Braxus who was holding the child until an arrow struck it right in the eye. Not wasting any more time, Braxus got to his feet and immediately ran for the village before the rest of them turn up.
The mother was eternally grateful for Braxus' efforts in saving her baby daughter as he returned the girl back to her mother.
"You did great, bro," Ranma said as he patted him on the back.
"Thanks Ranma. We can't stay long we must continue our mission."
"You're right, we leave at first light." They decided to get some rest and food before they left the village.
***
Next day
We see Ranma and Braxus currently treading through the muddy ground as they head eastwards along the water's edge of the river Eledil. The only way to cross the river and reach Holmgard was a stone bridge. Moving carefully through the woods and using their Kai skill of camouflage as an extra precaution, so far Ranma and Braxus had avoided numerous patrols and scouts of the Darklords' forces.
"Are you sure this is the only way to cross the river?" asked Ranma as he kept a lookout for Giak war parties or scouts.
"Yeah, the Alema Bridge is the only way to cross the river. We don't have time to cross the river ourselves," replied Braxus as he checked his map.
"You know that the bridge will be one of the main objectives that the Darklord forces will try to occupy and defend."
"We really don't have a choice. If it is under enemy control, we will have to fight our way across it," Braxus replied.
On the outside, Braxus looked confident and was in high spirits but inside he was unsure of himself that they would both make it. He didn't want to tell his brother of what he was really feeling for the sake of morale.
"Yeah but..." was all Ranma said before Braxus interrupted him by placing his finger on his lips.
"Quiet. Can you heard that?" whispered Braxus as Ranma listened to the noise of the background.
What Braxus heard was the sound of a fierce battle. The sound of men and beast could be heard echoing through the forest, and the clash of steel swords. Quickly the two raced towards the sound of where the battle was being fought. Once they left the woodland and entered into the clearing, they were able to see what was happening
What they saw was two forces engaged in a fierce battle and they looked like they were fighting over the bridge that Ranma and Braxus were meant to cross. On one side were the forces of the Darklords and on the other side were the human defenders. Braxus immediately recognised the human soldier as he saw the war banner that indicated that they were the Sommerlund army, led by Crown Prince Pelethar of Sommerlund. From Braxus' experience, judging from the fight it looked like a losing battle unless reinforcements came soon.
In the midst of the fierce battle, Braxus spotted Prince Pelethar, the King's son, in the forefront of the battle and he was currently in combat with a large grey Gourgaz, which was twice the height of him. Suddenly, the Prince fell, wounded by an arrow shot by one Giak archers, the arrow impaled into his side.
Without hesitation, Ranma charged forward to save the Prince and engaged the Gourgaz while Braxus dragged the Prince away from the battle. Judging from the wound that the arrow caused it would need immediate attention; otherwise the Prince would die. Not wanting this to happen, Braxus ordered some of the Prince's bodyguards to form a protective wall around him and the prince as arrows whistled past Braxus' head. Using his Kai discipline of Healing, he started to heal some of the damage.
Ranma on the other hand was having a difficult time fighting off the Gourgaz who was blocking the bridge. A Gourgaz was a cold-blooded reptilian creature and was twice the height of Ranma.
'Why do I have to fight the biggest and baddest of them all?' Ranma thought as he parried the Gourgaz's huge battleaxe with his sword. He could hear the Giak behind the Gourgaz encouraging him to kill this puny human that dared stand in their way.
"Err... Braxus, a little help?" Ranma said as he dodged another swipe from the Gourgaz.
"Not now, Ranma, I have to save the prince first!" replied Braxus as he was still attending the wounds of the fallen prince.
"Okay then," Ranma said as he focused on the Gourgaz that was hell bent on killing him.
Although the Gourgaz was much tougher and stronger than Ranma, it was still slow, and Ranma was able to find gaps in the monster's defenses. After three minutes of intense fighting, the Gourgaz started to weaken to the wounds inflicted and was staggering near the edge of bridge.
'This is my chance,' thought Ranma as he ran up to the staggering Gourgaz and drop kicked it in the chest. The blow from Ranma's kick caused the Gourgaz to tumble over the edge of the bridge and into the water.
As the Giant Gourgaz washed down the river, the Giaks cursed Ranma for defeating their champion and started to fall back from the bridge. Soon the Prince's soldiers were able to reclaim the bridge from the Giak soldiers due to Ranma's efforts.
Ranma walked over to where Braxus and the fallen Prince were.
"Braxus, how is the Prince doing?" asked Ranma as he sat down on a nearby log, exhausted.
Braxus finished attending the wounds on the Prince and looked up at Ranma.
"He will live. Lucky for him I was able to heal him quickly enough with what I learned from my Kai master and my mother. His condition is stabilising but he is quite weak right now," Braxus explained. The Prince slowly rose from where he was lying.
"Prince Pelethar, you need your rest," pleaded Braxus but the Prince shook his head, as he wanted to say something.
"Kai Lords, I wish to thank you for saving my life but I ask one of you to take a message to my father the King," Pelethar said in a weak voice.
"What is this message, Prince Pelethar?" asked Ranma.
"Tell the king the enemy is strong and with our current forces, we cannot hold them without reinforcements. The king must seek that which is in Durenor or all is lost," was all Pelethar had to say before he fell unconscious. Braxus immediately checked his condition and sighed in relief as he had just fallen asleep.
"Ranma, I will stay and defend the Prince. The bridge must remain in our hands until reinforcements come from Holmgard. I want you to go to Holmgard and take the Prince's horse," Braxus said.
"But I thought that we be going together to Holmgard?" asked Ranma as he was a bit wary of leaving his brother here.
"It's important that we hold the bridge to slow down the Darklords' forces advance. Also it will be must faster to get there if one of us goes, and it will be less hard to track," explained Braxus.
"But still..." Ranma replied.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. So get going!"
"Okay, okay, I'm going, see you in Holmgard," replied Ranma as he eventually gave in to Braxus' request.
"Yeah, see you in Holmgard. I'll cover your back when you leave here as there's bound to be ambushers along the path."
"Well if you're going to cover my back, I think you will need this," Ranma said as he unsung his silver bow and handled it to his brother.
Braxus accepted Ranma silver bow.
"What don't you trust me in covering your back Ranma?" Braxus asked.
"I do trust you brother, but this will guarantees you that you will cover my back as I go down there." Ranma pointed to the area of clearing.
Braxus nodded and started to find a good sniper spot along the bridge.
As he saw Ranma get on the horse, he asked some of the Prince's men to help clear the path for Ranma. He went to spot where he could see clearly the path that Ranma was about to follow. Placing some arrows on the ground, he prepared himself to take out any threat to Ranma as he rode. Braxus notices the craftsmanship on the bow and knew that this was a rare item as he tested the bowstrings.
"Ready Wild Horse? You've better live up to your name if you are going to leave this clearing. May Ishir protect you," Braxus said, as there was quite some distance till he reached some cover in the woods.
"As ready as always," Ranma said in a confident voice.
"Now go, run like the wind," shouted Braxus as he smacked the horse. Ranma's horse started galloping along the path. Braxus had expected there would be Giak soldiers hidden among the undergrowth near the path, and he spotted Giak soldiers emerging from their spots.
As each Giak ambusher tried to dislodge Ranma from the horse and prevent him from reaching Holmgard, one by one they were picked off by Braxus' bow skills and using his Kai discipline of weaponskill, he was able to do so with pinpoint accuracy. Eventually Ranma cleared the path and disappeared into the woods.
'Good Luck Ranma. You will need it,' thought Braxus.
Braxus then turned around to aid the Prince's men in preparation for another assault on the bridge. Sheathing his family short sword, he prepared himself for the oncoming assault.
Soon, fresh troops of Giak soldier renewed their assault followed by a flock of Kraan from the sky.
"For Kai and Sommerlund!" Swift Blade aka Braxus shouted a warcry to rally the weary defenders of the bridge.
TBC...
***