The Sacrificing

When the group arrived in Belgen, the guards began to jump in fear. They assumed that the warriors were demons in disguise. Luckily, the misunderstanding was cleared up before anyone got hurt. Namely the two of them, as Rasha would probably have beaten them up.

"We're sorry," one stated, "Our town has been besieged by demons for some time now. They demand young women in return for sparing the lives of our people."

"So you just give them up innocent women!?" exclaimed Lyle, full of rage.

The second replied, "Yes. We've got another problem on our hands. It might be even greater than demons. One of our best warriors, Ihrie, has gone missing. We think it has something to do with the last girl we sent to be sacrificed, a childish klutz named Fam."

Lyle looked at him. "Where do you hold these girls? Is there a way to save them?"

"On a dais beyond the caves to the west," the guard stated, "But I don't think you can outrun the demon. There's nothing we can do for Fam. But if you can stop him from attacking again, other girls will not have to be killed in order to protect us."

Lyle decided to go and save the girl. Rasha was a bit skeptical, but she would do anything that would make Lyle happy. Migel just sighed, but he followed anyway.

* * *

In the caves, they saw a short raven-haired warrior standing before them. He had long hair and teal eyes. His sleeveless tunic was red, and his breeches were tan. The armor he had on was a Steel Brest, Steel Wrists, a Headband, Ruby Greaves, and a Fire Ring. The steel belt that held his breeches up had some Ruby plates that protected his sides, and he carried a Steel Rapier.

"Excuse me kid, you shouldn't be here. It's kind of dangerous. Go back to town, we'll handle it," Migel told him. He went forward and grabbed the boy's hand, and began pulling him to town.

Suddenly, the boy turned around and smacked Migel upside his head. The young warrior asked the other, "What did I do wrong? I was only trying to help. A little boy like you shouldn't be her."

The kid looked mad. "Boy! Boy! I'm no boy bucko. My name is Ihrie, and I'm a girl, if your small brain can grasp the concept of a female warrior. And I'm not a kid, I'm 22-years-old!"

"So you must be the warrior who went missing," Lyle stated, "Why have you come to this dangerous place? You should have at least brought someone along with you."

"I've come to find my sister. Her name is Fam, and she was taken to the dais to the west. She's going to be sacrificed to the demon, and I'm the only one who wants to save her. Everyone else just wants to live in peace. But I won't sit for it anymore, I'll save Fam and kill the demon," Ihrie vowed.

Rasha requested, "Then let us come with you. We are going to stop this demon anyway, so we might as well let you come around. Not that I need any help, but you will."

Ihrie beamed. "Thank you, I'm indebted to you."

* * *

When they arrived at the dais, they saw a pair of guards standing by the top. Siting on the cushion on the top was a young squirrel girl with blond hair, blue eyes, a yellow furred tail, and brown fur. She was wearing a white bodysuit and a yellow skirt. She had on an Aqua Guarder for armor, as well as Tan Bracers, a Hairpin, Tan Ankles, and a Yellow Ring. No weapon was in her hand.

"This is Fam?" asked Lyle, "But you said that the two of you were sisters."

"We are, it's just that Fam is adopted. When I was a baby, this woman came into town with her baby, wrapped in a blanket. The woman made it as far as my house before she fainted. My parents took the two of them in, but the woman didn't make it. The last thing she said was 'take care of Fam for me'. So we raised the child as my twin sister. It was about the same time as the war between squirrels and humans that happened out east. Fam's mother was a human, but her unknown father was a squirrel. We've tried to find him, but the only clue is a pendant she owns," Ihrie admitted.

Just then, Fam called, "Hi Ihrie. I knew you'd come to save me. I wasn't scared at all, I trusted you to come. How did you get here anyway? Who are these people that you're traveling with?"

Rasha sweatdropped. 'This girl sure can talk. Where does she get all of her energy anyway? I sure could use some of this on our journey, all of us can.'

"Don't worry Fam," Ihrie assured her, "I won't let the demon take you. I'll just go and get these nice gentlemen over here to let you go." She walked over to the two guards.'

"Now, now, now Ihrie. There's no need to be hasty. You know that if we don't sacrifice Fam, the demon will destroy the whole village. What is her life if everyone dies?" they asked her.

Ihrie yelled, "I don't care if the legendary Sinistraels came and asked for her in return for sparing the village. She's my sister, and I won't let you hurt her."

Suddenly, a large gargoyle came out of the clouds and descended on the group. It grabbed Fam in its claws, and returned to the sky. Then it flew to the tower in the north.

Lyle boiled with anger. "We must go follow the demon right away. If we can get there before he does whatever he wants with her, we can still save her. Don't worry Ihrie, we'll rescue Fam."

Ihrie smiled. She then began to head onwards to the tower. The others followed close behind. They wouldn't fail, no innocents were going to die anymore.

- - - -

The part about meeting Ihrie was completely made up by me. She and Fam are playing one role split into two, as you saw in the beginning. So I made Fam get captured, but her alter ego goes to save her. Think of Ihrie as a cross between Jerin's concerned friend, and the elf child herself.