Aeron fumed as he walked beside Soyee and Nallia. The two girls sighed and
tried to calm Aeron down. Ever since finding out that his sister had run
away to the most dangerous place that she could run off to, Aeron's been
angry. His angry naturally directed itself to Tier, the man who gave the
idea of entering the enemy base to Myria.
"Why in the world would she do something so stupid?"
For the hundredth time, Aeron ranted and raged. "No! She had to do something that could get herself killed, or worse!"
The group sighed again. Collectively the tried to ignore the young man but could not help but worry themselves. Tier was quiet as he headed the way and leads the rest of them towards the harbor. They had rented a cruiser. A beautiful Comodo entertainment ship.
Aeron stopped raving to take a breath. Nallia smiled at the ship and started walking up to Tier. So we're going to the most dangerous place that we can on the most beautiful ship that I've seen?"
Tier nodded gravely. He couldn't help but worry about Myria. She knew about her parents. She knew that they were the two spies and she knew that Tier knew where they were. Myria must have been angry at him when she found out about that. Entirely consumed with this idea, Tier didn't even realize everyone had already headed onto the ship and was waiting for him.
Looking up, Tier saw Aeron glare at him. Myria wasn't the only one that must have been mad at him. Talking to the sailor nearby, Tier arranged for them to land a ways away from the Eastern camp. Taking care to tell the sailor to close most of the entertainment lights, Tier started to settle down for the ride.
Meanwhile, Myria was wondering what she was doing. Having stolen away on a merchant ship, Myria was hiding behind the fishing nets when the ship suddenly stopped. The crew started taking out boxes and getting things unloaded. In the confusion, Myria climbed out of her hiding place and jumped overboard. Landing in the shallow water, she swam the rest of the way to the shore.
Drenched and feeling rather cold, Myria ran into the forest to try to get some cover. In the forest, Myria had expected to find a dark dry surrounding but was surprised to know that the forest was damp with new rain and a loud ruckus was heard from ahead of her. Trying to conceal herself in a nearby bush, she saw two men laughing and slapping each other heartedly on the back.
"Oh we goin' ta get the Comodo soon!"
"Yah! Comodo food, fun and women!"
The two man rudely burped and staggered to the west of her hiding place.
Gently, Myria removed herself and followed the two men. Looking past two large strange looking trees, Myria saw a camp settled around a small drinking hole. Many soldiers were laughing and drinking before a forest camp fire. Studying the soldiers, she moved to the side and examined the road that the camp was blocking. With her eyes, she followed the straight road until it headed off to the horizon. That was her destination...
Brent staggered around the deck of the ship in horror. There was no way he could make it all the way across the ocean! Taking care to heave overboard and not on the ship, he thought about all the things he could be doing right now. Gasping for air, he felt a gentle hand rub his back.
Looking up, he accepted the handkerchief that Soyee offered to him. Wiping the vomit from his mouth, he nodded thanks and watched as the girl's hands starting glowing. Slowly warmth engulfed him and he was embraced in a comfortable glow. The other passengers on the ship watched as Brent started to calm down. His breathing slowed and he slowly walked downstairs to the cabins. His tension was removed and he easily fell asleep.
Soyee walked back upstairs and the rest of the crew quietly smiled to each other. Quietly Nallia mouthed to Soyee, "Yay! No more vomit for three to four hours!"
Tier watched the group and listened to their chatter. Would they be ready for their first real war? What would happen if anything happened to them? What would he do? What would he do if anything were to happen to Myria?
Myria yawned. Feeling quite exhausted, she tried to sneak around the camp. The men were all drunk and sleeping. Quite easily, she climbed through the barrier and watched the men silently. Taking care to not step on anything that would give her away, Myria advanced a third of the portion on the road. Since it was a straight road with two solid brick walls on the side, Myria knew that if the soldiers woke up and saw her, she would have no place to run but forward.
Pausing at every second to look behind her, she felt the tension rise. Walking more quickly, she made sure her boots didn't make a sound on the hard concrete walk way. Farther and farther she went until she was sure the soldiers couldn't see her. Running the rest of her way, she was surprised when she saw a large black building in front of her. Walking up to the building she noticed it had no windows and there were no apparent doors. Issuing forth from the building there were horrible screams that were no unlike those in the Ant's Hell. Bravely, Myria walked around the building. There must be a way inside!
Tier felt uneasy. They were taking too long. When was this blasted ship ever going to reach the shore? Not long after that thought did he hear the crew members yell, "Land Ho!"
Grabbing his staff, Tier ran off the ship and headed into the foliage. Aeron and the rest of the group did the same. Brent was looking better but he still had a slight tinge of green around his mouth. Hiking across the forest without using the main roads took a lot more time, but Tier knew that by now, there should be many soldiers patrolling the shores. Taking care not to step on the poisonous plants, Tier pointed out the dangers of the Eastern Forest.
Aeron listened impatiently. He was sure that if they had taken the main roads, they would be able to see Myria soon. He watched Tier point out the poisonous plants and wondered how he knew about the Eastern Forest in such detail. He was their guide but Aeron was suspicious about Tier. There were too many mysteries about the man.
Suddenly Tier stopped them. In front of them, they saw a group of soldiers on the ground. They seemed to be drunk. A lone soldier had awakened and was walking towards the drinking hole to get a drink. Tier examined the group and wondered if Myria had walked past here. Or what if she's lost in this strange forest?
Motioning the group to back away, they were surprised to find that a knight stood behind them. Riding a PecoPeco, the knight smirked and pointed a sword at them, "Charge!"
The group was suddenly overwhelmed by soldiers running from all sides. The knight's sword was dangerously close to Tier's ears. Seeing the knight on the PecoPeco and the sword by his head, memories rose from Tier's past, clouding his eyes, his thinking and his judgment. With a quick strike to the ground, Tier summoned a earthquake and with a smooth motion he gathered fireballs to him. Suddenly the power struck the enemy and they fell down. Soon a large firewall surrounded them and they were slowly tortured by the heat of the wall and the large fireballs which were being aimed at them.
Tier was consumed. He couldn't think and couldn't hear the pleas coming from Soyee. She feared that Tier might kill them all. Already there were many bodies piled to one side of the forest and even more that were turned to dust. Crying softly, she pleaded and begged for Tier to stop. He scared her when she looked into his eyes; they didn't see her and had no spark in them. He felt like a doll that moved but did not truly exist. Aeron tried pulling Soyee away from Tier into safety but she persisted her pleading and would not remove herself from Tier. Finally she stopped her crying and looked at her hands. Trying to calm herself, Soyee pushed all the magic that she possessed into her arms and finally pressing both her hands tenderly on Tier's chest, she let her magic seep into him.
Slowly Tier began to hear Soyee's pleads and her cries for mercy. Truly looking at her, Tier realized that she was crying and pulling his arms. Looking up, he saw the fire wall and the many corpses around him. Shaking, Tier gasped. He had done it again.
Myria had crawled into a duct which seemed to lead inside the building. She crawled through the sludge filled tunnel and tried to not breath the foul smell of garbage. It seemed to be a garbage shoot. Finally the ceiling of the tunnel opened up wide and she was able to walk. Walking through the garbage, she noticed the large amount of strange Eastern food. Wondering about this, she considered herself going mad. "In a time like this, I'm still thinking of food." Chuckling to herself, she started when she heard a noise.
Looking up, she saw a garbage bag being pushed through a vent. Stepping aside, she let the garbage fall and studied the hole in the wall. This was the place she would have to climb off of.
Studying the two walls, she got an idea. By stepping on the opposite side of the wall climbing with her back against the other wall, she was able to get herself up most of the way. The problem would be trying to climb through the hole without getting caught. When Myria was level with the hole she observed that there was no one on the other side of the wall. Taking a breath, she tensed her muscles and jumped forward. Grabbing the ledge of the hole, she pulled herself up and through it.
Wincing, she hid behind a column and massaged her tired muscles. She would have to find a way to clean the sludge from her boots once she gets out to a clean floor. Even in this large room, she saw that the floor was littered with garbage and there was a large amount of puddles which contained dirty water.
Grabbing a nearby pole, she tried to clean her boots as best she can. Suddenly she heard a noise and turned around. A large black soldier narrowed his eyes and started towards her.
"Eep!" Myria readied her pole and felt for her staff. This is not good!
Tier was walking in misery. The group was walking not far from him but he heard them whispering about him. He had lost their trust. He had lost their admiration. Tier had done it again.
Before they could speak to him though, Tier motioned them towards the large black building in front of them. Walking briskly towards the building he felt for the handle to the door. Reaching low on the ground, Tier saw a knob which was a slightly different color. Pressing the knob, a panel opened and Tier took a hold of the handle. Turning back he said, "Prepare yourselves."
Opening the door, they were thrust into darkness. The group took some time to adjust their eyes and watched as Tier lead them into a large tunnel. There were many small specks of light coming from the ceiling of the tunnel. The specks were first mingled with a vast amount of different colors but as there were more branches to the tunnel, the specks became more differentiated and finally they realized that they were following the green specks of light.
As they neared a tunnel entrance to another branch, they heard a loud sound echoing through the tunnel's opening. Soyee and Nallia looked at each other with curiosity. Whispering to Tier they asked, "What's down that way?"
Tier stopped and backtracked. Listening intently, he heard the sounds of a fight. Eyes widening, he started running. Aeron ran after him. Nallia looked at Soyee and started following them while Brent sighed and gathered his supplies. Another battle.
The only thing that came to Tier's mind is Myria. He knew that she must be down here somewhere. Finally they entered the chamber that contained the trash. Looking around, he tried to pinpoint where the fight was. Hearing Myria gasp in pain, his mind froze and he started shouting, "Myria!"
Aeron joined him and the two frantically looked around. The vast chamber echoed their cries and the two was frustrated when the cries of Myria were distorted and they were unable to find her. Finally Brent, Soyee and Nallia pulled the two from the garbage and motioned towards the west of the chamber. Quickly, they ran forward and saw Myria. She was being attacked by not one but fifteen of the large soldiers.
Tier was quick to respond as he created a firewall in front of Myria, protecting her from any more attacks. Gasping for air, Myria looked up and smiled. Turning around, she raised her arms and ice started to form on the foot of the soldiers. With a quick motion, tiny lightning bolts hit the soldiers and they fell unconscious to the floor.
Myria winced as the pain started to seep into her muscles. She had taken quite a few blows to the back and the legs. Feeling quite dizzy, she didn't realize that Tier was holding her and Soyee was trying to heal her bloody wounds.
"Why in the world would she do something so stupid?"
For the hundredth time, Aeron ranted and raged. "No! She had to do something that could get herself killed, or worse!"
The group sighed again. Collectively the tried to ignore the young man but could not help but worry themselves. Tier was quiet as he headed the way and leads the rest of them towards the harbor. They had rented a cruiser. A beautiful Comodo entertainment ship.
Aeron stopped raving to take a breath. Nallia smiled at the ship and started walking up to Tier. So we're going to the most dangerous place that we can on the most beautiful ship that I've seen?"
Tier nodded gravely. He couldn't help but worry about Myria. She knew about her parents. She knew that they were the two spies and she knew that Tier knew where they were. Myria must have been angry at him when she found out about that. Entirely consumed with this idea, Tier didn't even realize everyone had already headed onto the ship and was waiting for him.
Looking up, Tier saw Aeron glare at him. Myria wasn't the only one that must have been mad at him. Talking to the sailor nearby, Tier arranged for them to land a ways away from the Eastern camp. Taking care to tell the sailor to close most of the entertainment lights, Tier started to settle down for the ride.
Meanwhile, Myria was wondering what she was doing. Having stolen away on a merchant ship, Myria was hiding behind the fishing nets when the ship suddenly stopped. The crew started taking out boxes and getting things unloaded. In the confusion, Myria climbed out of her hiding place and jumped overboard. Landing in the shallow water, she swam the rest of the way to the shore.
Drenched and feeling rather cold, Myria ran into the forest to try to get some cover. In the forest, Myria had expected to find a dark dry surrounding but was surprised to know that the forest was damp with new rain and a loud ruckus was heard from ahead of her. Trying to conceal herself in a nearby bush, she saw two men laughing and slapping each other heartedly on the back.
"Oh we goin' ta get the Comodo soon!"
"Yah! Comodo food, fun and women!"
The two man rudely burped and staggered to the west of her hiding place.
Gently, Myria removed herself and followed the two men. Looking past two large strange looking trees, Myria saw a camp settled around a small drinking hole. Many soldiers were laughing and drinking before a forest camp fire. Studying the soldiers, she moved to the side and examined the road that the camp was blocking. With her eyes, she followed the straight road until it headed off to the horizon. That was her destination...
Brent staggered around the deck of the ship in horror. There was no way he could make it all the way across the ocean! Taking care to heave overboard and not on the ship, he thought about all the things he could be doing right now. Gasping for air, he felt a gentle hand rub his back.
Looking up, he accepted the handkerchief that Soyee offered to him. Wiping the vomit from his mouth, he nodded thanks and watched as the girl's hands starting glowing. Slowly warmth engulfed him and he was embraced in a comfortable glow. The other passengers on the ship watched as Brent started to calm down. His breathing slowed and he slowly walked downstairs to the cabins. His tension was removed and he easily fell asleep.
Soyee walked back upstairs and the rest of the crew quietly smiled to each other. Quietly Nallia mouthed to Soyee, "Yay! No more vomit for three to four hours!"
Tier watched the group and listened to their chatter. Would they be ready for their first real war? What would happen if anything happened to them? What would he do? What would he do if anything were to happen to Myria?
Myria yawned. Feeling quite exhausted, she tried to sneak around the camp. The men were all drunk and sleeping. Quite easily, she climbed through the barrier and watched the men silently. Taking care to not step on anything that would give her away, Myria advanced a third of the portion on the road. Since it was a straight road with two solid brick walls on the side, Myria knew that if the soldiers woke up and saw her, she would have no place to run but forward.
Pausing at every second to look behind her, she felt the tension rise. Walking more quickly, she made sure her boots didn't make a sound on the hard concrete walk way. Farther and farther she went until she was sure the soldiers couldn't see her. Running the rest of her way, she was surprised when she saw a large black building in front of her. Walking up to the building she noticed it had no windows and there were no apparent doors. Issuing forth from the building there were horrible screams that were no unlike those in the Ant's Hell. Bravely, Myria walked around the building. There must be a way inside!
Tier felt uneasy. They were taking too long. When was this blasted ship ever going to reach the shore? Not long after that thought did he hear the crew members yell, "Land Ho!"
Grabbing his staff, Tier ran off the ship and headed into the foliage. Aeron and the rest of the group did the same. Brent was looking better but he still had a slight tinge of green around his mouth. Hiking across the forest without using the main roads took a lot more time, but Tier knew that by now, there should be many soldiers patrolling the shores. Taking care not to step on the poisonous plants, Tier pointed out the dangers of the Eastern Forest.
Aeron listened impatiently. He was sure that if they had taken the main roads, they would be able to see Myria soon. He watched Tier point out the poisonous plants and wondered how he knew about the Eastern Forest in such detail. He was their guide but Aeron was suspicious about Tier. There were too many mysteries about the man.
Suddenly Tier stopped them. In front of them, they saw a group of soldiers on the ground. They seemed to be drunk. A lone soldier had awakened and was walking towards the drinking hole to get a drink. Tier examined the group and wondered if Myria had walked past here. Or what if she's lost in this strange forest?
Motioning the group to back away, they were surprised to find that a knight stood behind them. Riding a PecoPeco, the knight smirked and pointed a sword at them, "Charge!"
The group was suddenly overwhelmed by soldiers running from all sides. The knight's sword was dangerously close to Tier's ears. Seeing the knight on the PecoPeco and the sword by his head, memories rose from Tier's past, clouding his eyes, his thinking and his judgment. With a quick strike to the ground, Tier summoned a earthquake and with a smooth motion he gathered fireballs to him. Suddenly the power struck the enemy and they fell down. Soon a large firewall surrounded them and they were slowly tortured by the heat of the wall and the large fireballs which were being aimed at them.
Tier was consumed. He couldn't think and couldn't hear the pleas coming from Soyee. She feared that Tier might kill them all. Already there were many bodies piled to one side of the forest and even more that were turned to dust. Crying softly, she pleaded and begged for Tier to stop. He scared her when she looked into his eyes; they didn't see her and had no spark in them. He felt like a doll that moved but did not truly exist. Aeron tried pulling Soyee away from Tier into safety but she persisted her pleading and would not remove herself from Tier. Finally she stopped her crying and looked at her hands. Trying to calm herself, Soyee pushed all the magic that she possessed into her arms and finally pressing both her hands tenderly on Tier's chest, she let her magic seep into him.
Slowly Tier began to hear Soyee's pleads and her cries for mercy. Truly looking at her, Tier realized that she was crying and pulling his arms. Looking up, he saw the fire wall and the many corpses around him. Shaking, Tier gasped. He had done it again.
Myria had crawled into a duct which seemed to lead inside the building. She crawled through the sludge filled tunnel and tried to not breath the foul smell of garbage. It seemed to be a garbage shoot. Finally the ceiling of the tunnel opened up wide and she was able to walk. Walking through the garbage, she noticed the large amount of strange Eastern food. Wondering about this, she considered herself going mad. "In a time like this, I'm still thinking of food." Chuckling to herself, she started when she heard a noise.
Looking up, she saw a garbage bag being pushed through a vent. Stepping aside, she let the garbage fall and studied the hole in the wall. This was the place she would have to climb off of.
Studying the two walls, she got an idea. By stepping on the opposite side of the wall climbing with her back against the other wall, she was able to get herself up most of the way. The problem would be trying to climb through the hole without getting caught. When Myria was level with the hole she observed that there was no one on the other side of the wall. Taking a breath, she tensed her muscles and jumped forward. Grabbing the ledge of the hole, she pulled herself up and through it.
Wincing, she hid behind a column and massaged her tired muscles. She would have to find a way to clean the sludge from her boots once she gets out to a clean floor. Even in this large room, she saw that the floor was littered with garbage and there was a large amount of puddles which contained dirty water.
Grabbing a nearby pole, she tried to clean her boots as best she can. Suddenly she heard a noise and turned around. A large black soldier narrowed his eyes and started towards her.
"Eep!" Myria readied her pole and felt for her staff. This is not good!
Tier was walking in misery. The group was walking not far from him but he heard them whispering about him. He had lost their trust. He had lost their admiration. Tier had done it again.
Before they could speak to him though, Tier motioned them towards the large black building in front of them. Walking briskly towards the building he felt for the handle to the door. Reaching low on the ground, Tier saw a knob which was a slightly different color. Pressing the knob, a panel opened and Tier took a hold of the handle. Turning back he said, "Prepare yourselves."
Opening the door, they were thrust into darkness. The group took some time to adjust their eyes and watched as Tier lead them into a large tunnel. There were many small specks of light coming from the ceiling of the tunnel. The specks were first mingled with a vast amount of different colors but as there were more branches to the tunnel, the specks became more differentiated and finally they realized that they were following the green specks of light.
As they neared a tunnel entrance to another branch, they heard a loud sound echoing through the tunnel's opening. Soyee and Nallia looked at each other with curiosity. Whispering to Tier they asked, "What's down that way?"
Tier stopped and backtracked. Listening intently, he heard the sounds of a fight. Eyes widening, he started running. Aeron ran after him. Nallia looked at Soyee and started following them while Brent sighed and gathered his supplies. Another battle.
The only thing that came to Tier's mind is Myria. He knew that she must be down here somewhere. Finally they entered the chamber that contained the trash. Looking around, he tried to pinpoint where the fight was. Hearing Myria gasp in pain, his mind froze and he started shouting, "Myria!"
Aeron joined him and the two frantically looked around. The vast chamber echoed their cries and the two was frustrated when the cries of Myria were distorted and they were unable to find her. Finally Brent, Soyee and Nallia pulled the two from the garbage and motioned towards the west of the chamber. Quickly, they ran forward and saw Myria. She was being attacked by not one but fifteen of the large soldiers.
Tier was quick to respond as he created a firewall in front of Myria, protecting her from any more attacks. Gasping for air, Myria looked up and smiled. Turning around, she raised her arms and ice started to form on the foot of the soldiers. With a quick motion, tiny lightning bolts hit the soldiers and they fell unconscious to the floor.
Myria winced as the pain started to seep into her muscles. She had taken quite a few blows to the back and the legs. Feeling quite dizzy, she didn't realize that Tier was holding her and Soyee was trying to heal her bloody wounds.