This story belongs to me and my creative mind. However, most of the characters, names, and places all belong to their respective companies, so don't yell at me for copyright infringements! Remember, Italics represent a person's thoughts or the telling of past events.
Enjoy...
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:Faraway Dreams:
Chapter Seven:
"Behind you!" Ruthy shouted.
Fedrich spun on his toes, sword flying out to block a lethal downward stroke from a monster's own weapon. The monster, a thieving Vice, looked on in shock as it's attack was so easily halted. The burman quickly shoved the curved blade aside and lashed out, the blade cutting across the chest of the Vice and spattering its blood through the air. Before the Vice could recover, an arrow drove itself into the Vice's chest and threw it to the grassy plains, killing it.
"Good work, all!" Illis shouted from her battle with a group of Imps. "Don't let up!"
Fedrich was quick to find another opponent, yet another of the numerous Vice that were stealing goods and foodstuffs from a group of traveling merchants. Clawed feet tearing into the soft earth, the burman quickly advanced on the monsters, sword ready to strike them down and lead them away from the innocent people who stood in mute surprise. Leaping into the air, he aimed his flight to behead one of the thieving beasts, startling the rest to flee into the fields. With another jump into the skies, another Vice was cut down, Fedrich seeing that the others were too far away to be attacked. An arrow from Ruthy's longbow pierced the midday air and cut into the side of a retreating Vice, stunning the monster to a halt long enough for Fedrich to sprint to it's location.
Fedrich's sword arced through the air, but the Vice brought out it's own curved sword and blocked the strike easily, despite it's injury. The two the engaged in a short duel, swords flashing between them and limbs maneuvering alongside. With a growl of effort, Fedrich's burmecian blade shattered the Vice's own, again stunning the beast to a standstill. Doubling back as fast as he could, the burman impaled the Vice and ended it's life, stolen parcels of cloth and bags of spice falling from it's hand.
Fedrich leaned down to pick up the items, wondering what drove monsters to steal items they wouldn't ever be able to make use of. He understood stealing weapons or armor, even cloth to stay warm at night, but spice? The demi-human pushed his mind back to the situation, looking around him to see the present monsters all dead, the few remaining already far into the field to seek refuge from the Regulator's power. The merchants were busy assessing the damage done to their carts and tending to their frightened chocobos.
"How goes things, Fedrich!?" Illis questioned from a distance.
"I've taken a few down, but the rest managed to get away!" He replied, walking to another corpse to gather the items it stole.
"That's alright, we got most of them as it is!" She continued. "No injuries?"
"Just a scratch or two is all."
After a few minutes of picking at the corpses of the monsters, Fedrich reunited with the other three Regulators and presented his take of the items to the merchants. They gladly accepted their wares and thanked them many times over, eventually settling on their rides and beginning their last leg of the journey to the base of Lindblum Grand Castle.
"Well, that was interesting." Fedrich commented. "Do these kind of attacks happen often?"
Illis nodded. "More than you'd think, really. Imps, Vices, and Goblins seem to have some obsession with stealing things from anyone not of their group, even if it's just scraps of metal or worthless trinkets."
"But why would they do that? It doesn't make much sense?"
"Bestiary Scholars have been working to unravel that mystery for some time, now." Gordan added. "Kleptomanic monsters are indeed a rarity in our world Gaia, and the best theory they have come up with is that those monsters may use their stolen goods as a means to identifying who their alpha primary is."
"Alpha what?" Ruthy repeated.
"Alpha Primary, the monster within a group that is the dominant leader of them, much like the lead wolf in a pack."
"Oh..." She mouthed. "I guess that makes sense."
"So what did we get from the monsters themselves?" Illis asked.
"Mostly Goblin daggers and a few Vice swords, nothing special." Ruthy spoke.
"I gathered seven Goblin daggers, and one of the Vice's had an Elixir in it's grip." Gordan listed.
"Good find." Illis commented with a smile.
"I picked up three Goblin daggers, and one of them had five Potions on its person." Fedrich added.
"Alright, sounds like a good haul for the day, the six Vice swords I picked up included. We might as well head back to Lindblum and sell this off."
"Do you think this'll get us much?" Fedrich asked.
"Probably. Vices hardly come to the open plains, and they usually run away before anyone can stop them, so naturally their curved swords would be worth a lot."
"That's good. Nothing wrong with more money!" Ruthy chimed. "Especially since we need to make up for what Gerick would normally get."
"Agreed. Let us go." Gordan insisted.
The Regulators packed their materials and began the walk back to the Hunter's Gate, following far behind the merchants they saved. The sun was still high in the afternoon sky, light spilling across the field to beat on the sides of the weary defenders. The past three days of patrolling without the presence of Gerick was not proving difficult, but knowing their leader was still incapacitated left them worried for his future. Nearing the age of forty, they all knew that eventually he wouldn't be able to fight alongside them, and that was the last thing that he wanted to admit to. The Regulators was his dream, something he cultivated from mere thoughts to a organization that equaled the reputation of the Lindblum Security teams. To be unable to fight alongside the others would be the final blow to his confidence.
"So, how're thing goin'? Corban asked.
"Okay. Gerick's still unable to fight, but he's pushing himself harder each day to at least get out of bed and move." Illis replied.
"Well, be sure 'an give him my regards."
"I will."
"Alright, yer total comes 'ta a healthy three thousand Gil." The tattooed man declared, pushing a small pile of coins to Illis.
"Thanks, Corban." The elder woman nodded, taking the money.
"You stay healthy yerself, kids!"
"We will." She ended, leaving the Hide shop.
The four Regulators exited the alleyway, Illis passing out payments to them while putting the appropriate deductions into Gerick's own leather pouch.
"So, what-" Fedrich began.
An explosion in the main street cut off his question, everyone looking down the path to see a fireball rising into the sky. From within the flames, a figure dashed towards the Hunter's Gate, large clothes billowing in the wind as armored Guards gave chase. The figure halted and faced the soldiers, then moved his hands around and thrust them outwards. Another explosion of fire erupted between the Guards, the force knocking them over and burning their bodies, giving the mage more time to escape.
"What in hell!?" Ruthy sputtered.
"Black magic?" Gordan pondered. "How does a human know such magic?"
"Who cares? We've got to stop him!" Fedrich shouted, drawing his own short sword.
Illis quickly grabbed his shoulder, restraining him. "Don't be foolish, that magic could kill you. Ruthy, use your longbow."
"Right!" She agreed, slinging her bow off her shoulders and drawing an arrow to the string. Pulling back and aiming carefully, she let loose an arrow towards the fleeing mage. The arrow pierced his billowing sleeves, but by luck or skill, the projectile missed flesh and passed through, causing the mage to halt and face the Regulators. Illis panicked when he lifted his arms, moving them in a similar fashion like before his magical attack.
"Scatter!" She screamed, shoving Fedrich aside and running away from the alleyway.
The warriors all managed to get away from the alley as the mage cast the spell, a fireball forming and exploding where they stood. The mage was quick to run again, knowing that the display of magical power was enough to stun anyone from following immediately.
Fedrich was quick to get to his feet, feeling his fur burnt from the heat of the spell. He looked around to see everyone else was unharmed, all of them getting to their feet as well.
"Illis, are you alright?" Gordan asked, offering a hand.
"I'm fine." She replied, accepting his assistance.
"Come on, we've got to follow him before he gets away!" Fedrich insisted. "I'm going ahead to slow him down!"
"Fedrich, don't be stupid!" Ruthy shouted. "We don't know what he's capable of, it's too dangerous!"
"Danger is what I'm looking for!" He shouted back with a grin, ignorant of the apparent dangers.
Using his powerful legs, Fedrich sprinted for the Hunter's gate, clawed feet giving him the added traction to outpace the others on his tail.
"Damn it!" Illis cursed. "Follow him before he gets himself killed!"
The others were quick to obey, shaking off their fear and running towards the gate, following the nimble form of the Burman. Fedrich continued his pace, looking ahead for the mage and spying the aggressor running for the freedom of the Gate stairs and the open fields. He pushed himself to his limits, faster strides drawing him closer to the mage with each moment. Soon the two passed out from under the Gate, sunlight exposing their pursuit.
"Stop!" Fedrich shouted between deep breaths.
The mage obeyed and slid to a halt, surprising Fedrich greatly as he also slowed to a standstill, lungs burning for fresh air. The two looked at one another for a second, studying one another intently.
"Alright, you-" Fedrich began.
The mage thrust his arms above his head, cutting off Fedrich's words, chanting words under his breath. Fedrich kept his sword out, ready to jump away from any danger, hoping that the mantra wasn't another fire spell. The mage then brought his arms down to point outward from his sides, and a sphere of light engulfed his body and disappeared, removing the mage from the area. Fedrich was stunned, looking around for any sign of the mage.
"What kind of magic was that?..." He asked aloud.
"It must have been some kind of warp spell." Gordan commented from behind. "It is the only logical explanation."
Fedrich looked back, seeing the others present. "But where would he have gone?"
"Obviously far enough so that you wouldn't keep chasing him." Illis spoke, glaring. "I thought I told you to stay put."
"But we couldn't just let him run away!" Fedrich pleaded, getting no response from the angered woman.
Ruthy suddenly stepped forward from the others and stood before Fedrich, looking into his face with a stern expression. Her arm moving quickly, she gave the Burman a forceful slap across his face, almost knocking him off his feet despite her smaller form. Fedrich rubbed his face, looking at the redhead with confused eyes.
"Are you that stupid?" She asked, stressing each word. "That mage could have used that spell of his to incinerate you, but you still ran after him!"
"I'm sorry," Fedrich offered quietly. "But it wouldn't have been right to just let him get away."
Ruthy sighed, anger fading away. "But you could have been seriously hurt..."
Fedrich looked away, unable to meet Ruthy's face. "It's a risk we all take. I promised all of you that I would fight all my battles with everything I had, and I didn't want to let that bandit go free to attack others without at least trying to stop him."
Ruthy was about to speak, but her older sister interjected. "You've made a perfect example of the thin line between bravery and stupidity, Fedrich. Next time, don't act so rashly, and let us help you instead of trying to play hero."
Fedrich nodded. "Okay, everyone."
"Well then, now that things are settled, perhaps we should go back to the Hall and tend to whatever wounds we took." Gordan recommended.
The group agreed, but Fedrich looked back to scan over the area one last time. "What kind of person has that kind of power? I've heard of humans gaining powers to use healing spells, but never attacking spells."
"There's never been any reason a human couldn't learn black magics, but it's rare to find anyone who possesses them, especially someone so young looking." Illis explained, following the others. "Healing magic has use outside of battle, so black magic would only be known by people who were in warring times, and there hasn't been war for many years."
"But how can we explain him? It's not like we imagined all this." Fedrich pondered, keeping pace.
"There's only one explanation, someone who knew black magic and used it in wars past must have taught it to someone else to pass the knowledge down to the next generation."
"You know, that makes a lot of sense." Fedrich nodded. "Where did you come up with that idea?"
Illis hesitated a moment in thought. "Like Gordan said, it is the only logical explanation."
"I guess so." Fedrich agreed.
"Good grief, I get put to bed and look how you people fare!" Gerick laughed, gingerly sitting in the main room of the Hall.
"You'll be glad to hear that we didn't get messed up because of monsters, but by some mage that attacked the main street after we left the Hide shop." Illis informed. "We saved some merchants and picked up three thousand Gil for the effort in the fields, though."
"Good work, now what did ya say about a mage?" Gerick asked.
"There was a young man in the street, apparently some kind of thief, and he used black magic to create fireballs to escape the city Guards. We tried to stop him, but he cast one of those spells at us and nearly sent us to the medical hall." Illis went further, slapping Fedrich on the shoulder. "Fedrich here took the opportunity to chase after him, despite the danger, only to see the mage use a warp spell to escape."
"Sounds like a run of bad luck, eh? I've heard rumors about some kinda thief with magic power runnin' loose in Lindblum the past two days. They've named him the Fire Bandit since he just uses fire magic."
"Well, it seems that we have stumbled onto something more than we suspected." Gordan added. "Have the Security teams made any attempt to stop him?"
"They've tried ta, but the pesky guy just keeps usin' his fire spells to keep them away, then disappears in some kinda ball of light. It's got castle Security tied in knots trying to stop him. Odd thing is, not a soul has been killed considerin' the situation, but plenty of guards've been toasted right good."
"Speaking of which, are you doing better today?" Ruthy asked.
Gerick put on a wide grin. "I'm just 'bout able to stay on my feet all day long. It won't be long before things'll be back to normal for us!"
"That's good." She chimed. "I suppose we should patch up our wounds as well."
Illis slid a pouch off her hip, then tossed in on the table in front of Gerick. "Here's the fifteen hundred Gil payment."
"Thank you." Gerick muttered, picking up his pouch to count the earnings.
"I'll get the medicine for us." Ruthy insisted.
"I'll be going to my room, rather." Fedrich said, excusing himself from the room.
"Why?" Ruthy asked.
Fedrich's fur ruffled. "I'm gonna have a fun time grooming all the burnt fur off my body for a few hours instead."
Illis snickered. "Aw, did the poor guy get his fur burned off?"
"Such are the dangers of playing with fire in a flammable fur coat." Fedrich chuckled, turning to attend to his task.
