Chapter 60

Forgotten Past


There was another group of travellers that were having their share of problems too. Luckily for them, their problems didn't involve giant mutant rats or an impeding alliance with the Highland Army. However, their main problem involved finding three 'mystical' items that have been scattered across the country, all to save a young girl's life. Of course, said items were practically as far apart as they could have possibly been, which was going to make obtaining all three items very time consuming, and probably very difficult to boot. The group in question consisted of Hix, a warrior in training and the boyfriend of the girl who's life was in danger, and a handful of people who he had met through pure chance at the Kobold Village; Kara, Warren, Joseph and Malcolm. They had set off from the Kobold Village earlier that morning, and they would soon reach the point where the path would split in two different directions. To the east lay Lakewest, and to the west lay Two River City. It was at this fork that the group would be forced to split up into two in order to retrieve the three items as quickly as possible to save the young girl, Tengaar. Hix and Warren had the 'fortune' of heading to Lakewest, whilst the remaining three would be going to Two River City.

"Red Flower, Blue Stone…Red Flower, Blue Stone," Warren repeated to himself as he walked, "Good thing we're not colour blind, eh?"

"Just don't get muddled up, Tredrea," Kara warned him, although it was pretty clear that she was just trying to mask her worry about Tengaar. It was strange to see Kara so worried, especially over a person she had only just met the previous day, "I'm telling you, if you come back with a Blue Flower and a Red Stone I will hurt you."

"Come on Kara, we can't both get it wrong," Warren playfully nudged Hix, it seemed that Warren was trying to keep everybody's spirits up. But it seemed to be a lost cause on this group, "Right Hix?"

"We won't…we just can't, Tengaar's relying on us," Hix replied, and unlike Kara he couldn't, or possibly wouldn't hide his worry. Of course he had more to worry about than Kara, or indeed any of the other members of the group, Hix was Tengaar's boyfriend, and he had promised on his sword to protect her at all costs. That wasn't an oath that could be taken lightly, not by Hix and especially not by the Warrior's Village; his and Tengaar's home.

"It's going to be a long trip for you guys. I know you need to rush back, but don't overexert yourselves," Malcolm's advice was more aimed at Hix than Warren. Hix seemed like the sensible sort, but even so he was probably more likely to put his health at risk to save Tengaar. And it wouldn't help Tengaar much if Hix couldn't travel back to the Kobold Village right away, "Sailing over to Genkaku Castle alone will probably take half a day, and that's not taking finding a boat to get you there into account. We can't rely on you being able to take the boat that Riou came over on. And who knows where that flower will be in that cave? It could take you hours to find it."

"He's right, you should probably rest up at the Castle after you get the stone and the flower," Kara noted the disbelieving look that Hix was currently aiming at her and Malcolm, "Hix, it's going to take you at least a day to get both items. I know saving Tengaar is more important to you than anything, but there's no way you can get back to the Kobold Village without resting first. I don't like the idea of you sailing to Lakewest in the dark."

"Neither do I, especially if I'm the one doing the sailing," Warren admitted, which earned him a disapproving look from Hix as well, "Unless...well, I guess we can always hire someone to sail us over to Genkaku Castle and back. We can always get some sleep on the boat. I don't know if we can afford it, though...it's going to costly, especially if the Highland army are frowning upon any boats sailing across the lake."

"I've got some money with me," Hix offered, already convinced that this was the course of action he and Warren were going to take, "Maybe if we explain the situation, they might be willing to help."

"It's Lakewest, there's always someone willing to help," Kara beamed with pride for her home town, "They won't worry about the money so much, you should be okay."

"And for goodness sake, be careful in Lakewest," Malcolm warned Warren, this time his advice was exclusively for the football player, "I don't know if my father will still be there or not, but he's definitely not going to have forgotten your face, Warren. If you are going to hire a boat, then let Hix do the negotiating. I'm begging you to try and keep a low profile for once. Take a page out of Joseph's book for your own good."

Joseph had pretty much remained quiet throughout the whole trip so far, which meant he wasn't going to risk becoming the focus of attention. Although it was pretty doubtful that Joseph, or anyone for that matter, being the centre of attention when Kara and, to a slightly lesser extent, Warren were around. Joseph simply nodded at Warren when the boisterous sport-star turned around to look at him.

"Okay, we'll see you back at the Kobold Village as soon as possible," Kara smiled supportively at Hix and Warren, "That Green Bell is as good as ours!"

Malcolm turned around to face Joseph with a grim look on his face. "I don't think she's realised that we're going to have to go into the sewers to get that bell yet," He whispered to Joseph, who upon contemplating Kara's potential reaction to that, soon had an equally grim look on his face. Both of them sighed sadly, knowing full well that they were going to feel the full brunt of Kara's moaning about icky sewers and the disgusting things that reside within them.

"Good luck you guys!" Kara cheered as the group split up at the fork. Joseph and Malcolm trailed solemnly behind the forever upbeat Kara, as Hix and Warren made their way towards Lakewest. Hix looked back at his unlikely comrades with a look of concern on his face. It wasn't that Hix was worried about them, they could probably hold their own if they got into any trouble, but he was worried that they tended to start arguing at the drop of a hat. That didn't help Hix's confidence in their reliability any.

Warren eventually noticed the look on Hix's face, and he put on a winning, brimming with confidence smile as he tried to allay Hix's concern, "Don't worry, Kara's a stubborn one. She won't let those two rest until they find that bell. Let's just worry about that red stone and that blue flower..."

Hix didn't bother to correct Warren's mistake, and instead started to redirect his worry about Kara, Joseph and Malcolm's competency to Warren. Which was a much more suitable place for his worry to be directed to since Warren seemed to be wandering off in the wrong direction...


"You know, it's been ages since I've been in Two River," Kara commented as she walked, oblivious as to whether or not Malcolm or Joseph would care. However a wicked grin overcame her as she looked back at the supremely uninterested Malcolm, "I think the last time...erm...oh yeah! I remember now! I was visiting Allielle. You do remember Allielle, don't you Malcolm?"

Malcolm suddenly looked very uncomfortable, and suddenly found it very difficult to maintain eye contact with his sister, his tone turned grim as he answered Kara, "I doubt I'll ever forget her...when was this visit, exactly?"

"Couple of months ago, actually," Kara replied after a moment's thought, "She didn't mention you. I think she's still a bit angry at you."

"She has every right to be," Malcolm calmly replied, looking hazily into the distance to avoid Kara's gaze, "But she's doing okay?"

"As well as can be expected," Kara turned back to face in front of her. She had hoped for a slightly more enthusiastic response from Malcolm about Allielle. It obviously wasn't to be, "It might be a good idea to avoid her house when we get to Two River."

"Er..." Joseph was growing somewhat confused by the siblings' conversation, and he was feeling slightly left out. He knew they weren't purposefully excluding him from the conversation, but there was something he had to ask them. The name seemed to stir something in the back of his head...and it wasn't necessarily a good jog of the memory, "I hate to interrupt...but...do I know this Allielle person?"

Kara looked back at Joseph, and then at Malcolm. Malcolm looked hesitant to answer Joseph's question, and Kara could see the hurt in Malcolm's expression. Kara simply nodded in response to Joseph, which Joseph found odd. It wasn't like Kara to not reply verbally to a question.

"She seems to be a sore subject," Joseph said quietly, noticing that Malcolm now wasn't looking at him or at Kara. Joseph suddenly felt a pang of worry for him, and immediately wondered why he should be so worried when it came to Malcolm and whoever this Allielle person was. Trying his luck, Joseph asked Kara another question, "Did I ever hate her? I hear this name and I suddenly find myself feeling...sort of spiteful."

Kara opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Malcolm. His tone remained grim, but it was slightly more level than before, "You never hated her. Never believe that you did. We were all good friends, the four of us. But...well, you were opposed to the person she was going to marry. Her father had arranged it all, which was what really bothered you. You didn't think she loved him. The last time I remember us all together, Allielle slapped you for being so forthright about it. You were hurt because you were trying to help her...but you never hated her for it. You went off to Greenhill Academy before she could apologise...and she never married that guy. It never would have worked...turns out he was in love with someone else."

"Oh...I guess that explains that bad feelings..." Joseph looked at Malcolm and noticed the pained look on his face. There was something Malcolm was holding back about Allielle, something maybe Kara didn't even know about this situation. Kara had resumed looking ahead, which meant he had to rely on Malcolm to fill in one more blank, "But...why would she be angry at you if I was the one who opposed her marriage?"

"That was something that happened after you left," Malcolm replied quietly. Malcolm made no attempt to elaborate further and Joseph decided he shouldn't press the matter any further. 'One question too many...' Joseph thought to himself as he turned away from the suddenly depressed looking Malcolm. A change of subject was definitely necessary...

"Guys..." Kara stopped suddenly and pointed directly in front of her, "What are those things rapidly coming towards us?"

Both Malcolm and Joseph focused on what Kara was attempting to point out to them. Sure enough, there seemed to be something approaching them at a rapid speed. Joseph was the first to see them clearly, and he had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Unfortunately for Joseph, he wasn't, "They look like pink tornadoes. Clearly this rune of mine is turning me a shade insane."

"The madness must be spreading," Kara chipped in, cocking her head to the side and trying desperately hard not to giggle, "I'm seeing pink tornadoes too."

"Statistically speaking, tornadoes aren't generally pink. I think we'd better ready our weapons," Malcolm said urgently, reaching for his whip, "They're not tornadoes...they're Spikebeaks, and they're quite likely to be hostile."

"Sure you can fight with your bad leg?" Kara asked as she withdrew her daggers from their hilts. She chanced a glance at her older brother, who was looking mightily perplexed all of a sudden. Kara knew something was up, and her tone of voice betrayed her concern, "What's wrong?"

"My whip! Where the Hell did it go?" Malcolm came up empty handed, and his perplexed look turned to one of anger, "Oh, this just bites...I can't believe the luck I'm having lately..."


Meanwhile...at that exact moment in the Kobold Village...

"Whee!" A happy looking young Kobold exclaimed as she played. She seemed to be skipping with a very familiar looking weapon... "I love my new shiny skipping rope! It's almost as shiny as that ball mom won't let me play with. That arf silly human boy shouldn't have thrown it away just because it's lost a handle...Ooo, I love how it glitters in the sunlight!"


"Grandmother would never forgive me for this..." Malcolm lamented as the Spikebeaks approached. Kara and Joseph had both stood in front of Malcolm, since they at least had weapons to defend themselves with, "That whip's been in our family for generations!"

"Could we talk about this later?" Kara interrupted Malcolm before he could start his spiel about their forefathers, which if anything could probably have bored the Spikebeaks to death...shame it would've taken her and Joseph down with them, "Evil pink things in the vicinity."

"There's at least four of them...we're outnumbered and at a definite disadvantage. Kara, you know I don't like you indulging in pyromania," Malcolm started silently praying for the landscape, wishing he had time to come up with a less destructive plan, "But I'd very much like you to burn those birds before they get too close to us."

"I was so hoping you'd say that," Kara grinned as she raised her right hand in the air, a faint glow began to appear from where the Rune lay on it, "Stand back, and enjoy the light show."

Joseph and Malcolm did step back, not wanting to get caught in the literal crossfire. Kara had this unfortunate habit of not holding back whenever she used her Rune, and this time seemed to be no exception. Four streams of fire erupted from the Rune and shot straight at the Spikebeaks. Even Malcolm had to admit that it was a spectacular display, and Joseph just seemed to stare at the streams of fire with a look of quiet amazement. The lead Spikebeak bore the brunt of the magic attack, as it was struck by all four of the fiery streams. It stopped spinning instantly and fell to the ground, and it didn't get back up. The remaining Spikebeaks dodged the fire as best they could, which was unfortunately well as far as the three Lakewest natives were concerned. They resumed their speedy route towards them, and Kara scowled at the overall lack of damage she had done to them.

"Couldn't you have put less effort into the style and more into the aim?" Joseph asked rhetorically. Anything else he might've wanted to say disappeared back into his brain as Kara glared angrily at him.

"Grr, once more then..." Kara said, raising her right hand into the air again. She only had it halfway raised when Malcolm cut her off.

"No, once was quite enough Kara," Malcolm replied grimly, surveying the territorial damage Kara's flames had caused. He sighed sadly, "If I ever dare suggest that you use that Rune again, I want some sense slapped into me."

"No problem, although that'd take a lot of slaps to accomplish," Joseph said with a little half smile on his face as Malcolm looked at him in utter disbelief, "So now what?"

"Well, we tried turning them into crispy critters," Kara nudged Malcolm with her elbow whilst she smiled at Joseph, "And since Mr. Can't Hurt The Flora here won't let me try again, how's about we have him try his Rune?"

"Please don't talk about me as if I wasn't here," Malcolm narrowed his eyes angrily at Kara, who totally missed the angry glare, "They're too close to us anyway. I don't know if I can gather enough water to attack them with in time."

"Thus, I must reiterate; 'so now what?'" Joseph felt the beginning of a headache coming on. 'These two are unbelievable...I wonder how many headaches I've suffered from being around these two? And why do I know that all these headaches will invariably be worth the hassle in the end?'

"Our only other option, Joseph," Kara replied, getting herself into a comfortable fighting stance, "We use violence!"

"We're dead..." Malcolm muttered to himself, whilst covering his face with his hand and shaking his head. The clear signs of someone suffering from utter despair, "Fine...go...make with the hacky-slashy. "

Kara rolled her eyes at her older brother before turning her full attention to the Spikebeaks. They had stopped spinning around and were eyeing the three companions warily. The loss of their apparent leader seemed to have thrown them into a minor state of confusion. Kara stood slightly ahead of Joseph and Malcolm, watching the three Spikebeaks and waiting to see if they were going to attack or not. Joseph's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and he was also waiting to see if they would attack. Malcolm simply activated his Rune and tried to summon some water towards him so that he wouldn't be totally defenceless when they attacked. It was an undeniably tense situation. Nothing seemed to happen for what seemed to be a very long time.

"What are they doing?" Joseph whispered his question to Malcolm.

"Sizing us up," Malcolm replied quietly, as the water he summoned began to float through the air towards him, "Judging whether or not we're worth the hassle of killing us for their dinner. That kind of thing."

"Pfft! They're just scared of us!" Kara exclaimed proudly, and unfortunately loudly, "They know we can kill them without breaking a sweat. Watch, they'll spin away from us any second now."

The Spikebeaks, naturally, chose that moment to charge forward to attack. Their wings were outstretched, and it seemed they were building momentum to start spinning around again.

"We're so dead," Malcolm moaned, whilst Joseph just shook his head angrily at Kara.

"Well, that's going to fill me with negative karma," Kara facefaulted as she charged towards the nearest Spikebeak. It hadn't quite gained sufficient momentum to perform it's tornado attack, which gave Kara a beautiful chance to inflict some serious damage on it before it could even mount an attack. She slashed the Spikebeak quickly, cutting away a few feathers from the Spikebeak's wing. This stopped the Spikebeak's spinning, which allowed her to try to attack the more significant parts of the Spikebeak's body. She briefly saw Joseph running past her towards the next Spikebeak as she slashed at her opponent's midsection. The Spikebeak tried to block the attack with it's wing, but Kara's attack was too swift. She scored a direct hit, and the Spikebeak fell down to the ground. Kara wasted no time finishing the Spikebeak by stabbing it in the head.

Joseph's charge seemed to catch the remaining Spikebeaks by surprise. He still hadn't unsheathed his sword, but it wouldn't be long before he would be within attacking range. Joseph swiftly unsheathed his sword, a rather unspectacular looking one that seemed to be in dire need of a trip to the Blacksmith's, and swung it in an upwards arc at the Spikebeak he had charged at. The sword might not have looked particularly battle-worthy, but looks always tend to be decieving. The Spikebeak almost looked shocked as Joseph's attack cut right through the Spikebeak's torso, and then it couldn't display any looks as Joseph brought his sword right up through the Spikebeak's neck and then the head. Joseph stood over the dead Spikebeak with a vacant expression on his face. Kara looked at Joseph's display with wide-eyed surprise, her mouth open in disbelief. 'That's our Joseph? The same Joseph who hated the idea of fishing because it might hurt the fish? The same Joseph who wouldn't even swat a fly? What the heck happened to him in the past few years? Where'd my pacifistic best friend go? And wasn't there another one of those things...?'

The remaining Spikebeak, seeing that Joseph and Kara were too strong for it to deal with, had decided to go after the only prey remaining. It had been given enough time to gain full momentum with it's tornado attack, and was charging towards Malcolm. Malcolm hadn't moved, although he had to fight back the urge to be violently ill when he saw Joseph's gruesome attack. He had somehow kept his composure, and a decent amount of water now floated around him. He held out his left hand in front of him, and pointed it right in the direction of the approaching Spikebeak. The Rune on his outstretched hand began to glow deeper, and the water that had been surrounding him suddenly shot towards the Spikebeak with alarming speed. Malcolm's aim was good, nixing the idea that the inability to aim didn't necessarily run in the family. Unfortunately, Malcolm had timed his attack poorly. He had attacked too soon, and practically telegraphed the move to the Spikebeak. It was subsequently able to dodge to the side with ease, causing Malcolm to gasp in shock. He tried to bring the water back towards him to try and hit the Spikebeak from behind, but the Spikebeak had already begun it's attack. It spun around Malcolm quickly, striking Malcolm with its wings rapidly and repeatedly. Malcolm screamed in pain, his concentration fully broken. The effect of the Rune was instantly negated, and the water fell to the ground harmlessly. As did Malcolm a few seconds later when the Spikebeak's attack concluded. The Spikebeak stood triumphantly over it's defeated foe. It seemed to have forgotten that it had two other foes to worry about. The Spikebeak wouldn't worry about anything else a few seconds later, as it failed to register that Joseph had run towards it with his sword ready to strike again. With one clean cut, Joseph decapitated the Spikebeak. Malcolm could only look on in horror as the headless creature shuddered and fell to the ground. The Spikebeak's head fell on Malcolm chest, and he found himself eye to eye with it.

"Oh..." Malcolm found himself speechless. He rolled to the side, and the head of the departed Spikebeak rolled off his chest to the ground. He rolled back onto his back, looking up at Joseph and Kara. He chanced a look at his shirt, which was undoubtedly ruined by the gore that had remained from the Spikebeak. Malcolm sighed sadly as Joseph and Kara helped him back up to his feet, "Well, this may be more disgusting than any sewer we have to trawl through. Thanks Joseph."

Joseph nodded in reply as he sheathed his sword, his face seemed to soften as he let go of the sword, "As long as you're both okay."

"Are you okay?" Kara asked Joseph, the look of bewilderment still on her face, "You just totally sliced one of those things up, and then deprived another of its head! When did you become so bloodlusty?"

"I had to," Joseph replied calmly, a look of sadness on his face, "I couldn't let them hurt you two. And it's really killing me inside because I don't know why I couldn't let them hurt you. I hate this. All of this. This Rune stole my life away from me, and all that's left is vagueness of what we used to have. My past is barely a blur...I know it's there, all my memories are still in my head, and this Rune is locking them away from me.So near...yet so far away. You're the only ties I have left to my past...I can't lose that. I won't lose you. I need you two...to stay with me a while longer. Please...don't leave me alone. You're the only hope I have left."

Tears began to trickle down Joseph's cheeks. Kara could feel herself beginning to cry as well. "Of course," She said simply, and as sincerely as possible. She emphasised this by giving Joseph a comforting hug. A hug which Malcolm would also join in with a second later. Joseph made no move to leave their embrace, as the last of his tears fell to the ground.

"We're not going to leave you," Malcolm said softly as the three remained in a group hug for a few moments, "Never again."

They stood in silence for a few more seconds, before Joseph spoke up. "We'd better go get that bell," He said quietly, as the three broke their hug. He looked directly at Malcolm before continuing, "And you a new shirt."

"My favourite shirt..." Malcolm sighed sadly. There seemed to be a remaining trail of tears on his face too, "Oh well, let's get going. Tengaar's not going to get any better if we don't hurry."

And with that, the three friends continued on their way to Two River City. Unbeknownst to them, of course, was the minor problem of the Highland Army currently being in the vicinity of the city. Things weren't going to get any easier as their quest to save Tengaar continued...