Hello again readers and welcome to chapter three! dances around joyfully Thanks a lot for the review, Masaname! And to blackwidow13, I do play the game and I am now a warrior. I plan on becoming a paladin. My current character is in the Garuda server and his name is Zepheral. I'll be making a new one soon and I'm putting him on the Alexander server. Maybe if you have a character on either server we could meet sometime. Btw, sorry about stealing the name of your story. I didn't think it was taken. The second chapter of ATOF should be up by now! Now on with the show! dances joyfully
"We've finally made it to San d'Orian land. We'll be in San d'Oria soon enough guys. Just hold out until then and then you can all go off and do what you want," Rio said over his shoulder to the rest of the group. They all nodded or cheered (Zenil).
"We'll finally-winally be able to have some fun! I can't wait!" Zenil exclaimed. Everyone laughed as he hopped around energetically. He was always the one to break the ice between people or lighten a mood. And he always did it right when they needed it most.
Rio and Cangon were engulfed in a new argument now. They were feuding over how much strength truly mattered. Even Taya had been pulled into it. "The best offense is a good defense! And a good defense is never getting hit! As long as you don't get hit, you'll be fine! That allows you to keep the attacks coming! And if you know how to use your speed in the right ways, you can easily bypass any defense!" Rio said.
"Even so, a good strong hit can easily crush any armor, tear through any shield, and shatter any weapon! That leaves the enemy wide open for a finishing blow! One, two, and they're down!"
"Neither strength nor speed matters in any way! My blade can cut through anything! Just one swipe and they're on the floor!"
Ferzan and Isanlada watched in amusement as the three bickered with each other. Mimila teased and joked around with Zenil, who was glowing dangerously purple. But she didn't care; she knew Zenil wouldn't hurt her.
They hadn't traveled far when they spotted a fellow adventurer coming their way. Or more over, running like a mad man, their way. The adventurer was badly wounded and looked very tired.
Mimila ran forward and caught the person before he fell. Laying him down on the floor, she quickly healed him and his eyes opened. The rather old Hume man gasped and began to crawl away, fearfully kicking the ground as he tried to run, but was unable to due to his remaining wounds. It was a surprise that he even survived. He had many deep gashes on his legs and arms, and even a few across his back and chest. The right side of his face was plastered with dry blood from a still open wound on his forehead.
Rio kneeled down beside the man and grabbed him by the arm, making a point to avoid touching any injuries. "What happened to you?" he asked quietly. The man caught his breath but still stared frightfully towards the way he came.
"So many... too many... friends... gone..." he stammered aloud and then ground began to shake violently. The man, his wounds somehow no longer burdening him at all, pulled himself forward and held fast to Ferzan's leg. "Please, Sir knight! Help me!" he shouted. Ferzan knelt down and placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "We will help," he said quietly.
The group all turned around together and watched as the ground shook, pebbles and rocks hopping up and down from the ground. Rio pulled his swords from their sheaths and the others followed suit, the wounded man crawling away into a small crevice in the rock.
Suddenly, like a wave of the ocean, what seemed like fifty orcs came storming into the long thin trail. They all stopped and starred at the new group of adventurers that stood in their path. Then, as if they were one, a single cry rang out form the horde and they charged forward.
Ferzan ran out in front of the rest of the group and called out to all of the orcs, cursing them and screaming at them. They all turned to the Elvaan Paladin and raised their axes to kill him in one blow. Ferzan prepared for the worst as he saw an ocean of axes headed straight for him. He gave on swing, shutting his eyes as he did so, and when he opened them again he found a huge section of the orcs crushed by a large meteor. His sword was stuck in the neck of a single orc. He turned around and saw Zenil smiling warmly.
Because of the large roadblock, the orcs were forced to come out around the rock two or three at a time. Taya and Rio took the right side as Ferzan and Isanlada took the left. They easily took down the uncoordinated and defenseless orcs that charged at them. Zenil stood back, protecting Mimila and the wounded Hume man from being attacked by any orcs that slipped by the others.
Rio heard little crunching sounds from on top of the meteor and without saying a word leapt to the top of the large rock. There he found five or so orcs trying to climb over the meteor. One tried to swipe at his foot but he quickly leapt over it, then countered. His short blade sliced the orc's head open and it fell to the ground, blood splattering across the other orcs. Rio continued to do this until each and every one of the orcs trying to climb over the boulder was killed. Then he took a leap of faith, flying high in the air, and dove downward into the huge mass of orcs. The orcs' attention was drawn away from the others and Rio became their target.
Taya, Ferzan, Isanlada, and Zenil charged in to attack the outer rim of the orcs' circle. In the middle of the fray, Rio fought for his life, hacking and slashing all around him, flipping and dashing and jumping and diving, doing all he could to survive. Soon, the orcs' numbers were dwindling and some tried to flee, but Zenil took them out before they got even ten feet from the battlefield.
Rio flipped forward, slicing open the last orc's head in the process, and landed behind it, arms extended behind him. Rio stood up straight and sheathed his swords, then staggered over to lean against the meteor. Taya called Mimila for help as the others tended to their own wounds with torn pieces of cloth.
Mimila arrived quickly and healed Rio, who was sitting on the floor, panting. She then moved on to heal the others.
Rio sat beside the meteor, obviously in deep thought. Cangon sat beside him and watched him silently. "What troubles you, dear friend?" he asked gruffly.
Rio picked at the grass between his feet, staring hard at the floor. He turned his head, looking up at Cangon. "It puzzles me why such a large group of orcs would even think of rallying together like that. They normally work alone, only fighting together if one is attacked, or they all spot the same warrior, but what are the chances that over fifty orcs would have spotted the same adventurer?"
"You speak with wisdom, Rio. There is most definitely something amiss here, and I don't like it. The only way the orcs would rally together like that is if they had a leader. Otherwise they'd be to unorganized to fight together in such a manner," Cangon said.
The sun sat high in the middle of the sky in the forests of Ronfaure. They could tell by the monsters around them that they were nearing San d'Oria.
Mimila shivered and tried to arch her head so she could see over the hill they climbed. "How much longer until we get there?" she whined.
"It shouldn't be long now," Rio said as he trudged along with his friends.
Mimila grew impatient and decided to run ahead of everyone else. When she reached the top of the hill, she froze. There, looming in front of her like a shining light stood the huge walls of the great city of San d'Oria.
The rest of the group ran up to catch up with her and each had the same reaction. After a moment of shocked silence, Zenil cried out with glee and dashed off into the light toward the gate. Mimila ran off to join him and soon the others followed suit. They ran past the guards and through the gate, down the long hall and into southern San d'Oria. They all looked around in wonder at all the Elvaan walking by. There were hundreds of them. And along with the Elvaan you would see other adventurers walking amongst them.
A rather old Elvaan spotted them and walked over joyfully. "Why hello there adventurers! Are you all new to the area?" he asked politely.
Ferzan nodded. "Yes. None of us have ever been to San d'Oria before. Not even my wife and I," he said.
A look of pure horror showed on the Elvaan's face. "You mean to tell me you were wed in a place other than the great San d'Oria?!" the man nearly shouted. Many of the native Elvaan stopped and turned to stare at them.
Isanlada nodded, taking Ferzan's arm. "Yup. We got married in our hometown of Bastok!" she said cheerily.
The man gasped and took a step back, looking as though he had just received a slap in the face. And with his next comment, he would have gotten one if he hadn't taken that one step back. "You were wed in that horrible, filthy dump Humes call a city?!" he shouted.
Rio let out an unexpected growl, balling his fists and glaring at the Elvaan.
"Yes, if you must so rudely put it," Ferzan answered.
The man promptly grabbed the couple's arms and pulled them away. "Well then you must come to the Cathedral immediately to reinstate your vows!"
Ferzan pulled his arm away and held his wife's shoulders. "We'll do no such thing if you are to disrespect our companions so!" he said.
The Elvaan released Isanlada's arm, a very heated argument going on in his mind. Finally, one side one and he sighed in defeat. He turned to Rio, Taya, and Cangon with a nervous smile. "I am truly sorry for the comment, I meant you no offense," he said. He saw Rio and Taya, their closeness being quite evident, and smiled wider. "Perhaps, as means of apology, we could have the to of you be wed in the Cathedral free of charge as well!"
Rio blushed violently. "What?!" he cried.
Taya wrapped her arms around Rio's and smiled. "Not yet," she said, squeezing Rio's arm. "But maybe someday."
"Well, until that day, my kind offer still lasts," the man said. He then turned back to Ferzan and Isanlada, grabbing their arms again and pulling them along, going on and on about plans for the vow reinstatements.
Mimila smiled and began to walk off slowly. "Well, I'm gonna go and look around. See if there's anything worth buying," she said as she left.
"I wanna come too!" Zenil said, bounding after the Mithra.
Cangon, Taya, and Rio waved goodbye to Ferzan, Isanlada, Mimila, and Zenil as they all walked away. Then they too took their own path and they began their adventure both behind and beyond the walls of San d'Oria.