Chapter Four

In the Metalworks building in Bastok, Lucius called for the aide of one of the greatest of the Mythril Musketeers. Her name was Ayame and she was a skilled samurai, one of the few that worked for the government. Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her armor was as red as fire. She stood before Lucius at attention, uncertain of what Lucius had planned for her.

"Those two are returning to active duty." Lucius said firmly. "Both of them are old and highly experienced in combat but that is not why I have called you here, Ayame." He began. "I have called for you because I want you to be out there as well, investigating the rumors of another beastmen lord. I believe you can keep the two of them in check."

"What of President Karst?" Ayame asked politely so not to seem insubordinate.

"The president put them out there but I did not like how they acted around me. They seemed to take the situation like a joke of some kind. You, Ayame, are someone that I know will do the job. Cid had enough faith in you and I believe that you can handle this without too much trouble."

Ayame saluted to Lucius and said, "I am honored that you trust me, sir. I won't fail you."

Lucius smiled. "Good." He walked over to his desk and pulled open a drawer, grabbing a piece of paper. "Ayame, I am going to write a letter of introduction. You are to take an airship to the Duchy of Jeuno and deliver it. This letter will place you on a paid leave of duty. Keep in mind that you will be working undercover. I'm certain those two have some knowledge of you but perhaps you can fool them." Lucius walked over to Ayame and handed her an envelope. "You are to consider yourself a free adventurer. Do not tell anyone that you are working for the Republic. Are you clear with your orders, Ayame?"

"Yes, sir." Ayame stated.

"Then, off with you. They may be halfway to Jeuno by now."

Ayame bowed and quickly walked out of the building then made her way downstairs and into the streets of Bastok Markets. Ayame turned left outside of Metalworks then left again in front of the hotel rooms. She followed the long flight of stone stairs down and around, passing Sororo the Scribe's shop, and through the gate leading to Port Bastok.

Ayame, with the letter in hand, dashed passed a Galka, taking the right path around instead of the stairs, toward the departure's entrance of the travel agency. She carefully made her way across the wooden catwalk and down the steps that led to the door out to the dock. She handed over the two hundred Gil required to fly on the ship and made her way passed the small shops, around the travel agency, and onto the wooden dock. The ship was not there at the moment and Ayame could feel the stress of her job pressing against her. She turned to a man who was looking up to the sky and then down to a large map repetitively and walked over.

"Excuse me. How long until the ship arrives?" Ayame asked.

The man looked up from his map and smiled. "The airship will be arriving in about," he looked up then back to his map, "two hours, miss."

Ayame bowed and returned to the end of the pier where three adventurers stood. She sighed and sat down, leaning against the wooden railings. Ayame looked up to the blue sky and watched a flock of birds fly overhead.

Meanwhile, in North Gustaburg, Aonir and Toku rushed through the rocky terrain as fast as their legs could carry them while avoiding the watchful eyes of the Quadav. Toku had a slight advantage due to him being just over two-feet tall. Aonir found herself hiding behind rocks. It was not until the two of them could hear the roar of Drachenfalls that Toku saw goblins in their path.

"Well, this is an interestingly bad turny of events." Toku said with a sigh.

"Can we avoid them in any way?" Aonir asked.

Toku looked at the goblins and shook his head. "We'd have better luck just running straight across the bridge then making a mad dasharu to Konschtat Highlands just ahead."

"Why not do that then?"

"Quadav over there, too." Toku added. "They'd try and eat us for lunch or a snacky."

Aonir thought for a moment. They had to cross the bridge and cut through Konschtat to get to Selbina. Aonir looked down to Toku and then looked over to the goblins and took a deep breath.

"We have no choice. Cover me." Aonir said as she walked toward the bridge.

A strong wind rushed across the area the closer she came to the bridge. Mist flowed over her, damping her hair and her skin slightly. Toku followed behind her, confused. Aonir took a deep breath then rested her arms to her sides, palms up.

"Light shatters the darkness that gives strength." Aonir said as she quickly cast Diaga upon one of the goblins. Toku's eyes shot wide open as he watched the four goblins rush toward Aonir who quickly jumped over them. "Come on, Toku!"

"Are you crazy?" Toku shouted as he dashed after Aonir.

Aonir ran as fast as she could, passing some Quadav who began to chase after her and the goblins. Toku could not believe his eyes. Aonir, a white mage, just grabbed the monsters and ran with them. One of the goblins pulled out a crossbow and loaded a bolt. He aimed and shot, striking Aonir's right arm. A small squirt of blood came from the wound upon the bolt's contact with her arm. She winced and staggered slightly but quickly regained her balanced.

"Power of earth rises beneath you!" Toku shouted as he stopped and cupped his hands. He spread his arms wide and a wave of stones flew, striking the group of monsters and directing the two Quadav and one of the goblins onto him.

Toku's eyes were wide as he watched them rush toward him. He let out a small shriek and then ran toward the bridge for about five sprints before making a large U-turn back around to follow Aonir. One of the Quadav carried a great sword and took a swing. The blow was dead on target and slashed Toku's left side. His armor tore and blood began to seep from his gash, coating his clothes and dripping onto the ground. He let out a cry and Aonir quickly turn her pack of goblins around and rushed toward the now limping Toku.

"Toku! Hold on!" Aonir shouted as she ran to him, bending over to scoop him up. Her right arm throbbed as she moved it, catching Toku and then rolling to the side as the Quadav slashed his sword down again.

Dirt and stones jumped into the air when the sword hit the ground, just missing Aonir but catching the bottom of Aonir's doublet and ripping it as she rolled to the side. Aonir struggled to her feet with Toku in her arms. Her back hurt from rolling over the rocky soil and her arm ached from where the bolt struck her. She took off as soon as she managed to equalize her weight and Toku's, the train of beastmen following closely behind her.

Aonir heard the click of the crossbow and felt her heart skip a beat. If she were hit again, she may risk dropping Toku entirely. She saw the Bastokan flag ahead and she felt her hope renew itself. She began to weave in an attempt to force the goblin to miss when he fired. He fired, the bolt flew and whizzed by Aonir's left ear with a whistle. Aonir took the opportunity to run into the grassy maze that rested just beyond the Bastokan flag. A Galka flag keeper that stood beside the flag outside of Highlands cut the mob of beastmen that followed Aonir off her trail.

Aonir carried Toku a few paces inside before feeling her legs begin to give way to their combined weight. She gently placed Toku on the grassy ground and then fell backwards. Toku looked over to Aonir and gave a weak smile. Aonir felt the guilt rising inside her and she moved onto her knees.

"Divine Blessing!" Aonir said as she spread her arms out to her side and looked up to the sky. A bright light enveloped her hands only for a moment as she turned her attention back to Toku. "Altana's light."

A bright wave of violet washed over Toku's body, healing his wounds and restoring his body to its normal condition.

"Thank you. How aboutaru we not do that again?" Toku asked weakly.

Aonir smiled and chuckled, "All depends if we need it. Besides, you should have just run instead of attacking."

"I tried to save you." Toku objected as he sulked.

"But it's not your job to save me." Aonir added softly.

"I wanted to."

"I didn't need it this time. Thank you for trying, though. Not many would do that for me." Aonir smiled and lifted his chin. "Let's get to that boat and continue our adventure."

Toku jumped to his feet and looked down the path then looked up to the sky. The sky was clear and the wind was just a soft breeze so Toku felt that the tip from where he and Aonir were to the desert to the north would be easy. The only threat and possible delay would be any beastmen that would be in the way.

Toku pulled out a map and sat down with it. He angled it a little so Aonir could look at it while he plotted out the path. Aonir felt that she had a map of this place somewhere in her bag but decided since Toku pulled his out she did not need hers at the moment.

He pointed northwest and smiled.

"We go that way!" Toku exclaimed happily, "Following the path west until we go around the second big turn. That leads us north and then we hang another leftaru until the path opens up. Then it's all north from there."

Aonir looked to Toku and nodded and a grin slid across her lips. Toku dashed ahead and waved for her to follow. Aonir laughed and followed the excited Tarutaru through the left path at the first fork, then hugged the wall down the path and around a right turn from a small open spot in the path. Toku led the way north until the path split into a west path and an east path.

Toku wasted no time and dove down the west path. Aonir followed and was taken aback when she saw the path open up into a large expanse of lush green grass. Trees dotted the horizon, rich in colors ranging from green to a warm brown. The breeze that swam over them was cool and surprisingly moist, something that was far different from the winds of Gustaburg.

Off in the distance, beyond the many hills, Aonir could see the soft silhouette of many old windmills. She guessed they were windmills by the slowly moving blades. Aonir had never gotten to see Konschtat without being rushed through before. She could take in everything she saw without having her teacher instructing her not to dally.

The winds flushed over them again, this time it was much cooler than it was earlier. Aonir crossed her arms and tried to warm herself up while she jogged after Toku. Toku, on the other hand, was having trouble holding onto his hat. The cool breeze chilled him to the bone but it also tried pulling his hat off his head. His hat was a dark blue color and was shaped like an acorn.

"Toku, I think the weather is changing for the worse." Aonir stated.

Toku slowed to a walk and looked up, keeping one hand on his hat as he went. The sky was still blue but there was a few clouds slowly pushing east as they rode the winds.

"I think we're okie-dokie." Toku said with a smile. "We should be fine."

Aonir looked up. "Okay, Toku, if you say so."

The two of them proceeded to walk north over the rocky, hilly terrain that made up Konschtat. Off to the east, the silhouette of a large building-like figure stood. The building seemed to loom over the land as a guardian. Aonir felt pulled to it but forced herself to follow behind Toku rather than wander off. She kept glancing over to the silhouette as if checking to see if it were following them as they neared a signpost.

"Valkurm Dunes is just ahead." Toku said as he pointed to the signpost.

Aonir snapped from her daze and looked at the signpost. "Why do we need to go through Valkurm?"

"To get to the port town of Selbina." Toku said happily.

Aonir opened her mouth to speak when the winds picked up again carrying sand over the mountainside and pouring it over Konschtat. Toku pulled down the front rim of his hat to block the sand from his eyes. Aonir was not as fortunate. Using her left hand and a shield she attempted to keep the sand from hitting her face. Unfortunately, this technique did not allow her to see very well so she had to move her hand away to look where she was going. That made the attempt of blocking pointless since whenever her hand moved, sand got into her eyes.

The sandstorm was a strange thing. The wind was cool but the sand was strangely warm. Aonir did not mind the warmth but the sand hit her skin with a lot of force that the small sand scrapped her skin slightly.

The storm did not seem as bad inside the small valley but Aonir just wanted out of it. Ever since she left Bastok, everything seemed to have gone every which way except for an easy way. The two people she ticked off, the sudden beastmen attack, the strange people in Dangruf Wadi, Toku's injury due to her trying to help on the way into Konschtat, and now this horrendous sandstorm. Just once, Aonir thought, she wanted things to move smoothly.