Finally! Chapter 3 is up and going, thanks to all those that have read it and thanks to for the only review so far! A bit late because of schoolwork, but it's finally here , R&R.
Chapter III - Captured!
"Look out!"
Oztamin said to Celerity as he pushed her out of the way from the guard's slash attack. The blade only missed his elbow by a few centimeters, an inch at best.
"Merlexa, here" He said to her as he handed her Firewing, still hidden from lose eyes. "Stay as far from the guard so he doesn't see Firewing, and make sure no one else sees him" Merlexa nodded and darted to the back of the Chocobo Stands. The guard looked at Oztamin furiously and with a speed as quick as a wolf, he quickly turned at a complete 180 turn and slashes his sword at the person next to him, Runex.
Runex barely has time to react as he puts his Great Katana in front of him and a clash of sparks cluster from the blades as they meet in a mid-air collision. The shock of the force sends Runex flying back, but stays on his feet as the pavement below him crumbles a bit as he lands. The guard then focuses his vision on the small Tarutaru, struggling to get on his feet, only to be pushed back down as the guard kicks him down. The guard then looks at the others, like a vicious wolf looks when it is cornered, while holding his blade out, pointing his sword Oztamin.
"If you do not want your friend to die, you put down that spear boy, and you will stop your mumbling girl, or I will cut your throat so it does not release any sound other than misery" the guard demanded of them, his voice as foul sounding as the cry of an Orc"
Taking the most out of the opportunity, Vivini chanted under his breath a spell and a small horde of pebbles struck the guard right on his back, right where his back was exposed of armor. Dumbstruck by the sneak attack, the guard lost his balance that was enough for Vivini to get to his feet and run towards the others.
"Hurry, run!" Vivini shouted as he darted to the gate. The others soon followed him, all except Merlexa who was trying to scurry through a small hole ever since the guard began his assault on them. The guard didn't notice her though, and neither did anyone else, since all the attention was on the pack of running "Criminals". Just as they went into the tunnel that lead out to South Gustaberg, he heard the same foul voice behind then and an iron bar of steel came crashing down blocking their exit.
Not knowing was to do, he quickly turned around and prepared to face the guard, only to find that he had 6 guards behind him, all bearing crossbows aimed directly at each of them. They were a good clean 15 yards from each other, but a crossbolt would cross that easily before any of them.
"Stand down your arms, or be faced by our bolts!" one guard ordered, aiming his crossbow at the "Criminals".
"We have done nothing wrong! Your leader there assaulted us without warning, we merely defended ourselves as would any of you!" Runex yelled at them, with half of the brigade aiming now at him.
"I did not ask for excuses brat, now lay down your sword or I shall slay you down!" the same guard screamed at him.
Vivini urged for Runex to lay his Great Katana down by pulling on his arm, but Runex only kept a firm grip on his blade. Oztamin knew something was going to happen if he didn't do something, and quick. He could jump, the small clearing wasn't to his advantage, and neither could he dodge the crossbows. With no alternative to him, he grabbed the tip of the blade with his polearm's sharp tip. Runex looked at Oztamin who then gave him a nod, and with that, he put his blade on the floor, the others slowly following his actions as they set their shield's and weapons down on the ground.
"A wise choice boy, if it not for you, your friend there might have done something foolish" the guard with the foul voice hissed at him. The others slowly made their way toward them, now slowly pulling out chains to capture the "Criminals" when Oztamin put his Lance aiming straight at them with one hand, the other reaching for the shield on the floor.
"You go back on your word, coward!" The foul voiced man screeched at him.
"I never said anything about me putting my arms down, now did I?" He said this slowly making his way towards the guards. The group of men pulled out their crossbows once more, all aiming for Oztamin, who was now facing them with the left wall to his back. Everyone thought that this boy was a fool, but Runex was catching on to his plan. He was drawing all of their attention to him, leaving their right flank uncovered and unmonitored. He quietly told the others the situation before a crossbolt pierced Oztamin. Vivini then got behind Runex, who was now armed again, and started quietly chanting a hard spell he once saw. He tried to configure the words in the correct order the best he could remember, until he finished the spell with a yell of the word with his gaze directly at the foul voiced guard…
"Thundaga!"
At once, him and everyone near him lit up as a flash of thunder hit their bodies. As they all screamed, he noticed Oztamin clinching to his side, before he realized, he had also hit Oztamin! As the guards fell to the ground from the surprise attack, everyone darted to get out of the tunnel and back to the city, it didn't matter where they went as long as they could escape their attackers.
They all ran past the guards, only knocked down by the spell but still conscience. Runex and Celerity helped Oztamin to his feet, but as they did, they felt a force surround them and they couldn't move, not even twitch. Someone had casted a spell on them! But they couldn't see who it would be, until they heard a distant sound coming from where the city was. The sound soon turned into footsteps, and then a shadowy figure appeared. They couldn't see who it was, but they knew immediately that it was a Tarutaru, given the small size.
As they stood there, bound and unable to act, one of the guards got up before any of the others, and slashed Runex with the blunt side of his blade, still enough though, to knock them out cold. It was him, the foul guard, it had to be.
"Nadex! That was a bit too much! Looky, you gone and knockie-outchie out the poor boys straight to the groundie" The black figure told to the foul guard, who was now known as Nadex.
"A bit much you say? It's just fitting for what these pests have done if you ask me, now as for you 2, there are 2 options, you can either walk on your own 2 feet to where we are to take you, or we can knock the hell out of you and drag your ass down the rocky pavement, either way is fine by me."
Vivini and Celerity tried to move, but with the spell still over them, it was impossible to signal which option they chose. Nadex, seeing no motion, got tired of waiting for an answer, even though about 6 seconds only passed.
"Oh well, your choice." He said and bashed both of their heads together, also knocking them out cold.
"Men, get these pests to the hideout, don't let people see you though. I'm sure the boss will be happy to know that we got them." Nadex ordered to the men as they got up, only to answer him with a "Yes, sir!". The guards each took a body of the unconscious teens. As they all hurried to make sure the darkness still hid their figures, Merlexa saw them dragging them down the alley, Firewing in her grasp poking at her chest with his nose. She turned back as one of the figures stopped but only to continue on his way.
Nadex slowly made his way out of the tunnel, acting as if nothing had happened, with the Tarutaru behind him.
"By the way-aiy, you did know they were stunny-wanied by my spell right?" She asked him. He kept walking and only laughed, and then stopped to face her.
"But of course, I never really intended them to know where they were taken, well, awake that is" He said with a raspy laugh. She only turned away and sighed as she saw the rising sun climbing over the mountain.
"I'm not used to this you know, the mountains and the desert, I miss the fresh feeling of grass and the smell of trees" She said looking rather gloomy. Nadex looked at her with interest, but then tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
"Well, if you can find our 5th guest, I'll put a file to see that you see your Home again sooner than you planned." She looked at him with confusion, but with joy at the same time.
"There's someone else other than the ones we have? I didn't see anyone else that looked to be related to them as I made my way here, rather impressive armor and weapons they had for their age though, considering they're not adventurers, especially the 2 Humes" she said with a tone of curiosity as she spoke. "But, um, anyways, you sure there's someone else involved?"
"There is, she's hiding near here, I can't tell where exactly, but she's still in the city."
He said this and started walking away, only to be saluted by the Taru with a firm "Yes, sir!" He laughed yet again.
"You know you don't have to address me like that Yami, never did you have to. Just be sure of 1 thing Yami"
"What's that, sir?" He laughed yet again, only a chuckle though.
"Don't harm the wyvern."
"But of course, sir."