Chapter 5 - Bandits of Arc Valley
The kingdom lay in ruins for three days strait, and funerals were planned for all that were killed by the horde of devils. The reason for the attack was unknown, though rumors spread that a villager was tied with the devils. The rebuilding began on a day that seemed perfect for working, and though many were in a unhappy or depressed mood, the bright sun raised their spirits slightly, and they started the task of reconstructing destroyed homes, and repairing intact ones. The castles roof was repaired first, by many of the soldiers themselves.
Gyan was found in the field outside of the city, battered and tired, but alive nevertheless. He rested in his home for a few days, and therefore, school was out for the time being. Keith healed quickly from his wounds, and Duran, who had been walking to school with Keith at the time of the attack, had been badly hurt by some devils, and was not seen for days. Orin awoke from the light of the rising sun, as he always did, and got dressed and walked down into the hall. There was no one in the castle that morning, not even the soldiers who were currently repairing the castle roof. There were no villagers, because most of them came to visit the king, but there was no king to visit. Elis took full control of the kingdom, though she lay in bed, depressed at the thought of her husband not returning. Orin spoke to her, in a gentle whisper.
"Mother…I'm sorry that I couldn't help father, but I'm going to find him, and I'm taking my friends with me." he said, into his mother's ear, as she stared toward the ceiling, in a state of shock.
She did not move, but a tear ran down her already red cheek, and she reached out for Orin's hand. She pulled him close to her, and cried for at least 10 minutes, before she nodded off to sleep. Orin gently removed himself from her grasp, and whispered goodbye. He left her there, but thought to himself how proud she would be of him, when he returned with his father. He left the castle, and no one even seemed to notice him as he walked through the village.
He went to see Keith first, because of the closer location of his house to the castle. Keith answered the door immediately, with his bow and quiver already strapped to him, as if he had been waiting for Orin to arrive. They nodded to each other, and began to walk to Ikara's house. Hers was close to the town exit, and was stripped of its roof by fire, and now only an outline of new wood remained. She was standing outside, watching the villagers, one of which was her father, in hope they would finish soon. When she realized Orin and Keith coming toward her, she turned happily to greet them.
"There you are, I've been waiting for days for you to come." she said, as her voice raised in excitement.
"We wouldn't leave without you Ikara." said Orin, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, we need someone to cook for us." joked Keith, who stopped laughing as Ikara's staff made contact with his head.
"AHAHAGG!!" He yelled in pain, as he fell to the ground with a loud thump.
Both Ikara and Orin laughed at Keith as he curled into a ball, holding his head in pain. When Keith regained his right train of mind, and after Ikara had finished telling him how horribly impolite he was, they headed toward Duran's home. His home was very small, compared to the others in the village, and was surprisingly not damaged at all. Orin knocked on the door, and waited for it to open, or even to hear some movement from inside. Finally, the door flew open and out jumped a short boy, who had a nice build, but was a bit stocky. He had brown hair, wrapped in a bandana, and brown eyes that gleamed at the site of the trio. He smiled happily, his mouth spread wide in excitement.
"There you guys are, I thought you never come to visit me." he said, now looking down at his feet, with a look of unhappiness on his face.
"How did you know that we would be coming for you??" asked Keith, as he rubbed the bump on his head.
"The gossip has spread that you guys are the new Shining Force!" Duran cried, drawing the attention of some nearby villagers. "And that you took down five enraged devils!"
"You heard right, Duran, we are the Shining Force, though we have hardly accomplished what the heroes before us have." said Ikara, who was now drawing in the dirt with the bottom of her staff.
"Woah, that's great!" Duran said, beaming at Orin, "I can come, can't I?"
"Of course, we need all the help we can get!" said Orin, who was looking surprised that Duran would ask such a question.
"Great!" cried Duran, "I'll be ready in a sec."
Duran ran back inside, and within a few seconds he had returned with an axe. It was small, but the blade was razor sharp, and Duran had the muscle of a warrior to make any weapon's blow a very heavy one.
"Ok, lets go then." said Orin, as he turned toward the gate of the city.
"Were to, Orin," asked Keith, whose swelling of the head had now gone down.
"Well," started Orin, as he rubbed his chin in thought, "I believe that I know who can help us greatly on our quest, but she does not live in Granseal. Her home, I believe, is in a small house in the northwest. We must travel through the fields, and a small town, to get there."
"Who is it we are going to see then, Orin?" asked Ikara with a look of curiosity in her eyes, as the four walked toward the open city gates.
"She once lived here with my own family, but was hurt in the devil attack, and is now at home with her family," said Orin, "We should arrive in a day or so."
Ikara looked toward Keith and shrugged at Orin's ignoring her question. As they walked onto the vast field outside of Granseal, they were amazed at the warmth of the spring day, as the sun beat down its raze onto them. There were no devils in the fields, because of the many that were killed in the attack before, and it was now rare to see a devil in the daylight. Nevertheless, all four of them kept the weapons ready for an attack, and as they suspected, they were attacked as they approached the small town of which name they did not know. There stood five devils, seemingly guarding the city. They did not see the Force approaching, and were surprised to find them walking towards them calmly. There were two horse like devils, which Orin had read in his book were called Centaur Knights. Two others were those like Orin had fought in his physical test, called Goblins, and the last, Orin had not seen, but closely resembled a cave bat, only it was at least 20 times its normal size.
Duran, who was normally happy and energetic, was now walking calmly, and with a look of hatred toward the devils. Orin suspected this look of hatred had sprung from the devils injuring him, and it was said that both parents and his sister were slaughtered by the beasts. They reached the devils, standing only 30 yards away. Suddenly, the bat creature let out a screech of anger, and darted toward the four of them, who were entirely surprised by its speed. Orin, Duran, and Keith narrowly avoided the speedy attack, but Ikara was hit head on, and was knocked backward. The bat screeched in victory, and flew back to its group, who had now launched an attack on the Force.
The Knights ran at full speed, carrying the small Goblins on their backs. The Goblins whipped their swords in the air, and growled loudly at the group, while the centaurs held out their lances, as if to be jousting. Ikara, who was knocked a few yards from the rest of the group, seemingly unconscious, as Keith had called her name, but did not receive a reply. Duran, who was angry at the attack, ran toward the charging devils, and jumped high in the air. He was unsuccessful in delivering a blow, because he was intercepted by the bat, who, in a flash, had slammed into Duran. He fell limp to the ground, and created a small crater, identifying him as unconscious as well. Keith shot an arrow at one goblin, who growled in pain, and lost his grip on the centaurs back. It flew backward, hit the ground, and was trampled to death by the other centaur, who could not stop at his rate of speed. The Goblin exploded, and dust blew through the wind, disappearing more with each gust. Orin ran toward the charging devils, yelling at them with anger.
"You'll pay for what you've done to them!!" cried Orin as the wind whipped through his hair.
Even in his raged attack, Orin was conscious of the fact that the bat was no were in site. Therefore, when it sprung suddenly behind him, he spun around and sliced through the bats face. It screeched in pain and flew high into the air, but came spiraling to the ground, and exploded on contact. The Centaur was upon Orin by now, and slashed in anger at him, knocking him to the ground, and as the Knight raised its already bloody hooves to trample him, it was surprised to find that an arrow had pierced its underbelly. It roared in pain, and back fearfully away from Orin, as he watched his wound gush forth blood. He looked toward Keith, who was smiling slyly, and loading in another arrow. But then, out of what seemed nowhere to the devil, Orin's blade ripped through its front legs, and it exploded instantly.
The final enemies charged fourth, and came up behind Orin, catching him by surprise as he got up from the ground. Orin tried to dodge the forceful attack, but was stabbed by the lance of the centaur, and knocked senseless by the butt of the riding Goblin's sword. Keith fired his arrow to stop the Centaur from trampling Orin, but missed him, hitting the Goblin in the side. The Goblin growled loudly and fell off the centaur's back in pain, but stood again, pulling the arrow from his side. As the centaur lifted its hooves, Keith was surprise to see a raging fire ball slam hard into the centaur, knocking him to the ground, and burning him until he let out a screech, and exploded. Ikara smiled victoriously, as Keith looked back to see her standing, but holding her arm in pain.
The limping Goblin, was now walking briskly toward Keith. Suddenly, Duran stood up, blood running down his forehead, and snuck up behind the beast, and drove his razor sharp axe clear through the Goblin's head. It exploded, and Duran walked victoriously through the dissipating cloud of smoke and dust. The three of them gave a loud cheer, and walked toward an unconscious Orin. They lifted him up, and carried him to the small city, where they were sure they would find some valuable information about Bowie's location.
They reached the city within a few minutes, and walked unto the path, surprised that the town had no wall protecting it. They walked through the city of small houses, and looked at their surroundings. The place was small indeed, but there were a great deal of people in the small streets, whom were conversing, gardening, and obtaining water from a small well. There were groups of chicken and duck roaming free about the streets, and people did not seemed to notice the band of children who had entered their small town. Orin, who had now awakened, held his head in pain, and noticed the deep wound in his right arm. It had stopped bleeding, but his sleeve and shirt were dark red.
He walked unbalanced through the town, dizzy at first, but Duran and Keith lent their arms for him to hold. They went strait to the small chapel on the very outskirts, in the behind area of the town, where the wounds were healed by a priest. Orin was happy that his arm was movable again, and he slashed his sword left and right, so he would be sure it was fully healed. They left the chapel; and looked around at the villagers, who were still going about their daily lives. Keith suggested they split up, and ask around for information on Bowie, and if anyone had seen him being taken through, or by, the area. They had heard of Bowie, and some knew him well because he had visited the village many times years before, and also because some villagers were natives of Granseal, but had moved away.
None seemed to know were Bowie could possibly be, and so, they decided it best to spend the night in the church, because the sky had darkened greatly since their arrival. They slept well, and awoke a few hours after sunrise, because the church took in very little light, and remained very dim inside. When they were dressed and fed, they proceeded to the exit of the town, not where they had previously enter from, but another entrance or exit in the rear of the village. They waved goodbye to the priest who had taken them in, and they left the city, and entered a field, almost as large as the one that they walked through to get to the city. It was not a large plain, as the other had been, but was filled with rougher terrain, such as forest areas and shrubs. They had only walked about 10 yards, before devils began to surround them, and they prepared for a harsh battle.
Two bats appeared, which were listed in Orin's book as Huge Bats. Other devils, such as three Knights, two Goblins, and another devil, that was a blue blob of liquid. The Force was charged by a Goblin first, but was easily defeated by Duran, who clashed with his axe to the Goblin's sword, but overpowered it, cutting its chest open. It burst into flames, and exploded, and Orin and his Force moved closer to the other devils, who were infuriated at the power of their enemies. The three Knights charged next, lances pointed forward, as they roared across the plains. The faster two reached the Force first, and Orin narrowly avoid a lance, but spun around, and managed to catch one of the centaur's legs with his sword, pulling him to the ground. The Knight roared out, and began to bring itself up from the ground, but was hit with a ball of fire, and knocked back down. It roared once more in agony, and exploded into dust.
Keith shot an arrow at the second Knight, who evaded the shot, and ran ever faster toward Keith. He was hit hard with side of the lance, and flew backward, skidding against the ground, and coming to a stop when his back hit a large tree. When the dust cleared, he lay unconscious, and blood was dripping from his mouth, and streaming down from a large gash in his forehead. The centaur turned to Duran, who was closest, and stabbed at him with his lance. Duran, easily avoided, and came up behind the Knight, but was head butted by a Huge Bat, as it quickly swooped down from the sky. Duran rolled rapidly into a bush, and jumped out seconds later, with but a cut on his face from a thorn. By this time, the third centaur had reached his comrade, and began to swing at Ikara with his lance. She blocked twice with her staff, and slammed it into his face, as he raised his weapon for a third attack. He backed off slightly, though he was barely hurt by Ikara's weak attack, but was surprised when he was hit in the face a second time, but by a ball of flames. He screamed as the fire engulfed him, but fought with his last breath. He stabbed Ikara in the thigh, and she cried out in pain. He withdrew his bloody lance, and exploded into dust.
The other Knight, who was now dueling with Orin, was fighting hard in his hatred toward the small band of teens. It lost concentration, and Orin caught the opening in the enemies defenses, and drove his sword deep into the devils face, which shot fourth blood onto Orin's clothes. It exploded quickly after, and left the dust of its body at Orin's feet. Keith was now attempting to stand, but could not, for his leg seemed broken, and he was dizzy from the loss of blood, which had now almost covered his face in red.
Duran helped him to stand and lean against the tree behind him, but Duran was caught off guard by the second bat, whose sharp claws ripped across his chest. He yelled out in pain, and held his chest, which began to bleed furiously. Even so, he stood and picked up his axe, and looked to the sky. He caught a glimpse of one bat, and he quickly launched himself into the sky, and brought his axe down at exactly the right moment. He slashed through the bat's torso, and it exploded immediately, but Duran lost consciousness soon after, and fell limply to the ground. The second bat came down from behind Orin, and rammed into his back, launching him several feet forward, into a small tree. Orin felt himself losing consciousness as well, but pushed himself up. He could not see, though, because he was blinded by his own blood, that was now pouring down from his head. He fell over in shock, and passed out soon after.
Orin awoke to the sound of a crackling fire. He sat up, but as he did so, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his back and to his head. He fell back to the small mat he was lying on, and looked around for a sign of his friends. Keith lay next to him, his head rapped in bandages, that covered his left eye, and Ikara lie next to the bellowing flames, which looked as if they were surrounding her. Duran was nowhere in sight. Orin was confused about his location, and he looked around anxiously for another person, but seen no one.
He lay for several minutes, feeling the small bandage on his own head, and massaging his soar left arm. Only moments later, Duran appeared from somewhere in the forest, and was carrying firewood. Orin called out to him, but hardly any words escaped his mouth, which was dry and chapped.
"Dur…Duran, are you there?" asked Orin, his voice barely above that of a whisper.
"I am." he replied, walking over to Orin.
"What happened? I thought we had been killed for sure." he said quietly, as he felt his voice regaining its tone.
"I awoke here as you did now," replied Duran, gesturing to the bandages on his chest, "bandages and all. I thought I heard someone talking by the fire, but when I raised my head to see who it was, they took off."
"Did you see who they were?" Orin asked turning his head slightly to look at Duran.
"No, my vision was blurred when I awoke, and had cleared up only a few minutes ago." Duran replied, as he put a warm cloth onto Keith's bandaged forehead.
"Do you know were we are?" asked Orin, as he felt strength returning to his neck and arms.
"I think we might be….." Duran was cut short by the sound of the bushes and trees shaking nearby.
Suddenly, a small man appeared, his face rapped in a bandana, and a headband on. He held a small blade that seemed to be of Japanese origin, and wore black from head to toe. A second later, another man, dressed the same, emerged from the bushes as well, followed by a giant rat man, with a small knife in hand, and ragged close on. They walked toward the damaged group, holding their weapons, ready to attack Duran if he moved.
"So, you're awake, eh?" asked the ragged looking rat, who was now brandishing his knife.
"What do you want with us," asked Duran, looking at his axe that lay by the fire, at the rat's gnarled feet, "if you wished to rob us, then why do you let us continue to live."
"Because such people as you, such as the prince there," said one bandit, "will fetch a high ransom price."
"And because our leader requests us to bring all the people we find to him, before we can take their possessions." added the second bandit.
"Tell your leader that we will have none of this nonsense, and that he should be slain for such horrible crimes against innocent passerby!" yelled Duran angrily, his face grown red with hatred and anger toward the thieves.
"We will do no such thing," yelled the rat, who raised his knife in the air, ready to strike Duran down for such disrespect for their leader, "besides, he is well on his way here, to see you die."
Duran backed away from the rat, knowing he was very little of a threat to the bandits without his axe. And so, they sat in wait for the leader of the thieves to arrive. When he did, Duran stood to meet the creature he considered scum, and grabbed his axe as he stood. As the thief leader approached Duran, Orin glanced at his robes, which covered his face in shadows. They were a dark shade of blue, and his head was draped with a blue cloth, which was tied to his head with a yellow band. He had a large dark blue cloak flowing behind him, and a sword was poking through his robes, making it obvious that he was not a thief, but a samurai, or ninja. As he moved closer to the fire, Orin's eyes widened at the site of the man, who was not a man at all, he was a rat, and a sly smile spread across his face, and he turn sharply to Orin.
"Hello, Orin, It is good to see you are well." said Slade, as he sat on a large log in front of the blaze of a fire that he himself had created hours before.
The kingdom lay in ruins for three days strait, and funerals were planned for all that were killed by the horde of devils. The reason for the attack was unknown, though rumors spread that a villager was tied with the devils. The rebuilding began on a day that seemed perfect for working, and though many were in a unhappy or depressed mood, the bright sun raised their spirits slightly, and they started the task of reconstructing destroyed homes, and repairing intact ones. The castles roof was repaired first, by many of the soldiers themselves.
Gyan was found in the field outside of the city, battered and tired, but alive nevertheless. He rested in his home for a few days, and therefore, school was out for the time being. Keith healed quickly from his wounds, and Duran, who had been walking to school with Keith at the time of the attack, had been badly hurt by some devils, and was not seen for days. Orin awoke from the light of the rising sun, as he always did, and got dressed and walked down into the hall. There was no one in the castle that morning, not even the soldiers who were currently repairing the castle roof. There were no villagers, because most of them came to visit the king, but there was no king to visit. Elis took full control of the kingdom, though she lay in bed, depressed at the thought of her husband not returning. Orin spoke to her, in a gentle whisper.
"Mother…I'm sorry that I couldn't help father, but I'm going to find him, and I'm taking my friends with me." he said, into his mother's ear, as she stared toward the ceiling, in a state of shock.
She did not move, but a tear ran down her already red cheek, and she reached out for Orin's hand. She pulled him close to her, and cried for at least 10 minutes, before she nodded off to sleep. Orin gently removed himself from her grasp, and whispered goodbye. He left her there, but thought to himself how proud she would be of him, when he returned with his father. He left the castle, and no one even seemed to notice him as he walked through the village.
He went to see Keith first, because of the closer location of his house to the castle. Keith answered the door immediately, with his bow and quiver already strapped to him, as if he had been waiting for Orin to arrive. They nodded to each other, and began to walk to Ikara's house. Hers was close to the town exit, and was stripped of its roof by fire, and now only an outline of new wood remained. She was standing outside, watching the villagers, one of which was her father, in hope they would finish soon. When she realized Orin and Keith coming toward her, she turned happily to greet them.
"There you are, I've been waiting for days for you to come." she said, as her voice raised in excitement.
"We wouldn't leave without you Ikara." said Orin, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, we need someone to cook for us." joked Keith, who stopped laughing as Ikara's staff made contact with his head.
"AHAHAGG!!" He yelled in pain, as he fell to the ground with a loud thump.
Both Ikara and Orin laughed at Keith as he curled into a ball, holding his head in pain. When Keith regained his right train of mind, and after Ikara had finished telling him how horribly impolite he was, they headed toward Duran's home. His home was very small, compared to the others in the village, and was surprisingly not damaged at all. Orin knocked on the door, and waited for it to open, or even to hear some movement from inside. Finally, the door flew open and out jumped a short boy, who had a nice build, but was a bit stocky. He had brown hair, wrapped in a bandana, and brown eyes that gleamed at the site of the trio. He smiled happily, his mouth spread wide in excitement.
"There you guys are, I thought you never come to visit me." he said, now looking down at his feet, with a look of unhappiness on his face.
"How did you know that we would be coming for you??" asked Keith, as he rubbed the bump on his head.
"The gossip has spread that you guys are the new Shining Force!" Duran cried, drawing the attention of some nearby villagers. "And that you took down five enraged devils!"
"You heard right, Duran, we are the Shining Force, though we have hardly accomplished what the heroes before us have." said Ikara, who was now drawing in the dirt with the bottom of her staff.
"Woah, that's great!" Duran said, beaming at Orin, "I can come, can't I?"
"Of course, we need all the help we can get!" said Orin, who was looking surprised that Duran would ask such a question.
"Great!" cried Duran, "I'll be ready in a sec."
Duran ran back inside, and within a few seconds he had returned with an axe. It was small, but the blade was razor sharp, and Duran had the muscle of a warrior to make any weapon's blow a very heavy one.
"Ok, lets go then." said Orin, as he turned toward the gate of the city.
"Were to, Orin," asked Keith, whose swelling of the head had now gone down.
"Well," started Orin, as he rubbed his chin in thought, "I believe that I know who can help us greatly on our quest, but she does not live in Granseal. Her home, I believe, is in a small house in the northwest. We must travel through the fields, and a small town, to get there."
"Who is it we are going to see then, Orin?" asked Ikara with a look of curiosity in her eyes, as the four walked toward the open city gates.
"She once lived here with my own family, but was hurt in the devil attack, and is now at home with her family," said Orin, "We should arrive in a day or so."
Ikara looked toward Keith and shrugged at Orin's ignoring her question. As they walked onto the vast field outside of Granseal, they were amazed at the warmth of the spring day, as the sun beat down its raze onto them. There were no devils in the fields, because of the many that were killed in the attack before, and it was now rare to see a devil in the daylight. Nevertheless, all four of them kept the weapons ready for an attack, and as they suspected, they were attacked as they approached the small town of which name they did not know. There stood five devils, seemingly guarding the city. They did not see the Force approaching, and were surprised to find them walking towards them calmly. There were two horse like devils, which Orin had read in his book were called Centaur Knights. Two others were those like Orin had fought in his physical test, called Goblins, and the last, Orin had not seen, but closely resembled a cave bat, only it was at least 20 times its normal size.
Duran, who was normally happy and energetic, was now walking calmly, and with a look of hatred toward the devils. Orin suspected this look of hatred had sprung from the devils injuring him, and it was said that both parents and his sister were slaughtered by the beasts. They reached the devils, standing only 30 yards away. Suddenly, the bat creature let out a screech of anger, and darted toward the four of them, who were entirely surprised by its speed. Orin, Duran, and Keith narrowly avoided the speedy attack, but Ikara was hit head on, and was knocked backward. The bat screeched in victory, and flew back to its group, who had now launched an attack on the Force.
The Knights ran at full speed, carrying the small Goblins on their backs. The Goblins whipped their swords in the air, and growled loudly at the group, while the centaurs held out their lances, as if to be jousting. Ikara, who was knocked a few yards from the rest of the group, seemingly unconscious, as Keith had called her name, but did not receive a reply. Duran, who was angry at the attack, ran toward the charging devils, and jumped high in the air. He was unsuccessful in delivering a blow, because he was intercepted by the bat, who, in a flash, had slammed into Duran. He fell limp to the ground, and created a small crater, identifying him as unconscious as well. Keith shot an arrow at one goblin, who growled in pain, and lost his grip on the centaurs back. It flew backward, hit the ground, and was trampled to death by the other centaur, who could not stop at his rate of speed. The Goblin exploded, and dust blew through the wind, disappearing more with each gust. Orin ran toward the charging devils, yelling at them with anger.
"You'll pay for what you've done to them!!" cried Orin as the wind whipped through his hair.
Even in his raged attack, Orin was conscious of the fact that the bat was no were in site. Therefore, when it sprung suddenly behind him, he spun around and sliced through the bats face. It screeched in pain and flew high into the air, but came spiraling to the ground, and exploded on contact. The Centaur was upon Orin by now, and slashed in anger at him, knocking him to the ground, and as the Knight raised its already bloody hooves to trample him, it was surprised to find that an arrow had pierced its underbelly. It roared in pain, and back fearfully away from Orin, as he watched his wound gush forth blood. He looked toward Keith, who was smiling slyly, and loading in another arrow. But then, out of what seemed nowhere to the devil, Orin's blade ripped through its front legs, and it exploded instantly.
The final enemies charged fourth, and came up behind Orin, catching him by surprise as he got up from the ground. Orin tried to dodge the forceful attack, but was stabbed by the lance of the centaur, and knocked senseless by the butt of the riding Goblin's sword. Keith fired his arrow to stop the Centaur from trampling Orin, but missed him, hitting the Goblin in the side. The Goblin growled loudly and fell off the centaur's back in pain, but stood again, pulling the arrow from his side. As the centaur lifted its hooves, Keith was surprise to see a raging fire ball slam hard into the centaur, knocking him to the ground, and burning him until he let out a screech, and exploded. Ikara smiled victoriously, as Keith looked back to see her standing, but holding her arm in pain.
The limping Goblin, was now walking briskly toward Keith. Suddenly, Duran stood up, blood running down his forehead, and snuck up behind the beast, and drove his razor sharp axe clear through the Goblin's head. It exploded, and Duran walked victoriously through the dissipating cloud of smoke and dust. The three of them gave a loud cheer, and walked toward an unconscious Orin. They lifted him up, and carried him to the small city, where they were sure they would find some valuable information about Bowie's location.
They reached the city within a few minutes, and walked unto the path, surprised that the town had no wall protecting it. They walked through the city of small houses, and looked at their surroundings. The place was small indeed, but there were a great deal of people in the small streets, whom were conversing, gardening, and obtaining water from a small well. There were groups of chicken and duck roaming free about the streets, and people did not seemed to notice the band of children who had entered their small town. Orin, who had now awakened, held his head in pain, and noticed the deep wound in his right arm. It had stopped bleeding, but his sleeve and shirt were dark red.
He walked unbalanced through the town, dizzy at first, but Duran and Keith lent their arms for him to hold. They went strait to the small chapel on the very outskirts, in the behind area of the town, where the wounds were healed by a priest. Orin was happy that his arm was movable again, and he slashed his sword left and right, so he would be sure it was fully healed. They left the chapel; and looked around at the villagers, who were still going about their daily lives. Keith suggested they split up, and ask around for information on Bowie, and if anyone had seen him being taken through, or by, the area. They had heard of Bowie, and some knew him well because he had visited the village many times years before, and also because some villagers were natives of Granseal, but had moved away.
None seemed to know were Bowie could possibly be, and so, they decided it best to spend the night in the church, because the sky had darkened greatly since their arrival. They slept well, and awoke a few hours after sunrise, because the church took in very little light, and remained very dim inside. When they were dressed and fed, they proceeded to the exit of the town, not where they had previously enter from, but another entrance or exit in the rear of the village. They waved goodbye to the priest who had taken them in, and they left the city, and entered a field, almost as large as the one that they walked through to get to the city. It was not a large plain, as the other had been, but was filled with rougher terrain, such as forest areas and shrubs. They had only walked about 10 yards, before devils began to surround them, and they prepared for a harsh battle.
Two bats appeared, which were listed in Orin's book as Huge Bats. Other devils, such as three Knights, two Goblins, and another devil, that was a blue blob of liquid. The Force was charged by a Goblin first, but was easily defeated by Duran, who clashed with his axe to the Goblin's sword, but overpowered it, cutting its chest open. It burst into flames, and exploded, and Orin and his Force moved closer to the other devils, who were infuriated at the power of their enemies. The three Knights charged next, lances pointed forward, as they roared across the plains. The faster two reached the Force first, and Orin narrowly avoid a lance, but spun around, and managed to catch one of the centaur's legs with his sword, pulling him to the ground. The Knight roared out, and began to bring itself up from the ground, but was hit with a ball of fire, and knocked back down. It roared once more in agony, and exploded into dust.
Keith shot an arrow at the second Knight, who evaded the shot, and ran ever faster toward Keith. He was hit hard with side of the lance, and flew backward, skidding against the ground, and coming to a stop when his back hit a large tree. When the dust cleared, he lay unconscious, and blood was dripping from his mouth, and streaming down from a large gash in his forehead. The centaur turned to Duran, who was closest, and stabbed at him with his lance. Duran, easily avoided, and came up behind the Knight, but was head butted by a Huge Bat, as it quickly swooped down from the sky. Duran rolled rapidly into a bush, and jumped out seconds later, with but a cut on his face from a thorn. By this time, the third centaur had reached his comrade, and began to swing at Ikara with his lance. She blocked twice with her staff, and slammed it into his face, as he raised his weapon for a third attack. He backed off slightly, though he was barely hurt by Ikara's weak attack, but was surprised when he was hit in the face a second time, but by a ball of flames. He screamed as the fire engulfed him, but fought with his last breath. He stabbed Ikara in the thigh, and she cried out in pain. He withdrew his bloody lance, and exploded into dust.
The other Knight, who was now dueling with Orin, was fighting hard in his hatred toward the small band of teens. It lost concentration, and Orin caught the opening in the enemies defenses, and drove his sword deep into the devils face, which shot fourth blood onto Orin's clothes. It exploded quickly after, and left the dust of its body at Orin's feet. Keith was now attempting to stand, but could not, for his leg seemed broken, and he was dizzy from the loss of blood, which had now almost covered his face in red.
Duran helped him to stand and lean against the tree behind him, but Duran was caught off guard by the second bat, whose sharp claws ripped across his chest. He yelled out in pain, and held his chest, which began to bleed furiously. Even so, he stood and picked up his axe, and looked to the sky. He caught a glimpse of one bat, and he quickly launched himself into the sky, and brought his axe down at exactly the right moment. He slashed through the bat's torso, and it exploded immediately, but Duran lost consciousness soon after, and fell limply to the ground. The second bat came down from behind Orin, and rammed into his back, launching him several feet forward, into a small tree. Orin felt himself losing consciousness as well, but pushed himself up. He could not see, though, because he was blinded by his own blood, that was now pouring down from his head. He fell over in shock, and passed out soon after.
Orin awoke to the sound of a crackling fire. He sat up, but as he did so, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his back and to his head. He fell back to the small mat he was lying on, and looked around for a sign of his friends. Keith lay next to him, his head rapped in bandages, that covered his left eye, and Ikara lie next to the bellowing flames, which looked as if they were surrounding her. Duran was nowhere in sight. Orin was confused about his location, and he looked around anxiously for another person, but seen no one.
He lay for several minutes, feeling the small bandage on his own head, and massaging his soar left arm. Only moments later, Duran appeared from somewhere in the forest, and was carrying firewood. Orin called out to him, but hardly any words escaped his mouth, which was dry and chapped.
"Dur…Duran, are you there?" asked Orin, his voice barely above that of a whisper.
"I am." he replied, walking over to Orin.
"What happened? I thought we had been killed for sure." he said quietly, as he felt his voice regaining its tone.
"I awoke here as you did now," replied Duran, gesturing to the bandages on his chest, "bandages and all. I thought I heard someone talking by the fire, but when I raised my head to see who it was, they took off."
"Did you see who they were?" Orin asked turning his head slightly to look at Duran.
"No, my vision was blurred when I awoke, and had cleared up only a few minutes ago." Duran replied, as he put a warm cloth onto Keith's bandaged forehead.
"Do you know were we are?" asked Orin, as he felt strength returning to his neck and arms.
"I think we might be….." Duran was cut short by the sound of the bushes and trees shaking nearby.
Suddenly, a small man appeared, his face rapped in a bandana, and a headband on. He held a small blade that seemed to be of Japanese origin, and wore black from head to toe. A second later, another man, dressed the same, emerged from the bushes as well, followed by a giant rat man, with a small knife in hand, and ragged close on. They walked toward the damaged group, holding their weapons, ready to attack Duran if he moved.
"So, you're awake, eh?" asked the ragged looking rat, who was now brandishing his knife.
"What do you want with us," asked Duran, looking at his axe that lay by the fire, at the rat's gnarled feet, "if you wished to rob us, then why do you let us continue to live."
"Because such people as you, such as the prince there," said one bandit, "will fetch a high ransom price."
"And because our leader requests us to bring all the people we find to him, before we can take their possessions." added the second bandit.
"Tell your leader that we will have none of this nonsense, and that he should be slain for such horrible crimes against innocent passerby!" yelled Duran angrily, his face grown red with hatred and anger toward the thieves.
"We will do no such thing," yelled the rat, who raised his knife in the air, ready to strike Duran down for such disrespect for their leader, "besides, he is well on his way here, to see you die."
Duran backed away from the rat, knowing he was very little of a threat to the bandits without his axe. And so, they sat in wait for the leader of the thieves to arrive. When he did, Duran stood to meet the creature he considered scum, and grabbed his axe as he stood. As the thief leader approached Duran, Orin glanced at his robes, which covered his face in shadows. They were a dark shade of blue, and his head was draped with a blue cloth, which was tied to his head with a yellow band. He had a large dark blue cloak flowing behind him, and a sword was poking through his robes, making it obvious that he was not a thief, but a samurai, or ninja. As he moved closer to the fire, Orin's eyes widened at the site of the man, who was not a man at all, he was a rat, and a sly smile spread across his face, and he turn sharply to Orin.
"Hello, Orin, It is good to see you are well." said Slade, as he sat on a large log in front of the blaze of a fire that he himself had created hours before.