Chapter 14 - Greeting Unknown Soldiers
Orin helped pack the cots into two bags, which he and Duran would carry. Tess was ecstatic about coming with them, though she hardly showed it as she lay idly against a dead oak. Keith and Vahn stood in the field outside of the cluster of trees that was their camp, and looked over the still wet, muggy landscape.
"Ready, Ikara?" called Orin, as he tossed one of the backpacks to Duran.
"Almost!" she called back as she grabbed her staff and sprinted from the forest to the rest of the group.
"Where to, Orin?" asked Kieth.
"Well, I don't believe I've heard very much about this area." replied Orin. "But there should be a mountain pass to the northeast."
"Sorry Orin." said Vahn. "But that pass closed up years ago. Our best chance is probably to visit the dwarves city to the west. They'll know how to get to the other side of the mountains."
"Seems like that would be going the long way, wouldn't it?" asked Duran.
"Not really." anwered Vahn. "Since we have no idea how to get over to the other side, there really isn't a 'long way', now is there?"
Duran coward to the ground, and muttered something at Vahn.
"You don't have to act sarcastic. Jeez." mumbled Duran.
"I don't think I can go there…" said Tess.
"Wha…why?" asked Orin, a look of anger on his face.
"Well…the Exiles are camping close by…" she replied timidly.
"Damn it." said Orin, "I guess we'll have to find a way around them."
"But…" started Tess, but Orin cut her off.
"No, you're not going to give up already." said Orin, as he looked at her angrily. "We don't stop so easily. We'll find away around them, or we fight them."
Tess said nothing, and looked at her feet as she walked along. The wet grass rubbed against their legs as they walked, a frosty breeze seeming to follow them. The northern mountains slowly began to come into sight, and they all felt more lively when they had spotted them. As the sun shined brightly across its brown and orange cliffs and ridges, the sky began to loosen the clouds they held above.
"To the west from here." called Vahn, who had strayed away from the rest of them, and was now walking with Duran and Ikara several yard to the east.
They turned and continued their silent march to the city of the dwarves, and the day slowly passed them by. By the late noon, their joints ached and they needed rest. When they had spotted a suitable area for a respite, and the sun had shooed away all the clouds, they sat quietly against a large boulder, and Duran and Keith sat upon tree trunks.
"These dwarves…" said Keith, finally. "What are they like."
"I wouldn't know." replied Vahn, as he looked from the eastern mountains to Keith. "I've only read about them in books, and heard of them from my father."
"Well if there are anything like Duran…" said Keith, as he pointed at Duran and started to crack up. "We may as well go home. Dwarves are so dim-witted."
"And I suppose you think elves are better?" growled Duran, as he stood from the stump and grabbed his axe.
"By far." said Keith, who was still laughing.
"Why you!" cried Duran as he pounced onto Keith.
Both Vahn and Ikara sighed as the too loudly began to pummel one another. Orin, on the other hand, had other things on his mind. The sun was slowly reaching toward the western mountains, and creating a vivid array of colors, and Orin began to think as he watched this happen.
'What if the Exiles find us…?' he thought, 'What happens if we die. Then who will find out what has happened to my father and those who have become possessed.'
Orin's thoughts were interrupted by Vahn, who rubbed Orin's shoulder lightly.
"Orin??" said Vahn, sounding a bit flustered.
"Huh…Oh, what is it?" asked Orin, looking up from the ground.
"Devil's…" said Vahn, as he pointed to the North, were devil's quickly approached.
"Bastards!" said Orin angrily. "They always seem ready to fight when we're trying to rest."
Orin drew his sword, and held it tightly as his comrades also readied their weapons. In the fields ahead, the devil's approached quickly, their weapons raised in blind rage.
"They are like the soldier's from last time." said Ikara.
Orin looked suspiciously toward the approaching devils, and was confused by them. There was no reference toward them in Astral's book, and this made him wonder about these strange men. As he watched the four devils creep closer and closer, he spotted another five on the hills behind them.
"Looks like they knew we where here." said Keith, pointing to the extra devil forces that now sprinted from the hilltop.
"Attack them, now!" cried Orin, as he bolted into the fields, Duran and Tess close behind.
Kieth drew an arrow and readied it, and followed them cautiously, as Ikara's rod became engulfed in flames. Vahn followed Keith, and they ran side by side toward their enemies. Orin and Duran lifted their weapons, and brought them down onto a single soldier's blade. The clash drew sparks, and as they held their ground against the soldier, Tess skidded to a halt behind it, and stabbed it ruthlessly. It cried out, dropped its sword, and fell to its knees as Duran brought his axe through the soldier's head. A glorious flash of light shot from its wounds, as it exploded into ash.
Kieth fired three arrows into a second soldier, and it fell to the ground in pain. Vahn delivered a blow from his rod, and blood gushed from the open wound in the soldier's face. It, too, exploded into dust and ash. As Vahn smiled brightly at the explosion, another soldier fired an arrow into Vahn's arm.
"GAH!" cried Vahn as he looked at his bloodied arm.
Keith returned fire, but missed twice, as the soldier fired a second arrow. It hit Keith in the leg, and made him fall to the ground. Before the soldier could fire again, a blast a red flame crashed into it, and it was destroyed. Vahn looked to see Ikara, a look of determination on her face, waving her staff and conjuring a second ball of flames.
Turning from Ikara to Keith, he ran to his side, and lifted his rod into the air. From the large crucifix at the top, a small glow began to grow brighter, and in a flash, Vahn and Keith were both engulfed. After the light slowly subsided, Keith stood from the ground, both of their wounds gone, and the bloody arrows lye on the ground next to them. Keith looked curiously at his leg, which was still bloody, but showed no signs of a wound. With a smile to Vahn, as if to say thank you, Keith bolted out after Orin and the rest of the group, who were about to engage another wave of soldiers.
Orin brought his sword onto another soldier's, and Duran came at it from the side. The soldier jumped back, cause Duran to miss. As Duran tried to stop himself, the soldier ran his blade into Duran's right shoulder, as it screeched in victory. Duran was knocked onto his side by the blow, and became unconscious when his head hit a rock. Orin, who looked madder than ever, lifted his sword, and cracked hard against the enemy's.
"Why fight back…?" whispered Orin, as he came face to face with his enemy through their clashing swords.
With that, Orin lifted his sword once more, and whipped the sword out of his foe's hands. In a sudden flash, it seemed, the soldier was chopped in half, and Orin stood as its body slowly separated itself onto the ground with two loud thumps. As they hit the ground, they turned to black dust, and floated away with the breeze.
"Vahn!!" yelled Orin, as he ran to engage the other five soldiers that now ran toward him.
Vahn looked to see Duran unconscious on the ground, and stopped as Keith and Tess sprinted by after Orin. Vahn raised his rod once more, and the light hit Duran, and almost lifted him off the ground. After a moment, the light once again drew away, and Duran stood wearily from the ground, his hands on his head.
"You can't heal headaches, can you?" asked Duran as he cringed in pain.
"I'm not as skilled in healing as my mother yet. Things so complicated as that aren't healable for me yet." said Vahn, as he stood and ran after the rest of the group.
Duran grabbed his axe, which had been knocked away by the enemy blow, and ran after Vahn, with Ikara now by his side.
Orin came to a screeching halt only yards away from the enemy, and he looked at their hideous, black faces, a look of ominous darkness drew from under their steely helms. They still approached him in a rage, their swords and spears waving frantically as they rushed toward him.
"I can take them alone." said Orin to himself. "These fools don't know what they're up against.
With that, Orin clenched his both hands tightly around the hilt of his bloody blade, and he charged them with the same rage that fueled his enemies. He met two of the spear wielding soldiers first, and ducked under the two huge, steel points that were aimed toward him. He stood as they ran by him, seemingly confused, and swung his sword at them. Convinced they would die, he smiled angrily, as his sword was about to meet the soldier's side. But, almost as fast as a bolt of lightning, the soldier turned, and clashed his spear against Orin's blade. Orin gasped as the second soldier turned, and drew back its spear to deliver a blow.
From afar, Keith fired an arrow at one soldier, which narrowly missed it, and almost hit Orin. The entire group almost seemed to stop as their hearts skipped a beat, and the heavy, iron point of the soldier's spear pierced Orin's thin armor, and was driven into his belly. Blood gushed from the wound as the soldier drew back its spear, and the other soldier cracked Orin the face with the butt of its weapon. The other three soldiers carelessly trampled Orin as they sped toward the rest of the group, who had virtually stopped running at the sight of Orin's collapsing body.
"Damn you!!" cried Keith, as he readied his bow once more, and ran toward the soldiers.
He fires his arrow, and it pierced the face of one soldier, that screeched loudly, and exploded. Tess and Duran both bolted quickly toward them, roaring in both fear and rage. Tess flipped over the entire group, and landed skillfully on her feet. She turned, and from her satchel, pulled 4 tiny metal blades. She held all four in hand, and tossed them all toward the confused group of soldiers. One screeched as two of the knives sliced into its back, and another did the same as one hit its leg. The final knife landed hilt up in the dirt behind them. As the enraged group of soldiers turned to confront Tess, Duran surprised them with his axe, which ripped through the leg of one of the soldiers. It screamed as its leg came detached from its body, but was muted when a ball of flame smashed into it's face, and turned it to ash almost instantly.
Vahn ran as fast as he could toward Orin, as he lye motionless in the grass, but was cut off by a soldier. Keith and Ikara were both firing at the other group of four soldiers, and hadn't noticed that Vahn had engaged a stray. Vahn, looked at it angrily, as it raised it's sword, and brought it down against Vahn's rod, as he held it defensively. He pushed his enemy away with his foot, and cracked his rod into the soldier's face. It yelled in pain, and Keith turned to see Vahn trying to hold off the foe. He fired a single arrow, that pierced the soldier's chest. It strained to stand, coughed, and fell limp to the ground, where it exploded into a layer of dust atop the grass.
Vahn looked toward Keith, who was smiling, nodded, and continued to run toward Orin.
Tess, still filled with anger and rage, bolted at the two soldier's she had thrown her knives at, and pierced one in the face with her dagger, but the other caught her off guard, and almost sliced her with its blade before she had bounded out of the way. The first soldier's face spurted blood, and exploded soon after. Tess came from behind the other soldier once more, but was cause by the soldiers swinging fists, which were equipped with heavy, spiked gauntlets. Her face started bleed profusely, and she let out a moan of pain, as she strained to see her enemy. Before she could focus her eyes, the soldier had hit her in the forehead with the hilt of its sword.
Duran easily finished the soldier with the missing leg by whipping his axe across its chest. The other soldier, on the other hand, was much more prepared for battle. It looked nothing like the others. It's body was clad in bright, shining silver armor, and its face was completely hidden under its helm. It wielded a huge sword, and stood ready with a shield as well. Duran growled fiercely, and engaged the large soldier without fear. Though he felt he could easily beat the soldier, it batted him aside like a gnat as he flew at it.
Ikara shot a ball of fire at the remaining soldier, which screeched loudly and exploded before it could stab Tess' limp body. One soldier still stood, its shield razed as it fast approached Keith and Ikara, who were firing from afar with no prevail.
"Die you bastard!" roared Keith, as he pulled a precious, arrow from his quiver.
The arrow was lined with gold markings and was smelted from pure silver. The pointed tip was also decorated with gold.
Ikara gasped at the sight of it, and turned to him.
"That arrow!" she squealed. "That's the arrow of the Ancient's. You're not supposed to have it!!"
"It's well worth it." bellowed Keith, as the arrow shot from his bow, and shimmered brightly as it belted strait through the soldier's shield and stomach, and into the ground behind it.
Without even a sound, the soldier fell to the ground, and exploded in a glorious blast of blue and red, and turned into dust.
"Keith!" yelled Ikara. "how--"
Keith ignored her, and ran to find Vahn and Orin, leaving her standing, mouth agape, staring into the fields he bolted across.
Orin helped pack the cots into two bags, which he and Duran would carry. Tess was ecstatic about coming with them, though she hardly showed it as she lay idly against a dead oak. Keith and Vahn stood in the field outside of the cluster of trees that was their camp, and looked over the still wet, muggy landscape.
"Ready, Ikara?" called Orin, as he tossed one of the backpacks to Duran.
"Almost!" she called back as she grabbed her staff and sprinted from the forest to the rest of the group.
"Where to, Orin?" asked Kieth.
"Well, I don't believe I've heard very much about this area." replied Orin. "But there should be a mountain pass to the northeast."
"Sorry Orin." said Vahn. "But that pass closed up years ago. Our best chance is probably to visit the dwarves city to the west. They'll know how to get to the other side of the mountains."
"Seems like that would be going the long way, wouldn't it?" asked Duran.
"Not really." anwered Vahn. "Since we have no idea how to get over to the other side, there really isn't a 'long way', now is there?"
Duran coward to the ground, and muttered something at Vahn.
"You don't have to act sarcastic. Jeez." mumbled Duran.
"I don't think I can go there…" said Tess.
"Wha…why?" asked Orin, a look of anger on his face.
"Well…the Exiles are camping close by…" she replied timidly.
"Damn it." said Orin, "I guess we'll have to find a way around them."
"But…" started Tess, but Orin cut her off.
"No, you're not going to give up already." said Orin, as he looked at her angrily. "We don't stop so easily. We'll find away around them, or we fight them."
Tess said nothing, and looked at her feet as she walked along. The wet grass rubbed against their legs as they walked, a frosty breeze seeming to follow them. The northern mountains slowly began to come into sight, and they all felt more lively when they had spotted them. As the sun shined brightly across its brown and orange cliffs and ridges, the sky began to loosen the clouds they held above.
"To the west from here." called Vahn, who had strayed away from the rest of them, and was now walking with Duran and Ikara several yard to the east.
They turned and continued their silent march to the city of the dwarves, and the day slowly passed them by. By the late noon, their joints ached and they needed rest. When they had spotted a suitable area for a respite, and the sun had shooed away all the clouds, they sat quietly against a large boulder, and Duran and Keith sat upon tree trunks.
"These dwarves…" said Keith, finally. "What are they like."
"I wouldn't know." replied Vahn, as he looked from the eastern mountains to Keith. "I've only read about them in books, and heard of them from my father."
"Well if there are anything like Duran…" said Keith, as he pointed at Duran and started to crack up. "We may as well go home. Dwarves are so dim-witted."
"And I suppose you think elves are better?" growled Duran, as he stood from the stump and grabbed his axe.
"By far." said Keith, who was still laughing.
"Why you!" cried Duran as he pounced onto Keith.
Both Vahn and Ikara sighed as the too loudly began to pummel one another. Orin, on the other hand, had other things on his mind. The sun was slowly reaching toward the western mountains, and creating a vivid array of colors, and Orin began to think as he watched this happen.
'What if the Exiles find us…?' he thought, 'What happens if we die. Then who will find out what has happened to my father and those who have become possessed.'
Orin's thoughts were interrupted by Vahn, who rubbed Orin's shoulder lightly.
"Orin??" said Vahn, sounding a bit flustered.
"Huh…Oh, what is it?" asked Orin, looking up from the ground.
"Devil's…" said Vahn, as he pointed to the North, were devil's quickly approached.
"Bastards!" said Orin angrily. "They always seem ready to fight when we're trying to rest."
Orin drew his sword, and held it tightly as his comrades also readied their weapons. In the fields ahead, the devil's approached quickly, their weapons raised in blind rage.
"They are like the soldier's from last time." said Ikara.
Orin looked suspiciously toward the approaching devils, and was confused by them. There was no reference toward them in Astral's book, and this made him wonder about these strange men. As he watched the four devils creep closer and closer, he spotted another five on the hills behind them.
"Looks like they knew we where here." said Keith, pointing to the extra devil forces that now sprinted from the hilltop.
"Attack them, now!" cried Orin, as he bolted into the fields, Duran and Tess close behind.
Kieth drew an arrow and readied it, and followed them cautiously, as Ikara's rod became engulfed in flames. Vahn followed Keith, and they ran side by side toward their enemies. Orin and Duran lifted their weapons, and brought them down onto a single soldier's blade. The clash drew sparks, and as they held their ground against the soldier, Tess skidded to a halt behind it, and stabbed it ruthlessly. It cried out, dropped its sword, and fell to its knees as Duran brought his axe through the soldier's head. A glorious flash of light shot from its wounds, as it exploded into ash.
Kieth fired three arrows into a second soldier, and it fell to the ground in pain. Vahn delivered a blow from his rod, and blood gushed from the open wound in the soldier's face. It, too, exploded into dust and ash. As Vahn smiled brightly at the explosion, another soldier fired an arrow into Vahn's arm.
"GAH!" cried Vahn as he looked at his bloodied arm.
Keith returned fire, but missed twice, as the soldier fired a second arrow. It hit Keith in the leg, and made him fall to the ground. Before the soldier could fire again, a blast a red flame crashed into it, and it was destroyed. Vahn looked to see Ikara, a look of determination on her face, waving her staff and conjuring a second ball of flames.
Turning from Ikara to Keith, he ran to his side, and lifted his rod into the air. From the large crucifix at the top, a small glow began to grow brighter, and in a flash, Vahn and Keith were both engulfed. After the light slowly subsided, Keith stood from the ground, both of their wounds gone, and the bloody arrows lye on the ground next to them. Keith looked curiously at his leg, which was still bloody, but showed no signs of a wound. With a smile to Vahn, as if to say thank you, Keith bolted out after Orin and the rest of the group, who were about to engage another wave of soldiers.
Orin brought his sword onto another soldier's, and Duran came at it from the side. The soldier jumped back, cause Duran to miss. As Duran tried to stop himself, the soldier ran his blade into Duran's right shoulder, as it screeched in victory. Duran was knocked onto his side by the blow, and became unconscious when his head hit a rock. Orin, who looked madder than ever, lifted his sword, and cracked hard against the enemy's.
"Why fight back…?" whispered Orin, as he came face to face with his enemy through their clashing swords.
With that, Orin lifted his sword once more, and whipped the sword out of his foe's hands. In a sudden flash, it seemed, the soldier was chopped in half, and Orin stood as its body slowly separated itself onto the ground with two loud thumps. As they hit the ground, they turned to black dust, and floated away with the breeze.
"Vahn!!" yelled Orin, as he ran to engage the other five soldiers that now ran toward him.
Vahn looked to see Duran unconscious on the ground, and stopped as Keith and Tess sprinted by after Orin. Vahn raised his rod once more, and the light hit Duran, and almost lifted him off the ground. After a moment, the light once again drew away, and Duran stood wearily from the ground, his hands on his head.
"You can't heal headaches, can you?" asked Duran as he cringed in pain.
"I'm not as skilled in healing as my mother yet. Things so complicated as that aren't healable for me yet." said Vahn, as he stood and ran after the rest of the group.
Duran grabbed his axe, which had been knocked away by the enemy blow, and ran after Vahn, with Ikara now by his side.
Orin came to a screeching halt only yards away from the enemy, and he looked at their hideous, black faces, a look of ominous darkness drew from under their steely helms. They still approached him in a rage, their swords and spears waving frantically as they rushed toward him.
"I can take them alone." said Orin to himself. "These fools don't know what they're up against.
With that, Orin clenched his both hands tightly around the hilt of his bloody blade, and he charged them with the same rage that fueled his enemies. He met two of the spear wielding soldiers first, and ducked under the two huge, steel points that were aimed toward him. He stood as they ran by him, seemingly confused, and swung his sword at them. Convinced they would die, he smiled angrily, as his sword was about to meet the soldier's side. But, almost as fast as a bolt of lightning, the soldier turned, and clashed his spear against Orin's blade. Orin gasped as the second soldier turned, and drew back its spear to deliver a blow.
From afar, Keith fired an arrow at one soldier, which narrowly missed it, and almost hit Orin. The entire group almost seemed to stop as their hearts skipped a beat, and the heavy, iron point of the soldier's spear pierced Orin's thin armor, and was driven into his belly. Blood gushed from the wound as the soldier drew back its spear, and the other soldier cracked Orin the face with the butt of its weapon. The other three soldiers carelessly trampled Orin as they sped toward the rest of the group, who had virtually stopped running at the sight of Orin's collapsing body.
"Damn you!!" cried Keith, as he readied his bow once more, and ran toward the soldiers.
He fires his arrow, and it pierced the face of one soldier, that screeched loudly, and exploded. Tess and Duran both bolted quickly toward them, roaring in both fear and rage. Tess flipped over the entire group, and landed skillfully on her feet. She turned, and from her satchel, pulled 4 tiny metal blades. She held all four in hand, and tossed them all toward the confused group of soldiers. One screeched as two of the knives sliced into its back, and another did the same as one hit its leg. The final knife landed hilt up in the dirt behind them. As the enraged group of soldiers turned to confront Tess, Duran surprised them with his axe, which ripped through the leg of one of the soldiers. It screamed as its leg came detached from its body, but was muted when a ball of flame smashed into it's face, and turned it to ash almost instantly.
Vahn ran as fast as he could toward Orin, as he lye motionless in the grass, but was cut off by a soldier. Keith and Ikara were both firing at the other group of four soldiers, and hadn't noticed that Vahn had engaged a stray. Vahn, looked at it angrily, as it raised it's sword, and brought it down against Vahn's rod, as he held it defensively. He pushed his enemy away with his foot, and cracked his rod into the soldier's face. It yelled in pain, and Keith turned to see Vahn trying to hold off the foe. He fired a single arrow, that pierced the soldier's chest. It strained to stand, coughed, and fell limp to the ground, where it exploded into a layer of dust atop the grass.
Vahn looked toward Keith, who was smiling, nodded, and continued to run toward Orin.
Tess, still filled with anger and rage, bolted at the two soldier's she had thrown her knives at, and pierced one in the face with her dagger, but the other caught her off guard, and almost sliced her with its blade before she had bounded out of the way. The first soldier's face spurted blood, and exploded soon after. Tess came from behind the other soldier once more, but was cause by the soldiers swinging fists, which were equipped with heavy, spiked gauntlets. Her face started bleed profusely, and she let out a moan of pain, as she strained to see her enemy. Before she could focus her eyes, the soldier had hit her in the forehead with the hilt of its sword.
Duran easily finished the soldier with the missing leg by whipping his axe across its chest. The other soldier, on the other hand, was much more prepared for battle. It looked nothing like the others. It's body was clad in bright, shining silver armor, and its face was completely hidden under its helm. It wielded a huge sword, and stood ready with a shield as well. Duran growled fiercely, and engaged the large soldier without fear. Though he felt he could easily beat the soldier, it batted him aside like a gnat as he flew at it.
Ikara shot a ball of fire at the remaining soldier, which screeched loudly and exploded before it could stab Tess' limp body. One soldier still stood, its shield razed as it fast approached Keith and Ikara, who were firing from afar with no prevail.
"Die you bastard!" roared Keith, as he pulled a precious, arrow from his quiver.
The arrow was lined with gold markings and was smelted from pure silver. The pointed tip was also decorated with gold.
Ikara gasped at the sight of it, and turned to him.
"That arrow!" she squealed. "That's the arrow of the Ancient's. You're not supposed to have it!!"
"It's well worth it." bellowed Keith, as the arrow shot from his bow, and shimmered brightly as it belted strait through the soldier's shield and stomach, and into the ground behind it.
Without even a sound, the soldier fell to the ground, and exploded in a glorious blast of blue and red, and turned into dust.
"Keith!" yelled Ikara. "how--"
Keith ignored her, and ran to find Vahn and Orin, leaving her standing, mouth agape, staring into the fields he bolted across.