Chapter 19 - A Ranger's Distant Eyes

The walk to the bottom of the cliff was easier than the one they had taken up the night before. It was much less steep and jagged, and there weren't many loose rocks along their path. The vast plains seemed to call out to them when the reached the bottom, and they walked seemingly fearless out into them. The mountains were lined with forests and rough hills, all except the area they had come through off the side of the mountain.

Orin walked ahead as the sun rose up to take its place in the sky, and the rest of them trailed behind, somewhat eager to see what would happen next. Keith's face had healed up almost fully now, after Vahn had healed him a second time, and he smiled brightly as he held out his foot to trip Duran. Duran, who was looking to the sky, fell flat on his face.

"Damnit! You….!" he said angrily as he sat up and held his now dirty and red face.

Keith laughed and walked up past him with the rest of the group. Duran stood and caught up with them, his fists clenched.

Orin was felt strange as he walked calmly forward toward the east. There was a kind of pull upon him that almost made him feel like vomiting, but instead he grinned a bit.

"Lets hurry." he said, breaking the silence among them.

Keith and Duran raised an eyebrow as Orin began to run, and Vahn, Tess, and Ikara copied him without hesitation. Duran smiled and jetted off with them with Keith right behind him.

----

A cool morning wind swept through the ranger's robes, throwing his cloak backward in the breeze. He gripped his hood tightly and forced it down over his head, half concealing his face under a mask of darkness. The open plains ahead pulled him toward something, his blade coursing with desire for something distant. He could smell blood, somewhere deep within a forest ahead, in the valley of Northern Grans Island.

"I can almost taste it…" he muttered, as he felt his muscles tense and his mind grow more alert.

His instincts were sharp, sharper than any human, at least, though he was missing something others had. It was the price he paid for being so impatient, but he had learned to live with the burden he was given. And if the creature that cursed him had lived on long enough to see him learn from such a mistake, he may have been returned to normal. That was not the case.

His mind fell upon his mission at the moment, though. The sweet copper taste of blood his seemed so desperate for was only a few miles ahead of him. He panted as he trudged against the soft wind that turned his cloak into a parachute, and he gritted his teeth for only one thing. To quench his thirst.

----

Orin slowed down to let the others catch up at the exit of the small forest they had entered. They all seemed willing to run as fast as they could, but that just wasn't enough to keep up. He looked back at them as they all stopped and tried to catch their breathe, leaning down with their hands on their knees and their heads to the ground.

"Sorry…" He called to them, as he also began to catch his breathe. "I just wanted to get as far as possible before we stopped for a rest."

No one said anything, but they were all glad to be able to sit down for a while. Tess was the only who still seemed amble enough to rush on. After all, she had been right at Orin's side as they ran, if not a little farther ahead of him. Orin sat against a tree trunk at the exit of the forest as they walked out to rest with him.

"So, where do we go from here…" said Keith, as he looked to a strip of mountains to the east. "Those mountains will force us south, not east."

"Well, we'll follow them along until we find a way east. There has to be someway to Nazca." said Orin between deep breathes of air.

Keith nodded and sat down next to Duran and Ikara, who were both leaning back against a boulder. Tess sat in the grass and looked at the sky, like she always seemed to do, and Vahn stood ahead of them, looking out upon the fields and to the distant mountains.

"There…" said Vahn as he pointed to something moving slowly ahead of them.

Orin stood up and looked to see what he was pointing at.

"There is someone coming. They are alone, it seems." said Vahn, as he backed up and stood next to Orin.

"An enemy…?" said Orin as he drew his sword, and everyone else stood.

"It's possible, but I doubt a lone devil would want to fight us." replied Vahn.

"Maybe he has brain damage…" Keith chuckled as he whipped an arrow from his quiver and readied his bow.

The figure approached slowly, movement slowed by the push of a soft breeze through it's ragged brown cloak. Its face was concealed under a hood, and it seemed only to be a traveler passing though, but they had to be sure.

It got closer and closer, and then the wind died and it began to walk more briskly, looking like a ghost marching silently to an unknown destination. Orin held his sword with both hands, his grip tightening as the figure approached them directly, until it stopped only 50 yards or so from them. It said nothing, but only looked at them from under a blanket of shadows and a brown hood.

"What do you want…?" called Orin to the figure.

It stood in silence for a few seconds, then looked up calmly, revealing the figures mouth.

"One of you comrades is wounded." said the man, just loud enough for Orin to hear him.

The man took a few more large steps in their direction, and Orin felt his nerves tensing, and he grabbed his sword tighter.

"And? We'll take care of it." said Orin, even though he really didn't understand.

He didn't know any of them were hurt at all, except for Keith, whose wounds were only scratches on his face by now.

"Would you mind if I talked to this person?:" said the man, as he took a few more steps slowly in their direction.

"Stop there!" yelled Orin, hesitant to attack if this was but a simple man. "I don't want to attack you."

"So don't…" said the man, his eyes still invisible to them. "Now, may I speak with your wounded friend."

"None are wounded! And how would you know!?" yelled Orin, his face getting a bit red.

"Because I can smell it. One of you has bled." said the man, as he moved his foot in their direction, making sure not to force Orin into an attack.

"What the hell do you CARE!?" yelled Orin.

"Orin, this guy is strange, and he looks dangerous…" whispered Duran.

Tess' eyes widened after a moment. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ruby she had stolen, which was wet with the devil-girl's blood.

"Oh…no…" she whispered under her breath, and put the ruby back into her pocket.

She walked up next Orin and looked at the strange man that stood before them.

"Her." he said, as he pointed to Tess and smiled weakly. "She bleeds."

Orin looked at Tess, who dug the ruby back out of her pocket and showed it to Orin without taking her eyes off of the man.

"Well?" said the man as he took another step. "Speak, girl. Do you not bleed?"

Tess shook her head, but the man didn't respond as she thought he would.

"It's impolite not to answer." he said casually, putting one more step behind him.

"You stole this…!" whispered Orin to Tess.

"A devil doesn't need something worth so much!" she whispered back. "It could have helped us if we sold it."

"I understand." said the man suddenly. "It has blood on it, does it not?"

Orin looked at the man wide eyed. How could he have heard them from where he was standing?

"Y…yes." said Orin.

"Then you have wasted my time." he said, gritting his teeth as he went from calm to angry. "You fools have lead a starved man here for no reason. If you were not so pitiful, I may have killed you all."

The man turned away and looked to the mountains.

"But instead, I think I'll have the general take a look at you." said the man, as he pulled a flute from his belt.

He played three, simple notes as loud as he could, and within moments, a line of men appeared on the horizon, and began to march toward them.

"I think you've met with the general before. He will be upset if I didn't tell him you were still living." said the man, as he turned back to them. "The Exiles don't take so kindly to those who slaughter their soldiers."

Orin's eyes widened as he began to make out the armored soldiers in the distance as Exiles. They were different though. Instead of they're normal peasant cloths, they were clad in heavy black armor and wielded huge steel blades. There were at least 9 of them approaching silently.

"You're…an Exile!?" said Orin, as he readied his blade.

"Indeed. I am a spy under General Niro. I was sent out to Granseal to help him with a group that tried to resist his new kingdom, but unfortunately, he had been driven from the castle by the time I arrived." explained the man, as he threw aside his cloak and revealed a blade, which he drew from its sheath. "I have a feint memory of some of you…but…" he stopped short as the Exile soldiers began to get closer.

They readied their blades as Orin and his comrades prepared their weapons as well. Orin's mind was clear, ready to strike at the slightest movement from the man that stood before him, the man that looked like a dark ghost with a craving for blood.

----

Niro stood on a distant hill as his men approached the small group near the forest. Who they were, he wasn't sure.

"How did these fools get into this area without us spotting them. Those Granseal fools must have thrown us off their track and they made it past." Niro said to a man at his side. "Too bad Orin and his friends have been ripped to shreds, though. They were somewhat of a challenge, and now all I have to slaughter are petty travelers."

The man said nothing. He looked like the rest of the armored Exiles marching toward Orin and his troop, but he had a simple gold triangle on his right shoulder.

"Commander Pholey…" said Niro calmly, turning to the man at his side.

"SIR!" roared the commander.

"This recruit, the spy Synorok, is he trustworthy?" said Niro, his mask gleaming as the sun reflected off of it.

"He is powerful and he works for nothing. He even tried to stop the Granseal rebellion, but he was misdirected and arrived too late. He is easily read, sir. I can tell you he has absolutely no intentions of forsaking the laws of the Exiles." said Pholey, his eyes still set forward toward the still marching troops.

"Indeed. If you can trust him, I can trust him, commander. Lets just hope you aren't wrong, or you'll be the one to take the punishment." said Niro, seemingly hopeful that he would be able to thrash Pholey sometime in the future.

Pholey said nothing.

"Go lead your troops, and find out who these reckless children are doing so deep into Exile territory." said Niro.

With that, the commander drew his blade and ran to catch up with the soldiers marching still marching forward slowly.

----

"I have a message to deliver to the General now. You are the only thing keeping him from overrunning Southern Grans Island." said the man as he backed away, and then turned his back to them.

"WAIT!!" called Orin, but the man ignored him.

After a few slow steps away from them, he began to run, until he had rushed away with inhuman speed.

"What in hell…" said Keith as the man became a blur in front of them, until he was a dot on the horizon.

The soldiers were less than 200 yards away now, still marching in a wall formation, their blades shining with the sun. Another soldier appeared from behind them, and took the lead, his sword larger than the rest, and his arm marked with a golden triangle.

"We have to attack while we have a chance…" said Orin, as he tried to keep his calm. "If we wait they'll push us into the forest and we'll never be able to fight back."

They all nodded and prepared to battle the huge figures approaching them.

Orin and Tess bolted off first in opposite directions, with Tess running much faster than Orin. Keith took aim and fired an arrow, which simply cracked against the steel plated armor that covered one of the soldier's bodies. Duran ran toward the army head first, his axe atop his shoulder.

Tess launched herself at one of the soldiers, and pierced an open space in the armor where the gauntlet and arm plate met the elbow. The soldier wasn't fast enough to dodge it, and the dagger ripped through his flesh and into the bone in his elbow. He roared from inside his helm, and swiped angrily at Tess as she back flipped out of danger.

Orin met a soldier on the other side and clashed his long sword with the broad blade of the Exile soldier. The soldier was extremely slow, and Orin caught an opportunity to strike within seconds. He thrust his blade through the armor on the soldiers stomach, just getting through enough to pierce the flesh.

Orin drew back his sword and, with two hands, lifted it over his head and brought it down right through the soldiers armor and into his shoulder, crushing his collar bone.

The soldier grabbed his shoulder and backed away slowly as Orin brought back his sword once more, and pierced him a second time in the wound in his stomach, driving the blade through him and out his back. The soldier coughed, and blood began to ooze from the slits in the front of his helmet, before Orin drew out his blade and let him fall to the ground.

Duran met with one of the soldiers, and met his speed almost exactly. The soldier caught him off guard through, and ripped his large blade across Duran's chest, as the powerful swipe threw him backward. Before the soldier could raise his sword to finish Duran, though, Ikara raised his rod and yelled across the field, desperate to save her comrade. Her eyes became clouded, and her rod shot a huge ball of flames toward the soldier. It reached him, and exploded overhead, raining down balls of flames upon him and another of the soldiers.

Keith stood virtually defenseless. His arrows simply bounced off the strong armor that covered the enemies bodies, and he felt powerless as he tried his best to catch the soldiers in their weak spots.

Duran stood from the ground, his chest bleeding, and he readied his again as he tried to stay on his feet. Orin has engaged a second soldier and was fighting as best he could, until he found an opening and drove his sword into the right side of the soldier's chest. He fell over and lye motionless as Orin took off toward another enemy.

Tess was avoiding every attack that was being thrown at her as she tried to look for a place to drive her dagger. Finally, she noticed a thin plate near the soldier's hip, and she took the chance and drove her dagger into the soldier's side, and then jumped away from his swinging sword. The soldier still stood even as the blood started to ooze from his open wound.

The remaining soldiers ignored the more powerful troops and marched slowly toward Ikara, Keith, and Vahn. Vahn's rod would never penetrate the soldier's armor, and Keith's arrows were powerless. Ikara was weakened by her previous attack, and was still regaining her energy.

The soldier's reached them in no time, led by Pholey, and they stood hoping Orin and the others would come to their rescue. The commander raised his broadsword and slashed at Vahn, who did his best to dodge the attack. Vahn did the only thing he could, and yelled out angrily as he conjured a white light from his rod, which burst forward and split into a barrage of white blades.

The commander was sent flying backward, and the soldiers behind him fell on their backs as the blades crashed against their hard black armor. They were not wounded, but the force had thrown them off their feet. With what power she had, Ikara conjured a ball of fire and sent it flying into one of the soldiers lying on the ground.

Orin finished another soldier by catching him from behind, and stabbing him in his lower back. Duran slowly ran toward Ikara and the others, as he caught sight of them being attacked. He gritted his teeth at every step as his chest bled slowly. He reached them just as the commander had gotten to his feet, and was advancing on the still powerless group. Duran used what was left of his energy and attacked a soldier from behind, chopping off the soldier's left leg and sending him to the ground. One of the other soldiers turned and struck Duran in the arm and sent him sliding into the ground. His arm began to bleed, and he looked around slowly before his sight blurred and he fell unconscious.

Orin turned to see Duran slam into the ground and his eyes widened.

"Duran!" Orin yelled as he took off in his direction.

Tess looked to Duran as Orin yelled as the still bleeding soldier slashed at her again, narrowly missing her as she jumped out of the way.

"Enough of you!" she yelled as he barreled past her, and she took the chance to strike.

She jumped up and kicked him in the back, knocking him to the ground with a thud. As he turned over, he seen only her shadow as she drove his dagger into the open space in his neck.

Blood spurted from the wound, and he choked loudly from inside his helmet, before his hand finally dropped limply to the ground.

Orin met one of the soldiers as they began attacking the rest of the helpless group, who could do nothing but back away cautiously into the forest. Orin's sword struck against the soldier's, drawing sparks that jumped from the blades and to the ground. Orin parried each blow, trying with all his strength to hold off every swing of his enemies heavy broadsword until an opening was available.

Tess reached the last few soldiers not, too, and took advantage of the fact that their backs were to her. She launched herself off the ground and dug her dagger into the back of one of the soldier's neck. She tore through the soldier's throat ruthlessly, sending him tumbling backward, his neck spurting red.

Orin was caught off guard and overpowered by one of the soldier's strikes, and he was forced backward into the ground. The soldier rushed forward to finish Orin before he could stand, but he stopped suddenly. Orin looked at the soldier strangely, almost waiting for him to try and attack. He did not. Orin jumped to his feet and readied his sword, not knowing what was going on.

Suddenly, the soldier dropped his shield, and fell unto his side on the ground. A large hole had been dug into the back of his armor, and his flesh was torn to shreds by countless gashes.

The figure that had finished the soldier looked angrily at its bloody claws and unfurled its wings.

"Where is my jewel!?" hissed the devil-girl as she stepped forward and her red eyes coming through out of the shadow she was made from.

Orin stood with his mouth agape as her claws dripped blood onto the ground around her. She still stared at him with a single red eye, her claws ready to rip through him if he moved wrong.

"I…don't have it." he said simply, as he gripped his blade tightly.

"LIAR!" she roared, her face now coming through out of the shadow.

She looked more like a devil than a human now, her eyes filled with rage as her pupils became small slits.

"No! I…" started Orin, but another soldier had tried to attack the girl from behind.

She jumped back and looked at the soldier now with her claws outstretched. She grinned evilly for some reason.

"Lout." she murmured before she bolted forward and ripped out the soldier's windpipe within a moment.

She turned around outstretched her wings and began to hover a few feet above the ground. The soldier died instantly from the blow, and simply toppled to the ground without so much as groan.

"Now you! Where is my jewel!!" she roared, now bloodier than before.

Orin could say nothing. He was astounded by her speed and strength. Tess may have been only a bit faster, but this girl had such powerful claws.

The only soldier remaining was the commander, his blade over his head, he walked toward Vahn, whose eyes were wide as the shadow of the commander enveloped him.

Tess made her best attempt to catch the commander in the back of the neck, but he spun around and ripped his blade across her stomach. Her eyes grew wide as the cold steel swiped across her body, and he stomach began to bleed as she dropped her dagger and fell limp to the ground.

"No!" yelled Keith, as he dropped his bow and tackled the commander to the ground. The commander's blade flew from his hands and landed hilt up in the ground several feet away.

The commander flipped over as Keith struggled to keep him on the ground, his fists gripped tightly around the steel shoulder pads of Pholey's armor.

"You bastard!" Keith roared as he grabbed the commander's helm and pulled it from his head, and began to hook him in the face with all his might.

Pholey grabbed Keith by the arm and threw him off his body, and stood from the ground as Keith struggled to free himself from the commander's grip. The commander grabbed his blade from the ground while still gripping Keith's wrist, his gauntlets digging into Keith's flesh and causing him to bleed. He lifted his blade, but it was too late. Vahn had taken the opportunity to strike the commander in the head with his rod. The sharp edge of the crucifix sliced open his head, and he fell over unconscious as the blood began to flow.

The devil-girl still stood with her claws outstretch, waiting for orin to draw out her ruby and return it.

"I don't have it!" he said again. "She does! I have to get to her before she bleeds to death!" he yelled as he looked at Tess' motionless body. "The both of them! They need help!"

Orin looked to Duran who also lay motionless near the edge of the forest.

"She has it! I'll get it for you!" said Orin, as he began to move in Tess' direction.

Before he knew it, he was lying on his back, the devil-girl standing over him.

"Liar! You have it!" she said, her claws dripping blood onto Orin's chest.

Keith ran to Tess' side and grabbed the ruby from her satchel.

"HERE!" he yelled to the girl, who spun around instantly and looked at Keith.

He threw the ruby in her direction, and she caught it quickly and examined it.

"Good…" she whispered, as she wiped it with her thumb and hid it in her pocket.

Orin stood and ran to Duran, seeing as he was thrown so far from the rest of them. Vahn healed Tess quickly, and she became conscious within a few minutes, but she still had a bleeding wound. It was less fatal now though, and she sat up with Vahn's aid a coughed heavily.

"Damnit. How do I get caught by someone so slow…" said Tess weakly.

Vahn left Tess with Keith, who held her back as she tried to sit up fully, and he moved on to heal Duran.

"He's been hit bad." said Orin. "His arm might be broken."

Vahn stood and used what was left of his magic power to heal Duran, but it only help enough for the bleeding to stop.

"I…I'm to tired to do anymore. It took a lot out of me to take those soldiers to the ground." said Vahn, as he sat down and wiped the sweet from his forehead.

"Hey!!" yelled Keith, as two figures approached from the distance. "There's more coming!"

"That man…" said Orin. "He said the General was coming."

Orin looked at Vahn with a hint of fear in his eyes, but his stood with his blade nonetheless.

"Niro has to die here. We can't take much more of this…" said Orin, as he walked toward the two approaching figures.

"But what about the other one?" said Vahn, as he, too, stood from the ground and took a few steps forward.

"It's probably that…ghost…" said Orin, hardly loud enough for Vahn to hear.

Ikara ran out next to Orin as he walked.

"Orin! You can't fight alone!" she said with worry in her voice.

"I have to." he said simply.

"Remember what happened last time!? You can't fight alone!" she repeated.

Orin stopped and looked at the ground. Ikara looked carefully at him, and saw that his eyes where beginning to tear.

"I have to or no one else will. I can't even sleep anymore, Ikara. I have to find him before I can't keep going…" he stopped as the tears began falling, and his shoulders quivered. "And this filthy son of a bitch is just making it worse! YOU HAVE TO DIE!!"

Orin lifted his sword and bolted in the direction of the approaching enemies, tears streaming from behind him as he ran, and he left Ikara standing with her eyes welling up as well.

----

Niro walked slowly beside his spy, as a single figure approached them at a run. Niro scoffed as he was able to make out Orin's face, and he grew angry within an instant.

"No wonder the troops have fallen!" he said loudly. "This pest lives!"

"As I said sir. He has survived somehow." said the hooded man, as he marched alongside his general.

"My troops are worthless. He dies by my hand then!" said Niro angrily. "Synorok. I want you to take him down, and I'll finish him."

"As you wish my Lord." said Synorok as he began to speed up and leave his generals company. "And I would be honored if you would call me Sye, my Lord."

Sye lifted his hood and dropped it on his shoulders, revealing his short black haird and his eyes, which were a smoky gray. The were blank and looked strait at something unknown. There was a line of scar tissue that went around both eyes, almost as if they'd been burned.

"As you wish, Sye." said Niro.

----

The devil-girl watched as Orin walked off. She overheard him talking with Ikara, and for some reason, felt she needed to stay and see what happened next.

Sye ran off toward Orin, and met him within seconds, much to Orin's surprise. Sye drew his curved blade and looked off toward the forest, and yet, when he spoke, it was to Orin.

"I feel bad for you." said Sye as he ran his thumb across his blade. "You'll die pitifully."

Orin stopped and looked at Sye strangely.

"I can never die pitifully if I die with a blade in my hands and a destiny awaiting me." said Orin.

"Maybe so." said Sye, as he smiled. "Though, even if you are driven by something, there is only shame for someone outmatched by a blind man."