Beginning: Victoria

Chapter 4

"Hello"

Drops of cold water

"Papa?"

Echoes

" come back"

Small fingers run along the scaly tail carved in gold

"Help"

Something at the corner of her lips - Blood.

"Who are you?"

Light

"Sira…come back"

Distance voice - mother?

"Sira…"

More distant voices.

"Sira…"

Voices … closer.

"Sira"

A hand on her face…Who is it?

Sira grabs hold of the hand that touches her face. She goes to mumble the words "Mama," but her eyes open to see a pale face with dark eyes. She goes to push the person away when her glare settles upon the girls' magician hat. She looks to her right and sees a bowman wrapping his arm with a shard from his shirt. She can see Zenith not too far off starring down at something. Sira's eyes survey the area. They are in a dense forest with enormous intertwining trees. There are no cracks between the trees to allow natural light. How can she see? She notices that hundreds of small green lights hover through the woods - fireflies? Behind her behind some trees she sees rocks begin to tower and disappear amongst the thick trees of the dark and damp forest.

Everything comes rushing back so fast she closes her eyes again. The fall...

"Your wounds are too advanced for my healing," says the cleric finally. "We will need to get you to a village nearby. Can you walk?"

Sira staggers to her feet. She stands alright, but the pain in her right leg prevents her from putting any weight on it. She tries to move forward, but the pain makes her fall to her knees panting slightly.

"Still broken," says Valencia. "As I thought…"

"Where are we?" asks Sira sitting back down.

"We are somewhere in the dungeon near Perion obviously," says Zenith joining the group.

"We can not climb back up the mountain," says Jaimus. "The dungeon is big and we will get lost if we venture forth."

"We can't just stay here," says Valencia.

"We will move out in search of Sleepywood," says Zenith.

"Sleepy….Wood," says Jaimus. "I heard the folk there aren't very social and do not welcome outsiders happily."

"It's our only chance," says Zenith. "Care to try and climb back up the mountain carrying the heavy warrior?"

"Excuse me," snaps Sira. "I am not heavy!"

"Your armor is," says Valencia.

"Oh," says Sira regaining her calm.

"The coast is clear on the ground below," explains Zenith pointing to where he was looking before. "I've been in the dungeon before, I know the spawns."

"Oh, so tell me…." Says Jaimus. "What do u think will be the spawn that will have us for lunch?"

"If we stay clear of the dark stone golems we will be fine," says Zenith going through what was left of his throwing stars.

"Dark…Stone…Golems…." Asks Jaimus? "They come in dark form? We're going to die..."

"We won't if we avoid them," says Zenith.

Valencia and Jaimus prepare their weapons and ready themselves for any surprise attacks. Sira, once again, staggers to her feet and tries to limp towards the edge.

'What about me?" asks Sira feeling embarrassed that she can't move around freely.

"Take off your armor," says Zenith.

Sira Scowls Zenith, but understands. She slides off her armor leaving only a pink tank top and shorts. Jaimus goes to aid Sira but Zenith cuts him off. The assassin turns away from Sira and helps her get onto his back.

"Jaimus," says Zenith. "You need to be able to move both your arms to fight. I can manage like this. We can not engage in unnecessary battle with the warrior in her current physical state and clothes"

Sira rolls her eyes and rests her chin on Zenith's shoulder. Normally she would have argued but she is still dizzy from the fall.

They move out following each other closely through the maze of tall trees. From time to time, fireflies become scarce and make it hard for them to see. Zenith keeps his hand close to his Kumbis at all time. They keep up a good pace for close to two hours. All four are all exhausted and hungry, but do not stop. Valencia is particularly nervous at what might jump out at them from the shadows and forces herself to remain and not show her fear. Now and then they pass a possessed tree stump or some mushrooms, but manage to avoid them. Jaimus decides to spark up a conversation to pass the time.

"So, why did you all become fighters?" asks Jaimus casually.

No one answers.

"Alright," says the bowman. "I'll start. My grand father was a bowman, my father was a bowman, my brother is a bowman and so I wanted to become a bowman. It's in my family…my blood."

Valencia shyly decides to speak up herself. Talking will keep her mind off the lurking spawns and random eye glare she sees in the darkness off the woods.

"When I was a kid," she says. "I didn't get along with the others in the village much. So I befriended a fairy. Arwen taught me many things about the forest and magic. I wanted to be like her. Of course, I couldn't become a fairy…so she guided me down the path of Magician when it was discovered I had the gift of magic."

"I hate fairies," grunts Zenith adjusting Sira on his back

"How about you Zenith?" asks Jaimus changing the subject.

Silence

"I'll go," says Sira. "My father and brother were both high level spearmen. Mom still has the trophies and weapons on display at home. My parents tried to raise me away from the warrior scene, but I wanted to be like my father and brother so much. Everyone around town admired their strength and courage. I trained real hard and didn't get very strong. My mother and brother constantly discouraged me because of my size and strength. I probably would have given up if it hadn't been for my father. One day he came to me and handed me a small spear. He told me that if I really wanted to be a spear girl that someday I would."

"Awwh," says Jaimus. "That's really a nice story…Your father must have been proud when u became a spear girl."

"He never had the chance…" says Sira, "A few weeks after he gave me my spear, he died."

Silence

"Anyway," says Sira realizing she had said something awkward. "I also have some goals."

"Oh?" asks Jaimus glad to have gotten rid of the atmosphere.

"I want to learn about dragon knights," states Sira with a small smile.

Zenith stops walking and turns his eyes towards Sira. Jaimus and Valencia stop behind him.

"What's a dragon knight?" asks Valencia.

"You DO know it's only a legend right," Says Zenith to Sira.

"I guess... maybe," says Sira.

Sira feels uneasy and regrets mentioning the subject. She thinks about how her mother had reacted, she thinks about how the people at the council library had reacted. She decides she has said enough. The gold medallion with the dragon on it comes to mind and she holds her hand on her chest to feel for it. Not many people know of the legend and those who know, do not believe.

"It's a legend," says Sira trying to lighten the subject. "Gifted men fought with the strength of dragons."

"When was the last time you saw a dragon?" asks Zenith rolling his eyes.

"They are summoned," explains Sira. "I think...maybe..."

"My grand father spoke of dragon knights before," says Jaimus. "There hasn't been any in the past few hundred years at least…if they even really existed. Tales of dragons and mythical beasts are camp fire tails in Henesys."

"I enjoy folklore," says Sira deciding that to be her closing remark.

"Dragon knights, in legends, are said to be dangerous," says Zenith. "Too dangerous…"

Zenith and Sira exchange a look and then return to being silent. They continue walking and Zenith continues to look straight ahead paying no attention to the load on his back. Sira, however, can't help but secretly glance over at the assassins face from time to time. He had been touchy to the dragon knight comments, she considers. Had she seen his face become pale momentarily?

They walk for over an hour with no sign of the village of Sleepywood. Although. Jaimus wonders if they have been going around in circles the whole time, his tracking senses tell him otherwise by new details in the surrounding areas. The bowman examines the earth and sees no trace of passage other then small animals. After a few hours of reassurance due to untrampled land, he gestures to the others to slow down. His eyes follow and path of broken branches and footsteps leading through. He leans down and examines the foot prints.

"These tracks are recent," explains Jaimus. "Be on guard."

When they come around a cluster of trees and bushes, their eyes are blinded by a sudden flash of white light; Magic? A white glow is coming from the trees a few meters away. They make their way cautiously towards the light and peer through the bushes. A tall slender man in a black cloak stands amongst corpses of men and beasts. They are shocked by what they see. At least a dozen men and women clad in armor of different classes lay decapitated and torn to pieces on the ground around this man. One man remains alive. Sira recognizes him - he is a Page from Perion. He is one of the top ranking Warriors in the land. What kind of man is this that was able to slaughter all these fighters and bring down this Page? She wonders.

"Weakling," hisses the voice. "You should have let me pass."

The page reaches for his Groonhill sword, but just as he grabs hold of the hilt, the man holds out his hand. A flash of white light comes from the mysterious man. The Page's body convulses and then explodes. Blood sprays the man's face making him use his long black sleeve to wipe it clean. Small fragments of flesh and bones drop to the ground before the man's feet. The four wanderers are horrified by the sight. What is this power? Is it illegal magic? Valencia remembers seeing someone use a gravity spell once. The mage had used it to herd all the beasts into one area and give himself a safe passage. Unfortunately the spell went wrong and everything in a 2 mile radius began to levitate, including the spell caster. Valencia along with others had been seriously injured because of the illegal magic. But this was no ordinary illegal magic…none of them had ever heard of something so powerful…so deadly.

They dare not move, they dare not even breathe. They all hope that the man doesn't notice them behind the bushes. Sira is trembling slightly against Zeniths back. She can't take her eyes off the dead bodies on the ground. She tries counting how many people but can't be sure due to the carnage.

Valencia thinks she will be sick but forgets that thought when she feels Zenith shake her shoulder lightly to get her attention. The assassin begins to back away and nods to the others to do the same. This is not a matter that they can handle. Sira grips Zeniths shoulders tight and tries not to tremble. Such power… After stepping backwards a few feet, Zenith turns on his heels. He goes to sprint off as fast as he can be he bangs into something. He looks up and an icy chill runs down his spine as dark hallow eyes stare into his and a voice hisses "going somewhere?"