Hey guys! I have been working on the story… I just haven't written down everything yet. I felt kind of bad not updating for… practically 4 months, so here's a new chapter until I finish writing my story. I don't want to lose my readers (T.T).

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Chapter 11: Premonition

"This is bad. There's no way I'm going to win."

She was starting to sweat from fighting too long. The tactician was panting real hard and could barely stand up. Yet, she was being persistent on winning and taking this victory from an unknown man in a black hood. He unexpectedly took the preemptive strike from behind, injuring Matthew who was protecting Caden from that attack. Now… now that it was almost at the end of the battle, things don't look so good for Caden and Matthew. Why… why would he go so far and try to kill us? What kind of grudge does he have for the two? Who is this man?

As she readied to attack again, she looked to her right to see if Mathew… wait… where's Matthew? Lowering her arms to get a wider range of sight, she saw the thief, on the ground, covered with blood. When she looked at his expression, he looked like it was unexpected, like it surprised him. When… how? Is he really…? Putting her worries aside, she looked at the obstacle before her. She readied her sword once again, and, with all the strength she had left, she swung her sword sideways. Yes! Direct hit! But… what? The sword went right through him! He doesn't even have a scratch on him! That doesn't make any sense; the other times when she attacked him, it hit him… didn't it?

That's it for her. She had no more energy to attack… or to stand up. Her legs gave out and the grip on her sword gave out as well. She could hardly keep her eyes open. The hooded man laughed, and raised his arms that held his sword. He swung down in front of Caden, and the next thing she saw was a grassy field in the light of day.

Caden woke up being slightly sweaty. She sat up with a dazed look in her eyes, trying to figure out what was real, and what was false.

"Are you alright, Caden?"

"It... it was a nightmare."

"It must have been on hell of a nightmare. You were tossing in your sleep for some time now."

"I see… Matthew…"

"Yes?"

"How long were you up to know that I've been tossing and turning for a while?"

"As I said before, I only sleep a couple of hours, so I've been up for quite a while now."

"Alright… let me get ready and we'll start moving again."

"Sure."

Caden stretched and got ready to travel again. She took out a snack for breakfast out of her bag and then flung the bag over her shoulder when she closed it. Every time she closed her eyes now, she could remember the nightmare so vividly, as if it were real. "That nightmare that I had is very difficult to ignore… It seemed so real like this was… a premonition or something."

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There it was; the borderline from Ostia to Etruia. Caden and Matthew were getting awfully close to it. It's just probably a few more miles until they reach it, and those miles were very tiring to walk. For two weeks, they went without stopping, with the exception of that ambush, but still, the only times when they stopped was when they went to eat their rations or when they went to sleep.

"Ah… finally another town," Caden said happily.

"We can get more food and supplies here until we reach the next town."

"Do you know when the next town is?"

"I'm not really sure."

"Since this town is still Ostian territory, have you been to this town before?"

"Probably once or twice. I kind of know my way around here."

They were stocking up on their rations and they bought a secondary weapon, just in case the used weapon that they had suddenly broke. After they did some more shopping and looked around, Caden suddenly felt a chill. She hugged herself so she can keep warm while they were walking down the busy streets.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

"I felt a chill, that's all."

"It's pretty warm here. There isn't any wind around. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Y-Yeah… I just think that something might go wrong… or something might happen…I just don't know."

"Maybe your hunch will actually come true."

"I would hope not, but I fear the same thing."

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"Hey, Dugan… d'ju feel that?"

"What?"

"There's someone here, someone we're looking for."

They both looked behind them, but they didn't know who they were looking for. They back tracked their steps until they finally saw her.

"Who is she, Robbin?"

"She doesn't look very noble, but she is one of the faces I remember Father showing me."

"Well then, let's get to it."

"Right, but all these people are in the way. We shouldn't hurt them."

"You're really soft, sis. Forget about the civilians, we need to get them."

"Dugan!" she yelled but whispering so no one else can hear. She grabbed him by either shoulder, "You can't be so damn careless!"

"Why shouldn't I? There's no reason caring for these people if they can't defend themselves!"

"I would seriously slap you right now if there weren't people around, Dugan! And I've taught you not to be the way you are right now."

"Fine! We'll wait until the girl and her companion are alone. Then, we'll move in."

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"Um… Can you wait here, Caden? I have something to do right now," Matthew asked.

"Why don't I go with you?"

"I have to go alone."

"Does it have to do anything with working? Because if I remember correctly, Lord Hector said you didn't have to work."

"Sorry, I can't tell you any details. Just trust me, okay?"

"Alright then," Caden said with a suspicious tone, "I'll wait for you at this entrance."

"Okay, it won't take long."

Caden leaned on the town's entrance arch. There was really nothing else to do there except wait for Matthew to come back. Hm, probably she can go to another store? No, that won't do. The town's pretty crowded; it would be difficult for even Matthew to spot her in all these busy streets. She wouldn't want him to scout her out. After all, they are kind of in a hurry. Perhaps she'll just wait here… under the arch. She's trained herself to be patient for anything, no matter how long someone takes; the only exception, though, is when it's an emergency.

"You know, you were kind of hard to find. Luckily for us, you were left alone like this."

Caden turned her head to see if that person was talking to her. She saw his face, but she thought that she's never seen that face before. She looked around her surroundings; no one else was around, so they must have been talking to her. Why would they though? She doesn't know who those two are.

"Err… can I help you?"

"There is nothing that you can do that can save you now," Dugan said as he was taking a Flux tome from underneath his robe.

"What are you talking about?" He's a magic user? He's very young no less."

"You will pay for what you did to my father, and you will pay it with your life."

"Father?" She looked at the two closely. His appearance did seem a little familiar. That pale aqua green hair… and those horror-striking golden eyes… she's seen it before, and that expression… she now remembered. She couldn't forget that face… not after the hell she went though to get to him and what he's done to her and her friends.

"You're… Nergal is your father?"

He smirked and chuckled. She didn't need him to answer; she knew what he meant by the gestures.

"Yes, I am Dugan, an offspring of Nergal, and my sister, Robbin, as well. But there's no need for formalities."

Dugan chanted as he opened the Flux tome. Robbin did the same with her lightning tome. "Dammit, my hunch was true. Looks like this fight isn't going to end well… for me at least." Caden took out her sword and readied herself for their attack.

Dugan was the first to strike. Caden looked down as she saw some dark matter form around the base of her feet. Before the matter took her, she hopped to the side and dodged the magic. Robbin then chanted a spell and lighting came to Caden's way. That hit her left shoulder and her robes ripped from the hit. The lightning stung real badly. She used her other hand to cover the wound. Caden went on the attack and she swung sideways to try to hit both of them, but because of her injury they both evaded her attack. "I'm REALLY in a disadvantage here. My, Matthew had to leave at the right time, didn't he? Heh, just my luck."

As the fight went on, Caden started losing. She was hit with magic more than she put a scratch onto Dugan or Robbin. She couldn't take anymore hits. As one more flux magic hit her, she fell to the ground. She looked up to them as they were walking closer to her.

"And now, your end has come." Dugan raised his hand and chanted another flux magic.

When Matthew was coming back to meet with Caden, he didn't expect what he saw. Dugan was right in front of Caden, who was down on the ground.

"Caden!" he yelled. Dugan and Robbin looked at Matthew. He stopped what he was doing and swung his hand down in frustration.

"You're lucky this time. Let's go Robbin."

"Dugan, wh-"

"Don't question me. Let's go now!"

Dugan and Robbin took a step back and teleported away from them. Matthew ran up to Caden and he raised her upper body so he can see her. Her body was covered with lightning and flux wounds. She wasn't bleeding, but the scars that the lightning left behind was not a pretty sight since the blood there looked like it solidified.

"Heh… for a kid that age, he sure knows a lot about magic… Like father like son I guess," Caden said trying to keep her eyes open looking at Matthew.

"Huh? What do you mean by that? Caden! Keep your eyes open!"

It didn't work well though, she closed her eyes when she felt too weak to leave them open. Matthew looked at her wounds… it was nothing to serious that she could die; only enough for her to be unconscious. There was nothing else for him to do except to keep on moving; that was the only option for that matter since those two attackers left. Matthew looked in his bag for a vulnerary or an elixir somewhere. When he found one, he opened it and looked at Caden.

"I know that you're not unconscious yet, Caden. Or at least I hope you're not unconscious. But drink this before we start moving again."

Matthew positioned her so he can pour the elixir's content in her mouth. He put the lip of the elixir's container near her lips, and poured it slowly so that she wouldn't choke. After that, he closed the bottle and put it back in his bag. He didn't expect Caden to wake up suddenly… or for a couple of more days, so he decided to carry her until she regained consciousness.

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End of Chapter 11: Premonition

Author's Note:

Here you go! Please be patient until I get my story updated on a regular basis again.

I usually get the inspiration to write it again when I just forget about something for a long period of time. Hopefully, this long period won't take too long. I have less than half of my story finished, but I hope to get that percentage up soon.