Chapter 7

No! Darn it!

Xershies threw an upward slice, taking the things head off. He was in the middle of a massive battle. He was, however, alone. He knew there were too many enemies for just him alone to defeat, but he had to try. The Darkness was back. The thing that had killed his father was back. He couldn't hear anything. There was a deafening roar, like the sound of very high winds. It was pitch black. He had cast a spell to make his staff emit a small radiating light so that he could see.

Ahhh! Too many of them!

He swung his sword twice more, beheading three others. His staff was slammed into the ground next to him, but he was outside of its protective field. He continued slicing at the enemy of Darkness. Enemies fell, left and right, and he remained, for the most part, unharmed. His power was astounding, and his swiftness with his blade was even more impressive.

Hmmm.

"Megiddo Flame!"

Xershies lunged forward away from his protective barrier, to avoid the oncoming summon attack. A giant meteor had appeared, seemingly from nowhere, in the sky. Xershies couldn't hear it above the roar of the Darkness, but he could see it slam into the earth in front of him taking out hundreds of the enemy. The creatures we relentless, and innumerable. Xershies continued beheading them, and tried to make his way back to the barrier.

"Dream Wave! Dream Bolt! Dream Flame! Ultima!"

Xershies cast one small protective spell on himself, to weather the soon to come attacks. It was a flurry of light, and power. The first summoned an eruption of water from the sky that slaughtered hundreds more. The second was a massive flurry of lighting bolts frying many others. The third summoned a swarm of napalm scattering among the army of Darkness, killing more. Finally, the last summon brought about another meteor, larger this time, slamming into the ground with incredible force. Many holes and patches had been left in the creatures ranks.

Despite the attacks devouring countless enemies, they still pressed in on him. His sword was flying as fast as he could keep it going, and his shield was blocking as many attacks as Xershies was throwing. His two arms operated almost independently of each other. The sword would fight it's own battles, and the shield would clean up, and defend. Both seemingly separate entities, and yet both being controlled by the same powerful man.

Shoot!

"Ultima, Ultima,. ULTIMA!"

Three meteors slowly appeared and slung themselves from the heavens. They smashed into the ground, several hundred meters away from Xershies, effectively killing massive amounts of these creatures. Still more pressed on.

They won't stop coming!

"Megiddo Flame!"

Nothing happened.

Ah crap… Out of magic!

He sprinted through the creatures, defending blow after blow, taking the defensive. He had to make it to his barrier. He was hit a couple of times, but the wounds were relatively not sever. As soon as Xershies entered into the magical barrier, the wounds quickly healed over. He was back to his strength, and ready for more. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew he could at least withstand them for a while. He wasn't sure exactly how long he could hold out, but he knew it would at least help the group miles away a little bit. He was prepared to finally die.

While in the barrier, he quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed an ether. He was about to drink it when one of the creatures slashed out, and smashed the flask.

You scum…

He was out of magic, unable to refuel it, and was increasingly pessimistic about the current situation. Death was imminent, he knew this much. He had to contact the group somehow.

His sword continued to swing, and kill creatures left and right. The roar was deafening still, and the speed of the enemies movements was increasing. The magic attacks from the creatures that his shield had been blocking could now be seen smashing on his barrier, and flying the other direction into their own kind. Creatures were dieing, and it wasn't from him! He laughed shortly, before thinking of an idea.

I don't know if this will work…

"Petrify!"

Xershies had cast the stopping spell on his barrier, and the creatures within. It worked. The bubble kept outside enemies out, gave him long enough to refill his magic, and to contact Tigo. He guzzled down his ether, and wiped his lips with his sleeve. It was quiet inside the bubble, for which he was thankful.

The bubble was still transparent, and he could see the creatures trying to break the defense shield. Attacks continued hitting it, and being deflected. He could see the amount of them out there. An impossible amount of enemies to defeat.

Concentrating hard, Xershies attempted the connect to Tigo.

Tigo… Tigo… Hear me…

(crest)

In the small cottage, the group was still deliberating on what course of action to take in the absence of Xershies. It was the evening that Y'Ron had found the group. The sun hadn't quite set. They had anxiously waited for word from Xershies, but found none. They were now gathered around the small wooden table in the middle of the room, eating some leftover venison they had.

All at once, Tigo's head snapped up from it's downward glancing.

"Guys! Guys! I can hear Xershies!"

Everyone else's face snapped toward Tigo's, and the group fell silent.

"I can't hear him!" Caleb yelled in earnest, wanting to hear him too.

"Just be quiet," Tigo retaliated, closing his eyes.

(crest)

Tigo. You must find the horses, and continued north. They are paid for, and are awaiting your name to be taken. The inn keeper has them. Take them immediately, and head north. I don't know if we will meet again. Find the other's, and continue my quest.

Xershies' protective bubble began to crack. He took his last few seconds of silence inside the bubble, and prepared himself for another onslaught. Just as the barrier fell from the constant attacking, Xershies shouted a summons at the top of his lungs.

"Ultima Flame!"

The words came out wrong. He had misspoken the words, and cursed himself for doing so under his breath. He readied his sword for attack just before seeing the fruits of his misspell. A gigantic burning meteor was flying toward the earth. Many times larger, and this time burning white hot, its full furry was flying downward.

Oh crap!

Xershies attempted to cast that small protection spell on himself, but there wasn't time to finish the spell. The summon hit the ground with the most ferocity of any spell Xershies had seen. Thousands and thousands of the creatures died in this attack. The blast sent Xershies flying a few hundred meters from the spot he was at, and from his staff.

His head and back are in excruciating pain, but Xershies managed to stand up. He had no energy left. He knew he wouldn't be able to live much longer in this war. He looked toward where the meteor had hit.

Whoa!

To his surprise, the attack hadn't finished with just the meteor. Once it had hit, it had exploded into thousands of smaller orbs continually slamming into the earth, and his enemies. He had just released an all new summon, and one more powerful than he had ever seen. The creatures were being killed by this summon, very effectively. The army was shrinking.

He began to walk toward his staff, which was at the middle of the attack. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to find it, nor if he would have enough energy to finish off the remaining Darkness. Enough of the enemy had been cleared so that the dark had been lifted. He could see the ground, and the areas around him now.

He heard a high pitched buzz above the continuing roar, began to turn his head. Before he could, a part of his summon slammed into his head.

The world, in Xershies eyes, was going white. The tornado of sound, and darkness was gone now. In the ensuing light, he could see his father…

"Son. Why haven't you finished what I and Drake started? Why have you failed us?"

Xershies was in his young child body again. He was looking up into the eyes of an angry and disappointed father.

"Daddy! I tried! I was about to…"

"No! You have failed me! I died for nothing! Drake died for nothing! Because of you! You have shamed us both! We disown you!"

The young child that was Xershies began to cry. The whiteness faded to black. In the Darkness, Xershies could only hear crying.

Then all went silent.

(crest)

Tigo frantically glanced around the room, and had a panicked expression on his face. Xershies voice, and the happenings around him, had been steadily flowing in and out of Tigo's mind. Loud noises, screeches, and shouts from Xershies. The screeches sounded like it was coming from some unmentionable for. Tigo knew they must quickly get to Xershies, and help him.

"Guys! He's up north of here!" Tigo was shouting frantically.

"Slow down Tigo," Caleb tried to calm him. "What's going on?"

"I could hear Xershies, and his fighting. He's in trouble! We have to help him!"

"Hold on a minute Tigo. If he is in trouble, then how are we supposed to find him, and help him?" Dega was trying to keep Tigo from just running away from the group. Y'Ron still didn't know what to think.

"He has horses ready for us. They are with the inn keeper. We are supposed to travel north of here," Tigo was slowly calming down, and feeling a sense of leadership in Xershies absence.

"Tigo, there are heavy mountains to the north of us. The only way we can go any farther north is to first travel east and get to the trail there. Then we can go through the mountains," Caleb, who had been around these parts for a long time, explained.

"Okay, that's fine. Everyone, pack up. Xershies told me to have us leave immediately. Pack as quickly as possible, I'll get the horses," Tigo got up from his chair, and nearly slammed into Y'Ron on his way out. They all knew the severity of the situation, and where they had to go, accept for Y'Ron. He was left without a clue.

After just a second, Tigo return.

"Caleb, before I forget, would you be the one to lead us through the mountains, and farther north? You know the land way better than any of us."

"Of course I will," came Caleb's quiet reply.

The group began to pack, while Tigo ran off to the inn to get the horses. When Tigo arrived at the counter of the inn, he thought of a problem.

What about Y'Ron? Hmm. I guess he can use Xershies' horse for the time being.

"What could I help you with?" asked the pudgy inn keeper. "Aren't you the one that black elf was after today?"

Tigo was a little taken aback. He hadn't expected that from the inn keeper.

"Well yes, I am. My name is Tigo, and I should have four horses here waiting for my name to be picked up."

The short man looked Tigo in the eyes.

"Ah yes. The horses. Before I give them to you, I want to know what is going on here!"

Tigo was a little angered by the inn keeper's question, and slammed his fist onto the table.

"Just give me the blasted horses; I don't have time for this!"

The inn keeper backed up a little bit, remembering his earlier rendezvous with the dark elf.

"Not until you tell me what is going on here."

Tigo had had enough. He grabbed the short fat man by the collar, and lifted him from the ground. For Tigo's short height, he could lift the man surprisingly high off the ground. A knife had been drawn, and was now held at the inn keeper's throat, held by Tigo.

"Give me the stupid horses!"

As he yelled, Tigo pushed the knife blade into the inn keeper's fat throat, almost drawing some blood.

"Okay! Okay! They are out back, in the stable. Here is the lock," wheezed the captive man.

Tigo grabbed the lock from the fat hand, and threw the man down to the ground. For the second time that day, the man's rear end pained him profusely.

Tigo hurried to the back, and found the stable. The lock was rusted over, and almost didn't open with the key. The horses were all the same color brown, and had the same colored manes. Tigo grabbed their reins, and led them around the inn and toward the small cottage.

Just outside the cottage was a wooden post to be used to keep horses on. He tied their ropes to the pole, and went inside the cottage.

It was as dim as ever, and the group was sitting on their beds talking. Caleb was the first to lift his head in Tigo's direction.

"We wandered when you were going to get back, slow poke. We packed your stuff too, it's in the bundle on the table. You have the horses? What about Y'Ron?"

"I thought about that too, Caleb. But, since Xershies isn't here, I thought Y'Ron could use his horse."

Caleb nodded his head, and stood up. "Sounds like a plan! Let's get out of here!"

The group walked outside, and examined the horses.

"Wow! Xershies has nice taste," Dega said, before hooking his gear up to the saddle of the horse.

"Your right. Okay, I'll take lead. We'll head east, toward Duvey Mountains. Sometime tonight, we should take a break. I know that Xershies said to go immediately, but we won't be able to travel tomorrow unless we sleep a little bit tonight. We'll have to travel to the mountains, and slightly south to find the trail over them. The trail leads onto the banks of Duvey Lake. Then we will have a long trek around the lake, until we find another mountain pass. It's a long trek. Everyone ready? Let's go!" Caleb turned his horse, and started at a gallop.

The others followed him, and the four remained at a gallop through the city. The came upon the East Gate of Midry, and surpassed it quickly. It was open air, and an open evening sky. A small line from the sun still shone behind them, over the Reynian Mountains giving them just a sliver of light. When the sun had full set, and the sunset was gone, the group had to make torches with which to see by.

After a little while longer, they came to a fork in the path. Caleb hopped of his steed, and walked toward the point of the two paths. He glanced left, and right, before deciding on the left path. As Caleb hops back on his horse, Dega looks at him.

"Caleb, left won't lead us in the right direction. Remember, you said we needed to find a way south."

"Well, Dega, we have to head this way first. Just trust me."

Dega wasn't satisfied with this answer. "But how do you know?"

Caleb opened his mouth to answer, but Tigo broke in first.

"You learn a few things in the forest, yea, yea, I know."

Caleb knowingly smiled, and chuckled. He quickened their pace, onto the left path. After a few more hours of constant galloping, the horses had begun to tire out. It was very late that night, and Caleb thought that they had found a good place to set up camp. The group dismounted their horses, and set up a small fire. The group decided to forgo eating that night, and only eat a slightly larger breakfast.

"Without Xershies, one of us will have to keep watch tonight. Or, we could split it into shifts," Caleb explained to the exhausted group. The notion of them having to stay up later was horrible, and the group decided to split the shifts. Y'Ron would go first.

During his watch, Y'Ron began to feel a little uneasy at the silence of the area. There should have been animals making noises, but there were none. It was too quiet. Unbeknownst to the group, a band of a dozen men had surrounded the camp site. They had all cast a silencing spell on themselves, and crept closer and closer to the encampment. One of the men's silence spell weakens, and he caused a twig to snap.

Y'Ron turned his attention from the fire to where the twig snapped, just behind him. A man was there, has knife extended. Y'Ron quickly drew his sword, and thrust the humming steel into the man's gullet. The man fell as Y'Ron withdrew his sword. Eleven more men came running from the edge of the forest, while Y'Ron gave a loud yell, waking the others.

Dega, Tigo, and Caleb were all up and ready for battle in seconds. The eleven men attack the four barely awake men. Caleb took his new sword and made fast work of two men standing close together. Their bodies had been frozen over by the magic in the blade. Tigo finally had a chance to use his new bow that Caleb had made him. He loaded an arrow, and let it fly toward the chest of another man. The man screamed as the arrow entered his heart.

Only seven men were left, and they weren't faring very well. Dega was making good use of his newly powered up scythe. Two men later, the scythe was bloodied and hot. Dega and Caleb together confronted another man, while Tigo and Y'Ron took care of the others. Dega was keeping the other man's club at bay, while Caleb turned the man into two pieces of an ice cube. The two halves fell at Dega's feet. Tigo decided to test out his magic on the others, and threw a blaze spell at one of the men. The blast of flame hit its mark, and the man ran off into the woods, burning all the way.

The other three men decided it wasn't worth their lives to continue the fight, and ran off into the woods. Tigo and Caleb had the same idea, and loaded an arrow each. They quickly aimed, and fired at two of the men. Tigo's arrow hit its mark on the back of his target, while Caleb's arrow his the man squarely in the back of the neck. The last man got away into the woods.

The group decided to loot the thieves that had come to loot them. They didn't have much of anything of value, except a few gold coins, and some food. While Dega was leaning over one of the men searching his pockets, when arrow flew from the woods and hit him in the ankle.

Dega let out a scream of pain, and fell over. Caleb snapped his attention toward the woods, just as another arrow came flying from the trees. Caleb rolled across the ground to dodge the oncoming attack, while simultaneously equipping his bow and an arrow. Before he was back on his feet, he had let another arrow fly into the woods. The body of the man could be seen rolling down from the tree line.

Once Caleb had gotten up, he dropped his bow and ran over toward Dega. Tigo and Y'Ron had already pulled the arrow out and had been trying to magically heal the wound. The magic wasn't effective enough, because of the poison on the tip of the arrow. Caleb quickly looked through his things, and found an extra shirt. He ripped the sleeve off of the shirt, and tied it tightly around Dega's leg.

"Tigo, hold this bandage. Y'Ron, come with me."

Tigo obediently put his hand on the bandage to keep the poison from traveling very far, and Y'Ron and Caleb ran into the woods. Caleb looked at Y'Ron

"You're an elf, so you know what to look for. I need a plant with leaves shaped like stars…"

"With small, black flowers. Yea, yea, I know. I've had to use them many times."

Y'Ron and Caleb split off from each other in frantic search for this plant that they needed. Caleb found a small patch of it in the woods, and grabbed two handfuls. When he got back to camp, he saw that Y'Ron was already standing over Dega, applying the healing herb.

"Tigo, if you cast some healing magic while I'm applying this, it will heal faster," Y'Ron explained to Tigo, while applying the herb to the wound.

Tigo begins casting his magic, and the major part of Dega's healing began. Caleb ran over from the woods to Dega's side, and offered his help. In a few minutes Dega opened his eyes for a moment, before closing them again.

"Is he dead" asked Tigo.

Dega responded to this with a snore.

"He'll be ok tomorrow," said Y'Ron. "He just needs some rest. Did we search every one of their bodies for useful things? I wish people weren't so stupid. Ok, everyone get some rest, we have a long trek tomorrow. I'll take Dega's watching shift."

Y'Ron sat on the same log he had before the ambush, and the others laid down on the ground to go to sleep. Y'Ron could hear Tigo mumble something about nights being worse than mornings, and could hear the opening of his ever present flask. He smiled, and let his thoughts drift away.

Tigo, after finishing his drink, let his thoughts shift toward wherever Xershies was. He wanted to know what was going on, and to be able to help him. Without the aid of a sleep spell, Tigo fell asleep almost immediately.

(crest)

Ugh… The pain…

Xershies wasn't able to see anything. Everything was a bright white color. His head, and back hurt very badly.

"Where am I? I hope Tigo got my message to head here.

Xershies managed to painfully sit up. He rubbed his neck and back, trying to ebb the pain. It wasn't working. It was incredibly bright, almost blindingly so. He could hear things, but he wasn't sure what they were. Sounded like footsteps. Footsteps behind him.

"Hello Xershies," the voice was low, bellowing, and cold. Something in Xershies mind connected that voice with a voice from his past. He can remember someone with that voice. Xershies slowly turned his head behind him to face the speaker. Xershies was taken aback by the looming form in front of him.

"It's you… I can't believe it is you…"