Chapter 4: The Battle Begins
There was an awkward silence that followed after they heard the mysterious voice. Everybody searched for the owner of the voice, but found none. The group looked at each other and decided that it was someone playing a joke and ran on to the closest building. Suddenly, there was a massive explosion a couple meters in front of them.
"You are not going to escape from us," the mysterious voice threatened. "Are you a coward or what? Come on and fight us, you weaklings. Don't go on and ignore us immortals. Just because we look hideous and smelly doesn't mean you should underestimate us!"
Shinkoi answered, "We would like to fight with you. But the thing is, we can't see you. So, why not show yourselves to us or we'll start calling you cowards."
"…..Oh right. I forgot we cast an invisible spell on ourselves…,"muttered the immortal. The immortals uncast the spell and slowly they appeared. Instantly their rotting smell spread like a virus and the young group suddenly felt like vomiting. The immortals grinned, showing their razor, sharp teeth. "Now how do you like us stormwings?"
"Phew! Roald, why did you have to fart at the wrong place and the wrong time? Geez! You could have given us a warning," Neal said while fanning his face with his hands.
"What are you talking about? It wasn't me! It must have been you, since you're the one who brought it up," Roald protested. "You shouldn't have released your inhuman gas in front of the princess! In fact, it can kill us all!"
"Hahahaha! You're right, but I just couldn't hold it in," Neal laughed.
"Ahem. Instead of joking around, aren't we supposed to be running away? We will die from this stink if we continue standing here," Shinkoi complained.
The leader of the stormwing shot a fire blast right in front of them. "Hey, you puny little weaklings, if you are going to ignore us any longer, we will blast you to bits."
"Umm…I think you should to pass your invitation on seeing who is stronger to someone else, because we don't really enjoy hanging out with you guys," Akurean said glancing at the others to make sure they understood. They nodded. "And, uh… stormwings, we are kind of busy at the moment, so why not come back again. BYE!"
The princess threw a brown bottle up towards the stormwings and everyone sprinted into the building, leaving the immortals screaming and locked the doors and windows. Their hearts pounded against their chest as they looked at each other, not sure what to do. Akurean looked into Shinkoi's eyes. The maid knew what Akurean wanted to do, but she shook her head in disagreement.
"We'll have to wait for the knights and magicians to come rescue us. I will hold them off as long as I can if they enter this room," Shinkoi said breaking the silence.
"So, uh… Akurean, what exactly did you throw at the stormwings?" Roald asked.
"Oh, hehe…that…was something I made in case if I needed self-protection…if Shinkoi wasn't with me," Akurean said searching to find the right words.
"Well, it sure worked," Neal said while listening to the stormwings screaming. "I wonder how effective it is if it was thrown at a human."
"….It was made to throw at a human, Neal," Shinkoi pointed out. "We never even knew there were such things as stormwings."
Neal frowned. "Really?"
"Yes. Just how stupid can you get?" Roald said with a grin.
Several hours past, but the enemies still did not find them. The only thing the group heard waas magicians blasting their magic outside in the distance, and the knights taunting the stormwings with their swords. Everyone fell asleep while they were wating to be rescued, but Shinkoi stayed alert in case of an attack.
Akurean tossed and turned in her sleep. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the castle. Pictures were torn up, walls were broken, and everybody was running towards the exit. Akurean looked around to find out what was happening. Unfortunately, she didn't find any clues, so she sprinted outside. There, up in the sky, she saw it. Stormwings crowding the sky, blocking the clouds and sun. Akurean heard a growl behind her and spun around. She couldn't believe her eyes. Standing in fron tof her was a large creature that she has never seen before, but all she knows is that this monster has to be eliminated. But for some reason, she couldn't move at all. Akurean was frozen in terror. The monster roared, showing its long deadly teeth, and leaped towards her. Akurean covered her face with her hands.
"Aaaaah!" Akurean screamed out loud.
"What's wrong, princess?" Shinkoi asked while running to her side.
Akurean replied, "Oh, it's nothing. I just had a bad dream. That's all. Nothing to worry about." She glanced at everybody, who looked at her with worried eyes. "How long have we been in this building?"
"We've been in this building for 5 hours now. So, it must be around late , it's pretty quiet outside," Roald said while stretching his legs.
"I'll go look around outside and see if it's safe or not," Shinkoi said while heading towards the doorway.
Neal exclaimed, "Great! I'll go with you. I need to stretch my legs anyways."
Together, Shinkoi and Neal went and Roald sat on the floor in the building chitchating about what the next lesson will be. Within 3 minutes, Neal popped his head in the building.
Neal waved his hand, "It's all clear. We can leave now!"
"Okay! We're coming!" the princess called as she patted her dress to get rid of dust. "Come on, Roald! Let's go!," Akurean said grabbing his hand and leading him outside.
"Let's head back to the castle. We've searched this whole place, but we haven't seen anyone yet," Shinkoi yawned while gesturing them to follow.
"I hope nothing bad happens," Akurean whispered. "I don't think I'll stand a chance going against the stormwings. So, before anything else happens, I'll ask Lord Wlydon to teach us how to fight immortals!"
"Yeah. Hehehe, that will totally ruin his whole plan for the year!" Neal grinned.
They trudged onward to the main castle. Along the way, they spotted broken buildings and burnt grass and fences. Once, they reached the gates of the castle, the group found that the place was crowded with the townsfolks and soldiers everywhere. They rushed to the dorm to find Lord Wlydon.
"Lord Wlydon!" Roald yelled. "We must speak with you."
"Ah, Prince Roald. I'm glad that you are safe. We were attacked by stormwings, so we needed to gather everyone togther for protection. I was about to send a search party to search for you since you haven't returned," Lord Wlydon explained to the kids.
"Are we going to be attacked again, sir?" Shinkoi asked.
"As far as I can see, we will be safe for a month or so. Don't worry too much about it. When the time comes, you guys just head for shelter inside the castle," the lord said confidently.
"My lord, can you train us how to fight against the immortals?We feel that we need to be ready to fight them the next time they raid us," Akurean requested.
Lord Wlydon hesitated, "Well, I don't think there are training methods to fight against immortals." Wlydon glanced at his students. "But I can develope ways on how to train, if you are tha desparate."
"Oh, thank you so much, Lord Wlydon! I am so happy, I could give you a french kiss!" Neal exclaimed, unable to contain his happiness.
"I'll have to pass on that. Now hurry up to bed. Tomorrow, you still got training to do!" Lord Wlydon laughed.
Everyone went their separate ways back to their rooms. Akurean smiled at the thought of being able to learn something new in this foreign country that she has never known before. Immortals. Back in the Shuni empire, the spiritual barrier is so powerful that no immortal can pass through it. But in this place, the barrier is very weak, so it is possible that all the immortals can break through the barrier, or even destroy it. Akurean and Shinkoi reached their room and prepared to take a bath.
Before they turned off the light to go to bed, Akurean smiled," The fun has just begun!"
"Yes, indeed. This is the reason why we are sent here, isn't it? It's time for the prophecy to come true, princess," Shinkoi whispered. "Let us hope that we will all survive the upcoming catastrophe!"
The two of them stared at each other for several minutes. Then Akurean said," Good night!" and turned off the lights.
Shinkoi laughed. Pulling up the covers she yawned," Sweet dreams, my princess."