Me: Yo! sorry about not updating in a while writer's block hit me like a ton of bricks. But I'm back and though I'm loathe to admit it this chapter didn't exactly turn out the way i would've wanted it but its good enough. And apparently my guest decided to become a no show so on the reading.

Chapter 16

Months have passed since Shadow started his training, the day of his test came quicker than he realized and although Shadow was nervous he had a feeling the he would pass. then his confidence disappeared when he saw that Commander Tanith was his opponent. If what he saw from Sigrun's demonstration was anything to go by than Tanith was going to murder him. It took several long hours into the fight before the match was called to a draw even though Shadow bore serious injuries and Tanith only had bumps and bruises. Regardless Shadow was accepted into the Holy Guard and he flourished unto two different training regiments, one being standard Holy Guard training, and the other from Croix deciding to help fine tune what Shadow already knows. Shadow also learned some new techniques during this time frame. the first technique was a water elemental technique called aqua edge which covered the blade edge of Shadow's sword completely in water, and the second technique was a wind element called azure edge which Shadow found to be very easy to use.

The past few months in the Holy Guard were both fun and trying depending on Taniths mood as she was responsible for keeping the other members in top form. In Shadow's mind, he thought that the commander was crazy for training them 60 feet into the ground on day one. He did have to admit though that the training regiment did wonders for everyone including himself. The empress of Begnion half the time since he got there was always watching them, or more specifically Shadow, and it was starting to creep him out. Then again you would be too if you had a 10-year old leering at you pervertedly while you trained almost everyday. Shadow's new attire is basically a Black trench-coat, a dark-green shirt, black pants, brown boots, a blood red belt, and White armor underneath it all, his sword was placed on his lower back just above his waist at a left-handed angle. The armor was a bit concerning for Shadow as the plating was thinner than most; however, Croix assured him that it would protect him by stating its history. Surprisingly enough it was blessed by the goddess Ami and was meant to only be used by a specific person and Shadow fit the bill, so to speak. That night Shadow asked Ami in his dreams about the armor and its history, hearing the goddess confirm most of it put the boy more at ease on wearing it. All in all Shadow was much better off as he is now.

This can not be said for his current predicament. Shadow, Sigrun, and Tanith were charged with protecting the empress while she went out to meet with Crimea's princess. Well, let's just say that the empress was being a little impatient. "Sigrun how much longer must we wait for our ship to be ready?" the empress asked. "Empress Sanaki you just asked five minutes ago, please be patient, these things take time." Shadow said worried his response would set her off. "Shadow is right empress, if you keep asking at that rate nothing will get done. Listen, me and Tanith will keep an eye on things here, Shadow, you are to accompany the empress and do a little shopping for personal supplies or even gifts you never know." Sigrun said winking at the young girl that was her charge.

And so here he was, Shadow, the only male in the Holy Guard, wandering around the marketplace with the Empress of Begnion leading the way a few feet ahead. 'I'm starting to wonder if Sigrun planned this from the start.' Shadow thought as he watched Sanaki go from shop to shop looking for something, what it was he wasn't sure. Sanaki walked into a shop that sold specialty items with Shadow following closely behind. As the duo looked at the inventory on the shelves a sparkle from the front desk caught Sanaki's eye. Shadow noticed the look of curiosity in the empress' eyes and the two soon walked to said desk to take a closer look. As it turns out the object in question was a special talisman that took the shape of a sword with a magic tome behind it. "Excuse me sir might you tell me a little about this object over here?" Sanaki asked pointing to the talisman. "Ah yes, certainly ma'am, this particular talisman was brought here to Begnion a few decades ago by a swordsman from a far off land." the clerk stated getting both the empress' and Shadow's attention. "A far off land but I thought that Tellius was the only continent that survived the flood." Sanaki said. "That's what I told the man but apparently he didn't believe me. At any rate, he told me that his wife wanted him to sell the talisman to earn some gold so that he could buy medicine for her, apparently she was very ill." the clerk continued to explain. "Did the man ever make it back to her?" Shadow asked. "No, unfortunately he was ambushed by bandits days later and they stole it from him, along with whatever gold that remained from the purchase." the clerk said solemnly. Shadow and Sanaki both looked down, sad that the man who tried so hard to help his wife was killed before he could get to her.

Sanaki decided to purchase the talisman (well really she asked Shadow to buy it since she didn't bring any money with her.) and was currently walking down the middle of the marketplace with Shadow in tow with a sack full of vulneraries, elixers, and several belts with weapons wrapped around him. The duo were making there way back towards the dock when they heard a scream. "Aaaaaahhhhhh Bandits!" a woman screamed. Shadow started to worry about not only the empress' safety but the civilians as well. He gave Sanaki everything he bought for the troops and said "Empress go back to General Sigrun and Commander Tanith now, I'll handle the bandits." Sanaki nodded her head and left, but not before telling Shadow to be careful. Shadow nodded once, turned, and ran towards where the commotion was all the while Sanaki was thinking 'Please come back safely Shadow, don't wind up like that swordsman.'

Shadow made his way towards the bandits, weaving in and out of the fleeing townspeoples paths. He soon made it to the town square and saw that the bandits in question had already captured a few of the women and killed several men. "Ahahahaha, yes, these girls will make fine editions to our slave ring" the bandit leader laughed. "Aye boss but what should we do if we run into the Begnion army, I heard the Holy Guard is here along with the empress." one of the leaders flunkies said. "Bah they're probably on a ship miles away by now, even if they did hear of our plunderin' of this wee village they can't do anything to stop us." the leader gloated. Shadow decided that he had had enough of hearing this asshole's loud mouth and wanted to do something about it, so he made himself known. "Alright you arrogant ass I think it's time someone shut you up, permanently." Shadow shouted. "Oy who's gonna stop me, you? You gotta be kiddin' me yer just a wee lad." the bandit leader laughed. "Actually, yeah, I am." Shadow smirked.

"Boy you have no idea who yer messin' with, Get 'em boys" the leader shouted. As the bandits charged at Shadow the boy just stood there and waited. A part of his training involved waiting for just the right moment to strike at his enemies. Shadow also happened to know a very useful technique for it too; the Mortal Draw. Shadow had remembered how to do it from when he was a child and his friend Link was practicing to perform it in battle. It took a few weeks but our hero was able to master the technique. Breaking himself out of his stupor Shadow noticed that the first bandit to charge was within range of the Mortal Draw and, with the speed he gained from his training, quickly unsheathed his sword, sliced the bandit in half, and got into his sword stance. Blood sprayed from the body of the bandit as his intestines dropped to the ground before the rest of him did. The other bandits and brigands stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what happened to their comrad. They looked at Shadow with a mixture of fear and hatred when the boy spoke up, "So, who's next huh?".

"Hey what's wrong with y'all? Don't let a lil brat like 'im get the better of ye just cuz he caught one of ye off guard!" the bandit leader shouted. The others immediately toughened up at their leader's words had charged yet again at Shadow. 'Well i can see that these guys are either confident or just plain stupid, there's nothing to these guys except brute force.' Shadow thought as he downed another bandit with his sword. Finally after killing the last of the flunkies Shadow turned his gaze towards their leader and though he didn't show it, the prince was feeling very exhausted (hey you would be feeling the same way if you fought several bandits alone). "So, it's just you and me now." Shadow said looking across the blood-stained battlefield at the leader. "Oh ho ho, so you think that just 'cause you killed a few worthless flunkies you think yer a real badass, well I have news for you, yer just a brat who got lucky!" the bandit leader shouted furiously. "It's not luck pal, it's skill, and truthfully I've been holding back the entire time." Shadow said calmly.

The bandit leader, upon hearing what the boy said charged at Shadow in an unnaturally aggressive manner. To put it simply he was attacking blindly hoping the kid would mess up and die. Shadow on the other hand knew that his opponent would lash out like this if provoked the right way and was again waiting, but this time it was for a chance to attack his opponent in one swift blow, in the meantime he had been dodging and blocking every attack that was aimed at him not wanting the bandit to know about the blessed armor underneath his clothing. His chance finally came when the leader swung his axe too wide leaving him open. Not wasting a perfect opportunity Shadow quickly thrust his sword into the bandit's heart and pulled it to the left... hard, this caused the blade to quickly cut through the bandits torso along with his heart and lungs. Blood gushed everywhere as the source of it fell to ground in a bloody heap. With the battle over Shadow stumbled over the women who were held against their wills. "A-are... you... al-alright?" Shado asked exhaustion finally sweeping over his body. When the girls nodded they rushed to Shadow's aid when he collapsed to the ground.

Shadow awoke hours later in what appeared to be a cabin, most likely on the ship the holy guard chartered for the meeting with Crimea's princess. In an attempt to lift himself up, Shadow noticed that something weighed him down and, upon looking down he noticed the sleeping form of empress Sanaki who held the talisman tightly in her hand. 'Poor girl, she must have been worried sick about me.' he thought reaching a hand out to stroke her long, flowing, indigo hair. When Shadow began stroking Sanaki's hair it earned him a appreciative moan from the empress which put a soft smile on the swordsman's face. Sadly all things must eventually come to an end as Sigrun and Tanith walked into the room. "Well now, I see that you've finally come to Shadow." Sigrun smiled. Shadow, realizing that he got caught stroking the empress' hair quickly retracted his hand and turned away not wanting to let anyone see the blush on his face. Sanaki slowly started to stir when the hand that stroked her head left suddenly and she opened her eyes to see Shadow wide awake. Turning her head the empress saw the reason why Shadow stopped what he was doing seeing the two top officers of her Holy Guard staring at them.

"Well since you're feeling better I only have one thing to say: do not leave the empress to carry the things you bought back to us." Sigrun scolded. Shadow apologized to both his general and the empress for such an action and vowed never to do it again. He did however state why he did so in the first place. "Well I suppose we'll let you off with that warning, but only this once. Now why don't you rest a little more Shadow, you wouldn't do anyone good by trying to wander the ship in your condition and we only just left port." Tanith ordered. Shadow nodded and allowed his body to fall onto the bed and hoped that he recovered fully soon. He would never realize until later that the empress didn't leave his cabin and sat in a chair nearby.

end chapter 16

Me: Well what do you think, like i said it didn't turn out quite how I wanted it but it's still good right. give me some feedback here people some real feedback adding to your favs can only keep me going for so long. cya.