While traveling through the pine forests in the heart of Konohal, the rogue Delilah and her band of heroes came across a boy who was greatly injured while escaping a fortress in the woods. The mage-boy, Johnny, told the sordid tale of how a rogue army had come and invaded the village that lay in the forest, and he begged Delilah for help in defeating them. She agreed, and the party set into battle against the forces led by Commander Jacquel, one of them being the sister of May, Lee.
Once freed from their imprisonment, the villagers held a celebration for the heroes who had saved them. May and Lee reunited and the others partook in food, drink, and merriment, save for Delilah and Eddward, who had made a startling revelation.
Chapter 6: The Runaway Princess
With the sun looking down on them from above, Delilah and her party continued forward through the wooded lands of Konohal, now nearing the Monel Valley, where many a traveler was said to go missing in the dense fog. The entire valley was large and vast; it seemed even more grandiose when the thick fog would fill the air and ground making the trees and earth vanish away. It was a poor idea to travel through the valley as is, but many a brave fool would attempt to go from end to end by himself. The fool never made it out.
That day, the sixth day in the fifth month of the year, the ever-expanding party led by Delilah was attempting to conquer the dreaded valley so that they might reach the village of Lor'Zod, where they would obtain shelter and more supplies for their journey to the capital. On this foggy day, May chose to ride her winged horse close to the ground, for fear of losing her friends in the wispy smoke. All those who were landlocked to begin with stayed together so as not to become separated.
As he strode through the woods, Ed struck up a conversation with Kevin, who was fiddling with his iron lance. "Say, Kevin," he asked, "have you ever been to the arena?"
"'Course I have! I've seen plenty of fights in the coliseum in the city of Saria, and I earned over 5,000 Gold just by fighting there."
"Remarkable!" The dopey boy paused before grinning. "Who do you think is stronger: me or Rolf?"
"Hmm," said Kevin, "It's hard to say. Rolf's really tough, and you've got enough strength to boot…all I know is that I'm better than the both of you."
"Oh, that is such a lie!" Ed shouted as he laughed. "I betcha I could take down more baddies in our next fight for sure!"
Rolf lumbered over to the pair and clapped each of them on the back. "Ho-ho-HO! Do Rolf's ears detect the sound of a wager being made? Let's make a deal, Horse-Riding-Kevin-Boy and No-Neck-Ed-Boy: whoever shall slay the most opponents in the next battle we face shall earn five hundred Gold from the two losers. Sounds fair, yes?"
"You're on!" shouted Kevin as he chucked his gold coins at Eddward. "Hey, Ghost-Face, hold those for me!"
"Me too, Eddward!" Ed threw some gold coins at his shamanic friend, who deftly caught them in his hands.
The hooded boy caught a hail of coins from Rolf and then exclaimed, "Gracious, sounds like you all will be having a field day out there! I bet Eddy would love to get in on this if he knew how much money he could win."
"Did somebody say money?!"
The quick thief Eddy dashed over to Eddward's side and grabbed his friend by the shoulders. "What's this I hear about money?" he asked.
"K-K-Kevin, R-R-R-Rolf and E-E-Ed are in a b-b-bet!" Eddy released his friend so that he would stop stammering. "Whoever can slay the most enemies in our next battle will earn over a thousand Gold!"
"Interesting…" Eddy dropped a few pieces of Gold into Eddward's hands. "I want in on this. But I'll tell ya, boyos, yer gonna have a tough time stopping me. I've gotten stronger, in case ya couldn't tell!" He rolled up the sleeves on his tunic and flexed his muscles, showing a significant growth in the past few weeks. Before he covered them again, he felt cold metal touch them.
The metal belonged to Lee, who was clad in her knight's armor. She fawned over Eddy's large biceps. "Ooh, Eddy," she purred, "those are looking fine…"
"Easy, Lee, ya can't touch without payin'!"
"Who'd pay to touch your smelly body?" sneered Sarah who was riding on Nazz's shoulders. Eddy threw a knife at her, barely missing her head.
"Who wouldn't?" he asked. The little girl growled and leaped from Nazz's shoulders, then ran to Eddy and kicked him in the shins.
"You bloody rip-off artist!" she screamed before Delilah grabbed her and hoisted her into the air. The hooded girl disposed of Sarah by placing her on Kevin's steed and having him grab her around the waist.
Delilah looked up at Sarah. "Believe you me, Sarah, I'd like nothing more than to tear Eddy a new one, but I can't have you two going at each other all the time. Calm yourself and just take deep breaths. Kevin, hold her steady and don't let her go for an instant."
"Got it," the cavalier replied as he held Sarah's small body close to him. This prompted Jimmy to run over and whack Kevin in the back with his staff.
The small boy yelled, "Keep your hands away, home-wrecker!" He too was subdued, this time by Johnny, who hit Jimmy in the head with his large tome of spells. The bald-headed boy grabbed Jimmy and threw him onto May's winged horse.
"Next time, Delilah," he said with a grin, "just leave the discipline to me. I can swing a mean book, y'know!"
"I'm honestly considering it," she replied, "I'm honestly considering it."
Delilah looked ahead towards the front of the party at Eddward. For a brief moment, their eyes locked, and they remembered the talk from a few nights ago…
***
"Why didn't you tell us you were Princess Alaby?" Eddward asked. In his hands was an assortment of papers that had been found in Commander Jacqual's private quarters in the wooden fortress. On the top paper was a picture of a girl with long black hair that fell in curls all the way to her back. Her face was lean, and, though the paper changed the colors, it was clear that she had pale eyes of a sort.
Delilah stood firm. "I…I don't know what you're talking about, Eddward. It's just a coincidence, that's all!"
He smiled. "You don't have to keep lying, you know," he said.
She paused then asked, "How did you find out?"
"Truth be told," he replied, "I knew there was something different about you from the first day we met. Not many thieves wear the Konohal shield upon their chest, I would think. After a while, I began to notice little twitches in your personality: you're not some normal, run-of-the-mill thief, Your Majesty."
"Don't call me that!" she whispered loudly. "No one must know that I am with you, understand?"
"My lips are sealed," said Eddward as he pretended to lock his lips together like a chest. "I know that you probably have your reasons for doing this, but I shall listen when you decide to tell me."
"Thank you," Delilah said as she smiled. Eddward left her to join the party again, leaving her to stay and watch the night sky through the treetops.
"The moon is so beautiful tonight," she whispered. "Can you see it, Philomena?"
***
Eddward smiled at her and nodded, letting Delilah know that her secret was safe with him. The thief girl nodded in return, and then moved along ahead of the group. Because she had trained herself to be like a thief, Delilah had developed a powerful pair of eyes that allowed her to see far through the fog that obscured the path they trod upon that day. As her gaze pierced the smoke, she thought she could make out a figure running towards their group. It seemed to be a young man clad in a traveling tunic prepared for mountain exploration.
"Hold!" she shouted. "Who are you?"
The young man cried, "Please help! There are rogue soldiers ahead, and they're attacking my exploration team!" He fell at Delilah's feet, gasping for air.
"Relax, friend." Delilah stooped down and helped the man up to his feet. She said to him, "Sir, we'll defeat these rogues yet. There's not an enemy we have not come across that could put an end to us. Right, everybody?"
The party cried out, "Yeah!"
"Hurry," the man cried, "I don't know how much longer we can last!"
***
WHAM!
"Stay down, ya rabble-rousing mongrel!" the soldier roared as he slammed the butt of his spear into the chest of a long-haired student.
"Oof!" the student cried in pain as he fell to the ground.
"Ye should nah 'ave trespassed on this ground!" shouted another soldier who was dangerously close to one woman. She wept bitter tears, but the soldier did not care; it was for the grand scheme that Mordecai had told him. If there were to be sacrifices along the way, so be it.
Suddenly, there came a voice from the edge of the haven. "Stop right there!" a young woman cried. Out from the trees came an assortment of young travelers, every one clutching a weapon of a sort, ready to meet in combat. The soldiers began to laugh at this.
"Do you have any idea," one soldier chuckled, "who you are going up against?" He was answered by an arrow going through his skull and sending him into a nearby tree.
"Don't know, don't care," Delilah growled. "Form a ring around the travelers!" she shouted. Everyone followed her orders, and they stood in an impenetrable circle around the accosted party: Delilah and Eddy took the west point together; May, Ed, and Sarah were to her left, while Lee, Rolf and Kevin were at his right; Nazz, Eddward, Jimmy and Johnny stood behind the group, waiting to attack.
The soldier who was threatening the woman roared, "ATTACK!" and then he ran off into the woods to alert his commander. Immediately, more enemies poured out of the fog, but Delilah and Eddy could see them coming. This would be a rough battle that would require all of their concentration.
"Hey, who wants stew after this?"
"Now's not the time, Ed," Eddward sighed as he opened his tome of spells.
***
Two soldiers bearing lances came running out of the smoke and tried to attack Eddy, but he deftly dodged them, receiving only a few nicks in the process. In return, he slashed them across their legs, sending them to the ground.
"You mongrel!" shouted one.
"Yeah, I fight dirty," he replied, "You're still the one's who're gonna die."
Right on cue, Rolf slammed his axe down into the back of one soldier, while Kevin impaled another upon his iron lance. The blood gushed from their bodies, but this did not deter Eddy from searching their carcasses for a coin purse.
"Eddy, not now!" cried Delilah as she gored a fighter's eye with her iron sword.
"Sorry, love, force of habit."
***
"Versammlung, dunkle Kräfte! FLUX!"
The shadows of the lofty pine trees twisted and contorted into a sphere around a knight who had stomped out into the clearing, sending him reeling; a well-timed stab of the lance from Lee was enough to slaughter the man.
"Say, Eddward," asked Lee as she withdrew her lance from the body, "have you heard anything from my sister?"
"I'm afraid not," Eddward replied. "I have not seen her since we saw you all last."
"That's what I thought. I wonder what she's gotten herself into this time."
"It's hard for me to say. Didn't she say something about wanting to get a travelling job like my friends and myself?"
"Yeah. Didn't take her seriously, I suppose. Y'know, she always had this thing for you. Maybe if you had stuck around--"
"--I know. This is neither the time nor place to discuss this." Eddward declared his incantation, sending a ball of shadows out to crush a cavalier who had ridden out of the woods. This time, Nazz shot an arrow into his heart, killing him instantly.
"Could you two focus on the battle a little more?" the blonde archer asked, clearly frustrated. She did not know why, but the idea of Eddward being with another woman bothered her. After spending time with the shaman, she was unsure of how she felt about this sister that Lee had brought up. She had a history with Eddward? Nazz did not like the sound of that at all.
"Sure thing, princess," Lee hissed as she drove her lance into a cavalier who had appeared in the clearing. There was a cry behind her, and she turned to discover that Nazz had been hit in the shoulder by an unseen archer. The blood flowed freely from her wound, but Jimmy was immediately by her side to heal the wound.
"Try not to move for a moment," he whispered as he pulled the arrow from her shoulder and cast his healing spell. "Luap si daed. I deirub Luap. S'taht ton Luap!" A cool blue light emitted from his healing staff and covered Nazz's wound; in a moment, there was not a single sign of damage left
"There's someone in the trees!" shouted Eddward as he scanned the treetops, or what he could see of them.
"I see him!" cried Sarah as she disappeared into the misty fog. There was the sound of a blade being drawn, a shriek of terror, the sound of an animal being cut, and a sickening thud. The enemy archer had his throat cut from end to end, and he was now in a crumpled heap on the forest floor. A myrmidon that was watching began to quake with fear when he saw the blood-thirsty little girl in the trees.
Ed laughed, "That's my sister!" He imitated her by slicing his giant sword at a charging soldier, but he actually managed to cleave off the man's upper torso. "Heh, guess I've got to work on my aim!"
While all the action was going on, the travelers were seated behind the children, huddling in fear of both the enemy soldiers and the homicidal children that were protecting them.
"Is no one going to ask why they are so comfortable with this?" asked one.
"Silence, you spoony bard," whispered another, "At least they won't kill us…I think."
***
Once clear of the field, the soldier ran through the forest, away from the gruesome sounds of the battle behind him. "How is it possible for our men to be killed so easily?" he shouted. "We are the destroyers of the world!"
"Correction," a silky voice hissed, "WE are the chosen; you lot are merely pawns in the Lord's work." A bolt of fire burst out at the soldier and engulfed him in flames, consuming his body in an instant. The source of the fire emerged from the trees: It was a mage, tall and enigmatic. His blonde hair was nearly white like snow, and it was incredibly long. He wore a crimson mage's uniform that had a strange insignia on the collar, thick black boots, and black gloves upon his hands.
"Fools like you are not worthy to breathe the same air as myself." The mage smirked and stood in the forest edge. "Come, you who would destroy the plans of the Twilight Army. I shall make your burn."
***
After a time, the enemies ceased their frontal attack, allowing Delilah and her friends to take a brief rest. "Jimmy, start healing everyone. Let's split up: Eddy, you wait here with Lee, Eddward, Nazz and Kevin. Rolf, Johnny, May, Ed and Sarah: you guys are with me. Move!" The groups split up, with Delilah charging into the woods and Eddy staying behind.
"I know what you're thinking, Eddy," Eddward whispered. "Don't do it."
"Hush, Ghost-Face." Eddy smirked and stood in front of the travelers. He said, "Okay, so, let's start talking the price of saving you!"
Eddward groaned and slapped his forehead. Nazz leaned over and asked him, "Is he always like this?"
"Sadly," he replied.
"It's all part of his charm," Lee cooed as she gazed longingly at Eddy.
"Yep, there it goes," said Kevin. "I think I just lost my lunch."
***
Delilah and her team charged through the pine forests, moving as fast as they could, save for May, who flew through the air on her winged horse. "So, who's getting the kill this time?" asked Sarah.
"Whoever can get there first, I say!" shouted Johnny as he sprinted ahead with his magical tome in hand.
"Focus, ya maggots," growled Delilah. "This isn't about who can kill who. What, is this some kind of game?!"
"None of you shall do this as you will all die."
Everyone scattered as a bolt of fire burst through the air and struck Ed in the chest, sending him flying through the air and into a thick tree. The mage was standing there near a boulder in the forest, grinning like a sadist.
"You shall all die at the hand of The Fox, the demon of the Twilight Army," he hissed as he prepared another incantation. "Fuego mucho!" A large wave of fire spread across the ground, blocking everyone from attacking him.
"We cannot reach this demon!" howled Rolf who nearly incinerated his hand upon the wall of fire.
"Marigold won't fly above it!" May cried.
"What do we do?!" shouted Sarah.
"Simple," said The Fox, "you die- AGGH!"
When no one was looking, Delilah had burst through the flames and stabbed The Fox through the chest with her sword. The mage's eyes lit up in death and he gasped, "Who…who are you?"
"I'm Alaby, princess of Konohal. And you are dead by my blade."
"Heh, Konohal." The Fox chuckled grimly. "We have already attacked the capital city. There is no way for you to reach it now. You will fail before the might of the Twilight Army." Delilah growled and dug her sword in deeper, relishing in the howls of agony that came from The Fox's mouth.
"I know, and I will save my people. I swear it."
She left the ring of fire and rejoined her friends, all of whom were gaping in awe. They were walking with a princess this whole time? Ed walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug.
"I knew it!" he cried.
"Ed, get off me." Delilah turned to the others and said, "I suppose I have some explaining to do."
TO BE CONTINUED…