Chapter 5

Roan stared from atop a hill with horror at the burning village. Everything was ablaze. Not even the well in the center of the village was spared. Roan gripped his sword as he rushed into the village, praying that no one had been killed. Why did this happen? What was going on? Who was behind this?

As he entered the village, he skidded to a stop. The village was completely empty. No noise except for the crackling of flames. What in blazes…. Roan spun around as a loud crash sounded from one of the flaming houses. He stared as a large figure emerged from the flames.

Roan watched in horror as a hulking man holding two massive axes slowly walked towards Roan, his face hidden by a black scarred helmet. Similar black scarred plate legs and plate body covered the man's hulking figure. He laughed as he saw Roan standing there. He lifted the huge axes and charged, laughing as he did so.

Roan couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear. Why now? He wasn't afraid of anything! He could only watch as the swung both axes towards Roan's head. As the axes neared their mark, all the flames extinguished. Everything disappeared so that Roan and the man were in complete darkness. Roan saw the man's eyes through the helmet and knew he was going to die….

"NOOOOOOO!" Roan screamed as he shot upright, whipping out his knife as he did so. There was no one there. The forest was quiet, save for the crickets. Roan sighed when he realized that it had been a nightmare. He held his head in his hands and felt his face was wet. Had he been crying? Why? Roan furiously brushed away the tears. He had a job to do, and he wasn't about to let his emotions get in the way. Myrrh getting captured was his fault. He was tough hearted, but cruel. He wasn't going to leave Myrrh to the mercy of those Grado soldiers.

Roan looked to the sky to try to tell what time it was. It seemed to be an hour before sunrise. Roan tightened the bandages on his chest, then proceeded to clean up his campsite. Soon, he was ready to go. He climbed into the saddle with a bit more grace this time He rode off through the woods, careful to keep his head down. He was almost to the desert, so he needed to make a stop before he entered.

It was midday when Roan came to a village on the outskirts of the desert. He immediately made his way to the general shop. Roan had found some money on one of the dead soldiers, so he took it. He purchased a head wrap to protect against the heat, as well as a waterskin. When he was finished, Roan set out into the desert, half hoping that he ran into slave traders. He might get a lead on where Myrrh could be.

Roan traveled for the rest of the day and into the night. He was about to settle down for the night when he saw what appeared to be a settlement, with a bonfire in the middle. It took Roan a second to realize that that was the mercenary base he used to train at. His commander would be there, so he decided to head there and see if any of his comrades were there.

About ten minutes later Roan rode into the camp, to be greeted by stares. One guy with blue hair and whispered to the pink haired girl next to him, "Who is that? Doesn't look like anyone we know."

The man with the wrapped up face slowly walked towards the fire, keeping his head down. He quietly walked to the fire and stood there, not saying a word. "Where can I find Gerik?" The man asked.

"Why? Who are you?" The blue haired guy asked sharply, placing a hand on his large bow that had been sitting next to him.

"Someone you know." He said, proceeding to pull the headwrap off. The young man's face lit up when he saw it was Roan, though he winced when he saw the bandage on his face.

"Roan! How's it been? We haven't seen you in so long!" The young man said, jumping to his feet. Roan couldn't help but smile. This guy, Luther, was so jolly it was contagious. The girl he had been sitting next to, Kira, smiled also. The three of them were from the same village, so they were the only friends Roan had. These were the only people in the world that Roan felt comfortable being around. He would do anything for them.

"What the hell did you do? You looked like you were attacked by a giant cat!"Kira grimaced, while Luther laughed. As she said this, a man emerged from a nearby tent . Roan watched as a Man with a purple bandana stepped into the fire light. "It looks to be a bit more than a giant cat. Roan, what the hell did you do to yourself now?" The man asked grinning.

"Ah, Gerik. Just the guy I wanted to see. You are right though, it was a bit more than I giant cat."Roan grinned humorlessly.

"So. You gonna tell us what happened?" Gerik asked, eyeing Roans bandages.

"Well, if you insist…"Roan sighed.

An hour later, the band of mercenaries sat there, surprised at the tale the Roan had just told them. Luther was smiling slightly for some odd reason, while Kira looked troubled. Gerik, on the other hand, looked impressed.

"So, you had a run-in with a Grado general, fought some weird creatures, then had a fight with Caellach? Man, you've gotta pick your jobs more carefully." Luther said grinning. "We believe you on the monsters only because we had a skirmish with them a few day ago. If Gerik hadn't been there, we would've been done for. He saved us, and that's how we ended up as mercs." Luther finished.

"The thing that worries me is that we had seen a group of Grado soldiers moving west, out of the desert. It looked like they were transporting something…or someone. Think they might be your guys?" Kira asked.

"Gotta be. Tomorrow I'll resume my hunt, and catch up to them."Roan said, pulling out his sword and stabbing it into the sand.

"You can't! Not in that condition. You'll simply be an easy target for the soldiers!" Luther said shocked. "I'm amazed that your alive right now! Taking on Caellach with a broken arm…what the HELL were you thinking?" Luther asked.

"I had to settle things with him…plus he took Myrrh. He can't be forgiven." Roan said.

"If you plan on going after them, you'll need to be at your best. I have just the thing for you." Kira said, disappearing into a tent. She later emerged with a staff in her hand. " Now hold still, and you'll be all fixed. Kira said, raising up the staff. Roan felt a strange sensation as a blue glow surrounded him move through his body. His chest stopped hurting, and his arm also. The blue glow faded as Kira smiled.

"Well? How do you feel?" Kira asked. Roan pulled off the sling his arm had been in and moved it. It was stiff, but no longer broken. He was suddenly glad that he had convinced Kira to learn magic instead of using weapons. "He voiced this out, which caused Kira to glow with pride.

"I advanced to the title of sage a few weeks ago. I'm much better at magic now than when you left." Kira said proudly.

"And I have been honing my sniper skills so that I can actually be useful. You're not the only one who can fight now, Roan." Luther said grinning again.

"well I have to catch some sleep. I gotta leave early in the morning if I'm going to catch up to Grado." Roan said, standing up and stretching his stiff arm.

"Are you sure we can't persuade you? What your doing is suicide, you know that right?" Gerik said, though he knew that what he said was pointless. When Roan said he was going to do something, he usually stuck to it.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Hey, where's Tethys by the way? Shouldn't she be here?" Roan asked, just noticing that she was not there.

"She went to a nearby village earlier to get supplies. She will be back by tomorrow." Gerik said.

"By then, I will most likely be gone. Well, good night." Roan said. He quickly unpacked a bedroll from his horse and laid down, quickly falling asleep.