Ch 7: The Less You Know..
"Kyrie! Wake up!" "Ugh..Five more minutes mom.." "Kyrie Marie get your ass out of bed now!" "What..." Poking her head out from under the covers, Kyrie sleepily eyed her sister. Brissa was fully dressed, and looked slightly panicked. Examining her, Kyrie noticed Brissa's clothing had changed. She had on a pair of light brown boots that stretched up to her mid-calves. A pair of black tights ran up her legs. Over her torso was a sleeve-less dark pink dress. It cut off in the front at her thigh, but trailed down to her knees in the back. A leather belt was snugly wrapped around her waist. Resting on either side of her hips were a pair of short swords. A pair of black gloves wrapped around her wrist, ending at the middle of each finger. "B..Where'd you get the cool clothes?" "They were in the closet. But you need to get dressed, now! There's a fight going on outside!" "Really?" Kyrie ran out of bed and straight for the window.
"Hey Kyrie! Be careful!" Alex grabbed her shoulder, dragging her away from the window. "Alex? What are you doing?" "Saving you. What else?" "But I wanna see the fight!" "You'll be able to do more than see it. Now get dressed. I'll be waiting outside with Aubrey." "Um...Ok.." Alex gave both girls a small smile then bolted out the room. "Are they almost ready?" "Yeah almost." Aubrey sighed a bit. She wore a pair of knee-high dark blue boots. A short-sleeved white shirt sat comfortably over her frame. A short white skirt continued down her body, stopping at her lower thighs. A dark leather belt sat loosely around her waist. She held a short spear in her hands, which were covered in elbow-length gloves. "Don't look so tense." "Easy for you to say..You and Tye know how to fight!" "It's not that hard. Besides, I'm not gonna take you three straight into battle." "Good!" Laughing, Alex cracked his knuckles and eyed the girl. "I'll give you a few pointers real quick. First, get into a comfortable stance." Aubrey nodded slowly, standing at the ready. "Good. Now make sure the spear is pointed towards your enemy and not the ceiling." "Oh!" She shakily pointed the spear towards Alex. "Now. I'm going to swing at you." "With your fists?" "Yep. Now get ready!" Alex ducked down and swung his fist for Aubrey's legs. She jumped back and cluelessy thrusted the spear at him. "Hey watch it!" "Sorry!" "Make your attacks more precise. Remember, you want to hit them when they're off guard. So keep jabbing at a certain number of spots until you get an opening." "O..k.?"
"Ready!" Skipping out of the room, Kyrie excitedly gripped onto Alex's arm. Her sleeve-less light pink dress came down to her ankles. She wore a pair of knee-high black boots and held a small book in her hand. "So where's the princess?" "I don't know. She led us to our room then left." "Weird. Oh well. Do you all have something to fight with?" Brissa and Aubrey nodded, showing Alex their weapons. "Good. How 'bout you Kyrie?" "Um..I don't know." She showed Alex the small book. "This was on top of my clothes. What is it?" "It's a tome." "A what?" "A spell book. It's magic Kyrie." "Ohhhh. Really?" She opened the book and quickly leafed through the pages. "How do I use it?" "Just do what it says." "Um..Ok." Kyrie studied the pages carefully before closing the book and turning towards the empty hall. "So just do what it says?" "Yep." "Ok...Thunder!" Snapping her fingers, she pointed at the marble floor a few yards in front of her. "Wait Kyrie! Not in here!" A blast of yellow light shot through the hallway, followed by an explosion and a cloud of smoke. Coughing, Kyrie groaned and rubbed her head. "Oww.." Alex sighed and walked down the hallway. "Come on girls. We need to get out of here." "Hey wait! Did I do it? Alex!" Kyrie chased after him, the other two girls running right behind her.
XxXxXx
The wind had become even harsher then earlier. Tye walked down the quiet streets of the city. It was too quiet. He couldn't hear the usual sounds of clashing steel and explosions. Something's wrong here... Tye slowly unsheathed his sword, cautiously glancing around the deserted street. "Are you lost little wolf?" Tye's gaze fixated towards the sound of the voice. A black hooded figure slowly walked towards him. Dark red was splashed onto areas of his clothing, and his once bright steel whip was soaked with the blood of his enemies. "Not lost. Just exploring." Tye sheathed his sword and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The Black Cobra stopped next to the boy, keeping his face away from him. "The Commander retreated this way. Did you kill him already?" "Nope. I haven't run into any more soldiers." "Hm..Well if you do see anymore, be sure to make them pay." "Wait." "What?" Tye looked around the street once more. "Something's not right. It's too quiet." The Cobra titled his head up to the sky. The two listened to the silence for several minutes, not saying a word to each other. They didn't have too. Both fighters could feel the eyes of the enemy watching them. "You're right. It's far too quiet." "It's giving me a bad feeling." Nodding, the Cobra walked off. "Kind of like the mayor's house." "..Yeah..Wait..What?" Tye spun around. Alone again, he kicked a corpse. "What the hell was that about.."
"It seems like he didn't care much for your safety." Shifting his eyes to a dark corner of the street, Tye could make out the outline of a large figure. He unsheathed his blade once more. "So that's where you're hiding." A low chuckle carried out around Tye. It's echo played across the streets and buildings, slowly dieing off after a few minutes. Tilting his head, Tye returned the chuckle with his own. "Nice try dumbass. But I don't scare easily. Now get out here so I can kill you." The silhouette moved about in it's corner. Creeping towards Tye, it grew as it neared him. The swordsman dug in his back pocket, drawing several small beads. He threw them onto the ground, generating a bright flash of light. "Ahh! Damn you! That hurt!" The figure rubbed his eyes, his silhouette replaced with a bulky appearance. Laughing, Tye stepped back a few feet. "Wow..You're ugly." "Ugly? I'll show you ugly!" The figure stood up, reaching nearly eight feet in height. His skin seemed green, but Tye couldn't tell in the poor lighting. He had on pitch black armor that covered every inch of his body, except for his neck and hands. The Commander reached over his head and withdrew a broadsword. Gazing up to the head of his new opponent, Tye sighed a bit. "Damn. I was hoping this would be easy.."
XxXxXx
It had been almost an hour since the girls left the safety of their room. The castle was dark, and it felt dead to Brissa. As she followed the others, her eyes couldn't help but gaze out the large windows they ran past. The streets were nearly empty. Huge holes had been blown into the pavement. The buildings were knocked over, blown to pieces, or simply gone. She could see the dark red of all the soldiers that had been killed. Brissa felt sick while she ran. Her head began to pound inside her skull, and her legs felt weak. "Hey B! Don't fall behind!" "Huh?" Her body snapped out of it's state and pulled her back into her current situation. "Sorry!" Picking up her pace, Brissa caught up to the others who had ran into what looked like a dining room. "We'll hide out here for now. We can board up the door with the tables and there's a kitchen in here." "Um..Alex. Why aren't you out fighting?" "I thought you all might panic if one of us didn't show." Brissa hit Alex's shoulder. "Ow. What?" "We wouldn't panic." "Ok. So I just came to make sure you three are alright." "That's better." She gave Alex a smug grin, then turned her attention back to the windows. "Where's Tye?" "In the middle of a fight probably. Or he could be on his way here." "I hope so.." Glancing over his shoulder, Alex caught Aubrey leaning against Kyrie. "Don't worry. He's not gonna get hurt. It's Tye, remember?" "Well I guess you're rig-" Aubrey was interrupted with a loud explosion, followed by an even louder screech. "What the hell is that?" "I don't know! But stay down!" The screeching grew louder, shattering the windows.
Suddenly, it stopped. The four had a slight ringing in their ears, but none were harmed. "Ow. Alex what was that?" "Trouble." He pulled the long bow off his torso and drew an arrow from the quiver at his side. "What are you doing?" "Well. I think that screech was a troll. And if it was, then that means we're in for a big fight." "A...what?" "A troll. You know, big ugly looking things." "There's trolls in this world?" "Yeah I wasn't too thrilled either. Hurry, push those tables to the windows." The girls nodded and hurriedly pushed four long tables against the bottom half of the windows. "How is this going to help?" "They'll have to climb over the tables to get in. I'll just shoot them while they're busy. Now go barricade yourselves back in that corner." "No way Alex! We want to fight." "Not right now Kyrie. Just get over there and do it!" A mix of shock and nerves hit the girls as they walked into the corner, doing as Alex said. "Be careful Alex!" He gave them a quick thumbs up before running up the wall and grabbing onto one of the tapestries. Climbing it up, Alex then jumped onto one of the chandeliers that dangled in the center of the dining room. Reading his bow again, he studied the broken windows carefully. Alex had a perfectly clear view of outside. The street was about three or four feet down, so the soldiers would have to climb. The tables would give them another foot and a half. Alex estimated he had about a minute before they crawled over the edge of the tables. And if there were a lot, he'd be able to take out about a third of them. Then there was the troll problem.
Another loud screech rang out in the dining room. Alex tried his best to ignore the piercing sound. He focused on the first window directly across from him. Outside, a small army marched up to the wall. Shit. There's a lot more than I thought. Drawing back the string, he waited for the first few soldiers to grab onto the side of the castle and climb. Once they had passed two feet, Alex released the string. Quickly grabbing another arrow, he pulled the string back once more and released it. Each arrow hit it's mark. The enemy outside began dropping off the wall, arrows sticking out of their heads and chests. The girls impatiently waited behind the barricade of tables and chairs. They could hear the shouting from outside. All three of them giggled a little when they heard the Captain barking at his men, telling them to watch out for the platoon of archers inside.
The screeching returned, much louder this time. Alex could see the foot of the troll. It was standing near the far end of the building. Picking out two arrows, he pulled them both back onto the string. "I really hope I don't miss." Letting go, he watched the two arrows soar through the window and straight into the troll's foot. The ground shook slightly due to the monster jumping in pain. "I just bought us some time!" He shouted. "Girls! See if you can find anything hot in the kitchen!" Climbing over their barricade, the three ran into the kitchen. It was spotless. Any food that had been cooking was cold now. "Aubrey start a fire. Kyrie, get out any kind of sauce or soup you can find. I have an idea."
Back in the dining room, Alex continued to bombard the assailants outside with arrows. He was running low though; only half a dozen arrows remained in his quiver. He pissed off the troll too. This is turning into a crappy fight. The room shook again, almost knocking Alex off his perch. "Shit! Girls get back in here NOW!" Not hearing a response, Alex slipped the bow over his frame and jumped down from the chandelier. He took off into the kitchen, and found the girls cooking. "What are you doing?" "Making something hot." "Forget that idea! We have to get out of here!" "Why?" The room shook violently, toppling over pots and pans. "That's why! Their breaking down the wall!" Alex grabbed the three of them and pushed them out of the kitchen. "Grab your weapons. Kyrie, I'm gonna need you to blow a hole in the wall." Picking up her tome, Kyrie eyed Alex. "And how am I going to do that?" "Use your magic! Like before, but this time make sure you hit it." "Ok, ok. I'll try.." "Right there." Alex pointed to the center of the wall against the back of the room. "If you blow it out, it should open up into the throne room. We can get out of here through there." "Ok..." Kyrie read through the pages, biting her lower lip while she tried to find an easy spell. She closed the book and turned. Snapping her fingers, Kyrie pointed at the wall. "Fire!" A small ball of glowing red erupted on the wall. "Come onn. FIRE!" The ball expanded with the shout and exploded, revealing a hole. "Hey! It worked!" "Good job. Now we need to go!" The four climbed through the wall and into the throne room. Alex grabbed a nearby table and shoved it into the hole. "Hopefully that'll keep them busy for a couple seconds." Another explosion echoed through the room. A hole appeared at the far end of the room, this one much larger than Kyrie's; large enough for the troll to walk through. "Shit! Run to the throne!"
The girls dashed off down the narrow room to the back of it. Alex unsheathed his daggers and charged the troll. It screeched, spying Alex, and slammed it's fists into the ground. Alex barely dodged the huge hands. He stuck the daggers into the troll's fingers, making it screech out in pain. He slid under the troll's legs, hacking it's ankles as many times as he could. The monster screamed again, stumbling back into the wall. The bowman rolled up and ran to the throne. He was cut off though, by several soldiers. "I don't have time for you morons!" Jumping, Alex bounced off the helmet of one of the soldiers and landed behind them. He kicked one in the back, forcing the man into the others. "Push the throne over! There's a tunnel underneath it!" Aubrey and Brissa knocked the chair over, while Kyrie tried her magic again. "FIRE!" A group of flames erupted around two of the soldiers, catching them on fire. "Nice shot!" Alex ran up to the girls and tried to slide the door underneath the throne. He was tool late though. The door had been bolted from the inside. "Are you fucking kidding me!" Glancing up, Alex stood as the troll ran straight for them. "Get in the corner and stay there!" "But Ale-" "No buts! Go!" The girls slid into the corner behind him and watched their friend roll between the troll's legs. He climbed up it's back, using his daggers as hooks. The troll screamed out again, trying to grab Alex. Once he had reached the back of the troll's neck, Alex tugged off his bow. Drawing the string back, he fired an arrow into the beast's neck. The monster's screeching blasted throughout the room. It spun around, throwing Alex off it's back. "Alex!"
The bowman hit the ground hard, but was able to pull himself up. "Ouch.." "Alex are you ok!" "Yeah, I'm fine!" Shaking his head, he reached for the bow. Drawing the string back once more, Alex fired another arrow into the troll's neck. The troll angrily charged at Alex, ignoring the last few arrows that hit his flesh. Alex turned and ran, looking over his shoulder. "Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Kicking the enemy soldiers again, Alex jumped over them and ran for the door. The troll inched closer to him, swinging it's fists crazily. Alex pushed open the door, and froze in his tracks. "Perfect.."