Ch 8: Unbroken Ties
Alex gaped at the tall figure in front of him. Black armor covered the entire length of the body. The only visible areas of skin were the figure's hands and neck, which appeared green to Alex. The figure slowly stomped towards the bowman. Alex was stuck between two giants. He had to pick which one to take down first; this new fighter, or the troll. Shit! I forgot about the troll! Alex dove away from the fist that slammed down on his previous spot. His newest problem simply stood in the doorway. His presence seemed almost invisible to the rest of the room. Not taking any chances, Alex charged the giant soldier. He was stopped, however, by a slight tug on his shoulder. He glanced at the hand that was holding him back. Alex followed the hand up the arm to the body. Before he could say anything, the giant in black groaned in agony, toppling over onto the ground. The back of the soldier's armor had been cut open in the shape of a giant paw print. If one were to remove the armor completely, one would find the giant's flesh had a carving of a paw print also. Alex glared at Tye, who still had a hold on his shoulder. "Don't scare me like that!" "Giving his friend a grin, Tye released his grip on Alex. "I wanted to have some fun." "So scaring me to death is fun?" "Well yeah." "You bastard!" "Hey Alex." "What!" "There's a troll behind you." "...Damn it.."
The two rolled away from the troll. "Why haven't you killed this thing yet!" "Do you not see how big it is!" Tye heaved a deep sigh. "Ok then, let's kill it!" Alex gave his friend a nod and turned to the troll. He took the last arrow in his quiver and readily pulled the string back. "I'm gonna hit it's eye. You do that beast thing you do and rip it's heart out!" "It's a wolf.." Tye mumbled. Alex aimed for the troll's eye, waiting for the monster to get into the right position. Once he had a clear shot, he freed the arrow from it's string. "Go Tye!" But Tye had already ran at the monster. The boy tossed his sword to the ground, and leaned forward. His senses focused, causing a white aura to form around him. Tye jumped straight for the troll. A loud snarl echoed throughout the tattered throne room. The girls watched Tye grab onto the troll's skin and begin hacking away at the chest. His hands moved at an incredible speed, almost inhuman. While he dug into the monster's chest, it frantically tried to grab Tye. But every possible opportunity was knocked away by Alex's sharp jabs from his daggers. The troll stumbled back against the wall. It's screams shook the room. "Tye hurry up already!" Gazing down to his friend, Tye nodded his head towards the girls. "Oh fuck..Ok!" Alex took off running down the room. "Girls find some cover!" The three nodded and crawled behind a pile of rubble. Alex soon joined them. "Keep your heads down." "Why? What's Tye gonna do?" "He's gonna rip it's heart out."
Meanwhile, Tye was busily ripping off pieces of flesh. He steadily destroyed the monster's chest until he felt the heart was in reach. Tye kicked off the troll, landing several feet away. A howl shook the room, drowning out the screaming troll. Tye had been replaced by a large white wolf. It's fur appeared smooth. Crystal blue eyes fixated on the thing in front of it. The wolf leaped into the air, mouth wide open, and rammed through the troll's chest. Green liquids shot everywhere, drenching the room. A paw print was scarred into the monster's back, and it glowed slightly as the thing stumbled over. The wolf had vanished, and Tye stood in it's place. Blood ran down the side of his face, and he wiped some of it out of his eyes. Alex peaked over the pile of rubble, almost bursting into laughter at the sight. The enemy soldiers that still remained stared at Tye in pure fear. He took a step towards them, letting out a somewhat evil laugh. The soldiers responded by dashing out the door. "Nice job. But you do know they're gonna make us clean all this up." Tye leaned his ragged body against a wall and slid down to the floor. "Yeah probably. But right now I don't give a fuck.." Alex flopped down next to him. "Hey Alex. Your arm is bleeding pretty badly." "Really?" The bowman examined his limb. A deep gash was visible on his forearm. Blood trickled down his wrist to the floor, creating a small puddle. "Huh. Wonder when I got that." Tye laughed a little and gave Alex a soft punch on his shoulder. "How do we always end up in these kinda situations." Alex shook his head and called the girls over. "We're just lucky I guess.."
"Are you two ok?" "Of course we are." Alex tilted his head to his arm. "I don't know if I'm so great though.." Tye grabbed Alex's arm and examined it. "Damn it Alex!" "..What..?" Alex grinned a bit. His breathing became heavier. "Girls stay here with him. I need to go grab some things." "Ok." Alex slumped onto his side, fading in and out of consciousness. "I'm...fine...Tye..re..all..y.." His eyes slowly closed shut. His breathing became short and rapid. Alex's mind became distant, snapping back to a few days after he had arrived in Selius...
XxXxXx
"Well that was fun." Alex walked into his room, tossing the bow that was once in his grip onto the bed. He dropped down into a chair and leaned back. "Another great day of training." He yawned a little, stretching his arms and legs while he sat in the chair. A sharp knocking came from the door. "Yeah?" Walking in, a young girl holding a rather big quiver shyly gazed around. "Um..Alex. You..left your quiver at the archery range.." "Hm?" Alex leaned his head over the back of the chair. "Oh. Hey Marissa." He stood and walked over to her. She nervously handed him his quiver, which he took and tossed onto the bed next to his bow. "You shouldn't treat your weapons like that.." Alex looked down at her and laughed a little. "It's not gonna break. It's supposed to last a long time. So tossing it around every once in a while is ok." The girl nodded, her eyes glued to the floor. "Hey, what's wrong?" "Um..it's nothing.." Alex kneeled down next to her and gave her a small nudge. "Are those boys picking on you again?" Holding back a few tears, Marissa quietly nodded. "What a bunch of pinheads." He stood up and walked out. "H-Hey wait!" Marissa ran out after him. She stayed close to his side during their walk to the central courtyard. Alex smiled a little, noticing she had grabbed onto his pants. The two had been seen together all the time. Many people thought the two were siblings since they looked oddly similar. Like Alex, Marissa had dirty blonde hair that ran down to her lower back. She had light blue eyes that sparkled with the sunlight. A big pink bow stuck out of her hair, and she wore a dark yellow dress that cut off at her ankles.
Even though he's only known her for a few days, she was like a sister to Alex. He had never had a sister, and enjoyed being a big brother. Marissa also loved having a big brother; although at times it seemed like she had two. Tye had taking a liking to Marissa as well. She saw both of them as her family, regardless of how short she's known them. Turning a corner, the two walked out into the large green courtyard. The grass was freshly cut, and flowers dotted the surface. Near the center of the courtyard were a small group of four boys; all about Marissa's age. "Hey!" The boys froze, not daring to turn towards Alex. They knew why he was there. "Man..She's such a tattle-tale.." "Yeah..I bet she cried for him just so he'd come down here."
"Why would you think that?" "Ah!" The boys jumped back in slight panic. Alex leaned on one of the many pillars that stood around the courtyard, a toothpick in his mouth, and little Marissa clinging to his pant leg. "Why are you all so mean to Marissa, huh? What'd she do?" "She didn't do anything. She's just too slow." "So what?" "So she can't play if she's too slow." "Really now?" Glancing down to Marissa, Alex laughed. "Hey. Do you wanna learn how to shoot a bow?" "Really? You'd show us!" "That'd be awesome!" "I wasn't talking to you four." "What?" Alex nodded down to the little girl attached to him. "Marissa here gets to learn how to shoot a bow." "But why her?" "'Cause you all are playing here. And since she can't play with you I'm gonna teach her how to use a bow." "That's not fair!"
"Yes it is." "Huh?" The four turned around. They all quickly huddled together and slid away as the princess walked into the courtyard. "You boys are far too harsh on little Marissa. So you won't be learning how to shoot a bow. Now go play." "..Yes princess.." The group walked up, mumbling under their breaths. Alex, trying to hold back another laugh, pulled out his toothpick. "You didn't have to do that ya know." She giggled quietly, giving Marissa a warm smile. "I know. But those boys always pick on her." Marissa slowly nodded, tugging on Alex's pant. "What's wrong?" "..Fire." "Huh?" Marissa pointed to the outskirts of the city. Black smoke could be seen rising out from the ground, along with the tops of flames. "Uh-oh! Marissa stay with the princess, ok?" "O..Ok." Alex ran off down the courtyard and down the hallway towards the city gates. Marissa sniffled a little and took a seat on the grass. The princess smiled and sat down next to her. "Don't worry Marissa. He'll be back."
Alex dashed down the streets to the gates, which were being closed. "Hey! Keep those open!" "We can't! The local bandits have set fire to the village on the outskirts. If they get into the city, they might burn it down as well!" Alex didn't slow his pace, he did the opposite; he ran faster. "Then wait until I'm through!" "What!" Alex bolted through the gates before they slammed shut. "Are you crazy?" "Probably. Hey, toss me your bow." "Huh?" "The bow. Give it to me. And the quiver." "Um..Ok.." The guard slid his bow and quiver through the gates. Alex took them and studied both for a few seconds. "Not bad. Listen. If I'm not back in an hour, send a scouting unit to the village." "Right.." Alex tossed the quiver over his back with the bow inside. Jetting off down the large rolling grasslands, he made his way to the burning village. It was almost extinguished by now. Luckily, only a few of the homes had been destroyed. Alex spent several minutes helping anyone he could. Much of the debris had trapped some of the townspeople. He helped free them all, then went off to explore the unburnt side of the village. He retreated back, however, when he spied the local bandits destroying some of the cottages. Damn. I can't take all these guys on with just a bow.. I'm gonna have to do this quietly. He climbed up onto the roof of one of the homes and studied the scene. Seven men. Each one had their weapon either on them or close to them. They were close together, so he'd have to wait for them to separate. But he could easily take them all out one by one. Alex jumped to another roof, and patiently waited for the thugs to disperse.
About ten minutes past before they moved. One of the bandits, Alex could only guess was the leader, ordered two of the men to go check the town for anything else they could take. Alex closely followed the two from the roofs. He waited until they were a fair distance from the other men, and picked his first target. One of the two had turned his back to his comrade, who was trying to break down a door. Alex hopped onto the roof of the house they were trying to ransack. He pulled the bow out of the quiver and readied it with an arrow. Aiming towards the solitary one, Alex fired the arrow into the man's head. Thanks to the loud bashing from the other, he didn't hear his companion drop down dead. Alex then hopped down behind the second assailant. Sneaking up on him, the bowman wrapped his arm around the man's neck. He quickly kicked the man's feet out from underneath him, and snapped his neck as he fell to the ground. Two down. Alex hurriedly dragged the bodies into a set of nearby trees before climbing back up to the roof. He ran back to the five remaining thugs just in time to see one head straight for him; no doubt going to check on the two that had left earlier. Without hesitation, Alex jumped from the roof and landed on top of the man; ramming an arrow into his chest and silencing him.
Four more. Alex hid the body in the bushes, returning to the roofs. The four that were left seemed more tense then before. They were probably wondering why none of the others have returned. Alex examined the four carefully, trying to pick his next target. He wanted to save the apparent leader for last, seeing as he'd be more difficult to take down due to his large size. So he had to pick one of the three, but Alex couldn't strike with them all together. Then, an idea popped into his head. Looking into the sky, Alex caught sight of an eagle flying low over the village. He gave a sharp whistle, which sounded similar to the eagle. The great bird dove down to Alex, landing on the roof next to him. Cool. Alex gave the bird two more sharp whistles and pointed to one of the men. The eagle swooped into the air, and began circling around the group of thugs. It's claws extended, the eagle dove down straight for them. It slammed into one of the bandit's face, pushing him back. While the other two were preoccupied, Alex dropped down behind them and snapped the first's neck. He then kicked the second into the side of a house. "Huh?" Looking at the dead body, Alex noticed something shining in the pocket. He rolled the corpse over and pulled out a large jade diamond. "Damn. I wonder where he got this." "Hey!" "Eh?" Alex gazed up. The man he had kicked into the house had recovered, faster than Alex would've liked, and was walking towards him. "What do you think you're doing, huh?" "Well isn't it obvious? I'm killing you all off." "What? Why the hell are you doing that? Are you some kinda assassin?" "Nope. Not an assassin. Just a vigilante." Alex withdrew the bow and readied it once again. "Tell ya what. If you can dodge my arrow, I'll let you live." The thug, slightly terrified, bellowed a loud scream and charged the bowman. "You think one puny arrow can stop me! You're dead!" Alex shrugged his shoulders a little, pulling back the string. "You're funeral." He released the arrow, giving the eagle another sharp whistle. It was followed by a loud groan. "Hm?" The arrow had hit the thug's neck, and he had toppled over. "Damn it! I missed his head.." He heaved a small sigh. The bird had flew off, leaving it's prey, the leader, beaten down. Alex kneeled next to the man. "B..Bastard..who the hell..do you think you...are.." The twenty year old stood, tossing the jade in his hand. "I'll let you figure that out." The leader, barely conscious, noticed the glint of the jade. A loud screech from the eagle echoed through the village as he fell unconscious.
Watching behind Alex was a scouting unit sent by the castle guards. The group stared at the warrior in awe. One of them gazed up to the eagle, which circled around the village, then glanced at the jade in Alex's hand. "The Jade...Eagle.." "Hm?" Turning Alex stared at the man. "The what?" "That gem you have. It's called the Jade Eagle." "This old thing?" The boy studied the gem. "Yes. It's said the Jade has a mystical power that allows a person to communicate with the mighty bird." "And...you think that person is me?" "Yes." Alex continued to stare at the soldier for several seconds before bursting out into laughter. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" "It's true you knuckle head." "Eh?" Glancing up, Alex's eyes met Tye's. The swordsman was sitting on the roof, munching on an apple. "Nice job by the way. Very assassin like. It fits you." "How long have you been here?" "I don't know. Twenty minutes or so." "And you couldn't help me out!" "Nah. I didn't feel like fighting." Alex heaved a heavy sigh. "You're a dumbass Tye." "Yeah I know." The younger of the two dropped from the roof. "Hey I like the new name too. It suits you." "What name?" "The Jade Eagle." Alex gazed down at the gem in his hands. "Huh...I like the sound of that.." "About time you had an alias." Tye patted Alex on the back, throwing the eaten apple into the bushes behind him. Alex in turn smacked his friend across the face. "Ow! What the hell you jackass!" "That's for not helping me." "Bastard..." Tye mumbled, shoving Alex back a bit. The older boy gave Tye a smug grin before turning to the guards. "Go spread the word! Rolburr now has a White Wolf and Jade Eagle in their army!"
"Alex! Tye!" Running up to the two, Marissa grabbed a hold of both their pant legs. "Hey there Marissa. "Laughed Tye. "Marissa was worried about you two." The boys quickly gave a small bow to the princess. "I told you I'd be right back." The girl tightened her grip on Alex's leg, giving him a nod. "Are the villagers alright?" "Yeah. A few houses are burnt down, but they'll survive." "That's good.." "Your highness!" "Hm?" The three gazed over to the guard approaching them. "Princess. I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's news of another attack." "Where?" "I'm not sure your highness. But I was ordered to take you to a safe location." The guard gave Alex and Tye a small nod as he escorted the princess into the castle. "Marissa. You can stay with me. It's much safer." She shook her head, still attached to Alex and Tye. "It's ok Marissa. You can go with her." Before the girl had a chance to respond, the ground beneath them shook violently. Icebergs strutted out of the ground, and the air chilled. "Get the princess out of here now!" "Y-Yes, right away!" The two disappeared around the corner, leaving Tye and Alex with Marissa and a bombardment of magic. "We need to get her to a safe place Alex!" "I know! I'll take her to the throne room, you go find out who's trying to freeze us!" Alex scooped the frightened Marissa into his arms. "Hang on tight!" He darted off down the hall to the north side of the castle.
Alex could smell smoke traveling through the castle. Everyone had been evacuated already. Only a handful of guards and soldiers remained. "What's going on?" "The local bandits have rallied far more members than we originally thought..They've invaded the city and are burning everything to the ground!"