Fantasia
Arc4: Seeking the origins
Chapter5: The breakthrough
After learning about Nimmy's whereabouts, Juan, Tsuki, Zolu, and Barth headed to Nebura the thieves' guild to save their friend from the lustful abduction of Queen Vivian.
By midday, Juan reached the valley where the thieves' hideout lies, he was alone as his companions disappeared enigmatically, which encouraged one of the guild members to approach him with the twisted will of pilfering.
Juan examined his foe from afar, as his right hand slowly reached his staff drawing the allure a self-defending stance while his left smacked the horse chasing it away, Saimon walked toward him in confidence with a vile grin on his face.
"Barth was right, there's a wandering kid in this land, and by the looks on him he's a rich one, this would be properly the easiest money I'd ever make" the thief told himself before going close enough for Juan's face to be revealed.
"Ho ho, I remember it now! You are the kid from the hills months ago! So you survived that fall, impressive! Now I can get your money and my revenge for taking that girl from me!" he exclaimed with a short laughter.
But Juan didn't talk back to him, only his face frowned, and his grip tightened answering that he's ready to defend himself, making his foe's arrogance even ignite more.
"Oh, he's carrying a magic staff, this kid is a mage, but he can't be a skilled one, we confronted him two months ago, and he didn't fight back, the only thing he did was running, like I said this is going to be easy" Saimon analyzed his situation confirming his chances of taking his victim down.
"Good, his attention is on me now, he won't let me go, this can come at use… according to what Barth said, this man is a fire user; his gang nicknamed him the mad bomber because of his lethal explosion magic, I have to push him to cast his explosions as fast as possible" Juan told himself before he rushed and tried to land a blunt on Saimon.
But he was no rival for the agile thief, because the enemy simply avoided the attack, and with a quick tackle he used his knee to grind the man's stomach with a violent hit followed by a quick hand slam that sent him steps back.
"Heh, I think that I was overrating you kid, you are nothing but an insect compared to me" the man insulted while clacking his fingers.
But Juan ignored him to pick his weapon and run away toward the wasteland, but it was no use because the thief was faster than him and with a surprising kick he was sent back near his van.
"What's the matter kid? Feeling scared already? It's unfortunate that I never let anyone get away with taking my treasures, and I'm not willing to make an exception outta a wimp like you" the thief boasted in mockery of Juan's shivering.
"No, this actually is the first time I want to fight a scum like you!" the shepherd boasted as his arm extended morphing into a spiked tail that overtook Saimon causing a minor cut in his waist.
"Bastard! You have some tricks!" the thief yelled at his foe shredding his shirt.
"We are just started" Juan said with a smile taunting his enemy.
"Well then, I won't lay back" the thief raised his left hand to ignite it in dark aura.
"Here it comes, I have to drag him to the van now…" the shepherd thought while jumping back creating a safety distance.
"You can run as fast as you can, but when I get my hand on you…" Saimon threatened but Juan threw a pebble at him angering him even more.
"In the end the dog's bark is worst than his bite, don't you think!" the shepherd insulted his enemy while sidling toward his wagon.
But the angered man didn't let him as he swiftly jumped at Juan, who barely avoided contact with the explosive fist, and continued his desperate evasion approaching the van until he found his back stuck to the dry wood of the wheel, his focus was interrupted for a mere moment allowing his enemy to shackle his hands.
"End of the road kid, how do like living with no hands?" Saimon said with a cruel stare covering his and Juan's captured hands in the grey aura of explosions.
"Go ahead, dog!" Juan dared his enemy to blow his hands away with a stare of anger.
"Heh, how brave kid, I'll do you a favor and kill you shortly after this!" the thief boasted, before he counted back from three.
Three…Two…One…and then it was a massive explosion that echoed across the valley capturing the attention of the thieves hiding nearby…
Back at the battle field, after few given seconds for the dust to be lifted, Juan emerged, having both his arms -Which were transformed in a flicker into heavy scaled arms to protect him from the explosion- queasily blistered, and his clothes noticeably burnt.
He coughed smoke off his lungs, as he walked trying to regain his balance resisting the sharp ringing noise in his head, he glimpsed his staff lying down on the ground so he picked it up and looked back to see Saimon knocked out with severe burns covering his body, his chest was still bloating and retracting signing that he's still alive, but this was the least of the shepherd's concerns
Suddenly Juan felt a sharp pain in his back that knocked him down on the ground; it was a rock tossed by Barth who came along with a group of thieves to check the explosion.
"Dammit! This bastard managed to defeat Saimon!" a thief commented.
"He tricked Saimon and made him use his explosion near gunpowder!" another one noted after checking the remnants of a burned up barrel from the wagon.
"But he's on the ground now, we can kill'em!" a third one suggested pulling a dirk.
"Are out of your mind? The guy blown Saimon away and survived it! He must be havin' some special powers! The queen would be pleased to have them" Barth suggested carrying Juan on his shoulder.
"Hey! You wanna have the queen to respect you over Saimon, Barth, that's so low man" another thief commented.
"Beats me, I'm gonna take this bastard to Makai, tonight am servin' him to the queen!" Barth replied and walked away.
Of course, Barth was working all the time according to what Juan and Tsuki planned, he told Saimon that he saw a traveling man near their guild, to drive him away, where Juan had prepared a sufficient trick to beat the mad bomber, then Barth returned to take down Juan who was acting to be knocked out, and with a simple lie, he convinced his comrades that he was going to offer this "Special lad" to the queen, opening a way for him to sneak inside the fortress, leaving Tsuki and Zolu to enter by their previously prepared ways.
…
Meanwhile, by the moment the explosion was heard, the four guards who were keeping watch over the main gate on the flowing river by the valley had their attention captured when three of them rushed to check on the sound, unaware that their movements allowed an artful skulk to infiltrate inside their fortress.
It was the agile imp Tsuki, who slithered turning herself into a shadow hiding within the casted dark blots beneath their feet quickly until she managed to reach the main guard's shades, where she waited and not for long for him to enter the fortress pulling her along with him into Nebura's hideout.
…
Zolu the ragon didn't suffer too much in entering the fortress, because of the natural terrain surrounding Nebura, a flowing torrent of water surrounding most of the place, it was almost impossible for a human to swim in this river without having his bones crushed, but for a sea dweller who's used to swim in the storming nights of the ragon ocean, this was like a walk in a garden, he simply dived under the edges of the valley and searched for an underwater passage to slip through breaking inside the guild.
…
"Who's this, Barth?"
"Nah, just a rogue who defeated Saimon, he must be some hard deal, so I'm thinking of offering him to the queen"
"He seemed to have a hard time"
"Yeah, that's why I think we should let Makai take care of him"
"You want to replace Saimon aren't ya?"
"That mad dog had been our queen's favorite for a while, time for a new guy in town, don't ya think?"
Then a creaking sound of metal is heard, after minutes, the weird scent of moisture is shifted to be replaced by a perfumed bloom.
"Hey lad, you're not sleepin' aren't ya?" Barth whispered.
"Um…no, and by the way you are pressing on my stomach and my arms' burns are itching" Juan whimpered opening his eyes slowly to see that he's in a deluxe room with many harem of all ages surrounding them.
Barth put him on a mattress, and called for the girl named Makai to help him.
She was a slender woman in her late twenties, with dark skin, eyes and curly hair, a noticeable piercing under her lower lip, wearing a simple white cotton robe.
"It's very rare for men to enter this room" she said.
"Yeah, um, I think the queen might be interested in this man because he managed to defeat Saimon, so please prepare him for the ceremony" the thief answered.
"Hmm, you're sure that the queen would be interested in a man? You know" Makai noted.
"C'mon, just do it! If she wasn't interested, she'll turn him into a guild member okay?!" Barth complained leaving the room.
Makai started nursing by removing Juan's shirt, cleaning his bruises and bandaging his shoulders and arms, then she smiled, calling for water to be brought by one of the girls.
"Defeated Saimon…eh? Must be a super kid or something" she murmured tying his injuries.
"I'm talking to you kid! Speak! How did you defeat Saimon?" she asked but Juan continued playing unconscious.
She grinned and pressed on his injured elbow causing him to frown trying to make him talk.
"You must be orange boy that the new girl told us about" she noted after playing with his hair.
Hearing this somehow built trust in Juan, this girl knows his pet name, and she doesn't seem to be harmful, besides she has an idea about the purpose of Juan's existence near Nebura.
"Relax kid, nobody here likes Vivian, so you are safe" she said cutting the bandage.
"Really…?" he opened his eyes slowly.
"Yes, you have no idea how lascivious that woman is…nobody likes what she does to girls she capture, and we all wish to break free from her" the nurse answered.
He sat straightly, then he stared at the girls who did the same to him, their tearful glares were full of despair that simply vanished with the hope this man brought by standing tall and pointing his fist toward them promising for freedom.
"By the way, you are orange boy who Nimmy talks about all time aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes, in a matter of fact I came here mainly to rescue her" he answered.
"Then follow me…" the nurse guided the shepherd behind the silky veils at the end of the room to a short hall that ended as well with more veils, behind it he found a room that's bigger and more luxurious than the one preceding, with a lion's mouth fountain in on the wall and a pile of pillows in the center and the two other abducted girls; Mariana and Clara were there.
"Nimmy, come here!" Makai called for the nymph.
"Nimmy doesn't want to come, Nimmy is scared" she replied.
"But I'm here Nimmy, Zolu and Tsuki will come soon, and we'll be out in no time" Juan noted.
"Orange boy!" Nimmy yelled and jumped from the pillows at her savior.
"Nimmy was scared! The bad queen wanted to do lewd things to Nimmy this night! Nimmy doesn't want that and…" she started crying.
"It's fine, calm down…" the shepherd wiped her tear.
"So is she your girlfriend?" Clara asked.
"No, we are just friends…" the shepherd answered.
"Yeah, his girlfriend is actually a short white haired imp" Zolu's voice came from the deep fountain's bottom.
He was Zolu for sure, he jumped out of the pool, and posed in front of the girls "Have no fear ladies, the hero is here" he boasted.
"Fish boy!" the nymph yelled hugging him.
"Oh so she's your girlfriend then?" Mariana asked.
"What? No way!" Zolu and Nimmy both answered.
"Very well then, let's escape now" Zolu suggested drawing a large water bubble from the pool of the fountain.
"We can't" Makai mentioned.
"What?" Juan asked.
"Because the queen cursed all her harem, so we can't exit Nebura as long as she doesn't allow us too, so the only way for us to escape is to defeat the queen and force her to disable the curse" the nurse answered showing a rose tattoo on her waist.
"Then we go and pay her majesty a visit" Zolu said with a grin.
"That won't work either, the queen carries a powerful charm, with it no man is capable to fight her, neither with weapons nor with magic" Makai objected.
"Then that'd be a business of women…" Tsuki's voice was heard when she emerged from the shadows.
"Tsuki" "imp" "imp girl" were her friends' reactions.
"So this is your girlfriend?" Clara asked Juan.
"Enough of this girlfriend nonsense! And let's focus on how'll escape" he scolded.
"So what did I miss? Do you have any more information about this Vivian?" the imp asked.
"Queen Vivian has the ability to take other people's magic abilities according to what Barth mentioned" Juan answered.
"And after she's done with them she turns them into harem and you know…funny business by midnight" Zolu added slyly.
"So these bracelets you wear are magic suppressing shackles" Tsuki concluded after using her mage eye.
"That'd be no problem" Zolu claimed after using his dagger to pick the bracelet around Mariana's wrist "Here you go babe, now you are free to use your magic" he added.
"No you don't understand, after the queen steals her victims' powers, the victim nevertheless of his or her abilities loses it completely" Makai mentioned.
"So it's a thievery by all means" Juan wondered.
"Really? Then what's this?" Zolu pointed to Nimmy who was flickering with every blink of her eyes switching between invisibility and visibility after she was freed from her cuffing.
It made no sense that the nymph was capable to use magic after Vivian took it, so everyone was surprised of this scene…but one.
"That'd be the queen's deadly mistake!" Tsuki said with a cold grin.
To be continued
Well, they are in, of course Juan has to do it the hard way, I hope you liked this chapter (God it took me an age to figure out a decent plan for Juan to enter) anyway I have nothing else to comment, please post a nice review *Puts milk and cookies on the "review" mat*
Be ready to discover the queen's deadly mistake...