p class="MsoNormal"The First Journey/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"strongChapter 1/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI can't remember which broke my sleep. Was it the fire or the screams? Nevertheless, I quicky rose from my mat. My brother and sister were still asleep. My parents' mats were empty. Smell of smoke was thick and sounds of screams and roars loud. I shook my younger brother, Pallet, awake./p
p class="MsoNormal""We're under attack." I said in a hushed voice./p
p class="MsoNormal"Pallet, still half-dreaming mumbles, "Again?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"I shoved one Dad's daggers into his arms./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey!", I hissed. "Protect Asha. I'm going to help."/p
p class="MsoNormal""But Dad sai-"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Protect Asha. I'll be back."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Pallet nodded and I shot out into the darkness./p
p class="MsoNormal"The village was still draped in the cover of night, mostly. After my eyes adjusted, I was able to see the protection corps sprinting towards the west perimeter, naginata, swords and nets in hand. A bright blaze danced in the night. Roars and battle cries overlapped./p
p class="MsoNormal"I saw Roji, my best friend, trailing behind his father, Commander Tate, and joined in rank with them./p
p class="MsoNormal""emThere /emyou are, Hau.", Roji chirped with shock and relief./p
p class="MsoNormal""What's going on?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Commander Tate looked over his shoulder with a stern eye./p
p class="MsoNormal""A pack of fire tails attacked our food stores. Your parents are fending them off now."/p
p class="MsoNormal"As we marched, I heard an awkward swaying and splashing sound./p
p class="MsoNormal"I turned to see a group of two pair teams carrying large drums of water. Six of them in total./p
p class="MsoNormal""Father thinks water may weaken them.", Roji explained; noticing my confusion./p
p class="MsoNormal""Makes sense."/p
p class="MsoNormal"We approach the perimeter fence and it been set ablaze. I can feel the heat on my face a full thirty yards away./p
p class="MsoNormal"I see a few partially charred bodies mark the ground we position to defend the food store./p
p class="MsoNormal"Small, crimson-skinned reptiles with flame-tipped tails charge us. We swing our weapons and toss nets at the monsters. A few are slashed and wail in distress. Most of the monster dodge or counter the attacks. I swung my short swords towards by adversary but with a quick whip of its tail, my attack was discarded, and the creature spit a cluster of embers towards me. The bright fames closed in. My eyes shut and my body clenched./p
p class="MsoNormal"*Woosh*/p
p class="MsoNormal"I open my eyes to my father standing in front of me./p
p class="MsoNormal"His hand dripping in water./p
p class="MsoNormal"My mother shucked a net at the red lizard and quickly pierced its chest with her dagger./p
p class="MsoNormal""That was a close one, Hau. Be careful."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Relived to have not join the charred force members on the ground and relived to see my parents./p
p class="MsoNormal""Tate, the water!", my father yelled./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not yet. These are the adolescents."/p
p class="MsoNormal"emAdolescents?/em I thought as we fought of the small lizards and drove them back towards the fence./p
p class="MsoNormal"I had slain one monster and assisted Roji in slaying another./p
p class="MsoNormal"emAre there bigger ones?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Almost on que, a park of larger reptiles burst through the flaming fence and at us. They hard long sharp claws and spit intense pillars or fire from their mouths./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shield formation!", Commander Tate ordered./p
p class="MsoNormal"The largest members of our forces, the Shield Unit, sprinted towards the charging lizards and slammed their steel shields into the dirt. A wall of steel plates stood between the invading monsters and us guarding the food store. The lizards rammed into the shields repeatedly, but the shields held strong. I could see the tips of their heads. These larger lizards had a horn-like protrusion on the back of their heads. We ducked as pillars of fire shot over the wall./p
p class="MsoNormal"An earth-shaking roar rang out of the forest surrounding the village. My heart sank to the dirt./p
p class="MsoNormal""What was that ?!", I asked turning to my dad./p
p class="MsoNormal"He shook his head in bewilderment./p
p class="MsoNormal""I pray we never have to find out.", Commander Tate grimly commented./p
p class="MsoNormal"After the bellowing roar ended. The ramming of the shield and the fire blasts over ceased./p
p class="MsoNormal"The force members murmured./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sounded like the devil."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Have the monsters stopped?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"A streak of glowing red began to appear along the wall. The shield unit member winces and the streak grew./p
p class="MsoNormal""They're concentrating their fire our shields. Can't hold much longer."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The steel began to warp as the streak turned from red to a bright orange yellow. Melting the steel into a shiny puddle/p
p class="MsoNormal""Shield unit retreat. Water now!", the commander ordered while his sword pointed at the wall./p
p class="MsoNormal"The shield unit abandoned the warping steel and fumbled back into formation while the units carrying the water drums trotted toward the wall. The steel wall finally toppled over. The wild faces of the monsters focused back on the food store./p
p class="MsoNormal"With a synchronized heave, the units launched a tidal wave of water at the monsters. The water cascades over their bodies and crashed in waves over the burning fence. Shrieks erupted through the air as the monsters were paralyzed in anguish. A thick cloud of steams rose into the air./p
p class="MsoNormal""Charge!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"With renewed vigor, we charged at the steam cloud with full force./p
p class="MsoNormal"A second bellowing roar erupted from the forces. Again, we froze./p
p class="MsoNormal"Shadows of the monsters; retreat could be seen through the thick steam cloud. By the time the roar had ended. The steam cloud had dispersed and out enemies had disappeared back into the forest./p
p class="MsoNormal"A rare victory for a village such as ours. The sun began to rise over the smoky Machiyo Village as we cheered in our triumph./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"strongChapter 1/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI can't remember which broke my sleep. Was it the fire or the screams? Nevertheless, I quicky rose from my mat. My brother and sister were still asleep. My parents' mats were empty. Smell of smoke was thick and sounds of screams and roars loud. I shook my younger brother, Pallet, awake./p
p class="MsoNormal""We're under attack." I said in a hushed voice./p
p class="MsoNormal"Pallet, still half-dreaming mumbles, "Again?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"I shoved one Dad's daggers into his arms./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey!", I hissed. "Protect Asha. I'm going to help."/p
p class="MsoNormal""But Dad sai-"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Protect Asha. I'll be back."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Pallet nodded and I shot out into the darkness./p
p class="MsoNormal"The village was still draped in the cover of night, mostly. After my eyes adjusted, I was able to see the protection corps sprinting towards the west perimeter, naginata, swords and nets in hand. A bright blaze danced in the night. Roars and battle cries overlapped./p
p class="MsoNormal"I saw Roji, my best friend, trailing behind his father, Commander Tate, and joined in rank with them./p
p class="MsoNormal""emThere /emyou are, Hau.", Roji chirped with shock and relief./p
p class="MsoNormal""What's going on?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Commander Tate looked over his shoulder with a stern eye./p
p class="MsoNormal""A pack of fire tails attacked our food stores. Your parents are fending them off now."/p
p class="MsoNormal"As we marched, I heard an awkward swaying and splashing sound./p
p class="MsoNormal"I turned to see a group of two pair teams carrying large drums of water. Six of them in total./p
p class="MsoNormal""Father thinks water may weaken them.", Roji explained; noticing my confusion./p
p class="MsoNormal""Makes sense."/p
p class="MsoNormal"We approach the perimeter fence and it been set ablaze. I can feel the heat on my face a full thirty yards away./p
p class="MsoNormal"I see a few partially charred bodies mark the ground we position to defend the food store./p
p class="MsoNormal"Small, crimson-skinned reptiles with flame-tipped tails charge us. We swing our weapons and toss nets at the monsters. A few are slashed and wail in distress. Most of the monster dodge or counter the attacks. I swung my short swords towards by adversary but with a quick whip of its tail, my attack was discarded, and the creature spit a cluster of embers towards me. The bright fames closed in. My eyes shut and my body clenched./p
p class="MsoNormal"*Woosh*/p
p class="MsoNormal"I open my eyes to my father standing in front of me./p
p class="MsoNormal"His hand dripping in water./p
p class="MsoNormal"My mother shucked a net at the red lizard and quickly pierced its chest with her dagger./p
p class="MsoNormal""That was a close one, Hau. Be careful."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Relived to have not join the charred force members on the ground and relived to see my parents./p
p class="MsoNormal""Tate, the water!", my father yelled./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not yet. These are the adolescents."/p
p class="MsoNormal"emAdolescents?/em I thought as we fought of the small lizards and drove them back towards the fence./p
p class="MsoNormal"I had slain one monster and assisted Roji in slaying another./p
p class="MsoNormal"emAre there bigger ones?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Almost on que, a park of larger reptiles burst through the flaming fence and at us. They hard long sharp claws and spit intense pillars or fire from their mouths./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shield formation!", Commander Tate ordered./p
p class="MsoNormal"The largest members of our forces, the Shield Unit, sprinted towards the charging lizards and slammed their steel shields into the dirt. A wall of steel plates stood between the invading monsters and us guarding the food store. The lizards rammed into the shields repeatedly, but the shields held strong. I could see the tips of their heads. These larger lizards had a horn-like protrusion on the back of their heads. We ducked as pillars of fire shot over the wall./p
p class="MsoNormal"An earth-shaking roar rang out of the forest surrounding the village. My heart sank to the dirt./p
p class="MsoNormal""What was that ?!", I asked turning to my dad./p
p class="MsoNormal"He shook his head in bewilderment./p
p class="MsoNormal""I pray we never have to find out.", Commander Tate grimly commented./p
p class="MsoNormal"After the bellowing roar ended. The ramming of the shield and the fire blasts over ceased./p
p class="MsoNormal"The force members murmured./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sounded like the devil."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Have the monsters stopped?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"A streak of glowing red began to appear along the wall. The shield unit member winces and the streak grew./p
p class="MsoNormal""They're concentrating their fire our shields. Can't hold much longer."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The steel began to warp as the streak turned from red to a bright orange yellow. Melting the steel into a shiny puddle/p
p class="MsoNormal""Shield unit retreat. Water now!", the commander ordered while his sword pointed at the wall./p
p class="MsoNormal"The shield unit abandoned the warping steel and fumbled back into formation while the units carrying the water drums trotted toward the wall. The steel wall finally toppled over. The wild faces of the monsters focused back on the food store./p
p class="MsoNormal"With a synchronized heave, the units launched a tidal wave of water at the monsters. The water cascades over their bodies and crashed in waves over the burning fence. Shrieks erupted through the air as the monsters were paralyzed in anguish. A thick cloud of steams rose into the air./p
p class="MsoNormal""Charge!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"With renewed vigor, we charged at the steam cloud with full force./p
p class="MsoNormal"A second bellowing roar erupted from the forces. Again, we froze./p
p class="MsoNormal"Shadows of the monsters; retreat could be seen through the thick steam cloud. By the time the roar had ended. The steam cloud had dispersed and out enemies had disappeared back into the forest./p
p class="MsoNormal"A rare victory for a village such as ours. The sun began to rise over the smoky Machiyo Village as we cheered in our triumph./p