The first rays of the sun shined down upon on the Kingdom of Crim and everywhere people began to stir. Farmers awoke early to plant their crops, merchants rushed to get their wares set up for the day. At the castle gates stood Kaiten along with a small, light blue mini-dragon, his wyvern, flapping his wings to keep himself afloat. Kaiten was the first to awaken and the first to agree to go on the mission to recover the gemstone.
“Looks like we’re going to have an interesting journey ahead of us Eisen Ryu.” The wyvern, Eisen Ryu, screeched in agreement.
“I knew you would join us Kaiten.” Iyouboushi stepped out from inside the castle holding his katana while his loose-fitted clothing blew in the wind.
“Iyouboushi.” Kaiten bowed his head.
“Is that your wyvern?”
“Yes, his name is Eisen Ryu. He has been with me since I was five years old.” Eisen screeched again, in welcome. Iyouboushi extended his hand, Eisen bowed his head and allowed himself to be pet.
“So Kaiten, what do you think about that quest of ours?”
Kaiten sighed and shook his head. “my fair queen Faria would not have sent me to Crim if she did not deem this to be important. Yet I cannot help but feel that we are not being told the whole truth.”
Iyouboushi nodded. “I get the same feeling.”
“I must be insane.” Taylen stepped out of the castle to join the two while attaching a belt with multiple tools to his waist. “Hush Tori, I’m not in the mood to be ridiculed right now.” The two just stared. “What?”
“Nothing.” Kaiten turned walked down the path a little further to be alone. Eisen flapped his wings and followed.
“Was it something I said?”
“You’re not right in the head, you know that?” Out of nowhere Slade emerged behind Taylen, his eyes dashing between the three people standing before him. “And I don’t know why I’m following you.”
“Is it not for money or glory?” Aolos stepped out of the castle, his blond hair shining in the morning sun. He seemed flawless, almost radiating.
“Yes, that’s it. That’s it all right.” Slade stepped back into the shadows and waited.
“Look Quaram. It’s morning and we’re still alive!” Kurando stepped out of the castle with the black helmet once again perched on his shoulder. It did not respond to him, which only caused Kurando to poke it. “See? See?”
Eisen, hearing the commotion, turned and flew back to Kurando. He screeched loudly and glared at the helmet. “Shoo. Shoo. Get away from me you crazy beast. Don’t eat Quaram.”
“Eisen Ryu, get back here. What are you doing?” Eisen screeched and reluctantly flew back towards Kaiten.
“All here.” Tekoja stepped out of the castle, yawning. He spoke something in a language that no one could understand and smiled. Behind him was Shadowmurk, wearing full armor and carrying his helmet in his hand.
“Getting to Eyi and the Osoph Desert is a two day journey from here. We must hurry.” He put his helmet on.
“We’re going to walk?” Taylan asked, adjusting his goggles.
“Of course not. We’ll be riding. Our steeds await us at the bottom of the mountain. Now enough talk, let us move.”
The walk down the mountain began in pure silence with Shadowmurk leading the way. Merchants and other onlookers began to stare.
“Look over there.” one merchant whispered to another man nearby. “I wonder what’s going on.”
“Oh who knows? But I bet we can sell them something.” Together they ran to the group.
“Sirs. Might we interest one of you in our wares? We have medicine for cheap. Look, this bottle cures poisons. This one cures heartaches. And this one, oh it’s my favorite, it cures green thumbs. Please buy.”
Shadowmurk brushed them away. “We do not want your wares. Leave us be.”
The group continued and finally reached the bottom of the mountain. Awaiting them stood a member of the Royal Guard and nine horses, each with packs and saddles. “Now begins the trek. First we ride south through the Ameron plains. Then turn west to reach Eyi. Does everyone understand?”
“Hey, where’s Slade go?” Taylan asked, glancing around. “He was right behind me.”
“Maybe he got cold feet.” Kurando suggested. “In which case, I would love to heat them up.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Do that and I’ll make sure you hang this very instant,” Shadowmurk leaned in, “and I’ll enjoy it.”
“Sorry guys,” Slade’s voice yelled across. “I got caught up with those merchants.” He readjusted his bandanna and stuffing something into his pockets as he caught up to the group.
“Right then, we’re all here. Let us mount and get moving.”
For some, riding a horse was a simple matter. In fact, it was rather pleasant. The Ameron plains offered a lot of variety of flowers, trees, and animals. And once Crim was no longer visible to the naked eye, it was remarkably green. Every direction offered a wave of green. It was serene, even if it was easy to get lost.
To the others who were not so lucky with riding, the trip was almost unbearable. Kurando felt himself being jerked around and complained, to Quaram, that he was going to be sick. Taylen, being an engineer, was not quite used to riding an animal. He felt more safe on the ground, around machines.
The sun soon took high in the sky, marking the middle of the day. Aolos raced his horse forward effortlessly and waved to Shadowmurk. Both then slowed their horses down to a small trot.
“What is the matter Aolos?”
“The winds, they tell me that something is amiss up ahead. We must be careful.”
“Wha, what’s going on?” Kurando said, trying his best to bring his horse to a stop. The horse neighed and nearly threw him off before slowing down. “Uwaah!” Behind him Slade snickered and Taylen laughed out loud.
“So be it. We’ll move slowly up ahead.”
The group slowly moved their way forward. As they did they saw a plume of smoke rising into the air. “That appears to be coming from the direction of the small village of Silverstone.” Shadowmurk glanced back at Aolos who only shrugged. “We must investigate.”
With full speed, the horses raced towards the smoking village. When they arrived they found several buildings in the village on fire. People were screaming, racing to try to put the fire out with small buckets of water. Kurando saw it and began laughing maniacally. “Fire! Fire!” The others ignored him.
“We have to do something.” Iyouboushi said, hopping off his horse and running into the town.
“I agree.” Kaiten did the same. “Eisen, stay here!” Eisen screeched.
“You all can go get yourselves burned,” Slade said, “but I’ll stay here with the laughing idiot.”
Aolos shrugged. “I feel it better if I remain out here.”
Tekoja stared at the flames but remained motionless as Taylen hopped off his horse, with some difficulty, and raced into the village. Shadowmurk cursed his luck and hopped off as well.
“Those small buckets will never have enough water to put out those flames,” Taylen shouted. “We need something else. Someone, please direct me to the water source.”
A young woman with dark auburn hair answered. “It’s this way, follow me.” Together they raced to a well on the edge of town. Taylen reached down to his belt and pulled off a small octagon-looking tool. “Please bring me something metal. Anything will do, but hurry.” The young woman ran off and returned moments later with two metal gauntlets.
“Will this do?”
“This will be fine. Now stand back.” Taylen hit the tool to the metal and began to work it. The woman stopped and stared as the gauntlets began to flatten out into a straight pieces of metal and then twist and turn into some odd device that she could not place a name for. It had a round head and a very long, thin, pipe. Taylen put the pipe down into the well water. “Now watch as an ingenious engineer saves the day.”
He pushed a button on the head of the device and water began to pump up through the pipe and out of the round head with incredible force. The water shot across town and rained down upon the burning buildings, putting the fires out.
“You did it,” the woman cried, “you saved the food storage and bakery.” Taylen smiled and turned the device off before returning to the scene.
“I don’t believe it,” Iyouboushi said upon seeing Taylen, “how did you do this?” Kaiten walked up to Iyouboushi.
Taylen shrugged. “I just invented something. It’s what engineers do, you know.”
“I think I’m beginning to see why Alus enlisted your help.”
“Enough of this banter,” Shadowmurk said, “we have to find out what happened.”
“I believe I can help with that,” the woman who had helped Taylen stepped forward. “My name is Renea and I can answer your questions.”
“What happened here? Who did this to you?”
“Bandits” she said solemnly, “as dawn broke they charged into town, stole what they could carry of our food and burned the rest.” She paused and took a step forward towards Shadowmurk. “Please, you have to help us. I recognize your armor. You’re from Crim, are you not? Most of our food was in that building and now most of it is ruined.”
The villagers began to gather around the small group that had rushed in to try and save the buildings. Whispers circulated around. Shadowmurk glanced at each of them. Silverstone’s inhabitants were not rich by any means. Many of them wore dirty rags and worked in fields all day long. Their livelyhood was indeed in that building. He bowed his head before speaking. “When I return to Crim I shall inform the king of what has transpired here. With the food burned I do not believe the bandits will return so soon. Please make do with what you have until the next caravan arrives.”
“There is another matter,” Renea said. “When the bandits attacked they also took several men and women hostage. I think they intend to sell them as slaves.”
“This is most unfortunate.”
Kaiten and Iyouboushi stepped forward with Kaiten speaking. “We cannot let the bandits get away with this.”
“And I do not intend for it to be so.” Shadowmurk turned to the three that had entered the town. “Let us move quickly. We do not have a lot of time to begin with.” He turned back to Renea, “we shall go hunt the bandits down for you. They could not have gotten far.”
Together the group walked out of Silverstone and back to their steeds. Kurando was now on the ground sitting cross-legged, waving a small blade of grass that was on fire around in front of Eisen who just watched it. Tekoja, Slade and Aolos were still on their horses watching.
“Oh look Quaram, it appears the big scary man has returned.” The helmet, laying next to Kurando, did not respond or move. Shadowmurk just glared.
“We have a problem now. Bandits attacked this village around the time we set out from Crim. They captured several members of the community to sell as slaves. We must hunt them down in the name of justice.”
Slade looked uneasy. “Bandits you say?” He twitched.
Kurando stood up, dusting himself off. “And how are we going to find these bandits if they were here long before us?”
Aolos swung off his horse. “I believe I can help with that.” He raised his arms up in the air. A light wind began to blow as the sky became very dark.
“wha..what are you doing?” Kurando looked nervously.
“Just wait.”
Feint ghost-like images of men in thick leather armor carrying large knives and axes began to appear, walking in reverse from ghost-like horses into Silverstone. Moments later they returned, walking normally, and hopped onto their horses before disappearing. A path of grass began to glow with a feint golden color and moved off into the distance.
“They went south. Follow this trail and we shall find them.”
“That’s amazing Aolos.” Taylen stated in total disbelief.
“That’s scary” Kurando said, not quite sure of himself while picking the black helmet up and putting it on his shoulder.
“Excellent. That’s just what we needed to hunt them down.” Shadowmurk moved towards his horse. “Let’s move.”
By the time the group had caught up to the bandits the sun was setting. They were tired and hungry but knew they had no time for rest. The plains were beginning to lose most of the green, instead replacing it with more dirt and sand. They were closer than ever to Eyi but still had a job to do.
The bandits’ camp was of a medium size, with several tents and several sentry. There was a large roaring camp fire in the middle, with several pieces of food roasting over the flame. Muffled cries were heard along with several loud laughs.
As everyone dismounted, Shadowmurk removed the great sword from his back and held it with both hands. It was nearly as big as he was, with a blade as black as coal. “So here’s the plan,” he stated as-a-mater-of-factly, “you all are going to stay here and I’m going to eliminate the threat. When the the threat is eliminated you are to go in and rescue the prisoners.”
“So that’s it then? You’re just going to slaughter them? They’re still human.” Iyouboushi stepped forward in protest.
“These kinds of humans will continue to do evil until they are stopped.” Shadowmurk shook his head, “there is no other way.”
“Still.”
“There is no time for argument right now. Stay here.”
Shadowmurk took off into a dash, wielding his giant blade effortlessly, and disappeared into the bandits’ camp. Shouts of alarm were heard moments later and were quickly replaced with cries of agony. By the time the sun had completely set there was nothing but muffled cries coming from one of the back tents.
Kurando rolled his helmet friend around in his hands while Taylen paced back and forth. Iyouboushi sat on the ground with his katana across his lap and Kaiten merely stood, watching. Eisen flapped his wings nearby, as Aolos and Tekoja both stood motionless . Slade seemed to have vanished into the shadows, but no one had noticed. It was a silent scene. No one dared to talk.
Finally Iyouboushi stood up and started walking into the camp.
Taylen ran out in front of him. “Where are you going?”
“Listen. There’s nothing but the muffled cries for help. I do believe the threat has been eliminated. Shadowmurk told us to go in and free the prisoners once they had been.”
“But why hasn’t Shadowmurk returned yet?”
“There’s only one to find out.”
As they walked into the bandits’ camp they saw eight horses tied together in a corner, and saw the silverly lining of blood soaking into the ground nearly everywhere they walked.
“This is unbearable” Taylen said, nearly choking and stepping over a disembodied arm still holding an axe. “I can’t stay here. I’m going back.”
Kaiten and Iyouboushi pressed forward and finally came to the tent with the muffled cries for help. Entering it, they saw three maidens and two farmers tided and gagged. They tried to inch away when they saw the two enter.
“Don’t worry,” Iyouboushi said, “we’re here to help you.”
“I’ll cut their bonds.”
“Who are you?” one of the farmers said after being freed.
“We’re friends.” Kaiten smiled warmly.
“Thank you for saving us,” one of the maidens said after getting loose. “They were going to sell us as slaves.”
“You do not have to worry any longer about them.” Kaiten finished freeing the last maiden. “Now quickly, follow us.”
Together they moved out of the tent and towards the horses.
“What, what happened here?” Their voices were shaky and scared. Several of them were whispering among themselves.
“Please, make haste and do not ask a lot of questions.”
When they arrived at the horses they saw a horrific scene. Shadowmurk stood further back with a pile of dead bodies and a pile of heads. His armor was coated in blood, as was his massive sword. He took no notice of the group as they approached the horses.
“Quickly, ride to Silverstone and do not look back.”
The saved townspeople hopped onto a horse each and quickly rode out of town, nearly running Kurando over. Kaiten and Iyouboushi approached Shadowmurk, who seemed to be laughing softly.
“What have you done here?” Iyouboushi said, anger growing in his voice.
Taking notice of the two, his laughter quickly faded. His voice was commanding and calm. “I did what was necessary. I’m sending a message to all. Mess with a town that is under Crim’s protection and this will be the end result.”
“This is not a message, this is a massacre.” Iyouboushi fumed.
“I did what others could not. If you have a problem with my methods, take it up with the king once we finish our mission.”
With that, Shadowmurk swung his sword behind his back and walked out of the camp. Iyouboushi and Kaiten looked at each other before following.
Taylen turned and watched as the three exited the camp. “I saw several horses ride by. Should we assume the prisoners were saved?”
“They were.” Shadowmurk said. “We will camp here and continue in the morning.”
Rest did not come easy for the group. The hard ground provided no relief and the massacre that Iyouboushi and Kaiten had seen kept those tossing and turning all night. Finally, dawn broke and Shadowmurk awoke them. Groggy from the lack of sleep, the group resumed riding.
Dawn gave way to noon, which in turn gave way for dusk. Just as the sun began to once again sleep for the night the group saw it: Eyi, the desert town.
Eyi was a small town on the edge of Osoph Desert. The buildings were mostly made out of brick and looked very old. Sand coated everything here, making vegetation an impossible dream. Looming off into the desert was a feint outline of a triangle-shaped building, a pyramid that some say held a demon at bay.
Tekoja grew happy when they arrived at his town. He hopped off the horse and was immediately welcomed by half a dozen sun-tanned men and women. They all spoke the desert language, making it impossible for the main group to understand what was being exchanged. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Tekoja turned back to the group. “Stay, inn.”
“Thank you Tekoja,” Shadowmurk said, “tonight we shall sleep well and once dawn breaks we shall begin the hunt for the gemstone.
