Princess of Silver Sands - Chapter 26
Posted by: Kura in Writing, Princess of Silver SandsPrincess of Silver Sands
Book 01
Chapter - 26 - Port Town Gabriela
Chapter Twenty-Six
Port Town Gabriela
Angel is running as quickly as she can as she navigates her way through a field of tall grass on her own as a shadow chases after her. She keeps her eyes on the shadow trying not to loose it, knowing that the situation would just grow much worse if she were to loose sight of it.
She trips falling to the ground, the princess neglecting to pay attention to where she was going when her eyes were fixed on her pursuer. She gets back to her feet as quickly as possible and begins looking around her for the one that had been chasing her, unable to spot her pursuer anywhere. “Oh no…”
Angel nervously continues to look her surroundings over. “Where are you?” She keeps in her place afraid that if she were to move it would prompt the one that had been hunting her to attack. “If I make the wrong move… she’ll attack me.” She continues to look over her surroundings. “If I can’t discover her location… she’ll attack me…” She clutches her fists unsure of what action she was supposed to take now. “What should I do?”
She quickly turns around punching at a figure behind her, Li catching the princess’s attack and holding her in place.
Angel clenches her teeth a little annoyed that Li was able to stop her so quickly. She tries to attack her again Li catching it as simply as she had done the first. Angel tries to pull away from Li’s grasp unable to get herself free. “Let go of me!”
Li does as she’s told, letting go of the princess and causing Angel to stager back having thrown herself off balance from trying to pull away, Li immediately attacking her as soon as Angel’s opening was most vulnerable.
Angel quickly brings her arms in front of her, stopping Li’s attack moments before hitting her, the princess then lifting her right arm to block another of Li’s attacks, Li wasting no time between her blows. Angel jumps back to avoid another of Li’s attacks steeping onto the bottom of her dress and pulling herself to the ground.
Li stares down at the grounded princess as Angel moans to herself in pain, slowly pushing herself up off of the field she had fallen upon.
Li sighs as she shakes her head while she watching Angel try to get back on her feet. “I’ve told you, you can’t even start to fight as long as you’re dressed in an outfit like that.”
Angel pushes herself back to her feet, dusting her dress off, slightly disappointed that her outfit was causing her so much trouble. “Sorry… but we haven’t arrived at a village for a long time… I haven’t been able to buy anything to use as an alternative.” She sighs looking over her clothes. “It’s so warn out too… I need a new dress…”
Li looks Angel over a little annoyed. “You shouldn’t even be travelling in clothes like that to begin with if all you’re going to do is trip and fall when you try and get away.”
Angel frowns having never even thought that wearing a dress was going to cause her so much trouble, after all she was new to the whole running from demons by performing long travels type tasks. “Well I didn’t know it would get in my way so much. I wasn’t really that used to travelling before I started off on this journey you know…”
Li sighs to herself there nothing either of them could do about it now. “Let’s head back to the others…”
Angel watches as Li walks past her and back in the direction they had came, a little disappointed that they were already starting to head back. “You’re done for today…?”
Li doesn’t look back at her as she answers, a slightly annoyed tone in her voice. “I have real training to do.”
Angel hangs her head as she begins to follow Li back, the princess a little disappointed that Li wanted to do much more important things that didn’t include her.
*******
Echo is sitting cross-legged on the ground watching the teams horses graze on the grass around him. He turns towards Hitsumi speaking to him with a slightly annoyed voice. “Hey Hitsumi… it’s been three weeks now… that’s almost been a month since we saw the last town.”
Hitsumi is looking the map given to him by his father over, trying to figure something out and having absolutely no luck. “I know! I’m trying to do something about it alright!”
Echo frowns bitterly as he continues talking further into the things concerning him. “Our food supplies are almost out… you told us it would only take two weeks… we’ve already stretched our rations as far as they can go.”
Hitsumi frowns at Echo’s comment not really needing or liking to be reminded constantly of the situation he had gotten the group stuck in. “I know that!”
Echo looks down at the grass he’s sitting on, all around him it was the same thing, grass as far as the eyes could see. “I haven’t even seen a road to follow… usually there are roads to follow when travelling from town to town…”
Hitsumi holds his head in aggravation already aware of everything that Echo was telling him. “I know!!”
Echo watches Hitsumi silently as he waits for the bandit to calm down, the wizard again speaking as soon Hitsumi was settled. “We’re lost… aren’t we?”
Hitsumi growls angrily turning back to Echo. “No!”
Echo frowns knowing better then to believe a response like that. “Then where the hell are we!?”
Hitsumi frowns bitterly. “I don’t know! Or… I do know…” He lifts his map up so that Echo could see it, circling around a large area on it. “We’re somewhere around here…”
Echo’s stare grows colder as Hitsumi turns away from him and goes back to looking over the map. “Geeze… dad said the instructions would be easy to follow…” He looks back over to Echo to find the wizard still glaring at him. Hitsumi quickly barking out an answer before the wizard even bothered asking him. “We’re not lost!”
Hitsumi’s attention is taken off of Echo when he is hit on the back of the head. He looks up to find Li staring impatiently down at him, Hitsumi smiles nervously back up at her hoping not to start a conversation on them being lost with her. “You’re back already?”
Li crosses her arms as she turns away from Hitsumi expecting him to follow her. “Get up it’s time for me to kick your ass.”
Hitsumi sighs to himself as he rolls up the map shoving it inside of one of the saddle packs before getting to his feet and following her. “You’re already done training the princess?”
Angel takes her seat next to Echo a little disappointed that her training had again ended so abruptly. “We’ve told you… my dress gets in the way too much… it’s difficult for Li to tell if I’m doing it right let alone allow me to move fast enough. I have to wait until I can buy something easier to move in…”
Hitsumi sighs having been explained the situation several times before, even so it would be nice if there was someway to postpone his fights with Li for even a little bit longer. “Isn’t there a way for you to work around it for now?”
Li looks back at Angel. “I already suggested that you just try fighting without it.”
Angel frowns at the idea not pleased with the concept in the least. “But then I’d be stuck in my underwear! I don’t want to fight in my underwear!”
Li frowns to herself, Angel’s girlish attitude always getting in the way of things. “If you really feel that uneasy about it I’ll do it too. Then you won’t be the only one stuck in that situation.”
Angel sighs to herself, it was hard to convince Li that some people would rather not have to go through such methods. “I know… you told me before… but every time you mention it Hitsumi gets that weird look on his face.” She turns to Hitsumi frowning when she see him. “Just like that! The one he’s making right now!!”
Li looks over at Hitsumi, Hitsumi quickly turning away from her pointing to a nice empty area near them changing the subject before any questions were asked. “That looks like a good spot! Come on Li lets have our sparring match right over there!!”
Li nods her head as she starts walking in the direction Hitsumi was pointing in, turning back to Angel to talk to her before leaving. “Regardless of your handicap you’re still progressing well.”
Angel looks excited to hear Li say this to her. “Really!? You’re not just saying that to make me fell better are you!?”
Li walks off without answering Angel, Echo turning back to the princess to answer for Li. “You know she wouldn’t go out of her way to say something nice if it wasn’t true.”
Angel smiles slightly at Echo comment. “I guess you’re right…” She turns back to Li and Hitsumi who had already started their fight. “I still think it was a little strange… Li always seemed satisfied with her abilities before… then out of thin air she wanted to start improving…” She watches Li tries to land a hit on Hitsumi, her reaction time improved from when she had fought him last. “I wonder why she would want to do that? I mean she won the woman’s competition without any problems.”
Echo looks back at Angel bringing up something even more out of the ordinary then Li deciding to fight. “I think it’s more surprising that you asked Li to train you how to fight… I know fighting is something you dislike.”
Angel watches Li and Hitsumi fight, Echo was right, she hated fighting, but it wasn’t as if she had decided to start fighting without reason. “I…”
Li lowers her gaze from Hitsumi. “I realized while staying here… that there is another thing I fear.” She looks back at Hitsumi making sure he could tell she was speaking in a serious manner. “I’m afraid of dying.”
Hitsumi and Echo look over at one another, both a little shocked to hear Li admit something like that.
Li looks back at them, aware that it wasn’t often her nature to care about such things. “I think… that if we go to the West Continent… that’s what will happen… someone will die…”
Angel continues to watch Li and Hitsumi fight. “Everyone is in danger because they chose to help me… it would not be right if I cannot at least fend for myself if any of you were to fall protecting me…”
Echo watches the princess silently as Angel continues to explain. “If I cannot at least try to take care of myself then I have no right to ask people to do it for me. I will not stand by and watch my companions get hurt because of me.”
Echo smiles slightly at Angels comment, the princess much more then what she gave herself credit for. “You’re stronger then you realize…”
Angel turns back to Echo as the young wizard begins explaining, having seen this kind of strength in only one person before. “You’re mother was the same… although physically she was weak the will she held inside of her was of iron. Even though she did not fight the words she said would make you felt as if she quite possibly had the strength to overpower a thousand men.”
Angel’s expression changes as she turns back to Echo a little shocked to hear him say something like this. “You knew my parents…?”
Echo frowns as he tries to think of a way to explain it. “Well… I don’t know them personality… I was never permitted to speak with them as I was then as I am now, still a student… but Siren knew them and I was usually with Siren when he spoke with them.” He smiles to himself as she thinks back. “I would have to say I know your mother better then I know your father, your father would pay no notice to me but your mother would always call me by name and pat my head. She would even scratch the back of my neck too!”
Angel looks a little confused. “Scratch the back of your neck… oh yes that’s right… you haven’t been permitted to be in your human form in front of royalty until you started this mission. You were in the form of an owl.”
Echo nods his head. “She was the only member of royalty aside from Siren that would acknowledge me, and the only one that didn’t laugh at me if she did manage to stumble upon me in my human form.”
Angel smiles slightly. “Laugh at you? Why would everyone laugh at you?”
Echo holds his hand above his head. “Well… I’m a little short… and I look like a human child… it’s a little pathetic to look at actually… and it’s difficult for people to believe that I am the son of the great Seclude.” He smiles to himself not being able to help but think back. “When she saw me in my human form, she smiled and pat my head like she always did… then said that seeing me like this eased her mind… because now she could see that I was capable of being able to keep her daughter safe.”
Angel stares at Echo, a little disappointed that her mother would talk to Echo more then she would her own daughter, but at the same time she was overjoyed that Echo was talking about her mother, one of the two figures she never really knew yet wanted to know everything about. “Echo…”
The wizard turns back to her, Angel instead shaking her head instead of continuing further with her question. She had wanted Echo to tell her more about her mother but had instead decided against it. “Never mind…”
Echo smiles when something else comes to his mind. “That’s right, The Queen once asked me to give you a message. I guess now would be a good as time as any to give it to you.”
Angel looks a little surprised to hear this. “A message?”
Echo nods his head holding his hand out for Angel to take, Angel staring down at his hand for a moment before placing her own in his. Echo gently clutching Angel’s hand telling her the message he was asked to pass on. “Good luck. I know you can do it.”
Angel smiles to herself unable to express just how happy hearing those words made her. “She really wanted you to tell me that?”
Echo nods his head. “Of course! Why would I make something like that up?” He turns back to Li and Hitsumi, Hitsumi in the middle of yelling something to Li, Li probably having hit him with another one of her ‘cheep shots’ “I always looked forward to being able to protect you, although I must admit I did not anticipate that I would being doing it quite this soon.”
Angel looks a little confused by this information, this something she had never witnessed in any other member of royalty she had met. “Always? Protecting me is actually something you looked forward to…?”
Echo nods his head yes. “Of course! Although, when you have companions like Hitsumi and Li helping you with your journey I would have to say that I feel kind of useless. They both have much more experience then me when it comes to actual battles, even if I have been alive longer.”
Angel looks back at Hitsumi and Li who were still fighting one another, she stares at both of their faces quietly. Although Hitsumi’s expression would change occasionally during the fight depending on the situation he was in, Li’s expression was always unchanging, it the same cold gaze she always carried. “I know you and Hitsumi don’t mind helping me on my journey… but…”
Echo frowns as he looks back at Li, able to tell just by looking where the princess’s conversation was leading, the wizard letting the princess continue to speak even though he knew what was coming next. “Li must be tired of looking after me… she never wanted to come on this journey to begin with.”
Echo closes his eyes the princess was right about that. Hitsumi had gone through a lot trying to get Li to come with them, and even now she didn’t seem like this was a journey she wanted to be on. “She’s bound by your word to stay by your side until the mission is complete, so don’t worry about her leaving on you.”
Angel shakes her head, Li leaving not what concerned her. “She never wanted to come… she’s unwillingly by my side.” Echo watches her silently as the princess continues. “I think… she would rather leave then follow… and go back to how her life was… before I changed it on her.”
Hitsumi stops fighting when something above him catches his attention, Hitsumi looking up into the sky above him spotting a large bird. “A fishing bird…”
Li kicks Hitsumi in the head when he’s off guard knocking him to the ground. Hitsumi holding his head in pain as he stumbles back to his feet. “Wait, wait, wait!! Time out!”
Li pauses as she silently watches Hitsumi wobble to his feet, shaking his head to try and get his vision straight. He looks back into the sky stumbling in a circle as he tries to spot the bird again. “Damn it Li…” He smiles when he finally spots the bird pointing up at it. “Gabriela! We’re near Gabriela we’ve got to be!”
Li looks a little intrigued to hear this information, after all it had been a rather long time since the group had last been to a town. “The port town?”
Echo gets to his feet, although he was rather far from both Li and Hitsumi he was still able to overhear Hitsumi’s excited screaming. “REALLY!?”
Hitsumi continues to point to the bird. “That bird!! I don’t know what it’s called! But I know it eats fish! Fish is caught at sea, sea is where port is, port has boats, boats take us over the sea to the West Continent!”
Li silently watches Hitsumi triumphantly announce his discovery as if he had just solved the greatest puzzle in the world. “We’re almost there! We should get there by tomorrow!”
Angel smiles at the information, happy to hear that things were finally beginning to look up. “Let’s go then!”
Li shakes her head in no mood to travel even if they were close to one of their destinations. “We can’t right now.”
Angel looks disappointed to hear Li say this. “Why not?”
Li sighs as she beings explaining situation out to them. “We’ve been traveling too long on too little food, we can’t start running as soon as we see a bird. You’ve already stretched us thin enough, at least let us finish our rest for today and we’ll get a fresh start tomorrow.”
Hitsumi frowns bitterly at her. “You’re just lazy!”
Echo turns back to Hitsumi, although he was eager to see civilization as well it was best for the group to continue with their rest. “She’s right, it’s already getting dark. The town won’t go any father then it already is from us. It will be better if we rest for the night.”
Hitsumi looks disappointed to have Echo against his idea as well. “But-”
Angel turns to Hitsumi with a smile, both Echo and Li were probably right anyway. “Hitsumi it’s alright. We’ll finish resting and go early tomorrow.”
Hitsumi sighs in defeat, slouching as he begins walking back to middle of the camp they had set. “Fine…”
*******
Night soon begins to fall, the sky now an orange glow illuminating a small town by the ocean, the town’s large docks holding several small boats, and one large ship.
In the middle of the town standing as still as a stone statue was the girl known as Rena, the warrior that had fought Li to claim title of the most powerful female in East continent.
Rena stares ahead of her with an emotionless look on her face, her eyes fixed on nothing.
A woman who was in the middle of loading one of the docked boats stops for a moment to stare in Rena’s direction. She had noticed that the woman had been standing in that exact spot for about an hour now.
She takes a break from her work walking over to Rena as she curiously begins talking to her. “I’ve never seen your face before, you’re new around here aren’t you?”
Rena continues to stare ahead of her leaving the question unanswered. The woman a little perplexed by the silent response. “You’ve been standing here for a long time… are you lost? … do you need some help finding your way?”
Again Rena gave her no response, the woman sighing as she shakes her head. “Not the talkative type I see.”
“She cannot talk.”
The woman jumps at the sudden interruption, quickly turning around to find a long haired wizard dressed in black behind her. She sighs in relief when she realizes that he was one of the few remaining and well respected wizards in Fynta. “Oh! I’m sorry for jumping… you just surprised me…”
The wizard smiles at her reaction laughing slightly. “I get it all the time, don’t worry it’s no problem at all.”
The woman turns back Rena. “This girl…” She looks back at the wizard in black. “Is she with you?”
The wizard in black robes nods his head as he begins explaining the situation to her. “Yes… it’s not well for her to travel on her own anymore. Her mind isn’t what it used to be.”
The woman turns back to Rena a little disappointed to hear him say such a thing. “The poor child… what happened to her?”
The wizard looks back at Rena answering the woman in a simple manner. “She was attacked.”
“That’s horrible…”
The wizard smiles as she turns away from them, speaking to Rena as he begins walking away. “Let’s go…”
Rena follows the wizard still as silent and emotionless as she had been before.
*******
The winged female demon is flying through the air, open water all that could be seen beneath her, her eyes scan the waters as she searches for something that lay beneath the water’s waves. The female demon swooping down to the water when she spots a large black shadow within them, landing and standing atop the water above it as if it were solid ground, she able to keep her balance on the water despite the waves that were constantly moving beneath her. She stares down at the shadow below her speaking to it calmly. “Are you sleeping?”
The waves begin to grow stronger, the female demon spreading her wings to help her keep her balance as the waters begin to part and open, a large creature’s head showing itself to her, the shadow belonging to a large demon that lived within the waters. “How can I sleep when I can feel her spirit so close to me?”
The winged female turns back to where she had come, knowing that the princess they were right now seeking was somewhere in that direction. “The princess?”
The demon within the sea slithers through the waters, it’s long eel like body easily gliding through the waves. “Her spirit is strong, I’ve been able to feel it for days now, soon, very soon, she will be upon me.”
The female demon shakes her head as she turns back to the large demon fearfully. “Be careful… if they are to cross your path do not attack them, let them pass and remain unseen. She travels with companions that are to be considered powerful until I can find the information I need on them.”
The demon laughs as it dives within the water resurfacing once more behind her, a delightful tone to his voice. “What type of companions would she have that ‘I’ should be afraid of?”
The winged female crosses her arms, knowing painfully well that she knew much less then she should know by now. “She right now travels with two human companions that have before managed to help her slip through our fingers, as well as Echo, the son of Seclude.”
The demon with the waters laughs once more, amused that such simple figures where able to cause so much trouble for his race. “There is nowhere for them to run in my seas, they will not be able to slip away from me.”
The female demon shakes her head not wanting him to even consider such a thing. “Do not attack them! We cannot afford to lose any more lives.”
The large demon within the water did not look willing to listen to her warning. “What good would I do in a war if I cannot leave these waters? When the humans come into my territory I will attack, it is the only time I will get the chance.”
The female demon narrows her eyes. “Do what you want then… but do not forget that I have warned you.”
The demon lifts its head above the waves once more. “Do not worry about me Hikari, if I succeed or if I fail we will still awaken our mother.”
Hikari shakes her head although it was something she wanted to believe it was not something she could easily believe. “How are you so confident?”
The demon within the sea returns to gliding through the waves of the water. “A great many ships have crossed my waters, all of them headed in the same direction, all of them going West. The humans are preparing for a war, a war they know our mother will start.”
Hikari smiles at the news. “The humans believe more then we do that a war will break out? How very interesting.”
*******
Several demons are gathered around a large stone wall, strange symbols and designs carved into it.
There is the sound of stone scraping against stone as several of the markings begin to change shape, moving into another form. The demons growing excited when they see this. “It’s happened again… another lock has been released.”
Another demon looks over at a small group of symbols in the collection of thousands that remained unchanged and twisted unlike the others. “It wasn’t be long… Soon all of them with have been opened.”
Yami, the demons lord stands behind them, his eyes glued ahead of him as he watched a strange mist showing him an image of what looks like a ghost of a female figure traveling slowly through a strange and intricate maze. “Every time the princess sleeps, her spirit cuts open a path to our mother, slowly releasing her. Soon she will reach the end of the obstacles and stand outside the door we wish to open.”
One of the demons turns back to him upon hearing this. “So then… we don’t have to capture the princess at all! We can wait for her spirit to just finish it on her own.”
Lord Yami turns away from the image staring back at the others. “It’s not that simple. If it was I would have already chosen that path then risk the lives of the few of us that are left by trying to capture her.”
He looks up at the many symbols on the wall, each one representing a lock or spell being used to keep their mother locked away. “The gateway is held closed by a countless number of locks, each one closed with a powerful spell. As her spirit travels her spirit becomes a key to breaking those spells, the years she has been alive have been spent doing this. This is why we have not bothered to go after her until now. But now there are only a small few locks binding our mother, and soon it will be time for us to unlock the final seal.”
He looks down at the ground towards a large crest carved within it. “The last lock must be opened by the princess’s body, not just her spirit. It is her blood that is needed to open the final seal, she herself is the key to the final and most powerful lock binding our goal.”
There is an eerie scream, the demons turning to the mist holding the image of the princess’s spirit, the princess’s spirit disappearing from sight and the mist vanishing completely.
Yami narrows his eyes walking up to where the image had once been. “The princess has awaken from her dreams.”
*******
The princess is screaming and kicking her legs, her sudden outburst waking everyone in the group up. “SOMETHING CRAWLED ON MY LEG!!!”
Echo is soon by Angel’s side, pulling off her sheet to try and fix the problem. “Calm down princess!”
Hitsumi is already on his feet trying to calm down the startled horses who had also been surprised by the screaming. “What the hell is all the noise about!? It’s the middle of the night!!”
Echo soon finds the cause of the commotion, catching and pulling a mouse out from underneath Angel’s blankets. “Oh… it’s was just a mouse.” He smiles and he holds it over his head opening his mouth to eat it.
Angel begins screaming at Echo’s actions. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”
Hitsumi quickly grabs the mouse from Echo before he is able to eat it. “Are you crazy!? Do kids have to put everything they find in their mouths?”
Echo looks over at the mouse longingly. “But… I… I mean owls eat mice… I got hungry all of a sudden…”
Angel calms down after hearing this, now completely understanding why Echo had done such a thing. “Oh… I’m sorry I understand…”
Hitsumi lets go of the mouse watching it scurry away to freedom, he a little confused by this information. “Wizards eat mice?”
Angel nods her head as she begins to explain. “Well… wizards were originally animals, so some characteristics stay with them even though they are human now. Even Siren would eat rodents and snakes whole.”
Hitsumi stares at her for a moment, unable to and not really wanting to picture an old wizard eating snakes and rodent’s whole. “If I saw someone doing that… I would have nightmares… of my dad force feeding me live snakes… or something like that.”
Angel laughs shrugging her shoulders, it had never cause her any sleep problems. “It never gave me nightmares… just made me really sick or faint… but since you mentioned it I did have strange dream today though, where I’m supposed to solve some sort of puzzle.”
Hitsumi cringes at the thought, that was one hundred times worse then picturing an old man eating snakes. “That would be a nightmare for me too! I’m horrible at solving puzzles…” He turns back in the direction Li was in. “What about you Li you have nightmares all the time what are they about anyway?”
He growls to himself when he sees that Li had already fallen back asleep. “What!? Don’t tell me she didn’t wake up from such a loud scream!! What kind of rock does she have in her head!?!?”
Echo yawns as he returns to his own bed, ready to go back to sleep now that all the commotion had been sorted through. “We should get back to sleep… we still have a long way to go.”
Angel nods her head and she lays back down on the ground, preparing to go back to sleep. “Right…”
Hitsumi looks around him frowning in an annoyed manner. “How the hell can they all go back to sleep so easily!? Once I’m awake, I’m awake! I can’t fall asleep like that!”
*******
Day arrives and Hitsumi and his group again start their journey. Although they all knew their destination to be close it was still quite a ride away. Hitsumi of course talking the whole time, the group most never having the opportunity to travel in silence, fortunately the group welcomed that chit chat none of them really wanting to endure a silent trip.
“When I was little I used to live in a town by some woods. Well… no… I guess I mean to say at one point I lived in a town by some woods cause I really didn’t live in one town I was always travelling around, but anyway the local kids told me and Ashton that one hundred years ago the woods used to be the home of a murdering psychotic mad man, and that his spirit now haunted the woods!”
Li smirks at the comment. “You believed that stupid story? How dumb would you have to be?”
Hitsumi frowns as he shakes his head refusing to admit such a thing. “Naw I wasn’t scared, Ashton was the one that believed him I wasn’t that dumb.”
Echo shrugs his shoulders. “I duno… from what I’ve seen of Ashton he doesn’t seem to be that kind of person… and sorry to say… you seemed the type of person that would fall for stupid things as a child.”
Hitsumi glares over at Echo. “Hey, hey, hey!! I’m telling the story here and I say I wasn’t scared!” He looks back ahead of him as he continues. “Anyway, I said something along the lines of. ‘I’m not afraid of ghosts!’ and Ashton made a bet with me, saying that I couldn’t last a week alone in the woods. So I decided to prove him wrong. Boy was that ever a mistake… there was nothing for me to be scared of, it was the lack of being able to cook anything that made me suffer…”
Angel begins laughing Hitsumi’s story amusing her. “You didn’t even think of something like that before hand? You weren’t the brightest child were you?”
Li turns to Hitsumi. “He’s still not very bright.”
Hitsumi glares back at her. “You should talk! I mean come on, how long did it take you to figure out how to ride a horse?”
Li frowns bitterly at Hitsumi, not really wanting to be reminded of her learning to ride. “Well I never had to ride one before! I was perfectly comfortable with walking.”
Hitsumi sighs a little relieved that Li did finally figure it out. “At least you finally learned how to ride your own horse. You are the most annoying person in the world to share a saddle with. How did you learn anyway?”
Li continues to stare bitterly at Hitsumi. “Cookie taught me in exchange for beating Rena.”
Hitsumi nods his head. “Couldn’t figure out such a simple thing on your own? Makes sense seeing as how dumb you a-” Hitsumi is cut off by a coin hitting him in the side of the head, Li haven taken it from her own collection and thrown it at Hitsumi.
Hitsumi catches the coin before it hits the ground looking it over for a moment before turning back to Li. “By the way Li… something’s been bothering me…”
Li continues to look ahead of her not bothering to give him much attention at all. “What?”
Hitsumi points to a pack on the back of Li’s horse, knowing that was where Li was keeping all of her money. “How come you made twice as much as me when you fought in less then half as many battles as me!?”
Li stares ahead of her as she tries to think of an answer to give him.
Angel hands Li her earnings from working at the bar to help the group out, the amount she had made surprisingly large.
Li stares down at Angel’s earnings a little shocked. “How did you make so much?”
The princess looks most pleased to hear such a comment on her results, explaining to Li how she had gotten so much. “People either came to the bar to drown in their sorrow from loosing the competition, or came to celebrate at the bar because they won a fight! Some of them were so happy with winning that they gave me really BIG tips!!”
Li eventually comes up with an excuse to answer Hitsumi’s question. “I guess they spoil the female fighters with a higher pay role.”
“WHAT!?” Hitsumi is unable to hide his annoyance. “THAT’S SO CHEEP!! You hardly had to do anything compared to me!”
Li smiles to herself gladly accepting the chance to rub that fact even more in Hitsumi’s face. “Ya, the woman’s competition was a breeze to get through, you on the other hand didn’t stand a chance at winning and only won because your opponent decided to give up and let you win.”
Hitsumi growls angrily under his breath not saying anything further in hopes that it would help drop the topic.
Angel laughs at his reaction, this only perturbing the bandit even more.
The group comes to stop when they see that the town they were trying to get to was finally starting to show itself over the horizon. Echo being the first to speak his enthusiasm. “FINALLY!!!”
Hitsumi grins once again in good spirits. “See! I told you we were close!” He turns back to Angel excitedly explaining the situation to her. “This is the last stop we have in the East Continent. In this town we travel over seas to The Continent of West.”
Angel excitement looks almost equal to Hitsumi’s after hearing him say that. “So then we’re almost done!?”
Echo shakes his head things not exactly that simple. “We still have to travel to the castle in the west continent. We’re still pretty far from our destination.”
Hitsumi nods his head. “This is more like… the half way point I guess.”
Angel sighs this information not as welcome as the earlier information. “Only half way?” She looks over at Li who is staring ahead of her in silence, an unsure expression on her face.
Hitsumi points ahead of them towards the town. “So then what are we waiting for!? Let’s go!”
*******
Angel looks around the town that her and her companions had arrived in, she staring up at the large boat that was right now tied to the docks before beginning to curiously look around her. “Where do you think we buy the tickets?”
The others look around, the port town was actually a very busy place for a smaller town, the harbor is at the end of town being the area with the most people swarming through it.
Hitsumi frowns to himself. “Smells kinda salty here…”
Echo shakes his head as he turns back to the bandit talking to him in a sarcastic manner. “I wonder if that would have anything to do with the fact that we’re by the ocean.”
Hitsumi glares over at Echo in response to his comment. Li speaks up before Hitsumi can say anything, bringing something else to the group’s attention. “What time does the ship leave? Is there a ship even leaving today?”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders knowing there really wasn’t anyway for him to know until he asked, after all they had only just arrived. “I don’t know… I’ll have to check when buying the tickets.”
Angel quickly speaks up before Hitsumi leaves to buy the tickets. “Make sure they are first class!!”
Hitsumi sighs at the thought, first class meaning that he would have to spend more money. “Yes, yes…. good thing we stopped to replenish our cash supply.” He dismounts his horse leading it away from the group as he began making his way towards the docks.
Echo looks back at the others with his usual warm smile. “Shall we rest while we wait for Hitsumi to return?
Angel nods her head, a rest sounding nice after their ride to the town. “Yes. That would be nice.”
The three dismount their horses, Li whining as she tries to stand up her body still aching from the uncomfortable ride into town.
The group make their way to the side of the main path, when there were several benches for travellers to rest on. Angel sitting down on one of them and stretching her arms out as she leans back against the bench. “It’s good to be around civilization again!”
Echo looks over at the boats being kept at the dock, turning back to the princess when he realizes that this will be her first time crossing the sea on a ship. “This will be your first time visiting The West Continent right?”
Angel nods her head excitedly, really looking forward to being able to ride on a boat over the water. “It’s my first time going anywhere! I’ve stayed within the castle most of my life! Well… except for when I stayed in Tachi for half a year for safety precautions.”
Echo smiles as he begins to talk about his own travel experiences. “Although I’ve travelled to the continents of North and South I have never been West. I wonder just how different it will be compared to the others.”
Angel seems surprised to hear this. “In your long life time? You haven’t travelled far for someone as old as you.”
Echo laughs nervously. “Well, most of my life’s been strict training, I’m not skilled enough to earn free time to do such things as travel. I’ve only been able to go if Siren had to go as he didn’t trust leaving me alone.”
Angel laughs to herself. “Really?” She looks over at Li who was leaning back on the bench with her eyes closed looking ready to drift off into another one of her naps. “How about you Li?”
Li opens her eyes upon hearing her name, looking over at Angel. “Hum? What? Sorry I wasn’t paying attention.”
Angel looks up placing her hands together as she thought of the places Hitsumi could have possibly been. “I suspect Hitsumi’s been to a lot of places. He’s a traveling bandit right?”
Li sighs to herself as she beings explaining Hitsumi’s possible situation to the princess. “Shadow Quest was originally a band of bandits that lived in the South continent. Seeing as he’s fathers the leader of Shadow Quest that would mean Hitsumi used to be a bandit from the South continent… but I guess after going separate ways with his father he became a travelling bandit and eventually found himself in the East continent. He’s probably never gone to any other continent aside from those two, as bandits are pretty territorial when it comes to bandits from other continents and he wouldn’t really be welcome by them.”
Angel looks impressed. “How do you know so much about him? Did Hitsumi tell you?”
Li shakes her head. “No… I don’t know much about Hitsumi… I just know a lot about Shadow Quest and other bandits groups in general. I’m pretty much just using that information to guess about him.”
Angel smiles at Li warmly. “What about you? Where have you travelled to?”
Li looks back at the princess. “Me?” She looks a little confused as to why Angel would want to know such information. “I’ve been to all four of the continents.”
Angel looks amazed. “Really!? So then you’re the only one in the group that’s been to all four!”
Li nods her head in confirmation. “Yes… my Master travels a lot.”
Angel laughs as she begins asking Li more questions curious as to where Li’s travels began. “So where were you born? You look like you’re from the North continent. One of my servants once said that lots of blonds are from the North continent.”
Li frowns as she thinks back trying to find an answer to the princess question, not really able to come up with one. “South actually… I’m not sure where I was born exactly… but as far back as I can remember I grew up in The South Continent… as soon as I was old enough to travel I would go wherever my master was summoned, but even before he stopped to raise me in The South Continent I’m sure Master was travelling all over the place, so he could very well have picked me up somewhere else and just raised me there.”
Angel keeps her eyes on Li a little curious as to how someone that travelled from continent to continent ended up suddenly stopping and staying here. “How did you end up in the East Continent?”
Li doesn’t look like she really knows the answer to that, she having to think for a moment to come up with an answer to that question as well. “When I left I took the first ship I could find, and it ended up taking me here. I don’t know why I chose to stay here after arriving…”
Angel continues to watch Li with curiosity. “You never told me why you left your master. Did he stop teaching you?”
Li narrows her eyes not having to stop and think over the answer to that question. “I ran away.”
Both Angel and Echo looked shocked to hear this, Angel being the one to speak for both of them. “You ran away from someone like Whisper!? Why?”
Li sits up turning away from the princess. “I have my own reasons… and I wish to keep them to myself if not forget about them, if that’s all right with you.”
Angel looks a little disappointed to have Li not tell her, but at the same time understands fully that it was something Li was not willing to talk about. “No… it’s alright… I won’t pry any further.”
Hitsumi soon rejoins the group holding the tickets out to them. “You’re lucky I was able to talk them into letting us on at the last minute. The boat sets sail in an hour, we should hurry up and get the horses and our things on board the ship.”
Echo gets to his feet raising his hand. “I can get the horses and stuff on the ship. You guys can do some quick shopping before we get on the ship. Angel needs some new clothes and we all need something to eat right?”
Hitsumi looks a little nervous. “Will she be able to find something she likes in such a short amount of time?”
Li frowns at the comment, crossing her arms. “It’s not a matter of her liking it or not, it’s a mater of her being able to fight with it on. I’ll find something for her, I won’t take long at all if I’m doing it.”
Angel laughs nervously knowing that Li was probably right to do so, she pretty picky when it came to picking out clothing. “Well… then me and Hitsumi will get something for us to eat.”
Hitsumi nods his head approving of the idea. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
The group splits up going their separate ways, Angel latching onto Hitsumi all smiles as she curiously asked Hitsumi about the tickets. “Did you get first class like I asked!?”
Hitsumi smiles quite proud of himself for haven been able to get the tickets she had wanted so close to the ships departure. “Of course I did! Were you expecting any less from me?”
Angel jumps up in excitement hugging him and almost knocking him over. “Great! I can’t wait to go! I’ve never been on a boat before and now I get to ride first class too!” She nervously looks up at him hoping that there wasn’t going to be anything that would ruin her mood. “You don’t think that boat will make me sick do you? I hope not.”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. If not then at least you’ll have a nice room to lay down in.”
*******
“Wow!!” Angel and the group are now on the boat they are to set sail on. The ship Hitsumi had managed to get an expensive one well known for pampering it’s passengers while they were on their overseas trip. Angel is hardly able to keep in her excitement in having never dreamed that a boat could be this nice in all her life. The princess holding out her hands towards a large crystal chandler hanging above them. “What a beautiful dining room!!” She screams excitedly as she begins to running about the large room looking everything over.
Hitsumi smiles as he nods his head. “Crossing the middle sea has never been more inviting, our main features the glamorous dinning and ballroom. We also include many games that can be played on the deck, first class service to you when you need it and for your entertainment the wonderful and highly acclaimed ‘East Troupe’ will be performing while you eat.” He pauses for a moment. “At least that’s what the lady who was selling the tickets said…”
Angel looks even more pleased after hearing this. “This trip is going to be great!!! Great! Great! Great!! I am in love with this ship!!” She stops for a moment, glancing down at the dress that had gotten dirty, tattered and worn from their travels. “I feel so under dressed though. Oh I should have gone shopping for another dress to wear!”
Li stares ahead of her, shocked that the inside of a boat could possibly look so nice. Although she had been overseas many times before never had she been given the privilege of being able to ride first class on a ship like this. “Incredible…”
Hitsumi frowns bitterly. “It better be incredible for the amount I paid!”
Li shakes her head before looking back at the well decorative interior of the ship, she surprised that something like this was even affordable to them. “I hope we don’t have to dress formal to eat… I hate dressing up… it’s so pointless…”
Hitsumi jumps in horror at Li’s comment, not haven thought that they might have to go through something like that. “Crap! You don’t think we have to!? I have nothing formal to wear! These are my only clothes!”
Angel looks over excited to hear this. “Formal wear! I’ll get to dress Li up again!” Li sighs shaking her head in disappointment, not at all looking forward to that happening to her a second time. Angel ignores her response turning to Hitsumi curiously. “I’ve never seen you in formal clothes before! I bet you look so smart!”
Hitsumi laughs nervously, he had never before had to dress formal before. “Well-”
“Nothing in this world can make Hitsumi look smart”
Hitsumi glares over at Li. “Shut up!”
Angel grabs onto Hitsumi’s arm tugging to get his attention, she wanting him to follow her. “Hitsumi come with me to see the rest of the ship! This place is huge it must have even more wonderful places for me to find in it!”
She doesn’t give Hitsumi time to answer as she begins dragging Hitsumi off.
Li sighs to herself felling a little sorry for Hitsumi, remembering all too well when the princess had dragged her off with her in the same manner. “Does she always act like this when she’s excited?”
Echo nods his head. “Yes…”
Angel calls back to her other companions not wanting to leave either them behind. “Li! Echo! Hurry up! We don’t want to get lost and separated do we!?”
Echo lifts his hand pleasantly waving back to her. “Of course not princess! I’ll be right there!”
Li smirks to herself as she and Echo begin to follow Hitsumi and the princess. “She talks as if being lost and separated from her is a bad thing.”
Echo laughs at Li’s comment the two soon catching up and following Angel as she proceeded to track them throughout the entire first class section of the ship, Li and Hitsumi looking to be the most shocked by everything they were seeing.
Hitsumi looks from one room to another, having not seen this much stuff in one place ever before. “I didn’t know boats had all this in it!”
Li nods her head also having never expected something this grand. “I’ve only traveled on cheep inexpensive tickets… most of the time I’m crammed in a room with one hundred or more people.”
Hitsumi stops looking back at Li in shock. “One hundred or more people???” He lifts the ticket stubs up for the four of them to see. “They told me they didn’t have any rooms left that held more than one person. I had to get four separate rooms.”
Li look grows even more shocked after hearing this. “We have our own rooms?!”
Hitsumi sighs to himself, every time the group mentioned how nice everything was or how different it was from previous trips they had been on it reminded him of the price each one of the tickets had cost him. “I had to if I wanted to leave on this ship! We are a ‘little’ last minute after all.”
He looks the tickets stubs over sadly. “It was really expensive too…” He puts the ticket stubs away pulling from his pocket four sets of keys and holding them up for the others to see. “Pick any key you want, the rooms are all beside one another so it doesn’t really matter who ends up where.”
Angel excitedly jumps in front of Hitsumi looking the keys over. “I want to pick first please!” She looks the rest of the group over none of them looking to have a problem with her picking first, the princess smiling as she began looking each of the keys over. “Which one? Which one?” She takes one hugging and holding it close to her. “This one!” She lifts the key to her face reading the number engraved in it. “Room two hundred and eighty seven!! I wonder where that is…”
Li is the next to take a key, swiping it from Hitsumi and throwing it up into the air and catching it once more reading the number on the key over. “Two hundred eighty four.”
Echo reaches up taking the second last key from him and reading the number on it over. “Two, eight, six”
Hitsumi looks back at the lone key remaining in his hand. “I guess that leaves me with two hundred and eighty five.”
Echo nods his head as he begins to think over the numbers. “Me and Li have the even numbers, so that means we’ll be on the right side of the hall. The Princess and Hitsumi will be on the left.”
Hitsumi smiles not having any problem with the setup. “That works fine for me.”
Echo’s eyes sparkle the young wizard obviously looking forward to the room. “I wonder if we get room service!?”
Hitsumi looks down at him a little annoyed. “Why? So you can rake in another huge bill on alcohol?”
Echo glares back up at him. “I have needs okay!”
Li continues to stare at her key, even when they were staying in hotels she was never lucky enough to get her own room. “I hope the beds are soft. I wouldn’t mind sleeping through this entire trip.”
Hitsumi frowns his glare now turning to Li. “Why are you so lazy!?”
Li looks back at him to explain herself. “Well why wouldn’t I be? We’ve been moving almost none stop staying in cheap hotels and sleeping on the ground. Why not take a break before we have to go back to that?”
Hitsumi thinks what Li had said over, she actually having a good excuse for wanting to this time. “You have a point… sleeping through the boat ride sounds like a really nice option right now.”
The princess looks horrified to hear this. “No! You can’t sleep through the whole trip!”
Li tiredly looks back at the princess, a little annoyed that no one seemed to want to let her sleep. “Why not?”
Angel crosses her arms. “Not only will sleeping body guards be very ineffective.”
Hitsumi and Li look at each other Hitsumi turning back to the princess. “There are no demons at sea!”
Li jumps in correcting Hitsumi. “Yes there are.” Hitsumi looks back at her Li’s comment not really helping their side of the argument.
Echo speaks up also knowing what Li obviously. “I’ve heard that too… the largest demon alive to date lives in the sea The Four Continents surround.”
Li nods her head in confirmation. “He rarely attacks ships, I couldn’t really say why, but you shouldn’t really worry about him as ships don’t travel over the sea if he’s anywhere on their route, they keep careful track of him.”
Hitsumi looks curious over this information, asking the two of them just how it was possible for someone to keep track of a demon. “How do they do that?”
Li looks back at Hitsumi explaining the only way she knew how they were able to do it. “They pretty much depend on sightings reported from other ships.”
Echo smiles at the others knowing well that the chances of running into the demon were low. “If the demon was anywhere near this ships path the ship wouldn’t be leaving the dock. So even though there is a demon in the sea because of all the precautions that are taken regarding it, it’s not one we should particularly worry about.”
Li smiles as she looks back at the princess. “See? We have plenty of time to sleep.”
Angel continues to try and convince them that sleeping through the trip wasn’t something they would want to do. “But you at least have to play some deck games and table sports with me! And eat as well…”
Li sighs, Angel capable of going on and on in an attempt to try and convince them for hours if she didn’t give in. “I guess… but you’ll let us sleep once and a while during this boat ride right?”
Hitsumi laughs to himself the fact that the princess wasn’t going to let Li sleep through the trip strangely amusing to him. “Well of course you’ll be able to sleep! It’s a three day trip overseas. You can sleep at least two nights when everyone else is sleeping.”
Li glares over at Hitsumi, Angel quickly jumping back into the conversation not wanting them to get into an argument. “Don’t worry Li, you’ll have more time than just that I’m sure! Now! Let’s go find our rooms!” She turns around running ahead of them through the ship.
Li sighs as she watches her leave, the princess was most likely going to end up getting herself lost if she kept taking off like that on them. “Does she even know where the rooms are?”
Echo shrugs his shoulders. “Most likely not, but I’m sure she’ll find them quickly enough with the pace she’s going at.”
Li is looking at her surroundings not really paying attention to the conversation, her expression turning serious when she spots something that catches her attention. “I’ll catch up with you guys later… I have to find the bathroom…” She quickly leaves walking in the direction she had been starring in.
*******
Li quickly running through the ship’s various hallways, surprising some of the first class passengers when she make her way past them. She searching through the ship on her own while Hitsumi and Echo follow the princess through it, Li unfortunately unable to find who she had spotted before and not having any luck in finding them again.
She comes to a stop placing her hand on the wall beside her taking a moment to catch her breath, she staring down at the spot she was standing in over. It wasn’t as if her eyes were playing tricks on her, the person she saw had to be somewhere close by.
Li is interrupted when one of the ship’s crew catches sight of her looking so intently at the ground. “Are you looking for something?”
Li looks back at him shaking her head. “No.” She steps back from the spot she was in continuing to search through the ship, her eyes soon catching sight of the figure she seen before, they standing further down the hall. Li pushing past several of the passengers and quickly making her way towards them to catch up, Li soon finding her way out onto the deck of the ship, only to find nothing once again.
Li frowns to herself a little annoyed that she had been unable to find the person she had caught a glance of. She looking around the deck of the ship, searching for the person that had brought her here, Li unable to spot them anywhere. “She’s quick…”
She turns away deciding not to worry over it any further until she saw them again, and is about to go back down into the ship when she stops in the doorway.
She stands still in the doorway for a moment as she began thinking quietly to herself, eventually turning around and walking back onto the deck of the ship, walking over to the edge of the boat placing her right hand on the railing, looking over the side at the many workers preparing to set the ship off to sea.
From the point she stood the realization was painfully starting to sink in. She was leaving the East Continent and was returning to the West Continent. She clenches her teeth as her grip on the railing tightens.
*******
The princess has already found her room, Angel excited going through everything in it admiring while how fancy everything was, and how comfortable everything looked. She falls back onto the bed stretching and making herself comfortable, the bed indeed just as comfortable as it looked. “I wish I could travel all the way to the castle in something like this!!”
Echo stands in the doorway of Angel’s room, watching the enthusiastic princess go through everything in it. “I’ve heard that in other countries there are ships like this in development that will be able to travel in the sky, unfortunately even when they’re done I don’t suspect that any of them will be traveling between the Four Continents.”
Angel looks back at Echo interested in hearing about this. “I bet they would be absolutely great to travel in… why do you think they won’t they be brought over here?”
Echo holds his hand out as he explained the situation to the princess. “Too many dragons and demons travel from continent to continent. The skies are dangerous.”
Angel looks disappointed to hear this, those two things having hindered their journey’s before. “That’s too bad… the dragons and demons seem to make all kinds of travel difficult.”
Echo smiles at the princess, the mention of dragons and travel bringing another topic up. “Speaking of dragon’s princess, there are people who are able to tame or enslave dragons and use them for travel, but people like that are very rare to run into… not to mention they usually live fairly short lives, as dragons aren’t necessarily the easiest animal to keep under control all the time.”
Angel seems impressed by this information, anyone that was able of controlling dragons had to be quite grand. “Really? Have you ever met someone able to train dragons?”
Echo crosses his arms thinking to himself. “Well for the many years I’ve lived I’ve only met about five people capable of doing so… I believe only three of them are alive today.”
He frowns as he began to think through the many names knew, trying to find the names of the people capable of riding dragons. “Paterson, the man who trains potential knights to become dragon knights, those are the dragon riders that work for the royalty of North. Though many of the people he has trained have failed at being able to tame a dragon. His son Blanc has been able to mastered the art, and Eymon, the youngest of the three Zimiko knight siblings also knows how to and has tamed a dragon.”
Angel gasps in aw at this information, the princess recognizing one of the names Echo had stated. “Eymon can ride dragons? I didn’t know that! I wonder why Siren didn’t assign him to protect me…”
Echo frowns having again found himself on this topic. “Yes… it is a little confusing… as there are many members working under royalty who are more powerful than me…” He lowers his head, just like before he found himself unable to explain it. “I couldn’t tell you why I was the one assigned in the end.”
Angel smiles at Echo not wanting the wizard to worry to much over something like that. “It’s alright! Eymon isn’t really the talkative type at all, he much too serious so it would be boring having to travel with him. You’ve been able to at least provide me with an interesting journey even if it really isn’t the safest.”
Echo laughs slightly to himself as he looks back at the princess, a little surprised to hear a comment like that coming from her. “It that so?”
Angel nods her head. “Really.” She looks up at the ceiling of her room drifting off into her fantasies once more. “Riding a dragon! That would be neat! I bet Hitsumi could tame a dragon if he wanted!”
Echo sighs shaking his head, the princess truly believing that Hitsumi was capable of doing anything and everything. “I highly doubt that…”
*******
Li is still standing on the deck of the boat watching as the workers prepare to cast off, each second that passed by bringing her closer and closer to leaving the Continent of East.
She stares down at them the look on her face worried and almost scared. Li turning away from the land and looking back at the waters she was about to cross, her expression showing that she did not want to go overseas at all. “Every day we get closer and closer… closer to the place it ended…”
She closes her eyes fighting back the tears that were trying to form. “I thought I would be able to forget, to start over… why am I being dragged back to it?”
Li turns towards the shore the boat was still docked at, she was still close to it and it was possible for her to leave the ship if she wanted to. “I still have a chance to leave… If I leave the ship before it’s too far from the land… I don’t have to go.” She closes her eyes, the events that had happened still fresh on her mind as if they had all happened yesterday.
Two men are fighting each other upon the laid stone streets in the dead of night, the most beaten and warm of the two a young man with blond wild hair who looked nothing more then a common bandit, the other figure a younger wizard dressed all in all white, with short ivory hair and ice blue eyes.
The wizard lifts his hand up a strange magic cutting into the air drawing a symbol over his palm, the wizard then looking up and staring directly at his opponent, the symbol darting from above his palm and towards his opponents as soon as his eyes were fixed on him.
The man tries get out of the way but is unable to completely avoid the wizards quick attack, the symbol cutting through his arm and separating it from the rest of his body.
The young man falls to the ground screaming as he held onto his open wound, the pain unbearable.
The wizard again lifts his hand, more symbols appearing not only over his palm but all around his entire body.
Li runs in front of the white wizard, grabbing onto his robes and pulling on them as she began trying to plead with him. “STOP THIS!”
The wizard throws her to the side as he lifts his head to look back at his opponent sending each one of the symbols plunging towards him.
Li slowly pushes herself off of the ground, her body failing her and bringing her back to the ground when she feels warm blood splash onto her body.
She stares at the ground in shock unable to speak or even move anymore, her body beginning to shake when she heard bare footsteps starting to approach her.
The white wizard kneels down grabbing Li by the back of her neck and lifting her into the air dragging her with him.
Li buries her face into her hands unable to keep her tears back any longer then she already had. “Reiichi…”
