Zyas grabbed onto Alcia’s wrist and pulled himself closer to her, then he looked down at the bridge that the two boys had landed on. The villagers walking below didn’t seem alarmed at all, and kept walking as if two people weren’t falling from the sky.
“Grab that rope!” Zyas ordered.
Alcia nodded and then looked back down. They were close to the bridge now, and the boys stepped back. One of them smiled up at her, as if he were excited for her landing.
The white rope was right in front of her now, and she grabbed it with her free hand. Zyas did the same and they hung there for a moment. He was surprised that their body weight didn’t break pull the bridge down, but was happy it didn’t.
“Let me give you a hand,” the smiling boy helped Alcia onto the bridge.
“Thank you,” Alcia said while blushing.
“No problem,” he answered.
Zyas pulled himself up and turned to Alcia and the strange boy, then up at Marci who was coming to announce her victory.
“Well,” Marci hovered over them, “that was fun,” she jumped off of her floater and stood on the bridge, “the others must have fallen somewhere else.”
Alcia frowned over at Marci, until Marci cocked her head and gave a smile.
“You’re pretty good, Oceanian. Definitely could pass for a surface girl if you didn’t have those eyes,” Marci said.
“Yeah,” the smiling boy said, “you both are pretty good.”
“Oh,” Alcia blushed, “thanks...”
“No problem,” Marci said, “I mean you’re just good, though. I knew that you wouldn’t beat me.”
“Oh, here she goes,” the boy sighed. Alcia looked over at him and admired his dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair. He was just as tall as Zyas, but built more like Angel.
“Well, I’m hungry,” the other boy said.
“Yeah, let’s go eat,” Marci said.
“Hey, would you two like to join us for dinner?” The beautiful boy asked.
“Jermya, they probably have something else to do,” Marci sighed.
Jermya, that was his name. A name that Alcia didn’t plan on forgetting, on account that he was as beautiful as ever.
“I’m only trying to make friends,” Jermya said.
Alcia smiled, “well, we are only taking a look around. Maybe we could do something tomorrow. Thank you for inviting us to play the game though, it was a little fun.”
Zyas frowned at Alcia and Jermya, then looked over at Marci who was giving them the same look, “we don’t really have time to hang out with you guys. I think we may be busy tomorrow as well, but thanks for the invite.”
“Are you sure?” Jermya asked. We could meet up tomorrow night at sunset. We could show you guys around.
Alcia turned to Zyas then said, “Well, if you’re showing us around, then I guess we can meet up tomorrow.”
“But Alcia-”
“That’s great,” Jermya said, showing his straight teeth with a bright smile, “where can we meet you two?”
Zyas sighed and scratched the back of his head.
“Well, if you go to Tasa’s home, you can ask for either me or Zyas.”
“If we’re around,” Zyas said blandly.
“Well, I hope that you are. We have to get going though, I am pretty hungry. We’ll see you guys tomorrow night!” Jermya and Marci started walking away.
“Yeah, if we’re-”
“See you tomorrow!” Alcia said waving goodbye.
Zyas sighed and looked down at Alcia, who seemed pretty excited about their new friends.
***
Tren and Marian were watching two men fight on a large wooden platform that was in the middle of the village. There were only a few of these platforms, that were built like the smaller ones, but only stretched out further so that groups of people could walk on them all at once, instead of only a few.
The fighters that were competing against each other were pretty good for basic warriors. There was nothing special about them other than their race. One was very light skinned with squinty eyes, and short black hair, and the other was a few shades darker with big eyes, and long straight hair.
The squinty eyed fighter dodged a punch, and then kicked the darker warrior on the side of his leg and caused him to go down. Then he finished him off by jumping on top of the man and punched him in the face. The darker guy was out cold, and the small audience around them cheered.
“This is pretty cool,” Marian said looking around. It was a beautiful night out, with torches lit that were held up on the trees, and around the platform, “peaceful.”
Tren sighed, “yeah, yeah, peaceful,” he was more focused on the speaker who would be bringing on the next fighters.
“And we have a winner!” the speaker said, “and who will we have next to fight against the all mighty Ty-Chon!?” the speaker looked down at the darker man being pulled away with a smile, and then turned back to the crowd, “if no one steps up, then the gold goes to Ty-Chon!”
“Gold?” Marian asked, “We need that here?”
“Well, people gotta eat somehow,” Tren answered. He looked down at the small bag of gold and sighed, “We gotta eat.”
“Then go make us some money!” Marian pushed Tren into the circle.
“Marian, you little...” Tren looked around and realized that all eyes were on him now.
“It looks like we have a warrior,” the speaker said as he looked Tren up and down, “although he may not be a good one.”
The crowd laughed.
Tren sighed and turned to Ty-chon, who wore a serious look on his face, “well, don’t be so tense. This will end quickly,” he said.
“Are you two ready?” The speaker asked.
They both nodded.
“Alright, well fight!” The speaker said.
The audience became quiet as they focused in on the newcomer, and the undefeated Ty-Chon, wondering who would win.
Ty-Chon gave Tren a smirk and slowly circle around him, planning his first attack. Tren didn’t make a move, because he already knew what was going to happen next, and as he predicted, Ty-Chon made an attack from behind.
Tren spun out of the way with a large smile on his face, the stepped towards Ty-Chon and threw a kick to his ribs, causing him to yelp in pain. Ty-Chon quickly faced Tren, then he nodded as if accepting the first hit. He then went at Tren with fists of fury, making Tren go into defense mode.
Tren couldn’t manage to block all of the punches and was hit a few time in the face. The last punch almost knocked him off balance, but once he regained his ground he dodge a hard kick that was coming straight for his head.
Ti-Chon then stepped in to throw another punch, but Tren caught it in his palm and threw two head buds and watched as Ti-Chon stumbled back onto the floor.
Tren sighed, “well,” he rubbed his forehead, “that was a lot of work,” he frowned over at Marian who was steady laughing.
The audience was only quiet for a moment, then begun to cheer for Tren, who really wasn’t interested in having fans. He reached down and grabbed the small bag of gold, then walked away with Marian.
“Wait! I didn’t ask if anyone else...” The speaker sighed.
“I should push you off this bridge for doing that,” Tren said as they walked back towards Tasa’s home.
“Why? We got some money for it. I made a good call,” Marian laughed.
“No, I made the money. You go get your own,” Tren said. He stopped and looked out at the village above and below him, “this is nice,” he thought about how Ara would love this view, and couldn’t wait to see her again.
“So, what are you going to do?” Marian asked, “You going with Angel?”
Tren sighed, “I don’t really know man. I have a girl back at home that I need to get to, but this guy, Darrengiy, sounds like a lot of trouble. Trouble that he’s going to bring to my world. What about you?”
Marian shrugged, “I’m going with Angel.”
“Don’t you have peopl
e back home?” Tren asked.
Marian shook his head, “I don’t know. I hope that my family is okay, but if they aren’t, I don’t want to go back and find out. I already watched my friends...I can’t go back to that. I’d rather stop this guy Darrengiy from destroying anymore lives with his world power schemes. Besides, the guys are right. There’s no way that Darrengiy can become king over worlds that already have kings and presidents. That would cause even more war, and we don’t need another one.”
“No, we really don’t need another one, but I have to see my girl. I gotta know if she’s alright.”
They both stood in silence for a moment, knowing that if they separate, they may not ever see each other again, and their brotherhood would only be a memory.
“Well, this is getting depressing. Let’s go and get some food with that money,” Marian said.
“No,” Tren laughed, “I’m going to get me some food.”
“Dude, come on,” Marian laughed.
***
Not too far away from the village, Angel walked in the forest with his sword out in case any enemies were near. He had left the village because he needed complete silence in order to try and figure out what he wanted to do.
Angel knew that the right thing to do would be to stop Darrengiy and save Shalina, but how could he do it alone? He knew what his friends were thinking, and it wasn’t that they wanted to tag along. Still, if no one stopped Darrengiy, there would be a massive war, and a lot of bloodshed. This rule wouldn’t bring forth a revolution like before, it would bring chaos.
Then there was Shalina. The girl that he spent his childhood protecting, because as a boy he felt that it was his duty, and eventually he grew feelings for her. His parents would always make fun of him about how they would be married with children by the time he hit manhood. The teasing only got him excited, at the thought, when he was a child, but now he could no longer think about things like that. The girl that was once his best friend couldn’t even remember him, and believes him to be the reason that her parent and village were gone. Angel’s parents were in that crowd as well, the day that Darrengiy attacked, and just like Shalina’s parents, they were also unlucky. There was no way that he could let that slide.
In the silence of the night, Angel heard footsteps that weren’t his, and hid behind a tree with his sword out and ready. He hoped that it would be more Moorenofs, so that he could blow off some steam, but it turned out to be someone else. Someone that didn’t look as threatening.
Angel peeked around the tree and saw a man with short cut brown hair and cat like eyes standing in the moonlight. He didn’t look like he was from Mooralshia because of the velvet cloth that he was wearing around his waist, and he didn’t look like the Moorenofs, or the people in the village.
A girl ran into the light with the man, but Angel couldn’t see her face. All he saw was her blond hair, “let’s go to the lake.”
“We should go home, it’s dark out now,” the man said.
The girl sighed, “I can handle the Moorenofs.”
The man laughed, “You say that now.”
The two of them walked away.
Angel put his sword away and decided to head back as well. He wasn’t far, and was almost to the village when he heard someone talking in a cave nearby. It could have been Moorenof’s or some other enemy, and Angel didn’t want them to know that he was near, so he hid behind another tree and listened.
“The boy is here,” A raspy voice said, “in the village.”
“Good, I can take him down and that despicable village. My dear Sheldon left power to that village that I’ll soon be taking.”
“Sir?” The raspy voice questioned.
“Angel...” the sword spoke.
Angel pulled his sword back out, finally recognizing the proper voice in the cave. Darrengiy. This was his chance to go and take his enemy down, but for some reason he felt like he couldn’t move.
“I also want that woman out of the picture. Tasa.”
“The foreseer’s daughter?”
“Yes, eventually she’ll learn how to use her gift just like her father did, and ruin all of my plans. I can’t have someone alive that can see me doing things before I even do it,” Darrengiy sighed, “I need everything to be perfect.”
“And they will be, my lord, don’t worry. As long as you keep your end of the deal...”
“Don’t worry. I will assist your people in taking that village down for good. Then the villagers will all be for the taking.”
“Thank you, my lord. I’ll go and tell my men,” The raspy voice said. It was a Moorenof that came from the cave, and disappeared under the dark trees.
Angel then came from behind the tree and walked into the dark cave with just the light from his sword to see. No one was there. Disappointed, he walked back out of the cave, but was surprised to see Tasa walking in his direction.
“What are you doing out here in the night? It’s dangerous,” Tasa said angrily, “I searched half the village until one of the guards told me that you left.”
“I needed to think,” Angel said.
“Well, next time do it in a safer area,” Tasa sighed, “come on?”
Tasa led Angel back to the open space under the village and jumped up to retrieve the rope, then came back down and handed it to Angel, “I’ll meet you up-” Tasa froze, then lost her balance and began to fall over.
“Tasa?” Angel let the rope go and caught Tasa in his arms, “Tasa?”
Tasa pulled two small darts out of her neck and looked up at Angel with wide eyes, “Poison...” Tasa’s eyes watered.
“Angel...” The voice spoke again, “run.”
Angel threw Tasa over his shoulder and tugged on the rope. A second later he was yanked high into the air and into the village. Once he landed on an open platform he laid Tasa down.
“Tasa...”
Tasa coughed up blood and took a hard breath, “it’s spreading,” she said in pain.
Angel gently turned her head, and was alarmed to see that it was turning black where the darts had hit her, “someone help!”
Tasa coughed up more blood and grunted in pain, then slowly, she passed out.
“Someone help!” Angel yelled again. A crowd began to form around him on the wide platform.
“What happened to Tasa?” Someone asked, not sounding worried at all.
Angel looked up at her, “darts. I think Moorenofs. She was shot with poison. Please help her.”
“Well, why would I do that?” the man asked, “let the witch die. She’ll be with her father soon.”
Angel frowned in confusion, then looked down at the unconscious woman that would soon be dead if he didn’t do anything, “Tasa, can you hear me?”
Someone from the crowd rushed over to her and touched her forehead, “what happened?” the man asked.
“She was shot with a dart. Two poison darts,” Angel answered.
“Okay, thank you for helping her,” The man said as he scooped her up into his arms.
“Are you a friend of hers?” Angel asked as he followed the man up the bridge.
“Not her friend, but I’m her brother.”
Angel didn’t ask any more questions after that, and followed him to his home. Once they were inside, the man laid her on the ground and went into another room. When he came back out he held a cup in his hand with some sort of pink liquid in it.
“Hold her down,” the man ordered.
Angel nodded and held her down by her chest, “what is that?”
“Something that will help her,” the man poured the light pink liquid onto her neck, and then into her mouth. A few seconds later, Tasa’s body began to shake as if she were being electrocuted.
“What’s happening to her?” Angel asked panicking.
“The antidote is working its way through her body.”
Angel looked back down at Tasa, who had finally stopped shaking, then he let her go and looked up to the man, “what is your name?”
“J
acoda,” The man answered. He looked just like Tasa, but only in man form.
Jacoda stood up and headed for the door, “I’m leaving, do me a favor and don’t tell her about me.”
“Why not? You said you were her brother, right?”
Jacoda nodded, “but she thinks I’m the reason for our father’s death, he was poisoned just like she is now. I couldn’t save him. So please, don’t tell her that I helped.”
“I won’t,” Angel sighed, “how long will she be out?”
“Maybe just a day or two. It depends on how badly the poison had spread,” Jacoda left the room.
Angel shook his head and laid down next to Tasa. Soon he would have to get up and take her back to her home, but for now, he needed to rest. This was the first time that he’s worried about another female other than Shalina, and it made him feel uneasy.
Angel turned his head to face Tasa’s calm sleeping face, “you can see the future, huh?” he closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep.
Chapter 11: Shalina- Part 3
Shalina woke up in the small cabin, in the same spot that she was the first time she awakened, and smiled at the thought of being somewhere other than the castle. When she sat up she noticed that Verenda, the man that had brought her here, was nowhere to be seen.
Shalina got to her feet and brushed a few feathers off of her new velvet clothes, then went to the window to see if Verenda were outside. She loved the feeling of the clothes that Verenda gave her, and felt over the strap of the cloth that was wrapped around her waist.
Verenda had given her the same kind of clothes that he wore, at her request. She wore the same bottoms as he did, which felt great to her, because she felt as if she finally had freedom to stretch her legs. She also wore a black velvet top that covered her breast, but revealed her flat stomach and lower back.
When Shalina didn’t see Verenda outside, she went to the door, but froze when she was about to open it. Her mind had went back to the talk that they had the night before. About how Verenda knew Darrengiy...
***
“I watched Darrengiy do terrible things,” Verenda said. Shalina could see his sadness, even in the dim cabin, “and in some cases, I even helped him. It was all because of an agreement we had, or more so a promise that he made to me, but then I realized that what I wanted from him wasn’t worth all those people’s lives.”
Angel's Blade: Power (Angel Series Book 1) Page 12
