by Brian Nyaude
18
After a few minutes of walking down, I reached the second floor. An unusually stone marbled floor with a lot of candles and knight armored statues around. Nothing echoed like it was vacant. I glanced around and noticed that it wasn’t even locked. I couldn’t feel any presence since the armor was suppressing that power. A wind blew past me as I looked back scared to the bone. Something wasn’t right. The moment I turned my head back, the whole floor had change completely. The ground, the candles, the statues, everything had disappeared without warning. I think I was now outside from the looks of things. How could this be? What sort of enchantment was this? Were my eyes playing tricks on me?
This place, it was peaceful and calm like the Spring Mountains. It was then I saw a little boy herding sheep by himself. He looked happy as 2 dozen sheep flocked his every side. I looked up and saw the sun shining brightly and yet I was way below ground. Just what was happening? I knew I was below the palace and yet….
I decided to walk closer and study the area, perhaps I could figure my way out. Next to the young child and his sheep, there was a wooden hut by size of the princess’ bedroom. Did he live here below the palace? Just who was he? I stopped and looking around, trying to find the door to the next floor. I found nothing of such sort except for a cave about three hundred meters in front of me, well hid in plain sight. Ignoring the child and his sheep, I headed towards the cave slowly.
“Where are you going?” the little boy appeared mysteriously next to me, looking me straight in the eye. “A guard of your statue shouldn’t be down here at all.”
I couldn’t come up with a great answer so I disregarded the little boy as I kept moving.
“Please tell me where you are going?” he spoke again somehow in front of me.
Bizarrely, I had not sensed him come at all thanks to this armor. One thing was for sure, he was fast, I think even faster than Dashe. I glared at him for a minute and decided he wasn’t that much of a threat to me. With my body bruised badly, I wasn’t in any position to fight another person.
“I’m going down below,” I said politely, “child, stand aside and I will be on my way.”
He didn’t listen to what I said as he kept standing still in my way.
“No one is allowed here,” he hissed raising his little arms up in opposite directions. “Especially stupid dressed up looking guards like you.”
I wanted to smack him on the head, but he disappeared, his speed was far much greater than my own. I couldn’t tell where he was now as I looked left and right. Not even a trace of him flickered anywhere within range. He was just gone into the wind.
“Try and find me,” a voice echoed from all over the sky.
I didn’t have enough energy to focus and find him as I had used the mind slipper again completely draining me.
“Sorry kid, but I can’t play with you right now,” I yelled up and took off running towards the cave.
I heard a thunderous scream echoing throughout the sky. The screech of his voice seemed to mess with my head, causing me to lose focus and balance. It felt like I had been drugged, my mind was going blank and my feet seemed heavy and numb. His shriek seemed to be doing something to me. If I had to guess, I would say it was a mist acquired power. With each person, the mist granted them a different power that complemented their different characteristics. Just how many people had been affected by these strange vapors? I heard a loud shriek again and looked up in the sky. Every inner parts of my ears were about to burst when I shut them with my fingers. A swift breeze of wind violently passed by me and for an instant I saw the kid as he rushing past me in the opposite way.
“You are not passing,” he screamed in my face sending me back with the power of his voice.
There was truly something down there I was certain now. Why else would it be difficult to go down there? This child was the only thing standing between me and my prize, of all the luck in the world.
“Let me pass child,” I shouted in the air since I couldn’t see where he was. “I need to retrieve it for the princess. She sent me down here and you can ask her if you want.”
It was all a lie and I wanted to test out how gullible he really was.
“A great and rare armor is down there,” the kid said finally stopping, manifesting into my sight. “why didn’t you say so in the first place? I’ve been waiting for the princess, the chosen one to come get it.”
Finally! I didn’t want to fight a kid especially one as powerful as him in a small place like this. It wasn’t fear that held me back from unleashing my full power, just a sense of pride and an obligation to my friends. I wanted to help Paul and Tye, set them free without having to resort to violence. Suddenly, I was kicked in the stomach hard and sent flying in an opposite direction near the little hut. My abdomen flinched and hurt so bad I felt like throwing up.
“You can’t trick me,” the kid bellowed. “I am no fool, you are not the princess and you can’t go any further.”
Well it had been worth a shot, my lie did not work and now I had to think of something else. It was too late to turn back now, the only way I saw was to keep going ahead. I had not come this far for nothing and I was certainly not going to back off because of some little child.
“Don’t do this kid,” I warned him raising my fists up as a warning. “If you don’t let me pass then I will force myself to go right through you.”
I changed my posture to scare him as I got ready to make a run for it, I had no intention of hurting a child. The tension in the air change, it felt like the wind was burning hot. I saw the child one second and the other he was gone again. There was definitely no sign of fear written all over his face. To make things worse, the terrain around me played to his advantage due to the nature of his mist ability.
“Bring it and I will give it back tenfold,” he boasted waving his little hand towards me.
The level of his confidence certainly matched his tenacity and speed, but in terms of power that was another story. This was no ordinary child I was dealing with. To pass by him, I had to use a bit of excessive force. I hunkered my shoulders down and closed my eyes just for a minute to completely concerntrate.
“Why would the princess, the daughter of Katarina send you here when she can come herself? Something doesn’t add up, tell me who you are?”
Amazing!
I was truly impressed by his logic skills. He had already deducted that I was an impostor when I had managed to fool so many in the castle. I thought to myself of some sort of strategy, but before I realized it, I felt a kick coming to left portion of my head. “Whoa, that was close.”
I backed away searching the surrounding for any movement. Nothing lingered except for the sheep feeding off the tall green grass. Without using my gauntlet, I stood no chance against him. My only remaining option was making a run for it using the first blast energy. Instantly, I felt the familiar flow of yellow energy as the power of the gauntlet surrounded me. The child reappeared in front of me aiming at my chest. I stopped him and threw him of his balance by grabbing his right arm. He bounced back instantly and attacked again tenaciously. We traded blows and counters untimely as if we were equally matched rivals. What was I doing? I was stuck below the enemy’s castle unable to proceed because a child was in my way? Before I could grab both of his hands, the kid flew up into the sky. “Wait, seriously?”
It was amazing how he was doing that, had never seen a human who could fly except for Sam the impostor metal man. But he was a different story, I mean he wasn’t human after all.
The child was relentless, he was even better at combat than Kaya. Not to say, I couldn’t take him out at any time I wanted. For some reason, I was curious about him and felt like dragging this charade a little longer. Tilting to the left, I easily evaded all of his attacks and wore him out after a half an hour. Sweat bore down his forehead as I saw anger brew on his face. He suddenly smiled as he extended his arm towards me, fingers spread apart.
“Y
ou won’t survive this,” he smiled slowly. “Nobody has ever survived this attack and lived to tell about it.”
He was right, I felt something powerful forming inside his hand. I think he was concentrating all of his energy into single point before expelling towards me. The distance between us was not too great, unlikely that I could evade his last attack easily. It seemed I had underestimated him, a mistake that might have haunted me. Quickly, I followed suit, gathering all of my energy into my right hand. It was either him or me who would bite the dust. I didn’t want to fight a kid in the first place, nevertheless, it was the only way. Just as we were about to expel all of our built up energy, I felt some ominous presence approaching. What was this sinister feeling? I stopped halfway, releasing away the energy I had concentrated into my hand. Something or someone incredibly powerful was approaching us. I had never felt anything like it, it felt out of this world inconceivable. But nothing seemed out of the weird ordinary. What now? It was getting cold again for no reason. The ground beneath our feet began to collapse into a bottomless pit as massive winds blew into it. “Of all the luck in the world.”
A wormhole had appeared out of nowhere, threatening to swallow both of us in it. My heart skipped a bit as I jumped up out of the way. It was now clear, Katarina knew where I was and trying to get to. If she was trying to stop me then it meant whatever was down there was very important.
“What is this mistress?” the kid screamed, “please not me too. I have served you for nine years on the promise that you would release my parents from your prison castle in Danyen.”
“So that’s his story,” I thought to myself, finally aware of the motive behind his attacks.
Although, I doubted that Katarina was listening to the little boy’s cries. I guess there were more victims who had fallen prey to Katarina Fox than I had imagined. The powerful winds were forcing us both into the abyss, there was nowhere to escape. I looked up into the sky, thinking I would catch a glimpse of her. To my disappointment, she wasn’t anywhere in sight. Her powerful presence lingered in the sky above, alerting me that she was well hidden, but here.
“No please stop mistress,” the little boy screamed trying to run towards his sheep. A chunk of his sheep were sucked away, disappearing into the bottomless abyss. I looked away, trying to hide my emotions of sadness. Such an atrocity was unforgivable.
Looking down, I noticed most of the ground crumbling away, leaving no more room to place our feet on. At this rate, we were both going to fall into it. The boy stopped just as he was about to reach his hut, unable to continue because of the wormhole. He cried out loud as he yelled out to his sheep. As my left side of the ground disappeared, I rushed out of my towards the little boy, grabbing him up by the waist. Fortunately, he had stopped trying to kill me and faintly let himself go into my arms. Once I had him, I blitzed towards the remaining pieces of land that had not yet disappeared below and stood there. This was nothing compared to what Ebi had put me through. Thinking through all of that calmed my heart, making me think clearly again.
“Hey it will be alright!” I slapped his little face lightly. “But we need to go down there and get out of here before we too are sucked down. Tell me how to get out of here?”
His face was blank and lifeless like his soul had already left his body. Had the boy lost his mind? The horror of betrayal and watching his precious sheep get sucked into oblivion was just too much for him. Perhaps, I should have done that in the beginning. If I had held hostage one of his sheep then maybe I would have gotten by him a little easier.
Oh no! What was I thinking? That was truly a bad thing to do to the child. I took my eyes off the kid and looked down towards our certain impending doom. Vibrating lightly, I felt small tremors coming from beneath me, alerting me that the ground was about to give in. I jumped up high far into the sky, taking advantage of the wild air currents blowing savagely in all directions. Thanks to my training, I could control my body enough to float like a feather in the air for a few seconds. Within moments, the whole land had disappeared completely into the dark abyss, leaving me no room to land at all.
“What a pinch!”
I had to do something, but what exactly? From up here, it looked hopeless. Everything below me, even the passage to the golden room had been sucked away and I was next. Just what she trying to hide from me? It must have been something important if she going through all that trouble to stop me from going towards the hidden room. In that moment, I saw an opening crying out to me. I could clearly see the golden room from up here since there was no longer any passages blocking it. One tiny problem, it was dead center in the middle of the wormhole.
“But this is my chance,” I whispered excitedly.
Was it really worth it? I felt a tinge of fear rush through me at the thought of jumping down below. I could really die by doing something that stupid. Rattled, I bit my lip in utter confusion at the choice I had to make. Yes, there was no other way; I had to go towards it. This was my final test, a test of my conviction. We were beginning to descend into the mouth of the worm hole slowly. Things didn’t look good for us at all. Instinctively, I reached into my sack and took the string I had taken when I was still at Suzanne’s old place. I didn’t know why I did it, but I took it out and threw it across the sky. Shockingly, the string stretched out long, extending up into the sky. It somehow latched tightly onto a floating cloud passing by, stopping us both from our doom descent. My jaw dropped in utter disbelief. Was this really happening? I must have been losing my mind or something. I held on tightly with my left hand while my grip stayed strongly on the child on my right hand.
A half an hour went by, however, the wormhole remained, taunting me deeply. For some reason that golden room remained in the middle as if Katarina was baiting me to go towards it. I wasn’t so stupid as to be baited by such a petty trick; however, I couldn’t stay here any longer. The worm was growing wider and bigger. The air was hot and thick, getting harder and harder to breath with each second. I looked at the little boy who had remained quiet and motionless for quite some time. I couldn’t help, but wonder what was going on in his little brain at the moment. The sky ached with thunder and lightning, revealing Katarina Fox’s rage towards me. Her wrath towards me was showing, in more ways than I could have wanted. After the trouble I had caused her, I really wouldn’t blame her. Judging from the storm in sky, it was moments before she made her unwanted entrance. I had not come down here aching for a fight. It was then I realized what I had to do at that exact moment. Quickly, I strapped the body onto the string securely by his waist, before jumping down into the eye of the wormhole. As another safety precaution, I also discarded the training armor I had on, leaving only the clothes I had before.
As expected, my ability to sense people returned to me instantly. I could sense two massive and monstrous energies above me of epic and legendary proportions. It must have been Katarina and her daughter the princess. Certainly it had to be them judging by the dark and sinister energy I felt. Without the armor on, I felt the weight of their power exponentially, twice what I had felt before.
“This is not the time to show fear!” I said to myself with a slap on the cheek.
Since I had been discovered, there was no longer a point in hiding my power anymore. I summoned the orange energy which was my second most powerful technique by igniting my anger. Two guns appeared in my hands along with the white sashes, swerving rapidly from side to side. Something was wrong, a mist of grey clouds were forming and descending towards me. The clouds felt odd and dangerous, like a bad premonition. Without thinking, I rotated my body in the air and shot two bullets of rage towards the grey clouds in the sky. At first nothing happened, but then a sudden burst of orange bright light engulfed skies. I shielded my eyes, sensing for danger around me. I knew I was still in danger. That amount of power was not enough to defeat monsters of their caliber. I looked down and realized that the wormhole had vanished, only leaving a large black hole behind. Maybe, I had done more damage
to her than I had imagined, causing her to lose focus in the process. Taking advantage of the situation, I landed on top of the gold plated room with my feet. The gold covering the room looked even more priceless than the contents inside. But finally, it was within my grasp. I couldn’t help, but wonder what was inside it. Why was Katarina fixated on keeping me away from it? Maybe it was her one and only weakness or something. Strangely, the whole room began to glow brightly as I got closer to the door. I jumped down, landing on a small patch of dirt beside it. There was an opening on the door which looked like the key opening. I had never seen one that big before. Perhaps something else was supposed to be placed inside it for it to open. However, I had no clue or idea of what exactly. I got a little frustrated as my voyage here seemed to have come to an brief and disappointing end. I didn’t have the key so there was no point to stay down here unless I wanted to get caught by Katarina Fox. Facing her would’ve sounded like a great idea, but I still wasn’t powerful enough to make a bruise on her skin. My right arm was glowed, almost the same color as the door.
“Whoa!”
Somehow, I wasn’t surprised by the new chain of events. I pondered my mind for a while trying to figure out what was going on. Maybe my gauntlet itself was the key to opening the golden door. It certainly looked that way to me, like I was the chosen to open the door. Oh, what am I saying? I didn’t believe in destiny or other stuff like that.
Without even knowing it, I felt my hand reach into the door and pull an unknown switch. It felt like I had done this before which was weird even for me. There was a loud click followed by a rumbling noise, coming from the door itself. A chilly uneasy feeling crept behind me, upsetting my stomach terribly. It was like I was unleashing terror onto the world as the door opened. The whole room inside was also solid gold. If only I could carry it all, I would be the richest man on the planet. With this much gold, I could retire for life from the stealing business and none of my friends would have to suffer from hunger again. It all sounded good to me, but there was a problem and it was Katarina Fox. Why was there always a kink in all my plans? I doubted it would be easy to get past her. I cast my thoughts aside and focused my mind on my true objective. I stepped inside the golden room and saw only a silver coat, with brand marks of gold and bronze encryptions. Seriously, had I gone through all that trouble just for some stupid looking coat? Although I had to admit it looked better than the cotton cloak I had on. The ground suddenly shacked and I heard a thunderous roar coming from inside the clouds. Without wasting much time, I took the coat from the room and ran out as quickly as my feet could carry me. From the corner of my eye I witnessed the golden room collapse and the gold tarnish and rust.
“No! No! Not the gold!”
I couldn’t help, but shed a tear for the fortune that had been almost mine. No trace of the gold remained, it was all gone. My feet touched a small patch of dirt as I looked up into the sky.
“Oh no the little boy,” I spotted him dangling from the string I had left him.
Somehow he had survived my blasts and he was still hanging by the thread. Okay, had to admit, that was funny metaphorically. The cotton coat offered limited mobility, so I removed it and tried the silver coat, a perfect fit. It felt lighter and for some reason warmer. Rather hard to believe this was what Katarina wanted to keep away from me. The weather in the sky took a turn for the waste as lightning echoed everywhere around me. After what I had done to her and her daughter I couldn’t help, but imagine how angry she must be. We had to leave this place soon, bad things were about to happen. I bent my legs and jumped high up as the wind could take me, rising into the air. In an instance, I felt their presences again, shadowed in the sky. The very air around me reeked of blood lust and sinister thoughts. Their intent to kill was so great it felt like my body was being stabbed frequently from different directions. I knew that I had to get away now or forfeit my life. But there was no escape except through them. Quickly, I managed to jump my way towards the child, freeing him before letting the string loose from the cloud. Instead of falling, I began to float up further into the sky. At first, I couldn’t control it, but with each second l got the hang of it. Whoa, I was really flying and it was amazing. How was I even doing it? I think it was the power of this new coat, it had to be.
“Is there another way down?” I shook the kid up.
He seemed out of it and didn’t look like he was going to be much help. As I held him tightly, I looked up for another way out. A brilliant idea popped into my head, it was to blast away another exit in the sky. This underground chamber or whatever this place is was linked somehow to the palace and the outside. As I was about to use my guns, two giant beasts broke through the sky barrier catching me off guard. They looked like treasure dogs except only one hundred times bigger and nastier. They bore spiky black fur and had large bushy tails the size of two trees in length. Growling ferociously, they descended towards us at frightening speeds. My jaw opened as I felt fear grip me. This was indeed an unexpected development. Instinctively, they attacked us ruthlessly and didn’t even give me a chance to counterattack. Without the slightest thought, I used our combined weight to free fall towards the bottom, shooting a barrage of bullets at both of them. The bullets did not do much harm to the gigantic creatures at all. Their sheer size and tough skin was enough to protect them from my attacks without the slightest effort. Katarina was definitely close, this attack was merely a distraction or amusement for her. The dogs gave me no room to breathe; they attacked one after the other violently. I stopped attacking the dogs to conserve my strength, and used my eyes to search around for another way out. Hidden beneath the ruins, there was another unknown passage. This was my way out. I double timed my speed and headed towards it desperately. Still unaware of how it worked, I flew towards the passage, shooting away the rubble and debris. The giant dogs pursued behind me, jaws wide open and showing their teeth sharper than a blade. Little by little, they gained more distance drawing closer for comfort. On impulse, my body twisted allowing me to face them while still descending down into the dark pit. I fired two powerful bullets of rage at each of them with both of my guns, causing me to increase my plunge. “Not good.”
Instead of the result I wanted, my actions caused the walls around me to collapsing behind me. The dogs stopped following me, fleeing towards the surface like cowards. I had no choice, but to keep going further down. There was nothing, but darkness in front of me, like my future. All I had was my will to survive as my guide. Even my eyesight was powerless against this raging darkness that went on forever. What could I do? I was getting frustrated by with this silent darkness. I couldn’t tell how far I was beneath the surface. The dogs growled and sounded pretty upset with what I had done especially Katarina Fox. I had stolen from her and managed to get away with it too. A fit worthy of legends one might say.
My shoulder hit something hard cause me to wince a little. I had no idea of where I was or what was in front of me. I only knew that I was going downwards somewhere, guided by my instincts. Wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up at the center of the world.
Something stirred ahead of me. I turned my heads towards it and saw a faint small light, the only thing I could see and nothing else. Was this the way out? There was no way to be certain except by going towards it. Odd enough, the walls around me started to get wider the more I flew towards the bottom. The light began to glow even brighter the closer I came towards it. I felt myself slow down and approach it carefully. My heart told my mind it was okay, everything was going to be okay. A whisper of good hope lingered silently in my ears, assuring me of what was in front of me. I reached out into the light and grabbed something spherical in nature. It was smooth and glowed vividly. A large flow of light coming from the sphere surrounded me and the child completely. I felt a warm radiance as I closed my eyes softly. It was a short, but felt like an eternity all in one time. What was this feeling?
A soft wind blew into my ears. I opened my eyes with my hand shielding them expecting t
o see horror, but to my surprise I was out of that dark place and outside. Not an illusion, but the real outside.
19
2
The night was clear and the sun was nowhere in sight. I was somewhere within the great walls of Jura. I couldn’t understand what had happened; however, I was glad to be out. Echoes of screaming merchants were coming from everywhere. The once dark shafts of alleys were covered with the thick bright light from scented candles. As I got up, I noticed that I still had the little boy within my arm. He was now asleep, I tried to leave him behind and go, but my conscious refused as it was cruel and heartless thing to do. For a few minutes straight, I debated with myself on what to do with him. Finally I decided to bring him with me after my conscience had overcome my stupid and careful portion of the brain. The night was definitely still young. I walked in the city brimming like a newly reborn man. Everywhere I walked people stopped and stared at my silver coat. Had to admit, it was rather marvelous fabric. However, its bright silver color was attracting way too much attention. Before I even realized it, it morphed into a black coat with yellow shoulder stripes. I stopped in my tracks amazed completely.
“This is definitely new!”
This coat was indeed special and a lot more valuable than I perceived. Was it enchanted or magical? Such a fine piece of clothing was hardly common in my era. Maybe it served another purpose which is why Katarina desperately wanted to keep me away from it. I took my mind away from it and started wondering where Suzanne and the others were. They had said they would find me. Well in this large fortress of a city, it was going to be to take a while. I looked up at the large stacked buildings, admiring the marvels around me. The streets were busy with young men and women my age, chatting and dancing around the streets. For a moment, it reminded me of my time in Rogue. My breath grew cold as I was reminded of the situation I was in. Katarina Fox was in Jura along with the princess looking for me. I had to leave the city soon or she would find me. Looking left and right, I ran across the busy alleys hiding away when I spotted city guards. I still couldn’t believe I had gone through that difficult task all for this shiny coat. Just what was it that made it so important?
The little boy had said it was powerful and very precious, reserved for the princess. Only thing I had seen it do for me was flight and color change, not that much impressive. After crossing past a few streets, I managed to make my way to a small district with smaller buildings with fewer lamps lit. There were neither any young adults in this area nor guards present. It was quiet and peaceful. I proceeded carefully into the small district, controlling my body to prevent loud steps. There was a large howl of a dog in the wind. I looked up into the air and realized who it belonged to. Those giant dogs, I doubted it was the last time I ever saw them again. Their scent corrupted the air, making my nostrils burn. To be fair, I had held back some of the gauntlet’s other power. Not because I couldn’t use it, but because….. Let’s just say I wanted it to be a surprise for Katarina when we finally met in clutches of battle.
“Hey you,” someone yelled to me, “come here and make it fast!”
Someone was calling out to me from behind a tall stack of trees. It was a guard roughly my height carrying a large spear. He hollered again signaling me to come closer. Out of options, I did as he asked and approached him. I could have taken him out, but I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself.
“Have you seen this man?” the guard said showing me a picture of a familiar face. “This is the princess’ fiancé and he is lost so have you seen him?”
It was Jisembo! The guy Suzanne had beat up along with his buddies. Plus, the guy I had impersonated to get into the palace. Fiancé!
Clearly, the princess had believed what I had said and took it to heart. I was really getting good at lying. Although, I really felt bad for Jisembo, apart from being beat up and tied, I had made his life more miserable by telling the princess that he was bringing her an engagement ring.
“I’m sorry sir,” I replied bowing my head in a polite way, “I have not seen this man at all, but I will alert the officials if I see him.”
I sighed after saying that, I doubted he believed me because he kept staring at my coat and the little boy. He was onto something and whatever it was only spelled trouble for me.
“Are you wearing the designer coat from Luche’s place?” he spoke in a different way now. “It has to be, look at the design, the color and the texture of this coat, magnificent.”
Oh joy!
The guard was a fashion freak who just wouldn’t stop talking about designed clothing. He kept talking for what seemed like an eternity. It was all about Luche’s next designer shorts and coats for men. It sounded pretty tormenting to me because I hated designer clothing with a passion and hearing about it annoyed me to death. If I did ever meet Luche, I was going to punch him in the stomach for making me go through all that.
“Please sir,” I finally cut him off unable to bear it anymore. “I have to take my son to the doctor because he is not well as you can see.”
For some couple of seconds he examined the boy before he let me go quietly.
“Well, see you at Luche’s place tomorrow,” he yelled towards me as I was leaving. “He is holding a fashion festival at his mansion.”
“In your dreams,” I whispered to myself trying to ignore him.
No way, this was hopefully the last time he and I ever talked again. After all, I was going to take down the structure of power in Okaya permanently. So no more Katarina Fox, her daughter, and definitely all her minions. A brief moment after I left him, I stopped halfway, looking into the sky and soaking in a moment of relief. The moon was shining bright as a cool steady wind blew past me. I heard street bums chanting in the nearby alleys and lit streets. Besides being under the reign of the Rainku, Okaya was really a thieves’ paradise. There were so many hidden places and inns to steal from, delightful. Although, Jura was a lot nicer than I expected. I thought it would be a nightmare far worse than Saza, glad to see I was wrong. Or perhaps it was just another ruse, to cover up a city with a dark secret past. There was something about Okaya that Katarina didn’t want us to find. But in all honesty, a lot of things made absolutely no sense at all. I mean where did the Rainku come from? How had they acquired their insane skills and powers? How was it possible that they took over so many powerful countries in such a short period of time? They were well disciplined and organized like there was someone or something powerful above them, a very powerful force not to be trifled with. I heard something howling within the night and shifted my gaze up. I felt a brush of fear slide past my spine. Something bad had been unleashed into the city.
“Get inside all of you,” a man yelled from what looked like a beer inn, hollering to all of us outside. “The black wolves are about to be released out.”
Wolves! That explained the familiar presence of animal blood lust I felt in the air. The drunken bums and even the thieves in the alleys fled the scene to find cover somewhere. I joined them and bolted towards the beer inn. It was the only thing open at that time. I held the little boy firmly in one hand and slithered inside. Once inside, I sighed and paced slowly towards a vacant table adjacent to the window. Most of the men inside were half asleep, drunk out of their minds. The bartender spotted me and walked right towards me. He looked at me warmly. “You ain’t from around here are you boy? Young men like you should know better than walk outside at this time when it is harvest time.”
Harvest time! I didn’t like the sound of that so I asked, “what is that sir?”
They all laughed at me like I had said something funny. I felt awkward and stupid among these drunks. It’s ironic that I had been once one of them, seeing them drinking their heads off brought back bad memories. Needless to say, I felt a growing sadness hidden beneath their hysterical laughter. One of the men stopped laugh holding his mug tightly while his other hand clenched into a fist. Suddenly, the walls of the beer inn rattled from all corners loudly.
>
“Now what,” I peered through the closed window.
We heard loud howling creatures, coming from all sides around the inn. I carried the child up and moved away from the window quickly. The air reeked with the scent of blood thirsty wolves. It wasn’t just the inn alone, I felt their presence all over the city. What sort of madness was this? My stomach coiled at the thought of all the people outside when these creatures were unleashed.
“That’s harvest time boy!” the bartender chuckled as he served a beer to one of the drunks.
Terrible screams were everywhere, from what I could see outside. The wolves were attacking everyone for some unknown reason. My heart was tearing up in two as I wanted to go out and help them. Even if I did go out, there was nothing I could do against such a horde of those savages.
“Katarina must be looking for the intruders who destroyed Saza and her pet monster. I heard a rumor they might have come this way.” one of the drunks spoke pounding his cup on the table. “Just hope my boy wasn’t out there when the wolves were summoned.”
I was right! There wasn’t any safe place in Okaya no matter where you were. The citizens were in much terrible danger as I was. I had brought this upon them. I could only hope when the time was came, I would redeem myself by destroying Katarina and her Trident from this world. It all sounded easy, but could I do it? Was I truly the one to bring the Rainku down? The more I doubted myself the more my heart became clouded. Everyone in the room felt the same as me. From their expressions, they also hated what was going on and wished to stop it. The screams outside didn’t decrease, but only got louder and sounded close each time. I heard the left wall rattle, alarming everyone around me. It seemed the wolves were still hungry and were starting to infiltrate people’s homes and local meeting places.
“Put the piano against the door,” the bartender yelled, “they are going to strike here next in a matter of seconds.”
He was right! They were just across the next building and seemed to have their eyes set on our building next. Although heavily drunk, the men got up and helped each other carry the piano and leaned it against the door which was the only way in. There was a loud thump as if something hard hit the door followed by a terrible howl which echoed through the thick walls of the bar. “Cover the chimney,” I warned them as one of the wolves was about to come inside through the chimney.
Two men heeded my warning and placed a large table against the chimney opening, supporting it with their backs. The whole city was in a loud ruckus, there wasn’t any place where I could not hear people screaming. It was absolutely terrible. What was she thinking? Clearly it was a good idea to flush us out by doing this; however, these people didn’t deserve this type of cruelty for what I had done. Everyone inside were helping out only to buy time. I had to do something to stop this madness. My teeth gritted as I felt my anger burn out wildly. Before I knew it, I had both hands on my flintlocks, ready to go out and fight off the wolves. Some stopped me suddenly, appearing out of nowhere like a shadow.
“I told you we’d find you,” Suzanne said taking my hand firmly away from the doorknob. “We need to leave this city now! Something tells me you had something to do with the mess outside.”
She was always right! I smirked at her lightly as I moved away from the door. Even the angelic look of hers did nothing to diminish the turmoil in my heart. I felt guilty beyond a doubt for what was happening. I had caused this terrible mess because I went snooping around in places forbidden in the city. It was my fault things had turned out this way and somehow I had to stop this ridiculous onslaught from happening any further.
“Who is that?” she asked pointing to the little kid who was still in my arm.
Funny! I had forgotten that he was still in my hands all this time. The child was still sound asleep, breathing lightly. To where we were headed, I couldn’t afford to take him with me. He was more of a burden to me and the sooner I got rid of him the better.
“He is trouble,” I replied her taking him to the bartender. “Here can you please take care of him? I will pay you back for all his utilities and everything when I come back within a week from now.”
Provided I lived that long anyway. I gave him a few gold coins that were still in my sack as I bowed my head in respect. For a minute, he didn’t move as he looked at the child and then directly at me. His eyes pierced the very depths of my soul, looking for signs of deception and mischief.
“Hey boy, better come on now and return in a week ya hear?” he muttered as he ducked from flying window pieces. He took the boy from my hands and hid him behind the side turned table gently. “Or I will throw this boy on the street.”
“I sure will.”
That was if I survived my encounter with Katarina Fox. The terrible loud howls decreased slowly, and harshly. It was all quiet outside now, a little too quiet. I felt the wolves retreat like they were full or being called back. They scurried along the rooftops of the houses, running back in the same direction. In an instant, I saw them disappear into a very large colorful sphere in the sky. Wait, I saw something else next to them. A dark hooded and terrible figure suspended in the air effortlessly, looking in my direction.
There was no doubt about it, it was Katarina Fox. I could recognize the foul presence even from a city away. Her terrible dark presence masked the city in unending obscurity. Somehow she knew I wasn’t dead and she was determined to bring me out of hiding. I squinted my eyes carefully, but could not see her face. She was wearing some sort of mask over her face, all I could see were glowing purple eyes. In her hand, there was a long thin tipped trident that discharged great power. My heart faltered for a second. I mean what was I thinking? How could I possibly defeat such a person? Ebi was really incredible to have even stood a chance against them by himself. Katarina suddenly raised her trident in the air with her right hand. It glowed strongly as a large sphere appeared.
“We need to leave now,” Suzanne grabbed my hand strongly. “Something terrible is about to happen.”
Katarina was persistent and relentless which were rather annoying traits for me. Had she used her trident to seek me out? If so, that explained everything. Storm like clouds suddenly appeared in the sky followed by lighting. Strangely enough, the weather went back to normal quickly after that within a few seconds. What follow after was a horde of giant dogs, coming out of thin air. Their eyes glowed bright, reflecting light from the moon. They landed on the buildings practically destroying them to rubble. Like the other two from before, their fur was dark and raised, and yet ever so fierce. One of them raised its head and growled terribly sending sound shockwaves in the air.
“For once I agree with you! We seriously need to leave now,” I replied her without taking my eyes away from them. “Large beasts are coming this way and they know where we are.”
“Calm down,” she cut me off, “hold onto my hand and relax we’ll be out of here in no time.”
That was if we had time, they were dashing in our direction at such menacing speed and with such great agility. I felt sorry for the bartender and the drunks inside. Somehow, I hoped they would hold out until the nightmare was over. The strange feeling as if my shadow was engulfing me came back stronger. Suzanne was using her power as we traveled in the shadows out of the city. Fortunately there was no trouble leaving the city as the rest of the guards had gone into hiding fearing that they would be caught in crossfire while Katarina was in her destructive rampage. We managed to get out of city, dashing for the nearby woodlands that led for Danyen. I took one look back at the fortress city of Jura with my fist raised. “I promise I will end her reign of terror.”
