“Now thrust!” Rose shouted the direction to Nick. Quickly she moved out of the way of Nick’s thrusting sword. “Good, good. Remember to anticipate the movement of your enemies.”
Albert and Cassie rested on a formation of rocks not far from the practice area. Those they were traveling with had dispersed. The healed headed home to their families, those left sick stayed where the party had met Cassie. The four Dragoons decided to move on, find the next town, and find information that might help them figure out what they need to do.
By now, they all knew the powers that Cassie possessed could easily tell them why they were here and what they needed to do to accomplish their tasks, but Cassie refused to tell them. She informed them that in order to grow and bond as a group, they needed to travel and discover everything for themselves.
“Rose, I need a breather.” They heard Nick shout, focusing their attention back to the practice.
“Do you think an enemy will give you a breather Nick?” She continued to make her advance on Nick, forcing him to block and strike back.
Albert chuckled to himself as he watched a very tired Nick try to block an attack forced upon him by the well-trained and un-tired Rose. A loud clash ended the session; Rose had disarmed Nick and he lay sprawled on the ground under the point of her blade. “Never relax yourself.” Was her last bit of advice before withdrawing her weapon and helping him to his feet.
“Where did you learn to fight?” Nick questioned as they walked towards Albert and Cassie.
“I’ve been training for many, many years.” Rose sighed. Though they had told the story of the Dragon campaigns in Endiness to Nick, both Albert and Rose had held back the information about Rose’s 10,000 year past before the second campaign.
Albert got up off the rock and approached the others with water pouches. “That was a good show.” He laughed, slapping Nick on his back. “You certainly lasted longer against her then you did me a few weeks ago.” He shook his head still smiling broadly. “Soon we will have to have a match. I’d say girls against the boys, but then one against three would be uneven.” Albert laughed loudly at his joke, though he sensed a glare coming from both Rose and Nick.
Hot and tired Nick threw off his shirt and fell unto a grassy patch to rest. His blond hair plastered to his face, sweat glistened in the gruff that had grown on his chin. When he arrived in this new world, he was fit, but now after all the training, he became well built too. He was told he still had a long way to go until the others would feel comfortable with him fighting. Instead of him helping fight the beasts that attacked or they hunted, he had to sit and watch the others, taking note of how they fought, when they defended and when they felt was a good time to transform into their Dragoon forms.
Fed up after watching the first few times, Nick inserted himself into the next fight the group came too. It was only a simple fight, but Nick messed up, and put the life of Rose in danger. Only when he noticed what was going to happen to her, did a feeling of protectiveness kick in and he threw himself in front of Rose and took the brunt of the attack, shielding himself with his sword-sticking straight upwards. His stupidity saved Rose, injured himself greatly and killed the beast. He felt like a hero that day.
A slight breeze started and Nick drank in the coolness. He stood back up and faced the other three who were conferring. Several times he was called the leader, but many times they met in a group without him to decide the best course of action. He didn’t mind, he really did not understand why they had made him the leader of their group when Rose or Albert were better suited to the role. The breeze picked up and Nick took in a deep breath, he scanned the horizon noticing a small figure seemingly being overcome by a larger figure.
Without thinking, he grabbed his sword from where it fell after being disarmed and ran as fast as he could towards the shadows. The others caught his movement and started out after him.
“Nick!” Rose shouted after him. Wearier from the practice then she let on, Albert and Cassie soon overtook her and made their way to where Nick was faster.
As she ran Cassie pulled a quiver out and strung her bow, pulling tightly she released the arrow towards the beast. Her pace quickened after loosing the arrow, and she climbed a nearby rock, standing at a perfect distance to shoot her arrows. She could watch the whole battle from where she was standing. Albert was next into the fray, stabbing his spear into the leg of the huge beast. He yanked the spear; blood trickled down the leg and mingled with the long blue-grey hairs.
The trunk less elephant like beast, reared his front legs in anger, dropping his feet only a few feet from where Nick stood guarding the girl that had been originally attacked. He slashed at the beast, holding his sword with both hands for a better grip. Cassie saw that his training had taken root in his head and he blocked and struck the beast with precision and strength, if she had not known better, she would have thought he had been practicing the sword since he was young.
Brought back to the moment, she grabbed another quiver and pulled the bow tightly, aiming carefully and loosing the arrow. She watched with her keen eyes and saw that her arrow hit it’s mark, the beasts eye had an arrow protruding, spraying blood over Albert and Nick who stood below the beast. She watched as the massive legs were lifted in anger once again, this time Nick was blinded by the blood.
“Nick!” Rose shouted again. Finally arriving at the scene, she reached Nick. Still running but unable to pull him and the young girl out of the way, she grabbed the girl, used her remaining strength, and threw herself towards Nick. Her shoulder collided with his chest, knocking him backwards, Rose and the girl lying over top of him. The ground shook as the beast landed where Nick and the girl had been standing seconds before.
Albert ran back from the beast and yelled to Cassie. “Loose another arrow!” He shouted the direction at her.
Without hesitation Cassie did as he requested, aiming for the other eye. Missing her mark by inches, the arrow shaft jutted out of it’s forehead. A single trickle of blood is all that fell from this wound.
As Albert hoped, the beast raised his front legs in attack again. He took his opportunity and ran straight under the beast.
“Harpoon!” He shouted as he thrust his spear upwards into the beast’s chest. Quickly, he dropped and rolled out from under the beast, leaving his spear. Upon landing the beast forced his spear to enter his body more, striking it’s center of life and killing it. The beast whimpered in death and collapsed to the ground, driving the spear all the way through.
Rose stood up, leaving the windless Nick where he was. “Good work Albert.” She nodded at her companion. Carefully she brushed herself off, and then bent down to tend to the child. “Cassie, I think this girl’s ankle is broken.”
Cassie leapt gracefully from the boulder and made her way to the young girl. The girl’s face was stained with tears and Cassie looked at her gently. “Cry no longer. We are friends and I will help you heal.” Cassie smoothed the girl’s hair and wiped away the tears. She left her hand atop the auburn hair, and grasped the Spirit with the other. She closed her eyes, a soft glow illuminated the area, the girl started to whimper scared of what was happening.
Rose watched and memories of Shirley flooded back into mind. Glancing around, she observed Albert trying to retrieve his spear from the beast and sniffing it to see if the meat pulled from inside would be any good to them. Her eyes found their way to Nick still lying on the ground. A smile played on her lips as she bent next to him.
“Comfortable?” She asked him, watching his eyes find their way open.
He sat up slowly, rubbing his head the whole way up. “What happened?” He asked looking down at his bloodstained chest. He looked towards the fallen animal and Albert standing on top, still trying to pull out his spear. Realization of the recent occurrence struck him instantly. “How is the girl?”
“She’s fine.” Rose smiled and motioned to where Cassie and the young child were testing her newly healed ankle by playing a game similar to tag. She offered her hand to Nick, which he declined still eyeing Albert.
Swiftly he leaned on one arm and pushed himself off the ground. Standing he looked at himself covered in blood, then at Rose, sweaty, and only a bit of blood on her shoulder. “Are you injured?” He asked as he tenderly touched her shoulder so not to hurt a possible wound.
She looked at his hand on her shoulder, then back at his face. Shaking her head she replied, “No, it’s from the blood on your chest.”
Nick nodded and removed his hand. “I need to find a river or lake, heck even a pond would do. This blood is beginning to dry and cake on. Teaches me to try and fight something with no shirt on.” He laughed at his own mistake and found his sword lying not far off on the ground. “Here Rose, hold this.” He handed it to him and whistled at Albert. “Hey, I’m going to get cleaned off, wanna come?”
Leaping from the beast, Albert joined Nick as they searched for water to clean themselves off.
*****
Cassie cuddled the girl near the fire to help keep her warm in the chilling evening air. No one had yet asked the girl why she was out alone or what happened to her family, they figured she would want to rest first. Albert slept soundly not far from the group more tired from the excursion of removing his spear then the actual fight, and Rose sat up against a rock, eyes barely open. Nick’s adrenaline was pumping from the fight still and could not bring himself to lie down. Cassie, who nominated herself the guardian of the child, sat awake, rocking the girl trying to sooth her to sleep.
Nick finally could not take the silence anymore, feeling that someone had better ask the girl eventually. “So, where are your parents?” He asked, receiving a sharp glance from Cassie and feeling a glare coming from Rose.
The girl’s eyes began to tear up and her lip started to quiver. Instead of bawling, her face remained that way as if she had not enough tears to fall anymore. This look tortured Nick and he felt sorry he brought up such a sensitive subject. “I’m sorry.” He apologized to the girl. He turned his head away from her face to avoid the look, but brought back when a meek voice spoke for the first time.
“Mommy and daddy fought.” She said at first. Those awake started to wonder if she had simply run away from the fighting inside her house. Slowly she continued though. “Mommy didn’t want to come here; daddy said we would be better.”
Rose looked around, did she actually mean here, among these rocks. They were a protective shelter for her and her companions but certainly not a place to bring a family.
“Dear, if your family came with you here, where are they now?” Cassie asked, her voice calm and soothing.
The girl yawned and snuggled closer to Cassie. “They not wake up.”
Rose looked at Cassie and Cassie nodded to Rose letting her know the girl spoke the truth. Cassie even knew the cause of the poor family’s deaths, but against her training, she was not to reveal anything to people who needed to discover their destinies in their own time. Cassie held the girl tighter, rocking her gently until she knew that the girl was asleep. Slowly Rose and Nick drifted off to sleep, Cassie left awake to stand guard over everyone.
She looked up at the stars and smiled, taking in a deep breath at the sight. The night sky in her own world reminded her of the scene she looked upon now. A cool breeze blew through her hair bringing her back to another time, another place.
‘She couldn’t have been more then ten years old
at the time, but already she knew her own destiny. She stood outside her parents silvery blue house, excited to let them know of her preparations that needed planning. Inside the house, she heard her parents yelling. It was clear they were yelling at her older brother.
Many years they had fought with him about
his rebelling against her clan’s ways. He scoffed
at the visions, refused to believe his were true
and wished he was normal like those in other
clans. Her parents had tried to convey to him that
respect came with their abilities, and those who
had no powers sought their clan out for guidance.
Her clan played an important role in the development
of her world.
Still her brother fought, calling his parents several
names that still brought a sting to Cassie’s ears.
“Hey kid,” She remembered him saying. “I’m going
to be going away for a while now. You remember me
and try not to let anyone steer your future for you.”’
Cassie brought her hand to the top of her head, touching it lightly, the way Dalton had touched her before he walked out of the town and out of her life. Twelve years later, she had never heard from him again, leaving her to wonder if he found his true destiny and if his visions had rung true. By law, the village elders were the only ones allowed to know the visions her people held. Her own parents had no idea where she was, and what her vision was, they only knew of what she needed to do to prepare herself. Lost in thought, Cassie was unaware of the movement next to her.
“What are you thinking about?” Albert asked her cautiously. Though traveling together for a couple of weeks, Albert was still unaware of anything about Cassie before she joined the group. He did not want to tread on unwelcome waters.
“My brother,” she forced a smile.
Albert nodded in understanding and set himself up. He looked at the other two sleeping figures then back at Cassie. She fought with the rest of them, she was just as busy as all the others were, and yet she sat there, staring at the sky, just as awake as if she had slept all night.
“Why don’t you try to get some sleep Cassie? I can stand watch the rest of the night.”
Cassie nodded. It was as if she needed the sleep, but not having to worry about protecting the lives of four, others would be a relief, especially in the state of mind she was in currently.
Albert stood watching the others sleep, the sky turned lighter and the sun rose in the sky waking the others. Stretching and with yawns everyone rose and looked at each other, curious as to who would be the one to make breakfast this morning.
“I think we should have a practice fight to see who cooks today.” Albert laughed while looking at Nick, knowing her would be the one to cook if he got his way.
“Albert,” Rose snapped sharply at him. “I leave you in charge of preparing the food. Nick, Cassie and I are going to search for the girl’s family. You will have breakfast ready, and watch the child while we are away.” Rose gathered her blade and slung it over her shoulder, walking away from the campsite followed closely by Nick, then by Cassie.
Albert gawked as the others walked away, feeling eyes on him; he looked down to see the young girl looking up at him, waiting for him to give her something to eat. He turned to the store of meat they gathered from their latest kill, sliced some off with a small blade he carried with him and stuck it on a rock, placing it carefully in the fire to cook. Sitting with his chin in his hand, watching the meat begin to cook. The girl imitated him, watching the meat just as intensely.
“But I’m a king,” he mumbled to himself after long thought.
*****
The three searched the area trying to find some kind of evidence of the girl’s family. If they were dead, Rose wanted to know why. The reason for their deaths had to be the reason that she and Albert were drug into this world.
Nick found fell behind the other two, examining the areas that they might have overlooked. He knew he was there to keep Rose from doing something drastic to Cassie. The two women still had not come to amends and would continually bicker when left alone. Nick and Albert came to an agreement to try to let them be alone long enough to try to get along, but not to let them out of their site.
Now the two women walked along, knowing that Nick was not far off. Cassie had long ago caught on to what the two men were trying to accomplish, but she knew it was up to Rose to accept her.
“If you were traveling through here, where would you go?” Rose broke the silence that hung between them.
“I would choose not to travel through here.” Cassie looked around at the large rock formations and shivered, almost afraid that at any moment one of the huge boulders would tumble, crash into the ground, injuring her.
Rose rolled her eyes as she saw Cassie shiver. “Can’t your ‘wonderful’ ability tell us where we can find these people?”
Cassie sighed. Rose had still not accepted the stance she took on giving away information that they might need to discover for themselves. She often wondered whey Rose continued to ask her, and take her when exploring a new area. Wetting her dry lips, a vision suddenly filled her head.
‘A man, woman and child were rushing through the
rocks, trying to find some sort of shelter. The sky was
dark. The family was running from a dark cloud. Finally
the man pulled the woman and child into a dark cavern.
He pulled them back as far as the cave went, the sky
becoming dark making it harder to see.
“Please sleep girl. You and mother need rest!” The man
shouted and protected them from the entrance.’
Cassie forced herself awake to find Rose staring at her as if she was crazy. “You had a vision didn’t you?” She scoffed. “Are you allowed to tell me what it consisted of? Or would that go against your scared duty as a ‘seer’?”
Cassie shook her head, looking around the area. “There,” she pointed towards a cavern not far from where they were standing. “That is where I saw them go.” Without looking at Rose’s perplexed face, she turned and walked towards the cave. “Nick.” She shouted back at him, “Over here.”
Nick caught up to where the girls stood, now outside a dark cave. The girls were looking at him, and he knew they meant for him to enter the cave and discover what they were out looking for. A thought struck him and he relaxed himself, a bright red enveloped him and he started floating. A deep scream escaped his lips as the heat of his transformation came to it’s peak. Quickly, before Rose could yell at him to stop he yelled out, “Explosion,” He knew that the word worked earlier, but he had a feeling he could keep it under control now.
The entrance of the cave lit up with fire bursts and the three were able to see to the back of the cavern. While one of his fireballs still burned, Nick flew and found a nearby stick, lighting it on fire to use as a torch. He let his mind go, and the Dragoon Spirit released him.
He looked over at Rose, her face looking at him much like a teacher would look at a student she would have to punish. She shook her head, secretly proud that he finally worked something through his head alone. Cautiously the three entered the cavern, Nick leading the way. A strong odor formed at their nostrils as they went further and further back. They all covered their noses as the smell increased.
Almost at the back, Nick’s foot hit something soft and he stopped. Crouching carefully with the torch, he looked at what his foot hit, a human hand. Their eyes finally adjusting, they were able to make out the body of a man and of a woman. Their faces contorted in pain and already many of their features were indistinguishable. Cassie bent down next to the bodies. “It is as I feared. Wulf is near.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Excuse the middle of the text. I couldn't get it to look right when I copy/pasted it. :(
