With a smug smile on his face, Zain watched in delight at the chaos and mayhem his men were creating in the small village that was...until now...hidden from him and his forces. One after another, he watched houses and stables go up in flames, and saw many of the people... men, women, and children, cut down by the swords and blades of his warriors as they rode through the village on their black horses. Screams filled with torment and pain filled the air; screams of the dying, the desperate, and those who knew that all hope was lost. Then, as all this continued, one thought suddenly flashed into his mind. Where could Djoser and those strangers be? They were tracked here by the sorcerers' spell, so they must be hiding SOMEWHERE here. We've searched EVERY house! He frowned in frustration and clenched his fists.
At that moment, one of the warriors, fresh from a kill, came up to him, his sword bloodied and eyes wide with the thrill of the attack on the village. "My Lord, I have just come from the back of this house, and I saw some fresh footprints that go into the forest. My partner and I have figured it to be about five or six people that escaped before we started the attack. It might be the prince and the strangers he brought with him-"
"Show me," Zain commanded, the frown still upon his face. The soldier nodded as his partner joined him, and they quickly led Zain to the back of the large house Orana lived in, where the sounds of the attack could still be heard. The large backdoor was open, and on the muddy ground, leading away from the house past another smaller house and stable, then to the forest in the background, were footprints easily recognizable among the few scrubs and fallen branches. One set of footprints were larger, like a man, while the others were smaller, the size of young women.
A sneer spread across Zain's grey face. "So, Orana did lie. Djoser was here, and he thought to hide here with the outsiders. Well, he will find there is NO escape from me. He and the strangers will die this day!" He reached into his pouch by his side again, and took out the old, white scroll that was rolled up inside. Ignoring the screaming, he unrolled the scroll, and located the spell he wanted. With a sadistic grin, he narrowed his eyes, and spoke out loudly, "Ti ho'ne nesana, griphalaxes, ja hali necana, ONEM!"
For a few seconds nothing happened, then the scroll began to glow a dark red color. A bright beam of light shot out from it and struck the ground a few feet away from where Zain and the other two warriors were standing. Then, with a flash of red light, a small vortex hole opened, and a second later, it began to get bigger and bigger. Soon, the red vortex was about the size of large boulder, with lightning and clouds swirling all around it. Growls and snorting could be heard inside, signifying that something very wild and unpleasant was waiting to be allowed to come out.
Zain smiled in satisfaction and rolled the scroll back up, and put it back inside his pouch. The two soldiers standing with him looked on in curiosity, their eyes blinking. Unmindful of them, the grey-skinned man stepped forward and raised a hand forward. "I am your master now. You will do as I command. In the forest, there are strangers that I want you to destroy. If you value your lives, you will NOT let them escape! Kill them, and when you do, bring me their heads!" With a flick of his hand, a light in the vortex flashed again, and it seemed as if some sort of barrier disappeared, for seconds later, about a half dozen immense, wolf-like creatures walked out, sniffling in the air and pawing the ground. Their fur was a dark, brown color and they were only slightly smaller than a grizzly bear on Earth. Great fangs came out from the top and bottom of their jaws, followed by smaller, razor-sharp teeth. The snouts were large like a wolf's, but the tips more elongated. Their ears were also large to hear even the slightest sounds their prey would make. Oversize paws, complete with long claws, nearly shook the ground when they took a step. Their backs were slightly hunched like a Siberian tiger's.
When the two soldiers saw what kind of creatures they were, they gasped and took a step back. "Griphalaxes!" whispered out one of them, his eyes wide as he watched them sniff the footprints. "But...but..they are too wild and dangerous to be trained and controlled! They...they will...they will-!"
"Silence fool, or YOU will be their first victim!" sneered out Zain. He turned back to look at the creatures. "Now go and do not fail your master!" Deep inside, even he had to be amazed at the creatures that caused even hardened soldiers like the ones with him to cringe in fear. Yes, with these creatures, Djoser and those fools with him will NOT survive.
All at the same time, the beasts raised their heads and howled loudly, causing the men and all who heard to cover their ears and bow their heads. Then with loud growls, they rushed off, their mouths already dripping with saliva at the thought of getting a fresh kill. When they were gone, Zain turned and went back into the village to gather his men.
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Panting loudly, Prya struggled to keep up with the others as they ran, but no matter how hard she tried, she lagged behind. Thoughts of the people they left behind still rang through her mind, and try as she might, she couldn't get the feeling that she was abandoning them out of her heart. Finally, the Hindu girl stopped, and laid her hands on her knees as she stooped over.
"P...please...we must stop. I...I can't go on!" she breathed out in ragged breaths, struggling to breathe. The others ahead of her suddenly stopped and turned back to look at her with concern.
"Prya, are you okay?" Jeneta asked. She walked back to where Prya was and put a hand on her shoulder. Despite being concerned for her friend, sadness still filled the dark-skinned girl's heart at the devastation they left behind in the village, but she tried to push it aside for now. Heather and the others walked back to them also.
"I...I think so. I just need to rest for a moment," Prya replied, swiping sweat off her dark tan forehead. "I guess being asthmatic doesn't help, huh? I'm useless to you all here..." She blushed slightly in embarrassment.
"Don't say that Prya!" Heather said, shaking her head. "No one here is useless." She sighed and turned to look at Djoser standing a few feet away with his arms folded. "But she is right, we do need a little break." She adjusted the glasses on her face.
The tall, dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes as he walked back to them, his hands clenched to his side. "We have NO time for this! If we don't get to Colaris soon, all will be lost! Zain could already be on our trail, and-" "Oh put a cork in it, Drill Sergeant!" yelled out Ling, stepping up protectively next to the girls. "We've been running for about an hour already, and we haven't seen any sign that we're being followed! What's resting for just a few minutes gonna hurt?"
Anger flashed across the man's face then, and when he opened his mouth to yell back, Jeneta interrupted. "Djoser, please, she's right. Just a few minutes, that's all we're asking. We won't be much use if we get to this place you're talking about, and we're all spent."
"And you said the beach where there's a boat waiting for us isn't that much farther." said Angeni, "And we have to think about Prya now." She turned to the girl who was now on her on her knees. "Are you going to be alright? Do you...have to take any medicine?"
"No, I'll be fine. My asthma isn't chronic enough to take medication frequently. Only every few months or so, and I had it right before I came to school. I just...need a few moments." Prya said, smiling gratefully.
Djoser growled deep in his throat and narrowed his eyes. "Fine then. A few moments, then we must go." With that, he turned and disappeared among the trees, his coat flapping in the wind.
"What's his problem anyway?" Ling said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking in the direction he walked off to.
"I think he's just upset about what happened back there, as we all are," Heather said softly. "But he's right, we can't stay here long in case we're being followed."
Jeneta also looked in the direction the young man went, her eyes filled with concern. She nodded, and was about to say something encouraging when just then, a loud gravelly howling filled the quiet, forest air.
"What the hell was that?" Angeni said, looking around wildly.
"I don't know, but we better get the heck out of here fast! It sounded close!" Jeneta quickly helped Prya to stand and they all made ready to rush off...when suddenly, a large, wolf-like creature jumped in the air over their heads and landed right in front of them, blocking their way. It turned towards them and growled deeply in its throat.
"Oh my God!" gasped out Heather, her eyes wide in disbelief. The girls watched in horror as about five more of the creatures bounded out from seemingly among the trees and join up with the first one. Surrounded, the girls huddled close together in fright, feeling trapped like fly to a spider.
The griphalaxes regarded their prey for a few moments, sizing them up and getting their smell as they circled around them and sniffed the air. Then, coiling its strong back leg muscles, one of the creatures jumped high in the air, ready to pounce on one of them and rip them to shreds, but it never got the chance, for just then, a powerful blast of energy erupted out and struck it. It slammed into the creature midair as it whined loudly in pain, blowing a hole in its side. Its body fell to the ground with a dull thud, smoke rising from the fatal wound.
"Run, NOW!" yelled out Djoser as he ran forward towards them, his hands still smoking from the energy blast he just threw. Immediately the girls rushed away as the wolf-like animals turned to assess the newcomer. Djoser jump high into the air, somersaulted, and while coming down from the flip, kicked out his leg and smashed his foot right into the face of the nearest creature, knocking him hard to forest ground.
Meanwhile, the griphalaxes turned their attention back to the running girls. With a loud growl, they rushed forward, intending to devouring them for daring to escape. "Split up!" yelled out Jeneta, already hearing the creatures gaining up right behind them.
Without hesitating, the girls went in different directions, but as soon as they did, the immense creatures split up too, each going after one of the girls.
While running, Heather looked back and gasped as she saw one of them nearly upon her. Come on brain, don't fail me now! she prayed. Right then, she saw a tree in front of her, and rushed for it. She stopped, then turned as the animal huffed and puffed after her while it ran. Wait for it...! Shaking with nervousness, Heather waited until just the last moment before it sprang forward, and she jumped quickly out of the way and rolled on the ground. Not expecting this, the creature smashed right into the tree so hard, it nearly split in two, and the griphalax lay unmoving on the ground, knocked out. Sighing with relief, Heather immediately dashed off to try to help the others.
Ling ducked around a tree to avoid being slashed by the claws of the creature that was chasing her as it slashed its paw forward. It missed her by mere inches and slashed off large pieces of bark where Ling was just standing. Running, she looked back as it was nearly upon her and gasped in despair. She didn't see a rock that was right in her path, and she tripped over it and fell with a painful yell to the ground. She rolled on her back and her eyes widened as the creature came closer and closer. Desperately she looked around, then spotted a large, thick branch right beside her. An idea came into her head as she smirked and slowly got to her feet. "So you wanna play rough, huh?" Quickly she grabbed the heavy branch, and just as it was about to pounce on her, she swung the branch like a baseball bat...like she'd done a thousand times, and smashed it against the side of the large brown furred creature's face. So hard was it, that the tip nearly splintered in half, and the griphalax landed heavily on the ground and moaned in pain, then lay motionless. "YESS!" shouted out the Chinese girl, but it was short-lived as she then heard Prya scream.
Backing away slowly and her body shaking, the Indian girl watched with unblinking eyes as the creature that was chasing her slowly crouched low and stalked her, its eyes shining brightly with the excitement of an upcoming kill. The girl could barely stand as she struggled for breath, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ling came upon the scene then, and was just about to rush out to help, when she saw Jeneta and Angeni rush out from the bushes on the left, then right side of Prya, the creatures chasing them crouched low and stalking also. Until now, the two girls were able to hide and outrun them.
When Jeneta saw Prya and Angeni, and the griphalaxes with them, an idea came to her. I just hope it works! she thought desperately. She made eye contact with the other two girls, and with her hands up, motioned for them to wait until she gave a signal for them to move. Slowly, the creatures crouched lower and made ready to jump at the same time, growling in anticipation.
"NOW!" screamed out Jeneta. All at once, Jeneta, Angeni, and Prya dropped to the ground and rolled away just as the creatures jumped forward to pounce on them. But instead of getting the girls, the griphalaxes all smashed into one another, not knowing the others were there and ready to pounce too.
Moaning and whining in pain, they rolled slowing on the floor, blood leaking out of their mouths and wounds on their heads. Quickly, the girls ran off, but stopped dead in their tracks as Djoser suddenly ran up in front of them with Heather not too far behind.
"Are you alright?" he asked, looking each one over.
"I think so. It's a good thing those things are as dumb as they are big!" said Ling, breathing hard.
"You were lucky. Not many escape from the hunt of griphalaxes alive." Djoser was about to tell them that they should get going, when growling suddenly filled the air once more. The girls gasped as once again, they were surrounded by the creatures, now awakened from being knocked out, and angrier than ever.
"Djoser, can't you use your magic again to destroy them all?" Jeneta stood close to the tall man as the hunting creatures encircled them. Her heart beat so fast, it felt as though it would burst out and run away itself.
"I can destroy one, but by time I could gather the energy to get to another, the rest would already be on us!" The dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes in frustration. It can't end like this, not after all the hard work! he thought. It CAN'T!
Suddenly, just as the creatures were about to pounce, an arrow shot through the air and struck one of them deep right between the eyes. It was dead before its body hit the ground. Another arrow flew through the air, and it struck another griphalax in the side. Its body twitched, then it fell dead.
Figures immediately rushed out from among the bushes and trees after the arrows. When they came into the sunlight, they were revealed to be about a dozen average sized, muscular dark-skinned and tan-skinned men. While their chests were bare, they wore white kilts that went to their thighs, and wore calf-high boots that look to be made of animal skin. Gold arm bracelets adorned their arms and biceps, and their hair was long and braided to about the middle of their backs, similar to Djoser. Some wore decorative, large necklaces on their necks, others didn't. Each carried large bows in their hands, with the arrows stacked in quivers strapped to their backs.
Without saying a word to Djoser and the other girls, about half of them reached back to get more arrows and then rushed at the rest of the creatures as they growled and barked loudly at the new threat. Within seconds, the arrow men quickly shot and killed them all mercilessly with their unmatchable marksmanship.
When it was done, there was a moment of silence as the men, Djoser, and the girls regarded each other. Then one of them, golden tan-skinned with light brown hair that hung slightly past his shoulders and dark green eyes...the leader probably judging by the amount of decorative necklaces....stepped forward. He was very handsome and looked to be about 18 years old, yet his eyes held a wisdom that was far beyond his years. "Who are you, and what business do you have here in this forest?" He regarded them with watchful eyes.
"I am Djoser, and we are traveling to Colaris." Djoser said as he stepped forward. "We mean no trespassing-"
The man's eyes widened. "Djoser? The Gods be praised! We had hoped you'd still be alive! It's been so long, My Pr..." The man was just about to call him by his title, but Djoser put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Please, we have no time. We must get to our ships to go to Colaris." The taller man looked at him meaningfully, letting him know not to say anymore on the subject of who he really was.
"Yes of course." the young man nodded. "I am Danji, captain of these men. Please, follow us." The girls looked at Djoser curiously, wondering why Danji was acting the way he was. Could it be true? Is Djoser a prince? I wish I could ask him and find out for sure! Jeneta thought as she sneaked glances at him beside her.
But hardly anyone noticed as when Danji looked at Heather, he sucked in a nearly inaudible breath, immediately feeling a connection and attraction to her. She...she's beautiful! But he quickly shook his head to clear it. He couldn't get distracted now, he had a mission to accomplish. He had found the prince, and as per the order, he had to get them to the ships to travel to Colaris. After Djoser introduced them to everyone, the girls never had time to ask questions or think more on what was going on as Danji raised a hand to indicate to everyone one to move out. He, the other men, and Djoser hurried off, and they struggled to keep up.
Soon, after about fifteen minutes, they came out of the dense forest and into a large beach. It was superbly clean, with the blue ocean shining beautifully and the sand sparkling white. Far off in the distance, almost to the point it can't be seen, they saw a dark-colored ship with white sail, almost a dot, but no rowboats to get to it.
"Wait a minute, how are we to get to the ship? There's nothing to get us out there," Heather observed.
Danji smiled slyly at her, which made her blush slightly, and shook his head. "No, there isn't. That's one of ours ways to ensure no one knows that we've been on their land or follow after us. We have a more enjoyable way of getting to and from our ships when we get to land." He motioned them to follow him to the water, then brought two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly.
A moment later, about twenty to thirty large sea creatures emerged their heads out of the water, their bright blue skins shining brightly in the sun, and clicking happily. On their backs behind their fins were seats for someone to sit on.
"Dolphins! OH, they're beautiful!" Heather smiled happily with surprise. "But...they're much bigger than the ones back home, and colored different-" Looking at them closely now as as they all stepped into the water, they saw they were at least three times bigger than dolphins on Earth, and darker in color.
Danji cocked his head in curiosity. "Dolphins?" Then he smiled at her in an admiring way when he realized what she was saying, and she blushed and lowered her head shyly. She took a deep breath as her heart began beating so hard, it felt as though it was burst through her ribcage. "Oh yes, I heard long ago that creatures like these existed on other worlds. But here, they are called edori, and are very useful to people who live near the sea, and are very intelligent. But come, we shouldn't waste anymore time. Once we set sail, it will be about four days before we get home to Perdenia."
With that, Danji and his men walked deeper into the water and climbed on the backs of the edori, Djoser and the girls following them. After quickly being shown how to hold on to the large back fins, the girls grabbed on tightly as the edori they were on followed the ones carrying the men to the ship far away.
The girls laughed and shouted happily as the sea creatures jumped and hopped up and down in the water, almost as if they were playing with the new riders. "This is SO cool!" laughed out Jeneta, for once forgetting about her troubles and enjoying herself. The graceful sea animals clicked and squealed as though in agreement.
The other girls were too busy having fun to realize Heather blush as she sneaked glances at the handsome, tan-skinned man named Danji. My God, he's so handsome! I feel so...so happy when he looks at me like that! I know we just met, but, could...could he possibly feel the same way about me? She shook her head and mentally chided herself. This was all happening too fast! How could she be love already? Love was a silly notion, it wasn't meant for her.....was it? But seeing the handsome man riding the beautiful creature beside her and her friends, it seemed that maybe love wasn't so far out of her reach.
And try as he might, Danji couldn't keep his eyes off of intriguing girl named Heather. He could feel the curiosity and passion in her, yet he also knew she was shy, so he couldn't really say for sure if she was feeling he same way he was. Maybe in time, if he would talk to her alone, he would find out. Danji laughed silently to himself. He had never been one to believe in love at first sight, but right now, meeting her and feeling this way, it certainly made him think it was possible. His face turned serious barely a moment later. Well, whether it was love or not, there was no time for it. He had to get these people safe to the ships, and he would do it, no matter what.
Djoser, unable to help himself, smiled secretly at the joy Jeneta and the other girls were experiencing. But then, he also thought about the troubles ahead, and a worried look replaced his smile. There is so much the girls are going to go through before the evil of Kumraa is destroyed, and he only hope deep in his heart, that he would be able to guide them, and protect them from any harm while they fulfilled their destiny.
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