Legend Of The Holy Sentinels - Night Hunters

He leaped and jumped finding blind spots to hide his outline from the roving Nagozulian Sentinels. He was focused on his idea of having the thrill doing it from the high walls that he didn"t had the time to calculate some variable events that led him to lose the precious moonlight he so desperately needed.

"Almost there," he whispered in comfort talking to no one but his shaking body as he balanced his way to jump to the window. With heavy breaths, he summoned a big gasp then he dashed. Fifteen feet. From the four-inch embossed design in the wall to the veranda of Yosh"s room.

He came rolling after the landing with a bit of smile coupled with a sharp sighing pain as he took his time, crouching for the aching muscles in his thighs to recover. Fifteen feet is a big deal, he thought. That"s a new record for him and his brothers. To a Daomagar, this is an average Dash but to a Nagozulian, it is impossible. He sneaked almost dragging his feet to open the unlocked window. He grinned silently as he relished all the impossibilities, he"s accomplished this year, hoping to find a new bar of impossibility to break tomorrow.

A few four-legged dolls with a horn at the forehead, and some weird chubby mannequins four feet tall, embroidered with laces and ornaments of gold and rare gems, are found scattered almost anywhere. "What in Bathala"s name is this!?" he asked, whining at the sight of the bright pink room that he stumbled upon. The bed post is filled with thin pink silks. The bed too is pink. All is pink. This is enough to blind a man, he thought. He took a peek outside the window, sticking half his head out, searching, looking, as though he had made a mistake landing on the wrong window. He pushed the window to shut convincing himself over and over that he is in the right room. The thick gold curtains that block the windows are the proof that the room is indeed Yosh"s. But, he thought, why did they remodel the room? It can be easily deduced that the room has now been claimed by a girl. A kid girl. But who? Who"s that girl? Who could possibly be more important than Yosh? Than them? The sons of the eldest Grand Prince Artemus.

Through some insinuations, he had thought that the South Wing of the Palace belongs to their father, Artemus, just like the North Wing belongs to Prodea, the East to Sarram and the West to the other n.o.bles. It is where they stay. All of their personal items are in there. Doing something despicable like this means only one thing: they are not welcome in the Palace anymore.

He thought good riddance. They wouldn"t want to be there anyway. But the thought of this being an unforgivable insult to them and their father, blatantly disregarding their lineage to the king, depressed him for a little while. He"s not actually sorry for himself or his brothers even if their personal effects were, as he a.s.sumed, disposed of. He"s feeling sorry for his father. It"s a good thing their father doesn"t know anything about this. It"s as if they were evicted at the Palace without so much as a warning or even a word. This would be a very strong slap to his father"s face. Only if he knew, he thought. But then again, he wouldn"t because they are stuck doing something in the North.

He slapped to condition his thighs as he stood up jumping low for a few times to at least liven up his body. He tapped the walls to the east across the bed concentrating on some hollow trap door that Yosh created. At the far corner, the hollow s.p.a.ce revealed a silent thud. Using his dagger, he cut and peeled off the wallpaper to reveal the tiled wall of marble that was once the room"s original wall design. The wallpaper"s texture felt like new, about two to three weeks old. He pondered for a little while tracing back the exact time when the room was remodeled but he snapped back and continued at the task at hand.

The tiles have the same square foot measurements but only the hollow one is different. He inspected the alleged safe before doing something rash, like opening it hastily. Yosh has been practicing the use of explosives and he wouldn"t want to make a scene if ever he planted something inside with it. He first tried to smell the tile for other possible scents like adhesives, but he found none. It is quite dark at the corner, so he pulled his fingers and walked them on the tile. He noticed a tiny hole at the right most corner, so he pulled a pin and struck it leaving the tile to open a little bit. His mouth arched slowly upwards, impressed, thinking how Yosh turned out to be a genius in hidden contraptions at his age. He then pushed on using his dagger to again open the trap door entirely. He was shocked to see many articles hidden there at his deep personal treasure safe. He quickly grabbed the important ones that he needs to return to the History Room while mumbling about how stupid Yosh was to ever take so many rare things in just two years.

The rolling head of the wooden doll stopped him for a second. He picked it up and remembered their grueling attempt on s.n.a.t.c.hing the heavy thing. He pulled the body out of the sack and saw the note saying: "Please, bring me back to the Palace. Chopped Herbal Leaves inside. Many thanks." Curiosity got a hold of him as he pulled his dagger and opened the back to reveal a hollow room containing three bags of herbal leaves. He smirked thinking he wouldn"t need those as he shoved them to see what"s inside. He was dumbfounded and shocked as he noticed more than a liter"s worth of White Angel together with the rare, and naturally heavy, Black Demon Powder contained in six fist-sized brown pouches beside the White Angel. The Black Demon Powder is one of the rare ingredients in summoning Dark Magicks he thought, other than forging monstrous weapons with Dark Magicks that is. He stopped thinking why on earth would their grandfather needs this many powder. It"s not as if he"s a blacksmith or a conjurer. He hurriedly pulled one bag of it and closed the doll to stash it away in the depths of Yosh"s safe.

"Where is it?" he mumbled trying to rifle the scrolls at the far back. He sat back trying to scratch his head in disappointment as he finishes on his task. "No!" he murmured again talking to himself in protest, "He didn"t take it! He wouldn"t dare!"

He contemplated for about a second of two if he would search further on the missing items in the sack but decided that time isn"t a luxury he can afford. Besides, all of the missing articles that have been s.n.a.t.c.hed in the history room are inside his sack. Their father would forgive Yosh misplacing Kyrin"s Battlegear. He wore the Gauntlet of Deito to carry the now heavy sack as he returned the tile back to a click. He was about to leave the room when an idea struck him. He turned around as he pondered for a few seconds.

"If someone saw this peeled wallpaper," he thought, "someone might get suspicious and remove the conspicuous tile here. If that happens, Yosh will receive a summons from the Queen and that would be very troublesome."

He dropped the heavy bulk and readied his right arm that has the gauntlet equipped. He smiled as he activated the iron claws from the gauntlets and started to dismantle the insulting pink wallpaper that is in front of him. He was filled with joy at the moment for he has found a use for the thousand blade dash he so secretly and painfully trained. Within only a few seconds, all of the pink wallpaper in the vast chambers has been scratched to peel as if a wild wolverine has rampaged into the room.

A loud shriek of a little girl came ringing at his back - the most irritating and disturbing shriek he has ever heard in his life, he thought. He initially a.s.sumed no one was around. Because of the room"s mesmerizing effect, he completely forgot to search for a living soul at the room. This scenario, he immediately figured, would really take a very grim turn on his escape - considering that there is only one way out of the room: the door, but now the only option is the window. The window, he thought with glum as he pulled his scarf to cover his face and grabbed the bulging sack. He opened their wideopen arms revealing the warm bright yellow sun, still spiteful, took a short glance on how tall the fall would be and murmured some curses before jumping out.

"Who"s there!? Ysa are you okay!?" shouted a young woman with her hands shaking and placed unevenly on the hilt of an unsheathed sword. She appears to be disturbed from her slumber with her frizzy hair sticking out of her head.

The sobbing little girl ran hurriedly to her sister hugging her ever so violently. Taking into account the ripped plaster walls, she immediately a.s.sumed that they are not safe and that she misinterpreted it to someone making a statement: that the Easterners are not welcome in the Holy Lands.

"Come, we should tell father about this fast," she commanded angrily but with a glint of fear found between her eyes.

Ysa nodded. The a.s.surance of her sister is the only thing she needs to calm herself down, so she followed as she was pulled gently to her father"s quarters.

-------ooO0Ooo-------

"What"s the meaning of this?" Prodea barked with the slightest touch of irritation.

She entered the conference room with a large round table at the middle. The teeming generals of Leonus are wearing their gold-plated battle armor standing at the back of their commander, the envoy, and his two daughters. Eryk Caden of the house of Shade is also present there sitting beside the Duke Tabarius who are now both standing to honor the presence of Prodea"s arrival.

"My daughter Glaiza Ysabelle was attacked this morning by your people!" he claimed angrily but still with a very polite tone, "Forgive us for waking you so early but you guaranteed that all of the people in the Holy Lands are in approval of our arrival and our stay here is not compromised by radical natives."

Prodea scoffed at his derogatory term. Natives. It"s as though he"s insulting them branding them a race that is far less civilized than they are.

"What are you whimpering about?" she sneered contesting the truth behind his accusations. "That"s nonsense. The people here are unlike in yours. We do not do such things as to hurt anyone. We are not savaging."

The duke was insulted but he remained calm and resolute to his point. "Well if you please?" Tabarius stood up and pointed his hands to the direction of the door. "Would you be so kind as to accompany us to the evidence and see for yourself?"

Prodea walked together with the Duke and Leonus"s generals to the room silently. Prodea, together with her handmaids and Zeba, strode fast keeping mum.

Prodea believes that no one in their right mind would stir trouble to her guests like that to make her look bad. She believes that she inculcated enough fear amongst all of Nagozul, especially at the Palace, to get complete obedience, not forgetting to remind them not to cross her whenever she gets the chance.

She was surprised to see the room, wallpapers torn and shredded but, surprisingly, all of the other things surrounding the room are undisturbed. This gave her a hint of suspicion.

"See?" the Duke boasted. He would"ve continued to say another word but Prodea raised her hand interrupting him.

Prodea walked all over the scene, opening the windows, scratching the torn wallpaper that"s still sticking in the wall, kneeling down to check the shredded remnants on the floor then she stood up smiling as she walks out of the room.

"There"s nothing to fear," she finally shouted, "The thing or whatever it is that went inside that room took what it wanted and then left. There"s nothing to worry, it won"t be coming back."

"But that"s absurd," shouted the Duke following Prodea wanting more than her mere guarantee. "We want to see proof of your guarantee by placing..."

She stopped suddenly to face him, cutting him to say another word angrily. "If they want to do harm they could have done so already. Remember that you are actually here on the Holy Lands where anyone you cross can kill you in a flick of a finger if they so desire. And besides, who told you to bring your family in this business affair anyway?"

Calling some nation savages cannot be recanted and seeing that he is right and that she is wrong clearly pulled a nerve on her. She was humiliated. Adding the fact that she was disturbed in her chambers so early in the morning, it"s no wonder her angry side came springing out. But now, seeing the face of the Duke being appalled in her words plainly gave her a shock of her own for her to return to her normal self.

"Fine," she added turning around returning to her pace to walk away, "Karr will give you a sentinel or two to protect your daughters from this ghost."

As Prodea disappeared to the halls Zeba went to the Duke. "I"m sorry sir, the Grand Princess Prodea is not a morning person."

"I can clearly see that now," joked the Duke though in his eyes an angry fire is blazing.

"I will take care of the problem, don"t worry," Zeba a.s.sured and then she began to run to follow Prodea.

"Your highness!" shouted a voice behind Prodea as she was in her brisk pace to her quarters.

She stopped and turned to wait for her to come over and asked. "What now Zeba?"

"Do you know who"s responsible? Should we alert the queen?"

"Oh, Zeba," laughed Prodea sarcastically while returning to walk to her room, "Innocent Zeba. I thought by tagging with me for years your deductive skills would be elevated beyond ordinary by now." Zeba just gave a weak smile with Prodea"s insults walking beside her then she continued. "Of course, I know who did that. It"s obviously my disgusting and wretched nephew Yosh and his fiendish pack of wild beasts!"

"How did you know?"

"Yosh did that on purpose. He"s hiding something there and he did that to create a diversion for us not to get suspicious, which obviously worked."

"Well, we must find out what he hid? Shouldn"t we?"

"Oh, Zeba. Being curious would lead to your demise somewhere in the future. We need not find out what trivial things he"s been hiding there. For all we know it"s his dead rat or something far more despicable. You should leave him be and continue on with our plan. His time would come for him to pay. And I, for one, would take great pleasure in giving him his just due."

Zeba smiled nervously as Prodea uttered every single syllable with great weight. She too dislikes her nephew Yosh but at that moment, she felt a cold wind pa.s.sing her making her shudder in fear, leaving her to feel sorry for Yosh and what he will be receiving from Prodea in the future.

-------ooO0Ooo-------

"Hmpf, what do they know!?" echoed a shout.

Luna scratched her master"s legs to get his attention, but he clearly wouldn"t stop.

"They should"ve been there for me!" he shouted again but this time it was followed with a throw of a rock to the river.

"Rrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaarr," Luna shouted too trying to cope with his master"s sadness as she saw tears now flowing in his cheeks.

He then curled up sitting still crying for a minute or two. He is beside a river that flows from the mountains of the north. He literally crossed the mountains just so he can get away with everything. If his geography lesson from Karus is correct, his legs led him at the plains located at the north of the forest of Kyrin, east of the shrine of Bakunawa and west of the north western regions of the Lakas Mountain range.

"Well," he suddenly stood up surprising Luna while pushing away his tears, "I heard Karus is learning some cool moves at Dal"Gur"s and Kayzar is away practicing his skill sets at Kulog Pa.s.s. I won"t lose to them."

Luna made her smiling eyes to encourage Yosh still meowing some cheers and that made Yosh smile too for a little bit.

"Well Luna, if you"re up for it we could race downstream," he paused to keep a squinting eye trying finding Stella in the skies and then he gave a whistle. He made some hand gestures making Stella to circle around on top of them and then she flew straight south.

Luna gave her complaining meow seeing that she can"t do the Great Dash like he does.

"Don"t worry Luna, just follow Stella and you"ll be with me in no time," Yosh a.s.sured. And then he disappeared, dashing faster than ever before, as fast as he can muster, leaving Luna to move her fastest running pace.

It took Luna about two hours to catch up with Yosh who"s about to finish his Lunch. She went near him panting, scratching his legs to gain his attention.

"Here you go," Yosh smiled as he grabbed a little plate filled with fruits and filleted white meat. "I"m sorry," he apologized while petting her as she started on her lunch, "I know its tradition for us to wait for you on lunch, but I remembered I forgot to eat my breakfast. That leaves the "ol monster running amok, and we can"t have him doing that can"t we?"

Yosh busied himself stretching his bow and inspecting his arrows for a couple of minutes until Luna"s done chomping. He stood up and whistled to Stella.

"We"ll camp here tonight!" he shouted waving his hands to his flying friend, "I"ll be leaving to practice my new bow, you should get some rest or else you"ll miss our night hunt!"

Stella circled two times giving Yosh the signal that he understood and then she flew further south to a curious dense forest. Yosh found this very convenient considering he needed something to hit with, a target to shoot with his arrows, and the plains that they were in is practically deserted. He waited for Luna to finish and then he grabbed his gear, pulled her to his chest pocket and went straight to the mysterious forest.

He was standing outside the white woods in no time, thanks to the Daomagarian Dash. He smiled as he savors the sight of the regal Elven Forest of Kyrin. Hundreds of white trunks as far as the eyes can see sprouts evenly with total symmetry from the ground, spreading their glittering golden five-pointed leaves that sway so smoothly with the breeze. He went near and touched the most perfect trunk around. He felt the smooth surface with his palm and came to appreciate the tough bark. He pulled a sharp paring knife in his pocket and pushed it gently on the surface. To his surprise, the knife came sliding by without scratching the surface and with this he personally witnessed how strong it really is. He felt the excitement pulsating through his veins. With his new bow that Dal"Gur created just for him, and a quiver of enchanted arrows, an idea springs up in his mind. Testing his superior skills on this fine tree will give him a challenge but he is willing to undertake this impossible task just so he can catch up with his brother"s progress.

He has his insecurities with their improvements and he just won"t be treated like a kid anymore. He wants to return home a changed man, he figured. By refining and amplifying his skills to another level, he"s determined that he"ll be worthy of true praises; Praises that are only given to older men; Praises he so secretly desires to hear from everyone, especially his father.

He went about thirty feet away sticking seven enchanted arrows on the ground around him. This enchanted arrow is no ordinary arrow. Being friends with Nemer has its benefits and these arrows are a proof of that. He doesn"t know how enchantments are done but he learned, from his brothers, that this is the hardest thing a Nagozulian Elemental can do, and miraculously Dal"Gur can do it too by his science mumbo jumbo. Being Dal"Gur"s apprentice for a long time, Nemer now have some sort of power to persuade and to ask favors from his powerful immortal master, who is a bowyer and a fletcher too. And being his friend, one can be ent.i.tled to ask favors too once in a while.

He pulled Luna off as he looks sharply to the most perfect trunk in front of him. He picked an arrow below without looking, placed it firmly on the bow, stretched it ever so slowly and aimed at the center of the trunk. With a sigh he released the tight string that is held by his three fingers. The arrow flew amazingly fast. He could hardly see the glowing yellow tip as it travelled from his point to the target. Surprisingly, it struck the tree with amazing precision. He was amazed to see this feat. An enchanted arrow can pierce even the toughest tree around, he thought, so he went on smiling to Luna.

"I bet I can put two arrows beside that, left and right, marking a horizontal line without looking at it directly."

Luna gave a smiled meow as she lifted her palms to a deal. Yosh, seeing her dare, tapped her paws and looked at the tree for one last time. He turned around and smiled again to Luna.

"Watch and be impressed!"

He closed his eyes as he flipped around grabbing two arrows and placing them on the bow with great speed, then released the bow"s stressed arch to strike the tree exactly on the previous arrow"s sides.

He can truly be dubbed as a Master Archer to the likes of a Daomagarian Sentry based from his reflex with the bow and arrow. It only took him a second to accomplish this task, from the point where he was standing with his back turned to the moment when he released the arrows. And this skill, together with his precision, can be regarded as an impossibility that he can brag about from anyone, but he thinks it"s not good enough. No one, not even his brothers, knows that he perfected his archery skills except Luna and Stella. When they think he"s playing, he"s actually training, harder than they could imagine. He believes then, and until now, that if he trains hard enough, his parents will think that he"s worthy enough and will take him with them. Of course, that kind of thinking led him to another thought that he"s not worthy of their love unless he got stronger like his brothers. But who could blame him? He doesn"t even know why their parents left them at the Palace to train day and night secretly.

He grinned at the sight of its perfect shot forming a straight horizontal dot on the trees. He pulled a glove on his pocket and armed it on his right hand. "Now!" he exclaimed laughing, "Let"s do three!"

Luna hissed complaining pulling his right paws pointing to Yosh"s gloves which he noted and defended right away.

"You"re being unreasonable! It"s not cheating!" he smiled fixing it on his arm properly, "I"m just using Dad"s gloves because pulling three is really impossible. Besides, I don"t have the required upper body strength to pull these at the same time. There are certain limitations to my skills you know."

Luna gave another complaining meow which he understood.

"Alright, alright," Yosh yielded, "but I"m not going to remove these gloves, instead I"m going to do something different. Something harder so that you"d get off my back."

Yosh stopped to ponder for a few seconds and then shouted to give Luna a jolt.

"I know! I"ll dash retreating backwards, grabbing the arrows and then I"ll release the arrows shooting the tree making three dots to perfect a triangle figure."

Luna immediately yelped hissing blocking Yosh from his way.

"No Luna," he shooed, "I know you"re concerned but I can do this."

She shrieked again giving an angry meow still persistent in her stance.

"I know what went wrong last month. It won"t happen again. Besides, who wants to break a rib or two? I know I don"t."

Luna won"t step out of the way, so he pulled the three arrows and place it on the other side.

"Fine, if you won"t trust me then I"ll just have to show you to prove it!"

He stepped forward looking in the tree and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a second or two, he opened it again and then he dashed backwards. He dashed grabbing the arrows, rotating back putting them on the bow in mid-air, pulling the tight string with all his might - drawing the bow, took a perfect aim, and then released it. He was thrown almost twenty feet rolling down. Luna ran to see if her master is alright shrieking again.

Yosh, lying on the ground, checked his body, panting with fear, looking if his body had taken its toll from his dangerous attempt to deviate from the Daomagarian Dash, a dash utilizing all of the body"s jointed parts - the second level of dashing unbeknown to him. Luna came tapping him too to see if he"s alright. He then sat up laughing petting Luna.

"You see!? Nothing to worry about. I think I see it now, how to move while dashing." He squinted very hard to spot the tree as he slowly rises to stand. "Yes! You see that Luna!" he shouted excitedly pointing to the tree, "A perfect triangle!"

Luna looked but she wasn"t convinced. She meowed in contradiction tapping his paws to the ground etching something.

"No," Yosh disagreed, "The top is placed where I want it to be. It"s not uneven!"

Luna meowed firm to his idea.

"Well, if you wouldn"t believe," he said running to get the last arrow, "I"ll show you the center!"

He looked to the tree again finding the center of the triangle. But as he drew his bow to an aim, a silhouette appeared at the back of the tree. It is a girl, young and somewhere his age. She looks weak and distraught walking slowly to him, leaning her weight to the tree he"s been training with.

He was troubled to the sight of the pitiful girl in front, almost asking for his help so he went dashing to see what"s going on.

"Are you alright, my lady?" he whispered frightened as the young woman fell to his arms bleeding all over. She has a very long white hair and her skin is different. It"s with a pinkish glow but bordering to white, like milk. Her deep green eyes shook as she gasps for air while coughing blood.

"Please, sir," she whispered, "stop."

Yosh was confounded with this so he asked again. "Stop what?"

A silent thud from behind and his vision turned black. He heard Luna"s shrieks slowly fading and then there was nothing.

-------ooO0Ooo-------

"Karus..." called an echo from a distance.

Karus opened his eyes slowly waking up. He was about to defeat an angry sea monster when he was disturbed by a very creepy voice of a woman. It sounded like a woman, he thought, but he can"t be that sure being dazed remembering his dreams.

All is black. He stood up and felt the tree he"s napping under and he found it but couldn"t see it. He can"t see anything, but he can see his body as bright as a sunny day. He tried to blink a few times raising his hands up and down, exercising, thinking he must"ve been dreaming still but nothing worked. He even tried to pinch himself but, again, it didn"t work.

"Karus..." whispered yet again by an echo, this time having a distinct high pitch revealing her voice to truly confirm his guess that she is a woman. Probably older but not that old, he deduced. A woman in her early thirties he presumed.

He immediately figured his brother"s new skill leading his befuddled face to slope to a very irritated frown. He is surprised that his brother is at the city too. Though he still doesn"t understand whose voice it is trying to tease him. It"s amazing that Reus would waste his precious time doing pranks, he reckoned. It"s even a shock that he can find someone to do it together with, especially with a girl. Even with a bribe he wouldn"t dare talking to one because it makes him all jittery but, in his present condition, he"s convinced otherwise.

"Yeah, yeah KuyReus. Very funny..."

A light appeared above like a star emanating a bright white spotlight to him but still, everything is black.

"This isn"t funny anymore, stop it!" he demanded shouting, dropping down, feeling the ground and all around for his travel gear. "You shouldn"t be doing this in public! Gramps would be furious once he finds out!"

The bright white star descended slowly to face him. It is a white ball the texture of a crystal mirror. It is still radiating a white light all around but still the grounds remain black as if he is transported in a deep void of nothingness.

He now looked at the curious white crystal ball now pulsating bursts of light.

"You don"t feel like an elemental energy," he a.n.a.lyzed talking to the ball, "what are you?"

After a few seconds of his inspection a pair of eyes appeared from the crystal ball. It looks like a mortal"s eye but all blue and somewhat etched as if it was drawn magically with a blue ink.

"Don"t fret, Son of Light," uttered the ball echoing all around with disturbing reverberations.

Karus smiled moving closer to the ball, "Why would I be? Stop messing around KuyReus or you"ll be the one who"ll regret..."

"I am the voice of Bathala," interrupted the ball, "he who has been chosen, lend his ears and listen well."

Karus stepped back looking a bit surprised withdrawing his smiling face. He was about to say something when the ball pulsated again and continued.

"To the White Demon, Prince of Nagozul, the Son of Light, heed my words. Death slowly draws near gambling with your fate as ante. He who has been chosen, lend his ears and listen well. The murder of the White Demon is detrimental to the existence of all life. Therefore, he must live in order for everyone to survive. For him to escape Death"s touch, he must acquire the All Seeing Eye. The All Seeing Eye will lead the chosen one to victory and for him to cheat his way to impending doom."

The crystal ball now grew bigger and brighter making him to step back covering his eyes squinting, falling back to the tree he once sat, now a little bit frightened.

"He who has been chosen must remember," the ball echoed now louder, "He who has been chosen must prepare."

Karus closed his eyes before the white ball started a loud explosion, illuminating the whole expense of the black void to a blinding white light.

"Kind Sir?" shouted an enchanted voice of a young maiden.

He slowly peeked revealing the warm sunny skies of noon. He thought hard of what he dreamt. He knew with all of his faculties that what he experienced was real. He smiled for a little bit thinking he just confirmed the prophecy that they, him and Kayzar, have been obsessing about. He sat there for a few seconds, resting his head on the tree, thinking of what the All Seeing Eye is and what the ball meant for his death being imminent. The ideas springing up from him are very fast, making it very hard for him to process everything. He just prayed for the fast return of Kayzar for him to share this very disturbing revelation. He knows he can"t handle it alone.

"Sir? Yoohoo!?" persisted the voice, "Are you awake, Daomagar Sir?"

Karus hurriedly checked his bandana and was relieved seeing it in place. He sighed in relief that his cover being a Daomagar was not compromised. He snapped with his wondering and turned his head right to the road. He saw two huge four-legged beasts that are tied up, side by side, to pull a big circular metal box with four steel wheels. His eyes widened seeing the weird majestic beast on the road making their unique taunting sounds with their long faces and sc.r.a.ping the ground with their great hooves.

"Yes, Great Daomagar, are you alright?"

Karus stuttered for a bit still with his eyes peeled to the beasts. As soon as he looked to the young woman, his thoughts flew right by as if drifting far away, peeling off any thoughts of query about the gigantic beasts from his mind. He forgot what he was about to ask, having a frozen tongue as if being taken away by her captivating deep blue almond eyes. He completely forgot everything. All is blank. He can"t utter a single word being dazed to the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. He tried to fight it wanting to snap to reality but failed. He was pulled into a curse, he thought. He fixated to her small cherry lips trying to summon at least a sound but only got his mouth to open halfway.

"Oh dear!" she shouted, "I"m sorry sir did I offend you?"

Karus snapped seeing her putting her clenched fists to her bosom and bowing her head fastidiously. Thank Bathala, he thought feeling a bit embarra.s.sed about himself.

"Bathala bless thee brother," she enunciated confidently with a charming wide smile, "We are in need of a.s.sistance."

Karus chuckled, surprised to see her do a customary Daomagar plea. Though it was not complete, the effort made him stand up, clenched his fist putting it to his chest giving a bow in reply.

"What seems to be the problem?" he ran downhill to meet up with them only to slide to mud water, ruining his shoes. He was in total shock seeing this happen to him for the first time. He was trained to subconsciously check the terrain and it seems he forgot that too at the cost of his most prized white shoes that he so desperately tries to avoid being ruined.

"Oh no, your shoes?" she said concerned.

Karus forced a smile. "It"s alright, they"re just shoes," he replied cheerfully hiding the frustration about his inattentiveness.

"Oh!" she hurried, "I totally forgot!" She placed her clenched fist to her bosom again and spoke, "I am Lady Emiliana Yvonne from the house of Wolfe, daughter of Duke Tabarius Wolfe and niece to the Emperor Balthazar Ferryl Lionmaster of the great Eastern Empire."

He was shocked from what he heard. There are foreign visitors inhabiting their island when there is a law that prohibits them from entering their lands in the first place. That explained why she was wearing a very weird balloon dress. That fashion trend ended centuries ago.

He smiled, concealing his thoughts, following her gesture - clenched fists on the chest. "I am Karus from the Bandhana Clan of the Great Daomagar Nation and a single h.e.l.lo with your name would suffice."

"Oh..." she smiled embarra.s.sed.

"Don"t worry," he a.s.sured thinking that she took her joke seriously, "I"m not insulted or anything it"s just that only soldiers do that here. The rest do it casually."

She chuckled blushing, "I"m sorry I"m new here, I think I misinterpreted your words in your library."

"You have entered the Palace library?" he asked springing suddenly, startled with this new disturbing information but still smiling to mask it. Only n.o.bles can access the Palace"s library. No commoner can get a glimpse of light coming out from there. Borrowing books from the Palace"s library takes months and once one has procured the necessary requirements, one can only read it with a guard on their every sides. Their Aunt Prodea would be raving mad hearing of this information. This will surely be enough to immediately stop any activity she"s been engaged with, giving the conclusion that their Aunt is the only logical culprit behind the whole thing.

"Why, Yes! It"s most magical!"

"Have you any luck in deciphering the books there?"

"Unfortunately, No. Understanding your language is really perplexing. I"m a self-proclaimed lingua maestra but I cannot fully grasp your syntax and sentence formation. I can only catch some words and their sequence. Maybe if I"m to sit with it for a few months or so I"ll be able to. Good thing you all speak a myriad of languages."

Beautiful and smart but delusional, he thought. No one can understand their language. It is the language of Bathala. It is so impossible to learn that they are born equipped to already understand the language. At age two, their brain can process the symbols for them to understand the actual message subconsciously by just looking at it without even thinking. And at age five, they can write down words of their own into these symbols even without proper support from their immediate elders. That"s how hard the language is. To be able to at least understand the sequence requires tremendous energy and concentration. He knows she won"t be able to understand them even if she tried to study them for years. But he just smiled in reply and immediately changed their topic.

"What a weird name, Emiliana Yvonne. I haven"t heard such a name like that here?"

"Yes sir, but everyone seems to call me by my second name, Yvonne."

"Lady Yvonne. Meaning Archer? Right? And Emiliana means to excel or to strive so that name roughly translates to a Striving Archer."

"Yes, but Yvonne takes its root from yew trees. How did you know? Right... I"m sorry," she smiled feeling embarra.s.sed, "that"s a ridiculous question. Of course, you knew. You can translate any word into its base word."

Karus just smiled too seeing her correct herself.

"Well, sir, my sister calls me Lime."

"Ha! Emil on palindrome!"

The princess smiled shyly. "I think it has a nice ring to it, so I want that name to stick while we"re here. I just want you to call me by that name."

"Duly noted! Lady Lime it is! What is it that I can provide you with, my lady?"

"We are going to the Hishma"s," she said getting on point, "And I was wondering if you can help us in getting our wheel running." She pointed her hands to the back of the cart which Karus followed to check. "It seems that it is stuck on the muddy ground."

"Well this is a weird way to travel," he said while he inspects the problem, "What do you call this large device?"

"Oh, it"s called a carriage. It is what we use to travel in our lands."

Karus nodded while he fiddled with the wheel. "Might I ask the proper name of your beasts?"

"What beasts?" she asked back but immediately realized after a few seconds figuring, "Oh! They are called horses. They are trained beasts of burden."

"And they tug you around wherever you want to go?"

"Yes," she answered now curious.

"They gave you their permission?"

She smiled pausing for a bit. "No, that"s what the tight contraptions are for. It"s not like we can talk to them and ask for it."

Karus gave a very confused face that she noted.

"We do feed them well in return," added a small voice inside the carriage now peeking to look. "I told you not to sneak out again dear sister. If we brought Jason, we wouldn"t have to deal with the problems of outside, talking to strangers, and I really hate strangers today!"

"Yes," she smiled to Karus, "I almost forgot, that"s my very enthusiastic sister Glaiza Ysabelle." She went near and whispered, "She"s been through a rough day today so she"s not feeling that cheery."

"I thought you Daomagarians are strong," Ysabelle joined peeking, sticking her head out the window, "Just give us a little push and the horses will take care of the rest."

Karus now recognized her voice. It is the girl that took Yosh"s room, so he immediately turned his head around to hide his face tinkering something at the back to have some excuse. "I can"t just push it, my lady, the wheel might come off," he lied. In reality he can"t push the big metal carriage. He is not a real Daomagar.

"Well sir, do you know someone that can help us in our predicament?" inquired Lime. "Surely your superiors are near-by?"

"What?" Karus asked back mystified to whatever she means.

"Oh, are you not a member of the Hundred Sword Elites? I saw your armband on your left arm."

"You are a very peculiar person Lady Lime, but in a good way," he happily complimented, astonished to her great knowledge of their culture even though she"s been at the Holy Lands for only weeks - basing his deductions Of course, from the wallpapers of Yosh"s newly remodeled quarter which is quite right but not exact. "How did you know this symbol?" he added asking.

"Oh, your order escorted us to the Palace upon our arrival here. Although, if I may be quite frank, I think you wear a rather odd armband."

"Why so?"

"You see, one of the captains explained that the red armband signifies one to be a Sword Master and you"re wearing one. I have only seen that on old warriors and you"re too young to be one, giving me the impression that you are a disciple of a master."

Karus burst laughing at her statement. He couldn"t believe one can talk too fast stating a point. "Yes, it"s true," he replied, "but I am no one"s disciple, I am a true master of the Hundred Swords Elite."

"Hey, I don"t mean to be rude," cut in Ysa sounding annoyed, "but could we possibly do something about our situation here. We"ll be in time at the Hishma"s and that would really be contrary to us being early sneaking out."

Karus immediately thought of something. He knows he can"t move the large carriage by himself, but he can"t compromise his cover being a weak Daomagar. He had to do something to prove his worth - while ignoring the fact that impressing her was actually a big deal for him.

"Okay," he said confidently, "I found a way to push the wheel out the mud hole but please, princess, go inside your carriage. It will be a shame if the mud came splashing ruining your dress."

Lime giggled as she walked to enter the carriage. Karus just beamed his charming smile to her as he waited for the door to close. The mud won"t be splashing anywhere near her, he thought. He just fooled her so that they won"t see what he has to do in order to push the impossibly heavy metal ride they are in.

He concentrated all his energy to the Amplifyer in his forehead. The bandana failed on covering the light as a little hue of green began to sneak revealing its illuminating hexagon shape.

"Level One," he murmured, eyes closed, "Gust."

He pulled his hands and touched the back of the carriage. As he opened his eyes, a surging flow of wind almost akin to a sudden forceful windstorm came exploding in his palms, gushing to push the carriage to make it move four feet away almost jumping. He closed his eyes to concentrate again and the illuminating Amplifyer began to lose its glow.

Lime stepped outside the carriage and waved. "Thank you, sir," she shouted, "I hope we run to each other someday."

Karus waved too as he saw her turning, jumping to the front of their carriage vehicle to steer their majestic beasts called horses to go.

As he saw them slowly shrink on the horizon, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his head. The pain is enough to send him squirming again on the ground like what happened to him the last time, only this time, he tried his very best to remain standing even with shaking knees. He walked weak almost limply to the tree where he was before, heaving short breaths to at least minimize his most excruciating episode of headache.

"Not in the mud," he whispered trying, "Oh please, Bathala, not in the mud."

His bandana, that is previously dirty white in color, is now dark red because of the blood suddenly coming out of his Amplifyers. He cried tears of crimson red rolling thickly on his cheeks. He"s in a lot of pain but the thought of him dropping off somewhere a muddy road gave him enough strength to make him reach the tree near his travel gear. It is his pride that gives him strength and he know that. If this pride and confidence were to diminish into nothingness, he fears that he won"t live long enough to see through what the big mysterious white ball was talking about. Of course, taking into account the frequency of attacks of his mystifying condition, the odds of him losing this battle is ever increasing.

He squirmed taking a vial inside the pocket of his gear. Blood is trickling in every orifice of his face. Internal hemorrhaging, he asked himself to diagnose, almost puzzled as he swipes the blood that has been acc.u.mulating in his eyes. Nothing in the records shows signs of hemorrhaging as a result of wrong fusions. He summoned all his strength to remove the wood stopper and tried to sip the blue liquid even though he"s choking in his own blood. He eagerly closed his eyes and concentrated fighting his body waiting for the effect of the curious medicine.

"This is the first time Kayzar"s poisons came in handy," he whispered joking, talking to himself wheezing, trying to cough up a laugh instead of his blood.

The poison he carries is one of Kayzar"s most powerful tonics. It paralyzes the body forcing it to sleep. At least, he thought, at that deep sleep state, his body won"t shut down permanently, leaving for his blood flow to slow down dramatically. It is the first time that his headache was triggered by conjuring wind. It only happens when he conjures fire, he thought, and that means it"s getting worse. Two things can happen to him. It"s either he loses a lot of blood leading to the Sleep of Death or the poison gets him making him to literally sleep till he"s dead, whichever comes first. He just hopes that Kayzar finds him there in time before any of these unfavorable options comes into light.