Mystic Quest

Chapter 20

The caravan eventually reached Gandam. The group thanked the caravanner, Noriran glancing furtively at the murderer. The wolf, like his mistress had asked, kept an eye on this human. His muzzle twitched from the bad aura emanating from this man. He could understand with his precious female human wanted to watch over such a man.

Noriran watched in which direction the bad man left, before trotting after the four young people. Lyria glanced down at her wolf, smiling at him.

“So, my friend?”

Noriran let out a small bark and gestured with his head in the opposite direction.

Yuna groaned. “Figured he would go the other way.”

Emerys smiled, a bit ferociously. “Don't worry, I could see how he watched me. He will come to us.” He admitted with disgust.

The magician preferred not to tell the killer had his eyes on Solarys too; or the swordsman would become enraged.

The archer hummed, thoughtful. “Only Yuna carry a sword; he must believe only Yuna can fight.”

Lyria laughed. “He is going to be surprised!” Then, more seriously, she looked at the two men. “I suppose you went to take revenge yourself?”

Yuna and Emerys nodded. “We thank you for your help, but when it will come to fighting, stay behind.” Yuna asked.

“We understand. However, we will defend ourselves if he comes too close. Deal?” Solarys replied.

This satisfied her two male friends; and the group went to find an inn. They talked of the plan, and the two young men admitted that the killer liked to work during the night. While they didn't like at all what the two young women decided, they went along with their plan.

This night, the murderer saw with pleasure that the two young women went to take a stroll alone. Such recklessness! Only the blue haired woman was a target; but he would be delighted to have a witness.

With a deranged smile, he approached without sound the two women. His sword in hand, he wondered what would be best. Hit with surprise, or play with them?

Suddenly, a wolf howled. The two young women stopped. He froze in place with a frown. They whirled around, fixing him with a glare. The young woman with blue hairs took out a bow that he never noticed before from her travel cloak. The other young woman made a whip appear. A wolf as white as snow ran from outside an alley and stood in front of the women, ears and tail raised.

The assassin raised his sword, but was even more surprised to see them step back. They threw at him smirks. The man froze when he heard the sound of a sword drawn out of its stealth slowly, with the intention that he heard each second.

He turned. Facing him, the swordsman of the group, and judging by the fire ball in his hands, the magician. He had underestimated them. However, he thought it was only a small bump on the road.

Yuna growled in anger in front of the satisfied smile from this man. “Don't tell me you dare to have forgotten us?”

The assassin stopped from a moment. The two young men were familiar, indeed. Then, he remembered. “Oh! How the world is small!”

Emerys narrowed his eyes, furious. “How you have no luck. You will regret what you took from us!”

With that, the fire ball flew at the killer. He barely avoided, and raised his sword to parry Yuna's. The young swordsman put all his weight on his sword. The murderer bit his lips under the effort.

A strong gust propelled him to the ground. With a war cry, Yuna went on him. The man rolled to the side, then stood up quickly. He stepped back, starting to feel the fear. Him! Being afraid!

He looked briefly to the side. The two young women watched the fight. Maybe... Yes, this could work.

He came back to himself just in time to block again Yuna's sword. The earth trembled under his feet. He pushed back the young swordsman, but couldn't completely avoid the earth peaks. He screamed in pain when one pierced his leg. He stepped back with a stumble.

The two young men came closer, threatening. Then, desperate, he turned toward the young women, only some steps away. He had to take one hostage!

Lyria stayed unmoving as Solarys took a step back in front of the charging man. Noriran pressed himself to the ground before raising his head and howling with an echo. A wave of energy hit the man and made him run on the spot.

And so, he couldn't avoid Yuna's sword, wrapped in Emerys' ice. The assassin blinked, not understanding the view of the sword protruding from his stomach.

A second later, Yuna retracted his sword. The magic acted then. The group watched the body of this atrocious man transform into ice. Noriran came closer with eyes full of anger, having understood for a long time now the hurt this human had inflicted on his friends; and he hit with a paw.

All that remained were shards of ice without shape. Already, they were melting.

Each looked at their friends. They had fought many demons; but nothing was worse than the darkness in the heart of humans. They had to make justice and stop new murders; in a world where justice didn't go further than the limits of each village, and yet.

Breathing once, Solarys went to Yuna and hugged him. “It's over...” Then she smiled faintly. “I'm happy to know more about my friends.”

“And your lover?” Yuna whispered as he hugged her back.

She nodded in agreement, flushing.

Emerys passed his hand in his hairs. “Well, revenge isn't great.”

Lyria's jaws tightened. “Sometimes it is necessary.”

Her three friends' gaze went on her. She blinked, then smiled. However, she could see the curiosity in their eyes.

“So, shall we go to bed? We have to continue our journey, and we have to pass through mountains!”

That's it, change the subject; thought Emerys. But, like his friends, he said nothing and accepted it. The group went back to the inn, wanting a good night sleep.

They still had so much road to take.

To be continued...