Chapter Fourteen

Flames engulf some of the wagons while the horses neighed in fear. Screams could be heard from the distance as both Skye and Kieran dash towards their carriage. Skye is worried about Selena while Kieran just wanted to have fun and whatever was happening seems fun to him. As both boys moved swiftly, what greeted them is an army of cloaked figures what worried him was their numbers, if his estimate was right the army is composed of nine hundred spiritual masters all in the fiftieth rank. Aside from that their commander seems to be at the early stages of the seventieth realm. Skye quickly stopped Kieran from rushing to their allies aid and Kieran was smart enough to stand down. He motioned him to calm down and quickly concealed himself. If Kieran was not standing beside Skye he wouldn't even have notice him in there, like a predator waiting to pounce it's prey. He was shocked at Skye's level of stealth and wished he could learn it too but for now they have to concentrate in battle brewing in front of them. A cloaked man moved forward and greeted the commander of guards. "Hello, i'm sorry to interrupt this mini feast of yours"the commander said while using spiritual essence to make his voice louder "I really hate greeting you with flames and blood, but it's my duty to intimidate. Now on to our main goal, give us the City Lord's son and his friend and we might spare you" he said in his most threatening voice. He then released his killing intent towards the caravan guards while the spiritual masters behind him remain unfazed. While the guards are at the late stages of the fortieth realm, they know that they are no match for the man or their near thousand army. What bothers Skye and Kieran the most is that the commander of the guards is thinking about the proposal.

The commander huddled his men and discussed among themself. Skye spotted Selena at the end of caravan together with Kieran's two-tailed fox. Skye was indifferent about rushing to Selena's aid or escaping amongst themselves. Kieran however looked at him in the eye. The looks he was giving him screamed "We can't leave them behind". Skye nodded. However it is not yet the time to take action.

Meanwhile, the guards are currently discussing what would be the best course of action. They were hired mercenaries to escort the caravan and their mission is to transport the goods to Chrystia. However, during the last minutes of preparation they were informed that the City Lord's heir would be travelling with them alongside it would be a hefty amount of money. Aside from that, they need not to care for the kid. His carriage will just simply follow their usual route. It was an easy mission with lots of money involved, though now, they're starting to regret accepting the mission. They love Cai Vjorn but facing an army of fiftieth realm is plain suicide. Aside from that, the commander thinks the City Lord's heir was a pure brat who doesn't know his place. "He could rot in hell, for all I care" he snorted.

Skye was amused on how the events are transpiring. The look of the commander of their guards stated everything he needs. He looked at Kieran and simply offered his hand. He then ask Dejvra if they could utilize their bond to communicate with each other. Dejvra simply shook his head. "If you're close together it might work but I know what's in your mind. It won't work" Dejvra answered honestly in his thoughts. Kieran sensed Skye's urgency and held his hand. Familiar feelings started to flood his senses as their conciousness started to somewhat merge but retain it's individualistic nature. "Kieran, listen carefully" Skye commanded directly in his thoughts as he started to layout his detailed plan to Kieran.

"We are just simple guards paid to deliver these goods to Chrystia. The City Lord's heir and his friends are yours" the guard's commander shouted. "Smart choice! Where are they?" exclaimed the enemy's commander. "They went out to train, they couldn't have gone far" replied the guard. "Scouts disperse" the enemy's commander whispered as almost twenty experts vanished from their ranks. "Until, we have the kids you'll stay here. If you lied i'll make sure to skin you alive" threatened the enemy's commander. "I didn't lie to you. Nor will I lie to you. We don't want to die yet" the guard replied.

Selena was silent amidst the situation. She was scared for her life and couldn't move in her position. She hugged the two-tailed fox tightly as he prayed to all the Gods she knew. After the commander announced that he will let their enemies have Skye and Kieran, her face began to pale. She didn't know what to do in this situation. However, the two-tailed fox have other thing in it's mind and took off to the forest. Before she could follow it, she sensed an influx of spiritual essence towards her direction and immediately dodged. A herald spike splintered as it hit the ground. "You're not allowed to go anywhere. Come here, princess" the enemy's commander said eerily. "But the fox-" she tried to argue but the two-tailed fox reappeared out of nowhere and she took it in her arms. "What are you waiting for? Come here. Let's wait for your friends!" the commander said sternly. Selena walk towards the commander slowly as the conmander's lip curved upwards "I never tasted an elf before" he thought.

* * *

The Dark Scouts split into a group of ten to survey the whole area while searching for the two boys. As the two man unit is the norm for the trained scouts, it is however the most vulnerable one. They could cover a large area in a short amount of time but in terms of fighting capabilities they are not that excellent. Scouts are famed for their intelligence gathering however in case of contact with the enemies, scouts are not that fit for close-range battles so retreating and providing intel would be the least they could do.

A group of Dark Scouts finally broke their ten man formation and proceeded with their usual dual scouting formation. Each duo were assigned to a designated area beforehand.

As a dark scout discovered a footprint that looks similar to the size of the boy they were looking for and he immediately tried to signal his partner to follow the path. But before he could signal anything an ice arrow pierced his throat as silent as the northern wind. The ice then began crawling to his whole body, he tried slowing down the process by covering his whole body withspiritual essence and letting a red spiritual ring flare to existence. But the mystical dark ice continued enveloping him without being bothered by the scout's futile struggle. As he choked to death, another arrow went through his frozen state that shattered his whole body. Pile of ice blended on the snow as the trail of footprint remained unnoticed.

* * *

Timothy or Tim as his fellow scouts call him was alarmed by his partner suddenly missing, he was used to the two man formation they always run with his partner Leon that they seem to sense each other almost perfectly. But in a split second he dropped his guard, his partner went missing in a blink of an eye. He never did thought that finding a boy in the age of twelve would be so dangerous that all his senses failed to perceive the most important things a hunter should always constantly sense.

He worked under the organization for most of his life and it's the first time he felt that his life was actually on the line. Vivid memories started flooding his brain as fear overtook his senses. He still remembered the day he was taken under the wing of the organization. They were kind enough to take in an orphan like him when his uncle left him in the streets to die. Ever since then, he worked gladly for the organization and made sure he did his best to earn his keep. With his constant effort he became one of the best headhunter there is and because of that he was cared for by the organization.

When he finally managed to confess his love to Sarah which she gladly accepted, he finally decided that it was his time to resign from his old work and maybe live a peaceful life with the remaining fortune he had. Today, was the final mission the organization has entrusted to him. If he manages to complete the mission, he can freely leave and have a great life with Sarah and their unborn child. He already made up in his mind that he would propose to Sarah and marry her in the same day. He smiled as the thoughts lingered in his mind for a little longer.

He saw footprints, footprints of a boy treking his way to the hills. He immediately cloaked his existence as he followed the trail. His whole body was screaming danger but he followed the trail anyway. As he reach the summit of the hill, the footprints suddenly disappeared. But nine of his fellow scouts appeared out of nowhere, as if following the same tracks all along. His senses screamed danger as he realized the footprints was nothing but bait that the boy created.

Before he could warn his fellow scouts a massive lance of ice descended upon them. Each and everyone of them moving away from the upcoming doom. However the lance was slow. Slow enough for every scout to dodge it. He was about to grin for the small victory but as the lance made contact with the blanket of snow massive ice spikes were created out of nowhere piercing half of their original numbers. Tim and the others was immobilized by the spikes when a flurry of ice arrow came instantenously. His life flashed before him as he closed his eyes. He remembered the sweet smile of the tavern girl he fell in love with. "My dear Sarah" he whispered under his breath as an arrow pierced his shoulders. Then his mind went blank. His conciousness slowly faded.

* * *

Skye made his way to the hills as fast as he can to assist Kieran. Their plan was going great so far and he hope that Kieran wouldn't ruin it by his prideful characteristics. He can only sigh as he finally reached the summit for the best visibility. As he assumed his position he let his spiritual ring flare to existence as his echo-location went active. Then he heard a hearbeat coming from one of the scouts he should've killed a while ago. He materialize one of the twin scimitar as he walked towards the direction of the heartbeat. When he finally reached the man, he realized it was his first time killing someone without using his bow. He took the man's hood off and looked at his face. The man looked youthful, he could tell that the man was smiling before he thought he died. Dozens of questions raced in Skye's mind. "How can he smile when he was about to die?", "Should I kill him?", "He looks innocent, maybe he was forced to do this.." . As the questions flooded his brain. The man stirred awake and gave Skye a smile. "Please make it..." he muttered. "I would like my corpse to be intact so my wife can mourn properly". "If you ever meet a Sarah a tavern waitress from the Royal Kingdom please give her this" the man muttered as he reached to his pocket and pulled out a silver ring.

Skye looked at the man's eyes and said "Give it to her yourself, one alive scout wouldn't change anything at all" he said as the ice arrow and spikes disappeared magically. The man shed tears as he walk away "Thank you, I shall remeber you" the man said as he slowly disappeared to the woods.

Skye positioned himself on the proper spot once more as he look towards the battle brewing from miles away. "It is time" he said to himself as he fired an ice arrow towards the caravan's direction.

* * *

Kieran wiggled his tail every now and then to sense for ever so slight changes in the temperature. It was their signal to engage the enemy. He hated the plan but there is nothing he can do about it. Skye was a genius when it comes to clever tactics and he tried finding gaps but couldn't see any as the plan was impeccable. Unlike Skye, he was not very organized. So Skye wasn't shocked in the very least when Kieran suggested to charge forward to catch the enemy off guard and retreat if they can't win. But Skye being Skye, he has other plans and that doesn't include charging. When the scouts were tasked to hunt them Skye immediately understood that the only way to win this battle was by escaping. And if they plan to escape, the scouts could flank them anytime so Skye planned to eliminate the scouts, so no one can intervene when it's time to escape. He wanted the job so much but killing people stealthily was never his forté, so he let Skye do all the work while he waited for the signal to engage. As he wiggled his tail once more the temperature dropped by more than four celcius and he know it was time. "This my moment to shine" he thought to himself.

Selena was bothered by the wiggling fox in her arms. Aside from that, the enemy's commander was touching her in a very lewd way and she promised that if she has the chance. She would kill the man herself. The man's hand touched her hair, then her ears, to her cheeks. The man wasn't contented and touched her neck and when he was about to touch her chest, she closed her eyes hoping for someone to save her. Her prayers were answered as golden light flashed from the two-tailed fox she was holding. The fox shapeshifted to a human form as a dagger materialized out of nowhere. The golden man then made stabbing motion as the enemy's commander tried to block by holding the golden man's hands. The golden man's dagger suddenly shifted to a katana and pierced one of the commander's eyes. The commander screeched in pain as he stomped his foot on the ground in retaliation. The golden man was forced to back away to avoid the shockwave. And retreated to her side. As the golden man finished shifting, she was then greeted by the ocean-blue eyes of the flaming-red haired boy. "Kieran?" she asked in surprise.

* * *

Two weeks later - Royal Kingdom of Nies

Muffled noises were heard from an isolated house of one the headhunters. The house was made of oak wood while the roof was made from bricks. A deck infront and empty pots are suspended in the air by strings, flowers may have adorned it at some point but it was no longer the case. It was a simple house with no redeeming features. One could easily tell that house was not well mantained but still livable by human standards. If one comes across it's path, one wouldn't think of the horror this house has witnessed.

Inside the basement of the house lies a beautiful woman with lithe figure which has bruises in almost every part of her body. Her hands and feet are tied to bed while her mouth is gagged by a bandana. Dark circles formed under her eyes while her youthful face has no semblance of any beating. Her beautiful red lips were now chapped and her cheerful voice lost as she screamed for the past two weeks. Not that someone could hear her in this isolated location. The woman heard the door creak and her eyes widened. She began to scream at the top of her lungs as she heard footsteps towards the basement. She was hoping for someone that can save her from this living hell.

As the footsteps grew louder every second she started to break free even more furiously. She tried to muster all the remaining strength she has to call for help but when she heard the basement door creak, she stopped struggling. As the footsteps pounded the stairs, she couldn't help but dream that help was about to come.

"Hmm. Hmm. Hm. Hmm.." a man's voice hummed. The woman froze in place as she heard the tune. She will never forget that voice. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate. Tears began to roll in her cheeks as the Gods has forsaken her once more. "Timothy, will you take Sarah as your lawfully wedded wife?" Tim asked in the most priestly voice could muster. "Yes, father" Tim answered himself then placed the silver ring to Sarah's ring finger. Once more he donned his priestly voice and asked "Sarah, will you take Timothy as your lawfully wedded husband?" he asked then puppeteered Sarah's head. "Yes, father" he answered as he tried to immitate Sarah's voice. "I now announce you as husband and wife" Timothy smiled to himself. "Timothy, you may now kiss the bride" he told himself then leaned towards Sarah. He started kissing Sarah through the thin cloth. As he removed his belt, Sarah flinched but she already accepted her fate. Like a dozen times before she was defiled once more. In the basement of the isolated house, muffled noises were heard once more.