Chapter 4: A prince in distress
Cold breeze gently blowing on his face, Prince Tua stir to aside to avoid what was disturbing his slumber, but he found his hands and legs were bounded and a piece of cloth is stuffing his mouth. After a while Prince Tua finally came back to his sense, and realized instead of the comfy bed he was laying on the wooden floor of a wagon, his face was pressed against the wagon wall, there's a small crack where the cold air draft in and woke him up, through the crack Prince Tua can see raindrop splashing against the ground. "How's this happened?" the prince wonder. Then he remembers the stranger taste of the food and cursed himself for being too stupid. But he awakes now, with the blood of Elvas and Dragon inside his vein had made him very resilience toward any substance known to man, he's harder to drug and quicker to recover, so the sleeping pill in the food had wear off quite fast. Whoever trying to kidnap him, had fail to take his lineage in account. Prince Tua also glad that his magic ability is still in full capacity, it's seem the kidnapper don't know he's a mage.
Silently, Prince Tua removed his bound with telekinesis, he turned to his left and found a pair of eyes staring at him. Held down his gasp, Prince Tua quickly recognized the inn's receptionist face, haft of his face covered in dry blood from a large split on his fore head. Prince Tua try to find his pulse but the man is cold as a corpse or rather he already is a corpse. Prince Tua sit up working on the rope on his legs then amidst the sound of the rain, heavy footsteps approaching the wagon.
Through the crack he can saw the shadow of two person carrying something heavy toward the wagon. Prince Tua lied down evoked his qigun and wait, not for long the rear veil of the wagon flung open and two shadow appeared with lantern light on their back. They were dragging something into the wagon. Prince Tua sprang up, and launched two punches in the air in front of him. Air from his punches compressed in a tick of the clock and launched toward those shadow.
Hit! The two shadow knocked to the ground, dropped their load. Prince Tua quickly launching himself out of the wagon, tumbling on the muddy ground a bit and quickly get back on his feet ready for a fight.
A flash of lightning lit up the scene and follow soon is the roar of thunder. In front of Prince Tua are the Saida's villagers, about three of them, Prince Tua can saw under that flash of lightning. And the heavy load, that two villagers just dropped is one of his bodyguard, the man has woken up, realized he's bounded the man struggling about. The villagers staring at Prince Tua for a whole minute long with their eerie blanked eyes. Then from the inn's door, came two more villagers, carrying Prince Tua's other bodyguard.
Lightning flashed again and thunder boomed like a signal gong, two of villagers charging at the prince. A fireball launched at the charging village on the Prince Tua's right but it does little to no damage, the rain has hindered Prince Tua's fire magic. The prince spun to the left, avoided a tackle from the other villager, then bended down slap his hand on the puddle nearby, muttered a spell and water from the puddle launched itself into two high pressured jets to the air aimed at the villagers just charge at him. One hit to the head, the other in the chest, knocked them over.
The two villagers just got hit by the water jet, got back to their feet almost instantly to the surprised of Prince Tua. The spell he just cast maybe not lethal but still hit with enough force equal to being hit by a bat. No one can get up immediately like that, does these people felt no pain? No matter, when a villager just drawn a knives and charging at him. Prince Tua cast his spell again, this time with lethal force. The water jet ripped through the air and flesh alike, punched a hole the size of a grape on that villager stomach, yet he still rushing in. Leaned left to avoid the down stroke blade, Prince Tua grabbed hold and twisted the attacker wrist, dropped his knives. With a firm twist of his hip, Prince Tua slammed his elbow to his attacker elbow and a loud "crack" of broken bone sounded, yet the attack still coming at him with his right aim flailing like a string-less puppet arm. Then another villager charging at him, then another and another, weapon drawn. Soon the whole group are bearing down on him, with the help of his magic Prince Tua fought off one after another, slammed one to the inn's wall, punched a hole through one's knee with water jet, yet they kept getting up and kept jump on him. Prince Tua slowly forced into retreat, until one of his water jet get a lucky hit right on the middle of a villager's chest, and with that the villager dropped death on the ground.
A sharp pain rushed through all of his nerve fibres. In a moment of distraction by the realization of how to kill these people, a farming scythe from a villager sunk it blade right through Prince Tua's thigh. the prince retaliates with a magical reinforced punch, hit right at the middle of the attacker's chest. The villager launched into the air with the crunching sounds of his entire ribcage being shattered into a million pieces, then hit the ground with a thud and a million percent of death. Another villager tries his luck and took a right hook to the face, a magically reinforced right hook and his head turned a whole 200 degrees to the right, with multi loud "crack" of broken jaw, broken neck vertebrate and fractured skull. His body limped over and fell motionless on the ground. Witnessed the death of three of their comrades, the other two seized their attack and stand still at where they were staring into the empty space in front of them.
The fight grind to a hold out of sudden, Prince Tua stumped at remain his opponent's inaction. They just standing there in completed still and silence amidst the rain. Prince Tua was no better, confused and don't know what to do next. Then the prince slowly shifts his leg leaning to the right. Still no reaction from the two villagers. Then he moves one step to the right, still nothing from the two men. Bewildered but bolded, Prince Tua cautiously move around them, eyes still fixated on them, expecting any movement from them, but they still standing there. Prince Tua now move behind them and slowly back stepping toward his bodyguard still struggling with his bond. Quickly with his telekinesis, Prince Tua freed his bodyguard and told him to wake the other up while kept watch over the villagers.
"What are they doing?" one of the bodyguard wondered while tending to Prince Tua wound. The other one has get back to their room to retreat their weapon while Prince Tua kept his eyes on the two villagers still standing like a statue since the fight stop.
"I don't know… ugh…" Prince Tua groaned as the bodyguard applying a makeshift bandage on the wound.
"This is bad, Your Highness…" The bodyguard said "I can't just pull the scythe out like this, it may cut off your major artery. All I can do know is just tightening the bandage up and slow the bleeding. We must return to the fortress or as least Vudai"
"Do it… I can use magic to seal the wound…" Prince Tua said, still kept an eye on the two villager
"Are you sure?" the bodyguard asked again
"Uh… well… sort of… just do it." Prince Tua said
The prince takes deep breaths, bracing for the pain, praying that he had payed enough attention in his mother healing magic class. The bodyguard grabbed firm as the scythe. As he about to pull the scythe out, something hit the side of his face, make him fell over and leave a bloody cut on his cheek. Then from a far, there're sound echoing through the rain. The sound getting louder and nearer by the second, it come from every streets and alleys. Soon Prince Tua realized that were the sound of footstep, and soon a flashed of lightning review a mob of people marching toward him. Some are men, some are women, there even some kid in the mix. They're aimed, some with farming tools, some with sword, some with bow, and some carry just a bamboo sticks. There are dozens and dozens of them maybe more and Prince Tua don't think they're friendly. The mob getting closer and closer with each flash of lightning, out of sudden that two villagers jump on Prince Tua and his bodyguard while they're distracted by the approaching mob, they quickly throw them on the ground with the help of the other bodyguard returned from the inn. That two villager get up again, lunging at them but was quickly take down by the two bodyguard now aimed with sword. The mob starting to pick up their pace.
An arrow from the mob flew toward them and plugged it cold shard on Prince Tua shoulder.
The mob charging in.
"Go! Highness! Get out of here!" the wounded bodyguard yell
"Please Highness, you must leave, we'll try to slow them down. GO!" the other bodyguard shouted
Prince Tua got no choice but to leave his men behind. But with his wounded leg, how far can he go? Still, he moves, using his magic to supressed the pulsating pain from his shoulder and thigh, and enhance his legs to allowing him to run for a bit. Prince Tua run and run, dare not to look behind. He run, but not for long. What he did to help his legs moving and the pain supressed starting to drain him. The pain from his wounds starting to make him harder to concentrated, to kept the qigun flowing throughout his body to help supress it, and the more he can't keep the qigun flowing fluently throughout his body the more the pain increasing in intensity, and thus the harder for him to control his magic and the qigun flow. And cold rain pouring on him only making thing worst.
Soon Prince Tua starting to slowing down and slowing down and slow down into a limping movement. Yet, forward, he still limping and limping and limping with the help of his sword as a crane. How far has his gone? How long has he limping like that? Prince Tua don't know, he just kept going until a flash of lightning revealed something, something flares up the flame of hope in him. A sign, a wooden sign hung on a building left of the road. "Public Carriage Stable" the sign said. The villager's gate is nearby.
Prince Tua pick up the pace toward the stable, his velelis is in there, he might get through this…
Thunder roared after a flashed of lightning, the booming in the air sound like a frustrated cry. A cry for how cruel of a mistress fate was. To the right of Prince Tua, in clear view was Saida's village gate, and also in clear view were some dozens of villagers, pitch folk and stick in hand, and the village's gate certainly had been locked. Still, Prince Tua limp toward the stable, maybe somewhere along the stonewall around the village, maybe some section of it felt into disrepair and he may find a gap, enough for the velelis to went through. He struggling to push open the stable door as the wound of his leg and shoulder opposing the effort with their excruciating pain pulsating throughout his body. Make his way toward the velelis holding stall. Prince Tua gasped as a flash of lightning once again lit up the space and reviewed… a gruesome scene. Blood, the entire of the stable floor is covered in blood, blood of the velelises inside the holding stalls. All three of them, oh! those poor, poor creature, their throat… slit.
Cried the prince, the velelis lied death inside one of the stall was his favourite. Pain of the flesh and pain of the heart fused together and fuelling a flame of anger, drawn his sword, he limped back outside to the rain. His mind starting to spinning and he barely thinking straight, because of the blood lost from the wounds or because of his anger? he doesn't know and doesn't care. Outside of the stable, those villagers still standing there between him and the gate. And behind him, from the street he came from, that mob of people is marching in.
"Come on! Come and get some, your fuckers! The fuck yours still staring at, yours fucking freak?" Prince Tua shouted profanity that he never thought as a gentleman of his status would ever say
The mob charging in, five jets of water launched, but mostly hit somewhere within those charger's adornment and legs, only one hit a fat women head, brought her down on the spot. More are charging in, Prince Tua brace himself and plunged his sword at the chest of one of them as they get in range, taken another one down before a bamboo stick whacked him in the face and make everything spinning. Prince Tua fell to the ground stunned, ears ringing and vision blurring, his system is shutting down. Before a completed black out, Prince Tua felt water plashed on his face after a "thud", something… something looks like a pair of foot just landed in front of him, he can't be sure and that all he aware of before it went completely dark.