As I departed from the village, having both Jasmine and Lucas with me, we began reminiscing our childhood together, from the pranks we played, our explorations on the near forest, our friends who moved out, the shiny stars under the festive sky and when Lucas confessed to Jasmine...
I was there you know? In fact, if not for me giving a few pushes, those two could still be in that ambiguous state waiting for the other to take a step closer.
It was a fresh spring night, under the blooming Red-jambo tree, the cicadas sung highly in the air and the breeze ran far and wide, it seemed that even the Heavens awaited anxiously for the outcome of his confession, which was quite surprising.
Lucas approached Jasmine, holding a couple of flowers in his hand, notably nervous, when he began "Jasmine, I can't hide it anymore I l...." she slapped his arms open and stole his lips. She took the initiative! And after the kiss she said "I love you". Quite domineering, if I might say so, but hey, a strong woman has its charms.
As we walked in the imperial road, more and more people were arriving, seemingly attending to the same call, people of all colours and builds with the desire to serve their empire and have the opportunity to fight for a better future for themselves and the people they love.
The immense migration repeated itself all across the imperial lands, even the skies shook under the marching of thousands of feet. Under this rumbling, the clouds gradually turned a deep grey, and the wind blew cold and ascending, warning us of the downpour to come.
"Maybe we should look for shelter, right boys?" Jasmine's voice sounded from the side, a clearly concerned tone permeated the air.
I looked up to see that grey dome stretching itself beyond what eyes could see.
"Indeed. There is a small cave a few minutes from here, maybe we should take shelter there?" Lucas quickly added.
"I don't have any better options, but is it safe?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Of course it's safe, it is just a small hole on the ground, I have been there before, it ends shortly after the entrance, so it is more like a cove..."
His answer diminished a little of my anxiety
"Let's go then, the rain will soon be falling"
And it did. A little after we left the road to enter the sparse forest by the side, the downpour came, covering the scenario as a curtain, turning the world into a watery symphony, as the drops hit the stones, the ground, the grass, the leaves, and even our clothes. We ran, our feet splashing the water that formed puddles in mere seconds.
Intertwined in such innocent happiness, we couldn't help but feel as children again. It's funny how near-death experiences, fights with strange creatures inside your mind and running under the rains can all make you think about the meaning of your life or reorder your priorities to highlight what really matters.
With our outer coats drenched, mostly because my wooden cart had problems to maneuver inside the forest, we arrived at the cove. Just as Lucas said, it was a oval-shaped excavation on brute stone, naturally limiting the air entrance and forming a cozy inside. The entrance was wide enough for five men to enter while standing shoulder to shoulder, while the inside could easily fit one hundred people without feeling too much cramped.
Smooth stone lined the walls and ceiling, forming horizontal stripes of lighter and darker colours of stone .
I was mounting a ring with rocks to light a fire inside, meanwhile Jasmine and Lucas gathered the dry leaves and branches they could find inside.
Soon enough, we already had a campfire ready, it just lacked a little thing, the fire! The stones we had at our disposal weren't firestones, and our firestones were wet due to the unexpected rain.
"Well, what do we do now?" Asked Lucas
I looked at them "I can try a little trick, if you guys promise to keep a secret"
"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked with a tilted face.
"Nevermind, you know you can trust us no matter what, my friend" Lucas quickly added.
"Alright then, thanks guys" It is always reassuring to know you have people you can lean on.
I turned the palm of my left hand up, and closed my eyes. I made my meridian turn, circulating the energy across my body, mimicking the feeling I had while fighting Darkness, when I felt a red brighness coming over.
I opened my eyes.
A red, fiery talisman was in my hand, just like the one I used to fight with darkness, but this time, it had weight, it had texture, it was real. dropped it gently over the wood, as it dissolved itself in embers and engulfed the dry branches in a hot flame. I looked up to meet the widened eyes of my friends.
"What.....What was that? How did you do it?" Lucas asked me, his surprise mixed with enthusiasm.
Jasmine was merely frozen, trying to process the events that brought up the warmth of the fire to dry our clothes.
"Well, I learned to do it after my Provation, although that's the most I can do. The Preachers said I did not receive any special gift, unlike my peers". My voice carried a tinge of jealousy and acceptance. I was the only of that party that came out without a named blessing, after all.
Lucas and Jasmine exchanged stares before looking back at me, their eyes exposing a turmoil of emotions inside them. They had received special constitutions as well, that much I could see, so even if my skill seemed impressive now, it was bound to be no more than a child's trick as they grew stronger.
Well, all I had to do is to become even stronger, then.
We sat around the fire, allowing its heat to permeate our bodies. As the rain grew heavier, concern weighted in our minds.
"I hope we won't arrive too late" Jasmine's voice broke the silence and carried the words out of our minds.
"Don't worry, my love. I am sure we will arrive by end of tomorrow, at most. The lights of the day are vanishing, maybe we should camp here for the night" Lucas held Jasmine's hand while comforting her.
"I agree. There is still much to be travelled and go uphill against the water in the night could be the recipe to a disaster" I couldn't help but be concerned with the goods I carried at my cart.
I bid good night to my friends and walked a little away of the fire, trying to find a spot not too cold nor too hot. After figuring the perfect spot, which was near the entrance, with my back facing the stone wall, I sat and started to meditate in order to sleep.
I circulated the energy in my meridian, nourishing, ever so slightly, my muscle fibers and sharpening my senses. I felt my skin hot, like it was trying to imitate the fire that burned not too far from me, I felt my body eager to absorb that natural energy, at the same time, my insides felt cold, fluid just as the water that fell right outside, dancing freely on the sky before ending its ephemeral life with a gracious impact and pleasant sound.
With time, the aggressive downpour changed into a gentle shower, and I followed that change, mesmerized by the secrets the ability to cultivate have revealed to me. The world around us is always much more than meets the eye. I could even sense the strong link of spiritual energy between Lucas and Jasmine, not only their hearts but their very souls were interlocked, truly another level of love and devotion.
Under such atmosphere, I fell asleep before even noticing.
I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Quickly opening my eyes, a hand covered my mouth.
"Be quiet. We are surrounded" Lucas whispered to me, looking into my eyes
I took his hand off, and gestured in the air, asking how many, where and who.
He looked at me with a look of indignation
"Come on, man. You know you are terrible at mimicking"
"Fine. How many people are there? Who are they?" I tried my best to muffle my voice without making it too quiet nor too loud
Jasmine pointed above, raising two fingers, and one finger on each side of the entrance. Four people at the total. A shrug with her shoulders meant they had no idea who they were, only that they weren't good people.
Now that I was conscious of their presence, I could feel the killing intent projected over us.
Unfortunately, we might have been targeted by bandits, or worse.
I turned to Jasmine, pointing to the entrance of the cove "What do we do now?"
A glint showed in their eyes, as Lucas pulled a retractive shield and placed in his arm, and Jasmine touched the string of her short bow. They said in unison
"We fight."
I picked up my gauntlets. Their comfortable weight on my hands. Now, we had achieved a stalemate, how do we attack without being attacked?
The campfire was burning its last embers, and the moon was still covered by the clouds.
"What if we wait for them to get in? I cover one side and Lucas the other, Jasmine stays on the back, using my cart as cover to shoot freely"
Although not perfect, having a plan is always better than not having a plan.
"What if they don't get in?" Lucas asked
"Then we will have to get out" That grimm possibility was something I wished we could avoid.
Thus, we moved. Crawling in the shadows, as silently as possible to the places we had designed, guided by the small changes in brightness provided by the dying embers and the scarce moonlight that managed to go beyond the wall of clouds.
After assuming positions, seconds seemed as long as ages, my heart felt heavy over my chest, each beat reverberating on my bones, and my lungs burned with every single breath.
After who-knows how much time, a dark silhouette approached the entrance, half crouched, with a short blade drawn on his hand. His movements were perfectly silent, I almost doubted he was real, if not for Lucas changing his posture, placing the arm where the retractive shield was, in front of him.
The figure seemed to be covered with a cowl, with small build and precise movements,
it tried to scan its surrounds, but the darkness was thicker, so it went two steps further.
That was enough.
We leaped at him.
Lucas came with a right hook as I tried to jab.
Our fists flying directly at the third, only to be met with an empty space and the acute sound of an arrowhead hitting my metallic gauntlet.
I barely had the time to step back before the wind howled while being cut right in front of me. The sudden movement made the cowl recede, revealing a feminine face adorned by a long hair.
But I lacked the time to see it better, as she was already sending a kick towards me.
I extended my arm with an open palm and intercept the kick before she gained more momentum, and it actually almost made me regret. The strength generated by her in only half a spin pushed me back a few centimeters, making my feet slide on the dirt and my arm grow numb.
A low whistle in the air made me duck, only to see a dart go through where my ear was.
But that moment of distraction to both of us was enough for Lucas to push her with his retracted shield, now about 60 centimeters of diameter.
The rumbling sound of metal over her bones. Lucas hit her as a racket hitting a ball, lifting her from the ground and making her reach the ground only after flying for a few meters inside the cove.
We could hear her gasping loudly, the air failing to fill her lungs. That was enough for her partners to take a more aggressive stance. A tall man, with red beard in face and broad sword in hand quickly walked out of the woods and started sprinting towards us with a mix of hate and surprise in his eyes.
A howl of pain from inside the cove.
"Don't worry with her, boys! I got her!"
We saw Jasmine's arrows digging deep in the girl's flesh, tying her to the ground after trespassing her calves.
I almost felt bad for her. Almost.
"Look out!"
Lucas pulled me under his cover, shortly before the tintilating sound of darts hitting his shield began.
"Thanks, my friend"
"Focus, there are more coming!"
A spearman was indeed coming, a few strides behind the tall red-beared man.
"Now this is getting fun..."
The man raised his broadsword ominously, ready to cleave the very cove if needed be.
"This one is mine!" I sent an uppercut straight into the blade, making my feet sink into the stone, but I knew mother's work wouldn't fail me.
And it did not.
My gauntlets resisted the impact, sending a shockwave across both our arms, but notably the recoil was greater in the man, as the blade now had a deep indentation in one side.
The spearman stopped running, unable to react to such inconceivable scene. I could almost hear him say something about excrements.
"Leave the big guy to me, Lucas, you get the spear!"
"Roger"
Our shouting gave those men time to recompose themselves, but Lucas was already behind the red-bearded warrior. The only problem is, now none of the archers had a clear shooting range.
I looked up to stare the greedy and hateful eyes that looked down on me. A heavy built man, almost two meters tall was exhaling heavily.
I smirked and and repeatedly flexed my fingers, inviting him to fight
"I hope you still got some spirit on you, big guy!"