They walked a little further up the road. Once a dirt pathway, now just a few drops away from turning into a stream or a mud slide. Nero lifted up his feet covered in mud. Another path merged and a man with an odd item hanging around his hip in the shape of a molded weapon stomped through the mud.
"Hey." Nero said.
"Hey." The man said back about the same age as Nero and Frides.
"Loving this weather right?" Nero jotted up right next to him.
"Huh? Yeah!" Taken back by Nero's close proximity.
"What's that?" Nero pointed down towards his hip.
"Oh yeah, I know people are always asking about this thing here. It's a sword, a broad sword."
"Is it made of steel?" Nero reached to touch it. Frides got in a fighting position.
"Yes it is." He said while side stepping Nero's reach.
Nero pulled his hand back. "I knew it. Are you from Zea?"
"Yes indeed, I am from Zea." This man was huge. He was about a head taller than Nero and very bulky. He was about the same age as Nero, but you could only tell by looking at his babyface. From a distance or from behind one would believe he was a grown man. But in his homeland he was more than a man. He had spent weeks mining for the precious metals coveted in the revered skill that was smithing. Where the size of the sword is not what matters but instead it's strength. In that place he was a blacksmith.
"Wow, I've never seen a sword in person before. I've read about them and they have a few in museums from the few southerners who travelled from Zea."
"You have museums here?" The mans eyes lit up. "I would like to visit one."
"Yes, one all about you. It's said that there once was a time when all men had swords of metal. Now they are just used to help as a visual aid for making a glow weapon but they're made of wood not steel. Watch here let me see." Nero reached out for the sword again.
"No. I know how Glow works."
"Come on?"
He reluctantly pulled the the sword from its sheath and handed it to Nero. Nero fell over and the blade slammed into the ground.
"Hey! Take it easy." The man said in surprise and frustration.
"It's okay. I got it." Nero said as he struggles to even lift one side. "It's heavier than it looks."
He studied it for a second taking in the engravings of the hilt and the size width and most importantly it's weight and sharpness. He replicated everything about it but couldn't come close to making it even close to as heavy.
The man nodded. "That's impressive." Then Frides made it without even touching it. "Whoa "quiet guy" your good. Purple? He's even better than you."
"Frides." Frides said not liking the implication.
"Oh, he speaks. I'm Henry."
"Show off." Nero hit Frides' Glow sword with his and it startled Frides. "I'm Nero."
In one smooth motion the Henry grabbed his sword and turned it towards Nero's and Frides' swords. Nero smiled and with one arm reached back and removed the bag with Urs in it from around his back, placing her on the ground.
"I made it myself" He said with a grin. "Want to compare? First do you know a man of the people with one missing arm that mounts a flying steed?" Then he stopped and they all looked up onto the horizon. "Do you hear that?"
Frides squinted. "Yeah it sounds like a small army."
As they assumed, a flag appeared on the horizon and another one and another one. Then close to 75 men appeared, some riding horses, and some walking along side of the men on horses. As they came down the hill jumping and stepping and talking and whatnot. Once the group noticed Nero, Frides and Henry, they picked up speed.
"Where do you think they're going?" Nero asked Henry and Frides.
"I don't know." Frides said.
"Do you think they're coming from a town up that way. You two are the first people I've seen in days." Henry said.
When the small army finally made it up to them, they circled around them. Now close up and personal the flags had a webbed cat paw on them and the men were in a muddied green colored uniform. Their uniforms were old but well kept. At the end of the procession a man dressed in a uniform like the rest of the men but his was new.
"Hello, I am Dylan the only son of the head of the Addidel House." He said as if it was supposed to mean something to them.
"Hello, I'm Henry."
"Hi, Nero."
Frides nodded.
Dylan frowned at Frides and shifted in his seat. "I have received word that my sister, Miss Daisy, has been attacked and was seen heading this way"
"That's awful. I haven't seen her but I'll keep a look out." Henry said apologetically.
"So, what's that got to do with us?" Snapped Nero. He could sense the men around him were on edge. There was a large man that was standing next to Dylan that was giving Nero a dirty look.
"Since you asked, in the message that was sent, a woman saw three weirdly dressed men attacking my sisters guard. After killing him they went on up this road after my sister. And you guys seem pretty weirdly dressed." He looked down at Henry's sword.
"Are you accusing us?" Frides asked.
Nero looked at Frides then to Dylan. "What? With what proof?"
"What proof do I need? Do you not know where you are? This land belongs to the Addidel House. We have authority over this land and your the weirdest dressed travelers I've ever seen. You'll be coming with us." He raised his hand at his men and they Glowed grey weapons.
Nero glanced towards Frides and slowly shook his head. Then he dashed into the forest and Frides ran in the opposite direction. Henry stayed put.
Dylan looked down at Dylan. "Aren't you going to run with your friends?"
"I'm sure your justice will find me innocent. Those two people aren't my friends, we just met only moments ago. Since I have your ear, may i ask you a question?"
"Go after them!!! And chain up this idiot he's coming with us." Dylan commanded his men and noticed Nero's bag and Urs popped her head out. "What the hell! Is that a...?"
The many men split up into three different parties and jumped into the woods in both directions.
"Hey hold it." Nero heard coming from behind him. He could see the men fanning out to surround him and cut him off. He then jumped up onto a branch and swung himself up into the trees jumping from branch to branch. A few men familiar to the woods jumped up into the trees and pursued him.
"Fuck its just as slippery in these trees." He said trying his hardest to evade his pursuers.
Frides ran through the heavily flooded and muddled marsh barely able to stay upright. He struggled to pull his feet up with each step. He turned around and heard the soldiers slide down the hill and run up to the marsh. Frides was wading in as they pursued him into the marsh and as they started to come upon him he got sucked in.
"Hey, hold it. He's dead." They turned back and headed back to the road.
Nero was jumping through the trees and a few of the men were hot on his tail.
"Hang on tight this may take a second to out run them." Nero reached behind into the pack to console Urs and found no bag. "Oh shit!"
In the moment he was distracted one of the men managed to sneak up on him and swung a kick at him.
He blocked the kick then another man jumped out of the trees from on the side of him and punched him in the face knocking him down into the mud. The men that were following below, caught up, and started to gather to surround him.
"Oh fuck! You gotta be kidding me where the hell is that bastard when you need him. There are just too many of you guys." Nero looked around at the Addidel soldiers.
"Just surrender."
"Hahah, for what? I haven't done anything wrong. How about you give me my Domaku back and I'll go skip up the road?"
"What?" The soldier looked around at his group. There was no way this guy could beat all of them, but he could tell Nero was going to try.
"Whatever. I'm going to take care of you guys, go and beat the shit out of that big chinned guy, take back my Domaku and get back on the road. So lets get this over with already! Who's coming first?" The soldiers Glow weapons and inched closer in on Nero.
Most of them had swords and a couple Glowed axes. The big guy in the back that was giving Nero a dirty look earlier Glowed a gigantic hammer.
"Guess I'll go!" Nero Glowed his Bow Staff and the men with their swords closest to him leaped toward him and he swung his staff wide in the air around to get them to move back and he crashesd it into a guys head starting the advance. He followed through sending him spinning.
"Who's next?" Nero Glowed a spear on the tip of his staff and lunged it at one of the men behind him sending him flying backwards.
The guy to the left of the guy that got javelined, took advantage of Nero's distraction and brought his sword up and attempted an over head strike but Nero pulls his staff up in time to block and kicked him backwards.
"Oh shit!" Said another guy with an axe. He stepped to the side dodging the soldiers falling body and Nero whipped his staff across his face before he could swing his axe, knocking him out.
A man with a sword jumped out to strike Nero in the back. "Got you!" He screamed when he did it and Nero jumped to the left dodging the attack. The man adjusted, following him closely with a series of slices and two more men joined in the attack. Nero was barely parrying and dodging their attacks, falling back more and more.
"Are you guys okay?" The big man yelled.
"We got him!"
"Got you!" Nero struck the man who yelled back, across the face. Not hard enough to knock him out but enough to drop him. Nero jumped back. "That's better."
"Don't stop, get him!" They jumped at him again but were out of sync. Nero side stepped and bashed one of them atop his head, dropping him instantly. The remaining guy lunged towards Nero. One of the axe guys leaped into the air and sliced Nero on the back.
Nero whined and dropped his staff to grab the axe man and used him as a human shield.
"Nooooo!" The axe man yelled. The man with the sword sliced into his comrades collar before he could pull back. Silencing him immediately. Nero glowed a dagger and stabs it into the mans eye before he could pull his sword back.
Nero forced the dagger deep into his skull and the man let out a grunt, and blood squirted out of his eye as Nero removed the dagger.
The big man with the hammer shoved one of his own men to the side. "Outta my way! Step back if you don't want to die."
"Who's that?" One of the guys asks.
"What do you mean? Oh your the new guy. He's one of the Families Head guards." The large guy with a shaved head and a gigantic hammer. He had no sleeves and visible grotesquely maneuvered chest hairs. He stepped through to the front and faced Nero.
Nero panted. "Oh I get to skip the lackeys and get straight to the big bad boss. Emphasis on big? Hahah."
The man raised his hammer and dropped it in front of him.
Nero looked around and noticed everyone was slowly stepping back. "Shit! Hopefully you guys get paid a descent wage to work for that asshole."
The man with the chest hairs showing Glowed another hammer and started to swing the hammers in a circular motion passing one over the others creating an X in front of him then ran at Nero.
Nero jumped and the man blew through a few large trees in the area. Then Nero after seeing the carnage jumped to another tree only to have it knocked down from under him. Then to anther. From below he saw the Addidel soldiers running. Some not able to move in time to dodge the shrapnel and find sufficient coverage, were ripped into by flying tree chunks.
"Whoa! Look at this lumberjack! Your like one big boar, well that would be insulting The Great Boar God in the sky." Nero looked down and saw the surviving men fleeing the scene for a safe vantage point to watch their boss.
Nero ran from one tree to the next getting lower and lower. He darted from one tree to the next faster than the big man could keep up. He dropped down and picked up a handful of dirt and sifted through it for the rock. He threw rocks at the man, each time the rocks getting pulverized by the hammers. Finally one hit him.
"You're going down, now!"
"You're bluffing!" The big man said. "There's no way you can even get near me without getting smashed to bits."
Nero bounced from tree to tree again except this time coming just so close to those hammers. He matched the pace of the man, running right next to him.
"So what? You caught me but you still can't get close enough to land an attack."
"Well I can transform my Glow so that it can slip right through. Watch?" Nero Glowed a spear and a bright green staff.
"It's green? I thought it was blue! Where are you from??!!"
Nero stabbed him clean through his rib cage. The mans face turned up and sideways in pain due to the surprise that he'd actually been hit. He flew sideways, his hammers sent flying in odd directions one directly at one of his men pulverizing him into the tree and another one in the sky.
Nero strides towards him. "Well, well, well." Nero looks down at the man gurgling his own blood and pulls the staff out. Nero looked up and a man was running towards him. Nero ran towards him and jumped over him landing on the other side of him.
"I'm going to take your head and when I get back I'll have his job." The painstakingly ambitious new recruit spat in the mud and gestured from Nero to the now dying boss.
Nero waved a finger. "Then come on then!" Nero dashed at the man and he ran right at Nero now wielding a short sword and a small shield. "Oh your not like the other ones huh?"
"Yes, I'm faster!" The ambitious soldier said. He swung at Nero and Nero swerved and a hammer dropped right on the soldier.
Nero slowed down proud of himself and grinned to himself for a second. A man stepped backwards. Nero knew he was shitting his pants in fear.
Nero twirled his spear around and in succession demonstrating his expertise with the staff and smashes it to the ground, dirt flying everywhere! "Alright Assholes! Come and get your lovin'!"
All of the men ran away. Nero ran at one of them and they fell to the ground in fetal position and Nero jumps over him. When the man looked up and barely caught him disappear into the forest.
When he got up and couldn't see a hint of glimpse of where Nero went. "The Addidel House will never let you get away with this!"
Nero bursts out of the bushes and winds up on the street where Urs was last. "You have to be kidding me! This is a problem! How'd that big chinned bastard even get away that fast???
The road is empty, nothing but pissed off Nero.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Thanks for reading!