Captain stares down from the tree top at Lieutenant 2 and Guy.
"I see you let the humans escape. Having some trouble?" Captain asks.
"No, forgive me sir, I'll fix it!" replies Lieutenant 2.
"So you must be the Captain," says Guy.
"How dare you address him!" shouts Lieutenant 2.
"You know our names," Captain response to Guy.
"I had a run in with your hunter. He told me you're the leader. I came here to fight you," Guy explains.
Lieutenant 2 gets angry, "I said shut your mouth! You think just because you can fight me, you can beat him? The Captain is leagues above you. If you anger him, he'll step in and I'll be blamed for it! So keep your mouth shut, or we will both be dead!"
Guy notices Lieutenant 1, and then he sees the Captain has a full Magic book attached to his hip.
"I can't have them jump into this fight, I'll lose. I need to be smart about this," Guy thinks to himself.
"Let him talk Lieutenant," Captain orders, "I assume you came here to kill me and end the occupation of this town?" He asks Guy.
"That was the idea until I ran into your Lieutenant," Guy replies.
"That might just work, but I don't think you'll get the chance. Lieutenant isn't easy to beat," Captain explains.
Lieutenant 2 speaks up, "No sir, I'm not!"
"As long you don't jump in I think I can handle it," replies Guy.
Captain looks at Lieutenant 2, "can you handle this?"
"Yes sir!" Lieutenant 2 quickly replies.
"Then there is no need to join the fight," says Captain.
"Good," says Guy.
Lieutenant 2 is no longer confident, he's now a pawn in a game.
Lane and the towns people have slowed down, but are still moving forward.
"Come on everyone, we can't stop now, they could still be following us-" A voice interrupts Lane.
"Following you? No, I think I found you," in front of the group sitting on a tree branch, is Lieutenant 3.
Lane and the towns people look up in horror as Lieutenants 3 jumps down and lands on ground in front of them.
"He looks like the one Guy was fighting!" Lane tells Thomas.
"Did Guy fail?" Thomas asks.
"You didn't think one human could have stopped us, did you?" Lieutenant 3 asks.
"What did you do to him!?" Shouts Lane.
"He is being handled as we speak, I would be more worried about what I'm going to do to you," he replies.
A handful of townspeople decides to take off and try to escape the woods. Lieutenant 3 pulls out his sword and darts in a circle around the group and back to where he stood originally.
The ground shakes, Lt2 has cut a line into the ground around them, throwing up dust in the process.
"Not so fast, I need to make sure you humans didn't take something important," says Lieutenants 3.
"No, we are leaving!" Lane grabs Thomas's sword off his belt.
Lieutenant 3 scoffs, "please don't make this harder than it needs to be."
"Go, I'll try to hold him off" Lane tells Thomas.
"No, my lady, I can't stay and fight!" Replies Thomas.
"Oh my lady?" Lieutenant 3 mocks, "You must be the warden's daughter."
"Wait, his voice-" Lane says under her breath.
Lieutenant 3 smirks, "getting information out of you should be as easy as getting information out of your father."
Lane's eyes widen as she realizes this is the same Lieutenant that killed her father.
"You're the Lieutenant! You killed my father! You bastard!" She shouts.
"One of many lieutenants, but don't worry, you'll be joining your father soon enough," says Lieutenant 3.
Lane grips the sword and charges Lieutenant 3, but he side steps all her attacks. Lane loses her footing and stumbles back into the group.
Lieutenant 3 laughs, "it looks like the human fighting Lieutenant is the only warrior here."
Lieutenant 3 slaps Lane's sword out of her hand, and grabs her by the collar.
Before Lieutenant 3 can begin questioning Lane, he stops and looks to his right in the woods, "did you think you could hide?" he asks.
Lane and the townspeople look confused, but then they hear twig snapping and see a burly man step into view. The man is covered in shadows, and Lane can't see his face.
Lieutenant 2 and Guy are face to face again, sweat rolls down both their faces. Captain watches from atop the tree, while Lieutenant 1 stands behind him nervously.
Finally, Lieutenant 2 summons dozens and dozens of tentacles, Guy takes a defensive stance.
Lieutenant 2 raises the mass of tentacles into the air, and begins shooting them into the ground in a circle around himself. Guy looks confused, but notices Lieutenant 2 has left himself open. Guy charges at him, but before he can reach Lieutenant 2, a tentacle shoots out of the ground between him and Lieutenant 2.
Guy slides to a stop and slices the tentacles in half. He tries to get in close to Lieutenant 2 again, but multiple tentacles come out of the ground around him. Guy tries to cut them down, but the tentacles are hard to track as they move through the ground like water.
Every time Guy cuts one tentacle down, another flanks him.
After an agonizing couple of minutes, Guy cuts down the last tentacles. He is out of breath, his clothes are torn, and he is bleeding.
Lieutenants 2 is more confident and summons a dozen fresh tentacles.
"I don't think you'll face Captain after all," he says as he launches the tentacles back into the ground.
Suddenly, Guy notices the battle ground is slowly being covered in dust from the dirt being shifted around.
Guy puts his sword away and waits for the tentacles to attack.
"What are you planning?" Lieutenant 2 says under his breath.
The tentacles erupt out of the ground to attack Guy, but instead of cutting them down, he begins to dodge them.
"Sir, he isn't even attempting to cut them. Do you think he'll run?" Lieutenant 1 asks Capatain.
"No, he isn't going to run," Captain replies as he watches the fight.
Back to the fight, Lieutenant 2 is beginning to have a hard time seeing Guy as the dust from the tentacles begins to thicken. Lieutenant 2 spots a shadow in the dust and attacks it, but he hits nothing. Finally, he stops his attack, the dust is too heavy, and Lieutenant 2 can't see a thing.
After waiting a moment, Lieutenant 2 looks up at the Captain, "Sir, I think he uses the dust to escape-"
Shienk.
Lieutenant 2 hears the noise of metal and turns around. Guy leaping up out of the dust with his sword draw. Lieutenant 2 fires a tentacle at him, but Guy throws his sword towards Lieutenant 2. His sword cuts through the tentacles and shoots at Lieutenant 2, who has no time to doge. The sword slices Lieutenant 2's leg and cuts his Magic's page in half.
"AAAAh," Lieutenant 2 shouts as the tentacles fade away.
The dust settles and on top of the tree Lieutenant 1 is shocked.
"Sir, allow me to step in!" He asks Captain.
"He still has his sword," Capetian replies.
Guy grabs his sword out of the ground as he walks towards Lieutenant 2.
"You ruined my reputation!" Shouts Lieutenant 2, "Captain will never trust me again!"
Lieutenant 2 charges at Guy, swinging his sword in blinding anger. Guy blocks every swing and then quickly counters, overwhelming Liuetenant 2 and flicks his sword away.
Lieutenant 2 tumbles backwards and falls down.
He turns to Captain, "Sir!"
Captain doesn't respond.
Lieutenant 1 knows he can't help him and looks back toward Lieutenant 2, they make eye contact, and then Lieutenant 1 looks away.
Guy standing over Lieutenant 2 with his sword raised.
"No please!" Lieutenant 2 begins.
Guy doesn't hesitate and cuts Lieutenant 2 in half, turning him to ash.
Back to Lane and the townspeople. Lieutenant 3 and the group of townspeople are staring at the strange man who has emerged from the woods.
"You thought you could hide?" Lieutenant 3 asks the mystery man, but he doesn't reply.
"Fine, you can be the first to die," Lieutenant 3 darts at the man and tries to grab his neck.
Pop!
A sound like a whip echos through the woods. The man has grabbed Lieutenant 3's wrist stopping him.
Lane and the townspeople are shocked.
"What!?" Lieutenant 3 shouts as he tries to pull his arm away.
Finally, Lieutenant 3 jumps up and kicks off the man's chest with both legs freeing himself.
Lieutenant 3 draws his sword and charges at the mystery man again. The man easily dodges the attacks, Lieutenant 3 can't land a hit.
Finally, the man side steps and Lieutenant 3 sword slices in the side of the tree. The man then slams his fist down on the sword, breaking it in half.
"What is happening-" before Lieutenant 3 can finish his sentence, the man grabs him by the throat and slams him against the tree. Lieutenant 3 tries to break free, but it useless.
The man turns towards Lane, "could you get me some rope?"
"Rope? Just kill him," Lane replies.
Suddenly she notices Lieutenant 3 pull out a dagger.
She quickly grabs Thomas' sword off the ground. Lieutenant 3 raises his dagger to stab the mystery man, but he doesn't get the chance. Lane runs up and plunges Thomas' sword into Lieutenant 3's ribs.
Lieutenant 3 looks down at Lane's sword and then looks up at her.
"That's for my father," she tells him.
Lieutenant 3 turns to dust in the stranger's hand.
"Dust?" the stranger says to himself.
"Who are you?" Lane asks.
"Are you the warden's daughter? Are you here with Guy?" asks the stranger.
"Yes, I am. Guy told me to get my people away from the town. He's still fighting," Lane replies.
"Don't worry about the townspeople, no one else is following you. I'll lead them to the road just ahead, but you need to go back to Guy," the stranger explains.
"Wait, how do you know all this? who are you?" Lane demands.
To be continued…