Raven froze in place, raising his fist into the air. He paused so suddenly that Luna almost walked into him. The raised fist in the air was a command to move into a tight formation. They quickly formed a rectangle, each standing at four corners that allowed them to guard each other's backs while keeping watch of the surroundings.
"Beware, something approaches us," Raven warned, drawing his sword. "Arm yourselves, and prepare for battle."
"Shit!" Marcus muttered, but followed the command. He took out his bow, plucked an arrow from his quiver, and aimed into the trees ahead of him to cover his side.
Luna brought out her short staff and pointed it in front of her, warily staring into the swirling fog around her. Preparing a spell in her mouth, ready to strike. "Do you guys feel it, I think the ground is trembling slightly."
"Yes, something big is coming," Damien said. He extended his arm, and a long staff appeared in his grasp. It was decorated with jewels with powerful mana sealed within them. "We did not put any effort into concealing our presence since we arrived here. If I'm being honest, I'm surprised it took us this long to encounter something in here."
"It's a possibility that the weaker creatures were intimidated by our presence, and they chose not to cross paths with us," Raven said. "Whatever comes, fight with all you've got."
The other three nodded.
It was then that Luna saw it, a swamp troll emerging from the thick fog, a being made of muck and rot. It dragged its immense, putrid form over the squelching soil. The monstrous creature seemed to be made of the mass of the swamp itself. Its colossal body was bloated and wrapped in rotting vines, it heaved and shifted as it traversed the swamp terrain with its eerie grace. The troll's limbs were misshapen and twisted, and they were oddly elongated. Its hands were outstretched,
8|Page
writhing and shivering sickeningly as it moved towards the four of them. Each of its step felt heavy and caused the ground to tremble. The troll's entire form seemed to be in a constant state of decay, it seemed to Luna as if the troll was a walking piece of the swamp. A cold stream of liquid fear ran down Luna's spine at the troll's face. Its pale, unblinking eyes glowed with a sickly green light, casting an eerie radiance in the fog-laden land. Its head was more bloated than its body, and deformed, with thorny vines running over and through its skin.
"God it's a nightmare!" Luna cried.
"What the hell is that!" Marcus couldn't help but scream. "Shh!" Damien warned.
"It's a swamp troll, it may look sluggish but it can be really agile if it wants to," Raven whispered. "So, do not let your guard down!"
But the creature had heard them. It halted in place. Luna's breath caught in her chest as she saw the creature slowly turning to face them. Its green eyes locked gaze with all of them, and there was hunger in those eyes as evident as the rotting smell of the place. Luna sensed that the creature was intelligent, and much more towards the human side. There was no mistaking it.
The troll's jaw slacked, revealing a gaping hole so wide Luna could climb into it and fit inside. That hole was filled with spikey white teeth. Letting out a growl with its eyes still fixed upon its pray, it began to walk towards them.
"Luna, Marqus, stay back!" Raven shouted. "Damien, come help me. We must take it down in one shot!"
"Understood," Damien grinned. "Let's do this!" He dashed and moved next to Raven, then said, "Alright, how do you want to do this, leader?"
"You hold it in place," Raven said. "I'll go cut it down. Alright?"
"Understood," Damien said, then raised his staff at the charging troll, its arms flailing around like the antennas of a creepy cockroach. Bolts of searing lightning arced from the
9|Page
tip of Damien's staff, crackling and sizzling as they hit the troll's body. Thunder crashed in the air the very next moment.
The troll let out a guttural, mournful roar as the lightning coursed through its twisted flesh, burning and withering its rotten vines which seemed to be a part of its body.
"Its paralyzed!" Damien shouted. "Raven, go now!"
Red flames shot out the back of Raven's body and shot him towards the troll. Raven flew past the creature in blinding speed, holding out his dual saber swords which also glowed red hot and stretched to the size of two spears, though only for a moment.
He landed on the ground behind the troll like a meteor smashing into wet soil, splashing water and mud everywhere. The creature split in three pieces with clean cuts and fell to the ground in a foul-smelling heap, its malicious intentions extinguished.
Damien laughed in relief. "That's one swamp troll slain!"
A scream came from behind them, and Raven and Damien both turned to see Luna and Marcus being helplessly caught by trolls! There were two more of them that went unnoticed!
"Luna! Marcus!" Raven's face darkened with fury and his scream thundered through the air. "Nooooo!"
Raven was about to experience loss. Luna and Marcus, who've become his new family, were captured by hungry swamp beasts, creatures so huge they stood ten feet tall. Raven wailed in despair, and in madness, began to run towards the group of trolls in reckless abandon.
Damien wrapped his arms around Raven and stopped him just in time.
"Don't be a fool!" Damien shouted in his ears. "Running blindly like that, they'll catch you too!"
"Noo!" Raven cried, flailing in Damien's arms. "Luna! Marcus!"
But Damien refused to loosen his hold. "No! You can't!"
10 | P a g e
"You have to do something!" Raven said desperately. "The beasts are killing them! Do a spell! You have to free them!"
Damien bit his lips, and said in a painful voice, "The swamp trolls won't let the brats go no matter what. The only way to make them release Luna and Marcus is by hitting it with a powerful spell. If I do that, I'm afraid the kids will die long before the trolls do."
Raven gaped at him.
Damien looked down, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."
In that moment, Raven suddenly composed himself. He freed himself from Damien's bound and began doing something with his blades.
He said in grave tone, "Do you still know the healing spell, Damien?"
Damien was taken aback, he said, "I- do. But why?"
"I'm going to get them out of those things grasp," Raven declared.
"You're going to use Soul Mana Release, aren't you?" Damien stared at Raven for a long while. Then said hotly, "Why Raven? Why go so far for a couple of brats?"
Raven unsheathed his dual swords. A fire- a blazing fire was converging into his eyes, and he said in a quiet, but resolved tone, "I can't let them die, Damien. They have become my family. I will do anything to save them. Even if it costs me my life.. Besides, we can't save this continent without them. We need them."
With that said, Raven walked to the front of the trolls in somber motion, visible faint red mana aura rising from his entire being like steam, as if he were on fire and smoking. He stared into the grizzly green eyes of the monsters, and said, "Brace yourself, Luna, Marcus. Because this will be over in an instant."
Intense red flames burst out of Raven's entire body. He was a blur as the flames propelled him, and he moved around the trolls. A few seconds passed, and in that few seconds, he had killed the trolls, curving small pieces out of their bodies. When he was done, only Luna and Marcus remained, and
11 | P a g e
the trolls were reduced to nothing but small strips of rotten things they were made out of.
Flare stood there, amazed at Raven's fury, his power.
Raven flung himself on the floor of the swamp in time so that Luna and Marcus's unconscious bodies landed in his arms. His eyes began filling up with tears. The kids were alive, he had saved them, but now they were covered in small cuts all over his body. He managed to save them, but not without hurting them.
A dark shadow fell over his eyes as he held onto the two of them.
**
Luna stirred in a soft bed. She opened her eyes to a dimly lit chamber. The air was heavy with dust, and the sort of smell you get from ancient things. There were strange lights wavering, casting long shadows all around, dancing in a drunk and dazed way. Luna wondered if she was dreaming for just a moment. That feeling passed quick enough and she tried to move. As she got up to a sitting position, she felt an odd stiffness. She noticed the presence of bandages covering almost all of her body.
She jolted into awareness, and woke up in the true sense. Her breathing grew rapid and she winced as she took in her surroundings. This place that she found herself in, it's walls were made of decaying stone, and adorned with faded symbols that were obviously religious and intricate and complex carvings. The room was rather spacious and it was illuminated with softly flickering candles which did their job poorly, leaving most of the room in inky darkness.
"Luna!" a familiar voice came somewhere from his right. "You're awake!"
Luna gazed into her right and saw her leader, Raven, rushing to her through tall, wide pillars that spread throughout the vast room, supporting the ceiling. Raven dropped onto her bed beside her and took her into his embrace. Luna was surprised.
12 | P a g e
"Oh, thank god!" Raven said. "I thought you would never wake up! I was so worried!"
"Raven, are you okay?" Luna said.
"Of course, I'm okay, silly little girl," Gaen said, retreating and holding Luna's face into his hands. "You don't need to worry about me."
"What happened?" Luna said, then looked up after hearing footsteps approaching. Damien and Marcus were coming. Damien looked the same as ever, but Marcus was covered in bandages just like her.
"There were many of those trolls," Damien said as he stood next to them. "The first one was just a decoy. We did not notice the other ones until it was too late. While we were taking down the first one, the rest of them came out and captured you two."
"Yeah, I- uh- I remember that," Luna said, looking unsettled.
"You should be grateful towards your leader, Luna and Marcus," Damien said. "If it weren't for him, then you guys would probably not be here right now."
"Really?" Luna said, her eyes lighting up. "You saved me again? I owe you my life-"
"No," Raven said in a heavy tone, his head lowering, he said in a broken voice, "I got you hurt, Luna. When I got you out, you were cut up all over your body because of my swords. You and Marcus. Damien healed you two, but still I hurt you! I'm so sorry, Luna. I don't deserve to be your leader-"
Luna let out a serene laughter. "What, are you kidding? You saved my life! I thought I was a gonner for sure."
"Yeah! What she said!" Marcus exclaimed.
"But, Luna," Raven looked up at her miserably, "I hurt you-"
"No Raven," Luna said firmly through a wide smile, meeting Raven's eyes, "you could never hurt me. You saved me. Thank you! I don't know how I'll ever repay your kindness."
Raven smiled, and nodded in appreciation.
13 | P a g e
"How long was I out?" Luna asked.
"About two days, I think," Damien replied.
"Two days!" Luna exclaimed. "And you Marcus?"
"I just woke up an hour ago," Marcus replied. "I'm in the same boat as you."
"I have been out for two days? But I feel like I just closed my eyes, and opened them the next moment!" Luna breathed.
Raven chuckled. "Yeah, that sometimes happen."
Damien said with a laugh, "Yes, your bodies did go through a lot of trauma. So, it needed enough time to recover. Your cuts and bruises haven't completely healed yet, so don't go ripping off the bandages yet. My healing spells did their best. Give it three more days and you should go back to normal."
"Thank you for healing me, Damien," Luna said.
"No need to thank me, kid," Damien shrugged with a smile. "Just doing my job as our little party's only healer."