I arrived at my village, only it wasn't so dull anymore. It was completely bathed in flames, and all the meager beauty left had been blackened to ash. I stared wide-eyed at all this.
"What the Fu-," I said, only to be cut off by screams of mothers and children, piercing my ears and stomach. I got off the wagon and ran with my weapons. I looked around me, corpses flooding the once pristine streets, blood painting the surroundings, trees burnt, and people running here and there, scattered like moths. Then I saw something, a shadow cast against the wall. It seemed like a party of people, and I never got any good vibes from this ominous shadow up ahead. I readied the bow and arrow and was prepared to fight with anything. When I took the turn into the village's main street, I saw them.
It was a group of six men, dressed up as bandits, with brown cloaks, red gloves, and jewelry here and there. They stood menacingly, with two men on each side, one man commandeering a war elephant, and on the small platform, I presumed was the leader, who sat with pride at what he had done.
"Clear it all out! Spare no one that you see! We need what we are here for!" exclaimed the man on the platform, in his awfully cheery yet sadistic voice.
Then I saw some bystanders getting chased down by the men, and I shot my arrow at one of them, it penetrated their neck, and I ran and kicked it in before he could react, and the man slumped to the floor.
"GET OUT OF HERE!!" I exclaimed, and they ran.
I still don't understand, how could six men do all this. Then when the tall muscular one came ahead, and flicked his palms, I immediately realized how.
His palms and eyes began to illuminate an oddly cool blue, and he unleashed an aura of this blue energy around him. "Holy Shit," I thought. This guy is a Spirit Warper!
He charged up what looked like a blue ball of energy, and threw it at me, and it demolished everything in its path, and I tried to escape. However, my chances were slim, as I couldn't quite exit the street at the speed needed, but when all seemed lost, I felt a tug on my hand, and it pulled me out of the radius of the energy blast.
"You dummy! I nearly lost you! Why did you rush in!?" cried Sara, as I sprung back to my feet.
"They destroyed everything!" I exclaimed. "I can't just stand by!"
She looked at me with concern. "There's a way out through the tunnels Marcos made when he used to get water. Ramsheim is taking everyone there. Come," She said
At that moment, I figured it would be best to run to save myself, but this village was the only home I had, and I'm not sure, some deep dark fighting instinct in me awoke. I wanted these guys to go through hell. But I can't fight them, not like this.
"Where's my uncle?" I asked.
"I think he is helping Rams get any survivors to come," She said.
"Then let's go," I said.
We began to run, but as we exited the alleyway, the men stood right in front of us on the street, and 2 jumped behind to block any escape
"Oh well, so much for fleeing," I said.
"You know what, the looks on these guys' faces piss me off, hand me a weapon Azzie," Sara said, now in her fiesty state of mind, just like always.
I gave her my last 2 steel arrows so she could use them as daggers (because they could), and we swallowed our fear and digested it. We knew we would most likely die, but we were going to do whatever it took to do the right thing. After all, that was all that was left for us.
We lunged at the 2 average-looking bandits up to fight us, and we had hell. As soon as I lunged with the sword, I got knocked back brutally, he punched me in the gut, and his fist was covered in a blue aura, which meant that he was a warper, explaining why I spat blood out when I got hit, and got knocked into the wall. Sara had a better time, and managed to stab her guy in the jaw with an arrow, but was kicked into a wall. The guy couldn't move his jaw, so it seemed she drew a wedge in there.
Just then, When my opponent was about to attack, I heard a slash, and blood jumped out of his back. The perpetrator was a lanky old man with a grey fine mustache, formal attire (one would envision their butler wearing), and a single spectacle.
"You know, Sir Azrael, you were always a hothead," He said in his nonchalant accent.
"Ramsheim! Am I glad to see you," I chuckled.
"The honor is mine. Now, let's get you and the miss to safety by killing these hoodlums." He said.
"But we are only 3 people against 5, we can't defeat them unless we have one other person," Sara said.
Just then, the warper who got slashed by Ramsheim jumped up to fight us again and was shot in the head by Uncle Viros, who jumped from the building nearby. Never in my life did I see him with this much energy.
"Got room for another?" He asked.
Now the tides were even, 4 against 4.
"These are spirit warpers guys, be careful," Sara said.
"Oh really," Rams said. "They seem low rank, so that is why they never were able to defend themselves against unseen projectiles and they had a lack of self-defense. If we play our cards right, we should be able to ward off, injure, or even kill them." He added. He was always a brainiac.
I looked around. I saw how a raid had turned into a fight. I had one good thought about all this.
"We could win!" I thought.
We all got up and charged. Against us, the last 2 men approached us. I and Sara would fight broken jaw, and unc and Rams would go for the tall, muscular, and gargoyle-faced titan of a man.
Me and Sara charged, and we went back and forth on this guy, repeatedly punching him, until he charged a kick which hit both me and Sara, and it completely distorted our entire senses. I got up and realized that the bloke was injured critically, and Rams and Uncle were struggling with the tall guy.
"Sara! Go help the others, he's mine!" I told her.
"Alright, but don't get killed, please," She cried.
She went and jumped and tried to kick the big one, but he deflected her.
I stood in front of my enemy, and he looked at me. I then darted at him, going in zigzag maneuvers to confuse him, and then he punched me with a spirited fist, which I dodged, and he blasted me with his spirit force as a knockback, and I landed on my feet. I realized the jaw was the weakness, so I rushed again, jumped on a wall, and gave him a nasty punch, and his jaw came clean off. Then, as he screamed in pain, I took my sword and sliced and diced to finish the job. However, I was so absorbed in my skirmish that I didn't realize how grave things were.
I turned my head when I heard Sara cry in pain, and saw her getting sliced on the back by the big one's spirit sword. I turned to Ramsheim, who had his arm cut off, and Uncle, bloody but still going.
"NOOO!" I screamed as I ran to intervene.
Sara got up, shakily, and grabbed her last arrow, and while the tall guy was absorbed, jumped to stab him from behind, but as I reached to attack, I saw what would change me forever unfold in front of me. No, it unfolded me.
The man on the platform had not acted once and observed, but when he saw that his strong man was going to get killed, he did what I could never foresee. He unloaded beams of his spirit force, and blasted Sara, shocking her. She fell to the ground and had burns littered all over her. Her wound began to bleed out too. I ran to her and held her head, teary-eyed.
"S-Sara?" I asked, my tone depicting hopelessness.
She groaned in pain and seemed like she was struggling to breathe.
"I-I took a big one. I think I'm out of order now, just like my foster parents said." She said
"SHUT UP! You are going to be alright!" I cried
"Azzie, you are my best friend, my one and only. You know what, I'll confess too, I loved you, for as long as I can remember. You are a hothead and a kind person at once, and you always tried to help those with trouble on their asses, like me, and I liked it. Please, stay the same, for me." told Sara.
"No...." I said weakly.
"Azzie, do me a favor and forget my last line. Kick ass!" she said, and then she fainted. I checked her pulse (the neck method), and she still seemed to have life in her. A bit of relief came over me.
Then when all seemed better, after a rude shock, it all came to a head.
I heard my uncle roar in pain and I looked to see that even though Rams had the man subdued, My uncle was stabbed brutally by the spirit blade of the platform man. Then, he spoke again
"Ah yes, General Viros, one of the strongest standard fighters in the Great War, now subdued by me, the great Sigmund Hallows, commander of the 7th Warped Harbringer strike force!" He said, cackling. He then cancelled his blade and my uncle fell to the floor.
"UNCLE VIROS!!" I cried.
I ran to him as fast as I could. He got up for a brief moment, with a face of satisfaction.
"I have lived a long life of many battles, and served many people, including your parents, leaders in the war against this evil. I wish I could tell you more, but that's all I can say on my last breaths. I loved my life with you kiddo. You were like my own son. I'm afraid though, all good things were destined to end. You are a strong kid with lots of power, so please, never go astray, and help those in need. Avenge the wronged, and stand up for right, by all means necessary, even by giving the evil forces a taste of their own medicine, namely, agony." He said.
"NO, NO, NOOOO! UNCLE!" I shrieked.
"Farewell my nephew, I leave all to you..." Said Uncle Viros, as he took his final breath.