Emerald Surface: Chapter 2

The Woods of Boleros

         “Ugh, how long do these woods last?” I asked Davis in hopes of a determinable and secure answer. “I believe we may be about ten kilometers in,” Davis informed me, him leading the way. “The river of Hmnas should be breaching the horizon soon.” We had been traveling horseback for almost thirty minutes, moving along at maybe twice a human’s pace. With all the trees in the way, we could not find enough ground to pace any faster. It was going to be a pretty long trot to Province Cantase, maybe an hour and a half, assuming nothing went wrong. As I looked to the right of my faithful steed, gazing at the passing orange and yellow scenery and landscapes of a fall mid-afternoon, I suddenly felt a sharp jolt with an effect somewhat like whiplash. Shadowsnap and Wryder had stopped.

         “Hey Davis, what’s going on up there?” Davis had now lifted himself up and off Wryder, and so had I off Shadowsnap. I soon realized, we had found the river of Hmnas, but…

         “And exactly who do you two think you are?” A voice, roughly of sixteen years and slightly deeper than ours, followed by the voice of a young female around the same age: “This part of Boleros Woods belongs to us!” Davis and I, side by side, examined the two, a young man our size with almost enough upper body strength to take the both of us out in a single one-two punch. His equipment consisted of a pair of knucklepikes donned upon his hands with a light set of armor on. His hair was red, absolute red. Strange, but not as strange as my green hair that goes every which way, I suppose. The female, a bit shorter than us, was pretty slender with her rose-colored hair, but her equipment consisted of a bow and arrow, making her a pretty capable archer. Although the duo obtained these qualities, it was still two versus two. After looking at each other for a split second, Davis and I began to laugh.

         “You?!” I blurted out between laughs, and Davis assisted me. “You two own Hmnas Woods? You and what army?” Suddenly, the two in front of us gave a sadistic smirk, and we stifled our snickers and rose up to meet their faces. The young man replied, “Our Army.” By lifting his arms, the young man seemed to have sent a message throughout the forest as a swarm of grotesquely mutilated creatures in various shredded clothing appeared from the trees, the river, and even from under the ground.

          “Sardonyx.” I murmured to myself. Then addressed to the duo, “You two would actually use the Sardonyx as pawns in your little games?” My fists began to clench tighter. “We... are at war with these creatures! Don’t you understand? By keeping them here, you know that they will--”

         “Invade Province Cantase and wreak havoc and destruction upon the land? Precisely.” The young woman responded. The young man continued, “Yes, we have been holding these Sardonyx for ages now, waiting for those fools to unearth the Nexus Crystals so that we may invade and steal them.”

         “For what purpose?” Davis asked.
         “Let’s just say... It’s for us to know, and for you to find out.”
         As Davis and I were surrounded by the abominable creatures, I questioned Davis, “My gods Davis, what are we to do?” Davis, turning his head to me, responded with his anti-altruistic words, “We, my friend, are going to destroy them.”

         I, being the more rational of us, knew that no matter how much training we had endured, we would never be capable of eliminating some odd thirty or forty creatures as well as the duo in front of us in this confined space, in addition to me never having applied my skills in real-life situations. Yet, the savage look upon Davis’ face convinced me to take action. Davis unsheathed his four-foot blade, a rapier with a point as sharp as his keen eyesight and speed. I followed, quickly grasping Anabelle and Sirius from Shadowsnap’s saddle pack. With a couple of pats on the rear, I informed the two animals to leave the area. I hope these swords don’t break on me now...

         The young man rushed in first, at a speed only Davis could match. “Just, hold off these creatures while I take care of these two!” Tch! I was left with the hard part, huh? These creatures were all equipped with a medley of weapons, which could change shape at any given moment. The creatures themselves as well, were amateurs at shapeshifting. They could change shape only to half their size in any form of green-colored golem, no smaller than that, or larger than their original size. I was in for one heck of a battle. The troops ignored Davis and focused all on me. All of them on the ground waved their rock-swords at me and rushed to the same spot I was, and in addition to that, there were other troops in the trees, throwing all sorts of melee weapons: rocks, arrows, squirrels, what’s it matter?

         Thinking fast, I jumped to a height you would have to use at least three ladders to reach. Three Sardonyx followed after. Keeping my momentum whilst in mid-air, I proceeded with a horizontal slice with Anabelle, the sword on my left, when the first Sardonyx was at level height. What happened? It went “POOF!” into a cloud of red smoke. Sardonyx decompose so rapidly, that their elements, which change temperature level constantly, spontaneously combust, so “Poof!” The Sardonyx in the trees fired arrows at me while the other two in the air rose to my level. I performed a spinning slice with my arms extended and my swords sticking out. The strikes from the Sardonyx in the air were simply deflected. We began to descend back to the ground, so the velocity of the arrows was just a bit too high to reach me. With a quick diagonal slash, I destroyed the Sardonyx to my left and finished off the other with my forward thrust at the same time. Three down... more to go.

         Davis, however, was having a bit of trouble on his end as well. He was successful in dodging the swift one-two punch we feared would occur by jumping backwards, but the young woman kept him at bay as she disappeared into the treetops, taking aim with her bow and arrows. A large spark of energy took shape as a luminescent aura around the young man’s gauntlets as he prepared to shatter inertia as he jumped into the air, and plant his fists in Davis’s skull. An arrow was flicked from Davis’s east, and was deflected by the edge of Davis‘s sword; Davis heard the young woman’s approach seconds before her attack. The young man’s skydiving lesson was about to finish early. As the young man descended, he gripped both hands in each other, fingers interlocking, as an innocent child would when experimenting with the proper Catholic position of prayer, and brought them over his head, resulting in a slight backward arch of his spine. His intention -- to shatter his enemy’s skull in one swift forward pound.

          “Is that all you possess, Sardonyx!” I yelled as I vanquished one after another in a fury of sword slashes, circle-spins, and deflected attacks. As one Sardonyx brazen enough engaged me in the midst of my fury, I was positive it felt utter humiliation as I forced it to relinquish its weapon with a strike that acquired enough force to do so. No mercy was spared as Annabelle and Sirius senselessly ravaged the Sardonyx of all life. At least half of the original population of those who ambushed Davis and I stood, whilst the survivors straggled to their feet. As I remark upon myself in those moments of no movement at all, through the reflection of Annabelle -- or Sirius -- whichever, beyond the scars in need of gauze and medical attention, I witnessed an unfamiliar face, one of hunger and bloodlust. My actions discontinued for a moment as I relocated myself. Did I do all this? What’s going o --

         “Lothair!” It was the voice of my companion, in need of assistance.

         The young man’s sky-bomb technique was unsuccessful as Davis leaped out of the way. The young woman, however, took advantage of Davis’s distraction, took aim, and sent an arrow soaring through the air. Davis deflected it easily, but the young man had already recovered himself, and positioned a punch at Davis’s mandible. Was I ever glad not to have witnessed that event! It was a ghastly sight, as Davis was forced into the ground. Davis quickly regained his posture, only to discover an arrow lodged in his left shoulder. Not as egregious the damage would have been if the arrow punctured somewhere else, Davis picked himself up, and continued to fight. He needed but one hand to duel, anyway, since the left would not rise without enduring an incredulous amount of pain, and there was absolutely no time to pull said arrow out. Without another arm to absorb the recoil from blocking the young man’s gauntlets, Davis was consecutively knocked off balance by the young man’s force. The young man’s fist was aimed directly at Davis’s chest as Davis’s recovery speed was too slow. His ribs were endangered.

         “Back off, goon!” I alerted the young man as I intercepted his attack on Davis with Annabelle, and Sirius dangling from my right arm. The young man and my eyes met, both showing sincerity, and both saying get out of my way. Davis’s attention was focused on the young woman as she leaped from treetop to treetop. She must have escaped Davis’s haunting gaze, as the young man ordered, “Hold your position!” From the blue, the young woman revealed herself as she landed to the right side of the young man. The young man narrowed his eyes toward me: “You. Stay out of our way, lest you know what is good for you.” His fists discontinued their touch on Annabelle and Sirius, yet I rotated my drawn sword toward his face. The young woman asked to the young man, “Are you sure we should let them retain the privilege of life, although they know our intentions?” The young man did not respond and turned his back toward us. With a snap of his fingers, the remaining Sardonyx disappeared in a swarm of green warpholes, or something of the sort. “Heed my advice, and do not forget it.” I dare not say a word to retort. With a disapproving grunt, the girl leaves exit stage left along with the young man.

         “I bet you’re ever glad I arrived, eh?” I told Davis with a smirk upon my face as he rose, gripping his left arm and flinching at the pain as he looked toward his shoulder blade. “Yeah, yeah… Laugh it up, Lothair,” Davis said, between winces of his face. “Would you simply help me get this arrow out of my arm?” I nodded in agreement and turned to my left to find -- Oh my! -- Shadowsnap’s large nose at the brink of impaling my face. With a snort of the horse, I fell backwards to the earth behind me as leaves soared through the air. During my moment of embarrassment, I could make out Davis’s emblematic laughter. As I look to the sky, with my head flat on the ground, I can’t help but observe a small Emberizid perched upon a branch.