Six Warriors

Liberation Brotherhood - (Sam)

The next day Sam showed up in the girl's apprentice ranger outfit, it looked like a Girl Scout outfit, it was even more ridiculous. Katrina and Bel laughed, even Bella looked like she wanted to laugh. Darius, who was also wearing the uniform, said it wasn't all that funny.

So they went out to patrol, this time people greeted Bel, but looked at Sam strangely, while Bel seemed to have a lot of fun with that situation. Sam, wanting to know more about the seytanis asked Bel a few questions, as if they were really born with wings.

"Not really." Bel replied, "Their possession of wings and ability to fly is due to a parasitic symbiote they encounter in the very inhospitable places of Khand, in fact it is said that these parasites come from other planes, like the infernal planes. Every member of the brotherhood receives a parasite egg to plant on itself, thus gaining the ability to fly and wings, becoming even more like a demon. The downside is that this symbiote feeds on the host's energy, magic or even its evil energy... something the seytanis must have in abundance. In a way they are really made for each other."

"That gives them an advantage, right? The ability to fly."

"Yes, but our Gryphon Squad is not intimidated by that fact." Bel responded proudly.

It was at this point that things took a turn and Sam was forced to move.

"It's the Polo!" Darius just said, while he, Katrina, Bela, and a handful of other rangers looked pretty desperate. Bel and Sam looked at each other and then ran after Darius and the others. They headed towards a square called the Blue Smiling Cat, where there was a tower in the middle of the square that was basically for leisure. Strapped on top of that tower, there was a boy very hurt and weakened, he was without his usual cap, but Sam recognized him... it was Polo...

Perched on the side there was one of those seytãnis, he was smiling, like this was a show to him. The rangers pointed their bows at him and asked him to surrender. He wasn't intimidated. He was a guy with a skin of a very strong, dark shade of red, his eyes were black, but the irises were a brilliant golden, he had twisted horns and a pointed tail, he wore light armor under a black overcoat. and he carried a sword sheathed on his back. The commoners citizens of Gorm City looked pretty worried and scared.

"That guy is the guy known as Savage" Bel said in a serious voice, "he's very dangerous and he's thought to be almost crazy."

"Listen well to what I say to you all, for these are the words of my leader!" Savage declaimed loudly for all to hear, his voice that of a drunk and malicious combatant, "There is an arcane bomb beside this poor young man and that is not the only one. They are all over the city... no, across the island. Yes, and the only way to deactivate this bomb is to defeat the four guardians of each point within an hour, starting with me. That's right, it's no use trying to go too thirsty to the pot, my miserable citizens, if you try to send other troops to face my brothers, things go down, eh, eh, eh!"

Passersby and citizens watching that scene were horrified and began a riot fueled by fear. The rangers gritted their teeth and looked almost helpless.

"There's one more thing," Savage continued, "it's good to know that we in the brotherhood value justice and honor, so if you try to face me or my brothers with more than one fighter, the bomb will also explode. That's right friends. , it's one versus one, no cheating you douchbags! If you defeat me and my other brothers, these bombs will be deactivated, but there is a magic circle at the same time on the Surface and Submerged Support Stone of from the island of yours neighbors, the island of Ynis Glas and in in Glas City and the moment you defeat the four guardians the magic circle will activate and the Stones of Support will wear off, the island will fall, eh, eh, eh! You can choose though, to go deactivate the magic circle of the stones, very well, it's a fair choice, but the moment it is deactivated, the arcane bombs in the four points of the island will detonate and they are very powerful... many innocent people are going to die, like this poor guardian boy here!” He laughed and patted Polo on the head, who was unconscious and crestfallen. "And to make sure you don't try the foolishness of evacuating the island, know that we can do that too!" Savage raised his hands and that tower glowed, the citizens who were there were all being sucked in one by one and were being attached to the tower by magic, like grains of corn on an ear. Savage laughed. "The choice is simple, will these citizens of Isle Gorm survive at the expense of Isle Glas? Or would you rather sacrifice yours own citizens and save the island from yours neighbors?"

 "That... rogue!" Bel growled beside Sam.

"There is one last alternative" Savage smirked, "this is for citizens who no longer want to feel the oppressive weight of this island's military forces and for those who are unwilling to sacrifice neither these hostages nor the people of Glas Island , the third option is... Rangers, give up your posts! Population, attack the rangers who have not given up, bring to us the head of Lord Valerius, the governor of Gorm and release our brother Armillius!

...

Sam, Darius and Katrina were at the rangers' headquarters, Sam and Darius switched uniforms as this was no longer a time for jokes. Everyone was worried, especially Commander Wuprax.

"Commander, what should we do?" asked one of the rangers who were there.

"There must be a chance... just a small chance that... if we deactivate the Glas Isle's magic seal and defeat the four guardians of the brotherhood at the same time, we'll be able to nullify our choice. But there's a potentially greater chance than doing it. this, both bomb and seal go off, thus killing those people and at the same time dropping Glas from the skies."

"Maybe it's a chance we should take," Bela said, "we can't make the choice between the neighboring island and our citizens."

"Furthermore, the population seems to find the third option more viable, Commander," said another ranger, "many of our men have deserted and these deserters have joined with that portion of the population that will attack the non-defector rangers and free Armillius and kill..."

"Kill Lord Valerius and his family..." Wuprax said resignedly, "the population and some deserters may find this a viable option, but I've already sent trusted men to defend the lord and his family. I think we'll have to risk it... ."

"I have an idea, maybe it's a little less risky than yours and we won't need to deactivate the other city's seal at the same time as the last of the bombs is activated." Darius said, everyone looked at him.

"Share your plan with us, Guardian." Request Wuprax.

"The Stone of Support is basically powered by exorbitant amounts of wind magic, right? Not to brag about it, but I'm an experienced user, and the guy over there" he pointed at Sam "despite being just an inexperienced rookie, too is a potential user... freeing Polo, we would be three wind magic users, that should be more than enough to keep the Stone of Support aloft, at least long enough to call the experts on it or whatever. ."

Wuprax seemed to think for a moment, he looked at the other rangers and they seemed to think too. Wuprax then finally said:

"Yes, it might work, maybe it's our best option."

"Then let's go rescue the Polo!" Sam tapped the table excitedly.

When they reached the square tower, Savage was still there, looking them up and down with a mocking smile.

"So, in the end you chose to save the little guardian boy and the citizens of your own town, huh? How selfish. But okay, let Glas Island carry the can, eh, eh, eh!"

"Alright, time to finish him." Sam said excitedly, but Darius put his hand out in front of him and stopped him from proceeding.

"Calm down, newbie, I'm the one who's going to finish him."

"Who decided that?" Sam growled.

"I, as I am the leader of the mission, now you step back."

"None of you will." Katrina said seriously to both of them and then took the lead, "I'm the one going, you two need to save as much magic power as you can, you're going to need every drop of it to keep a mystical floating island still floating."

"I'm not letting my younger cousin go fight that guy who looks like a demon from hell, it's too dangerous." Sam spoke.

"Thanks for the concern, Sam, but I'm still a Keeper and have been longer than you, so she's a little unnecessary...but kind of cute."

"Enough of the discussion, I will." Bel tried to argue, but Katrina quickly cut him off.

"No, you and your sister will fight the next ones, as for the last one, I believe Commander Wuprax  should have that honor, as he will probably be the most dangerous. I'll take care of this one."

"Katrina, are you sure about this?" Darius asked the girl, "that guy is a seytãni, they have fire resistance and you are a fire magic user."

"He may be resistant, but he's not immune... and there are other ways to beat him. It's decided, I'm going!" Katrina, dressed in rangers' uniform, in leather armor and carrying a saber at her waist, stepped forward. Savage jumped from the top of the tower to where the girl was and smiled.

"A little girl?" He chuckled, "Did you really send a little girl to face me? That can't be it, they're kidding! Don't you know my reputation for almost insane?"

"Fine, no need to pity just because I'm a young girl."

"You're a child! But who said I'm going to take pity on you because of this?" Savage looked at Bel, Bela and Wuprax, "watch as I tear her apart!" Savage unsheathed his sword. Katrina looked at him seriously. Sam eyed it all apprehensively, hoping it would all work out. He wouldn't be able to interfere, or more people would get hurt, all he could do was cheer for the girl. "DIE!" Savage screamed advancing with the sword, Katrina focused her magic, which consisted of her opening her hands and small sparks of fire igniting the tips of her ten fingers.

"INCENDIARY FINGERS!!" Katrina cried out, shooting the tiny flames from her fingertips and they shot toward Savage like tiny missiles, an interesting thing when Katrina cast her magic that Sam noticed, is that the girl's eyes sparkled, changing from their usual almost amber color, to a yellowish-orange color, maybe that's why she was nicknamed "Katrina of the Fire Eyes". Savage didn't even make a point of dodging the blow, he just took it straight and when the blows hit him he grinned as if they'd tickled.

"Hey, is that serious? Is that really her magic?" Sam asked worried, "Man, that would barely hurt a kitten, let alone a fire resistant warrior!"

Darius didn't say anything, just looked at the fight very seriously. Savage laughed and lunged at the girl, who again fired her Firefingers attacks, this time Savage didn't even stop and lunged at her with a sword thrust, which the girl dodged by jumping back.

"At least she's good at dodging," Sam thought.

Savage continued to attack with the sword, Katrina drew her saber and they dueled with the blades, what Sam could see was that... actually Savage was a terrible swordsman!

"Hey, is that guy really the terrible warrior you guys told me about?" Sam asked Bel and Bela, "the guy looks like an amateur with that sword!"

"Don't be fooled Sam" Bel said seriously, "that guy... sword fighting was never his specialty."

Katrina disarmed Savage and then landed a very good blow, one that would have hit even a very agile warrior... as long as he didn't fly. And the thing was, Savage flew. It spread the wings that were hidden over the coat, ripping it in the process, and then it soared for a few seconds before landing again.

He brought out long bone blades in his arms, as sharp and tough as any metal, and when he did he laughed like a maniac.

"Showtime" he laughed and then advanced deftly and only then did Sam realize that indeed, he was a very, very amazing warrior and nothing like that amateur with the sword. He was fast, agile, dangerous.

Katrina could barely dodge and/or block the blows with her saber, she tried to take distance and hit Savage with her magic, but the guy wasn't kidding anymore and spun around blocking with his wings before receiving the blows, which seemed to be more fireworks. of artifice than anything. For one thing, the blows never seemed to miss, as they were like small homing missiles, yet they barely managed to do any damage.

"My ancestry descends from hell, little girl!" yelled Savage as she guffawed, "Your little sparks tickle me more than anything!"

Savage once again spread those bat wings and flew into the air, now he was more terrible than ever, with the speed of flight and the sharp blades of his arms, he was too formidable an enemy, Sam began to doubt if he could make it beat him if she had gone to face him and now she could only pray that his cousin would survive. With those flybys, he cut the square benches in half, cut rocks, cut statues and cut trees, Katrina did her best to dodge and was doing well, even though she now had several small cuts all over her body.  The girl oddly enough still insisted on that ridiculous magical technique where tiny homing missiles hit Savage's body and did nothing more than tickle him. In one of these, Katrina ended up taking a deeper cut on one of her legs, which made her scream loudly and some blood spurted to the ground. Sam couldn't just watch it, he had to do something, Darius, however, stopped him.

"It's only a matter of time, Wuprax, for this little girl who so bravely came to fight in your rangers' place, while you're cowardly hiding out there, to be torn to shreds, tiny bits like ham!" Savage moved forward again, Katrina's mobility was starting to become compromised, she was hit one more time in the leg, then the other leg, the shoulder, the rib and now it was bleeding from different parts of her body, some deep cuts. She dropped to her knees on the floor and looked pretty helpless, ready to receive only the coup de grace. Savage laughed like a maniac as he flew through the air. The seytãni flew to the girl, descending from the air like a bird of prey about to capture its prey, he prepared his bone blades and when it looked like he was going to cut the girl in two, for she could not dodge in the state in which was her body, Katrina used her magic to take off and be knocked back, thus dodging the blow and taking a graze, though deep enough to draw blood again. After that the tiny missiles rounded the bend and once again hit Savage and it seemed to Sam that they did a little more damage than expected, as if they had caused some discomfort in the 'tainted' guy.

"Smart, very smart, dodging my attack at the last moment using her weak magic, huh? At least she was good for something." Savage laughed, still in midair.

"It's now…" Katrina gasped and then smiled.

"Huh? Now what?"

"You must... have already noticed, haven't you? My... magical technique has been causing you more... more and more discomfort, right? Each new attempt causes a... little more discomfort in you, right?"

"So what, you little brat?" 

"It turns out that my spell isn't just for attacking, in fact I knew it wouldn't do much damage to someone like you, this is a spell that can be called... hm... investment. It serves to strengthen each time more, so with each new attack it gets stronger and stronger. That's because each time you're hit by this magic, you're covered in more and more essence of fire magic and microparticles of gunpowder."

"Impressive, now I smell like home, like hell," Savage chuckled, "so what, girl? So what? For those sparks to do any damage to me, you'd have to hit me a thousand times and you don't have that much time."

"And who said I'm going to use the same magic?" Katrina smiled confidently and raised her open hands again, concentrating fire magic, Sam realized that this one looked different, they were no longer small flames burning in her fingertips, but small little pops, like firecrackers.

Savage made an annoyed expression and then prepared his bone blades.

"Whatever your magic is, it won't work, I'll cut you in two!" And then again Savage was speeding down from the heights of the skies.

"Perfect!" Katrina smiled and got up from the floor where she had been sitting / on her knees all this time, "take this! EXPLOSIVE FINGERS!!"

The little pops were like small guided missiles towards the Savage that was still descending from the air and at the moment the magical attack hit the body of that infamous warrior, the little pops became a powerful explosion, as if several sticks of dynamite had exploded in the air. Sam, Bel, Bela and Wuprax looked at the scene in amazement. Savage descended from the skies, but now it didn't fly low, he simply fell with his body with small fires and covered in smoke. The infamous warrior hit the ground with a thud of hollow sound.

"H-how could this happen..." he moaned now on the ground, defeated and then he blacked out, maybe was gone forever.

...

Katrina was taken to the Blue Griffin Fort by some rangers to have her wounds taken care of. Polo was rescued, as were the people who had been magically attached to the tower. Sam and the others prepared for the next part of the plan and action.