White Ravens: Advent of War

Unlikely Duo

Yelena was still worried about Rune, but in all honesty, she had faith that he would be able to overcome mere outlaws. No matter how disadvantaged he was, Rune had always pulled through out of any situation.

Back when they were still freshmen at the academy, Rune was assigned to be her partner during a search and rescue mission. Three days west of Loveria was the mining town of Terraria. The mayor of the town requested the aid of the queendom's soldiers to save the town's miners from a cave-in, but the queendom was short on manpower, so Queen Rosetta asked Commander Liana to dispatch two of Forestar's freshmen to the mission.

Truthfully, back then, Yelena was annoyed by the fact that she was assigned with Rune. He had always been one of the students she found to be overbearing and foolish. She expressly told him that he should just stay out of the way if he wasn't going to take the mission seriously, and Rune didn't seem to mind being chastised like that.

During the mission, Yelena was surprised at how well-versed Rune was with invocation magic. He was able to call on the spirits of eefriti to serve as their torches and guides into the cave. However, that wasn't enough to change her opinion of him, for he was still goofing off in spite of the fact that there were people in the deepest parts of the cave, trapped and on the brink of dying.

After hours of searching through the cave, they finally hit a dead end. What used to be two divulging paths had been blocked off by fallen boulders and stalactites. "The cave-in must've been caused by an explosive if the damage is this extreme," Yelena remarked. She then reached out her hand and said, "Stand back, I'll make short work of this!"

"Don't!" Rune exclaimed. "If you do that, it could cause another cave-in, and we'll be buried here as well."

Yelena came to her senses and realized that he was right. Thus, she held off on casting a spell. "What do you suggest we do, then? I don't think there's any other way."

Rune didn't respond to her question, and instead, put his hand on the ground and whispered something to the air. After his incantation, spirits of the earth called pygmies gathered around him. Rune nodded at them, and then the spirits passed through the fallen boulders.

Within seconds, the boulders crumbled into dust, turning into grains of sand. Rune glanced at Yelena and smiled. "Shall we?"

With eyes widened in shock, Yelena was at a loss for words. She had no idea that he was quite reliable. Were he not here with her, she might've already done something rash.

Soon, they found the missing miners. Some of them were gravely injured, but Yelena and Rune patched them up, and led everyone out of the cave safely. The town's mayor was so delighted by the fact that all of the miners had been saved that he gave Rune and Yelena a silver ring with an enchanted sapphire embedded to it.

To this day, Yelena was still wearing the silver ring, for it served as her reminder of her first mission with Rune. Feeling nostalgic, she stared at her ring, and thought of Rune. In her heart, she prayed that she could have more time to go on adventures with him in the future.

After a few minutes, she finally caught up with Valdano's group, and found that they were fighting against another band of outlaws, and it seemed that they were outmatched. Valdano and Jax were both surrounded by dozens of outlaws armed to the teeth, while Torevir and Leif tried to protect Roberta.

Sadly, the mercenaries that Valdano hired had all been annihilated. Yelena couldn't have come at a better time. Leif saw that she had arrived, and immediately asked for Yelena's assistance.

Yelena quickly sprang into action, dashing into the battlefield. She threw knives left and right, slaying half a dozen men within an instant. But no matter how many they defeated, the outlaws' numbers didn't seem to be dwindling.

Left with no other choice, Yelena slammed her hand onto the ground. Her shadow extended into a giant circle, preventing almost everyone from moving. She had run out of throwing knives, so she drew her sword and slayed those who were foolish enough to try to move.

After her training with Leif, Yelena had learned to maintain her shadow binding while simultaneously moving from one place to another. Leif was quite impressed with her display of skill, and sprang into action as well.

Meanwhile, Torevir, Jax, and Roberta seemed unable to move a muscle. They just watched as Leif, Valdano, and Yelena annihilated the rest.

All of a sudden, a crossbow bolt flew towards Yelena from behind. She was able to notice it, but her reflexes weren't fast enough to avoid it. The bolt pierced through her left shoulder, and the pain rendered her unable to maintain her shadow binding. The surviving outlaws were now able to move, and they immediately surrounded Yelena.

"Yelena!" Leif exclaimed as she quickly conjured a bow and shot an arrow made out of her own mana. The arrow managed to hit the head of an outlaw that was about to hack Yelena with his axe.

Afterwards, Leif ran towards Yelena's side, slaying anyone foolish enough to jar her path. She conjured two sabers and used it to defend Yelena. However, her mana was all but depleted by now. They had been fighting for almost an hour, and conjuring weapons used a fair amount of mana.

Yelena wasn't looking too good either, but she managed to stand on her feet. She did her best to fight alongside Leif, but it seemed that their situation was growing more and more dire. Valdano and Jax were both injured as well, and Torevir had his hands full trying to protect Roberta.

To make matters worse, an intimidating man wearing a dark long coat appeared from above them. He was holding a crossbow with his left hand, and a saber in his right. He was wearing dark, tinted goggles and black mask to hide his face.

Then, he pointed his crossbow at Torevir and shot three crossbow bolts in quick succession. The towering dwarf groaned in pain, but he endured it, and blew away the outlaws in front of him using a large mace.

Valdano noticed the strange man's presence, and realized that he and his companions were now in a desperate situation. He could tell that the strange man was the leader of the outlaws, and that this leader outmatched him in strength.

With no other choice, he raised his hand in surrender and shouted, "Stop, please! We surrender! Tell us what you want, and I promise you, I'll try to meet your demands to the best of my abilities."

Everyone else raised their hands and dropped their weapons.

The leader of the outlaws raised his fist, and then the outlaws stopped attacking and tied up Leif, Yelena, Jax, Torevir, and Roberta. He walked towards Valdano and placed the saber right before the latter's neck. "Valdano Vanderbilt... what a f*****g surprise to see you here," he remarked.

Valdano's eyes dilated. It seemed that he recognized the leader's voice. "You're... Marx!"

The leader of the outlaws cackled and removed his goggles. He combed his black hair back and revealed that his left eye socket was empty. "Remember this, you asshole? Your interference at Old Valeria caused me to lose my f*****g eye!"

Yelena was surprised to hear Marx's name. "Is he talking to Marx Lancaster? Wasn't he supposed to be dead already?"

Marx circled around Valdano while dabbing his saber over his own shoulder. "It seems that lady luck has finally smiled upon me! What do you think you're doing crossing through my territory, Valdano?" The sound of Marx's voice was loathsome and maniacal. It seemed that he had become insane.

When Valdano didn't answer his question, he slammed the hilt of his saber into Valdano's abdomen, causing the latter to vomit blood. "Answer me!"

On his knees, Valdano replied, "Just let the others go, Marx. I don't care what you do to me!"

Marx broke into a maniacal laughter, then he pointed his saber at Valdano's left eye. "Answer my question or I will take your eyes out and make your companions eat it!"

Valdano lowered his head and gritted his teeth. "We're just passing through, Marx."

Unsatisfied with his answer, Marx slashed Valdano's cheek. Blood gushed out of Valdano's face, but it didn't seem to faze him.

"I'll ask you one more time. What the f**k are you planning to do, Valdano?" Marx growled.

This time, Valdano looked him in the eye and said, "I'm putting an end to this war once and for all. Even if it costs my life, I will put a stop to your and your master's madness!"

In a fit of rage, Marx pierced Valdano's left eye and withdrew his saber as quickly as he struck. Valdano groaned in pain, and covered his eyes. Leif tried to break free from the outlaws' grasp, but Valdano shouted, "Don't! Stay back, Leif! I'm okay."

Struggling to stand on his feet, Valdano tore up his sleeve and used it to bandage his left eye. "If you want to kill me, do it. Leave them out of this, Marx."

Marx clicked his tongue repeatedly while waving his finger in refusal. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You see, now that you've told me your intention, I can't exactly let these people go anymore, can I?"

He glanced at his subordinates and said, "Kill them all!"

Out of desperation, Yelena put both of her hands on the ground and cast shadow binding once more. The span of her shadow managed to reach everyone in the vicinity. Nobody was unable to move. However, it seemed that Yelena, herself, was unable to move right now as well. It already took everything she had to cast this spell, and to remove her focus for even a fraction of a second could mean that the spell would weaken.

Marx was visibly displeased by Yelena's magic. "Pesky rune knight! I'm going to kill you!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Everyone struggled to keep on standing, and parts of the ground sprang upwards, knocking away a good fraction of the outlaws' numbers. Marx looked around, trying to find who was casting a spell.

Beyond the path behind Yelena, Zeke and Rune emerged. Their presence made the outlaws nervous, and even Marx looked agitated. This time, Rune removed his right armguard, revealing his mark of the stars.

He summoned Skellur while walking towards Yelena, and Zeke ran towards Valdano.

Rune swung his sword horizontally, and created a blade of wind, which severed the heads of numerous outlaws. Then, he crouched beside Yelena and said, "You did great. Leave the rest to us."

Unable to maintain her shadow binding and relieved to know that Rune was finally here to assist them, Yelena dispelled her magic and collapsed. Within moments, she fell unconscious. The last thing she saw was Rune's blurry image. "I always knew you'd come."

Rune and Zeke made quick work of the remaining outlaws in spite of the fact that their enemies were able to move and were holding hostages. Marx gritted his teeth and grabbed Valdano's hair while placing a saber to the latter's neck. "One more step, and I'll kill this man!" he exclaimed.

Not heeding Marx's warning, Zeke stomped his leg forward, and the ground beneath Marx sprang upwards, hitting the man's groin.

Marx dropped to his knees, and Valdano took the momentary advantage to overturn the situation. He quickly grabbed Marx's saber, and slashed the loathsome outlaw's Achilles' heels, kicking him away.

Valdano's fluid movements was a sheer display of his swordsmanship, despite the fact that he was grievously injured. During this time, Leif ran to his side, and closed his wound using restoration magic. Fortunately, she had learned to cast an effective healing spell from Tatiana beforehand.

Marx backed away from Valdano, and began to spout curses. "Scum! All of you are scum! You f*****g rune knights have no idea how horrible that revered queen of yours is!"

Enraged by Marx's remarks, Zeke briskly walked towards him, and kicked his abdomen. "Don't you dare disrespect the queen!"

"Queen? That b***h, Rosetta, is the reason this war still rages on!" Marx said before breaking into a maniacal laughter.

Zeke's anger still hadn't died down, so he kept on stomping on Marx's body. The latter started vomiting blood, and he cried in pain while laughing.

Just when Zeke was about to stomp on Marx's head, Rune grabbed his arm, and said, "Zeke, buddy, that's enough. We need to keep that bastard alive. He might know something that we don't. Leif told me that he's Marx Lancaster."

Zeke was visibly shocked by the name. "This scumbag is Marx? I thought he was dead?"

"So did I. That's why we need him alive," Rune replied.

Thinking that Rune was right, Zeke averted his gaze and went back to assist Yelena.

This time, Rune looked at Valdano and said, "We should leave. There might be more of them. You won't mind if we take this fool with us, will you?"

Valdano shook his head with difficulty. "Not at all. I was planning to ask you the same thing. I'm glad we're on the same page."

With that, the group left the Shadow Valley. Jax and Roberta were quite impressed with Rune and Zeke. They both think that they were excellent knights, and even offered to hire them as personal bodyguards in the future.

However, both men declined, for they still had a more important mission to deal with.

Once they had gone down from the valley, they finally reached a forest clearing. There, they set up camp. Zeke went to hunt for boars and other game that they could eat later. He said that he didn't want to be in the presence of someone as despicable as Marx, so he volunteered to do the hunting along with Torevir.

Jax, Roberta, and Valdano were resting by the pond, while Leif was treating their wounds.

Meanwhile, Yelena had finally regained consciousness. She noticed that Rune was speaking to a tied up Marx, so she quickly approached them.

"Are you really Marx Lancaster?" Rune asked.

"In the flesh," Marx replied with contempt. "What do you want from me? You want me to beg for my life, huh? No chance!"

Rune placed his hand on Marx's shoulder and whispered to Marx's ear, "Trust me, I can do something much worse to you than kill you. You'd do well to answer my questions properly."

Fear overcame Marx when he heard Rune say that. He could tell that, that wasn't an empty threat.