Chapter Four:The Sword King's Smile
1304 Words
Astrid
I stare at the clouds, hoping to get a sign from the heavens. Nothing? Oh, okay. Come on your own time. I have 90 days to remember where south is.
I just start flying in whichever direction I think south is. This is probably the way. Probably.
I pass a river, an ancient looking tree and a boulder that looks kind of like Arial.
After flying for who knows how long, I stop to see where I am. I land on a tree branch, looking around when I see something weirdly familiar.
Where have I seen that boulder before? Hmm… maybe if I squint like – oh it’s the boulder that looks like Arial.
I’ve passed it an uncountable number of times.
Sigh.
I climb down from the branch and head in the opposite direction.
Nope, another dead end.
Literally.
It leads to a stupid cliff. Urgh, I could kill Averon for this. He made me go on this dumb goose chase.
I roam around for a long time until I spot something glistening. I dive towards the light and land softly on the ground, “Oh, it’s just you Averon. Well, which way is south?”
Averon sighs and puts down the glass he used to catch my attention, “That doesn’t matter anymore…”
Arial laughs, “We saw you zooming around several times so we thought we’d show you where we were before you disrupt the traffic up there."
“Oh, okay,” I say, dusting my clothes from the dirt that got caught on it when I was flying. “What’s wrong with them? They look like they just saw a chicken wield a blade.”
The barbaric looking people who were attacking them just a while ago are now kneeling in front of Darian begging to be pardoned.
Even the leader is kneeling now, probably more desperately than the others.
Darian sheathes his blade, turning away from them, “You attacked first now you want to surrender? Where’s your pride? You’re not worth my time.”
The leader hastily stands up, “Thank you for your mercy. We won’t even dare to raise a weapon to you ever again. Thank you, great sword king!”
Darian freezes, his jaw tightening, “Call me that again and your head shall roll.”
The leader stiffens, he stammers, “O – of course! I – I won’t even dare call you t – that!”
“Good,” Darian says, gruffly. “Now, scram.”
They run away like frightened mice not even sparing a glance at anything.
Darian sits on a rock, sighing, “Come out already.”
He knew we were there?
Well, wasn’t relatively hiding.
Averon comes out, hands in his pocket, “You can drop the act now. They’re gone…”
Darian opens his eyes and smirks, “Hehehe, I can’t hide anything from those eyes huh? Those guys were no fun. They gave up so easily.”
“What did you expect them to do? Fight even though their leader lost in less than three seconds? It was only logical they throw in the towel,” Averon explains.
“Boo hoo, they could’ve still fought though. Bunch of cowards,” he laughs.
He’s like a completely different person from before. He was all cold and dare I say, cool a while ago.
He finally notices Arial and me, “Who are these lovely ladies, Averon? Hmm?”
He looks at me and his face turns serious.
“Hey!” he shouts moving towards me. When he finally reaches me, he clasps my hands together using his and looks straight into my eyes.
He suddenly grins, “You strong, little lady?”
I look right back at him. What did he call me right now? Little lady? Urgh…what sort of stupid nickname is that? I’m not that little…
I resist the urge to strike him with lightning, “If you don’t mind, get off me.”
He lets go of me, “Can I spar with you? Just a little bit?”
Arial steps between us with a bright smile and extends her hand towards Darian, “OMG, you’re that guy from the fight at school! You’re so cool!”
Urgh, here comes the compliments.
“Of course I’m cool, I’m only the best,” he grins.
Darian peers at me and grins wider if that’s even possible. What’s with this guy? Why does he want to fight me so bad?
Averon moves forward, “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. Remember? Death game? We need to be prepared. We can’t face everything that comes in our way. What if we are attacked again? It’s not going to be easy like before with the Barbarians.”
“You’ve got a point,” Arial admits, shoulders slumping.
Darian puts an arm around Arial’s shoulders, sword in the other hand, “Don’t worry about a thing! No one can get past me! Hehehe!”
“You’re really confident, huh? Well, enough chatter. I saw a couple of people earlier when some students were arguing. They ran away as soon as they got the chance,” Averon says, pointing the direction they went.
Arial brightens up, “Yeah, so did I! Let’s follow them!”
I stretch lazily, “Whatever. As long as I get time to take a nap.”
Darian watches in amazement, “Woah, you’re like a cat, little lady! How can you possibly think of sleeping in this situation!”
My eye twitches in irritation, “Don’t call me ‘little lady’. It’s annoying.”
“But… you’re so small. About half my height,” he teases.
He’s starting to get on my nerves.
Averon sighs, “Let’s just get going.”
***
We follow the footsteps they left behind, trying to find them. The footsteps are obviously fresh… and messy. It looks like a stampede of elephants ran through here.
When it feels like we’ve been walking endlessly for hours, the sound of bushes shaking echoes. Dozens of people jump out and head straight for me.
It happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to use any magic.
Just as a sword was about to pierce right through me, a shadowy figure blocks it.
“Woah, you gotta keep your guard up, little lady!” Darian grins.
He kicks the boy away and deflects the weapons that come raining down on me.
Why is everyone attacking me?
We are about to help him when Darian turns his head slightly toward us while fighting, “No, no, no, these guys are mine! Hehehe! Come at me!”
Your funeral.
He seems to be enjoying himself, but they keep coming. How many could they possibly be?
“What a waste of time. Let’s make this snappy before I miss my nap time,” I yawn.
One of them manages to stab his shoulder before he can react.
He grunts, kicking the person away. He’s losing ground.
They charge at him at the same time. He can’t dodge that. I move in front of him quickly and hold out my hand out, “Zeus’s lightning bolt!”
The sky suddenly turns gloomy and thunder booms loudly as lightning strikes our opponents.
Their muscles seize instantly, sending them collapsing to the ground.
Darian turns around sharply, “Hey! I was having fun! Not cool, little lady!”
“Urgh, so noisy. You’re bleeding,” I say, looking at his shoulder.
Reckless.
“Hehehe. This is nothing,” he winces.
From the corner of my eye, I see someone peek from the bushes.
I turn around, “I can see you, you know.”
A boy with a yellow streak in his hair peeks out, “That lightning was awesome! Just who are you?”
- Writer
