“S-sorry?” Keith clearly caught off guard; he was sure he spoke in a really quiet voice, almost none in fact, since he was trained to do that for years. Also, for some reasons, his back started to sweat with his lips getting dried.
“Sierra!!” Gray stood out from his bed, standing in front of the lady and held her hands. She was different from the time they spent their time together; another side that new to him and Leon. However, he could understand it. They hadn’t had easy nights these past weeks.
“They’re nice guys. You have to trust me, okay? There’s time when I’m in danger, but they save me over and over again.”
“Why would you be in danger?” Sierra snorted. She was sure no stupid soldiers crawled alive from her hell that night.
“Because we-uh, entered a wrong cave?” Gray smiled stupidly, scratching his head as he looked at tallest man in the room, “What was that
“I’m fine with it, seriously,” Gray told Sierra in the most cheerful tone. Since the discussion almost turned into fist fight, Gray asked the men to step outside for a bit while he explained the whole things to Sierra and Leon. Xion didn’t like it, but Keith, with his bloody face, pushed his friend out from the room.“And I’m not stupid,” he continued, “I’m not doing it for free. They-uh… they said they can clear my name in the state’s court.”“Wow, really?!” Leon went excited, “Sierra, it means good, right?”“How come you’re so sure about that?” She crossed her arms, eyes narrowed judgingly. “Haven’t you learnt your lesson back then? Do I need to remind you?” She didn’t stop, and shot her words like a venom, “Gray, I seriously expect something better than to foolishly trust two strangers.”The boys were used to hear her scolding, but this time… for some reasons, her words really cut deep into their bones; even Leon felt like he almost cried, he wondered what about his friend next to
Great. Just great. Xion wanted to travel fast, took rest only if necessary, but now? He had to scrap those plans.He felt like he’s walking with a band of weird people. Two underage kids, his weird friend, and one woman with temper issues. The next day, they departed right away to the state and he firmly stated, “Follow us both closely. If you were left behind,” then he made sure to stare at Sierra and Leon, “We don’t give a damn, alright?”In his side, Keith nudged him strongly, “Man, that’s harsh.”“Shut up.”Sierra rolled her eyes lazily, her bow on her back and she ready to go. Gray and Leon couldn’t hide their excitement as this was their first time to travel to the State of Etherna. They took off early in the morning, with steady pace on this ‘great mission’ of the mercenaries.In the woods, Leon asked the men, “How long we’re going on foot?”
It was already night, so the castle was pretty much empty; only the guards who stood still in front of the doors. Now, all of them stood in front of the main door before they met the president. Sierra took a deep breath as she talked with the group lowly, “So, should we just tell the truth or what? Can we trust him?”“Him? The president, you mean?” Xion unconsciously showed his tone of disbelief. “Of course, we tell him the truth. He’s the president.”“Being a president doesn’t mean that he’s trusted with this soon-to-be war situation,” Sierra narrowed her eyes. Xion was already opening his mouth when Gray walked to their middle, “Okay! Guys, calm down.”He turned his head to look at the lady, “Sierra, I’m sorry, but this time, I think we have to agree with Xion. It’s best to speak about the truth.”Sierra could swear that she saw that man’s lips curved a lot for one second before he changed his expression back. “Fine,” she gritted her teeth. After that, with Keith in the front, they
Leon expected that the president was going to be an old, fat, bald man, but turned out he was pretty much in shape, like a retired soldier. Gray also couldn’t hide his curious stares to the man.“State your business with Lord Adam.” The woman right next to the president, which Sierra assumed as Xion’s friend, stared at them nicely.“Greetings, Lord Adam,” Xion took a step as he placed his fist on his heart. “As we have mentioned before in the letter, we afraid a war is going to happen soon between the State of Etherna and Kingdom of Bealaris.”Sierra closely watched the president; he was definitely pissed at the news. And she was right; the next moment, Adam slammed his fist to his royal chair and spoke loudly, “How dare that poor country killed my people, ignoring the peace treaty that our ancestors signed!”Then he proceeded to curse at the country until the assistant reminded him with a small cough. ‘So, who’s the leader of the army?” That man asked.“We believe it’s Prince Heath h
“What do you want to know, then?” Sierra raised her eyebrows. Surely, this man didn’t come only to praise her amazing works.“Why did you do it?”“Why? To protect the boys,”Malcolm gulped down hardly as he stuttered, “D- do you have to burn them like that?”Sierra snorted, “Sorry, fire isn’t exactly filled with mercy.”Malcolm grunted as he had heard about this type of blessing. Fire, the fiercest of all. If the bearer didn’t have strong mind, it would burn down everything around. In his army, only two soldiers that bear the fire blessing. Often, they would accidentally burn their own comrades.However, he saw Sierra’s remnants. It was a perfect circle, and it meant she was a master. He never saw anyone who could control fire that… beautifully and terrifyingly. Of course, as a soldier he couldn’t waste this chance.“If there’s war coming…” He started, trying not to sound too eager, “I want you to join us.”“Ah,” Sierra opened her mouth, clearly unimpressed by this sudden invitation t
“So, how’s the enemy doing?” Keith asked with his mouth full of rice. He sat down alone in the dining table, as he stuffed his stomach. It had been a couple of weeks after the president’s order was declared. Since the security was tighten in the whole country, the group decided to rest first, by renting a small house outside of the capital area.Xion just came back from running a small errand in the town, and he looked around the house before answering his friend, “Bad. They’re attacking full-charge at every town in the northern area. Adam has closed the gate, no one is allowed to enter here. They’re just-““Waiting to be butchered,” Sierra cut him with her cold voice. Xion glanced at her who stood still at the kitchen and nodded bitterly, “Yeah. He’s crazy… Adam, I mean. And, based from what I’ve heard, some still managed to pass through with various ways.”“Let me guess; bribing the soldiers!” Keith spoke with apparent disgust by the thought that soldiers took advantage on the poor
Although the town was filled with guards, Sierra and Gray managed to sneak around skilfully. They walked further inside the town and then met with a dead end. “Huh?” Gray stopped as he stared at the high wall.“What should we do, Sierra? Should we climb the wall?” He asked the woman behind who looked at him thoughtfully.“Of course not, idiot,” She snorted, “Listen again to the voice that called you.”Gray nodded as he closed his eyes. Feeling something that called for him for days.Son… Come… I’m waiting…As he opened his eyes, Gray looked at Sierra with sparkling eyes, “Wow!! It’s below us!”Sierra smirked as she approved the kid, “Don’t forget this. You can’t just go charging around aimlessly, but you also have to feel every power near you.”Then, both of them looked around the alley to find the path to go down. “Oh! Sierra, it’s here!” Gray called for her. “It’s… a sewer,” Sierra crossed her arms, her face clearly stated a disgust. The boy knew how Sierra was uncomfortable with it
Xion’s lips parted as he questioned the lady, “You’re kidding, right? True Blessing is a myth.” Sierra glared at him and tiredly answered, “It’s not. It’s right in front of your eyes, Xion.”Gray looked up at the two people who glared at each other for the hundredth times already. “G-guys, what’s a True Blessing?” His question did work as Sierra averted her focus to the kid. Her eyes clearly showed uneasiness and complicated things that she hadn’t share.Gray waited for the explanation, but no words came out from her. Instead, Sierra turned her back to stand in front of the light as if she wanted to pry it opened. Xion decided to take over as he rubbed his neck tiredly, “I’m not sure, kid. It’s a legend; long ago, back in the earliest civilization that was written in the history. I don’t believe it though. Legend said, True Blessing was a destructive power that shaped the earth.”“It’s more than that,” Sierra added. With a long breath, she started to explain the history.“Long time ag
While Gray and Zed had their sudden meeting with the strategist, Sierra purposefully stood outside the castle to wait for Xion. She was embarrassed, but somehow, she felt that she was supposed to do this and comfort the man. And she didn’t regret it. The moment she saw Xion, the other’s face beamed with relief and happiness. They hugged and kissed for a short time as Sierra rubbed his back. “You thought I was dead?” She tried to lighten up the situation a little. Xion snorted, “Yeah…” He paused as he stared at Sierra’s face, “But I think I’m stupid to think about it. You’re probably the strongest being ever, you know that, right?” His expression was tired, definitely lack of sleep, but his smile was bright; his voice showed a clear proudness. Sierra didn’t want to imagine what happened with this man while she’s gone for a moment. They talked for a moment while holding hands. Xion cleared his throat, “Hey, Sierra. I need to talk to you.” She titled her head, confusion was appeared o
“Gray!” Sierra grabbed Gray’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. The soldiers already started scattered around and broke the formations; even the mages couldn’t protect them from the monsters below.“Argh!” Someone got sucked below, and Sierra knew that person had already gone. Amidst the chaos, Sierra could feel a familiar power around them; just like the last time when she felt Gray’s True Blessing on the underground. And she finally understood, why the barrier around, that was summoned almost perfectly didn’t work.“It’s a True Blessing!” Sierra yelled as she kicked her leg from monster’s grab. “What?” Gray was confused. “It’s an Earth True Blessing. That’s why the barrier won’t work. It could pierce anything! We have to fall back!”Gray quickly understood and he screamed, “Fall back to the north gate!” The soldiers were relying the message to each other. Those who cherished their lives quickly abandoned the formation and ran. The earth kept trembling and people started to sway and f
“That idiot!” Sierra snapped at the news. “I can’t believe he reject it. I wonder what his mother said to him!”Nevertheless, the next day, they marched to the gate to retake the capital. It wasn’t a hard fight because for the first time ever, they won by numbers. The enemy also lacked their leaders so it was pretty easy to break into their defence and controlled the castle. Many of the soldiers were surrendering as they wanted to trade it with their lives.Gray nodded appreciatively as they surrendered. “It’s nice not to kill someone,” He grinned to Sierra at the main room.From that day, the they took back State of Etherna’s freedom. People in the capital were cheering as they were freed from the oppressions. However, Gray’s liberation army still couldn’t relax at all. They still had the north area to retake and Kingdom of Bealaris to attack. The north gate was still shut tight.Then, Walter advised that they took a break after the long, continues fights. They also had to reunite wi
“How’s the kid?” Sierra crossed her arms impatiently in front Gray’s bedroom. A healer just came out, and he nodded his head in delight. “Lady Sierra, you don’t have to worry about anything. Thanks to his Blessing, the explosion didn’t do much damage to his body. Right now, he’s just sleeping.”Hearing the news, Sierra huffed a relief breath. Then, she decided to let the kid rest and find Xion. Frankly speaking, she didn’t do much at this fight because her main task was to defend the fortress. That’s why, she was in a good condition and everyone relied on her more because she was the only general who still alive and in perfect condition.As far as she knew, Keith was passed out from massive blood loss. That’s why, she moved to find the other one. Thankfully, Xion didn’t hurt that bad. He was wrapped in bandages, but he was practically fine.Seeing Sierra’s presence in the yard made his cold face cracked into a warm expression. He waved at her, and Sierra also smiled softly. “How’s you
Everyone became aware how dangerous the situation was. Gray frowned and cold sweats already dripped down from his forehead. Sierra quickly took control, “Okay, kid. Don’t force yourself. You still have to fight at the frontline. Let us handle it.”Gray bit his bottom lip; but then he nodded. The mages were ready as they chanted the spell. “On three, just let your power go.”“One…”“Two…”“Three!”Gray’s let go of his Blessing, but the lightnings were still under control. “See? We’re good at what we’re doing.” Sierra smiled. Since the first wall of protection had fell, Gray quickly moved to join his own troops.“Lady Sierra,” Walter appeared behind her, nodding appreciatively, “You really level up your troops abilities.”Sierra snorted at the words, and she grabbed her bow. This time, she didn’t bother to hide the exquisite design of it, making the archers stared with envy. “It’s family heirloom,” She added awkwardly.“Archers! Prepare your arrow!”Thousand of arrows were prepared, poi
It had been six months since Don departed from the fortress. The good news was he never failed to bring back victories. And the bad news? There’re so much things going on inside the fortress; refugees, soldiers, volunteers, travellers, even merchants, all came to them since Sierra had lifted her maze spell.Now, the fortress became really lively with crowds. Sierra could only shake her heads from the noise. “You really hate people, huh?” Xion chuckled as they stood at the third floor, staring at the yard.Both of them just got back from separate missions and now, they decided to rest together. Hearing the statement, Sierra couldn’t help, but smile softly, “No, it’s not like that. This view somehow reminds me the last time I’m here.”She paused and her eyes wondered longingly. Xion just stared at her, savouring the beauty. “This place used to be like this too. Buzzling with merchants, and people… I just hope this will last; now that we’ve made our location known.”Xion smiled too; thes
“Bring it on!!” Gray roared as he braced himself from the destruction. Leon grinned wickedly; he was waiting for this moment of showdown. The wind was growing stronger around them and the woods around started to be plucked up by the whirls.“Damn it!” Sierra cursed under her breath. It was getting harder to breath and open her eyes widely. “Gray!! Don’t!!” She could hear herself screaming at the kid. However, it was unclear whether the kid heard her or not.Thus, in that split second; when Leon unleashed his enhanced power, Sierra decided to call upon her own. She spread her arms wide and felt her fire brought to life. The wind still went strong, and now with the addition of big flames around.Gray sensed the power and then looked at her. Once again, Gray couldn’t help, but awe at the magnificent sight. No matter how many times he saw that big wrath of flame, he always amazed by her. Now, the snow was truly disappeared, melted down from the extreme heat.Sierra gritted her teeth; it’s
“Sierra, you still look as pretty as ever,” Leon gazed at the woman and smiled tenderly. However, it couldn’t fool her. Leon had changed. Totally. Whether the compliment was sincere or not, she didn’t want to think about that.“Leon! Come with us! Quick!”“Gray, wait!” Sierra tried to snatch his collar, but he’s already running towards his ‘friend’. Gosh, she could see the way Gray’s eyes sparkled with excitements. This fool literary forgot everything they had taught him about awareness.But who could blame the kid? It’s been two years; not being able to see his childhood friend, with so many questions on his head about why were the reasons Leon left them that night.With only three, maybe two steps from Leon, suddenly a big wave of wind came around them and managed to knock Gray back until he hit the nearest tree. He was caught off guard; never in his life, he would imagine that Leon would hurt him with the intent to kill.“Stupid kid!” Xion cursed under his breath; with Don who pass
“What’s with this early meeting on snowy days?” Keith yawned as he sat down in the meeting room. Gray rubbed his eyes tiredly, “Don’t know. Walter just sent the servants to each of us.”Sierra, who wrapped in thick clothes commented too, “Judging that it’s only the four of us, I think he has special mission.”“Sharp as always, Lady Sierra!” Walter came in into the room right at the moment, while bringing a warm cup of coffee.“You look horrible,” Xion said to the strategist. The bags under Walter’s eyes were horribly dark and big; anyone would know that he didn’t get sleep. “Yeah, it’s winter time. I have to think further to spring, you know.”“Right, now tell us what’s with this morning arrangement?” Sierra cut to the chase.“Okay, apparently. I just found out that a strong warrior was captured months ago by Bealaris.” He started to explain, “Here. This town, West Land.”“Who’s the warrior?” Keith asked curiously; he might know one or two martial arts experts in this land.“His name