Sir Chandos was standing before me, alive and well, though his armor was battered and had leg cuffs chained to an iron ball. Nevertheless, he was beaming at me with a smile.
“Sir Roche, it’s good to see you —” Sir Chandos dropped his smile and turned away when the foreman shifted his attention toward us. The Grendel Knight squatted on the ground, facing the warheads on the left. Then he buried his mouth under his folding arms.
“No slacking off,” the foreman snarled after noticing that I stopped working. I went back on filling up another crack, though keeping a close distance with Sir Chandos.
“Don’t turn around,” Sir Chandos’ voice whispered. “Keep working, and keep your voice down.”
“Alright,” I said in a hushed tone. “What happened? Sinchi said that you were recalled.”
“So Sinchi managed to escape.” he sounded surprised yet relieved. “I’m glad he warned you and everyone in town.”
I hung my head down. “The Blood Eagles used Sinchi and
“Are you sure that boy’s a spy, brother?” Hikaru asked. “How do we find him?” Their loud conversation by the entrance was heard all the way here. “He’s wearing a brown hooded coat with black furry lining,” Masaru replied. “The one looks like a lion.” He weaved his head in search of me among the crowd, glad I took it off earlier, or else I’d be found on the spot. “I’m certain that I’ve seen him before.” “You sure about this? We don’t want to trouble King —” Masaru sent his scowling glare at his doubtful brother. “Our boon is on the line, dear brother. Spy or not, we couldn’t afford to be lax.” While locking each other’s stare, he raised his voice. “Trackers, forward!” “Yes, my lord.” The armored warriors chorused behind him. As they began to move, I turned to the Grendels with a scrunching face. They got the hint that it was me that the Storm Brothers were looking for. “We need to go now,” I said. The four of us sneaked
After another five minutes in silence, Zeki’s voice said, “You can move yourself to sit, Mr. Roche. They’re gone.” “Thank you.” I weaved around in search of him up here in the trees. “Where are you?” “Promise me not to scream.” I blinked. “Alright, I promise.” Something landed on my right knee. Moving my gaze to check, there was a spider that was standing on four legs, wearing the same clothes and top hat as… “Zeki, is that you?” “It is I.” The spider bowed. “You… you’re the spider god.” I remembered a character from a story he told back in Rockland. “You’re his brave.” He bowed again. “Anansi’s Brave, the trickster spider god of stories.” I gasped, “You’ve been following me this whole time?” He chuckled, “Guilty as charged.” “I thought you were leaving with the other guilds.” “I was, but I smell a story the moment you left for Sweet Haven. I was also curious about how you are going to get there.” He cro
By sundown, Rockflower sent another counter-raiding party, numbering twenty-one braves. It was smaller than last time, consisting of a Green Bit group led by Chief Bess, Deborah, Marseille, Raja, the entire Foxfire Guild, and me. Rockflower couldn’t afford to send more ever since half of the guilds left town. Our goal was to stop the warheads from flying. As much as possible, we would free the prisoners if we had a chance. We would then high-tail back home afterward and wait for reinforcements to arrive. I was astounded that my friends volunteered for this dangerous quest since they were still newcomers. After crossing the river with the Green Bits’ canoes, we pressed on with haste. “So, I want to make things clear,” Brock began. “This Ares’s Brave guy wanted to start another World War. He would then sit back and let the big shots fight each other. And when this is over, the Eagles pick off what’s left of them, gather a bigger army, and then head back to Ever
My friends and I swallowed hard. It made sense why the adamantites were used as a power source. “Based on the information from Sam,” Raja continued, “an adamantite with the size of a chandelier could blow up an entire city.” “Along with everyone within its radius,” Deborah finished. My friends and I were sweating in dread, understanding why we had to steal it — from underground — surrounded by hundreds of enemies. “I see,” Wilt swallowed. “So how do we destroy them? Safely, of course.” “Magic,” Raja answered. “Only magic can work with adamantite.” Unfortunately, our side didn’t have magic braves. We could really use one right now. “Hmm…” Alex cupped her chin to ponder. “Alex?” I said. Our glances shifted toward the Finnish girl. She took a deep breath. “I must confess, I do have magic —” “Alex, you know you can’t reveal your powers to anyone,” Katie cut her off to reprimand. “It’s alright, Katie. This is
We resumed our journey to Hammerhorn, but in a lengthy detour for several hours. It was slow, though we kept ourselves hidden in the undergrowth at a stealthy pace. We had to be covert when sneaking into the underground base to avoid their patrols. The first patrol we found was a sign that we had arrived. Owing to the Green Bits’ reconnaissance earlier, we managed to bypass several patrolmen until we reached the river. From our left, the hill-fort was in that direction. Chief Bess turned all the Green Bits into crocodiles and panthers. They swam to the other side of the river before dispersing into the trees to check for patrols. We waited for a moment until they came back and wagged their tails. “It’s clear.” Chief Bess signaled Raja to transform into his giant form and grabbed everyone except me, Marseille, and Deborah. Deborah summoned an eight-spoked wheel that hovered in the air. She and Marseille hopped on and flew across. I threw Raja and his p
Every single person in the cavern stopped in their tracks. Then, two more explosions erupted coming from outside. Their fear grew when one person burst from the exit tunnel. “Raid! There’s a raid!” someone shouted. As the knight got distracted, two darts struck his throat. The Green Bit pair went forward with blowguns in their hands. They surrounded the knight as he turned into dust without anyone noticing. My friends and I had our expressions distorted into shock. “How brutal,” Li murmured. A couple of more explosions, a Blood Eagle bellowed, “EVERYONE, GET OUT!” “What?” Raja was surprised when hundreds of stamping feet shook the ground. They were pouring into the exit. Soon, more people burst from the three tunnels. They were all racing toward the surface as well. Even the prisoners were escaping, but at a snail pace because of the iron balls attached to their legs. “Something is not right,” I said. “Me too,”
“See, my lords,” we could hear Aurelius talking to the Storm Brothers from a distance, “I told you they would take this exit.” Masaru grunted in acknowledgment. Everyone from our side was exchanging each other’s worrisome stares. The Blood Eagles’ shield wall stretched about a third of the clearing in a crescent formation; with their weapons aimed at the hole, our escape would be difficult. Aurelius turned his attention back to us at the hole, still hiding inside the underground airfield. “I know you’re in there, Anne. Would you mind if you can come out and talk like old friends we once were?” Several brow-raising glares fell on the chief. “You two know each other?” Wilt asked. “Unfortunately, yes,” she answered out loud. “Oh, don’t be like that, my dear,” Aurelius exclaimed. “We haven’t seen each other since the peace signing in War’s End —” “Where are the warheads?” She cut him off. “Anne, please,” Aurelius coaxed. “O
After several minutes of running, we heard another warhead ascending. It was getting louder. “We’re getting close.” Chief Bess alarmed us to get ready to attack. “Do you think we’re expecting resistance when we reach the airfield?” Li asked. “Absolutely,” Raja replied. “Aurelius was one step ahead of us before we started all this. We need to think of something once we arrive there.” A light bulb popped above my head. “Commander, let me borrow your shield and launch me straight for their airfield.” They all blinked. Wilt tilted his head, recognizing my intention. “Do what he said, Commander.” Raja nodded in approval. When he stopped running, a golden shield materialized in front of me. The second I grabbed it, Raja mustered all his might to throw me headlong, but not before raising the shield when tearing through the canopy. Soaring above the treetops, the airfield was straight ahead. Once I was near, my skin began to crawl, urg
By the next day, while reinforcement would arrive at any moment, Katie had finished our flag’s design. The whole gang loved it when she showed it to us before presenting it to the Mayflowers. Katie and all the seamstresses in the hill-fort gathered together to knit our flag inside Wilt Hall. We were astonished that Katie could knit. We waited by the entrance for hours. Mrs. Smith, Hassan, Commander Raja, Miranda, and the two Green Bit chiefs arrived with a wooden pole and silver ball. “How’s it going?” Hassan asked. Before anyone could respond, Katie came out to present our flag. “What do you think?” The flag was divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with the blue upper triangle and the green lower triangle. At the center along the dividing line was the fiery silhouette of a foxfire. “Looks good,” Miranda said, and many agreed. “It is.” Commander Raja asked curiously. “What are the symbolisms on those colors?” “L
It was afternoon. Marseille and I were strolling around Hammerhorn, with the newly blue sky that covered the entirety of the hill. This place was littered with emptied tents. Much of the supplies and valuables that the Blood Eagles left behind were now spoils of war. It was nice that the bathhouse and bridge remained intact. While everyone was tidying up their new home, Marseille told me what happened during the battle. It turned out that she and Deborah arrived to save Mrs. Smith’s group when a Blood Eagle company finally caught them crossing the river. As veteran elites, they managed to turn the tide of battle in our favor. Once the news of Commodus’s demise had been spread, the few hundred surviving Eagles and raiders began to scatter in retreat. Marseille stated that the big shots and guilds would eventually hunt them down, along with Alvarez, Javier, and the Storm Brothers. They would never pose a threat to this world ever again. For two days, my friends
I failed! I failed! I was so close… I was about to pass out from the blood loss. My eyes were getting heavy. Once they shut, that would be my end. “I got you! I got you!” Commodus bragged. “Didn’t I tell you that you’re nothing but a bug?” His loud, boastful voice was ringing my ears, which kept me from losing consciousness. I took a glance at him. My fist was still hovering near his face. That gave me one last idea as I quickly grabbed his hand that was holding the spear, grasping tightly so that he wouldn’t escape. “I got you,” I said with a weak voice, concentrating all my super-strength toward my fist. “What do you mean…?” Commodus was no longer bemused when my fist near him shook. He then realized my intent once my thumb released the full force from my bent index finger. “No, no, NO…!” Bam! A flick on his forehead and Commodus was sent zooming down the ground, along with his spear. My scream thundered throughout the sky in excruci
After I regained consciousness, I was in a different location, lying on the ground with an aching back — again. Once I returned to my feet, my senses alarmed me to duck. A halberd almost cleaved my head. A knight in red armor appeared from nowhere and prepared another swing. I slammed the ground with my heel to rock his footings before sending him flying with a punch. Two more knights, four Greek hoplites, six Chinese armored warriors, and dozens of raiders appeared in front of me. I waited for them to make a move. However, my eyes bulged to find Cara and her friends were among the raiders. They were shocked to see me again. Boom! I caught a cannonball before it could strike the back of my head. Several dozen yards away, a cannon team was reloading. The Eagles were about to gang up on me. I jabbed the ground, knocking them off their feet. Then I threw the cannonball back toward the cannon, and it broke into iron scraps. More enemies got close,
The raining weapons almost got me as I leaped into a safe distance. While keeping myself out of Commodus’s reach, I threw whatever I could get my hands on at him; branches, trees, and rocks. However, he evaded them with the same grace and agility as Cutler while manipulating the weapons to fly toward me. I had to dodge them with every inch of my life until I hid behind a tree once again. “Damn it, I need to get close.” My blood began to boil. “Wait, why did I say that?” Why did I feel the urge to attack him? My brain told me not to do anything stupid. “Calm down, Sam.” I breathed in and out when my rage grew. “Calm down.” “You’re quite confident for a newcomer,” Commodus’s booming voice wasn’t far from my hiding place, though not close. “I sensed both your fear and rage were conflicting. Signs of experience. Tell me, are you a warrior back in our world?” “I’m a former social justice warrior,” I replied. “I think that counts.” “You sounded doub
For a long time, we had a staring contest. My plan was that if Aurelius even flinched once, I’d give an earth-shattering punch before making my escape. Fighting a commander was one thing, but there was no way I could go up against aGuildmaster. As minutes passed, none of us even blinked. If I could land just one blow, it’d be over for him. He would never survive against my super-strength. Still, I didn’t have the confidence to fight him head-on. Aurelius observed me with hate-filled eyes as the raging battle thundered around us. What was he waiting for? I must get back to my friends. “That was genius!” he burst out laughing, to which I flinched. “You masked your escape when Anne unleashed her moon. We expected you to hold your siege or run away. Instead, you blow up your town as a diversion so you can bring the heaven stone to Hammerhorn. A better-fortified position. “Such a shame that there’s no one left in that hill-f
The five of us remained on guard. Those who were weaponless picked up the bronze knives that were scattered all over the ground. I, on the other hand, grabbed the uprooted tree. As we got close to finishing him off, Cutler cackled again before he was coughing heavily. Eventually, cracks began to appear all over his body. “Cutman?” Brock called him out. “It’s Cutler,” he corrected before coughing again, yet he was motionless. He had no strength to spare a glance at us. “That boy’s name is Wilt, huh? Let me tell you. He went down with a brave face.” His breathing was slowing down. “Thanks for the hunt, Foxfires.” He drew one last breath with a satisfying smile. “It sure is fun….” He slowly became dust. “He….” Katie took a deep breath five times to cool herself down. Her skin was no longer burning red. “He went down like a warrior,” she said begrudgingly out of respect. It wasn’t long for Zeki and Commander Raja to arrive, looking exhausted. “Is everyone
The bugs were the first to charge while the tengu braves followed behind. In a short moment, we were being surrounded, struggling to watch each other’s backs, especially Alex. “Alex,” Katie called while kicking a monstrous wasp in mid-air. “Now’s the time to do your magic.” “I can’t… focus…” Alex struggled to come up with a magic tune while most of the enemies set their sights on her. “I need to focus.” Cutler was observing our battle, waiting for his chance to strike. “Commander Cutler.” Another tengu brave appeared. “Our forces managed to regroup after the enemies ambushed us. We struck them back in a six-pronged assault. King Aurelius is now clashing with Chief Bess as we speak. And Rockflower’s denizens are almost at the river with the heaven stone.” “Good,” Cutler said. “We’re making progress.” “Why are you doing this?” Katie demanded, and the enemies got her attention. Cutler signaled the bugs to stop attacking. “Why are you dest
Back on the ground, we were heading to our rendezvous location with the Green Bits to help them stop the Blood Eagles from reaching Mrs. Smith’s group. However, ten seconds had passed, Li had everyone halted. “Look, Storm Brothers!” He pointed at them stuck on a redwood tree, about twelve meters above us. They were back in their human forms, but they had white eyes, scorching burns, and smokes rising from their bodies. “They’re unconscious,” Commander Raja sighed with relief after watching them motionless for a while. “They must’ve been caught by the blast.” “Good, we should finish them off,” Alex stated. “You’re right.” The commander summoned his spears. “We have to make sure they will never be a threat ever again.” The rest of us reluctantly conceded. Even though the brothers were now defenseless, they were too dangerous to be left alive. “Enemies from above!” I cried when my skin crawled in alarm. Twelve tengu braves pierced through