Chapter 7

Several more days passed with intermittent silence between the disunited crowd. The current day held the sky with dark orange and indigo, a few specks of gray clouds floating stagnant in the background. The sun slowly descended behind the horizon of the dangerous, barren land. With the decrease of green forest, there was an increase of ancient ruins. All villages and towns west of Algara-daishi were overrun with rampant destruction, all traces of civilization long gone. No words were spoken as they absorbed the depressing, dead landscape. Rubble and dust lay among the land where shadows of old houses once were. Miraculously, some buildings still held up against hundreds of years of abuse--if not for all the stone and rotten trees holding them up with reinforced vines. With even a poke to rubble, there was no doubt that it would crumble under their fingers before all pressure could be applied.

It wasn’t just the decayed buildings that made them uneasy when Morio slowed the truck down and gazed upon the desert upon them. Among the ancient buildings were deserted steam cars and trucks, most of them broken down and torn to pieces. Blood strewed the sides of some of the vehicles, desecrated corpses thrown all around them as some hung from opened doors, others halfway slung on the roofs. No more than fifteen to twenty vehicles were littered around the outskirts, every single one of them painted with the life blood of unsuspecting victims. Unlike the lost souls from the airport, these dead were ripped apart viciously, their entrails sprawled out like vultures harvesting on dead meat. The ones with their eyelids open lacked eyeballs--them being ripped very painfully from their sockets. Bodies had been emptied--their vital organs missing like screws missing from machinery. Signs of magic scorched the bloody ground, depicting a picture that the victims attempted to fight back against the monsters. Unaware that Moon, with the assumption of also Sun Magic, were the only effective elementals, they lost miserably. Elanya surmised that they had to be ignorant people who panicked and thought that leaving Yulin-dai as soon as possible was the correct action. Instead, they just led their families into certain death by their ignorance and stubbornness. They blinded themselves to the issue at hand and paid dearly for it. With evidence of caking, dried blood spread thick among the land and the overwhelming stench of the dead wracked heavy in the atmosphere, the victims had arrived no more than two or three days before their group did, refusing to stop for rest or scour for information. How could they all have been stupid enough to go toward the wasteland thinking their safety was assured?

The backdrop ruins of Sogara-dai came into view. A knowing and uncomfortable look passed between the group as they approached the outskirts of the land, dissolved houses laid in defeat. The city looked as though it’s population could eclipse Yulin-dai which escalated their worry. If only a handful of creatures were able to destroy peace in one of the most thriving cities in Vaikoln, what could an army of them do to the whole continent? With all the debris and destruction around, it would take a while to find a path discreetly into the city without notifying their enemy of their presence. What struck Elanya as odd was that besides the fallen architecture, it was reticent and empty. She would assume that many of them would be wandering outside of the city waiting to attack more unsuspecting fugitives from Yulin-dai. That would be the most productive thing to do since their attack. However, the creatures were nowhere in sight, which made something gnaw at the insides of Elanya’s stomach. It was similar to the uncomfortable sensations she experienced before the huge explosion at the airport. Something was wrong.

Elanya leaned over the back seat and craned her neck to look toward Morio. “Something doesn’t feel right. We need to turn back around.”

Morio turned his head only an inch, concentrating on the desolate road before them. “What is it? We still have a few hours of sunlight left.”

“Ellie, we’re almost there, how can you expect us to just turn back?” Nemedion asked.

She turned to look at her friend with irritation. “It’s the same feeling I had back at the airport. A trap. This feels like a trap.”

Yahna sighed abruptly and crossed her arms. “So you just feel like it’s a trap? That’s the most ridiculous thing ever.”

“I don’t have time to argue with you all! Can’t you see that this is a--”

“AMBUSH!” Rigesh shouted as he braced himself against the sneak attack to his passenger door. A Flesh Hoarder clung to the door handle, straddling among the side of the steam truck as Morio tried to turn the vehicle around.

The truck took another hit to the back door as two more Flesh Hoarders banged on the window. With inhumane frenzy, they aggressively smashed their head into the window, ignoring their blue-black blood running down their rugged forehead. The window quavered as small cracks appeared, widening each time their bruised foreheads made contact. Almost like a bored, but annoyed child, one of the Flesh Hoarders climbed up on the top of the truck and banged his fists into the roof, causing deep dents that threatened to open.

Orantal and Yahna couldn’t contain their screams. They both moved away to behind Morio’s seat and held one another in fear. Rigesh unbuckled his seatbelt and lifted his right leg up about to kick out his passenger window when Morio yelled at him.

“What the FUCK are you about to do? Do you know how much those windows are going to cost me?” Even when cornered, that man was too much for Rigesh to handle sometimes.

“Raylith’s fuck, Morio, what the hell do you expect me to do?”

“I expect you to not damage my truck! Just trust me real quick!” Morio spun his wheel to the left, attempting to throw off the creatures with his reckless driving. As he spun the truck around in dangerous circles, burning rubber and dust in his wake, he maneuvered his way around the collapsed houses of the outside villages and graveyard of steam cars. Elanya was impressed with how well Morio could drive in such distress, and knew that he was trying to get them as far away from the mass destruction as possible.

The Flesh Hoarder on Rigesh’s door fell off first, rolling himself under the wheels of the truck. But the banging from the other two still continued. A grey claw made its way past the metal roof searching out a flesh target. As much as Elanya wanted to use Valla to cut open the roof, it would just be a later inconvenience for them to deal with if they made it past this obstacle. They would be losing shelter and protection from the weather, and more or less, privacy of anyone that happened to be content with staying in the truck. It would also allow the second Flesh Hoarder on the back door an opportunity to jump in while she dealt with the one on top. They were all in a cramped position with no appropriate plan to enact.

She was going to do something wild. Really, it was stupid and irresponsible, but they didn’t have time to think about what was right and wrong in the moment. There was a Flesh Hoarder at their six, another one on the top willing to cleave through metal to get to them and one that wasn’t far behind them. More could be coming to ambush them, but Elanya didn’t have time to think about that right now. These three were the priority. Orantal would be no help in the frantic state that she was in and Nemedion never liked plans that had a risk--he preferred knowing that the outcome was in his favor, always. Rigesh was the only one she could depend on. He was a Knight. He would go along and have her back. Nothing would happen to her. She hoped, at least.

“Morio, whatever you do,” she started, pulling her blade to her side and biting down on her lips, “do not stop driving. Keep driving as fast and wild as you can. In circles if you have to.”

“Okay, but why--”

Before he had a chance to finish his question, and Nemedion could leap out to drag her back inside the steam truck, she kicked open the back door and flung herself out. In a quick second before she could hit moving sand, she grabbed hold of the opened left door with her free hand while clenching Valla in her right. It was a hasty decision, but she was lucky she caught the door before she tumbled to the ground. Unfortunately, despite the obvious signs that the feral creature lacked intelligence, her opponent also held onto the opposite door. In an awkward motion, it tried to swing itself while hanging onto the door, hoping to lunge inside of the back of the truck but Morio’s erratic driving was keeping it at bay.

At the same time that Elanya had thrown herself outside the back of the truck, Rigesh had kindly rolled down his window, and in one fluent motion, hopped on top of the truck to face off against the other Flesh Hoarder wailing on the roof. He kept himself low to the roof, lodging his hidden dagger into the roof to keep himself from falling off. The other hand held his onyx pistol, ready to fire.

He locked eyes with the disgusting creature, green foam coming from its rotten mouth. It certainly looked more deranged than the ones that attacked the airport. In this instance, it could accurately be compared to a wild animal. Yellow eyes hazed in hunger and fury gave Rigesh concern. Despite the differences, they were the same eyes that Rigesh had looked at when he fought against bandits determined to raze a village to the ground for their own satisfaction. It could only mean that this fight would be unpredictable. This enemy was fighting for it’s life, for survival. All it could be thinking about was biting into living flesh and harvesting organs. Maybe that one track mind would be in Rigesh’s favor.

Onyx pistol in hand, he aimed at the creature who moved to dodge the first shot. It didn’t have to do much intentional dodging with the way that Morio was driving about. The erratic driving was both a curse and a cure for their situation. The creatures wouldn’t be able to properly attack them, concentrating on staying on the vehicle long enough to get in, but Rigesh wouldn’t be able to get a clear shot, especially since his other hand was holding him into place on the roof. He aimed a couple of more shots at the creature, but he missed again, only drawing the ire from the Flesh Hoarder who extended the rest of his claws and awkwardly crawled his way over to Rigesh.

“Morio! Is there some way you can give me some kind of help with driving?” Rigesh grunted as he kicked out his leg to push away the creature as it jumped for him. “I can’t aim with all this bloody jerking!”

“I’m doing my bloody best!” Morio swerved around a protruding beam from the ground, grinding against the sandy road with much less grace than he had before. He was becoming overwhelmed and agitated. Soon his concentration would give out if they didn’t deal with their problem soon.

“Elanya!” Rigesh called out.

“This was much better in my head!” She replied, using the open back door to swing herself in tune with her opponent while she swung out with her sword. Instead of relying on the extra power that her soul sword could provide her, she had to rely on her own magic instead. This was the most logical answer as she would drop dead on the ground becoming fodder if she was overcome with summoning sickness. Her aim was just as off as Rigesh’s, thrown off by the moving vehicle. She didn’t want to cast a spell too big and damage the van, but her small blasts of magic were too easy for the creature to dodge, even if he was dangling from an opened door. From afar, they could hear the sickening roar of the third creature who had fallen off the vehicle earlier. Though he was hundreds of feet behind them, his animalistic body was catching up to them quickly.

“The third one’s coming!” Elanya shouted as she struggled to keep herself on the door. Her intense physical training had paid off years later, but it was a bother to show off now.

“We need to slow it down!” Rigesh shot two more times, one of his shots barely missing the creature in front of him. He tsked and dodged away from an oncoming attack.

Nemedion moved to the opened back door and held himself to the wall closest to Elanya. Warily, he eyed the monster swinging across from Elanya. “My magic obviously won’t kill the fuckers, but I can cause a distraction.”

As much as she wanted to argue, as she would prefer that he protect the frightened women in the back seat, Elanya held her tongue. This was the first in the last few moments where they had a plan and that it made sense. After waiting for her nod of confirmation, Nemedion summoned up large sparks of Fire Magic around his fists and began throwing large globes of fire at the hectic Flesh Hoarder running behind them. In mild irritation, the Flesh Hoarder brushed off the fire, but it became too much as he now focused on getting away from the red orbs being thrown at him. The feral monster seemed much more agitated by elemental magic than it’s kin from the airport, which led Elanya to believe that the feral Flesh Hoarders, the ones further from Sogara-dai and outside barrens, were weaker and starved.

Trying her best to stay away from the fiery blasts beside her, Elanya continued to swipe her sword at the Flesh Hoarder. Angrily, the monster reached out to her, attempting to catch some of her flesh on his claws. With hard precision, she sliced his attacking arm off while he flailed against the opposite door. Summoning a small concentration of Moon Magic, she aimed for the distressed monster’s throat. His head blew off, with it’s twitching body falling to the ground and dispersing into the air. The third Flesh Hoarder roared at the loss of his fallen companion, but didn’t take time to mourn his passing as it shoved it’s disintegrating head out of the way. Nemedion reached for Elanya but the Flesh Hoarder caught up to them, throwing a ball of lightning at the steam truck. The truck jerked and the door, as Elanya held on with both hands, opened wide, banging Elanya on the side of the vehicle. Elanya wouldn’t let go of the door unless the truck stopped, but she was starting to lose feeling in her arms.

Nemedion tsked, then started throwing and deflecting the weak magic from the oncoming Flesh Hoarder. This one must have had a fill of magic before he and his group ambushed him. Though it’s magic couldn’t compare to the rest of them--him being immune to most magic, it was running at a pace that far succeeded the physical limitations of a regular human was troublesome.

Rigesh’s feral opponent turned his greedy attention to Elanya as she dangled back and forth on the back door. In that moment, he launched forward and slammed his dagger into the monster’s chest. Temporarily stunned, the creature wailed out in pain, struggling to release himself from Rigesh’s strong grasp. Rigesh held the creature underneath him, his strong elbow lodged in the creature's neck and his body positioned to keep from getting clawed, then aimed his pistol. Making sure that at least the Flesh Hoarder’s head was dangling off the van, he shot a bullet through its face. Like it’s kin before, it fell into a blackish pool of bubbling blood until it disappeared in the wind.

After taking a moment to breathe, Rigesh wiped his clammy hands on his pants then reached over the steam truck to lift Elanya up from the thrashing door. When Elanya was settled on the top of the roof, she resisted the urge to collapse from the burning pain in her arms. Any longer on that door, and she was sure that she would have let go. Rigesh held her up by her wearied shoulders, inspecting her to see if she had been injured.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern creasing his sweaty face.

She nodded. “I’m fine. Thank you, Rigesh. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

He sent her a lopsided grin. “Just following my instincts.”

The large orbs of fire that Nemedion had been throwing started to slow with the Flesh Hoarder gaining on them. Despite Nemedion being a strong mage, he wouldn’t be able to constantly channel his magic against an immune beast for a long time. The group was tired, and frantic. He tried his best to keep the creature at bay, but it evaded with ease after a while.

“OH FUCK!” They heard Morio cursed from behind them.

Suddenly, the steam truck jerked to the left. Another Flesh Hoarder appeared in front of them, heading straight into the vehicle. The front right tire exploded as it burst against the creature’s claws. Orantal and Yahna, still holding themselves, screamed again, this time adding frantic sobs in between breaths. Morio lost control of the truck and swerved away, but it scraped against a side of one of the crumbled houses in the villages. It finally stopped when the busted tire crashed against a large rock, jerking it to a standstill. Nemedion was thrown back into the truck as the back doors slammed shut in his face.

Without anything to hold onto, Elanya and Rigesh flew from the roof of the steam truck and landed twenty feet away. Instinctually, Rigesh held Elanya tight around her waist as he twisted his body toward the ground. The initial hit of ground shot pain through Rigesh’s back as they both rolled away from the truck. She landed on top of him as he let out a loud wheeze, struggling to breathe.

Rigesh arched his back in pain, then doubled over to the side to spit out a lob of blood. Elanya placed a hand on his arm, then leaned over to check to see if he had broken anything.

“Are you okay?” she asked, a little edge to her voice.

He coughed a bit more, a drop of his blood hiding in the corner of his mouth. Reaching his hands to touch any part of his back, he felt to see if he had any broken bones. “I’m fine. Being thrown isn’t fun.”

“I would assume not.”

Multiple roars captured her attention from Rigesh to the two Flesh Hoarders in front of her. They looked more rugged than they did initially, their breaths coming out fast and short. This was their limit. While the Flesh Hoarders from before fought harder and more controlled, these ferals were much more erratic with their quick bursts of energy. The fourth ally surprised them, but Elanya could handle them on even ground. Instead of drawing Valla from her side, she summoned shadows to coat her clenched fists. She had to fight them differently, like she was a beast.

“Umbara, help me, you’re not going to fight those two by yourself, are you?” Rigesh struggled to get to his knees and wheezed.

“You’re no help to me in that condition,” she replied.

“Nor are you! Elanya, you just hung from an opened door on a moving truck while fighting one of those things with one hand--you could barely hold yourself up on the roof!”

Orantal yelled to her from the passenger side window, anxiousness full in her voice. “Elanya, please be careful!”

“Don’t worry about me, come get Rigesh.”

“But--”

“Ora, we aren’t doing this right now!”

Both of the Flesh Hoarders lunged at her simultaneously. She dodged at the last minute, but missed her counterpunch. They were fast, despite their bodies breaking down and rotting. Holding her position, she threw orbs of purple magic to them, watching them dance as they tried their best to tread out of the way of her magic. One Flesh Hoarder swiped at her. She ducked into a short crouch and summoned shadows around them, burning them in a shadowy fire. She almost dodged the second’s attack, but his claws found the flesh of her forearm, leaving a bloody gash. No time to register the searing pain in her arm, she rolled away and protected herself with her Moon Magic. A shot rang from behind them, flying through the remaining Flesh Hoarder’s chest. He exploded into a mass of black blood then vaporized into the air. Rigesh let out a huge sigh as he sluggishly laid backed into the ground to chuckle wildly.

Elanya stood still until the bad feeling in her stomach dissipated. A moment later, she relaxed, noting that they had backtracked almost thirty minutes to the ruins of one of the smaller villages cornered on the outside of the city. There wasn’t any trace of Flesh Hoarders hunting this far, at least not in that area. For now, they were safe. But if they get any closer to the city, then they would expose themselves to another ambush by feral Flesh Hoarders in endless droves. They didn’t know their accurate numbers and it was silly to think that they wouldn’t hunt outside of the city. Elanya mentally noted an estimate of the Hoarder’s hunting ground, adding it to the short list of things to report to the Dean and the Mayor Meister.

Orantal sped out of the truck with Yahna on her tail. Without warning, she threw her hands around her best friend and let out a sob of anguish. Yahna made her way to Rigesh who was still trying to catch his breath on the ground.

“Ellie, that was so reckless and irresponsible of you! You could have died!” Her small friend cried.

With a tired smile, Elanya embraced Orantal back and sighed. “If I didn’t do anything, we all could have died.”

“I know! I just--” Orantal buried her wet face in Elanya’s shirt and sobbed more. What she did was a risky move, but she knew that Rigesh would come to aid her. Through their little time together, she knew that his instincts as a Knight would come in handy. If he hadn’t been there, she would be dead on her gamble. She gambled on Morio’s driving. Even gambled on Nemedion being able to distract the rear Flesh Hoarder for the time being. But she didn’t know what the outcome would really be.

“Your arm is bleeding, Ellie,” Nemedion came over to his friends and held Elanya’s arm. “Ora, heal her.”

“I’m fine. One small gash isn’t going to kill me,” she turned to smirk to Rigesh, lying down on the ground, “but I think Rigesh might need some healing. He took a bit of a fall.”

Yahna stood in front of him and scowled at the rest of the group. “I can heal him just fine. He doesn’t have any broken bones.”

“Well, at least you can take your time with healing,” Morio interjected as he lightly tapped the front left wheel with his foot, “engine needs some work and the front right wheel is gone, there’s damage to the axel and I burned a bit of runes for power.”

“How long will it take to fix everything?” Elanya asked.

Morio shrugged. “A normal mechanic would need about a week or so, but I have some special tools with me that could possibly get everything done in about three to four days.”

Nemedion grimaced as he watched the sky darken with a purple and indigo haze. “That would put our schedule back.”

“I mean, unless you want to walk hundreds of miles into a city infested with cannibalistic mages, then that’s what you’ll have to do.”

The younger man tsked. “Damn it.”

Elanya surveyed their surroundings. There was a lack of proper shelter, but the building that their steam truck broke down by still had a roof, despite the broken windows and being covered in thick vines. They could post up there until the vehicle was fixed. Like before, they would need to take shifts protecting their belongings as everyone rested. Elanya doubted that the creatures would come as far out considering they had a specific range that they could not cross. She wondered if it was because of their own energy or if it was related to magic.

“Let’s set up camp here and rest. Once we get healed up, we’ll figure out what our next course of action will be.” She said making her way to the building, ignoring the sting in her arm. She felt her blood seep down her arm and fought against the nausea building up in her stomach.

After bringing their necessary supplies into the decayed building, Morio looked around to see if there was anything they could use. Even if their shelter was old and rotten, they could still cast enough magic to make the shower work for buckets of water or make a fire in the hearth to keep them warm during the chilly nights. It was a shame there wasn’t any fresh water nearby, though it’s expected when camping out in the middle of the desert. They would have to make due with Water Runes, which they brought extra since water would always be useful in any situation.

Rigesh collapsed on a soft patch of grass growing in the living room of their abandoned house. Yahna lifted up his shirt, grimacing at his dark bruises. Morio rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath about his dangerous friend. Elanya inwardly smiled to herself. While just as reckless as she was, she couldn’t fault Rigesh for trying his best to protect their group. As she watched his two friends flush over his well being, she felt her vision blur. Everything started spinning, then suddenly she was met with a door of darkness.

Rigesh awoke with a start. His throat felt hot, like swallowing scalding, boiling water. After a few harsh coughs, he breathed deeply then stretched his body forward, feeling for bruising on his subtly aching abdomen. Someone must have healed him when he fell asleep. Besides the soreness, there wasn’t any pain nor broken bones, something expectant after being thrown from the roof of the steam truck. Yahna was lying next to him, and fortunately for him, sound asleep with a small fleece blanket wrapped around her. Morio was poking around at the small fire in the half-crumbled hearth, hoping to ease his boredom. When he heard his friend stir, he turned his head in relief, showing him an exhausted smile. Rigesh looked over to the other side of the room where Elanya lay across a makeshift bed while Orantal sat next to her, hectically looking over her injured arm. It had been wrapped in beige bandages, which means that the large gash that she received from the Flesh Hoarder must have been deeper and needed more healing.

When Rigesh turned to look out of the room’s busted only window, he noticed that the sky was much darker than it had been when they fought the Flesh Hoarders. He slumbered for a while, but the sun was nowhere near breaking the horizon. Nemedion was nowhere to be seen, so Rigesh assumed that the stubborn young man was outside keeping watch while everyone else was resting. After his precarious actions, he doubted that the man would show him any ounce of respect, despite the fact that he and Elanya both risked their lives to make sure everyone made it out the ambush alive. He even used his own body to break he and Elanya’s fall when they were pitched from the roof. But the snobby man would probably scoff at his heroism as it was something he was supposed to do. While correct--it was the proper way of the Knights, he could have at least been a bit grateful.

“Is she going to be alright?” he quietly asked Orantal.

She smiled at him and nodded. “She will be fine. It was a nasty gash but it was nothing that I couldn’t heal.”

“How long has she been asleep?”

“A couple of hours now. Besides the gash on her arm, her body was exhausted. I think it’s a good thing that the truck broke down, she will finally be able to sleep.”

Orantal called forth some Water to wet a cloth. Gently, she placed it against Elanya’s head while she slept.

“She has a strong constitution, so she will be up and about in the morning.”

Morio grunted as he turned his whole body to face the group, letting the warmth of the flames from the hearth caress his back. “I never thought that she would be as equally crazy as you, Rigesh. You both really could have died.”

Rigesh chuckled as he leaned forward on his knee. “While crazy, it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“You’re insane.”

“But slightly fulfilled.”

Orantal moved from her spot next to Elanya to Rigesh. She kneeled down in front of him with her hands in her lap. Grimacing, she pulled up his shirt to the small scratches and scars on his body.

“When Yahna was healing you, I noticed that you had a lot of scars on your back. Why didn’t you get any of them healed?”

“Hmm,” Rigesh tilted his head in thought, “it’s hard getting healed when you’re in the middle of a battle.”

“What about after the battle?” she asked. “If you get healed in a certain amount of time, then the scar will fade. But it looks like these went without treatment.”

Rigesh leaned back on his hands, rolling his head left and right. No one ever asked him about his scars. They weren’t noticeable from afar, but up close, they could look gruesome. Yahna, while slightly repulsed by some, didn’t mind them, but she never minded anything as long as she was getting her fill of him. The scars on his back was a reminder. A reminder of the battles he fought with the Knights.

“They’re reminders,” he stated matter-of-factly, “from my past with the Knights.”

A silence passed between the three of them. Judging from the cold shift in the atmosphere, it was obvious that Rigesh was going to say no more about the scars on himself. Morio and Orantal exchanged glances with one another. It had been the only time that Morio saw his friend seem so solemn about his time in the Knights, besides the moment where he left to work on his weapons. Like any other warrior before or after him, he felt the honor of serving with his fellow comrades for a just cause, but their duty wasn’t just all fun and games. Fond memories were overshadowed by the death, evil and despair materialized while they put their lives on the line for the citizens of Vaikoln.

“Well, let’s spend this night getting some good quality rest since we aren’t cramped in that truck,” Orantal says, turning her attention back to her friend.

“What should we do during the next couple of days?” Rigesh asked.

Morio shrugged. Orantal grimaced. “All we can do is wait until the truck is fixed. Maybe we can think of a plan to sneak us into the city in the meantime.”

The blonde healer replaced the wet cloth on Elanya’s forehead with a dry one. The woman stirred a bit as though she were in pain, but her pained face was quickly replaced with one of peace as Orantal sent a wave of soothing magic down her arm. One more session of healing and a good night’s rest will have Elanya as good as new in the morning. Rigesh had watched Elanya struggle to contain her fears and concerns while it broke her down mentally and emotionally. It was an awful thing to think, but he was gladdened by her bloody injury because now she will finally get the rest she deserves. In the morning, he will speak to her about possibly opening up to conversing with him about her future motives. If she was worried about what they would face once they slip past the safety of the outskirts of the cursed city, then he would do everything in his power to take on some of her burden. Fighting alongside her was starting to give him a different purpose from his previous dream of making the ultimate multi-elemental gun.

When Rigesh woke again, the sun sat high in the ultramarine sky, touched with gray and white specks floating into the distance. The hot, summer rays peaked between broken holes spread out across the corroded home. Everyone had left the dreary, dank room, save for Nemedion who was perched in a corner sleeping after his night shift watch. Rigesh silently thanked Raylith for this reprieve--the rich man would not bother him today. No doubt he would talk crap about how idiotic he was for putting himself in danger, all the while ignoring that his friend did the same thing. Yesterday had been a day full of adrenaline pumping with no proper plans in place. If the young man decided to further his studies into becoming a Meister or Knight, then he would need to come to terms that not everything will have a plan. Some decisions, if not most, would have to be made on the spot, unfortunately. He was glad that Elanya had already realized that, but he worried about how a woman had grown to make such rash decisions.

Opening the rigid, wooden door to their makeshift camp, he spotted the rest of the group--outside, but still divided from everyone. He would have thought that he and Elanya risking their lives for all of them, that there still wouldn’t be a divide, but he had always been an optimist. Morio had rolled himself under his truck. Sticking out from under the engine were his dirty jeans and ruggedy, off-white shoes. He knew that the older man was in his element when he heard him mumbling and banging his tools, ignoring the torturous heat and uncomfortable fumes. Yahna, sitting in the front driver’s seat, was obviously reading a fashion magazine, chewing on cherry gum she never leaves without. Before he could turn away, she looked up from her magazine, popped her gum loudly, and gave him a jaunty grin. Her slender frame slipped from her seat and outside to lean into Rigesh, her now rolled up magazine caressing his face.

“Rigesh, darling,” she started, “last night was rather nice. We should sleep together more often, like tonight.”

He rolled his eyes. “No.”

Yahna grabbed his arm and brushed her chest against him, batting her light eyelashes in feigned innocence “Oh, come on, please? It’s been so cold the last week we’ve been travelling.”

Rigesh just wanted to crawl back into the crumbling abode and die. He just couldn’t be free of her. Everywhere he went, Yahna managed to always insert herself within his affairs, no matter the cost. Even with the possibility of death, she would follow him blindly.

“Karnov’s Might, why won’t you just leave me be? I’m tired. Go somewhere else.”

Yahna pouted. “That’s rather rude, Rig.”

“Don’t you realize that this isn’t a game? You saw first hand what those creatures are capable of and how easily the tide could turn on us!”

As though Yahna hadn’t heard the danger Rigesh had explained, she tapped her long, skinny fingers on his shoulders and cracked an almost manic smile. “I’m with you. I know you will protect me from whatever awaits us.”

“Yahna, stop,” he shoved her away from him, maybe a little bit too hard.

Rigesh looked toward the side of their camp where Elanya and Orantal had been sitting on a log, possibly keeping watch of the deserted land. As he assumed, his increased voice caught their attention. Orantal, with her usual hair braided from the sides into a ponytail, looked a bit concerned, then annoyed when she caught sight of the foul woman. Elanya, her cherry red hair ruffled different directions, held a blank face as she gazed over. Though her face looked bored, her eyes held different emotions than usually had. The forest green color had swam in swirls transitioning into gold. Her fierce gaze penetrated him, froze him to the very spot as she looked at him. But belying that feeling was the intense reaction he had in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to step forward to bask in the strong heat that came with her hazel gaze. What he really felt, he wasn’t so sure. He was certain that he had been spelled into intimidation and this was a test.

Once Rigesh moved his right foot forward, he couldn’t stop himself. Ignoring the belligerent calls of Yahna, he made his way to Orantal and Elanya’s sitting place and kneeled down next to Elanya. It felt like everything had changed after they fought together yesterday. There was a begrudging respect that had slipped between the cold walls that separated most of the group. This connection could be a step in the right direction. He hoped that he didn’t say anything stupid while she observed him with those fiery eyes.

He went with something less stupid and more concerning. “Are you alright after yesterday?” He placed a strong hand on her left shoulder and frowned. “You had a nasty gash on your arm. I’m sorry I was indisposed to help you out.”

Orantal, though she tried to fight it, couldn’t look away at Rigesh’s hand on Elanya’s shoulder. No one ever really touched Elanya, too afraid of her shadows, assuming absurdly that they would consume them. Of course, Orantal was an exception, taking every opportunity to make Elanya feel as normal as possible. When Elanya didn’t flinch at Rigesh’s touch, all she could do was stare at him in envious awe.

Rigesh noticed it a bit too late, noticing Orantal’s exasperated look toward him. Elanya made no motion of trying to shove off his innocent hand, but Rigesh moved his hand anyway with an apologetic red flush under his eyes.

Elanya unfurled her arm from her lap and showed Rigesh her forearm, a slight line of pink fading into her brown skin. “I’m fine. Orantal’s healing is next to none in Vaikoln, so my scar won’t be there for long.”

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That’s good.”

“How about you?” She asked leaning into him, placing a soft hand on his knee. “You took the brunt of the fall when we fell from the truck. You could have broken your back worrying about me like that.”

Disregarding the warmth flowing through his knee, Rigesh chuckled. “Then we both would have been out of commission for the final fight. I’ve been hit a lot worse before, so it wasn’t a big deal.”

Elanya rolled her eyes, but amusement shone in the corner of them. “Oh please, you were huffing and wheezing like you were on your deathbed.”

He placed his hand over his chest, feigning as though he were hurt. “You wound me, Ellie! This is the thanks I get for following such a foolheartedly plan!”

The corner of Elanya’s mouth twitched, but she held her stoic face still. Rigesh wondered if he was bothering her, but he could still see the swirls of green and gold passion storming in her eyes. He had a suspicion that no one saw the magic within her eyes like he did. They were mesmerizing and he wished that he could see her match a smile with them.

“I really appreciate you coming to my aid,” she looked down into the dry ground, looking uncertain. “It was foolish. I could have died, but I wasn’t thinking at that moment.”

“It was foolish. But it was something that I would have done too if I were in your situation. In fact, if you didn’t, I’m pretty sure I would have flung myself out of the truck guns blazing.”

Elanya squeezed his knee slightly harder, showing him that she really appreciated his help. “I will put my trust in you more.”

“So that means you’ll start getting more sleep and stop anxiously staying up throughout the night?” He asked.

She nodded, a slight embarrassed twinkle in her eyes. “Yes. I realize instead of relying on everyone else I overwhelmed myself. This whole mission has made me anxious.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Something about everything still doesn’t feel right. I feel like this is much more than a random attack on Yulin-dai.”

He grimaced as he watched the swirls in her eyes turn stagnant. The colors returned to blotches of green and gold in a standstill of her irises. She looked troubled, but as long as he was by her side to help her, then they could get through this. Once they get into Sogara-dai, they can collect as much information as possible before heading back home to report. He didn’t know what the leaders of Yulin-dai would do, but he had hoped that maybe one of the Magus would wipe out the accursed city.

“I think after coming together and thinking about a proper plan, everything should fall into place,” Rigesh said, firmly squeezing her hand back in reassurance. He stood up from his spot and excused himself from the girls, making his way back to Morio and the steam truck. Yahna had fled inside, possibly to fume and complain without the judgmental looks of everyone else.

When Rigesh had gone over to talk to their two younger women, Morio had freed himself from under the truck to take a break, possibly because Yahna had left and he was finally at liberty to breathe. Rigesh leaned on the hood of the truck as he watched Orantal and Elanya continue their previous conversation to themselves. Morio drank from his canteen greedily as he waded his exhausted body under the scorching sun.

Suddenly, Rigesh felt a hard pat on his back. Morio threw his arm around his friend’s shoulders, causing the taller man to crouch in response. “You’re staring, my friend.”

Annoyed, Rigesh shoved his friend’s arm away and wiped away the musty oil from his shoulders, much to no avail. “I’m not staring.”

“You’ll hurt your eyes looking like that!” Morio laughed. “Why can’t you take a joke? You love jokes.”

All Rigesh could respond with was a harumph. He walked around the back of the truck and leaned against the back door sighing. Morio noticed the younger man’s cheerlessness as he came to lean next to him to accompany him.

“Rig, when was the last time you talked to a woman? It’s obvious that you’re enamored with Miss Shunra. You look out for her well-being more than you do the rest of us.”

“Enamored is such a big word for you, Morio.”

“Hey, hey, no need to be snappy with me. I’m just busting your ass,” Morio knocked his shoulder into Rigesh’s, “besides, she’s only made an effort to speak to you when it comes to the outsiders of this group. She might have something with you too.”

“Morio!” Rigesh whined.

“What? It’s obvious you got something going on. You just walked over there and talked to her without glancing back to argue with Yahna like you usually do. It’s all in the vibe, man. I’m just trying to get you to take that leap. You’re still young, go take some risks,” Morio leaned closer to him, wagging his intrigued eyebrows with clownish wisdom, “and if you seduce her fast enough, you won’t die sexless.”

Rigesh punched his older friend in the shoulder. Morio doubled over, clutching his throbbing arm. Rigesh didn’t want to get teased anymore, especially by his senior who couldn’t win in a fight. He was definitely not staring. No matter how much her eyes seemed to drag him in.

As Elanya continued discussing her concerns about the possible terrain being more advantageous to the Flesh Hoarders, Orantal zoned out every word her friend said. All she could do was search Elanya’s face for any change in her stoic face, any change in her normally blank eyes but she couldn’t see anything. Rigesh saw something in her face that Orantal could not and it bothered her to no end. She felt the soft bounce of magic in the air transform into something much more thick and heated. Elanya had let someone else touch her, and the other person didn’t flinch away from her because of her shadows. In fact, her protective shadows were nowhere to be seen after Rigesh came over. It was more shocking how the two were able to talk just dandy, though there was some initial awkwardness. Then she touched him back. She squeezed his knee. If Orantal hadn’t witnessed it, then she would have thought the very thought impossible. Even though the group of six still seemed untrustworthy to each other and divided, Elanya and Rigesh had somehow bridged the gap. Had this happened because they both fought together yesterday?

“Are you even listening to anything I’m saying?” Elanya’s irritated voice finally reached the constant stream of Orantal’s thoughts.

“Huh?”

Elanya slightly frowned. “I said it would be better if we snuck in at night with my shadows.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Elanya narrowed her eyes at Orantal. “You weren’t listening. I know that blank stare. What are you thinking about?”

Orantal couldn’t help blurting questions toward Elanya. “You let Rigesh touch you? And then you touched him back? And he was staring at your face?”

“Ora, calm down. He was just making sure that I was okay, he doesn’t know that I don’t like to be touched.”

“But your shadows--”

“I control my shadows, Ora,” Elanya interrupted, “they don’t act on their own. They knew I was safe.”

“There’s something weird going on between you two,” Orantal beamed a little too happily, “and I don’t think you have any objections to it. He seems like he really cares about your well-being and the mission. I don’t know about the other two, but I don’t know much about fighting and Nemedion can’t come close to you in power.”

Orantal watched as her friend tilted her head to the side with her eyes closed. Elanya was always so blunt when she spoke about anything, but before she said anything, she thought. What she was thinking about was not privy to her small Asarian Frost friend.

“I have been taking on too much for myself,” she started slowly, “I think I have been mistrustful in my ways and I was too stubborn. Rigesh wanted to bridge the gap that has been between our two groups, it’s time we start working together.”

When the sun was fully hidden behind the blue horizon, the six of them decided to sit in front of a bright orange fire. Orantal had been in charge of making dinner that night, roasting up potatoes and other vegetables in a delicious broth. She was kneeled in front of the kettle, stirring around with a red, wooden spoon. Morio and Yahna, sitting opposite of Nemedion, looked a little uncomfortable being so close to everyone out in the open. It was different when they were used to being cooped up in the small space of the truck, but here, everyone could face everyone. Rigesh sat northside of the fire, leaning toward it as he beckoned the heat around his hands. With playful sparks, he swirled small flames through his fingers while everyone waited patiently. Elanya stood southside of the fire and looked down at the sitting party. Before they headed into the city, they needed each other’s trust. They needed to work together to create a plan that would get them past another ambush and secured inside of the city, preferably in a secluded hiding place. They had only a few days to think about their next course of action before Morio finished repairs on the steam truck.

“We all don’t know each other very well,” Elanya said, arms behind her back to keep her hands from trembling. “Me, Nemedion and Orantal are trained Meisters and the three of you are just citizens who volunteered for the greater good. I think there has been some disconnect between us since we started travelling and it’s time that we fix that.”

Nemedion shrugged, leaning back as his dreads fell down his back. “It’s hard to connect with three people who are definitely commoners and less powerful than us.”

“And it’s hard to connect with a snobby man who probably never left his mother’s nipple,” Morio murmured under his breath.

Yahna crossed her arms and huffed rudely. “I would say it’s your group that shows itself to be the ungrateful bunch. You should be lucky that you made it out alive because of Rigesh, someone whose way more humble than the bespectacled boy sitting across from us.”

“It won’t do well to answer aggression with more aggression,” Orantal argued.

Elanya looked toward Nemedion and Yahna with disdain on her face. She didn’t want to compare his attitude to that of the older woman, but if he wanted to ignore the severity of their issues instead of putting his duty of being a Meister first then he would only get in her way.

“Yesterday was a team effort,” Rigesh said, peeling the skin from a raw potato with his knife. “If we both hadn’t acted the way that we did, then none of us would have been able to walk away with our flesh. All of us could have died and we’re disregarding the danger we face because we’re all ignorant of each other. Surely there is something that each of us can bring that would help out. The only way we can get through this is if we got to know a bit about each other.”

Elanya nodded, then turned to look to her friends first. “I haven’t been the best leader, and for that, I’m sorry. This is much harder for me since I’m used to doing things myself and I should have an open mind to my comrades.” She then turned to look toward the three citizens, all showing a different expression of interest. “I appreciate the fact that you three have put your lives on the line to help us and I haven’t shown you the respect that you need. I know that you all have skills that will be useful to us that are more than just magic.”

Morio chuckled in agreement and playfully grabbed Rigesh’s shoulder, ignoring the pointed look he received from the latter. “Alright, now that the air is cleared and all, me and Rigesh here have something that would be helpful!”

“And that is?” Nemedion inquired.

“Well, I showed Rigesh some new plans for the steam truck about three weeks back, and we might have an idea about moving us along faster and protected.”

Rigesh rolled his eyes and shuffled himself from under Morio’s grasp. He lowered his knife and potato and dug in his back pocket for a new blueprint for tech on the truck. “Because we have such a dirty and hands on job, a lot of our tools and steam vans often need maintenance work that is more than likely coming out of our own checks. Each group--a Senior and Junior Rune Specialist-- is assigned a certain van and they will be responsible for its working condition, so me and Morio created new base plans of magitech that would have layered shields around the van for protection against dents and damage.”

“That should help in case of another ambush,” Orantal agreed, but winced after a thought, “but only if we run into more Flesh Hoarders that lack magic.”

“How long, including the current repairs, will it take for you to add the shields on the steam truck?” Elanya asked.

Morio moved his head left to right as he thought about his added calculations. “Well the repairs will be about three more days, but we do have two Rune Specialists here, so Rigesh and I can handle more additions in two additional days.”

Nemedion shook his head. “But that would set us back a whole week. We have already been travelling over a week and a half to get to where we are now.”

“When we accepted this mission, we knew that we would run into some delays. I’ll send a spirit bird to the Dean and Mayor Meister Hun Rei about our current obstacles.” Elanya said, sitting down in front of the fire.

“Okay, but how are we going to sneak into that cursed city without getting ambushed?” Yahna whined. “The shields are a good plan, but I thought the point was to not have to fight those monsters the whole time.”

Elanya took a minute to engulf her body in dark purple and black shadows, scaring the nurse from her seat at the fire. Morio looked more amused than frightened when he caught a glimpse at her shadows, but she wondered if it was because it terrified Yahna.

Nemedion’s eyebrows rose and he pushed up his glasses. “You mean to cover the entire truck in shadow?”

Yahna bit her nails in irritation. “How will we do that with this big truck? It’s not the most stealthy vehicle.”

“I am the most powerful at night when feeding off the magic from the moon,” Elanya explained, “so it shouldn’t be too big of a feat if we decide to sneak into the city at night.”

While it sounded like the most logical idea, Rigesh was still concerned about getting into the city and staying hidden. They already knew that some of the more feral Flesh Hoarders were possibly hiding in burrows, waiting on frenzied victims to pass through their territory. However, he knew that the ones inside the city had to be much smarter if he took into account his fight with the ones at Yulin-dai’s airport. There would be scouts reporting back to the more intelligent ones that their group was outside the city, biding their time. Going at night would be stealthily enough, but it would be a disadvantage to everyone else if they were to come face to face with a Flesh Hoarder in their own hunting grounds at night.

Elanya watched the turmoil in Rigesh’s bright green eyes. There must have been something she was missing, especially if she saw such an expression on his face. Before she had the chance to ask, Rigesh finally spoke up to the group and pointed toward the direction of Sogara-dai. “They will have scouts reporting back that they’ve seen us, so I would suggest we approach this plan with caution. We will be on their turf, and we don’t have an accurate or updated layout of the city.”

She thought back to their opponents at the airport and nodded. “You’re right. Inside their domain, they will likely be much smarter than us.”

“I would like to keep a look out throughout the day to observe them,” Rigesh said, rising from his seat, turning to look for a place of high ground. As a long range attacker he liked to station himself in high, well hidden places to trace his enemies.

Nemedion rose from his seat, looking a bit miffed at the group. Elanya knew that he hated not being the one making the calls. More than ever, he hated that he couldn’t be more useful to her. “Well, if that’s all then I’m going to sleep. If you need me, Ellie, let me know.”

Orantal scowled at his back, wishing that he would stop making things about himself. This was how he was around other students that didn’t interest him back at Laoshin. Elanya almost wished that he hadn’t volunteered himself to tag along with her, but she knew that she needed her friends by her the most. How would she be able to do this all by herself?

The rest of them concluded their plans for the next coming days. Realizing that there was nothing else she could add and Rigesh wasn’t going to pay her any mind, Yahna turned in for the night. For a moment, the others could hear her arguing with Nemedion on where she was going to sleep tonight. Morio shook his head, throwing Rigesh an annoyed look. Rigesh raised his hands and chuckled, showing that it wasn’t his problem.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Elanya?” Rigesh asked, pointing his finger to the side of their make-shift campsite.

She stood up, nodding. “Of course.”

Orantal and Morio excused themselves from the campfire and retired into shelter, leaving the two alone to speak. Rigesh had a desire to help Elanya as much as possible. He kept replaying yesterday’s battle over and over again in his head, seeing the scene of her jumping out of the back doors of the truck in anguish. He saw the panic on her face before she took that leap of faith and it terrified him. He wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that she was not alone. He had seen people like her in the Knights before he left. If he looked any harder at her, she would start to look like him when he started the military in Zalatine.

“How about you and me take the lookout shifts? I can take the days and you can take the nights since your magic is stronger at night when the moon is out.”

“Is that what you want?” she asked.

“I want to do anything to help out. Besides, you should conserve your strength in preparation of hiding us.”

Elanya thought Rigesh was very thoughtful. She hadn’t met such a kind and incredibly selfless soul. But in her life, being kind and thoughtful only got you so far. She hoped that it wouldn’t cause him to hesitate.

“That sounds sufficient to me. I will take sunset to sunrise and you will take the opposite.”

He smiled at her. If she hadn’t spent decades controlling her emotions, she would have felt the heat on her cheeks. Instead, she inclined her head towards him. Before she could turn away, he stopped her.

“Wait. Let me show you something real quick.” He summoned a gust of air underneath his feet and leapt onto the roof. She followed quickly behind him, positioning herself to face the west of their camp. In the dark horizon, she could see the off-lined curves of decimated and desolate buildings in the city.

“I used to do a lot of scouting and observing when I was stationed in lookouts before my team and I did a siege.” His left hand glowed a faint pastel green then he touched his left eye. After a moment, he lowered his hand and opened his eyes. Instead of the usual, lush green that his eyes were, his left eye shone gold, his pupil slit like an animal’s. Elanya hadn’t seen this magic before.

Intrigued, she leaned forward to look at his changed eyes. “Oh? What’s this?”

“This spell is called Eagle’s eye. We may be a long way from where we’re supposed to be, but this spell gives me max vision to see longer distances than humanly possible. I can see up to five miles clearly--max ten--but I can only see dark shapes. I’ll be able to see their movements without having to camp out closer.”

“It’s unfortunate that I don’t have a spell like that,” she pouted to herself.

“That’s why I brought you up here. I’m going to teach you a simplified version of this spell.”

Elanya scoffed, offended that he would assume that the spell would be too hard for her to learn. “Simplified? What kind of Meister do you take me for?”

“One that probably has never had to attack someone at a long distance. Those rich schools may teach you kids fancy spells and such, but they don’t teach you anything useful. You learn a lot more about magic when you’re a part of the Knights or at least on the field.” Closing his eyes again, he crossed his hands as they started to glow pastel green like before. Next, he uncrossed his hands and opened a large Air projection. It reminded Elanya of a magnified screen, capable of showing her miles and miles of fields. “This spell is Eagle’s Field, an Air Magic spell that will show you a maximed picture without straining your own eyes. This one won’t show you a max of ten miles like Eagle’s Eye but it should still help nonetheless.”

She wanted to argue about being treated like a kid, but she held her tongue. It would be embarrassing to admit to him that Eagle’s Eye would do more harm than help, considering she wore glasses occasionally. Her sight, while not too terrible, could not be trusted to look at objects at long distances.

“You’re very knowledgeable for a commoner.” she teased.

Rigesh tilted his head back and grinned. “Had to be. Not everyone is gifted to be a talented Moon Meister.”

“You obviously know more things than me, which is hard considering I know everything.”

He chuckled and dissolved his spell temporarily. “Your magic is much stronger than mine so you would best me in a magic fight,” then he leaned back and shrugged his shoulders, “now, if it were a physical fight, I would win hands down.”

There was silence for a moment as a deep tension settled between them. Elanya knew when someone was challenging her. As much as she wanted to take him up on his offer, she had a feeling that it would be a very eccentric fight. “Maybe another time. You should ask Nemedion instead.”

He scoffed, but said nothing more about fighting. Before he turned in for the night, Rigesh taught Elanya how to conjure the spell. From the way he called upon his magic, she could tell that his favorite elemental was Air. She thought it suited him since he seemed to be a mild mannered man that went with the flow. Despite all the elements being viable in the people of Vaikoln, some elements were more dominant in some than others. Elanya preferred her Moon Magic over the rest of the elements. Nemedion preferred using Fire and Water Magic more than the other two, while Orantal preferred using only Earth Magic since she specialized in healing.

She replayed their last few fights over again in her head. Each time he fought with her, she noticed small things about him. He was muscular, much more than Nemedion. He was taller. His reflexes were incomparable. She wondered how good he would look while fighting against human enemies, ones that wouldn’t just crumble under the weight of his pistols. How would he look during a physical fight? She wanted to know. The tension that she felt earlier wanted to know.

What a strange man, she thought, with equally strange and interesting talents.