A day had passed since she found the nightshade, and she was progressing fast. But Lora's feet stung with the walk; her throat was dry and she couldn't afford to drink continuously. Her legs were dead tired, yet she wanted to proceed to reach the weapons and armour, and Yew.
The trees near her rustled as she walked on. She could sense a presence between the bushes, yet she walked on, on her guard, although appearing to be walking without caution. A pair of wings flapped in the air, and a creature flew out of the bushes and landed a short distance behind her. She turned round.
It was a daemon, and it looked quite bloodthirsty. Long fangs extended from its strong jaw, and a pair of equally threatening horns protruded from its bony head. It was in for a fight.
Lora drew her sword and lifted it on guard. The daemon began a short chant, and a fireball shot towards Lora. She dove to the side to avoid it, and just as she got out of its way, the daemon fired a second ball of fire which hit Lora full in the chest. It was a huge fireball, and the explosion was just as big. But the armour she was wearing protected her, and her body only suffered from a few bruises here and there. Though her face was badly bruised, and her legs also, as the part of her trousers she had beneath her knee was burnt away completely. She got up and charged towards the monster.
As it prepared to launch another fireball, Lora threw the sword at its hands where the fireball was taking shape, and the ball of fire exploded, hurting the daemon and throwing it back. But the daemon was still alive; it got up quickly and Lora was disarmed. As it tried to punch her and crush her with its large fist, Lora dove sideways and rolled over, gripping her sword. With a shout of attack, she jumped at the daemon and drove her sword into its bowels.
After another four days of long, tiring walk, Lora reached the Deep Forest. She could hear the river streaming nearby, and sighed with relief. She headed down to the river. She really needed a rest after all that, and washed herself calmly in the river. While she was there, she thought she should visit the site where she buried the weapons and armour some time before, to check if all was still in place. She took her time to relax and rest in the water while she was there, and she regained her strength. Later, she took her dirty, tattered clothes from the river bank and dressed up, after which she took her things and went to visit the site.
Reaching the site where the weapons and armour once were, she found heaps of soil all over the place. The holes where she buried the weapons and armour were empty, to her horror, and she couldn't believe her eyes. They were gone. "But if the weapons and armour were there for so long," she thought, having found them the first time with weeds and cobwebs, "then how the damn did somebody find them now when I buried them safely?" Then she remembered. The fire!
The campfire must have signalled Lora's location, from where somebody could easily follow her and find the weapons. Rustle, rustle, she could hear the sound of somebody moving through the bushes to the west. Convinced that she might find out who stole the weapons and armour, she ran there. Drawing her sword already and putting a threatening expression on her face, she hasted towards the sound. A man was there, running to the west, wearing some familiar armour and with a most sword in his hand that she had seen before. She was right! However, that man only had one set with him, since he had no backpack and wasn't carrying any more weapons or armour with him. Where were the other three gone to?
In a rage, she pointed her sword against the back of his unsusecting neck, and then he stopped and turned round. "What dost thou want?" he shouted rudely.
"I want back what thou hast stolen!" she retorted in a similar fashion.
"Ah, so thou hast the rest of the sets with thee! The boss will be pleased when I bring them back to him. Now let me help thee remove them."
She pointed the sword harder against his neck, but he hit her sword away from his neck with his own sword. "Thou hast better surrender," said the disgustingly drooling mouth, "Or thou wilst face a slow and painful death!" She paid no heed, and struck down on his head. Though he parried the blow with his sword, pushed back her sword with his own and wielded straight at her. She dodged his blow and hit his sword down. He then put his sword against hers and pushed against it for a duel of strength. He forced her on the ground, and was pushing his sword on hers, pushing both of them against her, when she caught hold of some soil and hurled it in his face, and then kicked him over.
He wiped the mudded soil off his eyes and got up. He struck at her neck, when she parried the blow, and proceeded to try on her waist, which she also parried, and punched him in the face after that. He fell backwards, and she stood over him with her sword pointed against his neck and with one foot on his sword. "Give me the armour and the sword." she ordered. He spat at her and caught her sword, and tripped her down, and next he was on her, wrestling to keep her down. She kneed him in the stomach, but he wouldn't budge. She next resorted to spitting in his eyes, and then pushed him over with her knees and kicked him in the face. Although the bandit still could not see clearly, he dove over and gripped his sword, while Lora's was still on the ground beside him. He moved towards her with an evil grin on his face, while she moved backwards with caution. As he ran and tried to cut her head off, she blocked the sword, grabbing it from the hilt, and forced it on his neck. Soon, her enemy was dead as a doornail, and his head rolled a few feet away, leaving a bloody trail.
Picking up her own sword and sheathing it, she took the set of sword and armour he was carrying and carried them in her hands since she could not carry them in her backpack. With him dead, she had no idea where she could go to look for the other three sets. She proceeded to search his body for any clues, and found a letter. It read:
Bonzillus,
your mission has been ordered by Jengar
himself. Proceed to find the Mystic weapons
and armour, and, with your men, take
them to Sutek, who now lives in Blackthorn's
palace. I will go there myself to collect
them once you take them there.
Signed, Donodar
She was completely taken by surprise. What she found were actually the Mystics? That was hard to believe. If they were really the Mystics, then she would have to retrieve them at all costs, since they were very powerful weapons and armour, and would be dangerous if in the wrong hands. She decided then. She would go to Yew, leave the sets in her house and take just one with her, and take a ship to Blackthorn's palace.
© by Daniel D'Agostino 2002-2025