Chapter 4: The Rescue

 

        The two warriors walked off down a rocky path that would lead them in the direction of the bandits' hideout. Not a single word was said between them for a period of time. Spike occasionally glanced backwards to see if the old lady was still watching them. When they got too far out of sight for the old lady to possibly see them, Spike decided to speak.

        “You should stay here,” Spike told Skylar. “I can do this without your help.”

        “I'm going to help,” Skylar insisted stubbornly.

        “It's already bad enough you got us into the mess. You already helped enough with that. Do you really need to come along to screw this up too?”

        “Okay, sure I lost the gem, but I'm not going to screw anything else up.”

        The skilled warrior heaved forth a sigh. “You better not.”

        After about thirty minutes of hiking through the mountain range, they finally noticed the entrance into a cave. Seeing that this was probably the one the bandits were located in, the two boys slid down the slope of the mountain and landed on a small ledge that sat before the mouth of the cave.

        The two proceeded gingerly, getting themselves prepared for any possible traps or battles. Lanterns lined the walls, each of them holding small white gems that gave off small amounts of light. The lighting was still a bit dim though, making them have to focus just as hard to make out any possible traps that may be present. Skylar walked just a little ahead of Spike, not too worried about the traps as he was with freeing the old lady's granddaughter. A hand soon grabbed him by the arm and yanked him backwards though.

        “Hey, what's the big idea?” Skylar asked in a slightly hushed voice.

        Spike didn't say anything but instead pointed down towards the ground with his index finger. The younger male followed it to see a thin line that hung low towards the ground and ran from one side of the cave to the other. It was nearly invisible due to the low lightning. It was impossible to tell what it was for though.

        “Try to be a little more careful before you screw everything up,” Spike muttered before stepping over the line to continue forward.

        “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Skylar replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he stepped over the line like Spike did.

        The two boys continued deeper into the cave. It wasn't too much longer until they came to a corner of the tunnel they had been walking in. Spike came to a stop and peered around the corner to look into a large, well-lit room. There were a few bandits standing near a girl who was tied to a wooden chair by rope. The splendid warrior then turned to face Skylar.

        “Okay, we finally reached the bandits,” said Spike. “I'll try to –”

        “Don't you mean we'll?” Skylar cut in.

        “I'll try to attack them with a spell to knock them out,” said Spike. “Then all we have to do is get the girl out of here.”

        Skylar sighed. It seemed simple enough, but it also kind of disappointed him too. He wanted to help out and be a part of the action. There did seem to be something a little odd about this though. It seemed to be a little too easy.

        The dark-haired boy looked around the corner again to look at the bandits. He muttered a brief chant under his breath. Right afterwards, bits of the stone ceiling broke off and fell straight towards the bandits. They were quick to react though and jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by the small chunks of rock.

        “What the hell was that?” asked one of the bandits.

        “D****t, she must be here!” shouted a second.

        One of the bandits quickly rushed over towards the girl, planning on threatening to end her life before theirs could possibly be ended. However, when he reached her, the girl threw forth a kick, which hit the bandit where the sun doesn't shine. The bandit gave a yell of pain and fell to the ground. The girl then used a spell which caused the wind to grow violent around the ropes. When the rope was cut, the girl rose from the chair.

        All the bandits came at the girl at once. Seeing this, Skylar and Spike rushed forward to aid her. As they did so, the sound of a flute being played reached their ears. A couple moments later, the bandits, who had the tips of their daggers just inches away from the girl, fell to the ground unconscious.

        Skylar and Spike looked from the bandits and then towards the girl, who was lowering the flute from her lips and bringing it down to her side. Her once closed eyes opened up to reveal hues the color of emeralds. She looked to be about the same age as Spike, but was about the same height as Skylar. Long brown hair cascaded down past her shoulders. She wore brown hiking boots, brown hiking shorts, and a white t-shirt that revealed her midriff. Her lips curved into a smile before she stepped towards them while the flute vanished into thin air.

        “Thanks for the help,” she said. “I needed some kind of distraction so I could free myself.”

        “Don't mention it,” replied Spike.

        “My name is Jessica by the way,” the girl said.

        “Nice to meet ya, I'm Skylar,” the blond-haired boy said.

        “Mhm,” the girl hummed disinterestedly as she moved closer towards Spike and gazed up at him in a slightly dreamy fashion. “And what's your name?”

        Skylar watched the girl, his face becoming flushed out of anger. Neither of the other two seemed to notice though. Spike looked towards Jessica for a moment before looking away a little, showing no signs of interest in what the girl was possibly thinking.

        “Spike,” he stated.

        “Spike huh? Nice name.”

        “Bah, we have no time for this!” shouted Skylar. “Let's just get back to the old hag's house so we can get the gem back!”

        “Oh, so that's how you guys found me,” Jessica said.

        “Let's just go before the bandits wake up,” muttered Spike as he turned around.

        The other two followed the brilliant warrior through the cave and towards the exit. Unfortunately, Skylar had forgotten about the line that had been set up. The other two stepped over it while he tripped over it. As soon as he did, a large gem that was once invisible to them emitted a purple light. A large sound resembling that of an alarm came forth, filling the entire cave.

        “Skylar, you idiot!” yelled Spike.

        “Relax, the bandits are knocked out, remember?” reminded Skylar as he stood up.

        “That wasn't all of them,” stated Jessica, trailing off at the last bit as she stared off into space for a moment. “Dang it, we need to hurry and get out of here! Come on!”

        Jessica broke into a run and the two boys followed close behind. The sound of the alarm was loud – almost deafening. It wasn't long though until they made it out. Jessica sighed with relief, but the relief that had washed over her vanished quicker than it came. She stared forward, her green eyes widening. The two warriors looked at her for a split second before looking in the same direction.

        An elephantine man jumped down onto the ledge they were standing on. He looked at them with malevolent brown eyes. Brown hair fell messily down past his shoulders. He wore black boots, brown pants, and a brown sleeveless shirt. The muscular man stood up straight, an evil grin sweeping onto his face.

        “Well what do ya know, it looks like Jessica's trying to escape,” the man said in a deep voice with a bit of roughness on the edges. “I guess I shouldn't have expected too much from those bandits after all. It looks like I'll just have to do the work on my own.”

        Before the man could even move though, Jessica muttered a single word under her breath and the ledge around the man cracked. Unable to react to this in time, the man fell down the side of the cliff.

        “Hopefully that'll do him in,” Jessica said out loud, more to herself than to anyone else. She then looked towards the others. “Let's hurry back. I don't want to stay around her any longer.”

        The two boys nodded and with that, the three quickly made their way back to the old lady's house.

Reviews

[Amund Schofield]

Skylar gives up to easily when he tells Skylar to stay back. Maybe the two should actual fight about it. Like Spike pushed Skylar down and knocks him out, then Skylar has to come to his rescue.

I can tell you're trying to be funny, but it just aint working for me. Also Jessica and her Grandmother seem way to powerful to be caught by bandits of such a low calibur. Were they placed there to test the boys?