Boo One Chapter Twenty Two: Onslaught

Nick and his friends discover that Saja has placed a bounty on their heads, and that they are wanted in many villages. This attracts some unwanted attention from bounty hunters...

Chapter Twenty Two Onslaught:

“What was that?” Asked Kai in startled amazement.

“That was a sorceress. She was using magic to conjure fire.” Anna-Maria stated.

“Magic? I thought that magic only existed in fairy tales!” Serena blurted out.

“Well, not here on Artemis. Magic is very real here.” Anna-Maria told us.

“What are some common uses for magic?” I asked.

“Some common uses of magic are shields, healing, manipulating objects, summoning various things to aid you in combat, such as fire, animals, and using magic you can draw strength from things around you that have a life source, such as plants, animals, fire, and almost anything that has energy.” Anna-Maria explained.

Well, at least I knew that the information in that book in Ectoclis was accurate. Anna-Maria’s explanation was more detailed than the little information that was in the book.

“Is there anything else magic can be used for?” Asked Serena.

“Well, yes. Anything that defies the laws of logic, you can do with magic. I only told you the basics. You can do almost anything with magic.” Anna-Maria explained.

“Well, I think that we should go to Hemlon and see what Saja and Luna are up to.” I said.

“Where is Hemlon, anyway?” asked Anna-Maria.

“I have no idea.” I said.

“We should ask around, find people in villages, maybe the people of Artemis will know where Hemlon is.” Said Fenton.

“Should we follow the road to the next village?” asked Serena.

“No. If Saja and Luna are looking to capture us, we should probably keep a low profile and stay off of the roads.” I suggested.

 

“Nick is right. Saja and Luna will be keeping an eye out for us and, with our luck; Saja probably has spies and soldiers everywhere.” Fenton told us.

“I do not think Saja has spies just yet.” Interjected Anna-Maria.

“Those vampires only wanted the reward money for you… what is your name?” Anna-Maria asked.

“Nick, and this is Fenton, Serena and Kai.” I told her, gesturing to my friends in the respective order in which I gave their names.

“Good to meet you all. I think your friend, Nick is right, we should stay off of the roads. Saja is most definitely here in Artemis. Why is she here anyway? Do you know?” Asked Anna-Maria.

“Yes, we do know why Saja is here. She wants to rule the worlds. We already thwarted her evil plans on an alternate world called Ectoclis, and we are going to do it again here on Artemis.” I told her.

“I like you guys, I think I will stick with you.” Anna-Maria said.

Kai groaned.

We then veered from the road. We entered the forest that the road we were on went through. We came across some small ponds. I looked around. The sun had sunk below the horizon by now and it was pretty dark. The movement of a fish caught my eye. I looked in and saw my reflection, and someone in a cloak wearing a hood standing behind me! I whirled around but did not see the strange cloaked figure. It may have been the moonlight playing tricks on me.

“What is it Nick?” asked Fenton, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“I just… never mind.” I stammered.

I was about to think I imagined it when something strange happened;

“Does anyone else get the feeling that we are being watched?” Serena asked.

Anna-Maria looked worried.

“Nick. Tell me what you saw.” Anna-Maria ordered.

Confusion collected in my thoughts, she was persistent, and why did she want to know what I saw?

“How’d you…?” I stammered again.

I collected myself.

“I saw someone in a cloak, standing behind me, but when I turned around, it was gone, I probably just imagined it.” I said.

Anna-Maria grabbed my shoulders, fear was plainly visible on her face, and her green eyes seemed to pierce mine.

“Nick, those are assassins!” She cried.

She emphasized the last word by wringing my shoulders. Assassins? Fear filled me when she said the word.

“What do they want?” I asked.

“Either they want the bounty on your head, they want me, or both.” Anna-Maria told me.

I was stunned.

“You?” I asked.

“Yes, I stole from a castle, this was a year or two ago, back when I was extremely poor, I lost my parents to a rare disease, you see, and I had no money. I stole a crown and some precious jewelry from the castle. As I made my escape, the king vowed he would have my head, even if it required for him to give his own life.” Anna-Maria explained.

“Well, well, well. It looks like little squirt here has some company to deal with.” Kai taunted.

I didn’t like Kai's attitude towards Anna-Maria it wasn’t fair. She seemed like an okay girl.

“Kai…” I said briskly.

“Okay, okay, we help the girl.” Kai said.

“Where are they?” asked Serena.

We all looked up into the trees. An eerie silence filled the air. With no warning, three assassins jumped out of the darkness and attacked. They were human, for sure. They had no red eyes, and they had normal skin tones. One wielded a gun, one had a sword and the other had a whip.

“Behind you!” I yelled at Serena.

Serena jumped out of the way just in time. The sword of the assassin cut her just barely on the back. We all regrouped behind the pond that revealed their presence. They stood on the other side of it. The swordsman, seeming to be the leader, threw back his hood. He had a pale face, but it was not vampire pale, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was thin but looked muscular.

The other two pulled back their hoods and they were both male. The one with the whip had dark orange hair and a slim face. His eyes were a dark burgundy, not crimson. That was an odd color. He had a muscular build and looked pretty menacing. The one with the gun had brown hair, hazel eyes and a thin but muscular build. Their cloaks all had the same kind of insignia on them. It looked like a cross, but the bottom end of the cross led off to the left, curved through the main shaft of the cross and came back down. It ended on the right side of the cross, pointing towards the ground. What was this insignia for? For a few seconds we just stood there, sizing up our opponents.

“Well, what do we have here?” asked the first one, the one with the sword, with blond hair and blue eyes.

“Two wanted outlaws and their friends.” His friend said, the one with the whip.

“How shall we proceed, Cyrus?” Asked the one with the gun.

“Let me think for a second, Dante.” Hissed Cyrus.

The one with the gun’s name is Dante, and the one with the sword is Cyrus. Serena drew her bow and fitted an arrow to her string and pointed it at Cyrus. At the same instant Dante pulled his gun and aimed it at Serena. The gun reminded me of the one Carlos had, only this one was bigger and it was made of silver.

“I would not do that.” Said Dante.

“Drop the bow. Nice and slow.” Dante ordered Serena.

Could Serena make this shot? Worry filled me, I hopped that she made the right move.

Serena did not heed the warning, and Serena shot the arrow. Cyrus easily cut the arrow in half with his sword and knocked it to the side in one quick motion. He must have had needle point precision! A second later, Dante shot Serena in the shoulder.

Serena screamed in pain. Was Serena going to die? I started to panic at the thought.

“Serena!” yelled Fenton.

“I will tend to her, you go after them.” Fenton told me.

With that I charged Dante. I put my forearm out horizontally and ran at Dante.

“You’re going to die!” I shouted at him.

I had my arm horizontally set so that I could hit him with it, then stab him with my sword that was in my other hand. I charged him because if I had of taken cover, he would have had me pinned down with his gun. Dante took a shot and missed. His bullet whizzed by my right ear. Fear filled me and I sprinted the last few feet that separated us. I then tackled him to the ground using my arm that had been horizontally set. I used my momentum and carried the sword down into his throat.

I then went on to Cyrus. I lifted my sword up to kill him, but the man with the whip got hold of my sword with his whip and disarmed me by pulling the sword out of my hands. He laughed in triumph.

“Don’t get cocky yet. I’m unarmed, not dead.” I told him.

“No, but you soon will be.” He told me.

“I doubt that.” I shot back.

The remaining two assassins closed in on me, like a pack of wolves circling their prey. Cyrus then ran up to me and cracked his sword down in front of me. I scooted back just in time. Cyrus’s sword was now resting on the ground. Taking advantage of his vulnerable state, I then got up and stood on his blade, and kicked him in the neck, thrusting his throat inward, killing him. The man with the whip cracked his whip furiously at me. He caught me twice on the neck and I bellowed in pain. I stepped back a few steps. He cracked the whip in front of my face more and more. I looked for a way to kill him. The man with the whip kept coming at me. He cracked his whip at me, forcing me backwards every time.

“A little help here!” I shouted to my friends.

I didn’t think my friends could help me. Serena was good with a bow, but she had a bullet in her shoulder. I think Fenton still has his dagger from Ectoclis, but I wasn’t sure. Anna-Maria says she is good with a bow, but I didn’t know for sure. It looks like I had to help myself. It was hard to see in the dark, as the sun had set a while ago, and that was probably why the man with the whip hadn’t hit me a lot yet.

“Surrender yourself to me and I will take you alive!” The man with the whip cried out.

“Who do you work for? What is that insignia on your cloak?” I called back, dodging his whip attacks.

Was it possible that Saja had some kind of organization? Was that her insignia? No. It couldn’t be. She wasn’t on Artemis long enough to form an organization. Maybe he was a bounty hunter?

“I do not owe you an explanation!” The man yelled to me.

I did not have a hope of hitting this man, I had no sword in my hands, and it lay on the ground a few feet away. I did not have a hope of hitting him with my sword either. I had to go for Dante’s gun! Could I do it before the man with the whip killed me?

I decided to go for it. I faked a right turn around the man, he went for my fake, and I dove out of the way as his whip cracked down in the direction of where I was headed. I dove to his left and successfully got past him! In the darkness, I saw the shadowy form of Dante’s silver pistol laying on the ground. I scooped it up and turned around to face the man with the whip. I saw his silhouette in the darkness and I aimed down the sights with the pistol. I lined up a shot and pulled the trigger. I heard a concussive bang! As the gunshot sounded. The weapon recoiled in my hand, my hands hurt, and my ears rang from the gunshot’s volume. I heard the man with the whip cry out in pain as he fell to the ground. He didn’t get up. Blood dripped from his gunshot wound. I did not feel remorse for killing these men, they had tried to kill my friends and I after all, and I had to protect myself and my friends.

I ran back and picked up my own sword. I dropped Dante’s gun and went to the boulder where Fenton was treating Serena.

“It has to come out.” Reasoned Fenton.

“It is alright, I can take it.” Serena replied.

Fenton then ripped off his sleeve and gave it to her.

“Bite down on this.” He ordered.

Serena took it, putting it into her mouth, and bit down it. Fenton reached into her shoulder and we heard a muffled scream from Serena. With a final shriek from Serena, Fenton pulled the bullet out. Serena gasped and spit out the rag. Fenton picked the rag up and tied it to Serena’s wound. She stood up and nodded slowly.

“Thanks, Fenton.” Serena said.

“I think we are going to have a hard time making it to Hemlon.” Said Anna-Maria.

“Do you think so?” Kai asked sarcastically.

“Are you going to be alright?” I asked Serena, putting Kai and Anna-Maria’s bickering aside.

“Yes, I will survive.” Serena replied, touching her shoulder.

Just then, Anna-Maria went over to Dante’s body and retrieved his gun from the spot that I had dropped it.

“It is no bow, but it will do.” Anna-Maria said.

Kai looked at her strangely.

“Have you ever shot one of those things, kid?” Kai asked.

“Well, no. but I will learn.” Anna-Maria replied.

I looked at our surroundings. It was too dark to make much out, but I could see the moonlight shimmering against the ponds that were scattered across the forest floor, they reflected some of the light given off by the moon, this allowed us to see a little in the dark.

“We should keep moving the way we were going before.” I suggested.

“Which way was that again?” asked Serena. We all looked around.

“I am not sure.” Kai said.

“Let’s go this way.” Said Fenton, pointing toward a knotted tree.

“What makes you think we should go that way?” Kai asked.

“Kai, please. Now is not the time for that.” Fenton said calmly.

“Fine. We will go your way. If we get lost, it is your fault.” Kai said.

“Knock it off, you two.” Anna-Maria told them.

I laughed, that reminded me of something a mother would say to her two bickering siblings.

We turned towards the knotted tree and pressed onwards, following the direction that Fenton had suggested we go. The ponds that were scattered around us reflected the moonlight, so it wasn’t pitch black. We trampled across the dirt floor and looked around. We saw no more assassins in the darkness. I looked around as we walked. Eventually, the trees started to thin out, they became less densely packed. Soon enough we came across a clearing. It was about twenty feet from us to the other side.

“We should make camp here.” Suggested Serena.

“Good idea, I am tired, as I am sure we all are.” Said Fenton.

“I can get some firewood.” Suggested Anna-Maria.

With that, she vanished into the woods. Fenton was setting up a lean-to shelter with a few fallen logs and leaves. He leaned it up against a tree, using the logs as the frames, and using leaves to fill in the spaces in between. Serena was making a fire pit. I reached into my pockets and looked around. I felt something in my pocket; it was Hale’s journal! I took it out and read it to pass the time.

01/05/1688

Vampires are real. My name is Hale and I am underneath Danabro. I bought a room at the inn and woke up to the sound of grinding metal. I looked out the window and saw this underground place. The vampires came after me but I hid and barricaded myself in this library. My strength is quickly dwindling for I was bitten on the shoulder. I am writing this in hope that someone finds it. In hope that my crusade was not entirely forgotten. I am a rebel. I was going to defeat Saja and restore peace to the world. I dug too deep. I am going to die. Vampires are real.

Real.

After I finished looking over the familiar words, Anna-Maria was back with the wood. I scanned the journal for any other entries, but there were none. I wonder if Hale was still alive, his Journal was written only two years before I arrived on Ectoclis, if he wasn't killed underneath Danabro, he could still be alive. I stopped thinking about Hale and helped set up camp. I busied myself by gathering extra firewood from the forest, and helping Fenton expand our makeshift shelter.

In no time we had a fire going and we were all in the medium sized shelter. We were pretty tightly packed in here, but it was comfortable enough. We all soon fell asleep.

***

 

I awoke from my sleep. I crawled out of the lean-to shelter and I went out to the fire. It was only coals now. I could hear the chirping of insects and birds. The others emerged from their sleeping places, it was early in the morning. I was the only one out of the shelter right now. I heard footsteps behind me and saw Serena.

“No assassins?” She asked jokingly.

“You should not joke about that Serena.” Said Fenton, eyeing her injured shoulder as he stepped out of the shelter.

“You are right, doc.” Serena admitted.

I smiled for the first time in a long while. Doc. That was… Cute.

“So, how did you two sleep?” I asked.

“Good enough, I suppose.” Serena said.

“I slept well.” Fenton told me.

“That’s good. It’s been a crazy few weeks, hasn’t it?” I asked them.

They both burst out laughing.

“Yes, it most certainly has.” Fenton said.

“Yes. We have killed countless vampires, been captured by Saja, found out so much information, escaped execution, and travelled to an alternate world. Crazy is an understatement.” Serena said with a laugh.

“You’re right.” I said.

“So where do we go now?” Asked Anna-Maria as she stepped out of the shelter.

We all looked around.

“I don’t know. You are from Artemis, don’t you know the geography of this place?” I asked Anna-Maria.

“We should probably follow the way we were going.” I Anna-Maria said.

“Okay, but we need to wake Kai first.” I said.

“Can we leave him behind?” Anna-Maria joked.

I laughed at her remark.

“No. Go wake him up.” I said with a grin.

Anna-Maria seemed reluctant and was about to tell me something (probably a complaint) but then a smile cracked her lips.

“Alright, I will be right back.” She said as she walked into the shelter.

“Kai, wake up, sleepy head.” Anna-Maria said in a mock sweet tone.

I heard Kai stir.

“Mother?” He asked sleepily.

Anna-Maria burst out laughing. So did the others and I.

“No! It is Anna-Maria! Hurry up and get out of bed!” She said, still laughing.

“Anna-Maria! You-!” Kai let out a growl of frustration.

Anna-Maria walked out of the shelter. She was still giggling. Kai came out of the shelter after Anna-Maria.

We started off in the direction that we were heading in before. I looked up into the trees, no assassins. We came across a fork in the trees, it looked like we were on a path that was seldom travelled.

“Which way guys?” I asked.

“Left.” Kai said.

He started to walk that way.

“Whoa, whoa! What makes you so sure that we should go left?” Fenton asked.

Kai got in Fenton’s face.

“I am just about sick of your attitude, kid.” Kai said.

“Stop calling me kid." Fenton said, shoving Kai out of his face.

"Hey, easy guys, no need to fight, especially not with there are vampires lurking around. Why are you guys so testy, anyway?" I asked, getting between them.

Kai shoved me out of the way and gave Fenton a slug on the nose. Fenton started bleeding.

“Go treat that one, doc.” Kai taunted.

“Hey! What did you do that for, Kai?” I asked him, getting between him and Fenton to prevent Kai from hitting Fenton again.

We heard a rustling in the bush behind us.

“Now you’ve done it, Kai.” Groaned Anna-Maria.

Fenton was frozen with fear.

“Don’t move.” I whispered to him.

A man emerged from the woods. He wore a burlap tool belt, a rough black tunic and a white undershirt. He had no facial hair and he had crimson eyes. He was about five foot eight, with a build similar to Kai's, but a little more muscle. He had red hair, not orange, like Anna-Maria’s. It was red, the color of blood. Just like his eyes. The man inhaled deeply.

“I smelled that blood from a kilometer away.” The man said in a refined British accent.

I readied my sword.

“Hey, easy! I am a friend.” The man said slowly.

Fenton stepped forward, clutching his nose.

“How do we know that you are a friend?” Asked Fenton, wiping the blood from his face.

“Well, your first clue that I am friendly should have been the fact that I am not killing you right now.” The man answered.

“I am an engineer of sorts. The name is Federov.” The man said.

“Are you armed?” I asked Federov.

"Hardly.” Federov replied sarcastically.

He then pulled a revolver from his belt, a combat knife from his boot and pointed to every tool on his tool belt, all of which could be potential weapons. Some of these included a wrench, a screwdriver, a pair of sharp needle nose plyers and a pair of vise grips.

“Wow.” Anna-Maria said.

“Well, seeing as you are friendly, can you direct us to Hemlon?” Asked Kai.

“Hemlon? Not likely. That is a very long trip. It is also a Cansodin.” Federov answered.

“Cansodin?” I asked.

“It means floating city.” Came Federov's reply.

“Whoa, wait, like, a city in the sky?” I asked.

“You can bet that sword.” Federov Said.

“I will take you to my home city. From there, I may be able to help you plan your journey forward.” Federov went on.

“Is the city controlled by anyone? Like vampires?” I asked.

“Not particularly. There are a few gangsters in the city who rob stores and other businesses. Most of them are fairly harmless if you know how to handle them, but the gangsters who possess firearms are quite lethal. ” Federov replied.

We all seemed to be a little worried by this information.

“The city is not far from here.” Said Federov.

He then turned his back to us.

“Follow me.” He said.

We followed him through the thicket that we were in. Federov hacked and slashed at the trees and branches in front of him with his combat knife. Eventually, he chopped aside one last branch to reveal a vast valley. At the bottom was a massive city with an enormous wall around it. We walked down the slope of land towards the city.

“So, why can you control yourself like this?” Anna-Maria asked Federov.

He gave his answer with a sober face, a little strained.

“I witnessed a vampire murder my family. When he next turned to me and gazed with those horrible ruby eyes, I knew I would not turn into that killer.” He replied while looking at Anna-Maria. I was moved by those few words.

“I am sorry to hear about your family.” Anna-Maria said.

Federov was silent as we approached the gates to the massive city.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think :)