"So that's how it is? For a second I thought you all just cut it and hulled ass!" A dark voice came from the tree line of the small open field.
A man dressed in all black accompanied by a purple cloak came walking through from the darkened path. The man in black was slim with an athletic build. His hair was cut and faded on the sides, while being dreaded down the middle. He had a handsome young face, but you wouldn't be able to see much of it due to his black round-rimmed glasses that covered his eyes.
"You're just going to hide here like a bunch of cowards so that you can get the jump on us! Well, it's going to take a lot more than that to fool me!" The man in black yelled with a slight grin.
Due to it being past midnight, the world around the man seemed dark and grim. The only sources of light that were around him were the moon and a campfire that held six people sitting next to it. There were four men and two women all staring at the man in black. Causing a dangerous feeling of dread to seep into the air causing everyone around the man to be on edge.
A rugged looking man with long silver hair stood and turned away from the campfire. In all senses of the word, he was a 'brute'. The man with silver hair was an easy six foot, eleven inches and covered in muscles. His face on the other hand didn't quite match his titan like, war torn physique at all. While his face had signs of aging the man looked quite young and weak even. His only stand out features were a burn pattern on his forehead and his body size.
While the other four people at the campfire could see the man in black without turning around or even adjusting their necks. Two people in the group sat with their backs towards him. One of these people was a small fragile girl and the other was the man with silver hair. The shock written on the faces of the four people looking at the man in black was too obvious to ignore. This is what prompted the man with silver hair to stand and face the man in black.
"The fact that you were able to track us here is pretty impressive for a Zibiru scumbag." The man with silver hair yelled while holding a wooden horn in his hands.
As the man with silver hair blew into the horn, shockwaves could be seen, followed by a thunderous screech.
"Tayaire the Timekeeper, it looks like your time has finally come!" The man with silver hair stood speaking with a confident shout.
The horn's scream accompanied by the man's voice had both echoed through the air as Tayaire drew upon his weapon. From a small sheath on his shoulder, Tayaire had pulled out a karambit that he had connected to a thin but sturdy chain. While this weapon wasn't ideal for most warriors, Tayaire thought differently. He loved the versatility of the small knife and thought it was the perfect weapon to use at close range. Especially due to the modifications that he had made to it. The karambit resembled a kunai knife with a deep engraving on one side of the blade, along with a piece of purple rope that was wrapped around its handle.
At the sound of the horn, both men and women began running out from several hidden locations around the field. While some chose to move in at close range, others stood back and kept their distance; making sure to put space between each other. In a matter of seconds Tayaire was utterly surrounded, leaving him with nowhere to flee. He was in shock. He never expected he'd have to face a group of this quantity on his own before.
"Shit. This could be troublesome." Tayaire mumbled under his breath.
He couldn't help but smirk as he assessed his surroundings. At this moment there were more than thirty people surrounding him with murderous intent, and while it did look like most of the enemy's forces were standing in front of Tayaire. The truth was that he could sense the auras of several enemies hidden in the treetops.
Tayaire shook his head as he thought to himself, "You're a fool Kuma, I can already see how this is going to end. What are you plann…"
Strangely, within an instant as Tayaire's thoughts began to pass, Kuma's mouth began to move. As if they were having an ordinary conversation, Kuma began to speak with a confused expression on his face.
"I'm sorry, seems like my hearing isn't as good as it used to be." Kuma said with a hint of disdain in his tone. "Why don't you let us all in on what you're thinking?"
Tayaire was taken aback by Kuma's response. He was certain that he hadn't spoken anything out loud, but Kuma's words made him feel as if he had never stopped talking to begin with. He wondered how the man was able to know what he was thinking.
"Your plan won't work Kuma! It's kind of sad how this all ends actually!" Tayaire yelled as he charged in at Kuma.
Before the start of this confrontation, Tayaire had a vision of six people gathered around a small campfire somewhere near the Zibiru settlement. This vision is what led to Tayaire leaving his family to patrol the settlement's border. Tayaire's ability to see into the future was an inherited trait called clairvoyance. This granted Tayaire an immense well of information dealing with future events. Clairvoyance is known to be a trait of the Zibiru tribe.
"Looks like I'm more exhausted than I thought and I'm still recovering from the attacks earlier." Tayaire thought as he ran, fully aware, that charging into battle as he was now would be a gamble.
Tayaire never thought that the results of his vision would come to this. As Tayaire ran towards Kuma and the twenty or so people in front of him, he could still sense the auras of the enemies lurking in the treetops. Confidence had surged within Tayaire. He knew that his main focus in this confrontation was only to hold off for reinforcements.
As he ran, Tayaire swung out one of his arms towards the top of the tree line, releasing four bright purple orbs of energy from the palm of his hand. At this moment Tayaire wanted to take out as many people as possible, while also alerting any squad near his location.
Tayaire spoke up in a loud and determined shout, "If this is the way things are going to play out, I hope you are aware of the consequences! Everyone here, will die tonight!"
As the four orbs of energy crashed into their targets, multiple large explosions began to be heard and seen. Kuma pulled a Flyssa from the sheath on his back and pointed it at Tayaire. The Flyssa was a standard and typical sword that was used in the eastern provinces of Neuvaria. Unlike other Flyssas though, this one was unique. It was black with a radiant shine and had a unique engraving on one side of the blade that also glowed in an emerald, green color.
"The first person who brings me the head of Tayaire Zibiru will be awarded in abundance! Now kill him!" Kuma yelled as he gave his men the signal to attack.
At the same time, the explosions set off by Tayaire did in fact serve their purpose. As Kuma spoke these words, only a few of his warriors had time to react. The other members of their group were either trying to recover or gravely injured. But that still didn't change the fact that there were still over a dozen people standing in front of him. The Zibiru chief prepared himself for a fight as he ran towards the chaos. But what Tayaire didn't know was that he wasn't the only one under siege.
"The child who is not embraced by the village is casted out and will one day return to burn it down. Just to feel the warmth it's never shown him." A woman spoke softly, as she recited the final words from an old book.
The woman sat by the window in a dimly lit room, holding a book in one hand and a small glowing orb in the other. The orb in her hand had acted as a lantern, giving a small source of light to the single window bedroom. This light also revealed the woman's flawless appearance.
The woman was acceptably short standing at a height of five feet and four inches, but what she lacked in size she made up for in beauty and sex appeal. She had long curly black hair and as if the gods had crafted her face themselves, her beauty was unmatched. She wore a fierce red night gown that clearly showed off every curve of her perfect figure.
"Oh, you're asleep already?" The woman said in a low but curious tone. "You usually want me to read this fable a couple more times."
The woman let out a chuckle. With tender care she tucked a small silk blanket over the small child that was lying in his bed. She assorted items around the room as she made her way towards the door, leaving the glowing orb floating in stasis over a circular pad on the dresser by the bed.
"Now, let me go check on Daddy and your brother." she added with a warm smile as she prepared to leave the room.
As the woman reached for the door a distant horn sounded, its urgent call breaking the quiet of the night. Suddenly, a loud knock could be heard on the door as two council guards began to enter the room. Their facial expressions were grave yet respectful.
"Great Wife Ryn." Both men spoke with a bow.
"We're truly sorry to disturb you at such a late hour, but we've been entrusted to escort you and your family to the central castle." one of men spoke earnestly.
The other was too busy being hypnotized by Ryn's beautiful looks to say anything more on the matter. Ryn was confused at the words that were spoken by the man. While this does seem like a serious matter due to how they approached her son's room. The other man that was with this guard didn't look serious at all.
"What is going on? Is there another assault on the village?" Ryn asked, her mind racing with worry.
She had known that Tayaire had set out to scout the village's perimeter with a few of the guards, but she also knew that he was known to go in on his own. Given that it was already close to midnight, she expected that something must have gone wrong because he was supposed to return by now.
"Has my husband returned home yet?" Ryn asked demandingly.
The guard that stared at Ryn for over half of their conversation became shocked by the tone in her voice, then instantly stood up straight. She was overall a loving and carefree person, but when she became serious that was another story. When Ryn became serious or determined she demanded full focus and all of the attention in the room.
"No ma'am. We haven't seen him since after the attack this evening." he replied hesitantly.
He wondered how he could reassure Ryn that the chief was safe and away from harm, but what he didn't know was that, that wasn't the reason why Ryn had asked her question. She wanted to know of his return because she knew that Tayaire had also taken their son Trayner along with him.
"Pardon my rudeness, Great Wife, but all questions will be answered by Lord Noir in the central castle. He has given us a direct order to get you, Lord Teiryn, and Lord Trayner there safely. Then we are to meet up with the search party as soon as we complete this task." His tone was firm, matching the urgency of the situation.
"I hope Shane have a damn good reason for this." Ryn spoke as she ran back into the room so that she could pick up the sleeping child and secured him into her arms.
"Let's go." Ryn yelled as she walked out of the room.
Trayner crept down below a thick tree stump, hoping not to be seen as he watched several men running down the path in front of him.
"I think that lousy kid ran back towards the settlement." One of the men said to the other three that were following close behind him.
The men panicked as they searched around the forest for Trayner. Tayaire had chosen to add Trayner to one of the patrol groups so that he could gain real world experience on a squad. What Tayaire didn't anticipate was that Trayner would slip off while no one was paying attention. A loud horn had sounded off near proximity to their location followed by several explosions. This event had given Trayner the time to seek his true goal.
"Now what the hell was that?" A man with long black hair and a sturdy build questioned his men.
"General Mada, I think that might have been a war horn. Well, that and explosions. Do you think we should go check it out?" A man with braided burgundy hair asked in a concerned tone.
General Mada was a sturdy, rough looking man with long black hair and stubble for a beard. Mada was a part of one of the Zibiru tribe's sub-tribes. Mada wasn't the type to leave any stone unturned when it came to his duties, and at this moment his job was to find the young heir to the Zibiru legacy. He contemplated what they should do in their current position.
Mada took a few seconds to think over the options that weighed on his mind before choosing what they would do. He wasn't truly a logical man in the eyes of the people who met him due to his obsession with fighting strong enemies. But he was able to read multiple steps into the future at will, and this helped when it came down to strategic action.
"Toph and Phar, I need you guys to head back to the settlement. Search the path for that little runt and report back to Noir on any finding you might come across. He'll give you further instructions." Mada said, wondering if splitting the group would be the best choice of action.
"What about me general?" The man with the burgundy braids asked hesitantly.
"Well Lucus, you would be coming with me. Somebody's got to figure out what the hell is going on. Then we'll also report back to Noir when we're done." Mada said as he began to stretch his arms. "Everyone be on guard; we might have a fight coming after all."
Lucus gave Mada a quick nod after hearing his instructions and the group quickly separated towards their goals. Trayner lifted his head and began to stand from the tree stump that he had hidden behind. After hearing the guards take their leave, Trayner began trying to catch his breath.
"I should head back to the settlement; things are getting a little serious here." He thought While trying to control his breathing, which for some reason seemed harder than normal.
Trayner felt as if there was over a ton of weight on his chest.
"But that horn, and them explosions." Trayner mumbled under his breath.
He paused and looked at the two men, now over a mile away from where he stood. They we're both running towards the location that the sound came from.
"It came from the same way that Dad had went!" Trayner said while running behind Mada and Lucus.