The Ancient Prophecy Ch. 06

The journey to the southwestern region normally took four days, but they could get a ride on a hay cart that was going in the same direction. On the second day, they arrived at the edge of the area of dispute. An army camp was built by hired soldiers at the forest clearing by the river. The soldiers were confused when Maya explained that they were going to go farther into the forest. They told them about the Army of Darkness that still roamed the forest, but it didn't stop Anna. Lastly the soldiers offered a shelter for them for a night, but again Anna declined and continued walking toward the forest. Maya followed her.

Deep inside Maya could understand her mistress' feeling. Mistress Anna hated hired soldiers and mercenaries. They didn't fight for the people; they fought for money and fame. They paid no respect to the peasants and villagers. Moreover, they had created a painful scar in Anna's memory, and the pain seemed endless. She had been brutally raped by those people. It seemed that she had been destined to hate those people for the rest of her life.

Until now Anna had only told this story to her and Master Atrus, her two most trusted friends. Slowly Maya felt happy that she had been treated as Anna's trusted friend. She ran after her and tried her best to cheer her up.

Halfway through the jungle they arrived at a large clearing. A large ruin that had used to be a village was there. It was utterly destroyed. The houses had been burned to ashes, and only a few scorched pillars stayed erect. The thick scent of smoke and burned material filled the air. Slowly they made their way through the ruin. On a clearing outside the town were rows of stones put on the ground disorderly; probably a small cemetery built carelessly by the soldiers for the villagers. Anna approached the graves, prayed for the poor souls, and then blessed the graves. Suddenly her muscles grew tense. Maya saw the change in her expression, and unsheathed her long dagger.

"I sense something." Anna said slowly. "We're being watched..."

Maya tried to listen to her surrounding, but she could sense nothing.

"The village of Whitewater was only a few miles west from here. We had better arrive there before dark. Keep your eyes open." Then she reached for her mace and held it tightly in her right hand. Slowly she made her way through the dense forest before them.

The forest was dark and gloomy. The small path through the woods was covered with weeds and wild grass, giving hint that the village of Whitewater didn't have a good relation with the neighboring villages. They met several deer around the forest having lunch. They watched the two girls carefully as they made their way through the bushes. Suddenly one of the deer ran away toward the darkness of the woods, followed by others. Anna signaled Maya to stop and quickly observed the land with her spell.

The forest turned silent. Occasionally there were strange sounds coming out of the thick bushes along the path, but the light wind made exactly the same sound. Maya couldn't recognize anything hostile around them, but her feeling told her otherwise.

Without warning Anna loosed three quick bursts of firebolts toward the bushes ahead. Several loud groans were heard, and suddenly several angry roars were heard from every corner of the woods. A pack of orcs appeared in front of them, blocking the path. Another group appeared behind them, pinning them down. Anna faced the first group, her mace was ready in her hand. Maya faced the other group, covering Anna's rear.

The pig-like creatures were staring at them. Wicked-looking axes were in their hands. Their thick leather armor provided them with extra protection. Instead of boots, their feet were wrapped with thick cloths, enabling them to advance around the woods without causing too much noise.

"Ah... humans, you seem to be in the wrong place and the wrong time..." One of them said.

"I disagree. We are here to teach you all a lesson..." Anna responded.

"Alright, gang! Let's have our lunch!" The orcs roared and approached them.

"MAYA, COVER MY BACK!!"

A huge orc dashed at Maya, but he was not a match for her superior speed. Two throwing knives found their marks on his forehead, sending him down. Another one charged at her, but again she was faster. Before he could eves swing his gigantic axe, Maya tackled him down, sat on his back, and slit his throat. Then she spotted an orc tried to throw his axe toward Anna. Again she dashed while screaming. The orc was surprised, but prepared. He successfully blocked Maya's knife. The rest of the orcs lost interest on Anna and tried to surround Maya. Maya readied her long silver blade and began dashing from one orc to another, trying to score a kill.

Anna, on the other hand, had an easier fight. She created an invisible force that pushed her opponents backward. The orcs fell on the ground, and before they recovered, Anna had begun her counterattack. She jumped from one orc to another along the path, bashing their skulls with her mace. Soon the path was once again clear. She turned around and loosed several firebolts toward the group that pinned Maya down, giving her a chance to escape.

"Quickly! This way!"

Despite her fierce fighting, Maya was wounded. A stray axe swept through her leather suit, creating a long cut on her left shoulder. Behind her the angry group of orcs were still pursuing them, throwing smaller axes blindly along the path. Slowly she retreated, following Anna and keeping the flying axes away from them. Anna later came to her aid, bashing the axes away with her mace and shooting firebolts at the pursuing party.

Maya led the way through the thick bushes in front of her. Her wound was bleeding and she had many smaller cuts around her body caused by the shrubs along the path. Her vision began to blur as fatigue overcame her body. Suddenly she found out that the ground underneath her was collapsing... It was a trap! But it was too late. Her body fell down into the pit trap. Anna involuntarily joined her shortly.

They were trapped inside a pit that had been dug on the path, concealed by the thick bushes. The pit was dug deep enough so that it would take a while to get out of there. Anna got on her feet again and found out that the pit mouth was now surrounded by a dozen of orcs. The creatures sneered at them.

"Look at them humans... Trapped like animals..."

Anna was about to loose some firebolts when she saw Maya's figure lying on the ground, unmoved. She quickly ran to her and turned her body around. She was groaning in pain.

"My... my ankle..." Her left ankle was sprained.

Anna tried her healing spell, but it could only soften the pain. Her power was drained already. Meanwhile the enemies were still around. Healing Maya completely wouldn't save them anyway.

"Well, how can we cook them...?" The orc sneered again. "We can rain fireballs into the pit... It can be an interesting show..."

"How do you like your meal? Do you like it well done or medium?" The other orcs laughed lavishly at the joke. Anna could only stare at them.

"Mistress... leave me... Save yourself..." Maya's voice was weak.

"No. We came here together, we'll go through this forever." Anna answered.

"But... Master Atrus... you must find him..."

"WE will find him... I'm not leaving you here... We will..."

Her words were interrupted by a long wail of one of the orcs. The group left the pit mouth, and a battle was happening outside. Suddenly an orc's head, cut from its body, fell into the pit, right beside Anna. The eyes were staring at her in agony. Despite her battle experience, Anna still didn't really like that kind of surprise. She yelled at the top of her voice, then quickly ran to the corner away from the head and dragged Maya's body with her. But the battle was not finished. One by one the enemies' body parts fell into the pit. An orc hand fell right on her head, making her scream. She ran from one corner to another, dodging the corpses that fell from the pit mouth.

While she was still terrorized by the corpses around her, she heard the sound that raised her spirit as well as gave her chills...

"LIGHTNING SLASH!!!"

Atrus White Lion!!!

Both Anna and Maya were paralyzed by the voice they just heard. Lightning slash was one of Atrus' fighting style. It couldn't be wrong. They had found him!

But the forest fell silent again. No angry groan was heard from outside. They were alone once again. When Anna recovered from her fright, she began calling him.

"Atrus! Atrus! We're down here!"

There was no answer.

"Atrus! Maya was hurt! Please help us!"

But the forest was silent. He had left... He didn't hear her... or he tried to evade them... The bitter memory of the battle of Gideon came back to her mind. She still remembered clearly how she had betrayed his trust. She had accused him as a fame-thirst ranger. No matter how many times she had apologized to him, she knew that her words had hurt him deeply.

"Atrus... why haven't you forgiven me..." She sobbed softly.

"Mistress... I'm sure he just didn't hear us..."

Anna approached Maya's lying body and helped her to sit. But when she held the back of her neck, she could feel that she was sweating... cold sweat... When she looked at her, her gaze was weak. Her breathing was heavy and her voice was faint.

"Maya... Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, mistress..."

She touched her neck with her fingers. Her pulse was weak... very weak. Cold sweat now covered her forehead and her lower body was shivering.

"You have a fever... Oh no... You've been poisoned..."

"No... I'm o..." Suddenly she coughed hard. Blood tricked from the corner of her mouth.

"Oh my god... hang on... I have to take you to the village..."

Anna drained her spell power on the healing spell, but it could only ease the pain. Despite the corpses around her, she walked to the nearest pit wall. It was well dug. The roots had been cut, making it impossible to use them to climb up, but she tried it anyway. Climbing was not her specialty, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get out of the pit.

Meanwhile the sky was getting dark. She checked Maya's condition once again. It seemed the cut on her shoulder caused the poisoning. She picked one of the axes and studied it. The tip of the metal had been smeared by strange substance, and despite her wide knowledge of poisons and hazardous substances, she couldn't recognize this one. Maya's body was getting weaker. The poison had been spread in her blood veins. Her condition was very... very bad.

"Oh no... Just hang on there..." She began to panic.

As if her prayer was answered, she heard footsteps from the bushes. It could be Atrus or more orcs, but she didn't care. Maya needed a shelter, even in the enemy's custody.

"HELP! PLEASE SOMEBODY! WE"RE DOWN HERE!"

Her scream was noticed, and soon the pit mouth was surrounded by several figures holding torches. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed that they were humans.

"Please help us! My friend is gravely wounded! She needs a doctor!"

"Who are you, priestess?" One of then asked sharply. "If you're from the government, I have to ask you all to leave at once!"

"No, we're here at our own will! I can explain later, but please help my friend!"

Two men jumped into the pit and looked at the corpses around them. "Bakara was here..."

"The orcs attacked us on the way. My friend was poisoned by their axe."

One of the men sat next to Maya and examined her closely. "She's telling the truth... The girl is dying! We must bring her to the village!"

"Very well." The leader said. "Hurry! We must return before dark!"

The village of Whitewater was a small farming village next to the Elven border. It had been founded as a military outpost to deter the Elven menace a few years ago. However, the lack of ample transportation system around the village had urged the royal army to change the plan. Whitewater was just a poor hamlet in the west border of the kingdom. The lack of transportation granted them a privilege of not having to send any resources to the government. But the same reason resulted that they received little attention from the kingdom, especially during this conflict.

But the main reason the kingdom abandoned the hamlet was because the villagers had made a peace treaty with the Elves. The locals had helped a lone elf who had been injured near the border vicinity. In response, the Elven kingdom had declared that if they decided to attack Aragon, the hamlet would be spared from their wrath.

Despite the peaceful environment the villagers enjoyed, Whitewater was still a poor village surrounded by small farms and dense forest. The houses were mainly made of logs from the woods. A small river provided the village with enough fresh water throughout the year. A small temple was the only indication that this village was more civilized than a normal barbaric village.

Anna was sitting on a wooden chair in an inn. The villagers had brought them to the village before nightfall. A weird local drink was served to her. It tasted like herb tea and it did a good job in keeping her warm. Several villagers were sitting nearby, watching her carefully.

Then one man whom she knew as the group leader approached her and sat down in front of her. He put down his ale mug, then stared at her.

"Very well, priestess. My name is Gordon. I'm the village leader. What's your name?"

"Adriana Freesland, or Anna. I must thank you for helping us."

"Priestess Freesland... You saved Gideon a few months ago. You work for the government?"

"No, I'm not. Why?" Anna asked.

"Answer me first. If you're not a government spy, why are you here then?"

"We're here in our own will." Anna explained. "I'm looking for the man you called Bakara."

"And what makes you think we're going to believe you?" Gordon asked again.

"We're his... friend." Anna carefully picked her words. She could only hope that Atrus would be willing to recognize them. If he didn't want to see them, the villagers would not believe her.

"Do you have any prove that you know Bakara as your friend?"

Anna tried to recall Maya's description. "I know his name."

"But we don't." Gordon said. "We called him Bakara."

"I know that he is a well-trained Ranger, the son of Captain White Lion." Anna tried again.

"Bakara is a very enigmatic person. We know nothing about his true identity."

Anna tried to figure out what the villagers might know about Atrus. Finally she said. "He lives in pain."

Gordon stared at her for a while. "You know him... It's true. He comes to the village often and seems to be very friendly, but we all know he's hiding a deep pain inside his heart..."

"I know..." Anna hung her head. "I... I caused it... I'm here to put him back together..."

Gordon smiled warmly. "If you are truly a friend of Bakara, then you are our friend. We are very sorry for the trouble we've caused. We are getting sick of the government's plot on our village. We are no longer loyal to the kingdom. That's why we don't trust outsiders."

"I understand." Anna said. "The king should pay more attention on the people's welfare."

"That's why we love our Bakara." Gordon said. "He helped us whenever he's around. He protected our village from the invaders. Moreover, he asked nothing in return. We have our own way to thank him in spite of our limited resource. We never charge him anything in the market. We occasionally made a small feast for him. We all love him."

"I know..." Anna just smiled. Then she remembered her friend. "How's Maya?"

"Your friend? Our doctor is examining her. Come..."

Gordon led her to a wooden door. He asked her to wait while he went inside. Soon he went out with another middle-aged man. His expression was gloomy.

"How is she? Can you cure the poison?" Anna quickly asked.

The other man shook his head weakly. "I've never seen such a violent poison before. I can only give a normal medicine to slow it down, but it won't stop the venom completely."

"Doctor, you must save her!" Anna begged.

"I'm sorry, but I can't cure her. But there's still hope..."

"I'm willing to do anything to save her!" Anna answered quickly.

The doctor turned to Gordon. The leader thought for a while before answering her. "Tomorrow we will take you to the mountain hermit... where Bakara lives..."

Anna watched over Maya right beside her bed all night. She was suffering from a terrible fever. Her body was shivering and cold sweat covered her skin. All night Anna sat beside her bed, keeping the sweat off her forehead. Maya's plea that she should get some sleep was ignored. They were so close to finding Atrus, and she was not going to let her friend die. The doctor occasionally came and gave her herb drink to keep her warm. It eased her fever, but wouldn't deter the poison.

In the morning, the villagers had decided to acknowledge Anna's sincerity. In turns they visited them and gave them fresh breakfast of newly baked bread and pancakes. Within an hour there was a huge pile of pancakes and three jars of honey on the table right beside the bed. Maya wasn't in a good mood to eat a lot and Anna definitely couldn't eat that much, so they decided to put them in their backpack for later use. Shortly after breakfast, Gordon came to pick them up.

In front of the inn there was a wooden chair with long poles on each side. The chair had a leather strap on the waist and a cushion on the seat.

"Since your friend wouldn't be able to walk well, we decided to carry her on this chair."

Anna and Gordon carried Maya's limp body and put her on the chair. The strap was secured to keep her from falling during the trip. Anna double-checked Maya's condition to make sure she was strapped comfortably. Four men slowly lifted the chair and held the poles over their shoulder. A few men joined them later, each carrying a short sword. Gordon himself had a sword strapped on his back. Anna was very amazed.

"You... you're going to escort us there? I... I don't know what to say..."

"No need..." Gordon said. "This is the least thing we can do for the friends of Bakara."

Gordon's word troubled Anna. Did Atrus still think of her as his friend? He certainly loved Maya like a sister. He had too many reasons to love Maya. But he had no reason to like her after what she had done. Deep inside she cursed herself for her foolish action back in Gideon. She decided she would accept it if Atrus hated her, for he had too many reasons to do so.

Gordon talked about the village along the trip. He talked about how the forest around here became very safe since Bakara began his action. He talked about the mountain hermit who inhibited the small cottage behind the forest. He said the hermit possessed a powerful magic that also protected the village from invaders. But he was still a hermit. Nobody in the village had ever seen him.

They arrived at a large clearing in the forest. The men slowly put the chair down. Anna checked Maya's condition, but there's nothing she could do to make her feel better. She was suffering gravely from her fever. Her eyes couldn't focus really well. Her entire body was shivering and sweating. She had no power left even to speak. Anna was even more worried than ever. Maya might not make it...

Then one by one the men left them. "We will not go any further." Gordon said. "Bakara would see you here... if he wishes."

Again she felt worried. Atrus might not want to see her anymore. He might just take Maya to see the hermit and leave her here. All her efforts in trying to find him would be in vain with his refusal. She felt she was going to burst in tears, afraid to see the outcome of this reunion. Maya noticed this. She weakly caressed Anna's palm, trying to convince her that it wouldn't happen.

The forest around them was very silent. There was nobody around but Anna, Maya, and Gordon. The sun shone brightly on the sky and through the trees, creating bright patches on the ground. The thin morning mist from the nearby mountain covered the ground. This area hadn't been touched by humans. It was like Eden. The peace and harmony was soothing, yet overwhelming.