Death Angel [vs.] Steel Angel [vs.] Marcus Silverstone

Souls and Swords Chapter 4: The painful truth.

As Chad and his men ride north to Kakariko, Yuko has already arrived there. The village seems peaceful enough, the buildings while worn down due to age and the wind appears strong and inviting. Most of the people here wear plain tunics and straw hats. Yuko would enter the wooden gates as he slows his steed down to a more meaningful pace, he stops at the largest building which belongs to the village chief. He steadies his nerves and walks up the stairs, knocking on the door a few times before getting a response back.

???: Who is it? I'm very busy right now.

Yuko: I'm a warrior looking for information, I promise to make this quick I just need a few minutes of your time.

???: Hmmm........very well come in come in.

So Yuko enters the building and takes note of how large it is, glass windows, wooden pillars that stretch towards the ceiling, some tables containing piles of old books. The village chief stands before Yuko; his clothing appears slightly grander than the rest of his people though not by much. He still wears the plain white tunic but also has golden bracelets and jewels that decorated the rest of his body. As customary of a chief, he also wears a large cone shaped hat that symbolizes his standing. Yuko gives a respectful bow to the older man and he bows in response, the village takes a good look at Yuko before speaking.

Chief: It's not often we have a warrior like you enter our village; many of you would often head straight towards the mountains.

Yuko: The Mountains?

Chief: Yes, I've heard all of the rumors myself. Some say that there is ancient treasure hidden within the caves; others say that there is a path that cuts across towards Mercadia which is true however very few have ever made it that far.

He pauses for a moment before speaking again.

Chief: Anyway, what can I do for you young man?

Yuko: I'm looking for someone.

Chief: A warrior looking for someone? That's unheard of, and who is this person you seek?

Yuko: His name is Savage.

He then gave Yuko a very strange look.

Chief: Who did you say you were looking for?

Yuko: Uhh....Savage sir.

The chief then turns away from Yuko and walks up the one of the tables and pulls out a book from the pile. He then flips through the pages while Yuko is staring at him.

Chief: Nightmare you mean.

Yuko: Who?

Now the Chief turns to him, still holding the book in his hands.

Chief: I take it Corey sent you here?

Yuko: You know Corey?

Chief: Come now my boy, everyone knows about the man who once called himself the "Right Hand of God". We go back he and I, I can't exactly tell you the history, trust me you would be bored to tears.

Yuko: I see.....anyway you know about Sav-

Chief: His name isn't Savage anymore boy, least he didn't called himself that the last time he attacked this village.

Yuko: I.....I don't understand.

Chief: You've seen our village and the state that it's in yes?

Yuko: Well yeah, it seems rather peaceful here.

Chief: *scoffs* If only you were here 2 years ago, there was this large man clad in dark blue armor and carried a large sword. He started killing people all the while saying "Savage is dead, there is only Nightmare!" I was able to get a glimpse of his face just before the gaurds arrived, it was him alright no mistaking it.

Yuko tried to hide the shock from his face but you can see it in his eyes, what has become of his brother? His heart is racing as he tried to remember his brother from the old days. He remembered how his brother was always compassionate towards him, helped him with his training and even praised him when his father didn't. "Savage" Was all that Yuko could think of right now.

Yuko: Do you know where he is right now?

Chief: There have recent sightings for the people here that Nightmare was last seen heading towards the high mountains where the path to Mercadia resides. Only one problem: The path has been taken over by Baels.

Yuko knew what Baels are, giant mountain spiders that dwell within deep dark caves. They are known to eat any living creature that enters their domain and sometimes they will each other. Could this Nightmare guy really be his brother? It just doesn’t seem at all possible; even though Savage is trained in the art of combat much like himself he would never bring himself to harm defenseless villagers.

Suddenly there is a commotion that can be heard and Yuko along with the village chief head outside to investigate. Once they were out, they see many villagers running away and the guards moving towards the entrance. The chief intercepts one of the guards and stops him.

Chief: What in blazes is going on?

Solider: It's Chad sir, his forces have invaded and are attacking the village, we're trying to hold them off from the gate but their forces are too great.

Yuko: I got this.

Yuko pulled out his sword and moved forward not even looking back at the chief. He finds a dead solider with a bow and a quiver of arrows lying next to his body. Yuko took these for his own and spotted a few of Chad's men trying to break into a house, screams could be heard from the other side of the building. Yuko readies an arrow and fires it; it hits dead on right to the back of the guy's head. The other two turn around just in time for one of them to take an arrow straight to the eye socket killing him. The third man readies his tomahawk and chucks it at Yuko, but his aim is off and misses Yuko by a good foot or two. Yuko response back with a head shot that knocks him back, he then sees a few more men charging towards him as he puts the bow away for now and readies his sword. He slices through the first two with no trouble and the other two missed wildly with their swings where as Yuko didn't. He killed four more of them before he surveys the battle ground. Chad's men outnumber the village guards 5 to 1, even if he were to fight alongside with him, there is no way he could take on an entire army. Seeing his horse, Yuko jumped on the saddle and rode towards the fence, cutting down any sell sword that got in his path. He just manages to make a clean jump over and starts riding to the mountain trail, even though it pained him greatly to abandon the village in its time of need; he knew he couldn’t save them all.

Meanwhile Chad and Mason watch the carnage unfold from a distance, and then they noticed a lone horseman riding away from the village.

Chad: Is that him?

Marcus: It must be, shit he's getting away!

Chad: No matter, have our men fall back from the village and send them after him. You will lead them.

Marcus: Yes sire.

Chad: And Marcus.....I want him brought back to me......alive.

Marcus: Alive sir?

Chad: If he can lead us to the sword than he'll prove to be quite valuable, now go!

Marcus nods and moves in towards the village, meanwhile Chad turns in time to see Ruby Beno and Parker arrive with their army.

Chad: You're late.

Ruby: Forgive us; we've had to deal with Corey's men.

Chad: Corey?

Beno: He sent some men from Odin to attack us, seems the old warrior is back on the hunt.

Chad: Really now? That's interesting.

Rudy: Where's Marcus?

Chad: He's going after our lone friend who managed to escape and is heading towards the mountians. He'll find him that I can be sure about.

Rudy: So what will you have us do my liege?

Chad: You said Corey is on the move, where is he heading right now?

Parker: According to our spies, he's heading north east to darkling woods.

Beno: He's also commanding a small army as well; I'd say about 50 men.

Chad: Darkling woods eh? Gathering our forces, we're heading over there now.

Ruby: What of Marcus?

Chad: He'll deal with Corey's little messenger, we're talking the fight straight to him!

Beno: You were planning this were you? You were counting on Corey showing up.

Chad: As I said before Beno, I always have a plan, and the time has come to put it in motion.

So Chad rides away from the village while the rest of his men follow close behind, meanwhile Marcus is done rounding up his men and redirecting them towards the mountain. While much of the village remains intact, the fields were laced with dead bodies. The chief who has witness all this could only look on with horror in his eyes as he falls to his knees and hears the cries of the survivors. He buried his hands into his face while a single thought echo in his mind.

Yuko pushed his steed hard, he didn't look back, his focus is always forward as the ground is replaced by rocky terrain. He keeps pushing his horse as they start climbing up the slope that leads right into the mountain core. It didn't take long for the temperature to start dropping and the winds to pick up at an accelerated pace, the pathway becoming narrower and narrower until Yuko is forced to slow down. He then took a long at his surroundings, he's in the middle of the mountain now, until he reaches the very end of the trail where he'll have to go on foot, the only place to go is up. He looks back to see if anyone is following him, seems he lost Chad's men but it won't be long till that find him. This is the only road until he reaches to the main part of the mountain, so he needs to keep going, Yuko can already feel the chilling air but it dosen't faze him. He slaps the reigns and continues the long dreaded climb, moving higher and higher up into the mountain.

Just at the entrance, Marcus and his men just arrived and now Marcus looks up at this huge rocky monster that stands before him. He just sneers and moves forwards with his men following close behind, Marcus doesn’t fear what is inside the mountains, a mistake he will soon regret.........


TO BE CONTINUED.