[Jacender's Mind]Jace didn't know how to respond.No…He couldn't. Too many questions flooded his head at once. They needed to be quieted so he could think straight. He took a step backwards, preparing to run. "I wouldn't recommend that, Jacender." Runnulf spoke to him. He couldn't have been more than 40. His body was practically 20 years old and his voice was soothing to hear. "Stop calling me that. I still don't know who you are!" Jace snapped at him. Runnulf smiled warmly, walking towards him. "S-Stay back!!" Jace warned, backing up to the double doors. Runnulf ignored him, getting closer to him.Jace's heart thumped in his chest.What do I do?! Where do I go!?Runnulf extended his arm slowly.Jace flinched, bracing himself."Hm? What's the matter? You scared?" Runnulf smiled, ruffling Jace's hair. A warm feeling of protection flowed into Jace's body, making him blush slightly. "G-Get off of me!" He told him, brushing off Runnulf's hand. "Where am I? And who really are y
“They’ve gotta be around here somewhere!” Upo shouted. “Stop lazing around, ya layabouts!!” His 2 men ran around in a hurry, frantically dashing through the forest in fear.“I get the captain wants to get back at those little kids but isn’t this taking it too far?” one of the guards murmured. “What do you mean?”The guard stopped and put his back against a tree. “Stupid. Did you forget that we aren’t supposed to be leaving the city?! I know you’re new here but come on! Have some common sense!” The other guard scratched his head, apologizing. “Besides… out of all the places we’re not supposed to go, this is the most dangerous. Haven’t you heard the story of the missing dwarves who used to be sent here and banished?” “B-But I thought it was all just a children’s story!” the other guard exclaimed, looking around to his sides worried.“Of course not! They say a dark presence lives here in the Weeping Forest. Any trespassing would disappear without a trace. But Captain Upo… Argh, he’s
Jace and Hidemi sat in silence. On the floor were words that Hidemi wrote out. He had been telling Jace his story in writing. "... What happened next?" Jace asked hesitantly.A flash of memories hit Hidemi's mind. ▪︎Finding his father get hauled off by the guards to be arrested▪︎▪︎Seeing the figure of a man at the window of his home smiling▪︎▪︎Getting beaten and thrown out of the city by guards▪︎He shook his head "no" signaling that he didn't want to talk about it."I understand…" Jace said. He too knew what it was like to experience a devastating loss. The likes of which would shake you to the core. He sat next to Hidemi as the two stared into the fire together as they listened to its crackle and the only other sounds around them— the animals.Ughh. I made it too weird now! I can't talk to him anymore. Jace heaved, slapping his head with the palm of his hand. "Oi!" A voice came from behind them. Hidemi and Jace turned around in time to see Aleximus kick Hidemi fast into th
A woman was laid out on the floor of a small room.The room was dark, with the only light emanating from dim flames of a few wax candles. By her side sat a short, middle aged man. He wore Dwarven royal attire; a sleeveless brown frock coat with silver outlines.He held her hand gently, and yet his face was as serious as could be. This woman was Gwentyn Gallopas, and she was pregnant with the baby of a dwarf… his baby.SLAM!!A short woman in a brown and silver midwife robe busted in. In one hand was a cup of steaming water and in the other, a wet rag and what seemed to be leaves. "Dorthy! You're here! Thank Arsaes!!" The man cheered, taking the water and leaves from her. He clenched his fist, staring at the meager supplies."Is this all you could get? Is this really all that my own brothers could offer me in helping deliver my child?!" Dorthy rubbed her neck, offering her apologies to the man. "I'm sorry Ivan. But this was the best I could do… I will be considered a traitor if
[7 Months later]In their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th months, the boys had a hard time. With such little food, the cold would chill them to the bone. It never seemed to affect Aleximus though. He would just say that he was used to the cold. But they persevered and managed to make it through. The boys were tougher than they knew, so in their 5th and 6th month they hunted wild animals, created a decent shelter with the ash tree wood, and trained. Training every day was the only thing that helped keep their minds off of what happened. Besides, uncle Matsuda told Jacender to keep getting stronger or else the Codex would eat away at him. However, Jacender still couldn't open the book. Its cover wouldn't budge. No matter what item he used, or how hard he tried to force it, it just wouldn't open. So, he continued training harder and harder in hopes it eventually would.Aleximus still wouldn't talk about Anna. Though he definitely still missed her, he remained too scarred to speak about it. He instea
Matsuda walked over to Anna, picked her up and directed the boys towards him. "Come."…After a few moments, they made it out of the ash tree passage and in front of them stood a giant ash tree almost 400 feet tall. It was their treehouse home. …"Grab only your clothes and shove them into these bags!! We don’t have time to worry about anything else.", he told them, throwing 2 backpacks at the boys. He placed Anna down on a bed. "Hurry!!!"–Matsuda quickly started to rummage through a chest of items in a corner. “Where is it? Where is it?!” his hands shook, throwing out clothes to get to the bottom. “Ah!” he clapped, finding a few papers and folding them. He put them into a pouch and grabbed jackets for the boys. “Put them on. Quickly!” he told them.BOOM!!A loud blast erupted in the distance. "Damn it!! They're already here!!" “W-Who?” Jace asked.“Eclipse.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Nghhuhhhhgg…” Hatagi groaned, holding his arm as tightly as possible to stop the bleeding.He looked wary, carefully sizing up the man.I didn't sense him……His energy… it’s higher than mine… Is he a 4th- No maybe even a 5th sanctum level expert?! Hatagi’s mind raced as he took several steps back."I've got to get out of here and alert the guild!!" He muttered to himself, and began running backwards. “Off so early, my friend? I still haven’t given you the proper hospitality for how you treated my nephews and niece here.” Uncle Matsuda’s eyes narrowed, appearing behind Hitagi with lightning-like speed. “What the…–” Hatagi exclaimed, surprised.POPPP!!!!!!Hatagi let out a scream of pure agony as Matsuda took the opportunity to lock Hatagi’s arms behind his back and shoved his foot into his ankle as far as it could go, popping it out of its socket and disabling him from running. Hatagi yelled, swinging another leg around in an attempt to get him off. Matsuda countered, grabbing it
It feels so warm…Jace thought, floating in the deep darkness.What… was I doing again? Oh yeah…----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I’ve got to get away from this man, and get Anna and Jace out of here at any cost… Aleximus thought, frightened and still in immense pain from his broken arm.And what was that he said…?“Codex”? Is it what caused that explosion and made Jace's hair white?Whatever it is, right now I just need to find a way for us to get out of thisAs Aleximus finished his thought, Hatagi pushed him to the ground and ran to Anna. Picking her up to use as a hostage.“Hey, you bastard!! Don’t you dare touch my sister!! or I’ll make you regret it!!!” he yelled.Hatagi looked over at him, slightly annoyed.“Ki