Encounter

“Tales of Amara” Continued

Chapter 11: Encounter

Chapter 12: Bond of Family

Chapter 13: Motive

Chapter 14: Merchant City of North

Chapter 15: Captive

Chapter 16: Ravage

Chapter 11: Encounter

“Young miss, Melvin is gone.”

Despite being said only once, the statement continuously resonated within her ears, causing her face to become sullen like a hungry toddler longing for its meal. She could not believe what she had just heard, not that she wasn’t expecting it, but she wished that the old man could get away alive.

“So, who are you?” Vicky, with outstanding serenity despite the situation, demanded for the man’s name.

“Like I said earlier, I am Hall, born and raised in the village of Thorne. I really mean you no harm.”

Hall continued his narration despite not receiving further questions. “The village of Thorne was attacked by some beasts, except that they seemed to be summoned. In addition to that, the purpose of that raid was because they wanted to find a specific person.”

Vicky slightly flinched on hearing those words. Nonetheless, she maintained a stable state of being.

“Do you have any idea why Melvin risked his life to save you? Because I can’t quite imagine that you’re not the fugitive, except otherwise!” Hall concluded his interrogation as he sat back on his foldable wooden chair, waiting for the girl to answer.

‘He knows!’ Vicky thought as a cold shiver went down her spine. What would they do to her? Enslave her? Hand her over to the enemy? What if they are the enemy themselves?

“I am …” Hardly had she started talking when a man outside the door tent shouted on top of his voice, startling the young Miss a little . “Mr. Hall! A man has appeared amongst the villagers and he’s making them quite uncomfortable. For now we have constrained him.”

“Come in, lad!” Hall asked the lad at the door. A tall young male with very short blonde hair and a muscular build walked him through the entrance and stood beside Hall.

“What’s your name, lad?”

“Jordan, Sir!”

“Okay, Jordan, what is this man’s intention?”

“He’s looking for a blonde girl, or at least that’s what we managed to find out from the villagers. When we got him, he insisted that he won’t talk to anyone except the leader.”

Hall shifted his eyes to look at Vicky who, this time looked more scared than she was before. The only ally she could think of was Melvin. After hearing of his death, she couldn’t think of anyone who would come to help her.

Hall noticed the tension in her expressions and lightly placed his palm on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, young Miss. I shan’t let any harm befall you. That’s a promise I made.”

She looked up towards Hall and pondered about what he had just said. Before she could say anything, Hall beat her to it. “By the way, Melvin wanted you to have this!”

The noble looking man removed a beautiful large sky blue gemstone with some white crack-like shapes on a necklace that had a small golden chain. The gem was surrounded with a circular ring that had some rare characters engraved on its sides.

Vicky reached out to get the necklace. On mentioning Melvin’s name, Vicky couldn’t help but break down in tears. Hall and Jordan left the tent to give her some space.

…

Hall entered a tent and in it, he saw a dark haired young male dressed like a brigand, tied to the chair that he was sitting on and his bag placed at the corner in the tent.

“So, why are you causing trouble within my people?”

“And you are?” The tied man shouted at Hall.

Hall took one glance towards the young man. He looked familiar, but he couldn’t get his finger around him. Besides that, he had to deal with his troublesome mentality.

“I’m Hall, these people’s temporary leader! Now, state your name and purpose for coming here!”

“I’m Frank, of the Extorters.” Frank stopped in his speech and looked aside with a piercing pain in his chest. He continued speaking nevertheless. “I was assigned a mission to look for a blonde girl from my late comrade and also the guild master.”

“Melvin’s boy, huh? Where were you when this girl was being chased around?”

“I was on a mission, at old man James’ house! I went back to our base to get reinforcements for Teeg who was fighting in Thorne but I found my guild members massacred.” Frank tried his best to get the persistent Noble to believe him. “All but one. My friend who was on the brink of death told me about the girl. It was a promise to him that I would keep her safe.”

“Come to think of it, I've seen you around during the times you’d come over to Thorne to complete some tasks.It must be hard with all your guild members gone. You have my sympathy.”

“Thank you! But at least Master Melvin and probably old Teeg are both fine!”

Hall looked at him with eyes radiating terror. “What did you say? Melvin is long dead, boy. Teeg had massive injuries with poison in them and that was the last time I saw him. How can you say that they are alive?”

“Teeg… no.” Frank’s voice shook as he muttered those words. “How’s Melvin dead? I spent the night with him, all night long.”

“Come back to reality, boy! Face the facts and move on!”

“YOU’RE LYING!” Frank, now on his feet with the chair still tied to him, yelled angrily at the older man. “You’re lying! I saw him yesterday, I stayed with him.” Frank suddenly opened his eyes wider and slowly went back to his sitting position. “No, it can’t be. No, no, no….(hic) master was alive last night. He couldn’t have used it.”

“I see that you have reali—”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Frank shouted,forcefully freeing his restraints in the process. He swung his right arm towards Hall and Jordan causing a number of water droplets that had materialized in the air to rush towards them, blowing them as far as at the entrance.

Jordan stood up quickly to confront the danger, but was immediately stopped by Hall who placed his palm on his shoulder.

“Leave him be!” Hall whispered to his companion who in turn nodded in agreement before both exiting the tent.

***

“So you trust the girl?”

Phillip stood by Teeg carrying a bunch of wood for preparing dinner. The girl that they had met had gone to the river to wash herself in the river after she had told them that she would tell them about her situation.

“Frank! Widen your eyes! It’s a little girl surviving all by herself in this forest or whatever. You definitely cannot leave her alone.” Teeg responded as he set up the wood around three large stones.

“But exactly! What if it is a trap? You have to think things like that before you do anything rash.”

“What if it’s not a trap? Then will you leave her to die in the devastating wild? Phillip, don’t worry! Though it’s a gut feeling, I’m positive that she can’t do us any harm. If she does, then I can trust you to have my back.”

Just as Phillip was about to fire back at Teeg with a sarcastic remark when the black haired girl appeared from the bushes wearing the long coat that touched her ankles. Phillip took one glance at her before turning away towards the fire.

“He doesn’t want me here, does he?” Emmy asked Teeg with a look of disgust.

“Don’t mind him! He just doesn’t trust anyone easily since he has passed through a lot ever since arriving in Baizefield.” Teeg then pointed to Emmy with an expectant face. “Now, care to tell me about you?”

Emmy’s facial expression changed from the tint of disgust to a gloomy look, with a dark shadow appearing just below her forehead caused by damp black hair falling over her face.

“Have you ever thought that you’ll never see your loved ones again?”

“Has your world ever completely turned upside down at a certain moment, so fast before you even blink?“

“Have you ever been so helpless that you are not able to save your loved ones?”

Emmy looked down, with her hair almost covering her face, trying to hide the tears running down her cheeks that betrayed her when they trickled down. Emmy turned her head to the side, still looking down and furthermore turned completely to have her back towards Teeg. All this was to hide the sorrow that lurked to the surface, but alas, the shaking in her voice yet betrayed her again.

“We were just living our normal lives… normally… then suddenly my sister became a target, yet she had done nothing wrong!” Emmy spoke with sobs in between her speech.

“I had to be there for her. I’m not supposed to act that weak with her, I’m supposed to give her strength. We saw our parents get murdered just to let us run away and yet I still kept my composure so that I could be her unbreakable pillar for her to lean on. And yet why… why…” Emmy sunk to the ground, unable to control her sobbing.

Teeg knelt down near Emmy and placed his hands on her shoulder. As if oblivious to his presence, Emmy continued sobbing, more rapidly than before.

“Why am I so weak that I couldn’t help her? She asked for help and I couldn’t help her! She didn’t do anything yet she got treated worse than a prisoner! Why?...why!!? WHY AM I SO WEAK?” Emmy yelled at the top of her voice, with tears filling her cheeks and sobbing like never before.

Teeg clenched his teeth and folded his hand into a fist. He felt her sorrow more than he could ever know because once upon a time, he had been in a similar situation. Teeg grabbed her by the shoulders and placed her head in his chest allowing her to let out everything.

Phillip stood behind a tree, leaning against it looking down with his arms folded. He said nothing throughout the whole ordeal but instead felt an incredible degree of guilt welling up within him. He remembered how he treated the girl when they first met and remembered her brave face that she placed. He knew that she was amazing just like that. He couldn’t stop the tears from welling up inside his eyes, but managed to stop them before running down his cheeks.

It was approaching dusk when Emmy finally managed to sleep in Teeg’s embrace. She looked a little relieved in her sleep knowing that at least someone’s got her back, someone was protecting her from danger. Teeg didn’t feel anything but hurt. He felt that he had to intervene within this young girl’s life.

“Phillip, I owe you a lot and I know it, but if you refuse us to take care of this young lass, I would even have to fight you if possible!”

The old man spoke calmly, but his words carried authoritative fury. Despite not facing him, Phillip could feel the stern glare piercing through his very presence. Teeg was dead serious.

“I haven’t said anything, old man!” Phillip said naturally, unshaken by Teeg’s intimidation. “I’ll go look for wood, we need to prepare dinner early.” Little did he know that he had already collected it.

‘Oh! You bad liar!’ Teeg thought as he smiled at Phillip who vanished into the leafy section of the forest. Teeg lay the sleeping girl on his leather sheet over a lump of straw.

***

“What was the commotion about?” A young blonde girl asked Hall and Jordan while running out of her tent.

“It’s nothing that we can’t solve, young miss. A certain person who was acquainted with Melvin has come around looking for you. It’s your choice to go with him, but I can’t guarantee you safety with him as per now.”

Vicky looked at Hall with confusion.

“Why do you say so?”

“It seems he had been unaware of his master’s death. He’s not taken the news well obviously, but he’s trying to get a hold of his feelings.”

Vicky looked down facing the ground. She kept thinking about how all that was happening was her fault, including the Extorters’ extermination and Melvin’s gruesome murder. She felt like she had to do something about it.

“Where is he?” Vicky demanded Hall for Frank’s location.

Hall raised brow at first in surprise to his question. He opened up his mouth to speak, but instead shut his lips immediately after. He shook his head trying to find the reason why she would talk to him, but alas, he couldn’t find any. He could only spout so little after showing that he could have spoken for a whole hour.

“What!”

“I want to speak to him?”

“No... no… no!! No, you won’t!” Hall immediately answered back, almost giving her no chance to finish. “Even with us around, we can’t guarantee your safety. Wait for the man to cool down and you shall talk.”

“You said he’s looking for me, right?” Vicky fired back at the temporary chief.

“Are you sure that he even wants you alive? As far as I know you’re at the center of everything!” Teeg shielded her fire without remorse, only coming to his senses later.

‘Oh, Curses! I messed up!’ Teeg thought as he tried to apologize to the young blonde. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean that!”

But it was too late. Vicky, who had stopped talking, looked down while sniffing non-periodically. Her hair hung in front of her face, shielding her eyes from Teeg. Her trembling could be heard from the shaky breaths that she was exhaling.

“Look, Vicky! I really didn’t—”

“You didn’t have to remind me!” Vicky interrupted in a shaky voice, still looking down. Suddenly, she raised her head causing her hair to fly backwards revealing a teary face and grit teeth.

“YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO REMIND ME!” Vicky shouted at Hall and stormed away angrily towards her tent.

Whether Teeg showed remorse or pain, goodness knows. But one thing is for certain, a human shall always remain ‘human.’

…

Frank didn’t have the time to mop around all day. He had to control himself and carry the wishes of his deceased friends. He had to keep on moving. The news of the deaths of his master, Melvin and his elder, Teeg caught him by surprise, but he still had to accomplish his duty.

‘I need to meet up with the girl and get out of here fast. We can’t be within a large number of people for there are higher chances that attackers will find them.’ Frank thought before getting on his feet. ‘I’ve got to find this girl first. Goodness knows what I’ll do next! The girl doesn’t seem to have a destination at all.’

Suddenly, Frank heard a girl’s voice shouting at someone, “YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO REMIND ME!” Opening the entrance, Frank saw a young blonde girl about the age of thirteen facing Hall with a look of anger on her face before storming off to her tent.

‘Bingo! Not exactly a good time, but at least it’s a start!’

Frank, not being exactly a power house in his former guild, had to come up with different ways of surviving attacks from enemies. One of them was reconnaissance, that is collecting information. True the leader had shown to trust him but he still couldn’t help but notice that there was something wrong.

‘After learning this from master Melvin, I didn’t think that I would not be able to see through the same technique. To think that the Melvin I saw was only a phantom.’

Among Melvin’s abilities was the Phantom. This allows him to create a ‘ghost’ of himself that can’t be seen by anyone else unless permitted by him. His consciousness shifts from his body to the phantom leaving an empty physical shell. To go back to his body he would decide to, but if there wasn’t a body to go back to, it would only be a matter of time till the phantom disappears as well.

“He had gotten better at lying, hadn’t he?”

…

(Flashback)

‘What happened to you then? Did he catch up to you?’ Frank questioned his master after he finished the story.

‘Yah, we had a brutal fight but he managed to have mercy on me, leaving me with serious injuries, saying that he hadn’t felt anything like that in a long time.’

“As expected of the master!”

‘You praise me too much. Come on now lad. You need your sleep. We’ll wake up tomorrow at dawn to search for Vicky!’

‘Understood Sir!’

(End flashback)

…

Frank broke out in tears as memories of his last conversation with Melvin rushed into his head.

“No time for tears now!” Frank said as he wiped them off his cheeks and eyes using his arm. “Let’s do this!”

Frank lay on his straw makeshift bed, with his right arm on his belly and the back of his left on his forehead. This was only to give his observers the illusion that he was sleeping. In addition, he was more comfortable that way. His concentration peaked and drove deep within his mind.

“Phantom!”

At first, one would think that it hadn’t worked. Frank rose up from his straw bed into a sitting position leaving behind his body in his favorite position. The Frank phantom was opaque, though shadowless. He couldn’t be seen or touched by others unless he allowed them to. But the downside was that he would still not have a shadow.

‘I should have looked at the master's shadow from the start!’ Frank reminded himself.

Phantom Frank went out into the dark starry night. People had lit up fires for light, cooking and warmth. Despite being in the mountains, the area was so flat, having a number of scattered trees around and a spring as well, coming from the higher altitudes.

‘Time to look for the girl!’

Frank looked around and saw a segregated tent near the stream and far from the rest of the community.

‘I’ll take my bets on that one!’ phantom Frank thought as a smirk appeared on his face.

Hardly had he reached the tent when he heard some whispers. They weren’t exactly whispers, but they weren’t loud either. They seemed to come from far. Frank couldn’t make out any word, so he decided to move closer to the source. The sounds led him towards the spring.

Phantom Frank had just moved approximately 80 meters from the tent when he started hearing some words.

“.... trouble for us!”

‘Trouble? What do they mean?’ Phantom Frank pondered as he went closer to hear better. He was about 70 meters from them.

Reaching 30 meters from the spring, he could make out two men bathing while talking to each other. Plus, he could clearly hear them very well.

“So, shall we go on with the plan? The men are ready.” A tall man with very short yellow hair asked his comrade with brown hair and a brown beard who was pouring water on his head.

‘Aren’t these the ones who spoke to me after tying me up? What plan are they talking about?’ Frank wondered as he moved even closer to hear more clearly.

“I have a feeling I’ll regret this, Jordan. Melvin did so much for us.” Hall answered the blonde.

“Logically thinking, Sir, do you think that we have the force that can rival Melvin’s pursuers? Keeping the girl will kill everyone in this village.”

“There has to be something else!!”

“Hall! Listen to yourself! If you want to be a good leader, do what’s right for them. The old man doesn’t have much time left and he chose you to lead the next generation. Think like a leader, Hall!” Jordan wadded from the river, dried himself and put on his clothes.

“So what do you say, Chief?” Jordan placed his arms behind him, stood straight and faced the sky, like a soldier ready for instructions.

Hall looked up at the tall man. “Proceed, Jordan! Gather your men!”

Hall wadded towards the shore and dried himself too. Jordan waited patiently as Hall dressed himself up.

“Eliminate both outsiders!”

***

Phillip woke up in the middle of the night to ease himself. After doing his business, he found a cave that intrigued him. He moved closer for a better look.

“Whoa!!?”

Phillip jumped back softly so as not to awaken the creatures in the cave. They looked like bears. If they woke up with them in the morning, they’d have trouble dealing with them. Phillip rushed over to the camp and found Teeg rubbing his eyes sitting on his makeshift bed.

“Huh!..(yaw~n) what are you doing up?” Teeg asked lazily with a tired face.

Phillip answered in a whisper. “We’ve got to leave this place. There are bears sleeping in that cave over there.” Phillip said, pointing towards the cave.

Teeg opened his eyes wide, saying nothing at the moment. He didn’t want to make any single sound to wake the ferocious beasts.

“Let’s wake Emmy up, slowly!” Teeg whispered to Frank.

…

“(Yaw~n)... good morning! Huh! It’s still night! Why are we moving at night!!?” Emmy woke up in the carriage that was already moving.

“Shh!” Phillip silenced her, placing his pointing finger on his lips. “You wouldn’t want to wake the bears!”

“Bears!?” Emmy cried out, before placing her palms on her mouth, realizing her loud voice.

“Calm down! We are moving steadily away from them.” Teeg said with a smile on his face. “We tried waking you up but you didn’t budge, so we carried you onto the carriage.”

“Oh! Thank you very much!” Emmy gave her regards to Teeg which, surprisingly, were answered by someone else.

“You’re very welcome!” Phillip said with a smirk.

“I didn’t thank you, Drool face!”

“But Teeg didn’t carry you, brat!”

“Hmn! Whatever! I’m not thanking you at all!” Emmy said with her arms crossed on her chest, looking away from Phillip.

“It’s not like you’ll die if you thank me!” Phillip replied.

“I'd rather die than thank you!”

“Such resolve! Should we test—?”

“Hey Phillip! Do you see that figure in front of us?” Teeg interrupted the quarrel between the two.

Phillip turned to observe in front of him. Truly, he could see a figure, more like a silhouette about 50 meters in front of them. It was a woman to be exact, wearing a long dress that showed off her curvaceous nature. The dress also had a long collar that reached the height of her forehead.

“An angel must have been sent to us!” Phillip said sarcastically after witnessing the gorgeous body shape of the silhouette. Emmy glared at him with eyes of disgust meanwhile.

“An angel? More like a demon!!” Teeg replied to Phillip’s remark with seriousness. “I can’t forget that presence. That’s the one who beat me up so bad that I would have died if you hadn’t shown up.”

Phillip suddenly stopped the horse and swallowed a large gulp of saliva.

“That is Freya, The Queen of Beasts!”