Until The Tournament

Our path was clear now, but the soldiers behind us seemed relentless in their pursuit. Despite the distance between us, it wouldn't take them long to catch up at this speed. We had to get out of town without attracting attention. When we all regrouped, Lezlie had an idea.

"We could use that carriage," she said excitedly, pointing at a nearby carriage.

The haystacks in the back of the carriage indicated that her plan made sense. Lezlie wasn't suggesting we drive the carriage and flee; instead, she proposed we hide in it and leave town unnoticed. Time was of the essence, so we quickly climbed into the huge haystacks in the back of the carriage. Fortunately, the driver was fast asleep on his seat.

As we settled into our hiding spots among the hay, my hand accidentally jostled the driver awake. He started driving the carriage immediately, clearly having dozed off during his delivery. The horses picked up speed and soon we were out of town.

The journey was far from comfortable; the roads were bumpy and I found myself squished between Ryuu and a pile of hay. At one point, Ryuu's foot ended up in my mouth.

"Ryuu," I whispered quietly so as not to alert the driver. "Move your foot."

"And you pull in your big belly," he whispered back.

We jostled for space in the back of the carriage, trying to find a comfortable position. After an hour or so of bumping along the road, we decided to risk getting out. It was already dark when we emerged from our hiding spot and found ourselves on a flat plain. Everything was green and there was nothing but an empty dirt road stretching out before us. We had no idea where we were; all we knew was that we had managed to evade our pursuers for now.

It had been a long day and we were all exhausted, but it didn't look like we would be able to rest anytime soon. We were exposed and vulnerable; at any moment the soldiers could catch up or we could encounter another enemy. No one wanted to take those risks and we were all worried about Hiroshi, who had stayed behind.

As we stood there uncertainly, all eyes turned to Ryuu. We were waiting for him to tell us what to do next, to come up with a plan. I could see that he was deep in thought, trying to come up with something that would help us. Mila broke the silence by voicing the question that was on all our minds.

"Hiroshi stayed behind," she said hesitantly. "Can he get out of there alone?"

Ryuu took the floor and shared his thoughts and reasoning with us. "He is not alone," he said confidently. "If his friend is who he says he is, he will help Hiroshi escape."

"And if he isn't?" Lezlie asked, her voice trembling.

"We have to trust Hiroshi," Ryuu replied firmly. "If he is who he says he is, he'll find a way out."

I turned to Ryuu and asked my own question, "But how are we going to find him? We can't go back to town now."

"That won't be necessary," Ryuu said calmly. "He knows about the tournament in two weeks and that we'll be there. He will find us. But we have bigger problems right now."

Ryuu was right; we were facing an entire kingdom and third epic. We were vastly outnumbered and even if we were stronger, it would be impossible to fight them all. Ryuu and Shou couldn't do it alone; we needed help.

"We need reinforcements," Ryuu said, deep in thought. "The king will arrive in two weeks, but even his power may not be enough to defeat this army. We need more support."

"What do you have in mind?" I asked.

"The kingdom is vast and there's much to be done," Ryuu replied. "It makes the most sense for us to split up and cover more ground. Traveling en masse attracts too much attention."

"But where should we go?" Lezlie asked.

"If their soldiers are so advanced, we don't stand much of a chance against their paladins," Ryuu said grimly. "We need both strength and help. You'll each go to the lands of your bloodlines and ask for their assistance and training. Lezlie and the Prince will go to the mage bloodline; Babu will go to the Cronus bloodline. Mila, you take my map and find the next person shown. Don't go to war alone.

Ryuu continued his sentence, "Shou, if you want…"

Shou had another idea in mind. Before Ryuu could finish speaking, Shou interrupted him with a few words.

"I know what I have to do," he said decisively.

Ryuu nodded and gave us our meeting point. "Good. We'll meet at the tournament site in two weeks."

Mila turned to Ryuu with a curious expression. "So what are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to find the knight," Ryuu replied. "Maybe I can learn from her why the king is acting this way towards us. Also, She's the one chosen by the map, so I'll try to convince her to join us."

"And if she doesn't want to fight on our side?" Mila asked worriedly. "What if she attacks you?"

"If the map chose her, I don't think she would do such a thing," Ryuu said confidently. "I saw it in her eyes; she wants justice as much as we do."

We all understood what we had to do, but none of us knew how successful we would be. The only thing we knew for certain was our new missions. The silence that followed was our last conversation before we parted ways. I couldn't think of anything to say. Ryuu spoke one last sentence before we dispersed.

"Be careful, people" he said.

I was both tired and excited, but the thought of learning from the masters of my lineage filled me with excitement, and the hope that I would soon be able to use my other powers made me happy.

As Ryuu had said, the more I learnt and developed my powers, the more I could contribute to our cause.