The Orphan Wars (Book One) (13 page)

"This is ridiculous," said Nemeth slowly.  "
I didn't unlock anything from the inside.  The front door to the weapon shop was unlocked the entire time.  Look at all that extra work we had to put in!"

"Sometimes the best solution to a problem is
the simplest one," replied Jaida.  "Look on the bright side.  If you hadn't gone inside Norfall Inn, you wouldn't have met Tienna though."

"Well then,"
said Nemeth with a look of frustration in his face.  "I do like that I have an honorary older sister now.  I'm still mad though.  Give me another easy solution.  Jaida, tell me that a magic portal will open up right here.  Tell me that it's going to take us straight to Terazhul and I just have to and kill him with one slash of my sword!"

"No such scenario exists," replied Jaida.
  "If I could create that scenario for you, I would master."

"Alright let's get the hell out of this town!" exc
laimed Nemeth.  "Disappear for now and then we can discuss the temple when we are outside of town."

Jaida disappeared inside of Nemeth's body
causing the usual momentary body glow.  Nemeth draw his new sword from his sheath and equipped his new shield.  He started running towards the town gate where he had entered Norfall originally.  Jebrow and Hedrick were still at the main gate.

"HALT!" shouted Jebrow.  "W
hat are you doing out so late?"

"It
's me guys!" exclaimed Nemeth.  "You were so kind to me earlier.  I just wanted to say thanks!"

"Ah yes, the boy!" exclaimed Hedrick.  "But shouldn't you be
sound asleep at the Norfall Inn?"

"Oh, I checked in there," said Nemeth with a smile.  "Everything is just perfect
over there.  In addition to saying thanks, I thought I would just go out for a little stroll.  I'll be back shortly."

Jebrow and Hedrick looked at Nemeth with great suspicion.

"Hey kid, where'd ya get that new sword at?" questioned Hedrick.

"And where'd ya get that new shield at?" questioned Jebrow.

Nemeth looked back and forth at Jebrow and Hedrick.

"Well to tell you
the truth guys," replied Nemeth.  "When I was checking into the Norfall Inn, a wonderful thing happened to me.  That lovely innkeeper Tioli told me that I was the ten thousandth person to check into the inn."

"Ten thousandth person?" questioned Hedrick.  "I wonder how he kept track of all the people checking in and out of the place over the years.
  He must truly be a brilliant business man!"

"Yes tha
t's right!" continued Nemeth.  "I was the ten thousandth customer!  As a reward, he gave me this wonderful new sword and fabulous new shield that you see right before your eyes!  He said they were donated from a place called Numandu's Weapon Shop.  I wonder where that shop is though.  I would love to send Numandu a personal thank you, just like I did with Tioli."

"Well congratulations kid!" exclaimed
Jebrow.

"Yeah,
congrats kid!" said Hedrick.  "Things are looking up for you!  Still, be safe out there.  We'll be here when you get back.  Goodbye for now!"

Nemeth ran to the northeast until he wasn't able to see Jebrow and Hedrick anymore.

"Jaida appear!" shouted Nemeth.  "I'm out of Norfall now.  I'm so glad that those two guards are such simpletons."

Jai
da appeared before Nemeth and floated in front of his face.

"
Indeed they lack the level of intellect that you possess master," said Jaida.  "I hope the rest of the people who reside in Norfall aren't as incompetent.  If they are, then I can only imagine that when the Forestial Corruption spell arrives there, the town will be taken very easily."

"I don't
understand how adults can be so stupid," said Nemeth.  "How can they be so easily fooled by someone my age?"

"
You already know the answer to your question," interrupted Jaida.  "I can sense that the Forestial Corruption's area of effect is only about 10 minutes away from us now.  Please listen to me carefully.  We must continue northeast to the Illusari Forest.  It is there that we will find The Great Temple of the Forest.  However it will not be an easy task to get to the temple."

Nemeth bit his lip and then nodd
ed at Jaida.  They began to travel northeast towards the Illusari Forest.

The grass was much taller in this region northeast of Norfall making it much more difficult to travel.  Tall oak trees were scattered about the land in various spots.
  Nemeth noticed an unusual circular light appear on his clothing.

"I think we're being spied on," said Nemeth.  "Someone is reflecting moonlight in our direction
.  I just saw a circular light on my clothing.  But who could be spying on us?"

"It's probably the Illusari Goblins," replied Jaida.  "The Illusari Forest is their homeland and they don't like outsiders."

"HELP!" someone shouted from the distance.  "I'm stuck and I need help.  Over here!"

Nemeth began to look around but couldn't see anybody.  His heart began to beat rapidly.

"Jaida, do you see anybody?" questioned Nemeth.  "I don't see anybody at all."

"Look over there," replied Jaida.  "T
here appears to be another human trapped underneath a branch by that oak tree."

Jaida floated over the body of the trapped person while Nemeth followed.
  There was a person about the same height as Nemeth lying face down.  A tree branch was lying horizontally over the back of their knees.

"What exactly happened here?" questioned Nemeth.

"Finally someone is here to rescue me," said the trapped individual.  "Thank the gods!  Please lift the branch off of my legs."

Nemeth sheathed his sword and slung his shield over his shoulder.  He bent down and picked up the branch with both hands.  It was surprisingly light in weight.  He
tossed the branch aside with ease.

"Well there you
are," said Nemeth.  "I just removed the branch off of you.  It was really light though.  I can't possibly see how you got hurt."

"Oh, I think I'm going to need
some help to get me off the ground," said the unknown person.  "I'm in such terrible pain.  I need to see if my legs are broken.  I hope they aren't broken but I think they are."

"Alright then," said Nemeth very slowly.  "
I'm here to help you.  I'm going to try and move one of your legs slowly.  Just try to stay calm.  Let me know how much pain you're experiencing when I move your legs.  I'll start with the left leg."

Nemeth kneeled down and grabbed the person's left foot and began to
curl it forward.  Suddenly the person wrapped their legs around Nemeth's neck and began to choke Nemeth.  Nemeth forced himself to his feet.  The unknown person continued to dangle upside down from Nemeth's neck.  Nemeth wrapped his arms tightly around the unknown person's legs and jumped as high as possible into the air and dropped down to his knees.  This forced the unknown person's face to be driven hard into the ground causing his legs to unwrap from Nemeth's neck.  Nemeth rolled backwards to his knees again and tried to catch his breath.  He stared at the body of the mysterious person lying on the ground with a look of shock on his face.

"
You said you were injured," gasped Nemeth.  "Just what the hell are you trying to do to me?"

The mysterious person quickly sprang to their feet and turned around to face Nemeth.  The person was wearing a mask painted with a variet
y of colors.  Other than the painted mask, the person was wearing white clothes from head to toe.  Nemeth got back up to his feet and equipped his sword and shield.  The mysterious person reached into their front pockets and pulled out two sharp daggers, each about a foot in length.

"I'm not going to let
a little boy like you or anyone else for that matter get to Terazhul," said the masked person.  "It is my destiny to be the sole hero to defeat that monster and claim all the rewards that I deserve."

"How did you know I was going after Terazhul?" questioned Nemeth.  "Just who are you anyway?"

"You just told me you're going after Terazhul," replied the masked person.  "You aren't too smart are you?"

Nemeth started to feel extremely angry.  He twirled his sword a couple times in his left hand and pointed it in the direction of the masked person.

"Tell me your name now!" shouted Nemeth.

"You know that I won't be doing that," replied the masked person.
  "I'm just the masked person to you little boy."

"You're no hero,
" said Nemeth.  "You're insane but not nearly as insane as I am.  Who walks around wearing a mask like that?  Your clothes aren't much of an improvement either.  You're covered in dirt from when I drove your head into the ground after you gave me that poorly executed choke.  Just go home, take a bath and wash your mask and clothes while you still can.  If you don't take me up on my offer soon, I'll be forced to mix your own blood in with those dirt stains."

"Your insults m
ay give you an advantage with some people little boy," said the masked person.  "But they will not give you an advantage over a great hero such as me!"

"You know what's funny?" questioned Nemeth.  "You keep calling me a
little boy, yet you're the same height as me.  You're probably the same age as me too.  You're pretending to be an adult and you've failed to convince me otherwise.  You say that you're a hero, but you're definitely no hero at all."

The masked person began to laugh loudly.

"I don't normally want to work with others either," continued Nemeth.  "We could have teamed up and dealt with Terazhul together.  Now you're going to be nothing more than another easy practice fight.  I'm the hero here, not you."

"I've done more good deeds than you today," said the masked person.  "Earlier today I saved a family of four who was traveling on horseback from a group of bandits."

"That's nothing compared to what I did today," replied Nemeth.  "I saved over a dozen innocent children from being sentenced to execution by a corrupt court system!"

"I don't believe a word coming out of your mouth," said the masked person.  "You probably slept all day."

"I don't believe a damn thing you said either," replied Nemeth.  "Just shut up and fight!"

The masked person dashed for
ward and began to perform a series of short vertical strikes with his daggers.  One dagger would strike Nemeth's sword and the other would strike his shield.  The sound of metal striking metal rang loudly throughout the air.  Nemeth was pushed backward with each subsequent strike but managed to avoid injury.

"Jaida, I need your help!" yelled Nemeth.  "Give me an overall threat score and
overall threat level for this masked maniac!"

"Calling for help so soon?" asked the masked person.  "I haven't even begun to show
you the extent of my capabilities."

"Let me see master," replied Jaida.  "It appears that the masked individual's overall threat score is 15,500 out of a possible 1,000,000 points.  His overall threat level to you is low."

Nemeth needed to back the masked person into one of the oak trees.  Nemeth charged forward and delivered a horizontal slash with his sword which was blocked by both of the masked person's daggers.  Nemeth delivered a swift vertical slash with his sword but once again it was blocked by the daggers.  It appeared that the masked person was skilled at using daggers as a shield.  Nemeth continued to move forward at a slow pace while slashing his sword.  Every shot was blocked by the daggers.  After a seventh failed slashing attack by Nemeth, the masked person spun around in a circle very fast cutting at Nemeth's shield horizontally and causing sparks to ignite.

"Oh masked one, you are truly the lone hero of the land!
" shouted Jaida.

Jaida started
moving rapidly side to side above Nemeth's head.  The masked person looked at Jaida taking focus away from the battle with Nemeth.  Nemeth used this to his advantage as he was able to bash his shield into the masked person's chest knocking them backwards and much closer to a large oak tree.  A strong warm wind started to blow from the west.  The masked person leapt high into air over Nemeth and tried to stab Nemeth from behind.  Nemeth was able to counter the strikes from the daggers by crossing his sword diagonally over his head and behind his back.  With all of his might, Nemeth trust his sword up into the air launching the daggers into the air.  With his sword pointed skyward, Nemeth quickly did a 180 degree spin and swept the legs of the masked person knocking them to the ground.  One of the daggers fell flat on the ground and the other dagger pierced the soil.  Both daggers were far out of reach for either combatant to reach.

"Not bad for a little boy," said the masked person.  "But I can still maim you with my bare hands and claim victory."

Nemeth slashed his sword vertically at the masked person, but the attack was countered when the masked person caught the guard of his sword with his hands.  The masked person grabbed Nemeth's left arm with his legs and twisted it until finally Nemeth's sword fell to the ground.  The masked person sprung up from the ground, faked throwing a punch and then started throwing a series of front kicks at Nemeth.  Nemeth blocked five of the front kicks with his shield but the sixth front kick finally knocked his shield out of his hand.  Nemeth threw a spinning back fist but the masked person ducked under it.  Nemeth lunged forward throwing a flurry of punches but the masked person performed a backflip to avoid them.  The masked person flipped into the air and delivered a vicious kick to the side of Nemeth's face knocking Nemeth onto his back.  The masked person quickly mounted Nemeth forcing their body weight on him while grabbing both of his wrists.  Suddenly, the warm wind started to blow even stronger.  A dark shadow appeared beneath Nemeth's body and started to spread out across the area.

"The Forestial Corruption spell
has just spread to this area!" Jaida yelled out.  "You two need to stop fighting and work together now!"

The masked person was distracted again momentarily allowing Nemeth to turn himself over to his side.  With some more force, Nemeth was finally about to turn himself once more until he was
mounted on top of the masked person.  Nemeth clenched his left fist tightly and began to punch the masked person in the side of the head repeatedly.  He had hoped to draw blood but only managed to hurt his fist.  Nemeth noticed a small leather pouch attached to the masked person's pants.  Nemeth reached for the person's mask in an attempt to pull it off and reveal just who his assailant was.

"Give me your mask!" commanded Nemeth.  "You can't defeat me, so just show me who you are and surrender!
  Don't make me use magic on you!"

The masked person covered his mask with one arm while trying to punch Nemeth
from the ground.  Nemeth pulled the small leather pouch off of his attacker and tossed it aside.  Nemeth picked his opponent's head off of the ground and bashed it into the ground over and over several times.  Nemeth managed to lift his opponent's head and place his left arm under his jaw.  He reached around with his right arm and clasped his hands together tightly causing a tight chokehold to be applied.  With one final desperate effort, the masked person managed to roll backwards and break out of the chokehold.  The masked person then rolled over onto his back and glanced at the dark sky above.  Nemeth rolled backwards and sat down facing the masked person while trying to catch his breath.   Slowly both of them got up to their feet and faced each other.

"Now
look at what you've done," gasped the masked person.  "Whatever that thing travelling with you is correct.  The Forestial Corruption spell's area of effect has spread here now.  Things are going to be even more difficult for me because of you.  But no matter, I am still going to be the one to stop Terazhul.  Goodbye for now."

"You can't leave unless I say you can!" yelled Nemeth.  "I'm not finished with you yet!"

Nemeth lunged forward and hit the masked person with a palm strike to his right ear.  Nemeth grabbed the masked person's hands.  Nemeth dragged the masked person with all of his strength towards the closest oak tree.  Nemeth spun the masked person around in a circle slamming them into the oak tree with a loud thud.  Their hands released from one another and large pieces of bark fell off the tree.  Nemeth delivered a strong uppercut with his left hand to his opponent's jaw, followed by a left knee to the stomach.  Nemeth hit his opponent with nasty sounding slaps across the side of the head with the back of his right hand multiple times.  Blood began to trickle out of the right ear and mouth of the masked person.  Nemeth stomped hard on the masked person's left foot and applied enough pressure to hold him in place.  Nemeth then applied a standing arm bar submission hold on the masked person.

"You can't get a
way from me," said Nemeth.  "Can't you see I've won?  I didn't even try my hardest.  Heck, I didn't even use any magic on you.  You're bleeding from the mouth and even one of your ears.  That means you're mortal.  I probably gave you a couple of broken toes too.  How dare you call yourself a hero?  You're pathetic!  Now you have 5 seconds to surrender otherwise you're going to see the inside of your arm very up close and personal."

The masked person remained silent. 
Suddenly, one of the tree's lower branches came alive and started to wrap itself around the masked person's torso.  Nemeth let go of the standing arm bar and performed a back handspring to avoid any danger.  The tree branch began to drag the masked person backwards.  The masked person reached into their pocket and dropped several pellets on the ground.  The surrounding air instantly turned into thick smoke.  Nemeth ran away from the smoke and tried finding his sword and shield.  In about half a minute the smoke dissipated.  Nemeth looked at the tree but the masked person was nowhere to be found.  The tree branch had returned to its original state.