The Warriors Of Legend {HIATUS}

Chapter 16

(F/N)

   "Are Djinns real?" I asked myself. I was looking at Farangis' ritual, I suppose, ever since she went to the riverbank.

   "Maybe they are," Elam answered. "After all, they helped us in tight situations."

   I hummed in response. It could still be a coincidence but it could also be real. Not that I could ask the question directly to Farangis if they are real or not. It's funny. I've taken an interest in Djinns. It didn't take long before the priestess returned.

   "The Djinn are in a rather foul mood. It seems there are bloodthirsty folk nearby," Farangis said.

   "Those pursuing us?" Daryun asked.

   "So, they have caught up to us. We were forced to take many detours to avoid the ambushes, after all," Narsus said.

   "I swear... This has been an uneasy journey," Gieve said.

   "It can't be helped. We're the ones on the run," I responded.

   Gieve jumped down the tree where he sat. "The one good thing is that I am with you, Mistress Farangis," he said to the priestess.

   "For me, being with you is the one stroke of misfortune, though," Farangis remarked.

   I whistled. "That's one great remark."

   "Mistress Farangis!" Gieve exclaimed. "You are a priestess who serves god! You must not be false to what is in your heart."

   "It seems this is no time for jests," Farangis said.

   As soon as she said that, we saw light that were emitted from torches coming our way. Without hesitation, we mounted our horses and rode them away from our pursuers. We stopped when we had made quite the distance from them.

   "Your Highness, please go on ahead," Daryun said.

   "What?" Arslan said, clearly confused.

   "I will handle matters here," the black night said.

   "But..." Arslan tried arguing to which Daryun responded with only a nod before riding off to the direction of our pursuers.

   "Daryun!" Arslan exclaimed.

   "Your Highness," Narsus said, stopping the prince from following Daryun. "Daryun will be alright. We should go on ahead."

   "All right," Arslan agreed.

   Arrows were soon fired at us. My right hand immediately clutched the hilt of my sword. If not for Narsus' alertness, some of us would've been hit by those arrows. "We should get moving," I said.

   "We are charging through the woods! Protecting His Highness comes first!" Narsus said.

   "Yes, sir!" Elam said.

   "Aye to that," Gieve said.

   And with that we rode deeper into the woods. Every one of us becoming more alert of the possible ambushes. Even when Daryun decided to stay behind, there were still some soldiers who got past him.

   We came to a halt when we reached a small clearing in the forest. I closed my eyes and listened attentively for the noises of the soldiers, and fortunately, they were now distant. "We have made quite some distance with the Lusitanians. But they could catch up with us any time soon. We should still get moving," I said.

   Arslan looked at me and nodded but soon froze. "Where are Narsus and Farangis?" he asked.

   Me, Elam and Gieve looked behind us to see no one. "It seems we lost them along the way," the minstrel said.

   I heard Arslan gave out a worried "ha". It is clear that he is getting uneasy that some of our companions got left behind. I glanced at Gieve's quite confused reaction. Is something wrong? Is something bothering him? Was it Arslan's reaction or the fact that Farangis is not with us?

   On the other hand, Elam approached Arslan, in attempts to ease the prince's agitation. "Let us continue on, Your Highness," he said. "We are certain to see them all again at Peshawar."

   "They are strong, Arslan. They will not be defeated. Trust them," I added. "We will see them safe and sound."

   Arslan nodded. "You are right," he said with a smile.

   "Let us go," Elam said.

   We took the right fork, in hopes that we could avoid battle. Although not too long, some soldiers that were on watch spotted us. I saw them took out their bows and aimed their arrows in our direction. "You go on ahead. I'll take care of these soldiers," I said, drawing my sword and riding towards the direction of the attackers.

   "(F/n)!" I heard Arslan exclaimed.

   "I'll be fine. Go!" I shouted.

   The first arrow was released, to which I successfully dodged. Others followed. I dodged some. I cut some. I slashed the chest of the foot soldier that was within my reach. I got down my horse, I'm not fond in battling while riding in one, and started attacking the soldiers. Some were panicking by my sudden appearance that they clumsily aimed arrows at me. Others, those who were calm, draw their swords and run towards me. To lessen their numbers, I targeted first those who panicked. Dodge. Slash. Parry. Dodge. Slash. Parry. I repeated those actions again and again until I have put half of them to eternal slumber.

   I eyed the remaining soldiers attentively. I want them to make the first move. And I didn't wait long. Three charged my way. I parried the sword of the first one, kicked the stomach of the second and dodged the attack of the third. After putting some distance between me and the second and third soldier. I plunged my sword in the chest of the first. I then threw two daggers at the third, successfully hitting his neck and forehead. I then rushed to kill the second. As soon as my sword came contact with the neck, an arrow hit my right shoulder.

   "What the?!" I looked up to see a soldier up in a tree, aiming another one at me. When he released the arrow, I immediately dodged while taking the two daggers, I threw earlier, from the dead man. I once again threw them. But this time with force and anger at the soldier in the tree. Both daggers hit his forehead. I walked towards his body. He was dead, that's for sure but I wasn't satisfied. I plunged my sword in his neck.

   "That's for injuring me." I took out my weapons from him. "My, you placed me in a bad mood." I also took out the arrow. I can feel myself get angrier by each passing moment. I wasn't attentive enough to sense that there's a soldier hidden and got myself injured. I still got more ways to go. I turned to the remaining soldiers. "Let's finish this off quickly." I returned my sword to its sheath. I switched my weapon into the two daggers. I swiftly ran towards the soldiers and ruthlessly killed them all.

   It was over in an instant. I was breathing heavily. My eyes still seeing red. I need to calm down. I placed my daggers in their original places and took deep breaths. It took me a while before I calmed down. When I decided that I was fine, I whistled for my horse to come. (H/n) immediately came. I caressed (his/her) forehead. "Let's head to Peshawar."

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Disclaimer:

I don't own Arslan Senki (The Heroic Legend of Arslan). It belongs to Yoshiki Tanaka and Hiromu Arakawa. I only own some plot changes and the like but most of the story (characters, places, etc.) belong to the authors.

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A/N:

Hello! Sorry for not updating for a month. :( Hope you enjoyed chapter 16! ^^ Thank you, minna-san, for supporting my story!

See you in the next chapter~