Dustin
"Keep your guard up!" A man named Aiden shouted from the front, his voice strained as he struggled to holding his footing against the large bull ramming his shield. Ford stood beside him with a few others on the other side of Aiden.
"Stand together!" Ford yelled, and the knights quickly followed him as they crowded the boar.
"Spearmen! Archers! Your up!" My voice rang over the bull clanging against the shield. The bows twang behind me and I watched as each one buried themselves into the boar's hide. The small red bar that hung above the beast's health depleted slowly as its health diminished. The spearmen were doing their jobs as well, quickly prodding it in between the small spaces of the shields. After a minute, the red bar disappeared and the boar let out a final squeal and collapsed. A soft bell rung in my ears as the words "congratulations! You leveled!" appeared in front of me. With a grunt, I waved the words away and saw the others do the same. I shook my head and turned back towards the beast's body before disappearing and leaving a large wad of meat and bones.
"That's still disgusting." Ford grunted and I nodded in agreement.
"None the less, that's probably one of the only ways to get food around here." Aiden stated again as he prodded the meat with his sword. "We'll take this back to town and see what we can do with it."
"And the bones?"
"Bury them?" A lanky teen named James suggested. He stared at the bones with a green face and I nodded.
"They're no use to us and there's no reason to leave them out in the open." I sighed and watched as one of the archers took a few steps away from the rest of the group.
"Hey!" Ford shouted after him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I just- I thought I heard something in the bushes." The archer stated as he pointed into the bushes behind him. Sure enough, as he said that, the bushes started to move again. The leaves swished violently and my stomach tightened in fear.
"Get away from there!" I shouted, but it was to late. Another boar shot out from the bushes, head-butting the archer from behind and sending him flying face first into the ground.
Chaos ensued as we stood there petrified as the boar trampled on the unconscious archer, his health bar loosing large chunks as we stared at it in horror.
"Knights!" I finally shouted, but it was to late. A large cracking noise echoed across the clearing when the last remnants of the red bar disappeared and, a moment later, the archer's body exploded into dust.
Then the boar turned towards another one. James took a step back, a silent scream etched on his face and I swore, knowing full well that the boy wouldn't be able to defend himself.
Without thinking, I bounded forward, slashing at the boar's hide and grabbing its attention. Its eyes focused on me and I could see how bloody thirsty it was and I wondered if we had just killed its partner or child.
It charged forward and I jumped out of the way, happy that I forgoed the usual armor that the knights wore for a lighter, more comfortable cloth, but that also made me more vulnerable to a hit. It charged again and I rolled behind it, slashing at its hide which only made it angrier.
"I got you." Ford grunted as he jumped in between the boar and me, his shield catching it off guard. The others quickly followed suit, but the boar recovered from its shock and barreled over a couple of the knights and their health bars took a massive plunge.
"Heals!" I shouted and James and a young girl named Mija nodded and started to chant something in a foreign language. "Angelic Kiss!" The two shouted and the effects were immediate as the small cuts and bruises disappeared.
"Its no good, we weren't ready for this one." Ford shouted and I agreed as a plan formulated in my mind.
"How quick of a runner are you?"
"I have long legs for a reason." He retorted and I grinned.
"Good, we need to jump him again. This time, when he runs into your shield, I'm going to jump off your shoulders."
"You can explain why later." He grunted, but picked up his shield and ran forward, jumping in between the boar and our priests. Once again, the boar ran into the shield.
I kicked off the ground hard, running over Ford's arched back as I lifted the sword above my head. My bodyweight and gravity pulled me down as I shoved the sword into the boar's head. It was a critical hit and the red bar disappeared in an instance and the beast echoed one last screech before exploding into dust in front of my eyes.
"Damn, remind me not to piss you off." Ford whistled and picked up his shield as he stared down at the wad of meat and pile of bones.
"That was amazing!" James called, his eyes filled with a new level of respect and I merely shook my head and turned towards the two archers.
"What was his name?"
"Daniel." The girl answered and I nodded.
"Thank you." I told her and walked over to where Daniel died and saw a pile of broken arrows and a shattered bow sprawled out on the ground. "What happened was not fair and no one is to blame."
"His sister was here." The girl told me and I growled.
"Where is she?" I demanded.
"In the orphanage with the kids, she's only eight." The other archer took a step towards me. "I'll tell her what happened, sir."
"No, it's my responsibility." I told him. "What's her name?"
"Elyse."
I nodded and turned around to face the group. "Let's head back and make our report. Get your rest while you can." I told them all and started on the way back to town, not looking forward at telling an eight year old girl that her big brother was dead.
*
"Why do you even want me to be here?" Ele demanded as her gaze switched between me and the orphanage towering above us.
"I'm telling an eight year old that I watched her brother get trampled by a boar, why do you think?" I retorted as my hand mindlessly fell onto the hilt of my sword. "Aren't girls supposed to be in tune to each other's feelings?"
"That's empaths, Einstein." She sighed bitterly before turning towards me and crossing her arms across her chest. "Look, don't tell her that he trampled by a boar, that'll only hurt her more. Just, tell her he died a hero."
"How is that going to alleviate the pain?"
"It won't, but it won't diminish her thought of him." She muttered under her breath before turning to me again. "I'm going in there for the girl, she's going to need someone to help her through this."
"I was hoping you'd say that. I don't know how many people she may know here or how willing they'll be to help her, especially since he was not the only one to die."
"How many died?"
"From our people? Six." I grumbled angrily to myself and shook my head. "Three of them went off on their own, one of the parties found their weapons littering the ground."
"That's horrible!"
"Yeah, the worst part is that we don't know how they died." I closed my eyes and groaned before taking a step forward and walking inside. Ele stepped up next to me as a girl around my age walked up to us and my stomach dropped.
"Sam?" I hissed and she shrugged and smiled. Her blond hair was tied up in a messy bun that bounced slightly as she shifted her weight.
"You really need to work on your observation skills, mister, there's a whole bunch of us here. Most of the guys joined your escapade once they realized you were the idiot who volunteered first." Her laughter rung in my ears as she waved her hand in front of her face. "Even Leo's here and he's been hoping to run into you."
"I'm guessing you two know each other?" Ele glanced between the two of us and Sam smiled sheepishly.
"Well, I hope he knows me since I've been dating one of his best friends." The girl laughed again before glancing at me. "So, who's your friend?"
"This is Ele, I met her when we came here." I explained. "How many of you are all here?"
"Almost everyone I talk to on a daily basis as well as most of your friends." She explained sadly and I grumbled.
"I'll try and find them."
"Good, best to do it in the town so they don't kill you!"
I gave a soft snort and shook my head. "Look, we actually came here for a reason that didn't include me finding out that my classmates our here, but we need your help."
"What can I do for you?"
"We're looking for a girl named Elyse. She should be eight years old." Ele explained as she glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "Dustin needs to talk to her."
"Did something happen?" Sam questioned as she glanced between the two of us.
"Her brother died." I stated and her hands rose and covered her mouth as tears sprouted from the corners of her eyes. "I want to tell her since I was there and in charge."
"And then what? Leave her be to deal with it alone? That was her only brother!" Sam jammed her finger into my chest. "She has no one else here! You're just going to drop this on her and leave?"
"Actually-"
"Damn it, Dustin!" Sam shouted and a few people glanced over towards us.
I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed her shoulders. "Sam, listen to me!" My voice was hushed, hoping that it would get her to stop crying and to get the others to stop looking at me. "I don't plan on leaving her alone. Ele says that she's willing to take care of her as long as necessary and I'll stop in to check on her. I don't like this anymore than you do!"
"Oh." She pulled away and glanced away and then back to Ele. "You'll take care of her?"
"As best I can." The brunette promised and Sam nodded.
"There's a back office over there, you can wait in there." Sam pointed towards the back wall and at a small wooden door. "I'll bring Elyse."
"Thank you." I stated and grabbed Ele's hand, pulling her towards the back door.
"So, your classmates are here?" The girl asked as I closed the door behind
"Apparently." I pressed my back against the wall near the door and allowed my head to rest on the wall. "What about you?"
"Not that I know of. I haven't seen anyone that I know, at least." Ele shrugged and collapsed into one of the chairs. "I hope your friends won't actually kill you."
"They won't." My shoulders shook from laughter as I glanced down at her. "If anything, they'll just give me a couple punches and harass me about random crap."
"That doesn't seem to bother you?"
"Nah, I'll give them crap back."
She laughed from the other side of the room, a smile brightening her face. "Well, I hope you all have fun with that."
"Oh, sure." I shook my head and the door opened beside me as Sam and a small blond child walked inside. Her eyes were wide in fear as she glanced between Ele and myself. "Are you Elyse?" I asked her and she nodded, her arms wrapping around a small bear in her arms.
"Did something happen to my brother?" She asked, her eyes swimming with tears. I glanced at Ele, remembering what she told me before and I knew she was right. I knelt beside the eight year old and placed my hand on her shoulder.
"Before I say anything, I want you to know that Ele, here, has agreed to take care of you and I know she'll do a good job." The girl pulled away, her grip tightening around the bear as glanced at the three of us.
"He's dead?" She asked.
"Daniel died a hero."
Her face deteriorated as tears poured from her eyes and she buried her face into her bear. "Danny." She whispered and I wanted to pull her into a hug, but then Ele was beside me, wrapping her arms around the small girl.
"I'm here for you." Ele promised as she stroked the girl's hair.
"I'm sorry." I told Elyse, but I knew how empty it sounded, but the girl said nothing.
A door crashed open and I looked towards the sound and watched as the boy, James, ran through the front doors with a couple other people behind him.
"Go." Ele offered a reassuring smile. "I'll take care of her, you go take care of them."
"When will the job ever end?"
"When you get us home." Her smile softened slightly before turning back towards Elyse.
I shoved myself up off the ground and stalked past Sam and towards the others. They stopped when they saw me, each of them catching their breath. "What's going on?"
"Something's happening at the East wall." James stated and pointed at the other two. "They reported it to me and I knew you were coming here so I brought them."
"What did you see?" I asked the other two, attempting to remember their names from earlier, but failed.
"A group of people were dragging someone towards gates and that person was screaming but the others were chanting about a disgrace of god or something." One of the girls told me and I stared at her in horror, Ele's words echoing in my mind.
Please tell me that it isn't true. I thought to myself as I darted past them and hurried towards the wall.