The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo (Books 1-3)

Farm Chapter 4- Ekor's Last Stand

~Chapter 4- Ekor's Last Stand~

There was silence between Cecil and Corri the next morning. The two wanted to ask each other so many questions, but they didn't know where to begin. Or even if they wanted to hear the answers.

Cecil called Corri's dad a 'good-for-nothing man'. What could he possibly have done for her to speak about him like that?

The next morning, the children began putting up siding around the barn's frame.

"Remember to be gentle kids," Wilvur reminded them as they began to hammer the siding on. He didn't want to get this far, only for them to destroy it again. But the kids were appropriately gentle. Rojo perched itself atop the building as they continued, only flying out of the way when necessary.

Corri felt a slight tremor in the ground. At first, she assumed Aero had damaged something else, but when she looked on the horizon, she saw a group of hyena riders heading towards the farm. It was those bandits that had been robbing people indiscriminately. Ekor's crew.

Jirro set down a wooden beam that was meant to act as support for the inside of the barn. He looked at the hyena riders, "It's them again."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Ekor and Temp's crew of bandits.

Aero turned to Wilvur, "Tell everyone to get inside the house where it's safe. We'll take care of them!"

After seeing the feats of strength the kids displayed in the last few days, Wilvur trusted them. He gathered Joe, Cecil, and Meg into the house, and the family watched from the window.

"I'm getting really tired of these guys," Corri scowled.

Jirro cracked his knuckles, "Let's make sure they don't bother anyone again."

As Ekor and his crew of hyena riders approached, he shouted, "Go get em' boys!" They all raised their weapons into the air and charged towards the children.

The kids roared and charged ahead to meet them. Ruben tucked its arms, legs, and head around its boulder like body and rolled into a few of the bandits, knocking them off their hyenas. Jirro sprinted across the landscape in a flash, landing pinpoint strikes on several of the riders. A bandit swung their mace at Nout, who caught it with his trunk and yanked the rider off of their hyena. Nout took the mace in hand, put a little torque on it, and snapped it in half.

The Mecarne Temp attacked Corri, jumping off his hyena and throwing a sidekick at her, knocking her over. She kick-flipped back to her feet and returned her own powerful sidekick to Temp's stomach. Months ago, she stood no chance against Temp, but she's grown stronger since then.

Ekor had his eyes on Aero. He swung his massive axe horizontally at the boy. Aero dodged with ease. Ekor left himself wide open, and the black-haired boy took advantage of it. He jumped high into the air and drove his heel into Ekor's shoulder. The rotund man yelled out in pain. Each time he ran into these kids, they had grown stronger.

The kids continued to knock out the bandits one by one with ease. Corri and Temp fought evenly. Temp wasn't a fool; he saw that the kids had become too powerful. He hopped onto his hyena Kelvin and took off, leaving the other bandits behind.

Ekor's face scrunched up with disgust when he saw Temp retreat, "Coward!"

Ekor turned his attention back to Aero, who had dodged every attack Ekor attempted. He brought his axe high into the air and swung it down directly at Aero.

Aero could've easily dodged the axe, but he thought it was better to destroy it for good. The boy put his hands into the air. The axe came down right into his palms, and he withstood the brunt of the force as if he had simply caught a stick.

Ekor tried to pull his axe away, but Aero kept a firm grip of it. He punched the metal of the axe, and it shattered to pieces. Ekor pulled away and saw all he was holding was a wooden rod with scraps of metal clinging to the end.

Aero charged at Ekor, knocking the broken axe out of his hand before proceeding to ferociously attack him. He landed blow after blow on Ekor's body, and the rotund man was too slow to react or defend against any of it.

A red light began to emanate from Aero's fist. He struck Ekor once more, and the rotund man was launched high into the air away from the farm. They could hear a great thud as Ekor collided with the ground. The red light emanating from Aero's fist dissipated, and his breathing was labored.

The bandits trudged away to their hyenas and fled, terrified of the five children. It wasn't long until all of them were gone.

Aero hollered to Wilvur and the others with a smile on his face, "Okay! They're gone now! We can keep working on the barn!"

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Wilvur and his entire family looked dumbfounded at the sight of five children effortlessly defeating the gang. As Cecil watched Aero and Corri fight, she realized they had gotten that unbelievable strength from their father.

The kids continued to work on the barn as if nothing happened. They began to anticipate Wilvur's instructions before he had a chance to give them, to the point where he was doing very little to direct them.

Within a few days, the new barn was finished, sturdier than it had ever been before, painted a bright red.

"I don't suppose I could get you kids to help out as farmhands, can I?" Wilvur said as he looked at the new and improved building.

The kids shook their heads, "Sorry. We do have to get going," Aero said, "We'll try and visit again some time though."

Wilvur beamed at them, "Come by whenever you like. You're always welcome here."

They held a dinner to celebrate the completed barn. Corri and Cecil exchanged brief glances at one another throughout the meal. The kids settled in for a final night in the guesthouse.

Cecil was restless that night. She had accepted that her sister was gone ever since she ran off with Razan. She could make peace with that. But if Corri and Aero were in fact her children, why didn't they know about her? Her imagination went wild with what could've happened to Bonnie in those years.

Cecil left her home, and Corri left the guest house at precisely the same moment. The moon was high in the sky above them.

"Hi," Corri said.

"Hi," Cecil responded softly, "Can't sleep?"

The young girl nodded.

Cecil treaded to a log near their apple tree, adjusted her dress, and sat down. Corri took a seat beside her.

"Bonnie... was always rebellious," Cecil thoughtlessly began, "I don't think she was ever happy with the simple life we have here."

"Did you two get along?" Corri asked.

"...I think so. We fought a lot. But I felt like she loved me. Loved us. But as soon as Razan strode around, she felt like she had a way out."

"You said my dad was a 'good-for-nothing'. Why?"

"Razan and his friends were always getting into trouble," Cecil explained, curious if that notoriety ever caught up to them.

"Do you have any idea where Bonnie might be? If she's alive?" Corri asked.

"No. Do you?"

"No," Corri took a deep breath, "I'll have some questions for my dad when I get back home."

Everyone gave their farewells the following morning. Cecil went to hug both Aero and Corri before they left. Aero was caught off guard by it, but hugged her back. The five children headed southward towards the Fighting Academy.