Curse of the Crystals

Chapter 16: The Fight Continues - part 2

"Yes." Ambrose said, trying his best to stay close enough to Olve to heal him if necessary. Isra had been sneaky enough to have gone unnoticed, and even Ambrose had lost sight of her. He could only hope she'd be smart enough to avoid getting spotted. He didn't have much time to worry about her, however, as he could hear Olve cry out in pain. An arrow had managed to pierce through his armour, near his kneecap, where the armour was slightly weaker to allow for better mobility. Their opponent must have known about this weakness and he was great enough at archery to exploit it. Luckily enough, Ambrose could heal it in no-time, after Olve gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow. The wound was nastier than expected, which was explained when they noticed the type of arrow that was used. It was hooked and barbed on both sides, to make removing it as damaging and painful as possible. Using these types of arrows was cruel, yet effective, as without Ambrose's healing, Olve would've been defeated by a combination of pain and the loss in mobility.

Luckily enough, Olve had Ambrose backing him, and he was ready to advance on the enemy in no-time. An arrow narrowly missed Olve and went on to miss Ambrose in an equally narrow way. The shot had clearly been meant for the latter, but Ambrose remained closely behind Olve. A combination of luck, skill and a fair bit of healing managed to make them approach the farmhouse closely enough to be out of the archer's range. Due to having to take cover behind Olve's shield, they had only grasped the archer's position, without catching a glimpse of the archer themselves.

After taking a short moment to catch his breath, Olve drew his sword and entered the house, with his shield hoisted in front of him. Ambrose was soon to follow suit. To their surprise, they were met with neither arrow nor sword. The archer was simply standing there, without having an arrow drawn back. He was dressed somewhat like a traditional Forest Elf, and his stature and appearance matched that of most Forest Elves. However, his long blonde hair resembled that of the High Elves more, whereas the strange odd purple colour of his eyes was something they had never witnessed before. The bow was another thing they had never witnessed before. It was some sort of odd, dark-coloured wood and had the shape of a short-bow, yet the size of a longbow. You'd have to be extraordinarily strong to pull the string back on this bow all the way, yet considering the impact of the arrows that Olve had witnessing first-hand, he knew that's exactly what this opponent had done. The only question was why this strange archer wasn't ready to fight them right now. A little unsure, Olve took a step forwards. The man immediately looked straight at Olve, staring at him with such an intensity that it was almost as if he was watching straight through Olve. He then tried looking past Olve, looking at Ambrose.

Upon seeing Ambrose, the man smiled. He then spoke up, with an oddly elegant and charming voice. "Ah, the Human has arrived."

Although Ambrose was more than a little confused, he was intrigued in an equal measure. "Are you the archer that attacked us last night?"

The man shook his head. "No, I wasn't."

Olve immediately rebuked this claim. "Lies. Your arrows and technique are far too similar to what we saw last night."

The man merely smiled. "That is correct, yet I told no lie. I was never attacking any of you, I was attacking those that wished to inform you, those mercenaries that standing around you guys."

Ambrose clenched his teeth. So this was the type of person they'd be dealing with. "Who are you, and what is your goal?"

"I'm Vural." He answered, as he stopped for a bit before replying to the second question. "My goal is beyond your comprehension, so I'll refrain from telling you."

Ambrose wasn't entirely sure how to deal with this person. In fact, he wished that Itzal or Maiara were here, as they'd probably be able to get some actual information out of someone.