Tierra: The Shadow War [Book One]

Chapter V

The nearest village was right at the edge of the Kingdom. The people there never liked it there because of the worry of being the first place to be attacked. Of course, that never happened.

And Rena wasn't going to let it happen.

The other issue with that village was their superstitions. Rena know they would freaked out over any little thing, even her own visiting them would set them off. But she knew this would get the people into trouble.

The village it's self was small. Rena only heard tales of the place and this would be her first time seeing it. The village had one long street were all the businesses were. The houses had no set street or any organization. And Rena knew that would be confusing for visitors.

It took them almost the entire day just to get to the village and by the time they reached the place, it was almost sun down. Rena marched up to the single three story hotel and walked right in. The girl at the desk looked up in surprise, "P-Princess! We-We didn't know you were coming!" She stuttered. "Wh-what can we do for y-you?"

Rena quickly soften her gaze and gave a friendly smile, "Well I would like to see the sheriff if possible please."

The girl nodded, "I'll go get him." She slipped out the door quickly.

Each village had a sheriff, or two, depending on the size. They acted like a mayor in away. They were in charge of their village. Rena didn't know who the sheriff was for this village but she had to warn him of the Shadows that could be coming. Or already here.

Rena shivered at that thought. A Shadow could be watching right now, getting ready to attack at any given moment. She tried to push the thought away as the girl came back with the village's sheriff.

He was a medium sized man and didn't have much of a build to him. Probably because there was no trouble in Tierria, he didn't need to look intimidating. The sheriff gawked at Rena for a bit before bowing, "Princess! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Sheriff," Rena replied as he stood up straight again, "I have come with a warning. There are creatures that blend into the shadows and they are highly dangerous. They have already killed off a village and we believe they might be targeting this village next since you are so close by."

Rena let the sheriff take the news in before continuing, "Do you have anyone here with magic?"

The sheriff nodded, "Yeah. A ten year old boy. A fire mage."

A boy? A little boy is all they had? Rena looked at Sensiil and he gave a subtle nod. Rena faced the sheriff again, "May I speak with him?"

The sheriff nodded and lead them to a small two story house. Rena looked around then notice the sheriff kiss a women on the cheek and whisper something to her. Rena had a feeling that the women was his wife.

The family was having dinner and Rena noticed the three children. Two boys, one girl. All seemed younger then 12. The mother looked at the sheriff in shock then she noticed Rena standing there. One of the boys looked over, clearly overheard his parents, and gave Rena a huge smile.

Before she knew it the boy was in front of her, "I'll be happy to fight off these creatures for you Princess!"

"Tyson! Please..." The mother pleaded then looked at Rena, "He's just a kid, you can't make him fight for you. What about that wizard in the city? Can't he do it?"

Before Rena could reply, Sensiil spoke, "The wizard is the cause of this. The creatures are his fault and we don't know how to fight it. We need someone with magic to help stop them if possible."

Tyson looked at Rena still, "I can do it Princess. I'm pretty good at it too."

Rena looked at the parents, "The village in danger. I promise that your son will receive the highest training in the kingdom. And your other children as well."

The parents exchanged looks before nodding, "Alright," The sheriff said, "If you also promise to bring him home safely."

"You have my word," Rena promised.

But she wasn't sure how the battle would go, wither she could keep her promise. Sensiil had a plan though, and it was their only plan that would keep the village safe.

Once dark, Rena waited alone in the street. Just as planned, the Shadows began to grow out of the darkness. They saw her first and began to make their way towards her. She waited before turning and running, Shadows in pursuit.

She reached a field where Sensiil, Sazhor, and little Tyson waited. Rena noticed that Sazhor had found them and sighed. Dealing with him wasn't what she wanted to do, but she knew she needed his help.

She reached them and took a look behind her. Sensiil was right. The Shadows did follow. She nodded to Tyson and stepped out of the way.

She watched as the boy lit his hands on fire then shot fire balls at the Shadows. The creatures burned at the fire and disappeared. Tyson kept fighting as more came. Rena looked at Sazhor and gave a single nod. Soon the older wizard joined Tyson in shooting the Shadows with fire.

She knew Sazhor could fight well on his own, but they had to provide multiple targets to confuse the Shadows. Soon, Sensiil was flying above and doing his part of breathing fire at them. Now it was just Rena, shielded by the fire from the Shadows.

She watched for an end to the creatures but more kept coming. She frowned, not understanding why. Surely fire could hurt the creatures? But how did the last village get burned down if not by fire?

Then it hit Rena.

They were immune to fire because of their previous attack on the other village. Being attacked by fire made them immune. "Guys! Stop!" She called to them, but they couldn't hear her cries.

She turned around to look for something to catch their attention, but instead, she found a single Shadow coming towards her.

Rena screamed as it consumed her in darkness and she lost conscience.

Head hurting, Rena opened her eyes to find herself laying on a couch. Tyson stood right above her which caused her to scream again, making them both jump. The boy soon recovered, "Princess, are you alright?"

"What happened-wait. This far too familiar....what happened after the Shadows took hold of me?" Rena changed her question.

"Well, I was the first the notice because I heard you scream. You're very pretty by the way. So I turned around and shot the monster, controlling my fire so it would hurt you. You have very nice eyes too. Then Sazhor noticed and we retreated back to my house. Also, the monsters left! Gone! No more!" Tyson told her with a huge smile.

Rena looked around, it was only her and Tyson around. She sat up quickly, "Sazhor...where is he?"

"He's making sure the monsters are gone. Sensiil too. Father's calming down the villagers with Mother. My brother and sister are with them too. I said I would stay here in case you woke up and you did!"

"You...were watching me in my sleep?" Rena asked, a little creeped out.

"Yup!" Tyson said with a smile, "But don't worry, Mother changed your clothes because they were all burnt."

Rena looked down at the simple white sleeping gown that replaced her clothes from the dragons. "Um...she didn't by any chance provide any other clothing?"

Tyson gave her a set of folded clothes that looked exactly the same as her other clothes. Rena nodded her thanks before going upstairs to change. She came back down and Tyson had breakfast laid out for her. "Wow." Was all she could say as she sat down and begun to eat.

Once Rena had eaten she left the house with Tyson following. She had to find her friends again. A repeat of what happened only two days prier was not on her list.