Valtava: Dragon Sword

Chapter 8

Stephen pulled out a map, flattening its creases and holding it under the early morning sunlight. He pointed to a spot on the map and said, "This is where we are now. The place where Mr. Turner resides is up here, close to the coast. I would suggest we avoid this route as we could bump into their guards again."

Tony stared at the map, trying to orientate himself and absorb in the detailed drawings and all the unfamiliar names on it. "How will we get back to the Northern Lands then? Surely we would have to go by boat. Unless we follow this long route down and around." He drew his finger south of Essear, through several regions and making a circle until it landed in the white territory labeled Northern Lands.

"That would be far too long. I believe Elonia also has a harbour that is actively involved in trade with Marrock City. If we go there, we could find you a ship back to Valtava, and then it wouldn't take you too long to travel back to the Northern Lands."

Tony nodded. As he had no knowledge of the kingdom of Dragmone, he decided to follow Stephen's plan. The two youngsters packed their belongings and headed out for their journey.

They traveled by feet, walking along a dirt path that winded through the forest and occasionally passed small villages. Stephen had a pouch of coins that they used sparingly to buy food. At night they would try to make themselves comfortable by finding other old uninhabited buildings, and some nights they were lucky enough to have villagers take them in as guests. Although the days were long, hot, and exhausting, they enjoyed every moment of it and bonded closer every day.

Soon, the scenery of forests and villages changed into vast empty plains and fields of tall, untrimmed grass. They followed a dirt road that divided the grass and admired the beautiful landscape. Just when they were gazing at a hawk hovering in the sky above them, they heard a faint high pitched scream.

"Ahhhhh! Help!!"

Tony and Stephen turned their heads into the direction of the voice and spotted a single tree in the distance with a group of people around it. "It's a girl's voice..." Stephen said. They both took off and ran to the group until they could see a girl tied up to the tree by rope, with several farmers surrounding her. One farmer was holding a knife up to her face, the blade almost making contact with her skin.

"Help!! Someone save me!" she cried.

"Shut your mouth or else we'll have to do it the hard way!" the farmer holding the knife yelled.

Tony was about to step forward, but Stephen stopped him and whispered, "Stand back. I'll go talk to them." Stephen then walked up to the farmers and cleared his throat loudly, shifting everyone's attention onto him.

"Who are you?" one of the farmers questioned.

"I'm here to stop you. A group of grown men bullying a vulnerable girl, is that what you call a hero? Put your knife down at once or else I won't be polite," Stephen ordered.

The farmer holding the knife pointed it towards Stephen. "Get out of here, this is none of your business!"

"Do you know who I am?" Stephen asked, flipping his bangs out of his face. "I'm the son of Viscount Hildebrand. If he finds out about your conduct, I'm sure you won't have a good ending! You'd better all be obedient if you want to keep your lives."

"Viscount Hildebrand?" repeated the farmers as they all glared at each other.

The one with the knife let out a laugh and said, "You? The son of Viscount Hildebrand? Why don't you take a look in the mirror before you say that? Only a fool would believe someone as filthy and poor as you would be his son!" He then gestured towards the other farmers and shouted, "Beat him up!"

The farmers all rushed towards Stephen and began throwing punches and kicks at him. Stephen tried to duck and avoid their moves, but there were too many of them and he was being hit in the chest and back. Tony dashed up to them, blocked some of their moves and struck them lightly, being careful not to injure them but using enough force to push them back. The farmers took a moment regain their balance and see who it was that was attacking them.

"Another little rascal! Who are you?"

Tony held his hands up with etiquette and said, "I apologize for being disrespectful. But I'd like to know why you have captured this young lady and why you are threatening to kill her."

"This one is here to cause commotion too, everyone charge!"

The farmers all teamed up on Tony, some grabbing their tools as weapons and lunging forward at him. However, they fought with no technique, and Tony was easily able to dodge their moves. With each fist, he knocked them backwards and sent them onto the ground. As Tony hit his last target, he turned and realized the one with the knife was standing next to the girl, holding the knife up to her neck.

"Stop what you're doing if you want this girl to remain alive!" the farmer yelled.

Tony somersaulted in the air, kicked his feet onto the branch of the tree and landed on the other side. Before the farmer could react, he struck the farmer in the arm, causing him to fall forward and let go of the knife. Tony swiftly picked up the knife and cut the rope around the girl, setting her free. He grabbed her by the waist and flew into the air until they landed next to Stephen.

By now, all the farmers were moaning in pain and had no energy left to fight him. To Tony's surprise, they all got onto their knees and bowed down to him.

"Young master, please spare us. We did not mean any harm, we just have no choice but to resort to improper means," one farmer pleaded.

"What do you mean by that?" Tony asked.

"We have been suffering from a terrible drought for three years in a row. There are no crops for us to harvest, and we are all starving. If we don't get help from the ministers, we will all die from hunger!"

Tony and Stephen exchanged glances, suddenly feeling pity for the men. Stephen asked, "What does this girl have to do with all of this?"

"We found her passing by the fields and saw she was wealthy, so we decided to take her as hostage until her family can bring us goods. We understand this is unchivalrous, but we really can't think of any other way to survive," a farmer spoke, bending his head down in shame.

Tony and Stephen peered at the girl, who no longer had the frightened look that she had previously. "It's true, I was traveling along here with my uncle to deliver cargo to Essear. These farmers captured me and ordered my uncle to return with food in exchange for me."

Tony thought for a moment, then turned to Stephen and asked, "How many buns do we have left?"

Realizing his intentions, Stephen took out the paper bag from his tunic and looked inside. "We have three. But we still have a long way to go, I'm afraid..."

"These farmers must not have eaten for days. Let's do a good deed and share the buns with them," Tony said. Unable to object, Stephen took out the buns from his bag and handed them to the farmers.

"These are all we got, split them among yourselves. You can let this girl go now, right?" Stephen said.

"Thank you so much, young heroes!" the farmers exclaimed, kowtowing their heads.

The girl turned to face Tony and bowed to him as well. "Thank you for saving me, sir!"

"Don't mention it," Tony said, gesturing his hand politely.

Stephen went up to the girl and asked, "Miss, where is your home? It would be dangerous for you to travel all by yourself, we can take you there."

The girl smiled, "I'm from Elonia, it's just a few days away by carriage. But my uncle took the carriage with him..."

"No worries, we can walk you there!" Stephen said with a gleeful smile.

"Then, I guess I will trouble the two of you."