Legend of Parocaav: The Quest for Redemption (First Draft)

Chapter XVI: Wind Mage Country

The sun begins to rise shedding light into the deserted town of Oasis. Shadows cast out from the sides of the buildings. A few scorpions run off to their homes at the sight of the early morning sun. Light shines in through the taverns second floor window, hitting Roku in the face. Letting out a yawn, she stretches while sitting up. Everyone else in the room was still asleep. All except for Drayk, who was nowhere to be found. Roku climbs out from underneath the covers and walks down the stairs. There, at the bar sits Drayk. He appears to be reading from a small pocket size notebook.

"Good morning Drayk," Roku says while rubbing her eyes.

Drayk closes the book and looks in Roku's direction. He gives her a smile. He pulls out the barstool next to his, patting it with his hand. Roku immediately accepts his invitation to join him. A pot of coffee sat steaming in front of them. Drayk pours her cup then sips from his own.

"Why would Grimm attack this village?" Roku asks.

"I'm not sure. I do know I have found yet another reason to fight though," Drayk replies softly.

Roku simply nods her head while she pours some cream into her coffee. She smells the aroma before taking her first sip. The bodies left in the tavern had been finally cleaned up and buried the night before. The sound of footsteps come from the stairs and Xel appears before them. He joins the Bringers for coffee before they decide to head out. What he wouldn't give to join them in this quest. He couldn't very well abandon the surviving children behind, nor could they be brought along either.

"Bringers of Hope," Xel begins, "When do you plan on venturing off to Oro?"

"After coffee," Drayk replies.

Roku nods in agreement, taking another sip. Xel sighs and pours himself some coffee. He glances over at Drayk curiously. He wants to ask. He should not ask. He does anyway.

"Drayk. You lost your village in an attack as well, didn't you?"

Roku almost spits coffee out when she hears the words come out of Xel's mouth. She kind of gasps a little and clears her throat. This question had burning at her, she wanted to know as well.

"Yes. The town I called home was destroyed in an attack by the Elites. I used Storm Magic to fend them off, but then mages burned the town to the ground.." Drayk swallowed hard for a moment, then continued, "An entire Resistance community laid to waste.... including my kid sister. I know what you're going through Xel. I too was powerless to stop the senseless slaughter."

Drayk had a little sister? Roku had a sinking feeling all of a sudden. She had no idea what he could possibly be feeling. The only person she cared about that has died was Leon. She had no family other than Crito, and he was still alive atop the mountain he had always lived at. Roku found herself speechless. Drayk gulped down the rest of his coffee and grabbed his sword off the counter. He put it on his back over his shoulder. Roku quickly finished as well, then grabbing her twin blades.

"Xel, before we go. I want to give you something," Drayk says as he hands the small notebook to Xel that Roku had seen him reading from earlier, "This is my personal list of alchemy. I want you to study it. It very well may come in handy."

"Thank you Drayk. I will learn from it," Xel smiles, "Good luck in your quest, Bringers of Hope."

Drayk and Roku walk out of the tavern into the desolate streets. They begin to walk south towards Oro. Knowing that this was going to be quite a journey, they had gathered food that could be kept in a small satchel that Xel had given them.

Some time later that same day~

Drayk notices that they were finally reaching the end of the desert. Up ahead grass and tress could be seen. They had made it to Wind Country at last. Strong wind was constantly up ahead. The trees appear almost permanently blown to one side from the never ending gusts. The grass waving in the breeze, no birds in the sky. They must not like the consistent winds here. A small village sits up at the top of a hill in front of them. Thinking back to the map Drayk had seen, this must be the border town of Bree, the northern most village of wind.

They climb up the steep and unforgiving hillside. It is quite rocky and has some very loose dirt. Once they reach the top, a horrific sight is what they see. Bree is a small village, no more than four buildings in size. The townsfolk are nothing more than skeletal remains. Blood stained into the ground around them. This village, like the others, had been assaulted by the Elite Forces. The sound of raucous laughter can be heard from up ahead aways. Sounds like some Elite Soldiers decided to make this their home once they took it over.

The cackling of a woman pierces the sound of the others. Chills run down Drayk and Roku's spines at the mere sound of it. It sounds cold and unforgiving, not to mention quite ominous.

"Shh. We better be careful," Roku whispers, "I have a bad feeling about this."

The woman's laughter turns to yelling. They cannot quite make out what she is saying though. Then, the sound of an explosion can be heard, overpowering the yell. Three people shoot up into the air screaming, all on fire. They come crashing down just a few feet away from Drayk and Roku. Two of them appear to have died on impact with the ground, the third looks up at them with fear in his. They were Elite Soldiers, but their masks had been burned away.

"You must leave.... before.... Mistress Karleigh finds you...." the man stops to cough up blood, "She.... is most unforgiving."

The soldier lets out his last breath before dying right before their eyes. Drayk draws his sword and immediately ignites it with fire using alchemy. Roku almost gasped in shock at his reflex.

"Do you recognize that name?" She asks him, kinda panicky.

"Karleigh is the Mistress of Evil. I have only heard horror stories about her. She is supposedly so evil and so heartless that Xivaac immortalised her and made her his bride," Drayk says to her in a whisper, "She has been torturing people, even after death since the war started centuries ago."