The Shield Bearer

Chapter 20

Rene ran behind Lawrence for what felt like an eternity. What might have been the beautiful scenery of a lush forest, was instead delegated to a passing blur as her only focus was on keeping pace with Lawrence. Finally, they passed through the edge of the forest and into an open meadow. In the center of the meadow, was a simple stone structure of four standing pillars, with a stone floor and an altar in the center.

The two of them slowed to a walk as they neared, what must be the temple that Rysor spoke of. Both of them were breathing heavily from their mad dash, here. Unfortunately, they weren't in the clear quite yet.

Rene heard the sound of metal boots running down the path towards them. Her experience on the battlefield, told her that there were four armored figures moving in on them fast. "We've got company!" She alerted Lawrence to the incoming danger and turned to face them, her shield at the ready. Behind her, she heard Lawrence draw his sword.

As she predicted, four figures quickly came into view, wearing chain armor and black cloaks. At least they were men, not demons. Three of them were carrying swords and shields and the fourth, had a crossbow. Rene decided that the man with the crossbow was the greatest threat. In one fluid motion, she threw her shield at him, in such a manner that he would have to deal with it's spinning edge, coming right at his head.

He managed to dodge the projectile that her shield had become and had a smug expression on his face as he turned his crossbow toward her shieldless body. But Rene flashed the crossbowman a wicked grin as she raised her hand, into the posture needed to catch the shield as it returned. His eyes grew wide, right as her shield struck him solidly in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. The shield returned to her hand and she glared at the other three mercenaries that had stopped their charge now.

"Nice!! Dad would be proud of you!" Lawrence's voice came from her left, where she could see him, comfortably holding his sword. "I don't think he ever figured that move out." He grinned at the mercenaries. "Now it's my turn!"

He roared like a dragon about to kill it's meal and rushed towards them. Rene watched, ready to offer assistance, if he needed it. He didn't. He was upon the three of them, faster than they had expected and in a flurry of spins and slashes, they went down, not landing a single blow on him.

"Hmmph!" Lawrence sounded disappointed that they went down so easily. "If I had known that they were that easy to kill, I would have let them catch us, earlier." He put his blade back in it's sheath and walked up to Rene.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you everything. I really wanted to. I still want to. But I gave my word, to my father and to others, that I would not be the one to reveal these things to you. I cannot break my word." He gave her a questioning look, trying to see if 'they' were okay.

Rene let out a frustrated sigh. She couldn't stay angry with him, especially with the explanation that he offered for keeping information from her. "Okay. I understand. I'm not going to push you to break your word." She offered him a slight smile. "Apology accepted."

Those words immediately brightened Lawrence's face. "Hopefully, Rysor will be here soon and explain things to you."

As if on cue, the sound of something large flying overhead drew their attention upwards. Rene just stared in awe of the magnificent creature that was carefully pulling his wings inward as his weight settled onto the ground of this open meadow.

Rysor was an intimidating forty plus feet long. His wingspan was even more. He was covered from head to tail with spiky scales that looked like shards of ice. Those scales sparkled like frost does in the morning light. His neck was over ten feet long and held a massive, scary looking head. He looked like every inch of his face and body, could be used to impale any fool that got close enough to try to melee him. Even with all of those icy spikes, his muscles clearly rippled with impressive power as he turned to face Rene and Lawrence.