Legacy of Herobrine ✓

Chapter 04

Faolan completely ignored the incoming soldiers and ran out into the street, where Celeste lay, unmoving. He rolled her over and shuddered. Two arrows stuck out of her chest, and her eyes were gazing at something that Faolan couldn't see.

"Celeste? Celeste! No!" He yelled and turned around as the marching of the soldiers got closer. Tears streamed down his face. He couldn't stop them. He might as well die too.

But something jumped out of the woods next to them, a blur of blue and brown. It landed in the midst of the soldiers, completely disrupting their air of order and synchronization. They floundered around, trying to hit the villager fighting within them. But the figure was like a shadow among them.

Faolan watched, numb with grief, as the villager jumped out of the crowd and landed a few blocks away from him. He recognized her as the hooded stranger from earlier that day.

"Follow me," she said briskly. She pulled down her hood to reveal a girl his age, with blonde hair streaked with red in a braid. Her dark skin was smudged with black dye, as if it gave her cover in the daylight.

"But--But I can't..." He stuttered, holding Celeste in his arms.

The soldiers were starting to regain their senses and realize that the stranger wasn't within their ranks. In moments, they'd be ready to attack again.

"Faolan. You have to trust me," the stranger snapped.

She started to pull him away from the village, and he resisted, trying to stay by Celeste's side. "No! I can't go!"

"Leave her, Faolan! You're alive, and that's what's important." She said sharply and gave him a mighty pull. They disappeared into the trees, leaving the soldiers dumbfounded.

"Where'd they go?" One asked.

"I think I saw them go into the forest," another responded.

"I ain't going in there! They's got wolves and stuff in forests." One exclaimed.

From the wreckage of Faolan's restaurant, the remaining soldiers and the General stepped out, glaring at the small patrol of soldiers.

"You lost them?" The General growled.

Most looked away or bowed their heads, but one piped up and said, "We killed the girl."

The General glanced at Celeste's unmoving body and sighed, "Yes, it seems so. But you didn't complete your mission. The boy is still on the loose. I want you to catch him. And who was that other villager in the cloak?"

The soldier shrugged. "I dunno. But she was fast."

He let out an exasperated noise, something between a snarl and a sigh. "Well, find her too. You're all going overtime. Search the forest. Don't stop until you find them."

Faolan and the stranger tore through the forest, pushing branches out of the way and dodging oaks like gazelle in a field. Faolan wasn't the most fit person in the world, though; he panted and stumbled while the strange girl leapt over fallen trees with grace.

"Wait... stop... wait up!" He called. She turned around and rolled her eyes.

"We need to hurry. They could still be after us." She said.

Faolan made a T with his hands and said, "Hold up. I need explanations. Who are you? What's going on?"

"I think you know what's going on."

"Sorta... but who are you?"

The stranger sighed and completely removed her cloak. "My name is Bridget. I'm a loner, but I'm devoted to helping Descendants live full, unthreatened lives."

Faolan didn't say anything.

But now that they were away from the danger, more or less, his anxiety started to set in. Everything came rushing back to him like a bad dream. Celeste was dead. The restaurant was destroyed. The government was looking for him, and Faolan had nothing but the stuff in his inventory--no bank, no chests, not even a simple mule to carry his stuff.

Faolan sat down on a fallen log and buried his face in his hands. Bridget laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, but it was as light and insignificant as a breeze to him.

And he started to cry.