Then, we woke up, packed the carriage, and hitched it up to Corrin and Polaris's horses. They sat in the carriage while I rode along side the carriage on my horse that I have called Black Lightning.
It took almost half the day before we finally got to Ardin. Corrin and Polaris took the carriage into town and gave it to the people. When they got back, Corrin asked, "Aren't you going to visit your cousin?"
"Who? I don't have a cous--," I suddenly realize my mistake I just made. The next thing I know, Polaris had me pinned against a wall in an alleyway.
"Now," he spoke in a quiet, deep voice, "you better give us a good reason why you lied to us. Tell us, or you will be gutted right here, right now."
I started to hyperventilate and I spilled out everything. "I was sent to stop the Heartless from getting a secret power to take over the world and I need to stop them before they can start another Great War!" I gasp for air and sigh. It was finally out. Polaris kept me against the wall and Corrin tried to decipher what I just spewed out.
"The Heartless? Then, you must be going to the Black Castle in the Forbidden Plains. Well, now that you told us, I guess we got to help you. We have to save the world, right, Polaris?"
Polaris only stared into my soul, but he eventually dropped me onto the cobble ground. "Might as well. We have nothing else to do." I look up at Polaris. He was not doing it for the world. He was doing it because Corrin wanted to do it. I stood up and shook their hands. "Well, I guess it will be a pleasure to work with you. I hope you know what you are getting involved in, right?"
"Of course we do. It comes with all dangerous tasks. We want to help save the world that we live and thrive in. When do we leave?" I look up at the sky. The sun was in the middle of the sky. "We can leave now. We want to get as close to the castle as we can." We gather ourselves up and walk out of town. After a few minutes, we finally get the end of the wall that stands between the civilized world from the monster realm. When we get cleared to pass, we walk for a few minutes and I pull out a map my master thankfully packed for me.
"Okay, according to this map, we need to head in the western direction, which is," I look to my compass, "this way." I put the map and the compass into my pack and lead the group to the west. We continue to walk for many hours until the dark moon of the monster realm starts to set.
"It is getting dark and it is dangerous to travel when the monster moon sets. We can set up camp and I think my master packed me a scroll of sanctuary, so we will be invisible to evil forces." Corrin and Polaris started to pitch the tents while I dig in my bag for that scroll. "Here it is," I open it up and read the magic words. A light flashed around the scroll and a dome flew up around us and disappeared. "Okay, that is all set up. Here, let me help." We finished pitching the tents and we made a quick fire to cook some preserved meat that I packed.
After our makeshift dinner, we crawled into our tents, and, one by one, fell asleep. Despite being in a world of terror and destruction, I had a very peaceful rest. Until, in the middle of the night, I was violently grabbed and thrown out of my tent. I crashed onto the ground and, before I can react, and I was quickly scooped up and tied to a tall post that was erected just outside our camp. Corrin and Polaris have been tied up, too. How was anyone able to see us? I look at our captors and sense their magical power. They must of had a spell of dispel.
"Erados, how did they find us in your sanctuary spell?"
"They used a spell of dispel which removes any magical enchantments in an area, including ours." I stare at them and I catch a symbol on all of their cloaks, a broken heart. "What do you want with us, you Heartless scum?" After I said that, a cloaked figure walks over to me and gets his face close to mine.
"You are a half-elf, aren't you? Look like we caught a whopper, boys! Master will love to play with you. Now, be a good monster and wait quietly until he gets here." The man laughs boisterously and walks to the other men. I try to yell at him, but I lost my voice. They must have used some sort of spell on us to keep us quiet. After slow, painful minutes pass, the men line up and stand in a straight line, at attention. Then, a tall man walks out from behind the line, he wore a jeweled circuit around his head and a large necklace around his neck. He shared the same emblem as the rest. He must have been the master the other man was talking about.
"Ah," the dark master says in a surprisingly soothing voice, "you must be Erados. It is so nice to meet your acquaintance. I have been wanting to see you ever since I heard you were coming to the Black Castle to get my precious scroll. Well, let me just tell you that that won't be happening. This is the last time you will see this lovely land. But, I first want to start with your friends. Hm, who to choose, who to choose. Let's start with this big brute." He walks over to Polaris. I realize that he is still asleep. They must of used sleeping dust so it would be easier to capture him. "Hello. Wakey, wakey. Hm, well, I guess he won't know what hits him." The man starts to laugh and throws a punch into Polaris's gut. Polaris yelps in pain and doubles over. "Ah, that did the trick. Hello, again." Polaris grunts and groans as he tries to pull free of the ropes. "Oo, we have a fighter here. I don't like my toys strong, like you." He pulls out a ragged-edged knife and prepare to thrust it into Polaris.
Then, suddenly, an arrow comes from the hill and stabs the man in the hand. He screams loudly and all of his followers crowd around him. Next, a small, squat man runs from the hill and, with an axe, chops down a follower after another. While the followers were busy, a young woman also ran down from the hill with a bow. She must have been the one to fire the arrow. She comes over to Polaris first. "Hey, Poly. It's me."
To Be Continued..
