Five moths has passed since the release of one of the Gods of Death. The city of Shariq was set in flames along with the innocent people who had lived there. The city and the people, all set aflame.
After the flames finally died, both the death god and his accomplice disappeared without a trace. But the strangest part was that about fifty of the bodies couldn't be found when the wreckage was being cleaned up. People started to jump to the conclusion that the god took them, but the 'why' couldn't be answered.
During the time between the five months, the kings and queens of nearly every kingdom went on high alert, expecting another attack from the god. Though with the absence of the god after the burning of Shariq it left them with mix feelings of fear and curiosity.
Security has increased in every town, city, and kingdoms. With guards stationed everywhere, it's leaving everyone uncomfortable.
And as for our two heroes fate after the event at Shariq, they were able to escape the city in one piece, making them the only survivors of the tragedy. They flied into the forest hoping to get back to their home, however...
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"I think it's this way...no this way..." Jake muttered out as he was judging which direction to go. "Yeah. It's definitely this way...I think..."
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They were hopelessly lost...
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"You THINK!" Sarah said with obvious anger in her tone. "I thought you knew how to get back!"
"Well I would know which way to go if the map didn't got half burnt!" Jake said as he pulled out a burnt piece of paper and waved it in the air frantically in her direction before throwing it down and rubbed his chin.
"We've been walking for who knows how long but I know that we should have been there by now!"
"Sarah... Just trust me. We're almost there. I could feel it."
"So I'm suppose to trust a gut feeling?" Sarah said as she crossed her arms as she followed Jake, stepping on a few twigs.
"Yeeesss?" Jake stretched out the word, not even sure about his own decision.
"You suck. I hope you know that. And if we die, which I'm sure will happen because of you, I'm going to make sure the rest of your afterlife is a living hell." Sarah said before seeing Jake, which was a few paces ahead of her, fell down a hill that was hidden due to all the flora around this area. She heard Jake's grunts as he tumbled down.
"I'm okay!" Jake muttered out as loud as he can as he laid flat on his back, not sure that he just doesn't want to move or that he can't.
"Still sure this is the right way?" Sarah said as she cautiously made her way down the steep hill.
"...i hate you..." Jake said tiredly as he sat up slowly to look around. Where ever they were, it seemed that he stumbled (well fell) into a camp. There was a camp fire that was beginning to die out and a small tent rested a few feet away from it. The flap of the tent was wide open, showing a sleeping bag and a small bag, but no one was in there. It seemed whoever was here went off to do something for a moment.
"Well looks like whoever lives here is gone for now." Jake said as he turned his head back to Sarah, who had successfully made her way down the hill. "But we could ask the person for some directions when they get back..." he attempted to stand up but fell back down quickly as he let out a loud grunt, holding his ankle. "Crap! I think I sprained it!"
"Hold on, hold on. Let me see." Sarah said as she walked over to Jake and went on one knee. "Let me see."
Jake let go of his ankle slowly, allowing her to examine it.
"Hmm... Does this hurt?" she said quickly as she flicked her index finger at his ankle.
"OW! Yes, it does!" he said as he shoved her shoulder. "Knock it off, Sarah. It seriously hurts and I don't feel like joking around."
"You deserved that."
"For WHAT!"
"I told you we should have left but instead you wanted to go chase after those guards and the man in the hood. If you had listen, the map wouldn't be burnt up and we wouldn't be lost."
"Okay. I understand that your still made at me, but please give me a brea-" Jake was interrupted by an arrow getting shot into the ground a few inches away from his leg.
The two looked up to see a man standing a thick tree branch and leaned against the tree with his shoulder. He was wearing dark brown pants and a green robe that wrapped around his upper body with the hood off. He also worn a mask but it was only covering the right side of his face. The mask was a plain white with some green tribal designs on it. His hair was light brown and cut short but was still wavy. He was holding a bow with strange carving on it and was about to load another arrow.
The two then slowly started to see other people in the trees, all equipped with bows and arrows. Some were ready to shoot while other waited to see what would happen next.
The man leapt down from the branch as did five other people, all wearing the same green robe that was rapped around their bodies but no one else had a mask.
Jake sighed to himself quietly. "Ah...what now? Can't we just get a break without running into danger?"
Sarah gave Jake a glare, saying to stop it. It became silent for a moment before the man with the half-mask spoke. "You two are tress passing onto sacred land. You outsiders are not allowed to travel any further. Head back or face death."
Sarah was about to speak but was cut off by Jake. "Listen, half-face, we would love to walk away from...whatever this is and would also love not to be shish-kabobed by your arrows, however I just sprained my ankle and it would be difficult to move. Oh, and also, we are lost. So please, just leave us alone. We don't wan't any trouble from some tree climbers or whatever you people are." he said in a sarcastic, mannered tone.
"You like to talk sass, don't you human?" The man said as he walked closer, keeping his voice calm. "I wonder how well you'll be able to talk without a tong"
"Human? It sounds like your saying you aren't one yourself." Jake said. "So tell me then, what are you? An ape?"
The man continued to walk closer, keeping his composure but his eyes tells a different story.
"Ah, sorry about my friend." Sarah said as she stood up. "He is just a bit flustered to what has been happening recently and is apparently finally letting it out on you unfortunately..."
The man stopped in his place and folded his arms behind his back. "Hmm. Well at least you have some common courtesy, unlike your friend there."
"Says the guy who was threatening us." Jake said.
"Shut up." Sarah told him before going back to the man. "I apologize for intruding on your land, but we need some help. I lack medical knowledge and my friend has just sprained his foot. So maybe...can you help us?"
"No." The man replied. "Outsiders are forbidden to enter into are land, even if you don't seek harm on us. So I have to ask you again to leave now."
"But...we just need a little help, that's all."
"No."
"But...but..."
"I'll ask one more time, please leave now or face death." the man said again, this time raising his hand in the air, signaling all of them to be ready to fire. "Three."
"Wait! You can't just-"
"Two."
"Wait!"
"Fi-"
"Hold on, Michael. Hold on." The man was interrupted by an old, raspy voice that was coming their way.
It was the same old man from Shariq Sarah saw to get her fortune read.
"Michael, Michael...don't shoot these innocent kids. They mean no harm..." he said as he wobbled over to them.
"But, Hareen, these are tress passers. We are not to allow-"
"I know what the rules are. However don't forget who is in charge. Now everyone, please lower your weapons! These are our guests." As he ordered, everyone lowered their weapons and the people in the trees seemed to disappear.
"Now then," Hareen said as he walked Michael, using his walking stick to rely most of his weight. "It is nice to know that you two have made it out safe, Sarah."
"You know each other?" both Jake and Michael said in unison before glaring at each other.
"Uh, yeah. He was the fortune teller guy at Shariq." Sarah answered.
"Please, call me, Hareen." The old man said as he stopped in front of Sarah, staring at her with his cloudy eyes. "It's a shame what happened to Shariq and all those people. But at least you two made it out alive. You probably have some questions and I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my abilities. Michael," he turned to face him, "please assist her friend here and bring him to our medic."585Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9i1f1ArmQ
"Yes, Hareen..." Michael said with a slight look of disappointment on his face as he signaled the other men to help him.
"Thank you for your help." Sarah said as Michael approached but he just gave her a small glare before passing her to grab Jake.
"Easy there, buddy." Jake said, being lifted by Michael and another person.
"Alrighty then. Lets go. It's not too far of a walk." Hareen said as he turned around to start walking with the others following him. The walk only took about eight to twelve minutes in silence before they could see a large camp up ahead. Tents of various sizes around everywhere with some lanterns hanging off the branches. People where walking around from place to place but some glared at the new comers, Sarah and Jake.
"Where are we?" Sarah asked as she turned her head to look around.
"This place is our home, otherwise known as Flesheek." Hareen said.
"Wait, wait, wait." Jake said. "Flesheek? Huh, yeah right. Flesheek is suppose to be a myth. I don't buy it."
"Hareen, are you sure we should be telling the outsiders about this place?" Michael said.
"Nonsense. There just poor people in a little bit of trouble, that's all. Now, Michael, as I already said, bring Jake to the medic. After your done, take him to my tent and wait there with him until Sarah and I come in. Sarah and I need to talk in private."
"Yes, Hareen..." Michael said with a slight bow with his head before taking Jake to a different direction.
After a moment of silence when they left, Hareen continued to walk and gestured Sarah to follow which she did.
"I apologize for, Michael's behavior. He is a good kid. Just over-protective sometimes."
"Uh, no problem." Sarah said, still seeing some people of the camp stare at her. "Why are they staring at me? It's kind of giving me the creeps."
"Sorry about that too. Everyone here never met or saw outsiders before. They are just cautious."
"So...is this place really Flesheek?"
"Yes. Yes it is. This place is real and everything in it is real. Tell me, what do you know about the place from the stories."
"Well, Flesheek was suppose to be home for the Nwonknu, a race of people who lived centuries ago who were wise and very peaceful, while also having a similar look to the humans. They were full of culture and rich with rare materials. They wanted peace among the humans, which they did. But after some time, the humans were starting to use them just for their resources. Then bandits started to attack them and the Nwonknu's blamed the humans and just disappeared. That's all I know."
Hareen nodded his head slightly as he listened to Sarah. "Well that's the short version of it, but that is true. But the people here are the Kwonknu, well what's left of us. After moving from are previous homes, we ran into major dangers such as the environment and bandits. We almost were wiped out but we managed."
"So, the stories are true then?" Sarah asked, hardly believing she was hearing this.
"Well some of them. But lets talk about that at another time." Hareen said before a loud yell of pain echoed in the distance.
"Was that, Jake?"
"Sadly, yes. Our medics are great at healing wounds quickly and it would heal much quickly then any other medics could. However the process is painful. But don't worry, he'll be fine."
"But lets get to the point of things shall we? Do you know who that was in Shariq. The man who commanded that city to be burnt?"585Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYvJZnxZRh
Sarah just simply shook her head.
"A god of death, but he is called Greed. Now I'm pretty sure that you heard of these gods of death since the last time they showed up they left a mark in our history books."
"That was him? But I thought they couldn't come back into this world?"
"Not by themselves. That would require someone on this side to help him. Which did happen. Still can't believe it myself honestly. But we need to stop thinking about that and just deal with the problem now."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean 'we'? What can I do?"
"It's not only you. Your friend, Jake is involved with this as well. Along with other people but I'm not sure who."
"But why us?"
"That's a difficult question. I don't know why, but I saw you two in the vision I had during your reading. Whether it has a happy ending or not, I have no idea."
"That's comforting... But we are just people who live off by stealing food from time to time. We have never fought anyone before. And you expect us to go up against a God?"
"Gods. Plural."
"What?!"
"I'll explain the rest with you and Jake in my tent. They should be done by now."
Several minutes later, the two ended up in front of a large tent that seemed like it could hold two families in it. The two walked in to see Jake and Michael sitting on the floor glaring at each other.
"How's the ankle?" Sarah asked.
"It's good as new, but them procedure was living a moment in hell." he answered.
"You should be grateful that your even alive at this point." Michael said with his arms crossed.
"Now, Michael, manners." Hareen said.
"Sorry, Hareen."
"Now then, lets start talking." Hareen said before starting to talk to Jake about what he spoke to Sarah about, both about the place they are in and about them facing the Gods.
"Umm... Are you serious?!" Jake blurted out. "No! There is no way we are going to do that! That's suicide!"
"Well, which is better, suicide or genocide?" Hareen said. "Because either way, if the Gods get their way, we all will die or turned into slaves. So, which is better?"
"Well, NONE?! But still!"
"There was a person who stood up to all five of them and she became a legendary hero known as Heaven's Soldier. She did not argue but faced them head on."
"Well good for her! But we are not her! We are just two thieves who barely gets buy. And even if we do get help from some strangers that we never even met before, how can we win?!"
"So your giving up right here then? Your accepting that not only you will die but also your friend and family?"
Jake was about to say something, but couldn't find the right words. He didn't want any of that to happen, but he does think that this is just plain impossible for them to do.
The tent went silent and the aura was filled with despair until Hareen broke the silence.
"It is impossible, however that will only make your victory even better. To be able to say that you defeated the Gods of Death and live, you will become a hero to everyone. Heroes are rare to find nowadays, but only because they refuse to be that hero. Because they are too scared to face the sacrifices. If you ask me, I would rather die facing them with a sword in my hand then to watch in fear as they kill off everyone you knew and loved. So, what will it be, Jake?"
Again, the tent went silent. Jake was judging the whole situation and tried to find an argument but couldn't. He sighed in defeat and nodded his head. "You have a point. Fine..."
"I guess I'm in too then." Sarah said.
"Good. I am very happy that you two agreed. Maybe we have hope after all." Hareen said with a smile.
"So were leaving the fate of this world into the hands of these two then? It's been a good life I suppose." Michael said to himself.
"Actually, your going with them, Michael." Hareen said.
"What! You want me to leave my duties here to join these outsiders?"
"We'll be fine without you, Michael. We could manage. But these two will need your help in their adventure."
"Was I in this vision of your too?"
Hareen just let out a long sigh and didn't answered him, his eyes full of regret and sadness. "I do not wish to tell you. But I'm asking you to do so, Michael."
"If you wish, Hareen." Michael said.
"Thank you." Hareen said with a small nod. "Now, Greed has been missing for the past five months and I assume that he is currently searching for the other four keys to release the other Gods. I do not know where the other keys are myself, but I know someone who does. You three will need to travel up north, to the kingdom of Skcor. There, look for a librarian, name Joseph. He will help you. You three take your time to prepare for the journey. Michael, I'm sure you have some good bye's to say. So, off with you all. I need to get ready for something else as well.
The three stood up and walked out of the tent.
"I can't believe what we just got ourselves into." Jake sake, rubbing his face.
"Stop your complaining." Michael said. "We have a long journey and I do not want to listen to your complaints."
"We might have to travel together, but that doesn't mean we have to like each other. So don't tell me what to do, Half-Face." Jake said before seeing Michael walking off to do his things before the trip.
"Can't you knock that off?" Sarah asked Jake.
"What?! He threatened us not too long ago and you want me to be friends with this guy?"
"No. Just not make such a scene with this guy. Like he said, we have a long trip and I don't want to listen to you two arguing the whole time."
"Fine. I'll do my best. But no promises."
After half an hour, the three finally got all their things they need for the trip; food, water, a map, sleeping bags, and a few other things.
"Here you two." Michael said as he walked towards Sarah and Jake, holding out long daggers sheathed in leather. "I do not want to babysit both of you the whole time if you get in trouble."
Jake was about to say something but remembered what Sarah said. He just swallowed his pride and took one of the daggers. "Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks." Sarah said as she took hers but she actually sounded like she meant it unlike Jake.
Michael just raised his eyebrow at the two and just scratched his head before walking off.
Sarah and Jake gave each other a look before following Michael.
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