Trial Three~Birth
The bridge itself was made of wooden planks nailed together and held up by various, tall trees that grew from the water beneath them. Not long after crossing the bridge they came to yet another fork in the road.
"Well, what now?" Sin asked.
Tekina sighed. "The right path heads up the mountain and the left path is uh...well it doesn't say. The road just doesn't continue. It doesn't even go all the way to the shore it just disappears halfway there."
"So this lady could have either went up a mountain or disappeared midway through her vacation to the beach." Avarice groaned.
While they continued to try and figure out which direction they should go, a young man with a donkey in tow came down the road in the opposite direction to them.
"You guys lost?" He asked.
"A little. Where you coming from?" Asked Sin
"Just a little village down that way. I just went down to buy some fish to restock." He patted the bags that the donkey was carrying. "The village is a little tricky to find, Can't be found on any maps. But if ya follow this road straight and head towards the little crescent-shaped shores on your map ya might be able to find it."
"Left path it is! Thanks man!" Sin waved goodbye as they rode down the path.
The more they walked, the more the path became enclosed by mountainsides. The got to the point where the road cut off. The brush and canopy of the forest began to disappear as they tried to weave their way through the terrain without falling off the steep cliffs.
They had been searching for hours. The sun had risen to its peak and the heat was beginning to wear them down. What seemed to be a straightforward path, turned into a maze of winding bushes and vines that they often found themselves tangled in. When they came upon their thirtieth dead end in a row, Avarice snapped. He began flailing as he spun around to face the others, every so often taking a step backwards.
"This is taking FOREVER! I say we GO BACK and say we couldn't find her. MY LEGS ARE KILLING ME, THIS SUN IS GOING TO MELT ME AND IF I HAVE TO GET CUT BY ANOTHER STINKING THORNBUSH IM GOING TO—"
Avarice shut his eyes as he felt himself lose footing and fall from the cliff they were on. Sin sprinted to the edge of the cliff just in time to grab Avarice's hand as he fell. Avarice slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at Sin, desperately trying to not look scared. Sin sighed as he began to pull him up, but stopped as he got distracted by something beneath Avarice. It looked like it was a small hut. Upon further inspection, there looked like there were the same carvings they saw on the statues back at the ruins of the warrior tribe base but on a wooden arch near the shore.
The more Sin looked at it the more he realized what it was. He pulled Avarice up, patting him on the head to soothe him. "Guys...I think I just found the village...or more like, Avarice accidentally found it!"
Everyone rushed over. Callisto helped Avarice up and gave him a once over to make sure he was okay.
"Where is it?" Asked Tekina.
"Down there." Sin pointed beneath the cliff.
Sure enough, there was a village beneath the cliff.
"FINALLY!" Avarice breathed.
Sin stretched and shook off his wings. He scooped Avarice up like a princess, earning a shocked gasp.
"W-What are you doing!!"
"How else do you expect to get down?"
Avarice grumbled and crossed his arms. "Make it quick then!" He huffed.
Tekina and Nikiro drifted down with their telekinesis while Callisto, who was known for his exceptionally strong legs, simply jumped off the cliff like a bloody maniac. Sin set Avarice down and they looked around the village. It was a noticeably small village with fewer than ten huts. There were two little piers extending out on the ocean in front of them. One lead to a large canoe with various crates, nets and other trinkets. It was docked next to what looked to be some kind of shop. No one seemed to be in the village, or at least no one was outside.
Avarice took a few steps forward, looking around as he did so."Uhh...isn't this where she's supposed to be?"
"That's what we were told but...it doesn't look like anyone's here!" Sin plopped down onto the sandy beach and groaned.
"Let's take a look around. Maybe someone is inside one of the huts!" Reasoned Callisto.
Sin sighed and pushed himself up from the ground. They moved from where they stood at the entrance and began to walk further into the village but as soon they set foot into the village a surge of bloodlust stopped them dead in their tracks. They fell silent, every cell in their bodies urging them to leave. They instinctively got into defensive positions. Chills ran down their spines and the hairs on their bodies stood up. Nobody moved or spoke. They just waited. The unmistakable sound of metal clamouring became progressively louder. They looked around but couldn't tell what was making the sound or where it was coming from.
"Outsiders aren't welcome here," came the low, disembodied voice of a man.
"We're just looking for someone," Callisto tried to explain.
Without warning, a man appeared behind them and Callisto instinctively kicked his foot out towards him. A playful kick from Callisto was enough to send someone to the hospital for weeks, a serious kick would most definitely kill and the intense bloodlust that this man was exuding didn't give him enough time to think about other means of resolving this. Despite his speed, Callisto's kick was evaded. The man confidently strode to the front of the group with a sly smirk on his face. Unsure of what was coming next, Nikiro created a barrier around them. This caused the man to break out into a fit of laughter. With him now distracted by his own laughter, they had a chance to examine him. It was then that something clicked.
Tekina pulled out one of Illya's notes and quickly scanned it. "I knew his outfit looked familiar! It's Kisha armour! He's a Kisha warrior!"
Everyone turned to her in shock. Avarice was the first to break the silence. "But then that means..."
Avarice's voice trailed off, prompting Nikiro to finish his sentence. "The immortal man you told us about. The last pure blooded Kisha warrior."
The man stopped laughing with a sharp gasp for air, his smirk never once fading from his face.
"I believe I said outsiders aren't fucking welcome here. What, are you deaf or something?" He spat.
The man lifted his scythe, the handle snapped off, revealing a long metallic cable as he flung his scythe at Nikiro's barrier. The scythe embedded itself into the barrier, effectively shattering it, a feat that even Sin wasn't able to accomplish during his own battle with Nikiro. Everyone tensed up again as the scythe that flew through the barrier came rushing towards them. It was heading straight for Callisto, but before it hit him, Avarice swiftly pushed him out of the way. Before he could even blink, the feeling of something sharp and cold piercing his side flooded his senses. Looking down he saw that the triple bladed scythe had tore into the side of his body.
The man recoiled the scythe, ripping it from Avarice's skin. He brought it to his face and much to everyone's horror, licked the blood off the scythe. When he did, his body began to transform. His skin turned black with bone like white markings. Another fit of hysteric laughter flooded the air.
"I guess I'll have to show you what happens when we don't listen."
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