And "Medieval Cohesion" is finally back on the trail, after a small break. As most of you probably already know, I've been working on a few side projects, to improve my skills as an author. On top of this, I am now on meds daily, that make me really drowsy all the time. So it has been somewhat dificult for me to keep up. But now I am back, with chapter 43, in which we return to Wesley's perspective. Unfortunately, it seems like they're about to encounter a very disturbing obstacle on their journey. Will they succeed in overcoming this challenge? There is only one way to find out, and you know how!

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Chapter 43 - Inconvenient captivity

While resting peacefully inside the dense forest, my sleep was abruptly disturbed, as someone placed his hand on my shoulder and shook me gently. My eyes slowly opened, leaving my vision blurry for a moment, before being able to focus on the face of the person who woke me up. It was Archimedes. But fortunate for me, he had transformed back into his living form of a lemur, now that his body is no longer exposed to moonlight. Otherwise, he would probably have given me a heart attack. The face of a dreadful lich, was certainly not the first thing I wanted to put my sight on in the morning. Once he had gained my attention, he told me that it was time to wake up. We had apparently slept too long, because the sun was already shining brightly, and had done so for hours. It was close to midday. This honestly surprised me at first, since it usually takes a lot for me to sleep when its this light. Last night must've been more taxing on my body than I thought. It quickly became clear to me, however, that I was actually the last person to wake up. After Archimedes left, I remained on the ground for a few minutes more, turning my head to observe my surroundings. I could hear the sound of voices nearby. It was Paul and Raksasha having a conversation. But they were too far away for me to make out the words. It wasn't none of my business anyhow. When I attempted to stand up, it became clear to me that several of my muscles ached. It wasn't exactly comfortable to sleep in a heavy armor. But it was necessary for us to be prepared, in case if we were ambushed by forces of undead while sleeping. Of course, we always have someone standing guard, but things can easily go wrong.

When it finally became possible for me to stand up, it was necessary for me to stretch my back, groaning softly as it released an unnerving cracking noise. Laying down for so long in that position was definitely not good for me. Withered leaves were stuck in my long blond hair, but I figured they'd fall off eventually. It didn't take long before I found Zephyr, sitting quietly on the log close to the campfire, which had been extinguished for hours now. He seemed rather downhearted, and was poking to the charred wood in the campfire with a stick. Something was wrong. But that is when I realized, the shaman was missing. It was very unusual to see Sinqularis and Zephyr going separate ways, since our winged tribal warrior always sought to keep his shaman protected. I can imagine that he must be really worried, especially if the shaman left without saying anything. It puzzled me where that pink and feminine canine went off to, but I figured that he probably had his reasons. Despite that we were already pretty late, we decided to wait, hoping that the shaman would return eventually. After all, it would be dishonorable to leave a trusted ally behind. Besides, we were all aware that Zephyr wouldn’t budge from this spot before the shaman had returned. And none of us were interested in having our group divided during this journey.

As time passed by, we eventually settled down on the logs around the campfire, along with Zephyr who was there first. By then, no one seemed to be in the mood for talking, so we just sat quietly and waited. It irked me that we had to be on standby like this, when we were already late. If we had to wait this long, then there’d only be very little time for traveling, before we would be delayed by the next nightfall. The only person among us who didn’t seemed to be bored out of his mind, was Archimedes, since he just spend the time reading the old tome. Raksasha occasionally snorted to show her frustration. As a barbarian, I can imagine that she isn’t too fond of idle moments like these. But only a little past midday, the awkward silence was interrupted as we heard something move through the bushes. As we all faced in the direction where the sound came from, I grabbed onto the hilt of my sword, just in case if it was an enemy approaching. But no, I released a sigh of relief, as our proud shaman stepped out into the open. Judged by the small sticks and withered leaves stuck in his pink fur, it seemed like he had been roaming around in this forest for quite a while. He must’ve awoken early, and decided to head out for some privacy. Zephyr was the first to leave his seat, as he with no hesitation ran over to embrace the slender shaman, hugging him so tight that his feet were raised from the ground. It was impossible not to smile at least a little. Sinqularis had just been absent throughout this morning, so I wondered how Zephyr would’ve reacted, if he had been gone for a whole day. Even though the shaman appreciated the warm welcoming, he begged his loyal guardian to put him back down. But Zephyr didn’t comply with this request before several seconds later. The shaman smiled and patted Zephyr’s shoulder, before walking over to pick up the wooden staff, that he left behind in our humble camp.

Now that we were finally regrouped, there was no further time to waste. The shaman apologized for having taken so long about coming back, but despite that many were curious about the reasons behind his absence, he couldn't be persuaded to reveal anything. I thought it was best that we saved that story for another time, because we were already low on time, and had to get going. Perhaps the shaman was aware of this as well. After having gathered our personal belongings and equipped ourselves for the journey ahead, we left the dense forest and returned to the road, leading towards the western coast. If we looked past that our next nightfall was only a couple of hours away, it seemed to be a great day for traveling. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was blue, with only few clouds left behind to block out the rays of sunlight. It didn't take us long before the road lead us out on an open field, where there was a visible activity of moles underground. They had broken through the ground of the grassy field, leaving small hills of dirt behind, along with a couple of rocks that had been pushed out of their tunnels. A smile curled on my mouth as a gentle breeze swept into my face, making my long hair flow, bringing me the fresh scent of seawater. The coast wasn't far away. It'd seem like our next concern should be, to find a ship capable of bringing us to our targeted location. Despite of the odds that were against us, I felt in my heart that we had the potential to claim the legendary blade, known as "Heaven's Divider". My optimistic mind kept me motivated to persevere.

But later the same afternoon, we encountered something highly unusual and unexpected. The road was leading us towards a very lightly forested area, located on our way through the fields. And that is when we noticed that someone was coming right towards us, traversing the same road from the other direction. It was a small band of guards, armed with spears and halberds, obviously patrolling the area. Their low quality chainmails release a noisy rattling sound with each step taken. Our foreign allies were intimidated by these strangers approaching, but I didn't see any reason to be concerned. Judged by the crest on their chainmails, they were not any of King Lionheart’s troops, so it was to be assumed that they came from one of our neighboring kingdoms. But the undead armies have risen against us in a time of peace, where we have no enemies among ourselves. And yet, once we met with the small band of guards within the forested area, they spread out and blocked our path. Only a moment later, one of the guards shouted, ordering us to stop. This particularly confused Paul and I, but we did as they said, and our foreign allies mimicked our chosen response. Raksasha towered over every guard in their group, sending them an intimidating stare, that made the weakest cower. Annoyed by the fact that we were being stalled, I just sighed and crossed my arms, waiting for an explanation. The guards slowly stepped aside, making room for a surprisingly elegant gentleman, wearing fancy clothes that must have cost a fortune. His short, brown and sparkling clean hair seemed like every woman’s dream. But once he gazed into my eyes, I sensed the presence of a very snobbish and arrogant personality. He was clearly the commander of this small group of lowly experienced guards. But for a guy of such high rank, he sure was puny. There wasn’t anything impressive about him to find by first glance. But once he had stepped out into the open, he eventually approached us and spoke.

??? : Halt, villains! The name is Edward. And that is "Lord Edward" to you! I'm afraid that we cannot let you continue any further.
Wesley: And why would that be?
Edward: You're accused of having destroyed the town of Ranador. A survivor saw you guys going on the rampage in the streets.
Wesley: We were in the town, but we certainly didn’t cause any damage.
Paul: He speaks the truth. We arrived to protect the remaining survivors.
Edward: Not according to our witness.
Wesley: I see. Who is this person, if I may ask?
Edward: He didn’t give up his name. But he was clearly an experienced adventurer, wearing a black cloak with orange trims.
Zephyr: Huh! Sounds like that corrupted friend of yours has been spreading false rumors, before attempting to assassinate the king.
Wesley: I’m afraid that you’re right, Zephyr. It must’ve been some sort of nasty back-up plan, meant to delay us if he failed his mission.
Paul: Anyhow, we have no time for this nonsense. You’ve caught the wrong suspects. So please step aside so we can carry on.

Having grown low on patience, Paul advanced forward, expecting that the guards would step aside and let us through. But they suddenly lowered their spears and halberds, pointing the sharp tips in our direction, making it quite clear that they had no intention of letting us go. These guys were really starting to get on my nerves. Intimidated by their reaction, Paul backed away slowly, confused by their hostility.

Edward: Hmph. You’re in no position to give orders, villain. As I said, your journey ends here. You’re under arrest.
Paul: What!? This is ridiculous. Don’t tell me that you believe in the bogus, spoken by a dark and gloomy stranger such as him.
Edward: I’d rather believe in him, than in a disgraceful knight who travels through our kingdom with such... revolting savages.
Raksasha: Hey! Mind your tongue, you puny little worm!
Edward: Worm!? You pathetic imbecile. I am Lord Edward, a high ranking commander of Queen Veronica’s troops. And you...
Wesley: High ranking commander, huh? Then it puzzles me that you patrol this path with these inexperienced guards. To be honest, you seem more like a colorful jester to me.
Edward: Why, you... How dare you!? That’s it, you crossed the line. No one makes fun of me like that. I challenge you to a duel!

Obviously insulted by my comment, the puny gentleman stepped up in front of me, and pulled off his thin little glove. Then he suddenly smacked me across the face with it, leaving a red mark behind on my cheek. It stung for a few seconds, but the pain subsided quickly. At first, I wondered what the heck this was supposed to accomplish. But then I eventually recalled, this is how these snazzy snobs challenge eachother for duels. These traditions only left me further annoyed, however. But if he wanted to play these silly games, then I wouldn’t want to leave him disappointed. As he awaited my response, I slowly took off my metallic gauntlet, and smacked him across the face with that like he did with the small glove. The puny little wimp was knocked back by the impact, fell onto the ground, and rolled through the dirt on the road. Then I just put back on my gauntlet, motioning all my fingers to adjust it properly. Edward slowly rose from the ground, whining softly. But he quickly lost his temper, once he heard some of his own guards chuckle in the back.

Edward: Silence! Seize them immediately, or I’ll make sure that you’re all being hung by dawn!
Archimedes: I find his lack of grace disturbing.
Sinqularis: Oh rats, here they come. Be prepared!
Wesley: Try not to hurt anyone too severely. They’re not our enemies!
Sinqularis: Alright, Wesley. But be careful.

The commander's threat was apparently enough to frighten the guards, forcing them to obey his order, leading them all to attack us at once. But despite that they were all armed, I decided to keep my sword sheathed, and protect myself without the shield. These deluded fools were not our enemies, so I wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. To my surprise, all the guards ran right past me, and engaged in combat with my allies standing behind me. We were all prepared for the attack. But once the battle had begun, I realized that there was still an unfinished matter for me to worry about. Edward had finally recovered from the blow and had his eyes sharply fixed on me, fuming with rage for obvious reasons. Rolling across the road had left his pretty hair ruffled, and his elegant cape had become slightly torn because of the rocks. Putting behind the traditions attached to being a gentleman, he drew his weapon from the sheath, brandishing his sharp rapier to intimidate me. As I'd expect from a person of his rank, it was a remarkable weapon of high quality. But it puzzled me how he intended to hurt an armored knight, with a weapon designed for thrusting attacks. Despite of everything, I had been taught to never underestimate an opponent. Physical appearance can be quite deceiving, so I decided to treat him like any other enemy. The gentleman was apparently so enraged by this point, that he didn't find it disgraceful to attack an unarmed opponent. He didn't even ask me to draw my sword, before he suddenly lunged forward, attacking me with multiple thrusts by his long rapier. Despite of his unimpressive appearance, he was surprisingly swift, forcing me to rely a lot on my reflexes in this fight.

With my heavy armor delaying my reaction, I was barely able to step aside and dodge the incoming rapier, swaying to dodge every thrust. But once Edward grew impatient and switched to aggressive vertical attacks, it became clear to me that I could easily block the blows with my arms alone. The armor covering my arms were more than sturdy enough to repel a thin blade like that. Unfortunate for me, I still hadn't grown strong enough to wear this armor properly, so every motion was taxing on my energy. When the swift gentleman eventually had worn me out, my quickness was reduced, and my reflexes became weakened. Then Edward stunned me with a strong slash into my armored side, before delivering a finishing thrust directly towards my unguarded chest. But the young man had apparently overestimated his elegant rapier, or maybe he was just a highly inexperienced fighter. Once the tip of his rapier made contact with my plated armor, an intense shiver went through the long blade, and eventually made its way to Edwards hand. The attack was completely ineffective, just as I had anticipated. But I found it impressive that the thin blade didn't break, after having been stabbed so hard into solid steel. What did that fool think would happen, when he attempts to take on an armored knight with a weapon like that? Edward was temporarily stunned, and once the shivering motion passed from the blade to his arm, he gasped and dropped the rapier on the ground. What an amateur. The following moment, he whined about his wrist hurting, and he put way too much effort into making everyone feel sorry for him. It seemed to annoy him that everyone was too occupied to pay attention. He had clearly never been exposed to real combat, and nor had he learned to understand its severity. When I eventually grew tired of his whining, I grabbed his cheeks and knocked him to the ground with a mighty headbutt. The metallic headgear I wore must’ve made that rather painful. But at least we didn’t have to worry about that distracting wuss anymore for now.

While their commander was temporarily taken out, the sound of weapons clashing together made me turn towards the noise, during the moment that no other enemy was challenging me. That’s when I noticed that no less than three guards were teaming up on Zephyr, attacking him all at once. With his teeth clenched hard, he used the shaft of his mighty spear to block the attacks of halberds being swung towards him. None of these guards were very experienced, but they did pose a threat in numbers. They didn’t seem to leave him any chance to counter. One of the guards were eventually able to bash the spear out of Zephyr’s hands, making it slide across the ground, leaving him completely unarmed. By that moment, I was just about to attack his opponents, before they managed to overwhelm him. The distance between us made me suspect I wouldn’t make it in time though. But then something unexpected happened. Zephyr apparently had hidden skills that he never mentioned to any of us. Being unarmed, he took a step backwards away from his opponents, and suddenly performed a swift slash with his wings. The slash released powerful sonar waves, that seemed to stun all the opponents in front of him, working as an effective short ranged attack. While the guards were stunned, Zephyr immediately charged forward and tackled them to the ground, using his formidable strength and body weight. This attack was probably only possible for him to perform when he was being unarmed.

As my attention was directed towards Zephyr's situation, one of the guards attempted to catch me off guard, by striking me down from behind. But his indiscreet approach, made it possible for me to hear the rattling noise of his rusty chain mail, anticipating his attack with ease. Just as he raised his halberd and prepared to deliver the blow, I suddenly turned around and grabbed onto the shaft of his weapon, keeping him locked in this position with my strength. After a short struggle caused by the clash of our strength, our private match was instantly interrupted, when the chain of a flail coiled around the shaft and pulled it away from both of us. Having been pulled out of our grasp, the weapon dropped to the ground out of our reach, and then Paul suddenly charged forward to knock the guard out with an unexpected blow of his fist. He apparently decided to lend me a helping hand in this struggle, even though I could easily have beaten him on my own. Despite that Paul isn't the strongest knight around, the punch toppled the guard and left him unconscious on the ground, unable to cause us further trouble for now. Once we gained eye contact, Paul just winked, before heading out to assist our friends in combat. I was just about to join him myself to do the same, but that is when I noticed the heat rising. Very close to me, a couple of guards were attempting to surround our sorcerer Archimedes, and his gloved hand was engulfed by fire. He was obviously working on conjuring an offensive spell. This worried me for obvious reasons, since I ordered everyone to leave the guards unharmed. They are not our enemies. The sorcerer's mantle begun to flow with the energies, once he was almost ready to unleash his fiery fury. All the guards surrounding him made it impossible for me to reach him, but he was still within my reach to hear my voice. Facing in his direction, I shouted to the top of my lungs.

Wesley: Heeey! Calm down, Archimedes. Don't forget the order...
Archimedes: Mind your own business, fox. I got this under control.

Before I was able to reply, Archimedes unleashed the magical energies that he had gathered, forming them into a ring of fire that expanded around his body. The heat swiftly dried my eyes, forcing me to raise the arm to cover my face, fearing that the guards would be instantly incinerated, by the sorcerer's destructive powers. But to my relief, I found that all the guards were left unscathed, once I found the courage to look. Aimed with great accuracy, the flames never grazed a living person, but they turned the wooden shafts of the halberds and spears on fire. All the guards surrounding him were forced to drop their weapons, and watch the shafts burn, until only the metallic parts remained. The unarmed guards watched in fear as Archimedes cracked his fingers, with a confident smile on his face. As expected, they all chose to retreat, before he was ready to conjure another harmful spell. But once they panicked and attempted to flee, they found Raksasha standing a few steps behind them, towering over the entire group with her intimidating height. Most of them managed to run past her. But those few who came too close, were instantly toppled and knocked out, by a powerful bash from her arm. With her strength, even the arm that doesn't have a weapon equipped, can deliver lethal and destructive blows. I found it relieving to see that she wasn't going on the rampage with her axe. But once the last and slowest guard attempted to get past her, she grabbed onto the chain mail by his chest, and raised him from the ground. Within a swift blur of motion, she swung the poor guy over her head, and slammed him down into the ground behind her. He'd definitely feel that one in the morning. Every guard that managed to flee, left the battlefield in a hurry, and disappeared somewhere across the fields. But besides the guards left unconscious in the area, there were still a couple eager to fight us. Then Raksasha suddenly whistled so loud, that it pierced the loud noise of combat. Only a few seconds later, the shaman leapt high into the air and landed on her body with great precision, taking a seat on her shoulders.

Raksasha: Are you ready, shaman?
Sinqularis: Always. Bring it on!

With the shaman mounted on her shoulders, Raksasha charged forward like a raging bull, mauling down every opponent in line with her formidable body weight. Every footstep send intimidating tremors through the ground, that seemed to distract everyone on the battlefield, including her allies. The shaman sitting on Raksasha's shoulders, skillfully spun the wooden staff above his head with both arms, before taking advantage of the benefits attached to his weapon. Compared to Raksasha, the shaman may not be a very powerful melee fighter, but his staff provides him with excellent reach. Putting this feature to good use, the shaman delivered hard and unexpected blows from above, to every guard within his reach that dodged Raksasha's relentless charge. No matter if his attacks knocked the enemies out or not, it certainly left visible dents in their helmets. It seemed like the only issue with this efficient dual attack, was that Raksasha's weight obstructed her ability to turn, forcing her to charge forward in a straight line. At the same second she stopped, the shaman leapt off her shoulders and performed a somersault in mid-air, before entering the fray with a swift kick, delivered directly into the gut of an unprepared guard. What he lacks in defense, is definitely compensated for with his high agility. But during the chaos of combat, none of us noticed that Edward had once again become conscious. He was standing in the back with a frown on his face, as he brushed the dirt off his shoulders. Unfortunate for us, he had a hidden card up his sleeve, that instantly flipped the table for good.

Edward: Hmph. This nonsense has lasted long enough. No more games!

The noble commander suddenly whistled loudly like Raksasha did earlier, and a bunch of armored guards appeared behind the trees and bushes, all armed with loaded crossbows. Were these reinforcements? Either way, we were surrounded, and left in quite a grim situation. Everyone stopped fighting, as the guards aimed their crossbows at us.

Edward: It’s futile, villains. You are obviously dealing with powers that you cannot possibly comprehend.
Zephyr: We’re heavily outnumbered. What should we do, Wesley?
Wesley: Ugh, I...
Edward: There’s only one thing you can do. Drop your weapons and surrender at once.
Archimedes: What if I refuse?
Edward: Then you’ll be killed where you stand, you insolent rat.
Archimedes: Hah, try me.
Edward: Guards! Shoot that pesky magician, now!

Four of the guards pointed their crossbows at Archimedes, and fired bolts towards him as ordered. But before the bolts managed to make contact with his body, the sorcerer suddenly disappeared in a blinding flash, leaving everyone confused. Paul quickly ducked, as one of the bolts went through the flash, and almost struck him by accident. Archimedes must’ve used his teleporting spell to escape, and I really couldn’t blame him for doing so. It wouldn’t serve any purpose for all of us to be captured. But by this point, things really didn’t bode well for us. Despite that none of the guards armed with crossbows seemed skilled, it’d be impossible for us to fight our way through that swarm of bolts, without getting severely hurt or even killed. It seemed like the only choice we had, was to surrender ourselves to that gloating fool of a commander.

Edward: Bah, never mind. We’ll catch that freak later. To the rest of you, this is my last warning. Drop your weapons!

A sigh escaped my mouth, before I unequipped my sword and shield, and dropped them both on the ground. Only a moment later, Paul and Raksasha did the same. The earth shook once Raksasha’s humongous axe fell from her open hand. But the shaman was still holding onto his wooden staff, seemingly hesitating with surrendering himself so easily. A rather chubby and not very charming guard stepped up behind him. It seemed like one of his teeth had been knocked out during battle, and he was finding it challenging to keep control of his own saliva. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked like an unshaved hobo, wearing an armor.

Guard: Hey there, babe. Why don’t we rent a room somewhere, and spend some quality time together in privacy? I’m certain that a lady such as yourself would love to get your hands on my precious jewels...
Sinqularis: Hmph...

Good gracious, what a dirty pervert. He was obviously mocking the shaman for his feminine appearance. But the shaman just squinted his eyes, before slowly moving the bottom of his wooden staff between the guards legs, delivering a painful blow to his crotch from below. The guy whined out in pain and fell to the ground, squirming in agony. Guess he’ll have to impress the ladies with shattered jewels from now on. The hostile reaction had drawn all the attention towards the shaman though, making my heart skip a beat in fear, as most of the crossbows were pointed in his direction. But he eventually dropped the staff and crossed his arms, surrendering himself against his will. What a disturbing predicament we had gotten ourselves into. We had by no means time for this nonsense. I could only hope that this problem was solvable with diplomacy. Otherwise, our quest may be approaching a fatal end.