Chapter 4 - Chapter 3: A Mysterious Attack

Selinia became terrified. “What?!? Where are mom and dad? Answer me! Why do we need to fight?!?”



“Selinia just do as I say! Quickly!” Cadoc said, unpatient and losing his temper.



She did as her brother commanded. “And what about Nina? We just leave her here when she doesn't know the place?”



“I'm not going to risk taking her along. She can stay in the house.”



“No, I want to come along. I won't be a burden. I can fight you know. I'm sure my magic will be useful. I'm worried and want to help.” Nina told Cadoc.



He sighed. “Fine, you can come along but be careful! I don't want to have to tell your parents something bad happened to you while you were under our care.”



“Thank you.” Nina rushed into the house to get her tomes.



“It seems something is going on. I wish to help as well.” Riko said.



“And who are you?”



“His name is Riko, somebody attacked Ilmatar and he came to help. I think we can trust him.”



“Enough talking. Selinia, Nina, get on Ilmatar. Riko is it? You come with me. We must hurry.” Without any hesitation or conversation, they all did as Cadoc said and followed him. As they went on, Nina noticed there was a large crowd down below. But something was wrong. They appeared to be fighting. Draco flew behind a nearby mountain and Ilmatar followed. Battle cries filled the air and arrows pierced the sky.



“What on earth is going on?!? Cadoc, I want to know!” Selinia demanded.



“I was flying around trying to find mom and dad when I came across some fighting. Almost everybody in the area is down there. I thought they were at some kind of event, but then I saw this. Mom and dad must be down there. I don't know who started or what is going on, but there are a lot of bow and axe wielders down there. Ilia's Pegasus Knights will have a hard time winning this.”



“But mom and dad retired, they don't even have their Pegasus or Wyvern anymore.”



“If they are fighting, they must be fighting with lances and swords on foot. Unless they have been held captive. If we are going to fight, we have to be very careful. Without Delphi shields we are in danger.”



“I can help out a lot then. I'm not as vunerable to arrows and my magic will do more damage on the axe wielders. I'm probably quicker than axe wielders also, although not that much more.” Nina broke in.



“I can help also. They will be weak against my sword. I also have speed at my advantage.” Riko said.



“Thank you for the help, Nina, Riko. We will drop you off so you can fight.” Cadoc said and Draco and Ilmatar landed at the bottom of the mountain to allow the two to get off. “I will try to keep an eye out for you two just in case you need to be rescued.”



“Thank you Cadoc. Iwill do all I can to help.” Nina said and Selinia and Cadoc went to join the fighting.



“Let's go.” Riko said to Nina and the two rushed into the fray.



It wasn't long until an arrow came flying by, scarecly missing Nina. She returned the attack to the archer with a Flux. Since he was already injured, the attack finished him. Riko ran to a crowd of Brigands and Fighters ganging up on a couple Peg. Knights. Nina kept her distance, attacking from behind. She didn't realize how many enemies there were until she found herself surrounded as well. Axe wielders surrounded her while an archer let an arrow fly at her. She tried to dodge, but there wasn't enough room to fully evade the attack, and it pierced her left shoulder. To make things worse, she had walked right into a Brigand. He smirked as Nina looked up, terrified. Another one grabbed her arms so she couldn't cast a spell and made her drop her tomes.



“What's the matter. A couple of big, strong guys like you can't handle a little shaman like me? I have no defenses. What fun would it be to battle somebody who can't fight back? Wouldn't you rather fight with honor?” Nina teased, hoping they would release her and at least let her fight back.



“Hahahahaha! The girl thinks that we want to fight with honor!” The Brigand ready to attack her laughed “But thanks for the laugh girlie! Oh well, time to die.” He raised his axe above his head. Its sharp edge glimmered red in the sun. But instead of dropping his weapon upon Nina, he lowered it back to his side. “Hey you are that girl! Heh heh we will get a nice reward now. Change of plans girlie, you get to live. You are coming with us.” The bandit that was holding Nina threw her over his shoulder and the other grabbed her tomes. Nina kicked and screamed, but nothing worked. Nina was ready to give up when she heard a cry of pain and looked over to see the man holding her tomes dead. The one holding her looked back, wondering what happened. Cadoc came flying at him, thrust out his lance and killed the Brigand before he had time to react. Nina fell and landed on top of her captor and picked up her tomes.



“Thank you Cadoc!”



“No problem, just keep an eye out, bandits don't fight fair.”



“So I've noticed.” Nina found herself mumbling to nobody, as Cadoc had taken off before she could respond. She picked up her tomes cast Flux at a sniper readying her bow for an attack. Just as it hit, she had realeased an arrow. Luckily, the Flux Nina had cast messed up the sniper's aim, causing the arrow to hit Nina's right arm instead of her chest. She then restored some energy with a Nosferatu and killed the sniper. Nina had lost sight of Selinia, there were a lot of Pegasi flying in the air, but she could see Cadoc, him being the only Wyvern Lord there. Nina figured it would be better to rid the field of all arrows first.



The last of the enemies were defeated as the sun began to dissappear beyond the horizon. As nighttime approached, the blood red sky darkened, giving the field an even more eerie look. A few Pegasus Knights had been defeated during the fight, but most of Ilia's army had survived. Cadoc and Selinia landed by Nina. They had suffered some minor injuries, but nothing too bad. Riko aproached and Nina noticed he didn't have a single scratch on him.



“Are you alright Nina?” Selinia asked.



“Yes, I am fine thank you, although I wish I could say the same for my tomes. I used them all up. I will just have to buy more. Where are your parents?”



Cadoc pointed not too far from where they were. “I found them during the battle. They are fine.”



Nina was relieved. “That's good. They fought too?”



“Yes. Mother was allowed to use a spare Pegasus, but since father didn't have a Wyvern, he simply fought on foot.”



Selinia looked around, and began to cry.



“Selinia, what is the matter” Cadoc and Nina asked her.



“I'm…sorry. It's just that…I trained with some of the Pegasus Knights that…didn't…survive.”



“I am sorry Selinia.” Nina comforted her friend, who had hugged her.



“Most of them are fine. The army doesn't appear to have lost many knights.” Cadoc added in.



A Falco Knight landed by them and turned to Selinia. “Five of our fellow knights have fallen. The rest have only minor injuries. Selinia, you did well fighting. I think you have the potential to become a great Falco Knight.”



“Thank you Commander.” Selinia said. This seemed to cheer her up a bit, and she smiled and waved as the Falco Knight joined up with the rest of the Pegasus Knights and flew back to their homes. One of the Pegasus, however, came down and let a woman and man of its back.



“Selinia, Cadoc, Nina! I'm so sorry you had to return to this.” Selina's mom said as she hugged them all. Besides for her long, blue hair, she looked just like an older form of Selinia.



“Mom, dad I'm so glad you two are safe.” Selinia said as she hugged her father.



“Good to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Heart”



“Please, darling, you know you can just use our first names. No need to be so formal about it.”



“ Thank you, Sariah.”



“I think we should head home now, Koen.” Sariah said to her husband.



“Yes. Let's go.” Koen said. He had short brown hair like his son, but blue eyes. He had several scars along his face as well as his arms.



“Do you know why those bandits were attacking Ilia Dad?” Selinia asked as they flew back home.



“I'm not sure. Probably just to rob us, they were well prepared though and were tougher than normal bandits. But don't worry, everything is fine now.”



The rest of the way home, they dropped the subject of the battle. Nina told Selinia's parents everything that had been going on from the time they last saw each other. When they returned home, the sun had set and the stars were visible in the clear night sky. Riko, who was traveling hoping to become a powerful swordmaster, was allowed to stay the night. Tired from fighting, everybody got ready for bed. Nina had a hard time getting to sleep, however. Her thoughts kept going back to those two Brigands that had captured her. She felt uncomfortable. It seemed they were after her. Those weren't ordinary bandits that attacked, Koen even said so himself. A terrifying idea came into her mind. She remembered the archers that attacked on the way to Ilia. They had been hired to take them out. What if they were after her as well? She could not figure it out. What would they want her for, and what did the Brigands mean by there being a reward for her? If Selinia and her family would keep getting attacked because of her, she couldn't stay and keep them in danger. It was late before she could finally fall asleep, trying to convince herself that they must have got her confused with somebody else. There could be no other explanation.

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