The Kzarak
“This is definitely your fault.” Asher grumbled as he looked around at the encompassing band of thieves surrounding Omurai and he.
The bandits had snuck up on them as they rested near the road for the evening. They seemed like any day roadmen, so the two weren’t concerned about the fight that much.
“How can that be so?” Omurai asked, placing his hand upon the hilt of his katana, ready to draw.
“I told you we should have taken the eastern road back at the fork. Instead, you made us go the western route!” Asher reminded his friend as he too readied his weapon.
“Oh…well…it seemed the better choice…and…” Omurai stumbled over his words, obviously the one at fault. “Let us worry about directions after we finish these thieves off!”
“That is the only thing I can agree with you on.” Asher said with a grin.
Omurai was the first to act, snapping out his katana and diving at the man directly in front of him. In a flash of agility, he was behind the man in an instant, the tip of his blade barely touching the ground, one of his hands touching the ground near the tip. The man directly in front of him, who was now directly behind him, suddenly collapsed to the ground in a puddle of blood, half of his torso completely severed. Using his uncanny dexterity, the wind adept spun around, volleying four shurikens at nearby roadmen. Three got stuck in the neck while a fourth turned around just in time to get a shuriken to the eye. All of them fell to the ground as well, dead or dying.
Asher took a more conventional approach, swinging his mighty full blade in a horizontal motion, cleanly cleaving three men in front of him. His blade smashed into the ground hard, and he gave a powerful tug to jerk it free and send it swiping at another man jumping his way. That man lost both his legs and crumbled to the ground as the huge weapon smashed into him. The alchemist quickly released one hand from his weapon and sent a fireball flying at another charging man. A flash of lightning nearby told Asher that his friend was having equal fun with the fight.
On came the men, and down they fell as a burst of lightning sprung from Omurai’s hand, lifting many into the air only to fall to the ground in a shocking convulsion. One hapless man tried to sneak up on the seasoned warrior, only to be torn to pieces by a terrible cyclone.
Asher grinned as he turned back to the men around him. Another mighty swing of his sword had them crumbling to the ground. In a matter of minutes, the rest were gone. Asher turned back to Omurai and found him kneeling over one man that seemed to still be alive. With a sickly cough, he passed away.
Omurai got up and looked at Asher. “I asked him if they saw the man we were after. He said that we were the first people he’s seen in a few days.”
“Which means…we should have taken the eastern route.” Asher figured.
“That, or he didn’t take a path at all. Not everyone takes the dirt roads built between some cities.” Omurai clarified. “Of course, it would be quicker for him to go by a trail, so chances are, he did take a road. We could cut across the field here and make it back to the eastern road within a day.”
Asher nodded his head and started heading east. “We’ll have to pass through those woods, though.” He said in a grim tone.
“What woods?” Omurai asked as he retrieved the map from his pouch. He looked over the map, his face contorting up in confusion. “I see no woods between these two roads.”
“That’s because people just want to forget about them.” Asher explained. “The Kzarak Woods is not a fun place to be.”
“Why so?” Omurai asked curiously as he too started heading to the east.
“The Kzarak lives there.” Asher said cryptically.
“Well what in the world is a Kzarak?” Omurai asked.
“It is said that an old witch moved into those woods many a years ago, never to return. She was an earth adept, and loved being around trees, but those woods didn’t like her around. Anyone who has passed through those woods has either come out traumatized or never come out at all.” Asher explained.
“Then why should we go across them?!” Omurai asked incredulously.
Asher turned a calm stare at his friend. “Do you really want to walk all the way around those woods?”
Omurai lowered his head, fully understanding. “Fine then…but that still doesn’t explain what a Kzarak is.”
“A mysterious beast said to reside in those woods. Some say it is a dragon, while others say it is a miss-creation of nature. Either way, it obviously has come control over the woods.”
“Ah, but you control fire! We’ll burn the place down if we must!” Omurai said, a smirk forming on his face.
Asher grinned. “Aye, as much as I’d hate to do that, I’m willing to. Not my problem to put a fire out, now is it?”
Omurai nodded his agreement. “Come then, let us hurry!”
**********
“Please, sir, we want no trouble!” an old man pleaded to Draven as he and his men began killing everyone in the city of Ghahama.
A fair sized city known for its grand schools and academies, Ghahama was not known for brute force. It had many adepts of all sorts, but very few happened to be at the city this week, most of which went to the city of wonders, Sol City, on a “field-trip”. The two great schools that seemed to tower on either side of the northern part of the city made it well known to most for their beauty, most of it being made via magic. Despite all of these grand things, the city was otherwise defenseless when its magical wall of protection that encompassed the entire city was gone.
With the mighty Adept’s Stone within his grasp, Draven had easily absorbed the shield and used that energy to blast a hole in the only remaining defense, a meager wall built around the city. Now he stood at the center of the city, a smug grin on his face as only one person stood between him and the rest of the civilians. A young fire adept of some special power, seeing that he had beautiful robes and many wands strapped to his belt.
“I cannot allow you to continue this slaughter!” He shouted at Draven, who merely sighed at the words.
“Now now, you won’t have a choice in the matter once you’re dead.” Draven said calmly, looking at the Adept’s Stone within his grasp.
With that, the fire adept let out a massive fireball, a true sign that he was, in fact, a powerful being. Draven yawned as he held out the Adept’s Stone in front of him. Suddenly, the entire fireball began to get absorbed into the arcane stone. Within a matter of seconds, the entire thing was gone, trapped within the Adept’s Stone.