Divided Realms: Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Chased

"You know, bro," I said as I ran, "we might as well just fight the soldiers. Doesn't sound like they're gonna give up anytime soon."

The two of us had been running for awhile now, and I could still hear the shouts of the soldiers behind us.

"But what if there's too many of them?" Elsword asked. I could see he was getting tired, and I my legs were starting to feel kind of sore from all this running. How long had we been running? At least an hour?

"Elsword. . ." I started, as I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword.

"Almost there!" Elsword cried as his pace grew. "I just know we're almost there!"

"Where are we going?!" I demanded.

"It's not a trap, I promise!"

"I never said it was one!"

"Just wait, please! We're almost there!"

I had no choice but to run faster as Elsword kept going faster, not pausing to stop or even look behind him.

Was it me, or did this area look familiar? It seemed like we had ended up running towards the Forsaken Barrows.

At night, this place was pretty creepy. . . But the monsters were weak to me, and hopefully to Elsword too.

There was a faint whistling very close to my ear and then there was the sound of a body falling to the ground. As we ran, I turned my head to see that a soldier had fallen to the ground, an arrow straight through his heart. So Elsword was friends with an archer?

"C'mon, almost there!" Elsword cried as we finally entered the Forsaken Barrows. Behind us, I heard yelling and the sound of two more bodies falling. Good aim. . . But where was the archer?

Then there was another sound, like metal hitting metal and I turned to look once more. Now the soldiers had shields that they used to deflect the arrows with. When did they have those? Then I recognized the familiar Kanavan Royal Guard emblem and felt a surge of anger in me.

How could they be loyal to the King? How could they do this to us? How did this even happen? Why, why, why?

"Sis, what's wrong?" Elsword asked, looking at me worriedly.

"Nothing," I said, struggling to keep my voice even.

"You look mad. . . Is it because of the soldiers?"

I nodded, wondering what Ronan would think of this.

The arrows soon stopped once the archer realized that the arrows weren't getting through, so now what? Could we fight now?

I was about to slow down when a shadow covered us momentarily followed by the sound of someone landing somewhere back behind us. The soldiers stopped, and I decided to stop as well, yanking on Elsword's arm to stop him.

"What was that?" I asked him as I watched the soldiers look back.

"I think that's Raven," Elsword answered, panting. "He's a very fast attacker."

I was about to ask how fast when I saw a blur go through the soldiers and a black-haired man landed close to my brother and I, surprising me.

The soldiers seemed stunned for a second before numerous large cuts appeared on their bodies. All of the soldiers fell, either dead or now dying. That was. . . fast.

"Who is this, Elsword?" the man apparently named Raven asked. His golden eyes stared right into my eyes, and it was kind of hard not to look away.

"This is my sister, Elesis!" Elsword answered. "You. . . might not be able to tell due to her hair but it used to be pretty and long!"

"I see." Raven looked back at the soldiers that lay dead. "So why exactly did you have soldiers following you?"

"Um. . ." Elsword looked at the soldiers. "I don't know why they were even following us in the first place. I mean, my sis and I were just in our old home, talking."

"So you didn't bother to try and keep any type of watch?"

I suppose we were just caught up in the moment. . .

"Aw, Raven, give them a break," someone behind us said. "Remember how Elsword said it was at least a year or so since he last saw his big sis?"

I thought I saw Raven blush a bit but then his face was normal again as he said, "I suppose, but they could have been a bit more careful. You had to waste some of your arrows due to these two."

Elsword turned to give someone a big smile. "Thanks, Rena!"

I turned to see who this Rena was, only to be met with something large and squishy, which I was pressed into. Arms that went around me held me in place, and I could hardly breathe. What the hell?!

"What a cutie!" I heard. It sounded like it was the person hugging me! "What's his name? And where's the sister?" Apparently they did not realize that I was the sister.

"Mmph!" was all I managed to say as I tried to struggle free from her grasp.

"R-Rena, that's her, Elesis," Elsword said and he managed to pull me away.

As I took a few deep breaths to calm myself from my near-suffocation, I took a look at this Rena.

Her eyes were a yellow-green color that nearly matched her more yellower hair. The outfit she wore was mostly green and white with gold trim that showed off her cleavage, which I nearly suffocated on. . . The bow she had was quite spectacular, as if it were something someone of a high-rank would use. What surprised me, however, were her ears; they were long and pointed, just like Lire's. So was Rena an elf and an archer, just like Lire?

"S-So, you're Rena?" I managed to say after a few tries.

"Mhm. I'm sorry about that, though," Rena said as she took my hand and shook it. "You seem a little shocked."

"You. . . just remind me of someone I knew," I told her, quenching the emotions that wanted to show themselves.

At my words, Rena seemed surprised. "She's an elf too?"

I nodded and corrected her. "'Was.' She's. . . dead now." My eyes closed as I remembered Lire and I noticed that she did look similar to Rena, though this elf seemed more. . . more. . . The word wouldn't come to me so I gave up.

"I-I'm sorry." Rena came up and pulled me into another hug, though it wasn't quite so choking.

From behind, Elsword hugged me as well and said, "I wish it never happened." He sounded like he wanted to cry for me.

"It's okay, but thank you," I said as I pulled away from both hugs. "Say, why are you guys at the Forsaken Barrows anyway?"

"It was Elsword's idea," Raven answered. "Though, he may have gotten lost."

"Hey, don't blame me!" Elsword cried. "I. . . kinda forgot where the Marsh of Oblivion was." Elsword looked down sheepishly.

I just shook my head in amusement. "Sometimes I get the two places mixed up, seeing as how close together they are. But, where's the other two? You said you were a group of five, right?"

"Oh, they're back this way, near the shore!" Rena turned as she said, "C'mon, let's go! They're waiting for us!"

Raven went after Rena as Elsword and I trailed behind.

"So, is there anything I should know before-hand?" I asked.

"I don't think so, 'cept Eve but I told you already," Elsword answered. "Oh, and don't mention Aisha's height." Sounded like Arme, and I sighed.

"What's wrong, sis?" Elsword asked me.

"It's nothing, let's go." I quickened my pace on purpose so as to avoid anymore questions.

Where was Lass, and more importantly, Arme? I couldn't bear to lose both of my closest friends.