• Chapter Seven: Battle on the Bridge

    Koza and Tera thanked the man for his information, and went on their way, only to get stopped by a different person. By this time, both of them were annoyed. The man was holding a large sack. He handed it over to them and explained it was a reward for slaying the creature, and the leas that he could do for them. They took it, a little surprised, but grateful nonetheless. Turning to each other, they opened the sack to reveal a substantial amount of money inside. They took it over to a bench and both sat down with the sack in the middle. They spent the next few minutes dividing it up evenly between the two of them.

    When they had finished, Tera blurted out randomly,

    “I’ll be right back!” She then raced off, leaving Koza alone on the bench. She came back a few minutes later with a small, purple velvet sack.

    “What’s that?” Koza asked, pointing at the sack.

    Tera smiled and opened it, revealing an assortment of gemstones.

    “You actually spent money on rocks?” Koza asked dully.

    “What? They were shiny…” Tera said in defense.

    “Well, it wasn’t my money, so no harm done I guess,” he said. “Can we please get out of here now?”

    “Sure. Lets get going!” Tera said as she put the sack away. They then headed for the rear exit of the town.

    Outside town was a long, winding pathway with high walls made out of aurum colored rock on both sides. Tera looked all around them as they walked.

    “What kind of rock is this?” she asked.

    “Its just called Aurum rock. Nothing too extravagant,” Koza answered.

    “Hm,” Tera thought. She wondered if the walls would let up farther down the path, but it didn’t look too promising.

    Stopping to rest more than once, it was late in the day before they came to what appeared to be an exit to the small ravine-like area they had been in. When they arrived at it, a giant bridge made out of Aurum rock awaited them. Below the bridge was one hell of a drop, with nothing but a small river at the bottom. They looked at each other, nodded, and walked onto the bridge, slowly at first to make sure it was sturdy.

    Somewhere along halfway across, (or what must’ve been halfway after how long they had been walking) they could see something on the horizon. It was a line of something… As they got closer and closer, they stopped in their tracks. What awaited them was a blockade made entirely out of ARK soldiers and tanks with the word ARK on the side. All of them were stationed as if they had been waiting for Koza and Tera the whole time.

    One of the ARK grunts in front stepped forward, eyeing both of them. After which he pulled out a small walkie-talkie and said,

    “Targets confirmed on Aurum Bridge. Repeat, targets confirmed on Aurum Bridge.”

    He then put the walkie-talkie away and pulled out a sword.

    “You two are in for a world of hurt. You’re now on our most wanted list. And when I say most wanted, I mean most wanted dead.”

    Tera and Koza held their ground.

    “You guys don’t give up do you?” Koza said, drawing his rapier. Tera also drew her weapons and readied herself for a fight. She then looked over at Koza, as if to see if he was in any condition to fight. Koza nodded without looking over. Tera then looked back at the blockade. The ARK grunt that appeared to be the leader gave a signal, and all the others charged towards the two. They simply held their ground until the last minute, and then charged head on into the swarms of ARK troops.

    Injured though he was, Koza had no problem taking out ARK grunt after ARK grunt with ease. They were no match for his speed coupled with his sword skills. Tera was also holding her own against a fairly large amount of grunts at once. Blasting their way through, they reached a line of tanks that looked ready to fire at any minute. Both took a step back, then jumped up into the air. They struck at the tank in the middle at the same time, creating a large crack in its side. Both jumped back and ran off a little. The tank sat quietly for a few moments before exploding into a giant fireball. The flames caught the tanks that were lined up next to it, causing them to explode as well. It continued on in this fashion until all the tanks were destroyed.

    Looking around them, Koza and Tera couldn’t see any more ARK grunts left standing. The bridge was riddled with bodies, both dead and unconscious. They just shrugged. ARK shouldn’t have tried to mess with them in the first place. After all, they were just defending themselves. Sheathing their weapons, they dusted themselves off casually, as if nothing had happened. Stepping over the occasional body, they stepped off the bridge and continued down the pathway.

    ARK didn’t know who they were messing with. Koza and Tera couldn’t be defeated so easily. If that was all they had to offer, they had might as well have given up right then and there. However, ARK was already planning their next move…




    Next Chapter: Better Days in Weird Ways