As he kept growing, the ground under his enormous feet started to sink. The rumbling caused the battle to stop. Immediately, everyone noticed the living mountain.
“Sam, phase four!” Wilt cried, which meant that I had to deal with Mount Fort by myself. “Retreat! Retreat!” He and the others scurried toward the broken gate. The raiders were also evacuated as if they were running for their lives. I understood why because as the mountain brave continued to grow, a quarter of the hill collapsed under his weight, bringing down a quarter of the fort as well. I leaped away to avoid the quakes.
Once Mount Fort stopped growing, he was twice the hill’s height. His face resembled a crudely carved rock sculptor; hollow eyes, flat nose, thick brows, and bulging lips.
At first, the mountain brave was glancing at me. Upon shifting toward Raja and Wilt’s group, they were at the gate. He locked onto Sir Chandos’s group. They were about to reach the hilltop until they tilted the
After several strikes from the magical hammer, Mount Fort still wouldn’t go down. The mountain brave regenerated the damage and his missing fingers. He began his counterattack by shooting a barrage of rocks out of his hands. Marseille threw thunderbolts to intercept. It was an epic battle. The land shook while the night sky crackled with thunder. My mouth hung open for the entire five minutes. “What’s the point of me fighting him?” Well, I was a bit relieved about that, but very much disappointed. I was looking forward to our epic showdown. “Why didn’t everyone just ask her from the start?” “Because Lady Marseille is from a big shot guild,” Zeki explained. “Asking her is like asking a favor from Dragonheart. In this world, not everything is free to give, Mr. Roche.” My shoulder sank from that statement. “But, for her and Mister Raja to offer their help without any compensation proves that heroes are still alive and well.” That brighten
Hammerhorn was ours. We all stood at its peak and watched the raiders scattered throughout the forest. That mysterious voice must’ve gotten away too. It was a miracle that all the members of the counter-raiding party survived, especially from that earthquake attack caused by Mount Fort. Afterward, we rested through the remainder of the night. By morning, we discussed what to do with Hammerhorn. It still had a strategic value to be left alone. The big shots or the raiders might return to take it back, but neither of those who were on their guild’s behalf wanted one of them to claim it as their territory. Marseille stepped in and proposed that all of them could rule jointly. It would be like a mini-Sweet Haven. Everyone agreed. Zeki’s guild also got a shared ownership since he participated in the battle. Raja declined the offer since he was a nonmember now. What about our party? We still hadn’t yet established a guild or even a flag. We waited for Wilt to speak
We’d arrived just in time for sunset. The entire residents of Rockflower poured out from the gate to meet us. They were anxiously waiting for the outcome of our quest, seeing we were fewer than the time we left. The answer they got was our smiles. “Victory party!” the one who shouted was the same person as before. Everyone burst into cheers. “To the cellar!” Mr. Smith cried, and we all rushed back inside. As night fell, tables were gathered around the three long tables in front of the guildhall’s main door. That was where the hosts and honored guests would be seated. Of course, my party was included. I was sitting next to the Smiths on my right while my friends were on my left. Raja, Zeki, Marseille, her companions, the two Green Bit chiefs, and one remaining Grendel Representative were sitting at the other long tables. “All done.” A Mayflower healer named Argo bandaged my sprained foot with strange scented herbs. “You’ll be alright in a day o
“I have to do it,” Brock said. “You sure?” Katie asked. He nodded. “I need to know if I am worthy.” My friends and I were staring at Marseille’s hammer lying on a stump. We were in a clearing inside the forest, not far from town. After two days, my sprained foot had healed. Mr. Smith finally started to teach us how to survive in the Yellow Zone. Raja, Zeki, and the Dragonhearts were also helping out. Raja decided that he would be staying here for a vacation. As for Marseille and her companions, they hadn’t yet told us their reason. They left the clearing with Mr. Smith to prepare something for us. However, for some reason, Marseille left her hammer behind. “Let me get this straight,” Li began. “Only a worthy can lift this hammer, right?” “Pretty much,” Wilt replied. We gave the Shaolin a brief knowledge of what we knew about Thor, from movies, cartoons, and comics. “Okay.” Li paused a bit. “Worthy of what?” “Worthy to w
Raja got to me first. While he swung his maces, I skipped backward to keep myself a distance away from their reach. I managed to catch a glimpse at Li leaping from my left. I tucked my knees and rolled toward Raja, avoiding Li’s kick and the swinging maces. After getting close to Raja’s legs, I sprang to my feet and tossed him toward Li, though he evaded the former commander from crashing on top of him. That was a moment for me to give the Shaolin a flying kick, but he evaded. Spinning himself in the air, Li was about to strike me with his glaive. “Stop! Stop!” Mr. Smith yelled. “Time out!” We all stopped in our tracks. He ran toward the crate, pulling out a wooden staff. “Here,” he exchanged Li’s glaive with it, “we don’t want to see Sam getting accidentally cut.” “Gee, thanks,” I grumbled in a sardonic tone. “Ouch, ow, ow…!” Li’s strikes with the staff were faster than his glaive. I had to block the hits with my forearms, bearing all the stinging pain. Raja
While walking next to the tree line, we followed the Mayflower Guildmaster to who knew where he took us. The forest was getting dark as night fell, though we managed to see where we were going, thanking the lights coming from Rockflower. “We’re here,” Mr. Smith said when we arrived in front of a wall of vines and foliage, covering as high as the tallest trees, with its length stretched as far as we could see in the dark. He went through first. Everyone was a bit hesitant until his hand popped out and gestured to come inside. Upon exiting on the other side, what we saw were lights. Not enough to blind us, but it took all of our breaths away. “It’s beautiful,” Katie gasped. In front of us was like a paradise in the night, full of glowing flowers, mosses, shrubs, and ferns, shimmering or tinting in shades of many vibrant colors. “It’s like we’re in Pandora,” Katie awed. “Or the night in the Garden of Eden,” Alex added. “My guild had been
Running and running, deep into the dark forest with nowhere to go. I stopped behind a redwood tree to catch a breath. Resting my back against its trunk, I breathed through my nostrils while covering my mouth with both hands. I stood still, trying to keep my ears open, but the noise of my pounding heart hampered me from hearing them coming. Wait, they got Green Bits! Hunters! They could still track me down. Tilting my head up, beyond those star-like lights on the canopy was the sunny sky. I sighed — if only I could fly to get away. “He’s close!” That was Brock’s voice shouting. “Hush, he might hear you.” And that was Sven’s. The sound of their loud footsteps and rustling leaves were coming from all sides. Tilting my head up again toward the canopy, I decided to make a daring move. My fingers dug on the bark and started climbing as fast as I could. “There he is,” Sven exclaimed. His voice alarmed me to make a twist around the trunk, and arrows m
As night came, we were in a secret hideout in the forest, inside a massive willow tree with its vast canopy of long leaves able to house ten people. This was the first line of defense in case of another raid. If ever a raider group tried to sneak toward the town, we would ambush them from behind. Our only light source was candles, though the double wall of black curtains around the roots dimmed their illumination. Because of that, our hideout wouldn’t get spotted by any incoming intruder. However, we couldn’t make a campfire due to its flame brightening more than candles. Therefore, the Mayflowers brought our dinner instead of cooking it ourselves. We were sitting around, doing our own leisure while waiting for something to happen through the night. I was reading some history books I borrowed from the town’s library. “Did you hear that?” I caught a strange, unfamiliar sound. We were a bit anxious, despite most of us were armed with Wilt’s conjured swords.