“Tie him up, guards. You! Get a carriage ready for me right now”, said Waller.

“Yes, my lord.”

Two guards came up to me and tied my arms behind my back. They were going to tie my legs when another one came and stopped them.

“Lord Waller said there is no need to tie his legs. He has no means to run away any way.”

So that's his name. Waller. Well, he's not wrong.

A carriage came soon after. I was kept on the ground, restricted to make even the tiniest of movements. “Lord Waller is going to be here in a moment, get him in the carriage before he returns”, said one of the men.

I was pushed into the cart. Questions rapidly ran through my mind. Why was he looking for me? What do they need me for? Where are they taking me?

Since I have 4 walls enclosed around me, even if I could activate my ability, I won't be able to use it. I sat there in silence. Why couldn't I use my ability while I was on my knees?

I heard a thump on the roof of my carriage.

“How cruel! To kill me like that” a voice said. “But fret not. Knube is a daemon, therefore Knube is invincible, Knube”, it continued.

Knube?

I immediately tried to open the carriage door. It was locked. A few arrows crackled the wind, while flying past. One even pierced into the carriage.

“Stay away from the center, Knube”, I heard from above.

I don't know what he was planning. I heard Knube jump on the roof a few times and dodge the incoming arrows. Finally, I heard him take a big jump. That's when he came through the roof like a boulder, smashing through the roof. I had to stick to the carriage walls to escape the fall. “You almost killed me”, I said looking at him.

“If I didn't save you, you would've been dead anyway, Knube.”

Knube looks much different from before. He looked in no way similar to his previous form of a child. His face resembles a monkey's. He has hair is tied into a bun. His hands were big, almost half the size of his forearm. Small wing-like bones protruded from the back of his shoulders. He has a thick brown mane at the base of his neck, growing till his shoulder. He also became 6 paces tall. Half a pace taller than me. The only resemblance to his former self was his pale white skin.

I jumped out of the cart to see a few people struck by arrows. Waller, who was walking towards the carriage, stopped in his tracks.

“You’re kidding me.”

Knube jumped. “Sorry Straak”. He kicked me with all his might and rebounded into the air. Thanks to him I dodged an arrow.

Whoosh*

While we were focused on the guards surrounding us, Waller sprinted towards us. He will try to repeat the same moves from before. I looked to my side where the gate switch probably was. Multiple guards gathered in that spot. I need to get away from Waller.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Seeker's step!”

In the next moment, I appeared behind Waller, diagonal to him. Knube is just standing where he was. What is he doing?

While I was thinking through all this, Waller got his sword. He lunged at Knube with all his strength. Knube dodged every attack.

“Phase 2: Breaker’s Onslaught!” Waller activated a new ability.

I was shocked. “A second ability?”

Waller pierced his sword into the ground. With his call, cracks appeared on his sword. With shards of metal protruding out, almost as if his sword has scales. He raised his sword and pointed it at Knube.

Whoosh*

A metal shard shot out from the sword, at an unbelievable speed. Knube dodged it.

“I won't let you kill me a second time, Knube.”

Knube continued dodging Waller's barrage of shards. Knube's movements were athletic and fluid, without a single wasted movement. Tired of not getting Knube, Waller looked at me.

I ran to my side and headed towards the gate switch, dodging some of the projectiles.

“Seeker’s Step!”

Most of the guards stayed away from the fight, but there were still a few protecting the gate switch. Not sure what I should do about them, I came up with an idea.

While Waller is using his ability, if I use my ability towards the projectiles and dodge them, they should go behind me and hit the people guarding the switch. I can use my ability again to open the gates.

Waller kept fighting Knube with his sword while attacking me with shards from a distance.

“Breaker’s Onslaught!”

“Seeker’s Step!”

I used my ability when the projectiles were a few feet away. Yes! I skipped past. Or so I thought.

Agh!

I fell on the ground, down to my knees. Wait, what happened? Cough* cough*. Blood leaked from my arm. I realised that I got hit by a shard in the back of my shoulder.

How did the shard still hit me?

Waller reached me, with Knube behind him. He swung his sword at my skull, with full intention to kill me. If that sword hits me, I will be split in half.

“Oho you can't do that, Knube!”

At the last moment Knube slid under Waller's legs and reached me. Just as Waller's sword was about to strike, a shield appeared in the shape of a half moon before Knube. Waller’s sword struck the shield and its trajectory was pushed away to the side. So were his next attacks.

“Straak, I know what to do, Knube!”

“Don't wait then. Just do it!”

The shield disappeared and Knube made a stance, as if he was going to pull a sword from his side. His body shone with a halo of light outlining it. Waller panicked. Like he knew what's coming. He jumped back.

In the next moment, I only saw and felt one thing.

Emptiness.

………………………..

Ugh!

I'm getting deja vu. I struggled to open my eyes. I felt my hands around to feel where I was. Wooden floor? I opened my eyes fully, only to find out I'm in a cart. Am I being taken away?

Suspiciously, I was not tied up. And the cart had a lot of wooden crates, blocking my view of the back of the cart. How long have I been out for? I slowly got up, trying not to make a noise.

I remember Knube doing something. I don't know what happened after. I peeked slowly past the crates. No one was in the cart. I crawled and reached the end of the cart. The cover is on so I opened it slightly to see around. Can't see anyone in the back.

I quietly stepped out. Hiding behind the cart I looked around. 20 paces across the cart, there was a small lake. Two men were there drinking water and fishing.

"Haaa! How can water feel this good? It tastes so nice too", one said. Neither of them look like they could be a guard. They are the only ones around. Is this their cart?

For a moment a cool breeze caressed my face, bringing my attention to the surroundings. I looked around once again, paying attention to what's around me.

I'm outside the gates…

I thought I would feel a rush of happiness. But no, instead I felt guilt and worry. I still do not know if my family survived the attack.

I peeked at the two men again. I should get away from them. Tip toeing away from the cart, I went to hide in the bushes.

"What the hell are you doing here, kid?" Said one of the men. I turned around to look, and found one of them right behind me.

"Hello there, I was just looking for water. I would not want to disturb you so I wanted to take a leave and return later", I said smiling. Then I looked at my clothes. I looked more like a runaway than someone looking for water.

The man hurriedly replied, “No, don't make it hard for yourself. It is a decent sized lake, please do what you would like”. His companion returned to the cart with a few fish. Unlike the one who spoke with me this man seemed very different. He had white hair and blue eyes. Which both made him look like a noble. He had a large and a short sword on either side. A necklace with a blue stone hung around his neck. His clothes were all in white and sky blue. His hair was long. Almost like a woman's.

I walked along with them to the edge of the lake. "What are you gentlemen doing here?"

The same man spoke again, almost bashful. "Haha gentleman."

I don't know what came over him. After he said that to me and turned towards me, he fell silent. There were a lot of things I could ask, but something tells me that I should be cautious.

"Where are you from, kid?"

"Oh I'm just from a town south of here. Have you heard of a small village called Fostir?"

Of course a town like that doesn't exist. I just hope these men aren't sharp enough to know that. The chatty man put his hands under his chin and said, "Hmm does not ring a bell. It must be a rather small village”.

“Yes it is.”

"You must be tired from getting lost here. Come let me give you some food", he said and showed me a basket with grilled fish, wrapped in leaves.

I am tempted by the offer. After all, I never had fish in my life. I declined the offer, but after the man's persistence, I gave in.