"yea sure" she said and tried to smile brightly but something was stopping her so she looked away

"to the land of the elves then? i guess it is time i go back.." she mumbled and sighed looking down at her hand

"but ill only go if you teach me how to fight ok!" she said and looked at shinu

"please i fell so helpless! i cant help any of you if i cant fight!" she said and clentched her fists

"its not right that i keep getting into trouble that i cant get myself out of. its not fair that i depend on all of you to help me. i dont want to be the one holding all of us back." she said

"so if you would teach me i promise not to complain and i will work really really hard i promise!" she said looking back up at shinu

"please!" she said looking sad and on the verge of tears. she couldnt stand being the helpless one. it was so disgraceful.

Mikael searched Fredrik for anything of value while the others talked. He found some coins and a hidden dagger hiding in his boot. After hearing Shinu talk about a mission, he dropped Fredrik’s body to the ground, now interested in what he had heard Shinu say.

“You said something about a mission?… Who are you going after? Maybe I can be of assistance on your mission…”

As Mikael finished, the girl who he had saved came over and started pleading to learn to fight. Mikael felt a strange feeling that he had never had before, he felt pity for the girl, so he passed the dagger over to the girl.

“Here. When someone comes close and they are using their fists, try blocking their attack, then stab at them.”

Mikael showed how to pull off a proper defence attack.

“If they have a weapon, it is easier if you run around them before you try swiping at them.”

As Mikael finished showing the girl what to do, he saw that she looked confused about what to do. Mikael was not impressed by this, so he turned and started to walk towards the river.

“hmph! Better get Shinu to show you what to do. As for anyone else who wants to get upstream, I know own a fine boat. Come to the river if you want to hitch a ride.”

"ah thank you!" she said and bowed to him

"i will practice it i promise" she said standing up straight to see he was gone and she smiled and looked at the dagger

"ill try my best" she smiled and gripped the dagger and smiled

she fallowed them all practicing as she walked by swinging the dagger

she smiled and played the move on a tree but the dagger stuck in the thick bark and she had a hard time pulling it from the tree

she sighed and practiced some more until they came upon another tree and she ran at it pulling off the move perfectly

she smiled and looked down at the dagger

"ill keep trying" she smiled brightly and swung it around again in practice

' i guess in order to learn i must get help. im glad there are some willing to help. i will do my best not to let them down' she thought and smiled swinging the dagger from side to side and accidentally throwing it almost hitting shinu

"ahhh sorry!" she said running over and pulled the dagger out of the tree next to shinu

"ahhh heehee" she said smiling nervously

"good thing i missed" she smiled and tugged on the dagger that was stuck in the tree all the way to the hilt

"ehhhh good gravy!" she grumbled pulling with all her weight

Shinu laughed to himself and reached his arm over Kairi's and easily pulled the dagger out of the tree.

Here you go, we'll have more time to work on this later, but for now, just try not to get hit, and when you see an opening, swing your blade right at that opening, we'll get more in depth when we get the group in better health. For now, we need to get going.

Maikel, can you get the boat going towards the land of the elves? We need to get there as quickly as possible to continue our journey. Without a fully healthy group, I don't see you or any of us getting our just reward.

((I know it was just a spelling mistake, but I couldn’t resist ))

“To the elves it is then… Oh and by the way. My name is pronounced M-I-K-A-E-L, try to remember that”

Mikael started up the boat. It was old and creaky, but it still worked. The boat was moving in no time and they were going with the river, which made the journey more easy. Mikael steered the boat, while the others relaxed. This gave Mikael time to reflect on what had happened in the last two days. He wasn’t quite sure what was happening, or how he ended up in it. All he knew was that there was going to be a large reward waiting for him after he had killed who ever it was they were after. He also needed his wounds healed by the Elves, so he could fight at his strongest.

kairi leaned on the edge of the boat fiddling with the dagger with a frown on her face

' i promised i would never go back... so much for that' she sighed and hung her head

'after all these years... i cant believe im going home' she thought and stood up straight and looked around at the water then leaned back looking up at the sky

she smiled softly and looked ahead to see that the river was going inbetween two large mountains and she blinked looking up as they did and she smiled and pulled her hands to her face and whistle making a sound like a bird

she smiled slightly when she heard a response and even chuckled then slid and sat down on the floor of the ship

As Lins rose from his mind, he eyes opened up to the group all sitting around in a boat. A faint smell of smoke hung in the air and some of the people looked singed, as if they where in a fire. Lins armour was crushing him from when the giant monster had crash landed and forced him into a partial coma. He slipped off his right gauntlet and reached for his bow. He got his bow and used the metal spikes at the end to weaken his armour more so he could take it off him, or take it apart. The armour was to damaged to be repaired and Lins had no use for it any more.

Hey, somebody help me outta this armour its killing me

Lins's mind was still fuzzy and he couldn't see straight. Everything was all blurred and he couldn't tell who was who. he only could make out were people where.

"ok let me help" she said and walked over and kneeled down and started pulling it off him struggling a litle at some parts

"eh this is really on tight" she said pullin on the last peice his chest plate

she pulled and pulled then it popped off and she smiled and looked at him

"i will help you ok" she said and put her hurt hand up to her chest and her good hand to his head and the blue glow traveled to him from her hand and she winced clentching her bad fist as it hurt

his wounds healed instantly and she pulled her hand away and grabbed her hand and felt a tear fall from her face and she tried to cover it up by telling her hair fall infront of her face as she fell back and sat down trying to stop crying.

it felt like someone was pealing her flesh back

As the craft sailed down the river, the foliage on the banks began to grow more dense. When they had left the hamlet where they obtained the boat, the vegetation had been barely more than a handful of scraggly brush and a few bushes of nettles occasionally. Gradually, trees and shrubbery replaced the sparse undergrowth, until it was evident that they had entered a forest.

The trees grew towering overhead, anywhere from twenty to thirty feet from the ground, according to their estimation. The forest was composed of a mix of oak, elm, and an small number of lonely willows. Their canopies reached towards the heavens, branching over the river and enclosing the party in a tunnel of shimmering green light. The sun had slowly been descending along its western arc as the day went on, and soon it would vanish behind the veil of the horizon. The forest about them seemed unnaturally still...

Until the silence was broken by a grating shriek, a nightmarish rasp from the wine-colored sky. The leaves above the party shone briefly with an unnatural, orange light, before they immediately curled and blackened, consumed by flame. A black, winged shape was outlined above them against the last of the dying light.

The screech seemed very familiar to Mikael, he had heard it not too long ago. He kept an eye on the river and his surroundings to make sure it wasn’t a surprise attack. There was another screech and it was clear this time that it came from above them.

“So, come back for more have you?” Mikael whispered.

Mikael drew his daggers and faced everyone.

“Prepare yourselves, it could catch our scent.”

The ground shook as a tree in the distance fell from the power of the beast’s tail. Mikael grabbed hold of the steering wheel of the boat, making sure the boat didn’t steer in to any rocks in the river.

“This time you will die” Mikael whispered as another tree closer fell down.