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Jeran was indeed following at that very moment, chasing
the Zafara pursuers. He was having difficulty keeping up with them. They repeatedly
made jumps and rolls through shortcuts, and they had a never-ending supply of
the electric whips, which Jeran had to dodge all the time. Jeran noticed they
had red wristbands and bucklers on.
Finally there was a dead end and the Zafaras
couldn't run any farther. Their feet skidded on the ground, making light dust,
and glared at the foe. They put their right hands on their foreheads. Jeran
noticed electricity was building wildly in the bucklers.
The androids fired without warning. Lightning
shot out of the bucklers and caught Jeran by surprise. Four blasts hit, and
Jeran tripped with shock shooting through his veins. White spots blotted out
his eyes.
For ten seconds he could see nothing. Then his
sight came back and the Zafaras were gone. This wouldn't stop him.
He looked at the ground around him. There were
no tracks.
He looked around the area were he last saw them.
Nothing. He had lost them.
Klump!
A metal block crashed down a foot away from
Jeran. The Lupe looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling. They had come inside
from there.
"Time to get that scroll," Jeran said before
jumping up and back into pursuit.
***
The battle was over between android and knight, at least for now. Robots lay
obliterated across the rooftops. Small fires had started where explosions had
occurred. And, on rare occasions, a dead knight could be seen, who died for
Meridell, and would never know if the battle was won or lost, if their life
had made a difference.
"Get a medic over here!" Christmas shouted loudly
after finding another of the wounded. Too many lives had been shed. Healers
rushed about with their medicine, having trouble fixing the wounds.
Christmas flew upwards to the healer tower.
One of the many wounded was King Skarl. He lay on his bed with his mouth agape,
staring with his eyes out. His scepter had been removed and was at the side
of the bed. The best medics were at the King's side at all times.
"What's his condition?" Christmas asked.
"You will be glad to know that his Grace shall
live," a doctor stated. "But he will be in paralyzed for about a week. You know
that you take command of Meridell while the king and Jeran are out of service."
"Yes, I know," the Zafara murmured. "And I want
you all to go to other patients. You cannot help when attending to a patient
who has no ailment." The healers saluted and rushed away.
When Christmas walked out of the tower, he saw
Scruff helping Lisha walk forward to the healers. He immediately helped get
Lisha a bed, and Scruff explained what was going on with Jeran, Scot, and the
Scrolls.
"Thank you for letting me know about this,"
Christmas said. "I need you to go check on the peasants. I don't know what is
going on down in the chambers." Scruff nodded and flew off.
Jeran was one floor above the chambers, crawling
through the newly discovered tunnel. A light was up ahead. He was glad he could
out of this uncomfortable position.
He got to the exit and peeked out with his eyes
out. Two electric whips were quickly thrown by the two Zafaras guarding the
exit. Jeran speedily ducked his head back inside before the ropes hit their
target.
Jeran took out his sword and sliced apart the
whips until they stopped their jolts. The Lupe rolled out of the tunnel and
made a quick jump.
While in midair, he sliced the head of the android
to his right. He landed with a thud and put the sword in his left hand. The
Zafara took out his blaster and was about to fire when…
CHING!
The android hand was swiftly sliced off. After
a three-second fight, both Zafaras exploded. Jeran continued forward. Four more
androids remained.
The path was getting more familiar. He was almost
out of the castle. Windows above him showed the full moon in the sky. Jeran
saw a glimmer of coming from the end of the tunnel.
Jeran picked up speed and sprinted down the
halls. The Zafaras were in sight. They ran without looking back, unknowing of
the Lupe's presence. Jeran was within ten paces.
The Zafaras reached a turn. They skidded on
the ground and began to run again. Jeran threw his sword sharply, slicing open
the android at the back of the group. The sword buried itself in the wall.
The Zafaras took one look at Jeran and fired
their three blasters. Jeran put his hands in front of his face and his armor
absorbed the blasts and shot them back. The shots bounced across the halls,
none of them making contact. The androids had darted off.
Jeran pulled his sword out of the wall and followed
the remaining three, leaving the cleaved open android on the floor. Electric
blasts greeted him as he charged. Jeran dodged the shots and pressed forward.
The Zafaras were trapped. They hadn't come in
the castle this way, and the Lupe would make sure they wouldn't come out. The
programming chips in their heads told them they would have to fight to the death.
They charged their bucklers with electricity as Jeran unsheathed his sword.
The room was circular all around and had a giant
window for the moon to shine into. The walls could be easily walked on. The
Zafaras threw three electric whips straight at Jeran.
"RAAAH!" Jeran howled as he sliced his sword
downwards, chopping apart the whips. The first he attacked had the scroll pieces
clamped into its fist. The Lupe sliced sideways, cutting off the arm holding
the scroll. Jeran caught the arm and put it in his left hand. He poked into
the wounded android's body, shutting down its systems.
The fight continued for three minutes or so,
with blasters blazing, whips thrown, electricity fired, parried blows, until
both Zafaras took out two whips each. They circled Jeran repeatedly by running
around on the walls. Both then jumped at the same time and threw their whips.
Jeran was about to be electrocuted in the head
when he blocked of the whips with the arm holding the scroll. The whips tightly
locked themselves around the two pieces and started their electric waves. The
shock surged throughout the scroll parts, forcing Jeran to drop it and the robotic
hand holding it to disintegrate. The two parts had joined together again.
This made a blinding light that temporarily
knocked out the android scanners. Jeran was lucky to not see the flash of light
and got to get a free swipe at an android, chopping it to bits. The last Zafara
crashed through the window and fled.
Jeran was on one knee and breathing heavily.
He dropped his sword and sat down. He noticed the whips on the scroll had stopped,
and he picked up the parchment.
There were no rips of tears, and the scroll
looked as good as new. Jeran ripped a corner of it off and it magically fused
back together again.
"Wrap around it and bind it, just as the riddle
said." He glanced at the whips on the floor that had wrapped the parchment together.
Jeran would have read what the scroll said, but he had to take out the last
Zafara. He recollected his energy and jumped through the window crashing onto
the lawn 100 feet from Meridell.
The Zafara was taking the brick path to Meri
Acres. Jeran was on the path and following. The Zafara was running pointlessly
forward, and Jeran would be within sword range soon.
Then the Zafara stopped, not looking back. Jeran
charged at light speed. The sword was about to hit home when…
Thump!
The android kicked Jeran right in his open stomach,
sucking the wind out of him. Immediately the Zafara turned around and shot with
his blaster. Jeran crashed backwards 20 feet and was stunned.
The Zafara walked up to him. It aimed its blaster
at Jeran's head. It would end Meridell's last hope if Jeran didn't have a little
bit of energy left. He used it and sliced through the android. Jeran then slumped
to the ground and regained his strength.
Above on the horizon two of the transports planes
were landing nearby. Jeran got up and saw that sixty Zafaras were jumping out
of the planes. He prepared his weapons against the most impossible odds. The
androids quickly charged.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Jeran did just that and Scot swiftly came from
the sky, slicing open the first android with his axe. His two spiked grappling
hooks spun around his head. He threw both, crushing ten Zafaras under the sharp
points.
"Run, Jeran!" the Pteri shouted. "The scrolls
are Meridell's only hope. Go, Go!" Anything else Scot said was cut off by an
android's blow to the back of his skull. The Pteri continued fighting bravely
as Jeran ran far away.
When the Lupe was safely out of harm's reach,
he thought about where to go. He really couldn't go anywhere because he had
no idea where the other scrolls were. He was confused until he remembered.
The scroll he had now had writing on it! He
opened it up and read what it said. Half the page had instructions on absorption,
the age old fusion technique were you eat another's energy, giving you all of
the person's powers and strength. The second part had another riddle.
Go yonder young knight, who holds this scroll.
Thou journey lies were this scroll was found. Prime is the one who will know
the answers. Find him, and it will all be revealed.
"This was one smart piece of paper! How does
it know my name?" Jeran thought. "I haven't seen Metriod Prime in a while. I
wonder how he's doing?"
Metriod_Prime is a Fire Kacheek that was once
absorbed, and now continues to protect his hometown of Merinheim.
"Merinheim it is!" Jeran shouted before starting
his 100-mile walk at a brisk jog.
***
Coldblood followed the Lupe's scent around Meridell castle and into the town.
He was running at remarkable speed, with no breaks for rest, food, or water.
The scent was getting stronger.
As he climbed over a hill, he noticed two downed
YKT-10 Cruisers and sixty destroyed XJ4 androids. Grundox must have gone to
plan be after he had failed. When he ran down the hill and into the wreck, he
found a badly wounded Pteri. He had many injuries and was half conscious. Coldblood
grabbed the Pteri by the neck and hoisted him in the air.
"Where did that Lupe go?" Coldblood yelled.
The Pteri was in clothes of the royal knight family.
"I don't know stranger," Scot mumbled with his
eyes closed. "Jeran left some time ago."
"JERAN!" He finally knew the Lupe's name!
Jeran. This fool was no longer needed. He tossed him on the ground. The scent
was starting to pick up. He continued running with a new speed boost.
"JEERRRRAAAAANNNN!" he howled at the
top of his lungs. The knight would dearly pay for what he had done, this Coldblood
promised!
***
This ends section one of Jeran's quest. Due to the overall length of this
story, it will have to be split into parts. Section two: A Fiery Start, will
be submitted when I am done with it. But for now, this tale is at its end.
THE END (so far)
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