37 Soldiers of Quirk

Sif and Rollins knew it was too late for them to hide in the woods. If they could see the soldiers; then the soldiers could see them.

They decided to stand off to the side of the road and wait for the soldiers to get closer to see what would happen. They hoped for the best.

They noticed the soldiers all had strange skin colors. Some were yellow, others blue, pink, red, and even green-skinned soldiers. Their armor looked like it was made from steel.

White linen shirts were over the armor. It had the image of some kind of bird.

The soldiers approached and slowed their pace. One of them came forward and spoke.

"Higal Zambor? Mafnir hammil?" the soldier looked at both Rolins and Sif. Neither of them understood the words the person said. They both shrugged their shoulders.

"We don't understand you," Rollins said.

"Do you know any other languages?" Sif asked.

The soldier went back to one of the carriages. The other soldiers kept an eye on Rollins and Sif with their drawn swords pointed at them.

"They must be protecting someone important. They have their swords drawn and they've taken up a defensive posture with that carriage as the center of the formation.

"What should we do?" Sif asked.

"I think we should be patient and see how it goes. If we run they'd definitely attack. At that point we might as well just move forward and slaughter all of them," Rollins said.

"I'd rather you didn't," a man said as he stepped out of the carriage. This man wasn't a soldier of any kind. He looked more like a scholar.

"Hello, visitors, I am a Spirit Man, Kantor is my name. May I know your names?" he asked. Kantor had light green skin and bright red hair.

He wore robes and some glasses that had fallen to the edge of his nose. He looked like a teacher peering over their spectacles.

"You speak our language?" Rollins asked.

"Obviously, may I have the honor of your name?" The scholar asked once more.

"I am Rollins and this is my sister Sif," he said.

"You are warriors?" the man asked.

"Yes," Sif responded.

"Are you any good?" The scholar said with a smile.

"Would you like to find out?" Sif challenged him. She was feeling very aggressive for some reason.

"I do not want to find out, but this man here would like to," the scholar indicated a man a little over six feet tall. His skin was yellow, but unlike the other soldiers, he wasn't wearing any armor. Just read leather boots and red wool pants.

As soon as the scholar finished talking; the warrior attacked. He swung his fist at Sif first. She barely dodged. Rollins moved in and drew his sword.

Armguards appeared from nowhere. The yellow warrior blocked the sword with the arm guards. Rollins noticed that just before the armguards appeared, the spirit man scholar mouthed some words.

The battle intensified as Rollins and Sif attacked in tandem. Whenever they were about to hit a weak point, armor appeared to block the strike.

Every time the armor appeared, the spirit man mumbled something. They realized the warrior's strength was in part due to the scholar.

Knowing this didn't help them end the fight any quicker. Every time they attempted to attack the scholar an energy field blocked their attack.

At moments like that the warrior took advantage and attacked.

"Is he some kind of Mage?" Sif asked her brother.

"I don't know, but we need to stop holding back or we're going to lose."

Rollin's sword lit up and he started moving slowly but it seemed like he was in front of the warrior without any notice. Was he moving slow or fast?

Behind Rollins was a series of after images. He stabbed the warrior and this time the attack made it through.

Sif made a similar move and chopped off an arm. Rollins put his sword at the warriors neck while Sif moved in to attack the scholar. Her sword was stopped once more by a barrier.

"I think that's enough. You are both very skilled warriors. Only one out of a thousand warriors can stand against my little creation so easily," a light wrapped around the warrior and it changed into a paper shaped man missing an arm.

The paper man appeared in the hand of the scholar who put it away.

"We are the soldiers of Quirk and I am their leader Spirt man Kantor," he said with a bow.

"We are on our way to meet up with a larger army. If you would like; why don't you travel with me in my carriage and I can try to answer some of your questions," he said.

"Why did you attack us?" Rollins asked.

"I like talking to skilled warriors. Anything less than a skilled warrior isn't worth my time to speak with.

The two of you are visitors to our quaint little planet. Maybe we can help one another out," Kantor said hoping to entice them.

"Do we have a choice? Are you arresting us?" Rollins asked.

"You are free to leave if you would like, but I think both of us would miss out on an opportunity," Kantor said with a smile.

"Have you come upon another white-skin like us dressed in a red and blue...outfit?" she asked.

"Oh, there's another of you? How interesting. No, we haven't come across such a person, but I'll be on the lookout for him now,"

He whispered something to one of the nearby soldiers who ran toward the back of the troop and disappeared.

"Please, join me in my carriage," Kantor said as he opened the door to his carriage and waited for them to board.

"We would be delighted, sir," Rollins said as he motioned for his sister to get in.

"Excellent, I'm sure we'll have a very nice time. Are you people of Miras?" The man asked.

"We are, and what is a spirit man is it a mage?" Rollins asked. The two of them began an exchange of information as the carriage and the soldiers started moving down the road once more.

Sif looked out the window wondering where Kyle was at that moment and if he was okay.

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Enough power stones were contributed so we'll deliver three chapters today instead of two. This is the first Sunday release. We'll have two more chapters to look forward to!

Next week, let's aim for 250 stones and get 3 extra chapters.

Today's power stone heroes: 1641991, HeDuchennevg, and Nofin

Thank you all for your support! This book wouldn't be possible without you.

--Straythought