Tale of the Outcast Warrior: Escape and Information.

The pair sneaked down to the wagon depot, which had the same feel as the super Walmart back in their hometown. The depot was a massive stone chamber filled with boxes and crates of every size, shape and description, what was inside them only the gods knew. The entire operation was a scene of organized chaos, merchants and deliveries went in on the right hand side of the entryway, with a soldier holding a clipboard asking the contents of each shipment and directing traffic to the designated are based on the response. The wagons were then driven to the indicated spot, where the driver dismounts and speaks with the man in charge of that area, the driver receives his payment as his cargo is unloaded and distributed based on the type of good, weapons and armour went straight into the tower, foodstuffs to the cooks, miscellaneous goods went to the servants and so on. The newly unloaded wagon was directed to its next position, if it was to be reloaded with additional goods it was directed further into the warehouse, if no then it was directed to a line head back out the door in a counterclockwise rotation from the entrance. So when a wagon entered on the right side of the doorway in exited on the left. It looked to be a very well-oiled machine. As Tyler and Kaori watched the procession of wagons, they realized getting close was going to be harder then they thought. The hustle and bustle of the warehouse, coupled with the sheer number of moving people was going to prove a challenge. But as they were waiting for an opening to move in closer, a commotion broke out at the entrance, bringing the carefully organized wagon wheel to a grinding halt. A women was yelling at a couple of poor ferriers for getting water on her jeans-wait Jeans? On closer inspection the pair realized they both recognized the bloated woman making a scene in front of everyone.

"Watch the fuck out, you lousy horse fucker, didn't anyone teach you to get the fuck out of my way, you miserable excuses for people, your mother should have swallowed you!"

It was none other then Tyler's mother, once again making life miserable for all involved in her life. His sister and step father flanking her as usual. As the spectacle of an obese woman yelling at a pair of horse ferriers was unfolding before them, Tyler spotted a wagon with a larger opening underneath close by him and Kaori. The best part? Max, Zack, and Justin were riding it. The perfect escape vehicle had arrived. No guard would think to check a wagon with three of the legendary "WARRIORS" aboard. So Tyler nudged Kaori in it's direction and she smiled and nodded as if reading his mind. The two moved from the shadow of the boxes they had hid behind, moving from one shadow to another. They reached the wagon without and trouble and dropped to the ground and crawled underneath. Grabbing the braces under the wagon they were able to wedge themselves under the wagon to the point that the only way anyone would see them is if they got down on their hands and knees and crawled under the wagon itself. They gripped the metallic braces tightly and clung like a pair of sloths on a branch. They settled in not a moment too soon as the wagon began moving along again with only the sound of creaking timbers, along with the sounds of orders, directions and horses neighing to be heard. His whale of a mother could no longer be heard wailing, so Tyler assumed that she had been satisfied by something or other, the wanted pair could hear the conversations of the bastard trio above them.

"So the retard and Kaori have yet to be found yet eh? that's hilarious bro, what the hell those guards doing? eh Max I bet you could've found them easily!"

Sniggered Zack, who was forever stroking Max's fragile ego.

"yeah, Max where the fuck did they go? That tower's not THAT complex! It only goes up or down, not that many hiding places, specially given how fuckin stupid that retard is, Betcha anythin he ditched Kaori and bailed on his own. Friggin coward!"

That was Justin's two cents, off the mark as usual. Max could be heard chuckling,

"If anything the guards probably already caught them and didn't tell us, that's the more likely scenario, I mean you saw how Smug Skyr look this mornin, bet he had his fun with them before they died, that pope is not a nice guy. Still though, waste bout Kaori, wish I could'a fucked her myself, though guess that ain't happenin now is it? What a waste of an ass!"

All three pricks laughed at that as they approached the guards doing the searches, Tyler and Kaori quietened their breathing as much as they could as they approached, but as they neared the guard the man just waved the wagon along,

"Your clear, go on ahead!"

The wagon moved through the gate and out onto the bridge. Tyler and Kaori breath a little lighter, So far so good< they were out of the tower, but they weren't clear just yet. They still had to successfully detach from the wagon and get clear without being seen by the driver or it's occupants. The wagon neared the end of the bridge, as it was about to exit the bridge the wagon stopped as the driver yelled at some other driver in his way, Tyler and Kaori took the opportunity to detach amid the yelling match roll out from under the wagon. Tyler rose to his feet first, and then helped Kaori to her feet on the side of the road near a stone wall overlooking the moat, with a clear view of the tower. The driver finally had the room to continue on his way with the wagon, while the three stooges abroad continued to crack raunchy jokes at Kaori's expense without noticing that she had just peered into their window, a look of disgust on her pretty face. Tyler and Kaori took a moment to look back at the tower they had fought so hard to escape: It was an absolutely massive structure, so tall that neither could see the top from their position on the ground. The Tower's construction was similar in style to that of the Eiffel tower back in their own world, only made of stone and on a far larger scale. Five immense stone legs stretched out before them, each arch where the legs met had a multilane highway going through it into the building, there might of been more or them, but the two fugitives could only see the five legs in the distance. It was a truly mind bogglingly large building for the pair, and they had both been to the empire state building back in their old world. The colossal building would've been dwarfed by the monstrosity before them. The base of the tower was a deep crimson, but as the floors rose from the ground the tower took on a more pink hue, like the early morning sunrise. As much as Tyler would've liked to keep looking at it they had more pressing issues to deal with. He turned to Kaori, only to see her looking at him with a warm look in her eye, the kind of look a girl might give a guy she liked, but as it was Tyler she was looking at, he figured she was looking at someone behind him.

"hey Space cadet, we need to go,"

and he tapped her arm, causing her to jump,

"eepp! You ass I know! I was waiting for you to get your head outta the clouds"

She barked back with her usual fire. He smiled at the clearly flustered girl,

"Wow, Barbie, If I didn't know better I'd say you were checkin out the goods, but that can't be true? I mean if it were I might be led to think you have a crush on me but that would be nonsense wouldn't it?" he teased her in his favorite sarcastic tone. Only think was, he completely missed how red she became when he said she had a crush on him, That's NOT true, I don't have a crush on Tyler!!! I Don't I don't Don't, DO I? OH come on!! The two walked off into the town, eager to find, both food and rest, as neither had sleep in about two full days, or eaten in about one full day. Even Tyler was nearing the end of his strength, as they walked down the main street of the large capital city, they paid close attention to the chatter of merchants discussing prices for buying food. From what the pair overheard the main currency was based of a copper, silver, and gold coin system. Apparently it took a hundred coppers per silver coin, and another hundred silvers per gold, so true wealth was based off of how many gold pieces one possessed. That's a simple enough system I suppose. Thought Tyler as he listened to the sound of commerce, though for copperless beggars like them it didn't matter all that much. As they walked down the street trying not to eye the food stalls and carts, a group of street kids ran passed them and brushed up against Kaori and Tyler, who both turned and chased the would-be pickpockets into a near by alley, easily cornering them in a dead-end. The kids were dirty and clothed in tattered rags, clearly marking them as street urchins, perfect sources of information, and if they were lucky, a little coin as well. The kids were arguing among themselves, clearly frustrated at being caught so easily, putting their collective blame on a olderish boy who appeared to be twelve years of age if that. Normally Tyler would've just ignored their pickpocket attempt as neither him nor Kaori had any money or valuables on them, but one of the kids had snagged the Sgian Dao dagger he was gonna give to Kaori for her boot, plus the kids might have some extra coin on them from earlier marks which at this point was desperately needed. So the pair followed the street kids into the alley, blocking any exit that they could see. The urchins looked at them with frightened expressions on their young faces as the armed duo approached. Tyler leaned into Kaori's ear,

"Let me handle this, oh and by the way, I'm sorry in advance that you have to see this,"

Kaori nodded, taking a breath to steady herself, knowing full well that Tyler was far better suited for dark tasks such as this. Still the deed they were about to commit, did not sit well with her, Heh robbing kids on the street now are we? I guess we really HAVE fallen haven't we? I wonder what Kazuma would say if he knew? Little did she know her brother had been captured by the imperial guard. She took up a watch looking the opposite direction down the alley so to not see what Tyler was doing. Tyler reached up and unsheathed his stolen blade, and approached the now trembling kids, an evil grin on his face, "oh you poor, dumb kids did you ever pick the wrong monster to rob. I'm sure you know the penalty for such a crime, Right?" CLACK!

The lead boy had thrown the dagger they had picked in front of Tyler's feet, who calmly stomped on it, flipping it into the air and catching it cleanly but the handle,

"There,"

the boy spoke up, trying to be brave for the smaller kids behind him, though Tyler still detected a quiver in the young lads voice,

"Take your knife and leave us alone! That's all we took from you I swear!"

Tyler returned the small blade to his belt pouch,

"Well that's a good start, but surely that's not all you got today? Is it?"

Tyler's voice had a razor sharp edge to it, with a good bit of ice for good measure. The boy's eyes widened as he realized whet he wanted, instinctively putting a protective hand over a bulge on his back, sending a clear CLINK through the air. Tyler recognized the sound of coins being jostled around,

"aww you do understand don't you? well don't be shy, lets' see what you got today,"

The boy shook his head, "NO way, this is ours! you can't have it!"

Tyler chuckled, he had the poor bastard right where he wanted him, but before he could speak, a young girl for the kids group ran forward and threw a pouch on the ground in front of Tyler. He picked it up and inside was eight silver coins, which Tyler thought was a rather large sum for a mere pickpocket. He looked at the young girl, who couldn't have been older then ten. She had dirty black hair that hung to her shoulders, was emaciated, wore tattered cloth that barely covered anything that a young girl would want covered. Her eyes where a startlingly vibrant shade of blue, with pale skin, and delicate looking face, it wasn't until he noticed the pointed ears that he realized he was looking at a young elf girl. He held up the coins,

"Well isn't this a surprise, how'd a mere pickpocket score this much?"

He thought he knew the answer but wanted her to say it. The young elf answered with a soft, high voice, all the while the lead boy glared at her,

"You'd be surprised what people will pay to play with a cute little elf girl."

Just as I thought, he mused. He looked at the lead boy,

"Don't glare at her like that, she just bought your freedom, be thankful."

Tyler took four of the coins, handed the other four back to her,

"And be thankful we aren't true monsters."

he pocketed the coins and turned to leave the alley, sheathing the sword across his back.

"Hey wait"

He looked to see the lead boy looking confused,

"Why did you give those back?"

Tyler turned around smiling,

"Four silvers will get us started, we didn't need more then that."

He tapped Kaori and they exited the alley, headed back down the main road. The streetkids were confused, until the lead boy barked at them to get back to work. Tyler took the lead again, Kaori on his heels, they were headed as far away from the Tower as they could. Tyler would've liked to leave town, but they didn't have enough left in the tank to manage that without food and rest. Kaori was happy to follow his lead, well aware that he was more versed in such things then she was; after all if not for him she would have ended up as that perverted popes plaything, so she had decided to trust his judgement, though she would still needle him from time to time. He's more reliable then I gave him credit for, scarier too, those kids looked like they had seen a demon, though to be fair they kinda had, she knew Tyler would never harm her or an innocent, but she was worried by how much he had seemed to enjoy terrifying those kids. She resolved to give lecture him about it later, for now though she let it lie. The pair walked for a few more hours, until the shadows started to lengthen, signaling the end of the work day for the cities' laborers. Tyler had yet to find a satisfyingly far enough tavern from the Tower for them to stop. Although every now and then while they walked a soldier or two, along with what appeared to be local militia based off their respective gear, had passed the fugitives close enough by that they commented on Kaori's charms, without recognizing either her or Tyler. Each time they hadn't had enough time to hide their faces or move out of sight, whether it be because of foot traffic, or narrow streets boxing them in, every time Tyler tensed up, ready to draw his sword and flee, but each time nothing happened. The soldiers each time just passed them by, clearly not recognizing either of them. Tyler wondered at this, especially since he and Kaori were supposed to be legendary heroes summoned from another world, I see a few options: One, the pope has yet to get all hands searching for us yet, TWO: the local guard has yet to get an accurate description of us, Three: our change of clothes was more effective than I anticipated, or FOUR: the search was called off for some reason, and if that's the case, I'm even more concerned then before that the search for the killer of a royal knight captain was called off that quickly. Tyler figured it was a combination of options two and three, as they made the most sense. Still put him on edge every time though. Tyler was deep in thought, when Kaori tugged on his tunic sleeve, and pointed to a nondescript building off the main street with a sign over the door: Adventurer's respite.

"Hey look, that place looks outta the way, quiet too. Let's stay there, we can't really get any farther like this, plus it's getting dark too, I'm not too keen on roaming this place after dark."

"Okay let's check it out, remember we're poor so try to remember that 'kay?"

She wacked him,

"oh I didn't know you liked cheap women, Tyler, well I'll have you know I can be frugal too you know!" "heh I'm sure you can, though I don't remember saying anything about cheap women? I wonder, are you self-conscious about something I don't about? I'm mean a hundred buck date was be pretty cheap for you, eh? BARBIE?"

She went to wack him again but he ducked, laughing she chased him down the street to the tavern. They reached the front door panting, Kaori went to open the door when Tyler grabbed her hand, curious why he had stopped her she turned to him,

"huh? what now?"

He pulled her to the side out of the entryway,

"I figured we should get our story straight, along with our plan for going in there. you know, like room wise, and food wise."

She looked at him,

"I thought the plan was to get food and rest? what am i missing?"

"Well for starters, we only have four silver, so we'll have to share a room, maybe even a bed worst case. Plus you and I are pretty heavily armed for tavern patrons, so we'll need to watch that too. Add to the fact we probably can't use our real name because, you know, Fugitives and all that, we need aliases, kay? Let's see my name is... Leon, and yours is....Lira, we'll use these until we figure out if it's safe to use out real names or not. Okay?"

Kaori looked surprised,

"wow, I'm amazed you thought it that far out-WAIT what do mean SHARE A BED? If it come to that you're on the floor! Got that?"

She was bright red in the face and yelling,

"I don't mind a single room but that's IT-mmuf"

He had put his had over her mouth and pushed against the nearby tavern wall, leaning in close to her face. She felt the tiniest flicker of fear as he closed in, he outweighed her by enough that she couldn't push him back if she wanted to, and he was also physically stronger then her, and he had recently killed a man in front of her so her fear was understandable. However he leaned in for a completely different reason then what she thought,

"shh Be quiet, do you want to draw everyone out here with your wailing? I was planning on sleeping against the door anyway. So friggin chill, okay? damn."

He removed his hand and stepped back, leaving a breathless, and flustered Kaori leaning against the wall for support. She took a steading breath, admonishing herself for doubting the man who had risked his very life to protect her, and was doing everything in his power to continue protecting her. I know he wouldn't try anything like that without my good ahead, heh and even IF I gave him permission, he'd think I was playing a prank or something. Still though, why is my heart still racing? Its' not like I WANT him to try anything right? Right?" She was seemingly trying to convince herself she hadn't enjoyed the close contact. Meanwhile Tyler was waiting for her regain to her composure, while watching both the tavern entrance and both sides of the street for any potential problems. All the while, trying to get the smell of her skin out of his head, he had been close enough to notice that she smelled of crushed peaches, even after all the running and other strenuous labor the pair had done. He wondered if she helped herself to some kind of scented powder in either the supply room or wagons when he wasn't looking. It had smelled good and set his own heart racing, along with a certain part of him awaking, as if to say Target spotted. He hadn't ever thought of her in a sexy or romantic light before, as she was his closet friend back in their old world. Indeed, she was the only one who had ever been nice or kind to him in the slightest. She did smell good though, I wonder if the rest of her smells that way? DAMNIT Calm down ya friggin horndog, you have more pressing issues to deal with right now! even if your companion is hot as hell, and kind, and ,sweet, and seems to actually like you for some odd friggin reason, I wonder if there's a- AHHHH godfriggindamnit FOCUS YA FRIGGIN JACKASS! He smacked his head between his hands, clearing his head for the moment. He turned back to Kaori,

"You good?"

His voice betraying none of the tornado going on inside his head. She looked back at him, her green eyes meeting his brown ones and nodded, not trusting her voice not to betraying her own racing heart. So the pair walked into the tavern together.

The first thing that assailed the two fugitives was the sound, A mild uproar of raucous people throwing back mugs of ale, mead and other such spirits, barmaids maneuvering deftly through the masses of bodies, jovial banter and bawdy jokes flew across the aisles between tables, and sometimes even a mug or two went flying as well. The overall atmosphere was of hardworking folk unwinding after a good days work. There were also smells, the scent of meat and flowing mead, wafting aromas of various seasonings, plus the unmissable odor of a bunch of exuberant people crammed into a confined space. The room itself was homely enough. There was a long bar behind which stood a absolute mountain of a man with a forest of beard flowing from his craggy face, his stone-gray eyes surveyed the festive gathering with a hawks glare, as if waiting for some poor soul to get a little too handsy with the girls, or get too rowdy with other patrons. His size led Tyler to think he wasn't entirely human, but perhaps a hybrid of some kind? There were approximately twelve long tables in the room itself with benches either side of each, except for the set of tables pressed against the walls, in which only had one long bench. There was a massive mantle with a blazing fire near a set of double doors which probably led to the kitchen. the mantle providing heat to the room, and perhaps aiding the kitchen staff in their duties.

"Seems like a lively place, kinda reminds me of indoor tailgate rally,"

Tyler observed as he and Kaori seated themselves in a darkened corner in full view of the door. Tyler, sitting in the spot nearest the wall, opened the menu in front of him, Kaori did likewise.

"Hmm, looks like a bowl of broth, a mug of ale each and a room for two will run us one silver and fifty coppers, that's not too bad, I was expecting it to be more expensive. If we go with that, we'll have two full silvers and fifty coppers left over. Watcha think?"

Kaori was scanning the menu herself, and nodded sadly,

"yeah that seems to be the cheapest thing on here, plus we don't know when we'll be able to make more money, so we should try to stretch it out as much as we can."

The lady in charge of the area they were sitting in came up and took their orders, as she went to leave, Tyler spoke up,

"Excuse me miss, but is there a room available for the night?"

She stopped and looked over the young pair, and replied with a particular sparkle in her eyes,

"yes there is, I assume you want one room? one bed or two?"

Kaori turned a little red as she replied for him,

"one please,"

She then became suddenly fascinated with the woodwork of the table, as the waitress chuckled softly, "Okay one room with one bed for one night is about one silver coin, is that alright?"

Tyler smiled as he handed the coins over,

"that well do just fine thank you."

"And the names for the room?"

"Leon and Lira"

The lady turned around and went to speak with the burly man behind the bar about the room, grinning knowingly the whole way. Tyler turned back to see that Kaori was still deep in her inspection of the table wood.

"Wow, LIRA, is the table that interesting?"

She jumped with a cute little squeak, as if she had forgotten that he was there,

"Eek, No LEON, I just didn't want to interrupt your flirting with that waitress, seems like you were really hitting it off there."

Kaori was red around the cheeks and the tips of her ears, she also sank a little into her shoulders, as if trying to hide in herself from Tyler's laughing gaze. He chuckled,

"WOOOOWWWW, my dear Lira, I must say I didn't know you could pull off the whole cutely embarrassed tsundere look so well. I must say I'm impressed"

His tone of voice, slightly mocking, and sarcastic irked her, but she had no response ready so she just pouted, Flicking her long blonde ponytail at him. As Kaori sulked Tyler turned his attention the others gathered in the room with them, They were a varied bunch, in one corner was a party of adventurers, the light flickering of their mail and blades, in another part were a group of what appeared to be monks of some sect praying over a loaded table of some roast animal, there was yet another group of men playing cards with a healthy pile of coin in front of them. As Tyler watched the gamblers, a man slammed his hand down and loudly proclaimed his victory, and went to sweep the pile toward him, when another man put down his own hand and, with a smug look only a true victor can wear, promptly swept the coins into a pouch he had on the side of the table. the now loser sat back down. understandably disappointed, until he noticed something about the other man's cards, which promptly led to a larger accusation of cheating aimed at the winner, which in turn led to a fight. the winning man and the losing man smashed mugs over each other's heads and proceeded to pull long daggers from their belts, but as the Winning man did so, Tyler's razor gaze spotted something drip from the blade. Sensing an opportunity for some cash flow, he motioned to Kaori to stay put as he made his way over to the circling men, by now a large ring of chanting gawkers were egging the would-be combatants on, and taking bets on the winner. Tyler forced his way through, breaking out in between the two angry men, stopping them from clashing. The two men were indignant that someone dared to interfere. the losing man, a larger heavyset bear spoke first in a growling avalanche of a voice,

"oi, Ya we lad, wat be the meanin o' inturuptin our little dissagreement here?"

Tyler jabbed a thumb at the other, smaller man"s dagger,

"I just figgered you would want a fair fight with clean weapons, unlike that guys poisoned one."

The man-bear looked surprised, until he noticed a tell-tale drip from the other mans blade, the other patrons noticed too, in a twinkling the thin man was surrounded by the former onlookers and promptly disarmed, stripped of his winnings and unceremoniously thrown out the tavern on his face. Apparently, using a poisoned weapon in a fight for one's honor was considered a coward's act and deserving of a cowards reward. The large man then turned to Tyler with a look of gratitude for stepping in when he did.

"Och, laddee, thankee fer that. Seems i owe ya a debt for pointin out that snake's trick. Me name's Burlock Metalbreaker, Pleased to meetcha I'm sure."

Tyler shook the big man's offered hand,

"Good to know ya Burlock. why don't we head back to my table to talk, my companion's probably lonely by now, My names Leon."

"aye"

Burlock followed Tyler to his table, stopping in surprise at the sight of his gorgeous companion, who at this point had been spotted by other patrons of the bar, though the would-be suitors scattered when Tyler and Burlock approached. Tyler seated himself and bid Burlock join them.

"Burlock, this is my dear companion, Lira, Lira this is Burlock MetalBreaker late of a near snake bite." Kaori had caught on to Tyler's game, she too had seen the other men hand the cheater's winnings over to Burlock. She smiled sweetly,

"a pleasure i'm sure"

Burlock was flustered that such a goddess was speaking to him, and he looked at Tyler with newfound respect.

"OH lassie, ur pretty as a painting an no mistake, now then young lad what did you want to discuss?" tyler took a swig of ale before answering,

"well it's simple, I don't like having uncollected debts laying around, so I was hoping we could come to an agreement. Though i must ask, how do you get a name like Metalbreaker?"

Burlock's eye narrowed as he realized the game, but answered truthfully,

"Och, ya canny rascal, I'm a blacksmith, so breakin metals me trade, why ya ask?" Tyler smiled,

"I was curious is all, so how much did you get from that rat back there?"

"thirty-nine silver, seventy-five copper"

Tyler nodded, that was what he expected.

"Really that much? Well how's about ten silver coins, answer some of my questions about the town, and a ten percent discount at your smithy and I'll call the debt you owe me square?"

Burlock burst out laughing, the big man's belly heaving with mirth as he trying to regain his composure, tears streaming down his bearded face. Tyler had no choice but to eat his broth, which had arrived by then, in silence waiting for the man to regain his senses. Finally, after what had seemed an eternity of chuckles and sniffles, the smith clamed down. After one final sniff, he looked Tyler in the eye,

"hahaha, Och yer a funny one an no mistake, ten silver, information, and a discount? tis rare to see such a young laddee with an head on is shoulders that works!"

"so do we have a deal?"

Burlock smiled and a broad smile,

"Aye lad, honestly, I figgered you demand a free weapon or all the winnings from this night, but I'll happily answer what i can, though about the discount, I'll do ya one better and raise it to fifteen percent as I like ya, Leon was it? Well here's ya well-earned coins."

Tyler took the money and put into the pouch near his dagger.

"thanks Burlock, and I appreciate the discount too, now what I need is information about the town and surrounding countryside."

Burlock nodded.

According to Burlock, The kingdom's name was Vermilla, which the pope had told the assembled heroes, the king's name was Ishtar, again what the pope had said, only thing was Burlock spoke of the king in a very admiring manner, like he was referring a legendary myth instead of the kingdom's leader. Apparently the king was a good man, with no patience for schemes or court games, all in all a honest, straightforward guy. The city they were in now was known as Termillion, or Term, as referred to by locals, it was the nation's capital which sat literally in the center of the country. The city had been first established several thousand years ago, during an age of warfare, when human, beast and mer fought for power and wealth. After the war ended, there was a time of peace prosperity for all the races, then the first wave of monsters came. No one knows why they started or how. The stooges at the church believe it's Dragonis's way of purging then unfaithful and the weak. the only thing anyone can agree upon is we are hilariously overwhelmed and outnumbered by the creatures that attack during those times, to the point that the God Dragonis has to summon heroes from other world just to stave off the assault. It's a vicious circle; the waves begin, people die, the Warriors are called, the Warriors fight off the waves, there's peace for a while, then the waves start back up and more Warriors are summoned, and so on and so forth. People have asked the church why can't Dragonis just wipe out the waves himself instead of sending others to their deaths, but according to them, Dragonis is also fighting a war in the pantheon against the waves own deities. So Divine support is out of the question. In short the world was up a creek without a paddle.

Magic also existed in this world too, though in order to use magic depended on a few factors, such as race, affinity, and availability of magic shops. For to cast a spell, one had know the chant associated with the spell, have the proper amount of Mana to cast it, and have the corresponding license for that particular spell. For example, a simple firebolt, requires twenty mana, the lines/may the flames of my rage scorch you FIREBOLT /, and have a firebolt license bought from a magic shop, or acquired from a slain monster or fellow mage. Having the license allows you to upgrade the spell on the fly, like increasing it's power or flight speed, or how long it's flames last on impact. The truly powerful wizards can have firebolt spells that can destroy entire towns with a single word. That said, you can cast a spell without the license, but doing so won't give any experience for that particular spell, making it unable to be upgraded. In order to obtain new spells or skills, you need to visit a corresponding shop and hope it has it in stock, or you could hope to get lucky from a monster drop, or as a reward from a job at the local adventurers' guild in town. As it was the local guild was looking for new blood all the time, all you had to do was walk in, pay the fee, get your ID bracelet and bang! your a member of the guild. It was a great place to both make money and start building your reputation as a fighter. If someone works hard and completes enough jobs, they become legends, wealthy legends. Of course the guild in Term was not the only guild out there, it was just the largest, there was another Adventurers Guild in the next town, the town was called Dragul, and was nearly as large as Term, just without such a heavy church presence since it didn't have the Dragon Tower in it's center. The Dragon Tower being the one Tyler and Kaori had escaped from only hours earlier. Apparently the Tower was the seat of power for the Church in this part of the country, as it housed the pope's personal living quarters, plus overlooking the Imperial palace. It was also a trade hub for most all incoming goods moving in and out of the city, despite the tower being in the center of the town. As for the Capital itself, it was a massive sprawling fantasy metropolis, with the Tower at the center, it spread out from that central point like a spider's web of streets, buildings, alleys, and side streets. All clearly built in differing eras based on the flowing architecture, the buildings closet to the tower were of a simpler, more hardy construction, lots of stone and wood buildings. through the farther one got from the tower, the more elaborate the buildings became, as if to show the buildings that came before them that they were the superior stock. Lots of intricate bronze and copper ornaments, with fancier stone and hardwood used to build the dwellings. the various sections of the city, like the shopping district, the royal quarter, the slums, and the militarized zone were walled off by a perimeter guard wall that soared above all the nearby buildings. The wall was originally built to minimize both fire and invader damage, as each perimeter was erected on the growing cities' current outskirts, and when the city outgrew its' current defense, another wall was constructed before more dwellings were built. In other words, everyone lived inside towering walls that could be quartered off and seperated at the drop of a hat. Basically the citizens were in a stone cage they willingly built themselves for the sake of security, and entrusted the keys to said cage to two people, who promised to not miss use their colossal power of the citizens. The King, and the pope both had the authority to close entire sections of the walls, thus ensnaring anyone who defied them. THATS why they were so slack in their wagon searches, we were already in a prison, with the pope being the jailor. FUCK, now what? As Tyler heard about the extent of the walls, he knew things were going to get dicey quick.

Several hours, and mugs of ale later, Tyler had run out of questions for Burlock at that moment. "Thanks Burlock, you were a big help."

The newly gained information help fill in a ton of blanks for the fugitive pair. Burlock was happy to have the debt squared away,

"Och laddee, yur mind works in strange ways, although,"

At this point he dropped the volume and tone of his voice, and peered quizzically at Tyler and Kaori, "Leon and Lira eh?, heh If you've a mind to not use yur real names i won't force ya, I Figger it has sumthin to do with ole Gru's blade on yur back there."

Tyler and Kaori tensed up, Tyler's hand flew to his dagger hilt, Kaori readied her own blade as well. "Och hold hold! wait a moment young'uns! let me explain!"

Burlock hurriedly said as he realized the pair were ready to fight for their lives on such short notice. Tyler's hand stayed on his dagger hilt while moving to the edge of the bench, clearly readying for an instantaneous slash, while Kaori edged away from the bigger man. Burlock noticed the fear in the young lady's eyes, along with the determination as well. That was admirable but what truly put the large smith on edge was the look and feel of the young mans gaze and aura. Where the lad had been a quiet, intelligent, light-hearted fellow asking his questions and looking after the lady, now his gaze was colder then a snow peaked mountain in the far north. There was no fear what-so-ever coming from the young man, only a cold certainty that scared the bigger man. Burlock knew, in his very soul, that if he made a move toward him or the girl, especially the girl, This kid would cut him down without hesitating in the slightest, even though Burlock worked the forge twelve hours a day hammering metal into submission, was no less than twice the kids size, he knew that he wouldn't survive a life or death fight with him. He cleared his throat nervously,

"Lookee here, I only knew it's Gru's sword as i forged it for him is all. Now I heard Gru's dead, murdered by one of the Warriors."

Tyler's gaze hardened, and Kaori tensed up ready to bolt at the drop of a hat.

"relax the pair of you, I'm blaming you nor do I intend to report you, as a matter of fact there's something I think yous should know, but before that, laddee let go of the dagger please."

Tyler slowly removed his hand from his dagger hilt, instead grabbing the sword handle. Burlock sighed, "Well I can't blame you for not trusting me, Gods know how you managed to escape the Tower with the stranglehold that bastard pope has on it. But you should know the king himself made a proclamation regarding Gruven's murder, apparently he received word about it no less then six hours after the fact. From what I hear, the king ordered the chase off of the culprits, since they're both Warrior's called to fight the waves, saying that all warriors were needed to fight the waves, and since new ones could not be summoned until all of the previous ones were dead, he made the call to just cut all ties with the pair of murderers. Basically withholding aid from the kingdom from them, so they have to fend for themselves. The only things the king will do for the fugitives, is hear their side of what happened, allow entrance and exit to the city, and finally reward them based on their respective combat performance during the coming battles. Thats' what I eard at least."

Burlock leaned in to the bench, sipping what's left of his ale. Tyler Looked at Kaori and nodded, the two relaxed their sword hands and took steadying drinks of their own.

"So the king has given us the all clear to leave the city as we please? Right?"

Burlock nodded,

"thank you Burlock for telling us that."

Burlock turned and looked at the Warrior in black, the feeling of danger lifted,

"Wait a moment laddee, there's sumthin I want to ask ya."

"What is It?"

"How did you beat Gruven? That man was one the best swordsmen in the kingdom, not just anyone could take him down, and even fewer could do so without a scratch so how?"

After some consideration Tyler responded in a low tone,

"I think He threw the fight, The pope had ordered him to capture Her,"

nodding to Kaori,

"the pope wanted her to grace his bed that night, she refused and opted to come with me instead. Skyr then ordered Gruven to kill me and take Kaori to his bedchamber. Gruven tried but fell to my knife here,"

he placed Spike on the table,

"I managed to tackle Gruven to the floor, then used a technique for ground fighting from my world to get beneath him, and prevent him from getting back to his feet. I stabbed him to death around his armour. I think he threw the fight cause there's no way such a straightforward attack should have worked that well, plus there's no way he shouldn't have been able to cut me in half, he had the advantages of strength, skill, size, and experience. I shouldn't walked away at all but i did."

Burlock sighed, a hooded look in his eye,

"So Gruven gave his life and his sword to protect the pair of you eh? heh that's just like that bastard. Still lad I thankee for telling me that."

the big man finished his ale and stood up,

"well I'm Sure you two want to get some sleep, wild couple days that you've had. Only thing I ask is you visit my smithy sometime so i can rework Gru's blade into something special for you young Warrior. My shops near the second north gatehouse. Until then, farewell."

As the big man went to leave tyler spoke up,

"Hey Burlock, My names Tyler."

"Mine's Kaori"

Burlock waved as he left. Tyler turned to face Kaori, who gave a massive yawn.

"Alright lets find our room for the evening,"

She mumbled in response. Tyler helped the exhausted girl get to their second floor room. They walked down the darkened hallway to a room on the far end. Inside was a single trussle bed, a desk facing a closed window, and a small fireplace. Tyler assisted the nearly asleep on her feet Kaori in reaching the bed. He removed her bow, quiver, dagger, boots and tucked her into the bed. She was mumbling throughout the procedure, but as soon as Tyler finished covering her with the blanket and went to lay against the door he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning he saw Kaori peering at him from the blankets, "What's up?"

"Please, stay with me?"

she spoke in a small voice, like she was a small child afraid of losing sight of a trusted parent. Tyler's heart skipped a beat at seeing her in such a vulnerable state of mind, the combination of nonstop danger, the horrors Skyr had insinuated, the hours upon hours of running for their lives, atop the fact a man had been killed in front of her, and the mugs of ale she had drank had finally hit like a truck doing a hundred miles an hour down a hill slamming into a wall. Her mind was completely done, reverting her to the mindset of a small child seeking comfort. Tyler knew that she was in no fit state to do anything, let alone ask a boy to stay with her. He took her hand in his and held it tightly,

"Kaori, Please go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere I promise."

He spoke in a soft tender voice he, had never taken with her before. As he spoke Kaori's eyes were fighting, and losing, the battle to stay open,

"You promise to be here when I wake up?"

"I Promise"

"good"

And with that she was out cold, breathing softly, deep in a dreamless slumber that only comes from complete exhaustion. Tyler squeezed her hand a little longer, before releasing it and drawing the sword from his back. He walked over to the door, sat down against it as a security measure, laid the sword beside him within easy reach and closed his eyes. Sleep hit him like a hammer as well.