Chapter-2

The loud sound of thunder, and the raging waves made it impossible to sail. " Rictor! we won't make it to the island like this. The ship can be repaired but it may take a while."

Rictor looked at Alphonse His hood drenched in rain water and in his hand he was holding a paper which looked like a map " How about the captain!" He shouted

"He said we should wait for the storm to settle first" replied Alphonse.

Rictor rolled the map and shove it inside his pocket and walked towards the door " Well, I guess there's nothing we can do, in a situation like this."

He removed his hood and water dripped everywhere on the floorboard " sigh.... I didn't think the stormy season would come so soon, Our ship has been drifting for so long that I haven't a clue where we are, we should be thankful that the ship didn't sink."

"COMMANDER!!!!"

James came running towards Rictor with bated breath "commander..." he said still gasping for air.

Rictor circled his arm around him " breathe slowly, what's wrong?"

The soldier looked at him and said " we...we're being attacked! we have no idea who they are or what they want."

"No way!.... at a time like this!?" Alphonse snapped. "Rictor! what to we do"

"Calm down! Alphonse, maybe they're just here to warn us that this is their territory."

"No!" James Interrupted " They..They didn't look like normal townsman they look like bandits."

"Bandits?"

Suddenly an arrow struck the panel of the door.

" They're attacking!!!" James shouted.

" Rictor should we prepare to attack!"

" Let me speak to them" Rictor replied and he moved towards the door and went out.

Standing there were four men, they looked rugged and were unbothered by the rain, two of them were armed with short knives, one with bow and the large man was armed with a huge axe.

" Hehe.....that crest, those clothes you must be from Lodis..I'm sorry, but we can't let you land on this Island.Die here." he said raising his axe into the air.

Rictor walked towards him his hand placed on his scabbard " Who are you? what do you want with us?"

" We're hired men, we were told to give Knights from Lodis a warm welcome." he replied.

Rictor took out his rapier and pointed at him " I suggest you leave, we didn't come here to fight, don't make things worse for us."

The Bandit burst out laughing " HAHAHA!!!! what are you doing? you think that fairy needle is going to win against my giant axe?" he sneered.

Rictor gave him a smile " Look, I'm telling you once again, leave now or we'll make you leave. I'm not gonna loose my men here, we're on an important quest that needs to be done."

" Ha..and you think we'll back down!? NEVER!" The Bandit held the axe in both his hands and started charging toward Rictor. " Attack!!" he screamed " Kill every one of them, and steal everything they've got, leave no one alive."

Rictor gave out a sigh! " Don't say I didn't warn ya."

He raised his rapier up in the sky, the clouds started to gather and the sky looked like it was running on wheels.

" What the ...." The Bandit said lost in awe " You..you are a magic caster?"

"Not a magic caster" Rictor replied, " Iam just a priest who happens to command soldiers and lightening" then with full force he strike his rapier on the ground and a smooth strike of lightening struck the bandit " AHHHHHH!" he screamed and fell to the ground half burned.

"Rictor? I never knew you could to that, I thought you were just some high priest" Alphonse quickly fell on his knees and said " Now I'll follow you wherever you go, my Commander."

Rictor Laughed " Don't be so dramatic Alphonse, it's nothing just some low-level spell which I happen to learn during my training."

" But really...teach me too Rictor." Alphonse replied with full Keen and still on his knees.

" Haha...You still need to Improve your blade, leave the spell casting aside for now." Rictor replied

" Hey! Iam a lot better than all of this soldiers here."

Rictor giggled " ok ok, but first we gotta deal with this crooks" he said turning towards the three remaining men. They all shook in fear as they slowly picked up their leader " Is he dead?" one of them said.

"Don't worry" Rictor replied" He's just unconscious better take him and leave before I strike all three of you and kill you and don't even think of trying to attack, look here there are only three of you but look at how many of us are there you should have used your brains before attacking...." before Rictor could finish they were already out of sights

" Ha...Cowards like them will do anything for money."

" look the rain stopped, guess we can find some place to rest here for tonight after all the ship is flooded."

Though the rain stopped the sea was still raging heavy waves struck the rock at the bottom.

Alphonse and Rictor were walking along the edge of the cliffs watching the raging sea

" Looks like someone, who doesn't want us here."

Alphonse said

" the Bandits?" replied Rictor

" Yes, and the people who hired them."

" Our presence was requested by the people of Anser. It must be forces from the north that attacked us."

Alphonse turned his head towards Rictor " Anser is in the south and Ranancules in the north. Is the conflict between, the two really that bad?"

Rictor replied" It's more than a conflict There's a sizeable forest that separates them, Winter snows block both land and sea routes, they've not associated with each other for hundreds of years....."

" and then, unexpectedly, soldiers from the north crossed the border." Alphonse added. " What is your father, the Duke of Felis saying about this?"

Rictor faced towards the ocean and after a short pause replied." To be honest, he doesn't seem very concerned. It happened several times before, but he ignored the situation. This time, at the people's request he finally decided to do something."

" I see, when I received these orders, I was surprised by how small our force was and that most of the Knights were inexperienced, like me."

" My father didn't want to go to the trouble of sending the main forces, so he send me to take care of things instead....."

They both stood there silently for sometime, nothing can be heard except the loud crushing of the sea waves.

" Are you worried?" Rictor asked

" Not really....just curious." Alphonse replied.

" We'll, if we need more soldiers we can just hire some, It's Cheaper than sending reinforcement by ship. since my father became the Duke, he's been very stingy. I don't have much administration for him." Rictor said as he slowly brushed his hair.

The cold breeze and the sound of the waves made Alphonse ask more questions to Rictor.

" Will you eventually go to Galius to become a priest of the church of Lodis? he asked

Rictor gave out a sigh " I don't know anymore, my father wants me to inherit his position as Duke of Felix so that he can hold the reins of power even in retirement."

" By the way, didn't you say that you've visited Ovis before?" Alphonse asked again in a tone of strong interest.

" I was only a child, I can barely remember." Rictor replied.

Both men Distracted by the waves of the ocean and the conversation didn't realize as a bandit creep from the shadows and pointed his crossbow at Rictor and shot.

" WATCH OUT!" Alphonse yelled and pushed Rictor aside the arrow pierced through his shoulder and with the force he lost balance and plunged into the raging sea.

" Damn! that soldier got on the way" the bandit cursed before trying to escape but was quickly sliced down by James " Commander! are you alright!?"

Rictor quickly got on his feet " Alphonse..."

He frantically looked left right in the ocean " Quick!! Find him!" he ordered

" Yes, Sir!"

"ALPHONSE!!! ALPHONSE!!" Rictor called him at the top of his lungs with his hands cupped in his mouth.