Chapter 5 Raid (2)

We ran despite knowing the futility, the pursuers had mounts and despite my parents Status they couldn't run them. There was a lack of underbrush and sparse trees made it to where the mounts had a clear path.

"Deion-," Ma huffed. "Can you try to hold them back long enough?"

"Doubt I'll succeed, but I can try," Da said sternly.

They both stopped and Ma took off the necklace with Teshgars seed in it, she quickly threw it over my head as Da put me down.

"Run Kova, keep calling for Teshgar, no matter what."

Before I could say anything more my mother began to chant.

"Oh stars that twinkle in the night and sleep during the day."

Since mother started to train me I could now feel the magical energy gathering around her. I knew that I would only be a distraction, no amount of mental maturity could make up for my six year old body, so I turned and ran.

I looked back to see Da standing like a bulwark as more than a dozen raiders began to close in. I had thought they would be scared off by the magic my mother was preparing, but instead they seemed even more excited.

More magical energy gathered as Ma chanted the next stanza.

"Show us your might and beauty."

Da was able to push away one of the mounted raiders, then he quickly tried to go for the next one that was making a bee line for Ma.

"Teshgar Teshgar Teshgar," I said, fear barreling down at me as I watched the raider close in on Ma.

A glint of steel spiraled through the air and Da's axe embedded itself into the raider. The one he had knocked away came hovering over him and Da could only defend with his shield now.

The other raiders were now upon him as well and Da disappeared in a flurry of claws and clubs.

"Tell us your-"

An arrow landed right at Ma's feet, and for a moment my heart skipped a beat then relief flooded through me, until the sac that the arrow carried burst and an orange cloud of powder enveloped my mother. Her chant was cut off as she began to cough.

I wanted to turn around and help, but still knowing my own weakness and futility made me push my legs even harder, my voice practically growling Teshgars name over and over.

A dull CLONK came from the cloud and a Man on a lizard's back burst through the cloud with a club in hand. His eyes quickly spotted me and he spurred his lizard forward.

There was nothing between us, I knew no magic, I might be stronger and faster than a human my age, but I was still young. Still I ran into futility. The shaking ground from the large monster could be felt with every step.

Tears stung my eyes, from weakness and failure as a shadow loomed over me, my legs never stopping even in hopelessness.

A crack of pain in my skull brought me into the darkness.

…

Raxif stood over the half-elf boy that had tried to run away. His Desert Lizard's tongue snaked out tasting the boy's unconscious form. Something pricked at Rafix's instinct but he couldn't tell what it was. He turned the boy over, noting the necklace that the elven woman had given him. He hoped it would be a prized family heirloom or something, but it was just a seed resting in a net. He didn't know much about plants, being from the Kaios Desert where things only really grew in the oasis'.

'Damn elves and their fuckin' plants,' he thought, though he didn't take the necklace.

"How are Berdan and the adults," Raxif called to his team.

"Good enough, the dwarf was poisoned by the Desert Lizards, but they're tough fellows, he'll be fine," A woman said, kicking the unconscious dwarf. "Berdan is looking bad though, we'll need to use a potion if we want him to live."

"Do it, Lady Bast wants as few casualties as possible, and we've more than made up for the costs with her," Raxif said, nodding to the mage. "We should have a pair of mythril plated cuffs, put them on her and gag her."

The mythril cuffs wouldn't stop her magic, but depending on her magic it could make it backlash and hurt her instead.

"Yes sir."

Raxif was Level One like the rest of his team, but he was the only one with a skill and had the highest stats of them, so there was usually little conflict within.

Taking one of the smaller pairs of cuffs he put it on the boy and threw him on the back of his lizard after checking him for any hidden weapons, even kids could be deadly if not taken seriously.

They met up with the rest of their raiding party, and Raxif got cheers for bringing in a mage. There were more than two hundred of them at this party. They left the area of the city quickly, the distraction pulling back. They had made it seem as though they would try to ransack the city so the city guards wouldn't go out to protect the outlying communities.

Setting off towards the meeting point where the two other raiding parties would meet Raxif looked towards the burning forest, another party had decided to use that to divert a lot of the manpower on a town so they too could pick up stragglers.

He was just about to turn back when he felt a great wave of magical energy blast past them. Suddenly a large tree with green bark and silver leaves sprouted from the forest, Raxif saw hundreds of roots roll over the fire like waves, snuffing it out easily .

The new slaves and raiders alike exclaimed in surprise at the powerful magic, and Raxif shuddered, happy he had been assigned this mission instead of burning the forest. A minute later another wave of magic pulsed out, and the hundreds of leaves from the tree fell, but not slowly and wildly like normal leaves, no it was as though a thousand archers shot silver arrows down. A cloud of dust settled over the impact site, and Raxif was sure that most if not all of his Familia members that were a part of that party had died.

The raiding parties leader, a Level Three, one of the strongest in the Bast Familia swallowed with fear evident on her face.

"Move move, we want to be out of here before whoever does that finds us!" She yelled.

They headed away from Altina and back to the southwest, where the Great Sand Sea awaited.