CHAPTER 4 Predator vs. Prey

After another hour of traveling they decided to camp for the night. Kor brought out a storage amulet and brought out a tent from it which they slept in for the night. After setting everything up Kor finally spoke. "Why do you think the aktel hasn't been found since it went missing"?

"I thought it was because it was unsafe due to the presence of the Helpets". Gor replied

"Yes that's one reason the other is that there is a rumors that General Loid is still in the forest alive and has somehow been turned into a monster he is using the weapon himself to fight and kill anyone who dares to try and no one has escaped with their lives while Facing the general". After explaining about their further strategies and how they can track down the general the boys turned in for the night.

The next day they continued their Journey and as they had planned, they avoided fighting until they got to the last place the aktel was said to be last seen. In a small cave a bit far away from the Helpets range of smell so they could fight freely. They ventured into the cave which was quite wide and had a very bad smell and covered in some red like substance. After activating their light crystals, they were able to navigate through the cave but they were very careful as they were still kin on avoiding fights, although they came across come small monsters, they had no real problem until they heard a huge roar that shook the whole cave. The boys covered their ears when they heard the deafening sound. After the cry died down, they boys knew that was probably what they were looking for so the moved in the direction of the sound. Though scared, Gor had decided to pocket his weakness so as not to be a burden to his brother. After travelling towards the direction of the sound for a while they finally got to there and, they saw the beast and it looked human but at the same time it wasn't. It had the physical appearance of a huge man but the color of its eyes and was definitely not human. The beast was seated on a pile of bones and it had this look on its face, a look of boredom and happiness the same time. After a while, it smiled and looked towards the direction of the Boys who were hiding. It had in fact sensed the boys earlier and because it had been a while since it had visitors the beast roared for joy and so as to announce its presence, so the guests would know where to find him. After realizing there was no point in hiding. They came out of hiding and stood In front of the beast like subjects in front of a king as the beast still sat on the bones, probably of its earlier visitors. Merely looking at it the boys could tell it there was something odd. The beast had a tattered clothe on but one could see an insignia on it that generals of the Omi kingdom would wear. "Run please run…" the beast finally spoke. "Shut up!" it spoke again with a completely different voice. It seemed as if it was having an inner conflict. "I won't let you chase my prey away, it's been a while since I had something to play with the voice continued". At first the boys were confused, they wondered why the beast was acting so strangly. why it had a general's uniform on and why it had just told them to run. But they never took their eyes of the beast or let their guard down . Their Father had taught them very well about battles and fighting. Though he was strict and a pain. But that didn't make his lessons less effective. After some seconds the beast finally did something that made the boys or at least Kor who had spent the past days studying about the weapon aktel. A weapon that won't let just anyone wield it let alone a Ferocious beast of unequal footing as the flaming bird, the beast that was casted into the weapon.

The beast took out the aktel and activated it. Its flames were both intense and powerful, Kor was taken aback by this sudden revelation. He had not expected the beast to be wielding the weapon they had come to find, but as he was thinking this, suddenly the flames died, this surprised the boys greatly but at the same time they were relieved as they could only hope to even win against a beast welding a casted beast. "You damn sword you always ruin the moment" the beast screamed angrily…. "Gor now" Kor shouted for his twin to take advantage of the beast distraction to attack. They both immediately swung into action and attacked, Kor from the left and Gor the right. Immediately they got closer and swung their swords at the beats the beast blocked with the aktel which surprised the lads. "A battle is full of surprises so don't be too shocked when your opponent does something unexpected, it empowers your opponent". Bale's words rang in their heads like a bell. The boy attacked again and again but the beast would counter them, the boys were used to training together and they were used to fighting against each other and together so each moved in a way that complimented the other as if they could reach each other's mind. But despite this the beast still countered them even when It was having its usual inner conflict they still could not take advantage of that to land a significant blow, in fact it was toying with the lads to see how far they could go or maybe they would run like some of his earlier playmates had tried to do before meeting their demise. After some minutes of battle Kor said to Gor. "I have an idea" … "what else can we do?" Gor said in a panicking voice. He had tried his best to keep his cool but he had almost reached his limit and was getting more scared and tired." Don't worry it will work Kor said. Look behind him, it's a mountain of bones people that I'm sure fought with even better team work than us and they still lost" ... "so, your point" Gor said looking at his brother trying to understand what he was getting at. "Well" … Kor explained his plan

As they were conversing the beast looked at them and said "oh it seems they are planning something… eh eh let's see what the little devils can come up with" …

"You better not touch those little ones" ….

"Shut up you fool" the beast said to his other self

"Why don't you make yourself useful and activate the weapon you fool".

"I won't let you kill them" general Loid said

"What are you going to do about it, weakling?", the beast replied

"it's your fault we are in this state after all, so shut up and activate the weapon... or better still don't, I want to see if the kids can come up with something interesting before I barbecue them, or how do you like your meat partner" the beast said in a menacing tone which angered general Loid.

"Oh, here they come". The beast was excited

The kids were ready to execute their plan, Gor led the attack with a strong thrust which the beast blocked immediately with his sword but as soon as he blocked Kor attacked from behind and went for the beast head but the beast easily dodged the beast was very impressed as how to kids could come up with better team work than some parties of strong men and women who had attacked him, he was lost in his thoughts when he noticed Kor was no longer following up after Gor's attack and was excited to see what they would come up with suddenly Kor appeared behind the beast but not attacking as expected he stood there in a pose as if wanting to knight someone with his sword stabbed to the ground at he said "In night, in day my weapon, body and life I'll give" .. And surprisingly the beast found himself bowing and replying "To my country… my Lord Commander..., his highness and… my family…." Loid added with a shaky voice like he was about to cry. This left the beast open for just a split second. They knew they couldn't kill it in that split second so they sealed it in a small dimensional pocket temporarily but not without putting some explosive crystals inside the dimensional space to keep the beast busy during its stay.