Fort Ruffus

Before the sun's rays can poke them in the eyes, Cheral, Rwel, Sedar, and Des are already on the move. Now in a thick forest, they're surrounded by the sounds of forest critters and a light breeze rustling through the trees.

Minutes turn to hours.

Hours turn to days.

A week and a half later.

"We should reach the fort before sun fall," Sedar says as he rolls up is map and stuffs it into his bag. They've been travelling through nothing but forest for the past three days, the sun being their only reference to use so they know they're going in the right direction.

As the rays of light turn to embers of orange and gold, they see a fort of stone off in the distance, torches hanging from the walls and on still-in-tact stone pillars lighting the area. Light can be seen coming from inside the fort as well. As they get closer they see the fort's sitting in the middle of a massive clearing, lots of stone remains scattered about hinting at small fences that once made little walkways. A man is kneeling in front of the fort, gently petting the petal of a small flower.

He pulls a knife from his belt, slowly bringing it to the flower's stem as if the flower might see it and run away. With a quick swipe the flower is cut off and falls to the floor, the man letting out a howling laughter. Sedar and Cheral glance at each other.

"Think their from any kingdom?" Sedar asks.

"I doubt it, I don't see any colors," She replies.

"No doubt there's others," Rwel adds, "So, how are we going to do this?"

"Simple, we scare em away," Sedar says before walking to the clearing, the others following.

As the group enters the clearing the man stops laughing, putting the dagger in its sheath.

"Travelers!" He says with glee, arms wide open, "Welcome to Fort Ruffus! I, am Ruffus," He bows for a sec before straightening back up, "Now, what brings you to such a baron place in the middle of the South? Did you guys get lost?" He asks looking at them like they're crying children.

"No, we didn't," Sedar says, already visibly irritated. The man bursts into laughter.

"Ah, that's a good one!" He says between breaths, wiping tears from his face, "Seriously though," He crosses his arms, "Tell me why you're here, or," He raises his hands, snapping his fingers. People appear on the roof of the fort, javelins at the ready, "Run while you still can," His hand lowers and points at them. Sedar pulls something out from his bag, a small purple medallion.

"Alright, here," He chucks it towards the man, the medallion landing a couple feet away from him. Leaning over to see it, Ruffus quickly takes a step back towards the fort, a look of fear in his eyes.

"The Sealed?! You're not getting me or anyone else here! Kill them all!" He commands as he runs inside the fort, slamming the door behind him. The men on the roof hurl their javelins, the four of them running back to avoid being impaled. The men lower behind the wall, and come back up with more. Rwel runs to the javelins lodged in the ground, picking one up and throwing it back at them, hitting one dead in the chest.

Rwel pulls his axe from his back and holds the blade in front of him, blocking an incoming spear, the others landing mere inches from him. The men go under again and lots of footsteps can be heard coming from inside.

"Rwel, Cheral, go on that side," Sedar commands, "Des come with me, we'll meet in the middle, and enter from the back," Sedar and Des run to the left of the fort while Cheral and Rwel head to the right side. The door can be heard bursting open as ruffians barge through it, looking for the group. Sedar and Des make their way to the back of the fort, meeting up with Cheral and Sedar. They enter the fort through a back door, into a long, thin, hallway.

Sedar locks the door behind them before continue forward. "There's a couple up ahead in the main foyer on the stairs," Sedar says as they make their way through the quiet hall, "I need you two to take care of them while me and Des make our way to the front to lock the door,"

"Alright..." Cheral responds, looking a bit puzzled. Reaching the end of the hall they enter a large room, red carpet laying the middle, stretching down the hall on the other side. Cheral and Rwel head up the stairs, catching the two men on them off guard. With a swift hit to the head by the side of his blade, Rwel knocks the man out. Cheral goes for a swift kick to the gut, winding the man before knocking them out with a knee to the face.

Sedar and Des hurry down the hall where a man stand by the door, quickly taking notice. The man grabs their lance, heading for the door. He goes to open the door to and goes to call the others, but Sedar manages to pull him in, knocking him out with a swift punch in the face. Sedar locks the door, and drags the man into a side room. They rejoin the others in the foyer.

"We get Ruffus and the others will run," Sedar says, "He should be on the roof, come on," And they all head up the stairs to the second floor, heading down another hall. Going up another staircase they head onto the roof, where Ruffus is waiting, sword in hand, shaking a bit.

"How did you-!?" He glances down at his men, "I knew one of them was a spy, dammit Ruffus!" As the group approach him they hear someone shouting in the distance.

"Des?! Des!" The four of them all glance behind them to three people enter the clearing towards the for. Leading them is man who looks to be a little younger than Sedar, wearing a yellow and teal shirt with parts of it made of a mesh. To his right, a young woman a little shorter than him in a purple and red shirt. The young girl to his left looks about Des' age, in a green and orange shirt.

"What the-there not suppose to get here yet!" Sedar exclaims, worry and shock all over his face.

"Berryla!"

"Stro!"

"Rachel!"

Another group made up of five people quickly emerge from the woods, catching up to the first three.

"There's spies in every kingdom already?!" Ruffus exclaims, "I-I must warn her!" And with that he runs for the back wall of the fort. Cheral throws a flurry of wind blades at him, but barely misses. He jumps off the roof, landing on the ground with a roll. He quickly gains his footing and runs off into the woods.

"We're coming Des!" The man yells as the ruffians down below start moving toward them.

"We have to help them!" Sedar suddenly shouts as he dashes to the stairs. The others quickly chase after him. Miles ahead of them, Sedar breaks open the front door, not bothering to try and unlock it. The large group of ruffians quickly starts to surround the group of strangers, despite their best efforts to fight back.

"Get away from them!" Sedar yells with fury as he unsheathes his sword and swings at the closest ruffian, slicing them clean down the back and sending them falling. Before Des, Cheral, and Rwel catch up to Sedar he's already taken down four men. Rwel gets a clean swing at one, chopping their body diagonally in half. Cheral uses a burst of wind to trip a nearby one, catching his axe in the air and hurling it back at them, landing just below the back of their neck. What little ruffians remain, give up, fleeing into the woods.