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It was a long trek to base camp after the battle for the five companions. The whole way Angelo was carrying Leon over his shoulder and Amanda and Kate were carrying Lesse on their shoulders. Once they all reached their base camp they set Leon and Lesse down on two straw mats.
"We need to head to the general's tent to see were our next assignment is." Angelo said as he turned to Amanda and Kate. "They should be fine here, come on, let's go." He said as he opened the flap to the tent opening.
"Umm.. If it's ok with you, I would like to stay behind to keep an eye on Leon and Lesse." Amanda said in a sad voice, looking first to Kate and then to Angelo.
"We understand, right Angelo?" Kate said looking to Angelo.
"Yes, go ahead and stay here, I'll let you know what the general said when I get back." Angelo said and smiled to lighten the mood. Then left the tent shortly and then popped his head back in and asked. "Are you staying behind too or are you coming with me Kate?"
"Oh yea, haha." Kate laughed as she exited through the tent flap and followed after Angelo. Once the two of them were out of earshot of the tent Kate asked, "Do you think Lesse and Leon will be ok?"
Angelo continued walking and said, "Well, I think Leon will be ok, but I don't think he'll be able to wield his buster sword. As for Lesse, I'm not so sure, I mean, I think she is going to be ok, but I wonder what made her fall unconscious. She has never done that before, even when she is extremely tired. Did she say anything odd before she fell unconscious?"
Kate thought for a few seconds and then spoke, "The only thing she said before she fell unconscious was 'No I can't, I, I.' and that was all. She sounded disappointed and sad at the same time so I don't know what she meant by 'I can't' but that's all I heard."
"Well, it seems that we won't know anything until she wakes up then." Angelo responded after thinking for a bit. As they walked up to the general's tent he opened the flap and allowed Kate to enter first before entering himself. As he entered the large tan colored tent he saw a large table in the center that had a map of the area along with small metal figurines symbolizing the units of soldiers on the field. There were also six wooden chairs and the general himself. He was dressed in steel plated armor top and leggings with a polished sword sheathed at his left hip.
"General, reporting in." Kate and Angelo promptly said as the two of them stood at attention.
"What's your status?" the general said as he turned around to face the two of them. "How many men do you have left in your division? Oh, and at ease."
"Thank you sir." Kate said as she took one step forward. "At the moment our division that you assigned to us of 100 men has been annihilated down to five, with two wounded."
"Sir, our friends require medical attention, and a place to rest. Along with a sword that broke during the battle." Angelo said as he stepped two paces forward. "Also sir, I have gained my Vinyarden power."
The general was surprised and glad to hear such news, throughout the whole kingdom of Vinyard Angelo had been rejected almost by all in it accept for the select few of Amanda, Lesse, Kate, and Leon who were friends from childhood. "So, the powerless has now found his power eh? Well what is it? Show me."
"Yes sir. My power is the ability to control fire." Angelo said as he reached out his right arm and made a fireball at his right hand. "Sir, if it is possible, may I take some time off from the battlefield with another fire wielder named Leon; he knows the power way more than me and I need to lean my power's full potential." He said as the fireball in his hand extinguished itself.
"So you're a fire wielder now, well I need to think about that time off." He said as he covered his chin with his hand in thought. "Speaking of Leon, why are you carrying his sword? Is he alright?" the general said as he pointed to the sword on Angelo's back, Eyes widened. "Is he one of the 95 that didn't make it?" he said worried.
"No sir, he is alive but he is one of the two that need medical attention. Lesse, our medic, was able to heal his wound but he is still unconscious. And about Lesse, she needs medical attention too sir. When she healed Leon she fell unconscious as well. I don't know why."
"Odd, that is extremely odd." The general said as he looked down and continued to ponder all the information that was just received. "So, you, Kate here, Lesse, Leon, and who else made it out of this battle?" he said looking back up.
"Amanda did sir." Kate said trying to enter the conversation. "She is currently watching over our two wounded."
The general continued to think and then spoke, "Well, considering your current situation I will give you one month off of the fight; All five of you. You will be sent back to castle Vinyard until you are summoned to fight again after the month passes." He straitened up and looked at the table with the map and figurines on it and took one off the map. "You are both dismissed; I'll send a messenger to the castle to prepare for your arrival, as for your sword and medical attention I'll send someone to your tent to tend to your wounded."
"Thank you sir!" Kate and Angelo said in unison. And they both exited the tent and walked back to their tent.
"So, back home then huh?" Kate said in a cheerful tone, as she walked along side Angelo. "I can't wait to go! And when we get back, we can all celebrate you getting your powers!" she said smiling.
"Yea, it's going to be nice. I can't wait until Leon is well enough to teach me on how to use my power." Angelo smiled as he made fire flicker from his fingertips.
As Angelo and Kate made it back to the tent, Amanda was on her knees putting a fresh wet cloth on Lesse's forehead. She noticed Angelo and Kate walk in and she asked, "So, where are we stationed next?" she said as she stood up.
Kate looked to Angelo and he gave her a nod. "We're not going to a battle, were going home for a month! We're going back to castle Vinyard!" Kate said happily. "Also, healers are on their way to take care of Lesse and Leon."
Amanda's eyes lit up when she heard that. Though she didn't show it, she was homesick and wanted to go back. "Yes! I'm tired of the battlefield. It will be nice to go back home for a while." She said smiling. "When do we leave?"
"As soon as we want, but I think we should wait until Lesse and Leon are able enough to travel." Kate said looking at her two wounded friends. "But I'm going to pack now." She said cheerfully and walked out of the main tent and went over to her private tent.
"She seems to be very happy to go home." Angelo said chuckling. "Have Leon or Lesse's condition gotten better?" he asked Amanda, sitting down in between Lesse and Leon.
"I can't tell, Lesse is still unconscious and has a high temperature and Leon seems to be getting better, but I can't really tell because there both not awake." she replied as she kneeled back down and took the wet cloth off Lesse's forehead.
Leon tried to move, first he tried to move his arms, but they wouldn't respond. So he tried to open his eyes. At first it started as flickering, but his eyes finally opened to the world around him, somewhat blinded by the sudden change from black to light around him. "Ouch.. Where am I?" was all he could say.
"Leon! How are you feeling buddy?" Angelo said as he heard Leon speak. "The battle is over, we won! And guess what? I got us a month off to go back home." He said in a joyous voice.
"It's good to have you back again!" Amanda said as she hugged him.
"Ouch! Amanda, please stop, it hurts. So we have a little time off? Why?" Leon said as he winced in pain. "Can you help me sit up; I can't do it on my own."
"Sure. Well, Kate and I went to the general to report, and told him our situation. So he gave us a month off, but you have to teach me how to use my powers. Wait, why are you so sore? Lesse healed you didn't she?" Angelo said, as Amanda and himself helped Leon to an upright sitting position.
"How should I know? I wasn't awake." Leon said as blinked his eyes trying to adjust to the brightness around him. "Wait, I do remember feeling refreshed once in my slumber, but then was quickly sucked away, like some outside force took it from me."
"That is odd; I wonder what happened to you." Amanda said. "I've never heard of something like that before. I guess we will have to ask the healers once they arrive."
"Hey! I'm all packed... Leon! You're awake!" Kate said as she ran and jumped at Leon to hug him.
"No!! Kate don't!" Amanda and Angelo both yelled. But it was too late, Kate jumped on Leon hugging him, but that also in turn slammed him back to the ground. As that event evolved, Amanda covered her eyes and Angelo hit himself in the head and shook it in disappointment.
"Ouch!!! Kate! Get off! I know you're trying to be nice and all but you're actually killing me here!" Leon yelled in pain. As Kate got off he coughed. "It's good to see you too Kate but I only just got up, do you want to make me go comatose again?" he said, trying to laugh but it came out as coughing.
Kate stood up. "I'm so sorry Leon!" she said in a worried voice while she covered her mouth with her hands. Then she took Leon's hand and pulled him back to an upright position like before. "I, I didn't mean to, I was just happy." She said in a stuttering voice.
"It's ok Kate, I understand." Leon said as he winced from the pain. "I know it was all in good intension." He looked to Lesse, she was still asleep and he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. "Was it all my fault? What could have happened that she would fall unconscious over trying to heal me?" He kept asking himself those questions over and over in his head. It must have been obvious that he was thinking it because as he looked around the tent he saw the faces of his friends around him that had the expression of 'poor guy, but it isn't his fault.' "What is it? I'm fine." He said to throw them off and act like nothing was wrong.
Amanda seemed like she was about to say something but the two healers walked into the tent. One was a woman that looked like she was in her mid to late 30's dressed in a bloodstained white dress. Not a very dressy dress but more like a durable, will-work-for-now dress. The other healer was a man that looked like he was in his early 20's and seemed to be the woman's apprentice. He was also dressed in bloodstain white, but he wore a tunic and pants.
"Oh," the male healer said as he looked to Leon. "Looks like my patient is already awake, in this case this will be easy to fix." The man walked over to Leon and kneeled down beside him. He smiled and said, "This will be quick, I promise." Then his hands got a green aura around them just like Lesse's had. He placed them on Leon's head and had a quizzical look on his face. "It seems like the only thing wrong with you is muscle soreness. Wow, this will be easier than I thought." The green aura around his hands intensified for 15 seconds and then vanished. The man removed his hands from Leon's forehead and stood back up. "You should be good now." Then the healer turned to his partner and waited till she was done with her examination of Lesse.
While the male healer was healing Leon, the female healer was looking to do the same to Lesse. She kneeled down to Lesse, same as the man, and her hands too produced the green aura. She placed her hands to Lesse's forehead and a shocked expression that jolted her whole body unfolded. Sweat formed at the female healer's brow and looked like she was working extremely hard healing what she was. The aura around her hands intensified and flashed violently from a deep, forest green to a bright lime green. Along with the flashing, the small amount of area around her hand the aura took up turned to a large area around her hand that became engulfed in the green mist. "Dante, I need help, now!" the woman said as she was struggling with Lesse. She looked to everyone else. "And you four, this girl's friends, hold her down. She may have seizures."
Angelo, Amanda, Leon, and Kate all dashed to Lesse's side. Leon got Lesse's left leg. Kate got her right leg, Angelo got her left arm and Amanda got her right arm and they all pressed Lesse to the ground.
"Ok!" Dante said as he ran to his partner's side. "What do you want me to do?" he said as he looked over her shoulder.
"I need you to keep me from falling comatose by replenishing my energy!" the female healer said as she concentrated to the healing. She was running low on her stamina and she didn't know why. She felt the same way Lesse felt when she was healing Leon but this time there was many here to keep this healer from falling comatose.
"Right!" Dante said as he placed his hands on his fellow healer and the same green aura formed at his hands, and this time, up his arms. His eyes widened. "Whoa! How bad is this girl's condition? You're just about done yourself!" Dante also strained himself as he transferred his energy to his comrade.
"Are you two going to be ok? Is Lesse going to be ok?" Amanda said worried for the sake of Lesse and the two healers. "Whoa!" she said in response to the reason she was helping, Lesse had started to have seizures and everyone that was holding her down was now trying to keep Lesse's limbs down.
"I don't know." Said the female healer. "Your friend here," she paused. "Seems to have picked up something when healing your other friend." She stopped talking and continued to concentrate on healing. "I think maybe some poison that could be put on a blade or arrow, and it must be new because I have never had to heal this before. As for me, I will be fine as long as Dante keeps replenishing my energy." She panted, she was getting physically tired as all the strain of healing this much took its toll.
"In other words, she will be fine." Dante said with a smile, trying to break the worried, suspenseful mood in the air. "I've got enough energy to last ten minutes of this. And that should be more than enough time to do this." He said and then thought to himself, "I hope."
Right now to Lesse, the only thing that she felt was a deep void that took what little strength she had start to fill. That void was the same void that made her fall comatose. It was nearly full now, but as it filled, there was wave of pain that repeated over and over so bad that it was nearly unbearable. The only thing that kept her going was her love for her friends and sister and the hope to see them again.
"Almost, there." The female healer said as she was shaking of overuse of her power. "The poison has almost pacified itself of energy…Once the poison has its full of energy, it will dissipate and your friend here will wake.." she closed her eyes and concentrated for the last burst of healing that would dissipate the poison. "This poison is like nothing I've ever seen before." She thought to herself. "I wonder if I can find a sample and find an antidote." She continued to think.
"Good, cause I'm just about out of energy myself." Dante said, as his skin was pale from overuse of his power and energy transfer. It took energy to just use his power but to use it to transfer it, that took a lot more. As he used what energy he could give up he swaggered and fell backward to the ground.
"Dante!" the other healer said as she finally finished dissipating the poison. But as she finished, she became light headed and also fell over but caught herself at the last second with her right hand.
When the two healers fell, Lesse's seizures ended and Leon and Angelo each went the one of the two healers; Angelo to Dante and Leon to the lady. "Mine is just asleep, nothing fatal." Angelo said as he checked Dante's pulse and breathing rate.
"Same here. They just need sleep and rest." Leon said as he consulted with the healer to see if she was all right. "She also said that she did finish destroying the poison before she stopped so Lesse should be up soon."
"That's a relief." Kate said as she and Amanda let off Lesse. "Now," she stood up and stretched. "As soon as she wakes up we can leave for home." She smiled. "Ok, so what are we going to do with these two on the floor? Should we take them back to their tent?"
"I think Lesse would like to see the ones that helped her back to health." Amanda said as she too stood back up and brushed off the dirt on her pants. "Don't you think?" she looked to everyone in the room. "Wouldn't you if you were in Lesse's position?"
Angelo, Leon, and Kate all nodded in agreement.
"Well then, why don't we all pack up while we wait for Lesse then?" Angelo said as he stood up and walked to his possessions and started packing.
Leon and Amanda did the same, and Kate, since she already had packed, was watching over Lesse. After an hour, everyone was finished packing their belongings and were ready to go, they even packed up Lesse's things for her. But she in herself stood the last remaining thing that kept them at the camp. Noon turned to dusk, dusk turned to night and Leon made a fire and then taught Angelo a little about how to control and use his newly found fire power. They trained throughout the night, clashing their two fires and learning new techniques. Soldiers from other units came to watch the two of them train just like as if they were fireworks. Around midnight everyone called it a day and slept under the stars by the fire as the wind blew by gently.
The next day Kate woke to the sound of chirping songbirds and the smell of a freshly lit fire; and Dante stoking that fire. "Good morning." Dante said poking the fire with a large stick.
"Morning." Kate said rubbing her eyes. "Did you by any chance get breakfast?" she said as she stood up and stretched.
"No, sorry, I just got the fire going and that is all I could do." Dante said as he laughed. He stood up and set the stick down. "I'll go get some fish from the lake."
"No! I mean, you've already done so much for us already, so I'll get the fish." She said as she stopped him from going by walking in front of him. "Let me do it, I'll be right back." She said as she ran down the hill to the lake. As she arrived she took off her sandals and walked into the water. The water felt so nice and cool. Kate loved the water, which was a good thing because such was her power, the power to control and use water. She bent over and put her hand in the water, and when she did, the water rippled and there was a high pitch signal that surged the water. When the signal ended, the fish came right to her and let her pick them up. She picked up ten fish, put them in her arms, put on her sandals, and walked back to camp. When she returned, Leon, Angelo, and Amanda were all awake and sitting around the fire. But she noticed someone was missing. Then it came to her, it was the female medic that had helped Lesse. "Dante, where is your partner?" she asked as she set the fish down near the fire. As she did, Leon took out his knife and started to scale and gut the fish.
"Oh she regrets leaving without saying goodbye, but she was sent on an emergency summon. She had to go help heal soldiers at another unit; but she wanted me to tell you that she wishes you all a safe journey and the best of luck." Dante said, warming his cold hands by the fire. "She wanted me to come with her but I wanted to see all of you off." He said with a smile.
"Awe, that was sweet of you. Hey, has Lesse gotten up yet?" Kate asked.
"No, not yet," Amanda said as she looked into her tent that she shared with her sister. "But she does look better than before." She then turned her gaze from Kate to Dante. "Thank you again for your help yesterday Dante." She said with a smile.
Just before Dante could reply back, the aroma of cooked fish filled the air. Leon stood up and said "Breakfast is ready." He had used his flame to quickly cook the fish.
"Great! I'm starving." Angelo said as he jogged over to where the cooked fish were, sat down, and picked one up. "Haha! I can't wait to go back home and to show everyone I got my new power!" he said as he took a bite of fish.
"I bet you do." Dante said with enthusiasm. Since he was also a Vinyarden, he also knew of Angelo's lack of power in childhood. Dante never made fun of Angelo back then like the other people did mainly because they never met face to face but also Dante wasn't the type of person to poke fun at people weaker than him. Well, people that weren't his enemy. He then sat down next to Angelo and started to eat the hot, delicious fish.
"Hey guys, as we all know, we have a long journey back to castle Vinyard. So if we can fill up our water skins and smoke some fish for the trip, we should be good for a couple days." Leon said as he finished the last bit of fish in his left hand.
"Oh yea, I didn't think to get fish for the trip," Kate laughed at herself and scratched the back of her head. "I guess I'll go get some more then. Anyone want to come with me?"
"I will!" Angelo piped up cheerfully. "I want to try a new fire technique. I haven't tested it yet but I want to test it now." He said as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his leather chaps. "Let's go." He ran up to Kate and the two of them went down the hill to the lake.
"He sure seems excited about his power." Amanda said as she watched Angelo and Kate head off to the lake. "He has also loosened up a lot since then too. He used to be serious and always on guard." She turned her gaze to Leon who was making a tray to smoke fish on made of sticks and twine.
"Angelo? Yeah, he has loosened up a lot since then," Leon said as he tied off two sticks together. "I think it's because when he didn't have his power, he had to always be on guard and be serious about every move he made; because everyone other than you, Kate, Lesse, and myself made fun of him. But now, he doesn't have to worry so much and can finally relax." He looked up from his work to see that Amanda had a mixed expression on her face. "What is the matter Amanda?"
"Well, I'm glad Angelo got his powers and that he can relax. But, I don't know, maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem that he is a little bit too relaxed? I worry that he might do something stupid and hurt himself." Amanda answered as she returned Leon's gaze.
"Haha, I think you worry about him too much," Leon laughed as he returned to his work. "He may have loosened up, but he is still the same Angelo we all know. If a situation arises he can still be serious enough to get through it."
"Yeah, I guess your right." Amanda replied with her voice sounding a little more cheerful.
Dante just sat there and listened to Leon and Amanda talk for a bit and asked. "So how long have you all known each other?"
Leon searched through his mind and answered, "Well we are all friends from childhood. I've known Kate, Amanda, and Lesse for as long as I could remember. But I met Angelo when I was about ten years old."
"I would have to say the same thing, accept that I was six years old." Amanda added in. After about a minute later she said, "Well, I'm going to check on Lesse." Then she stood up, went into her tent, and closed the flap.
Leon and Dante talked for about five minutes more after Amanda left. They talked about battles they have been in, places they have been, and other random chatter that you would expect from two soldiers. That is until they looked toward the lake and saw Kate running full speed up the hill to their position and Angelo trying to keep up; but was having a trouble carrying his armful of wet, slippery fish and run at the same time.
"Dante!" Kate yelled on her way up the hill. When she got the top of the hill she slowed to a jog and jogged up to Dante. "While we were down at the lake," she paused to catch her breath. "The general gave me the order of summoning you to the general's tent. He also told me to tell you to pack up your things because you're going on a trip." She panted.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Thank you Kate for telling me. I really wanted to see you all off because for the short time I've been with you all, I felt like being friends with you all." Dante said in a depressed voice, as he stood up. "Give my best regards to your friend Lesse and everyone else. I hope to see you five again sometime soon." He put on a friendly smile and ran off toward the general's tent.
Angelo finally came running up the hill with his armful of fish; and surprisingly, none of the fish had fallen off the armful. "Aww man! Dante left already? I wanted to say goodbye." He said in a whiney tone. He then plopped the fish on the ground and sat down next to Leon. Some of the fish in the pile flopped around, desperately looking for water that wasn't there. "Oh well, what is done is done I guess; and speaking of getting things done, lets smoke these fish and get it over with." He said as he pulled out a knife from his belt.
"Ok then." Leon said as he pulled out his knife he used earlier with the other fish. The knife still had some broken fish scales stuck to the blade and handle from scaling and gutting the earlier fish.
"I'll help too." Kate joined in, as she also pulled out her knife and picked up a fish.
The butchering then befell the fish. One after another Kate, Leon, and Angelo scaled, chopped, and gutted the fish and put the raw flesh on a rock next to the fire; and the heads, tails, fins, and scales in a pile to be buried later. Once that procedure had finished; Leon, Kate, and Angelo each whipped their knives in the green grass to clean off the fish scales that stuck to them, and resheathed them back to their place. They were about to start smoking them when just then, Amanda burst out of her tent.
"Guys! Lesse is waking up!" she yelled to the three around the fire with excitement and happiness in her voice. She then turned back around and went back into her tent and kneeled by her sister's side.
Angelo, Kate, and Leon all looked at each other for two seconds and all darted toward Amanda and Lesse's tent with high hopes in their hears to see their best friend awake once more. They all filed in that small tent in the order of first Kate, then Angelo, and Leon. Once inside, they all sat down around Lesse and waited for her to wake.
Right now to Lesse, things were very different. In her comatose dream, she was fighting hard to wake. The only way for her to do that was to beat a challenge that had been given to her by a man in a black cloak. His hood shrouded his face and his voice was deep and coarse. His challenge to her was to slay one legion of humans that opposed her, while avoiding the dangerous flame of a dragon that soared above her. At the moment, she had taken down half of the legion using her spear and skillfully moving around so that when the dragon shot its hot fire at her, she could side step it and have the fire burn the legion she still had to face. The smell of burning corpses and charred grass filled the air and stank horribly. But she ignored the smell, if she wanted to wake and see her friends again and get on with her life she had to ignore small things like that. She came up to a soldier equipped with only a plate body and broadsword. She thrust forth her spear, which the man blocked with his sword having the spear tossed to the right and off balanced.
The man saw his opportunity to attack and seized it, swinging his sword from the left and slicing open Lesse's side.
Lesse fell to the ground and placed her left hand on her broken bleeding side. The pain was intense; it felt like it was burning like if it were on fire, but also stung as if a swarm of bees had stung it. Despite the pain, she concentrated and her left hand produced its green healing aura and her wound started to heal.
The armored man knew what Lesse was doing and tried to stop her by hacking his sword down upon her.
Lesse looked back up to see the man's attack and with her right hand, brought up her spear to block her assault. But while doing so, the thin skin membrane that she had healed tore open, and her side bled again. She winced in pain from her side wound and also from taking the full force blow; her arm began to grow weaker and weaker. "I can't keep this up." She distressed in her mind. She then changed tactics and rolled to her right, stood up, and began healing her side once again. The man ran toward Lesse, sword raised to make a descending chop upon her. "Finally! An opening!" Lesse thought with raised hopes. She waited for the man to get within his chopping range of her as she acted too wounded to move, and as he was about to strike, she thrust out her spear and pierced the man's plate armor and killed him. "Bulls eye." The man fell to his demise on the bloody field. She looked on to the rest of the battlefield to see what remained to defeat.
The rest of the men left of that legion had mixed expressions. Some looked afraid of Lesse and her skill to be able to take down as many soldiers as she had, and the others grinned and snickered at the site of seeing Lesse worn out which meant a easier fight to overcome and kill her. One of the men in the front yelled, "She is wounded! Let us all rush her at once! She may be a healer, but she cannot heal her own dead body!" Almost immediately after the morale boost, all the other men raised their weapons in the air and yelled in agreement. Then the rush upon Lesse began, the pikemen of the group lowered their spears to their waists, the point of the spear pointing toward her. The swordsman either ran with their swords held with two hands and held upright, or with one hand and pointed toward the ground. The axe men held their battleaxe above their heads with two hands.
"I'm done for." Lesse said as her hope in surviving dwindled as the remaining soldiers charged. She turned and ran from the men, healing her side as she went. Once the incision was healed, she switched to renewing the strength in her right arm. As she continued to run she saw the black cloaked figure on a rock structure that overlooked the battlefield. "Hey, you in the black cloak! Can't I have some help here?! Why do you just stand there and watch?!"
The man in the black put on a mischievous smile and chuckled. "Well, well. You have lasted longer than I thought you would." He said in a cold deep voice as he thought about Lesse's request. Once his decision had been made he said, "You have done well, but keeping in mind that you must stay in this domain until your task is complete, I will allow you to have some help at my discretion. Choose what you want, and decide carefully."
"Well anything right now would be nice." She mumbled under her breath as she continued to run through the battlefield. "How about you take away that dragon? That would work!" she shouted to the shrouded figure.
The man remained silent for a couple seconds and then spoke "Well, the dragon has been more of an aid to you then a hindrance." He paused to think the offer over, "very well, I will grant you're request." The mysterious man then lifted and waved his gnarled hand in the direction of the dragon and it disappeared from existence. "There now fight for your chance at freedom, there will be no more help from me."
Lesse continued to run through the field, healing her body and stamina as she went. "Even with that dragon gone there is still no way I will be able to take all those warriors down." She thought to herself.
The soldiers were tired of chasing her and decided to use tactics. What were left of the legion split up into thirds and started to surround Lesse in order to corner her. One unit kept behind her and the other two went on either side of her. The two units on the sides then began to fan out and connect with the other side unit in the front and the back unit; making an egg shape surrounding Lesse.
"This is not good, this is not good!" Lesse said in desperation. "I'm done, I'll be stuck here forever." She said as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
The sky then began to ripple and churn as if some outside force were pushing on the very membrane of time and space; and the ground began to quake and tremble as the landscape started to flash in and out of transparency. The cloaked figure looked and shook his head violently knowing that something was wrong. "No! This is my dimension! This can't be happening, it's impossible!" he shouted as what was left of the legion of soldiers began to disappear from existence. The sky began to tear open and a flood of green aura began to flow through and whatever it touched began to disappear into darkness. Cracks in the ground then began to spew the green aura and started to flood the ground. The cloaked figure let out a groan and opened a black misty portal and walked through. The portal closed behind him as he walked through and the violent tremors of the decaying dimension increased.
Lesse fell to the ground from the tremors and crawled from the green mist. She was scarred of what it could be but as the aura continued to flow in, there was no place for her to go. The green aura soon overtook her and enveloped all of the surroundings. Soon after all her wounds and fatigue seemed to just melt off of her and everything went black and her eyes began to open from the horrid dream.

Description
It was a long trek to base camp after the battle for the five companions. The whole way Angelo was carrying Leon over his shoulder and Amanda and Kate were carrying Lesse on their shoulders. Once they all reached their base camp they set Leon and Lesse down on two straw mats.
"We need to head to the general's tent to see were our next assignment is." Angelo said as he turned to Amanda and Kate. "They should be fine here, come on, let's go." He said as he opened the flap to the tent opening.
"Umm.. If it's ok with you, I would like to stay behind to keep an eye on Leon and Lesse." Amanda said in a sad voice, looking first to Kate and then to Angelo.
"We understand, right Angelo?" Kate said looking to Angelo.
"Yes, go ahead and stay here, I'll let you know what the general said when I get back." Angelo said and smiled to lighten the mood. Then left the tent shortly and then popped his head back in and asked. "Are you staying behind too or are you coming with me Kate?"
"Oh yea, haha." Kate laughed as she exited through the tent flap and followed after Angelo. Once the two of them were out of earshot of the tent Kate asked, "Do you think Lesse and Leon will be ok?"
Angelo continued walking and said, "Well, I think Leon will be ok, but I don't think he'll be able to wield his buster sword. As for Lesse, I'm not so sure, I mean, I think she is going to be ok, but I wonder what made her fall unconscious. She has never done that before, even when she is extremely tired. Did she say anything odd before she fell unconscious?"
Kate thought for a few seconds and then spoke, "The only thing she said before she fell unconscious was 'No I can't, I, I.' and that was all. She sounded disappointed and sad at the same time so I don't know what she meant by 'I can't' but that's all I heard."
"Well, it seems that we won't know anything until she wakes up then." Angelo responded after thinking for a bit. As they walked up to the general's tent he opened the flap and allowed Kate to enter first before entering himself. As he entered the large tan colored tent he saw a large table in the center that had a map of the area along with small metal figurines symbolizing the units of soldiers on the field. There were also six wooden chairs and the general himself. He was dressed in steel plated armor top and leggings with a polished sword sheathed at his left hip.
"General, reporting in." Kate and Angelo promptly said as the two of them stood at attention.
"What's your status?" the general said as he turned around to face the two of them. "How many men do you have left in your division? Oh, and at ease."
"Thank you sir." Kate said as she took one step forward. "At the moment our division that you assigned to us of 100 men has been annihilated down to five, with two wounded."
"Sir, our friends require medical attention, and a place to rest. Along with a sword that broke during the battle." Angelo said as he stepped two paces forward. "Also sir, I have gained my Vinyarden power."
The general was surprised and glad to hear such news, throughout the whole kingdom of Vinyard Angelo had been rejected almost by all in it accept for the select few of Amanda, Lesse, Kate, and Leon who were friends from childhood. "So, the powerless has now found his power eh? Well what is it? Show me."
"Yes sir. My power is the ability to control fire." Angelo said as he reached out his right arm and made a fireball at his right hand. "Sir, if it is possible, may I take some time off from the battlefield with another fire wielder named Leon; he knows the power way more than me and I need to lean my power's full potential." He said as the fireball in his hand extinguished itself.
"So you're a fire wielder now, well I need to think about that time off." He said as he covered his chin with his hand in thought. "Speaking of Leon, why are you carrying his sword? Is he alright?" the general said as he pointed to the sword on Angelo's back, Eyes widened. "Is he one of the 95 that didn't make it?" he said worried.
"No sir, he is alive but he is one of the two that need medical attention. Lesse, our medic, was able to heal his wound but he is still unconscious. And about Lesse, she needs medical attention too sir. When she healed Leon she fell unconscious as well. I don't know why."
"Odd, that is extremely odd." The general said as he looked down and continued to ponder all the information that was just received. "So, you, Kate here, Lesse, Leon, and who else made it out of this battle?" he said looking back up.
"Amanda did sir." Kate said trying to enter the conversation. "She is currently watching over our two wounded."
The general continued to think and then spoke, "Well, considering your current situation I will give you one month off of the fight; All five of you. You will be sent back to castle Vinyard until you are summoned to fight again after the month passes." He straitened up and looked at the table with the map and figurines on it and took one off the map. "You are both dismissed; I'll send a messenger to the castle to prepare for your arrival, as for your sword and medical attention I'll send someone to your tent to tend to your wounded."
"Thank you sir!" Kate and Angelo said in unison. And they both exited the tent and walked back to their tent.
"So, back home then huh?" Kate said in a cheerful tone, as she walked along side Angelo. "I can't wait to go! And when we get back, we can all celebrate you getting your powers!" she said smiling.
"Yea, it's going to be nice. I can't wait until Leon is well enough to teach me on how to use my power." Angelo smiled as he made fire flicker from his fingertips.
As Angelo and Kate made it back to the tent, Amanda was on her knees putting a fresh wet cloth on Lesse's forehead. She noticed Angelo and Kate walk in and she asked, "So, where are we stationed next?" she said as she stood up.
Kate looked to Angelo and he gave her a nod. "We're not going to a battle, were going home for a month! We're going back to castle Vinyard!" Kate said happily. "Also, healers are on their way to take care of Lesse and Leon."
Amanda's eyes lit up when she heard that. Though she didn't show it, she was homesick and wanted to go back. "Yes! I'm tired of the battlefield. It will be nice to go back home for a while." She said smiling. "When do we leave?"
"As soon as we want, but I think we should wait until Lesse and Leon are able enough to travel." Kate said looking at her two wounded friends. "But I'm going to pack now." She said cheerfully and walked out of the main tent and went over to her private tent.
"She seems to be very happy to go home." Angelo said chuckling. "Have Leon or Lesse's condition gotten better?" he asked Amanda, sitting down in between Lesse and Leon.
"I can't tell, Lesse is still unconscious and has a high temperature and Leon seems to be getting better, but I can't really tell because there both not awake." she replied as she kneeled back down and took the wet cloth off Lesse's forehead.
Leon tried to move, first he tried to move his arms, but they wouldn't respond. So he tried to open his eyes. At first it started as flickering, but his eyes finally opened to the world around him, somewhat blinded by the sudden change from black to light around him. "Ouch.. Where am I?" was all he could say.
"Leon! How are you feeling buddy?" Angelo said as he heard Leon speak. "The battle is over, we won! And guess what? I got us a month off to go back home." He said in a joyous voice.
"It's good to have you back again!" Amanda said as she hugged him.
"Ouch! Amanda, please stop, it hurts. So we have a little time off? Why?" Leon said as he winced in pain. "Can you help me sit up; I can't do it on my own."
"Sure. Well, Kate and I went to the general to report, and told him our situation. So he gave us a month off, but you have to teach me how to use my powers. Wait, why are you so sore? Lesse healed you didn't she?" Angelo said, as Amanda and himself helped Leon to an upright sitting position.
"How should I know? I wasn't awake." Leon said as blinked his eyes trying to adjust to the brightness around him. "Wait, I do remember feeling refreshed once in my slumber, but then was quickly sucked away, like some outside force took it from me."
"That is odd; I wonder what happened to you." Amanda said. "I've never heard of something like that before. I guess we will have to ask the healers once they arrive."
"Hey! I'm all packed... Leon! You're awake!" Kate said as she ran and jumped at Leon to hug him.
"No!! Kate don't!" Amanda and Angelo both yelled. But it was too late, Kate jumped on Leon hugging him, but that also in turn slammed him back to the ground. As that event evolved, Amanda covered her eyes and Angelo hit himself in the head and shook it in disappointment.
"Ouch!!! Kate! Get off! I know you're trying to be nice and all but you're actually killing me here!" Leon yelled in pain. As Kate got off he coughed. "It's good to see you too Kate but I only just got up, do you want to make me go comatose again?" he said, trying to laugh but it came out as coughing.
Kate stood up. "I'm so sorry Leon!" she said in a worried voice while she covered her mouth with her hands. Then she took Leon's hand and pulled him back to an upright position like before. "I, I didn't mean to, I was just happy." She said in a stuttering voice.
"It's ok Kate, I understand." Leon said as he winced from the pain. "I know it was all in good intension." He looked to Lesse, she was still asleep and he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. "Was it all my fault? What could have happened that she would fall unconscious over trying to heal me?" He kept asking himself those questions over and over in his head. It must have been obvious that he was thinking it because as he looked around the tent he saw the faces of his friends around him that had the expression of 'poor guy, but it isn't his fault.' "What is it? I'm fine." He said to throw them off and act like nothing was wrong.
Amanda seemed like she was about to say something but the two healers walked into the tent. One was a woman that looked like she was in her mid to late 30's dressed in a bloodstained white dress. Not a very dressy dress but more like a durable, will-work-for-now dress. The other healer was a man that looked like he was in his early 20's and seemed to be the woman's apprentice. He was also dressed in bloodstain white, but he wore a tunic and pants.
"Oh," the male healer said as he looked to Leon. "Looks like my patient is already awake, in this case this will be easy to fix." The man walked over to Leon and kneeled down beside him. He smiled and said, "This will be quick, I promise." Then his hands got a green aura around them just like Lesse's had. He placed them on Leon's head and had a quizzical look on his face. "It seems like the only thing wrong with you is muscle soreness. Wow, this will be easier than I thought." The green aura around his hands intensified for 15 seconds and then vanished. The man removed his hands from Leon's forehead and stood back up. "You should be good now." Then the healer turned to his partner and waited till she was done with her examination of Lesse.
While the male healer was healing Leon, the female healer was looking to do the same to Lesse. She kneeled down to Lesse, same as the man, and her hands too produced the green aura. She placed her hands to Lesse's forehead and a shocked expression that jolted her whole body unfolded. Sweat formed at the female healer's brow and looked like she was working extremely hard healing what she was. The aura around her hands intensified and flashed violently from a deep, forest green to a bright lime green. Along with the flashing, the small amount of area around her hand the aura took up turned to a large area around her hand that became engulfed in the green mist. "Dante, I need help, now!" the woman said as she was struggling with Lesse. She looked to everyone else. "And you four, this girl's friends, hold her down. She may have seizures."
Angelo, Amanda, Leon, and Kate all dashed to Lesse's side. Leon got Lesse's left leg. Kate got her right leg, Angelo got her left arm and Amanda got her right arm and they all pressed Lesse to the ground.
"Ok!" Dante said as he ran to his partner's side. "What do you want me to do?" he said as he looked over her shoulder.
"I need you to keep me from falling comatose by replenishing my energy!" the female healer said as she concentrated to the healing. She was running low on her stamina and she didn't know why. She felt the same way Lesse felt when she was healing Leon but this time there was many here to keep this healer from falling comatose.
"Right!" Dante said as he placed his hands on his fellow healer and the same green aura formed at his hands, and this time, up his arms. His eyes widened. "Whoa! How bad is this girl's condition? You're just about done yourself!" Dante also strained himself as he transferred his energy to his comrade.
"Are you two going to be ok? Is Lesse going to be ok?" Amanda said worried for the sake of Lesse and the two healers. "Whoa!" she said in response to the reason she was helping, Lesse had started to have seizures and everyone that was holding her down was now trying to keep Lesse's limbs down.
"I don't know." Said the female healer. "Your friend here," she paused. "Seems to have picked up something when healing your other friend." She stopped talking and continued to concentrate on healing. "I think maybe some poison that could be put on a blade or arrow, and it must be new because I have never had to heal this before. As for me, I will be fine as long as Dante keeps replenishing my energy." She panted, she was getting physically tired as all the strain of healing this much took its toll.
"In other words, she will be fine." Dante said with a smile, trying to break the worried, suspenseful mood in the air. "I've got enough energy to last ten minutes of this. And that should be more than enough time to do this." He said and then thought to himself, "I hope."
Right now to Lesse, the only thing that she felt was a deep void that took what little strength she had start to fill. That void was the same void that made her fall comatose. It was nearly full now, but as it filled, there was wave of pain that repeated over and over so bad that it was nearly unbearable. The only thing that kept her going was her love for her friends and sister and the hope to see them again.
"Almost, there." The female healer said as she was shaking of overuse of her power. "The poison has almost pacified itself of energy…Once the poison has its full of energy, it will dissipate and your friend here will wake.." she closed her eyes and concentrated for the last burst of healing that would dissipate the poison. "This poison is like nothing I've ever seen before." She thought to herself. "I wonder if I can find a sample and find an antidote." She continued to think.
"Good, cause I'm just about out of energy myself." Dante said, as his skin was pale from overuse of his power and energy transfer. It took energy to just use his power but to use it to transfer it, that took a lot more. As he used what energy he could give up he swaggered and fell backward to the ground.
"Dante!" the other healer said as she finally finished dissipating the poison. But as she finished, she became light headed and also fell over but caught herself at the last second with her right hand.
When the two healers fell, Lesse's seizures ended and Leon and Angelo each went the one of the two healers; Angelo to Dante and Leon to the lady. "Mine is just asleep, nothing fatal." Angelo said as he checked Dante's pulse and breathing rate.
"Same here. They just need sleep and rest." Leon said as he consulted with the healer to see if she was all right. "She also said that she did finish destroying the poison before she stopped so Lesse should be up soon."
"That's a relief." Kate said as she and Amanda let off Lesse. "Now," she stood up and stretched. "As soon as she wakes up we can leave for home." She smiled. "Ok, so what are we going to do with these two on the floor? Should we take them back to their tent?"
"I think Lesse would like to see the ones that helped her back to health." Amanda said as she too stood back up and brushed off the dirt on her pants. "Don't you think?" she looked to everyone in the room. "Wouldn't you if you were in Lesse's position?"
Angelo, Leon, and Kate all nodded in agreement.
"Well then, why don't we all pack up while we wait for Lesse then?" Angelo said as he stood up and walked to his possessions and started packing.
Leon and Amanda did the same, and Kate, since she already had packed, was watching over Lesse. After an hour, everyone was finished packing their belongings and were ready to go, they even packed up Lesse's things for her. But she in herself stood the last remaining thing that kept them at the camp. Noon turned to dusk, dusk turned to night and Leon made a fire and then taught Angelo a little about how to control and use his newly found fire power. They trained throughout the night, clashing their two fires and learning new techniques. Soldiers from other units came to watch the two of them train just like as if they were fireworks. Around midnight everyone called it a day and slept under the stars by the fire as the wind blew by gently.
The next day Kate woke to the sound of chirping songbirds and the smell of a freshly lit fire; and Dante stoking that fire. "Good morning." Dante said poking the fire with a large stick.
"Morning." Kate said rubbing her eyes. "Did you by any chance get breakfast?" she said as she stood up and stretched.
"No, sorry, I just got the fire going and that is all I could do." Dante said as he laughed. He stood up and set the stick down. "I'll go get some fish from the lake."
"No! I mean, you've already done so much for us already, so I'll get the fish." She said as she stopped him from going by walking in front of him. "Let me do it, I'll be right back." She said as she ran down the hill to the lake. As she arrived she took off her sandals and walked into the water. The water felt so nice and cool. Kate loved the water, which was a good thing because such was her power, the power to control and use water. She bent over and put her hand in the water, and when she did, the water rippled and there was a high pitch signal that surged the water. When the signal ended, the fish came right to her and let her pick them up. She picked up ten fish, put them in her arms, put on her sandals, and walked back to camp. When she returned, Leon, Angelo, and Amanda were all awake and sitting around the fire. But she noticed someone was missing. Then it came to her, it was the female medic that had helped Lesse. "Dante, where is your partner?" she asked as she set the fish down near the fire. As she did, Leon took out his knife and started to scale and gut the fish.
"Oh she regrets leaving without saying goodbye, but she was sent on an emergency summon. She had to go help heal soldiers at another unit; but she wanted me to tell you that she wishes you all a safe journey and the best of luck." Dante said, warming his cold hands by the fire. "She wanted me to come with her but I wanted to see all of you off." He said with a smile.
"Awe, that was sweet of you. Hey, has Lesse gotten up yet?" Kate asked.
"No, not yet," Amanda said as she looked into her tent that she shared with her sister. "But she does look better than before." She then turned her gaze from Kate to Dante. "Thank you again for your help yesterday Dante." She said with a smile.
Just before Dante could reply back, the aroma of cooked fish filled the air. Leon stood up and said "Breakfast is ready." He had used his flame to quickly cook the fish.
"Great! I'm starving." Angelo said as he jogged over to where the cooked fish were, sat down, and picked one up. "Haha! I can't wait to go back home and to show everyone I got my new power!" he said as he took a bite of fish.
"I bet you do." Dante said with enthusiasm. Since he was also a Vinyarden, he also knew of Angelo's lack of power in childhood. Dante never made fun of Angelo back then like the other people did mainly because they never met face to face but also Dante wasn't the type of person to poke fun at people weaker than him. Well, people that weren't his enemy. He then sat down next to Angelo and started to eat the hot, delicious fish.
"Hey guys, as we all know, we have a long journey back to castle Vinyard. So if we can fill up our water skins and smoke some fish for the trip, we should be good for a couple days." Leon said as he finished the last bit of fish in his left hand.
"Oh yea, I didn't think to get fish for the trip," Kate laughed at herself and scratched the back of her head. "I guess I'll go get some more then. Anyone want to come with me?"
"I will!" Angelo piped up cheerfully. "I want to try a new fire technique. I haven't tested it yet but I want to test it now." He said as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his leather chaps. "Let's go." He ran up to Kate and the two of them went down the hill to the lake.
"He sure seems excited about his power." Amanda said as she watched Angelo and Kate head off to the lake. "He has also loosened up a lot since then too. He used to be serious and always on guard." She turned her gaze to Leon who was making a tray to smoke fish on made of sticks and twine.
"Angelo? Yeah, he has loosened up a lot since then," Leon said as he tied off two sticks together. "I think it's because when he didn't have his power, he had to always be on guard and be serious about every move he made; because everyone other than you, Kate, Lesse, and myself made fun of him. But now, he doesn't have to worry so much and can finally relax." He looked up from his work to see that Amanda had a mixed expression on her face. "What is the matter Amanda?"
"Well, I'm glad Angelo got his powers and that he can relax. But, I don't know, maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem that he is a little bit too relaxed? I worry that he might do something stupid and hurt himself." Amanda answered as she returned Leon's gaze.
"Haha, I think you worry about him too much," Leon laughed as he returned to his work. "He may have loosened up, but he is still the same Angelo we all know. If a situation arises he can still be serious enough to get through it."
"Yeah, I guess your right." Amanda replied with her voice sounding a little more cheerful.
Dante just sat there and listened to Leon and Amanda talk for a bit and asked. "So how long have you all known each other?"
Leon searched through his mind and answered, "Well we are all friends from childhood. I've known Kate, Amanda, and Lesse for as long as I could remember. But I met Angelo when I was about ten years old."
"I would have to say the same thing, accept that I was six years old." Amanda added in. After about a minute later she said, "Well, I'm going to check on Lesse." Then she stood up, went into her tent, and closed the flap.
Leon and Dante talked for about five minutes more after Amanda left. They talked about battles they have been in, places they have been, and other random chatter that you would expect from two soldiers. That is until they looked toward the lake and saw Kate running full speed up the hill to their position and Angelo trying to keep up; but was having a trouble carrying his armful of wet, slippery fish and run at the same time.
"Dante!" Kate yelled on her way up the hill. When she got the top of the hill she slowed to a jog and jogged up to Dante. "While we were down at the lake," she paused to catch her breath. "The general gave me the order of summoning you to the general's tent. He also told me to tell you to pack up your things because you're going on a trip." She panted.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Thank you Kate for telling me. I really wanted to see you all off because for the short time I've been with you all, I felt like being friends with you all." Dante said in a depressed voice, as he stood up. "Give my best regards to your friend Lesse and everyone else. I hope to see you five again sometime soon." He put on a friendly smile and ran off toward the general's tent.
Angelo finally came running up the hill with his armful of fish; and surprisingly, none of the fish had fallen off the armful. "Aww man! Dante left already? I wanted to say goodbye." He said in a whiney tone. He then plopped the fish on the ground and sat down next to Leon. Some of the fish in the pile flopped around, desperately looking for water that wasn't there. "Oh well, what is done is done I guess; and speaking of getting things done, lets smoke these fish and get it over with." He said as he pulled out a knife from his belt.
"Ok then." Leon said as he pulled out his knife he used earlier with the other fish. The knife still had some broken fish scales stuck to the blade and handle from scaling and gutting the earlier fish.
"I'll help too." Kate joined in, as she also pulled out her knife and picked up a fish.
The butchering then befell the fish. One after another Kate, Leon, and Angelo scaled, chopped, and gutted the fish and put the raw flesh on a rock next to the fire; and the heads, tails, fins, and scales in a pile to be buried later. Once that procedure had finished; Leon, Kate, and Angelo each whipped their knives in the green grass to clean off the fish scales that stuck to them, and resheathed them back to their place. They were about to start smoking them when just then, Amanda burst out of her tent.
"Guys! Lesse is waking up!" she yelled to the three around the fire with excitement and happiness in her voice. She then turned back around and went back into her tent and kneeled by her sister's side.
Angelo, Kate, and Leon all looked at each other for two seconds and all darted toward Amanda and Lesse's tent with high hopes in their hears to see their best friend awake once more. They all filed in that small tent in the order of first Kate, then Angelo, and Leon. Once inside, they all sat down around Lesse and waited for her to wake.
Right now to Lesse, things were very different. In her comatose dream, she was fighting hard to wake. The only way for her to do that was to beat a challenge that had been given to her by a man in a black cloak. His hood shrouded his face and his voice was deep and coarse. His challenge to her was to slay one legion of humans that opposed her, while avoiding the dangerous flame of a dragon that soared above her. At the moment, she had taken down half of the legion using her spear and skillfully moving around so that when the dragon shot its hot fire at her, she could side step it and have the fire burn the legion she still had to face. The smell of burning corpses and charred grass filled the air and stank horribly. But she ignored the smell, if she wanted to wake and see her friends again and get on with her life she had to ignore small things like that. She came up to a soldier equipped with only a plate body and broadsword. She thrust forth her spear, which the man blocked with his sword having the spear tossed to the right and off balanced.
The man saw his opportunity to attack and seized it, swinging his sword from the left and slicing open Lesse's side.
Lesse fell to the ground and placed her left hand on her broken bleeding side. The pain was intense; it felt like it was burning like if it were on fire, but also stung as if a swarm of bees had stung it. Despite the pain, she concentrated and her left hand produced its green healing aura and her wound started to heal.
The armored man knew what Lesse was doing and tried to stop her by hacking his sword down upon her.
Lesse looked back up to see the man's attack and with her right hand, brought up her spear to block her assault. But while doing so, the thin skin membrane that she had healed tore open, and her side bled again. She winced in pain from her side wound and also from taking the full force blow; her arm began to grow weaker and weaker. "I can't keep this up." She distressed in her mind. She then changed tactics and rolled to her right, stood up, and began healing her side once again. The man ran toward Lesse, sword raised to make a descending chop upon her. "Finally! An opening!" Lesse thought with raised hopes. She waited for the man to get within his chopping range of her as she acted too wounded to move, and as he was about to strike, she thrust out her spear and pierced the man's plate armor and killed him. "Bulls eye." The man fell to his demise on the bloody field. She looked on to the rest of the battlefield to see what remained to defeat.
The rest of the men left of that legion had mixed expressions. Some looked afraid of Lesse and her skill to be able to take down as many soldiers as she had, and the others grinned and snickered at the site of seeing Lesse worn out which meant a easier fight to overcome and kill her. One of the men in the front yelled, "She is wounded! Let us all rush her at once! She may be a healer, but she cannot heal her own dead body!" Almost immediately after the morale boost, all the other men raised their weapons in the air and yelled in agreement. Then the rush upon Lesse began, the pikemen of the group lowered their spears to their waists, the point of the spear pointing toward her. The swordsman either ran with their swords held with two hands and held upright, or with one hand and pointed toward the ground. The axe men held their battleaxe above their heads with two hands.
"I'm done for." Lesse said as her hope in surviving dwindled as the remaining soldiers charged. She turned and ran from the men, healing her side as she went. Once the incision was healed, she switched to renewing the strength in her right arm. As she continued to run she saw the black cloaked figure on a rock structure that overlooked the battlefield. "Hey, you in the black cloak! Can't I have some help here?! Why do you just stand there and watch?!"
The man in the black put on a mischievous smile and chuckled. "Well, well. You have lasted longer than I thought you would." He said in a cold deep voice as he thought about Lesse's request. Once his decision had been made he said, "You have done well, but keeping in mind that you must stay in this domain until your task is complete, I will allow you to have some help at my discretion. Choose what you want, and decide carefully."
"Well anything right now would be nice." She mumbled under her breath as she continued to run through the battlefield. "How about you take away that dragon? That would work!" she shouted to the shrouded figure.
The man remained silent for a couple seconds and then spoke "Well, the dragon has been more of an aid to you then a hindrance." He paused to think the offer over, "very well, I will grant you're request." The mysterious man then lifted and waved his gnarled hand in the direction of the dragon and it disappeared from existence. "There now fight for your chance at freedom, there will be no more help from me."
Lesse continued to run through the field, healing her body and stamina as she went. "Even with that dragon gone there is still no way I will be able to take all those warriors down." She thought to herself.
The soldiers were tired of chasing her and decided to use tactics. What were left of the legion split up into thirds and started to surround Lesse in order to corner her. One unit kept behind her and the other two went on either side of her. The two units on the sides then began to fan out and connect with the other side unit in the front and the back unit; making an egg shape surrounding Lesse.
"This is not good, this is not good!" Lesse said in desperation. "I'm done, I'll be stuck here forever." She said as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
The sky then began to ripple and churn as if some outside force were pushing on the very membrane of time and space; and the ground began to quake and tremble as the landscape started to flash in and out of transparency. The cloaked figure looked and shook his head violently knowing that something was wrong. "No! This is my dimension! This can't be happening, it's impossible!" he shouted as what was left of the legion of soldiers began to disappear from existence. The sky began to tear open and a flood of green aura began to flow through and whatever it touched began to disappear into darkness. Cracks in the ground then began to spew the green aura and started to flood the ground. The cloaked figure let out a groan and opened a black misty portal and walked through. The portal closed behind him as he walked through and the violent tremors of the decaying dimension increased.
Lesse fell to the ground from the tremors and crawled from the green mist. She was scarred of what it could be but as the aura continued to flow in, there was no place for her to go. The green aura soon overtook her and enveloped all of the surroundings. Soon after all her wounds and fatigue seemed to just melt off of her and everything went black and her eyes began to open from the horrid dream.