Yeah, I know, took me long enough. Not the most exciting chapter to come back with either.

Episode 91 Memories of a Traitor

Tide falls slowly towards the ground, his eyelids heavy, closing, numbness spreading throughout his body; impulsively, he places both hands around the shaft of the arrow, but even as he does so, he falls flat down on the floor, and the arrow breaks in half. A sticky, green liquid oozes out from it.

‘P-Poison…’ Tide muses, before a wave of blackness plunges him into oblivion.

‘Being born into a world where the Myougun’s word is law was not easy. But that was the kind of hell hole that the Rift World was. Chances were that you lived in poverty, scraping what measly earnings you could from the hands of the Myougun.

‘My parents were impoverished sharecroppers, living and working under the Myougun’s whim. Conditions were terrible year in and year out, and they were lucky to make ends meet. I often wondered how they managed to keep their land as long as they did. But finally, when I was just four years old, the Myougun came looking for them.

‘Then-General Duncan, who was in charge of overseeing our sector, attacked us by surprise one night. The house was set on fire, and my parents were murdered in front of my eyes. As he pulled his spear out of my mother’s stomach, Duncan turned to me and told me I’d be spared, so that one day I could take my parents’ land and perhaps do a better job with it. He knew there was no way I could do a better job.

‘A kind old woman named Rose took me in. She was a widow who had a thing for taking many, many children in, children that had experienced the same misfortunes I did. It was at old Rose’s house that I met Silver, who came to live there not long after me.

‘Me and Silver got to talking at old lady Rose’s, and although she was always a pain to talk to because of her cold attitude, we pretty much agreed that one day we ought to start a rebellion and free the Rift World from the Myougun for good.

‘Back then, Silver had already become a Hunter. She was the only person I knew who had gotten a class at such a young age. All the other kids I knew including myself were not classified. We were just pathetic humans. It wasn’t until I had just become a Fighter that it happened.

‘Eventually, the years had passed, and Silver and I were able to meet some people who were willing to form a militia. It was then that I came back from hunting in the woods one day to find that Silver had disappeared. I was told she had run off with some strangers headed for the Myougun’s stronghold. It wasn’t until I discovered her nearly half dead at the Castle of Kyreim that I realized how powerful and terrible the Myougun was.

‘Me being the weak coward I was, I realized I wouldn’t stand a chance if I fought the Myougun head-on. Even though Silver was already a Ranger, she had lost badly to them.

‘So I did the only thing I knew that I could do for Silver and our cause: I approached Lord Duncan and begged to work for him. The years had made him fat, and in all that time he had forgotten who I was. But he still had a handle on the Rift World, and he knew I was working with the traitor Silver.

‘With no choice, I had to feed Duncan valuable information regarding our militia’s plans, and he swallowed them greedily. Silver often wondered how the Myougun was able to counter our offensive strikes so effectively, but all I could do was shrug my shoulders.

‘Then, after I’d already begun cooperating with the Myougun for some time, they…sent her.’

Silver looks up from an outline of the city sketched onto a piece of parchment. She scowls as she watches Tide unload box after box of provisions from a wagon. She is sitting behind a table outside, under a clear sky. A couple guards flank her on either side, as she pores over the piece of parchment, mapping out some sort of strategy.

“Would you hurry up with the unloading, Tide?!” Silver howls impatiently. “You’ve been at it for hours now.”

“W-Well…” Tide grunts, wiping sweat from his face, “it’d be a lot easier if I had some help, y’know?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Silver responds briskly, “these guards are here to protect me; they’re not about to descend to the level of grunt work. And the other units are out on guard duty, so it’ll just have to be you.”

“And yet you put me in charge of one of those units…” Tide mutters grumpily, “you’d think that I’m of higher rank than those guards…”

A young man suddenly comes running up to Silver from an adjoining road. He pants heavily as he holds a letter over his head. The messenger skids to a stop right in front of Silver, presenting her with the letter. “News from 8th Station in District 16, Lady Silver! There’s an enormous Paradox storm gathering in the area! 8th Station is requesting backup from all units immediately!”

“Paradox storm? Now?” Silver curses. She slams her fist angrily on the table. “Damn it, it’ll take at least an hour to alert all units. Tide!” Silver howls, leaping to her feet.

Tide turns excitedly, nearly dropping a box of foodstuffs on his foot. “Y-Yeah, Silver?!”

“Head to District 16 immediately, and do what you can. I’m not asking you to dispatch the Paradoxes yourself, but at least provide some backup to 8th Station until more forces can be mobilized in that area!” Silver orders. She turns to the guards on either side of her. “You two! Go with Tide!”

“Yes, Lady Silver!” the two guards reply in unison, shouldering their Holy Spears, and marching alongside Tide, who’s already sprinting down the road.

The crimson sky above gradually begins to darken immensely, though it remains tainted by some residual flecks of blood red, almost as if it were bleeding. Tide arrives at the edge of a row of homes squished together, a sight too common in the slums. Nearby, the paved road ends and gives way into a wild forest, held back only by a ragtag wall of concrete.

The two guards trail behind him, holding up their spears readily. Tide glances upwards, scanning the sky. “It’s awfully quiet around here,” he mutters, “doesn’t look like there’s been any sign of fighting or anything at all.”

He suddenly turns to his right, and barely suppressing a gasp of fear as he spots a half-eaten man crawling towards him. A trail of blood and intestines follows the injured man, even as he croaks in agony.

Tide runs over to the living corpse, kneeling over him. “Who did this to you?” Tide whispers frantically.

The fearful man merely weeps like a little boy, squeaking and pointing up at the sky. Without warning, the wall to the left of Tide explodes in a whirlwind of dust and debris. Tide is thrown backwards, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop.

He raises his head and squints through the mass of settling dust for the source of the commotion. An enormous Paradox stands in the way, grinning down at Tide with fangs bared. It carries a thin, snakelike body, with dozens of tentacles protruding from every inch of its hide.

Tide merely gapes at the beast for a long moment, shocked into immobility. At once, he is jerked back into waking thought, as both of Silver’s guards simultaneously strike at the beast, crossing their spears and ramming them right into the heart of the monster’s body.

The Paradox writhes and shrieks in agony, whipping its long tentacles about. The two guards stumble as a result, and the Paradox sweeps them off their feet before throwing them harshly into the ground.

Tide draws his Zard, and howls a vicious battle cry as he runs straight at the beast. The Paradox spots Tide, and launches several of its tentacles at him. Tide dodges the first couple, and slashes away at a few more.

However, one of the tentacles whiplashes him from behind, and Tide falls flat on his face. He rises slowly, spitting dirt from his mouth and wiping blood from his lower lip. “Damn, that hurt!” Tide growls under his breath.

He grabs his Zard, and rushes straight at the Paradox once more, swinging his sword around recklessly. The quicker Paradox, however, decides to fire a beam of black energy at him, and Tide watches with widened eyes even as he runs towards his doom.

In one brief second, Tide feels an arm knock him out of the way, just as the beam obliterates the ground he’d been standing on. A slim figure darts past him, and with the speed of a bullet, fires some sort of invisible attack at the monster.

The Paradox shrieks in alarm, as several holes are drilled right through its tough hide. With one decisive, final blow, the Paradox collapses onto the ground, disintegrating into black matter.

Tide lays weakly on the ground, watching with wide-eyed wonder. He remains silent, awed by the figure rising out of the dust in front of him.

“Man, you really are a stupid kid, aren’t you? Running straight at a monster like that. Either you’re a moron who doesn’t know basic battle strategy, or you just wanna die.”

A masked, green-haired girl steps out of the storm of fluttering black Paradox particles and offers a hand to the fallen Tide.

Next Time: Episode 92 Green Is My Favorite Color

Otis: Yay for green!

Tide: A mysterious stranger pops up out of nowhere and that’s all you have to say?!

Otis: We already know who it is…and wait till you see what she has to say!

Episode 92 Green Is My Favorite Color coming soon!