(To all of my readers, I appologize for the delay in this chapter… Work schedule got changed AND, I’ve been sick… So without further delay, here is the next chapter.)

Nodaku, a crusader out to prove to people that he wasn’t some weak warrior that going to stand around and let people kick him around like they had in his earlier years of training. He had excelled faster than many others and had proven to them in a simple life-time that he wasn’t going to give anything up without a fight.

Standing next to the slowly fading body of Annalys, he cleared his throat and cracked his neck. Looking to his friends, he said nothing as he leaned back down, grabbing Annalys’ items that were left behind while she was being forced into a spiritual world. Walking to his sword, he kicked it up some with his foot and caught the hilt (handle) of it and slung it over his shoulder once again, like many times before. Walking to town, he went to the spot where he had held her in his arms after telling her that he loved her. Standing at the edge, where they sat, he took her staff in his hand and stabbed it into the ground. Taking his necklace that he wore, he placed it upon the staff, to hang.

Looking into his hand now, he held one item that he wasn’t going to leave behind, that belonged to her. Closing his eyes, he flung his head forth, his helmet rolling off of his head and hitting the ground. His dark, ruffled hair covered his face as he slipped her necklace onto himself. Taking the necklace and stuffing it into his shirt, keeping it close to his heart, he leaned back down and took hold of his helmet. Putting it on and adjusting it, he looked out to the volcano in the distance, “Your curse brought this upon me… Now my wrath shall be the burden of your curse…” Nodaku had said to himself as he continued to look on.

Ikizen and the gang of friends that he had, stood behind Nodaku, wondering what it was that was going on in his mind. They were all there to aid him in whatever it was that he needed. “She will always be with you Nodaku… In spirit and heart…” Ikizen had said in his timid tone of voice. Nodaku gave a slight nod and turned his head to look at his friends, “And she will be watching us all.”

Ikizen gave his cheerful laugh, much like that of a school-girl, “We only get glances..” Sticking his tongue out like a little kid at Nodaku, he continued to give his timid laughs. Nodaku shook his head and laughed softly as he turned to all of his friends with a smile. “Just promise me one thing… If I die, you will place my keepsakes here with Annalys’.”

All of his friends had given him a nod and smile. “Then let this Journey Begin…” Nodaku had said in his intimidating voice. He didn’t look at his friends as though he were intimidating, but they all knew that he now had two purposes to his life; one to avenge Annalys’ death and the other, to prove that he was the strongest.

Iriku, the spunky assassin (My original character… From a shared account with a female friend of mine.. So yeah, it’s a chick..) hopped up forth and said in a unique tone of cheerful and monotone, “The darkness will know fear from you!” With her words said, Nodaku arched a brow before closing his eyes and giving a chuckle, “Hopefully it is ready for me then.” And with his words said, they all gave their last cheerful laugh together before their journey would begin.

Nodaku, turning to the cliff, lifted his sword, The Devil’s Sunrise, from his shoulder and pointed it to the volcano and said, “Hope you are prepared to die…” and with his words said, he took his leap from the cliff like before. Dropping down and hitting the ground firmly, this time, he stood up quickly and began to walk towards his destination. He was bound and determined to destroy whatever it was that wanted to get in his way.

Hours later…

In the valley of the Bain’s, Nodaku had looked back to his friends, most of them tired and worn from the journey already. He sighed softly and looked around, trying to find a cliff or ledge for them to all rest upon so they are out of harms way. Seeing one, he pointed up to it and smiled, “Go rest up there guys, I will train down here for a while.” He paused for a moment and smiled, “It’s been a long journey so far.. Get all the rest you can before we continue…”

Nodaku had looked around at the fields of scattered Bain’s. It had been a while since he last fought any Bain’s. He continued to look around until he found a lone Bain that he could test his strength upon. He knew that these creatures were formidable if they were not killed quickly. Taking a deep breath, he reached into his shirt and pulled out Annalys’ necklace and leaned it to his lips and kissed it softly, whispering to himself and the necklace, “My journey will be complete when I have come to the end.” Putting the necklace back into his shirt, he let his sword drop and hit the ground, the blade sank into it with ease as it’s weight alone was intimidating enough.

“Now you die Bain…” Nodaku said to himself as he took off in a full sprint towards the Bain. Kigaru, an Ice/Lightening wizard, and Yumik, a Fire/Poison wizard saw Nodaku take off towards the Bain. Neither had seen how powerful Nodaku was before, but they had looked ahead of Nodaku and noticed that the Bain knew what was coming. Kigaru and Yumik both began to run forth to catch up with Nodaku, but were stopped by Ikizen. “Just watch… You two are underestimating Nodaku.”

Yumik arched a brow and continued to watch Nodaku, knowing well that many people he watched before, died trying to fight Bain’s on their own. Kigaru sank to the ground and began to weep, “He’s going to die though..”

Ikizen, the timid priest that he was, laughed softly, “That is what I once said when I saw him run off when I was hurt… way back when we first came here… But I was soon surprised by his will to become more powerful..” Ikizen smiled at the two and pointed towards Nodaku, whom was almost to the Bain.

The Bain, turning and looking at Nodaku, gave a snarl, deep and vicious. It wasn’t moments later, that the Bain had launched it’s well known attack for taking out people, time and time again. Opening its mouth and regurgitating a massive ball of molten rock, shot it out towards Nodaku. Nodaku, having seen this shot at him many of times, rolled under the ball of molten rock and continued his advance upon the Bain. Reaching it, he had faked a jump into the air, the Bain had taken the bait and aimed yet another ball of molten rock to the air and had shot it out. Nodaku, well prepared already for the Bain, slammed the hilt of the sword into the ground, leaving the blade in the air like a massive spike. Jumping into the air now, Nodaku landed on the Bain’s back, grabbing the collar with one hand, he held on tight as he knew it would try to buck him off.

The Bain, throwing it’s head forward towards the ground, had noticed the sword almost too late, tightening it’s neck, it stopped merely inches before the blade. Nodaku felt the neck squeeze his fingers and with a devilish grin on his lips, he leaned down and whispered, “die you mutt..” and reared an arm back. Thrusting his hand down, he delivered a blunt but forceful punch to the top of the Bain’s head. A loud crack was heard as the armor and thick bone skull of the Bain had met. It caused the Bain to grow groggy, less aware of what was going on now. Nodaku, not yet finished, released the collar and jumped in front of the Bain’s head, turning and facing it, he grabbed the Bain’s upper lip and pulled down. The amount of slobber that accumulated in its mouth from the punch, made it hard to grip.

Giving a loud grunt, Nodaku slammed his feet into the ground and gave a heaving pull towards the ground. The Bain’s lower jaw had been pierced, but it recovered in time to pull back up. Nodaku, shocked that the Bain recovered, was flung into the air. He knew that if he got into the Bain’s mouth, it was over for him. Removing one of his gauntlets, he threw it with all his might to the Bain. His target wasn’t to hurt the Bain at this point, but cause a distraction. His gauntlet, hitting the Bain in the nose, made a sufficient decoy as Nodaku hit the ground. The Bain, sneezing now, couldn’t stop. Nodaku, running to the side of the Bain, he grabbed his sword and spun around, moving his sword into a stabbing motion, had managed to hit the target. His sword had sank into the Bain’s neck, just behind the ears. The blade made little work of the tough skin and firm bones as it slid effortlessly between two vertebrae, severing the brain stem. It caused little bleeding, but did the job that he wanted.

The Bain, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes falling off of the shelf, lay there, still and not breathing. Removing his sword from it’s neck, he stretched a little and went to find his gauntlet. Sighing some as he had noticed that the gauntlet was the pure cause of his not being eaten, as it was firmly lodged into one of the nostrils of the Bain. Groaning deeply to himself, Nodaku walked over and pulled his gauntlet out of the Bain’s nose before shaking it off as best he could. Walking back to the camp-site that his friends had made, he placed the gauntlet near the fire to let it firm so that he would be able to get the remains off of it.

Kigaru and Yumik looked to Nodaku with their eyes wide and their jaws dropped. They had never seen a person go at something so calm and never lose his cool over it. As to what they saw, he was calm the entire time. Nodaku, stabbing his sword into the ground, sat near the fire and sighed softly, “Tomorrow will be a long day…” And wish his words said, he fell back and closed his eyes, ready to rest up for the next day, giving his friends ample time to heal and get ready.

[To Be Continued…]
* Next Chapter – The Flashback.