Saphira woke up early next morning, hoping that no one will be at the Dead Mine to take it for training. She dressed in her Dark Enigma, Dark Galaxy, Lapiz Sandals and Dark Lorin and got her Kage and Esther Shield. Wandering in El Nath early in the morning, it was FREEZING. A steely shot out of a nearby bush and got her attention.
“Who’s there?” she whispered. Another steely shot out and nearly hit her, if she hadn’t turned slightly, then she would’ve been severely injured. A shadow ran out of the bush and behind the potion shop. She picked up one of the steelies and examined it.
“Green Mushroom poison,” she grumbled. A GM popped out of nowhere and a HUGE crowd formed too.
“This is strange…” Saphira said to herself. 2 steelies being shot at her and a GM popping out of nowhere. Somehow, it all fits together…
Ignoring the comments about a GM popping out of nowhere (‘OMG, IT’S A GM! IT’S A GM!’ and other similar comments), she headed off back to the cabin, where she found Jane, Ashlee and I going to check out the GM.
“Hey, you seen the GM yet?” as I pulled over my fur cape.
“Yeah”
“Shall we head back to the zombies?” Jane asked.
“Sure thing. Ashlee, since you want to get to level 70, wanna come with us?”
“Uhh ok.”
Jane hasted them all and jumped into action, lazily throwing Avengers at the yetis with Saphira, Ashlee and I right jumping behind her. Finally reaching the zombies, Saphira and I just sat there using Shining Rays as Jane threw avengers. Ashlee looked quite scared with the zombies crowding her; she’s never trained on zombies before. Eventually, I had to guard her against mobs of zombies. More and more just came, one of the zombies nearly grabbed my neck but luckily Jane’s Shadow Partner grabbed it and threw 6 ilbis down its throat, cutting off the neck (very painfully I might add).

Quick as light, the same shadow ran and grabbed Ashlee by the neck, holding an Angelic Betrayer in front of it.
“Tell me the phrase on the night the murderer wrote near the dead old man in Kerning City and I’ll let her go,” the shadow said, who happened to be a Chief Bandit. Seeing that he used steelies and daggers, it’s not surprising he was a banditsin. Saphira and Jane looked angry, but they didn’t dare move a muscle, for the fear that Ashlee might die.
I stepped up and told him, “The phrase was smudged by the murderer, except for two words, ‘Death’ and ‘Hermit’.” Jane and Saphira look astonished that I knew, I never told them what happened that very night.
“Lies,” the Chief Bandit said.
“I wouldn’t lie if there’s a hostage at stake.”
“True. I’ll let her go this time, but we shall meet again.”
The Chief Bandit released Ashlee and jumped over a crowd of zombies. A second later, he was gone.
Ashlee collapsed afterward, seeing that she had a hard time breathing while the Chief Bandit held her as hostage. Surprised, we picked her up and rested her on the platform nearby. To make sure she didn’t die of coldness, every once in a while Saphira checked on her.
“Who was that anyways?” Jane asked me.
“I’m not sure…I’ve never seen him before, but he reminds me of someone.”
Another image flashed through my mind, this time when I was 9.

I was fairly young in school as a lvl 64 Cleric, and my friend, Luke recently became a Chief Bandit. Everyone congratulated him and he showed us all what Meso Explosion looked like. Luke dropped about 10 meso coins on the ground in front of a Green Mushroom and a loud explosion took place. The next thing we know, the mesos and the Green Mushroom was gone, leaving a Green Mushroom Cap behind. A flash of light blinded us and a different shadow took him away, and the next year when I became a Priest, the old man was murdered. Ever since, I suspected that the murderer was the shadow that took him. Apparently, it HAD to be a Hermit, seeing that it was ilbis and steelies poking out of the man’s body. Where did Luke go and what happened to him? No one knows.

I’ve been wondering about that day, who took him and what became of him. Luke life was always mysterious, how his dad died in the middle of the night with no marks showing how he died and how the doctor died the day after she helped Luke with his disease. Reminds me of when Saphira’s father disappeared mysteriously. She hasn’t been the same since, like the day she went hyper and cried about her father for 8 hours straight. Took a while to calm her down. Remembering how the Chief Bandit was a banditsin, it reminded me of Luke, who also was a banditsin. He always wanted to know vital information that could be important to his life. Luke was a mysterious person; he wasn’t very good at making friends; and yet he was extremely nice to his friends. Could it be him? It might, but we won’t see him til later. But when? And where? He might track us down, or we could follow him. Fate decides it all.