Day 152

“Zeiss, I’m scared.”

“Me too Mana.”

“Where’s Bone?”

“Right here!”

“Wait, where, it’s so dark!”

“I’ll make a light. Flamethrower!” Suddenly a small flame flickered and the faces of three young children appeared. One was a young boy wearing blue robes, a girl wearing a red starred hood and a young boy wearing overalls and a white shirt under it with heavy gloves and a pair of goggles. They all made a half scream before covering their mouths. They took a look to see that all of them were there.

“Where are we?” The boy in the overalls asked his friends. They shook their heads. The other boy, a very tall specimen with the blue robes stepped forward with the fire in his hands.

“I don’t know, but I think we should go. The others should be somewhere, they might know what to do.” The boy started to walk with the girl and boy in tow. They walked a long way before the flame eventually flickered away. “I’m out of magic?” The boy in the blue robes tried to make another ball of fire but it disappeared as quickly as it was made.

“Ahhh!” The girl started to panic but the boy in the overalls quickly quieted her down. Suddenly a large light appeared behind them. They then heard a growling noise.

“Zeiss, is that you?” The boy in the overalls asked.

“No, Mana?” Zeiss asked the girl.

“Bone...” Mana’s hair stood on end as she looked like she was about to pass out.

“If it was me why would I be asking who it was?” Bone said.

“Let’s move very slowly now, maybe it won’t try to hurt us.” Zeiss said as they started to tip-toe forward at a pace so slow it was as if they weren’t moving. The light stayed in its place and the three kids didn’t look back at all. Suddenly a small rock was crushed under Bone’s boot and he uttered a meek cry. They heard an aggravated roar behind them and they screamed on the top of their lungs and started to run for their lives. They ran as fast as their little legs could carry them but the thunderous footsteps continued to follow them. Zeiss looked back and the light it was emitting was from its burning eyes and they were trapped inside a cave like structure. Zeiss picked up the pace and passed his friends and screamed even louder. After a series of screams and sprints, Mana fell over a rock and fell to the ground. She curled up in a ball and held her ears closed. The beast went to devour the young girl but for some reason it stopped over her body. Mana looked up to see a man with his back to the monster over her. He was extraordinarily tall, he wore a large white coat and a red v-neck shirt under it and baggy pants. He had long blonde hair and he had a little bit of hair forming a grizzled beard. Mana instantly blushed at her savior and he smiled back at her. She noticed that the monster’s mouth was open but wasn’t able to close its jaws on either Mana nor the man. Upon further inspection she saw a wall of hexagonal shapes of light a few inches away from the man’s back.

“Hraaah!”  The man grunted and a wave of energy threw the monster back several feet. The man turned around to the monster and pointed his finger at it. “How about that?” He said and turned back to Mana, he lent out a gloved hand towards her helping her up. “You alright pretty lady?” The man said and Mana simply stuttered. THe man took it as a sign that she was incapable of moving and quickly picked her up. “Let me guess, you three are the new warriors of harmony?” The man asked. “Let me guess, you two are Zeiss and Bone and the pretty lady here is Mana.” The man smiled at them. His body gave off a glow that lighted up the cave, a light much more brilliant and less violent than the monster’s light. “I’m Roland, you’re neighborhood friendly Paladin.” Roland introduced himself with a grin that was as bright as his glow. He was monstrous, he was well over six feet and his hair was long and spiking all over the place, his feet were over a foot long and he kept his massive hands under black leather gloves. He set down mana and patted off her mage robes. “So what are you kids up to, you know you shouldn’t be in caves like this one here.” Roland said and flexed his shoulders.

“Is an exit really close?” Zeiss asked the huge bear of a man. Roland flicked his thumb and chuckled.

“Not really. I heard Mana scream and I kinda got lost in the moment and moved really really fast so it’s not for a few dozen miles and I’m out of juice. So we’re going to have to walk from here on out.” Roland gave a half smile. The three kids fell to the ground and groaned. “Hey I still got my strength, so you shouldn’t worry. Hey how about I carry you all to the exit, that way you won’t have to work anymore.” Roland gave the three kids a thumbs up but they continued to groan. He then swung Mana onto his back and carried the boys under his arms. “You’re making this worse than it’s supposed to.” Roland said with Mana gripping tightly around his neck. He grunted as he continued to walk. After walking a while the children started to grow comfortable around the older man. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of all of you, I know it looks hard to believe but I’m twenty seven years old, I lived much longer than you had.” Roland reassured the kids as he kept walking with a little hop in his step. He seemed to glide with the kids under his arm. His senses piqued as he heard a rumbling in the cave. He closed his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating hard on something. “Oh that thing is still alive, oops got to run.” Roland said as he started to run, the monster quickly gaining on him and the three children under his arms. The man may have still been fast with the kids in his arms but the beast was faster on all fours and it was a matter of time before it reached them. Roland prayed to himself. “Come on, someone be here dammit.” Roland tried to run faster but he was going as fast as he possibly could. He then heard a clapping noise

“Pathetic, really.” An older voice called out as someone slammed down on the ground. Suddenly there were multiple sparks of electricity jumping from the ground in the form of a circle with a star in the center. The cave then started to shift as stalagmites from the walls, ground and roof pierced the beast behind the paladin. 

“Hey Crowley, good to see you too.” Roland said as he dropped the kids and had a light radiate from his hands towards their ally. He was an older looking man with premature white hair and dark grey eyes. He was wearing a black shirt and dark pants with a white scarf around his neck. “Hey kids, he’s an alchemist so he’s all about analyzing, destroying and recreating and stuff like that.” Roland winked, Crowley clapped his hands and took a rock off the ground and made a torch out of it. 

“Come on man-child, let us exit this place it’s dank and smells of dead monsters.” Crowley said as he led the paladin and the children away form the monster’s carcass.