Enwa's Quest: The Cross of Ameran von Deamond ================================================================================ Kapitel 4: ----------- … Grumble… ……….. Grumble grumble… “Ugh… I’m going to starve here!” Ledah whined, holding his belly. He had been in this strange world for almost 2 days now… without anything to eat. There were lots of fruits hanging on the trees, but he would not dare trying them… Some of them looked really familiar, close to the ones growing in his home-world… yet they differed in size or color… How was he supposed to know if the things here were eatable?! He could not just risk setting all his luck on one card, trying some fruits and maybe ending up dying due to poison! Not to mention that he did not plan on dying now, but if he failed, who would get the cross back?! "No way... I must... stay... strong..." Ledah's eyes fell on something that looked like dark blue raspberries... His fingers reached for the fruits slowly... Now that he was hungry they were even more delicious looking than usual... But... but... "In Mana's name, Ledah, restrain yourself!!!" The blonde barked to himself, pulling his hand back. He couldn't use his wings for some strange reason so he had hid them in his back again, following the small river ever since he had landed on Nayshir. If he didn't find a village soon, he had to eat these fruits, but as long as he still had strength left within him, he had to fight the urge! Far in the distance, a dark clad man looked over the wide plains of Suuna, the human country of Nayshir... Something was wrong with this land... He couldn't quite point his finger on it, but there was something horrible going on here... "If you could see this, I bet you would regret sacrificing your life for them..." Deamond's poison-green eyes narrowed, focusing on a giant tree, growing in the center of Suuna's capital, like a crown to the giant city. However he got distracted... From behind the hill he was standing on, he could smell the scent of blood, slowly reaching his nose. Turning his head, he felt the dark presence of death lingering behind a small forest. Attracted by the familiar feeling, he started walking towards the source of the smell, patting the hilt of the scythe attacked to his back... and after only a few minutes he could hear the sound of metal and the screams of agony coming from behind the trees. A small elven unit was surrounded by an army of human fighters. This wasn't a fight, it was a slaughter. The barely 100 elven soldiers were almost annihilated, while the over 600 men of Suuna shot through their lines with horses and lances, slowly killing the remaining elves. In one last desperate try to escape, the remaining half dozen elves rushed towards the trees, hoping to find shelter between the leafs to hide from the bloodthirsty humans. Deamond watched how one single elf managed to reach the trees alive, still being chased by soldiers. He knew, if there was no miracle happening now, this last elf-warrior would die just as his unit did. A young human commander noticed the man watching them, calming his horse. "Hey you!" The soldier slowly rode over to Deamond, rapier drawn. He was in his early twenties, if not even younger... probably the son of a general and as such able to achieve such a high rank in his young age... Smiling innocently, Deamond walked on towards the man, unimpressed by the weapon. "Who are you?! Introduce yourself, stranger!" The commander demanded with an arrogant tone. It was as the brown haired man had expected: The kid of a high general or aristocrat that had no clue about the true terrors on a battle-field... The way he held his weapon left so many spots to attack. The view on his saddle's belt was open. It would take Deamond not even a second to unzip it and so causing him to fall off the horse... Not to mention the way he held the rapier. Grabbing the blade and pulling it forward and the 'fearsome' warrior in front of him would be unarmed... "May I ask for your name first, Sir? It's a matter of attitude to introduce yourself before asking for someone else's name..." He smiled sheepishly, unimpressed by the blade pointing at his face. The commander almost fell from his horse at this answer. Anger was well written on his face as he made a few movements with his rapier, as if to frighten the other man. "Do you have a clue who you are talking to, scum!? I am a commander of Suuna's divine army!! Kneel in front of me and I might forgive your rudeness!" He hissed, making some more random, probably supposed to be cool looking movements with his rapier. Almost unable to hold back his laugh, Deamond only kept smiling innocently. He tilted his head, acting confused and clueless. "Is that so? Well then, my name is Deamond, it's a pleasure to meet you Sir commander of Suuna's divine army!" He offered him a hand in greeting, once again paying not the slightest attention to the blade pointing at him. "What the--?! Are you a madman!?" The soldier pushed the strange man's hand away, but placin his rapier back in its shelf again as well. "You are lucky I am in a good mood today, or I would chop your head off for your manners!" "In a good mood?" Deamond kept smiling. He was used to wear this kind of mask no matter the situation... and this human bemused him all the more... "I guess you mean because of your great victory over there?" He pointed at a field of bloody corps. The elven soldiers that had lost their lives in the ambush lay on the soft grass, painting it red with their blood while Suuna-knights walked around, picking up their belongings to fill their own wallets... "Yes, we defeated a unit of elves just now. Those ridiculous beings had dared entering our borders. We showed them what we are made of!" The human grinned victoriously. He moved some of his hair out of his face, awaiting praise for their brave deed from the foreigner. "And you are actually proud of that? Interesting... So basically you are saying that it needs six times as many humans to defeat an elven unit?" The commander almost dropped from his horse again at this statement. He snapped the rapier off his belt again, pointing it at the stranger. "How dare you!?!" He grit his teeth. "Are you calling us cowards?!" "I never said that. I merely stated the facts, right?" Still hiding behind his mask of innocence, Deamond was prepared for what came next... "You little bastard!!" The commander wanted to bring down his blade, but Deamond simply stepped forward, loosening the belt of the saddle with a simple move of his fingers, watching the human fall forward right on the ground. Gasping for air after the hard landing, he tried to reach his blade but Deamond had already took his scythe from his back, standing above the younger man. The innocent mask was gone. Cold eyes pierced down at the soldier while a bloodthirsty grin curled on his lips. "Listen, little boy." The grin on his face grew wider. Slowly but sure other soldiers around started noticing them and walking over in case the commander needed help. "When holding a rapier, don't wave around with it too much... It is a weapon for precision, not for brainlessly swinging around. Secondly, never let the belt that holds your saddle show this openly. Or at least secure it with a second clip. You saw what it will lead to... And look at someone first before attacking... If you had paid closer attention, you would have noticed my stance. That of a swift fighter... and as such making a wild swing from over your head gives someone like me more than enough time to kill you three times before you can bring down that weapon..." "I-I see..." The commander gulped, scared to death while his eyes focused the scythe on his throat. "I-I will try... to remember that for next time!" He shivered slightly, trying to get away, but each movement would cause the scythe to cut into his skin. "Very well~ Then I guess you learned your lesson." Deamond laughed, his innocent mask back in place. He offered the young man a hand to help him back on his feet... "I should be on my way again then... It was nice meeting you!" He bowed slightly, simply turning and walking away. "..." The commander stared after him, still unable to understand what had just happened... "Sir, are you alright? Should we hunt this man down?" A soldier asked, but he did not receive a response from his puzzled superior. "Oh this can't be happening!!" Ledah had followed the river for over three hours now since he had restrained himself from eating those raspberries... and by now he was surrounded by what looked like small pinkish apples... The all shimmered in the light of the sun, as if they wanted to mock him... He was really close to just ignore any logic, eating whatever these fruits were!! He wanted something to eat... and he wanted it now... Fried chicken with vegetables, steak with fries and chili-sauce, salmon-gratin with backed potatoes and salad… The images of the wonderful dishes danced around in front of his mental eyes... Heck, he was so hungry he could even smell the salmon... Wait..!! "That's salmon!!" Ledah gasped, starting to sprint into the direction of the wonderful smell. "I'm done with the potatoes, Daddy!!" A little black haired girl smiled towards her father. From his greenish-brown skin he probably was a half-orc from the mountains. He wore the typical cloths of a farmer: A straw-hat, baggy, dirty trousers and a sleeveless linen shirt. His wife, a dark haired human woman in a long green dress prepared a piece of fish on a camp-fire, throwing a couple of fresh herbs over the meal. "The salmon is almost done as well, Martin." The woman smiled softly. Her husband was already placing plates on a giant piece of fabric on the ground that gave a wonderful atmosphere of a picnic... "I'm done as well. Ena, please bring me the potato-salad, will you?" He smiled at his little daughter who happily ran over to him with a large bowl. Suddenly, they could hear sounds coming from the trees close to the shore. Martin jumped up, covering his girl while signalizing his wife to stay where she was. The branches of the bushes moved slightly, announcing the intruder... Only a few seconds later, a blonde man walked out of the woods into the clearing, staring at the little family with a weird expression on his face. His long white coat made Martin guess he was a noble, as usually only aristocrats wore these kind of cloths in Suuna... "Ah..." Ledah looked at the family in front of him. They looked exactly the same as farm-folks on Midgard... But... now that he saw them here... and now that he recapitulated the situation he was in... He was in another world! How was he supposed to talk with these people? They probably didn't even speak his language... but it smelled so delicious here... His eyes drifted over to the human-looking woman that sat next to a campfire with a frying-pan in hand. No doubt, this was the source of the delicious smell! He had to somehow communicate with them... but how? "Do... you... understand... me?" The enwa spoke extra slowly. Maybe the language of this world was close to his own? That would be too great to be true... "..." Martin rose an eyebrow confused. "Why shouldn't we understand you?" He frowned, not letting his eyes go of the sword attached on Ledah's belt. "Oh, ahahaha..." The blonde chuckled, feeling his cheeks turning pink. "W-well... My name is Ledah and..." He kept staring at the frying-pan as a loud growl escaped his stomach. "I am Martin... and this is my daughter Ena and my wife Laura." He followed the man's gaze and had to suppress a chuckle. "You seem hungry..." "Please, I'm begging you, I'm starving! I'd do anything if you give me a bit of your meal!" He bowed again and again before placing his sword and a couple of throwing-knives hidden under his jacket on the ground. He wanted to reassure them that he was no threat to them... but if they didn't give him any of their food, he felt it was more secure to not have any kind of weapon close to him... "Ahahahaha..." Martin laughed, now certain that the blonde really was no danger to them. He nodded happily. "Sure, I can always use a hand on the farm. Especially since I wanted to start the harvest tomorrow..." He smiled and stepped aside, offering the stranger a place on the picnic. Laura smiled and stood up, offering Ledah a couple of slices from the apples hanging all around them... Mentally slapping himself, the enwa took them thankfully, starting to eat. As they sat on the picnic, eating the salmon and potato-salad cheerfully, Ledah took his chance asking Martin and Laura a few questions that burned within him and had to be asked. "So, these fruits are apples, right? And those are raspberries... They are all eatable I guess?" He smiled, taking another apple-slice. "Yes. Of course they are, dummy..." Ena interrupted before her parents even had the chance of answering. "E-Ena!" Laura shrieked, taking her daughter on her lap. "You can't just call Ledah a dummy!" "But only dummies don't know what apples are..." The girl stuck out her tongue and hugged her puppet, a small wool-puppet with a red dress and yellow straw as hair. Ledah had to chuckle. If someone on Midgard had asked him what an apple is he'd probably reacted the same, so he couldn't quite be mad on the little girl... "You see, where I am coming from apples look a little different... they are green and not pink... Plus they are a bit bigger." He grinned innocently, taking another bite from the salmon. "Interesting, so you aren't from Suuna?" Laura smiled, giving him another serving of potato-salad on his plate. "Excuse me, but... what is Suuna?" Ledah blinked confused. Martin bursted out laughing now. How could someone not know Suuna?! "Suuna is everything here! This whole country is called Suuna!" He finally regained his cool, whipping with his finger over his eyes. "How did you even get here if you don't even know what country you are in?!" "That is a very long story..." The enwa muttered under his breath, taking another bite. He couldn't possibly tell them the truth... Hello, I'm a world-traveler that is lost and can't use his wings at the moment, searching for an ancient relict while I have no clue where in Mana's name I am... Ledah shook his head at the stupid thought. "You look like a noble to me..." Laura nodded, letting go of Ena again. "Did you lose your memory? I mean, I heard from travelers before that got robbed and due to injuries lost their memories about anything that happened before the incidence!" She looked at him worried, giving him another portion of potato-salad on the plate. "..." Ledah gulped... by now he felt rather stuffed even... but the story with the memory-loss was perfect! That way he could ask them the weirdest questions without making them suspicious at all! "I really barely remember anything." He smiled innocently. "But I guess I'm... something like a noble..." The prince of the most giant demonic country on Utgard to be exact... "Aw, that's too bad... If you want to know something, you can ask me!" Ena chirped, hugging her puppet happily. The enwa smiled and nodded at the offer. Perfect. "Thanks a lot. Uhm... First of all... what is this world called?" The blonde grinned, knowing how dump this had to sound. But it was the most essential question of all! "Ahahaha, they must have hit you really hard..." Martin held his belly again. "This, my dear Ledah, is the world of the Great Trees of Mana, Nayshir." Bull's eye!! Ledah's face brightened so much all of a sudden that the little family really started worrying about the mental condition of their guest... "Ehehehe, great! If you don't mind, I have a couple more questions..." Ledah was certain: Luck was on his side, no matter what... He couldn't have possible stumbled into any nicer people! In the capital of Suuna, Kaaren, a blonde freckled girl with glasses rushed through the streets. On her heels a couple of soldiers followed, weapons drawn. "Lady Nima! Stop running away and we will not harm you!" One of the soldiers yelled, gasping for air in his heavy armor. "..." The blonde girl didn't dare slowing down o answer... She knew that the king had ordered her to be arrested... and even more to be executed! She would not let them get her! No way! She'd either die trying to escape, or somehow getting away... All she had to reach was the stables. Only a bit more... Luckily, the masses of people in the street slowed the soldiers with their thick armors down... Finally Nima reached the stables. Ripping the doors open, she jumped on a random saddled horse, hoping it would obey her commands. "Hiya!" She shouted, feeling the giant animal under her towering up before sprinting out the stables and towards the forest. Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)