Ruveneska, Chapter 5: Racing Against Time by Darro

Shuren woke the next morning, weary and sore. Dread filled his head from the thought of Atlar’s death. He has never seen a real death before, but the day before was full of it; it was a horrible sight. Dead bodies laid everywhere, both ingles and trolls. He unwillingly rose from his hammock. He searched for Karoline but she was nowhere to be found. He dressed himself hurriedly and trotted out of her tent. He inquired around the camp, but discovered no one was in their tents. From afar, a small speaking noise approached him. His eyes wandered about the area in confusion of where the source of the sound lay. He suddenly saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. He looked closely and observed a group of ingles. Shuren marched over realizing they were mourning the death of yesterday.

“Atlar, he was like a father to me, to all of us,” Morphin said. His head was down; along with all of the others. Every Ingle from the camp was surrounding a bunch of blood stained swords, impaled into the ground; marking the grave of heroes.

“We will never forget those who sacrificed themselves to save us, our fellow companions, allies, and family,” concluded Karoline, tears flowed down her cheeks, along with others.

Shuren struggled to fight back the desire to bawl. His vision began to blur with hot tears, streaming down his face as he could not stop them from overflowing his eyes. He sniffed and inhaled a deep breath, calming himself down. “This is my fault . . .” though Shuren, guilty, “If I would have never fought those trolls, they wouldn’t have attacked them. It’s entirely my fault!”

“Who will lead us now?” asked an Ingle.

Karoline raised her chin, she stopped crying. Morphin stared at her blankly and said, “I think that Karoline -”

“No, I can’t lead.” she replied. Cries of confusion and discontent filled the air.

“But Karoline, Therat-” an Ingle began.

Karoline shot him a dirty look, “Never say that name again!” The crowd grew silent. “If anyone should become leader, it should be Morphin.”

Everyone gazed at Morphin. They all kneeled, bowing politely. Shuren did so also. Morphin looked around puzzled. “But Karoline, why can you not?”

“I plan to go on a journey,” she said simply.

“What are you going for?” Morphin asked.

“Revenge, Garland has control over the trolls, I may be able to squeeze information from them,” she said.

“Will you still support our rebellion?” asked the crowd.

“I will support you until the day I die,” Karoline stated.

Shuren stared at her blankly. Morphin put an arm on her shoulder, “I cannot force you to stay, go as you wish, but be careful,” he said to her. He glanced at Shuren and said, “Shuren, please go with Karoline.” Shuren nodded, aware that Karoline did not want his company. He turned to face both of them and asked, “When will you be leaving?”

Shuren though for a moment, then answered swiftly, “As soon as possible, my mission to save a villager still stands, and I know where he is located.”

Karoline agreed. “We must move quickly, I want to leave by noon.”

Soon, everyone was dismissed. Shuren was left alone with Karoline, who walked slowly back to the campsite. Shuren found himself lost of words, nervous to speak, he blurted out, “Who is Therat?”

Karoline halted. She had an angry expression on her face. “Did you not hear me earlier? Never mention his name,” she repeated, and then stormed, off leaving a trail of dust, leaving Shuren dumbfounded.

After Shuren was sure that Karoline had left her tent, he entered to pack up his items. He did so hastily. Shuren trotted out with his sack. He spotted Karoline leaving a tent. He figured Karoline was saying her goodbyes. They met up, and she told him to wait by edge of the camp.

Shuren strolled to the dirt path that exited from the campsite. He sat down and waited irritably. “Hurry up Karoline, Rollan’s life is in danger!”

Unexpectedly, a hand silently placed on Shuren’s shoulder. Shuren yelped and smacked the hand down. He turned to see Karoline staring at him insanely. “Sorry, you frightened me,” Shuren apologized.

She ignored him. “Let’s go you kadasho,” said Karoline insultingly.

“Kadasho, what’s that mean?” Shuren asked.

“Don’t worry about,” concluded Karoline. They paced along the dirt road, moving at a high pace.

“We have to get to Rollan before they kill him,” stated Shuren.

“Do you know where we are heading?” asked Karoline.

“Yes, first we must go to my village, I have a couple of friends there that we will need,” Shuren said.

“Lead the way,” said Karoline making a hand gesture.

Shuren and Karoline continued walking south, paying no mind to the scenery around them. They had to move at a fast pace.

Along the way, Karoline mostly remained silent. Whenever Shuren questioned her about something, she only answered in a few words. This disappointed Shuren, he was able to have alone time with Karoline, but she didn’t seem to be interested. She seemed so reclusive. By their first break time, Shuren learned only one thing about her: she was not an average girl.

Shuren bit into the bitter meat. It was late afternoon. Karoline ate her food quietly. Shuren studied her carefully, and then said, “What’s your favorite thing to eat?”

“Why does it matter?” she asked grimly.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying your meal,” Shuren said.

“I have none,” she concluded. She was already done her meal. “Hurry, after we rest, we must continue,” Karoline said, then walked off.

Shuren finished his meal in a hurry, to go find Karoline. He spotted on a hill. She was in front of a tree trunk, throwing knives. “What are you doing?” Shuren asked as he sat next to her.

“I’m practicing my aim,” she replied, thrusting a knife at the trunk.

Shuren pulled out his knife, took aim and shot; hoping to impress her. The knife glided across the air, parallel to the ground before it flew over the trunk. An attempt to impress Karoline horribly failed. Instead, she laughed hysterically. Shuren was shocked to hear her laugh, for it was the first time. Her sweet laugh caused Shuren’s face to feel hot. He went up to retrieve his knife, hoping to not let her see his face. He came back to Karoline with his knife. Before he was able to practice more, she was already leaving.

They continued to walk, until Shuren spotted two people walking towards. Shuren armed himself but Karoline told him to let his guard down. Approaching them were two Ingles that seemed a bit younger.

“Ajek, Rojan, you’ve returned,” Karoline said happily.

They nodded. Ajek had medium length blonde hair with intense blue eyes. He was skinny, but seemed powerful. Rojan, stood taller than Shuren, he had short brown hair that covered teal eyes. “Who’s this scrawny guy? Your boyfriend?” joked Ajek.

Karoline ignored this. Then Rojan said, “He doesn’t seem fit to be traveling with you, ditch this kid and travel with us.”

Shuren was now mad, “What’s wrong with? Do you have manners or what? What have I done to you?” Karoline said nothing.

“You want to spar little kid?” Ajek said with a grin.

“Let’s go!” Shuren accepted. He was not going to let them insult him before Karoline, who only rolled her eyes.

“No weapons, just your fists,” Ajek said.

“Fine with me,” Shuren said clenching his fists. He forgot all about his mission, he was more worried about protecting his pride.

Ajek smiled, and then took a jab at Shuren. Shuren leaned back, grabbed his arm and swung him onto the floor. Ajek caught his sleeve and threw Shuren to the ground also. They grappled each other on the floor and viciously rolled around. They continued this for some time until Karoline broke it up.

“Enough!” she shouted. Shuren and Ajek ceased to fight; they looked at each other in disgust. “Ajek, what’s wrong with you? Apologize, you also Shuren!” Karoline ordered.

Reluctantly, Shuren bowed his head slightly and said, “I apologize, Ajek, for getting so angry.”

Ajek also bowed, “I also apologize for making such crude remarks, which was not like me.”

Soon, they were no longer enemies but friends. They stayed and talked. Ajek and Rojan were on a journey. Shuren could not listen to their conversation; it was confidential amongst the Rebellion.

It was nearly dark when they departed. Shuren cursed as they wasted too much time talking. They began walking at an even faster pace than before. Shuren found his self running as Karoline struggled to keep up. Soon, Shuren was too exhausted to continue any further. He collapsed to the ground gasping for breath. Karoline approached him from above. She stared down at him; she was out of breath also.

“You must be really determined to save him,” she said, setting up her sleeping area.

Shuren was building a fire when he said, “Much more than you know.” He struck his flint, causing sparks. He repeated this until the dried grass began to smoke. He gently blew on the smoke, lighting the grass in a small flame. He placed more twigs and dried grass nearby to build the fire. Soon, he had a full fledge fire.

“Explain why,” she said curiously.

Shuren was alarmed that she asked Shuren about him. “Actually, I do not know why. I barely even know him, but I just feel that he doesn’t deserve to die.” Shuren told her about how his quest was issued, disregarding the man in black. He did not tell her about his painful past, he did not wish to let anyone know that.

“I see,” she said after explained. They were already about to fall asleep. “That’s a very courageous thing to do, Shuren,” she complimented.

Shuren thanked her, and then grew silent. Nothing but the crackling fire sounded when they fell asleep.





Shuren was being carried, by a screaming woman. She was crying for Shuren. She glanced behind, paranoid of something. Suddenly, Shuren was thrown into a forest that caught fire. He rolled on the ground deeper in the forest until the woman could no longer see him.

Fire surrounded him. It was feeding on the tress of the forest he was in. He was helpless as a baby was. His small body was lying on grass as heat waves filled the air. Falling branches of timber struck the ground as Shuren began to wail even louder. His movement was limited to crawling. He tried to, but he was not fast enough to escape the fire that engulfed the grass he lied on.

Suddenly, Shuren was lifted into the air by a mysterious figure. He was carried past the burning forest.



“Shuren, wake up!” shouted Karoline.

Shuren sat up in panic. He looked at her, baffled. The morning was young, as the sun had barely risen. His face was dripping with sweat and tears. He wiped his face quickly.

“What just happened to you?” she asked concerned.

Shuren hesitated to answer, and then simply said: “Nothing, just a bad dream.” It was half true. It was a bad dream, but it was not ’nothing’. She knew he was lying, but she did not show it.

“Get ready, we must leave soon if you want to make it in time,” she said. She walked off leaving him alone.

Shuren packed up his camp items. He put on his leather sack, and met up with Karoline.

As he walked her, he explained the plan he came up with the night before Shuren was attacked by the dragon, but she had already planned it out.

They continued to walk at a fast rate. The sun was directly over their heads now, meaning it was noon. It was scorching hot and they still did not see the border of the Hunting Forest. The path ahead them were filled with hills; it was clearly not the same path Shuren took out of the Hunting forest.

They took a quick stop to rest then continued south. It was early afternoon and their speed had decreased dramatically. Their water supply was growing low.

Shuren was worried they would not reach Rollan; they still had to reach the village. “Karoline, we have to hurry,” Shuren said after awhile.

“I know,” she said back.

Shuren was exhausted from the heat. His battle clothes were off and he was simply in his normal undershirt and pants. Karoline was wearing a brown vest that hung a bit below her breast. He abdominal was revealed which made Shuren tense to draw near her. Her long legs were bare up to her thighs, which wore black short leggings covered by a half skirt.

The day grew older as the temperature started to ease up. They walked faster as it was cooler. It was mid afternoon when Shuren spotted a thick forest in the distance. It was the Hunting Forest!

“Karoline, we’re almost there, beyond that forest is my village,” Shuren told her. She sighed with relief.

They jogged to the edge of the forest. Shuren noticed something peculiar about the forest as they neared it. He studied it carefully. It was not the way he exited a few nights before. They were at a different side of the forest! It struck him, before Shuren was rescued by Karoline, he had been traveling north-west. He assumed that Hogony was south-east from the Rebellion, but he was wrong, it was directly south. That explained why it seemed lengthy, Shuren accidentally took an extended path. Shuren explained this to her while running through the forest.

It took them nearly an hour to emerge from the other side of the forest. Luckily, it was barley late afternoon, but the sky was darker than expected. A hill blocked Shuren’s view of the village. Shuren saw the Aimon River east of him.

Karoline was stunned. She nudged Shuren, and then pointed her hand at the sky. Shuren felt his insides swirl with fear. A trail of black smoke rose from behind the hill. It blocked the sun, causing the sky to be exceptionally dark.

They ran up the hill gasping at the chaos dispersed throughout the village. Homes were on fire, many were in ruins. Crowds of creatures swarmed the border.

Shuren scurried down the hill and towards Hogony; Karoline barley able to keep up. He ran as fast as his burning calves would allow. His distance between Hogony reduced with each step. Soon, he was able to make out crowds of black creatures; they were not Gippies or Ingles surrounding the entrance. They were nothing he’s ever seen. Shuren and Karoline burrowed through them unharmed. Shuren saw three Gippies struggling toward the creatures off.

“Cotoz, Lorica, Blurton!” Shuren screamed as he saw them.

“There you are Shuren!” Cotoz said as he threw a creature to floor.

“What happened? What are these things?” Shuren said as he and Karoline backed up behind the trio.

“Sleepwalkers,” replied Karoline slowly.

“We’re being attacked! Listen Shuren, go into your house and check under your floorboards!” cried Blurton.

Shuren opened his mouth to question but was interrupted by Lorica, “We have no time to explain! Just get it and go to the graveyard and save Rollan!”

Shuren nodded, turned away and ran back towards his house; Karoline followed. Thoughts shot through his mind as he ran for his home. “How did he know that Rollan was in the graveyard?" It was hard for Shuren to make his way back, due to the debris. A Sleepwalker confronted him. Karoline dashed forward to challenge it with her daggers drawn. “Shuren, go get whatever it is they want you to get, I’ll hold this thing off!” she ordered.

Shuren followed her orders. He made his way back to his home. He let out a sigh as it was not yet any more wrecked than before.

He threw the door open, ran inside and studied his floorboards closely. He walked over the center of his room as it creaked. “Here,” he thought. He took his knife and stabbed the cracks. With all of his strength, Shuren lifted the floorboards off the ground. He continued to tear apart his floor until saw a gold flash of light. He pulled more boards and saw a golden handle. The handle was slender, the middle was skinny.

He grabbed it and pulled out a massive blade. Its length was half of Shuren’s height. The scimitar was unusually light. The teal colored blade had a bizarre design, the blade was reversed. On the lower edges of the blade were two crescents above one another. Little sparkles of gems were scattered over the blade. The guard was the same golden color as the handle; it’s shape had two slender crescents intertwined almost creating a skinny cross.

Shuren felt a strange comfort wielding it. A strange serenity filled his inners along with a sensation of power. For a few moments, he lost all thought of the chaos around him. He swung the blade around a few times, it was fairly easy to handle. He attempted a few moves he saw Cotoz did during training, though he was unsuccessful.

Outside, there was a loud hacking sound, followed by a low toned cry. Karoline rushed through his door, gasping on sight. She gazed at Shuren’s reverse blade scimitar. “Is that thing yours?” she gaped.

“I don’t know. . .” Shuren said, still admiring the weapon.

“Let’s go!” Karoline shouted, breaking Shuren’s astonishment.

They hurried back through the door. Three Sleepwalkers approached them. Shuren tested out the new blade. He slashed the three of them at once. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, miraculously, the zombies turned to ash. Karoline stared in amazement. They ran to the entrance of the village, only to find nothing there. The pandemonium from earlier had dispersed. “What happened? Where did they go? “The trio was nowhere to be found, along with the Sleepwalkers. Shuren paid no mind to this and ran across the bridge that ran over the stream

“Do you know how to get there?” Karoline asked, running alongside Shuren.

“Yes, it’s not far past the forest I think,” he said.

They entered the thick forest swiftly. Shuren and Karoline walked west though the open areas of the forest. The crossed though trees and under bushes. Shuren carried the scimitar behind. Karoline had her daggers drawn.

“Is it nearby?” Karoline asked between breathes.

“Yea, it’s just up ahead,” Shuren answered as he placed the back of his scimitar on his shoulder. Shuren stopped for a moment to take a breath, soon after, they continued onward.