Book One: Fate

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Chapter Ten: Travel Forwards

The group traveled along the road to Wex. It would take about one and a half days to reach the checkpoint town between Cattra and the capital, meaning they had another day of camping out. This was much to the disappointment of Joel, but he seemed a bit more reserved about it and was not constantly complaining. He seemed to have more on his mind. Leon and Karen walked on separate sides of Tylor with Joel slightly behind him. The two had not spoken for a while. Karen had not said anything since they had left Cattra and Leon stopped speaking after discussing things with him when they first left town.

The mood between them all at the moment was not one of being content or happy to say the least. Even things between Joel and he seemed distant to how they had been. Joel was not as happy and cheerful as before and did not look forward to discovering new things about the main land. Of course, a lot had happened, so really it was no surprise.

Things had got out of control so quickly that Tylor had no way to see it coming. Just over a week ago he would be waking up around midday and father would be at his chair in the kitchen making his sarcastic comment about the time. However, things spiraled, first there was the storm and then from that night nothing was the same. There was no more spending time training, or learning, or the others things that used to take up his day. It might have seemed boring to outsiders, but it was all he knew - to be part of the productive community. Compared to how things were now, the death, and things he had seen, he would give anything to have those boring times back again.

How he missed those times.

The pain around his sides was getting better, it no longer constantly stung, but it still hurt if he moved or twisted sideways sharply. His face did not bruise from any of the blows he had received; just some bloodied marks, but his arm had quite a bad bruise half way up the left arm. He had noticed that despite the beating Karen had taken she seemed completely fine now, even after coughing up blood.

It is a good thing that she is unharmed… isn’t it? So why am I…?

Karen and he had become more distant, but that was no surprise. Tylor was not sure what to think about her. No matter how open or innocent she seemed there was always something that told him she was constantly holding something back from them. Joel seemed different too. Was it their fault, or his? Something had gone terribly wrong through everything that had happened. Alienating of him from Karen was understandable because of circumstance, but Joel, his brother - things should not be as they were with him.

If things were still normal and they were back on the island, he and Joel would talk daily, or spend some time together, and maybe train. Joel would always have something to comment on, or talk about (though it was mostly the latest beauty he had his eye on around the village). He was at that age. It was funny and comforting that he spoke more openly with Joel than the friends he had that were his own age.

No wait, they weren’t really my friends… just people I talked to now and then, Joel is the only real friend I have…

Casting a quick look over to Joel and then back ahead to the road, Tylor bit his lip. When they camped out that evening, he would try to make things a little better between Joel and him. He missed the happy Joel, the adventure seeking childhood friend who he spent most of his time with, but would circumstance interfere again?

She had once again lost control of the situation, she knew it. No longer was the plan working out. Ever since she had reached the island things had never gone exactly as she had planned, but now more than ever things were out of her control. Tylor barely spoke to her now and when he did there was always a hint of bitterness, or maybe even hatred. Joel continued not to pester her, that was a good thing, but the fact he was there at all changed the plan. And now Tylor had forced her to accept that Leon had to travel with them and he was never factored in. Tylor was yet to mention Tai to Leon and she prayed it would stay like that. Having a Demon Hunter, who was working for the knights, probing them for information on the Sparda crew’s killer would just prove more of a problem. It was lucky that he kept what he was thinking to himself for most of the time, though it did make her unsure of how much he knew.

Surely the dreams had happened by now, at least one. It was probably what was driving him to find his mother and since his father was dead, he had little choice. Even though that was in the plan, she had to stay with him and that was looking bleaker every day, especially with the way he looked at her now.

I must travel forwards and he must travel with me… whether he likes it or not…

The last dream that had come to her was in the sleepless state that followed after the drugging by the bandits in the cave. It spoke to her once again about the desperate need to direct Tylor to his mother as soon as possible and avoid any further confrontations with Tai. The soft woman’s voice also added that another presence had been discovered, within Tylor. The voice spoke of confusion and danger because of this new element within him and any irrational behavior should be well observed.

Doing as the voice said had always been the foundation of the plan and now it was telling her to watch Tylor even closer. It would have been easier had Zan had been more forth coming with his son about the legacy the family blood line was tied to. Tylor was in the same situation she had been in all those years ago, her father had not told her anything about the Destined, but that was because of her age. What was Zan’s excuse? The voice had never spoken of it. Surely he must have realized how important telling his son was so that, should anything happen to him, Tylor could take over.

Either way, it was too late now. Zan was dead and his unenlightened ignorant of the world son was left, the last remaining Sabre male with the Destined blood coursing through him. It was only a matter of time before Tylor accidentally began releasing his power. Karen cast her mind back to her days traveling with the band of thieves. Strange things had started happening to her and her fellow thieves worried for her well being. Injuries sustained seemed to heal quicker than normal and athletic ability seemed greater than anything someone else of her age could achieve.

The thieves took her to all the wise men, fortunetellers, mages, and witchdoctors they knew. They could not tell them anything other than that she seemed to have a strong magical essence, but one different to that which the mages (who made magical spheres) had. They remained clueless, until one day when she was injured on a job robbing a large three story house in a small town far west of the capital.

During the raid, the owners of the house became aware of her presence. She was alone. Being the only one with a small enough frame to fit through an open window in the loft, it had to be just her. The rest of her band had to escape before the knights came, leaving her, just a young girl, to try and get out alone. The owner of the house surprised her as she sneaked around the upper level of the house while trying to find a window closer to the ground. Having no choice but to run back up to the loft, she exited the window she entered in, but this put her high above the surrounding buildings and even further from the ground.

The grappling iron she used to reach such a high height was gone, possibly a knight discovered the dangling end of the rope on street below and tugged it off (she had never been sure). Frantic and scared, with the owner shouting at her from the window frame (his ample frame was too big to climb through the window) she had no choice but to jump to the closest adjacent rooftop, that was reasonably close to the same height as the roof she stood on.

After falling some distance from the tall roof and landing with a huge thump onto the hardened slate roof of the next building, she collapsed to the ground. Her ankle was in immense pain, the fall had made her twist it. The pain was bad, but she could still move. Out of the view of the window of the large house she had broken into, the owner probably had not seen which roof she jumped to, so it bought her some time.

There were shouts from knights on the street below and that told her they knew she was there somewhere and they were looking everywhere. The house she had landed on was slightly smaller, only two stories, but still too high from the ground and also had no window into the house situated on the roof. Taking quick looks at all sides the nearest roof, apart from the large houses she had just jumped from, was on the opposite side of the one she currently knelt on. To the other two sides lay wide streets, too far to jump.

Hobbling, because of the injured leg, Karen peered over the edge of the house and then to the roof opposite. It was no higher, or lower, completely on the same level to the one she was on. In the alley between there were broken carts and burst open sacks of wheat, puddles, and dank marks. It was nothing she particularly wanted to leap down to, especially with her injured ankle.

Taking a few steps back and swallowing hard, she ran and leapt as hard and high as she could, making it to the next roof, but only just. Her ankle completely gave way when she landed on the next roof; she screamed out in pain and toppled backwards. Throwing her hands out in front of her, she waved wildly as her whole body tilted backwards, falling from the roof.

Her memories of what exactly happened after that were a bit blurry. The knights did not find her, the cripple amongst the clutter in the alley, but an old priest did. She awoke in a church, within the town she had been in. A priest explained that he found her half dead in the alley and brought her to the church and fetched a doctor. The doctor was amazed she was not dead, but never the less she was still in a lot of pain.

Over a period of two weeks Karen healed dramatically fast, soon not needing any form of treatment at all. Everyone was amazed. The priest who found her had spoken with a friend about it and had got in contact with a person from a church of Katerano. The priest explained he had told them of the mystery of how she was able to survive from the injuries sustained and they wanted to talk to her. She was hesitant, the knights could still be looking for her, and her fellow thieves had to be wondering where she was.

That night, she ran away from the church without telling anyone, back to the current hideout of her gang. What she found would forever be scarred on her mind. The bodies were horrible; all had been brutally murdered and most disfigured in some way. Blood ran like water along the floor. The leader of the group’s body was lying flat out on the large table that they used for meetings. His head had been cut off and put down on his stomach. Lying on top of his stomach, a tattered piece of paper had been attached to the blade of a small dagger and stabbed through his eye socket. Blood had oozed from all orifices, though now it was all stagnant and dry. She was violently ill and could not stomach going back into the hideout for some time, but eventually she had no choice. Her mentors deserved a proper burial. The tattered note had scribed on it a sentence, written in the blood of her dead friend, which scared her even more. It was penned by the one she feared most.

Soon, I will find you.

Tai.

It was the day she learned Tai’s name and the satanic horrible things the lunatic was capable of doing. It was the first of many such tragedies. After that, Karen had no one left to turn to and with a deranged murderer after her, for reasons she did not even know, she was truly lost. That would change, when she eventually decided to visit the Katerano church. She learned of the Destined and why Tai was after her. She would have learned so much more, had Tai not tracked her down once again and burned the church to the ground. The time in the church had been helpful, more of her powers, and not just quick healing, had been unlocked. Though the monks of the church had always hinted at the fact it was only the tip of her true power.

If only the church still existed, she would have more to go on than the voice in her dreams. Her faith was still there however, faith in the voice, and faith in the things it spoke of. Tylor must know more soon, should his powers arise before then things would continue to get worse.

Leon was amused at his traveling companions he was now with, though he kept that to himself. A woman from Noctern that no doubt hated the fact he was there, a young boy, and his older brother, all traveling alone to the capital city. Though they seemed very ill prepared, their journey seemed to have great meaning.

What a strange mix of people; the moralist, the warrior, and the child. And yet, something seems strange, especially with that girl and the older boy, Tylor. They sustained very serious injuries, yet they both can walk and move about with very little pain. I wonder…

Quick healing came naturally to some people and others, like Leon, had received training to tune out pain as much as possible. However, those it came naturally to could not recover as quickly as Tylor did. Leon was sure, when carrying Tylor’s unconscious body back to Wex, that at least one arm and leg were broken, and possibly some ribs to boot. And yet Tylor was walking next to him with just a few bloodied cuts and bruises. He did not even have a limp at all. It was very strange indeed.

The girl had been quite badly beaten as well and she showed no marks or injuries at all anymore. She did not seem to like to talk, so it would be difficult getting details from her, but perhaps Tylor would be more forthcoming with an explanation to his fast healing. That evening he would question him discreetly away from Karen, if possible.

Joel could not help wondering what happened after he lost consciousness back when the bandits tricked them. He remembered looking at a body and then running to the next, and then someone grabbed him and something was placed over his mouth. Things became a blur after that. Did Karen and Tylor get caught as easily as he did? No, not Tylor, he must have put up a fight. He was brave enough to try and fight that Tai person, so of course he put up a fight. And in the cave, in the cave he had tried to defend him and it got him beaten for his trouble.

He got beaten because he was protecting me…

He had never been so scared, not even on the night of the storm. The aftermath, the death in the cave, reminded him of the night of the storm. Prior to that, of the fighting between them and the bandits, it made him scared. The fear of dying was a horrible feeling. The knife pressed against his throat by one of the women scared him the most; he could feel the metal on his neck, moving gently as the woman holding him breathed. At any moment it could have cut straight across. Rubbing his neck with his naked hand, Joel gulped. It was over now at least, but the memories were still there. Tylor had defended him and was attacked because of it. There had to be some way to make it up to him.

I will make it up to you, Tylor. I won’t be a burden to you.

They had not spoken in a while, for that matter none of the group had. The last thing he wanted was for him and Tylor was to stop talking, he was all he had left. For all he cared, Karen could walk off a cliff. He remembered once again the look Karen gave him in the cave. When the woman was holding the dagger to his throat and commanding Karen to stop attacking he was sure Karen was not going to stop, until she looked at Tylor, that is. She did not seem to care about him at all. If that was the case, then he did not care about her either. He had done nothing to her. They had barely spoken since they had met, so there was no real reason she should not like him. Hopefully she would leave once they reached the capital, though convenient excuses always seemed to present themselves to keep her with them. It was suspicious. Tonight when they camp out, he would try to talk to Tylor about it.

Now there was Leon, the newest person to join him and Tylor. He seemed very brave, powerful, and very famous. A Demon Hunter, Hunter Sansec, it certainly did not sound as boring a profession as fisherman or farmer. Being a Hunter was the kind of job that Joel imagined Tylor having had he not have been born on their backwater island. You had to be brave, strong, and powerful, and a warrior of Samilo certainly was that. Maybe, if they stayed on the main land, living with Tylor’s mother or some other arrangement, they could both become Demon Hunters. It was a possibility they would have to eventually start considering what to do with their lives. Once Tylor kills Tai, then what? By then neither of them would want to return to a life of farming.

That is of course, if Tylor can kill Tai, he seemed out matched on the Sparda…

No! Joel did not want to think like that, Tylor did not expect Tai to be so strong and caught him off guard that was all. Plus, he and Karen were probably holding him back so he could not go all out when fighting Tai on the Sparda, having to run away because of the state Karen got into when she saw Tai. It was not her fault, it was the person who murdered her family, but Joel would have thought someone with Karen’s tough attitude would not be so scared and would be all to willing to fight that person. Tylor would not need her help anyway; he would kill Tai himself, next time, when it’s a fair fight.

The day dragged on, as the group endlessly walked through country sides, forests, and fields. The weather was fair into the latter half of the day, which meant the group would not need to seek shelter for the night. Leon explained to the group that it was best to stay near the road, have a fire lit, and watched for dangers in shifts all night for safety and that no one should leave the light of the camp alone. Karen seemed to sigh as he explained, but Tylor and Joel stayed attentive. It was a bit like children being given an explanation by an adult, but in a strange way, the two boys were getting used to being treated like that. It was for their good after all.

The spot they choose for the camp was no different to any other section of road they had been walking along for the day. Off the road on a small mound with trees to the west and the path a short way to the east, it was a suitable place to rest. A small smooth gray stone formation could be used to rest on and some dug up grass with stones placed round it in a circle would be perfect for the camp fire. Should the weather take a turn for the worse, a thick forest lay further to the west, off the road, and would offer adequate shelter from rain or strong wind, but should there fortune for mostly good weather continue, they would be able to sleep peacefully in the field.

Taking a small knife from a strap round his ankle, Leon walked over to some small trees. They were a weak green color on its foliage and a tanned brown on bark. He began to cut and collect some wood for a fire from the weaker branches and from fallen wood on the ground. It was dry, so it would do for kindling. Tylor and Joel laid their belongings down near the stone circle. Karen reached into her backpack after resting it on the ground and rolled a fire sphere along the ground to the stone circle. It made an almost metal like ting when it collided with the stones. Leon returned with a second load of twigs and branches, dropping them onto the ground next to the stone circle with some others he had collected. Noticing the fire sphere on the ground next to the stones, he rolled it onto the tip of his boot and kicked it into the air, grabbing it in his hand as it flew up. Examining it closely, he peered into the amber center.

“Hmm, hardly the best make of the element, Siran design?” Leon asked, facing Karen, while twirling it around in his fingers.

Shrugging, she explained that she did not know much about the difference in makes. Leon explained that the pattern on the smoothest side looked like a mark of a Siran sorcerer. Turning to Tylor and Joel he quickly mentioned that the specific people who create the spheres for travelers sometimes put a mark on them of their enterprise, name, and race. It helped distinguish a well made sphere which had within it more charges than a badly made sphere and gave the race a good reputation in that particular field.

“I am sure it was a Siran, the reversed “k” like shape signifies that, the strange mark next to that is the name of the group or enterprise which that sorcerer belongs to. I do not know which that is though. Siran have a habit of doing the bear minimum required and no more, but it does the job, I suppose.”

Tossing the sphere to Tylor he told them both to take a look. Turning to Karen, he explained that he was not trying to be arrogant, but he felt her traveling companions could do with as much information about the strange land they were now traveling through. Again, Karen only shrugged, and then walked off towards the road and sat down facing it. Tylor twisted the sphere round in his hands as Joel crawled over from a sitting down position to stare at it with him. Leon was right; there was a “k” like shape etched into the sphere and another strange mark like an inverted “g” and “f” shape next to it. It was so small; he would never have seen it had he not known to look for it. He had always looked past the outer layer into the hypnotic glowing amber essence within it. It was like a knife, or scoop, had been taken to whatever the sphere was made over and dug out the small letters shape.

“I am not surprised you did not notice it, they illuminate a slightly different color when the sphere is used, and other than that they are hard to see.”

Tossing a collection of branches and grass into a small pyramid within the stone circle, Leon retrieved the fire sphere from Tylor and pointed it towards the pile. Placing a finger of his hand that was not holding the sphere at the surface on its eastern most side facing the boys, Leon told them to watch closely.

“Fire,” he spoke, calmly.

The sphere illuminated and the fire within the amber surface began its fantastic dance. Casting out a small flame, it flew into the pile within the stones and immediately lit into a strong fire. On the sphere, the boys watched the letters light up a darker orange when Leon activated it. They did not remain in that state for long, quickly going back to the amber color of the rest of the sphere, and then almost fading away. Karen had silently rejoined the group, taking a seat next to the fire, warming her hands. Leon tossed the sphere back to her and sat down onto the grass opposite Tylor. Laying his staff next to him, he lay back and looked at the sky. The night was slowly creeping in, eating away at the brightness of day.

Sitting back up, he explained that he would go look around the area to see if he could find any food for the group. Tylor assumed that he meant killing an animal or something, it would definitely be an improvement over the stale fruit they had endured the last few days. Leon’s figure disappeared into the forest across to the west of the grass field they currently sat in. The group was silent once again. Joel moved around uncomfortably and sat with his hands holding him up and kicking his feet up and down, huffing and puffing with boredom. Tylor looked to Karen, who seemed indignant. Looking back to Joel, he asked if he was bored. His young friend nodded.

“It’s been a while since we trained, fancy a session?” he asked.

Joel’s face lit up with a big smile. Nodding his head enthusiastically, he rolled backwards and stood up. Tylor stood up as well, loosening the body armor around him as he did and pulled it up over his head. As he did that, his shirt was caught up slightly and Joel caught a glimpse of the bruising still on Tylor’s chest.

“Tylor, are you sure you can?” he said, pointing to the bruising on his friend’s chest. “Won’t that hurt?”

Tylor rubbed it and said that it did not hurt much anymore and as long as it was not touched it would be okay for some training and a bit of sparring. Karen seemed to be looking at him closely as he explained and was patting his chest, interested about something.

“It’s strange,” Tylor began, “I would have thought the healing would have taken longer, but the bruising and pain are almost completely gone now…”

Joel shrugged and asked if he should take off his gauntlet. Tylor nodded and did the same, placing it on the ground next to his armor. Moving a short way from camp, Tylor and Joel took up starting stances of standing with feet kept close together and brought their hands out before them. Joel turned to watch Tylor and moved as he did, slowly in smooth motions spreading feet and fists out, forwards, back, and sideways.

Karen watched the two doing the so called training. A weapon would surely be more effective than any fighting style which used hands. Zan may have regressed to this style, but she did not understand why especially if the voice had explained all the important things to him all those years ago. If Zan had resorted to trying to fight Tai with hands it was no wonder he died.

Fools.

She brought her dagger out and spun the sheathed weapon in her hand. She resorted to hand to hand combat a few times in her life, but she had never seen it as a style, more like a last resort. How could a fist be any good against a knight in full plate with a huge broadsword? There of course was an exception. A Destined could resort to hand to hand combat against a knight in full armor and still win. Tylor and his father would have more chance than a normal person. Reminding herself about the powers of a Destined, she looked to Tylor again. He and Joel were now exchanging attacks with their fists, standing on the soft grass and only moving the upper halves of their bodies taking turns to do a three section attack. Tylor was getting suspicious of himself now and the quick healing. It was only a matter of time before increased speed or strength would start to surface.

A short time later, Leon reappeared from the forest dangling from his left hand the dead body of an animal that Tylor did not recognize; he guessed that it was native to the main land, but not the island. His staff rested in his right hand dangling horizontally as he walked in large steps up the sloping side of the field towards the camp. Stopping a short distance from the camp, he once again pulled out the small knife from his ankle strap and began cutting into the animals flesh. Before dying it must have been a fur covered mammal, four legs, and quite tall. It did not look ferocious at all. A slit across its lower chest burst its stomach open, leaking its innards and blood onto the floor. Joel winced and looked away, as did Tylor. He did not really want to see the animal Leon had caught being gutted before him.

Hours past and the night continued. Completely dark now, the country side was a pale shadow of the glorious view during the day. The star lit sky twinkled like crystals hanging above the world, looking down on all below. The group had fed on the roasted meat of the animal Leon had caught. Bits of its meat had been stuck onto a stick and held over the fire until crisp and charred. The boys had been hesitant of eating the animal, especially after seeing its body being carved up, but Leon explained it was perfectly safe to eat once cooked thoroughly. After getting all the ‘good’ bits of meat, Leon dragged the body off and disposed of it.

It was late now and the group had eaten well, for once. Leon arranged guard duties throughout the night. They would take turns to watch the fire, keep it lit, but under control and watch the road for animals or people. Karen slept soundly with a small sheet wrapped round her. Leon lay against a tree, also asleep, but still having his staff close to him. Joel lay near the fire in a sheet as well. It was Tylor’s turn to watch the camp and he would have to wake up Leon in a couple more hours to take over.

The time alone allowed him to think things through some more. Watching the fire, he poked it with a burnt stick every so often, moving the lit wood around and watching the flames dance in different directions as he moved it. Controlling the flames reminded him of his own life, under the control of other people since the day he left Samilo. He sighed. Joel stirred, rolling onto his back, tugging the sheet covering him off. Looking around in a daze he ruffled his hair and yawned. One eye half open and the other almost closed, he looked like he had been thrown around in a barrel. Tylor smirked and laughed quietly to himself before telling him to go back to sleep. Shaking his head, Joel sat fully up and began rubbing his hair into place as best as he could.

“It’ll take me a while to get back to sleep now,” he explained.

That could not be true, Tylor thought to himself, not Joel. Not a chronic sleeper like him. Sure, he could stay up talking till the late hours, but as soon as he fell asleep that was usually him until morning. Every time he had seen his young friend asleep, he slept like a log. Perhaps he was plagued with unsettling dreams that woke him up, it would not surprise him.

“…Things have… they are different now, aren’t they,” Joel stuttered.

Tylor nodded slowly in agreement. That was certainly the case. Revelations about his family, Karen, and Tai was certainly a lot to burden. Though he went through a few bad spots, Joel was still trying to be strong and he admired that.

“Tylor, would you really kill Tai? I mean, you believe a strange dream that tells you he killed your dad and after hearing what Tai said it was probably true but…” he paused for a second, trying to sort his words out in his head, “I mean, how did you know? How was a dream able to tell you? I just don’t understand.”

Neither did Tylor. He did not ask to suddenly get vivid dreams in which a voice told him things that had happened. He did not ask or want a guardian angel in his dreams. However, had it not been for this voice, he would be mourning over his father dying in the storm, not seeking vengeance against the murderer. There were still things the voice mentioned that he did not understand, the Destined, and some sort of family legacy as well. It felt good being able to talk to Joel about it; he was confused, but not disgusted or overly scared and wanted to help Tylor as much as he could.

And so he told Joel everything. About the dreams he had been constantly having, the strange voice and images, the constant warnings not to engage Tai in a battle, and to find his mother for more information.

“Maybe you should ask Karen or Leon about this?” Joel suggested, “Especially Karen, if the voice mentioned her as well…”

He sighed.

“I don’t want to talk to her about it… I don’t think she is being honest with us, Joel.”

His young friend nodded in complete agreement, before yawning loudly.

“Go back to sleep, I don’t want to do anything until I talk with my mother, after that I’ll decide what to do about this.”

Joel returned to lying down and after a short time seemed to be sound asleep again. Tylor sat in silence once more, prodding the burning fire and thinking about the choices before him. He realized he had not answered one of Joel’s questions; whether or not he would kill Tai. Though after attacking him on the Sparda it was now more a case of whether he could. Tai over powered him, had he not been toying with him, he could have been killed at any moment on that boat. Maybe after more training he would have the needed skill then it would be back to whether he could bring himself to do it.

It may be putting it off, but I’ll decide when the opportunity arises, though anger may take over again, but is it right to kill someone for revenge… does it change anything…?

He was tired, his eyes growing steadily heavier with each passing minute. It was time to wake Leon up. Staggering to his feet he walked over to the tree Leon rested next to. As he got closer, Leon stirred and opened his eyes. Standing up, he walked back with Tylor next to the fire. Tylor rummaged through the satchel for a sheet to use as a cover.

“Tylor, do you have a moment before you go to sleep?” Leon asked.

The Hunter wanted to talk to him about something, something which he obviously did not want to bring up while the group was all awake and traveling together during the day. Maybe he had found something out. Or worse, Leon did seem to ‘wake up’ rather quickly when Tylor went to fetch him. Could he have been awake all along?

“I usually train at night,” he began, “so I found it hard to get into a deep sleep. I over heard you and your young friend talking.”

He gulped hard. So Leon listened to Tylor while he told Joel everything, he did not know how to feel. Would he be interested in the Sparda? Did the Hunter even know the Sparda had sunk? Tylor did not know what to do. He looked away, blushing slightly.

“I apologize, you seem embarrassed. Your business is your own, Tylor. I do not wish to dwell on the problems you face with your father's killer. There is, however, one thing I wish you to think about.”

“Yes?” Tylor stuttered.

“You are disgusted with Karen, seeing her killing people back at that cave,” he began. Tylor started to interrupt with a protest, but Leon continued talking, “My training helps me hide my own emotions, but it also makes me even more aware of those around me. Let me be frank, you condemn her despite the fact you seek to kill this person known as Tai. Does this not go against your high morals which oppose the taking of a life? Or is revenge justification enough to bypass this moral level?”

Amazed, Tylor sat silent for a few moments. Perhaps Leon was now aware of his quest and Tai, but did he know of the struggle in his mind? He had been thinking about whether or not he would kill Tai if he ever had the chance. Leon was watching him closely, analyzing his responses, it made Tylor quite uneasy and he could not look Leon in the eye.

“Oh, I see,” Leon said. “You ask these same things to yourself? Perhaps you should continue traveling forwards, Tylor. You may find more information to help you with your dilemma.”

With that, Leon told him to go to sleep. Without arguing, Tylor lay down and brushed the small sheet over him, using his hands to rest his head on, he slowly shut his eyes, drifting into a much needed sleep. Leon stood up and paced around, arms crossed. He caught a glimpse of Karen looking at him, after him noticing she quickly pretended to be asleep. She had possibly over heard the things he heard Tylor and Joel talking about. Perhaps she was worried now he was now fully aware of Tylor’s reason for traveling to the main land and heading to Tentra to see his mother. And this man called Tai that he spoke of, with strange abilities and powers. Although he said nothing to Tylor, the man interested him greatly.

A challenge always appealed to him. It was a chance to test his skill.

Part of Tylor’s story had mentioned the Sparda, the ship that mysteriously exploded as it headed to port a few days ago, apparently killing everyone on board and leaving little or no debris. The knights would be interested in the explanation Tylor and his companions would be able to provide, but to Leon this was nothing to do with him. Nor was the fact Tylor wanted to kill the man called Tai. Murder was a crime in the Atra kingdom, even if it was justified as revenge for another murder, but that was for knights to handle, not a Demon Hunter.

Things were getting interesting, the Hunter was sure of that. It was a pity he would have to part ways with this group once they got to the capital. Leon would have been happy to see how things would transpire with his new found companions and to meet this so called invincible fighter named Tai. There was always a chance, of course, since life had the strange habit of being full of surprises.

He smiled to himself.

 

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