Warrior

The roof of their cottage, made of straw and hay, not even sure if it's strong enough to stand in the midst of the storm, or a good enough shelter when it rains hard. Kiel and Jolene had been examining it for a while as they lie on their mats. Both of them were wide awake, staring straight from each side of the hut.

It has been half an hour of gazing at nothing before Jolene looked at Kiel, she noticed he was also wide awake, she casually returned her stare to the ceiling just like him.

"Can't sleep?"

"You too?" Her body was fully covered by her blanket up until neck, still, she shrugged, "Yeah, I don't know why exactly..." Her voice was only above a whisper but it was loud enough in the quiet night.

"Yeah right, you're probably thinking on how to convince Alana to come with us tomorrow." Kiel's voice was raspy and lazy but he meant his point. His body was also covered with their blanket but his other leg was outside of it.

Jolene rolled her eyes, she can't respond because he was right. "So what if I'm thinking about that? She obviously wanted to go too." She defensively replied, her voice going a little louder. Kiel rolled to face Jolene's side and smirked, "Wow, you know how she's feeling, I thought Alana was the only empath here?" Jolene scoffed and rose to sit, she looked at the window beside her.

The moon was alluring, giving a peaceful vibe to the dark night. She stared at it for a while, not thinking about anything.

That is until she noticed a few quick shadows moving under the moonlight. She furrowed her brows and looked closely. She crawled closer towards the window but kept hidden so she won't be seen, her eyes were the only ones visible. She gasped when she finally confirms there are people discreetly running in the village. "Psst Kiel.." She called in a whisper.

Kiel, who has his eyes closed and ready to sleep, opened one of his eyes, "What is it?" His voice was even lazier.

"I think something's up, there's a group of people running around the village quietly," Jolene explained without leaving her stare away from the shadows. Kiel had a confused expression painted on his face after hearing what she said. Out of curiosity, he also went to the window and peeked outside. The sleepiness that was starting to form in him instantly vanished when he saw that Jolene is right. He shrunk his eyes as he look closely at the group of shadows running towards something. "They are surely up to no good. We have to follow them."

Jolene gulped, her heart started thumping hard, she looked at him and nodded. They both stood up and went out to discreetly follow the shadows. They hid behind bushes and trees, keeping a safe distance from the people they are following. Soon, the group of men stopped in front of what seemed to be a huge storehouse just a few meters away from the mining cave.

Jolene and Kiel, who were hiding behind a tree, simply watched them. Jolene gasped upon realizing something, "Kiel, I think they are about to steal whatever is in that storehouse." she whispered. One of the men brought out a large bolt cutter to cut the chain around the door of the place. the metal chains easily snapped and the door was now wide open. The men are clothed in complete black and had their faces covered, but their eyes brightened in unison as they saw the glimmer of the rocks from the outside. "The benitoite..." their leader, who was in front, couldn't help himself but be amazed by the number of precious rocks that are in front of them. "Quick, let's get them," he ordered to the others.

But before they could even get a step away from where they are standing,

Before Kiel could even step out from where he's hidden,

"Amazing how you got this far, but I'm sorry to burst your bubbles, no one gets in without me knowing-- because I'm the gatekeeper." A lady in red hood called out to the men.

"Alana..." Kiel was stunned to where he was standing as he watches Alana facing these men alone, but she doesn't seem disturbed at all. He counted them, there were ten men in front of her. The leader chuckled, "We've heard about you! Pretty brave for you to come to face us by yourself." Alana looked up, she glared at the men in front of her. Her fiery red eyes stood out in the darkness of the night. Some of the men were observably petrified,

"Monster..." she heard one of them say.

"I'm giving you a chance to leave peacefully. The benitoite will never be yours," she warned, although she knows these men will not take her seriously being alone. She noticed the shadows way too sudden that she forgot to inform anyone before she followed them.

"Not a chance little girl" the leader gestured at two other men, "Both of you come with me, the others, finish this nuisance," he said as he comes inside the storehouse along with two other men. Meanwhile, the others blocked at the door from her. Alana gritted her teeth, obviously provoked, "Then I'll throw all of you out myself!" she exclaimed as she ran towards them.

Three people in front of her drew out long combat knives and attacked her as well. Alana smirked, it was usual for intruders to underestimate her. But she's not just a gatekeeper, she's a front-line warrior. One by one, the masked men are surprised by how fast she dodges their attack and strikes back at them. Her agility is on point and the darkness of the night made her more unpredictable. She's been training ever since a kid, and she's one of the best they have.

However, these men are not good for nothing, they fall down but they get up to fight once more. Alana is now fighting three men at once, four of them are not moving, stunned at the sight, but believes that the three were more than enough to handle the fight. The other three, including the leader, are inside the storehouse, filling up their bags with the stones.

Alana looked at those three inside, they had to be stopped, but these men outside are keeping her busy. On that one second of distraction, one man managed to strangle her neck with his arms from behind.

"How embarrassing for all of you to gang up against one girl." everyone stopped and looked at where the voice came from. Kiel was standing on the side, with fists clenched hard.

Now, it's time for Alana to use that moment of distraction and headbutted the person holding her. He held on to his face and let go of Alana, she knocked him out with one kick in the jaw. The masked men knew what to do, some of them went to Kiel and others to Alana. Kiel ran towards her and they began fighting side to side. Jolene watched behind the tree as her two friends seem to be invincible as they fought together.

"I have to go inside the storehouse, cover me!" Alana told him as she starts running towards the storehouse. Kiel covered her and started pulling the men following her. Now it's six men against him. Alana finally entered the storehouse and Kiel stood at the entrance of it, making sure that no one else gets inside. One of the men scoffed at Kiel, "You're damn cocky to think you can hold us from entering." Kiel chuckled, "We will see..." it's been so long since he fought, while has was in school, he couldn't bring himself to hurt those who are obviously weaker than him, but now in this situation, he actually had the chance to fight someone once more. It makes his adrenaline flow again and it makes him smile unconsciously.

Jolene was holding her mouth in shock from watching Kiel fight. She had briefly seen him fight the guards the last time, but it was halted because she was caught captive by Alana, now that he's on his own, he seemed indestructible as he flips the masked men one by one. The punches he throws are fearsome judging on how the men groan after getting hit. Kiel bawls like some wild animal as he fights all of them at once. He is securely holding all of them from entering.

Jolene ran away, she is no help there. While she was running away from the scene, she thought of something that makes her smile. Kiel can't show his ability, but he has more to offer.

Meanwhile, the three men who are inside the storehouse are busy filling up their bags with benitoite. They buried their hands deep into the pile of stones and grinned, "We surely hit the jackpot!" One of them says.

"Drop the benitoites." they heard a firm voice behind them. The men looked behind and saw Alana at a fair distance. They looked at the front door and saw someone else had been fighting against the others, "So, you've had help."

"I really dislike outsiders, especially the type that just wanted the stones, I'm so impatient towards you people." Alana said in disgust, "Just so you know, you're not the first ones, and no one succeeded so far." she said before she ran towards them.

"I'll handle this." the leader said as he pulled a knife to fight her. He ran and attacked her with his knife. Alana quickly dodges every swing of his knife. He swung to her face and she dodged it by squatting down, then she grabbed his arm with her two hands on each end of it and kneed his elbow.

The man roared in pain and dropped his weapon in front of her. He took several steps back as he holds on to his broken arm, "You will pay for this!" He angrily shouted at her. Both of them looked at the entrance where Kiel was sent flying inside by a kick. There are only two men left fighting with him. Alana came to help Kiel stand up. The two men fighting Kiel stood at a fair distance from them. Now, the other two who has been collecting the stones also came near to them to fight.

"Can you still fight?" Alana asked Kiel without losing her sight of the four men in front of them. They are cornered at the side of the storehouse. Kiel, although bruised on his left cheekbone, chuckled and raised his fist in position,

"Hell yeah."