Chapter 4

It took Derk a while before finally finding Master Laxx.

"You ready lad?" Asked Master Laxx.

"Yes Master," answered Derk.

"Follow me."

Derk then nods and follows his Master out of Gan and towards a giant pile of leaves. Laxx reaches into them and pulls up a hatch. He then waves for Derk to enter, as he walked in Derk recognized the place as a house. He looked around and noticed beds and chests in front of them.

"Choose a bed; the chest in front of it is yours to store coins and other valuable things in. The dresser next to the bed you choose is for anything else. I wouldn't unpack anything; in the morning meet up with your brothers as we Masters will need to speak to you. Until then, goodnight lad," said Laxx before departing down some stairs that were past the beds.

Derk looked around and finally chose a bed.

Jake woke Kelric quietly by shaking him.

"Come on we need to leave," said Jake.

"Alright, give me a moment and I'll meet you outside," replied Kelric.

When Jake walked outside with his things, Kelric turned and kissed the sleeping Sarah who opened her eyes and smiled shortly after.

"I've got to leave," said Kelric.

"Let me get my things and I'll walk with you," said Sarah before standing up.

He watches her throw on a shirt and then her hood before standing up next to her. Afterward, he grabs his own shirt and slides it on. As he goes to grab his bag she turns him towards her and stands on her tippy toes, kissing him.

Gently he pulls her close and holds her there, a warm and loving hug. After a long moment, he grabs his bag and they walk out of the house, hand in hand.

"It's about time," says Jake while throwing his bags onto his back.

They then walk all the way down past the marketplace until they reach a spot where four other people were standing.

"Finally, they arrive," said Derk.

"Yeah, well you know how crowded the market can be," replied Jake.

"Everyone gathers around," said Aslex while motioning for them to come closer.

"Who wants to tell them what's going on?" Asked Laxx.

"I will," said Master Aslex.

"Well then, continue," said Laxx.

"You three are brothers and we are going to try to keep you together as long as possible. By this, I mean you are all heading in the same direction for your quest. Jake, your quest will end at the magician city, Stralork. Derk, you must travel past Stralork and on to Foreen village. There you will find the huntsman crafter; he will make you a bow that will grant you as a full huntsman.

Kelric, your quest is to go to Stralork and join the underground arena. There they will have you a place to sleep and of course people to fight. Your hardest opponent will be last amongst the men. You may then return after being the champion of that arena. I, and your masters, believe in you. So lads, believe in yourself and you will all be greater things in the future. Say goodbye then depart," finished Master Aslex.

"Master, may I have a word," said Jake.

"What is it?"

"What exactly will happen at Stralork?" Asked Jake.

"You will learn, I may not tell you everything but I can tell you one thing. Eveglath means fire. You can make the fire do whatever you imagine, but remember that the bigger the imagination the more magic being used," answered Aslex.

"Thank you and farewell," said Jake.

Derk walks up to Laxx, expecting him to say something.

"Good luck lad," said Laxx.

"Look Master Laxx, I know you didn't expect me to ask for an apprenticeship with you and I know you pretty much had no choice as it was practically made by the Duke. But please treat me like an actual apprentice because, in the end, I believe that I will prove it to you," said Derk before walking over to Jake.

"Let's hope so," whispers Laxx to himself.

Kelric and Sarah walk up to their Master, still holding hands.

"So I see you two have grown fond of each other," said Master Morst while smiling.

"Yeah, I suppose so Master," replied Kelric.

"Well as long as you make it back and as long as it doesn't get in the way then I'm fine with you two, being together, or whatever you want to call it."

"Thank you, Master," said Sarah and Kelric at the same time.

"Good luck lad, I hope you make it back," said Morst before patting Kelric on the back and leaving.

Kelric and Sarah turn to each other, eyes gazing upon one another.

"I feel like, even though we met only a couple of days ago that I've known and loved you for a long time," said Kelric.

Sarah smiles and a tear runs down her cheek, she then reaches up and kisses him before wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight.

"Come back to me, and you'll get way more than a couple of kisses," said Sarah before letting him go and walking away.

As Kelric joins his brother they pat him on the back.

"Don't worry, I have a feeling we're all going to be alright in the end," said Jake.

"Well, you can't say that until we make it to Stralork," said Kelric as he laughs amongst his brothers.

"Come on, we have the adventure to begin," said Derk to them both.

They then start walking, deciding what paths to take here or there. They traveled east towards Therly village to where they can buy some horses. After getting about halfway there they head off of the road into the woods so they could set up camp.

"This is going to be a long journey," said Jake.

"You should be happy, you get to stop halfway through our quest," said Derk.

"Get some sleep, we leave at first light," said Kelric while wrapping himself in a couple of blankets.

Later on that night the boys were dreaming of different things. Kelric was of course dreaming of Sarah, seeing her again and being able to kiss her soft lips again. Derk was dreaming of him shooting an arrow, feeling the great power that he felt with a bow in his hands. Jake was dreaming of the same thing again, a girl. But to him this wasn't some girl; this girl was amazingly beautiful with blonde and slightly curled hair. She had green eyes that could make a man feel like he was in his own world. The crazy thing about it was that he swore he could see her looking back at him.

The next morning the boys packed up and left for Therly. They arrived later that night, and they were disappointed at how the village looked.

"May our Lords bless us if there are horses here," said Derk laughing with his brothers.

They walked around the village until they came upon some stables.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Asked Kelric aloud.

They stood there silently until someone ran out of the stables.

"Oh, sorry. I'm the stable Master how may I help you?" Asked the skinny stable Master.

"I and my brothers are on a quest and we need three healthy horses to help travel along the way," answered Kelric.

"Well can we pay you tomorrow when we leave? And is there anywhere to stay in this village?" Asked Kelric.

"Alright, and yes there's an inn to the left of here. They haven't had business in a while so you'll most likely be able to get a room."

"Thank you," said the boys before walking away.

"No problem," replied the stable Master.

After finding the inn they bought one bedroom. Derk got the bed and the other two slept on the floor.

The next morning they went to the stables and got their horses. They received a black horse, a brown horse, and a white horse. Jake got the white horse, Kelric wanted the black one, and Derk got the brown one. They set off southwest and gained good ground with the horses, making it to Grad River.

There they decided to let their horses rest because the following day would be when they go through Blex Passage. As soon as they woke the next day, the boys were riding in between two mountains, Blex Passage.

As they reached the center of the entrance to the passage they slowed down.

"Are these the same ones that attacked you?" Asked Kelric.

"Yes, and somehow they know that we're going to Letslon this way," said Jake.

"We need to develop a plan. Let's rest the horses for now," said Derk as he climbs off his horse.

They tied their horses to a tree before creeping towards the dark armored men, staying hidden along the way.

"What can we do?" Asked Derk.

"I don't know, but we need to think of something soon," answered Kelric.

"There must be twenty of them," said Derk.

"What do you think we should do Jake?" Asked Kelric, but when he looked to where Jake previously was he was gone.

"Kelric, what is he doing," said Derk who was watching Jake walk onto the main road and towards the dark armored men.

"We can't wait brothers," yelled Jake as he walks, pulling off his gloves afterward.

"Jake get back here!" Yelled Kelric.

Jake watched as the dark armored men approached.

"What was that word again?" Jake asked himself.

"Jake!" Yelled Derk.

"Eve something. Aha, I got it. Come on a little closer," Jake tells himself.

"What in the world is he doing?" Asked Kelric as the dark armored men were only a couple of feet away.

"Young King, finally your death is amongst us," said one of the men before unsheathing his sword.

"That's more like it. Eveglath!" Yelled Jake, his eyes turning to that bright blue color once again.

He pushes one hand forward and knocks one of the men to the ground with a fireball. Again and again, he did this, but as they started to overwhelm him he thought of something else. Jake put both of his hands together and pulled them back, then he pushed them both forward throwing a giant fireball that killed all of the men and anything else that was behind them for a good twenty to thirty feet.

As Jake turned towards where his brothers were hiding his whole body goes limp and he closes his eyes as he falls. They took off from their hiding spot and grabbed Jakes' body.

"We can't go anywhere with him like this, let's make a camp off of the road until he gains consciousness," said Kelric.

"We also need to find out about what the color change in his eyes was from," said Derk.

They pulled Jake off of the road before retrieving their horses and the rest of their things. Afterward, they made a small fire so they wouldn't be sighted and they gave the horses some water. Derk ripped off some cloth and soaked it with some water.

He then carried it over Jake and squeezed it just enough to get a few drops off of it and onto Jake's bottom lip.

"Derk, spar with me," said Kelric before picking up a couple of branches.

"No, can't you see we need to help Jake?" Replied Derk.

"He's unconscious and all we can do is hope he'll wake up and that means patience and time. So let's pass up some of the time."

Kelric tosses one of the branches onto the ground next to Derk. Derk just looks at it for a moment before setting the cloth down and picking up the branch.

"Ready?" Asked Kelric.

"Yeah."

They neared each other, waiting for the other to swing first. Kelric was the one to swing first, right at Derks' head. Derk ducked with ease and swung his out at Kelric's legs', watching as Kelric barely makes it over it. Their branches then swing at each other and the two branches crash against one another, surprisingly not breaking them but cracking them.

Derk went to pull back, and as he did this his branch flew out of his hand as Kelric twisted his wrist.

"Dead," said Kelric as he hands the branch back to Derk.

Derk grabs the branch and doesn't even waste a second. He swings his branch at Kelric but Kelric blocks it and ends up snapping Derks branch. But that didn't stop Derk, he took his half-branch and hit Kelrics left leg out from under him before spinning and hitting one end of his branch against Kelrics chest, knocking him back but not on the ground as Kelric gains his balance.

As he goes to walk towards Derk, Kelric is knocked on the ground by getting smacked in the stomach with Derks branch.

"Be ready for anything. Dead by the way," said Derk while smiling.

Jake grunts from behind and starts coughing.

"Come on," said Derk before pulling Kelric up off of the ground.

As he walks past Kelric, Derk notices his brothers' eyes black. But when he blinks again their back to normal.

"Jake, what were you thinking?" Asked Kelric as he kneels next to his brother.

"I used magic because I had to. Waste no time though and no more questions lets go," said Jake as he tries to get up.

"Lay down Jake. We'll be here for a few days while you rest and that will give the horses more time to rest themselves. After you're better we can ride all day and night," said Derk.

"Fine," replied Jake.