Believing in Myself

Ahh... I feel so relieved that my writing slump is over. Now I can get back to writing! And not a moment too soon... for we are about to plunge headfirst into a demon attack! Hurrah, more action! With a new place, a new character, and a new demon attack on the way, things can only get better...

And thank you Falcon for your much appricated reviews.

Chapter 22


"Finally!" John said aloud, clearly exausted. He and Jessica had managed to reach a small village, after such a long travel. Far north, a mountain range could be seen, towering up above the ground as if to display it's superiority to it and all who lived there. John had never seen the mountains before, and the thought of having to cross them slightly unnerved him. But he didn't think they would be going there anytime soon. For now, they needed a wash and some rest.

The village itself was small, with a few homes. One in particular stood out most, for it was placed on the crest of a nearby hill, and seemed more finely crafted then the rest. An even odder sight was a castle of sorts to the East. It looked to be ancient, and he found it hard to believe that this place could possibly be a kingdom, considering how small it was. Perhaps it had been once before, until the people overthrew thier king...

"John, let's find a place to stay." Jessica said, walking foward. John followed quickly, looking around until they found a small tavern. They both entered and saw it was near empty, save for a small group of four people huddled together talking in whispers, and a young woman who smiled as they entered.

"Welcome. We don't many visitors here. What brings you to Hyosa?"

"We are travelers, here to stay the night. We plan to go to the mountains once we are properly settled." John explained. The woman smiled calmly and accepted the payment John had offered, telling him his room would be upstairs on the first door to the right. As they made the transaction, Jessica noticed that the group of people were looking to them, a hint of what appeared to be hatred in thier eyes. They kept thier faces masked, and all wore the same outfit of a seemingly one-piece light battlesuit, purposely designed for quick combat, rather then defense. One might almost think they were amatur ninja of sorts...

As John and Jessica made up the stairs, one of them, seemingly the leader, stood and walked calmly over to Jessica. "Excuse me miss..." he said in a quite controled tone, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think I might know you from somewhere... what's your name?"

"It's Jessica." She said, turning around and taking the hand off her shoulder. Instead it reached out and grabbed her wrist, twisting her arm behind her back, and facing her away from him. "John!"

John bound foward, intent on pummeling this person, when the rest of them rushed foward and effectively pinned him to the wall. The innkeeper had hid herself behind her counter, watching helplessly as the scene unfolded.

"Well well... looks like we have a pretty little jewel to add to our collection. But kill this guy. He's obviously a threat."

The other three looked just about ready to do that, even without thier leader's orders, when the door to the inn burst open and someone stood in the doorway. His rust colored gloves matched his hair, which was cut short and made to look a bit spiky. He stared at the rather odd scene through his green eyes, walking slowly. He looked to be just 6 feet tall, wearing crimsion pants and a tattered brown cloak that covered up most of his upper torso.

"You again... why can't you just learn your lesson?" John and Jessica looked rather confused at the comment, but everyone else in the room seemed to know exactly what was happening for at that next instant, the man that held Jessica knocked her down and faced the newcomer.

"Grr... you... Get him!" At the command, the three let go of John as he fell to the floor and checked on Jessica. They rushed quickly, knocking over tables and chairs to get to thier prey. The first one reached him and was knocked away by a kick to his side. As the second one reached foward, the man lost no rhythm in managing to deliver a punch to the person's stomach, effectively winding him. The third one however, managed to land a punch to the man's face, knocking him back somewhat. But other then that, he showed no signs of taking any damage, as he soon returned the favor, knocking him out cold.

Thier leader had seen all this and tried to make a break for it by running, until he came face to face with a pissed off John. "Going somewhere?" John reached back and hit him hard, knocking him down. The man who took out the other three had already tossed the people out. He walked calmly over and tossed the leader out too, before starting to turn back over the chairs and tables.

"Uhh... who are you?" Jessica asked. The man paid almost attention to her, other then looking up breifly to acknowledge that he heard her. Once all the tables and chairs were set up again, he took his seat in one of them and beckoned them over to sit with him.

"Name's Aivon. I'm a protector around here." He leaned back against the chair and placed his hands over the back of his head. "And those guys you just saw... are a gang of fools, who thought they could just pick on this town. I'm constantly beating them back before they can do much damage, but it's ok. I like what I do." He gazed to each of them in turn, as if judging thier worth. "So what brings you to a quiet place like this?"

John smiled a bit. "Well, I wouldn't really call this a quiet place, but we are travelers heading north."

"Beyond the mountain range? Good luck. Lately, I've heard rumors of monsters and such over there attacking anyone who tries to cross. Of course, some make it but most others don't. Why would you want to cross such a dangerous place if I may ask?"

"I'm trying to find the secrets about my own family... and I feel the answer lies at the hometown of my father. So we are journeying there."

"Well, that sounds nice. Why not stop by my place for something to drink later? It's been awhile since I had any company. Just go west of here. See you." Aivon stood and smiled, before walking away.

"He's nice." Jessica said.

"Yeah... but I get the feeling he's more then what he seems."

"Then you don't trust him?"

"I trust him... but I think there is more to him then what we can see."

Jessica frowned a bit and looked to John. She didn't know what to make of his suspicions, so she let it go for now, and looked foward to a nice hot bath.

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In the shade of a tree, a lone person watched as a young woman with shoulder length dark hair walked out of a home with a watering can. She simple, yet elegant sky blue dress was loose over her body, which hid her beauty that made this man's blood boil. She kneeled down and started to water some plants, humming a soft tune that she seemed to have practiced over many years. Even though it was humming, the man sighed as he heard the soft melody that hid her true beautiful voice.

"Alright..." he spoke to himself, "come on, you can do this... no one is here... just hurry and get it over with..."

But his legs did not want to move closer to the beauty that he saw as a princess. Instead he continued to watch from afar as she tenderly held each bud in her hand and stroked the flowers softly. She smiled a little and continued to hum.

Damn it... Come on! Just tell her! Just walk right up to her and say it!

But what he hoped to say was never said, for soon she had rose up and walked back inside. The man sighed heavily, feeling that another day had been wasted. He walked away from the site and shook his head. "I'll tell you one day... Sophia." He vanished away into the shadows, a piece of his already tattered cloak ripped away and set on a low branch.

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After a hot bath, and a lot of willpower to convince John that they could have some 'alone time' later, Jessica and John walked west to the house that was, supposively, Aivon's. They had reached the near edge of the village when they saw it, a small house that sat under the shade of a tree. They walked together to it, and knocked on the door. Aivon answered, and smiled.

"Glad to see you. Please come in."

"Thanks." John said, as they both entered. Aivon had set three cups and brought a kettle to pour the contents into them. "I hope you like tea... it's all I have really."

"Tea is fine. Thanks." Jessica simled as she took the cup offered to her. She sat down at the only table there, while John remained standing. "I was impressed how you took care of those guys back there."

"Ah, well... It was nothing really. When I came to this town long ago, I was afraid no one would accept me. But the people of this village were kind enough to help me get started in an unfamilar place. I like to think of what I'm doing as paying back to these people for thier kindness."

"Say, can you tell us... that castle over to the east... know anything about it."

Aivon shook his head. "No one knows anything really. They are all too afraid to go there. Rumor has it, that monsters live in that place and it's all controled by a demon. Of course, no one ever goes there..."

"Have you?" Jessica asked, while John stared away form the two, his thoughts darkened by the chance a demon could be there.

"No. I never go there. I suppose I could if I ever wanted to, but I don't see I reason to."

"Have you considered..." John said slowly, trying to think of something else, "that those guys from before are hiding out there?"

"If they are, they must be very brave to do so. But as far as I know, the hideout is to the southwest of here. Nowhere near the castle."

John looked away again in deep thought. If the chances of a demon in that castle were good... then perhaps he might be closer to finding out about Beras and his father. He made his decision and thought to go for it. They would leave for the castle almost immediately.

"Well, I'm sure those are just rumors..." Jessica began.

Aivon shook his head. "I'm not really sure... I have heard for myself that people have entered that place, although no one ever came back alive. The only fact for sure is that supposively, a long time ago, a rich baron had lived there until a stranger came into town. He walked into that castle and never returned. Of course, the baron was never seen again either. No one really knows what happened on that day, but ever since then, people have thought that the place was cursed or something..."

John placed his cup down, which was nearly full, as he hardly drank anything. "Well, if you don't mind, I think we better go... come on Jessica."

Jessica finished the rest of her tea before placing it down and waving goodbye. She followed John out and Aivon watched from his doorway as they headed on eastward.

"John... do you really think..." Jessica trailed off. She knew the answer long before she asked the question. She saw it in his eyes, that fierce determination he wore so long ago, when he headed into the tower to face Beras for the first time. Although she hadn't seen that look before, she knew it was because he was bracing himself for what may lie ahead.

"Yes. I do. And you know as well as I do, that if what I think is waiting for us in that castle is really there, then we can't afford for it to make the first move. This time, we are gonna strike him first."

They continued walking along the faded and misused dirt path that led to the castle, it's structure looming ahead of them as if the thing itself was a demon on the horizen, waiting to swallow them whole.