The Epic

Echo watched the sky change color as the sun sank behind the mountains; it grew violet, with majestic clouds playing off the mountain peaks. In the far distance, stars had already begun twinkling. He finally stood and started back towards Jerniah. Then something made him stop; out of his peripheral vision, he perceived smoke. Echo turned in that direction and saw, in the distance, several campfires in a ring of tents. He stared at them curiously. “What the…?” He was not sure, but he thought he heard shouting.



“What’s wrong, Echo? You’ve barely eaten anything.” Echo looked up; Kyanah and Trina were staring at him with concerned expressions. “Nothing, It’s just…nothing. I’m not hungry,” he said absently. Echo cleared his place at the table and left. He walked outside and took a breath. A supernatural feeling was gripping with him; the feeling that something was wrong.



It scared him. The same feeling took me right before…Echo’ eyes widened in chilling recognition. “Before destruction befell my home.” A small hand touched his. With a start, he whirled around; it was Trina. She yelped at his fierce expression; his eyes were a venomous red, cold as the northern winters. Then as quickly as the look had appeared, it was gone. “Sorry, I was tense. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he whispered, crouching low. She breathed heavily. “Why were you tense Echo? What‘s going on? And what happened to your eyes?” He grew foreboding once more. “I’ve got a bad feeling, Trina. Something just doesn’t feel right.”



That was when all hell broke loose.



Suddenly, a war horn smote the hills, and harsh cries were heard all around, along with the neighing of horses. Echo turned to the Jerniah entrance just as a large host of bandits rode in. They were armed to the teeth; most carried with them broadswords, though one bore a battle-axe, another a mace and several were archers. At the head, a hulking man with long brown hair and two swords strapped across his back rode up on a black horse.



“Let’s take this hell hole!” The man shouted. “Leave no survivors!” More than two score bandits roared in acknowledgement and surged forward. Torchbearers hurled their payloads at the houses, several catching flame. As the first villagers exited their houses, several were cut down unawares by the bandits’ surprise attack. Echo cursed darkly, and Trina said, in a horrified whisper, “Oh my God.”



“Come on!” Echo took Trina’s hand and ran her across the street between the stampedes of bandits. “LOOK OUT, ECHO!” She screamed. He ducked just as a bandit swung at him from his horse with a huge double-bladed axe. It slammed into a post, demolishing it and showering Echo and Trina with splinters. “Run to the smithy! Find Bryan and get Kyanah out of here!” Echo grabbed a shovel and brought it up to block the sword of another bandit. Trina looked around wildly. “W-where do we go?” Echo bashed the shovel blade across the man’s face, crushing in the helm and felling him. “I’ll find you! JUST GO!”



“Ok,” she said. As she turned to run, the bandit with the mace leapt up in front of her. She screamed as he grabbed the front of her tunic and lifted her up. Echo leapt at the two with superhuman speed. He hurled the shovel at the soldier’s head; it whirled with blinding speed and with a sickening thwack , it smashed into his face and knocked his helmet into the air. With a war cry, Echo leapt into the air and tackled the stunned man to the ground. Trina tumbled to the ground, looking on in horror. The bandit grabbed Echo by the arm; Echo spun and smashed his fist into the man’s temple. The stunned bandit crashed backwards from the blow as Echo scrambled backwards; the bandit locked his eyes on Trina, who was rooted to the spot, and drew a rusty dagger from within his tattered cloak. Echo felt rage rushing up from within him the likes of which he'd never felt before; hell no you don't, he snarled, grabbing a fallen scimitar. Summoning all his strength, the Ruvian charged forward and raised the sword over his head; the bandit and Trina turned to see Echo leaping into the air, roaring like a thing possessed. The bandit didn't even have time to scream before Echo brought the scimitar down, slashing him from head to toe. With a strangled gurgle the man crumpled dead into the dirt.



Echo collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Trina rushed to him, crying. “Echo, are you al-” Her words caught in her throat: his eyes were the same blazing, demon red as they were before. “I-,” he faltered, closing his eyes, and then continued shakily. “I killed someone.” The Ruvian opened his eyes; they were brown again. Trina smiled crookedly at him, then choked up and broke down sobbing. He held her close to him, thinking grimly, how did it come to this?



Ducking around bandits and dodging into back alleys, the two made it to the smithy. Trina gasped in horror, and Echo swore harshly. Bryan was fending off three bandits solo, whirling about like a tempest; his sword seemed to have a life of its own, and he struck like a snake. Bodies were strewn all over around the smithy; it seemed they had been very eager to get at Bryan’s work, and he had denied them that right. Echo and Trina came up just as Bryan dispatched the last bandit with a whirling blow to the head.



“Bryan, are you alright?” Breathing heavily, he nodded in answer to Echo. Trina sobbed and hugged the blacksmith fiercely. He smiled grimly down at her as Echo looked around warily, listening for any sign of bandit attack. “Echo,” called Bryan, his breathing finally regular.



The Ruvian turned just as Bryan walked up to him; in his arms were Vertigo and its sheath. “It’s time.” He stared solemnly into Echo’s face, and Trina looked on with wide eyes. Echo stared at the blade, the runic letters dancing before his eyes. I’ve never really stopped running from what happened back in Arod, he thought, but Bryan’s right: it’s time to take a stand. If becoming a warrior is what it takes to make everything right...to recover my true past, then that’s what I’ll do.



Echo grasped the sword by its handle and plunged it into the sheath. Belting it across his back, Echo spoke quietly. “So…looks like I’m to become a warrior. This is going to be one hell of a ride.” Bryan grinned at the statement. Trina glanced around furtively and whispered, “How many are still out there?” Echo and Bryan exchanged looks and Bryan gravely replied, “Don’t know. But we should find Kyanah and get what we can. I’m afraid that this is the end for Jerniah.”



They set off about town weaving about the stores and shops, working their way to the boarding house. As Echo ran alongside the bakery, he stopped; something in his sub consciousness poked at him. He frowned suspiciously, and then gasped. A curious feeling gripped Echo, like cold electricity running down to his palms, as he shot his arms out like greased lightning and shoved Bryan and Trina to the ground; he threw himself sideways just as a huge battle-axe thudded into the wall where his head had been seconds before.



Rolling to his feet, Echo drew his sword and turned to face a dozen oncoming shouting bandits. Gripping Vertigo tightly, he dashed forward, falling into the first bandit, jabbing with his sword. His attacks were deflected by the bandit’s upraised wooden shield. With a growl, Echo rammed the man’s shield, and then parried a slash from his broadsword. Swooping low, Echo ducked the bandit’s slash and caught him in the leg; as he stumbled, the bandit then fell to a slash in the throat. Another rushed Echo from behind with an upraised sword. Flipping Vertigo around, the Ruvian caught the man a blow across the face with his sword hilt, and then slashed his chest. A burly man with a broadsword thundered up behind him, roaring like a beast. Thinking quickly, Echo dove under the attack and grabbed the bandit’s cloak. He spun around, cleaving a wide arc with Vertigo and felled three more bandits, slashing at their sides; he whipped Vertigo around and cut the bandit down. How in the hell did I do that, he wondered warily, staring down at his hands and the sword in it.



The other bandits stood warily at a distance, eyeing Echo cautiously. Then one of them cried, “He’s just one man! We can take him!” The bandit gasped, and then looked down at the sword tip sprouting out of his chest. Bryan growled, wrenching his sword out and beheading another. Echo ran forward and with a roar leapt into the air. Bryan elbowed a bandit with rancid breath in the face, snapping his neck, as Echo descended like thunder, slashing another from head to toe. They both spun and kicked the last two in the jaw; the bandits flew backwards and landed in a confused heap.



Breathing heavily, Echo and Bryan exchanged grins. “Now I‘ve taken nine,” he said. Bryan sheathed his sword and replied, “Not bad, considering how long it's been since you've last picked up a sword.” Echo nodded in thanks at the compliment, then asked, “Where’s Trina?” They both glanced around and then spotted her sitting on the ground, hugging herself and walking slowly to them, a meek expression on her face. The Ruvian sighed, “She must be scared out of her mind right now. We’ve got to get her out of here. Let’s go.”