Chronicles of Uel

Chapter 3

           Uel landed with a roll on the roof and pursued a drug dealer in the dim light of the moon. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared in front of the man, who was now in the clutches of Smoak, his eyes glowing red in the darkness.
  "Why hello there." The drug dealer screamed when he caught a glimpse of Smoak's fangs and eyes.
Uel grabbed the man on the shoulder and turned him around. "Who's your supplier?!" He shouted.
The drug dealer calmed down and smirked. "And why would I tell you that?" Right next to them, the roof lifted up into a platform, which quickly folded in half, a loud crash as the two slabs of stone slammed into one another. The man's brow shot upward. "Ok, ok, he's set up under a small town called Imara! That's all I know I swear!"
Uel nodded. "It's a real town at least. I'll take him in." He grabbed the man by the collar and towed him toward the hunter's den.
Duros stood beside Smoak with a smile. "He was right, this is fun sometimes." He said.
Smoak shrugged. "Wherever works I guess."
Duros chuckled. "So we're headed to Imara?" He asked.
Smoak nodded. "It would seem so. I only wish it could be night when we got there."
Duros nodded. "As much as you'd love it to be night at all times, the rest of us, not so much."
Smoak smirked. "Yeah, eternal night wouldn't really benefit anyone but me anyway. The rest of my kind live in the forbidden forest. No light there."
"Hold up, you're telling me that you used to live in that creepy mist filled forest?" Duros asked. "And ate cows?!"
Smoak nodded. "Surprisingly enough, there are cows that live there. You just have to know where to look." He smiled. Duros shrugged and jumped down to the street below, Smoak right behind him.
Uel walked up to them. "Well, I guess we're off to Imara, then." The two nodded.
"Wait, where's Steven?" Duros asked.
Uel shrugged. "He always manages to show up." Duros and Smoak looked down to Steven, who was now standing between them, looking up at them. He clucked and started walking behind Uel.
          Early the next morning, the three walked into the town of Imara, which was built up with expensive materials such as marble and gold. Smoak pulled on his hood as the sun began to rise, making sure the light wouldn't touch his face. His eyes dimmed back down to their regular brown color.
"So, under this place?" Duros asked.
Uel nodded. "Maybe start feeling around with those feet of yours and find it." Duros nodded and planted his foot firmly onto the ground, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Smoak and Uel looked at one another as Duros just stood there, completely still.
He opened his eyes and breathed out. "Well, it's pretty solid under this part of town, but I'll have to find good places to search the rest of town."
Uel nodded. "I guess we can explore while we're here. I've never been to Imara. I've heard it's nice, though."
Smoak nodded. "Too bright for my taste." He said, knocking on a marble wall. The three of them began walking toward the center of town, where a crowd was beginning to form. A young boy was tugging on a sword stuck in a rock in the exact center of the quite circular town. The sword had a shimmering golden hilt with a simple blade ward curve as the guard. The handle was wrapped in scarlet cloth and a circular pommel with a cross etched into it was at the back.
"Guys, that's Excalibur!" Duros shouted. "I'd heard the legends, but I was sure it wasn't really here!" Uel and Smoak stared blankly at him. "It's the magic sword of an ancient king, Arthur, who embedded the sword into a stone and placed an enchantment on it, one allowing only the next worthy one to pull the sword from the stone. It can cut through anything!" Smoak and Uel looked at one another and shrugged.
"So why hasn't anyone pulled it out yet?" Uel asked.
"Well, no one has been worthy I guess." Duros responded. "I wanna give it a try." He pushed his way past the crowd and stood behind the boy, who finally gave up and jumped down. Duros clutched the hilt of the sword and began to tug with all his might.
"Use your geomancing!" Smoak shouted. Duros nodded and stomped his foot on the ground, but the rock the sword was embedded in wouldn't move.
"Did you seriously think the great King Arthur would be bypassed by an earthmanceer?" Duros turned to see one of the town elders standing behind him.
Duros sighed and jumped down from the rock. "No, I guess not."
The elder smiled. "It was a valiant effort, though."
Duros shrugged. "Guess I'm not worthy, huh?"
The elder smiled. "Worry not, someone will come along one day and pull the sword. Until then, we will wait." Duros nodded. Uel and Smoak both tried to pull the sword out, but to no avail. A few others tried, but when the sound of a loud bell echoed throughout the town, everyone moved back, a mother pulling her son off of the sword and back into the crowd.
  "Why is everyone moving?" Uel asked.
The elder frowned. "There is one who comes once a week to try and pull the sword, but he's never been able to. He is arriving today."
Suddenly, something fell from the sky and landed beside the sword, covered head to toe in flames. "The Phoenix." Kai grinned and grabbed the sword, tugging on it with all his might. Duros' jaw dropped, stretching his hood out a bit. Kai growled and tried to use his flames to pull the sword from the stone. He shouted out in rage when he couldn't do it.
"Kai?" Duros asked.
Kai looked down at him. "What do you want?!" He shouted. He jumped down and stared into Duros's eyes with an angry look on his face.
"Where ya been buddy?" Duros asked, opening his arms.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Hey, aren't you one of those losers that helped me defeat that demon or whatever?"
Duros lowered his arms. "It was a team effort." He said.
Kai chuckled. "But I did all the work." He flexed his exposed arms and his silver armor had a metallic stretching sound.
"What happened to you?" Duros asked.
Kai grabbed his collar. "You saying something's wrong with me?!" He shouted, lighting his fist on fire.
Duros rapidly shook his head. "Of course not. It's just that you didn't use to be so prideful."
Kai laughed and dropped Duros to the ground. "Prideful?! I'm not prideful! I'm just the best."
Duros lowered his brow. "That's the definition of prideful."
Kai shook his head. "Pride is thinking you're the best. My only problem is that I AM the best!" He laughed. Uel and Smoak looked at one another.
"That's the Phoenix?" Uel asked.
Duros nodded. "This is my friend, Kai."
Kai rolled his eyes. "I don't recall deeming you worthy of being my friend. But we are indeed associates."
Duros sighed. "Yeah, whatever." He said.
Kai turned back to the sword. "I will one day pull you from the stone!"
The elder held out his hand. "Your payments for attempting to pull the sword." Kai growled and dropped a few gold coins into the man's hand.
Smoak stared at Duros and growled. "You didn't tell us there was a fine!"He shouted.
Duros backed away. "I didn't know there was!" He shouted.
Uel sighed and dropped a few gold coins in for everyone. "Will that cover it?"
The elder smiled and nodded. "Thank you for your contribution." He said.
  "Sheesh, now we know why this town is so well built." Duros said.
Uel nodded. "It would appear so."
Kai propped himself against the stone. "What are you doing here anyway, and who are these guys?" He asked.
Duros turned to him. "Well, were here in search of a drug cartel. And these are my friends, Uel and Smoak. Uel's a bounty hunter and is allowing us to help him." Uel waved.
Kai scoffed. "Well, I've got nothing better to do. You guys won't be able to take on much by yourselves. I'm coming with you."
Smoak rolled his eyes. "This guy is annoying." He whispered.
Uel elbowed him. "He also accidentally destroyed an entire town with his flames."
Smoak nodded. "Fine. I'll keep quiet." Uel nodded.
"So, why don't they call the knights on you?" Duros asked.
Kai smiled. "Well, as long as I keep paying, they have no problem with me being here." He winked at the elder, who smiled and winked back.
"Alright, now we have to find this underground room." Smoak said.
Duros nodded and planted his foot against the ground, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. "I'm gonna expand my search, but it might take a minute." Uel nodded. Kai tried his best to stand still, but was constantly tapping his foot and looking around. Suddenly, something bumped into him. He turned around with a snarl on his face. Behind him stood a teenage girl, who jumped backward.
  "I'm so sorry, sir. I wasn't looking where I was going." Kai breathed out of his nose and turned back around. Uel waved at the girl. "What are you guys doing?" She asked. "You look shifty."
Uel chuckled. "We're bounty hunters. Apparently there's a drug cartel under your town. We're gonna take em down."
The girl smiled. "Oh, this isn't my town. I don't live here."
Uel turned completely around. "Where do you live?"
The girl scratched the back of her head. "Well, actually, I don't exactly live anywhere."
A younger kid poked out from behind her. "Yeah, we're always on the move." He said.
Uel looked down at him. "And who might you two be?"
The girl sighed. "I'm Rin and this is Grunt, my...... worshiper?"
Grunt frowned. "It's not my fault I don't have anyone else to follow around."
Rin groaned. "We're orphans. One day he started following me and never stopped." Grunt smiled and nodded.
Kai turned to look at Uel. "Why are you talking to six year olds?" He asked in an annoyed voice. Rin and Grunt frowned.
  "I'm seventeen." Rin said.
"And I'm nine!" Grunt shouted.
Kai chuckled. "I don't care." He turned back around and looked to Duros, who was still standing there in the same position.
"What brings you to Imara?" Uel asked.
"Well, we don't have a good way of making money, so I was hoping I could pull the sword from the stone so I could become a bounty hunter or monster hunter or something."
Kai laughed and turned back around. "Look, kid. I couldn't even pull that sword out. What makes you think you can do it?" He asked, his face lowered down to her level.
Rin smirked. "Yeah? Well I don't even know who you are." Kai stepped back and raised his arms, Smoak holding him back as he swung at Rin, who stood there smiling.
Grunt looked between them. "What just happened?"
Rin sighed. "Don't worry about it."
Grunt shrugged and sat down. "I'm hungry." He said.
Rin sighed. "We don't have any money to get anything to eat."
  "Well then let's go find a job." Grunt said. Rin nodded and turned away.
Uel pulled out his gold pouch. "Wait." He said. Rin and Grunt turned around. Uel offered them a few gold coins.
  "Oh, no. We couldn't."
Uel nodded and held the gold out a little farther. "I've got plenty. Just take it."
Rin smiled and took the gold. "Thank you." She said before walking away, Grunt right behind her.
"I got it!" Duros shouted. Everyone looked at him. "East quadrant." He said, pointing.
Uel nodded and started walking that way. "Let's take these guys down." He said.