The samurai, An Legendary Adventure Tale Part 2

Chapter forty-four: The cursed Kekkaru

The group hesitated, then followed Amit and Gina. As they climbed, the darkness deepened.

"So, hi there", Keith said, trying his best to keep his tone friendly. He waved his hand at the boy. "And, who are you, exactly?"

"Me? I'm Amit", the boy said in his chipper voice. "And this is Gina. She's a deamon wolf". Amit patted Gina and smiled at Keith.

"A deamon? and a wolf, no less." Keith replied. "I thought he might be a bird."

"Keith, don't be rude." Lance said.

Gina wasn't sure if The half-daemon was serious, so she gave him a huge sloppy kiss on the side of his face, that ought to prove she was a wolf.

A few yards ahead of them, Lance turned around. "Oh, I should have introduced you guys", he had avoided introductions, thus far because he wasn't sure if Amit's unbridled enthusiasm would mix well with Keith's sarcasm, and it seemed he was right, but he'd put it off, long enough.

"Amit, this is Keith", Lance said. "We originally met because, well..." Lance scratched his head. There really was no delicate way to phrase the exceptional beginning of his relationship with Keith. So he spoke quickly, with as much cheerfulness as he could. "I tried to freeze him once after I stole something from him."

Keith looked at Amit with a sheepishly smile and shrugged.

"But it doesn't matter," Keith added. "We're past all that now". He waved his hand as if to brush off this old news, Amit took the cue.

"People meet in so many interesting ways", he said.

Keith still wasn't sure he trusted this boy, but he appreciated a human who didn't seem to mind half-daemons.

"Well, now that we've completed the introductions, how do we find this healer?" he asked.

"Well if we're smart we might find them on the top of the hill." Lance said.

"I hope so, Shiro might not last very long." Keith said.

And he was right, Shiro bleeding all over the place.

Amit's expression turned solemn. "I understand.

Time is crucial." Gina whimpered softly.

Amit nodded. "Follow me."

As they climbed higher. The air grew thinner.

"We're almost there," Amit said, his voice strained.

The group pushed themselves to their limits, their lungs burning. They knew that Shiro's life depended on them.

The hours passed quickly as they navigated the many obstacles, and by the time they reached a clearing halfway up the mountain, the sun was low and the sky was on fire with a blazing sunset.

"It's so beautiful. It's like the sky is painted with honey", Amit said with a sigh.

"Wow", Pidge said, taking in the pinkish-orange twilight sky.

"Stats." Stats said.

"Too bad it also means the nightmares are about to begin", Amit said.

"What do you mean, 'the nightmares'?" Keith asked.

"Oh, you know', Amit said in a cheery voice, "enormous monsters and indescribable terrors, stuff like that".

"Stuff like that", Lance echoed. Amit had mentioned the monsters before, but he'd sort of forgotten about them, what with the climbing and Shiro's condition.

"Yeah! And the higher we go, the worse it will get", Amit assured them.

"All right-well, let's go!" Keith said, pumping a fist with mock enthusiasm.