Marelucis: Prophecies of the Six Saviors

12

"A-an Umbra?"

I had never laid eyes on an Umbra, so you could imagine what my reaction would have been - having to meet face to face with such a thing. Two wide eyes, a gaping mouth, and the rattling of my knees were as close to all I had for comfort. A towering, demented, shadowy figure with a distorted face and beady red eyes stood before us, a wide, crooked smile stretched across its face.

"Hrahrahra..!"

The Umbra's maniacal voice sounded something similar to a laugh, although I could not be certain. The pitch of its voice rose and fell in different intervals at unpredictable moments, and seemed to fade away with each syllable as well as bore itself into our chests. My breath hitched in my throat as Kent materialized his silver sword once again.

"Kent, stay near Wendy; I'll take care of this," Mark called out.

Kent nodded. Mark lunged toward the demon at top speed, his iron sword firmly grasped in his pale hands.

But he did not reach it in time.

A flash of brown and green darted in between Mark and the Umbra, causing him to stop abruptly. The newcomer was a boy maybe one or two years younger than our age, with messy, light brown hair and light gray eyes. A large grin spread across his face, from one cheek to the other. The sound of chains rattled loudly as he swung two spiky, metal balls around on the two, thick iron bars in both of his hands.

"This one's mine!" he shouted, stretching his left arm out as a way of saying 'stay back'.

Mark clucked his tongue, sheathed his sword, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Then, he leaned back against a tree, and proceeded to watch the boy throw himself at the Umbra.

He's just going to watch?!

I returned my attention to the newcomer. It took only a few blows from both flails to silence the horrendous creature, and between every two blows, the boy would dart from tree trunk to tree trunk and leap right back to attack. Never once did the Umbra come close to landing one of its counterattacks on him. All throughout his playful dance across several trees, his smile grew wider and wider.

"He's still such a child..." I heard Mark mumble.

I found his commentary to be completely ironic. He, himself, was a boy who was only about nineteen years of age or so, and yet the entire nation knew of him as the head knight of the Royal Army's Second Division.

In less than a minute, the boy had finished his job. He swiftly slipped both of his flails back into the two leather sacks connected to the sides of his buckled belt. I watched as the Umbra coiled its body multiple times, letting out an earsplitting screech that caused a flock of birds to take flight after flying into several brambles and branches. Then, its shadowy figure began to erode and evaporate, speck by speck, until it disappeared altogether.

"Lieutenant Rae, must you always deal my finishing blow?" Mark asked irritably.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Sir Mark?" Rae said with a cheeky grin.

"It was originally my target," Mark said.

"Not necessarily," Rae responded innocently.

Mark grumbled. Then, he gave a long, exasperated sigh.

"You were always one to leave your post just for the sake of taking out an enemy that is already being dealt with. To think I chose to mentor such a deceptive and irresponsible disciple such as yourself. Ever since the installation of your position as lieutenant, I have been regretting my decision terribly."