Serenity Academy

Chapter Four: Galliant

Darkness fell earlier then he would expect as the sun dipped out of sight from the cliffs drawing a long shadow on everything inside of the mountain pass. Neither one of them had slept, opting to try and keep as alert as possible in case of an attack. Naturally when twilight hit the bandits came out trying to use the darkness to hide them from sight.

The first arrow came out of nowhere slamming into the seat between Gareth and Kyroth. Both of them jumped at its arrival, luckily for the two of them the dark pass made it harder for the arrows to be accurate. "Um this is not going to be pleasant at all." Kyroth whispered as he stood up trying to find the bandits.

"Get down you fool, are you trying to get yourself killed." Gareth hissed snapping the reins causing the horses to go into a full gallop. Cursing Kyroth was thrown off balance, with quite a bit of effort he stayed up right and then pulled himself into the back of the wagon grabbing his bow and arrows sliding them into place on his back.

Another barrage of arrows came down hitting the ground and wagon as Gareth motioned the horses to weave in and out to make it harder to hit them. A strained noise came from the wheels as they were pushed to the limit. A prickling feeling rushed over Kyroth as he made it to the front seat again, he could feel his heart beat. Each thump of it caused a small pulse of pain to surge from his headache.

Closing his eyes he felt deep within himself and pulled at a strange warm feeling in his gut. It fought back greatly but with enough force of will he yanked whatever it was. Finally the resistance snapped and power surged through his body, the world shifted around him like it had a week ago. He could feel the warm energy flowing through his body, seeping into his muscles.

A lite glow emanated from his body as he looked up at the bandits. He could see them clearly and as he focused his eyes seemed to zoom in on them. Another volley was released as they came through the air slowly. Reaching back he pulled out an arrow and then another and another as his body moved at least twice as fast as it should, each arrow flying away in rapid succession.

Each of his arrows made perfect contact with the ones sent by the bandits knocking them off course or sometimes even spitting them down the middle. The shock on the bandits face was evident as they stopped firing briefly to stare. Kyroth stood there for a few seconds taking deep breaths, the feeling in his gut was shrinking. From what he had learned he guessed that the feeling was his mana, if that was the case he only had a minute or so more before he would be out.

Closing his eyes he focused even more of the mana through his body the pain in his head and veins increased as he started releasing his rapid fire arrows each one hitting a bandit in either the arm or leg. They dropped like flies until finally they had turned a corner in the pass and left them behind. Shortly after Kyroth fell to his knees letting the bow fall onto the seat. His breathing was deep and uneven as his body felt drained, his muscles screamed in agony from the rapid movements they had caused.

"Bloody hell, that was amazing." Gareth screamed, or so it felt like to Kyroth as his head started to spin and his vision started to cloud over again. If this was going to happen every time he used magic his life was not going to be pleasant.

"Thank you, now slee..." Kyroth stated as he collapsed into the floorboard of the wagon unconscious. His body had been pushed to the point of no return twice within a week. Gareth just chuckled and helped the man into a more comfortable position.

"Well, you deserve it. Sleep well Kyroth." Gareth stated genuine caring in his voice. You could not stay angry and rude to a man who pushed himself to the breaking point to make sure you lived. "I had no idea that was what magic could do, and from a boy who knows nothing about it to boot." Gareth marveled.