Part 25
Three horses, two of them chasing the one in front. Four people, three of them on two horses.
"They are getting away!" yelled Cyeen.
Out of all the horses, the one that was currently being stolen was the fastest. All they were doing here was fighting an uphill battle.
Jess looked at the two, mainly at Cyeen,
"Cyee! Us yar blaster trick on our horsies!" she shouted, barely managing to control the speed of her horse.
The noble tried locking eyes with Jess as best as she could.
"Oh, sure, let me make the damn horse fly, why don't I!" Cyeen snapped.
Zoen's eyes expanded as an idea popped into his head.
"Cyeen, take the reins, I'll pull them back!"
Now, the noble was leaning into the back of the guy, barely holding onto the reins. Zoen reached his hands out to the thief, curling his fingers. A strong force fell upon them that began slowing the horse in front of them.
A navy blue hand slammed itself against his face, making the guy stop pulling the horse.
The blue hand was cut down by a dark red sword before Zoen could even attempt separating it.
"Fragen!" Jess screamed.
"Hiiii!" was the sound that followed from the player that was currently stealing their horse.
The player's back faintly glowed blue before bursting with navy blue arms. Her essence arms were not after the makeshift gang, instead gripping the ground and the trees, floating the horse up.
With the help of the extra hands, Fragen managed to regain the distance she had lost to Zoen.
"Cyee!" yelled out Jess who was now riding next to the two.
The demon reached her hand out to Cyeen, clearly telling her to grab it.
Upon grabbing the rough hand of the demon — Jess slapped a red flameberge to her free hand.
"Win or else!" said Jess.
Cyeen narrowed her eye, she didn't understand what Jess was talking about. Which was precisely why she was surprised upon being yanked at full force toward the player.
After her initial suprise passed, Cyeen looked for Fragen with her one working eye. The player was right underneath her. A blue hand reached out to her only to get slashed by the dark red flameberge.
The violet haired girl finally landed on the horse which was surprisingly stable. But most important of all, she was now face to face with Fragen. Cyeen raised the sword to eye level.
"Oh, duel? Alrite!" happily exclaimed the player.
A platform of hands was constructed on top of the horse in the blink of an eye. The player took out their soul weapon, a blue flameberge made out of smaller arms.
"Like it? Now we're matching!" Fragen didn't seem to be taking the noble seriously.
Cyeen dashed forward, attempting a thrust that was basically ignored by the player as the edge of her sword was caught by a blue arm and forced upwards.
A flurry of violet knives cut the hand restricting her sword, just in time to block the strike that was thrown by Fragen. Seeing Cyeen's fast response time, the player's smirk dimmed even if it lasted less than a second.
Cyeen lifted her sword, attempting a slash from her upper left to bottom right.
The player jumped backwards, only a single on the sword, tapping her cheek with her finger a few times. After a few taps, she lifted that same finger up like she had found something.
Three hands were summoned behind Fragen, only two being able to attack Cyeen. It looked like there was a limit to the amount she could control. The third one isn't listening to her. She thought. But even then, two hands were enough to throw Cyeen at a crossroads about which one to defend.
The first hand was slashed into pieces as the second one grabbed Cyeen by her stomach, lifting her up. She was let go at quite a high altitude, causing her to begin falling down.
Violet strings wrapped around the arm of the noble before aggressively seeking out Fragen, wrapping the player tightly. My arms are going to hate me for this. Cyeen thought, clenching the red sword in between her teeth as she began swinging from under the horse, appearing behind the player.
The noble opened her mouth, catching the flameberge and lifting it above over her head, readying herself to land a solid strike.
As if all of this was her plan, Fragen hit Cyeen in the face with a large hammer made out of hands, knocking the noble down for good.
"Thanks for the horse, YOUR HIGHNESS!!" said Fragen, bursting out into laughter.
Cyeen looked at the player getting farther away as she began experiencing the terrifying force of gravity. The noble waited, knowing she would die if one tiny miscalculation occured.
She teleported as far as she could, aiming for the nearest tree, then fired the blasters strapped to her back mid-air. The next second, she found herself slammed against the closest tree.
Jess drew close with her horse, checking if Cyeen was alive. A worried look appeared on her face after seeing the noble was still living,
"Damn, we lost a horsie."
Cyeen lifted her arms up, opening her hands in frustration,
"Really? The horse? That's what you are worried about? I nearly died!"
"Ye, nearly. So yer still alive. Ya are a smart girl, ya would know when ya die." the demon said without a single worry in her mind.
The noble teleported behind Jess on the saddle, ignoring her teleportation cooldown as usual.
"Fine! I won't save myself next time then, you can come scrape my corpse from the ground!" she exclaimed as her hands wrapped around the demon's waist.
Jess grinned. She was angry about losing a horse, sure, but messing with Cyeen had immediately elevated her mood.
The demon gripped the reins, commanding her horse to move before she turned her head back to Cyeen.
Cyeen huffed, refusing to talk for a second.
"I think she is aware of my rank."
"Who?"
"Fragen."
"Ah, yeah. Anythin' else ya learned?"
"There is a limit to the amount of hands she controls. After that the ones she summons refuses to obey her." Cyeen calmly said.
"Ya can be useful at timez eh?" said the demon, poking Cyeen with her elbow.
The rest of the way towards Zoen was spent in silence.
***
"Horse... The horse we spent a fortune on..."
Zoen said, sulking.
The makeshift gang was riding together once again, Cyeen hopping behind Zoen the first chance she got. Although Jess seemed to be more relaxed towards the noble these days, she was still a hassle to deal with.
"Then perhaps you should have done something to help me?" Cyeen replied. She wasn't in her best mood as well.
"Do what? Cut the arms that held the horse floating?" Zoen said, scratching his arm pretty roughly. An action Cyeen immediately caught onto, an action not unfamiliar to her.
"Whatever..." The noble mumbled to herself. "Let's just keep going."
A moment of silence was upon them, though not lasting long. Jess had something to ask,
"Why did she stole aur horsie? To be precize, why Cyeen'z?"
The demon's brother was not thrilled at this question, being already fussy about the loss of a precious horse.
"Hell if I know Jess! Horses are expensive so maybe she wanted to mess with us. As I said, hell if I know!"
The guy looked to be at the edge which Jess didn't notice. A wide grin appeared on her face, knowing exactly how to piss her brother off,
"Alright bud, hold your horsies."
With the snap of a finger, Jess was riding Zoen's horse. The noble that was behind Zoen mere moments ago watched the guy use his teleportation to switch their positions, it still blew her mind whenever she saw it in action. Another thing Cyeen was suprised to see was the height and muscle difference between the siblings, Jess being larger on both the categories.
"You don't deserve a creature as precious as a horse, Jess." said Zoen with hostility in his tone.
And finally, the sight of their camp blessed their eyes, standing exactly the same as how they left it. A quick packing up later, they were back on their way.
Since the third horse was outside the picture now, a single horse had to carry both Cyeen and Jess's tents, slowing the makeshift gang slightly.
On the bright side, now they were sure if Fragen was going south or not. Even if she wasn't going south before, now she had a pretty damn good reason to do so. That reason being annoying the three.
***
"Hey noblee, aren't ya gonna freak out over losin' another fite?" Jess said, looking back.
Cyeen was massaging her strained muscles, trying to ease the dull ache in her arms.
"No, I know she's a player. They are all tilted towards overpowered right?"
"Nah, not realy. Some are riducolusly weak." Jess quickly answered.
"Wow, thanks. That's what I needed to hear." Cyeen replied, still rubbing her arms.
Like the strains in her arms weren't enough, her front was filled to the brim with countless bruises. Those bruises being the price she paid for slamming herself against a tree. Well, it was better than slamming against the ground though, right?
To be frank, I found that quite funny.
What, is today "be mean to me" day? Cyeen thought. Sure, Jess was always like this, sometimes even the voice followed her example, but Zoen? Why was he lashing out all of a sudden? Come to think of it...
He is getting more comfortable near you.
He is getting more comfortable near—! Cyeen was done, she decided on shutting her brain off for the day. This was enough thinking for today.
***
Someonw was poking her cheek. Cyeen opened her eye, seeing the culprit. It was Jess which didn't suprise her at the slightest.
"Cyee, aren't ya gonna do the introduction?" asked Jess.
Lifting her head up — Cyeen saw a huge oasis. There was a town twice the size of Bami constructed around the spring. A mansion with a similar design to the one back in Enidia and Drantu was present on the closest hill, watching over the house. The houses that were made out of clay to keep the heat out in summer.
The most known part of this duchy was the tiny manmade rivers that originated from the heart of the oasis, flowing all throught the town. She knew without a doubt what this place was. Sundom, the duchy of sun. Obviously.
"No."
Cyeen burried her face back into Jess's spine.
The demon turned to Zoen.
"Well broter, where do we go nyow?"
"Just take us somewhere we can rest." he replied, not even bothering to look at her.
Jess sighed, turning her horse towards the place she thought would fit the description Zoen gave her the best. The demon wore her veil as they closed in onto the entrance of the town, waking Cyeen up once inside.
As the three slowly went along the way designated for horses and carriages, an inn took their attention. An inn that eerily resembled "White Poppy" in back in Bami.
Tying their horses — the makeshift gang went inside to discuss prices. It wasn't that costy but still a decent price for an inn. What took Cyeen's attention the most was the white roses they were using as decorations.
The noble nudged Jess.
"This feels off."
"Ya think so too?" asked Jess.
Cyeen followed her words up with,
"I feel more eyes on me than there are people here."
The noble turned around herself, trying to identify the cause. Upon turning to her right, she saw a guy with a floating circle above his heart. Inside the circles, two sharp eyes were seen. Cyeen imagined the shape in her head... The headache she waited didn't arrive, instead being met with an ache in her left eye.
Her right eye flashed white as Cyeen activated her newly acquired skill, consuming a huge chunk of her essence.
Suddenly, green texts began appearing on top of everyone's heads. Civilian, civilian, civilian. She thought, reading what was written on top of everyone's head.
Something took the attention of the noble. A bright red writing, unlike the green everyone had. To top it off, it had an exclamation mark at the end of it. The person that was below it was none other than the guy that she had copied the skill off of.
The noble's breathing quickened, her blood running cold as she read was what laid before the exclamation mark. Because, Cyeen was sure that it spelled "Player".