Chapter 10 - Snowy Peaks and Bandits!

As Kamui plummeted down the valley he started gathering magic essence to launch himself out of it before it smashed into the rocky ground meters below. His legs tensed almost cracking the bridge in half. The raw energy he was gathering could be felt burning into the rocky walls on either side of him. As he sprung forward he left a trail of black smoke behind him. In the time he had to gather the magical essence it was surprising that he even made it close to the ledge where Hikari and Domino stood trying to help him. His hand reached for the rocks but as it closed around one boulder it came crashing down on top of him. Domino moved as quickly as he could, just managing to grab Kamui’s wrist. He pulled him up the cliff and onto the rocky plateau. Unfortunately Kamui’ pack was lost when he jumped so there supplies were almost halved.

Kamui panted as he lay on the hot stone plate relieved that he survived the vicious ordeal. They were still confronted by the problem of crossing the valley the barred them from reaching their destination: The Snowy Peaks. It was getting colder now as night neared. Using her enhanced eyes, Hikari scanned the area like a hawk. Scanning everywhere she tried to find a place where they could cross the valley easily. She was about to give up in despair when she spotted a narrow ledge no wider than a foot. The ledge spanned the valley making a nice path to cross it.

“Over there is a ledge that we can use to cross this. If we hurry we can still make it to the Snow Villages!” Hikari said excitedly as she ran over to the ledge.

The three wasted no time making their way across the ledge. At one instant small rocks crumbled off but that was all.

They were encouraged by the fact that they had passed that obstacle that had nearly proved fatal. With renewed energy they made their way closer to their bandit infested location. By now it was around seven o’clock and a storm was brewing. Snow filtered down onto the ground coating it in a smooth white powder. As the storm grew worse and daylight faded it became more and more dangerous to continue. The three young mages were terrified from the furious lighting exploding in the dark atmosphere above them.

The blizzard made it so hard to see that they had walk slowly, almost crouched to avoid getting blown off the cliff. It was impossible to hear anything said by the others due to the winds that raged on. They whistled through all the cracks bombarding the Mages from all sides. Suddenly a flickering bright light attracted their attention. It was a hundred meters away and appeared to be a torch or a lantern.

“Finally the snowy village is in sight!” Domino yelled relieved.

The three friends sprinted to the bright light that turned out to be a lantern. It was at the gate of the Snowy Village that they had come so far to protect. There was a man standing by a large spruce wood post. He was wrapped in many blankets and looked frail and weak. He had an old grey beard and looked frail and sick. He was relieved to see the three mages enter the small village.

“Finally you have come. The Bandits haven’t come today – they will come soon though.” The man gestured for them to enter the large town hall. As they walked towards it they saw burnt houses on both sides as well as graves.

The people of the village were greatly relieved. Even this happiness was shortly lived when they remembered what lay ahead the following nights. Bright fires illuminated the area so that they might have spot the bandits before they came. There was only one defending Samurai alive, he was badly wounded and lay in a small crude hospital that had been hastily built in the Town hall. The Town hall was now acting like a refuge place for the people of the village. They all sheltered there on beds of small cloths.

Suddenly a horn bellowed across the village and mountains. It was louder than thunder and more demanding than the Emperors voice. The people trembled and yelled. There was a murderous cry as a villager who was patrolling got cut down by a ruthless bandit.

Domino, Hikari and Kamui got ready to fight. They too trembled. None of them were expecting bandits so soon upon their arrival and none of them were ready for it. They trembled as they waited for the bandits to attack the town hall where all the precious resources and people stayed in terror! A loud bang signaled the bandits attack on the front door…