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Jane, Defender of Decura Chapter 14

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An Eventful Break

Moonlight shimmered through the crimson glass windows, barely illuminating the large open room. Suddenly, the many stacks of books began to shake and the dark blue curtains started to sway. Seconds later, hundreds of small fragments appeared in the center of the room before quickly flying together to form a kneeling Hazel. "I almost didn't make it back..." she thought while breathing heavily and staring at her wrinkling hands.

Suddenly, one of the rooms doors swung open, revealing a large man covered from head to toe in thick purple armor, curved spikes extending from his shoulder pads. Before Hazel had a chance to react, the huge knight quickly rushed to her side and picked up the weakened woman. "Mistress Hazel, are you alright?" he asked while holding Hazel in his arms. "You aren't hurt anywhere are you?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "I'm fine Sigmund" she grumbled before crossing her arms. "Stop panicking and take me to the crystal chamber. I need to recharge my power."

Sigmund nodded and carefully carried his mistress out of the room. "I wish you'd stay home and give up on your plan" he said. "Otherwise you're going to give this old man a heart attack."

"If I want your opinion Sigmund, I'll give it to you" Hazel growled before relaxing in the huge knights arms.

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The next day, a cool breeze calmly blew through the trees, cooling Jane's sweating face. It had been a long and difficult trek through the woods bordering reyn territory but Jane refused to succumb to her exhaustion and continued to follow William, who wasn't showing a single sign of fatigue.

Nate however, was more than willing to take a break and sat down on a collapsed tree trunk. "Can we take a break?" he wheezed after removing his large backpack. "We've been walking through these woods for hours."

Grateful somebody else brought it up first, Jane stopped walking and removed her own backpack, which was easily triple the size of the one Nate was carrying. "A break does sound nice" she said while rubbing her shoulder. "I may be able to carry this pack all day but my legs really could use a moment to relax."

William shrugged and turned back toward his two tired companions. "I guess we could have a short rest" he said, causing Nate and Jane to let out a relieved sigh. "But after this one we aren't stopping until sunset. It's still a long way to Bhaldural."

As William sat next to Nate on the fallen tree trunk, Jane stretched out her arms and leaned against a tree before allowing gravity to lower her body to the ground. "Been a long time since I've walked this much" she said while getting comfortable on the hard ground. "Honestly, it's a little refreshing."

"You never walked much in your homeland?" Nate asked while scratching his head.

"Well the walk from my apartment to my job isn't very long and if I need to travel across town I usually take my bike" Jane explained while thinking about Manjimup.

"What's a bike?" William and Nate asked together.

As Jane tried to explain to her companions what a bike was, three men armed with short swords and crossbows watched them from a nearby bush. "We sure are lucky" snickered one of the men. "They look like easy pickings."

"A woman, some old fart and a reyn runt probably won't have much gold on them" grumbled another man before turning his gaze toward Jane's massive backpack. "Then again... Who knows what they're hiding in that bag."

While the three bandits smirked and prepared to attack, Jane finished her bicycle explanation. Needless to say, all it did was confuse her friends. "So it's like a horse but with wheels?" Nate asked while scratching his head.

"But it's not a horse because it's not alive..." mumbled William while seemingly deep in thought. "Why would you want a mount that cannot move on its own?"

Suddenly the three bandits leaped from their hiding place and aimed their crossbows at Jane. "Give us all of your belongings!" one of them shouted before grinning. "Don't make us have to take them from your cold, dead hands."

Despite their threat, the bandits were surprised when only Jane seemed to acknowledge their presence. "Oh crap!" she yelped before quickly standing and turning to her companions. "Bandits guys! We're in trouble! What are we going to do?"

"Well I guess you don't have to feed a bike" said Nate, causing Jane's arms to drop to her sides.

"That is convenient" said William while nodding. "You'd save a lot of coin."

"Forget about bikes!" Jane barked, snapping the two out of their discussion. "We've got company!"

With Jane now on her feet, the bandits nearly dropped their jaws when they saw how tall this girl was. Jane was easily a head or two taller than any person they'd ever seen. "H-hey don't i-ignore us" stuttered one of the bandits while he struggled to hold his crossbow straight. "Give us y-your stuff or we're g-going to carve up t-that pretty face of yours."

Nate went to pick up his quiver but stopped when a crossbow bolt skewered the ground in front of him. "Don't even think about!" growled the second bandit.

"These brats wouldn't have dared to attack us if I still had my armor and weapons..." William grumbled to himself while looking around for something to use, eventually spotting a large stick near his feet.

"I'll keep them here" said one of the bandits. "You two grab their bags and head back to the hideout." The other two bandits nodded and quickly darted toward Jane's huge backpack.

"Hey, don't touch that!" Jane growled. However Jane's concern quickly vanished when the two bandits couldn't move her backpack. Even when working together they could barely budge it an inch.

"Stop playing and hurry up!" barked the first bandit while keeping his eyes on Jane and her friends.

"It's heavy..." grunted the other two bandits. "What's in it anyway?"

The first bandit rolled his eyes. "Fine, get back over here!" he ordered. The other two bandits quickly complied and once again aimed their crossbows at Jane's group. "We'll make them carry it for us."

"And what makes you think we'll do that?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because if you don't, you'll never see the girl again" chuckled the first bandit before lowering his crossbow and grabbing Jane by the wrist. "She's coming with us as leverage!" The first bandit's smirk quickly vanished when he found himself unable to move Jane's arm, even after putting down his crossbow and trying with both hands. Jane couldn't help but giggle, it felt like a toddler was pulling on her hand.

The other two bandits looked at each other and shrugged. That proved to be a huge mistake as William capitalized on the moment and dashed toward the two distracted thugs. Before either bandit had a chance to react, William used the stick he'd just picked up to smack the crossbows from their hands.

"I suggest you run" growled William while giving the two robbers a terrifying glare. "It's either that or death, make your choice." Having already made up their minds, the two bandits turned tail and bolted, quickly disappearing into the woods.

After cracking his neck, William slowly turned back toward the first bandit while maintaining his scary expression. "You'll pay for that!" shouted the first bandit before reaching down to pick up his crossbow. Unfortunately for the bandit, the ground suddenly seemed out of his reach. Not only that but he could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet.

"I think that's enough" said Jane while holding the flailing man in the air by the back of his shirt. "How about you run along home alright?" The bandit, desperate to escape, drew his blade and swung it back toward Jane's face. Jane quickly leaned back just in time to avoid a fatal wound. However the blade did succeed in putting a cut on Jane's left cheek, forcing her to drop the smaller man.

As the bandit fled into the woods, Nate aimed an arrow at him but was quickly stopped by William. "Relax, they won't be back" he assured before turning to Jane. "Are you alright miss Jane?"

"Yeah, I'm ok" answered Jane while wiping the blood from her cut cheek. "It's nothing serious."

"This time it was" said William while walking toward Jane. "You got lucky. If that blade had cut an inch deeper the blood would be gushing out of you. You shouldn't have held him so close."

"Relax William" grumbled Nate when he noticed Jane's concerned expression. "She did fine. It was just a little mistake."

"One mistake is all it takes to lose your life" said William after crossing his arms. "Listen, I don't mean to sound rude but it's pretty obvious Jane is new to fighting."

As Jane lowered her gaze at the ground, Nate put himself in between her and William. "Now hang on a minute" he growled. "Jane has barely been in Decura for a week and already slain a spider the size of a house all by herself."

William closed his eyes. "Really? And how did a girl the size of a small mountain do that?" he asked.

"I stepped on it..." Jane answered after sighing and closing her eyes. However she quickly reopened them when she felt William put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not trying to demean that victory" assured William while looking up at Jane and smiling. "You aren't a fighter and yet you protected the reyn twice, you should be proud of yourself miss Jane."

"Oh, t-thanks Will" said Jane while blushing slightly.

"William is fine" William grumbled. "Although soon you'll be calling me teacher, since I'm making you my student while we're traveling together."

Jane's eyes lit up a little. "R-really? You're really going to teach me how to fight?" she asked as a smile returned to her face.

"Of course" answered William with a smile. "If we take someone with your strength and train you how to properly use it, well I doubt anyone would be able to beat you. It'll be tough, but I know you'll be able to handle it. Now go pick up your things, our break is over and you need to start training."

Jane nodded and quickly put on the massive backpack. However, before she could go anywhere William put his arm in front of her. "That's not nearly enough weight" he said before noticing something and smirking. "We'll need something extra if we're going to build up your bodies strength."

Jane and Nate followed William's gaze and gulped when they noticed a rather large carriage sized boulder lodged into the ground nearby.

TO BE CONTINUED....
Jane and her companions decide to take a short break only to immediately run into trouble.

Previous Chapter
Jane, Defender of Decura Chapter 13Long Road Ahead
"A-Albert... No..." whimpered Jane as she slowly walked toward Albert's lifeless body, still held up by Corax's spears. "No... No... Albert, y-you can't be..." Suddenly Corax let out another powerful screech, snapping Jane out of her shock. Unfortunately, as she tried to turn to face the giant raven, Jane lost her footing and toppled over, landing hard on her back.
Seeing the perfect moment to attack, Corax ceased circling and dove right for the frightened girl, raising his talons to deal the finishing blow.
Eager to see the former giant torn the shreds, Hazel leaped across Scavania's rooftops until she was right on the city's edge. "This should be amusing" she chuckled to herself as she watched Jane stare up at Corax, her eyes filled to the brim with fear.
Jane's mind raced as she watched Corax get closer. "I... I... Am I g-going to d-die?" she thought as tears continued to run down her face. "Is this h-how my life e-ends? On a s-strange world far a-away from my


Next Chapter
Jane, Defender of Decura Chapter 15Four Corners Tavern
"Not much further to go now" assured William while walking on a dirt road. "We've got one more steep hill and we'll be there."
"Thank... God..." wheezed Jane as she tried to keep up with William. However, it was proving more and more difficult with each minute that passed. Not only did she have her massive backpack on, but in her arms was a heavy carriage sized boulder that she hadn't put down for what seemed like an eternity. "I can't... Go on..."
"You're doing great Jane" cheered Nate while resting comfortably atop Jane's backpack.
"I hope it's not too uncomfortable up there..." Jane growled through her teeth as sweat continued to pour down her face.
"Don't worry Jane, I can take it" assured Nate before yawning and resting his head. "I'd love to get down and walk with you but William asked me to help your training. You know me Jane, I'd never refuse helping a friend in need."
"How about helping by telling me what's ahead?" Jane asked, unable to see past the


I dedicate this chapter to my friend :iconemina258:! She does amazing work and you should check out her page and her manga Tweeling!
© 2016 - 2024 LordWolx
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William is going to be an Excellent teacher since he was a High-ranking Knight 💪🏾😊🔥