Our journey continued smoothly after our sparring match with Adam. Arthur had become even more of a spectacle with all of the augmenters of the group attempting to learn his footwork that he had used against Adam. I joined in and attempted to learn it despite it requiring mana to be able to be used. At least when I eventually awaken I would be ahead of the curve.
At least that's what I hoped, but with day of our fourth birthday those negative thoughts began creeping into my mind once again. It had now been over a year since Arthur had awaken his core, and I couldn't tell if I was any closer than I had been. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever awaken at all… For now I had to hope that at worse I would awaken at the age normal children did.
Had Arthur taken all the talent from in the womb? Is this due to the fact that I'm not supposed to be here? Will I be forced to live life manaless in a world of swords and sorcery? Surely not. I hope.
This birthday had been quite a surprise for the both of us as mother had found some time to make us a cake. It soothed my slightly bruised ego, but the gift that we got from Jasmine lifted my spirits even more.
"Whoa! A dagger, this is awesome Jasmine." Me and Arthur were ecstatic with the gift and me getting ahead of myself, hugged Jasmine. Though when I felt her go stiff under my hug I let go with an apology, it seemed she was still quite shy. As evidenced by her embarrassed expression as she nodded and went back to where she had been sitting.
Thinking about it I realized she seemed pretty young compared to the rest of the Twin Horns. Not that the others were old by any means, but comparatively she was at least 5 years younger or so than the rest. Maybe late teens or early twenties, but that made me think about the fact that she had been in the party when Alice and Reynolds was in it too.
So take another 4 years at least away from that and then I think they were all a party for a couple years from what I remember of the stories mom and dad told. So what? She became an adventurer at like thirteen or fourteen at the youngest and perhaps at the oldest sixteen? Just what kind of life had she lived before joining the Twin Horns? Was she some kind of prodigy of her own? Maybe I'll ask he—…
"BANDITS! PREPARE TO ENGAGE!" Helen's voice roared over the rumbling of the carriages and Skitters. Not even a heartbeat later Angela was already chanting a spell.
"Submit, O' wind and follow my will. I command and gather you around in protection. Wind Barrier!" As her chant ended the wind whipped up around us in a torrent, making my eyes water. Me, Arthur and Mother had all been in the same wagon doing studying and now we found ourselves being assailed by bandits.
It surprised me that we were taking such precautions. Surely this group could handle some bandits, with how strong they all seemed to be. I mean our parents had told us that they were all B rank adventurers, and that was just back before they quit. So the Twin Horns should be A rank or at least close to it. Surely the only way they could lose if there was an overwhelming number of bandits.
I tried to look once I had wiped my eyes but Mother had already gripped me an Arthur into a tight embrace. I could only peak through a small gap in her grasp and noticed the the covering on the carriage was being torn to shreds by arrows. Just how many could they have?
When enough of the covering was torn away, I was finally able to see the situation. We were surrounded! The revelation caused my heart to drop and could feel a panic rising in my chest. I hadn't seen this far, for all I know the story takes a dark turn where every member dies except for the main character. Was I going to die here?
I stole a glance at Arthur and I could tell that he was surprised as well, but there was still a calmness in his eyes. He looked worried, but not for himself, he looked worried about the others around us. I could only curse selfishness, here I was worrying only for myself and if I was going to die. There was a whole group of people here that didn't want to die either, not just me. But no matter how much I told myself this I just couldn't bring myself to pull away from Alice's comforting embrace.
"Look what we have here. Pretty good catch boys. Leave only the girls and the kids alive. Try not to scar them too much. Damaged goods will only sell for less." I heard a loud commanding voice call out. I couldn't stop the shudder that filled my body as every bad thought crossed my mind. Even if I was faster and stronger than the average four year old there was no way I could contend with an adult.
I knew from history and stories that there were people with depraved tastes and me being a male wouldn't stop them. I couldn't stop my body from shaking and my breaths came in short, quick gasps as if I couldn't retain any oxygen. My vision narrowed to just a single spot on my mother's dress and it felt as if the sounds around me were becoming muffled.
I heard Reynolds' voice but it seemed drowned out and far away. The only thing I could hear was my own rapid breaths. I could feel Alice's hand stroking my hair and I knew she's was whispering something to me but I couldn't make it out. My mind was elsewhere, imagining all the horrible things that would happen to me if they failed to defeat the bandits.
A loud crash thundered through my head followed by the panicked shouts of my mother and Arthur.
"Dad!!" "Honey!"
Their voices sent a shock through my body as I stayed huddled and curled as if trying to fold in on myself. I felt both of them rush out of the carriage and for the first time since the beginning I managed to look out at the skirmish that was happening outside my little hole. Helen was visibly tired with an bandaged leg, though it didn't look serious. Angela also looked tired from holding the wind barrier, beads of sweat dripping from her skin. Each one of the Twin Horns looked exhausted from a prolonged fight and it made me realize just how long I had been cowering.
Finally my eyes found the running forms of Arthur and Alice as they came to the fallen form of my father. Reynolds was battered and had blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, trying and failing to lift himself. I felt my heart thump wildly in my chest from fear. I wanted to be useful, but I was only a child. Why did this have to happen when I was so weak, when I was so useless. I would die if I went out there.
Then it happened, mother pulled out her wand and began to cast a spell to heal dad. That's right! Mom is a healer! If she can just heal up the rest of the group then they can keep fighting! My worries eased, and I saw that Arthur and Reynolds were speaking. It felt like it was all coming together. Arthur was the main character, so it felt obvious that this was his big moment. The moment he revealed his power and helped the Twin Horns defeat the bandits. Only that's not what happened.
"Sonova— One of them's a healer! Don't let her get away!" The familiar bandit voice from before shouted, the voice belonging to a menacing looking axe wielding bandit. When I looked back I saw that Arthur had grabbed our mother and was dragging her away. They began running as Arthur lead the way, his eyes found mine and instead of the scorn I was expecting, for still hiding in the carriage, he looked glad. Glad that I hadn't left the carriage. I just couldn't understand how he could still be worried about me in a time like this when all I could do was worry about myself.
I wanted to go with them, but my body was rooted in place. It felt as if I was chained and weighed down with cinder blocks. I could only watch, unable to look away, as an arrow flew at them.
"Wa—.." my voice caught in my throat, I felt frozen. Just a watcher to all that was happening as Arthur somehow managed to turn and meet the arrow with his wooden sword. It shattered on impact and caused him to stumble, but he quickly righted himself and kept running.
I knew that he was the main character. I had told myself it enough times as an excuse for why he was so far ahead of me. 'It only makes sense, he used to be a king in his last life.' I had only been eighteen years old, someone that was lazy and just lived off his inheritance. I could have done just about anything I wanted to, but instead I had just laid around the house all day playing games, reading, and sleeping.
I guess I got caught up in the excitement of being transported to a fantasy world like I had read and watched so many times. Had I ever really taken this life seriously since I got here? Was subconsciously holding myself back this entire time with the excuses of not being special enough?
"Damien! Forget the plan, don't let them live!" The bandit leader barked. What could I do? This was the way the story was supposed to go right?
"Respond to my call and wash all to oblivion!" Another voice called out a chant. It came from a man amidst the archers, hiding his identity as a mage. A massive sphere of water, 3 meters in diameter, was shot from him with his target being Mom and Arthur. But it was okay, Arthur would dodge or destroy it with some move from his last life.
This had surely just been a dramatic moment that surely the author had used as cliffhanger to rile up his readers. The ball slowly grew as it closed in on them and I could feel my hands clenching the wood of the wagon.
"Dammit!" Arthur roared and it surprised me in its tone of desperation. Doubt crept back in. Had me being here changed something? The term "butterfly effect" flitted through my mind and I felt my chest tighten. I couldn't help but watch as the tiny form of my brother tackled Alice forward, pushing her out of the way of the attack.
"No…" my voice croaked as remained rooted in place. I could only watch as I saw Arthur pull out his knife, the one we had gotten from Jasmine, and he launched it. It looped around the edge of the cannonball of water and somehow managed to find its way into the mage's thigh. Only it was too late, the water had already crashed against Arthur pulling him off the mountain. The mage following behind him as if being pulled by an invisible force.
For the first time my body moved in a direction that wasn't to hide myself. My right arm reached out, grasping, opening and closing like the motion itself could catch him. My heart no longer pounded, if anything it just hurt. Pain pierced my heart as I kept opening and closing my hand just hoping… wishing somebody would catch my brother. This wasn't supposed to happen. He's the main character. Why did he have to die just because I was here now? As his body disappeared over the edge along with the body of the bandit.
"NOOOO!!" NO, NO, NO, NO." I heard someone yell as I felt my left hand's grip on the wagon loosen. My vision grew dark with the last thing I saw being my mother's unmoving form as she just stared at the edge of the cliff in horror.