The Road Home
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*Stonekeep, Yew, two men standing back to back in the center of a dirt road surrounded by military structures and several groups of armed guardsmen, the rain poured heavily on their black armour as they held their weapons tight, Joey Lanai and Vincent Redfield, the last remaining Guardsmen from the rescue attempt on the Stonekeep cells.
"Have they got him out yet Vinny?" Jo says to Vincent, he turns to face the citidel and shakes his head,
"Nothing yet Jo", with that several Besiegers lunge at the pair, dodging and weaving Joey swung his mace, battering the armour of the attackers and sending them to the floor with a splash into the large muddy puddles.
A man on a horse wearing white overalls and holding a large axe rides onto the scene, he points his axe at the men and begins to circle them on his horse,
"Concecres Arma" Vincent chants, their weapons glowing with a strange hue,
"Blasphemy!" the man on the horse yells,
"Guardsmen, burn the wytches!", with that the trembling footmen and rookie guards run at the pair, a sword blow nearly manages to land on Joey's vulnerable right arm, only to be blocked by Vincent's shield, followed by a counter attack killing the teenage guardsman in a single blow.
Joey's gaze now fixed on the small group of men running from the citidel with the newly sprung prisoner, slipping around the back away from the battle,
"Mission acomplished", Joey says,
"We'll just give them a few more minutes to get clear", Vincent nodded and the white horseman screams with anger and notices the prisoner escaping.
With a kick of the heel he begins to gallop toward the few men, running from the scene,
"Jo! the Templar!", Vincent points with his mace and Joey shoulders his shield and digs his mace into the floor, removing a bola from his sidepack and begins to swing it around his head before hurling it at the galloping templar.
The templar plummets to the floor, his axe landing a few feet away, the yewish guardsmen, losing the battle begin to scatter and flee, only a few remain
"Hold your ground! dont let them escape!" one of the veteran guards yells, but with the recent falling of the templar their morale is crushed.
"Alright, that's long enough i think" Joey says to Vincent, who then nods in return before whistling loudly. Two brown horses ride in from the forest possitioning themselves just behind the pair, with escape so near, the veteran guard charges the two men, only to be disarmed and shoved to the floor,
"I'll let you live to regret that", Joey says to him,
"Jo, lets go!" Vincent yelled now mounted, Joey turned and mounted his horse swiftly and riding away,
"Die Heathens!", the templar lept out from behind the outpost with his axe, the two men manage to guide their horses aside to avoid the strike,
"NYARRRRHHHHGHHHH!" the templar yelled, waving his axe in the air in anger, puddles of blood around his feet from the fallen guardsmen,
"Father? are you alright?" one of the Guardsmen speaks after running up to him, "Clean this mess up..." the templar says waving a dismissive hand and walking off towards the church.
2 years later, Joey is sitting around a camp fire with a few other men, one dressed in a long robe with a long white beard, the other men dressed like local towns folk.
"And that was the last duty i performed for Cove" Joey said to the group before taking a swig from his hip flask, still wearing his Dragoon uniform and his weapons lying to the side, Joey's beard was longer now, his face was rugged and experienced, unlike the young man who had signed up for the Covian Militia all those years ago,
"I used to have a saying that would bring relief to some men while others would just laugh, 'never fear, Joey's here!' heh, that was it" with that Joey chuckled and the group along with him.
"So... Why did you leave?" one of the men ask, Joey shrugged slightly,
"I guess i still had things to do, i joined at such a young age i didnt really have time for anything", he said
"It was about time i had some serious education aswell, being outwitted by everyone was getting a bit annoying", "Ahhh, that's where i come in" the old man in a robe grinned and looked around at the towns folk,
"I met Joseph when i was on temporary assignment at Luna, hoh! oooh he was nothing like he is now, stubborn, arrogant, oooh did he ever love himself, self proclaimed hero if i remember correctly..?", with that Joey laughed, blushing slightly before staring back at the fire,
"Oooh yes, he's come a long way..." said the old man.
"So, are you ever going back Jo?" one of the towns folk said,
"That's the plan" said Joey before taking another swig from the flask,
"We're on our way now actually, had to dig out my old uniform and all", "But, wont they be angry with you?" the villager asked, Joey shrugged again,
"I dont know, to be honest im not all that bothered, let them think what they like, you've got to do what you've got to do, so just let them get on with it, that's what i say".With that, Joey stood up and began putting things into his horses pack,
"That's all for tonight friends!" the old man spoke to the croud,
"We need to get moving, it was nice meeting you all!", waving his arms, ushering the towns folk away before walking back up to Joey who is now rubbing his temples,
"Headache again?" he asked,
"Yeah, ever since that demon possesed and attacked Cove...", the old man patted him on the shoulder,
"Give it time, you'll be fine" he said with a smile,
"telling the stories over and over again doesnt help to much either", Joey said with a grin,
"Hoh, but the people love them, you tell them so well Joseph", said the old man, Joey looked down grinning then turned to look at him,
"thank you for all your help Jienelle, i wouldnt have gotten this far without you", the old man nodded with a smile before turning and walking to his horse,
"How long do you think before we reach Cove?" Joey asked,
"I'm not sure" said Jienelle,
"A week, maybe two... lets just see how it goes", and with that, Joey nodded and mounted his horse, the pair troted off down the road, the road to cove, the road home.*
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