Fan Fiction ❯ Beogard's Last Hope ❯ The Wasteland of Delhaft ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: The Wasteland of Delhaft

 

They didn't have to walk much further. Only a couple hours had passed since the moon was up in the night sky. Halo, Zen, and Gaiden had finally found an end to the large forest; they were now standing on a small ledge overlooking a wasteland covered in debris.

“Are we going there?” Zen pointed at an enormous castle at the far end of the wasteland.

“Hell no,” Halo replied.

“We're not foolish enough to charge into a heavily guarded castle,” Gaiden said. “We need more people to help us.”

“And who would that be?” Zen said. “I thought we were the last hope for Beogard.”

“We are… For now,” Halo said. “We're going there,” Halo pointed at a large building - nowhere near as big as the castle - that stood over the horizon. “It's the prison where they're keeping a lot of Beogard's fighters. They could be a great help to us.”

“Then let's go,” Zen said as he stepped down from the small cliff and onto the dirt of the wasteland. Halo and Gaiden exchanged a look and then followed Zen into Delhaft territory.

They had to keep a sharp eye, now that they were in the enemy's land. Luckily all the rubble and remains of destroyed buildings gave them some good cover, they didn't have to try hard to hide.

As they walked, the tower that stood atop the prison building kept getting taller. Once the trio got close enough to see the base of the building, they realized that it was a guard tower, and it stretched a lot higher than they originally thought it would.

“Get down!” Gaiden yelled, he pushed the other two behind a big piece of concrete to take cover as a bullet whizzed past them. “A sniper…”

“So what do we do?” Halo asked.

“Yeah Gaiden, you're the `one always with a plan',” Zen mocked. “Surely you can think of something.”

“Zen, shut up,” Halo said while he was looking through a hole in the concrete, trying to see if he could find the sniper.

“Don't worry about it,” Gaiden said. “The sniper is probably up in the guard tower.”

“…Yeah, so?” Zen urged.

“Think about it. You can control lightning…”

“Oh! No… What?” Zen said. Gaiden sighed heavily, but Zen continued, “I'm just kidding, I know what you mean.”

“Alright good, then let's go,” Gaiden said.

“Me and Gaiden will distract him for you Zen,” Halo withdrew his katanas and jumped up on top of the concrete, then jumped again to dodge a bullet shot directly at him. Gaiden followed Halo's lead and jumped out from behind the debris, also immediately dodging a bullet.

Zen grabbed his guitar from over his shoulder and sprang out from behind the debris. The sniper seemed to be fixed on Halo and Gaiden, which gave Zen the focus he needed. He twirled his guitar into the air, then caught it again and pointed it directly up toward the sky. A lightning bolt shot out of it and lashed through the air toward the tower.

In an electric flash, everything went silent. The sniper was either unconscious or dead, either way he wasn't causing any more trouble. Zen chuckled to himself as he strapped his guitar over his back.

“Let's go Zen!” Halo called, he and Gaiden had already reached the door to the prison building. Zen caught up with them as Halo was kicking the door down. The three of them walked inside and looked around. It was a big corridor with several jail cells on the opposite side of the door. Barely any of them were filled, only a few with all sleeping prisoners.

“Are we saving all these people?” Zen whispered.

“No,” Halo replied. “Only the fighters, we'll have to leave the others here to save later. We can't afford to save everyone just yet.”

They walked down the corridor until they came upon another door, a bigger door that was harder to break down. It took Gaiden's earth magic to force it down. Once on the other side, they were instantly attacked.

Halo had his katana out to block a blue-cloaked guard's initial strike, then Zen finished the guard by hitting him upside the head. The guard's sword fell to the ground with a clang, followed by his body.

“I was wondering where the guards were,” Halo said.

“They must've thought the sniper was guard enough for the normal prisoners,” Gaiden said thoughtfully. “But they needed an extra guard for these prisoners.”

Halo walked over to the only cell in the small room, “Yup, here they are.” There were six people all sleeping in separate beds. “Looks like these are reinforced bars,” Halo said examining the cell.

“Maybe you can break `em with your magic, Gaiden,” Zen said.

“No need,” Gaiden took the keys from the unconscious guard's belt and jammed them into the lock. With a twist of the key, the cell door unlocked and Gaiden pushed it open. All the fighters were still sleeping, but Zen fixed that. “GET UP EVERYONE! UP UP UP!” And everyone's eyes suddenly opened, a few of them jumped up out of their beds.

“Nice one Zen…” Halo said sarcastically.

“Who the hell are you?” A tall dark haired man asked.

“We're here to save you,” Halo replied. “All of you are fighters of Beogard, we need you to help save our land.”

“What's in it for me?” The man said. But someone else spoke up before Halo could reply.

“To save Beogard!” A young woman with long brown hair and glasses stood up from her bed and approached Halo. “I'll help out as best I can.”

“That's good to hear,” Halo said.

“I'm Pikaness,” the woman said holding out her hand. Halo obliged and shook her hand, she then leaned in closer to his ear and whispered, “Who's the mysterious guy?”

Halo looked over his shoulder and saw that Pikaness was referring to Gaiden… Duh… “Oh, that's Gaiden… He's not much of a people person though,” Halo said awkwardly. Pikaness giggled and walked over to Gaiden.

“Hi, Gaiden right?” She said.

“Yeah…” Gaiden replied unsure of where it would lead him.

“You're cute, you aren't involved with anyone are you?” Pikaness smiled.

“Uh… Um… I—”

“Why Gaiden?” Zen popped up and interrupted Gaiden, to his relief. “You should be asking about me,” Zen said as he flashed a big grin at Pikaness.

“I don't think so,” She said and walked away.

“Damn…” Zen cursed to himself.

“Alright, who's all here?” Halo announced. “I need to know your names, and where are your weapons? Hopefully they're here because we have none for you.”

“They're in the next room,” A tall Chinese man said. “I'll get them.”

“What's your name?” Halo asked.

“Yao Ming.”

“So I take it you'll help us fight?”

“You bet I will.”

“Good to hear,” Halo finished as Yao went into the next room to retrieve the weapons. “So who else is in? Otherwise we can just leave you here.”

“I'm in,” A brown haired man that wore all camouflage, Halo's age, stepped up. “I'm Tweek.”

“I guess I'm in too, name's Demial,” another brown haired man said as he stepped up to shake Halo's hand.

“Alright good,” Halo said. He looked at the last two remaining men, “What about you two?”

“What's in it for me?” The same dark haired man as before said.

“Didn't Pikaness already answer that? Don't you want to save Beogard? Or do you want to stay in here…?”

The man made a clicking noise before answering, “Alright I'm in.”

“Name?”

“Alpha.”

“Alright. And you?” Halo looked at the last man, who was shorter than everyone else.

“No I don't do much,” The man said with a shaky voice.

“You have to have some fighting skill, why else would you have been put in here?”

“Maybe they mixed me up with someone else… I don't know.”

Halo didn't buy that; there was something about him that separated him from any normal human. But what was it?

“Well your coming with us anyway,” Halo said. “We don't want anyone questioning you about what happened. What's your name?”

“Rhys.” The man said as he stood up from his bed. He didn't seem too shaken by the fact that he was leaving with a group of fighters wanting to free the land. But then again, he could just be planning to escape the prison and then leave the group later on.

Yao showed up with a cart with weapons piled on top. All the fighters who used weapons retrieved the ones that belonged to them.

A sniper rifle for Tweek, dual pistols and a sub machine gun for Pikaness (“Damn… That girl has got some real fire power,” Zen had whispered to Halo.) A short sword for Alpha, and a sword with a dark aura to it for Demial. Yao was the only one that didn't have a weapon; he preferred to use his fists instead.

Everyone was suited and armed, Gaiden - who hadn't spoken for a while - was the first to speak next, “If we're all ready now, we better get out of here before more guards arrive.”