Chronicles and Stories of a Melted Heart

Description: Unlike the previous parts of the Dream Weaver, this part will start to where the part 3 has ended. This part will show the deepest challenge that Mhart has to conquer. This is the longest part of the series. And maybe, part 5 will be long also. If you liked the Part 1, 2, and specially, the part 3 of the Dream Weaver, hope you will like this one too. So, let’s begin the story!

Almost 3:00 in the afternoon, Mhart already had a couple of bottles of beer, and cigarette filters scattered all over him. Still, he’s affected of a friend lost in a battle that he blames himself for what happened. The calm breeze of the cold wind seems like he is being embraced by it. Looking at his sword, words utter softly from his mouth saying, “If you can kill, you can indeed save lives”. He is like talking to his sword, unimaginably waiting for it to tell him that it’s not his fault.

Minutes have passed; Mhart stood up, lifted his sword and jumped to the stacks of boxes below the terrace. He walked slowly away from home, with his sword on his shoulder. After several steps, he gave a quick last look to their house. With no idea of where he will go, he continued to walk with his head down, feeling sympathy to himself.

Way back home, all of them realized what Janine had said, and continued to move on with their lives. Everyone wears a smile that merely looked like nothing tragic happened to them. Rick, who is sitting on a chair of their dining table, noticed that Mhart is not around and said,

Rick : I haven’t seen Mhart for a couple of hours now. Does anyone of you know where he is? It’s been a week, there could be any mission for us anytime now, tomorrow or maybe next day, so we must chill and be ready for anything to happen.

Rose : I saw him upstairs a while ago. Maybe he’s having his “Time Alone” again.

John : Really? Wait here, I will check on him upstairs.

John hurriedly ran upstairs. He knocked a couple of times on Mhart’s bedroom door. No one answered. He’s thinking that he’s maybe asleep. So he slowly opened the door and had glimpse on Mhart’s room. He saw nothing, so he makes his way into the room, looking sharply at each and every corner of the room but Mhart is not there. He continued to the room’s terrace, slowly opened the door while calling Mhart’s name. But he saw nothing but beer bottles and cigarette filters. The terrace is like a mess, making him think that he’s been drinking for hours. He looked for Mhart from east to west, but he still saw nothing. So he immediately makes his ways downstairs to tell them that he’s not in his room.

Chris : So John, have you called on Mhart to join us here?

John : He’s not in his room.

All : What!?

Janine : Maybe, he just went outside to be refreshed.

John : Refresh? With a couple of beers and cigarettes scattered around his room’s terrace? That’s insane!

Rose : We must not worry, he’ll be back any minute now.

(Ivan smiled crossed his arms and chuckles)

Rick : Why do act like that? You and Ivan seemed calm. Aren’t you worried about Mhart?

Ivan : We knew Mhart for years. He is not like the scumbags scattered around Dehi City who wastes their lives for nonsense. Don’t worry, he’s just around.

Kristin : How sure are you? Danger is just around also. We must not be sitting here, waiting for nothing.

Rose : Just calm down everybody. Maybe he just wants to rest from the devilish spirit of the liquor he drank.

Janine : But … never mind, I’ll go outside for a moment and look for him. You can’t blame me to be worried about him this much!

John : That’s insane Janine, you must not go outside alone!

Rick : John is right. I’ll be the one to check on him.

Rick makes his way outside of the house. He looked to his left and right, but still, no sign of him. He tried to run to city’s central area, even the common places in Dehi City, but still, he found nothing. It even took him more than 2 hours, just looking for him. Because of his tiredness and giving up in finding him, he just decided to go back home. When he finally got home, he saw Ivan and Janine waiting outside of their house.

Janine : Have you seen him?

Rick : I’m sorry, but I failed to find him.

Ivan : Like what I have said, you must not worry, he’ll be back in no time. All we have to do is to wait for him.

Janine : You can’t blame me to worry about him!

Rick : We know that Janine. I am worried too, but I calm myself and stick my trust to him that he will come back.

Ivan : Rick is right. Let’s just go inside and have a little bit of fun and let’s chill for some time while he’s away.

The three of them went inside of their house to rest and wait for Mhart to come back home. Rick told them that he found nothing, not even a single sign of Mhart. Hours passed, but still, nothing happened regarding Mhart. Everyone had nothing to do but to worry if he’s fine.

It’s already 11:00 in the evening. Everyone decided to rest except for Janine. She cleaned the mess in Mhart’s terrace. Tears start to fall from Janine’s eyes, thinking if Mhart will return or not. She sat on a chair, and stared at the dark sky full of stars. From Mhart’s door, Rose is looking at Janine, thinking of what is she doing, if she’s alright and most of all, she feels like that because she still have feelings for Mhart. Several questions played in Rose’s mind regarding Janine and Mhart. With feeling of being hurt, worries about Mhart, and confusion about Janine’s feelings, Rose just made her way to her room, with her head down and tears that start to fill up her eyes.

By 10:00 in the evening, they have no idea that Mhart returned. But he didn’t show himself up; instead he sits in a branch of a tree of about a hundred meters away from their house. This is Mhart’s favorite place to rest but now, he stayed in that tree to guard them throughout the night and check if they are fine, specially Janine, which he worries much though they have already killed Andrew and Arckin Drake who wanted to kill Janine before. By that time, 10 minutes passed 11, in that distance from their house; he can see Janine, sitting in his room’s terrace. He can see that she is lonely but without the idea that he is the reason why they are all worried and lonely.

Another hour had passed, Mhart saw Janine stood up and went inside. But he stayed for another hour, making sure that all of his friends are fine and out of danger. When no danger lingers in their house, he decided to leave so that they will not see him. But before he did, he slipped a note under their door saying:

“Don’t worry about me, I’m alright.”

-Mhart

5:00 in the morning, the sun starts to shine, and a peaceful night passed them. John is the one to get up first. As he makes his way downstairs, he noticed a piece of paper under their door. So he ran hurriedly and picked up the piece of paper that Mhart left. The letter that he had read wiped away his worries about Mhart. He placed the paper on the tabletop, and he made a coffee and he sat on a chair staring at the paper while sipping his hot coffee. 30 minutes passed, Rose, Janine and Kristin are finally awake. John showed them the letter that he saw. The three of them were all calmed by the letter from Mhart. But they are still puzzled if where he is now.

While waiting for the others to wake up, they had a small talk about Mhart and what they know about him. 8:00 in the morning, a gentle knock on the door broke their moment of talk, John opened the door, and an unusual man handed him a letter. He seems to be worried about this man, who doesn’t even look like a postman or a messenger. After handing him the letter, the weird looking man left immediately. John opened the envelope and started to read what the letter says.

To Mhart Winds,

You and your friends are in a mission to

take over the Algean Forest where a Group of

Killers hide. Their leader is Damian Mock. I

will not give any other information other than

Algean Forest is located 10 kilometers west of

Dehi Small Town. I know you know that place.

It’s just west beside Dehi City. You must be

there before 8:00 in the evening. Goodluck

Mr. Wilson

John : That’s what is written in this letter.

Rose : We must wait for Rick to wake up. We must consult this first to him.

Janine : Another mission? But Mhart isn’t around!

Kristin : We can take over the mission without him. But still, I admit that it’s a big loss if he’s not around.

John : Yeah, indeed, I agree with you.

After 30 minutes, Rick finally woke up and so is Ivan. So John handed Rick the letter that they got. Even Rick had a doubt that the letter cannot be trusted. But as respected assassins, which he thinks that they are the replacement for the former jobs of the 5 greatest Sword Warriors. So Rick agreed to accept this mission. Ivan requested them to have a serious talk about this matter. After moments of silence, while sipping their coffees, Ivan opened up a conversation regarding the mission and Damian Mock.

Ivan : Honestly guys, this Damian Mock could be our greatest rival for now.

Rick : How can you say that? We have defeated most of the notorious gangs and groups. Though we have lost someone, we still became victorious. So don’t worry, we can still accomplish this mission.

John : He’s right. (Others nodding their heads as sign of agreeing to what Rick said) Now that we have proven our potentials and our strengths, what are we suppose to fear now? We’re great amongst the greatest.

Ivan : Yeah, I have no doubt with that matter. But do you know the 5 greatest sword warriors well?

Kristin : Of course we do! If we will base it on experiences, they’re like our ancestors. They’re legends!

Rose : And we’re proud that Mhart, our friend is THE YOUNGEST LEADER OF THE 5 GREATEST SWORD WARRIORS. Am I right?

Chris : Agreed! It’s like, you can’t be a leader if you haven’t proven anything that’s why Mhart is someone to be adored and idolized.

Ivan : Remember Mr. Biggs? The one who ordered to kill the 5 Sword Warriors?

All : Yeah …

Ivan : This, DAMIAN MOCK, is the leader of the Algean Assassins. They were called such because they were living in the Algean Forest, but with no idea of where it really is located.

Rick : That’s it? We can take over them!

Ivan : This is very difficult to say.

Chris : Go on and say it!

All : He’s right!

Ivan : Alright … Alright! They were the ones that Mr. Biggs hired to kill the 5 Sword Warriors. They are composed of 2 ranged warriors and 3 short-ranged warriors. And Mhart is just lucky to survive them.

All of them were in silence to hear what Ivan have said. All of them seem to worry much more about Mhart now, now that they have known that these people are the ones who once defeated the greatest warriors ever known in Dehi City and so are the other places. They can’t hide the fear that they are feeling now. But as warriors, they must not fear them. For it’s better to die with honor and valor than to die a loser.

Rick : We must not fear! We are the ones who were chosen to continue the legacy of the 5 greatest Sword Warriors with Mhart as our inspiration to defeat enemies. We must not always depend on him, we are warriors also. We must know how to trust your abilities and what you can do as a warrior.

John : That’s true. Mhart once told me that also.

Kristin : So, we’ll do it?

Chris : And what’s your plan now?

Rose : (whispering) How I wish Mhart is here …

Janine : Are you saying something Rose?

Rose : Nothing! I just said that, Rick must decide about that matter.

Rick : We must not rush this. I will plan this matter well. I’ll tell you what I have decided after we have our lunch.

They all feel that the letter is not for them or even came from Mr. Wilson. But they believed in it, for they know that as hired assassins and gunmen, they must follow orders. This situation made Rick to think of anything possible to do for them to accomplish this mission. Hours have passed, after taking their lunch, Rick became so silent. When all of them are done and seated, while Janine takes care of the chores, Rick finally had spoken.

Rick : This is what came into my mind.

Ivan : Is this about your game-plan? Take note Rick, our next rival won’t be easy to defeat. If they have annihilated the greatest warriors of Dehi City, what do you think can WE do?

Rick : I have thought of that a couple of times. So I have decided that we must all be in that mission. No one will be left behind. 5 of us are not enough. If we will not out-number them, we can be defeated easily. And besides, Mhart is not here.

Chris : So, what about Janine?

Rick : She will be left here.

Kristin : Are you sure? We don’t know if someone will attack her while we are away.

Rick : I know. But we have no other options. In this mission, we must all be there. It will be me, Chris, Ivan, John, Kristin and Rose. That will be a total of 6. If Mhart is here, I know he can be a 7-man team.

Rose : Of course. But do you think that we can defeat them if we are only greater in number by just ONE member? And Janine, can you take care of yourself?

Janine : Of course I can! Mhart have taught me several defensive fighting skills and how to use a gun when he’s just starting to be a warrior. So I think, I may not be a great warrior like all of you, at least, I can protect myself without making you guys worry.

Rick : That will be good to hear Janine. At least, we know now that you can be safe from now. Rose, trust us. Trust yourself. We are known great warriors after the 5 greatest sword warriors, so I have the confidence to say that we will accomplish this mission. So, are you with me or not?

All : Of course we are!

Everyone agreed with Rick. They will all go together even though Mhart is not with them this time. But still, there are no signs of Mhart around. It is already 3:00 in the afternoon but still, everyone is speechless, thinking of what worse may happen to them in their latest mission. They were sitting in their dining area; Rick is standing with his back laid flat on the wall. They are all silent and looking straight at the center of the table. After 5 minutes, a loud brag on the door broke their silence. The door fell to the floor and they saw Mhart in mid-air, wounded and looked like he suffered from a battle. He was thrown by an unknown man who was the cause of their door to be broken due to Mhart’s body hitting it hardly. They were all shocked that Mhart is gone for a long time and now, they saw him, wounded. They can’t imagine him being thrown by that or even defeated.

Unknown Man : You are still weak Mhart. You better not show yourself to us anymore if you still want to live. (laughter slowly fading while he walks away)

John and Ivan ran to the door and looked at the man who threw Mhart to their door. He was with 2 women and 2 men. They looked a bit like them wearing armors and weapons. Ivan recognized the stature of the man who threw Mhart and thinks that he looks familiar to him. They ignored the group of warriors and just focused their attention to Mhart. Questions to Mhart filled up the whole house. Mhart tries to stand up though he looked so tired and helpless, but he insists to be helped. He is like regaining strength, slowly walking towards the door and plans to walk away.

Janine : Mhart! You need to rest! You have wounds and you looked so awfully tired! Come back here!

Mhart : Never mind me. I’m fine!

Rose : (hurriedly stood up and shouted …) WE ALWAYS HEAR THAT THOUGH WE SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT FINE! ENOUGH OF THAT INSANITY MHART!

Mhart : I told you, I’M FINE!!! DON’T MIND ME!!! I AM NO HERO!!! SO PLEASE, LEAVE ME ALONE FOR NOW!!!

They were all stunned by the harsh words that Mhart said. Janine started to cry and Rose ran to her room crying. Mhart walked away due to shame of being seen by his friends, defeated and somewhat helpless. After several steps, he ran hurriedly, heading westwards. Ivan saw him and concluded that he wanted to take down those men. They slowly walked back where they are seated. John and Chris tried to fix the broken door. As they were seated, mixed emotions of anger, hate, sympathy and worries surrounds the ambience of their place. Kristin comforted Janine for she is still crying.

Kristin : What’s happening to Mhart? He seemed angry.

Rick : I don’t know either. For several hours, he is gone and now, he came back wounded and mad.

Ivan : I recognized the man who threw Mhart to our door a while ago. He looked familiar to me. I think that is Damian Mock.

John : That’s what I also conclude. Mhart is maybe after him.

Chris : I agree with you John. The times that he is away, he is maybe planning to take down those men alone.

Ivan : Now, you saw how powerful are those men? If that really is Damian Mock, how could we defeat them if they have defeated Mhart in their battle?

Rick : We have to be prepared. By 6:00 this afternoon, we will leave to Algean Forest.

Before they have prepared for their plan, they saw Rose walking down the stairs, wearing her tight red armor and several weapons. Before she reached the door, Ivan held her arms and prevented her from leaving the house.

Rick : Where do you think you are going Rose?

Rose : I’ll go to Algean Forest. I’ll help Mhart! He could be heading there by this time.

Ivan : You are not leaving without us Rose!

Chris : You saw how that man threw Mhart that easy? They have defeated Mhart easily, what do you think you can do to help him alone?

Rose : I just want the old Mhart back. The one who laughs with us, have fun with us and never leaves us!

Kristin : We all want it Rose! But we will do it together! You are not going anywhere without us! Will that be alright?

Rose : Alright. I’m sorry. I just can’t resist seeing him like that. I’m not used to it.

Rose seated with them and they waited for John and Chris to fix the door. After an hour and a half of waiting, they prepared for their mission to accomplish. Everyone wore their best armors and weapons of specialty. Janine stopped crying and joined them to prepare her armor and weapon to use for protection. 5:00 in the afternoon, they stood in line facing their house outside where Janine is standing in front of the door.

Rick : So Janine, we will leave any minute now. Are you sure you’ll be fine here alone?

Janine : Of course I am. I am fully prepared for anything. Just return here safely. Alright?

Kristin : Of course we will. After this mission, we’ll return home alive and safe.

Janine : That’s nice to hear. I’ll be expecting that.

After an hour of rest and waiting, they finally left the house and ran hurriedly to Dehi Small Town. They rest for 15 minutes there in a small store. All the residents’ eyes where looking at them, recognizing them as the greatest warriors of their time after the Sword Warriors. After drinking juices and colas, they immediately ran to Algean Forest. After almost an hour of running to the forest, they spotted torches surrounding an area in the forest. So they concluded that it is the hideout of Damian Mock’s group. In a not so distant area, they heard a striking of swords. So they slowly walked to where the noise is coming from. And they saw Mhart, battling 2 of the Damian’s group members; a 2 versus 1 sword battle. Rose aimed her gun at them but Rick prevented her from doing so. Rick never had a chance to stop John. John jumped out of the bushes and drew his sword.

John : A 2 on 1 sword battle is not fair. Why don’t we give it a try on having it a 2 versus 2 fair battles?

Lue Drake : Oh? So you want to die with him? By the way, before you die, I want you to know us. This is Damian Mock; I am Lue Drake, brother of Andrew Drake and son of Arckin Drake whom you killed before. And they are Alden Riff, twins Paine Mists and Prairie Mists.

John : Why should we know you if this your last day of existence?

Damian Mock : Pretty confident huh? We’ll show you no mercy!

John and Mhart looked at each other; nodded and attacked Lue Drake and Damian Mock. Swords stroked so hard that sparks lighted some spots in the forest. Rose, Rick, Kristin, Ivan and Chris finally showed up. Damian’s group was not so surprised with them. They expected them to come by this time. With no hesitations, several bullets flew at each other which started the biggest battle they will encounter. Rose and Kristin took care of the twins; Ivan helped John; and Rick and Chris attacked Alden Riff. They took several areas in the forest with the moon that lights the whole forest and only a few numbers of trees surrounding them.

Damian Mock : So, you still followed the letter that we sent you!

Rick : We expected that thing to be fake! So just shut up and fight!

So, it is now, Mhart against Damian Mock, John and Ivan against Lue Drake, Rose and Kristin against the twins, Paine and Prairie Mists, Rick and Chris against Alden Riff. They felt so energized and inspired to have this battle for they really feel that this will be their most difficult yet challenging battle ever. They kept a distance from each other to engage their own battles.

Alden is a dual-gun user. This will be fair for Rick and Chris to handle for they are also gun-users. Alden moved swiftly in the narrow-area of the forest where they have a little difficulty in attacking each other. Bullets flew around the forest. Though Rick and Chris are just against Alden, they had difficulty to hit him because he is moving swiftly and the trees block their area. As minutes have passed, several injuries from bullets made Rick and Chris suffer and had difficulty to cope up with Alden’s great fighting skills. This situation never weakened them from continuing the battle but rather, it strengthened them though they are already injured. Alden got confused when Rick disappeared and Chris is the only one visible and fighting him. Chris knows that Rick’s specialty is with sniping. So Rick climbed a huge tree and set up his sniper gun. Chris pretended to be tired and kneeled down to make Alden to stop from attacking him. Seconds passed, 2 bullets from Rick’s sniping area hit Alden in the chest and Chris started to shower him with several rounds of bullets. Alden slowly fell to the ground and Rick jumped from the tree. He gave a smile to Chris and rested for a while due to fatigue in their battle with Alden.

Lue Drake is a dual-weapon typed warrior. His right hand is holding a long normal sized sword and a multi-bulleted gun that seemed like a rifle in his left hand. This battle seemed too easy for Ivan and John because John is a two-handed sword warrior now and Ivan is a firearm specialist that uses multiple types of firearms. Ivan became twice as careful because John is a short-ranged warrior and he makes sure that he will not hit John. Lue is one of the greatest skilled warriors known for he fights in both long and short ranges. While John ravages his sword skills towards Lue, Ivan attacks Lue from distances. Though their battle is 2 against 1, they still had the difficulty to hit Lue. Like in the battle of Rick and Chris, Lue lost sight of Ivan that made him extra careful. With John’s rapid sword slashes, Lue got so tired that made him difficult to conduct offensive attacks. With a counter-attack blocked by John, Ivan jumped from the rear of John and fired multiple gun-shots at Lue that slowly kills him. As a final blow, John stabbed Lue that killed him and as John withdrew his sword from Lue’s body, Lue slowly fell to the ground. Lue was defeated that made John and Ivan to smile and with great joy, they rested for a while under a tree.

The twins, Paine and Prairie Mists were both assassin-typed warriors, both are yielding dual daggers. Kristin uses also that kind of weapon while Rose yields a thin dagger-typed sword and a big hand gun. Kristin had difficulty to battle with Paine for they both use the same kind of weapons while Rose got difficulty to fire her gun because Prairie never gave her the chance to have a distance and fire her gun. Rose seemed uneasy for having just a dagger to fight Prairie. As their battle was going on, they were paused for a moment for seeing Mhart slides towards their area where they were fighting. Mhart seemed so tired and weak due to great damages that he is suffering from Damian Mock. Rose and Kristin were too worried that they planned to run towards Mhart and see if he is alright but the twins prevented them from doing so. Mhart slowly stood up, looking so weak but still manages to stand up, positioned to a fighting stance and attacked Damian Mock once more. With the way they saw Mhart, Kristin and Rose were raged with anger that made them fight with all they’ve got. As Rose felt that Prairie will launch a powerful attack, she intended to allow her to launch it and she blocked Prairie’s attack using her dagger that made her being thrown away so hard. With that chance of distance and seeing that Prairie can’t block nor evade a gunshot, she fired her gun with all of the bullets that is loaded in her gun. Prairie got hit by her bullets that slowly killed her. With a chance of a close attack, Rose stabbed Prairie with her dagger. Though successful, she seemed so tired of the battle that made her fall on her knees. In Kristin’s battle, a rapid exchange of attacks swiftly disturbs the forest’s silence. She looked so tired and seemed to give up due to unbelievable fighting skills of Paine. As they paused for a moment, gasping for air, Kristin slid her daggers to her lower back and pulled the longer swords from her shoulders. Paine just laughed and thought that there will be no change in her strength or speed even if she will change her weapon. As Kristin seemed ready, they both moved swiftly and rapidly. From a small tree branch, Kristin pinned her sword to the trunk of the tree and pulled again her dagger and threw it to Paine. As the dagger is reaching Paine, she pulled her sword and jumped from the tree making her land at the back of Paine. With confusion, Paine blocked the dagger and she was too late to dodge her attack. Kristin landed on Paine’s back; stabbed her with her sword and slit her throat causing her to die. She looked so tired but still, though she is also wounded, she manages to smile and she rested, sitting on the ground.

Rose and Kristin were not so distant from each other. John and Ivan were almost a kilometer away from Kristin and Rose. And so are Rick and Chris who were all resting because of the harsh battle that they had encountered. Mhart, having a hard time to kill Damian Mock, is looking so tired now. Damian looked only a little bit tired. Mhart knows that he can’t expect for any help from his friends for he knows that they are all wounded and tired to help him. With only himself to depend on, he kept on fighting with all that he got.

Mhart : (gasping for air) Tell me Damian, who is behind your injustice killings!

Damian : Why should I tell you anything? We are just hired assassins like you! Who are paid to kill and show no mercy!

Mhart : We are never like you! I am once a member of the 5 greatest sword warriors, and even become a leader of them; but you are just hired to kill my kinsmen!

Damian : You know the fact that we are hired to kill, and you must bear that in mind, you pitiful assassin!

Mhart : I am never like you! You showed no mercy to them! How dare you!

Damian : You are no hero Mhart, neither to Dehi City nor to your friends! You must not act like one!

Mhart : I never treated my self as a hero! I do it for honor, for valor, for glory of being a warrior!

Damian : Your words are too heroic. And you speak like a great warrior, but you can’t even take me down! You’re just lucky to survive when we killed your kinsmen. And now, you still managed to attack us all by yourself? That is so stupid. Though we have already allowed you to live the first time you came, you still returned even if you are still weak! And again, your friends came to help you. If they didn’t come, you’ll be dead by now! Don’t always depend on how lucky you are boy!

Mhart : Maybe I am lucky, but you’re just unlucky to be unlucky!!! Take this, heartless demon!

Though Mhart feels so tired, he still has the will to continue and finish what they have started. He attacked Damian with his sword but he just dodges and blocks every attack he does. Damian yields a sword, almost the same as to what Mhart uses. With regards to speed, Mhart is a bit faster than Damian, but with skills and strength, they are almost equal but Damian is a bit more experienced than Mhart. But because of Mhart’s tiredness, he had difficulty to cope up with Damian’s strength. It became obvious that Mhart doesn’t have the chance to kill Damian. Once again, because Mhart blocked the powerful attack of Damian, he was thrown away again to where Rose and Kristin were. Rose held Mhart’s back and asked if he is just fine. Mhart didn’t answer her, and again, he tried to stand up and attacked Damian again.

For once gain, he was thrown away again. But this time, he can’t stand up anymore, though he tries so hard. With the chance of an easy attack, Damian confidently ran to attack Mhart. Meters before he can reach Mhart, Rose appeared from Mhart’s back and embraced Mhart without caring if she will be killed.

Damian : Don’t try to block the way woman! Or else, both of you will die!

Rose : I don’t care! I am willing to die with him!

Mhart : You don’t have to do this Rose! Get out of my way!

Mhart pushed Rose away and he still tried to lift his sword. But with unknown weakness he is feeling, he felt like he can’t even move a muscle. Damian aimed directly at Mhart. Before Damian’s sword reaches Mhart, Kristin appeared from nowhere and blocked Damian’s attack using her double daggers. She felt the strength of Damian and her daggers are slowly going down that wounded her shoulder. With the extreme pain that she felt, she shouted so hard that seemed like to shaken the whole forest. Rick, Chris, John and Ivan heard the loud voice that made them ran to where it came from. Kristin can’t hold on anymore and she is blocking the attack using just one dagger because of the wound that her left shoulder had. Mhart appeared from the rear of Kristin, using his sword, he lifted Damian’s sword and tried to move it away from Kristin.

Damian : Don’t you ever give up weakling?

Mhart : I am the one whom you must fight. Not my friends! You better get out of her way!

Damian : Get out of the way! I’ll finish her first. I hate interrupters!

Damian kicked Mhart away that made Mhart to fall to the ground. With the chance of an open attack, Damian aimed to stab Kristin. Rose appeared and tried to block Damian’s attack but Kristin pushed Rose away that made Damian to successfully stabbed Kristin directly to her stomach. Unsatisfied, Damian pulled his sword and slashed Kristin’s stomach that immediately killed her. She slowly fell to the ground and died. Rose ran hurriedly to Kristin body and started to cry. Seconds passed and the four men came. All of them saw that Kristin is already dead. With great anger, Chris stood up and tried to attack Damian but he was stopped by Mhart. Mhart unexplainably regained strength. Mhart gave a quick look at them and they saw that tears fell from Mhart’s eyes and said, “This is my battle, I am no hero but I will do this for revenge for Kristin death and my kinsmen’s death”. With great speed, Mhart hurriedly attacked Damian. Damian was shocked to see that Mhart had an incredible speed and strength though he saw him so weak minutes ago. Mhart continually attacks Damian that made Damian unable to block all of his attack that resulted to some wounds to Damian. With a great strength, Mhart gave an attack to Damian. Damian blocked the attack but because of the powerful force that Mhart has now, Damian’s sword was thrown away. Mhart picked up Damian’s sword and returned to attack Damian. He is now yielding two swords. Mhart attacked Damian unstoppably. Slashes filled up Damian whole body but he is still standing. For a final blow, Mhart went to Damian’s back. They are now back to back. Using the two swords, Mhart stabbed Damian from the rear. Slowly, Damian fell to the ground. Mhart is still not contented, he stabbed Damian’s back with Damian’s sword and was nailed to the ground and uttered the words, “Your sword will serve as your cross.”

Again, Mhart slowly fell to his knees due to tiredness. Chris gave Mhart a piercing look of anger while tears fall from his eyes, and slowly walked to where Mhart is.

Chris : Look! You have defeated that scumbag! Why would you allow him to kill my one and only love? Why did you allow Kristin to suffer this kind of battle if you can finish him that fast like what you did?

Mhart : I am no hero.

Chris : YOU ARE! You have saved us a couple of times. But why did you allow this to happen?

Mhart : I have accepted the fact that anytime, I will die in this battle. This isn’t what I want! Bear that in mind!

Chris : Accept? That you will die? Why did you allowed him to kill Kristin if you already accepted your death!!!

Rose : Don’t speak like that Chris! Kristin saved us! All of you don’t have any idea of what Kristin has done!

Chris : I have been silent for days. You don’t know that after we succeeded all of our battles, I will propose to her for a marriage. But you have ripped that dream I wanted to fulfill!

Rick : I know what you are feeling Chris and that also happened to me, remember? Forgetting is not a cure, it’s regretting what you have to do, and it is to forgive for it is the cure for letting go, PEACEFULLY.

Chris : It is easy for you to say Rick! I have set my mind. I will leave! And in my return, we’ll see who’s the greatest among us Mhart. I shall return to repay for Kristin’s life! I shall leave now! Don’t you ever dare to follow me or else, I will take away your lives also!

All : CHRIS!!!

They can’t stop Chris from leaving. Kneeling, Mhart pinned down his sword to the ground and started crying. The feeling of rejection, anger towards him, and a feeling of loss made Mhart to punch himself. But Rose ran to him and embraced him.

Rose : Stop it Mhart. It won’t do any better!

Mhart : I feel rejected! I feel worthless Rose! I am nothing but a disgrace to our group. I didn’t even successfully save her!

Rose : You tried! It’s just that she wanted to save us! We still have chances to move on. Don’t give up trying; for trying is much more worth doing than giving up.

Rick : We have to get going guys. If that’s Chris’ decision, we can’t do anything but to accept the fact that he isn’t a part of us anymore.

John : But he is our friend. How about the memories? The joyful days we had with him? We can’t just forget it easily!

Rick : I know it John! We must not forget it. If it is true that he will have revenge, let’s just accept it! For now, we have to go home and give Kristin a righteous burial.

Mhart : If he will return for a revenge, allow him. But this will be my battle. My Final Battle!

Rose : But Mhart…

Rick : Allow him Rose. If all else fails, we still must go on with our lives! Let’s return home now.

John, Rick, Ivan, Rose and Mhart made their way home. All of them feel so weak due to the battle they have had. Ivan carries Kristin body. Rose and John helped Mhart to walk. After an hour, they reached Dehi Small Town, west of Dehi City. They rented a cab to their home which is south of Dehi City. After another hour and a half to trip, they finally got home. Rick knocked on the door and Janine showed up. Janine started to cry when she saw what happened to Kristin.

Janine : What happened? And where is Chris?

Rick : It’s a long story. We will tell you after we rested inside.

Janine : Alright. I’ll be the one to heal your wounds.

So, all of them went inside. While Janine is treating Mhart’s wounds, Rick and Rose told her everything that has happened. Though wounded, John and Ivan brought Kristin’s body to a nearest funeral service. While Ivan is waiting for Kristin’s body to be embalmed and ready for a funeral in Dehi City’s church, John hurriedly went to the underground headquarters where Mr. Wilson is located to tell what happened.

After days of preparation and funeral, they buried Kristin’s body to where they have buried the body of Erin. All of them were in great sorrow for seeing their friends now at the cemetery. Just like before, everyone is speechless, quiet and reminiscing the moments they had together. They don’t have the idea that Chris is in the cemetery also. Meters away from them, Chris is looking and crying to what happened but still can’t forget the great sacrifice she has done. But the anger towards Mhart still lingers to his mind. He just stayed there for minutes and left. After they have buried her body, they all went home with Mr. Wilson to move forward and think that there will always be a reason for everything that has happened.

To be continued …

THE END