The Demise of the Death Adder

by Kiwi Smoothie

Tyris Flare was running around outside being the regular, happy little child, picking flowers for her mother. She was an Amazon raised just as her mother was before her. She lived in a normal sized village with many other Amazon families.

Her long, almost blue, dark hair flew behind her as Tyris made her way through the village before she was late for dinner. Several adults waved and smiled to her as she ran by. Her family was very well known through several Amazon villages. Both her parents were mighty worriers and had won many battles for the Sznakae tribe and kept the land of Yuria safe.

She burst through the door to be welcomed by the fresh aroma of warm bread and stew. Her father, Isaac Flare picked her up by the waist and held her in a giant bar hug.

"Hi daddy! Look at what I brought for you and mommy!"

"Wow! Those are beautiful! Why don't we put them on the table for everyone to see?" As Isaac herded Tyris over to the table to put down the flowers and wait for dinner, Mariel Flare stood back and smiled. Life was so good. The village was safe, there was plenty of food, life couldn't be better.

Suddenly, a bell tolled, and took all attention away from whatever every single person in the whole village was doing to getting to the meeting house. ‘I wonder what’s going on? It must be extremely important for the elders to ring it at this time of day...’ Mariel thought to herself.

Mariel and Isaac jogged towards the meeting house along with every adult in the village, despite Tyris’ protests. Tyris was sent back home, being told that this was no time for arguments. She turned around, saddened to head back to the house. She turned back to say something to her parents, but to her horror, they were on the ground in a puddle of red liquid. Other Amazon’s ran about looking for the source of the arrows and whatever could be attacking them. Without
warning, a group fell to the ground, arrows sticking out of their backs.

Tyris screamed and ran into the nearest house. She sat in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest. Outside she could hear the screams of others and people running about. Suddenly, there was a faint, crackling sound. The house was on fire!

The smoke snaked its way through the door and found her in the corner. Before Tyris knew it, the whole hut was filled with smoke and she didn’t know which way out was!

As she lost consciousness, she saw the outline of somebody pick her up and carry her out of the hut.

*Ten years later*

“Stupid fire! Why won’t you just stay?”

An 18 year old Tyris Flare sat before a small fire trying to warm her hands before looking for more wood. She had to be careful though. Especially with little elven thieves around. They stole magic every chance they got. She stood slowly and turned around. She jumped back in surprise as a shadowy figure stepped out of the bushes.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“I’m just a lone traveler who would like some company for the night.”

“I don’t care for perverts. Get out of my sight,” Tyris retorted, and walked past him to get wood. “I said get lost!”

The man ignored her. “I heard that you’re out to fight Death Adder.” Tyris stopped dead in her tracks. Nobody said ‘his’ name out loud. The name sounded like pure evil and sent shivers up people’s spines. He was simply called ‘the emperor’.

“What’s it to you?” she asked, keeping her guard up in case it was a trap.

“I, also, am out for revenge. I ask that we may travel together. There is safety in numbers and we may be able to work together.”  The strange man lifted the hood of his cape to reveal a handsome face. His blonde hair was long for a usual man’s, but Tyris sensed this was no ordinary man. His blue eyes pierced hers and he continued.

“My name is Stephen Battler. I am from the far plains and the Barbarians. My mother was killed by Death Adder, as your parents were.”

Tyris was still uneasy about this intruder. “How do you know so much about me? Besides, I work alone.” She picked up some near by sticks and dumped them into the fire.

“Since I’m going to be your partner, I made it my business to find out as much about you as possible. And as of now, you don’t work alone.”

“Hey, listen you. Who gave you the right to barge in here, tell me that you’ve been stalking me, and then demand that you become my partner?!” She was getting frustrated with this guy, Stephen. Tyris stood up and walked over to him, her hands on her hips.

“First of all, I didn’t barge in. This is the middle of the forest.  Second of all, I didn’t demand that I be your partner. I TOLD you I would be,” he said calmly. Stephen brushed by Tyris and sat on a near by log. “So where are we headed tomorrow?” he asked coolly as he stretched out, trying to get comfortable.

Man, he knew how to frustrate Tyris. She was getting red in the face and clenching her fists by the time he was done speaking. How could he be so calm?! Tyris let out a long sigh of frustration. “I am going to Turtle Village tomorrow.”

“Great. I’ll go with you then.” Stephen said as he rolled over to go to sleep. Tyris let out a yell of frustration and gave up. She walked to the opposite side of the fire and laid down and went to sleep, making sure her magic pouch was safely tied to her side. It’s not that she didn’t trust Stephen, she just didn’t trust elves.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Tyris awoke early the next morning and began packing her few belongings, readying for the long journey ahead. She had been so exhausted from the night before, she had forgotten about Stephen momentarily. She jumped when she heard a voice behind her,

“Good morning, Tyris. I have already prepared my belongings and I caught something for breakfast.” Stephen held up several fish to Tyris as something of a peace offering. “Shall we eat them now or wait for lunch?”

“Gah! Don’t scare me like that! Can’t you announce yourself like a normal person?!” she yelled, as she blushed and wiped off her hands on her leather pants. I’ll start the fire and we can eat them now for breakfast. That sound okay?”

“Here. There’s no need for you to go collect wood,” Stephen said. He waved his hand over the small pile of sticks and a fire erupted.

Tyris’ eyes got as big as saucers as she asked, “You know magic? I didn’t think that Barbarians had the ability to handle it!”

“I’m not completely Barbarian. My father was Hylean. That’s where I got the ability. Do you know the magic?”

“Yes, I do. I don’t flaunt it as you do, though. I use it mostly for battle,” she replied wistfully.

“You have a quick tongue, don’t you? Always ready with a retort,” Stephen asked. As he roasted the fish calmly, he gave her a wink. Tyris blushed fiercely. “You aren’t as tough as you make yourself out to be, you know.”

“And who says that you’re not just a psychopathic guy wondering around the country side waiting for a challenge?”

Before Stephen had a chance to reply to Tyris’ sarcastic question, they were ambushed by a band of Death Adder’s soldiers!  Several were on green dragon Bizarrians and began to spit fire towards the two travelers while other soldiers came at them with clubs, ready to bash them into pieces.

Tyris jumped up and grabbed her sword from her hip, ready to fight. But before she had a chance to do anything, Stephen stood up and yelled, “Volcano Magic!! NOW!!!” Streams of fire came from the sky and began striking the evil soldiers with deadly accuracy.

Tyris stood still for a moment, trying to take in what she had just seen. Her mouth hung open for a few moments in awe. That was amazing. She had never seen magic like that before. The two green dragon Bazarrians had tried to run off during the attack, but had gotten themselves stuck in a near by bush by their reins. Tyris walked over, side stepping the crisp bodies, and grabbed them. She turned around and looked at Stephen.

"Um, don't you think it's about time to get going? I think we can skip breakfast for right now," she said nervously, not making eye contact. "We can use these Bazarrians."

"You're welcome," Stephen said with a slight, knowing smile on his lips.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A few hours later, the two traveling companions stopped for lunch. They still hadn't brought up what had happened that morning. Stephen thought it was about time.

"Don't you think it's a little odd how those soldiers knew exactly where we were? I mean, we were in the middle of the forest, and about to leave. And why would somebody think that two people were so much of a threat that they would send that many soldiers? The pieces just don't fit together! There's got to be a logical explanation for all this," he suggested while he packed up his dishes and prepared to sit back and relax for a moment. Tyris just looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she packed her dishes also.

"Well considering the fact that YOU found ME in the middle of the woods, they probably used the same tactics you did. But probably not as nicely. Some innocent family back there probably had their throats slit for the information," Tyris said with obvious contempt in her voice. She still didn't seem to trust Stephen completely, even after that morning. She pulled her long, almost unnatural looking black hair back into a braid and stared into Stephen's blue eyes coldly. The way her dark purple eyes contrasted to his blue ones was almost unsettling.

Stephen pretended not to hear the last part of what Tyris had said. She was already angry, stressed and there was no point in arguing with her over this. One of the things they definitely did not need right at this moment was for them to be angry at each other. Stephen grabbed his cloak, and took off his shirt to wash it in a near by stream. The sun was high in the sky and the heat was almost unbearable, and there was no point in even trying to get anything done.

Tyris was completely not prepared for that. Her eyes popped wide open when she saw Stephen. In plain day light, she could tell that Stephen was no ordinary man. He was tall, had very light blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and was very tan. Not to mention extremely muscular. Tyris noticed that right away.

Stephen sat down and began to wash his shirt, paying no attention to what Tyris was doing behind him. Tyris walked over and sat squatted down a few feet away, and began washing a cloak of her own. Stephen looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and went back to what he was doing. Tyris kept acting as if she were washing her clothes, and then quickly splashed a bit of water in Stephen's direction. He looked up quickly with a puzzled look on his face as to what that might've come from. It didn't look like it was from Tyris, because she was busy cleaning her things with no emotion on her face what-so-ever.

When Stephen went back to washing, Tyris aimed another splash towards him, this time with a little more water. This time she couldn't help but grin. Stephen looked up more quickly this time, but just saw the same, expressionless Tyris again. Even more puzzled, he went back to washing.

This time, Tyris almost soaked his arm, she splashed so much water at him. She almost cracked, but kept her poker face when he looked again. But this time when he looked back down, she couldn't hold it any longer. Stephen just looked too funny when he couldn't figure out what had happened. She burst out giggling uncontrollably, and had to put down her washing. Stephen looked up, bewildered. It didn't take him long to figure out why she was laughing.

"Oh! That the way you want to play it, eh? Well, I'll show you!" he exclaimed as he threw a handful of water at Tyris.

"Hey! What was that for?" she asked, innocently. "You realize now, that this means war!" she told him with a twinkle in her eye.

"Bring it on, little girl! I'd like to see what you can do!"

"Alright then, but don't say I didn't warn ya!" Tyris told him as she slowly turned her back on Stephen and slowly started to walk down the shallow stream. What Stephen didn't know was what she was planning to do, and that worried him. He knew that she was very unpredictable. He tiptoed after her, trying not to make a sound. Just as he got within a few feet of her, she quickly spun around and thrust her hands outward, creating a giant splash with her magic.

Stephen was caught completely off guard and was thrown on his back, completely soaked. He gasped from sudden cold of the water. He looked through the water running down his face to see the figure of Tyris, crouched down holding her stomach, laughing hysterically.

"Oh yeah?!? Well take this! Let's see how you like it!" Stephen yelled as he jumped up and grabbed Tyris by the waist and laid her down in the stream. Her screaming and kicking suddenly stopped as she took a deep breath and gasped for air. The cold water came as a shock to her. Tyris jumped up and started screaming again. She was about to create another magic splash, when Stephen stopped her.

"Shhhh, be quiet. Do you hear that? That soft pounding noise? It sounds like it's coming from that direction," he said, pointing to a far off hill. A look of recognition crossed his face and he ran to their things and started packing things up. "We've got to get out of here! Hurry! Pack all of your things up! We can't leave a trace, or they'll be able to follow us. Come on Tyris! This isn't a game! They're after us! We've GOT to get out of here!"

"Stephen? What's wrong? How do you know that it's even them? For all we know, it could be a band of traveling gypsies just passing through!" Tyris stood off to the side her hands on her hips, watching Stephen run about picking everything up.

"Do THEY look like peaceful gypsies to you?!?!" he yelled pointing to the far hill which was now covered with men on horses and Bizarrians, their war flags raised.

Tyris' eyes almost bugged at the sight. "Shit!" she cursed under her breath. This wasn't just a small amount band of the 'emperor' s minions. These warriors were the 'emperor's most trusted and advanced. She could tell from their garments and the fact that they were riding Swivler Bizarrians. Swivler Bizarrians are short green lizards with extremely long tails. These tails have dangerously sharp orange blades running up both sides. Swivlers rotate their bodies to smack their opponents with their tails. Not a good thing to make angry.

Stephen jumped up on his Bizarrian and brought Tyris' Bizarrian to her. "Jump on! We don't have much time! If we don't leave now, we won't get out of here alive!" Tyris looked up at him with a determined look in her eyes.

"I can't leave. Not just yet. I'm going to leave a little present for them.." she said as she turned and put her back to Stephen. She cast her arms up towards the sky, then slowly brought them down. She then thrust her arms out forward. The whole time, Stephen was looking at the quickly approaching army with great nervousness. He was getting paler by the second.

"Um Tyris? Shouldn't we-" he started to say, but stopped when he saw the intense look of concentration and pain on Tyris' face. A quick blast of purple and blue light came from her hands and seemed to create a wall of protection. But after a few seconds, it disappeared.
Suddenly, she collapsed to the ground.

"Tyris! Oh my god, Tyris!!" Stephen yelled as he jumped down from his Bizarrian and picked her up. He gently put her on her Bizarrian and started riding off in the opposite direction.

He looked back to see if the army was following them, but to his amazement, they had stopped and were looking about in confusion. The warriors of higher rank were shouting out orders to others, trying to figure out where they had gone. They were just stopped in the middle of the field as if they couldn't go on. Stephen didn't want to push his luck any further, so he took the reins of the other Bizarrian and his own, and rode off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Several hours later, after Stephen had taken them a fair distance away from where they had stopped at midday, he made camp and waited patiently for Tyris to regain consciousness. Throughout the whole night, he remained by her side. He left only to gather more firewood and to relive himself.

Suddenly, she began to stir. She then groaned and rolled over, rubbing her head. In a hoarse voice she asked,

"Where.. Where am I?" Stephen had been sitting on a log nearby and was close to sleep, but when he heard Tyris' voice, he jumped up.

"You're awake! Finally! What did you do back there? It was amazing! I mean-"

"Could you stop yelling? My head is killing me. And I believe I asked you a question first," Tyris said calmly.

"I think we're somewhere close to Turtle Village. You should really warn me before you pass out next time, okay? You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you were dead!" he was starting to sound like an over-protective parent. Tyris grinned, and sat up. "What? What's so funny! We could've gotten killed back there! And all you did was put off a fireworks display and pass out! I can't believe I even…" he started pacing and muttering about how he got himself into this mess and whatnot.

Stephen was starting to sound way out of character to Tyris. Only a day before, he was up tight and very proper. Now he was being very melodramatic about one battle. As if on cue, Stephen cleared his throat and regained his usual self-discipline. "So… Where do we head for tomorrow?" Despite her efforts to contain herself, Tyris burst into laughter. She couldn't stop laughing, and Stephen wasn't helping.

"What? What?? What'd I do? Tyris! Come on! Ahhhh!" he threw his hands in the air and gave up when Tyris began rolling on the ground, holding her stomach and laughing hysterically. "That's it! I am going to sleep," he grumbled.

Tyris sat up and sighed while wiping away a single tear. She hadn't laughed that hard in a very long time. She crawled over to where Stephen was laying on his side, his back to her. She quickly leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and said simply,

"Thanks for caring." She then crawled over to her sleeping pad and went to sleep. Stephen, meanwhile, laid awake with his eyes wide open.

'Wha- what? I- I.. Woah… Where'd that come from? I- Woah… That was nice...' he fell asleep with a half-grin on his face.



… To be continued (maybe)

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