by Thuan Nguyen
Anton strode calmly past them. Perhaps because he was so relaxed and fearless, none of the soldiers thought to capture him. They just watched him, unsure if he was the man they were looking for.
“Maruska,” said Anton.
The fair red-headed maiden, who was joyfully skipping down the road, froze.
Then she turned around.
Urgh, thought Anton to himself, as if he just got punched in the chest, She’s too beautiful.
Indeed, in the moonlight of Firgenduke, the very same moonlight he had gazed upon her many years ago, she looked once again like the Maruska he’d loved.
He walked up to her and without even thinking, took both her cool, delicate hands in his and stepped in close to her.
(By this stage, all the soldiers and Four-tooth were mesmerised. All thoughts of capture were gone and they were transfixed on the scenes unfolding in front of them.)
Maruska looked into Anton’s eyes, unblinking.
“Anton…” she said.
Anton would have loved to wrap his arms around her, but a strange feeling inside him he had to do something more important. He went down on one knee. Then it occurred to him, that this might confuse Maruska and make her think he was proposing to her, so he put down the other leg too, so now he was kneeling on both knees.
“I came to Firgenduke,” he said, “To beg you to please cure my wife, Ginessa.”
It went all quiet.
As Anton looked up at the beautiful Maruska, with the Firgenduke starry night sky as a backdrop for her head, he could see her heart being crushed once again. Once again, by him. Her fingers withdrew from his hands; they slithered out like cold snakes. Anton saw a tear drip off her cheek, illuminated by the moon.
Just then, there was a mood breaker.
The door to the tavern opened.
“And then we ate the canteloupe and I said to the guy, that’s why you can’t elope!”
It was Javier, followed by the Three Sisters.
“Men!” said Javier, “It seems our prey has slipped through our fingers! We must find him or the King will have our heads! Two of you, go back inside the tavern and search it more thoroughly. We are looking for a big man, with a red robe. The rest of you, we will split up. Look for him. If you see Lena or Clarence, I want them arrested for helping a man wanted by the King! And I told you Frank to stop playing with your yoyo on duty! It makes us look unprofressional!”
One of the Three Sisters, the blonde named Arisa, tapped Javier on the shoulder and said, “What did you say Anton was wearing again?”
“A blood-red robe,” said Javier, “Why?”
“You mean a bit like that?” she pointed to Anton, who was standing before Lady Maruska.
“Yes, yes, exactly that colour,” said Javier, “Now men! Let’s split up and oh my gosh he is standing right there. That’s him. Yes it definitely is.”
Anton now went down on his hands and knees and pleaded to Maruska once again. “Please, Maruska. You can do anything you want to me. But please help me cure my wife.”
Javier came to his senses.
“What are you waiting for men! Capture him! Swarm! Surround him! Flank him! Do not let him escape!”
Chapter 9
Four-tooth saw that his new friend was in trouble, so he instantly and instinctively got up and ran towards where the action was. He had never been the strongest or the most skilful in a fight, but he always helped a friend in need. By the time he reached the escalating confrontation, the honour guard had done some impressive manoeuvring and had somehow surrounded Anton, whilst keeping Maruska out of the circle of imminent harm; a bit like separating the yolk from the egg white.
The leader of the Honour Guard, a rough looking man with a scar that ran down his left cheek spoke.
“Greetings, my name is Stilton. We are the Tuscan Honour Guard.”
“Hurry up and capture him!” said Javier.
“Fine,” said Stilton, “You are under arrest. Surrender and come peacefully and we will do you no harm.”
“I will not surrender,” said Anton, “I am here to save my wife. I have no quarrel with you, so please-“
“Hurry up!” interrupted Javier.
“Hey! You’re not the boss of me!” said Anton, “Anyway, I will not be surrendering, I do not have time to be captured. I would advise you all to put down your weapons and stay out of this.”
“You leave me no choice,” said Stilton, “Men! Hap-Sing Attack Number Eight!”
The Honour Guard all began to move, except for one; his name was Grotto.
“Wait! Wait!” said Grotto, “Which one was that again?”
“The one where we all twirl around and then Gary does the cool leapfrogging thing over Benson’s back and you run underneath Tindamere’s legs and do a roundhouse kick to Anton’s face,” said Stilton.
“I can’t do that one, I haven’t practiced it enough yet,” said Grotto.
“You are an Honour Guard! You should know this! This is embarrassing!” said Stilton.
“I’ve only been an Honour Guard for two days! Can we do an attack that I know?”
“How about the Blazing Tornado attack?”
“I don’t know that one either,” said Grotto.
“Thunder number two?”
Grotto shook his head.
“So which attacks do you actually know?” said Stilton.
“I know Basic Attack Number One. Basic Attack Number Two, I could do in a pinch.”
Stilton sighed and said, “Okay, Basic Attack Number One guys!”
The Honour Guard charged at Anton.
Anton spun around once and with a flurry of kicks, sent Honour Guard tumbling backwards into the ones behind them, a bit like a strike in ten pin bowling.
Well, almost a strike.
There was one Honour Guard left standing; The one with the yo-yo
Frank.
He stared at Anton coolly. He began to whirl his yo-yo around in a wide arc.
“Prepare thyself, for you will be the very first opponent I fight for real with my revolutionary yo-yo-fu.” He looked at the yo-yo spinning in a circle.
“Revolutionary…” and he winked at Anton, “Get it? Oh, I love puns. Anyway You will go down in history, But first, well you will just GO DOWN!”
Frank swung his arm back and then quickly flicked it forward.
Anton watched as the yo-yo flew around in a circle, came back and hit the Frank in the head, knocking him out in the process.
Now all the Honour Guard were on the ground. A bit like getting a spare in bowling.
“I guess you don’t need my help,” said Four-tooth, who had been standing nearby.
“It seems to be under control for the time being,” said Anton, “But thank you.”
Javier was trembling with rage now. This Anton had made his best men look like fools!
“Gwendolyn!” he barked, “I need you and your sisters to apprehend this man!”
Gwendolyn nodded, and then her two sisters fanned out from behind her and now the trio stood side by side.
“My name is Gwendolyn and these are my two sisters, Abigail and Arisa.”
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Anton DiManlen. I have no wish to fight you.”
“That’s too bad,” said Gwendolyn, “Because we wish to fight you.”
Chapter 10
"Anton DiManlen," said Gwendolyn, "So finally the day arrives when I get to face the infamous Iron Snake. We shall see if the Three Sisters can defeat the man who defeated the King's Champion."
"I have no quarrel with you," said Anton, "It is best you back away now, or else please pardon my impoliteness."
Gwendolyn laughed. Without turning to look at her two sisters, she merely said one word.
"Attack."
Like lightning from a thundercloud, Arisa and Abigail shot forward.
Anton saw a blade, the longsword, coming towards him, so he cartwheeled out of the way.
It ha
d begun.
The next few moments were a blur. Anton was moving on pure instinct and reflexes. Dodging this, stepping here, stepping there. He knew he would need a weapon to fight these girls, so he dashed over to a sword that was lying on the ground near one of the defeated Honour Guard.
CLANG!
He had picked up the sword just in time to block a ferocious attack from Abigail and then back flipped to avoid another strike from Arisa's spinning staff.
Then he saw a shadow appear above and he rolled to the side, just as Gwendolyn landed where he'd been standing, both her daggers slashing down through the air like a pair of snake's fangs.
"You move pretty quick," said Gwendolyn, "For an old man."
"You fight pretty well," said Anton, "For a babe."
The Three Sisters slowed down to a pause; Gwendolyn raising her eyebrow at that comment.
"I mean babe as in 'young'," said Anton, "Not as in 'hot'."
"Ah," said Gwendolyn.
"Although you girls are all fairly attractive," said Anton.
The four combatants looked at each other, not quite sure where to take this next.
Maruska cleared her throat and then said, "Anton, I just want you to know, I am leaving now. I have wasted far too much time thinking about you and plotting against you. I need to start living my life. A life without you in it. Goodbye."
And with that, Maruska turned and began walking away, in a slow, melodramatic, deliberate pace. It was nighttime, so she couldn't walk off into the sunset, but had it been about that time, she surely would have headed off in that direction.
"Maruska, no!" said Anton, "You must help me cure Ginessa! Please!"
He began to run after her but this momentary distraction caused him to lower his guard for a split second. Which was just enough time for Arisa to...
"Anton!" shouted Four-tooth, "Watch out!"
But it was too late.
Arisa of the Three Sisters was a master of needle throwing. In a single swift movement she had pulled out three poison needles from her belt and flicked them towards Anton. All three of them struck him in the back of the neck.
Anton stopped suddenly. It felt like he had been bitten by something. A tingling sensation spread from his neck and travelled throughout his entire body. He began feeling weak, and his body went numb and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
End of Volume 3
Thank you for reading! I hope you are enjoying it! The story will continue Volume 4!
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