~Chapter 2 - Hyena Riders~

"Are you sure you're okay, Corri?" Aero inspected his little sister's hand. Despite gripping a blade directly, she suffered no cut.

"I'm fine," Corri snapped her hand away. She looked at her brother and started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Aero asked.

"The guy hit you upside the head!" Corri burst into laughter, "And you just stood there! You didn't even jump out of the way!"

"Hey! That's not funny! It hurt!" Aero said while rubbing the top of his head.

The blonde-haired Jirro chided him, "You were being careless."

The boys were cousins. Both were twelve-years old born around the same time; Aero was only a few months older, while little Corri was a ten-year old.

After a brief rest, the cousins carried the wagon forward. Before the inconvenience on the bridge, they had just visited a town for supplies and trade and were returning home.

Aero and Jirro pulled their wagon past a modest town, one of few people, wooden stores and a couple buildings. A stable in the town housed several goats and one Labrador, all animals larger than typical Ralosians like them. People would commonly ride these animals for travel, though dogs were much more difficult to domesticate.

They passed by a small farm, where horses grazed on the land. The largest of the horses usually only came up to an adult's hip. People were quite fond of them as pets.

The wheel locked up on the wagon. Rather than fix it, the boys saw it as a challenge. They continued to pull it along as the lodged wheel grinded along the ground. They could've gotten some domesticated animal to pull the wagon for them, but their fathers thought it'd be good training for them to pull it themselves.

It was evening when the children left the grassy plains and began up the slope of the grey mountain ranges of Platt Mountain, leading to their home. They followed a winding path until they came to the area where their home lied, hidden amidst the mountains. It was built from stone with help from the Densius who lived nearby.

It was a humble abode. Most would consider it odd to live in such a reclusive place, but the children had only known homes like these.

Jirro and Aero pulled the wagon along the grey stone, eager to see their fathers. But when the children rounded a corner, they saw their home was terribly damaged, with chunks of it scattered around.

Corri hopped off the wagon, "What happened here? Where's dad?"

The children found no one inside the house. One of the walls of the home was completely blown out, with bricks and stones scattered about. From the way the bricks fell, it appeared as if the house was smashed through from the inside.

"I think there was a fight here," Jirro commented.

"Do you think your dad and ours got into it?" Aero asked, but after a moment, he rescinded his question, "No, if they fought, there wouldn't be anything left of the house."

"Let's look around, I'm sure they're close," Jirro said.

The children split up and searched the surrounding area. Aero and Corri checked on the plateau which served as a training ground for them. There were several rock pillars which had been split in half by their dad, but there was no sign of him. Jirro checked with the Densius living on the mountaintop, but they hadn't seen his father either.

The three descended the mountain's winding trails hoping to find them further down. The sun was setting when the children heard voices in the mountain with them.

"You swear you saw them head this way?" A stern yet youthful voice asked.

"Yeah! The kids headed up this mountain, Temp."

The three children ducked down and listened for the origin of the voices. Jirro began to climb the rocky surface of the path they were on up to a higher vantage point. He peered over and three saw three hyena riders traveling through a parallel path.

Jirro beckoned to his cousins while placing a finger to his lips for them to stay quiet. They recognized two of the hyena riders as those men they met on the bridge. But the third was a Mecarne, a being with an imperviousness to heat and cold, and metal-looking flesh. This one had a purple tint to his skin, and the setting sun bounced off his reflective body. He was tall, slender, and hairless, with sharp and narrow eyes.

"He looks mean," Corri whispered.

"Maybe this guy messed up our house?" Jirro posited.

Aero nodded, "I'll ask."

"You'll ask?"

Aero jumped from their elevated point down in front of the three hyena riders. Jirro and Corri scampered down to him.

The Mecarne atop a hyena stopped and looked at the kids before turning to his allies, "Are these the kids?"

"That's right Temp! That one up front threw my hammer in the river!"

The Mecarne, Temp, let out a sigh, "We've been looking for you kids."

Aero stepped forward and pointed his finger at the Mecarne, "Is that why you destroyed our house?"

Temp raised his brow, "... I don't know anything about that. I know you have something that belongs to us though."

Aero let his arm drop, and the three kids looked between each other, "We do?"

Temp rolled his eyes, "Don't play dumb kids. Just tell us where it is, and we'll leave you alone. I'd rather not call in the big man."

Jirro snapped at him, "We don't have anything of yours!"

Temp led out a beleaguered breath, "Oh well. I guess we gotta do this the hard way."

Temp reached down for a hollowed-out horn hitched to the side of his hyena and brought it to his lips. He blew into it, and a loud call reverberated through the mountains around them.

"You better get moving kids," Temp said with a sneer.

Soon, a crowd of additional hyena riders started down the trail they were on. A stampede of them. Jirro couldn't quite count how many were grouped together.

Aero raised his fists, "Think we can take em?"

"I-I'm not sure," Jirro added, eyeing the nearing group.

"I don't want to find out!" Corri said, "We need to go!"

"Where?"

"The top of the mountain with the Densius! If we make it there, we'll be safe," Jirro said, "Let's go!"

Jirro turned, and broke into a sprint up the mountain, and his two cousins followed. Temp and those with him started on their hyena's after them.

The kids ran as fast as they could through the winding trails of the mountains, using their great strength to move at speeds beyond what a normal person could do. But as fast as they were, Hyena's were faster.

A hyena rider tailed Corri, its rider reaching out to try and grab her. He took hold of her shirt, but she wouldn't be taken so easily. She threw her elbow into the man's chest, knocking him cleanly off his hyena. She rolled to the ground and broke into a sprint, keeping pace with the two boys.

On parallel paths beside theirs, other hyena riders ran. Jirro knew there were intersections in the paths that they'd try to cut them off at. So as he ran he picked up small stones and tossed a few to his cousin.

"Throw these at them when they come!" Jirro shouted as they ran, his blonde hair blowing back as he went. Aero nodded and began to pick up his own stones.

Just as expected, he saw a group of four hyena riders had formed up ahead of them. Jirro juggled one of the stones in his hand before tossing it hard in their direction. The little rock struck true and hit one of them in the forehead, and they fell from their hyena.

Aero and Jirro threw a flurry of stones, knocking all of them from their mounts. They reached them without incident. Corri stuck out her tongue and blew raspberries at them as she passed them.

The kids ran past their demolished home and kept moving, knowing they were near the Densius's settlement. But before they could reach the top, an especially large Hyena pulled out in front of them. One mounted by a rotund man with a hand-shaped scar on the left side of his face, and an axe slung over his back. Aero chucked a rock at this man's belly, but he didn't seem to notice. The kids stopped in their tracks as several other hyena riders circled behind them. The sun fell beneath the horizon.

The rotund man standing before them smirked, "Remember me?"

"Not really," Jirro snapped back.

The man's smile disappeared, "You better. I'm Ekor. The man you made the mistake of stealing from. Now give it back."

Aero asked, "What're you talking about?"

"An unnaturally strong kid wearing a mask snuck into our camp a few nights ago and stole our orb. We had people bidding on that trinket! Are you going to tell me that wasn't one of you kids?"

"Yes! We have no idea what you're talking about! That wasn't us!" Jirro shouted.

"Stop lying. Just tell me where it is. I really don't want to hurt some kids."

"And we don't want to hurt you," Aero countered.

A laugh circulated among the hyena riders.

"We're serious," Jirro added. "Some of you have already seen how tough we are. Do you really want to test that?"

Ekor chuckled and stepped off of his hyena, "You're funny kid. Y'know, I'm feeling generous tonight. If you brats can knock me over, I'll let you keep that orb. If not, you'll stop being difficult and give it back."

Aero and Jirro glanced at each other and smirked, "Deal."

Little Corri fidgeted behind them, "But we don't have the orb!"

"Doesn't matter. We just need to beat this guy up," Jirro remarked.

Ekor leaned back and placed his hands on his hips, "Let's see what you got brats."

Aero darted forward, wound back his arm, and threw his fist into the rotund man's belly.

It landed... but nothing happened. Aero threw a few quick jab's to Ekor's stomach, but they were equally useless.

"Nice try," Ekor grinned. The man picked Aero up by the shirt and threw him at Jirro. The two boys collided and fell to the ground.

Ekor looked to Corri, "How about you missy? Want to give it a try?"

Corri was frozen in place, too afraid to move. Meanwhile, Aero and Jirro were struggling to stand.

"Well would you look at that? I won our bet!" Ekor said heartily, then his demeanor suddenly shifted, "Now where's that orb?"

"We-we really don't have it," Corri quivered in place.

Ekor pulled the great axe off his back, brandishing it forward, "We made a deal. Now what is going to take for you to cooperate."

Jirro used all his strength to try and stand up, but couldn't manage it. As he looked up at Ekor and his surrounding bandit crew, his heart quickened. For the first time in his life, he was truly terrified.

"Don't hurt them!" A voice came from behind the children. They turned and saw a hunched-over old woman in dirty white robes. She was accompanied by a brown-haired young man in similar garbs. Corri's eyes seemed to linger on him. The two passed by the children. Jirro couldn't help but wonder they came from.

Ekor grimaced and raised his axe towards them, "This doesn't concern you."

The young man spoke defiantly, "You're going to leave them alone."

"Temp, take care of them," Ekor commanded.

From the ranks of bandits emerged the Mecarne Temp. He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder, "If you know what's best for you, you'll get lost."

The young man's mouth curled up slightly. He gripped Temp's arms, skillfully rolled Temp over his shoulder, and flipped him onto the ground with a thud.

Ekor swung his axe over his head, bearing its full weight down towards the young man.

The old woman's posture straightened. Her movements became blurred as she rushed in front of the axe. She caught the axe in her palm, appearing completely unhurt by it.

Jirro could hardly believe it. That axe would've cleaved him in half, but this old woman withstood the full might of it.

The old woman readied a fist and punched the air between her and Ekor. A light burst from her hand and Ekor recoiled back as if the punch had hit him. He staggered, toppling over onto his back.

"Emil! Grab the boys! I'll get the girl!" The old woman said with great strength in her voice. The young man, Emil, promptly picked up the exhausted Aero and Jirro. He jumped several meters into the air over the bandits, down the mountain. The old woman picked up Corri and did the same, jumping further and faster.

Emil and the old woman jumped through the air, descending the mountain with great speed while carrying the children in tow. Jirro could feel his consciousness fading as he was carried along by these strangers.