Empire of Monsters #2

"Where the hell are we?" Ling asked as they moved through the forrest using his sword to cut a branch out of the way.

"Supposedly somewhere along the way to your aunt's village," Sara said scratching her head as she looked around for the road they'd been following.

"I don't understand," Shyao said following behind Ling and Sara, "We've gone to her village dozens of times and have never gotten lost before, how could this have happened?"

Sara paused to look at the new map in her hands and froze begining to tremble looking terrorfied. Ling and Shyao noticed Sara's trembling and felt fear flood them, this little girl had slain a demon without batting an eye. Ling held his sword out defensivily eyes scanning the trees as he called, "Sara what's wrong!?!"

"I've just realized why we're lost and can't seem to find the road," Sara whispered trembling.

"What is it!?!" Shyao asked fearfully looking around, "Is it some demon leading us away from the trail to ambush us!?! A curse on the land!?!"

"No," Sara said trembling violently, "It's even worse!"

"What is it!?!!!" Ling and Shyao asked horrified.

"I've got the map!!!" Sara shouted mournfully, "I've been the one leading us!!!"

"B-b-but, d-didn't you s-say you were lost for nearly six years!?" Shyao asked.

Sara nodded tears pouring down her face as she whimpered, "Uh-huh."

"WE'RE HOPELESSLY LOST!!!" Ling roared clutching his head, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DRAG US ALONG!?!"

"Hey it wasn't my idea to drag you two along!" Sara shouted pointing her finger acussingly.

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"I'm Sara, nice to meet you!" Sara said as she stood over the fading corpse of the demon before her face twisted with curiosity and she asked, "Why exactly are you strapped to a pole?"

"Because I was to be sacrificed to the demon so that he'd keep bringing rains to my village," Shyao said.

"It's true Sara, you saved us," Ling said cutting Shyao's bonds, "If you hadn't showed up that demon would have ripped us to shreads and eaten Shyao."

"Who?" Sara asked sratching her had dislodging a few twigs.

"Me," Shyao said straigthening her clothes before bowing and shouting, "I am yours! Do as you wish!"

"Wha-!?!" Sara asked recoiling in shock.

"Shyao is right," Ling said falling into a deep bow of respect, "You've saved our lives where I failed to and you are now entitled to us! Use me as you wish!"

"Wait what's going on!?!" Sara asked waving her arms wildly looking franticly around as if looking to see if more were bowing to her.

"You have saved our lives!" Shyao and Ling shouted as one tears flowing down their faces, "We are honor bound to serve you until we can repay you!"

"B-b-b-but!" Sara stammered sweating, "I don't want any servants! I'm just trying to deliever my message as I've been entrusted to do! I release you from your honor thingy!!!"

"You can not!" Ling said straighting, "We have nothing in this village now! Shyao was a demon sacrifice and I fought to save her unsuccessfully! What little we have here is gone!"

"Isn't there someone else who can take you!?" Sara asked looking worried.

"Well I do have an Aunt in a nearby trade town," Shyao said, "Maybe she could take us in."

"Fine then just take me to the village and I'll dump you there," Sara said sighing with relief, "Where exactly is it."

"Right here," Shyao said pulling a rolled up map out from between her developing cleaveage, "If we follow this trail we'll be there in no time!"

"You keep a map of the local area between your breast?" Sara asked taking the map and looking over it.

"Among other things I might need," Shyao said with an innocent smile.

"You're wierd," Sara said looking over the map as she rolled it up, "Fine let's go!"

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"So don't you dare try and pin this on me!" Sara shouted, "If you'd just held onto your stupid boobey map we'd be fine!"

Don't call it that!" Sara shouted sounding indegnate, "Where I choose to store it has nothing to do with the item itself!"

"Will you two shut up for a second," Ling said cocking his ear to the East.

"What you say stick boy!?!" Sara demanded fire burning in here eyes.

"I said shut up!" Ling said, "I think I hear the ocea-!?!"

Sara leaped onto Ling driving his face into the ground before pausing and saying, "Oh, you're right! I do hear the ocean!"

"Oh this is good," Shyao said unrolling the map, "There's a river flowing past my Aunt's village and we can follow the beach until we reach the river!"

"Really let me see!" Sara said leaping off Ling who groaned softly.

"Not a chance!" Shyao said snatching the map away, "I want to remain in this country thank you very much!"

"Why you little-!" Sara growled clenching her hands into tight fist.

"Who are you calling little pip-squeak!?!" Shyao said blowing a rasberry at Sara who growled angrily.

"Come on you two," Ling said heading east, "let's get to the beach so we don't have to walk through this forrest any more."

Ling walked off before Sara watched and turned to point her finger threateningly at Shyao growling, "Just remember that I can easily kill you any time you prissy little sacrifice!"

Such language from such a young child! Shyao thought gasping in shock.

As Sara stomped east she soon saw a clearing in the trees and hurried forward with a squeal of, "Yeah! We're finally out of this stupid forrest!"

Feet from bursting onto the beach Ling stuck his arm out from where he was crouched to keep Sara from running onto the beach. Unfourtunatly, Sara didn't react fast enough and was clothes lined toppling her to the ground where she moaned in a daze as Shyao caught up.

"Sorry Sara but there's someone on the beach," Ling said looking out over the sands, "I'm thinking he might be a sea serpent in desguise."

"You think so?" Shyao asked looking cautiously out to were a tall thin man was sunning himself on the beach his golden blong hair flowing out from him like a shell.

"I'm certain," Ling said, "Those blue clothes he's wearing look a bit more scales when you really look at them."

"Ow," Sara groaned sitting up, "What happened?"

Suddenly Sara's eyes locked onto the man laying on the beach and she growled furiously as she charged out onto the beach screaming, "YOU STUPID SERPENT!!! YOU RIPPED ME OFF!!!"

The man blinked awake and sate up looking at Sara for a second before he suddenly seemed to recognize her and began to scramble to his feet as she lunged at him catche him by the legs. The man suddenly transformed into an enormous sea serpent with sea blue scales and a head as large as Shyao and Ling's village. Clinging to it's tail was Sara, yet the serpent didn't toss her off or try to eat her, in fact it's legs where pinwheeling in a desprite attempt to escape.

"You're not going anywhere you theif!" Sara growled actually dragging the huge serpent up the beach, "You ripped me off!"

"Please don't kill me!?!" the sea serpent pleaded in the voice of a man just entering his twenties magnified to tromendous volume.

"Than maybe you shouldn't have ripped me off you filty sea snake!" Sara shouted raising her dagger.

"Sara wait!" Shyao cried running forward, "Don't kill him!!!"

"Why!?" Sara asked pausing looking away from the trembling serpent.

"Because he can still pay you back," Ling said jumping to Shyao's aid as she faltered, "The town we're heading to is next to a river and he can carry us there instead of us getting lost thanks to your map reading skills!"

All was quiet for a while as Sara thought it over before Sara muttered, "Fine, but if tried to run off I'm smashing him!"

"Oh thank you kind sir and madam!" the sea serpent cried suddenly returning to human form and drapping himself over Ling and Shyao, "I thought I was dead and you saved me!"

"Just shut up and let's get moving snake boy!" Sara growled fingering the dull edge of her knife.

"Of coarse mistress!" the sea serpent said sweat pooping from his head as he franticly go in the shallows transforming waiting for them to climb up.

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"So your name is Sado?" Shyao asked leaning over one of the serpent's great eye ridges to look him in the eye, "That's an interesting name for a sea serpent."

"So I've been told," Sado said looking interstedly at Shyao before asking, "Are you two really human?"

"Of coarse we are," Ling said leaning back on the serpent's borad snout, "Why? You planning on eating us?"

"No no!" Sado said hurriedly, "I just know that you little friend who can't read a map isn't even though she looks it and was wondering if you were like her."

"Sara's not human?" Shyao asked curiously, "What is she then?"

"Well she's really a-!!!" Sado started before yowling in pain.

"That's enough out of you Mr. Loose lips!" Sara shouted pounding the hilt of her dagger repeatedly into Sado's head, "Shut it!!!"

"OWOWOW! I'm sorry Mistress! OW!" Sado cried tears of pain leaking out of his eyes.

"Well don't tell anyone what I am unless I tell you you may," Sara said leaning back, "How much further to this village anyway?"

"It should be just around this next bend-!?!" Shyao started before freezing with everyone else looking at the state of the village.

The entire town was frozen solid.