Hello all, and welcome to next installment in the Eagle Blades saga. Thanks some much for reading and reviewing guys, means a lot to me. In this chapter, you'll meet the mage who comes to investigate, watch the desperate struggle at the ruined fort. And meet the first of the Demon's of the Moon!

And now our tale continues...

The time had reached midday as Tsubasa, Hikaru and the others left the city Vlakzweng. The kingdom of Geklok was a vast stretch of land, it was the largest kingdom in the world and to travel to Clarifine without interruptions would take the whole of three weeks. Tsubasa knew that some sort of trouble lay ahead, why else would he have been entrusted to look after those four?

Keeping his hands on his dual blades at all times, Tsubasa walked on ahead of the group to scout for any kind of hostile movement. His senses hadn't detected anything as of yet, but he felt some sort of magical presence out in the open fields that bordered Vlakzweng. Granted he had felt magical presences before, but this one was different, almost unlike anything he had felt before. This magic aura was strong.

"What's with the concerned face, Tsubasa?" Yuki asked as he jogged to keep up with the taller Tsubasa. "You detected something?"

"Yes I have, it's a magic aura. Granted that I have detected many kinds of magic in the past but this one feels... strange." Tsubasa spoke quietly to Yuki, not wanting the others to get concerned. "Why do you ask? Have you felt it's presence too?"

"Yes, I've detected this magic too" Yuki stated in an almost blank voice, to which Tsubasa stared at him in surprise. "If your looking for any sort of an explanation, Tsubasa, then I'll tell you. I have the ability to detect mages within a mile ahead of me, and I can tell you that this magic aura is from a mage. Whether he is hostile or not, I cannot tell"

Tsubasa stared at Yuki, absolutely gob smacked. He'd never met anyone with the ability to detect a mage a mile in front of them, let alone from a fourteen year old boy! Just then, Tsubasa heard what sounded like lightning strikes. He knew it must have been a mage cause the sun was still out. Scrambling over the top of a hill, Tsubasa noticed a lone mage battling against a gang of bandits.

"We have to do something!" Hikaru panicked once she climbed up the hill and noticed the battle going on. "Watch the kids, I'm gonna do something about this!" Hikaru then drew her sword and was about to charge off when Tsubasa stuck out his hand and grabbed her arm. Stopping her dead in her tracks. "Well we can't just leave him to die, Tsubasa!" Hikaru began to protest.

"Who says I was going to?" Tsubasa smirked as he reached behind his cloak to reveal his crossbow, carefully placing the bolts into place, Tsubasa took aim and then rapid fired, sending a flurry of bolts down towards the bandits. When all was said and done, the grass become flooded with colour and stench of crimson blood. Satisfied with the outcome, Tsubasa began to slowly make his way towards the mage, being careful of the fact he did not know if he was an ally or an enemy.

The mage in question did not look like your average kind of mage. His hair was spiked up from the sides to the top of his head, with a fringe that draped carefully over the top of his right eye. He, like Tsubasa, also had silver hair. He wore white mage robes, but his was slightly different, as you could see his black trousers through a slight gap in the robe.

"Thanks for your kindly assistance, those bandits were beginning to get the better of me" the mage responded in a voice that resembled a teenagers. "Oh were are my manners? I am Dunamis. I'm from the mage circle in Vlakzweng, I heard about your mission, so I take it you are Tsubasa" Dunamis continued, and with a nod from Tsubasa, he carried on. "Then we have a common purpose, when I heard about this mission of yours, I felt I had to investigate. Nobody in the mercenaries has ever been sent to Clarifine without it being a world changing situation. I could be wrong, but I just had to see it with my own eyes"

"Where exactly where you heading too after this "Investigation"" Hikaru questioned as she approached the pair, with Yuu and Yuki standing by her sides. Titi and Kenta we standing just behind her.

"Well, I was going to head to Clarifine as a matter of fact. I wanted to report to the Clarifine mage circle about necromancers emerging from our ranks, they have tried to take the mage circle down, but we held them back. My staff was shattered in the battle, but it was a little price to pay for victory. Some necromancers have escaped, and my concern is that they'll head to Clarifine to spread their numbers among the Clarifine mage circle"

"Necromancers?" Yuki shouted in shock, glancing at Hikaru, then back at Dunamis. "There have been no necromancers for the last hundred years!"

"That was my concern when I witnessed their powers first hand. They will be stopped, the fate of Clarifine's mage circle depends on it!" Dunamis stated, turning around to stare into the distance, where Clarifine should be. "I wish to accompany you on this quest, perhaps I may be of some use to you"

"Certainly, we'll need all the help we can get on our way to Clarifine. You should make a fine addition to us" Hikaru smiled, just as Tsubasa turned to glare at her.

"I make the decisions around here, Hikaru. Not you, remember that. Now let's get a move on already" Tsubasa spat as he proceeded further onwards, not bothering to look back at any of them.

"Don't worry about Tsubasa" Hikaru said to Dunamis, who was worried that he'd caused a problem. "He's a bit of a grumpy idiot if you ask me. Just come along, Dunamis, as our paths lead us to the same place"

"Very well then" Dunamis smiled as he began to walk with Hikaru and the others. "We will succeed at our goals I reckon, keep a good level of faith and we'll prevail"

"Fire!" came the cry of the general as arrows rained down upon the demons that dared to attack their stronghold, but even this flurry of offence was not enough. As demons began to attack, using ladders to climb the walls of the ruined and overgrown fortress. "Someone deal with those ladders!"

"I'm on it!" shouted a silver haired teen, who drew his sword and shield and made a brave dash towards the battlements. Once he arrived, demons where already climbing the walls. He took a deep breath and charged head on, bringing his shield round to hit a demon across the head with a hard smack as he kicked a ladder down, sending the demons on it back down to the ground.

"Not bad, Toby" laughed a voice, it's owner suddenly appearing, bow in hand, firing rapid shots at the demons, keeping the pressure off of Toby. "Keep going and these bastards will be dealt with in no time!"

"Heh, like I need a reminder, Zeo" Toby chuckled as he cut down another demon, before launching his blade at another demon, connecting with it's skull as it fell off the battlement. Sighing, Toby grabbed a nearby sword and continued to fight on, with Zeo continuing to fire arrows at the demons approaching Toby.

"Damn, we can't hold this place on our own. We've lost too many men!" Zeo shouted as his arms began to grow tired from repetitive firing.

"Where is Masamune!?" Toby shouted, wondering where their spiky haired friend was. They could not see him in the midst of the battle that was already well under way. Toby managed to kick down the last ladder, but not before he got a cut on his arm for good measure. "Fuck!" Toby cried out. "I've been hit!" he groaned again in pain as he clutched his arm, dropping his sword in the process.

"Toby!" Zeo screamed, rushing to the aid of his friend. "Come on, we need to get you out of here" Zeo picked up Toby from off the ground and supported him as they ran towards the main gate, where their leader was hacking down as many demons as he could.

"Captain Kyoya!" Toby shouted, making the green haired soldier turn around. First thing Kyoya noticed was Toby's wounded arm.

"This battle is lost! Fort Cadewurg will fall!" Kyoya shouted, approaching the pair. "You guys need to get out of here, find a mercenary by the name of Tsubasa Otori. He was supposed to be heading to this Fort, inform him that the fort is lost. Take Benkei and Masamune with you!"

"What are you going to do!" Zeo shouted, firing arrows at demons that were approaching Kyoya and the others. "You can't stay here by yourself"

"Yes I can! I'll hold them off so you can escape through the sewers out into the fields towards Vlakzweng" Kyoya commanded as he turned around and sliced a demon in half with his greatsword, blood spewed out and plastered Kyoya's face. "Go now!"

"Okay, luck be with you, Captain Kyoya" Toby spoke as Zeo grabbed hold of Benkei and took him and Toby with him, against Benkei's wishes.

Kyoya watched the group disappear towards the sewers with Masamune, who suddenly appeared with spear in hand. He hoped that they would reach Tsubasa safely. He then turned around and got a fright, standing in front of him was a demon. But this demon had a gold like aura around him, he had red hair with what looked like blonde highlights in them. He was also wielding a greatsword.

"So, your one of the Demon's of the Moon... Reiji Mizuchi! Kyoya growled, pointing his greatsword at Reiji, hiding the fact his hand was shaking slightly.

"That's right" Reiji spoke in a demonic tone as he stepped forward, slowly lifting his greatsword. "You'll be defeated here and now, you pathetic wretch! You'll become ashes just like your miserable soldiers before you. Then I'll find the Children of the Sun and destroy them, leaving darkness in it's wake" Reiji then cackled maniacally as he charge Kyoya with his blade, clashing with Kyoya's own. The blades became quickly deadlocked as the two glared into one another's eyes, eyes of a lion stared back those of a snake with ferocity.

"Come, Reiji... I'll make sure there is one less Demon of the Moon in this world!" Kyoya bellowed, forcing his blade forward, making Reiji leap in the air and strike down. Kyoya managed to move out of the way before the blow connected with him.

"You cannot defeat me, now or ever!" Reiji hissed as the two then charged after each other, blades clashing once more...

That's all for chapter two, read on when next chapter is uploaded. What you can expect is the retreating soldiers to run into Tsubasa, and the brave attempt at reclaiming the fort!

Until next time, fight on!