Here is Chap 3. This chapter is where the actual plot of the story is told, and has a good amount of action. I like it a lot. Hope you enjoy it!

Open Wounds Chap 3: Ambush

“DING!”

Jela instantly jumped at Jitte. For having only one leg, it sure was fast.

“Tail Attack!” Charles yelled.

Jela did a flip in mid air and then came crashing down tail first. Jitte nimbly dodged the blow as Jela careened into the tiles. Jitte lifted his tail, and assumed an attack position.

Taking this chance, I yelled, “Use Slicer!”

Jitte ran for Jela and did a back flip while extending its razor sharp tail. It slashes Jela ferociously, and he let out a weak scream. A trickle of blood was coming off his back.

“Use Bite!”

Jela opened up and crunched down upon Jitte. It yelled, and then hit the floor, a small stream of blood coming from its mid-section. The judge started the count.

“10! 9! 8! 7!”

Jitte stumbled onto his feet; he wasn’t about to give up yet.

“Alright Jitte,” I began, “Let’s finish this once and for all. Ice Pillar attack!!!”

Jitte gathered energy in his claw, and pointed towards the Suezo, and then let out a furious swipe. Jela dodged the claw, but not the ice.

Jitte whirled around and sent a wave of energy through the ground. A row of jagged ice shot up from under Jela and penetrated his skin. Blood stained the clear ice as Jela fell with a thud outside of the arena. Jitte had won by a ring out.

The announcer stood up as the crowd cheered very loud. “And the winners are Jitte and Drake!”

I took my Folkes outside of the arena to claim the fifty dollars. I took to the shops, and purchased the two saddlebags. I attached one to Aikuchi, and one to the smaller horse.

“We’ll let Aurora decide on a name for you,” I said.

“Somebody help me!”

I heard the cry come from across town. I stormed through the town with Jitte in the new saddlebag. When we got to the edge of town, I saw Aurora. She was cornered by a wild monster. I raced to her side with Jitte at the ready. It was a purebred Durahan. I instantly recognized it from the battle at the town.

“Aurora,” I said, “Get to the horse, and take Celeste with you.”

“Ok,” she said weakly, and she took her Ogyo away. The Durahan moved to get her, but I blocked him.

“That’s not very wise, boy,” it said in a metallic voice, “We were ordered to destroy that village, and kill everyone there. I can’t let our mission go incomplete.”

It drew its sword. The red mane atop the armor’s helmet swished in the wind. The silver armor reflected the sun’s rays, which made it hard for me to see. Its shield would obviously not be penetrated by a normal sword. I drew my blade.

“Very well,” It screamed and charged for me. It threw its blade in the air, and then came crashing down upon me. I shifted my sword up, and parried. The sparks flew wildly as we exchanged blows. Sometimes I hit his shield, which did absolutely no good. He slashed at me with all his strength, and shattered my sword. He put a wide gash in my left arm, and I shrieked in pain, and fell to my knees.

“Very amusing, boy,” it said, “But you should know that a human can never equal a monster’s strength.”

It held its sword in a horizontal position, and sent tried to send it into my side. Just before it bit into my skin, a jagged row of ice shot forth from the ground and spiked at least twenty holes in the Durahan’s armor. It cried out, but was not dead.

Seeing this as my chance, I picked up what was left of my sword and sent another blow into the Durahan’s chest plate. It cried out once, and fell into scrap metal. Breathing heavily, I looked over to see Jitte. He had saved my life. I walked over to him, still holding the bleeding gash in my arm, and pet him.

“Thank you, Jitte,” I said weakly, then passed out from blood loss.

* * *

I awoke in a white room on a comfortable bed. I looked over to my left arm, and it had been stitched and bandaged. I saw the red cross, and knew I was in a hospital. I looked over the bed post, and saw Aurora with Jitte and Celeste. I couldn’t believe it. She was talking to Celeste. Jitte looked up at me.

“Hey there, Drake,” It said in a squeaky little voice.

“You can talk?” I was amazed.

“Yep, and Celeste over there can talk now too.”

“Hi, Drake,” the little Ogyo had an even higher voice than Jitte, which came as no surprise as she was female.

“Hello, Celeste,” I replied.

Aurora looked up at me, and joy filled her face.

“Drake!” she shot up and hugged me, “Thank you. That Durahan would have killed me.”

“That’s what’s worrying me lately,” I said grimly.

“What for?” she asked.

“It said its mission was incomplete. It said all the members of your village had to die. I’m afraid to say this, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of those Durahan.”

Aurora looked terrified. Who wouldn’t be, knowing you had someone trying to kill you?

She looked up at me with innocent eyes.

“Do you mean,” she stuttered, “I’m never going to be safe?”

“Until the Durahan are destroyed, no, you’re not safe,” I said ominously, “However, we can stop it.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“The IMA allows each breeder to raise up to five monsters. What we have to do is get more monsters, and fight the Durahan.”

“How are we supposed to do that? There are so many,” she talked as if she were a lost cause.

“Ah,” I knew more than she thought I did, “You see, I’ve done my homework. The gang we’re facing is a group of Durahan called the Barbarians. In the group, there is one of every species of Durahan. There are twelve species of Durahan. Today, I killed the pure bred Durahan of the group, and on the day you’re village was attacked, I killed a Curevis. That means there are only ten Durahan left.”

“So if we raise more monsters, we can fight the Durahan?” she asked with her innocent voice.

“Yes, but it will take at least ten monsters to defeat each one separately. You see, each one a group of followers, which are wild monsters drafted into the group. Each Durahan owns a piece of land in the wild. If we can infiltrate and take all ten bases, you’ll be safe.”

* * *

“Ah, I feel much better now.”

I had spent a week in the hospital to replenish my strength. Over that time, Jitte and Celeste grew. They were now considered adult monsters. Jitte now had a deep voice, and Celeste’s voice was no longer a squeak.

“Where are we going now, Drake?” the Folkes asked.

“To the stables, to fetch the horses.”

“Horses? Drake, you only had one horse,” Aurora didn’t know I had gotten her a horse.

I led everyone to the stables, and Aurora was delighted when I told her of her new horse. She thanked me, and named the male horse Cooler. We started to head for the coliseum, to see if there were any tournaments today. When we heard there were only B, A, and S class tourneys, we decided to leave Tetsukama. Aurora, Aikuchi, Cooler, Jitte, Celeste, and I dashed off into the open plains.

* * *

“Where is Durahan?!” the deep voice was infuriated at the late arrival of the monster.

“I have no idea,” said the Goldie (Durahan/Suezo), “We have reports of a man and a small girl who were last seen in Tetsukama. One of our spies said they had killed him.”

“First Curevis and now Durahan,” the monster was very displeased, “Goldie, I want you to personally make sure they don’t live to see daylight tomorrow.”

“It is an honor to serve you, my Lord,” the Goldie drew his sword, and made for the plains.

“Just you wait, meddlesome fools, you’ll soon be at my knees begging for mercy,” the monster let out an evil laugh that echoed throughout the entire cavern.

* * *

The next morning revealed a thunderstorm overhead.

“Well,” I said, “There’s no point in traveling in this weather. We might as well stay in the cave.”

I curled up into my sleeping bag, and tried to get back to sleep. There was an uneasy feeling in the air, and it wasn’t the rain, lightning, or thunder. Jitte felt it too.

“Something’s out there,” he muttered.

“CLING!”

The sound of metal hitting the rocks of the cave woke everyone up. I jumped out my sleeping bag just in time to see a jagged sword slice it right down the middle. It was a Goldie.

“So good of you to stop by,” it said, “I thought I’d have to look for you but you came right to me. This is Bear Cavern, my base of operations.”

He waved his golden arm and a squadron of Rippers made themselves visible. They blocked the entrance. We were trapped…

Hope you enjoyed it! -Icelord13

Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh...Nice. I hope Celeste fights now... Never seen an Ogyo's attacks...(I can visualize them here)Keep it up.