Guess who's back? I finally had some time to clear things up in my schedule, and found a slot big enough to give you the fourth installment of Open Wounds. I'm back in the epics business, and I'm here to stay. You know, I enjoy writing all those little things, but its just not complete because at the end the reader knows the whole point of the story. With an epic, I can keep you in suspense until I have time to write the next chap! :) Oh well, I hope you enjoy it!

Open Wounds Chap 4: Visions Clouding the Battlefield

“We’re surrounded!” I yelled to the other members of the party. Goldie had us right where he wanted us. How stupid could I be?! In an effort to get away from the Durahan, I had practically placed myself at their doorstep. Now we were surrounded by a horde of menacing Rippers, and their evil glare intimidated all of us, except for Jitte.

“Okay,” Jitte said in a strangely calm voice, “I’ll take the hundred on the left, and you take the hundred on the right.” Jitte smiled as I drew my sword. The blade reflected the moonlight penetrating the crevasse in the roof of the cavern. Each of the Rippers crouched down low, and Jitte took up the same atypical stance. I looked at him as if he were a Suezo with three legs and two eyes, but then remembered that he too was a breed of Ripper. The same blood that coursed through the veins of my enemy flowed through my own monster.

“Let’s go!”

Jitte hurled his body into the air and swung his tail in a full circle. The sharp end of his tail cut through the cheek of the closest foe, and a stream of blood exploded from his face as Jitte struck him atop the head with his claws. Blood flew upward, and the Ripper fell, accompanied by a blood curdling scream.

“No” “Help me!” “Ahhhhhhh!”

All of a sudden the room became abundant with the screams of tortured lives. I fell to the dirt, hands barricading my sensitive ear drums, as the visions appeared within my brain. I looked across a blood stained town, my hands covered in blood. I stood, obviously in some kind of trance, and began to walk down the cursed alley of death. I scanned the landscape, and saw the mangled bodies of loved ones and friends. There was Arnie, the peaceful baker strewn across a fence with the white edges protruding from his neck. I saw Linda, the polite farmer whose limp cadaver lying within a pile of decapitating cow. And over to the left was Mike, the butcher, whose various tools lay embedded within his blood stained flesh.

A shiver coursed through my already aching body. I had just noticed that my body was populous with cuts and abrasions. I saw the blood tunneling down my leg and exciting through the cuff at the bottom of my traveling pants. I continued to limp forward, and made for the blood stained walls at the stable outside of this town of the damned. I began to slowly push open the wooden gate, but stumbled forward and let my face hit the hay. I coughed, and instantly sent a stream of blood from my mouth. I was bleeding internally.

I staggered across the separate stables and looked at each of the nametags. I knew I would never own a horse of my own, but I had to leave and make it to the next town. I looked at all the horses, and realized that the end stable was filled with an extra horse. There were various flowers exploding forth from the gate.

“It couldn’t be,” I murmured as I stepped toward the unknown horse. It was my birthday tomorrow, and my mother had known the only thing I had ever wanted in my life was a horse of my own. Sure enough, on the outside of the gate, lay a pink card with a picture of a stallion on it. I slowly opened the flap to reveal the message:

To my son whom I love with all my heart,

Another year has gone by, and you take one step further in your quest to become a man. Some day soon, you’ll reach that dream, and this horse will help you on your way to greatness. Its name is Aikuchi, which is a Japanese dagger. It was meant for swift, fleeting cuts across an opponent and just as the dagger cuts across the flesh, Aikuchi will cut across the plains. I love you with all my heart.

I couldn’t bear to read anymore. Tears were streaming down my already pale face, and I remembered coming home to find a Kagemusha with its sword to her throat. It didn’t say anything, just stood there. She screamed, and the large hunk of metal slit her throat. He jumped out the window, carrying her limp body with him. That was the last time I ever saw my mother.

I sucked it in, knowing I would die of my injuries if I didn’t reach a healer soon. I jumped on my horse, and began to ride off-

“DRAKE LOOK OUT!!!!!!”

* * *

I suddenly snapped back into my senses to see that Aurora, Celeste, and Jitte had been fighting off the Rippers for at last a half hour. I looked up, and to my horror, a large Ripper was lunging forward, claws outstretched, ready to slash at my exposed throat.

Jitte immediately charged forward, and cut off the Ripper’s arm. It screamed, but continued forward. Blood shot from the wound and covered the exposed bone. My face collided with the white4 and red solid, and I felt the bone in my nose snap. The Ripper screamed again, and fell to the floor. Holding my nose with my left hand, I sent my sword straight through the monster’s chest. A puddle of blood oozed out onto the cold cave surface, and the Ripper took its last breathe before going limp.

I noticed the blood flowing from my nostrils. My left hand soon looked like a cracked dam as the blood flowed freely through the spaces between my fingers. A throbbing pain coursed through my face, and I knew I had to correct the bone. I pulled a stone forth from the cave, and cut the stone into a long funnel. I pulled a bandage out of the bag, and began to apply the closed reduction treatment.

With a load of pain coursing through my face, I shoved my bone back into its proper position. I held it there for a minute, and then applied the cool rock to my nose to hold the bone straight. I administered the band-aid to my face. I felt the stone press firmly on my skin, and cried out as the bone screamed with pain.

I sat there for a minute, watching the fight between the three children and the army of Rippers. Aurora and Celeste had acquired many cuts across their bodies and were growing tired. Jitte, on the other hand, was fighting like a monster. He had not even been nicked, and had killed so many Rippers that some were beginning to retreat. After about a half hour, not one Ripper was alive.

The floor was stained with blood; some of it belonging to myself, Aurora, or Celeste. Jitte came over to check on the three.

“Are you guys okay?” he asked.

“I’m pretty much okay,” I said, breathing heavily, “I broke my nose, though. It’ll recover soon, but I can’t risk going into another battle just yet. If my nose is hit now it may never be the same again.”

“We’re okay,” Aurora spoke on behalf of herself and her monster, “We have a few bruises and cuts, but nothing serious, like broken bones,” she signaled in my direction.

I shot her a menacing gaze, and then sighed.

“Um, Drake” began Jitte, “What happened out there earlier? You were about to fight, and then you completely zoned out. I mean its one thing to zone out when you’re sitting by a fire eating diner, but in the heat of battle?! You could have been killed!”

I looked down at the floor. I gasped. There was a fresh stream of blood running down my legs. I shot my hands down my pants, and discovered no cuts. I was bleeding without any cuts. I then felt liquid running down his face. I touched the stone covering his nose, and found it wasn’t bleeding anymore. I moved my blood covered palms up my face to discover a foreign substance under my eyes. I put a sample to my tongue, and felt a stinging sensation on my tongue. It was salt water; tears!

“It wasn’t a dream…” I muttered.

“Excuse me?” Jitte said in a confused tone. Aurora, Celeste, and Jitte all threw strange looks at me.

“Forget about it,” I said and stood up, “Where’s Goldie?”

“He ran out of the cave into the forest.” Celeste answered.

“Then what are we waiting for?! Unless we turn him into scrap metal here, he’ll come back with an army of Zan, and trust me, you don’t wanna face them!”

With that, we picked up our things, mounted Aikuchi and Cooler, and rode into the dense night air.

* * *

The forest was thick with a sliver fog that hid the vast canopy. The horses had trouble maneuvering through the dense foliage, but were not successful. It took hours to clear one mile, and by morning, we had only covered five miles.

“This isn’t working,” I spat, “We’ll never catch that ••••••• like this.”

“Don’t worry,” Jitte popped his head up from the saddle bag, “We’ll catch him, and if we don’t come to him he’ll come to us, right?”

I was about to throw back an insult at Jitte, but I heard a loud clank in the forest. I turned my head around the tree, and saw the Goldie, trapped in a mesh of various vines and branches.

“Well, well, well,” I laughed, “What do we have here?”

I hope you liked it! -Icelord13

A bit, well, raw at the end. Nice desc., and I, like many others, am awaiting 5 with earnest.

Really good....is a ripper some kind of naga? Cause i only have the gameboy games.

I just glanced at the last line, and have to wonder: 'I turned my head around the tree'. Wasn't that terribly painful? I mean, that must be some _long_ neck you've got there!

Ripper's are new creatures from MR4. They stand on 2 legs have a long tail that ends in 3 points that are sharp, and they have a IMO weasel looking face.

Go to:

https://legendcup.com/

They have a Monster Rancher 4 link, and that has all the monsters pictures there.