Crimson Fire

Chapter Two

Jasper had run after Sandra and followed her to the cattle ranch. He could see Sandra walking into the main house on the ranch. Sandra turns around and sees Jasper. She waves for Jasper to come closer.

"Following me?" Sandra asked.

"Uh, no, Cassie." Jasper answered. "I was just lost."

"I'm not Cassie! And how do you even know that?"

"Oh, sorry! You're Sandra. I heard you at the restaurant earlier."

Sandra looks Jasper in the eyes. "Really? Well, what do you want then?"

"I'm interested in buying sheep, so I thought I'd come to you."

"Sheep?! That's Andrew's ranch. Over here, we have cows!"

Jasper'eyes light up. "Oh, Andrew?! Do you know where his ranch is?"

Sandra stares at him. "There are only two ranches here. If this one here is the cattle ranch, then the other is the sheep ranch."

Jasper lets out a chuckle. "Oh, yeah! Okay, thanks for your help! I'll go now!"

"Before you go, could you help with something in the barn over there?" Sandra points to the barn on her left. "You look like you're capable of carrying things."

Jasper looks at the barn. "Yeah, I can help."

Sandra led the way to the barn. She opens the door and allows Jasper to walk inside first. Once inside, Sandra closes the door.

Inside the barn, there are about four men tending to the cows. All four men are muscular and have dark or brown hair and blue eyes. The men look at Jasper confusingly.

Sandra pushes Jasper to the ground. "Alright, guy! Time to talk!"

"Hey! What are you doing!" Jasper exclaimed.

Sandra looks at the four men. "Hold him down!"

The four men did as Sandra instructed. One man for each of Jasper's limbs. He struggles to free himself, but it was too much.

Sandra's face turns serious. "Now you will explain yourself or these men will punch and kick you until you are willing to cooperate. It looks to me that you were playing dumb."

Sandra looks at one of the men. That man punches Jasper in the face.

There was a long pause before Jasper finally talks. "Fine! I was looking for Andrew's ranch and thought this was his ranch. I was going to his ranch to scout the area. Then later when the area is cleared, I would steal his sheep for myself."

Sandra is surprised and crosses her arms beneath her breast. "Really? You expect me to believe that?"

The orange-red wind particles from the Wind Spellbomb had fully disappeared. Stella and Renee quickly looked around to try to see where the girl was running to. The girl was nowhere in sight.

"She's gone!" Stella said. "If only we were able to go after her."

"What should we do?" Renee asked. "Go after her?"

"No, she would be anywhere by now. Let's find the boys."

The girls continued the walk to the southern end of the village. The closer they got to the southern side, the louder the cows could be heard.

About ten minutes of walking, Renee was the first to notice Florian looking around. "Hey, Florian!" She shouts to catch his attention.

Florian quickly turns his head several times to see who's calling him. He finally notices and runs up to the girls.

Renee slaps him on the shoulder. "Took you long enough to see us! You don't recognize my voice!?"

Florian rubs his left shoulder. "I do! I was confused because I didn't think anyone around here would know my name. Anyways! Guess what?! Jasper and I heard someone named Sandra say that Cassie works for someone named Andrew!"

Stella's eyes light up. "Oh, really? What does she look like?"

"Oh, yeah!" Florian turned to Stella. "She's about your height. Brown hair, blue jeans, brown boots, and an orange shirt. Let's go see if we can catch up to him!"

Florian led the girls down to the cattle ranch at the southern end of the village. "He was following that Sandra girl. Maybe he went into that house or barn over there?"

"Let's try the door first," Stella said. "And then the barn."

At the front, Stella knocks once. No answer. Another knock and still no answer. She and the siblings go to the nearby barn. Once inside, they see Jasper being pinned down by four men and Sandra standing over him.

Sandra and the four men stop the questioning and turn to see who opened the door. Stella, Renee, and Florian walk in.

"Who are you people?!" Sandra asked.

"Oh, hey guys!" Jasper looked up and smiled.

"Oh, they're your friends, huh?" Sandra turned to the four men. "You guys deal with these boys and that girl. I'll deal with her."

The four men proceed to surround Renee, Florian, and Jasper.

Renee transforms into a Phoenix. In this form, she coats her wings with Fire Midrash and attacks two of the four men with Ashen Wing.

One of the four men runs towards Florian, but he attacks him with a Poison Punch and then a Sludge Punch. Two more punches are enough to end the fight.

Jasper activates his Sura to bring forth a Dagger. With it in his right hand, he tries to slash the man, but the latter jumps backward to dodge. Jasper steps forward the man and throws an Earth Spellbomb and then finishes with an Earth Slash from his Dagger.

Stella activates her Sura to bring forth her Black Scythe. With the Scythe, Stella tries to slash at Sandra, but the latter steps back to dodge the slash. Two more slashes are thrown at Sandra, but she also dodges.

Sandra throws an upgraded form of her Wind Spellbomb called Breeze Spellbomb at Stella but the latter uses Dark Slash to slice the Spellbomb in half.

With Black Scythe, Stella attacks with a move called Shadow Slash. This time instead of trying to attack Sandra, Stella attacks the walls of the barn. Two Shadow Slashes slice into the walls and create an opening. The ceiling collapses onto Sandra. She tries to move, but is stuck.

Stella deactivates her Scythe. "What did we just walk into?"

Sandra clicks her tongue. "Tsk! Your friend was asking about Andrew."

Stella is surprised. "You know Andrew?"

"Yeah, he's the competition for my boss."

"Where can we find him?"

"Just go to the northern ranch! My boss will get mad for destroying his barn!"