Dusk Harvest

Chapter Two

Harold waited about ten minutes before he started the conversation with Bruno. Stella is a heavy sleeper. She can fall asleep basically whenever she wants. Of course, Harold only knows this because Lyla had mentioned it a long time ago.

"So," Harold began. "I caught one fish and put it down. Then I caught another one, but the first one was gone. I knew someone had to have taken it. It must have happened when I was trying to catch the second fish because I was concentrating on the fish that I didn't notice anything. was attacked by a Therian user. It was a white Dog, and it has Earth Midrash."

"Damn! They must have known we were coming. Do you think the jade-eyes guy told the residents here about us?" Bruno said.

"It had to be. We knew he was on his way here. Maybe he was watching us and tricked someone into attacking me earlier. I only caught two fish because I didn't want to waste any more time at the river. I was afraid something might have happened here so I came here right away."

Bruno gives a half smile. "I could have taken care of them."

"You're right, but I wasn't worried about you. If Lily or Lyla were held hostage, then you would be at a disadvantage."

Bruno nods at the bloodstain on Harold's shirt. "That Dog must have gotten you good, huh."

"Oh, yeah. It snuck up on me and bit me using Earth Fang. It wasn't the Midrash that damaged me, it was its fangs. It kept biting down on me."

"I forgot to ask, where did the Dog go? You didn't leave it there, did you?"

"No, my Spellbomb knocked it into the river, and then the river carried it downstream."

"There were three houses on the farm. If the river runs down to those houses, someone from the houses will surely see the Dog."

"Yep! Which means we have to be careful tomorrow." Harold agreed. "Anyways, it would be more efficient if you and I were to separate and do our own things. I was thinking of following the river to track down that Dog for information. I was going to ask you to do it, but I already know what it looks like."

"We don't know how many people there are at the farm, so we can't leave Lyla and Lily here by themselves. I think it's best if we all go together."

"Yeah, I believe so, too." Harold said. "Alright, you sleep first, then in a few hours, I'll wake you up, and I sleep. We'll keep alternating until morning."

It was during Bruno's watch when morning finally came. Due to the alternating schedule of sleep, both he and Harold are lacking in sufficient sleep.

Bruno notices Harold waking up. "Should we get something to eat before we leave?"

Harold rubs his eyes. "Good question. I'm hungry and I'm sure Lily and Lyla will be, too, once they wake up."

At this point, Stella opens her tent and walks out. "Morning, Harold! Morning, Bruno! Anything for breakfast?"

Harold smiles. "We were gonna ask you girls the same thing."

Lyla immediately comes out of the tent behind Stella. "Morning!"

So, the four of them went up north to the river, caught a few catfish which were grilled by Bruno, and eaten by everyone.

It is now about eight o'clock in the morning. The group is now back at the campsite, and everyone has finished eating.

"Time to go to the farm." Harold said.

"What's the plan once we get there?" Bruno asked.

"We know that the jade-eyes guy went here. We need to assume that he told lies to the farmers about us. Probably said something about us being the bad guys."

"What if they're friendly?" Stella asked. Harold and Bruno let out a little chuckle. "They could be."

"That's hopeful thinking, but I would rather be careful than not." Harold said. "Anyways, let's go!"

The group starts to go south to the farm. It will take about ten minutes or so to reach the destination.

Finally, the group is standing in front of the farm. From their point of view, they can see three buildings. These buildings are three separate individual houses.

"Three houses." Harold said. "Probably three separate families live there."

"That makes it easier to find the jade-eyes guy." Bruno said. "All we have to do is go in there one by one until we find him. I'm still mad at him for what happened in Lizi Woods."

"That's not a good idea, Bruno." Harold said. "Let's say each house has three people, that's three times three which is nine. If those houses are friends with each other, they would all team up on us. That's the four of us versus nine of them."

"Let's just hope Lily is right about them being friendly." Lyla said.

"Yep!" Stella said.

"Doesn't matter to me either way, but I can take them on." Bruno said.

"Alright! Let's go together." Harold said.

All four of them proceed to walk onto the farmland. The three farm houses are made of similar build. The only differences being the colors on the doors. One house has a white-colored door, another has a gold-colored door, and the last has a silver-colored door. The soil where the crops and fruit trees are planted has white soil. The closest farm house is the one with the gold-colored door, so Harold decides to step onto that area.

The group starts to walk to the house with the gold-colored door. Within a few feet from the door, the group hears something from the roof of the farm house. Everyone looks up at the roof and sees a Monkey with gold-colored furs.

From the top of the roof, the Monkey throws a golden Metal Spellbomb down at the group.

"Move!" Harold shouted and he grabbed Stella and jumped out of the way.

Bruno did the same with Lyla. The Spellbomb explodes into gold particles.

Stella frowns. "Not friendly!" She looks up at the Monkey. "We come in peace!"

"Too late for that, Lily!" Harold said.

"What do we do, Harold?" Bruno asked. "Break down the door and make our way up there?"

Harold looks at Bruno and Lyla. "You two go behind the house and climb up and beat up that Monkey. Lily and I will keep it distracted."