The forest was silent as Kaiser made his way around the tall trees, keeping his senses alert for any sign of possible trouble as he searched for the one place that could lead him to his father. He was searching for the house in which he had spent much of his childhood, though he did not know the way. His mother had always left the forest to buy food or to work, and none of the children in that house knew where she had gone. As a result, Kaiser had always been unfamiliar with much of the forest, and he still didn't know the way to the house now, despite his best efforts to find it.
He walked slowly, taking in his surroundings and desperately trying to find a familiar sight, anything that he could remember seeing so many years ago. He had so far been unsuccessful in his search. "This will be the last time," he muttered to himself. He had left Starlen the previous night, and the town was attacked in his absence. She had handled herself well, but a lingering thought still haunted him. What would have happened if their father or some other demon had attacked, or even led the attack? Neither Starlen nor the people of Bellepoint would have survived. Kaiser cursed himself for allowing his own selfish mission to put his sister in danger. He swore that this would be the last time he searched for their old home.
He reached another empty clearing and found nothing. With a sigh, he turned back to where he had come and started walking back to the others. Just as he had taken his first step, he thought he had glimpsed something as he had turned. He looked back to the spot where he had seen the object, and his eye widened.
There, just beyond a thin wall of trees, was a partially hidden stone bridge. It was covered in moss and fungi, and several white stones had broken off and were now lying on the ground beside it, but he remembered it nonetheless. It was the bridge that he and Starlen had always used as their hideout whenever their mother had tried to find them for one reason or another. He remembered saving his sister from falling off the edge of the bridge and into the narrow creek that had run beneath it.
Kaiser smiled warmly. He was always looking out for her, even when he knew that he would suffer for it. The night when they had left home was one of those nights. He walked toward the bridge and laid his hand on the moss - covered stone. Tears welled up in his eye as he recalled the happy memories that he had shared with Starlen here.
"I've found it," he whispered. "I'm home." He stood there for a long moment before finally looking up to find an overgrown trail leading away from the bridge in a familiar direction. He breathed in deeply and started walking cautiously down the trail. Just a little longer, he thought to himself. I will see it again soon.
"He sure has been gone for a long while." Emerin looked up through the treetops and saw the sun overhead. Starlen shrugged and replied "He usually is." "But we're all rested already," Velani said. "Maybe we should continue without him." "I don't suppose you know how we'll do that without a tracker, do you?" Ronan asked. Velani thought for a moment before saying "I think I could do it. I've been watching him, and I believe I know what he always looks for.
The group looked at her, and Emerin said "Well, if you want to give it a shot, then go ahead." Velani smiled at him and said "Thanks. I'll try not to get us lost." The group stood up, and Brian volunteered to carry the remaining rations as they walked. Velani led the group, checking for the monsters' footprints and following them deeper into the forest.
Continuing down the familiar path, Kaiser proceeded deeper into the forest. He desperately wanted to see what had become of the old house in which he had spent his early childhood, but he remained cautious. The beasts of the forest were uncommonly vicious lately, and he was under no illusion that the house would have remained untouched for so long. Eventually, he reached the edge of a large clearing that had become overgrown with wild grass and weeds. The grass obscured Kaiser's vision, and he was unable to locate the house, but he recalled the direction in which it was located and pushed his way through the barrier toward it.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kaiser finally made contact with a wooden wall. He sighed, pulled out his halberd, and sliced his way through the tall grass, clearing out the area next to the wall. When he was done, he looked back at the building and saw what had become of it.
The walls were no longer structurally sound. The wood had become rotten, and several holes had been formed. As Kaiser circled toward the front of the house, he found a much larger hole near the door. The wood surrounding the hole was splintered, and Kaiser knew why. His father was a powerful being, and simple wood could not have shielded them from him.
he walked through the hole and looked around. The roof was gone, and patches of sunlight filtered through the treetops to illuminate the building's one and only floor. Pieces of smashed furniture were strewn about, no single piece large enough to identify with any accuracy. A mound if rotted wood sat along the far end of the building, the remains of the large bunk bed that had been where the children had slept.
There was nothing left to salvage, nothing that could serve as a memento. Kaiser had expected as much. He soon turned and walked back outside, then proceeded back toward the trees, but a sudden flash of memory stopped him. He remembered that his mother had died near the very spot where he was standing. Following his memory, Kaiser strode cautiously toward the scene, cutting a path through the tall grass as he went. After several swings, he stopped.
Lying on the ground in front of him was the top half of a broken spear. The head was longer than most, nearly a foot long from the base to the tip, and the broken shaft was untouched by mold or rot, despite being made of wood. Kaiser recognized the broken spear immediately. "This was hers," he muttered quietly. He stooped over and picked it up, weighing it in his hands.
It was his mother's spear. She had given her last breath trying to protect him and Starlen, and this was the weapon she had used. Tears once again formed in his eye as he remembered her face. With a final long sigh, Kaiser stuffed the spear into his coat and returned to the spot where he had entered the house.
What Kaiser saw as he reentered the house startled him. There, sitting with his legs crossed in the center of the dilapidated building, was the man who he had run into earlier. The man remained perfectly still despite Kaiser's entrance, and his hat was pulled down over his face. The single feather sticking out of a red ribbon wrapped around the hat's base was all that moved, as a slight breeze caused it to twitch erratically.
"Welcome, young man," the man spoke in a quiet voice. "It is good to see you doing so well." Kaiser furrowed his brow and asked "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The man looked up and stared at Kaiser with a contented smile on his face and answered "My name is of no real importance, so you may disregard it. As to my purpose for being here, I simply came to pay my respects to the departed, as I have done for these last ten years."
Kaiser's expression changed to one of bewilderment, and he asked "You knew my mother?" The man nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of Kaiser, and replied "She and I were dear friends. I was greatly saddened by her death." His smile grew wider as he continued. "I am also greatly pleased to see her children living good, healthy lives. She would be proud of the adults that you and your sister have become." "Our mother was dear to us both," Kaiser said. "I will not rest until her killer is found and destroyed."
The man's smile suddenly left his face, and he said "You would only find your own death at his hands. The demon that had once dwelt here is no ordinary foe. He is, in fact, one of the four harbingers of the hells." Kaiser stared at him for a moment before asking "What does that mean?" "It means that he is far beyond your skills. You alone will not be able to defeat him." The man stood up and started walking toward the door, but Kaiser said "Wait. Who are the harbingers, exactly?" The man turned to him and smiled again, saying "Infernal generals, since you are curious. The harbingers were chosen by the high king of hell himself for their skills and strength. They each represent one of four calamities that are believed to spread across the world when the end comes. They are pestilence, famine, war, and death."
The man tipped his hat toward Kaiser, and with a slightly wider smile he continued through the door. Kaiser stood transfixed as he stared at the man's back. Suddenly, a flash of light blinded Kaiser temporarily, and when his vision had cleared the man was gone. "Some kind of magic," he muttered silently. "I don't think I'll ever escape that nonsense." He stood in the same spot for a long while, pondering the man's words. If they were true, then the task that he had set for himself was quite the difficult one.
The group carefully made their way through the forest, following the tracks. Eventually, they started hearing what sounded like voices further along the trail. "Do you hear that?" asked Miria, her voice cutting through the group's silence. Velani stopped, signaling the others to stop as well, and listened. "I can't make anything out yet," she whispered. Emerin walked up to her and said "I can follow the voice well enough. We'll need to get closer, but it might be dangerous. You should get behind me for now." Velani nodded and said "You're the boss. I'll do what you want, but be careful." Emerin nodded, and he led the group further down the trail toward the voice.
Their path led them to a clearing filled with hellspawn. The green monsters were armed and outfitted with similar equipment to the ones that had attacked the town. In the center of the clearing, a lean dark-haired man dressed in a long black mage's robe was speaking to them. "The Master has decreed that the town must be destroyed," he said. "You will march upon it and burn it to the ground. Do not fail like the last group." The hellspawn grunted and quickly moved into formation around him.
The group looked on from the edge of the trees. Emerin turned to the others and said "It looks like we've found our source. Prepare yourselves." The group readied their weapons as quietly as they could manage. There were at least fifty hellspawn in the clearing, as well as the mage who was apparently responsible for the attack. "Velani," said Emerin. "Do you think you can take out the mage?" Velani nodded and aimed her bow at the mage. "Wait," said Ronan. Emerin looked at him, confused. "We should take him alive," Ronan explained. "Sounds like he's not the one pulling the strings. If we kill him outright, we likely won't solve anything." "You really think that he would help us?" Starlen asked incredulously. Ronan smirked and replied "Under the right circumstances, sure." Starlen turned toward Emerin and said "I don't like this. How do we know Ronan isn't just seeking to sabotage our efforts?" "Oh, you shouldn't worry about that," Ronan said. "I'm hardly the kind of guy who makes commitments."
Emerin asked "Ronan, how would we be able to reach him before he casts a spell?" "I'll take care of it," Ronan replied with a smirk. "I really don't like this," muttered Starlen, but Emerin wasn't going to dismiss the plan. "Fine, do what you do best, Ronan," he said. "Sorry," Ronan replied. "I don't do it with men." He winked at Starlen, who scowled at him in response.
With their plan decided, Emerin yelled "Now!" and the group rushed out of the trees and into the clearing. The nearest group of hellspawn couldn't turn to face them in time, and we're cut down in an instant. The other monsters rushed to meet them, and immediately began falling to their blades. Ronan broke away from the others and sprinted for the mage, who had begun casting a spell. He reached the mage before he could finish and kicked him hard in the ribs. The mage was forced to stop casting as he doubled over in pain, and Ronan quickly knocked him out with another kick. "That should take care of you for a while," he said with a smirk.
The hellspawn were quickly dealt with as well, as the group of skilled combatants swept them aside in droves. Soon, the battle was over, and the mage was bound by rope and forced onto his knees. Garm walked up to him and delivered a solid backhand to his face, waking him up with a yelp. "Tell us who you're working for!" he screamed into the man's face. The mage laughed and said "Death before dishonor, fools! I will die a thousand times before I yield to the unclean infidels!" His laughter was then cut short when Starlen slapped him. "If you won't talk willingly," she said coldly. "Then we will just have to make you scream." Her sword flashed in front of the mage's face.
"Hold on," said Ronan. "You won't get far using that method. Thankfully, you have me here." He walked up beside Starlen, who looked at him suspiciously, and knelt down before the mage. His eyes began to sparkle, and the mage couldn't help but stare into them. After a moment, Ronan said "Tell me who your master is." The mage opened his mouth to speak, but a shrill whistle suddenly pierced through the silence. He lurched forward as an arrow plunged into his back, and he died.
"Damn," Ronan muttered as he jumped back onto his feet. The entire group looked in the direction from where the arrow had flown, but saw nothing. Suddenly, a volley of arrows flew from the trees, aiming right for them. The group rushed to the edges of the clearing and avoided most of the arrows, but two had found their mark regardless. Miria yelped as the sharp steel tips punctured her left leg just beneath the knee, and she dropped to the ground. Emerin rushed over to her and stood between her and the source of the arrows.
Suddenly, a group of men clad in black leather armor rushed out from the trees, brandishing their swords as they descended upon the adventurers. They were followed by a large bald man wearing the same armor and wielding a large hammer with both hands. Starlen saw him and felt that he looked familiar, though she couldn't figure out from where. The large man barked orders at the thirty other men, saying "Take them alive! The Master will wish to meet them personally!" The men quickly moved to surround the adventurers.
Emerin looked to his companions, who were scattered by the volley of arrows. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ronan spoke first. "Alright, we surrender," he said before looking at Emerin and nodding with a smirk. Emerin saw a plan forming in Ronan's eyes, and he nodded to the others. The group threw down their weapons without much resistance, though Garm and Starlen muttered curse aimed at Ronan.
"Gather their weapons and bind their hands," the large man ordered. The men did as they were told, and they pushed the bound adventurers into a line. They then forced their prisoners to march deeper into the forest. Ronan, who was behind Emerin, whispered into his ear, saying "Don't worry, I have a plan."
The group was taken deeper into the forest, pushed along by the men. Emerin occasionally looked back at Miria to make sure that she was alright. Each time she saw him and smiled, though her face barely concealed the pain of her wounds. As they continued, however, her determination began to falter, and after some time she stumbled and fell to her knees.
One of the men Grabbed her roughly by the arm and shouted "Get back up! You don't stop until we say you can stop!" He jerked her back onto her feet and shoved her back into the line, nearly causing her to fall again. With a pained look on her face, Miria started forward again, but the same man threw his own foot forward, tripping her. He then grabbed her hair and pulled her up, saying "You don't follow orders too well, do you? Well, we can fix that."
He was suddenly forced to let go of her when Emerin kicked him in the side and yelled "Get off of her! I can still kick your arse with both hands tied behind my back!" Two other men grabbed him and tried to wrestle him back into the line, but he kicked out and drove them away. The large man saw what was happening and rushed over, yelling "Stop this resistance, or I will break you in more ways than one!"
Emerin glared defiantly at him, and that was all the large man needed to throw a punch straight for his face. The fist never reached its target, as Garm stepped in front of it. The fist impacted with his left cheek. Garm laughed and asked "That's all you got? My dead mother used to beat me harder than that." The large man snarled and said "Get back in line, or I'll crush you." He reached for the hammer strapped to his back. "Do as he says, you morons," said Ronan. Emerin groaned and walked back to his place in the line, followed by Garm. Miria managed to stumble back onto her feet, and the group continued onward as though nothing had happened.
"This plan of yours had better be worth it," Emerin whispered to Ronan as they marched. Ronan smirked and whispered "We can take them at any time, sure, but this way we'll find out who the boss is. Trust me, this'll be worth it." Emerin hadn't thought about that. If they could find the one truly responsible for the attacks, then they could end the mission quickly. "I see," he whispered. Ronan smirked again and replied "Just keep quiet for a little longer. Save your energy." Emerin had to admit that it was a good plan, though he would never say that in front of Ronan. Still, it was his responsibility to watch out for the others, and Miria was in no condition to walk much farther. He cursed under his breath and hoped that their destination was close.
For what had seemed like hours, the group was led through the forest, until night began to fall around them. The large man stopped and shouted "Time for a rest, boys! Tie the prisoners to a tree and take a break!" The men did as they were told, and the adventurers were soon sitting just outside the camp, their bonds tethered to a tree.
As the men who had tied them to the tree made their way back toward the camp that was being built, Ronan leaned toward Emerin and said "Now that we have some room for privacy, I think it's a good time to go over our options." Emerin looked back at him and asked "Options? I thought we were letting them take us to their base." Ronan let out a sigh and said "If we do that, then we'll likely get ourselves surrounded and killed. I had wanted to persuade some of our captors to spill their guts about their boss along the way, but your little outburst back there practically ruined that plan."
"I wasn't about to let them hurt one of my friends," Emerin replied, but Ronan shook his head and asked "What in the hells do you think this is? Last time I checked, you weren't even interested in leading this group. Now, you're somehow concerned about these people that you had never even met before? Are you really that fickle?" Emerin looked at him in surprise and said "It was you who nominated me for the job." "Yeah, but I wasn't expecting you to be such a goody-two-shoes," Ronan replied. Starlen, who had been taking the time to heal Miria's wounds, cleared her throat and said "If it bothers you so much, then maybe you should leave. Emerin is a good person, despite your bad influence."
At that point, Garm chose to speak up, saying "Alright, I think it's time we made some things clear. First, we're not a team, no matter what you guys tell yourselves. Jem and I have never agreed to being part of this little group. In fact, none of us have. We all just came together to increase our chances of survival." "Sounds like a team to me," Ronan countered. "Or do you have some other definition for the term?" "I do not take orders from anyone," Garm said. "I do my own thing. You guys can keep playing with each other if you want, but once this job of ours is over, Jem and I are out of here." Ronan laughed and said "I don't think that's a smart choice. I know about you, Garm the Slayer. Your crusade against the Ebon Sun slavers is well-known to anyone who has the ability to listen. Thing is, in case you haven't noticed, these men ARE the Ebon Sun. Haven't you noticed their armor?"
Emerin's eyes widened when he heard Ronan's words. The men who had captured them were the Ebon Sun? He looked at the others and noticed that they had the same reaction. Ronan sighed and continued "It would be detrimental to your own cause to leave us behind, as we are obviously after the same group. You may leave if you wish, of course, but you won't get much further to achieving your goal than if you stay." Garm swore under his breath. Ronan was right. In fact, he always seemed to be right, thought Emerin. He was less surprised than he felt he should have been at that realization.
After a moment, Ronan spoke again, saying "Now, our options are to either break free and attack these guys now, or wait until they bring us closer to their hideout. If we attack now, we will take them by surprise and kill them all easily, but we'll only know the general direction of their base. If we wait, they will lead us right to it, but we may not be able to fight them all off." He looked at Emerin and said "It's your call, leader." Emerin looked at Miria, eyeing the newly closed wounds on her leg. She noticed him staring and said "I should be okay for a fight, if you're ready." He looked to each of the others, who nodded their support, though Garm did so reluctantly. "Alright," he said. "Let's make our move now. We can follow the path on our own afterwards."
"Hold on a moment, if you would," Jem suddenly interjected. He had been so quiet throughout their journey that his voice startled the others. As they turned their attention to him, he nodded and said "Perhaps an opportunity will present itself as we proceed farther into the woods. Should we not at least wait for Kaiser to find us? Surely his skills with tracking would not put him far behind us." Ronan furrowed his brow as he heard the request. Jem continued, saying "Once he arrives, we could then use his abilities to find the base without much trouble. It would make our goal much easier to obtain."
Emerin looked at him and replied "There's no guarantee that Kaiser will find us, or that we will get another chance like this before we reach the base. We'll do this now, then wait for a while. If Kaiser doesn't arrive after a few hours, then we will continue without him, if necessary." Starlen looked at Emerin and said "He will find us. I made sure that our trail was easy to follow." Ronan leaned in closer to Emerin and whispered as softly as he could "We need to talk...alone." Emerin turned his head slightly, but stopped when Ronan whispered "Don't let anyone know what we discuss, understand?" Emerin nodded slowly, though he wondered what Ronan could possibly consider a secret.
Some time later, as many of the men were lying down to sleep, the group began to stealthily untie each other's bonds, Emerin and Ronan slipped away from the others. Ronan's expression was serious when he looked at Emerin. "I've had my suspicions for a while," he whispered, his voice barely audible to Emerin. "Something doesn't sit right with me about Jem. He has hardly ever said anything, yet he's supposed to be the talkative one between himself and Garm. Just now, my suspicions have become more worrisome when he said that we should delay our escape." Emerin stared at him for a while before asking "You think he's one of them?" Ronan shrugged as he replied "Either that, or he's someone worse. All I know for sure is that Garm's 'friend' is not what he seems." "How do you know?" Emerin asked. Ronan's face maintained its serious expression as he replied "He's been holding back this whole time. He hides it well, but Garm knows that for some reason he isn't moving in battle quite as quickly as he should be. I overheard one of their conversations as we traveled. They like to keep their distance, but I was able to hear."
He glanced at the others and saw that they had nearly finished untying each other. "Jem had told him that the reason for it was an injury that he had sustained during a fight at the inn, but anyone who knows what to look for could see that he wasn't injured at all." Emerin blinked. That certainly was suspicious, assuming that it was true. He only had Ronan's word that it was, after all. "What do you want me to do?" asked Emerin. "Nothing," replied Ronan. "Not yet, anyway. It's just a suspicion for the moment. Just keep an eye on him, but try not to make it obvious." He smirked and nodded, and they both returned to the group. They were ready to begin their escape, and with a silent gesture, Emerin led them toward their weapons lying on the ground near one of the tents.
The group had little difficulty reaching their weapons, as the men who were guarding the camp were somewhat preoccupied with a deck of cards. They sat around the campfire with their backs to the tents, making stealth a simple matter for the team.
As the adventurers collected their equipment, Emerin looked at them and whispered "Let's take out the guards quickly." Velani smiled and said " I can take care of that for you." She quietly pulled three arrows from her quiver and set one onto her bowstring, then pulled it back and aimed for the guard in the middle. She fired, and her next arrow was set before the first connected with its target, then fired at the guard on the left. The middle guard lurched forward as the arrow plunged into his back. Her last arrow flew from the string just as the second connected, with similar results to the first. Before either of the guards could make a sound, they were lying faces-down around the fire.
"That is some very nice bowmanship," Ronan said as he stood and cleared his throat. Velani grinned and replied "Thanks." Ronan smirked at her, then started singing. The discordant melody flooded the air around them, and was soon followed by several howls of rage. Suddenly, sounds of fighting erupted from the nearby tents, as the inhabitants were rendered completely mad by the song. As the men fought each other in their tents, the large man burst out from his own tent, hefting his large hammer over his shoulder.
"So, you have escaped," he said, sweeping his gaze over the team. The sounds around them had died down, the last of the men having torn himself apart in his fury. The large man looked at each of the tents and said "That's a nice trick. Too bad it won't save you from me." "We need no tricks to stop you, evil one!" Brian yelled. "Only a hammer filled with righteous fury!" Brian charged at the large man, and they both swung their hammers simultaneously. The two weapons collided with a loud clang, and both combatants staggered from the force. The large man sought to follow up with another swing, but Starlen ran forward and stabbed at him with her sword, preventing his attack and keeping him on the defensive. A lightning bolt from Miria flew over her shoulder and connected squarely with the man's chest, sending several tiny sparks arcing along his body. The large man grunted from the impact, but he still stood and swung at Starlen, who ducked under the swing.
Garm charged in with his greatsword, while Jem followed quickly after him, and Brian recovered from the impact of the last hit and swung again. The large man growled as he swung and parried all of their attacks with one swing. He lowered his guard too soon, however, as Emerin, who had cast a haste spell, raced into the fray, swinging his sword across in an attempt to behead the man. The large man barely brought his weapon back up to block the attack, but a jolt of electrical energy exploded from Emerin's sword, surging through the handle of the large hammer and entering the man's body through his hands. The large man grunted once more and nearly lost his grip on his weapon, but he quickly recovered and retreated backwards a few steps.
He ducked suddenly as an arrow from Velani's bow shot through where his head just was, but Starlen leaped at him and thrust her sword at his bowed head. He desperately swiped his hammer across and barely deflected the incoming thrust, but Starlen wasn't finished, and she rolled beneath his outstretched arms and sliced her sword horizontally along his midsection as she returned to her feet. The large man let out another grunt as the blade ripped through his armor and the flesh beneath it, but not deep enough to inflict serious damage due to his armor's thickness. He retreated farther back, trying to keep his adversaries at range, but he was forced to stop when Miria chanted an arcane phrase and launched another lightning bolt that hit him once more in the chest. Emerin finished him off with a quick, powerful stab, running his sword through the man's gut and pulling it back out almost instantly. The man fell to his knees and said "Not again. Why?" With a final gasp, he slumped over and died.
The man's final words became stuck in Starlen's mind, and she felt that she had seen him before, though she couldn't remember where. After a moment, her eyes widened in recognition. This was the man who had led the slavers that had tried to kidnap her ten years ago. "But that's not right," she muttered to herself. "He should have been dead. Kaiser killed him, didn't he?" His final words kept echoing in her head, and she realized that she was right. He died back then, but something had somehow brought him back to life. Such a thing was unheard of, as not even the most experienced healers can bring a soul back from the afterlife, yet here he was, alive again.
Emerin looked at her and asked "Are you alright? You look like you'd just seen a ghost." She looked back at him and replied "I think I did." She was clearly shaken by something, Emerin thought as he watched her turn away and start walking toward the large man's tent. "Brutus," she whispered softly, the name registering in her head as she opened the entrance to the tent and peered inside. Inside the tent, she saw very little, but something on the ground caught her eye. A sword with a straight black edge rested silently on the dirt. Starlen cautiously approached it and tenderly reached down and touched the sword's hilt.
Her mind was immediately flooded with visions of death, visions of the sword cutting through countless foes both human and non-human. Through the visions, she thought she heard a voice. "You who possess the blood of kings," the voice spoke inside of her head. "I am the blade that was forged from the same blood as that which flows in your veins."
The visions faded then, replaced by an image of a man in golden armor who carried the sword. The man's face was covered by a golden mask, and he stood proudly, unfazed by whatever he was facing. The man raised the sword, and a loud war cry echoed through her mind as a large army took form behind him, the soldiers lined up in close formation.
The image faded, leaving only the voice, which said "The power of your lineage is weak, but may become strong once more. Do not falter in your journey, for the enemy you will face is cunning and merciless." After the sword finished, two familiar faces appeared in her head, and the sword spoke, saying "They hunger for the light, as it is untouchable to their hands." The voice and the faces faded, leaving Starlen alone in the tent.
For a long moment she stood still, trying to process what had just happened to her, but one part of her vision stood out to her more than the rest. After a moment, she finally snapped out of her confusion. "I knew it!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with terror. "I knew he was up to something sinister!" She rushed out of the tent, desperate to find the others and warn them of the danger that she had seen.
The group was searching the rest of the camp as Starlen ran outside and frantically looked around for Emerin. She soon found him sitting by the campfire in the center of the camp, and she rushed over and said "I need to talk to you. It's very important." Emerin straightened and gave her his full attention, and she continued, saying "Ronan is a-"
"What is Ronan this time?" A voice from behind her cut through her own sentence, and she turned around to find Ronan standing nearby. He smirked and said "I hope it's nothing too terrible, since I really want to have a shot at nailing you later on." "Ronan, what in the hells?" Emerin asked, a disgusted look on his face. Ronan grinned and said "Just kidding." He then winked at Starlen, who glared at him and said "He's a demon. He disguised himself as one of us so that he could destroy us from within our own group!"
Ronan and Emerin both stared at her with wide eyes as she finished. "What?" Ronan finally asked in response. "That's an...interesting accusation to make," said Emerin. Starlen looked back at him and said "It's true! I saw the truth when I picked up this sword!" She held up the black sword that was still in her hand, and Ronan frowned and said "It's just a sword. Last time I checked, swords don't talk." Starlen spun back around to face him and said "I never said that it talked. Who are you, really?!"
"What's going one over here?" The trio turned to see Garm and Jem walking toward them. Starlen swore under her breath and said "I saw a vision when I picked up this sword. It showed me the truth about..." She trailed off as she realized that Ronan's wasn't the only face that she had seen. She stared at Jem, who smiled calmly at her, but she suddenly felt something else in that smile. The longer she looked, the more wicked the smile became to her senses. Jem's eyes lowered toward the sword in her hand, and his smile widened even further.
"Well," he said, his voice sounding very different from how it had sounded earlier. It was colder, devoid of passion or any emotion at all. "It seems I've stumbled upon a most peculiar sight. We had thought that the royal blood line had completely dried up, yet the sword in your hand proves otherwise." Garm looked at him, confused, and asked "What are you on about, Jem? Royal blood lines and swords?" Jem sighed and said "I really didn't want to include you in this, Garm, but it seems that such an outcome is now impossible. I am truly sorry, my friend."
Suddenly, Jem's swords flashed from their sheaths, too quickly for the surprised Garm to react, and in the next instant he fell to his knees, frantically gripping the newly made slit across his neck. As he fell to the ground, gasping for air, Jem walked over his body calmly to face the others. "I suppose a proper introduction is in order," he said, and he dipped into a low bow. "I am Jemeniah Tyrdane, or Jemeniah the Broken Eagle, harbinger of famine and general of the hells."
Ronan's eyes nearly burst out of his head, and he shouted "Shit! We need to get out of here, now!" Emerin and Starlen didn't move, as they were too stunned to react. Ronan grabbed both of them roughly and pulled them away from Jemeniah and the dying Garm and into the woods. Jemeniah merely laughed softly and said "Ah, the chase begins. I do love it when they run." His swords transformed in his hands, their blades turning blood red. His skin turned pale and gaunt, and his eyes began to glow yellow beneath the shadows of the trees. He calmly followed after them, savoring the moment of sheer shock and terror shared by his soon-to-be victims.
When Miria and Velani noticed the scene, they also fled into the forest. Brian tried to heroically stand his ground, but both young women grabbed him and dragged him away with them. Jemeniah grinned widely as he saw them running. He would catch them all, of course, starting with Starlen.
"Run, run, as fast as you can," he said, his voice taking on a wickedly melodic tone. "Once you realize that escape is impossible, when despair takes you from within, I will find you. One...by...one." The adventurers heard his voice as it echoed through the trees. They fought the feelings of hopelessness as they tried to put as much distance from him as they could. Sadistic laughter filled the air around them, seemingly amplified by the otherwise complete silence of the forest.
The group ran on, trying to get away from Jemeniah, but Ronan knew that their efforts were in vain. The harbinger of famine, an assassin who uses despair as a weapon, cannot be escaped so easily. Still, he needed to think of a plan, and running could give him the time he needed to come up with one. Unfortunately, his thoughts were interrupted by a most annoying source.
Miria, whose injury was starting to affect her again due to running, tripped and fell to the ground. Emerin stopped, prompting the rest of the group to stop as well, and rushed over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Can you stand?" Ronan shook his head and said "Leave her behind. We need to keep moving." Emerin shot him a harsh glare and replied "If you think I'm going to leave another one of my companions to die, then I'm going to disappoint you." "We can't stay here," Ronan argued. "If we stay, we all die."
"We need to find my brother," Starlen interjected. "I'm worried about him. What if he runs into Jem?" "I'll stay and defend our weary comrade!" said Brian, his voice having lost none of its dramatic, robust tone. "Demon or not, the traitorous Jambalaya the Bloated Beagle will fall to my fury of righteous fury!" "Shut up, loon!" Ronan yelled at him. "Do you want him to find us and kill us all?!" He turned back to Emerin and said "Miria is already going to die." Miria's face paled, and she looked at Emerin pleadingly and said "Please, don't leave me to die. I'm not ready to die yet." Emerin smiled at her and said "I won't leave you. I would never betray the trust of anyone who fights alongside me." Ronan scoffed and asked him "So you're just going to throw your life away?"
"I will die fighting for a friend. I hardly consider that a wasteful end," Emerin answered. Ronan frowned, but finally shrugged and conceded the issue, saying "Fine, then I'll stay and kill myself with you." Everyone's eyes widened when he offered to stay, and Velani asked "What? Weren't you going to run away?" "If Em wants to stay, then I really don't want to leave," he answered. "Assuming that we'll even have you," Starlen retorted. "Don't think I'd forgotten about your little secret, demon!" "Would you stop spitting that out already?" Ronan asked her impatiently. "I left that life behind me because I grew bored. I no longer feast on hearts and shit souls for a living, or whatever it is you people think we do."
"Wait," Velani said. ."If you really are a demon, can't you just, you know, have a demon-to-demon talk with Jem?" Ronan laughed at her question and said "This is no normal demon we're dealing with. He's a harbinger. He'd tear me apart if I tried to stop him." Emerin nodded and said "Nobody's expecting that from you. Alright, Brian, Ronan, and I will stay here and watch over Miria. Starlen, you and Velani go find your brother." Starlen looked at Miria and said "Sorry I couldn't heal you more completely." Miria shook her head and said "It's fine. You've done enough. I'm just not as fit as I should be."
Starlen looked back up at Emerin and said "I'm sorry we couldn't save Garm, but I promise I'll come back for you." Emerin smiled and said "I know you will. You're a good person." Starlen smiled back, and with a nod toward Velani, she turned and ran down the trail, back toward the group's last campsite.
Emerin watched her go, giving her one last encouraging nod as she left. Ronan smirked and turned toward Emerin, saying "Well, that's a relief. Now, we can complete the quest without any interference from Jem." Emerin looked at him and asked "What do you mean?" "The sword is what he wants to deal with," Ronan replied. "Or, more specifically, the one who wields it. Anyone with the ability to see his true self is a threat to his plans." Emerin grimaced and said "If that's the case, then Starlen is in more danger than we are!"
Ronan merely shrugged and said "It's good for us though, since we can now finish the job that we were given." Emerin wasn't comforted by that notion, and Ronan sighed and said "She'll be alright. She's got Kaiser on her side, after all." "If she finds him..." Emerin muttered in response. He couldn't help but wonder if this was part of Ronan's plan from the beginning. Still, he couldn't deny that the mission needed to be completed. He looked at the others and declared "We should continue on. I don't like leaving Starlen behind, but we have a job to do, and waiting here won't bring us any closer to seeing it through."
He smiled at Miria and asked "Can you stand?" Miria slowly rose, holding her arm out to Brian, who took it and kept her from falling again. After a few painful stretches, she finally nodded her head, saying "I think I can stay on my feet this time. Sorry for making you all worry so much." "If you have any problems," Emerin told her. "You can just tell one of us, and we'll help you out." She smiled in response. "Can we please just get moving?" asked Ronan. "I would be more comfortable if we were mobile. Moving targets, and all that."
The group moved deeper into the forest, back toward the Ebon Sun camp, keeping their eyes open for Jemeniah. The camp was empty when they reached it, except for the bodies that they had left behind. Emerin took a moment to pay his respects to Garm, and Ronan took a moment to relieve him of his armor. With a smirk at the perplexed Emerin, he shoved the red suit into Brian's arms and said "Here, you wear it now." Brian scowled at him and said "You dare defile this brave hero's corpse, villain?! I should deliver a fistful of justice to your smug little face!"
"Shut up and wear it, idiot!" Ronan replied. "It will protect you better than what you're currently wearing." Brian snarled, but ultimately took the armor and put it on. The group continued some time later, following the trail as it wound around the trees. Eventually, they entered another large clearing, though this one was not natural, as rotting stumps poked through the ground, left by loggers. Along the far side of the clearing stood a massive building that stretched across the entire east half of the clearing. Its walls were made of large white stones, with a large wooden door set in the very center of its west wall. Four tall stone pillars stood on each side of the door, holding up a long balcony that stretched out from the building's second floor. Rows of statues carved in the shape of beastly horned monsters dotted the edges of the balcony.
The group stared in awe of the building, and Ronan whistled and said "Wow, that's quite the evil lair. Filled with all sorts of goodies, I think." "And baddies," replied Miria. She grimaced at the thought of trying to cast spells in a likely crowded hallway. "I guess the only thing we can do is explore as thoroughly as we can," Emerin said. Ronan and Miria both nodded, and Brian said "Yes! This is what heroes are born for!" "Busting into homes and slaughtering their inhabitants?" Ronan asked with a smirk. "Don't forget taking their stuff," Miria added. "Isn't that what an adventure is all about?" "The good ones," Ronan replied. Brian grinned, pointed toward the building's door, and cried "Onward, fellow heroes and villain! This bastion of evil will crumble in the face of our blind fury!" He ran ahead before the others could react, but after regaining their focus they followed after him as quickly as they could manage.
Starlen and Velani ran as quickly as they could back toward their old campsite, desperate to find Kaiser before Jemeniah found them. They had nearly reached the camp when a familiar figure burst out of the trees to their right and crashed into Velani. Kaiser fell over her, too surprised to stop himself, and they both toppled to the ground in a heap.
"Sorry," said Kaiser as he struggled to get back on his feet. He steadied himself and held his hand out for Velani, who wasted no time in taking it, and he pulled her up. "Jeez," Velani said. "Just crush me beneath your massive bulk, why don't you?" Kaiser pushed her down again, gently enough not to hurt her, but hard enough to get his point across. Velani yelped in surprise as she fell, and she complained "Hey, that's not funny!" "It's a little funny," replied Kaiser, an amused smile on his face. Starlen, however, was too distressed to care. "Kaiser!" she said louder than she had meant to. "We need to get back to the others! They could be in danger!"
"Not as much danger as you are in, I am afraid." The cold voice caused the three of them to turn toward the path where Starlen and Velani had just come from. There, leaning against a tree, was Jemeniah. His yellow eyes glowed brightly, though the light felt devoid of warmth. He beamed at them and said "Good work, making it to your brother. The two of you should make a good warm-up." "What's going on?" Kaiser asked Starlen, who said "Jem's a demon, a harbinger." The word 'harbinger' set off an alarm in Kaiser's head. This was one of the powerful beings who he had heard about from the mysterious man.
Suddenly, Jemeniah rushed forward, his movements quicker than what Kaiser had ever seen before. In an instant, his swords were out and leaping for Kaiser's throat. Starlen's own sword flashed across and parried the blades less than an inch away from her brother's neck, but Jemeniah simply spun with the momentum and slashed his left sword across at Starlen wwhile thrusting his right sword under his left arm toward Kaiser. The two siblings blocked the incoming attacks, and Kaiser swung his halberd at Jemeniah's head. The harbinger laughed mockingly as he ducked and kicked out with his left leg, and Kaiser grunted as he fell backward from the force. With both of his swords free, Jemeniah immediately focused them on Starlen. His attacks were swifter than she could see, and she had to rely partly on instinct to determine where they would strike. It wasn't enough, however, and Jemeniah's swords soon found their target.
Starlen gasped as both of his red blades ran through her stomach, their bloody tips protruding out of her back. She choked on the blood that rushed up into her mouth. Jemeniah smiled as he slowly pulled his swords out of her, delighting in the pain that showed on her face as she fell.
Kaiser stared at Starlen as she crumpled to the ground. He could not believe what he had just seen. He didn't know what had happened, nor did he know why Jemeniah was attacking them, but he knew that his sister was hurt badly. As his sister fell, his mind raced, and familiar feelings suddenly overwhelmed him. He would not let her die, he could not. He would sooner die himself than let this demon, this harbinger kill the only person he had cared for for all of his life. With a roar of rage that echoed through the forest, Kaiser stood and rushed at Jemeniah. The harbinger ducked under his halberd again, but the enraged Kaiser wasn't finished. His left hand balled into a fist, and he caught Jemeniah by surprise, planting it in his belly. The full force of his strength sent Jemeniah flying into the air and into a tree, which splintered and cracked as it slowly began to fall over.
Kaiser's halberd flew toward Jemeniah, who rolled away at the last instant, and finished the tree off. It fell with a loud crash upon the ground, but both combatants were too engaged with each other to notice. Jemeniah thrust both of his swords out with incredible speed, and his left sword stabbed into Kaiser's right shoulder, but Kaiser's long coat kept the blade from piercing through completely. His left hand had caught the other sword and held it firmly, and he swung his halberd using only his right arm. Jemeniah barely brought his free sword up to block the attack, but he had underestimated Kaiser's full strength, and the blacksmith's halberd simply swatted it aside.
Jemeniah then let go of his trapped sword and gripped the other with both hands. He struck Kaiser with several powerful, yet swift slashes that Kaiser struggled to block. While slower with one sword, Jemeniah was still quick enough to keep Kaiser on the defensive. Kaiser knew he couldn't keep up with the harbinger for much longer. In spite of his anger, he knew that he couldn't win.
Velani knelt beside Starlen and said "Dammit, this is not fair. Starlen, please stay with us." Starlen groaned, and her body glowed with an inner light. Velani's eyes widened when the holes in Starlen's body began to close, and in a few moments, she was completely healed. "What the...?" Velani gasped as Starlen struggled to her feet. Starlen breathed out a sigh as her wounds were completely healed.
Jemeniah soon had Kaiser cornered, and was ready to finish him off. The blacksmith knew that he couldn't keep parrying the harbingers attacks, and Jemeniah soon broke through his guard, his swords plunging straight for Kaiser's throat...only to be Knocked aside by an unseen force.
Both combatants paused and looked at each other confused before a soft voice to Kaiser's rightbroke the silence. "Your friend is right. It isn't fair, at least not yet." Everyone turned to see the mysterious man from earlier standing just beyond the reach of Jemeniah's swords. The harbinger tilted his head and asked "What business do you have with us, vagrant?" The stranger smiled slightly and replied "Why, the same business that had brought me to them before, of course." He gestured toward the two siblings, and Jemeniah sneered. "They are marked for death," he told the stranger coldly. "If you interfere, then you will suffer the same fate as them."
"No, my dear friend, no one else will die tonight," the stranger was calm as he made the declaration.
Jemeniah's eyes narrowed at the declaration. "Who are you?" he asked. "Nobody makes such claims when facing a harbinger." "No living person, perhaps," the stranger replied. Jemeniah glared at him for a moment, then muttered "I see." In the next instant, he sheathed his swords, then slowly backed away from the others. "Smart beast," said the stranger as Jemeniah faded away, disappearing from the others' view.
After Jemeniah had gone, the stranger turned to the others and smiled, saying "What a nice coincidence. We seem to keep running into each other lately." He looked at Starlen and said "It is good to see that you have inherited something useful from your father. He possesses healing powers of that magnitude, as well." "You know our father?" Starlen asked, her eyes darting toward Kaiser, who nodded, to her surprise. "Yes," the stranger replied. "I knew him. I was a good friend of your mother's, and she was a good friend of his."
Kaiser stepped between them then and said "You scared away a harbinger. Just who are you, and how are you able to do that?" The stranger sighed and said "That information would do you no good. I do have some useful information to share, however. Your father was sighted near Ryllas, a town several days west from Bellepoint. If you head there now, you may find the answers that have eluded you for so many years. Do what you will with this information, for I must also leave this area, and we will not likely meet again anytime soon."
He dipped into a low bow and turned away from the group, but Starlen said "Wait, we should thank you for helping us before you go." The stranger chuckled softly and said without looking back at her "There is no need to thank me, considering that I had caused the very situation that I had just resolved. It was I who left that sword for you to find, and as expected, it awakened at your touch." "What?" Starlen asked. "How did you...this doesn't make any sense!" "You possess the blood of the sword's creator, an ancient king who ruled with an iron fist," the stranger replied. "This king once ruled the entire known world, and had sought to destroy the gods. He was foolish and prideful, and his efforts merely brought the destruction of his kingdom, his family, and his life. The sword warned him of external threats, but could do nothing for his own shortcomings. His line was scattered, and was believed to be destroyed entirely. His foes had searched for his descendants tirelessly, and they were all killed, with a few exceptions, apparently. Those same enemies continue to hunt for his descendants today."
"This king fought against demons?" asked Velani. The stranger sighed and said "He fought, and he lost. Though he had slain countless foes, he could not win alone. His army crumbled around him, but he still fought on, until he received a message informing him that his family had been murdered. He lost the will to fight, and his enemies brought him down. Now you know the tale as it is told, a mere legend and cautionary tale meant to remind us of how a man's pride can destroy him and the world. Now, if you will excuse me, I have business elsewhere that can wait no longer."
In a flash of light, the stranger vanished before the group could ask him anything else. Starlen was still confused, and she thought silently for a moment. The sword in her hand was silent, but she felt a presence inside of her mind, similar to when she had picked it up. She looked to Kaiser and said "Do me a favor." Kaiser looked back at her curiously. She held out the sword and said "Take this for a moment." Kaiser furrowed his brow and reached for the sword, taking it in his right hand. "What do you feel?" Starlen asked him. "Do you feel anything strange?" Kaiser stared at her for a moment, then shook his head slowly and said "No." Starlen stared back at him and asked "Are you sure?" "Yes," Kaiser replied. Starlen looked down at the ground, deep in thought. What did that mean? Were they not siblings? Shouldn't he also have heard something?
After a while, Kaiser cleared his throat and said "It seems that we have a new goal." He looked at the other two and said "We can either go back for the others, or we can find some answers." Starlen didn't want to abandon the others, especially with Ronan still with them, but the stranger's words made her question what she had once thought was the truth. She couldn't let an opportunity for answers pass her by. She needed to know why Kaiser didn't feel the sword's influence, why a harbinger was trying to kill her, and why the stranger was willing to help her and her friends. She also wanted, more than anything, to learn what had truly happened between her parents. With a smile, she nodded to Kaiser, and with Velani in tow, they made their way out of the forest.
Some thoughts, which you're free to ignore or consider:
[spoiler=Spoilered for those not caught up yet...] -I was really surprised when Starlen came out and confessed to everyone else that she and Kaiser were half-demons. I would have thought she'd keep something like that secret, especially to a bunch of strangers without her brother's permission. I'd liked to have seen that tension drawn out a little bit longer.
-Brian and Jem were so quiet throughout the whole thing, I almost thought they weren't even with the group anymore. As far as Jem's concerned, well... We all know why he was all hush-hush. But I expected more out of Brian, especially with Starlen's, Kaisers, and especially Ronan's ancestry. He seems to not be as well-developed as the rest of the cast, simply there to have funny one-liners about vanquishing evil and all that. Which, I love funny one-liners about vanquishing evil as much as the next gal, but no one is that one-dimensional.
-You kinda shined a big spotlight on Jem, so his betrayal wasn't a big surprise, nor do I think it was supposed to be. But I did not expect him to kill Garm, or that Ronan would be a demon as well, and I really enjoyed that twist. Of everyone in the cast, Ronan and Starlen are my favorite characters so far.
-I find it really disbelieving that the Ebon Sun guys would be so incompetent as to play a game of cards with their backs turned so the rest of the party could get away. I mean I've heard of lame-o guards before, but gimme a break.
-Your fight scenes are all really detailed, and I love it.[/spoiler]
Ooh, feedback! @Nonnahswriter some interesting points here.
-This will be addressed in the next chapter, and will serve to further develop Starlen's character.
-At this point in the story, Brian's development as a character is wrapped up in big SPOILER tape. I can say that we've only just begun to delve into the main characters' backgrounds and developments, and there is more to come.
-It was meant to be obvious, yes. The real surprise was supposed to be the teeny tiny fact that he was not just any bad guy, but a harbinger, though that may have been spoiled by the stranger's conversation with Kaiser at his old home. Ronan's true nature being discovered as well is one of my favorite moments in the story, and I hope that I had conveyed that moment well enough to show it. As for Garm's surprise and death, it was meant to show how well Jem could blend into human society, as well as how quickly and ruthlessly he could turn on his 'friends' if he felt the need to. He had Garm fooled until the very end, and when his cover was blown he reacted as I felt an assassin would.
-I must admit, minor characters aren't a strength of mine, and those guards weren't meant to be the best that their organization could spare for the job. Brutus had already failed once; his superiors may not have deemed him worthy of leading their best men.
-Thank you. I try really hard to make battles interesting, especially when the characters are driven by their emotions. The battle between Jemeniah and Kaiser, for instance, was meant to convey how Kaiser's emotions at watching his sister get hurt had caused him to forget his trepidation at the thought of fighting a harbinger. He shook away all of his fears and threw himself at Jem, and Jem was caught off-guard by that.
The last update ended Chapter 2: Tangled Trees, Tangled Hearts. Onward to Chapter 3!
Ooh, feedback! @Nonnahswriter some interesting points here.
-This will be addressed in the next chapter, and will serve to further develop Starlen's character.
-At this point in the story, Brian's development as a character is wrapped up in big SPOILER tape. I can say that we've only just begun to delve into the main characters' backgrounds and developments, and there is more to come.
-It was meant to be obvious, yes. The real surprise was supposed to be the teeny tiny fact that he was not just any bad guy, but a harbinger, though that may have been spoiled by the stranger's conversation with Kaiser at his old home. Ronan's true nature being discovered as well is one of my favorite moments in the story, and I hope that I had conveyed that moment well enough to show it. As for Garm's surprise and death, it was meant to show how well Jem could blend into human society, as well as how quickly and ruthlessly he could turn on his 'friends' if he felt the need to. He had Garm fooled until the very end, and when his cover was blown he reacted as I felt an assassin would.
-I must admit, minor characters aren't a strength of mine, and those guards weren't meant to be the best that their organization could spare for the job. Brutus had already failed once; his superiors may not have deemed him worthy of leading their best men.
-Thank you. I try really hard to make battles interesting, especially when the characters are driven by their emotions. The battle between Jemeniah and Kaiser, for instance, was meant to convey how Kaiser's emotions at watching his sister get hurt had caused him to forget his trepidation at the thought of fighting a harbinger. He shook away all of his fears and threw himself at Jem, and Jem was caught off-guard by that.
The last update ended Chapter 2: Tangled Trees, Tangled Hearts. Onward to Chapter 3!
Emerin sighed. The group had managed to reach the entrance without being spotted, despite Brian's dramatic charge, only to find the door locked, and they had no key with which they could open it. "Well," said Miria with a sigh of her own. "We probably should have seen this coming, in hindsight." "Should we go back and see if that big guy has a key?" Emerin asked, but his question was answered before he had finished asking it, as Brian had reached behind his ear and pulled out a long pin. He pushed it inside the lock as the others stared at him dumbfounded. "What are you doing?" asked Emerin, a puzzled look on his face. Brian grinned and answered "No door can stand in the way of justice!" "Isn't this kinda shady?" Miria asked. "Have no fear, madam!" Ronan replied, doing his best to mimic Brian's voice. "We do this for the sake of justice!" Emerin rolled his eyes, while Brian ignored the storyteller's mockery, focusing on picking the lock. The lock soon clicked, and Brian pushed the door open, then flashed a huge grin at Emerin.
"Well, okay then," Emerin said as he looked inside the building. The entrance was large and decorated with the same stone statues that lined the balcony outside. Bright red banners hung from the high ceiling in three rows, with five banners in one row, that were spread far apart form each other. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of wood, and six stone pillars stretched all the way upward along the left and right edges of the room. The room was completely devoid of life, and Emerin felt uneasy. Why would a building such as this have no sentries? He pondered the thought for a while, but his thoughts were soon interrupted by Brian, who pushed his way inside and said "Alright, time to look around! We must explore every little inch of this place."
Emerin looked around and found two other doors beside the one that they had just entered, one in the left wall and one in the right wall. "There are two ways to go," he said. "Good thing we have a scout," replied Ronan. The others turned to him, and he nodded his head toward Miria, who asked "What?!" Ronan shrugged and said "You can do it. It shouldn't be too hard, and you can always give us a signal if you get into trouble. We won't be far behind you." He winked at Emerin, who said "If she doesn't want to, then she doesn't have to. I'll go." Miria looked at him for a moment, then said "Hang on, I can do it." "Are you sure?" Emerin asked. "Yeah," she answered. "Just make sure that you're ready to run to my aid if I need help."
"Alright," Emerin said. Miria nodded and smiled at him, then cautiously walked to the left door and opened it. Seeing nothing, she walked through. Emerin and Brian started following after her, but Ronan stopped them, saying "Hold on, let's let her go a bit farther first." "She's depending on us for help, Ronan," Emerin said. "I wouldn't worry too much about that," Ronan replied. "If she needs help, she'll give us the signal." "What kind of signal?" Emerin asked.
Their conversation was interrupted then, as Miria burst back out of the door, screaming "Ohgodsohgodsohgodsohgods OH GODS!" Ronan snickered and said "That kind of signal."
The Ebon Sun guards rushed into the room behind Miria, their swords drawn and raised. The group of adventurers huddled together as they were surrounded by twenty men. One of the men shouted "Drop your weapons and surrender, for you are outnumbered!" "As if that actually mattered," Ronan said in response, and he looked to Emerin and asked "How about it, wise leader?" Emerin smiled and said "We fight them, of course." "Just what I wanted to hear," Ronan replied, and he broke into a somber song. The men tried to move in to attack the group, but their legs were firmly planted on the floor and their arms were also rendered immobile.
Emerin grinned as he rushed forward and sliced open the nearest guard's midsection. He saw the man's eyes screaming silently as he died where he stood, and he immediately spun and struck the guard to his right. Miria cast a spell, and a bolt of lightning arced toward another group, splitting into several smaller bolts as it impacted with the closest target and jumping to the nearby guards as Brian swung his hammer furiously at another group. The guards fell over one by one, their heads caved in as Brian swatted them aside.
Soon, the number of guards was reduced to five, and Ronan stopped singing. Just as the remaining guards began to move once more, he flew into the enemy group, his left fist colliding with the nearest guard's head and his right foot sweeping the legs out from under the next one in line. He finished the second guard off with a hard kick to his face that snapped his neck as his head flew backward. The first guard struggled to regain his footing, but Brian didn't give him a chance, as his hammer slammed into the guard's head exactly where Ronan had punched him. Emerin charged the remaining three as they finally shook off the effects of the song, and he cut down one guard before he could raise his sword. The other two started to run, but Miria caught them with another spell. The retreating guards suddenly stumbled and fell over, then began to snore as the sleep spell affected them. Ronan finished them both with two swift kicks to their heads.
"Well," Ronan said. "That was fun." "It was rather easy with the four of us together," Miria replied. "The entire population of the building likely heard our fight," said Emerin. "We should expect them to come running." "Let them come!" Brian shouted. "One can never have too much evil-smiting!" Ronan shook his head and laughed. "You know, for once I think I agree with you, Brian. We still have plenty of energy." "Easy for you to say," Miria told him. "You have legs made of steel." "I could give you a better look at them later, if you want," Ronan replied with a smirk. "All three of them." "Yeah, no," Miria said. Ronan smirked again.
"We should move on," Emerin said, trying to redirect the conversation toward the matter at hand. "Yeah, Miria," Ronan said mockingly. "Don't sidetrack us with your dirty thoughts." Miria glared at him, and he laughed, then Brian smacked him in the back of his head, and he yelped in surprise and pain. "Silence, villain!" Brian shouted. "Our leader has no patience for your sinister sexual advances! He would never accept your black-hearted, yet strangely alluring gaze!" "Er, Brian?" Emerin asked. "I'm fairly certain he wasn't talking to me." Brian shrugged and said "Maybe not yet, but I have seen how he leers at you when you're not looking with hunger in his eyes." "Eh," Ronan said as he shrugged. "I DO get a little famished at times." He laughed when Emerin's eyes grew wide and said "Don't worry, I don't eat men, in any sense of the term. Miria, on the other hand..."
They were interrupted again as more guards stormed into the large room from both of the inner doors. Emerin sighed and said "See, this is why I wanted to hurry." Miria shook her head wildly to clear away a horrible mental image, then began casting another spell.
The town of Bellepoint was quiet when Starlen and her companions walked through the gate. The sun had just started to rise over the treeline behind them, and they were relieved to feel its warm, comforting touch on their backs. So much had happened during the previous night that the adventurers were ready to collapse, despite the time of day.
They made their way to the Journeyman's Respite and opened the door. Mandon was standing behind the bar, filling mugs of ale and passing them out to a few patrons. He smiled when he saw his two adopted children, and he waved them over. "Welcome back, kids!" he said cheerfully. "Ye look like ye had a hard day of adventurin'. Come, have a seat and I'll be right wit' ye." Kaiser pointed the group toward a table near the entrance, and they walked over and slumped down into the chairs surrounding it.
Velani looked at Kaiser and said "Well, I know I'm not going anywhere until I've had some rest. How about you?" Kaiser shrugged and replied "I suppose we can stay a while, for your sake." "Oh, come on!" Velani protested. "You can't honestly tell me that you're not tired! You almost got your arse kicked by some scrawny guy back there." Kaiser shook his head. "That 'scrawny guy' is a demon," he said. "Demons are far from weak, no matter their form." "So, since you're only half demon, you're only half as good?" she asked. Kaiser stared at her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable, then asked "How do you know about that?"
Starlen spoke hesitantly, saying "I...may have told the others when you left." Kaiser turned his head toward her and asked "You told all of them?" Starlen shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze and answered "Y-yes." Kaiser closed his eye and sighed deeply in an attempt to vent his rising frustration. When he looked at her again, he asked "And you thought it was a good idea, because...?" Starlen gulped as she stared back at her brother. She couldn't help but feel at least a little afraid, despite knowing that Kaiser would never hurt her. He still terrified her whenever he was angry with her, as he usually scolded her terribly. This time was no different.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, his voice turning harsh and forceful. "Did you even think once about the potential consequences of what you were saying?" Starlen struggled to form a response. "I didn't-"
"No, you didn't!" Kaiser interrupted her. "You just told them without considering the possibility that they could have viewed you as a monster! They could have killed you!" Velani tried to say something in Starlen's defense, but Kaiser glared at her as she opened her mouth, and she closed it. He then sighed again and said "It was hardly a wise decision, and it could have cost you your life. These others are hardly trustworthy. I understood when you told Mandon and Landin, since they were friends, but these people are not. I wasn't there to protect you from them-"
"No you weren't!" Starlen suddenly shouted. "You never are! You're always leaving so that you can escape from reality by clinging to the past!" Kaiser's eye widened when Starlen interrupted him. She sighed after they had stared at each other for a while, and said "I'm sorry. I know it's important to you." Kaiser shook his head. "No," he said. "You're right. I should never have gone back. This is our home now." He reached into his coat and pulled out the spearhead that he had found on the ground near their old home. Starlen's eyes grew wide when she saw it. "That's-" she started to say, but she cut herself off, as she couldn't bear to finish her sentence. Kaiser looked down at the spearhead for a moment, then held it out toward Starlen. "Do what you want with it," he told her.
Tears started to form in Starlen's eyes as she reached for the spearhead. When she wrapped her hand around it, she closed her eyes and shuddered, trying not to cry. Kaiser left it inside of her hand and said "You can remember her now, if by nothing else, then by this." She opened her eyes again and stood, then ran around the table and wrapped her arms around him in a long hug. Kaiser returned her embrace, both of them so filled with emotion that they couldn't speak.
Velani looked around awkwardly, and she soon decided to leave them alone. She stood and walked back toward the bar just as a man came in from outside. She glanced at the man, then was forced to look again more closely. The man standing in the doorway looked nearly exactly like Kaiser, minus the facial scarring. He wore a suit of black chain mail and black trousers, and a long black leather coat that was open in the front.The only other visible differences were the two swords strapped across his back instead of a black-bladed halberd.
The man ignored her as he walked toward the bar, and he sat down on an empty stool. He then looked around slowly, taking in his new surroundings. When his eyes fell upon the two siblings in the corner, who had just released each other from their hug, he sneered and stood back up, his hands reaching for his swords. Velani immediately ran back to the others and said "We've got trouble." Kaiser and Starlen looked toward the man, and their expressions clearly reflected their surprise at seeing him. "Looks like I found you first," the man spoke in a deep, raspy voice. "Good."
Kaiser couldn't believe what, or rather who he was seeing. Standing in front of him was a man who he had not expected to see again since ten years ago. He stared at his brother and shook his head slowly. "Kain," he spoke softly, still not fully registering the sight. The man grinned wickedly at him, savoring the look of shock on his face. "I'm not interested in a family reunion just yet," Kain said. "But the next time our paths cross, you and your little princess are dead."
He spat on the ground near Kaiser's feet and walked away, taking a seat at the bar. Kaiser and Starlen both stared at him, while Velani looked on, once again feeling like a third wheel. After a while, Starlen shook her head and asked "What in the hells did he call me?!" "We should go," said Kaiser, but Starlen snorted and asked "Why? Because the runt in our family came over and threatened us in our home? Seriously, who does he think he is?" "Calm down," Kaiser told her. "We don't want to make a scene here."
After a moment, Starlen sighed and said "Yeah, you're right. Still, if he thinks he can take both of us in a fight, then he's as stupid as he is short!" "Er, Starlen?" Velani asked. "He's just as tall as you are." "That doesn't make him any less of a runt!" Starlen snapped at her. "He used to be shorter then I was, by the way!" "It doesn't matter," Kaiser interjected, trying to keep them quiet. Kain snorted derisively at the bar, and Starlen glared at him from the table, seemingly eager to start the fight that he had threatened them with.
Mandon walked out from the kitchen and strode toward the companions' table with their drinks. As he set them down upon the table, he looked at Starlen and asked "What're ye so mad about now, girl?" Velani chuckled and asked him "She does this often, I take it?" "Aye," Mandon replied with a nod. "She's had quite the temper since the day I met her. I'm hoping that she'll be learning some patience while she's on this trip of yours. Otherwise, she'll be throwing out all of our guests and driving me out of business." He grinned at Starlen to let her know that he was only joking, and Starlen smiled back at him. While she was still angry, she couldn't keep from smiling whenever Mandon tried to cheer her up.
Kain left sometime later without saying another word to either of them, and they ordered two rooms and rested until some time after midday. After getting their rest, they departed, Kaiser and Starlen saying their goodbyes to the people who had been their friends and mentor's for so many years. They exited the town through the west gate and started along the road leading west. After they had gone some distance from the town, Velani looked at her two companions with a wide grin. Kaiser eventually looked back at her and asked "What?" "You guys have had a pretty great childhood, huh?" Kaiser stared at her for a long while, then said "No." "That's not what I just saw," Velani said as they walked. Kaiser's expression softened, and he said "It wasn't all happy rainbows and sunshine, you know."
Velani nodded with a knowing smile and said "Wasn't all rain clouds and sadness either." Starlen laughed and said "Don't mind Mr. Negative, he can be a real downer sometimes." "I can tell," Velani replied. "Makes me want to hug him just to get him to smile." "Maybe you should," Starlen said cheerfully. "I could also tell you where he's ticklish, if you want." Velani snickered and said "I think he'd just murder me if I tried that." "Damn straight," Kaiser responded, his face turning red. Starlen tilted her head and said "Kaiser, I think you're blushing." "I am not!" Kaiser replied forcefully.
Emerin's group ran down yet another corridor. The building didn't seem so large from the outside, but most of it was made up of long, narrow hallways that twisted and turned to form a maze that seemed to continue on for miles. They had encountered no further resistance from guards once the entrance had been cleared, but they kept running into dead ends afterward, which further added to their exhaustion and frustration.
After running for a long while, Miria stopped and said "Wait...let me...catch my breath." The others stopped when they noticed her, and Ronan said sarcastically "What a surprise." Miria shot another glare at him as she started to breathe deeply. Emerin, who was also tired of running, nodded and said "Alright, we'll take a break." Ronan smirked at him and said "You're just as bad as she is. Thankfully, Brian isn't so easily worn out, right Brian?" He looked over at Brian, who said "Just a bit farther, friends! We must continue without delay!"
Miria shook her head, saying "I'm not a buff, crazy guy like you, Brian." "If you can't keep running," Brian said. "Then I'll carry you!" "I don't think I-" Miria started to say, but she yelped instead when Brian picked her up and slung her over his right shoulder, then started running with her kicking and squirming on his back. Ronan burst into laughter as they went by, and Emerin slapped a hand over his face, then both of them followed after Brian and Miria, running as quickly as they could in an effort to keep up.
They were all relieved when they finally found the exit from the maze some time later. "Put me down!" Miria shouted to Brian, who replied "Okay!" as he threw her off of his back and onto the floor. Miria cried out again when she hit the floor, and she stumbled to her feet just as Emerin and Ronan caught up to them. "Man," she said as she rubbed her aching back. "What kind of jerk just manhandles a lady like that?" "The funny kind," said Ronan.
Emerin sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since he had met Ronan. He then looked around at the new chamber that they were in. It was as sparsely decorated as the empty maze of corridors, though several scratches along the floor suggested that something was moved out of it, perhaps recently. He followed the scratch marks, and they led him toward the room's other doorway set within the far wall.
"This looks suspicious," he said as he examined the door. "Maybe Brian should charge through heroically," Ronan said mockingly, though Brian had other plans. He pulled off the right gauntlet of Garm's old armor and reached inside of his sleeve, pulling out a small circular object with a clear surface. He then held the object in front of his eye and started to examine the door. After a while, he said "All clear," and with a swift and hard kick, he knocked the door down. "Knock knock!" He yelled, and a man's voice called out from within the room, saying "Who are you?!" Brian yanked his hammer off of his back and shouted "I'M A SODDING HERO, YOU VILLAINOUS SCUM!" He charged into the room with a loud roar, and Emerin and Ronan followed him in.
There were three men in the room, and all of them met Brian's charge, but Emerin and Ronan soon joined the fight. The combatants each focused on a different enemy. Brian swung his hammer mightily, and his opponent dodged to the left and slashed at Brian with his sword. Brian brought up his right arm, and the metal plate covering his forearm deflected the sword and bounced it back to his right. He then swung once more with his hammer, bringing it back to his right and slamming it into his opponent's forearm, shattering the bones inside with a loud crack. The man dropped his sword and stumbled back, his face a mask of pain as he gripped his injured arm with his left hand. Brian charged after him, and another swing of his hammer collided with the man's head, bursting through his skull as he dropped to the floor.
Ronan laughed as he danced circles around his opponent, who was swinging wildly in an attempt to keep up with his fast and fluid steps and spins. He easily ducked beneath a high horizontal swing, responding with a spinning kick to his opponent's midsection. The guard nearly doubled over from the impact, but Ronan wasn't finished, and his other foot leaped up to slam into the guard's head, throwing it back upward. The guard stumbled backward, and Ronan took advantage of his flailing by thrusting the palm of his right hand into the man's chest with a loud thud. The man flew backward into the wall and slumped to the floor, as he had died instantly when Ronan's hand had burst his heart. "No sense in holding back now," Ronan muttered as he shook his wrist, releasing the tension in his arm.
Emerin dodged his opponent's initial downward slash and thrust his own sword forward. The guard managed to bring his sword back in time to parry the strike, but he did not realize that Emerin had been casting a spell as he moved, and Emerin's sword erupted with electrical energy, sending jolts down the guard's arm and nearly causing him to drop his sword. He had to grip his weapon with both hands to prevent it from falling from his grasp, and Emerin took advantage of his fumbling by reciting another arcane phrase. He threw his offhand forward with his fingers outspread, and a fan of bright orange fire leaped from his fingertips. The guard yelped and fell over onto his back as he tried to get away, but Emerin's sword plunged down after him. The man shrieked as the sword pierced his armor to sever his spine, then stopped screaming as he died.
The three men who survived looked around to determine whether the fight was finished, then rejoined with each other in the center of the room. "That was easy," Ronan said. "If this is the best they have, then they might as well stab themselves for us." "Don't say things like that when we're still far from finished," replied Emerin, who was still glancing toward the room's entrance. After a while, he asked "Where's Miria?" "Probably still catching her breath," Ronan said.
A sudden loud boom from the outside hallway caused them all to jump in alarm. "Sounds like a magic fight," Brian said as he lifted his hammer and strode confidently toward the doorway. "Miria must be fighting something!" Emerin said, and he rushed after Brian. Ronan smirked and said sarcastically "Sure, just go back the way we came from. That'll take us closer to our goal." He then followed the other two outside.
"Shit!" Miria shouted as the fireball's blast barely missed her. She was lucky to dodge when she did, as the bright orange ball soared just over her head to impact the wall behind her. The others rushed out of the room when they heard the resulting explosion to find that she was not alone any longer.
Standing near the end of the hall on the other side of the doorway was a tall, lean man wearing a flowing black robe with an elaborate gold trim that outlined the hem and sleeves. His long black hair seemed to melt into his robe, and a pair of red eyes shone from beneath his long bangs. His lips were curled into a wicked smile as he regarded the adventurers. "Well," he spoke in a smooth, silky voice. "My guards certainly didn't last long against you, did they? Not surprising, given that they were merely human, but they served their purpose. I am now ready to face you myself."
"Are you the one responsible for the attack on Bellepoint?" Emerin asked. The man nodded and said "Yes, I am he. My name is Azzar, priest of the Lucent Mask." Ronan spat upon the ground when he heard that name. "Demon worshipers," he said disgustedly. "As though that would actually make the afterlife a better place for these fools. You know, you all end up the same, regardless of your misplaced devotion." Azzar shrugged and said "It is no matter. We all die, and we all suffer in death. Why waste your life giving thanks to gods that don't truly care?" He looked at Ronan and continued, saying "You are a curious one, aren't you, demon? Despite being a denizen of the dark realms, you refuse to expand it. Why?"
Ronan merely shrugged and asked "Why not? I like the change of scenery, and people are amusing when they're not screaming in eternal agony. Most of my kind are satisfied with the suffering of their enemies, but I've lived long enough in the hells to want something different." "So you seek amusement?" Azzar asked. "I see. You live for excitement, so you choose the most difficult path for a challenge. That is why you turned against your kind, to fight a losing battle in a mad attempt to find enjoyment." Ronan laughed and said "Sure, but there's one thing you got wrong: I never lose a battle, nor do I fight a losing battle. When I join a cause, then I make sure it wins, and it wins every time."
Emerin stared at Ronan. The demon was being sincere, at least as far as he could tell, though admittedly he knew very little about demons or how to tell if they were lying. He just had to trust that Ronan was being truthful. He turned back to Azzar, and a thought occurred to him. "Your name," he said. "It sounds Malkian. You come from the east?" Azzar smiled wider and nodded, saying "Yes, just like you, Emerin." That caused Emerin to take a step back. "How did you know my name?" he asked. "I've known about you since the first time you stepped inside of this forest. Your presence DOES invoke some curiosity, I must admit. It's not often when an exiled prince comes to a small town in search of a new life."
Emerin's face turned pale, and his voice trembled as he said "Well, you certainly know a great deal." Azzar nodded again and said "Indeed, but the time for talking is over. I must finish you quickly so that you do not become an annoyance later on. I am sorry, Emerin, but your destiny has run its course."
Updates are getting longer and trickier to finish now. They might be taking more than a day to finish, but I still work on this constantly. Sorry for the delays.
"I wonder if they're doing alright," Starlen muttered to herself as she and her two companions continued along the west road. She could not contain her worry for the people who had accepted her in spite of what she was, and the others saw it clearly on her face. "Don't worry," Velani told her, trying to cheer her up. "It's likely that they're already finished and on their way back to town by now." Starlen gave her a weak smile and said "Doubtful, especially with that...thing with them."
Velani frowned and said "You know, you're halfway like him, as far as heritage goes." "Except that I have a human side," Starlen replied angrily. "A side that keeps the impulses under control. It has nothing but those base desires, and it doesn't care who it hurts when it fulfills them." She spat out each of the pronouns as if to emphasize her disdain for Ronan. "That's what defines a demon; pure selfishness without care for what goes on around it." Velani looked downward and muttered to herself "Sounds like several humans I know."
Kaiser, who had been leading them as they trekked down the road, suddenly stopped and held his right hand up to signal the two women to do the same. They stopped just before they reached him, and he turned his head slightly to regard them and said "We have company. Prepare for a fight." He looked to his right, toward a cluster of bushes, and pulled his halberd off of his back. "You know," Velani said. "The things you can do continue to impress me." Kaiser's brow furrowed at her statement, and he turned his head back toward her. "It's not that impressive," he said as he turned back to the bushes.
Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves erupted from the bushes, followed by a young woman with pure white hair wearing a dark brown shirt and trousers riddled with bulging pockets that were nearly bursting at the seams, and a pair of long black gloves that covered her arms up to her short sleeves. She looked around frantically for a few moments, her eyes never leaving the ground. When she finally noticed the group, she looked up at them and frowned. "Hey," she said to them with a strong, but calm voice. "You three haven't seen a small blue marble-like thing, have you?" She looked over each of them, but her eyes went wide when she looked at Kaiser. "What happened to you?!" she blurted out, likely without thinking.
Kaiser glared at her for a moment, and she frowned back at him, but after a while she shook her head. "No, hold on, you're someone else. Weird, you look a lot like someone I know, but uglier." Kaiser's glare intensified, but the young woman paid no more attention to him, instead going back to her search. "Well," she said. "If you're not going to help, then stay out of my way. I have better things to do than stand around and stare at people." She looked around some more, then started walking back toward the bush, her eyes fixed upon the ground as she walked.
"Um," Starlen said as she stepped forward. "You might want to watch where you're going." The young woman looked up again and stared at her for a short while before saying "Why's that? I won't find a marble in the air, now will I?" "You might run into something, though," Starlen replied. "You could get hurt." The young woman shrugged, then said "That's okay, as long as I find that animate core. Those things are hard to build from scratch, so each one is precious." The three adventurers looked at her for a moment before Starlen asked "What's an animate core?"
The young woman frowned and said "Nothing you need to worry about. It looks like a blue marble, and I'm looking for it. That's as much of an explanation as I can give you without losing you completely. No offense." "Hold on," Velani said suddenly. "You're one of the mages from Ryllas, aren't you?" The young woman smiled and replied "Yep, that's me. Well, I'm only one of them, but yeah, I'm from the college of animators, first class." "And that means...?" Starlen asked. "It means that she's a mage that specializes in building and animating objects, such as golems and prosthetics," Kaiser said. "My own hand was animated by one when he passed through Bellepoint."
"I thought you made it," Starlen said. "I did," Kaiser answered. "But it required an animation spell to work properly. Otherwise, it wouldn't move and would just be dead weight. I can only do so much with simple smithing." The young woman perked up when she heard about his hand. "Ooh," she said excitedly, her eyes starting to shine with curiosity. "You have a golem hand? Let me see!" She walked up to him and tried to grab his hand, but he pulled it away as she reached for it, saying "Don't try that again!"
The young woman pouted for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Well," she said, looking at Kaiser's artificial hand intently. "It looks like one of my cores is inside of it. I saw my signature on it." She looked up at Kaiser's face and asked "You said some guy gave it to you? You came from Bellepoint, right?" After a while, she snapped her fingers and shouted "Of course! You're the lonely young man who saved my partner that one time!" She scratched her head and looked back down at Kaiser's hand. After another moment of silence, she said "Yep, looks like a simple single-cell core. Not bad, but not that special either, and a little worn out from years of use. You could use a new one." She snapped her fingers again and said "Tell you what, we could both use some back-scratching. You help me find my missing core, and I'll get you a better one for your fancy hand, deal?"
"No," Kaiser replied. Starlen and Velani both looked at him in surprise, and he said "We don't know you, stranger. Why would we possibly agree to help you?" "You don't know me?" The young woman asked, surprised. "That's a nice change of pace." She held out her right hand and said "Name's Jett. I teach at the college, the youngest graduate and professor in the college's history." Velani gasped when she introduced herself, but Kaiser and Starlen merely looked at her curiously, which made her laugh. "It really is refreshing to meet someone who doesn't treat me like I'm some kind of celebrity," she said.
"I'm sorry," Starlen said as she stepped forward, drawing Jett's attention to her. "What does that mean, exactly?" "It means that I'm smart," Jett replied. "Smarter than most of the other students who graduated from my class." "'Smart' is an understatement," Velani interrupted. "This lady's a legend in Ryllas! She practically invented the core technology that is being used in animation today. It revolutionized the way in which magic was used, essentially turning it into an energy source for more than just spells. Because of her, magic now plays an important part in every single person in Ryllas' life every day."
Jett shook her head and said "I just acted on what I studied, though it still took me almost a decade to finish." "Almost a decade?" Starlen asked. "How old are you?" "I'm twenty-eight, but I had started working on the cores when I was fifteen. A little young, I know, but I had a personal stake in the experiment. I lost my right arm when I was little, and I always felt depressed every morning when I woke up afterwards. Eventually, I got tired of feeling that way about myself, so I dedicated my life to discovering a method for replacing lost limbs using many different animation spell combinations and a few self-made artificial arms. The biggest problem was providing an energy source that would work indefinitely, since magic is, by its very nature, limited by a lack of sustained energy output, but I worked out that if a spell is provided with a solid supporting apparatus and-uh, never mind. It's complicated, and a full explanation would likely take forever."
"Sounds interesting," said Starlen. Kaiser sighed and said "Look, we don't have much time to waste. How much farther is Ryllas?" "It isn't far," Jett answered. "In fact, it's right over there." She pointed in the direction where the group was heading, toward a large shadowy mass in the distance. "Where?" Starlen asked, her head tilted with curiosity. Velani chuckled and said "Well, Starlen, that large mass in front of us is our destination, of course." Starlen's eyes widened, and she asked "That's a city? I've never actually seen one before. Are they all that big?" Velani shrugged and said "It depends on a lot of different things. Ryllas is the center of our kingdom's research into mystical and magical affairs, so it's understandably quite large." "Onward, then," Kaiser said, trying to hide his own surprise at the size of the town. He knew that he wasn't as aware of the full extent of human society as he should have been, but seeing a town as large as Ryllas made him feel somewhat insecure. He suddenly no longer felt like leading the group.
An idea suddenly formed in Starlen's head, and she said to Jett "Hey, if we help you find this core of yours, would you serve as our guide when we enter the city?" Jett smiled and nodded her head, and Starlen smiled back. "Alright!" she said cheerfully. "Let's look around!" Kaiser looked at her and sighed. While he was in a hurry, he had no intention of arguing with his sister, especially since he agreed that a guide would be useful. Jett smirked and said "Not that I expect much from you, one-eyed guy." Kaiser gave her the nastiest scowl that he could manage, which caused her to laugh nervously.
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He walked slowly, taking in his surroundings and desperately trying to find a familiar sight, anything that he could remember seeing so many years ago. He had so far been unsuccessful in his search. "This will be the last time," he muttered to himself. He had left Starlen the previous night, and the town was attacked in his absence. She had handled herself well, but a lingering thought still haunted him. What would have happened if their father or some other demon had attacked, or even led the attack? Neither Starlen nor the people of Bellepoint would have survived. Kaiser cursed himself for allowing his own selfish mission to put his sister in danger. He swore that this would be the last time he searched for their old home.
He reached another empty clearing and found nothing. With a sigh, he turned back to where he had come and started walking back to the others. Just as he had taken his first step, he thought he had glimpsed something as he had turned. He looked back to the spot where he had seen the object, and his eye widened.
There, just beyond a thin wall of trees, was a partially hidden stone bridge. It was covered in moss and fungi, and several white stones had broken off and were now lying on the ground beside it, but he remembered it nonetheless. It was the bridge that he and Starlen had always used as their hideout whenever their mother had tried to find them for one reason or another. He remembered saving his sister from falling off the edge of the bridge and into the narrow creek that had run beneath it.
Kaiser smiled warmly. He was always looking out for her, even when he knew that he would suffer for it. The night when they had left home was one of those nights. He walked toward the bridge and laid his hand on the moss - covered stone. Tears welled up in his eye as he recalled the happy memories that he had shared with Starlen here.
"I've found it," he whispered. "I'm home." He stood there for a long moment before finally looking up to find an overgrown trail leading away from the bridge in a familiar direction. He breathed in deeply and started walking cautiously down the trail. Just a little longer, he thought to himself. I will see it again soon.
The group looked at her, and Emerin said "Well, if you want to give it a shot, then go ahead." Velani smiled at him and said "Thanks. I'll try not to get us lost." The group stood up, and Brian volunteered to carry the remaining rations as they walked. Velani led the group, checking for the monsters' footprints and following them deeper into the forest.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kaiser finally made contact with a wooden wall. He sighed, pulled out his halberd, and sliced his way through the tall grass, clearing out the area next to the wall. When he was done, he looked back at the building and saw what had become of it.
The walls were no longer structurally sound. The wood had become rotten, and several holes had been formed. As Kaiser circled toward the front of the house, he found a much larger hole near the door. The wood surrounding the hole was splintered, and Kaiser knew why. His father was a powerful being, and simple wood could not have shielded them from him.
he walked through the hole and looked around. The roof was gone, and patches of sunlight filtered through the treetops to illuminate the building's one and only floor. Pieces of smashed furniture were strewn about, no single piece large enough to identify with any accuracy. A mound if rotted wood sat along the far end of the building, the remains of the large bunk bed that had been where the children had slept.
There was nothing left to salvage, nothing that could serve as a memento. Kaiser had expected as much. He soon turned and walked back outside, then proceeded back toward the trees, but a sudden flash of memory stopped him. He remembered that his mother had died near the very spot where he was standing. Following his memory, Kaiser strode cautiously toward the scene, cutting a path through the tall grass as he went. After several swings, he stopped.
Lying on the ground in front of him was the top half of a broken spear. The head was longer than most, nearly a foot long from the base to the tip, and the broken shaft was untouched by mold or rot, despite being made of wood. Kaiser recognized the broken spear immediately. "This was hers," he muttered quietly. He stooped over and picked it up, weighing it in his hands.
It was his mother's spear. She had given her last breath trying to protect him and Starlen, and this was the weapon she had used. Tears once again formed in his eye as he remembered her face. With a final long sigh, Kaiser stuffed the spear into his coat and returned to the spot where he had entered the house.
"Welcome, young man," the man spoke in a quiet voice. "It is good to see you doing so well." Kaiser furrowed his brow and asked "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The man looked up and stared at Kaiser with a contented smile on his face and answered "My name is of no real importance, so you may disregard it. As to my purpose for being here, I simply came to pay my respects to the departed, as I have done for these last ten years."
Kaiser's expression changed to one of bewilderment, and he asked "You knew my mother?" The man nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of Kaiser, and replied "She and I were dear friends. I was greatly saddened by her death." His smile grew wider as he continued. "I am also greatly pleased to see her children living good, healthy lives. She would be proud of the adults that you and your sister have become." "Our mother was dear to us both," Kaiser said. "I will not rest until her killer is found and destroyed."
The man's smile suddenly left his face, and he said "You would only find your own death at his hands. The demon that had once dwelt here is no ordinary foe. He is, in fact, one of the four harbingers of the hells." Kaiser stared at him for a moment before asking "What does that mean?" "It means that he is far beyond your skills. You alone will not be able to defeat him." The man stood up and started walking toward the door, but Kaiser said "Wait. Who are the harbingers, exactly?" The man turned to him and smiled again, saying "Infernal generals, since you are curious. The harbingers were chosen by the high king of hell himself for their skills and strength. They each represent one of four calamities that are believed to spread across the world when the end comes. They are pestilence, famine, war, and death."
The man tipped his hat toward Kaiser, and with a slightly wider smile he continued through the door. Kaiser stood transfixed as he stared at the man's back. Suddenly, a flash of light blinded Kaiser temporarily, and when his vision had cleared the man was gone. "Some kind of magic," he muttered silently. "I don't think I'll ever escape that nonsense." He stood in the same spot for a long while, pondering the man's words. If they were true, then the task that he had set for himself was quite the difficult one.
Their path led them to a clearing filled with hellspawn. The green monsters were armed and outfitted with similar equipment to the ones that had attacked the town. In the center of the clearing, a lean dark-haired man dressed in a long black mage's robe was speaking to them. "The Master has decreed that the town must be destroyed," he said. "You will march upon it and burn it to the ground. Do not fail like the last group." The hellspawn grunted and quickly moved into formation around him.
The group looked on from the edge of the trees. Emerin turned to the others and said "It looks like we've found our source. Prepare yourselves." The group readied their weapons as quietly as they could manage. There were at least fifty hellspawn in the clearing, as well as the mage who was apparently responsible for the attack. "Velani," said Emerin. "Do you think you can take out the mage?" Velani nodded and aimed her bow at the mage. "Wait," said Ronan. Emerin looked at him, confused. "We should take him alive," Ronan explained. "Sounds like he's not the one pulling the strings. If we kill him outright, we likely won't solve anything." "You really think that he would help us?" Starlen asked incredulously. Ronan smirked and replied "Under the right circumstances, sure." Starlen turned toward Emerin and said "I don't like this. How do we know Ronan isn't just seeking to sabotage our efforts?" "Oh, you shouldn't worry about that," Ronan said. "I'm hardly the kind of guy who makes commitments."
Emerin asked "Ronan, how would we be able to reach him before he casts a spell?" "I'll take care of it," Ronan replied with a smirk. "I really don't like this," muttered Starlen, but Emerin wasn't going to dismiss the plan. "Fine, do what you do best, Ronan," he said. "Sorry," Ronan replied. "I don't do it with men." He winked at Starlen, who scowled at him in response.
With their plan decided, Emerin yelled "Now!" and the group rushed out of the trees and into the clearing. The nearest group of hellspawn couldn't turn to face them in time, and we're cut down in an instant. The other monsters rushed to meet them, and immediately began falling to their blades. Ronan broke away from the others and sprinted for the mage, who had begun casting a spell. He reached the mage before he could finish and kicked him hard in the ribs. The mage was forced to stop casting as he doubled over in pain, and Ronan quickly knocked him out with another kick. "That should take care of you for a while," he said with a smirk.
The hellspawn were quickly dealt with as well, as the group of skilled combatants swept them aside in droves. Soon, the battle was over, and the mage was bound by rope and forced onto his knees. Garm walked up to him and delivered a solid backhand to his face, waking him up with a yelp. "Tell us who you're working for!" he screamed into the man's face. The mage laughed and said "Death before dishonor, fools! I will die a thousand times before I yield to the unclean infidels!" His laughter was then cut short when Starlen slapped him. "If you won't talk willingly," she said coldly. "Then we will just have to make you scream." Her sword flashed in front of the mage's face.
"Hold on," said Ronan. "You won't get far using that method. Thankfully, you have me here." He walked up beside Starlen, who looked at him suspiciously, and knelt down before the mage. His eyes began to sparkle, and the mage couldn't help but stare into them. After a moment, Ronan said "Tell me who your master is." The mage opened his mouth to speak, but a shrill whistle suddenly pierced through the silence. He lurched forward as an arrow plunged into his back, and he died.
"Damn," Ronan muttered as he jumped back onto his feet. The entire group looked in the direction from where the arrow had flown, but saw nothing. Suddenly, a volley of arrows flew from the trees, aiming right for them. The group rushed to the edges of the clearing and avoided most of the arrows, but two had found their mark regardless. Miria yelped as the sharp steel tips punctured her left leg just beneath the knee, and she dropped to the ground. Emerin rushed over to her and stood between her and the source of the arrows.
Suddenly, a group of men clad in black leather armor rushed out from the trees, brandishing their swords as they descended upon the adventurers. They were followed by a large bald man wearing the same armor and wielding a large hammer with both hands. Starlen saw him and felt that he looked familiar, though she couldn't figure out from where. The large man barked orders at the thirty other men, saying "Take them alive! The Master will wish to meet them personally!" The men quickly moved to surround the adventurers.
Emerin looked to his companions, who were scattered by the volley of arrows. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ronan spoke first. "Alright, we surrender," he said before looking at Emerin and nodding with a smirk. Emerin saw a plan forming in Ronan's eyes, and he nodded to the others. The group threw down their weapons without much resistance, though Garm and Starlen muttered curse aimed at Ronan.
"Gather their weapons and bind their hands," the large man ordered. The men did as they were told, and they pushed the bound adventurers into a line. They then forced their prisoners to march deeper into the forest. Ronan, who was behind Emerin, whispered into his ear, saying "Don't worry, I have a plan."
I have a bad feeling about this...
One of the men Grabbed her roughly by the arm and shouted "Get back up! You don't stop until we say you can stop!" He jerked her back onto her feet and shoved her back into the line, nearly causing her to fall again. With a pained look on her face, Miria started forward again, but the same man threw his own foot forward, tripping her. He then grabbed her hair and pulled her up, saying "You don't follow orders too well, do you? Well, we can fix that."
He was suddenly forced to let go of her when Emerin kicked him in the side and yelled "Get off of her! I can still kick your arse with both hands tied behind my back!" Two other men grabbed him and tried to wrestle him back into the line, but he kicked out and drove them away. The large man saw what was happening and rushed over, yelling "Stop this resistance, or I will break you in more ways than one!"
Emerin glared defiantly at him, and that was all the large man needed to throw a punch straight for his face. The fist never reached its target, as Garm stepped in front of it. The fist impacted with his left cheek. Garm laughed and asked "That's all you got? My dead mother used to beat me harder than that." The large man snarled and said "Get back in line, or I'll crush you." He reached for the hammer strapped to his back. "Do as he says, you morons," said Ronan. Emerin groaned and walked back to his place in the line, followed by Garm. Miria managed to stumble back onto her feet, and the group continued onward as though nothing had happened.
"This plan of yours had better be worth it," Emerin whispered to Ronan as they marched. Ronan smirked and whispered "We can take them at any time, sure, but this way we'll find out who the boss is. Trust me, this'll be worth it." Emerin hadn't thought about that. If they could find the one truly responsible for the attacks, then they could end the mission quickly. "I see," he whispered. Ronan smirked again and replied "Just keep quiet for a little longer. Save your energy." Emerin had to admit that it was a good plan, though he would never say that in front of Ronan. Still, it was his responsibility to watch out for the others, and Miria was in no condition to walk much farther. He cursed under his breath and hoped that their destination was close.
tree.
As the men who had tied them to the tree made their way back toward the camp that was being built, Ronan leaned toward Emerin and said "Now that we have some room for privacy, I think it's a good time to go over our options." Emerin looked back at him and asked "Options? I thought we were letting them take us to their base." Ronan let out a sigh and said "If we do that, then we'll likely get ourselves surrounded and killed. I had wanted to persuade some of our captors to spill their guts about their boss along the way, but your little outburst back there practically ruined that plan."
"I wasn't about to let them hurt one of my friends," Emerin replied, but Ronan shook his head and asked "What in the hells do you think this is? Last time I checked, you weren't even interested in leading this group. Now, you're somehow concerned about these people that you had never even met before? Are you really that fickle?" Emerin looked at him in surprise and said "It was you who nominated me for the job." "Yeah, but I wasn't expecting you to be such a goody-two-shoes," Ronan replied. Starlen, who had been taking the time to heal Miria's wounds, cleared her throat and said "If it bothers you so much, then maybe you should leave. Emerin is a good person, despite your bad influence."
At that point, Garm chose to speak up, saying "Alright, I think it's time we made some things clear. First, we're not a team, no matter what you guys tell yourselves. Jem and I have never agreed to being part of this little group. In fact, none of us have. We all just came together to increase our chances of survival." "Sounds like a team to me," Ronan countered. "Or do you have some other definition for the term?" "I do not take orders from anyone," Garm said. "I do my own thing. You guys can keep playing with each other if you want, but once this job of ours is over, Jem and I are out of here." Ronan laughed and said "I don't think that's a smart choice. I know about you, Garm the Slayer. Your crusade against the Ebon Sun slavers is well-known to anyone who has the ability to listen. Thing is, in case you haven't noticed, these men ARE the Ebon Sun. Haven't you noticed their armor?"
Emerin's eyes widened when he heard Ronan's words. The men who had captured them were the Ebon Sun? He looked at the others and noticed that they had the same reaction. Ronan sighed and continued "It would be detrimental to your own cause to leave us behind, as we are obviously after the same group. You may leave if you wish, of course, but you won't get much further to achieving your goal than if you stay." Garm swore under his breath. Ronan was right. In fact, he always seemed to be right, thought Emerin. He was less surprised than he felt he should have been at that realization.
After a moment, Ronan spoke again, saying "Now, our options are to either break free and attack these guys now, or wait until they bring us closer to their hideout. If we attack now, we will take them by surprise and kill them all easily, but we'll only know the general direction of their base. If we wait, they will lead us right to it, but we may not be able to fight them all off." He looked at Emerin and said "It's your call, leader." Emerin looked at Miria, eyeing the newly closed wounds on her leg. She noticed him staring and said "I should be okay for a fight, if you're ready." He looked to each of the others, who nodded their support, though Garm did so reluctantly. "Alright," he said. "Let's make our move now. We can follow the path on our own afterwards."
"Hold on a moment, if you would," Jem suddenly interjected. He had been so quiet throughout their journey that his voice startled the others. As they turned their attention to him, he nodded and said "Perhaps an opportunity will present itself as we proceed farther into the woods. Should we not at least wait for Kaiser to find us? Surely his skills with tracking would not put him far behind us." Ronan furrowed his brow as he heard the request. Jem continued, saying "Once he arrives, we could then use his abilities to find the base without much trouble. It would make our goal much easier to obtain."
Emerin looked at him and replied "There's no guarantee that Kaiser will find us, or that we will get another chance like this before we reach the base. We'll do this now, then wait for a while. If Kaiser doesn't arrive after a few hours, then we will continue without him, if necessary." Starlen looked at Emerin and said "He will find us. I made sure that our trail was easy to follow." Ronan leaned in closer to Emerin and whispered as softly as he could "We need to talk...alone." Emerin turned his head slightly, but stopped when Ronan whispered "Don't let anyone know what we discuss, understand?" Emerin nodded slowly, though he wondered what Ronan could possibly consider a secret.
Some time later, as many of the men were lying down to sleep, the group began to stealthily untie each other's bonds, Emerin and Ronan slipped away from the others. Ronan's expression was serious when he looked at Emerin. "I've had my suspicions for a while," he whispered, his voice barely audible to Emerin. "Something doesn't sit right with me about Jem. He has hardly ever said anything, yet he's supposed to be the talkative one between himself and Garm. Just now, my suspicions have become more worrisome when he said that we should delay our escape." Emerin stared at him for a while before asking "You think he's one of them?" Ronan shrugged as he replied "Either that, or he's someone worse. All I know for sure is that Garm's 'friend' is not what he seems." "How do you know?" Emerin asked. Ronan's face maintained its serious expression as he replied "He's been holding back this whole time. He hides it well, but Garm knows that for some reason he isn't moving in battle quite as quickly as he should be. I overheard one of their conversations as we traveled. They like to keep their distance, but I was able to hear."
He glanced at the others and saw that they had nearly finished untying each other. "Jem had told him that the reason for it was an injury that he had sustained during a fight at the inn, but anyone who knows what to look for could see that he wasn't injured at all." Emerin blinked. That certainly was suspicious, assuming that it was true. He only had Ronan's word that it was, after all. "What do you want me to do?" asked Emerin. "Nothing," replied Ronan. "Not yet, anyway. It's just a suspicion for the moment. Just keep an eye on him, but try not to make it obvious." He smirked and nodded, and they both returned to the group. They were ready to begin their escape, and with a silent gesture, Emerin led them toward their weapons lying on the ground near one of the tents.
As the adventurers collected their equipment, Emerin looked at them and whispered "Let's take out the guards quickly." Velani smiled and said " I can take care of that for you." She quietly pulled three arrows from her quiver and set one onto her bowstring, then pulled it back and aimed for the guard in the middle. She fired, and her next arrow was set before the first connected with its target, then fired at the guard on the left. The middle guard lurched forward as the arrow plunged into his back. Her last arrow flew from the string just as the second connected, with similar results to the first. Before either of the guards could make a sound, they were lying faces-down around the fire.
"That is some very nice bowmanship," Ronan said as he stood and cleared his throat. Velani grinned and replied "Thanks." Ronan smirked at her, then started singing. The discordant melody flooded the air around them, and was soon followed by several howls of rage. Suddenly, sounds of fighting erupted from the nearby tents, as the inhabitants were rendered completely mad by the song. As the men fought each other in their tents, the large man burst out from his own tent, hefting his large hammer over his shoulder.
"So, you have escaped," he said, sweeping his gaze over the team. The sounds around them had died down, the last of the men having torn himself apart in his fury. The large man looked at each of the tents and said "That's a nice trick. Too bad it won't save you from me." "We need no tricks to stop you, evil one!" Brian yelled. "Only a hammer filled with righteous fury!" Brian charged at the large man, and they both swung their hammers simultaneously. The two weapons collided with a loud clang, and both combatants staggered from the force. The large man sought to follow up with another swing, but Starlen ran forward and stabbed at him with her sword, preventing his attack and keeping him on the defensive. A lightning bolt from Miria flew over her shoulder and connected squarely with the man's chest, sending several tiny sparks arcing along his body. The large man grunted from the impact, but he still stood and swung at Starlen, who ducked under the swing.
Garm charged in with his greatsword, while Jem followed quickly after him, and Brian recovered from the impact of the last hit and swung again. The large man growled as he swung and parried all of their attacks with one swing. He lowered his guard too soon, however, as Emerin, who had cast a haste spell, raced into the fray, swinging his sword across in an attempt to behead the man. The large man barely brought his weapon back up to block the attack, but a jolt of electrical energy exploded from Emerin's sword, surging through the handle of the large hammer and entering the man's body through his hands. The large man grunted once more and nearly lost his grip on his weapon, but he quickly recovered and retreated backwards a few steps.
He ducked suddenly as an arrow from Velani's bow shot through where his head just was, but Starlen leaped at him and thrust her sword at his bowed head. He desperately swiped his hammer across and barely deflected the incoming thrust, but Starlen wasn't finished, and she rolled beneath his outstretched arms and sliced her sword horizontally along his midsection as she returned to her feet. The large man let out another grunt as the blade ripped through his armor and the flesh beneath it, but not deep enough to inflict serious damage due to his armor's thickness. He retreated farther back, trying to keep his adversaries at range, but he was forced to stop when Miria chanted an arcane phrase and launched another lightning bolt that hit him once more in the chest. Emerin finished him off with a quick, powerful stab, running his sword through the man's gut and pulling it back out almost instantly. The man fell to his knees and said "Not again. Why?" With a final gasp, he slumped over and died.
The man's final words became stuck in Starlen's mind, and she felt that she had seen him before, though she couldn't remember where. After a moment, her eyes widened in recognition. This was the man who had led the slavers that had tried to kidnap her ten years ago. "But that's not right," she muttered to herself. "He should have been dead. Kaiser killed him, didn't he?" His final words kept echoing in her head, and she realized that she was right. He died back then, but something had somehow brought him back to life. Such a thing was unheard of, as not even the most experienced healers can bring a soul back from the afterlife, yet here he was, alive again.
Emerin looked at her and asked "Are you alright? You look like you'd just seen a ghost." She looked back at him and replied "I think I did." She was clearly shaken by something, Emerin thought as he watched her turn away and start walking toward the large man's tent. "Brutus," she whispered softly, the name registering in her head as she opened the entrance to the tent and peered inside. Inside the tent, she saw very little, but something on the ground caught her eye. A sword with a straight black edge rested silently on the dirt. Starlen cautiously approached it and tenderly reached down and touched the sword's hilt.
Her mind was immediately flooded with visions of death, visions of the sword cutting through countless foes both human and non-human. Through the visions, she thought she heard a voice. "You who possess the blood of kings," the voice spoke inside of her head. "I am the blade that was forged from the same blood as that which flows in your veins."
The visions faded then, replaced by an image of a man in golden armor who carried the sword. The man's face was covered by a golden mask, and he stood proudly, unfazed by whatever he was facing. The man raised the sword, and a loud war cry echoed through her mind as a large army took form behind him, the soldiers lined up in close formation.
The image faded, leaving only the voice, which said "The power of your lineage is weak, but may become strong once more. Do not falter in your journey, for the enemy you will face is cunning and merciless." After the sword finished, two familiar faces appeared in her head, and the sword spoke, saying "They hunger for the light, as it is untouchable to their hands." The voice and the faces faded, leaving Starlen alone in the tent.
For a long moment she stood still, trying to process what had just happened to her, but one part of her vision stood out to her more than the rest. After a moment, she finally snapped out of her confusion. "I knew it!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with terror. "I knew he was up to something sinister!" She rushed out of the tent, desperate to find the others and warn them of the danger that she had seen.
"What is Ronan this time?" A voice from behind her cut through her own sentence, and she turned around to find Ronan standing nearby. He smirked and said "I hope it's nothing too terrible, since I really want to have a shot at nailing you later on." "Ronan, what in the hells?" Emerin asked, a disgusted look on his face. Ronan grinned and said "Just kidding." He then winked at Starlen, who glared at him and said "He's a demon. He disguised himself as one of us so that he could destroy us from within our own group!"
Ronan and Emerin both stared at her with wide eyes as she finished. "What?" Ronan finally asked in response. "That's an...interesting accusation to make," said Emerin. Starlen looked back at him and said "It's true! I saw the truth when I picked up this sword!" She held up the black sword that was still in her hand, and Ronan frowned and said "It's just a sword. Last time I checked, swords don't talk." Starlen spun back around to face him and said "I never said that it talked. Who are you, really?!"
"What's going one over here?" The trio turned to see Garm and Jem walking toward them. Starlen swore under her breath and said "I saw a vision when I picked up this sword. It showed me the truth about..." She trailed off as she realized that Ronan's wasn't the only face that she had seen. She stared at Jem, who smiled calmly at her, but she suddenly felt something else in that smile. The longer she looked, the more wicked the smile became to her senses. Jem's eyes lowered toward the sword in her hand, and his smile widened even further.
"Well," he said, his voice sounding very different from how it had sounded earlier. It was colder, devoid of passion or any emotion at all. "It seems I've stumbled upon a most peculiar sight. We had thought that the royal blood line had completely dried up, yet the sword in your hand proves otherwise." Garm looked at him, confused, and asked "What are you on about, Jem? Royal blood lines and swords?" Jem sighed and said "I really didn't want to include you in this, Garm, but it seems that such an outcome is now impossible. I am truly sorry, my friend."
Suddenly, Jem's swords flashed from their sheaths, too quickly for the surprised Garm to react, and in the next instant he fell to his knees, frantically gripping the newly made slit across his neck. As he fell to the ground, gasping for air, Jem walked over his body calmly to face the others. "I suppose a proper introduction is in order," he said, and he dipped into a low bow. "I am Jemeniah Tyrdane, or Jemeniah the Broken Eagle, harbinger of famine and general of the hells."
Ronan's eyes nearly burst out of his head, and he shouted "Shit! We need to get out of here, now!" Emerin and Starlen didn't move, as they were too stunned to react. Ronan grabbed both of them roughly and pulled them away from Jemeniah and the dying Garm and into the woods. Jemeniah merely laughed softly and said "Ah, the chase begins. I do love it when they run." His swords transformed in his hands, their blades turning blood red. His skin turned pale and gaunt, and his eyes began to glow yellow beneath the shadows of the trees. He calmly followed after them, savoring the moment of sheer shock and terror shared by his soon-to-be victims.
When Miria and Velani noticed the scene, they also fled into the forest. Brian tried to heroically stand his ground, but both young women grabbed him and dragged him away with them. Jemeniah grinned widely as he saw them running. He would catch them all, of course, starting with Starlen.
"Run, run, as fast as you can," he said, his voice taking on a wickedly melodic tone. "Once you realize that escape is impossible, when despair takes you from within, I will find you. One...by...one." The adventurers heard his voice as it echoed through the trees. They fought the feelings of hopelessness as they tried to put as much distance from him as they could. Sadistic laughter filled the air around them, seemingly amplified by the otherwise complete silence of the forest.
Miria, whose injury was starting to affect her again due to running, tripped and fell to the ground. Emerin stopped, prompting the rest of the group to stop as well, and rushed over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Can you stand?" Ronan shook his head and said "Leave her behind. We need to keep moving." Emerin shot him a harsh glare and replied "If you think I'm going to leave another one of my companions to die, then I'm going to disappoint you." "We can't stay here," Ronan argued. "If we stay, we all die."
"We need to find my brother," Starlen interjected. "I'm worried about him. What if he runs into Jem?" "I'll stay and defend our weary comrade!" said Brian, his voice having lost none of its dramatic, robust tone. "Demon or not, the traitorous Jambalaya the Bloated Beagle will fall to my fury of righteous fury!" "Shut up, loon!" Ronan yelled at him. "Do you want him to find us and kill us all?!" He turned back to Emerin and said "Miria is already going to die." Miria's face paled, and she looked at Emerin pleadingly and said "Please, don't leave me to die. I'm not ready to die yet." Emerin smiled at her and said "I won't leave you. I would never betray the trust of anyone who fights alongside me." Ronan scoffed and asked him "So you're just going to throw your life away?"
"I will die fighting for a friend. I hardly consider that a wasteful end," Emerin answered. Ronan frowned, but finally shrugged and conceded the issue, saying "Fine, then I'll stay and kill myself with you." Everyone's eyes widened when he offered to stay, and Velani asked "What? Weren't you going to run away?" "If Em wants to stay, then I really don't want to leave," he answered. "Assuming that we'll even have you," Starlen retorted. "Don't think I'd forgotten about your little secret, demon!" "Would you stop spitting that out already?" Ronan asked her impatiently. "I left that life behind me because I grew bored. I no longer feast on hearts and shit souls for a living, or whatever it is you people think we do."
"Wait," Velani said. ."If you really are a demon, can't you just, you know, have a demon-to-demon talk with Jem?" Ronan laughed at her question and said "This is no normal demon we're dealing with. He's a harbinger. He'd tear me apart if I tried to stop him." Emerin nodded and said "Nobody's expecting that from you. Alright, Brian, Ronan, and I will stay here and watch over Miria. Starlen, you and Velani go find your brother." Starlen looked at Miria and said "Sorry I couldn't heal you more completely." Miria shook her head and said "It's fine. You've done enough. I'm just not as fit as I should be."
Starlen looked back up at Emerin and said "I'm sorry we couldn't save Garm, but I promise I'll come back for you." Emerin smiled and said "I know you will. You're a good person." Starlen smiled back, and with a nod toward Velani, she turned and ran down the trail, back toward the group's last campsite.
Ronan merely shrugged and said "It's good for us though, since we can now finish the job that we were given." Emerin wasn't comforted by that notion, and Ronan sighed and said "She'll be alright. She's got Kaiser on her side, after all." "If she finds him..." Emerin muttered in response. He couldn't help but wonder if this was part of Ronan's plan from the beginning. Still, he couldn't deny that the mission needed to be completed. He looked at the others and declared "We should continue on. I don't like leaving Starlen behind, but we have a job to do, and waiting here won't bring us any closer to seeing it through."
He smiled at Miria and asked "Can you stand?" Miria slowly rose, holding her arm out to Brian, who took it and kept her from falling again. After a few painful stretches, she finally nodded her head, saying "I think I can stay on my feet this time. Sorry for making you all worry so much." "If you have any problems," Emerin told her. "You can just tell one of us, and we'll help you out." She smiled in response. "Can we please just get moving?" asked Ronan. "I would be more comfortable if we were mobile. Moving targets, and all that."
The group moved deeper into the forest, back toward the Ebon Sun camp, keeping their eyes open for Jemeniah. The camp was empty when they reached it, except for the bodies that they had left behind. Emerin took a moment to pay his respects to Garm, and Ronan took a moment to relieve him of his armor. With a smirk at the perplexed Emerin, he shoved the red suit into Brian's arms and said "Here, you wear it now." Brian scowled at him and said "You dare defile this brave hero's corpse, villain?! I should deliver a fistful of justice to your smug little face!"
"Shut up and wear it, idiot!" Ronan replied. "It will protect you better than what you're currently wearing." Brian snarled, but ultimately took the armor and put it on. The group continued some time later, following the trail as it wound around the trees. Eventually, they entered another large clearing, though this one was not natural, as rotting stumps poked through the ground, left by loggers. Along the far side of the clearing stood a massive building that stretched across the entire east half of the clearing. Its walls were made of large white stones, with a large wooden door set in the very center of its west wall. Four tall stone pillars stood on each side of the door, holding up a long balcony that stretched out from the building's second floor. Rows of statues carved in the shape of beastly horned monsters dotted the edges of the balcony.
The group stared in awe of the building, and Ronan whistled and said "Wow, that's quite the evil lair. Filled with all sorts of goodies, I think." "And baddies," replied Miria. She grimaced at the thought of trying to cast spells in a likely crowded hallway. "I guess the only thing we can do is explore as thoroughly as we can," Emerin said. Ronan and Miria both nodded, and Brian said "Yes! This is what heroes are born for!" "Busting into homes and slaughtering their inhabitants?" Ronan asked with a smirk. "Don't forget taking their stuff," Miria added. "Isn't that what an adventure is all about?" "The good ones," Ronan replied. Brian grinned, pointed toward the building's door, and cried "Onward, fellow heroes and villain! This bastion of evil will crumble in the face of our blind fury!" He ran ahead before the others could react, but after regaining their focus they followed after him as quickly as they could manage.
"Sorry," said Kaiser as he struggled to get back on his feet. He steadied himself and held his hand out for Velani, who wasted no time in taking it, and he pulled her up. "Jeez," Velani said. "Just crush me beneath your massive bulk, why don't you?" Kaiser pushed her down again, gently enough not to hurt her, but hard enough to get his point across. Velani yelped in surprise as she fell, and she complained "Hey, that's not funny!" "It's a little funny," replied Kaiser, an amused smile on his face. Starlen, however, was too distressed to care. "Kaiser!" she said louder than she had meant to. "We need to get back to the others! They could be in danger!"
"Not as much danger as you are in, I am afraid." The cold voice caused the three of them to turn toward the path where Starlen and Velani had just come from. There, leaning against a tree, was Jemeniah. His yellow eyes glowed brightly, though the light felt devoid of warmth. He beamed at them and said "Good work, making it to your brother. The two of you should make a good warm-up." "What's going on?" Kaiser asked Starlen, who said "Jem's a demon, a harbinger." The word 'harbinger' set off an alarm in Kaiser's head. This was one of the powerful beings who he had heard about from the mysterious man.
Suddenly, Jemeniah rushed forward, his movements quicker than what Kaiser had ever seen before. In an instant, his swords were out and leaping for Kaiser's throat. Starlen's own sword flashed across and parried the blades less than an inch away from her brother's neck, but Jemeniah simply spun with the momentum and slashed his left sword across at Starlen wwhile thrusting his right sword under his left arm toward Kaiser. The two siblings blocked the incoming attacks, and Kaiser swung his halberd at Jemeniah's head. The harbinger laughed mockingly as he ducked and kicked out with his left leg, and Kaiser grunted as he fell backward from the force. With both of his swords free, Jemeniah immediately focused them on Starlen. His attacks were swifter than she could see, and she had to rely partly on instinct to determine where they would strike. It wasn't enough, however, and Jemeniah's swords soon found their target.
Starlen gasped as both of his red blades ran through her stomach, their bloody tips protruding out of her back. She choked on the blood that rushed up into her mouth. Jemeniah smiled as he slowly pulled his swords out of her, delighting in the pain that showed on her face as she fell.
Kaiser stared at Starlen as she crumpled to the ground. He could not believe what he had just seen. He didn't know what had happened, nor did he know why Jemeniah was attacking them, but he knew that his sister was hurt badly. As his sister fell, his mind raced, and familiar feelings suddenly overwhelmed him. He would not let her die, he could not. He would sooner die himself than let this demon, this harbinger kill the only person he had cared for for all of his life. With a roar of rage that echoed through the forest, Kaiser stood and rushed at Jemeniah. The harbinger ducked under his halberd again, but the enraged Kaiser wasn't finished. His left hand balled into a fist, and he caught Jemeniah by surprise, planting it in his belly. The full force of his strength sent Jemeniah flying into the air and into a tree, which splintered and cracked as it slowly began to fall over.
Kaiser's halberd flew toward Jemeniah, who rolled away at the last instant, and finished the tree off. It fell with a loud crash upon the ground, but both combatants were too engaged with each other to notice. Jemeniah thrust both of his swords out with incredible speed, and his left sword stabbed into Kaiser's right shoulder, but Kaiser's long coat kept the blade from piercing through completely. His left hand had caught the other sword and held it firmly, and he swung his halberd using only his right arm. Jemeniah barely brought his free sword up to block the attack, but he had underestimated Kaiser's full strength, and the blacksmith's halberd simply swatted it aside.
Jemeniah then let go of his trapped sword and gripped the other with both hands. He struck Kaiser with several powerful, yet swift slashes that Kaiser struggled to block. While slower with one sword, Jemeniah was still quick enough to keep Kaiser on the defensive. Kaiser knew he couldn't keep up with the harbinger for much longer. In spite of his anger, he knew that he couldn't win.
Velani knelt beside Starlen and said "Dammit, this is not fair. Starlen, please stay with us." Starlen groaned, and her body glowed with an inner light. Velani's eyes widened when the holes in Starlen's body began to close, and in a few moments, she was completely healed. "What the...?" Velani gasped as Starlen struggled to her feet. Starlen breathed out a sigh as her wounds were completely healed.
Jemeniah soon had Kaiser cornered, and was ready to finish him off. The blacksmith knew that he couldn't keep parrying the harbingers attacks, and Jemeniah soon broke through his guard, his swords plunging straight for Kaiser's throat...only to be Knocked aside by an unseen force.
Both combatants paused and looked at each other confused before a soft voice to Kaiser's rightbroke the silence. "Your friend is right. It isn't fair, at least not yet." Everyone turned to see the mysterious man from earlier standing just beyond the reach of Jemeniah's swords. The harbinger tilted his head and asked "What business do you have with us, vagrant?" The stranger smiled slightly and replied "Why, the same business that had brought me to them before, of course." He gestured toward the two siblings, and Jemeniah sneered. "They are marked for death," he told the stranger coldly. "If you interfere, then you will suffer the same fate as them."
"No, my dear friend, no one else will die tonight," the stranger was calm as he made the declaration.
After Jemeniah had gone, the stranger turned to the others and smiled, saying "What a nice coincidence. We seem to keep running into each other lately." He looked at Starlen and said "It is good to see that you have inherited something useful from your father. He possesses healing powers of that magnitude, as well." "You know our father?" Starlen asked, her eyes darting toward Kaiser, who nodded, to her surprise. "Yes," the stranger replied. "I knew him. I was a good friend of your mother's, and she was a good friend of his."
Kaiser stepped between them then and said "You scared away a harbinger. Just who are you, and how are you able to do that?" The stranger sighed and said "That information would do you no good. I do have some useful information to share, however. Your father was sighted near Ryllas, a town several days west from Bellepoint. If you head there now, you may find the answers that have eluded you for so many years. Do what you will with this information, for I must also leave this area, and we will not likely meet again anytime soon."
He dipped into a low bow and turned away from the group, but Starlen said "Wait, we should thank you for helping us before you go." The stranger chuckled softly and said without looking back at her "There is no need to thank me, considering that I had caused the very situation that I had just resolved. It was I who left that sword for you to find, and as expected, it awakened at your touch." "What?" Starlen asked. "How did you...this doesn't make any sense!" "You possess the blood of the sword's creator, an ancient king who ruled with an iron fist," the stranger replied. "This king once ruled the entire known world, and had sought to destroy the gods. He was foolish and prideful, and his efforts merely brought the destruction of his kingdom, his family, and his life. The sword warned him of external threats, but could do nothing for his own shortcomings. His line was scattered, and was believed to be destroyed entirely. His foes had searched for his descendants tirelessly, and they were all killed, with a few exceptions, apparently. Those same enemies continue to hunt for his descendants today."
"This king fought against demons?" asked Velani. The stranger sighed and said "He fought, and he lost. Though he had slain countless foes, he could not win alone. His army crumbled around him, but he still fought on, until he received a message informing him that his family had been murdered. He lost the will to fight, and his enemies brought him down. Now you know the tale as it is told, a mere legend and cautionary tale meant to remind us of how a man's pride can destroy him and the world. Now, if you will excuse me, I have business elsewhere that can wait no longer."
In a flash of light, the stranger vanished before the group could ask him anything else. Starlen was still confused, and she thought silently for a moment. The sword in her hand was silent, but she felt a presence inside of her mind, similar to when she had picked it up. She looked to Kaiser and said "Do me a favor." Kaiser looked back at her curiously. She held out the sword and said "Take this for a moment." Kaiser furrowed his brow and reached for the sword, taking it in his right hand. "What do you feel?" Starlen asked him. "Do you feel anything strange?" Kaiser stared at her for a moment, then shook his head slowly and said "No." Starlen stared back at him and asked "Are you sure?" "Yes," Kaiser replied. Starlen looked down at the ground, deep in thought. What did that mean? Were they not siblings? Shouldn't he also have heard something?
After a while, Kaiser cleared his throat and said "It seems that we have a new goal." He looked at the other two and said "We can either go back for the others, or we can find some answers." Starlen didn't want to abandon the others, especially with Ronan still with them, but the stranger's words made her question what she had once thought was the truth. She couldn't let an opportunity for answers pass her by. She needed to know why Kaiser didn't feel the sword's influence, why a harbinger was trying to kill her, and why the stranger was willing to help her and her friends. She also wanted, more than anything, to learn what had truly happened between her parents. With a smile, she nodded to Kaiser, and with Velani in tow, they made their way out of the forest.
Some thoughts, which you're free to ignore or consider:
[spoiler=Spoilered for those not caught up yet...]
-I was really surprised when Starlen came out and confessed to everyone else that she and Kaiser were half-demons. I would have thought she'd keep something like that secret, especially to a bunch of strangers without her brother's permission. I'd liked to have seen that tension drawn out a little bit longer.
-Brian and Jem were so quiet throughout the whole thing, I almost thought they weren't even with the group anymore. As far as Jem's concerned, well... We all know why he was all hush-hush. But I expected more out of Brian, especially with Starlen's, Kaisers, and especially Ronan's ancestry. He seems to not be as well-developed as the rest of the cast, simply there to have funny one-liners about vanquishing evil and all that. Which, I love funny one-liners about vanquishing evil as much as the next gal, but no one is that one-dimensional.
-You kinda shined a big spotlight on Jem, so his betrayal wasn't a big surprise, nor do I think it was supposed to be. But I did not expect him to kill Garm, or that Ronan would be a demon as well, and I really enjoyed that twist. Of everyone in the cast, Ronan and Starlen are my favorite characters so far.
-I find it really disbelieving that the Ebon Sun guys would be so incompetent as to play a game of cards with their backs turned so the rest of the party could get away. I mean I've heard of lame-o guards before, but gimme a break.
-Your fight scenes are all really detailed, and I love it.[/spoiler]
Keep it up!!
@Nonnahswriter some interesting points here.
-This will be addressed in the next chapter, and will serve to further develop Starlen's character.
-At this point in the story, Brian's development as a character is wrapped up in big SPOILER tape. I can say that we've only just begun to delve into the main characters' backgrounds and developments, and there is more to come.
-It was meant to be obvious, yes. The real surprise was supposed to be the teeny tiny fact that he was not just any bad guy, but a harbinger, though that may have been spoiled by the stranger's conversation with Kaiser at his old home. Ronan's true nature being discovered as well is one of my favorite moments in the story, and I hope that I had conveyed that moment well enough to show it. As for Garm's surprise and death, it was meant to show how well Jem could blend into human society, as well as how quickly and ruthlessly he could turn on his 'friends' if he felt the need to. He had Garm fooled until the very end, and when his cover was blown he reacted as I felt an assassin would.
-I must admit, minor characters aren't a strength of mine, and those guards weren't meant to be the best that their organization could spare for the job. Brutus had already failed once; his superiors may not have deemed him worthy of leading their best men.
-Thank you. I try really hard to make battles interesting, especially when the characters are driven by their emotions. The battle between Jemeniah and Kaiser, for instance, was meant to convey how Kaiser's emotions at watching his sister get hurt had caused him to forget his trepidation at the thought of fighting a harbinger. He shook away all of his fears and threw himself at Jem, and Jem was caught off-guard by that.
The last update ended Chapter 2: Tangled Trees, Tangled Hearts. Onward to Chapter 3!
"Well, okay then," Emerin said as he looked inside the building. The entrance was large and decorated with the same stone statues that lined the balcony outside. Bright red banners hung from the high ceiling in three rows, with five banners in one row, that were spread far apart form each other. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of wood, and six stone pillars stretched all the way upward along the left and right edges of the room. The room was completely devoid of life, and Emerin felt uneasy. Why would a building such as this have no sentries? He pondered the thought for a while, but his thoughts were soon interrupted by Brian, who pushed his way inside and said "Alright, time to look around! We must explore every little inch of this place."
Emerin looked around and found two other doors beside the one that they had just entered, one in the left wall and one in the right wall. "There are two ways to go," he said. "Good thing we have a scout," replied Ronan. The others turned to him, and he nodded his head toward Miria, who asked "What?!" Ronan shrugged and said "You can do it. It shouldn't be too hard, and you can always give us a signal if you get into trouble. We won't be far behind you." He winked at Emerin, who said "If she doesn't want to, then she doesn't have to. I'll go." Miria looked at him for a moment, then said "Hang on, I can do it." "Are you sure?" Emerin asked. "Yeah," she answered. "Just make sure that you're ready to run to my aid if I need help."
"Alright," Emerin said. Miria nodded and smiled at him, then cautiously walked to the left door and opened it. Seeing nothing, she walked through. Emerin and Brian started following after her, but Ronan stopped them, saying "Hold on, let's let her go a bit farther first." "She's depending on us for help, Ronan," Emerin said. "I wouldn't worry too much about that," Ronan replied. "If she needs help, she'll give us the signal." "What kind of signal?" Emerin asked.
Their conversation was interrupted then, as Miria burst back out of the door, screaming "Ohgodsohgodsohgodsohgods OH GODS!" Ronan snickered and said "That kind of signal."
Emerin grinned as he rushed forward and sliced open the nearest guard's midsection. He saw the man's eyes screaming silently as he died where he stood, and he immediately spun and struck the guard to his right. Miria cast a spell, and a bolt of lightning arced toward another group, splitting into several smaller bolts as it impacted with the closest target and jumping to the nearby guards as Brian swung his hammer furiously at another group. The guards fell over one by one, their heads caved in as Brian swatted them aside.
Soon, the number of guards was reduced to five, and Ronan stopped singing. Just as the remaining guards began to move once more, he flew into the enemy group, his left fist colliding with the nearest guard's head and his right foot sweeping the legs out from under the next one in line. He finished the second guard off with a hard kick to his face that snapped his neck as his head flew backward. The first guard struggled to regain his footing, but Brian didn't give him a chance, as his hammer slammed into the guard's head exactly where Ronan had punched him. Emerin charged the remaining three as they finally shook off the effects of the song, and he cut down one guard before he could raise his sword. The other two started to run, but Miria caught them with another spell. The retreating guards suddenly stumbled and fell over, then began to snore as the sleep spell affected them. Ronan finished them both with two swift kicks to their heads.
"Well," Ronan said. "That was fun." "It was rather easy with the four of us together," Miria replied. "The entire population of the building likely heard our fight," said Emerin. "We should expect them to come running." "Let them come!" Brian shouted. "One can never have too much evil-smiting!" Ronan shook his head and laughed. "You know, for once I think I agree with you, Brian. We still have plenty of energy." "Easy for you to say," Miria told him. "You have legs made of steel." "I could give you a better look at them later, if you want," Ronan replied with a smirk. "All three of them." "Yeah, no," Miria said. Ronan smirked again.
"We should move on," Emerin said, trying to redirect the conversation toward the matter at hand. "Yeah, Miria," Ronan said mockingly. "Don't sidetrack us with your dirty thoughts." Miria glared at him, and he laughed, then Brian smacked him in the back of his head, and he yelped in surprise and pain. "Silence, villain!" Brian shouted. "Our leader has no patience for your sinister sexual advances! He would never accept your black-hearted, yet strangely alluring gaze!" "Er, Brian?" Emerin asked. "I'm fairly certain he wasn't talking to me." Brian shrugged and said "Maybe not yet, but I have seen how he leers at you when you're not looking with hunger in his eyes." "Eh," Ronan said as he shrugged. "I DO get a little famished at times." He laughed when Emerin's eyes grew wide and said "Don't worry, I don't eat men, in any sense of the term. Miria, on the other hand..."
They were interrupted again as more guards stormed into the large room from both of the inner doors. Emerin sighed and said "See, this is why I wanted to hurry." Miria shook her head wildly to clear away a horrible mental image, then began casting another spell.
They made their way to the Journeyman's Respite and opened the door. Mandon was standing behind the bar, filling mugs of ale and passing them out to a few patrons. He smiled when he saw his two adopted children, and he waved them over. "Welcome back, kids!" he said cheerfully. "Ye look like ye had a hard day of adventurin'. Come, have a seat and I'll be right wit' ye." Kaiser pointed the group toward a table near the entrance, and they walked over and slumped down into the chairs surrounding it.
Velani looked at Kaiser and said "Well, I know I'm not going anywhere until I've had some rest. How about you?" Kaiser shrugged and replied "I suppose we can stay a while, for your sake." "Oh, come on!" Velani protested. "You can't honestly tell me that you're not tired! You almost got your arse kicked by some scrawny guy back there." Kaiser shook his head. "That 'scrawny guy' is a demon," he said. "Demons are far from weak, no matter their form." "So, since you're only half demon, you're only half as good?" she asked. Kaiser stared at her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable, then asked "How do you know about that?"
Starlen spoke hesitantly, saying "I...may have told the others when you left." Kaiser turned his head toward her and asked "You told all of them?" Starlen shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze and answered "Y-yes." Kaiser closed his eye and sighed deeply in an attempt to vent his rising frustration. When he looked at her again, he asked "And you thought it was a good idea, because...?" Starlen gulped as she stared back at her brother. She couldn't help but feel at least a little afraid, despite knowing that Kaiser would never hurt her. He still terrified her whenever he was angry with her, as he usually scolded her terribly. This time was no different.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, his voice turning harsh and forceful. "Did you even think once about the potential consequences of what you were saying?" Starlen struggled to form a response. "I didn't-"
"No, you didn't!" Kaiser interrupted her. "You just told them without considering the possibility that they could have viewed you as a monster! They could have killed you!" Velani tried to say something in Starlen's defense, but Kaiser glared at her as she opened her mouth, and she closed it. He then sighed again and said "It was hardly a wise decision, and it could have cost you your life. These others are hardly trustworthy. I understood when you told Mandon and Landin, since they were friends, but these people are not. I wasn't there to protect you from them-"
"No you weren't!" Starlen suddenly shouted. "You never are! You're always leaving so that you can escape from reality by clinging to the past!" Kaiser's eye widened when Starlen interrupted him. She sighed after they had stared at each other for a while, and said "I'm sorry. I know it's important to you." Kaiser shook his head. "No," he said. "You're right. I should never have gone back. This is our home now." He reached into his coat and pulled out the spearhead that he had found on the ground near their old home. Starlen's eyes grew wide when she saw it. "That's-" she started to say, but she cut herself off, as she couldn't bear to finish her sentence. Kaiser looked down at the spearhead for a moment, then held it out toward Starlen. "Do what you want with it," he told her.
Tears started to form in Starlen's eyes as she reached for the spearhead. When she wrapped her hand around it, she closed her eyes and shuddered, trying not to cry. Kaiser left it inside of her hand and said "You can remember her now, if by nothing else, then by this." She opened her eyes again and stood, then ran around the table and wrapped her arms around him in a long hug. Kaiser returned her embrace, both of them so filled with emotion that they couldn't speak.
Velani looked around awkwardly, and she soon decided to leave them alone. She stood and walked back toward the bar just as a man came in from outside. She glanced at the man, then was forced to look again more closely. The man standing in the doorway looked nearly exactly like Kaiser, minus the facial scarring. He wore a suit of black chain mail and black trousers, and a long black leather coat that was open in the front.The only other visible differences were the two swords strapped across his back instead of a black-bladed halberd.
The man ignored her as he walked toward the bar, and he sat down on an empty stool. He then looked around slowly, taking in his new surroundings. When his eyes fell upon the two siblings in the corner, who had just released each other from their hug, he sneered and stood back up, his hands reaching for his swords. Velani immediately ran back to the others and said "We've got trouble." Kaiser and Starlen looked toward the man, and their expressions clearly reflected their surprise at seeing him. "Looks like I found you first," the man spoke in a deep, raspy voice. "Good."
He spat on the ground near Kaiser's feet and walked away, taking a seat at the bar. Kaiser and Starlen both stared at him, while Velani looked on, once again feeling like a third wheel. After a while, Starlen shook her head and asked "What in the hells did he call me?!" "We should go," said Kaiser, but Starlen snorted and asked "Why? Because the runt in our family came over and threatened us in our home? Seriously, who does he think he is?" "Calm down," Kaiser told her. "We don't want to make a scene here."
After a moment, Starlen sighed and said "Yeah, you're right. Still, if he thinks he can take both of us in a fight, then he's as stupid as he is short!" "Er, Starlen?" Velani asked. "He's just as tall as you are." "That doesn't make him any less of a runt!" Starlen snapped at her. "He used to be shorter then I was, by the way!" "It doesn't matter," Kaiser interjected, trying to keep them quiet. Kain snorted derisively at the bar, and Starlen glared at him from the table, seemingly eager to start the fight that he had threatened them with.
Mandon walked out from the kitchen and strode toward the companions' table with their drinks. As he set them down upon the table, he looked at Starlen and asked "What're ye so mad about now, girl?" Velani chuckled and asked him "She does this often, I take it?" "Aye," Mandon replied with a nod. "She's had quite the temper since the day I met her. I'm hoping that she'll be learning some patience while she's on this trip of yours. Otherwise, she'll be throwing out all of our guests and driving me out of business." He grinned at Starlen to let her know that he was only joking, and Starlen smiled back at him. While she was still angry, she couldn't keep from smiling whenever Mandon tried to cheer her up.
Kain left sometime later without saying another word to either of them, and they ordered two rooms and rested until some time after midday. After getting their rest, they departed, Kaiser and Starlen saying their goodbyes to the people who had been their friends and mentor's for so many years. They exited the town through the west gate and started along the road leading west. After they had gone some distance from the town, Velani looked at her two companions with a wide grin. Kaiser eventually looked back at her and asked "What?" "You guys have had a pretty great childhood, huh?" Kaiser stared at her for a long while, then said "No." "That's not what I just saw," Velani said as they walked. Kaiser's expression softened, and he said "It wasn't all happy rainbows and sunshine, you know."
Velani nodded with a knowing smile and said "Wasn't all rain clouds and sadness either." Starlen laughed and said "Don't mind Mr. Negative, he can be a real downer sometimes." "I can tell," Velani replied. "Makes me want to hug him just to get him to smile." "Maybe you should," Starlen said cheerfully. "I could also tell you where he's ticklish, if you want." Velani snickered and said "I think he'd just murder me if I tried that." "Damn straight," Kaiser responded, his face turning red. Starlen tilted her head and said "Kaiser, I think you're blushing." "I am not!" Kaiser replied forcefully.
Starlen and Velani both laughed.
After running for a long while, Miria stopped and said "Wait...let me...catch my breath." The others stopped when they noticed her, and Ronan said sarcastically "What a surprise." Miria shot another glare at him as she started to breathe deeply. Emerin, who was also tired of running, nodded and said "Alright, we'll take a break." Ronan smirked at him and said "You're just as bad as she is. Thankfully, Brian isn't so easily worn out, right Brian?" He looked over at Brian, who said "Just a bit farther, friends! We must continue without delay!"
Miria shook her head, saying "I'm not a buff, crazy guy like you, Brian." "If you can't keep running," Brian said. "Then I'll carry you!" "I don't think I-" Miria started to say, but she yelped instead when Brian picked her up and slung her over his right shoulder, then started running with her kicking and squirming on his back. Ronan burst into laughter as they went by, and Emerin slapped a hand over his face, then both of them followed after Brian and Miria, running as quickly as they could in an effort to keep up.
They were all relieved when they finally found the exit from the maze some time later. "Put me down!" Miria shouted to Brian, who replied "Okay!" as he threw her off of his back and onto the floor. Miria cried out again when she hit the floor, and she stumbled to her feet just as Emerin and Ronan caught up to them. "Man," she said as she rubbed her aching back. "What kind of jerk just manhandles a lady like that?" "The funny kind," said Ronan.
Emerin sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since he had met Ronan. He then looked around at the new chamber that they were in. It was as sparsely decorated as the empty maze of corridors, though several scratches along the floor suggested that something was moved out of it, perhaps recently. He followed the scratch marks, and they led him toward the room's other doorway set within the far wall.
"This looks suspicious," he said as he examined the door. "Maybe Brian should charge through heroically," Ronan said mockingly, though Brian had other plans. He pulled off the right gauntlet of Garm's old armor and reached inside of his sleeve, pulling out a small circular object with a clear surface. He then held the object in front of his eye and started to examine the door. After a while, he said "All clear," and with a swift and hard kick, he knocked the door down. "Knock knock!" He yelled, and a man's voice called out from within the room, saying "Who are you?!" Brian yanked his hammer off of his back and shouted "I'M A SODDING HERO, YOU VILLAINOUS SCUM!" He charged into the room with a loud roar, and Emerin and Ronan followed him in.
Ronan laughed as he danced circles around his opponent, who was swinging wildly in an attempt to keep up with his fast and fluid steps and spins. He easily ducked beneath a high horizontal swing, responding with a spinning kick to his opponent's midsection. The guard nearly doubled over from the impact, but Ronan wasn't finished, and his other foot leaped up to slam into the guard's head, throwing it back upward. The guard stumbled backward, and Ronan took advantage of his flailing by thrusting the palm of his right hand into the man's chest with a loud thud. The man flew backward into the wall and slumped to the floor, as he had died instantly when Ronan's hand had burst his heart. "No sense in holding back now," Ronan muttered as he shook his wrist, releasing the tension in his arm.
Emerin dodged his opponent's initial downward slash and thrust his own sword forward. The guard managed to bring his sword back in time to parry the strike, but he did not realize that Emerin had been casting a spell as he moved, and Emerin's sword erupted with electrical energy, sending jolts down the guard's arm and nearly causing him to drop his sword. He had to grip his weapon with both hands to prevent it from falling from his grasp, and Emerin took advantage of his fumbling by reciting another arcane phrase. He threw his offhand forward with his fingers outspread, and a fan of bright orange fire leaped from his fingertips. The guard yelped and fell over onto his back as he tried to get away, but Emerin's sword plunged down after him. The man shrieked as the sword pierced his armor to sever his spine, then stopped screaming as he died.
The three men who survived looked around to determine whether the fight was finished, then rejoined with each other in the center of the room. "That was easy," Ronan said. "If this is the best they have, then they might as well stab themselves for us." "Don't say things like that when we're still far from finished," replied Emerin, who was still glancing toward the room's entrance. After a while, he asked "Where's Miria?" "Probably still catching her breath," Ronan said.
A sudden loud boom from the outside hallway caused them all to jump in alarm. "Sounds like a magic fight," Brian said as he lifted his hammer and strode confidently toward the doorway. "Miria must be fighting something!" Emerin said, and he rushed after Brian. Ronan smirked and said sarcastically "Sure, just go back the way we came from. That'll take us closer to our goal." He then followed the other two outside.
Standing near the end of the hall on the other side of the doorway was a tall, lean man wearing a flowing black robe with an elaborate gold trim that outlined the hem and sleeves. His long black hair seemed to melt into his robe, and a pair of red eyes shone from beneath his long bangs. His lips were curled into a wicked smile as he regarded the adventurers. "Well," he spoke in a smooth, silky voice. "My guards certainly didn't last long against you, did they? Not surprising, given that they were merely human, but they served their purpose. I am now ready to face you myself."
"Are you the one responsible for the attack on Bellepoint?" Emerin asked. The man nodded and said "Yes, I am he. My name is Azzar, priest of the Lucent Mask." Ronan spat upon the ground when he heard that name. "Demon worshipers," he said disgustedly. "As though that would actually make the afterlife a better place for these fools. You know, you all end up the same, regardless of your misplaced devotion." Azzar shrugged and said "It is no matter. We all die, and we all suffer in death. Why waste your life giving thanks to gods that don't truly care?" He looked at Ronan and continued, saying "You are a curious one, aren't you, demon? Despite being a denizen of the dark realms, you refuse to expand it. Why?"
Ronan merely shrugged and asked "Why not? I like the change of scenery, and people are amusing when they're not screaming in eternal agony. Most of my kind are satisfied with the suffering of their enemies, but I've lived long enough in the hells to want something different." "So you seek amusement?" Azzar asked. "I see. You live for excitement, so you choose the most difficult path for a challenge. That is why you turned against your kind, to fight a losing battle in a mad attempt to find enjoyment." Ronan laughed and said "Sure, but there's one thing you got wrong: I never lose a battle, nor do I fight a losing battle. When I join a cause, then I make sure it wins, and it wins every time."
Emerin stared at Ronan. The demon was being sincere, at least as far as he could tell, though admittedly he knew very little about demons or how to tell if they were lying. He just had to trust that Ronan was being truthful. He turned back to Azzar, and a thought occurred to him. "Your name," he said. "It sounds Malkian. You come from the east?" Azzar smiled wider and nodded, saying "Yes, just like you, Emerin." That caused Emerin to take a step back. "How did you know my name?" he asked. "I've known about you since the first time you stepped inside of this forest. Your presence DOES invoke some curiosity, I must admit. It's not often when an exiled prince comes to a small town in search of a new life."
Emerin's face turned pale, and his voice trembled as he said "Well, you certainly know a great deal." Azzar nodded again and said "Indeed, but the time for talking is over. I must finish you quickly so that you do not become an annoyance later on. I am sorry, Emerin, but your destiny has run its course."
Velani frowned and said "You know, you're halfway like him, as far as heritage goes." "Except that I have a human side," Starlen replied angrily. "A side that keeps the impulses under control. It has nothing but those base desires, and it doesn't care who it hurts when it fulfills them." She spat out each of the pronouns as if to emphasize her disdain for Ronan. "That's what defines a demon; pure selfishness without care for what goes on around it." Velani looked downward and muttered to herself "Sounds like several humans I know."
Kaiser, who had been leading them as they trekked down the road, suddenly stopped and held his right hand up to signal the two women to do the same. They stopped just before they reached him, and he turned his head slightly to regard them and said "We have company. Prepare for a fight." He looked to his right, toward a cluster of bushes, and pulled his halberd off of his back. "You know," Velani said. "The things you can do continue to impress me." Kaiser's brow furrowed at her statement, and he turned his head back toward her. "It's not that impressive," he said as he turned back to the bushes.
Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves erupted from the bushes, followed by a young woman with pure white hair wearing a dark brown shirt and trousers riddled with bulging pockets that were nearly bursting at the seams, and a pair of long black gloves that covered her arms up to her short sleeves. She looked around frantically for a few moments, her eyes never leaving the ground. When she finally noticed the group, she looked up at them and frowned. "Hey," she said to them with a strong, but calm voice. "You three haven't seen a small blue marble-like thing, have you?" She looked over each of them, but her eyes went wide when she looked at Kaiser. "What happened to you?!" she blurted out, likely without thinking.
Kaiser glared at her for a moment, and she frowned back at him, but after a while she shook her head. "No, hold on, you're someone else. Weird, you look a lot like someone I know, but uglier." Kaiser's glare intensified, but the young woman paid no more attention to him, instead going back to her search. "Well," she said. "If you're not going to help, then stay out of my way. I have better things to do than stand around and stare at people." She looked around some more, then started walking back toward the bush, her eyes fixed upon the ground as she walked.
"Um," Starlen said as she stepped forward. "You might want to watch where you're going." The young woman looked up again and stared at her for a short while before saying "Why's that? I won't find a marble in the air, now will I?" "You might run into something, though," Starlen replied. "You could get hurt." The young woman shrugged, then said "That's okay, as long as I find that animate core. Those things are hard to build from scratch, so each one is precious." The three adventurers looked at her for a moment before Starlen asked "What's an animate core?"
The young woman frowned and said "Nothing you need to worry about. It looks like a blue marble, and I'm looking for it. That's as much of an explanation as I can give you without losing you completely. No offense." "Hold on," Velani said suddenly. "You're one of the mages from Ryllas, aren't you?" The young woman smiled and replied "Yep, that's me. Well, I'm only one of them, but yeah, I'm from the college of animators, first class." "And that means...?" Starlen asked. "It means that she's a mage that specializes in building and animating objects, such as golems and prosthetics," Kaiser said. "My own hand was animated by one when he passed through Bellepoint."
"I thought you made it," Starlen said. "I did," Kaiser answered. "But it required an animation spell to work properly. Otherwise, it wouldn't move and would just be dead weight. I can only do so much with simple smithing." The young woman perked up when she heard about his hand. "Ooh," she said excitedly, her eyes starting to shine with curiosity. "You have a golem hand? Let me see!" She walked up to him and tried to grab his hand, but he pulled it away as she reached for it, saying "Don't try that again!"
The young woman pouted for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Well," she said, looking at Kaiser's artificial hand intently. "It looks like one of my cores is inside of it. I saw my signature on it." She looked up at Kaiser's face and asked "You said some guy gave it to you? You came from Bellepoint, right?" After a while, she snapped her fingers and shouted "Of course! You're the lonely young man who saved my partner that one time!" She scratched her head and looked back down at Kaiser's hand. After another moment of silence, she said "Yep, looks like a simple single-cell core. Not bad, but not that special either, and a little worn out from years of use. You could use a new one." She snapped her fingers again and said "Tell you what, we could both use some back-scratching. You help me find my missing core, and I'll get you a better one for your fancy hand, deal?"
"No," Kaiser replied. Starlen and Velani both looked at him in surprise, and he said "We don't know you, stranger. Why would we possibly agree to help you?" "You don't know me?" The young woman asked, surprised. "That's a nice change of pace." She held out her right hand and said "Name's Jett. I teach at the college, the youngest graduate and professor in the college's history." Velani gasped when she introduced herself, but Kaiser and Starlen merely looked at her curiously, which made her laugh. "It really is refreshing to meet someone who doesn't treat me like I'm some kind of celebrity," she said.
"I'm sorry," Starlen said as she stepped forward, drawing Jett's attention to her. "What does that mean, exactly?" "It means that I'm smart," Jett replied. "Smarter than most of the other students who graduated from my class." "'Smart' is an understatement," Velani interrupted. "This lady's a legend in Ryllas! She practically invented the core technology that is being used in animation today. It revolutionized the way in which magic was used, essentially turning it into an energy source for more than just spells. Because of her, magic now plays an important part in every single person in Ryllas' life every day."
Jett shook her head and said "I just acted on what I studied, though it still took me almost a decade to finish." "Almost a decade?" Starlen asked. "How old are you?" "I'm twenty-eight, but I had started working on the cores when I was fifteen. A little young, I know, but I had a personal stake in the experiment. I lost my right arm when I was little, and I always felt depressed every morning when I woke up afterwards. Eventually, I got tired of feeling that way about myself, so I dedicated my life to discovering a method for replacing lost limbs using many different animation spell combinations and a few self-made artificial arms. The biggest problem was providing an energy source that would work indefinitely, since magic is, by its very nature, limited by a lack of sustained energy output, but I worked out that if a spell is provided with a solid supporting apparatus and-uh, never mind. It's complicated, and a full explanation would likely take forever."
"Sounds interesting," said Starlen. Kaiser sighed and said "Look, we don't have much time to waste. How much farther is Ryllas?" "It isn't far," Jett answered. "In fact, it's right over there." She pointed in the direction where the group was heading, toward a large shadowy mass in the distance. "Where?" Starlen asked, her head tilted with curiosity. Velani chuckled and said "Well, Starlen, that large mass in front of us is our destination, of course." Starlen's eyes widened, and she asked "That's a city? I've never actually seen one before. Are they all that big?" Velani shrugged and said "It depends on a lot of different things. Ryllas is the center of our kingdom's research into mystical and magical affairs, so it's understandably quite large." "Onward, then," Kaiser said, trying to hide his own surprise at the size of the town. He knew that he wasn't as aware of the full extent of human society as he should have been, but seeing a town as large as Ryllas made him feel somewhat insecure. He suddenly no longer felt like leading the group.
An idea suddenly formed in Starlen's head, and she said to Jett "Hey, if we help you find this core of yours, would you serve as our guide when we enter the city?" Jett smiled and nodded her head, and Starlen smiled back. "Alright!" she said cheerfully. "Let's look around!" Kaiser looked at her and sighed. While he was in a hurry, he had no intention of arguing with his sister, especially since he agreed that a guide would be useful. Jett smirked and said "Not that I expect much from you, one-eyed guy." Kaiser gave her the nastiest scowl that he could manage, which caused her to laugh nervously.