Medieval fantasy earth

Raos sat beneath a tree,leaning against the bark of the tree, his eyes shut as his breath was deliberate and methodical. The sounds of the world around him began to fade leaving silence, it brought a welcomed calmness to his soul letting him truly relax. Something was different this time though. When he began to listen to nature it was not the normal calming sensation that it usually was, it was like nature was anxious almost in fear as if... "Stark!" A man shouted snapping Raos out of his trance. "What is it?" he said slightly annoyed about being interrupted. "The chief has ordered for your presence at the arena. A foreigner has defeated many of our warriors and has earned the right to fight you." Raos furrowed his brow. "Fine I will go now." Raos stood and soon towered over the messenger.

The arena was fill with a mix of cheers and jeers. "This is amazing never have we had a foreigner do so well against our men! Huskarl Hammer! You have earned the right to fight our greatest warrior, Stark Vegter!" The crowd roar louder than it ever had before, the stands were packed to capacity. The wooden palisades opposite of Aurelius opened and Raos stepped through. This time he was allowed to use his own weapon and giant claymore that caused wind shears with every swing. He steeped to within a few feet of Aruleius carrying himself like a proud warrior as he did. "The rules for this battle have been modified! No longer will the battle be to first blood, but instead it will be till the first one yields or is incapacitated!" The crowd was now mixed with cheer and gasps of surprise. "May your blade strike true foreigner, so that we may both find glory in this battle." Raos spoke holding his weapon in front of him.

"Hey!" Ruayn shouted to the man as he struggled to keep up. His legs were not fit for running, after all they were brand new. "Slow down!"

"For one thing, you could stop running away like that after I keep healing you," he said, panting slightly, "Honestly, it's like people expect instant heals from us! You still need to rest!" He threw his arms out in exasperation. Nevertheless, the pace of the man was unrelenting. Ruayn didn't care how badly his legs hurt. He wanted answers. "And don't get me started on the dragon. A dragon in the royal dining hall. You want to repay my favour?" He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes narrowed. "Let me come with you in the advisor's meeting. You're obviously a man of influence 'round these parts, I've no doubt you can get me in. And mister, when it comes to the spiritual side of things, you need a cleric in there."

Kcolth let out a loud sigh as he stopped dead in his tracks. He was thankful for this cleric to heal him, but at the same time he didn't want the man following him all around the castle. He turned and looked at the cleric for a moment. He was out of breath. Kcolth himself was getting tired, but this man was exhausted from the looks of it. Kcolth could see in the man's eyes that he wasn't going to stay put. "As thanks for healing me and many others I will see if I can get you in. Just please don't make me regret this. Chances are the King and everyone else is on edge, and we certainly don't want to set them off," Kcolth said. "Come on," he added as he started walking again. But this time at a much slower pace. They approached the door and two soldiers eyed them as they walked up. "I am Kcolth of the royal guard and this is a cleric who has come to give divine insight," Kcolth announced. The soldiers quickly saluted and let them in. The atmosphere in the meeting room was definitely heavy. Kcolth wondered if the King had already came up with a plan.

Ajak woke up in an extreme state of panic gagging and choking all while flailing his arm like a wild chicken, in Ajak's mind he was drowning, only coming to his senses after tipping off the chair and landing on his face he seen that Kcolth and and some kind of priest were already on the move, seemingly oblivious to Ajaks frantic spasms. "Oh sure why notice me, its not like I saved you and your precious little butter muffin from being a dragons cooked dinner or anything" Ajak thought to himself slightly annoyed.

However if they didn't already notice him then that was a blessing and taking advantage of the opportunity he lied low and listened in on their conversation. He quietly followed the two to the meeting room and as the guards let them in Ajak put his hand casually through his blond hair and walked up to the guards confidently. He didn't engage them in conversation but sought to simply walk past them and through the door behind them. As he did one of the guards grabbed him by the back of his tunic and flung him to his rear, he landed with a quite a loud thud. He stood up quietly rubbing his very sore ass and put on a serious face and proceeded to speak. "How dare you! do you know what I did back there when the dragon attacked, why if the king knew he would have you both strung up that he would!, now let me through or ill be sure t---OUCH!" One of the guards had interrupted him by lightly poking Ajak with the tip of his spear. Ajak proceeded to give up and walk away in shameful defeat.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Yes yes I've already sent word to Machium and asked that they send some of their flying machines to search for the Dragons where about's " The king was saying as the door creaked open and Kcolth and the cleric walked in. "Kcolth! my dear boy I'm glad to see you in good health!" The king walked over and gave the man a tight hug. "Thank you again for protecting my daughter, I knew you would fulfill your duty's when the time came" the king continued, visible stress and anxiety was clearly taking its toll on him, his eyes were red and puffy and his normally well groomed greybeard was a mess, it was clear that he did not clean up after leaving the dungeon but came straight to the war room.

"And who might this be?" The king asked looking at the man who walked in with Kcolth.

"Ruayn vas Dhofera, cleric from the Fangoria House of Healing." He bowed elegantly, his brown sequin robe draping to the floor. "If I may, your Majesty, I believe I can shed some light on this incident. I am well-schooled in the history of the Bellowing, as well as benefit from some scrying and foresight abilities, that are of this moment, at your disposal." There were only two clerics with the irrefutable gift of seeing through the veil of time, of unraveling the secrets of what will be. One of them had drowned in his tub after he predicted his death by falling into the sea. The other was Ruayn.

He took a deep breath, and sighed. His gaze seemed miles away, wandering through a byzantine memory, recalling every detail of that memory verbatim, and when he spoke, his voice was foreboding, his eyes steely.
"Few know what truly transpired in the battle that decided the fate of this world a century ago. The day that Octavion was allegedly smote in combat. It has been a well-kept secret within the order, and we have been sworn by oath to uphold it and pass it down each generation." He lifted his head to meet the king's eyes in an intense stare. "We know this because the founder of our order, Ithias, Servant of the Light, was there when that fateful moment came. The spell that cast the dragon into a stone prison came from her staff, as did the spell that banished Octavion's soul from this realm. It was only upon great introspection from our arch-bishops did we realize the . . . severity of our ancestor's mistakes."

Ruayn was just about to continue when the doors flung open, and two guards strutted inside, carrying a sorry lump of a person inside. "Your honor!" their voices boomed, "We found a suspect! Bloody bastard thinks he can waltz inside after destroying half the castle! Nay, I say, the Fangorian Guards are not easily fooled by your witchcraft." He delivered a kick into his stomach a little harder than was needed.

The king stood awestruck at the words the cleric had spoke, yet it revealed little more then what the king already knew. The doors burst open and the guards spoke a piece carrying a prisoner with them. The king raised his hand signaling a temporary silence in the room. He walked over to the man held tightly in the guards arms and lifted his head up by the chin, staring deeply in to the mans red eyes the kings face became red and distorted with rage, however the king looked to the guards not the man they held prisoner.

"You incompetent FOOLS!" the king bellowed, "You dare enter such an important meeting with an innocent citizen beaten in tow because of your foolish paranoia!" The king knew what the guards had thought seeing the mans red eyes. "Let me ask you this, if he was really who you thought he was, had he been the one to release the dragon and destroy half the castle, would you have been able to bring him up here as you did? IT took an army and six of the worlds greatest warriors to slay him one hundred years ago!, not a couple of overpaid gate keepers!" The king screamed in anger, even the queen had only seen the king this angry on a couple of occasions. Clearly the stress of everything had finally made him crack.

"And what if he was? what if he was actually Octavion? you would bring the most powerful enemy the world has ever seen in to the same room as the entirety of Fangorias royalty! GET OUT!" The king bellowed one last time before the panicked guards dropped the man and ran out the door not bothering to look back. The king wiped the sweat from his face walked over and picked the man up standing him to his feet. "I am sorry for what they have done to you, understand that the guards are under a lot of stress and prone to act on impulse, you will be reimbursed I assure you but I have bigger matters of which to attend" the king said to the red eyed man calmly.

Turning around to face the room once more the king took a deep and battered breath before speaking, Noting that the cleric and the red eyed man were still in the room. "I decree everyone in this room officially under a decree of silence, you may not speak of what you hear here lest we have a nation wide panic on our hands, breaking the decree is punishable by law." The king said stopping to regain his breath.

"Octavion has undoubtedly returned.." As the king spoke that last sentence a large snapping sound was heard followed by the voice of a wailing male. "AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH" Ajak making a last attempt to hear what was being said had attempted to use his grappling hook to shimmy down from the castle and listen near the war rooms window. Unfortunately the grappling hook slipped from place and sent him careening from the top of the castle. The hook caught on to a ledge of a neighboring tower and sent him screaming upside down toward the window of the room. "No No NOOOOOOO" Ajak yelled at his luck and the futilely of the situation as he smashed through the window and landed on top of the princess, his hand clearly placed upon a point that would get him slapped even by a beggar. Guards instantly grabbed and restrained him while helping the princess to her feet.

Ajak didn't struggle he knew he messed up and he would be punished, but he tried to look on the bright side, he was at least inside the room like he wanted!. And how many people get executed for violating a well endowed princess anyway.... He pondered this for a moment.................... all of them he realized..............

Noting that the situation was under control the king turned to the cleric. "We are devising plans as we speak and attempting to contact our Ally's, what other sort of insight may you provide us with?" the king asked.

Ajak wiggled a bit in attempt to at least get a bit comfortable in the arms of two brutish guards. His staff was visible on his back and he had a small slash in the front of his tunic, it was then he noticed that the right side of his chest had also turned black like his arm. The curse had suddenly begun to spread, Ajak simply sighed at his horrible luck, even if or when he escaped whatever prison they would throw him in. He still needed to find a cure.

After she had told her father what had been attacking the castle and Kcolth had burst into the room. She had become silent and allowed the next events to wash over her while she was deep in thought. As the guards led her family up stairs into the war room she watched and noted all of her fathers decisions. One day, maybe unfortunately soon, she might have to stand in his place and she wanted to be ready. So she stayed quite and watched all the events unfold while she kept a close eye on her father.

When Kcolth came back fro the infirmary she was overjoyed that he was safe and fine. Then the guards brought in the peasants and she saw her own temper flair in her fathers eyes like she had never seen before. While it was almost frightening it also made her glad, even though he was king some times rightful anger was needed. Her temper was the one thing she worried about more then anything else for she feared that it would make her an unfit ruler. But seeing her fathers fury lightened some of her doubt.

She was still smiling when out of nowhere, again, the strange man burst through the window, landed on top of her and groped her in the same instant. Soarinas temper flashed hotter then her fathers and it took every bone in her body not to light the whole room on fire. After the guards restrained the man and helped her up she dusted herself off trying to remain calm in the presence of her parents and walked over to where they held the man. She heated up hr hand making it almost scalding hot at slapped him right in the face. The she leaned in close so only he could hear.

"A girl only has so much forgiveness and you already used it all up with your last stunt. When we are done here I will use you for a practice target and light all your clothes on fire. You will wish that the dragon had eaten you." Soarina whispered to him. She probably would not be allowed to go through with it, not that she would, but he didn't know that.

Like the King, Kcolth was impressed with the clerics introduction. "Ruayn vas Dhofera," he thought to himself. "A name I should most definitely remember." But the following event quickly made tensions worse as the King went off on the guards for bringing an innocent man before him just because of his red eyes. Kcolth wanted to help the man but was quickly interrupted by a man falling through the window onto the princess. The sight of him touching the lady made Kcolths face turn red in anger.

If it was not for two things he might have very well thrown the man out the window. First was that two guards where already restraining the man. And second because he recognized the man as the one who saved Kcolth and the princess from the dragon. But as the lady slapped him and spoke a few words to him Kcolth knew the man had learned his lesson. He walked over to Soarina before she could do worse. "Please remember that this man did save us lady Soarina," Kcolth said as he positioned himself between Soarina and the man. "Please calm yourself my lady. And as for you, I thank you for your past help, but I suggest you not move a muscle or breath one word," he said turning from Soarina to the man.

But even with all of this occurring one thing was plaguing his mind. He turned back to the King. "Even if you sent word to Machium requesting their help, they would not arrive for days. And in that time we could lose track of the dragon altogether. If we could follow the dragon it might be able to lead us to this mysterious red-eyed man," Kcolth said.

Aurelius took a handful of sand from the arena and scrubbed the blood off of his spear.

He had knocked out Orik Steelfist, their hot-blooded, youthful champion.
He had outstripped Talos Wuldum, their swiftest striker.
He had shut down Famaran Wuldum, their hardest hitter.
He had whipped Thorgrim Thoragson, their wiliest blade.

And had merely broken a light sweat on his forehead.

"Garkum! Where are your men?"

The responding clamor was music to Aurelius' ears. The nationalist spirit conflicted with the astonishment in his fighting style. In his second round he'd taken a two-handed, near-lambasting hammer strike on his shield and had simply shaken his arm loose. The crowd was silent as the shield rang throughout the stadium. In the third round he'd slammed the shaft of his spear into his opponent's instep, virtually crushing it beyond recognition. In the last round he'd simply slammed his head into the fox's face, cunning as he was the sheer force behind the blow knocked him into next harvest. The crowd was tearing their hair out, their confusion was obvious.

It was clear that they'd never encountered a warrior of his caliber outside their enclave, they'd only seen Garunimites trounce fellow Garunimites for such a long time that a foreign challenger left them astounded. He slung his spear and unsheathed his blade, banging the pommel on his shield once more so that it could be heard over the boisterious cheering.

"Your finest, your mightiest, your wiliest men! Send them my way, and I'll break them today!"

Aurelius hoped the arena's patrons were similar as the ones in Myrmyliod, that his taunts were part of the theatrics of the arena, not literally meant as a challenge towards their nation in general. He didn't want to be responsible for an international crisis. The announcer quickly ran to the center of the arena, the excitement forcing his already bulging eyes wider. He was probably making a fortune for his grandchildren.

"People of Garkum, a quick recap! This foreigner, Aurelius Longinus, Legionnaire of the Myrmyliod Army, the Huskarl Hammer has shamed us. How can we call ourselves a people of war if we cannot even defeat this lone man! With such dishonor among us Raos Keizer has been summoned by the chief to the fight. The Stark Vegter will break this foreigner and show him our true mettle!"

No man wandered out of the palisade, rather a behemoth climbed from the Pits to face Aurelius. This beast was at least a head and a half taller than he and just as monstrously built, if not more so. He carried with him a titanic blade, which he brandished as soon as he reached the center of the arena. Aurelius would've sworn he watched a breeze dodge to the side.

"May your blade strike true foreigner, so that we may both find glory in this battle."

Aurelius tapped his shield and helmet with his sword in assent. Now this was a fight for the ages.

"A sound plan. I can help track the dragon. The aura of evil it emanates is so strong I can still feel the residue lingering within the castle." A pause. "Wait a minute, it's actually growing stronger . . . from the window . . ."

Moments later there was a crash, a high-pitched yelp, and a very, very awkward silence as Ruayn blushed at the sight of the canoodling spectacle. How very violating. A man's hands belongs to his staff and his staff only. The wooden one.

Then something occured to Ruayn. His brow furrowed. "Weren't you . . . the man who crashed into the dining room hall before this whole thing happened?" A strange mix of suspicion and mild bemusement spread across his face. What were the odds that the same person would crash into a window and land on the same person, all in the span of a single day? The gods couldn't be less subtle.

"Let's see . . .falling from the sky, unexplained magical prowess, uncanny ability to turn up just when needed. Hmm . . ." Ruayn crossed off a list of critera in his mental 'Prophetic Chosen One' litmus test. "Your Majesty, if I may. The man may actually be of use to us. God works in mysterious ways, sometimes in humorous ways too." He cast a finger at the man with a theatrical flutter of his robe. "Whether he is truly a nexus of our hope or simply someone whom fate will remove, only time will tell. But this sign is much too potent to be dismissed as coincidental."

Something pricked at the back of Ruayn's mind. It was a gnawing, gnarling hunger; something shapeless and black, spewing needles and venom into his head until not only did his temples throbbed, but his soul shuddered with a sudden coldness. He clutched his temples in agony. Even after years of conditioning, the effects of evil in close proximity to someone so oppositely-aligned, was downright debilitating. From the far winds a name whispered into his ears.

"Ajak," Ruayn mumbled at first, standing upright once more, then with sudden vehemence, "Ajak. That's your name, isn't it? Ajak Kalal." His eyes widened in shock, as if seeing something of insurmountable horror visible only to him. "Dear Maker, what happened to you?"

His face hurt, Ajak dearly wanted the rub the painful burning hand print that was left on his cheek but alas the guards would not let him. He decided to heed the advice of the royal bodyguard and just be quiet, that is until the cleric brought the rooms attention upon him. The cleric knew something and being held back by two guards if he refused an answer he would be examined anyway so Ajak decided to come clean, at least partially clean anyway. There was no doubt that the cleric sensed his curse, though he doubted that it had anything to do with the situation at hand he would humor him, after all somehow the Cleric knew his name.

"Excuse me?" Ajak said to the guards as he tugged away his arms, he unraveled the wrap on his right arm piling it in to a heap on the floor, beneath it he revealed his pitch black arm. "Believe me, if a God exists the only affiliation I have with him is he hates my guts" he said holding his arm up. "Its a curse, one that will take my life if I do not find the cure, and all of the world doctor's and priests and even those who practice witch arts have yet to be able to cure it, quite nasty isn't it?"

Lowering his arm he rubbed it with his hand as it was always in pain, yet he almost never would let it show through, but being restrained by two gorillas would take its toll on even a healthy arm. "Its irrelevant to the situation at ha---" Ajak stopped, the cleric thought he was important, convincing the room otherwise would mean he would have to explain what he was in the castle for and why he smashed through the window. Ajak decided it best to see what else the cleric had to say before opening his mouth.

The king and queen also remained silent awaiting the rest of the clerics verdict.

There is an old saying that is present in every culture in one form or another and that is ' Be careful what you wish for.' Aurelius wanted to face the strongest man among them, well he got his wish. Raos the best warrior of the Garunim people was here to face him in combat. This would not just a fight however, this would be a test of his skills as well and a chance for Raos to see the styles of a different race of men. “Let us begin.” To fully understand and test his opponents abilities he started off lightly. Muscles tensed slightly as Raos brought his blade high into the air, it was so massive that it cast a large shadow, near effortlessly a simple downward slash with little of Raos' own force behind it, instead it was just the weight of the blade itself coming down on Aurelius. Time would tell just how much of an accomplished warrior Aurelius was. The chief had, by this time, arrived at the arena and was seated next to the announcer watching the battle with great intrest.

"That kind of wound should be fatal," Ruayn said matter-of-factly, purveying the wound with a near medical precision, "You should be dead as a doornail by now. Err, Maker bless you," he added quietly. There was nothing, though, nothing on earth he had ever seen that looked anything remotely like this. And a cleric knew everything, even a novice like Ruayn. Not out of pretentious arrogance, mind you, but simply because of their attunement with the divine magic of healing. It was simply a sixth sense: they knew when something could be healed, and when something was a wound that must stay. "This is the first time I've ever seen a wound to such . . . degree. And . . ." His eyes narrowed, trying to peer into the microcosm. "I see it. Tearing at your flesh, rending through the bone and sinew and gorging on your blood. I think it's . . . it's . . ." His voice turned suddenly grave. "If you don't find a cure, the curse will devour your soul. You will be an empty shell of your former self to be inhabited by whatever demon is inhabiting your body now. I am sorry."

Ruayn turned to the King with newfound sangfroid. "Your Majesty, I know none of this doesn't make sense right now. It doesn't to me either. I'm confused. But let me tell you something, we clerics specialize in the confused. It makes sense to us that it doesn't make sense. We don't know half of what we're doing half the time, and the half that we do know doesn't make half as much sense as we hoped it would. And right now, between cursed molesters and red-eyed men and dragons coming back to life, when absolutely nothing is making sense, the only thing that will make sense to do, would be to get a cleric like me. Your Majesty." He held his staff proudly, and bowed eloquently. "When do we move out?"

"Great" Ajak mumbled, he would have much rather went on ignorant of the severity of the curse, especially when there was no known cure. It all sounded crazy, were the king not a man of God himself the cleric may very well of been laughed out of the room. But the king nodded to him.

"Sir Kcolth is correct, it will be days before Machium even receives word of what happened let alone send help, until we hear back from them we must do what we can now, we mustn't let word spread to the general populace yet, but the captains situated in each Fangoria city will be notified. Rauyn you seem to be the only one capable of tracking the beast, Siegmund you will take a platoon of men and keep the cleric safe." The king said to Siegmund one of the seasoned guard captains.

"You're orders are that of reconnaissance, track the dragon and look for the whereabouts of a red eyed man associated with the dragon, I shouldn't need to tell you that engaging ether one would be foolish" The king said to Rauyn and Siegmund.

"Kcolth until we can fully grasp the situation at hand you are to continue your duties of guarding my daughter" The king said placing a firm hand on Kcolths shoulder. "And as for you" The king turned to Ajak who suddenly felt his stomach lurch. "You have been officially conscripted in to ranks of Fangoria" The king said. "What? no no no I'm no warrior and besides I'm dying remember? I couldn't possibly be much help!" Ajak pleaded but the kings expression didn't budge.

"Ruayn believes God created the events that led you here, I am not quite as inclined to believe that, but something in my gut tells me I should trust his judgment, So I want you close by and under my command, now go to the armory for equipment fitting and training, or if you would like I could have you hung for groping the princess?" The king said jokingly of course, but Ajak didn't need to know that. "Yes your majesty" Ajak replied with a hard swallow and the two brutish guards escorted him out towards the armory. "Siegmund, Ruayn you move out at dawn, I would get some rest and a good meal" The king said firmly.

The king dismissed the meeting and proceeded to leave to get some rest of his own, before he did however he whispered in the ear of one of the guards. The guard approached Rethyn handed him a bag of gold and smiled. "The king wish's to formally apologize for the actions of his gatekeepers, he offers you this bag of gold in compensation as well as a guest room should you require it." The guard spoke softly.

Nodding his head quietly, Rethyn looked over at the guard slowly for a moment before reaching out and quietly taking the bag into his right hand. With his right hand, he placed the bag into his right pocket securely. From the sound of the coins, Rethyn could tell this was more than he could make in two years. He didn't feel discouraged though, for the money was now his. And in all honesty to himself, he needed it.

Turning to face the King, Rethyn gave a small bow before he turned away and walked out the room through the golden doors. As he walked off he gave once last look at the many faces in the room. He would most likely never see their faces again, but still he had to admit they were interesting folk. Most of them including the King himself weren't stuck up folk like the many surrounding Lords of the area. Maybe it was just because they were all shaken by the attack. They didn't have the time to be stuck up.

Rethyn stopped outside of the courtyard as he looked back once more at the damaged building. Before turning back to leave Rethyn heard himself say.

"Now know why the guards would die for a King like him...”

With his left hand Rethyn made a small salute before turning back to the pathway out of the courtyard. Without wasting anymore time he walked off with silent footsteps.

The time had come, Nixie saw the Queen's Tower amongst the trees on the land mass ahead. It was once a guard tower of the people that had lived in the isles before the Conclave came and enslaved them. It was the only remaining building from those days. Surrounding the island were ships of many different shapes and sizes, from large cannon galleons to sad things that were little more than rafts. Nixie called Vasa to her chambers. "This is it, we're close to the conclave now. Have K'treva's men be our merchants. You and I will sneak off the ship while her crew sells our goods. I bought some fruit when I purchased the ship, they can use that to sell to the pirates. We have to remember to always stay hidden when we get out onto the island. There is no reason that I should be here, since I just quit Drake's crew." She looked around her quarters and pointed at a map of the islands. "We will be on Queen's Island when we land. The one below that one is the Map and Plunder Island. That's the one we want to go to."

Was this really a man who defeated so many of his peoples warriors, a man who could not even parry a slow moving blade to the side. Raos scoffed at the idea that this man was deserving of the honor to face him after he was brought to his knees by such an attack. Raos would give the man another chance perhaps raw strength was not the entirety of his fighting style, Perhaps he incorporates speed into his style. As Aurelius lunged forward he was met with a foot to his chest, but something was different about this kick he could feel the foot pressed against his chest, but the actual crushing force came a second later causing virtually no damage except a bit of disorientation after being pushed back so quickly. Aurelius was pushed back several feet away from Raos with more than enough room in between the for him to regain his stance and come at him again. Lifting his blade from the ground he allowed a small flourish of his ability as he sung the blade close to the ground causing some of the sand to lift in a small wave. With his blade ready Raos calmly studied the man waiting for his next move, the next move was his alone.

~