AN: One amongst many of the stories set in the world of Tellūs.
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“Ahk!” Spittle flew from my mouth as my heart drummed a beat familiar to me as the air left my lungs and I gasped.
My right hand gripped my chest clenching as the sharp pain felt like I’d been punched in the heart raged on for longer than the previous times this had happened. But like always it came to pass after a few minutes, my heart returning to its normal rate and just in time as there was a knock on the door of my room.
Knock knock knock
The light rapping of knuckles against the wooden door turned my eyes from the floor as I tried my best to sober myself as saliva drooled from the side of my mouth, my eyes were lidded heavy making me rub them with the back of my hand as I stood up and walked over to the door.
My hand gripped the handle and I pulled the door open being greeted with a face that was initially wearing a somewhat bright smile that quickly changed to concern.
“You- It happened again didn’t it?” My dearest friend I’d grown up with charged into the room, closing the door behind her as I was taken by the hand and walked to the bed, forced to sit down.
“I’m…” sucking in a laboured breath I paused. “I’ll be fine-” I coughed something fierce my throat dry, before I knew it there was a wooden cup at my lips water pouring down my throat.
“Shut it and rest, we’ve still got some hours before we head out, you’ll be able to keep it together until then right?” Honoria asked, her ocean blue eyes scanning my form.
“Yes.” Though my one word answer didn’t seem to appease her, it never was that easy, she was the last person in the world who could fall for my bravest face.
I felt her hand press against the centre of my back. “O’ Goddess, blessed that you are who walks these mortal planes, please give strength and health back to this man who is ill, take something of mine in turn for his respite- if brief.” she chanted under her breath as her other hand held onto a cloth and gold talisman which began to glow.
What followed was a warm feeling slowly enveloping me like a hug from a loved one as my body’s aches seemed to fade into the background so much so I almost couldn’t tell anything had been hurting before. As well my friend stood taking her hand from my back as she stood and took a step to the side.
“Thank you.” I said offering a smile and she just nodded, her dark shoulder length hair bobbed when she did so.
“The best way to thank me is by pulling off the plan.” she responded before turning to the small desk in the right corner of the room where my equipment laid.
My belt, armour pieces, the well used spatha my father had given me years ago still in its scabbard and a satchel as well as a couple pouches. It wasn’t much but I’d managed to make it work in combination with a locket we’d found that was used to cast a bolt of lightning upon whoever I was focused on.
Honoria took the sword into her hands and held it freeing the top half from the scabbard briefly to inspect it was still well enough to be used in the coming battle we were waiting for. Her eyes gleamed with a pride as she smiled, shutting away the iron blade and setting it back down.
“When this is all over and things are long behind us I will buy you a new sword, one that can hopefully compete with your Aros.” She promised clasping her hands around mine, enough though hers were smaller they seemed so strong in that moment.
“You’d better keep your word on that Norn, I’ll hold you to it.” I said finding it hard to hide my smile at the thought of a new blade, as wonderful as mine was. I'd run it through the wringer too much and even had it reforged with another to keep it after a chip in it caused a crack running the length of it.
Only problem so far was how few blades I’d come across felt nearly as good in my hand and compared to the edge and perfect balance my Aros had.
“When you’re ready meet me down in the tavern, I’ll be with the others so we can toast a final time before leaving.” The woman said before taking her leave.
Quickly I got to dressing my armour.
Heading down the hall of the Inn to a staircase and descending into the main tavern space I was assaulted by the smells of roasting meats, sweet ales and the sound of loud conversations with mugs clattering together and against tables. In one of the corner booth tables were my friends, Honoria was at the end on the right, then it was Nyke, Khrónos lastly Eshal and myself taking the end seat. My companions and I were an awkward looking bunch, while Honoria and I were Human, but Nyke and Khrónos were Rosenthal-Hera with Eshal our resident Naberal-Shaytan.
Our Rosenthal pair were twins from Nismor we’d picked up early on, both had fiery golden skin, red hair and green eyes with pointed long ears. Nyke dressed herself in loose layers of dark coloured linen that draped low, allowing her to keep her appearance and weapons hidden beneath a hooded cloak. Khrónos was liable to changing his clothes often depending on the occasion, however for now he was in a tan tunic, brown hose and leather boots with a chain shirt over that as well iron bracers and greaves, lastly around his waist was a belt similar to mine with a short sword handing off it- his spear leaning against the wall off to the side.
Eshal in all her demonic appearing glory had skin the colour of stone with streaks of violet under her skin, which were her veins, on her head was a pair of Ox like horns though the left was broken. She had sharp eyes like a cat with dark sclera and golden iris’, her hind had a long tail the same colour as her skin that I’d seen her break bones with. Eshal wore a navy blue silk cloth around her chest, baggy pant-breeches of a similar colour bound to her ankles with white bandage leaving her feet bare. Over her shoulders was a worn red cloak pinned by a gold clasp.
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My joining them was met with an order of food and drink before I was dragged into one of the inane arguments Eshal loved getting into with Khrónos.
Some hours after later we found ourselves at the base of the enormous legendary base site of the Timeless Peak, a mountain deep in the country of Argos who’s summit surpassed the clouds as told in legends. The home and lair of the Sphynx Hatshepsut the Journey Ender, they were the ultimate goal our years long journey had led us to in the hopes the legendary powers of the Sphynx would live up to tales of it being comparable or even surpassing the gods.
The trek up the mountain would take almost an entire day. We weren't wasting any time and made our way up it along the loose trails carved into the sides of the slopes from animals and previous attempts to reach the heights.
Our goal that had led us here was the united front of wanting to defeat the Tyrannical Shapur who made himself immortal through becoming a lich to rule his kingdom in undeath and spread his rule far beyond the borders drawn. Each of us had our own reasons for wanting him dead and to hopefully either take his place to fix things or to have things sort themselves out when he was gone. My own reason was simple enough but held true, because of his forces expansions my home village was destroyed and pillaged for war rations so that his armies could sustain themselves and when they found hardly enough for a hundred soldiers the couple thousand among them burned it all to the ground. Honoria and I were barely saved by her older brother in time to watch every person we’d grown up with and loved tortured, raped and destroyed until nothing remained, many of the women of our home taken to be used by the feral beasts of the Goblinkin who made up most of the forces.
So when we were travelling in a state that could hardly be called living when we came across one of the rural temples of the twin sister deities Sana and Diana who are amongst the most hospitable and caring to all. It would be where Norn learned to strengthen her faith as well as harness it through spells given power by said gods in the name of protection and healing those in need. As there was one of the holy paladins for Diana there as well I was able to harness my hatred of the time and unkept emotions into the productivity that was becoming a trained swordsman equal to those elite wielders amongst the Signifers of our Ravenna Cult.
When the time came we left the new found home of the temple and pursued leads to get us to the capital of Shapur’s lands in hopes of making an assassination, which was where we first came across the Rosenthal who also were seeking the King for similar reasons. Their city having been reduced to ash, them forced into slavery where they fought their kind until both mortally wounded and tossed out only to be brought back from the brink by a roaming priestess of Sana, which was a running theme as we would find out. That being the detail amongst a few others that keyed us into the plot in the makings we suspected the Gods were up to, especially for a foreign god to help the Hera it had the pair lost beyond belief never expecting to have help from them.
It was Eshal who we met at the time of finding out about the phylactery that Shapur had, that he not only had one but multiple in places only he knew. It all seemed so impossible until our Naberal mentioned a being who could help us save the world from Shapur’s demonic legions and despair he was forcing upon our peoples, that was Hatshepsut. Eshal made a point at the time that she wasn’t sure whether they really existed; it was purely based on tales she’d heard in a long off Era.
Our demon looking friend’s age was often put into question when she’d act the part of a foolish child only to recall events from thousands of years prior like it was only yesterday, which wasn’t exactly odd for a Shaytan as I understood they effectively lived forever. However Eshal had stated she was hardly a thousand when first introducing herself. It was a minor issue though.
“You’ve been quiet Aetius, your illness isn’t?” Nyke’s quiet voice said with some trepidation from my right as she came up to my side, in front of us was her brother, Eshal and Norn with us lagging behind.
“I’m fine for the time, just thinking about our journey up till this moment is all.” The green eyed woman nodded her head.
“It has been long, one more step after this and we’ll be free.” She said a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“The hardest part is still to come though right?” I responded.
“Right.” She affirmed. “But, we can do it, I know we can. And as much as my brother might refuse to say it out loud, he is of the opinion we’ll be able to defeat The Journey Ender without much trouble.”
“I hope I’ll live to se-” I was cut off by the now pissed off looking Rosenthal.
“Do not.” Her tone was furious as she grabbed my collar. “You are to live, there is no right reason for your life to be cut short by the Pepromeno now.”
“I’ll stop, just let go, I don’t want to trip and fall back down.” I said, releasing a long sigh when she did let go.
“Good, we are going to be near the summit soon.”
[Loss]
“It worked!?” I shouted out into the world around me. “It really did!” I crumpled to the ground hitting my knees before falling into a hunched up form as my fists tightened, whitening my knuckles as they dug into my sides.