When I came to my senses, I found myself in a cot wrapped in bearskin, and with a cool cloth on my forehead, I went to swing my legs over the side of the bed and noticed the wound in my leg had fully healed over and what was left was a stitched scar. The rest of my wounds seemed to be healed as my leg had been and the aromas of herbs filled the room, I gathered my clothes and walked towards the dark wooden door that closed the room on itself. It creaked open slowly after I gripped the brass handle and opened up a room filled with pots and jarred herbs labeled for different ailments. There lay in the middle of the room, an iron cauldron bubbling like a monstrous volcano, filled with a blue-violet goo that seemed to radiate a power of great magnitude. As I turned the corner another door faced with a similar creaking of metal on metal sounded as it swung open to reveal a room where a lady twenty-four years of age, lay spread on the bed, a universe of brown straight hair lay all around her head. As her eyes opened, they revealed bright green eyes full of soul and power, those of one who understands the art of magic and healing. She sat up slowly looking deeply into my eyes as a leopard would stare down prey they have trapped, her brown hair draping across her curved body like a cape of silk. She spoke with a voice that had the sound of one who was very wise but strong in mind, “I am glad you are fully healed; I was fearing for your body that it would be forever hurt.” As her voice traveled the room around me, I felt as if a spell had been cast, I tried to fight it but…I did not want to, I wanted to follow the voice. As her smile slowly grew, I realized that I was slowly stepping towards the beautiful maiden that lay so sweetly on the bed, beckoning me to join her in eternal slumber…

As I slowly awoke from my slumber, I realized that a day had passed since I walked the floor of this house. I looked to see if the maiden still slept next to me, alas she did not, I rose and gathered my scattered clothes and went to put on my armor but it was not there. I frantically searched for the armor but all that I could find was Redemption, so I waited for the maiden impatiently at the table where cold food was set. After the sun had set over the horizon, the maiden walked gingerly through the surprised at my quiet solitude. She spoke with the same essence that enchanted me the day before, but now it had a cold underlay, like the frost before the snow. “You wonder where your precious armor is, yes? Well, it is hidden where one of your qualities cannot dare find it. You will also sense a drained feeling in your heart, this is simply the side effect of me stealing your ‘holy’ powers that you used so blatantly against men of great honor and strength.” What she spoke of was true, I wondered the reason I could not feel the auras of the plants, or the breathing of the animals outside of the door. She spoke again in that wispy voice of the wind, but this time with a colder tone that pierced the very soul of a man, “You made love to a woman without wedlock, and you blatantly slaughtered over three hundred and fifty knights with your magic and steel. You are unworthy of such a gift of God and as such has been drained of your magic and your holy armor stripped from your body.” My anger grew as it has before, slowly bubbled from the floor I sat upon and up through my bones, then I released my rage.

“What makes you Azrael? God’s punisher and executioner? I am a paladin, one of holy right and great of strength. Yet you seem to proclaim yourself as one higher than the lord himself!” I broke the very floor I stood upon, as she tried to explain that she did not know what I was, but I knew she was lying to keep herself alive. She said she was a humble witch by the name of Star-Bound who devoted herself to creating order and humanity in people. I grew in rage as I went to strike her down for being the cause of such agony, but I stopped realizing that I needed my powers back and that killing the witch will not solve my problems. So, I sat her down and asked her how I could break the curse that holds me to humanity and she said the only way is to repent by task, that I would have to kill someone of such wrongdoing that it would balance out my coins. She knew of such a creature that would balance the blood on my hands, “there is a giant in the Omegian Mountains that has slaughtered his people to gain his royal position. To break the curse, you are to bring the giant’s head to the spot that your power was lost and all will be restored to its original state.” This small spark of hope to gain my powers back was the only thing I needed to start on my trek to defeat this giant and return to the king. I sheathed Redemption and slung it on my back and left the accursed hut towards the dark Omegian Mountains.

Three times the sun passed over my head on my trek towards the hillside of the mountains, as I crested the first hill my exhaustion overpowered my willpower as I collapsed and rolled down the slope and landed on my back exhausted and in pain. I stared at the sky for what felt like an eternity, as the day faded into the night, I lay still at the bottom of the slope unable to move and helpless to any threat that came towards me. Torchlight caught my attention right before unconsciousness took its hold upon me, I felt the ground shake as the creature came ever closer to me. As I finally slipped into the darkness, I felt a large hand pick me up and carry me towards what I hoped to be salvation.

I was stirred from my deep slumber by the smell of searing meat and thick smoke, I slowly rotated my skull towards the source of the smell to see a giant of a man sitting on a large boulder, holding steaks the size of my head over a fire large enough to roast a horse. I pulled myself up with great difficulty, only to see the giant turn his head and smile a toothy grin that would put a dragon to shame. He spoke with a voice that was gentle but shook the rocks around his feet. “I am Ooktar, the Golem raised in these desolate mountains. I have been sent to find a knight who will save my home.” I introduce myself as we feast on heart steak and share stories of our earlier quests. As the morning continued, I spoke of my current quest to redeem myself because she had tricked me into sleeping with her so she may keep my powers. Oktar’s face changed into a dark stone carving, he spoke as if he truly knew Star-Bound and he soon told me why, for she is his birth mother. That is another story though; he understood my quest though because the creature I seek is his stepfather, Ragnar, who killed Oktar’s father for his royal blood. We were silent for a time, but after the silence, the giant stood and held out his boulder of a hand and spoke of a truce, “if you help me regain my family’s honor and my rightful place as king, I will help you regain your powers.” I agreed to the terms and shook the giant’s hand in hope that I will ever sooner get back home. I sling Redemption over my shoulder while the giant walks out of the entrance and after a few minutes comes back with a large iron staff with a boulder on one end and a spear on the other. He laughs heartily and grins his toothy grin as he waves me on towards the field in front of the cave entrance and spoke that Ragnar is on the tallest mountain in the range. As we walked out into the field, the rocks started to stir and shake, the giant black rock creatures stood up and shook the dirt from their shoulders as they slowly stomped towards the giant and me. We looked at each other and unsheathed our weapons and charged the lumbering statues of stone, I struck at one of the creature’s legs but my sword bounced off the rock as if it was made out of rubber. Oktar was not having much luck though, his hands were just as deadly as the staff he carried, breaking and crushing the golems as if they were made of clay. As I went to try to strike the legs of another golem, it grabbed my blade and pinned to me the ground with its monstrous hand of stone. As I turned my head to look for assistance from the giant, he had already picked up his staff swung it around, and thrown it like a giant spear through the golem on top of, me and pinned him to the hillside next to me. The giant walked over to the still quivering rock creature and ripped its head clean off its shoulders as he yanked the spear from its chest. Oktar stood tall and cracked the steel bars that are his spine, he spoke simply “these golems are just the beginning, there are many like them on the path ahead. More importantly, we need to get you a new sword.” He eyeballed Redemption, dented and scratched from my attempted strikes at the creatures, and smiled. He walked forward towards the horizon, as he walked across the barren hillside, he spoke of a creature, one of pure darkness, whose scales can be used to fashion weapons and armor that blocks magic and stone alike. This creature, this dragon, was named for the legends that followed it. When Ooktar spoke the name the giant shuddered, Ruin… His face twisted and broken as if the dragon had been his long dear friend but is yet another ash in the wind. As he finished his sentence, he looked at me with a look of assurance, as if he did not want to go after the dragon but knew we had to. We both knew the risks, but after what Ooktar had spoken of, the scales could allow me to use magic again, and that slaying the golems and giants that will be blocking our way will fall before my blade like leaves before the storm. So, we set off again towards the broken path that leads towards the tallest, storm-torn mountain, hoping to find this dragon before we must face any of these creatures that lay upon the foothills.

It takes us three months to find any trace of the dragon, but luckily when we went to get firewood for that night’s camp, we came across a fallen tree that had a large black triangle deeply wedged into the wood. It took Ooktar two hours to wedge it out, after finally breaking the tree in half and smashing it with his staff, he brought it to the fire and examined it closely with a grim look on his face. He grunted approval and threw the shape to me across the flame, it was cold to the touch and razor sharp on the edges. It took light minutes to pass through the dark scale’s crystal-like center and was the color of the darkest night, there was no question where this was from, and told us that we were on the right path. The scale was light enough to be carried by a small child but was the size of my head at least. I brought it closer to my chest though it seemed to glow faintly and pulse with each heartbeat, I could feel a power inside of it that surged through my veins with a fiery intention. I could draw on its power, just enough to lift Ooktar off his log and scare him half to death, but that is good enough for me. I tried to use my sword to put ha ole in the corners so I might wear it but the blade did nothing but leave scratches, frustration flowed into me and I threw the scale into the fire and it gave a black flame and started to change its shape. I picked it out of the fire with what power I had and Ooktar grabbed the scale and me, he then took the black hot scale and slapped it on my right arm, and wrapped it around. Steam released from my skin as it was seared and my screams were those of fear and empowerment, the giant held me still so I did not disturb the ritual that was taking place on my arm, I could feel the pain now, not the pain of fire but what one would feel when they get a tattoo. I lay on the dirt twitching and trying to understand why the giant did this and faded into darkness. When I came back to the world of the living, the scale felt cold and precious on my arm, it glinted in the sunlight and pulsed with a sense of power that filled me with confidence and strength. As I slept the scale had grown in size and encased my entire arm in black razor armor that grew into plates and a gauntlet that seemed to glow and pulse with deep magic. I stood and still stared in awe at the miracle that had happened and went to search for the giant, it was close to noon of the next day if I read the sun right, and the giant was scavenging that day’s feast. After he returned with arms full of animals and plants, I helped him roast and cook the various foods. After we had eaten the food, I heard the heavy footfalls of a golem; he seemed to walk closer to our camp hidden deep in the woods. He stopped and stood like a magnificent living statue, we stood as still as possible but the golem still turned its head and started running towards our camp. We armed ourselves and flanked the sides of the golem I knew trying to slice the rock was a futile attempt, but it made a very good distraction. The golem swung at me and hit me to the ground and I was hoping for Ooktar to strike him down, but as he went to swing his maul a golem reached out of the broken ground and seized him by the legs. Seeing that I was about to be crushed by a giant rock monster and the only thing that can kill them right now is bound, I panicked and swung my arm and broke the golem’s arm in half. We both stared at the damage I had done to the golem, and I smiled because now I was the stronger one and charged the golem laughing maniacally. The monster started to run but I threw him to the ground with magic and jumped at him with all my might and plunged my arm through the monster’s chest and ripped out what I believe to be his heart. Seeing to it that the monster was dead I ran at the ones holding my giant friend down and flung my entire body at them. I grabbed the first one by its head and flipped him through the air and onto its back, and with a simple twist of the arm snapped its head clean off. Then Ooktar joined the party and started clobbering the other golem with his fists until it was gravel. The giant looked at me with pure awe and laughed a hearty laugh and I joined him, he said he had never seen a human move that fast or lift that much golem and that if I was a bit taller, I could be a giant too. We laughed at the idea and went back to camp leaving rubble in our wake. The next day we packed up and started on our search for the dragon, now that the scales had infused into me, I should be able to feel its presence if it is close by. For three more months we searched the outskirts of the Omegian mountain, but we still could not find any sign of the dragon except a couple of scales here and there. Around dusk of the next day, we found something that lifted our spirits and gave us a little bit of hope of finally finding this dragon. We came across a cave that seemed to have been dug out of the side of the mountain by a clawed creature, and we knew for certain that this was the right spot. We set up camp about a quarter of a mile from the cave and waited for the dragon to return to its home. We were woken in the night by large wing flaps, as the trees swayed from a mysterious storm wind, we looked to see a giant black beast swoop down and land on the rocky pavilion in front of its home. Then it stopped, instead of going into its cave it lifted its head and sniffed the air as if looking for something or someone. We sat in silence watching the beast and hoping that it does not spot us yet, it seemed like an eternity but finally, the beast gave up and started to walk in. Then it stopped again and I saw why, the scale on my arm was glowing a bright blue hue and the dragon knew what it was because it started stepping towards us, I had Ooktar try to help me cover it up with a sheet but it burned right through it and glowed even brighter. Knowing the unavoidable was to happen we both stood and looked at each other with a look of confidence as the dragon roared and landed right in front of us, its dripping maw blood stained and smelling of rancid flesh. We stared back at the beast, and I was the first to strike because I punched it right in its ugly mug with my armored hand and broke one of its teeth. The dragon roared in pain and let out a flame-filled blast into the air, we both took this opportunity to strike at its underbelly before it flew into the air and slammed the ground with its tail. The giant threw his spear at one of the wings and cut it so the dragon could not escape, as it screamed in pain, I ran under one of its legs and slammed my armored fist into its joint snapping it outward. The dragon became enraged and swung its tail around and hit the giant back against the rocks, but the big guy cracked the rocks and started throwing them like baseballs at the black dragon and wrung his iron hands around its tail and held it still as I ran my sword into the underbelly, the dragon threw me across the plain and I lay on the dirt in pain but not broken and as I regained my footing a flash of black caught me off guard and I felt a warm sensation along my neck. One of the talons of the dragon caught me along my neck and I clenched it closed as I used the magic, I could muster to keep it sealed and ran at the beast screaming bloody rage. As I ran the giant had gotten on the back of the dragon and was running up its neck and slammed its head into the ground, I slid down onto my knees as the enormous head slammed down behind me and I stuck Redemption into the unprotected neck and slit it down to its collar bone as the blood rained down all around me. The dragon reared up in pain and death and swung its bleeding neck, spraying the field red, and finally collapsed into a heap of bleeding scales. I happily fell back into the blood-soaked grass and lay there laughing out of pure exhaustion, Ooktar soon joined in his laughter and yelled at the bloody carcass, “Hey, why don’t we bring you to see my mother? She would love you!” I couldn’t resist at that point and fell into a laughing fit, like a giddy child during Pentecost and finally relaxed. After we had our victory feast of heart steak, the night was then filled with forging and fixing and crafting our weapons and armor for the trek tomorrow. When I woke to the rising sun, I was clad in black razor armor, which gleamed in the sunlight and made me feel like I could move the world. Oktar rose shortly after me and handed me Redemption which lay in a cooling reservoir after the scales had been heated and forged to it making it extremely light and razor sharp. The giant had created an ax out of the dragon’s scales and bones that stood as tall as him and could cut through solid stone, he had gauntlets and leg covers on but carried no other armor because it ‘was not the giant’s way’. I understood his reasoning and we packed up camp and started heading towards the top of the Alpha Omegian Mountain. Where I am going to slay golems and chew wax, and I am all out of wax.

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As we started our ascent of the mountain, we encountered many things like golems, giant patrols, feral mountain goats, and the occasional giant mountain squirrel. All of which were easily defeated and pushed out of the way to make room for our advancement, as we slowly reached the top of the mountain a thunderous boom echoed across the sky, and then earth-quaking footfalls shook the mountain. Then as we stepped closer four hundred and fifty golems standing at nine feet tall and made of solid granite and obsidian, stood on our horizon. They were all armed with swords, maces, shields, spears, and axes. We looked at each other and laughed, “I bet I can smash more than you, Paladin!” yelled the mighty giant as he leaped into the living mass of rock. All you could hear was laughter and the occasional scream of a golem being smashed by the giant, I shook my head in disbelief, not in the fact that he had leaped into the masses but the fact he thought he could smash more than me! I got a nice running start then focused my magic underneath me and launched myself into the golems and on the first slice of Redemption I killed nine, on the second eleven, and so on we battled. The sun rose and fell and the battle still raged, finally as it came down to the last one hundred, I made the cross on my chest and due to the scales, my power was augmented, and as the shockwave left my body it flew across the field blowing fifty of the golems clear off the mountain top and into the open sky, leaving a desolate crater where they once stood. As the other fifty stood in pure awe, Ooktar ran up and grabbed two of the golems by their heads and swung them like rag dolls, and then crushed them in each fist. He then continued to destroy them with his ax swinging it in deadly arcs as the limbs of golems flew into the sky only to be caught by the giant, which then kicked them into the crowd of rock people. I sat back and rested for a bit letting the giant have his fun in destroying the rock creatures in his unique way and realized that is too easy. Then as soon as I realized this the side of the mountain that Ooktar was fighting on started to crumble, he tried to run towards the safe side but was not fast enough and almost missed the edge he now hung onto, I ran over to him and it took all my strength to help him over the edge of the cliff and back onto the solid mountain. Now that we had dealt with the foot soldiers it was time to defeat the king, we made our way to the palace and as we entered the throne room Ragnar was sitting on the large golden throne, with a large sword sitting next to him, as he was clad in golden armor. He laughed as we entered and six honor guards stepped around from the columns in the room, they started towards us then stopped with exclaimed looks on their faces and they stepped back repeating “Exile! It’s the Exile!” I looked at Ooktar and he yelled, “Later, go get Ragnar! I have these jokers!” As he charged the guards smashing one of their skulls against the stone floor before they could even react, Ragnar is out the door and I am sprinting after him. I catch him in a large rounded room, covered in tapestries and ceremonial armor, he drew his sword and I drew mine and we charged each other. Our strikes caused sparks to fly and blood to flow, we continued striking and dodging attacks as the blades crashed and sang the very air that flowed about them. This continued for hours, neither one of us tiring before the other, I was not going to use my magic because I needed a clean kill so I may prove my honor to the witch. I finally thought I had Ragnar finished and I threw Redemption at the corrupted giant, I underestimated the giant as he caught the blade and stuck it into the wall behind him. Laughing maniacally, he ran at me swinging like a cornered animal and missing every time, I dodged the enraged giant’s futile attempts to maim me while allowing him to tire, as I grew stronger. I waited for the perfect moment to strike and finally, he drew his sword above his head and I stood my ground looking dead into the giant’s eyes. As the blade arced downward, I clapped both my hands flat against the blade and held it there as the giant struggled to free the blade. I looked down and spoke quiet enough so the giant would hear me, “Can you blush?” As the last syllable left my mouth, I flipped the large sword around my head and split Ragnar up the middle throwing the crown he was wearing into the air, and watched as the two halves sloughed and fell apart from each other onto the bloodied floor. I buried the tip of his sword in the dirt as the crown fell upon the hilt and lays at an angle upon the bloodied blade. I retrieved my sword and returned to find Ooktar upon the ground wounded; I lifted him and placed him on the throne that truly belonged to him and went to heal his leg with the magic I could muster. When his leg was bandaged and healed, only then did I look around the room to see the damage he did to the guards, there were pieces of armor and bone everywhere and the floor was soaked in blood. I decided to ask him about the exile later when the place wasn’t coated in blood he had spilled everywhere. Seeing that my job was done, I went and got the crown of Ragnar and started to leave. Then Ooktar spoke from his glittering throne of me being his advisor since I am considered a giant now. I agreed to the terms and we shook hands for the second time since I meet the giant of a man, and I stayed in the kingdom of Omega for the next five years, advising the king and being the kingdoms paladin, as well as teaching others the way of the Magic. I finally remembered after the fifth year, that I still had to complete my quest with the witch and started my return home. I brought the golden crown of Ragnar to the hut where this all began and opened the door expecting the aged witch to be there waiting instead my shield and short sword were there on the table. As I walked over to the table there was a note on them.

‘You have deemed worthy in the eyes of God paladin; your sword and shield are here but if you met my son Ooktar you do not need your armor or magic any more than I do. I simply gave you an herb that stopped you from using your magic for a week, your armor is at Camelot waiting for you if wish it. There is also another item you need to claim, open the room where you slept the first day and you shall find it.’

Signed, Sarah Star-Bound

I opened the door and what I found startled me, a child sitting on the bed clothed in the dark blue robes of a mage and eyes of ice, just like mine. The small child walked up to me, not fearing the mysterious man that had just come into his house, and hugged me. He peered up at me with his round icy blue eyes, his brown hair laying across his face, and spoke in a soft voice that contained the soul of a wise man, “My name is James Richter, the Fourth, what is your name, father?” I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with joy, all I could do is hug the child back and smile. I picked him up and walked outside towards the horse that waited for us and spoke to him, “Well son, my name is also James, and do I have some stories for you…” With that, we rode along the cobblestone path towards the sunset through the county of Devlin and homeward towards Camelot.

And that both the ending of the adventures of the dear, Sir James Richter III