In the hall of the king, glorious red banners flying on every pillar, Jace knelt before the King. He was clad in plate armor, a red cape bearing the crest of the kingdom, and on his side was the sword of his former master. “You requested my presence, Majesty?” Jace asked.
“You have completed your training faster than any other knight of the kingdom. The gods must smile favorably upon you. Alas, I shall give you this quest: Defeat the Demon Lord whose real name must never be said before the night falls on the summer solstice. For it has been written in the primordial ancient prophecy transcribed by the ancient prophets of old that if he is not defeated by then, the world shall be consumed by his ultimate evil, and all life on this world shall be cast into death!”
“I understand. I shall complete this quest, that I pledge my life on!”
“I pray that you do succeed. If not for your own sake but for the fate of all the living.” The king gave a solemn nod. With that Jace’s audience with the king was dismissed and he set out on his quest by leaving the castle. As a gift for his valiant heroism, and to aid on his journey, the king provided him with a magic horse that never needs food, water, or rest as well as an endless coin pouch that will conveniently provide all the money necessary for his quest.
As he rode out of the city gates West, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being pursued. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a cloaked figure riding on a dark brown horse though when he turned his head to look, they were gone. “Hmm, it must have been the wind.” He said, promptly forgetting that he had even noticed anything at all.
Later that day as dawn drew near he decided to set up camp. His ability to quickly pitch a tent properly was evidenced by this process taking only a mere minute or two. How he started a fire is unimportant, however if you must know, he simply told the logs to ignite and, out of fear of him, they spontaneously combusted. As he sat near the fire he heard a crack of a stick behind him. “Who’s there?!?” he shouted.
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No answer, he drew his sword.
“Show yourself now!” he commanded.
This time there was an answer, a violent and sudden one. Three little green guys wearing hide pants and wielding crude clubs jumped out of some bushes and attacked him. He managed to impale one of them but the other two hit him in the ankles and he fell to the ground. One of the little green guys raised their club over Jace’s skull but before he could swing down, an arrow pierced his skull, sending his body flying into the fire. Before the final little green guy could react, they too were slain, this time taking an arrow to the knee.
Jace got back up on his feet and looked toward the woods once again. A cloaked figure approached. Jace readied his sword once again.
“Don’t worry, I’m not your enemy.” A soft voice sounded.
Completely accepting this stranger's words as the truth, Jace sheathed his sword. “Thanks for the help. Who are you?” He said, still a bit shaken. The cloaked figure stepped forward, now Jace could see their face, an elven woman, blonde with green eyes.
“I am Noria, a huntress of the Southern Elves. It's dangerous to have a fire in these woods at this time of night. It attracts too much attention! You’re lucky it was just a few little green guys and not an uber death bear.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know it was so dangerous, besides, the author used it as a plot device to show how, despite my epic training chapter, I am powerless in real combat as well as a way to introduce a new character that will no doubt be essential to the progress of the story.” Jace replied.
“I see, well you should put it out now.”
Jace put out the fire, simply by telling it to die out, and retired to his tent for the night.