In the fifth year of King Dane Adder Eclair's rule,

Inside the quarry near 'Rombit', the capital of Rode dukedom;

A quarryman dug a huge marble carefully so as not to break it. Suddenly a big quake shook the whole quarry. The tremor made the man miss-hit the marble and broke it. Disappointed he swore at the quake. His voice echoed across the big hole which was silent-quiet due to the quake. Everyone stared at him in confusion.

While they were perplexed by the sudden quake, another rumbling sound roared across the quarry from near the place the man was standing. Soon the sound got louder and the shaking got bigger, the tremors dropped the man to the ground. Then a force broke the precious marble into pieces and beneath it appeared a creature they had never seen before.

It look so foul, so monstrous, so evil, the men could not describe what they just saw. Its ten thousand blade-sharp teeth minced the poor man and swallowed him into a deep dark hole. It was a monster with the shape of an earthworm which had lived for more than a century. From there, it reached the other side of the quarry which was a hundred meters wide. It swallowed an old man who was late to dodge away with his bad knees.

The horror caused an instant uproar in the quarry. "Run! Run for your life. Run up the hole!" A foreman shouted to the workers. The guards from the ground came over to quell the stir but found themselves stunned in the presence of pure evil. It stoked fear into the hearts of men who were once heartlessly beating the workers to death.

The worm, without hurdle, wreaked havoc on the entire quarry and then went over the surface. The men scattered in all directions running for their lives; most ran toward the capital along with the guards. The tremor from their steps and the hoofs of horses lured the monster toward the town, leading to unprecedented doom.

Against the behemoth with the hardest shield-like shells and sharpest blade-like teeth, the army of men which were only readied for average beasts collapsed and the town fell into ruin.

The catastrophe did not stop there as the monster followed the mass of refugees. But the men found salvation when a person in a robe stood behind them and challenged the monster.

He tapped his walking cane to the ground and declared, "Fear no more. For I, the son of God, sent for the salvation of men shall destroy this beast and take its soul to repent!!"

The crowd halted in their tracks and spectated the miracle.

At the end of his speech, the ground shook and the crust of earth flew above as the monster appeared in front of him. He raised his cane and mumbled, "In my name, Mordu', I punish the foul beast and let its soul repent in the cycle of life, till it rest under your feet_oh Father."

On his whisper, a chain of lightning passed through the worm and entered the earth. Then, from the sky, a bolt of monstrous thunder stroke to its helm. A moment and the giant worm dropped its pride below the feet of the mysterious man and wiggled its last time.

A century later,

Donbask region, Rode dukedom.

A small carriage drove along a curvy road on a mountain. It was a narrow and bumpy road. One side was sheer mountain rocks and the other side was a cliff.

On such a dangerous road, the small carriage and a few men trod carefully at a slow and steady pace. The night was deep and the moon was high yet the dusky cloud covered the moonlights; the darkness cloaked the world; a trace of winter wind still lingered in the mountains; the lights from the torches, the sound of hoofs and boots were the only proof of civilization in this entire ranges; the rest was just cold quiet pitch-black.

The lights from the torches of the guards shone over the small carriage; creating a shadow on the walls of the rocky mountain, illustrating the humble carriage as a big royal coach.

A man from the rear jokingly brought the torch up and down to his colleague on the right, playing with him.

"Hey pipsqueak, look! You are bigger than me now. The big bad man, hahaha." He teased the smallest man in the group with a shadow.

"That's a lame joke even for you, Jimmy."

"No. I don't think so. The only lame and low here is your height. Hahaha. Oh look you are a Thumbelina now. How cute! Hahahaha."

Surprisingly Jimmy's lame joke filled the band of men with some laughter. It got on the nerves of the small man but he decided not to make a big deal out of it. It was the kind of joke he sat on since his puberty. He was the only one who didn't get taller among his peers. Even the girls made fun of him. But no matter how many times he heard it, it still tickled his nerves.

"What are you guys, four? How is this even funny?"

"Oh, I think it is funny. Nice one Jimmy. Hahaha." Another man threw water to the boiling oils.

"Fuck off Nate. You aren't much better than me." The small man barked.

With the anger swelling up the small man, Ethanial took over the conversation to prevent a fight. After all, a brawl here could get ugly with a pitch-black cliff on one side.

"Calm your tits, lad. On this boring road, even a shite would crack me up. And Drake, you were a bard. Come on, sing a song to keep us awake, will you?"

Ethanial had been their captain for a year. He was a reputable warrior in Easton and nearly six feet tall. His curly dark hair and blue hue eyes were his signature in blonde and golden-brown dominated land. He and Drake served together in 'Midlake' for three years before restationed to 'Easton'. So he was the only one who knew Drake was a bard.

"Drake, the muscle, was a bard?"

The band was shocked to hear the impossible. They tried to imagine a big muscle playing a small fiddle but they could not.

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"Drake is a man of hard muscles with a gentle heart." Ethanial promoted the tickets for Drake's performance.

"Three long years. My wife died and songs were the only things keeping me sane. Until I served God that is. Now God is my sole saviour. 'bless Mordu'."

"Mordu'."

In the name of Mordu', the lord, the enlightened, the saviour of men; the whole band paid their respects. Even the Templer in the front, who never joined their conversation, paid respect from his horseback. The band marched with the Templer at the forefront, two guards, Boba and Nate, right behind him, followed by the carriage. The rest guarded the four corners of the carriage, Ray and Jimmy on the left, Drake and Smule the small on the right alongside Captain, Ethanial, between them.

They made a roof with their hands over their foreheads in the third eye region. It was a gesture that Mordu' the lord after the enlightenment opened a third eye that could see all and with it, protected mankind from above like a roof.

"Three years eh, you must have written a song or two. Crack one at us." Jimmy requested.

"This, Jimmy, is for my wife. Clap some melody, will ya?"

At his request, Jimmy as well as Ethanial clapped along with Drake. After the third beat, they clapped along in harmony.

"A girl from Donbask.. she has a big ass.. ole ole oi..what a fine match.. me so big bad.. ole ole o.. take me home and make me love.. o boy I miss it much.."

"Damn, you are making me miss my wife. Hahaha."

Now with a song, the band that was near death from boredom in a silent dark rocky mountain became a little bit more lively. The march and the carriage also started to move along the beat.

"Big O boobs.. make me smooches.. from night to cock ka doo.. make me live for.. the next big day.. you're my reason of days."

"Woohoo... Another one Drake."

"Yea. Throw us another one. Drake! Drake! Drake!"

"Okay okay. The next one is..."

Upon the audience's request, Drake prepared for the next. However, he was suddenly stopped by his captain, Ethanial.

"Shhsh.. wait. stop it you lots. Quiet."

"What is it, captain? You don't like it. I have another one for virgins like you."

He made a joke out of their captain's love life. It made them chuckle except Ethanial.

"Shut it, Drake. Not the right time."

Ethanial hushed them quickly and listened intensely to the faint sound. His cautiousness alerted them and readied on guard. They also heard a faint sound of wind themselves coming from a distance_ not sure just a wind or something else.

The Templer waved his hand, signalling to stop the march and formed a defensive formation. He also took out the broadsword on his back and chanted a spell to it, reinforcing the blade.

Ethanial, on the other hand, got onto the carriage and lighted the torches at the four corners of the carriage.

It did not take long for the sound of wind to be nearer and became apparent that it was not a wind but a sound from flapping wings.

Before Ethanial could light up the opposite side, a loud screech passed over his head and Ray disappeared instantly. It struck down from the darkness above and flew away from the cliff. Ray scraped all the voices he could get from his lungs asking for help but it was all nought. Six feet away from the carriage was nothing but pitch-black darkness. Nobody could see him where.

Soon after, a loud thud followed as if something fell from the sky and hit the ground. And everyone knew what that something was, or rather who.

"Fuck! It got Ray! Did you see it?"

"I think it is a wyvern, captain!"

"Since it got its dinner, it won't come back again, will it?"

"Fuck you, Jimmy. How could you say that to Ray?"

"What!? I am just saying..."

The sudden death of their mates struck their hearts in fear and caused disorder.

"All of you shut it! Maintain your position. It is coming back."

Before the end of Ethanial's warning, it came back and this time there were two of them, one from the front and one from the back.

The back one attacked Smule, attempting to take him off the ground but he rolled with his small body, dodging the sharp claws by an inch. Ethanial saw his chance and stroked the wyvern from behind. But it missed the body, cutting the tail instead. The injured wyvern flew off immediately.

Meanwhile, at the front, another wyvern swiped down from the sky onto the Templer. He tried to cut it down with his broadsword but failed. His large sword had no strength to cut with one hand's swing from horseback. He fell himself off-balance from the horse. The wyvern rested on top of the carriage and sprayed its poison on Jimmy and Smule. It hit Jimmy on his right side, burning his limbs. The acid melted the skin instantly, exposing strings of muscles and at some parts, bones. He screamed in pain.

"Arrr....fuck! Fuck! It got me! It hurts! It fucking hurt!"

The Templer, after being embarrassed himself, angrily threw a fireball at the wyvern. On the contrary, to repent for his embarrassment, his sudden poorly-aimed fireball grazed the ear of the horse pulling the carriage, causing a ruckus. The poor horse frightened for its life, ran amok, pulling the carriage along with it. The wheel ran over the Templer's feet as it passed him and the entire squad. It was pure chaos.

Watching the disorder his team had become and the Templer's complete lack of composure and command, Ethanial decided to take over the command to reorganize.

"Drake! Take Jimmy and Smule. Nate, help Drake. Boba stay with Sir Mulberry and assist him."

"Yes, captain!" "Roger!!"

Ethanial quickly assessed the situation and ordered them to position along the Templer to fight off the two wyverns. However, they still had one problem, the mission. The carriage was dragged out of control ahead of them. He must catch it before it falls down the cliff or is destroyed by a wyvern.

"Sir Mulberry, let me borrow your mount sir." He said to the Templer.

Since time was of the essence he did not wait for an answer. He abruptly jumped onto the horse. Then he hit it on the hind, rushing it to a full gallop.

It did not take long for a great steed to catch up the carriage and run in parallel. There he saw the old man struggling with the reins to control his carriage. He shouted at the driver.

"Hey old man, are you dead? Calm your fucking horse!"

"I am trying. But that fucking fire took his ear. He is not listening to me anymore."

Like he said, the poor driver also pulled the reins as hard as he could but it only made it worse. The more he pulled, the more he hurt the horse. And the frightened horse resisted against his orders. The carriage went straight ahead and soon reached the curve. If it were to keep going straight, the carriage along with the person in it would fall off the cliff, into the darkness.

"There is a curve road ahead. Can you make it turn?"

"I'm trying! Fuck! With this dark, this stupid horse won't see the cliff and turn itself. Fuck it!"

With the sharp turn ahead and the uncontrolled horse, the driver decided to jump off and abandon the carriage, saving himself over the passenger. Ethanial, by the split hair, had to dodge the driver not to stamp him dead. It made him farther from the carriage to take the reins and control the horse.

He had only two options now. One was to catch and take the reins. With his great steed, he could outrun the carriage. It was a safe option but he might not have enough time.

The second was to throw the spear and kill the horse before it reached the cliff. It might topple the carriage over and put danger to the person inside. But there was more time to do the latter than the first.

He thought for a second and decided for the best.

"Divination!"

He reinforced the spear and threw it as hard as he could. It pierced straight to the heart and the horse fell in an instant. The carriage crushed onto the fallen horse and toppled over. With the momentum, it travelled toward the cliff only to find it stopped at the edge. A moment late in his decision and he might have missed the chance to save the carriage. However, it shook suddenly and some of the rocks below started to roll down the cliff.

He got down from the horse urgently and ran down to the carriage before it fell off. Luckily it became stable as soon as he steadied it a little bit. Probably because the passenger also stopped moving inside. However, saving the passenger was not enough to contend for the old driver. Finding his horse dead and his carriage in ruin, the driver angrily barked at Ethanial.

"Hey, you fucking destroyed my carriage."

"Shut it. You should have done a better fucking job then. You should be thanking me for not crushing your skull when you jumped off to save your arse."

Ethanial shut him down. The old man could not argue back. He cursed Ethanial in silence and decided to complain to the Templer instead. Ethanial warned the old man to wait for him but the man left grumpily.

Ethanial did not care about the old man any more and climbed up the carriage. He opened the door. It stuck so he clanked with his sword and forced it open. Inside, he saw a person, covered by a cloak, lying against the opposite door. Luckily the person seemed to be conscious and did not sustain much injuries as he extended his arm toward Ethanial. Ethanial pulled him up from the arm and took him out of the carriage. As soon as he touched the arm, he felt something.

This delicate touch must be a girl.

And so he met the person who would change his entire life on his way forward.