It was early in the morning when the clanking of metal and the murmurs of half dead men resounded through the silent village. There were three caged wagons. They were at about half full, yet there was barely any room to sit on one the wooden plank benches that lined the cage walls of the wagon.
There were about ten to fifteen soldiers on horseback riding next to the wagons. They wore an intricate appearing armor. Its base material was a type of durable leather that was dyed a dark red. This leather armor then had small steel plates sewn into it that shined with a bright white luster. Then over their hearts they had a larger steel plate that was engraved with the empire's insignia. It was a an image of a dragon being stabbed through by spear and appeared to be trying to squirm free.
The imperial insignia represented all of Lance. It is said that the first emperor, Klyde Daimus Lance, who had united the various small warring nations that once made up the land that once made up Lance was a master with the the spear. There is a legend that on the land that the capital of Klyde was built on was once subjected to a monstrous battle. It is said that the Sky Dragon was a beast of the Immortal rank that looked down on humanity and suppressed their growth with its might.
However, the ruler of the newly unified Lance was not satisfied with such torment. So he fought back against the monster himself on the barren plains that later became Klyde. It is said that fighting a beast that ruled the very heavens and cast off mortal bindings was considered a trial for Klyde. They fought for three days and nights until Klyde made a breakthrough in his spear techniques.
They say on the final day a monstrous howl could be heard over the entirety of the Continent of Kiya. Then a light pierced the clouds tore apart light itself. The entire area around the battle was momentarily cast into darkness. When the light returned the Sky Dragon had been run through by Klyde's spear. However, after the battle about six days later Klyde died due to his injuries.
His eldest son then took over the empire in his father's place. No one dared to oppose him because they were afraid of the might of a family who had the methods to "forge a spear that can pierce the very heavens." The second emperor later built a city in his father's honor over the site of his heaven shattering ordeal and made an imperial decree that from that age on that the city would be the capital as well as a "holy land."
Fay was being dragged out of Graham's house to go to the very site of that battle, that "holy land." The grand capital city of Klyde, the heart of the north. Where he would later fight to the death amidst hundreds upon hundreds of people.
Fay was led from Graham's house with his hands bound behind his back. When they had arrived at the wagons a soldier with a list and ank stamp was on standby next to his horse. After seeing Fay he had understood and nodded his head. He stamped a marking next to the village's name on the list. Another soldier walked up to Fay and he shackled both of his feet together before cutting the rope bindings on his wrists then cuffed his hands in a similar manner. Fay was led to one of the wagons were he was forced inside.
After Fay squeezed between two burly men to sit he heard something at his ear, a soft voice that was tinged with sadness and loneliness, "Can you promise me you'll come back?"
Fay turned his head awkwardly so he could see between the barred walls of the wagon. There was Adaline, she had ran outside. She wanted to see Fay off, even if it hurt her. For her Fay was like a friend even if their relationship was rather odd, considering that every time they talked he would be tied up and she would hit him due to her unstable emotions. Fay was the first person her age she talked to after her parents died before her eyes several years ago.
Although Fay did not know why she acted the way she did he knew that she felt everything more deeply than others. So he simply nodded in recognition lest he make her cry due to tactless words. The soldiers ushered Adaline to the side before they made the trip out of town, they turned back around to go north. They would later branch off of the Sky Dragon Road to head slightly east. They had many stops to cover.
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Fay sat in the wagon and looked at the men around him. They were quite the ragtag bunch. Some of these men had a hard look in their eyes, the eyes of a killer. Some had looks of despair. They were ranged from criminals to farmers. There were also a few that nominated themselves so that they could release their bloodlust, those individuals had ecstatic expressions that formed an odd atmosphere when accompanied by the aura of dread radiating off of the others.
Fay had sat quietly with his back against the cold iron bars. He ignored the glances of the other people within the wagon, he simply stared into the background. He sat and stared until the open plains turned into rolling mountains and hills. He was thinking of Pax and his stories about his experience in traveling the continent. He was also thinking about how Pax had once promised to take him to travel the continent and possibly the world.
These thoughts caused complicated feeling to rise in his heart but he suppressed them. He subconsciously clenched his fist tightly. His claws that had recently regrown dug into his palm, he let the blood trickle through the cracks in his fingers. That was when the burly man to his right grabbed his right grabbed his hand and forcibly unfurled his fingers. The man held his hand tightly. The man looked into Fay's eyes.
This man was quite large and he had menacing tattoos all over his body. Yet his eyes still shone with a certain kindness that few can exude. As Fay looked at the man he realized what he was doing and relaxed his hand before loosing a breathe. Seeing this man nodded his head before saying in an almost whispering voice, so that only Fay could hear, "I have a son back home... when I look at you it reminds me of the one's I have waiting for me. So please don't hurt yourself. I don't want to imagine him hurting there without me to comfort him, because I will get back there, to my home."
Fay didn't know what to say so he simply nodded but the man's words gave him a lot to think over for himself. So he sat and thought over his experiences and how he felt for the rest of the journey. For Fay he simply felt there was too much he didn't understand. For him the world outside the cave was simply a mystery, it was the same with humans. He came to realization by the end of that trip that he didn't even truly know himself as well as he should.
Fay's thoughts faded into the back of his mind after he heard a large commotion. The road was lined with people heading towards enormous stone gates. There were people big and small, black and white, people of all kinds. They were all there to celebrate and cheer while watching the deaths of thousands.
Among the crowd of people entering the city were many wagons that were being led by members of the imperial army. In fact most of the space on the road was taken up by the wagons that held the mass of people that were being sentenced to die a dog's death among hundreds of others.
Once they had arrived at the gate Fay looked up at the wall that towered over them. Fay had never in his life had seen structures on such a scale. In a childish manner he couldn't help but be rather intrigued by such things. His childish heart was grasped by awe, although it hardly shone on his face, as the wagons were led down a main street. He saw people in bright clothes, colors he had never seen, some he had only ever seen when looking at flowers. There was lively trade between competitive merchants as well as the sounds of customers attempting to haggle down prices.
The colors, the many people, the sounds, the very experience was completely new and refreshing to Fay. He had stepped into a brand new world, an expansive frontier. It was in this moment Fay first developed a certain thirst for knowledge, for understanding, and this would only grow in the future. Once the seed of curiosity it planted in one's mind it is an ever daunting task to shrug it off and this seed would forever grow in Fay's young mind and become deeply routed before he knew it himself.