Chapter 2

The Beginning

Elein looked up toward the exit of the alley and the light hit him square in the face. She couldn't see clearly. He was only a few feet away from the market street.

It had been over an hour since Tian had left and she was already feeling a little better. Those relapses she used to have were something she always wanted to hide. She didn't want anyone to see that part of her that she considered weak.

He took a step forward, to start walking when suddenly he heard a woman's scream.

What's... going on? she thought, frowning.

She quickly approached the exit of the alley to see what was going on. She saw coming from the end of the street on his right-hand side, a mob of people in complete panic.

“No, no! How did this happen?! “

“Come on, get up, we must go to the tunnels!” said the father to his little boy, who had stumbled.

“They came down from the sky, the monsters came down from the sky!”

“It's impossible, there's no way...”

“Let me through, you bastards!”

“Mommy, where are you? Mommy!” cried a little girl.

Elein's eyes were wide open. She didn't understand what was happening. The anxiety was growing, and she couldn't conceive of the idea that something like this was happening in Akadia.

Everyone was shouting and pushing selfishly in her attempt to make her escape, from something that was still unknown to her.

A somewhat overweight man, carrying a pile of golden vessels, was also running through the crowd. As he passed by the young Elein, she grabbed him by the neck, not caring that everything he was carrying fell off, and asked him:

“What's going on? What's happened? Answer!”

The desperate man looked at his pots on the floor and then at Elein, his eyes filled with tears.

“I-it's... it's... it's the Empire! THEY'RE ATTACKING THE CITY!”

Elein let go and the man fell to the ground, already on the ground, trying to pick up his pots.

“You must run away, student, the city is lost...”

“What are you saying, coward? We have Orion's army on our side.”

“The army? Those damned cowards were the first to flee when they saw the monsters... those beasts!” he gritted his teeth.

“Beasts?” she asked in astonishment.

“Not only did imperial soldiers show up, but armored beasts came along with them,” he said, closing his eyes tightly.

The man got up with the pots in his arms and ran away.

Beasts? What did that mean? Had something like that being able to penetrate the city's barriers?

The young Elein was absorbed. She didn't understand anything, since the empire couldn't enter Orion, it was impossible... she thought.

For years the kingdom had been guarded by the Pillars of Kamoris. Ancient pillars that the scientists of the kingdom discovered and learned to use. These pillars protected the entire territory of Orion, creating a magical barrier that prevented the passage of enemies. Had they broken the barrier? the young woman wondered, but there was no time to think about that now. More important things troubled her.

“Oh no... Tian!” she said, looking in the direction of the military school.

Instinctively she began to run in the opposite direction of the people.

As she ran she saw people desperate to get away from the supposed beasts. The desperation they all had was very alarming, it worried her more and more, she hoped Tian was alright. She knew he was strong, he wasn't going to let himself be trapped by the empire.

He bumped into a guard who was guiding the people away from the area near the palace; it was the same guard from whom he had stolen the seal earlier.

“You!” said the guard, holding Elein by the shoulders.

“Let me go, I don't have time for this!”

“The city is under siege by the Empire, can't you see that?”

“And why aren't you protecting her?”

“We have to lead people out of this area and into the tunnels, we are evacuating civilians! You must flee too! It's dangerous over there!”

“Shut up! I must find...”

An explosion shook the whole ground. Elein looked in the direction of the palace and saw a cloud of smoke coming from there. And something strange... very strange happened...

The clear sky, very quickly, turned grey. Black clouds began to surround the center of the city, more specifically the palace area. The atmosphere began to feel very dense. A pressure and anguish began to invade people's insides.

Something serious was about to happen.

“What the hell is going on?” the guard wondered aloud, staring at those black clouds.

“Tian...” she murmured worriedly.

Elein, giving him a strong push, took advantage of the confusion to escape, for the second time, from the guard.

She ran through the crowd, getting closer and closer to the school. She had to get there before something more dangerous happened. She turned a few streets and kept running. Fortunately for her, she hadn't run into any of those monsters yet, the ones people were screaming so much about. Surely they would be in the area closest to the palace. If the empire was attacking, the most important thing was to head towards the heart of the kingdom.

All the guards were trying to help people flee and were shouting orders all the time. They were saying something about a huge beast...

Elein was surprised to hear that but tried to make light of it, it was only a couple of blocks to the school.

“Here comes the horned beast!” shouted a soldier, who came running and turned into the street in front of Elein.

“Quickly!” said a soldier to the one who was running.

Young Elein felt a heavy pressure in her chest as if her heart had shrunk. She felt everything slow down, her hands grew cold, and her feet did not respond properly. Feeling all that, she slammed on the brakes and saw a strange being turn down the street, chasing after the soldier.

It was a monster; a stout beast that walked on two legs; it had horns as long as four men, one on top of the other; its eyes were completely black and dripped with a liquid of the same color. Its body was covered with dark brown fur, like mud. A broken fang and his legs much thinner compared to his arms, which were well muscled. Tall, very tall, almost as tall as the three-story building next to it.

Elein saw the beast and froze, she had never seen anything like it before. She had only read about these monsters in books.

“It's... a... mi... mi..." Elein stammered.

“IT'S A MINORUS!” a soldier shouted.

“It's impossible, they shouldn't exist anymore!” said another.

“We can't fight... against that!”

The soldiers, screaming and sobbing, began to flee. The monster pounced on a soldier, who was trying to shoot it with a crossbow and devoured half of its body in one bite.

The beast Minorus, so they called him. A being that had existed in Elisia over a hundred years ago.

Now he was in front of young Elein. Eating a soldier of the kingdom.

“It's... it's... it's a beast...” She looked down at the ground and picked up a sword that was lying there. It was the sword of one of the soldiers who had fled, now it would serve as a weapon for her.

Her arm was trembling, the sword was not steady. As best she could, she took up a battle stance. Her vision was blurred. She was afraid. A fear that coursed through her entire body. But that fear was not enough...

It wasn't enough, to make Elein back down. She had a goal to accomplish, she had to find her friend. She couldn't waver at such a crucial moment.

“Let me through! I have no time to waste with you!” she cried trembling, but with a steady gaze.

The minorus finished devouring the other half of the soldier and averted his gaze to the young woman. He had the soldier's arm dangling in his teeth. Blood was slowly dripping from his mouth. And as he breathed, hot steam came out.

He stood up and started to walk in the direction Elein was facing.

In a moment he was within a few feet of the young woman. The beast swung its hand swiftly in an attempt to grab her. Elein thrust the sword into its palm. But it wasn't enough and the beast pushed her against the wall. She was knocked unconscious on the spot.

The minorus began to scream in pain. He pulled the sword from his palm with the fingers of his other hand. And in a rage, he tried to devour the young woman, who was lying on the ground. He slowly approached her. His breath was so hot that it made Elein's body sweat.

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The sound of a sword clashing with something of great hardness. It stopped it. Something had impeded the beast's advance. But what?

“Get back, you filthy demon!” A man in great armor had managed to save the young Elein.

He used his great shield to smash into the fang of the minorus.

Then he thrust his sword into the beast's snout, and the beast backed away, whimpering in pain.

The armored man moved into position and advanced against him. He approached his left leg, and with a clean-cut sliced him to the bone. The beast bent over and began to fall. The man in the great armor began to run at an impressive speed, as the minorus fell backwards, and positioned himself under the back of its neck. He raised his sword, it went in cleanly, and with the shield, he held the head, lest it crushes him. The man's armor was bathed in the beast's blood.

He drew his sword and with the same shield he pushed the head to the side. He had overwhelming strength. A strength capable of defeating a minorus. Who was this man in great armor? A soldier of the realm perhaps? But he was too strong, for a mere soldier. He was someone who emanated a very powerful energy, an aura that not just any soldier possessed. Someone remarkable and very different.

He looked at the minorus for a moment and sheathed his sword. He placed the shield on his back and quickly approached the young woman.

“She's unconscious,” he murmured as he reached down and touched Elein's neck.

He lifted her body with both arms and prepared to leave. Elein's body was very light, more so than it appeared at first glance.

The man began to trot until he turned into the street. There was a horse just around the bend. A brown horse, with armor placed on much of its body, it seemed to be uncomfortable. It was a shimmering silver color.

“Easy, friend, we'll take this student to a safe place,” he said to the horse, patting his neck.

He hung his shield on the side of the horse with some sort of rope and put Elein on the back, climbed on, and then settled her so that she was supported with her back.

These beasts... how could they have made it this far? he thought as he galloped at a somewhat high pace, but not too high.

The man galloped up two streets and came to the gate of the military school. There was a huge gate, about twenty feet high. On the other side were two soldiers.

“Let me through, I am Zaigor!” shouted

“General!”

The two soldiers opened the gate quickly and let him pass.

The man's name was Zaigor, he was one of the generals of Orion's army. That day he had gone to see his daughter on her first day at military school, but on the way, he was interrupted by the siege of the beasts of the empire.

The military school was full of soldiers, all of whom had gone to the ceremony of the first holy day. A very important event. Where they prayed and honored those who were to be: the new defenders of the kingdom.

“Someone take care of this young student, take her to where the other civilians are, quickly!” He got off his horse, lifted Elein, and handed her to a soldier.

“Yes, sir!” The soldier took Elein in the direction of the school.

A blond-haired man, who seemed to be of higher rank than the other soldiers, approached the general.

“General, the students are escaping through the tunnel that connects to another district. Most of the beasts are still in the palace and are being contained. But the enemy is unknown, sir. We have never seen anything like it before. We've only ever faced humans before. This is...this is...” he said as the two of them walked quickly through a hallway, which led to a large open-air courtyard.

“Relax sergeant, you must keep a cool head in these situations. As you say, the enemy is unknown. We can't risk sacrificing lives in vain,” Zaigor looked up at the cumulus clouds in the sky and said without looking down. “Where is General Jerus? “

“Sire, the Supreme General was in the palace when the attack began, surely he and The Knights of the First Star are defending the king and his court,”

“The King's Knights... I hope they can repel the beasts,”

A man's shout suddenly startled them. A soldier fell from the top of the building next to them. They looked in that direction and saw a strange, small, big-headed, dark green monster. He had pushed the soldier.

“What is that?” said the sergeant, his eyes wide open.

“Shoot him!” Zaigor shouted, overwhelmed.

Two archers that were near them began to shoot at him quickly, the monster began to dodge the arrows, trying to escape, but one hit his leg and he fell to the ground, breaking his neck with the impact.

Zaigor and the sergeant approached the monster and saw it.

“It looks like a... goblin? My mother used to tell me stories about these little monsters when I was little... but I never thought I'd see a real one,” the sergeant said with a frown.

“Shit... they're already reaching these areas. Sergeant, hold out a little longer here. We have to contain the beasts and prevent them from reaching the students,”

“Yes, sir,” he said firmly, his hand on his chest.

Zaigor looked at the school carefully. It was a large, very old, dark gray building. He stood in a huge courtyard, which was between the door through which he had entered and the door leading to the inner areas. In the center of the courtyard was a huge tree with pink leaves.

A chill ran through his body, he hoped that his daughter had been able to escape along with the other students, but now he had to see to it that the evacuation plan would be carried out successfully. And after that leave, for the palace to help General Jerus and the King. Although he knew that the Knights of the First Star were there, something was troubling him.

Zaigor walked into the main building of the military school and saw that there were some soldiers inside. But not a single student.

“Those filthy beasts are everywhere,” said a soldier standing near a pillar next to another.

“Most civilians are evacuating through the underground exits and main streets,”

“Yes, it will take some time,”

“How was the empire able to attack? Where did they come from?” he asked wonderingly.

“Some people shouted that imperial soldiers along with monsters came down from the sky,”

“What a ridiculous thing to say!” he exclaimed.

“Well, but you've seen them... these beasts...”

They were silent for a moment.

“We should go to the tunnel entrance and keep watch,”

“Yes... you're right, let's go.”

The two soldiers left quickly, between the corridors of the school.

The general had listened to those soldiers, he knew very well that it was impossible to access the city except from the outside. There was, as yet, no way for the enemy to get through the Pillars of Kamoris. Zaigor thought for a moment about magic. Maybe, and just maybe, the empire could have accessed a very powerful magic, something, unlike anything he'd seen before. Something that would allow enemy troops access to the kingdom without having to cross through the columns. But he couldn't conceive of the idea.

He approached a soldier who had several papers in his hand.

“Officer Lemur, do you have any information about the enemy?”

“General!” he put his hand on his chest and his body steadied, dropping some papers. “Oh, oh... yes, so it seems. A troop of empire soldiers and several strange beasts are attacking the palace. We haven't been able to accurately record the number yet. But there are a lot of them. The soldiers who were in the area claim to have seen that they came down from the sky... although it seems crazy,”

“What do you think of the beasts?”

“The beasts are not impossible to defeat, they don't have any kind of military structure, and they are like loose animals. The problem is that the troops are afraid of them. We've never seen anything like them before.”

“Are there signs of the empire in the outer areas of the city?”

“No, General, it seems the attack is only focused on the palace. The sentries haven't seen anything, so far,”

“This is too strange. The palace is always guarded by the Knights of the First Star, the Empire is aware of this. Then why?” The general thought for a moment. “Perhaps...”

He stepped away from the Lemur officer and approached another who was giving directions to several soldiers in the school's central courtyard.

“Commander,”

“General,”

“Direct all your troops to the center of the city...”

“General, not to disobey your order, but I don't think that's a good idea. It is possible that the enemy, at any time, will attack the outer or underground areas. The attack on the palace may be nothing more than a mere distraction,”

“No, they'll attack the palace again, and then they'll expand. This is not over...”

“On what basis, sir?”

“Let's just say, it's a hunch. The enemy has managed to attack, right at the core of the kingdom, without having to pass through the columns or even the walls. If they did it once, it's possible they'll attack again. It's impossible to get past the columns,”

The commander the general was addressing didn't quite trust him. But he could not refuse the order of one of the three generals of the kingdom. To do so would be insubordination.

“So shall it be done, sir!” He shouted to several soldiers, telling them to go to the palace.

Zaigor, though he had only the evacuation to worry about, could not stop worrying about his young daughter and the people in the palace.

“Shit!” he exclaimed rather furiously.

The sergeant who had spoken to him earlier came up to him and said:

“General, all the students have already escaped through the tunnel, they are in no danger. The tunnel has already been sealed,”

A sense of relief ran through Zaigor's body, he knew his daughter was safe. He didn't have to worry anymore.

“Very well. Gather all the troops under your command and finish helping any straggling civilians in the area,”

“And what will you do, General?”

“I must go to the palace and help his majesty the King,”

“Got it!”

The sergeant informed all the soldiers and they retreated to the city.

[https://i.imgur.com/SNo09DS.png]

Zaigor stood at the entrance to the military school, besides his horse, about to leave for the palace. But someone unexpectedly came running out from inside. It was a student.

“Hey, where do you think you're going?”

The student ignored Zaigor and kept running. The general jumped on his horse and began to follow him. He advanced and got in his way, pulling on his horse's ropes. The horse reared up a little and whinnied, almost looking as if it was going to crush him. The student fell backwards with fright.

“All the students have already escaped to the exit of this part of the city. Before long this whole place might be full of beasts. It's dangerous to be here,”

The student did not say a word.

“You must go to the tunnels, hurry!”

“No! My friend may be in danger, I must go and look for her!”

“Your friend? She's probably already escaped with the other civilians,”

“No, she's not like that, I'm sure she was trying to come looking for me, but I never saw her come to school. She could be in danger!”

Zaigor sighed, and saw the look on the young man's face, he was completely determined to go find his friend. There was going to be no stopping him. And he knew it, he knew a person's determination when he saw it.

“What's your name, student?”

“Tian Tempus, sir,”

“Tempus uh...” he looked at him a little. “Very well Tian Tempus, my name is Zaigor, and I am the Third General of the Kingdom's Army.”

“I know who you are. It's still not going to stop me from looking for her,”

“I'm not going to stop you, but before you go off in search of him, tell me what he looks like,”

“What does she look like? Hmm, she has pale skin, her hair is like the color of wine and she's too reckless.”

Hearing Tian's description, he knew it was the young woman he had rescued earlier. That hair color was not very common in those lands.

“Oh... your friend is safe. You have nothing to worry about,”

“How do you know?” he asked anxiously.

“Because I rescued her, and gave her to a soldier, to take her to the tunnels,”

“How are you sure it was her?”

“She was a young girl like the one you described, she was trying to take on a great beast by herself. Besides, all the students would be inside the school. She was the only one outside,”

Tian thought for a moment.

She took on, all by herself, a beast? No doubt she would do such a thing... the young man thought. He looked to the side and said:

“Yes... it must be her,”

“Get in,”

“Huh?”

“I said, come on up. I'll take you out of this area. The soldiers are blocking the tunnels, in case the beasts try to enter them. All that's left is to ride,”

Tian got up from the ground, wiped himself, and nodded his head. And the two of them left.

Zaigor was thinking about the palace, he had much bigger matters to deal with. But something inside him was stirring. He felt he had to help Tian. Seeing that young man, he remembered his daughter, he knew that she was also someone who cared for her friends and loved ones. The general was a person who had always fought for justice in the kingdom, he always defended the people, and more than looking out for his rulers, Zaigor cared more for the people of Orion. He thought that perhaps, he should step down as general and give the position to someone else. Someone more capable, he was very humanitarian and when you lead an army; you shouldn't get carried away by emotions, you should control them and keep a cool head.

He rode several streets in the opposite direction to that strange cluster of clouds, which decorated the palace sky. The dense and heavy atmosphere made young Tian dizzy. He tried to concentrate and think, but it was very difficult. He prayed to the gods that his family would be alright and that his friend would be able to leave the area safely. He could only rely on the army. But a strange feeling was bothering him. He knew something wasn't right...

“Can you feel it, Tempus?”

“What is this?” he said in agitation.

“It's dark energy, it's being absorbed from all around us,”

“How is that possible? There are no wizards or anything like that around here... besides, it's too much,”

“That's right, something's going to happen, get ready!”

“It can't be...” he said, looking back at the cumulus clouds.

The whole ground began to shake as if it were an earthquake. The horse reared up out of nowhere; the ground began to split all over; something very terrible was happening.

“Easy, Easy, my friend!” he said to the horse as if he understood him.

“General, look at the sky,” he said in a trembling voice.

The event that the Third General of the Orion Army and the young Tian Tempus saw that day was something they would never forget. Something that, to them, was one of the most horrible nightmares ever seen by humans.

The history of the Kalian continent. It spoke for itself. A world that had lived through continuous wars; a world made up of wars and bloodshed.

The peace of Orion's kingdom was short-lived. Very short.

The day Sargon's empire made its first move against Orion. His first piece moves on the board.

That day was remembered for years to come. No one who survived the same hell that happened there could ever forget. No one.