"If the myths of yore are proven to contain threads of truth, how then do we prove that we truly are the descendants of Man?"
Kritovolous
Annals On The Heroic Men of Myths and Legend
1. Omen
’’What should we do with the body?’’ Asked a thin and malnourished looking man wearing a black veil made of some rough coarse material on his face in the cover of the night. The veil only covered his thin face, unfortunately it failed in covering his uniquely rough voice. The darkness of the night covered his unusually thin body stature.
Inside a small isolated location by the forest, close to a wide river. The thin man was dragging a body with one hand towards the water in the cover of the night, not caring that the body received more wounds by hitting various rocks and branches as he dragged it through the forest ground.
‘Why don’t we just toss it into the water and be done with it. I need to return quickly and clean my hands of all this blood before visiting the white orchid.’’
From the opposite side of the dark appeared another man and spoke apathetically to his companion while showing a small amount of disgust at the sight of the corpse.
This man, a bright contrast to his malnourished companion, had wide and strong muscular spread out evenly on body. He wore silk robes with red stripes adorned on them. Contrasting his companions clothing meant to disguise himself in the cover of the night. But he seemed to not care in the slightest.
The thin man took hold of the corpse with both his hands and as he got closer the river, threw it into the freezing cold water.
The body hit a rock before sliding down into the water and began its descent downriver. The men, not caring to stay any longer turned their eyes away from the body.
‘’We should have tied a heavy rock to his ankles, what if someone finds him?’’
The thin man asked curiously to his companion while washing his hands of the blood.
The muscular man moved his gaze to his companion and took a silent step towards the thin man, he looked towards the body floating once again.
‘’The Masters did not specify what we should have done, other than killing and tossing his body into the Bulu River of course. I do not think they care for whether anyone finds him or not. Honestly, I believe their intention was for it to be found.”
The thin man nodded lazily and left together with his companion after washing his hands without even a glance to the now floating body.
As the body floated downriver, erratically hitting stones embedded into the river and the floating remains of trees, the body’s remaining silk robes got mangled and its body upper came into view as it floated downriver.
There were numerous stab wounds on its lower torso, a missing arm and a myriad of various types of wounds on its upper torso.
Yet despite all this the body’s face remained untouched, it had no wounds or any kinds of visible blemishes on it.
The body appeared to have belonged to a young man around the age of seventeen, a sad sight to see, but nevertheless not an irregular one.
Half a kilometer downriver an old man was merrily singing away and drinking by himself. He stank of wine and was singing with not a care for the world, that was until he saw something out of the ordinary floating before him.
As he slowly came to his senses he realized that it was the body of a young man.
He looked at it and simply sighed.
‘’What cruelty this is… To toss the corpse of a child into the river of forgotten souls, his soul will never be laid to rest.’’ He did not act rashly to retrieve the body, he only looked at it while taking some sips from his wine flask as the corpse passed him.
As he was about to turn and leave, the world lit up. The starry sky darkened fully, clouds of pure red appeared high beneath the sky showered the land in a bright red light. The red rays shone a violent and fierce but concentrated glow of light into the river and hit the body of the youth.
The old man felt his blood turn cold at the sight of the clouds and turned his body in fear and ran thinking that the world was coming to an end. He ran with all that he could muster.
As the clouds passed over the body, they stood still and released a small tendril of smoke and pieced the chest of the corpse and stabbed its heart.
The cloud released another tendril, it moved astonishingly fast and reached the old man who had long since begun to flee.
The old man feeling deaths touch screamed for help, but none could hear his pleas for mercy.
The tendril soon reached him and stabbed into his back. As it did, the old man fell and life soon faded from his eyes. The tendril turned violet and sucked whatever it could from him and passed it into the cloud.
His body, in the matter of seconds, turned smaller and smaller until all the fluids inside disappeared. Soon all of him evaporated.
Yet the red cloud did not disperse just yet. After absorbing out everything it could out of the old man, it released two new tendrils towards the malnourished and silk wearing pair of men.
They had realized something was awry when the night sky turned red, in fear – similar to the old man before them, ran away from the red light.
‘’WHAT IS THIS!’’ The silk wearing man screamed as the tendril stabbed both him and his companion. ‘’WHAT IS HAPPENING?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU, STOP!’’
He yelled but received nothing but the screams of his comrade beside him.
He continued to yell for help and tried to resist but was quickly shut down by multiple tendrils and all his fluids and organs soon disappeared together with his comrade who had long since been sucked dry.
The night sky was slowly returning and the red light disappearing. The cloud then returned its tendrils and condensed itself until an Eye began to appear in its stead. The eye had black pupils and looked around erratically. It then stopped looking around and turned its view towards the youth.
As the flaming eye rushed to absorb all the remaining red light it then rushed downwards and with trmendous force collided on the forehead of the corpse. It merged itself into it and disappeared quickly after forcing itself inside it.
The body then continued floating downriver.
The corpse had once again regained some of its color. If one listened closely, they would be astonished to recognise notice a slow almost silent heartbeat on the chest of the corpse.
The body now appeared warm to the touch and outwardly semmed to contain signs of life.
The youth continued to follow the river down for hours until it came to a waterfall and fell into the darkness of the abyss beneath it.
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At night above the minor clouds lies the starry sky. A roof that extends towards nothing and everything. The night sky has fascinated the scholars of the sky for centuries. Kingdoms and even empires have felled as a result of their subjective divinations. Though, scholars of the night sky has had their influence dissipate, underestimating them has led to the downfall of many powerful men.
In the highlands of Jutland, at the peak of mount Ohrim, lies the observatory of the Ehenris. The man in charge of the observatory of Ehenris is an old man, a man weathered hard by the erosion of time. When walking through the many cold stone corridors of the observatory, the noise made by his walking stick would warn all scholars of his presence, so they would heed his words and affirm him the utmost respect. His walking stick, made of Oak, gave a strong and reverberating sound to the hollow halls of the observatory.
His name was Thyranis Laender. He walked slowly but firmly as he was supported by his cane towards the center of the observatory where many of the scholars had made a run towards. Something had happened, he felt the air of his surroundings tighten, the last time he felt like this was when the Mad Empress of Pan hung his teacher, Caedan in her capital.
The chief walked towards the end of the long hallway decorated by the paintings of former chiefs illuminated by lanterns hammered firmly next to them, he made his way towards the large door made of wood and pushed them open with strength not of this world.
The familiar large circle structure of the room with a large hole in the sky and symbols on the ground greeted him.
The many scholars were alerted to his presence as they saw him enter the room hastily.
The chief looked towards the center of the circle where a man lay in a foster position.
“What has occurred? What has he seen?”
He asked hastily and looked around the circle where many surrounded the circle where the man lay, but none entered it to check on him.
“Answer me. Now!” He shouted as his cane hit the ground and a strong gust of wind came from reverberated from where it hit. The scholars closest to him fell and looked at him in fear.
The man closest to the center came forward. “Sire. Grif, the man now in the arcane circle, came to take the place of Ytra, another overseer an hour ago. As he began to use the circle, he broke the connection almost immediately. He began to yell that the star of Krostof was gone, that it had disappeared the moment his eyes passed its location.” The man trembled in fear as he began to recount what had happened.
The man then held his trembling hand and started to recount once again.
“We then urged him to look once again, we told him that we needed complete confirmation before coming to you with this piece of information. He denied, and we had to force him through the oath of the conscription. Under duress he began once again and before we knew it, he began to laugh while blood trilled down his eyes. We… we knew then that we had been given confirmation, it was then that we sent the owl to your champers, to awaken you my liege.”
The chief, like the man before him also begun to tremble at the thought of the disappearance of the star Krostof, he feared not only it’s disastrous consequences, but what it’s disappearance also represented.
“Theremin, close down the observatory! Let none enter and awaken captain Isil, I fear that we soon may have need of her. Do not just stand there, come before me!”
He yelled at an obese man that stood behind the crowd as he moved forward slowly with cane in hand to a table while writing a letter. As he finished it he walked towards him and provided him with the letter.
“Deliver it to her. She will know what to do when she receives it.”
Theremin ran from the hall and to the living quarters of the residing knights. He passed the long stone corridors with the paintings of the former chiefs.
He ran through the long cold corridors and muttered curses aimed at the chief under his breath.
“Damn you Thyranis Laender. Why are you making me of all people run to that witch’s chamber?”
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As he neared the living quarters he was stopped by two young soldiers wearing armor made of black obsidian. They removed their helmets and pointed their swords towards Theremin. The men stationed at the observatory had never seen real combat, most of them were young soldiers that yearned for real combat. As a result, they would bare their fangs at the scholars whenever the opportunity presented itself for it.
“Fat scholar, Theremin. For what reason have you trespassed our territory? Quickly speak before we cut open your stomach and feed you to the pigs you so much love to consume!” The soldier to the right ordered Theremin.
He began to shake with fear, ever since he came to the observatory he had not gotten used to the insults he received from the young soldiers. At home he was pampered by his noble parents and never, not once did any treat him so.
“I have been ordered to deliver to the captain a missive by chief Thyranis.”
When he mentioned the chief by name the two soldiers shuddered for a split second. They feared the chief, which Theremin failed to notice.
“Wait here.” He was ordered by the same person that yelled at him prior to his report.
As the man disappeared behind the door, Theremin waited for several minutes until he heard the a earth shaking.
“WHAT! IS THIS TRUE!?”
He almost fell when he heard the roar. He waited and a few seconds later, the door opened, and a red haired young maiden appeared. She wore her long hair in a pony tail and wore black obsidian armor like the other soldiers, but hers differed by having a red sun plastered on the chest plate.
“Fat man, tell me what has occurred now!” she ordered him while with such ferocity that Theremin at once narrated what had happened to the young captain.
She let go of him and once again looked at the paper she held, Theremin could see both fear and anticipating in the girl’s eyes.
“So, they have returned, after eons of exile, they, have returned.”
She muttered, Theremin heard her and finally began to feel fear. The adrenaline he had before wore off and finally fear had begun to take hold.
“What do we do Captain?!” He shook with fear as he asked the young captain.
She turned to him and pondered for a second.
“I fear that we may not have much time left.”
When Theremin heard her answer his face drained of all color.
The young captain turned to the two soldiers standing at guard looking at both her and Theremin incredulously and confused.
As she was about to order them she felt a large tremor and heard an explosion, she knew then that their time was up.
“Order the men to gather and stand by for my orders. I fear the enemy has attacked us before we could relay what the scholars have discovered.”
The men looked at their captain and saluted her before leaving immediately.
She turned her eyes towards Theremin who now lied on the floor weeping. She looked at him in disgust. She then disappeared from the door to the guards living quarters.
She appeared before the long and thick doors made of oak that gave access into the heart of the observatory, she pushed the door open and instantly was attacked by the stench of burned flesh.
Before her eyes lied the corpses of numerous scholars burned black and the chief wielding his arcane abilities and pushing back the men in black robe attacking him and the scholars he is protecting behind his back.
He had erected a shield from his arcane abilities and held it while the enemy battered the shield with arcane abilities and swords of their own.
The captain drew her sword and rushed towards the nearest man in black. He was completely unprepared and the captain with one clean slash cut separated his head from his body.
As the other men in black realized that a soldier had appeared behind them, the sword wielding members rushed towards her while the arcane mages was struggling with breaking the shield of the chief.
She counted five men in black coming towards her. She took a defensive stance and readied to receive the attack of the five men.
She raised her ordinary sword made of iron diagonally while bending her right knee slightly.
The five men rushed towards her in a long line and surrounded her.
“What is the cult of Taekmir doing here!?” She yelled her question towards the chief.
He could not answer as he was busy focusing on strengthening the shield. A man behind him came forward and yelled towards the captain.
“They appeared some minutes after Theremin went to get you Captain Isil, we don’t know where they or how they appeared here, but they came down from the ceiling and began almost immediately to kill indiscriminately. The chief raised his shield to protect us from the corrupt arcane magic that the mages directed at us.”
Isil then cursed at the cult members once again. She knew of them, heard stories of men willingly selling their souls for power. Deceit, murder and corruption was a daily occurrence for these men. The danger and power they wielded cannot be overstated.
They live among the civil populace, hiding and biding for time. They inspire and corrupt the peasants to rebel against the monarchy by whispering sweet and rebellious words into the leaders of peasant communities. They had succeeded in overthrowing the monarchy of Mali and taking control of the nation, but they will not succeed here.
‘I will not let them endanger the peace and stability of dawn’ swore Isil.
Not before long the first strike landed on the captain, she deflected it, but not with enough time to attack before another strike came from her back. She turned quickly and deflected the strike once again. The men continued to strike at her while she deflected their attacks.
She realized then that the men had a powerful force behind every strike but had no ability or training in using it wisely nor in coordinating their strikes with one another. They attacked her disorganized and unceasingly, though she continued to deflect and defend, she knew that she was being pushed into a corner, she felt her strength draining and would in all likely hood be struck down before long.
“Captain! My shield is breaking, I fear that they may soon be upon us fully.”
The chief yelled towards Isil. She couldn’t respond as she defended with all the power in her body could muster, she did not have the luxury to talk while fighting five strong opponents at once. She had been defending for some minutes now as she was baiting for time. Hoping for the soldiers to arrive.
One of the three arcane wizards that struck continuously at the barrier looked towards Captain Isil while smirking.
“Daughter of Orum, none will be coming to your rescue this time. We have already sent many of our troops towards the guard’s quarters to take care of them while we deal with you. You lost the moment you stepped in here!”
The door then opened and countless men in black robes and swords rushed in.
The men stopped attacking the captain and joined their comrades. Isil counted almost thirty men.
“Report soldier.” The man that previously told Isil of her comrade’s death asked an incoming soldier.
“It is done. We lost half of our troops taking down the guard’s sire, but we accomplished our objective.”
Isil lost all color on her face. She looked towards Thyranis hoping that he knew a way out of this situation.
“Look not towards the duke child of Orum, you have lost. Surrender and we, the sons of Khor, will give you a swift death. That is the only mercy we can provide an offspring of Orum.”
Isil turned her eyes towards the man coming towards her with open arms.
“I would rather die a dog’s death than surrender to you, slave of Khorrum.” She hissed back at him.
He stopped, and his smile disappeared, now replacing it was a face so cold that the people residing in the room felt the temperature drop.
“You dare utter the lord’s true name before me your filthy worm.” He removed a sword out from the hands of the man besides him and rushed towards Isil.
Before he could strike Isil, he felt a powerful undulation in the air. He stopped and looked towards the sphere protecting the scholars.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”
Thyranis who had closed his eyes had let down the shield and opened his arms in an embracing manner. He drew three deep breaths and received the attacks from two arcane mages before him. They struck but he took no visible damage. He drew another deep breath and when he opened his eyes, shock filled the room.
The scholars behind him could not see what was going on, but if they stood before him they would have been able to see his eyes changing color. From black to complete white.
The undulations turned fiercer until all felt them on their physical bodies.
“STOP IT! ARE YOU MAD!?”
The man continued to scream and then ran towards Thyranis, he feared the consequences of letting him finish what he was about to do.
He knew that he could not get to him in time, so he yelled to the men looking at him incredulously.
“STOP HIM! DO NOT LET HIM DRAW ON THE POWER OF HJÜL!”
The men realized then what he was doing. He was drawing on the power of the Serpent, Hjül.
As they began to gather their powers the wizards felt themselves disconnected from their well of power. It did not respond to their pleas.
“Aehrum khaley hada waku dilaya.” Thyranis said while raising his hand towards the two wizards.
Before they could escape, they began dissipating from the feet and up.
The soldiers of the cult felt fear emerging, they appeared and killed countless scholars and guards of the observatory proudly in the cause of their lord, but now they only wished to return home.
The undulations grew stronger, far stronger and ever before. Thyranis felt the power of the serpent rush into him unceasingly. His body was beginning to break down, but before it did he needed to kill all the cult soldiers.
Before anyone could react to the death of the two wizards Thryanis turned to the thirty soldiers and raised his right hand once again.
They all slowly began to dissipate except for the man who charged towards Iris previously.
He clouded himself with darkness prior to the dissipation of the soldiers and teleported himself far away from this place.
Thyranis disappeared from the hall and appeared on the balcony and looked towards entrance to the castle. Numerous soldiers were about to enter. He felt his powers escaping and turned in regret towards Isil.
“Come child, I fear that we may not have long left.”
Isil ran towards Thyranis and hugged him with tears in her eyes.
“Why? Why did you do this, Grandfather? Please don’t leave me!” She cried as she hugged Thyranis.
He hugged her back and held for a few seconds. He then let her go and wiped away the tears from her eyes. He looked then towards the remaining scholars. Only five remained while fifteen died.
“Child, look at me.” He said to Isil as he began to walk towards the center of the observatory.
“My body is about to dissipate, I can’t contain the power of the world serpent for much longer. I need for you to take these five with you and escape immediately.”
With her tears continuing to pour down she looked at him and nodded before drying her eyes and running towards the scholars.
The doors once again abruptly opened just as Isil reached the scholars. Numerous soldiers began pouring inside the chamber.
Thyranis turned to his granddaughter and raised his right hand once again. Cracks were beginning to appear on his body that had light pouring out.
“Orot masha itak.”
They disappeared in a bright light while stunning the soldiers that poured inside.
Thyranis smirked as he saw the man that appeared before him.
“You have lost, Rwyn.”
The man did not answer him, Thryanis felt his vision turn black and his life ebbing out of the cracks that widened on his body.
The man drew his sword and stabbed Thyranis in the heart. No blood appeared but Thyranis felt the last of his power and life leaving. The man removed his sword and Thryanis fell, but before he could hit the ground his body dissipated.
Not long away from the castle appeared Isil and the five scholars under a blinding light that seemingly appeared to come from nowhere.
Isil recognized the location where her grandfather had teleported them, they were inside the garden of Trill. At the thought of her grandfather she felt an intense sorrow welling up in her, but she knew her duty compelled her to continue forward. Suddenly, a herd of griffins appeared with saddles on their backs. The garden were the nurturing ground and home to the griffins of the observatory.
“Hurry! Take the griffins, we need to relay what we have found to the Kingdom of Dawn, to the queen!”
Isil yelled at the scholars as they ran towards the griffins.
As they began to climb the griffins Isil looked towards the castle and once again felt intense undulations. The castle exploded in a blinding light, to her eyes it felt like the sun had appeared in the sky.
‘He is gone. Grandfather has passed.’ thought Isil.
As the last scholar climbed on his griffin Isil turned to her griffin, but before she could climb she felt a presence appearing behind her. She turned and saw a man enter from the steel gate wearing thick a silver armor with the raven insignia on his chest plate.
Isil turned to the scholars and yelled
“ Leave now! Return to Dawn and inform them that the last prison of Eredmir has collapsed!”
The scholars forced the griffin that had begun to shake in fear when the man appeared to fly, soon they disappeared from all eyes.
As she watched them fly away, Iris turned to the man.
“Traitor! Today is the day that you die Knight Commander Rwyn!”
He smiled and drew his sword. “It matters not whether the kingdom of Dawn is aware of his majesty’s reemergence, ultimately they will crumble under his feet when he awakens fully. Though I failed in killing all the scholars, I suppose it will do knowing that I am ending the line of Orum today.”
Isil drew her sword and pointed it towards the former Knight Commander, Rwyn.
“Not today, Traitor. Not today.”