The Forge Of Kings

Chapter 14: The Rise of New Zodan

     "Verath!" Someone shouted, I looked and eventually found one of the mystics, Megan, I think her name was. She was holding a leather bound book, it was filled with detailed maps, and information about Rotík's forces search for his heiress. The trail went all over the continent, and eventually trailed off in the ice caps in the north. Megan looked up from the map and explained it would've been the safest place for her then.

     "NO!!" A shout echoed throughout the ruined village. I turned my attention from Megan and caught a glimpse of the paladin who was protecting Sam run passed an alley way. I apologised to Megan and went to investigate the problem. I exited the alley and found Sam cut in half on the ground, My spine tingled, I hurried over and knelt down by the upper half of him. "SAM!" I hollered, I watched the pools of blood widen bigger than what was left of his body. I let out a gasped. Eventually Megan and the rest of the group surrounded me each releasing a gasp and murmuring amongst themselves.

     I closed my eyes and with a light whoosh the winds changed and Sam's translucent figure began to appear from the feet up. I rose and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, his face took on a look of sorrow, then his frown grew into a small smile. He gave a light nod up towards the hill behind us before the wind carried him away. I took a deep breath and point the group to the hill, "We go that way." I said, The closer we got to the forest edge the more we could hear shouting, not enough to make it out just enough to sense the tension. I stealthfully led the group to the southwest exit for Ectwë and saw Akira standing over a rock, she grabbed her things and ran up the hill towards the waterfall further up the cliffside, her cub following not far behind. The group and I emerged from the forest and approached the rock, Each of the mystics began to react to the travesty before us. It was the paladin. Bludgeoned. Blood everywhere, her hands bound behind the rock.

     Megan covered her face and sobbed, "Who... Would do something like this...? She didn't even have a chance to defend herself..." I placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder as she sobbed. I reached down and pulled the golden ring from her finger, I handed it to the other paladin, she reached out and stared at it as if she had no clue what to do with it. Megan fell to her knees and began pulling on the chains binding the corpse, "WE CAN'T LEAVE HER HERE! SARA DESERVES A BETTER BURIAL THAN TO BE LEFT TO ROT HERE!" She screamed hysterically.

     With a blink of my eyes Sara appeared in front of me, She turned and knelt down by Megan and seemed to whisper something in her ear. Megan stopped cold, she raised her head and listened as if she heard something in the distance. She looked around and found nothing amiss, Sara rose and turned to the forest, she walked at a snails pace and the winds carried off. "It is my duty to protect the fallen, I must return." Sara whispered, She's one with the forest now, The spirits claimed yet another soul.

    Megan and the group dragged Sara's corpse into the forest, leaving a trail of blood behind them. I was about to follow when my instincts told me to stray to the lake, I descended down the hill and finally entered the fog from the waterfall. I stood there, listening. All I heard were the whispers of the fallen calling from Ectwë, but nothing out of the ordinary. When an explosion came from the southeast, colors fell from the impact point in the sky, I watched as another flew up. It seems as tho the Kingdom of Khofte is hosting a celebration.

     I watched the sky turn a bright red and purple hue, I regarded my instincts as a fools errand and turned to head back to the group. I couldn't help but feel vengeful, I had begun to consider Sam a friend, A colleague. He deserved better, I traveled for an hour before I began to catch up with my group. "Verath! You need to loosen up, being so tense helps no one!" I heard Sam say in the back of my head, I approached the group, Some were crying, others were just plain silent, each ones mood carrying a sense of Melancholy. Megan turned as I approached, her face red and puffy from crying. "I think I have a lead as to where Rotík's heiress ended up." She said in a shy and raspy voice. She pulled out the book she had found a few hours prior.

     "The map here, has a ink trail all the way to the ice caps, But this ink from Sylhalin northbound is fresher, and wasn't used by the same author. The last original marking is around Sarnawen and Zodan, which means she could've never left the region." Megan explained with tremendous confidence, she stifled a few sobs here and there but overall she seemed to be holding back her grief. I smiled and nodded. We began to approach Rostov's bandit camp which remained empty, We've been in the lower parts of the Sarnawenian Forests, so it's entirely possible that she has been behind the walls of Sarnawen for the past decade.

     It would make sense if she was in the Kingdom of Sarnawen, hide her in plain sight. I looked at the moon rising above the camp and informed the group we would be staying in Rostov's camp for the night and push towards Sylhalin. They all responded with various sounds and waving, Megan turned and headed for a tent with her nose in a book. Two of the mystics took one part of the path passing through camp and kept watch there, showing off their skills to each other, one lifted water from a bucket in a bubble before bursting it into rain. The other created a small tree at his feet and entangled a table leg. I headed for a tent and lied down on a cot, I closed my eyes and attempted to get some rest, but my mind kept wandering to those who had died today, Sam, Sara, Duran. I rolled to my side, each of them had died because of those two we had found nearby, we treated them like companions and they were killing us off from the start, Sam didn't deserve the end he got. Neither did Sara, bludgeoned into a puddle of various colors. I grinded my teeth, My mind wandered to Akira, She was dangerous from the start, She no doubt did it out of spite, because of how Sam treated her boyfriend. I let out a growl, My eye began to twitch, I'll have to deal with her, She's a threat. An eye for an eye.

     I spun my dagger around the palm of my hand until it bled. I put it down and watched it drip on my shirt. Megan popped her head in, and eventually entered. "Bad time?" I shook my head and waved her in, I sat up and looked up to her. Her face turned to one of concern, "You're... Bleeding?..." She said quietly, I shrugged it off. She held the book to her chest and gave me a half smile, "I think we should detour to Sarnawen." Her smile disappeared as she said it. "Why?" I asked. She gave me a look of concern, "The trail is cold enough as it is, and I think we could go see what we can learn from the town's people just outside the walls." I placed my head in my hands and nodded, "You, and two mystics, Stay away from the walls, they aren't to be trifled with." She squealed and fled the tent, I stood up and exited the tent.

      A group of horses walked right passed the Mystics and to their posts, My group looked at them cautiously, I began to crouch and run towards the mystics. A group of archers shot at them from the trees above, The one mystic raised a vines from the ground and covered them in a box like barrier. "AMBUSH!" I Screamed. A group of men rode in with their swords drawn, Megan was fleeing towards them, turning frantically to check behind her but completely missing them ahead of her. I ran ahead and tackled her out of the way of the blade, it just nicking me instead.

     I dragged Megan into an empty animal cell, "Are you alright?" I asked, she nodded quickly and backed up against the wall, I walked towards the exit and motioned for her to stay. I left the cell and was greeted by flames climbing up the tree, and pillars of water flying at the bandits. The mystics wandered the camp and finished off the last of the bandits, but not one of them was Rostov. I ordered that the one mystic douse the fires, we don't need to be torching the cursed forest. My group and I headed for Sylhalin earlier than expected, Megan and her mystics walked with us before we headed to the eastern path, and they went west.

     Sylhalin rose to the horizon, as we approached there was a figure up ahead with something on a rope. My remaining group sped up a bit and caught up. Akira turned, Atlas walked slow enough to keep slack on his rope. She turned back to the path, I stepped closer to her but she turned her stare to me and Atlas began to show his long teeth and growl, obviously she has begun to train the little runt. I tried my best not to kill Akira right there, but a voice in the back of my head echoed.

Kill her. Kill her. DO IT NOW. I griped the hilt of my sword as we walked until we approached the gates. The men on the wall rushed to open the gate, as the wooden gate rose, We were greeted by flames and my soldiers knelt down with their hands to their heads and Rostov standing behind them with a sword in hand and a smile on his face. "Welcome to New Zodan! Business or pleasure?" He shouted, his face took on a dark hue. "Let the festivities begin."