Avenger's Pathe

Chapter One- 866 Century of Redeemed Promises

The land of Tiygurr, before The Last Betrayal, was a great and prosperous land. Being a land rich in soil, soil that was moist, soft and rich in nutrients; it bore perfect crops, with perfect green leaves and perfect fruit. It was a land rich in metal, especially in silver and gold. It was also rich in people and creatures of all sorts, such as Elves, F'haar, Elementals, and of course En'gel's and Dea'mond's. The latter two, of course, being wrought from the very essence of the Dyu Rhyun and Dyis Ira were very rare beings to encounter. There were very few and far in between.

Tiygurr was the largest in mass, in people, and in riches than her sister nations. It was also the only mass of land to be named after a Dyis, the Dyis Ti'gurn, and the Dyis whose form was the shape of a cat. Tiygurr being so large, she was split into three provinces: Amaran, The plentiful, Ciy'bria, the joyful and Rii'zen, the deserted.

Amaran, the Head of Tiygurr had its snout pointing to the west where the Nehemarran Sea joined with the Sea of Desolation. The Sea of Desolation, with its vengeful currents running south, ran down the length of Tiygurr's ears and came to a stop in Luvak Bay. It was this particular Bay that made a short curved snout, with the grand city of Noëlle resting right on her very nose. And the rest of the head, from chin to neck, was enveloped in the gentle, warm embrace of the Nehemarran Sea.

Chimera Sea screamed never-ending wails towards the back of Tiygurr's ears and its shivery echo ran south along Tiygurr's head. Strong gales accosted all that dared to cross its path with harsh screams and never-dying keens.

Despite the roughness of the seas embracing the east and west sides, the Amaran Province was fair and mild, favoring gentle, warm breezes blowing in from the Nehemarran and bone-chilling, gusts from the Sea of Desolation. It was because of this mild weather that The Amaran province was best known for its grand forests of majestic trees; especially the Currath and the Feyan.

But there was one sole forest that grew only in Amaran, and many traveled the length of Tiygurr to catch a glimpse of the grand Currath trees. Their trunks were so large that it would take fifty men, with fingertips touching to embrace them. It was not the size of the trunk or even the height of the tree that made these trees a sight to behold; it was the shade of their leaves.

From early spring, to the height of summer these leaves were a shade of pink so light and intense, the very leaves seemed to glow in the light of the sinking sun and their bark was as dark as a starless sky. The contrast was startling the dark bark against the bright intensity of the pink leaves but it could not compare to the sight of the leaves during the end of summer and through the fall.

The pink leaves were at their brightest on the summer solstice but from that day after, the leaves darkened until they reach the most startling shade of scarlet. And thus this forest was named; The Skar'lette forest but most just call it the Skar. From what was seen, not a single tree, besides the Currath grew inside this forest; which started at Teema point and ended at The Sisters Five, the five large mountains separating the minuscule piece of land that marked the borders of Amaran from her sister Ciy'bria.

The Skar'lette Forest embraced the North Tiybur River at its start at Teema point all the way north, through The Eye of Kran'ish, and then as the North Tiybur broke into the Serenas River; The Skar rode along its back. From a bird's view, it looked as though a great scar mangled the misshapen face of Tiygurr, from ears to neck.

There was only one spot in this entire forest where a different tree grew inside the Skar but it resided within The Eye of Kran'ish; a grand series of mountain ranges that formed into a perfect ring and the land that resided within The Eye was nearly forgotten by all. Only those specialized travelers and scholars even remembered there was land within that ring. This entire land was also covered with the unwavering beauty of the Feyan tree.

The Feyan were twice as large as her sisters with leaves the shade of dark, deep gold and bark as white as the snow that adorned the peaks. What a beautiful sight it would be to any that dared to cross The Eye. The stark, almost harsh contrast of the black and white trunks and the great gold leaves fluttering about with the Currath, like splashes of blood against golden skin, made for the most intoxicating sight.

Every child past the age of six and who has had schooling of any kind, knew that the North Tiybur river forked into the West Tiybur, branching to the west and the Serenas, branching to the south. What they didn't know was that nestled between these two great rivers was a minuscule village called Eight Branches, a village so small it passed from recognition. Not many traveled through The Eye, who in their right mind would? It was a treacherous place, with its high peaks and impossible trails. 

The Eye's peaks contained unpredictable weather changing every sixth of a candle; it could be calm and silent one moment and next it was a swirling mass of snow and cloud obscuring everything in its path. But inside The Eye, just like a hurricane or a tornado, was as calm as a cool summer day. In fact, The Eye contained the fairest and most pleasant weather imaginable, it had calm cool autumns that welded into fair winters that in turn sprang into the most pleasant of springs.

It was during one of these calm, cool autumn days at precisely half second blue a lone figure ran from the village of Eight Branches across the Serenas and into the Skar'lette forest; its silent footsteps, slightly rustling the leaves carpeting the ground.

A quarter of a candle later, two figures made their way across the tiny village and across the Serenas, led by a giant dog. The dog sat at five hands and seven fingers and weighed a whopping two hundred and sixty stones; it was by far one of the largest dogs to ever grace the land of Tiygurr.

This particular breed of dog was called a Bour hound and its one skill was in the art of tracking. Its nose was so sensitive it could distinguish the odor of its prey in a 50-day radius. And if its prey had passed a certain area, the hound could smell it, it did not matter if its prey had passed a few candles ago or a few weeks ago and sometimes moons ago, the hound knew. The hound could not be tricked by crossing a river or rubbing different scents on the skin; even beast urine did not deter it. Only one plant that grew could impede the hound's senses, but it grew in the middle of the Khalaremet Desert. It was this giant creature that lead the two figures into The Skar'lette forest.