Tales of Terra #1: Legends of Old

Through Light & Darkness

While the two of them were sitting there in silence, Alredon took one of the rabbits off the flames to make sure that they were done. He pulled a small piece of meat off one of the hind legs before popping it into his mouth. As Alredon chewed the darkened meat within his mouth, he was able to tell it was finished cooking. So he took the second rabbit off the fire and offered it to Klissa around the open flames. She didn't react to his offer at first, but they both knew that she was going to need to eat for when they kept moving the following morning.
"Thanks," Klissa quietly said as she grabbed the darkened stick, taking it from Alredon.
"Welcome," Alredon responded as he moved back to sitting on his sleepsack and started to eat his rabbit. "So what's your story?" Alredon asked, wanting to change the subject to something a bit more positive as he got closer to the fire to get warmer. He was kind of feeling bad for making their last conversation a bit depressing from the whole subject of warfare and bloodshed. But the expression on Klissa's face only seemed to become a bit more depressed after hearing her companions' request. He could tell that her past didn't seem much brighter than his, for he could see the signs of someone with a painful history.
"I guess that was the deal we made, wasn't it?" There was sadness within her voice as she looked down at the rabbit in front of her, making Alredon feel a bit bad for asking her about it.
"Only if you want to. If you don't, then that's fine, I'm certain we could think of something else to talk about."
"Nay, it's fine. You seem like an honorable and trustworthy person," Klissa said as she looked up towards Alredon. "As you probably know, my family is a good size noble family from the land of Decus, the younger twin of Alitura from across the inland sea." It was common knowledge that the two continents were separated by the small inland sea and how it was almost like an invisible wall between two completely different worlds.
"Well, I am the eldest child and heiress to my father's lands and titles but he has told me on several occasions that he would have preferred a son for a firstborn so he could teach them to hunt, fight, and grow to become a true lord of his lands." Alredon had heard that some families and cultures would prefer to have a boy to be their first instead of a girl for a variety of reasons. Some people have even been said to kill girl firstborns so that way they could claim that they really had a boy firstborn. He was just partially relieved that Klissa was spared from such an extreme.
"That is a terrible thing for a father to say to their child."
"Aye, well my parents tried again and that's how I got my two brothers and a sister," Klissa explained as she sat her rabbit atop her saddle as she spoke. "It wouldn't surprise me if he tries to go to the king to make it so his first son becomes his heir instead of me."
"Do you want to be the lady of his lands?" he asked, getting the feeling that she didn't really want to be a lady.
"I don't know. It's a complicated situation."
"I know how that can be," Alredon said as he looked over and set a hand on his sword, thinking of his father. "At least you still have your father in your life."
"What do you mean? What happened to your's?" She seemed confused by the words he had given her.
"My father left me and my mother before I went to war, leaving me nothing but a letter and this sword." His thoughts shot back to when he found the letter in his bedroom with a key to a box that contained the sword he was told he would get when he came of age. "I figured out later on that he had gone to be with his mercenary group in some distant part of the world."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay. I've been trying to get past it ever since."
"I had more of a connection with other members of my family than my parents. Especially my grandmother, she had stories from different parts of the world and she loved hearing me sing," Klissa said as she wiped off a tear that tried escaping from underneath her left eye. "But I lost her a couple of years ago. She was the first person that I saw their spiritual energy leave their body. Almost felt like she was leaving me."
"I'd like to believe that family members wouldn't go to the fires if they didn't know that their loved ones wouldn't be okay when they were gone." A couple more tears appeared from her face as he spoke. He got up and handed her a small rag from one of his pouches to help her wipe away the tears.
"After she died, it was my cousin, Stacy, who tried to take care of me. But I think she knew that she was probably not going to be able to fill in the hole that had appeared in my heart." She attempted to pull herself back together, taking a couple of deep breaths through her nose and out her mouth. "It's kind of funny really. To most people she is this strong female warrior that could probably handle anything, but when we talk, she seems to want to talk about me getting married," this thought brought a smile to her face.
"Sounds like a remarkable woman," Alredon said as he sat next to Klissa, going back to eating his rabbit as he listened to her.
"Aye, she hopes that one day I'll meet the one man that'll fill in the hole that she's been trying to fill." She then grabbed her rabbit from the saddle and took a bite out of it. "I've had quite a few suitors but none of them were the one that she's been hoping for."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Aye, but out of all of them, there was one that I will never forget."
"Why's that?" he asked as he took another bite of rabbit before grabbing another couple of sticks and tossing them into the fire. "Was he so good that your father didn't approve of him?"
"He abused me," those three words almost made Alredon choke on the bit of food within his mouth.
"Excuse me?"
"Aye. He would beat me but made sure to not hit my face so no one would be able to see the bruises he left behind," Klissa said, attempting to not start crying again, seeming like she was feeling the pain she had felt all over again. "What probably made it worse was that he only did it when no one else was around. Acting like he was treating me like a royal while around others."
"Why didn't you tell someone about him?" He stopped eating his rabbit and looked over at Klissa's face, wanting to know why she didn't ask for help.
"Not one person believed me. If I tried showing them the bruises he'd make sure they would think I just hurt myself in one form or another." She set her hands and the skewered rabbit on her lap as she talked. "But that changed when my father and cousin came upon us one day as he was hitting me. He had his guards hold them off while he ran away."
"Figures. A coward when it came to someone who could actually fight back."
"Well, my father told his family what he had been doing and they had banished him from their homeland. I never heard of him again, leaving my father to think that I am delicate and need to be protected." Her tone changed from being sad to being upset as she went back to eating her rabbit.
"Can't say that I don't blame him. Considering how that thug treated you in his own house. It's disgraceful." He went back to eating on his rabbit as well, hoping that she wasn't going to say anything else that would make him choke again. "At least the bastard lost everything he had."
"Aye and maybe so, but I'm stronger than I look," based off of what she had told him, he wasn't willing to question such a statement.
"Is that the real reason why you ran away to find this beast?" Alredon asked as he finished his rabbit, tossing the bones and stick into the fire to be consumed by the flames. He was starting to feel like he understood the motivation behind her actions of running away to go searching for monsters in distant lands. Of course the only one who would be able to confirm the thoughts within his head, was the person who did it in the first place.
"Aye. I guess that was part of it," she said, slowly eating her rabbit, still having a bit more left. "But I felt like it was something that I needed to do. I don't know, it is kind of hard to explain."
"I can understand that. Sometimes there are just things that one needs to do," he said as he got up and returned his sleepsack. "One doesn't really need a reason for doing it. So long as you know that it is something that you have to do." A smile appeared on Klissa's face once again as she looked up at him.
"You are a pretty understanding guy."
"Well when you live in a place where almost everyone doesn't want to even look at you, you tend to become understanding of what others feel," as Alredon spoke he looked over and saw the two horses almost watching the two of them talking.
"That kind of thing must've been even harder when you went to war."
"Actually it was easier, because everyone there needed to trust each other or they'd die. So I managed to earn the trust of quite a few Qitarans, especially the ones that I saved right before they were killed."
"When my father fought in that battle he said he saw you weilding a glowing spear, is this true?"
"Swordstaff but aye that was true."
"Can I see?" They both sat there in silence for a couple of seconds with Klissa continuing to eat what was left of her rabbit. He thought about it for a second before giving her a smile as he grabbed the handle of his sword. Within seconds the light blue spike on the hilt started to glow a vibrant bright blue with more light coming from within the scabbard. Klissa looked at the light in amazement like she was looking at the most beautiful thing in the world.
"You can just do that?" She just stared at the glowing hilt as she asked, clearly not wanting to remove her eyes from it.
"Aye. Any member of my family can make it glow at will so long as they are concentrating on it enough," he smiled as he watched her reaction to his weapon before taking his hand off of the handle making the light fade away. "Just another one of the enchantments that were made into it when it was forged."
"And you used this while in combat?"
"Aye. I can make the spike and the blade bright enough to blind people, giving me an opening while in a fight." As he explained what he'd use the glow for, Klissa tossed the remains of her rabbit into the fire. "But I could also use the glow to help light my way through darkness instead of using something like a torch."
"Would you tell me the story behind it?"
"Behind my weapon?"
"Aye. I have heard stories of a spear or swordstaff like that but I'm wondering if there is any truth behind them."
"Depends on what you heard," he said as he set his blade next to his knapsack as he prepared to go to sleep. As the light blue of the spike glinted in the light of the fire.
"That it was forged by the same gods that created the world and how it fell to earth in a ball of blue fire." This made Alredon giggle as he heard what people must be saying about his family's heirloom. "Why do you laugh?" She asked as she grabbed her water bag from her saddle to wash down the rabbit.
"Because it is fun to hear how much stories change throughout the years."
"So what's the truth?" He could tell she was genuinely curious about the history of his weapon. "Come on, I want to know the truth about historical things like that so if something isn't accurate I'd like to know."
"My ancestor created Illumina inside of a god forge."
This statement made Klissa spit out the water she had drank hitting some of the fire, almost putting it partially out with steam rising from it.
"You serious? It is said that those created some of the most powerful items in all of Terra history?"
Alredon noticed that she was extremely excited about the news, seeming to look at his weapon like she did when it was glowing.
"Aye."
Klissa jumped to her feet, pacing back and forth as the excitement within her became more visually noticeable. This reaction made Alredon raise an eyebrow as he watched her pace around. A small smile slowly spread across his face as he thought that her reaction to that revelation was kinda cute.
"Surely you didn't think that it was just a normal enchanted swordstaff, did you?" He made it sound like enchanted items were pale imitations to that of his swordstaff and others like it.
"Well, I mean... I don't know. I knew it was different but I didn't expect it to be that much different," Klissa said, almost admiring Alredon's swordstaff from the other side of the fire. "Especially since many believe that such items don't exist anymore."
"I've seen a couple in my life, but they are rare enough for me to understand why people believe that," Alredon said as he looked down at the white gem within Illumina's guard.
"You must tell me the story behind such a blade!" Klissa almost demanded, looking like an explorer after they just discovered something huge.
"It happened a long time ago, back during the Age of Shadows, which as I'm certain you know, monsters and dark arts seemed to cover all of Terra during that time, causing death and destruction wherever they went." As he spoke, he noticed how Klissa watched with a small glint in her eyes as he looked into the light of their fire. "An ancestor of mine had heard of how a pack of monsters were heading for his village and decided he needed to find someone who could help him save them all," Alredon said, making it sound like an impossible task.
"He had travelled for ten days until he had managed to find a natural god forge and someone who lived near it. As a sign of respect, my ancestor knelt down before them and begged for him to use the god forge to help create something he could use to slay the pack." Alredon remembered hearing this story back when he was a kid from his father, since it was one of the reasons why he wanted to be able to become good enough to be able to earn the right to wield Illumina. "The smith agreed to do it but told him that it wasn't going to be cheap, which my ancestor had expected for something as great as his request. My ancestor presented to the smith a wooden carving of a swordstaff design he had created, a small white gem that was his family's heirloom at the time, and a small nugget of adamantine,"
"Wait! A solid nugget adamantine? But something like that is almost nonexistent," Klissa exclaimed.
"It was only the size of an apple seed, so nothing over the top like the size of a grapefruit. May I continue with the story?" Alredon asked, sounding a bit annoyed with the interruption Klissa created.
"Aye, of course. Please continue," she continued to watch him closely as he continued to tell his family's story.
"The smith took the items before him into the forge and within two days returned to my ancestor with a bright blue swordstaff, telling him he had put as much power into it as he could. He said in order to unlock its true power, he must give it a name and speak it in a time he would need it," Alredon continued as he rubbed the white gem as he spoke.
"So, if you say Illumina, then you'd be able to unlock its true power?"
"Nay, Illumina is just a nickname that my family gave it so people wouldn't know the true way of unlocking its secrets. If that makes any sense."
"In a strange way, it makes a lot of sense. If it's true name was common knowledge, then any thief would be able to take it and use its powers to do whatever they want." Klissa sounded quite intrigued by how powerful such a weapon must be.
"Indeed. The smith wished my ancestor luck in saving his home from being destroyed and with that my ancestor made his way back home with great speed. He made it right before the monsters got there and stood between the large pack and his village," Alredon said, gripping the handle of Illumina tight enough to turn his knuckles white. "One man stood against twenty-four monsters the size of small bears. He stood alone with his new swordstaff in hand as he called out the name he chose, making his weapon glow with a blue light so bright that all twenty-four monsters disintegrated within its glow."
He looked over to see Klissa's eyes grow wide at the sound of someone being able to slay such powerful beasts with ease.
"Just like that?"
"Aye. But at a cost. Being human, his mortal body wasn't able to handle the level of power that was unleashed all at once," Alredon replied, his voice becoming sadder than it was before.
"He gave his life but was able to save his home, right?"
"Aye. Before his life left his eyes, he gave his weapon to his son and whispered in his ear its secret, a secret kept within my family ever since." Alredon lightly rubbed his hand on Illumina, remembering how many of his ancestors died because they were human and unable to wield such power. He hoped with being half Qitaran, he could use its power and not meet the same fate as his ancestors.
"How many people in your family wielded Illumina?"
"I do not know, but the story of the one who made Illumina had been told to every member of my family or at least the ones who were meant to use it next." When he looked up, he saw the amazement within Klissa's eyes. "After a thousand years, both men and several women have wielded the swordstaff and have slayed many monsters, both beast and person alike throughout the years but to my knowledge only a handful of them have been remembered to this day."
"Women have used Illumina? I thought only men could be warriors."
"The kingdoms of men generally knight men but on this side of the world there have been women who were warriors, fighters that could bring even the strongest men to their knees."
This news seemed to shock Klissa. Alredon knew in almost all of the stories of knights and warriors of old, they were usually men who fought while the women stayed home, praying they would return home soon.
"Why wouldn't they tell stories of such warriors?"
This question made Alredon chuckle before looking her in the eye with a light hearted smile on his face. "Because they were written by men."
His response made Klissa laugh too.
"Aye that sounds about right."
They both laughed as Alredon tossed a couple more sticks into the fire before getting into his sleep sack.
"We should get some sleep. We have a lot of riding to do tomorrow."
"Okay. Sleep well, Alredon." As Klissa said goodnight she wrapped herself within her sleepsack and set her head on her saddle.
"You too, Klissa." He looked at her with a smile on his face for a few seconds before he grabbed the handle of his blade with his hand. Afterwards he wrapped himself within his sleepsack, making sure Illumina was in his grip before closing his eyes as he went to sleep. As soon as he did, his eyes shot wide open as he awoke back within the Trenchen Fields. The bodies of his comrades littered the ground around him as he saw Illumina underneath some corpses. Alredon quickly grabbed the blue and crimson sword before he started to crawl out of the crater he was in.
"Nay. Not again," he told himself as he looked out across the desolate wasteland before him.
"Alredon! Alredon help!" A female voice called out to him, to which he got to his feet and spun around to see Klissa running towards him with the death horseman chasing her upon their massive steed. He looked to the side, finding Asher next to him, ready to run towards her.
"Come on boy! Show me the meaning of speed!" Alredon commanded before Asher started running towards Klissa with incredible speed. He moved Illumina to his left hand as he tried reaching his arm out to grab Klissa and swing her onto Ashers back. But before he got close enough, Death threw her massive scythe through the air piercing through Klissa's back and out her chest. Asher quickly came to a stop as he looked down at her dead body before she shot towards Death. Once their scythe was back in their hand Klissa's body went flying off the blade, landing in a pool of blood.
"You failed her just like you did the others, Comet Knight. What will you do now?" Death asked as her piercing blue eyes stared at Alredon, striking fear into his heart. Before quickly breaking free of that feeling, filling his heart with anger at the being who took away all of his friends within the fields, he could feel his body tense up and prepare to spring into action.
"I will strike you down! To make sure you don't take anyone else from this world!" Alredon cried out as he put Illumina back into his right hand, making the entirety of its blade to glow a bright blue.
"No one can stop death," with that Death started charging towards Alredon and Asher with a faster speed than Asher had produced before. He created a loud war cry as he gripped Asher's reins tightly, charging towards the horsemen, prepared to shove Illumina into whatever Death had that would be considered a heart. As the two riders got close to each other, Alredon extended Illumina into its full form, creating a flash of light as they both swung their blades at each other. This forced him to sit up from his sleepsack with beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. His hand was gripping Illumina's handle so tightly that his hand was pale enough to belong to a corpse.
"You okay?" This question made Alredon jump, quickly spinning his head around to see Klissa looking at him from her sleepsack. He started blinking his eyes as he looked around, realizing that he was back at the campsite with his companion. The campfire had long burned out, leaving only black coals behind.
"Aye. I'm okay."
"It was the Trenchen Fields, wasn't it?" Klissa asked as she sat up, looking at Alredon unhand his own weapon.
"Aye." He rubbed his hand, trying to get some color back into it as he continued to look about the campsite. "I saw the Death horseman, but this time..."
"This time what?"
"I fought her. I charged directly at them while upon Asher's back, hoping that I was going to remove her head with Illumina," Alredon looked over at Asher who was eating some particularly long grass.
"Asher was at the Trenchen Fields? You didn't tell me that," there was a bit of a surprised and slightly confused tone in her voice.
"Nay, I met Asher after returning home from the battle," Alredon seemed confused from the dream he had experienced. Usually it was just him back at the Trenchen Fields seeing the horrors of that battle all over again. But this time Klissa and Asher were there, almost like his dreams were changing into something else.
"So why would you dream about him being there with you?" Klissa sounded almost as confused as Alredon was.
"I don't know. When it comes to dreams, we probably will never know," he said as he got up and started to stretch his legs and look at the blue morning air around them. "We should pack up and start moving as quickly as we can." They both packed up their things and let their horses drink a little bit more water before putting their saddles on. While back on the road, Alredon continued to think as to why his dream had changed to fit what was going on in the present.
"Are you sure you are okay? It seems like you have something on your mind," Klissa asked as she made sure to ride at Alredon's side.
"I'll be fine. We should be concentrating on what we'll do if we run into your beast." It was obvious that he wanted to try thinking of something else so he could move past his dream, but he worried that he wouldn't be able to.
"All I really know about it is that it is really fast and comes out at night."
"So it might be sensitive to light like other creatures that live in darkness." This made him start to think that whatever is there, he might have an advantage by having a weapon that can generate a lot of light.
"Plus it is also possible that it has a lair nearby that it would go to after attacking the village and to hide from sunlight." Alredon figured that his best chance at beating whatever this creature was, it was during the day when it was less active. But he got the feeling that if it exists, it'll put up more of a fight than he would like.