Bang! Ding! "OW!" The din coming from outside Kalig's cabin was deafening and woke him up. There were screams outside. ?!?!
His mind was racing, what about mother? He grabbed his knife, bow and quiver and set out to find out what was happening.
Villages around his cabin were signaled by trails of smoke.What is happening? Fire and smoke blanketed the skies. Whoosh! A streak of tan and white flashed by him. It was an arrow struck in a log beside him, a close quick inspection showed that they were arrows made by the Paoken. Why is the Paoken attacking? It's been 3 years since the treaty!
It was 3 years since Kalig's 17th name day and the peace treaty between the Baltaz and Paoken. Under his fathers tutelage, he worked hard and became a hunter till this day.
Yelling was heard from the nearest village. Kalig ran to the village with hurried thoughts. Through the branches and thorns while he was sprinting, he saw people cloaked in dark, black cloaks, some had armor with the color of black and for some reason saw abnormal mutilated bones. As he finally got out of the forest, he noticed the insignia on the cloaks. The insignia confirmed it was the Paoken as it was a circle with a vertical line going through it. Many did not know where the insignia came from as it seemed like it was alien.
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Swish! As his muscles tensed and relaxed at several points, he strung his bow. The finesse and impulse of a hunter were nothing compared to the vulgarity of the Paoken.
"Help!" an elderly couple were running away from some form of horror with the insignia engraved on it's back.
A flick of the wrist and a dozen of ebony tipped arrows were streaking through the air to the horror. The arrows were on target and impaled the flesh. The arrows that missed however, twisted brokenly through the air to reach its target like a homing missile.
During the second year, Duah taught Kalig how to use green and white magic to trap prey and enemies. Kalig was gifted in this as he already had an affinity for combining magic with weaponry.
Like my dad would have, Kalig thought as he was impressed by himself.
"Go to the kingdom's evacuation center!" Kalig ordered to the couple. They then huddled away frightened.
A loud roar deafened the air between Kalig and the center of the village. A Paoken horror was at the center of the village. He was confused about what it was doing because it was corrupting the very village at it's presence. Kalig was slipped away into a state of delirium.
Kalig awoke, not at the village, but in a forest. "This is how you use a bow Kalig." said a familiar voice. It was Duah. "Aghh!" moaned a another voice. It was Kalig in his 1st year as a hunter in training. "Don't be silly, it will take training for your arm muscles to handle the bow string. You have to keep practicing." Then everything faded to darkness. Once again, the background around Kalig changed. It was him and Duah in his late 3rd year hunting a graceful antelope. As they were tracking it, a dark presence loomed over them. It was a Paoken horror, the monster had a mix of arms and eyes. The Paoken horror had grabbed young Kalig. "Nooo!" yelled Duah as he fired a flurry of arrows to the horror. It was but to no avail. Then Duah made the ultimate sacrifice and used all of his power to fight the horror and save Kalig but at a cost. "Kalig, run home! Promise me you will keep Nuren and Baltaz safe! You are now a hunter. Do not disappoint me!" as Duah yelled as he was being crushed at the weight of the horror. Then young Kalig ran away crying tears of fear while also saying his promise.
Kalig then suddenly faded into reality. This horror was the very same horror that killed Duah. A wave of anger, frustration and fear brushed over him. Next came a wave of resolve. I promised that mother and Baltaz will be safe to father, I plan on keeping this promise. He devised a strategy that would impress Duah, even as a royal hunter. He would flank the monster on the left walking on green leylines while procuring a white magical wall.
The leylines under him vibrated at first but then materialized into vines. This was the true way of a hunter, using the environment and wilds to his advantage. He swiftly jumped onto one and with the flick of the wrist, fused white mana into a solid phantasmic wall. The horror reacted by slashing at it with no success. The wall sparked and held. Kalig then brought all the mana he had gathered from the leylines and shot the vines at the monster. The vines had impaled it and then Kalig infused his arrows with white mana and shot a flurry at the monster. The monster squealed in some kind of weird language and then died. It's corpse turned to dust and being blown away in the wind.
Then low grumbles were heard coming from an area close to Kalig. It was faint a first but then kept growing. He froze at what he saw. There was a Paoken "golem" powered by what seemed to be mana from it's area. It was heading to the evacuation center to feed on people and mana.With a hurry, Kalig set upon the kingdom's evacuation center.
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art by Noah-Kh http://noah-kh.deviantart.com/art/The-Golem-317672448?q=favby%3Alordjimbob01%2F57339135&qo=237
