Cromaria

(Shadow Kingdom) a Curse, a Burden, and an unconditional Promise

"how is he doc, will he be ok"? " I don't know, the good news is that his life is not in critical condition but he is in a state of unconsciousness, to which I can't tell when he is going to awake from it. All we can do is wait, also your not allowed to have weapons in here". "It's not mine nor do I intend to let the man who is after it, get his hands on it." "Well if someone is after you why not report it to high Council"? "I plan on doing that but I wanted to make sure my dad was ok first" "well if need be I can help get someone to sneak it to the council if you're worried about the man spotting you" "that isn't a bad idea, but I fear the man isn't easy to fool considering he seems dangerously eager to get this sword" "then what you need is a disguise to help sneak to the council" "alright but, I need a coat, it's a great way to sneak and smuggle things around. Hell, even the guy chasing me was wearing one." "Ok, well I will let you borrow one of my old coats, it should have enough space to hide the sword, given that you use the inside pockets that it has."

After careful preparation, Keith is now ready to hide within the crowd and get the sword to the high Council. "Thanks doc, sorry for causing ya trouble." "don't worry about it, just be safe out there, otherwise I might be seeing you back here again and I don't know if I will be able to keep you alive." Keith manages to sneak into the crowd and use the crowd to hide while making his way to the council hall. Dracwyn is close by but is having trouble spotting Keith. "Damn it where is he" says getting frustrated with all he has to put up with. Keith heads into the council building with a long hall. "Hello, someone please help, I'm being chased by a man who wants to get his hands on this sword"! Lucky there was a local shaman around near the entrance who happened to around. "What man, and why does he want the sword"? "I don't know why, he just does". Sudden at the end of the hall Dracwyn enters the building, "I found you... Now hand over the sword and I won't kill". "Ah Dracwyn, it's been too long, tell me how's your king been treating you"? "Pretty good, I gotta say being a warlord has it's perks, like being able to do what ever the hell I want." "Same old, same old, well sorry to rain on your parade, but..." The shaman throws 4 strands of paper around Dracwyn in a square formation. "Sealing spell; element & physical bind" the shaman yelled out stopping Dracwyn from moving or using magic. Keith is in awe seeing a shaman use magic, "wow, magic never ceases to amaze me when used for good". "You know how that one saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, well I guess for you shaman that apparently becomes so when old age gets to ya" said Dracwyn chuckling as he punches the ground.

In a matter of seconds the ground grows spikes and rips the sealing papers.

"But how, you shouldn't have been able to move much less be able to use magic." "Well, like I said being a warlord can have it's perks." "So this is a Warlord's power, it's breath taking. I don't know what to do, what if the shaman can't beat him, what do I do, Keith thought as he started to panic. "Now listen boy, give me that sword!" "Why do you even want this sword, don't you have enough power as is?!" "If you must know, that sword can give a person power, those who are worthy of wielding the sword after it has had a shadow gem placed in, can gain magic and power that with enough training, can rival that of a warlord. But in the hands of a warlord, it could increase their power and magic by 3 times of their normal intake of magic and power they already possess. Those who aren't worthy are either are forced into a coma or are striped of who they once we're, turning into a lifeless corpse forced to wonder the land as ghoul". "But how do you know that a warlord won't turn out like that" Keith said. "Because, a Warlord's power is never questioned when it comes to what ever weapon he or she may wield". "We Warlord's have been around long enough to have had separate stories written about each and everyone of us."

"So, what's it going to be Keith, hand over the sword or take your chances with trying to use the sword to try and best me combat?" Keith's sister finally makes it to Keith in pain. "Keith no don't, I don't want to lose 2 family members to a dangerous sword". "Better listen to your sister, you don't want to take a risk that could have a chance of taking away your life if you fail the test" the shaman said with serious look mixed in with being worried. Keith had 2 choices that were difficult to make. One choice that came with a deadly risk and one that ends up making Dracwyn stronger.