A Christmas Tale

Luke's Story 1: Medieval Tale

The king of a faraway land summons his servants to the throne room, each kneeling before him with the utmost respect as the three heroes await their next mission. The large room is slightly chilling as the curtains hardly cover the sight of the freezing storm that continues to brew around the kingdom. Chunks of snow slam against the windows and walls, creating an ominous thumping in all directions. Despite the loud noise, none of the knights moves a muscle as the king taps him finger expectedly while he watches the bowed heads of those in front of his. "You may rise!" The king speaks forcefully as his servants move to their feet, each standing at attention as another moment of short silence begins "I assume you all know why you are here?" He continues opening him hand towards them as if to receive a response. The first knight holds the handle of their blade with both hands before them, tapping it against the ground lightly as she speaks "Is there a great beast that's terrorising the city sir?" She retains a serious composure as she projects, her short blonde locks standing still as her armour shines like a statue. The king shakes his head "I'm afraid that it's a fate much worse than a mere creature." She breaks slightly, looking surprised as the next knight takes a step forward. He unhooks his sword's sheath, placing it to his side as he leans against it slightly "A foreign army is trying to invade?" The knight seems unsure but still presents the idea with confidence as the king shakes his head once again "Fortunately no, the kingdom of Quaxidum is not attacking as of current." The final servant stands forward, she's different to the others as she doesn't wear a gleaming set of silver, instead, she wears a flame-coloured cloak that conceals her body almost completely. The front of the clock opens, showing a similarly coloured tunic as a dark brown staff is placed behind her head. She stands there for a moment, the large jagged purple gem at the head of the staff emitting a light glow as she relaxes her footing. She slams the stick into the ground, exclaiming her theory with great volume as the crystal glows with anticipation "A great army of monsters has come to ravage our fair kingdom of everyone's possessions." The king thinks for a moment as the other knights relax a little, staring at the Mage and then the king with confusion as this suggestion is even being considered. "That is a close summary, Ms Great Mage but what we're dealing with is a slight bit faster than a couple of mere monsters. The first knight places her sword back into her sheath as the second knight re-hooks his equipment. "You're sending us to go catch some thieves?" He says, losing his fixed position as the king continues regardless "We are yet to have a visual on it and it's said to have taken everything from the lower cities in a matter of hours." The two knights seem to be taken back as the Mage just nods "So that's why you're sending your best team?" The king sighs "Normally, I wouldn't send you on such a basic quest but it just so happened to take a precious gift for my daughter from beneath my nose. I need you to retrieve it as soon as possible." The king says with a worried look of desperation as the first knight still stands at a loose attention "We shall do this service for you my lord." She projects her voice as they all bow and begin to leave in an organised line. The Mage breaks formation slightly as she casually walks behind, arms behind her head as the staff is held down her back. The great doors open as they all leave the king in peace and he sighs "I hate to waste their time like this..." The first knight leans against the wall, breathing slightly heavier than normal "Every time we meet the king... It's still terrifying" The second knight nods "It's not that bad... Meanwhile our Mage..." He turns to face her as she begins walking away, as he grabs the back of her pointed hat. "Hey!" She turns and grabs at it as he stands tall above her, holding her hat way out of her reach. She grabs her staff as two guards raise their spears towards her. Her attention immediately turns to them as the spears are placed a meter away from her stomach. She instinctively lowers the crystal towards them as her eyes begin to glow "Put down the staff!" One of the king's guards shouts as they prepare their strike, unknowingly backing up a little as the Mage begins to scowl. "Put down your weapons! All of you!" Another voice echoes down the hall as the Mage nods "About time you supported me..." She turns over to the first knight as she stares at the Mage "'All of you... Right..." She lowers her staff and begins to put it away as her hat is returned. "Two rules were about to be broken here: 'No magic in the castle' and 'don't threaten the Mage of the north, it'll only provoke her.' I will not bring either of these up later if you don't mention this to the king." The first knight starts formally, slowly shifting to a plead before the guards nod in agreement, chuckling slightly as they return to their posts "Thank you southern Paladin, we agree to your terms." They place their spears across their bodies, blocking the door to the throne room once again. "We shall return in a few days, keep the king safe while we're out won't you?" The second knight begins as the Paladin rolls her eyes at his blatant cockiness. "We will eastern Crusader Sir, the king is safe with us!" They salute as their grips of the spears loosens slightly. They catch themselves as the group walks away and the Paladin whispers "You sure that they won't accidentally kill each other with those?" They turn a corner and the mage's ears twitch as she grabs both of their arms "You lack faith; they can't kill themselves with foam spears." And with that they teleport as one of the guards races towards them, arm outstretched to grab her cloak. A single letter falls to the ground with the mages fancy writing drawn carefully over it "Better luck next time." A small heart is drawn at the end as if to taunt them as the group reappears inside the largest of the middle cities. Snow begins to pile on top of their armour as they begin to shiver. The Mage raises her staff, pointing it to the sky as several lines of fire protrude from the crystal before connecting to create a moderately sized tarp over the top of them as they all warm themselves for a moment. "A warning would have been nice..." The Paladin brushes the small amount of snow from her armour as the Crusader just shrugs "No point worrying now, I feel as though she had to move before the guards caught her." The Paladin's eyes just widen "You actually turned their weapons into foam?" "Well they threatened me, did they not?" The Mage cocks her head as the Paladin begins again "Change their spears back!!" She flails as the Mage taps a tiny gem on the bottom of her staff as a flash engulfs the area. "Done; happy spoilsport?" The Mage starts before the Crusader interjects as something flies by at an incredible speed. A second passes as they begin to chase into the road where it passed as a great gust of wind follows it, blowing out the flaming umbrella as it does so. The three heroes are forced to the ground as the Mage looks up, her eyes glowing with white rage as she grabs her two armoured companions. The Crusader smiles, prepping himself for a downward stab as the Crusader's surroundings change. Another flash of light engulfs them before the group is holding onto the speeding object with the mere strength of the Crusader's sword. He looks forward and then back as he finds himself alone. The giant moving structure is bright red, a small green creature pilots it and hasn't noticed his extra weight as the Crusader slowly scales up the back of the vehicle to grab the creature as he finally makes it to the seating area. He tears his sword into the cushion as the creature stays unmoving, piloting the creation like it's life depends on it. The Crusader waits until they're on a straight road before grabbing the reins and pulling back, giving the creature a deadly shock as it jolts forwards, hitting its head against the front of the cart as it comes to a halt immediately. The Crusader leans back, every muscle in his body aching as he sighs. "Time for interrogation..." He prepares a swing at the creature as he turns to face it, quickly being forced to stop by an invisible force. His arm is repelled backwards with the same force that it hit as he bashes his back against the side of the cart. "Careful where you wave that thing..." He turns his head back to the creature to find it in the hands of the mage who is nonchalantly pointing the staff at him. The Paladin jumps over the side next to the Crusader, holding her hands out as a dim golden light emits from her fingertips. The Crusader's limbs loosen up a bit, aching less and less as the Paladin sighs "Why couldn't you have teleported him to the seat in the first place..." She looks over the mage who is now holding a piece of paper as she puts the small creature into her satchel. "The sleigh was moving at over four hundred miles per hour, just be glad that I let you give him a protection spell before he went." The Crusader perks his head up and smiles at the Paladin "Thanks you Milady" He says with sincerity as he places his hand on hers for a moment, signalling for her to stop healing. He then turns to the Mage before speaking in a serious tone "Sleigh? What could possibly be pulling this?" The Mage just shakes her head "You have eyes, look forward." She says sarcastically as she begins examining the wood in front of the driver. The two's eyes inch forward as they find themselves looking at the backsides of twelve deer, each scraping their hooves in the snow as if they're ready to run at any moment. "Even if they were enchanted with all the magic power in the kingdom it wouldn't be enough to make then move that quickly while keeping them alive." The Paladin exclaims in shock as the mage nods "If they were enchanted that would be true..." She hops out of the driver's side, following the reins with her hand before she reaches the back most deer. She touches its neck before jolting her hand away for a moment, eyes widening as she begins to scribble something else down. She runs back, throwing her staff at the Crusader as he catches it in shock "Buckle up you two!" She yells as a smile runs across her face. Her hands begin to glow her signature red as the entire craft begins to float slightly before jolting into a sprint, increasing in speed quickly as everything around them becomes a blur. They fly off into the night as the Mage's body seems to move at the speed of light to keep them from crashing before they stop in an instant, the Mage looking over with a mischievous smile on her face.