There were heavy rains falling onto the coastal cities. From the North and the South all places where being drenched, except for one. Rain did not fall onto the little trading town Farport. There was no trading today in Farport, nor had there been any trade for around a month. It was the second month of the year, and there were only ten more before Equinox would return. Quite suspicious.
There came a rider to town. More of a boy than man. He had a dirty dark green cloak. One that had seen as many good days as bad. The horse he rode upon was tired, winded, and terribly thirsty. They had rode for many hours with minimal stops to make time. Once the rider arrived in the center of the town he let his horse go. He took off all bags and the saddle. He had removed every last semblance of owner ship that was put onto the horse.
"You're free now. Go." Said the rider. In any normal circumstance this would have been madness. Releasing a horse to its own devices in the middle of a town. But this town was still, empty, and far too quiet. The rider started to unpack his things right in the middle of the street. Before long all of his things were strewn out onto the ground. It had what he felt were the essentials to his quest here.
A quiver, one that had been blessed by a priestess of the Church of Tora. He had three sheaves of arrows, each sheave holding arrows of a different purpose. One for hunting, one for killing, and one for extermination. For food, for people, and the Demoness.
He had food to last him two days. The rest he would have to find himself. A book of the Church of Tora, even though he could not read. As well as a variety of different tools with a wide range of purpose between them. None of which could prepare him for what would happen in the next three days.
"I'm sorry master." The rider drew a circle around him, chanting and singing blessings of protection, safety, and forgiveness. He then waited for others to come. The Prodigies. He hoped that the one by Tora would come.
...
"I don't see why we have four of us going, why not bring more." Jasper felt uncomfortable about the predicament that the Order has put him in this time. Not as though he would have gotten himself in something just as bad if the Order didn't stop him from trying to become the Rogue King. "I could have become the Rogue King."
"What's a Rogue King?" Asked Svetra. She didn't know there were three ruling parties in Aviagard. How did they get anything done, she thought.
"A sorry sorry person who thinks they can actually have some semblance of control over a very large band of people who break the law," said Nano, "a waste of time and space."
"Stop being like that." Tora was getting annoyed by Nano putting everyone down. "Everything someone has to say is a waste of time and space to you."
"That's because it is, I need more stimulating things to think and talk about."
"Like what?" Asked Jasper. "The Rogue are an important part of what happens in this country."
"How?" Svetra was still curious about how the "Rogue" and the "Rogue King" worked.
"They've always been allied with the common man, the working man, the man with everything taken from him. Everyone can find salvation within the 'Rogue'." Jasper was clear about where his loyalty stood. "Even if they so happen to be Mage Queen dogs."
"Is that so?" Asked Nano. "And what of the Nightstalkers?"
"What of them?" Replied Jasper.
"Don't you know that they were also common folk, people who had no other choice than to fight and kill for their freedom. They sought shelter with the Rogue and they turned them away."
"That was many ages ago. The Rogue had barely formed, and there was no Rogue Royalty," seethed Jasper.
"But still, they turned them away and worked with the Royals of both Aviagard and the Permagrounds. For common folk they for sure didn't find any shelter with the Rogue."
"They were beyond control!"
"And?! You claim that they are the allies of the common folk. They are nothing more than lowly dogs who only pledge to the highest bidder. No way a single person can control them."
"They've changed since then."
"This is getting boring," Svetra moaned. "What did you say this Demoness is like again?"
"No idea." Nano was blunt about his lack of knowledge on the matter.
"But I thought you were supposed to be our man with the info for this!" Tora started sounding nervous.
"Truth is that everything I've said up to this point is speculation. Once I get a good look at her I can start on finding out what she can do."
"What do you mean?" Asked Jasper
"I mean that it depends a lot on a multitude of things. If she truly is a demon, if she was summoned or made her way here, how she sustains herself, what she's after, and what she looks like."
"How does any of that change anything?" Asked Svetra.
"In ways you can't imagine. I doubt we can kill her through normal means. By that I mean that physical damage will probably be useless."
"But it worked with the Shade!" Said Tora.
"Because I made him to be so!" Nano was getting annoyed. "If I had wanted a Shade that wouldn't be terminated in the first twenty minutes of its life I would have made it immune to physical damage."
"You could do that?" Svetra was terrified at the concept of a monster that could not be harmed.
"Of course, but anybody else can do it if they know how. But we'll worry about that later. We have someone waiting for us and I feel ill intent from this person." Nano nodded towards a hooded figure sitting in the middle of the main road in the town they arrived at. Nano could sense some magic that he hadn't felt in a long time. Something godly and holy about the energies in the spells surrounding the stranger.
"Prodigies! Hail!" Waved the figure. "I have asked to help you. I have information you might find useful!"
"Who might you be?" Asked Nano. The hooded figure removed the hood and revealed a strong tan face with white tattoos along the frame of his face. Nano could see the need of revenge in the man's face.
"I am Rhet of the Bays. The South's Talons. Maybe you've heard of me."

YOU ARE READING
The Prodigies: The Return of Equinox
FantasyAn enemy that had been gone for a few hundred years is expected to return, but complications have risen a year before his arrival. Though they don't know it, our twelve heroes are the ones to fight and before the threat arrives they must first prove...