The Story of L1

Chapter 9

It was completely dark; even the stars dared not shine tonight. Citizens from other villages quickly found out about this new raid, and so the roads were empty. The usual sound of wildlife was not present as most animals around had fled from the attack on the village. Mouzyy was unsure of what, and who, they were dealing with, so he wanted to steer clear of the village. Perhaps they would set up camp somewhere near, close to the forests where they would be in cover. There, they could rest. So they set up a rudimentary camp with nothing but the essentials and went to sleep, switching guard every few hours.

It was the last shift and Kalimos was tired. Even though he was tired, he couldn't sleep so far due to the horrors of the previous night. And even though he knew better, he kept drooping, the sweet call of sleep beckoning to him. However, he was immediately jolted awake by what he thought to be a figure out in the distance. Kalimos rose up, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. The figure had disappeared. He leaned back again, turning his head to the side for some shut-eye when a voice came out of nowhere.

"Now is that how I taught you to keep guard?". Kalimos jumped up and brought up his sword, frantically looking around. The voice sounded familiar, yet he couldn't remember from where. "Calm down, Kalimos, it's only me" the voice said again, this time with the shape of a body stepping forth from the shadows. It was knight Nuclear, whom Kalimos had been a squire to a long time ago.

"It's you!" Kalimos almost shouted, but kept his voice to a whisper to avoid waking up the others. "How...?" Kalimos began but couldn't finish.

"I've been following you and your group quite some time, Kalimos" Nuclear began. He sighed. "You realise how hard it was for me to find you? It took all my willpower to avoid running up to you when I first found you" he continued. Kalimos still looked suspicious.

"Why didn't you save Piano, then?" Kalimos asked. Nuclear sighed again.

"I was too far behind to be able to do anything. The moment he entered the intersection, he was dead. There was nothing I could have done" Nuclear said. Kalimos looked down with a sad look on his face. "Why did you decide to talk to us now?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to help you avenge Piano. I recognized his killer from one of my books. The council needs me, the lore-master, back" he replied.

"So you know who killed Piano?" asked Kalimos, excited.

"Yes, I also know how they might have caused this level of destruction" Nuclear said.

Kalimos ended up talking with Nuclear for a while, mainly about what Nuclear had been doing during the time Kalimos was away. By the time they were finished talking, the early traces of morning light was visible on the horizon. Kalimos woke the others, and explained the situation before introducing them to Nuclear. At first, Moozor and Mouzyy were against joining a holy council knight, but after explaining how he might be able to help them get revenge, they quickly agreed. Pablo was mostly neutral on the topic, as he was new.

And so, it was agreed; Nuclear would bring the group to the holy council, and there, they would plan. They were close to the holy council and they would arrive by mid-day. It was a dreamy journey for the party members. Most had gotten very little useful sleep. They watched the sun as the sun seemed to fly by in the sky. Before they knew it, it was close to midday and the castles tall spires were visible.

The holy council is the biggest castle in L1. It consists mainly of an extremely tall spire, with assorted stone buildings surrounding it. The entire thing was surrounded by a tall wall. And of course, the entire thing sat on top of a rather tall hill, making the spire seem even taller by comparison. The rock used to make the constructions are made of a type of rock native to L1. It has a brilliant golden colour when hit with sunlight, and it's pretty strong. It's extremely cheap in L1, but is expensive elsewhere. Kings and Queens from other countries buy this stone to make their best palaces and castles.

The final few kilometres to the grand castle was paved with the same stone, but had faded in brilliance due to it's use. Now, they were amongst caravans and bodyguards. Moozor and Nuclear looked out of place with their armour, Moozor even more so with goblin blood splattering all over his. Yet they were not disturbed, even when they had reached the checkpoint by the gate. The guards noticed the holy council insignia on Nuclear's chest-plate, and let them through.

Kalimos, Mouzyy, and Nuclear walked on, unfazed by the hustle and bustle of daily life in the holy council's surrounding city. Yet Pablo and Moozor walked at a slower pace, taking in the sights. To someone who had never been in a city like this, it was awe-inspiring. Right now, they were right in front of the gate, on a large alleyway leading directly to the holy council spire. All around, sticking to the buildings, were stalls of various goods. Some richer merchants used the buildings themselves as stores. All the stalls had colourful dyed clothe coverings. The walls of the city were kept clean, and seemed almost like solid gold with the midday sun.

From between the crowds, a holy council knight approached. It was knight Celes. She had the same insignia on her armour as Nuclear's. Kalimos and Nuclear recognized her, but the rest of the group didn't. She saluted to Nuclear, pretty much ignoring everyone else. "We were waiting for you, lore-master" she said.

End Chapter 9.