Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Tessa

 As an Epsilon, Tessa wasn't surprised when she was picked on in Belhall, though she thought that Lord Drumwind would have done his best to enforce some kind of equality or non-harassment act for the city. Not that anyone would follow it, anyway. As she walked down the streets of Belhall, she was harassed a few times. One person grabbed her by the arm, and she drove one of her sais through his neck. Unlike the Guardians, though, Tessa didn't know how to heal his wound, so she left her harasser on the side of the street as he bled out through his neck. She wiped the blood off her sai with her cloak as she turned a corner, to a marketplace in the center of the city. It was a lively area, filled with the chatter of shoppers and vendors. There were long lines at every single kiosk that sold food. Tessa heard her stomach rumbling at the sight of the apples, oranges, and grapes in one kiosk, and the smell of cooked chicken, beef, and venison in another. She didn't have any gold, but she would probably starve if she didn't get her hands on something to eat. Tessa felt dirty thinking of stealing something, but she could do it without getting noticed. She disappeared and crept up to the kiosk. There was fruit hanging on a wall behind a desk, and behind the desk was a big man in an apron, with a shotgun on his back. Tessa reached her leg over the desk until her foot touched the ground, then pulled the rest of herself over. She picked a cluster of dark grapes off the wall, then vaulted back over the desk. Tessa reappeared as she took one of the grapes and chewed it to pieces before sending it down her throat. Before she knew it, she had eaten every one of the dozen grapes on the vine.

"Good," she said, wiping water from the grapes from her lips. Now, she had to plan a more thorough route north. She had made it to Belhall overnight, but it might take several more days to make it to either the Highlands or the Kinglands.

"Excuse me," she said, as a young woman passed her. "Which city is the nearest city to the north of this one?"

"Well, Southsage the closest one, but it's destroyed." the woman answered.

"During the war?" asked Tessa.

"Half of the cities in this region were destroyed in that war."

"What about these little villages in between?" said Tessa.

"Sorry, I don't know," the woman answered. "But Desertwood isn't that far from Southsage."

"House Mercer, you mean," said Tessa. "Thanks."

Of course, Tessa thought. The Mercers of Desertwood are one of the most brutal families in the Sandlands. As loyalists to House Redwald, they were nearly wiped out a year ago and would have been if the Guardians hadn't stopped King Robar from giving the order. There were arguments about that, though, especially from the Morvains and Drumwinds. Tessa would need to be on her guard constantly in their city. She would wait another night to go any further, though, since she was exhausted. There was nothing else to do other than rest, and she was exhausted and didn't sleep. Belhall was a large city, with a few inns scattered along its walls and streets that would be perfect. One of them was a dive with a small bulletin board on a picket outside the door. There were dozens of noted pinned to it with thumbtacks, and one that looked interesting to Tessa. She took it off the board and looked at it. It was a map of Belhall, with the keep in the center, and a circle drawn in red around a small square labeled "Black Scorpion".

"Another inn?" Tessa asked aloud. Maybe it was some kind of treasure map, and she should check it out. It wasn't very far from where she was, just to the east. She began to walk in that direction, and she began to feel a strong aura of darkness. The Black Scorpion was run-down, with its sign that hung from above the door hanging on one chain. The wooden walls were rotted, as if they could split with a single touch. Whatever was inside the Black Scorpion was dark and evil. When a squad of silver-armored Drumwind soldiers passed by, Tessa pulled one to the side and questioned him.

"Excuse me," she said. "What do you know about this place?"

"Nothing, other than it was shut down decades ago, or even before that." the soldier answered. "Some people say it's haunted."

"They probably aren't wrong," Tessa agreed. "Thank you." As the soldier rejoined his patrol, Tessa pulled out her two sais and went inside.

"Hello?" she called. There was a light fixture with burnt out candles in it on the ceiling, and wooden chairs and tables on the floors, with a bar against the wall. Tessa hung her cloak on a hook next to the doorway and stepped further inside. She turned over tables and looked behind the bar, finding nothing. She couldn't leave, though, since she could feel a darkness that was more powerful than anything she's felt before somewhere in the inn. Tessa began to pace around the room, twirling her sais. When she stepped over a single plank of wood, the darkness that loomed over the place felt stronger. She bent down on her knee, and jabbed one of her sais between the boards, and pried one of them from the floor. As Tessa removed the board, she was suddenly thrown across the room, as if she had been kicked in the chest, and she heard a loud shriek ring her ears, forcing her to cover them as she sat against the wall. When the noise stopped, she took her hands off her ears. There was still ringing in Tessa's ears, but the noise ceased as she stood up.

"Well, hello, jerk," Tessa mumbled, walking to where she was thrown from. The strange aura of darkness was gone, and when Tessa looked into the hole between the boards, all that was under them was a dark space. She took out a small flashlight and shined it into the dark space, revealing a floor and walls of silver.

"Silver?" she said. Silver is a metal that was a symbol of purity for thousands of years. There's only one reason an entire room would be made from it. It was made to contain a force of evil that had been dormant for a long time.

"Oh, no," she whispered. Whatever Tessa did, she unleashed something that was contained for thousands of years. She couldn't tell where it had gone, but it wasn't in the tavern, anymore, and probably not even in Belhall. Suddenly, the same squad of Drumwind soldiers came bursting through the doors, pointing assault rifles into the room.

"Don't shoot!" Tessa screamed.

"What's going on!?" the Sergeant shouted. "We heard something!"

"Something evil," said Tessa. "The nearest city is Southsage, right?"

"What of it?" asked the Sergeant. "It's destroyed."

"Okay, the one that's not destroyed," said Tessa. "Oh wait, it's Desertwood. It isn't any further than Dragonbarrow, is it?"

"Right, but Desertwood is north," the Sergeant answered. Tessa thought of where the dark power from underground would have gone. Desertwood was further north, but Dragonbarrow was closer. Dragonbarrow was in the path of whatever darkness escaped from the Black Scorpion, which meant that Kara, Theon, Blake, and Julien were in danger.