Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Arthur

 Ser Arthur could only imagine what the rest of Aetherian looked like in winter, especially since it never snowed in Belhall, or anywhere in the Sandlands. Where everything north of the deserts was probably covered in snow, the Sandlands remained the same throughout the year. There were times when Arthur wished he was further north, but Belhall was his home, and would always be his home.

"Looking for action, brother?" Matthew asked, handing him a piece of paper.

"What is this?" said Arthur.

"A report from what's left of one of our patrols," Matthew answered.

"What do you mean 'what's left'?" Arthur asked.

"A single soldier," said Matthew. "He said they found something that wiped out his entire battalion, and he was badly wounded." It had been weeks since Arthur last had a good skirmish, other than bandits in Belhall's streets and outlying villages. He needed a challenge. Whatever the battalion encountered that wiped them out was something that could threaten Belhall, and needed to be dealt with.

"Where did the soldier come from?" he asked.

"He was taken to a village to the east after the skirmish," said Matthew. "Perhaps that's where you should start." The village Matthew was talking about was called 'Areistead', a hamlet of only a dozen small buildings overlooking a radiant, blue lake that reflected the sunlight. When Arthur went entered the village, half of the villagers smiled at the sight of him, but the other half gave him looks of anger. Those ones must not have wanted a Knight of House Morvain in their village, especially a Drumwind. Maybe they thought that House Redwald should still be the High Lords of the Sandlands. Not that it mattered, anyway.

"Hey, you!" a man suddenly shouted, and Arthur turned his way.

"Yes?" he said, and the man took out a small pistol.

"Put that away, citizen," Arthur warned drawing Burn.

"You are a damn traitor!" the villager shouted. "What the hell makes you think you can come anywhere near our village!?"

"That's none of your concern," Arthur answered, putting Burn back into its curved sheath. "Now, if you'll excuse me." When he turned around, he heard a soft "click" behind him, then quickly swung Burn behind him. The man that yelled at him was now with a dozen more men, but they were all armed with rifles, shotguns, machetes, and hatchets. The civilians surrounding them began to move back into their homes as the bandits surrounded Ser Arthur.

"This doesn't have to end in violence," Arthur promised, but he knew it wasn't true.

"I disagree," one of the bandits said. Suddenly, one screamed as he charged Arthur with a machete. Arthur ducked under his swing, then cut across his chest with Burn, and he dropped into the sand.

"Get him!" another one yelled, and the other ones with machetes and hatchets charged towards him. Arthur jumped into the air as the bandits crashed into each other, and when he landed, he dodged a shot from an assault rifle, which hit one with a machete. Arthur then cut one's hand off when he swung a hatchet at him, then stabbed him through the chest. He quickly ran through the last ones with blades in seconds, cutting them down with Burn. Dread filled the ones with rifles and shotguns, and they began to run from the village. Arthur would have let them go if they weren't a threat to the villagers, so he slashed the ground with Burn, and the sand under the running bandits quickly caught fire, and they screamed as they burned alive before collapsing. There were cheers and cries of triumph from the villagers pouring from the houses and shacks as Arthur sheathed Burn. One man approached him, an old man wearing red robes with a gold trim.

"Thank you, Ser," he wheezed. "Those bandits have plagued us for far too long."

"I'm only doing my job, elder," said Arthur. "Which, unfortunately, isn't over yet. There was a battalion of four hundred soldiers that were wiped out near here. My brother told me that only one soldier made it to this village."

"Ah, yes," said the village elder. "He died hours ago."

"Well, where did he come from?" Arthur asked.

"South, Ser," the elder answered. "Near some ancient ruins not far from here."

"Thank you," said Arthur, and he began his way south. He could still see the village before he came across a horrifying sight. Hundreds of silver-armored soldiers of House Drumwind were scattered across the sand, lying in the ground with bloody cuts in their armor.

"Gods above," Arthur gasped. It was likely that something that came from the sands in the night slaughtered them all, but the attack happened in broad daylight. When he closer at one of the bodies, he noticed that he had blue blood splashed on the glass visor of his helmet. The last time he saw blue blood was from the dryad he fought with Blake and Julien months ago. Maybe some other Fae construct wiped out the soldiers. Capable as Arthur was, though, he didn't like the idea of facing a single, enormous monster that was capable of wiping out an army, when he barely survived an encounter with a smaller one. When Arthur turned around to go back to the village, someone was standing in front of him. It was a tall woman with long, silver hair, and pointed ears, wearing a white dress with a train of green leaves.

When he asked "Who are you?", she suddenly slapped him across the face, and his vision went black. He could feel his face in throbbing pain when he woke up, but he wasn't in a desert. Arthur was in a field of tall, green grass under a blue, cloudless sky.

"What the hell?" he cursed. He reached for Burn, but his sheath wasn't on his belt. Suddenly, a roar shook the air. Arthur looked to the sky, to see a dragon with golden scales that shined against the sunlight, massive, almost sixty feet long, with six spines on both of its bat-like wings. The dragon flew above the fields, gracefully beating its wings, when it was suddenly hit in the chest with a spear, and unleashed a roar from between its jaws. Arthur looked down to where the spear came from, and it was a centaur, armed with a long glaive and shield, wearing a suit of armor on both its human half and horse half. The golden dragon hovered above the field, then unleashed golden fire from its maw, and the centaur lifted its shield to protect itself. Suddenly, the ground shook behind him, and he turned around to see a massive black cat, similar to a lioness with black fur, but this one had two front teeth that were like knives. The saber-toothed cat snarled at something standing behind Arthur, and he turned around to a brown bear standing at more than twice his size on its hind legs. The bear opened its snout and roared loudly at the cat, which roared back, as loud as a lion. Suddenly, Arthur found himself back in the desert, surrounded by the bodies of the dead Drumwind soldiers, and the mysterious pointy-eared woman standing in front of him.

"Who are you!?" Arthur demanded, drawing Burn. The woman didn't answer for a moment, but then hung her head.

She lifted her head again and answered "I know what it is you saw, Ser Arthur Drumwind, for I have seen it as well. I am a Nymph, Elathae. These soldiers were killed by the defenses to one of my cities. Even after ten thousand years, they are still alive."

"A Fae?" Arthur asked, then he sheathed Burn.

"You will have a part to play soon," said Elathae. "You must go to Dragonbarrow, and seek out Trevor Karvine."

"Trevor?" Arthur repeated, with rage. "He killed my father."

"Whatever quarrel you have with the young Guardian, you must put it aside," Elathae warned. "More people you love will die within the next few years."

"What are you talking about?" said Arthur, but he knew, from the vision that the Nymph gave him. The beasts that were tearing each other apart were all sigils of four of the six houses of Aetherian's High Lords.

"You know, Arthur," Elathae reminded. "Go to Dragonbarrow, see young Trevor."

"Fine," Arthur admitted. Even if Trevor killed his father, Arthur was still a Knight, and he had to do everything he could to defend those who couldn't protect themselves. If a war was about to erupt in Aetherian, Arthur needed to do what he could to stop it.