Avandium: Battle of the Brows

Chapter 1 - Ethanus Awakens

      Ethanus glanced to the distance at the cowardly hairs as they retreat back to Ava in the highlands of Avandium. Another successful battle in the hands of the Bright Warriors. Ethanus makes his way back to the small gate with pride, ready for the path ahead of him.
     "All who bestow upon me, you have combated well. We haveth the upper hand, Avandium will anon beest ours and with t cometh the fate of the world itself!" Ethanus roared to the Warriors. There was more power in his breath than any mortal should produce alone.
      After a long journey home, he sat in his smithing room. He noticed residue still littered his blade. Hair particles and lanugo remained after the treacherous battle to overtake Fort Rotworn. Although small and redundant ever since the rise of Avandium, it increased the hopes of every Bright Warrior in the lands.
     He rinsed his sword off and used a sandstone to refine the edge. The house went dark after Ethanus extinguished its lanterns, as it was now late in the day. Ethanus let his eyes adjust before walking to his room. He dropped his sword by his bed and stripped his clothes off before laying down for some much needed rest. The war was nowhere near its end, but today marked progress toward victory.

     Ethanus awakens after a long sleep. He dreamt of Ava in the highlands and her beauty. He dreamt of her weapon: her eyebrows. The source of the war. Her sharp facial features showed it off like a diamond on a ring. Their edges seemed to be so perfectly rigid yet so perfectly fluid at the same time. Their fullness could not be more exquisitely flawless. Her eyebrows were the sole reason so many Warriors have been lost by her name.
     He knew when he woke that he had to be careful dreaming of such a godly power as her and her infamous eyebrows. Even encountering her in dreams can many men get pulled in to the other side. Ava and her army of hairs harvest everyone that finds themselves in Avandium and use their hairs as reinforcements. No one knew how Ava could make the hairs so massive or so powerful, but much is unknown about her wrath.
     Ethanus thought the only way he and his army would ever be granted even the slightest chance of defeating Ava once and for all lied in the morale of those fighting against her. The hairs are easy to dispatch, but with numbers they can easily best any one man. They must stay together and fight together.
     Ethanus got some clothes on and headed to the pantry to make some breakfast. Everything he looked at reminded him of the brows. The men Ava had taken and the many more that she will. He couldn't get her out of his head. He knew this could only mean bad things. Would he not be able to resist her and become corrupt? Will he betray his army for her? Was this what happened to every man she had killed? He shook his head and yelled in agony. He distracted himself by fixing up some grits. He didn't have much else in his house.
     A friend to Ethanus ran into the house, panicked. "Ethanus, are y'alright?" She said, "I heard a scream."
"I, uh.. stubbed mine own toe." Ethanus replied.
"Oh, sorry sir. I bethought thee were in  dang'r."
"T'was I in danger, ma'am. It's quite bad it is."
"Well, y'must be rather valour t'be walking still upright sir." She said sarcastically before leaving with a grin.
Ethanus could not let anyone know of his condition. He didn't know how people would treat him if they thought he could potentially fall in Ava's hands. By the time he sat down to enjoy his grits, they were cold. He started the fireplace with a sigh. An image flashed in his head as the flame ignited. He saw a vivid battle scene depicting Ava's victory and the downfall of the Warriors. It was gone with an instant. He knew it must be Ava messing with him somehow, no one knew the limit to her powers. He tried to ignore it but it got worse.
     He put the pot of grits in the fire quickly and stood up. He paced for a minute or two and grabbed his grits swiftly. He decided he would go see the Witch of Gondhaven to the west. He would never go to Gondhaven if it weren't for his recent illness. It was infested with hostile orcs and no one in their right mind would visit, but Ethanus had no choice. He was to leave at noon.