Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 1 The Rightful

      Life in the northern regions of Lykos has become harsher and harsher as the days continue. Granted that life outside of the major walled cities, such as the capital, has always been unkindly to the many residents that called the thin pine forest and coarse hills home. The many large and ancient beasts that have chosen to roam these lands as feeding territory has perpetually given a challenge to even the most experienced hunters who prey upon the abundant game or the mining of raw materials from the rich earth. But ever since the Frostlandians had declared war on the clans, the various raids and incursions from these rabid forces have pushed many from the border that they had once claimed a sustainable home. Of course, the empire does all it can to keep these forces at bay. Lykos is far from inexperienced with handling the raid parties of some nomadic sects or smaller factions within the Frostlands, but it is due to the far more cohesive and organized formations that present the largest problems to deal with. Not only, but the mysterious and powerful Hyperboreans pose a threat even to the Empire's illustrious knights that serve the seven crowns.

     A small town called Munstud had been called to bear witness to this terrible power. Being a relatively isolated community, the walls only amplified the seclusion villages tend to have so far from the major cities. Still, to say that they were unprotected or vulnerable would be a mistake any ignorant person could make. The high walls are lined with watchtowers and designed to provide its purpose to the fullest extent. Its weathered walls were only a testament to its long-standing effectiveness in repelling the various threats of the wild. But they were not prepared, however, for what came upon their gates that fateful dawn.

      For the men on the watchtower, their duties were simply to look out at the lands that surround them, and report when any creature got too curious of their fortification. At which point a few arrows shall be forwarded to dissuade them from their careless behavior. That was the routine. But as the sun slowly crested over the mountains to the east, the winds drew colder than what was meant for these summer months. Something that the guards took note of immediately. He stood, a bow already stringed and in hand as he stared off into the distant tree line. It just got colder and colder, till he could see his breath become mist as it exited his mouth, the moisture in the sky forming haze all around them. And then, a distant hum, the unmistakable sounds of war horns. Not those of warning, but a call to slaughter, a call of a coming vicious battle that they unprepared for.

    The attack seemed to come in the instant. The warning bells within the watchtowers sounding off only a few times till they were completely frozen over, the men dying at that moment. And the slow awakening of the town did not bode them well. Within minutes, Frostlandic forces had broken through the front gates, armed with swords and the power of winter, guided by a frenzied will and hatred. Very few escaped their terror as they began to lay waste to this small town in its entirety. That was their intention, after all. Those who found themselves face to face with them found themselves killed, with no room for any sort of prisoners. Men and women alike were not spared, not even for slaves. Soldiers were overpowered, ill-prepared for the likes of the Hyperboreans who wielded their ice magic, summoning spires of ice to lob or freezing men where they stood for a quick and decisive death. And three of them more than ensured this town's fate. One commanding upon a giant white horse, Kulsnk, leader of the white winds, looked around anxiously. He would have thought at least one or two knights would be stationed at this pitiful little settlement. He has already killed his fair share, but the two he brings with him are yet untested. They need to take the lives of real knights. Not because it was some ritual or right of passage amongst the white winds. that passage is merely the fight itself, in the name of the beings that had gifted them with his power. The point made by taking the life of a knight is to reveal to them that the Empire is not invincible. 

     What Kulsnk has come to realize after his first true victory over these foes, is that many other nations, even his own home, saw knights as some unkillable entity, a being of unmatched power. But he was amongst the first to slain one of these so-called unkillable enemies and removed such fear from his people. And now these two shall prove themselves more than scared little cowards afraid fo the stories old wise men tell.