Iromor

The marred walls stretched ahead and were enforced with colossal pillars that had meticulous designs drawn and carved in their entirety. They showed rings of symbols that represented divisions of times, and each separated drawings of dark colours; war, ruin and rebirth. The hallway was cluttered in rumble and the floor was smooth dark grey marble. Along the sides, there were sculptures of bizarre beings wearing metals and all had intense eyes. I looked at all of them and they all seemed to be staring at us. Their eyes seemed so lively, but had been caught in their bodies that had been turned to stone. I counted nine, and they all were made incongruously, but none had faces like a person. As we paced, we then heard the thud of something dropping to the floor; we stopped and waited and from behind a pillar crawled out a limping brown and crimson spider. Erel walked to it and let it crawl on her hand. A set of dark eyes sparkled. “Peculiar colours' ', she said. “It’s got a missing leg”, I said as I got close to look at it. The spider crawled up Erel’s shoulder and sat still; she let it stay there as we continued pacing. We then came to the end of the hallway, to a withered door made of dark wood; it swung open and we stepped through. There they were, the four, sitting on their stone thrones. From right to left, the first was a male, then a female and then two males; they turned their heads to each other slightly. They were indeed Shadows; they dressed in full black suits and had black cloaks. From the entrance of the door, there seemed to be milky white shapes that moved gently around their bodies. As we walked closer, we saw the throne room, and them sitting, fully. There were indeed shapes moving around them, they seemed to be made of milky white smoke and shadows and emanated from the dark under their cloaks. The white misty shadows moved lively and smoothly over them. If the four stood still and didn't speak, the shadows would blanket their faces and the only thing seen would be their luminous eyes. They were the only ones in the room. The throne room was practically empty of life and decor and had a cold atmosphere. Behind the thrones, there was a wide flat pillar that had more symbols written all over. As we came to their presence, the shadows around them eased. The male on the right side spoke, "welcome". In that brisk blink of an eye, when I looked to the ground and then looked back up, all four were now standing. I pulled myself to a stop and felt my eyes weaken. My mouth wanted to speak but no words came from my mind, so I looked at them and took a step back. They took a step forward. Three of them turned their heads to the male on the right side, so I too looked at him, while he looked at them and then he turned his head to me. I blinked again and they were now sitting on their thrones. ''Why are you here?", Questioned the female. I walked closer, then spoke, "I've come seeking...". "No", she stopped me and asked again, "why are you here?". "You're not from here", said one of the other males. "You are not from Onundri, it is clear to us", said the male who had not spoken until that moment. "He is not'', responded Erel. "You are not either", he stated. There was a brief silence as the female tilted her head observing Erel. "It's true, we both aren't from Onundri", I responded. Both parties kept quiet. "Well aren't you going to tell us where you are from and who you are?", Said the female. " You have stumbled in a place where you don't belong ", said the male on the right. Erel replied, "We are at the right place for we came looking for you". Curiosity flickered in their eyes. "Before we tell you who you are, there is something I want to tell you and something I'll ask of you". " Go on, speak", said the male on the right.

Erel looked firmly at them and started, "there is an ancient story whose immortality is at the brink of death if words of its telling aren't cast into the hearing of people. In the time that it was, there was a man named Iromor, who one night went to sleep, as he usually did, but when morning came, he woke up, he panicked, but the panic was caged in his body, for through the night, he lost his sight, his hearing, his speech and his fingers had been made stone-stiff. And Iromor lived a dull and troublesome life for several years until a lady came into his life. She took care of him and they fell in love and had four children. As the children came of age-the youngest at seventeen years, Iromor was saddened because he could not see, hear or speak to his children, but only hold them, and this brought despair to his life for some years. Then one night, before bed, he prayed in his mind and called to whatever god would take pity on him, to end his misery. That night, Iromor he had a dream and in his dream he floated in darkness before a shifting murk figure; it spoke to him and said, "I have seen you, I have heard you, I have felt you and now I have spoken to you, evil is the vulture that robbed you as you slept, but I have a message and a gift for you, this kind kingdom I have seen, dreadful plots to conquer it I have heard, I seek your help to prevent its fall, if yes is your answer, then your sight, speech, hearing, touch and much more, you will have it all". Iromor questioned, "what is to be done?". "You could have ethereal abilities, and you have to put to great use those abilities, for a gift like this isn't to be wasted, and the best use is to become the king’s friend, advisor and leader of his army, and you will lead his army to victory". "I accept", said Iromor without hesitation. And the murk figure twisted and warped and all of itself was poured into a stone and the stone floated towards Iromor and sank into his chest. As told, when dawn came, Iromor had everything and more. His wisdom stretched out of his mind and unmatchable combat skills made him swift and deadly, and this brought a great and warm change to his once darkened world. Days into the exploration of his gifts, he decided it was time to visit the king, and he did. The king, in disbelief of what Iromor claimed to possess, set him to a challenge with his best warriors, and they all lost to him, and the king was amazed. But the king was still not convinced and so Iromor used his skills and listened through the walls to a conversation the King had with his Queen. Iromor then came to the King once more and told him what the King had told the Queen in secret. “Bruxul, the Emperor in the West, plans to conquer us”, the King had said. This then changed the King’s mind because no one else in the kingdom knew about it. Iromor then rose to the highest power and was respected by many, for he was a good man. And when the time to defend the kingdom came, he rose to it and the kingdom was victorious. Thereafter, many armies tried against the kingdom, but always lost. The king saw this and wondered, and he asked Iromor where his gifts came from. In secrecy, as the king's dearest friend, Iromor told him. "My gift is from a stone that is buried in my chest", said Iromor. It was until then that the king started challenging and attacking other kings and rulers, and because Iromor was at his side, they were always victorious. Gold, silver, colored metals and gems filled the King's chambers. The king basket in the riches and decided that he would be the first king to ever sit on his enemies gold and so he designed an epic throne. The throne was striking, made with the skulls of his enemies. And the skulls were bathed in gold and silver and each King's crown rested on the skulls. And the number of skulls had grown so much that the throne spilled like a sunrise spreading on the steps to the throne. The king found greatness and glory in his creation and he sat and schemed. And through that time, Iromor had trained his four children to be warriors unlike any in any other land. And with all the victories came power, and the darkness of greed, and a poison found a place in the king's mind, and like a dark hungry fire, it consumed him. One night, the king spoke to Iromor in secret and told his plans of conquering the South, the realm of Siedrum Hastamag, and of this Iromor disapproved. The king said, “somehow, the filthy Necroborns in the south have learned of my threat and I can not allow them to prepare more so we shall issue war with them before the sun comes tomorrow and we get rid of them soon”. Iromor advised that they were not ready for a war with the Necroborns, that no one had ever challenged them. Iromor then realized the king was changed, but because of fear of losing his gifts, he obeyed the king, for so had the murk figure told him to do. Unnecessary were the many conquests he gave the king, for the blood of armies, big and small, were now great, and Iromor saddened. He was filled with regret and confusion and his sleep had been tormented with mares of the eyes and blood of the people he killed, all for a king who was now a plague of greed. Iromor knew that if he abandoned the king, the king would search for him and more blood would come of it. So that night, before the war with the Necroborns, Iromor decided that the last blood he would draw would be his own. And so, alone in his abode, with deep sorrow, he cut into his chest and plucked out the purple stone; bleeding, Iromor, with his sword, struck the stone and it broke into four pieces, for he feared that such power would fall into the hands of the corrupted king. Iromor fell to the ground and as he died, his body returned to its broken form. That night, the king found Iromor and he angered in desperation, for he knew what was coming. The king saw the four pieces of the stone and reached for them, but there was a force that pushed him back no matter how stubborn he was. So the King sent for his druid and it counseled him into a plan. That night, the King summoned the four commanders-Iromor’s children. And with the help of the druid, the king put a deep sleep potion in their wine, and through sorcery, had a stone shard placed in each of their chests. And while the druid was placing the shards into them, their mother walked in for in her spirit, she felt something was wrong with her family that she rushed to the citadel to only find her children and her death by the hand of the King, for she tried to stop them. When the commanders woke, they were surprised with their abilities, but they questioned the king on Iromor for those abilities were similar to their father’s. And the king knew not to answer without lies, which the commanders recognized. They rushed to Iromors abode and there they found his body, and beside it their mother’s, and with anger they wept terribly, for they felt they failed their father and mother.