World Without Song

Prologue: Act 2

"Travel to Zimrest, if He is still alive as we believe... then we must get him on the Union's side."

Those were the last words our lords gave us before we set off.

Zimrest... the old capital of the Empire, derelict and abandoned, but not uninhabited; knights are sent there as capital punishment and never return. We are now travelling to that old castle, three hundred years after the Empire's fall at the hands of a single man.

Zimrest is under constant rain, since that day three hundred years ago, our scholars are certain that Yhidawach, the last dragon slayer,  and the one who brought sound back to the Silent Cathedral, a feat that has not yet been repeated, is still there... A legend who despite his slaughter of the Empire, is still seen as an idol to soldiers and knight's alike... not everyone can take on an entire country alone and win.

"We still have a day until we reach Zimrest. Why don't we stop here and take a rest, Alice?" My comrade, Melissa made a fair proposal.

Melissa was an Arid woman, like the rest of us in this squad.

She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, she had a small and perky nose and a beautiful face, she was tall and busty; I enjoyed her company, as we had much in common, both of us were more interested in taking up arms against the Adversaries than becoming field nurses or something out of active combat.

I agreed and we stopped inside one of three walls of Zimrest's city, the innermost sanctum, the center of these walls being the castle itself, our destination.

There were still quite a few buildings that could provide shelter and safety for the night, we huddled close, shared a meal and went to sleep.

...

Reaching the castle was easy, though who would have thought otherwise?

We wandered the halls marveling at the architecture as we made our way deeper in.

A relic from what was considered to be one of the strongest countries back then, beset by the current nations the Union was made up of and still fighting back fiercely.

Then we saw the largest doors, broken through, revealing a hall with a marbled floor and large lifeless pillars of stone, a throne with three red swords sticking out of it at the very end. The throne was occupied by a suit of armor resembling what dragons were described to look like; it was an eerie sight, since the armor was completely black it seemed to melt into the shadows, the faint light coming through the big doors making seem as though the suit was petrified but not without the embers of life.

The horned helmet moved to face us, and the suit of armor stood up slowly.

We stood in silent horror as it walked towards us, the left hand resting on the sword fastened to the hip; the sword had two dragon heads snarling at each other, one white and the other black.

"We didn't come here to fight." I spoke up somehow, though my knees were trembling.

The armor stopped in front of us, peering straight into me from the inside of his helmet. He was taller than all of us here, very much alive too. I could see his green eyes from the same faint light that made him look so ancient.

I dropped on one knee and the rest of my squad did the same.

"Sir Yhidawach! We have been sent in the name of the Union to request your help! The Adversaries are strong, but we must be stronger if we are to live! Please!" I beg on both knees, bowing my head to the marbled floor.

"The Union? What is that? Adversaries? What are those?" A calm and clear voice came from the man. It was a noble voice that made my heart stop for a moment.