Otto=ottO
16th June 2003, 10:37 PM
A fantasy full of adventure. Read now.
Here is the intro/info and such. If you want to, you can skip it.
Feuding Nations:
The world of Lannia is home to many nations, most consisting of men. Seven nations that all consist of feuding men, and one nation of Daemonals, what is that you ask? Think of fear and hate itself, whatever is depicting, is a Daemonal. The green flesh skinned beasts, with raw flesh dripping off of their loose bones. Wielding war hammers and the such…
To get to know the races a bit better, here is a short piece describing them:
Anarika:
The race of Anarika is very bold, and always caught up in the loose of things. They are a very powerful nation that holds a well percentage of the west side of the map. Their government is a monarchy and their main religion is Christian. They are ruled over by King Edmunson, a smart and wealthy man. They live in the plains and live in near perfect weather that rarely receives rainfall and has no winter, that is, except for The Forest of the Ancients on the eastern side of Anarika, which experiences a mild winter. They are somewhat snooty about their high power in society. They are also much like a country in our world. With all their power comes jealously from the other countries, leaving just Cheekien as their allies… They are hated by the Slalomenians.
Sinerik:
The Sinerik tribe is a very small race of nomadic people. They are pale skinned and their government is Anarchy. They have no set ruler, but Xeth is the strongest of them. They have learned the ways of dark magic and use it against their foes. Their religion is Gothic. They are known as troublemakers throughout Lannia and often hired as mercenaries. They are known amongst the world as Cannibals, and they often attack Noïretté people for their food.
Cheekien:
A nice kind man named Samuel Cheeks runs the jolly race of Cheekien people. They are the 'big brother of Lannia' as they are there to help in need. They are mainly solders and their religion is Christian. Their government is a democracy and they are well-bonded allies with Anarika. They lie in the bottom west corner of the map, right below Anarika. They often go to Anarika for help, and when Anarika needs men, they suit theirs up for war. This is the longest bond that any two countries have ever held in the world of Lannia.
Daemonal:
Daemonals are also known as the people who live in the mountains. The Daemonal are wickedly strong and many in numbers but vaguely stupid. They come in two 'kinds' red and green, the red ones are known as Chaos Daemonals as their pigment of skin means that they live near the volcanoes to the east and live in constant Chaos. They are friends with Sinerik, but sometimes the smart Sinerik people cannot put up with their ignorance. Chaos Daemonals are known to be a percentage smarter than 'normal' Daemonals. They somewhat resemble Goblins or Orcs in fairytales, but they are also wildly different. They are known as wild nuisances in most countries. They have a large number of people, but are too stupid to ever learn how to attack as a group. If they ever attacked all at once, then all hell would break loose.
Zelwig:
Zelwigians are the most peaceful people anyone has ever known. Their religion is a beautifully planned democracy and their country lies up in the eastern corner of the map. Their current leader that will change at the end of every two years is Thomas Insight, a very smart man. The Zelwig religion is Buddhist
Noïretté:
The black skinned men of the southeast. They are an astonishingly poor country that has the highest population of all of the countries. They are known as backstabbers and often looked down upon because of their skin color. Their religion is Hindu, and their government is a Monarchy. They are ruled over by Gavin Williams. They are considered 'tribal' at sometimes as they follow totally different lives compared to everyone else. The Sinerik people often attack them for food purposes.
Slalomen:
The people of Slalomen are normally well build with broad shoulders and vast muscles. They are known as stupid people, but really, it is only a stereotype as there are tons of smart Slalomen people. Their main rivals are the Anarikans, and they lie east of the Daemonals and west of the Zelwigians on the map. Their religion is Catholic and their government is a Monarchy. They are ruled over by a very smart man named Jonathon Wydham, who has brought great prosperity to the land.
Ohkri:
A long since defeated nation that really had no religion. They were enemies with the Anarikans and soon had their country taken over, most of it was lost to the Daemonals but a very small part in the south east corner of Daemonal, there is Ohkri, the last remaining part of the once strong country. It now, is infested with Anarikans as it is thought that all the Ohkrians are now dead.
Characters:
In a fantasy, there are normally very odd characters that range from the hero to the comic relief character. Well, here are the main characters for this particular fantasy.
Lance Zachrus Hunter:
Lance is a fourteen-year-old boy. He is 5'10 and is fairly muscular for his age. He wears a sleeveless black V necked shirt and the V goes down to the bottom of his chest. He wears black pants with these and black boots. He is very smart for his age and pieces things together quickly; he has quite a complex mind and never stops thinking. He carries his one handed sword that he often uses two hands for, for more power, and it sits in a leather sheath on his left leg. He carries a wooden shield that rests on his back. He has dirty blonde hair that has darker roots and this hair hangs messily over his head. He is tanned mildly, and knows the outsides very well. He often looks for adventure and wants out of what traps him, life.
Terra Silverlight:
Terra is Lance's Aunt. She is in her mid thirties and shows a broad outlook on life. She is mysterious, but somewhat mean, as she doesn't let Lance wander too far away from home or go with other kids to a short ways away. She does all this for a reason, although. She has long silver hair that is let to roam free. There is a lot that is hidden to those of normal minds; she is not a normal person when you learn her true side. She takes care of Lance and lives with him on a farm, making him do chores and such. They live in Ohkri, a small village almost completely surrounded by mountains. Terra's true persona is revealed on that odd day when that man shows up…
Chelsea Pearce:
A rather odd child indeed, she is the orange haired dreamer of the bunch. She has always wished to be a knight for some odd reason, but its what is in her pants that has kept her from doing such a thing. Her father was a skilled knight who was killed the in the war with the Daemonals several years back. Without a brother in her family, she has wished to carry on what her father could not finish, the journey throughout knighthood. She is tall for a woman, almost as tall as Lance. She does not carry a weapon of any sort on her, but she knows very well how to wield many weapons.
Kathryn Sommers:
A fourteen-year-old girl always getting herself into trouble, she has red hair and a wild attitude. She is extremely well with a bow and has been practicing ever since she was a child. She is one of Lance's only friends as there aren't many children in Ohkri. She is 5'6 and wears a green tunic with a dark green forest cloak to wear in the cold weather. She wears a quiver on her back that is full with arrows. She has her bow swung over her shoulder and that is where she keeps it when it is not in use. She has beautiful blue eyes that fit her complexion perfectly. She has lightly tanned skin.
Nigel Sommers:
Kathryn's eleven-year-old brother, he always seems to be getting himself in and out of trouble. He is by no means a warrior, but like Kathryn, he often dreamed of adventure. He wields a boa and has a knife nearby for just in case situations. He is a strange child indeed and is 5'4 and skinny by no means muscular. His mother gave him a chain mail shirt to wear, so that's what he often has on. With that he wears a pair of brown leather pants and brown leather boots. He has brown hair that is shrouded messily over his head. He has brown eyes. His boa is in a holder on his back, and his knife is on his belt in a small sachet of fur. He brought along a lot of food and stuff to pass him by the hungry times and also furs for trading.
Guvnahi:
If strong could ever be described in one name, Guvnahi would be it. He is a war general for the bands of Ohkri, which is as big as a town militia. He was formerly a war general in Anarika but was banned when he was framed for killing one of his men. He is 6'5 and heavily built. He has brown hair that is grown slightly long and he has a beard and mustache of the same smug type. Some gray hairs are thrown in with his light brown hair, showing that he is in his mid forties. He wears brilliant steel armor that wears the marks of Ohkri. He wields a large war hammer with his name engraved in it. He bares many a bruise and cut from previous battles. He's very strong and likes to tell stories of his former fights. He is very noble and loyal to whomever he is entrusted to.
The world of Lannia:
Before anything, I must explain the land to you… So, here it is…
The world of Lannia is quite odd indeed. It is a horribly shaped rectangular piece across the map with water surrounding from all sides. The rectangle stretches wide instead of vertically and the world is split into two halves, the western side, and the eastern side, only dragons and demons live in the eastern side. The western side is the peaceful friendly place that everyone knows and loves to live in. That is all that really needs to be explained… So there it is, and let us begin with the story.
Now the actual Story
Neverwest!
The very beginning of Lance's journey was the least recorded part of his history on the earth. Zak supposedly obtained this information from Kathryn and Chelsea, but it is not known if he really did take the information from them, or if he flat out lied about it.
In Ohkri there rests a tradition that happens only to males. This tradition is known as the coming of age, most often, and consists of a weapon being passed on to an ever-growing youth. The weapon is normally passed on when the youth reaches fourteen years of age. This tale begins with a boy on his fourteenth birthday. This boy's name just happens to be Lance Hunter and this is his story…
The sun that rose gently over the horizon seeped through the windows in Ohkri. This was their sign to wake up. If today weren't a 'special' day, Lance would have stayed in bed until his Aunt begged him to get up. But today was Lance's fourteenth birthday, and he would gain the right and privilege to bear arms.
Living in Ohkri meant Lance was an Anarikan. To put to lesser words, Lance wasn't like most Anarikans. Anarikans were known for being tall and skinny, Lance possessed one of these traits… tall. However, he was oddly enough built like a person from Slalomen would be, and because of this Lance was always chased after by the ladies. Well… most of them…
Lance was one of the wealthier children in Anarika, oddly enough; he still only had one pair of clothes. It may seem odd to you, but that was what occurred most often in poorer families… or in this case, a wealthier family. Lance's family ran a large cow farm. They supplied nearly all of the milk to Ohkri, which raked in a lot of cash.
Lance's 'one pair of clothes' consisted of a black V necked sleeveless shirt, which was a shirt that had a large opening on the front of the neck and chest. For pants, he wore the plainest you can get… normal black ones, which was the same for his boots, which were large durable black ones. Perfect for the farm.
A knock was heard at his window. Lance swiftly rose out of bed and saw Nigel outside. Nigel wasn't exactly the best friend in the world, infact, Lance didn't think all that much of him, but it was just about all Lance could have for a friend as there wasn't much to choose from.
Nigel waved shyly. He was wearing a chain mail shirt, of which he had grown quite attached to. It was his mother's gift to him for his last years birthday, which had cost the family quite a lot of money. He was wearing his typical brown trousers with his ragged brown boots. Nigel was very skinny, so skinny as to make you wonder if he had any muscle in him. He had his brown leather belt on; its main purpose was to hold up his hand-me-down pants that he obtained from his father. On the right side of his belt was a small satchel of fur that held a knife, he wasn't allowed to be carrying one around but he always did. Nigel was a klutz, to say the least. He always seemed to be messing up things that meant a lot to other people, or even to himself. Nigel's brown hair was shrouded messily all over his head, like it most often was. He was most notorious for unkempt hair. Nigel was much younger than Lance, by three years, which made him eleven.
He made a hand gesture for Lance to come outside, so he walked out of his room and into the living quarters.
"Aunt Terra!" Lance called out to his Auntie. She was the person that took care of Lance and lived with him. She seemed quite ungrateful to have to house Lance at most times, but on holidays and such she was normally all right.
"Aunt Terra!" Lance called once again.
"Coming, dear" she replied. That sounded great, she had to be in a good mood.
"Auntie, can I go out with Nigel?" Lance asked kindly, raising his eyebrows slightly to attempt to make himself look wanting.
"Sure you can dear" she replied nicely, her silver hair blowing gently in the wind that blew through our window. "Chilly, isn't it."
Auntie Terra had always been very protective of Lance for some reason, Lance had often wondered if it was just in her nature to do so or if there was some hidden meaning. Her strongest feature was her long silver hair, which was very uncommon with any race, really. She was tall for a woman and very slender. Her cheekbones protruded more than usual on a woman of her age, for she was only in her mid-thirties.
Lance nodded to her once and then turned around, proceeding to venture out the door to meet up with Nigel.
"Are you ready?" Nigel asked inquisitively.
"Ready as ever…" Lance replied excitedly.
"Do you know what you're getting?" Nigel asked, again.
"Of course, doesn't every fourteen year old boy?" Lance replied, smiling proudly with strands of his loose hanging dirty blonde hair folding over his eyes.
Deer and rabbits littered the sidewalks towards Guvnahi's Outpost, which was where Lance would receive his weapon. The lush green grass grew high and some of it hung over onto the stone walkways that stood on both sides of the road. The sun hung high today, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Nigel followed closely behind Lance as he pushed open the doors to Guvnahi's Outpost. Lance ventured in further and Nigel stopped at the doorway.
Everything was very dark inside Guvnahi's Outpost. Nothing could be heard but the soothing breeze that seeped in through a window. The light from the window illuminated one of the corners of the outpost, but everything else remained dark.
"What can I do ye for, boy?" a booming voice cried out, startling both Lance and Nigel. "It's so gosh-darn-it black in here." The voice opened up the front doors, letting in light.
"Guvnahi!" Lance cried "You startled me for a second…"
"What are you doing here, son?" Guvnahi asked him.
"It's my fourteenth birthday today, Guvnahi" Lance replied "I get to obtain my first weapon today!"
"Already? My young boy's growing up" Guvnahi laughed aloud. Lance wasn't his next of kin, but Guvnahi often acted like he was.
Guvnahi was a particularly funny fellow, but he was huge. He was about 6'5 and was built massively, his bulging muscles almost breaking through his steel armor that bore the marks of Ohkri. Guvnahi was a war general there, and a good one at that too. He would be the best war general in Anarika if he hadn't of got banned from there. Guvnahi had a large reddish-brown colored beard and mustache combo, a few gray strands of hair were thrown in with the other colorations. A large war hammer rested in leather binding on his right leg. His arms were quite bruised and scarred up from what looked like previous battles.
"You know what you're getting, boy?" Guvnahi asked Lance loudly.
"I'm looking for a short sword…" Lance answered softly.
"Ahh, great choice" Guvnahi pointed out, rubbing his chin and searching throughout the shelves upon shelves of weaponry. He reached high up onto a shelf and pulled down a standard looking sword. It wasn't all too brilliant and the blade looked quite dull.
"Well, this is the best one we got" Guvnahi lied, his eyes shifted back and forth.
"Guvnahi, I know you well enough… Don't try and lie to me" Lance joked.
"Fine, boy, but I'm saving the shiny new ones for the richer children… not that your not very well off or anything… I hope you understand," He explained.
"I do, Guvnahi" Lance lied back; he really didn't understand the politics that often littered everyday life.
"I'll tell you what, boy. I'll give you a wooden shield to go with your sword… I'm not supposed to be doing this for free, but don't tell anybody, okay?" Guvnahi whispered.
"I got it" Lance replied.
Guvnahi burst out into a roar of laughter.
"That's my boy!" he roared slapping Lance on the back. Not noticing his own strength, he knocked Lance over and onto the ground. "Sorry, boy." Guvnahi helped Lance up.
Lance sheathed the sword on his left leg and tied the wooden shield to his back, still allowing it to be easily accessed in times of danger. He wondered if Nigel was growing impatient from waiting outside all this time so he decided to leave Guvnahi and greet his friend.
"See you later, Guvnahi!" Lance cried out.
"See you later, boy" Guvnahi called back. Guvnahi sat down a bit too quick and smashed the wooden chair that formerly sat beside his desk. He looked a bit disgruntled, but he got up and continued going about his business.
* * *
"Now we can go to the outskirts of town!" Nigel cheered in obvious enthusiasm.
"What do you mean go to the outskirts of town?" Lance questioned him, slightly enraged.
"There's a lake out there!" Nigel exclaimed, "I just want to feel water up against my toes, we won't stay for long… please?"
"I don't know, Nigel" Lance thought to himself "It is forbidden…"
"You'd better not be going to the lake!" a loud yet feminine voice screeched. I whipped around to see a young girl who I had seen many times before. It was Kathryn Summers, Nigel's older sister, and she was standing with one of her friends, looking rather pissed off.
Kathryn looked a bit exhausted, but she was still the prettiest young girl Ohkri had to offer. She had beautiful locks of brilliant brown hair with the slightest red hint to it. Her eyes, although angry, were one of the world's greatest spectacles to ever be looked upon. The sun hung low behind her, giving her body a faint glow.
Her friend stepped out from behind her, and she wasn't as pretty of a sight. She wasn't really Anarikan material, as she was wildly different from most Anarikan females. She had bright orange hair that was short, and hung evenly around her head. She was also more masculine than most females, as she had always longed to be a knight. Most Anarikans thought that this was preposterous, as a woman could never amount to anything that required physical strength. She was quite tall for a woman, almost as tall as Lance was, and this was one of her 'turn offs' as most Anarikan males enjoyed short woman more than tall ones. Her friends name was Chelsea, and she lived up on the hill closest to the caged ocean. They called it the caged ocean because it had a large metal framework around it, so no Ohkrian could ever get in.
"We're not going to the lake!" Nigel pleaded, his eyes almost filling with tears.
"But I know you are, sweetie…" Kathryn laughed; she had him under her fingertips. "If you two let us two come, then I might forget about it…"
"Deal!" Nigel said very loudly, grasping her hand tightly and shaking it back and forth rather rapidly.
"The question is…" Lance began "How exactly do you think we can get out of town that easily?"
"I have an idea…" Kathryn smiled largely. "It'll get past any guard…"
* * *
Kathryn knocked loudly on the old wooden door that housed our plan. There was no answer so Kathryn knocked even louder. There was still no answer. Kathryn called out her name.
"Nikki!" she yelled quite loud and the whole group could hear someone get up and then the sound of footsteps. The door opened up wide and a blonde about our age was standing at the door, partially smiling.
Her blonde hair drizzled down her head in a very unkempt fashion, which was odd, because normally she was known for having very good hair. She had a cheesy grin pasted upon her face and she was wearing a loose fitting white shirt and long lengthened blue pants. She was Nigel's 'fondest lady' as Nigel always tended to her care, everyone knew that he just wanted to go at it in the sack, and she took well advantage of this. If she wanted something, all she needed to do was call his name and he'd deliver it. It was a shameless helping service.
"What do you want?" Nikki asked rather rudely "I'm in… the middle of something."
"We need you for something" Kathryn stated plainly. Nikki nodded her head roughly and stepped out of the door, with that cheesy grin still pasted upon her face.
* * *
They had arrived at the borderline between Ohkri and the great lands beyond shortly after visiting Nikki. Now they had a party of five, and now they knew just how to get through the guard.
"Just where are you kids going?" asked the guard.
"To the lake…" Nigel said smiling.
"You know your not supposed to be go-" the guard was cut off when Nikki pulled her top up, exposing herself to him. The guard's mouth moving from an open position to a warm smile and began to speak.
"Well, I guess its okay as long as she stays here with me… I don't want her getting hurt… And you kids have to be careful…"
Nikki's eyes opened up wide, as she looked shocked. The guard took her into his guard office and waved to us.
"We'll be careful!" Kathryn shouted mockingly, all the while laughing at her poor friend Nikki.
* * *
They all had taken their shoes off so they could wade into the lake and have the water brush innocently past their toes. They had often been told about the dangers of this lake, and about how if they left Ohkri they would surely die. They had all shrugged these warnings off for one pleasant day at the lake.
Nigel had waded in far enough that he could start swimming, and he did. He got out to a certain distance and looked back at his friends, he clasped his hands together and moved them over his head in a victory sort of pose. Then for a second, his eyes went large and he was sucked underwater. It looked like a childish prank of his, especially when he started screaming.
"Help! It's eating my leg, help!"
Nigel fought out the pain and attempted to swim to shore, when he had reached shallow water we all saw what was attached to him. Their schooling had taught them what it was, a giant leech, they would bite on to one of your appendages and suck the blood out of it.
"Holy…" Lance trailed off as he drew his sword majestically and stabbed it into the tail of the leech. Blood splashed up from the water into his face as the leech writhed and wrecked about in agony. It let go of Nigel's leg and sifted slowly back into the water, obviously dead.
"That's enough water sports for me…" Chelsea said quietly, yet loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Nigel lay on the ground weeping insanely; flesh was torn from the uppermost part of his foot to the top of his shin. His bone could be seen through the open wound, it needed to be covered up to prevent infection.
Lance acted quickly and tore his left pant leg off from the bottom to the knee. He handed this to Kathryn who shrugged it off.
"I'm not going near that leg, that's… disgusting," she argued.
Lance had no time for this so he grabbed it from Kathryn's hands and wrapped it tightly around Nigel's leg. Nigel screamed out in pain, quite loudly but Lance didn't restrain himself from tightening it as much as possible. Nigel's eyes went weak and he passed out from the pain.
Kathryn looked very upset.
"He's dead!" she cried out in agony.
"No, he could be alive" Lance protested "But that's only if we tend to his needs… We need to get back to Ohkri… quickly…"
"Then let us be off," Chelsea announced.
"Hush" Lance said, holding his finger to his mouth. "Listen."
The almost silent rhythmical beat of drums sounded off in the distance. They slowly got louder as everyone listened attentively.
"We don't have enough time to make it back to Ohkri…" Chelsea pointed out.
"Your right" Lance agreed "We have to hide from whatever's coming…"
Lance picked Nigel up and slung him over his right shoulder. He then carried him slowly to a small cave in the side of a tiny mountain, if it could be even called a mountain. It was more of a rocky hill.
There they waited and as the beating of the war drums grew louder and louder their hearts grew faster and faster racing. Their breathing grew quicker and quicker until they were all panting from the madness. The war drums continued and soon faded off as Lance, Chelsea, Nigel and Kathryn fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
Lance was the first to awake the next morning, and he did so rather quickly. He got up immediately and walked outside the cave to wash himself up. Kathryn awoke a couple minutes after him to the sound of water being splashed on Lance's face.
"Rise and shine…" Lance said calmly.
"You too" Kathryn replied, quite ruggedly. She had never really been a morning person.
"When Chelsea awakes we can attempt to carry Nigel back to Ohkri… he needs quick attention…" Lance said, rubbing the water into his face. Kathryn had now joined him, and they were both cleaning themselves.
"We're going to be in a carriage load of **** when we get back!" Kathryn exclaimed, "I told you we should have never done this!"
"Don't yell at me…" Lance said quietly, it almost wasn't heard.
A large moan was heard from the thick brush that clouded the land around the lake. A quick grunt followed the moan and then a loud rustling. Lance's heart stopped momentarily as the wind around his ears stopped. He knew what was waking up, he could see it, but it was not visible yet.
"Go look after Nigel!" Lance cried quickly "Go!"
Kathryn leaped up and ran towards the cave, and as soon as she did a large dark green skinned beast ripped through the shrubbery that cradled the outsides of the lake. It obviously was a male, as females no longer existed as Daemonals, and males were asexual, meaning they could produce children by themselves.
The beast had nothing but bone on his upper-arms, as flesh hung loosely over his forearms. Around his elbow there was no skin and the muscle was clearly seen. Strangely enough, Lance thought he was injured but this was how they always were.
The hideous beast lurked forward ever so quietly, a repulsive odor filling the atmosphere. The beasts black hair, drenched with water, flung down over its face. It was wearing a chest-plate and nothing more armor wise, which left many parts open if it were attacked. It must have drifted off from its home or something, or it could have possibly been exiled.
Lance acted even more swiftly as the beast crept further forth. Lance now had his sword and shield drawn and he was facing the beast in a melodramatic pose, and he looked rather confident. The beast had reached a foot or so away from Lance, and it licked its upper lip, spit frothing from either end of its large mouth.
With one quick side sweep of his left arm, the massive Daemonal shattered Lance's shield. Its splinters waved sharply across the air as Lance gawked, mouth open, at the Daemonals pure and utter power. Lance took his most open opportunity and thrust his sword at the Daemonals stomach. In the blink of an eye, the Daemonal grabbed Lance's sword with his bare hands and ripped it from Lance's grip. The Daemonal then clamped the sword between his teeth and bent the poorly made sword.
Lance shivered in fear. He was incredibly overwhelmed with the gargantuan strength of the Daemonal whose body now lurched over Lance. The beast curled his lower lip, which was a sign of distaste or disgust, and after doing this he raised one clenched fist into the air quickly and swung it down.
Being the light-footed farmer that Lance was, he swiftly rolled out of the way. The Daemonal was confused, but he came at Lance again and this time he side-swatted, to which Lance ducked underneath.
“I can’t do this the whole battle…” Lance said softly to himself. “I’m going to have to fight back…”
Lance leapt forward heroically and swung his fight mightily at the Daemonal. The Daemonal reacted slowly, but let the fist hit him in the chest. Lance grabbed his hand in pain as he had struck the powerful armor with his bare knuckles. While Lance screamed momentarily, the Daemonal grabbed Lance’s hand and lifted him up over his head. With a resounding war cry, the Daemonal threw Lance onto the ground.
Lance grunted and Kathryn and Chelsea screamed for they were afraid for his seemingly upcoming death. Lance lay on the ground with his back hunched up, in obvious pain. He coughed heavily and spat blood from his mouth. The blood formed a small pool in the heavily plodded mud before him and blood was present at both the corners of his mouth and in a small trickle down his chin.
The Daemonal swung his foot out at Lance and kicked him firmly in the stomach. Lance threw up even more blood from the immense force of the blow. Kathryn screamed and burrowed her face into her palms, she couldn’t watch anymore. Chelsea turned around and kept to Nigel, almost pretending that Lance wasn’t there. They couldn’t do anything, and they feared that after the beast was done with Lance it’d kill them too.
Lance finally pulled himself up from the ground. He held his left arm at the shoulder, and it looked as if it were about to fall off. The Daemonal smiled brutishly, this particular human had a lot of determination… and this particular human was also fairly stubborn. The Daemonal motioned with his hands for Lance to give him one free hit on the arm.
Lance was quick to take this bargain. As the Daemonal flexed his right arm Lance outstretched his right arm and struck the Daemonal’s arm with an open palm.
“Singe.” Lance muttered under his breath as he hit the Daemonal with all he had.
The beast took a step back and laughed out loud, but suddenly his expression changed. His eyes widened and he looked quite afraid. His arm began to smoke, as little tuffs of dark clouds flew out into the sky. Lance’s palm was burned onto the Daemonal’s arm. The Daemonal screamed in agony as the smoke suddenly stopped, but the burning must have continued. In desperation, the Daemonal leapt into a deep part of the lake. Even more screams were heard as the Daemonal slowly began to climb out of the water, with huge leeches all over his body. He let out another scream before collapsing to the ground with a final grasp for life. The Daemonal cursed once in his language and then passed on into the better life.
Lance felt himself completely exhausted all of a sudden. He collapsed onto his back and fell into a deep sleep…
* * *
When Lance had finally come to, they were arriving back into Ohkri. Chelsea and Kathryn had found an abandoned war cart, so they placed Nigel and Lance onto it and began the long struggle that consisted of pulling them home.
Lance sat up and his eyes shot open, he was amazed at what he saw. Astonished at the pure and utter destruction done to his homeland… well, former homeland. Most of the houses were scorched down to nothing but ash and rubble. Lance leaned forward more, to make sure this was real as he was fairly startled. He looked to his left and saw that Nigel was still passed out, that leech bite must have done him in pretty well.
Fires still raged on at the side streets in Ohkri, Lance rubbed his eyes once with both hands and then leapt out of the cart. Chelsea and Kathryn, startled, both dropped the carrying handles at the same time.
“I’m up!” Lance announced.
“Good, you can pull the cart then…” Kathryn remarked plainly.
“Fantastic…” Lance mumbled slowly.
“You know… things aren’t looking all too good for us,” Chelsea pointed out.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Lance smiled, speaking in a sarcastic overtone.
“There’s no need for that…” Chelsea replied, “The closest place in traveling distance is Cheekien… It’d be a long hike, but if you want to live…”
“I’ll take life,” Kathryn decided quickly.
“Me too” Lance chimed in “But we have a slight problem… the chance of us getting attacked is quite high, and thanks to that Daemonal we’re now all unarmed.”
“I can help with that…” Chelsea said mightily “My father used to be a knight, and there’s tons of weapons in our basement…”
Lance sniffed the air in disgust “This whole god damn place smells like death.”
* * *
They left Nigel at the outside of Chelsea’s house as the three scared adventurers entered through a large hole in one wall. The stairs were still intact, so they took them down into the basement where racks upon racks of weapons sat.
Lance admiringly fingered the blade of a light short sword that had no hilt. He was almost sure with this choice so he sheathed his blade and began squandering for a round steel shield.
Kathryn had always been fond of archery in particular, and she had always been naturally gifted at it. With these instincts in her, she picked a short bow from one of the racks and she pulled a quiver filled with roughly a hundred arrows and placed it over her shoulder. She strapped this quiver to her back and then grabbed a large green rain cloak from a large chest off to the side of all the weapons.
Chelsea armed herself to the teeth. She laced a belt around her pants that had two sheaths on it and in both of them she placed a small short sword. In the small satchels around the belt she placed several knives, about six of them. She then slung a backpack over her back for her to carry temporarily; she would give it to Nigel when he came to. She filled the backpack with lots of furs for trading, as copper, silver and gold pieces weren’t used in some places. Chelsea looted all of the gold, silver and copper coins she could find left in the basement while Lanced picked out his shield.
Lance had picked out a rather plain circular steel shield, he knew it would provide as a simple defensively based item and it looked durable enough to last quite a battle. As simple as it would, it would provide much more so than his previous shield, of whose life was struck away in one battle.
* * *
At last they were done their search for items. Everyone had what he or she needed, and they had brought a bladed boa for Nigel, which was a long wooden stick that had a blade at either end.
When they had finally reached the wart cart that Nigel was resting in, they noticed something painfully wrong. Nigel was missing. Had he got up and went looking for them? Had he been captured and slain? Had a flying monkey shot out of nowhere and ate him? No one knew.
Then Lance spotted a Daemonal in the distance, he only had one arm, as the other must have been hacked off in this very battle. Kathryn had taken sight of him as well, and she readied her bow and fired off an arrow. The arrow soared through the air majestically, cutting it like a hot knife on butter. The arrow then made contact with the Daemonal’s neck and the beast hit the large pavement stones that made up the roadway.
Lance and the others approached the dead beast and found Nigel’s legs hanging out of the small guard shop near the town gates. He had finally come to, but he was so hurt that he could not even stand up. As Lance helped Nigel up, Kathryn was shocked to find Nikki’s body. It was one of the only bodies that were actually visible, Daemonals were known for taking the bodies of the men that they had slain. They would take the bodies back home and burn them in a large bonfire. It was a strictly ceremonial thing.
Nikki’s body was stripped completely naked, and she had a long wooden stick impaled in between her breasts. Blood had formed in a small pool at her feet, and her expression was still locked in a surprised, shocked look.
“We have to get out of here…” Chelsea said, her expression not changing much. Kathryn looked torn apart at the fact that her best friend was dead.
“There’s nothing we could have done…” Lance said sympathetically “We would have died too, if we wouldn’t have left for the lake… Fate helped us out on this one…”
“I would rather be dead with her than have to see her now, like this” Kathryn moped out, her sobs growing fiercer. She collapsed to her knees and buried her hands into her arms.
“It’s going to be a damn hard life from here on out…” Lance pointed out, closing his eyes. “And it’s going to be a painful ride, but if we can pull through it, there might be something for us at the other end of life… We may find what we are looking for in Cheekien, so we must begin a trek there.”
“To Cheekien” Chelsea said in a low sappy tone.
And so the alliance had begun. Kathryn wept tears of pure anger and hate for the Daemonals. Lance was all-around optimistic, but inside he held an explosive amount of rage, a dangerous amount, infact. Chelsea was rather indefinite on the issue, but she hoped secretly that her mother had not died… for if she had passed on, she would be alone. Nigel laid in pain, unable to stand on his own.
All in all, everyone was ****ed royally.
Here is the intro/info and such. If you want to, you can skip it.
Feuding Nations:
The world of Lannia is home to many nations, most consisting of men. Seven nations that all consist of feuding men, and one nation of Daemonals, what is that you ask? Think of fear and hate itself, whatever is depicting, is a Daemonal. The green flesh skinned beasts, with raw flesh dripping off of their loose bones. Wielding war hammers and the such…
To get to know the races a bit better, here is a short piece describing them:
Anarika:
The race of Anarika is very bold, and always caught up in the loose of things. They are a very powerful nation that holds a well percentage of the west side of the map. Their government is a monarchy and their main religion is Christian. They are ruled over by King Edmunson, a smart and wealthy man. They live in the plains and live in near perfect weather that rarely receives rainfall and has no winter, that is, except for The Forest of the Ancients on the eastern side of Anarika, which experiences a mild winter. They are somewhat snooty about their high power in society. They are also much like a country in our world. With all their power comes jealously from the other countries, leaving just Cheekien as their allies… They are hated by the Slalomenians.
Sinerik:
The Sinerik tribe is a very small race of nomadic people. They are pale skinned and their government is Anarchy. They have no set ruler, but Xeth is the strongest of them. They have learned the ways of dark magic and use it against their foes. Their religion is Gothic. They are known as troublemakers throughout Lannia and often hired as mercenaries. They are known amongst the world as Cannibals, and they often attack Noïretté people for their food.
Cheekien:
A nice kind man named Samuel Cheeks runs the jolly race of Cheekien people. They are the 'big brother of Lannia' as they are there to help in need. They are mainly solders and their religion is Christian. Their government is a democracy and they are well-bonded allies with Anarika. They lie in the bottom west corner of the map, right below Anarika. They often go to Anarika for help, and when Anarika needs men, they suit theirs up for war. This is the longest bond that any two countries have ever held in the world of Lannia.
Daemonal:
Daemonals are also known as the people who live in the mountains. The Daemonal are wickedly strong and many in numbers but vaguely stupid. They come in two 'kinds' red and green, the red ones are known as Chaos Daemonals as their pigment of skin means that they live near the volcanoes to the east and live in constant Chaos. They are friends with Sinerik, but sometimes the smart Sinerik people cannot put up with their ignorance. Chaos Daemonals are known to be a percentage smarter than 'normal' Daemonals. They somewhat resemble Goblins or Orcs in fairytales, but they are also wildly different. They are known as wild nuisances in most countries. They have a large number of people, but are too stupid to ever learn how to attack as a group. If they ever attacked all at once, then all hell would break loose.
Zelwig:
Zelwigians are the most peaceful people anyone has ever known. Their religion is a beautifully planned democracy and their country lies up in the eastern corner of the map. Their current leader that will change at the end of every two years is Thomas Insight, a very smart man. The Zelwig religion is Buddhist
Noïretté:
The black skinned men of the southeast. They are an astonishingly poor country that has the highest population of all of the countries. They are known as backstabbers and often looked down upon because of their skin color. Their religion is Hindu, and their government is a Monarchy. They are ruled over by Gavin Williams. They are considered 'tribal' at sometimes as they follow totally different lives compared to everyone else. The Sinerik people often attack them for food purposes.
Slalomen:
The people of Slalomen are normally well build with broad shoulders and vast muscles. They are known as stupid people, but really, it is only a stereotype as there are tons of smart Slalomen people. Their main rivals are the Anarikans, and they lie east of the Daemonals and west of the Zelwigians on the map. Their religion is Catholic and their government is a Monarchy. They are ruled over by a very smart man named Jonathon Wydham, who has brought great prosperity to the land.
Ohkri:
A long since defeated nation that really had no religion. They were enemies with the Anarikans and soon had their country taken over, most of it was lost to the Daemonals but a very small part in the south east corner of Daemonal, there is Ohkri, the last remaining part of the once strong country. It now, is infested with Anarikans as it is thought that all the Ohkrians are now dead.
Characters:
In a fantasy, there are normally very odd characters that range from the hero to the comic relief character. Well, here are the main characters for this particular fantasy.
Lance Zachrus Hunter:
Lance is a fourteen-year-old boy. He is 5'10 and is fairly muscular for his age. He wears a sleeveless black V necked shirt and the V goes down to the bottom of his chest. He wears black pants with these and black boots. He is very smart for his age and pieces things together quickly; he has quite a complex mind and never stops thinking. He carries his one handed sword that he often uses two hands for, for more power, and it sits in a leather sheath on his left leg. He carries a wooden shield that rests on his back. He has dirty blonde hair that has darker roots and this hair hangs messily over his head. He is tanned mildly, and knows the outsides very well. He often looks for adventure and wants out of what traps him, life.
Terra Silverlight:
Terra is Lance's Aunt. She is in her mid thirties and shows a broad outlook on life. She is mysterious, but somewhat mean, as she doesn't let Lance wander too far away from home or go with other kids to a short ways away. She does all this for a reason, although. She has long silver hair that is let to roam free. There is a lot that is hidden to those of normal minds; she is not a normal person when you learn her true side. She takes care of Lance and lives with him on a farm, making him do chores and such. They live in Ohkri, a small village almost completely surrounded by mountains. Terra's true persona is revealed on that odd day when that man shows up…
Chelsea Pearce:
A rather odd child indeed, she is the orange haired dreamer of the bunch. She has always wished to be a knight for some odd reason, but its what is in her pants that has kept her from doing such a thing. Her father was a skilled knight who was killed the in the war with the Daemonals several years back. Without a brother in her family, she has wished to carry on what her father could not finish, the journey throughout knighthood. She is tall for a woman, almost as tall as Lance. She does not carry a weapon of any sort on her, but she knows very well how to wield many weapons.
Kathryn Sommers:
A fourteen-year-old girl always getting herself into trouble, she has red hair and a wild attitude. She is extremely well with a bow and has been practicing ever since she was a child. She is one of Lance's only friends as there aren't many children in Ohkri. She is 5'6 and wears a green tunic with a dark green forest cloak to wear in the cold weather. She wears a quiver on her back that is full with arrows. She has her bow swung over her shoulder and that is where she keeps it when it is not in use. She has beautiful blue eyes that fit her complexion perfectly. She has lightly tanned skin.
Nigel Sommers:
Kathryn's eleven-year-old brother, he always seems to be getting himself in and out of trouble. He is by no means a warrior, but like Kathryn, he often dreamed of adventure. He wields a boa and has a knife nearby for just in case situations. He is a strange child indeed and is 5'4 and skinny by no means muscular. His mother gave him a chain mail shirt to wear, so that's what he often has on. With that he wears a pair of brown leather pants and brown leather boots. He has brown hair that is shrouded messily over his head. He has brown eyes. His boa is in a holder on his back, and his knife is on his belt in a small sachet of fur. He brought along a lot of food and stuff to pass him by the hungry times and also furs for trading.
Guvnahi:
If strong could ever be described in one name, Guvnahi would be it. He is a war general for the bands of Ohkri, which is as big as a town militia. He was formerly a war general in Anarika but was banned when he was framed for killing one of his men. He is 6'5 and heavily built. He has brown hair that is grown slightly long and he has a beard and mustache of the same smug type. Some gray hairs are thrown in with his light brown hair, showing that he is in his mid forties. He wears brilliant steel armor that wears the marks of Ohkri. He wields a large war hammer with his name engraved in it. He bares many a bruise and cut from previous battles. He's very strong and likes to tell stories of his former fights. He is very noble and loyal to whomever he is entrusted to.
The world of Lannia:
Before anything, I must explain the land to you… So, here it is…
The world of Lannia is quite odd indeed. It is a horribly shaped rectangular piece across the map with water surrounding from all sides. The rectangle stretches wide instead of vertically and the world is split into two halves, the western side, and the eastern side, only dragons and demons live in the eastern side. The western side is the peaceful friendly place that everyone knows and loves to live in. That is all that really needs to be explained… So there it is, and let us begin with the story.
Now the actual Story
Neverwest!
The very beginning of Lance's journey was the least recorded part of his history on the earth. Zak supposedly obtained this information from Kathryn and Chelsea, but it is not known if he really did take the information from them, or if he flat out lied about it.
In Ohkri there rests a tradition that happens only to males. This tradition is known as the coming of age, most often, and consists of a weapon being passed on to an ever-growing youth. The weapon is normally passed on when the youth reaches fourteen years of age. This tale begins with a boy on his fourteenth birthday. This boy's name just happens to be Lance Hunter and this is his story…
The sun that rose gently over the horizon seeped through the windows in Ohkri. This was their sign to wake up. If today weren't a 'special' day, Lance would have stayed in bed until his Aunt begged him to get up. But today was Lance's fourteenth birthday, and he would gain the right and privilege to bear arms.
Living in Ohkri meant Lance was an Anarikan. To put to lesser words, Lance wasn't like most Anarikans. Anarikans were known for being tall and skinny, Lance possessed one of these traits… tall. However, he was oddly enough built like a person from Slalomen would be, and because of this Lance was always chased after by the ladies. Well… most of them…
Lance was one of the wealthier children in Anarika, oddly enough; he still only had one pair of clothes. It may seem odd to you, but that was what occurred most often in poorer families… or in this case, a wealthier family. Lance's family ran a large cow farm. They supplied nearly all of the milk to Ohkri, which raked in a lot of cash.
Lance's 'one pair of clothes' consisted of a black V necked sleeveless shirt, which was a shirt that had a large opening on the front of the neck and chest. For pants, he wore the plainest you can get… normal black ones, which was the same for his boots, which were large durable black ones. Perfect for the farm.
A knock was heard at his window. Lance swiftly rose out of bed and saw Nigel outside. Nigel wasn't exactly the best friend in the world, infact, Lance didn't think all that much of him, but it was just about all Lance could have for a friend as there wasn't much to choose from.
Nigel waved shyly. He was wearing a chain mail shirt, of which he had grown quite attached to. It was his mother's gift to him for his last years birthday, which had cost the family quite a lot of money. He was wearing his typical brown trousers with his ragged brown boots. Nigel was very skinny, so skinny as to make you wonder if he had any muscle in him. He had his brown leather belt on; its main purpose was to hold up his hand-me-down pants that he obtained from his father. On the right side of his belt was a small satchel of fur that held a knife, he wasn't allowed to be carrying one around but he always did. Nigel was a klutz, to say the least. He always seemed to be messing up things that meant a lot to other people, or even to himself. Nigel's brown hair was shrouded messily all over his head, like it most often was. He was most notorious for unkempt hair. Nigel was much younger than Lance, by three years, which made him eleven.
He made a hand gesture for Lance to come outside, so he walked out of his room and into the living quarters.
"Aunt Terra!" Lance called out to his Auntie. She was the person that took care of Lance and lived with him. She seemed quite ungrateful to have to house Lance at most times, but on holidays and such she was normally all right.
"Aunt Terra!" Lance called once again.
"Coming, dear" she replied. That sounded great, she had to be in a good mood.
"Auntie, can I go out with Nigel?" Lance asked kindly, raising his eyebrows slightly to attempt to make himself look wanting.
"Sure you can dear" she replied nicely, her silver hair blowing gently in the wind that blew through our window. "Chilly, isn't it."
Auntie Terra had always been very protective of Lance for some reason, Lance had often wondered if it was just in her nature to do so or if there was some hidden meaning. Her strongest feature was her long silver hair, which was very uncommon with any race, really. She was tall for a woman and very slender. Her cheekbones protruded more than usual on a woman of her age, for she was only in her mid-thirties.
Lance nodded to her once and then turned around, proceeding to venture out the door to meet up with Nigel.
"Are you ready?" Nigel asked inquisitively.
"Ready as ever…" Lance replied excitedly.
"Do you know what you're getting?" Nigel asked, again.
"Of course, doesn't every fourteen year old boy?" Lance replied, smiling proudly with strands of his loose hanging dirty blonde hair folding over his eyes.
Deer and rabbits littered the sidewalks towards Guvnahi's Outpost, which was where Lance would receive his weapon. The lush green grass grew high and some of it hung over onto the stone walkways that stood on both sides of the road. The sun hung high today, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Nigel followed closely behind Lance as he pushed open the doors to Guvnahi's Outpost. Lance ventured in further and Nigel stopped at the doorway.
Everything was very dark inside Guvnahi's Outpost. Nothing could be heard but the soothing breeze that seeped in through a window. The light from the window illuminated one of the corners of the outpost, but everything else remained dark.
"What can I do ye for, boy?" a booming voice cried out, startling both Lance and Nigel. "It's so gosh-darn-it black in here." The voice opened up the front doors, letting in light.
"Guvnahi!" Lance cried "You startled me for a second…"
"What are you doing here, son?" Guvnahi asked him.
"It's my fourteenth birthday today, Guvnahi" Lance replied "I get to obtain my first weapon today!"
"Already? My young boy's growing up" Guvnahi laughed aloud. Lance wasn't his next of kin, but Guvnahi often acted like he was.
Guvnahi was a particularly funny fellow, but he was huge. He was about 6'5 and was built massively, his bulging muscles almost breaking through his steel armor that bore the marks of Ohkri. Guvnahi was a war general there, and a good one at that too. He would be the best war general in Anarika if he hadn't of got banned from there. Guvnahi had a large reddish-brown colored beard and mustache combo, a few gray strands of hair were thrown in with the other colorations. A large war hammer rested in leather binding on his right leg. His arms were quite bruised and scarred up from what looked like previous battles.
"You know what you're getting, boy?" Guvnahi asked Lance loudly.
"I'm looking for a short sword…" Lance answered softly.
"Ahh, great choice" Guvnahi pointed out, rubbing his chin and searching throughout the shelves upon shelves of weaponry. He reached high up onto a shelf and pulled down a standard looking sword. It wasn't all too brilliant and the blade looked quite dull.
"Well, this is the best one we got" Guvnahi lied, his eyes shifted back and forth.
"Guvnahi, I know you well enough… Don't try and lie to me" Lance joked.
"Fine, boy, but I'm saving the shiny new ones for the richer children… not that your not very well off or anything… I hope you understand," He explained.
"I do, Guvnahi" Lance lied back; he really didn't understand the politics that often littered everyday life.
"I'll tell you what, boy. I'll give you a wooden shield to go with your sword… I'm not supposed to be doing this for free, but don't tell anybody, okay?" Guvnahi whispered.
"I got it" Lance replied.
Guvnahi burst out into a roar of laughter.
"That's my boy!" he roared slapping Lance on the back. Not noticing his own strength, he knocked Lance over and onto the ground. "Sorry, boy." Guvnahi helped Lance up.
Lance sheathed the sword on his left leg and tied the wooden shield to his back, still allowing it to be easily accessed in times of danger. He wondered if Nigel was growing impatient from waiting outside all this time so he decided to leave Guvnahi and greet his friend.
"See you later, Guvnahi!" Lance cried out.
"See you later, boy" Guvnahi called back. Guvnahi sat down a bit too quick and smashed the wooden chair that formerly sat beside his desk. He looked a bit disgruntled, but he got up and continued going about his business.
* * *
"Now we can go to the outskirts of town!" Nigel cheered in obvious enthusiasm.
"What do you mean go to the outskirts of town?" Lance questioned him, slightly enraged.
"There's a lake out there!" Nigel exclaimed, "I just want to feel water up against my toes, we won't stay for long… please?"
"I don't know, Nigel" Lance thought to himself "It is forbidden…"
"You'd better not be going to the lake!" a loud yet feminine voice screeched. I whipped around to see a young girl who I had seen many times before. It was Kathryn Summers, Nigel's older sister, and she was standing with one of her friends, looking rather pissed off.
Kathryn looked a bit exhausted, but she was still the prettiest young girl Ohkri had to offer. She had beautiful locks of brilliant brown hair with the slightest red hint to it. Her eyes, although angry, were one of the world's greatest spectacles to ever be looked upon. The sun hung low behind her, giving her body a faint glow.
Her friend stepped out from behind her, and she wasn't as pretty of a sight. She wasn't really Anarikan material, as she was wildly different from most Anarikan females. She had bright orange hair that was short, and hung evenly around her head. She was also more masculine than most females, as she had always longed to be a knight. Most Anarikans thought that this was preposterous, as a woman could never amount to anything that required physical strength. She was quite tall for a woman, almost as tall as Lance was, and this was one of her 'turn offs' as most Anarikan males enjoyed short woman more than tall ones. Her friends name was Chelsea, and she lived up on the hill closest to the caged ocean. They called it the caged ocean because it had a large metal framework around it, so no Ohkrian could ever get in.
"We're not going to the lake!" Nigel pleaded, his eyes almost filling with tears.
"But I know you are, sweetie…" Kathryn laughed; she had him under her fingertips. "If you two let us two come, then I might forget about it…"
"Deal!" Nigel said very loudly, grasping her hand tightly and shaking it back and forth rather rapidly.
"The question is…" Lance began "How exactly do you think we can get out of town that easily?"
"I have an idea…" Kathryn smiled largely. "It'll get past any guard…"
* * *
Kathryn knocked loudly on the old wooden door that housed our plan. There was no answer so Kathryn knocked even louder. There was still no answer. Kathryn called out her name.
"Nikki!" she yelled quite loud and the whole group could hear someone get up and then the sound of footsteps. The door opened up wide and a blonde about our age was standing at the door, partially smiling.
Her blonde hair drizzled down her head in a very unkempt fashion, which was odd, because normally she was known for having very good hair. She had a cheesy grin pasted upon her face and she was wearing a loose fitting white shirt and long lengthened blue pants. She was Nigel's 'fondest lady' as Nigel always tended to her care, everyone knew that he just wanted to go at it in the sack, and she took well advantage of this. If she wanted something, all she needed to do was call his name and he'd deliver it. It was a shameless helping service.
"What do you want?" Nikki asked rather rudely "I'm in… the middle of something."
"We need you for something" Kathryn stated plainly. Nikki nodded her head roughly and stepped out of the door, with that cheesy grin still pasted upon her face.
* * *
They had arrived at the borderline between Ohkri and the great lands beyond shortly after visiting Nikki. Now they had a party of five, and now they knew just how to get through the guard.
"Just where are you kids going?" asked the guard.
"To the lake…" Nigel said smiling.
"You know your not supposed to be go-" the guard was cut off when Nikki pulled her top up, exposing herself to him. The guard's mouth moving from an open position to a warm smile and began to speak.
"Well, I guess its okay as long as she stays here with me… I don't want her getting hurt… And you kids have to be careful…"
Nikki's eyes opened up wide, as she looked shocked. The guard took her into his guard office and waved to us.
"We'll be careful!" Kathryn shouted mockingly, all the while laughing at her poor friend Nikki.
* * *
They all had taken their shoes off so they could wade into the lake and have the water brush innocently past their toes. They had often been told about the dangers of this lake, and about how if they left Ohkri they would surely die. They had all shrugged these warnings off for one pleasant day at the lake.
Nigel had waded in far enough that he could start swimming, and he did. He got out to a certain distance and looked back at his friends, he clasped his hands together and moved them over his head in a victory sort of pose. Then for a second, his eyes went large and he was sucked underwater. It looked like a childish prank of his, especially when he started screaming.
"Help! It's eating my leg, help!"
Nigel fought out the pain and attempted to swim to shore, when he had reached shallow water we all saw what was attached to him. Their schooling had taught them what it was, a giant leech, they would bite on to one of your appendages and suck the blood out of it.
"Holy…" Lance trailed off as he drew his sword majestically and stabbed it into the tail of the leech. Blood splashed up from the water into his face as the leech writhed and wrecked about in agony. It let go of Nigel's leg and sifted slowly back into the water, obviously dead.
"That's enough water sports for me…" Chelsea said quietly, yet loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Nigel lay on the ground weeping insanely; flesh was torn from the uppermost part of his foot to the top of his shin. His bone could be seen through the open wound, it needed to be covered up to prevent infection.
Lance acted quickly and tore his left pant leg off from the bottom to the knee. He handed this to Kathryn who shrugged it off.
"I'm not going near that leg, that's… disgusting," she argued.
Lance had no time for this so he grabbed it from Kathryn's hands and wrapped it tightly around Nigel's leg. Nigel screamed out in pain, quite loudly but Lance didn't restrain himself from tightening it as much as possible. Nigel's eyes went weak and he passed out from the pain.
Kathryn looked very upset.
"He's dead!" she cried out in agony.
"No, he could be alive" Lance protested "But that's only if we tend to his needs… We need to get back to Ohkri… quickly…"
"Then let us be off," Chelsea announced.
"Hush" Lance said, holding his finger to his mouth. "Listen."
The almost silent rhythmical beat of drums sounded off in the distance. They slowly got louder as everyone listened attentively.
"We don't have enough time to make it back to Ohkri…" Chelsea pointed out.
"Your right" Lance agreed "We have to hide from whatever's coming…"
Lance picked Nigel up and slung him over his right shoulder. He then carried him slowly to a small cave in the side of a tiny mountain, if it could be even called a mountain. It was more of a rocky hill.
There they waited and as the beating of the war drums grew louder and louder their hearts grew faster and faster racing. Their breathing grew quicker and quicker until they were all panting from the madness. The war drums continued and soon faded off as Lance, Chelsea, Nigel and Kathryn fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
Lance was the first to awake the next morning, and he did so rather quickly. He got up immediately and walked outside the cave to wash himself up. Kathryn awoke a couple minutes after him to the sound of water being splashed on Lance's face.
"Rise and shine…" Lance said calmly.
"You too" Kathryn replied, quite ruggedly. She had never really been a morning person.
"When Chelsea awakes we can attempt to carry Nigel back to Ohkri… he needs quick attention…" Lance said, rubbing the water into his face. Kathryn had now joined him, and they were both cleaning themselves.
"We're going to be in a carriage load of **** when we get back!" Kathryn exclaimed, "I told you we should have never done this!"
"Don't yell at me…" Lance said quietly, it almost wasn't heard.
A large moan was heard from the thick brush that clouded the land around the lake. A quick grunt followed the moan and then a loud rustling. Lance's heart stopped momentarily as the wind around his ears stopped. He knew what was waking up, he could see it, but it was not visible yet.
"Go look after Nigel!" Lance cried quickly "Go!"
Kathryn leaped up and ran towards the cave, and as soon as she did a large dark green skinned beast ripped through the shrubbery that cradled the outsides of the lake. It obviously was a male, as females no longer existed as Daemonals, and males were asexual, meaning they could produce children by themselves.
The beast had nothing but bone on his upper-arms, as flesh hung loosely over his forearms. Around his elbow there was no skin and the muscle was clearly seen. Strangely enough, Lance thought he was injured but this was how they always were.
The hideous beast lurked forward ever so quietly, a repulsive odor filling the atmosphere. The beasts black hair, drenched with water, flung down over its face. It was wearing a chest-plate and nothing more armor wise, which left many parts open if it were attacked. It must have drifted off from its home or something, or it could have possibly been exiled.
Lance acted even more swiftly as the beast crept further forth. Lance now had his sword and shield drawn and he was facing the beast in a melodramatic pose, and he looked rather confident. The beast had reached a foot or so away from Lance, and it licked its upper lip, spit frothing from either end of its large mouth.
With one quick side sweep of his left arm, the massive Daemonal shattered Lance's shield. Its splinters waved sharply across the air as Lance gawked, mouth open, at the Daemonals pure and utter power. Lance took his most open opportunity and thrust his sword at the Daemonals stomach. In the blink of an eye, the Daemonal grabbed Lance's sword with his bare hands and ripped it from Lance's grip. The Daemonal then clamped the sword between his teeth and bent the poorly made sword.
Lance shivered in fear. He was incredibly overwhelmed with the gargantuan strength of the Daemonal whose body now lurched over Lance. The beast curled his lower lip, which was a sign of distaste or disgust, and after doing this he raised one clenched fist into the air quickly and swung it down.
Being the light-footed farmer that Lance was, he swiftly rolled out of the way. The Daemonal was confused, but he came at Lance again and this time he side-swatted, to which Lance ducked underneath.
“I can’t do this the whole battle…” Lance said softly to himself. “I’m going to have to fight back…”
Lance leapt forward heroically and swung his fight mightily at the Daemonal. The Daemonal reacted slowly, but let the fist hit him in the chest. Lance grabbed his hand in pain as he had struck the powerful armor with his bare knuckles. While Lance screamed momentarily, the Daemonal grabbed Lance’s hand and lifted him up over his head. With a resounding war cry, the Daemonal threw Lance onto the ground.
Lance grunted and Kathryn and Chelsea screamed for they were afraid for his seemingly upcoming death. Lance lay on the ground with his back hunched up, in obvious pain. He coughed heavily and spat blood from his mouth. The blood formed a small pool in the heavily plodded mud before him and blood was present at both the corners of his mouth and in a small trickle down his chin.
The Daemonal swung his foot out at Lance and kicked him firmly in the stomach. Lance threw up even more blood from the immense force of the blow. Kathryn screamed and burrowed her face into her palms, she couldn’t watch anymore. Chelsea turned around and kept to Nigel, almost pretending that Lance wasn’t there. They couldn’t do anything, and they feared that after the beast was done with Lance it’d kill them too.
Lance finally pulled himself up from the ground. He held his left arm at the shoulder, and it looked as if it were about to fall off. The Daemonal smiled brutishly, this particular human had a lot of determination… and this particular human was also fairly stubborn. The Daemonal motioned with his hands for Lance to give him one free hit on the arm.
Lance was quick to take this bargain. As the Daemonal flexed his right arm Lance outstretched his right arm and struck the Daemonal’s arm with an open palm.
“Singe.” Lance muttered under his breath as he hit the Daemonal with all he had.
The beast took a step back and laughed out loud, but suddenly his expression changed. His eyes widened and he looked quite afraid. His arm began to smoke, as little tuffs of dark clouds flew out into the sky. Lance’s palm was burned onto the Daemonal’s arm. The Daemonal screamed in agony as the smoke suddenly stopped, but the burning must have continued. In desperation, the Daemonal leapt into a deep part of the lake. Even more screams were heard as the Daemonal slowly began to climb out of the water, with huge leeches all over his body. He let out another scream before collapsing to the ground with a final grasp for life. The Daemonal cursed once in his language and then passed on into the better life.
Lance felt himself completely exhausted all of a sudden. He collapsed onto his back and fell into a deep sleep…
* * *
When Lance had finally come to, they were arriving back into Ohkri. Chelsea and Kathryn had found an abandoned war cart, so they placed Nigel and Lance onto it and began the long struggle that consisted of pulling them home.
Lance sat up and his eyes shot open, he was amazed at what he saw. Astonished at the pure and utter destruction done to his homeland… well, former homeland. Most of the houses were scorched down to nothing but ash and rubble. Lance leaned forward more, to make sure this was real as he was fairly startled. He looked to his left and saw that Nigel was still passed out, that leech bite must have done him in pretty well.
Fires still raged on at the side streets in Ohkri, Lance rubbed his eyes once with both hands and then leapt out of the cart. Chelsea and Kathryn, startled, both dropped the carrying handles at the same time.
“I’m up!” Lance announced.
“Good, you can pull the cart then…” Kathryn remarked plainly.
“Fantastic…” Lance mumbled slowly.
“You know… things aren’t looking all too good for us,” Chelsea pointed out.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Lance smiled, speaking in a sarcastic overtone.
“There’s no need for that…” Chelsea replied, “The closest place in traveling distance is Cheekien… It’d be a long hike, but if you want to live…”
“I’ll take life,” Kathryn decided quickly.
“Me too” Lance chimed in “But we have a slight problem… the chance of us getting attacked is quite high, and thanks to that Daemonal we’re now all unarmed.”
“I can help with that…” Chelsea said mightily “My father used to be a knight, and there’s tons of weapons in our basement…”
Lance sniffed the air in disgust “This whole god damn place smells like death.”
* * *
They left Nigel at the outside of Chelsea’s house as the three scared adventurers entered through a large hole in one wall. The stairs were still intact, so they took them down into the basement where racks upon racks of weapons sat.
Lance admiringly fingered the blade of a light short sword that had no hilt. He was almost sure with this choice so he sheathed his blade and began squandering for a round steel shield.
Kathryn had always been fond of archery in particular, and she had always been naturally gifted at it. With these instincts in her, she picked a short bow from one of the racks and she pulled a quiver filled with roughly a hundred arrows and placed it over her shoulder. She strapped this quiver to her back and then grabbed a large green rain cloak from a large chest off to the side of all the weapons.
Chelsea armed herself to the teeth. She laced a belt around her pants that had two sheaths on it and in both of them she placed a small short sword. In the small satchels around the belt she placed several knives, about six of them. She then slung a backpack over her back for her to carry temporarily; she would give it to Nigel when he came to. She filled the backpack with lots of furs for trading, as copper, silver and gold pieces weren’t used in some places. Chelsea looted all of the gold, silver and copper coins she could find left in the basement while Lanced picked out his shield.
Lance had picked out a rather plain circular steel shield, he knew it would provide as a simple defensively based item and it looked durable enough to last quite a battle. As simple as it would, it would provide much more so than his previous shield, of whose life was struck away in one battle.
* * *
At last they were done their search for items. Everyone had what he or she needed, and they had brought a bladed boa for Nigel, which was a long wooden stick that had a blade at either end.
When they had finally reached the wart cart that Nigel was resting in, they noticed something painfully wrong. Nigel was missing. Had he got up and went looking for them? Had he been captured and slain? Had a flying monkey shot out of nowhere and ate him? No one knew.
Then Lance spotted a Daemonal in the distance, he only had one arm, as the other must have been hacked off in this very battle. Kathryn had taken sight of him as well, and she readied her bow and fired off an arrow. The arrow soared through the air majestically, cutting it like a hot knife on butter. The arrow then made contact with the Daemonal’s neck and the beast hit the large pavement stones that made up the roadway.
Lance and the others approached the dead beast and found Nigel’s legs hanging out of the small guard shop near the town gates. He had finally come to, but he was so hurt that he could not even stand up. As Lance helped Nigel up, Kathryn was shocked to find Nikki’s body. It was one of the only bodies that were actually visible, Daemonals were known for taking the bodies of the men that they had slain. They would take the bodies back home and burn them in a large bonfire. It was a strictly ceremonial thing.
Nikki’s body was stripped completely naked, and she had a long wooden stick impaled in between her breasts. Blood had formed in a small pool at her feet, and her expression was still locked in a surprised, shocked look.
“We have to get out of here…” Chelsea said, her expression not changing much. Kathryn looked torn apart at the fact that her best friend was dead.
“There’s nothing we could have done…” Lance said sympathetically “We would have died too, if we wouldn’t have left for the lake… Fate helped us out on this one…”
“I would rather be dead with her than have to see her now, like this” Kathryn moped out, her sobs growing fiercer. She collapsed to her knees and buried her hands into her arms.
“It’s going to be a damn hard life from here on out…” Lance pointed out, closing his eyes. “And it’s going to be a painful ride, but if we can pull through it, there might be something for us at the other end of life… We may find what we are looking for in Cheekien, so we must begin a trek there.”
“To Cheekien” Chelsea said in a low sappy tone.
And so the alliance had begun. Kathryn wept tears of pure anger and hate for the Daemonals. Lance was all-around optimistic, but inside he held an explosive amount of rage, a dangerous amount, infact. Chelsea was rather indefinite on the issue, but she hoped secretly that her mother had not died… for if she had passed on, she would be alone. Nigel laid in pain, unable to stand on his own.
All in all, everyone was ****ed royally.