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Post by wanzer on Aug 12, 2009 0:22:43 GMT -4
Point of View:
Prologue:
In the year 1133 A.D, magic was though to be the stuff of superstition and fairy tales. However, on April 14th of that year, in the small village of Aegon, several young nobles and two farmhands (their genders could not be confirmed by the reports given to us by the townspeople of Aegon, so we assume a mix of young men and women presumably around the ages of twelve through fourteen.) found a small stone no larger than a child’s thumbnail. It was tear shaped and shone with what the youth called ‘Arcane Brilliance’. Its color has varied in almost all of the reports, but the most common color scheme of the stone seems to be a light blue to turquoise shade with a blood red center so brilliant it was said to nearly blind those who beheld it. The youth in awe of this stone, reached out and held it, upon doing so they found themselves full of succor and wisdom. Moreover, they found that which was difficult for them to do before became a trivial task. The youth fearful of punishment should they keep this blessing to themselves took the stone and turned it into the Church. The Father of the Church, a man by the name of Alphonse Bastion took the stone as a gift from God and without discussion with the rest of the Church or his higher ups dubbed the stone the Divine Tear. Father Bastion however, did not realize that when he did so many of the members of the Church of Aegon began to treat the stone as they’re personal religious symbol and prayed to it instead of God. Too worsen matters; while the ‘Divine Tear’ resided in the Aegon Church, the congregation began to notice that not only were they more energetic, they also began to develop special abilities. These started out small at first, like the farmhand discovering that a plant that had been dead the night before after some tending over, sprouted up and produced fruit later that same evening. Soon however, they grew to almost biblical miracles. The innkeepers wife, who was a devout follower of the Aegon Church (and a stronger follower of her husbands ale) discovered one night, while a particularly offensive patron drank that upon thinking she wished she could switch his ale with a flagon of goat urine, that when she desired something enough it would happen. The patron spat out the ale with a great upheaval. The other patrons swore that he sounded like a dragon ready to breathe its dreaded fire as he clutched his throat and begged for water. The patron ran out of the inn and dunked his head into the horses’ water, while the Innkeeper examined the Stein in which the man had been served. When he poured it out to clean it, a fool odor rose up and upon tasting it discovered his ale had been turned into goat urine. The Father panicked at all these happenings and declared the stone ‘a work of the Devil’ and cast it into the town’s lake. The townspeople did not learn of this until the next Sunday and were angry with the Father, but also found that they lost their abilities as they kept out of contact with the stone. The people mourned the loss of the stone, but would hold no grudge against Father Bastion as they feared God’s Divine Wrath.
In the year 1135 A.D, whatever granted the ‘Divine Tear’ it’s odd powers spread into the town’s water supply from the lake which was tied into the rivers nearby and to the ocean itself. Eventually t he people of Aegon, slowly regained their powers, but were so startled at first that none wanted to step forward and say they had been granted them. Finally in the Spring of 1135, the owner of a small medical office, a man by the name of Fredric Delrai stepped forward and revealed that he had the ability to heal minor wounds with just his touch. Father Bastion at the time had just entered his 7th year as the head of Aegon’s church and was so shocked at the events that he considered resigning and letting some young buck take his place. The Father however, decided against this and tried to persuade the people of Aegon that the powers that they were gaining were the Devil’s ‘toys’. The people at first agreed with him, but soon a wave of realization hit them, why should something unexplained always be of the Devil? Could these not be gifts from God, for their devout belief and watch over each other? The people from then on ignored Father Bastion and began to use their powers and abilities as they saw fit.
In the Winter of 1136, Aegon started to advance at an alarming rate. Where the city had been a farming community simply working on the seasons not a year before, had become to use crop rotations and irrigating to increase their productivity. In the early Spring, the people of Aegon had created their first lumber mills and soon after that began to see the need of government. During the summer of 1136, Aegon set up a make-shift Monarchy and crowned Gerret P. Xon the Second their king. Gerret showed the most wisdom and reason among all the townspeople and also the most benevolent heart. Under his rule Aegon flourished and the population skyrocketed as people immigrated into the small village. Although, there were still problems amongst the townspeople, many of the people found the idea of a Monarchy to be slightly unsatisfactory as they were used to governing themselves. There were murmurs of unrest from time to time and the rare case of someone misusing their powers to cause havoc. The worst of these came about in the Fall of 1137, a young man named Robert Dane who was about the age of 18 and a known pyro-mancer and student in the Demonic Arts. Robert after performing a ritual in secret in the woods, just behind the lake that Father Bastion had thrown the ‘Divine Tear’ into not 5 years ago. It is said that Robert chose the woods, not only for the solitude it brought him, but also because it was common belief that the woods amplified ones abilities to the 9th degree. Robert then proceeded to summon a demon before setting the town’s Inn and Council Chambers on fire. However, Robert was thought to have failed his summoning, the fires however raged for a full night, before finally being retained.
During the waning days of 1138, a young boy by the name of Adrian Noles caught sight of one of his mother’s many cats being harassed by a wolf of the darkest mane. Adrian knew what the cats meant to his mother as his father had passed away the winter before from a bizarre sickness know as The Crab Disease. The disease, from the good doctor Delrai’s observation destroyed the man’s most basic structure and was working its way back ou t. His father had possessed a kind soul and cared for many strays much to the dismay of his mother during his father’s life. When his father died though, Adrian’s mother took it upon herself to care for them as her husband would, seeing them as his final gift to remember him by. Adrian being a farm boy was in excellent physical condition and threw a nearby brick at the wolf knocking it back with the cat in its mouth into the lake. Adrian then ran over to fetch the cat, while the wolf would be licking its wounds. However, when the young man arrived at the edge of the lake he found no wolf and no cat instead two new creatures stepped out of the water. Adrian almost fainted at the sight of them the wolf’s fur had been shed into the water and were once a fearsome hunter had been a human now stood. He was human except for two qualities; his eyes were piercing yellow and canine in everyway. While his ears, where also canine and perched as if he were s till a wolf. The cat, which happened to be female also, came out of the water, but now instead of her neck in the wolf’s mouth her hand was locked with his. She was the same as the wolf was in almost every quality, except that she had a tail coming out of her back. These were the first Kudïr and Kudïra, The Kudïr came from the wolf and the Kudïra came from the cat. At first, these two races showed minimal intelligence, but after a mere two weeks they were speaking and discussing the events of the town like any other citizen. Around 1143 the Kudïr and Kudïra had both taken mates and produced offspring. These children were named, Espon Algric, Olan Algric, Rain Felin and Joseph Felin. The Algrics came from the Kudïr and while Espon resembled his father wholly, his brother Olan appeared completely human. The Felins came from the Kudïra and while the daughter of the couple carried her mother’s distinct traits, her brother did not. It seemed that Kud rs and Kudïras could produce offspring, their chances of passing down their traits was a fifty-fifty at best. Nothing eventful would happen in Aegon until the summer of 1148, when it was discovered that Robert Dane’s summoning had been successful. Robert, who was just now being released from the prison for his deplorable acts, was startled when he was approached by a figure standing at 6’4 an unreal height for the time when most people didn’t reach a height above 5’3. The demon was of bronze skin and dark hair, coming out of his head were two horns that turned backwards and laid flat against his skull. He said his name was Talin Salen’mer and he was an incubus, he spoke with a great authority and informed Robert that he would do anything asked of Robert for his soul. Robert frightened, fled the village immediately and Talin took up residence as an average citizen. Soon after other demons came to Aegon, none of them seemed to have any blood lust, but a few couldn’t seem to keep their hands to themselves, especially in the presence of the townswomen.
Later that year, the king of Aegon, who was a constant visitor to the inn for a cup of the Innkeeper’s famous ale, noticed a bar fight between a Kudïr and a well-built man named Marcus Fox. Marcus was renowned for his ability as a fighter and had been declared several times the best boxer in Aegon. Gerret was shocked to find Marcus forced to the ground and being thrashed by Kudïr who didn’t seem to be putting forth any effort. Gerret later confronted the Kudïr who happened to be named Renoc Dimetri and discovered that his ability was completely natural and he had never been in a fight before. Gerret, coming to the realization that all Kudïr must have an inbred talent for fighting ordered every Kudïr in Aegon to turn up and test their mettle against his elite knights. None of the knights were successful in defeating even one of the Kudïr and Gerret enlisted most of them as his new Elite Guard. Gerret thinking that if Kudïr were so great at combat then Kudïra must have something of the same; alas he found only t hat they were almost always in high spirits and were very happy servants. Gerret a little disappointed in this find, let them be and many left town after seeing his disappointment. The Elite Knights, now composed of Kudïr often became bored at their new posts and would sometimes wonder out into the night and fight each other till only one was left standing. None of them died of course, theirs was a contest of skill. Gerret, one night finding he was unable to sleep crept out of bed and went toward the hills were he would mediate on nights like this till he would eventually fall asleep. After cresting several hills, heading toward his favorite spot which happened to be two rocks made smooth by the erosion of the wind and placed near each other so it made a natural couch. He found a mass of Kudïr locked in combat, during one of their contests to find their ‘Alpha’. Gerret upon seeing them in this declared the most talented, vicious and battle hardened Kudïr; the Kudïran and the most elite of the Kudïran, the leader of all the Kudïr, which was dubbed the Kudïrath. The first Kudïrath went by the name Valik Cane and was known the world= around for his fearsome ability with a Rapier and his prowess with his magic. Valik possessed the ability to cause each strike of his blade to multiply by a multiple of five every time it landed, so in essence with just the force of one swing he in effect could strike you over a hundred times. After Valik, there are the five Kudïran which the first were named: Loga Estih, Yansen Qal, Opec Algric, Grot Frolon and Helix Birt. These five contained almost as much prowess as Valik, but none could match him in a fight and it normally took three of them to take him down. While these soldiers, were a blessing to Aegon’s military there was a concern with having them so close to the king. For you see, Valik had one tiny problem that none of the other Kudïr seemed to have yet. Valik suffered from a lack of sanity at intervals, these intervals were completely random and could happen in two days or between the course of years. During these times, the king ordered the greatest Sorcerers to create a device that could restrain any Kudïr, the Sorcerers finding no way to do it almost gave up till one day they saw a young man with a flute. No sound came out of the flute when he played it, but when he did all the Kudïr and Kudïra around him fell to their knees and howled or mewed in pain. The Sorcerers took the flute from the young man and after recreating several hundred of them returned it to him. From then on, the humans of Aegon no longer feared the Kudïr because it was common place to have one of these flutes somewhere accessible in the house. There was peace in Aegon until the year 1188, King Gerret had long since died and now the new king was a man by the name of Robìer de Fortura who while on the outside appeared to be just, housed a black heart bent from sadism. This book takes place during, Robìer’s years on the throne and from point of view of two cousins with two completely different personalities and views.
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Post by wanzer on Aug 12, 2009 1:04:06 GMT -4
Chapter 1: Life in Aegon
A young man is awoken by the sound of a rooster crow over his sleepy village in the wee hours of the morning; he yawns with little thought and gets up slowly. He hears a little mew of pain and looks back over at the bed, swearing under his breath as the young Kudïra beside him awoke. She was about fourteen, attractive to say the least; see looked up at him with innocent blue eyes and tossed her blonde tassels out of her face before switching her tail out from under the covers. She begin to speak, it was a velvety voice but could quickly got on one’s nerves if used right.
“ABEL!!! We’ve been sleeping in the same bed since we were five and you still roll over my tail!!!”
Abel sighs quietly and rubs the bluish-silver hair behind his right ear; their mornings started like this sometimes and he hated when they did. Bailey would be on his case all day about squishing her tail and in apology he would have to do all her chores. He wished just once he would think things through and look under the covers before he rolled out of bed. Abel thinks on that a minute as he mumbles another apology, then it hits him that the last time he had tried that she had shrieked at him calling him a peeping tom. This didn’t really bother Abel much, but seeing her so upset had. Abel rubs what Bailey calls his stress reliever again, before looking back down at her and motioning for her to get up.
“We've got work to do Bailey, tomorrow is the festival and we’ve got harvest the wheat for those cakes you love so much.”
Bailey jumps up and mews at him; she starts pouting and looks up at him with big sad eyes.
“I’ll work, but only if you promise to buy me a pastry later.”
Abel groans and looks into his leather money pouch as she pouts. He had about four silver pieces that was enough for two cakes, but Abel had his eye on an ornate sword in the window of the blacksmith. He wanted to buy it for his cousin Cain, whose birthday was only a few days away. The sword, however was ten silver pieces so if he wanted to get it he would have to refuse Bailey her pastry as his pay was only seven silver pieces every three days. Abel shakes his head and mutters a sorry, before turning back around and heading out the door. Bailey mews after him, then shouts.
“FINE!!! Guess I’ll just play in town today!”
Bailey pouts again for a few minutes, then sighs and rushes outside to help Abel. Abel smiled at her just as he starts to open the door and the bright rays of the sun’s first light pour through the door. It was beautiful morning, the sky was clear and only a thin haze clung near the ground from evaporation; birds had just started to chirp and the great pines and oaks in the area let their light shine through their leaves. Abel lets out a soft sigh of bliss, and then winks at Bailey as their features are contrasted brilliantly by the morning light. Bailey had matured physically, before she had mentally but her mind was blossoming in the same way her body had and she was showing an increased amount of maturity everyday. Abel had done the opposite, but his body quickly caught up as the hard manual labor of farm work took effect. Abel was lithe and very well built for his age; Bailey meanwhile retained all the female curves, which were shown off most of time because she was usually dressed in her work clothes. These were just a pair of hammy down work pants, which had been stained a multitude of colors from: painting, working in the wheat and grass, swimming and other activities varying from exploring the woods to pulling pranks in town. These pants were a little baggy, however and tripped her up a few times during her first few days of wearing them. Abel eventually noting her discomfort; cut up one of his belts (much to his father’s displeasure) and gave it to Bailey. The belt fit, but it made the pants very snug at the waist. The other item was one of Abel’s old white shirts; she had taken a pair of scissors to them one day and cut the sleeves off to almost the shoulder. The shirt was now almost too small for her, but she still insisted in tucking it in every time they went to work. Abel looked at her curiously with his yellow, wolf-like eyes and smiles a little more as he blushed. Something was different today, but he would think on it later right now there was work to be done and afterward more errands in town. Abel sighs, before looking around at the house he had just exited and the small shed to the side of it. It was very small for the wealth that his father had even though Jin Delrai was only second to the Kudïrath and the King himself. He saw no need to flaunt his wealth as many others did; he was a modest man of simple pleasures. The house itself was made of simple cut redwood logs that had been cut, then placed together to make the frame for the house. Pine wood was then used to set in the flooring and anything else needed. The roof was covered with dry hay to prevent leaking= and to hold any heat in the house in. The only part of the house that was not made of natural materials were the bricks, which constructed the chimney. Abel walks along side the house, before entering the shed, it was dusty and smelled heavily of paints, mildew, sawdust and other things that Abel couldn’t place. Walking in, Abel can feel and hear the loud creek that the floorboards make with every step. When he was a child, he would often come in here and pretend he was a valiant knight with one of the tools. He had only stopped after he had almost cut his leg off, when he dropped the sickle he now had to use on an almost daily basis. Abel hefts the massive two-handed blade that he used to imagine himself as the Grim Reaper with, but now just saw himself as a farm boy. Bailey grabs the pitch fork beside it and pricks her thumb on the tip, before walking over to the barn. Bailey’s job was just cleaning out the barns, Jin had told Abel once that he was to never let her help in the fields because he didn’t think she was strong enough to heft a sickle and most likely hurt herself. Abel could understand this and promised his father he never would. He was beginning to regret the discussion though, working the fields was hard and doing it with only a single team made it even more difficult. Abel sighs and runs out into the fields, noticing he was the only one out and about that morning; he begins to work slowly taking his time to let his muscles warm up and wake up after his fitful night of sleep. Abel sighs as the sun makes the swaying wheat, seem like a stream of gold in his vision. He sighed another blissful sigh and set down his sickle to admire the view, wondering what his cousin was doing.
Cain yawns awake around the time that Abel had just started his work, turning over he looks at the letter on his dresser. It read;
“Dear Cain Delrai,
It has come to our attention that your skills in both magic and physical combat are befitting that of our knights, we wish you to report the morning of the fifth of July and stand before the king for his royal approval. This is not a request; you are required as a servant of your country to become a knight or follow in the footsteps of your father and become a physician. Otherwise we will label you as a traitor to this land and you will further more be banished.
Signed,
The Knights of Aegon
Cain smiles as he reads this letter, all of his life he had longed to be a knight and now his dream was finally coming true, after years of hard work and training he was finally accepted into their ranks. Cain jumps out of bed, and then stretches before beginning his morning work out. Cain being fifteen was further along than Abel in his physique and had been working at it much harder than Abel had been. Still, the muscular difference between them was like measuring the Earth to the Moon. Cain had been doing his morning workout since he was seven and it was as follows: Five hundred sit ups, three hundred push up, a hundred chin ups, then two laps around town before a breather and another hundred sit-ups and push ups. He always did all of this, before going downstairs and eating breakfast, except on Sundays. On Sundays we would skip= his workout and prepare for Church, then would do it afterward. Today was the fourth of July and tomorrow, if his majesty would have him, he would become a knight. After, completing his push-ups there was a knock on his door. Cain looked up just starting to sweat and lets a few drops fall off his short blonde hair. Grabbing his shirt, he dries off a little, before saying in his relatively matured voice.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open and his father walked in quietly, dressed in his physician’s coat, the rest of his clothes weren’t visible from under the coat, but his boots made of the darkest possible leather peaked out a little. Cain looks up at his father, who had been named Aoi by his father. Cain smiles a little; he adored his father even though they had their fights. Looking up at him, he notices his long black hair was unkempt and there were dark rings around his blue eyes.
“Father…Is something wrong?”
“Oh no, Cain…I have just been busy caring for the ill and haven’t slept in some time. Anyway son, I just came in to congratulate you on your acceptance by the Knights….I wish you well and hope you will be safe. Now, then how bout some breakfast, your mother prepared oatmeal today.”
Cain nods to his father, before getting up and hugging him. Aoi looked down and thought that he was so much like his mother, yet at the same time so much like him. He shakes his head, then strokes his son’s hair before taking him downstairs to eat. Cain smiles seeing his mother, bent over a small bowl of oatmeal over their cast iron stove. Her blonde hair hung about her straight and gleaming in the sun like wheat on a summer’s day. She turns quietly around and looks up at his father, before smiling and giving him a small wink. The two were madly in love and were expecting another child soon, which would make three. Cain just had to smile at their silently display of affection, he hoped he would be able to find someone who would love him like that when the time came for him to marry. Cain slowly drifts off into his thoughts, before he hears his mothers soft, soothing voices say;
“Cain, sweetie? Your oatmeal is going to get cold.”
Cain slowly snaps out of his fantasy and sits down near his parents, before beginning to eat slowly enjoying the meal his mother had prepared for him. He smiles at his mother, who looks at him with a sort of loving yet lost expression. She had been loathing this day for some time, Kori would cling to anything she loved and fight for it with all her might. However, she couldn’t fight this because that would hurt someone she loved; when Cain left for the day she would find Aoi and bury her head into his chest and cry will he comforted and cried along side her. Cain blissfully unaware of this continues eating and looks out the window, watching a few birds take off from the roof of the Church. The Church was made of a pristine white marble, which had been crafted to mimic the style of the great European churches of the time. The cross on the top of the church was actually carved from the nearby oaks and painted white to match the marble. A huge stained glass mural of Jesus on the Cross adorned the front, while the doors had also been made from the oaks nearby and decorated with brass and gold. Everyone gathered to that hallowed place every Sunday, but little did they know that before the year was over its white marble would be stained red.
“Father? Will you need any help at the hospital today?”
Aoi turns surprised at his son’s sudden interest in his work, stammers out his first few words, then drinks a bit of his fresh milk before answering him.
“No Cain, I’ve decided to take the day off to be with your mother and to oversee some of the activities at the upcoming Festival.”
Cain nods slowly, then stands up and turns his back to his mother and father, before taking a step toward his room.
“Mother, is there anything I can help you with?”
Kori almost begins to cry, but Aoi grips her hand and shakes his head slowly. She nods to him and looks back at her son.
“No Cain, your sister will help me.”
Cain does nothing for a moment, then takes in a deep breath and walks back into his room, just before his mother began to sob and Aoi took her back into their bedroom.
Cain sighs, rubs the back of his head, then plops down into his bed grabbing his pillow. He sneezed as a few of the goose down feathers flutter out of it along with a little dust. He runs his finger under his nose, then closes his eyes; knowing all too soon he would be leaving this house…probably for good. Cain closed his eyes again, then looked out the window not realizing that he would be back in this house sooner than he could have ever expected. Cain closes his eyes slowly and thinks about his life until this point, there had been so many little joys that he had overlooked until this point. His mother’s soft kisses and his sisters teasing, the way his father rubbed his head whenever he did something to make him proud, the smell of breakfast in the morning and the sounds of dinner cooking over an open fire during winter so they could all be warm. Cain smirks, then slowly sits up and folds his hands into his lap thinking about all those special occasions when he would become so jubilant that his Cousin Abel and Uncle Jin would come over, the feeling wouldn’t last long though because the day after was usually filled with hard labor. Cain laughs remembering the year, a wild boar had entered into their work area and they had all shot off in different directions screaming as it chased him till Uncle Jin and his father pinned and slew it. He shakes his head a little and wipes a small tear out of the corner of his eye, before walking to his dresser and pulling out his white dress shirt, then pulling his leather jerkin over it; he starts back toward the door. He stops short of grabbing the handle, the takes one last look at his room. Sighing, he opens the door and steps out into the light.
Abel hums softly to himself as he works most of the morning away, looking over to the barn he hears a Poof sound, then raises his eyebrows. It sounded like something dropping into hay. He shrugs, then looks around at his co-workers; noticing many of them were no longer there and that the job for today was almost finished, he sets down his sickle and walks to the barn to find out the origin of the sound. Turning the corner into the barn, he pokes his head in and notices everything is as it should be; the chickens were feeding in their pen and the horses neighed softly, before beating their hooves against the hard soil. Another glance over, he sees a tail swishing in the air just out of the top of the hay pile; he hears soft purring along with it and smiles, before diving into the pile himself. Abel heard a shriek, then a few mews as he came out of the pile of hay with Bailey in his arms. Bailey blushed as she looked into his eyes and told him to get off. Abel looked down blushing and noticed she had a litter of kittens in her arms.
“Abel get off, your gonna kill them!!”
Abel hurried stands up and offers a hand to Bailey, who accepts it; though looks at him with a kind of loathing for the moment then smiles.
“Aren’t they so CUTE! I found them today along with their momma cat; I’ve been playing with them since I finished my work. Oh Abel, can I keep them please, I’ll take good care of them just don’t tell anyone!”
Abel a little torn over the matter shrugs and tells her to do what she wants. He smiles and begins to speak again as she gives the kittens back to their mother.
“Come on, lets go help set up the festival I might have enough left over after I buy Cain’s gift to get you a muffin.”
Bailey purrs and runs over and takes his arm
“So you’re going to take me out on a date, then Abel? Aww you’re so sweet!”
Abel blushes fiercely and looks away from Bailey.
“Hey who said it was a date? I just thought I’d better reward you for doing such a good job.”
Bailey starts to giggle and unhooks herself from his arm as she runs around and looks back into his yellow eyes.
“Abel you’re a bad liar your know that?”
Abel pushes Bailey and winks at her as he runs back toward town, leaving her behind.
Cain meanwhile had begun to cross the drawbridge of Aegon’s Castle. He looks around jubilant that he was finally allowed to enter its grounds. Most of the time the castle grounds were closed off to the public, only those belonging to the military or having private matters with the king or one of the military were allowed to enter. Cain looks around more in awe of the architect’s great handy work; he had never imagined there could be a place so beautifully created that wasn’t hallowed. He looked around at the slightly grayish stone and marveled at the scenes carved into them, there were several depicting the finding of the “Divine Tear” and more of20the powers which came forth from it. Standing the center of the yard was a large statue with three Kudïr standing with their weapons; two were posed and seemed to jump out at passersby, Cain who hadn’t been paying attention nearly yelled when he saw them. The one in the middle, however had a majestic look he held his spear so that it went through the crook of his arm, then pointed straight up into the air. His hand was held up and he had two fingers held up close to his face. Cain marveled at his majesty and noted that his eyes were closed. An old man walked up to Cain and touched his soldier.
“Ah another comes to bask in the glory of the Kudïrath and their 2nd Deic Sola, not only was he the greatest fighter of his time, he was the best tactician this country has ever seen. They say he could defeat ten thousand soldiers with just four men, I say he could do it with three.
Cain smiled at the old man, noting his features, he had a very large nose which crooked downward, his white beard was almost to the middle of his neck and his bald head supported a few liver spots. His hands were boney and showed the wear and tear of many years of manual labor. He looks up at Cain, a little puzzled and shows that he has no irises.
“Something wrong young man?”
Cain says nothing for a moment, then smiles brightly.
“Just thinking of ways I can become even greater than Deic!”
Cain runs off, leaving the old man laughing, who yells at him.
“That’s impossible boy!”
Cain ignores his comment and smiles to himself as he looks= up at the sun.
“I will be greater than him, I have found my ambition.”
Cain becomes ecstatic as he continues to smile and get closer to the courtroom door. He pauses for a moment, before he touches the doors hand tentatively. His heart felt like a stone in his chest as he could feel it beat slowly in his throat, his pores began to release small amounts of sweat and he can feel his teeth chattering. He closes his eyes and grits down on his teeth as he throws the doors open wide. “Yes" As Cain enters, two servants one a Kudïra, the other a human, walk behind him and close the door. Cain looks around for a moment and just as he was trained takes in the entire landscape and memorizes it. It was a three story area, the bottom level was empty aside from a few masonries that functioned as support beams. Along each of these were candleholders with small red candles burning dimly in each of them. The second level seemed to main for the express purpose of entertaining and was complete with tables and chairs, among which many of still held full glasses of wine and half empty plates of: pork, chicken, veal, salmon, shrimp and other delicacies. Cain strained his eyes to see up into the third level, but the dark veil around it could not be pierced by his mortal eyes so he shrugged and walked along the red carpet toward the center of the room. The center was slightly more illuminated, but not enough to brighten the mood of the area; Cain felt as though he was being chocked by the sear volume of the darkness and wanted to be away from this place as soon as possible. As his thoughts wondered, a door opened in front of him and a blinding light came forth out of it. A silhouette beckons to him and Cain walks forward shielding his eyes, thinking that this must have been what James, John and Peter felt like on the Mount of Transfiguration, or what the sheppards felt like when they beheld the angel of the Lord come down from Heaven to give them the good news. As Cain walks through the doors, he enters a realm which he did not believe possible. Stretched out before him was an endless world of white, broken only by the other humans and Kudïr that walked along it. Cain was dazzled, but soon his head began to hurt from all the whiteness. He turns as he rubs his temples to what had been the silhouette; it turned out to be a young Kudïra, probably no more than nineteen in age. She bit her lower lip as if it were some kind of merciful stress reliever; she was also stroking her long pinkish hair as her ears shyly pressed against her head. Her green eyes seemed to look upon Cain as if he were some kind of God wrapped in a mortal coil. Her tail was drooping against the ground and she looked up at him almost as if to plea for help, but instead she said, “Please follow me, King Robìer and Master Salazar are waiting for you.”
Cain follows her silently, thinking she was strikingly beautiful, but his family would never accept him choosing anyone aside from someone in the highest of nobilities as his mate. He shakes his head and wonders if they really wanted him to be happy sometimes, but smiles nun the less and keeps following the Kudïra.
“So what is your name?”
Cain finally asks out of the blue as they turn around the corner into an area that actually looked like the room he had been in before that terrible area of white light. The Kudïra looks at him, with what seemed to be fear in her eyes, she trembled as she squeaked out.
“Kait…Kaitlyn sir…..does my name displease you?”
Cain raised his eyebrows curiously wondering why she would be so scared of a simple question.
“Nay, Kaitlyn is a beautiful name, why would it displease me what your mother and father named you?”
She looks back up at him as her gaze had averted to the floor and she had begun to bite her thumb, while awaiting his answer.
“The other knights…they…they beat me sometimes, when I do not please them….a few won’t let me go by my real name anymore.”
Cain put his hand on her shoulder and she almost screamed at it, but merrily put her hand back over it.
“Please don’t tell the king of this…I fear he will execute me should he find that the knights have taken a dislike to me.”
Seeing her discomfort and her fear can nods and promises to her he will not tell the king, then tells her on his honor as a gentleman and on all of his forefathers’ graves he will protect her should the other knights attack her. Kaitlyn looks back up to him and bursts into joyful tears, before nodding and drying her eyes.
“Tha…Thank you, kind Cain.”
Cain smiles at her with every bit of affection he could give to her at the moment and says,
“You can thank me, by getting me to the conference.”
Kaitlyn nods and scurries around several corners, Cain unable to tell the difference from one hallway to the next just follows her with a blind faith and eventually comes out into another courtyard. This one, almost identical to the one, before except for the statues where gone and in their stead stood a=2 0fountain. Cain rubs his eyes sleepy as the mid-day sun shone down upon his face.
“Sir Cain….I can see your surprise, the time that flows on the outside world is different her in the castle. It has bewildered us for quite some time, but you will get used to it.”
Kaitlyn says to him, with a practiced grace. Though her frustration and meekness were still under toned, her face was twisted now trying to retain a calm demeanor, but her body language showed that she did not want to stay here for long. Cain bows a silently and reverently to here, before waving his good-byes and heading into the main courtyard. The courtyard seemed to be of an unusually lush grass as if=2 0this area never knew a winter or fall. Among the cold, human pillars created in the Gothic Style that was popular, were various orchards and bushes that contained every sort of berry. Cain moved to pluck a ripe blueberry from a bush, when he felt a hand grab his shoulder, before he could turn to see who it was he was jerked back and thrown the ground.
“You shall not partake of the King’s Garden peasant!”
The man who had uttered this spat at Cain as he finished the sentence, he was barely two inches taller than Cain and his clothes marked him of obvious high birth, wearing a doublet of the purest white material and pants made of silk darkened by dyes. His red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and his eyes were almost the same color of the grass around them. His nose appeared to crook slightly to the left and his lips were drawn into a thin line broken only by the small scar on the center. He brushed off his doublet, with obvious contempt for Cain, before muttering something about washing his hands. Cain infuriated by this man’s arrogance jumped to his feet and grabbed him by his collar.
“And who might you be, that is so high and mighty? Who are you that I should bow to you and make you impure by the slightest touch?”
The man of red hair, looked upon Cain as if he had been struck, then switched it to an expression of disgust.
“I am Lazarus Marcellus Salazar, Weapons master and personal trainer of the Royal Knights.”
Cain drops Lazarus as he speaks these words, then chuckles.
“I am Cain Delrai, your new recruit, I can tell you one thing Salazar I’m not impressed so far.”
Lazarus’s face burns with rage, he was well know around the region for having a volatile temper and was easily enraged at certain points
“I will deal with you later Cain, for now I must deal with the servant that brought such a rude guest into my domain. KAITLYN! Come here!”
Kaitlyn rounds the corner and bows before Lazarus, shaking as he addressed her. Her expression was hidden by her position, but Cain knew it was one of terror.
“Yes, Lord?”
“Kaitlyn, you have brought one who does not know proper respect into my domain, you will be punished twice as bad as last time!”
Kaitlyn begins to shake and protests, but is beaten to the punch by Cain who landed a hard boxer’s punch on the bridge of Lazarus’s nose. Lazarus holds his nose shocked and even angrier at Cain.
“You insolent brat, you will pay for that!”
Lazarus says this in a higher pitched voice, because he can’t speak properly while holding his injured nose. He looks up and points a finger at Cain as he regains composure.
“If you are so intent on protecting this servant you will take her beating!”
Cain cracks his knuckles and looks back at Lazarus, a dull flame burning deep within his eyes as he felt Lazarus was becoming more odious by the moment.
“I challenge you, Lazarus Marcellus Salazar, to a duel of honor! If you lose you will leave us both be and you will never punish your servants again for something so petty.”
“If I win, what do I gain?”
“My servitude.”
Lazarus smirks and accepts.
“In over twenty years I have never been defeated in combat, young fool…You will regret your words.
Cain just smiles and begins to walk to the designated area for the duels. He could tell, because the area was empty except for a simple marker that read. Many enter here and wager whatever they have; only one exits with pride. He sits down on a bench and leans back appearing to nap as he waited for Lazarus to return with the assortment of weapons that were always laid out before a dual such as theirs. Kaitlyn stood near him and tried to explain his error, but he wouldn’t hear it. After an hour of waiting as he was and the pity of many knights, Lazarus returned with several servants carrying a long table containing every weapon known to them= at the time. Cain stands and walks=2 0over to the table, meriting the usefulness of every weapon before and looking at Lazarus’s choice. It was a large battle ax, almost bigger than him. He hefted it with the skill of master and twirled it around his body like it was twig. Cain looked at the display with indifference, and then chooses two broadswords as his weapons.
“Are you prepared to lick my boots for the rest of your life boy?”
“No, but I’m sure you’d like some more kissing up to by your pathetic knights.”
The knights, who had gathered around the ring, shouted angrily at Cain and cursed his family, but secretly knew he was right and it stung to be refuted of their claims of nobility and pride.
“You will know suffering boy!”
Cain smiles, the earnest smile of a boy who fears nothing and has never known any fear. At the same time it is utterly stoic in showing what he is truly feeling. The anger and hate burning deep inside him was feeding something, something deadly and terrible. Something that was about to be revealed by both fighters. Lazarus came at Cain first, masterfully swinging his axe in small arcs that allowed him to readily change its=2 0direction. Cain’s enigmatic smile never leaves his face as he moves around the blade, until finally they were forced to lock. Lazarus snarled at Cain, bearing his teeth and spraying saliva onto Cain as he held him back.
“You pathetic boy, its time I showed you what I can really do!”
Lazarus’s muscles start to convulse and rapidly build up, his smile becomes evil and his eyes feral like that of the raptors of old; soon his body is massively grotesque from built up muscle and an odor of blood and rotting death seems to permeate out of him. Cain jumps backwards looking at the new Lazarus. His body still retained some of his previous features, but for the most part he was an overgrown mass of muscle. He judges by his size, he should be extremely slow and that would give him the advantage. This thought is crushed by his movements which surpassed his former shape’s speed. Cain gulps and skids around him moving to stab him with his left sword, only to be stopped by the downward thrust of his axe. Cain skipped backwards looking up at his opponent, who glared down at him like a hungry wolf, bearing his fangs with every malicious intent to devour the young man’s flesh and soul. Cain seeing the hateful gleam in the monsters eyes wiped the sweat from his brow and began to show Lazarus what he could really do.
Cain was a renowned pyro-mancer in Aegon and in the neighboring villages; he used it with precision instead of just blinding displays, as most who shared his talent did. Grinning, Cain stabbed one of his blades into the ground and let a small orb of fire dance on the top of the hilt. Lazarus charged him during this and Cain slid out of the way just in time to avoid being decapitated by Lazarus’s axe. A word on Lazarus, he was a spoiled child always used to getting his own way, the noble blood in his veins assured that. However, as time passed he sought out greater control of people, knowing he could never control their thoughts he went for controlling lives and poured out all of his efforts into becoming as powerful as he could. Though he was beaten in the election of the new king, he took his place as weapon master the most powerful position he could get his hands on. He was vicious in his training of the knights and loathed the Elites that were out of his reach and the Kudïrath even more. Seeing Cain disobey him had struck a cord deep with in his psyche and drove him temporarily insane, sending him into his current state. After Lazarus’s near hit, he spun around and began to sweep his axe above his head attempting to split Cain down the middle, but was caught unawares by the threads of fire spiraling out of the orb toward Cain. He roared in pain as they licked his side, then sank in slightly. Lazarus pulling away from the pain is caught on his other side by more threads of the same flame, Cain in the few moments that Lazarus had attacked, then readied his next attack made a cage of flaming threads around him. Lazarus howled and screamed in anger like a child as he tried in vain to rid himself of the cage.
“So the animal is finally in his proper place. A cage befitting one so…savage.”
Cain walked away allowing Lazarus to curse his family and spew insults from his cage, till finally it wore off and he scrambled away defeated, but vowing to have revenge on the young man who so foolishly challenged his noble blood. Vanishing into his room, Lazarus faded out of the mind of the denizens of the castle. Cain had already forgotten about him as soon as he turned his back and asked Kaitlyn where he could meet the king….
Abel stepped out of the bakery holding Bailey’s hand as he waved good bye to Cherise, the town baker as he headed down to the town square to relax by the fountain that had been built a few years ago. Bailey purred softly as she snacked happily on the muffin Abel had bought for her and he admired the craftsmanship of the sword he had bought for his cousin. The hustle and bustle of the town square was as it was always, a clamorous clashing of different peoples from all over the world, engaged in all sorts of trade and play. Several men were speaking in a foreign tongue, Abel couldn’t understand, but identified as Arabic. Coins clattered into trader and beggars’ boxes alike and there were muttered thank yous and curses. Fresh smells flooded the square, from the candies created in Granny Chio’s store to the fresh bread in Cherise’s bakery. A stray splash from the well awakened Abel as he=2 0looked over at a small crowd forming slowly at the Castle Square. It was a small section to the east of the town square, where the royal orders were established and were the court was held for crimes. Today was different, however there was a dark undertone in the crowd and the normally optimistic society suddenly, looked very pessimistic. Upon the pulpit, The King stood, while far below his subjects looked up surrounded by soldiers on all sides except the back. A gallows stood before them all, pristine in its appearance which was only marred by the black veiled man standing at the top with an axe in one hand and a man sitting with his head on the chopping block below him. Soon an uproar began amongst the crowd demanding the meaning of the scene. With a finely tuned motion, King Robìer silenced the crowd and began his well-thought out speech.
“Good people of Aegon! I bid you lend me your ears for a few moments. I will try to keep this as short as possible and let you all return to your business as I’m sure you are all busy with preparations! My good people, what is it that has kept us all safe in this town? What has been our most upstanding law amongst us all? It was loyalty! This man has thrown aside that loyalty and had formed a rebellion to overthrow our great government! This man has conspired against us along with an unknown number of insurgents, so for his betrayal, he will die as will any others found conspiring against us and threatening our great Kingdom!”
A thunderous roar of approval went up through the crowd, but Abel stared on confused, as there was a court for such matters and he hadn’t heard anything about any trials. He held Bailey’s hand tightly as she looked up at him with fear in her eyes. A drum began to roll some where off in the distance, most likely from just inside the castle walls. It was deep and foreboding and the crowd seemed to sway in unison with it. The beat grew faster and slowly rose up into a chorus of disastrous proportions. The crowd was enthralled now as the headman raised his axe, but all able saw were his blue eyes….those horribly beautiful blue eyes from behind his mask and just as the beat stopped and the axe fell he hid his own eyes. That’s how the madness started, with cries of approval and triumphant applause.
Cain had just stripped out of his headman’s uniform and was washing the blood off of his hands, when he heard King Robìer speaking to one of his officers.
“These=2 0people…bah, they don’t understand the real dangers they are in yet. There is a rebellion a huge one trying to dethrone me for some mistake in my past. BAH! Yun, summon Lazarus for me, tell him to increase the training regiment for all the troops by 2 fold, we must be prepared should the insurgents try to attack the kingdom.”
There was a sound of feet clamping together, then a loud ‘Yes Sir’ before the officer known as Yun marched smartly out of the king’s quarters and went to fetch Lazarus. Cain, whose natural curiosity always defeated his reason, peaked around the corner of the room to see Robìer standing by his window and looking out of it. Cain wondered what he was thinking and he slowly felt a tug against his shirt as if some invisible hand had wrapped around the cuff of it. Grunting he felt like he was shot out of a cannon straight toward Robìer, who was now looking at him with slight amusement.
=0 D
“Ahh, my executioner, is there something I can do for you……umm….please would you regale me with your name young sir as it seems to have slipped my mind.”
“Cain Delrai, sir….I overheard your previous conversation.”
Robìer’s brow furrowed deeply and he motioned to Cain.
“Come walk with me.”
Cain followed absently, wondering how much trouble he would be in for eavesdropping.
“Cain, you must understand, that I do not wish to cause fear amongst our people. I want them to understand that there are people that wish to do us harm and that these people lay in wait right under our noses. You see, Cain, I need people like you for the most important missions. People who can walk easily through the town and who have the villagers’ trust, people who can learn secrets for me. Cain, I want you to choose a few other of the new recruits and to form a sort of Special Ops for me, you of course will be the Captain of this team and the rest will be under your command. Now go.”
Cain shocked by what had just happened, gropes for the words to thank Robìer, but instead bows sharply and runs off, feeling ten feet off the ground and like his heart is ready to begin dancing jubilantly. Robìer’s mouth makes a sly grin as he turns back and walks to his throne muttering.
“Another fool so willing to serve my cause, before this is over this kingdom will burn and be ripe to reshape in my own vision. Perhaps, I will finally find that which I have so longed look for, the one thing that has avoided my grasp….Immortality.”
CHAPTER 2: The Festival
Abel had run to his father after the events that took place in the courtyard of the castle. Abel was approaching him when he noticed that his father was almost naked, if not for the long black cloth wrapped around his waist, he would be as he was the day he was born. His father was well built, but he dressed in such ways that made his appearance deceiving. His shoulder’s were not giant and sloping, but were of an average size and rugged. They had seen the labor of farmhands and the weight of armor, slices from enemies’ blades and splinters from carpenter’s boards. As had his chest, which had numerous scars across it. Jin could go on for hours regaling people with the epics on how he got these scars, the two coming across from just about his left kidney and following upward to just below his heart were his favorite to talk about. He claimed to have acquired them fighting with the second Kudïrath, while many were skeptical about the honesty of his words, none would deny he could have survived a fight with him. Abel was enthralled by the sight of his father’s battle-scarred body, for he rarely saw it and when he did, it reminded him of just how much his father had done in his short life. Jin’s head turned toward his son and his silver hair, which flowed to the small of his back, drifted as he did so. His facial features were elegant, regal in their own right. His lips were only slightly more than line dancing lines upon his face and his nose just barely broke slightly to the right as if God had tapped it when he was molding him. His cheek bones were centered and light, while his forehead was hidden easily by his bangs, which had been made to do that one job then curve easily behind his head in a seemingly natural way. His looks had once made many a girl’s heartstrings fly as=2 0if the devil himself were playing it, but now Jin was taken by one whose looks nearly matched his own.
Their yellow eyes met and Jin noticing his son was visibly upset asked him what was wrong. Abel, then shortly, retold his father what had happened as Jin slowly made his way inside and began to dress. Abel waited patiently behind his door as he spoke to him. Jin begins to speak as he pulls on a pair of baggy work pants.
“These things happen sometimes Abel, you can’t think anything of it, executions happen sometimes and when there is insurmountable evidence, they don’t have trials.”
“But, Dad no one had even heard of the actions, there was no news in the town about it and it was public instead of private!”
“Abel, sometimes an example must be made, please let it go and tend to the house, your mother and I are going out to the Jubilee tonight.”
Abel sighed and did as his father had asked; the Jubilee was the adult portion of the Festival. It was a plethora of heavy drinking, dancing, games and other cultural heritages. One such was known as the Trials of Allen Dune. Allen Dune was the supposed founder of Aegon; he was also known to be blind. The legend goes that he was exiled from his own homeland after a misfortunate accident involving the Queen and rather expensive bottle of wine. The Trials were a serious of blindfold games, that made those involved look extremely silly, but it was great fun.
About two hours later, Abel found himself alone in their modest house and feeling board with nothing left to do, made his way to a small pub just east of the town. Walking inside, he was surprised to find Cain and one of their friends from town, a young man whose name was not mentioned in these annuals. Through it was said, he was a cheerful heavy set young man.
“What are you two doing here?”
Abel asked in surprise as he eased through the doors, his body twitching, and his mind a haze now. He fought back the urge to rush to his cousin and embrace him. His entire family thought they would see him very rarely, but here he was standing before him, like nothing had ever happened and that knighthood was meaningless.
“I could ask you the same question Abel,” Cain said with a sort of gleefully, I have something on you now voice. “You’re normally such a good little boy, what made you want to come to a pub?”
Abel looked slowly to the ground, he had been visiting the pub for about a month now, he found it was usually quiet and could think here. His own home= much too quiet and lonely during the nights when his parents were gone, he would find himself in with the pub patrons, their quiet murmurs and the occasional visit to him would brighten his spirit.
“I just come here to relax sometimes.” He replied quickly not wanting Cain to think he was a drinker, but it was already too late for that.
“Abel…Abel…Abel…you haven’t changed a bit. Here, catch!”
Abel’s hands still twitching, barely managed to catch the bottle of heavy liquor that can tossed to him. He looked at it, his lip quivering, his mind slowly putting two and two together as he sat at their table.
“Cain…I don’t drink.”
�= Nonsense! Your in a pub Abel, drink and be merry with us!” Abel looked down at the bottle, then back up at can and pushed it back over to him.
“I don’t drink Cain.”
“Mood Kill,” Cain muttered as he grabbed the bottle and took a swig. “Always were such the good little cry baby.”
Two hours later, all three of them were roaring drunk.
“Whoa…Abel, slow down on the whiskey…..come on, gimme another drinkse!”
“Wah? Wah are you, talkin’ abouts Cain? I just got the bottle!” The two had a minor stare down, while Abel clutched the bottle and took another swig. Neither could hold a straight face in their stupor and fell back into their seats laughing at each other.
“Never, thoughts cry baby Abel could ever hold a candle to me in a drinking competition!”
“Maybe, I not the crybaby you thought I was.”
There was a long silence in the room; Abel broke it by standing up. His heart thumped and his head pounded as he slowly stumbled toward the door of the bar. He crashed into several tables and knocked over another patron’s flagon. There was a flurry of swearing, but no fight started as Abel finally flopped through the door. Cain meanwhile, got up himself and staggered out the door only with a slight bit more grace than his cousin.
The next morning, Abel woke up in a similar fashion as he had the day before. There was no noise in the house though and that disturbed him slightly, as he remembered waking up every year on this date, to his father humming or speaking to his mother. He got up cautiously and leaned forward to see over the edge of his room. His father was sitting silently at the coffee table, his body was nearly bare and there was a knight speaking to him, while his mother fused over herself and their cups of coffee. The conversation was hushed and Jin shook his head. The knight seemed to insist on something and Jin insisted back. There was a silence and the knight left, the metal of his armor clinking loudly as he made his way out.
“Go back to sleep Abel…it is far too early f or you to be up.”
“Oh Sorry, Dad…”
Abel said this quietly, not expecting his father’s reaction to him. He was normally up around this time, but it being a weekend he was thought to sleep in a little and rest because it would help him grow stronger. He walked quietly back to his bed and laid back down, but a few moments later his father had climbed the ladder and was looking down at him. There was a significant change in his father’s demeanor; he glared down at his son with a sort of evil intent, then let it fade away.
“What did you hear?”
“Nothing Father, I only saw you two talk for about a minute, then him walk away.”
“If you ever eavesdrop again, I will thrash you Abel, understand!?”
Bailey woke up quietly and gripped Abel tightly, hearing her master and his father so angry. Abel’s20eyes had turned into wide circles of terror, his father had never shouted at him before or even so much as threatened to beat him. He only nodded, knowing his father to be an honest man by any right. Gulping, he laid his head down and fell into a shock induced sleep. Bailey merely, laid her head into the small of his back and trembled. Jin walked out hurriedly, stomping as he went something he never did most of the time his feet fell with a distinct grace that made no sound or vibrations. Unknown to Abel, who had turned to hold Bailey’s head in his arms as she wept out of fear, Jin turned to look back at him, his face bearing heavy pain, almost pure agony from the look of it.
“Abel,” Bailey said faintly, under his arms while still weeping gently. Her normally sweet voice turned into something sickeningly sad and left a bitter taste in the mouth. “Don’t let me go….not for a while at least, your father…I have never seen him like that. Abel, he scares me sometimes, just he gets these looks in his eye, like he knows something is wrong and suddenly all at once, he is upon you. Whether, he is a comforter or just asking you to do what he wants done…..Abel, he just seems to know everything.”
"I know kitten.” Abel said quietly, using his pet nickname, to let her know everything was alright. He had been doing that since she was seven, she had gotten aggravated with his over-politeness to use her full name, plus honorifics. In her annoyance, she had yelled at him and used a curse word that she didn’t know the meaning of. Afterwards, she ran headlong through the woods and ended up breaking her leg in the woods. Abel had followed quietly and had cooed in her ear that everything was going to be ok, before calling her kitten. From that point on, it was his secret way of saying, its all going be alright. Right now, he wasn’t so sure and kissed her forehead out of absence mindedness.
“A... Abel?” Bailey had asked as she looked up at him and blushed. He had fallen asleep out of shock and she pouted. She wanted to be loved in that moment, or at least kissed again, but settled for cuddling closer into his body and wrapping her tail around his waist. She knew that now that she was dead to the world, she would be up far sooner than he would and she didn’t have to worry about being caught by him. “Abel….” She whispered in her normally sweet voice. “Save yourself for me, cause if you don’t I will have to hurt you. You’ve protected me for so long, since you were able to talk. My heart has long belonged to you, but you seem oblivious to all the hints I’ve dropped to you.” She giggled as her confession fell onto his deaf ears, then leaned forward and kissed him; she knew he wouldn’t wake up, so she held it for a moment.
Cain woke up in his quarters, late the night after the execution. His body was drenched in sweat and he noticed that Caitlyn was standing at his bedside, setting a pitcher of water beside his bed. He didn’t move and shut his eyes again, Caitlyn then touched his head checking for fever it seem as if she was his mother. She left as silently as she had come, her tail swishing back in forth, in tune with a sort of purring hum. It reminded him of some old nursery rhyme, but he couldn’t place his finger on it. The taunting nature of it caused him to rise from his bed and he paced the floor trying to grasp the name of the song. He drank the cool water she had left for him, it appeared to glow a slight blue in the moonlight and after drinking it, he felt completely refreshed as well as stronger. Unknown to him, it was actually water from the dead center of the lake, funneled through a pipe under the castle. The water’s proximity to the divine tear, gave it healing properties as well as an instant boost to strength and mental prowess, but the affects were short lived.
Cain stood there and pondered longer on the name of the song, but he couldn’t find it in his mind. It was just out of reach, like a fruit hanging on a branch just a little too high. You could lunge at it, but it would only result in your falling back to the Earth with a horrendous crash. He let it go and then dipped his hands into what was left of the cool water. He splashed it against his face and top of chest, the liquid running in slow streams down his budding chest hair and between the tracts of muscle. It filled him with a sense of calm and bliss, he was at peace for a moment and an image of being bathed by his mother as an infant came to him. Her voice, sweet and tender, is rising above his playful fits in the water. She is beautiful in the scene, her golden hair tied behind her, with just a simple piece of blue ribbon, the same color of her eyes. She was singing the same song that Caitlyn was just singing to him, but it was muffled and soon the image was lost to him. He opened his eyes with weariness and looked out the window, someone was preached on the roof of the adjacent building!
Cain froze, his blood running cold as he looked at the intruder, he couldn’t make out any details of the would be apparition. The ghost like figure looked down and saw Cain standing at the window. It stopped and stared for a long moment at Cain, then jumped away into the darkness. Cain hesitated, then took a step back and another. His body felt like it was submerged in some gelatinous mass, each every step feeling like an eternity. He stopped and felt a hand against his back.
“Oh little cousin Cain, why are you up so late after beddy-bye?”
The voice behind him cooed in his ear in a lofty, yet masculine town. It seemed to taunt him with every syllable and Cain slowly turned to face the man.
“Whats the matter little Cain, ain’t happy to see ol’ Zan?”
Cain twisted around smiling happily as he tackled his cousin, the shroud around his face falling to the floor limp like a corpse shroud. The two playfully attacked each other, Cain playing with the mass of red hair that exploded out of the hood. Zan meanwhile had begun to tug at Cain’s ears and cheeks, making odd sounds with his tongue and by puffing out his cheeks. The two continued this for a few minutes, before Cain broke it laughing a little as he looked up into Zan’s eyes.
“So why are you here Zan?”
“You shouldn’t worry about that little Cain, I just returned from my voyage east and they are heavy practitioners of the arts of stealth and assassination. I was just practicing the skills I learned from that exotic land and am seeing how well they will serve me here.”
Cain looked at him slightly wide-eyed at the word assassination, but let it drop as he saw Zan meant no harm. He smiled a little and hugged his cousin again and gave him a punch on the arm. It had been almost three years since he last saw him and he had assumed him dead a while ago when his ship returned without him. Cain was elated now that he was home and whispered that he was going to have to show him around Aegon again once he got leave.
“Sorry Cain, I’m afraid I can’t do that with you. In fact don’t tell anyone I was even here.”
Cain looked up into Zan’s blue eyes and wondered what could have gotten into him to say that. He saw however he was serious and simply nodded, zan smiled and with one motion of his powerful frame gave him a pat on the shoulder. There was a calm and gentle feeling in that touch, but also a huge and terrible threat along with it as he gave his shoulder a squeeze, he knew it meant really don’t tell anyone or I’ll have to hurt you. Cain always took these silent threats to heart as he had broken one when he was a child and Zan made sure that he didn’t walk straight or eat right for a week.
“You’re a good man Cain and you’ll make a fine knight one day, but if you’ll excuse me, this meeting has cost me enough time as is.”
Zan jumped out the window and gripped the roof top, pulling himself over with a single motion and tossing himself on his feet on the ledge. Cain couldn’t follow him for long as they night soon masked his presence and he slipped away into the shadows. He wondered what had brought him to the castle in the first place as his story didn’t really seem to add up, though the castle was the most heavily guarded area in this region of the world. He sighed and shrugged, Zan had baffled the entire world since they day he was born and he was sure Zan would continued to till the day he died. Though something about Zan didn’t seem right tonight, maybe it was the look in his eyes. They seemed to be sad as if he felt sorry for Cain. Cain shrugged off again, thinking that such things could not disturb him in his goal and laid back down. An hour later Kaitlyn again came to visit and stroked his chest gently as he slept, making sure he had fresh water should he get up again.
The following morning Cain awoke with a start as a crash came from outside. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, discerning from the height of the sun and the sleep in his eyes that it couldn’t be past five in the morning. He sighed softly, then got up and looked out the window finding a servant and been thrown to the ground and the jar she had been carrying broken. A group of soldiers were taunting her and two even went so far as to make her apologize with drawn blades. Cain sighed and jumped through the window still in his night clothes and the soldiers began to laugh at him as he spoke.
“You filthy rabble, how dare you treat her as such. We are knights are job is to protect them not harass them!”
There was a momentary pause from the soldiers, then they broke out laughing and pointed there blades at Cain. Cain raised an eyebrow and struck up two fingers bringing forth the hottest flames he could muster and melted the blades down to stubs.
“Anyone else want to point something at me?”
There was a burst of confusion as the soldiers ran screaming away and the servant got up and ran away from Cain. Cain stood there in a daze and sighed, not everyone would be thankful he supposed, but it still hurt to be feared. He looked down at the path under him and wondered what it must be like to be truly powerful, where everyone fears you for your strength. Did Cain really want that? For everyone to run in terror of him and have his own family shun him? Did he really want to be alone? Cain walked along finding a plain wooden bench, painted white and sat down on it. He began to think upon his actions and his desires, while somewhere far across the village Abel was doing his chores.
Abel stood once again in the long golden fields of wheat that surrounded the village’s farming district. He smiled, each swing of the sickle seeming so right in his hands, while Bailey walked around the barn and did her chores with no fusing for once, while the kittens played with her ankles and string. Abel smiled and waved to her before getting back to work. It was long, hard and grueling work, but he always did it with a smile, today was no different, but his smile was bigger. His father was beside him every step of the way and just being in his presence seemed to make people happier.
“Hey Dad? Do you mind if I take off early and see if I can’t visit Cain today?”
“I don’t think you could get in, but I’ll let you go into town anyway, be careful though. The castle is a tricky place, but you won’t be able to get in anyway.”
Abel stuck his tongue out at his father and laughed, while continuing his work, noticing a hawk in the distance soaring in a circle, before diving down on the post of their home. Jin dropped his sickle and walked over to the walk, a worried look on his face which turned Abel’s mood sour. Jin looked at the hawk for a moment and found a message around its leg. A messenger hawk!? Those were so rare in this area and they cost a fortune, why would one come to his father? He was no longer a warrior, so why would he get a message? Abel sighed quietly and watched his father’s face go pale.
“Abel why don’t you go ahead and head into town, I can handle the rest of the harvest for today.”
“But…I wanted to spend the morning with you father.”
“Abel, I need you to pick up some things for dinner as well, so this is another chore I need you to do.”
“But…”
“No buts Abel, go into town and get these.”
Jin handed a list of ingredients to Abel and a large sum of silver before shooing him off. Abel stopped just outside of the village and looked down at the list, it was very odd, but he supposed his father knew what he was doing. The list included: Crushed lotus petals, a dozen roses, two quails, several spices, many of which Abel couldn’t even pronounce, two quarts of honey, a bussel of the finest veggies that Abel could
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