Post by Darkness Song on Jun 8, 2010 16:53:42 GMT -5
(This is my book, rewritten. You guys have helped me develop some ideas in it so watch for things you see and charactors. I haven't gotten really far in it but here it is anyways)
Chapter One
The Marksman
NorthCross, a haven, a refuge, a despicable town, but it is a home nonetheless from the world. It keeps many safe, but within these walls we are trapped. Taxed almost to death only the wealthy class ever could afford to even leave the city. And those who left, rarely returned. But NorthCross is the center of Landorath. People lived here in more disgust then in happiness. Most of the streets were made with mud; only the northern part was paved with fresh stone and swept regularly so the shoed civilians do not get their feet dirty. But for many of us, walking around in the mud was rather nice. It soothed the foot instead of hurting it or burning it such as the stone would do on a summer's day.
For the southern and the unfortunate eastern parts of the town. People carried on with their meager lives hoping to last yet another day. People such as I who barely could even get something to eat. Here is where the southern part of the town differed. It offered its very own rules.
We did not kill to survive, killing here meant death. We stick together here, but yet it was every man for themselves. Some even made guilds with taxes so they could all be provided protection. People walked the streets and alleyways and the unfortunate traveler would fall into a trap. Guilds made use of these dark alleys to steal money from those poor travelers. But it was to survive. People here could be hurt, but not killed. It was rare for anyone to die here.
I waited in the southern part half asleep on the sidewalk. A coin jar next to me to get anything people would throw at me, but to sleep here was not a good idea. Just because we rarely killed didn't mean people did not do worse. I heard another clank as someone lent me a crown. It was the first all day. The southern part rarely got any foot traffic in the mid day. That was for the western merchant side. I stood up and put the crown in my bag. I felt around for the rest. Three more were there. I sat up and took off. I needed to get out of here. It was high-rise day. The sun nestled in the sky, shining brightly. The moon stayed with it, it was the moon Aka're, the Green Giant, it moved at an even pace, always keeping within view of the Eastern World. Never once in the west.
I moved into the Trader's Square and got stuck within a crowd. The Captain had made a meeting. "Dangers lurks within our imagination!" The man shouted from Trade's Square where everyone gathered. A crowd began to form around the Captain of the Guard. If they were lucky a few would be chosen to become a guard. It was rare, but in these times that rarity came into focus very quickly. "Within these walls you are safer than any people I know. My men watch over you with eyes of protection." he proclaimed loudly. His words enticing the teenage group, those were most often chosen, still breakable they would be tortured until they became old and strong, they would become trained to kill and in time they would serve the entire NorthCross and its civilians.
It had been only a year since the last attack. Since the last Captain had died. Not from sickness, not from age, but from the darkness and blight that swept throughout the land. The year had not been kind to these people. NorthCross is a trade capital of Landorath. We built this land with blood in our hands, decimating most of the Orcarian kind and sending them back into the Maru Deserts that inherited most of Makkitu. But within Landorath we were safe, for now. There has been a growing threat in the western lands. Makkitu slowly and slowly became infected with the blight from Nagura. The Orcarian, our blood enemies, have even tried to become at peace with the human kind. We even though broken, stand our ground against them. If there was any fraction of our kind that even retained a bit of common sense it was that the Orcarians had to die. They were not native to our world.
"For years we have been at war with the Orcarians, but now I have grave news." He paused, more for the tension then to think. As he stood back up he slammed a head of a freshly dead Orcarian onto the stage he stood upon. "They c'me into our lands! Lookin' for peace! They want us, to drop our guard because they believe the dead have risen!" He walked back and forth across the stage. "Their own dead, at least this one proclaimed, have risen up and killed their tribes. I say that if the dead even were to do that, they are not our enemy." The crowd chuckled a bit, but this was no laughing matter. The Orcarians were right... The dead have risen. "In further announcements, the lord wishes us the best of days and for anyone who thinks they are worthy, to sign up to the guard." He stood tall and grabbed the Orcarian's head. The green skin, a deeper fade, a sign of malnutrition. He had several deep cuts in his face, by teeth. His eyes were darker, from seeing something he could not bear to watch. He was a dying Orcarian before he tried to run and get into Landorath.
The line already had formed, people have already signed, within the next year they would all most likely not get recruited for training. It was tough to live within the eastern part of the world. But this was the safest place if not the most dangerous. NorthCross stood as the only entrance to the Capital of the Alliance. The captain moved out. As did the crowd.
Padded feet moved across the ground as I walked. Thousands of people moved in and about around the capital. People ignored the hungry, the sick, and the homeless. It was a careless nature of people. I returned home, home to me, was where I made it. I was the homeless within the city, but I kept safe my only friend.
I brought her food all the time; she ate and just laid there, at some points she would talk to me about her visions. Most if not all were true. I have even heard her speak within the ancient tongue. I pushed in between the cracks in the wall and towards the dug in burrow I made, using storage as our home. It was mostly waterproof. On heavy rainy days the water leaked in, I collected it and stored it; Rainwater here is precious within this big city. I tugged on her cloak and she woke up and sat up. I moved inside and felt a hand on my collar. She grabbed me and pulled me close. Her breath on my neck she whispered. "We must leave this place..."
"Wait why leave?"
"Because Kaur, this place is not safe. You know the dangers of staying here..."
"Yes, but how the hell are we to leave here? There’s no real way out unless you have a hundred crowns you want to pay up." I looked over her body, she was the most beautiful thing ever, I wanted her, but she denied me a great many times. I ran a hand up her leg and she hit me away.
"Will you please...? Look Kaur, something is not right in this place. I was outside, the Captain killed that Orcarian, but there’s something not right about an Orcarian coming this close to NorthCross..." She sat on the side and put her head in her hands. "I fear that something follows them."
"What... Oh you believe in the undead bullshit." Undead... What a fucking story. Supposedly these things called Liches have the power to become almost god-like after death. They then can control and raise the dead to their hearts desire and even form different kinds of them. Supposedly as well they all are settled on the western side of the world, which is where their necropolis is.
"Kaur, it’s not just a story. If you won't believe me then I will leave now."
"Where do you think you can go?" I sat next to her and ran my hand across her back.
"Anywhere but here." She tensed as I pressed my hand on hers and moved her head from her face. She looked at me and turned away, I leaned in anyways trying to make her look towards me. She slapped me. "Kaur. Stop." She stood up and walked to the doorway. "I am going; I hear there’s an Elven Battleship about to come into port to extract a few people. If I am lucky I will be one. She took off and I ran out too. She was fast but I was always just a bit faster. She ran towards the docks. I caught up to her and grabbed her.
"What the hell do you think-" The gate opened, the guards on the walls readied themselves, the presence of the Elves was now thick in the air, the air seemed a bit cooler, the water. I stood in amazement by the ship, it was sleek, elegant. The purple wood was decorated with bright gold. The ship as it pushed through the brown water seemed to push the grime and muck right away. I never had seen clear water such as that. It moved in and soon there were guards everywhere. Though if stories were true, that wouldn't do anything. Elves were magical beings concerning that much of their life would be studied in the arts of magic. Elves were immortal beings only being killed after disease and illness as well as wounds finally killed them. The shipped slowed and stopped.
Two elves jumped off the ship and landed on the docks. Heavily armored and extraordinarily tall they walked up towards the Captain. "Serena du vals" The one spoke, and then smirked. "Seeking an Audiance with your kind... Captain."
"We do not welcome your kind, elf." The captain spoke in anger.
"Must we teach you some manners!" The one on the left pulled a sword. The Guards stood there, elves were not very hasty but they would kill you almost instantly.
"No need." The Captain stood still. "So what exactly must we speak about?"
The ship lowered a ramp and off came a very sleek slender elf. He stood tall about the same as his guards, but was not as big. He walked up to the Captain. "We seek several people. One is located within your city."
"We have to leave here" I pulled her towards the Alleys. One of the elves saw us and moved towards us. "Is he after you?"
She shook her head. "No Kaur... They are after you. You will understand I am sorry." She placed her hand on my head and I felt a blast of energy. It burnt horribly. "As of now, your scent is what they are after." She took off and climbed onto the roofs jumping from scaffold to scaffold."Goodbye Kaur..." She fled. He felt the grip of the gold of the elven glove capture him by his arm. He was torn, with such force it nearly broke his own arm.
He was dragged and brought onto the ship. The Captain stepped forth. "You cannot just take a prisoner from here!" He put his arm up and his men were ready.
The Elf in the green robes stepped forth. "Are you going to argue what we must do? Or you must have forgotten who we are." They seemed a bit afraid but soon from the boat three more elves rose out. One wore a dark green cloak that shifted colors as it moved. From bright green to a dark green and more black. She stood on the ship and armed an arrow towards the Captain. "Are we at a compromise that this lone rat for the lives of dozens? Or must this get worse?"
The captain stood back, and lowered his arm. With the knowledge that everyone was watching, he walked away.
They pulled me aboard and threw me aside and the ramp rose back up, there was no ramp, nothing, but it was magical. There were little to no ropes on the boat and soon the sails rose back up and the ship began to move. There was no wind, nothing.
She stood up to the rooftops. A dark figure rose from the ground behind her, shifting slowly it formed a black mass that soon focused itself into a strange clawed creature, most covered by a dark red robe. "Is everything fine Asuria?" The figure moved forward, not even touching the ground.
She sighed. "Asku, have you ever thought that maybe I should intervene?"
Asku sighed, a croak of more of a sigh "You're presence in this world is not to intervene as you have told many of my scholars not to. Have you forgotten what we stand for?"
Asuria sighed. "Perhaps maybe I want to change it."
Asku placed his thorny, gray hand on her shoulder, she didn't flinch. "Asuria, we are not fighters, we are not even suppose to be known. Only those of the gods and titans know our presence. Sve'ka our lord led us to help guide you. We are here only to do such. My advice, Asuria, you have the dark and the light, shown too much light, nor too much dark, one will fall out of balance."
"But is it really right?"
"No. It is not right to sacrifice another, at least for those who are not like us. He is only a boy; his life means nothing to the greater good."
"If I had gone, the greater good would have been obtained. The Scourage-"
"The Scourage was created by the gods. They have a purpose on this world as well as any other creature here. Do you deny a god's man just because you side with another? Do not forget Akirvian Moon, the one you destroyed."
She sighed. "Thank you Asku, continue your journey." Asku kept moving, the robe showing no signs of movement. She fell to the ground and waited.
The light was dim when she had awakened. Asku was long gone by now. Back to the First Hell. The desolate place where she once was a captive of Sve'ka. Once was an understatement, she was used against her friends then. Those souls who risked their limited lives to save her from that prison. They were slaughtered and she was let go, along with the Red Cloaks, her own personal guides, to make sure she didn't do anything against the gods. They didn't want to lose their world like they had done with the Akirvian Moon. The green lavish paradise that had a small Scourage of their own.
She had tried to help... The nightmare was just too much. She shoved it from her mind and stood up and walked towards the wall of the city. She had an escape passage, and she left through the fifty foot thick walls. The passage was small, narrow, and full of mud and filth. It was this way just because only she and other thieves could pass. Assassins usually used this passage to get in and out of the city, and several places alone the trench you could stand up in a narrow part to allow each other a way to get around each other. No need to resort to violence when they are in the same trade. She felt ahead and another hand grabbed hers.
"Ikari. Twenty in." Ikari, meant peace in Dagger Tongue, a code used by mercenaries.
"Ikari. Twenty-five." The hand pulled away and pushed backwards and stood.
"Pass."
Asuria moved on and passed the Dagger Tongue, a common name for those who never gave theirs out.
"Ikari Mushi" Saying thanks she continued on through the tunnel pulling herself out from it. Washing herself from the small spring that lay nearby she moved on. Elves were very precise creatures. Never liking being double crossed or failing their mission they would do anything to keep from failure. Elves were different; they knew the laws of the land unlike humans who spend such a short life on the world not to see what it really was. How everything connected. It was unreal to be within the Elven cities.
Their world was far different then the brick, stone and mortar of the humans. Where life was about gain elves realized that life is about learning. To find, discover, and explore. But many times curiosity would often kill an elf. Creatures who feasted upon an elf would gain its power. Some creatures mutated and generated their own race. Life within the Elven lands far south created many problems. Though elves rarely were eaten, those who have died created monsters, some became trained and controlled. Used to guard their secrets, other took flight and moved on. Legends even say that is how the first dragon came to be, and even Sv'k. The first of the leaches. A blood sucker who turned any ordinary human with a single bite, into their kind. The humans called them vampires.
Chapter One
The Marksman
NorthCross, a haven, a refuge, a despicable town, but it is a home nonetheless from the world. It keeps many safe, but within these walls we are trapped. Taxed almost to death only the wealthy class ever could afford to even leave the city. And those who left, rarely returned. But NorthCross is the center of Landorath. People lived here in more disgust then in happiness. Most of the streets were made with mud; only the northern part was paved with fresh stone and swept regularly so the shoed civilians do not get their feet dirty. But for many of us, walking around in the mud was rather nice. It soothed the foot instead of hurting it or burning it such as the stone would do on a summer's day.
For the southern and the unfortunate eastern parts of the town. People carried on with their meager lives hoping to last yet another day. People such as I who barely could even get something to eat. Here is where the southern part of the town differed. It offered its very own rules.
We did not kill to survive, killing here meant death. We stick together here, but yet it was every man for themselves. Some even made guilds with taxes so they could all be provided protection. People walked the streets and alleyways and the unfortunate traveler would fall into a trap. Guilds made use of these dark alleys to steal money from those poor travelers. But it was to survive. People here could be hurt, but not killed. It was rare for anyone to die here.
I waited in the southern part half asleep on the sidewalk. A coin jar next to me to get anything people would throw at me, but to sleep here was not a good idea. Just because we rarely killed didn't mean people did not do worse. I heard another clank as someone lent me a crown. It was the first all day. The southern part rarely got any foot traffic in the mid day. That was for the western merchant side. I stood up and put the crown in my bag. I felt around for the rest. Three more were there. I sat up and took off. I needed to get out of here. It was high-rise day. The sun nestled in the sky, shining brightly. The moon stayed with it, it was the moon Aka're, the Green Giant, it moved at an even pace, always keeping within view of the Eastern World. Never once in the west.
I moved into the Trader's Square and got stuck within a crowd. The Captain had made a meeting. "Dangers lurks within our imagination!" The man shouted from Trade's Square where everyone gathered. A crowd began to form around the Captain of the Guard. If they were lucky a few would be chosen to become a guard. It was rare, but in these times that rarity came into focus very quickly. "Within these walls you are safer than any people I know. My men watch over you with eyes of protection." he proclaimed loudly. His words enticing the teenage group, those were most often chosen, still breakable they would be tortured until they became old and strong, they would become trained to kill and in time they would serve the entire NorthCross and its civilians.
It had been only a year since the last attack. Since the last Captain had died. Not from sickness, not from age, but from the darkness and blight that swept throughout the land. The year had not been kind to these people. NorthCross is a trade capital of Landorath. We built this land with blood in our hands, decimating most of the Orcarian kind and sending them back into the Maru Deserts that inherited most of Makkitu. But within Landorath we were safe, for now. There has been a growing threat in the western lands. Makkitu slowly and slowly became infected with the blight from Nagura. The Orcarian, our blood enemies, have even tried to become at peace with the human kind. We even though broken, stand our ground against them. If there was any fraction of our kind that even retained a bit of common sense it was that the Orcarians had to die. They were not native to our world.
"For years we have been at war with the Orcarians, but now I have grave news." He paused, more for the tension then to think. As he stood back up he slammed a head of a freshly dead Orcarian onto the stage he stood upon. "They c'me into our lands! Lookin' for peace! They want us, to drop our guard because they believe the dead have risen!" He walked back and forth across the stage. "Their own dead, at least this one proclaimed, have risen up and killed their tribes. I say that if the dead even were to do that, they are not our enemy." The crowd chuckled a bit, but this was no laughing matter. The Orcarians were right... The dead have risen. "In further announcements, the lord wishes us the best of days and for anyone who thinks they are worthy, to sign up to the guard." He stood tall and grabbed the Orcarian's head. The green skin, a deeper fade, a sign of malnutrition. He had several deep cuts in his face, by teeth. His eyes were darker, from seeing something he could not bear to watch. He was a dying Orcarian before he tried to run and get into Landorath.
The line already had formed, people have already signed, within the next year they would all most likely not get recruited for training. It was tough to live within the eastern part of the world. But this was the safest place if not the most dangerous. NorthCross stood as the only entrance to the Capital of the Alliance. The captain moved out. As did the crowd.
Padded feet moved across the ground as I walked. Thousands of people moved in and about around the capital. People ignored the hungry, the sick, and the homeless. It was a careless nature of people. I returned home, home to me, was where I made it. I was the homeless within the city, but I kept safe my only friend.
I brought her food all the time; she ate and just laid there, at some points she would talk to me about her visions. Most if not all were true. I have even heard her speak within the ancient tongue. I pushed in between the cracks in the wall and towards the dug in burrow I made, using storage as our home. It was mostly waterproof. On heavy rainy days the water leaked in, I collected it and stored it; Rainwater here is precious within this big city. I tugged on her cloak and she woke up and sat up. I moved inside and felt a hand on my collar. She grabbed me and pulled me close. Her breath on my neck she whispered. "We must leave this place..."
"Wait why leave?"
"Because Kaur, this place is not safe. You know the dangers of staying here..."
"Yes, but how the hell are we to leave here? There’s no real way out unless you have a hundred crowns you want to pay up." I looked over her body, she was the most beautiful thing ever, I wanted her, but she denied me a great many times. I ran a hand up her leg and she hit me away.
"Will you please...? Look Kaur, something is not right in this place. I was outside, the Captain killed that Orcarian, but there’s something not right about an Orcarian coming this close to NorthCross..." She sat on the side and put her head in her hands. "I fear that something follows them."
"What... Oh you believe in the undead bullshit." Undead... What a fucking story. Supposedly these things called Liches have the power to become almost god-like after death. They then can control and raise the dead to their hearts desire and even form different kinds of them. Supposedly as well they all are settled on the western side of the world, which is where their necropolis is.
"Kaur, it’s not just a story. If you won't believe me then I will leave now."
"Where do you think you can go?" I sat next to her and ran my hand across her back.
"Anywhere but here." She tensed as I pressed my hand on hers and moved her head from her face. She looked at me and turned away, I leaned in anyways trying to make her look towards me. She slapped me. "Kaur. Stop." She stood up and walked to the doorway. "I am going; I hear there’s an Elven Battleship about to come into port to extract a few people. If I am lucky I will be one. She took off and I ran out too. She was fast but I was always just a bit faster. She ran towards the docks. I caught up to her and grabbed her.
"What the hell do you think-" The gate opened, the guards on the walls readied themselves, the presence of the Elves was now thick in the air, the air seemed a bit cooler, the water. I stood in amazement by the ship, it was sleek, elegant. The purple wood was decorated with bright gold. The ship as it pushed through the brown water seemed to push the grime and muck right away. I never had seen clear water such as that. It moved in and soon there were guards everywhere. Though if stories were true, that wouldn't do anything. Elves were magical beings concerning that much of their life would be studied in the arts of magic. Elves were immortal beings only being killed after disease and illness as well as wounds finally killed them. The shipped slowed and stopped.
Two elves jumped off the ship and landed on the docks. Heavily armored and extraordinarily tall they walked up towards the Captain. "Serena du vals" The one spoke, and then smirked. "Seeking an Audiance with your kind... Captain."
"We do not welcome your kind, elf." The captain spoke in anger.
"Must we teach you some manners!" The one on the left pulled a sword. The Guards stood there, elves were not very hasty but they would kill you almost instantly.
"No need." The Captain stood still. "So what exactly must we speak about?"
The ship lowered a ramp and off came a very sleek slender elf. He stood tall about the same as his guards, but was not as big. He walked up to the Captain. "We seek several people. One is located within your city."
"We have to leave here" I pulled her towards the Alleys. One of the elves saw us and moved towards us. "Is he after you?"
She shook her head. "No Kaur... They are after you. You will understand I am sorry." She placed her hand on my head and I felt a blast of energy. It burnt horribly. "As of now, your scent is what they are after." She took off and climbed onto the roofs jumping from scaffold to scaffold."Goodbye Kaur..." She fled. He felt the grip of the gold of the elven glove capture him by his arm. He was torn, with such force it nearly broke his own arm.
He was dragged and brought onto the ship. The Captain stepped forth. "You cannot just take a prisoner from here!" He put his arm up and his men were ready.
The Elf in the green robes stepped forth. "Are you going to argue what we must do? Or you must have forgotten who we are." They seemed a bit afraid but soon from the boat three more elves rose out. One wore a dark green cloak that shifted colors as it moved. From bright green to a dark green and more black. She stood on the ship and armed an arrow towards the Captain. "Are we at a compromise that this lone rat for the lives of dozens? Or must this get worse?"
The captain stood back, and lowered his arm. With the knowledge that everyone was watching, he walked away.
They pulled me aboard and threw me aside and the ramp rose back up, there was no ramp, nothing, but it was magical. There were little to no ropes on the boat and soon the sails rose back up and the ship began to move. There was no wind, nothing.
She stood up to the rooftops. A dark figure rose from the ground behind her, shifting slowly it formed a black mass that soon focused itself into a strange clawed creature, most covered by a dark red robe. "Is everything fine Asuria?" The figure moved forward, not even touching the ground.
She sighed. "Asku, have you ever thought that maybe I should intervene?"
Asku sighed, a croak of more of a sigh "You're presence in this world is not to intervene as you have told many of my scholars not to. Have you forgotten what we stand for?"
Asuria sighed. "Perhaps maybe I want to change it."
Asku placed his thorny, gray hand on her shoulder, she didn't flinch. "Asuria, we are not fighters, we are not even suppose to be known. Only those of the gods and titans know our presence. Sve'ka our lord led us to help guide you. We are here only to do such. My advice, Asuria, you have the dark and the light, shown too much light, nor too much dark, one will fall out of balance."
"But is it really right?"
"No. It is not right to sacrifice another, at least for those who are not like us. He is only a boy; his life means nothing to the greater good."
"If I had gone, the greater good would have been obtained. The Scourage-"
"The Scourage was created by the gods. They have a purpose on this world as well as any other creature here. Do you deny a god's man just because you side with another? Do not forget Akirvian Moon, the one you destroyed."
She sighed. "Thank you Asku, continue your journey." Asku kept moving, the robe showing no signs of movement. She fell to the ground and waited.
The light was dim when she had awakened. Asku was long gone by now. Back to the First Hell. The desolate place where she once was a captive of Sve'ka. Once was an understatement, she was used against her friends then. Those souls who risked their limited lives to save her from that prison. They were slaughtered and she was let go, along with the Red Cloaks, her own personal guides, to make sure she didn't do anything against the gods. They didn't want to lose their world like they had done with the Akirvian Moon. The green lavish paradise that had a small Scourage of their own.
She had tried to help... The nightmare was just too much. She shoved it from her mind and stood up and walked towards the wall of the city. She had an escape passage, and she left through the fifty foot thick walls. The passage was small, narrow, and full of mud and filth. It was this way just because only she and other thieves could pass. Assassins usually used this passage to get in and out of the city, and several places alone the trench you could stand up in a narrow part to allow each other a way to get around each other. No need to resort to violence when they are in the same trade. She felt ahead and another hand grabbed hers.
"Ikari. Twenty in." Ikari, meant peace in Dagger Tongue, a code used by mercenaries.
"Ikari. Twenty-five." The hand pulled away and pushed backwards and stood.
"Pass."
Asuria moved on and passed the Dagger Tongue, a common name for those who never gave theirs out.
"Ikari Mushi" Saying thanks she continued on through the tunnel pulling herself out from it. Washing herself from the small spring that lay nearby she moved on. Elves were very precise creatures. Never liking being double crossed or failing their mission they would do anything to keep from failure. Elves were different; they knew the laws of the land unlike humans who spend such a short life on the world not to see what it really was. How everything connected. It was unreal to be within the Elven cities.
Their world was far different then the brick, stone and mortar of the humans. Where life was about gain elves realized that life is about learning. To find, discover, and explore. But many times curiosity would often kill an elf. Creatures who feasted upon an elf would gain its power. Some creatures mutated and generated their own race. Life within the Elven lands far south created many problems. Though elves rarely were eaten, those who have died created monsters, some became trained and controlled. Used to guard their secrets, other took flight and moved on. Legends even say that is how the first dragon came to be, and even Sv'k. The first of the leaches. A blood sucker who turned any ordinary human with a single bite, into their kind. The humans called them vampires.