"How about you? Forgive me for saying this, but you definitely appear a little out of place here."
Būti smiled at the question. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, "Yes, I believe most would agree with you on that point". She looked up and noticed everyone had finished arriving and got into the wagon or on their horses. Būti assisted with loading the wagon, then jumped in, and sat in the farthest corner from everyone else.
"well we will have to finish this conversation later it seems? she heard Kari say. "Indeed, a more quiet and empty place would certainly be a better place to hold our little talk than here".
Būti assisted with loading the wagon, then jumped in, and sat in the farthest corner from everyone else. He crossed her legs and closed her eyes again, and focused on the blackness that surrounded her. The darkness, in it she was alone, but always felt safe and comfortable, and the troubles of the real world rarely seemed to phase her when she was here. But off to the distance, she heard more voices, quiet to her, but the more she focused ? the more she understood what was being said.
"Speaking of which, may I ask a favor of you, Kifu? I was wondering if you could ever raise my horse from the dead, if he ever fell in battle..?", followed closely by an older man's voice, which Būti assumed to be the Witch Doctor's: "of course, I could raise your horse from the dead but....I am afraid he would turn and try to kill you..hahaha".
Būti, despite still being in her personal void, felt confused. Had these people never heard the great tales of Uldyssian? The great books she read when she was young, written by a man named Kalan. She had recalled the part where one of their allies, Achillios, had been ?revived? from the dead, but in a manner where his body had been left in the exact condition it was in when he came back to life, but was no longer restrained by limitations on mortals. What is that state of being called again? It is believed to be the afterdeath state, I?m sure of it. But I don?t think I am anywhere near the capabilities of doing such a feat, but it would also depend on their location.
With a deep breath and exhale, she exited her entranced state and came back to reality. She looked around as she noticed the wagons rushing through the forest. They suddenly came to a halt, and that was when she noticed the thick walls of black smoke, and the distress of the now destroyed village of Tappas. "By the Dragon!" she couldn't help herself exclaiming, not even seeing this coming. She hit herself on the head, for missing such an obvious reason for the simplicity of the battle they had fought earlier. Buliwyf had commanded everyone to exit the wagons and to spread out the village to search for any survivors. Būti had immediately jumped out and crouched. She drew several runes in the air, and she muttered a few ancient words of power, and closed her eyes. After a quick moment, she opened them again to complete blackness, which quickly changed to a scratchy white, and then back to normality. She stood up, and approached Kari again, decided that she should be in pairs, especially when the complete condition is now unknown amongst them all. She whispered to her comrade, "Kari, let's get up on high ground, or roofs, and we can spot out survivors from up there, and get a good vantage point on our enemies. Being an archer, I'm sure you're not a fan of close ranged combat, so being on a roof should give you the needed time and distance from these uncivilized warriors, am I correct"?
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One becomes strong when they are fighting to protect someone close to them... - Shiro Haku
As Jamis watched the priest die in his brother's arms, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. Ashamed for being so easily deceived. They had been outsmarted by the Riddians, he had been outsmarted. His wound began to ache, the sting of failure added on to an already sensitive disgrace.
"I can't believe it," he said, dumbfounded. "Come on, let's look in the church. Maybe someone can tell us why the Riddians would do this."
Kira noticed the smoke and the smell coming from Tappas as they drew near. She had a bad feeling about what was ahead. As they entered the town proper she saw all the dead bodies and shook her head. Buliwyf was ahead at the church with a priest in his arms. Kira quickly dismounted tied both horses to the wagon and ran towards Buliwyf.
As she approached Buliwyf turns and instructs us to look for survivors. She hears the priests last words, "no wonder the battle was easily won we were fighting the townsfolk," she says.
Kira heads for the wagon and Buti has come out, she has heard what Buliwyf has said and replies to Kira "Kira, let's get up on high ground, or roofs, and we can spot out survivors from up there, and get a good vantage point on our enemies. Being an archer, I'm sure you're not a fan of close ranged combat, so being on a roof should give you the needed time and distance from these uncivilized warriors, am I correct"? "Yes you are correct, it would be much easier to see if anyone still stirs from above, and easier still to pick off any ememies I may see." They set off for the nearest house and climb to the roof.
As she surveys the area she thinks what kind of scum would kill children.. She sees one man stirring on the ground and points him out to the nearest of her companions. Off to her left she sees movement in the trees, she notches her bow ready to let the arrow fly when she realizes is it a horse. I'm going to go try to calm the horse over there, she says to Buti and jumps down from the house, which sends a slight pain through her leg,ugh I forgot about my wound.
Kira slowly approached the horse and started calming him down by patting his nose and scratching his neck, she then leads him over to the other horses hoping they would help keep it calm.
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Smiling is infectious.
Give, expecting nothing thereof. ------------ BoD - Come have some fun! Folks will always come and go, so enjoy them while they're meant to be in your life.
Noticing the smoke on the horizon, Ignis called over to Kifu "Hey, looks like I might win our bet after all!!".
Looks like some kind of forest fire, well at least it will shorten the time we're in here, I need to get back to the city, and fast. Ignis thought to himself.
As they continued down the path, a sickening smell wafted past them. It smelled like overcooked meat, and decay. The smell gripped them for the rest of the path, and when they left the tree line, they became aware of what was causing it.
Tappas had been levelled. Ignis was dumbstruck, he simply could not fathom the hatred it would take to give cause to destroy an entire town. And from the looks of it, kill all of it's inhabitants as well.
Ignis nearly vomited, he was used to some odd sights from the places he used to visit, but this was unlike anything he had ever seen.
He followed the rest of the knights into the town, and unsaddles his horse before running off to the only building left standing, the church. It seemed as if Buliwyf and Jamis had the same idea, they were there before him and Ignis only caught the last few phrases they uttered.
"The Riddians. They came down the river. While our best fighters were in the fields, the best from Riddia came down the river and took us by surprise. Most of the towns people did not get away. They hacked us down where we stood, women, children, they slaughtered them all, I saved who I could. They are safe in the chu........" said a dying priest, obviously he had defended the rest of the townspeople with his life, a sacrifice that would not go unavenged.
"My god.... it's all clear now. The people we fought, they couldn't have even been militia, let alone soldiers. Riddia must have forced their own townsmen to fight, while their forces came in and destroyed Tappas. How could a town be so.... evil ?" Ignis thought aloud, barely even noticing the people around him as he considered the weight of the situation.
"I can't believe it," Jamis said, a look of utter shock on his face,"Come on, let's look in the church. Maybe someone can tell us why the Riddians would do this."
Ignis merely nodded at Jamis, he was lost for words. He started up the stairs, passing by a bloody streak on the ground leading into the doors of the church.
He went up to the doors, and threw them open. The townspeople inside screamed, obviously mistaking him for an attacker. Shit, should have left my weapons at the door. Thought Ignis as he glanced down as his two swords.
"We're not here to hurt you, we're the mercenaries that your town hired to help fight against Riddia.", yelled Ignis over the roar of the battered townspeople, most looked as if they had been sobbing for hours, and now he had the honour of stirring their terror and anguish up once more. Ugh.... should have let somebody else open these doors, Kifu probably would have enjoyed it. Heh, speaking of which, looks like he won't be getting that ale. Thought Ignis, a dark chuckle escaping his lips.
The townspeople had begun to calm down after seeing Ignis standing there for some time, obviously not intending to hurt them. Who could even hurt these people? Thought Ignis as he looked over the remaining villagers, most had cuts and scrapes on them, but some very serious injuries stood out within the crowd. There was a man who looked as if he had stood in the fires of hell, and another man was missing a leg, and his hands were bloody and mangled. Guess thats where that streak came from... probably dragged himself in here to avoid the soldiers, poor bastard. Thought Ignis, a feeling of sadness washing over him.
"Now that we're all calmed down.... can somebody tell us what happened here?" Ignis said, not wanting to hear what gruesome tale that the villagers would give him.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Kifu saw the black pillars of smoke. "well now, that seems odd and ominnous" Kifu thought to himself. He then saw Buliwyf quicken his pace. Kifu cracked the reigns again and tried to keep the wagon from not falling behind the others. They finally reached the city of tappas burned, pillaged and murdered. Kifu paused for a second and slowly turned towards Ignis. "I guess you owe me 5 gold. We made it" kifu said without so much of a chuckle realizing now was not the time. Kifu oftened tried to break akwardness with laughter but this site was too gruesome for such a crude act.
As all of the passengers jumped out of the wagon, Kifu heard Buliwyf order them to look for Amy survivors. Kifu jumped off the wagon and headed down a blood stained street. There were bodies everywhere. Kifu could tell that these people were killed defenseless and hopeless. Kifu walked past each body inspecting it for life."everyone down here is dead" kifu yelled at the rest of the group. Kifu then made his way to the church where cries and screams of women and children could still be heard.
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Suddenly Warick felt the pace of the wagon pick up dramatically. Oh God. This can't be good.He thought as he looked out of the wagon only to see the town of Tappas burnt to the ground.
"My god.... it's all clear now. The people we fought, they couldn't have even been militia, let alone soldiers. Riddia must have forced their own townsmen to fight, while their forces came in and destroyed Tappas. How could a town be so.... evil ?"Warick heard Ingis say under his breath. "Savages" Warick uttered.
"I can't believe it, Come on, let's look in the church. Maybe someone can tell us why the Riddians would do this." Warick began to follow Jamis and the others toward the church. He noticed a trail of blood leading to them there. He shuddered but continued on. When they finally reached the church Ingis opened the doors with much force. Startling the townspeople causing them to scream and cower. "You didn't think to maybe come in a little more calmly Ingis?" Warick said as he desperately tried to lighten the mood.
Warick looked into the eyes of the townspeople. The brutality. Men, women, children. How could those people be so heartless.he thought as he began to shake with rage. These people... they're broken... they will never be the same.
Warick walked up to a small child, no older than 5, and kneeled in front of him. The child let out a whimper and cowered into his mothers arms. "Its okay." Warick said to the child "I'm here to help you." The child looked at him. "You mean, you aren't here to kill me. Like they did to daddy?" the young boy said as a tears streamed down his face.
"No." Warick said, as he began to choke up. He looked up at the mother of the boy. "Could you please tell me what happened?"
"They came from the West. The burned everything.... Varlan... h-he tried to stop them. But th- they...." The woman began to sob uncontrollably.
Warick calmed the woman down and looked at he in the eyes "I promise you.... His death will be avenged. Those people of Ridda will be met by a slow and painful death." Warick said to the woman as he got up and regrouped with the knights. "It can never be simple can it?" Warick said under his breath as he waited for the next order from Jamis.
James spoke through clenched teeth, partly out of horro at what had happened, and partly out of pain. His own wound was getting worse. The field medic had told him he needed real medical attention and, with no doctor around, that wasn't going to happen.
"Let's get these people some help. Whatever we can do, whatever we can give, we give it."
The blazing orange sphere of the sun began to sink below the cloud level of a sky quickening to dusk. The clouds were a mix of dark, cold hues contrasted starkly with the iridescent flaming outline cast on them from the setting sun.
Thick masses of pines twisted with small vines and shrubs were left behind as the wagon and the rest of the Knights of the Burning Blade entered Desolation, a humble but (previously) growing town of thatched roofs and stone walls, all bearing previous traces of fine ivy playing along the grooves and cracks and small wildflowers bursting through the scattered bits of foliage that crowded between masses of barrels, crates, wagon wheels, and farming equipment.
High pillars of smoke held up the blazing sky, as if preventing the heavens from crashing to Sanctuary and blotting out all the remainders of the bloody slaughter and destruction of the hamlet. Sinking window frames had been smashed through, scorch marks bordering their absence, partially-dried blood stained the walls and padded, earthen roads. The nature-made rooftops were occasionally missing whole chunks of material, some were even still smoldering in leu of the attack.
Bits of ash floated on a slight breeze putrid with the distinct and loathsome aroma of death. About the base of the demolished buildings were the mangled and oddly-bent remains of men (scarcely), women, and children who had remained behind in the hour of war, perhaps for their own futile and ignorant protection.
Buliwyf and Jamis, as well as a few others, headed toward a small hillock occupied by the only still-inhabitable structure left in Tappas, a huge, ancient, stone-block church that rose with the columns of smoke, emissary of mortal man against the inevitibility of death and loss. A man was crumpled against the wall adjoining the front door, a heavyset wooden portal, beaten and tired. He mumbled a few words to Buliwyf before falling to sleep eternal.
As Buliwyf stood back to his feet, Mordwythe could distinctly make out the man's detesting and anger-laden voice struggle to allow the words to form from his mouth. "They played us all for fools. Riddia will pay for this!"
It makes one wonder, Mordwythe thought, how mankind can allow itself to consume itself when we stand alone against our mortal weakness and in the face of the eternal demons and angels of old. How could this have happened? How could we have let the Riddians pass us by without notice to wreak havoc against the weak and helpless?
The thought was, admittedly, less of a caring so much as a statement of disbelief. Mordwythe had never been particularly fond of his parents in any way, although they had been, he supposed, homely enough. Even of his master Drognan he had never felt a fondness. Perhaps that emptiness was his payment for his ambition.
He shuffled his boot against a frail, lifeless, and bloody arm of a small child. So many futures, so many hopes... The progression of mankind is once more stymied.
He dusted bits of ash and nature from his robe and headed for the church.
"Let's get these people some help. Whatever we can do, whatever we can give, we give it."
Viktor removed his trench coat revealing a giant cross tattoo on his chest.
"Here child, keep yourself warm"
Viktor places his coat on the shoulder of a young boy shivering from the cold of the night pouring in. Viktor then pulled out his book of verses and began praying for not only the people who lost their lives but for the safety of the survivors of the massacre.
" I am afraid this is all I can offer to you. But know that through our Faith anything is possible. I pray that your loved ones find their eternal rest that they now deserve and I pray that all of you are able to overcome this tragedy."
Viktor looked up towards the heavens wondering what evil could do such horrible things.
" WE must find the Riddians and avenge these innocent people."
Viktor look towards Jamis and Buliwyf, eager to hear them shout out battle orders to the Knights of the Burning Blades. Hoping that he will once again fight for all that is virtuous.
"Let's get these people some help. Whatever we can do, whatever we can give, we give it." Jamis called out to the other members.
Kifu gathered some of all the younger children together. Thinking to himself
"I don't have much to offer but a smile and a laugh to help these children forget the horrors that they have seen."
Kifu began dancing around tripping over himself.
"haha...ooops!!"
a few children stopped their crying and dried their face. Kifu continued to do his best to help these poor children.
Kifu then turned to the groups leaders.
"Jamis, Buliwyf, how could we have been deceived so easily. We should have seen this coming after we so quickly dispatched the other army. I can't help but feel somewhat responsible for this devastation. We should have known, we should have been smarter."
Kifu lowered his head and focused. He tapped into the ghost world where he could here the screams and cries of the people who were slaughtered. Kifu was greatly disturbed by the scenes playing out in front of him. He quickly opened his eyes, not wanting to see or hear any more.
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Donsro watched Kifu attempting to entertain the poor children.
"It's better than nothing. We can't blame ourselves for this horror, but we can do everything we can to counter it. I cannot let mankind fall into the clutches of these sick savages! We need to come up with a plan quickly to avenge these innocent people!" he shouted to Jamis and Buliwyf. Donsro pulls out his warhammer.
"It's time to fufill our duty as Knights of the Burning Blade."
Kira comes across a basket of overturned apples, picks them up and takes them over to Kifu to hand out to the kids.
She continues her search of the bodies looking for any that are still alive and taking them to the church, so few left, she mutters and shakes her head.
Kira begins thinking of what she will do to the cowardly Riddians that have done this when they finally meet up with them.
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Smiling is infectious.
Give, expecting nothing thereof. ------------ BoD - Come have some fun! Folks will always come and go, so enjoy them while they're meant to be in your life.
Būti nodded in understanding to Kira as she had descended to assist the wild horse. Būti looked up the edge of the roof, looking for the man that Kira had pointed out, however no one was there. She shook her head, she must be seeing things, and proceeded to sit down and keep an eye out for any Riddians attempting to approach the church with malice, or possibly some others still scouring the land for places to burn or innocents to slay. She looked down and saw a small stone rolling down the roof beside her. She didn’t think much of it, until it occurred to her that no stones should be up, and if so they would have already rolled down the roof.
She turned around just in time to see a dagger closing in on her position. Unfortunately she only had enough time to side step to avoid the majority of the swing. The man’s blade had managed to yield a cut on Būti’s cheek. She jumped back, gaining some distance, and let the situation sink in. Someone had just managed to not just sneak up on her, but actually land a hit on her! I-I’ve never been hit before, never! How could I have been so careless! She thought, as she raised her hand to her face, praying to the Dragon that no blood would be there. No her relief, she couldn’t find any trace of blood on her face, let alone any kind of scratch. It then sunk in, the man’s blade did not manage to penetrate her armour. She grinned, self-contently as she noticed several chunks of bone fragments fell to the ground when she had rubbed her cheek. “Looks like I am yet still to be truly hit, sorry Riddian, but you came across the wrong child to harm”.
The Riddian, now fearful of whatever dark magic that the little girl had used to protect herself, had taken a few steps back. The dark grin, still plastered on her face, Būti began chanting more ancient words of power, and drew several distinct runes in mid-air that glowed in a similar white hue as the bone fragments that had fallen earlier. At the end of her chanting, she added the words, “Tail of the Dragon”. Instantly, a nearby body on the ground began to levitate. The body then started to contort for a few moments, as a long bone from the dead man’s arm, cleaning exited the body and made its way between the two combatants. As soon as it was in front of her, the bone began to glow with a blue tinge, and then flew directly straight to the unknowing Riddian, and it pierced through his body with no trouble – leaving a decently sized hole where his chest should have been. It was only a few short seconds after contact, that the Riddian had collapsed, and rolled off the roof and met the ground with a fulfilling ‘thud’.
“I suppose that was the man Kira had pointed out earlier” Būti had stated to herself. She paced from end to end on the building, continuing to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, and began thinking out loud to herself, “If the Riddians truly came and wiped out the village with the strongest of their men, then where are they right now? They must still be around; why else would this man have remained here? Surely he knew it would be suicide to remain here alone”. At this thought, she jumped down from the roof, and rushed over to the church. She ignored her surroundings and approached Buliwyf and Jamis, and whispered to them the predicament was sure was at hand, “J-Jamis, Buliwyf!” she began, “ I don’t think this town is out of the clear, yet. The town here got attacked, but what happened to the Riddian Raiding group? If they really are gone, then why are there still the odd Riddian grunts roaming the streets? I don’t think they would leave their own men stranded, alone, in a city they just burnt down. My only plausible theory is that they are still here, taking temporary shelter in a building, and that the man outside I had just killed was a scout of sorts, perhaps?” By now, she wasn’t sure what was happening, but she believed that at the moment things were too calm, the enemy could still be close by. In her rush and haste, she had initially failed to notice the pain Jamis had been going through. "That's right! You need to lay down and relax, sir! You're useless if you push yourself whilst in this condition, the rest of us can handle it for now".
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One becomes strong when they are fighting to protect someone close to them... - Shiro Haku
"Thank you Kira" Kifu said as he took the apples from Kira.
He turned back around and began to hand out the apples to the young children.
"Many of these children have lost their parents. No one to look after them and take care of them. What a horrible thing these Riddians have done." Kifu thought to himself, unsure of the future of these children.
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Jamis walked past the many wounded and fearful that lay huddled in the church, clutching one another for warmth or for protection. His mind raced nearly as fast as his pulse. The pain in his side had continued to grow worse and worse and a cold sweat had started to cover his paling skin.
He reached the back door and swung it open, stepping out into the night air as the sun lay low over the horizon, giving everything a soft red glow. He stood, staring off into the distance, towards Riddia.
"Everything I've fought for," he whispered to himself.
"It's all been in vain. Where is the honour that once was? The glory of a fair and balanced battle? When did we sink to such a level as this? Deceipt, murder, the senseless killing of innocents? Were we always this way? Were the legends of old only that? - Legends?"
He put a hand on his brow, beginning to feel weary and light-headed.
"Oh no," he said aloud then, with the heavy thud of armour, collapsed to the ground.
Kifu looked towards the children finding any that were in need of medical help. Kifu spotted a child with a huge laceration on his right arm.
"Come here little boy."
Kifu took the young boy over to the wagon.
"Don't worry, we are going to get you some help for your arm."
The little boy looked back at Kifu, at first with fright but then the young boy changed his expression to that of courage. Kifu was moved by the boys courage.
" come on everybody, these people need our help." Kifu yelled.
Kifu then looked into the wagon and once again saw one of their leaders passed out, lying on the floor of the wagon.
"It looks as though he needs just as much help as some of these other people."
Kifu ran over to the front of the wagon and jumped up into the driver's seat.
"Here we go again hahaha.." Kifu said to himself as he prepared to drive the wagon, taking just a brief second to laugh in the middle of this tragedy and state of emergency.
"Get the rest of the injured loaded on here" Kifu yelled to the rest of the Knights.
"Where to Buliwyf? Lead the way, I will follow with Jamis and the rest of the injured."
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As Ignis looked about the church, the scene was horrific. Dirty children crying about lost parents, battered parents sobbing about lost children, and both crying about the lives that had been burned away by the Riddians. He saw dismembered seniors, cut up youth, and even several corpses of people who had passed away, their loved ones still clutching them in their arms as they rocked back and forth, coping with the shock of it all the only way they could.
As Ignis looked about the church, a fury unlike any other he had experience grew inside him. How... how could anyone do this, why would anyone do THIS, to innocent people ?! Thought Ignis to himself, the rage growing within him with every glance around the church.
"We have to f$%&ing ACT, WHY ARE WE STANDING HERE TENDING TO THE SICK, WHEN THERE ARE LIVES THAT ARE GOING UNAVENGED ?!?! We are not doctors, we are MERCENARIES, and it is our duty, our OBLIGATION, to avenge these people. Riddia must answer for the crimes they have committed today, and I say we be the ones to bring them to justice." Yelled Ignis to everyone within earshot, with a passion he had never had, had never expected to have in the entirety of his life. He did not know what was happening, but what he saw, what he was still seeing, changed him.
Ignis threw his katana across the room, and collapsed into a heap of jumbled emotions on the floor, he did not know what to think or do, when such evil was possible in this world. He simply waited for a response from the rest of the group, praying that his superiors would agree with his words.
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Quote from "Sixen" »
"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
"We have to f$%&ing ACT, WHY ARE WE STANDING HERE TENDING TO THE SICK, WHEN THERE ARE LIVES THAT ARE GOING UNAVENGED ?!?! We are not doctors, we are MERCENARIES, and it is our duty, our OBLIGATION, to avenge these people. Riddia must answer for the crimes they have committed today, and I say we be the ones to bring them to justice." Ingis yelled at the group of Knights, with fury that would frighten even the demons of the Burning Hells.
Warick looked a Ingis Finally someone with enough guts to say what we have all been feeling.
"I agree. Riddia shall burn!! If any of you have any respect for these people, you will meet me and Ingis at the entrance to Tappas. Before dawn!" Warick said with rage in his voice. "The Riddians think they have won... but they don't know... this is only the begining." Warick said as he looked around the group and took his place next to Ingis. "God I hope this works," He whispered to his fellow Knight.
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Būti smiled at the question. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, "Yes, I believe most would agree with you on that point". She looked up and noticed everyone had finished arriving and got into the wagon or on their horses. Būti assisted with loading the wagon, then jumped in, and sat in the farthest corner from everyone else.
"well we will have to finish this conversation later it seems? she heard Kari say. "Indeed, a more quiet and empty place would certainly be a better place to hold our little talk than here".
Būti assisted with loading the wagon, then jumped in, and sat in the farthest corner from everyone else. He crossed her legs and closed her eyes again, and focused on the blackness that surrounded her. The darkness, in it she was alone, but always felt safe and comfortable, and the troubles of the real world rarely seemed to phase her when she was here. But off to the distance, she heard more voices, quiet to her, but the more she focused ? the more she understood what was being said.
"Speaking of which, may I ask a favor of you, Kifu? I was wondering if you could ever raise my horse from the dead, if he ever fell in battle..?", followed closely by an older man's voice, which Būti assumed to be the Witch Doctor's:
"of course, I could raise your horse from the dead but....I am afraid he would turn and try to kill you..hahaha".
Būti, despite still being in her personal void, felt confused. Had these people never heard the great tales of Uldyssian? The great books she read when she was young, written by a man named Kalan. She had recalled the part where one of their allies, Achillios, had been ?revived? from the dead, but in a manner where his body had been left in the exact condition it was in when he came back to life, but was no longer restrained by limitations on mortals. What is that state of being called again? It is believed to be the afterdeath state, I?m sure of it. But I don?t think I am anywhere near the capabilities of doing such a feat, but it would also depend on their location.
With a deep breath and exhale, she exited her entranced state and came back to reality. She looked around as she noticed the wagons rushing through the forest. They suddenly came to a halt, and that was when she noticed the thick walls of black smoke, and the distress of the now destroyed village of Tappas. "By the Dragon!" she couldn't help herself exclaiming, not even seeing this coming. She hit herself on the head, for missing such an obvious reason for the simplicity of the battle they had fought earlier. Buliwyf had commanded everyone to exit the wagons and to spread out the village to search for any survivors. Būti had immediately jumped out and crouched. She drew several runes in the air, and she muttered a few ancient words of power, and closed her eyes. After a quick moment, she opened them again to complete blackness, which quickly changed to a scratchy white, and then back to normality. She stood up, and approached Kari again, decided that she should be in pairs, especially when the complete condition is now unknown amongst them all. She whispered to her comrade, "Kari, let's get up on high ground, or roofs, and we can spot out survivors from up there, and get a good vantage point on our enemies. Being an archer, I'm sure you're not a fan of close ranged combat, so being on a roof should give you the needed time and distance from these uncivilized warriors, am I correct"?
One becomes strong when they are fighting to protect someone close to them... - Shiro Haku
"I can't believe it," he said, dumbfounded. "Come on, let's look in the church. Maybe someone can tell us why the Riddians would do this."
As she approached Buliwyf turns and instructs us to look for survivors. She hears the priests last words, "no wonder the battle was easily won we were fighting the townsfolk," she says.
Kira heads for the wagon and Buti has come out, she has heard what Buliwyf has said and replies to Kira "Kira, let's get up on high ground, or roofs, and we can spot out survivors from up there, and get a good vantage point on our enemies. Being an archer, I'm sure you're not a fan of close ranged combat, so being on a roof should give you the needed time and distance from these uncivilized warriors, am I correct"? "Yes you are correct, it would be much easier to see if anyone still stirs from above, and easier still to pick off any ememies I may see." They set off for the nearest house and climb to the roof.
As she surveys the area she thinks what kind of scum would kill children.. She sees one man stirring on the ground and points him out to the nearest of her companions. Off to her left she sees movement in the trees, she notches her bow ready to let the arrow fly when she realizes is it a horse. I'm going to go try to calm the horse over there, she says to Buti and jumps down from the house, which sends a slight pain through her leg, ugh I forgot about my wound.
Kira slowly approached the horse and started calming him down by patting his nose and scratching his neck, she then leads him over to the other horses hoping they would help keep it calm.
Folks will always come and go, so enjoy them while they're meant to be in your life.
Looks like some kind of forest fire, well at least it will shorten the time we're in here, I need to get back to the city, and fast. Ignis thought to himself.
As they continued down the path, a sickening smell wafted past them. It smelled like overcooked meat, and decay. The smell gripped them for the rest of the path, and when they left the tree line, they became aware of what was causing it.
Tappas had been levelled. Ignis was dumbstruck, he simply could not fathom the hatred it would take to give cause to destroy an entire town. And from the looks of it, kill all of it's inhabitants as well.
Ignis nearly vomited, he was used to some odd sights from the places he used to visit, but this was unlike anything he had ever seen.
He followed the rest of the knights into the town, and unsaddles his horse before running off to the only building left standing, the church. It seemed as if Buliwyf and Jamis had the same idea, they were there before him and Ignis only caught the last few phrases they uttered.
"The Riddians. They came down the river. While our best fighters were in the fields, the best from Riddia came down the river and took us by surprise. Most of the towns people did not get away. They hacked us down where we stood, women, children, they slaughtered them all, I saved who I could. They are safe in the chu........" said a dying priest, obviously he had defended the rest of the townspeople with his life, a sacrifice that would not go unavenged.
"My god.... it's all clear now. The people we fought, they couldn't have even been militia, let alone soldiers. Riddia must have forced their own townsmen to fight, while their forces came in and destroyed Tappas. How could a town be so.... evil ?" Ignis thought aloud, barely even noticing the people around him as he considered the weight of the situation.
"I can't believe it," Jamis said, a look of utter shock on his face, "Come on, let's look in the church. Maybe someone can tell us why the Riddians would do this."
Ignis merely nodded at Jamis, he was lost for words. He started up the stairs, passing by a bloody streak on the ground leading into the doors of the church.
He went up to the doors, and threw them open. The townspeople inside screamed, obviously mistaking him for an attacker. Shit, should have left my weapons at the door. Thought Ignis as he glanced down as his two swords.
"We're not here to hurt you, we're the mercenaries that your town hired to help fight against Riddia.", yelled Ignis over the roar of the battered townspeople, most looked as if they had been sobbing for hours, and now he had the honour of stirring their terror and anguish up once more. Ugh.... should have let somebody else open these doors, Kifu probably would have enjoyed it. Heh, speaking of which, looks like he won't be getting that ale. Thought Ignis, a dark chuckle escaping his lips.
The townspeople had begun to calm down after seeing Ignis standing there for some time, obviously not intending to hurt them. Who could even hurt these people? Thought Ignis as he looked over the remaining villagers, most had cuts and scrapes on them, but some very serious injuries stood out within the crowd. There was a man who looked as if he had stood in the fires of hell, and another man was missing a leg, and his hands were bloody and mangled. Guess thats where that streak came from... probably dragged himself in here to avoid the soldiers, poor bastard. Thought Ignis, a feeling of sadness washing over him.
"Now that we're all calmed down.... can somebody tell us what happened here?" Ignis said, not wanting to hear what gruesome tale that the villagers would give him.
As all of the passengers jumped out of the wagon, Kifu heard Buliwyf order them to look for Amy survivors. Kifu jumped off the wagon and headed down a blood stained street. There were bodies everywhere. Kifu could tell that these people were killed defenseless and hopeless. Kifu walked past each body inspecting it for life."everyone down here is dead" kifu yelled at the rest of the group. Kifu then made his way to the church where cries and screams of women and children could still be heard.
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"What form of evil could bring such pain and destruction"
Viktor walked around the city, stopping at each victim to give them a prayer.
Rest now."
Viktor walked back to the church after offering the lost souls hope.
"This is why I joined this group. To help rid the world of evil. "
Viktor joined the others in the church, eager to learn what has happened and more importantly, what could be done now.
"My god.... it's all clear now. The people we fought, they couldn't have even been militia, let alone soldiers. Riddia must have forced their own townsmen to fight, while their forces came in and destroyed Tappas. How could a town be so.... evil ?"Warick heard Ingis say under his breath. "Savages" Warick uttered.
"I can't believe it, Come on, let's look in the church. Maybe someone can tell us why the Riddians would do this." Warick began to follow Jamis and the others toward the church. He noticed a trail of blood leading to them there. He shuddered but continued on. When they finally reached the church Ingis opened the doors with much force. Startling the townspeople causing them to scream and cower. "You didn't think to maybe come in a little more calmly Ingis?" Warick said as he desperately tried to lighten the mood.
Warick looked into the eyes of the townspeople. The brutality. Men, women, children. How could those people be so heartless. he thought as he began to shake with rage. These people... they're broken... they will never be the same.
Warick walked up to a small child, no older than 5, and kneeled in front of him. The child let out a whimper and cowered into his mothers arms. "Its okay." Warick said to the child "I'm here to help you." The child looked at him. "You mean, you aren't here to kill me. Like they did to daddy?" the young boy said as a tears streamed down his face.
"No." Warick said, as he began to choke up. He looked up at the mother of the boy. "Could you please tell me what happened?"
"They came from the West. The burned everything.... Varlan... h-he tried to stop them. But th- they...." The woman began to sob uncontrollably.
Warick calmed the woman down and looked at he in the eyes "I promise you.... His death will be avenged. Those people of Ridda will be met by a slow and painful death." Warick said to the woman as he got up and regrouped with the knights. "It can never be simple can it?" Warick said under his breath as he waited for the next order from Jamis.
"Let's get these people some help. Whatever we can do, whatever we can give, we give it."
Thick masses of pines twisted with small vines and shrubs were left behind as the wagon and the rest of the Knights of the Burning Blade entered Desolation, a humble but (previously) growing town of thatched roofs and stone walls, all bearing previous traces of fine ivy playing along the grooves and cracks and small wildflowers bursting through the scattered bits of foliage that crowded between masses of barrels, crates, wagon wheels, and farming equipment.
High pillars of smoke held up the blazing sky, as if preventing the heavens from crashing to Sanctuary and blotting out all the remainders of the bloody slaughter and destruction of the hamlet. Sinking window frames had been smashed through, scorch marks bordering their absence, partially-dried blood stained the walls and padded, earthen roads. The nature-made rooftops were occasionally missing whole chunks of material, some were even still smoldering in leu of the attack.
Bits of ash floated on a slight breeze putrid with the distinct and loathsome aroma of death. About the base of the demolished buildings were the mangled and oddly-bent remains of men (scarcely), women, and children who had remained behind in the hour of war, perhaps for their own futile and ignorant protection.
Buliwyf and Jamis, as well as a few others, headed toward a small hillock occupied by the only still-inhabitable structure left in Tappas, a huge, ancient, stone-block church that rose with the columns of smoke, emissary of mortal man against the inevitibility of death and loss. A man was crumpled against the wall adjoining the front door, a heavyset wooden portal, beaten and tired. He mumbled a few words to Buliwyf before falling to sleep eternal.
As Buliwyf stood back to his feet, Mordwythe could distinctly make out the man's detesting and anger-laden voice struggle to allow the words to form from his mouth. "They played us all for fools. Riddia will pay for this!"
It makes one wonder, Mordwythe thought, how mankind can allow itself to consume itself when we stand alone against our mortal weakness and in the face of the eternal demons and angels of old. How could this have happened? How could we have let the Riddians pass us by without notice to wreak havoc against the weak and helpless?
The thought was, admittedly, less of a caring so much as a statement of disbelief. Mordwythe had never been particularly fond of his parents in any way, although they had been, he supposed, homely enough. Even of his master Drognan he had never felt a fondness. Perhaps that emptiness was his payment for his ambition.
He shuffled his boot against a frail, lifeless, and bloody arm of a small child. So many futures, so many hopes... The progression of mankind is once more stymied.
He dusted bits of ash and nature from his robe and headed for the church.
Viktor removed his trench coat revealing a giant cross tattoo on his chest.
"Here child, keep yourself warm"
Viktor places his coat on the shoulder of a young boy shivering from the cold of the night pouring in. Viktor then pulled out his book of verses and began praying for not only the people who lost their lives but for the safety of the survivors of the massacre.
" I am afraid this is all I can offer to you. But know that through our Faith anything is possible. I pray that your loved ones find their eternal rest that they now deserve and I pray that all of you are able to overcome this tragedy."
Viktor looked up towards the heavens wondering what evil could do such horrible things.
" WE must find the Riddians and avenge these innocent people."
Viktor look towards Jamis and Buliwyf, eager to hear them shout out battle orders to the Knights of the Burning Blades. Hoping that he will once again fight for all that is virtuous.
Kifu gathered some of all the younger children together. Thinking to himself
"I don't have much to offer but a smile and a laugh to help these children forget the horrors that they have seen."
Kifu began dancing around tripping over himself.
"haha...ooops!!"
a few children stopped their crying and dried their face. Kifu continued to do his best to help these poor children.
Kifu then turned to the groups leaders.
"Jamis, Buliwyf, how could we have been deceived so easily. We should have seen this coming after we so quickly dispatched the other army. I can't help but feel somewhat responsible for this devastation. We should have known, we should have been smarter."
Kifu lowered his head and focused. He tapped into the ghost world where he could here the screams and cries of the people who were slaughtered. Kifu was greatly disturbed by the scenes playing out in front of him. He quickly opened his eyes, not wanting to see or hear any more.
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"It's better than nothing. We can't blame ourselves for this horror, but we can do everything we can to counter it. I cannot let mankind fall into the clutches of these sick savages! We need to come up with a plan quickly to avenge these innocent people!" he shouted to Jamis and Buliwyf. Donsro pulls out his warhammer.
"It's time to fufill our duty as Knights of the Burning Blade."
She continues her search of the bodies looking for any that are still alive and taking them to the church, so few left, she mutters and shakes her head.
Kira begins thinking of what she will do to the cowardly Riddians that have done this when they finally meet up with them.
Folks will always come and go, so enjoy them while they're meant to be in your life.
She turned around just in time to see a dagger closing in on her position. Unfortunately she only had enough time to side step to avoid the majority of the swing. The man’s blade had managed to yield a cut on Būti’s cheek. She jumped back, gaining some distance, and let the situation sink in. Someone had just managed to not just sneak up on her, but actually land a hit on her! I-I’ve never been hit before, never! How could I have been so careless! She thought, as she raised her hand to her face, praying to the Dragon that no blood would be there. No her relief, she couldn’t find any trace of blood on her face, let alone any kind of scratch. It then sunk in, the man’s blade did not manage to penetrate her armour. She grinned, self-contently as she noticed several chunks of bone fragments fell to the ground when she had rubbed her cheek. “Looks like I am yet still to be truly hit, sorry Riddian, but you came across the wrong child to harm”.
The Riddian, now fearful of whatever dark magic that the little girl had used to protect herself, had taken a few steps back. The dark grin, still plastered on her face, Būti began chanting more ancient words of power, and drew several distinct runes in mid-air that glowed in a similar white hue as the bone fragments that had fallen earlier. At the end of her chanting, she added the words, “Tail of the Dragon”. Instantly, a nearby body on the ground began to levitate. The body then started to contort for a few moments, as a long bone from the dead man’s arm, cleaning exited the body and made its way between the two combatants. As soon as it was in front of her, the bone began to glow with a blue tinge, and then flew directly straight to the unknowing Riddian, and it pierced through his body with no trouble – leaving a decently sized hole where his chest should have been. It was only a few short seconds after contact, that the Riddian had collapsed, and rolled off the roof and met the ground with a fulfilling ‘thud’.
“I suppose that was the man Kira had pointed out earlier” Būti had stated to herself. She paced from end to end on the building, continuing to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, and began thinking out loud to herself, “If the Riddians truly came and wiped out the village with the strongest of their men, then where are they right now? They must still be around; why else would this man have remained here? Surely he knew it would be suicide to remain here alone”. At this thought, she jumped down from the roof, and rushed over to the church. She ignored her surroundings and approached Buliwyf and Jamis, and whispered to them the predicament was sure was at hand, “J-Jamis, Buliwyf!” she began, “ I don’t think this town is out of the clear, yet. The town here got attacked, but what happened to the Riddian Raiding group? If they really are gone, then why are there still the odd Riddian grunts roaming the streets? I don’t think they would leave their own men stranded, alone, in a city they just burnt down. My only plausible theory is that they are still here, taking temporary shelter in a building, and that the man outside I had just killed was a scout of sorts, perhaps?” By now, she wasn’t sure what was happening, but she believed that at the moment things were too calm, the enemy could still be close by. In her rush and haste, she had initially failed to notice the pain Jamis had been going through. "That's right! You need to lay down and relax, sir! You're useless if you push yourself whilst in this condition, the rest of us can handle it for now".
One becomes strong when they are fighting to protect someone close to them... - Shiro Haku
He turned back around and began to hand out the apples to the young children.
"Many of these children have lost their parents. No one to look after them and take care of them. What a horrible thing these Riddians have done." Kifu thought to himself, unsure of the future of these children.
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He reached the back door and swung it open, stepping out into the night air as the sun lay low over the horizon, giving everything a soft red glow. He stood, staring off into the distance, towards Riddia.
"Everything I've fought for," he whispered to himself.
"It's all been in vain. Where is the honour that once was? The glory of a fair and balanced battle? When did we sink to such a level as this? Deceipt, murder, the senseless killing of innocents? Were we always this way? Were the legends of old only that? - Legends?"
He put a hand on his brow, beginning to feel weary and light-headed.
"Oh no," he said aloud then, with the heavy thud of armour, collapsed to the ground.
"Jamis"
Viktor ran over to Jamis and saw how badly his wound still was.
"Everybody, help me load all of the injured onto the wagon. We need to get them to a doctor immediately."
Viktor threw Jamis over his shoulder and carried him over to the cart.
"Dammit Jamis, you way a ton with all of this armor on"
Viktor stammered over to the cart and roughly threw Jamis back down.
"Sorry Jamis, I am not as strong as some of you."
Viktor then went back into the church to gather more injured.
"Buliwyf, you know this area best, where can we go to get these people help?"
"Come here little boy."
Kifu took the young boy over to the wagon.
"Don't worry, we are going to get you some help for your arm."
The little boy looked back at Kifu, at first with fright but then the young boy changed his expression to that of courage. Kifu was moved by the boys courage.
" come on everybody, these people need our help." Kifu yelled.
Kifu then looked into the wagon and once again saw one of their leaders passed out, lying on the floor of the wagon.
"It looks as though he needs just as much help as some of these other people."
Kifu ran over to the front of the wagon and jumped up into the driver's seat.
"Here we go again hahaha.." Kifu said to himself as he prepared to drive the wagon, taking just a brief second to laugh in the middle of this tragedy and state of emergency.
"Get the rest of the injured loaded on here" Kifu yelled to the rest of the Knights.
"Where to Buliwyf? Lead the way, I will follow with Jamis and the rest of the injured."
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Dirty children crying about lost parents, battered parents sobbing about lost children, and both crying about the lives that had been burned away by the Riddians.
He saw dismembered seniors, cut up youth, and even several corpses of people who had passed away, their loved ones still clutching them in their arms as they rocked back and forth, coping with the shock of it all the only way they could.
As Ignis looked about the church, a fury unlike any other he had experience grew inside him.
How... how could anyone do this, why would anyone do THIS, to innocent people ?! Thought Ignis to himself, the rage growing within him with every glance around the church.
"We have to f$%&ing ACT, WHY ARE WE STANDING HERE TENDING TO THE SICK, WHEN THERE ARE LIVES THAT ARE GOING UNAVENGED ?!?! We are not doctors, we are MERCENARIES, and it is our duty, our OBLIGATION, to avenge these people. Riddia must answer for the crimes they have committed today, and I say we be the ones to bring them to justice." Yelled Ignis to everyone within earshot, with a passion he had never had, had never expected to have in the entirety of his life. He did not know what was happening, but what he saw, what he was still seeing, changed him.
Ignis threw his katana across the room, and collapsed into a heap of jumbled emotions on the floor, he did not know what to think or do, when such evil was possible in this world. He simply waited for a response from the rest of the group, praying that his superiors would agree with his words.
Warick looked a Ingis Finally someone with enough guts to say what we have all been feeling.
"I agree. Riddia shall burn!! If any of you have any respect for these people, you will meet me and Ingis at the entrance to Tappas. Before dawn!" Warick said with rage in his voice. "The Riddians think they have won... but they don't know... this is only the begining." Warick said as he looked around the group and took his place next to Ingis.
"God I hope this works," He whispered to his fellow Knight.