“You lie! You and your family are an aberration and you do not deserve to live.”
And with those words, Licius jumped towards Arius and tried to cut him in half with his sword, but Arius managed to raise his holy shield around him just in time.
“Yes… this confirms it, only your family uses this cowardly technique in battle,” said Licius.
“First of all, I was healing your wounds. And why is my shield a coward’s technique?”
Licius knew there was no way through that shield, at least not by a direct attack. But what about an indirect one.
So using his right foot, Licius stomped as hard as he could on one of the narrow wooden boards on the floor, which acted as a pendulum hitting Arius right between the legs.
Surprised by the fact that Licius had found a way to hurt him through the shield and also in pain Arius lost concentration and the shield went down.
Licius immediately took the opportunity to land the finishing blow, but before he could strike his feet left the ground. Stundroff had lifted him from the ground, holding Licius’s entire body over his head using only one hand.
“Calm down.”
But Licius retaliated by kicking him in the nose with the back part of his foot.
The Bronium-covered kick was strong enough to break Stundroff’s nose, so the bleeding Stundroff sent Licius flying through the wall into the next room.
As both Licius and Arius stood up, they stopped and watched in amazement at Stundroff nose healing in a matter of seconds.
“I am sorry friend,” Licius said. “But if you stand by the side of those murdering Humans, then I shall strike you down as well.”
“You got any ideas? Because I could pummel him through the armor, but that’s going to take some time,” Stundroff asked Arius.
“Don’t worry, friend, we just have to wait a few more seconds; this Elf isn’t the only one with a trick up his sleeve.”
And in that exact moment, Licius’s view became fuzzy and blurred, as the fever from his not yet healed wounds began to attack his body again. Licius fell to his knees as his sight started to fade to black.
“Well then, I think one well-placed punch should do the trick,” said Arius.
“I’ll let you have the honors.” The prince placed his hand on Stundroff’s shoulder.
Stundroff walked through the wall into the next room towards the kneeling Licius. And with one well-placed punch, he put Licius to sleep.
◆◆◆
When Licius regained consciousness, he found himself strapped to a solid wall by some improvised metal shackles.
In front of him stood the prince and the dwarf.
“What do you plan to do with me?” Licius asked.
“Well, we don’t plan to kill you, but if you don’t let me help you, you will die from those wounds. So the way I see it, you can either accept my help, or die stuck to that wall,” Arius replied.
“I would much rather die than accept your help.”
“Well, if that is your plan, then it shouldn’t take long now, just have a little patience.”
“I will free myself and kill you with my own hands; I know that the only reason that I am still alive is because you can’t kill me as long as I wear this armor.”
“Well, that’s where you are wrong Mr. Elf. For my friend here, who you so casually threatened to kill, happens to be strong enough to bash that pretty little face of yours even through that armor. So the only reason we haven’t killed you yet, is because we have chosen not to. So I’ll run your options by you once again; you can either retract you armor and let me heal you, or you can die a slow painful death from the fever while you remain stuck to that wall. But I am going to need your word that you won’t kill me first.”
“And why should I accept your help? My sole purpose now is to seek vengeance against the killers of my queen.”
“Well I was never one to pay much attention during my history lessons. But if there is something I remember is how every book about my family’s history talks about how king Varius White Knight was the most devoted priest the Order has ever seen. I don’t know what lies you have been feed by your people, but I find it highly unlikely that my great, great, great grandfather had something to do with your queen’s death.”
“And why should I believe any word that comes out from your mouth? What do you gain out of helping me?” Licius asked.
“Look, Mr. Elf. If we wanted to harm you, we would have killed you by now. Besides the dwarf here and me are going on a journey. And a warrior of your skills, especially with that armor, could prove must useful. So why don’t you join us and maybe as we travel the world, we can figure out what happened to your queen.”
Licius meditated on his answer for a moment and then said,
“Fine I will let you heal my wounds and I’ll accompany you, but know this - we are not friends and if I find out that you are lying to me and your family is somehow responsible for my queen’s death, I swear that I will take your life.”
“You are the most stubborn person I have met in my life.”
“Nah. He’s not that bad, you should meet more Dwarves,” Stundroff said, laughing.
And with the terms finally set, Licius retracted his armor and let Arius heal him, giving birth to the most powerful alliance the world of Gaia would ever see.
Chapter 5
Every Journey Starts With the First Step
The night had passed and the sun was rising.
The fire had been extinguished and the Human army retook the bunker in the city borders. But the few people that still lived in that area had lost their homes and would now have to move up the valley.
Arius could not help but feel impotent as he saw the life of hardship ahead of his people, which the Orcs had brought upon them in half an hour. That is why, as soon as he finished healing Licius’s wounds, he got ready to start their journey.
“Are you good enough to walk?” Arius asked as he lent a helping hand to Licius.
“I am fine.” Licius pushed Arius’s hand away.
“Fine, Mr. Elf, then get on your feet and let’s start walking.”
“What’s the rush?” asked Stundroff. “We just got here.”
“You may have just got here, but I’ve been here my entire life. And we’ve got a world to save,” Arius replied.
The three heroes began walking towards Two Peaks Town guided by Arius.
As they reached the top of a hill, Licius spotted a lonely Orc in the distance.
“A scout must likely,” Arius said.
Stundroff suddenly jumped high in the air, landing right in front of the Orc. The Orc was completely caught by surprise and before it could react, Stundroff crushed its skull in with a single hammer fist; he grabbed the Orc by his arm and smashed him against the floor like a ragdoll three times just for good measure. He then turned around, covered in Orc blood, and shouted to his companions,
“It’s alright. You can come out now. I took care of the Orc.”
“Not quite what I had in mind.” Arius started to walk towards Stundroff.
“Yes, subtlety is definitely not his forte,” Licius replied.
“Look, little man,” Arius said when they reached Stundroff, “that was an Orc scout, more will come soon. We have to move fast and not draw too much attention to ourselves, or we could find ourselves surrounded in a matter of minutes.”
“Oh, but what’s the fun in that?” Stundroff asked.
“We’re not here to have fun,” Licius replied, as he sighed in frustration.
As they resumed their walk, there was an uncomfortable silence between them.
Arius was deep in thought.
These two are far more powerful allies than any Human soldier I have met in my life. I wonder what the extent of their abilities is… I guess there is only one way to know, ask them. I am sure the dwarf will tell me without a problem, but the elf is another story. He has proven to be more than a capable combatant and that armor of his is really extraordina
ry. If all the elves are like this then an alliance with him would prove must useful, because I would need an ambassador to reestablish the Human-Elf relationships.
“So… Stundroff is your name right?” Arius asked.
“Yes, Stundroff, but everyone calls me Stump…. Never mind, just call me Stundroff.”
“And are all dwarves are strong as you?”
“No, not by a long shot, I am by far the strongest Dwarf in history. But my strength comes from a magic relic that I came in contact with not long ago. Apparently it had been inert for millennia.”
“Interesting, just like my armor,” Licius said.
“Yes, that was my next question,” Arius said. “I find your armor fascinating. What else can it do?”
“I am not sure. I just acquired it recently, so I’m not yet completely familiarized with its full potential and capabilities. But besides its obvious defensive capability and the retractable blade you saw, it has wings to let me glide over some distance. And the more interesting thing is that it seems to react to my thoughts, as if it was a part of my body.”
“That is fascinating; I wonder what kind of technology is behind such a device,” Stundroff said.
“Not technology, but magic. I believe this armor was forged by the Supreme Chancellor of the Elves using some kind of dark magic I had never seen before and just like your relic it seemed to react only when I touched it,” Licius explained.
“Fascinating, I wonder what else it can do,” Arius said.
“What about you, Human?” Licius asked.
“Well. My abilities are those of the light. My faith allows me to heal wounds and use the power of the light to beat my foes. But sadly, the stronger I get, the weaker my father becomes, since it is from him that my connection to the light comes.”
“I am not surprised, only Humans would kill their own kind for more power,” Licius said.
“I don’t want power at this cost. But it seems there is not much I can do about it. So as you can see, the main objective of this quest is to find a way to save my father’s life.”
“Fascinating, a filthy Human, with a heart of gold, let us see if this story of yours is just another deception in a desperate attempt to gain our trust,” Licius said.
Arius dismissed Licius’s accusation with a laugh as he turned toward Stundroff and asked,
“And you say Dwarves are more stubborn than him?”
“Well, some Dwarves at least.”
“I can’t wait to meet them!”
They had left the plains outside the valley of the west and came across a rocky pass between two small mountains.
Arius suggested going through the pass, since it was the shortest route to the nearest Human settlement. So they began to move through a narrow corridor, with walls made of sharp rocks. And as they made their way through the mountains they came across two Orcs, eating a small wolf.
“These are mine… let me show you how it’s done,” Arius said.
He began to walk towards the Orcs, who, using their teeth and fangs, where ripping the flesh out of the poor wolf while it was still alive.
Using the howls of the wolf to cover the sound of his plate armored footsteps, Arius got just close enough to swing his hammer at one of the Orc’s faces.
The Orc took a heavy hit, but he didn’t die from the impact. Arius, using the handle of his hammer, blocked the attack of the other Orc, who pushed him against the rock wall. The stones shattered against Arius’s armor, as the Orc managed to press the handle of the hammer against Arius’s throat. Arius began to turn red, gasping for air, while trying to push back the Orc using one of his legs.
“Sure you don’t need help?” Stundroff asked from the distance.
But this only enraged Arius, who began to glow in brilliant golden light. And in one single push, he managed to get the Orc of him. He then took one step to gain momentum and took a rising swing to the bottom of the Orc’s jaw, flipping him over.
He then took another step and landed a devastating strike with his hammer to the Orc’s chest, crushing it in the process. The Orc began to cough blood, but before Arius could strike again. The other Orc charged him, and, with a devastating shoulder hit, he sent Arius flying into a small cave passage.
The Orc followed him in and kicked him, completely lifting him from the ground and smashing him against a wall before he fell to the floor again.
The Orc laughed at Arius as he was lying on the floor, but Arius looked up at him, spat some blood and laughed back at the Orc.
The prince then started to charge his hammer with a golden glow. The Orc immediately tried to stamp on him, but Arius managed to roll over.
Arius then stood up and using his light charged hammer, he smashed the wall of the cave, causing part of the ceiling to collapse on top of them. He then used his holy shield spell to protect him from the falling rocks as they crushed his rival.
As the dust dissipated, the victorious prince emerged and said to his companions as he spat blood,
“And that is how it’s done.”
“Good work,” Stundroff said.
“Yes… very graceful indeed.” Licius added as he stabbed the other Orc to finish him off.
The night fell upon the mountains and the three of them decided it was the best idea to spend the night in the cave.
They drew straws to see who would mount guard during the night. Stundroff pulled the shortest one and took up position at the entrance to the cave.
The Elf and the Human then lay on the floor to try and catch some sleep.
The next morning Licius shook Arius to wake him up.
“Wake up, Human, someone else was here during the night.”
“And how would you know?”
“I can smell it.”
“That is just the smell of the dead Orc,” Arius said, as he rolled over and closed his eyes again.
“Check your belongings,” said the Elf, as he looked around with suspicion.
“Shit! You’re right,” said Arius, as he noticed his purse was missing.
The two of them stood up and went to confront the Dwarf.
“Did you fell asleep last night?” Arius asked.
“No, of course not.”
“Well someone got in and robbed us,” said Licius.
“That’s impossible; I was on guard the whole night. And the only thing that got in or out of the cave was a little mouse.”
“A mouse you say?” Arius asked.
“It was a druid then...” Licius said, uncertainly.
“What in the name of the great forge is a druid?” Stundroff asked.
“Druids are Humans that can shape shift into animals,” Arius replied.
“Shape shift into animals you say; now I have heard it all.”
“Says the Dwarf that can lift a thousand pounds with one hand..,” Arius replied.
“Any of you got any silver?” Arius asked.
“No.”
“Well then, getting food is going to be tricky,” Arius said.
“We just need to hunt our food,” Licius replied.
“Well I don’t know where you spent the last two thousand years, but hunting in the wild has become rather difficult, since the Orcs eat everything they see,” Arius said. But don’t worry; we just need to get to the nearest settlement. Surely the people there will offer some help to their prince.”
“Let’s not waste any more time then,” Licius said.
They walked along the stony path and when the sun had almost reached the center of the sky they saw the exit - guarded by three big Orcs, who played with a Human skull tossing it around.
“Well, we need to get past them,” said Arius.
“Care to enlighten us with another graceful demonstration, you highness?” Licius asked.
“Very funny. Why don’t we put that armor of yours to the test instead?” Arius suggested.
“Very well then.”
He jumped onto a narrow ledge and ran all the way to the end. He then got as close
to the Orcs as he could, without being detected.
From there he flipped in the air, as he unsheathed a Bronium sword from the back of each hand, landing in front of the Orc in the center of the group.
He then immediately stabbed the two outside Orcs in the face. And as he pulled his hands back to liberate his swords, he tilted his head just enough to avoid the central Orc’s punch.
Then, with a chopping motion, he cut the Orc’s arm off, before the Orc could pull his punch back, and then proceeded to stab the creature in the bottom of his head, making the blade go all the way through to the top of the Orc’s skull before he could scream.
“Not my finest work, but it will have to do,” said Licius, as he cleaned his blades of the Orc’s blood.
“Wow! That was… amazing!” Stundroff said, as he walked toward Licius.
“Yes… not bad,” Arius added.
They made it out of the mountains and walked the rest of the afternoon, until they found the nearest Human settlement - a very small town surrounded by high stone walls to prevent Orc attacks.
Licius felt disgust at how the Humans lived, as the place was filthy and smelled terrible compared to his great Elf city.
They entered the local tavern. “For the great forge… I never thought I would smell the sweet scent of ale again,” Stundroff said.
“Well, you won’t get to taste it, if we don’t get some silver soon,” said Licius.
“Leave that to me. It is time to use my royal charm,” Arius said.
“Take a seat and wait here, soon we’ll be feasting like kings.” He walked towards the bar and addressed the skinny bartender.
“Hello, good sir, it is I, Prince Arius White Knight. My friends and I are famished after a long and treacherous journey and we would like to eat and get some rest at your fine establishment.”
“Oh, of course, your majesty. That will be ten silver for the meal and twenty more for a room for the night.”
“Well my friend, sadly our silver was stolen by a druid passing as a mouse. But if you help us, I will more than compensate you once I return to Logrant city.”
The bartender looked Arius in the eye.
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