The Story of Evil: Volume I - Heroes of the Siege

by Tony Johnson

  He could see over the entire cowering crowd, but unfortunately that meant he was watching as a flaming boulder crashed down and rolled over a section of people on the arena floor. One of them was one of Steve’s squires. He had been so close to escaping the boulder’s path.

  Ty made his way onto the floor and ran in the trail of the boulder’s wreckage. He saw Brightflame next to the boy’s body and picked it up. It was hot to touch, but manageable to hold.

  The crowd was back up and running again, making it hard for Ty to see where Steve was. Suddenly, the red armored warrior appeared in a blur. He was still mounted on top of the charging blue armored Clyx. Steve lowered his lance and aimed it at a group of minotaurs.

  Ty pushed through the crowd, only to see Clyx running around without a rider. “Steve!” he called out, not seeing his brother. It wasn’t like Steve to abandon Clyx in the midst of battle. For a second, Ty feared the worst.

  But then he saw Steve on the ground, with a black minotaur about to bring its electrical axe down on him. Ty reached the monster just in time to stab Brightflame through its back. “And with that I take the lead! Five points to four,” Ty yelled, pulling a blood-dripping Brightflame out of the minotaur’s back. He reached down and grabbed the arm of his best friend Steve and pulled him up off the ground.

  “Cutting it close that time, huh?” Steve yelled over the sounds of destruction.

  “I wanted you to see how helpless and vulnerable you are without me around.”

  “What would I do without you?” Steve sarcastically smiled.

  “I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without me.” Ty flipped the sword and grabbed the blade, holding it hilt out towards Steve.

  “Brightflame!” Steve said as he grabbed it from the Elf excitedly.

  “I know how much that sword means to you.” Ty said, happy he was able to retrieve the weapon for his friend.

  “Why is this hot?” Steve asked, as he looked up to Ty.

  Ty didn’t want to tell Steve about the grotesque sight he saw when Steve’s squire was trying to run out of the way to avoid getting crushed by a rolling, flaming boulder barreling down his path. Unfortunately, the poor boy had no chance to escape. The boulder rolled over top of him and stopped, crushing him partially underneath. Trapped, the child burned to death.

  Ty could already see Steve mentally reaching the answer for the question he had just asked. Ty didn’t need to give him the details, so he saw no point in giving an answer at all.

  “You didn’t hear any warning horns from the outer watchtowers did you?” Steve asked.

  “No, there was no alarm. I have no idea how the catapults got close enough to launch into the city without being noticed by the patrolling warriors.”

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Ty.”

  “As do I. Where are you headed?” he asked Steve.

  “To protect the castle,” Steve said as he nodded in the direction he would be heading. “What about you?”

  Ty pointed up to the sky, to the monsters flying overhead.

  “Be safe, brother.” Steve told Ty before they hugged.

  “What’s the fun in being safe?” Ty said before running off into the dense smoke, leaving his friend behind. He hoped the next time they saw each other that they would both still be on Element, alive.

  As Ty ran out of the stadium his eye caught the colors of pink and blue lying on the ground. The stick of cotton clouds had been half eaten. Next to the candy, Sam and his mother were lying dead on the arena floor. One of the minotaurs had killed them. Ty continued running out of the arena while trying to mentally erase the images from his mind and focus on the battle above him that he would soon be joining.

  That was the last day Tyrus Canard ever ate cotton clouds.

  Chapter 15

  Ty headed for the warrior barracks, where his gryphon Wildwing would be waiting for him. Ty was an aerial warrior. It was a very dangerous role, but one of the most important.

  Enemy flying monsters were some of the most powerful. They were not held back by fortifying walls and could easily do major damage to a city. Aerial warriors flew one of three types of monsters: phoenixes, giant hawk-like feathered birds; gryphons, winged lion’s bodies with the oversized head of an eagle; and dragons, the main and most vicious flying monster. All of them could attack with the element or elements they were born with.

  Warriors had some phoenixes, gryphons, and dragons of their own. They were monsters who had converted from their evil ways and decided to serve the good god instead of the evil god. Once a monster turned good and decided not to harm people, they often sought out shelter in a city, to avoid being persecuted by monsters in the wild. The warriors gave them this protection, but requested use of the monster’s elemental abilities to aid them in battle.

  Female friendly monsters were mainly used to produce eggs. Since larger monsters had longer lives, their time from conception to birth was prolonged. Phoenixes, gryphons, and dragons spent almost a full year in their egg.

  Warriors who were interested in becoming an aerial warrior could obtain a monster by finding an egg in the wild or by having a monster “choose them.” Young monsters sometimes sought out the person who they believed was meant to be their rider. It was said that there was a mental connection between a monster and its true rider. When the two met for the first time, both would feel an immediate bond.

  Another way a warrior was able to obtain a monster was if he saved one from being killed by another monster. He could also get one by defeating a flying monster in battle, if the monster chose to surrender its life to serve rather than die.

  Ty had saved the life of Wildwing with the help of Steve when they were in Warrior Training. Ty convinced Steve he had felt the strong connection, and together they rescued the monster. Ever since that day, the gryphon and Ty had grown to become great friends. Both Ty and Wildwing loved to fly and fight.

  Looks like there’s more than enough fun to be had today, Ty thought as he looked up.

  The agile Elf took shortcuts through back alleyways and secrets paths that few people knew of. The only reason he knew about them was because he and Darren had grown up in this section of Celestial. As children, they had explored everywhere they were allowed to go, and even more so where they were not.

  As he ran, Ty heard screaming, yelling, and heavy impacts coming from every direction around him. People were being injured as flaming boulders crashed down and demolished buildings and streets. Ty continuously glanced into the sky, keeping a look out for any boulders coming down in his direction. He was also trying to see how many flying monsters were in the air and if any warriors had already engaged them in battle.

  Ty turned a corner and collided with a Dwarven man, almost knocking them both down. But both the Elf and the Dwarf were able to keep their balance.

  “Ty!” the Dwarf said, surprised. Ty could hear the quiver of nervousness in his tone. The voice of the halfman belonged to Klar, a fellow warrior brother of his same aerial clan. Like the Elf, he was also headed to mount his ride.

  “Pushing me down so you can get to the barracks first and steal Wildwing for battle?” Ty joked. “I know you’ve always admired his speed.”

  Klar was too nervous to see humor in anything. “Sorry,” the Dwarf said, taking the blame for bumping into Ty even though they both knew it was Ty’s fault for not looking where he was going. “We have to hurry. I was on the wall. I saw a large horde of flyers headed in from the west.”

  “How large?” Ty asked, somewhat scared of what the answer would be.

  “Too many to count.” It was Klar’s best estimate.

  Ty and Klar started running side by side down the narrow street, side stepping and dodging their shoulders out of the way of civilians running in the opposite direction as they all headed toward their homes. The faster the two warriors could get onto their monsters and into the air, the more innocent lives would be spared. It was their job to attract the monsters’ attention away fro
m destroying buildings and hurting people by engaging the monsters in battle high in the skies.

  Ty and Klar were running when they heard the screams of women and children coming from somewhere on the adjacent side of the buildings next to them. The screams were followed by the angry growls of monsters.

  “Monsters have advanced this far into the city already?” Klar doubted.

  “This fast? Impossible,” Ty agreed. He looked up and down the street for a way to cross to where the screams and growls were coming from. There aren’t any alleys to cut across.

  Klar, who was jiggling door handles, was trying in vain to find one that was unlocked. Most of them were probably full of families cowering under their kitchen tables or in their basements in fear.

  “There’s no time for that!” Ty yelled, backing away to the opposite side of the road. He ran forward towards the door next to where Klar was standing. He shouldered into it with all his weight, breaking the lock and cracking the wooden door. After a powerful kick, the door flew open. Ty entered into the building as Klar followed behind.

  They had come through the back door of a fur merchant’s shop by the looks of it. Decorative pelts of animal furs hung for sale on clothing racks. Winter was coming, so they were a popular item. No one was in the store on the first floor, and they didn’t hear any sounds from the merchant’s home on the second story. Either the merchant thought Ty and Klar were monsters breaking in and tried to remain quiet, or he was not in his shop when the attack commenced. Ty and Klar dodged around circular racks of pelts placed throughout the store and then crashed through the front door and out into a small open plaza.

  The first image Ty saw was a Human female. She was only a few years older than him, lying dead on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Behind the body stood two young children, girls no more than four years old. The moment Ty came through the front door of the merchant’s shop, a blue ogre, standing in front of the girls, killed both of them with a single mighty swing from the rusty bronze swords he had equipped in each of his giant hands.

  Ty had seen dead monsters, dead animals, and dead people, but he had never seen sweet, innocent children brutally murdered in front of him. His jaw tightened and his teeth clenched together in anger as his heart expanded in sorrow.

  The woman had sacrificially given her life to buy the two girls at least a few extra seconds of life on Element. Had those seconds been even slightly longer, the two warriors might have been able to save the two girls, and that woman’s final life choice of sacrifice would not have been in vain. Unfortunately, time is time, no one can add to it, and no one can take it away.

  Ty wished with all his heart that he could have heard the screams a little earlier or wished he had run a little faster through the shop. He tried to think of any one thing he could have done differently that would have saved their lives, but it didn’t matter. He was too late. The woman and the two children lay in pieces of mutilated body parts. Death cannot be undone.

  The blue ogre’s swords dripped with the red blood of innocence. Ty was lost in the gruesome images of the moment until he heard the screams of more children. Three girls and their pregnant mother stood huddled together. They were surrounded in a wide circle by five monsters, including the murderous blue-skinned ogre. The circle pressed tighter and tighter together as the five walked toward the helpless unprotected family.

  Monsters enjoyed watching their prey cower in fear. The mother was crouched down with her back to the monsters. Her arms were outstretched over the three girls, using her body as a covering shield. All of their eyes were closed, but they were all screaming, waiting to be impaled by the monsters’ weapons.

  Ty realized the woman who had been killed looked similar to the cowering one, except for the fact that the live one was pregnant and the other was not. They must have been sisters. The woman’s scream had more emotion in it than just the terror of the impending death of her, her daughters, and her unborn child. Her cry was also lamenting over the fact that she had just watched her sister and two nieces murdered in front of her.

  Ty shouted out and gained the attention of the five monsters. They all looked up at him and Klar and welcomed the tougher challenge. Although five on two odds was still an easy fight in favor of the monsters, anything would be considered a harder challenge when being compared to women and children without weapons or armor. Monsters often sought out the tougher battle. It proved their own power to themselves, the monsters they traveled with, and the people they were killing.

  Knowing the grim chances of survival, the warriors of Elven and Dwarven descent gladly accepted the battle as they stole the monsters’ attention. The five monsters spread out into a horizontal line, smiling and walking towards the two brave warriors. Ty looked past them and saw that the pregnant mother was able to lead her daughters out of the plaza. Hopefully they get to safety.

  Klar unsheathed his two handed sword. Ty crossed his arms over each other and reached behind his shoulders. He simultaneously pulled his two swords out of the cross sheaths on his back.

  The strength of Klar’s two handed sword was that it was designed for power, but its weakness was that it left him unprotected after attacking. Ty’s double swords were the exact opposite. They may have lacked power, but they were exceptionally fast and accurate; perfect for fatal counterstrikes.

  Steve’s Brightflame was a sword that combined both of those strengths, but had neither of their weaknesses. Brightflame had the power of a two handed sword, but was very lightweight and fast. Ty wished he could use Brightflame for himself, but his double sword style suited him, and it hadn’t failed him yet.

  One of Ty’s swords was bigger than the other. He consistently found victory in battle with his two swords by using the larger one to knock the enemy off balance and by using the speed of the smaller and lighter one to deliver a fast strike into monster flesh.

  He began to analyze the enemy, a conscious priority that had been engrained into the minds of all warriors from their training. He knew that Klar, standing next to him, was going through the same mental process.

  Two ogres, two orcs, and a minotaur.

  The minotaur looked similar to the one Ty had stabbed in the back earlier, but the ogres and orcs provided a different type of challenge. Ogres and orcs were Anthropomorphic Monsters: vile and twisted forms of the good god’s creations.

  Ogres were comparable to Giants. They were about the same height, but far more bulky and fat. Their arms and legs were as round as tree trunks. Because of their size, they were very strong. They usually carried heavier weapons because they had no problem swinging them. Like minotaurs, ogres were not skilled in the nuances of weapon fighting technique. Rather than focusing on one enemy at a time, they would swing aimlessly all around their general vicinity, attempting to keep enemies from getting close.

  Ogres did not have necks. Their heads stuck out near the top of their chest from between their massive shoulders. They had ears that were short, but floppy. Their noses rivaled the large size of a Dwarf’s nose. Their teeth looked exactly like horse’s teeth. Two short fangs rose up from the bottom of their oversized jaws. Their appearance as a whole was very frightful and intimidating.

  Orcs were the opposite of the ogres’ immense size. They were around the size as Humans and Elves and physically looked exactly like the two races. The only real difference was in their facial features. Orcs had long, skinny ears that horizontally stuck out from the sides of their heads. Their jaws were like a bear trap with their yellow teeth all coming to sharp points. Their noses were short and wide, and had big nostrils.

  Orcs, while not as intelligent as people, were considered smart among Anthropomorphic Monsters. They had impressive instincts and could react quickly in a fight. This made it easier for them to defend against warriors and counterattack. They also knew how to formulate basic battle strategies, but getting the other monsters in their party to follow orders was the real challenge. Some of the stronger orcs had the ability to speak, but onl
y knew the basic words of the language used by the four races.

  Ty knew this would be a difficult battle. He needed to beware of the orcs’ combat skills and avoid their counterattacks, while also dodging the ogres’ wild swings. The good thing about the ogres was that if he could get past the range of their wild swings, he could get in close enough to attack. I have to make sure that they miss. Ty knew getting hit with a weapon by an ogre would mortally wound him if it didn’t kill him upon impact.

  Ty continued his analysis by observing the color of the enemy’s skin. Unlike the minotaurs, who had horse-like fur, ogres and orcs were hairless. Their skin was basically the same as Ty’s skin, except it featured the color of whatever element the monster had.

  Every warrior knew the shades of color and which element they stood for: red for fire, green for wind, blue for water, yellow for electricity, and brown for earth.

  Ty could see one orc was a shade of red, and one ogre was orange. This meant both could control the element of fire with the speared staff and the double-edged, two handed axe they were respectively wielding.

  The other ogre was a pale shade of blue. His bronze swords both turned the color of her skin. He had the ability to fight with the element of water/ice.

  Ty set a special mental marker on the blue ogre. He had been the one that murdered the mother and her two daughters. I will be the one to kill him.

  Looking closer, Ty realized it was not a male as he had thought. It was a female ogre. He couldn’t blame himself for getting it wrong. Some monsters did not have viewable distinguishing features to recognize their gender from (such as minotaurs’ horns). Underneath their ragged clothes was where the difference could be found, but those were body parts Ty did not care to see.

  Ty also analyzed the shade of the colored skin of the monsters. There were many shades of the five elemental colors. The paler the monster’s color was, the lesser their ability with their element. A monster of a brighter shade of color was stronger.