by Asher, Yarid
They got up on their horses and began the journey to the Land of the Dead….
Just as Azar had told them, there was a beast that lived in the Land of the Dead. The beast was known as Mortemus. She had the body of a spider and the head of a pale woman with green snakes as her hair and dark, all-black eyes. She was hideous and was cursed by the gods to stay there. Whoever looked at her would turn to stone and the soul would stay stuck in the prey’s body.
The warriors walked and after going through the grasslands and the mountainous roads, the sky began to go dark. As they walked forward, the sky got darker but the sky they had left behind was fine, there was something wrong with the sky above the Land of the Dead.
The terrain began to become harder to travel on and all the live out of everything was slowly fading away. After some time, the whole entire sky became dark. There was fog everywhere and sight was dim. The ground was cold and hard and the atmosphere was very grim.
As the traveled further, the horses began to get scared and restless and suddenly, Usere’s horse bumped into something. It was an Orc that had been turned into stone by Mortemus. When all the horses stopped, suddenly, there was a humming sound which slowly transformed into a slight, sweet singing. The voice was sweet and luring and the song was runic. Not even the strongest willed men could resist it but our warriors were doing well so far. They kept their aim at their goal and kept on walking forward, slowly and steadily.
“I have been lonely for too long, come to me.
I will give you all you need.
I will take away your worries and rob you of everything.
Just give me a chance and you shall prevail in eternal happiness.”
She sung in her angelic voice and almost lured Leosher. He almost turned around but his brother grabbed his shoulder and kept him going and looking forward.
When Mortemus realized that none of her tricks were working, she came and stood in front of them. Luckily, the fog gave the warriors enough time to shut their eyes close. The horses panicked from the surprise and ran as fast as they could and luckily, they didn’t trun to stone but when the horses began running, Leosher fell off of the horse because he wasn’t holding on to Virgil. As he fell on the ground, the others faded away into the fog, without even noticing that they had lost Leosher.
He was left all alone to face death itself but luckily he kept his eyes shut. Soon, Leosher could not even hear the sounds of the horses running and that was the sign for him that he was all alone in this fight now and all that Leosher had was one of his spears, for he had lost the other one during the wildfire in the green forest.
He grabbed his spear tightly and got ready to battle. He was now totally depending on his hearing and was reacting to every little noise; even his own trembling over rocks would startle him. Then Mortemus sang her song again but this time, Leosher did not react to it at all. Tired of the games, Mortemus stood in front of Leosher with her big black eyes wide open and suddenly, they turned green. She tried to force open the eyes of Leosher but he pushed her away with his godly power.
She came towards him again, running, and stabbed him with her leg in his side. Again, that did not force Leosher to open his eyes although the pain made him scream a bit. She pulled her leg out and scratched Leosher’s face with her sharp nails. Leosher was tired of the games therefore he quickly cut her hands with his spear and kicked her in her stomach. She fell far from where he stood which gave him some time to plan a strategy.
Mortemus was on the cold, hard ground, groaning and moaning in pain. She did not realize that her moaning and groaning only made it easier for Leosher to locate her. Her noise was getting her closer and closer to her demise. Leosher located her got ready to strike. She continued making noise but little did she know she was just making herself an easy target. Leosher took his spear and shot it at Mortemus. The spear skimmed through the fog and stabbed Mortemus right between her eyes. It went in through from her face and came out from the back of her head and got stuck in the ground.
Just as the spear hit her, there was a loud squeaking noise and then there was pin-drop silence. Nothing moved at all except Leosher. The only sounds in the vast emptiness were Leosher’s heavy breathing and dripping of his blood from his side. After a moment, he finally opened his eyes and went to where Mortemus laid dead. All those she had turned to stone, turned back to flesh and the fog faded away and the sky came back to its original color, blue and both of the suns shone bright once again. The entire land was rejuvenated and life was restored to the ground, the trees and everything in sight.
Just as everyone was freed, they saw that Leosher had freed them. All of them gathered around him and thanked him, for he had defeated a terror that had reigned for too long. The Orc that Usere’s horse had bumped into, was the scariest of them all. He was big, pale and had dirty teeth. He had no hair on his body and was only wore a loincloth, but he had a sharp broad sword with him. He came to Leosher and began talking
“Who are you?”
“I am Leosher, the would-be king of The Empire and the son of Asurot.”
An old dwarf who listened to him carefully came out from behind the crowd and asked him “What is ‘The Empire’?”
“The Empire is the kingdom that will come after I have defeated Geluna. It has already begun and it spans over the outskirts of Gelus but soon, it will rise, rise to be the biggest and the most prosperous kingdom this world has ever seen.”
“Well you would need an army” said the Orc “You are going against Geluna, you will need an army.”
Leosher smiled “Yes but where can I get an army from?”
The Dwarf smiled and pointed to the people from everywhere. It was like rainbow, there were creatures from every species Elves, Dwarfs, Fairies, Amazonians, Humans and all other creatures.
The dwarf told him “This shall be your army, my King.” Just as he said that, a hail came out “All hail king Leosher! May The Empire reign!”
Leosher loved the men praising and that was the point where the seed of greed was sown into his heart. He wanted more and more creatures to hail him and praise him and now he was to do everything he could to make his wish come true.
He agreed to them and told them to line up and when the count occurred, there were almost 100 of them. This was a good start for an army for the Empire but it was not enough if he was to defeat all of the rulers. Just as the counting was finished, the original warriors, Virgil and the others, came back too. Virgil quickly jumped off of his horse and ran towards his brother. Just as he was running, the soldiers thought that he was a threat to their king and got ready to battle but Leosher held them off “Stop! He is one of us, my own brother, and your general.”
They quickly backed up and Virgil came to Leosher “what is all this?” he asked while pointing at the soldiers and smiling “I left you alone for some moments and you gather a small army? What are you?”
Leosher laughed “Brother, they are with us. They are the army of The Empire now.”
Azar came up to them too and stood up on a rock and addressed everyone “You all must know that you are not prepared for battle yet. Your weapons are rusted and your armor is rotten. You are weak and weary and are dreary. We set camp here tonight and we wait for our supplies.”
Then he walked down to Leosher and whispered to him “Send a letter to Buntius to buy provisions for us and send them here.”
Leosher looked at him as if he had done something wrong “I am a king now. I am not to do these petty works. Tell someone else to do so.”
Azar smiled and realized that Leosher was slowly changing but he did not pay much attention and looked at Virgil and told him the same thing. Virgil, being the humble one, listened to Azar and wrote a letter. He called upon Azar’s phoenix and tied it the letter to its leg. The phoenix flew away towards the town and after a day’s journey, it reached the town. Buntius read the letter and quickly got up to the task and prepared everything.
On the other hand, The Empirion army had s
et up fire and was resting peacefully. Leosher also sat near a fire on the grass and enjoyed the warmth under the beautiful night sky. It was night time and there was a cool breeze. The soldiers snored and slept peacefully.
After 4 days, the soldiers were well rested and it was just before dawn. All were asleep, but suddenly, the ground under the beautiful sky shook violently. When Leosher got up to see what it was, he saw that it was Buntius, riding a sledge. It was being pulled by wild bulls and had a long trailer behind him. These were the provisions for the Empirion army. Soon, everyone woke up and Buntius stopped the sledge right besides Leosher.
He got off and came to Leosher “I see The Empire has finally got an army now” he smiled “I am happy to see the progress.”
Leosher looked around at his army and then looked back at him “You came here faster than we expected.”
“I did not have anything that blocked my path, for you have killed the Yeti, and burnt the green forest.”
Leosher smiled “Did you bring the provisions?”
“Yes, what do you think I was dragging behind the sledge?”
Leosher looked at the trailer and told the Orc to distribute the provisions.
“They are uniforms and weapons and food,” said Buntius, proudly “The entire town made these as fast as they could.”
When everyone had put their uniforms on and had new weapons, and were ready to go, Leosher dismissed Buntius and addressed to his people “Now, that you have received the red and gold uniform, you are a part of the Empirion army. Be loyal and you will be chiefly rewarded but betray and suffer exile. I cannot provide you with armor just yet, but remember, though we go against fully armored men, you have me, a god, by your side. Our win and their defeat are almost certain.”
The uniforms were just like Leosher’s uniform a red battle skirt with gold curved markings, and sandals. Those who had armors previously, wore armors but those who did not were left bare. There were three different types of warriors in the army, some were archers, some had spearmen and some had curved swords. The men used their previous weapons as well to accommodate for the lack of armor.
In the afternoon, Leosher led his armies out of the Land of the Dead, which was no longer the land of the dead, for it was rejuvenated, and towards the mystic caves.
The caves were known to hold a snake big enough to engulf entire armies without even feeling it. He was at least 100 feet long and was covered with scales and horns. It had made huge caves in the mountains to live in and killed everyone who tried to pass through. Even the Gelun soldiers changed their path, for they were too scared to go through. Many suggested Leonidas to do the same but he was determined to kill this beast as well.
There was a legend that the snake could shape shift into a beautiful, heavenly girl but the girl had some flaws in her as well which made her distinguishable. The legend says that some part of the body would not be perfect for example sometimes, the hands would be crooked or the eyes would not have the pupils and other similar things like that. Leosher and his men had to be looking for such flaws if they wanted to survive. Luckily, though Leosher was getting a bit careless now, for he was the king of The Empire, his original companions, Virgil, Usere, Urey, Neiham and Azar stayed very sharp. They paid attention to every little detail and kept a good look on their surroundings.
CHAPTER 5
After it had been 3 days marching through the lands and the mountains, they finally could see the caves now. It was night when they got close to it so Leosher ordered his men to set camp there and spend the night. The men made a feast and everyone enjoyed, for it might have been their last that day. Some were playing flutes in harmony; some were telling stories of their past and some were sleeping soundly. Leosher on the other hand, was feasting. Because he was raised by a peasant mother, he had never seen so much food, so he kept on eating until he was full and could not take another bite.
Virgil, sat on a rock and gazed up in the sky without eating as much as Leosher did, for he knew that they will need for the later days in their journey. Asurot and the other gods watched him and decided to put him next in line for the throne of The Empire.
Usere and Urey layed on the ground and gazed up in the sky and Neiham and Azar feasted on the food.
Soon, the feast died down and Leosher decided to get some sleep, for he was going to face Amoveus, a shape shifting giant snake. He could turn into anything but was mostly known to shift into a girl with flaws.
During the night, they could hear the dragon-like roar of Amoveus. It was intimidating and even the animals were scared to go close to the cave. It breathed hot, venomous steam. It would burn any flesh in its way and the warriors were about to fight it.
In the morning, Leosher got up and went to Azar to ask him about Amoveus. It was early morning, a little after dawn, and Azar sat on a rock, with his pipe in his mouth. Both began talking and the day began getting older
“I don’t know about this monster,” said Azar “but I do know that my dear sister, Neiham has stories about it. Son, you better go to her and ask her for them.”
Leosher did just as Azar had told him and went to Neiham. Being a good peer, she began telling him the tales
“Long ago, all creatures lived in harmony but then Evil came along. When Shamaun betrayed the gods and his son Samael betrayed him, slowly everything went out of balance. Most of what was good became bad and feuds became common. The three rulers did not do much good, for they were filled with dark energy too. They segregated everything. Rare and hard to defeat animals became monsters, and one of those was Amoveus. Beforehand, Amoveus was a shape shifting Wizard. He was neither bad nor good. He was a mixture of both. When the Thraenus went out of balance, Amoveus lived right here. He did not want to follow Geluna and opposed a ruler over his head which made Geluna mad. She gave some of her dark energy to the wizard and he was transformed into a giant snake that was so deadly that whoever looked into its eyes died instantly, just like Mortemus, as a matter of fact, Mortemus was his sister.
It roams around in the shape of a beautiful girl. Legend has it that the girl’s beauty is like melting gold. It is pure like the water of the green lake in the kingdom of Strinthius and more spotless than the sky at dawn. Though she looks gorgeous, one has to remember that she is Amoveus, and she means to kill you. It is highly unlikely to find a girl, walking around, asking for help in the caves of Amoveus, which makes it very easy to differentiate. She has green eyes, wears a white silken robe and has twisted feet or hands. She does not have feet like normal creatures but has crooked feet most of the times. Not many have survived but the spirits of the dead have told these stories. To kill, Amoveus, it must be in its serpent form and one must cleave it down the middle.”
After Neiham was done telling the story, Leosher got up “Is there anything else I should know?”
“Yes,” said Neiham “Beware, for even a single glance at the Snake’s eyes can kill you that instance.”
Leosher thanked her for sharing her wisdom and went to talk to Virgil and the elf brothers who were sitting at a cliff, gazing upon the morning sky and listening to the chirping birds. Leosher walked over to them and sat on the cliff as well, “Today we go to the caves.” They nodded and he continued “I am taking 10 of my best men to the caves. The rest will stay behind, for I do not want to lose them all in one battle.”
Usere quickly looked at Leosher and after he was done talking he volunteered “I will definitely go, my King” Urey joined in too “Yes, my lord, I shall join you as well.” Virgil laughed and patted his brother and king on the back “Brother, I shall go with you too.”
They all shared smiles of friendship and just as they were about to get up and leave the cliff, Azar walked up to them and put his magical staff on the ground, making a sound to alert them “I will join you” said he “I will be of great service and advice.”
Leosher got up, keeping his pride, and said while smiling slightly “I am happy that I have such loyal friends and companions.” Then he tu
rned to Virgil, the general of his army “Go and pick 6 of the best men we have. Give 3, bow and arrows, and give the rest spears and swords.”
Virgil did what his brother-king had told him and went to pick the best. Leosher walked with him but then went into his tent to get ready but Azar stayed with Usere and Urey.
“So how did you two became his highness’s friends?” asked Azar.
Usere said, while throwing a pebble in the lake nearby “We are bounty hunters. My brother and I were in the outskirts of Geluna, looking for a runaway werewolf and Virgil and Leosher were in the same forest too. Virgil, by chance saw us chasing the werewolf and threw his wood cutting axe at it. He made a cut on its leg and Leosher tackled it down to the ground with his bare hands. He was the first man I had ever seen do that. We thanked both of the brothers and that was the beginning of our long lasting friendship. It has been 3 years since that and I think Leosher was 15 years old when that happened.”
Azar was quite astonished to hear that Leosher tackled a fully grown werewolf at the age of 15. No other 15 years old would have been able to do that, even if the werewolf was injured “Quite astonishing. Now, will you please tell me your back story” said Azar “I am curious how you both became bounty hunters.”
Urey cleared his voice. He was a lot less serious than Usere. Though they were twins, there were a lot of differences. Usere was almost always serious, but Urey was chirpy and happy.
He began talking “Well, as you know we are elves so we live in the middle of Strinthius, in elf land where all the elves live. We lived near the Green Lake, just close to the forests. One day, we were playing in the forest at the age of 7 when we saw a royal boar, running away. This boar was to be the dinner of the king Colossus but he had run away. Many men were chasing it, so we got into the chase as well. Nobody could catch it but Usere and I did, for we were young and faster. The king gave us a lot of gold and since then, we orphans became bounty hunters. Whatever we get from the bounties, we keep some for ourselves and give the rest to the poor and the sick and help the Elvan community grow.”