Chapter 16
Azonis Ferrini
The Sestian1 of Lasticall, Azonis Ferrini, sat on his golden, high back throne impatiently waiting the return of his Sword, Rasmere Elmidas.
Azonis was tall, as were most High Engeniums. His long chin jutted several inches past the rest of his face. His long, silver hair was pulled tight behind his head in four plaits. Azonis looked amazingly young for an Engenium of one hundred and fifty years. Only a few battle scars marked his otherwise unblemished face. He wore the traditional golden armor of the High Engenium Sestians. A golden sword hung on his side; a matching shield was propped up beside the throne.
Although Azonis was well groomed, and beautiful, he was a battle hardened warrior. His most notable achievement of military prowess came after he triumphed in a bloody war with a tribe of Hoggins, the same tribe that had destroyed the Groots many years ago. The Hoggins made a grave mistake when they invaded the forests surrounding Lasticall. On the day of the battle, over one thousand Hoggins met their end at the points of the Engeniums' golden swords. Azonis Ferrini and Rasmere Elmidas led the High Engeniums into battle; the Forest Engeniums were not allowed to fight in the army of Lasticall. The Hoggins were a vicious, nasty little race who terrorized many villages and settlements in the Free Lands. Once they claimed the forest as their new home, the only way to persuade them to leave was by force.
A Hoggin was a tiny, vile creature that stood about two feet tall. Their skin was a bright yellow. They had long, floppy ears and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. The Hoggins came to battle armed with spears and spiked clubs. While their size did not pose much of a threat, their overwhelming numbers did. It seemed that the Hoggins favorite thing to do was to declare war and to reproduce. They constantly roamed Calencia in search of a permanent home. They had once before staked a claim in the forests surrounding Lasticall, destroying the Groots in the process. The only thing that stood in the way of them claiming the forest as their own was the Engeniums. The Hoggins, for a time, feared the Engeniums. It took them many years to muster up enough courage to begin their assault on Lasticall.
The Hoggin warriors, numerous as they were, proved no match for the much larger Engeniums. The battle, which lasted for a mere two hours, came to an early end when Azonis slew the Hoggin King, Ou-Tark. Ou-Tark was very well known throughout Calencia as a blood thirsty savage. A great number of warriors met their fate after coming face to face with the Hoggin King. He was three times the size of a normal Hoggin, which made him about six feet tall. He wielded two spiked opas clubs. He was a machine bred for battle. When Azonis Ferrini came face to face with the Hoggin King, Ou-Tark, he methodically picked the King apart with his golden long sword. After a ten second encounter with Azonis Ferrini, Ou-Tark would never again terrorize another living soul. After the Hoggin King had been destroyed by the Sestian, the few surviving Hoggins retreated into the Dead Lands. It has been told that Azonis and Rasmere killed over three hundred Hoggins-each.
Azonis was the last remaining member of the Ferrini bloodline. The last of his kin, his sister, had fallen victim a week earlier to the large boar that had been terrorizing the forest. The boar had now made things personal, but Azonis was confident that vengeance would soon be his since he had assigned Rasmere Elmidas to the task of destroying the beast, after so many others had failed him.
Rasmere was the most skilled Engenium in his service. He had been awarded the position of Sword to the Sestian after he won the Tournament of the Decade, which was held solely to determine Azonis's new Sword. Azonis never thought that a Forest Engenium would have the nerve to enter the tournament, much less more win it, but the test was open to all. Before the tournament, Rasmere was not well known, outside of the forest. Although a few High Engeniums had taken note of the defiant tattoos inked upon his head. After the tournament, he was the most revered warrior in the entire kingdom. He was the most skilled combatant that Azonis had ever seen, and his skill with the sword was just as impressive. The Sestian was apprehensive about awarding Rasmere the position of Sword, but he knew that if he did not honor his commitment, it could have resulted in another revolt by the Forest Engeniums. Since becoming Sword, Rasmere had never failed the Sestian, and Azonis was confident that Rasmere would stop the beast that was on a murderous rampage in the forest. After Rasmere’s spectacular performance in the tournament twenty years ago, Azonis believed him capable of anything. He could vividly remember the first time he ever laid eyes upon Rasmere.
Locmire's Quest: Book One A Tales from Calencia Novel Page 33