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elmarko98

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  1. You got a warning for posting in the wrong section...and then you said some insanely stupid things. And that is why your avatar is like that.
  2. Okay here's Chapter Seven, I'll start writing again as soon as I've posted all the chapter's I've done. That's my extremely late new year's resolution. Chapter Seven The skies opened and great drops of crystal liquid rained heavily upon the two cloaked companion’s heads. After a few mere seconds their clothes were drenched, four days had passed of cold, heavy travelling. They passed the highlands of Barandor, the country was the same all over: Cold, wet and rough. You couldn’t walk a meter without falling down a ditch or climbing up a steep hill and when there weren’t hills there were mountains. The travelers had occasional passed villages, the peasants were friendly enough, money didn’t matter to them but to their lord it was everything. So after staying in the night and buying a decent amount of food the travelers would leave and head off east. After a few days the village of Holsker was in sight, then the rain hit. ‘This is new, I’ve never heard of rain in Barandor before.’ Aeodor muttered pulling his fur cloak, he wore very heavy fur clothes and carries a large camping pack filled with food, drink, spare clothes and Aeodor’s mail shirt and leggings which tripled the weight of the bag. The prince had gotten shabbier and shabbier until he looked like a normal person, not an over pampered prince of Arinia. His once clean and flawless face was now muddy, rugged and bearded. Aeodor’s beard was getting more and more out of hand, he hasn’t shaved for weeks and it was now closing in on his muscular chest. His hair was worst, strands of his jet black hair hung down over his eyes and not only was it a mess, it smelled. The only thing that hadn’t changed about the princes features were his eyes, they still had that protectiveness in them, like he’d hunt anyone down if they so much as scratched someone he loved, the closest person to him right now was his equally rugged friend, Drobin. Drobin wore similar clothes and carried a pack with similar things apart from he had a bow as well as a sword. The young man’s face was muddy and travel worn but it didn’t look as aged as Aeodor’s, despite the fact that Aeodor was in his late twenties he looked a lot older. Drobin still had the same humorous eyes and big nose. Somehow the last few days had changed Aeodor, or maybe it was the events beforehand that had made him look older, but inside the prince was still the same man he was when he burned Awinyn’s cottage. Drobin, on the other hand was different, the young hunter had changed a lot, after fighting his own brother and seeing a knife rip through his neck Drobin had mentally changed, it had toughened him up. He’d seen his own brother die, for some that would be traumatizing but for Drobin it was a learning experience, it showed him how the real world is like, things like that happen daily across the globe and now Drobin can take taking a man’s life, it had unlocked something in him that he will use frequently in his later life: the ability to kill. The hunter chuckled. ‘Rarely, but it does. It’s not as cold right now so there’s no chance for the rain to freeze, at least it’s not hale.’ Aeodor looked up, fear in his eyes ‘What’s hale?’ ‘Frozen rain, I wouldn’t advise standing outside when it’s haling in Barandor, it’s not good for one’s health.’ ‘Huh…better than rain.’ ‘Trust me it’s not, I’d rather be wet then bruised.’ They stumbled down a muddy hill and walked across some fairly flat ground, the Holsker was getting bigger and bigger. An hour later the two friends stumbled into the Lion’s Head, a rowdy local inn, right now it seemed to be shelter for the entire village. Children ran around the room catching each other and wrestling on the ground, dogs slept soundly by the roaring fireplace and men in furs sat around tables and on barstools shouting and singing and trying to drink mead through their noses. ‘Seems like a nice place’ Aeodor shouted to his friend trying to keep his voice level with the uproar. ‘It’s okay as far as Barand pubs go.’ His young friend shouted back. They pushed their way through the crowd towards the bar, the barman was a scruffy, small man that had to stand on his tiptoes to see over the bar, he wore a white, stained shirt and black trousers. He spoke with a rough Barand accent ‘What can I get yer laddies? You look a little weather worn don’t yer? I’ll fix ye up some mead, go and sit over there and I’ll be righ’ over with something to warm yer bellies.’ he walked off and began to pour the mead. ‘But I don’t want-’ Aeodor began. Drobin nudged him with an elbow, hard. ‘Aeodor!’ he said out of the corner of his mouth ‘Barands don’t appreciate it when you don’t drink their mead, just go along with it!’ ‘But I-’ Drobin pulled him away and found them a table. The barman appeared with two large tankards of mead. ‘Oh there’s a little dirt on this one there is.’ The barman rubbed the side of the tankard with his already stained clothes then walked off. ‘Did you say this was good for Barand pubs?’ Aeodor asked. ‘Yeah, for Barand pubs.’ Drobin said then took a swig of mead. The mead it seems, wasn’t Aeodor’s drink. Southern drink was a little bit on the strong side and while it tastes okay it definitely wasn’t for the prince. Birds tweeted to one another outside Aeodor’s window, the prince’s small room was hot, stuffy and cramped. But a bed was a bed and that was all he needed right now. Aeodor groaned and threw one of his pillows at the window, he then realized the window was closed and his attack on the tweeting birds was futile. The door burst open and the young Drobin walked in, although his eyes were a little haggard he looked fine, he had washed and now he looked like good old Drobin again. ‘Wake up Aeodor! We have things to do!’ Aeodor’s response a pillow in the face. Drobin rubbed his face then decided he had to take drastic action. ‘What the hell are you doing!’ the prince cried as Drobin pulled his sheets off and pulled the mattress off the bed. ‘Waking you up!’ Drobin shouted, he then roughly pulled the prince up and pulled him to the basin: the only other piece of furniture in the room. He then got a handful of water and splashed the prince’s face, he repeated twice then got a towel and rubbed vigorously on the poor man’s face. ‘Ah get off me you little-’ Aeodor shouted as he struggled, finally Drobin released the man. ‘Better now?’ ‘A little I suppose…’ ‘Good, now get some bloody clothes on!’ Breakfast in the inn was a lot quieter and a lot better. The food was decent and the utensils were clean, the utensils being Aeodor’s fingers. ‘I don’t get it, why can’t these people use knives and forks like the rest of the world does?’ Aeodor complained. ‘Every culture’s different Aeodor, the Arinians may be trying to suppress culture but things like this just can’t be changed.’ Drobin explained. Aeodor grunted and continued stare at his food, after a few minutes hunger overcame manners and Aeodor tore his chicken leg apart. ‘So,’ the prince chewed and on the juicy meat, savoring the surprisingly good taste. ‘Where were all the guards yesterday?’ ‘Yeah, we were lucky. The guards were on patrol but they don’t patrol this side of the river.’ ‘What there’s a river?’ Aeodor looked up, the juice from the chicken dripping down his chin. Drobin sighed, ‘Yes there is Aeodor, did you even look at the map?’ Aeodor hesitated ‘I don’t know…’ ‘Urgh, yes there’s a river. It cuts off a tiny sector of the village, about one eighth of it.’ ‘Must be a pretty big village then,’ ‘More like a small town but for some reason people still see it as a village. Anyway the guards apparently don’t patrol this side because it’s the most rundown and poorest part.’ Aeodor grunted, ‘Makes sense, well at least we’re away from guards here. Urgh my head’ he groaned. ‘Yeah I bet it hurts,’ Drobin agreed, ‘Come on let’s go and explore.’ He got up and winced, clutching his shoulder. ‘Still hurts?’ Aeodor asked, concerned. ‘Yeah, nice…knifemanship’ he grunted. ‘Is that even a word?’ Drobin laughed ‘I don’t bloody know!’ The two friends walked out of the inn, their clothes were still dirty but their faces had that fresh “just slept on a mattress” look. After sleeping on the floor for four day it can make a mattress made out of hair and lice feel good. The village was a lot nicer when it wasn’t raining, apart from the occasional rogue cloud the sky was empty. There was an icy sheen on everything but the town wasn’t as high up as the mountains so it wasn’t as cold. The hilly land that surrounded the place gave the place an isolated feel to it. People moved from house to house talking to their neighbors, almost every time they passed someone they’d get a friendly “hello!” despite the circumstances. But there was a stiffness in the air, caused by the unfriendly presence of the Arinian Empire. Further down the road Aeodor noticed a bridge, the rain was so heavy the night before he couldn’t see three meters in front of him. The side of the river they were on consisted of the inn, a couple of stalls and a few scruffy looking houses. The roads were dirt and unkempt but they lead to a much richer area. The roads on the other side of the river were made of stone and were on average three stories high, merchant houses were dotted around and the streets were filled with people darting about going about their business. Not a single person stopped to say hello to one another and none of them were calling at a friend’s house, every person in that street had a selfish purpose. The atmosphere on the other side of the river was drastically different. They crossed the bridge and entered the town, the river was wide and filled with boats, docked or moving. As they walked down the wide street they noticed it branched off in many different directions, although those streets were strangely empty, save the odd shady looking character. The main street was darkened due to the high buildings on either side, like you were on a road with high walls on either side. At the end of the street was the reason it was so busy, the Holsker market. Stalls of many different colors filled a large paved area, merchants selling wares ranging from Saracsin carpets to Artenean paintings. People shouted random prices in auctions and a beautiful smell of roast meat filled the air. Every food stall was a meat stall in Barandor, surprisingly there were no weapon stalls which were common in all countries. ‘My father’s doing I’ll bet.’ Aeodor thought. On the other side of the market was the town hall, a vast building that showed no aesthetic qualities but certainly made up for that in size. The building covered the whole other end of the square. Huge white pillars surrounded the entrance and a castle tower stuck out of its roof, the tower looked newly built and Arinian, Aeodor guessed it was where the newly appointed governor lived. ‘Excuse me,’ the prince grabbed the shoulder of a rough Barand, the man wore furs like the rest of the Barands and he had a great shaggy beard. ‘Yeah, what d’you want?’ he asked in a coarse voice. ‘Who lives in that tower?’ the prince said indicating the tower. ‘The Baron of course, where ‘ave you been livin’, in a ditch? Every occupied settlement across the world ‘as one! They control the people and the money and the soldiers.’ ‘Across the globe?’ Drobin exclaimed. ‘Yeah, the Arinians are the top dog now mate, better git used to it.’ The man walked away, Aeodor looked around. Sure enough, armored soldiers bearing the Arinian banner across their surcoats; a red dragon with two stripes in the background, one black one yellow. The soldiers’ armor was top class, steel plate with a mail undercoat and a full face helmet. It was the kind of armor knights used to wear. On rooftops guards patrolled with bows at the ready, they were also similarly garbed. ‘It’s gonna be hard taking this place Drobin,’ Aeodor told him. ‘Aye, for certain. What are we gonna do Aeodor?’ ‘We’ll figure something out, I think we should start with the west side of town.’ ‘Across the river?’ ‘Yeah, come on we need to explore the rest of this place.’ The rest of the town it seemed, was just rows of buildings with streets going in between them. The only notable landmarks were the docks and the occasional barracks, the place was well fortified, although it didn’t have a wall the river spans for miles and splits into two when it enters the town providing a natural wall for the citizens. The bridges have thick wooden gates and every building has walkways on top for archers, it is very similarly built to Cynidor, Aeodor’s old home. Soon, the sun hit the horizon; indicating it was time to go back to the inn. After nearly an hour they reached the inn, they bought a couple of drinks then sat at the shadiest corner in the bar they could find. ‘So, the place is pretty damn big, I’d say fortifying and defending it would be fairly easy, the river acts as a wall on its own.’ Aeodor began after a sip of mead. ‘There’s just one problem Aeodor, we need to capture it first!’ Drobin took a noticeably larger “sip” of mead. ‘That will be fairly hard on our own,’ Aeodor admitted. ‘But who said we need to be on our own?’ He said slyly. ‘What you mean-’ ‘The townsfolk might need a little shove but if we take one of those barracks then we have ourselves an armory full of gear and an angry unarmored mob. Hmmm get any ideas from that?’ ‘Yeah we give them armor and weapons and they’ll take the town by themselves, great plan except there’s still the problem of taking the barracks! It’ll be full of heavily equipped, well trained soldiers against a group of village bumpkins with pitchforks and hatchets!’ ‘Lead by us.’ Aeodor reminded him. ‘What do you mean lead by-’ he thought for a moment. ‘Oh I see, you think they can win with your leadership.’ ‘Did I ever tell you how I lead an scouting party against the Ellendan host…and won?’ Aeodor asked, his nose twitching slyly. ‘No…you didn’t…’ ‘And how about when aIorganized your village and almost won against an army of armed bandits?’ ‘I suppose that did work but-’ Drobin began uncertainly. ‘Listen,’ Aeodor said confidently. ‘I know I can do this! I just need you to know that as well.’ Drobin let out a long, dreary sigh. ‘I suppose I’ll have to, come on then let’s get-’ Drobin stared at something, then quickly looked away. His face was urgent. ‘Aeodor, we’re being followed!’ ‘What? By whom?’ the prince sat up startled drawing the looks of a few people. Drobin pulled him back down. ‘Don’t draw attention Aeodor!’ Drobin thought for a moment. ‘We need to find out what he wants.’ ‘I know, we’ll lead him to a back alley in the main town and jump him!’ Aeodor said, his eyes lighting up. ‘That’s a bit reckless Aeodor…’ ‘Nothing’s too reckless for an Arinian, come on!’ Drobin sighed again and followed the prince out the inn. As they walked away Aeodor whispered ‘How did you know he’s following us?’ ‘I saw him at the market and once when we were exploring the rest of the city, I thought nothing of it but when I saw him back at the inn I knew he was following us.’ They carried on into the town, making sure they were away all the barracks they casually walked into one of the alleys. A few crates were piled up on either side, perfect for cover and at the end of an alley was a dead end. ‘Hide behind that one, I’ve got this one.’ Aeodor whispered. ‘When he walks past you attract his attention and I’ll grab him from behind.’ Drobin nodded and positioned himself behind a pile of crates and Aeodor hid behind the other pile. After a few minutes a cloaked man entered the alley, he wore a long black cloak with the hood up, it covered his face and body but Aeodor heard the clink of mail under the man’s cloak and he wore iron boots with nasty spikes sticking out the toes. It certainly wasn’t Arinian armor. Aeodor looked at Drobin and mouthed ‘Is it him?’ Drobin nodded then got ready. The second the man walked past Drobin whispered ‘Oy fatty!’ The man spun around and his hand found his sword. Before he could draw it Aeodor had wrapped his arm around the man’s neck and pressed a dagger to his throat. Drobin leaped forward and drew the man’s sword before he could touch and stepped back. ‘Nice sword’ he muttered examining it then pointing it at the man’s throat. ‘Why are you following us?’ Aeodor whispered in the man’s ear. ‘I ain’t telling you nothin’!’ the man struggled but he couldn’t break Aeodor’s savage grip. ‘You’d better rethink that!’ Aeodor said fiercely, pushing the dagger harder. Blood dripped from the man’s throat. ‘Uh I…I can’t tell you!’ the man gurgled as Aeodor tightened his grip. ‘Bad answer.’ Aeodor said flatly. He spun the man around so he was facing him then punched him in the stomach, hard. The man flew backwards clutching his stomach. Aeodor drew his sword and pointed it at the man’s throat. ‘Made up your mind yet? The cloaked man coughed, ‘I…I work for the Blue Shadows…’ ‘The who?’ Aeodor said, confused. ‘They’re a mercenary group here, we practically own this town until the Arinians came.’ The man spat, ‘We…don’t like newcomers. They sent me to see what you were up to.’ An idea sprung to Aeodor’s mind. ‘Do you like the Arinian Empire friend?’ The man thought for a moment, ‘No, I hate them!’ ‘What about the Blue Shadows? Do they like them?’ ‘No, they hate them more than I do.’ Aeodor spun his blade around skillfully and sheathed it. He then offered his hand to the man. He looked up showing his face, he had brown eyes and a thick black stubble. Shaggy strands of black hair hung over his face and a long scar swept across his face. At first the man looked uncertain but then he smiled and took Aeodor’s hand. The prince pulled the man up, ‘What’s your name friend?’ ‘Pios, why…why did you let me up?’ ‘You hate the Empire right?’ ‘Yeah, like I said.’ ‘Well let’s just say you’re looking at the resistance.’ Pios’s mouth hit the floor. ‘You’re joking.’ ‘Nope, it’s in its early stages but hopefully this’ll blossom into something real nice. I’d like you to take me to these…Blue Shadows, they’ll make my life a lot easier.’ ‘I’m sure my master would very much want to see you. Follow me.’ The man began to walk but Aeodor quickly grabbed him by the shoulder. ‘One wrong move and I kill you, understand?’ Pios looked fearfully at Aeodor’s sword, ‘Sure…thing’ They set off, Pios in front and Aeodor and Drobin behind with their blades ready. The man led them a few meters then stopped. ‘This is it? The grand headquarters of your group is a street?’ Drobin asked angrily. ‘No…it’s beneath the street.’ Pios grabbed the manhole at his feet and lifted it. ‘A lot of people have got stuck outside the headquarters because they couldn’t lift the manhole!’ he said as he climbed into the sewers. ‘Wonderful.’ Aeodor mumbled then climbed in after him. Drobin sighed once again and climbed in after them, pulling the manhole over them. They climbed down the rusty ladder until they hit the slimy stone ground. Strangely there were lights lining one side of the wall. ‘Pios, why the hell is there a sewer under Holsker?’ Drobin asked, the question had obviously been bugging him. ‘We built them, our whole group. Our old headquarters wasn’t big enough and we found a pretty big cave system so we dug a bit, made some manholes, convinced the public it was a sewage system and boom! We have our headquarters.’ Pios said smugly. ‘That’s pretty clever actually, how long did it take to dig?’ ‘Not long most of it was done for us by the gods! This area we’re in now was dug out but soon, as we go deeper you’ll notice the ground won’t be so smooth.’ They travelled deeper into the cave and the ground sure did get rough. The line of torches never seemed to end though. Soon the ground leveled out and opened into a huge, well lit cavern. At the other end of the cavern was a large, wooden door with an emblem painted on the front. The emblem was a simple red shield with two white swords crossing over it with a rising blue sun in the background. ‘Welcome,’ Pios began. ‘To the-’ ‘Headquarters of the Blue Shadows, I can see that.’ Aeodor laughed. Suddenly, the great doors opened. A tall, bald man in black, gold trimmed chainmail armor walked out. He had a short goatee beard and dark green eyes, his brow was furrowed with suspicion and his sword was drawn. ‘What the hell are they doing here Pios!’ Eight armed men wearing the same armor without the gold, a black full face helmet and a halberd at the ready. Aeodor and Drobin drew their weapons and went back to back. Aeodor looked angrily at Pios ‘You tricked us!’ ‘I didn’t…’ Pios began. There was a loud thud and Drobin suddenly collapsed. Before Aeodor could turn around to help something hard hit his head. Aeodor fell to his knees, blood tripped down his forehead. The prince heard footsteps, he looked up to see the bald man’s foot speeding towards his face, intense pain clouded the prince’s mind then he blacked out.
  3. I was thinking kevlar but that'll do I suppose :D
  4. Yeah that's a good idea, maybe some protective clothing as well if they try to shoot themselves.
  5. Yeah I remember going into some random person's house and killing everyone in there and taking all their things. Unfortunately I discovered after that they were vital characters in the main questline and that I couldn't carry on the story...yeah I facedesked pretty hard.
  6. Yeah I understand now, at least I didn't facespike...gotta remember to get a helmet next time
  7. Yeah I'll do that in a bit And don't sign your posts...mods don't like that ;)
  8. I like Basketball as well, I'm probably the best in my school but that's not much to brag about considering I live in England and basketball isn't that big a sport here Rugby's good as well although I did suffer an injury the other day, someone stood on my arm whilst wearing boots...yeah it hurt
  9. That is a good point but I think it would've ruined the action at the time. Chapter One was supposed to be snappy, as if he had to get out of Cynidor fast (which he sure did!)
  10. I think most people have heard of TES because of Skyrim, a few may have played Oblivion and I doubt any have played Morrowind. (This is based on my school) I haven't looked into PoP yet, I've been using the Floris modpack and Anno Domino modpack. Both of these have been excellent but I've been playing them for a while and change would be welcome, so I'll give PoP a go
  11. Does anyone here like to watch/play a sport? I personally like football myself (soccer if you're American)
  12. Would it? They'll be distributing their product...
  13. Anyone got steam, a couple of games of TF2 would be nice if I could play with someone My profile name is as ever: elmarko98
  14. Yeah it can play most games on full graphics with music in the background. I'm definitely going to get an i5 though or at least a processor of that level
  15. Woah...loads of coding talk and here I am programming a shitty lua script in ComputerCraft to launch missiles at my command. I did have a screw up in making it though, I had the one terminal to send a word over via rednet, when the other computer receives the word it (using an if statement) initiates the launch. After much shouting and kicking desks I realized I'd spelt receive wrong (I spelt it like this: recieve), so I corrected my error and thought it was going to work. My hopes were crushed though as it still didn't work. After even more shouting and kicking desks I realized the if statement wasn't being triggered because the word that triggered it wasn't the word I was sending to it...I facepalmed, facedesked and facespiked at exactly the same time.
  16. What would you guys rate this? Manufacturer: Zoostorm Processor: Intel Core i3 RAM: 6GB Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1024MB (it's also 3D and has a picture of a frog on it, you can see why I chose it ^^) I am eventually going to build my own PC (a good one too) but for now this'll do but I think I'll get an i5
  17. Haha, sorry about the long wait. I'll try to post frequently now Thanks for your time as well by the way, it helps a lot :)
  18. Is it supposed to be a flashing picture of a woman? She's not doing anything if she's supposed to.
  19. Many weeks past of tedious sitting around and occasionally going on a hunting trip with Drobin passed, the prince taught the young man as much as he could about hunting and the man was definitely a natural. His skill just wasn’t honed enough, like a blunt blade made out of the most enchanted and strongest material in the world. When Aeodor knew only experience would further hone Drobin’s skill he let him get on with it without him, he only slowed down his friend due to his still healing leg, he hoped they could hunt together if they had the time but something told him they wouldn’t. Aeodor got to know Drobin’s ill father more and more while his leg healed, they would complain together about the icy cold weather and the constant snow and hail that pelted their home. They would get Drobin to cook for them and one time Drolod got Drobin to crouch in front of him so he could put his feet on him, as a joke of course. Their relationship grew into one much like father and son. Drolod would call him stepson for a joke every now and then and Aeodor would call him stepfather. Aeodor caught up on the news of the world, or at least Drolod’s knowledge. The Arinians had taken Ellendan and after making its vassals swear fealty his army got bigger. He then took Artend with the help of the Liodrians and then betrayed them and took their country. The rest fell and the king executed every King and regent in the known world. Every house and vassal gave him their sword and the few that rebelled lost their heads. The King, or Emperor as he is called now practically enslaved the Scandinians and made them build an immense city (Yor Athropis) that covers over half the country. Magic was said to be involved in the quick construction but many still died during it. This surprised Aeodor, his father must be extremely desperate to resort to magic to build a city of that size less than a decade. The slaves were then rewarded with houses and jobs. All the men were sent to the thousands of barracks that occupied the city and the women were stuck to doing factory work. Aeodor had heard that from Awinyn but he still listened politely. ‘What about here? What’s going on in Barandor?’ Aeodor asked. ‘Not much,’ the old man began. ‘Every minor clan is herding all the able men and sending them off to the major clans where they’ll be trained to fight. Women occasionally volunteer but most of the time they’re turned down, the world still needs the common work done.’ Indye occasionally walked in and out taking food without a word then leaving. His father would say hello but the boy would ignore them both or just stare at them with a stare that said “I’m gonna rip your head off and throw it back to Arinia!” But despite these awkward encounters life was enjoyable, even though there was a lot of tedious sitting around involved. Aeodor discovered he enjoyed company, the experiences Drolod shared with him were amazing despite how simple the man’s life was. It made Aeodor think, how different was a rich man to a poor man really. They’re both human but one somehow comes off better. Thus the cycle of the world goes Aeodor thought. When Drobin wasn’t hunting Aeodor taught him swordsmanship a valuable skill they would all need later. And with some paper from the village he taught the man battle strategies and various tactics he would use in battle. He would test Drobin by giving him a tactical situation in a battle and see what he would do. Drobin not being able to read was a problem though, Aeodor tried to teach him but showing one how to read and write was easier said than done. Aeodor’s main pass time though, was smithing. He used the local village’s forge and made weapons and tools for them, it earned him some money and the smith there learned a lot and he gladly let the prince use his forge. The prince even managed to make a decent weapon for every man and woman in the village to defend themselves from bandits. And with some steel he crafted Drobin a nice sword and both of them a mail shirt. Armor making was new to him but he soon learned the trick, it was much harder to make mail then plate but it was easy to make a perfect fit due to the fact you can add as many rings to the shirt as you want making it far more adjustable, while plate mail it was impossible to adjust it further once it was made so you had to get the perfect fit first try. Aeodor attempted this a few times but he couldn’t manage to make a perfect fit of plate mail for him or his friend. His relationship with the village steadily improved until he was as friendly with all of them as he was with Drobin and Drolod. The villagers didn’t know his true identity they just thought he was a wanderer that was staying at Drolod’s house until his wound was healed but they accepted him as one of their own. Drobin was the laughing stock of the village when people heard about this but by nature he couldn’t get annoyed with anyone so he laughed along with them. He did redeem himself though, with Aeodor’s training his natural ability of the hunter was honed to the max until he was a lifeline of the village. He supplied almost as much food as the farms do and he gave away most of it for free. His status in the village rose from village idiot to village feeder. After a month of village life Aeodor’s leg was almost healed. All that was left were two large scabs on either side of the leg, the middle of the wound had healed. Aeodor could run again! He had spent the last month sitting down all the time whether it was at the forge or on his chair by the fireplace and now he could move properly without assistance he rejoiced. The first thing he did was go hunting with Drobin, he hadn’t done it yet and to his distaste he found that Drobin was better than him. ‘The apprentice becomes the master eh?’ he joked with his friend. While Drobin was the better hunter his archery wasn’t perfect but then Aeodor wasn’t either. Aeodor hadn’t lost his skill with the blade though and being able to walk he could teach Drobin better in the way of the sword. They fenced day and night but even though Aeodor was at a disadvantage because of his leg which he couldn’t jump with he still came out of their fights the victor. But Drobin was getting better at swordsmanship as well and as each day past the young man became more of a challenge. The villagers heard of Aeodor’s recovery and rejoiced. They begged him to teach them how to fight to hold off the bandits, he didn’t need convincing. The villagers weren’t born warriors but they worked hard and they slowly became soldiers. A village watch was assigned and a hastily made wooden wall was built. There was only one problem which affected Drolod the most: Indye had gone missing. It happened a week after Aeodor could run, his wound was still vulnerable and he still couldn’t move as quickly as he wanted to. He was training the villagers in an Arinian war style mixed with the animal like fighting style he had picked up in the wilderness. It was his style that mainly went on efficiency rather than flair although there was some involved in it. He was hoping he could get the villagers to follow him in the rebellion, the village would work as an excellent temporary base of operations. It was on a defendable hill and the land around it was hostile, with some decent fortifications the place would be impenetrable. He was too busy thinking that he didn’t notice the guardsman on the wall fall off with an arrow in his neck. Then a woman screamed ‘Bandits!’ and his thoughts turned towards reality. ‘Everyone stand ready!’ he barked in his officer tone of voice he uses in battle. ‘Spearmen at the gates, archers on the wall! All swordsmen patrol the perimeter and hold of any breakthroughs, the wall might not hold them.’ Everyone did as they were ordered, the calmness of his voice boosted their morale, they had drilled a week for this and they were decently equipped, the only problem was according to the villagers the bandits had five times the army. But then Aeodor has won in worse odds before. The army of bandits attacked. Arrows flew down like angry bees with a deadly sting, some flaming some not. Buildings burst into flames but the wooden wall didn’t. A little Liodrian tactic Aeodor used was to cover the walls in elk skin from the hundreds Drobin had killed and then cover it in the water from the stream making it virtually fireproof. It sure worked, steam rose from the wall as the fire arrows hit it and Aeodor could almost feel the bandits fear; they were up against more organized people than they were used to. But the fireproof walls didn’t stop the bandits from knocking them down, three parts of the wall was breached and the bandits poured through like beer from a spilt glass. Aeodor’s personally trained villagers held them off though, with military teamwork they defeated all three of the rabbles in a style no one in Illensia had seen before. Most of the first wave were killed, some fled and others threw down their weapons and fell to their knees surrendering. Village woman put out some of the hot flames that were turning the wooden houses to black charcoal. The archers on the wall killed many of the bandits firing in volleys like Aeodor taught them to. Despite all this the bandits carried on. Their leader is scaring them into fighting, ‘The bandits are scared of us and their leader, the only problem is they’re scared of the leader more’ thought Aeodor. One last desperate attack broke through the gates. The bandits poured in like a stampede of bison’s straight into Aeodor’s spear wall. Their numbers were so immense though that they pushed the defenders into Aeodor’s second line where more spearmen were waiting to help behind temporary fortifications. Hours of brutal fighting past, the mountain of bodies grew and grew until the villagers were pushed to the village center where they made their last stand. ‘Where the hell is Drobin!’ Aeodor shouted to one of the villagers. ‘He went out hunting sir, before the battle!’ Aeodor swore, everything wasn’t going right, Aeodor had hoped to hold them off at the walls and defeated them there. The only good news was the bandits were immensely thinned out, their numbers looked to be the same size as the villager’s army which hadn’t lost much because due to Aeodor’s tactics, only three people were missing. Aeodor’s backup plan was the only hope left. He drew his sword and rounded the remaining villagers up. ‘Phalanx position! Hold off all sides. Now! We can win this!’ The villagers acted as one moving much more like trained soldiers than farmers and hunters. Every side of the village center was blockaded; the men were distributed as evenly as possible to each side, spears were given to the swordsman and the archers were placed in the village hall leaning out of windows and standing on the bell tower, the archers had a good vantage point for the last stand. Aeodor went to the main blockade and pushed his way to the front. A hundred yards in front of him the bandits stood waiting. A huge man wearing a bear skull on his forehead and heavy furs walked out in front of them. He roared a bull like roar and charged. His men followed suit and ran after him. Aeodor waited. One second past… Two seconds past… And finally on the third second the bandits crashed into the villager’s spears and Aeodor springed into action. He darted to the side ignoring the pain in his leg and stabbed a bandit in the chest. Another bandit ran at him armed with a crude spear, he stood there pointing his shaking blade at Aeodor, the prince flicked his wrist knocking the spear to the side and then thrust forwards with his blade, the bandit’s eyes widened and he fell to the ground completely lifeless. Four bandits surrounded him, one was armed with a spiked club, one with a sword and the other two had spears. Aeodor jumped up high as they all went for him, when he landed something snapped, he roared with pain as his leg buckled and one of the scabs split open causing blood to flow out like some kind of hellish waterfall, one of the bandits went for him only to find an arrow in his neck. Another assailant fell clutching his arrow pierced stomach, the other two realizing they were being shot at went for Aeodor. They were to late though, the prince had recovered. He dodged both sword and spear as the two bandits struck. He whirled and severed one’s head from his body, another arrow hit the back of the second one right between the shoulder blades, with a groan the man fell to the ground dead. Volley after volley of arrows were hitting the bandits thinning their lines evermore so. ‘Advance!’ cried Aeodor realizing the bandits were getting further and further back. The wall of spears moved forwards stabbing at the bandits killing and wounding more and more of them, Aeodor darted in and out of his spear wall, he severed a bandits leg off and quickly killed him with an overhead strike, he kicked one in the stomach then sliced upwards, his blade meeting the bandit’s face. So many fell before the prince and his army until the bandit leader pulled out his last card. ‘Aeodor! I have seen your smithing skill and your ability to turn helpless villagers into seasoned soldiers, you have proven you are good at that, but what about you? What skill in battle do you have?’ the bandit’s voice boomed around them, he had a strangely posh voice considering he lived in a cave and raided villages. The fighting had stopped and everyone was looking at Aeodor. ‘I fight with the blade, I fight with skill no one has seen in Illensia what skill do you have?’ Aeodor was using the customary Arinian immodesty to taunt the bandit, he had to for boasting can sometimes give a warrior the edge in battle. ‘I fight with my hammer with enough skill to crush you and your little tooth pick!’ ‘A hammer is a barbaric weapon used by people with no skill, only brawn. The swinging of a hammer is not a skill, it’s a weapon that brain dead skill less bandits use!’ The bandit bellowed and charged at Aeodor knocking over bandits and villagers alike. When he reached Aeodor the prince rolled to the side with precise timing then leaped forwards and sliced at the back of the still running bandit’s calf. Blood hit the Aeodor’s face as he ripped open the man’s leg. He bellowed and got up, he took a more cautious approach. They circled each other, waiting for one to attack. Azador roared in the distance making every head turn, Aeodor took his chance and leapt forwards, the bandit turned around and with precise timing drove his hammer upwards into Aeodor’s stomach, his surprise attack had failed! He coughed blood onto the floor as the bandit leaned in close. His breath stunk of ale and rotten meat, his teeth were worse, what little of them he had left. ‘Looks like you failed Aeodor, I think your head would fetch a very handsome price indeed. You’re no commoner are you prince, ha I’m sure your father would pay very handsomely wouldn’t he hmm?’ The bandit picked him up by his hair, Aeodor groaned, blood leaked from his mouth. ‘This! This is all you have villagers, your only lifeline. And now he’s going, he’s leaving you! This man is a prince you know, the prince of Arinia!’ the crowd of fighters gasped, then as fast as love can turn into hate they all shouted and booed. They threw rocks and food at Aeodor, some hit him in the face bloodying it ever more so. ‘Stuck up git!’ one shouted. ‘Prince of destruction!’ another shouted. ‘They really don’t like my father’ Aeodor thought to himself wearily. It was over, his journey had already ended and it had scarcely begun. He had failed. The bandit leader, Wuthord dragged him away from the booing and jeering crowd. He muttered something to one of his men and most of them stayed behind at the village. When the prince had been dragged outside the sound of weapons clashing and people screaming echoed through his ears, he had failed. ‘Throw the bugger in the cart!’ Strong arms gripped Aeodor and he was thrown head first in to a cart. His head hit something hard but he stayed conscious barley. The cart started to move, on the long journey to Aeodor’s doom. ‘Throw him some food, we don’t want him starving on us.’ A voice said. Aeodor woke up, a second ago to him it was night, now it was day. ‘It’s odd how time passes like that.’ He thought. A chunk of half cooked venison hit him on the head, ravenously he ate it despite it being rotten and bloody. ‘How long do you think the journey will take’ the same voice asked. ‘A year at the least, Illensia’s a big place and we’re going to be making slow time on foot.’ The other voice Aeodor recognized, it was Wuthord. ‘Great, a year on the open road’ the voice said sarcastically. ‘Don’t complain Unthor, when we do get there we’ll get enough money to by a castle and some horses. I wonder what the prince was doing here-’ Something went whoosh and crimson blood splashed Aeodor’s face. He got up, there were shouts all round as the bandits drew their weapons and looked around for their assailant. They were in a narrow canyon passing between the hills, the sides were sheer and rocky. The canyon walls looked weak and parts had collapsed. The top was the perfect place for an archer… Three more arrows came down killing the bandit riding the cart with Wuthord and two bandits on foot. Aeodor saw the attacker this time, while the others did not. Due to the light Aeodor couldn’t make out his face but the figure waved then carried on. Wuthord jumped out of the carriage and drew him hammer. ‘Come on scum! Come and fight me!’ he roared. Another arrow hit the brute in the wrist, he screamed and fell to his knees clutching his bleeding wrist. Aeodor took his chance, he leapt out of the cart onto the man’s back. His arms wrapped around Wuthord’s neck and he tightened his grip. The bandit gurgled and swore as Aeodor slowly took the life away from him. Frantic, Wuthord dug his arms under Aeodor’s and pushed outwards. Wuthord was stronger than him and his grip broke almost instantly. He fell backwards onto his back, the sharp stones on the floor scraped the back of his arms. Luckily he still wore his Dragonskin waistcoat which protected his back from further wounding. Wuthord picked up his large hammer and walked towards him, he had a crazed look in his eyes like all his senses had been stolen from him. ‘I’m gonna kill you!’ he whispered, his then raised his voice ‘I’M GONNA KILL YOU!’ His ran forwards his hammer raised above his head, Aeodor was helpless and the archer was too busy holding off the rest of the bandits. The hammer went down towards Aeodor’s head, it was a mere four feet away. Three feet… Two feet… Suddenly everything stopped, Wuthord stood there, his eyes frozen his madness. He was perfectly still as was everything else, bandits stood around in action poses, some in mid crouch, some shouting taunts at their foe and some on their backs with arrows in their heads and torsos. Aeodor couldn’t seem to move either he could only think. ‘Am I dead?’ he thought. ‘You are not prince, not yet.’ A figure walked towards him, it was Awinyn and she was carrying something. Aeodor quickly realized it was his sword. ‘You left this behind at the village, I am here to bring it to you.’ she pressed it into his fingers and moved his arm so the blade was in front of the hammer. Aeodor couldn’t move his lips, he couldn’t speak. ‘Just remember’ her soft voice echoed inside his head. ‘That you can always call this sword, shout its name and it will come it needs a name though…goodbye Aeodor.’ Aeodor wanted to scream, a million questions darted around his head, Awinyn was gone though and time had come back. Wuthord’s hammer hit Aeodor’s sword and time jumped back its steady beat again. The bandit fell backwards in bewilderment, to his eyes Aeodor’s sword had literally appeared in his hand. ‘How did you...?’ his madness drained from his eyes and he took a more commanding tone ‘Into the cart, now!’ The bandit scrambled for his hammer but Aeodor’s foot found his face before he could wield it. The brute fell to the ground unconscious. Aeodor was going to keep him alive, he needed to know where the bandit hideout was. Suddenly on side of the canyon collapsed onto the bandits, Aeodor darted away and narrowly avoided the deadly falling rocks. All the bandits were consumed save Wuthord luckily. The best thing of all though, Drobin was standing on top of the avalanche, his jerkin was covered in snow and his eyes still had that humorous look to them. ‘How you doing down there Aeodor, you’re a hard beast to hunt.’ He laughed and so did Aeodor, he couldn’t help it. His friend jumped down the mound of rocks and bandits. He pulled Aeodor into a rough hug. ‘I tracked you, for days and days I followed you trail.’ The hunter tried a smile but it looked forced. ‘What’s happened Drobin?’ Aeodor asked uncertainly. ‘Father’s dead.’ The words pierced Aeodor’s mind bringing out an old emotion he hadn’t shown in a long time: Sadness. They both wept quietly. Drolod was like a father to Aeodor, their relationship had grown in mere months, it was worse for Drobin; he had known the man his whole life. ‘Don’t worry friend, we’ll kill them all. We’ll rip out their hearts and burn them!’ Aeodor reassured his friend. Drobin nodded and wiped his eyes. ‘Let’s go, I need to leave this place.’ ‘We need to know where first, let’s go and meet my little friend.’ ‘Get me the hell out of these bloody bonds!’ Wuthord roared his posh voice echoing through the night. ‘Tell us where your hide out is, now!’ Aeodor punched him right in the nose. ‘Argh I don’t know!’ ‘We’re not stupid asshole! You’re their leader, of course you know!’ mirroring the prince Drobin punched the bandit in the nose, this time in clicked and blood spurted everywhere. ‘Oh I think I broke his nose.’ Aeodor laughed then went serious again, he pulled Wuthord’s hair back hard. The bandit screamed and after some intense tugging he shouted ‘West of the village! By…by Mount Inthiu, I swear!’ ‘Swear it by the Gods and Goddesses of all! I swear if I am lying I will walk a thousand leagues without stopping then throw myself off a cliff!’ Wuthord cried. ‘God, he’s weak-willed isn’t he?’ Drobin said. ‘Aye but we know where they are now, the problem is we don’t know what’s waiting for us.’ Aeodor mused. ‘We’ll deal with that when we get there, what are we going to do with him though?’ ‘Take him, I’m not going to murder someone out of battle unless I have to, we’ll keep him tied up the whole time though.’ ‘I swear you’re to forgiving sometimes.’ ‘I’m not forgiving him, I’m just not falling to his level. Now let’s go, I have a feeling Indye has something to do with this, and if he does then Gods save him.’ ‘I know he is…’ Drobin mumbled. They set off with Wuthord on the horse that pulled the cart, it had miraculously survived making their journey all the more easier. It was time for revenge. A day later Aeodor and Drobin sneaked into the bandit’s cove, Wuthord was speaking the truth, the bandits were there. It was a fairly large cavern but low ceilinged cavern, jagged rocks stuck out of the floor here and there that would provide excellent cover for an archer… A fire was lit inside and thirty or so bandits lounged around it, most were wounded. The villagers had put up a good fight, there were half the amount when Aeodor was taken away. The two friends sneaked near enough to eavesdrop. ‘Stupid villagers! Where the hell did they learn to fight like that! I barely got away with my life!’ ‘It’s that Aeodor, ever since he came to my father’s house he was nothing but harsh to me. Father instantly like him more than me and that dog Drobin sucked up to him, he must be rich the way he walks about and-and’ the voice cut off too angry to continue. Aeodor’s eyes widened, he knew that voice, it was that drawling teenager’s voice, it was Indye’s voice. ‘I most enjoyed killing him,’ the boy carried on. Drobin’s eyes clouded, the warmness of them draining away and filling with rage. He roared and fired six arrows in quick succession at the bandits. Six arrows found their mark and six of the bandits collapsed, dead. The remaining bandits drew their weapons and stood up, their eyes were full of fear, Drobin’s archery startled them and they still don’t know where their assailants were. As if they read each other’s minds and formulated a plan without speaking one word they split up, Aeodor went to the exit to block the way while Drobin went around the side of the group. Four arrows whizzed through the air, three found their mark in the throats and chests of the bandits while one spun off and hit the cave wall. The bandits starting shouting and some ran towards the place Drobin had fired from but he had darted away to another spot. And from that spot more arrows came, emerging from the darkness in a blur of deadly speed. The bandits moved to each place Aeodor’s young friend fired from, they had no leader and without a leader they were like tigers without teeth. ‘They’re spirits, spirits of the villagers!’ a bandit shouted. ‘They’ve come to kill us!’ The bandits screamed and shouted and sprinted away straight into Aeodor’s waiting sword. There were ten left, they could have overwhelmed him in seconds but their fear pushed out any real thought. They just tried to get past him and by doing so they ran into his blade. Drobin fired from behind them and soon all of them lay dead on the ground with either arrows stuck in them or they were missing limbs. A pond of crimson began to form as the bandit’s blood began to pour over the rocky floor. Aeodor and Drobin stared at each other wondering how they had just accomplished killing fifty bandits all by themselves. A figure appeared behind Drobin, it was Indye! The coward had hidden under his blanket during the fight and now he was out trying to kill the easy way. The boy nodded at Aeodor and then jumped on Drobin trying to stab him with a dagger. A trained assassin would of done the job in seconds resorting to a quick slit of the throat rather than throwing themselves at their target. Aeodor was about to help but then someone attacked him with a blow to the head. Aeodor fell to the floor clutching the back of his head, his vision blurred and his head throbbed but he had to get up. He pulled himself to his feet, he could hear Drobin and Indye grappling behind him but in front of him was the real problem. Wuthord stood opposite him at the mouth of the cave, he was cracking his knuckles menacingly and grinning like a fool. ‘I’m gonna enjoy breaking your neck prince!’ he spat, his posh accent was gone, replaced by an angry Barandish accent, showing his true colors. ‘You really thought you could get the better of me didn’t you, well I-’ Aeodor’s fist caught the man’s rough face, something cracked and the bandit fell to the ground. He pulled himself onto his hands and knees and spat out blood and what looked like a tooth. ‘You son of a-’ He didn’t finish his sentence, Aeodor kicked him in the jaw, hard. The man fell to his back clutching his ruined face. He started muttering words but he couldn’t make out a proper sentence. More blood erupted from his mouth like some kind of hellish waterfall. With horror Aeodor realized that the man had bitten half his tongue off. The bandit coughed, he was slowly choking! Aeodor, feeling remorse for the man decided to end it, he drew his blade and lopped off the man’s head with a quick strike. He didn’t have time to pray for the man though, his friend was in danger. Aeodor turned to the grappling brothers, they would almost look like normal brothers fighting over a toy, if the toy wasn’t a knife. Aeodor drew his own knife and whispered ‘I’m sorry Indye, I really am.’ Indye looked up in fear as the knife left Aeodor’s hand, it spun towards the boy but Aeodor hadn’t found his mark, the knife hit Drobin in the upper shoulder. It went through the hunter’s shoulder and straight into Indye’s jugular. Blood spurted everywhere from both Indye and Drobin. Aeodor ran forwards to his friend. ‘Payback eh?’ his friend whispered. ‘Yeah, I guess I’ll never work as one of those knife throwers.’ Aeodor said softly to his friend. The man laughed ‘Yeah, you’d probably kill your assistant!’ They both started laughing uncontrollably for a few minutes but then, wiping his eyes Aeodor stopped and looked at the hole in his friend’s shoulder. ‘We need to get the wound bandaged Drobin.’ Aeodor told him. ‘Aye, we do and we need to find my father and bury him and Indye. I…I can’t hate him…he’s my brother.’ He muttered, ashamed. ‘Agreed. And I understand how you feel Drobin, betrayal’s a harsh thing.’ Aeodor got up but Drobin grabbed his arm ‘But what are we going to do then Aeodor, we need a plan!’ Aeodor winked ‘We take each problem as it comes brother.’ After the wound was dressed the two friends set off for Drolod’s house. They passed the smoking village, there was nothing living left save a few mangy dogs. They moved on. They walked through the narrow canyon that led back to Drolod’s house and through snow covered fields, everything was quiet save a few birds chirping in the distance. Finally they reached the charred remains of the house. Graves were dug, side by side next to the smoking ruin and the bodies were placed. Aeodor found some decent sized stones and they made the gravestones. Here lies Drolod Died year 3749 on the third day of the seventh week of the Season of Summer May his soul live on in the land of Torenthus This Man was murdered, murdered in his own house. His fortune was unjust Rest In Peace And on Indye’s they wrote Here lies Indye Died year 3749 on the fifth day of the seventh week of the Season of Summer May his soul be eternally judged for all his misdoings This Boy killed his father, and tried to murder his brother. But let it be known that he is forgiven and although some will spit upon his grave, others will bless it Rest In Peace Aeodor stood strong and proud, he was saddened by the loss of a man he liked, the loss of someone who was almost his second father. But Aeodor shows little when it comes to sadness, he retreats into small, quiet part of his mind and weeps secretly. Drobin on the other hand, was the opposite. He believes that emotion should be let out, he doesn’t get embarrassed about crying he just lets it all out in a flood of salty tears. They stood there as the golden sun turned crimson, light left them, just like the closest thing to their heart had. ‘Come on, it’s time to go.’ Aeodor said steadily. ‘I…I let myself go…’ Drobin was staring at the ground, tears dripping from his nose. ‘I got angry and-and I couldn’t control myself…’ ‘You had a right to be’ Aeodor reassured him. ‘Any human would, hell being betrayed like that could make someone go a little on the crazy side, don’t worry about it.’ ‘I…I can’t though, I don’t think I can kill another…another man again…my own brother!’ ‘Listen, I need you. You have a part in all of this, you’re my only and best friend! Without you my cause is lost and then the world will be subjected to a tyrant. We will need to kill, it’s sick but killing is the only way to survive! Now…are you with me?’ Aeodor reached out his hand open. Drobin stared at the ruff, bloodied hand. Then grasped it. ‘I’m with you Aeodor, I’m with you’ he shook his head. ‘What the hell are we going to do next though? We need friends, powerful friends and-’ ‘Oh no, we start with the big fish later, for now we stick with the small ones.’ ‘And what are the small ones, we need noble support Aeodor, people high up that can help us!’ Drobin’s tone was urgent, pleading even. ‘Why do you want support from rich people so soon and so much?’ Aeodor asked his eyes suspicious. ‘I-I…I don’t think I can take going to another village Aeodor, I really don’t…’ Drobin hung his head, ashamed. ‘Alright I was planning going to a village, but I wasn’t going to raid it Drobin, do you really think I’d sink as low as the bandits?’ ‘N-No…’ ‘Good because I’m not…hell I’m going to do the opposite, there are villages out there being taxed to hell by my father right?’ ‘Yeah, ours wasn’t because we were deemed to poor, luckily but the ones that are get “Government Protection” which basically means there are guards patrolling day and night, there’s a curfew which is punishable by death and if you don’t pay your taxes,’ Drobin drew his finger across his neck. ‘How many usually occupy a village?’ ‘Two dozen or so are usually on patrol at the nearest one, Holsker. But there are more that do night duty and there are the people higher up, officers and the like. I think it adds up to around fifty or sixty.’ ‘Great, well I think this mission’s going to require stealth…and lots of it. Nothing we can’t handle I suppose.’ ‘We need to plan though, Holsker’s around seventy leagues away east, it’s far but it’s the closest one that Thanodor’s men occupy, the villages in-between here and there are tiny, smaller than ours. They’re usually owned by some stubborn low-life lord that’ll never join us. The only chance we have in getting friends is by taking away the government, everyone hates them. ‘What do they call themselves, apart from the government?’ ‘The Arinian Empire.’ ‘Well we’ll have to do some scouting…’ ‘I hate scouting.’ Drobin muttered and spat on the floor for good measure. ‘Don’t we all’ said the prince, shouldering his pack of possessions. ‘Let’s go.’
  20. Okay I'm back now with the return of Tales of Illensia. I've didn't stop writing but I'd stopped posting it (I'm on my tenth chapter now), unfortunately I kind of stopped writing now I haven't given up I just haven't been motivated enough to get back into it as much as I love it. Hopefully something will inspire me I'll post the sixth chapter now and the rest later. I've made many changes to the earlier chapters as well but I'm not going to get anyone to reread them just for the sake of writing quality ^^ but I think it's better. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter Chapter Six Many months later… A young man was hunting in the snow, his dagger was clean though, he wasn’t a good hunter but then there wasn’t much to hunt anyway. But his father wanted food and he had to get it. Three hours past of wandering around in the frosty mountains, it was cold here, even in summer but the temperature didn’t affect him, he was a Barand. Grass was concealed in snow. Lakes, ponds and even rivers were frozen solid by the icy air. Bleak clouds covered the sky threatening to snow and rain and hail every second. This is Barandor a country plagued by bandits and deadly winters. He had heard a faint roaring before but he assumed it was Azador, the beast’s roar could be heard miles away from where it actually was. But this time it seemed closer…much closer. And then the thought was pushed out of his mind. His prey was before him. A majestic elk grazed on the cold mountain grass, he had huge antlers; a worthy trophy of any hunter, muscles rippled in his legs and there was a peaceful look in its eyes like it didn’t have a care in the world, this one hadn’t met a hunter before. The hunter crouched with his bow drawn, this elk could feed him and his father for months. His mother would have been proud, if he killed it… He let the arrow loose, it whizzed towards the elk. It stiffened and bolted, the arrow missing it by inches. Something rustled in the bush the arrow was heading towards and there was an earth quaking shout. ‘Arrrghhhh!!!’ a man in his late twenties fell out of the tree clutching his leg. He had overgrown black hair, a long curly beard worthy of any Barandor barbarian. His wild looking eyes were wide with pain and shock, and oddly his clothes were burnt and tattered. The only thing he wore that looked intact was a sword in a rich black scabbard strewn across his waist that matched his somehow regal looking face. ‘You stupid son of a-’ the language that followed was so grotesque the fleeing elk stopped and looked back at the wounded man, then turned around and fled. The hunter ran towards him and crouched by him ‘I’m so, so sorry, I-I d-didn’t mean to-’ ‘It doesn’t matter’ the man said through clenched teeth. ‘Doesn’t hurt that much. Just get me out of…here…dragon.’ He was drooping off as he said these last words ‘W-what’s your name’ ‘Aeodor’ the man said. ‘My…name is Aeodor.’ A few hours later Aeodor was half carried half dragged to the hunter’s house. The young man was called Drobin, he had shaggy shoulder-length brown hair and a small shifty face with a rather big nose. He had warm humorous brown eyes that gave the impression that he was a very likable young man. According to him he had just entered manhood and was learning how to hunt. His father had grown sick and the gathering of the food was down to him while his mother had died giving birth to his younger brother. ‘It’s rather odd,’ he was saying as he dragged the prince back ‘I love my brother more than anything or anyone in the world, some people are surprised that I don’t resent him for being the cause of my mother’s death but I don’t. It wasn’t his fault after all but for some reason he resents me.’ ‘That…is odd,’ the tired prince mused. ‘Maybe he resents you for not resenting him, or just in retaliation just in case you secretly resent him.’ ‘Nah that can’t be it, it wouldn’t make sense,’ he said, his voice had a musical note to it, like he was a talented singer. ‘Anyway tell me about yourself Aeodor, you’ve barely spoken. What have you been doing? Where have you come from?’ ‘Later…’ Aeodor said stiffly. After passing through icy trees and climbing steep hills they reached a small log cabin. It had windows which were gaps in the cheap wood with shutters, which were closed and a cracked wooden door. The place looked run down, and completely unlivable. Smoke leaked from a small stone chimney, making it look a little less run down and unlivable. They opened the door and entered the establishment. Drobin dropped his hunting gear by the door and led Aeodor to the living room. The prince sat down on an armchair by the fire and looked around while Drobin went into the next room after muttering something about food. The room looked like the largest in the house, there was a rug on the floor in the center of the room, an old dining table and a large fireplace with a painting of a young woman placed on the mantelpiece. The woman had blonde hair and the same warm brown eyes Drobin had, her features were similar to his apart from her nose which was smaller and more delicate. Aeodor guessed it was Drobin’s mother. In the next room he heard raised voices and he turned around and cried out as the shaft that was still buried in his leg knocked against the chair. Drobin and a boy walked in. The boy had the same sort of face and build as Drobin except he had his mother’s nose and shorter hair. ‘So you’re this…Aeodor’ he spat the words with badly concealed contempt, he didn’t like him already. ‘Look what you did to him you idiot!’ he shouted at his older and much stronger brother. ‘It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t see him Indye’ Drobin said calmly, the man had some extreme patience. ‘By God I don’t care if it wasn’t your bloody fault, you shot him! You and your blasted archery, some hunter you are! You didn’t even bring any food! I swear I’ll-’ ‘Quiet boy!’ Aeodor shouted at the grumpy teenager, his voice had gotten gruffer over the years. ‘I won’t sit here and watch a grumpy little baby push a better man around!’ ‘Aeodor don’t-’ Drobin began his face ashen. ‘Shut up Drobin!’ Indye shouted he then pressed his face into Aeodor’s his eyes filled with hatred ‘I don’t care how old you are cripple, you are a homeless lowlife who can’t pick up his own two feet!’ Aeodor roughly shoved the boy to the floor ‘Come back when you’ve grown a beard!’ The boy quickly got up and shouted ‘You’ll regret this I tell you, I have friends, friends that’ll rip your insides out and pin them to a wall!’ ‘Go tell them, if a single man attacks me, I’ll hunt you down boy! And you’ll regret you were born!’ Indye fled in embarrassment slamming the door behind him. ‘You shouldn’t of done that’ Drobin said shaking his head ‘He wasn’t lying, his friends happen to be one of the biggest bandit groups in west Barandor!’ ‘So that’s where we are, the land of snow.’ ‘Well yes, that’s why there’s snow everywhere.’ ‘How is it here, what’s been going on?’ ‘Let’s get that arrow out, it doesn’t look to deep.’ ‘I thought you’d forgotten about it’ Drobin laughed ‘No friend, if I took it out you’d be dead by now. I’ve kept it in so you don’t bleed to death.’ ‘Ahh okay, I don’t have much experience with first aid. I’ve had a lot of wounds in my time but I’ve never dressed them myself, someone usually does them for me!’ ‘Oh so you’re wealthy.’ ‘No, not anymore I’ve lived alone in the mountains in the past decade.’ He didn’t want to mention Awinyn. ‘How the hell did you do that!’ ‘I found a nice spot. I…found a house and learned to hunt. I’m rather good at it’ Drobin grinned ‘Ha not bad, I suppose was it nice?’ ‘It was hard work but peaceful’ Aeodor said his thoughts drifting towards his old home. ‘Why did you leave?’ ‘Things happen, I need to go back to my real home.’ ‘Where’s your home?’ ‘Arinia,’ ‘Where’s that?’ ‘You don’t-’ ‘Look where I live Aeodor, I can’t read or write and the closest to an education is my father tutoring me.’ ‘Damn, how did you make a living?’ ‘My father is an excellent hunter, he sells his meat at the village. But we’ve run into hard times as I have to hunt. I’m not very good at it’ ‘You’re a natural I can tell, I’ll train you sometime.’ ‘Really? If it’s no problem then I’d love that. Now this is going to hurt. Brace yourself!’ He had sliced off the feather so it didn’t infect the wound, he then got out a mallet and aimed it at the back of the arrow. ‘Whoa! What are you doing?’ Aeodor asked jumping back. ‘I can’t pull it out because there’s a high chance the arrowhead will come off and get stuck inside your leg and that wouldn’t be pleasant. But if I hammer it further in the arrow will come out the other side where I can slice it off then pull out the arrow. Happy?’ ‘No’ Aeodor didn’t trust him, his stubborn Arinian trait was kicking in but he had no other choice. ‘Good you’re not supposed to be, but are you ready?’ ‘Nope’ ‘Good you’re not supposed to be that either, let’s go.’ Aeodor sighed and stretched out his leg. Drobin began hammering at the back of the arrow, once, twice, three times and finally on the fourth the pointed head of the arrow appeared on the other side of his calf. Each hammer strike Aeodor had subdued a scream but when the arrowhead appeared on the other side of his leg the pain was so immense it was like being kicked repeatedly in the groin. Aeodor screamed and shouted and cursed but Drobin carried on, he pulled out a pair of crude tweezers and with a ferocious heave he pulled out the arrow. This last method of “first aid” was too much for Aeodor, as a huge spurt of blood came from either side of his leg his vision blackened. The prince opened his weary eyes, he was still in the armchair and the evidence of his past wound strewn across the floor all dried up and nasty, like a huge scab on the floorboards. A bandage was wrapped around his pierced leg, the chalky whiteness of the bandage had two red blobs on either side where the holes in his leg were. Aeodor looked up, in front of him two men lounged on the dining chairs watching him, one was old the other young. Drobin and what Aeodor assumed was his father looked at him when he raised his head. ‘How are you Aeodor?’ Drobin asked. ‘Fine…fine I think,’ he said ‘I just feel a little woozy that’s all.’ ‘It’ll wear off, you lost a bit of blood but you’ll be fine. I cleaned the wound, removed any splinters and added some ointment so it shouldn’t get infected. Give it a couple of weeks maybe a month and you’ll be good as new.’ ‘I can’t thank you enough Drobin, you’re a fantastic doctor.’ ‘Aye, my boy’s always been good at helping and healing people’ Drobin’s father said, his pale lips moved warily like every other movement. He had short gray hair, a small skinny body that had withered with age. He had blue eyes unlike his sons and wife but his nose was identical to Drobin’s. The two hunters wore similar clothing; a gray cotton jerkin and trousers trimmed with fur to keep the southern cold out. ‘Lucky he found you,’ the old man chuckled ‘Then again if he didn’t find you, you wouldn’t have a hole in your leg!’ They all burst out laughing and Aeodor was feeling more and more at home with these people, they were to simple to be untrustworthy and he liked them, then his thoughts drifted back Wallod’s farm. Those things were after him and bad things seemed to happen to good people whenever he was near. Drobin’s father wiped a tear from his eye and still chuckling said ‘I’m Drolod by the way, one of the most renowned hunters in this area, I heard about your little survival trip you had in the mountains, my son’s been telling me about you but where the hell were you before that? He said you used to be wealthy and Aeodor sure rings a bell’ the hunter scratched his head looking at him. Could he tell them? What if other people were listening in? What if Indye was listening? If anyone would spread his secret it would be him. He decided to play it safe for now ‘I honestly don’t know I…remember waking up in a street and deciding to…go to the mountains! Yeah that was it’ Aeodor was a terrible liar. Drolod sighed and looked at his son ‘You didn’t tell me he was a bad liar son’ ‘I don’t think he had the chance to lie to me, come on Aeodor tell us’ Aeodor thought for a moment and said ‘Drobin check no one’s eavesdropping and then close the curtains and lock the door, what I’m about to tell you may put you and me in danger if anyone hears it’ Drobin nodded, his eyes sparkling with curiosity and scurried outside and did as he was asked, when he got back he sat down with his father and listened as Aeodor told his story. ‘You probably recognize the name Aeodor because you’ve probably heard it a few times, I am Prince Aeodor of Arinia…’ he told them of how he was exiled from the palace, he didn’t tell them about his father shooting him, he wasn’t ready for that but he told them about how he lived with a farmer and learnt how to live like a commoner ‘It changed me it did, the man worked me to exhaustion every day and it improved me mentally and physically. I’m used to hard labor now and if it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have survived in the wilderness but then…’ he told them about the black knights that attacked them and how they burst into shadow and reappeared a few yards away when you killed them. He told them about his trek through the Marshes of Irithor, although he didn’t go into much detail because it spooked him to even think about it never mind talk about it. He then talked about living in the mountains and learning how to hunt and then leaving. He was then chased by Azador on his way and finally being shot by Drobin. He left out Awinyn and her prophecies, he barely understood them himself and he didn’t want his new friends to think he was mad. ‘My dear boy you’ve had quite a journey, it wasn’t a nice end being shot by my son was it?’ Drolod shook his head grinning. ‘But you talk of Arinia, you should be happy to hear then that the Arinians have conquered all civilization’ ‘So it’s true then’ Aeodor whispered. ‘That wasn’t an illusion…’ ‘What are you talking Aeodor?’ asked Drobin, startled. ‘And what’s this Arinia?’ ‘Arinia is my home country, it seems my father has conquered the world…this is what I feared, my father is evil’ ‘Damn right he is and crazy. I was a bit worried about an Arinian prince being here but it seems you’re not on friendly terms with the king either.’ ‘What do you mean either?’ ‘He’s evil, he’s been forcibly recruiting every able man to the army. There are no wars any more but it seems as if he’s preparing for a big one! The people of Illensia are on the brink of rebellion but no one, not even the whole of Illensia would be able to stop him now. He’s a known military genius and he has the biggest army Illensia has ever seen!’ ‘I can stop him’ Aeodor said quietly ‘I know war and I can fight! If the whole of Illensia is behind me then I can stop him!’ ‘Well you’d need lots of friends and allies, Illensia is scared Aeodor, it would take some insane persuading to get her to fight for you! I don’t know much about warfare but that’s what I suppose you’ll need’ ‘And there are the costs of armor and weapons. How are you going to manage your money?’ asked Drobin. ‘I can get someone, Illensia’s a big place.’ ‘But where are you going to get money?’ ‘There are towns and villages under the control of the Arinians according to you and if everyone hates the empire then I’m sure they’d pay us with money, food and people. If we’re discreet enough we can build a big enough army without them noticing and then strike. Then boom we have Illensia in our control!’ ‘I never thought of doing it like that, but it would take years of preparation to fight an army that size!’ Drolod said. ‘I’ve got to try!’ ‘No we’ve got to try’ Drobin said standing up. ‘I’ve known you for less than two days but I already respect you and see you as a friend. And you’re the only person my father’s accepted into his household, anyone else would be thrown out into the snow with a bump on their head. That’s a sign friend, a sign of who you are.’ He grasped Aeodor’s hand ‘I’ll help in whatever way I can.’ Aeodor felt tears fill up his eyes ‘No one has shown me that much appreciation before in my life, thank you Drobin…thank you’ A bond formed between the two men that was extremely close to brotherhood, a friendship that would last no matter what. ‘There is…one problem’ Drolod mused. ‘What’s that?’ Aeodor asked. ‘You can’t conquer the world with a hole in your leg!’ The three men laughed and a friendship formed. Aeodor realized whilst laughing that he had changed immensely. The farmer’s life and survivalist’s life made him a different person. Many years ago if he was invited into the house he was so warmly welcomed into now he would of turned his nose up and walked away maybe with a disdainful sniff. But now he accepted the place like home like he would with any home. He was a better person. This is only half of Chapter Six (it exceeds the 50000 character limit xD) I'll post the other half straight after this (also sorry if this isn't allowed moderators, please tell me if it isn't)
  21. Just looked through all your posts...I know everyone's been saying this but I want to say it anyway HOLY SHIT THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!!!! Okay, that's that finally out
  22. Hey Cheap, do you think you can only be good at art if you're naturally good or do you think it takes practice? (I'm asking because I'm thinking of getting into drawing)

    1. Show previous comments  4 more
    2. Cheap Shot

      Cheap Shot

      Yes. I did once. It was too much work.

    3. elmarko98

      elmarko98

      Do you do art as a job? You should (hmm I smell a suck up)

    4. Cheap Shot

      Cheap Shot

      Yeah. Freelance illustration and some design.

  23. Hi I've been working on this base for a week now with Voltz. I have big plans for it but this is what I've done so far. Oh and I've added a few much needed mods as well: Redpower Computercraft Iron Chests (this one wasn't necessarily needed but I wanted it ) All the buildings have been done in creative but the mining and crafting has been done completely legit. Now let me give you the VIP tour. This is the whole complex, the bottom left building with the skylights is my animal farm, above that is my farm, in the centre is the main building where most of the magic happens, to the left of that is an old building I don't use any more and the building to the right of that is my neglected tree farm. And finally the tall building on the far right is my missile control base, heh heh, that's where the rest of the magic happens. Now lets drink in some details shall we? Here's my animal farm on the inside, pretty basic. I'm planning on making it automated but I've been extremely busy making other things. This is the front door of my main base, it's password and user locked as you can see. A pretty simple program. My storage room, a redpower sorting system is underneath. The Redpower sorting system My babies..er I mean machines. My nuclear reactor, password locked and computer controlled. (I also have two advanced solar panels outside) This huge empty room is my fusion reactor room, (you can tell I made this in creative, I would never have the patience to make all that blastproof walling) there will be a reactor in here in the future as well as a particle accelerator, as of now it's empty though Now this is where I kill people from afar, my missile control base There are two terminals, the one on the right I haven't found a use for and is purely for decoration but the one on the left I can use to fire my missiles (I have currently made two silos) The big monitor gives me the status of my missiles (it's purely aesthetic for now, I still haven't made it so it updates when I fire a missile) and when I fire a missile it puts a countdown on the big screen (5, 4 ,3 ,2 ,1 ,Missile Launched!) The results of some testing And of course one of the missile silos I hope you liked it and feel free to ask questions, I have loads of things I want to do. The main things on my agenda are: Build an underwater base (don't know the use of it yet) Make a dock Make a huge battleship and possibly a nuclear submarine Also any suggestions on what I should do are very welcome :)
  24. I love Mr. Froggy Just look at him, you can't not like him (if you do then I he won't say hi). Also frogs are badass, you don't want to fuck with a frog.
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