1 Princess of the River (Prologue)
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[ Year 1007 ]
[ Ardennes Forest ]
[ 12:00am - Midnight ]
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"Huff... Huff... Huff..."
Everything was colorless, no sign of vividness. Gray and black entities everywhere, unable to recognize the faces of everyone around.
"Haaah... Haaah... Haaah..."
Everything looked hazy and unclear to the one expressing heavy and tiresome breathing.
A gray entity at a distance was trying to get the tired person's attention, "Sir! Sir!... Urk!", but was sliced in half by a greatsword, held by a black entity, who looked strong and was at the size of 200 cm tall in estimate. The entity falls down, color black splattered around, it was continuously leaking black substance... presumably blood.
"Fall back! Fall back!" A gray entity shouted nearby, who looked like there is hope to see color to his direction.
Another gray entity shouted, "FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES!!!", while fighting three black entities simultaneously.
It sounded as if everyone was fighting on the front lines... no, an ambush rather. Screams of terror, bravery, fear, might, cowardice, and last stands were continuously being heard.
A man, who looked mighty and noble, was unconsciously losing balance in the middle of the fighting. He looked tall, young, and handsome with his long smooth brown hair, beautiful eyes that matches well with his thick eyebrows, long eyelashes, and his well-defined duchess nose. Wearing a thick–heavy jade green-colored armor with gold lining, gold shoulder pads, and a gold cape, but broken and torn, close to being shattered, exposing his chainmail on the front, embedded to his olive green-colored tunic.
A gray entity was saying a name, "Leyva-sama? Leyva-sama? Leyva-sama!"
"H-huh? Wh-who are you?... Why are you gray?... Yes... Leyva... that's me."
Leyva was the name of the man losing consciousness. Dizzy as he spoke, everything for him was still colorless and hazy. Leyva lost his balance and fell to the ground, still in confusion. The gray entity approached him in a rush.
"Leyva-sama, are you ok?" asked the gray entity. It lent out his hand for Leyva to grab, but he couldn't because of the condition he was facing. The gray entity then took Leyva's right hand, pulling his right arm and placing it behind his neck. It looked like the gray entity was assisting the injured Leyva, helping him walk. Each step Leyva takes, hurts him more.
After taking 6 steps, his knees fall to the ground. "Argh! Shit!" he grunts in pain. "My... back... It... fucking hurts!"
The gray entity checks Leyva's back, discovering a dagger impaled at a broken area of his armor, the left area near the spine. With no hesitation, the gray entity pulls the dagger out.
"AAAHHH!"
The gray entity quickly observed the dagger. It was a dagger with runes inscribed to it.
"Runes?!" The gray entity exclaimed. "So, this is what's was causing your bad condition Leyva-sama. The dagger was inscribed with runes... that I know nothing of."
Leyva's vision begins to return to normal; colors are slowly everywhere. He looks up to the sky; he realized it was nighttime. He checks his surroundings, a dirt road so wide with numerous trees on the sides, a forest to assume, with the wide dirt road as the main road. He sees his fancy carriage broken. His beautiful and simple gold crown was shattered. Wooden carts were destroyed, supplies are in fire, scattered all over. Dead bodies were everywhere, corpses of horses too, along with pools of blood in the colors of red and black.
Everything around him was full of fighting, swords clashing, shields clacking, spears thrusting, daggers clanking, arrows let loose. Jade green armored soldiers, a mix of swordsmen, spearmen, and archers fighting for their lives, overpowered by the number of enemies. The enemies had no common outfit, each one of them had their own combat clothing. Each of them also looked different... a mix of humans, people with fur, and big and strong freaks. It seemed that the enemies were mercenaries of different races, paid and hired to fight for whatever reason.
Skill was in favor of the Jade green soldiers, hence, they're able to last long in the fighting. Although skilled in combat, the number of enemies kept increasing. The more enemies arrive in battle, the less and less in number the Jade green soldiers become. At this point, skill will not determine who wins the battle, but numbers will.
"It's runes of grayness," Leyva replied. "This rune causes one's sight to be colorless and hazy, resulting in one's condition to become unconscious. It is an advance magic rune, only a few in Atharva can inscribe such a rune that requires a huge amount of mana, draining one's life force."
Leyva looked to the gray entity. It was a man wearing a thick–heavy jade green-colored armor, quite different from what Leyva is wearing. It had an olive-green cape and gold shoulder pads, and the armor looked better crafted for combat than what the other Jade green soldiers around were wearing. It wasn't wearing a helmet, assuming that it was already broken because of the fighting. The gray entity was around 185 cm in height, brown-skinned, and with short hair. He looked tough as a captain... or maybe he is the captain.
Leyva, starting to realize who the gray entity is, asked, "Mura-san? Is that you? The Captain of the Royal Guard?"
"What is it, Leyva-sama? Mura replied. "Can you see things clearly now? Can you run?"
"I can see now... can walk too, can run a little... for now."
Leyva tried recalling what really happened as he continuously regains his consciousness. Suddenly, a Jade green soldier approaches Mura and Leyva. His armor still looks alright, marks of blades from the fighting were all over it. A couple of cracks, but can still be used, it was quite durable, though it was only left with one gold shoulder pad and the gold lining lost its shine. He was wearing a helmet, no signs or cracks or marks around it, but the green horsehair of the helmet, located at the top and looking like a mohawk, was cut in half of its length. He looked bloodied all around, but it wasn't his blood.
"Hey captain! The Jade green soldier said. "So... wait... the King is still alive?!"
"Address Leyva-sama properly Marshal Quincy!" Mura replied. "Anyways, we have no time. We must look for a safe place to hide and regroup. Our army can't withstand the sheer number of enemies attacking."
"Yes, Sir!" said Quincy. "Men! Fight for your lives! Protect the King! Follow our path and slay those in the way of Leyva-sama!" It was a desperate call of rally by Marshal Quincy.
30 Jade green soldiers gathered around the three of them, encircling King Leyva, Captain Mura, and Marshal Quincy, creating a defensive formation in an irregular shape.
"There's only 30 troops left?!" exclaimed Quincy. "We marched in the Ardennes Forest with 300, what the hell?!"
Each of the 30 Jade green soldiers were exhausted from the fighting. Some had their weapons broken already, picking up weapons of the corpses either from their fallen comrades or enemies. Some had their weapons in bad condition, their broadswords and spears, crafted with its blades made of iron, colored with mint green, along with black iron handles covered in leather, looked likely to break sooner or later. Some still had shields with them, in two different shapes—heater and kite, crafted in iron and pykrete, colored with jade green and embedded with a Gold Griffin crest. Some had bows with them, though few in arrows, resulting to the use of dual-wield daggers crafted with iron and colored in mint green as well with black iron handles covered in leather.
All of them are fighting for their lives... no... not just their lives, but for the king as well. Valiant as they fight, exhausted as they are, willing to give them their all... their last breath, for the king. Swords continue to clash. Some brought out their daggers, especially the archers who ran out of arrows, clanking with the enemies' weapons; spears continue to thrust in combat. Their numbers continue to reduce, 33... 32... 31... 29... more and more fall to the ground, slain by the mercenaries, their enemies.
"There's too many of them!" said Mura. "We must force a way out this place. We can't stand here any much longer!"
Leyva looked around him for possible solutions. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any way to get out of the situation they're in. Quincy tried as well but resolved into readying himself for a last stand with the remaining troops around.
"It seems unlikely to win in this situation." said Leyva. He brings out a very small cotton drawstring pouch.
"Quincy-kun! Have this." He said. "Take it with you, go run and live." Leyva hands it over to Quincy.
"Why Leyva-sama?"
"Just take it and give it to my daughter, Horrie. When she grows up, tell her it's an inheritance."
"You really want me to go back to Findor just to give Horrie-sama this? Leyva-sama?"
"Yes, I'll see to it that she grows up to be a fine queen. A wise ruler of Findor, from Princess Horrie to Queen Horrie."
"See to it? What gives? You're not dying at this time then. Why should I be the one to give her?"
"Because I trust you cousin," Leyva seriously said. "You can't die right now. You're still young, 25 years old. You have more years to live free and happy. I'm already 35, I'm quite old you see. And if possible, I'd like you to be by my daughter's side, her personal bodyguard, Captain of the Royal Guard."
Quincy holds the pouch tightly. He was persuaded by Leyva's serious yet soft speaking. Mura, who was only 33 years old, felt insulted upon hearing that.
"Pfft, 35 years of age is already old for you? Piss off." said Mura. Who proceeds to just chuckle it off. Leyva and Quincy laughed happily.
Quincy asked, "Is there anything else I have to do, Leyva-sama?"
"Tell my wife, Carra, that I love her dearly as much as Horrie."
"That is... if I make it out alive haha. I'll do my best to tell the queen though Carra-sama won't be happy to hear this."
"You may not have reached the highest position in the army, but you certainly have the potential to be a great warrior, Quincy-kun. You've been a great cousin."
"Thanks," He smiled.
Leyva and Quincy shook their hands, fist bumped each other, and did their secret handshake. How cute, thought Mura. He looked to the night sky. All of a sudden, a big red glowing projectile was launched above.
Mura pointed to the projectile and said, "What's that?"
The glowing red projectile exploded, creating a bang, emitting red puffy dust in the sky. It was attractive somehow, which gathered the attention of everyone at the forest. All the mercenaries encircling them decided to run away from the battlefield. Every one of them retreated, leaving King Leyva and his diminished army on the dirt road of the Ardennes Forest.
A couple of Jade green soldiers celebrated,
"Yeah!"
"Go run away ya fuckers!"
"Cowards!"
"Woo!"
"Shhhh!" Mura hushed the celebrators. He went to Leyva and said, "This feels very odd. I think it's best if we go back to Findor for your safety, Leyva-sama."
Quincy nodded his head in agreement. "I guess I'm not keeping this pouch anymore, so here—"
"LOOK OUT!"
A Jade green soldier suddenly screamed. From above, a giant projectile in flames is heading towards their position in such speed. Luckily, everyone managed to avoid getting hit by it. The projectile hits the dirt ground, and the flames were put out by the impact. The Jade green soldier comes near to the projectile to examine. "It looks like a giant rock." He said, "... No, it is a giant rock."
Mura also comes to observe the giant rock, looking at it from a distance, he noticed a rune inscribed to it. "Is that a rune?" He carefully observed it further, his eyes sharpen. "Hmmm... I'm quite familiar with this rune. I think it's... A RUNE OF EXPLOSION!" The giant rock exploded, blasting the Jade green soldier away, destroying his body, scattering around the body parts, blood splattered all over, it even hit Quincy's face though he was not disgusted by it.
A Jade green soldier shouted, "THERE'S MORE ABOVE!"
A barrage of flaming giant rocks is in the sky, looking to bombard King Leyva's position and its surroundings. Mura assumes they're all inscribed with explosion runes.
"Run down the dirt road!" shouted Leyva. "Survive the barrage!"
Everyone ran down the dirt road. The barrage of projectiles started hitting them. Explosions were everywhere, blasting their surroundings, hitting some of the Jade green soldiers, hurting them. Some Jade green soldiers went to the woods. "Fools!" Mura said while running. "Don't go to the woods! Trees will fall over you! Fire will spread! It's safer to take this path!" The barrage of projectiles continues to hit them, making running harder for them, eventually hurting a number of Jade green soldiers, 16... 15... 13... 12... their numbers continue to reduce.
Forcefully running, highly exhausted, overworking their legs, losing balance, King Leyva and his men continue to run, hoping for a miracle of salvation. Then, a giant rock hit his position, blasting him away and the others around him, including Mura and Quincy too.
Leyva's body hit a tree so hard, he fell down to the ground, losing his consciousness, his eyes closed slowly.
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After some time, there was no more projectiles in the air. The bombing stopped. A number of mercenaries arrived at the area of bombardment. Leyva heard the steps. He opened his eyes slowly, it was blurry, he couldn't see clearly though there are colors. He kept blinking slowly, feeling so woozy. He thought of going into the woods. Then he tried moving his body but was struggling as it was too painful to do.
"We found them!" A mercenary shouted.
"Kill them all but leave the king alive."
Leyva, who is lying on the ground, looked around him. His vision was still blurry, but he is starting to see clearly in a slow manner. He sees his fellow troops lying on the ground, showing no sign of life, assuming they're dead. Some were still alive, crawling and struggling in pain. Some were standing, but unaware, couldn't even stand straight and kept losing balance, Mura is one of them.
Quincy was nowhere to be seen. Could he have escaped? thought Leyva. One by one, every Jade green soldier who is conscious was slain. Mura, who is standing in a state of little consciousness, suddenly brought out his sword, fighting the mercenaries around him. He refuses to die, one... two... three..., Leyva counted in his mind the number of enemies Mura killed, four... five... six... and so on.
A strong and tall mysterious foe with a black armor and helmet, along with a black aura emanating from his figure, approached Mura. With its left hand, it grabbed him by the neck and raised him from the ground. Mura struggles to breathe, getting choked by the strength this black armored foe possesses. It brought out a great battle axe that it was carrying behind. It looked like it was crafted menacingly, with the color black, and was also emanating a black aura.
It sliced Mura's body; blood was leaking continuously. He was still alive but critically hurt. The black armored foe released him from its left hand. Mura falls down to his knees. He looks up to the foe. It beheaded him using its great battle axe. Mura's head flew to Leyva's side. He stares at the head of his friend and was filled with anger. He tried getting up, bypassing the pain he feels. The black armored foe approached him and knocked him out with a right-hand punch. He falls down unconscious.
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[ Year 1007, Ardennes Forest, 1:30am - Past Midnight ]
"H-hey... I... is... him?"
"Woah!... way... real..."
"We... by... land..."
Leyva hears voices around him, though he couldn't hear them clearly. His hands were on his back, tied with a rope, and was being carried by the black armored foe. They went to a cliff of the Ardennes Forest. Underneath the cliffs was a river flowing harshly, the currents were wild. The height of the cliff and river was very high.
The black armored foe threw Leyva to the ground. "Tch!" he exclaimed. Around him were people, mercenaries rather, the ones that fought his army earlier. He notices that his armor and weapons were stripped off, leaving him with his usual clothes.
"Oh, I suppose we have a king here." A mysterious gray mist appeared in front of Leyva. It morphed into human... no, it didn't look like a normal human, but has a figure of one.
"Who are you?" Leyva spits into the mysterious man's face but ends up hitting the dirt ground in front.
"Heh, you missed."
The mysterious man gave a devilish vibe. He was wearing a sleeveless black tunic and black pants that had thorns, his clothes looked so unordinary. His skin is chalk white, with a handsome face, pretty eyes, thick eyebrows, short eyelashes, well-defined nose, has a snaggletooth, jagged silver-white hair, and a slim and muscular body. He looked vile and wicked but has the figure and features ideal of every woman.
"So, King Leyva, right? May I call you Leyva-san?" he said.
Leyva refrained to speak.
"I'll take that as a yes. Ok... sooo, where do I start? Ah... where is the key?"
Leyva continued to be silent.
"So, you won't speak? You're quite resilient." The mysterious man made a gesture with his head.
The black armored foe walked up to Leyva and punched his gut.
"Hak!" Leyva groaned. He vomited blood. "You're not getting anything from me, you wicked fuck."
"Is that so? Well then... since you insist on the hard way, I might as well bring some familiar faces with you."
Two gray mists appeared, comes out two more black armored foes who brought with them two people, dressed like peasants with each inside a sack. The wicked man turned his right hand into a black blade, cutting the sack.
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Leyva. The two hostages were his wife and daughter—Queen Carra and Princess Horrie, tied with a rope and hands behind. "YOU WHAT?! BUT HOW?!"
Leyva was filled with rage. Carra and Horrie couldn't speak as they had a white cloth on their mouth. It wasn't tied, but it looked like there was magic used that kept the white cloth on their mouth.
"I won't tell you how I got them." he smirked.
"YOU!!! I WILL KILL YOU!" The black armored foe punched his gut again, vomiting blood.
"Now, now, Leyva-san," said the wicked man. "Cooperate with me, please. Just tell me where the key is and I'll let the three of you go."
"It's at Mount Garamond. There is a cave around there. Inside is an iron silver chest, that's where I put the key."
"Is it locked?"
"No, it's not locked. It has a button, just press it and it will open."
"Ok then," The wicked man cuts the rope off Carra and Horrie but doesn't remove the white cloth. They rushed to Leyva's arms, crying in fear.
"It's simple as that. Now go! Also, find a way to remove the white cloth on their mouth. I used magic. I feel lazy to remove it."
King Leyva and his family got up, prepared to leave. The black armored foes don't allow them to do so. They blocked their path and brought out their battle axes. Carra and Horrie were so afraid that they went behind Leyva.
"What is this?!" exclaimed Leyva. He looked to the wicked man and said, "You wicked freak!"
"Did you really think I would let you go easily?" The wicked man laughed vilely. "After all, you called me by who I am, a wicked man!"
The three black armored foes approached King Leyva's family. They all grabbed each of them. Leyva, Carra, and Horrie could not resist the strength of the black armored foes.
"Do what is planned." said the wicked man.
Everyone watched as Carra was beheaded with an axe, instantly dead, her blood splattered everywhere, her body leaks blood like a fountain. Followed by Leyva, who was kicked to the ground, smashed with an axe through his body, critically bleeding yet still breathing. Lastly was Horrie, who saw her parents die brutally, was tied with a rope and put into a sack. Leyva, who looked helpless, watched as his daughter was thrown on the cliffs, falling down to the river. He couldn't do anything to save his daughter. None of the mercenaries had any intention of helping him and instead, they all pitied him.
The wicked man approaches Leyva. He drags him to the edge of the cliff and has him watch his daughter drown. He then said, "By the way, my name is Cardes." Cardes's right hand turned into a black blade. He grabbed Leyva's neck, raising him, and stabbed Leyva through the heart.
Leyva, who was in his dying breathe, saw everything black. A white gleaming silhouette suddenly appeared in his vision, it looked like a girl. Leyva was shocked to see this. He smiled and his eyes were starting to tear. Eventually, his vision was all slowly turning into black.
He mustered all his remaining breathe and said, "Live... Free." Those were his last words. He blacked out and died happily.
Cardes dropped Leyva to the ground. He left the cliffs along with his men. Everything became quiet. Leyva was left there to rot, along with Carra's head and body.
~~~~~~~ End of Prologue ~~~~~~~
