7 Warriors Approach

The sun was up above the skies, literally scorching every inhabitants of Gaia-Seven beneath it who had no shelter to cover themselves. Roads on the grounds were sizzling with heat. There existed not a single drop of water on the ground. Some poor travelers were even dying of severe dehydration and heatstroke.

Despite such nature's fury, a horde of war-bikes pressed onto their destination along the road, with their engines booming as the bikers speeded up. Every living things, even the shadows of horrid creatures, cleared the way for the bikes, since they created a scenery formidable for any mortal eyes to behold. Among the leading pack there was Gael up on the front, riding her bike faster than any other barbarians behind her. In the following group there were Prince Aelthred and his honor guards. There, he received crucial transmissions and reports from other biker packs, while looking out himself for any possible danger approaching his warriors.

"Gael, status report. Speed of the Divines." Aelthred ordered.

"I got no visuals on our possible threats for now, my lord. Aye, there are still some critters barely of any worth following us, as a matter of fact." She reported to the Prince.

"Good, indeed. Keep your eyes and sensors peeled." Said Aelthred.

"Gruhngar, status report on our 6 o'clock. Speed of the Divines."

"Aye, my lord. No possible threats dare to tag along us."

"Very well. I shall be counting on you till we reach our goal." Said Aelthred, after receiving the report.

Aelthred reached out his left hand for his comm-link on the neck. "To all brothers and sisters in arms: We shall reach Governor Rothgarr's palace in about 2 hours. Keep up the speed, not faster nor slower, and stay on your guards, for our journey on steed is still yet to be over." So ordered the leader.

Rothgarr's stronghold, or the palace, was located in the south-eastern region of his dominion, surrounded by a number of manors that were under his rules. The structure of his stronghold looked quite plain compared to the other housings of lords in the Empire. Yet, there was enormous wealth and treasures kept inside, hidden deep in the impenetrable safe within the building. It had been said among ancestors of the planet that one cannot judge the other only by his or her looks; this worked the same for the Governor's place.

Rothgarr was looking at the gang of huge war-bikes approaching his place from afar. With him in the office there were his vassals and knights, Cardinal Esteban, Farth the jester, and some other men-at-arms guarding the place. They were all waiting, too, for the barbarians to come. Esteban, truth be told, was quite surprised at the sudden change of his lord's mind overnight. Indeed, he was curious about the reason for such rapid change in his attitudes. Yet, he decided not to delve any further. What really mattered to him was accomplishing his vengeance on the abomination, not digging into his lord's intentions without any reason.

The Governor's face was a mixture of concerns and anxieties altogether. He needed to settle the things down with Glen-gohr once and for all; he could no longer put his entire dominion and its people in danger. But then, Rothgarr thought to himself, what other reasons would there be to kill it? Were they truly all about the safety of his servants? Was he possibly hiding some other things from his own people and even himself? Rothgarr then made up his mind not to answer them.

The barbarians were now riding on the narrow countryside road in a line. With strict orders from the Prince not to disturb local residents in the area, Their war-bikes maintained the speed of 40 kilos per hour all the time. Some locals were astonished, while others being terrified, at the exotic looks of the tech-warriors marching on their iron steeds. The warriors did not intimidate, nor even turn their faces on them, for it was one among their codes of honor not to harm civilians. They kept their eyes on the prize, the Governor's palace ahead of them.

In only 30 minutes, the tech-warriors and tech-maidens had finally arrived. A metal door to Rothgarr's office was opened. The mercenaries came into the room in lines, with Prince Aelthred leading them up in the front. At last, the Governor and the barbarians met each other in person.

Aelthred talked first. "Greetings, Governor Rothgarr. I am Prince Aelthred from the land of Geats, the eldest son to King Aelfred who rules all the Geats in universe for their wellness and prosperity, one among the most ferocious warriors the planet has to offer, a commander of hundreds of tech-warriors and tech-maidens, and now a venerable leader of these men and women of valor behind me."

"Greetings, Prince Aelthred, the son to great King Aelfred, the fearsome warrior with prowess to behold, and the leader of mercenaries who shall hunt down the monster for me and my dominion. I am Rothgarr, a son to late Sir Angarath who had once been one of the tech-warriors from north and had served the Holy Empire of 3-Divines and His Majesty for the past 45 years. With the loyal legacies of my father passed down unto me, I served in my youth as one of the glorious tech-knights true to 3-Divines, and now I hold a scepter of Governors in service for His Majesty, humbly ruling this north-western region of the Empire." Rothgarr said in return to the courtesy of Aelthred.

Right after the Governor finished his words, Farth, with all the sudden, jumped into the middle of Aelthred and Rothgarr.

"Greetings to you, Prince Aelthred. I am Farth the jester, a son to late Flint the cook who died with his head stuck in the oven, a servant of master Rothgarr since the youth, a joker famous for his fine humors, a jolly friend to anyone of this entire land!"

Rothgarr's face was greatly twisted with perplexity and anger on his jester. However, before Rothgarr was able to say something, or even to shoot plasma in Farth's face, the royal jester continued with his lines.

"Yet, I must say I am quite displeased with your being late despite your fame as a man of his words. What would be the excuse for such discourtesy, might I ask? Did you happen to wait up for someone gone to toilet while on the road, Hmm? Did you ever take a wrong direction on the way up here? Or even, did you come to face Kraken while sailing on the seas?"

Both sides, the barbarians and the Governor's people alike, were in great shock at the insane boldness the jester just showed to the Prince. Rothgarr and his vassals knew in prior he had sorts of mental defects since his birth, but still this went too far. Gael, with her tech-axe now kept in safety outside the office, chocked up the shells in her gauntlet's powder chambers to blow up the jester's face. However, Aelthred, a noble hero, kept her from further feeding ammunitions into the war-gear. Instead, he gave a gentle smile to his mocker.

"My fellow jester, you should be curious in nature why we, the tech-warriors and the tech-maidens of honor, were late for our meeting. I fear you might pass out upon hearing what I intend to tell you from here on, but yet I cannot help feel obliged to do so. Thus, here is our story; listen well."

"On the treacherous seas we were fighting off the terrible storms and waves of the ocean just as to save your people from the talons of Glen-gohr, to keep our ends of the deal for the sake of the honor. Would there be no other things else except for these vicious storms then I have no further stories to tell. Yet, there was at that time more than the nature's wrath upon us; there appeared Kraken out of nowhere right in front of us. Yes, you were right about your inquiries on the legendary sea-monster. We met Kraken on our way to this place."

"I had no other options at the moment but to face my terrible foe in person. I only took my exo-skeleton and the ancient tech-sword of mine to the duel. I relentlessly swam deep into the seas in the pursuit of my enemy. I endured all the water pressure the ocean could ever give unto me. I faced Kraken alone in the water, evaded every assaults made with its tentacles, dived into the hellish pit that was its mouth, and then shredded its flesh from the very inside. I was covered with its filth, but yet I was victorious, glorified, and then hailed as a ripper of Kraken's flesh, a spiller of the monster's blood!"

"Now I shall ask you in return. In your life, ever in thy miserable life, have you at least once accomplished anything that would match with such feats of mine? Could you possibly ever have enough courage to face any of the demons such as Kraken? Do you truly think you would ever wield the heavy war-gears of tech-warriors and tech-maidens even a bit? No, my friend. I don't think so."

As such, he personally gave Farth the very reason of his being late for the appointment. The poor jester now barely had a strength to keep him standing on his feet. He then moved back into his place, only to be held by the guards right after.

"Take him out of my sight. Whip that son of a bastard until he seems to truly know where he belongs." Ordered Rothgarr.

Rothgarr now looked into the face of the victor against Kraken. Upon hearing the Prince's testimony on his unbelievable feats underwater, the Governor saw a shimmering light of hope for his soul. This barbarian might be the one who could save his dominion, his own life, and even his essence from eternal damnation. This warrior might be the only salvation. He, Prince Aelthred of Geats, was the one who could correct his mistake of the past.

"Now, with that matter solved, the time has arrived that we talk the issues on Glen-gohr." Said Rothgarr.