4 Citadel
Encara shook Yamada's hand up and down with enthusiasm. Yamada stared wide-eyed, unblinking, with his lips slowly parting and jaw dropping. Encara slowed the shaking down, cocking his head at Yamada, waiting for a reaction. "Uh....are you okay?" He said giving him a concerned look. Yamada nodded his expression frozen. "You..don't want to be a knight?" Yamada shook his head, his expression still frozen in place. Encara let go of Yamada's hand, still shaking up and down with the same cadence.
He took a few steps back, inspecting Yamada from a distance, still with a frozen facial expression, and shaking his hand up and down. "You...you uh take your time to process that information. I'll go talk to Urkse." Encara turned around shaking his head disturbed. He leapt into the sky, like a feather and floated in the air. He proceeded to walk on the air, towards the village, celebrating and feasting on the giant octopus.
Encara found Chieftain Kekoa, congratulating a guardian on being recruited by Urkse. He floated down to their surprise, and glared at the Chieftain. The other guardians quickly left the area, feeling an overwhelming presence bear down on them. "My King, what can I..." Encara's hand wrapped over Chieftain Kekoa's face, and he leapt into the air, dragging him to the battlefield. Encara threw him across the battlefield, lit by the moonlight. Chieftain Kekoa coughed and wheezed rising to his feet. "My king...what have I done?" He pleaded, grovelling on his knees, his body filled with dread and fear.
"I'll ignore your incompetence as a so-called chieftain. I want to know what happened the night of the attack. What happened to the Elves?" Encara growled, standing over Chieftain Kekoa. "They were destroyed by the fiery Ryū."He said confused by the question. Encara scowled, branding Chieftain Kekoa with a blessing. "Repel." He growled. Chieftain Kekoa fell back holding his eyes, frantically waving his hands. "What happened!? Why I can't I see!?" He yelled. "Answer my question, Chieftain, and I will restore your sight...otherwise." Chieftain Kekoa began to writhe on the floor, flailing around desperately reaching out. "WHY CAN'T I FEEL ANYTHING!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?" He yelled. "I will keep repelling, senses away until you answer my question. What happened to the Elves?"
"THEY RAN! THEY TOOK THE WEAPON AND RAN!" He shouted with tears streaming down his face. The brand disappeared and Chieftain Kekoa, looked around ecstatic at his vision returning, feeling the dirt on his skin again. Encara knelt down beside him. "What weapon? Where did they go?" "I was barely a guardian then...the elders....they said the Elven Commander took the weapon and fled. That's all I know I swear! I don't know what the weapon is either." He said scurrying away. "So, he's most likely still alive. Not that he would have died wearing adamantite." Encara said standing up. "I'll be taking Yamada to the Citadel to be trained as a knight. Which means the strongest guardian is leaving Yamata. So I suggest you shape up Chieftain, or you'll learn how I got my name." Encara growled, before taking off to the skies, and leaving Chieftain Kekoa trembling on the ground.
Urkse tore into a grilled tentacle chunk, with bubbling fat dripping into his beard, and not a care to those who watched. Encara dropped down looking at him disgusted. He took a seat beside him, on a Kaioni log that had been painstakingly sanded down. They watched the Islanders party and grill the Octopus over a roaring bonfire.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Encara said. The Islanders guffawed watching Urkse trying to speak to Encara, with his mouth full. Encara could never get use to, Urkse's unpleasantness and boorish, when it came to feasting. Eating something faster, did not enhance the flavour, so why make a mess? "You're not eating? Urkse said sculling from a clay mug. He wiped his beard with his cloak, to Encara's disdain. "You'll never eat seafood this fresh and delicious ever again." Urkse said burying his face into the leg chunk. Encara held his hand behind Urkse's back, readying himself. "The boy has a water affinity, and I'm taking him to the Citadel, to become a Knight under my tutelage." Urkse choked, his eyes bulged, and he entered into a coughing fit. Encara began patting Urkse's back, offering him the clay mug. "The boy has a what affinity? And you did what?" Urkse asked passionately. Urkse had known Encara for over 30 years. In that time no prodigy, genius or phenom mage or knight, had ever been graced with the chance to learn under Encara. The notion itself overshadowed Yamada's affinity, and enthralled Urkse.
"You're going to take a student?" Urkse asked, staring intently into Encara's eyes. He had to see if he was being lied to. "Yes." Encara said nodding, perplexed at Urkse's question. "You. You, Encara, King of Blessings and Curses, will take on a student." Urkse said pointing his finger into Encara's face. He swatted away the finger. "Yes." He said annoyed. "What part are you struggling to comprehend?" Urkse leaned in uncomfortably close to Encara. "Encara, the King of Blessings and Curses, is going to take a student. And that student isn't going to be a mage, but a knight of the Citadel. Can you tell me? What is wrong with that statement?"
"I understand it is strange..." "No, having sex with clothes is strange. This is like picturing Vasha destroying Jux wearing a tutu." Urkse interrupted. "The boy has a water affinity, I've seen the colour of his aura. I could teach him..." Encara paused, seeing Urkse ready to interrupt again. "You have never taught the thousands of knights, or mages that have come to train at the Citadel." Encara raised his finger ready to interject. "And I have to mention the fact that no one knows what the magic circle for water is. So exactly what magic could you teach him, if he can't even open the gate?"
Encara sighed leaning back on the log. Urkse reassured Encara with a pat on his back. Urkse popped the cork from his flask, and created a shiny metal fork from a blob of ink. "I know the boy's affinity is special, and he's different." Urkse said holding the fork in front of Encara. The tines bent and twisted into different directions. "But that doesn't mean he's useful." Urkse said glumly. "He is still coming with us to the Citadel." Encara said. Urkse threw his hands into the air, and rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed groan. He grabbed another chunk of grilled octopus, and devoured it greedily.
Urkse put the chunk aside and held his hand out. "1,000 gold coins, if the boy lasts one month..." He spoke to Encara with chunks of octopus and saliva flying out. "Deal!" Encara said excitedly, shaking his hand, before realizing his mistake. He should have let Urkse finish his wager. "Under the training of Grand Knight Gwyneth." Urkse finished with a smug smile, shaking his hand up and down. Encara winced at the thought. Grand Knight Gwyneth was the fiercest warrior throughout the Citadel. She had earned all titles from battle, Wrath, The Butcher, but the Grand Mages and squires had another name for her. Misery incarnate. "Can I perhaps..." Urkse bellowed and raised his mug to Encara. "We'll leave tomorrow, when the sun is the highest. I look forward to having a heavy coin purse." Encara dropped his head in defeat.
He sulked away leaping into sky, as he walked back to the hut. He noticed an entire Kaioni tree shaking violently. Encara floated down, hearing the rhythmic sound of flesh striking wood, become louder and louder. Yamada stood at the base of the mighty Kaioni tree, digging his fists into the trunk, with a grin from ear to ear. Each strike rattled the mighty tree, with thick bark scattering into splinters. Encara watched on silently from above, floating even lower, not alerting Yamada to his presence. "Just wait mother...I'll find, and then I'll kill him. I'll make sure he suffers." Yamada said, with his canines growing longer and larger. His muscles bulged; his skin shimmered under the moonlight and with a single punch. Yamada punched through the trunk, ripping it out and shook off the splinters. Encara smirked as the tree crashed down and walked back to Urkse. He was lying on his back, with a bulging stomach. Urkse had bits of octopus and melting fat in his beard, he struggled to breathe, and rubbed his aching stomach. Encara stood over Urkse, offering out his hand. "2,000 gold coins, and he becomes knighted by Gywneth herself." Urkse was filled with new vigour and leapt up grabbing Encara's hand. "Deal. Now, leave me to my regret." He groaned falling back down.
The sun crested over the horizon, behind the Oeo, and bathed Yamata in a warm glow. Encara, Urkse, one of the guardians, and Yamada stood at the edge of battlefield. The Islanders all cheered and waved them goodbye to the guardian, ignoring Yamada. Yamada adjusted his cyan and azure Kāṣāya, smiling at the sight of a new day, excited to leave Yamata. "Are you ready to leave?" Encara asked Yamada. He looked over the Maelstrom, seeing the Tundra Prison cresting the horizon. "Will I ever get to come back?" "Home sick already?" Encara jested. "No, I want to know if a goodbye is necessary." "In time, you can return here, when we recruit another armourer." Urkse said. "Then I'm ready to go. I'll be back as a knight." Yamada said confidently.
Encara smiled and clapped his hands together, and Urkse suddenly stopped him. "You cannot warp all of us to the Citadel. Even you cannot move that much arcane energy that distance." Encara rolled his eyes sighing. "Fine, I'll warp us across to the mainland, you can fly us the rest of the way." Urkse nodded, and with a blinding flash of light, the four of them disappeared off Yamata.
They warped to an open plain scarce of anything other than sand and dirt. Encara fell to his knees, huffing and puffing, throwing up. Urkse looked around with Yamada and the other guardian gazing around confused. "Damn it Encara, I told you that even you couldn't warp us the whole way." Urkse exclaimed. Yamada rushed to Encara's side, as he retched and held his gut. "What's happening to him?" Yamada asked concerned. "He strained his body, using too much arcane energy. He'll be fine, after he learns some restraint." Urkse said removing his cloak.
His skin became wrinkly and pruned; his hair became black, his breathing laboured and haggard. Yamada picked Encara up in his arms, feeling barely anything in his arms. He turned around stunned looking at Urkse. His body was hairy and clean of tattoos. Yamada and other guardian cocked their head at him. Urkse popped the cork in his flask, and the wave of ink engulfed him like a tidal wave. They leapt back, hearing a monstrous roar and the ink swirling around him grew in size. The ground cracked and fractured apart, and a giant gold three fingered claw emerged, from the orb of ink. Its claws were the size of Yamada and dug into the ground. With another monstrous roar the swirling orb of ink, turned into giant leathery black bat wings that dripped with ink from the tips. Yamada and the other guardian watched in awe. The long giant black Ryū had a golden mane, running down its spine, all the way to the tuff of its tail.
The Ryū had solid golden eyes with no pupils, its scales bled ink to the floor, and size stretched across the plain. Yamada and the other guardian were star-struck and silent. It turned towards them. Its hot breath sent a cold shiver down their spine. No one on Yamata, could enter into a Draken state on command. The ability to turn into a Draken, was rare amongst the citizens of Jux, and would take one decades to master. They took a step back, the Ryū beat its wings and roared. "Get on." Urkse growled, lowering himself down.
Yamada leapt onto his back with, King Encara asleep in his arms, the other guardian hesitantly walked on. "Try not to fall off." Urkse coiled in and beat his wings, launching himself into the sky, with blistering speed. The other guardian held desperately onto the fur, while Yamada gripped the fur tightly with his toes. He felt a wave of pure bliss and joy, feeling the howling winds blow past him as they soared through the clouds. Urkse could feel the tight grip on his fur from Yamada. It was unnerving to him, how Yamada could stand up right with how fast he was moving.
"Welcome to the Citadel." Urkse said, descending through the clouds. Yamada nonchalantly moved from Urkse's back, to atop his head, using his toes to grip tightly. He gazed down in complete awe at the Citadel. The Citadel was a sprawling kingdom that sat amidst a lush and dense forest, sectioned into three rings, with a large ring wall separating each area. In the middle of the Citadel, at its highest point, sat the giant stone keep for the Grand Mages. The second ring housed the Mages, Squires, and Scholars in training, with bustling vendors and shops. The outer most ring wall stood 100 meters tall, bathed in the warm light of the sun, turning the white bricks a cream colour. The last ring housed ordinary citizens, filled with bountiful and fertile farmlands.
There were six guard towers, and the walls had mages and knights standing along the wall. Mages wore coloured cloaks matching their affinity. Grey for Wind, Crimson for Fire, Emerald for Earth, and Gold for lightning. The knights wore thin silver plate metal head to toe, made of steel, with a long flowing red cape. Emblazoned on their breast plate, was the arcane symbol, the six sided magenta lotus. Urkse flew over the kingdom, which made him look small in comparison, and hovered over the keep. Yamada and the other guardian jumped off his back into a stone courtyard, with Urkse reverting back into human form. He shook his head side to side, and slapped his face. One always had to remind themselves they are human after entering into a Draken state.
Urkse took Encara out of Yamada's hand, and onto his shoulder. "Follow me, I'll show you two, to your quarters." Urkse said walking off with alacrity. Yamada and the other guardian followed on, filled with glee, as they strolled through the stone hall ways. Urkse pointed out a window, down to the second ring, at a valley of blacksmiths and armourers. "You'll be working in there. Remember to not scream." The other guardian cocked his head at Urkse. He popped the cork out of his flask, and created an inky slide to the second ring. Urkse hoisted the other guardian by his lavalava and tossed him head first down the slide.
The other guardian screamed out in terror, as he crashed down to the second ring. The armourers and blacksmiths looked up, disinterested and annoyed. "Stop being so noisy!" one of the blacksmiths yelled. The sound of steel being hammered, grinded, and quenched in oils continued. Yamada stared out the windowed shocked, with Urkse shaking his head annoyed. "I told the boy to not scream. Slides are fun, it was meant to be fun, not scary. Whatever just, follow me." Urkse continued on stroll on. They came across a large wooden door, branded with both a blessing and the curse symbol. Urkse kicked open the door with passion, and tossed Encara's lifeless body across the large room, onto a fluffy bed. He dusted his hands and slammed the door shut. "This is King Encara's room. Always knock and do not attempt to enter, before he gives you permission. Trust me when I say, you don't want to know what happened to the last mage who tried that." Urkse said, shrugging off a visible shudder, before walking off. Yamada took a big step away from the door, and followed Urkse down through the keep.
They left the keep, and entered down into the second ring. The sound of metal on metal clashing started to ring out louder and louder. Urkse lead Yamada down to stone training yard. Several young squires wearing leather armour, over their cotton shirts and leather pants. Their boots covered in grime and dust, littered with scuff marks. Yamada was speechless, watching the squires exchange blows, and drill techniques. He had heard stories about the knights in shining armour, who had helped fight off Vasha's draken army. The squires stopped and bowed to Urkse, before their glares became fixated on Yamada.
It did not bother him, the Islanders always gave him pitiful gazes, or uneasy gazes. They either saw him as the boy who lost everything, or the boy crazy enough to chop down a Kaioni tree with his bare hands. "Where is Grand Knight Gwyneth?" Urkse asked. The squires all felt a cold shiver down their spine, the name invoked fear to them. "She has a new squire." He said with a sly grin, presenting Yamada to them. They all started to laugh, with Urkse joining in, to Yamada's confusion and worry. "What's wrong with Grand Knight Gwyneth?" Yamada asked his body filling with dread.
"You'll see soon enough." Urkse said. "Grand Knight Gwyneth, is meeting with armourer Abaddon. She only just left." One of the squires said. Urkse bowed and quickly left with Yamada following behind him. The other squires were young and fresh faced, the same age as Yamada, but they all gave him a look of sinister glee. Urkse was short for a man, but moved with great speed. Yamada struggled to follow, getting lost at the sight of bustling markets, assaulted by the sounds of hammers on steel, and bombarded by the new scents of spices. "Keep up boy. I'd rather catch Gwyneth when she's happy." Urkse said walking with haste. Yamada followed on with people giving him strange looks. They entered into a large desolate area; the ground had a layer of dirt and grime, with only one set of heavy foot prints in them. Gwyneth stood in front of large soot covered workshop in her new armour. Her silver plate armour was the definition of sleek and regal elegance. With layers of interlocking metal, a long flowing emerald cape, that had a long sword imprinted onto it. "Gwyneth!" Urkse called out. She nodded to the armour and walked over to Urkse and Yamada, with her helm tucked under her side. Even with her slender armour, she still cracked the stone floors beneath her, with each step.
Yamada was completely enthralled at the sight of her, as she towered over Urkse, and had a head over Yamada. She had the face of a sculptured goddess, with matching porcelain skin. Her eyes shone a lilac, and platinum blonde hair was cut into a messy bob, that touched the nape of her neck. "What do you want Urkse." She growled. Urkse let out a nervous chuckle, stepping behind Yamada, and pushing him forward. "This is your new squire." Gwyneth glared at Yamada, who was still gawking at her. "I don't take squires anymore." She said disinterestedly and walked away.
"You should know that Encara, wanted to take him as a mage originally." Urkse said. Gwyneth froze mid step, and planted her sabaton down. "He was?" Yamada asked shocked. She turned around locking her knight's helmet down. "What is your name boy?" She snapped, like the veteran she was. Yamada jumped to attention, with a cold shiver down his spine. "Yamada Ken!" He replied with his voice cracking. She opened her arms out, baring her chest at him. "Hit me." "Uhhh, should I?" Yamada asked, looking to Urkse for reassurance. "Don't look at me. Personally I wouldn't, but she gave you an order."
"Are you scared? Are you not strong enough to hurt a woman?" Gwyneth said goading him further with a smug smile. "Abaddon, give the boy a weapon!" Gwyneth ordered. A rusted pair of gauntlets flew through the air and fell beside Yamada, cracking the ground on impact. He knelt down by the gauntlets buried in the rubble. "If you can't lift those, I'll be leav..." She stopped, watching Yamada pull the gauntlets out of the rubble, with ease and dusted them off. Urkse gave them some room, while Yamada inspected the gauntlets. The metal was rusted, and the leather torn and frayed. These gauntlets had seen many battles, and been stained with blood and sweat, like a battlefield. He clenched his fists tightly, lowered himself, and cocked it back. "I'm not going to get in trouble for hurting you right?" Yamada asked. "If you actually hurt me, I'll become your wife. How does that sound?" Yamada stepped in, the ground shattered under his feet, and Gwyneth raised her vambraces blocking the blow. She slid back through the stone floors, quickly counter attacking with knee to his gut. He retched in pain. She grabbed his Kāṣāya pulling him in for a headbutt.
Gwyneth cracked his nose with her helmet, knocking him unconscious. She tossed him aside, her arms shaking and trembling. She let out a titter and smiled at him. "Take him to a blessed, and tell him that training begins at dawn tomorrow." She said walking away. Urkse slung Yamada over his shoulder. "I believe congratulations are in order." She turned at him, as he smugly pointed at her shaking arms. "Are you going to tell me that didn't hurt?" She reached behind her, and Urkse quickly ran past her. "HE'LL BE THERE AT DAWN!" He shouted as he fled.
Urkse dropped Yamada off with the blessed. The blessed were men and women, who wore white robes, embroidered with the symbol of blessing magic. "The boy needs to be up at dawn. He'll be training with Grand Knight Gwyneth." Urkse ordered. "We will take care of him. And please let know King Encara, that Jacara is here and resting." The male blessed said. Urkse nodded and left as the blessed went to work, and moved Yamada to a room shared by Jacara. He hopped out of his bed, adjusting his baggy linen clothes inspecting Yamada, and scoffed. He was taller than Yamada by a fifth's digit, with a lighter complexion and less muscles. Those were the only physical difference he could see between them. "We're bringing Islanders to become knights now? How low are you going to reach Father?" He whispered to himself, clenching his fists and teeth.
