Epitaphs under the Red Sky

A lone man stands at the edge of the ruins of Thantias, city of Pacts. A large coat covers his frame as he pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from his side pocket. He glances at it and looks once again into the wasteland that is set before him. Decrepit buildings litter the horizon as dusted winds blow over the empty streets. But beyond the death that once emptied this place, small signs of life still lingered. Tools, plates, utensils, located neatly where they would be expected. Clothing and armor, some neatly folded in isolated rooms and others left scattered along the pavement. War had been a recent visitor to this once renowned city and as it left, nothing remained standing.

The man walks slowly to the center of the city, marked by a large monument. A statue of a man, a hero perhaps with scars running along the side of his face. His right fist raised high in a sign of victory as several beings surround him. These beings though, most would show human-like features but why would they have wings? Scales and flames running through their skin as though it were normal? This was no mere man embodied here on the cold stone figure before him.

"It can't be..." The man says as he takes steps backward. He has heard of this before. A city ravaged, emptied and razed for the sake of a man. A man with an impossible skill an ability lost in the stream of time and seconds before he remembers just what it's called, he eyes just exactly what it is.

THE HERO OF THANTIAS

AN OATH TAKER BEYOND MEASURE

Another set of words were below, scratched or slashed beyond recognition. He thinks back to the day the city was invaded by Radicans, Bremians and members of the Circle. It wasn't a war. It was a massacre. Innocents dying everywhere as they hunted for all of them, but most of all, this man that stood immortalized in front of him. The Oath Takers. But, was such a reason enough for war? For death? To them, this was the best reason for it, for they all feared the power and ability of the Oath Takers. For what is fear but lack of understanding of something strange and beyond explanation. And what better way to deal with a tangible fear but destroy it?

As the war progressed, the city was left for the dead, the wild and the corrupt. It had faced a fate worse than complete utter destruction. It took three months for the armies lead by the Circle to kill the hero of Thanitas, the last Oath Taker left in the city.

Trekking away from the city the man looks back one last time as he really takes in what the power of one man can cause. What the misunderstanding of a people can bear. And what Oath Takers are really made of. Resolved and sure, he cracks out a toothy grin as he is now sure that he has to do what he has to.

"The last Oath Taker shall be mine." He says, fist raised to the sky. The city of Thantias mourning over him as he readies himself for the challenge ahead. He would find the last Oath Taker, and become the most feared man in the world. And only then could he, a man who had lost everything, have the absolute power to get what he so desired back. Only then could he fulfill his promise. Only then could he die in peace.