1 Arc 1: Part 1

The World of Wonders. The Tower is the tallest man made structure in existence. It towers 60,000 feet high. It's height is forty times the height of trees from the Tall Forest.

The Horns screamed from atop the stone brick castle walls. A siege was under way. It had been six hours since Ranun's army had set up tents surrounding Falcon Hill. The tents were raised ten feet tall. Half the height of the city walls. Archers stood three men deep that stretched alongside the large city limits. Most of the archers were concentrated on walls above the main city gate. That was where the attack would come.

While tents were scattered all around the city walls, the bulk of them were centered in front of the front gate. Behind one of the tents, Ranun was chatting amongst his two closest allies. His brother Gordon was sitting on a tree log, sharpening his purple dyed sword. Aidan Payne, Ranun's squire, was sitting on the trunk that the tree once belonged to. He was adding kindling to the fire nearby.

Ranun was a tall, six foot five man with short blonde hair. His eyes were a light blue. Aidan was shorter at five foot eleven. His brown eyes matched his hair that dropped to his shoulders. His face came off innocent, in contrast to his sour mouth. The mean looking man was Gordon. His face aged fifteen years older than he actually was. His eyes brown like his hair was tied on the back of his head in a small bun. Ranun looked at the Tower of Levi-most often referred to as The Tower-a tower that reached almost as far above the clouds as the tower was from Falcon Hill. It was an entire kingdom, a great desert, and a narrow ocean apart. The sharp tip that encased the outside of the very top was made of reflective material. He could see an orange tint grow brighter and brighter. The tower could see the sun thirty minutes earlier than the horizon.

"We attack at dawn," Ranun said. He was rubbing his hands over the fire to warm them. "It would be easier to return the cities peace while the sun is out."

"Are you ready to be king?" asked Gordon. "The people desire you, our men and theirs."

"Only the strongest warriors rule the kingdoms," he replied. "All I got is speed and a few people who believe in me."

"You could pass the qualifications for your speed and agility," Aidan intervened. His deep dark voice could grab at the soul of any man. "No king can rule long without his people's support. That's exactly why king Nolan is in this predicament in the first place."

Ranun deep down never wanted to be king. Now, he is about to win the war and is expected to take the crown. "If I have to rule, I will, until I find a more suitable candidate to take my place," he looked at Aidan, hopeful.

Gordon scoffed. "For a thousand years, across all twelve kingdoms, no King has died without his crown," he lectured. "There will be no suitable successor after you, and no man, even has humble as you can give up a crown that easily."

He had no response to that. Ranun was still twenty four years young. His brother was eight years older and two kings wiser. The older brother wore heavy armor, while the younger was in a lightweight set. Ranuns boots stretched half way up his calves, on the outer side of both boots, a shining pink light emitted.

Ranun took a second to lift his left leg on the log Gordon was sitting on. He fastened the straps on the back to make sure it's tight. "Those boots will be the death of Nolan," his brother said. "No man can keep up with a man who can run forty miles in an hour. That's faster than a galloping horse."

"Symond maybe," Aidan chimed in. "He was able to defeat a large Middlemen army at the battle of Black Fort. Afterwards, rumor has it his own men staged a coup to murder him after the battle. Apparently, he was the only soldier left standing that night. His story stretches much before that too. He apparently has never lost a duel in his life."

"Perhaps the king didn't like his brother taking the spotlight, and ordered him dead," Gordon said. "It's a danger if your entire ruleship is based off of strength, and you aren't even the strongest man in your kingdom."

"I've known that man long," Ranun added. "I think his heart is purer than the stories make you believe."

"The stories make the man," said the squire. "And I fear his."

An Arrow struck the tree's log, and another right next to the fire. More and more came down. The tents were set up precisely to be just outside of incredible threat from the barrage. It sounded like heavy rain.

"Dawn has come early," Ranun said. "It seems they have ran out of real archers and have recruited the towns people to defend the city."

"How can you tell?" Gordon asked.

"The arrows are too scattered to be a trained company," Aidan chimed in. "Ranun did well to teach me these little details."

"You must have prepared for this though, haven't you?" the older brother asked Ranun. "You specifically told us to not bring the cannons to this fight."

"I will not kill the innocent, especially the innocent I might rule,"

"You would have our own men killed though?" asked Aidan, bitterly. Although his squire, he would still question his teacher.

"I will have as few deaths as possible this battle. I owe it to the men that serve me to protect them, and the men that will serve me as well," he said. He looked up towards the wall and saw what almost looked like bats flying out of the sky crashing into the floor below. He turned his eyes to his squire. "Aidan, inform the officers that we are to spare as many lives as possible. Kill only when it is necessary."

Aidan got up from his seat and walked away. Gordon had just finished sharpening his sword and sheathed it. "Are you fast enough, you think?" he asked.

"Yeah," he said, stretching his legs. "After half a minute passes after the arrows stop landing, lead our men to the gate, and it will be open."

Ranun took out his sword and raised it in the air. He dropped his arm to his legs, the sword was only a foot off the ground. He takes a few walking steps before he builds up into a fast sprint. Arrows were raining down and he could move faster than they fell. He was in the eye of the storm of arrows for two seconds, and came out the other side unscathed. He was approaching the walls rapidly.

The city watch commander grabbed the cover the walls provided in front of him, astonished by the man who ran through a hundred arrows unscathed. "All aim fire down at him!" he commanded. The orders were followed, but even a round of arrows fired directly at him couldn't catch up with him. He approached so close to the wall that he couldn't be seen from behind the floor of the wall's platform. The platform was crowded with archers, it could only comfortably fit three men from front to back.

"There's seven feet of stone in front of him, and twenty feet above, he can't do anything." one of the archers claimed. Another man drew his bow and bent over the stone cover to look down below, but instead of seeing a man twenty feet below, he saw a sword swing strike his bow, splitting it in half. He had climbed a wall with his feet alone. Then, on the platform he stirred a chaos amongst the city archers. Bows were being sliced in half, and men were being tossed down to roofs ten feet below on the inner part of the wall. The archers started pushing each other out, causing a panic.

On the corner of the wall, an archer drew his bow to fire at the crazed Ranun, but when his ally was in the way, he withdrew. He hesitated, and in an instance, Ranun had lunged over to where he was and split his bow in half with his sword. "A man who values the lives of his comrades will always be a good man in my eyes." Ranun told him. The archer was shocked. Ranun's eyes were looking the other way when he had his bow drawn. Ranun laid his hand on the young boys shoulder. The boy was a good foot shorter than him, but the voice and tone of the tall warrior put a common archer on the same level.

Behind the stuttering of the young archers shock, the watch commander was shouting for his men to shoot. Ranun used the arm that had been laying on the boys shoulder to push him down. Five arrows came his way. He dodged the attack, but three men behind him were struck. One of the men was struck in the leg. Another took two shots in the arm, and the last took one to his skull. Ranun's blue eyes turned red from the dawn that had finally came. His sword was grinding the stone floor below as he set chase for the commander only ten yards away. The commander initially struck with enough fear he took a single backstep, but eventually mustered enough courage to draw forth his own sword. Ranun brought the sword from the stone floor to his right, and brought it to his left to pocket the blade in the air. The commander gave a swing from his left in an attempt to neutralize his strike, but when Ranun's blade came, it's momentum had broken his grip. The blade went flying out of the wall. On the strike, a small cut opens on the commanders cheek.

Ranun grabs the commander by his chestplate and twirls him around. The end of the sword, on its sharp edge, is pinned to the neck of the commander. A small drip of blood is continuing to drip. The hostage looked almost half the size of his taker.

"Order your men to open the gates," he said. The tip of his blade was three inches away from his neck. He would not kill, especially if he could help it. "And we could fight for a better future together."

"Men… I order you," the commander was giving an order, his arms around his neck from where Ranun was grabbing his collar. The archers had their bows drawn, but it was relaxed, as if they were prepared to release it. Before Ranun came to an ease, the commander shouted his order, "SHOOT HIM DEAD."

His voice had pierced the soul of his men, and their bows were full strung. Even Ranun was for a second, shocked. His eyes widened, he brought his blade from the commander's neck to his side. The men almost simultaneously released their strings and unleashed another five arrows. Ranun used the live body of his hostage to block the arrows. Three of the arrows have landed on his torso, and two have missed wide. A second of pause occurred. Their leader gave an order and they followed. That order lead to his own death.

"That wasn't a sacrifice. That was pure suicide." Ranun said. His voice was filled with dread, he could tell the archers were shaken by what they had done. "A bad leader will lead his army to their death. And a good leader will lead them to glory. Drop your bows, walk down the stairs, and open the gate. The sun will shine bright today." He gave a faint smile in a moment of tragedy.

The archers dropped their bows and retreated. Meanwhile, the walls were in chaos. No arrows have volleyed outside of the walls since he had first lead his attack. As the newly recruited archers were walking down the stairs, other archers have approached Ranun. He was ready to go.

No arrows were fired at Ranun, the backstop was too poor to take chances. No one, especially without orders, would want to slaughter an ally. At this point, some of the men silently sided with Ranun. They admired his generosity and the stories of his compassion. Although, they couldn't help but to fight. To duel one of the strongest warriors in the world was an honor every man dreamed of. Fortunately, when the brawl came, Ranun used his sharp edge only to disarm, delegating his bodily strikes to the flat side of his blade, with the occasional use of his blunt edge.

During the brawl, a crowd of noise came louder and louder. The men were under the walls by the gate, roaring as the gate was being lifted up from the archers before. Ranun gave a smile, and the archers surrounding him quivered. Falcon Hill was breached.