JURAD'S LAST HURRAH

Jurad Baltherix's pov

Jurad Baltherix, a fake name, one I gave myself a long time ago, I was born on what is usually referred to as the free nation of Skavos by those who only know where it is on the map, or rather the pirate Isles by those who have visited it a despot for murders smugglers looters and the world's most wanted far removed from the power of the Don's association it's said that an ancient and proud civilization one called it home but due to the small amount of land there their resources soon proved inadequate to support their population, in order to survive the king charged its navy with the right to collect taxes from those who passed through their straights, the taxes funded the kingdom the navy was more invested in, the navy grew more powerful, it seized more from travellers and the kingdom flourished, before you know it the captains of a single fleet had a crew whose power was comparable to members of a Don's guild and their admiral's had enough power to wage war, and with that power came despotism, rather than taxing travellers the sailors would simply overpower trade ships and galleries looting them from mast to port and leaving the poor crewmen penniless the beautiful region around the Isles which was once known as the great blue got a new name, The straights of terror, as the captains and the admiral's grew in power the royal family grew weaker and weaker, and as the old saying goes you give them and inch they take a yard, honestly I was shocked a rebellion didn't happen sooner, Legend says Rehyeim the cruel raped each of the former Kings 16 daughters in from of him while he had the old man naked and hovering over hot coals with his testicles only a foot away from burning whether or not it's true I'll never know even I'm not old enough to have seen it but I do know that if that the worst Rehyeim did then he was a Saint compared to the some of the people living there today, it was that location where people who hell was too good of a place for that I grew up in, after the fall of the black empire those who traced desent from there were hunted all over the world, the lucky ones were killed, the others ended up in chains sold as slaves to the highest bidder, but slavery is illegal in the Dalmatican continent(at least openly) but as far as the pirate Isles are concerned what's one more sin against humanity, my mother was one of such people she found herself catered off to that hell hole and was put on auction, a beautiful woman possessing the typical features of our people black hair and blue eyes but when she smiled she seemed to transcend the rest of us, various sea Lords(what the fools styled themselves as) bid for her, the winner had his throat slit 2 days later by a rival, one who took everything he had as well including my mother, I honestly don't know who my father was, it should have been the sea lord who killed his rival but growing up I had seen that same man allow his most trusted advisors use her as they please for being faithful to him needless to say that a topic I'd rather have buried, but what I do know is that I loved my mother and she loved me, even though I was born from a twisted act as the child of an equally twisted man she would always tell me the same thing

"you are my son, I carried you myself and that's all that matters"

doing so with a smile no one should have in her situation, the only other times she smiled like that was when she regaled me with tales of her homeland, about the Kings and hero's of the past, their strife their victories and their glory but she always skipped the most important part

'mommy how did we lose'

a five year old me asked her one day, she looked heart broken as she answered

"not everyone likes hero's,while some people are just jealous of them, others wish to see them fall a combination of both brought us down, as powerful as we were we weren't omnipotent"

she then wrapped her arms around me and said

"your father is already starting to take notice of your talents and you'll soon be made into one of his champions, whatever you do please do not get cocky, do not fall my precious boy"

it was as she said, the warlord who had raped her first was the master of the fighting pit, a makeshift coliseum where people of all ages where put to fight or die for the amusement of his subjects and at 5 years old I had already displayed my penchant for fighting, he had me trained carefully and fastidiously making sure to let me know that this was all to earn my keep, 2 years later I made my debut and I fought, I fought beautifully, I fought desperately and I fought ruggedly and as I grew in strenght so too did my challenges but I didn't let that stop me and eventually I earned his favour, I became his most celebrated warrior he would go around bragging that my strenght came from his blood running through my veins, liar my strenght came from my mother from her people and all of their challenges but back then, I didn't have the balls to say so, I was 22 when it happened the bastard had gotten old and weak everyone was already wondering when he would die, he had dozens of children but none felt more suited for his throne than I but if given to me so long as I knew he was dead I would burn it to the ground, when it became apparent that I had no interest in his throne all hell broke loose I was still his precious dog as such I dutifully slaughtered all those who came for his throne until there was no one else hell I even expanded his influence and when his enemies found out that couldn't get past me they decided to go around, they went after my mother, they're plan was to use her to blackmail me but my mother would rather die than be a weakness for her only son I ended up finding her after she took her own life and behind me came her rapist

"my, she's a pretty one, a little old for you but still, anyways do as you've been doing and I'll get you a new one"

it felt like the world had stopped as I asked

'wha.., what do you mean'

he rolled his eyes saying

"oh please boy I've heard the rumors, they say you've never touched any of the women I sent you they say its because your pecker's so small your ashamed to show it but I've seen you naked it's obvious that none of those girls were simply your type and with the way you're looking at this broad even a skipper can tell that you like older women"

he proclaimed gleefully like he had said the most obvious thing in the world, yet I still stared at him blankly

"you got it wrong boss"

"what"

one of his attendants had decided to correct him

"this girl is one of yours, she's his mother"

he said to the still dumbfounded idiot

"oh really"

he said with a look of realisation

"ahh I see, that sucks I guess"

I blinked a bit not sure of what I had heard, as I recall the scene I find myself embarrassed at the fact that I expected better of that human trash

'you guess, isn't there anything else'

"anything like what"

he said annoyance in his voice

'won't you say something to her'

I said desperation in my eyes

"something like what, listen kid broads like this, they die all the time, honestly your lucky she's still in one piece I get that she's your mother but trust me it don't matter that much I mean if you saw what happens to my mother you'd have barfed, course I was the one who killed her but still the truth is....."

his words were cut short, I cut it short, faster than he could realise I cut of his head, he had come with two of his cronies, when the first one registered what had happened he charged at me

"BASTARD"

he screamed as he swung his sword, my spear flashed faster than him and sent his severed hand flying into the air he fell on the floor screaming, his mouth spread wide open according to his bellows but I shoved my spear right into it ending that wretched noise, the other went on one knee and said

"I'll serve you"

or something along those lines I didn't really care since I placed a kick at him completely obliterating his head amd for a moment I felt free, the man who I had lived in fear of for years was nothing but a headless corpse and it was the easiest fight of my life, that freedom disappeared as quickly as it came once I clutched the corpse of my mother, as I let my tears flow freely I asked my self why, why did this have to happen, why me, why us is it because we were weak, no I'm strong everyone said so I could fight I was undefeated yet I still ended up here, my mother was strong too, even after going through all that she kept on smiling, there was no way she was weak after going through all that, then why did this have to happen to us

:it's because of them:

I heard a small voice, I spread my senses outwards but I didn't register anyone

:it's because of the world, the world that was jealous of us of you:

the same voice spoke to me, it sounded comforting, like it was truly sorry for all that had happened even though it wasn't its fault

'what do I do, what do I do for her'

I found myself asking, the voice replied form deep inside my soul

:you get revenge, not just for you and her but for all of them, all of your people who didn't deserve this:

'what's your name'

I asked, a stupid question in retrospect

:me, I have no name, I am simply a will one that was born from your thoughts one that speaks to you directly on what you truly want to do, I have no need for a name, whenever you can't tell what you truly want dig deep inside yourself and you'll find me waiting to give you the truth, you on the other hand are special, you are a being of a blessed bloodline, you wish to save your people to be a hero, to bring justice, to be, an avenger, you need a name a true one:

I thought for a moment completely forgetting that disembodied voices sounding only in your head was a bad sign and said

'my mother named me Jurad for a character in a heroic tale my father had no last name but I shall call myself Beltharix as in unyielding for that same character never yielded to strife or suffering'

I couldn't see the voice but I could swear it smiled as it said

:an apt name for one who will meet both, never yeild Jurad and male sure to win:

that was where my journey started, I quickly exterminated the remnants of my father's faction and left it to the crows and then I left that shit hole and made it to the main land, for 30 years I sold my services as a mercenary never staying in one place for too long and researching on what I could about the empire but never once did I stop training and eventually my my training was rewarded, the darkness Arcanum finally came to me and with that came the ability to apply for the most coveted position in the world but I didn't rush towards it instead I spent the next century training to master my powers and improving the odds of achieving my greatest dream, the revival of the black empire i met many opponents some with Arcanum's of their own but all were weaker than me and none wanted a part of my dream, that was until I met him a white haired young man who looked like he had been running from something and after we fought, he lent me his ear and heard all that I had to say, his reply was way outside of my expectations

"hahaha haha, you're funny old man, say how about we work together for a while"

I jerked up and instantly regretted it, a sharp pain rang through my chest, I touched it expecting to see blood on my hands but instead they were clean I Tore off my shirt and saw that there was only a faint scar present, I was sure I had been spit in half almost throughly but it seems healing magic had been enough to save me but the pain was still there

"you're awake"

I heard a voice and turned towards it, reclining against what seemed to be an artificially created stone slab was the 2nd Don of Trident, he looked worn out like someone who hadn't slept in a week but his eyes still had some sharpness as he stared at me and said

"let's talk old man"