Heirs of Flame

Helia entered the underground angrily gritting her teeth as her golden armor smoldered and only ashes remained of her white cloak. Beside her was the knight with the large iron tower shield. The large knight wore bulky black armor, wearing a barrel-type helmet unlike the normal hoods and round helms the other shadow knights wore. He stood tall over Helia, his shield raised high to defend against any manner of attackers. Two of the cloaked knights flanked them as they entered through the castle's back gate and onto the underground passage. Stone stairs lead to an underground structure, two torches on the walls beside the entrance.

"We're here, leave us." She ordered, the two knights bowed their heads and then disappeared from sight. The shield knight lowered his giant shield, he held a large mace in his other hand. "I told you, I don't need your protection, I could have walked back alone." Helia remarked. The knight stood in silence. "Speak your mind." She stated. "From my own my personal assessment, it appears that you were unable to defeat the deserter and his companions." Helia sighed. "I was foolish to combat them on my own and underestimated their abilities. The next time we encounter them, they will face the might of the kingdom's hidden flames." She raised and then clenched her fist.

As she began to walk away, the large knight still stood in the hallway. "Anything else?" She asked him. "They want to see you. It's urgent, apparently there's been some recent developments that need your immediate attention." The knight replied. "Fine then. I'll be in my chambers; I will go to them post-haste afterwards." The knight bowed, and then Helia walked further into the hallway.

The underground was constructed out of beige-colored stone, the area was damp, and water was slowly trickling down some of the walls. It was a narrow hallway, allowing for two or three persons to be present at one spot, it also had a low ceiling as well. Torches were mounted on the walls, as openings to various rooms lay across the structure. She walked to the end of the long hallway and entered the spacious room. Helia closed the heavy wooden door behind her, and then barred and locked it. She sighed and then walked further into the room.

There was a round basin constructed in the end of the room, like a pool but devoid of water. She removed her pauldrons and then her gauntlets and set them aside beside the pool, and then removed her breastplate right after. She and sighed as she stepped into the basin. She walked into a shin-deep pool of oil and then closed her eyes. She held out both of her palms facing downward, then she produced a coin sized ball of fire from each of them.

The small fires then dropped towards the ground, setting the oil beneath her ablaze. She then held her arms close to herself and then closed her fists. The fire then rose and wrapped around her, covering her in flame. Helia closed her eyes as she was bathed by the fire, she focused and went still as the fire burned brightly around her. She went still, and the fire did not even so much as singe her or the clothes she was wearing.

She recalled the battle she had earlier. Metas, Ellyn and Yuria, all competent fighters to her, with some techniques that were unique and unknown to her. In her mind, the three were surrounded by dark shadows, and she was the light that would expunge them. She had her doubts about Metas when he first joined the shadow knights and perceived a layered shadow upon him. She thought back to when she held Metas in her grasp, she could have set him alight or completely crushed him, but she had refrained from doing so.

From the fire she was covered in, she stretched her arm out and placed her hand on the side of the pool of oil. In frustration, she grasped the solid stone and crushed it, but as she lost composure the fires began burning closer and closer to her. She redirected the flames to only make contact with her wound, the spot where Ellyn's bolt struck. As her wound was cauterized, she gritted her teeth and sucked in air, and then the flames abated as she regained her composure once more.

She thought back to the fight earlier, the shadowy monstrosity that she fought and cast down with her flames. At first, she was uneasy, but believed in the power of flame. When she was gripped by a slight fear, she rushed headlong into battle undaunted. She recalled the words of her mother: 'It is useless to cry and cower at the sight of darkness, but you must simply laugh in its face.' Helia then looked upwards and laughed for a short while.

As the fire began to recede, she looked down and at the wall and saw her own shadow. She threw a ball of fire at it, before looking away and stepping out of the pool. Helia walked into the large room with a new set of shining golden armor and wearing her white cloak. The towering knight was waiting for her by the door and followed her as they went to the council's meeting room. They were seated above rows of empty wooden chairs in a spacious room that could serve as court or auditorium. There were four podiums where the superiors sat in front of, but one was unoccupied.

At both of the entrances of the location and standing on the steps leading up to highest point where the council sat, were knights in white armor, their faces covered. They stood with lances and seemed to barely react and merely stood guard. Sat at the high podiums were: a robed old man, a middle aged man wearing thick furs and sturdy metal armor, and a woman near Helia's age, wearing a delicate and lavish red dress unsuitable for long journeys. "So, you were unable to capture or deal with the target?" The old man from the center podium asked her. "The shadows didn't deal with it?" Helia asked.

"According to their reports, an unknown figure suddenly entered the battlefield and brought them away, their speed was even too much for the shadows to give chase." The elder had a weathered and wrinkled face. He had sunken eyes and a serious expression, he wore a long black robe with red stripes going down his sleeves and his torso. He had a long flowing white beard but had not one hair on the top of his head. "Tch." Helia remarked. "Now, we still have even more unfortunate news. We sent Endro out to quell a bandit threat in a village where they attacked, and we haven't heard from him since, he is presumed to be incapacitated or deceased." The armored man on the council remarked.

He had a grim expression, as if he had grown tough but weary after countless battles. "You sent him there without consulting with me first?" Helia asked them. "It was just some bandits, who would've thought he couldn't handle it? We even sent one of the finest shadows to accompany him." The third council member, a young woman with eyes with a deep green hue sarcastically stated. She sat cross-legged on her chair and had a smug expression, even more than Helia. "You wouldn't have sent him out on a low priority mission, no simple bandit could have killed him. What are you hiding from me?" Helia asked, disgruntled.

"As you know the bandit problem outside of the city's outskirts have been since a longtime issue. The rabble always fought amongst themselves, and posed no serious threat against the kingdom itself, until we've had reports that they congregated under a new leader. He brought the bandits to their knees, and they say he uses inhuman sorceries, a heresy against the kingdom." The old man stated. "And why didn't I hear of this?" She asked. "We felt that this matter was yet too small to be addressed with those outside the council. So now you're hearing of it." The bearded warrior responded.

"We didn't want to interrupt your little witch hunt. Burning down entire villages, killing off masses, all for one man?" The woman stated. "I haven't submitted my report yet of my recent battle with him. He used dark witchcraft; he conjured a wing of flesh out of his back. He was accompanied by a witch herself; I've experienced their magic firsthand as I battled them." Helia argued. "And now they're gone. There are knights that have defended the village where the bandits attacked. You are to go there, do reconnaissance, and take stock of the situation. It's a pressing matter that could threaten our kingdom if all the riffraff gathered, it would surely be troubling." The old man stated. "What about the others? Am I the only one available for this task?" She asked. "The kingdom could be a target for an ambitious bandit leader such as he, so Alfred shall stay here and enforce protection should the need arise." The armored man answered.

"Alroc is still dealing with 'most important' matters." He looked over to the empty podium where someone no longer stood. "And our 'eastern warrior' is hard at work at his ever-continuous task of felling ancients, he will not be put to this task." The warrior remarked. "We are stretched thin. Two of our most skilled shadows have been laid low, we need not delegate you unnecessarily." The old man continued. "You're forcing me to go there?" Helia asked, stepping forward aggressively.

At once, the council knights all turned towards her with their lances pointed, the shield knight stepped forward and raised his shield at them. The woman raised her hand and the knights returned to their original positions; the shield knight also backed away. The woman on the council smiled and said: "The young knight captain Sethan was involved in the village's defense. There must be some benefit in interacting with him with your search." Helia returned to a more neutral stance. "Understood." Helia responded. She turned around and began to walk away when the woman began to speak again. "What we do is for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of the flame." Helia stopped walking, but did not say a word and then continued towards the door.

Outside the castle, as she boarded one of the carriages along with a few of the shadow knights she looked over to a nearby building separated by the castle's stone wall. It was the location where the knight recruits were being trained, both trainees and orphans picked up by the knights of the kingdom. She remembered vividly her first encounter with Metas, and Siegmund the one who recommended him. As the carriage traveled and moved across the countryside, the rumbling of it against uneven roads did little to distract her from her thoughts.

She thought about when she came searching for Metas in the shanty village, when she stood over the terrified townsfolk. She was gleeful in watching them beg for mercy and grovel on the ground, they posed little threat to her flame. She remembered when one of them stood and charged at her blindly, perhaps lashing out was the only response they had to an overwhelming presence. Of course, she turned them to ash in seconds, in her mind they were nothing but another piece of darkness to be erased.

She laughed to herself within the moving carriage, the shadow knights did not seem to notice or care. "What did he hope to do against me." She said to herself. She recalled as one after the other, they charged and raised arms to attack her, in a desperate act of revenge or rage. "Yes, they were all evildoers, they all raised their weapons against me." She continued speaking quietly to herself. "More shadows expunged, more fuel for the flame." She stated it like a mantra. She remembered the man who groveled in front of her, who begged her to spare them. She threatened him like she did to the others, but under his garb was a concealed dagger, one he held but desperately wanted her not to see. She disposed of the threat as quickly as possible.

"What a vain and desperate attempt, all their lives thrown away for…" She remembered what the flame nomad said about each one's flame and shadows. "To them, I was the darkness threatening to swallow their flame whole, and they tried to burn away the shadows." She paused. "I am the kingdom; I am the flame. To me, all else are shadows who seek to extinguish me." The other shadows were silent still. Suddenly, there was a knock coming from the front of the coach. "We're here." The coachman remarked.

They stepped out of the carriage, and then Helia saw the still burning village, damaged and destroyed from combat. She looked at the remainder of the knights, weathered and beaten with Sethan standing tall as their leader. One of the knights called from a nearby village approached her. "Uh… Here is the report, the accounts we've gotten from the citizens and the knights." She looked at him and he stepped backwards on instinct. She took the piece of paper and then the knight immediately turned and walked away.

She began walking towards Sethan but as she read the reports, she smiled in discovery of a detail written within. But she noticed the burning buildings, and the knights and the people working to get the townsfolk to safety. 'I am the kingdom, and its flame.' She supposed as the people of the kingdom were part of the 'flame', every person was a small ember in the fire. She looked around at every person, the knights, and the civilians alike, and said: "A flame burns within them too."

She raised her hands and began pulling the flames from the houses and extinguishing them in the air. "They did this. Those who are the darkness who lurk in the shadows of my flame. They shall all burn all the same." She then formed a wide grin on her face. After the people of the town were rescued and gathered, and Helia had talked with Sethan and Asralyn. And after, Endro's flower had been reclaimed and gathered, and put into a bag. She had stayed behind to marvel at the destruction that had befallen the small village. Smashed houses, craters in the ground and various toppled pillars and stone structures lay around the town. The townsfolk were gathered near the center of the town, the injured sat while the able ones were wandering the streets trying to reclaim what they could to the wreckage or trying to ascertain the damage. They all avoided and turned their gaze away from her, as she walked down the center of the road.

After surveying the town, she walked to the outskirts of the village, awaiting a coach that she sent for with the shadow knights earlier. Suddenly, there was a flash of flame and a rider with armor that resembled the skull and bones of a dragon appeared before her. She raised her sword towards it, but saw that fire began spurting out from her hands involuntarily. "Talk, before I reduce you to ashes." She stood undaunted against the overwhelming presence.

"Hmph." The rider quietly exclaimed before the fire from Helia's hands started to move backwards, flames began to erupt from her legs, but they too were pushing and dragging her backwards. She struggled but then the herald began to speak. "Thou whose flame shines most brilliant against the rest, I am a herald to which you are an heir." Helia grinned in response. The fires she emitted dispersed as she stopped struggling, and then stood still. "Heir to the flame. You state that of which I already know. You clothe yourself in the visage of a dragon and use flame as if it was a part of your body. You are a force unknown to me and to the kingdom, all yourself to me or you brand yourself as an enemy of the kingdom." She raised her sword once more. The rider was unfazed.

"You are only but one of the heirs. The true strength of the fire can only be acquired by wresting it from the other heirs themselves. In the ashes of the conflict's chaos, will a true heir rise. One who has the dragon's strength as their own." "Hmph. You might be only making the 'heirs' fight amongst themselves and reap the benefits for yourself, whatever they might be." Helia answered. Suddenly, a portal of flames appeared, and the rider slowly backed into it, maintaining his gaze at Helia. "The one you are searching for, Metas. He is one such of the heirs. Your kingdom will serve as the stage for ascension, every last one of the heirs are led to it." As the herald fully disappeared, Helia was left with a grin on her face.

In a distant dungeon below there was little to no light except the flames of the other world where the herald passed back into. As the rider slowly faded backwards, the warrior who was seated on the ground paid little mind to them. "The offer seems... of interest. Though still, I have a task; I will accomplish it." The man was using a whetstone to sharpen a blade. The small sparks of light flashed in the darkness; he earnestly sharpened a thin single-edged curved blade. He stared straight into deeper within the cave, sharpening his blade along and was alert to any possible threat. He swiped the blade against it in a slow, steady rhythm.

Even in the absence of light it seemed like he could peer infinitely into the distance. There was snarling in the distant lightless tunnel, the man slowly stood up and put his katana back into his scabbard. He crouched in a ready stance, preparing to draw his sword against any approaching foe. His armor was an altered version of the ones worn by the council's knights, with a white-colored cuirass, gauntlets and leggings but had additional tasset plates and rectangular shoulder armor strapped to his armor made from iron and leather plating. He stood still, and breathed slowly. The creature from the shadows snarled loudly as it pounced at him, but as soon as it reached the air, it fell back to the ground in two pieces.

Suddenly, a flash of flame sliced across the air, but disappearing as fast as it appeared. He then stood straight back up and sheathed his sword. A single red jewel was encrusted into the black hilt of the sword. He calmly took a few steps backward and sat cross-legged back on the ground. He put forth his sheathed sword in its scabbard and pulled it out. He then retrieved the whetstone from his person and began sharpening his clean sword once more.

There was one more visited by the herald. Fear, apprehension, detachment, and a challenge. All responses from the rider's appearance except one. Overlooking the kingdom from its other side, across the capital itself and stone walls, the opposite side of where the forest met the snowy lands, was a traveler who was gazing at the kingdom and at the cities that preceded it. "So, I just need to proceed to the capital, huh. I am unaware of what this 'heir of fire' thing is, but since I'm already going to the capital, I might as well check it out!" A figure excitedly remarked as they peeked from atop a nearby hill.

She crouched and slid down a short distance before ending up in a thicket just beyond some trees that lead to a busy road approaching town. She excitedly breathed deeply, enjoying the air of the busy town. Some looked at her and was somewhat alerted at her appearance, leaves still clinging to her clothes but most were preoccupied with their own matters and a foreigner was a common sight in this land. She did a little wave to the passersby and dusted herself off. "Lodeleth, the point of my origin." She soon blended into the crowd as she started walking off to the city.