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The King’s Keys

An army of monsters attacks a town in search of a powerful object, forcing a survivor, Lane, to seek help from a man with unique abilities. The man's name is Guy, and although he is strong, he has a lack of trust stemming from a troubled past. Together, Guy and Lane try to discover the mysteries of the monster army.

Cody_Giblet · Fantasia
Classificações insuficientes
19 Chs

The Army of monsters

Three months later...

In another part of the kingdom, there is a farmhouse in an open field just off a road. Two rough looking men are sitting on the farm house porch playing cards. One man has a spear and the other man has an axe. The axe man spots someone walking on the road, it's Guy.

Guy looks to be in his mid-20s and is an average sized man for his age. He has brown hair, and light hazel eyes. He looks rough with unshaven facial hair and unwashed clothes, and he has a normal-looking sword on his back.

Guy walks with his hands in his pockets.

The two men smile to one another and run up behind him, "Hey you, turn around!"

Guy turns around, the two men have their weapons pointing at him, "Look, I'm just passing through."

The axe men has a cocky grin on his face, "Yea well, there is a toll for passing this farm, so pay up!" He raises his axe.

Inside the farmhouse are two more men and a kid. They have ravaged the farm house, drinking and eating everything they could grab. The Gang has also taken the owner of the farm hostage. The largest of the men yells at the old Farmer, "Bring me some more food!" Suddenly, they all hear screaming and yelling outside. The large mans and his goons quickly grab their gear and rush outside. The old farmer runs to the window to watch. The gang walk outside to see Guy standing over the axe and spear man, who are knocked out or possibly even dead.

The gang leader is pissed, "No one jumps my gang and gets away with it!"

The gang leader signals to the archer next to him. The archer fires an arrow at Guy. Guy moves his head out of the way and the arrow flies past him. The archer quickly fires 3 more arrows, and again Guy casually moves around them. The large man snatches the bow out of the archers hand and gives him a sword. The archer looks at the gang leader questionably.

The gang leader reassures him, "You got this!"

The archer charges after Guy and tries to strike him, but Guy kicks him in the chest. The force of that one kick sends the archer flying across the yard like a flat rock skipping on water. The large man steps out of the way as the archer flies past him. The farmer watches in amazement from the farm house.

The large man grits his teeth, "You'll regret messing with us!"

The gang leader pulls out a magic book and takes a deep dramatic breath. The book reacts and begins to spark. Guy notices the magic book and grins. "You little shit! I'll wipe that stupid smirk off your face!" The large man shouts. He fires lightning from his book, hitting Guy and causing a huge explosion.

The gang leader turns to his last gang member, who is just a kid, "See, he wasn't so big and bad." The large man looks up and sees Guy unharmed, "That's not possible!"

Guy moves across the yard faster than a blink of an eye, and upper cuts the large man.

Guy smiles proudly, "HA! I didn't get a single scratch on me-"

Suddenly, Guy is hit in the back of the head with the flat end of a sword by the kid.

Guy turns around and knocks the sword out of the kid's hands, "What the hell did you do that for?!" The kid starts crying.

Guy responds, "Oh stop crying, kid! I didn't even hit you!" The kid runs away, "You better run! Pick better friends, you punk!"

Guy continues down the road, scratching the new bump on his head. The farmer stumbles out of the farm house, amazed at what he just witnessed.

Later the same day, in Sansen...

Sansen is a town like Tarrif, surrounded by a wall with a castle in the middle. At the castle, one of the side doors opens and out walks a young woman. It's Lane Sansen, she walks across the castle yard and stops at the gate. Lane pulls out two muffins and hands them to the gate guards.

The guards are pleasantly surprised, "Thank you, my lady."

Lane smiles, "You're welcome"

Lane is 18 years old, she has blonde hair and light green eyes, and looks to be average height for her age. She is wearing expensive clothing and jewelry, she clearly comes from a noble family.

Lane waves goodbye as she heads into town, "Have a good day." Lane spots an older gentlemen driving a horse and carriage, "Hello Mr. Clayton, could I get a ride?"

Mr. Clayton smiles, "Yes, of course, my lady, hop on."

Lane hops on the back of the carriage as it drives into town.

After a short ride, Lane jumps off the carriage and waves Mr. Clayton goodbye. Lane has made it to the market district. The area is packed full of people. Lane takes a deep breath, breathing in the summer air. A smile comes over her face, and she runs food stand to food stand, trying everything. In her excitement, Lane accidently runs into a townswoman.

The townswoman falls over and drops her groceries, "Hey! Watch where you're going."

Lane quickly helps her up, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Lane begins to help pick up her things, the townswoman notices who she is, "Lane Sansen! Forgive me, my lady. I didn't realize it was you."

Lane quickly responds, "Oh, no need to apologize, I ran into you."

The townswoman curiously asks, "My lady, what is the Warden's daughter doing out here?"

"I came to see all of this of course." Says Lane as she helps the townswoman of the ground.

Lane points at all the people walking around the town, "Seeing it from the castle is just not the same."

"I suppose it is beautiful," says the townswoman. Lane buys the townswoman a fresh piece of bread. The townswoman appreciates Lane's kindness, "Thank you, my lady."

Two guards spot Lane in the crowd and quickly run up to her, "My lady, your father is waiting for you in the throne room."

Lane's eyes widen, she turns to the townswoman, "Have a nice day."

The townswoman awkwardly waves goodbye as Lane runs away with the guards.

Guy walks into Sansen all the way to the castle gate, which is still being guarded by the two men enjoying Lane's snacks. Guy ignores them, but the two guards cut him off.

"Excuse me, you can't just walk in." the guard explain with a mouth full of food.

Guy points towards the castle, "l'm here to talk to the Warden."

The guard holds out his hand, "Do you have an official summons?"

Guy digs through his pockets and then shrugs and awkwardly laughs, "I guess I forgot it."

Back to Lane, she rushes into the Warden's throne room. Lane's father, the warden of Sansen, is waiting for her on his throne. Lane sits next to him. "Lane, you're late," says the warden under his breath.

Lane whispers back, "Sorry Dad."

"Alright, send in the next one," announces the warden.

The guards open the front doors, but no one comes in.

Suddenly, a voice shouts from the ceiling, "I'm here! Sorry, the guards wouldn't let me in." Everyone looks up, Guy has climbed up the side of the castle and into a window. He slips and falls 30 feet to the ground. Everyone gasps, but Guy gets up just fine. The guards quickly surround Guy. "Whoa hold on, The Warden invited me here! I'm here to take down a local gang!" Says Guy.

The warden raises his hand, "Stand down!"

Lane protests, "Dad, he just broke into the castle!"

Her father calmly replies, "It's fine. I said stand down. Who are you?"

Guy approaches the Warden, "My name is Guy."

The warden isn't satisfied, "Guy who?"

Guy replies, "Just Guy."

"Forgive me, Guy, but I hired a "team" of mercenaries to take down a gang, not just one," says the warden.

Guy knew he would be asked about that, "My team agreed this was a one-person job, but we still expect full payment."

Outside the castle, the old farmer crutches through Sansen. He limps past the gate guards, who are now being yelled at for letting Guy break in. The old man heads towards the castle.

Inside the throne room, the warden has come to a decision, "You have no proof you're a part of the team I hired, however I only sent that team a summons for this mission, on this day, and at this time. As strange as this is, I doubt it is a coincidence. Here is the job. There is a gang outside of town who has taken over a small farm. We'd send our own soldiers, but well the leader of the gang has a powerful magic book, far more powerful than any of our soldiers' magic-"

Guy interrupts, "Oh yea, I ran into them on the way here, I already took care of them."

Lane finally speaks up, "This is a scam! Why should we believe you?"

"It's not a scam," says Guy.

"Do you have proof of your claims?" asks Lane.

Suddenly, one of the large doors opens and the old farmer walks in, "My farm is saved! A young man came by and took them all out! It was amazing, he took the full force of a magic book and survived," the old man notices Guy, "It was this man!" Lane is speechless.

Guy smiles, "Told you it wasn't a scam."

The Warden and Lane are standing on a balcony watching as Guy leaves town with his payment. The warden gives Lane a look. Lane sighs, "I'm sorry dad, but he just seemed like a criminal."

The warden chuckles, "Yes, he did seem like a criminal. Lane, did you think I would have paid him the money with no proof? You need to trust your father."

Lane quickly replies, "I do trust you dad."

The warden looks down at Sansen. "Trust is the most important thing you will need when you become the Warden. This position means nothing if you don't have the trust of your people."

"Me becoming Warden," says Lane under her breath. The thought makes Lane nervous.

The Warden smiles and hugs Lane, "Don't worry, you have plenty of time to learn. I'm not going anywhere."

Later that night...

Lane is in her room scared. Suddenly there is a loud bang on her bedroom door. Lane quickly hides in the corner of her room. The door is kicked open by two soldiers carrying the warden, who is wounded and bleeding from his chest. "Dad! What happened to you?" Lane yells. She helps her father on to the bed and quickly takes a magic book from her dresser. She opens and activates the book and begins to heal her dad.

The warden knows the wound is too deep, "there is no time...Lane, save your strength...you need to run."

Lane begins to tear up, hear breathing is interrupted, and her magic flickers, "no, Dad, let me heal you!"

Her father pushes her healing hand away, "You must go for help! Send a message to the capital, tell them an army of monsters has attacked." He turns to the guards, "Get her out of here."

The warden is interrupted by the sound of foot steps down the hall. The two soldiers draw their swords and magic books and leave the room, closing the door behind them.

The Warden thinks quickly, "Lane, go out the window!"

Lane glances at the window, then back at her father, "dad, what about you?"

The Warden hears the two soldiers outside being killed, "I'll be fine! GO!"

Lane grabs her book and opens the window. The warden takes one more look at his daughter as she climbs out the window and closes it behind her.

The warden hears foot steps and turns towards the bedroom door, it opens and Lieutenant 3 steps in. "Hello Warden, you're a hard man to find," says Lieutenant 3

The warden is shocked to see the Lieutenant's blue skin, "who are you?"

Lieutenant 3 smiles, "I am the Lieutenant, I'm here for the key."

The Warden doesn't respond.

Lieutenant 3 smile leaves his face, "silence speaks volumes Warden."

The warden gets angry, "you think I'll give you what you want after what you've done to my people!"

Lieutenant 3 shows his sword, "I'll get the information out of you one way or another."

The Warden of Sansen laughs and chokes on his own blood, "You're threatening a dying man!"

Lieutenant 3 doesn't like being laughed at, "I can make your death a lot more painful!"

Lane hears her father being stabbed, she lets out a gasp. Lieutenant 3 glances at the window.

The warden quickly gets his attention, "Alright, I'll tell you. The key is under the castle in the old ruins. Good luck getting to it, the tunnel entrances are collapsed. No one has seen that key in a hundred years."

Lieutenant 3 smiles again, "Thank you, warden." Lane hears her dad being stabbed once more, the Warden of Sansen is dead.

To be continued...