How it all began and how it all turns out

The early sun shone through the window into our room. It was a sight to behold in all its beauty, until I realised that it shone exactly onto Pierce's still snoring face. I was the only one awake at this time and by the look of where the sun was I could tell that we had some time to spare before the Blacksmith opened to get our weaponry and armour. I had to sneak past Pierce towards the pantry as last time I woke him up early he nearly slit my throat with a buttering knife. I grabbed one of the wooden plates which was stacked up on a small shelf stuck to the side of the wall and started collecting my breakfast. The first things I grabbed were two small bread rolls the size of a skipping stone, next some ham which hung in massive amounts by a simple hook in the ceiling. Lastly I grabbed one and a half tomatoes from a small basket to the right of the pantry so my breakfast had a little bit of everything I needed to have a good start to my day. I was enjoying the peace and the quietness until from the other room I heard "WHERE'S ZELWYN GONE?! DID YOU SEE HIM? WAS HE KIDNAPPED?!" Shouted in horror by Pierce but then replied to by Thaila "HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO KNOW? YOUR HIS BEST FRIEND ARE YOU NOT, SO YOU SHOULD HELP ME LOOK FOR CLUES INSTEAD OF SHOUTING AT ME!" 

It was quite amusing to hear people care about my safety and well being as I've never had any real family or friends (besides Pierce ofcourse ). At the thought of this I couldn't help myself but to feel frozen in time as I remembered how I actually met him. 

My family always treated me like a curse that should have been sealed away. I had been abused in many ways during my youth before I met Pierce. I was told ever since I could remember that the only people in the entire world were the people inside the walls of my home. I was rarely allowed out of the back room of my mothers cottage and that room only had one untidy stack of hay in the corner which I slept on at night. Also a small tinted window to the forest behind the house on the south wall. One day during the early summer, there was a young boy who was playing in the forest with a small wooden sword, hitting bushes and chasing rabbits which darted between trees trying to escape him. I watched him every day for around 27 days in complete confusion on who he is or the fact others lived outside of my household as my parents had lied to me. During the days I watched him and I grew more curious about meeting him so behind the hay bale I started chipping away at the wall with first a spoon which my mother gave me to eat food. Then large chunks of rock from the wall itself which had fallen off until I reached the other side of the wall at the end of the 28th day. On the morning of the 29th day I looked through the keyhole of my crooked door and saw that no one was home. This was my chance to go meet the boy I had pondered about for so long. I moved the hay bale to the side and crawled through the slim hole in the wall. I had moved the brick at the end of the small tunnel to the side so if someone walked behind the house they wouldn't see the tunnel but instead an ordinary brick in the wall. And there I was, on the other side of the wall at last. My first glance at freedom and a now continuous desire to achieve all that I could gather. I couldn't hold back the feeling of joy from being freed from the smell of damp moss and sight of stone walls which would last to the end of my days to the outburst of nature all in front of me at last. I could feel the warm breeze of summer pass by me and fill my torn clothes with new hopes and desires. I placed the brick back and marked it with a small bit of mushed up leaf to let me know which brick to move. The grass felt tickly on my feet as I walked further into the forest and between the old oak trees which hadn't been cut down since around 80 years before. I waited behind a rock with a weird shape, it had strange markings on it and was shaped like an archway but full up in the middle. "HEY! Who is over there!?" shouted an unfamiliar voice. I quickly ran behind one of the trees surrounding the strange rock until the sounds of rusting came to a halt. "I know you're here, whoever or whatever you are, so show yourself or face the wrath of Sir Perox!" At the sound of hearing the word 'sir' I found myself revealing myself from behind the tree and begging for forgiveness with my eyes shut tightly. "Please sir, I didn't mean to offend you. If I did, is there any way I can repay you, any way at all?" "You what? What are you blabbering about?" said the voice. I then proceeded to open my eyes with slight caution to see the young boy who I had wondered about in fact standing in front of me and looking down at me very concerned. I dared not to question him as my father once told me that if he or anyone should be addressed as sir I should do their bidding however they desire. "Are you gonna stay on the floor all day? Also, have you just moved to this town? I've never seen you before around these parts." he then put out his arm and helped me up from the floor "Th-Thank you sir, how ever can I r-r-repay you?" I asked in a stutter "You could not stand near my fathers grave for one, and cut it out with the sir crap I was only messing with you" With a heavy sigh of relief I then asked him "if your not a sir are you a mother?" He looked back at me again like I was some sort of idiot and said "No? Do I look like a woman.. My name is Pierce, Pierce Perox. It's good to meet you.. Whatever your name is." "My name is Child, Nice to meet you?" I replied slightly confused "Child? That's your name? Surely it can't be, right come with me I want to check something.'' Before I could reply he grabbed my arm and took me from the outskirts of Illragorn towards the town centre. Before I knew it I was now in a completely new world to what I was used to, there were people, houses, and little shops with trinkets I could never have dreamed of. "MUM! HEY MUM OVER HERE!" Pierce shouted towards a tall slim woman with long hazel hair. "Oh hello Pierce, and who's this you're with? Is he a new friend of yours?" asked the woman calmly yet with a slight look of concern upon her face as she looked me up and down. "I guess so. I met him over in the forest near Dad's Grave. He was just there and he seemed really scared, calling me sir and saying his name was 'child' and more random stuff." "Well that's a bit odd. Do you know where your parents are sweetie?" the woman said, looking down at me in awe. I then proceeded to show her the way to where I lived , slightly scared of what was going to happen once my mother and father saw me not only outside of my room but outside the cottage. 

As we approached the front door of the cottage I could only find myself to be in a state of panic and it must have been obvious because Pierce's mother said to me "Are you okay sweetie?" "I think I'm okay.." I replied slowly. Pierce's mother then proceeded to knock on the door three times which all ended with no reply. "Hmph, maybe no one's home." said Pierce trying to help his mother figure out what was going on. "Follow me, I can show you the way I got out." I said whilst tugging on Pierce's mothers arm towards the back of the house. I then looked around until I found the rock with the marking I had left on prior to finding Pierce. I pulled it out of the wall by the corners and placed it to the side and proceeded to crawl back inside my room. Pierce shortly followed in and after him was his mother who struggled at first but then got through eventually. "Oh my gosh, is this where you have been living?" she said quite shook whilst looking at me which i could only reply to with a slight nod of my head. "Do you want to come live with us, this is no way a child should be treated." she asked me with a look of pity upon her face. This was also my first experience feeling a sense of safety, it was scary at first but once you've overcome the fear it turns to a wonderful dream you don't want to finish. We then crawled back out of the room once again in the same order as earlier and placed the rock back again. Before we left Pierce's mother checked the name written on the front of the house on a small wooden plank with the name saying 'Mr & Mrs Archivolt' We then left the house for good. On the walk back towards the village Pierce's mother told me something which would change my life forever "If i recall earlier you said your name was 'Child' correct?" "Yes Ma'am i've only been needed when 'Child' was said so i presume that its my name." i replied back at her "Well that simply won't do, we will have to give you another one." she said with a puzzled look upon her face, until Pierce muttered while being zoned out "Zelwyn.." "Zelwyn, Zelwyn Archivolt! That shall be your official name!" shouted Pierce's mum like she just caught a fish the size of sheep. The rest of my childhood was me being the adopted son of the Perox's, they enrolled me in school, fed me, gave me somewhere to stay, loved me and all around be the best family i could ask for. After some time of living with the Perox's, someone was passing through our village who was of great purpose. It was Damien Harvein (The Divine Vanguard Captain). From hearing this news, me and Pierce were instructed to go to wish him a warm welcome and give him some bread that Pierce's mother had baked earlier on. We had to wait in the street for around 2 and a half hours until he had arrived. "What do you think he's like Zelwyn?" asked Pierce excitedly "I bet he's super strict as he is the Captain of the Divine Vanguard." I replied also excited for his arrival. At last there he was, on his great, black stallion, he wore midnight blue armour and had a long sword which was holstered by his side. He had white fluffy yet curly hair with lots of freckles spreading over his nose and cheeks, he also wasn't strict at all, he smiled at everyone with pure joy like we were all a part of his family. Once he got to where me and Pierce were he stopped for a second with a look of interest upon his face, got then off his horse and knelt down on one knee right in front of us. "Oh my my, just by looking at you two I can tell that you two will accomplish many things. Your fates are intertwined and will always fall into each other's path no matter the good and bad which will undoubtedly fall upon you. Speaking of which, I would appreciate knowing both of your names if I may." He said all this calmly yet stern like we should listen to him even though he seemed so upbeat about it. "M-M-My names Pierce Sir, Pierce Perox and this is-" "Zelwyn, Zelwyn Archivolt, at your service" we both said one after another. "Pierce, Zelwyn i see many things in your future, thanks to my own special Divine Technique Calling upon the Foreseeing Future, my technique can be a curse but also a blessing but based on what i can tell you both will become great swordsmen and possibly part of my Vanguard. My technique hasn't been wrong yet and I'm sure it won't fail me.Alas I must get along to the others in the village now but promise me that you both will indeed become fine swordsmen." "We promise you sir" we both said to him but before we forgot Pierce butted in saying "Oh by the way, this is some bread that my mother made for you to eat on your journey. It might be cold but I can warm it up for you, pyronate." The bread then was covered in fire for a mere second then vanished back into the air. "Here, it should be nice and warm for you now!" said Pierce as he passed the bread to Damien "Well thank you Pierce and also you Zelwyn. I bid you farewell!" He then jumped back on top of his horse and continued back down the town. 

That was the day me and Pierce started our journey through swordsmanship, and before I knew it I was back in the pantry holding my plate and listening to Pierce and Thalia still frantically arguing. I decided that even though this was very amusing, I stepped out of the pantry and made myself known by saying "GoodMorning everyone" "Were you in the pantry the entire time..?" Asked Thalia slightly embarrassed but Pierce interrupted this by shouting "THERE YOU ARE! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" "I was getting my breakfast, also stop shouting or you will wake up everyone else in Illragorn" I said replying to his loud screaming. "Fine, but you had Thalia very worried, she was shouting frantically about where you were. I simply helped look for where u could have gone while she went crazy." He said all this while looking at Thalia with a very sinister grin, even though I already knew he was the one screaming and going mad. "Excuse me Pierce, you were the one screaming, not me." She said to Pierce very sternly "Nuh uh." Pierce replied mischievously "Anyway let's get some breakfast, We need our bodies to be ready for our journey ahead." Said Thalia trying to seem smart. They then both went into the pantry both coming out with different selections of food. Pierce came out with two plates, one filled with a variety of meats and the other piled up with bread rolls. Thalia came out with only one plate that only had vegetables. "Are you allergic to meat or something?" Asked Pierce "No, I just prefer vegetables to meat." Replied Thalia "Oh" Pierce replied subtlety. We all then sat at the dining table with me on the end, Pierce on the left side and Thalia on the right. She then put her hands in a prayer position and said "We thank you lord Krom, for our meals and wish your blessing on our journey." Pierce then looked at her like she was crazy and abruptly said "What in the living hell are you on about?" "What? Oh you mean my prayers. Well, Pierce, for your information my entire family happens to be Kromian." Thalia said with pride. "I'm not sure what happened to my family, I got taken in by Pierce's and haven't seen mine since." I replied followed by Pierce saying "Family huh, my family is actually very strange, there's stuff even you don't know Zelwyn." We all had finally finished our breakfast after a long chat and took turns going into the bathroom to get changed into our clothes. "Alright are we ready to leave?" Asked Thalia "I think so, me and Pierce need to go to the Armoury to get our armour and swords first though." I replied. "Oh okay, I'll come with you as my horse probably isn't awake yet." "Horse?" Asked Pierce towards Thalia "Yeah my horse, I'm going up north to my town and getting a boat from there, so I won't be going the same way as you two." Said Thalia awkwardly "Oh thank the lord for that." Sighed Pierce. Thalia then gave Pierce a cold stare and then proceeded to leave the table. Me and Pierce also then got up and we all headed back towards the door with the silver key in hand. After I opened the door we all at the same time tried to go through it and ended up stuck side by side. "HEY, move out of the way, both of you!" Shouted Pierce at both of us "No, you move out the way for ME!" Thalia shouted back at him. "How about we all go back and then take turns going in?" I asked politely to both of them. They both just then nodded slightly moody and we all backed out of the doorway. I pushed Pierce through it first as I knew he would have caused even more havoc then me and Thalia followed behind slowly. Once we approached the front desk, Iskall greeted us firmly "Ah, GoodMorning you three, I hope to find that you rested well?" "Yes thank you, and we are ready to check out." I replied joyfully. I then handed him back his key and we walked out of the Inn whilst Iskall smiled and waved towards us. "Right let's go get our stuff and then we're ready to go." Pierce said Joyfully towards me. It was still quite early so the only people around town that time were a couple of farmers and some merchants setting up stalls. As we drew closer towards the Blacksmith we could see Rowan opening his windows ready for the day.

 "Ahem." Pierce said, trying to grab Rowan's attention until he noticed us. "Oh hello again boys, I presume you're here for your equipment although it is rather early for that." "Sorry Rowan, we would have rested a bit more, but we were woken up with a slight shock." Pierce said, looking over at me dramatically. "But yes, we are here to collect our stuff then head north for Oakenford." "Alright then, luckily for you Pierce your equipment is ready but Zelwyn, your sword needs to be sharpened a small bit more." Rowan said, trying not to disappoint me. "If you three would like to follow me inside." He then proceeded to open the door and escorted us inside. The shop's interior was full of wooden racks which displayed many steel Items. The shop's walls were made of cold stone with sulfox wooden columns evenly placed around for support of the second floor. The shop itself was quite small and you could only move around 10 steps until you were on the other side of it. "Here we are, just as I left it." Rowan said whilst looking at a steel sword which was slanted against a slightly tattered anvil. The anvil was placed up against a wall on its side with a large magma fueled furnace next to it. Me, Pierce and Thalia were told to stand back away from the anvil and we did so with no second thought. Rowan was how you would imagine a Blacksmith, he was large, muscular, viking like and was over 6 feet tall. He put some dragonhide gloves on and plunged his hand deep into the thick magma of his furnace. This was frightening to see as all three of us had never seen dragonhide, nevertheless a real dragon. Yet we are now seeing our friend plunge his hand into lava as if it was only mere pond water from the marsh. "OH MY LORD! WHAT IN THE NAME OF KROM ARE YOU DOING?!" Shouted Thalia in pure fear "Huh? Oh yes my hand." Rowan said as if this was a common thing he does on the daily. "I'm just grabbing some Felkorn skin, if left overnight the skin turns as hard as dragon scales." "You really love dragons don't you, Rowan?" Asked Pierce trying to avoid looking at Rowan's hand which was still submerged in magma. "Of course I do, you would be mad to not even be a little curious. Some of the strongest creatures in OUR realm, and I'm here wearing some of their skin on my knuckles." He said with a chuckle, he then finally revealed his hand from the lava but holding a strange midnight blue ingot. When the light reflected from the morning sun onto the ingot, the reflection turned into a damp blue tint. "Here we are." Rowan then took the ingot over towards the anvil and proceeded to pick up the sword which was resting beside it. He placed both onto the anvil and then proceeded to walk out of the room in a rush. "Where do you think he's going?" Thalia asked softly "Probably to cool down his hand after literally placing it in molten lava.." Pierce muttered sarcastically. After around three minutes of trying to figure out what the ingot was for, Rowan burst back into the room and towards the anvil holding a grimoire from the town library. "Alright, while the ingot is still warm." He then opened the brown book to around the 74th page and spoke an incantation "Enfuse." We all looked at the book hoping and waiting for something 'magical' to occur, and we waited, waited and waited. After around thirty seconds Pierce decided to finally ask about the technique "Sooo.. what exactly is supposed to be happening?" "The ingot is meant to fuse with the sword, but alas the technique didn't work." Rowan said quite distressed "Wait, is that what I think it is?" Thalia said whilst taking the book from Rowan "I knew it! It's just a bit of dust." She then blew onto the page revealing the s in enfuse to actually be enfuze. "Oh, well thank you strange girl." Rowan said happily whilst Thalia gave him a death stare after being called 'strange girl'. "Enfuze!" The sword and Ingot then flew above the anvil and burst out a bright blue light whilst the items clashed. Once the light had died down, it revealed a deep sea blue blade, with a curved crossguard shaped like a furious wave which mirrored on each side and a black handle with aegean cloth wrapped around it. The blade itself was straight, long and sharper than any other blade I've seen before. We all watched in amazement at this sight whilst Rowan stood there looking very proud of himself and an intense look upon his face. The sword then glided down from where it was floating and softly landed on top of the anvil. "This blade is the first of its kind, it was founded in the realm of Dangorr by my brother Riluc. The Felkorn Draco is a special type of dragon, it's only found perched on the ash cliffs within the realm of Dangar and exceedingly rare to find." Rowan said still with a face full of intense pride. "All that's left is for you to mark your sword." Rowan then grabbed my arm and pulled me over towards the anvil. "Now, focus on the feeling of the sword in your hand and call out the name of the sword." "The name of the sword?" I asked full of confusion but was swiftly replied to by Rowan "Yes the name of the sword, once you feel a name which feels right call it aloud and there we go." I then shut my eyes and let my mind go blank. As expected I could only see darkness and nothing more, until I found myself in front of a great blue castle. I couldn't make out minor details about the castle and as I blinked I found the front gate open in an instant. As I drew closer towards the gate I found myself moving forward without my choice. The castle's floor was made of rugged rock and the only thing in sight was a great cliff stuck to the end of the back wall. I tried to take a look at what resided upon the cliff until a loud voice boomed throughout the room. "You are not worthy yet, Zelwyn, You are yet to pass Judgement of whether you're ready to hear my name." At that moment a large gust of blue fire struck me and I found myself with my eyes slowly drawing open. "So? Did you find out your sword's name?" Asked Rowan with a hopeful look upon his face. I could only shake my head in disappointment and Rowan's hopeful face fell into a dim state. "I guess we couldn't really expect anything, since this type of sword has never been forged before. Even though you haven't found its name, I think it's best that you bring it with you anyway." Rowan then walked over towards a wooden rack full of sword sheaths and brought one back over. He then sheathed the sword and locked it inside with a grey leather strap. "Should be safer to carry along with you now. As your old sword is now unusable at this moment, a new sword shall be in order." He then looked around the room and walked over towards where all the weapons were being stored. He took a look at all the different varieties of swords, there were long ones, short ones, slanted ones, straight ones, slim blades and even great swords made out of a variety of metals. After a long thought he decided to grab a medium sized sword made out of darkened steel. It was basically your standard sword for a knight, but this sword had a light blue ripple stretched through the centre of the blade. "This sword was marked by a noble adventurer in the name of Thrain Zangheist. He was the first adventurer to find and behead an Alkux Direwolf, and therefore his marking was formed in the shape of a wolf head on the base of the blade." Rowan then looked at the sword full of joy one last time and then passed it down to me. "Thank you Rowan, I think we're ready to leave now." I said softly whilst holding in all my excitement. "Before you leave, I want you three to promise me something." We all made a noise of confusion and slight intriguement to what we were about to promise. "I want you three to promise me that you will indeed pass the finals and become some of the greatest warriors in our land." "Of course we can, if they don't I sure as hell will." Pierce said in a selfish manner. "Now i've got a shop to open, you three must be on your way too I imagine. Make haste as your boat should be here soon, and I know for sure that the Captain doesn't like to wait." Rowan spoke in a mix of disappointment but also excitement. "Did you say boat?" Pierce asked quite uncomfortably "Oh yes it was meant to be a 'fun' surprise. Mayor Renshaw will most likely tell you at the front gate once you're there." Pierce then spun around 90 degrees at a very fast pace and looked me dead in the eyes. "I'll race you Zelwyn to the front gate once we put our armour on, where can we put our armour on by the way Rowan." "You and Zelwyn can go into the storage room and Thalia, you can change in the outhouse in the back." Rowan replied. As stated we went to get changed into our armour and headed back toward the front of the shop. "Right then, shall we go greet Mr Renshaw?" Thalia asked rhetorically whilst already walking away. Me and Pierce simply nodded and ran after her. As we approached the front gate we in fact did see the Mayor, but instead of just waiting he was stuffing his face with a large rack of ham. 

"Mmm, I must say this ham is quite exquisite." Mayor Renshaw said whilst making all sorts of various eating sounds. He then directed his focus towards us and engaged in conversation with Thalia. "Hello mayor sir." "Oh hello young Thalia, and you too Pierce, Zelwyn. As the Mayor it is my duty to see off all the 'important' matters at hand." he said ending in a deep sigh. "Oh, well thank you sir. I'm heading up north as I informed you two days ago, and Pierce and Zelwyn are to be expecting a boat?" "Oh yes, you may head onward if you must, but before that, would you care for a bite of this delicious ham?" He asked joyfully and forcefully, pushing ham near her face. "No thank you sir, but I shall be leaving now. Goodbye guys, I'll see you at the finals." She said, waving her hand as she walked towards a small black horse stationed near the entrance. After she managed to get on the horse she pulled out a small, worn out map and rode NorthWest at a steady pace. "Now that the woman has gone, let's have a man to man talk." Renshaw said very sternly towards me and Pierce with a very serious face. "Uhm.. ABout what s-sir?" Pierce replied, sounding quite worried. "Listen here and listen very closely to me now.." Me and Pierce could only reply in a state of quivering fear. "Oh calm down young lads, i was only playing a mere joke on you two, thought you would need a little chuckle before you leave." He ended with a heavy chuckle. "Phew" we both sighed, relieving the previous stress of what was about to occur. "I just want to say, we all strive to do what we do best, but the best can sometimes strive you towards your worst." With this wisdom that Renshaw gave to us, we were finally ready to leave town one last time. "Your boat is over by the northern dock. A little advice is that when you meet the captain just say the words 'My riches are yours'. Lastly, I wish the both of you farewell." I then shook his hand and so did Pierce after me. This was now it, our adventure would begin as soon as we stepped foot out of Illragorn. There was a small moment of hesitation of whether i am truly ready for this, until *BOOSH!*I got pushed over by Pierce and hit my head on the edge of the wooden frame which framed the front gate. "OW!" I shouted on impact "Oh hurry up. I can't wait any more with you being slower than a rusty bronze cart full of rocks." "Yeah but there's no need to push me over now, is there?" "Ohhh, get over it." After he helped me up we continued to argue about why he pushed me over until we reached the docks. 

We didn't really take notice of what was happening around us whilst making our way over, yet we still made it and shortly after we saw our boat docked up on the right. The boat was only small yet had everything we needed for a decent chance at survival at sea. It had food, gunpowder, extra planks in case of leaks, a steel bucket and a random chicken casually clucking around the top deck. "Is anyone here?" Pierce said whilst looking around for any sight of living beings. "Guess not." I replied with a pause in between. "Should we just get on the boat? Maybe the Mayor put a technique on it so it would take us once we were aboard?" I said whilst looking at all corners of the boat for any sign of life. "OI! WHO GOES 'ERE? SOMEONE TRYNA TAKE ME GOLD?!" A strange voice boomed with a foreign accent from the lower deck of the boat. A tall man in a dark green robe which covered his face then emerged from the lower deck and withdrew an emerald like cutlass. "WOAHHH HOLD YOUR HORSES, WE WERE SENT HERE BY MAYOR RENSHAW!" Pierce shouted back towards him whilst his sword was about two feet away from impaling the centre of his cranium. "OH ARE YE NOW? THEN WHAT IS THE CODEWORD I ENTRUSTED TO MAYOR RENSHIT?!" Pierce then tried to back away but the strange man plunged his forward the same distance Pierce moved. "MY RICHES ARE YOURS..?" The man then re-sheathed the sword and proceeded to pull his hood back and reveal his true identity. He had somewhat short green hair, eyes full of adventure and a look of questionability upon his face. "Right 'en, you've proven that I can trust ye's. Now based on what i've been told, your lookin' to go north to the middle isle?" He asked even though by how he looked he seemed set on going there anyway. "Yes sir, may I ask what your name is?" I asked weary of if he was going to stab me or tell me. "Me name is Alexzander, Alexzander Wilheim, and you two be who?" "I'm Zelwyn Archivolt, and this is Pierce Perox." "Well nice to meet ye's, but I would like to mention that I am sorry." "Sorry for what?" Pierce asked sceptical towards the man who is now hanging from the mast above us. "I don' really like people sailing with me across the sea. So i'm going to do this Tranceep!" My vision then went blurry and my legs began to falter, I then found myself crashing into the floor as my eyes closed by a force I cannot describe. Before I fell into the trance, I heard Alexzander shout aloud whilst the masses drew downward "We shall reach land by tomorrow's sunrise! Long live The King of The Pir-!" Before I could hear the rest I was already consumed by the trance.