Legends

A young man and woman sat on their horses outside the shrieking caves. They were more frightened of what was beyond them than what was behind them, The loud heart rending shriek was heard once more and it was as sinister as the first. Every one who heard them was uneasy about the path ahead, even the wolves. John turned his head to look at Minerva who was as shocked as he. The wolves behind them slowed down as if looking to the two people on horseback for guidance.

A strong gust of wind blew from within the caves carrying with it a strong unidentifiable stench. Their hair that was already standing on edge was blown back. The wolves whimpered and some even retreated.

"Yaaay." John let out a low disheartened retort as he steadied his horse.

"Well, shall we" Minerva led the way into the caves with a shrug, "whats the worst that could happen and it's not like we can turn back.

There were a number of unverified rumors about the caves.(Multiple because this was just the entrance that they happened to find). No one could say what was true regarding the caves because no one made it back from the shrouded woods in the first place. Bards sang about them, parents told their children these tales to discipline them. The most common tale was that of the Demon Spirit of Momat.

Long ago there was an ancient thriving and powerful kingdom. To be an elementalist was the most coveted profession. Naturally with so many of these people around the already established high level elementalists searched for ways to improve themselves so as to stand at the top of the world. The kingdom rewarded power and looked down on weakness, Knowledge of these arts that was now lost to time was everywhere at the time. Parents paid a lot of money in gold coins to have their children mentored so as to become powerful. It goes without saying that the wealthier you were the more access you had to this knowledge hence nobles were more powerful than peasants in that order.

Minerva was telling this tale as she kept an eye on the wolves that were following cautiously behind them stopping for a few seconds every time a shriek resonated from deep within the cave. They guided their horses carefully since the floor was moist. John didn't interrupt and the tale continued.

There existed elementalists who were more gifted than others if by chance they were low born their lord regent would naturally foster them to bring pride to their names. This was the natural order of things in the kingdom. In this state was the hero born. Momat. He was born in the sticks so far away from the capital that the lords of the lands were so inferior they were unknown. He was born with a weak constitution and as fates way of compensating he was granted a strong affinity to the fire attribute gaining the power of dragons through his spirit.

His lord regent took him in and helped him strengthen his body. Took care of him like a father would and this made Momat even stronger. In an age of strength what use was it if it wasn't displayed. At the time of his awakening the wealth of the land had just begun to grow, Minerals were a plenty and thus conflict with the neighboring lord was unavoidable. He was a big shot at the capital who despite being far away was known for one thing, He had conquered all the neighboring lands and fostered many talented elementalists like himself and led them to war personally. His army was unstoppable.

When he met with Momat's adoptive father he killed him on the first day of battle and was encroaching on their land. His father who had asked him to shy away from war was dead. When this news reached the young boy of about eleven he was mad but very calm. The next day a few hours before dawn he took his fathers war horse that had returned dragging his corpse and set out alone towards the enemy camp and showed them the true meaning of terror. All the soldiers as their leaders were burnt to ashes in a battle called the Scorched Field Massacre. He sent word to his adoptive brother, that he had avenged their father and that he should muster a few men and meet him in dead lord's capital.

Hearing this his brother, who knew how Momat was raised all the able bodied men from their lands and set of. Galloping through the scorched lands, corpses of horses and men and other animals were everywhere. When they made it to the capital, they half expected to find devastation but found that the capital had fallen peacefully when they heard of their lords death and the fearsome display of spiritual power. The far away lands were united and the young boy Momat swore fealty to his brother to be his knight to defend their lands so that no other boy would feel the pain of loosing their father.

Peaceful days followed, the two men ruled justly but word of this fearsome duo spread and a fear started to grow within the lords of the capital especially whose who were closest to this growing power. The king also felt paranoid that these boys whose just rule would attract people from his kingdom to want favor from them. He ordered the lords to keep watch and try to restrict them to stop their growth and influence.

A bug had crawled onto Johns exposed shoulder and he jumped in fright interrupting the story. He shook in a crazy was as he tried to get the bug off. He looked around to observe that bugs were everywhere in the cave. Especially small glowing spiders. He almost fell off his horse laughing when he saw that the wolves had it worse than him constantly trying to get the damn things off them. Another shriek filled the air by this time they were all numb to the noise just like how eyes get used to the dark.

"Hhmm, this is one detailed legend." John commented

"People fill these stories with what they like," she responded.

"And how much have you filled in?"

"I am telling it as I was told."

"If you say so... continue." he said to which she shot a sharp look at him.

A few years of this situation passed, but the land they governed never died or suffered, with the numerous minerals and rich fertile lands they had taken over they were practically self sufficient and a few people joked around that they were practically their own kingdom even going as far as calling it the Land of the Dragon. They paid their levy to their kings which infuriated him more since this was the only time they seemed to interact with their kingdom. Reports had already reached the king of how rich the mines were and felt a tinge of jealousy.

With the boy barely twenty everyone in the lands knew that the would be safe for a very long time and the tradition of focusing solely on acquiring power was broken and people begun to focus on other things. Off course this didn't mean he was solely responsible for the safety of the people, those who were dedicated to learning the arts underwent harsh training into a small but very elite force.

Eventually though their kingdom turned against them and they found themselves surrounded on all sides. A massive army from the rest of the kingdom had been raised against them and was at the gates to their lands. The young man took his elite forces and went to meet them. Even though he was strong and his elite forces were strong they were severely outnumbered and he was the only one left standing. His spirit was strong and the enemy used strange arts from their long periods of research to suppress his spiritual power and he fell. When his people saw this they panicked and ran back into the city to await their fate. The enemy was extremely pleased with themselves and gave a shout. The wealth of the lands was theirs to pillage.

Something happened though, the young man thought to have died stood up once more slit his wrists uttered a strange incantation before slitting his neck and fell once more into a pool of his own blood. The lords who had killed him laughed and waited for his spirit to dissipate. It kept looking at the spot where his master had fallen. But he was not just his master he was his best friend. It was extremely saddened and the fading beast went to lick Momat's blood of the ground just like a dog licking a friends wound. A thick bloody fog started to rise, like his blood was evaporating into the air. The fading spirit begun to solidify red before it blew up and turned into flame and uttered the same incantation before taking flight.