screechingobservationdeer-blog

[screechingobservationdeer-blog]

A Story I Guess.

I wrote this a while ago and thought I might as well put it here, maybe someone will enjoy it!

Not really based on any fandom, just my own brainchild!

I sloppily pushed my way through the crowd, heading over to the counter.  Moping and mumbling to myself as I pulled out one of the leather covered stools and plopped down.  I then practically collapsed over the counter, resting my chin on the polished wood.  I sat and let the fermenting maelstrom of self pity run wild in my head.  Harold spotted me from across the room through flocks of customers, and he detected what was going on instantly.

Harold was great, and still sharp as a nail after all those years.  I’ve known him all of his life.  He started out as an ornery little kid, and then transformed to valedictorian of his class at the Vvidderikt College.  After that he worked as an architect in the high end part of the Vvidderikt residential district.  He got married and became a father, he retired and became a grandfather, he opened a bar and was soon to be a great-grandfather.

But all of that was just part of why I was moping.  Harold was reaching the end of his days, but I could accept that.  That is just a natural part of life, and he will go to a better place with the gods that he worshiped.  I was sitting and moping because I knew that I would never get that chance.  After all, it was my two-hundred and fiftieth birthday.

That was just a number, a label of age that truly meant nothing to me.  My body hasn’t aged since I was twenty-two, no changes except for a few new scars.  That is just part of the pain of not dying.  I just have to sit and watch as those around me start to deteriorate, and there is nothing that I can do about it.  You can try to fight with bronze and steel, but old age can’t be killed with a blade.  You can’t shoot holes in disease with a bow, or block senility with a shield.  That is part of why I became a Temple Guard in the first place.  After the first few attacks by the marauders organized under Mr. Noir something became clear to me.  I didn’t want to fight with weapons, but instead I wanted to help people.  I had enough fighting foreign armies, I wanted to stay home and protect the people that mattered to me.  Unfortunately I had absolutely no medical experience, so the best I could do in terms of helping people was guard the temple.  Not that I weren’t grateful for the opportunity, after all becoming a Temple Guard was one of the highest achievements that one could receive.  That job meant that I could directly help the people I served while also protecting the temple, which was a place of healing for all within the city limits and beyond.  Of course none of that matters now.  All I am is a drifter with a good swinging arm.

Harold finally made his way over, his warm and kind eyes looking into your thoughts as usual.

“Hello Mr. Finch, long time no see,” I said in a low and wavering tone.  Of course Harold always got down to the point, so he skipped the formalities on his end.

“Whenever ye waddle in ‘ere mopin’ like this ye just end up drinkin’ n’ lookin’ sad in the corner.  ‘Fore I give ye any sort of drinks you are going to tell me what is going on inside that noggin’ of y’ers, eh miss?” He said, wiggling his eyebrows around with every syllable.

“It is the two-hundred and twenty fifth anniversary,” I said quietly while stealthily trying to reach for a mug.  Of course he saw me reaching and grabed the mug’s splintered old handle, tossing it across the room like one would skip a rock on a lake.

“Ain't people meant to get wize wit’ old age? If ye were wize I doubt ye would be mopin’ in ‘ere ‘stead of gettin’ out der an’ doin’ sometin’ worth while!  Why do ye drink anyway, not only can ye not get drunk but ye also never buy anythin’ that ye like! If ye ‘ave to sit in ‘ere and drink, least get somethin’ that ye like!”

“I’ll take an apple spice mead,” I said quietly, looking down at the counter.  Harold shook his head slowly, then walked off.  He was right about not being able to get drunk by the way, I don’t know why I get alcohol either.  I suppose it was more of a novelty after all these years, to try and make me feel normal.

Harold came back moments later with a dark colored, unquarked bottle.  The smell of cinnamon wafted up out and around me, both calming but also making me lose myself in thought.  I took a sip and slowly eased back onto the counter, suddenly feeling a bit of a headache.  This is when I went back.

~ 227 Years Ago ~

.oO 1348 AMC Oo.

The smell of cinnamon flowed through the breeze, being carried along with the pink cherry petals that slowly fell from every tree lining the market square.  The warm summer sun glowed down on the crowds that gathered around shops and tents set up by the caravans.  One of the tents sent smoke from incense and candles throughout the square, while another had fresh bakery bread whose smell drew in crowds from the surrounding streets.

On that day I had come to the market with my brother, the two of us were looking for something to commemorate my acceptance into the Temple Guard.  Of course he had scampered off to some other corner of the market, probably to buy some food or chase after a friend of his.  I slowly made my way through the market, occasionally stopping to look at some things that caught my eye.

The market was always beautiful at that time in summer.  Trade caravans from the east and the south would come with their jewels and fine silks and fill the square with tents.  All of the people that came from the east were incredibly interesting to me.  When they come to sell things in the city, no two objects are the same.  Each piece made by them was different, it had it’s own character and personality.  Not only that, but the people themselves were always quite the characters.  They spoke like the merchants they were, incredibly outgoing but not always the most… reliable.

Eventually I made my way to the far end of the square, near the canal.  It seemed like an opportune spot to wait while my older brother had his escapade in the maze of tents.  Every time I went to those spots I lost myself in thought, just thinking about the grandeur of the city in which I lived.  That was the way that anyone who lived the grand city thought, each one of us filled with an immense pride of where we lived.

Our great city was home to the strongest armies of the known world.  We were the peacekeepers between the North and the South.  Within our city walls, you would be safe from any pain of the outside world.  It was the only place that Northerners and Southerners were able to come in contact without trying to gut each other like hogs.  Not only that but it was the stronghold that was meant to repel any invasion, and it did that many times during the end of the second era.

The immortal legions stood always ready to defend against an invasion from our sister continent.  As far as we knew, the armies on Kahlvolken had been crushed long ago during the second era, but even during the third era people still uttered the name with fear.  Many of the legions and guard regiments of old were disbanded, and the ones that still stood were mainly for guarding the people of a non-existent fear.  There were others that became a sort of military police.  Many of the old regiments started to guard the city, and do the duties of normal law keepers.  There were only two listings that were never regarded as legions or regiments, that was the Royal Guard and the Temple Guard.

The Royal Guard served the obvious purpose of protecting the royal family, whom often found themselves in a number of sticky situations.  The guards used a variety of weapons but almost always carried a shield, and they sported the regal colours of red and gold.  The Royal Guards were considered to be an elite fighting force, rivaled by only one.

The Temple Guards served the purpose of guarding the temple, which would have been impossible to tell from the name alone.  They were made up of seven guards at a time.  The regiment was split into two groups which were each commanded by a watcher.  The group I was to be put in was the “Left Flank,” which was under the control of guard Halen.  The other was the “Right Flank,” under the control of guard Tem’ir.  Atop the whole merry band was the Grand Temple Guard, who was ironically the only one that no one actually knew.  He or she guarded the very inner sanctum of the temple, where all of the magical artifacts and ancient knowledge of our ancestors was kept.  This was the one place of the temple that no one was allowed to enter.  Not even the other guards.

Regardless, the canals were always a beautiful spot to stop and rest.  The sun lightly shone through the diaphanous leaves of the birches and blooming cherry trees.  The cool spring water was as clear as as air, allowing me to see hundreds of shimmering coins painting the bottom of the canal.  I took off my steel cuffed boots, and laid them to the side.  I then slowly dipped my feet in the river, the cool tingling helping me to relax and enjoy the scenery.

After about an hour my brother came back with a few different things from the market, mainly being food of course.  After a brief staring competition, the two of us decided to drop off the spoils back at the house, then go out to get something to eat.  About an hour later we found ourselves back in the market, but not to wonder about.

It was easily spotted among the other shops because of the gigantic red flag waving in the wind up above the tent.  As soon as I spotted it the smell hit me, the boiling vats of noodles, rice, and chicken broth.  Then the second wave of smells hit, the just out of the oven bread crust, the fresh vegetables, and finally the sweet smell of the honey basted beef.  Sha Vida’s soup stand was open for business.  As soon as me and my brother stopped drooling over the thought of what awaited, we looked into eachothers eyes for a moment.  It was a challenge, one we had done for so long that the words didn’t even need to be said.  Once our eyes locked, it was on.  Last one to Sha’s has to pay for both meals.

That was the tradition, ever since we were kids.  Our father always said we should become independent as soon as possible, so instead of feeding us he told us to get our own food with allowance money.  We would always save up so we could come to Sha’s, and since money was limited we made bets.  Whoever made it through the front of the tent first got their meal for free, at the expense of the other of course.

We were both of with a dash, giving everyone around us a bit of a startle.  The steel spikes on our boots failing to dig into the cobbled and uneven surface of the square.  We zoomed past countless numbers of pedestrians going about their day, some even dropping their baskets or drinks in fright.  As we came closer to the tent my brother began to stumble, crouching down and wildly flailing his arms while still shuffling forward.  The tent was only moments away.

As usual we both came in to the stand a little too hot, me tripping on a rope and my brother knocking over a stool.  But that was fine, because I won.  Sha was used to this, she had been putting up with it since we were little.  There were already a number of other patches and holes where I had run right through the cloth covering of the tent.  Without batting an eye, or really caring at all that I had fallen again, Sha began to pour two new bread bowls.  The usual order was a bread bowl with rice broth, broccoli, carrots, and honey beef.  The dish was also never complete without Sha’s special sauce, which she would always serve in a separate dish so that we could pick how much we wanted.  She only gave one dish between the two of us, so we always fought over the sauce.  Ever since I could talk I swore up and down that this food was made by a living god.

The two of us sat quietly and ate while Sha went of to deal with some other customers.  I didn’t feel like talking much, I were too nervous for tomorrow.  Then again it isn’t like I could have talked if I wanted too, I were too busy stuffing my face with liquid gold.  After I finished drinking down the rice broth I moved on to eating the bread bowl, the bowl’s suffering was over quickly.  After I finished, I sat and looked down at the table.  Brother looked over, and he knew exactly what I were feeling.  He had gone through a similar process two years ago, when he was taken into the Royal Guard.

Nobody in the city knew my face, but everyone knew my name.  I was the talk of the entire country, seeing as I had completed an incredible feat.  A new Temple Guard had not been chosen in almost sixty years, so it was a big deal.  By the end of tomorrow I would be one of the most well known people in the city of over two-hundred thousand.  That kind of pressure was immense, because tomorrow I would be ceremonially accepted into the Temple Guard.  I would have to stand in front of the crowd and impress over four-hundred thousand people.  Not only would the entire city be watching, but almost every province around would be packing the streets.

“You know, it really isn’t that bad,” my brother said in a calm voice, “you start out scared that you will let them down, but once you get there it changes.  What you expect to feel is the combined scrutiny of all of those people, but what you really get in the combined gratitude and respect.  You can feel them thanking you, after all you are devoting your life to protect the thing that every man, woman, and child in this country is wholeheartedly devoted too.”

This is when Sha tuned in, “He’s right you know.  The ceremony is meant to celebrate the new guard, and every year it is nothing but love towards the person in that shiny new armor.  Your brother does know what he is talking about, even if the Royal Guard ceremony is a bit… smaller.”

Brother gave a sideways glance at Sha before continuing, “You are right to think that you will be judged by the city to some regard, but if you were strong and sound enough to make it into the guards, then I doubt that anyone in that crowd will be able to find one thing wrong with you.”

“Thank you, Kal,” I said as I smiled up at my brother.

“Don’t worry little sis, if someone does find something bad to say I will always be here to smack them up a little,” he smirked at the thought, obviously joking about that last remark.  If he were caught doing something like that he would be discharged in a heartbeat.

It was obvious that he was trying to make me feel better, and I don’t think he lied, but it still seemed like he was playing down just how much of a klutz I am.  What he doesn’t understand is that I wasn’t scared that the crowd will not like my personality, in reality I was just scared of tripping or dropping my shield.

The two of us decided it was time to go home, I had to make sure that I got good sleep for the next day.  Seeing as he lost the race, Kal started grudgingly digging coins out of his pocket.  He flipped six coins onto the counter and started to thank Sha for her unending hospitality, but Sha refused the coins.

“You are going to need a good meal tonight if you want to function right during the ceremony,” she said, “this one is on the house, just think of it as a commemorative gift.”

I thank her, Kal scooped back his coins, and the two of us walked down the slowly darkening street.  By the time Kal and I got home, all of the street lamps had been lit, and the busy denizens of the afternoon had turned into snoring potato sacks.  Father had already gone to bed, so the two of us parted our ways and went to our rooms.  I changed out of my clothes to something more comfortable, and as soon as my head hit the pillow I had already fallen asleep.

~ The Next Day ~

.oO 1348 AMC Oo.

The next day was a blur.  I woke up, had some eggs that Kal got in the market the day before, polished my armour, and made my way to the banner complex.  The complex was at the footstep of the temple mountain, and was made easy to see by the fact that it spanned over four square miles and had towers over eighty yards tall.  Luckily for me most of this was filled with seating, and made it so that I didn’t have to walk very far to the center during the ceremony itself.  The actual point of the complex (when not in use as a gathering center for large events) was for artificial combat training.  The complex was meant to be large enough to wage all out wars in.

As I made my way down the main street there were hundreds of people lined up and down the pavement.  They may not have known what I looked like before, but now that I was sporting the armour on there was no mistaking.  I was the new Temple Guard, and everyone wanted to get a good look at me as I walked to the complex.  Most of the people on the street were those that would be unable to attend the main ceremony, or simply couldn’t get in because it was too crowded.

During the entire trip to the complex I could only think about one thing, the nerves that were slowly building within me.  Of course I had other curiosities as well, especially about what the job would be like after the ceremony was over.  I was nervous, but I was even more excited.

As I walked past the entrance where all of the watchers would be coming through I saw a familiar brightly coloured red flag sticking up through the mob.  Sha had set up her soup tent right at the entrance, and how she had gotten it there I will never know.  Not only was she selling soup at a rate I had never before seen, but she was selling signs for the members of the crowd to hold.  There were various signs, all of which had soup advertisements either hidden or in plain sight.  One blatantly read, “Come eat at Sha Vida’s soup tent! Where the Temple Guards go!”  I waved at her, and she tried to wave back.  The arm that she tried to wave with was holding a bunch of dirty dishes that she was cleaning, and their contents spilled on to the floor as she waved.  I smiled and pressed on.

Eventually I got to the gate of the complex, which had been barricaded to prevent more people from entering.  It was sporting the temple colours, the long and plain blue flags fluttering in the wind.  I approached the gate, which was being kept by the 31st Legion Guards.  One of the guards took a look over me and signaled to the other.  They parted their halberds to let me pass through.  As I first walked into the gate, I was still under the seating.  I could hear the creaking and moaning of the wood, being stressed by the thousands of people sitting above.  I made my way through the network of support beams and rope ties to the actual entrance to the grounds on which I would finally be a member of the Temple Guard.  Beyond that gate there were hoards of people awaiting me to walk through, and I was as nervous as ever.  I sat and waited for my name to be called.

I could hear talking on the other side of the gate, one of the other guards was giving a speech.  It was guard Halen, one of the older members.  He stood on a stage, with the crowd all around him and spoke.

“Today is a day of recognition, for the newest member of the Temple Guard, for Zheshi Umbranox.  She and her family have always had the blood of a guardian in them.  As far back as their family history has recorded, they have been protectors.  Their family tree has had members in the 212th, the 425th, the 41st, the 94th, and even have history in the original Temple Guards.  Not to forget that her brother, Khalizar Umbranox, was accepted into the Royal Guard.  It goes without further explanation that it is in her blood, but there is more than that.  She has a fire within her, a fire to help protect those that she loves, and even those that she doesn’t.  She is the kind of person to protect everyone in this city and beyond, from the worst to the best.  She has it within her to be a strong warrior, but even stronger in mind.  A protector of beliefs, a safekeeper of everything dear.  She stands not just to protect the temple, but also all of those that visit it, whether they are there at the time or not. A guardian of both body and mind.  Would Zheshi please enter the stage.”

After hearing that speech, I was even more nervous that I would not live up to the expectations of everyone that would be watching.  The gate which I was behind started to open.  It felt like it was moving slower than a snail, but that was probably just me.  I checked myself over again, just growing more and more nervous by the second.

The gate was open, and now I could see everything before me.  The complex had been made into a small area for the ceremony.  It had a covering carpet of fresh green grass, and had a ring of short hedges where the trees used to be (probably so the crowd could see over them).  The water supply from the temple ran through the ground in a number of channeled streams, making an elaborate design in the shallow rock.  Standing in the center of the water sigil was Halen, looking towards me, waiting.  I started to walk.

This was the moment when I realized that Kal was right, every bit of nervousness was gone.  I looked at the faces of those around me and realized that they were not judging my worthiness, but they were cheering me on.  As I walked down the path I looked around at the thousands gathered, and then looked to the front row.  There were three faces that stuck out.  My father was sitting and smiling, waving to me.  A little bit further over were Sha and Kal.  Sha was holding one of the “Where the Temple Guard eats!” signs.  Kal had made his own sign though, it read “Don’t trip and fall, little sis.” Pfft, typical.

I finally made it up to Halen, who smiled at me.  I remembered what he was like during my selection and training, and it was quite different than this.  He was always in the back corner, and never really talked to me.  I think he didn’t trust me, or just didn’t much like outsiders seeing the training area.  Now his tone had changed, it seemed that since I was officially a guard now, he could trust me.  He started to speak again in his low, brassy tone.

“I give you Zheshi, the newest of the guard.” He said the words softly as he opened a box on the marble and golden sandstone pedestal.  Inside the blue cloth covered box was a staff, which he handed to me.  As he placed it in my hands he whispered, “You are really one of the Temple Guard now, never forget what really matters, the people we serve.”

He gestured for me to stand at attention with the staff.  I pulled my feet together and smacked the butt end of the staff on the ground.  The crowd applauded, and then Halen spoke again, “This concludes the ceremony, thank you all.”  Short and sweet, never to opulent but enough that people can enjoy it.  That was how all temple related events were.

I made your way back through the gate, and down under the stands.  That is when I got tackled.  Kal had come out of nowhere, and gave me a massive bear hug.  In the background Sha was bouncing up and down on her heels.  After not being able to breath for about ten seconds too long, Kal let go.  He backed up, with his usual wild grin, and pulled a leather bag from around his back.  He opened it up, and reached his hand into the small pouch.  From the leather he pulled two necklaces, and held them in his hand.  They were matching, each inscribed with the Peregrine Falcon.  This was not only the city’s bird, but it happened to be the family bird as well.  He handed me one of them, the light silver chain dropping into my hand.  The falcon itself was carved from a luminescent blue crystal, and was surrounded by bone claw inlays.  The other necklace he still held was matching, and he began to speak.

“We are both protectors of the city now, which means that we may not be able to see each other much with the shifts. I got these at the market yesterday because they seemed like something that you would like, and I wanted to get something that we could both use to remind ourselves of each other.  I’m sorry for deserting you at the market yesterday, but I wanted these to be a surprise.  Just remember what this symbolizes, we may not be able to see each other much but we have to always be there for the other.”

“Thank you,” I said, starting to tear up a little.

“I love you sis,” he said while wrapping his arms around me and hugging me again.

~ Two Years Later ~

.oO 1350 AMC Oo.

It was the third day of the official winter season, and everything had been normal the day before.  There was an increasing frequency of Marauder attacks in the outer villages, and they were growing their forces.  People were becoming increasingly worried that they would make a drastic move, like trying to attack one of the larger cities on the outskirts of the country.  It was my shift as the gate guard for the temple.

It was cold outside, and the snow had just begun to fall.  Everyone was packing things into their homes in preparation for a massive blizzard that was supposedly coming.  I held my staff and watched to make sure that no weapons were being smuggled into the temple, but that was very rare.  There was a steady stream of the homeless who either just needed a place to stay or were suffering from frostbite.  Other than this the temple was mostly empty.

Everyone was awaiting the return of the 41st Elite attack battalion, who were supposed to be back almost a week ago.  Some said that they had just been held back by a storm, but others proposed that they had been killed by Noir’s troops.  That was something that everyone was scared of these days.  This city was one of the most secure places on the planet, but everyone was scared.  There were recent reports of Noir’s forces raiding one of the ocean citadels, which is said to have been blown to bits.  I didn’t really believe these reports, for two reasons.  One was that ocean citadels are meant to repel full scale naval invasions, and are built a mile off the coast almost entirely out of steel reinforced stone.  The second reason was that marauders get seasick.

It was getting increasingly cold by the minute, so I was glad that my armour had a fur lining.  The snow was drifting slowly down, and it was almost mesmerizing.  I started to stop and think to myself how Kal was doing.  I was fairly certain that it was his shift as palace guard that day.  Then again it is also possible that he was moved to gate guard, in which case he would probably be home late.  I really wanted him to get back home, because I needed to talk to him.

We had a massive argument the day before, and I needed to apologise.  He was trying to tell me that he was moving out of the house, and I tried to keep him with me at the family residence.  He had found a girlfriend and wanted to move in with her, but I was being selfish.  I knew that too, but at the time I was too angry to think.  I made a big show of how “apparently he didn’t love me anymore,” and “he never wanted a sibling.”  Both of these things were completely selfish, outrageous, and under the belt, I know that now.  At the end of it all I had taken my necklace and thrown it into the canal.

All day that was all I could think about during guard duty.  I wanted so bad to get home and see Kal so that I could apologize.  Right before my shift I even dove back down into the freezing canal water so that I could retrieve the necklace.  It was the worst thing I had done in a while, and I had to make up for it somehow.

Eventually I got off of my shift, and went into the market square.  I wanted to find some things for Kal, as part of the apology.  What I ended up finding was two well-cut steaks and a glove that was fitted with Damascus Steel.  He had been looking at that glove for a while.  It was only for the right hand, but had a beautiful pattern and was made for picking up hot materials.  Kal had been trying to get into smithing and jewelcrafting some lately.  He had made a few good things but not much that was worthwhile.  Now that he had this glove though it would be much easier for him to work with the hot metal.

Once I had packed up all of the loot I found, I walked past the messenger station just in time for them to start screaming.

“The 41st has just been spotted over the hill,” they started with, “they should be at the gates within the hour!”

That would probably mean that Kal would transfer to the gates even if  he was not already there.  That way he could help them enter, besides, lots of people were going to gather there to watch the 41st march in.  I would have probably gone anyway, but since Kal might have been there I had to go.  It would be a perfect time to give him what I had found.

I was about halfway to the gate when I felt it.  I could just feel that something was wrong.  I looked up through the snow and darkening clouds, and saw a column of smoke billowing up from the gate.  I broke into an all out sprint, dropping the steaks somewhere on the way.  As I sprinted I threw the glove over my head and into my bag, put on the necklace, and took out my staff.  As I got closer and closer I could hear the sounds of combat over the horizon.  Once I was almost over the hill, the snow started to pick up into an all out blizzard.  Then I finally crest the hill, expecting to see some sort of attack by the marauders.

What I saw shocked me.  The Royal Guards and the 31st were fighting against the 41st.  Then I started to notice all of the strange things about the 41st.  Not only were many of their uniforms torn, but so were the people inside them.  Many of them seemed to have injuries that should have killed them, even as far as exposed bones.  One particularly gruesome case had a missing rib cage all together.

That was when I saw the person that I despise to this day.  Noir was calmly striding through the back of the 41st ranks.  He was dressed in a heavy set of armor that was black as obsidian, it looked like oil was leaking from it.  The ground turned black wherever he stepped, and he scraped his blade through the snow as he dragged it along.  The blade was a khopesh, with a nasty and serrated curved blade.  The sword itself looked as if it was liquid, dropping thick blobs of a black viscous fluid wherever it went.

Eventually I saw Kal in the madness, he had grabbed the heads of two soldiers and was bashing them together.  I focused on my staff, and used it the way I best liked.  The staff separated into two blades, and I took one in each hand.  Each blade had an inscription on it, one read Talon, and the other read Claw.  I made my way spinning and slashing through the hordes of 41st until I got within yelling distance of Kal.  I shouted his name into the distance, while still hacking and stabbing at the various soldiers that tried to get near me.

Time froze during that fight.  It was like I was suspended in time, remembering every little detail.  The first thing I saw was the spear, black like the night and leaving an oily trail as it flew through the air.  It was curving down, the sharp point glinting in what little light there was, snowflakes sticking to it.  The next thing I saw was Kal, he locked eyes with me.  He was covered in frost and blood, with the snow swirling around him.  Every piece of his white gold and steel armour was glittering like crystals.

He looked at me, then looked down at the necklace I was wearing.  I could see him grinning through the helmet, but that only made it worse.  He didn’t see the spear sailing through the air.  I couldn’t scream, I had froze like the snow falling on my head.  Eventually he looked up to see it, only half a second before it hit him in the chest.

It was like the spear ignored his armour all together, just gliding right through.  He fell backwards and the spear with him, nailing him to the wall.  The falcon on his neck glided forward and onto the shaft of the spear, glinting in faint light and beginning to be covered with frost.  That is when my mouth finally opened, shouting silently into the frozen storm.  Tears started to stream from my eyes as a pool of crimson started to mix with the snow under him.

I stepped forward, every inch of my body tense.  Eventually I made my way through the crowd to where he was lying.  I no longer fought, just walked slowly through the combat, trapped in my own world.  There was blood seeping through the various cracks of his armour, slowly dripping down the front.  It left marks on the golden polished surface of his chestpiece, streaming down past his kilt into little puddles in the snow.

I slowly reached out and grabbed his weapon from the ground.  It shrunk in my hand, becoming a knife which I put my bag.  Then I reached out.  My hand started to rub against the cold silver chain of the necklace.  I closed my fingers around the blood covered surface of the amulet that dangled down from the shaft of the spear.  I couldn’t stop myself from sobbing.  I looked down at his crumpled body against the wall.

~ 250 Years Later ~

.oO 1670 AMC Oo.

“That was the moment that would scar me for the rest of my days.  When I saw him lying in the snow with a dead look in his eyes, defiled, it was a symbol.  It was like watching my patron, the falcon, bleed out.  It was someone I always thought to be invincible, and watching him bleed was unimaginable.  Then it happened, then I watched the falcon, my brother, Kal, die right there.  It was the worst pain I ever felt, or will ever feel for that matter.

The rest of that battle was a blur, I don’t remember anything.  All I can tell you is that more enemy troops came, and that the city was destroyed.  Noir was not someone who wanted fame, or money, he just wanted death.  Every citizen that was found, was subsequently slaughtered.  That was the end of my people, and the end of my life as someone who could feel joy.”

This is what I told Harold.  Everyone else had cleared out of the tavern, and the fire was crackling to a halt.  He poured me another drink, then poured one for himself.  His eyes were glazed over, and he was entranced in the story.  He really changed over the course of my speaking, at first he still seemed disappointed, but as I talked he gained a new understanding.

“I… I never really understood that, I’m sorry ab’oot what I said to ye.  But why hadn’t ye said anythin’ to me ab’oot this earlier?” Harold said in a light tone, with a sorrowed look on his face.

“Because, now I’ve made up my mind on what I am going to do next.”

“And what’ll that be lass?”

I locked eyes with him, the sadness in my mind being replaced with anger.  I clasped the two swords on my sides.  One of which was mine, the other Kal’s.

“I am going to hunt down Noir.  To my last breath.”